FINALLY! Sorry for the longer than usual long waits. OTL First excuse, writers block, second, I went camping. Enjoy. ^^
XXX
Yami opened his eyes only a little as he woke from the sound of the alarm clock. The sound coming from the clock wasn't too loud, or, not loud at all, it was almost dead silent. …Did Bakura turn the volume down on the clock? To wake up to only such a small sound, it made Yami believe he was a light so, Yami sat up and turned the clock off, before laying back down. He closed his eyes, hoping he could sleep in a little longer, but then out of nowhere the thought of the evil Marik quickly came back to him. The things he had said before… it was already morning. Yami's eyes shot open as he immediately sat up once more and turned, hoping he'd see Bakura still there, safe and alive… Bakura, he was sleeping peacefully, unharmed. His breaths were calm and his posture, innocent. Yami looked down at the leash he still held in his hand, still red, all of it. Was the evil Marik bluffing? Or maybe… he knew I'd be on my guard this night, maybe… he's trying to toy with me…
Yami looked back at Bakura. A small sigh of relief escaped him. He lay back down on the bed, only he was closer to Bakura this time. Bakura… he smiled, I'm glad you're all right.
:::
It was a while before Bakura finally woke up. His eyes opened slightly, the first thing he saw was the pharaoh placing the chain that held the millennium puzzle around his neck, he was already dressed. Bakura opened his eyes as he sat up and did the same for his ring, seeing as they both tend to have their items right next to them when they sleep. Yami sat on the bedside, not doing much else. He ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed deeply. He did manage to get a good night sleep, but how long will he have to worry until the evil Marik finally made his move, if ever. Bakura crawled out of bed, got up and grabbed his day clothes. As he began to undress he looked over at the pharaoh to see if he was looking. Of course he wouldn't be, he respected Bakura's privacy. Yami looked away, staring at the wall, his expression saying almost nothing to Bakura, just that he was deep in thought. Bakura continued to get dressed anyway. I'm glad he's alright today, but I'll have to keep a tight hold on the leash from now on. I don't want to make any mistakes that may hurt or even kill Bakura. Yami looked over at Bakura as soon as he had finished getting dressed.
"So?" Yami said.
"So… what?"
"Are you ready to socialize with my friends?"
Bakura's eyes narrowed as he looked at the pharaoh. Yami knew he hated the idea, but maybe, if he could get his friends and Bakura to tolerate each other better, then maybe he could spend more time around them than just being so distant for Bakura's sake. Maybe, Bakura just might change with the help of Yami's friends.
"…I suppose" Bakura answered, "but I highly doubt they're going to welcome me with open arms"
He was right, Yami didn't believe they would either, but he was going to try to get both his friends and Bakura on the same side, but he knew it wasn't going to be easy for most of his friends to give him a chance. Yami stood.
"I don't expect them to, not right away anyway" He said before heading for the door.
Bakura followed him out and walked beside him the rest of the way. Yami couldn't help but feel a little curious to how Bakura was really feeling about all of this? Most likely, he was probably repulsed by the idea of making friends with those who were even a little kind to his enemy. Yami could understand why Bakura would still hate or even fear the pharaoh after all those years. Back then, all those years ago… was I a terrible pharaoh, or a kind one? It doesn't help me that my memory was wiped clean… nor does it help that Bakura won't give me much of a chance… or, wouldn't… now, we're starting over. I just hope this works out in the end. Yami's eyes peeked at Bakura's face as he turned his head slightly to see him better. The look on his face made it seem like he was just as nervous as Yami, not really showing much hate, but not exactly showing no hate either.
Finally they both stepped into the dining room and luckily for Yami, everyone was there, or was it unlucky? Maybe it would have been better to just slowly allow one friend at a time to trust him, well, it was a little late to plan any further into this now.
"Pharaoh, good morning" Yugi said as he approached the two, a sweet smile on his face.
"Good morning Yugi" Yami smiled back, "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah" Yugi nodded before looking at Bakura, who only watched the two carry on a conversation, arms folded having an almost uncaring expression on his face. Regardless, Yugi smiled at him as well, "Well, I'm glad that Bakura's ok too"
Bakura raised an eyebrow and lowered his shoulders as he stared questionably at Yugi.
I knew Yugi would be the first to give him a chance, even without asking him to. Yugi always did have his heart in the right place. Yami was grateful for that.
