This was a hard chapter to write, as I'm not accustomed to violent scenarios. Hope this comes to everyone's liking. I don't own Yugioh and all that - Enjoy!
Something Like…
Chapter 07: Your Arms To Hold Me
Ryou's eyes winced as his head felt heavy and pounded with a terrible headache. He felt miserable and awkward but as he tried to move his arms, as for whatever reason they were clutched together above his head, he found that he couldn't. He forced his eyes to open despite the pain whirring in his mind, to find that he was in his living room, sitting on the floor - "Mhwmn..?" His dark browns widened considerably as he realized his voice was muffled thanks to the work of a cloth tied around his mouth. His hands moved to remove the item but they were tied fast above his head, still.
"Mmnngh!" He struggled against the ropes that chafed against his wrists tightly. But there was no slipping out of them. His eyes searched about frantically as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. 'What happened? Why am I tied up?' He pulled some more against the ropes that were tightly wrapped around the above ceiling fan. The thought of the whole thing collapsing atop him, made him stop his struggle.
"Ah, so you're finally awake. It's about damn time! I was getting pretty tired of waitin'!" Ryou forced his body to turn around as the voice that spoke entered the room. His brows furrowed at the sight of a male stranger standing tall and with a hateful gleam in his eye. He wasn't that much older, black hair, dark eyes and an ugly scar across his left cheek. The anger and disgust seethed from his very body and made Ryou's blood pulse all the colder. "Hey, the bastard's awake!" He shouted over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off of the bound teen.
'H-Hindou… Flast?' Ryou shouted in his head with great worry and fear. The man entered the room with a timid in appearance younger-looking girl a pace or two behind him. Hindou glared at him triumphantly. "This is him, right Sis." He stated as opposed to asked. Her green eyes hesitantly and briefly glanced over in his direction and she nodded weakly, trembling and near to tears. "I'mma mess ya up. Nobody hurts my sister and gets away with it, you fuckin' pig." He ground out angrily. "Sora, go over there." The girl nodded again and left swiftly.
Ryou looked up at the rope and started struggling once more. He'd rather the fan fall than find out what the heck they were planning on doing, after all. The stranger walked over and grabbed him by the hair, yanking him forward a bit. His hands still tightly bound, ached in agony at the sudden movement. He yelped. "So pathetic and helpless! I told you, you'd get what was comin' to ya!" The stranger shouted.
Hindou pulled off his belt and rested a hand on the other's shoulder. "Pull his fuckin' shirt off - I'mma make this fucker bleed!" He seethed and the guy pulled out a pocket knife and slid it open. He wound his hand tighter into Ryou's hair and began cutting his shirt open from the back. Ryou tried to scream as occasionally the blade scraped and cut into his back, He tried to struggle some more but it only seemed to cause more pain. The chilling air of the room, stung against his now exposed back. Hindou folded his belt in half and lightly slapped it against his left hand. "Time to take your punishment, Bakura Ryou." He uttered grimly and raised the belt high in the air. Ryou's muffled scream did nothing to help the maddening pain.
Jounouchi made it inside and placed his shopping bags on the small dining table. He sighed at the sight of his Father passed out on the couch in the living room. He smirked loosely as he noticed, gratefully, his father was loosely holding a soda can in his hand, as opposed to a beer bottle. "Guess you were serious about quittin' this time." The blond picked up the phone but hesitated on calling the soft-spoken Ryou as he yawned, quite tired from all the excitement - and to top it off, Honda had to stop by the convenient store first to buy some junk food before heading home. "We wasted like thirty minutes in that little store." He muttered with a roll of his eyes. "It's late. Ryou's probably headed to bed. If I call'em this late…" He started to place the receiver down but once more, hesitated. Concern hit him then, as if… Something wasn't right. "Nah, I better call'em. I told him I would, since he doesn't think Honda and I can take care of ourselves." He grinned and lazily dialed Ryou's number.
He pressed in the last number and waited but surprisingly was met with a busy signal. He frowned and hung up. 'Maybe Honda is on the line, talkin' to him.' He nodded and walked to the kitchen. He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a Coke for himself and then returned to the living area and waited a few minutes before picking up the phone again. His brows knitted together as he was once more met with a busy signal. "Okay, either Ryou is havin' a seriously long conversation wit' somebody or…" He bit his lip and hung up as he debated whether he should worry or not.
