The boy stared out the car's window, light from the streetlights they passed casting long shadows over his face. He was rather unusual with his long white hair and large brown eyes, but it never helped him to be unusual. All it did was attract unwanted attention to himself.
A dark stain which grew every moment that passed covered his favorite pull-over sweater. A cloth held by a shaking hand tried desperately to stop the blood flow as the car accelerated all the more towards the hospital. His face grew paler the more that the stain grew. He was so tired all of sudden, he wanted to sleep. To just forget what had happened this night and sleep...
He began to close his eyes when an angry voice that filled him with fear spoke, "You better not close your eyes, Ryou!"
The boy nodded weakly and forced open his eyes once more. The person who had spoke was out of focus, but the white hair and brown eyes that Ryou could barely see made the speaker look like his twin. Ryou had so many questions for his seemingly twin, but couldn't manage to find the strength in order to ask them. Only two words slipped out of his pale lips before the urge to sleep came over him once more, "....Why.... Bakura....?"
Casting his light a worried look, the one addressed to as Bakura pressed his hand on the wound even harder. Too much blood was being lost. His light, Ryou, was trying his hardest to stay awake, and for this Bakura was glad, but it wasn't going to last much longer.
He cursed under his breath in frustration as he hurried best he could. How could he have let this happen? The traffic light turned to red and Bakura tried to slam on his breaks, when he realized he wasn't boing be able to stop in time, he accelterated all the more. He didn't have time to try to stop now, he had to hurry, time was running out.
Bakura could almost hear the ticks and tocks of Ryou's watch as it seemed to countdown how long it's owner still had to live and with every soun dit made, Bakura flinched. He wasn't going to make it. He was going to be too late. Ryou wasn't going to live.
The hospital loomed all the closer and Bakura nearly smiled at the sight. Perhaps his light would live, after all.
Bakura pulled the car into the emergency area that was mainly for ambulances alone, and didn't bother to turn off the motor as he hurried out the door and to the passenger side. If someone wanted to steal Ryou's dad's car, they could go on ahead as far as Bakura was concerned. He didn't have the time, every second was precious.
With Ryou in his arms, Bakura hurried into the hospital. A nurse noticed him instantly and told Bakura to follow her quickly. Had this been at any other time, Bakura would have snapped at her for telling him to be quick, as if he didn't know that was at stake. Instead, he merely nodded and hurried along the long white corridors, following the nurse.
Hours had passed since Ryou had been taken into surgery. The nurses had told Bakura that they wre first going to give his "brother" more blood to try and stabilize him a bit before they operated. For all Bakura cared they could have set fire to him as long as it would help Ryou survive.
Now he paced around the nearly deserted waiting room, making the only other two people a bit nervous by the glare he aimed at the floor all the while. Bakura was quite aware of how they were shifting in there chairs and smirked despite himself.
They were soon called away to visit their respective friends or families that had either been saved, or were dying. Bakura had taken to sitting down instead of pacing, only after a nurseh ad forced him. She had complained, in a sick way of trying to be funny, that Bakura was making her dizzy with his insecant pacing. The ancient spirit merely glared at her retreating for when he sat down and then took to reading.
Words themselves did not matter to Bakura as he flipped through the magazine, looking for something of small intrest to take his mind off of Ryou. Nothing seemed to work. He had considered calling one of Ryou's friends, but then realized what a mistake that would be. The only one he could really call was Yuugi, and what if Yami Yuugi answered? There would be hell to pay on Bakura's part for trying to contact the once-pharaoh's light. Perhaps Anzu? No, she would simply hang up once she heard who it really was. Honda, no. Jounochi, no. Bakura figured that he had accepted the fact that he was really alone, unless you counted his light, but this moment had proved him wrong.
It hurt him deeply to think of how much he was hated. Though he knew full well it shouldn't bother him in the least bit. Bakura could almost picture Yami Yuugi laughing at him when he found this out. Although Bakura wasn't complaining about having only his light's company, it just made it all the harder to face the moments when his light wasn't there, like now.....
