This chapter is dedicated to CraftyLion and Cadens Stella. Thanks for your continued support!
Look at me can't you see
All I really wanna be
Is free from a world
That hurts me
I need relief
Do you want me girl
To be your thief
Aw baby just for you
I'd steal anything you want me to
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Suck My Kiss
Ryou Bakura had boarded the international flight with minutes to spare. He had his bags waiting for him in the car. They were the very bags that Bakura had packed for himself the day before – well two days ago now. He felt his stomach clench again as he thought about what had transpired between now and then.
He wanted nothing more than to stay with Reiko, but it was exceedingly obvious that his presence in her life was more of a threat than a comfort. He felt tears sting in the backs of his eyes and he felt the burn of bile in his throat. He squeezed his hands into fists and bit his lip to hold himself together.
He was shattering.
The plane was beginning to taxi onto the runway and he couldn't wait until they were in the air. He felt like he was going to be sick all over himself if he wasn't able to get to the lavatory soon.
In between the practical thoughts were the toxic ones. Reiko was lying in a hospital bed because of him. Many people had ended up in hospital beds because of him. Many more had ended up in graves.
The thought alone had him retching, and the poor soul next to him leaned away. He took a deep breath through his nose and heard the captain announce that they were commencing take off. He fought off the wave of nausea, trying to persuade himself that there was nothing left in his stomach to vomit.
He'd been sick four times since eight o'clock the night before when he'd found out about the car accident. Once when he found out; once when he arrived at the hospital and found out she was unconscious and that she had broken bones; once on his way out of the hospital because he was deeply wounded by the thought that he might never see her again if things went bad in Egypt; and one final time before boarding the plane because, for all his life, plane flights had never taken him anywhere he really wanted to be.
Once he might have begged Bakura to take over, to heal him with his dark magic and heavy resolve, but now he faced the torture. He welcomed it as a penance for the sins that he had committed. His fingers trembled to remove the seatbelt once the sign turned on. He quickly headed towards the restroom and locked himself into the tiny room.
He looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. He looked gaunt and the millennium ring was very prominent underneath his t-shirt. He felt a chill run through him as the word destiny floated through his mind. He knew that Yugi would be on his way soon.
He knew that it was Bakura's plan that he would be followed by the group. The final showdown was coming, but all Ryou could do was lean over and vomit into the toilet, doing his best not to be sick on his shirt.
There was nothing left in him, nothing but bile and stomach acid. His throat burned and sent a new wave of nausea through him.
He flushed it away and rinsed his mouth; he made eye contact with himself in the mirror and saw Bakura looking back at him. It sent a chill through him, but he pushed the feeling away, finally deciding that he was well enough to go back to his seat.
He had planned on taking a sleeping pill on the plane, but instead, he sat there looking blankly into his lap. He hadn't really told Reiko what he was doing. Well, he'd told her he was going away, but she had been pretty drugged up.
He couldn't believe that he had missed the dance. He couldn't believe that he'd been so weak as to allow harm to come to her. It hurt him even more to know that it was his own body that had been involved in the elaborate scheme to kill Reiko.
As he sat in the small seat, he found himself thanking every higher power he was aware of that she had survived.
You're forgetting one higher power in particular.
Ryou ignored the sound of Bakura's voice. He willed it away. He needed these moments; he needed to scrape up the last bits of his sanity.
He had hours of travel left, but he was steeling himself for his arrival at his father's hotel suite in Egypt. He hadn't seen the man in years. He knew that there wouldn't be much expected of him once he got there, and that was why Bakura had not had any qualms about simply staying with the his father.
All he wanted was his freedom. All he wanted was to be rid of the darkness. He wanted to be normal. The word didn't sound right when it was directed at himself. He wasn't normal; Reiko was normal. She was pretty and sweet and loved by her family.
He loved her too.
And so he had booked the flight and he would brave the destiny that had been laid out before him. He would not be at fault for injuring anyone else ever again. He'd rid himself – and the world – of Bakura if it was the last thing he ever did.
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