The world seemed to vanish whenever Ryo Bakura put on his headphones.
His poison for the day was A Perfect Circle, one of his preferred bands. Of course.. No one he knew at school had ever heard of them. They were an American band, and in the Japanese city of Domino foreign musicians weren't as well known.
Of course, the only reason Ryo himself knew of them was because of a video on YouTube. He was always going from video to video. It was how he discovered most of his music. And, being foreign himself, he had a wide range of European and American artists in his playlist.
The chilled vocals of Maynard, accompanied with the social and political stigma behind the music all relaxed him, bringing his mind off of the heavy chunk of metal underneath his shirt and allowing him to read in peace.
'The Forest House? You've read that nearly a million times... ' The evil presence asked, judging the pale teen. 'What is it, anyway? A gooey romance..?' he asked, sickened.
Ryo sighed, 'Ignoring.' he thought, a bit more piercingly than he had intended, but he didn't care.
'Don't be that way, Landlord. Here I am, making civil conversation, and you're being a little prat~' the Spirit all but purred into the teens ear, making Ryo shiver with disdain and fear. That's what the Spirit absolutely lived for.
'Fine! If you must know.. It's set in Britain long before the tales of King Arthur... It's about love and war in a time of Roman conquest.. It focuses less on the romance for a pretty decent chunk and more on the socio-political aspects of the ancient culture. The author paints a beautiful picture of what it might have been like in those times.' Ryo thought at the Spirit. 'Now.. May I please go back to reading?'
'Not quite. But don't blame me. Your pathetic friends are trying to get your attention, Landlord.' The Spirit pointed with a chuckle before disappearing into the Millennium Ring.
One of the good things about reading and listening to music around people was that when the Spirit decided to pop up and talk to Ryo, the teen would have an excuse for not being all there. Though, he would rather have relaxed without the evil interruption.
The pale teen starting removing the rather large headphones, '..oa! Bakuuuraaa! Hey!" Yugi smiled, waving at his friend happily, followed by the rest of the group, Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu.
Ryo gave a small smile and a wave. "Hey, Yugi! Hey guys! What's up?" he stopped walking in front of the Domino High School gate, a select few strands of white hair blowing in the gentle spring wind.
"Well, it's been a few days since we got back from Duelist Kingdom and we haven't really done anything as a group in a while. We were thinking of karaoke, are you in?" the shorter male beamed up at his pale friend optimistically.
How could Ryo say no to that~?
"That sounds like fun!" Ryo nodded, giving a thumbs up to his friends, who gave a cheer before practically piling into the school. Ryo was slower, calmer, so he fell behind, chuckling softly at his friends silliness.
Then, a particular figure stole the pale boys gaze. Even sitting down underneath a tree, one could tell just how much taller he was compared to majority of other students, save a few of the bulkier upperclassmen
Seto Kaiba.
Ryo had only just met the male a few days prior when he was on Pegasus's island with the others. Apparently, Kaiba had been put into a coma before Ryo moved to Domino, so the two hadn't had the chance to meet properly or be introduced. And, until today, the man hadn't been back at school since the tournament ended.
'Everyone else had such a dark history with him, according to Yugi and Jonouchi..' Ryo mused to himself, thinking about how Yugi told him of Death-T, a 'game' Seto had designed specifically to kill Yugi and his friends.
But...
Ryo only knew him as the man who desperately tried saving his little brother, going as far as to threaten suicide. That spoke volumes to Ryo. But, Kaiba had still been rather cold and distant. Of course, his brother was in danger. Perhaps..
Ryo gave a soft smile and decided to head over to the tall brunet. There was still ten minutes before first period started, so Ryo figured he would have time to, at the very least, introduce himself. When he got closer, though, he thought that maybe he shouldn't interrupt the other teen. After all, Ryo, himself, wasn't exactly fond of being pulled out of his own fantasy worlds.
But, then he found it too late to retreat, for he had been spotted. Apparently, Seto Kaiba was far easier to pull out of his own books than Ryo was.
'Of course he's more alert than I am. I'm a ditz.' Ryo thought to himself, feeling frozen as icy eyes glared up at him. And soon were boring down at him, as the CEO stood, making little to no noise as he did.
