CHAPTER SEVEN
Name: Son of the Night
"…" Speech
Anything in italics is direct thoughts (not general musings)
Summary: Ryou and Bakura are brothers and happily in love, despite Bakura's job, but another wishes to come in between the happy couple. How far will the other go to get Ryou? YAOI BXR MXR, bloody stuff (light) and violence
Warning: This story is totally yaoi. YUM!! N e ways, there is also violence and brutal killings (means lots of blood and gore). And incest is really big but oh well. If that is the kind of stuff that floats your boat then, read on! If not, well then, go away.
Disclaimer: Do we see Ryou running around naked, making out with his yami or any other sexy bishounen? No, I think not. So clearly I don't own anything.
luckycatshadow: all I'd like to say is that France is the most beautiful country ever. Never mind my French is rustier then hell and my flight home got cancelled. I would like to recommend all of you traveling to Paris once before you die, it's worth it and so much more.
Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, I love you all. It's great to come back after being out of the country and realizing how much you all care. And I figured out a boyfriend for Malik; just don't hate me for it. No one had any suggestions so no flames, please. The boyfriend is revealed next chapter (I think) or the chapter after (9).
IMPORTANT: Previous chapter Bakura was 16 and Ryou was 13; the chapter took place about three years ago. The scene took place in a small town in the French region Rhône-Alpes not far from the city of Grenoble.
X.X.X.
Blackness was as far as the eyes could see. Black sky, black clouds, even a black sun. All the black was enough to depress someone beyond words. No matter how hard the eyes strained, black was the only thing seen.
Ryou felt like crying upon waking up to the sight of all the black. It pressed down on him, suffocating and choking him. He felt tremors racing up and down his back and for a moment all he could feel was panic. Ryou could only think of a particular time, similar to this black landscape, where he was trapped with the door locked. No way out and everyone oblivious to his cries of terror and fear.
X.X.X.
Marik quietly watched Ryou's eyes twitch under his eyelids. The boy had been utterly still up until a moment ago, upon which the teen's eyes began twitching and he began to tremble faintly. Marik clutched onto the hand in his grip tighter and leaned over Ryou, watching his face for any sign of the youth becoming conscious again. He had been so scared when Ryou had collapsed but the principal had taken it all in stride, going over to his office door and calling the nurse inside. With Marik's help Nurse Aomori carried Ryou's limp body into the sick room, laying him down on the cot covered in a disposable plastic wrap. The nurse bustled around the bed for a few moments, shining a little penlight into Ryou's eyes, bandaging up his cut head and pulling a bedspread over him before finally leaving the room, letting a blanket of silence to settle over the two.
Marik admired the way the bandage wrap held Ryou's hair out of his face, framing it gently. Sadistically he couldn't help but think Ryou looked good wrapped but in bandages.
Ryou had made no motion of awaking at being moved and Marik took a seat next to him in a hard orange plastic chair, grasping onto the teen's limp hand. With nothing to do Marik found himself gazing at the tops of his school shoes. The school shoes he was required to wear were the most hideous things ever, they made his feet look huge and the style was just terrible. Marik found his mind drifting, alighting on random topics before settling on the thought of the delicate teen in front of him. And once Marik started thinking about Ryou he found he couldn't stop. The thought of Ryou was just too enticing, the very memory of his twinkling eyes and heart-stopping laugh and a million other little adorable things about him made Marik uncomfortable with need. But he would not do anything to such a defenseless innocent boy.
But then Ryou had begun twitching and tossing fretfully. Marik hovered over him, a concerned look etched on his face. For several long moments Ryou turned over and over with his eyes fluttering underneath closed eyelids. Marik held his breath in, not wanting to disturb the unconsciousness teen. But then, as if a light switch had been turned off, Ryou stopped moving and laid on the bed, as still as a corpse. But his chest rose ever so lightly in a mockery of sleep.
For one agonizingly long hour the room remained silent, Ryou lost in unconsciousness and Marik deep in his thoughts.
X.X.X.
With a shudder Ryou tore himself away from the dark landscape and pulled his eyes opened, wincing at the harsh lighting that instantaneously stung them. He blinked rapidly, blinking away the tears that had formed. Instantly Marik's concerned face swam into view, hovering in the air above him.
"Ryou, you had me so scared. Are you feeling better?"
With a groan Ryou attempted to sit up before letting himself drop back to the cot with a small gasp of pain. Marik leaned over further; making sure the pillow behind Ryou's head was properly fluffed up and situated. The younger teen closed his eyes again, wincing at the pain that throbbed from the back of his skull up.
"You need to be careful. You took a really good whack on the head when you collapsed. Its gonna hurt for a bit. You're lucky you didn't break the skin."
Ryou listened to Marik ramble with a small expression of pain on his face. He let the older teen continue for several more moments, enjoying the way Marik was acting like a concerned mother hen, before he raised his hand and ceased the incessant prattling.
"What," Ryou cleared his throat quickly; his mouth was dry - like someone had stuck a cotton ball in his mouth, before trying to speak again. "What happened?" His voice still came out all crackly and shaky.
Marik got a pained look on his face at Ryou's question, like he wasn't sure how to properly answer the question. "Um, well, you kinda fainted."
"W-why?"
