I apologize IMMENSELY for Yami Bakura's characterization here. ;;; I had a very different mindset for him when I wrote this three and a half years ago, and I've tried to fix it and tone it down while refusing to rewrite the entire thing. So… he'll get better. I promise. ;;;
I'll also take this moment to apologize for the pause between Chapter 4 and this one. This was awful to work on—it's all exposition, awkward character interactions, and a lot of it was just a mess in general. Hopefully this'll be readable. As well, I've started another long YGO! fan-fiction, called "King of Games". I'm not giving up or putting on hiatus HOSTage.0, but I will admit that "King of Games" is more intriguing to me, and I'll probably put more work into it. If you're interested, I'd be really honored if you'd give it a look!
BUT NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE HALF NEW MATERIAL, AND THEN FROM THERE IT'S NEW SAILING, SO THAT IS EXTREMELY EXCITING. Chapter 6 is a bit more foundation-laying, but then CHAPTER 7 HAS VIOLENCE, AND NOT CARD GAME VIOLENCE, BUT ACTUAL PUNCHING-AND-KICKING VIOLENCE, AND I AM SO EXCITED YOU GUYS. (Nothing too graphic, though, so either be relieved or disappointed as you will.)
Alright, enough apologies, I hope you enjoy the chapter (as much as you are able to).
~Atakiri
Chapter 5 -_-_- This is Not Me
Yami pushed himself out of the stone throne he had fallen asleep in. His muscles ached as he moved, and he lurched as he got to his feet. His partner was only a very faint feeling in the back of his chest, muffled by the walls and hallways separating them. He frowned and put a hand to his head to steady himself. What had happened? Yami Bakura had attacked him in the Shadow Realm, and that was all he remembered.
Had Yugi gone free?
Was Bakura lost in the shadows?
Had the Shadow Realm punished Yami Bakura for cheating?
He walked drunkenly out of the room, bumping against the sandstone walls and leaning on them for support. His feet felt unsure beneath him, and the world seemed to be spinning.
"Yugi…" he muttered weakly. He pushed himself past another door frame, looking at the deep maze that was the Room of his Mind. It was even worse than usual—the stairways were now tilting in all sorts of impossible angles he'd never seen before, some looked inside out, there was a new density to the steps and at least forty times more doors, and it all seemed to be waving in and out like a curtain trapped in a breeze. Reflecting his own confusion and disorientation. Ugh. He wondered if he'd ever get out again.
It took him what felt like an age of the earth, though it could have been five minutes. But finally he went through a door and stumbled into the hall that separated his Room of Mind from his partner's. He could feel his host's presence a little more strongly now, and he lurched towards the other door, prying it open.
"Yugi—" he started, but he stopped. This room wasn't the one he was familiar with—he had never seen it before. It was dark, with swirling shadows circling within it. The walls looked like they had been brightly colored once, but now the colorful, childish wallpaper was peeling in places and looked worn out and tired. In the middle of the room was a single white column, Greek looking, fading in and out of existence. It was around this that the shadows circled, and Yami could see through the column toys and bright playing cards and Monster World figures all gathered together into a hurried pile. On top of the pile sat the white shadow of an angel with a face Yami couldn't make out. A soul trying to protect its innocence and its identity from the swirling evil surrounding it.
This was not Yugi's Room of Mind.
What was going on?!
Bakura opened his eyes very, very slowly. It took a longer time for the world to come back into focus. He was in his own room, the one he had lived in for the last few years after his last school transfer. There was the lamp on his ceiling, with the fluorescent red circle where a bouncy ball had gotten away from him and had fallen into the glass bowl. There were his walls with posters of Monster World promotions and photographs of England and his old home. A book shelf with barely-touched school books, well-worn popular novels, and collections of gaming and manga magazines. Everything as he had left it.
He closed his eyes again, feeling the softness of his blankets around him. It had been a long time since he'd been in total control of his body, and he'd missed how good it felt not to be sequestered in the Room of his Mind. The Yami Bakura had been running him ragged lately, doing who-knew-what; Yami Bakura did not allow his host to be around when he was working. It was why Bakura had been so tired lately, so exhausted to the bone. And it had been why he couldn't tell Yugi about it, either.
