Chapter Six

A Rainbow Born Only in a Storm

Rahlin twisted in midair. She watched Domino City's skyscrapers rush closer and closer. She prayed for her disbelief to be real, that time would stop, that she would wake up from this nightmare.

The wind in her ears screamed this wasn't some dream. She ripped her arms against her bonded wrists to no avail. Rahlin glanced over her shoulder. Her Chaos duel disk had appeared on her arm as she willed it.

Rahlin angled her hand towards her disk, but her fingers wouldn't reach her deck. All she needed was to touch that top card. Rahlin yanked her hands back and forth, but the zip tie wouldn't give.

She fell past the DOMA roof. She felt every pump of her pulse in every square inch of her body. Rahlin stretched her fingers toward the deck. Nothing. She wouldn't make it. She wouldn't.

Rahlin gasped. The top card wasn't tucked all the way into the deck slot. She bashed the duel disk against her body and strained her wrist against the zip tie. Her fingers reached the loose card.

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon materialized below her. She slammed into its wing and rolled off. A glass window shattered upon her impact. She landed inside an apartment, tumbled over a table, and collapsed on a carpet. A high-pitched scream kept her awake. A drink spilled onto the floor, and porcelain cracked on the ground.

"Yes, 911? This is an emergency! Please send an ambulance right away! My address is…" The frantic voice flickered with Rahlin's consciousness. A gentle nudge awoke her. Her eye was swimming. "The paramedics are on their way! Oh, gosh, you're all tied up. Let me help you!"

The pair of feet pattered away. Attempts focus on her own breathing were weak. She swore her right leg was in tremendous pain moments ago. Now she felt numb.

"Here, um… I'll have to move you a little bit… sorry." Her arms were slightly adjusted to the side. A snip later, Rahlin's hands were freed. She rubbed at her wrists. "Would it help if you sat up? You could lean against the table right here."

"S-sure."

She was slowly lifted to an upright position. Rahlin leaned back and heaved shaky breaths. She heard a light gasp beside her. The environment was fuzzy to her but she could focus on a pair of widened, brown eyes. She followed their line of sight to view her own leg. Jagged shards of glass were stabbed into her thigh. Blood dripped down her pants.

The person sitting beside her was captured in his own shock, and incoherent mutterings tumbled from his throat. Rahlin reached out and set a hand on his shoulder. She was forced to speak through her shallow breathing. "Look… don't… don't worry. It's… fine, okay?"

His hands fell from his face, and his expression relaxed. "Gosh, look at me. You're the one who's in trouble, yet you're the one comforting me. What can I do to help? Would you like a glass of water?"

The way he said 'water' was strange to her. She chalked it up to a mixture of the lack of sleep, whatever drug Kaiba's suits gave her, and the near-death experience. "Um… Yeah, I guess."

He rushed off to a different area of the apartment. Rahlin was able to see more of her surroundings. Broken glass littered the floor. She'd landed on the table and fallen between it and a cabinet. A potted plant sat on the cabinet.

The boy crouched next to her and held the glass out to her. She held it in her hand, and the sensation of the water's cool temperature affecting the skin of her fingers through her gloves awoke her. This was real, it was really happening; Rahlin had well and truly fallen through someone's apartment window because Seto Kaiba threw her out of a helicopter.

Rahlin reached forward and poured the water into the plant's roots. She said, "Your friend's… looking a little droopy. Make sure you pour close to the soil. Otherwise, it… it might not be getting the water it needs."

The tilting of his head showed his confusion. "But… but that was for…"

"Hey," Rahlin began, but she was forced to stop and catch her breath. She touched her leg. Her gloved hand came away bloodied. "I… I'm… I'm really sorry about this…"

The shock crashed over her. Rahlin lost consciousness.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Raindrops pitter pattered onto the windowsill. Dark clouds cast their shadows upon Domino City. The afternoon was dark and bleak as midnight. The hospital room was quiet as a morgue but for the machine beeps and raindrops' steady taps on the window pane.

There was a gentle sound, one easy to miss by human standards. The hitching of her breath was as easy to miss as a breeze passing over the rim of a champagne glass.

But he noticed. In a low voice, Dartz said, "She's awake."

