The Path of Vengeance

Yugi slowly came out of his medicinal slumber to find himself cradled in Malik’s arms on the sofa bed. He was honestly shocked that the Egyptian had taken such an interest in helping him through the night. Carefully, so as not to wake him, he crept off of the bed and into the bathroom, exceptionally grateful to note that the pain in his abdomen had subsided to a dull, manageable ache.

He locked the door, took deep breath and looked into the mirror. The only part of his face that revealed his emotional and physical trauma was the dark circles around his eyes that wouldn’t fade, regardless of the amount of sleep he got.

With shaking hands he unbuttoned his shirt and let it slide off of his shoulders. A grimace clouded his features as his gaze settled on the bandages still covering his skin. He pulled away the abundance of medical tape holding the thick pad to his chest and gingerly peeled the dressing away to reveal the network of blackened stitches covering the deeper cuts.

His resolve faltered for a moment as his eyes lowered to the thickest bandage on his stomach. Determined to get the self-assessment over with he tore it away with same sense of purpose that one shows when pulling a thorn from their foot or yanking a band-aid from a hairy body part.

He stared in abject horror at his mutilation. He could actually make out the point where the blade’s damage stopped and where the skin had torn to make room for Bakura’s invasion. The entire area was a mass of stitches and stained a sickening yellow due to the liquid antiseptic that still dampened the dressing at it rested on the counter next to the sink.

He swallowed hard and had to look away before his stomach rebelled. Despite the frequent run-ins with bullies in his past he’d always managed to escape with only bumps and bruises. His skin had been smooth and flawless. Now it looked like the bloody superhighway one would take on their way into hell.

Tears sprang into his eyes as he again forced himself to look into the mirror, taking in every inch of skin, marred and unmarred. Early in life he’d questioned his grandfather as to the nature of his hair, thinking it an undesirable anomaly. Now it seemed that his hair was the least of his worries when it came to physical appearance. Not that it really mattered. He’d lost all hope for himself when it came to interpersonal relations.

It saddened him to think about how much he’d lost in the course of one twenty-four hour period. First his hopes that he and Yami could move beyond friends. Then his body, then his freedom. He’d never seen rage that even came close to what had churned in Bakura’s eyes. Truth be told, he’d had a rather sheltered upbringing that prevented him from experiencing anger beyond the realm of “Don’t color on the walls” or “How many times have I told you to not to flush the washrags down the toilet”. The hatred sweltering within Bakura had been unfathomable.

Since speaking with Reiko he’d gone from desperate avoidance of the situation to constantly mulling it over in his mind, trying to find an explanation to the unexplainable. He knew that Bakura’s anger was directed at Yami but couldn’t see why he would not just attack the spirit directly. The smaller teen had done nothing to incur Bakura’s wrath. In fact, he’d gone out of his way to be nice and accommodating for the sake of their limited mutual friends. One of which was asleep on in the living room.

He wasn’t too sure how to take Malik’s presence. The bronzed teen had a close friendship with Bakura and yet seemed to be so eager to help. Perhaps he’d come to the conclusion that Bakura had gone too far. Or perhaps that was a bit of Yugi’s former optimism trying to resurface. Nothing made sense anymore.



Yami had heard his light enter the bathroom and kept one ear open just in case his help was requested. Worry and fear were being eaten up by anger at an accelerated rate within his mind. Ryou had been gone all night without as much as a phone call after specifically promising never to do it again. He knew that his boyfriend also had a lot of issues he was trying to deal with and that he’d need time on his own once and awhile but this was insane. Not just insane but insensitive and downright uncaring.

The spirit straightened his legs out over the blanket on his bed, debating whether or not to call the teen’s house again, knowing that it would do no good.



Ryou shuffled into the living room, surprised to see Malik passed out in Yugi’s place. The sound of running water met his ears and moved toward the bathroom. His hand paused just as it was about to knock on the door when a loud crash came from his boyfriend’s room. He took off at a run and charged inside. “Yami?”

Yami looked up from his place on the floor where he’d been about to pick up the shattered pieces of his lamp. “You finally decided to come back?”

Ryou winced. He’d known the pharaoh would be pissed. “I need to tell you something,” he said shakily.

The spirit’s anger faded. He could almost touch the angst radiating from the teen. “What happened?” he asked quickly.

Ryou swallowed hard before holding out his hand. Once Yami had taken it he led them to the bed where they sat facing each other. “What I’m about to say is really going to upset you,” he began. “But you can’t tell Yugi and you can’t kill anyone.”

