Hi everyone!

This fic is written for my dear friend, the masochistic half of BakuBakuRemix. See, I told you I would write it! It was finally the time. Call it a late bday present, or whatever. ^_^ You deserve it! I hope you like it! Thank you for being a great friend.

To everyone else - hope you also enjoy! I had fun writing it.

Time Passes

Two years, fifty-four days, twenty hours, and counting.

That was how long Bakura had been gone.

Ryou shifted his weight, turning to lie on his other side. He had been lying on his couch all evening, holding the book he was reading in his hands with a too-tight grip; although that was something he had long stopped noticing.

He could hear the ticking of the clock hanging on his wall as the seconds slipped past. He was always aware of the time, on some level, although if you asked him, he would have denied knowing this. The seconds continued to tick past. They kept in time to the beating of his heart.

He sighed to himself (although he took no notice of it) and kept reading. Time dragged on, words blurred past and made their debut, only to be forgotten when he reached the next chapter in his tome.

He couldn't say how long he lay there, reading in the dimly lit room. Yet he knew-

Two years, fifty-four days, twenty-three hours and counting.

The sound of something falling in another room. Ryou's eyes flickered up, towards the noise. Slowly, he rose up, setting aside his nearly completed book on the end table. He took a second to stretch his cramped muscles, and then calmly walked into the other room – his bedroom. He flicked on the overhead light.

A lamp lay shattered on the carpet, having fallen from its place on the table beneath his window. His floor-length ivory-colored curtains were billowing in the wind, as if they were specters trying to communicate with him from the next world. His window was open.

He must have absent-mindedly forgotten to shut it, he decided. Now look at the mess he had made.

He walked over to the curtains, pushing them aside to grasp the window and pull it down to lock in the sill. The curtains died down and lay flat against the wall again; if only all ghosts were so easy to get rid of.

Ryou quickly made his way from the room and into the kitchen, retrieving the broom and dustpan from the small pantry there. He took these items into his room, making quick work of the broken lamp and shattered glass. He made his way carefully back into the kitchen, disposing of the trash. He glanced at the clock that glowed from his stove. Nearly-

Two years, fifty-five days, and counting.

-midnight, he saw.

For some odd reason, he was never able to go to sleep before that hour had passed. Not since that day (two years fifty-four days twenty-three hours and counting) at least. He knew what he was waiting for would never come. Yet sleep evaded him.

Sighing to himself, he switched off the kitchen light, intending to resume his position on the couch in order to finish his current novel. Yes, reading was a hobby of his – what else would he do while waiting to finally be allowed to go to sleep?

He stopped short, still in the entryway of his living room. He felt his mouth go slack and drop, without his consent. There – sitting on his own couch – impossible. His mind was playing tricks on him.

The figure sat in the middle of Ryou's couch, claiming possession. Arms crossed over its chest, one leg crossed over the other, foot bouncing up and down as if impatient. White hair, the fringe hanging down to create shadows around the face - yet somehow still the blood-red eyes pierced through.

They always pierced through.

Ryou's breath hitched, then faltered. He briefly considered that he was going crazy, or this was a dream – and yet, it did not seem like one. Everything about it spoke of deft and concrete reality.

"B-Bakura…?"

The figure did not move, only stared at him, foot still twitching its impatience. The foot moved in time to the ticking of Ryou's clock.

"Im…Impossible…"

A demon. A ghost. A dream. An angel?

"Y-You…y-you.."

The figure angled its head slightly, closing those ill-met eyes and smirking in amusement. Ryou was grateful for the reprieve.

"You never were good with words."

Ryou's heart stopped at the first sound of that voice. The world stopped turning; his blood lay frozen in his veins. It had been so long…(two years fifty-four days twenty-three hours and counting) since he had heard that voice.

He knew then that it wasn't a dream.

"Is this all the welcome I get?"

Ryou could hear the ridicule dripping from Bakura's mouth.

Breath entered his lungs, his heart started beating, the world started turning.

"Bakura!"

"Well, now…that's more like it." Bakura stood up, facing Ryou, but did not move closer. "I'm glad you're happy to see me. And…sorry about the lamp…I was just wondering if your skills had improved any since we last met. It seems they haven't. I could have cut your throat fifty times over in your obliviousness."

"A…test?" Ryou's tongue was thick in his mouth, not allowing more than two words to come out in his astonishment.

"Why of course, Yadonushi. Would you have ever expected that I would have made such a crass entrance?" Bakura spoke with open disdain. "I was merely observing how much you have changed since the last time I saw you." His eyes looked Ryou up and down, then he scoffed. "You haven't."

Ryou felt an old pain flare through his chest. He hadn't changed. Of course he hadn't. He was still frozen forever in the night that Bakura had left – had left Ryou all alone. Stagnant. Never moving. What else had Bakura expected? He had taken everything away from Ryou when he walked away and into the night, never, he had told Ryou, to be seen again.

