***Random thoughts on this chapter:

Seto Kaiba is freakn' awesome, and it's a damn shame I don't have him in my stories more often.

I have nothing but motherly pride for how Kek goes and gets a job (and his willingness to do any job, although he ends up getting a job he's quite suited for).

Hikaru no Go is a manga/anime about a game called Go. You'd think that'd be boring as crap, but it kinda sucks you in. I couldn't help but make fun of anime conventions in this chapter. (particularly how easy it is to redeem villains in anime/manga).

The plot will pick up again next chapter.***

Kek cleared his bed of bags and loose clothing before lining his sleeping area with salt. He forgot to get into the bed before he closed the circle and growled as he broke the circle in order to reach his mattress. Then he realized he had to go to the bathroom and cursed whatever spirit haunted Ryo's apartment straight back into the Shadows. By the third time Kek lay in his bed with salt surrounding him. The feeling of holy magic permeated from the seal created by the salt, Kek felt the crawl of it on his skin, but it didn't hurt, rather it felt like the air during a thunderstorm.

He tried to sleep, but couldn't. Kissing Ryo made the tension in his own groin swell and build. His shower helped at first, but he was frustrated all over again. He turned on his belly, trying to ignore the feeling, but his weight pressing into the mattress made it worse. He squirmed, the movement nice but not enough. Kek dug his fingers into his sheets, pressing his body a little harder against the mattress and shuddered. He gave up, flipping on his back and stripping his pants away from his legs. He took off his shirt as well, he didn't need to sleep in street clothes, nor did he want to break the circle of salt to find his sweat pants.

He took himself in his hand again. The memory of blueberries and chocolate carried him into orgasm, and when he finished, he curled into the blankets and fell into a luxurious sleep for several hours.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Kek jerked awake at the sound. He almost jumped from his bed, but remembered the magic seal corralling him inside.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"You stupid, fucking ghost that's not even scary!" Kek screamed at his bedroom door.

A long stretch of silence made the air ring. Kek settled back down into his pillows. The clock said 3:00 a.m. His eyes fluttered shut again.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Kek clenched his teeth. The noise wasn't frightening, but it was annoying as fuck. Another stretch of silence, this one lasted five full minutes as Kek listened with half anticipation for more noise. When another round of banging violated the quiet, Kek bit his pillow to keep from screaming. Always three consistent bangs, but the frequency remained random, making sleep impossible.

By the time dawn broke through the blinds, Kek gave up and stood up. Groggy from lack of sleep. He forgot the salt and gasped in pain as he left his bed. Kek doubled over, holding his breath as he waited for the burning in his body to fade.

By the time Kek reached the kitchen, showered and clothed, the banging had stopped altogether. Kek found a broom and swept the broken shards from the night before off the floor. He knew Ryo had school and would already be exhausted and didn't want him having to clean up a ghost's temper-tantrum on top of it all. Why did he care? He never cared about clearing away the evidence of destruction before, or about others. Was it a convenient, magical glitch? Did he really only care because Ryo had summoned him back with magic? Or was it his own feelings?

Kek drank coffee and ate leftover chocolate for breakfast. He couldn't taste them as well without Ryo, but he remembered their taste, so he wanted to eat them more than other food. Kek touched his bandages. He became more real each day he stayed out of the Shadows, but it wasn't fast enough. Kek jotted down a quick note to Ryo and walked out the door. That's where humanity existed for Kek – outside. Out into the world. He couldn't hole up in an apartment anymore than he could sit underground. He had to become part of the world he once wanted to destroy.

He walked to the Kaiba Corp main office, and waited in the parking lot. Two armed guards escorted Kaiba through the indoor parking space. Kek pursed his lips, then raised his eyebrows. After a small trashcan fire at the other end of the lot, Kaiba stood alone and Kek walked up behind him.

Seto didn't jump like anyone else would. He stayed still, his back turned. Kek saw Seto's eyes in the reflection of a car's review mirror glance in his direction. "What do you want, Marik?"

"I'm not Marik, and I want a job."

A low noise, something between a single laugh and a grunt, parted Seto's lips. "That's amusing. Did that idiot, Jonouchi put you up to this?"

