Started: September 21, 2006

Maybe I'll actually be able to finish in a reasonable amount of time this chapter….

Thanks to Molly and Elise for dealing with my constant bugging due to excessive stuckness!!!

Chapter 9

As soon as he woke up and glanced out the window, Bakura knew it was going to be a miserable day.

First of all, there were the events of yesterday and all the emotional repercussions of that. Second of all, his stupid brain kept questioning whether it was possible for Yami to have changed—almost as if he wanted to believe it were true! And last, but definitely not least, it was cold. And raining. In Bakura's mind, the temperature should never fall below about 75 degrees, and it should never rain for more than three months out of the year. Unfortunately, Japan's climate didn't follow those rules as well as Egypt had. All these things individually would have made a bad day, but with them in combination, the spirit could already tell he had an awful day ahead of him.

"Yami…" Ryou's voice called from downstairs, "If you want breakfast, you better get downstairs before it gets cold!"

Well, we can't have that, now can we… Bakura thought grumpily. But he went down. Even 5000+ year old spirits get hungry. And it was too cold to eat cold food.

As he entered the kitchen, the spirit noticed the absence of one of their usual breakfast guests. "Where's your beloved boyfriend, hikari?"

"Isis is arriving today, I told you." Ryou answered absentmindedly. "He won't be around much today, I don't think. But I've got quite a bit of homework to do, so you'll be mostly on your own today. I hope you don't mind."

"Nah. Where's the food?" His hikari just shook his head in despair before pointing to the table.

An hour later, Ryou had begun his math, completely missing the fact that his yami had walked outside without a coat into pouring rain. Said spirit didn't really notice the wetness so much, though; he was completely absorbed into his own thoughts. Of course, this annoyed him somewhat, because the same circle of concepts had been running through his brain for almost since he had woken up. Has he really changed, is it possible, I can't trust him, but can I maybe? No, that's stupid…. And, of course, all these troublesome thoughts were focused around the one person he really wanted out of his mind.

The spirit stopped in front of a store window. It was Sunday, so the store itself was closed….but it didn't seem so hard to get into. The security system wasn't great, and since it was rainy, there was no one around to see him pick the lock. And that was a really nice dagger in the window…that one with the little pewter rose curling around a dull iron sheath, with a blade like an oversized thorn and a handle shaped like overlapping leaves. A bit sentimental, perhaps, but it looked sharp. And Ryou had just finished confiscating all his other knives.

"Moshimoshi? …Oh, hi Seto!" The small teen smiled happily, glad to hear his boyfriend's voice on the phone. He'd been too shy to call himself, wondering in the back of his head if last night had just been a little too much alcohol…of course, he hadn't told Yami about that particular concern, not wanting to tell the spirit that Malik had brought alcohol (apparently without Ryou's knowledge, from his friend's reaction…). It seemed unjustified, anyways. "Oh, you're not working today? That's great! You need to relax more…" Yugi giggled slightly. "oh, ano…" He blushed. "I-I'd like to come over, yes. I'll see you soon, then!" He turned around to walk down the stairs, but instead almost ran into his yami.

The spirit was smiling slightly, seeming bemused. "I take it you're going to Seto's?" The teen nodded. "I'll take care of the shop then."

Yugi looked horrified. "Oh, I completely forgot we were going to stay open today! Gomen nasai…(I'm sorry…)" He stopped as he heard Yami laugh.

"It's fine, I really don't mind, hikari." He ruffled the teen's hair slightly. "Go have fun." Yugi smiled happily and nodded before running down the stairs. "Don't forget an umbrella!" the ex-pharaoh yelled after him.

Walking more slowly after his hikari, Yami went over to the door and turned the sign to 'open'. It probably won't be very busy today—no one likes traveling in this weather. That meant lots of time to think. Joyous. Thinking was bad. Too much bad had happened yesterday, and too much of it was still left unresolved. Bad vents, combined with too much empty time, seem to be some demented formula for moping and just general bad thoughts….as if his dreams the night before hadn't had enough bad thoughts.

