[Raine] yay! I finally got this done! I've been tossing the idea over in my head for quite a time now.

[Elanya] Raine doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, or how you remind me by nickel back.

[Raine] it's a shame.....

[Elanya] what is that noise????

[Raine] *holds up CD case for U.S. Yu-Gi-Oh! CD* (singing) It's time to duel...and there's no backing down...

[Elanya] .......

[Yami Bakura] oh Ra! Someone shut her up already!!

[Ryou] *duct-tapping Raine's mouth shut with Yugi's help* sorry about that everyone...

[Yugi] now, on with the story!

~Lyrics~

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

/Ryou to Bakura/

//Bakura to Ryou//

Bakura stretched his arms above his head, the silver moonlight illuminating the small room he stood in. he looked down at the small by that lay curled in a ball on the bed.

"Ryou" he whispered softly his voice no more than a shadow in the moonbeams. He watched as a cloud flitted across the moon casting little silver shadows dancing upon the sleeping boy's hair and face, making him seem even more ethereal. He looked so innocent, so beautiful,

~Never made it as a wise man~

"So weak" Bakura sighed.

He then sat down gently on the edge of the bed. He lifted his hand hesitantly and brushed Ryou's pale hair off of his face. He loved the gorgeous angel that lay here, although he was sure he would never be willing to admit to it, come hell or high water. His thoughts flickered back to the dream he had been having, the dream that had woken him up.

Flashback

He ran through the street, the wind rushing through his long pale hair, his feet stirring up small clouds of dust, as he clutched the slab of roast meat, still warm in his sand streaked hands. Turning quickly he darted behind a large building, his feat slapping the hard backed sand of the marketplace ground. He dashed quickly around a man selling dates and moving swiftly, lost himself in the crowed, walking not with one particular person, but seeming more like a child out with his mother, than a the thief he had just proved himself to be.

~I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'~

--And then the scene changed.... and he was there again, that fateful moment. He felt the pain again, as his soul was ripped from his body, a mind numbing, searing pain, that seemed to tear him to shreds, and weald him back together just to rip him apart again. And then, the darkness, the blackness of the inside of the ring.

End flashback

The dream had shaken him, he still wasn't sure what part of it hit him so hard, but it disturbed him, just a little, just enough to allow faint lines of worry crease his mask of the emotionless tomb robber. Ryou's soft sigh brought him back to reality, and he realized he had been stroking his hikari's hair. He pulled his hand back quickly, as if stung. His mind angry at his body's betrayal. Shaking his head briskly he looked down at Ryou again.

~Tired of livin' like a blind man~

"Definitely too weak" Bakura decided. He would just have to work harder to fix that problem.

The next morning Ryou woke up to his alarm clock blaring into the dark, emptiness of his bedroom. He pushed back the blanket and got out of bed. Yawning, he turned off his alarm clock and gathered the cloths he wanted to wear that day. He then went onto the bathroom to take his shower. He pulled off his pajama shirt and took a step closer to the large mirror above the sink. One of his pale fingers moved to trace a cut on his side, still only half healed. Wincing, he pulled his hand back and opened the cabinet be hind the mirror, pulling out some disinfectant and some bandages. Laying them on the counter next to the sink, he took half a step backwards and collided with something soft. His soft brown eyes flew open and his head shot up.

~I'm sick of sight without a sense of feelin'~

"Bakura!" he said quickly fear lacing his voice as he saw the murderous look on the fiends face in the mirror. Grabbing Ryou's shoulders roughly, Bakura spun the boy around to face him. Growling, Bakura slapped him hard across the face.

~And this is how you remind me~

~This is how you remind me~

~Of what I really am~

~This is how you remind me~

~Of what I really am~

"Pathetic" Bakura bit out as Ryou closed his eyes, waiting for the blows that followed. Again Bakura's hand met his cheek and then a fist connected with his stomach, causing him to crumple up and fall to the floor. Ryou felt a tear slip down his cheek. Bakura's eyes narrowed into tiny slits as he heard a soft sob from the boy on the floor. 'Oh, Ra, Ryou.... I'm sorry, so, so sorry'

~It's not like you to say sorry~

"Are you crying" Bakura asked sneering. "Poor little baby" he bit the words out, kicking at Ryou's legs before disappearing into the ring.

