Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seraph ❯ Chapter 3

Warning: Tendershipping with Ryou seme

 

This is AU, seriously so

 

:blah: = hikari to yami telepathy

 

-blah- = yami to hikari telepathy

 

Yami knew that he'd been worrying his aibou by refusing to contact him after the lunchtime revelations, but he had to find out how much accuracy there was in what Ryou - no, Seraph, he couldn't think of the hikari as sweet innocent Ryou anymore, had been saying. And he'd found at least some supporting evidence within an hour of exploring the Millennium Puzzle in the way he perhaps should have a long time ago. In any serious conflict between himself and Yugi the Puzzle would support Yugi, he'd never realised it because he never had fought with his hikari, never had a reason to.

 

Ra, it had never even occurred to him that he'd have a hikari one day before Yugi assembled the Puzzle, so he'd certainly had no reason to search for how they'd interact. He knew he'd changed since the day Yugi had assembled the Puzzle, but he'd always assumed it had been a natural change, now Seraph and...Shadow; if he couldn't think of that assassin as Ryou he certainly couldn't think of the...victim who'd come to school today as Bakura; had made him doubt that.

 

But...Yugi had been so shocked at the implication of Shadow's words, even if he had been forced to take over because Yami couldn't handle the idea. Another reason to feel guilty, for ever letting the thief's insinuations affect him so much that he was surprised at his hikari's defence of him. Yami was usually the one who got angry in defence of their friends...even if it sometimes felt like they were more Yugi's friends, and they just saw him as an extension of Yugi...but he knew that Yugi had it in him to defend those he cared about.

 

:Mou hitori no boku, please, please, come out and talk to me.: There was so much pain in Yugi's mind...

 

“I'm sorry aibou.” He didn't get a chance to say anything else, Yugi hugged him desperately.

 

“Don't say that! You haven't done anything wrong. I was just so...worried!” He was almost crying, not quite, but almost. “Ryou said such awful things and they hurt you so much, didn't they?”

 

“I...it was just all so...weird. Shadow coming to school - with his own body - wearing lipstick and decked out in jewellery, including a slave collar. Then Seraph demolishes six thugs in what couldn't be more than a minute. I couldn't do that, Bakura couldn't do that, and I always made sure I faced him in games, with magic, because I couldn't match him any other way. And then, what they said...I had to find out how much was true aibou. That's why you couldn't contact me. You understand don't you?”

 

“Yes. You're...okay now though? You know that they were lying now...right?” Yugi pushed away so they were sitting with a few inches between them, he was obviously afraid of crowding Yami, and he felt ashamed of letting his fears show so obviously. “And why are you using those names?”

 

“That's just it, aibou. They weren't lying, not entirely.” Yami kept his voice gentle, he didn't want to upset his hikari. “I was exploring the Puzzle this afternoon, in a way I never thought to before. And it will aid you against me if we ever have a serious conflict. And I used to be almost as bad as Bakura was when it came to hurting people - even if my reasons were different. You didn't like how far I'd go to protect you, but when you called me from the Puzzle all I was certain of was that I had to protect you.” Yami laughed bitterly at that. “Not that I always did a very good job of it, aibou, you've been dragged into trouble because of me so many times...”

 

“It's not your fault. I got into trouble without you before, until you came along I was being bullied, you know that, I'd probably be bullied again if you left.” Was that supposed to make Yami feel better? “You've made my life so much better. I'd never blame you for anything.”

 

“If you say so, but aibou, it's bad for you to be dependent on me like that. I should try to teach you to defend yourself without Shadow Magic - because you can use that. Seraph asked whose fashion sense the collar was, and it's something you picked up from me, isn't it? Like the rest of your fashion sense now. And I don't think I would have wanted to wear a collar before I died, do you?”

