Don't Leave Me, Chapter 3
Today Serenity would be returning to school following the incident. Serenity didn't feel safe walking by herself and Ryou didn't mind accompanying her. It was a long walk to the school for Serenity, who constantly looked over her shoulder. Ryou could sense her discomfort and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, everything's going to be alright" Ryou assured her, giving her a warm smile.
Naturally, Ryou wasn't allowed to accompany Serenity to her classes but he promised her that he would be waiting when she got out. Meanwhile, Ryou was going to look for Bandit Keith. That slimy bastard was bound to be hiding out somewhere in Domino City. Ryou didn't know what he could possibly do to someone like Bandit Keith, who was much bigger and stronger than him but he didn't care. He had alerted police but was told that they couldn't do anything about it.
Ryou knew he wasn't making the wisest decision. Bandit Keith could easily rip him to shreds with his brute strength. Someone had to do something about this. Ryou was stunned when he heard his yami's voice behind him.
"Looking for someone, Yadonushi?" Bakura asked.
Ryou ignored his question and answered with one of his own. "How long have you been following me?"
"I've been following you ever since you left the house with that girl, now answer the question" Bakura replied.
"I'm looking for Bandit Keith, there are you happy?" Ryou replied
Bakura took a moment to laugh before saying "Are you crazy? That bastard will rip you apart as if you were wet paper. Are you really willing to risk your life over a weak girl?"
"Yes!" Ryou said emphatically causing Bakura to laugh again.
"What?" Bakura asked. "Are you in love with her or something?"
Bakura was met with silence and saw Ryou blushing.
"Oh my god, you really are in love with her!" Bakura said deadpan. "And what exactly do you expect to accomplish by confronting Keith, to be her knight in shining armor?"
"Well someone has to confront him about what he did, and with Joey and the others in America, who else is going to do it?" Ryou replied.
"And what exactly are you going to do?" Bakura asked. "Tell him what he did was wrong and that he should take a timeout, go sit in the corner and think about what he did?"
Ryou had no answer.
Bakura rolled his eyes and muttered "Come on, let's get this over with"
"What?" Asked a confused Ryou.
"I'm not going to let you do this alone and get yourself killed" Bakura said. "I'm coming with you"
"But, why?" Ryou asked.
"Well, it's been a while since I've paid my rent, Yadonushi" Bakura said with a malicious smirk.
Normally Ryou would've groaned at the thought of what his yami would do to someone, but if there was anyone more worthy of Bakura's wrath, it was Keith. Ryou continued his search for Bandit Keith with Yami Bakura at his side. Despite extensive searching, their effort to find the thug came up fruitless. Ryou rushed back to Serenity's school to escort her home.
"How was school?" Ryou greeted Serenity with a smile.
"It was great," Serenity said, smiling back. "Well, there was a pop quiz I was unprepared for but other than that, my day was great"
Ryou was surprised when Serenity grabbed his hand. The two began the trip back to Serenity's house. They took the time during the walk to really get to know each other. The duo discovered they had more in common than they thought such as an interest in Monster World as well as being virtually alone most of their lives. Ryou did his best to hide the fact that he was blushing. Serenity seemed to take notice of this.
"Are you alright, Ryou?" Serenity asked, smiling at him.
"I'm better than okay," Ryou replied, smiling back at her.
Suddenly, Ryou felt Serenity grip his hand even harder and she immediately tensed up. Ryou wondered why that was until he looked up and saw Bandit Keith on the other side of the street. Ryou's blood began to boil and he wanted more than anything to knock Keith's lights out. Right now however, he needed to focus on getting Serenity home safely. There were very few people around so it wouldn't be hard for Bandit Keith to spot them.
"Th-that's him!" Serenity stammered, pointing at Keith. "That's the guy who tried to rape me! We have to get out of here"
"Serenity," Ryou tried to calm her down.
"I don't want him to see me, please!" Serenity pleaded tearfully, scared for her life. "Who knows what he'll do"
"Serenity, look out at," Ryou said, looking into Serenity's eyes. "He's not going to see you, I'm not going to let him hurt you, I'm going to get you home safely. I know a shortcut to your house, okay?"
"Okay" Serenity nodded before following Ryou. The two didn't notice that Bandit Keith caught a glimpse of them and followed in their direction.
Ryou lead her through a couple alley ways that twisted and turned. Serenity looked over and was terrified by what she saw.
"Uh, Ryou" Serenity said, pointing behind them.
Ryou looked back and saw Bandit Keith in the distance. The thug was looking around, trying to find the pair. Ryou saw a large empty crate and thought quickly.
"Come on," Ryou said, lifting the top to the crate so he and Serenity could crawl inside.
Once they were safely inside, Ryou pulled the lid over the crate. They heard footsteps approaching and made sure not to move an inch. They didn't make a single sound as they heard the footsteps getting closer.
"Where the hell did they go?" They heard Bandit Keith mutter. "I guess that British dweeb is acting as her bodyguard now. Heh, it's going to take a lot more than that loser to keep me from getting my revenge"
Ryou saw the look in Serenity's eyes- the fear, the desperation. She wanted to cry and all Ryou could do was tell her Keith would never find her. Slowly the footsteps got farther and farther away. The two waited for almost an hour until finally coming out. From there, the two ran until they finally made it to Serenity's house. When they opened the door, they were surprised to find Joey, Yugi, Tea, and Tristan were waiting for them.
"Serenity!" Joey yelled as he ran over to Serenity and wrapped his arms around her.
"Joey? I thought you were all in America!" Serenity said.
"As soon as we heard what happened, we withdrew from the competition and came back here," Tristan told her.
"Of course, Tea also did a little persuading" Joey said. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine thanks to Ryou" Serenity said.
"It was nothing, really" Ryou said.
"Are you kidding me?" Joey said, grabbing Ryou in a hug so tight he could barely breathe. "You saved my sister's life, I owe you big time!"
"He may have saved my life a second time," Serenity said before explaining what had just happened.
When she was done, everyone was enraged. Joey looked as if he were about to explode when he got up and headed towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Everyone asked simultaneously.
"I'm going to go give that sick bastard a beating he'll never forget," Joey stood them.
"Joey, wait!" Serenity cried. "You can't go out there! He'll kill you!"
"I'm not letting that scumbag get away with attacking my sister," Joey said.
"I know you're angry but going out looking for fight is only going to get someone hurt" Yugi tried to talk some sense into Joey.
Joey knew that Yugi was right and calmed down a bit. But this wasn't the end of things by a long shot. Bandit Keith would pay for what he did.
In the next chapter:
"Serenity, what's your problem?" Joey asked, grabbing the side of his face.
"What's my problem? My problem is you always putting Duel Monsters first!" Serenity shouted. "You're almost always away at some Duel Monsters tournament!"
"I'm always alone since Mom is out gambling or wasting her money some other way! Do you have any idea how worried I get about you and you don't even seem to care!" Serenity continued.
"I-I didn't know you felt that way" Joey said.
"Of course you didn't because you're never around!" Serenity yelled, tears streaming down her face.
