p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"I'd appreciate any feedback, even here a few years later after the initial release of this fic./p
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p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Smiling, Ayume took a look around the beach that Ryou had taken her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""This is lovely, Ryou. Thank you very much for bringing me here."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Inhaling deep into her nose, she felt the soft, cool evening summer air brush her face. The salt licked at her lips, and the sound of the waves lightly roared in her ears. She wasn't lying. It was beautiful. But the youth that she was with wasn't paying attention to any of the things that she was. He had his eyes fixated on the way that she had her head titled up, her neck exposed. They way her eyes were closed, leaving her so unaware. Her hands held loosely at her sides, her whole body lax. Her brown hair that reached to her middle back, so easy to grab and turn against her. Her eyes that matched her hair, when open, would dilate in fear./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He chuckled, and felt his heart speed up and his body tense in preparation./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""It is quite lovely, but not nearly as lovely as you, Ayume."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Th-thank you, Ryou." The girl brought her attention to him, looking slightly confused, if a little embarrassed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""He cares for you deeply, you know. That's why I decided, against his wishes to test you, to see if you really are worthy of either of our attentions."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Ryou, what are you talking abou-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""First off, I am not Ryou." He growled darkly, cutting her off. "Therefore, I do not feel as much empathy for you as he does. Regardless of the fact that I am essentially him, and he me, I do feel feelings for you. But, that is what will make this even more entertaining."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What are you talking about?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You will refer to me as Bakura. To make things little easier on Ryou, simply understand that I am a part of him, but a much darker, more sinister part. I am a part that will never be taken away, no matter how hard he tries or wishes otherwise." He grinned maniacally at her and began to chuckle. At that moment, Ayume saw all that she had failed to see before. There was a shadow to his face, his eyes. His hair was even more malevolent looking, more bat-like. But even more of a change was his demeanor. He held himself regally, arrogantly. Not the way shy, sweet Ryou that she had come to love did. This man was not lying. Her heart sped up, and she felt adrenaline being dumped into her veins. A cold sweat broke over her, and she felt that feeling had been lost to most of her body. Her mind screamed at her to emgo! Run!/emBut she remained where she was, rooted to the ground./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Your silence speaks volumes. Well, that will make this much easier on you." As Bakura made his way towards her, she broke her silence. "This isn't funny, just leave me alone!" She turned and ran, spurred with the rush of adrenaline. She hardly felt her body moving, dazed as she was. However, she got no further than hundred feet before a weight slammed into her, bringing her to the ground. Ramming her leg into where she assumed his groin area was, she listened with mirth as he cursed. "Commendable performance, I see you are not completely spineless. Very well then, I accept your challenge. Breaking you will be fun." He bit her ear, and, with a quick blow to the back of her head, knocked her out./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"************************************************************************She awoke, only to be greeted with the sensation of been through a huge tumble dryer with several large boulders. She tried moving her limbs, finding with no small amount of alarm that they were bound; her arms above her head, her legs to pegs near where she was tethered. Lifting her head, she could see the pegs in the ground that her arms were tied to./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""So, sleeping beauty awakes. Welcome to the world of the living, however long you stay." Bakura chuckled lightly, with little humor./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I don't know what you have planned, but you should know, my family and friends-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Don't try to bullshit me, girl. It's not working. You and I both know that the only friend in the world you have is right here. And as for your family, I know that your emparent/em left on a "trip" about a month or two ago. You're all alone."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Once again, she felt a cold sweat begin working its way along her body. She felt the beginnings of terror rise up in her chest. Tears clouded her vision. emNo, no crying yet. He hasn't even done anything!/em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Anyways, this would be more fun if you were untied." He said as he raised a butcher knife and began sawing at her confines. She cried out in alarm when she saw the knife; she couldn't help it. "I needed to make sure you couldn't run away while I gathered the necessary materials. Almost…done."