Later that evening, the white-haired deviant was silently ruminating on the day's earlier events- namely, the two bronzed visitors.

'Tch- those blonde morons- how dare they accuse me of growing soft! Those fools think I've been 'tamed?!' I'll show them 'tamed'!'

Bakura had caught a snooze right after the well-wishers left, and now the burned teen felt wide awake. Yet his kindly landlord had announced a few minutes earlier that he was starting to grow exhausted. The weary donor's soft breathing soon fell into a slow and steady pace. So the red-eyed teen was left sitting on his own hospital bed, his legs crossed while he reflected on their last pair of 'visitors.'

'Can't believe those imbeciles forgot all the times I had to save their wussy *sses from Ishida and his thugs... or the time I managed to pick-pocket Malik's fake ID back from that dumb cop's pocket. Those flea-brains owe me a lot, and I'll be damned if I let them think I've lost my edge just because I've fallen-'' Bakura's internal monologue paused as he halted that thought in its tracks. 'Er, because I've fallen into a more luxurious lifestyle. Yes.'

A street punk's reputation was everything when living on the streets of Domino City- if you didn't win some key fights against the local rivals, you'd be chased right out of town. Bakura took Malik and Marik's insinuations as a personal affront to his capabilities and standing. Although his new living arrangement with Ryou was a dream, it was still hard to shake off the 'dog-eat-dog' mentality that allowed him to survive for so long as a street-savvy orphan.

Still entangled in his foul mood, the recovering teen was further provoked when a familiar nurse suddenly shoved her head around their door.

"Oh Ryou~kun! I heard that you were a donor- in-" The clueless twit trailed off when she saw the face of the inpatient closest to the door. Her lavender eyes went wide as she recognized the re-bandaged youth. Evidently she'd only bothered to find out that Ryou had been a donor, but wasn't aware of who the recipient had been.

Miho opened her mouth again, as if to say something further, but Bakura decided to shut the witless fool up. He quietly hissed out in his most threatening tone: "he's sleepthing." Despite the lisp, the cold fury laying just beneath the surface came through loud and clear. "He needs histh sleep, and I'm noth gonna let anyone wake him- got ith?"

The lilac-haired sap seemed to catch his drift, and she gave a hasty nod before retreating back down the hall. Pleased to have avoided further fuss, Bakura turned back to his cross-legged position- only to be interrupted by a soft voice.

"Bakura."

The other roommate instantly froze. 'Sh*t, I thought he was asleep!' Bakura knew he'd been pretty gruff with the nurse, and he expected some sort of reprisal from the overly-polite patient.

"Uh, yeah?"

Ryou shifted his shoulders before drowsily adding, "Thank you."

Bakura felt his stomach drop as the other boy's breathing grew to a gradual rhythm yet again. Stunned but pleased, the confused deviant decided it wouldn't hurt to catch up on his own sleep, as well. He muttered one last word before lying his head down upon the white pillowcase-

"Anythime."

The next morning came rather quickly, and Ryou gave a soft groan as he sat up. 'The doctor said I could move about today, but I'll take it slow, just in case...' His head was still tilted down towards the floor, when something caught his eye. 'Eh?'

Something was sticking out from just under the corner of his hospital bed- it looked like a rusted piece of metal. Curious, Ryou carefully bent over and retrieved the corroded object. 'It's an old car key- but who on Earth would have- oh!' Suddenly the donor remembered yesterday's visitors, and he instantly realized who must've owned the oxidized opener.

As much as he appreciated the blonde's 'help', he still made a mental promise to call a cab for himself and Bakura for the trip back to their home.

'Still, I should really let them know I found their key set- who knows if they have another one?'

Noting his still-slumbering roommate, Ryou stepped out of their shared room before opening the 'Contacts' option on his cell. He'd just closed the door behind him when he hit 'dial.'

*Ring! Ring! Ri- Click!* "Hello?"

Ryou held back a chuckle at the other teen's still-groggy tone. "Good morning, Malik! Sorry to call so early, but I think I found something that you might be missing- did you by any chance drop your car keys during your visit yesterday?"

"Oh, thank heavens!" The relieved blonde gasped as he took in the news. "We almost had to hot-wire the car yesterday to get it back! Thankfully, Marik already got a spare made, but then he couldn't remember where he put it-"

Ryou smiled as the other teen went on, detailing the entire saga of their trip home. From the way Malik was speaking, it sounded like an epic saga rather than a minor inconvenience.

"-and then we remembered the only one in our group who even knew how to jimmy an old car door open was Bakura-"

That comment caught Ryou's attention. "Wait, what?"

