Disclaimer: I own my mind, the strange place where this story sprang from, but does it look like I own the characters?!
A/N: Blame my strange fascination with planets and astronomy for this one. It might be a little AU-ish because of the time-line involved, but that's about it.
Equinox
Bakura sat quietly through his science class. They were only covering the same recycled material they had been fed since entering middle school, and now in high school, it was just being repeated and slowly increased in depth. Since Bakura had always paid attention in his previous classes, earning his "A" in this class would be simple.
Instead, he chose to dwell in his own thoughts, ones that revolved around the one currently controlling his life. The presence that had made himself known as soon as school had started again and Bakura had been surrounded by those trying to gain his affection.
The white-haired boy knew he couldn't protect the ones the darkness wanted to hurt all through the months after fall began. Now, spring was approaching, meaning a new semester with new classes. Bakura didn't know how to keep his future classmates from danger…
He was suddenly jerked from his reverie when the teacher called on him for an answer without him realizing it. Flushing, he had to ask for the question again.
The teacher sighed. "Please pay attention from now on, Bakura. I asked what the vernal equinox was."
Blushing even deeper at the snickers coming from various corners of the classroom, Bakura quietly gave the answer. "The vernal equinox is the first day of spring."
Not entirely satisfied with the soft reply, the professor prompted for more information. "And? What is so special about the first day of spring?"
"Ah…on the vernal equinox, daylight and nighttime are the same length," he added, relaxing as she moved on to another student and question and quickly slipping back into his daydreaming.
--
Several days later, Bakura slipped into his apartment, fully intent on finishing the homework from the same science class that he had found so easy. Unfortunately, in order to complete that easy course, he had to finish an insane amount of book work in two days. Settling down into his chair, he glanced at the assignments. Planetary motion, photosynthesis, and the water cycle all assaulted his eyes. Grabbing the worksheet for photosynthesis, he soon began to write, mumbling as he did.
"Let's see…six carbon dioxide and six…no…that's the equation for respiration. I have to…there we go! ...six carbon dioxide yields six oxy-…"
"Who are you talking to, my host?" asked a sneering voice from behind him, causing him to whirl around, catching his shin on the chair leg and stumbling.
Bakura frantically shook his head. "No, don't do this! Not tonight!" He took a step back, pressing himself against his desk.
"Don't tell me you were talking to yourself. People will start to think you've gone crazy," the spirit mocked, matching Bakura's step and adding one. His smirk and smug attitude quickly changed to a frown and a much more violent disposition. "And did you just tell me what to do? Do you forget, hikari, that I own you and not the other way around? You and your body belong to me, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Yami Bakura took another step forward, and Bakura was on the verge of climbing onto his desk and out the window that sat above it, not that much good would have come from that maneuver. The thief's eyes narrowed and tendrils of purple flowed around the terrified boy, making him squirm uncomfortably in an effort to keep them away.
"No! I can't afford for you to do this! I won't let you!" he yelled out. Yami Bakura stopped again, leering at his hikari.
"I'm not giving you the choice. Besides, there are so many other things you could do with your life than homework. You're wasting your life, and I have no qualms about fixing that situation. If you won't live in your own body, I'll just do it for you."
"I said 'NO!'" Bakura objected, feeling his energy being drained by the Shadow Magic surrounding his form. The last thing he heard was the spirit's mocking laugh as he passed out.
--
Waking up on the floor the next morning, Bakura stretched his overworked body. Whatever the spirit had done to him had left him sore and aching, not to mention incredibly filthy. Cringing in disgust, he scrambled into the bathroom for a short, hot shower before rushing off to school.
Making it through the first of his classes, he pulled out his books at lunch and set to work again on photosynthesis.
"Hey, Bakura! Working during lunch? Do you have that much to do?" Yugi asked cheerfully.
The white-haired boy groaned. "Unfortunately, yes. It's all due this Friday. We'll spend next week simply reviewing for the final next Friday."
"Oh, finals…I understand. I'll let you get back to it."
"Thanks, Yugi."
However, even though Yugi understood about the need to study for finals, the concept appeared to be lost on Joey. As soon as Bakura yawned the first time, Joey saw the need to intervene.
"Ya doin' okay over there, Bakura?" he wondered. "Ya look a little worn out."
