Ryou and Amane Bakura are the property of Kazuki Takahashi. This one claims no ownership over either.
Summary: Short one-shot. Ryou opens Amane's final birthday present.
-398 Word count. Angst. G.
To Oniichan
Ryou Bakura brought it out again.
Now, as he had for the past six years, he sat upon his bed in silence, balancing the parcel upon his knees. The tape suffered no break; the shiny paper tinted light green still was sloppily creased and folded. The yellow ribbon's age was more evident than the wrapping paper, for it had faded to a dull shade. The bow had slumped over the knot at the center of the parcel. He scolded himself slightly for putting it underneath a box of old books in the closet, for treating her gift with such carelessness. But Amane was always less meticulous than he. She wouldn't notice his disregard for her present; so long as her big brother was happy, so was she.
Ryou's fingers ran absentmindedly over the sticker in the corner, with "Oniichan" emblazoned upon it in black ink. With a half smile, he mused how her line quality had improved recently. Her hand wobbled less when she wrote. Her handwriting would improve with practice.
A part of him was tempted to open the present. But he had fought that temptation for six years now. He was resolved to wait for his little sister to be there when he opened her birthday present. He could wait for the rest of his life and the next; Ryou had always been a patient person.
Another part of him retorted that he was not waiting for Amane. No, it argued, if he were to open her gift, it would be an admittance that she could never see him open her present. It would be an acknowledgement of her passing...Her death.
And yet Ryou picked at the bow's knot.
Picking it away carefully, as if he were a doctor at surgery, his breath caught in his throat as the ribbon slipped away from the parcel. Careful not to rip the tag and ruin the gift tag, Ryou tore away the uneven edges of the wrapping paper, picking the tape off of the frame. Traces of glitter from it lingered on his fingertips as he stared down at her present, tears fresh in his eyes.
So that was what happened to the photo.