-1Story Time
Bakura leaned against the exterior brick wall of the school as he took a break from his math homework. It was a perfect spring day, and he enjoyed being outside during the lunch period, even if he was only working on tomorrow's assignments. Everyone was done eating quite a while ago, but most were playing or having conversations. He stretched and glanced around the playground. Down the wall from him, several meters away, Seto Kaiba was busily typing on his laptop. Joey and Tristan were by the monkey bars, talking privately to each other and snickering. - Bakura decided that he didn't want to know. He then noticed Yugi alone at the swings, looking depressed.
'Doesn't he usually talk to Téa during this period?' Bakura wondered. He then realized that Téa wasn't in view. 'That's rather odd... I don't remember seeing her last class, either.' Not wanting to get back to his homework so soon, Bakura decided to go talk to Yugi. Looking down, Yugi didn't even see Bakura as he approached the swing.
"I don't want to be a bother, but I was curious as to why Téa isn't out here. I hope she didn't come down with something..."
Yugi smiled and looked up at Bakura. "No. She had a dentist appointment today."
"Oh. Well, that explains it," Bakura said, returning a smile. "It's a pity that her appointment couldn't have been later, though. You seem rather lonely sitting here by yourself."
"It's okay. It's kind'a nice to have some time to myself to think about things."
"Not to be nosy, but may I ask what you were thinking about?" Bakura asked.
"I don't mind telling you," Yugi told his friend. Bakura sat in the swing to the right of Yugi's as the shorter boy talked. "I was thinking about the Millennium Items... The other me can't remember anything before I solved my puzzle..." Yugi absent-mindedly touched the golden pyramid hanging from his neck. "Bakura, do you think that what Pegasus said is true? - That there's a dark essence in the Millennium Items? ...What if... the spirit in my puzzle is that essence?"
After hearing about the dark essence, something about Bakura's eyes changed, unnoticed by Yugi. "I have no idea, Yugi..."
---
"Hello...?" Yugi sleepily answered the phone. He hadn't bothered to turn the lights on - partly because he didn't want to have to adjust to the light.
"I have some information for your better half."
It was past three in the morning and if Yugi was more awake, he might have been scared. He was only confused, though. "B-Bakura?" Yugi asked, lazily rubbing his eyes.
"No. - Not exactly, anyhow..."
"What do you want?!" Yami snapped, taking over for Yugi.
"Ah... There you are. See, as I understand it, you're having quite the identity crisis. - Can't you even remember... us...?" Yami narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. "You can't, can you?" Yami Bakura asked sadly and sighed. "We were quite the couple in years past."
"Liar!" Yami yelled into the phone. He clenched his free hand into a fist. "What type of game are you playing?!"
"Don't you believe me?" Yami Bakura asked in fake surprise.
"No! - I don't!"
"...Don't you want to hear the story of how both of us ended up in these accursed items?" After a short pause, Bakura began the story. "...It all started in a little place by the name of Kul-Elna, millennia ago... We were part of a tomb robber team of six. The two of us were partners and the leaders of the group."
"I don't believe that for a second!"
"Why not?" Bakura asked, astonished. "You think you couldn't possibly be a 'bad guy'?... Your brain is more scrambled than I thought," Bakura hissed. "Look at the evidence, if you don't believe me! Didn't you notice that we are two of a kind? We are both in these items - both of us meant for each other." Yami trembled in anger as he glared at the phone but didn't say anything in reply. "As I was saying, we were in the village of Kul-Elna one day. Together, we... excavated the Millennium Items from an ancient pharaoh's tomb - along with a tablet. This tablet was full of black magic. A spell was written on it for eternal life, but we had no idea at what price... On the way out of the tomb, the current pharaoh's guards had spotted us and we were attacked.
"Bakura, be careful! Let me be!"
"No! To get to you, they must to go through me first, Atem!" Bakura said as he fought back some men.
"You're crazy," Atem told his comrade, wide-eyed.
Bakura smiled. "Of course! You know I'm crazy for you." Atem smiled back at him, but his smile faded as Bakura yelled out in pain.
"We just narrowly got out with our lives and I was bleeding quite heavily, bordering unconsciousness. Back at our camp, you revealed your plan to save me with that tablet, but I said I couldn't bear to live without you. You agreed to use the tablet's magic on both of us. The rest of our team was weary of the magic, and afraid of its power - especially Kisara.
