The Peculiar Friendship of Kaiba and Ryou

Ryou wasn't sure why he didn't think of Kaiba as an enemy the way that the others did. Even Yami (who would never admit it) saw the other teen as a rival despite his many attempts to win Kaiba over to their side. It was simply habit now he supposed, something that had to be done for the sake of appearing as the good guy since they all knew that Kaiba would reject each one of their advances whenever they were offered. Joey hated Kaiba with a passion (although getting called a dog every time their paths crossed would do that to a fellow) and Tristain shared his dislike for the same reason (as Joey's 'best bud' he was apparently the only one allowed to insult the blonde) and Tea (even though she hid it behind carefully planned and calculated friendship speeches) considered him to be a scumbag, almost on the same level as Pegasus. The only reason that any of them even tolerated the teen was for one reason; Mokuba. None of them could understand how such a cold, heartless person could have such a loving and tenderhearted younger brother who so obviously worshiped Kaiba with a diligence one usually reserved for deities. Ryou himself wasn't sure what to think; he was willing to agree that sometimes Kaiba seemed to go out of his way to antagonize them but his yami (Bakura, as Ryou called him) seemed almost…fond of Kaiba. Of course the evil spirit would disagree heartily but Ryou had caught the spirit staring at Kaiba when no one was watching with a wistful expression on his face. So Ryou decided to conduct his own research before making any decisions.

The chance came a bit sooner than he had been expecting; Ryou had woken up with a slight headache, nothing serious but enough to irritate him and make loud noises rather painful. To make matters worse Joey had decided that today would be the perfect day to start an argument with Tristain. To be fair they always had arguments like this during lunch but Ryou's headache certainly aggravated the situation. So the second he heard their voices growing louder from across the cafeteria he decided to bypass their table altogether and find an empty one to sit at. Unfortunately they were all occupied and since most of them were much bigger than Ryou and his yami wasn't fond of coming out during school (being over 5000 years old he didn't see the need for such things) that only left him with one choice; Kaiba's table. No one, bully or otherwise, dared come near the scowling CEO as he sat there, day after day, either reading a book or working on his laptop, so that made it the perfect location for Ryou. Of course it also meant that he was even more nervous about approaching him.

Gathering up his courage Ryou walked over to the table, ignoring the startled looks and shocked gasps he was no receiving. "H-hello, Kaiba, do you mind if I sit down?"

Kaiba didn't reply and Ryou was just about to turn and brave the loudness of Yugi's table when the chair in front of Kaiba suddenly moved towards him. Ryou smiled and sat down, digging into his food with relish. "Thank you," he said, knowing that this was farther than most people had ever advanced. Kaiba grunted but said nothing and they finished their lunch in silence which, surprisingly, wasn't awkward like it would have been with anyone else.

Ryou wasn't as cunning as his yami was but even he knew how to time his arrival perfectly so that there was no time for anyone (Yugi and co.) to ask him embarrassing questions that he had no way of answering. Instead he pretended to be absorbed in his work while trying to ignore their inquiring gazes and pretending not to notice the notes that Tea and Tristain were trying to pass him. At lunchtime he made a beeline for the door and was vastly relieved to notice that he had arrived before they did. He supposed that he should eat with them and explain about his headache the day before (Yugi would understand, he always did) and that would be the end of that. Instead (still not knowing why) he ventured back to Kaiba's table.

"May I sit here?" he asked.

Kaiba grunted but the chair slid out as a sign of his acceptance.

"Thank you," Ryou said as he sat down and began to eat.

The meal passed in silence much like it had the day before, the only sounds coming from Ryou as he ate and Kaiba as his fingers danced across the laptop keyboard.

He really was becoming a Master of avoiding people Ryou supposed as he once again made sure to time his arrival so that he didn't have to talk to anybody. Yugi now had a concerned frown on his face as he glanced between Ryou and Kaiba, obviously trying to decide if Kaiba was brainwashing the more innocent teenager or if the evil Bakura and Kaiba were teaming up to take Yami down. The other three members of his little group had no such inhibitions; they all glared menacingly at Kaiba (Ryou swore he even heard Joey growling under his breath) and gave Ryou sympathetic ('we know he's got some kind of hold over you') looks and Tea managed to slip him a note filled with encouraging words of how they were there for him (even though they barely noticed him before and wouldn't have if it hadn't been for Bakura) and would help him take on Kaiba together with the power of friendship. Ryou was considered sensitive by everyone he knew but even he felt slightly nauseous upon reading Tea's five page note (how on Earth did she have time to do that during school? Perhaps she had written it the night before) filled with flowery words and phrases. He had read poetry less sappy than this and he could understand why Kaiba was always telling her to shut up when she started talking.

