***Annabelle was decent, but considering how it ended, I feel better about how this story ends. Uh, I'd be more specific, but spoilers...***

Dark forced its way inside Bakura, violating his spirit as it poured into his eyes and ears and nostrils. The Shadows pried open Bakura's mouth and wrenched down Bakura's throat. He choked on the dark. He thrashed his limbs in a vain hope of breaking free, but the oppressive black around him didn't give. Only the scorched, renting carmine of Zorc's eyes broke through the black, and in them, Bakura saw the end of everything.

His screams woke him. Marik pinned Bakura's shoulders into the mattress. "Bakura, stay still. You're going to rip your stitches."

Bakura pushed Marik away so he could sit up. "Dammit, Marik, let me up. I have to go check on them."

"Who?"

"Ryo and whatever-you-named-him."

"Why?"

"I just . . ." Bakura blinked. His dream faded from his mind as he fully woke. His heart still raged in his chest from the night-terror. "I was sure Zorc came back. . ."

"Were you dreaming about the Shadow Realm?"

"Yeah. I guess."

Marik frowned. "I've had that dream through Kek's eyes. That's what it was like when you were in the Shadows, wasn't it? Always suffocating in the dark?"

Bakura stared at his hands and nodded.

Marik wrapped his arms around Bakura. They didn't speak, merely sat together for a moment. Bakura broke the silence. "I'm still going over there to steal my cards and raid Ryo's refrigerator."

"Yeah, and I promised Ryo I'd take Kek clothes shopping with us."

Bakura rubbed his temple. "Marik, did you just hear yourself speak?"

Marik paused as he thought over his words, and then chuckled. "It is kinda crazy – the three of us at the mall – thinking of him as a separate person at all is weird."

Bakura nested his forehead into the palms of his hands. "Gods, Marik. I'm alive. I'm alive and for the first time since I was seven, I don't know what to do with my life. There's no more Pharaohs for me to hate. What the hell am I going to do?"

Marik grinned. "I had the same problem. That's why I decided to go to school. I don't even have a major, I'm just taking random classes for something to do."

"Yeah, but what am I suppose to do?"

"Come to classes with me. I have more than one off-shore bank account that I could use for your tuition."

"You can't be serious."

"Why not? I mean, heaven knows you're not getting a job any time soon." Marik shrugged. "Although, if you prefer, I could forget buying you clothes and just leave you naked in the bed as my concubine. That does have a certain appeal to it as well."

"It really would complete the pretentious asshole motif you've got going in the apartment."

Someone shook Ryo. He slapped at their hands and settled back into the warm haze of his mind, but the shaking resumed after a few seconds of reprieve.

"Ryo, it's almost 5:30 in the evening. Wake up, you little shit."

Ryo slapped at the hands again, half-recognizing the voice as Bakura's. "Whatever. Just take the body and do what you want. I need to sleep a little more."

Marik's voice joined Bakura's. "Was it always that easy to take control?"

"You'd be surprised to realize how often that happened."

"Wasn't he worried you'd hurt Yugi?"

Bakura snorted. "No. Mr. I-have-faith-in-my-friends always thought I'd lose in the end."

Ryo blinked his eyes. He couldn't see, but his mind cleared a little. "Yeah, we had a bet. You owe me an entire case of pocky because you lost your final Shadow Game against the Pharaoh."

A dark, sardonic chuckle. "Hey Marik, when we're at the store I need to pick up a case of pocky."

"What are you? His trophy wife or something? You've been back for a day and you're already spending all his money."

The third voice made Ryo open his eyes. "Wait, this isn't a dream."

"No, it's not a dream. Life is really this fantastic." Bakura snorted, the irony in his voice sounded thick and malicious.

"I'm so tired." Ryo rubbed his left temple as he sat up.

Bakura sat on the bed next to Ryo, Marik stood next to Bakura, and Kek stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. Ryo smiled at Kek. He couldn't help it, memories of their hallway make-out session still sent exquisite shivers down into Ryo's belly. "Good morning, Kek."

His lips flicked up in a grin as he gave Ryo a single nod to acknowledge the greeting.

Bakura leaned forward to block Ryo's view of Kek. "Well, now that you're up. Make breakfast."

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Remind me why I wanted you back from the Shadow Realm so badly?"

"Monster World."

