Author Notes: Alright, I finally caved and wrote a lemon into this story. As a result, I've upped the rating. Enjoy!
"Things should be wrapping up pretty soon here," Kenji Bakura said cheerfully. "I'll be home in less than a month, for sure. Speaking of home, how are things going with just you and the little ones?"
"Well, since Marik decided to sneak off with his friends, I had to get someone to cover my shift tonight, but I already have tomorrow night off, which is good. Mokuba's on the phone with his brother now. Have you talked to Ryou?"
"Yes, earlier today we talked after he won his first duel. He assured me that he and Marik were fine and that they were having fun."
"That's good," she said, sounding a little relieved and a little pleased.
While Mrs. Bakura spoke with her husband on her cell that evening, Mokuba spoke to his brother in a different room.
"How was your day, Mokuba?" Seto's voice came clearly through the Bakura's home phone to the child's ear.
"It was great!" He said excitedly, glad to hear his brother's voice. "We went to the park and played games and had pizza for dinner!"
"That sounds like fun. I'm glad you're doing well."
"Have you won any duels yet?"
"Of course I have! I already have five star chips, which means that I'm halfway to landing myself a spot in the finals."
"Cool! I knew you could do it, bro! I bet you're going to win the whole tournament! Of course, Amane is betting on Ryou winning, but he's her brother, so that's okay."
"Are you using the term betting literally or figuratively?" Seto asked suspiciously.
"Well…"
"What did you two bet?" Seto asked sternly.
"We only bet Duel Monsters cards, not money!" Mokuba answered quickly. "She's working on this really cool fairy/spirit deck, and I had a card she wanted, so—"
"Okay, okay, I believe you," Seto said with a sigh. "Just don't make a habit of it, okay?"
"Okay, I won't!"
"How are Amane and her mother?"
"They're doing well." Mokuba glanced over at Amane and smiled, tempted to kiss her blushing cheek again. "Amane taught me how to braid her hair today."
"That's… cool." Seto honestly didn't know how to respond to that. Then again, hair braiding was a fairly innocent activity. There were a lot of things that were much worse than that for his brother to be doing, so he decided not to let it worry him. "You're behaving well, right?"
"Yes, Seto, I'm on my best behavior," Mokuba assured as Amane snuggled up against his side.
"You're saying please and thank you and all that good stuff?"
"Yes, I am, don't worry about me."
"Good, because if Mrs. Bakura tells me otherwise, then we're going to have a serious problem, won't we?" Seto hadn't actually needed to punish Mokuba for bad behavior in awhile—not since he'd been too young to know any better. He couldn't help but wonder if was Mokuba displaying early maturity due to their circumstances, if it was a result of Seto's good teaching, or if Mokuba was just so sneaky that Seto simply hadn't caught him doing anything bad.
"She won't have anything bad to say about me. She called me a little angel." Mokuba beamed at the memory of those kind words.
"Good." Seto was relieved to hear that.
"Tell me about the people you dueled," Mokuba asked suddenly, still intrigued about the Duelist Kingdom tournament.
"One of them was the American regional champion," Seto explained. "He used a machine-based deck and wore this stupid American flag bandanna. I think he was cheating, but I still won, so it didn't really matter. I won two star chips from him, but I didn't eliminate him, because he didn't wager everything he had."
"He was cheating and you still beat him? Cool!"
"Yeah, I guess it was pretty cool," Seto said with a smirk.
"Who else did you duel?"
"Oh, nobody important," he answered calmly. "It's getting late, though, and it's time for you to go to bed."
Mokuba haggled with Seto over what time he should be going to bed for a solid five minutes before they finally said their goodnights and hung up.
"You did well today, Seto," Seth praised gently as his spirit appeared sitting beside Seto on the ground. "I'm proud of you." There had been moments in his two duels where Seth advised a move that contradicted Seto's own intuition, and while he'd hesitated and doubted, he'd listened to the ancient pharaoh's counsel with good results.
