(Ch. 29 Ryou's POV.)
Ahh; the day before Christmas break. How I used to fear it so.
Of course, the only reason I really feared Christmas was because of Bakura. Two weeks of endless torture takes a toll on you. Immensely.
But this year is different, and honestly I can't wait for the holiday to come around. Though with the final day, come the final tests of the semester. I'd done pretty well so far, but now I'm in math and my heart pumps so hard you'd think my rib could snap any second.
I kept my hands folded neatly upon my desk, but I glanced from the corner of my eye, watching as Miss Sugaku passed the graded papers out. Though I must have gotten a lot of strange stares; I'm not the best at hiding things, am I? Then, finally, Miss Sugaku placed a paper onto my desk, face down. She bent down so I could hear her whisper, "What's ten times ten?" though before I could even answer, she simply gave a grin and moved on to the next person.
I soon found out what the teacher meant.
Written in red pen at the top of my test was a big, fat one-hundred percent.
My heart has stopped, causing me to gasp so sharply, the surrounding kid's had turned their heads my way. My eyes flashed with embarrassment, and I steadily placed my A plus paper on my lap, biting my lip to keep from laughing.
After the dismissal bell had rung, I meant up with Yugi, who is currently packing his bags. I, of course, went on babbling about my perfect paper. "I really thought I'd bomb it though," I said anxiously. "Like seriously, I didn't know half this stuff three weeks ago, and now I get a one-hundred percent? Do you see this Yugi, do you see the numbers!" I held up the sheet to my friends face with two hands.
He mockishly rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Only you, Ryou, would get so excited over a test like this." I smiled, knowing it was true. "And I'm goanna hang it on the fridge, and every time I go to use it, I'll see it; right there, on the door!" The boy laughed again. "Bakura too, huh?" he said with a smile.
It took me a second to register his question. I'd forgotten of my Yami during my excitement, though now I was a little calmer thinking of him. My Yami was probably the main reason I had received the grade I did. He's been helping me study, even after tutoring hours where over. I guess he'd be glad to see my grade too. "Yea." I replied, only louder than a whisper though.
"So how'd you do?" I asked Yugi, as we both walked down the hallway to exit school. "Eh, I did ok. I aced Algebra and science, but I need work on literature; only got an eighty-two." He silently sighed, but still grinned, as did I. "Alright then. Happy Hanukkah, by the way." I said, waving goodbye." "Thanks, Merry Christmas to you!" shouted Yugi from afar.
And we parted with that.
"Bakura!" I exclaimed with a large smile, bursting through the front door. When I entered, all the light where off and the whole area, from the kitchen to the living room, appeared gray. Though I made little about the scenery, and continued to barge inside. "Bakura, are you here?" I shouted, but still, there was no answer.
For a moment, I slowly spun around on my heels, glancing for my Yami. The only thing that did catch my sight was a yellowish light, raying from the bathroom door. With my smile widening, I almost skipped towards the light. I stopped once I got to the door way, feeling like I was on top the world. "Baku–"
My fingers went stiff and numb, letting the paper in my hands fall like a feather into the puddle of deep crimson that layers across the bathroom floor, which then consumed the falling sheet into the red abyss. Bakura's body hangs over the countertop, arms crossed and a limp hand holding a maroon-stained knife.
I feel as if I'm falling into another nightmare, and go breathless for a second, settling the horror scene into my mind. My voice cracks and I step back, not wanting to accept that that be the lifeless corpse of my dark half.
Finally my lungs are unfrozen as I shriek like hell just broke out, and in which case, it kind of did. My heart began to pound like a base drum, and I shakingly leaped towards my Yami. "Bakura!" I scream, kneeling a knee into the pool of blood, hands gripping my dark's cold body.
As my shivering fingers ran across his coat, something immediately began seeping onto my skin. I pulled a hand back, seeing the color red spread across my palm. I shrieked again, now mortified beyond my limits. "What did you do!" I cried, tears coming down my cheeks. No movement or response came.
I tore at my Yami's sleeves, pulling them back to see symbols of many kinds carved into his flesh, outlined in crimson. I breaths became uneven and quick as my heart beat raced sixty miles per hour, and all I thought of was being alone again. Alone forever.
With no protector.
I then ripped Bakura's trench coat off his body, revealing the main leakage; three deep cuts that stretched from the end of his rib cage to his spine, blood trickling down his jeans and onto the floor. I choked on sobbed as my head went light headed from the image; I felt like throwing up, but I didn't.
Instead I tossed his crimson soaked coat elsewhere, and shook his shoulder, screaming, "Bakura! Bakura, wake up! Wake up, Bakura, please!"
There was still no reply.
My nails dug into my Yami's shoulder blades, shifting his body so I could see his face. The Man's eyes where orbs of silver, expression blank. His skin was turning to the color of his hair, looking and feeling like ice. "What did you do…?" I whispered, staring into his empty eyes. Lifeless was the only thing I saw.