"Yugi"
"Yes, Pharaoh?"
"I made a deal with Bakura. We're starting over as if we had never met each other before. This way we can give each other a chance to maybe see the other side of us" Yami looked away from Yugi for a brief moment as he watched his other friends chatting with one another before looking back at him and continuing, "I hope you and everyone else will help me out in this"
The look on Yugi's face changed from slight surprise to a kind smile.
"Sure" Yugi said before turning to Bakura, "Well, Since we're starting over" he reached out his hand to Bakura, "I'm Yugi"
Bakura stepped back a little just as Yugi had held out his hand to him. Clearly, he was confused. Or was it clearly? It seemed that even though Yami thought he had figured him out most times, he was wrong. Bakura may be an open book to the Pharaoh, but the words in his book were complicated and hard to make out.
Bakura reached out his hand for Yugi's. Yami was a little surprised as he watched, a calm smile grew on his face.
"Hey!" Joey shouted as he dashed over to Yugi and immediately jumped in front of him as if to protect him from Bakura, making Bakura step away once again, "Yeah, you better back off punk! I ain't gonna let ya lay a finger on my friends again!"
"Joey! He's not trying to hurt Yugi" Yami said, angry yet trying his best to remain calm.
"Don't worry Joey" Yugi said as he stepped in front of Joey to look at him, "We're starting over. Bakura was only trying to be nice"
"…Wha? Yugi, 'Bakura' and 'nice' to fit in the same sentence together"
"Joey…" Yugi's tone was a little on the disappointed side. He knew Joey didn't think Bakura could change, but Yugi did, and so did the Pharaoh. Yugi turned to face Bakura once more, a shy smile on his face, "Sorry about that" He held out his hand again, "Let's try again"
Bakura looked around at the watchful eyes of Yugi's friends. Yami didn't think Bakura felt too comfortable with everyone watching him. Even so, Bakura reached for Yugi's hand once more. As soon as he took Yugi's hand, Yugi's smile quickly changed from shy to cheery. The look on Bakura's face told Yami that he wanted to say something, but couldn't seem to open his mouth… not even slightly. Even as he let go of Yugi's hand, he said nothing.
"My turn!" Serenity cheered as she stepped closer to Bakura, immediately holding out her hand without having a second thought about him, "I'm Serenity" She smiled sweetly.
"Woah Woah!" Joey cut in once again as he stepped in front of his sister and faced Bakura sending him suspicious glares, "Before I even let you touch my sister you have to touch me first!"
"Joey, do you know how wrong you sound right now?" Mai said, trying to hold in a giggle.
"Huh?... What! Get your head out of the gutter, Mai!"
"Took you long enough to figure that one out"
Bakura's expression and posture slowly changed to impatient as he waited for Joey to hold out his hand and re- introduce himself. Finally Joey held out his hand and, even though he didn't look too happy about it, he wasn't exactly against the idea either.
"Well, I'm Joey..."
Bakura took Joey's hand, but instead of re-introducing himself to Joey he tightened his grip on his hand, giving Joey a sign that it was a challenge he was looking for. So Joey began tightening his grip on Bakura's hand as a stupid confident grin appeared on his face. Bakura on the other hand, his expression did not change. From the looks of things Bakura just needed to get his anger out of his system. Yami didn't think that this way was so harmful, so he did not interfere. Then, a sly grin appeared on Bakura's face making Joey a tad uncomfortable. Just then Bakura tightened his grip harder almost crushing Joey's hand as Joey almost screamed in pain. Now things had gone too far.
"Bakura, that's enough!" Yami shouted as he pulled back on the leash causing Bakura to choke a little before falling backwards onto the floor.
Yami had no idea he had tugged on the leash so hard. He didn't mean to hurt Bakura. He knelt beside Bakura and helped him sit up as he placed his hand on his back as Bakura tried to breathe normally again after getting the wind knocked out of him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you alright, Bakura?"
Instead of the death glare and sudden insults Yami had expected from him, Bakura simply chuckled. What was so funny? Yami couldn't understand it.
"It must be hard wanting to protect me as well as your friends at the same time, Pharaoh"
Yami's eyes narrowed.
"So, you planned on doing this to Joey this whole time?"
