A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who helped me to find that story I was looking for. Now that I've finally been able to go back and read it, I can stop wasting time trying to find it... and you have no idea how good that feels. As always, I offer sincere thanks for my reviews, too. I know some people were a little disappointed that Yuugi and Yami weren't in the last chapter, but that won't be happening too often now that everyone is in one place (for a little while, anyway). I had fun with the end of this chapter... Enjoy!

To say that Yuugi was surprised to look up from his game and see Bakura, Ryou, Malik, and Mariku standing in the doorway of the game room was an understatement. He stared at the small group with wide eyes, not even noticing when Tenno took the opportunity to win the game that the two of them had been playing for the past hour. Dropping his controller on the ground, he jumped up and ran to his friends, giving them both a quick examination as he approached. Ryou was noticeably pale, with a tell-tale line in his forehead, and Malik was just alternating between looking pissed and openly glaring at Mariku. It was obvious something wasn't right, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what it was when he spotted the Ring around Ryou's neck and the Rod sticking out of the waistband of Malik's pants. But before he could say anything, Malik finally snapped.

"Stop trying to grope me, you pervert!" he screamed at Mariku. Ryou flinched, his hand flying up to his forehead. "Just stay away from me or I'm going to flush this down the toilet." He waved the Rod around for emphasis and stormed down the hallway as Mariku smirked, clearly not bothered by the threat.

"Mariku, can't you ever behave?" Tenno asked, rolling his eyes as he switched the video game off and picked Yuugi's controller up. He set both on top of the coffee table and reclined on the couch.

"Not when it comes to my pretty hikari," Mariku answered, looking rather dreamy. "He's just so - "

"Stop!" Bakura interrupted, holding a hand up and shuddering. "It's bad enough I've had to watch you stare at him for the past five minutes. I have no interest in hearing what you think or fantasize about him."

"You're just jealous," retorted Mariku.

"Are you okay?" Yuugi whispered, taking the chance to really take a good look at Ryou. After so many years of being Ryou's friend, he could see the imminent signs of a headache from a mile away. Ryou needed a quiet, dark room, some medication, a glass of water or better yet, something with sugar in it, and more importantly, an explanation.

Ryou sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm trapped in a nightmare and I can't seem to wake up," he stated miserably, glancing meaningfully at Bakura. "How do you think I am?"

Yuugi bit back a smile. "I'm sorry to hear that. If it helps, I think we're all in the same one." He tapped the Puzzle for emphasis, and Ryou nodded.

"What do you mean, a nightmare?" demanded Bakura, turning to face them. Ryou jumped. "If you want to have a nightmare, Rabbit, then believe me..."

"Stop!" ordered Tenno, rolling his eyes as he stood up. "Bakura, please stop trying to traumatize your hikari!"

Bakura scowled. "I don't have to listen to you, Pharaoh," he said.

During the ensuing bickering (which Mariku jumped into with glee), Yuugi and Ryou locked eyes. Jou, who was still sitting on the couch, shifted uncomfortably when he noticed, drawing the attention of Seto and Tenno. Curious as to what he was staring at, they followed his gaze to the two small boys standing in the doorway. Bakura and Mariku eventually glanced at them as well, wondering what was holding the interest of everyone else in the room. Neither Yuugi nor Ryou seemed to realize that they had caught the notice of the others, and Jou knew why. For as long as he could remember, the two of them had possessed the ability to have a conversation with each other without saying a single word. It was annoying at best, disturbing at worst, because it was usually proceeded by...

"Shall we flip for it?" Yuugi asked, breaking the silence.

"Why bother?" Ryou smiled tiredly. "You always win anyway."

"True." Violet eyes twinkled. "But no dividing and conquering tonight. I think everyone needs to hear this."

"Sounds good to me." Ryou turned to Jou, who suddenly looked really nervous. "Come on, Jou. I think it's time we all had a little talk."

"I can't," Jou said immediately, glancing around for safety. "I have to... um... I have to..."

Ryou folded his arms. "We can all talk now, or we can wait until Malik passes out and you can speak to Yuugi and me alone. Which would you prefer?" His voice was steely.

