Hello!!
Thanks to you all for your reviews. The author is well-fed!! Either that, or losing appetite….but whatever.
I actually need to pay attention in math, now that my grade's dropped to a C (on which I blame my teacher's lack of ability to teach, but my GPA doesn't take that into its calculations…), so I sadly can no longer use those 48 minutes to write. I now must resort to writing in Latin instead of sleeping. Not too much of a sacrifice, I suppose.
I'll get to the point now.
Same disclaimer and warnings as the last 9 chapters. I wonder at your intelligence if 9 repetitions can't get something stuck in your mind. Oh, and I don't own Lucky Charms either.
Written later: I do apologize for such a delay!! I know how it messes up the story line…life's just been hectic lately. Which is really no excuse. The truth is, the chapter's been all ready to type for a while, and I haven't ad enough private time with the computer to type it up yet. Which is also not really an excuse, but it is more accurate. I'm very sorry!!
Also in the excuses for delay category: THIS ONE IS A LEGITIMATE EXCUSE AND NOT MY FAULT!!!!! This chapter was actually finished a week and a half or so before posting. See, I do my writing on a really old computer we have. It doesn't have internet access and it can't put files on CD's, only floppies; this makes it prime for writing, because a) no one else uses it and b) it has so many less distractions. The problem is, the same day as I finished the chapter, I learned that the floppy drive on the computer that does have internet access—hence, the computer I use to post chapters—is broken. I couldn't get my file!!! So I had to get a friend to get the file off the floppy and email it to me. . She procrastinated—and forgot—and procrastinated—and procrastinated—etc, etc, etc. So it's taken me an extra week and a half to post this. Gomen nasai!!! But I do finally have at least one legitimate excuse now….
This broken floppy thing may also delay future chapters. My parents can read files saved on the computer, so until I learn to save word files on CDs, things may be slow. (I really don't want parents reading this….) Which drives me crazy—I finally have no sign of writer's block, and look what happens!!!!
Chapter 10 (Already? 10? Wow, time flies….well, maybe just in my world. When did I start this story again? …Maybe it has been a while…)
Bakura opened one eye and glanced over at his clock. Ryou had wisely given him a clock without an alarm….which was the reason the clock was more than a pile of circuit boards right now, in all truth. Smart hikari. In any case, the non-pile-of-circuit-board clock currently read 7:15 AM. All right…so hikari's still home now. I'll get food now, then. The spirit stood, stretching. Hey…I'm not falling over anymore. And it's not freezing. He smiled before walking towards the stairs.
Ryou glanced up as the thief entered the kitchen, then smiled. "Oh, morning 'Kura!" he chirped happily. "Feeling better?"
"Mwrf," Bakura replied, his mouth full of the Lucky Charms he'd just found in the cabinet. "How long have these been here and why haven't I eaten them all yet?"
The hikari laughed quietly before answering, "They've been here a few days now. There are still some left because you've been too sick to root around for sugary cereal lately. And you should really be eating something healthier, yami." Despite the slight scolding in his words, Ryou's tone was bemused.
"Like what? There's no bacon cooked." Seeing his hikari sigh lightly, Bakura added, "Oh come on, Ry, do you want to drown me in soup?" Ryou just smiled softly without answering.
A little while later, Ryou stood and walked over to the counter, where the phone sat. Bakura groaned. "Hikari, I'm better now! Don't call him."
"You had a high fever yesterday, yami," the hikari remarked. "Even if you feel better now, it's possible it'll come back." Seeing the spirit's frown, he added, "If you're fine all day today, and I mean really fine, not just saying you are, then you'll be able to stay on your own tomorrow, all right?"
Bakura pouted. "Fine. But don't expect me to be nice." He stalked over to the sofa, seating himself in his favorite spot and turning on the TV. He ignored the doorbell when it rang, and pretty much everything that went on around him, for several more hours.
However, at that point, Yami came and sat down next to him, wrecking his concentration. Dammit, Pharaoh, don't distract me! He thought. I'm trying to ignore you! But these, being thoughts, were not heard and therefore were ignored.
The thief's diligence was ruined even further when his unwanted companion, still looking at the TV, said in a voice somewhere between a whisper and normal speech, "Bakura…"
"….Hn." Bakura shifted slightly, scooting farther away from his unwanted companion.
Yami continued, a note of pleading entering his voice. "Bakura, please talk to me."
"I have nothing to say to you." The thief's voice was cold, almost like ice, as he stared pointedly at the TV, despite the fact that he no longer knew what he was watching.
