Harry Potter and the Coming Shadows
Chapter one - Last Day of Term
AN - This bit - including a few of the bits that follow it - have almost nothing at all to do with Harry Potter. Sorry. That comes in later. This is back story, 'cause I got annoyed when someone would start a fanfic and have such and such a relationsip different to canon but not saying how it got that way. This is set - as you'll guess soon enough - shortly after Battle City. Marik and Ishizu have given Yugi their Items, and at the end of Battle City the Ring was also in Yugi's possession. For my fic, Ryou doesn't know he's got the Eye.
I've made a few noteworthy changes to such small things as their ages. In canon, they're sixteen. To go with HP bit of story, they are two years younger - fourteen. Messes up timelines, but it works for this story.
(if you see anything that doesn't go with canon that I haven't explained away, please tell me. I'm going on first seven/ eight manga and the rest anime, more or less.)
------------------
In a very ordinary classroom, a very unusual boy was sitting at his desk, staring into space. He was surrounded by his friends, including one who always preferred it if he didn't call him a friend. The boy smiled, before remembering something that worried him. Sighing, he folded his hands across his desk, and dropped his head onto them, not even bothering to pretend to look up at the whiteboard as he pondered his problem.
"Mutou-san, are you here to learn English or would you prefer to go home to sleep?"
Yugi Mutou, nearly fourteen, wearing the Millennium Puzzle and laden with the Shadow Games, look up sheepishly at his English teacher.
"Gomen nasai, sensei."
The teacher raised a brow. "Can you say that in the target language?"
Yugi blushed.
"I am sorry, teacher. I will try harder to concentrate."
The teacher gave him a smile before turning back to the board to explain another of the strange quirks of language she had chosen to teach. Though, to tell the truth, she couldn't blame some of them for their lack of heart today. It was the last day of term, after all.
Yugi Mutou turned his attention half-heartedly back to the lesson, even though his thoughts were still elsewhere. Anzu was good at English – her dream was, after all, to become a Broadway dancer on the stages of New York. Bakura-kun, however, didn't actually need to take the class. He was half English himself on his mother's side, and spoke the language with such fluency that, together with his odd appearance, he could easily pass for a gaijin.
Again, he sighed, only partially taking in which words meant which kanji. It was weeks since Battle City had finished, since he and his other self had won the God cards in the tournament. It was weeks since he'd rifled through the bag he kept the other Millennium Items in and found everything there except the Millennium Ring, the only other Item to contain an ancient (and in the Ring's case, dark and dangerous) spirit. He had thought about asking Bakura about it, but decided he didn't need to the next day when he had seen a rather obvious lump underneath his friend's T-shirt. The next time they had talked, Bakura had seemed embarrassed and guilty-looking enough that at least Yugi knew that it hadn't been the machinations of the Millennium Ring's Spirit.
The thing that was worrying Yugi was why Bakura-kun had taken back the Ring, when surely he knew how dangerous it was? He was sure that if Bakura felt like he couldn't control the Spirit, then he would come to his friends for help – that was what friends were for, after all, right? – but recently he had noticed the white haired boy being absent minded in class. A very un-Bakura like thing.
Pair that with the fact that Bakura was looking strangely determined, as though he were concentrating on a problem only he could face most of the time, and the fact that usually, not long after getting that look, came a frown of pure annoyance.
//You do know we're going to have to ask him about it if only to make sure-//
/Yes, yes./ Make sure he's not just Yami no Bakura pretending, the treacherous part of his mind filled in for him where he had cut the Pharaoh sharing his soul off. He didn't like to think about the very fact that one of his best friends might actually be his worst enemy. The thought made him almost nauseous every time. So he tried to avoid it. He couldn't always.
Ryou Bakura was walking a little way behind his friends, on the way home from school. The familiar and, by now slightly uncomfortable presence of the Millennium Ring was there under his uniform, reminding him of the first time he had heard the Spirit's voice. That had been the day before he and his friends had been turned into game pieces for the Spirit's amusement.