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Straddling her, he cleaned the remaining filaments that clung to the butcher knife, and, in one sweeping motion, cut straight through her top. Mewling, she went to cover herself, but before she could, Bakura pushed them down to her sides. "If these arms move from where I have placed them, then I will stab you in the stomach with this knife. Understood?" Ayume nodded weakly and abruptly cried out as he brought the knife down unto her arm. "I asked you: understood?" "Ye-yes." "…Good." And he followed the mark with another one. Slowly dragging the blade across her forearm, she gasped in pain as she felt the blade catch and dig into her skin. She whimpered, but dared not pull her arm away. Switching to her other arm, he made the exact same slices, occasionally stopping and looking at her other arm for references. Ayume was at her wits end. Her low pain threshold only served to make her want to curl up and cry. Her tears pooled, and unashamedly, she let them fall. She closed her eyes, only to have them shoot open when something wet slid over her face. Bakura licked the rest of her tears off of her cheeks, and, smirking at her, peeled open her ruined shirt. Whimpering, she gasped and screamed as her dug the blade in deep into the sensitive area beneath her breasts. Laughing mirthlessly as he did, he slowly began digging his way around her chest. Ayume began to cry again. After a few minutes of the torture, he reached a particularly sensitive spot and she brought her hands up on reflex, trying to push him away. Growling, he lifted the blade out of her body and brought it back down, a little ways lower. "What did I say?" He asked quietly, in complete contradiction to her wailing screams. "I do not go back on my word dear, that you shall soon see." The knife broke deep skin, and soon he was at her flesh, licking up the blood. "Everything about you-your skin, your tears, even your blood- is so sweet. I find it quite intoxicating." Ayume moaned in disgust as he finished running his tongue down the blade. "What, are you upset that you didn't get any?" And, as she widened her eyes, he bent down to her face and kissed her, aggressively pushing her mouth open and letting the tendrils of her blood saturate her palate. She whimpered, and he only intensified the kiss, harshly biting her lips and curling his fingers in her hair. Swollen, and in some places bleeding, her lips throbbed as he straightened up, softly sliding the blade down her chest, between her breasts, and down to what she realized was a half finished kanji. He grinned at her and began his pursuit with renewed vigor. Ayume merely whimpered and tried to fight the urge to push him off, to pull the knife away. After what seemed like an eternity, he set the knife to the side ad admired his handiwork./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""There. Now Ryou knows who emreally/em owns you, sweet." She lifted her head, and saw with abhorrence at what he had carved into her flesh. The kanji for emYami/em, or, Darkness was sitting right in the middle of her chest. A large, and rather painful addition, she tenderly lay back down on the ground and looked at her arms. He had carved emYami /emon both forearms, and although they still bled profusely, paled in comparison to the one on her chest. A few stray tears still made their trek along her face; their salty content finding no refuge until they hit the ground. Ayume was soaked with sweat and unshed tears. Her head felt dizzy, and she could feel sleep pulling at her, the blood loss becoming too much. Her eyes drooped, and she shrieked as cold water was splashed on her. I can't have you sleeping when the fun has only begun, now can I?" Bakura's voice cut the air like a knife. As he straddled her again, she could see the disdain in his eyes. "Oh come now. I went easy on you. Compared to the hell I put Ryou through, this is nothing." Recognition flashed in Ayume's mind as she remembered the bruises he had tried to hide, the cuts that had flecks of blood on his shirts. emAnd all of that from this man, no, this thing./em Though still pained, anger sparked fire of rebellion in Ayume. "So you were the bastard who did all of that to Ryou? What the hell were you expecting to gain from something like that? Did it make you feel powerful? Picking on someone who couldn't do anything to stop it? People like you make me sick, you poor son of a bitch." she hyperventilated, her mind catching up to what she had just said, what she had just done. Her fear mounted, and the uncharacteristic outburst seemed like the dumbest thing she had ever done. Bakura just sat there, staring at her. Suddenly, he began to laugh. "I had you pegged all wrong. I can appreciate a woman who speaks her mind like that. Although you will pay for the disrespect, I welcome the gesture." Still chuckling, Bakura set aside the knife that she had only just realized he still had. Closing her eyes, Ayume tried to focus on something else to occupy her thoughts. She thought of her time in class, where Ryou showed her how to play the card game he was so passionate about. She herself had little interest, but seeing him light up and talk to happily about something he enjoyed was a welcome image. The vision offered little respite for long, however, and she started when she felt a smack across her face. Eyes shooting open, the sight that greeted her was an irritated Bakura. "If I am going to be putting forth the effort into you, girl, then I expect at least the consideration of your attention to enjoy it."br /"Y-yes, Bakura." She answered meekly, and whimpered as he bent close over her body. Nuzzling into her neck, he nipped at it, and chuckled when he heard her resulting cry. Holding her arms above her head with one of his hands, he slipped his other hand between her legs. "Stop, please!" Ayume gasped out. Ignoring her plea, Bakura pulled the offending material off. Spreading her legs, he positioned himself over her. Letting go of her hands, he slipped his pants down. Putting his arms on either side of her