"Well, we'd sometimes come across older vehicles in our neighborhood, and he'd open them so we could 'help ourselves' to whatever was inside..."

"I see..."

Oblivious to the other teen's discomfort, Malik continued extolling the less-virtuous talents of their pale comrade. "Oh yeah, he'd even gotten inside a few personal safes in the nearby apartment complex- they never had much in them, but he said it 'made for good practice.'"

"Hmm..." Ryou felt his stomach sink as Malik's tales of unnerving exploits grew. Bakura had never mentioned that he was so accomplished at thievery. True, the guy was clearly not a saint; but it still hurt to discover just how much he'd kept hidden from his trusting landlord.

"And then there was the time that he actually got us through the back door of a supermarket after-hours- we ate like kings for a month! But then they put on a newer padlock, and even with an extra-"

Two chocolate-tinted eyes widened as the list of crimes went on and on. 'I trusted him with my home... but evidently he didn't think of sharing all this?'

"-but they only knew it was 'Vyke' who'd cut the cables- which was Bakura's street name- so the cops never caught on!"

"Vyke?"

"Oh yeah, that's what a lot of the other street brawlers tended to call him, 'cuz he fought like he couldn't feel pain- as if he was constantly on Vicodin, you know?"

Ryou had heard enough, and he quickly interjected before the blonde could start up again. "I'm gonna have to call you back, Malik; I just remembered I have an appointment in five minutes."

Still unaware of the other's unease, Malik happily exclaimed, "oh sure, no problem! We'll drop by for the keys tomorrow, then- take care, Ryou!"

"Take care." As he hit the red button, the pale inpatient's face set in a grim frown as he walked back towards their room. 'I think it's high time I had a little chat with this 'Vyke'...'

From the rustling sounds coming from the room, Ryou figured Bakura was awake. He slowly opened the door to see his 'tenant' bent over a table tray, digging into some toast and ham slices.

Ryou lightly stepped behind the distracted patient, only a few feet away. He was reluctant to resort to trickery, but he had to know. He took a deep breath and lowered his voice to a rough growl.

"Vyke."

Bakura jumped a foot in the air and instantly turned, snarling out: "who thuh f*ck- are- you-" He froze when he saw that the voice had actually been Ryou's.

The other boy looked very distressed, possibly on the verge of tears.

'Oh... sh*t.' Bakura realized that he'd just been found out. The younger teen took a step forward, his eyes unblinking as he faced the reclined tenant.

"So. You are him, then." Ryou frowned, his face grim. Bakura didn't answer. "I was hoping that I was wrong."

The older teen bowed his head and looked away, towards the floor. He spoke very quietly. "...I'm thorry." Bakura's shoulders slumped with his bitter admission.

Ryou was silent. The disappointment on his face was heartbreaking, and Bakura found that he could barely face him. Instead, the revealed street combatant decided to try and explain himself. He glanced downwards at his hands- hands that still bore the thick scars and rough blisters of street living.

"I didn' lie when I firsth told you about my childhood- I was an orphthan, and I did run away a lot. But ash I got older, I grew more and more p*thed off at everybody. They all looked down on me, telling me I was trash, always hatheling me... one day I was done putting up with it, so I ran away for a month."

The taller boy sighed as he thought back on his pre-teen days. "It wasth even kind of nice- for the firth time in my life I didn't feel imprithoned. No one blaming me, or judging me, or hating me. I even met Marik and Malik. They'd had harth lives, too; and together we did whatever we wanted- y'know, 'f*ck thociety' and all of that crap."

Ryou kept a flat expression as the deviant went on. "But I wash never in a gang or anythin'- yeah, I hung out with Malik and Marik, but we weren't dealing or huthling. We didn't keep a fixed 'territory' or any crap. We juth banded together, and if anyone bothered our thrio, we'd thrath 'em."

Ryou's eyes widened, and Bakura quickly threw out his hands in a pacifying gesture. "But moth of them left uth alone after that! Ryou, I promise: I never killed anyone, I never did drugs, and I never did anything highly illegal."

Ryou was about to ask him to define 'highly,' but decided to wait for another time.

Several seconds passed by in awkward silence.

Bakura tried not to swallow his nerves.

"Are- you afraid of me?"

The distressed teen shook his head and sighed. "No, I'm just very upset- why didn't you tell me?"

Bakura looked down, his eyes half-closed. "Iths not thumthing I'm proud of. An' I thought you'd never theak to me again... if you knew."

*Thwack!*

"Ow!" Bakura growled and grabbed his arm. "What wath that for?!"