'Crap. I don't wanna run all the way over there and find out it was nothing but if it is something an' I ignore it…' He pouted but was spared the anxiety as the phone began to ring. He answered immediately, "Hello, Ryou?" The blond answered hopeful.
"Nah, man. It's me, Honda. Have ya called Ryou yet? 'Cause I can't get through." He muttered concerned. "I got back a while ago and have been tryin' but all I keep hearing is a-"
Jounouchi frowned. "Yeah, I know. We should go down there and check!" He decided determined. He vaguely heard his dad mutter something about keeping his voice down.
"Well, let's not jump to conclusions. He may have just gone to bed already. So let's try and get a hold of Anzu and Yugi first. He may be talkin' to one of them. If not, then we'll meet up and run down there. How's that?" Honda suggested calmly.
The blond wanted to just head down there anyway, he pouted but relented. "Yeah, okay. I'll call Yug', get a hold of Anzu." He hung up before Honda could say anymore and hastily dialed Yugi's number. 'Damn, I hope I'm just overreactin'. Why do I get this feeling? If it weren't for Ryou's rotten luck of bein' a magnet for trouble…'
Kaiba left Mokuba's room with a shake of his head. The boy was so persistent and stubborn. "He is absolutely determined to find out what is going on." He rubbed at his neck and sighed heavily. He smirked lightly as he made his way downstairs to his study. "Such an inquisitive little brother I have." Mokuba really was getting older and 'His ability to read me is remarkable. But what could I possibly say to him, when I don't even know what it is I'm doing myself.' His step halted. Could that really be true? Did he really have not the slightest clue as to what he planned on doing? Was there a plan to begin with?
His thoughts smothered one another as he stepped into his dimly lit office. With another shake of his head, he meandered to his desk. "Is my relationship with Ryou- wait, Relationship? When did I start referring to 'it' as such?" Blue eyes skimmed across the span of his room as this perplexing dilemma manifested into his psyche. 'A relationship with Ryou.' The brunet massaged his temples as a headache began to form. "Maybe I should just turn in early." He uttered, though he knew he would do no such thing. Seconds later, his laptop hummed to life.
An hour passed quickly and he managed to finish all his last minute papers from the office. It was at this time, quite out of usual, his phone rang. Pulling it open, he was surprised to see the incoming call listed as 'Turtle Game Shop'. "Yugi?" He questioned concerned and debated whether he should answer or not, but with a roll of his eyes he decided it MUST be important at this late hour. "Kaiba."
"Oh thank goodness, Kaiba. I was worried that maybe this wasn't the right one."
The brunet noted the somewhat flustered nature of the other. "Yugi, was there something you wanted?" He asked before the other fell into a tiring ramble.
"Have you spoken to Ryou in the past thirty minutes or so?" He asked.
Kaiba raised a brow in confusion, 'Why would he ask such a thing?' "Yugi do you realize how late it is? What business would it be of yours to begin with anyway?" Although he didn't feel like listening to the other, he took a deep breath and relaxed his nerves as best he could. Besides, the mention of Ryou piqued his suspicion. "Why don't you try explaining what the problem is before asking random questions." He suggested leaning back into his desk chair.
"Please, Kaiba. It's really important." A short silence passed over the line, much to the tri-colored teen's chagrin. There was a deep exhale before the worried other continued on, "Okay, We all spent the day together and then since it was getting late, went our ways home. Jounouchi and Honda walked Ryou home and headed off to their places and Ryou had them promise to call him when they made it safely. Well, they've been trying and trying to get a hold of him but his phone is busy. And nobody has spoken to him since we all were about the City earlier."
Kaiba's brow twitched. "Maybe Ryou just went to bed. The Mutt and his friend live pretty far away, Yugi, he probably just gave up and retired early. Tell me why you feel the need to waste my time on such a trivial-"
"Please, listen Kaiba. I know that you and him are friends… or somewhat close to that and I know it could very well be nothing - I'm heading out there right now but please… You live the closest and have a car, it'll take some time for me and the others to get there. Please, if you could just check on him. I have this bad feeling - I mean, if he was in bed, why is his phone line busy instead of ringing? It'd only be giving a busy signal if it were in use or… Or it was kept off the hook." He stressed fearfully.