That sweet, overpowering endorphin rush known only to drug addicts and otakus hit Ryo's brain like a jolt of cocain from just hearing the name of his favorite obsession. "There's four of us. We could play."

"Are you kidding?" Marik crossed his arms over his chest. "Finals are in two weeks."

"When have you ever studied for finals?" Ryo asked.

"I do – sometimes – It depends on the class."

Bakura sighed, his face twisted into an unreadable expression. "I guess I'm enrolling next semester. If anyone asks, I'm your cousin."

Ryo's mouth dropped. It made sense. They were alive and needed to do something, but the thought of Bakura doing homework was a little much for Ryo's brain to cope with. "I . . . what made you want to go to school?"

"It's more like I got drafted into the world's most boring RPG."

Ryo giggled. "So Marik gave you an ultimatum of a job or school?"

"No, I gave him the ultimatum of school or sex-slave. Personally, I'm disappointed in his choice."

Kek snorted. "And I'm surprised by his choice. The way he lets you boss him around, he's already your bitch. He might as well pay rent on his back."

"And is that how you're going to pay rent for staying with Ryo?" Bakura asked without missing a beat after Kek's sarcastic remark. "Or will you be on your knees instead?"

"I'm getting a job. Unlike you, I'm not going to free-load off of my boyfriend."

Ryo blushed. "Hey, I said no boyfriend negotiations until after you have a job. I still haven't even agreed to a second date yet."

Kek growled at Ryo's rebuttal. "How am I suppose to get a second date, then?"

Ryo grinned. "Think of tonight's shopping trip as a fetch quest. You have to go to the mall, get your quest items – clothes and toiletries – and come back in one piece. Also, you can't kill any NPC's, or your other party members. That's an instant quest fail."

"See?" Bakura sighed. "Most boring RPG in existence. Kinda makes you miss trying to kill the Pharaoh, doesn't it?"

"No shit," Kek agreed.

Marik snickered, looking at his twin. "You know, you might want to check in the mirror before you call Bakura a bitch again."

"What the hell's that suppose to mean?"

"Ryo has you awfully well trained."

"Fuck you!" Kek stormed away from the bedroom.

"You're the ones that have to deal with him tonight. Maybe you shouldn't make it harder on yourselves." Ryo crawled out of bed, shuffling towards the kitchen to find what staples he had in order to feed four instead of one. "I mean, your record with him is 0-1."

Kek sat at Ryo's kitchen table, drinking tea and eating fried rice. The flavors tasted dull, like he had a cold and could only taste the basic five flavors on his tongue. It lacked the complexity aroma lent to food, but he was hungry and the meal was filling and the tea was warm in his mouth. He sat at a table, drinking tea and eating fried rice. That in itself amazed Kek. He'd known nothing but dark - the dark of the tomb, the dark of Marik's mind, the dark of the Shadow Realm. The current moment was almost normal and that made Kek excited.

He was afraid, though, afraid if he admitted how happy he felt, that it would all be stripped away. He prayed to Ra for that not to happen, prayed to the god he once merged with and hoped that his previous unity with the Winged Dragon provided some measure of grace for a possessed doll trying to stumble his way into humanity one scarlet centimeter at a time.

Marik and Bakura bickered about nothing. It amazed him how they managed it. Marik had his chopsticks placed just so, and Bakura moved them, demanding Marik quit being a snob. Even as they fought, even as Marik slapped Bakura's hands away from his chopsticks and called him an asshole, Kek couldn't remember ever seeing his other heart happy before. Of course not, it was Marik's pain, rage, and sorrow that allowed Kek to exist. Once he would have been jealous at Marik's joy, but their moment in the living room had given them a strange bond, and Kek was happy for Marik despite himself.

Kek snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Ryo's small, cool hand reach for his fingers under the table. As Marik and Bakura played hot-potato with a barrage of insults, he and Ryo stared at one another and smiled.

Once Ryo had them out of the apartment, he went about the meticulous task of purifying each room. He lit white candles, and incense, and played chants on his computer that would help clear the air. Ryo sprinkled dried basil around the house, and chimed bells, and used a smudge stick of cedar and sage to purify each room. As he wandered from room to room, using a long, white feather to fan the sage-smoke around his bedroom, Ryo thought he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He jerked, almost dropping the bowl in his hand, but when he turned all he saw was his jacket draped over a chair.

