-Chapter 1-
"Is everything ok?" Yugi asked him as they walked to their lockers.
Ryou gave a guilty start. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you seem distracted is all." Depressed, was actually what Yugi wanted to say. But it seemed a little too nosy. He and Bakura were not as close as he and Jounouchi were. Not that the exchange student made it easy. There was a wall around Ryou Bakura. Perhaps the year of keeping everyone at a distance had made it into a habit. But why would he need to do that now?
"I just don't feel like being in class today." Ryou replied, which actually was the truth.
He wanted to be at home gathering more information on banishing evil spirits. The first attempts were pretty sad to say the least. To make matters even worse, people on the internet seemed more interested in summoning spirits than banishing them. Who knew such a large percentage of the human race were idiots?
From the recesses of his mind he felt a jab of gleeful amusement. The first emotion he had picked up from his Yami all day. He immediately felt wary of himself. He did not need to egg Bakura on.
Just because I acknowledge that other people are dumb, does not mean I think all people are insects. He shot at his Yami defiantly.
Why so defensive? The spirit replied through their link slyly. Are you afraid of thinking like me? You can't help it. You are me, minus the plethora of real life experience. There's nothing wrong with seeing the world how it is, hikari. Saves a lot of pain later, believe me.
The bitterness in the words and the emotions that he was picking up shocked Ryou. Bakura wasn't just being manipulative. He meant what he said. But he didn't have time to ponder it because Yugi was talking again.
"Really? You like algebra." Yugi winced as he said it. He could not for the life of him comprehend how anyone could enjoy math.
"Oh there's just been some stuff on my mind." Ryou said evasively. "The anniversary of my mother and sister's death is coming up. That's all."
He was thankful that this was actually true. A strange thing to be thankful for, but it gave a solid and believable excuse for any change in his focus and behavior this past week. Actually he had come to peace with it all a while now. Well as much as he could. Rather than talk to him, his father had shuffled him off to various councilors. It hadn't all been bad. Sure, some of them were full of crap. But there were one or two who actually seemed to want to help. He had gotten the idea of writing to his sister and leaving the letters on her grave from one of his better councilors. At first he thought it was stupid, but surprisingly talking to her made him feel better. Who knows? Maybe she did read them. He would be the first to know that death was not necessarily the end.
His father was too busy to talk to him. And always traveling. Or at least that was the excuse he got. The truth was, Ryou looked too much like his mother and sister. And his father would rather abandon him than risk getting hurt again. At least that's what he believed the real reason was.
"I'm really sorry." Yugi looked embarrassed. "Is your Dad coming down to be with you for that? At least you get to see him."
"No I won't." Ryou said calmly. "I remind him of too many things he'd rather avoid than deal with. He'll have an excuse. He'll get some unexpected overtime, or he'll have to travel to some new excavation site or ect."
Noticing that Yugi now looked very awkward, Ryou sighed and smiled at the smaller boy. "Yugi stop looking like that. You didn't say anything wrong and I'm not upset. This has been my life for years. It's past bothering me at this point. To tell you the truth, I kind of like being on my own. I get up when I want, sleep when I want, study when I want, eat anything I want, bathe – anything when I want. On my terms. And my apartment is being paid for. In many ways, I don't have it so bad."
Except that I'm lonely all the time and constantly afraid of what will happen to people I get close to. His mind added traitorously.
"If…." Yugi hesitated. "If it's ok, if we aren't intruding, is it okay if me and the gang go with you? I know that Anzu wouldn't mind. And I could make sure that Jonouchi and Honda behave."
Ryou blinked, surprised by the request and a bit touched. He knew that Yugi was a nice person. But he was not used to people going out of their way for him.
"I know that you always had to keep to yourself in the past, but there's nothing to hold you back now, right?" Yugi felt he had said too much already so he may as well man up and go the whole mile. The worst that would happen was that Bakura would blow him off and tell him to mind his own business. But what if this was something Bakura really needed to hear? What if he was waiting for some sort of confirmation that he was considered part of the group?
"I guess I'm saying that no one blames you for what happened in the past." Yugi continued, feeling like a little bit more with each sentence like he wanted to hide. "Maybe you know that already. But no one ever talks about it, so I needed to make sure you knew. Nothing that ever happened because of your Yami was your fault. "
He wanted to say more. Something mature. His Grandpa would know what to say to Bakura. But Yugi still felt like an awkward kid. He hoped he had done well enough at framing the words.
