Ryou released a sharp gasp of pain as he was shoved forcefully into the wall. He felt the cold, sharp bricks scraping against the skin of his arm as he sunk to the floor.
"Get up!" The words were spat and laced with contempt.
Ryou placed his hands under him, attempting to push himself up. He fell back to the floor with a cry of pain, he was too weak to get up, too weak to defend himself.
He screamed in pain when Bakura kicked him square in the chest, leaving him gasping for air.
"How did I ever get stuck with someone as worthless as you for a hikari! You are an insult!" Bakura turned and walked from the room as his hikari lay on the floor choking and sore.
Ryou felt hot tears stream down his face at his yami's words. He didn't cry from the beatings anymore. He was too used to them, frequent as they were. It was the insults his yami sent his way that hurt the most, the constant reminders that he was weak and worthless to his yami. Even though Bakura mistreated him and constantly told him of his hate, usually before he acted on it, Ryou still felt an attachment to him. He didn't love him or entertain the dillusion that the two of them could be friends, no, it was a deep feeling. An indescribable feeling. Ryou felt that Bakura understood him, the way that no-one else could. Whenever Bakura was around, even when beating his hikari, Ryou didn't feel so alone.
Ryou regained control of his breathing and shakily climbed to his feet, grunting with the pain that coursed through his entire body. He stumbled back to his room, which was, thankfully, only a few metres away and fell onto his bed. He sobbed gently into his pillow, letting the emotion engulf him and he cried himself to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Next Day

Ryou timidly crossed the threshold of the apartment he shared with his yami. He listened for any sign of Bakura, there were none. Breathing a sigh of relief, he ran to the fridge in order to make his dinner before Bakura came home from, whatever he was doing. Ryou shuddered as thoughts of what his psychotic yami could be doing, crept into his head.
After he had eaten his dinner and washed up the traces, Ryou ran to his room and chose a book to take his mind off the inevitable attacks, verbal and physical.
It was only 10 minutes before Bakura burst into the apartment and began shouting for Ryou.
"Hikari!" A brief pause. "RYOU!"
The door of the hikari's bedroom burst open with unbelievable force, one that threatened to rip it from its hinges. Bakura was angry. Not just his usual I-hate-humans-and-like-to-kick-fluffy-things-for-fun kind of angry. He was really angry.
"YOU WORTHLESS BRAT! YOU ANSWER WHEN I CALL FOR YOU!" Bakura was practically screaming into Ryou's face.
"I'm sorr-" The hikari began but was cut short by a forceful slap from the yami. He spat the blood from his mouth, a motion that earned him another slap from Bakura.
Bakura grabbed the boy's throat and forced him backward into the wall. Ryou cried out in pain as his head slammed sharply against the wall. Bakura tightened his grip on Ryou's throat and lifted him into the air, his legs kicking helplessly. Ryou began to feel dizzy as the oxygen was cut off from his brain. However, before he could pass out, Bakura released his grip, causing the hikari to fall to the floor as he had so many times before.
As Ryou gulped down the air gratefully, Bakura pulled something from his pocket.
Ryou looked up and his eyes widened as he saw the dagger in Bakura's hand.
'Oh dear God!' He thought to himself. 'This is the end! He's finally going to kill me!'
Bakura crouched next to Ryou, grinning evilly. The hikari was still dizzy from lack of oxygen and was defenceless to Bakura's wishes.
Bakura's grin broadened when he noticed the fear deep in the eyes of his defenceless hikari. He reached forward and gripped Ryou's hair tightly causing the boy to gasp in pain. 'Come on head, darn you! Clear! I have to get away before he kills me!' Ryou thought frantically.
Bakura brought the knife to the boy's left arm, dragging it across the pale skin, looking up in time to see Ryou flinch with the pain, Bakura smirked.
Ryou gasped again when he realised that Bakura was sucking at the cut on his arm, drinking his blood. The boy began clawing desperately at the yami. Bakura merely tugged sharply on Ryou's hair, causing the hikari to shout out.
Bakura raised his head from Ryou's arm to stare deeply into the boy's fear filled eyes. No tears. Perhaps the hikari wasn't as worthless as he had originally thought. Bakura sliced at the boy's arm again, leaving a much longer cut. He leant down and licked up the blood, lifting his head when he felt Ryou shudder.
"What's the matter hikari?" Brown eyes with a red tint tormented deep chocolate brown eyes, filled with innocence and fear. "Want me to stop, Ryou?" Bakura grinned malisciously. "Want it all to stop?"
He tipped the boy's head back by pulling on his hair and dragged the blade sharply across Ryou's throat before standing and walking away, chuckling darkly.
Ryou's hand shot to his throat and his eyes widened even more, if that was indeed possible, on discovery of no blood.
Bakura had run the flat of the blade across his throat. He hadn't killed him.
Ryou stared at the door, through which his yami had exited. 'But why?'