Fish Out of Water

Chapter 1: Choose A What!

Disclaimer: How… AWESOME… would it be, to be a merperson. I mean, seriously XD That would kick royal ass. Oh. Right. I don't own YuGiOh. But, you already knew that didn't you, you smart, smart person.

-

"Young Prince! Young Prince, please! Wait a moment!"

Ryou sighed lightly, pausing in his movements and looking over his shoulder.

"Malik, I told you…" He waited until the larger male caught up with him, a few bubbles forming from his own motions. "Please don't treat me as a royal when there's no one around."

The merboy made a face at him, his blonde locks swirling behind his head. He lifted one of his olive-skinned hands, pointing a long digit towards Ryou's face. "Now, Prince Ryou, don't think that I don't take my duties as your guardian seriously," Ryou noticed that the finger his friend was wagging at him was pointing discreetly back towards two palace guards who were swimming up to them, "Because I most certainly do!"

Ryou made an annoyed face back at Malik in understanding and apology, turning his body fully and moving forward with a small flick of his billowing tail.

"What is it?" He studied the two men, crossing his arms and giving them his best 'why-are-you-daring-to-bother-me' glare.

Both guards bowed respectfully, before one spoke: "The King and Queen both request your presence, little Prince. We're here to escort you."

Ryou huffed, his white hair seeming to fluff out behind him in a small fit of anger.

"I am not little! And I don't need an escort." He grabbed Malik's hand, before pulling the other away from the two guards, swimming back towards the large palace he had resided in since birth.

-

"My son, as I'm sure you are fully aware, our mating season is coming soon and you, of all people, need to choose a female." King Roden spoke from his golden throne, a solemn expression carved on his face. "I have given you plenty to time. Have you chosen yet?"

Ryou winced slightly, sinking down on to the floor below the throne, "No…"

"Ryou, this is important!" Roden scowled, his fingers tightening slightly on the ends of his chair arms. "It is essential to the continuation of our royal bloodline that you mate when the time is right!"

Emerald eyes narrowed slightly in hurt, "But father, you know that I don't - !"

"Your tastes will not be brought up and discussed!" The king's voice become louder in anger and he began to rise from his seat, when a pale hand gently gripped his arm. Dark green eyes stared up at the older man, a small shake of silver locks making him sit again.

"Ryou, hunny…" Sara moved from her husband's side and to her son's, her purple fin curling around him affectionately, "We know that you have a… well, a problem… taking up affection with a women, but sweetie… we need you to keep our people in a strong bloodline."

The young male began to scoff at his mother's choice of words, when he was silently hushed by her arm around him. He finished with a grumble, sinking lower into her soft embrace, "Why can't you make Amane do it…"

"Amane is doing it as well, Ryou, you know that!" His father interjected, rising fully from his throne. "You will find a female before the next moon fall, or there will be severe consequences for you to pay! That is the end of this discussion!"

A silence descended between everyone in the large room, Malik shifting a bit uncomfortable by the archway. He hated it when the king was upset… the waters always seemed to mirror what he was feeling at the time and Malik really didn't want to sit at the bottom of the ocean just because of a storm…

Ryou didn't respond to his fathers' outburst, instead, tried to pull away from his mother's hold on him. Her hand grabbed his wrist though, pulling him up towards her chair. He found himself sitting down, looking up into the green eyes that were so much like his own.

Sara gently placed a small crown of spiked coral in his white locks, before cupping his face with one of her hands. She smoothed back his bangs for a moment, smiling lovingly down at him.

"You are a prince, Ryou…" The soft smile never left her lips, telling him that she was only trying to comfort him, "And princes must stay strong. There are going to be a lot of things in your life that you don't want to do, but you will have to, do you understand? You just have to make the best of it and then everything will be better. So please… find a female, for me?"

He sighed in defeat and nodded, looking away.

"May I go now?" He asked softly.