 

--0--

 

Yugi hated seeing his strong, confident yami so uncertain and so nervous. He couldn't believe how badly a few words from those two psychos had affected him - well, a few words, and an afternoon spent brooding over those words. He desperately tried to think of something to make his yami feel better, and he latched onto what Yami had said about when he emerged from the Millennium Puzzle. “Yami, I think, if you're meant to protect me, the way the Puzzle reacts if we're in conflict is because of that, it protects me if I'm in danger from you, that's all. Ryou just wants it to mean that Bakura's his slave, and he tortured him until he believed it. Not that the tomb robber doesn't deserve it.” He muttered the last sentence under his breath, still angry at how the other spirit just accepted the way Ryou treated him, but Yami still caught it.

 

“I'm not so sure Shadow did deserve it, aibou. He declared that he was evil, but...his behaviour screams victim now. I'm beginning to wonder if he tried to make us hate him so we wouldn't try to rescue him from his abuser. If he was eight years old when Seraph gave him his own body was there any way he could have survived on his own?”

 

“No...I guess not, but...” Yugi wasn't sure why Yami was suddenly worried about Bakura, the spirit didn't act like a victim from what he'd seen, more like he was the hottest thing in the school and he knew it. “When he first met Ryou, he was seven years old, and Bakura was an adult in his soul room, but he still attacked Ryou. A decent man wouldn't do that.

 

“And Bakura seems to be really happy with Ryou now. He was all over him all through lunch, and you saw how protective Ryou was, and what he did for Bakura.”

 

“I...” Yugi could see that Yami wanted to keep on arguing, but then he seemed to change his mind suddenly, no longer meeting Yugi's eyes. “You're right, aibou. Shadow is obviously happy belonging to Seraph. I...it's just, on the TV I remember seeing a program talk about Stockholm Syndrome?”

 

“I guess I know what you mean.” Even if he couldn't imagine Yami no Bakura being so badly damaged that he'd fall in love with his abuser, but if it made Yami feel better to talk about this... “But I can't imagine Ryou abusing anyone.”

 

“Neither can I. But I can quite easily see Seraph tearing someone apart and then remaking them into whatever he wanted. Ryou...Ryou doesn't exist aibou, he's just someone Seraph invented to give Shadow a chance at putting his people to rest.” Yami really didn't seem happy talking about this, he wouldn't have expected that sort of concern for his enemy, Yugi sometimes cared about his enemies that way, but Yami never had before. And he still didn't get why Yami was insisting on calling Bakura by the name Shadow. Yami'd explained about why he wouldn't call Ryou by any name but Seraph, but not about Bakura.

 

“Is this about what Ryou wants to do to Bakura's scar?” It was the only thing that he'd thought was worrying about the way Ryou treated his `Consort', but he hadn't realised that Yami'd noticed that.

 

“His scar?” Obviously not. “What about it?”

 

“It doesn't matter. What did you see that I didn't notice?”

 

Yami wasn't really listening to him, Yugi knew that he was looking through his recent memories. He shrugged mentally, it wasn't as if he wanted to see anything personal, he was used to Yami sleeping while he was at school, and checking later for anything important.

 

“Seraph wanted to cut Shadow's face up again?” There was a look of horror on his face, it was sickening, but Bakura seemed happy with it, and it wasn't anything like as bad as some of the things Yami'd done to protect him. “And he said he didn't mind. Aibou, was it just me, or did it seem to you like they were skimming over things, making them out to not be as bad as they were when they were telling us about their history?”

 

“I didn't really want to know how Ryou taught Bakura his place, but wouldn't he have reacted more if it had been that bad?” Yami shut his eyes for a moment at that, then he finally looked back up at Yugi, and smiled.

 

“If you're sure he's okay then I won't argue with you. But could you watch him in the future?”

 

“Sure.” There was something wrong with the way Yami'd agreed with him, but he couldn't quite say what. Yugi dismissed the thought and tried to think of something to cheer him up. “There's supposed to be some new games at the arcade since last time - want to go and check them out?”

 

“That sounds like fun, aibou, yes please. Do you want to invite the rest of your friends?”