"Y-You…you l-left me…" Ryou stopped, swallowing to gain his composure. "Y-You said you would n-never come back."

He waited for Bakura's answer, his explanation. His glass heart thumped erratically in his chest – surely at any moment it would break…

"I say a lot of things." Bakura chuckled, offering no further explanation.

"B-But-"

"Were you waiting for me, Yadonushi?"

Ryou felt heat spring into his cheeks and averted his gaze to the ground. Even after all this time, he would not give Bakura that satisfaction. It had been used against him before.

"No."

Bakura chuckled again, stepping towards Ryou. "You were never any good at lying, Yadonushi."

Ryou kept his eyes on the ground, and although he was expecting it, he still flinched when Bakura stopped in front of him.

"Why won't you look at me? Are you scared I'm not real? Look at me."

Ryou couldn't help himself. It was so deeply ingrained. His eyes wondered up past Bakura's pants…his trench coat…the white skin of his throat. He paused there, unwilling to look at Bakura's face.

"I believe you're real." He whispered.

"Good." The satisfaction was evident in Bakura's voice. "See me then. Feel my touch." He swiftly grabbed Ryou's jaw, yanking it the rest of the way upwards, forcing Ryou to look him in the eye.

Ryou cringed. He was sure he looked weak, but what else could he do? Against Bakura…he was helpless.

Bakura's grip relaxed, although he did not let go. He locked eyes with Ryou, oozing confidence and something more dangerous.

"What are you thinking, Yadonushi?"

A thousand images passed through Ryou's mind. The moment he first held the Ring. The moment he first met Bakura. The first time he woke up and realized a day had passed and he didn't remember what he had done. The first time he realized Bakura had been possessing him. Bakura's lunatic voice, cackling about what he was going to do to the Pharaoh. The first time he had dreamed of Kul Elna, and Bakura had mercilessly beat him for it. The first time he had cried on behalf of the Spirit. The first time he had longed for him. The night he had left.

"W-Why did you return?"

Bakura smirked. "That's not what you were thinking. But, I'll answer it anyway. I returned to see if you were still as pathetic as they day I left. I returned to re-evaluate whether my decision to leave you alive was the right one. What do you think I'm thinking, Yadonushi?"

The grip on his chin tightened harshly when at first he didn't answer. "I-I don't know."

Bakura tilted his head, smiling mockingly.

His eyes moved from Ryou's eyes to his mouth, then back.

"I wonder…do you still want me, like you did then? I was curious whether you were waiting for me to come back and rescue you."

Ryou's eyes widened.

Bakura went on, "It seems you were. Pity."

Ryou jerked his head back, out of Bakura's grip. "Don't talk to me like that! You-You just left! You left me with nothing! Not even an explanation of why you were leaving! I…I never believed you were coming back! I…would never wait for you! I'm sick that I even have to see you now – I was glad when you said you would never return!" He stood, chest heaving after his unexpected outburst.

Bakura brought his hands up. Ryou waited for the blow, and closed his eyes. Seconds passed, yet nothing came. Ryou opened his eyes to see Bakura's hands clasped together, and then they began to clap, slowly, tauntingly. "Well…maybe you have changed."

A slap rang out in the room. Ryou gasped at his own hand, stunned. There was a red mark on Bakura's cheek.

He waited for the pin to drop.

Bakura turned his head back towards Ryou, eyes betraying nothing. "Two can play at that game, Yadonushi." He swung his fist, connecting with the side of Ryou's face. Ryou went down, grasping for purchase on the doorway but finding none. He hit the ground painfully.

Bakura heaved a heavy sigh. "All that, and yet no blood? I'll have to fix that."

He swung his foot into Ryou's side, kicking him in the ribs. Ryou gasped in pain, eyes briefly blurring, then finding their focus again. He hissed in as he felt rage (twoyearsfiftyfivedaysworth) growing inside him.

Reaching out, he grabbed Bakura's foot and twisted it, knocking the other man onto his back. Ryou could see the genuine surprise in Bakura's eyes as he was momentarily stunned, allowing the time for Ryou to crawl onto him and straddle him.

Ryou grit his teeth together, looking down at Bakura. A thousand more scenes played in his mind – Bakura hitting him, kicking him, berating him, Ryou waking up to find dried blood caked onto his face, or worse, his hands, with no memory of how it got there, Bakura's mocking laughter, always mocking, Bakura standing there, telling him he was leaving, telling him this was goodbye, telling him he was all alone –

"I was never able to move on!"

Ryou's fist slammed down onto Bakura's face, and this time blood did fly.

"I was never able to live without you!"

Ryou moved to hit Bakura again, only this time Bakura grabbed his wrist, stopping him. Ryou didn't even register the painful grip.

