Blessed Be Those Who Live
Rating- T
Pairings- None for this chapter, but mainly Thiefshipping, Puppyshipping, and Puzzleshipping
Summary- The pharaoh separates Ryou and Bakura, and now they must deal with life.
When Ryou's father said that he would drive them to school on his way to the museum the next morning, Ryou found himself thinking of the senior who lived on the next building and how he had about the same height and build as him. Then he realized those weren't his own thoughts.
"Don't! What is he going to wear tomorrow?" he whispered to Bakura when his father went to leave the dishes on the kitchen. Bakura just gave him the who-gives-a-shit smirk. Ryou was starting to make a list of Bakura's smirks, there were that many. "And you don't even care about school."
Bakura shrugged and reached towards the big ice cream carton to get another serving. Apparently he had never had ice cream before, and he made sure to 'convince' Ryou's father to bring more every time he went out.
"No. But it's as good an excuse as any to see what that idiot host of the pharaoh is doing. I tried breaking into his house the other day-"
"What did you-?!"
"But the pharaoh was already expecting that, and he sealed it against me. He must be keeping the items there. School seems like the easiest way to get close to them. And you're going to back me up in this and say I've changed now and want to be good or some bullshit like that."
"I'm not su-"
"You. Will."
The last words were said with the typical –Dear Landlord- smirk, that said Bakura was considering being much less nice to him in the nearby future.
Ryou's father came back with a bottle of chocolate syrup, and Ryou thought that he had never loved him more than in that very moment.
"Help me put the dishes on the dishwasher, Ryou?" he asked. Bakura's train of thought had turned completely towards the ice cream, and Ryou jumped at the opportunity to not have to deal with him anymore.
"Sure!"
As he was finishing with the dishes, his father came to the kitchen with a strange aura. Ryou had learned to understand the small, tight movements that signaled a bad mood from Bakura, and he now saw them in his father.
"Is…something that matter dad?"
His father sighed.
"Ryou, I don't like you lying to me."
Ryou's breath caught in his throat, and a strange excitement burned in his gut. Had his father finally realized that he had been staring at his son's face and taking him for a stranger for days now? A small, resentful part of Ryou wished it was so.
"L-lie?"
"Your friend Kura."
"Dad, he…"
"He's been living here for a while, hasn't he? Look, if he has problems with his family, running away and hiding here with you isn't going to solve them. I mean, he does seem like an ok guy, and it's good for you to not be all alone here, but I'm worried about it. What must his parents be thinking?"
Bakura's laughter sounded from the living room, but he had the slight good taste to at least try to mask it by turning the volume of the tv up. Ryou gritted his teeth.
"Yeah. Sorry dad. I should have been…," he sighed. "I should have been honest. He does have some trouble with his parents, but they're letting him stay here for the meantime. I told them you would be ok with this. Sorry about not telling you before."
His father nodded with a soft smile, and Ryou wanted to shout I'm being bullied by a spirit that is now my evil twin, dad! Come on!
"Well, you should have told me, but it seems like you two are doing alright for now. And, like I said, I don't like the idea of you being all alone here. To be honest, I had plans of bringing you with me to Egypt in my next dig."
The sound from the tv in the living room died off.
"To Egypt? To live with you there?"
"Of course to live with me, Ryou! I've missed you, and it must be hard living alone here in the city."
No. Yes. No. We can't just go there. I still need the millennium items. But Egypt-
Among the torrent of incoherent thoughts from Bakura, Ryou was struck with an image of Egypt so clear, he could feel the hot sand over his skin, and the cool breeze from the Nile river.
He shivered. For once, Bakura's mind defenses had let down, and he caught a glimpse at the way he put his evil plans together. And of something else. A thought buried beneath the others; pushed away as far as Bakura could send it, yet it called to Ryou when he turned his mind's attention towards it.
"Ryou? Are you alright?" asked his Father, snapping Ryou out of his focus on Bakura's thoughts.
"Sorry dad. I just…I'd like to go, but…"
His father gave him a sad smile that felt reassuring to Ryou. His father knew how hard it was to start again, to try and have a normal life again. He didn't know anything about the evil spirit who had been living inside his son's body, but Ryou liked to think he would be pretty understanding about that too. Maybe.
"It's alright Ryou. I just want whatever makes you happy. From what you told me in your letters, it seems like you have made many friends here. Especially that Kura boy. He seems a little rough around the edges, but you two seem to get along pretty well."
Ryou blinked. "Heh, heh, yeah…we get along…pretty well…"
That night, the kid next door lost an almost new school uniform, and later on Ryou would find out that he had gained a concussion in it's place.
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