Ryou felt just as awkward. And what was worse was that he was just complaining about how his Dad never talked about stuff that needed to be talked about. Now Yugi was doing just that and all he felt was like a social failure for not knowing how to respond.
"I don't know what to say." He figured if he didn't come off as eloquent he'd at least try honest. "I'm glad that you feel that way. You guys are welcomed to accompany me, but don't go out of your way."
Relieved, Yugi flashed a huge smile at the taller boy. "We're friends. It's not going out of our way to be there when you need us."
If things had been different, if he had met a boy like Yugi sooner….well no one could change the past. Still, he was happier than he could possibly express at this disclosure. He was not sure if the others shared Yugi's opinion, but to know that one person didn't fear him or blame him was a huge weight off his shoulders. For the first time since the spirit had reappeared that he felt a little good. He just needed to be able to trust it. This was what he wanted: friends and a normal life. He couldn't have it if he kept running from it.
Yami Bakura observed all of this silently. He fumed. He wasn't jealous. That would be imbecilic. Who would be jealous of a tricolored, spiky headed midget? He was just annoyed that Yugi, the bearer of the sennen puzzle, whose body housed the soul of the bloody pharaoh, the enemy ,could so easily walk up to Ryou and gain his trust. It would only bring him regret. The pharaoh could not be trusted and Yugi, by extension should not be trusted.
Ryou's loyalty belonged to him! Ok, so at he'd botched the beginning. Keeping Ryou at a distance had been a mistake. He should have tried to placate the boy, tried to get him on his side. But a part of him had liked watching from afar a part of him that had not been tainted by violence and poverty. Why should Ryou have to know what was going on? And as much as he admired Ryou a part of him hated him too. Hated how easy he had it. He would never starve, he'd always be clothed and he'd never feel the lash of a whip upon his back. No, he had someone paying for his education and shelter and he knew where his next meal was coming from. He'd never feel the filthy, crawling sensation of older males raking over his body with their eyes. Sizing up how much smaller he was. Considering him easy prey to just about any deprivation or abuse they could subjugate him to.
At the same time even though he could strangle his vessel in his sleep for his naivety, he could never allow real harm to come to the boy. He would not even tolerate the threat from the gym teacher when Ryou had first transferred to Domino High. The man thought he could force Ryou to cut off his hair. Over Bakura's mummified corpse. If Jonouchi could be blond and Yugi could have his ridiculous hedgehog hair then no one was touching Ryou's. Even if idiot 1 and idiot 2 had been ordered to suffer the same fate, still no one was touching Ryou.
Yes, it was odd to care about someone who infuriated you all the time. But the thief assumed it had something to with linked souls and a thing is what it is. No sense in fighting your nature. It's always futile. But if he could make Ryou feel as protective of him, maybe he could turn this weakness into a strength. Really , the boy didn't know just how fortune had blessed him. With Bakura guarding him, no human would ever harm him. If he could only get the land lord to start seeing him as a protector….
Well that was the part of the game being played that his host wasn't let in on. While Ryou stewed over his frankly impossible task, Bakura would work to undermine his resolve. Make the boy trust him. Maybe when the month was up, Ryou would see how foolish it was to want to send him away.
Yes. That would be the smart way to play this game. Get the boy to start equating him as someone safe rather than a threat. And as for Ryou, he was not at all afraid that the boy would find a way to get rid of him. He was pretty sure there was no way. But it bought him time and it would be amusing to watch the youth's efforts. His hikari thought that the results so far were kind of pitiful and Bakura privately agreed. Though he felt Ryou's agitation and anger the previous morning he had spent in the computer lab, he would have given anything to see the boy's expression. He had started out by searching 'sealing an evil object'. A reasonable first place to look. All that had come up however were numerous links to a pc game called Seal of Evil much to Ryou's extreme frustration. He had tried to type in 'purify and destroy' and had only gotten redirected to an article on genocide. The boy's head had promptly smacked the keyboard. Oh it was delicious entertainment.