The brunet warred with himself mentally. 'If I go, I'll just be involving myself in their troubling affairs… But, Ryou…' The sudden image of those terrifying and threatening letters flashed across his mind's eye and he gripped the phone tightly. "I understand. I'll get over there right away." He affirmed as he stood from his seat. Kaiba was out of his study and rushing down the stairwell at the speed of light.
"Thanks, Kaiba. I really appreciate it - and I'll hurry down there too." Yugi was never one to hide his gratitude - even when it was for the brunet. Time and time again purposely put him down. Maybe that gentle spirit is what bothered him so much. Kaiba shook the thought away and slid the phone closed. The staff were quite stunned to see their master barreling down the steps and demanding his coat and keys, but they were swift and abided without question, their Master's commands.
Blood and tears marred the floor beneath him as his persecutors finally threw down the worn thin belt. His back a cruel tomato red, with plenty of searing rivers of crimson flowing down. His body shook everywhere and he no longer had the voice to scream. Brown eyes had turned dull several.. Minutes? Hours? Ryou didn't know. 'I- I deserve this though… It is… My fault…' His brain whispered achingly. 'Am I going to die? I guess… it doesn't matter…' The stranger, now known as Ide, grabbed his chin and forced his near lifeless gaze towards him. The young man, who had apparently been shot in the head by the Spirit of the Ring, spat in his face. "What's the matter? You like to hurt others but can't handle a little payback?" The man punched the bound teen in the face. Ryou winced and groaned as his lip busted anew. "This… This is nothing! You got it? Nothing compared to the shit you put us through!" He kicked him in the gut.
Hindou approached and punched Ryou in the face as well. The teen coughed up some blood. "You messed up my sister… She used to have such a beautiful personality… She was sweet and kind but you... Now she's afraid to walk outside by herself. You sick fucker-" He punched him again. 'He hurt so many people…' Tears began to fall from Ryou's face once again. 'So many… This is okay. Someone has to - pay for it. I deserve this…' Hindou glared angrily and pulled the cloth away from the teen's mouth. "What are ya crying for? Don't tell me you're sorry?" He laughed in disbelief. "Don't even mock me with some shitty ass apology!" He growled and yanked on the ropes binding his hands, Ryou cried out as his whole body was hoisted up by his wrists, they felt so numb and yet, pain and blood drenched the binds cutting through his skin.
Ryou was in a daze, he felt dizzy and his back felt like it was literally on flames. It ached, his head, his heart, his face… Everything hurt, everything felt so… Is this what atonement was supposed to feel like? Was he so weak that he couldn't even take… "You're worth more than you think Ryou." The fading teen stiffened at the soft tone of his friend, as it echoed mentally to him. "The evil Spirit of the Ring hurt all of us - by hurting you." 'Y-Yugi?' One of the two guys kicked him again. 'But I… What can I say? It isn't like it would appease them - at least this way… this way at least they can find closure…'
"Such an idiot. Ryou…" Ryou's eyes shut closed as one of the two assailants left the room. A new voice entered his head. "You were as much a victim as those around you." The soft-spoken teen envisioned the strong, tall form of Seto Kaiba. Those crystal blues pierced his own browns with great force and certainty. "Regardless of what Kaza or the others tell you, don't forget that." The teen fought hard to open his eyes once more, though they burned and stung excruciatingly so. The two had halted their torture momentarily as they mumbled to one another.
Ide approached and pulled out his trusty pocket knife, he waved it threateningly in Ryou's face before moving it upwards and cutting the rope that held him bound to the ceiling fan. The teen fell to the bloodstained floor with a thud. He coughed up even more of the crimson substance. The knife was flicked shut and disappeared into the man's pocket. "We gotta wrap this up." He remarked off-handedly as he glanced up at the ticking clock along the far wall.
Hindou grabbed Ryou's red-stained hair and sat him up on his knees, "This is nothing." He repeated the words of his comrade. "I should just end you life, right here and now."
Ryou's lips trembled and pulsed brokenly, "I…" His voice was unrecognizable, even to himself; so mangled, stressed, hoarse, but he needed to try. "I… I'm sorry, for the pain…" He cleared his throat and held back a yelp of pain as the action burned all the way down to his insides. "But I… I'm not the one-"
"Shut up!" Ide screamed and pulled the teen out of the other's clutches. Ryou became slightly jarred by the suddenness. "Don't spout such nonsense to me! I know it was you -"
Ryou forced his head to shake in the negative, "No. Please, understand. I didn't ..Mnggg… do those things… I would never-"
Ide glared and threw the bloodied teen onto the ground. He pulled out his knife once more. "You fuckin' liar! I'll cut out your lying tongue right now!" He swore and made to pin the defenseless teen down. Hindou reached forward in hesitation of Ide's rash actions - but both stopped as a scream emitted through the room.
