AN: Yay, chapter nine! I'm gonna try and keep my weekly update schedule but my stepsister's coming down for the Summer so I might be a few days late here and there. Bear with me x) Enjoy!

PAINT THE ROSES RED

nine: you may rest a little, now

"We are gathered here today to celebrate and honor the amazing lives of two phenomenal young men."

The present is over with.

Ryou is outside on a hill.

There is no sign of a city or even a town for miles. The breeze is soft on his face, and the air is thick with the heavy scent of mid-summertime. The sky is blinding blue with not a single cloud hovering anywhere. The grass is bright green, lush, and swaying in the wind.

There is a crowd of people sitting in dark chairs, in front of two shiny mahogany coffins covered in red and white roses.

It's a gorgeous day.

And this is his funeral.

Ryou's heart stops.

For a moment, there is nothing but the wind blowing through his ears. Everything is hauntingly silent.

Then suddenly, he starts shaking.

At first, it's slight. The quivering starts in his jaw, almost unnoticeable. But then, it moves. It moves and it overtakes his entire body until every inch of him is quaking and he can't stop.

The world starts spinning oh-so-slightly.

This is such a disgustingly twisted moment.

He's a guest at his own funeral.

God.

He just wants it all to go away.

He feels like he's in one of those nightmares where you know it's a nightmare but you can't wake up and everything goes so slowly and all the agony just drags out.

Ryou looks forward and he watches all the people. He watches the people with sheet-white, stone-still faces, afraid of showing any emotion whatsoever at the risk of completely breaking down, of completely losing it. He watches the people who have tears running down their cheeks, the people who are sobbing. He watches the people who have their hands clenched in their laps, deathly-white. He watches the people who are staring at the ground, refusing to look up into the sunlit summer sky.

He watches Bakura's parents and Bakura's other relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Mutou, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, Tristan, Mai, Serenity, Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, Duke, Tea, and the most important people, Joey and Yugi.

He watches them, and he wonders if he dares to step any closer.

He feels like if he steps any closer he'll be acknowledging this. Making it okay. Making it real. (Because, Ryou figures, this is the future. None of this is actually happening yet.)

Nonetheless, within seconds, Ryou feels himself moving.

He's walking right around the audience, and right up to the front where the pastor stands. He stops, staring at everybody.

How unbelievable is this?

There they all are—all his loved ones. There they all are, sobbing and in pain at the loss of him (Well, him and Bakura, but Ryou's really trying not to focus on the fact Bakura's dead. Even though it is kind of unavoidable). There they all are, sobbing at the death of someone who's standing right in front of them, watching them all.

It's so weird.

Even funny, in a sick sort of way.

Ryou shuffles from one foot to another, feeling very uncomfortable. And rightfully so, too.

He looks down.

Out of his lips come the only words he can manage to think of.

"I'm sorry."

Ryou looks back up and the funeral is over.

The sky isn't blue and clear and shining anymore.

Well, it kind of is. There are storm clouds, filled to bursting with summer rain, slowly creeping in on the phenomenal blue sky, darkening it bit by bit. The gentle breeze from before is picking up, making the grass bend and sway more and more violently by the second.

Ryou knows an oh-so-expected, oh-so-regular summertime thunderstorm is coming.

He bites his lip and starts walking. To where, he's not sure, but he knows he just has to get moving.

The field is wide and green and bright up against the quickly-graying sky behind him, and ahead of him, Ryou hears faint voices, and if he squints so, so hard, he can barely see a gravel parking lot and cars. The field is ending up ahead.

But first...there's a hill.

Well, it's not really a hill as much as it is a slight bump in the wide expanse all around him. But it's situated perfectly in the middle of the field, and atop it is a magnificent oak tree. Its strong branches are reaching out, dotted with dark green leaves. It's shadowing something.

Or rather, something and two people.

Ryou picks up his pace and starts up the hill, anxious to see who's there.

As soon as he does, his blood runs cold, and he feels misery well up inside of him. Tears sting at the corner of his hazel eyes because there rest his and Bakura's headstones, side-by-side.

In front of them stand Yugi and Joey, both holding single red and white roses in their hands, hands folded and clenched tightly in front of them, faces staring downward at their friend's graves.

God, this is all so effing tragic.

Ryou doesn't know how much more tragedy he can really take.

The oak tree is beautifully, hauntingly shadowing the two boys, and his and Bakura's graves. The backdrop is the semi-blue, semi-gray sky contrasting against the almost-neon-green grass. The wind is twirling, making the oak tree's leaves rattle, the grass tickle against Ryou's legs, and Joey and Yugi's coats to swirl a bit.

