He sat on the grass, hugging his knees and staring at his own reflection in the water. He couldn't see his face in this darkness, even with the lamp post nearby.

The park was so quiet he could hear his own thoughts as if they were coming out of a loudspeaker.

A flicker as a moth flew too close to the light. It dropped limply on the grass next to the others who committed the same mistake.

He sighed. This was probably as good a time as any.

He took off his shoes, coat and shirt and neatly folded them in a pile over his briefcase.

He unbuttoned his pants, then stopped himself. His sister was probably going to be mad he ruined his uniform, but he couldn't risk those finding him to witness him in such an embarrassing state. He would carry that shame with him forever.

The trees hid him from view, but not completely. His white hair contrasted strongly with his surroundings and his behavior was suspicious to say the least.

A jogger stopped in his tracks and paused his music player. Why was this kid stripping?

He walked to the edge of the shore. The lake was big and deep. Deep enough. He was a decent swimmer, so he had to remember if he started panicking not to struggle too much, or he might accidentally reach the surface.

"Don't tell me..." the stranger frowned, looking at him.

He took a deep breath and took the last step forward, dropping like a rock.

Bubbles raised from the water displacement, then nothing.

It was still a long way to the bottom.

"Are you kidding me?!" the man yelled, dropping his things and jumping in after him.


The doorbell rang multiple times.

The boiling of water in the kitchen made me miss the first couple of rings. By the time I got to the door, the person was already knocking.

"Coming! Coming!"

I opened the door to be greeted by my brother who sported a miserable and guilty look on his face. A towel was covering his head, wet hair dripping on the floor, and he was wearing a tracksuit I'd never seen before.

"Is this yours?" the neighbor lady asked me, hoisting him forcibly by the forearm.

I just stared at them in shock. She took that as a 'yes'.

"You're lucky my husband happened to jog by the lake at this hour, you know" she berated me, as if he was my property.

Ryou didn't lift his head to look at me the entire time.

"I'd be more careful with him if I were you" she insisted, handing me his uniform.

"The pants and underwear are in the dryer; I'll be back with them when they're done"

"Thank you..." I managed as I brought him inside and closed the door.


"Mind telling me what happened?" I said, trying to keep my calm, but my voice was faltering.

Ryou, of all people

I never imagined he was this depressed. I never knew...

"Nothing…" he answered softly, trying to end the confrontation and head over to his room.

I grit my teeth.

"Why did you try to kill yourself?"

"Because...I don't want to be a burden anymore…"

"Stupid! You'd only make it worse if you died! How could you even think that?"

This time, I was the only one crying. I wrapped him in a deep hug, trying my best to show him I meant it. He was just tall enough for me to bury my dripping nose in his shoulder. I never realized how much he'd grown in the past couple of years. He wasn't a child anymore. And yet, I couldn't see him as anything other than my baby brother.

Ryou didn't hug me back. In fact, he was stiff as a board. Completely detached and composed, as if he wasn't affected at all.

"What were you thinking?" I insisted.

"I'm sorry" he said in a low voice. "I'm even terrible at something like this. To top it all off, I stained my school pants too. I really am the worst…"

I laughed bitterly at him.

"You have terrible priorities, little brother"

"I really let him down…I let everyone down"

Yugi again. Why did so many of his problems revolve around him?

"I don't know what to do. I don't know why I'm like this. I really want to be someone you can rely on..." he continued.

"Killing yourself won't help you reach that goal in any way" I laid the truth onto him.

He sighed. He was really lost on where to go from this point. He probably never planned on surviving in the first place so he'd end up facing this moment.

I tightened my grip.

"Please, just, promise me you'll never do something like this ever again. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"…Alright."

He made it sound so simple.

I let go and tried my best to smile at him. My tears didn't dry, but at least I was letting him know I wasn't upset with him anymore.

"Let's have dinner. I'll play a game with you when we're done" I bargained with him.


"Did you guys hear what happened last night?" Mizuki beckoned the girls to come closer so she could talk to them in private.

They made a circle around her, curious as to what she was referring to.

"Oh, you mean Ushio? Yea, I passed him by in the schoolyard this morning. He was rolling around in the leaves, cackling to himself. Really weird. I didn't expect someone like him to lose his mind like that."

"You think someone he bullied got revenge on him?"

"How would that even happen anyway? I mean, he doesn't seem hurt, he just went crazy…"

"You know, I heard that you can curse someone if you tie a sash at midnight to that oak tree he's under. Then, if you chant the "Spring Bliss" poem backwards, you can affect your target's mind with psychotropic waves-"

"No, no, this is something actually important!" Mizuki butted in on her friends conspiracies. "My uncle was doing his daily jogging through Domino Park around 10 pm last night. And there, he saw Bakura..."