Jou gulped and started to sweat. If there was one thing he hadn't missed about his friends, it was the way that Yuugi and Ryou seemed to see right through both him and anyone else they encountered. It was uncanny and freaky as all hell. He looked desperately at Seto, hoping that his boyfriend would step in and save him, but Seto merely raised an eyebrow curiously, clearly seeing no need to intervene. Shooting him a vicious glare - the brunette was so not letting laid that night - Jou finally sighed and allowed his shoulders to slump. There was going to be no getting away from it, and the lesser of two evils was having someone else in the room.

"Fine," he mumbled. "But I hope you know that you've met your match in Yami and Bakura."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Bakura.

Pointedly ignoring him, Ryou spun and headed towards the stairs with Jou reluctantly trailing behind. It wasn't safe to leave Malik alone for too long if he was in a bad mood; the Kaiba mansion would suffer serious damage if they did. Smiling to himself, Yuugi set off after them, highly conscious of the fact that he had entourage of Tenno, Bakura, Mariku, and Seto. Glad that was facing forward so that he wouldn't have to deal with them, he quickly followed his two friends up the stairs. Apparently the four of them had each found a personal stalker. Fantastic. That was just what he had always wanted.

Jou was able to lead them straight to Malik, although the blond wouldn't have been that difficult to find; all they had to do was follow the sound of cursing. He tried the knob and found that the door was locked. Ryou sighed and knocked once. Almost immediately, there was silence from within the room. Yuugi paused by his friends and waited patiently, ignoring their four followers, as ever so slowly there came the sound of footsteps crossing the room, followed by a faint click that meant the door had been unlocked. Pleased, he pushed it open and ushered Ryou and Jou inside before slipping inside himself. It was with a great deal of pleasure that he pointedly closed the door in the faces of their stalkers and locked it.

Malik had thrown himself down on the huge bed and was staring up at the ceiling. There was a glassy, vacant look in his eye that meant he was upset, though the room was surprisingly intact. Ryou approached the bed and climbed up beside him, stretching out on the opposite side with a faint sigh of relief. Jou sat down on the bottom of the bed, while Yuugi went into the ensuite bathroom and found a cloth. He ran it under the cold water in the sink, turned the lights off, and found his way over to the bed. With some effort, he wiggled his way onto the bed until he was sitting between Ryou and Malik.

"Alright, who wants to start?" he asked quietly, gently placing the folded cloth over Ryou's forehead and eyes.

"Bakura is a total nightmare," Ryou repeated, his hand rising to adjust the cloth so that absolutely no light could get past. Just being in the dark helped immensely, and he could feel his body beginning to relax as the stress of the day finally rolled away. "My father gave me this..." He gestured in the vague direction of his chest. "As a birthday gift. It's called the Millennium Ring. The woman that my father married, Samira-san, came in and completely lost it when she saw the Ring. She said that it was evil and insisted that I not put it on." A wry laugh escaped him. "If I'd known what was going to happen when I put the Ring around my neck, I probably would have helped her find a cliff to drop it off of."

"Let me guess. You put it on and Bakura came out?" said Yuugi, recalling his own experience with Tenno.

"You got it. He just appeared out of nowhere in my bedroom. Before I could do or say anything, Samira-san came upstairs to apologize and freaked out even more. She started yelling about how he was evil, which I actually kind of agree with now. Bakura shut the door on her and told me that he was leaving, and that I could either come with him or stay behind. He said that I only had one chance to make my choice." His voice grew softer. "I decided to go with him."

"If you hate him so much, why did you agree to go? Why didn't you stay home?" Jou asked with interest. He received a kick in the arm as his answer and yelped. "Ouch! It was an honest question, you know."

"I don't know why I went. That's the problem," said Ryou, sounding frustrated. "When we were standing there and he said that, I just... I couldn't imagine staying behind." He paused thoughtfully. "Of course, that was before I found out that the bond between us means I'm going to be stuck with him forever."

"What?" Malik and Yuugi shouted together. At the same time, Malik tried to sit up. Almost instantly, he gasped in pain and doubled over, his arms wrapped around his ribs. "Ow. Shit."

"Malik, what's wrong?" Yuugi cried.

