A/N: A drabble. Not my best. Tendershipping! Everyone is OOC. Bakura's first name is either an homage to LeDiz's works, or is blatantly stolen from her; take your pick.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, I... well, let's just say there'd be a lot less card-playing and a lot more makin' out.

(White-Gold.)

Tsuyoshi Bakura is wearing Ryou's earrings.

Okay, they're not really Ryou's earrings, they're Amane's, but he's been keeping them safe for her, those gold hoops with the tiny emerald teardrops - and Bakura is wearing them. He had told himself that he was being silly, they were just really similar to his earrings and how dare Ryou suspect one of his classmates of stealing and it's impossible anyway, because the earrings are right where he left them in the box he keeps at home of Amane's things - except they weren't there when he checked last night, and Tsuyoshi Bakura is wearing them.

Ryou can see them glittering. Bakura's playing with them as he leans back in his chair, totally ignoring the teacher. He's playing with them and glancing at Ryou from time to time, because he knows Ryou is looking, and he knows Ryou knows whose earrings they are. Once, he turns his head to look Ryou full in the face. When Ryou flushes - out of anger, of course - he smiles, a sunny, sultry grin that forces Ryou to bury his face in his textbook.

The earrings look just right, dangling next to Bakura's sharp jaw. They had looked kind of silly when Amane wore them, because her face was so round and her hair so wild. They had looked even sillier when Ryou tried them on, once, shortly after Amane died. He wasn't meant for emeralds. But they look just right on Bakura.

This, somehow, is the most insulting thing about it.

When the bell rings for the start of lunch period, Malik Ishtar saunters over to Bakura's desk - and hell, he knows Ryou knows, too, because he immediately sits on the desk and starts stroking the earrings. "These are really niiiiice," he purrs, "where'd you get them?" His eyes flicker over to Ryou.

"Secondhand. In surprisingly good shape, aren't they?" Bakura's don't.

Ryou stands up. He starts to weave his way between the desks.

"You should stick to white-gold, 'Kura. Like these. You should get more like this."

Ryou's had things stolen before, of course, because he's small and quiet and sometimes his Japanese is accented because his mother always spoke to him in English. Ryou's lost homework a lot, sometimes money. But this is one of his things that used to be Amane's, and Bakura could not have known about it unless he followed Ryou home and looked through his things and taken them because he knew what they were, and so -

He stops next to Bakura's desk. His face is blazing hot as Bakura languidly lets his head tilt back - the earrings jingle with the movement - and gazes up into Ryou's eyes. "Oh, the other Bakura. What's up?"

And so -

"Those are very pretty," Ryou says softly. His tongue trips over itself. "M-May I...?"

Bakura grins again. He actually takes Ryou's hand and lifts it up to the left earring, guides his fingers over the emerald's faceted surface. "Like 'em?"

"Why, yes. I do."

And so Ryou thinks it is perfectly acceptable for him to grab onto his earrings and jerk them straight out of Bakura's lobes.

Bakura shrieks in an undignified manner, clapping both hands to his bloodied ears. Malik jerks backwards and almost falls off the desk. "What is the matter with you?" he howls at Ryou, grabbing Bakura around the shoulders. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

Ryou ignores Malik, examining the earrings carefully. They don't have much blood on them. Nothing a quick wash won't fix.

"Hey, you little bastard -" Malik's grabbing his uniform now, hoisting him up into proper punching position. Ryou closes his fists around the earrings and holds them close, squeezing his eyes shut. He doesn't mind getting punched, but if Malik tries to take them back Ryou'll bite him.

"Malik."

Ryou opens one eye. Bakura has grabbed Malik's shoulder and is pulling him back, smiling to smooth things over, flapping a hand at Ryou like he can just brush him away. "It's fine, it's fine."

"It is not fine! He's a freaking psycho!" Malik screeches.

"I don't care, Malik, let's go, I'm starving, what'd Isis give you to eat?"

Ryou watches Bakura drag Malik away. He is completely not-surprised when Bakura does not look back and grin, like he usually would. He just sets his jaw and rolls the earrings between his palms.

The next day, Ryou wears the earrings to school.

Bakura wears Band-Aids, and he ignores Ryou utterly - except for when he passes him in the hall on the way to English. Then he gives Ryou a strange, small, oddly sincere smile and says that emeralds suit him, very much.

Ryou snorts and ignores him utterly right back.

But that weekend, he goes to the secondhand jewelry store and buys a pair of tiny emerald studs. Just for the hell of it. He knows why.

And when he sees Bakura in school the next day, and sees the return of that stupid sunny grin, he knows Bakura knows why as well.

I have noticed the trend in my fics of Ryou wearing the proverbial pants a lot. I am not sure why this is. Maybe I just like the idea of Bakura ending up, after a few years with Ryou-chan, being totally whipped.

...I should write a fic about that, too.

...Review?