Chapter 10: unexpected comfort.
EgyptianSoul.88: Ello folks! I thank you all again for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I honestly thought it wasn't that great but you proved me wrong! ^^
Bakura: -stare- You seem frighteningly cheerful today.
EgyptianSoul.88: -shrug- Well, I'm pumped full of caffeine, and get to plan a wedding, what do you expect?! Now, be a good thief king and do the disclaimer.
Bakura: Whatever…EgyptianSoul.88 doesn't own anything but Rain, Anna, and Rain's parents. She wishes she did as she would be rich, but that's all she can do.
EgyptianSoul.88: Alrighty then, on with the chapter!
………………………………
After Bakura's lovely display of…well, we'll say affection, a still blushing Rain glared at the spot where he'd been a moment before going poof on her. She could hear his laughter echoing in her mind.
"You know, I sometimes wonder about him." She grumbled before giving her parents a final goodbye and closing her eyes, concentrating on getting back to the yu-gi-oh realm, back to that accursed blimp. It took a few moments of Rain thinking about Anna and the others, but soon everything went white and Rain was plopped onto the floor in the hallway right outside Bakura's room, where she unceremoniously whacked her head into the floor. It took a minute for her surroundings to stop spinning, but Rain eventually stood up and looked around warily.
-Hm…well, at least I didn't drop on top of Marik or something…-
/ Speaking of Marik, get into the room and out of this hallway as you seem to have the bad luck to always run into the bastard. Move first, think later. It may keep you alive slightly longer./
-slightly longer? Jerk…-
/ What?/
-Nothing…I don't know how Ryo can stand having you in his head all the time…I feel like a crazy person…-
/ Pfft…I don't exactly talk to Ryo often, He is my host. Thus there is no need for conversation. I take over when need be../
Rain entered Bakura's room, not that one could call it his anymore as he was gone but meh. She then realized that she was still wearing her nightgown. Luckily, as she'd originally been staying in this room, some of her clothes were still there. "No peeking." She grumbled out loud to Bakura before quickly changing into jeans and a t-shirt. She glared at the bruises covering her arms, wishing she hadn't left her only long sleeved shirt in Yugi's room… Rain sat on the bed, sighing. "When you're in control, what happens to Ryo?" She whispered, there was no response for a moment.
/ I put him to sleep usually…He remembers nothing while I am in control. It makes it easier for me to work, with him unable to tell the pharaoh what I've been up to./
Rain could actually feel the mental sneer when he spoke of her brother.
"It feels weird talking to you like this…unable to see you or hear you outside of my mind."
He chuckled darkly, / It's not something I like, but it can't be helped. I am, as you know, still very much weakened as most of me is in the shadow realm at the moment. It takes an amount of effort to project myself, making myself solid was a feat in itself. As much as I hate to admit it, without your magical strength I wouldn't have been able to do much at all. It took quite some time before I could even speak to you./ Rain could note the bitterness in his 'voice', she sighed again, but hid her surprise over him willingly admitting any sort of weakness.
"I'm sure you'll be back soon. As long as my brother defeats Marik everyone he sent to the shadow realm should recover." He didn't answer, Rain laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. "You really should be a little nicer to him." She muttered suddenly.
/ Who?/
"Ryo. All this memory loss and stress you cause his body, I mean…you've even put him in the hospital once, and would have again if Kaiba didn't have medical staff on this blimp. He's a nice guy. I mean, even though you're constantly possessing him and putting him in harms way he doesn't hate you. I know you're the big bad tomb robber, but can you try not to hurt the poor guy, or at least let him know when you're going to take over his body?" Rain stopped her mini lecture, she could feel Bakura's annoyance seeping into her mind.
/ Do you have a thing for him or something? Why should I let him know when I'm going to possess him, if he has no choice in the matter why bother?/
Rain rolled her eyes, "It is his body you inhabit, I would think he would have a right to know when you want to use it."
/ Woman, it's really not any business of yours now, is it… /
Rain gave an exasperated sigh, "Ugh…men…" A thought occurred to her at that moment, "Hey, instead of sitting around here I need to actually find Anna."
/ You're NOT going to the shadow realm./
She gave an unladylike snort, "Oh, it's not like I can't handle it…but I wasn't talking about going there anyway oh mighty bossy one, I was talking about finding her body." She shuddered, "I just don't like saying 'Anna's body' cause it sounds depressing…"
/ She's not dead, and Ryo's been keeping her company. Though she keeps running off, that girl is actually more stupid that you are./
"Why does she keep running off?" Rain chose to ignore the 'stupid' remark.
/ The girl is determined to find a way out, she won't listen to reason. You know, I would almost rather her soul got eaten already, one less thing to deal with./
" She gets eaten and I will find a way to kill you. What's got you so cranky?"