"Bakura." The spirit finally glanced at Yami's face, surprised to see sorrow reflected in the ex-pharaoh's eyes. "Do you really hate me so much?" Bakura looked away without answering. "Please tell me. I…I just want to know honestly."
Bakura stood abruptly. "I'm hungry." He walked quickly into the kitchen. A few moments later, he returned with more Lucky Charms. He sat once again, in the same spot as before; this surprised Yami, who thought the other spirit would choose a spot as far away from him as possible. For a while, there was no sound except for the racket of the TV and the sound of dry marshmallows crunching between Bakura's teeth as the thief carefully avoided the bland cereal bits. Yami had just turned away, about to give up on an answer to his question when he heard the other spirit's voice whisper almost inaudibly, "Then…yes, without any doubt. Now…"
"Now?" The ex-pharaoh's tone revealed his anxiousness, but he didn't look at his companion.
Bakura's voice continued even more quietly, so that Yami had to lean closer to hear him at all. "I don't know…" Yami's head snapped around quickly to look at the thief, but Bakura was already fast asleep. The shorter spirit smiled and draped a blanket over the pale man.
"Sleep well, Bakura."
Time Break (Gomen nasai—I'm trying to get rid of these, really!!
The next morning, Bakura walked into the kitchen just moments after his hikari did. He sniffed the air, then smiled happily. "I smell bacon!!"
"Yep," Ryou answered. "So now you can eat the healthy food you need while I get at least one bowl of sweet cereal, for once!"
The spirit pouted. "Oh, come on, can't I just have bacon and lucky Charms?"
"No. You ate over half the box yesterday, anyways, yami. You'll just make yourself sick again if you keep acting like that." The spirit pouted. "'Kura, you like eggs, remember?"
"But you keep insisting on cooking them!"
The hikari sweatdropped.
After breakfast, Ryou walked over to the door, picking up his coat and school bag along the way. Bakura blinked before asking, surprised, "You're gonna let me stay alone?"
The hikari smiled, bemused. "Unless there was a problem Yami didn't mention yesterday, you'll probably be fine."
"Finally!!" Bakura was grinning like a maniac, mentally listing the various uses for his new dagger, the one he had gotten sick while stealing.
"…If and ONLY IF you can manage to stay quiet on your own, 'Kura. No terrorizing the general public today. Or any specific member of the general public, for that matter." The spirit glared at him. "Well, if that's settled, yami…" Ryou smiled sweetly. "I'll see you this afternoon!"
Half an hour later, Bakura had pulled on his own jacket, and was happily relaxing on a sunny tree branch in Domino Park. Well, not quite happily…
Why the hell did that bastard spend practically a week sitting in my house, with me completely helpless, and not even try anything?
You see, Bakura's mind was quite busy trying to figure out what was going on in his worst enemy's head.
I guess he might not have wanted to get sick. But then why come to my house at all? He actually seemed worried. But he never worried in the past. Heck, he never worried in this life. Not about me, not unless I was trying to hurt Yugi or his pathetic little friends. The spirit scowled. So why did he try to help me?
A little voice spoke in the back of his head. You really want to trust him, you know.
No, I don't. I can't. He's done too much.
But you want to. There's a chance you can, now. He's helped you. He could have jumped you when you couldn't stand on your own without falling over, you know. He didn't.
That's irrelevant.
Now you sound like Kaiba.
WHAT??
Since when does the great and mighty Thief King use big words?
Since forever. And it's still besides the point.
It is not. He could have had his way with you, he didn't, so you can trust him now.
He's trying to get me to trust him. Things'll be much easier for him if I'm nottrying to actively resist.
But he's not. At least, you don't think so.
You're right. I don't think so. I KNOW so.
You want to trust him.
…You know what? Why am I talking to you anyways? You're just a little voice in my head. Go away.
Talking to yourself. A first sign of insanity…. And the voice faded away.
But Bakura's thoughts stayed.
What if my little voice is right? What if I can trust him?
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
Break (Sorry!)
As he came within sight of home for the third time that day, Bakura noticed the mail truck driving away. He opened the mailbox, mainly to check for anything interesting, but saw only a slim envelope. It had no address, return or otherwise, and no stamp on it; in fact, the only thing visible on the envelope was his name. Bakura blinked at the letter—or note—or whatever it was before bringing it into the house and sitting down on the sofa to open it.