head, he smirked when she glared at him. "Calm down love, and enjoy it." That was all the warning she got before he pushed inside of her. Ayume felt something tear inside of her, and she began to cry anew. Although she wept, no tears escaped. It felt so strange, so wrong. And it hurt. Badly. She just wanted it to stop. But Bakura obviously had other plans. He didn't stop. On the contrary, he ground ever harder into her. Lifting her leg over his shoulder, Ayume cried out and arched her back against the ground. After a few more painful seconds, Ayume found that the aching feeling had gone away. She had started to respond, pushing against him in tandem. Pulling her leg back off of him, Ayume pushed forward to sit in his lap, still thrusting in sync with him. Eyes closed, she had her arms around his neck, her forehead resting on his shoulder. She began to moan, and this prompted Bakura to drive into her with renewed vigor. Ayume gasped and clutched at him for support. "Bakura, I-" Her sentence was cut short by the cry that made its way through her throat. She collapsed on him, breathing heavily. Her eyes began to close, and she passed out, the entire affair finally taking its toll on her. Chuckling darkly, Bakura lifted her up and clothed himself. He started to put her clothes back on, but grinned as another idea presented itself./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emStupid Ryou. How dare you think that you owned something all your own. I hope you see how wrong you were./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Groaning, Ayume woke up late the next morning to the most painful aches she'd ever had. When the events of the previous night flooded back into her mind, she shot up from under the covers that had been placed on her, ignoring the complaints of her body. Looking around the small living room that she realized was Ryou's, her eyes were drawn to a small, huddled figure sitting in a chair a little ways from her. It took her a few seconds to realize that it was Ryou./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Ryou, I-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I don't think there is any way for me to express how sorry I am. You can stay here until you heal, and then you can go wherever you want."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Stunned into silence, Ayume could do nothing but sit there and stare at him like an idiot. "What do you mean? Why would I leave? What about you? Are you okay? Ryou, god dammit, ANSWER ME." She said the last part with such force that Ryou looked up from his perch on the chair. Ayume was shocked with what she saw. He had obviously been crying. A lot. His eyes were sunken, and he had a haunted look. There was also a deep misery, and a look of apology. Ayume hated it. That look didn't belong there. It wasn't him. Clenching her fists, she looked at him dead on. "Stop looking like you just murdered somebody." "But-" "Shut the hell up," Ayume said, her anger and fear pushing the words out of her. "I really don't care what you say, but you are going to explain what happened. And you are going to stop looking so god damned pitiable. It's pathetic." He looked at her, and took a deep breath. Ayume sat through his whole story, never one looking away from his face, never once interrupting. When he was done, she lay back down and looked back up at the ceiling. "That explains what he said last night. That whole 'I'm a part of Ryou. A darker part, etc.'" She closed her eyes and sighed. "So, what do we do about him?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ryou, shocked, looked up at her. "What on earth do you mean?" "Well, is there really no way to get rid of him?" "Unfortunately." Still looking up at the ceiling, Ayume took a little longer to respond. "Wow. That's going to be quite difficult to live with."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What are you talking about?" Ryou asked, shocked. "I was just saying how hard it was going to be to live with a malevolent spirit like that." Ayume answered, as though she were talking to a child. "You don't understand Ayume. He is more than malevolent. He did all of that to you because he thought that I was getting audacious, thinking that I could have something that he couldn't. That's the way he is. I don't think I could forgive myself if you got involved."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ayume merely stared at him. "What makes you think I hadn't already realized that? That I hadn't already known that he was a controlling psychopath? I don't want to lose you, Ryou. You're worth more to me than he is. If I have to put up with him to get to keep you, it's more than worth it to me. I don't care if you don't agree with me, that's how I feel, and nothing can change that much. Besides," she scoffed; "I'm more than a little involved now, aren't I?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ryou sat still for a long time. After a while, he got up and went to kneel by her. Aware of her injured arms, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his face into her dark hair. "If I were being honest, I would say that that's what I wanted to hear. I'm selfish for thinking so, but I really didn't want to lose you, either."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"They sat there for a time, holding each other. "Sing to me, please." Ayume said. "I'm tired, and I need something to comfort me."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ryou said nothing. He held her to his chest, and placed his chin on the top of her head. After a short time, he opened his mouth and began to sing softly./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Looking down after he was done, he saw that she had fallen asleep. Lifting her up, he wrapped the blanket around them both, cradling her to his chest. Closing his eyes, Ryou quietly let go of the tears he had been holding in./p
