“Be my valentine!” A million girls exclaimed to Ryou, one after the other. Some boasted confidence and asked during class, while others were shy and could barely utter the words. But there was only one thing they had in common with each other, they all gave chocolates. Sweet, indulgent chocolate.

Ryou hated this.

For one, it was painfully obvious that he wasn’t interested in anyone’s advances. Ryou did his best to kindly reject the girls but it was clear none of them got the hint, though he didn’t have it in him to be harsher. But that wasn’t the real reason he was upset, was it?

The bell had rung for cleaning time, prompting students to go grab cleaning supplies, while Yugi and co. went over to Ryou’s desk, which comically overflowed with chocolates upon chocolates.

“Woah, Ryou!” Jounouchi gasped, dramatically pointing at all the daintly wrapped confectionery with his jaw dropped. “I knew you were popular with the girls but, all this?”

Ryou could only let out a small chuckle, that came out more like a sigh. “Yeah… I don’t even know what to do with all these.”

“We wouldn’t mind helping you out here with all these little treats. How about taking some off your should-ah!” Anzu jabbed Jounouchi with her elbow before he could continue his scheme.

“Don’t get any ideas Jounouchi!” Anzu reprimanded, grabbing him by the ear now. “The girls meant it for Ryou, not someone like you!”

The tacked-on insult spark yet another of one of Jounouchi and Anzu’s quarrels, leaving only Yugi and Ryou at the table. Ryou fidgeted with the cords of the millennium ring under his shirt, frowning.

“Is everything okay, Ryou?” Yugi asked, taking notice of Ryou’s state, which Ryou was too dejected to hide properly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just…” He shrugged hesitantly.

Yugi began to look worried, “What happened Ryou?”

Ryou was contemplating whether or not to answer honestly, he didn’t like burdening his friends. “I saw a cat get hit by a car this morning, it was really sad.” Ryou said, opting to tell a partial truth.

Yugi gasped, “Was the cat okay?”

“I don’t know, the owner rushed it to the vet. It happened so fast.”

“At least the cat’s getting help, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Yugi reassured, “We can help you take all these chocolates to your apartment if you’d like. To make your day easier.”

Ryou shook his head, “I can handle it. Thank you though.” He started stacking the boxes and packages of chocolate by himself. The last thing he wanted was anyone to be at his apartment, even his friends. All Ryou needs right now is privacy, and he needs it quick.

Ryou quickly did his share in cleaning and left the school, hastily packing the mounds of chocolate gifted to him. As he walked down the sidewalk, Bakura revealed himself to him, his translucent form hovering over him.

“What’s with all the chocolates, yadonushi?” He asked with that awful, demeaning smile. “Going to have a fun night? Again.”

“No, the girls gave it to me for Valentines Day.” Ryou explained, trying to not look at Bakura. He couldn’t stand making eye contact with him, not in his vulnerable state.

“Throw them away.” Bakura ordered. “You don’t even care for those girls anyway, there’s no point in keeping them.”

“I can’t it’s wasteful!”

“You keep telling yourself that.” Bakura said, as his soul slowly returned back inside the ring. “But I know what you’re planning to do with them is way worse.”

Ryou shuddered, already feeling the guilt come on, as well as embarrassment. If there was any moment he truly wished to be rid of the ring, it’d be right now. Or at least in thirty minutes.

The guilt was eating him up however, and logically he knew Bakura’s words were true. Ryou decided to leave it to logic. The moment he got home he dumped all the chocolates into his trash can filled with empty takeout containers and food scraps, all marinating in there for longer than they should. Ryou made a mental note to take out the trash later before busying himself with schoolwork.

“Just be distracted, just be distracted, don’t think about the chocolates, just keep busy.” The dizzying mantra repeated over and over again as Ryou did his homework. Though it was proving quickly that thinking about being distracted, wasn’t a good distraction. His mind weaseled his way into taking a break to ‘breathe’ or whatnot. But breathing was not a very distracting task.

His mind wondered to the chocolates he’d received that day, they were still here after all. It wasn’t like they disappeared, he could easily retrieve them…

Ryou slapped both of his cheeks, how could he even consider eating chocolates from the trash. They weren’t still here, they were gone, discarded. In fact, to get them truly out of the house, he was going to take out the trash right now.

As Ryou went to the kitchen and peered over the garbage can, he couldn’t help but notice how expensive looking some of the chocolates were, and how many brands he hadn’t even seen before. Surely it wouldn’t bring any harm to simply give them a closer look, right?

Ryou bit his lip as he reached down and grabbed the topmost box. It was wrapped with a bright red ribbon with a clear case, displaying all the varieties of chocolates ranging in various shades of brown and pink. The idea of bright pink chocolates was intriguing to say the least, it wouldn’t hurt if Ryou just tried one. For the experience, of course.

So take one he did. Gingerly unwrapping the delicate ribbon, Ryou took out a heart shaped pink chocolate and bit into it with a crack. The chocolate was silky smooth and had a slight fruity flavor that cut the decadence of the milk chocolate, all harmonizing well to make a sinful first bite, like the forbidden fruit. All Ryou could think about as the taste left his tongue was to make that symphony happen again.

The rest of the chocolate was popped into his mouth, the same addicting flavor rushed back in, hitting just the right spot. Before he knew it, the chocolate had been swallowed and his hands and mouth were empty.

Which left his eyes free to roam to the rest of the chocolates in the box. He couldn’t let a treasure like this be thrown away so easy, when will he ever have the chance to try these chocolates again? And two chocolates weren’t far off from one, it was still a fraction of how much chocolate he had on his hands.

