Whoo… Chapter three was by far, my favorite so far. Actually, I wasn't pleased by how it was written, and I guess compared to the other chapters, I crammed a lot into one chapter. Not very much thinking on my part, and I'm sorry for all of you readers. Prepare for a bit of drama in this next chapter. I'm not going to ramble on about inspiration or anything, so..
At least enjoy chapter four if you want to read on.
Hands holding firmly onto his shirt, Ryou didn't want to let go of Bakura or let him leave. That kiss he thought he had dreamed was strange, it had been from his Yami, who he'd never thought would care for much more than anything else in the world. What made his mind change now, and why did Bakura have to kiss him? He moved a hand away to touch a stinging eye, he hadn't noticed he had cried briefly till now. He wasn't quite sure whether the tears were a sign he was happy, or shocked. His hand rubbed at his eyes gently, wincing at the friction on his eyelids. There was movement from Bakura and Ryou's hand moved away from his face and back to his Yami's shirt. He grasped it but was pushed away quickly, having a firm hand on his chest press him down to the floor.
"Don't bother with- just forget this ever happened," His eyes were cold and hurtful when Ryou looked up at him. It was something he didn't understand, he was happy a moment ago, wasn't he? Bakura was partially on his feet already and his hand was still on the Hikari's chest, feeling the heart beats that thudded roughly on his ribs. He grit his teeth in slight anger at himself, but it made the boy flinch. Getting up, the Yami turned away and folded his arms over his chest.
Ryou was still hanging on the traces of the past few moments, and he didn't want to break the moment now. The cold refusal from him now wasn't going to stop him from trying to get answers, but the regret that seemed to be around Bakura now, was painful to bear. Sitting up, his hands reached out lightly but soon lowered as he swallowed.
"I wont forget," There was a frozen silence as Bakura turned lightly and glared at his Hikari with a dagger like stare. The determination that was compiled on Ryou's face wasn't going to be there long. He ground his teeth together and grabbed Ryou's shirt in his fist, pulling him up.
"You wont, what?"
"I… I wont forget Kura-kun, even if you want me to, I can't." Those words were softly spoken, but clearly there. It was a trigger of emotions but only one showed on the Yami's face. Air brushed by quickly on Ryou's body as he was tossed down against the kitchen cabinets. The oxygen in his lungs was forced out from the sudden impact on his back. Eyes wide, he stared back at where he was, in Bakura's grasp.
"You fool! What do you mean by can't? Why can't you?" Furious he couldn't control his Hikari, he bitterly turned away for a moment before walking over again, his hand raised as if to hit the shaking boy. He stopped, unable to bring himself to do it. It made Ryou thankful for his life that he had not hit him, instead he got a cold stare.
"I can't get it- out of my head." He swallowed and tried to relax, hoping if the anger and fear was cleared from the room, Bakura would calm down enough to be reasonable. "Do you not want feelings?" His white hair moved in front of him as he was going to stand up, but the pain in his shoulder blades, made him lean forward quickly. One of his brown eyes closed as his hair was grasped in a tight fist. The slight pull; on his hair that came next made a high sound escape him.
Bakura had a hand tangled in the boy's long white locks and it was clenched so tightly his knuckles almost blended in with his hair. He bit his lip, he didn't need feelings for his Hikari, not like this and the thought of having them just made him confused and pained with anger.
"I don't need to care," Sighing he let go and moved to lean against the counter. His hands gripped the edge behind him and his eyes focused down on Ryou who touched his hair lightly in attempts to make his head less sore from the pull. He was leaning over and slightly trembling in shock and fear. The boy wasn't going to give up though, he did have some determination left. "But I do."
Ryou's trembling stopped as he heard his Yami speak up again, and this time, it wasn't harsh. He looked back at him a bit and swallowed. He was standing be his back, hand clutching tightly on the counter and his eyes lightly focused on him, and not sharp with anger or icy feelings which he was never sure why they were there to begin with.
One of Bakura's hands removed itself from the counter and swiped gently at his own hair. He wanted to move the bothersome bangs that dangled in front of his eyes when he looked down. Fruitlessly, he moved the locks of white fluffy hair. He ground his teeth, eyes shadowing as he lowered his head, hand by his forehead. There was a touch on his pants. Ryou had managed to ignore the sore spot on his back and turned to grasp at his Yami's pants.
"Are you going to be okay?"
Soft words of concern and caring. What use was Bakura going to need from those? He tenses and used his foot to gently move the boy away. He moved his hand quickly away from his forehead and out slightly.
"Who knows if I'll be okay?" He snapped slightly, and growled the words bitterly before sighing. He could he a gasping sound from Ryou, but he ignored it. The boy could be frightened for a moment and relax just the same way. He had closed his eyes and didn't look at the Hikari because he didn't want to look at the gentle eyes.