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p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Smiling, Ayume took a look around the beach that Ryou had taken her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""This is lovely, Ryou. Thank you very much for bringing me here."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Inhaling deep into her nose, she felt the soft, cool evening summer air brush her face. The salt licked at her lips, and the sound of the waves lightly roared in her ears. She wasn't lying. It was beautiful. But the youth that she was with wasn't paying attention to any of the things that she was. He had his eyes fixated on the way that she had her head titled up, her neck exposed. They way her eyes were closed, leaving her so unaware. Her hands held loosely at her sides, her whole body lax. Her brown hair that reached to her middle back, so easy to grab and turn against her. Her eyes that matched her hair, when open, would dilate in fear./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He chuckled, and felt his heart speed up and his body tense in preparation./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""It is quite lovely, but not nearly as lovely as you, Ayume."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Th-thank you, Ryou." The girl brought her attention to him, looking slightly confused, if a little embarrassed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""He cares for you deeply, you know. That's why I decided, against his wishes to test you, to see if you really are worthy of either of our attentions."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Ryou, what are you talking abou-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""First off, I am not Ryou." He growled darkly, cutting her off. "Therefore, I do not feel as much empathy for you as he does. Regardless of the fact that I am essentially him, and he me, I do feel feelings for you. But, that is what will make this even more entertaining."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What are you talking about?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You will refer to me as Bakura. To make things little easier on Ryou, simply understand that I am a part of him, but a much darker, more sinister part. I am a part that will never be taken away, no matter how hard he tries or wishes otherwise." He grinned maniacally at her and began to chuckle. At that moment, Ayume saw all that she had failed to see before. There was a shadow to his face, his eyes. His hair was even more malevolent looking, more bat-like. But even more of a change was his demeanor. He held himself regally, arrogantly. Not the way shy, sweet Ryou that she had come to love did. This man was not lying. Her heart sped up, and she felt adrenaline being dumped into her veins. A cold sweat broke over her, and she felt that feeling had been lost to most of her body. Her mind screamed at her to emgo! Run!/emBut she remained where she was, rooted to the ground./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Your silence speaks volumes. Well, that will make this much easier on you." As Bakura made his way towards her, she broke her silence. "This isn't funny, just leave me alone!" She turned and ran, spurred with the rush of adrenaline. She hardly felt her body moving, dazed as she was. However, she got no further than hundred feet before a weight slammed into her, bringing her to the ground. Ramming her leg into where she assumed his groin area was, she listened with mirth as he cursed. "Commendable performance, I see you are not completely spineless. Very well then, I accept your challenge. Breaking you will be fun." He bit her ear, and, with a quick blow to the back of her head, knocked her out./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"************************************************************************She awoke, only to be greeted with the sensation of been through a huge tumble dryer with several large boulders. She tried moving her limbs, finding with no small amount of alarm that they were bound; her arms above her head, her legs to pegs near where she was tethered. Lifting her head, she could see the pegs in the ground that her arms were tied to./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""So, sleeping beauty awakes. Welcome to the world of the living, however long you stay." Bakura chuckled lightly, with little humor./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I don't know what you have planned, but you should know, my family and friends-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Don't try to bullshit me, girl. It's not working. You and I both know that the only friend in the world you have is right here. And as for your family, I know that your emparent/em left on a "trip" about a month or two ago. You're all alone."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Once again, she felt a cold sweat begin working its way along her body. She felt the beginnings of terror rise up in her chest. Tears clouded her vision. emNo, no crying yet. He hasn't even done anything!/em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Anyways, this would be more fun if you were untied." He said as he raised a butcher knife and began sawing at her confines. She cried out in alarm when she saw the knife; she couldn't help it. "I needed to make sure you couldn't run away while I gathered the necessary materials. Almost…done."