Jou jumped off of the bed and hurried around to the other side. He was the one amongst their group who had the most experience in caring for injuries. "Lie down," he instructed firmly, placing a hand on Malik's shoulder.

Looking reluctant, Malik did as the taller boy had ordered. He grimaced as Jou leaned down and pulled Malik's shirt up to inspect the damage. Jou's honey brown eyes widened and he swore quietly at the sight of the livid bruising that trailed from Malik's chest all the way down to below the waist of his pants. It even disappeared around his body and no doubt continued on his back. Worst of all, most of the bruises were in the shape of a boot, and it didn't take a scientist to figure out what had happened. Yuugi choked back a gasp and grabbed Ryou's hand. Ryou didn't have to look to know that whatever his friends had seen, it was incredibly bad.

"Don't move, Malik. I think there's a first aid kit in the bathroom," said Jou. "Keep talking, Ryou."

"I haven't got much more to tell," mumbled Ryou, his voice filled with worry. "You okay, Malik?"

"I'm fine," said Malik, scowling. Being fussed over was not his favourite activity, and he regretted trying to move so fast, but it was too late now. There was no way his friends would let him get away without being taken care of, and at least he knew that Jou wasn't going to try to grope him. "What do you mean, you're stuck with Bakura forever?"

"Exactly what I said," Ryou sighed. "Bakura told me that three thousand years ago, he was a Tomb Robber who stole the Millennium Ring. But like the Pharaoh, he couldn't use the power because he was missing the light half of his soul. I guess the power would have made him crazy. Well, crazier than he already is. Anyway, the Tomb Robber agreed to be sacrificed in a ritual in return for the promise that he would be reincarnated at the same time and place that his hikari was. He thinks that hikari is me. Apparently, when I put the Millennium Ring on, it forged a bond between us that's never going to go away." He shuddered and pressed a hand against the cloth on his face. "The more time we spend together, the stronger the bond is going to get."

Yuugi looked down at the Puzzle with a horrified expression. "Oh my god," he whispered, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish. "Tenno really does think I'm his hikari."

"Well, duh," Jou said, emerging from the bathroom. "No offence, Yuug, but did you really buy that he was just spending time with you in order to find his hikari? Come on. If you weren't his light, Yami would have just taken the Millennium Puzzle back and moved on. You were so reluctant to the thought of magic that he was just trying to come up with a way to make you agree to spend time with him. That way, you would be able to get to know him better and be more receptive to the whole idea." He knelt down beside Malik and set the first aid kit on the floor. "It's so obvious that you guys are hikari and yami. You complement each other in every way, and I can tell by how you're cradling the Puzzle that you're already attached to it."

Instantly, Yuugi dropped the Puzzle and held his hands up in the air. "That doesn't mean anything," he protested. It was true that he liked the Puzzle a lot, but that didn't mean he wanted anything to do with Tenno.

"Denial isn't only a river in Egypt. I think it's time you accepted the truth," Jou told him. He opened up the first aid kit and pulled out a roll of gauze and some special bruise cream that one of Seto's doctors had created after Mokuba began sleepwalking. It worked wonderfully in reducing the pain and severity of bruising in no time at all. "Yami is the other half of your soul, Yuugi. He's your darkness and you're his light. That's the way it is for all of you," he added, poking his head up over the side of the bed. "It's not something you can change, and if you keep trying to deny it, you're only going to hurt yourself."

A mulish expression spread over Yuugi's face, and he turned resolutely to Malik. "What about you?

"Mariku is a fucking pervert," Malik growled, wincing as Jou's gentle fingers spread the cream across his chest. Even the lightest touch hurt. "Bastard had the nerve to intervene when my father and I were..." He hesitated briefly. "Talking. He was trying to kill the old man when I made him stop. Hafiz - " he refused to call his father "Dad" anymore " - used this weird golden disc to disappear after he promised to kill me in revenge. What more is there to say?"

A stunned silence fell over the room as everyone contemplated this bizarre summary. Finally, Yuugi spoke. "Malik, are you sure that you're alright?"