This time when he approached the table the chair slid out before he even reached it. A small smile graced his lips as he sat down, offering his usual thanks to Kaiba who merely grunted (a man of small words, indeed) and continued reading. Ryou had decided to follow Kaiba's example and brought his own book today; an advanced guide on how to play chess, intended for those who weren't beginners but yet weren't champions. He hadn't intended to disturb the peace, really he hadn't but a particularly humorous passage had him sniggering under his breath until it turned into an outright chuckle.

"And what, may I ask, is so funny about chess?" Kaiba asked icily as he lowered his book and glared at Ryou.

"M-my apologies," Ryou stammered. "I didn't mean to disturb you, really, but they got some of the moves mixed up."

"Beg pardon?" an eyebrow rose as Kaiba closed his book and sat it down, offering his full attention to his classmate.

It was rather unnerving Ryou was forced to admit but he had started this so it was only fitting that he finish it. "They mixed up the Queen's Gambit with the Bishop's Gamble. I mean, how stupid are these people? And what's worse is this book is a national bestseller!"

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "You mean to tell me that someone mixed up those two moves and no one ever caught it?! Not even my brother would do that and he doesn't really play! "

Now Ryou was even more surprised. "You play chess?"

"I haven't touched a board in six years," Kaiba shrugged. 'But I was unbeatable back then. Do you play or were you trying to learn using that…piece of trash?"

"I'm fairly decent," Ryou admitted. "My father taught me how to play when I was younger and I used to play against myself a lot. The book was more for my entertainment than anything else. That and I think my yami wants to learn since I don't remember putting this book in my bag."

An unreadable expression crossed Kaiba's face (he didn't believe in magic after all, Ryou suddenly remembered) but he simply nodded. "So what other mistakes did they make in there?"

Ryou brightened and eagerly spent the next fifteen minutes pointing out several obvious mistakes (they were to him at least) and even Kaiba smirked at a few. Yes this had most definitely been an interesting day.

The next day Kaiba pulled a chessboard out his briefcase. "Thought I'd see if I was still any good," he said offhandedly.

Ryou recognized the gesture for what it was (despite Tea and Yugi's claims to the contrary being friends didn't necessarily mean forming a cheerleading squad and driving one's enemies insane in the process) and smiled. "Oh I'm sure you still are but me I'm not so sure about."

"Which is why we're doing this," Kaiba replied as he made his first move.

They hadn't finished their game by the time lunch was over but Kaiba simply said that he would remember where all the pieces were the next day. Ryou didn't doubt that; unlike everyone else Kaiba simply read their workbook once and then he never needed to touch it and had even recited it word for word once when the teacher accused him of lying about reading it. Needless to say, that teacher had been gone the next day and a new one had taken her place.

Unfortunately for Ryou his luck for avoiding people didn't hold the next day; he had just barely stepped into the cafeteria when he was blocked from approaching Kaiba's table by the head cheerleader herself; Tea.

"Hello, Tea," Ryou sighed, realizing that it was now time for the inevitable confrontation he had been hoping to put off indefinitely.

"That's all you have to say?" she demanded. "You've been avoiding us all week, Bakura, and…"

"Ryou," he interrupted her.

"What?" she looked genuinely startled. Kaiba was thus far the only one to ever interrupt her friendship speeches (Yami just dueled faster and better as if hoping to quiet her sooner and Bakura buried himself deep with Ryou's psyche) and she had obviously thought that no one else would ever dare to do it. She was wrong.

"My name is Ryou. Bakura is my yami," he said quietly then rushed past her before she could regain her voice.