/ You try babysitting two mortals in the shadow realm without getting a little bit irritated, believe me, it's no picnic. I would have been out of there by now if it wasn't for them./
" You're being surprisingly talkative. It's weird."
/ …Oh, I'm sorry, perhaps I'll stop./
-Sarcastic much?-
/ Well, do you thrive on saying stupid things?/
"Uh…" Rain chose not to reply, much to Bakura's annoyance. She stood up, stretching and went to the door, peeking out cautiously. -Looks like the coast is clear…- She then hurried out, trying to be as quiet as possible. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from somewhere ahead of her. Before she had a chance to worry, Bakura's voice chimed in her head.
/ It's a woman, you're safe for now./
-How the hell can you tell?!-
/ Heheh…I'm the king of thieves…it's good to know things like this…a woman walks differently than a man, a trained ear can easily distinguish between the two./
Rain waited as Ishizu suddenly appeared around the bend, the women both smiled at each other, then Rain hugged the Egyptian.
"Oh, I'm glad you're alright…Where did you move Anna?"
Ishizu sighed, "She is in the room with Rishid, what's happened? Last I saw…you were…"
"Being dragged away by the psycho-pervert possessing your brother? Well, I managed to use the power of light to get away at the last moment, thanks to Bakura. I somehow went home…One minute I was with Marik, the next I was in my bedroom…."
Ishizu took a moment to process the information. "…Hold on, what do you mean by thanks to Bakura? He's in the shadow realm."
"Most of him is." At Ishizu's confused expression Rain gave a small smile. "How much do you know about the power of the sennen ring?"
"…Well, not that much actually…all our records of it were relatively vague, surprisingly more-so than the other items. I know it houses the spirit known as Bakura, and that it's quite powerful but I don't know the specifics."
"Hm…well, one of the things Bakura can do with the ring is put what I'll call 'shards' of his soul in things."
"That's an intriguing ability." The tomb keeper stated blandly, "No wonder he's so hard to get rid of."
"That's…beside the point…Without my knowledge, he put a shard of his soul in my necklace at some point. I was running out of hope but suddenly he yelled at me in my head. I thought I'd gone insane but he was persistent and managed to guide me through the process of using the power to get myself out of that…situation. Don't tell the others about the necklace-soul-shard thing though…" Ishizu didn't say anything, she could see the haunted look of a victim in Rain's eyes, it was a look she'd seen before. Rain was hiding it pretty well, but if she was pushed much further without time to recuperate there would be a breakdown.
"I'll take you to Anna. I'm glad you're ok….I'm assuming you came back to this realm with the power of light as well?"
"Yeah…I'm glad I got to see my parents…at least now they know where I am…and I learned how to use the power of light. Though I can't use it often, it's quite draining."
The two of them began to walk, Rain kept looking around, as though she expected for Marik to burst upon them at any moment. Ishizu put her hand on her shoulder, making Rain glance at her.
" Don't worry, He's not on the blimp right now. I saw him storm off down the hall where the others went. Probably impatient to duel the pharaoh."
"In a hurry to lose…" Rain grumbled, but her spirits lifted slightly knowing he wasn't in the immediate vicinity at the current moment.
"So…If Bakura, at least part of him, is in your necklace, can he take over your body?"
Rain made a face, "Uh…no, thank Ra for that…He can talk to me…and on the odd occasion he can sort of materialize apparently."
"Ah…that would be awkward, wouldn't it. I'm glad it's not the case."
"Heh…yeah…it's weird enough to hear his voice in my head."
/ Again, I'll leave you alone as you seem to find me oh so irritating…/
-Don't take things so personally…I was really upset when you got sent to the shadow realm, so talk as much as you want.- Rain fought a small grin, she thought it was kind of cool to be able to talk to someone telepathically. He snorted in response, a strange sound to hear in one's mind.
/ You're not going to start saying how much you miss me, are you? Because I really don't need to hear it./
Rain ignored him, rolling her eyes. Ishizu gave her a questioning look but said nothing as they stopped in front of a door and it slid open. Upon entering Rain spotted Anna on a bed lined up next to Rishid's. She looked so peaceful, Rain had to remind herself that her best friend's soul wasn't there…that she wasn't just sleeping. She took her hand, which felt cool to the touch, her heart ached with the pain of knowing she could have prevented this. A tear made it's way down her cheek.
"I'm so sorry my friend…please stay strong…I know it sounds crazy, but listen to Bakura. I know you don't like him but he'll keep you alive. We'll get you out of there soon I promise."
Meanwhile, in the shadow realm:
Anna shivered, she's been in this place for god knows how long, stuck with Bakura for goodness sake. Not that she wanted to be alone…she could feel the…things in the shadows, waiting and watching…occasionally brushing against her, making her jump. They had been attacked a few times by various creatures but Bakura was pretty good at killing things, needless to say he seemed to enjoy it. The shadow realm was so cold, a numbing kind of cold that cut right through you.