Once again, Bakura groaned, even though it wasn't as obvious. "I am. It's just all this studying has to be done by next week, and I've been staying up late trying to do it all."
"Eh, just ignore it. That's always worked well for me!" Joey suggested, reclining in the chair and grabbing his milk carton.
Téa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you always pull out 'D's. That doesn't seem that good to me."
"It's passin', right?" came the unconcerned reply. The girl sighed; it was obvious she wasn't getting anywhere.
In the meantime, Bakura had gone back to answering the never ending questions once again, having gotten through two of the worksheets. He left the one about planetary motion for later.
"Done already, Bakura?" Yugi asked, eyeing him as he collected his books and put them in his backpack. The British boy nodded, prompting another outburst from Joey.
"See? Ignorin' it makes everything better!" he insisted, taking a drink of milk.
Bakura shook his head. "I'm not ignoring it; I just don't feel like doing it right now. School is driving me insane, not to mention…" he said, cutting himself off. But the damage had been done, and everyone looked at him with suspicious and suspecting eyes.
"He's back again, isn't he?" Yugi said, more of a statement of fact than a question. Grimacing at his mistake, Bakura bit his lip and looked away.
"Yes."
The effect was immediate. Téa gasped and flinched away a little, Joey spilt his drink, and Yugi stood up so fast Bakura missed the movement, watching as Yugi took a step towards him. He sighed, knowing that they would react in such a way, but it didn't stop him from feeling hurt by it.
"Bakura, why didn't you tell us?!" Yugi demanded, taking another step.
This time, Bakura stood as well, grabbing his book bag. "Because…if you know, then he'll come after you, too. I told you to stay away, so you wouldn't get hurt, but…now I've put you in danger. I'm sorry, I have to go!"
With that, he rushed away, paying no attention to the ones shouting his name as he left. He didn't care if half of the school day remained; he just had to get away.
Pushing the door to his apartment open, he slammed it shut in a desperate display of emotion. Making his way over to the desk at the other end of the room, he sat down, holding his head in his hands for a few moments while he collected his thoughts.
There was no way he could avoid Yugi and the others when he went back to school the next day. And he had to go, or else his grade would suffer because he couldn't turn in the last of his homework. Letting out a huge sigh, he planned out how he would handle the next day.
A simple apology would go a long way with Yugi and Téa. Joey and Tristan would still be suspicious and keep their distance from him. He would have to work a little harder to convince them he was still on their side, trying just as hard as them to keep the spirit of the Millennium Ring away from the Puzzle.
He sighed again, pulling out his last worksheet. As long as he had time to work on it, he might as well get it done. Only fifteen minutes later, he was stashing it away as well, all the facts about revolution and rotation stored away for his final.
With nothing left to distract his mind, the weight of his situation came crashing down on his mind. School really was just an accident waiting to happen around his volatile yami. If one person just said the wrong thing in his presence, expressed some sort of interest in him, the spirit would take it as a reason to send that soul to the Shadow Realm. No one was allowed to be around Bakura except the one who was always with him.
There really was no getting around it. The so-called "social butterflies" were always hovering around waiting for someone to talk to. Avoiding them meant avoiding school, and avoiding school meant a very long and unfulfilling future. His yami was already ruining his present; there was no way he was letting the spirit control his future.
"What am I going to do…?" he sighed.
"Talking to yourself again?"
Bakura didn't even bother turning around. "What do you want?" he spit out bitterly. Yami Bakura chuckled at his hikari's demand.
He flicked a dismissive hand that went unnoticed. "That is for me to know. What I want is of no importance to you. You are just my vessel. Your only use is providing me a body with which I can accomplish my goals."
The thief's words brought a sense of worthlessness that hung over Bakura for a few short seconds. Standing up, he didn't stumble, but stared back at his yami with a determined expression. "You don't want to admit it, but without me, you would be nothing. You wouldn't exist; you need me."
The sneer that crept across Yami Bakura's face unnerved the hikari, and the cold tone that he used made it even worse. "I said I need your body. You are useless to me. Now, will you be a good host and lend me your body, or are you going to try some futile attempt to keep control?"
"I'll never stop fighting against you!"
