Ehehehe... Yes, it's my belated Christmas present to y'all. Okay, I know it's late... But hey, at least I delivered... Right? And it's a continuation! Yessir.

Yeah, kill me -.- At least it's long.

Disclaimer: Own nothing, bugger off.

"Ryou, just stop doing this."

The brown-eyed boy kept his gaze trained on the piece of paper in front of him, his teeth gritted, slim little hand clenching the forest-green crayon tightly. Bakura made a sound of annoyance in his throat, glaring at the ten-year-old who was leaned over the white plastic card table, colouring the notebook paper frantically. Ryou sniffed, but didn't give Bakura the satisfaction he wanted by bursting into tears- Instead, merely set down his green crayon, and reached for the red.

"I'm telling you, no one gives a shit around here that it's Christmas." Bakura snarled, his teeth gritted. "Goddamn, Ryou, you're just wasting time!"

"It's not for me." Ryou's voice was low, but still shook with emotion. "It's for them." He jerked his head in the direction of his old, battered dolls' house. Bakura rolled his eyes. "I want them to have a good Christmas too..."

"For fucks' sake, Ryou!" The boy gasped as Bakura stood up from the bed, trembling. "Get it through your thick head! No one cares it's Christmas! And I doubt those dolls even know what goddamn day it is!" Ryou squeaked as Bakura slammed his fist on the table.

"W-Well... Th-that's why I'm making these decorations..." Ryou sniffed. "So I can let them know it's Christmas. They deserve it-"

"NO!" Bakura snapped, and, earning a short cry from Ryou, he gripped the back of his chair, pulling him away from the table. Ryou trembled as Bakura leered over him, ghostly hands on his shoulders. "You piss me off so Goddamn much!" Ryou's large brown eyes slowly filled with tears.

"Wh-Why?" The whitenette breathed, sniffing. Bakura's lip curled in a snarl.

"You're bloody compassion and empathy for people! These dolls are the souls of people yes. But I punished them because they deserved it! They hurt you!"

"They're still people!" Ryou threw his head back, staring up at Bakura was his large brown eyes filled with tears. "Some of them are children! Bakura, they didn't deserve this-"

"Shut up!" Bakura lost control, and grabbed at Ryou's glass of water, which was nearly empty. He picked it up, and threw it, as hard as he could, where it crashed against the wall, shattering. "Stop pissing me off like this, goddamn it!"

"I'm not." Ryou was gripping the sides of his chair tightly, staring down at his colouring. "I-I don't mean too, I just-"

"Look at what they've done to you!" Although Bakura knew he really, really shouldn't, he completely exploded at Ryou, the pent-up rage and anguish and sense of injustice that he managed to curb for almost nine months started flowing out. "You're in a prison cell! You barely eat right, you have no family, you don't go to school anymore, you can't have any exercise... Ryou, how can you be goddamn calm and caring towards these fucking dolls? I would have destroyed them by now!"

"You're not me." Ryou closed his eyes, fighting back tears, and failing. They crept past his closed eye-lids, trickling down his cheeks, and dripping off of his chin, into his carefully coloured paper, ruining it.

While the pair were in the small, windowless room, a group of guards, medical doctors, and psychologists were staring into Ryou's room absolutely stunned- Well, to be more exact, they were staring at the shattered glass on the floor, lost for words. To them, it had seemed like it just flew up, and then across the room, crashing onto the floor in tiny pieces. And to them, there was no way, in any laws of physics that that could happen. Glasses didn't float. They didn't fly across the room by themselves. The only reasonable explanation was that Ryou did it, but he had kept his hands on the table at all times- They had seen it.

"This... Oh God..." One of the psychiatrists lifted a hand to her mouth, and looked over to her colleague. "That glass..."

"It's a trick." She snarled, eyes narrowed. "Ryou's pulled a trick on us. He must have..."

"How?" One of the males interjected. "He would have had to somehow set it up... We were watching him this whole time, we've had constant guard... Things are moving by themselves, Ryou's talking and screaming to a person who's not there and he changes..."