"No, I'm not fucking alright. That pervert groped me a half dozen times and my father was trying to kill me!" Malik yelled, not bothering to keep his voice down in the slightest. "My sister is keeping things from me, I've seen two people die today, I'm pretty sure that I've broken a few ribs, and now I've found out that this stupid thing has forged a bond between me and that pervert without my permission?" He waved the Rod around for emphasis. "Do I sound alright?"

"No, you sound hysterical, and let me remind you that "that pervert" is likely right outside the door listening to every word you just said," Jou commented.

Malik's mouth shut instantly with an audible click. Jou grinned to himself as he helped Malik to roll over so that he could continue smoothing the cream onto Malik's back. He was relieved to notice that the damage wasn't nearly as prominent, which gave him a chance to lightly probe Malik's ribs to see if they were broken. Once or twice Malik flinched from the pain, but Jou could tell that nothing was broken or cracked. Nevertheless, he got Yuugi to help Malik sit up a little so that he could roll a length of gauze around Malik. Extra support would be helpful, and he figured it would help remind the energetic blond that he was injured so that he wouldn't end up breaking something for real. With bruising that severe, it wouldn't take much to break a rib.

"Here, take this," he said, thrusting a couple of pills into Malik's hand. "It will help with the pain. I'll get you a glass of water from the bathroom. Hang on."

When he returned with the glass, Malik took the two pills, and then Ryou took one to help with his headache. Jou put the first aid kit back in the bathroom and then stretched out on the bottom of the bed again. One thing that he'd learned after living with Seto was that sometimes you could tell a lot more about a situation just by watching as opposed to speaking. At that moment, Malik was lying flat on his back with his hands crossed loosely over his chest. The Millennium Rod had been placed on the bed between he and Yuugi and, as far as anyone could see, Malik was completely ignoring it. But Jou had the sneaking suspicion that if he reached out and tried to grab the Rod, Malik would be on him faster than he could blink. Yuugi was staring down at the Millennium Puzzle with a faint frown on his face. No doubt he was less than impressed to have heard about Tenno's little plan, though Jou figured that his friend hadn't really fallen for it in the place. He was a lot smarter than he let on. Ryou still had the cloth over his eyes, but one of his hands was resting almost possessively on the Millennium Ring. Sighing, Jou rolled onto his stomach and spoke in as gentle a manner as he could.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but you should know that they would never hurt you, and the bond works both ways. They're the other halves of your souls, too."

"Is that how it is for you and Kaiba-san?" Yuugi asked suddenly, looking at Jou sharply.

"Err, kind of," Jou said, aware that he was blushing faintly. He'd never really talked about his relationship with Seto to anyone except for Shizuka. "Seto and I aren't really yami and hikari, though it feels that way sometimes. We're soul mates. We complete each other, but it's a little different from being two halves of one soul."

"Did he have a past in Ancient Egypt too?" inquired Ryou.

"Yeah. Back then, he was the Head Priest to the Pharaoh," he explained with a glance at Yuugi. "Because Seto isn't a yami, his power is stable enough that he doesn't need to rely on a Millennium Item. The shadow realm won't overwhelm him the way it would with Tenno or Bakura or Mariku. Now that would normally mean that his endurance isn't as strong, but as long as he has me to draw on, it's okay."

"I'll be he draws on you a lot to build up his endurance," Malik muttered.

Jou turned bright pink and glared. "If you weren't injured, I'd push you off the bed."

A knock came at the door, followed by Seto's low voice calling Jou's name. The sound effectively silenced whatever sharp comment that Malik had been about to make. There was no end to Jou's private amusement when he saw the horrified faces on his friends; clearly, none of them wanted the other men to be let into the room. Laughing to himself, he went to roll off of the bed and suddenly found himself pinned down. Jou blinked in astonishment, realizing that Malik had thrown his legs over his waist, Yuugi had lunged for his hands, and Ryou's headache had magically disappeared in his haste to pin Jou's legs to the bed. All three of them were glaring at him.

"Uh, guys?" he tried after a minute when the knock came for a second time. "Could you get off?"

"Not if you're opening that door," said Ryou, making himself comfortable on Jou's feet. "I don't want to even look at Bakura right now, much less speak to him. I'm sorry, Jou, but you're stuck in here."