Bakura
I—I'm not really sure where to start with this, honestly. I just…need to tell you how I feel, I guess. However cheesy that may sound.
First of all, I'd like to tell you that you really have nothing to fear from me at this point. I know what happened in the past, and…I really am sorry about everything. Truly, Bakura. I…there's really no words to describe how selfish and—well, just plain stupid I was. Nothing like that will ever happen again. That much I can guarantee you.
Secondly, I can honestly see why you'd hate me. At this point, I'm in complete agreement with your opinion about my past self. As far as I can tell, I had no redeeming qualities, except maybe a desire to protect my country. But that didn't do much for you, did it….But I also know that I am different now. I know better than to do whatever I want, even if it hurts people; I know there are far more important things in life than me, and that there are so many of these impartant things--people, places, just…everything…
I'm rambling, aren't I.
My point is, I have changed…almost to a different person, I think. I wish you'd give me a chance.
I—I'm sorry, Bakura. Truly, I am.
Yami.
Bakura blinked. His mind felt numb, as if thoughts were processing far slower than they should be. …What ? Dammit! What the hell is that bastard thinking
I don't understand what the hell is going ion in his head… Bakura was surprised to hear a slightly mournful note in his thoughts. I didn't know thoughts could complain be mournful against the thinker's will.
He stood and walked towards the door. How dare that idiot mess with my mind like this? Damn him!! The spirit quickly grew angrier, scowling as he crumpled the paper in his fist and strode purposefully down the street towards Yami's house.
Author Notes
Heh…sorry for the break, once again!! In any case, I would like to explain that Bakura is operating under the influence of bad judgement and quite a bit of pent-up anger at the moment. Plus, time may not seem to follow its normal path for a while. Pretend all the hikaris had something to do after school or something. Or just ignore the fact that it's already probably noonish and the plot won't allow Yugi and Ryou to go home anytime soon…That's all. Thanks for your patience!!
End Author Notes
Yami, at this time, was sitting on his sofa. He'd dropped his note off in Bakura's mailbox almost an hour ago now. He's sure to be getting it soon. I wonder how he'll react…
Well, he can't hate me much more at this point, can he?
Suddenly, he heard a loud noise from downstairs, as if someone had slammed the shop door. Which, now that he thought about it, had been left unlocked. Well, that wasn't smart of me, now was it. Yami walked downstairs to see what was going on.
He'd been expecting an excited child too young to go to school. Or perhaps a stressed businessman looking for a gift for a kid while on his lunch break. In fact, one of the few things he wasn't expecting to see was a furious Bakura standing in the doorway. The spirit looked stunned, and slightly afraid, like a deer caught in a car's headlights. I thought he'd be far too angry to some here…He immediately turned around and walked back into the home-like part of the building, working to keep his breathing steady.
"Don't walk away from me, pharaoh!" The thief was following him. Typical—Bakura never gave up on anything, did he…Yami felt a tear trail down his cheek.
"Bastard, turn around and face me! Come on, don't tell me the magnificent pharaoh is scared…" His tone was mocking. The pale spirit finally caught up to Yami and stood in front of him, forcing him to stop. "What the hell were you th--" There was a pause, then Bakura spoke again, in a quieter but overly blunt tone. "Why're you crying?"
"Why do you think?"
"Why the hell should I know??"
Yami pushed past the thief and walked over to the sofa. Sitting, he replied, in a low voice, "It's really your fault. But that's my fault to start out with. And--"
"Dammit, pharaoh, if you can't talk without babbling like a lunatic maybe I'm better off just ignoring you entirely from now on!"
"Shut up, do you want to know or not??" The thief glared, but shutted up. (The author knows shutted is not a word. The author ignores this fact entirely.) "The point is, the reason I'm upset is, you'll barely talk to me, and when you do it's just to yell and threaten and argue and curse!! And the worst part is, I know it's my fault, you don't need to remind me, thank you very much! It's entirely my fault, much as I wish it wasn't…" His voice faded out.
Bakura was now staring at the back of Yami's head with a mixture of confusion and extreme dislike painted across his face. "And why the hell do you care what I do?" His tone was accusatory. "You never cared before, you never gave a goddamned hoot what I said or wanted, why the sudden change now??" But his mind murmured to him, offering a twinge of doubt, he cared when you were sick…he took care of you, he helped you…he did whatever you asked him to, unless it would hurt you. He did care…
There was a moment of silence before he heard a murmured answer from the other spirit, but couldn't understand the whispered words. Anger flit across his face as the thief glared furiously at Yami's head.