Besides blood.
There was no inch on my Yami's Body that wasn't painted red, and there was no tear of mine that didn't dissolve into the crimson puddle. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Today was so good, so great! Now I'm holding my other half's limp body with trebling hands that are stained with his blood that still flowed.
It hurt me inside, it hurt so bad.
This was my family;
Bakura is my family now.
My family is dying… Bakura is dying.
"No."
I am not loosing another member of my family from the cause of death! I will not be left alone with a corpse of lifelessness!
"I'll save you," I shuddered, wrapping my bloodied dark into my arms, "I won't let you die… not now, not ever…"
I tried to lug my Yami upstairs, though he was heavy and I shivered greatly from his ice-touched skin; how I wish this hadn't happened.
Though through pure will power, and maybe a pinch of magic, I made it to the second floor, back probably soaked with Bakura's fluids, but I could have cared less about that.
I then heaved the unconscious weight into his chamber, and once inside, placed him onto the bed. Trying to maintain my hyperventilation to a calm, I search the cluttered room for something to stop the bleeding. My glances feel upon a white t-shirt. I hurriedly plucked it from its place on the floor and began tearing it into shreds, using my teeth because I lacked arm strength.
Once the fabric was torn to my liking, I began to bandage my Yami's arms with the temporary cloth, but it did no use. Red circles bled through the fabric like it was tissue paper. This made me rise to a new level of panic. What if I couldn't save him? What if I can't stop the bleeding?
My heart jumped when I had a brilliant idea. Mindlessly, I sprinted from the room and charged towards down the steps. I nearly fell when I made the last step, but gained balance as I turned the corner and ran for the door. I burst through the entrance and skidded to a stop at the pay phone in the hallway. Shaky hands dug around in my pocket for change, praying to God that I'd have enough.
And I did.
Faster that humanly possible, I slipped the coins into the slot and dialed a phone number. I pulled at my hair, hoping, begging that I would get an answer.
The first ring went by, and then the second.
I bit lip till I tasted metallic flavoring, tears silently rolling down my face.
"…Hello?" came Yugi's voice.
For a second I was so glad to hear a response, I couldn't remember what I was going to ask. "Hello?" the boy greeted again, sounding confused. But I remained silent, my brain completely fogged with shock. My knees went weak and I collapsed, weeping and sobbing the mental pain away. "Ryou? I-is this you? What's wrong, why are you crying?" I sobbed harder into the phone, screaming "He's dying!"
Now there was a pause. "Who? Who's dy–" "Bakura! Bakura's dying, Yugi! He's dying, bleeding!" I said in between screams, holding the phone as if it where my life. "Oh God… help me… help me save him… I don't want him to die… please." I cried, letting everything I had inside fall out through my own tears.
Sometime during my sudden sobs, Yugi had agreed to come over and see what he could do. That's why I paced about in the kitchen waiting for him to arrive.
Then there was a knock on the front door. I rushed to open the entrance, and when I did, it was indeed my friend Yugi. "Where is he?" he asked franticly, eyes appearing tired and maybe even scared. Mine where worse; I didn't even want to think about where my Yami lie, in his own pool of blood…
I instead grabbed my school mate by the wrist and tugged him upstairs.
Once we reached the doorway to Bakura's room, I raced inside, though the other boy stay frozen at the entrance. "Oh my…" he breathed, obviously stunned from the blood and crimson that soaked my dark. After scarcely gazing upon my the deathly body, I gently looked back my Yugi, who is slowly inching forward. "Can you fix him?" I asked with a sore tone.
The boy took his stare off of Bakura, and turned to me. "Ryou… that's a lot of blood." "I know it's a lot of blood!" I screamed, "I'm asking if you can fix it?" my face seemed to surprise him; never before have a raised my voice like this, not since I was a child. Yugi had a mournful expression cross his face like he was lost. "I just… I don't know how to fix this… Ryou, I'm sorry, but I just can't help you…"
"Then take my blood!" I shrieked, falling to my knees and reaching my arm out to my friend. "I know we're the same type! Please, Yugi, I know you can do this! You just have to try!" Again, my voice drew groggy and raw while the boy before me deepened his face with sorrow. "Please…?" I begged for the last time. Yugi's eyes shifted to Bakura, and then back at me. He sighed with a shaky breath, and nodded.
I watched impatiently as Yugi operated on Bakura's wounds. Almost two hours have passed, and this was the moment both of us where fearing. Earlier, Yugi had made a make-shift IV out of a zip-lock bag and tubing. Of course, he'd had a lot of supplies from his first aid kit that he had brought over, but it was still an edgy situation. And I must say that my friend handled it very well, considering he has probably never done anything like this before.
Though now, just after I had given blood, Yugi has to find my Yami's vein; this is a complicated thing to do when both his arms are covered in thick carvings. "May the Lord help us all…" the boy breathed, blessing himself. I didn't blame him for doing so. Honestly, I would have done the same.