If anyone was to understand his dilemma, he knew it would have been Yugi; Yugi had saved him from the power of the Spirit of the Millennium Ring once before, and Yugi had a spirit within him as well. Granted, that spirit was benevolent, but sharing one's body was still an experience he could relate to. But Yami Bakura had threatened him—in those rare times when he retreated to the Room of his Mind to think or to rest, as even spirits needed to, and left Bakura in charge of the body—that if he informed Yugi about anything, even so much as Yami Bakura's presence, Yami Bakura would make sure terrible things happened not only to Bakura, but Yugi and his friends as well. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring had never hurt him purely out of malice before, but Bakura didn't doubt that he could.
But that he could handle. What was a little physical pain on top of the mental pain he bore every day? But his friends being hurt… Bakura dreaded that happening more than anything. Yugi was his friend, as little time as the two were able to spend together. He didn't count himself as one of Yugi's "group", but he'd have loved to be a part of it. Maybe if Yami Bakura hadn't come back into his life, hadn't made everything so complicated. Bakura had been determined to protect Yugi from the dark spirit that dwelt inside him—even to slapping Yugi away when he almost touched the Millennium Ring hidden under Bakura's shirt. He'd been determined to never let Yugi know of the Millennium Ring's presence again. He would keep Yugi safe.
He forced his eyes open again. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring was being very quiet; he wasn't trying to shove himself into control of Bakura's body at all. That didn't sit right with him—Yami Bakura enjoyed being in control of a body as much as Bakura realized he himself did, and would hardly ever give up an opportunity to be the dominant soul in it. And it's not like Bakura was ever able to put up much of a fight, especially when he was like this. But the spirit that dwelt in him now wasn't doing anything—and he was definitely awake, though he was still deep in the Room of his Mind.
His fingers curled around themselves anxiously. This wasn't right at all. Yami Bakura never left him alone without some kind of message or warning about being on his "best behavior", and the last time Bakura had been conscious was when Yugi had come to his apartment to check on him. He had tried to warn Yugi to leave, but then Yami Bakura had forced himself into control, and even though Bakura had managed to fight him off for a short while, it was only a moment before the spirit had shoved Bakura into his Room of Mind and blocked the door behind him. What was going on? Had something happened to Yugi? Did he know about the Millennium Ring now?
"Bakura! You're awake!" Bakura bolted up in alarm, his white hair flying around him. He looked around wildly, his brown eyes finally setting on Tea Gardner, sitting in a chair beside his bed. He was in shock. What was she doing here?! Why was she in his room?!
"T-Tea!" he shouted, as eloquent as ever. His hand instinctively moved to his chest, covering the Millennium Ring under his shirt. The look of relief on Tea's face was so acute it almost hurt.
"Bakura, we were so scared!" She leaned forward and hugged him, and it took him a second to recognize it; he was still processing her words.
"'We'? What were you worried about? Why are you here?" he asked. His mind felt like it was smothered with a blanket—thick and fuzzy. Something had happened in the short time since Yami Bakura had forced control in the hallway. With a start, he realized that he didn't know if it had been a short time or not—usually his sense of time was as accurate when he was in the Room of his Mind as when he was in control of his body, but he realized now that he had no idea how much time had passed. This disturbed him more than anything so far, to the point where he was nearly shaking; he never lost consciousness entirely. Never. But this time, he had, and for him to have been struck down while he was in his Room of Mind meant something catastrophic must have occurred.
It took every lost drop of willpower he had to be still until Tea let go of him and sat back up in her chair.
"Do you not remember?" she asked. The concern in her voice struck Bakura again, and he felt awful; how much he wished he could be one of their friends! Tea was already this worried about him—he couldn't imagine how much she would care if he was one of the group. For a second the image of him spending his time with Yugi and his friends filled him with a sort of muted joy, but he pushed it away. It was impossible right now, as long as Yami Bakura was around. "Bakura, what's the last thing that you do remember?"
"Y-Yugi came over to check in on me," he said, unable to keep the trepidation out of his voice. His heart was beating very quickly. Had something happened to Yugi? Please, don't have let him have done anything to Yugi…
Tea didn't seem satisfied with his answer, but she understood it.