"We called in that physic..." Another murmured. "She looked at him through the glass for less than ten seconds and took off screaming about demons and darkness and her soul being stolen..."

"Superstition." The second woman rolled her eyes. "She's a crock. This is all a crock. He's fooling you all like this!"

"Insane or not, he's still a ten-year-old boy." Her friend argued. "Come on, be reasonable. He's not smart enough to pull of such a trick without us catching him. Something is wrong here..."

"Oh, come on." Having enough, the angry woman threw down her clipboard. "I cannot believe you people. Look, either way that glass is dangerous in there. If he kills or injures himself on it, we're in big trouble. You all know how the Prime Minister feels about this already."

"Maria no!"

"You're insane!"

Maria ignored the calls of her work colleagues, as she pulled open the door, walking just a few feet down the hall, to where the door to Ryou's cell was. It needed a PIN number, a fingerprint scan, and voice recognition, before the huge door, over a foot thick, slowly swung open.

Ryou jumped, eyes wide as Maria kicked the door behind her, eyes narrowed. The white-haired boy whimpered, his hands clenched into tight fists. Bakura loomed behind him, and Ryou heard the sound of dissent in his voice.

"Don't..." He breathed, his head bowed, voice trembling. Maria raised an eyebrow, thinking the comment was directed towards her.

"I'm only here to pick up the glass." She grabbed at an empty plastic bag, one that should have held some of his toys, and bent over, starting to pick up the shards of glass. "No one else would do it, but they're just superstitious idiots." Contempt was evident. "Listen kid, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I don't buy it." Although she hadn't finished, the woman, threw down the plastic bag, glaring at Ryou. "You've put how many people into coma's, Ryou? Sixty-two. Sixty-two people have been hospitalized, and no one knows why! You're a monster and you-"

"STOP IT!" Ryou had stood up, crying. He felt sick, his head spinning and an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I'm not a monster!"

"Then why have you done this?" Maria was incredulous. "Why do you hurt people?"

"I don't." Ryou was tearful, intimidated. And Bakura, clinging to Ryou's shoulder, shook with fury. How dare this stupid woman try to threaten and intimidate his sweet little Ryou the way she was! No one had this sort of power over Ryou, no one! Well, no one except for him. But he was allowed to! He was Ryou's better half. He was the stronger. It was just job- no no, his expectation to treat Ryou the way he did. And if this woman was going to even try and exert her power over a scared child, well... Ryou would just have to add another doll to his collection.

"Yes, you do!" She was going too far, and she knew it. But her rage at what this clearly insane, child, convicted of fifty accounts of assault and fourteen of attempted murder, who would have been sentenced to life imprisonment, at the very least, if he was just six or so years older, was uncontrollable. Ryou bowed his head for a moment, apparently to cry, and she felt a tiny pang of guilt in her chest. Shit. She licked her lips, drawing up the resolve to say something soothing to him. But when he lifted his head, Maria gasped, taking a head back. For Ryou's eyes weren't a warm chocolate brown anymore, but a shockingly deep crimson.

"His eyes changed colour." She raised her voice, taking a step back away from Ryou, her hands shaking. "His eyes changed colour!"

"How dare you treat my lighter half the way you have." Bakura spat, his face twisted into an ugly expression. He straightened himself, seeming at least two inches taller than previous. "How dare you take Ryou away from his father and force him here!" The yami shouted, his heart starting to race. "How dare you refuse to give a boy his childhood! How dare you call him a monster! You will face punishment for this, I assure you!"

"Wh-Wha..." She started to hyperventilate, eyeing the exit. "Get me out of here! Now!"

"It's too late." Bakura smirked, his hands splayed. The air grew cold in the room, and Maria was sure the lights dimmed.

Ryou, hidden deep in his soul room, held his hands over his ears, but was still unable to block the cries of fear and pain that flashed through his mind. Stop it stop it stop it! Ryou was sobbing into his hands, curled up miserably on his bed. Being in his soul room both calmed him, and made him miserable. With the small bed with sky blue covers, matching white striped wallpaper, his little bookshelf crammed with children's books, and his bean bag chair and toybox and set of drawers.