Yami Bakura let out a cackle that sent chills down Bakura's spine. "You truly are foolish! You've fought against me all this time and it has gotten you nowhere! And this time will be no different."
Bakura caught a flash beneath his vision and looked down at his chest to find the Millennium Ring glowing. The phantom version of it had the same reaction resting on the spirit's shirt as well. Something about the harshly glowing light clouded his mind, disconnected him from his senses, but he fought it off. He attempted the same thing he had felt the thief do when assuming control and threw a mental barrier up, protecting his thoughts and mind.
"What do you think you're doing, host?" the spirit growled, less than pleased at his failed attempt to quickly gain control of Bakura's body.
The hikari couldn't answer immediately, still focused on keeping the barrier up, but he managed to growl out, "Fighting back!"
A spike from Bakura's mind caused the yami to gasp slightly. Indeed, his host was holding up quite well against him. Better than he had before. Yami Bakura was incredibly confused, but there was no way he was losing.
Another burst from Bakura's end of the link sent the spirit to the floor. Shuddering slightly, he looked at the hikari with dark eyes, glaring furiously. Bakura didn't relent, and eventually, Yami Bakura faded from sight, escaping into the Ring.
Bakura looked on with widened eyes. The thief was gone from his vision, and there was no more energy being sent to rage against his mind. Still shocked but smiling slightly, he lowered the defenses around his thoughts.
The pain was immediate, and he fell to his knees. Behind his back, he heard the yami chuckle. "Foolish hikari." Keeping the pressure on Bakura's mind, he stepped around the boy's stiff form to reveal himself to be perfectly unharmed. "Never fight against a liar and a thief. You can't win."
A purple fog worked itself across Bakura's eyes, and once again, it was the last thing he remembered seeing before his sight went black.
--
Friday morning, Bakura repeated the same routine he had the day before. He didn't wake up as dirty as he had the first time, but it was plain to anyone who saw him that he was far from awake and focused. Lightly dozing through his science class, he turned in his assignments and paid very little attention during the review.
If anything, he was more worried about lunch than any of his classes. He was dreading talking to Yugi and the group, and was already expecting to be battered by a stream of questions as soon as he got there. How was he ever going to explain everything that had been happening to him since Duelist Kingdom?
Heaving a sigh as the lunch bell rang, he dragged himself away from his surprisingly comfortable desk and worked his way down the hall to the cafeteria. Just as he thought, as soon as he walked in the door, he caught sight of Yugi staring at him with an expectant expression. He grabbed a slice of pizza and sat down at the table.
"What's going on, Bakura? Are you alright?" Yugi asked the moment he got there.
Shaking his head while taking a bite of pizza, he swallowed it before saying, "Wait until everyone gets here. I don't want…I don't want to explain it more than once."
By the time Bakura had finished his meal, Joey, Tristan, and Téa had finally made it through the lunch line. As they each took a chair, Bakura began speaking.
"I know that I shouldn't have kept the presence of the spirit a secret from you. It affects you as much as it does me, and for betraying you, I need to apologize. I'm sorry; it was wrong of me to do so."
Téa immediately softened. "It's OK, Bakura. We under-"
Bakura interrupted her. "Please, let me say what I need to say." He turned away briefly before continuing. "But you need to understand that I was only doing it to protect you. If I get too close to you, he will take you away. He always does.
What you also don't know is…he's been back longer than you thought. I can't remember much from Duelist Kingdom after Tristan threw my Ring away…"
Tristan shrugged. "You were out cold at the time, man. Seems like a pretty good reason to me."
Bakura shook his head. "No, once I woke up, I saw you all down on the duel platform. After that, everything is a blank."
"But we threw the ring away! You were fine!" Tristan insisted.
"Don't you see?!" Bakura groaned. "When I got back home, it was already back around my neck! I don't know exactly when it came back, but it was there!"
After the white-haired boy lapsed into silence, Yugi felt it was safe to ask another question. "How many times does he take control of your body?"
Bakura sighed, knowing that the question was coming. "It's becoming more and more frequent recently. He's done it the past two nights in a row, so I think he's going to try it again tonight."
"What's he do with ya, Bakura?" Joey wondered, finally chiming in.
"I don't know; that's the problem! I have no idea what he does with my body. Usually I wake up sore, like he's done something physically demanding to it. Other times I wake up filthy…or both at the same time. Sometimes there's blood, sometimes there isn't. There is no pattern to what he does."
