DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For anyone who wondered why Bakura reacted the way he did, to both Ryou and Marik ^_^
Ryou and Bakura walked home in silence, neither one knowing what to say. Ryou was still rather troubled by the actions of his yami that night, but he found some comfort in the fact that Bakura stayed out in his spirit form instead of returning to his soul room. It puzzled him though. Bakura usually hated being in his spirit form and only used it when he and Ryou were alone. The spirit had an odd look on his face too. He seemed distracted and confused.
"Bakura? What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly.
For a moment, Ryou thought his yami wasn't going to answer, but then Bakura sighed. "How can you ask that, after what I did? Why don't you… hate me?" He darted a glance at his light.
Ryou blinked then shrugged. "You're my yami. How could I hate you?" Bakura stopped walking so suddenly that Ryou was a few steps away before he realised. "Bakura?"
Bakura stared at his light for a moment, then swallowed hard. "I… I'm sorry, Ryou. I don't know why I… lost control like that." He looked away.
Ryou was stunned by the apology. Bakura never apologised. All of a sudden, the events of the night had all been worthwhile. He smiled. "I do, and I promise I'll never call you… that word… again." His smile faded. "I'm sorry too. I never meant to offend you."
"No… it wasn't that… I just…" Bakura sighed and looked his light directly in the eyes. "I just didn't want to face the fact that I'd changed so much. What you said… it stunned me. All I could think about was proving to you that it wasn't true. Only… it turns out the one I was trying to prove it to… was myself."
He gave a forced laugh. "I should have just ignored it. At least then I wouldn't have embarrassed myself. Oh Ra…" He shot a pained look at his light. "I didn't really whimper, did I? I just dreamed it, right?"
"Well… I wouldn't call it a whimper, exactly. It was more like a shaky sort of gasp." Bakura closed his eyes and groaned. Ryou hesitated and took a deep breath. "Why… did you do that anyway? What did Marik do to you?"
Bakura's eyes snapped open and he stared at his light in shock. "You… you didn't see him?"
"No. He was behind you."
"So… the Pharaoh… he wouldn't have seen it either?"
Ryou shook his head, now even more curious. His curiosity reached the ultimate level when Bakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Bakura? What did he do? If I need to challenge Marik to a duel over it, I'd like some time to prepare."
Bakura blinked at that. For a moment he stared at his light, apparently debating with himself whether or not to answer. Finally he sighed. "He licked the back of my neck."
It was Ryou's turn to blink. "He… licked you?"
"Like I was a piece of candy or something…" Bakura glared at his light as Ryou made a strangled sound suspiciously like a choked-off laugh. "Say one word about it to anyone and I will personally see to it that you get followed for a week by a pack of screaming fangirls. I'm sure Devlin could use a break from his lot…"
He started walking down the street again. Ryou hurried to catch up to him and they walked in companionable silence the rest of the way home.