It was an exact replica of his room before his mother and sister died, right down to their picture pinned up on their noticeboard. Ryou both liked being there in his room, able to close his eyes and pretend that this was real, and that all of this awful stuff never really happened- But on the other hand, it seemed to mock him. Being stuck in that shallow pretence of his old life. Sometimes, Ryou found it so suffocating, he would just escape, and stand beside Bakura in an ethereal form, rather than being forced to sit in there. It all just depended on his mood.

Ryou was hidden away in his room for exactly three minutes. He knew, because he counted to one hundred an eighty as slowly as he could. It didn't seem like enough time, but before Ryou could protest, he found himself forced back into his own body. He stared at the still form, face down on the floor, and tensed his hand around the little wooden doll he clutched so tightly. He felt as though he were about to throw up, or pass out, or both. There was an odd ringing in his ears, and his stomach churned. His frame was covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from the still figure on the ground...

"Oh God, Maria!" Ryou jumped as the door was pushed open, and a crowd of grown-ups in white coats crowded around the doorway. One flung herself onto the floor beside the still woman, rolling her face-up, sobbing. "Oh God, she's not responding..."

"What have you done!" Ryou squeaked at the firm hands on his shoulders, clutching the tiny wooden doll close to his chest. "What have you done to her!"

"I-I..." The world wheeled beneath Ryou, who was having trouble forming the words. The sensation to vomit increased further, and he was hyperventilating. "I-I didn't d-do it..."

"You goddamn liar!" Ryou closed his eyes, curling into himself. He bowed his head, his lower lips trembling, and swallowed.

I can take care of them. Ryou whimpered at the deep throaty voice in his ear, and clutched the doll even tighter.

"No more dolls..." The whitenette breathed brokenly. "God Bakura, please... N-no more dolls..."

They deserve it! Bakura eyed the men that held Ryou in his spiritual form with intense distaste. Look at them, with their hands all over you. You're mine

"Don't..." Ryou cried out as he was hoisted into the air, "No! Hey! Let me go!" He kicked out at the men that held him, but the strength of a frail ten-year-old boy was no match next to two full-grown males.

"Andrea, get up..."

"She... She's not waking up... He's put her in a coma!"

"Yeah, we got that. Come on, we'll get her into a bed."

"What are you going to do with him?"

"I don't know."

"Lock him up! That monster can never see the light of day after this! She did nothing to him and he-he-"

"Look, take her away, okay? Give her a strong drink for nerves."

"I-I can't... Maria... He's so dangerous!"

Not. Ryou felt sick as the conversation drifted through his head, shaking his head. It wasn't me! It wasn't it wasn't it wasn't!

"Don't worry. We're going to make sure he'll never do this again."

"You're gonna kill him?"

"No!" Ryou gasped, twisting about desperately. "Please, I-I didn't-"

"Kill a kid?" The man sounded hurt. "You do it."

"I could-"

"Andrea no."

"I'll just make sure that he never does this again." Wide brown eyes, leaking tears, fixed on the snarling face with a large, hooked nose, that loomed in front of him. "Will you, Ryou?"

"Don't hurt me." Ryou pleaded, sobbing, still tightly holding that little wooden doll. He cast a quick glance down at it, the man catching his gaze.

"What's this?" Ryou sniffed, and shook his head weakly as a bony hand prised his fingers apart, pulling the tiny doll in the white lab coat out of his hand. "Oh God." Ryou closed his eyes as the doll was dropped to the floor, biting down hard on his lower lip to keep from crying loudly. "You freak!"

"No..." Ryou begged, his heart thudding in his chest. He felt sick... "It wasn't me... Please..."

"Get him out of here." The man spat, ordering the two orderlies. "Put him in the smallest, darkest cell you can possibly find until I know what to do with him."

