Chapter 3

Ryou's body was in serious amounts of pain. He inwardly winced when just trying to pull the blankets off hurt him. Beside him was a very warm source of heat so Ryou didn't mind having to lay there much, but he still would like to get into a different sleeping position. He lifted his left arm away from the warmth and rolled over to sleep on the left side of his body. He didn't even make it half way before a sharp pain went through his arm, causing him to cry out.

Beside him Bakura sleepily opened his eyes, mumbling some incoherent swear at some incoherent person. His half asleep mind started putting things together and he remembered where he was, why, and what had more than likely woke him up. He turned his gaze over to the timid boy beside him and frowned, sitting up. "What happened?"

Ryou gripped his arm, looking at it. "I just… rolled over wrong." He didn't want to meet Bakura's eyes. If he couldn't come to terms with himself of what had happened, how could he face Bakura? "Sorry for waking you…"

Bakura shrugged off the apology and reached out his hand to examine Ryou's arm. The boy flinched away and kept his eyes downward, not wanting Bakura to see him. I hadn't occurred to him yet that Bakura already knew how many cuts were there and was the one who bandaged them up the first time. "Ryou let me see your arm." He shook his head, keeping his eyes downcast. This earned him an annoyed sigh from the older man and he put his hand on top of Ryou's. Feeling Bakura's hand on his took Ryou by surprise and before he could pull away, Bakura had gently stretched out Ryou's arm and was examining the blood stained bandage. Seems the bleeding stopped. He cast a glance over at Ryou who was still looking away, a sad frown on his pale face.

Carefully letting Ryou's arm down, Bakura stood up and stretched, popping his neck. The clock beside Ryou's bed flashed 5 in the afternoon and he sighed. Seemed Ryou had finally gotten a goodnights rest. And he isn't the only one. He yawned and was about to ask Ryou just what the hell the past night was about when said Hikari's stomach let out a low growl. The Thief King looked back at the boy who was now holding his stomach as if to silence it. "Hungry?"

Ryou shook his head, wincing when the movement hurt him. "N-No…"

At this Bakura raised an eyebrow. Since when was RYOU of all people not hungry? "Are you sure? You sounded hungry." Ryou shook his head slowly this time, careful not to hurt himself. Bakura tried to think back to when the last time he'd seen the boy eat. When nothing came to mind, he frowned and started to walk out of the room. "You're eating something. Even if I have to shove it down your throat." He sighed to himself. Why am I doing this? It's none of my concern if the boy wants to kill himself.

"B-Bakura!"

Ryou's voice stopped him in place and he looked back at him. "What?" Ryou didn't go on, but twisted his hands together nervously. Bakura frowned a little, growing hungry himself. "What did you want boy?"

"N-Nothing… never mind." Ryou lay back down on the bed, pulling the blankets over his curled up form. Bakura watched him for a few seconds then sighed and walked out of the room. He wasn't all too keen on leaving Ryou alone. After all. The boy was sobbing about that last night.

Last night… Bakura frowned a little at the memories. He had been sound asleep until he heard Ryou calling out his name. It took him a while to register what was going on but when he heard it again, panic and fear laced in the voice coming from downstairs, Bakura was on his feet and down into the kitchen with grace only a Thief could posses. That's where he found Ryou clutching the butchers knife to his throat, cuts on his arm reopened from what looked like a half asleep attempt at what he had done earlier. Bakura found himself terrified for the boy. Which were 2 things the King of Thieves did not do. 1, care for others and 2, fear the sight of blood. But he was. The last thing he wanted at that moment was for Ryou to drag the sharp blade across his neck and see more of the crimson liquid fall from the boy's already weak body.

Bakura quickly shook his head as if to remove the thoughts from it. Once Ryou was alright, Bakura would leave to clear his head. Having once been connected to the boy was the problem. Ryou's body was once his so he just couldn't shake the feeling that Ryou was harming his property.

…Since when was Ryou his property?

Had he not spent the last few years calling Ryou 'landlord' for a reason? And hadn't he blamed it on pity the day before?

"That's enough!" Bakura spoke to nobody in particular and the silent kitchen didn't reply. He took a breath to clear his head then looked around. Just what in the name of Ra was he going to do? Ryou did all the cooking. He never had to worry about it let alone figure out how all the fancy-shmancy ovens and what not worked. He walked over to one of the cabinets, pushing cans out of the way until he something that caught his eye. It was a cup of noodles he'd seen Ryou make when he was running late for school. Deciding it was better than nothing, Bakura set the cup down and grabbed the kettle Ryou used to heat the water. The Stove was how the Hikari had heated it before so that's what Bakura did. He set the kettle down and when nothing happened, he frowned and kneeled down.

"Blasted mortals and their technology. What in the bloody hell was so hard about going outside and using a fire like Ra intended?" Grumbling to himself, he turned one of the knobs until a flame jumped out from one of the circles to close to Bakura's head then he would like. The Thief let out a growl of annoyance he moved the kettle over and let that flame heat the liquid. In the meantime he'd see if there was anything else he could make the boy eat.

Apparently Ryou had been avoiding shopping as of late. The cupboards which always held something or another were now bare and only held a few things that Bakura didn't even try to figure out. He moved onto the fridge and grabbed the pitcher of juice. It smelled like strawberries which was also the way Ryou's hair smelled.