The entire world seemed to have stopped when Yugi felt the battered skin, searching for the internal cannel. My heart had ceased its beat as well, minutes like hours going by as my eyes stared mournfully upon my dark half, wondering how and why this had happened.
Yugi's hands suddenly stopped, and my lungs were tied into a not. "Found it." he said, leaning away to study his work. He then stared at me for approval, like I had a clue what he was doing.
Both of us sat with deaf ears and closed mouths, staring at the body bathed in blood. The man's brows where slightly knitted together, eyelids shut. At least he showed some type of feeling, alerting me that he wasn't really dead. But I still didn't know for a fact.
"Hey, Ryou…" Yugi spoke after minutes of silence. "I think I should be going soon. It's almost supper time, and my grandpa might get worried if I'm out much longer…" "Yea, that's ok. I think I'll be fine now." I replied back, nodding in agreement.
The boy gave a uneasy grin as standing up from his spot, I watching with the same kind of smile. After packing his things, we said our goodbyes. "Yugi," I said before the boy exited the doorway. He looked back and waited for me to talk.
"Thank you." I nodded, with a real smile this time, eyes lighting up a bit. Yugi stared back in confusion for a second, but then knew what I meant. "Welcome." He said, walking away. I heard him travel down the steps and shut the front door with ease.
I then turned my attention back to Bakura, whose face grows more irritated by the minute. I shifted from where I sat on the floor to go over to the edge of the bed, folding arms to rest on the mattress. My left hand twiddled with my Yami's tender fingers, and eventually, I did interlock them together.
So many weeks ago, I remember lying in this spot, thinking I was going to die; though now it's Bakura who lays near death. His faced worried me more though. His brows and nose where cringed together, seeming as if he was having a nightmare. I really hoped this was true; if the mind works, the heart beats.
And maybe I felt a soft pulse run through his fingers. It was too small to tell, so I remained quiet as could be. Another beat came, and then one more a little afterwards. Though as my Yami's pulse came through, his expression tensed even more so. My fingers curled deeper into his, trying to settle my anxiousness down a bit.
Then suddenly, Bakura's eyes flew open, and he jerked himself up to a sit, gasping sharply.
I, from my own surprise, leaned away as I stared with tear-filled eyes at my dark. The man's face was mortified. There is no other way to explain it, it was just mortified. I'd never seen Bakura in such a scarce state, and because of that, tears rolled free from my confused eyes.
The man's head spun in my direction, whose expression longed for help. His lips quivered as if stuck for words, or thought for that matter. "Ryou!" he half-yelled, gripping his shivering hand to my shirt, bringing our faces close. "Did they get you?" said my Yami, tone shaky. Though when I didn't reply, his grip tightened. "Ryou, did they get you!" he repeated, now shouting with impatience.
But he wasn't making any sense. What did he mean by they?
I shook my head carefully, not sure how to react to his odd behavior. My Yami's eyes softened, letting his grip on my shirt loosen. Once he settled down, the man put a hand to his forehead, exhaling heavily. "The voices," he whispered, "They said them. Them is more than one, not just… not just one, but more!" Bakura ran his fingers through his hair, looking terrified, confused, and stunned. I stared back similarly as he continued. "They didn't mean you, I-I thought… I…" he stopped his sentence as looking my way, seeing the tears run down my flustered face.
He sighed, dropping his hand onto his lap. "I-I'm sorry, Ryou, I just…" The man paused as if figuring something out, something important. "Do you remember when I said I didn't want any secrets between us?" he looked up at me with a ponderous haze. I nodded; now he was talking in a way I somewhat understood. "Well… I haven't, exactly been keeping up with my side of the bargain." He confessed with the color returning to his eyes. "What do you mean?" I asked, voice groggy and serious.
Bakura sighed, dropping his shoulders in the process. His eyes meant mine, and he steadily raised his arm. "Forgive me, light." The palm of my Yami's hand covered my face, and I blacked out cold.
(Akefia's POV.)
My name is Akefia,
I am two years over three.
And tonight,
Is a magical one to me.
Yugi: ...what the winged kurriboh just happened?
OD: Hehe, DRAMA that's what :D
Yugi: Why am i a doctor?
OD: hush, i have to speak now... Ahem, HI PEOPLE! OK, so that was like, my first time writting real-hard-core drama (if you can't tell) and well... idk i think it was "ok" so to speak, but i was really upset about the middle section of this chapter... felt i could have done it better, but oh well, i'll fix it later... SO, did u get the ending? xD i KNEW that was gonna get you guy's attention (if ya know what i mean) :P and btw, the next chapter might confuse you guys a little, but i'll explain stuff... and this chapter... this chapter was confusing, but it will all be explained sooner or later :3
Yugi: Oi... oh yea, and R&R's are liked here~!
Yu-Gi-Oh! is owned by Kazuki Takahashi.
