After a few minutes, Bakura entered the lab. Shadows still crawled around him as he murmured a tired, "Hello."
"Morning," she growled seeing the shadows
"Morning," he replied, frowning as he noticed where he gaze was settled. "They won't go away..."
"Unfortunate," she sighed, "do you feel better?"
"I feel drained and exhausted, but alive," Bakura replied, settling in a chair near her.
"So go back to sleep," she said
"I feel so wanted," he replied sarcastically.
"I'm worried about you," she muttered writing something down
"Worried? Why?"
She only smiled, "here's your watch."
Bakura sighs heavily and waits for her to set it on the table.
She set it down on the edge closest to him then turns away.
Bakura slips it back on, frowning.
"I've got so good data from it but..." She frowned looking down. 'At what costs?'
"But at what price?" Bakura voiced her thoughts aloud.
She looked over at him shocked then quickly looked away not saying a thing
'A high price...' Bakura thought to himself, also looking away. 'She's much quieter nowadays...'
"No more tests," she muttered ,"your safety isn't worth it. I'm going to grab some coffee stay here." She quickly left the room.
Bakura sighed, watching her leave. "You were more interesting when I was trying to kill you..."
She returned not long after and sat his cup at the edge of the table refusing to look at him before she began working again
Bakura was growing more and more irritated by her actions every second. He gripped the mug tightly.
She was ignoring him highlighting and circling random spots on her notes then writing on her notepad
He slammed his hand down on the table suddenly, spilling his coffee but not caring. "STOP IT!" Bakura yelled.
She jumped and looked over at him, "stop?"
"Stop acting... I don't know, different!" Bakura yelled. "You're acting odd and it's pissing me off!"
She stared at him confused then went back to her work, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Bakura snatched up the papers she was reviewing and threw them onto another table. "You know perfectly well, dammit!"
She glared at him, "what do you want me do? What do you expect?" She said cooly.
"I want you to act like you usually do!" he growled. Bakura watched her for reactions to this statement.
She looked away from him quickly gritting his teeth, "too bad," she stood and went for the papers he tossed
Without thinking, Bakura gripped her arm tightly and held her down. "What did you say...?" he whispered menacingly.
She grimaced and shut an eye looking up with the other, "Too. Bad." She growled
"You..." His eyes glowed as he slammed the rest of her body against the table. "Bitch..."
She growled in pain gritting her teeth not understanding what was going on.
The shadows around Bakura were acting up in response to his sudden anger. They crawled up where his hand grasped her own.
She growled looking at him "Bakura, stop."
"Why should I?" he hissed, anger blinding him as he dug his nails into her skin. "You're pissing me off a lot, you know that?"
She grimaced again, "I'm trying to help you!"
"Your 'help' isn't working!" Bakura shrieked, shadows now snaking towards her throat at an alarmingly fast pace.
She watched him, "I'm sorry!" Closing her eyes she realized this was all her fault.
"Sorry isn't good enough!" He dragged her to the floor, eyes narrowing. "Not enough by a long shot..."
She tried breaking free once she was on the floor, "what do you want then?" She asked then stopped realizing what she said
"What do I want? Is that what you're asking me?" Bakura laughed, but it was higher and more insane than his usual sound. "What the bloody hell do you think!"
She remained silent and looked away. For the moment she feared for her life.
"No, truly. What the hell do you think?" A shadow pushed on the back of her head, propping it up to stare into Bakura's crimson gaze. "I'm curious," he said maliciously.
"You're not being yourself Bakura, stop this foolishness, besides I've never known what you wanted," she growled glaring at him.
Taking a minute to think, Bakura truly wondered what he wanted. What was his goal? To kill the Pharaoh. To conquer the world. To crush all in his path. "I want power, power in which I can control," was his reply. He didn't shift his position.
She watched his face, none of this was making sense, "then let me help you like I've been trying to do."
"Your help has done nothing but harm me so far!" he replied, slamming her head into the floor to emphasize his point.
She hissed in pain feeling dizzy for a brief moment, "I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention."
"But it happened regardless!" Bakura was growing more and more irritated by the second.
"Bakura please, I didn't mean too, I'm sorry." She tried breaking free again.
