-Prologue-

Bakura Ryou did not consider himself someone easily prone to anger, but at the moment, he was very tempted the climb to the highest story of his apartment building and chuck his laptop off the roof. You would think that the web would have had more help to offer than what he was getting. Add the fact he was frustrated and scared and it did not make for a very good beginning.

And speaking of the beginning it had started when he had begun to suspect he was possessed again. At first he wasn't sure. He had had nightmares before after all. What with his past and watching several people get hurt thanks to him during the years it was not really to be unexpected. But this was different. This was recurring. And the memory of Peguses's blood congealing between his fingers and drying around the round, cold object he was holding was all too vivid. At first he could not remember what he was holding. But he had a pretty good idea. And he always awoke, shivering with a metallic taste in his mouth that reminded him of blood. He was not sure if that was worse, or the screams and the begging.

What he hadn't expected was for the tomb robber to actually reveal himself. If he hadn't known that his other self was too sadistic to resist a chance to gloat he would have thought that the thief had made a really dumb mistake. But it wasn't like that. His Yami only appeared to him because he knew there was absolutely nothing he could do. How could you fight something that inhabited your soul? He had tried getting rid of the sennen ring. And he had come across enough useless if not mind-breakingly obvious advice on the web about getting rid of the cursed object. What they didn't tell you was how to keep the object from coming back. A Oujia board never rematerialized back inside of a house did it? No ones cursed wine cabinet ever crawled out the garbage. (Yes, he had seen The Possession and it had struck him as painfully ironic it was how stupid he would have thought it was had he not had some experience with a cursed item himself. He was for once with Jounouchi about giving a movie a pass. But they had both caved when Honda had begun snarking at them and even Yugi seemed excited to watch it. Just what he didn't need was another reason for people to think he was a wimp. He got enough grief over his hair color and English lineage. So he had watched the movie and slept with the lights on for a week.)

A few nights after duelist kingdom he had woken up to the feeling of something touching his face. At first he thought he was dreaming again. At first he didn't even think it was a bad dream. One of the things he tried to remember before falling asleep was how his mother would briefly stroke his head before saying good night to him. Remembering her and Amane kept his thoughts calm. Reminded him of a time when he was not afraid.

But then the touch got more invasive. It was rougher, like the person doing it was doing it all for the purpose of causing unease. He remembered how he'd jerked when he was tightly gripped by the jaw. Even before he'd heard the voice in his head he knew he was awake.

So let me ask you a riddle,landlord: If a man fears that he cannot escape his fate is it kinder to let him go one believing he has hope only to get a very rude awakening later or to soften the blow a bit by not letting him fawn over a false chance?

Bakura shot up, sitting ramrod straight. Every muscle in his body was tensed. No. No. Please. Please just wake up. Wake up now!

I mean, it's really quite interesting to consider. After all, the man would be getting months of feeling at peace with himself. Better to have a little bit of hope then none, yes? Or would it hurt more to find out later that he had no hope at all?

He didn't care if it was a dream or not anymore. He was fighting back. He threw the covers back and bolted for his dresser. He rummaged around in the bottom drawer until he found what he was looking for. Holy water.

He could hear the spirit laughing hysterically. You're kidding! Oh, this is rich! I cannot wait to see what you plan on doing with that!

The boy didn't respond. He emptied his trash onto the floor and poured a generous amount into the can. Enough to submerge the – where was the ring? He yelped as he felt a familiar pain in his torso. But instead of getting scared he got mad. Anger was good. Anything but fear. He ripped his shirt open and looked down at the hateful prongs embedded in his skin.

"Not this time you evil bastard!" he shouted. "I don't care how much it hurts, I don't care if I bleed out, this time you lose!"

He screamed as he yanked the sharp spiked out forcibly and flung the ring into the water. Gasping from pain and adrenaline he sat down heavily. He was just starting to feel the warm blood pool over his stomach. He watched the ring sit in the water. Hopefully, it was the last scars he'd ever get from the damn thing.

Then he felt a tug inside his stomach and a strong feeling of nausea. He dry heaved and put a hand over his mouth.

Oh, landlord….you are entertaining. Sure, you're an ungrateful brat that doesn't appreciate anything and you tend to make a habit of getting in my way, but I cannot accuse of being predictable. Or boring.

The voice was amused and thoughtful.

I think you could learn to be even more resourceful if you just learned to accept your partnership with me. But we can get to that topic later. Now. Take my ring out of your trash can and put it back on. You know how I feel about disrespect. I'm sure you feel uncomfortable right about now. I'll make it stop. Just pick up the ring. Come on now.

"No." he choked out, trying not to vomit as his head began to pound. "No. No…."

He could mentally feel the dark half of him sigh. I have seen unspeakable tortures. Atrocities, in fact. Terrible injustices. Not that I was a saint myself. But all I ask is for him to pick up a ring and he throws a tantrum….landlord, don't make me hurt you. You know I don't like it.

"Liar." Feeling as sick as it was made him want to use the shortest sentences he could in case he did throw up. "You like to hurt people. You're a monster!"

He bit the last part off as he choked on nothing and his self-control failed him. Now his hand was covered in bile.

