Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Change of Heart ❯ Questions of Loyalty ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh non mea, viditis? Non mea! Minime capitis pecunia mea! [grin]

A/N: Argh... Yes, okay, I know it's been eons since I posted T_T But I'm going to make it up to you! I'm going to post the whole rest of this story in one go! Probably what I should have done in the first place... [sweatdrop]... Well, I'm afraid that this is the chapter when everything suddenly becomes extremely crappy! And no, I don't mean my utter lack of style, either. Poor ickle Ryou, I'm so mean to him... [evil grin]

/.../ Yugi through link

//...// Yami through link

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Chapter Four: Questions of Loyalty

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Perhaps the thing that started it all off was their decision, the weekend after Ryou's birthday, to go to the mall. Ryou and Bakura had long since realized that they could simply pass as brothers if they wanted to go out, and now they finally decided to give it a try (though Bakura didn't have any money, Ryou promised to get him something).

They were already on their way out with all the stuff they bought, when Ryou went around a corner and bumped into one of the people that he wanted to see least of all at the moment: Yugi Mouto.

He gasped and tried to push Bakura back around the corner but it was too late; Yugi had seen. The two of them were staring at each other, dumbfounded.

"What is HE doing here?" Yugi finally demanded, looking shocked.

"Well, I... Um, you see... Uh..." Ryou's voice trailed off hopelessly.

"You want me to tell him?" Bakura inquired. Ryou nodded gratefully. "Well, you see, Ryou and I; we're..." Bakura hesitated a moment then decided to just spit it out. "Together."

"Together?" Yugi asked blankly. Then his eyes widened in realization, and for a moment he couldn't say anything. "You... Two are... But that's... Impossible!" he managed to sputter.

And of course, things had to get worse (A/N: Of course; I'm writing it!). Any reply the couple might have had had to wait, because at that moment Jou, Honda, Yami and Anzu pushed through the crowd. "Hey; there you are Yug'," Jou said. "We've been look all ov... GAH! Yami Bakura!"

"Really? Where?" Bakura asked sarcastically. Ryou elbowed him.

"W-what are _you_ doing here?" Anzu asked fearfully.

"A very good question indeed," Yami said pointedly. Honda just stared.

Bakura sighed. "Typical. I _would_ have to say this twice. We're a couple, okay?"

Everyone stared.

"R-ryou!" Jou choked. "You're _gay_?!"

"Yeah! That's... I dunno..." Honda finally said, still shocked.

Bakura rolled his eyes, as if to say `duh.'

"Hey!" Anzu snapped. "Stop it, you two! He should be allowed to be with anyone he wants, and I think you should just be happy for him because he's in love!"

"Ye-yes ma'am," Jou said hurriedly. Bakura rolled his eyes again and Ryou winced, wishing she'd keep it down a little.

"I don't know," Yugi said suddenly, shaking his head skeptically. "I mean, really Ryou..."

"What?" Anzu demanded, looking really dangerous just now. "You got a problem too?"

"N-no!" he said quickly, back away a little. /She scares me, Yami.../

//Well, she can get that way sometimes, yes...//

"Well, _what_ then?" she asked, practically fuming.

"Well, it's just..." He glanced uneasily at Bakura, and took a step towards his yami just in case. "It's just... Yami Bakura's kinda... well... notreallyallthatnice!" He looked petrified.

"I agree with Yugi," Yami said, nodding.

"How polite we all are," Bakura commented, sounding a little more bitter than he had intended.

There was a moment of silence. Ryou frowned. "Perhaps we should go..."

"Yeah, maybe," Anzu said, glaring menacingly at everyone in general. "Um... See ya."

He nodded. "Yeah..." They left the mall rather quickly.

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Ryou sighed, looking at the game shop in front of him, and had second thoughts.

All through the past week all of his friends had been acting `differently' around him, in various ways. Jou and Honda just tried to avoid him whenever possible. Yami and Yugi both kept asking if he was okay, seeming to fear either for his sanity or his physical health, now that he was spending more time with Bakura. Anzu tried to act normal, but it seemed a bit artificial. And plus there was also the fact that Bakura seemed down about the whole thing, though he'd never intentionally let it show.

This Saturday, he had finally decided he needed to talk to one of them. He had picked Yugi and Yami, because Anzu didn't seem practically bothered and there was no way he was talking to Jou and Honda unless they tried to talk to him first; he didn't think he'd be quite welcome.

Eventually he realized that passerbys were staring at him, and he hurriedly went in even though he wasn't quite sure he wanted to. The sign on the door said `Closed,' but Yugi's grandpa had said before that they could come in anytime.

The house seemed empty. "Um, hello? It's Ryou Bakura; is anyone here?" he asked uncertainly, wishing he'd called first.

"Hello?" came Yugi's voice from somewhere upstairs. "Hey Bakura; come on up!"

"So, where's your grandpa?" Ryou asked, once he had gone upstairs to Yugi's room and had a seat on the foot of Yugi's bed.