Her struggles only forced his grip tighter as more shadow-like demons held her down and surrounded the two. "How long will it take to fix?" he growled.
"I don't know," she muttered grunting in pain.
"Not good enough," he said simply. Blinded by unexplainable rage, he slapped her.
She remained still after the slap and frowned closing her eyes, "im sorry" was all she could say.
Bakura was sick of looking at her. He stood and simply left her, the shadows around her throat soon leaving as well.
She laid still for a moment hands over her face refusing to cry as she took a deep breath
There was a loud slam of the guest room door followed by multiple crashing sounds and finally the sound of glass shattering.
"Damn it," she got up and ran into the guest room.
The window was broken open and glass as well as blood droplets were spread out on the carpet. The bed was crushed by what looked like one large strike and the pillows were torn open completely.
"Of course," she sighed leaning on the door frame frowning. Knowing one of Setos violent freak outs were sure to come as a result of this.
Bakura, against Aura's wishes, laid in the Shadow Realm groaning loudly. He was fed up with life in general.
She left the room slamming the door shut and ordered the maids to clean up the mess, hopefully before Seto returned home.
"This is just such a mess..." he murmured to Pep who was keeping him company.
She had returned to her office and cleaned up the coffee and other mess unaware that she had begun crying.
"...And there's no way to fix it, is there?"
She sat on the ground resting her back against the desk curled into a ball with her head low. "I messed up,"
Pep nodded slowly, and Bakura stretched, closing his eyes. "Ra dammit... I'm a human time bomb."
For what seemed like hours she never moves and heard a door slam down the hall followed by an angry voice, she tensed.
Eventually, Bakura leaves and allows Ryou to take possession of the body.
By the time the door opened to her office she was standing against her desk her face free of tears.
Ryou, immediately sensing something wrong, goes to the first place he can think of: Aura's house.
After a lengthy argument and a single red cheek she left the room still fighting tears, she headed towards the door.
Ryou approached the door, biting his lip. 'Is this a good idea...?' He knocked hesitantly.
She opened the door as soon as he knocked and stood there for a moment shocked to see Ryou. Her name was yelled from within the house, "quick, let's go," she said with a shaky voice heading to her car.
Frowning and feeling more worried than ever, he follows her swiftly.
Once they were both in the car she squealed tired pulling out into the street and shooting off down the road, silent.
He stared out the window, his fingers nervously twirling a strand of hair. The shadow-like monsters that had been around Bakura were nowhere to be seen.
She drove until nightfall never saying a word and stopped on a ridge overlooking the city then stood and walked to the front of the car crossing her arms.
Ryou followed her, having stayed absolutely silent the entire time. He stood beside her, waiting for her to speak.
"I used to come up here whenever something bad happened, either I took a cab or ran here," she said softly and sat on the car, "I messed up bad Ryou."
He took her hand in his, staring out in front of him as he murmured, "No you didn't..." Truth be told, he wasn't even sure what she was talking about.
She shook her head, "I tried helping and I made everything worse, I hurt people and I didn't mean too," her hand tightened slightly around his.
Finally, Ryou knew he had to ask. "What are you talking about?" he asked slowly.
At first she didn't answer, "Bakura, Seto." Her free hand touched her cheek. "It was the first time he's ever hit me."
Ryou bit back any stupid replies and instead bit his lip. "W-Why'd he do it?"
"I defended Bakura," she muttered almost silently.
"You..." Ryou was so lost. What had happened between them? Was he cured? Was Ryou himself cured? And where did Seto fit into this mess? He sighed. "...Defended him?"
She didn't move or say anything for a while, only stared off at the city. "There's something within him, a curse that was awoken when I infused my magic with him. It's getting stronger, he needs to find the creature within him and destroy it, then he should have complete control." She said frowning.
"A curse on him... A monster... What?" Ryou's head was spinning and he held onto her hand tighter so as not to topple over.
"Just tell him, he'll understand, if you're confused there's a note for him in the car." She looked away.
"Aura, something's wrong with you specifically. Please, talk to me..." Ryou murmured. He was just so lost on everything that was going on...