"Sheesh…maybe Marik should have just killed me…I feel like I'm in hell…but cold."
"Oh stop with the whining woman…You know as well as I do that you'll be rescued eventually. I'm sure you can handle a little bit of hardship…You've had it easy since you got here anyway. Had I ignored your plight your soul would have been eaten by the beasts that reside here by now. I must say, I do regret not just leaving you be to fend for yourself." Anna squinted through the dark-purplish swirls of whatever the shadow realm was made of, just able to make out the thief king's figure in the darkness. She put her hands on her hips and glared defiantly, making him chuckle.
" What? Did you think I'm keeping you safe from the beasties out of the goodness of my heart?" He tossed back his head and laughed heartily, as though he'd made a funny joke. "You had best thank your friend, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have spared you a single thought." He paused, "Hell, I would have killed you myself just for the fun of it."
"The goodness of your heart? Of course I didn't think that, I didn't even know you had one, being an evil spirit bent on sending the world into darkness and all."
He merely smirked, "I'm so glad you have such a high opinion of me. You're just like the rest of the pharaoh's little cheerleaders. Always willing to make such assumptions, but never willing to see the whole truth." He tilted his head to the side in an almost catlike gesture, "Tell me, do you fear me?" He moved closer, she could see him fully now. Anna actually paused to think before she answered. She looked him in the eye and forced herself not to flinch at the barely harnessed cold fury she could see there. Jeez, how did Rain manage to be anywhere near this guy for prolonged periods of time? He reminded Anna of an animal that had been trapped in a cage for far too long, bloodthirsty, crazed and unpredictable.
"I-I don't fear you." Anna cursed the catch she heard in her own voice, betraying her true feelings. He took a step towards her menacingly, Anna stumbled backwards and tripped, falling hard. She sat on the ground, glaring up at him as he stood silently watching her for a moment, before he unexpectedly burst out laughing at her expense.
"Idiot." He sneered.
"I don't know what she sees in you…" Anna grumbled, suppressing a shudder and trying to ignore the fear she felt. Bakura was scary, but him being her only protection from the shadow creatures in the shadow realm was terrifying…Especially as he obviously didn't like her at all. She jumped slightly when she felt a soft touch on her arm, turning to find Ryo beside her, she breathed a sigh of relief as he helped her stand. Bakura rolled his eyes, walking a small distance away. Anna figured he was done trying to freak the living shit out of her, that's what she'd decided he'd been doing anyway.
"Why don't you ask her when you get back?" Ryo's soft voice making her feel a little better.
"She wouldn't be able to tell me…the poor girl is as confused as they get. I'll never know or understand how she could love someone like him. They are as different as they come."
"Maybe the same way that you can love that damned, irritating priest." Bakura's cold voice cut through the darkness again. Anna blushed,
"I- I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Heh…say what you want woman, I honestly couldn't care less about your love life…Though maybe you should keep your nose out of matters that don't concern you."
There was sudden movement on their right, a nasty bug-like creature roared, Anna yelped. "What the HELL is that?!!"
"That, my dear, is a giant insect." The tomb robber sounded so relaxed that Anna did a double take. Then the thing lunged.
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
"Don't scream you idiot, you'll attract more of the damnable things!"
"Oh gross!!!" Anna dragged Ryo with her as she dodged one of the creatures massive legs. "Why does it have to be a bug of all things, dragons, zombies, monsters…anything but BUGS!!!"
"Alright, time to leave!" Bakura shouted as he summoned his own creature to take care of the monster bug. "Let's go people!" Anna didn't need to be told twice, she took Ryo's hand and ran for dear life.
Back with Rain…
"I hope the others will be back soon…" Ishizu's voice broke Rain from her thoughts, she nodded to show she was listening.
"Me too…preferably before Marik knows I'm back…He's likely not too happy that I vanished into thin air." Rain shuddered, "Ugh…bloody creep…thanks to him I'll be having nightmares for weeks to come."
"He hurt you."
"Well, yeah. I'm sure you noticed the bruises." Rain tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
"I'm not just talking about that Rain…you're soul itself has been wounded. It will take some time before you to feel normal again and for that I am so very sorry…" Rain looked at the older woman, Ishizu looked very sad at that moment. Rain put an arm on her shoulders.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine in no time. Honestly, it'll be easier for me than you think…I can go through a lot and I won't break. That's a gift of mine."
"You're such a sweet girl you know…I should be comforting you, not the other way around."