Bakura woke up, once again, feeling absolutely miserable. But it was a different type of miserable than the day before. Now, it was perfectly sunny out, and the thermometer outside his window read almost 80degrees—warm for the time of year, and usually warm enough for Bakura to be all right, but for some reason, he was still freezing. And whereas he had been slightly depressed due to unpleasant thoughts the day before, his head now felt too clogged to think at all. Not to mention, he couldn't breathe through his nose, and his throat hurt like hell.

"Yami! Your food is getting cold!" Apparently he had slept through Ryou's first breakfast call. That was unusual. The promise of food was one of the few things that could actually succeed in dragging a tired thief out of bed. He tried to get up—and promptly collapsed.

"Da—owww…" It hurt to talk. Must go along with this whole pain-in-the-throat thing… He heard his hikari walking up the stairs and tried to stand again. This time he succeeded. My legs are noodles. Why are my legs noodles? They're supposed to have bone in them…

Ryou walked into the room. "Yami, I've called you three times al—oh, my, you look awful."

"Feel awful, too." Why am I talking? It hurts. No more talking.

The teen shook his head. "Sit down, yami. I'm going to go find a thermometer." The spirit obeyed, for once. His head hurt too much to come up with a snappy comeback.

A moment later, he was awoken by having a cold glass tube thrust under his tongue. …I dozed off? But I just woke up. A moment later, the object was pulled out—just as it had gotten warm, too. Ryou looked at it for a moment before shaking his head.

"You've got a high fever, Yami. What have you been doing, running around in the rain?" Bakura nodded, and the teen shook his head again, sighing. "Well, I can't leave you here alone like this. Stay in bed, all right? You're officially sick, you can't be up and about today. Or for a few days to come, by the looks of this." Bakura was only too happy to go back under the warm covers and fall asleep.

The spirit was awakened once again what felt like just moments later by his hikari's footsteps entering the room. "All right, 'Kura. I want you to stay in bed today, you'll just get worse if you try to be active. That means no yelling fights, either. And nothing too hard to digest. We don't want you throwing up, on top of everything else….In any case, just try to stay calm and sleep. Yami's going to come an--"

"WHAT??? Owww…" The spirit groaned as he rubbed his throat. All right, no yelling fights is OK. Yelling hurts.

Ryou sighed. "I know you don't like him, yami, but everyone else is at school, and you're really too sick to be home alone. It'll be all right." Bakura tried to speak again, but was cut off when the hikari continued to talk. "There's soup in the refrigerator, you can eat that if you get hungry. It'll need heating, though. Just ask Yami if you need anything, but you should really try to sleep. That's best for you right now." The doorbell rang. "I've got to go, 'Kura. See you after school." Ryou walked towards the door before pausing and turning back to look at the spirit. "And yami? Try not to argue, please….you'll get worse if you use all your energy fighting. See you later."

As the door closed, Bakura muttered to himself, "It will not be 'all right'. Hmph….as if I'd ask that bastard for help…" Rolling over, the spirit allowed himself to drift back into much-needed sleep.

The spirit woke once again, having no idea what time it was or how long he'd been asleep. He looked around the room for his clock and noticed a hot bowl of soup next to the bed. Good, hikari left so—no. Hikari went to school. Evil bastard left soup. ….Wait. Since when do evil bastards leave soup? Note to self: think about that when my mind is working again. Do I eat evil bastard's soup? I'm hungry. He started to reach for the bowl before pulling his hand back and shaking his head, as if to clear it. No. It's evil bastard's soup. It might be poisoned or drugged or something….but why would he, I'm already kinda helpless here….maybe he doesn't know that. Nope, not eating the soup. The spirit rolled over again, ignoring the bowl of hot food next to him. It's a good thing my nose is clogged and I can't smell it anyways. Much less tempting.

Half an hour or so later, Yami entered the room. He found a bowl of now-cold soup still sitting, untouched, on the bedside table. The spirit sighed dejectedly, looking unhappily at the sleeping thief.

I wish you'd at least let me help you get better….I wish you'd let me at least try to make this up to you, even if that's impossible. I'd like to be able to try.

