OK, warning! Warning! Major Bakura bashing!

Bakura: O_O Not again.

Missa: -^.^- Sorry, cutie-pie! You're just the best character to bash!

Bakura: Oh, joy. Pain. I feel so honored.

Missa: OK, this is done to the song "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride, but I changed it a little of course, since the song's about a girl.I mean at one point they say something about linen and lace, so I just changed the whole sentence.

Bakura: "Concrete Angel"?! Oh God, serious pain!

Missa: Sadly for you, yes. And I'm supposing you people can easily guess who's going to be causing the pain. Yes, this is going to be your traditional violent yami fic. Um.this could get bloody.I don't know yet. But if you can't stand to see Bakura hurt, I suggest you don't read.

Bakura: Oh, so you can stand to see me hurt? *broken hearted look in eyes*

Missa: Of course I can't, Ryou-Chan! I wrote the story, and now I'm going to cover my eyes and ears while they read it!

Bakura: -.-

Missa: Anyway, on with the fic!

~ He walks to school with the lunch he packed

Nobody knows what he's holding back

Wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday

He hides the bruises with sleeves and a smiling face ~

"Hey Bakura!" Bakura shook himself out of his daze and quickly put on a convincing smile. "Hey Yugi." The two walked the rest of the way to school together, Yugi talking happily, but Bakura almost silent. It didn't seem strange to Yugi, at least not at first. Bakura had always been soft spoken; he never talked too much.

They walked into their classroom and Yugi raced over to his friends, laughing and talking, assuming Bakura would follow. But the snow haired boy merely took his seat, still not muttering a word. Yugi looked over at him worriedly, but quickly dismissed it as Bakura just being tired or something and returned to his conversation.

The teacher entered the room, and a chorus of "Good morning, Teacher!" rose from the class. She walked around the room, handing out work packets, explaining the directions. She stopped near Bakura's desk, placing his on it, and noticing a cut half hidden by his bangs. She quickly returned to what she was saying as she walked and tried not to think about it.

~ The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask

It's hard to see the pain behind the mask

Bearing the burden of a secret storm

Sometimes he wishes he was never born ~

"Bakura, you want to come spend the night at my house? Everyone else is coming, and Grandpa said we could go to the arcade tomorrow if we want, since it's Saturday and all." Bakura thought about it. It might keep him from getting beat up tonight.or maybe not. It wasn't worth the extra hits he might receive.

"No thanks, Yugi. My Dad wouldn't let me. Thank you for asking, though." Yugi nodded, but his eyes were downcast and he looked disappointed. "OK.see you later then." "Bye." Yugi turned and walked from the classroom, his bookbag slung over one shoulder. "Yami?" He heard Yami yawn. "Hmm? What is it, aibou?"

"Is.Is it just me, or does Bakura seem oddly distant lately?" Yugi was suddenly startled to see Yami was walking next to him. "I hadn't noticed. But I pay little attention, hikari. Are you worried about your friend?" "Yeah, I guess I am. He just.he never talked much, but he talked more than he does now. Now he rarely ever speaks. And he looks kind of sick.like something's been scaring him real badly lately."

Yami simply stared at Yugi quizzically. "I.I don't know."

~ Through the wind, and the rain, he stands hard as a stone

In a world that he can't rise above

But his dreams

Give him wings

And he flies to a place

Where he's loved

Concrete Angel ~

"Bakura!" Bakura pulled on a long sleeve shirt quickly to hide his little black and blue reminders from the beating he had received the night before. "Coming, Dad!" He rushed down the stairs, his arms aching from their many bruises every time he moved.

"Bakura, why on Earth are you wearing long sleeves when it's 90 degrees out?" His father looked worried, and Bakura hated to lie to him, but he just couldn't tell him the truth. He wouldn't believe him if he did.

"I'm cold.that's all." He still looked worried as he laid a hand gently on his son's forehead. "Are you feeling all right? You seem like you're coming down with something." "No, Dad, I'm fine. Just cold."

