Wah! How can I be so cruel to Ryou! I'm somewhat ashamed of myself. Alas, Seto you must help him! Tada! This is no joke, folks. An honest to goodness Seto/Ryou story just like I promised so long ago. :sigh: I wasn't supposed to start this story yet but I just can't stand not to, you know? Well, I do hope you enjoy this story. It has a quick pace, lots of hectic-craziness in the first chapter, I know, insane! It's a Seto/Ryou and well, I had a hard time categorizing this one, it's a romance fic with angst and also a hurt / comfort fic at that. Uhm, it's set after the events of the final battle with evil being Bakura / Zorc and the duel between Yugi and Atem. Also I'm not sure if Ryou was still being possessed by the evil Spirit, couldn't remember, so I just improvised. Hope it's okay. Ryou kind of explains the events, it does take place about a month after said events. Atem is back in the past and no more evil spirit. All right then?

Anyways, I don't own Yugioh or its characters but do hope you enjoy this story!

Something Like…

01. An Unpleasant Start

Ryou slumped even further in his seat. He had no one in this class… No one but the numerous bullies that caught him in the hallway and threatened to severely hurt him after school. He gulped as the biggest one, Kaza Mazou, ran his hand across his neck in a 'you're dead' manner. If Jounouchi and Honda were in this class, they would've let them all have it without a doubt. But unfortunately he didn't share any classes with any of the others until after lunchtime... 'I can't be counting on them all the time anyway… They've done and been hurt because of me more times than I can even count. And I suppose I can't blame them for wanting to hurt me… After all it was because of HIM that they lost their friend…' He tried to concentrate on the teacher's words, the students whispering and gossiping their blissfully ignorant selves to another, he tried in earnest to just THINK of anything but the monster he was too weak to control. He bit his lip nervously and shut his eyes in remembered fear.

It had been a little over a month since he'd been freed from the curse of the Millennium Ring; The Infamous and Evil Thief Bakura. He shuddered and started to panic as he recalled the things done while the said other was using his body. No matter how he tried, he could hear the demon's voice. It never went away. His hands unconsciously flew to his ears to cover them in a futile attempt to rid the laughter of a maniac.

The teacher, Mr. Kamoy, grabbed the trembling boy and continued to call to him. He'd noticed right away that something wasn't right and had been calling his name for a good minute or two. "Ryou, wake up." He ordered lightly.

The white-haired teen went still, eyes widened considerably. After a light shake from his thankfully sympathetic teacher, he blinked himself back to his senses. A faint blush covered his face as he noticed all the eyes on him. "S-Sorry Mr. Kamoy sir." He mumbled absolutely embarrassed.

"Perhaps, Ryou, you should go see the nurse?" He suggested lightly.

"Yes sir… I- I think I will." He replied. After a few more minutes to collect himself, he gathered his things and clumsily made his way to the door. The teacher handed him a pass and asked if he wanted to take someone along with him, in case he had another attack but the gentle boy insisted on going alone. So, Ryou took his time down the ominous and empty halls of Domino High. "I can't believe I…" He clutched his book bag tight against his chest. 'He's gone, Ryou. He's dead and he's never coming back.' The brown-eyed teen assured himself. 'I don't have to worry about being possessed and being forced to partake in treacherous and disgusting habits. I won't be a part of anyone else's pain…' He frowned and shook his head. "They want to hurt me… Maybe even kill me." He said, in regards to the other students, whom unfortunately HAD the ill-luck of meeting the Spirit of the Millennium Ring.

His body was starting to feel weak, so he leaned against the cool wall to catch his breath. "But I can't blame them… He sent Kaza's best friend to the Shadow Realm and… Hindou's sister…" Hindou Flast was another classmate after him, apparently the Thief Bakura had raped and cut his sister up pretty bad. What do you say when it's your face they see? He fell into a sitting position. They weren't the only ones. He'd been receiving a few death threats at home, and he wasn't sure how many more classmates had their own agenda against him. This was only his second class of the day. How many people did his Evil Spirit hurt?

No one would believe the truth. 'I was possessed by an Evil Spirit inside the Millennium Ring, it wasn't me at all.' Ryou slid his legs up and buried his head in them. After the final defeat of the bad Spirit, Ryou had taken substantial injuries and was confined to bed-rest to heal for about two weeks. Perhaps it was because at the time he was the former possessor of the Ring? He wasn't sure. But that wasn't the worst of his problems. He knew the other, in his body of course, had done some horrendous things to the people he associated with at school as well as various strangers he'd have to deal with it in some way. 'And even though he's gone… He's still…' Ryou started to panic, his breaths were short and shallow. "I gotta get to the nurse…" He muttered and stood hurriedly to his feet. 'But it is my fault… Isn't it? I should've been stronger. I should've been able to stop him!'