Mai leaned forward in the visitor's chair beside him. Her hands slid over the edges of the armrests and tightened into a white-knuckle grip. The chair creaked with her movement.

Rahlin's eye fluttered open. Her fingers clenched the cloth of her bedding. She leaned up from the pair of pillows propped beneath her. Her muscles felt stiff, especially in her legs. She covered her pale, scarred arms with her hands and glanced down at the paper gown covering too little of her skin. "Where-"

Her voice was cracked from her dry throat. She coughed and reached for the water by her bed. The Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon plushie Mai had bought her on her first day rested beside the glass. Rahlin downed the cool tap water and said, "Where am I?"

Dartz spoke up. "You're in the hospital, Rahlin. You've been here since your accident two weeks ago."

"Two weeks," she wheezed. "What about the tournament?"

"Do not fear, my child." He kept his voice gentle and quiet. The silver bar across his lap kept his hands occupied. "The main bracket will begin in the coming days, and you're in. I'm proud of all the work you've done and the sacrifices you've made for DOMA. You are as exemplary as ever."

"You're being too nice," she muttered. "Did something happen?"

Mai clasped her hands together. Her expression was uncharacteristically downcast. "Rahlin, you need to know what the doctor said."

"It doesn't matter." She threw off the blankets. "I need to study up on my match."

"Wait, please," Mai pleaded. Rahlin set her feet on the floor. She pushed off the bed, took a step, and she fell. Rahlin leaned up on her palms and shook her head. Her legs were still stiff. It'd been two weeks, after all.

Mai said, "Rahlin…"

Rahlin pulled herself to her feet using the handle on the hospital bed. She was forced to lean heavily on her right side in particular. She stepped away from the bed.

And she fell.

"Rahlin, stop," Mai urged. Her eyes were shivering and her mouth twitched downward. Dartz could not bring himself to move. Despair leaked into his heart. Her hope should not have to be snuffed out. Yet…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Rahlin hauled herself up to stand by the hospital bed once more. She had come to the conclusion that her right leg had a bad case of falling asleep. At the moment, she couldn't feel it, and it wasn't quite responding to what she wanted it to do. Rahlin figured more movement would help, so she attempted another step.

And she fell.

"Stop it!" Mai shouted. Her voice was shaking, and tears sparkled at the corners of her eyes. "Don't you get it yet? You're crippled, Rahlin! It doesn't matter how many times you get back up and try. You'll never be able to walk on your own again."

Rahlin froze. She was on her hands and knees, and her eye was wide and empty. It wasn't real. It was all some dream, some miserable nightmare. Mai Valentine would not break down into tears on her behalf. Her patron would not be forlorn because of her condition. There was no condition. She could walk. She was fine. It had to be some mistake.

An outstretched hand entered her vision. She glanced up to see Mai's face, and her tears were dashed with black from her makeup. She said, "You can't do it alone, Rahlin."

Rahlin took her hand, and Mai pulled her to her feet. Rahlin nearly fell again but Mai's support saved her. Rahlin's body quaked as she realized she was relying on someone else for something as simple as standing. But.

But no. It had to be a mistake.

A hand squeezed her shoulder. She met the multicolored eyes of her patron. He whispered, "The doctor explained the glass you impacted with lodged in your right leg and severed your nerves. They were able to remove it, but there is no way to repair control back to the area. The humans of this world are so cruel. I'm sorry you've had to suffer under their hands again, my child. I'm so, so sorry."

Her expression was blank. She was waiting for the nightmare's end. The punchline. Anything to tell her it wasn't happening – it never happened.

Something cold touched her fingers. It was the silver object Dartz was holding earlier. He said, "I had this made for you. It was the best I could think of to do for you. If there is anything else you need, anything at all, I am at your beck and call."

Her hand fitted onto a smooth handle. It was a cane. Her cane. Below the handle, a curved, silver dragon was intricately carved into the design. Its eye was marked by a blue gem. The length of the cane had artwork of the same dragon in upwards flight.

It was beautiful, a true masterpiece, and Rahlin despised it. She wanted to throw it out the window and watch the raindrops mar it as though they were the dragon's tears. She didn't want it to exist. There was no need for it to exist.