"No!" Ryou screamed, trying to stamp on his captors' feet. "I didn't do this! I swear! I-I could never hurt anyone!"

"He's dangerous." Ryou flinched at the voice. "I don't want anyone near him. Give him food, and that's it. I'm going to arrange a meeting with the Management. I don't know what to do with him..."

"Kill him!"

"Andrea, no! I have a son his age... God, imagine being his father, having to witness this thousands of miles away..."

"He was the one that gave him to us! He said he could control him and look! We thought we knew! If we knew then how did this happen? Why is Maria in a freaking coma? Why is there a doll that looks just like her? Why-" She broke down crying. Ryou turned his head back, to catch one last look at the room, his heart thudding. My dolls! I need to look after them, I need to give them a life, I need to give them Christmas...

"Shut up about your fucking dolls!" Bakura exploded, walking alongside Ryou as he was being dragged away. "Look at yourself! They're gonna put you in a goddamn box and your worried about your dolls?"

"It's not my fault!" Ryou momentarily forgot that he was in the company of people why didn't know, didn't understand, and started speaking out loud to Bakura. "Look! I am here, because you hurt her! You hurt her and I said no! You're the monster, not me!" The orderlies who were holding the boy stopped in their walk. "I didn't hurt any of them!"

"She was being way out of line to you!" Bakura stood a foot away from Ryou, the bridge of his nose wrinkled in a snarl. "No one talks to a possession of mine like that and gets away with it!"

"I-I'm not..." Ryou bowed his head, sobbing. The orderlies looked at each other, and back down at Ryou. "I-I..."

"Oh, come on." Ryou closed his eyes as he felt a finger underneath his chin, slowly forcing him to look up. "We've gone through why I've have to do this so many times... And if you like..." Ryou gasped. Bakura had slowly walked closed to Ryou until his lips were beside Ryou's ear, his hand resting on the ten-year-old boys' rear. Ryou sobbed, and the two men stood stock still, not knowing what the hell was going on. "I can always..." Two sets of eyes widened as Ryou's shirt apparently started travelling up his back of his own accord- they never realised who was behind it. "Just alleviate all of your problems..." A lock of hair was brushed out of Ryou's eyes and settled behind his ear without him touching it, and his right cheek was slightly pushed in, as though someone was applying pressure there... Bakura kissed him.

"No!" Ryou burst out, confused, bewildered, and so so afraid. "Bakura, stop touching me! I hate it, you know I hate it!"

"So that's a no." Bakura straightened up with an ugly snarl. "You would rather rot in a box than compromise a handful of lives for your own freedom. You make me sick."

"It makes me human!" Ryou protested. "Which is a lot more than you can say." The orderlies looked at each other for a long moment, totally bewildered, and scared.

"Go tell the boss everything that just happened." One ordered the other. "What Ryou said, how his hair and clothes moved... Don't leave anything out. I can handle him." Cold fear was in the pit of his stomach as his colleague released the too-tight grip he held on Ryou's elbow, and he wrapped an arm around Ryou's chest, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Let me go!" Ryou screamed desperately. "No! I don't wanna go there! You can't! Bakura, help! Don't kill him but help me please!"

"You're a fucking paradox!" Bakura's eyes flashed dangerously. "I cannot free you if you don't let me hurt them!" Their eyes locked for a long moment. Ryou's lower lip trembled, and he slowly lowered his head, sobbing. "Weak." He spat, in contempt. "Pathetic."

"Stop it..." Ryou mumbled, shaking his head as he was easily picked up, and carried to his new room, the man who held him positively shaking in fear. "Please..." I'm not listening to you. Ryou closed his eyes, and shut down his side of their mind in an attempt to block out Bakura's voice.

They're taking you away to a place that's too awful to comprehend and you wont risk a few lives for freedom. You're either full of compassion, or very stupid. Both of which are weaknesses. Idiot.

"You can't keep me in here!"