Rain laughed, "I'm not that good…I just focus on trying to be optimistic. Even in dire circumstances, if you think of the good things it will always keep you going. For example, this whole thing with Marik…yes, I'm traumatized by it, and somewhat injured but I got away. That's what matters. I may feel and look like shit, but I'm still here, able to fight another day as some would say. Best not to think of what could have happened. I'm more upset about the people we care for being stuck in the shadow realm than anything else."
"Hm…well, you are a good person Princess."
Rain groaned, putting a palm to her head. "Please don't call me that…"
Ishizu merely smiled in response.
"And I'm not a good person…I'm certain that according to some cosmic law, the good people aren't supposed to love the bad ones…and since Bakura would be considered a bad guy in most people's books, I believe any goodness I have is somewhat corrupted. I've tried as hard as I can to hate him and it's just not happening."
"You can't help who you love, it's something fate decides. That has nothing to do with good or bad, and I know you don't want any harm to come to the pharaoh…or anyone for that matter. From what I gather, you're an innocent soul trapped in the middle of the hatred fuelled war that boils between your brother and the man you've had in your heart for three thousand years. You are most definitely not a bad person, and the hatred around you has never been your fault."
Rain eyed Ishizu, shaking her head in slight amazement. "Sometimes it's scary how much you seem to know, Ishizu. But I don't think it's all my fault…I just wonder how things would have turned out if I had been able to stop the fighting back then. I feel that maybe if I had done something differently--"
CRASH The door suddenly flew open with force, Rain paled slightly, but to her own surprise, kept her bearings.
"Hello Marik, so nice to see you again. Is it even possible for you to enter a room quietly?"
"R-Rain!" Ishizu seemed more than shocked at Rain's sarcasm directed to the imposing man now standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Hello princess. Did you enjoy that little trick you played earlier? I didn't realize you'd already remembered how to do that. I promise not to make that mistake again."
"Hm. Well, guess you shouldn't just assume things, huh. I can be quite the escape artist now that I've figured it all out." Rain smirked, shoving any fear she felt at his presence to the back of her mind. She heard Bakura growl in her head as Marik pushed himself off the doorframe and waltzed over to stand a few feet in front of her.
" I really should punish you for that, you know. Maybe teach you some obedience." He spoke with a sneer, Rain glared at him.
"You'll find nothing you do will ever make me be subservient to you. Hell, I barely even listen to Bakura, and I actually care about him."
"Well, your precious Bakura is gone."
"You think so?"
He laughed, " As I'm the one that personally sent his entire being, host and all, to the shadow realm, I know so."
Rain smiled, making Marik frown in confusion.
"For someone who was once his second in command, I'm shocked that you would forget how hard he is to get rid of. That the likes of you could actually even think to truly defeat him."
"I see you've become delusional." Marik said dryly. "Considering I did defeat him in a shadow duel. He's gone. Quite literally, and I am growing weary of this mindless chatter. You're still somewhat weakened from our previous encounter, so just come quietly to save yourself any pointless self-inflicted agony."
Rain suppressed a shudder at the predatory expression he was yet again eyeing her with. -Hey Bakura.-
/ What./
-Well…um, do you think you could borrow some of my power and make yourself solid again, like you did at my parent's house?-
/ …I suppose…but you'll owe me if I help you out of this./
-But you'd be using my power to do it.-
/ It's still hard for me to do…and I don't help people for free, or ever really…unless I have something to gain./
-Ugh…whatever. I need you. I'll try to pay you back later. If I follow Marik, I'm pretty sure I'll get to see how pissed off he really is as he's acting freakishly calm right now. I'd rather not have to go through more of this crap.-
/ Hmph…good enough./
Rain closed her eyes and focused on transferring some of her power to Bakura, feeling the odd pinch as it began working and ignoring when Marik moved to grab her wrist, only stopping when she heard Bakura's icy voice.
" I don't like others touching what's mine." Rain opened her eyes to find Bakura standing slightly to the side, a couple feet away. She would have laughed at the strange expression on Marik's face and the open shock on Ishizu's if she hadn't been afraid for her life. Marik's grip on her wrist went slack so she pulled her hand to her chest and crossed her arms, at least he hadn't yanked her out of her seat.
"Bakura. What kind of trick are you trying to pull?" The pale man shrugged in response.
"As I said, you hadn't seen the last of me, I'm a man of my word you know."
"I sent you to the shadow realm, how exactly are you here right now?"
Bakura chuckled. "You really think I'm going to tell you?"
Marik's face warped in his fury, Rain cringed away from him as he turned back to try to grab her again. "You're mine sweetheart, this changes nothing." Rain made a strangled sound as he grabbed her wrist again and yanked her towards the door.
"I don't THINK so Marik!" Bakura jumped towards her and gripped her other wrist, both pulled with all their might. Which was a lot, if you hadn't guessed. Rain yelped in pain, giving Ishizu a pleading look.