Yami’s crimson eyes darkened. “What now?” he asked in a low tone.

“Promise me,” Ryou stated.

The pharaoh weighed his options. If he said no then Ryou wouldn’t tell him what was going on. If he said yes he’d be bound by his word, regardless of how infuriating the news. “I promise,” he said at last.

“Thank you.” He looked down. There was no good way to say it. “I found out who it was that Bakura was working with.”

Yami’s eyes widened, his free hand clenching into a deadly fist. “Who?”

Ryou lifted his head. “You promised,” he reminded.

“Who was it, Ryou?”

“…Seto Kaiba.”

A thick silence followed. Specks of red began to float through Yami’s vision and he found it difficult to breathe. He very slowly released Ryou’s hand and stood up, forcing in a lungful of air. “Ryou,” he ground out, all of his willpower concentrated on keeping his voice as non-threatening as possible. “You need to leave the room. Right now.”

Ryou bit his bottom lip as he rose from the bed. “I’m sorry,” he whispered before opening the door and stepping out into the hall. As soon as the knob clicked back into place he heard Yami’s roar, followed by a deafening crash.

“Ryou?”

The teen turned to see Yugi’s eye peeking through the crack in the bathroom door. “Hey, Yugi. How are you feeling?”

“What’s wrong with Yami?” he asked instead of replying.

“He’s upset because I worried him last night,” he lied. He couldn’t tell Yugi the truth and it seemed a valid alternative.

Yugi allowed the door to open further. “He worries a lot,” he said, sympathizing with his friend. “Um, can you help me?”

“Sure, what do you need?”

Yugi’s initial reply was drowned out by the sound of plaster cracking. He winced and tried again. “I need to put new bandages on.”

Ryou glanced back at Yami’s door before nodding. “Do you have everything in there?”

“Yeah.”

Ryou joined his friend in the small room and sat down on the lid of the toilet. “They are looking a lot better,” he noted.

Yugi shrugged. “I guess so.”

The dark-haired teen set to work. First he assembled the necessary items on the counter and then carefully applied the dark antiseptic to the wounds. “So Malik spent the night?” he asked, smartly diverting Yugi’s attention.

Yugi nodded. “I don’t know if he meant to though. We fell asleep watching the movie.”

Ryou opened a fresh package of gauze. “Were you okay when you woke up with him?”

“Yeah. I was surprised, but not scared.”

Ryou bit his tongue to keep from telling Yugi of Malik’s involvement with Marik and Bakura. Malik had posed no threat to the smaller teen so it didn’t seem right to badmouth him. “Turn around, let me get your back.”

Yugi did as bidden, wincing when another loud thud came from his dark’s room. He had been completely cut off from their link since he’d woken up. He was a little ashamed to admit that he hadn’t even known that Ryou was gone.

Ryou worked as quickly and painlessly as he could and soon Yugi’s back was cleaned and dressed. “All done,” he said, picking up the teen’s discarded shirt from the tile floor.

Yugi carefully pulled it on, smiling his thanks. “Your eye is looking better,” he commented.

“It stopped hurting finally,” Ryou acknowledged.

“You know Joey’s not usually like that.”

Ryou blinked. He hadn’t known that Yugi knew of the bruise’s origin. “How-”

“Tea.”

“Are you guys almost done in there? I have to take a piss.”

The pair began to laugh. Yugi pulled the door open to see Malik standing on the other side, his eyes barely open. “It’s all yours,” he said.

As soon as they had vacated Malik shuffled inside and dropped his pants, not bothering to close the door. “Oh that’s the stuff,” he groaned, leaning forward and resting his forehead against his arm that was bent at the elbow and braced against the towel rack.

Ryou and Yugi stared in disbelief for about fifteen seconds before Yugi covered his eyes with one hand and pushed Ryou toward the living room with the other. “I can honestly say that that’s something I’ve never seen before.”

Ryou snickered. “Me too.”

Yugi eased himself back into the sofa nest, discreetly aware of his friend’s worry for the pharaoh. He could see it in the way that Ryou kept glancing in the direction of Yami’s door.

Malik stumbled back into the room with his eyes half closed and collapsed back onto the bed next to Yugi. “M’tired.”

“That was quite a show,” Yugi commented.

“Stick around, there may be an encore later,” Malik mumbled into one of the pillows.

Ryou couldn’t be happier with Yugi’s joking laughter. He seemed to have gotten through the previous night’s events unscathed. “Are you guys hungry?” he asked.

A bronzed thumb shot up.