"Um, you, uh, heard about um, Bakura's uh," Marik couldn't believe how tongue-tied he was getting over telling Ryou a simple statement. But he didn't want Ryou to react the same he had before. "Well, um, Bakura got suspended for a couple of day."
The last part of Marik's response rushed out in an incomprehensible rush of syllables and letters. It took a moment for Ryou to decipher Marik's words but when the meaning dawned on him he paled even more and turned his head away from Marik's view.
"Ryou?" Marik spoke hesitantly, not wanting to startle the boy anymore. "Are you…okay?"
"Yes, I," Ryou drew in a shaking breath before releasing it in a quick whoosh. "I-I'm fine. I just…I just…oh I don't know. It's kinda strange. When I…when I was told about Bakura I just felt trapped, yet relieved. In a-a twisted way. It's weird, I can't tell you why I felt that but, I was just so scared, but relieved. I just, oh, I just don't know anymore. It's-it's complicated."
Marik took all of Ryou's little speech in without saying word, a strange look on his face. The older teen wasn't sure what to say, the situation didn't exactly call for word of condolences, yet, Ryou seemed saddened by all that was happening, as if he had inexplicably been caught up in a maelstrom spinning beyond his control.
Ryou laid his head back down, closing his eyes with a faint sigh. Marik looked closer at the pale teen and noticed faint worry lines etched in the corners around his eyes, giving him the look of one far more aged than him. Ryou's face had a drawn in look to it, like he had seen the mysteries of the world and they were pulling harshly down on him. Marik felt a tug on his heart; it made him sad, and in a way sickened, to see the young teen look like that.
After several long moments of silence Ryou reopened his eyes, once again blinking rapidly at the bright lights. "How-how long have I been out of it?"
"The final bell's about to ring, so about an hour now."
"Oh."
Ryou lifted his head off the pillow, then, with trembling arms, pushed his chest up off the bed. Marik sat by quietly; he knew Ryou wouldn't want the help. Finally Ryou sat up properly before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. The pale teen slowly rose to his feet, trembling faintly.
"Are you sure you're ready to leave? You can lay down for a bit. School doesn't end for another ten minutes."
"Nah, I'm all right. Just give me a moment." Ryou closed his eyes, swaying slightly as if being blown about by a strong wind. Slowly his eyes slid open and the teen took an unsteady step forward, legs shaking faintly. Marik gracefully rose to his feet and paced behind Ryou, making sure the pale teen did not fall and hit his head again.
The two teens quietly left the sick room, startling Nurse Aomori as she filled out papers at her desk. She quickly stood up and hurried around her desk, fussing over Ryou. She raised a hand to his forehead, shined her little flashlight in his eyes and then leaned around to look at the bandaged bump on his head. She found no blood staining the bandage and after a few moments took a step away from Ryou.
"Well, there's no sign of a concussion, so you're free to go, however get a lot of rest tonight, just make sure you clean out and wash it carefully before rewrapping and don't come to school tomorrow, instead stay in bed. Per school policy, a doctor's note of evaluation must be brought in with you when you come back to school. If you wish to head home now that would be fine. Mr. Ishtar may escort you outside."
The two teens paced out of the nurse's office and headed towards Ryou and Marik's lockers. By unspoken agreement the two were leaving the school together. Ryou was the first to break the silence.
"Um Marik, would you like to come over to my house to, um, work on our school project? I have all of our research notes; we can start our working on our paper." Marik was startled by Ryou inviting him over; he had expected to just finish the project at his house. But then Marik realized that Ryou must have studied his Japanese customs to follow the tradition of giri (1). It was a way for Ryou to repay Marik for letting the pale teen come over to his house, well, mansion.
Marik was quick to acquiesce, he was curious as to where Ryou and Bakura lived. He couldn't picture the two living in a home like husband and wife. It seemed like Ryou needed a parental figure to properly guide and help him and it didn't seem like Bakura was the right person. Ryou needed a kind and gentle person to be there for him, not some sadistic bastard.
The two teens walked down the empty corridors in silence, both lost among their thoughts. Their footsteps were the only sound to echo through the hallways, all other students lost among their studies. Marik and Ryou both opened their lockers and dug out the necessary books to take home before stuffing them in their book-bags. Marik seized a hold of Ryou's strap before the pale teen could grab it for himself. Marik easily hoisted the two bags over his shoulders and clicked his locker shut. Ryou closed his locker before turning to Marik, a strange look on his face, mouth opened to make a comment.
Marik was quick to head off anything Ryou could say with a firm admonish, "don't even think about it Ryou, you just woke up from fainting and I don't want you to strain yourself."
Ryou frowned, a slightly irritated and frustrated look etched on his face. But he didn't bother retorting to Marik, he knew he didn't have a chance of convincing the other teen to let him carry his own bag.
Another moment of silence fell over the two as they exited the school building. As soon as the pair reached Marik's car Marik called Malik's phone, leaving a voice mail to call the chauffeur for a ride home.
Ryou didn't mind the silence that was ever present. It felt comfortable and normal to just enjoy the silence in the company of another and not be smothered.
X.X.X.
(1) the concept of giri governs every give-and-take in society
Gifts and reciprocal gifts are kept track of meticulously
Don't accept more than you can repay
Don't transgress the strong hierarchical divisions of society
luckycatshadow sorry the ending was so brief; I just wanted to post the chapter and be done. This was definitely not my best work. But next chapter should hopefully be better.