"What?" he hissed in that husky, snappy tone that told Ryo that perhaps Seto was just.. Like this. "Oh." his eyes didn't soften, but his voice did. Not in kindness, mind you, but merely in disappointment, as he recognized the pale boy. "You were with Yugi at Duelist Kingdom..What do you want?"
The calm ferocity of the taller male made Ryo feel quite small, but.. He had dealt with far worse, so he wasn't very afraid. Not that he had a lot to fear, anyway, outside of the Spirit himself. Anyone who ever even seemed like a threat to Ryo was usually 'dealt' with... Ryo didn't approve, which is why he tried keeping himself out trouble as often as he could.
Of course, being friends with Yugi, he was sure trouble would follow them.
"I simply wanted to introduce myself.. And thank you! For helping us off the island." Ryo bowed deeply for a few moments before standing straight up. "I.. I'm really sorry that I interrupted you. I should really know better.. I was actually about to change my mind and go.. Until you glared at me." Ryo squinted, trying to mimic Seto's stare. To no effect. "How do you do that..? Freeze people with your eyes?" he held his hand over his mouth. 'That sounded so stupid!' he thought silently as he turned and quickly scurried away to avoid further embarrassment.
He had left before he could even see Seto smirk. It was just for a second and it was so small and silent, you wouldn't have noticed unless you had been right there with him.
"He was so embarrassed, he didn't even actually introduce himself." Seto mused before wandering into the school.
'You haven't turned a page since lunch began.' The Spirit was "sitting" on Ryo's desk as the boy sat there, blankly staring at the same page he had for the last ten minutes. He replied with an almost audible hum before he set his book down. 'You're.. Preoccupied. I don't like it.' the Spirit glared at Ryo.
Ryo, of course, didn't much care how the Spirit felt. He was still extremely embarrassed from this morning and hoped he hadn't completely dashed any hope of getting to know the mysterious man that was Seto Kaiba. 'I don't care if you don't like it.'
He was suddenly brought out of his discussion, gratefully, by Yugi. "Bakura, why didn't you come eat lunch in the cafeteria with us? You should come on over and watch us all play Duel Monsters." his smile was bright.
"Oh, um, I just wanted to read today, I'm sorry, Yugi. I'll see you all after lunch when you get back to class, though, okay~?" he smiled softly, waving his friend goodbye. Then he sighed. "Just watch.. They still don't trust me. And it's all your fault.." he grumbled under his breath, shooting a glare at the Spirit.
Though, to anyone else, it would look like he was annoyed with his encounter with Yugi. Of course, that anyone else happened to be Seto Kaiba. He smirked, "Does he annoy you, too? If so, then why do you hang out with him?" blue eyes seemed to dig into Ryo as he jumped, having not expected the sudden company.
"What..? Oh! Yugi? No, no! It's just.. It's not Yugi or any of them I'm frustrated with. It's just.. Nothing. It's unrelated." Ryo lied. "I.. I'm sorry about this morning." he added, pursing his lips and glancing shyly at Seto. His amber eyes were big and bright, filled with the innocence of a child. "I get nervous sometimes, and I ramble."
"It was leagues less annoying than those cretins you surround yourself with. Always crying about friendship or other useless nonsense. And they can't sit still. The only one I even respect is Yugi. But even he gets on my last nerve." Ryo noted his fist tightening briefly and frowned.
Maybe this was a bad idea...
"But, you're different. Though, I couldn't help but notice you hadn't gotten very far." Seto pointed to the book. "It didn't look like reading so much as you drifting off somewhere."
The Spirit glared at Seto, though the tall brunet couldn't see it. 'That means he was watching us.. Well.. You. I'm going into the Ring. I don't trust him..' This reaction made Ryo blink. The Spirit was evil. It had hurt Ryo countless times, going as far as to drive Ryo to suicide just to save his friends. That was a long story and almost a year ago, however. But Ryo didn't share in the Spirits sentiments about Seto Kaiba.
"Oh, I do that sometimes." he spoke airily, putting a book mark in The Forest House and closing it. "Oh, right, I'm Bakura, Bakura Ryo. It's nice to meet you." he held out his hand to shake with Seto, a small smile crossing his lips as he did so.
Despite the Spirit inhabiting him... He was in a good mood. Seto Kaiba would, hopefully, be the first friend Ryo would make outside the original four.. Who sort of forced him to be friends in the beginning. Not that he hadn't really wanted to be friends, but he wanted to avoid people altogether, for their own, personal safety. Now, though, he was making his own friend. It made him feel... Stronger.
