Tegami

Tegami*

Summary: Ryou’s friends
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. If I did…*begins to laugh evilly*
Warning: Just some really sad type things about our favorite white haired hikari.

Kimi wa Tomodachi*

Ryou watched his friends play in the snow from the upstairs window in his room. He would have loved to join them, but he didn’t want to intrude. A smile played on his lips as Bakura shoved Seto head first into a huge pile of snow, Yugi pouting.

There goes your snowman Yugi! He laughed to himself, sighing with pleasure.

Everyone was having so much fun! He loved the winter time. It means warm things and plenty of together time.

He brought the blanket up higher around his chest and looked back down at his book. He’d read two more chapters then he’d go down and get dinner ready. He wouldn’t want them all to complain if there was nothing to eat.

When the doe eyed hikari read, he totally absented himself from the world and immersed himself in whatever he was reading. When he read, the white haired youth became apart of the story. He felt the loss of a comrade, praised the victory of the troops, engaged in a long distance romance with a towered princess.

It was so beautiful, so romantic. As he read a love scene between two of the characters, his cheeks took on a light blush and his eyes glazed over a bit, unaware of the voices calling his name.

Suddenly, he was rudely jarred from his world by a shove to the shoulder. His head connected with glass and he cried out.

Blinking, he saw everyone in his room. “Oh dear. What time is it? I’ll go get dinner started right now –”

Malik laughed. “No, I was trying to say that we’re all going to go out and eat. Come on Ryou!”

The boy smiled, embarrassed. He hadn’t heard anything at all. He rubbed his head where it hurt and nodded. “Okay. I need to get dressed. I’ll be down soon!”

Malik nodded and shooed everyone from the room. Seto looked angry.

“Why’d the hell we ALL come upstairs for! Damn it Yugi!”

The petite teen whined. “It’s not my fault! Marik said to follow Malik so I did! No one told you to come!”

They left the room and Ryou smiled at the door. He got up and put some jeans on and his only pair of boots. He’d spent a good percent of his savings, little that they were, on Bakura, Marik, and Malik’s birthday and Christmas presents so he’d have to wait to get new things. He shrugged on a hoodie, happy to have on a layer of shirts and made his way out side.

Yugi was already hugged up against Marik on his motorcycle and somewhat resembled a marshmallow in his puffy white coat. Malik was coaxing Otogi onto his own bike, assuring him that he could drive just as good as Marik.

He looked around, feeling lost for a second until he saw Bakura standing next to the car. He hopped down the stairs and began approaching the passenger side when Seto beat him to it and hopped in, Bakura following his lead.

Ryou stopped, embarrassed and got in the back. I forgot…Yami has a boyfriend now.

It’d been almost a month since Marik and Malik’s birthday party, two months since things had gone so crazy. Now, although they still didn’t get along with Yami and his friends so well, there was no more petty fighting or arguments.

He sat in the back seat and hummed absently as he pulled out his book. The ambiguous grey hard cover was thin and worn from many readings, but Ryou loved it just the same. It was different from the book he’d been reading in his room. This was the one he took when he was on car rides.

He opened it randomly and smiled, finding another one of his favorite parts. This was where the group of young heroes discovered the treachery of the Prince’s Uncle.

Soon enough, Ryou was re-immersed in a world of his own creation and tuned out the world at large.

Seto and Bakura stood outside the car, watching Ryou. Marik smirked.

“How long you think he’ll sit there before he realizes we’ve stopped moving and get out?”

Bakura frowned. “He won’t.” He tapped the window and Ryou still didn’t respond, so the yami opened the door and put his cold hands on Ryou’s face. The pale boy giggled and slowly came back to life.

“Yami! What are you doing? Let’s go! Aren’t we going out to eat?”

“We’re there.” Seto crossed his arms. They’d been waiting for ten minutes.

Ryou looked around. “Oh?” He saw the sign for the restaurant and turned crimson. “OH!” He got out of the car and shoved his book in the hoodie pocket and bowed to the assembled group. “I’m so sorry! Let’s go inside!”

They went inside, Ryou bringing up the rear.

They’ve all been waiting and I was just reading and reading. Try and do better Ryou!

The group went in and sat down. The dim, red interior of the Chinese buffet made Ryou squint his eyes as he glanced around the room. Noting the feng shui, he picked out all the examples of the five elements before being herded into the middle of a circular booth. The waiter, a young man with shiny, straight black hair, took their drink orders and left them to their own designs.

Otogi pulled Malik with him. “We’ll go first because I’m really starving. Stay and wait for drinks –”

“No way!” Yugi got up. “I’m not waiting for anyone! Come on Marik!”

The blond yami was already staring at the buffet, eyes wide with hunger. “Ah…they’ve got those biscuits…”

Bakura was already getting up and Seto stared at Ryou who simply nodded.