The chair was waiting for him and Kaiba was in the middle of pulling something out of his briefcase when he happened to catch a glance of Ryou's face. His eyes narrowed and it was then that Ryou realized he was sniffling and his eyes were most definitely tearing up. Oh dear, this was so not the impression he wanted to be leaving on Kaiba. It was bad enough that everyone else (his parents and so called 'friends' included) thought him a wimpy, spineless child he certainly didn't want the one person (someone who he hoped to call friend) who was the exact opposite of that to get the same impression. Instead of a chess piece Kaiba simply handed him a clean handkerchief with the KC logo in the corner and glowered more ferociously than normal at everyone who even dared glance their way.

The weekend passed fairly quickly and soon Ryou was back at school. He was relieved that no one tried to talk to him again (apparently him bursting into tears had frightened them) although he wasn't exactly looking forward to lunch as he wasn't sure if Kaiba would still allow him to sit or not. The older teen didn't strike him as the type to tolerate weak-willed fools (although Ryou still wasn't sure why he had started crying in the first place) but they had been in the process of starting a rather tentative friendship and Ryou didn't really want to lose that. He couldn't begin to describe the feeling of relief that spread through him when he realized that not only was his chair pushed out but the chess game had already been set up.

"My move or yours?" Ryou asked as he sat down.

"Mine but after you finish eating," Kaiba replied.

Ryou nodded and quickly finished off his rather unappetizing meal (he really needed to start bringing his own like Kaiba did). "Thank you by the way," Ryou said, holding out Kaiba's handkerchief (washed and ironed).

"I've got tons of others; you keep that one," Kaiba moved his knight.

Ryou nodded, a small smile appearing on his face as he realized that this was one of the very few gifts that he had ever received from someone who wasn't a relative.

The rest of the week passed the same way, with Kaiba and Ryou playing chess every day (Kaiba had won all of their matches so far but Ryou wasn't as bad as he thought). Yugi and his group still gave them worried glances but hadn't approached him again. The only indication that something new was going to happen was the fact that Kaiba kept drumming his fingers on the table; a small tic that Ryou somehow knew indicated that he was nervous (his yami had informed him of that). Ryou was nothing if not patient so he sat and merely waited.

"Mokuba and I are going to the beach tomorrow," Kaiba said abruptly. "He seems to think that I should invite you."

"I would be delighted as long as you don't mind," Ryou responded.

Kaiba merely nodded. "We'll pick you up around eleven," he said and that was the end of it.

At exactly eleven o'clock the next morning a long black limo pulled up in front of Ryou's apartment building where he sat, waiting on the front stairs. He didn't ask how Kaiba knew where he lived (the same way no one asked why Joey was obsessed with food) but greeted the brothers with his usual enthusiasm.

"Hi!" Mokuba grinned. He seemed rather cheery and Ryou suspected that he had already ingested a large portion of sugar that morning.

Kaiba grunted and said nothing. Ryou wasn't the least bit offended especially as Mokuba took it upon himself to try and explain what each one of his brother's grunts meant. By the time that they reached their destination Ryou was laughing his head off while even Kaiba had managed to crack a smile or two.

Roland was kind enough to set up three beach chairs and an umbrella along with more than enough towels to fill a small hotel before retreating back to the limo to keep an eye out for trouble. The beach was suspiciously absent and Ryou suspected that Kaiba had paid a large amount of money to ensure their privacy.

Mokuba wasted no time in throwing off his red t-shirt before running into the water, his matching shorts quickly getting soaked. Kaiba obviously had no intentions of getting wet as he wore his trademark black shirt and pants along with his white trench coat which, somehow, didn't get covered in sand as he sat down in one of the lawn chairs and pulled a book out of his ever present briefcase. Ryou wavered for a second before deciding to join Mokuba in the water, glad that he had settled on a blue t-shirt and swim trunks.

Soon, however, he found himself joining Kaiba in the chairs, his energy having quickly fled after getting bit by a crab on his big toe. Mokuba was still playing though and Ryou wished him a crab-free afternoon as he contemplated whether or not Kaiba might have a book he could borrow.

"You want to play chess or would you rather have your foot amputated?" to anyone else (Yugi perhaps) the tone was snide but Ryou could hear the teasing in it.

"Chess please, I think it might be cheaper," Ryou replied.

Kaiba smirked and snapped his fingers. Less than a minute later they had a table set up between the two of them and Roland was offering refreshments.