Especially since he didn't really have a place in the group. They were still afraid to play games with him, fearful of being put into toys again, despite them not knowing the Spirit was back. They each had a best friend in the group.. Whereas Ryo was more of a loner. Everyone chalked it up to him being the shyest of the group, since Yugi had outgrown that part of him after completing the Millennium Puzzle.
But, in reality, he just didn't fit. He loved his friends, and he knew they loved him, but..
Seto shook Ryo's hand after a moment of hesitating, which rewarded him with a rare, bright smile of innocent delight from Ryo. "You already know my name, I'm sure. Also, practice." he smirked, withdrawing his hand and crossing his arms and legs smugly.
This caused Ryo to blink. "Huh? ..Practice?"
"That's how I can freeze people with just a stare. Practice."
-Ryo's Home; 6:30 PM-
'Heh, who would have thought the little ice princess would have a sense of humour. Not a good one, like mine, but still more than I expected.' The Spirit thought at Ryo with a hollow laugh.
'Why are you still on that?' Ryo thought, absentmindedly as he stirred some brownie mix. He was in the mood for two things, something to preoccupy his mind and a snack. So, of course, baking. One of the many hobbies he was fairly decent in. Of course, living on your own, it was either learn to bake and cook, or you're stuck making microwavable dinners until the day you die.
Ryo didn't exactly despise them, but... Cooking reminded him of happier times. Not to mention, he wanted to be able to replicate childhood meals. He had to do that from simply remembering tastes, but that wasn't too difficult.
'I wouldn't have to /still be on it/ if you'd just stuck behind your dumb friends and kept to yourself like always. But noooo, we have to go sticking our fingers inside the cage of the venomous snake because it looks neat!' the Spirit hissed. And then flicked out his tongue for dramatic effect. 'You may not have been wearing me for six months, but I still heard the stories. I may admire Kaiba's moxy and fully agree with his tactics, but it puts our body at risk, so I won't allow it.'
"My body." Ryo spoke out loud now. And while he maintained his calm exterior, he forced his words to be above his usually soft tone. "And I'm not letting you decide who I am and am not friends with anymore. That was our deal, remember? You and I become friends, work on trust, and get along. You let me go to school and do my school work, and you let me socialize when I'm invited to do so. In return, you can take over when you need to."
Of course, Ryo was starting to regret having not gone over what was considered a 'need'.
The Spirit scoffed and retreated back into the Ring. 'If he tries trapping you all in some demented murder fun house, I'm not saving your friends.' those were his parting words, and Ryo sighed, going back to stirring the brownie mix.
That was fine by Ryo. He knew that it would probably be Yugi, or well, the Spirit of the Puzzle, who would save them in the event of something like that happening, anyway.
From the stories they had told Ryo, everyone had contributed in some way to being freed. Even Honda's weird, little nephew. But Ryo couldn't think of how he would have contributed to something like that, especially without the Ring. Probably creep Kaiba out by staring at him without blinking.
No, that wouldn't have worked.
He sighed and poured the batter into a baking tin, placed that into the oven, set the timer, and then took the bowl and spoon into his bedroom to lick the remaining brownie mix off.
Ryo smiled softly, wondering if Seto Kaiba liked brownies. Probably not. Maybe Tiramisu or coffee cake. Something with more of a bitter kick to it.
-Kaiba Corp. 11: 03 PM-
"Big bro..." Mokuba murmured sleepily, using Kaiba's purple coat as a makeshift blanket in the CEO's office. It wasn't nearly as comfortable of an office as the one at their home, but that wasn't the reason he was fighting sleep as he curled up in the chair situated across from Kaiba's desk.
Seto was there. Seto was there and awake. And Mokuba needed to know that it wasn't all just a dream.
"I'm still here, kid." Seto murmured, taking a quick glance from one of the two computer screens to show Mokuba he was listening and alert. They.. Had a lot to work on. With Kaiba Corp, with one another. Kaiba had to be present. He had to be there at every moment Mokuba needed him. Even if Mokuba just needed to confirm that Kaiba was real and there.
The child in question gave a small smile, nodding and snuggling more into the trench coat and the chair.
"You really shouldn't sleep there. Want me to call Isono to-"
"No.. I'm going home with you again." Mokuba protested.