Author Notes

I'm putting these here because I need a little time-break and takes out the little row of stars-with-no-words, so I put in words in the form of the beloved Author Notes!! Also, a few people told me author notes in the middle were better. So here they shall stay, unless there are enough complaints to warrant moving them again.

Thank you, everyone who has sent in reviews for chapter 8 so far. I apologize that it takes me so long to get chapters out. It's really not purposeful. The main reason right now is that Bakura is fighting me every step of the way….his character is getting a little out of control, making it hard to get the plot where I want it to go. By the way, if things seem a little forced or way out of character at this point…yeah, blame Bakura's little hissy fit. The general gist of which is 'No way in hell am I going along with authoress's little evil plot twists!!! No!!' Think little two-year-old who's been told he can't have a candy bar while waiting in line at the grocery store…. -.- I apologize for this as well.

Now that I think about it, incoherent or otherwise strange thoughts on Bakura's part are the results of his nasty little fever. Those are not attributed to his hissy fit. Yes, this does include his bizarre reaction to hot soup and his new nickname for Yami.

Actually, they are. If he went along with the original plot line, he wouldn't have needed the fever. But the mean little thief just wouldn't trust the pharaoh…. .

And I do apologize for all the little time breaks in this chapter. It's the result of trying to cover what, 7 days in one chapter? I've been trying to avoid it, but there's only so long I can drag out a device to make Bakura tolerate Yami!!! Gomen nasai, minna-san! .

Ja ne, minna-san!

Owari!! (Wow, Japanese looks so weird written in romaji…)

Bakura awoke the next day tired and achy. Still sick…where's Hikari? I want food. The spirit tried to sit, then stand, but quickly lay back down, huddling underneath the covers. Damn. Since when is Japan so goddamned cold??? The spirit curled up in a ball, blankets wrapped tightly around him, and was about to doze off when the door to his room opened. He heard footsteps cross the floor, and rolled over.

"Hika—oh, it's you. Go away." He returned to his previous position, back to the door, with the blankets pulled up to his chin.

Yami sighed dejectedly and walked over to the sick spirit. "Hey."

"I said, go away."

The ex-pharaoh's tone revealed his hurt as he whispered, "You need to eat, Bakura. You need the energy to recover."

"I don't want anything you make, Pharaoh."

Yami flinched slightly at this, his face taking on a pained expression. "…All right…" he murmured, and left the room. And Bakura dozed off.

Downstairs, Yami sat on the sofa. The TV was on, but the spirit no longer knew or cared what was on. His thoughts focused on the sick thief sleeping upstairs. I should really check on him… Yami told himself that he wanted to check to make sure he was fulfilling the job he had committed to, but in his heart, the spirit really wanted to see Bakura again, even if he knew the other spirit would only either ignore him or tell him to leave. Either way, he gave into his desire, and walked silently up the stairs.

As he entered the thief's room, Yami could tell that Bakura had already fallen asleep once again. He walked over to the side of the bed and touched the back of his hand to the spirit's forehead, to check for a fever, he told himself. However, Bakura immediately flinched away, momentary panic flitting across his face, as if the thief had experienced a nightmare. Yami's eyes fell slightly in sorrow at Bakura's blatant, if unconscious, display of mistrust. I really wish he would trust me. Backing away slightly, the ex-pharaoh slowly walked back to his old seat in front of the TV, still thinking about his patient. Did he really tell me everything? I mean, I know what he did tell me about the past is horrible….but….it's been five millennia. That seems like such a long time to hold a grudge…was it, perhaps, much worse in experience than he could say in words? If that were the case, I'd need to remember in order to understand. He sighed. Is there a way to regain memories? Beyond the memory world? There's still much I don't recall about my past. Suddenly, his face brightened slightly. If he had been in an old cartoon show, or in Xanth (sorry, random reference!), a light bulb would have appeared over his head. Isis is here, Ryou said. She'd know if I can remember. The spirit made up his mind to talk to the Egyptian woman later that very day.