She pulled away from him and walked closer to the ridgeline, "I'm fine," she lied.
"Aura, please. Please don't lie to me." Ryou stared at the ground.
She closed her eyes taking a deep breath, "I never wanted this life. I never wanted Industrial Illusions, to be rich. None of it. I wanted to live normally, but I never can, I was forced to grow up at ten." She bit her lip. "I was fortunate, so I try helping wherever I can, so I tried helping you and Bakura after everything my family did to him I felt it was my duty too."
Ryou nodded slowly, only vaguely aware of what she was talking about. "And you did help, a lot, Aura."
She shook her head, "I screwed up."
"How so? Everything seems fine to me..." 'But then again, what do I know?'
She turned and sat on the railing, "I tried helping Bakura, I ended up nearly killing him, now he hates me again. I tried fixing my relationship after you made me realize what I was doing wrong and messed that up." She looked at her hands then messed with the unusually empty spot on her finger.
"Bakura doesn't hate you, Aura... He's moody." Ryou glanced around as if expecting to be yelled at, but sighed a moment later when he wasn't. "And Kaiba's kind of a jerk from what I get out of him..."
"I loved him, because I was never allowed to have anyone else. Not then, not now." She finished almost silently.
"And who says that?" Ryou murmured.
She didn't answer only remained staring at the ground.
"Aura..." Ryou took a big breath, and spoke from his heart. "You have the opportunity to live your life as you want it to be. You can't let others drag you down. You're strong enough to overcome anything and if life isn't treating you well, then you need to fight it!" A tear fell down his cheek as he stared at the ground, mind elsewhere for the moment.
"Funny words to be coming out of your mouth," she said distastefully, "says the person who's tried killing them self multiple times. Besides, I can't change my life."
Ryou crossed his arms and spoke as if speaking to himself. "I have the Millennium Ring tied to my soul and as long as I'm alive, it always will be. I can't escape it, nor can I escape Bakura..." His head snapped up to look at her. "And, unless I'm mistaken, I see no ancient Egyptian artifact forcing you into a submissive state!"
"I don't need one," she said looking away over her shoulder towards the city. "I have my regrets, my sorrow that weigh me down."
"But you can get over it! With... With help... And I can try to help too..." Ryou's voice died down as he too stared out at the city. "I just want one of us to be happy, Aura."
"I'd rather it be the two of you, I lived my life happy once, and it cost Bakura is sanity. It was my father's fault he is the way he is now, and I owe him whatever it takes to set it right again." she said and stood frowning.
"What could you have possibly done to him to make him so... So..." No words that came to mind could accurately describe Bakura. The closest ones he could imagine would be 'messed up in the head'.
"His entire village, all of his family, all of his friends, my family killed for power." the mere thought of that nearly broke her down, but she was too proud to show her tears.
Ryou, however, was not like her. A tear fell as he whispered in confusion laced with hurt, "...W-What?"
"They needed 99 souls to create the millennium items, so my family slaughtered the village of Kul Elna, his home, for power. He was the only survivor," she grit her teeth and tightened a fist, "it was wrong."
The white-haired male had no words to say to this. For years he'd been pestering Bakura for the full story, just begging him to get even an ounce of information. And now that he finally knew, it tore his heart in half.
"It was my family's fault he is the way he is, I was too young, to do anything to stop it." she bit her lip, "if only he knew how many nights I cried for him and his village."
Ryou nodded his head, eyes wide and filled with tears. He couldn't get himself to speak when his eyes suddenly grew distant. For minutes on end, he stayed like that until tears poured from his eyes and he whimpered, "I w-won't, I p-promise!" in a murmur.
She looked over at him, "promise what?" she asked for a moment oblivious to what happened, when she did realize he was talking to Bakura she sighed and crossed her arms.
He looked up at her and frowned, biting her lip. "N-No... Pity..." he told her slowly, fighting desperately to hold in tears. "N-None at all..."
She nodded and looked away allowing a soft smiled to play about her face, "you're right, no pity." she stood shaking her head, "I should get you home I still have research to go over."
He nodded wordlessly, shivering as he re-entered the car. 'Don't leave me with him in this state... Please...' However, Ryou couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth.