"What was that, Pharaoh?" His tone was mocking. "Come on, don't be shy…it's not like you can mess up any more than you already have." The pharaoh flinched at his blunt, undisguised hatred. Yami sank lower into the sofa, shoulders sagging, before answering.
"I don't want you to hate me."
Bakura had to admit it; he was caught off guard. If Yami had been facing him, the ex-pharaoh would have seen surprise, shock, and even a small amount of guilt fly quickly across his pale features. He had been caught speechless. But the thief recovered quickly, and his face returned to its previous smirk. "Oh, really?" The mocking tone lingered. "And why not, my dear pharaoh?" He spit out the last word like a curse as sarcasm practically dripped from his lips.
Yami gave no answer.
"Oi, baka!" Bakura's eyes hardened, and he grew angrier. "Why the hell would you care if I hate you now? You're the one who caused it! You're--"
"No, stop…stop it, Bakura, please." Yami's almost pleading voice was tight, as if he were trying to hold back tears.
"Then tell me!!"
There was a moment of silence. Then a slight whisper filled the air; "…I—I love you."
Bakura was knocked speechless for the second time in as many minutes. But this time, the shock didn't wear off so quickly. He stood completely unarmed, confusion mixing with surprise in his deep brown eyes. "…what?" This was his first honest question, asked with no mockery in his voice. But he, once again, received no answer.
He walked over to face the man he had always assumed to be his enemy. Grabbing Yami's chin, Bakura gently forced the other spirit to look up at him, attracting his attention without harming him. His expression was unreadable. "What's going on in your head, pharaoh?" His tone remained curious, not malicious. "First you spend a month or so keeping me locked away and tormented, then you seal me in this stupid hunk of gold, then you help me when I'm sick, and now this? I don't understand you."
Yami tore away from Bakura, looking down at his lap once again. "As you asked, what does it matter to you?"
The thief frowned. "You don't want to answer? Heh. You expect me to suddenly be willing to accept that you love me and you won't tell me what the hell you're thinking?" The thief stood abruptly. "Fine. Then there's no reason for me to stay." Yami flinched.
"Don't go."
Bakura glared at the bowed head before him. He grabbed the spirit's shoulders, shaking him gently as if to awaken him. "Then tell me what the hell you want!"
Yami leaned forwards into Bakura's arms. "I—I'm so sorry, Bakura….I….until recently, for as long as I could remember, I really didn't want to hurt you. Keep Yugi and his friends safe, yes, but never to actually hurt you. And…I wish I could say that was always true, but obviously that's not true, and I'm so sorry, really…" A tear worked its way down the ex-pharaoh's face, followed by more of its kind. "I can't honestly blame you for hating me, not trusting me, not wanting to be around me. Gods know I wish things were different, but what's happened has happened, and it doesn't change even if I wish it could more than anything in the world and—Bakura, I truly mean you no harm, and I'm so sorry for everything…" His voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "I love you…"
Bakura sighed lightly, acting annoyed to cover his thoughts. "Let go." He pulled away from Yami and exited the room.
Fin
Well, maybe. I'm strongly considering cutting it off here. A bit of a cliffie, I suppose—yes, I realize I'm evil—but still; it's a good place to stop, and the next part is still way OOC. Not that this wasn't. I just ran out of ideas for how Yami should act…Molly, I know you don't read my ramblings, but you'll remember when I was going around bugging everyone for ideas and we finally landed on 'ice cream?'? Yes, it was a few months ago. But still. This is where I was thinking at when I was asking for ideas. (Then I slipped in the whole getting sick thing, so the time hasn't been a total waste.)
I've had a lot of trouble with this whole Yami/Bakura sequence. Perhaps everyone has been able to tell. . But anyways, I think it's almost resolved. Though the next part is random, OOC, and completely impossible to comprehend. Even after all my work to come up with it. . And I tried so hard to keep this in the realm of vague possibility…but it's dragged on long enough. For the lady's sake, this whole sequence was supposed to be one chapter long, to start out with!!! Oh well. I'll leave you to your lives now.
Please feed the authoress!! Despite that she doesn't deserve it, since she's so slow….
Oh, and thank our school system for giving us our second snow day in what is rumored to be 30 years or more. . Otherwise I'd be trying to do other stuff still.
Arigatou gozaimasu!!
Oh, wow, at a size 12 font this is almost 9 whole pages!!! Ok, random comment….