Now visibly upset, Téa tried to get him to calm down. "Well, we can always help, right? There has to be something we can do!"
Her plan failed as Bakura frantically shook his head again. "No! I can't risk you getting involved in this, not until I figure out what's going on. I have the entire weekend to think. I'll tell you what I figure out on Monday, alright?"
Not seeing any other option, the group nodded. They spent the rest of the time in silence, each of them absorbed in their own thoughts until the bell rang again, sending them to their classrooms.
--
Bakura knew what was coming once night had fallen, and he was absolutely right. He was carefully watching the middle of his room over his book when his yami chose to make himself known again, and caught the exact moment when he materialized.
Yami Bakura scoffed. "Prepared to fight again? You never learn, do you?"
"I said it before. I will continue to fight you until I can't anymore," Bakura replied.
An unholy sneer stretched across the thief's expression. "Then perhaps I should make it to where you 'can't anymore.'"
Considering the situation, Bakura was very calm. He knew the limitations of the spirit, and to weaken him that far, to where he couldn't retaliate, would hurt the thief as well. As far as he was concerned, it was an empty threat.
Yami Bakura was surprised that his host hadn't even flinched at his appearance, and even more shocking was that he hardly reacted to his words at all. And aside from the confounding reactions of his hikari, nothing could have prepared him when Bakura attacked him first.
Bakura focused all his will on the Ring, holding it tightly in his hand. The spirit may think he was the only one controlling the power of the Item, but his host was about to prove him wrong. Catching the thief off-guard, both light and dark found themselves pulled into their soul room. Bakura's body slumped lifelessly onto the floor.
The hikari was the first to recover; having spent most of his time being forced unexpectedly into the Ring, he was used to the displaced sensation. He watched the other being in the room shake his head a few times to clear it.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the yami demanded, furious to have been dragged in against his will.
Bakura's voice was level when he responded. "In here, we are tested only by the strength of our souls, correct? There are no outside distractions, no physical restraints over our mental abilities? Here is where I choose to face you."
"You have no chance against me, host!" his dark snarled. "What my soul has overcome has made it far stronger than yours could possibly be!"
"How can you say that when you have fallen to the darkness? Whatever you claim to have achieved has left you cold and lifeless. You've seen my memories; I know you have. And yet, here I am, standing against you to protect those I care about."
The thief chuckled. "You can't care about anybody, because there is no way for them to care for you in return. It is pointless."
"I won't let you hurt my friends anymore, and I will not allow you to continue using me however you want!"
"I'm not giving you any choice in the matter. Your body belongs to me!" As the spirit grew angrier, a dark cloud flowed around him, but the purple mist was nothing compared to the golden light shining around Bakura.
Bakura was shocked, glancing around at the bright glow surrounding him. At first he was only going to try his hardest to fight against his yami, but now he actually felt like he could win. A new determination blazing in his eyes, he glanced back at his yami, prepared to start the battle.
The darkness struck first.
The hikari let out a gasp as he felt the energy around him absorb the blow, the pain registering slightly deep within him. Retaliating, he sent his own orb of light back at the fog that surrounded the dark half of him. It was no match as a tendril of purple sliced through it, cutting it in half and forcing it to vanish.
Bakura was far from giving up, however. As another thread of darkness tried to pierce its way through his shield of light, he focused harder to keep it intact and succeeded, forcing the darkness away from his body. He smiled slightly, pleased with his ability to finally protect himself.
Yami Bakura responded with a snarl, far from happy with his host's attempts to defeat him. The strange dancing of lights continued for several minutes, until the thief had enough. "I'm growing weary of this, hikari. I have let you have your fun, but now I'm going to end this!"
Gathering as much energy as his weakened soul could muster, the spirit hurled it at Bakura's makeshift shield, surprised when it stopped, being held in place by the golden glow. Bakura's hands were stretched out from his body, holding the light in place, and Yami Bakura had a sudden flashback to Monster World, when Bakura's mage held much the same pose and saved the other players.
"NO!" he growled. He was not going to let this end in the same manner as the game had. But Bakura was not relenting either; in fact, he actually gained ground on his dark, pushing the mass of swirling light further away.
