Ryou ran almost blindly through the rain. He knew the general area of his destination, but he had never actually been there. He silently wished he had chosen a clearer night to do this, but when your emotions demanded you do something /now, it was rather difficult to ignore the all-consuming thought. Finally, he saw a light shining; a light that formed the words he'd been looking for: Kame Game.

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Yuugi wiped his forehead, finally finishing the dinner dishes. They had been piling all week, but his grandfather was returning tomorrow, and if he didn't clean them, he knew he would get thoroughly chewed out. He was about to head back up to his room until he saw a familiar face on the other side of the back door. His eyes grew wide and he immediately opened the door, catching the other as he stumbled in.

"I'm- I'm sorry for bothering you so late," the white-haired teen managed to stammer.

"Don't worry about it, Ryou," Yuugi replied honestly, half-carrying his friend to a chair. "Stay here, I'll get you a towel and find something for you change into."

"N- No, I'm all right, Yuugi."

"Don't be ridiculous! You'll be sick all week if you stay in those wet clothes!" The violet-eyed teen took off before the other could protest any further.

'Oh, no,' Ryou said internally. 'He's giving me time to think about this.' He had just wanted to spill everything he had to say to the other teen so they could both just go on from there. But now, given the time to think about his actions, he was starting to convince himself this was a bad idea.

Luckily, Yuugi returned before he could completely talk himself out of it. He was still determined to speak with the shorter teen.

"Here Ryou," Yuugi said, handing him a large towel. "You're dripping wet. What were you doing out there?"

"I ran out into it," the white-haired teen said solidly.

"Seriously? It's pouring!"

"Yuugi, there's something I've been wanting to ask you, and suddenly… I just couldn't wait any longer."

"What couldn't wait until school tomorrow?"

"If… if the pharaoh… if he hadn't been as kind to you, do you think you would still miss him?"

Yuugi blinked. He certainly hadn't seen that one coming. A puzzled expression his face, he took a seat next to Ryou.

"What… makes you ask?"

"Curiosity?"

"Curiosity would not have dragged you out into the pouring rain."

"Please, Yuugi…"

The spiky-haired teen sighed. "When I first became aware of his presence, there was a time when I didn't trust him. That was awful. It felt like, by not trusting him, I couldn't even trust myself. There's no worse feeling than that, I think. And if I had felt like that the entire time with him, I doubt very much I would miss him."

Ryou stared at the ground, wrapping the towel tightly around himself. "I see."

"But that doesn't mean I wouldn't feel the absence of his presence." Brown eyes shot up to meet violet ones. "You can't have someone in your head that whole time and then just not notice anything different once they've gone. That's impossible."

"But…" Ryou mumbled. "What if he was kind to you, but hated your friends?"

"Hnn… that's a tough one. Come on, Let's get you into some dry clothes. Jou thought he was being funny last Christmas, so I think I have something that'll fit you."

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Yuugi sat out in the hall thinking while Ryou changed in his room. "I would have tried to convince him they weren't a threat," he suddenly said. "Not to him or me. That working with them was much preferable to working against them."

Ryou smiled sadly. "Well then mate, I guess I shouldn't join the debate team any time soon," he said softly.

"I take it you tried that tactic," the violet eyed boy said. It was getting pretty obvious what, or who rather, this was about.

"Yeah," the brown-eyed boy said. "He was always saying the only one he could trust was himself, but at the same time, he did tell me he trusted me. 'Said I was the 'exception.'" Yuugi heard him sit on the bed and stood, walking into the room. He wasn't completely surprised to find the other was still shirtless, but it wasn't the lack of a shirt that caught his attention. It was the cuts all over his arms.

"R- Ryou…"

The white-haired looked from his friend to the focus of his attention. "I didn't think I would have to tell you that the other me had some issues," he said.

Yuugi smiled in spite of himself. "That's what I called my yami, too," he said, sitting beside his friend. "Other Me."