"We don't really know what happened, but we think you might have been attacked by a Rare Hunter," she admitted. He stared at her, his eyes wide and confused.
"Rare Hunter?"
"They're awful people who steal rare cards from duelists!" Tea shouted, her hands clenching into fists. "They've been after Yugi for a while, and we think that when he came to visit you, they must have attacked!" Bakura jumped in shock, but something in the very back of his mind told him that that wasn't right. "Joey and Tristan and I were all worried about you, too, so we came to visit as soon as we could. But when we came in, the door was already unlocked and you and Yugi were lying on the ground all sprawled out and with Monster Cards all over the floor!"
Bakura's eyes widened, perplexed.
"We… what?" he asked. He put his head in his hands and tried to remember, but he couldn't recall anything. He remembered Yugi knocking on the door, Yami Bakura forcing his way into control, him falling in the hallway as he struggled against the Spirit… then an unmeasured time in his Room of Mind… and then waking up in his bed. It was all he could remember. He noticed that there was a period between being in his Room of Mind and waking up that was black—the unconsciousness he had noticed before. But how long had that been?
"Tea, why are you here?" he asked. Her eyes widened, somewhat embarrassed.
"Joey and Tristan took Yugi back to his place to take care of him, and I stayed here to make sure you were okay," she explained. Bakura ducked his head, embarrassed and touched by her concern and very, very worried about Yugi. What had happened? What had he done? What had the Spirit of the Millennium Ring made him do?
He felt Tea put a hand on his forehead. He stayed still and didn't try to shake her off. She frowned slightly and retracted it.
"You don't feel hot," she noted. "Are you feeling okay?" Bakura nodded, although he wasn't really sure if he was or not. He hadn't thought about it.
"I feel fine," he said. He had become very good at lying.
Tea frowned.
"Should I call a doctor?" He shook his head.
"I'm sure I'm fine," he said, again not sure if it was true or not. "But… how is Yugi?"
Tea bit her lip, worried, and after a moment shook her head. Bakura felt a thrill of fear strangle the breath in his throat.
"I don't know," she admitted. "When we found you two you were both unconscious… The boys took Yugi, and I haven't heard since…" She bit her lip again, glancing at the phone sitting on Bakura's desk.
"Why don't you call and find out?" Bakura offered. Tea's face relaxed for a second in unspoken gratitude and walked over to the phone, quickly dialing the number. She held the receiver up to her ear, her teeth still worrying at her lip. With each ring Tea grew more and more agonized until someone finally picked up.
"Joey! It's me! How's Yugi, is he doing okay?!" There was silence for a moment as Joey replied, making Tea's face grow worried again. "Really… He hasn't even woken up by now?" Bakura felt a chill run down his spine. Yugi still wasn't awake? He realized his worrying about Yugi was making him feel ill. What could have happened to the two of them that was so serious? Hadn't Tea said she and Yugi's friends had found them yesterday? How long had they been sleeping, then?!
He remembered that he didn't even really know how he was feeling himself yet—he'd kept pushing it out of his mind so that he didn't worry Tea. But now he really needed to know, and he couldn't do that while Tea was here. As much as he enjoyed having someone he thought of as a friend with him, he needed her to leave so he could think without the possibility of worrying her. He wouldn't let anyone hurt for him, not anymore. But how could he make her leave without hurting her feelings…?
Tea was talking again, and he listened to what she said, trying to glean as much information as he could.
"He seems to be doing fine; he woke up a couple minutes ago." She turned to Bakura and gave him a sad little smile before turning back to the phone. Talking about him, then. "Yeah… He's not hot, so he doesn't seem sick." She dropped her voice for a moment, but Bakura could still hear her just fine. "A little… out of it, maybe, but I don't think he's ill. … He doesn't remember. No, tell Tristan that I am not going to try and psychoanalyze him to see if he remembers somewhere in his subconscious… I can hear him in the background! Sheesh, guys. I didn't even realize you two knew what the word 'subconscious' meant." There was another long pause, and she bit her lip again. "Really? Nothing at all? Ugh… I'm worried sick…"
"Tea," Bakura said, making her turn her head. Here was a perfect opening. "I'm okay, really. You can go over there and be with Yugi if you want." Tea blushed bright red, and looked at the phone with a look of reluctant longing. Bakura wondered if Tea had feelings for Yugi—it was obvious even to him that Yugi had them for Tea, and it would be nice if they could make each other happy.