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Straddling her, he cleaned the remaining filaments that clung to the butcher knife, and, in one sweeping motion, cut straight through her top. Mewling, she went to cover herself, but before she could, Bakura pushed them down to her sides. "If these arms move from where I have placed them, then I will stab you in the stomach with this knife. Understood?" Ayume nodded weakly and abruptly cried out as he brought the knife down unto her arm. "I asked you: understood?" "Ye-yes." "…Good." And he followed the mark with another one. Slowly dragging the blade across her forearm, she gasped in pain as she felt the blade catch and dig into her skin. She whimpered, but dared not pull her arm away. Switching to her other arm, he made the exact same slices, occasionally stopping and looking at her other arm for references. Ayume was at her wits end. Her low pain threshold only served to make her want to curl up and cry. Her tears pooled, and unashamedly, she let them fall. She closed her eyes, only to have them shoot open when something wet slid over her face. Bakura licked the rest of her tears off of her cheeks, and, smirking at her, peeled open her ruined shirt. Whimpering, she gasped and screamed as her dug the blade in deep into the sensitive area beneath her breasts. Laughing mirthlessly as he did, he slowly began digging his way around her chest. Ayume began to cry again. After a few minutes of the torture, he reached a particularly sensitive spot and she brought her hands up on reflex, trying to push him away. Growling, he lifted the blade out of her body and brought it back down, a little ways lower. "What did I say?" He asked quietly, in complete contradiction to her wailing screams. "I do not go back on my word dear, that you shall soon see." The knife broke deep skin, and soon he was at her flesh, licking up the blood. "Everything about you-your skin, your tears, even your blood- is so sweet. I find it quite intoxicating." Ayume moaned in disgust as he finished running his tongue down the blade. "What, are you upset that you didn't get any?" And, as she widened her eyes, he bent down to her face and kissed her, aggressively pushing her mouth open and letting the tendrils of her blood saturate her palate. She whimpered, and he only intensified the kiss, harshly biting her lips and curling his fingers in her hair. Swollen, and in some places bleeding, her lips throbbed as he straightened up, softly sliding the blade down her chest, between her breasts, and down to what she realized was a half finished kanji. He grinned at her and began his pursuit with renewed vigor. Ayume merely whimpered and tried to fight the urge to push him off, to pull the knife away. After what seemed like an eternity, he set the knife to the side ad admired his handiwork./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""There. Now Ryou knows who emreally/em owns you, sweet." She lifted her head, and saw with abhorrence at what he had carved into her flesh. The kanji for emYami/em, or, Darkness was sitting right in the middle of her chest. A large, and rather painful addition, she tenderly lay back down on the ground and looked at her arms. He had carved emYami /emon both forearms, and although they still bled profusely, paled in comparison to the one on her chest. A few stray tears still made their trek along her face; their salty content finding no refuge until they hit the ground. Ayume was soaked with sweat and unshed tears. Her head felt dizzy, and she could feel sleep pulling at her, the blood loss becoming too much. Her eyes drooped, and she shrieked as cold water was splashed on her. I can't have you sleeping when the fun has only begun, now can I?" Bakura's voice cut the air like a knife. As he straddled her again, she could see the disdain in his eyes. "Oh come now. I went easy on you. Compared to the hell I put Ryou through, this is nothing." Recognition flashed in Ayume's mind as she remembered the bruises he had tried to hide, the cuts that had flecks of blood on his shirts. emAnd all of that from this man, no, this thing./em Though still pained, anger sparked fire of rebellion in Ayume. "So you were the bastard who did all of that to Ryou? What the hell were you expecting to gain from something like that? Did it make you feel powerful? Picking on someone who couldn't do anything to stop it? People like you make me sick, you poor son of a bitch." she hyperventilated, her mind catching up to what she had just said, what she had just done. Her fear mounted, and the uncharacteristic outburst seemed like the dumbest thing she had ever done. Bakura just sat there, staring at her. Suddenly, he began to laugh. "I had you pegged all wrong. I can appreciate a woman who speaks her mind like that. Although you will pay for the disrespect, I welcome the gesture." Still chuckling, Bakura set aside the knife that she had only just realized he still had. Closing her eyes, Ayume tried to focus on something else to occupy her thoughts. She thought of her time in class, where Ryou showed her how to play the card game he was so passionate about. She herself had little interest, but seeing him light up and talk to happily about something he enjoyed was a welcome image. The vision offered little respite for long, however, and she started when she felt a smack across her face. Eyes shooting open, the sight that greeted her was an irritated Bakura. "If I am going to be putting forth the effort into you, girl, then I expect at least the consideration of your attention to enjoy it."br /"Y-yes, Bakura." She answered meekly, and whimpered as he bent close over her body. Nuzzling into her neck, he nipped at it, and chuckled when he heard her resulting cry. Holding her arms above her head with one of his hands, he slipped his other hand between her legs. "Stop, please!" Ayume gasped out. Ignoring her plea, Bakura pulled the offending material off. Spreading her legs, he positioned himself over her. Letting go of her hands, he slipped his pants down. Putting his arms on either side of her head, he smirked when she glared at him. "Calm down love, and enjoy it." That