Seto felt uncomfortable receiving his praise, but he murmured his thanks just the same. He slouched against the tree behind him, trying to get comfortable so that he could sleep. Something was bothering him, though, and Seth knew exactly what it was.
"That 'ghost' we dueled," Seto said, opening his eyes again to look at Seth. "Was it really…?"
"It was a malevolent spirit, but that's all I can tell you," Seth answered regretfully. "I don't know if it was really Noah or not."
Seto huffed a sigh of irritation. "Mind-crushing him was supposed to fix him, so why would he suddenly have an 'evil half' that wants to duel me again? It doesn't make any sense. It was probably just an evil ghost or something like that." That's what he wanted to believe. It would be so much easier if there weren't consequences for him defeating Ghost Kaiba in a duel.
"I wish I could be sure about it either way," Seth sighed, sitting cross-legged with his back straight in contrast to Seto's slouched position. "But we need to consider the repercussions if he was telling the truth."
"Well, he said that he was Noah's evil half that had been banished from his soul by the Mind Crush," Seto recounted, the act of saying it aloud helping him to analyze the information. "We defeated him, so he would have been sent to the Shadow Realm, right?"
"I would think so, but it wasn't a Shadow Game."
"So you're saying he might still be around?"
"I'm saying that I don't think he remained as a ghost. Either he went to the Shadow Realm and is now tied there permanently, or…"
"Or…?"
"Or he went back to Noah," Seth finished. "I've never encountered anything like this before. I wish I could be more helpful."
"I guess there's no point in worrying about it," Seto grumbled, trying to push the thought out of his mind. "At least not now, while we're in the middle of a tournament." He picked up his cell phone again and turned it off to preserve the battery, then put it in the pocket of his long purple coat. "We have more pressing matters at hand: I have to win five more star-chips tomorrow so that I can enter the finals and win the prize money."
"And free Yugi's grandpa," Seth reminded him gently. "If you do get the chance to duel Pegasus at the end of the finals, you need to duel for him too."
"Yes, I know, I intended to," Seto assured sleepily, eyes closing as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Now let me get some sleep."
"Thank you so much for sharing your food with us!" Yugi exclaimed, smiling widely at the professional duelist.
"Don't mention it," Mai assured as she put her arms behind her in the grass and leaned on her hands. "You've got to be prepared for these kind of things, you know." She glanced over at Anzu and gave her a nudge. "So, what are you doing here? You're not a duelist, are you?"
"I play the game, but I'm not here to compete," Anzu explained as she unwrapped a granola bar. "I'm just here to cheer on my friends!"
"Really? All two of them?" Mai teased. That actually drew Joey's attention away from his food for a moment.
"Our other friends are on the island too, they just wanted to spread out so that there'd be plenty of space for us to do our own dueling without bumping into each other all the time. Seto went off on his own, and after Ryou beat Mako Tsunami, he and Marik went off on their own." He took another large bite of food. "What about you? I don't see you with any friends."
Mai looked startled at that and started to sit up.
"Joey! Don't be so rude," Anzu chastised, looking annoyed. "And don't talk with food in your mouth!"
"Besides, we're her friends now," Yugi added generously, looking up at the blond woman with a grin. "Right Mai?"
"Friends," she mused for a moment, tasting the word like one would taste an unfamiliar dish. "That sounds nice, but I don't need anybody. I'm fine on my own. I've dueled for myself all along, and I don't need anybody to hold me back."
"I bet your life gets pretty lonely when you're traveling to tournaments all the time," Joey accused. "Don't you ever wish you could settle down somewhere?"
"No, I don't," she retorted indignantly with a swing of her curly ponytail. She pushed herself up from the ground as she started to stand and took a few steps towards the woods. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be back in a few minutes." When she was gone, Anzu whacked Joey on the arm.
"Hey, what was that for?" he protested, confused.