Bakura shook his head, "No… it was just surprising to me that you would have the strength to pull me to the floor like that"
Yami sighed before looking away. I didn't think I'd have that sort of strength either…
"Of course…" Bakura continued.
Yami glanced at Bakura waiting for him to say something else.
"You do have the strength to hold me down on the bed when you want to have your way with me so-"
Before Bakura could finish Yami placed his hand over his mouth and groaned, his expression more annoyed than angry. Yami was pretty much used to Bakura coming up with these sorts of comments to try and embarrass him now… and that's all Bakura was trying to do, embarrass him.
"What? You're a freaking liar, the pharaoh would never do that to anyone, right Pharaoh?" Joey said as he basically massaged his own hand.
Bakura took Yami's hand off his mouth before answering Joey.
"You'd be surprised. He's really quite horny when he wants to be" Bakura smirked.
"Is that true pharaoh?" Yugi asked, obviously hoping that Bakura was just bluffing.
"No, he's just being…" Yami paused as he looked at Bakura, "…Bakura"
Bakura rolled his eyes before standing up, Yami stood soon after.
"Well, are you alright now, Bakura?" Yami asked in a calm tone… or, calm enough.
Bakura only nodded in response to his question, not even making eye contact with him.
"Well, can we try again or are you gonna crush my hand again?" Joey joked.
"I'd probably crush your hand again"
Yami cleared his throat a little letting Bakura know he wasn't going to tolerate that so lightly if he tried it a second time.
Bakura growled under his breath before he held out his hand to Joey. Joey smiled triumphantly as he took Bakura's hand and re-introduced himself once more.
"Joey!"
"…Bakura…"
Finally, Serenity got her chance to jump in between the two and hold her hand out to Bakura.
"My turn, I'm Serenity" She smiled cheerfully.
Bakura only stared at her hand for a moment before placing his hand on his face and letting out a small groan. He wasn't enjoying this so much, of course, Yami didn't expect he would.
"How's your hand Joey?" Yami asked as he turned his attention to his friend.
"Meh, it's ok. It only hurts a little now but don't worry, I'll live"
Yami smiled, Joey's sense of humour was still there so apparently the pain wasn't anything serious. He knew it wasn't that bad either, it's not like his hand was torn off or anything, still he was glad his friend was alright.
"Good"
Yami looked back at Bakura to see he was now shaking hands with Tea, and not enjoying it one bit. Tea didn't look too thrilled either, but at least she and Yami's other friends were making an attempt to be nice to him.
"Pharaoh?" Yugi said.
Yami looked down at him, "Yes?" he said as he smiled gently at his friend. He couldn't help but wear a smile as he looked at Yugi. His kind words always made Yami feel better in almost any situation, Yugi was pretty much his guardian angel in a sense, even though Yami was the, used to be, spirit that used his body to get around. It was strange not having to use Yugi's body anymore to get around, it was all thanks to this curse. Even so, having to tolerate Bakura twenty four seven was no picnic.
"Are you making any progress with Bakura? I mean…" Yugi paused as he looked over at Bakura who seemed to be losing his patience having to be around Yugi's friends and actually holding back his urge to tear each and every one of them to shreds, "He's seems to be getting better… I suppose, it's kind of hard to tell…"
Yami sighed before nodding, "It is, sometimes I can't even tell…"
Yami and Yugi both turned their attention to each other and smiled unaware that Bakura had turned his attention away from Yami's friends and towards Yugi and the pharaoh.
"I'm glad I am able to talk to you in a peaceful manner again Yugi"
"Yeah, I'm glad I get to talk to you again to, Pharaoh. I suppose it wasn't all good if you really missed me that much"
Yami shook his head, completely forgetting that Bakura was there, and yet completely aware that the leash was still in his hand.
"It's not that, We have always been partners and best of friends. Not only that but we were always there for each other, not like we had much of a choice, but still… It's going to take some getting used to"
"Yeah, it does seem a little strange doesn't it?"
Bakura glared as he watched the two carry on a friendly conversation as if it was no problem, making it seem like Bakura was completely talentless in that field.
"Bakura?" Serenity said, hoping to talk to him only to be ignored.