As she drove slowly, she watched him out of the corner of her eyes and noticed how seemingly nervous he was. Letting out a long sigh she closed her eyes shaking her head before turning her glance to the road, "you should come back with me, I could use the company." she lied quickly.
The look Ryou gave her was similar to one that a child would give when finding out they had a snow day for school. "Y-Yeah, sure," he stammered, instantly relaxing.
She nodded but never returned the smile, "just avoid Seto." she said pulling into the driveway, 'not like he'd bother us to being with' she thought and turned off the car heading towards the house.
He nodded obediently, trailing her like a puppy to its master. Ryou was just grateful not to be alone.
"I'm just going to grab my paperwork then we'll head down stairs," she muttered more to herself then to him and she did just that. She went straight to the office, grabbed all the papers then headed to the elevator to the basement.
The white-haired male followed her the entire trip, breathing slowly to keep himself calm. "Can I help in any way?"
"Just be my company," she said not looking at him then stopped in the large lab where some of the tests still lay out.
Ryou murmured, "Sure, I can do that," and pulled up a chair beside her. Almost at once, his eyes grew blank.
Like she did with Bakura, as soon as she began researching, she ignored him. This time, she was looking for weaknesses, something to help battle it.
Ryou snapped back into reality a few minutes later and twiddled his thumbs, frowning. He felt lightheaded and sighed.
She heard his sigh and looked over, "are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine..." Ryou lied.
She tsk'd looking back at her work, "you're a horrible liar." she grabbed a nearby paper and glanced at the scribbles on it.
"I'll be fine," he rephrased slowly. "Just a bit... Lightheaded."
She let out a long sigh, "in any normal situation I'd say your blood sugar's low." she stood and walked to a nearby fridge and returned with a soda, "sip on this, if it doesn't make you feel any better go lay down, there's a bed on the opposite side of the room."
Surprised by her sudden act of kindness, he took a small sip of soda and smiled. "Thanks, I won't distract you anymore.."
"You're not distracting me at all," she said not looking up from her paperwork.
He nodded, but then said, "Okay," because he noticed her not looking up.
"If it gets worse just let me know," she said glancing at another piece of paper.
"Sure... What are you looking for now?" Ryou questioned.
"A way to help him," she said absent-mindedly. "Hey may not allow you to have pity for me, but I still worry about him."
"As do I..." Ryou murmured. "And is there even a way to help? It doesn't seem likely..."
"there's always a way," she barely whispered
"But how do you defeat darkness itself?" Ryou said in a barely audible voice. He then recited, "With light comes another side, another face. Darkness and light go hand in hand because one cannot survive without the other therefore neither can be stopped," from memories of Bakura telling him.
"It doesn't need to be stopped, just controlled." she said and sighed rubbing her head. "I'll figure it out Ryou, I promised him I would help him."
"If only I could believe that..." The words were practically muted as they escaped Ryou's lips. 'So many have failed...'
"I won't stop," she said through gritted teeth.
"I believe you," he told her slowly. 'But even being persistent is useless if there's no answer.'
She growled under her breath, he was just as negative as Bakura was, maybe worse. She tried then thinking nothing but the work
Ryou, meanwhile, got to thinking. He closed his eyes, wondering about something.
After a while had passed she scratched her head then looked at the tests, maybe something was hidden in them? She glanced over at Ryou to find his eyes were shut but he wasn't sleeping.
"Aura, do you know any spell chants?" he asked her suddenly, opening his eyes.
Her eyes went wide as she looked away, "what for?"
"Well, what if my control's better than Bakura's? Or if I can learn something that may be able to help from the inside out?" he questioned, still pondering the thought.
"You can't use white magic, and I won't let you, not after what happened with Bakura. Besides, if he won't let me use black magic, I'm sure as hell not teaching you or him anything of mine." she added with a growl. "It's just too dangerous."
"But what if it can help?" Ryou pushed.
"I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of a stupid decision on my part. If any white magic is going to be done, I'm going to do it, even if I have to jump into the ring myself," she said turning her attention back to her work.
"NO!" Ryou yelled before he could stop himself. "I mean, uh... No, you shouldn't do that..."