Ryou beat his tiny little fists against the thick metal door, sobbing. Bakura sat perfectly still on Ryou's new bed, which was little more than a metal bench attached to the wall with two chains, and a thin mattress, a couple of blankets, and a pillow. The room was barely eight feet wide, and contained just his bed, a toilet, and cracked sink. This really is a prison cell now...

"I'm just a kid!" Ryou sobbed, kicking at the door. "This isn't fair! And I want my dolls! I'm not eating until you give them to me."

"Shut the fuck up about your goddamn dolls!" Bakura's voice rose until he was screaming. He stood up, looming over the ten-year-old. "You're stuck in this abysmal cell and they're all you can think about? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"You gave them to me!" Ryou retorted, spinning on his heel. "So don't you dare say this is my fault! You were the ones who stole those poor people's souls! They are in a coma, all because of you!"

"It is their entire fault!" Bakura snarled, glaring down at a pair of wet brown eyes. "They hurt you! Look at what that woman said to you!"

"That doesn't mean you had to put her in a coma!" Ryou was hyperventilating. "Don't you understand, Bakura? Look at it in their eyes! I'm different to them, okay? That's partly my choice. I talk, I dress and eat and act differently from most people. Of course I'm going to get picked on and bullied for it. That doesn't mean you can put anyone who does in a coma!"

"... Why are you like this." Bakura growled, his arms crossed as he slowly sat on the edge of his bed. "Why do you insist on showing your weak emotions? It's shit like that that lands you in places like this, Ryou!"

"No!" Ryou shook his head. "It's when you put my caregivers in a coma when they do stuff like this! You've done this! You've put me here!"

"So you keep repeating." Bakura snarled. "Look, just sit down, okay? You're wasting your strength, doing that, and I get the feeling that you're not gonna get very much food here." Ryou's shoulders slumped, and he slowly, regretfully walked over to his bed, where he sank down with a long, ragged sigh.

"But..." Ryou's voice wobbled, and he burst into fresh tears. "It's Christmas tomorrow... I-I can't be all alone here on Christmas... Th-they cant do that..."

"They can do whatever they like." Ryou froze as Bakura's fingers grazed the back of his neck. "You heard them, they were talking about killing you." Ryou sniffed, swallowing as Bakura's hand started dipping lower, snaking underneath his shirt.

"Don't." The white-haired boy jerked away with a gasp, staring up at Bakura with accusing wide brown eyes. "I said no..."

"And I said it was all harmless." Spiteful, wine-red eyes glittered, as he wrapped an arm around Ryou's waist, pulling him closer. Ryou shivered, being forced up close to that freezing, ice-cold body the way he was. "Until you're fifteen."

"B-But..." Ryou trembled as Bakura rested his lips on his temple. "Why are you doing this?"

"... Because I can." Bakura finally muttered with a smirk, his lips trailing down the side of Ryou's face. "Think of this as a Christmas present to me." Ryou let out a choked sob, and bit down hard on his lip. "You'll grow to love this, I promise you..."

"But I get nothing for Christmas." Ryou closed his eyes, a scream building up inside of him. "This isn't fair. I want my Christmas!"

"Shhh..." Oh, how Ryou hated it when Bakura assumed this warm, sensual mood around him. "Lie down. You're tired. Get some rest. Don't worry about undressing."

"Just stop touching me with your ghostly hands." Ryou pulled away from Bakura with a gasp. "And I'll be fine."

"Lie down." Bakura snarled, glaring at Ryou. The ten-year-old squeaked, and obeyed, pulling back the thin covers and snuggling down under them. He made a face. "What."

"This bed is hard." He buried his face into the pillow.

"Well, get used to it." Bakura growled, angry that Ryou had pushed him away. "You're here until I can think of a way out."

Ryou cried himself to sleep.

"You're still here." Ryou's tone was bitter as he stared at the television, slouched on the couch with his legs crossed. "I thought you'd be long gone by now." Bakura leaned against the doorway, a silvery eyebrow raised in interest.

"And why do you say that?" He purred, eyeing Ryou in nothing but the revealing nightgown, a large faded grey shirt that Bakura made him wear, his legs looking so irresistible in the lamplight...

