Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Four-Sided Triangle ❯ Comfort ( Chapter 2 )

Title: Four-Sided Triangle Part 2

Author: Tsutsuji

Rating: NC17 (overall, this part's only PG13ish)

Pairings: Yugi/Ryou (this part). Overall: Bakura/Yami Yugi, implied B/R and YY/Y

Original Characters: not!

Type: yaoi

Status: multi-part, in progress

Spoilers: none

Disclaimer: I am so not Kazuki Takahashi and I so don't own these characters.

Summary: Bakura has challenged Yami no Yugi to an unusual duel, with the souls of Ryou and Yugi trapped on the edge of the Shadow Realm as incentive.

AN: This takes place in the anime universe, after Duelist Kingdom and before Yugi meets up with possessed Bandit Keith. It's meant to be based in anime canon, and I hope it doesn't seem too far out of character. I'm messing with the idea of Shadow Games and the Shadow Realm a bit, but it's no more inconsistent than the dub.

Part 2

Yugi struggled to pull himself up from a deep sleep, confusedly trying to remember why he felt so tired but at the same time so anxious. When he finally managed to open his eyes, he was just as confused, because there was the face of his friend Bakura looking down at him. What was he doing here? And where was here, anyway?

Then it all came rushing back. He'd met Bakura among the trees as he was crossing the park to meet his friends, and they'd walked a little ways together, talking about the strange powers of the Millennium Items. They were speculating about the particular powers of the Millennium Eye and Ryou's Ring, both lost now as far as Yugi knew; how the Eye had been used by Pegasus to send three souls to the Shadow Realm, and the Ring had a similar power as well as being able to trap a person's soul into an object.

"How do you know all this?" Yugi had asked, impressed with Bakura's knowledge. He'd suspected nothing until Bakura suddenly turned to him with a grin and said "Would you like to see how it works?" - but Bakura's voice had suddenly become deep and harsh, coming from a mouth now twisted into an evil smile. Before Yugi had time to yell "no!" or alert Yami, there was a flash of light from the Ring that had seared into his brain -- and that was all.

And now here was Bakura, smiling down at him!

Yugi scrambled up and jumped back several feet.

"Bakura! What have you done!" He looked around wildly, realizing that he was no longer in his own world.

"I'm sorry, Yugi," Bakura cried, distress in his otherwise normal voice. "I didn't.... Are you alright? I never meant..." he started to get up and move toward Yugi, but Yugi jumped back and Bakura paused. He looked up at Yugi with a pleading expression.

Yugi realized at once that this was in fact really his friend, and not the evil spirit who must have sent them here.

"It was the Spirit of the Millennium Ring, wasn't it?" Yugi said angrily. "He's back, and he's trapped us both here!"

"I'm afraid that's true, Yugi," Ryou said miserably, sitting back down heavily. "He wanted a rematch with the Spirit of your Millennium Puzzle, and by sending us here, the spirit of your puzzle will have no choice but to play along."

"Of course, and they're probably dueling right now!"

"I'm sure they are," Ryou agreed, "and I'm sure the Spirit of the Puzzle will win.. Or so I hope."

"Of course he will. He defeated the evil spirit once before," Yugi said confidently. "But, Bakura, I thought Honda said he got rid of the Ring and its spirit."

"Yes, well, it appeared again," Ryou said, his head lowered so Yugi couldn't see his face. "I can't explain it, except that it appears that I'm linked to the fate of the Ring, just as you're linked to the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi..." he looked up, his deep brown eyes pleading again, "please forgive me."

Yugi was startled for a moment at Ryou's distress. "It's not your fault," he said. He came back over and sat down next to Ryou. "None of us can help it, really. Like you said, these ancient spirits are linked to us somehow. Anyway, I'm certain the Spirit of the Puzzle will win this duel and take care of the evil spirit once and for all."

"I'm sure you're right," Ryou said, trying to smile his usual cheery smile, though he didn't sound at all certain. "We only have to wait."

"Um-hm," Yugi nodded, his face set in determination as if he himself was about to duel the evil spirit.

He looked around, shivering as a chill wind blew between them. There wasn't much to see, just barren ground with a few dead weeds, and some tall standing stones that leaned at odd angles here and there in the gloom. He couldn't see far, but it was clear there was no sign of life beyond the two of them. It was certainly not a pleasant place, but it didn't seem to be tearing at his soul, and the wind was cold but it didn't feel like it would freeze his heart.