"I don't have a work visa, so it's not like I can get a regular job. You already know why, so let me work for you. Better you than the Yakuza, right?"

Kaiba snorted, crossing his arms over his chest despite the briefcase in one hand. He didn't bother calling to his goons that argued over how to put out the fire. Kek suspected that in Seto's mind, they no longer worked for Kaiba Corp.

"Seriously Marik, don't they have medication or something for your problems?"

"I told you, I'm not Marik. I'm Kek. I escaped the Shadows."

"Kek?" Seto wrinkled his face at the word. "Finally named your alter ego, did you? Well congratulations, but if you excuse me, I don't have time to play make believe with you. I have a job to do."

"And I want a job to do," Kek growled. "Anything. I'll clean the fucking toilets."

"I don't trust you to clean a toilet. I only hire the right people for the right jobs."

Kek looked at Seto's two body guards. The trash was spilled onto the concrete as they stomped at the flames.

Kaiba growled at the sight of them, guessing Kek's thoughts. "They are a mistake I will fix as soon as you go away."

"I'm not going away until you give me a job."

"Leave a resume. When I need to hire a crazy, blood-lustful monster you'll be the first I call." Seto gave a single blink of thought. "Actually, maybe I do have a job for you."

Ryo trudged to the kitchen, not looking forward to cleaning the broken class. When he saw the floor clean, he didn't understand. Ryo frowned at the tiles, then he noticed a note on the table. Ryo smiled as he realized Kek was the one to sweep up for him. He read the note twice, wanting to hear Kek's voice in his head before he had to suffer the boredom of school.

After classes, Ryo bought wind-chimes and bau guas and a few statues of angels. He burned more sage and prayed to Kannon and the ancestors. He also placed convex mirrors around the apartment to capture negative energy.

Ryo looked around, trying to sense any negative forces. Everything looked and felt cozy, but he feared it wouldn't be as easy as trapping negativity in a mirror.

The door burst open and someone in a hockey mask and blood-stained coveralls ran towards Ryou, waving a machete. Ryo screamed and kicked the intruder in the stomach out of reflex.

"Ow, Ryo! You're so damn mean!" The maniac dropped to the floor, letting go of his machete in order to grab his torso.

"Kek?"

"You kicked me right where I'm bleeding." Kek pushed the hockey mask up over his head. "You broke your pinky promise, you know."

"Kek!" Ryo dropped to his knees. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you, and you scared the crap out of me!"

A tired smile screwed onto Kek's face. "Surprise. I got a job."

"As a serial killer?"

"Kinda. I'm working in Level 2 of Death-T at Seto's indoor amusement park."

"The grave yard level? That's so cool! I love that place." Ryo blushed. "I guess I'm too old for it, but I can't help it. It's so much fun."

"I get to run around all day trying to kill people. It's the perfect job."

"Pretend kill, right?" Ryo laughed.

"Kaiba said if Jonouchi ever shows up I can kill him without my pay getting docked."

"He won't ever go there again. I heard Seto actually tried to kill them there once." Ryo unzipped Kek's coveralls. "How bad is your cut?"

Kek's grin grew large and wild. "Not too bad. It's about 70% up my chest now."

Ryo traced his fingers near the new wound. Kek's stitching had been tight in that area, so there wasn't a lot of blood. "Stay there. It's not that bad, but I still want to clean it and put bandages on you."

Ryo ran to the bathroom and gathered what he needed. When he returned, he removed Kek's old bandages and rewashed the entire cut. He looked at the bottom sections. "You're healing well. I don't see any red or swollen areas, nothing suggesting infection. You'll have a nasty scar, but otherwise, you'll be fine."

Kek touched Ryo's fingers with his own. "I'll like this scar. My memories, not the Pharaoh's."

Ryo smiled. "That's a good way to look at it."

"Also, when it heals all the way . . ." he grabbed Ryo's fingers and dragged them along his skin, dipping them just into his waist band and across the sensitive mid-line of his stomach. "You'll be able to go lower than that imaginary line."