"Stop looking at me like that." Ryou shifted on the couch, until his chin rested on the arm rest, unwittingly revealing even more of his creamy white legs. "We've done it twice today. No more, that's the rule."

"It's only six." Bakura snarled, crouching down in front of Ryou, blocking his view of the television. "And who made you boss anyway?"

"I'm not." Ryou's voice was calm, but Bakura could see the flicker of fear in his eyes. "It's just something you said. Remember? Back in September? You said you wouldn't do it to me more than twice a day. I'm holding you to that Bakura-"

"-Or what." Bakura cut in, his face right up close to Ryou. "Like you could do anything to me." Ryou maintained the stare for a few moments, until he was forced to look away, his eyes shining with tears. "You should look at yourself before you start going all frigid-"

"You made me like this!" Ryou lost control, standing up. "How dare you say that to me! I spent hours a day grooming, because you make me! I wear these clothes because you buy them for me and I have no others! I can't even eat what I want to with you!"

"... So defensive." Bakura hid a smirk. Oh, he is so close to breaking, I can tell. "It's almost like you don't want to be told you enjoy it-"

"I do not!" Ryou burst into tears, grabbing at Bakura's collar, glaring into his wine-red eyes. "How dare you say that to me, Bakura? How dare you! I hate you! I hate this! I hate what you've done to me! I've never enjoyed anything you have done!" Ryou wanted something, anything from Bakura. He wanted Bakura to scream at him for his insolence, to get angry at him, to even hit him.

But he never expected him to throw his head back and laugh. Ryou's eyes widened, and he took a step back, his lower lip trembling. Bakura actually wiped a tear from his eye, and shook his head, clapping a hand on Ryou's shoulder. The teenager tried, and failed to shrug it away.

"Oh, you're just so cute when you think you're in control." Ryou closed his eyes as Bakura kissed his lips, keeping them firmly closed. "Now, if only you brought out that spark in bed-"

"You sicko!" Ryou cried out, pushing Bakura away. "Ugh! That is just wrong! What is this, your sick attempt at flirting?" The yami only rolled his eyes.

"Oh please." He leaned in close to Ryou, a smile dancing on his lips. "This? No." Ryou gasped as Bakura's hands rested on the back of his thighs. "But you know what I can do to you." Ryou closed his eyes, trembling as Bakura's hands slowly scooted up his legs, cupping his bare rear underneath the nightgown. He gritted his teeth. "You know you love it..." Bakura breathed, squeezing Ryou's ass cheeks for a moment. The whitenette jumped, and sniffed. "What's wrong?"

"... Nothing." Ryou finally slumped into Bakura, his forehead in the yami's neck. "I suppose..." When in reality, Ryou knew something was very wrong. His body was responding to Bakura's touch. Bakura. The man who had been pretty much molesting him since he was ten. Who controlled every aspect of his life, from his appearance, to his diet, to his social life. Why am I feeling like this? Am I... attracted to him? No. I can't be...

"Didn't think so." Ryou gasped as he was pushed into the couch. He expected Bakura to jump on him, but instead, he turned away, lips pursed in a sneer. "I'm going to get some milk before the stores shut. Don't forget to play with your stupid dolls, either." Ryou shot him a glare, but Bakura wasn't around to see it. He slammed the door behind himself with a force that made a few walls shake, and Ryou sniffed, slumping into the couch with a sob.

It took a long time, but Ryou was finally able to rise from the couch, and walk shakily over to the corner of the room, where the family sat in their dolls' house. He didn't know who they were- Bakura had just picked a random car off the street, so Ryou gave them all names. Traditional, almost stereotypical names. The father was called John, the mother Caroline, the twin girls Ashley and Britney, and the little baby Mark. He'd bought them tiny little outfits that he had altered himself, and spent a lot of money on a lavish dolls' house and extra accessories.