"You need someone Bakura, I just know it. I can always visit Yugi later, and he's in go… decent hands with Joey and Tristan. It would be wrong of me to leave you," she said. Bakura smiled comfortingly at her. She was trying to do the right thing, even though it wasn't really what she wanted to do. He appreciated it, but it made him feel pathetic.
"Tea, it's okay, I promise," he said. He gestured to himself. "I feel fine. I can take care of myself. I promise." She glanced at the phone again, clearly guilty. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate your concern. It really makes me feel like I'm your friend."
"You are my friend!" she cried, not pausing for a moment to think about it. That made Bakura feel warm inside—it was the honest truth, then, if she could say it so quickly. He was so moved he nearly started tearing up.
He closed his eyes and smiled at her.
"Then that's really all I need," he said, trying to show how earnest he was. "I know that you'll be with me in spirit." He opened his eyes again. Truly friends or not, he needed her to leave. "Go be with Yugi—he needs your support more than I do right now." Again the need to check his own condition crept into his mind, but he pushed it away. Not until she left.
Tea shot one last reluctant look at the phone, and then Bakura could see her conviction dissolve.
"Joey?" she said, lifting the receiver up to her ear from where she had been resting it against her shoulder. "I'm going to be there as soon as I can, okay? … Bakura's fine. … He told me he is, that's how I know. … I know, I know, but he seems more concerned about Yugi than himself. … I know you can take care of Yugi, but— … I'll be there as soon as the next bus can take me!" She hung up the phone, and gave Bakura a final look. "Are you absolutely sure?" she asked. Bakura nodded.
"Go be with Yugi—as soon as he wakes up, call me, okay?" Tea nodded and gave Bakura a final grateful smile.
"Thank you," she said as she lifted her purse onto her shoulder and put the chair back under the desk. Bakura smiled at her again.
"Thank you for looking after me," he replied. She left the room, and Bakura listened for the sound of the front door opening and closing. As soon as it did, he fell backwards against his pillows, his eyes closed.
He was tired. That was the first thing he noticed. He was as tired as death, and his eyes were sore. His body felt a stiff as well, but that was usual when people woke up. He could still feel healing bruises Yami Bakura had left without explanation, the general wash of weakness that had suffused him since the spirit had become more active. He still couldn't remember anything since the scuffle in the hallway, but everything else seemed in place. What had happened?
He felt a presence in his mind, and his body froze with terror. The spirit dwelling in the Millennium Ring was active. Was he going to try and control Bakura's body now? But he was so tired… If Yami Bakura tried to do anything, he might actually kill Bakura this time. But the presence didn't grow, didn't try to push him away. And it didn't feel like Yami Bakura either. What was going on?
Who are you? the presence asked. Bakura's eyes shot open in shock. He recognized this voice, though he couldn't think from where. But one thing was certain—it was definitely not the spirit who had called himself the Yami Bakura.
"Wh-who are you?" he asked in return. He felt a bolt of surprise from the presence.
Bakura! it shouted. Bakura became even more confused—he knew that he knew that voice from somewhere.
"Who are you? What happened to the spirit of the Millennium Ring?" he asked, frightened. What was going on?! He could feel the presence's own fear and confusion and surprise. It was so different from Yami Bakura—Yami Bakura always seemed calm, and when he did show emotions—like anger, especially—they were always very intense, very there. The emotions of this presence were also there, but muted, like looking at something through a window sheer.
I… How can this be? the presence wondered, so lost in his own thought that he ignored Bakura's questions. Why am I with Bakura? Where is Yugi? Bakura's eyes widened with shock and realization.
"You're… you're the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle!" He could feel the presence's agreement through the connection of their souls.
Yes, the spirit said, though it would seem I am no longer the inhabitant of the Millennium Puzzle. Bakura put his hands over his face, trying to steady himself from his reeling mind. How could that spirit be here? Where was the spirit he was familiar with?