That thought froze Bakura to his place in the kitchen. How in the hell had he known what the boys hair smelled like? He never even noticed before. Casting a glance down at his hands he remembered running them through the snow white strands of hair on Ryou's head and frowned. Why in the bloody hell am I doing all of this? Bakura looked around the kitchen. He never once cared to cook for anyone. Nor had he ever cared if somebody hurt themselves or not. His brown eyes fell to the floor where he had tossed the knife away from Ryou the previous night. The blood was now dry and Bakura picked it up. He held it in his hand, remembering the way Ryou had held it and managed to cut his neck because of the termers his body was in. The dark crimson which used to give the former thief such joy now disgusted him and he cursed, tossing the knife into the sink. He'd deal with it later.

The kettle gave off an annoying whistle to indicate it was hot enough. Bakura turned the knob back to close the flame which he already disliked and mimicked the act of filling the ramen like Ryou had. He then grabbed a pair of chopsticks and made his way back up to Ryou's room. So it wasn't a five-star meal, but Bakura grinned to himself, proud he'd made something. "Ryou food's here." At first the boy didn't move. But when Bakura walked over, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the blankets off the boy, reveling Ryou's curled up form. The pride Bakura had felt slowly vanished as Ryou's brown eyes opened. "Sit up and eat something."

"I'm not hungry…" There was no way the boy could not be hungry. He was way too skinny.

Rolling his eyes, Bakura nodded toward the cup. "Yeah whatever. Eat. Now." When he didn't get a response, Bakura growled low. He didn't enjoy when he was disobeyed. Of course, he also didn't like weaklings or taking care of people… "Sit up and eat or I'll be forced to force feed you."

Ryou flinched a little and Bakura's tone but slowly sat up, keeping his eyes downcast. He still couldn't face Bakura. If Bakura really knew how weak he was, he would leave. And Bakura couldn't have that… He wouldn't be alone. Not again. "Bakura I'm really not hungry…" A low growl erupted from his stomach when the smell of the beef flavored noodles hit him.

"Ryou I am not telling you again. EAT." Bakura grabbed Ryou's right hand and put the cup in it, pushing the chopsticks in the cup. "And I mean eat all of it. Not a single bloody noodle better bet left, understand me?" Ryou kept looking away, still terrified to meet the Yami's eyes. This bothered Bakura and he bit back his anger. Instead he got to his feet and started to walk out. He needed to clear his head.

"Bakura!"

Again a panicked voice cried out and Bakura looked over his shoulder, wondering what happened now. "What?"

"…." He hadn't realized he'd spoke out loud and Ryou quickly lowered his head again to hide his eyes. "I… Would you please…" He was stuttering. He knew the answer he was about to ask so why annoy Bakura by asking it? But he didn't want to be alone. "W-Would you… please… st-stay…?" Bakura raised an eyebrow at the request. When he didn't respond, Ryou glanced at him but turned his head away. "Uh… N-Never min-"

"Will you eat?"

The older male turned around, crossing his arms over his chest as Ryou looked up at him. Brown eyes wide. "N-Nani?"

"If I stay, will you eat?"

Ryou frowned a little and looked down at the cup of noodles. He didn't want to eat. His body did, but he didn't. Of course, he also didn't want Bakura to leave. So with the slightest of nods, he spoke out. "Y-Yes…" Bakura grinned to himself then went back over to Ryou's bedside. He sat down on the floor with his back to the wall and shut his eyes. When Ryou hadn't moved Bakura made a move to leave but Ryou beat him to it and quickly took a bite. His body rejoiced at this and before he knew it he was scoffing down the noodles like it was the first thing he'd eaten in days. Which, it very well could have been for all Bakura knew.

After a while Bakura hadn't heard any noise from the boy so he opened his eyes and looked back. Ryou had fallen asleep, the now completely empty cup of noodles barely clutched in his hand. He had again curled himself up into a ball and even though the blankets were up to his waist, he shivered and let out a small whimper. Bakura frowned and took away the cup, pulling the blanket up more around Ryou. He stopped when his eyes fell on the bandaged arm which was still stained with blood. What was Ryou trying to pull? He knew the boy didn't have the best of lives, but he seemed so happy…

It was a mask… I was right… Being connected to the younger male's mind at one point in time had tipped Bakura off to a few quirks about him. Like how he used to always jump over the last step on the stairs because his sister always had. Or how when he met someone new, he always looked away. Weakness. That's what Bakura always blamed it on. But now… Seeing just how messed up the boy was… The thief shook his head and let the covers fall around his former host's body. All of this is just messing with my head. Tomorrow I'll get to the bottom of this and fix him so he can go back to the annoyingly chipper way he used to be. With that Bakura meant to stand and leave. But he couldn't. Not anymore. So with an annoyed grunt he sat back on the floor, laying his head back and starring at the ceiling. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

…

NOTE: Short Chapter Is Short. Chapter 3! I tried to add some humor in there but it just made Bakura seem even MORE OOC. But I don't care. I don't wanna scare ya'll too much. Also incase this chapter didn't clear it up, Yes. The beginning of Chapter 2 is all a dream for Ryou and Bakura wakes him up from it. I tried to clear that up but between Stress and having to write 3 bloody English papers, it's kinda hard to think properly. But yeah. Just a little more Angst then I'll stop hurting poor Ryou. xD SO yeah… REVIEWS ARE CRACK~.

…

For some reason I keep ending the chapters with them sleeping. …Yeah I don't know why.