The queen nodded in approval, moving out of her son's way. The two watched as Ryou slowly made his way past the archway, Malik soon following with a quick bow.

-

"I'm letting you use my beach house for the summer -"

"Yeah, yeah, thanks and all that, I know, I know."

"No, listen to me -"

"I know already, no wild, drunk parties, no illegal drugs, no trashing the place, keep it spotless, got it."

"Bakura! Shut up and listen to me, damnit!"

Bakura grumbled at the tone, shifting his cell phone to his other hand as he pushed the door to the giant house open, reaching down to pull a suitcase into the marbled walkway.

"Beside the rules you've already had the courtesy to name for me, there's more." His uncle's voice continued through the earpiece, "I have a few maids who come in twice a week to clean up, so even though you should keep the place relatively neat, you don't have to go dusting and straightening books. Don't be anal, which I know you're not."

This brought a short laugh from the nineteen-year old, as he placed another case in the hall from his car. "Yeah, what else."

"In order for you to stay at my house the entire summer, there is a catch."

Bakura shut the trunk of his convertible, his eyes narrowing, "What, a catch? And you're telling me this now, after I've just gotten here?"

A small chuckle came from the other line, "Sorry, it slipped my mind before."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm sure."

"Now, just listen boy, it's not that big of a deal." The elder man continued, "I just need you to take my boat out -"

"Ye-eah! Boat trip!" Bakura grinned devilishly, walking back into the house and noticing his bags were already gone. He shrugged, assuming that the today must be one of the days the maids were around. "I'm listening, keep going."

"It's not just a 'boat trip' Bakura, this is serious. First of all, do you know how to even run a boat?"

The young man wrinkled his nose at the furnished living room he had wandered into, "Yeah, I guess… I'll figure it out, don't worry, Ken."

His uncle was silent for a moment, "Fine, just be careful. I need you to lower the nets for a few hours, which is where you can relax out there, and then pull in all you can, alright?"

"Aw man, but I don't wanna…" He whined.

"I'm just asking you to do it once during the summer, that's all. I like to have a large storage of frozen fish for winter. You know how Betty is."

Bakura laughed again, taking a flight of polished stairs to the second floor, "Yeah, I know Aunt Betty… a real fish fanatic."

Ken let out a laugh as well, "Yeah, that's her all right… so, you think you can handle that? Remember, it's just one time out of three months."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess so." Bakura pushed his white hair out of his face as the wind picked up, stepping out onto the balcony he had found in his room. "Damn, what did you guys have installed in the back here, a mini lake?" He stared down at the enormous pool below; its wide end narrowing as it curved around a large hot tub.

"Good. I think that's all you need to know." There was a momentary silence, "Any questions?"

Bakura shook his head as he stared out into the ocean, before realizing that his uncle couldn't actually see him. "Nah, I think I'm good."

"Alright, food is bought once a week by a maid, so no need to worry about that… call if you have any problems or anything, alright?"

"Yeah, sure." The teen wandered back into the room he was supposed to stay in, idly gazing around the large room and taking in all of the expensive furniture and tapestry.

"Okay. Have fun. No crazy parties. Enjoy the beach, kiddo." His uncle gave one last laugh.

"Yeah, I will." Bakura put his cell phone back in his pocket, before deciding to give himself a tour of the house. The boating could wait until tomorrow… he'd get it done and have the rest of his summer to do what he pleased.

What that was, though… he had yet to figure out for himself.

-

"Leia!" Ryou swam as quickly as he could, white hair flowing out behind him as he moved. His lower body shifted up and down, purple scales shining in the sunlight filtering through the water, red underbelly scales catching the light every so often. "Leia!"

A young female looked up from the small seahorses she had been playing with, pale red hair spreading out behind her. She watched as two of the boys she had grown up with swam towards her, a look of slight desperation on Ryou's face.

"What is it, guys –" She didn't have time to question the duo, as she was suddenly being pulled by her arms, back the way they had been coming from, "Hey! What's going on?"