"Uh…help would be great right about now!" The older woman appeared at a loss for what to do. She'd never had to deal with a human tug-of-war like this….though not that many people have…especially with two of the participants being rather insane. Rain felt as though both her arms were being ripped off, plus both her wrists were already bruised, she was hoping one of them would let go soon or she was probably going to start screaming. Neither was winning so far…her poor body was screaming from all the abuse it had taken in the last few days. Part of her felt like laughing hysterically, as she realized that the two craziest evil villains from any show she'd ever watched were currently having a bizarre game of tug-of -war with her body, pretty much fighting over her. She wondered briefly if maybe this really was all in her head and she was locked up in a psych ward somewhere in reality.
"Hm…The others are on their way back." Ishizu's voice cut through Rain's mental wanderings amid the intense pain of practically being yanked in half.
"How do you know?" Marik snapped at her, the woman gave him a cold look. "There is a window right there." She pointed behind the couch, "Also…I could sense it. I may not have the sennen tauk anymore but I still see the occasional thing."
Rain couldn't help but make a noise between a yelp and a scream when Marik's grip on her wrist tightened and he gave a strong yank, catching Bakura by surprise, making him stumble forward slightly. He glared, then did the same thing but Marik anticipated this and did something unexpected. He let go of Rain's hand. Which in turn sent Rain flying into Bakura, who fell into Ishizu, who stumbled back and fell on the couch. Bakura ended up on the floor with Rain in his lap. Marik chuckled evilly.
"I suppose you win for now thief, I have a pharaoh to kill, and…" Marik looked at Rain, " You'll just distract me from my plans. But don't worry, when it's all over I'll be coming back for you." With that, he grinned at Ishizu, and left the room, cloak billowing behind him. Rain shivered violently, then found she couldn't stop. Tears began to fall and Ishizu gave her a worried look, but one glance at Bakura's face and the older woman excused herself from the room. Rain registered vaguely that the tomb robber hadn't moved to shove her off of his lap, she curled up slightly, hid her face in her hands, and let herself cry, the crying turned to hysterical sobs. No matter what she did, they wouldn't stop. Arms wrapped around her awkwardly and she could feel herself being rocked back and forth gently.
"It's ok. You're alright Rain. I'm sorry I had to pull on your arm like that, we'd better make sure nothing's dislocated…shhhh…It's ok…you're ok…" She felt a soft kiss to the back of her head, if she wasn't such a mess she would have been beyond shocked that Bakura of all people was holding her, and comforting her as she had some sort of mental…thing…well, it was more of a 'Ow, my whole body hurts and my mind can't take anymore of this crap' kinda sorta breakdown. But since when did Bakura ever be all sweet and comforting? This was so not in character for him, not that Rain didn't appreciate it or anything. It was just a 'Did Bakura get abducted by aliens or something?' moment, a moment she knew she's cherish forever…even if it was a serious down point in her life. Both her lives for that matter…She was pretty sure he'd never done anything quite like this for her before…even in her past life. Even that fact made her feel a little better, her sobbing began to subside slowly. Within a few more minutes, it had stopped completely. She gave a rather pitiful sniffle that made her cringe internally before trying to manoeuvre herself off of Bakura's lap, his arms tightened around her and she felt him rest his chin on her head. Another very un-Bakura-like gesture.
"Better now?"
"Um…Yeah…thanks…"
There was an awkward silence before Rain began to wiggle again. She felt a sudden sharp pain in her right should and froze. "I-I should find one of Kaiba's doctors…there's got to be someone that can take a look at me…"
"It's your arm isn't it."
"Uh…yeah." Rain muttered.
"Get up and sit on the couch." He said gruffly, Rain scooted off his lap and did as she was told, trying not to move her arm as it seemed to be hurting worse the more she tried to move it. Bakura stood, then gently began probing her shoulder gently, suddenly he touched something that made Rain scream in pain. He slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Shhh! I don't need your friends to come running through the door thinking someone's killing you! Try to take the pain in silence." He hissed. When Rain nodded he took his hand from her mouth and continued speaking, "Your arm is most definitely dislocated. I'm going to have to push it back in place. I'm going to be honest. It's going to hurt. You are not to make a sound, can you handle that?" Rain's eyes widened slightly at the intensity of his expression, and the words he spoke. She tried to process the whole Bakura playing doctor thing. Well…he had taken an arrow out of her in ancient times so the idea really wasn't that far fetched. Why was he being so freaking nice right now? Even when he was being what Rain thought to be Bakura's version of nice before he hadn't been like this. Hell, he'd held her while she'd cried her brains out. She noticed he was beginning to get impatient with her silence.