The sennen spirit chuckled darkly. So? The human race deserves it. But not you. I don't want to hurt you. No, you I….well how should I put this? I hate you a little less than everyone else. If you didn't spend so much time fighting me, you'd almost be tolerable. You resent this world as well. There have been days you wanted to tear it apart almost as badly as I. No, landlord – don't feel guilty! I understand it. I admire it. Now if only you would just admit it. Join me and we can rebuild this world into something more to our liking. See? I'm not so bad.

The voice was soft, persuasive. And if the teen didn't know better he would have said he almost sensed some sincerity. But he knew the spirit of the ring didn't care about him. Not really. If the Yami did, it was only the way someone cared about a favorite possession at worst or a pet at best. Something to be tolerated when it behaved and locked up when it became inconvenient.

"That's not fair."

He opened his eyes and his other self stood before him. He was no longer in his room or even in his house, but some in-between limbo from within the ring. He hated it in there but at least the sickness was gone.

The dark being smirked. "Especially when we consider who is constantly trying to seal away who."

"Stop reading my mind!" the boy snapped.

The spirit ignored that. He just looked his gentler side over seeming to consider something. And the lighter half did not like the look on his face. That was the look the sennen spirit got when it believed itself a step ahead.

"I want to propose a deal," he stated, sounding serious for the first time. " A game, really."

Despite himself Bakura was interested. He was not expecting something like this. "A…game. With who?"

"Why, between you and me," the spirit replied. " I have thought it over and realized that even though you are my host, we have never really bonded. I believe that was a mistake on my part. It's no wonder we can never work together."

At this point, the younger one could only stare in stunned derision. "Are you crazy?"

"I believe we've established that answer already: that in fact I am." The Spirit gave him a wide smile.

"I would never play a game with you, one….especially if it involves dice." Ryou Bakura retorted. "And two, you think that we don't get along because you ignore me? It never occurred to you that some of the horrible things you've done to my friends wouldn't be the cause?!"

"I was merely granting you your subconscious desires." The thief responded. "To always be with your friends. And this way they could never betray you or abandon you."

Honestly, all he could do was gawk. He had never had such an in-depth discussion with his other before. And he was finding that he didn't like it much. In addition to being infuriatingly identical looking to him, the tomb robber knew how to twist logic.

"Onward to our real discussion." Murmured the Egyptian before his landlord could interrupt again. "I am not offering to play a dice game. Or Duel Monsters….though you have a built a very impressive occult deck, we know each other's strategies too well. Or at least…" Here his eyes flashed mischievously. "I know yours. I am thinking something long term. That will last a while."

"I won't play." the boy said immediately.

"Yes, you will!" It was the first time the spirit had lost its temper and the teenager flinched. He couldn't help it. "Here's the deal. I will give you one month. I won't possess you. I won't interfere with you in any way. During this time, you can actively search for a way to cast me away for good. Knock yourself out. I don't even know how to do it. And his royal majesty hasn't even been successful. But you are part of me, so who knows? You might stand a chance. And speaking of the pharaoh, you can't rat me out. You do this with no help or you forfeit."

"And if I fail?" the ring bearer demanded. "What do you get? I know you aren't offering me this without some kind of payoff."

The thief grinned showing all his teeth. When he began moving toward his host he observed with no small amount of amusement how hard the boy was fighting to stand his ground. Beautiful, brave boy. If only the landlord would let them be allies. He knew the boy wanted to be strong. He could be stronger with the right guidance.

It was only when he stroked the boy's face that his vessel showed obvious signs of discomfort. He tried to pull away, but the taller one only grabbed his face with both his hands and forced him to look at him.

"I get you. You stop fighting me. You stop wrecking my plans. We will be as the pharaoh and his brat are only much more competent and much more intelligent."

He could only stare wordlessly. "Wh-why?"

"Because, landlord, you are not my real enemy and I am tired of fighting you." the shade replied simply. "Not complicated, is it?"

No, it wasn't actually, but he didn't want to fall into any kind of habit of agreeing with his dark half. Especially when they were debating the issue of the spirit keeping him.

"Don't call me land lord!" he blurted, impulsively to fill the silence.

The thief raised an eyebrow. "Shall I call you Ryou? My, that's an unexpected honor. Your friends aren't even that close to you. And as my name in Bakura too, it would serve to avoid confusion."

Ryou's stomach sank. He had not thought to invite Bakura to be more intimate towards him. And the spirit's obvious smirk said that he knew exactly how uncomfortable he was making the teen feel and loved it.

"Yes. I think I like it. Ryou. An excellent idea, my other self."

Bakura released him and stepped back to give him an appraising, smug look. "A month. I would start gathering information right away if I were you. Go, get your rest. " The thief's voice was getting further away as Ryou felt the colors and textures bleed back into the scenery around him. He was going back to his room. And for the last time get my ring out of the trash. It's not hurting me. It just looks stupid. Sleep, little landlord.

Author: So the idea has been in my head for a while. It being persistent, I decided to write it down and get it out of my head. I'm not sure where it's going to be honest with you. I know it'll probably be yaoi. The first I've ever written. But I am trying to keep the characters as close to the manga as I can. Let me know what you think.