"Yes…you won't do this to me anymore. I can't let you…" Bakura gasped out, also calling up as much power from the bottom of his soul as he could.
The two beings were at a standstill, neither on the offensive or the defensive, but somewhere in between, and something had to give. Without warning, the darkness shot through a hole in the shield, but at the same time, the light passed through the fog. Bakura cried out in pain as the purple mass collided with his body, yet he heard an answering groan across from him.
He collapsed to his knees, and his protection faded. Looking around disjointedly and internally disappointed, he noticed Yami Bakura in the same position as he was, confused and disoriented. He saw the spirit's lips mouth the word, "how," before they both slumped the rest of the way to the soul room's floor.
--
Opening his eyes slightly, Bakura gasped, turning over and sitting up on the floor, making his head spin sickeningly. "What…happened?" he asked, scared about the consequences of the fight he knew he must have lost. He was lost for a second before he turned and saw the book that he was reading before. He was lying exactly where he had passed out the night before, meaning that even if he hadn't won the battle, he hadn't lost it either.
Turning toward the window, he winced at the sunlight pouring through. It was already morning…Bakura shook his head before standing up excitedly. He had to tell Yugi! It seemed he was better off than he had thought before. Quickly slipping on a change of clothes, he dashed out of his apartment and sprinted for the Game Shop.
Arriving slightly winded and a bit shocked at some of the language he had heard while narrowly avoiding pedestrians, he slipped into the shop. He stepped past some of the customers on his way to the back.
"Oh, hi, Bakura! I hope the rest of spring is this nice, don't you?" Yugi asked happily from behind the counter.
Bakura paid no attention to the cheerful greeting. "Yugi, I did it!" he said proudly.
Yugi stared for a little while before his mouth finally started moving. "Did…what?"
"What else? I stopped him. I fought against him last night and stopped him from taking over my body!"
One of the customers looked up, eying Bakura curiously at the words. Yugi, noticing this, came up with a fast excuse.
"Video game…" he chuckled at the eavesdropper. At an understanding nod, Yugi lowered his voice. "How?"
"I'm not sure exactly. I took him into our soul room and tested him to a battle of our souls, his dark and mine light, and when it ended, we both lost consciousness. Maybe that will put him in his place…"
Yugi was still having trouble understanding Bakura's fast explanation. "So, what does that mean for us?"
Bakura grinned radiantly. "That means you don't have to worry about me anymore. As long as I can keep him from controlling me, I don't care if I'm unconscious for a few hours. He can't hurt you that way."
"I still don't know how…how did you finally do this after so long?"
"Maybe I just got stronger. I had to wait for the right moment…" Bakura trailed off, his eyes widening as some form of explanation dawned on him. "Yugi? What is today?" he asked slowly.
"What? Well, today is March 21. Yesterday was the first day of spring." Yugi replied. "Why?"
Bakura could hardly contain the excitement bubbling up inside of him. "The equinox!" he gasped out, a little louder than he had intended as one of the customers jumped. Yugi's look told him the other boy wasn't following again. "Light and darkness, daylight and nighttime; on the equinox they're the same! That's why neither of us won and neither of us lost. We were equal…"
The white-haired boy almost couldn't believe it. He now held the power over his yami with the days getting longer and longer. The light was overshadowing the darkness, meaning he was safe again. "Yugi, I hope you don't mind, but…I need some time to sort this all out; is that alright?"
"Sure, I'll let everyone know what's happened. Enjoy your free time!"
A grateful smile was flashed in Yugi's direction as Bakura bolted from the store and did just as Yugi suggested.
--
Six months later…
Bakura sighed sadly as he waited for the night to fall. As much as he had enjoyed the past six months, he knew it couldn't last forever. Just like the night so long ago, he shut the cover to his book and stared knowingly at the center of the room. As he expected, he was greeted with the sight of his yami fading into view.
"It's time to finish what you have kept me from doing, host," he snarled bitterly.
A single tear trailed down Bakura's cheek as his vision slowly faded to black.
--
A/N: No happy ending…this is my longest yet, but I'd like for you to tell me if I pulled it off alright. I'm just afraid they won't turn out how I want them to…
Thanks to everyone who read this far. I'M BACK! (…for now…)