Ryo blushed, but his eyes gleamed with want. "I'd rather not wait, but it feels like it'd be wrong of me if I didn't."

Kek kept Ryo's fingers moving across his skin, growing half-erect with even the simple touch. "You're stupid and sentimental, waiting for me to become human when I already feel everything when I'm near you. But I'll play along because . . ." He stared at Ryo a moment, as if to figure him out. "No one's ever cared before - cared about what I felt through my own body. It was always treated like Pharaoh's property and not mine, or Marik's, or whatever, you know what I mean."

Ryo used his free hand to cup Kek's face. "That's terrible. I don't see . . . I don't understand how they could do that to a child." Ryo leaned down, his face near Kek's. "I wish so bad I could make all your bad memories go away. I know I can't, but I wish I could. I just want to kiss you until you're too happy to remember anything bad."

Kek raised an eyebrow. "Each time you kiss me, you give me something good to remember later."

"True, I can do that. Give you new memories." Ryo tasted Kek's lips, salty and warm.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Ryo groaned. "Every time I try to kiss you something stops me."

Ryo forced himself to go answer the door. He saw Marik and Bakura standing there, glaring at each other.

Ryo scrunched up his face, a little confused. "Uh, hi. What's up?"

"Marik's boring," Bakura grumbled.

"Marik's studying for finals." He frowned at Bakura. "If I pay for delivery will you let him play video games? I can't get any reading done with him around."

Ryo smirked. "Hey, Bakura?"

Bakura crossed his arms over his chest. "What?"

"We're having a Naruto marathon."

"Fuck yes. Has Gara killed everyone yet?" Bakura pushed into the apartment and Marik followed him.

The show only started to air before Bakura's final Dark Game. Ryo didn't have the heart to explain Shaputen to him.

"He's a good guy now."

"What? Goddammit Japan. Why do you always have to ruin everyone with your bullshit friendship bullshit. That's not how it works in real life."

Apparently that was how it worked in real life – at least in Japan. Because here Ryo and Marik were, with their respective "evil" halves, about to study and watch anime as if everyone in the room except Ryo hadn't tried to bring ruin to the world at one point or another.

Then again, Duel Monsters and Monster World would probably make for a boring manga.

Then again, Ryo really liked Hikaru no Go . . .

Marik ordered sushi. He and Bakura took the couch and Ryo chose to cuddle next to Kek on the floor right below the couch. He glanced over at Kek as he tried a salmon roll.

"Can you taste it more now?"

"Shhh," Bakura hissed, eyes glued to the t.v.

"Yeah, the flavors are still weak, but much better than last night."

"Ryou, aren't you studying?" Marik asked, his face buried in a world lit book.

"Sure," Ryou said, staring down at his algebra notes without interest.

He lay his head in Kek's lap. It actually helped him focus on his homework – to be closer to Kek. Otherwise, he'd ignore his notes to stare at Kek. Nevertheless, the sleepless night before, plus the comforting sound of the t.v., plus the warmth of Kek's lap, lulled Ryo into a hard, needful sleep.

Kek didn't notice that he combed Ryo's hair as he watched t.v. until Marik spoke.

"You better wake him up."

Kek blinked and looked down, realizing Ryo slept in his lap. The moment was smooth and white, like shower tiles, like Ryo, like calm. "No, let him sleep. We didn't sleep much last night."

Bakura snickered as he skipped to the next episode. They'd watched two hours worth, and Kek wasn't sure when Ryo closed his eyes.

He glared at Bakura. More angry because he and Ryo hadn't done anything to deserve the sarcastic snicker Bakura gave him. Kek frowned, something else weighed on his mind. "How do you know the difference between magic and emotions?"

Bakura shrugged before going back to the show. "Hell if I know."

Marik looked up from his book. "Why?"

"I feel calm," Kek confessed. "But is it because I've changed? Is it really me that feels that way? Or is it because Ryo's calm and he's the one that summoned me? Is everything good in me just echoes of him? Or is some of it me?"

Bakura turned up the volume on the remote. Marik glowered at him, but then turned back to Kek.