Purely because Ryou thought that those five were totally, completely innocent. And they were. They had never hurt Ryou before. They were just a product of Bakura's intense spite and sadism. They never deserved it at all...

"Can't believe it's Christmas eve." Ryou mourned, brushing little Ashley's blonde curls morosely. "And I'm all alone... Again." But that's no surprise. I've always been alone. He let his mind wander as he played with the dolls, staring off into space. Really, he was too old for dolls. When I was ten, I was in that cell, then when I was eleven, I was in that stupid foster home, and the last few I've been with Bakura who forgets and just abandons me. He always leaves when I need him most. I don't understand him. Why does he use me like this? He's shaped my whole life. I've devoted everything to him. Everything. And the very times when I need him most, he always seems to just disappear... I wish I knew why. I wish I knew how I could stop it. I just want him to go away and leave me but then he touches me and I want more and I don't know why and it's so sick!

"But then again, look at my birthday..." Ryou sniffed, talking to himself more than the dolls. "Look at his 'gift'. Maybe it's better I don't get anything... It's just another opportunity to be spiteful to me. Why does he do this to me? I... I haven't done anything to deserve this...

But maybe he is just evil." Ryou was thoughtful, his hands still. "Maybe... He's just so twisted that he doesn't understand the concept of love or compassion or... Anything. Anything but hate and anger and vengeance...

But I don't hate him." Ryou's voice was very soft. "I take back what I said. I really don't hate him. I don't think I ever could. He..." Ryou swallowed. "He does things that makes me angry at him, a-and stuff, but..." the teenager rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "He's all I have... I've lost Mum and Amane and Dad too... And I have no real friends. No relatives... No one but Bakura. And if he wasn't here, I would really be alone. I suppose... I suppose I have that to thank him for.

Why am I trying to defend him?" Ryou groaned, shaking his head. "He's hurt me. So badly. It's his fault that so many horrible things have happened to me. I was treated like a criminal because of him. God, I'll never forget that. I still owe my life to that doctor who took it all to the media... They would have kept me locked up until I was seventeen and killed me, I know it.

But Bakura put me there in the first place!" Ryou set down the child doll, and rested his head in his hands. "He was the one who had me locked up after hurting all of those people! And the dolls... I never got them back. I went off food for a week and they never gave them back to me... I don't know what they did with them, but I wish I could have them back... Even just so I can release their souls again... If Bakura would ever let me." Ryou sighed, and leaned heavily against the wall, biting his lip. "I wish he would just let me have something to myself! Like... What I wore, or ate or even just how I have my hair... Something!" He closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. "Everything is controlled by him and it's not fair!" Ryou stood up, and clenched his hands into fists. "Why can't he give me something, just one thing, that is mine?" He held his head in his hands, overwhelmed. "He doesn't listen to me... He doesn't pay any attention, he doesn't care..."

"Who doesn't care?" Ryou jumped as the front door opened softly, eyes wide. Bakura smirked as he kicked the door closed, removing his shoes. "Not me, I hope."

"You know you don't." Ryou didn't have the energy for pleasantries. "Not my feelings, not my thoughts, not my personality, not me-"

"Oh shut it." But there wasn't the usual bite in Bakura's voice as he walked past Ryou, into the kitchen, clutching a brown paper shopping bag in two hands. "Honestly, that tune wore out three years ago."

"But it's true!" Ryou's chest swelled in anger. "Listen to yourself! You heap demand after demand on me and I obey! I do whatever you say, but if I ask for just one thing, you turn away and-"

"Excuse me?" Bakura's head and shoulders popped out of the doorway. "What one thing did you ask for this time?" He frowned slightly. Ryou sniffed.

"I..." He sat down slowly on the couch, tugging at the hem of his nightgown. "L-Last week... I asked if you could be with me this Christmas Eve and you never said yes."

"Ryou, where am I." Bakura asked in a deadpan voice. "Huh?" Ryou froze, and his eyes slowly widened.

"I thought... I thought you were just gonna go out again when you brought back the milk..." Ryou stared at the flickering TV screen. "You're not?"