"You have to face them at some point," Jou pointed out, wondering what the best plan was. Yuugi and Ryou were both small and not nearly as physically strong as he was, and though Malik could usually put up a good fight, he was wounded. The problem was that there were three of them and only one of him, and he didn't really want to hurt any of his friends. "It might even go better for you if you do it on your terms instead of theirs. Because let me tell you, if you think that Yami, Mariku, and Bakura are not going to get in here if they want in here, you have another thought coming. They were being nice by giving us a chance to open the door. Any one of them, including Seto, could have that door open before you had time to realize that they even wanted in."

"But it's locked," Yuugi said, blinking down at him.

"When you have shadow magic, that's not exactly an issue," Jou reminded him. "Not to mention someone who was once a professional Tomb Robber. Bakura has a lot of his previous incarnation's talents, let's put it that way."

"Oh god," Ryou whimpered. "Suddenly I have another headache."

"Suck it up," he said, chuckling. With a quick, smooth movement, he bucked up with his feet, sending Ryou over the side of the bed with a sound that could only be described as a squeal. Next, he jerked his wrists forward in a controlled motion, sending Yuugi tumbling over the side of the bed to land on top of Ryou. Then he sat up, shoved Malik's legs aside, and scooted backwards out of the blond's reach, ignoring the way Malik was cursing at him. That was the scene that Bakura, Malik, Tenno, and Seto walked in on. The four men stopped in the doorway and stared. Seto was the only one who looked amused. Bakura rolled his eyes. Tenno smirked, and Mariku just beamed at seeing Malik with his shirt off.

"Hi Seto," Jou said brightly, glancing up at his boyfriend. At the same time, Malik leaned forward, caught hold of his knees, and flipped him sideways over the side of the bed that faced the door. Jou hit the ground with a thump and a pained yelp. Malik took one look at Mariku's grin and shuddered as he rolled off of the other side of the bed, where Ryou and Yuugi were. It hurt when he hit the ground - or make that Yuugi and Ryou - but it was worth it.

"Malik, get off!"

"Shh! You'll attract attention!"

"I think they saw us, and Ryou's right. You're heavy."

"Don't insult me when I'm wounded!"

"Do you need some help getting up, my pretty hikari?" Mariku purred, leaning against the side of the door.

"HIDE ME!"

"Malik, ow. That's my hair!"

"Both of you shut up!" ordered Ryou, tilting his head to hear better. His two squabbling friends fell silent, allowing him to hear the soft ringing that was coming from underneath him. It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but somehow he managed to work his hand into his back pocket so that he could pull his cell phone out. Both Yuugi and Malik looked down at him with interest, neither making any attempt to move, as he held the phone to his ear with a resigned sigh. "Hello, Ryou speaking."

"Ryou-kun?" A woman's voice came clearly down the line, and Ryou stiffened. Yuugi and Malik exchanged glances and then climbed off of their friend so that he could sit up.

"Samira-san?" he asked doubtfully, wondering if it was really her. She sounded different.

"Yes, it's me. I'm so glad you finally picked up. I've been directed to call you with some very important information, and this is the fifth time I've attempted to get a hold of you."

"I guess my phone was on vibrate," said Ryou. "What do you want?" The words came out more briskly than he'd intended, but they had the intended effect. He listened silently as Samira spoke to him, her words spilling out in a rush that was hard to understand. Unfortunately, he still got most of it. His big brown eyes grew even wider, and his mouth dropped open. After about a minute, he removed the phone from his ear and just stared at it for a minute in shock.

"Ryou?" Worried, Yuugi grabbed his shoulder. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Silently, Ryou got up onto his knees so that he was visible to those on the other side of the bed. Yuugi and Malik copied his movements, though Malik made sure to keep both the bed and Yuugi in between he and Mariku. Seto had helped Jou to his feet, and the two of them were seated on the bed. Jou was practically in the brunette's lap. Tenno, Bakura, and Mariku were still clustered near the door. Mariku was openly leering at Malik, but Bakura and Tenno seemed to sense that something was wrong and were staring at Ryou. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees as Ryou swallowed hard and spoke in a tiny voice.

"My father has been kidnapped. The ransom note says that he'll be killed at midnight tomorrow unless I give up the Millennium Ring."

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