"I was never able to understand why you left, Bakura! Why did you leave me?"

Ryou was sobbing now, and attempted to hit Bakura with his other fist. His strength was waning however, and Bakura caught it easily.

"Why did you leave me all alone, Bakura? Why didn't you just kill me?"

Ryou's voice broke, and he collapsed into Bakura's chest. "It…It would have been better…anything would have been better…then what you did…"

He didn't care that Bakura didn't push him off, or try to hit him now that his rage had burned out. He poured all his anguish out, the stain of his tears making their mark on Bakura's shirt the way Bakura had forever left a mark on Ryou's heart.

"I…I can't live without you…Bakura."

Time passed until Ryou's tears finally stopped. He lay with his head pressed against Bakura's chest, hiccupping. Finally, slowly, Bakura pushed him off. They sat up, facing each other. Ryou wiped at his tear-stained cheeks as Bakura wiped the drying blood from his face.

"W-What n-now?" Ryou asked sorrowfully, gazing at Bakura. "W-Will you k-kill me?"

Bakura looked up at him. "No. I'm not so merciful as that."

"T-Then…what?"

Bakura shrugged. "I didn't really plan this out. I guess you could say it was a spontaneous idea, for me to come here."

Ryou nodded in sudden understanding. "D-Did you ever t-think of me?"

Bakura smirked, and then raised a hand to the welt rising on Ryou's cheek. He stroked it carefully. "Oh yes."

Ryou closed his eyes, relief flooding into him.

"B-Bakura…I…"

"Shhh…I know." Bakura continued stroking Ryou's cheek.

Ryou leaned into Bakura's touch. He couldn't believe Bakura had finally returned…

"Bakura…I thought of you so much…you never left my mind…I thought…I thought you were never coming back…"

"I told you, Ryou. It was just curiosity."

Ryou's eyes snapped open, startled. Bakura's fingers continued caressing his face…moving down to stroke the skin of his neck. "B-But I thought…"

Bakura smiled darkly. "It was only ever a game, Ryou. And I will always be the victor." His hand gripped Ryou's neck tightly, making it difficult for Ryou to breathe. Yet Ryou didn't resist, he only stared at Bakura in astonishment.

"You can't really believe I came back here for you." Bakura stated, like it was obvious. "I may have lied when I said I would never return, but believe me Ryou, you're not worth staying more than an hour for. And even that's gracious." He tightened his grip, and finally realization dawned in Ryou's eyes. He tried to say something, but nothing intelligent came out. He clawed at Bakura's hand as Bakura leaned forward, pressing all his weight onto Ryou, forcing him back to the floor.

"I only came because I was bored."

Ryou's vision started to go dark as he gasped for a breath that wouldn't come. Bakura's face swam over him, blurred by tears and lack of oxygen. Is this really the end, then? Finally. I-I'm so glad.

He closed his eyes thankfully. If Bakura wouldn't love him, the next best thing was being killed by him. He traced his hands over Bakura's cold ones as he choked the life out of Ryou, trying to memorize the feel of his skin as he was slipping out of this world. So delicate. So intricate. He thought he was smiling – he hoped so. And then it was over.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The first thing Ryou was aware of was a noise. Where am I? He tried to open his eyes but they felt glued shut. After a few minutes, he managed to open them a little, and light flooded into his vision. He winced and put his hand up, as if to push it away.

All he could see was white.

He brought his hands to his face, desperately trying to get his eyes open so he could see where he was at. He finally succeeded in opening both eyes fully and adjusting to the light.

He was lying on his back, staring up at his white ceiling. Daylight poured in from the room's windows, illuminating him where he lay on the ground.

It all came back to him. Then – the pain. His face felt broken. His throat was on fire. He put his hands to his neck and cried out in pain as he touched the swollen flesh there. He turned and coughed onto his rug, spraying red.

But none of this mattered.

"B-Ba…" he tried to say his name. "B-Bakura…"

He knew he could barely be heard, but it was enough. He knew he was alone. He knew it from the moment he awoke and realized he wasn't dead after all.

He was gone, again.

Ryou wept, lying there on his living room floor. He wept for the past ten years of his life. He wept for all the heartbreak, all the rejection. He wept because he loved a man that didn't love him. He wept because he was too much of a coward to end it himself, instead asking the man he loved to do it instead. He wept because Bakura hadn't granted him that wish. Because he knew living was worse than dying for Ryou.

Yet…he had come back once. Would he come back again?

Ryou's tears eventually dried up, and he lay staring up at his ceiling.

Would he?

He glanced at the clock.

Nine hours, forty-three minutes and counting.

That was how long Bakura had been gone.

~fin~

Annnnnd that was the end! How did you like it? ^_^ I thought the ending was a bit creepy, myself. But, that's how I like it.

Until next time,

~Seren147