"Nah." Bakura shrugged, and walked into the kitchen. The truth was, he was going to. He had every intention of abandoning Ryou, leaving the house until the early hours of the morning, where he would rouse Ryou from a fitful sleep, have his way with him, and crash out on the bed until noon. It happened every night. Ryou used to think he went out drinking, until he realised Bakura had no alcohol on his breath, and would simple fall asleep due to exhaustion, not alcohol. He didn't realise Bakura was out stealing, from cars, apartments, and when he could be bothered, banks and stores.

"... Why not?" Ryou dared to ask, as Bakura pulled out the milk, as well as a loaf of bread, a few cups of ramen, and a jar of peanut butter. Bakura bit his lip, staring off into space. Yeah. Like I would tell the truth.

"... It's cold out." He called back lamely, slamming the fridge door behind him. "Fucking cold. I hate your winters, with the snow and ice and whatnot. After Egypt, it totally sucks."

"O-Oh." Ryou deflated a little, drawing his knees up to his chest. "I thought... Never mind."

"That I would actually want to spend time with you when I had no chance of being laid?" Bakura sneered as he entered the lounge again, a hand behind his back. Ryou looked up at the yami, hurt, as he straightened his legs, placing his feet on the floor.

"W-Well-"

"Because you're right." Bakura winced, feeling his pride beginning to crumble away. "Here." He withdrew his hand from behind his back, throwing the box at Ryou. "Merry Christmas. Sorry I didn't have time to wrap it."

"Wh-What?" Ryou's heart stilled for a moment, and he looked at the box in his lap disbelievingly. A box of chocolates stared up at him. A beautiful box of Belgian chocolates. He hadn't been allowed chocolate since he was thirteen. "Bakura." His face broke into a wide grin, and he stood up, clutching the chocolates in one hand. His heart face, his chest filling up with joy. "Thank you so much!"

"You're- Whoa!" Bakura had the breath knocked out of him as Ryou engulfed him in a whirlwind hug, tears in his eyes. "What the..."

"This is so great." Ryou's voice trembled with emotion, as he wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck. "I-I... Oh thank you." Their cheeks touched. "I thought you forgot..."

"Uh... You're welcome?" Bakura snaked his arms around Ryou's tiny waist. "But don't eat them all at once, I don't want you getting fat." Ryou withdrew a little, and looked into Bakura's eyes. And a moment later, he totally took Bakura by surprise, by kissing him.

He felt so incredibly happy. Because it was more than a gift. It was more than something Bakura had picked up at the counter, as a last-minute present for his depressed lighter half. After all, Bakura, who had controlled strictly controlled Ryou's diet for two years, was giving him chocolate. That box would combine to over a thousand calories. That was more than he'd have in a day. And he was giving it to him...

"What the fuck was that for?" Bakura blinked, confused as Ryou pulled away, his cheeks flushing. "They're just chocolates."

"No they're not." Ryou stepped back, hugging the box to his chest. "I know what it is. It's so much more. So so so much more..." Bakura raised an eyebrow. No it's not. It's just a stupid fucking box of chocolates. Just something I grabbed at the last moment after seeing that dead kid and feeling bad for Ryou. He's so deluded...

"Okay..." Bakura shook his head, heading back into the kitchen. He needed a beer... "Whatever. But I mean it. Don't eat them all at once."

"I wont." Ryou's grin stretched from ear to ear. "I swear." He sat down on the couch again, lifting up the lid of the box, feeling happier than he had in months. He thought he had Bakura all figured out. He thought that Bakura really didn't feel anything for Ryou, apart from lust and hate and revulsion and a strange attraction. And then he went and did this. Ryou really was reading too much into a thoughtless and impulsive gift, which to Bakura was a token to alleviate his guilt, try and bring a smile to the miserable Ryou's face.

But to Ryou, at that moment, a stupid box of chocolates just meant the entire world to him.

Awwh.. fuzzies? Yes? No?

Okay, now to get back to other shitz... Gah.

R&R?