"That's for being rude to her! We seriously need to teach you some manners."
"I have plenty o' manners!" Joey puffed out his chest as he bragged. "I just use them on special occasions."
Anzu just rolled her eyes and said, "You're lucky there aren't any rules in the tournament about common courtesy, or you would've been disqualified by now."
Yugi chuckled at that. "It wouldn't really be fair for them to have those kinds of rules, though, since this is a Duel Monsters Tournament."
The three friends continued to joke and laugh, feeling safe in their prospects: both Joey and Yugi had earned five star-chips in their duels today, and while they didn't know how Ryou and Seto had fared at the end of the day, they felt confident that they would be joining their friends at Pegasus' castle tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Mai stood near the sea cliff, looking out over the ocean as she reminded herself why she needed to be alone, why she couldn't let herself get wrangled into their nonsense about friendship and support, why she couldn't—
A thick, meaty hand clamped down over her mouth, cutting her thoughts short. She struggled as she was dragged back into the trees, unable to cry for help.
Ryou and Marik sat side by side as they gazed into the pond's reflections of the stars and the tree tops. The new moon was invisible, as it tended to be, so the night was incredibly dark. They were deep in the woods in an isolated area, and Ryou was feeling bold. He released Marik's hand as he stood and shed his white sweater.
"I'm going for a swim," he announced as he dropped his sweater onto the sleeping bag they'd brought to share. Marik looked up at him with curious eyes.
"Won't the water be cold?" he asked hesitantly, glancing down into the rippling river. The water was black like the sky, giving no hint as to its true depth. Ryou shrugged as he started to unbutton his aqua shirt.
"It'll feel good. Besides, it's summer, it's hot, and this is the closest thing to a shower I'm probably going to get until we're inside Pegasus' castle—assuming we get in." Ryou folded his shirt and placed it on top of his sweater. "Aren't you going to join me?" He started to pull his hair back into a low bun with a hair elastic he'd had around his wrist. His long hair was incredibly bothersome when he went swimming unless he tied it back.
"I-I've never gone swimming before," Marik admitted bashfully, his blush unseen in the darkness.
"It's easy, and the river's not too deep," Ryou said encouragingly as he pushed his jeans down. "I'll teach you how. It's easy."
"Okay." Marik complied, sounding a little uncertain, but he stood and started to undress as well. After all, he told himself, it was dark enough that Ryou couldn't possibly see the scars on his back. Even if he felt them, he wouldn't be able to tell that they were symbols. Only blind people had such a developed sense of touch as to read with their fingers.
It was getting harder and harder to keep Ryou from seeing his back, and while Ryou respected Marik's claim to shyness, he was also puzzled and hurt and impatient in his own ways. He tended to keep these feelings to himself and work through them until he was patient and positive again, but Marik could sense that they were there, and he regretted hurting Ryou like that.
As he finished undressing and folded his own clothes, he sighed imperceptibly. He couldn't risk Ryou seeing his back, though. He needed to keep the secrets of the pharaohs safe, and everything that Ryou saw and heard, the Spirit of the Ring also saw and heard. If Ryou saw his scars, the Soul-Stealer would see them too and understand them better than anyone else. When Ishizu had warned him not to get too close to Dr. Bakura's son, she must have known this would happen. When she'd told him that it would be hard to keep his secrets, she must have known this would be his predicament. He was grateful that he'd had the warning, even though it hadn't stopped this from happening.
"Come on."
Ryou took Marik's hands in his own and led him into the water. Marik gasped at the temperature as his first foot was immersed in the water, and he tried to pull back, but Ryou tugged him forward so that both feet splashed into the stream.
"It'll only take a minute to adjust to the water," the white-haired teen assured before pressing his lips to one of Marik's cheeks, then the other. He was standing in front of Marik now, both hands joined as he stepped backwards, careful not to slip on the silt-covered stones of the riverbed.