Yugi chuckled. “Make it two,” he said.

“I’ll go make breakfast then. Do you need anything, Yugi?”

Yugi picked up the remote from its resting place on the arm of the sofa and held it up. “I’m okay.” After Ryou left the room he turned on the television and carefully shifted until he was lying down against the pillows.

“What are we watching?” Malik asked, rolling onto his side so he could see the screen.

“I thought you were sleeping.”

“Fuck it,” Malik replied. “I slept well enough that I can get away with it.”

“I didn’t keep you awake?”

“Keep me awake? Hardly. You’re the quietest sleeper I’ve ever shared a bed with.”

Yugi kept his eyes trained on the television. “Not lately,” he said. “I’ve been having nightmares.”

“What kind of nightmares?” Malik asked bluntly.

“Mostly about Bakura.”

“You do know that what Bakura did had hardly anything to do with you, right?”

Yugi shrugged, struggling to hold in the tears. “That’s what he kept saying but I don’t understand it. If I had nothing to do with it then why involve me?”

“Because you hold value for Yami.”

“If he wanted to get to Yami he picked the wrong hikari,” Yugi said. “Not that I want anything to happen to Ryou of course.”

Malik pulled himself up and sat next to Yugi, facing the smaller teen. “Have you asked Yami why Bakura did this?”

Yugi blinked tearfully. “No,” he replied.

Malik brought a hand to Yugi’s cheek, brushing away an escaping tear with his thumb. “Maybe you should.”

Yugi’s deep purple eyes gazed into Malik’s lavender ones. “I don’t know if I want to know why,” he admitted, his voice barely a whisper.

“I know you don’t want to hear anything bad about your shining knight. At least Ryou and I already know what kind of monsters we are bound to. We didn’t have the burden of disillusion.”

“I think Ryou did a little. At least now.”

Malik let his hand fall. “Look, Yugi, I’m not going to side with Yami or Bakura on this one. Yami cut me a major break when I needed it and Bakura has been a good friend to me. I don’t think Bakura should have come after you like he did but what’s done is done. Ryou knew what he was capable of. You have to understand that they are from a time when punishment was dealt out swiftly and brutally. There was none of this ‘Let’s talk it over’ stuff.”

“I know,” Yugi replied, his eyes downcast.

Malik put a finger under Yugi’s chin, reclaiming his gaze. “I’m not trying to upset you.” Yugi nodded. The Egyptian sighed. “Subject dropped.” He tapped Yugi’s nose. “Want to watch a movie?”

A small smile formed on the small duelist’s face. “Okay.”

Malik climbed off of the bed and picked one at random, sliding it into the player before reclaiming his original reclining position. “I haven’t seen this one.”

“It’s okay,” Yugi replied, settling in as the movie began to play. Though his eyes were trained on the screen, his mind was a million miles away.



Ryou sat at the kitchen table mixing a large bowl of pancake batter while the griddle heated on the stove. His mind kept replaying the conversation with Yami. He hadn’t even been able to tell him that Tristan was coming over that night to tell Yugi.

His body froze when he heard his boyfriend’s door creak open. He sat the bowl on the table and waited for his inevitable appearance, every fiber in his body tensed and ready to run.

Yami entered the kitchen a moment later, his face flushed. He closed the distance between them and knelt down to the teen’s level. “I’m not angry at you,” he said softly. “I hope you know that.”

Ryou nodded. “I do.”

Yami leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. “Thank you for telling me.”

“I had to,” Ryou replied, keeping his voice low. “You have every right to know. I hope you understand why I didn’t come back last night. It was a lot to deal with.”

The pharaoh nodded. “I would likely have done the same. Can I ask you one question?”

“What?”

“Why don’t you want Yugi to know? He deserves to know more than I do.”

Ryou bit his lip. “Tristan wants to tell him.”

Yami’s eyes widened. “Tristan knows?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t tell me he condones Kaiba’s actions.”

“No,” Ryou replied. “His part in everything I think is understandable. He’ll be here later tonight to tell his side and to tell Yugi.”

Yami nodded. He’d wait until he heard Tristan speak before he formed an opinion. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Ryou shrugged. “I’ve been worse.”

“God damn, Ryou, are you laying the eggs yourself in there or what?!?” Malik shouted from the living room.

“Be grateful he’s cooking at all, you arrogant shit,” Yami called back.

“Up yours, Pharaoh!”

Ryou covered his mouth to keep from laughing. “Yami,” he admonished.

“Yami, is that you?” Yugi asked.

“Yes, Aibou.”