How long had he been waiting? Hours? Minutes? Last time he had dared to steal a look at the clock and continued to tick the seconds away, he had found it was midnight. That would mean he had been waiting for four hours. How much time had passed since he last looked? Bakura was nearly afraid to look as he glanced up and read the numbers. It was 3:41 AM and still he hadn't heard a word from a doctor.
He had never been a patient person, anyone who ever knew him could tell you this easily. He had't been tolerant of waits in the past, and if anything had happened with this habit, it had only gotten worse with the three thousand years he had been sealed. With a sound that closely resembled a growl, Bakura stood and began pacing once more.
A mere moment from when Bakura stood, a doctor stormed into the room and spotted him.
"Bakura-san?" He asked as he headed toward the white-haired boy. Bakura nodded, a bit unnerved by the doctor's grim expression.
"I'm horribly sorry, Bakura-san. Your brother had too much damage done by the knife, we can't save him." His sympathetic voice, and expression, and appologetic words only grated on Bakura's nerves as he heard what the doctor had to say. His light was going to die. Bakura found it difficult to not yell at this man dressed in white and only managed to nod. He didn't trust his tounge just yet.
"Can I at least see him?" Bakura asked after several moments of calming himself. He knew his anger wasn't at the doctor, it was at himself and it was only used to cover his sorrow. He knew this quite well. He had done the same thing when his parents were murdered.
"Follow me." The doctor now spoke in a hushed voiced as he walked briskly down the white halls and toward the room where Ryou was. Bakura felt his chest tighten with every step, each time he heard his footfall he also heard the word dead. Ryou was going to die. He had been too slow. He had been too careless. It had been because of his lack of awareness that Ryou was soon to be burried under the ground.
"I'll be with a patient just down the hall if you need anything." The doctor had whispered as he left Bakura alone with his light.
&nb sp;
"Ryou, hey, wake up." Bakura flinched at the harshness of his voice. He hadn't meant for it to sound like that. He supposed old habbits died hard.
"Yami...?" The voice that came from the pale boy was weak and sounded forced. Bakura could only put his hand on Ryou's cheek and nod, he could feel the tears coming to claim him.
"I'm sorry.... I'm sorry for being so weak.... Why did this happen?" That voice would haunt Bakura for the rest of his long days. Those questions, that statement. He had been the one that was constantly telling Ryou how weak he was. It hurt him so much to hear those words of admitance from Ryou.
"You're not weak, Ryou. Never say that again." Bakura had whispered in a fierce voice, his eyes shut tightly. A soft and slow beep filled the air from one of the many machines Ryou was connected to.
"Yami.... I want you to know that I'm glad I met you. Even if you beat me, you were nice." Ryou whispered softly, his voice beginning to fail him.
"I'm sorry for all of those beatings... I guess anger was the only emotion that I could actually act on. I'm glad you tollerated me and didn't smash the Ring like you could have. Thanks for being so kind to me, regardless of my actions." Tears now feel down his face at the thought of these being his last words to his friend.
"What's going to happen, Yami? What's going to happen to me....? To you?"
"You're going to go to a great place where everyone appreciates you as you should be, you'll probably meet your mother there...." He stopped here, not wanting Ryou to know what Bakura's fate would be.
"I hope so... I hope so... What about you, Yami?" Bakura silently cursed this boy for noticing that he had skipped answering that question.
"Go to sleep, Ryou. You must be tired." Bakura said softly, his eyes opening to meet those that mirrored his perfectly. Ryou would not be shaken away from that question. He wanted to know what was going to happen to his darker friend.
"I'm not sure." Bakura replied with a sigh as he read the question in Ryou's eyes. It wasn't a complete lie. He wasn't sure at all what would be his fate. Perhaps he would be tortured for all eternity? If so, it wouldn't matter to him.