"Uh…yeah, I guess I'll have to handle it, won't I…"
He smirked, "Well, you really don't have much of a choice." He gripped her elbow. "I'll do it on the count of three, Ok?" Rain nodded,
"One…"
"Two…" He shoved her arm upwards. It made a weird popping noise. Rain held back a yelp, then glared at him.
"I guess I should have expected you to do that." She grumbled. He smirked.
"It worked, didn't it?"
"Yeah…uh…thanks…"
He snorted, "You owe me."
"I figured as much."
" Heh…I sure hope your friend gets rescued from the shadow realm soon…"
"Dare I ask why? Can't be cause you're concerned…" Rain rolled her shoulder experimentally…it was still tender, but most of the pain was gone. Bakura gave her a look.
"The woman is driving me crazy…"
"Well, She doesn't really like you…and you don't really like anybody so I guess that's to be expected."
"Hmph…didn't think I'd have to spend time with anyone more annoying than you."
Rain suddenly laughed, causing him to glare at her. "Sorry…I was beginning to think you'd been abducted by aliens…I see you're back."
"Aliens?"
Rain sighed, "Never mind…you were being so nice to me it was almost scary."
He raised a brow. "…I was…concerned for your mental state…" Then he smirked, "Don't worry, it won't happen again. I'm sure you know me well enough to know that."
"I know." Rain said quietly, he suddenly straightened.
"someone's coming." With that, he leaned down and captured her mouth with his own, promptly vanishing mid-kiss, leaving a rather flushed Rain sitting in an empty room, seething.
-Smooth…Bastard…-
/ You know better than to call me names./ He sounded rather sinister…but amused…Rain had a split second to wonder if he was threatening her or actually teasing before Anzu, Yugi, Jou, Honda, Otogi, Shizuka, Mokuba and Seto Kaiba burst into the room…wait…why was Kaiba here? Before Rain had a chance to really process anything, Kaiba had stormed up to her and grabbed the from of her shirt, lifting her to her feet.
"What the HELL happened to Anna?!" Oooohh…that was why he was here…Rain was really getting sick of being manhandled…
"Marik happened to her…now let go of me you ass."
"W-What?" Rain dusted herself off as the angry CEO let go of her, the others glared at him. "What happened? I thought he was after you. How is it that you're fine and Anna ended up unconscious with the other two?" The others gasped and started throwing comments at him, after a moment Rain had just about had enough. She realized the lights were rather dim in this room, which explained why no one had really noticed her injuries… She sighed, then turned up the dimmer switch. The room was bathed in bright light. Rain held her arms wide, glaring at Kaiba and ignoring everyone else's shocked expressions.
"Do I look fine to you?" She all but growled. "Yes, Anna's mind got sent to the shadow realm, whether you believe in it or not is irrelevant. She decided to get herself involved in my fight, I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. I could have saved her, I should have just gone with the bastard willingly when he first forced his way into the room, while she was still hiding. But no, we got away, found Ishizu. I thought we'd be safe but unfortunately, I underestimated him. Anna tried to protect me, and she paid the price. I knew she was no match for shadow magic…hell, even with no magic involved…even though she had a knife…even if he'd been completely unarmed, she would have been no match for him. I'm sure if she hadn't actually managed to cut him, he would have probably continued to ignore her." Rain wiped her eyes before she could begin to cry again. "When she comes back, I'm going to kick her ass for being an idiot." Kaiba just stared at her, he, for once, seemed to have nothing to say. After a few moments, and a last glance at Anna's still form, he turned on his heel and walked away, followed by Mokuba, who was crying. Rain wandered back to the couch and sat down, she felt drained. Suddenly she was surrounded by her friends,
"What happened to you Rain?" Anzu knelt in front of her, looking at her face with a small frown. "You look like you've been through hell…" There was a large jolt, then a series of bumps and bangs as the blimp escaped from Noah's bizarre stronghold. As they rocketed back into the sky Rain heaved a sigh, gripping the couch tightly.
"I feel like I've been through hell…but I…don't really feel comfortable telling you all right now…maybe not ever…" Most of the others nodded understandingly, after a few moments they began to filter back into their own rooms, eventually it was just Rain and Yugi, who then let Yami take over. His reaction was immediate.
"Rain…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…the one time you truly needed saving, I wasn't there for you…" His guilt was written all over his face, Rain offered him a small smile,
"It's not your fault, it's not like you chose to get forced off the blimp and thrown into a virtual world…besides…It's really not as bad as it looks…"
"N-Not as bad as it looks?! Rain, it's obvious he beat the hell out of you! You have handprints on your wrists….Handprints for Ra's sake! And your face…"
"Yeah, I noticed." Rain said dryly.
"Sorry…"
"It's ok…um…Have you gone back to your room yet?"
"No." He looked puzzled, "Why?"