“Are you okay?”

“I will be.” He turned to Ryou. “So…what’s for breakfast?”

Ryou chuckled. “Just be grateful I’m cooking at all, you arrogant shit.”

Yami raised an eyebrow. “Smart ass.”

The dark haired teen grinned. “Are you hungry?”

Yami kissed him once more and stood up. “A little. I’m going to get the paper.”

Ryou’s smile faded. “Yami…” he breathed.

The spirit stopped. “What?”

“Oh gods, what did you do?” He rushed to the pharaoh’s side and took hold of his right wrist, lifting it so he could get a better look at the bloodied and swollen knuckles.

“It’s nothing,” Yami said, trying to reclaim his arm.

Ryou tightened his grip and dragged his boyfriend to the sink, turning on the faucet. “Put your hand under the water.”

Yami didn’t have time to comply before Ryou pulled on his wrist, bringing his knuckles under the stream. “Shit,” he hissed.

Once the majority of blood had washed away Ryou turned off the water and made a closer inspection. “Yami, I think it’s broken.”

“So?”

“So if it is you need to go to the hospital.”

“No way.”

“Malik!” Ryou called.

“What?”

“Could you come here a minute please?”

Yami rolled his eyes.

A moment later the Egyptian walked in. “What’s up?”

“Look at this,” Ryou said. “Did he break it?”

Malik winced as he looked at the spirit’s hand. “Damn, Yami, what’d you hit?”

“Nothing living.”

Malik snorted and began pressing his fingers into the swollen flesh.

“If you do that one more time I swear I’ll kill you,” Yami growled.

“Yep, it’s broken,” Malik concluded.

“Yami you have to go to the hospital,” Ryou said.

“You really don’t want to see me drive, love.”

“Go ahead and take him, Ryou. I’ll stay here with Yugi.”

“I don’t think so,” Yami stated.

“Thank you, Malik,” Ryou cut in. “Do you think you can make him some breakfast too?”

“Absolutely not,” Malik replied. “But I’ll order something in.”

“Oh good. We should only be gone a few hours. Mr. Mutou’s cell phone number is on the pad next to the phone. If you need me call it and leave a message. I’ll check it as often as I can.”

Malik raised an eyebrow. “Anything else, Your Highness?”

Ryou smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“S’ok.”

“I’ll be right back,” the dark haired teen stated, heading into the living room.

Yugi looked up from his place on the sofa bed. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“I have to take Yami to the hospital,” Ryou replied. “It looks like he broke his hand.”

Yugi’s eyes widened. “Is he okay?”

“He’s…uncooperative but okay. Malik has offered to stay with you.” He sat on the edge of the flimsy mattress. “If that’s not okay with you I’ll ask him to take Yami and I’ll stay here.”

Yugi thought a moment. “Yami needs you,” he finally concluded. “I’ll be okay with Malik.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“If you need anything at all don’t hesitate to let Yami know. Even if you decide later that you want me to come back.”

Yugi smiled. “Just go already. I’ll be okay.”

Ryou returned the smile. “Okay. I’ll see you in a few hours.” He returned to the kitchen and pulled the car keys from the hook next to the door. “Ready?”

“No.”

“Come on, Yami. You don’t want it to get infected,” the teen pleaded, grasping his uninjured hand and squeezing it gently.

Yami fought back the smile. He’d been through far worse back in Egypt and made it through with only the help of holistic healers. He’d never admit it in front of Malik but he rather enjoyed Ryou’s display of worry and coddling. “Alright,” he relented. He followed Ryou through the hall and down the stairs into the shop.

Malik rolled his eyes. The pharaoh was whipped. He picked up the cordless phone and returned to the living room. “Looks like it’s just you and me this morning,” he said. “We can either eat the pancake batter that Ryou left on the table or we can order in.”

Yugi wrinkled his nose. “Order in. There’s a pile of coupons under one of the magnets on the refrigerator.”

“Oh sweet,” Malik replied, returning to the kitchen.



Forty minutes later the credits were scrolling across the screen and the pair had eaten as much as they could handle. Empty cartons and half-eaten plates of food littered the end tables and they had returned the bed to some semblance of order, pillows were returned to the head of the bed and blankets covered their laps.

“Why do movies always have such sappy endings?” Yugi asked, taking a sip of his soda.

“They’ve got to appeal to the masses, I suppose,” Malik replied. “Everyone’s looking for their own happy ending.”

“Not me,” Yugi replied.

Malik raised an eyebrow. “No? You seem like the romantic type to me.”

