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Now that Ryou's consciousness had been pushed aways and the boy was asleep, Bakura prepared to go out. The spirit of the ring went to Ryou's closet and opened it. He ignored the various shirts and other clothes that were presented in front of him, then he kneeled down to the lowest shelf. He pulled out of it a wide bag made of craft paper. It was where he hid his black coat. He couldn't have Ryou finding it and wondering where the piece of clothing came from. Of course it was stolen, and his host would complain about it for hours if he knew. It was annoying whenever Ryou called him out. Really, that boy should know better by now than to try to “reform” the spirit. It wasn’t as if Bakura wasn’t actively trying to kill his friends once a month. That should give him some clues about Bakura’s redemption’s potential.
Bakura blinked as he looked inside the bag. He realized he grabbed the wrong one. It wasn’t the one with his coat, but this one wasn't here the last time. Did Ryou put something here without Bakura noticing? Curious, Bakura took a better look at the inside. It looked like clothes. He pulled the fabric out and unfolded it in front of him.
It was a skirt. A long dark blue pleated skirt. It looked new and the price tag was still on it. Why did Ryou have this in this closet? A gift for a girl, maybe? That was weird because Ryou didn't have a girlfriend. Actually, Bakura was sure his host wasn't even into women.
Bakura stood up and opened his pants. He looked inside. Nope. Nothing changed down here. Ryou was a bit delicate, but still a boy. He closed his pants and put the skirt back in its bag. He had no explanation for this, but it wasn't like he really cared. For now, Bakura had more important things to do. He grabbed his coat (he would have to think about another hiding spot) and went out.
Bakura tensed when he felt Ryou removing the ring. It happened from time to time whenever they were at home. Usually it was when Ryou took a shower, changed clothes or went to bed. While Bakura knew it couldn't be helped, he never liked it. It always made him stressed. While he knew Ryou would never abandon the ring, the possibility of finding himself without a host, trapped again in the darkness of the ring, was still something that scared Bakura. He would never admit it out loud of course. Thankfully, as long as Ryou was close and didn't remove it for too long, Bakura could still have a small connection with him. While he couldn't possess him if the ring wasn't on his body, he could feel his host and be aware of what he was doing.
Right now, Bakura felt a bit confused. It was too early for a shower or going to sleep, so why did Ryou had the need to remove the ring? Sure, Bakura was silent most of the time and only reached Ryou when he needed it, but the spirit would have liked a warning upfront. Ryou put the ring on his bed before going to his closet. Ryou opened it and kneeled down. He took a bag out, and Bakura recognised the one he grabbed by mistake last time. Ryou stood up with it and stepped back from the closet. For a long time, the teen didn't do anything. He was just looking at the bag, but he seemed almost scared. As if its content was going to bite him if he dared to open it.
After what felt like an eternity for the spirit, Ryou finally took the skirt out of the bag.
"What should I do? I still have time to return it to the store… I should just do that, right?"
Bakura was sure the question wasn't for him, Ryou was just talking to himself. He probably thought the spirit couldn't see anything as long as he didn't wear the ring. Bakura never denied it anyway, it wasn't something Ryou needed to know.
His host stayed a moment in the middle of his room, the skirt in his hands. Bakura really didn't get what was the problem with this skirt. He didn't even understand what it was doing here. Finally, Ryou moved. He went back to ring on his bed and grabbed a pillow. He put it on the ring. It made Bakura snort. Did Ryou really think he would block him like this? It wasn't like the eye on the ring was an actual organ. As long as Ryou was close, and the ring not in a closed space, Bakura could see from his eyes. A mere pillow would not change that. But now, Bakura was curious. What was his host wanting to hide from him so badly?
Ryou stepped back and removed his pants. After another hesitation, he put the skirt on.
Bakura never felt more confused than now. What the hell was going on? He watched his host adjusting the skirt, before shyly stepping in front of the mirror. Ryou was blushing, clearly embarrassed, but looked stupidly happy about his reflection. He was looking at every angle possible, playing a bit with the skirt.
Alright, so… so… Bakura didn't know. Was Ryou, what did you call that already, a transvestite? Or was it because he was gay? The spirit remembered seeing a show on TV some years ago where a gay man was wearing a dress. But honestly, the show itself had been kind of shitty as its only goal was to make fun of the guy, so Bakura wasn't sure it was something people really did in real life. Anyway, his host was still wearing a skirt and Bakura had no idea what he was supposed to think about it. The skirt itself wasn't much of an issue, men were wearing similar things 3000 years ago, but Bakura was very well aware that men weren't supposed to dress like this in those modern times.
"... So, are we going to talk about this?"
Never mind if he was blowing his cover, Ryou would now know Bakura could still see him even without the ring on. The spirit was way too confused to stay silent.
Ryou jolted, before turning around. He looked at the ring, mortified. His face had turned red.
"Wh- B-Bakura?! Since- When-"
The boy rushed to the ring and removed the pillow from it. He grabbed it.
"It- It's not what you think!"
"... I don't know what I'm supposed to think. But you're wearing a skirt. I can see that much. Care to explain?"
Ryou looked down, his cheeks still burning from embarrassment. He bit his lips, it looked like he had a hard time thinking about an answer.
"I'm- I mean- It's nothing. I just wanted- I just wanted to try one."
"Why?"
"Because… I was curious?"
Bakura frowned a bit as it didn't give him a clear answer.
"You're a boy, right?"
"Of course! Well. I think?"
Now Bakura was even more confused.
"What do you mean, you think? You have a dick, and last time I checked it was still here."