/Weakling/ he whispered into Ryou's mind

/Pathetic excuse for a human being/

/You disgust me/

Ryou pulled himself up from the floor and limped over to the shower. He quickly showered, and then he dried himself and got dressed, leaving his shirt off. He then went to work bandaging the cut on his side that had ripped open again from his Yami's punch and was now bleeding down his side. The medicine on the bandage burned, but it numbed the pain a bit. Gently he pulled his shirt and sweater over his head and then pulled out a blow drier to dry his pale lavender-white hair. He dried it quickly and then he dug in the cabinet for some make up. He brushed his teeth quickly, and then he slowly and carefully covered the handprint on his pale skin. Ryou then walked out of the bathroom and into his kitchen, where he quickly make a sandwich for lunch and some toast for breakfast. He put an apple, a drink, some mini-pretzels and the sandwich in a paper lunch bag, and then holding the toast in his mouth, he grabbed a peach from the bowl on the counter, and put his lunch in his bag with his books, which he swung over his shoulder.

Munching on his toast he started the trek to school. As he walked he noticed how beautiful a morning it was. The first pale pink cherry blossoms of spring were peeking out of the trees that lined the sidewalk; giving the city an almost fairy-tale look. Ryou walked in silence, trying his best not to let his limp show, no one needed to know. He bit into the fuzzy peach and closed his eyes enjoying the sweet taste. There were few things that his Yami allowed him to enjoy, so he treasured the sweet fruits, eating it slowly as he walked in the quiet of morning.

When he got to school he found that even with the delay his Yami had caused him, he was still half an hour early. He went to his classroom and set his bag down on the floor next to his chair and then he walked over to the window. Looking out he watched the sun send orange and pink hues dancing through the sky, dying the clouds a myriad of colors, like a million tropical butterflies. He watched as Yugi came bouncing into view, Jou hot on his trail trying to take something out of Yugi's hands. Sighing he went over to his desk and sat down, pulling a book out of his bag. He opened the book, taking up where he had left off, a childish bookmark with a chibi change of heart in a half-lit forest falling to rest on his desk. He let himself get lost within the words of the story. He became the characters, anguish welling up in his heart when IT captured Charles Wallace; together he and Meg felt pain at abandoning the small child. For a moment he was no longer Ryou who was beat by his Yami, he was free of it, racing against darkness and evil to save a child. Yugi's cheerful greeting cut through his thoughts and he lay down his well-read copy of "a wrinkle in time", replacing the cute bookmark and greeting his the cheerful boy.

"Good morning Bakura!!" Yugi burst out, light sparkling in his eyes.

"Hello Yugi"

"Are you ok? You look a little pale" Yugi asked, concern for his friend causing his brow to crease

~I was waiting for a different story~

"Oh, I'm fine, I just didn't get allot of sleep last night"

"Are you sure your ok?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine" Ryou said waving his hand. 'No I'm not'

"Alright, if you're sure" Yugi started to turn away and walk back to his seat, then stopped abruptly "oh! Bakura, would you like to come over to my place after school? I'm having a few people over to duel and..."

/no/

//why?//

/I said no!/

"I...I don't think I can come"

"Oh...ok then..." Yugi walked away looking at the floor dejectedly

'Oh dear... I'm so sorry Yugi...'

~This time I was mistaken~

Ryou suffered through the school day, ignoring most of the death threats his Yami sent his way. When the bell rang he got up from his seat gathered up his books and started the long walk back home. He passed a group of friends chatting and laughing in the schoolyard, a small pang of sadness attacking his heart as he saw how happy they were. He held onto the handle of his bag a little tighter, his thought turning traitorous. 'No one really cares do they?' he sighed as he walked along the sidewalk. 'Yugi does' a small voice in his head reminded him.

