Devil's Ante - Chp 1

Ryou sat down at his living room table, filled with doubt and trepidation.  Across from him, his other half casually took a seat. "What's the matter, Ryou?" Bakura asked, amused with a hint of mockery, "You look nervous."

Ryou hesitated for a moment, and then put the dice and counters on to the table. "Yami, you promise that this isn't a shadow game?"

Bakura grinned like one playing cat and mouse.

"Or that there aren't any stakes attached to this game?"

"This is not a shadow game, and there is nothing on the line. I already gave you my word as to that," Bakura leaned back in his chair, mocking. "You're so distrustful, Ryou."

Ryou felt a stir of irritation; he had every right to be distrustful. After all, his other half was to all indications nothing more than a murderous thief who used games as his tools of destruction. That he had even asked Ryou to play a harmless, casual game with him had been a shock, and the warning signals were still buzzing in disbelief in Ryou's mind.

But Ryou had always believed that games were a way of forming friendships and bringing people closer together, and if there was even the chance of getting to know his darker half a little better, there was also the chance, farfetched and improbable as it was, that he might find some way of stopping his yami from causing any more harm to the people around him.

He hesitated for another second and wondered how he had ever come to be in this situation. Then, with a deep breath, he grabbed one of the die. "Alright. Let's begin."

-

Half an hour earlier, Ryou had been standing in his room, eyeing the multiple small boxes and bags on his table and shelves. Ryou owned a plethora of various games, and he was beginning to think that it was time to get rid of them all; time to throw the three or four different trading card games he collected into the garbage, time to pack up his expansive Monster World collection and leave it at the dump, time to throw away the packs of cards and the dice and the counters and the boards and the playing pieces. He still loved them, but games were too dangerous now. Given the circumstances that led to his living in this apartment alone and isolating himself from his peers as best he could, the games that used to bring him joy now sat and gathered dust. He hadn't even meant to unpack most of them, and now they only tempted him.

He had made so many friends with these games. He couldn't count how many times shyness had overcome him as a child, but when his classmates accepted his game invitations, it was like magic; suddenly they would all be laughing together and playfully competing like close friends. Ryou was still horrified to think that those harmless games had eventually hospitalized so many.

He picked up a small case full of die and playing counters covered with a thin layer of dust from disuse and held it, hesitating, over his waste basket. He couldn't let games tempt him anymore; if he was going to isolate himself for the safety of the people around him, he had to get rid of these, too.

'Wait,' a voice rang through Ryou's mind. It was him. Ryou felt his nerves tense at the interruption of his other half, suddenly gripping the game's container so tightly, he couldn't have dropped it if he wanted to.

'About to throw that away, are you? What a waste,' Ryou's darker half continued in a mocking scorn. Ryou tried to relax his nerves as he waited for his yami to reveal his intentions, but nothing could have prepared him for what was coming.

'All these games, and no one willing to play them,' Bakura continued loftily, as Ryou sensed his attention circle around the room before coming back to him. 'So let's say you and I play a little game.'

"What?" Ryou sputtered, stunned and immediately alarmed.

Bakura chuckled darkly. 'Why so concerned, yadonushi? I'm not proposing anything dangerous; just as casual game between the two of us.'

The plastic case in Ryou's hand now felt as heavy as stone. Ryou eyed it apprehensively, wondering into the jaws of what trap it might lead him. What would his other half do if he declined? Would it be better to accept?

He could sense Bakura's amusement at his deliberation. 'Do you have anything better to do? You've chosen to coop yourself up in this house in an attempt to keep your so called friends, and all of these games collect dust and go to waste. You must want to play them again.'

"But why would you want to play a game with nothing to gain from it?" Ryou dared to ask.

There was a pause as Ryou felt Bakura's thoughts shift through their mind link. 'I have been cooped up far longer than you have, yadonushi. My long wait will pay off in full when I fulfill my destiny and obtain what's mine, but patience is required until then. Like you, I have time to kill, and it has been many centuries since I have enjoyed a simple game.'

The case hung in Ryou's hand, suspended between the waste basket and Bakura's offer. He would be a fool to accept anything from this untrustworthy spirit, who had manipulated and used him so many times before. And why should he enjoy a game with his most hated enemy? His resolve strengthening, he prepared himself to defy Bakura and let the case drop from his hand.

And in a sudden flash, he realized this afternoon would go like all of the others: Cold, empty, silent hours drawing his homework out or skimming the television to pass the time, ever paranoid of his other half's presence. At least tonight could be different.

He was still a fool, he knew. If this somehow ended up being a trap that lured Yugi and his friends into danger, he would never forgive himself. Ashamed, he withdrew the game in his hand from its spot over the waste basket. "No shadow games, or stakes of any kind?" he murmured.

Ryou could feel Bakura's grin stretch. 'None of any kind, I swear.'

"Alright," Ryou consented, still too ashamed to look up, and made his way to the coffee table in the living room, the apparition of the grinning thief trailing behind him.

-

Ryou let the dice fall from his hands, read their symbols, and took one playing counter from the central pile, and one from Bakura's. They were nearing the end of the game, and so far Bakura had kept his word. As the spirit of the Ring rolled his dice, stealing one of Ryou's die and two counters from the center, the boy realized that his nervous apprehension was nearly gone, having mixed with a sensation he hadn't felt in ages. He was enjoying himself in friendly competition with another; it was only when he looked up and saw his opponent that he would remember his anxiety.

Bakura made the last roll of the game, snatching up the final playing counters. It was obvious at a glance who had won; Ryou's pile of counters looked pathetic in comparison to Bakura's. Ryou braced himself for a hidden penalty game, but the thief merely leaned back, his expression smug, satisfied, and slightly bored. Cautiously, Ryou allowed himself to relax, and found that he, too, felt oddly satisfied.

Silence replaced the sound of clattering dice and sliding plastic chips. Ryou hesitated before peering over at the clock, and found that there were still many more hours of the afternoon left to try to fill with television and homework.

Before he realized that he had even dared to open his mouth, the words found his voice and forced their way out.

"Would you like to play again?"