"Ryou has to choose a girl to mate with, but you know Ryou, he doesn't want…" Malik began, flicking his golden tail and searching for the right words to keep his friend's secret hidden, "…you know, he doesn't want to be tied down right now… you know?" He looked back at her hopefully.

"Yeah…" Leia looked over at Ryou, "And why am I being dragged into this?"

"Because you love me so much that you're going to pretend to be my mate?" The white – haired prince looked back at his friend, giving her his best, innocent smile.

Leia snorted slightly, "Oh really. And just what do I get out of all this?"

"What do you want?"

The girl grinned darkly, pulling her arms away from the two and giving herself enough of a boost to wrap them around Malik's neck, her weight effectively pinning him down against the sandy bottom.

"I want Malik." She purred, staring down at the wide – eyed boy.

"Wh-what?" Lavender eyes darted up to Ryou, "No way!"

Leia made a face down at him before giving a 'hmph!' and beginning to swim away. "Then screw both of you."

"Okay!" Ryou called out, "Okay, one date with him, will you please help me?" He folded his hands together in a pleading motion.

"What!" Malik sat against the sand in disbelief. He didn't want to date that psycho!

Leia turned halfway, seeming to think the offer over. One glance at the blonde and the pitiful expression he was making made up her mind for her, a devious grin spreading over her lips, "Done."

"No!" Malik fell backwards into a few sparse pieces of seaweed, one arm moving to cover his eyes.

"Come on guys, I want to tell mother that I chose someone and then call it a day. I'm kind of tired."

Leia frowned slightly from the slim chest she had situated herself back on, before nodding, grabbing a hold of Malik's arm and pulling him along a few feet, "C'mon, Maliky. It's show time."

Malik pulled his arm away, wrinkling his nose and moving to swim along side Ryou, "Don't call me that!"

-

Sara watched as Ryou approached her husband, a small smile on her face. It was a bit sad how obvious it was that all three of the friends had banded together and were lying through their teeth about her son's assumed mating session. But, as long as Roden was happy with what he was hearing… she just wanted Ryou to be happy.

"…and after debating with the help of my guardian, I have chosen Leia as my mate, Father." The white – haired prince finished, an innocent smile plastered to his lips. He held the red head around the shoulders, who also wore a happy, yet fake, grin.

"Is this true, Malik?" Roden turned on the blonde, a faint scowl set on his face.

The guardian nodded quickly, "Yes, your majesty."

"Excellent! We will begin the preparations for the mating session tomorrow." The king exclaimed, his scowl gone.

The three smaller beings fell silent in horror, each thinking the same thing: 'WHAT?'

"But, dear -" Sara began to interrupt, but was silenced by Roden.

"Tomorrow shall be a grand day. Now, off with all of you." The king ushered the three from the room, before retreating into the room connected behind his large chair.

As soon as the teenagers were gone, Sara followed her husband into their room, a frown on her delicate features. "Why did you say that? He's not conceiving with that girl tomorrow!"

Roden turned to face the silver – haired woman, "What?"

"Tomorrow!" She moved closer, placing her hands against her hips and her ventral fins wavering angrily. "You know full well that your son only had to choose a mate, not sleep with one! He does that when he's older and ready for a child, not at seventeen!"

Roden was silent for a moment, "…Oh, right. I suppose I was just too caught up in rushing his mating session."

Sara had to contain the urge to slap her forehead in aggravation, "First thing tomorrow morning, you are telling him what is really going on."

The king ran a hand back into his black hair, "I don't see what the problem is, I thought all boys wanted to mate."

Needless to say, this provoked another, long, argument.

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To Be Continued

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Cloaked Vampire: Okay, this will definitely get better. It's my first mer... boy… story o.O So be gentle. I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter… we get some interaction going on! Woot!

So, if you're smart and want some Bakura/Ryou, you'll review.