A foot in my ribs. That's what woke me up. As I stared in to the pale bleary morning, there wasn't anything there besides a pale background and what looked like... bare feet leading up to trousered legs.

"Ryou!" My Yami's voice triggered a hammering headache. I slid to sit up. I realised then I was in the bathroom, on the floor. The memory lead to me cradling my aching head

"Ryou! You drank the last of my vodka!" His voice snaps me out of my daydream.

"I... paid for that." My voice drags out the words so that they're annoyingly long and groggy.

"Hikari! Wake up!" My brief courage leads to another kick in the ribs. "What lead you to fall asleep on the floor, there was only, what... Four or five shots left. You would never pass out on the floor, stupid snob."

"I didn't think you... you'd come up stairs. You passed out when I got in." My voice is quiet, but that doesn't prevent him form bending and screaming in my ear.

"NEVER TOUCH IT!" I nod, trying to stop him from getting any vague form of satisfaction from the bullying. I can't prevent myself from howling in agony as he kicks me harder, and then yanks my head up by my hair. "You need to respect me, little one. We can't have you trying to get out of your responsibilities." On the final few words, he takes a disturbing amount of pleasure in jabbing an elbow in to my neck.

He loses interest as a knock on the front door drifts up the stairs.

"Go greet your friends, we don't want to be rude, Ryou." He managed to drag me up by my hair, and also throw me towards the bathroom door in a single brutal motion, making me scream.

"Ryou, are you okay in there?" Yugi's voice caused my Yami to mutter something explicit under his breath, undoubtedly about Yugi's Yami interfering with his plans. I decided to ignore his questions as I grinned and opened the door. I rubbed my eyes as the light flooded in from the outside, just to ensure any tears were far away.

"Hey!" I was surprised to see them.

"Ryou, what did he do to you? You look terrible." Yugi's Yami stepped in protectively, causing Yugi to pull a face that can only be described as frustrated.

"I'm fine. He didn't do anything... I just couldn't sleep." That was a complete lie. I opened the door further, meaning to let them in, without realising I was still in my uniform from yesterday

"Ryou, what did he do?" Yugi, grasping my forearm. If he was any other person, he would have held my shoulder, but due to his height that was an impossibility.

"I'm fine, Yugi." My Yami cooed from up the stairs, mocking me as he dangled the bottle I'd emptied the night before on his finger. The pharaoh muttered something almost as explicit as my own Yami's previous mutterings.

"You got drunk?" Yugi's eyes bulged. Sure, people got drunk on a regular basis at one of Honda or Jounouchi's parties, but I never touched the stuff. I lowered my head in a vague form of shame, only to have my shoulder tapped by a pale finger.

"Oooh, everyone feel sorry for the poor, lonely Ryou! Nobody loves him enough to take him out to get pissed, so he has to get drunk on his own." The mocking voice grated on me, and I shied away, pushing my back against the wall.

"Bakura, leave the boy alone." Pharaoh hissed, making the white haired demon sneer.

"Leave him to fight his own battles, your highness." He used the title even more mockingly than he mimicked my voice. Yugi tugged my arm so as if the pair lapsed in to a brawl, I would be out of the way, but I pulled out of his grasp.

"I'm not weak, Yugi. I won't let him just..." I attempted to defend myself, but my Yami stepped in before I could finish.

"Yes, Yugi, stay out of matters you're not involved in. " He pushed Yugi out of the front door, knowing the Pharaoh would protect Yugi before me, and would step outside to defend him, allowing Bakura to slam the door in their faces. He locked it quickly, and tossed the key away from me so I couldn't reach.

"Now then, Hikari. You know how we treat friends here, and this is no way to treat them, is it? Shameful behaviour." I could tell what was coming. I was going to be stuck alone, being tortured because he knew Yugi wouldn't let his Yami smash doors any more. It was only now I could smell the rancid reek of yesterdays booze on him. I felt sick as I tried to step away, but the wall in my way stopped me from going anywhere before he could grab my hair. I almost screamed, but stopped. If I screamed, I'd only make him happy. Never mind the fact Yugi was outside. I was left to whimper slightly as he took great pleasure in pulling me up the stairs by my hair.

"Hmm..." A sick expression of glee on his face made me grimace before he produced a wicked knife from somewhere. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for agony. Something stopped him before the knife broke my skin, whatever spot he had chosen. I wasn't prepared for what happened next. I thought he might decide upon shouting as my punishment. But a punch that sent me reeling to the floor made me knock the vodka bottle down on the the stairs, shattering it. I glanced down at the stairs closest. A handful of small shards glittered before I realised something terrible.

There's only one staircase, and he won't clean that glass up himself.

Then I screamed as he thrust the knife in to my arm. Roses bloomed on the carpet as he shook my blood off the knife, making some of the shards shimmering rubies before he dragged me to the top of the stairs by the blood-drenched arm.

"Stand up, Ryou! It's respectful." He sneered as he yanked my hair. I stood up, clutching my arm before I guessed what he was about to do.

"No! Please!" I screamed louder than I'd screamed before, as he shoved me down the stairs. I felt the glass tear at my back and my own weight snap bones as I tumbled, becoming silent half the way down. Twelve broken bones, uncountable cuts and bruises, and a single broken mind was all that I'd become as my body fell, seemingly lifeless on the floor. Small shards of glass were in my hair, giving a twisted hint of glamour to the ruin. Two people started laughing. The one who had pushed me laughed heartlessly, but the happiness didn't show on his face, whereas the other, over the other side of town, laughed manically. Both of them were overjoyed I had, supposedly, died.