Chapter 10: A Bunch of Back Stories
I felt kind of bad about yelling at Ryou, even though he did come into the bathroom when I only had a towel on. But he hadn't really done anything bad to me; I mean he even left when I asked him to. I figured I should apologize.
I found him out on a balcony-like place. It looked out over the sea, and was actually quite nice. He was leaning against the railing on his forearms with his back to me.
"Ah-hem…" I coughed softly. He turned around.
"Hello." He greeted me as he stood straight and turned around.
"Um, hi…" I felt really awkward. "Um…"
"Yes?"
"May I… talk… to you… about… something…?"
"Sure."
"Um… I…" I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. "I wanted to apologize for yelling at you. I didn't mean to sound so angry, I just…" I opened my eyes. He was smiling.
"It's quite alright."
"Really? You sure?"
"Of course. If anything I should be apologizing for intruding. Can you forgive me?"
"Huh? Oh, sure."
"Then we're even, I suppose."
"Yeah, I guess." It was uncomfortably quiet for a while. Then I spoke up, "Um, Ryou; can I call you Ryou?" he nodded and I continued, "How is it that you and Bakura…"
"Have two different bodies?"
"How did you know? And why are you not freaked out by my questions?"
"Bakura and Marik mentioned that you were from the past, and that there was a show there that predicted the events of the present, sort of."
"Oh."
"As to how I know, they told me that the show stopped after the Pharaoh had regained his memory. And it appears as if no one has really explained things for you."
"Well, yeah, now that you mention it. Nobody's really told me anything, not even the person who was supposed to explain the plot told me anything useful…"
"Then I'll fill in the plot holes for you."
"Really? Well, thank you. It would be very helpful."
"Oh it's no trouble." He gestured beside him, and I joined him by the railing. He turned back to the sea and took the same position as when I arrived. I subconsciously took the same position, leaning my forearms against the rails. "Now, where to begin…?" He thought for a moment, and then began.
"I believe I should start after the Pharaoh's memory was recovered. That was where things started getting different. There was no afterlife for him, and by the same extension, Bakura. Once you seal yourself inside a Millennium Item, there's no turning back. But as far as I could tell, Atem didn't mind. He had done the duty that he set out to do, and that made him very happy indeed. Yugi and his friends felt a little bad for not being able to get Atem back to the spirit world, but at the same time, I think they were happy that their friend didn't have to leave.
As for Marik, once his job as a Tomb Keeper was finished, he set out on his own. It wasn't long before Bakura found his and talked him into ruling the world in another way. But I don't think you have to worry about him, he's just a lot of talk. If his Yami hadn't been defeated by Yugi in Battle city, then you would have to worry."
"But what about you?"
"I was free for a while. Bakura's strength needed to rebuild. But once it did, he found a way to separate himself and use his own body. But at a price…" He stopped.
"Yes…?"
"Neither body could be completely free. We can only spend a certain amount of time far apart. It's one of those shoddy bad-fan-fic things…" He trailed off, looking like he had something more he wanted to say.
"What?" He shook his head slowly. I had to admit, he looked really sad. "You know if you want to say something, you can say it. I promise I won't judge you. Or, at least I won't tell. Secrets go in one ear and out the other with me." But he was still reluctant to speak. "If you think it's stupid, it's not. Whatever you have to say couldn't possibly be more idiotic than anything I have to say."
"No, it's not that…"
"Then what?"
"I don't wish to complain…"
"Complain?"
"About my life… I wouldn't want you to… think I'm… irritable."
"Hey, you've been pushed around by an ancient spirit who made you do awful things for years. I think you deserve the right to complain."
He hesitated, but sighed and finally spoke. "I just feel… alone. I mean, there's been no one for me since Bakura first came into my life. My friends don't trust me, my father doesn't care, and the only person who's been a constant in my life for years now…"
"Is an evil spirit who inhabits your body?"
"Mm-hmm…" He still looked like he was going to say something more, but we were interrupted.
"And just what do you think you're doing here? My laundry's not going to wash itself." Ryou frowned, and then sighed. We both turned to face Bakura who was standing in the open archway that led out to the balcony. He was wearing jeans and a long black cloak that was open in the front, exposing his chest.
But his exposed chest did not faze me. I know crazy, right? Actually I had seen enough shirtless guys before that I didn't drool every time a boy took his shirt off. Crazy…
Anyway, Ryou just started walking back to the door. "I already did all the laundry…" he mumbled as he passed Bakura. Bakura grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him around so that they were face to face.
"Did I ask you if you had finished?"
"No…"
"Then I don't want to hear you speak up for the rest of the day, understand?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now go do the dishes." He dropped Ryou, who fell on his face. Ryou got up and sulked off to do Bakura's chores.
Alright, audience; you're about to learn why I have so much muscle. It's because a long time ago I started standing up for the kids at the foster care center who were a lot younger than me. I started getting beat up by boys when I was about ten. So, since I had nothing better to do with my time and this is an extremely cheesy and obligatory fan-fic, I joined the local Ti-quan-do studio and began building myself for success. Isn't that the cheesiest back story you've ever heard?
I walked right up to Bakura. "Hey, what makes you think that it's okay to just boss him around like that?" Get ready for the obligatory fight scene everyone!
"I don't think, I know." He sneered.
"Well, as long as I'm staying here, I'm not going to tolerate it! And knowing this author that could be the next ten chapters, so you're going to have to change."
"Make me." His mouth twisted into a grin. I pushed my one sleeve up to my elbow and held my fists in front of my body and positioned myself in a front stance.
Bakura laughed and pulled out a knife. Oh snap! I hadn't thought of that! But he didn't use it yet, he did something very unexpected, probably the first real plot twist that this fan-fic has;
Bakura licked the dull side of the knife.
You read that right. Bakura licked the dull side of the knife.
That was just too much for me. I dropped my arms and relaxed my stance. "Did you just lick that knife?" I asked. Even if it was printed in italics above, I still needed verbal reassurance.
"That depends. Did it give you cravings?"
"No, not really… it actually really freaked me out… why did you lick that knife, anyway?"
"I have a licking fetish. And a knife fetish."
"That still doesn't explain-"
"Really, Bakura?" Marik walked up inexplicably, interrupting my sentence. "I happen to have a chain fetish."
"Look, you two," I was getting tired of this useless scene. "What does any of this have to do with anything? I don't think the Author had you guys kidnap me just so that I could learn about your awkward sexual preferences."
"I do."
"Nobody cares what you think, Marik!" Bakura sneered. He liked to sneer.
That was without a doubt the weirdest day I've ever had. I couldn't sleep that night for hours.
Character's note: I can't believe that the Author actually acknowledged the last 389 words of this chapter. I mean, come on! She didn't even need to put them in! She would still have 1,026 words left. Sheesh.
~Alora