Time Break

Later that evening, Yami walked into the darkened Domino Museum, following a map to find the room in which he was supposed to meet Isis. He hadn't yet told the woman why he wanted to speak with her; the spirit wasn't quite sure how she'd take to the idea, plus he didn't know if it was even possible, and so wanted to speak with her in person before she could refuse.

He turned one final corner before entering the room where the priestess stood waiting. Unlike the hallways of the building, this area was lit well enough to appreciate the treasures spaced around the room. This light also made it easy to see other people, which would have been near-impossible in the dim corridors. The spirit stood admiring the golden mask beside him for a moment, slightly and inexplicably nervous about the rapidly approaching conversation, before turning to the woman across the room from him and saying, "Isis."

The priestess turned, smiling, and walked over to her friend (as they had become in the year or so since Battle City). "Greetings, my pharaoh. What can I do for you today?"

Yami returned her smile hesitantly before embarking on a long ramble explaining the nature of his request in a long, winding, convoluted manner, ending in, "I suppose I'm really just wondering if there's any way to obtain the memories that were not found in the memory world. I thought you'd be the one to ask, and since you were in town…"

Isis smiled once again, but this time, a hint of sadness lingered in her expressive eyes. "Yes, there is." The spirit opened his mouth to speak, looking eager, but was cut off as she continued. "However, Pharaoh, there is a price." She paused. "The memories that remained sealed after the memory world were locked farther in your mind than the others. This means that either they are likely to be more traumatic or upsetting, or basically to have a negative affect on you, than the others, or they just weren't particularly memorable in the first place. That's usually why the mind pushes such things away." Her smile faded as she looked worriedly at her friend. "Are you sure you wish to remember everything? Some things are best left buried."

Yami nodded. "It's important, though I can't say why right now."

Isis nodded. She turned around and moved her arms somewhat, though Yami couldn't see what she was doing.

Suddenly, he was sliding into a long tunnel of stone, with open doorways flashing quickly past. Every so often, a door would be open only a crack, and the spirit would reach to try to see more; however, he was swept past by an invisible force every time.

All of a sudden, the force stopped. The spirit stood and looked around himself, confused. Every door here is closed… The thought echoed down the hallway as if he'd spoken it aloud. Yami furrowed his brows, confused, before reaching out to touch the handle of the nearest door. With some work and a lot of shoving, the door opened just a crack, then slid silently and easily aside…

Yami suddenly stood in a small, cramped room. The area was lit by a single torch, revealing stone blocks and a heavy wooden door on one side of the room. His head turned without his willing it to, and the spirit realized that he was trapped in a memory of his past self, unable to affect or change his actions in the past in any way. As his head continued to turn, Yami saw a man chained to the wall in front of him, his long silvery gray hair hanging in front of his face as his head hung low. Blood flowed sluggishly from a cut on his left shoulder, and more dried blood practically coated one thigh. Yami's body, currently not under his control, laughed slightly as he walked towards the other man. The man's head lifted to glare at him, and Yami was startled to see Bakura's hateful glower from this prisoner. Yes, the other spirit had told him of this, and of course he had believed him, but at the same time, it was hard to imagine Bakura submitting to such treatment…

The scene changed. The room was the same, but this time, a previously invisible door stood open. In the exposed room, a young boy knelt, shielding his eyes. The area behind him was pitch dark, but the spirit thought he could see a slim line of light where another door may open into the hallway he somehow knew lay beyond. His body grabbed the teen by the arm, pulling him into the light room. Then it turned to face Bakura, who still stood chained to the wall. The captive's face showed a mix of horror and rage, and the spirit heard him yell, "Let him go! He's done nothing to you, nothing!" But before he could hear more, the scene changed once again.

