Chapter Two (Kittie)

[Scoleciphobic]

AoA: Hello everyone >.> This is Archeress of Apollo and I shall be co-authoring this with Priestess of Camazotz ^_^

Bakura: You're working on yet another story?! And one about that pathetic hikari of mine no less!?

AoA: *pinches either of his cheeks with both hands and says babylike* Yesh, I am Bakuwa, and thewe's nuffin' you can do about it...

Bakura: *carefully hides his grimace before glaring darkly at me* Oh there're things I can do about it...

AoA: Eheh *laughs nervously and scoots away* I should just let everyone know that... my portion of the chapters are probably not going to be as long as Priestess's. Most of my chapter work breaks about 1800 words a piece (sometimes 2000 if I'm lucky) and I've seen some of hers go into 3000+ @.@ My attention span is not good enough to make a chapter that long. But I hope you enjoy them nonetheless ^_^

Bakura: And because she seems to have forgotten *mutters a few choice expletives in my direction* this baka owns nothing.

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Morning sunlight filters across your face from the open blinds on the window. You know with it's presence that you should awake, but you're just feeling too darn comfortable. There is something warm, and slightly pliant pressed against you and groggily you reach out to wrap your arms around it, snuggling closer to it as if for support. And just before you're about to fall back to sleep, the thing you've wrapped yourself around murmurs your name.

"Sachiel?"

You wake fully with a start, nearly falling off the bed in your haste to pull away from Ryou. "S- sorry, Ryou... I was half asleep," you mutter out a useless apology.

He only rolls over to look at you with a sleepy smile, "It's okay." His mouth stretches with a yawn and you find the action contagious and quickly cover your mouth as you do the same. "What do you say to breakfast before our shopping adventure?"

Involuntarily you grimace, remembering just how little you're fond of shopping, but the look is lost because Ryou has already turned away to slip out of the bed and stretch. Although you haven't answered his question, you can only stare silently at the way the muscles in his back move beneath that shirt while he stretches and you find yourself squeezing your eyes shut and shaking your head, trying to think of other things.

"You don't want any breakfast?" He must have turned around in time to see you shaking your head.

And you shake your head again, "No, it wasn't that. Uh... breakfast sounds all right " You give him what you hope is a reassuring look, but probably just looks guilty.

He studies your face curiously a moment before nodding and motioning for you to follow him as he pads quietly out of the room. You follow behind him, your feet making soft noises against the hardwood floor that covers the hallway and stairs and stretches into the small kitchen in Ryou's home. As you make yourself comfortable at the kitchen table, folding your arms on top and resting your chin on them, Ryou busies himself with finding something for the two of you to eat. It's always slightly amusing how he never asks what you want and somehow always knows what to place before you.

This morning it is maple and brown sugar poptarts with a glass of milk to dip them in. Well, for Ryou to dip them in, which is something you also find immensely cute about him {so much cuteness @.@}. As you take a bite out of your whole poptart, you watch with a hidden smile as he breaks both of his into fourths and dunks the first of the pieces into his milk. Just as it reaches his mouth and before he takes a bite, he looks up at you, his dark brown eyes widening as he catches you staring. Just faintly a pink tint slides across his cheeks and he takes his bite out of the pop tart. You only smile at him before munching on your poptart some more.

"So, our shopping adventure today..." Ryou murmurs aloud, having finished the first of his poptarts. By this time you're already out of your seat, dumping the crumbs and paper towel he'd given you into the trash can.

You groan again, "Are you sure we can't just skip that?"

A small grin comes over his features and he shakes his head. "No, I'm afraid not."

Pursing your lips with a playful glare, you reply, "Aren't you supposed to be compliant?"

Ryou's grin widens, "I thought I was." He easily pulls off an innocent gaze.

Rolling your eyes, you shuffle back to your seat and sit down, watching him quietly as he eats the rest of his breakfast. Soon afterwards, he slides out of his seat. "I suppose you'll have to borrow more of my clothes, unless you'd like to go back to the house before we leave?"

Slowly your nose scrunches up. Not that it really mattered to either of you that you were putting the boy behind in laundry, but you actually had to consider the decision. After a few moments, you shrugged. "Might as well grab something of yours, if you don't mind?"

He gives you a warm smile and nods. "Sure. I'm going to go get a shower... you're welcome to afterwards, if you want?"

You shake your head, not telling him it's because you've got no clean undergarments. That is definitely not something you're sharing of his, even though you're quite certain he wouldn't agree to that anyway. A small smile twists your lips when you think of the lurid blush that would appear on his cheeks if you did ask. Ryou's eyes turn questioning at the look but you only shake your head again. "I'll change while you're showering."

[Scoleciphobic]

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"Ryou, sweetie, that looks like the shirt I already have on..." you say with one eyebrow quirked. You take a moment to point to the white and blue striped t-shirt that you borrowed from Ryou and then point to the one on the hanger he's holding up. The only differences between the two are colors (this one is white with purple stripes) and the stripes are just a bit thinner.

He takes a glance at it, before looking slightly embarrassed. "So it does..." Quickly, Ryou shoves the hanger back onto the rack. "Let's look for something else then."

"You know ... I can look for my own clothing," you point out with dry humor. It's not that you care that the boy is trying to help, but really... you know what you like. So while he begins rummaging about in the racks, you do some exploring of your own, coming out with a t-shirt that suits your fancy. It is black, and on the front written in dainty, white cursive letters is the word "believe." When you turn it around you find silvery, blue and white angel wings etched on the back. "Perfect," you say with a small smile, before turning around to find your white haired friend.