He shook his head to clear himself of bad memories. Yugi had turned back to him with worry in his eyes, to which Bakura directed a heartfelt smile before catching up with them.
"Hey, Bakura?"
"Yes, Jonouchi-kun?"
"I was just wonderin'. You are OK, right? You been seeming kinda out of it lately."
"I'm all right, Jonouchi-kun," Bakura said with a smile. "Really."
But it was a different matter on the inside.
((You're going to have to do better at it than that. That was pathetic. I could sing explicit songs while pretending to be you and still be able to get them to believe it actually was you.))
Needless to say, Bakura's skin tone now very nearly matched that of his hair.
"Daijoubu, ne, Bakura-kun?"
Bakura looked down at the pavement, and Yugi fell in step beside him.
"Actually, ano . . . No. It's nothing."
"Are you sure? If you've got trouble. . ."
"I'd come to you first, Yugi-kun," he assured his best friend. At least that was true. If there was any real trouble, he'd go straight to Yugi. Who would, in turn, go straight to the Pharaoh. His assurance made Yugi relax quite visibly, going back to his usual child like self.
"Awesome! Then we can go back to my house with the others and take a look at some of the new games Jii-chan has in stock." For a moment, Yugi seemed to think. "None of them are really all that much like Monster World or Duel Monsters. You could just watch if you wanted to."
A sigh of relief escaped Bakura before he could reign it in. "Thanks a lot, Yugi-kun."
((You fool!)) raged the Spirit as Bakura and Yugi caught back up to the rest of their friends, discussing the kind of games that had been in the last shipment. ((Now that Ra-be-damned Pharaoh knows for sure! You could have at least tried to keep him in the dark about this, but oh no! Yadonoushi just had to let it out!))
A few minutes' silence during which Yugi and the others were distracted by Jou and Honda's arguing and Bakura glared at an innocent tree that just happened to be in his line of vision.
(Are you quite done?)
Silence from the Spirit, but the overall impression of a glare carried through in more ways than just a lack of words.
(You know very well the only reason why I'm wearing the Ring right now, not letting you just lay about in Yugi's old gym bag.)
((I'm not answering!))
The feeling of whoosh, closed, reverberated in his mind. Bakura rubbed his temples slightly. The slamming of a soul room door in one's mind could certainly bring on a headache. Yugi glanced at him, expression a mix of confusion and sympathy, if not understanding.
"Mr. Mutou, we're here!"
The tinkle of a bell and the slight creak of the opened door brought Bakura back to the present.
"Jii-chan, we were going to look at the new games, remember? I think you said there were some old ones from Egypt!"
Bakura noticed the anxious looks that appeared on Jonouchi, Honda and Anzu's faces when Yugi said about the origins of their new shipment, and Mr. Mutou laughed.
"Ho, ho! Nothing like that unless you make it so, I'm sure. Just some commercialized children's' games, like Horses and Chariots."
Yugi laughed lightly at the relieved expressions on the other three more normal people. Bakura tried to hide it, but on the inside he, too, was relieved. To tell the truth, he'd had quite enough of being possessed, and didn't want there to be any more temptations than were absolutely necessary.
As they rifled through the games, choosing which ones to take upstairs and test, Bakura found that he had already decided that games that were enchanted or had magical enhancements before they found them were most definitely on the 'strong temptation' list.
"I think that's it. We've got enough here to last us hours! Jii-chan – we're going up to my room now!"
"All right, Yugi. Have fun!"
"Hai! We will!"
Yugi's room was a highly organized mess of clothes and games, including random cards from the booster packs he and the Pharaoh had built their combined deck from. Bakura could see the bag containing the Millennium Items and the God cards poking out from under his bed and was glad that his Yami's soul room door was most definitely shut.