 

“No, just the two of us, ne?”

 

--0--

 

Bakura stretched slowly, provocatively, he knew. It wasn't his place to initiate sex, but he needed reassurance from Seraph, since he was convinced that there'd be some sort of effort to separate them soon, if not today. He didn't know why he thought that, it wasn't rational, but...

 

“You do realise you're just making more laundry for yourself, right?” Seraph sounded amused as he ran a hand over Bakura's lower ribs.

 

“I can do the sheets from this and yesterday together, along with anything else that can go in, start the machine up before we leave and hang them out when we get back, if you'll permit it.” Seraph had stripped and remade the bed yesterday while he was in the bath Seraph had decided he needed after being taken, he usually did on those occasions when he decided Bakura needed pampering. “You...don't mind buying lunch today?” He usually prepared their bentos the night before, but last night that hadn't been an option. He'd have time to do Western style sandwiches if he got up now, but not if Seraph took him.

 

“A choice between buying lunch and not getting inside you isn't really that hard to make, my pet.” And then he took Bakura's nipple into his mouth, sucking at it as he cleaned him inside and began to prepare him. Under the circumstances it was easy to relax and Seraph took him swiftly, taking him in hand as well.

 

“Are those drugs still affecting you Shadow?” Seraph was playing with his hair as he led Bakura towards the shower, his other arm wrapped around his waist.

 

“Yes.” He flushed, thinking of his wanton behaviour, but knowing that Seraph had enjoyed it - and besides, his master didn't care about the aphrodisiacs. “They're still weakening me, Seraph-sama.”

 

Seraph didn't reply, just twisting their hair up and pinning it out of the way before pulling him into the shower, and washing him carefully. Bakura returned the favour, leaning against his master a lot of the time. It was nice to have an excuse to do that and to feel Seraph supporting him.

 

“Stay in there for a bit.” Seraph got out first and Bakura watched as he dried himself off before turning the shower off and holding a new towel out for him. “Now you can get out.” He stepped directly into the towel, luxuriating in the feeling of his hikari's hands on his body, drying him as if he was some precious ornament.

 

“Go prepare some miso soup, I'll change the bed.”

 

“Yes Seraph-sama.” Bakura pulled on his red yukata and hurried to obey. He'd just finished preparing their breakfast when he heard the thud of Seraph dropping the laundry basket in the attached room and barely kept himself from jumping. Seraph was dressed now, in deep brown leather pants and vest, a dark red silk shirt beneath the vest and a weighted belt at his waist he looked like the killer he was instead of the innocent he'd been playing.

 

He dished out the miso and they ate together quietly, then once Seraph had nodded permission he began to sort through the laundry. He hadn't expected Seraph to come up behind him and begin brushing through his hair, but then he'd never had hair this long before, so it had to be a new kink of his master's. Kink probably wasn't the right word, but it was the best he could think of. He made to stand after finishing sorting through the laundry, but Seraph pushed him back down to his knees.

 

“Just stay there until I've finished braiding your hair.” His response was almost automatic.

 

“Yes Seraph-sama.” When that was over with he went back to the bedroom to get dressed, Seraph had laid out an outfit almost identical to the previous day's, except that the silk jumper was dark purple, not dark red, and there was no jewellery.

 

He set his bag ready by the door for when Seraph's friends came along - assuming that they did - and went to set up the washing machine. Not that Seraph couldn't, but as far as he was concerned that was one of Bakura's duties as his Consort, doing the household chores unless Seraph decided to help in some way. On the other hand Bakura knew that money would never be a problem for him, not with the fees Seraph commanded, and his generosity in allowing Bakura access to his money. Seraph already paid for a maid service to clean the house from top to bottom once a week, and he'd offered to have more than just the leather sent out for cleaning.

 

When his friends arrived, looking surprisingly comfortable to be walking to school beside him, Seraph scooped him up in his arms as soon as the door was locked. Bakura's arms automatically went around his neck, and he tried to hide his blushes by burying his face against Seraph's chest.