"Wh- You don't need to look at that!" Ryou yelled, his face becoming ever more crimson.
Bakura sighed, feeling already frustrated by this conversation.
"You have two minutes to explain what's going on in your head, without shuttering. Go to the point."
Ryou blinked and looked at the ring. Now that he was focusing a bit on Bakura, he could feel that the spirit wasn't angry, or mocking him. Maybe a bit annoyed (but that was his default mood), mostly confused. And he was giving a chance for Ryou to explain. The teen sighed, calming down a bit.
"Mh… Have you ever heard of being X-gender? Or trans?"
"No. What it is?"
"It's when someone doesn't feel like the gender they have been assigned at birth," Ryou explained before adding an example because he felt the spirit wasn't going to understand, "like the doctor said you're a girl, but deep down you know you’re a boy."
"... Are you telling me you're a girl?"
"No! I mean, I know I'm not a girl. But… I don't always feel like a boy. Like the other boys at least. More like, something in the middle? I don't really know how to explain."
Not a girl, not really a boy either… It sounded a bit stupid to Bakura, and he was tempted to just roll his eyes. But he could see the anxiety in Ryou's eyes, the way his fingers were nervously brushing the ring, how the boy was biting his lower lips. This was what made Bakura swallow back a mocking comment. He realized Ryou was serious about it, it was important for him and he feared the spirit's reaction. So Bakura actually took the time to think about it, to try understanding Ryou's words.
"You mean like the Gods? Some of them are both male and female."
"More like the opposite? Not being any of those."
The spirit didn't answer immediately, needing a moment to add this new information to his thinking.
"Oh. I think I got it. A sekhet?"
Ryou tilted his head at the unknown word, as well as the weird accent Bakura had while saying it.
"A- what?"
"It's how you used to call those who weren't a guy or a woman. I never met one, so I can't explain more. I just know it was a thing."
"I don't think I can pronounce that word right… But that's the idea. And, hm, it's how I feel about myself," Ryou looked down at the skirt. "And so… I wanted to experiment a bit. To try something that wasn't 'boy's clothes', you see."
The spirit went silent again, and Ryou was scared for a moment that he was going to laugh at him.
"OK," Bakura finally said. "I got it."
While Bakura wasn't understanding at all how Ryou felt, he got the idea. Somehow. It was weird, but he was himself a spirit trapped in a cursed artefact. He knew how the human soul could be full of surprise. Anyway, it's not like it was something that would bother his plans.
"... That's it?"
"What? What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know? Usually people are a bit… Well. It's not something society accepts."
The spirit laughed.
"And you think I care about this? I wouldn't be here if I cared for the rules, Yadonushi. Be whatever you want, as long as you don't stand in my way, it's the least of my problems."
Ryou looked at the ring a moment, his thumb brushing the golden metal, before he gave it a soft smile.
"Thank you, Bakura."
"Whatever," the spirit said before going silent.
"You're not wearing the skirt?"
Ryou looked down at the ring as he was grabbing a jacket to go out.
"What?"
"The skirt. I noticed you never wore it outside."
"Oh," Ryou softly smiled. "I can't do that outside. People would give me weird looks, or make fun of me. I'm not sure my friends would like it either."
Of course he would love to. Since Bakura didn't care, Ryou took the habit to wear the skirt whenever he was home. He felt more and more comfortable with it, and really liked how he looked. But going out with it was out of the question. He even made sure to always hide the skirt before leaving home. He couldn't risk someone coming over and seeing it.
Ryou felt the equivalent of a shrug from the spirit before he went back to the ring. Ryou didn't think much about it and put his shoes on before going out. He was used to Bakura popping out for a question and going back as soon as it was answered.
"What are you waiting for, Yugi?!" Bakura laughed as he placed a new card on the field, shadow magic crawling around the area. "Are you scared?!"
The Other Yugi tensed a bit, looking at the new monster, then at Bakura. He didn't answer immediately, and after a few seconds he frowned in confusion.
"I'm sorry but I need to ask. … Why are you wearing a skirt?"
Bakura rolled his eyes, annoyed, before crossing his arms. Well, as much as you could do it with a duel disk. Truth was it, he went out today, carrying his evil plan, with the skirt on. However he wore a light blue jacket and a white shirt, which looked way better with it than that damn blue striped shirt Ryou chose this morning.
"I'm going to kill you and it's what you choose to focus on?
"It's quite distracting honestly."
"Everyone wore skirts 3000 years ago. You also wore one even if you don't remember it. It's more comfortable than pants. Now get over it and play your damn card."
The Other Yugi blinked, a bit confused. But Bakura was right about one thing, there were things more important than his choice of clothes. Like winning this duel.
"While I'm getting used to waking up to you trying to kill my friends… I'm also curious. Why are you wearing my skirt?"
Bakura sighed as he heard Ryou in their shared mind. He put his host asleep before going out, but focusing on the duel made him release his hold on him.
"It's conformable. You should be more worried about your friend."
"I'm not. I know he will kick your ass."
"Little shit. Well, if it happens, at least you can say the skirt was my idea. Now shut up, I need to focus."
Ryou looked at the spirit, surprised, before he understood. Did Bakura decide to go out dressed like this for him? So he would be able to wear the skirt outside without his friends being weirded out since it would be "the spirit's fault"? Ryou smiled softly. Honestly it was a bit dumb, but it was sweet of him.
"Thank you, Bakura. Now try to not get ourselves knocked out too hard once he beats you, so I can get the ring back."
"I swear once I'm done with him, I'm going to kill you too."
Ryou laughed softly.
"I love you too."
"Shut up."