Ryou crossed his arms, one holding the rolled-up 'Time' magazine he'd surreptitiously grabbed. "I didn't hit you that hard, you big baby. And I'm mad that you'd think I'd hate you for something like that. Don't you know me by now?"

Bakura rubbed his arm sulkily. "Well, I never thought you'd hit me."

The other white-haired teen gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look. "I bonked you with a thin magazine, and you just told me you were a street fighter with the nickname 'Vicodin.'" Ryou couldn't resist dryly adding: "I think you'll live."

Bakura didn't reply- evidently his own attitude was starting to rub off on the shorter teen, for better or for worse.

Ryou's voice softened a bit as he explained. "Look, we've all done stupid stuff- I just don't like how you didn't trust me, even after you've been staying in my home. I trusted you quite a bit by inviting you to live with me; isn't it fair that you trust me just a little?"

'Vyke' sighed. "True. You got a point there." He glanced up at the still-standing landlord. "... do I thill have a place to go after we're ditharged?"

Ryou sighed as he sat down on the bed next to his wayward partner. "Bakura, I didn't make that offer lightly- my home is yours for as long as you like. You're certainly welcome to stay and be a part of it. Honestly, I can't imagine living there without you now. It's only been a short time, yet it feels like you just... belong there." The former volunteer rubbed one of his own arms shyly. "Kiyoko adores you, and you've proven yourself to be a fantastic chef and housekeeper."

Ryou seemed to paused oddly on those last four words. Sensing doubt, Bakura swung his legs over the side to sit next to the other youth. "Ith... ith that what you want?"

Ryou paused for a moment, shaking his head before glancing away. "N-not exactly. I want..." His voice dropped to a whisper, and his expression suddenly grew much more nervous. When he turned back to his roommate, a rosy tint had already spread across his face. "...I want... to share my life with you."

Bakura felt something stop as he slowly turned to gaze directly in the kindly landlord's eyes. Two earnest orbs glanced nervously back at him, waiting for a response. It was a soft and questioning gaze, full of timidness and yearning.

Wordlessly, the still-bandaged inpatient raised his larger hands to gently lift and guide the other's face. It seemed as though all of the air had suddenly disappeared from the room. Neither boy dared to breathe as the distance between them slipped into nothing.

Soft lips brushed over a far rougher set, and slowly melded into a comfortable union of warm senses and profound emotions. The reassuring sounds escaping from Ryou's lips only grew as Bakura pulled his partner closer. The near-delirious bliss of finally embracing one another was almost overwhelming. The feeling of the shared heat and pressure and want... all being driven by two racing hearts. Ryou was almost grateful when they finally parted for air. He smiled as he glanced upwards at the former street-thug. Bakura was wearing a hazy expression of complacency, but he snapped out of it when Ryou spoke up again.

"So... I guess 'Vyke' is no more?"

Bakura snorted and shook his head. "He'th completely burned-out."

Ryou giggled and curled further into his beau's lap. "Then I guess you need a new nickname?"

"Choothe one for me."

Ryou paused and looked downwards. His eyes lowered slightly, and he seemed to be somewhat conflicted. "Well, um... you may not like it, but I was kind of thinking... 'Phantom'."

The older teen paused for a moment, but then he grinned in approval. "Alright- on one condition."

Ryou tilted his head up again in curiosity. At the same moment, Bakura swooped downwards and smoothly pressed his lips back against his sweet angel's.

"You must be my Christine."

Ryou purred in delight as he was left to lean contentedly against the other's chest. "Hmm, I think would like that very much."

"I love you, my darling Christine."

"I love you, my beautiful Phantom."

~The End!~

(Epilogue- Ryou: "You do know I'm never wearing a dress, right?"

Bakura: "Hmm... now there'th an idea I hadn't thought of-"

Ryou: "Bakura!")

A/N:

Wow, I can't believe this story is finally over! O_o; A HUGE thank-you to everyone who read this through- and an extra hug to anyone who left a comment! It's always great to know if you guys like where the story is headed or not, so thank you so much for your time and opinions!

I thought it might be a point of interest to share that I made many changes to this story- in the original draft, neither Malik nor Marik ever showed up; and Ryou was supposed to be a nursing assistant on a work-study type program. But I had to change the latter aspect as I know some countries have laws against health professionals dating their patients, and I couldn't find any reliable (English) information online regarding Japan's stance on this. ^.^; So Ryou turned into a volunteer with a three-legged cat- for some reason I just picture Ryou as being a cat person! Anyway, glad lots of you liked this tale; and I'm astonished/thrilled that it brought so much enjoyment! :,D