Bakura didn't take his eyes off the two. He stood like a statue watching them as they talked to each other. The pharaoh seemed so much more at peace when he was talking to Yugi. His smile was much more kind than any he had given to Bakura. Once Yami had finished talking to Yugi he turned see Bakura, watching, staring at him, almost completely motionless. He stood there for a moment waiting to see if he'd move at all, but he got nothing from him. Yami walked up to Bakura, but before he could say anything to him, Bakura spoke first.
"Forgetting someone?" He said, his tone a little annoyed.
"U-Uh…" Yami stuttered, he actually did forget Bakura was there, "…I'm sorry"
Bakura's glare darkened.
"Don't be, I didn't expect anything more from you anyway"
Yami's eyes grew at Bakura's cold words. Did he really see him like that? Yami felt the guilt build in him as he looked away from Bakura. What did he do to deserve this harsh treatment from him? Was it because he forgot about Bakura for just a moment? Should it really surprise Bakura so much that he did? Why is he so cold all of a sudden? I know he's been cruel before, but all I did was take the time to talk to Yugi again. The two were silent, Bakura still staring the pharaoh down, arms folded as Yami averted his eyes from the heartless stare.
"This is going to be a looong week…" Duke said.
:::
Today, there was no duel, not after the lightning that struck the arena. Kaiba's men had to repair it first, but once it was finished Kaiba for sure would immediately continue the duelling. It was almost like the man had no sense of what was really going on around him, but only cared for himself and his brother, ignoring everyone else. Yami sat quietly, bored and miserable. All this stress that had fallen upon him was causing him to slowly lose his mind. Not only that, but Bakura was the cause of the stress whether it was his fault or not. Nobody was in the room but Yami, Bakura and Serenity. Everyone was probably, doing something important. All he knew was that Joey had dashed out of the room soon after Kaiba insulted him on his way out. Tea, Duke, Tristan and other people soon followed after. They were most likely trying to prevent Joey from making a fool out of himself again or getting disqualified.
"Pharaoh?" Came Serenity's voice from beside Yami.
Yami looked over at her to see her almost sad yet sweet smiling face.
"Are you bored? I have a few ideas to cure that if you want to join"
"What are they?"
Serenity's sad smile turned into a more cheery one seeing that Yami was interested to know what her ideas were.
"How about… dancing?"
"Forget it" Bakura said before Yami could either agree or disagree to it.
"ook… how about, the pocky game?" Serenity suggested.
Bakura and Yami both gave her a strange look, both obviously curious to know what the pocky game was.
"You don't know how to play that game?"
"No" Yami answered, "Please explain"
"Well, there's a couple different and yet similar ways... You take a pocky, put it between someone and those two people have to eat the pocky until their lips touch, or until you kiss or you can make out in the end"
The way Serenity made it sound, using her sweet voice, almost made the suggestive game sound completely innocent. Yami looked over his shoulder to see Bakura's face, the look he was giving her wasn't too kind. This might be good for Bakura. After all, it might help release him from this curse… It didn't matter how many insults Bakura threw at Yami, he would never give up on him. After what Bakura had told him about his past life, how could he possibly give up on him now? No one else looked past Bakura's anger and cruel behaviour but Yami. Yugi gave Bakura the chance to start over, Serenity was willing to as well, and though Yami's other friends swallowed their pride long enough to even approach him, it still didn't seem as though they were completely agreeing to the idea. Still, Yami said he'd free Bakura, and that's what he was going to do, and he was going to find every chance he could to do it.
"We'll play" Yami smiled.
"What!" Bakura said, his tone shocked and somewhat angry, "Are you mad?"
Yami looked away from Bakura, stood and walked to the middle of the floor. He looked back at Bakura waiting for him to follow. Of course, Bakura just stayed put, too stubborn to follow.
"Don't you want to be free from this curse?" Yami asked.
"Of course I d-" Bakura paused, finally realizing the real reason Yami wanted to play the game.
Bakura sighed. He stood and walked over to the pharaoh. Yami sat down and Bakura did the same soon after.
"Ok!" Serenity said as she placed the pocky in between them, "Start"
Yami bit his end of the pocky, but kept watch of Bakura making sure he was actually going to join. Bakura hesitated a little at first, but ended up biting his end of the pocky as well. Serenity sat down beside them as she watched curiously and happily. Yami took another bite of the pocky as Bakura did the same after. Both made their way to the middle of the pocky, but once their lips touched, Bakura tried to quickly pull away, but with no success as Yami's hand tightened around the leash and pulled him close to him.