"Um…I'll walk with you…you may have to sleep in another room for the trip home…"
At the look he gave her, Rain stood up, wincing slightly as she did so. As they left the room and walked down the hallway, Yami kept glancing at her. He noticed her cringe slightly and walk faster as they passed Malik's…now Marik's room. He also noticed the bandage at the top of her breast, partially covered by the t-shirt. (A/N: No, he's not looking at his sorta-sister's boobs…ewness…)
"Did he cut you too?"
"Uh..What?" When he pointed at the bandage Rain flushed slightly, "Oh…I guess…I was covered in cuts and bruises so…I didn't really notice, my mom just put bandages where they were needed."
"Your mom? Um…how exactly…"
"I learned, um, kind of quickly, how to use the power of light…and it somehow got me back home. I stayed there for a night…then tried using the power of light through concentration to get back here…it worked…but it takes a lot out of me."
"Ah…I see…How did you use it the first time?"
Rain paled slightly at the memory, "Well…I…" She stopped speaking as Marik came around the corner ahead of them, coming back towards his room. Rain paled further to the point where Yami thought she may pass out. She felt like she'd used up all the rest of the strength she'd had left to stand up to him the last time and all that was left in her was the fear and hatred. Yami pulled her behind him and glared at Marik, who grinned at them both.
"Ah, glad you're back pharaoh…I'm looking forward to our duel." Then, though Rain was looking away, she could feel his eyes on her. "Hello again princess, I see you've run out of brave words for me?" When Rain didn't answer he made to reach for her, but Yami put out an arm.
"Don't lay a finger on her." He spoke in a hard voice, his fury barely hidden. Marik laughed, but complied.
"Rain, my dear. Why do you hide my mark? It didn't bleed too much did it? It means your mine now, you know." He acted as though Yami wasn't even there. Rain refused to look at him, nor hear his sickening voice. When his words didn't get a rise from her, he laughed again. "I thought you said I wouldn't break you at some point…You seem to be pretty broken to me, and I didn't even get started!"
"I'm not broken." Rain muttered, He grinned some more,
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."
"I said, I'm NOT broken." She finally looked up and he took as step back, shocked at the fiery rage in her eyes. She was glowing again, but faintly. "You disgust me, you filthy creature. You don't deserve to even breathe the same air I do. You pollute it. You destroy everything you touch, but not me. You still didn't get what you wanted, and you never will."
"Heh…you think so?"
"I know so."
" You have to be alone some time." He said in a sick whisper.
"I hate you with every fibre of my being."
He grinned again, continuing down the hallway to his room.
"Oh, I know." Marik threw over his shoulder, Rain resisted the urge to throw some fire. It took a lot of willpower, she turned back and began walking to Yami's room again, he walked beside her, both of them seething. When they got to the room, which was still doorless, as the door had been pretty much blown to smithereens, Yami gave a slight gasp. He peered inside at the charred walls, broken furniture, and glass that littered the floor, then the small amounts of dried blood on the carpet. Rain noticed him looking,
"I cut my foot on the glass…I threw a lot of fire around, I'm actually shocked it didn't destroy the whole blimp…some water…I think some wind…Marik blew up your door with shadow magic…and threw the furniture around a bit…We may have to dig around a bit to find our stuff…"
Yami turned to her, then gave her a tight, and unexpected hug, Rain squeaked slightly. He let go with an apologetic look.
"Sorry…"
"It's ok…I think I may have some cracked ribs or something…"
He nodded, then eyed the bandage that was mostly hiding beneath the relatively low collar of her shirt. "That's not really a cut is it?"
Rain sighed, "Depends on how you look at it…It's definitely a cut, I mean, It certainly bled. A lot, it's really gross actually. I should change the bandage and put more peroxide on it just in case." Ra knew how many germs Marik had on him…blegh… She stumbled over random stuff to the bathroom, the only place relatively untouched, and turned on the light. Yami followed close behind. "Yami?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't tell the others anything. I don't need them giving me anymore weird looks than they already do."
"Ok."
Rain smiled slightly, then pulled the neck of her shirt over her shoulder slightly, wincing as that shoulder was still tender, to expose her skin to the top of her bra…she peeled the bandage off of bite make number one, which was the deepest, and grabbed the small peroxide bottle from the cabinet while ignoring Yami's small intake of breath. She grabbed a cotton ball and used a liberal amount on the wound…which was beginning to scab over…hopefully it didn't scar, she didn't need the reminder. Then she stuck a new bandage over it, once again hiding it from view. When she lifted up the lower half of her shirt to expose the bandage at the base of her ribs, Yami gasped again.
"Holy Ra Rain…" The bruises were beginning to heal, but they still looked terrible…He waited while she changed the bandage on bite number two, Rain gave him a half-hearted smile when she was done.