"They didn't leave us much choice, did they?" Ryou chuckled.

"Well, I don't know about yours, but my yami didn't remember his name."

"I… wish I knew. He never did tell me his name, but I don't know if he just didn't want to or… couldn't. I never did find out."

"Track him down in the afterlife?" Yuugi suggested.

Ryou laughed softly. "Yes, I suppose that's an option. That's probably what you'll be doing. Trying to find the pharaoh, yes?"

Yuugi blushed softly. "I- I don't know. He's got his life back now. When I finished the Puzzle, he had no bonds to this world. He told me once that since he didn't, he just kind of adopted my own feelings towards other people. It actually explained that duel with Kaiba, why he was willing to go so far."

"It did?"

"I was repeatedly saying I'd do anything to save Grandpa, and felt the same way. Or, thought I did, anyway. I wasn't ready to go /that/ far, and Atem didn't realize that. He just knew I wanted Grandpa back." The teen smiled. "Like a child, really."

"I like hearing you talk about your yami. It's obvious how highly you thought of him."

The violet-eyed teen smiled shyly, then grew serious. "What… what did you think of your yami?"

A conflicted look crossed Ryou's face.

"Come on," Yuugi encouraged him. "Pretend I wasn't sharing a mind and body with his archrival for four years."

"I… I loved him!" the brown-eyed teen blurted out, tears running down his cheeks. "God help me, I loved him. He was so cruel to everyone, but I turned a blind eye to it all just because of the kindness he showed me! I'm… I'm just as awful as him…"

Yuugi took the other teen in his arms and let him cry to his heart's content. "Feels good, doesn't," he said. "To finally get that out, that is."

The white-haired teen nodded against him, tears still falling freely.

"I felt the same when I finally told Atem how much I cared for him. Did the other you know how you felt?"

"I- I never told him," Ryou replied. "But he knew. He wasn't really shy about running around in my head. He knew things I had never told anyone, and enjoyed finding things like that out, so I have no doubt he knew."

A small smirk crossed Yuugi's face. "Did he…ever mess with your dreams?"

Ryou sat back up, wiping his eyes. "How do you mean?"

The other reached for some tissues and handed them to his visitor. "Meaning he took a dream you having and made it more… interesting."

"Interesting? How…?" With realization came a blush over the brown-eyed teen's face. "Uh, yeah… he did. I got mad at him the first few times. You could seriously damage a person's psyche doing that."

"Oh, like they weren't going in that direction anyway."

Ryou's eyes went wide. "He… he said the same thing."

Yuugi was speechless as a stunned look crossed his face. "We never tell either of them about this, ok?"

The other nodded vigorously. "I think it would be in our best interests."

"I know it would."

(And somewhere in the afterworld, a tongue was stuck out at a pair of rolling eyes.)

"By the way, Yuugi, where's your grandfather?"

"Expedition," the other replied, doing his best imitation of his guardian's voice. "What about your dad?"

"The same."

"Ryou?"

"Mm?"

"Let's never be archeologists."

Ryou laughed. "Agreed, mate."

"You're welcome to stay the night, if you want," the violet-eyed boy offered. "I don't think that rain's supposed to let up until morning."

"I don't want to be in your way…"

Yuugi sighed and reached for one of his pillows and hit the other over the head with it. "You're welcome. To stay. The night," he repeated.

"All right, you made your point, mate." The white-haired teen grinned and quickly snagged a pillow of his own. It landed against his friend's back with an 'oof' from the other. "Retribution," he stated.

"Oh? I'll show you retribution." Ryou narrowly avoided the oncoming pillow, standing to dodge it. The two proceeded to chase each other all over the room, laughing at each other's childishness.

That was, until Yuugi fell backward unto his bed. Ryou tripped, trying to catch his friend, and instead landed on top of him. The brown-eyed teen started to lift himself away from the other, then stopped, remembering the one last thing he'd wanted to talk about. "Yuugi, there's one last thing I wanted to ask you," he spoke.