"He's shopping," Yugi explained. "He won't be back for a while. Oh hey, I just remembered! Yami said that he wanted to talk to you in private sometime, so I'm going to let him take over, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, though a little doubtfully, wondering what in the world Yami could want. He hoped it wasn't more about how `dangerous' his yami supposedly was...

A moment later Yugi's appearance seemed to change, and his voice was deeper when he said, "Hello, Bakura."

"Hello Yami," he said, frowning a little. "What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

He shrugged. "It can wait; I assume you also have something important you wish to talk about."

"Well..." He paused. "The thing is, I really do wish everyone would stop making such a big thing about me and Yami Bakura. He really is kind now; he's changed. I... Trust him now. I wish you could too. I think it hurts him that no one will, though he won't let it show."

Yami nodded, a look on his face that Ryou couldn't quite place. "I find that all a little hard to believe," he admitted, "but you know him better than me. I will try."

Ryou smiled. "Thanks," he said gratefully. "Oh, and I was wondering... I know I'm already asking a lot, but could you or Anzu try and talk to Jou and Honda? I miss having them as friends, but I don't think it would be wise to talk to them myself."

"Certainly," Yami agreed, uncomfortably aware of his lie.

"Thanks a lot," Ryou said earnestly, feeling a lot more at ease now that he had gotten that over with. "Now, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well..." Yami said hesitantly, and Ryou was surprised to see that he looked uncomfortable, unsure.

"Come on; out with it," he urged.

"Well..." Yami said again. And then he kissed him.

It was a very passionate kiss. Ryou's mouth opened in surprise, and Yami's tongue darted inside. Ryou almost choked. It actually felt good, he found himself thinking, but... He suddenly pushed him away, rather roughly. "What are you _doing_?!" he gasped.

Yami sighed a little. "The truth is," he admitted, "that the reason why I've been so unsupportive of you and Yami Bakura is... I love you."

"_What_?" Ryou demanded, disbelievingly. "But... I thought you and Anzu were going out! At least that's what you've both been saying around school!"

Yami nodded again. "True," he agreed. "We've been going out for a few weeks now. But... It's just not working out for me. She could never be anything more than a friend."

Ryou shook his head, too shocked to say anything. Yami took advantage of that moment to kiss him again. Ryou tried to resist, but Yami was forcing him back onto to bed, holding his wrists above his head. "Stop it!" Ryou managed to say; for a moment he was afraid Yami was going to try to rape him.

Yami kissed him one last time, then abruptly pulled away and sat up. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"Oh, I'll bet you are!" Ryou snapped, surprising them both. "Tell Yugi I said bye," he added, and left the house quickly.

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Bakura looked up from the refrigerator (A/N: again ^_^), startled, as Ryou slammed the front door on his way in. He was even more startled to see that his hikari looked very shaken up, almost close to tears.

"What's the matter?" he demanded. "Did Yami and Yugi give you more crap about us?"

"You could say that," he sniffed, gladly sinking into Bakura's arms. He couldn't tell him... It would hurt him too much...

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`The problem with people,' Bakura thought irritably, on Sunday, `is that once you've met them they sometimes just won't leave you alone...' Everyone else was gone, and when the doorbell rung he sensed one of Ryou's friends - or ex-friends. He couldn't tell which one it was and had already prepared a lovely sarcastic remark to make them go away when he opened the door to find the one Ryou had said was called Anzu. He bit back the remark; as he recalled she had been the least rude of the bunch, at least. Instead he settled for a curt, "What?"

"Um... Yami Bakura?" she said uncertainly. He noted that she looked rather upset, and it didn't seem to be just because of him. ...Well, that was a new one.

"Yes," he said simply. "Did you want something?"

"Uh... Could I talk to Bakura?" she asked timidly.

"Not now," he replied. "He and his father are off doing... father-son... things." He wasn't quite sure what father-son things were these days, but Anzu seemed to understand.

"Oh," she said, looking a little deflated. "Well... I guess I should, er, go now."

He shrugged. "If you wanted," he consented. "I suppose it's not something I can hear."

"Well... It's... not particularly like that or anything," she admitted, though she looked ready to run.

"Ah," he said, nodding. "I see. You're afraid that if you come in I'm going to kill you." He said it so matter-of-factly that she just stared. He smirked. "I'll try to resist the temptation..."

"Uh..." she managed to say, visibly paling.

He snorted. "It was a _joke_," he said wearily. "Come in now or go away."

She hesitated just a moment, then stepped hurriedly inside when Bakura started to close the door.

"So what was it?" he inquired, once they had gotten seated in the living room.

"Well..." She frowned, thinking exactly how to phrase this. "Where all did Ryou go this weekend; did he tell you?"

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know he went anywhere?" he demanded. "And for your information, he went to Yugi's for a bit."

"And... Did he mention anything about seeing Yami?" she asked carefully.

He scowled, starting to get annoyed. "Not directly, though I assume he might have," he snapped. "Why are you so interested?"

She took a deep breath, and he was surprised to see that she was looking upset again. "Well, Yami, he... He broke up with me yesterday," she said thickly.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "And Ryou would have anything to do with this, how...?" he asked, fully aware that he was being unsympathetic.