was all the warning she got before he pushed inside of her. Ayume felt something tear inside of her, and she began to cry anew. Although she wept, no tears escaped. It felt so strange, so wrong. And it hurt. Badly. She just wanted it to stop. But Bakura obviously had other plans. He didn't stop. On the contrary, he ground ever harder into her. Lifting her leg over his shoulder, Ayume cried out and arched her back against the ground. After a few more painful seconds, Ayume found that the aching feeling had gone away. She had started to respond, pushing against him in tandem. Pulling her leg back off of him, Ayume pushed forward to sit in his lap, still thrusting in sync with him. Eyes closed, she had her arms around his neck, her forehead resting on his shoulder. She began to moan, and this prompted Bakura to drive into her with renewed vigor. Ayume gasped and clutched at him for support. "Bakura, I-" Her sentence was cut short by the cry that made its way through her throat. She collapsed on him, breathing heavily. Her eyes began to close, and she passed out, the entire affair finally taking its toll on her. Chuckling darkly, Bakura lifted her up and clothed himself. He started to put her clothes back on, but grinned as another idea presented itself./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emStupid Ryou. How dare you think that you owned something all your own. I hope you see how wrong you were./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Groaning, Ayume woke up late the next morning to the most painful aches she'd ever had. When the events of the previous night flooded back into her mind, she shot up from under the covers that had been placed on her, ignoring the complaints of her body. Looking around the small living room that she realized was Ryou's, her eyes were drawn to a small, huddled figure sitting in a chair a little ways from her. It took her a few seconds to realize that it was Ryou./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Ryou, I-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I don't think there is any way for me to express how sorry I am. You can stay here until you heal, and then you can go wherever you want."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Stunned into silence, Ayume could do nothing but sit there and stare at him like an idiot. "What do you mean? Why would I leave? What about you? Are you okay? Ryou, god dammit, ANSWER ME." She said the last part with such force that Ryou looked up from his perch on the chair. Ayume was shocked with what she saw. He had obviously been crying. A lot. His eyes were sunken, and he had a haunted look. There was also a deep misery, and a look of apology. Ayume hated it. That look didn't belong there. It wasn't him. Clenching her fists, she looked at him dead on. "Stop looking like you just murdered somebody." "But-" "Shut the hell up," Ayume said, her anger and fear pushing the words out of her. "I really don't care what you say, but you are going to explain what happened. And you are going to stop looking so god damned pitiable. It's pathetic." He looked at her, and took a deep breath. Ayume sat through his whole story, never one looking away from his face, never once interrupting. When he was done, she lay back down and looked back up at the ceiling. "That explains what he said last night. That whole 'I'm a part of Ryou. A darker part, etc.'" She closed her eyes and sighed. "So, what do we do about him?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ryou, shocked, looked up at her. "What on earth do you mean?" "Well, is there really no way to get rid of him?" "Unfortunately." Still looking up at the ceiling, Ayume took a little longer to respond. "Wow. That's going to be quite difficult to live with."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What are you talking about?" Ryou asked, shocked. "I was just saying how hard it was going to be to live with a malevolent spirit like that." Ayume answered, as though she were talking to a child. "You don't understand Ayume. He is more than malevolent. He did all of that to you because he thought that I was getting audacious, thinking that I could have something that he couldn't. That's the way he is. I don't think I could forgive myself if you got involved."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ayume merely stared at him. "What makes you think I hadn't already realized that? That I hadn't already known that he was a controlling psychopath? I don't want to lose you, Ryou. You're worth more to me than he is. If I have to put up with him to get to keep you, it's more than worth it to me. I don't care if you don't agree with me, that's how I feel, and nothing can change that much. Besides," she scoffed; "I'm more than a little involved now, aren't I?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ryou sat still for a long time. After a while, he got up and went to kneel by her. Aware of her injured arms, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his face into her dark hair. "If I were being honest, I would say that that's what I wanted to hear. I'm selfish for thinking so, but I really didn't want to lose you, either."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"They sat there for a time, holding each other. "Sing to me, please." Ayume said. "I'm tired, and I need something to comfort me."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ryou said nothing. He held her to his chest, and placed his chin on the top of her head. After a short time, he opened his mouth and began to sing softly./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Looking down after he was done, he saw that she had fallen asleep. Lifting her up, he wrapped the blanket around them both, cradling her to his chest. Closing his eyes, Ryou quietly let go of the tears he had been holding in./p