The violet-eyed teen looked at his friend with a soft kindness. "What is it?" he asked.

"What would you do if… I kissed you?"

Yuugi smiled. "Kiss you back, of course."

"But… would you mean it? Or…"

The violet-eyed teen laughed. "Wow, Atem was right. You aren't very observant."

"Huh?"

"I've had a crush on you for about a year now."

Brown eyes flung wide. "But… you never…"

"Well, our yamis were out for each other's blood. That… made it a bit awkward to bring up, I guess."

"Huh."

Yuugi pointed at his mouth. "You. Here. Now."

Ryou willingly obliged. He was still a bit tentative at first, but when he felt how welcoming the other's mouth was to his, it increased his confidence greatly. Their tongues easily gained entry to each other. Already lost in his partner, Ryou reached under the other's shirt, running his fingernails down Yuugi's side. The spiky-haired teen cried out at the sensation.

"Sorry, mate," the white-haired teen apologized. "Force of habit."

Yuugi's eyebrows lifted. "You're assuming that was pain."

Ryou blinked, then dove in for another sweltering kiss from his to-be lover. The heat was becoming too much for them both, and Yuugi flipped them over so he could easily pull off his shirt. The two were lost in each other again, could definitely feel their erections rubbing against each other. Ryou reached between them and unfastened both their pants. They separated long enough to discard their remaining clothing, then quickly became entangled in each other once more. "Top or bottom?" Yuugi hissed.

"Bottom," was the near-breathless reply, and the spiky-haired teen reached into his dresser to pull out a small bottle of lube. He pulled the cap off with his teeth and let the liquid fall to his palm. After coating his fingers thoroughly, he looked down at his soon-lover. When he saw those chocolate pools gazing back at him, he leaned in to capture the other's mouth once more.

His mouth moved to the other's neck. He sucked at the pearl colored skin while gently pushing a finger inside the other. A low moan resonated in Ryou's throat, encouraging Yuugi to enter a second digit. He stretched the other teen until he told him it was all right. The spiky-haired teen returned to kiss Ryou yet again, while pushing himself inside him,

"Are you… ok?" he asked.

"Yes. Keep going, Yuugi."

The violet-eyed teen did as he was told, slowly at first, then increasing his speed as both of their desires intensified. He shifted his weight to his left, releasing his right hand to wrap around the other's neglected penis.

"Nnn… Yuugi…"

"Ryou… so close..."

The only sounds heard throughout the darkened house was the steady pounding of the rain outside and the heavy breathing of the two teens. The quiet was not even broken as the two came wordlessly, still panting as if all the air around them had evaporated. Yuugi finally found the strength to roll over off his lover, but Ryou pulled him close, as if he didn't ever want to let him go. Yuugi snuggled closer, smiling. The shower could wait a bit longer.

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"Hey, I have question for you," Yuugi said thoughtfully as they redressed after cleaning up.

"Oh? What is it?"

"Do you think there's such a thing as guardian angels?"

"I can't say for certain if they do, but ours are probably in the afterlife still trying best each other."

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Meanwhile, in the nether realms…

"Your hikari's a whore, Pharaoh."

"Leave him alone, Tombrobber. It's not as if he sells himself on the street."

"He pulled the cap off with his teeth! Don't those twist off?"

"Did you miss your hikari begging for every bit of attention he was given?"

"Ryou… didn't… beg."

"Not verbally. But did you see his eyes?"

The tombrobber lunged for the pharaoh, who smugly dodged. "You have to work on that temper. It'll get you in trouble someday."

A pair of lavender eyes rolled. "Are you two fighting again?!" Marik asked. "We're dead, knock it off already!!"

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A/N: I know the possibly of these three coming within 10 feet of each other unnecessarily is about as likely as Bush being re-elected, but still, couldn't resist… ;