"It's really not as bad as it looks…"
"Not as bad as it looks?! I'll make him pay for this…" Her brother growled, grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the room. "Come on, we can go stay with the others, we're almost at the place Kaiba wants to have the finals at anyway."
"I-"
"No. You're staying with us. In a group."
"…Alright, fine then…"
There was silence as they went to the entrance to Jou's room. Then Yami stopped before they went inside, he put a hand on Rain's shoulder.
"There's one thing that's been bothering me…have you seen any of Kaiba's doctors? I know they are around here somewhere and…well, this is probably a really touchy subject but did Marik…cause if he did you need medical attention…I mean, you need it anyway but…"
"No…He didn't..and I don't need medical attention. I wasn't raped…Just got a little beat up. Nothing I can't handle Yami." Rain sighed at the look he gave her, "Besides, I've already been somewhat taken care of…" It slipped out without her actually thinking, Rain cursed internally.
"By whom?"
"Um…One of Kaiba's doctors! I…Uh…Saw one in the room Anna was in…"
"…" Yami gave her the 'I know you're hiding something from me' look and Rain gave a small shrug, she'd never been good at lying, but there was no way she could tell him that Bakura had been the one to look at her, fix her arm, and had part of himself currently residing in her necklace. That…would not go over well… After a few moments, Yami just nodded, letting it go. Rain gave a small sigh of relief as he knocked on Jou's door and they were let in. He explained that his room was in ruins, Rain smiled at them all, then wandered off to the side to sit by the window. After a few minutes, she found Anzu was standing beside her.
"Um, hey Anzu, what's up?"
"Rain." Ok, the voice was not Anzu's, looks like Malik was back for another appearance.
"You know, I do hope you get your body back soon, it's kind of creepy talking to a guy in a girl's body." Rain paused, a dark look coming to her eyes, "And the creep inhabiting your body at the moment is abusing the shit out of it…when you get it back, I apologize for any injuries it may have sustained while under that thing's control."
"What did he do to you? You look like hell…" Rain actually smiled in response to that,
"Gee thanks…" He gave a small laugh, then went back to giving her a sad look.
"I'm so sorry…"
"It's not your fault Malik. He's not you, he's just in your body. And…I may have to remind myself of that later."
"…I…After I get it back, I won't tease you or anything like before I promise…I can see plainly that you've been hurt, not just physically…it's in your eyes…you're scared…I won't come near you after I get my body back. You can come talk to me if you want, but I won't make you uncomfortable."
Rain smiled, "See, I knew you could be a good guy…Just had to get rid of mister psycho and find out the truth behind your father's death. I can see us being friends Malik." He smiled,
"I hope we are friends. I don't have many."
"I…think I'll be ok with being around you after you get your body from that monster…It's almost like your features warped with him in control so…you don't even look the same."
"I'm still so sorry he hurt you…"
"Say sorry again and I'm going to kick you."
"This is Anzu's body so I won't feel it."
"Then I'll remember to kick you later." Rain grinned, he smiled.
"I'll see you…I can't possess her for long…" With that, he was gone, leaving a confused Anzu standing by Rain instead. The girl looked at her, smiled, then wandered over to the fridge to get something to drink. Rain went back to staring out the window.
/ Why didn't you tell them about me?/
-That's pretty obvious don't you think? Since you're kinda sorta their enemy and all…-
/ Hmph…I know, but you don't lie well…so I figured it would come out. The most that would have happened would be they wouldn't discuss anything in front of you because they would worry I'd be listening. I doubt they would be angry with you./
- I'm sure my brother would think I invited this. Why, do you want them to know?-
/ No…I'm just curious…/
-You've been acting weird lately…It's kind of freaky.-
/ Hm…well, I still feel the same, my goals haven't changed. I'll admit, I have been kind to you lately as I didn't feel like having you traumatized further. Don't worry, things will be back to normal soon, as I do not enjoy being such a sickeningly comforting presence. I'm sure you know that./
Rain smiled, - You may not like to be comforting, but you're good at it when you want to be.- He didn't answer, she could feel the small amount of irritation radiating from his spirit at the comment. The intercom came on, telling them they would reach their destination in about ten minutes. The nightmare with Marik was nearly over, and Rain was beyond happy about that.
Yeah, I know Bakura was SO out of character for this chapter…but as he keeps promising, He will be back to normal soon…I figure he could be nice if he really needed to be, he's pretty good at pretending to be Ryo…so, yeah. Ahem, well, this one was a tad faster to update than the last one, slowly I'm getting better! Hope you like it! Let me know if you've got any ideas for the plot and whatnot, advice, tips, etc. Review and let me know what you think! Thank you again for all who have reviewed, favorited, and kept up with this story so far! Couldn't do it without you! -Hands out home made cookies-