Oh gosh. This has been sitting in my computer for almost three months now. I've been hesitant to post it because I've never done anything like this before. It's a risk, and I hope it was worth it.
-0-0-0-
His screams are muffled, but they still fill the tiny closet he's trapped in. You can only watch in horror as his arm is being twisted behind his back and his face shoved into the concrete ground. He's struggling to breathe, only taking in gasps of air when his mouth isn't being shoved into the ground.
You can hear him laughing, mocking Yugi's pain. He brings his mouth down to Yugi's ears and whispers, "Where's the Pharaoh, Yugi? Where is our almighty king? Too busy to protect his precious partner?"
And you're wondering the same thing. Where is the Pharaoh? Then you remember. It was gym class. Yugi doesn't wear the puzzle to gym. But how had Bakura managed to lure Yugi into this dirty janitor's closet?
You struggle to remember, but you know it's a worthless effort. It's not going to help Yugi. You're helpless as you watch through your own eyes. Yugi is struggling to break free because your hands are pinning him down. You watch as he tries to call for help one more time only to be silenced as your hand comes down on his face. You watch and you want to cry.
It's your hands hurting Yugi. But it's not you. It's not you. You're fighting against Bakura because he's starting to get meaner, more aggressive. He's not allowing Yugi to breathe as often. He's keeping Yugi's face to the concrete.
Where are his friends, you wonder. You were just at gym class! You're still in school, in a janitor's closet. Why hasn't anyone come looking?
Yugi's struggles start to get weaker.
How long can someone go without oxygen, you ask yourself. You know Bakura will kill him. You know you have to do something before he does.
Yugi gasps for air and turns his head as much as he can, looking up at Bakura. Looking at you.
"Pl-please…" He cries.
You hear Bakura laugh as he brings his lips down so that they're practically touching his ear. "Now you know that won't get you anything, Yugi." He twists Yugi's arm again, and Yugi lets out another scream of pain.
You try to fight him. You know you have to get control of your body again because you're running out of time. Bakura always took advantage of what was given to him. He has the opportunity to kill Yugi and you know he's not going to waste it.
Stop it… You mutter to him, but even the voice inside your mind is weak and helpless. Bakura doesn't seem to hear you because he continues to taunt Yugi.
"If you only you had the Pharaoh…I'm sure he would love to see this." He shoves Yugi's face back into the ground.
Stop it. You say again, only slighter louder because panic is starting to set in. Bakura won't be gracious enough to allow Yugi to die fast and painless. You know he's going to make Yugi suffer. And you know he's going to make you watch.
Yugi's legs flail as he tries to get Bakura off of him, but you know it's useless. Yugi's so small... and Bakura easily outweighs him. You easily outweigh him. Yugi is struggling still, trying to wiggle his way out from under Bakura. You hear him cry and you hear Bakura laugh and you wonder which sound is worse. Bakura twists Yugi's arm again and you realize that he could possibly break it with his bare hands.
Stop it! You scream inside your head, so loud it echoes off the walls of your soul room. Everything is silent for a moment, and it makes you uncomfortable. Everything had been loud and stressful and overwhelming, but now…there is almost nothing. Even Yugi seems to have quieted down-
Is he dead? Please, oh, please Yugi, don't be dead.
-And you know that can't be a good thing. But what could be worse than Yugi being quiet, you think. Yugi's always been quiet, and that's never been a problem.
But, when a certain someone else is quiet…well, you know that's never good.
You let out a whimper, just so some sound can fill up the emptiness of your soul room. Then,
Why should I, landlord?
You shiver at the sound of his voice. It isn't happy, or angry, or distressed. Instead, it's mocking and sadistic and it scares you to death because you know what he's capable of. You know that he would kill you in an instant if he could. You know he can't, though. Your mortality is his mortality and that's the only upper hand you have on him. If you die, he dies. And you both know that.
But that doesn't mean he still can't make you suffer and he still can't make you miserable.
Le-leave him alone…The strength you have found earlier is dead now, nothing more than a memory long gone. It's the Pharaoh you want revenge on. Yugi has nothing to do with your fight with the Pharaoh.