Instead she found she could not move at all. Dartz called her name but she was hyper focused on the cane, the evidence of her crumbling reality. Dartz moved away from her, and Mai said, "She might be having some sort of breakdown."

Dartz observed her, her arms shaking and eye wide, and his face fell. He asked, "Could you stay with her? I fear for Alister's rashness after he learned of her condition and who caused it."

Mai glanced down at the girl clutching onto her with shaking hands. "Yes, that's fine."

After Dartz left, Mai muttered to Rahlin that she could help her back onto the bed. No response. She hooked her arm under Rahlin's legs with no resistance. The blank girl was behaving as though she were a doll. Mai placed her on the bed and, on a whim, passed her the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon plush.

To Mai's surprise, Rahlin swiped it out of her grip and hugged it against herself. Mai said, "Take all the time you need, kid."

She reached for the book she'd brought that was resting on the visitor chairs, but a knock interrupted her. She swung open the door and angled her head down to meet the dark eyes of the child who'd bothered her. She said, "No. Oh, no, you are not going to disturb her."

"C'mon, please!" he begged. He reached his arms towards Mai in a gesture of desperation. The movement caused his necklace, a backwards Duel Monsters card, to clink. "I just want to offer whatever I can. I feel really bad. I was the one with the setup to catch her, but her trajectory suddenly changed out of nowhere…"

"You're just here to try to make yourself feel better, not her," Mai said. "You may as well scamper back to your big brother."

"No way!" he shouted. "There were some things I needed to tell you guys, anyway. For one, KaibaCorp is covering all the medical bills. For two, if we need to cover anything else-"

"She's not up for talking right now," Mai said. She started to shut the door.

"Wait."

Mai stopped. The young boy peeked through the small crack left behind. The girl in the hospital bed had leaned forward, and her one eye was laser focused on him. She said, "As a matter of fact, there is something I would like from KaibaCorp."

The boy shouldered through the door and past Mai. He ran a hand through his long, black hair and said, "That's great! My name's Mokuba, and I want to do whatever I can to help you out!"

"Mokuba," Rahlin repeated. "I fell into an apartment. I would like for you to fix anything I happened to ruin when I did. I know a window is broken for sure, but anything else – furniture, decorations, anything – repair or replace it."

"Got it!" he said. "I know exactly which apartment you're talking about, too. Don't you want anything for yourself, though?"

"I would like for you to leave right now."

He acted as though he'd been slapped in the face. "O-oh, right. I'll go get that done. Roland! Time to go!"

Mokuba sprinted out the door. Mai listened to the squeak of his shoes on the tiles and the heavy footsteps of his bodyguard. The more she thought, the more confused she became. She said, "I thought you'd be angry at him. Why'd you ask for that?"

Rahlin had collapsed so she lay flat on her back. Her arms were crossed over the Toon plush, which she held tight against her chest. She muttered, "I just don't want there to be any more suffering."

Rahlin closed her eye. She didn't want to know how Mai reacted or if she did. She didn't want to know anything. She counted her breaths until she fell asleep.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Something prodded Rahlin's arm. She groaned and turned her face away from it. Mai sighed and poked her again. "You have to get up. You have physical therapy. They're going to teach you how to walk."

How to walk. An ache developed deep in Rahlin's chest. She'd known how to walk since she was a child. Now it was something she had to study? Rahlin grimaced and rolled onto her side to face away from Mai, who huffed. "I'm sorry, but this is something you have to do. I'm going to the bathroom. By the time I get back, you be ready to leave, okay? Your clothes are on the seat over here, and I'll knock before I come in."

The door whined open and closed. The click of Mai's heels echoed further and further away until it faded with the rolling carts and hurrying nurses. Rahlin sat up. Sure enough, her black-and-white suit was folded on the chair, tie and all. While it wasn't the most comfortable outfit Rahlin had ever worn, it was better than the itchy hospital gown.

She lifted her right thigh and swung it over the edge of the bed. Rahlin took a deep breath. She dropped to the icy cold floor. Outside, the rain sloshed harder onto the glass panes. The chair was a few feet from the bed. Rahlin knew walking wouldn't work. She could, technically, fall to the chair, but…

Rahlin risked a glance at the silver cane. It was propped against the side of the bed. She reached out and wrapped her fingers around the handle. It was somehow colder than the hospital floor. Colder than ice. Colder than her new reality.