He could detect Ryou's discomfort as he walked home. The boy was clearly worried about something and Bakura intuitively felt it had more to do with just winning their game. He could ask. But he wouldn't. He'd wait and see if the boy came out with it to him first. And it happened sooner than he thought. The minute Ryou closed the apartment door behind him and locked it he spoke out loud.
"You remember you promised." he said. "It's a whole month that you can't take control. If you break the rules you lose."
Ah. Of course. That's what the boy was getting anxious about. He should have known. Well, given the past it was understandable.
Oh yes – your friends. he scoffed. I'm a man of my word , Ryou. You don't have to worry. Without taking control of you there is very little I can do to them.
The boy was biting his lip. He could tell from the way his host's stomach was reacting to his nerves that the boy did not trust him. Not a bit. Good. He wasn't offended. His vessel was smart. Bakura would keep his promise, but that didn't mean if a loophole occurred that allowed him to banish that annoying king of games to the shadows forever without taking control of the boy that he wouldn't use it. He'd called a truce with Ryou, not with the whole damn world.
"If you lie, if you're trying to lure me into some kind of trap by making me drop my guard, I swear, I'll –"
Suddenly he was nose to nose with his hikari. The boy gasped and stepped back. It had been a while since he appeared to his host this way. But it was probably the deadly look he was shooting his other that had the kid paralyzed.
"I don't like threats, hikari." he stated in a cold voice.
The boy's clenched fists shook at his side. Ryou was afraid of him. It was obvious. But he was standing his ground anyway.
"I don't like evil spirits that impale my hands on game piece roofs." he stammered.
"It was one hand." The thief smirked, crossing his arms. "And no real harm came to you. Next time will you work with me instead of forcing me to incapacitate you?"
"I'll never work with you." The boy sounded so certain.
"You throw around words like 'never' and 'evil'." Bakura murmured. "Such strong words. You know, in Egypt words and names held a lot of power. You should have more care how you use them."
"Words mean what you want them to mean." Ryou said.
"Oh really?" the tombrobber said smugly. " You have a lot to learn."
"Why are you here?" the boy changed the subject. "You never used to appear to me like this. Can other people see you?"
"Before I preferred not to have you know I was there. And yes, other people can see me if I choose to let them."
Ryou looked like he was hesitating now. He wasn't sure whether to keep the conversation going. But at the same time he was curious. After a few minutes curiosity won. "You almost look corporeal. Are you?"
"Yes." the spirit replied. "But only because I am drawing power from your life force." Bakura picked up a coffee mug his other had left on the table that morning as a demonstration. "Especially in this apartment. It's filled with your energy."
"But you can't go far from me?" the boy guessed.
"Correct." Bakura replied. "Because I am tethered to your soul. It's the same for the pharaoh. If we could just make off on our own it would defeat the purpose of us having vessels."
"Why us?" Bakura asked. "Why me and Yugi?"
"It's not obvious?" the Egyptian raised an eyebrow. "There's a lot of reasons. The most likely being that you are either my decedent or my reincarnation. It hardly matters which to me, the ring accepted you and that means that it is you that has the most right to wear it. Any sennen item that falls into the hands of an unworthy will drive them insane. Do you also suppose it's a coincidence that we look so much alike?"
Ryou looked a little surprised. "I always thought you looked like me because you chose to."
"You are partly correct." Baklura admitted. "I didn't get too many chances to look at myself except to catch my reflection in the water or in windows. I only ever really got a good look at myself a couple of times. But I think I looked like you when I was younger."
The hikari looked confused and a little disbelieving. "You don't remember what you looked like?"
"The wealthy had mirrors, Ryou." Bakura, clarified feeling a little exasperated. "They aren't everywhere like they are today. Do they teach you anything about the past in that school? You live in a very privileged society. "
"Oh." Ryou looked slightly at a loss as to what to add to that.
The silence hung in the air until it was clear that his host felt awkward.
"I have school work." the boy announced. He stooped to pick up the school bag he had dropped on the floor. But Bakura did not miss the boy's grimace of discomfort as he came up.
"Are you hurt?" The spirit inquired.
Ryou glared at him indignantly. "What do you think?!"
He yanked up his shirt showing off the still healing gouges from where the ring had stabbed them. Even though a full day had passed since that night the blood could still be seen on spots of the bandages.