Ryou tried to regain his senses and his composure but Ide had thrown him down onto his back, right onto those freshly open wounds. A fleeting thought of substantial blood loss crossed his mind in a faint whisper of despair as the lingering kiss of death neared him. Hindou spun on his heel and widened his gaze at the sight of his younger sister standing there mouth agape at the horror before her. "Sora, I said wait in the kitchen. What are you doing out here?" He growled irately.
She trembled all the more so but couldn't take her eyes off of the mess staining the floor. "Flast… Big brother…" She wavered, her voice giving way to an unspeakable fear, "This. Did you-" Her eyes met up to his.
"Sora." He started calmly and walked over to her. He reached out to place his hands on her but she stepped back quickly as she saw his hands were covered in blood. "Sora, go wait in the kitchen." He pleaded quietly. "We're almost through here."
The girl looked over his shoulder and back towards Ryou and she bit her lip. "You aren't, please tell me, you aren't going to ki-"
"Sora. Go." He repeated.
It took all of his ravaged willpower to roll onto his side and off of his torn open back, but he managed to shakily sit up on his hands and knees, heaving heavy ragged breaths. The loudness of his breathing only heightening his pain in doing so, Ide stepped back unbelieving at how the other could even move. "Please… Miss… I don't know, I don't know why… Bad things happened to you." He coughed up even more blood.
Hindou glared, "Shut your fuckin' mouth!" He glowered and kept his sister behind him. Ide gripped his knife very tightly.
Ryou shook his head, "But I'm truly sorry they did. Please, know that the man… the one that hurt you isn't - he's no longer alive." Ryou wished his hands weren't still so tightly tied together, he tried to keep his gaze up and towards her but it was difficult to focus, "He died. Believe me." He choked up some blood but refused to gve up. "Please. Your brother has the wrong person - I'm not the one that-" Ide formed a fist and slammed against the teen's back. Ryou cried out in anguish and fell face-first to the ground.
Hindou relaxed his stance but as his friend swung the knife back and forth and moved closer to Ryou, the timid girl pushed past her brother and screamed out. "No! Please! This… This isn't what I wanted!" She cried but the angry other had already stabbed Ryou, pulled it out and stumbled backwards in surprise. Hindou's gaze widened. The girl fell to her knees and buried her face into her hands. The sound that escaped the white-haired mess of a teen rattled the soul to the core. "I don't know… what I… wanted…" She sobbed over and over again.
Ryou twitched and writhed in agony on the carpet. He couldn't say any more. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Hindou ground out - he had talked about killing the bastard but, seeing someone dying in front of you was a bigger hardship than he figured, his traumatized sister didn't help matters either. "We- uh… So-Sora, we gotta go…" He choked out hesitantly. His eyes slunk over to his friend, who also seemed to be traumatized at what he just did. "I-Ide! Let's go!" Hindou shouted fiercely in a hiss, the named stood up and dropped the knife in nervousness. But he nodded despite his trembling, "Sora, come on!" He shouted and pulled his sister to her feet. She was dragged away like a soulless doll as blood now stained her yellow blouse and blue jeans. Within seconds, Ryou was left all alone. 'I'm… I'm… Going to die…' His consciousness began to fade, his vision long since blurred out - there weren't any sounds, he wasn't even sure if his torturers were still unleashing their anger onto him. Was he still breathing? Was he alive? 'But I… I don't want to die… Kaiba… Yugi… Anyone…' His eyes sheathed behind shut lids and everything went dark.