"I don't care, I will if it has to be done." she said with every ounce of confidence in the world.
That was when Ryou did something very out of character for himself. He slammed his fist on the table and stood. "You will do no such thing!" he declared, a note of panic in his voice.
She jumped and looked at him, slowly she sighed and turned to face him, "you're going to stop me? How?" she growled glaring at him. "I told you once and I meant it Ryou, I intend on helping anyway I possibly can, if it comes to that I will do it, you will not stop me."
"I can and I will!" Ryou shrieked, growing hysterical. "You will not go in there and you will NOT look around!"
"I don't plan on looking around, the moment I step into that place everything dark will come after me." she looked back at the work frowning slightly.
"Then don't even bother going!" Ryou shouted quickly.
"Just stop Ryou, you're not going to change my mind, no amount of threatening or argument well." she leaned forward and rubbed her forehead, grunting
"Then... Then..." Not knowing what else to do, Ryou bolted for the door.
"Stop!" she yelled turning to face him.
He froze, fear forcing him to remain still.
"What are you going to do? Where are you going to run? You know neither of us will let you die, you're here with me now because you're afraid of being alone because Bakura woke up in a pissy mood and you know he'll take it out on you the moment you're alone." she said. "Sit down and relax, I don't plan on doing anything I don't have to, and going into the ring is the last and farthest option from my mind."
Ryou stared, shocked that she had guessed everything ao easily. "W-Why..." he whispered finally. "Why help me specifically?"
"Stupid, you're my friend. I watch out for my friends." she huffed crossing her arms.
Wordlessly, Ryou returned to his seat. 'Friends, we're friends...'
She turned back to her work, 'too much drama, Seto, Bakura, and Ryou...' she sighed.
Ryou decided to simply watch her work.
She worked silently until close to midnight when she glanced over, "why don't you go get some rest, I will be shortly." she lied.
"We both know that isn't true..." Ryou yawned loudly and laid his head on the desk, his eyes closing.
She waited until he was asleep before she snuck out of the room, "no sleep, just relax." she thought walking up to a virtual pod.
Ryou slept soundly, or at least his body made it appear that way.
As soon as she was in the virtual world she opened the private doorway and stepped into it, laying back on the ridgeline overlooking the palace and watched the stars.
After a few minutes, Bakura woke up and stretched, sighing.
She let out a deep sigh and shut her eyes frowning, her thoughts were all over the place.
Bakura wanders out of the lab, thinking. 'What if...' He headed towards the virtual reality pods.
For a moment she looked at the door, it was sitting right at the entry point of the world but she shrugged it off and closed her eyes again.
He entered and settled into one of the pods. 'If I can just...' He entered.
She let out a grunt and tightened her already closed eyes, 'confused...' she thought.
When he landed, he noticed Aura almost at once and watched her quietly.
A while passed and she let out a low grow running her hands over her face. "Confusing."
Bakura continued watching, curious.
Slowly she sat up and brought her knees to her chest wrapping her arms around them as she stared at the ancient palace. After a moment she frowned dropped her head low.
Finally deciding that he wouldn't be able to get done what he had hoped, Bakura cleared his throat loudly.
She jumped and turned over her shoulder quickly to see Bakura there, "what are you doing here?"
"I was hoping to be alone," he replied bluntly, walking over to her and sitting next to her.
She watched him until he sat beside her and for a moment was confused, "so you can to the virtual world? I thought you hated this place."
"I do," he responded vaguely. "Are you going to leave now?"
"Leave?" she muttered, "this is my private world you shouldn't even be here."
"Go have your world somewhere else then," Bakura said, laying back onto the grass.
Her frown grew as she shook her head, "whatever." she stood and began walking away.
He looked over at her and said in an emotionless tone, "Aura."
She stopped and glanced back, "yea?"
His gaze remained glued to the floor as he said almost mutely, "Thanks."
For a moment she stood there confused, "for what exactly, because from what it seems, and from what you told me I've made your life worse."
"At least you made the effort," was all he said, standing and also walking in the opposite direction. Ryou watched the transaction and thought sadly, 'No one else ever did...'