She frowned at him. "You really don't know anything about this, do you?" she commented. "Yami said he broke up with me... Because he was in love with Ryou. He said Ryou came over to his place, and they sort of..." She winced, not wanting to even say it. "They sort of made out."

"_What_?" he demanded, his voice low.

Anzu resisted the temptation to edge away; he was looking sort of pissed. "They... made out?" she repeated.

"I know what you said," he replied angrily. "But there's no way... Ryou would have told me if something like that had happened!"

"Uh, if you say so," she shrugged, deciding it would be best to be safe. Some people did think he was insane, after all.

He sighed, trying to control his temper. "I know you don't think so," he said frankly. "But... I just can't see him doing something like that. Was that everything?"

"I guess," she said, getting up and trying not to look over-eager. "Only, could you talk to Ryou? I know you don't think he'd want to be with Yami," she explained hurriedly, "but I'd like it if maybe... Ryou sort of, you know, discouraged Yami. I really do love him; I'd like to get him back."

He regarded her thoughtfully. "Sure; I'll talk to him," he agreed, and she left as quickly as was possible while remaining at least a little polite.

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Bakura waited until after they had all had dinner before talking to Ryou. The two of them went up to Ryou's room, where Ryou sat down to do a last little bit of weekend homework he had been putting off and Bakura lay down in bed to read - or at least, Ryou thought he did.

"Hey Ryou?" Bakura said suddenly. "Anzu stopped by today; she was looking for you."

"And did she run screaming, or just run?" he asked, snickering, then he realized the Bakura wasn't amused. "What?" he asked, immediately more serious.

"And she told me... Now Ryou," he interrupted himself, "I'll tell you right now I don't believe a word of it, but she wanted me to talk to you anyway. She said that Yami said when you went to his place yesterday you two... made out." He watched his hikari, his eyes asking his to tell him it wasn't true, and trusting him to do so.

Ryou went pale. "She... she..." he stuttered.

"Ryou, what's the matter?" Bakura demanded. `No; I absolutely refuse to believe this...'

"I... I..." He looked down at his hands. "It's true," he admitted. "Well, sort of. It was actually more like a couple kisses, but... I'm sorry." It seemed like such a small thing to say; far too small.

Bakura didn't say anything for a moment. When he finally spoke, it was just to say, "I see."

They were both silent for a bit, neither looking at the other. "Bakura?" Ryou asked suddenly, timidly.

"What?" he snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Ryou was taken aback. He hadn't seen him look like that since... He mentally shuddered. A long time ago. "I love you," he said quietly.

"Oh, like hell you do," he said sarcastically. He got up, practically getting right in Ryou's face. "You think I believe that now?"

"Bakura!" he exclaimed, shocked. "Please don't say you think I... _want_ to be with Yami!"

"Oh; yeah; right," he said bitterly. "Tell me this then. Why the hell didn't you tell me about it when it happened instead of waiting till your `affair' came out?"

"It's not an affair!" Ryou retorted. "And I... well... I thought you'd be..."

"Are you _sure_ you thought?" he asked furiously. "Maybe you should re-check that!"

"Bakura!" Ryou said again, frowning. "Just calm down, would you? If you'd only listen..."

"Don't tell me what to do, damn it!" Bakura cut him off. He stood by the window, gripping the edge of the sill until his knuckles went white.

Ryou sighed, rubbing his head and contemplating just going away for a bit and letting him cool off. "I swear," he whispered, "that it meant nothing. It only happened at all because he forced me."

"Like I care," he replied resentfully. "I would - if I believed it. If you had told me earlier, sure."

Ryou went over to him, placing a cautious hand on his shoulder. "I said sorry; what more can I do?" he asked sadly.

Bakura wasn't quite sure what it was. His nearness, the touch... But whatever it was, combined with his increasing anger and feeling of betrayal, it caused him to loose sight of himself for a moment. Well, not himself, exactly; more what he had become over the passed few months that he had been in love with Ryou. He whirled around, striking Ryou across the face.

For a moment neither of them moved.

Ryou took a horrified step back, staring at his yami in disbelief. He suspected there would be a large bruise on his cheek later, but the pain was the least of the things bothering him. He thought that he saw Bakura's own eyes widen in shock but he wasn't sure, because without another word he turned and ran, down the stairs and outside, going who-knows-where.

Bakura numbly heard the door slam, but he barely noticed it. He wasn't quite sure how long he spent, standing there and staring at nothing.

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A/N: Poor, poor ickle Ryou... Things just keep getting worse and worse for him, don't they? [observes people carrying pitchforks and torches] Er, don't kill me? But, seriously, a note about my funky disclaimers. I'm sure absolutely no one wants to know, but I'm gonna tell you anyway, cus I'm bored. The honest truth is that I don't even know what they say anymore. They're remnants of the Latin course I took in my first year of high school... [nostalgic sigh] Would you believe, that was the only course I've ever dropped out of? I have discovered the hard way that foreign language classes just aren't for me; not unless I could take Japanese or something interesting like that... R&R????