"It's still healing and I don't know what's safe to put on puncture wounds. I only know to bind them to prevent infection because that's common sense. It's not like I could go to a doctor and tell them – what – hey!"
The thief strode forward and grabbed a fistful of the boys school shirt. Then without ceremony, he ripped the bandage off. Before the boy could protest he laid his hand flat upon the bared stomach. The teen jerked, probably from the shock of having shadow energy enter his body. He kept his hand firmly planted against the smooth skin until he was sure the last of the wounds had closed.
Recovering, Ryou pushed him away and pulled his shirt back down. He kept a protective hand on his torso eyeing his other suspiciously. And not, Bakura was pleased to see, without a little bit of amazement. Though if some gratitude would have been thrown into the mix it would have been appreciated.
"What… did you do?" he stammered.
Bakura cocked his head and gave his lighter counterpart a mocking look.
"What do you think?" he replied, echoing the boy's earlier statement.
And with that, he disappeared back within the confines of the sennen ring.
Bakura sat on the edge of the tub feeling his newly healed skin with both hands. He had seen shadow magic at work. Certainly he'd seen stuff you'd call much more impressive and strange , but to have had fresh wounds a minutes ago only to suddenly look down and see flawless healed skin….it was just surreal. He had to admit he'd panicked for a moment when the spirit had gotten in his personal space. He still felt kind of strange and numb where the magic had entered him. It was almost like the sensation a person got after getting a mild shock.
He had to wonder at the spirit's motives. He couldn't think of any motive Bakura would have had to heal him. It could be considered an act of kindness, but that guy was not kind. Unless the thief was showing off. That made more sense.
Probably couldn't resist the opportunity to remind me he has ancient magic while I'm just a peon mortal. he thought with a scowl.
Either way he'd be nuts to trust Bakura. Just because he did one nice thing did not mean he was a reformed member of society. He pulled some boxers and a t-shirt and made his way towards his bed. Tomorrow he had to visit the family grave. He'd already notified the teachers as to why he wouldn't be in class. He mentally winced when he realized that Yugi and his friends didn't have that kind of excuse. Not that something like that would keep Jounouchi or Honda from showing up. He wondered if they would show up at all. Yugi may have been trying to be nice, but talk was just talk at the end of the day.
That's just you thinking everyone is like your Dad. Stop it. he mentally scolded himself.
He had also missed a day doing any real research on getting rid of his cursed item problem. Nothing he had been able to pull up while at school had been helpful and the teachers had decided to pile on the homework all at the same time. Despite the hundred thoughts running though his head, the medicine he had taken a few minutes before showering was starting to kick in. His mind quieted down and he drifted off to sleep.
And then he was eleven years old again. On a school trip they had taken to the beach. They were supposed to be asleep, but everyone in the room had the flashlights on under the covers. They were trading scary stories. A lot of which was more absurd than scary. But Ryou loved that kind of stuff. He liked ghost stories and horror movies and urban legends.
They were laughing at one of the more unbelievable versions of a white lady legend when there was a knock at the door. Everyone froze. Then they heard the teacher's voice and they relaxed. Ryou had assumed they had just been louder than they thought. They must have been surely. None of the teachers actually believed that a group of young boys on a trip were actually sleeping. It's just that as long as they all stayed in their rooms no one was going to try and prevent the unpreventable. Kids on a trip would stay up all night. That was all there was to it.
Then one of the older boys, Shiro or Shogo, it was so long ago…one of them had come back from the door with a puzzled look and informed Ryou that Hirono Sensei was saying he need to go see her right away.
He knew when he saw her expression that something was wrong. She didn't waste any time. She told him straight out that something had happened and he needed to leave right away.
"I'll pack my stuff." he said.
"There's no time for that Ryou-kun. I'll get one of the other boys to gather your things. We'll make sure they get returned to you, please don't worry. But you have to leave now."
He was starting to feel scared. "Just tell me what happened. Am I going home? Did father get hurt on one of his digs?"
The teacher gave him tortured look. It was clear she knew more than she was telling him and that it was very bad.
"Is it Amane chan?" he demanded.
Some of the other boys were trying to gather at the door. Coming to see what was happening.
"Boys, go back to bed. Ryou, I'm sorry. That's really all I can tell you for now, just come. I'll take you myself."