"How could you want to use this... this thing on your lover?!" Kisara demanded, pointing accusingly at the stone tablet leaning against the wall of the cave. "It's black magic, Bakura! It's dangerous!"
"It's our only chance, girl!" Bakura yelled at her.
"She was a strong-willed individual with long white hair and blue eyes - strange for a born Egyptian. I also had white hair, but I didn't share her pale ivory skin tone. She was in love with another team member, but didn't share his love of magic. She begged us to destroy the tablet, but we wouldn't listen. - You were determined to save me, and I wanted you to be with me for all eternity. We both had read every word on the tablet and it seemed safe enough. You first cast the spell on me. Not knowing that the tablet locked my spirit inside the ring, you thought it wasn't performed soon enough to save me.
"Bakura...?" Atem asked, holding his lover's lifeless, blood-soaked body in his arms as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Sir... Are you going to be alright...?" A brown-haired man asked and touched Atem's shoulder.
"Y-Yeah..." Atem said as he looked toward the person. "I have a job for you."
"You turned to our team's most trusted member - a boy by the name of Seth. You told him to take your sword and shove it into your gut, so you could join me in the afterlife. But Seth didn't want to kill you. He instead erased your memory with his magic so you wouldn't be able to remember what you had lost. He decided to try giving immortality to the remaining team of five.
"Seth... I don't know why you hold magic so dear... So much about it is unknown... Don't you see that one life is enough? We were meant to be mortal," Kisara said, begging the man to give up his idea.
Seth looks toward Kisara lovingly. "Don't you see, Kisara? If we could life forever, we could rule this earth! We would have everything..." Seth sighs when seeing the still hesitant look of his love. "Trust in me, Kisara. I know what I'm doing... You'll see..."
"After coaxing Kisara to trust him, Seth cast the tablet's spell on you. Your body died as your soul entered the Millennium Puzzle. Our team still didn't understand the tablet's magic, you see, so they thought you had died. Seth swore off magic that day, now understanding his love's view.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you earlier, Kisara... You were right. You knew this tablet couldn't be trusted! And I... I murdered the leader of our team!" Seth said, angry with himself.
"You didn't know..." Kisara told him, trying to comfort her soul mate.
"There's only one thing I can to do in order to keep this from happening again..." Seth said darkly.
"He broke the tablet into pieces, but instead of destroying it's the magic, he had set it free. Most of our team, who were not far from the tablet, entered Duel Monster cards. Seth, on the other hand, being closest to the tablet, seemingly vanished."
"You expect me to believe that story?" Yami asked with a smirk. "If that's true, then how could you see what happened to you after your soul was transferred into the Ring?"
"I'm still not quite sure how that tablet worked..." Bakura said thoughtfully, "But I could see everything that went on from the ring. It was lying close by..."
"I guess you have no real proof that what you said was true, do you?"
"Well... Haven't you felt a strong connection to your Dark Magician?"
"There is another hole in your theory. Pegasus only made that card game a few years ago. There's no way this 'team' could have entered Duel Monster cards centuries ago! Besides, you have no one to back your story!"
"Except... Possibly Kaiba..."
"Kaiba?" Yami asked, startled. "What does he have to do with this?"
"I believe him to be our 'Seth'... He's not stuck in a Millennium Item, but the tablet worked in strange ways."
"So, you're saying that Kaiba remembers all that you've told me tonight?" Yami said with a smirk. "Kaiba doesn't even believe in magic."
"Didn't you listen when I said 'swore off magic'?!" Bakura demanded. "Besides, he was so close to the tablet, the force could have caused memory loss. - You know how perceptible he is to that type of thing... But it's possible he can remember something. He might even have one of our teammates in his deck..."
"Bakura, I don't know why you're trying to convince me of this... This fable - maybe just to try messing with my head - but I won't believe your story!" Yami yelled into the phone and hung up.
Yami returned to the Millennium Puzzle and let a very confused and sleepy Yugi go back to bed.
'Could Bakura's story be true...?' Yami thought, pacing back and forth in the recesses of his mind. 'What if I am a tomb robber and a criminal? Being with Yugi so long, our minds could be merging. Yugi's gentle soul has made me see the errors of my way more than once in the past..." Yami thought about these things until morning.