"But... where are we? This doesn't seem quite as awful as the Shadow Realm did when we dueled Pegasus."

"I don't know exactly, but I think it's not the Shadow Realm itself, just a sort of waiting place on the borders. I've found myself here before when the Spirit takes control," Bakura answered. Yugi was surprised to hear this; he'd never been in such a place when Yami was in control, but he said nothing. "The Spirit of the Ring is very old and quite powerful, Yugi," Bakura continued. "More than I realized at first. If he does win, I expect we'll end up in the Shadow Realm for good."

"That's not going to happen," Yugi insisted. "Yami will win and we'll be back where belong in no time."

Ryou cocked his head curiously. "Yami?"

"Oh, yes, that's what I call him sometimes, besides `The Other Me,' since he's like a different, darker side of myself." Yugi explained how the Spirit of the Puzzle had several titles but didn't remember his own real name, and it seemed easier to call him Yami than to refer to him as King of Games.

Ryou looked thoughtful at this, and a little troubled. "I don't know the name of the Spirit of the Ring," he said wonderingly. "He seems to prefer to be called Bakura, as far as I can tell."

"In that case," Yugi said, "if you don't mind, I'll call you Ryou from now on."

Ryou smiled. "I'm honored, Yugi, if it means we're still friends, even after all that's happened."

"Of course we're friends!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Well, good, then. I'm glad. In fact, I'm sorry to say it, but I'm glad you're here. I hate being here alone," he added in a quiet voice, and he huddled into himself, drawing his legs up and wrapping his arms around them. "I hate this place," he muttered.

Yugi was about to say it wasn't so bad, but at that moment something came whiffing out of the darkness and swooped overhead, a shadow that hovered over them for a moment and left on a cold rush of wind. Ryou gave a muffled yelp and ducked, while Yugi hardly had time to react at all before it was gone.

"What was that!"

Ryou shuddered. "I don't know," he said, his face still down behind his knees. "There are all kind of creepy things lurking around here. Things trying to escape from the Shadow Realm, or souls being drawn there.... I don't know."

Yugi felt terrible for Ryou, for all he'd been through with the evil spirit controlling him, and now to be stuck here. It didn't bother Yugi as much, but it seemed to creep Bakura right out, as he peered around at every tiny noise coming out of the darkness.

"We'll stay close together then," he said sympathetically, and moved to lean against Ryou's side. "if anything comes at us from the Shadow Realm, we'll face it together!"

Ryou smiled at him gratefully. But he shivered and ducked into himself a little as a gust of wind howled through the stones and over their heads.

Instinctively, Yugi put his arm around his friend's shoulder. Ryou blinked at him in surprise.

"Do you mind? I thought it might help," Yugi said.

"I don't mind at all," Ryou said, smiling again. "Actually.." he ducked his head for a moment; when he looked up again, peering out from under his silvery bangs, Yugi realized his face was flushed. "Actually I quite like it."

Yugi felt a strange little warm shiver run down his back at the way Ryou said this. The nice feeling increased when Ryou laid his head on Yugi's shoulder.

"There's something I should confess to you, Yugi," Ryou said in a very soft voice.

"What is it, Bak... Ryou?" Yugi asked, confused and a little concerned.

"Well.. ever since we met... it's hard to say, but... well, I'll just say that I think you're very.... attractive. I like you a lot, Yugi."

Yugi felt himself blush in turn. He couldn't see Ryou's face which was hidden by his hair as he leaned against Yugi's shoulder, and he was glad for a moment that Ryou couldn't see his either.

"I like you too, Ryou," he said quietly. He realized that it was true, he'd always liked Ryou more than he'd let on. He remembered the way Ryou had looked the first day he came to Yugi's school, so friendly and kind, and with his brown eyes shining in excitement as they talked about games they liked to play. He remembered that he'd been especially hopeful at first that Ryou would become a close friend, before the shadow of the Other Bakura had come between them, when Ryou shied away from playing any games with them after all.

And now it was surprisingly comfortable to sit here, even in this gloomy place, with Ryou's head down on his shoulder like this, and his arm around Ryou's back.