Before Marik answered, three loud bangs resounded from the kitchen. Ryo jerked up, looking embarrassed as he dabbed spit away from the corner of his mouth. After another round of bangs, Ryo balled his hands into fists. "Shit. I was hoping I'd drove it away for at least a day or two."

Bakura turned off the t.v. "What is that?"

Three more bangs.

Ryo frowned. "I think it's a poltergeist."

Marik looked guilty, but Bakura clenched his jaw. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

"So far all it's done is bang the cupboards and break a few dishes, or . . . all the dishes."

"It's fucking annoying," Kek muttered.

"You can stay with us," Marik offered.

Ryo shook his head. "We'll be okay. I'll try to exorcize it tomorrow since basic cleansing spells aren't working."

A sound like shattering glass interrupted Ryou, and then everything went dark – except snow on a t.v. screen that Bakura had shut off a moment beforehand.

Marik shrieked when the lights went out. He curled into Bakura's chest and looked both panicked and furious. Marik's eyes looked gray in the t.v. light as he looked around. His breathing grew shallow and rapid.

"You're still not scary!" Kek shouted up at the dark ceiling.

Bakura wrapped his arms around Marik and gave Kek a pointed look. "I doubt that will do any good."

"I don't fucking care. Someone needs to say it. As an evil spirit, it's embarrassing to deal with this asshole. Throw some fucking knives, or something. Something scary."

"Don't give it ideas." Ryo rolled his eyes at Kek. "And knives wouldn't be scary either. Just inconvenient and mildly dangerous."

"Ryo." Bakura's image appeared dark and menacing with only the t.v. light. Kek grinned, thinking it was no wonder Ryo didn't scare easily.

"We're fine, Bakura. Take Marik home."

"I'm okay," Marik said, but his breathing didn't slow. "It's just . . . I didn't expect it. I'm fine, though."

Bakura set his jaw into a tight line, but a quick glance at Marik made him change his mind. He growled low in his throat in frustration before tightening his arm around Marik's shoulders and standing up to go. Marik didn't argue. The startled look on his face twisted into fury as he started walking towards the front door.

Kek understood the expression. It was the way their face once contorted on a table on their tenth birthday. It was Marik's anger and revulsion by both his inability to do anything about the situation and his fear of darkness.

Kek didn't fear the dark, not this dark. The dark in Ryo's living room sat on top of the skin, harmless, gentle. It was the Dark that frightened him. The Shadow Realm that pried inside of you didn't let you breath or move or think – that frightened him. Kek felt Ryo squeezing his hand. He looked down at it with a shocked, confused gaze and then his eyes lifted up to Ryo's. Brown and sweet like Kek's first taste of coffee, he wanted to drown in the soft affection of Ryo's gaze instead of Shadows.

"Does the dark bother you?"

Kek shook his head. "No, only Marik. I'm just pissed off it woke you up."

Ryo smiled. "That's considerate, but don't worry about me. I'll be drinking a lot of coffee, but this isn't half as bad as some of the shit Bakura put me through back in the day. I'll still score high on my tests."

Kek smirked. "Hey, Ryo?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck the ghost. Let's drink some coffee now."

Ryo blushed. "Well, I still have to study for advance comp, so some coffee wouldn't hurt."

"I'll get it." Truth be told, Kek didn't want Ryo in the kitchen with a pms-ing spirit slamming things. He walked barefoot over the tiles, watching the cupboards slam on their own as he made his way to the fridge.

A box of cupped ramen flung at his head, but Kek dodged it. "Stupid bitch, if you weren't stuck in some half dimension I'd show you how to be threatening."

Kek imagined that any other group of people would scream at slamming cupboards and shattering lights, but they were previous items holders. They once wove threads of Shadows with their fingertips on looms of cursed gold and created tapestries of nightmares. What was a mere ghost to that? Kek dodged the occasional box of flying food and tossed up his middle finger as he left the kitchen. He saw Ryo busy lighting white candles in a circle big enough for them to lay in.

He looked up at Kek and shrugged. "Protection circle. To be safe."

Kek stepped through, then back out, then back in. "It tickles. Last night it stung like a bitch."

"I can't wait until you're human." Ryo smiled.

"Me neither."