Bakura's eyes drifted over to some of the other things in the room, some not as recognizable as others. A tamagotchi like digital pet with a blank screen sat on top of a piece of paper with two drawings on it – one was a cute little blob with 'hair' that looked remarkably like Yugi's, the other was bigger and had sharper features. They had names written next to them. The softer one was U2. The sharper one had a longer name and a smiling face doodled next to it – Yami U2. Close by was another thing that looked similar, but heart-shaped. On a shelf next to a model of a man-monster cross between the Summoned Skull and Superman that bore the legend Zombyra on its base sat a yo-yo, one that looked as though it had hit one too many hard surfaces. Scattered on the desk and shelves were various other nick-knacks and games.
Yugi moved the Duel Disk off his bed to sit down.
"So, Yugi, what we doin' first?" Jonouchi asked, leaning against the wall.
"Well, I thought we could try this one first," Yugi started, holding up one of the boxes. "'Cos it looks just like a simpler version of this one." He held up one of the bigger boxes.
"What did your Grandpa say this one was, Yugi?" Bakura pointed at one that looked like it had a board and figures you moved slightly like chess.
"That one's Horses and Chariots! Jii-chan said they've found pieces from that game in some of the digs he went on."
Anzu knelt down on the floor, opening the first box that Yugi had shown them and putting the others aside for a moment.
"So – how do we set this up?"
Bakura's thoughts started to wander sometimes, watching his friends arguing and laughing. His mind drifted and more than one time, he came back to the present to Yugi waving a hand in front of his face. He learned the strategies of the games as he watched, sometimes showing Honda and Anzu where he would have put a piece, but never actually being one of the players. He tried to ignore the bright glows from the Puzzle that signalled when the other Yugi would take over and play for a game or two sometimes, making suggestions and encouraging the others at various other intervals. A crimson blush threatened to come to his cheeks the first time that happened, reminding Bakura of the possible betrayal he'd dealt not just the Pharaoh but also the rest of his friends.
It got dark quickly. Blue fading to red sunset until it was finally the peaceful, natural darkness of night time and stars outside the window in the roof.
"Yugi! I hope you weren't planning on inviting your friends over for a sleepover, because it's getting late enough for that!"
Yugi seemed to freak out slightly at his mother's voice calling from downstairs.
"Ack! Sorry! We didn't notice it getting so late! Don't worry about the games – I'll clear them up later. Hey, Anzu – do you want me to walk you home?"
"I should be fine-"
"Nonsense! The great Jonouchi will make sure you get there just fine! Ne, Honda?"
"Wha- Sure!"
Honda had been caught in one of Jonouchi's headlocks. Anzu sighed at the antics of her friends, and conceded to be walked home by the two boys.
As they were about to go out of the door, Yugi's mother joined them. She took one look at Bakura and frowned. Bakura, Anzu and the others already had their coats on, but it was obvious that Bakura was going back to his apartment on his own.
"Bakura-kun, are you sure that you don't want one of us to go back with you? I'm sure Yugi wouldn't mind one bit."
"Ne, Kaa-san. I'm positive that Bakura-kun can take care of himself," Yugi said to his mother, defending his friend. "Ne, Bakura?"
Bakura started for a moment, startled slightly by the lack of honorific to his name. Yugi usually addressed him with a –kun at the end of his name, which told him that he was a friend. But what would Yugi mean by not using an honorific? Unless. . .
"Sou da, Yugi-kun."
Bakura smiled at both Yugi and his mother, then walked out of the door, waving goodbye. He unwittingly left a worried Yugi behind, not to mention the confusion in Yugi's mother's mind when she had the thought that she had heard only half of a larger conversation.
The walk home was uneventful. Bakura was used to the walk, so it only seemed to take five minutes rather than fifteen. He remembered all of the journey, making notes of small things like the street lamps turning themselves on, and how dark it was from one minute to the next. Small things that meant a world of difference – if just one thing was out of place the next time he blinked, he would know that his Yami had taken control. He hadn't been able to sense that presence in his mind since his other's soul room door had slammed on him, but that didn't mean he wasn't aware.
It was only when he'd reached the front door of his apartment that he realized just how aware his other had been. He'd reached down into one of his pockets for his keys, and instead found a wooden figure. Luckily, one that he recognized from while he was playing with Yugi, and not one with features that he didn't recognize with an all-too-well-made feel about it. He paused in his search for his keys just long enough to groan and bang his head lightly against the closed door.