Ryou made it a good distance, even with HIS voice echoing in his head like the nightmare it really was. Tears started to sting his eyes, he could almost feel the other cutting his arms and body. The pain, the constant unbearable fear… His legs were so heavy, "I can't…" Everything was white, he couldn't even hear himself anymore and then… …. …. … Nothing.

He groaned softly, eyes warily opening to the blinding light above him. "Ah, you're waking up." A calm nurturing voice chirped. "You really should take better care, young Ryou." The woman chided quietly as she picked up the towel from the resting boy's forehead. "You were quite dehydrated and I can tell you haven't been eating properly for a good while, young man." She continued further. Ryou made to sit up but she laid him back down. He now recognized the woman as Ms. Saikuto, the school nurse. "You need to calm down."

"W-what happened?" He asked, as he complied and settled. His cheeks tinted as he realized both his school and under-shirt were unbuttoned.

"You were unconscious in the middle of the hallway and were pretty warm... Have you been stressing over something Ryou?" She asked dunking the towel into a bowl of cool water she had by his bed. "I think it might've been an anxiety attack of some sort." She wrung out the excess water.

Ryou stared up at the ceiling, eyes adjusted to the lights now. "There's been something bothering me, but I'll be alright." He answered with a quiet smile.

She frowned softly and placed the towel back on his forehead. "We have a counselor at the school, you know. I could go and get him for you right now." A light suggestion.

He shot up quickly and shook his head. The cloth fell from his head and to the floor. "No please." His gaze avoided hers and fixated on his book bag. "I'm feeling a lot better and I shouldn't miss any more classes." He started hurriedly.

"Ryou, you shouldn't push yourself." Ms. Saikuto threw her hands to her hips and narrowed her brows in a disapproving nature.

The soft-spoken boy climbed out of the bed and bowed in appreciation. He didn't bother to button either his blue uniform or the white button-up shirt underneath. He just wanted to get out of there before she made him stay any longer. "Thank you for the concern, Ms. Saikuto. I deeply appreciate it all and I promise to taker better care of myself." His eyes flickered across the span of the all-white nurse office before grabbing his bag and making for the door.

"You aren't going to see the counselor, are you, young Ryou?" She sounded disappointed, as if already knowing his answer. Ms. Saikuto and well, just about every teacher gave the teen some leeway… Everyone knew Ryou was a solitary figure whom lived alone because his Father was away on some new work-related adventure… With the death of his sister and Mother long passed, he was a solitary figure by circumstance. They also were aware of the mysterious bruises and cuts he'd show up with, so for a vast majority of the school, he was treated with more caution and concern than most others.

"Really, I'll be fine. It's nothing I can't handle myself." He replied. Another lie. If only he were so sure himself. Even though his physical injuries had just about healed in the two weeks, he was still plagued by nightmares and daydreams involving the Spirit. He wasn't ready to go back to the public's eyes yet so he stayed in the quietness of his house for a couple more weeks. The dreams were still present, but he knew he couldn't miss anymore days of school… Today was his first day back and here he was, having attacks and passing out. 'Just what I was afraid of…'

"You should at least find time to thank the student that brought you here." She picked up the forgotten wet cloth from the floor.

Ryou turned towards her, head tilted slightly to the side. "The one that brought me..? Oh, from the hallway?" Of course. How else would he have woken up in the nurse's office, if he hadn't been found by someone?

"Seto Kaiba came waltzing in here, with you unconscious in his arms." She stared at the gentler form. "He told me that he found you on the floor. After he laid you down, he left." She explained. Ryou's face blushed slightly. 'Seto Kaiba..?'

He snapped out of his slight daze and nodded again appreciatively. "Th-thank you Ms. Saikuto! I hafta go now." He murmured and sped out of there. He checked his watch and gasped in slight shock. "It's already lunchtime! I can't believe I slept so long…" 'Kaiba found me..? How embarrassing. Someone so strong to find a pathetic mess like me and of all things had to carry me to the nurse's office. I'm such a weakling.' He went into a self-degrading rant and was caught off guard when his arm was roughly grabbed and yanked to a shuddering stop. He yelped at the pain.

"Where do you think you're going?" His frightful brown eyes looked up to see Mazou's bitter and hateful glower. Ryou gulped nervously. "I don't think I'mma wait for after school." He growled vehemently. 'Why does this have to happen? Why am I always so.. so...'

Kaiba said goodbye to the business associate and hung up. The phone disappeared into his book bag. He checked his watch and sighed mentally as it was lunchtime already. Things were running smoothly for the brunet today. 'Even though I lost time taking Ryou to Ms. Saikuto earlier on my way to second period, I got a call from those fools at work and missed class anyway.' He sighed and clenched his bag in his hands. 'Maybe this time around, I can get some work done on my break.' He glared at nothing in particular. The incident with the whole Pharaoh Atemu and Thief Bakura battle, and the ultimate duel between Yugi and Atemu was something he'd rather pretend never happened. But of course, it was as hard as trying to ignore a big pink elephant in a room colored black… Somewhere along the line, he had come to understand there were two 'Yugi's' and he knew between this otherworldly soul and the one of 'little' Yugi, his classmate was the better. He wasn't surprised in the least. 'But since then, Yugi's been a lot different. Very quiet and reclusive…' He smirked confidently. 'But it'll pass. He'll snap out of it. Yugi and his pathetic little group of friends have always been overly emotional.'