“If I have just one more, I’ll be satisfied and wouldn’t even think about taking another.” Ryou thought for the fourth or fifth time as he plucked another chocolate from its mold, no longer savoring the flavor. His body fell into the trap of chewing as fast as it could, a race to get it swallowed.

Before he could even comprehend what he was truly doing, the box was empty. Or rather Ryou emptied the box, trashing it into his body, his stomach gurgling for a break. Ryou looked down at his shaking hands, smeared with the chocolatey evidence of his crime.

Binging.

The realization had came far too late, he’d already gone so far into this, to hell with it! He was already getting nauseous, and his stomach started to bloat that would surely show tomorrow. Things couldn’t get worse, the day was practically ruined anyway. Ryou clenched his stained hands, his nails digging into his flesh, why was it so hard to control himself? He was weak, so painfully weak that food, which a normal person wouldn’t think twice of, reigned over his life, time and time again.

Tears started to pool in Ryou’s eyes as he quickly grabbed another box from the trash, which was covered in more grime than the last one. But he was too entranced to care as he ripped off the pink lace wrapping the box shut. The self-hatred from binging was coming on fast, so the chocolates had to come faster. Using binging to cope with the guilt of binging? Ryou really was an idiot. Sobs choked out his throat as he grabbed chocolates by the handful. All the varieties of taste and texture all melted into hits of dopamine, telling his weak-willed brain to keep going, as if he was going to reach nirvana and never think about anything bad ever again. Never think badly about himself, never think about the stupid millennium ring, never think about his sister’s mangled body staring at him lifelessly just like that cat he saw that morning-

Ryou pried open the next box and scooped another handful into his mouth, not even bothering to wipe the browned banana peel trashed on top of it. He had to stop thinking, he had to feel better.

His school uniform started to tighten, Ryou could feel his stomach press against his belt and the buttons held on for dear life. Not to mention how painfully full he was, and how sore his throat was from constantly and harshly shoving sugary sweets down. The whole situation was uncomfortable.

Yet he reached once again in the filthy trash can for anymore chocolates, until he was interrupted by a voice.

“Pathetic.” Ryou's hand froze as he turned around and looked up at Bakura with a chocolate smeared, tear-soaked face. How long was he there? Ryou knew that the answer to that didn’t really matter, with the two sharing a body it was only a matter of time until Bakura found out. But being caught in the act was a new level of humiliation.

“I…” Ryou’s voice trailed off, unable to continue, either due to embarrassment or the lump in his throat.

“’I’ what? You can finish ten boxes of chocolate but can’t finish your sentence?” Bakura snapped, looking down at him with his snake-like eyes. “This is a new low yadonushi, eating from the garbage? Are you an animal?” Ryou couldn’t even bring himself to shake his head, prompting Bakura to continue.

“How someone the likes of you became my vessel, I can’t fathom. How will I obtain the seven millennium items if you keep at this overeating thing? You’ll become too fat to move at this rate!” Bakura spat, looking at Ryou with utter disgust. The sharpness in his eyes made Ryou break eye contact.

“Well? Are you going to keep eating?” Bakura crossed his arms. “Might as well provide some entertainment since you’ve already ruined these next couple of days for yourself.”

“…What?”

“You know you want to.” His lips curled upwards into a malicious smirk. “Tubby.”

Hesitantly, Ryou reached in for the last box, getting grime on his sleeve in the process. He took a few chocolates and ate them while looking up at Bakura, who wore a sick, depraved smile. Like he was taking some kind of enjoyment from Ryou’s binging episode.

At this point, Ryou was getting unbearably full, and this box of chocolates had at least twenty dense chocolates to go through. Every bite no longer brought him pleasure, but agonizing monotony. However for Bakura, it seemed to bring him pleasure. A sick, perverted, disgusting pleasure.

Ryou’s hand starting moving on its own and trailed down to his enlarged, bloated stomach, tracing circles on his uniform, around his sensitive belly button. The hand belonged to none other than the spirit of the millennium ring himself, Bakura. Ryou softly moaned at the touch, his stomach churned.

“Keep eating, finish it all up.” Bakura whispered in what felt like Ryou’s ear, making him flush. Ryou obliged and grabbed another handful, despite his body’s best wishes. Bakura laughed at Ryou’s submissive, miserable, pathetic show, and trailed the possessed hand further.

Bakura went to undo Ryou’s belt with one hand, which sprang off due to the pressure, allowing Ryou’s swollen gut to spill out. All the excess movement caused the buttons of his gakuran to pop off too, leaving only his undershirt, which rode up to expose his lower belly.

Ryou whimpered at the compromising situation, looking down at his bloated stomach that was now on display. But Bakura wasn’t done with him. He undid his pants and trailed down his hand onto Ryou’s crotch which made him wince at the touch.

Bakura stroked his hardened member, not entirely sure if he was beating himself off or Ryou. It didn’t matter, Ryou was about to climax, and it kept his mind off of how uncomfortable he was.

“Did I say you could stop eating?” Bakura grunted, feeling the tension too. Ryou quickly shook his head and took the last handful of chocolate, almost choking on them as he climaxed and came in his underwear. Ryou’s shoulders sank down in euphoria, before the guilt of binging and the pain of bloating came back, not to mention the discomfort of cum in his pants.

Bakura bellowed in a sinister laugh before whispering again to Ryou, “That’s enough from you, now I have to fix your stupid mistake.”

Before Ryou could discern what that meant, he lost consciousness.

Ryou woke up in his bed with dried puke around his mouth, his body frozen, and completely and utterly starving.