Chapter 2
For the last three weeks, Bakura had been saying few words to Aisha, who was worried about her friend. Everyday he would come into school with a scabbed cut across his wrist and a limp. Finally, she decided to ask Yugi, the only one Bakura would talk to. Well, if you call, "Hi" talking.
"Yugi. What's up with Bakura? Everyday he comes to school with a new injury. What is going on?" she asked the short teen.
Yugi looked up at her and said; "…I think it's better if you didn't know…"
Aisha sighed. She had gotten the same answers out of Joey, Honda, Bakura and Tea. No one would tell her. She felt so…weak, a feeling she wasn't used to. "Thanks…" she sighed.
Yugi felt bad. He knew Aisha was worried about their friend, but there was nothing they could do to help him. He had to do it himself.
-------Later…
Aisha spotted Bakura standing in the corner of the school hallway, a bully (who I will call Shark) beating on him. "Hey!" she ran over and shoved Shark. "Stop that, you jerk!"
Shark glared at the redhead. "Why?" he asked, shoving her back roughly.
Aisha stumbled back a few steps but managed to stay on her feet. "Because! If you don't I'm gonna kick you where the sun don't shine!"
"Oh. I'm sooooooo scared! Someone save me from the mean redhead!" he said in a mocking tone that made Aisha's blood boil.
"I…said…leave…him…alone!" she kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling.
Bakura stared at Aisha as she and Shark battled, which ended with Shark getting a bloody nose. The bully stood and ran off, leaving Aisha to stand beside Bakura with a smug smile on her face. "An' don't lemme catch you picking on him again!" she yelled after him.
Bakura picked his backpack off the floor and said, "Thank you. But…did you really have to almost break his nose?"
Aisha thought for a moment then shrugged. "No, but he made me mad and I owed him for spilling my food on my shirt." She was still smiling smugly.
"…Alright…I guess…Anyways, I better get home." Bakura started to walk away, but stopped when Aisha said, "Hey. Why don't you come over to my house for dinner? My mom makes a killer stuffed cabbage."
"…" Bakura thought for a moment. Then, he shook his head and walked away. "I'm sorry. But I have…things to do…"
Aisha watched her friend walk away from her and out the school doors, a confused and worried look on her face. "…What is wrong with you…?" she asked silently, wishing that someone would tell her what was wrong with Bakura.
-------Later…
Aisha walked down the busy streets of Domino, her head hurting from all the worrying and thinking she had been doing lately. Why won't he tell me? She thought, sighing as she headed toward the Turtle Game Shop, maybe to buy some new Duel Monster cards or maybe to watch Joey get his butt kicked by Yugi in a Duel.
She entered the small game store, brought some cards then left for home, not even casting Yugi or Joey a second glance.
--------The next day…
Bakura was late once again. Aisha shifted in her seat and looked at the door. Bakura was usually in his seat and getting a detention slip by now.
She heard Sally, a student that lives for gossip, whisper to another girl, "I heard he's cursed."
The other girl, Juri, gasped. "Really?! I can't believe that!" she whispered back.
"Its true. Ryou Bakura is cursed. That's why everyone he's met and tried to make friends with have mysteriously vanished."
"But…what about Yugi, Joey, Honda and Tea?"
"Bakura avoids them. But I pity that girl Aisha. Next thing you know…she'll be gone too."
Aisha listened with interest, but also with growing confusion. Why hadn't he told her that people went missing when he made friends with them?
Just then, Bakura came in and sat down heavily in his seat. He looked like he had been in a street fight.
And, as usual, he got detention and had to stand out in the hallway with a bucket of water in each hand.
-------Later…
Bakura walked down the hall toward the front doors. It had been a long day and he just wanted to go to sleep, but he knew he would get nothing except another "lesson".
He stopped when someone stepped out in front of him. "Aisha." He said.
Aisha stared at him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"…Tell you what?"
"About those people that went missing when they tried to make friends with you!" Bakura cringed at the girl's harsh tone.
"I…I didn't want you to get hurt…like the others…" he said softly, lowering his gaze to the floor.
"Hurt? By what?!" Aisha was so upset that she started to cry. Hot tears streamed down her pale cheeks as she sobbed, "All I want to be is your friend! But how can I if you keep pushing me away!?"
Bakura looked up and saw Aisha's tears and lost control. He ran over to her and wrapped her in his arms, holding her close. She seemed so small and frail, something that made her look like a child. She continued to cry in her friend's arms, her tears seeping through his green sweater. It took a minute before he realized that he was also crying. "Aisha…just…please stay away from me…" he whispered, pushing her away gently and staring into her green eyes.
"But…why?" she asked weakly.
"…Just…trust me…You have to stay away…goodbye…" he then walked past her, his heart heavy with grief as he left Aisha alone on the school steps.