Everything had changed for them. But in the end, when he thought about it, nothing would differ for him. If anything, his life would be a lot more lax and calm without the threat of some world domination. He rolled his eyes. Even the thought sounded absolutely ridiculous. He shook his head. But they weren't any of his problem. 'Thankfully, I'll never have to deal with any of the Dream Team ever again.'

He opened the school doors and sauntered over to his favorite spot. It was against one of the larger trees in front of the school and shielded him from the direct intrusion of the sun giving great shade. It was particularly quiet here as well, because no one ever was out on this side of the building around lunchtime. It was the perfect place to get some work done. He opened his bag up and pulled out his laptop. As it hummed to life, he reached for his lunch, which was rather simple today. A ham and turkey sandwich, some fruit and a nice bottle of sweetened tea. He took a bite and began typing away. The trivial of school and its students forgotten.

About five minutes later, a loud slam of the doors he had come from erupted. He saw a blur of blue and white stumble out and stagger and seconds later a bigger, recognizable blue stepped out. 'Kaza Mazou. Who the hell are you tormenting now?' Kaiba's eyes narrowed in annoyance. If there was one thing he hated more than his work being interrupted, it was bullies picking on people half their size. He shut his laptop and placed it neatly in its bag. Standing to his feet, he made his way to the scene.

Ryou fell to the ground again. Everything was spinning, how many times had he been hit? Twice in the face… In the stomach? 'I should've just stayed in bed.' "Get to your feet, you little bastard! I'm not done wit' you." He bellowed and lifted him up by his hair. He raised his hand in a fist to punch the boy in the face again, when it was forcefully halted. "Hey who the fuck-" Mazou's eyes widened as the brunet CEO's piercing glare stabbed him like poisoned daggers.

"Picking on a fellow student who isn't at a hundred percent, Mazou? How about that… I didn't think you could sink any lower." He seethed.

Mazou, though visibly shaken, didn't release the bruised boy. "This ain't got nothing to do with you, Kaiba! You don't know what this little fucker has done! He's an Evil-"

"Put him down." Kaiba ordered.

There was a visible stand-still, a battle of glares but Kaiba's outlasted, naturally. Mazou dropped the dizzying teen and said teen fell with a thud. He spun on his heel and aimed his fist at the frowning brunet. Kaiba stepped to the side and kneed him in the gut. As the guy fell forward Kaiba grabbed him by the uniform collar, "Leave Bakura Ryou alone. He's not the one you're looking for. I can promise you that."

Mazou seemed shocked by the information but shook it away. No, he saw Ryou - he saw the maniacal look on his bi-polar classmate. "No! Your rich ass wasn't there! You don't know!" He shouted and lunged at the displeased CEO. He missed again and Kaiba kicked his legs from under him, sending the bigger guy to the ground hard and fast.

"More than you, Mazou. You and your pack are troublemaking bullies. It's just a hunch but I'm wagering that if your 'brother' hadn't been messing with a particular person, maybe his life as dismal as it was, would still be here." He stepped over the fallen bully and approached Ryou hesitantly.

Ryou couldn't hear anything over the throbbing of his headache. His mouth hurt and he couldn't even open his left eye - it felt swollen and most likely was. He flinched in apprehension as he felt a hand ghost over his face. He mentally prepared himself for another blow. "…re you okay?" He could barely concentrate, but it didn't sound like Mazou.

He forced his eyes open and after a few long seconds of focusing made out the face of Seto Kaiba. He instantly blushed, though his face was red from being hit already. "I- I-" He didn't know what to say. 'Of all people… Why does it have to be you?' His chest ached at his own weakness. He could never understand it, but there was this strange emotion that rushed over him, every time he saw Kaiba. Usually he could push it aside because usually Kaiba was a grade-A asshole. But that was a different story. A gentle wind blew between them, Kaiba stood to his feet and with a firm grasp on the other's shoulders, brought him up as well. Ryou instantly felt his legs waver and he fell forward into the warmth of Kaiba's body.

Kaiba sighed with another roll of his eyes. "Come on, back to the nurse's office." He muttered in an exasperated tone. With Ryou leaning against him, he managed to sling the longer strap of his bag over his shoulders and then promptly and with elegant ease, leaned the boy into one arm and scooped up his legs with the other. He headed back inside the school building. 'Somehow I knew when I saw you this morning… My day wouldn't be so simple.'