Ryou on the other hand, was eyeing Bakura with a wide stare, that held shock and fear. At first it was only from the sudden outburst of anger, but it had changed to a sickening fear for him. The blade that was stuck in the cutting board had a red sheen on the surface of metal.
"K, Kura-kun let me-" He was starting to stand up and reach for Bakura's hand but the hand moved away and moved his Yami's bangs instead. It made his heart lurch for a moment and he closed his eyes.
Bakura felt a wet warmth slip from his hand onto his forehead and hair. Opening his eyes he looked at his palm and wrist where blood stained. The red drops dripped down and the stinging sensation was finally something he realized. He cursed the sight of it and narrowed his eyes. A stumbling sound and rush of footsteps made him look to the hall. Ryou's back was the thing he saw first before it headed behind the wall. He was rushing to get bandages, but from where he stood, Bakura thought he was running away from the sight.
"Tsk!" He held his wrist with his other hand and pressed on it roughly. "Brat, he could at least-" The thudding sounds of footsteps hurried back and Bakura could see trembling hands holding bandages and a towel. Blinking, he was slightly shocked the boy would try to help him after his attitude towards him. Ryou dampened the towel and wiped gently at the blood before using it to press over his Yami's hand and wrist. His fingers fumbled over bandages as he tried to clean the mess and wrap the cut at the same time. His eyes were full of worry and Bakura just held out his hand slightly. Letting him wrap a wound he had accidentally gotten while being angry at himself. He swallowed the thought back for it was clinging in her throat and choking him.
He hadn't noticed the boy was done until he stepped away, staring down at his hands that had red staining his skin. Bakura grabbed the towel and used a mostly clean side to wipe off his own hands before taking Ryou's and rubbing the red gently away from his skin. There were small drops that fell onto the newly cleaned hands as Bakura moved the towel away. He blinked and looked at the Hikari who stood there with wet eyes. With a sigh he placed a hand on his head.
"I'm fine. Relax and go sit down or something." He muttered the words a bit and nudged the boy towards the table where a chair was still knocked over from earlier. He ignored that and cleaned up his blood from the floor and counter. The knife that was in the cutting board though, was tossed into the sink carelessly. He felt no need to bother with it at the moment. He sighed and watched Ryou place his hands to his head after picking up the chair and sitting on it.
Walking over took a lot of thought on Bakura's behalf. He didn't want his Hikari to be frightened, but at the same time, he didn't want to add on anymore unneeded feelings between them. He pushed both thoughts out of the way and had to will himself to walk over remove his hands from his temples and put them on his lap.
"Why are you still upset?" Ryou's eyes gazed at the forgotten streak of blood through white hair and on Bakura's forehead. He didn't mention it though, not wanting the thought of it stuck in his mind. Instead he focused on his eyes, shaking his head slightly.
"I was worried," That simple enough, but his voice creaked with a shaky tone. He felt a hand be placed on his head and ruffle his hair a bit, messing it up a bit. He looked up through his bangs at bandages that had a slight hint of the red fluid peeking through the fabric. He opened his mouth to say something about new bandages but there wasn't anything to say when there was a knock at the door.
There was a swift sigh that escaped Bakura's lips as he stood to answer the door. The movement of air moved Ryou's bangs and made him blush as he felt it on his skin. The sound of shoes on the floor released a calming effect on Ryou, he just sat on the chair staring down at his hands that were placed on his lap lightly. Near them, red was on his clothes, but he ignored it, hoping it wouldn't bother him much longer.
Bakura shifted his hair a bit and opened the door. His eyes were closed as he muttered a greeting. He paused when there was silence and opened one eye. He could see wide eyes of three people. It seemed today wasn't going in his favor for the three standing there were Atem, Joey and Yugi. Their expressions were priceless and normally He'd be smirking at that, but he just raised an eyebrow and leaned on the door frame.
"If you're going to just stand there, I'll shut the door. What did you three want?" He narrowed his eyes a bit, not pleased that they came to visit now of all days. There was silence before a hand was pointed right in his face, centimeters away from his nose. He watched the shocked expressions on Joey and Atem's face change to what seemed to be anger.
"What the hell is on you?" That was Joey's question? Bakura glanced down at his shit and noticed that he didn't just bleed on the floor.
"Kitchen accident- what more do you want from me? Is that all you wanted to do here?" He glared back at them.
"Kitchen accident? Where's Ryou?" There was a sharp grab on his shirt and his back was pressed onto the wall. Bakura closed an eye in disgust as he was held against the wall by Joey while Yugi and Atem stepped inside.
"In the kitchen, idiot! Now put me down!" Both eyes were now open and he ground his teeth together as he hissed the words in anger. Yugi hurried to the kitchen finding Bakura standing up and blood also on his clothes. It had frightened him to think that his friend might have been dead, but he was alive and blinking at the sudden entrance he had made.
"Yugi? What's going in there?" He tried to look around him but he noticed that he had rushed closer.