By the time Mokuba finally emerged from the water and collapsed in his chair they had already finished one game and were busy debating the merits of using chess as a means to end wars. Ryou was of the opinion that it would be far more effective than anything else while Kaiba maintained that humans were far too stupid to solve their problems with anything other than violence.

Having detected the bitterness in his voice Ryou quickly suggested building sandcastles. Mokuba heartily approved and the three were soon in a sandcastle war.

"Mine's bigger," Mokuba bragged.

"Size isn't everything," Kaiba pointed out. His own castle was rather small and resembled an apartment.

"True but it does help quite a bit," Ryou said, choosing to agree with both brothers.

"Of course you would say that; yours is the biggest," Kaiba grumbled.

Ryou flushed then quickly hid behind his castle for cover when Mokuba decided to start throwing sand balls. Although, once Kaiba got involved, hiding was no longer an option.

Later that night, once he was safely back in his own apartment and sand free, Ryou decided that it had been one of the best days he had ever had. And, most surprising of all, his yami had been quiet all day long.

"I'm going to America for a business meeting this weekend," Kaiba announced abruptly later that week.

"Really?" Ryou looked up from his book. Today was a reading day; neither announced when it would happen but Ryou instinctively knew when to bring a book with him.

"Since I'm leaving Friday I don't want to pull Mokuba out of school and I was wondering if you would mind watching him while I was gone. All you would have to do is stay at the mansion and make sure that nothing happens to him."

Ryou blinked and considered mentioning that that was why Kaiba had bodyguards but decided not to. It took an awful lot for Kaiba to trust someone other than himself or Roland to watch his baby brother and he would be lying if he didn't say that it didn't feel good to know that he had made the short list. "I would be delighted," he said.

"Good," Kaiba nodded. "The limo will pick you up Friday."

Friday came and while it was rather lonely sitting at their table by himself seeing the looks on everyone's faces when Kaiba's limo came to pick him up was more than worth it, he decided. He had been smart and brought his bag containing fresh clothes with him so that they didn't have to stop by his apartment before picking Mokuba up.

"Niisama must really like you," the little boy commented after greeting Ryou.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're coming over to stay with me," Mokuba grinned. "You're the first non-bodyguard I've had stay with me while he's gone."

"Really?" Ryou raised an eyebrow. He (and every other kid at school) thought that Kaiba had a whole staff of maids and cooks waiting on him hand and foot.

"Yep," the black head bobbed up and down. "Usually Fuguta sleeps in one of the guest rooms if that happens but he's not a good cook. Do you know how to cook?"

"Yes," Ryou replied uncertainly.

"Yay!"

After arriving at the mansion (Ryou shuddered to think of how much the light bill alone must cost) Ryou was quickly directed to one of the many guest rooms and given a tour of the house, mostly the areas that Mokuba usually occupied such as the kitchen and Kaiba's private office.

Once he had completed his homework (Mokuba was still busy doing his and Ryou had done most of his during lunch) he decided to do something he had been meaning to do for a long time; talk to his yami.

"What do you want?" Bakura snarled once he came into view.

"I was just wondering why you seemed to like Kaiba so much and don't bother denying it," Ryou said.

Bakura was silent for a few minutes then finally spoke, his voice unusually soft. "I knew the Kaiba brothers a long time ago. Of course they weren't Kaibas' then mind you, in fact they were slaves of the Pharaoh but I didn't care."

"You loved them," Ryou said gently.

"Yes," Bakura bowed his head. "Set and I were deeply in love and Moku was like a brother to me but that all came to an end because of the Pharaoh." He sneered as he said the last word, hatred shining in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ryou whispered.

"It's not your fault," Bakura said gruffly. "I won't let any harm come to them, so don't worry about that."

"All right."

Kaiba called later that evening to inform them that his meeting was going well so far. Mokuba wasted no time in informing him of the impromptu food fight he had started with Ryou and Fuguta while the former assured him that the kitchen had been cleaned up thoroughly by all of the guilty parties. Kaiba thought it was amusing but did scold his younger brother.

Afterwards Ryou somehow found himself trying to play a game. While he normally loved games he wasn't entirely sure about this one.

"I'm not sure this is the best game for the two of us to play," he said.

"You might be right," Mokuba admitted, his short stature and Ryou's natural clumsiness not making the best combination for Twister.