“No way,” the smaller teen said, shaking his head for emphasis. “I’m perfectly happy to stay single forever.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No.”

“Oh come on, Yugi. Once the gross feeling goes away you’ll change your mind.”

Yugi blinked. “What do you mean ‘gross feeling’?”

“You know, the feeling that you can’t get clean, that you’re contaminating everything you come across. It goes away in time.”

“How do you know?”

“You don’t see me sitting on a throne of celibacy, do you?”

“You mean, you…”

“Two years ago.”

Yugi winced. “I had no idea. Who was it?”

Malik shrugged. “Marik, of course.”

“Marik?” Malik nodded. “But he’s your yami. He’s supposed to protect you.”

“I don’t think he got the memo.”

“But you’re nothing like Ryou.”

“Why would I be like Ryou?”

Yugi shook his head. He’d been thinking out loud. “What I meant was that you seem so…comfortable.”

“I am. It was no big deal,” he said. “I wasn’t about to let Marik think he’d beaten me so I got over it. Once I stood up for myself he started respecting me and my boundaries.”

“…how did you get over it?”

Malik shrugged. “Went out and got laid.”

Yugi blinked for a moment before blushing a deep red. “Oh…but weren’t you scared?”

“Terrified,” Malik admitted. “But it worked. It was sort of like reclaiming my body. Saying to myself that it was mine and as such I chose who touched it and who didn’t.”

“Who was it?”

“Who was who?”

“The person you did it with.”

A smirk played upon Malik’s lips. “Mako Tsunami. I met him at a minor’s tournament in the Mediterranean.”

Yugi’s jaw dropped. “Mako?!”

Malik laughed. “Yeah.”

“Wow…”



Ryou held tightly to Yami’s free hand as the doctor poked and pulled at the injured one. He didn’t need Yugi’s connection with the pharaoh to know that he was contemplating banishing the poor physician.

“We’ll need to take a few x-rays but it does seem to be broken,” the doctor said grimly. “How did this happen?”

“Is that really relevant?” Yami snapped.

“He’s in a lot of pain,” Ryou cut, trying to take some of the sting out of his boyfriend’s words.

“I understand. I’ll send my nurse in to take you to the x-ray room. It’ll just be a few minutes.” He passed through the curtain suspended from the ceiling, pulling it closed on his way out.

“I thought you said they would make it stop hurting,” Yami said accusingly.

Ryou ran a soothing hand down his back. “They will,” he replied. “First they have to find out how bad the break is so they know how to treat it.”

Yami let his head fall to rest on Ryou’s shoulder. “Can I tell you something?” he said softly.

“Of course,” Ryou replied, placing a soft kiss on his temple.

Yami let his eyes fall shut. “Last night when you didn’t come back I thought you had left for good.”

Ryou inhaled sharply. “Why would you think that?”

“You just seemed so eager to get away from me.”

“I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to keep from telling you about Kaiba.”

“I know that now,” Yami replied. A silence followed. “I don’t want you to leave, Ryou.”

Ryou put one arm around the spirit and placed the other hand on his cheek, lifting his face until their gazes locked. He was startled to see the tears welled in the crimson eyes. “Yami I’m not leaving.”

Yami’s lower lip began to quiver and he cursed himself for losing his calm. “Don’t let the thief come between us again. You don’t have to be afraid. I can protect you from him if you’ll let me.”

“Yami,” Ryou whispered, his own tears falling freely. “I’m not going anywhere. Bakura would have to kill me to take me away from you.”

“Oh Ra, Ryou, don’t say that.”

“I’m sorry,” Ryou amended. “But it’s true.”

The curtain parted and an older woman peeked through. “Yami Mutou?”

“Yes,” Yami replied, rising to his feet, instantly reverting to his usual demeanor.

“Let’s head down to the x-ray room.”

Yami held out his hand for Ryou to take but the teen shook his head. “I can’t be with you when they take the x-rays,” he explained.

“Then I’m not taking them.”

“It’s okay, Mr. Mutou, it shouldn’t hurt. It’s just like getting your picture taken.”

“Go ahead, Yami. I’ll be here when you get back,” Ryou said gently.

Yami nodded and followed the nurse out, a barely audible string of Egyptian curses falling from his lips.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
I'm sure you noticed the obvious lack of Bakura and Marik in this chapter. It took more space than expected to get the emotions of this chapter across. Rest assured, they will be making a comeback in the next chapter--storming L.A. Heh heh heh

Also, don't worry...I believe there will be some Yami/Ryou lovin in there somewhere too...