Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ If only for one moment, I could be like you... ❯ Bath Time! ( Chapter 14 )

Ryou had fallen straight to sleep, totally forgetting the bath. But the next morning he awoke alone and feeling particularly grimy. Getting up, he walked to the bathroom, and looked at the small piece of paper on the toilet seat.

"Dear Ryou,

I noticed you forgot to take a bath, but that's OK, you practically collapsed into that bed when we got home! Just make sure you take one today. I don't need a stinky merboy wandering around and scaring the cats.

In case you don't know, I'll tell you how to work the bathtub.

There are two knobs and a faucet right? Well the knob with the red `H' is the hot water. (Don't use too much, you'll burn yourself.) And the knob with the blue `C' is the cold. (Don't use too much of that either, you'll freeze to death.) You want to turn them, and then feel the water coming out of the faucet with your hand. Keep adjusting the temp until you find one you like. (DON'T you even think about leaving the water running during the whole bath...I'm not rich here, and you'll flood the place.)

Once you've found what you like, use the plug that is sitting next to this letter to plug up the hole at the bottom of the tub. Fill the tub, but not all the way, then turn the knobs the opposite direction you turned them to start the water. Do that until the water stops.

I hope this was easy enough to understand...I should have showed you earlier...but I needed to go to work, and you were still unconscious on that couch bed.

Oh yeah! I left you a scrub brush; I thought you might enjoy that. It's already in the tub for you. You use it to wash your back and other hard to reach places.

Have fun.

Jono"

Ryou blinked. "Easy to understand..." He mumbled looking at the knobs. "Humans make things so complicated..." he murmured turning the `H' knob, then the `C'.

~~~~~

After finding a good temperature and plugging the tub, Ryou waited for it to fill. "Scrub brush..." He said touching it as it floated in the water. "So, you're supposed to wash my back huh? You don't look like something that would be able to do something like that." Ryou gently turned off the water and looked at it for a moment, remembering Seto. Sighing he got in and within a matter of seconds he was looking at his fins through the water. "How can I possibly stay...? What was I thinking...loving a human. It will never work out!" Ryou sighed shaking his head. "I don't want to be a merperson anymore! I'd rather be human!" He shouted at the offending fins. Ryou sniffled though, in remembering his friends. "No...I can't leave my friends...My home...Why did I ever leave the ocean; all I've gotten is heartache. When I go back, I'll miss Seto and be miserable." Ryou mumbled softly, beginning to wash himself.

~~~~~

Marik gazed in awe at Ryou. "His fins are amazing! He must be the most beautiful male in the ocean!" He blurted before making a few sketches. "He's obviously a tropical dweller...just look at the colors, and the fin shape. No wonder he was gorging himself at the seafood restaurant. He could never swim fast enough to catch what would keep him healthy and happy with those delicate and billowy things." He added, looking at Ryou once more. He'd been peering in the apartment since Jono had left. Ryou was gorgeous naked as a human, and exquisite naked as a merperson. "It's only a shame that he's so well guarded..." Marik said, knowing that between Seto and Jono, he could not make his move yet.

"Just wait, you beautiful little creature. I'll take good care of you." He said watching Ryou and taking notes all the quicker.

~~~~~

Ryou hugged himself and shook his head even though Ryou was in a dilemma he bit back the burning in his eyes. "I cant go home, I don't want to be away from Seto..." Ryou whispered to himself, remembering the butterflies that had been in his stomach as Seto had embraced him, and the way his heart had skipped a beat when Seto had kissed him. "But...I cant stay here. I'm not human...I don't fit in. I'd miss my friends too."

The more Ryou thought about it, the more he realized that the time in his life had come, to choose love or comfort. "I...I don't know what to do." He said softly, fluttering his fins in the water slightly. "I want to be with Seto...I don't want to be alone...I never want to be alone again." Ryou said firmly, knowing what he wanted out of life, but the scales seemed so equal.

"I'll stay a bit longer...because Jono has gotten me so many clothes...and I haven't even worn them all yet. It'd be rude to waste his time like that." Ryou said finishing his bath and just sitting in the water, thinking. "Maybe I could ask him to take me to the beach for a swim...I'm beginning to miss the water. Those legs are very wobbly and I feel so tippy walking around like that." Ryou smiled at the thought of swimming a little, getting some exercise in the water. Ryou winced a bit at a newly forming headache. Lately he'd been getting headaches easier than he used to...but then again when he was small he hadn't had mating season and other such matters to be thinking so hard on.

Ryou sighed and turned the water back on, filling the tub a bit fuller than it had been, then laying down under the water and sighing. It wasn't as nice as the ocean, but it was water...and it was just as inviting as anything could be when he wanted to relieve a headache. Ryou curled up comfortably in the bottom of the bathtub and fell into a homesick slumber, feeling suddenly drained from the horrible headache.

~~~~~

Marik looked at Ryou for a moment, puzzled. "Hmm...Perhaps the dilemma of falling for a human has worn him ragged..." He said, noting the slightly pained look on Ryou's face. The way he was laying in the tub though...how his fins were positioned, suggested that he might be ill. "Hm...That IS odd...He shows no sign of illness. It must be insecurity." He said before turning from the window and writing `TO RYOU' on a nearby box. "The final test, all ancient myths say that merfolk were known for their musical talents, Particularly with harps. It was said their voices could rival those of sirens and their playing could entrance even the coldest of hearts." Marik said putting the box in front of the apartment door. "Hypnotic melodies that could lure sailors to either their doom, or their safety, depending on whether the creature was good of evil. We'll see if those age-old myths speak the truth...wont we Ryou?"

~~~~~

Jono was surprised to find a package in front of his apartment, but even more so to find Ryou napping in his bathtub. "The poor guy...He must be missing the water. I bet I could talk Mako into letting me use his swimming center for the day, if I let him watch Ryou." Jono said thoughtfully, before reaching a hand under the water to gently shake Ryou awake. Ryou blinked a bit before sitting up and smiling softly. "Oh! Sorry...I had a bit of a headache...so I took a nap." Jono laughed a bit. "How would you like to go swimming in a big pool? One with lots of room for you to move around?" Ryou perked up immediately. "You...you mean it?! I'd love to!" Ryou chirped immediately hugging Jono. Jono laughed a bit and gently picked Ryou up out of the tub. "You've been sitting in there all day, let's get you dried off and then I'll make some dinner." Ryou smiled brightly and nodded. "Thank you...I guess we both forgot how I would be getting out of the bathtub after a bath." Ryou said curling up in Jono's arms and laughing a bit.

AN: HEY! Hato Chiisai is having a miiiiinor setback on updating. She has asked me to notify any and all of her readers who also read my stories. Well...um...you're notified. So there. Anyhow what's up? Can I get some reviews? Either reviewers have gotten lazy and stopped reviewing...or this story has lost it's interest. When that happens, I USUALLY stop writing the fic. Recently I've gotten like…2 or 3 reviews! C'mon people! Take a MOMENT of your time to make this author feel like you actually read this stuff. Thanks

Love you too.

I left Mako's name in American, simply because I wasn't sure his Japanese name would be familiar to all of my readers. Sorry.