The Kid in the Back
A/N: This one is pretty much based on how I'm treated at school. But hey, whatever. Are any of you getting mad at me because I haven't updated my multi-chapters in a while? Sorry 'bout that! I've been getting some good ideas, but I just haven't had the time to sit down and get them on a Word Document. And I bet you guys are happy that this one's in English, huh? Although, I did enjoy writing in German. Anyway, enjoy the story!
Constructive criticism is accepted and very much appreciated! This is rated T for TEEN due to extreme angst, blood, violence, and language. RYO POV
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters or anything else famous that people may have heard of before reading this (if I did, even the English Dub would most certainly NOT be for children… no matter how much 4Kids tries to screw it up). All I own is the storyline.
Darkness.
Loneliness.
Pain.
Hurt.
That is the world where I live. And where I've always lived.
No one knows me. In fact, I'd be very surprised if anyone knew my name, let alone my birthday, favorite food, or best subject.
I sit in the back. Alone. No one even glances at me. And why should they? It's not like they would actually care about someone other than themselves who are suffering inside. I'd be great to just talk like everyone else. To get my feelings out. But how can I, if I have no one to talk to? I never tell anyone it's by birthday when it is. I never tell anyone what I bring in for lunch. I never tell anyone when I get a good grade on a hard test. Why should I? It's not like they're going to listen, let alone care.
I feel a shiver run down my spine. But it's not because it's freezing in the classroom. The shiver is a sign that I live in a world of cold loneliness. I see lots of wood around me, but they're too far away and too wet to light the fire of friendship. The warmest flames I've ever heard of. And it doesn't exist in the dark world I am imprisoned in.
I sit in that dark corner in the very back, away from everyone else. They're all wearing smiles on their faces. They have no idea how many times they stab me with their happiness. I'm always scared, that someday, I'll be stabbed so many times, that I'll finally bleed to death.
"Let's go out his weekend!"
"Did you hear about that one kid…?"
"Where did you get that?"
"Hey, what did you get on the Geometry test?"
"It sounds like fun!"
Pretty soon, I see Yugi and his friends happily walk into the classroom. Now I know there's no way I'll be able to leave with the grain of happiness and pride I managed to drag in with me.
They were smiling.
Laughing.
Talking.
Abilities that I find almost impossible now.
When they eventually sat down at their desks, I decided to work on homework for my next class. However, I find it difficult to concentrate with Anzu blabbering about something that happened during her dance class and Jonouchi bragging that he got a C- or something on his English paper. Stupid. Of course, if I say this out loud, he'll talk my ear off, punch my pale face until it was permanently stained red, or worse, just ignore me, like I never even existed.
To make my already wonderful day even more enjoyable, I watch as a substitute teacher stumbles into the loud classroom. Great. He clapped his hands together and quieted everyone down. I put away my homework as he grabs a piece of white chalk and begins to swerve it around on the blackboard until it eventually spells out his name.
"Hello, class," he smiles, "my name is Mr. Tod, and I'll be your Sub for today."
"Where's Mrs. Doot?" someone asks.
"She's sick today," the sub answers, "so since I've never met any of you, I'll have to read off all of your names from the list, and I'd like to you to tell me a little bit about yourself." I almost faint right in my seat. I can hardly stand him reading my name, but to talk about myself? With everyone watching? That would just be impossible.
He read the names, right down from the top of the list. With my last name starting with the letter "B", I'll be called anytime now.
"Ryo Bakura." My face turns even paler. He repeats himself, and everyone just look around the classroom, as if they had no idea that they had a classmate who went by that name.
"I guess they're not here…" I gulp. The last time I had a sub in my chemistry class, I was too nervous to let her know that I was there, and she marked me absent, but after class, I dared myself to go up to the attendance desk and tell them that the teacher made an honest mistake. Is my attendance record worth it? But as he was about to bubble in the "A" for "Absent", I raise my hand and stand up.
He looks up, and everyone looked awe-stricken.
"H-he," I have trouble saying the words, "here. I-I'm here." Mr. Tod scratches his head.
"Ryo," he asked, "why didn't you answer?" I don't look up, and I just try to concentrate on the wood patterns on my desk.
"Why aren't you talking?" I want to scream at him, but it feels as if a glob of glue is lodged in my throat, and I just shake my head as I place my hand on my desk. I glance up at him, and through my bangs I can see that he's getting madder and madder at me. I can't help it. Why should I tell him why or why not I talk?
"Please come up and tell the class a bit about yourself," he halfway growls.
"N-n," I gulp, "now?"
"Now!" My body begins to shake as I slowly push my chair back further so I can walk up. I do my best not to look up at the class when I stand next to the teacher. I stay quiet.
"Well," he says impatiently, "talk!" I bite my lip, and squeeze my eyes shut. Soon, I can taste blood oozing from my bottom lip.
"You damn child," the sub yells at me, "what do you have a broken voice box?" I've finally had enough, but as I look up to yell, I start looking at all of my classmates. They were looking right. At. Me. And I froze.
My body began to shake, and I could feel my breakfast begin to creep up my throat for a second round. I gulp and clap my hands over my mouth, trying to hold it all in. but I failed. Miserably.
And after I finish, I lost my balance, fainting from either exhaustion or pure nervousness… or both.
The next thing I know, I'm laying on a clean white bed in the nurse's office. I turn my head to see the nurse and Mr. Tod talking outside.
"I didn't mean to frighten the boy," he apologized, "is his parents on their way to pick him up?" The nurse looks down and shakes her head.
"His mother is dead," she explains, "and his father is an archeologist, and he's currently in Egypt working on an excavation site near Cairo." The dagger of my personal life begins to stab my heart… again.
My mother and sister are dead. The horrible victims of a terrible car crash. My father is never around. He's always off on some "discovery of a lifetime." Bull crap. He's just afraid to look at me, since I inherited my mother's white hair and gentle eyes. I have no real friends. Yugi and the others simply forgot that I existed after Duelist Kingdom. I live such a pitiful existence.
If anyone acknowledges me, I'm just simply "the kid in the back" or "that guy" or something like that. No one knows my name. And if I have to work in a group, I just smile and do my best to actually do the work while everyone else talks to their wretched friends. Not even my teachers know my name. My tests and work often end up getting lost within my teachers' more important students. Can I end it now?
I slowly sit up, and I stumble towards the nurse's cabinet. I pull out all of the drawers until I finally find what I was looking for; the scalpel.
I sit on my knees on the bed, and I run my finger over the sharp edge. I put the edge on the underside of my arm, not far from my wrist. I press down, and I hear a squeezing sound as the blade pierces into my skin, and I wince at the pain at first, but my quickly arm becomes numb. I feel a smile spread across my face, and I stab my own arm harder and harder.
As I move on to my other arm, I soon realize that I've finally lost control. As I continue, I start laughing, as if someone had just told me the funniest joke in the world.
The nurse and Mr. Tod quickly run in, and they're both horrified at my work. But I haven't even finished yet.
"Just wait until I finish!" I yell in between giggles. Mr. Tod runs over and grabs my bloody arms, and he yanks the scalpel out of my hand. I've stopped laughing, but a smile is still on my face as I begin to loose conciseness from lack of blood. But as I fade further into the darkness, I can hear Mr. Tod yell:
"Call 9-1-1!"
A/N: Well, this isn't exactly how I wanted to end it, but my mind is twisted enough for this kind of thing spiral out of control. Anyway, please review and tell me how it was! (And I already know that it's short, so I don't want to hear anything about that.)