She frowned watching him walk away, at least the company was comforting. She sat down where she stood and laid back closing her eyes sighing.
Bakura stalked off in the other direction arguing with Ryou.
'At least she's trying!' Ryou murmured only to be shot down as Bakura grumbled, "But it's still not working. At all. Not to mention the fact that it's her fault in the first place."
She curled her arms under her head, keeping her eyes shut she began thinking back to the very first moment they met until know.
'But what you're not seeing is that she cares enough to try and fix it!' Ryou yelled back in annoyance. 'Just accept the fact that someone cares already!' To this, Bakura remained silent and deep in thought.
The river, the bet, the fighting, everything ran through her mind and she tightened her eyes gritting her teeth.
"She must be after something, maybe the power or the shadow magick..." Bakura muttered as Ryou groaned. 'No she isn't! I'm sure of it!'
A scowl crossed her face, "he's like a two-sided coin," she muttered to herself.
The two white-haired males walked in silence, Ryou staring at the ground and Bakura looking directly ahead of himself.
After a moment she sat up and looked forward, trying to figure everything out.
'They'll need to make up eventually... And Bakura needs to see the truth also...' Ryou sighed heavily.
Growling she stood and began pacing, every emotion known to man running though her.
Bakura felt similar to Aura as his strides grew larger and larger.
She glanced over in the direction he walked off and her frozen grew, he was nowhere to be seen. "I hate this..." she muttered
"...so very much," Bakura murmured, finally settling at the edge of a willow tree.
She kicked a pebble in front of her and walked after him, slowly.
Bakura laid out under the tree, sighing heavily. Ryou, in his transparent, ghost-like form settled beside him.
She continued walking, her pace slow as she stared at the ground.
'You'll forgive her eventually,' Ryou told Bakura slowly. "No I won't." 'Will too.' "No way in the Shadow Realm." 'I know you will!' "NO."
She walked for a while and stopped glancing up, seeing the willow tree, she was still far away but she could see him and a scowl crossed her face again as she looked from him.
"Will you cut it out already?" Bakura yelled at what appeared to be air.
She looked over hearing him yell and knew it would be better to leave him alone, he was most likely arguing with Ryou.
'Just talk to her already!' Ryou screamed back and Bakura stood, his eyes narrowed. "Fine then, I'll find Aura. I'll expose her ploy in using me. And you'll finally stop bugging me!" He stalked off in the opposite direction she was.
Growling she turned her back on him, "not wasting my breath," she muttered and began walking back towards her original spot before he stood.
Bakura walked around the virtual world aimlessly, wondering how he could get out of it.
She stopped walking and turned, "damn it!" she yelled suddenly.
Bakura heard a noise and turned as well, heading towards it. "What the hell...?"
She let out a low growl and kicked the dirt beneath her, "ridiculous."
Bakura approached her, scowling. "I heard screaming."
She tsk'd tightening her fists then turned to find him walking towards her.
Bakura looked up at her as he passed, pausing for a moment. "You yelled."
"I'm pissed," she growled, "but not." she scratched her head, "I don't know."
"You're moody then," he told her, stopping all together.
"You have no idea," she growled crossing her arms. "Thinking about everything that's happened since we met, and I hate it."
He frowned. "What do you hate?" Bakura asked, his eyes narrowing as he too thought about it.
"Everything," she frowned. "You trying to kill me, you being nice to me, Ryou hating me, Ryou wanting to be my friend. Just everything."
'I agree...' Bakura thought, not speaking as he glanced down at the ground.
"Bakura, I..." she stopped not sure what she was trying to say, or where she was going with it."I'm sorry."
"For...?" he prompted.
"Everything. I came into your lives and I've ruined them. I thought I was helping the both of you, I was trying to console you, ended up pissing Ryou off. With the fighting and the hating, the blood, the shadows, the kiss, just everything," she rambled, "Everything."
"You're right," Bakura told her. "You have ruined everything." He paused for a moment. "But... You've made things interesting as well."
Her face tightened as she looked away, "I can't do anything right. If I get too close I get stabbed, if I get too distant one of you gets hurt."
"Then I suppose you'll have to find the in between, huh?" Bakura smirked at her.