"Well.all right. I have somewhere I have to be soon so I'm going to leave now. You're sure you're feeling all right? " Bakura nodded as his father ruffled his hair lightly. "All right then. I'll see you later." "Bye, Dad."

~ Somebody cries in the middle of the night

The neighbors hear but they turn out the light

A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate

When morning comes it'll be too late ~

"P-Please." Bakura begged. "Please, st-stop it." The spirit ignored his plea and hit him hard, knocking him to the ground where he lay, sobbing. "You're such a pathetic weakling! How did I get stuck with someone like you?! Someone so useless! No matter how hard you fight, boy, you'll never win. You'll always end up in the dirt, the fate a sniveling pile of useless junk like yourself deserves!"

Bakura hushed himself. Stop crying, he thought. If you keep crying he'll hit you again for being weak. Stay silent.don't talk back, don't fight back. Just let him finish beating you up, and he'll go away. Then you can cry, if you have any strength left to do so.

The spirit gave him one final kick, strong and well placed at his ribs. Bakura swallowed hard. Don't cry. Just don't cry. He heard the door slam shut. The spirit must have gone to his own soul room. Bakura said nothing, did nothing. He couldn't. So he just lay there, unable to move, and praying silently for someone to help him.

~ Through the wind, and the rain, he stands hard as a stone

In a world that he can't rise above

But his dreams

Give him wings

And he flies to a place

Where he's loved

Concrete Angel ~

Yugi knocked on Bakura's door lightly. "Bakura? Bakura, are you home?" he called, knocking again. The door creaked open, revealing Bakura's father's form in the dimly lighted room. "Oh, it's you Yugi. I suppose none of you know, as I just found out myself, but Bakura's in the hospital. The story I'm getting is that he got beat up pretty badly, probably jumped on his way home from school again. I'm heading there now. But the thing that frightens me is they say he might not make it."

Yugi's eyes widened. "Oh my God! You don't know for sure what happened?" The man in the doorway shook his head. "No, I'm only assuming." Yugi nodded. "Thank you for telling me. Do you mind if I go see him?" "I don't know if they'll let you in, but you can try." "Thank you."

- Time Lapse -

Yugi gently pulled his friend's hand into his own. "Bakura-" Bakura opened his eyes slightly. "Hey Yugi." His voice was quiet and weak, and Yugi realized that over the last few months he had forgotten how it truly sounded. "Bakura, what happened?" "I got beat up." "I know that! I mean who did this to you?"

"I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone." Yugi's eyes softened as he squeezed Bakura's hand a little tighter. "Why can't you tell anyone?" "Because-because he'll do this to me again." Yugi sighed. "Bakura, please, you know you can trust me." "It was the spirit. The dark spirit in my Ring. He beat me up; he beats me up all the time."

Yugi gasped in shock. He hadn't expected that. But he regained his composure and returned to trying to comfort his friend. "He'll pay for it, Bakura. He'll pay for everything he's ever done to you. I'll make sure of it." Bakura smiled weakly before slipping into unconsciousness.

~A statue stands in a shaded place

An angel boy with an upturned face

A name is written on a polished rock

A broken heart that the world forgot ~

Yugi felt warm tears running down his cheeks as he stared at the polished marble of the gravestone. It's not fair, he thought. It's not fair for anyone to have to suffer like that, anyone. He felt Yami's hand lay gently on his shoulder. "Hikari- hikari, are you all right?" Yugi turned his eyes to Yami, allowing him to see how full of crystal tears they were, but he smiled bravely. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." Yami slipped an arm gently around him, hugging him tightly and making it clear that it was ok for him to cry.

And cry Yugi did. "Yami, he didn't deserve this; he didn't deserve to have none of his dreams come true, to lose everything, because of someone else." Yami gently wiped the tears away from Yugi's cheeks. "No, hikari, he didn't. But he's not suffering anymore." Yugi nodded shakily. "I know; he's happy now, right?" Yami smiled. "Yes, my little light, because he never has to hurt ever again."