Then, of course, with the exception of the sounds of nature, it's silent.

It's so perfect and imperfect at the same time that Ryou just wants to cry at it all.

Finally, there's movement. Ryou watches as Yugi slowly, so slowly, bends down and reaches forward, placing the red rose he's holding oh-so-carefully in his hand against Ryou's headstone. And then, Ryou watches as his best friend reaches up and covers his face with his hands, and Ryou watches as his best friend starts sobbing.

Yugi just kneels there for a few moments, shaking and crying, until finally, Joey lets out a breath. He lets out a big breath and looks off to the side at the beautiful sky, and he just stands still, and if Ryou looks closely enough, he can see Joey's eyes are wet with tears. Then, he turns and looks at Yugi on the ground, and Joey bends down as well, placing the white rose he has a hold of against Bakura's grave.

And for what seems like forever, Yugi and Joey just sit there, Yugi sobbing and Joey staring ahead blankly, the breeze slowly rustling the nature around them, as if nothing's out-of-place at all.

Ryou sits.

The grass feels cool beneath him, and he brings his knees to his chest. He wraps his thin arms tightly around them and rests his chin atop them. He feels like crying, and he feels the tears welling up inside of him, just waiting to come bursting out.

And yet he doesn't.

He doesn't shed a tear.

He just sits and calmly and quietly watches his two best friends.

And that's when he notices it.

Both Yugi and Joey look exhausted. Yugi's purple eyes are puffy red and he's paler than usual, and Ryou figures that's all from the grief and shock and stress of the deaths and funeral. The exhaustion is expected; normal, even.

But with Joey...it's not. Joey's hazel-brown eyes are bloodshot, and the whites are tinted with a sick sort of yellow. He's got five o'clock shadow that Ryou would have expected him to shave off for the funeral all across his face, and he looks tired. So tired. But...Ryou can tell the tiredness isn't just from stress.

Joey's not well.

Ryou frowns.

And then, as he tries to look harder, tries to maybe figure out what exactly is wrong with Joey, Yugi stands up. He stands up, and he lets out shaky breath, and then Joey follows his actions.

Ryou feels frustration welling up in his chest, and he leans forward a bit, wanting to yell at them to stop moving. He doesn't want them to go. Not yet.

But, of course, Ryou's pleas are ignored, and within seconds, the wind blows and the scene is gone with the gust.

The room is dark.

It's dark, and it is thick with the scent of alcohol and hangovers.

Ryou wants to throw up.

He had to deal with alcohol and hangovers in his life; he doesn't need any more of it in death.

But, alas, Ryou remains tucked in the unknown room's corner, crossing his arms and inching as far back into the shadows as he can, trying unsuccessfully to escape the smell and atmosphere and bad memories.

Suddenly, there's a voice.

"Do you know how much they would be disgusted with you?"

Ryou turns.

There, at the room's doorway, only a foot or so away from where Ryou hides in the corner, is Yugi. Ryou guesses that it's sometime after the funeral, because while Yugi still looks miserable and tired, he doesn't look as absolutely horrible as he did before. His hair is disheveled, as if he just woke up. His eyes are puffy, and he's got a simple t-shirt, jacket, and jeans on.

He leans against the doorway.

"Joey."

He calls out to the other older boy in the room, prompting him to speak, his tone no-nonsense, upset, and disgusted, and Ryou's eyes widen in surprise. Why is Yugi so pissed?

Ryou looks ahead, peering as best he can in the darkness to catch sight of the Joey. Finally, Ryou's eyes catch on a hunched-over form, silent and shaking.

Now, there's quiet.

Ryou's heart is pounding.

Joey turns, and Ryou suddenly realizes that he's in the bathroom, and Joey is getting sick, and Joey is utterly, disgustingly hung-over.

"Just leave, Yugi," Joey blankly says, his eyes dull and tired, his voice scratchy.

Yugi's violet eyes narrow. "I'm not going to leave, Joey. You need help."

Joey suddenly glares daggers at the younger boy across the small room. "I don't need your help," he spits out, tone dripping with a hate that freezes Ryou to the core.

Yugi lets out a frustrated breath, and he looks down for a moment. "Duke called me," he simply says, "He told me about that bet you made the other night."

Joey looks away, suddenly without words and stone-still.

Ryou bites his lower lip, feeling worry rise in his chest.

Yugi looks up. "How could you do that, Joey? How could you bet all that money and then just lose it?"?

Joey refuses to answer the blonde.

There's a long, long silence, and it seems like Yugi's determined not to speak until Joey replies. But, finally, the silence gets too deafening and Yugi harshly says,

"Joey, look at yourself. You're a mess. Ever since the funeral a couple of months ago you've been gambling and making stupid choices that are costing you thousands, and you've been drinking yourself into your effing grave."