She stepped with her left foot and kept her balance on the right with the cane. She moved forward. It was at half the pace and twice the effort, but she moved forward without falling.

Who needed physical therapy, anyway? The thought sank her heart. She envisioned herself falling on her face over and over again, and some stranger reassuring her with gentle phrases that amounted to nothing.

An exercise in misery was what it sounded like, Rahlin thought as she pulled on her suitcoat over her shirt. She adjusted her tie to what she thought was the center of her collar. With only one eye it always ended off-center, though.

She reached to pull her pants on over her underwear and froze. A lengthy, jagged scar darkened the pale skin of her right leg. It was downright horrid and for several moments Rahlin had to hold back her own vomit because of the never changing fact that it would never go away.

The nightmare was reality.

Rahlin swiftly tugged her pants up to her waist. Her breathing quickened until she buried her face in her hands. No, she refused to repeatedly embarrass herself in front of a stranger under the guise of "learning how to walk." She picked up her cane and stood on her own two, no, three feet.

She could walk just fine.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Outside the Domino City hospital, the weather was nothing short of nasty. Flashes of lightning touched the sky. Rumbles of thunder followed moments after. Rain poured in buckets from the black clouds.

Rahlin walked out from under the hospital's awning with no hesitation. The rain left her hair clinging to her cheeks and the back of her coat. Her bangs drooped and covered her eyes.

The weather was no matter beyond her immediate problem. She walked one step at a time, but she was so, so slow. Rahlin looked to the end of the block and thought of how she was able to sprint to it in seconds on her first day in Domino City.

Then there was the cane. It wasn't so much the cane itself but the necessity of it. The thunk she heard every time it met the drowning pavement was now a permanent part of her life. She would hear it over and over and over again.

Then there were the people talking. She didn't hear them at first, but they seemed to grow louder with every nook she passed. Wherever there was a haven from the storm, a stranger's voice accompanied it.

"That's her, isn't it? The phantom chick who's been creating the sleepers!"

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

"Nah, it can't be! Look at her all hunched over with a cane… it's closer to some old woman!"

Thunk. Laughter spilled from the coffee shop the conversations had come from. Thunk. Thunk.

"Yeah, they say she's put over fifty people in a coma," came a voice from a nearby bookstore. "The same one who forfeited against the King of Games."

Thunk. Thunk.

"Her? Yeesh. Her being associated with the sleepers must be a mistake. I mean, look at her."

Thunk.

"Yeah. No wonder she forfeited against Yugi."

Thunk.

"Someone like her could never be in the same realm as the King of Games."

Thunk. Thunk.

"I guess we should stay away just to be safe," a girl in a distant ramen bar commented, "but it's not like she could catch us, right?"

They laughed. Rahlin stopped at the corner of a dark street. There were no open businesses in sight and no cars coming from either direction. Streetlamps flickered. The sign across the road shone its white symbol of a person walking, indicating for her to go. Its light reflected off of her cane.

Her hands quaked on its handle.

She didn't need it.

She picked it up in her right hand. She stepped forward with her left foot. Rahlin careened to the side and splashed into the rainwater gushing by the sewer. It soaked through her clothes and drenched her skin. She was forced to use the cane to pull herself back to her feet on the sidewalk.

Rahlin glanced to the other side. The symbol had changed to an orange man with a large 'X.' Her fingers tightened on the handle of her cane.

And she cried. Tears ran down her right cheek that were masked by the rain and she sobbed in high-pitched tones that were lost in the storm's thunder. The storm's winds rushed past, and the chill rattled her to her bones. Rahlin bit down on her knuckle in an attempt to stop her teeth from chattering. Her sobs tore through despite it and her tears landed on her glove.

She was startled out of her crying fit. Something was different. The rain. It'd stopped. No, she could still see it hitting the water running down the street, but she couldn't feel it.

A black umbrella shielded her from the rain. Her gaze dropped to its owner, who was holding it over her and wearing a cheery smile. She noticed he was holding it so far to cover her that his other arm was left bare to the storm. She swiped her forearm across her face to remove her tears, but her soaked sleeve only made her face wetter. She snapped, "What do you want?"