Ryo exhaled. The hand holding the feather pressed against his chest. "All these stupid games have me so jumpy."

By the time the others returned, the candles burned half as tall as they once had. Kek pushed the door opened, his arms burdened with different colored and sized bags. "Ryo!" he growled, dropping the bags near the sofa. "Never leave me alone with those two idiots again. It's like babysitting two five-year-olds."

Ryo laughed. "It couldn't have been that bad."

Even as he said it, he could hear them arguing in the hallway, and Ryo wondered if perhaps he was wrong.

"They argued about which street would take us to the mall faster. Then they argued about which store to go to first. Then they argued about what size Bakura wears. Then they argued about what colors he should wear. Then Marik bitched that Bakura bought too many t-shirts and needed nicer clothes. And that wasn't half as bad as when they got all cutsey and dragged me into the novelty store so they could buy freaking sex toys – and they couldn't even do that without arguing!"

Ryo held his stomach as he laughed. Hearing the muffled voices argue outside made it easy to imagine. "Well, you've definitely earned your second date." Ryo winked at Kek. "Maybe even a third one."

Kek scratched his chest and belly and then his arms. "Then they argued about calling a cab, since we had so many bags we needed one. They argued about how to cram the bags in the trunk. They even tried to tell the cabby how to get to our apartment faster like he didn't know his way around Domino! You have no idea how hard it was not to just smack their skulls together and leave their corpses in a dumpster. Fuck, they're idiots." Kek clawed at his skin with a frown on his face. "Fuck, I'm itchy."

Ryo frowned. He lifted up Kek's shirt. "I think you're breaking out in hives."

"Must be allergic to stupid," Kek muttered under his breath.

Ryo touched the red hives poxing Kek's golden skin. "I think it's all the white magic I've been using. It doesn't hurt like before because you're half human now, but it's acting like an allergy."

"Great. Now the air's trying to kill me."

"Maybe you should spend the night at Mar—"

"Ryo," Kek snarled at the wan male beside him. "You finish that sentence. See what happens."

"I just feel so guilty." Ryo frowned. "I mean, I'm glad the spells are working, but you weren't exactly the evil spirit I was trying to protect myself from."

Kek snorted. "This is nothing – it's only half as irritating as having to shop with those two morons."

"Speaking of which, it's gotten awfully quiet out there. I better make sure they didn't kill each other."

"If Marik's dead, I call dibs on his motorcycle."

"That's a horrible thing to say." Ryo stopped to watch a flick of doubt in Kek's eyes as Ryo scolded him. Ryo chuckled. "But since you went there – I call dibs on Marik's t.v. It's huge."

Kek smirked at Ryo's answer, and they walked to the front door, peeking out into the hallway. Bags scattered across the floor, and in the center of the chaos, Marik stood with Bakura pinned against the wall. Bakura had his legs wrapped around Marik's waist and arms hooked around Marik's neck. They kissed like the world was ending. Bakura's hair scattered into his face, over his shoulders, and against the wall.

Kek smacked his forehead against the door frame when he saw them. "Screw this. I'm taking a shower. Maybe I can wash some of the damn holy magic off my skin."

"I don't think soap works as a protection from good spell. Do you need help taking off the bandages?"

"Nope, I'll just rip them off and take the sting." Kek grumbled as he walked away. "Bastards, kissing in the hallway was our thing. I should set them on fire."

After Kek left, Ryo turned back to Marik and Bakura, whose kisses had settled from desperate to sweet, lingering sweeps of their lips. "You two are adorable."

Bakura responded by sticking out his middle finger. Ryo only laughed. "Well, it's getting late and you don't look like you want to come in and talk. So I'll see you guys later." Ryo shut the door and locked it.

Kek knew about showers. He and Marik shared most of their basic memories from the time Kek was created to the time he was banished, but knowing and experiencing first hand were quite different from each other. Kek growled at the tiled floor below his bare feet, pissed off because of the chill that swept up his body. He turned on the shower, but forgot to let the water warm first and a burst of cold shocked Kek's shoulders and chest.

"Shit!" He stepped away from the spray, careful not to slip.

"You okay?" Ryo's soft voice permeated through the door a moment later.

"Fine," he snapped, though it wasn't Ryo's fault the floor and water were cold.

"Let me know when you're done so I can disinfect your cut."