 

--0--

 

“I'm not that helpless, Seraph-sama.” Yugi could barely hear Bakura's protest, muffled by Ryou's chest, over his own laughter. The yami looked almost like one of the damsels in distress the more Western TV shows sometimes included, swept up in his hikari's arms, his own arms around Ryou's neck.

 

“I know that Shadow,” Ryou spoke teasingly, “but I can't exactly travel using that `roofhopping' thing they did on that anime you thought was fact based with Yugi and the gang along, can I? And carrying you like this does make for a bit of a balance exercise.”

 

- `Roofhopping', aibou?-

 

 

:There's an anime about crazy martial artists. I'm sure you've seen it with me - Ranma Saotome, the guy who-:

 

-changes sex when he's hit with water, oh, now I remember, but I usually spend the time you watch TV in my soul room, either resting or working out duelling strategies.- There was a hint of apology in his yami's mental voice, there shouldn't have been but, after yesterday...

 

:Well, most of the martial artists on that show don't use the streets, they get about by climbing over the roofs of the houses and buildings around them. They call it roofhopping.:

 

-Thank you for explaining aibou.- That wasn't out of character at least, Yami was always polite to Yugi, polite and caring.

 

“You thought one of those martial arts anime was accurate?” Yugi didn't even try to hide his mixed incredulity and laughter.

 

“Well, Seraph can do the same thing, he could even when he was seven, I saw him use that sort of method to get to more than one of his targets from an unexpected angle. And so can most of the Adepts of The Children of the Eldest, Fairest and Fallen. And I used to use the rooftops a lot back in Egypt, even if it was in a different way. So it didn't seem so strange to me.” Bakura had stopped trying to hide his face against Ryou's chest by now, and had twisted to look directly at Yugi.

 

“Can you roofhop, Bakura?” Yugi couldn't imagine doing anything like that and he didn't want to. It sounded as dangerous as a Shadow Game, even if in a small part of his mind he thought it sounded thrilling. Bakura glanced up at Seraph before he answered, almost as if he wanted permission to speak, and Yugi thought he could sense a small, swiftly repressed flare of anger from Yami on seeing that. But that didn't make sense, why would Yami try to hide his anger from him?

 

“Yes, just about any Adept above delta standard level can, and I'm a gamma standard Adept Consort. The few who can't roofhop use magic of some type far more extensively than Seraph approves of.”

 

“The trouble with using the more elaborate sorts of magic is that it takes a lot more thought and concentration than just plain fighting, or the more minor things, like using it to boost physical abilities. It's a lot harder to turn into reflex, even if Shadow has damn near managed that with sealing souls into objects.” Bakura looked as if that offhand praise was worth more than getting his hands on all of the Millennium Items. “Trouble with that is that a lot of magic won't work right during testing, only the stuff that causes physical damage really works right.”

 

“Oh.” Yugi hadn't thought about anything like that.

 

-He's right aibou. When I was punishing people who'd threatened or hurt you I always set what I intended to do up well ahead of time.- Yami sounded a bit guilty, he usually did when he was talking about those times.

 

“Seraph-sama, can I at least walk the last block to school by myself?” Yugi could just imagine what the local bullies would do with that sort of ammunition, he'd been their victim often enough until Yami came along, and since Bakura couldn't defend himself at the moment...

 

“No. I'm making a statement. I'll see you at school, okay Yugi?” Then Ryou just jumped on top of the nearest building, taking his agreement as granted. Yugi wanted to see the fireworks, and he began  to run the last block, getting there just in time to see Ryou jump effortlessly off the roof of the school, to land just inside the gates, Bakura still in his arms.

 

He was disappointed...and from the look on his face so was Ryou. Everyone was too intimidated by how he'd arrived to say anything - at least while he was there. As soon as he was out of earshot the speculation started.