"Oh! Well, I couldn't help but notice you from across the street. This weather is absolutely dreadful, and I can't imagine it's any better without at least an umbrella."

Rahlin glanced back to the light from the shops she'd passed and the laughter that haunted her still. She said, "Don't you… know who I am?"

"Why, yes," he said. "I do believe you are the girl who fell through my window."

Rahlin's eyebrows rose. She supposed his brown eyes could be seen as familiar, but that day was all a jumbled haze to her. "Oh. Sorry about that."

"It's quite a wonderful coincidence I ran into you," he said, his uplifting smile never faltering. "A few hours ago, some people showed up at my door and said they were fixing my window and replacing my stinky old carpet on KaibaCorp's dime. I can't imagine Kaiba being generous, so Mokuba explained you were the one who requested it. While it's not the best day to be kicked out of my own home, I appreciate your thoughtfulness nonetheless."

"It is not thoughtfulness," Rahlin grumbled. "I was merely repaying a portion of my debt, as is honorable. After all, if it weren't for you, I…"

She frowned at her leg. That day could have ended with Rahlin being much worse than crippled. The boy said, "It was honestly what anyone would have done. I've been hoping that you turned out alright. I thought about visiting the hospital, but that would probably be strange since we don't really know each other."

"But you know of me," Rahlin said. "Seems everyone in this city does."

He was still smiling. What was he, delusional? He said, "You saved my potted flowers."

"…Come again?"

"My flowers," he repeated. "To tell the truth, I'd neglected them. I hadn't even looked on that side of the room for a few weeks. You gave them your water instead of drinking it yourself, and you even gave me advice for them."

When he said the word "water" in his strange way, the memory of her last meeting with him became clearer. She looked away from him and said, "W-well, it's because I'd lost a lot of blood and I wasn't myself. That's all."

That smile widened with his laugh. He cleared his throat and said, "It's miserable out here, and you look awfully cold. Why don't we continue our conversation indoors? I know a nice café down the road. It's not too far of a walk for you-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Rahlin said. "You don't want to do that."

An inquisitive frown took the place of his grin. "Hm?"

"You don't want to be seen with me, and for good reason. I'm sure you've heard about everything I've done…"

"I see. But…" He looked up to the signal beyond the crosswalk, which had changed back to the white man walking. The emerald traffic lights reflected off the raindrops and the boy's long, white hair, which was styled in layers. A portion of it was slick by rainwater because he was holding his umbrella over her. He said, "I believe in what I see more than what I hear. I have learned that, in times of crises, people become their truest selves. If you could stand to put up with me for a little bit longer, I'd enjoy spending some time with the girl who saved my flowers, gifted me a new carpet, and comforted me when she was the one in pain."

To her shocked expression and mild blush, he offered his gentle smile. She sorely wished he had forgotten the part with the comforting. He said, "Oh! Where are my manners? I haven't even properly introduced myself! My name is Ryo. Ryo Bakura."

Ryo extended his hand towards her. Rahlin tossed her nose in the opposite direction. "Okay, Ryo, first of all, it wasn't comforting, okay, and second of all, if I go with you, it's only to fulfill the debt that I owe you. You could ask anything of me, but you only get one."

His hand returned to his side but his smile remained. "So you'll join me for some tea?"

"It's an absolutely ridiculous request," Rahlin scoffed. "Really, of all the things you could- wait. Did you say tea?"

"Come on, then. It's this way." Ryo nodded towards the signal with the white walking man. "I'll stay right beside you, if you're comfortable with that."

Rahlin thinned her eye. It was not humanly possible to be as nice as Ryo was being. He must've been faking it to get something out of her. Regardless, she could not decline him so long as she was indebted to him. Her best option was to play along for the time being. "Uh, sure."

She stepped onto the crosswalk, and he remained by her side.

Thunk.

Air hissed between her teeth with her swift intake of breath. The trembling returned to her limbs. She kept her hand on the cane, the goddamned cane, and she wanted to throw it across the road and walk away but she knew she wouldn't. She couldn't.

"Is… everything alright?"

Those brown eyes peered down at her with concern. She cleared her throat and stood as straight as possible. "Yes."