He had doubts about coming to school the next day. However, it wasn't his decision to make, it was mine. I walked him hand in hand like a kindergartner all the way to class. He was blushing the entire way as people stared at us, but I couldn't risk him doing anything crazy again.

I planned on pick him up from school afterwards as well.

My break was over, but I was lucky to have a college staff that understood my situation when I told them why I needed a few more days. I was just too worried about him. I needed to get him out of this emotional slump he was in.

I waved him off as we reached the front of the classroom and watched him drag his way inside.


This was a strange day indeed.

As soon as he entered the room, he witnessed the girls all ganging up on Anzu and berating her for some reason.

The moment he stepped in, heads snapped to stare at him, some mocking and some sympathetic, including…

Jounouchi.

He was already there, chatting with Yugi in what seemed like an amiable way. He had bruises and patches all over, even worse than the day before, but he seemed in a good mood. This was a rare sight for him, to be sure. Not only Jounouchi, but Honda too.

And Yugi...something was different about him. He seemed so relaxed and upbeat...

That thing hanging from his neck...could it be?

"Man, if I catch a cold it's all on you and that stupid pool of yours" Jounouchi joked, pulling back his snot.

"Your aim's just that good, pal" Honda interjected, snickering. They all had a laugh as Jounouchi sneezed a couple of times.

The door clicked as it closed behind him.

All subjects were instantly dropped.

"Bakura sweetie, are you alright?"

They didn't even give him time to unpack his briefcase before the girls swarming him with gifts and "get well soon" cards. He really disliked their company, but today he wanted them to go away even more.

"I'm fine..." was all he was willing to say as a couple of the more dramatic ones cried out in pity for him.

That was exactly the kind of scenario he wanted to avoid.

Everyone who witnessed what happened last night had spread the news like the plague.

"My poor sweet innocent little Bakura! Can't believe something like this would happen to you!" the short plump one snorted loudly, drawing focus to herself "-this is all YOUR fault!" she turned to point at Anzu, who already looked pretty guilty to begin with "-apologize to Bakura right now!"

"She doesn't have to. She did nothing wrong." he insisted.

"No, I did." Anzu disagreed bitterly, walking up to him. "I didn't think about your situation. I...learned about your reason for coming to Domino High this morning..."

They really knew everything about him, didn't they?

A couple of chuckles from some guys in the back. This was such a pathetic display.

He felt a shiver, wondering what other intimate things they talked about in his absence.

"...and I understand why you'd feel so hurt about what I said yesterday…I'm really sorry, Bakura". She bowed her head in sincere regret.

No, it didn't hurt because she scolded him.

It hurt because she was right.

"Hey, ya know, you really have no reason to humiliate her like that!"

Jounouchi, of all people.

"Because, it doesn't matter what people dish out. if you're so weak that you can't take it, it's all on you!" he lightly punched Ryou in the chest for emphasis.

"And hell, you know what?" he continued, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "Everyone makes mistakes"

He lowered his head to him.

Wha-?

"Besides, it was all MY fault to begin with, I should be the one apologizing"

Jounouchi was many things, but he was definitely a man of honor.

"Yup, that's pretty much how it is" the voice by his side nodded.

"You're included too, Honda!" Jounouchi jumped at him and forcibly bent him in a bowing position in front of Ryou.

It doesn't make sense. What's with their sudden change in attitude?

What happened last night?

"Oh my lord, who even cares?" a voice by the door interrupted the emotional breakthrough.

"Some pussy tries to off himself and now it's a national tragedy! Big freaking deal!" another guy interjected, waving his hands in the air mockingly.

"If he's that fragile, maybe he should do us all a favor and empty his seat for the next transfer student" a third voice agreed.

"Hey, don't you dare!" Jounouchi pointed at them. "We've all been through shit and you know it! How you choose to handle it is your responsibility, but laughing at someone else's problems is lower than low!"

"Just because you come from a broken home doesn't mean we all do" one of the three from before rebutted his argument.

Jounouchi rolled up his sleeve and threw his fist in the air.

"Yea, so what? Ya got a problem with that? Come over here and let's settle it then!"

"Not this again…" the girls whispered to each other as the atmosphere became tense once more.

Ryou looked down, visibly troubled. He didn't want to bring so much attention to his situation. He hadn't given it much thought as it went down, but he was really starting to regret his actions from the day before. He was causing so much infighting and discord among his peers.

A hand pulled him up from his seat.

Yugi gestured for him to come along and leave the quarreling people to sort it out among themselves.