He now stood in a deserted room, with a stone slab in front of him. A body lay on the slab, with dried blood on its torso and arms, in addition to the back of its legs. With a start, Yami recognized silvery gray hair and unnaturally pale skin. …Bakura??? But the face was softer, less angled than Bakura's; even when the thief slept he retained some of the sharper angles in his face. Suddenly, he remembered Bakura's story of a few days ago. Ryou….oh gods…..no, wait, there's got to be a mistake here! He's so badly hurt… A man, dressed in expensive silks, walked up to him and whispered, "does this meet your will, Pharaoh?" But the scene was already shifting, for the third time. As it faded out, he heard his own voice whisper, in a cruel and almost laughing tone, "Yes, this will do well to lure him back…"

Numerous other scenes flashed by, including memories of his childhood and more images of that room and the events that followed from there. But none stood out so much as those first three in his mind, partly because they confirmed Bakura's story to the letter, and partly because it was so difficult to believe that this was truly how he had been, at a level that was impossible to convey to someone who could not remember the events….

And, at some point, he found himself back in the room of treasures in the Domino Museum, panting heavily. His body had fallen to the ground at some point during the chain of memories, he couldn't say where, and Isis sat on a chair nearby, asleep. He wrote a short note thanking her for her trouble before heading to the park to think things over. I can't talk to her just now…or to anyone else really. I never imagined….I could have been so different then….no wonder he hates to be near me so much.

Time Break

After spending a sleepless night wandering the expansive grounds of Domino Park, Yami walked slowly to Ryou and Bakura's house. Bakura was still asleep, and Ryou was rushing out the door to get to school on time as he walked in the door. The spirit sat down as soon as the hikari was out the door, trying to think how he could possibly tell Bakura of his new knowledge.

When Bakura awoke, he rolled over to find a piece of paper on the bed next to him. Looking closer, he saw his hikari's handwriting.

Bakura

I hope you're feeling better now than you have the past few days. You slept too late for me to ask before school, but that's all right. You need rest, so try to stay in bed, all right? There's some food downstairs if you're hungry. Ask Yami to heat it up for you—I'm sure he won't mind. Don't you try to go do it yourself, yami! You'll just use up your energy, which means healing slower. See you when I get home!

Ryou

The spirit stared at the paper for a moment, waiting for the words to penetrate the foggy haze surrounding his brain. "Meh…no. Not letting evil-bastard make me food. Silly hikari, I can do it." The spirit didn't even realize he was speaking out loud. "Here we go…" He stood, shakily, and pulled one of the heavier blankets around himself before heading for the stairs.

Yami stood up quickly, turning, as he heard footsteps on the stairs. Seeing his pale patient walking towards him, the ex-pharaoh flinched slightly, remembering the events of the previous evening. Bakura had continued on to the kitchen, ignoring him completely, before he managed to shake himself out of the memories. Yami quickly followed, worried that the other spirit would hurt himself. Why is he out of bed?

As he entered the kitchen, Yami saw Bakura studying the microwave intently, a bowl of cold oatmeal sitting next to him. "Here, I can do that," he said. Bakura jumped, as if he hadn't heard the ex-pharaoh enter, and spun around; however, the loss of balance caused by his fever mixed with the spinning motion caused him to fall. Yami lunged forward, catching the man in his arms before he could hit the ground.

The spirit froze. He'd known he cared for Bakura for a while now, but this was the first time he'd been so close to the other spirit. His every sense seemed somehow heightened, simply from the thief's proximity to him….

He shook the mood off. Now was no time to be zoning out. "Go to bed, Bakura," he pleaded, "You need the rest. You'll never get better like this…"

The thief stood, wobbling, and tried to glare through eyes lidded with exhaustion. It failed, miserably, making him look rather pathetic instead of angry, but that's besides the point. "What, so you can drug my food or something? No." His voice was harsh and rough, a result of his sore throat, and it sounded as though it would be painful to talk.

Yami paused, slightly hurt despite knowing the reasons for Bakura's mistrust. "…Do you really think I'd do that?"

The thief turned back to his soup, facing away from the other spirit. "Nooo….I've got so many reasons to trust you, why would I possibly think you'd try to hurt me?" The sarcasm in Bakura's tone was thick enough to cut with a knife. Yami flinched involuntarily, once again remembering his newfound memories.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, you know. Honestly, I'm not." Bakura ignored him. Yami felt frustration building inside of him. "Bakura, at least listen to me! I know I hurt you, Ra knows I was an absolute idiot, to put it lightly, and I can't apologize enough for that. But Bakura, that was five millennia ago!" He paused for a moment, then almost whispered, "How long will you hold this grudge?"