'He wouldn't have invited you if he didn't'

'But I said no, he probably hates me now'

'Yugi doesn't seem the type to hate, now does he?'

'No'

'See'

'But, it doesn't matter, only one person matters'

'And I'm invisible to them'

'Just a stain in his world'

~For handing you a heart worth breaking~

He was about half way home when he saw that an entire section of the sidewalk and road had been closed off due to a chemical spill from an accident. Turning around he sighed as he started walking towards a more dangerous part of town, the only other way home, lying through a maze of back roads and always.

'I'm no more than a blight in his life'

'I ought to just die and get it over with'

'Maybe I will have finally done something to make him happy that way'

~I've been wrong, I've been down~

He passed a few drunks sitting on the side of the street; one man began making catcalls at the 'pretty school gal' that was passing. Ryou made a face his hair was long, and he was a bit effeminate, but he didn't think he looked that much like a girl...

~Been to the bottom of every bottle~

He tuned down another ally only to find himself staring right into the face of a tall man with a maniac grin.

"Well, well, well, what have we here"

Gasping, Ryou backed up, looking at the ground, hoping that the man would just let him pass without incident.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here, hm?"

Ryou took another step backward, prepared to bolt, when he found himself bumping into something soft.

"Well now, a pale rose like you can't be going yet, can you?" the sot object, another man laughed out slipping an arm around Ryou's waist

~These five words in my head~

"No, he should stay a while"

Ryou was panicking, he didn't know what to do, his Yami, though cruel, wasn't half as scary as these two men, his Yami couldn't kill him, these men could.

/Yami!!!!!/

//what the hell do you want? I was sleeping... //

/please help me/ Ryou sobbed mentally to his darker half /please Yami/

Yami Bakura appeared next to Ryou fuming to see the man touching his hikari. Bakura growled low in his through lunging at the man who held Ryou captive. The man yelped in surprise as his head connected sharply with the brick of the building next to him, blood seeped from a gash in his skull and ran down the wall, pooling on the ground under the trashcan the man had landed on top of. The other man drew a knife from his belt and rushed towards Ryou, grabbing the weaker boy and drawing the knife across the pale arm he held tightly to. The knife then trailed across Ryou's back and around his shoulder to stop in front of Ryou's throat.

"You have two choices," the man laughed out at Bakura

"One you leave now with your life and he may live to see tomorrow" Bakura growled low in his throat.

"Or two, he dies and I have the pleasure of holding you captive"

~Scream "are we having fun yet?"~

Bakura looked at the man his eyes so dark they appeared black, murder clear in his face.

"Fool" he spit out.

Holding his hand up he banished the man's soul, laughing at the expression of fear on the man's face as the hand went limp and the knife fell. Bakura rushed forwards catching Ryou as his half dead form crumpled to the ground along with the body of his captor. Cradling the small bleeding body to his chest Bakura sat down on the ground, tearing bits off of his version of his lights coat to bandage the wounds that bled profusely, dying his hands crimson. Gently he cradled his light's body to his chest and started off towards home.

~Yet?, Yet?, Yet?, no no~

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Raine] *singing through the duct tape* I don't have a beta, I don't have a beta....... so if you find mistakes, don't kill me with rakes, 'cause I only catch some, and...Um...Bakura's dumb!

[Bakura] What did you say?!?!

[Raine] I needed something to rhyme with some, and I can't call Ryou dumb 'cause he's too kawaii

[Bakura] true...

[Raine] and Yami can kill me...thus him and Yugi are out of the picture...

[Bakura] and?

[Raine] err.....*hides behind Ryou* you wouldn't want to hurt me would you 'Kura?

[Bakura] baka

[Raine] I won't write anymore if I'm dead.....

[Bakura] Your point?

[Raine] *cries* I see how it is...fine be that way...see if I care!

TBC...