Love Hurts

By Jet Set Yoyo

Disclaimer: I do NOT own yu-gi-oh If I did I wouldn't be writing fics on the internet.

("Talking", Thinking, 'flashbacks', 'Mind link's')

Thanks for the reviews guys. Here's the next chapter.

It had been a week since Ryou ran away from Bakura and to his surprise, the beatings stopped. Bakura even stopped leaving his room until Ryou left for school or to go to a friend's house. In the slight chance that they did cross paths, Bakura would pretend Ryou wasn't there and walk on.

What did I do? This isn't like him at all… I'm worried. The young boy thought to himself, frowning as he looked at Bakura's closed door. Curiosity finally getting the better of him he marched over and knocked lightly on the door.

"Bakura? Bakura, can you come out please?" he asked quietly. Not even a shuffled could be heard coming from the other side. Sighing Ryou left the house. Maybe I'll go see Yugi today…no I don't want company.

Walking down the road he looked around absentmindedly at the run-down apartments he passed. Money was tight for him and Bakura so they'd lived in one of the worst parts of town, which so happened to have the cheapest housing. He ignored the otherwise suspicious looking people that most people would hurry inside upon the sight of and continued on to his favorite spot to get away; a river, but the area it occupied had long been cut off from the rest of the world by buildings and overgrowing vines. Sighing he sat down on the river's edge and stared into the water looking at his reflection.

Why won't he come out? All I did was… I didn't do anything, what's his problem! He growled to himself his mood changing from one of self-pity to anger. Flinging a nearby pebble into the rushing waters he felt temporarily satisfied when it drowned in the moving water. I want him to be just like the Pharaoh, kind and gentle but always willing to protect. Bakura does nothing of the sort, he'd sooner see me dead than to be like the Pharaoh he hates so much. It's not fair! Why don't I ever get anything, everything and everyone always gets taken from me. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them tightly, burying his face in between them. Letting out a sob he was no longer aware of his surroundings or the two men that approached him from behind.

By the time Ryou did notice the men it was too late. One of them, a burly man with tanned skin and no shirt grabbed his arms from behind restraining him; not that scrawny little Ryou could do much against them anyway. The second man placed a cloth over his mouth and he breathed in sharply, noticing too late that he shouldn't have done that. His vision faded and he felt his body go limp before he was whisked off to dream land against his will.

Waking abruptly he looked at his surroundings which resembled nothing more than a warehouse. Boxes upon boxes were stacked in large piles on every side of him. Am I boxed in here like this? It seemed strange to him that he was kidnapped and yet his kidnappers didn't even tie him up. Moving towards the boxes he grabbed onto one and tried to pull himself up, thinking he could use the edges to climb. There were more piles behind the pile he was climbing. The tower of boxes began to sway under the weight and he let go immediately. The boxes can't hold my weight; they'll surely crush me if I try to climb them. I guess I'm stuck here; no one will save me. That didn't stop him from calling out though.

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Can anyone hear me? Please, I'm stuck in here. Help!"

Hours of screaming his lungs out proved futile as no one came to his rescue, neither did his kidnappers come to shut him up. Am I going to die here? Or will they come back and kill me? Falling to his knees he being to cry uncontrollably. I should just die; Bakura thinks I'm useless and worthless anyway. I'm so tired of being bullied, beaten and ignored. There wasn't much he could do either way, he was stuck in there with no windows and pushing the boxes over was his only option for escape. Somebody just kill me. Get it over with, I don't want to starve to death here. Flashbacks of Bakura plagued his mind.

"Worthless brat, you don't deserve anything." Bakura snapped kicking the young teen in the stomach as he lay in a heap on the floor.

"Who the fuck do you think you are!?" Bakura screamed, snatching the food from Ryou's hands and throwing it to the floor, "You eat when I tell you to."

Ryou closed his eyes and sighed as the flashbacks faded away. Bakura's right, I don't deserve anything. He was right the whole time, I've been really bad. Letting his body fall onto its side, he curled into a ball and squeezed his eyes shut; trying to shut out the world. Ignoring the sound of footsteps, he laid there quietly accepting his inevitable death to come.

The burly man returned and Ryou blinked away the remaining tears, looking at his captor between the boxes. What does he want from me? I don't have anything worth much. The man sneered and shoved half of a sandwich in his mouth.

"Is the little brat hungry? Too bad!" he laughed chewing his food making sure Ryou could see him.

"Worthless brat." Bakura's words echoed through his mind. I know, I know already!

"You want to know why we've kidnapped you, huh brat!?" the other man, the one who put the cloth over his mouth spoke out, coming closer to the enclosure of boxes, "We want Bakura. That thieving sneak took what was rightfully ours. So now we've got his precious little brother in exchange. When he comes running to find you, we'll let him have it. How does that sound, brat?"

If only you knew. We're not brothers, not even close. And besides, he doesn't care about me.

"You're wasting your time, he won't come for me." Ryou croaked, his voice still hoarse from screaming.

"What did you say to me!? Shut the fuck up!"

That was all it took to piss off the two men who after stormed out of wherever they were slamming the door behind them. I won't let you hurt Bakura anyway. Ryou sighed laying on the cold floor shivering now. The sun began to set outside and the temperature began to drop. The lights weren't on and he laid there shivering in the dark for what seemed like forever. He couldn't keep track of the time any longer and was completely oblivious to the time of day.

Meanwhile as night had fallen Bakura had noticed Ryou never came back. Even if he'd holed himself up in his room he could still hear the boy come home and he normally would try to coax him out of the room at least once a day. Unlocking his door he opened it a crack and peeked out. The lights were all off and Ryou's door was open, meaning he was still out. He'd always leave his door open when he left. Searching the entire house he finally came to the conclusion Ryou was in fact not there. He looked up at the clock; nearly 2 in the morning. Why isn't he back yet!? Bakura furrowed his brow and stormed out the door.

After hours of searching he realized that Ryou wasn't at school, that damned Pharaoh's house, or any of his other little friends' houses. There wasn't a single place he could think his light would go that he hadn't already checked. As the clock neared 3AM, Bakura finally realized something was definitely wrong. He wouldn't run around like a chicken with its head cut off searching for the hikari, that would ruin his reputation. But something here was gravely wrong and Ryou could be in danger. Off towards the worst part of town he hurried, not ran, in search of a clue.

Hehe, cliffhangers for the win! Let's see what happens to poor Ryou next, maybe I'll torture him a little longer. And what's up with Bakura? Does he care more about his reputation than the fate of his Hikari, or is he just trying to act cool? Review please, it makes me feel like I'm writing for something. Maybe I'll go a little easier on Ryou too...