“I’ll wait. Everyone, go get some food.”

Bakura grunted. “I’ll bring you back something. You can’t go at all because then we’ll all have to get up again.”

Ryou nodded and smiled. He watched his friends at the buffet, chaos ensuing when both Otogi and Marik went for the same roll. Malik and Yugi soon came back with full plates and started eating right away, while Bakura broke up the roll fight and Seto glowered at the children near the brownie tray.

So much fun! His mind squeaked. He figured it be a least five minutes before Bakura came back so he got out his book again, rejoining his friends as they entered the Forbidden Chamber.

Seto nudged Bakura before they came back from the buffet. “He’s reading again.”

“He’s always reading. That’s what he does. He reads at lunch.”

“So I’ve noticed. Doesn’t Ryou have any flesh and blood friends?”

Bakura shrugged. “We’re his friends.” He snatched a french fry off one of the plates in Seto’s hand and grinned innocently when he frowned.

“You made me hold his plate just so you could do that didn’t you?”

The thief smiled cryptically and waltzed away. “Ancient Chinese secret!” he sang, sitting down next to Ryou. He snapped his fingers in the boy’s face. “Food now! Book later!”

Ryou put away his book and took his plate from Seto. “Thank you…Kaiba-san.”

The CEO rolled his eyes. “I told you, it’s Seto.” The brunette unwrapped his silverware and dug into his food, already far behind Yugi and Malik who’s plates were nearly empty.

As plates emptied, conversations flowed and for once Yugi led the gossip instead of Malik.

“Yeah, they got caught by Grandpa. It wasn’t pretty.”

Bakura started laughing. “That’s so sick! I’m never buying anything from the game shop again!”

Yugi laughed. “I mean, really! Customers could have come in and seen them!”

Marik ate another piece of sweet and sour chicken. “Yeah? I don’t think Amelda would have really cared. Now he’s a slut. You thought Yami was bad, they belong with each other –”

“And the fifty million diseases swimming between them.” Kaiba ate a dumpling and sipped his tea. “Can we stop talking about Yami and sex in the same sentence. I am trying to eat.”

Malik giggled. “It’s not as bad as when we cleaning up the party and we found Raph and Anzu -”

Ryou nearly spit out his soda and started giggling. They’d found the two half naked slumped over a couch in Kaiba’s private living room. The CEO had thrown the couch out and ordered a new one the next day.

Bakura smiled, glad to see his hikari actually participating. The boy had tried to crack his book open while they were talking sometime back until Yugi threatened to throw it in the toilet.

Ryou’s face turned crimson. “Malik took a marker and -.” He started laughing again, waving at Malik when the boy encouraged him to continue telling the tale.

“Come on Ryou, what’d I do? Tell them!”

The boy was turning colors as laughter got the better of him and Yugi patted his back until he calmed down. Marik grinned at his hikari.

“What’d you do?”

Malik pulled out his wallet and retrieved two photos. He passed them around, everyone laughing as they saw.

Sprawled near Raphael’s limp manhood was Anzu, her mouth open. Malik had taken a black marker and written “Insert Here” on her cheek and “signed” names to Raphael’s hindquarters, including Jou and Yami’s names. Ryou declined to look at the photos and passed them to Yugi and Marik instead, the pictures getting more laughs.

Malik nodded, feeling pretty good. “And, I have copies.”

Marik clapped and Bakura put an arm around him. “We’ve taught you so well. Marik, it’s like he’s graduating!”

Marik nodded, mock crying. “That’s my Baby!”

Ryou finished his food and listened to the rest of the gossip, happy to be included.


When everything was said and done, the group headed out. Bakura drove Ryou back home, telling Seto to wait in the car while he walked his hikari inside.

Once inside, Ryou started to go back upstairs. Bakura stopped him.

“Ryou.”

“Yes Yami? Want something?”

“Yeah.” Bakura rubbed the back of his head. “Stop all that god damned reading okay?”

Ryou smiled. His yami was telling Marik that all the time and vice versa. “Why? Are you going to beat me?”

Bakura laughed. “I might. But really, come on. You do have real friends you know. Not just paper ones. Okay?”

Ryou nodded and went upstairs. He watched his yami’s car leave and went to get the book he’d been reading before dinner. He hugged it to his chest and sat in the dim lamp light of his room.

But you are my friend…


****
*Tegami means “Letter” in Japanese. *Courtesy of Ken Hirai
*I know, I know, not an explosive or stellar start. It’ll be less chapters than the other and very…sad I think. Very angsty. Very Ryou. He does find love okay? Or…I guess…what am I planning you ask? MWA HA HA HA HA!
*Read and Review, please, click my name and read my recommended fics. RedCatt is awesome!