Ryou swallows.

Yugi takes in a quick breath.

"Why?"

The question hangs in the air for a while, and Ryou feels the seconds ooze by.

Ryou's not sure that there's an answer to the question. Ryou's not sure that Yugi even knows what he wants to hear in reply.

Finally, Joey speaks.

"I don't know."

More silence, and Ryou bites his lower lip.

Yugi lets out a shaky, shaky sigh, and he looks down. "Joey…I don't get it. Last time you were like this, Tristan talked to you, and you cried, and you let it out, and you were okay..." He pauses, "But now...now, nothing's working. You won't let anyone help you. And you're killing yourself because of it."

Ryou looks down; those words cut him to the bone. His heart starts to pound, because at the thought of any more of his friends dying, he's horrified. And now, now he realizes why Joey looked so unhealthy back at the funeral.

Joey was a full-blown alcoholic.

The bloodshot and yellow-ish eyes?

Hangovers and liver damage.

The unshaven face and exhaustion?

Not caring and drowning sorrows.

Now, he sees it so clearly.

And that just breaks his heart.

Joey shakes his head slowly, so slowly, at Yugi's words.

"What do you want me to say, Yugi?" he asks, softly, pathetically, disgusted. But the funny thing is, he sounds disgusted with himself. Like he knows he's slowly killing himself, but he knows that he also can't stop or fix it. He's in too deep.

Yugi's quiet, because he honestly doesn't know what to say to that. So he just decides to change the subject.

"I just...can you imagine what Bakura and Ryou would think if they saw you like this?" he asks, shaking his head and narrowing his eyes. He's trying to guilt-trip Joey, now. As cruel as that is, he's hoping it'll get the older boy back on track.

Ryou bites his lower lip, because he wants to scream out, "We'd be disgusted. We'd be horrified. We'd want to help, even though we would know we couldn't."

Because, that's honestly all that he's feeling right now, as he watches Joey wallow in his pain and disgust and frustration in the dark room.

Of course, he can't exactly speak for Bakura.

And then, for the first time in this entire afterlife experience...Ryou wonders something.

Ryou wonders what Bakura's spirit is doing.

Did Bakura just go straight up to Heaven or wherever souls go?

Or is Bakura stuck in the Universe somewhere, too, doomed to re-live mistakes and memories for eternity, like Ryou is?

He hopes not.

He doesn't want Bakura to have to go through all the pain he is.

Joey groans loudly, breaking Ryou's train of thought, suddenly. "Yugi, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry." And he weakly turns, looking at Yugi, and Ryou suddenly is hit with how horrible Joey truly looks.

Yugi stares unblinkingly at the man for a moment. And then, he shakes his head,

"Goodbye, Joey," he softly says, and then he turns to leave.

Joey stares after Yugi's exiting form for a moment, and then he turns back around, bringing up his hands and resting his head in them, defeated.

Ryou bites his lower lip and feels his heart swell.

No.

It can't...It can't just end like this. Yugi just can't leave Joey, and Joey just can't leave Yugi, and they can't just hate each other.

Ryou, in his moment of desperation, flies out of the corner and turns out of the doorway, chasing after Yugi's retreating form. The rest of Joey's house is dark as well, because it's nighttime, and all the blinds are closed. But Ryou can just barely make out his best friend's quickly leaving form up ahead so that he can follow the boy.

"Yugi!" Ryou calls, his heart pounding.

Even though he knows Yugi can't hear him, he just feels like he has to say what's on the tip of his tongue.

"Yugi, please," he begs, reaching out a hand as he gets closer to the younger boy, "Yugi, don't leave. Don't leave him. Help him."

Yugi stops dead in his tracks.

Ryou follows suite.

For a moment, the two just stand in silence, Ryou behind Yugi, staring at the boy's back, heart pounding, wondering if, by some miracle, Yugi heard him.

And then, finally, Yugi lets out a breath. He reaches up his hands and runs his fingers through his hair and swallows.

"I tried..." he chokes out. At first, Ryou thinks that Yugi's talking to him. But, after a moment, disappointment wells up in his chest as he realizes Yugi's simply talking to himself, trying desperately to convince himself that he did not just give up and walk out on one of his best friends. "I tried, and it didn't work..."

There's a long, long silence.

Ryou lowers his hand and he feels like crying, because everything is just a disaster. Everything in Ryou's life is falling apart at 100 miles per hour as Ryou watches, not able to do athing.

Yugi closes his eyes.

The words that come out of his lips next make Ryou's blood run cold with fear.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take."

R&R =]