He is currently picking through the rack of jeans, murmuring softly to himself with his back to you. With a slight mischievous grin, you sneak over to him, quietly latching the t-shirts hanger in a belt loop of the pants you borrowed from him. "Guess who," you laugh, clamping your hands over his eyes.

Ryou chuckles lightly, "Hello, Angel."

With a grin, you remove your hands from his eyes. "Speaking of, lookie." And you unhook the shirt from your pants to hold it up for him to see.

"Perfect for you," Ryou nods several times, his eyes almost sparkling.

"Good... I'm going to get it."

"Then these to go with it," he says, pulling off a pair of pale indigo jeans.

"All right." You nod, hooking the two hangers together and slinging the clothes over your shoulder. "Are we done now?" you ask hopefully.

Shaking his head, Ryou says, "We're just getting started, Angel. You can't just leave after getting one outfit."

"Yeah, but one's all I need..." Although now that you're in the store, you don't technically mind doing the shopping, you're still not very keen on it. Besides aren't you supposed to save some of the money your parents left? You're sure they'll be upset if you spend it all. And looking at Ryou, you know he means to spend a good portion on these clothes of yours.

He shakes his head again, sending that thick mane of hair fluttering about his face. More cuteness. If you aren't careful that cuteness is going to crash your system.

Pushing all thoughts of Ryou's irresistible form of cute from your mind, you give him a pout. "But Ryou..."

Ryou smiles again. "Come on, at least ... two more? Then maybe you can talk me out of anything else..."

You grumble. "Fine..."

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When you exit the store sometime later, both you and Ryou have considerably lighter pockets. You because you bought the first outfit and a bracelet or two to go with it; Ryou because he had insisted on paying for the last two, having convinced you to get them after all. It had been a grueling process trying to make him keep his money and in the end, his sweet insistence had won out. Now the two of you are sitting in the food court, sharing a large cup of french fries and half a sub sandwich from the sub place there. You aren't exactly hungry and so you really just pick off the lunchmeat and cheese from it. However, Ryou digs in whole heartedly and you watch with amusement as he eats. You do feel a little thankful he doesn't eat like those two boys you attend school with ... Joey and Tristan... you're not sure how anyone can keep an appetite when those two go tearing through their food.

And speak of the devil ...

"'Ey, look, it's Ryou!" {I know they really call him Bakura, and don't differentiate between him and his yami by name ... but for the sake of things here they will ^_^;;; }As if on cue Joey's heavily accented voice rings out through the food court. Slightly you cringe at its volume, but before you even have a chance to recover, he and the three others that usually hang out with him have ventured over.

All of you exchange greetings, even though yours are slightly quiet and reluctant. You have nothing against the four of them, they are after all Ryou's friends and they can't be all that bad if they are, right? However, you had been hoping to spend a quiet day with your friend.

And as if to prove that you aren't going to be getting your way any time soon, Yugi asks politely if you and Ryou would mind them joining you.

It is impossible to ignore Ryou's cute face, and with one look at Yugi, you find his wide, childlike eyes simply too much. With a sigh, you agree while Ryou motions at the empty chairs around the table with a smile. Instantly they are all crowded around you, Yugi pressed on your left and Tea to your right. The former you can tolerate, after all he's cute and little and softspoken. However Tea's presence just seems to grate on your nerves. With a tight lipped smile you sort of sit back out of the conversation, watching as they exchange banter, once or twice complaining about the CEO of Kaiba Corp. and a few other students you attend school with but don't know or have never heard of.

Eventually you add your voice to the conversation, but it's to tell them you ought to be getting home, shooting a pointed look at Ryou. He smiles sheepishly and nods. "I'm afraid I shall have to as well, guys. But we'll meet up again sometime." Then he turns that bright, warm smile you never grow tired off on the group and stands from the table, taking your bag with him.

The others all see you off, spouting off goodbyes and other such phrases and soon you and Ryou are walking out of the mall. All in all it has been an uneventful, but peaceful early day and you are more than glad to be leaving the crowd behind. However, there's a nagging in the back of your mind, one that reminds you of the subject you and Ryou had been on the night before.

Just as you're getting to his front door, you simply can't hold it in anymore. As he pushes open the door, you say, somewhat softly even though you're begrudgingly eager to have his answer. "Ryou ... do you think you could explain to me now? You said not last night ... and, well, it's a brand new day so..."

Ryou sighs, his features drooping just slightly. "Come on inside, Angel..." he says softly.


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AoA: ... and there you have it, my first chapter on this v.v;;; I have the feeling it may not go over so very well, but until Priestess and I talk about a general direction to work towards, I'm afraid it's the best I can do.

Bakura: *having read over my shoulder* You're pathetic.

AoA: *slaps his arm* Oh shut up.

Bakura: *glares heatedly and growls* Hit me again, woman...

AoA: ... ^_^;; That's okay... *scoots over to Yugi and Ryou* would you guys do me a special favor?

Yugi: What's that, Archeress?

Ryou: *shakes his head with a small smile* She wants us to ask the readers to review, Yugi.

Yugi: Well that's no problem *[insert thousand watt cute smile here], which he turns on the readers* Please review!

Bakura: *muttering under his breath* Pathetic ...