"Thank goodness," Ryou sighed in relief then yelped when his leg gave way and the two boys collapsed in a rather painful heap.

"Ow," Mokuba whimpered.

"I can't feel my foot," Ryou groaned.

Kaiba came back late Sunday afternoon, looking exhausted as he collapsed on the couch in the living room, his briefcase falling on the floor with a loud clang.

"Did you get any sleep?" Ryou asked, wide-eyed.

"I'm afraid not," Roland sighed as he entered, carrying Kaiba's suitcases.

"He never sleeps while he's away on business," Mokuba explained, obviously used to his big brother's idiosyncrasies.

"Oh dear," Ryou blinked then grabbed a blanket from the hall closet before placing it on the sleeping teen.

Kaiba mumbled something and pulled the blanket further around him then turned his back to them.

"Should I go now?" Ryou asked in a whisper.

"Nah," Mokuba waved a hand. "Roland will just take you to school in the morning."

"All right then."

Ryou had just picked up an empty lunch tray and was preparing to get his food when Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Tea appeared in his line of sight. It was most definitely a Monday he decided. "Hi, guys," he greeted them cordially.

"Yo, 'Kura, where ya been?" Joey demanded, his Brooklyn accent even more pronounced than normal.

Ryou blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"We stopped by to see you Saturday but you weren't home," Yugi explained.

"I was at Kaiba's," Ryou felt red creeping over his cheeks and tried to tell himself that he wasn't blushing.

"Why?" Tristan wanted to know.

"I'm not sure that that's any of your business," Ryou somehow managed to say, his knees knocking and hands shaking.

"Now look here," Tea started to say.

"I got this," Joey waved her off. "We know Kaiba's obviously been blackmailing you so why don't you just tell us what he's got on you and we'll fix it, capeche?" he grinned, obviously expecting Ryou to tell him some sob story about embarrassing pictures or something similar.

"How dare you?" Ryou hissed, feeling white-hot anger seep through his bones for what was probably the first time in his life. He could feel Bakura stirring a little, obviously curious about what had his hikari so riled up. "The only reason any of you care is because I've got the Millennium Ring! Otherwise you wouldn't care at all! Kaiba doesn't care about my yami or anything else! He's more of a friend than you'll ever be!"

"He's definitely brainwashed you," Joey smirked.

Ryou's eyes narrowed and he lifted up his empty lunch tray and proceeded to bring it down on Joey's face, hard. The blonde teen crumpled to the floor with a cry of pain as Ryou, suddenly comprehending what he had done, felt his legs give out as he fainted.

"I'm so sorry about what happened this afternoon," the principal apologized, looking extremely nervous. "If you want to press charges against Mr. Wheeler we certainly understand."

Ryou was confused until it occurred to him that he had been eating lunch with Seto Kaiba for the past two weeks and that Kaiba had been the one to carry him to the nurse's office and had waited there until he regained consciousness. He was the friend of the richest, most influential teenager in the world and the principal obviously had no intentions of incurring the wrath of either.

"It's quite all right," Ryou assured him, feeling more than a little embarrassed once he recalled his actions. He didn't regret them by any means but just thinking about what he had done made him feel dizzy once more. "How is Joey by the way?"

"His nose is broken and we had to take him to the emergency room. Mr. Kaiba's already taken care of all the medical expenses," the principal replied.

Ryou felt relieved. He was still ticked at Joey to be sure but was glad that he hadn't caused him any serious harm.

After school let out Ryou exited the building, slightly surprised to find Kaiba leaning against his limo.

"Want a ride?" the billionaire offered.

"Why thank you," Ryou beamed then climbed into the car with his (dare he even say it?) friend.

"Chess at my place?"

"I'd be delighted."

A/N: Hope you guys like! This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh story and I'm a little bit nervous about it. I hope I got everyone in character as much as I could. (I really did try) I'm sorry if my writing style jumped around a little bit but I just got through working a 62 hour week and this story was written at various intervals during the weekend. There's the possibility of a sequel in the works (and maybe a prequel about Bakura, Set, and Moku if anyone's interested) but I'm not going to make any promises. It really just depends on how long my muse stays on this particular subject (hopefully it'll be a while; I like Seto Kaiba). Please read and review! Thanks!