"Ryou! You're not hurt are you? What happened?" A glistening bloody knife in the sink startled him and he gasped slightly. Swallowing, Ryou shook his head.
"I'm fine, really. It was just a cut that Bakura had-" Atem had left Joey to deal with Bakura as they argued in the next room and had entered the kitchen. The appearance from him made Ryou blink and pause.
"So he cut you?" His narrowed eyes were fixed on Ryou who shook his head quickly.
"N, no! That's not what happened, I promise!" A crashing sound in the next room made he and Yugi flinch.
Bakura held his head slightly in one hand. Joey, hearing Atem's question, had hit Bakura, knocking him into the side table in the living room. He grabbed the white hair that was atop his head he was ready to hit him again. He stopped only at a shriek from behind him.
"Stop! Stop, please!" Bakura turned his head slightly to see Ryou behind Joey, his eyes wide with fear. He kicked Joey off and stood up wiping slightly at his shirt. He was glaring at Joey with daggers and as soon as Yugi and Atem were in the room, the sharp stare was directed at them as well. A red mark was on his jaw, the start of a bruise.
"But he hurt you, didn't he?" Joey was still tense and not ready to give up what he thought he knew.
"Joey! You might want to look at them." A sharp correction from his friend made Joey tense and look over at Ryou a little. He didn't see that he was injured, maybe frightened and with traces of blood, but it wasn't like he was in pain. Reluctantly, he looked at Bakura, there were bloody bandages wrapping his wrist which he hadn't noticed earlier. He didn't want to give up though. There had to be something.
"But-"
"Is it that you just wanted an excuse to hit me, Wheeler? Heh, looks like what they say is true. You're like a dog- but without a tight enough leash. Crawl back to your owner," Bakura smirked slightly as Joey steamed with anger, obviously irritated by that comment. "It's just right to blame everything on the so-called 'Bay Guy' isn't it?"
"What happened then?" Through gritted teeth Joey asked with malice towards him, not really wanting to seem like he cared at all after that comment from Bakura.
"It was a kitchen accident, what else?" Bakura's hand was now on his wrapped wrist, hiding the blood staining the bandages when Ryou's eyes moved to look there.
"Th, that's enough, we just wanted to come by to hang out. We're sorry that this happened." Reasonable Yugi, trying to make the situation better. Ryou though, was still shaken up from the argument and accusations, while Bakura was holding a grudge secretly, but seeming to let it slide. A smile was formed on Yugi's face, but the others didn't seem to smile as easily. The smile faltered as Joey and Bakura glared at each other a bit longer.
"What are we going to do?" The silence was finally shattered by a soft voice from Ryou. He was still a bit nervous, and he had noticed that the bandages he had wrapped weren't enough. He thought about what he might have done wrong, maybe he had wrapped them too thin?
"There was the idea of-" Hands covered his mouth before Atem could finish. His eyes narrowed and looked at Joey, with obvious irritation.
"We shouldn't even bother, not with the mood Bakura's in!"
"What's that suppose to mean?" Coldly and bitterly he wished Joey's mouth was taped shut. "Maybe you have the bad attitude?" They growled and glared at each other but Atem ignored them both.
"After you disappeared from the arcade, we had a few ideas," Ryou blinked and looked at him. He didn't notice that Yugi was looking at him as well, but he could tell that he could have been questioned for all he knew. They had questions and seemed to want to know the reason why he left.
"Sorry about that. I should have said something," He was given a couple smiles and it made him smile slightly in return.
"Huh? The arcade earlier?" Bakura pushed himself into the conversation with that comment. "Sounds like a fun time, maybe you can fill me in a bit?"
"There really isn't a need is there?" Tensing, Bakura let his gaze settle on the pharaoh. "You were there at one point- you left just before Ryou did, didn't you?" He had nothing else to say to that.
"So you're saying you know everything I do, is that it?" Stepping in now, Ryou looked between them both. He looked at his Hikari a awhile before Bakura backed down from starting up another argument. It was just a comment towards the nosy pharaoh, but he could tell Ryou wanted it to remain at that.
"What were those ideas you mentioned?" His brown eyes blinked as he looked at Yugi and Atem a bit. Wondering what they were thinking. An arm fell over his shoulders, startling him at first but then he relaxed.
"Let's just go with my idea!"
"I thought it was kind of Tristan, and Marik's idea as well, Joey. Actually none of you would have had the idea if Tea didn't bring up the DDR incident." Yugi had added in before Joey could continue he got an exasperated glance from his blonde friend, but he ignored and smiled back a bit.
"Well, what I was going to get to is- that you need a change of clothes," Joey's finger poked Ryou's chest. His eyes however, went to Bakura reluctantly and he sighed. "I guess you could too."
"What for Joey?" Instantly regretting that question, Ryou was turned forcibly toward Joey who was smirking. He swallowed, not sure if this was going to be a good thing, or not.