Ryo heard the suggestion in Kek's voice and flushed a little. "I didn't mean it like that."

"No, but I did." Kek sat crossed legged and pulled Ryo into his lap.

He took a sip of coffee and then grabbed the back of Ryo's head in order to press their mouths together. The flavors on his tongue deepened when Ryo's lips touched his own. They passed the drink back and forth, taking turns drinking and then sucking on each others' lips.

His head felt light and giddy. The combination of sugar and caffeine, of Ryo pressed against him, and the magic circle of white candles all around them, created an alcoholic effect in Kek's brain. In the kitchen, the cupboards banged away, but they didn't care. They were both too busy tugging at one another's shirts and trying to press their bodies as close as possible to bother with little noises in the kitchen.

Ryo pushed Kek to the floor and Kek laughed. They rolled their hips together insync with their lips.

"Gods," Ryo gasped into Kek's mouth. He clawed at Kek's belt, tugging at it as if angry it existed. His voice was a needy whine. "I want you now."

As Ryo yanked and pulled at Kek's belt, his knuckles brushed against the head of Kek's erection peeking up over his belt line. Kek couldn't answer Ryo, only throw his head back and cry out.

"Sorry." Ryo slipped his hand away from Kek's tip. "I didn't realize you were that big."

"Am I?" Kek asked, but he wasn't really paying attention to what he said. He was too busy staring at the way the candle light shimmered across Ryo's skin, and how much he wanted Ryo's hands to bump against him again.

A wicked look brightened Ryo's face. It somehow made his expression more innocent and sweet despite the perversion in it. "It's technically above the waist now, isn't it?"

"Oh please yes." Kek shut his eyes and swallowed. He felt his cheeks burn and it felt stupid that he'd blush without having a proper heart beat. "Touch me."

"Since you asked nicely." Ryo's voice was liquid silver flowing from his mouth, but his hands burned like candle flame too close to skin.

Ryo only toyed with the tip of Kek's erection, the part that rose above his belt. Nonetheless, Kek found he couldn't keep still with Ryo's hands on him. He squirmed and bucked himself higher into Ryo's touch. He held Ryo close, as if he'd fall through the carpet otherwise.

Ryo slowed down his hand. "Kek . . . tell me what to do." Ryo sank his head against Kek's chest. "Tell me to stop or tell me to keep going. I'll do whatever you tell me."

Kek moaned. He didn't want to think. His body wailed for Ryo to keep going, but the thought of waiting – the thought of letting Ryo's sweet, chivalrous side win out, had a special sort of allure to it. Kek kissed Ryo; their lips light as spider silk against each other. "I want—"

The snow on the t.v. blazed. Ryo screamed, clutching at Kek in fear instead of lust.

"It's okay. It stopped." Kek petted Ryo's hair. Ryo shook hard from fear. A sick, unsettling feeling coiled in Kek's stomach. Nothing frightened Ryo, but something about the t.v. had terrified him.

"Ryo? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah."

Kek stood up. "It's late. Let's go to bed, okay? You have salt around your bed. You'll be safe there."

"I thought . . . I thought I saw him." Ryo looked up at Kek, brown eyes wild and desperate. "Kek, I need to ask you a favor. Please, Kek please, if Zorc ever takes over my body – kill me. Promise me."

"No!" Kek's scream shocked even himself.

Tears built up in Ryo's eyes. "You like to kill. You enjoy it. Don't let me live long enough to hurt my friends."

"I enjoyed killing when I was Marik. Now I just want to be human, and even if I still craved violence . . . not you, Ryo. I'll never hurt you. We promised each other."

"I kicked you."

"You didn't know it was me." Kek dropped to his knees, hugging Ryo. "Just the thought . . . makes me sick. I'd die before I'd let you be hurt."

Ryo ran his cool fingers through Kek's hair. "That's how I feel about you. That's why I don't want to live if he ever takes my body. It won't be like before. I won't be able to just take off the Ring."

"He's in the Shadow Realm. He can't hurt you."

"Yeah . . ." Ryo frowned, and Kek realized Ryo didn't believe it. They both shivered despite the protective circle of light enveloping them.