"What do you mean?"
I am not with Yugi. I am with you. I cannot feel Yugi, and the only Room of Mind I can see is yours. But you are the bearer of the Millennium Ring, not the Millennium Puzzle. Which means... There was a pause, and Bakura tried to process it.
"You… you and the Spirit of the Millennium Ring have switched places?" he asked. Again the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzled agreed with him, and Bakura could feel the spirit's worry at this new development as well.
So it would seem, he said. It must have happened when the Spirit of the Millennium Ring and I fought over our items—when he was trying to exorcise me from the puzzle, he must have been using so much energy that it affected up both and threw us both out. And I was using so much of my own power that it returned us both to the Millennium Items—but not into the correct ones.
"Wh-when did this happen?!" Bakura shouted. The spirit explained what had happened; the strange behavior he now knew was caused by Yami Bakura, the shadow game, how Yami Bakura had panicked when it seemed he was going to lose. Bakura felt hollow for a few moments when the spirit told him how he had almost been sent to the shadows, but the fact that he knew how much the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle cared about Yugi—he could feel it in the spirit's voice—as well as how honestly regretful he sounded made the feeling pass quickly. He explained again how Yami Bakura had tried to summon the power of the Millennium Ring to pry the spirit from his puzzle, but he had figured out what was happening quickly enough that he used his own power of placing souls back in their bodies. The two powers had mixed in such a way that they had ended up switchi—
Suddenly something struck the spirit that froze him.
"What's wrong?" Bakura asked, the spirit's horror mingling with his own and making it all the more agonizing.
If I am here… the spirit said slowly, as if trying to reject a cold, hard, terrible truth. It took Bakura a second, but when he got it icy dread filled him just as it had the spirit.
"Then that means Yugi is at the mercy of the Spirit of the Millennium Ring."
It took Yugi a second before he could really rationalize where he was. He remembered being in Bakura's apartment, he remembered Bakura suddenly pulling out the Millennium Ring, and then the shadow game. It had been so close, so frightening. But Yami was winning. Yami was about to win. And then Yami Bakura had cheated, and the two had been on the ground. And then…
He felt uneasiness tug at his stomach. What had happened? Had Yami Bakura been punished for what he'd done? He'd cheated—cheated in the Shadow Realm, and the Shadow Realm did not put up with that sort of thing. Yami had told him so, on the occasions when Yugi had been able to coax it out of him that Yami had played shadow games with others before. Ones he'd started, ones by his rules, with terrible punishments. It was something that he didn't like to talk about, because he'd changed since really getting to know Yugi. But Yugi would always assure him that what happened to those people wasn't entirely Yami's fault—it was their fault for cheating at his game, and their fault for being such terrible people that Yami had challenge them in the first place. Yami never really bought it, and Yugi allowed the conversation to pass as quickly as possible. But if he'd learned one thing from those conversations, it was that you didn't cheat in a Shadow Game.
Yugi was suddenly struck with an amazing loneliness, and it took him a second to realize that it was because he couldn't feel the Pharaoh in the forefront of his mind, seeing if he was alright, or even just being there to be with him. That wasn't right, and he knew it. Yami should have been there.
He felt through his connection towards Yami, but there seemed to be something blocking it. Like the spirit at the other end had knocked the connection away. That wasn't like Yami either. What was going on?!
"No, chicken soup is what you give people when they're sick! Not pizza!"
"Shut up! I'm a hundred times smarter thank you, don't ya think I'd know?! Believe me, nothin' gets you back on yer feet like a good ol' pizza!"
"Joey, you really are an idiot!"
Yugi could hear his friends arguing down the stairs and down the hall in the kitchen, where his grandfather was most likely laughing at them. He wondered why they were there, but he had already come to terms with the fact that things had happened after he had blacked out, and all would be explained at one point. Surely Yami knew.
He felt for the Pharaoh again, and this time he could feel the spirit in his Millennium Puzzle.
Terror welled in him. What he had felt hadn't been the Pharaoh. There wasn't any doubt in his mind. What he had felt had been powerful, evil, malicious. It wanted blood, pain, and misery. That was not the Pharaoh.