She didn't return his humor, she only gave him silence.
He sighed, rolling his eyes at her antics. "No comments?"
A moment passed and she stood upright giving him her usual cold glare, "more like wasted breath," she said as if her whole attitude had changed.
"That there was wasted breath," came his retort.
She shook her head, "you're wasted breath." she added stupidly.
"And you're a child-like whore," he said evenly. "Glad to see we've come to an understanding."
"Oh? I'm a whore now? How perfectly great, at least Ryou was nice enough to just call me a slut." she rolled her eyes.
"A slutty whore then?" Bakura said in amusement. "Never knew the kid had it in him."
"You're a conceded ass," she growled but couldn't help but smile chuckling softly.
"I don't give a shit what you think," he replied easily, "Bitch."
"Blah, blah, blah, you're all talk," she sighed turning away from him.
"What, and you think you aren't? You're just a scared little child beneath that layer of ice."
"You're right, I am, but at least I can admit it, unlike you, who can't even decide how he really thinks about someone." she poked him rudely in the chest.
"You want to know what I think about you? Is that it?" He slapped her hand away rudely. "I think you're an overconfident bitch who helps others out of sheer guilt and nothing more, then fucks with their life until it's nearly impossible to end. Then you put on a sob story act and accuse others when really you should be pointing the finger AT YOURSELF!" he finished in a scream, jabbing his finger into her shoulder roughly.
Without thinking she swung at him connecting the side of his face with her fist. Then stood there unbelieving that she had just done that.
His eyes narrowed and the very air around him seemed to chill. "I'll kill you for that," he said in a voice low and emotionless.
"Oh another empty threat?" she growled, "when we first met I kept my personal issues to myself, but YOU and RYOU dragged them out of me, when you two got so upset that I shut you out and lied about how I really felt, so don't complain to me that you know a small portion of my sob story!" she yelled.
"I don't give a shit about your personal story!" he cried, tackling her to the ground. "I'm sick of you and even more sick of this!"
She growled hitting the ground and attempted to hit him, "sick of this? What exactly do you mean by this?" she snapped, "this constant fighting?"
"Sick of you and your attitudes and your lies!" he screamed, smacking her cheek roughly with an open palm.
She turned her head back after the hit and hissed, "lies? What exactly have I lied about?"
Bakura didn't answer and instead smacked her in the same spot once more.
She tightened her fist and swung out at him violently
He kept himself still, allowing her to connect with his cheek. "Great, you've just wounded myself along with Ryou. What do you hope to gain from that?" He swung at her once more.
"We're in the virtual world you idiot! I can hurt you all I want!" she growled and hit him again
"Then go ahead," he said suddenly, standing and taking a step back. "Beat me shitless. See how much it 'helps'."
She sat up and looked at him shooting him a glare, "you think you're so big and bad don't you? 'Oh I can take a few hits' "she mocked. "You're just as cowardly and pathetic as you've always been!"
He held his face out, pointing to it. "Go ahead, I dare you."
She took the dare, stood and swung at him again.
True to his word, he didn't flinch as she connected with his cheek. Bakura spat on the ground and murmured, "That was nothing..."
She nearly screamed at him, tackled him to the ground and hit him again, "I'm so sick of you, you're so stuck up your own ass! God damn it, it's not my fault you were too stupid to realize using white magic was wrong! Especially in the shadow realm!"
"But you were the one who taught it to me in the first place. You were trying to kill me, I understand already. So, what happened to beating me up?" His voice was icily calm.
She blinked, "If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't have tried saving you. I have no need or intention of killing you." she said and went to hit him, instead of hitting him her fist slammed against the ground beside his head.
Bakura looked up at her, eyes glowing in amusement. "Then what do you hope this conversation will gain in the end?"
She grit her teeth, "I don't know."
"Then why even bother? Why with this and why bother with me?" he concluded.
"You're just as important to me as Ryou is." she sighed and tightened her other hand.
"So you're calling Ryou worthless too? I thought you two were 'friends'," he replied sharply. "Not that I actually believed that crap."
She hissed, "I said you two ARE important to me you thickheaded asshole."
