Chapter 2
Learning to Trust Again

Bakura arrived at his aunts' home. He was living with her because he was an exchange student from Great Britian. He looked up the stairs to the porch and started to climb up to it. As he entered his aunt's small house, his aunt rushed over to him. She was his uncle's widow, and she was not a very nice person.

"Where have you been?! Partying and getting drunk no doubt! Bakura, you're bleeding all over my clean floor! Go upstairs and wash that off!" Bakura's aunt hit him on the back with a fly swatter, "And don't forget to wash the bathtub out when you're done!" She called after him as he walked towards the basement.

Bakura gave a small sigh and answered, "Yes ma'am." He walked into his room in the basement, and took out a clean pair of clothes. He went into the bathroom upstairs, and put the pair of clean clothes on the floor. He ran the water for a bath, took off his now blood stained clothes, and climbed in. The water started to cloud with his blood. He lied back and thought of all that had happened.

'I was almost killed,' he thought to himself. 'Luckily, Yami Bakura came to save me...or was it really lucky?' Bakura closed his eyes and thought harder, 'Why would Yami Bakura save me? He doesn't even like me. Even my aunt hates me. Why bother living if you are not loved. Maybe saving me is more of Yami Bakura's torture...' Bakura's thoughts were cut short by his aunts' angry voice.

"Bakura! Hurry up in there! This isn't some kind of pleasure vacation!"

Bakura stopped thinking and opened his eyes; he quickly started to clean himself with the bar of soap. He shampooed his bloody hair and rinsed it. Bakura climbed out of the bathtub and let out the blood red water. After putting on the fresh pair of clothes, he quickly wrapped gauze around his still bleeding wound. He cleaned the pinkish tub as best as he could and left the bathroom with his bloody uniform under his arm. Bakura left the house. He walked over to the garbage pail and removed the lid.

"Hi Bakura!" Said a familiar voice behind him. Bakura spun around, it was Yugi. He had rode over on his bike. "Bakura why weren't you at the diner with us?" Yugi asked. He saw the blood stained clothes under Bakura's arm, "Bakura, is that blood, your blood?"

Bakura looked down at the red and blue uniform, "It was only a scratch. And don't worry, this uniform was getting a little too small for me."

Yugi looked up at his white haired, young friend with a frown on his face, "Bakura, I don't care about the uniform. I care about you."

Bakura looked down at his arm. The gauze bulged under his sleeve. He dropped the uniform in the garbage can and put the lid back on. "After you left, I stayed behind. I was attacked, but Yami Bakura saved me. But he was angry with me too." Bakura looked down at his feet.

"I'm sorry, Bakura." Yugi said, feeling really bad for his friend.

Bakura looked up at Yugi and smiled weakly, "Would you like to come in?"

Yugi smiled back, "Alright! Sure! Can I see your room?"
Bakura frowned, "If you really want to..."

Both Yugi and Bakura walked into the house. Bakura took Yugi into the basement. Yugi looked around, "Bakura, weren't we going to your room?"

Bakura looked at Yugi, "Yugi, this is my room." Bakura pushed away some boxes to reveal a cleared out area. In the clearing sat an old busted bed with torn sheets and no blankets. Against the wall was a small desk with papers sprawled out on it, and also an old battery powered radio on it. A wooden milk crate sat next to the small desk with a cushion placed on top of it, like it was used as a seat. A small burro sat to the right of the desk, most of the handles on it were missing. A small window was the only source of light, other than a small light bulb that hung from the ceiling.

Yugi looked in amazement at Bakura's living conditions. "You actually live like this?!"

Bakura nodded his head sadly. Bakura's aunts' voice broke the silence, "Bakura! Get up here now!" Bakura turned around, "I'll be back in a moment, please stay here." Bakura climbed the stairs and out of sight.

Yugi looked around, he turned and sat down on Bakura's bed. Something hard poked him. He got up and pulled whatever it was out from the covers. It was a book, Bakura's journal. Yugi held it and looked at it. He knew he shouldn't, but he was very curious and opened the book.

Yugi's eyes skimmed through the pages full of Bakura's handwriting. His eyes widened. He was in such shock that he started to read it out loud. "Dear Journal, Another day has passed by me. Another night of torture is to begin. Yami Bakura's training is going to kill me if I don't kill myself first. You are the only one I can talk to, no one can be trusted. I'm trying not to fall asleep because Yami Bakura haunts my dreams, but I am so tired. His beatings stick in my mind, I can still feel his fist on my back from where he hit me. I can still feel the warmth of my blood trickling down my back. I can still feel the stinging in my eyes like I'm going to cry. And I can still hear his laughter, which hurts most of all. I fear him so. Why does he do this to me? I thought he was supposed to protect me, but I was wrong. He is like a curse, and I can't get rid of him. My heart aches badly; I think it might stop beating. I wish it would so I would not have to deal with the pain it gives me, which is worse than Yami Bakura's beatings..."