Bakura chuckles. You feel tears stinging at the corners of your eyes. Oh, dear, sweet, naive, landlord. Little Yugi has everything to do with our feud. He is the Pharaoh's weakness. If he dies, the Pharaoh will remain trapped inside the puzzle, and then no one will be able to stop me from taking it.
He stops for a moment. You can feel your soul room growing colder. Goosebumps begin to grow on your skin.
Maybe I'll even show some mercy to the Pharaoh. I'm not entirely evil, dear landlord, oh no. I'll give the Pharaoh some peace of mind.
You don't like the way he's talking. His voice seems to have gotten even more empty and demonic. And you didn't think that was at all possible. You know he's waiting for you to reply. And you find yourself replying, even though you don't want to. You don't want to know, you would much rather remain ignorant. Ignorance is bliss.
But ignorance won't save Yugi, or ease your guilt.
How?...How will you show the Pharaoh mercy?
You can almost feel the grin on Bakura's face. Why I'll allow him a glimpse at Little Yugi's maimed body, of course.
Maimed?...
You see at once Bakura pull a knife from his back pocket. Yugi sees it too, and the fear in his eyes will haunt you forever. But you can't sit around and do nothing. You have to get back control of your body. You know what will happen in you don't.
Bakura brings the knife to Yugi's lips.
"You know it's useless to struggle don't you?" His voice is almost purring. "You're no match against me. Why not accept your fate? It'll make things a lot less painful for you."
Tears slip from Yugi's eyes, but he says nothing. You want him to say something. Yugi always knows what to say. He always knows how to find the best of the worst situation, and he was the one who was always cheering people up. For him to say nothing is the final straw for you. Yugi's given up.
You have to be the person Yugi always is. You have to save him.
"No comment?" Bakura asks. He shrugs. "Fine then." In one swift movement, he swipes the blade across Yugi's bottom lip and he cries in pain.
Your mental conscious grabs at Bakura's. You pull on him, trying to tear him out of the body. Bakura fights against you, pushing you down. You want to cry and give up. But you know you can't. If you give up, then Yugi will surely die. You get right back up and pull at Bakura again. He growls in annoyance and tries to push you down once more, but you cling onto him, refusing to let go.
Bakura screams in annoyance and anger, his conscious split between fighting off you, and finishing off Yugi. He slams Yugi's face into the concrete at the same time he attempts to throw you off once more.
You continue to pull at him, slowly regaining control of your body.
I won't let you hurt him! You scream with defiance you never knew you had. You wrap your arms around Bakura's conscious once more and squeeze as hard as you can, and you twist it around, in trying to break it.
You hear Bakura chuckle, but you do your best to ignore it, only tightening your grip on him. You can feel him losing control of your body and it gives you hope. You pull as hard as you can, and then, you don't know why, you push at him, and time seems to slow down.
Your eyes snap open and you're on top of Yugi. Instantly, you throw yourself off of him, and scoot backwards on your butt until your back touches the stone wall behind you. You're breathing heavily, tears streaming down your cheeks.
Yugi slowly pushes himself into a sitting position. You can see him struggling, The back of his neck his scratched up, and his right shoulder and cheek are already starting to bruise. He hesitates for a moment and although it hurts you, you don't blame him.
Yugi turns around to face you and you let out a strangled sob.
His right eye is already blackened, and his face is smeared in the blood pouring from his bottom lip; bloody and swollen.
You feel Bakura tug at your conscious. Doesn't he look pretty, landlord?
You unconsciously shake your head and mutter 'No'.
Yugi looks you in the eye and you see the sadness and concern in his eyes. Why? You wonder. Why are you concerned for me?
"R-r-you…" He struggles to speak with his swollen lip.
"Go." You command clamping your eyes shut.
"Ry-ou…"
Bakura tugs at your conscious, waiting for the opportunity to take control of the body once more and finish what he started.
"Go!" You shout, and Yugi flinches. You, like Yugi, rarely ever lose your temper. So in the rare moments that you do, it scares people. Yugi knows better not to argue with you. Be covers his still bleeding lip with his hand and slowly gets to his feet, never taking his eyes off you. You watch his knees buckle, struggling to hold his own weight.