Well, well. Look who's up. Good morning, little host, the unmistakeable voice of the Spirit of the Millennium Ring came. Yugi jerked violently and Yami Bakura laughed. Surprised?
W-what are you… Why are you here?! Yugi shouted. Yami Bakura laughed.
Blame your precious Pharaoh for that, little Yugi. It would seem that his ability to put souls back and my power to rip souls out reacted in a most interesting way—both worked, but neither was canceled. I know you're not terribly intelligent, so I'll say it more bluntly—we've switched items. He laughed darkly. Which means that we've apparently also switched hosts. Aren't you excited, Yugi? He laughed again and Yugi felt both fear and anger shoot through him.
That can't be true! he shouted. Even though, at the moment, he was only a voice in the back of Yugi's head, he could still tell that Yami Bakura shrugged.
Believe what you will, little Yugi, but I'm here. Yugi felt cold. Yami Bakura?! The Pharaoh had been replaced by Yami Bakura?! It was the stuff of nightmares. Yami Bakura had proven himself to be an entity of evil, and that was something Yugi wanted nothing to do with.
Yugi felt Yami Bakura doing… something… and an automatic reflex told him that it was bad. He instinctively tried to stop Yami Bakura, using all of his energy to do it. He realized that he was, metaphorically speaking, pushing closed the lid to a box filled with… He blinked in surprise. His memories. What did Yami Bakura want with those?
Now, now, Yugi. You'll only make things harder. Now really. Let me see those memories of yours. All I need is the location of the God Card, after all. This perked Yugi's interest, and for a second he lost control of the memories. Images of his childhood swirled before his eyes, of his parents, of playing games with his Grandfather. All in less than a fraction of a second. He clamped down on the memories again, noticing how Yami Bakura's pull got stronger and stronger, how he had to use more and more energy to keep the box shut. He wanted to ask why Yami Bakura needed the God Card—how he even knew of its existence—but he couldn't take away any of his focus from the box of his memories. He realized that Yami Bakura could read them at any time when he wasn't resisting like this, could gather everything in a second. And he didn't know why he fought so hard, but he did.
He knew only one thing—if Yami Bakura wanted the Egyptian God Card, he'd have to do everything in his power to keep it out of his hands.
He acted again on instinct.
Yami Bakura cursed loudly as both Yugi's consciousness and his memories vanished into the boy's Room of Mind. Clever. Damn clever kid. If Yugi "locked" the door behind him, no matter what Yami Bakura did he wouldn't be able to get in. He couldn't see Yugi's memories. But in return, Yugi was stuck there. He couldn't leave, because the moment he did the memories would flow freely and in an instant Yami Bakura would know exactly where the God Card was, would know everything that Yugi had ever known. As well, the only way Yugi could be aware of what was going on outside of his body—and even inside of his body, for that matter—was to leave the room, or even to peek out of the door for a fraction of a second. But that would still be enough. The closing of that door had been like an air-tight seal. But Yami Bakura could slither through the smallest opening, the briefest breach. The very instant that door opened he would be in Yugi's Room of Mind, and nothing Yugi could hope to do could stop him.
He needed that card to give to Marik; although a little skewed, now, the deal was still basically the same—Yami Bakura handed Marik the God Card, and in return Marik would give him his Millennium Rod. And it wouldn't be too difficult to also demand that Marik use his minions and resources to return the Millennium Ring to him, as well. He was surprised how much that pleased him—it was different than how he felt about the Puzzle. To his surprise there was a little bit of nostalgia in the thought—it seemed he had grown somewhat attached to the Ring.
How disgustingly sentimental.
Yami Bakura took full control of Yugi's body, resolving himself to this control. It was better with Yugi out of the way anyway; no one to argue with, he could act however he wanted with impunity. Not that Yugi's presence would have stopped anything anyway.
He got up and locked the door to Yugi's room, keeping those idiots that called Yugi their friend out. The first thing he noticed with his new body was that it was disgustingly short. Bakura was somewhat tall at 5' 9", and Yugi was a good eight inches shorter than him. He felt like someone had cut his legs off from the knees down and told him to hop around. He also noticed that Yugi was in much better condition than Bakura—not surprising, the way the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle treated his host like an expensive collector's object. Still, though, he'd prefer the scraggly British boy who was threatening to fall apart over being this damned small.