Kek didn't respond, his mind preoccupied with adjusting the water temperature. A small nudge to the right and Kek froze his balls off, but the same nudge to the left boiled him like a lobster. He didn't understand why more people in society weren't homicidal maniacs. Who wouldn't be ready to sacrifice all existence to the Shadows after dealing with that bullshit each and every morning? He thought about asking Ryo for help, but that'd make him feel like a child needing a mother to teach him how to handle basic, daily functions, and he'd banish himself back to the Darkness before doing that.

But once he found that magical sweet spot between frozen hell and burning hell, Kek decided the entire struggle had been worth it. Steam drifted around him as the hot water flowed down the curves of his muscles. Kek sighed, closing his eyes and enjoying the calm that sank into him. Calm. He never experienced the feeling before his game of hide and seek with Ryo. Between the smooth white of the shower tiles and the smooth white of Ryo's hand, Kek couldn't help but associate the feeling of calm with smooth and white. That's how he felt inside, smooth and white, like the rice that used to fill his cloth body.

Kek looked down and studied the gash splitting his lower half. Ryo washed the blood away the night before, but the iodine he used to disinfect the cut left an ugly, yellow smear around the scabbed areas. Kek used soap and a wash cloth to scrub the yellow off of his skin. He touched the threaded section of his chest and sank down to where thread became scab and stitches. He'd have another scar ripping across him, but Kek wasn't sure how he felt about it. He thought he'd hate it – he associated scars with hate, and pain, and fury – but this scar was different. It symbolized being alive, not the alter ego of a broken child, but a fully realized individual. It wasn't a wound forced on him against his will – it was something he earned one experience at a time, from kissing Ryo with coffee staining their lips, to crying on the floor with Marik as they remembered why they had to kill the bastard who'd broken them.

The combination of the hot water and Kek's relaxed frame of mind – mingled with the memory of kissing Ryo – sent a shiver deep into Kek's belly. He didn't even realize his fingers had slipped lower down his body until he felt the wiry mess of hair growing well below where his gash ended. Kek leaned against the tiled wall and let his fingers explore the curves of his body and the coarse tuff of hair. His touches were more curious than anything. Never having had his own body, and having little time with Marik's, this was the first opportunity Kek ever had to feel his physical form for the sake of it.

The skin beneath his fingers felt odd, like leather more than skin, and that only came to his fingers in a far-off way. Still, it was more sensation than the first night when he stabbed himself with a needle and felt nothing. Feeling nothing was worse than the salt on Ryo's lips burning his mouth. Kek's eyes fluttered shut as he thought about Ryo's kisses, not the salt-laced one that seared his flesh, but the ones after that tasting of sweetened coffee and Ryo's tongue. It'd been the only time Kek hadn't felt like a construct.

Kek's fingers traced up his erect shaft. He experimented with tracing his nails along the skin, or the pads of his fingers, or the cup of his hand. Each flourish of movement made him ache for more, and he dropped his ass to the shower floor so he didn't have to support his weight. The memory of him kissing Ryo played over and over in his head, and each time he thought of it his touches quickened and grew more desperate until he stroked himself with a strong, steady rhythm. A few minutes later, he gritted his teeth, arched his back, and came over the drain in the center of the shower.

Kek breathed hard. He still felt calm, but now he also felt pleasant. It was more exhilarating than defeating his opponents during a Shadow Game, that warm, sleepy, content feeling blanketing his mind. Kek looked down and realized he was bleeding. Two new centimeters wept scarlet down his belly. He felt the warmth of the blood this time – he hadn't the other times, and his skin was a touch softer, his sight a touch clearer. It was odd, changing from a doll to a human in little jerks and starts. Kek stood up, turned off the shower, and tried to staunch the bleeding with his wash cloth. He looked through Ryo's first aid kit, but stitching his own cut was awkward.

Five minutes later he heard a soft rap on the door. Another new emotion hit Kek – embarrassment. He hadn't meant to experiment with himself in the shower, and now that Ryo (the object of his fantasies) knocked on the door, Kek felt awkward. His brain was all hazy from his orgasm and all he wanted to do was kiss Ryo and fall asleep curled up next to him, but he couldn't bare admitting it out loud. He'd sound weak. Kek put on a deliberate scowl before opening the door.

His expression didn't stop Ryo from smiling at him. "The cut's a little higher than before, and your hives are smaller. I didn't think a shower would be that useful."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Kek snapped, trying to tease his way out of his embarrassment. "Stop being concerned about my wounds and blush at the sight of my perfectly sculpted body."