"Ah, okay. Sorry. I wanted to make sure. You take as long as is necessary. There is no rush whatsoever."

His smile showed his patience. Though he had a wealth of it, Rahlin didn't want him to have to spare any for her expense. She walked on at a steady pace. The thunks became less and less grating as she moved forward.

"Here we are." Ryo ducked beneath the café's awning and folded his umbrella closed. He held the door open and waited for Rahlin to hobble through. A couple and a group of three occupied two of the six total tables in the establishment. Their expressions were a blend of distaste and fear. Rahlin glanced to Ryo, whose smile had fallen for his apprehension.

"How do you feel about the table furthest in the back?" she asked. "Like, wayyy back."

"Hm? Oh. Yes. Sure." His voice was little more than a whisper. He grasped his elbow and stared at the floor more than anything else. Which was a shame, she thought, because the fluffy pastries in the glass display bar to their right looked delicious beyond her descriptive capabilities.

Rahlin figured it was her turn to lead the way. She walked to the far end of the café and observed the chair tucked beneath the table. Sitting, she knew, was a whole ordeal on its own.

"Oh! Did you want this one?" Ryo pulled out the chair for her. "If you'd like for me to hold any of your things or help in any way, I'm here to lend a hand."

She wanted to assure him she was fine on her own, but it was a lie. He was so damned nice that she couldn't tell a fib to him. Rahlin cleared her throat. "Actually, if you… Could you hold it right there? The chair, I mean."

Ryo kept his hands on the back of the low, wooden seat. Rahlin angled herself in front of it. She checked her position once, twice before lowering herself slowly until falling the rest of the way. Embarrassment heated her cheeks; she swore she heard giggles across the room. Rahlin muttered, "S-sorry. It's… the only way I know how."

"You shouldn't be ashamed of living your life, Rahlin," he said while pushing her chair in. "Is that alright?"

"Just fine. Um. Thanks. For saying that."

A smile graced his lips. He removed his long, black raincoat. "Would you like to borrow this? It's warm on the inside, and you seem to still be shivering."

"What? No!" she exclaimed. "I, I mean, I have a coat of my own, as you can see."

"It… appears to be soaked through."

Rahlin sat with her back straight. She grit her teeth to prevent them from chattering. "That's not an issue."

He admitted defeat by draping the coat over the back of his own chair. "What tea would you like?"

"Chamomile," she answered immediately, "but only if it has no lavender."

Ryo glanced to the dark sky beyond the window. "I suppose I'll join you. I usually order black, but it's a touch late for caffeine."

He walked towards the register. Rahlin laid her arm across the table and rested her head against it. Ryo sat down and said, "It'll be just a few moments."

"Why are you whispering?" she asked. "I can barely understand you since we came in here."

He laced his fingers together, glanced around the café, and leaned closer to Rahlin. "Sorry. I'm not good around a lot of people, and it's extra busy today."

"There's, like, six other people."

His stare dropped to his clasped hands. A server slid two steaming cups on saucers onto the table. She started into an explanation about sweeteners. She noticed Rahlin, cut off mid-sentence, and backed away until she was behind the counter.

Rahlin puffed a sigh. "Case and point. This was a bad idea for you. You don't want to be seen with me."

That sweet smile spread across his lips, and his eyes upturned. "It's perfectly fine. Excellent choice. The chamomile smells delicious."

She picked up her head and said, "Are you, like, not human?"

"Come again?"

"You are too kind and too patient – leagues beyond any person I have met."

"I take it as a compliment," he said. "Though, to be completely honest…"

Rahlin braced herself for the ulterior motive behind his seeking her out. He scratched at the back of his head, still smiling, and said, "I sort of owe you, too."

Her eye widened. "For trashing your apartment?"

"No, no. It's… difficult to explain." Ryo gazed into his tea and took a deep breath. In a soft voice, he said, "Before your accident, I hadn't left my apartment in weeks."

"Weeks? What about food?"

"I can call delivery," he said, "and they leave it by the door."

Rahlin's head tilted. "Are you… afraid of people?"

His eyes tilted down and shone. Rahlin felt as though she had just committed a heinous crime. Ryo said, "Sort of. It's just so complicated to try to explain, and I'll likely sound like an insane person…"

A sip of tea later, she said, "Well, I have great news. I heard that we are in no rush whatsoever, and you can take as long as necessary."