He walked towards the window and started to slide it up, looking out over the road. He'd have to tell Marik the new change in plans, before he came across Yami Bakura's old host and said something stupid. But suddenly the sounds of Yugi's friends came from the other side of the door, the blonde one Yami Bakura faintly remembered was Johnny shouting at the the one whose hair made him look like a unicorn to open the door, which was met with a reply of "open it yourself", which was met with an angry, "I'm holdin' a tray a food here!"
Yami Bakura considered the window for a second, then closed it again and unlocked the door. He could foresee a very long time in Yugi's body, and until both the Pharaoh and his pesky original host were out of the picture, he imagined things would be easier if he acted the part his body had set up for him. He'd already made the decision to switch permanently from Bakura to Yugi—reincarnation or not, his original host had been a weak body with a weaker mind and even fewer resources or connections. Yugi might have some kind of developmental issue, but he was also reasonably famous, which Yami Bakura could put to very good use.
He climbed back under the blankets and pretended to be just waking up.
The door opened and Yami Bakura watched with hooded eyes as Johnny walked in, balancing a green plastic tray in his hands—really, how did you balance something that was flat and you were holding with two hands?—a bowl of something which gave off steam resting on it. Next to it was a glass of water, and for a second Yami Bakura was impressed that it wasn't full of brandy. Also disappointed.
"Yug!" the blonde cried out, nearly dropping the tray. Next to him was the other friend. They both looked ecstatic to see Yugi's eyes were open.
Idiots.
"Yugi, you're awake!" the one that wasn't Johnny shouted. Yami Bakura remembered that he—Tristan, that was his name—had been the one who had punched him back on Duelist Kingdom. He filed that away for later. That would hurt when it came back around.
He thought for a moment, trying to decide where he was, who he was, how he was, and what had happened. You had to consider all sides of your character in order to act. Or lie with any sort of believability.
"Why are you so surprised?" he asked, his voice small and worried. He managed to keep his scowl only inside his head, but it was an effort. He was tired of acting small and meek—he wanted to strut and win and stab things.
"Nah, just happy," Johnny said, smiling and sitting on the edge of Yugi's bed. For a second Yami Bakura's indignation flared up, but he forced it down.
"Um… I like seeing you guys first thing in the morning too," he said, trying to sound cheerful. The idiots flashed each other a look, and he pretended Yugi was intelligent enough to catch it. "What?"
"Well… it's not…" Tristan started. He looked at the blonde pleadingly. "Um… Joey?" The blonde's eyebrows crawled up his head.
"Me?! Ya little— I er… I mean," Joey started again. "It's the middle of the day, Yug." "Yugi" opened his eyes in shock.
"What?!" he cried, trying to sound confused. "But when I came here to Bakura's house it was just after school had… end… ed…" He trailed off, looking around. "This… isn't Bakura's house." Yami Bakura nearly wanted to wring his own neck. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was stupid people. And he was acting about as stupid as he could stand.
Joey smiled sheepishly and looked around the room.
"Nah… When we found you unconscious on the floor—"
"What?!" Joey's hand inched up for his forehead for a second, but Yami Bakura could tell he was stopping himself.
"Well… Tristan finished his tupperware thing early, there was an emergency staff meetin' so my third set of detentions was postponed 'til later, and Tea got off work early because of a fire in the kitchens, so we decided we would surprise ya guys and show up at Bakura's and hang out, too. But when we got there, the door was unlocked and you guys were on the floor, unconscious, with monster cards all over 'e place! We're guessin' a Rare Hunter attacked you guys, am I right?" A Rare Hunter? Those guys couldn't even open a can of tuna correctly.
"My… my memories are kind of hazy, but I think…" Yami Bakura put his head in his hands. "I think you're right." Gah.
He could tell that this answer gave Joey a guilty joy.
"I knew it! I mean, that totally sucks, Yug! You could've been lost to the shadows forever!" he insisted. It both irritated and amused Yami Bakura that Joey was closer than he thought. Yami Bakura very nearly had managed to lose Yugi to the shadows forever.