"I'm sorry we haven't been closer friends, Ryou," he said. "You always kept to yourself, so I thought you didn't want to be around me and the others, but I realize now of course, it was because of the other Bakura. You were trying to protect us."

"That's true, I'm afraid," Ryou said with a sigh. "But that wasn't the only reason," he added in a very small voice.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.

"Well. Like I said, I really think you're attractive, and sometimes I just felt too shy around you to talk to you."

Now Yugi really did blush; from the heat in his face, he thought his cheeks must be as red as the tips of his hair. No one had ever called him "attractive," certainly not twice in five minutes. He had no idea Ryou felt this way.

"Oh?" was all he could think of to say.

Ryou seemed to take a deep breath as if he was steeling himself to do something very difficult or frightening. He raised his head and looked at Yugi with his eyes dark and shining. Yugi had a startled second to notice how beautiful Ryou's shy, warm smile was, before the next words he heard sunk into his brain.

"Yugi... could I kiss you?"

Yugi just stared at him for a moment. Then his surprise melted into something very warm inside.

"Wow. Nobody's ever wanted to kiss me before," he said breathlessly. "I think that would be wonderful." He smiled back, delighted to see Ryou's face light up at his reply.

And then soft full lips were touching his gently. Warmth flowed through his body from the touch of those lips, and from the wonderful feeling of Ryou leaning against him, shoulder to shoulder, and he pressed his arm more tightly against Ryou's back.

He'd thought now and then about kissing someone - no one in particular - but this felt even nicer than he'd imagined it would be. On impulse he opened his lips and let the tip of his tongue touch Ryou's. That brought a sigh of delight from Ryou, and their kiss deepened.

At that moment another bat-shadow came creeping out of the dark sky to circle their heads. Ryou crumpled against him with a whimper. Yugi pulled him close and kept kissing him to distract him. After a moment of tense fear, Ryou relaxed fully into Yugi's embrace. The kiss lingered on for a moment, and then Ryou's head slipped down to rest again on Yugi's shoulder, this time nuzzling under his ear.

"This is so nice," he said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Yugi said warmly. "I like it too. You're a very good kisser, Ryou."

"Hmm." Ryou sighed. "I've never kissed anyone before. It just feels right doing it with you, I guess."

"Mm-hm," Yugi murmured in agreement.

They stayed that way for a moment, quietly cuddled together in the gloom. Then slowly, Ryou raised his head again. His earth-brown eyes looked almost black and seemed so deep Yugi felt he could fall into them. The warm feeling in his body was growing more urgent, more sharply focused, as he looked into Ryou's eyes. He realized there was a question in Ryou's gaze, and he couldn't say no to it.

Yugi's hand slid around Ryou's neck and pulled him in for another kiss, and trusting to instinct, he let himself fall backward, pulling Ryou down with him until they lay stretched out together on the ground. Ryou gave a muffled, surprised-sounding moan as Yugi's short legs slid alongside his and their bodies pressed together.

It just felt right. When Ryou raised his head again, looking at him with more questions in his eyes, Yugi wasn't sure just what he was asking, but he nodded anyway, trusting the warm feeling in his heart and the heat gathering in his lower body. He didn't know what to do, or what Ryou meant to do, but he trusted his friend, and he couldn't resist giving in to the look of love and happiness he saw in Ryou's face.

Ryou started to carefully unbutton Yugi's shirt, laying quick kisses on each inch of skin as it was exposed, starting under his leather collar and working downward. Yugi felt every kiss and touch as a delightful shock that went right to the center of him.

"So beautiful," he heard Ryou whisper as he pushed the shirt off Yugi's shoulders. Yugi wanted to say something in reply, about how it was Ryou who was beautiful, not him. But before he could find words Ryou's head went down again, and suddenly a warm tongue was lapping at one nipple. He gasped wordlessly as blood rushed away from his brain and into the swelling hardness that was making his pants suddenly uncomfortable.

He stared sightlessly up at the sky, lost in delightful feelings. He hardly noticed the black thing that came swirling out of the darkness only to dart away again, unable to bear the light that seemed to gather around the two bodies entwined on the ground.

***

tbc... back to the Yamis next, as Yami no Yugi tries to meet Bakura's challenge!