Kaiba could see as he pulled up, the front door wide open. His glare hardened as he shut the engine off and ran inside. "Ryou?" He ran down the hallway and mentally questioned if he should check the bedrooms first. "Ryou?" His eyes caught sight of the teen's wrecked form and he froze, "Fuck, what the hell happened to you?" The brunet's phone rang and he answered only out of habit. He was vaguely aware of the ring-tone belonging to the Turtle Game Shop, but he shakily breathed across and simply stated, "Call an ambulance to Ryou's…Now." Kaiba hung up and ran to his side, eyes wild with rage, hatred, fear. His whole body began to shake at the grotesque brutality. The CEO fell to his knees beside the convulsing teen. "Ryou…" His hands reached out nervously, his insides screamed to stay away - to look away, run far away and pretend this was all some twisted nightmare but he knew that was a request he could only deny. Kaiba wasn't the type to run away - and he hated himself more for even thinking such a thing. His hands nervously gathered the mangled teen into his arms, "Ryou…"
'What do I do?' The brunet panicked. Ryou laid there lifeless and bleeding everywhere, his face cut open and bruised - he resembled nothing of his former self. Kaiba stared down at him and with his right hand checked for a pulse, to his relieved surprise, the teen was still alive - but barely. "Ryou…" But he was bleeding and twitching uncontrollably so, Kaiba pulled him closer to himself. 'There's got to be something - he'll definitely die…' The CEO felt helpless, weak. "Ryou's going to die and I can't do anything… I'm useless." The realization was crushing - Ryou would die right in front of him. "Something. I've got to do something."
The image of his former self came to his mind and he tried to shake it away. Now was not the time to be daydreaming. But despite his protest he was once again reminded of those words he had uttered before. Kaiba bit his lip and warily hugged the limp body closer to himself, "R-Ryou. I…" 'I have to try. I… can't let you just die.' He caressed the other's face before placing his hand on the teen's chest, his eyes fluttered closed as he did his best to concentrate. "…These wounds on flesh, these sins of man, let be healed by honest hands." He finished and in earnest his eyes remained shut. 'Ryou, I promise you.' Suddenly Kaiba could feel a breeze - two gusts of wind, one warm and the other cold. But he remained still and repeated the words over and over again. 'This will NEVER happen again. You won't have to deal with this torture ever - I promise. How I let this happen, I don't know.' "…Let be healed by honest hands." 'You can't die. You mustn't.'
Ryou's body was entirely enveloped in a golden light and slowly but surely his open wounds began to shut. 'It's… hard to breathe…' The sudden thought echoed through his head but he continued to utter the same words, not sure if he needed to or not but… "… these sins of man, let be healed… by… honest hands." He choked out as he started to cough and tremble. Kaiba's chest felt tight and constricted, but he didn't care.
'Where am I? Have I died yet?' Ryou felt stiff but warm, he tried to move but found the pain too much. His eyelids were so heavy, or perhaps they were swollen over? In either case, he couldn't open them. 'I'm alive? This pain… But I feel so.' Ryou clutched at his chest, though he knew his hands weren't actually moving, 'Someone is?' "I will save you. Ryou, hang on." 'I know that… voice.' Ryou's eyes widened and he gasped for air, his lungs felt heavy and his throat felt like it had collapsed onto itself. He struggled to breathe while trying to make sense of the situation.
Kaiba, too, stared back at him in surprise as he noticed the glow of light engulfing them for the first time. His eyes met those brown orbs full of fear and uncertainty and he lost the will to speak himself. 'R-Ryou?' The white haired teen stared up at him expectantly, waiting for some sort of explanation. Seconds ticked by and neither one moved, Ryou's eyes forced themselves away from Kaiba's and he managed to make out they were in his house, he tried to speak again but the pain rendered his attempts all but useless. 'I see.' Memories of that horrid nightmare returned to him and he nodded in understanding. 'But I… I thought that I…' "Everything… will be okay, Ryou." Kaiba promised.
The still injured teen returned his gaze to the brunet and he tried his best to smile up at the other, assured, but his lips were still cut up and burning. "Ka-" He groaned, which only caused the agony to increase. "Kai…ba…"
"Ryou, don't." He insisted quietly. The brunet felt so weak and didn't look much better than the one tightly held in his arms, without the blood and bruises. "You need to rest." 'I couldn't do much for you. But at least… You're alive.' The brunet swallowed hard.
The white-haired teen stared up at the other and sighed, "Thank… you. You're always… al-ways…" Ryou could feel himself fading once again. He coughed up a little more blood. 'You're always there for me, Kaiba... Thank you.' The teen fell back into unconsciousness. Kaiba held him closer as the last bit of light disappeared and the two were left in silence. Kaiba coughed some more before wincing as the room began to spin. He thought he heard the sound of an ambulance approaching but… he had joined Ryou in dream land before he could see the paramedics enter.