Kaiba controlled himself enough to hold back the heavy sigh his brothers protesting seemed to be tugging out of him. "Fine, we'll go home now, but you have to go to bed, understand?" He spoke with his usual authority, even if it was a bit toned down for Mokuba.
Hopping up with a brief surge of energy from the excitement that he'd be able to spend more time with his brother, Mokuba beamed, saluting, "Aye aye, Seto!" The way he rubbed his eyes, though, gave away that he truly was still tired, Seto took note of it. After all, the last couple of years he and Mokuba had been… Distant.
Seto made sure to save his progress before shutting down his computers and packing up all of his external drives. He never liked to keep sensitive information too far away, especially after everything that had happened with Industrial Illusions and how half of his personal employees had basically betrayed them. He never wanted to be forced into a corner again. And especially with Mokuba…
In the limo, Mokuba yawned and looked up at Seto, blinking his own, light blue eyes. "How was your first day back at school?" he asked, now that he could, hopefully, get his brothers full attention.
"Dull," Seto answered plainly, "I mainly played 'catch up', took some testing to see if I could remain in my grade, that sort of thing." They had wanted to advance Seto.. Again. But, he turned them down, wanting to stay in school in order to be a good influence on Mokuba.
"Did you see Yugi and the others?" Mokuba asked, still using Seto's coat as a makeshift blanket.
"I did." Seto said, not really wanting to talk about Yugi for now. He was still in the process of working though some strategy he could hopefully use to defeat the shorter male... So far, coming out empty handed. Seto, of course, blamed all of the corporate clean up that he had to prioritize. Six months away, despite Mokuba's best efforts, had created a lot of extra work.
"Well?" Mokuba frowned, his brow furrowing as though he'd expected a bit more than just two words.
This certainly caused a glance from Seto.
"Well what? I didn't respond when they waved at me. Well, when Yugi waved at me." then, white hair and doe eyes flashed in his mind, "That Bakura talked to me."
Mokuba tilted his head, pursing his lips. Which one was Bakura..? Oh yeah, the quiet one!
"What did he want to talk to you about. I didn't really... Get to know him." Bakura hadn't been around during the events before Seto's coma, and he wasn't exactly a demanding presence like everyone else. He... Blended in. It made Mokuba feel kind of bad for thinking that, but it was an honest assessment.
"He thanked me." Seto pulled out his phone. "He was... Weird."
The comment made Mokuba chortle a bit. "Weird? Well, that's better than annoying, right?"
With a brief shrug, Seto pulled out his phone, his silent way of wanting to end this conversation. It wasn't exactly enthralling and he wasn't fond of speaking about his classmates. Other people had never been very interesting to him. With another glance to Mokuba... Most other people, at least.
Once the Kaiba brothers were home, Seto put Mokuba to bed himself, still having some trust issues with who handled his brother. Of course, everyone who had gone over to Pegasus's side had been fired, but you can never be too careful. He made his way to his home office door, shutting it behind him and then leaning against it, his eyes drifting closed.
'Well, that's better than annoying, right?'
He honestly had no answer.
For now, Seto Kaiba had far more pressing things to worry about. He brought his cell phone to his ear, his eyes reopening, "I want the remains of Pegasus J. Crawford brought to Japan.. Yes, I know. But I need all of him, in tact. Plus, I'm going to need to figure out a way around that obnoxious 'right hand' of his, Croquet. I need unlimited access to Industrial Illusions." And, more importantly, all of the cards at Pegasus's disposal.
"He thought he could over take Kaiba Corp while I was out of commission. Now he's died somehow, and my revenge will be to ransack his resources." Of course, Pegasus being dead was extremely hidden intel. Everyone simply assumed he was retiring or something. But, Kaiba knew better. Of course, he still wasn't aware of the details, so Seto assumed Pegasus just up and killed himself.
Seto didn't blame him, because what he had in plan for their previous captor was a fate far worse than death.
"I'm aware that what I'm doing is not 'legal'. Do. It. Anyway." he hung up and walked over to his desk, glaring at his computer screen.
'I will defeat Yugi Muto. By any means necessary.'
And, with a sigh, Seto Kaiba slipped his headphones on and began working to the relaxing Op. 9, No. 1 in B flat minor. Larghetto. He loved how there were no words, just emotion. Soft and gentle.
As though putting his headphones on delivered him to a different world.