The small funeral broke up around him, but Yugi remained there. As it grew late, he lay a single white rose at the foot of the grave. "I promised you. I promised I would make him pay for it all. And I never break a promise." Yugi pulled Bakura's Change Of Heart card from his pocket and laid it at the foot of the grave as well, anchoring it with a small rock. "Sleep well, my friend." And at that, he left.

~ Through the wind, and the rain, he stands hard as a stone

In a world that he can't rise above

But his dreams

Give him wings

And he flies to a place

Where he's loved

Concrete Angel ~

Yami stared the spirit of The Ring down with unnerving confidence. "You'll pay for all you've done, and you'll pay for it eternally. Not only by what I will cause you, but by the guilt you will, or at least should, hold in that cold, empty heart of yours. But even if the guilt is absent, I can make sure the pain is present. I challenge you to a Shadow Duel."

The spirit laughed with an arrogant smirk. "Pharaohs will be pharaohs. If that's how you want it, then I accept your challenge. But you haven't a chance." Yami's eyes narrowed, and Yugi sensed a chilling determination within Yami that he had never felt before. But maybe it wasn't there before.

Yami was willing to win this, to fulfill Yugi's promise, at all costs. "We'll see. Oh, we'll see." The spirit laughed again, and it had a crazy, maniacal sound to it. "Well, I haven't got all day. Let me crush you so I can get on with my life."

Yami smiled, but his eyes were glinting dangerously. "As you wish." The room they were standing in became an endless void or swirling black and purple, and the two spirits began their duel.

- Time Lapse -

"I've won, and the fate of your soul is mine for the choosing. Now I'm wondering if your suffering should be quick or slow." Yami rose a hand, the Eye of Horus glowing brightly on his forehead. "And with all the power I have, I banish you to the Shadow Realm!"

He heard the spirit's scream before he vanished into final oblivion. Yami shut his eyes, blocking it out. "You can't stand it either." Yami's eyes snapped open at Yugi's voice beside him. "Stand what?" "To hear someone, anyone, scream like that."

Yami lowered his eyes. "Your friend's death has been avenged, hikari. Is that not what you wanted?" Yugi shook his head. "No. I only wanted to keep my promise." Yami smiled. "And that you did, Yugi. And that you did." Yugi smiled back then took hold of his puzzle. It glowed with golden light, and he and Yami vanished from the Shadow Realm.

Yugi lay down on his bed, shutting his eyes. Yami tucked the blankets around him. "Goodnight, aibou." "Goodnight." And as Yugi drifted off to sleep, he heard a faint whisper, so faint he almost missed it.

It was the voice of a soft-spoken boy that jumped at his own shadow. The voice of a boy whose deep brown eyes were tense and frightened but laughing at the same time. The voice of a boy who had seen more in his short time than most saw in an entire lifetime. The voice of a boy who had suffered long enough and finally had his chance to rest. And so he whispered two final words to Yugi.

"Thank you."

~Owari~

Missa: *reads the fic* Was it good?! Was it crappy?! Oh tell me, I gotta know!!!

Bakura: I'll tell you. IT WAS AWFUL!

Missa: Oh, don't even go there.

Bakura: YOU KILLED ME!

Missa: You're enraged. You shouldn't be enraged. Yugi got revenge.

Yugi: Yay! I get to be the hero again!

Bakura: -.- I hate being constantly saved by a boy half my size.

Yugi: *eyes go wide and starts crying*

Missa: BAKURA! You know Yugi's height is a sensitive subject! *hugs Yugi* It's ok, Yugi.

Yugi: Yay! Love! *gives Missa huge hug*

Missa: Oh, isn't he kawaii!?!?! Anyway, R/R my fellow fanfic lovers! Ja Ne!