The figure might not have someone's soul trapped inside it, but it still wasn't supposed to be there.
He found his keys. He let himself in. He put his coat on a hook, taking out the wooden figure first. He put the stolen game piece in his game room, which was still looking mostly as it had at the end of his last game of Monster World with his friends. That last time, he'd made sure that the Ring was still in his school bag before he'd even so much as set the table or made the pieces for Otogi and Shizuka. Yugi and his other had both played separate pieces. He then went into his kitchen and made himself a hot drink. Going back into the game room, he put the steaming mug down onto his desk, and sat himself down, crossing his arms as he did so.
I'm going to have to give it back first thing tomorrow, Bakura thought to himself. And even if I do that, he's going to know it was me – or rather, not me. . .
Bakura sighed. It was all rather confusing sometimes. Even up until the finals of Battle City, he'd been fine to believe that the Spirit of the Millennium Ring was nothing more than nightmares and voices, but after that time he'd woken up halfway through a duel with the Pharaoh, one of the God cards staring down at him and a slash to his arm bleeding through its bandages. And then. . .
Bakura gazed down at the piece without really seeing it. Why? Was the question he had to ask. Why did he step in for me like that? The only time I saw him, and he saves me. Us.
That was the question that Bakura wanted so desperately to ask, desperately enough to take back the Millennium Ring. The question that the Spirit seemed so desperate to avoid answering.
He shifted his gaze back to the problem at hand. The wooden, chariot-driver shaped problem.
(You stole.)
Condescending laughter emanated from the open soul room.
((I'm a thief, Yadonoushi. Stealing's what I do.))
(But-)
((Deal with it. If you're actually going to start speaking to me like this then I'm going to get bored if I can't do anything all day every day.)
(Couldn't you do something a little more legal?)
((Look, Yadonoushi,)) the Spirit snapped, ((You want me to do something else? Maybe you're missing all of the fun times you had before you even had a voice in your head. I was definitely having fun then.))
Bakura gulped slightly, remembering. The first time he'd heard the Spirit's voice in his head was when he had revealed to him the reason why all of his friends from his previous schools had gone into comas after playing Monster World with him.
(Couldn't we – couldn't I at least give it back?)
((Keh. And where would the fun in that be? You could. But if you do, you'll miss the Pharaoh's face one day when he meets you having woken up to seeing it staring right at him.))
Bakura started. All that just for a prank? He didn't think so. He also doubted that the Thief would be able to pass up another encounter with an off-guard Yugi / Pharaoh and not try to get the Puzzle.
((Baka. Yugi probably sleeps with the Puzzle on. I would. I know you keep the Ring close by. Besides, if I tried to take the Puzzle like that, Ou-sama-yo would try to inflict a Batsu game on me without the game before hand, not having had his coffee yet.)) Snickering.
Bakura was shocked. Of course, now he knew that he could trust the Spirit not to attack his friend in his sleep, but without knowing, the other Bakura had also given his lighter half another question.
Why did he tell me instead of keeping me in the dark, making me think that my friend was in danger?
The Spirit, oblivious to Bakura's thoughts at that time, went on.
((Call it give and take, Yadonoushi. You keep asking your questions all you want. I have more than one way of paying rent.)) Bakura's eyes widened at the term, which usually came before chaos. Unsettling laughter drifted once more into his part of his mind, making shivers run down his spine. ((Get some sleep, little landlord. You're going to need it.))
Sleep would not come easy.
--------------------
So - what did you think? Don't hesitate to tell me. I have an open mind. Next chapter coming soon.
--------------------
Japanese used -
Gomen nasai - Sorry/ please forgive me
Sensei - teacher
Yami - Dark. Yami no Bakura ,Dark Bakura.
Sou da - that's right (basically, anyway.)
-san is Mr/ Miss etc, -kun is the suffix used among peers or friends.
Daijoubu - It's all right
Ne - Right?