"I hope whatever happens to you is good. I hope you become happy..." Ryou's eyes drifted closed at that moment and the steady beep haulted, becoming a single beep. He was gone....
The once-raider stood beside the bed, his hand still on Ryou's cheek as he simply stared at the young boy. As he watched his still body, Bakura had to wonder how this could have happened to one so kind. The answer, he knew, was quite simple; he had let it happen.
Bakura couldn't stay in the room any longer, not with Ryou's body laying on the bed looking like he had simply fallen asleep, while the loud constant beep told a different story. Bakura turned away from the room and ran out of the doors, he hurried toward the hospital doors and into the night.
The car was still there, so Bakura took it. While he got on the freeway heading toward who-knew-where, his mind began to drift to his past with Ryou. Bakura could have killed himself for acting as he had all that time, that is, of course, ifh e was even still alive. If he had known.... If he had known maybe he would have been different, better.
"I didn't know, though. It's over, what's done is done. He's dead." Bakura thought aloud, his tone sharp and each word filled with an undeniable bitterness. His light was dead.
"Bakura Ryou has returned to the land from which he came. The everlasting land of heaven. Let us now bear witness to his descent into the earth." The priest finished his speech as Ryou's casket was lowered into the cold ground. Bakura had come wearing a hat that shaded his face and hid his hair. Ryou's father was there, and Bakura didn't want himself to be noticed by the man.
While the dirt was shoveled onto the coffin, Bakura watched. He couldn't stand thinking of all he could have done differently. Maybe then he wouldn't feel so regretful.
As the crowd that had gathered to see Ryou off into the next world, Bakura stood still. His eyes were on the headstone that was covered in roses. The name that was engraved was one Bakura had never hoped to see in such a place. His light's.
"How could you kill him like that?" A harsh voice hissed from behind the ancient spirit. Not lifting his eyes away from the stone, or even turning around, Bakura responded, "I didn't kill him."
This statement he knew quite well that the angry pharoah behind him would not believe. He didn't care, though.
"Stop lying you damned tomb robber!" Yami Yuugi suddenly yelled in his frustration. Bakura smirked slightly, he was glad that nearly everyon had left. Only he, Yami Yuugi, and Yuugi's friends were there still.
"Quiet, pharaoh, you wouldn't want to wake the dead with that loud voice of yours, would you?" Bakura knew the punch was coming before he even felt it. The wind was gone from his lungs as the punch landed in his lower back. Bakura fell to the ground, his hat falling away. Pain shot up his body. He didn't care, though.
"Yami..." The small voice of Yuugi made itself known. He was ignored, of course, by the two yamis.
"Don't you dare make a joke at this time. You killed your light, do you even realize that? He's dead because of you!" Yami Yuugi hissed once more as he prepared to hit Bakura again. Yuugi hung on his darker half's arm in an attempt to stop the boy from injuring Bakura. Bakura only barked a laugh as he carefully got up from the grassy ground.
"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not. I did not kill him." On this final note, Bakura began to walk away from the grave, leaving Yuugi and his friends alone to try and calm the raging Yami Yuugi. A smile crossed his face as he felt the Ring grow warm. It was calling him back......
Sorry, couldn't resist. This probably sucked, but... well, I don't care. =) Flame or comment, I appreciate either one!
Also, do you think I should write a sequal, maybe something that explains what happened that made this story the way it was (You know, find out if Bakura killed Ryou, if so and if not how Ryou came to be like he was, all that other junk)? Tell me!
NOTE: Yuu-gi-oh (Yu-Gi-oh!) © Kazuki Takahashi. With that said here, you no sue me! You wouldn't get anything accept forms to fill out anyway since I just leant all my money to a friend. -.-;
NOTE (8/24/02): I'll write the sequel soon, since just about everyone who reviewed asked for it. I'll start as soon as I finish my latin homework, ok? And thanks for all the great reviews! Please continue to write them! Tell me if there's anything you would like to see in the sequel, okay?