"Believe me, I notice." Ryo spoke with a voice as soft and light as dandelion fluff. He reached out as if he wanted to touch Kek's chest.

Kek braced himself for the feather fall of Ryo's fingers against his skin, but it never came. Instead, Ryo reached for the iodine to coat Kek's laceration in another smear of ugly yellow. "I put your bags in your room."

Kek grinned. "One of them is yours."

Ryo blinked. "What?"

"I got you a new outfit." Kek rolled his eyes. "I'm going to try and do everything myself. Job, and money, and that stuff, but technically, half of Marik's money is mine, so I didn't feel bad spending a few extra bucks."

Now Ryo did blush. "But . . . why?"

"Our date tonight."

"Tonight?" Ryo grabbed the bandana tied around his head to keep his hair out of his eyes. "No, no, no. Not tonight. I'm a mess, and I have school tomorrow."

"Ryo Bakura you are not squirming out of this. I went shopping, and I didn't kill anyone, maim anyone, or even punch Bakura. I didn't set any mannequins on fire – although it would have been really funny. I didn't punch any of the glass windows, or threaten any of the clerks, or snap the neck of the dumb broad who sprayed me with cologne."

"Naturally, not snapping her neck would go in the category of not killing anyone."

"Missing the point, Ryo!"

"No, I get the point. You acted like a normal human being and you want me to reward you for it, but I've acted like a normal human being everyday of my life and no one's ever rewarded me. That's not how it works."

"Get dressed or I'll hoist you over my shoulder and carry you around town kicking and screaming in your cleaning clothes."

Ryo finished taping the last of Kek's bandages. "Yeah? You could do that. You're strong enough, but that won't get you any kisses at the end of the night."

Kek thrust out his bottom lip, he looked like a monstrous, pouting lion. "Fine. Stay here and sit on the couch. I don't need you to validate my existence. I'll go out by myself."

Ryo followed him into his room. "What will you do?"

Kek shoved a red bag into Ryo's hands and nudged him out of his room. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill anyone. I am capable of acting like a normal person without a bribe, you know."

He slammed the door and dropped his towel to the floor, rummaging through various bags to find what he wanted. Red leather pants, and a close fitting, black, long-sleeved shirt.

Ryo called through the door. "I'm still curious as to what you plan on doing!"

"I don't know!" Kek called from his bed as he dressed. "Walk around, I guess. I want to become human and that won't happen if I sit on the couch!"

He stood still, one leg in his pants and the other naked, but Ryo never responded. Kek grunted and finished dressing. He lined his eyes with black pencil that was what passed for Kohl at the stores he searched. He didn't add the wings Marik wore, he wanted a specifically less "Ishtar" look; instead, he drew a straight line out from the corner of his eye. He stared at his face in the hand mirror, wondering if it was different enough, but he didn't want to wash it off, so he supposed it would do for the night. He decided he didn't like the gold with his outfit, so he removed his tomb-keeper jewelry in exchange for a thick, steal chain he'd purchased. The gold armlets, earrings, and choker were status markers, as much a part of his last name as the word "Ishtar," so it felt good to have them off of his wrists and neck for at least one night, like a pit-bull pulled free from his leash.

He carried his new shoes with him and left his room, stopping near the door only to put on his shoes.

"Wait for me," Ryo called as he jogged to where Kek stood.

Kek snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as Ryo tied his shoes. "Thought you weren't going to 'reward' me for acting like I should."

Ryo sighed, looking up at Kek. "I realized that was my fault for bribing you with a date in the first place. I'm sorry. Marik was right, I was being manipulative."

The outfit Kek bought for Ryo was a cobalt blue shirt and camel colored slacks. The colors looked bright and stunning against Ryo's whiter than virtue skin. Kek had to swallow a lot of pride when he asked Bakura to help him pick out the right size for Ryo.

Kek forced his fingers to stay still, but all he wanted to do was reach out and touch his new roommate, to feel the body beneath the fabric, to taste his lips one more time. It hurt not to be able to lean close.

"What made you change your mind?"

Ryo shrugged; he looked shy. "What you said about not sitting on the couch. I've been locking myself up in my apartment a lot lately. Maybe it's time . . . I go back outside."

Kek extended his hand for Ryo to take.