"Ryou…"
"Get away from me!"
Yugi recoils, and you feel sorry for what you said. But he needs to get away from you. He's not safe when he's near you.
Yugi turns and pushes on the door, stumbling as he runs out into the hall, drips of blood marking his trail on the cold, linoleum floor of the school.
You whimper, hot tears flooding down your face. You lay on your side, your back still braced against the wall. You sob.
-0-0-0-0-
Some hours later, you find the strength to stand and exit the dirty janitor's closet. Bakura hasn't said anything since Yugi left.
How did you get him there?
No answer.
Why?
…..
Were you really trying to hurt the Pharaoh,
…
Or were you trying to hurt me?
In the recesses of your mind, you hear Bakura laugh.
-0-0-0-0-
You don't see Yugi for the rest of the day. Not even his friends seem to know where he is. But they discuss the possibilities amongst themselves, not even considering asking you.
"Maybe he got sick after second period?" Anzu suggests during lunch. You're sitting at the same table, near the end. They don't even look at you.
"Yugi never gets sick." Joey says. "He probably cut school to get out of the history exam today."
"You know Yugi would never cut school." Anzu says.
Joey shrugs. "You got any better ideas?"
I have an idea, you want to say. I know what happened. I know why he left. He left because the monster who lives inside my head and controls my body, the monster that has a vendetta to ruin my life, almost killed him. He almost killed Yugi, almost subjected him to a painful and bloody death and it would've been my fault because I was too weak to stop him.
You, of course, remain silent. How can you say what you're thinking? It's not like they'll listen to you anyways. They're Yugi's friends, not yours.
No longer feeling hungry, you throw away your food, despite having eaten nothing. Then, you leave the school and head on home.
It's not like you'll be missed anyways.
-0-0-0-0-
The ceiling is blank, but you can't look away. It's mesmerizing to you. When you look at it, your mind becomes as blank as it is.
And then you can go the sleep.
-0-0-0-0-
Yugi's not at school the next day. You fight back tears and try to carry on as normal.
He's not there the next day either.
Or the next.
Each night, you cry yourself to sleep.
-0-0-0-0-
After three days of being absent, Yugi finally returns to school. You see him during gym. His back is turned to you.
You feel slightly better knowing that at least he's well enough to return to school. Physically, at least.
You try to keep your distance from him. It's the only thing you can do to protect him. But he slowly makes his way over to you. He wants to talk. It's an unconscious agreement between the two of you, one that is made with no words being passed. You both walk towards the end of the soccer field, where you're out of the way of everyone else.
When you finally turn to face him, you have to suppress a gasp. There are bags under his eyes and you just know that he hasn't had any sleep these last few days. His right eye is black, but it's his lip that draws your attention. It's swollen, and stitched, like a voodoo doll.
You can tell he's in pain, even if he won't admit it. The guilt hits you like a freight train. You could have prevented it all if you had only acted sooner. You want to say something, but don't know what to say. You know it would only make you stupid to ask if he's okay. You already know the answer.
You glance down. He's wearing the Puzzle.
"He doesn't want me around you." Yugi says, earning your attention. "Even now he's angry that I'm talking with you." Yugi traces the eye of Horus with his thumb. "He won't do anything, though. Not unless he's one-hundred percent certain my life is in danger."
You remain silent, allowing Yugi's words to sink in. You've never spoken with the Pharaoh personally, but it still hurts to know he's angry with you.
"I grabbed the puzzle and ran home. He was beyond angry when he saw me. He demanded to know what happened and who was 'responsible.' I…I couldn't tell him. He had to look through my memories to find out…" He pauses, but he never takes his eyes off you. "He can be scary too, you know." He scoffs and smiles. "But, so can my grandfather. He came home soon after and had to take me to the hospital."
He sucks on his stitches. You can't hold it in anymore.
"Yu-Yugi…I-I'm soooo sorry!"
"For what?" He asks it so innocently you wonder if he suffered any head trauma. Knowing Bakura, you wouldn't doubt it.