With each step he took backwards, Marik took a step forwards, almost like a dance. Soon enough, both naked boys were nearing the middle of the river, the water lapping at their waists. That was when Ryou kissed Marik properly, and Marik closed his eyes to enjoy it. Ryou released Marik's hands and found the Egyptian's hips in the water, gently pulling him a step or two closer. Marik's arms wrapped around Ryou, his hands joining together and resting on the curve of Ryou's tight ass. As the kiss deepened and their tongues started to touch and tease, one hand slid from Marik's hip to the center of his lower back. Marik gasped sharply as Ryou's other hand wrapped around his member, his hold firm.
"Please, Marik," Ryou whispered as his thumb brushed across his partner's tip, making his boyfriend moan. There was something pleading in his eyes, something raspy in his voice, something demanding in the unyielding pressure of his hands.
"I-I don't know," he stammered, lavender eyes narrowing as his eyebrows drew together and his gaze fell to the water's surface. A low growl sounded from Ryou's throat, making Marik's head snap up. Ryou was no longer in his arms, but a horny, pissed off spirit. With reflexes too fast for Marik to comprehend, the evil spirit shoved Marik into deeper waters, causing him to submerge. He gasped in shock and inhaled a mouthful of cold water. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring seized Marik by the hair and yanked him up into the open air. Marik spluttered as he coughed up water and sought to fill his lungs with air. When he was almost breathing again, the spirit slammed Marik's back against a large stone protruding from the water. A furious spirit glared at the gasping teen, their faces inches apart.
"You will give this to me," the spirit commanded, pressing himself close enough to Marik to make his victim squirm. "Give this to me, or Yadonushi will suffer for it."
Yadonushi. He could only be referring to Ryou. As Marik stared into those menacing scarlet eyes, he experienced a strange moment of complete mental clarity: this was his purpose here. He was supposed to come to Japan to give Seto the Millennium Rod, to provide them with the pharaohs secrets when the time came, and to protect Ryou from the evil spirit that would otherwise harm him. Ryou still believed the evil spirit was gone, just like all of their friends did. Perhaps it was better this way, to protect him from the pain and the distress that knowing the truth would cause him.
"What is your name?"
The spirit started at Marik's question, blinking in confusion.
"You do have a name, don't you?"
"If you must call me something, call me Bakura," the evil spirit snarled before grabbing Marik by the arm and dragging him onto the riverbank as Marik winced and stumbled after him. "Unlike my host, I find the idea of doing it in the water rather distasteful."
He contemplated Marik for a moment as if trying to decided what would be best to do with him—or to him. He placed his hands on those bronze shoulders and shoved the teen down to his knees. He wrapped those fair locks of hair around his fingers for a secure hold and forced Marik's mouth open with his other hand. Marik wasn't fighting him, wasn't protesting or making much sound at all. He'd squeaked with pain when his knees hit the hard ground, but he'd otherwise remained silent. It wasn't what Bakura had expected, but if he remained fairly quiet, they wouldn't have a problem.
"It seems my host's little friend is just as meek and spineless as he is," the spirit muttered as he forced himself inside Marik's mouth and throat. He dropped his head back as pleasure flooded his senses and hands caressed the backs of his thighs. Both pale hands were now tangled into the platinum blond hair as lavender eyes slowly closed.
Mokuba was sleeping in Ryou's room across the hall from Amane. The soft sound of light breathing was the only sound in the darkened room not long after midnight. Across the street in a parked car, Pegasus' two grunts were watching the Bakura home, trying not to fall asleep. A cell phone rang.
"Yes, Mr. Pegasus, sir?"
"Get the boy as quietly as you can and bring him here immediately."
"Yes sir, right away."
P.S. While writing this chapter, I was tempted to take a page out of LittleKuriboh's book and say, "Meanwhile, thousands of miles away," every time I made a transition. XD Please review, because more reviews = more chapters!