"What, important until you get what you can and leave us in pieces?" He took a deep breath and pierced a nerve. "Like in Egypt?"
She leaned back slightly, "is that what you're so pissed about? Tell me, what exactly do you think I'm here to take from the two of you? By the way, I NEVER left you behind but my sob story for you won't be wasted on your deaf ears."
"Three thousand years of reflection on the past is a long time, Aura. It gave me time to see everything how it was." He glared up at her. "And you, like that damn Pharaoh, are scum."
She hit him then screamed on the top of her lungs, "I AM NOTHING LIKE HIM!" her fists tightened ready for another strike, "you have no idea what I went through for you!"
"AND THE SAME GOES FOR YOU!" he shrieked, finally shoving her off and getting to his feet. "And you never fucking will..."
She glared at him, "Like you ever did anything for me." she hissed standing.
"What the hell would you have wanted me to do? Sit around and nod while you reveal the innermost emotions of your heart to me? It's all superficial garbage, the person who cries and the other who watches." Bakura crossed his arms.
She felt a pure rage burn inside of her and she took a step forward, "that's not what I wanted! Not at all! I wouldn't have told you how I truly felt even if I did get the chance too."
"Then why bother asking me to do anything about it if you wouldn't have told me in the first place?" he asked calmly.
"You're so narrow minded, everything I did wasn't so I could tell you how I felt!" she looked away from him trying to control her rage.
"What a load of crap. You only did it so you could get to me," Bakura told her, eyes narrowing into slits.
"No." she growled, "that's not even close to being true."
"Then what is the truth, Aura? Quit lying and SPIT IT OUT."
"Why do you care?" she screamed at him then took a deep breath. "You didn't care then, you don't care now, and you never will, so stop asking! One moment you're all like, shut up with your sob story, the next you're prying deeper into my life! CHOSE ONE! either care or don't!"
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE ONE IF YOU WON'T BLOODY CHOOSE ONE!" Bakura exploded. "You care about me then you want me to piss off then you care and then you're a moody bitch! MAKE UP YOUR OWN DAMN MIND."
"Unlike you, I can chose a hell of allot easier than you! I care about your wellbeing, and for you, that's why I worry about you all the damn time! You're the one who can't make up their damn mind!"
"Maybe if you made things easier, I would! Maybe if you let me kill you easily, I would! Maybe if you just died, I mother fucking WOULD!"
"Like killing me will solve anything! You've had multiple chances to kill me, and recently, every chance you've had you've SAVED my life." she growled.
"Name one time," he hissed, already knowing he had lost the argument.
"How about the last time we were in the arena and YOU lost control of your powers," she said poking his chest roughly again. "YOU almost killed me, but just before the final blow you risked yourself, used white magic and saved me. Why?" she hissed sharply.
"BECAUSE!" he yelled, then his voice grew softer. "If I am to kill you, then it will be of my own freewill and not the will of the shadows."
"Sounds like a bad excuse to me!" she growled, "even before that, how about when you threw me off the roof? You had the knife at my throat when I shot that gun, you could have finished me right then and there, but you didn't."
"Too early to do so," he growled lowly.
"Ok, how about the time I was over hanging out with Ryou? You had plenty of chances to jump in and finish me off, torture me slowly even! And you never did! So stop making excuses!"
"ALL TOO EARLY!" he yelled, stomping his foot.
"So what the hell is your excuse now? Still holding that petty bet with Ryou?"
Bakura didn't answer her, but merely glared. Ryou, who was standing beside Bakura, sighed. 'I wanted you two to make up, not scream at each other...'
"So, is that in then?" she said softer than before, "you're not hunting me anymore because of that bet?"
"Piss off," he murmured angrily. Ryou merely chuckled. 'At this rate, I've got this in the bag!' Bakura turned to his left and yelled, "I SAID PISS OFF!" His words sent a shiver down Ryou's spine.
She growled angrily ruffling her hair, "THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" she screamed, "I can't even talk to one of you without the other pissing off the other!"
'She's got a point...' Ryou whispered. "Ryou, so help me Ra, if you continue talking I'll call off the bet right here, right now." Bakura glared at both the air and Aura.