"My cards!" he cried out instead. Tristan handed Yugi an immense deck of cards that was very obviously larger than it had been.
"I gathered 'em all up, Yugi," he said, sounding terribly proud of himself. "I figured you could separate your deck from Bakura's when you woke up." Oh bloody hell. Even when they were trying to help they were nothing but nuisances. Yami Bakura finally understood the saying: "With friends like these who needs enemies?" He'd never really been one for friends, not since all the ones he'd had had been tossed into a pit.
He affected a face of absolute gratitude and hugged the cards to his chest.
"Thank you so much!" He hoped his "bright smile" didn't look too much like a grimace.
"Did they get your Egyptian God Card?" Tristan asked. Yami Bakura shook his head with enormous, overly-exaggerated movements. He couldn't wait until these two idiots were gone and he could think straight again.
"No… I don't carry it with me," he answered. This he knew for a fact—the gods only knew he had spied on Yugi so many times it had nearly lost all of its humor; except to Marik, who found it more and more amusing with every occurrence that happened. Bastard. He knew the card was kept somewhere in Yugi's room, but he couldn't imagine where. He'd cased it—and the whole house—many times; broken in, looked around, torn things apart—the Mutou's suspected break-in-and-robbery a week ago had actually been him—and still had had no luck.
He gazed at his friends with wide eyes, pretending he'd just realized something.
"What if he came here and took it?!" he asked, terrified. This statement actually made the two of them laugh, and Yami Bakura nearly wanted to kill them for their insolence.
"Fat… chance of… that… Yug," Joey said between panting gasps. Tristan was laughing too hard to breathe. "No one… knows where that card is… 'cept you…" He laughed again. Honestly, Yami Bakura didn't see what was so damn funny, but he ignored it. "I suppose the other Yugi knows where it is, too," he said after a moment, finally getting his breath back. A flash of anger shot up Yami Bakura's spine, but he managed to keep it from showing.
"I guess you're right," he said, cracking a smile that really did feel like his skin cracking. Why did everything he did in Yugi's body hurt so much more than in the weak body of his original host? Here every false expression, every twitch of the mask made him disgusted with himself. Why was that? He mentally shook his head and ignored it; he'd get used to this body in time.
He yawned, and the two's laughter faded away into happy smiles.
"I'm tired," he said, though his body language should have sold it. "I'm feeling alright, so you guys can go home—you both look like you haven't left since you found me." They both laughed sheepishly, which was as good as a, you called it.
"Are you alright? I made you pizza soup!" Joey added, holding up the bowl. Yami Bakura took it very gently, holding the bowl by his fingertips. He had a very hard time holding down the bile.
"That sounds like something, Joey," he said, making his voice a touch wry. He leaned over and rested the bowl in an empty spot on his side table, where he resolved he would get rid of it as soon as "his friends" left so as to avoid radiation poisoning. "But really, I'm pretty tired. I'll see you guys at school tomorrow, okay?" Joey looked at the door for a second, then turned back to Yami Bakura. He sighed.
"I had wanted to make it a surprise, but Tea's on her way, Yug. Don't you think you could stay up long enough just to see her?" he asked, putting his hands together pleadingly.
Absolutely not, he thought angrily. I have no desire to deal with any of you any longer.
He blinked owlishly, his eyelids fluttering like a pair of dying blinds. He swayed slightly as well, trying to make it look authentic.
"I'm sorry," he said, starting to sink against his pillow. "I'm just… really tired…" He settled on his pillow and tucked his head to his shoulder, pretending to have drifted off just like that. He wondered if he'd been too abrupt, if they wouldn't buy it—but they were really just as stupid as they looked, and Yami Bakura could feel their weight leave his bed. There was no accompanying noise, so he knew that he had sold it. Poorly, but why act well when your audience couldn't tell the difference between a kindergarten musical and a Broadway show?
The door closed, and Yami Bakura was on his feet immediately, locking the door behind the two. He would go and discuss the new plans with Marik as soon as the sun set in a couple of hours and he wouldn't be too missed. Until then he would stay in this room and try to get used to this new tiny but potential-filled body.