---
His transparent form standing beside Yugi's desk, Yami glanced toward Kaiba several times during school.
'Could he know something about Bakura's Story...?' Yami suddenly noticed a rush of teenagers toward the door. 'Lunch period, already?' Yami asked himself, startled by how quickly the first half of the school day went by. Yami waited until Yugi had finished his lunch on the playground, before asking a favor.
"You... Want some time alone...?" Yugi asked, confused by the request.
"Just for a few minutes, I promise. I only want to ask someone a few questions."
Yugi raised an eyebrow as a slight smirk appeared on his face. "What types of questions, spirit? ...Are you going to ask someone out on a date?"
Yami's eyes widened in surprise. "What?" He blushed. "No! - Not that type of question!"
Yugi's smirk became wider as he said, "Sure..."
Yami folded his arms over his chest. "Fine. Believe whatever you like, Yugi."
Yami took over as Yugi disappeared into the Millennium Puzzle. He quickly found Kaiba, who was sitting by the wall of the school with a laptop.
Bakura, who was currently reading a novel by the swings, glanced up to see Yugi - or, to be more precise, the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle - walking toward Kaiba. Yami Bakura took over the boy and a sneer made its way to his lips. 'Blast it! Why did I ever put Kaiba in my story?! I'm about to be found out... I should never have mentioned his name at all or suggested that he could provide support for my story. Well, at least it was fun while it lasted,' Yami Bakura thought with a shrug. 'Even though the spirit didn't buy it, I could tell that it made him second guess himself. But, why did I ever make up that story!? He's going to think I care for him! - I utterly despise him! I could have even told him that it was Kaiba who was his lover, and it would have had the same effect!' Yami Bakura paused for a minute. Then, his eyes widened as he thought, '... There's no way that I could subconsciously... l-love him... is there?'
Kaiba glanced up from the screen when noticing someone standing before him. "What do you want, Yugi? I have work to do," he asked, annoyed. He rubbed his temples.
"Bakura has told me quiet a tale, saying that you could back it up."
"That's ludicrous, Yugi. We've never even exchanged words."
"I know, but..." Yami changed his mind about trying to explain. He knew Kaiba would shut him out altogether if he brought up Millennium Items or Egypt. "Could you tell me if you have ever noticed anything strange about your Duel Monster cards?"
"Strange?" Kaiba asks, narrowing his eyes. 'This had better not be something stupid.'
"Yes... Like a feeling that there could be more to them than what appears."
"Pheh. Of course not, Yugi. Cards are cards. They're nothing more than stout cardboard and microchips."
Yami didn't think for a second that Kaiba truly believed that. He saw something - a glimpse of recollection? "What aren't you telling me, Kaiba?!" Yami demanded of him.
"Nothing," Kaiba said coldly.
"I can see it in your eyes - you're hiding something."
Kaiba hesitated, trying to decide whether he should say. "Fine. I'll tell you - but one word of this to anyone-"
"I won't tell a soul."
"Remember how I had amnesia about a month ago?" Yami nods. "The first time I looked through my deck since the accident, I thought I saw a girl's face. It was when I looked at a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. Immediately after, I realized it was only a reflection - an optical illusion - of course."
"What did this girl look like?" Yami urged as he got an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
Kaiba gave Yami a strange look before saying, "She seemed pale. Striking blue eyes and long white hair. - Now leave me alone, Yugi," he demanded as he resumed his work.
'I... I can't believe it... That's the same description Bakura gave... If I wasn't set on hating him for being so villainous, could I actually... love him?'
Yami noticed Bakura watching him, and walked over to the fellow body snatcher. With his head hung, he said, "You were right."
"I-I was?" Yami Bakura asked in surprise. "I mean... Of course I was," he finished with a smirk. Yami looked up at Yami Bakura. They both blushed, being afraid and ashamed of their newly discovered feelings, but also wondering if the other felt the same way...
---
Hey. Hope you liked the story. Hmm... A few things I should mention. First, this is for a fanfic contest. Second, the amnesia thing is from my "Finding One's Self" fanfic, so this is almost like a sequel to it, but not... uh... Anyway, I hope I proofread it enough. I thought I'd have more free time to finish it up...
I also hope the characters are... somewhat in character. I figured that Yami Bakura would enjoy playing with Yami's mind, and that story's the first thing that popped into my head. (shrugs)