"You have to follow the rules of the pocky game Bakura" Yami said.
"She said 'until their lips touched'" Bakura glared.
"Or kiss..." Yami raised his hand to Bakura's face and placed a finger under his chin near his neck before sliding it to the tip of his chin as he continued speaking, "…or make out"
The look Bakura gave Yami was that of both shock and fear. Though Bakura tried to hide his expression with anger as he would usually do, this time he had trouble doing just that. Not only that, but from the sound of Bakura's voice it sounded as if he were trying to come up with an insult, but only managed to stutter.
"I told you, I said I was trying the sexy approach if it means to help free you… and I'm not stopping now"
Little did the two realize was that Serenity was watching more confused than anything now. She had always been the innocent one of the group.
Yami wrapped an arm around Bakura's waist pulling his body close to his own. The blush on Bakura's face started out a light pink, but quickly turned into a dark red just as Yami leaned in and kissed Bakura's neck before slowly sliding his tongue to his cheek. Bakura bit his lip the whole time at an attempt to hold back a moan only to fail at the end.
"Um, Pharaoh?" Serenity said.
Yami stopped what he was doing to look at Serenity, allowing Bakura to take a quick break.
"Is that necessary?"
"I believe so… I tried to use the cute approach… but you've seen the results I got from that didn't you?"
"Oh…"
It was kind of strange how Serenity carried on the conversation like it was normal, and yet at the same time… Yami kind of expected it.
"…We shouldn't be doing this sort of thing in front of you anyway should we?"
"I don't mind"
"I do"
Serenity blinked before smiling cheerfully.
"Well, ok... I should go see where my brother ran off to anyway" She said, obviously thinking that Yami wanted to be alone, when he didn't.
"What? No!" Bakura shouted, but not quickly enough as Serenity had already left the room. Apparently he didn't want to be alone with the pharaoh, especially since he was still doing the so called 'sexy' approach.
Yami looked back at Bakura. Even though he didn't really want Serenity to leave, and apparently, neither did Bakura, Yami saw this as an opportunity to help break the curse more. Yami smiled and kissed Bakura's cheek softly. Bakura flinched at the unexpected peck on the cheek before looking at Yami's gentle smiling face.
"Am I, between the both of us, still the only one trying to break this curse?"
Bakura did not answer at first. He simply averted his eyes from Yami.
"You've done just about everything you can to me… I'm starting to think this curse has no intentions of releasing me…"
"That's because you need to show me more affection. I've tried all I can to break this curse, you hardly did anything" Yami frowned.
Again, Bakura did not answer. His eyes were more sorrowful in his own, once again, angry way. He closed his eyes and sighed silently before looking back at the pharaoh.
Yami smiled before stroking Bakura's cheek, his touch soft.
"For someone who's been touched before, you're certainly shy about the things I have been doing to you"
Yami put his hand on Bakura's cheek. Bakura didn't do much of anything but stare.
"I know you doubt that any of these attempts are working" Yami continued, "but if you don't try we may never know"
Bakura only stared for a moment before finally answering.
"…Fine…" he said in an almost calm tone, "but none of that sexy nonsense"
"No promises, it's the only thing I know so far that works well"
It was no surprise to Yami that Bakura would look a little nervous. For a cold hearted evil doer like Bakura, he was surprisingly fragile. Because of his past life, because of the pharaoh's family, Bakura had never had any real friends or anyone to care for him. No one, for over five thousand long years. Yami should have been lonely for that same amount of time, but he erased his memory, his spirit sleeping in the puzzle for five thousand years until Yugi unlocked its power. Of course Bakura wouldn't trust, of course he wouldn't know how to care. No one showed him how… until now.
Yami removed his hand from Bakura's face before wrapping his arms around him.
"Go ahead" Yami said.
Bakura didn't seem like he wanted to kiss Yami, but that was ok, as long as he showed some sort of affection it was fine with him. So, Bakura leaned in close and wrapped his arms around the pharaoh. He lay his head on his chest and lay there comfortably. Yami's smile softened as he stroked Bakura's hair.
I'm glad I got the chance to see the soft side of him. Ever since this curse first activated I have been seeing the more humane side… I want him to know, that even if the world is against him, I will be there to stand by his side.
XXX
Wait till next update.