Bakura spun around. His eyes no longer looked quite so tired, and his whole body reflected his anger as he yelled, "Don't you act like you know everything, pharaoh! You don't know me at all!" His voice lowered exponentially, but the tone became dangerous, the type of voice Bakura would use only with those he was truly furious with. He spoke quickly in this low, deadly tone, saying, "You were as good as not there, for all you remember. All you know, pharaoh, is what I told you, and that sure as hell isn't everything, and being told sure as hell isn't the same as being there. So don't you dare act like you understand what I went through, because there's absolutely no way, not unless you found a way to get your goddamned memories back, and—"

"And I did!" Yami was now not quite yelling, but certainly speaking in earnest, and he clearly meant every word he said. "Isis knew how to unlock them, and I do remember now, and though I can't see things fully from your point of view, because I'm not you, I can certainly understand what happened! I've done everything I can to understand, Bakura, and I know I was an absolute bastard then and I'm so sorry…" His expression changed from earnest insistence to a sort of pleading misery, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm so sorry…"

Bakura stood there for a moment. No. He can't remember. He can't. He'll try something again, if he knows everything, or he'll tell people, or something, and…no, no, NO! The thief took a few steps back, then ran out of the room, yelling, "I hate you, bastard!!!" at the top of his lungs.

Yami flinched at the other spirit's harsh words. His breathing grew labored as he heard Bakura's footsteps race up the stairs and into his room, and the door slam and lock behind him. He collapsed to the floor, sobbing. "I'm so sorry, Bakura…."

Ryou walked into the house several hours later. As he entered the living room, he noticed Yami asleep on the sofa, a pillow clutched tightly against his chest. Even in his sleep, the spirit was noticeably upset, though not so much as before. The teen shook him awake. "Yami…Yami, wake up, please. I'm home." He frowned slightly as the spirit sat up. "Did something happen? You seem sad…"

Yami blinked, then smiled, though the expression didn't reach his eyes. Ryou recognized the attempt to conceal his emotions. He'd used it many times himself. "No…no, everything's fine. There's no need to worry."

The teen nodded. "I won't keep you then. Thank you for coming." However, as Yami walked away, he couldn't help but wonder what Bakura had managed to do that threw the ex-pharaoh so off balance….

He was also furious that his yami could be so cruel, when Yugi's spirit was really only trying to help him. And Bakura's side of the link was blocked off….he walked up the stairs to his yami's room. Entering, he angrily asked, "Yami, what the heck did you do to—" Then he saw Bakura.

The spirit was sitting in the back corner of the room, as far away from the door as possible. He was wrapped in numerous blankets, with pillows scattered all around him. The bed was empty. "Go 'way…" the spirit muttered.

Ryou walked over to Bakura's side, sitting down beside him. "'Kura, what happened? You're both so upset." He gasped as he was suddenly pulled into a hug.

"Not again, hikari. I won't let it happen again…" the spirit murmured. He sounded scared, but also half asleep.

Ryou frowned, confused. "What? Don't let what happen? Bakura!" But the spirit had already fallen asleep.

Owari

All right, chapter ended!!

We have a second computer here now!! Well, we've had it for years, but it's just now hooked up again. The thing is ancient. It has Word, some kind of CD player (nothing so advanced as iTunes or something like it, though), and no internet access or other distracting games. This last detail makes it so much easier for me to sit down and write a good three pages or whatever at once!! I love it.

Who would have thought an 11-year-old computer could be so much fun???

Anyways, please review!! I appreciate any meaningful comments, including constructive criticism. Flames will be used to light incense. Or ridiculed, depending on the content.

Oh, and be proud of me I'm up to 8 pages, and this may be the fastest I've gotten a chapter out in ages!!

Sayonara!!

Finished: October 8, 2006

Writing time: 2 weeks, 4 days