And that had been that. He had gone without even packing his things with Hirono Sensei. A car was waiting. On the drive she was as silent as the grave. And as the ride stretched on, the bad feeling he was getting got worse and worse. Finally he couldn't take it anymore.
"Sensei, please please just tell me what happened." he begged.
"I can't Ryou-kun." the pain in her voice unnerved him more than not knowing. If he didn't know better, she was trying not to cry. "And I'm so sorry, but I was told not to say anything until we get to the hospital."
He felt like all the color had left his face. And maybe it had. In that moment he knew. He knew that someone he loved was already gone. And they had taken him away before he could cry or upset any of the other kids.
"Someone died didn't they?" he demanded, hoping she'd deny it.
When she didn't try to reassure him, instead of crying he'd gone numb. Because it just didn't feel real. He knew when he got there it would be a mistake. Because if his parents or his sister had died, he'd have felt it. There's no way he could have been laughing and goofing off with his friends for hours and not know.
But when he had got there no one had been able to hold him back. A nurse had been there and she'd tried to grab him. To stop him, but he was running too fast. It was too late. He saw their bodies. Or what was visible. They were both covered in white sheets. But he'd never forget the blood he saw on Amane's foot that was sticking out from under the blanket. And her foot was so small. Frail, like a little doll. He hadn't even realized he had sank to the floor. Then someone's arms were around him. His Sensei.
"Don't look Ryou-kun." she had begged. "Don't look."
His father had been delayed and not arrived until a whole hour later. Not on purpose. He had been in Cairo. He had gotten there as fast as plane travel arrangements would allow.
He had cried. Been inconsolable. Or that's what he'd been told. He thought he remembered a nurse telling his father that at some point they'd been forced to give him a mild sedative. They were afraid he was going into shock. The grim humor of it, the nurse had said, was that a side effect to the medicine was that some patients didn't have a clear memory after they took it. But he remembered enough.
A tear crawled down the sleeping boy's face as the slender frame of his body shook with remembered grief. A pair of dark eyes watched over him solemnly. Bakura could always see his host's dreams. It was not the first time he had seen this one. He could have sworn this had happened last year as well. He wondered if this dream was reoccurring for Ryou. He knew it was also very real. The mind didn't simply just conjure up this kind of pain. He had had a few nightmares of his own that were in their way not much different than this. He didn't always mind when Ryou's dreams blended into his because face it: most of the time Ryou's dreams were much more pleasant. But like the year before, he had been unable to sleep afterward and had simply sat by his vessel's side while the boy lie there oblivious. He didn't wake him, he just sat there and guarded. The boy let out a gasp that ended in a sob and the thief , unused to conventional human contact simply laid a hand on his shoulder until he quieted. Bakura wasn't sure what compelled him to do this. He didn't have to do this. Ryou would be fine again in the morning and another year would pass without incident. But he'd lost the only family he'd ever had too. And he'd been younger than Ryou. Maybe this was what empathy was. And, it's not like he required sleep. Or maybe, once again it was just part of that inexplicable and annoying tie that each Yami had to his Hikari.
So he stayed there at the edge of the bed like a silent sentinel until dawn. When Ryou opened his eyes, he'd already vanished from sight.
Ending note:
Welcome to my impromptu author's column! One of my favorite manga ka Kaori Yuki used to always scribble notes in the columns of her work to her readers. I always enjoyed them. Anyway, 'Aibou' got past the prologue! Yay! I wanted to upload this last night , but my electricity decided to just say 'screw you'. We've been having a ton of rain. I hate it.
Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited or reviewed my one chapter. Ha ha. I am enjoying writing it so I like to know that someone is enjoying reading it. I think I mentioned it's been years since I wrote fanfiction. The only thing I have written recently has been poetry. I have a few original things on the back burner but I always get writers block. It's sucks. Starting something and not knowing how to end it. I need to pick it up again. One of the things that has always been true for me about writing is that sometimes you have to start out writing something, just writing anything even if you think it will suck and see if it surprises you by turning out good. Don't worry. That does not mean I am trying to make this suck. Lol
On that note, I may upload this to blogger with my other stuff. Look me up here profile/16100715469281393886
See you in chapter two!