 

--0--

 

Ryou felt some regret and guilt as he settled Shadow down at the desk beside his. After being carried to school like some helpless maiden it was going to be damn near impossible for him to get anyone to respect him for himself. Not that it was ever going to be easy for Shadow to convince the rougher side of the school that he was a capable fighter in his own right after how easily those idiots had manhandled him yesterday. And he hadn't even got an excuse to fight someone out of it. But at least after seeing him jump down from the roof of the school so easily people might pay attention to what he'd done to the idiots. Still, it would take a few more examples like that before the lesson sunk in, and people realised what sort of thing harming his property would bring.

 

Shadow looked up at him, head tilted to one side, smiling, his eyes half closed in remembered pleasure. “You know, I'd almost forgotten how enjoyable that was, Seraph-sama. I didn't want to risk trying to travel that way by myself while you were limited, after all, you'd made it clear I wasn't good enough to try without someone there to compensate for any mistakes I might make.” Because just a year ago Shadow would have been lucky to survive delta standard testing. That had been as much in Ryou's mind as anything else when he'd decided on how they'd spend this year.

 

“Would you like me to take you home over the rooftops then?” He gently stroked Shadow's scarred cheek as he spoke.

 

“I-if Yugi isn't going to walk with us, or you can find a way to bring him as well. It wouldn't be fair to make him walk home alone, Seraph-sama.”

 

“Very well. And once these drugs wear off you can roofhop yourself.” He couldn't say anything more, since their first lesson was starting.

 

He resisted the urge to touch his Consort during the lessons until P.E. - with the drugs in him Shadow wouldn't be able to help responding, and he wasn't going to let his classmates look at his lover when aroused, especially not since he got so embarrassed about people seeing him. He tried to distract himself by focusing purely on his schoolwork, but since he could do the work half asleep - or with a voice in his head talking about something else, and had in the past, that wasn't particularly effective.

 

Shadow wasn't really happy about undressing in the changing rooms at all, Ryou could tell that, even if no one else would be able to, but he knew that he had to, and made sure to do it as quickly and efficiently as he could. As a result they were among the first two out into the gym. Hitaka-san was unhappy about something, Ryou just hoped that didn't mean that he was going to make this class unpleasant as a result. He'd been looking forward to actually being able to use his full abilities in class for once.

 

“Apparently some of you need lessons in how to defend yourselves. You will pair up as follows.” He paired the girls up first, never with the `weakest' boys as their aggressor, or the least athletic, but not with the strongest either, then he moved on to pairing up the most `vulnerable' boys with the rest. “Mutou as defender with Katsuya as aggressor, Bakura as defender with Hiroto as aggressor, Hiei as defender with Goto as aggressor.”

 

“No way.” Hitaka-san looked surprised when Ryou spoke up, but Goto was one of the thugs who thought he was an easy target, and there was no way he was going to let him have a free shot at Shadow.

 

-Seraph-sama, please, if I'm permitted to use my own methods--

 

:You won't be.: Ryou cut Shadow off quickly.

 

“Am I to understand you wish to refuse to participate?”

 

“No, but Bakura is ill. I won't allow you to pair him up with that goon for this. He can work with Honda, I'll deal with Goto.” Ryou smiled up at the teacher. “I'm a lot more dangerous than I look, if you want me to I can do that silly smashing bricks thing later.”

 

“I'll hold you to that. Go ahead.” While he continued listing off the pairs Ryou led Shadow over to his friend.

 

“Take care of him, we don't really need this, but at the moment he doesn't have the muscle to deal with anyone who won't let him throw them. I wish Hitaka-san had held off on this for a couple of weeks, but since this is likely to be at least a two or three week course it isn't too bad.”

 

He saw Honda smile sympathetically at Shadow, who was blushing nearly as red as his eyes, and determinedly studying the ground, as he went looking for Goto, and he realised that this would help Yugi and his friends see his Consort differently as well. When the lesson actually started he just lost himself in the pleasure of being allowed to throw the much bigger boy around.

 

--0--