His anxiety streamed out with the spreading of his smile. "Where do I start? Oh… you see, there is a very valuable artifact in my family that was passed into my hands. It was a sort of necklace that I used to wear constantly, but…"

Rahlin peered at him over the brim of the teacup. "Buuut?"

"But the artifact came with a… a, um… a 'spirit,' of sorts."

"Spirit?" she mumbled. "You mean like the ghosty guy that follows Yugi around and… becomes him?"

A gasp escaped him. "You know about- yes, it's exactly like that! Except I don't have a relationship with my spirit like he does. My spirit…"

Ryo threaded his fingers tighter but his hands still trembled. In a quiet, quiet voice, he said, "My spirit controls me by force, and he uses me to do terrible things."

Raindrops left trails down the glass panes. People conversed and cups clinked in the distance. Rahlin was frozen in time, and her shoulders shuddered. She grasped her tie and focused on its soaked fabric to bring her attention back to her talk with Ryo. She breathed, "Shit. Shit, I'm so sorry. It must be miserable to- to be trapped inside yourself and be looking over your shoulder every moment you aren't."

He gave a small nod. "That's why I locked myself away. I told my friends I was going on vacation and was sure they wouldn't miss me. You sort of crashed my plans, though. Now I'm out here, and I don't feel afraid like I did in there. Oh, and… I didn't think I would meet someone so similar to myself."

Rahlin pointed to herself with a shocked expression. Ryo nodded with more enthusiasm than before. Rahlin said, "Woah, woah, okay, you and I are quite literally worlds apart."

"I can't stop thinking about how before you passed out, you kept apologizing over and over as though you had done something wrong."

"Worlds, I said. Worlds! And the last thing you'd want is to see yourself in me, of all people."

"But it wasn't anything you had control over. It wasn't as though you had any choice in the matter, yet you kept saying sorry for inconveniencing me. That moment sort of put it all in perspective for me, Rahlin, because it's absurd for you to take the blame upon yourself. That's when I realized I shouldn't punish myself for the spirit's wrongdoings. I wasn't in control of myself, but I was fully aware of what I was doing – how I made them so afraid and reveled in that fear. Now, though, I know it wasn't me. It wasn't. I have you to thank for helping me understand that. I'm sorry for dragging you here and giving speeches, but I had to thank you, Rahlin."

Ryo had a small smile. His chin was lifted and his eyes sparkled as though he could see the golden gates to heaven. Rahlin's head was lowered, and she stared at the cane upon her lap with a pained expression. Her fall was a disaster. It had ruined her life and changed her for the worse forever.

But it had saved someone else. To look him in the eye and say she'd wished she never fell through his window was unfathomable. After all, it was on his fault that she wasn't crying anymore. In the warm café with a steaming cup in her hands, she felt…

Alright.

"Hey, Ryo…"

"Hm?"

"You, um… You seem like an okay person. And. I'm. I'm glad I was able to help you."

That graceful smile appeared again. "Why, thank you. You're easy to talk to, Rahlin. I suppose it helps that you keep people away."

Rahlin choked on her tea. "That's a positive to you?"

He kept grinning. "Though, I do have to say… I don't think you're a bad person."

"You realize all the things people are saying about me are true, right?"

"Sure," Ryo said, "but I know more than anything else that there is more to a person than meets the eye."

Rahlin snorted. She held her hand in front of her mouth as she snickered. "I get it. Because of…"

She gestured towards her one eye. Shock overtook Ryo's expression, and he waved his hands in front of him. "No, no! I would never make a joke so dreadfully dark!"

Rahlin smacked her hand on the table repeatedly and laughed harder. "The look on your face!"

Ryo sighed, dropped his face into his hand, and laughed a little with her. Something behind the counter caught his eye. He said, "She's trying to close up shop. Would you like for me to walk you home?"

Rahlin caught herself before she defaulted to "no." She had left the hospital with the intention of avoiding physical therapy. The way from the café to Mai's apartment complex was a mystery to her. Rahlin rung her hands about her cane as she thought of how to approach the subject without inciting Ryo's panic. "Do you happen to know the way to the museum from here?"

