One Step Short of Angel

Serious thank-you to all my readers out there.

Warnings: Talk of suicide, language

Track 13: Broken-Lifehouse

I'm falling apart/ I'm barely breathing/ with a broken heart/ that's still beating...

Kaiba stared at the the computer, looking over the little information he had gathered up so far.

I don't even know his name.

But, nonetheless, he searched 'Kyoto'.

Obviously, lots of stories came up for Kyoto. Because he supposed Rosuto had still been a high school student when he had died, he searched 'high school' on the search engine. It was extremely obvious that he wasn't going to find anything important.

Maybe...physical description? Not many people look like him. Of course, that could just be because of this whole 'Wanderer' shit.

He shrugged. Might as well give it a try.

He typed in white hair, brown eyes+Kyoto+high school+death.

He couldn't find anything immediately, but on about page thirteen, he noticed something.

Local high school in shock over seventeen year old student's recent death...

Kaiba's eyes gleamed as he looked on the page, at the full color photo of the boy with long white hair and doe brown eyes.

Perfect...

ORPHANED STUDENT DIES; SCHOOL IN SHOCK

By Irakawa Amaterasu

Small Go High School in Kyoto is reeling over the death of one of their most promising students.

Seventeen year old Bakura Ryou, an orphaned boy living alone and a third year at the high school, one of Kyoto's most prominent, was found near dead in his apartment Thursday night. He was rushed to the hospital immediately, by a student who claims she was delivering him schoolwork after he had not been present in class. The boy apparently had a large gash on each arm, having sliced many important veins.

He died later that night from blood loss.

Bakura Ryou was an honors student, but teachers say he was quiet in class and had few friends, if any at all. He had been recently orphaned after his already estranged archaeologist father passed away on an important dig when the tomb he had been inspecting caved in. The teachers said that Bakura seemed to have taken the death well, merely having become more wrapped in his studies.

The boy lost his mother and twin sister when he was ten years old in a freak car accident, of which he was the only one to survive.

Despite these past traumas and a lengthy hospital record, Bakura was not in therapy of any kind, apparently not able to afford it.

Authorities are still investigating the suicide, having found only a short note, which reportedly stated: I killed myself. -Ryou

Bakura was liked in the school, but socially awkward. Several students have stated that he was merely 'kind of there'.

This preventable suicide is certainly a tragedy, and faculty at Go is making a "sincere effort to heighten awareness about disturbed underprivileged children, in hopes that this situation will not be repeated."

Kaiba sat back from the article, interested. He wasn't very surprised about Rosuto's-Bakura's-death. The boy had seemed like a suicide, but it appeared that his suicide had not affected him as badly in his next life. He didn't seem very depressed.

They did mention he didn't have anybody. Maybe being dead doesn't have such an impact on him, because he didn't leave anybody behind.

It suddenly struck him as very sad. He shook off the feeling soon enough, and noting that it was already 2 o' clock AM, he decided to go to sleep.

He grabbed a bottle from his dresser, shaking out a small pill onto his hand. "Sweet dreams, Seto." He whispered to himself before swallowing the sleeping medication dry.

Ryou had a bad feeling when he walked through the door of Kaiba's room on Saturday, met by the boy's cool stare.

Yuugi came in next, smiling at him cheerfully. Jou came in right after that, and a couple of minutes later came Ryuuji, followed soon enough by Malik.

Ryou smiled hesitantly at the boys. "Well…um…anything to say?"

To his (and everybody else's) surprise, Kaiba spoke up. "When were you planning to tell us the story of your tragic life, Bakura Ryou?"

Ryou stared at him, mouth half open. "H-how…?" He started.

"How did I find out, you mean? Well, Bakura, we aren't idiots." He looked at the other occupants of the room, who were also in varying stages of shock, eyes lingering on Jou. "At least, I'm not. You died. There must have been some record of it, especially since you were so young. And I found it. No matter how insignificant you are, there's always somebody who cares. Or pretends to. And you couldn't have supposed a suicide would have gone totally unnoticed?"

Ryou stared at the auburn-haired boy. Kaiba was right—it had to have happened sometime or other. These kids weren't idiots. Somehow, he was grateful to Kaiba, because no matter how hurtfully he announced the news, he saved Ryou the trouble.

Malik and Jou, the only two who did not know by then, looked at him in some bewilderment. Then Malik's mouth curled into a smile. "I knew it!" He burst out triumphantly, making almost everybody else in the room jump. "I mean, you're already dead, but I know a head case when I see one. Even though you don't really seem all that depressed…Bakura."

"Well, er, when you don't really have anybody to miss after you die, there isn't much difference. Only, people can't see you. Or kill you. It's a bit liberating, really. But it still…sucks."

Yuugi looked interested. "Do you regret it?"

"Of course." Ryou looked uncomfortable. "I killed myself when I was only seventeen."

Jou looked confused. "Wait, if you're so messed up, why the hell did they send you as out guardian angel?"

Ryou sighed. "I don't know. I don't really know anything about this. I'm new at this death thing. Newer at this Wanderer thing. But I suppose that the Powers That Be chose me to…give you sense of kinship, perhaps. Because I guess you've all had thoughts of suicide, correct?"

Nobody answered, so he knew he was right. "And…well…I don't know. It's mind-numbing, I guess. I'm dead. I don't really feel anything about it. It's like all the pain from what made me suicide has been sucked away. And replaced with new pain."

Ryuuji blinked slowly. "That doesn't sound so bad."

Ryou's eyes widened. "Don't you dare try commit suicide, any of you. Because no matter what, somebody will miss you, and you'll regret it. Suicide is the worst, and last choice. I'm here to prevent you from doing it, and you damn well bet I will."

The boys looked at him.

He said quietly. "Let's just…not talk about this anymore. Maybe later, I'll tell you more details. Just…let's not talk about it anymore, okay? Just forget about it."

Impossible. They couldn't just forget about it.

"Do your best to block it out, a bit, for now. You know how I died. It isn't any different than if I was tortured to death, if I died in a car accident, if I was sick, if I was just shot, back of the head, execution style. It doesn't make a difference. I'm dead all the same."

The people in the room quietly agreed. Not many of them really felt much different after having their suspicions confirmed. Just a little sobered up, that was all.

It would be okay by Monday.

Ryou thought it was nice to have it out of the way, and tried a small smile. "I'll see you in a couple of days, alright?"

The others nodded.

Ryou nearly fled from the room, out the door, and into a small park. There, he slumped onto a bench and cried.