Pairing: Slight Bakura/Ryou (Tendershipping)
Summary: Bakura has his own ways of dealing with possible problems.
Warnings: Blood, a corpse.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or the characters at all. Don't really want to, either.
Ryou screamed.
He felt hands go around his neck: wet, slippery hands, clenching hard enough to stop air from flowing to his lungs. His voice was silenced; tears jumped into his eyes from the pain he felt around his neck and the sight of the corpse in front of him.
Shh. He heard a small whisper in the back of his mind. Don't scream. Somebody might hear you.
The boy whimpered, just as the hands -- his own, he realized, slick with blood and belonging to someone else -- loosened their grip, and came to rest at his sides. He looked down at what was in front of him, the source of his cry, and began to shake uncontrollably. It subsided only few seconds later, however, as he felt his body begin to move on its own. He was kneeling now, beside the body, and his hands were roaming it, until finally they found something. He felt cool metal being clenched in his palms: a gold chain with a strange pendant tied to it, depicting a very ornate design of a skull.
"For you," Ryou said in a voice that didn't belong to him. He could feel himself smiling, only he knew that this wasn't really him. He was seeing through someone else's eyes, feeling and hearing everything going on around him in a strange, almost detached sort of way. It wasn't him, he didn't kill this person...
I don't want it! He protested.
"That's not very nice," the not-really-Ryou said. "And after I went to so much trouble to get it for you. I even closed your eyes for you, so you wouldn't see his expression when I twisted the knife."
Stop. Please.
"I did you a favour, you know," He said, looking down at his (Ryou's) blood-stained shirt, then at his hands. He raised the left one to his lips and flicked his tongue out, tasting the blood on the fingers. Ryou could clearly comprehend the sharp, almost metallic taste of the blood and dirt on his tongue, however small the amount may have been. The other inhabitant of his body continued: "I was there when he threatened you. When he said he would have you. I'm always there -- I know your fears, your weaknesses -- and I'm going to protect you. I can't have you taken away from me."
Please, don't do this, the boy begged. He heard himself laugh. I don't want this.
"And I thought you might like this little gift," the other Ryou said, lifting the gold chain in his right hand so that both of them could clearly see it. "I know how fond you are of jewelry." Another laugh, and then the chain went around his neck. He touched it, allowing the true Ryou Bakura to analyze how it felt, and then his hands moved to touch the smooth, cold metal of the Ring that hung off his neck. "After all, you still refuse to take this off. I'm glad. You look so pretty with it on. So pretty."
And then Ryou was sobbing. He was on his knees, staring at his reflection in a puddle of what he could only hope was water, but couldn't tell because it was so dark. Sleep now, Landlord, the voice whispered in his mind. Sleep. We'll go home. I'll make everything better. You don't need to be afraid any more. I'm here. I promise.
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