"The museum? Sure. Would you like for me to take you there?"

"Please," Rahlin said. Ryo pulled out her chair for her and offered his hand. She wanted to decline him, to convince him and herself that she could do it by herself, but a similar outstretched hand tickled the back of Rahlin's mind.

Mai had said, "You can't do it alone, Rahlin."

Shattering Rahlin's scarce pride wasn't Mai's intention. A genuine desire to help urged Mai to speak. At the realization, Rahlin bit her lip and placed her hand in his. He helped her to her feet, and she hated how much she was shaking and how he must have felt it, too, but he kept smiling like there wasn't a problem in the world. She quickly grabbed the cane and leaned on it instead of him.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"You're very welcome." He held the door open for her again and opened his umbrella over her. "It's a little ways down the street and to the right. Shall we?"

Ryo walked with her, matching her slow pace without complaint. The melody of the raindrops on the umbrella was more savory to her sanity compared to the discordant cane thunks. They stopped at a crosswalk, and she spotted the museum's pale columns beyond it. A car glided over the wet pavement, casting a gust of wind towards the pair. The ruby-red taillights faded into the night.

They crossed the road together. They stood where streetlights on either side of the museum pathway intersected. Ryo looked to the cloudy sky. "I suppose this is where we part ways. Let's be sure to do this again. Oh! I could give you my phone number."

He reached for his pocket. Rahlin said, "Wait. I actually don't… have one of those."

His silver eyebrows shot up. "A phone? Really? How can we see each other again? It's a big city, and I only ran into you purely by chance…"

Rahlin was taken aback by his true interest in wasting time on her. She said, "I, um, the tournament?"

"Hm?"

"The tournament. The one DOMA- I mean, the one KaibaCorp is putting on. I'll be in it. I won't exactly be surrounded by fans or anything, so you could find me there."

"Wonderful!" he said.

"You use that word an awful lot."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's not a problem."

He wore that cheery smile of his and said, "Wonderful."

"Okay, now it is a problem," she said, and he laughed. Rahlin folded her hands over her cane handle. "Anyway, I know the way from here. Good-by, Ryo Bakura."

Rahlin took a step away from him. He exclaimed, "U-um!"

The rain still wasn't hitting her. She glanced back. He was leaning towards her and holding out his arm to continue shielding her with his umbrella. His other hand clenched at his pantleg. Rahlin wondered what had him so nervous. "Yeees?"

Ryo stepped closer. A nod towards the handle coerced her into grasping it with her free hand. Ryo backed away a step. She asked, "What's this for?"

His hands were clenched at his sides, and his mouth trembled. "I-I just wanted to say…"

Rahlin brushed her wet bangs away from her eye. Ryo was exposed to the storm and the light, which caught in his brown irises. Rahlin cocked her head. He had been silent far too long. "Is something the matter?"

He shut his eyes and blurted, "I- I just… I think- I wanted to- Um, all I want to say is – and forgive me if this is intrusive – I very much hope you won't go crying again, and I think your smile is far lovelier!"

Ryo turned and walked away at a brisk pace. Rahlin blinked. She wasn't sure whether to move or not or if she even could. She was watching him leave and noting how there wasn't any color in the world except for in the streetlights he passed under.

In the series of lights, she spotted the faintest glimmer of every color of the rainbow.

Rahlin then realized Ryo had left the umbrella in her hand. She leaned it back against her shoulder and tilted up her chin to watch the rain fall. The corners of her lips jolted once, twice.

Rahlin smiled.

She wiped her hand across her mouth, leaving it in a neutral expression. What was she thinking? The day was a disaster. A part of her was dead weight. Permanently. She was forced to rely on something as humiliating as a cane, like she was an old crone.

There couldn't be a silver lining. She would have to be insane to feel that way.

Rahlin turned towards the direction of Mai's apartment. Ryo's umbrella tapped against her shoulder. The handle was warm from when he'd held it, and the warmth spread to her.

And the smile came back.

End of Chapter Six

A/N: BGM: Divinity - Porter Robinson

Sorry this chapter ended up being extra long. All of it was difficult for me, every last line. I'd love to know what you think. Oh, and Happy New Year. It's a time of, er, change. I appreciate you taking the time to read.