"Wh-what do you mean? Yugi, he—"
"—threw a dodge ball a little too hard." He interrupts. You stare at him. "He threw it and I bit my lip hard enough to split it."
Your eyes are wide as you look at for a moment. "Is that what you're telling everybody?" Your voice is barely a whisper.
His eyes fall down to his feet. Then, he looks back up at you. He nods.
"Yugi…he almost killed you…"
"Almost."
Your lip quivers. Tears stream from your eyes. You curse yourself for being weak. You wish to be strong like Yugi. Yugi is sensitive to others but he's still stronger than you'll ever be.
"Don't you understand?" You plead. "You could've died! He was going to kill you! That was his intention!"
"He would've." Yugi says nonchalant. "If…something hadn't happened."
You say nothing. You can only slowly shake your head. Doesn't he understand, you think. The Pharaoh's right. He's not safe near me.
"You saved me." Yugi says.
More tears squeeze their way out your eyes.
Yugi takes a step closer to you. Instinctively, you take one back.
"Ryou, you know you're one of my closest friends, right? You're the only one who understands what it's like too…" He stops, suddenly. "I know your situation is very…different than mine. But I want you to know that I will always be here for you. Yami may not like me being around you…but he won't stop me. You can always talk to me."
Then, Yugi takes another step forward and the next thing you know, he's pulled you into a hug. You freeze, unsure of what to do, how to react. You stand there with your hands at your sides, and you feel tears dripping onto your shoulders. They're Yugi's. Knowing that, your own mix in, and you continue to stand there, like an idiot; a baby.
A stupid, weak, sobbing, bloody baby.
You've never been hugged like this before. It's not a short hug that friends who haven't seen each other in a long time give. And it's not the king of awkward hug you would give your great-aunt at the annual family reunion. It's a deep, warm hug. You get the sense that Yugi really, truly, does care. No one's ever hugged you like that.
Not even your father.
"You're stronger than he is." Yugi whispers into your ear. "You will beat him."
You hear a whistle blow. It's Coach, signaling that gym class is over. How long had you been talking with Yugi? Yugi releases you and steps back, giving you one last sad smile. His eye is still black, but now it's also red and puffy and full of tears. His lip is still swollen and stitched, and yet he's smiling.
Sometimes you just never understand Yugi.
"Thank you, Ryou." He says softly.
"For what?" You say before you can stop yourself.
"For saving my life." Then, he turns around and heads towards the school building, so he can go to his next class. You stand there, watching him. Yugi's words still echo in your head. You ponder on their honesty.
It's all lies, you know.
You tense.
You'll never be stronger than me.
You try to ignore him and begin to walk so you can make it to your next class.
Did you really save him, landlord? Do you really think you bested me?
That makes you stop in your tracks. Your fists clench up and you feel yourself gnawing at your lip. You wonder how hard you would have to bit to need stitches, like Yugi.
How do you know I didn't give you back control? How do you know I haven't planned this all along?
His voice is sing-songy, but that only makes it all the more evil. You bite your lip even harder. You can taste blood now. How do you know that you beat Bakura? You don't. You can't. You couldn't have possibly beat Bakura. He's diabolical and calculative; he stays ten steps ahead of every opponent, predicting every possible outcome and finding a solution to each one.
And what are you?
You're a nobody. You're a loser. Pathetic. Nothing but a pawn to Bakura and a nuisance to everyone else.
You'll never be as strong as Yugi, or the Pharaoh. Or Joey or Tristan. Or Anzu or Kaiba. And especially Bakura.
Because you're weak. And you know that.
Which is why you fall to your knees and you cry.
In the corners of your mind, you can hear Bakura laughing.
-0-0-0
Sage: 0.o That was….depressing.
Second Person is fun! I can really get into the characters mind and torment them. Muhahaha!
Sage:….You have issues.
I'll be honest. I'm not much of a Ryou fan. He has what? Maye ten minutes of screen time throughout 224 episodes. But, I still enjoyed writing this. Ryou has the saddest story, I think, in the Yugioh arc, and I really wanted to get into his mind.
I hope you enjoyed this!