Bakura was walking down the stairs and heard Yugi reading his Journal entries, "Yugi," he said, rushing down the stairs. "Please don't read that!"

Yugi stood there and held the book out, "Bakura, that was last nights' entry. You were planning suicide?" His face was in a frown.

Bakura took the book and put it under his pillow, "Yeah...well...so what if I am, it's not like it matters."

Yugi looked a Bakura sadly, "It matters to me..."

Bakura started to wince as if he was about to cry, he sat on the bed and Yugi sat next to him. "I'm sorry Yugi..." Bakura started to breath deeply and he buried his head in his hands, "I just don't know what to do." Small tears dripped between his fingers.

"Would talking help?" Yugi looked over at Bakura, "Please Bakura, you can trust me. I promise."

Bakura sat up and looked at Yugi. He wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve. "After my mother died, my father started drinking, and he would beat me if he was really drunk. That's when I discovered Yami Bakura. He told me that we were meant to be together and he promised to protect me and always be there for me. Being a boy of only ten, I believed him, I even looked up to him as an older brother, even a father. I let him take over and I let him do awful things. At first, I didn't see what was happening, but soon it became apparent to me. Yami Bakura became my curse, and I couldn't stop him." Bakura bent over and began to weep softly again.

Yugi edged closer to Bakura, "I had no idea, I'm so sorry, Bakura." Yugi rubbed his hand over Bakura's back. Strangely, Bakura's back felt very craggy. "Bakura, what's wrong with you back?"

Bakura sat up, "Do you want to see?" He said sadly.

Yugi looked at Bakura, "Only if you want to show me."

Bakura stood up and took off his shirt. He turned around so Yugi could see his back. Yugi stood up and stared in amazement. "What has he done to you?"

Bakura's back was covered in hundreds of scars of all different shapes and sizes. Some of them hadn't even healed properly. They were clear-cut and easily seen. Bakura's skin was stretched tightly over the frame of his body, showing every bone, and every muscle.

His build wasn't bad for someone as thin as him. All the work he had done for his aunt had made his muscles stronger.
Yugi rubbed his hand over Bakura's scarred back. Yugi put his hand into one of the scars, it was so deep, he could almost insert his whole hand into it. Bakura shuttered. Yugi stopped, "Am I hurting you?"

"Not at all," Bakura said. "It's just that...You don't know how long it's been since a human hand has touched me gently like that."

Yugi started to weep, he couldn't even imagine what kind of pain Bakura may have suffered through. But, something else caught his eye. On Bakura's left shoulder blade was a tattoo. It was clearly a tattoo of a dragon even though a couple of scars covered it. "You have a tattoo?" Yugi said, quiet tears still dripping down his cheeks.

"Yes," Bakura said, "Yami Bakura burned it on me."
Yugi continued to rub his fingers in and out of the scars on Bakura's back. Bakura shuttered again. "Sorry," Yugi said.

"No, I'm fine," Bakura said. "Believe it or not, I'm actually enjoying what you are doing."

Yugi's attention drifted away from Bakura's scars and to his back and turned to his ribs. "Bakura, you're so thin. Have you been eating properly?" Yugi ran his hand up and down Bakura's side. Bakura's ribs stuck out and you could count every single one. Strangely, as Yugi's soft hand rubbed over one of Bakura's protruding ribs, it sunk down into Bakura's body, even with the light pressure Yugi was applying. Bakura cringed and let out a soft and painful gasp.

Yugi pulled his hand back, "I'm so sorry Bakura! I hurt you."

"It's alright, Yugi." Bakura said, cupping his hand over his wounded rib. "Today, after school...The bullies hit me...I'll be fine, it's just a little sore, that's all."
"Bakura, that rib is broken. And some of these scars on your back aren't healing properly. Bakura, you really need to see a doctor," Yugi's soft tears dripped off his chin and landed in a pool at his feet.

"I can't Yugi. They wouldn't do anything for me." Bakura turned around to see Yugi's tears. He knelt down on one knee so that he was about Yugi's height. He put a pale hand on Yugi's shoulder and looked into Yugi's tearing eyes. "Yugi," he said in a soft whisper, "Why are you crying?"

Yugi had never seen Bakura's face this close before. He noticed small, hard-to-see scars covered Bakura's pale cheekbones, which stuck out slightly because of his slenderness. Yugi looked at the scars in disbelief. "I'm crying for you, Bakura," Yugi whimpered. "I can't imagine what kind of pain you went through. What has Yami Bakura been doing to you?" Tears continued to fall.

Bakura looked into Yugi's eyes deeply. Yugi stared back into Bakura's dark eyes. "Yugi," Bakura said, "Please don't cry for me, I'm not worth your tears." Yugi stared strait into Bakura's eyes. When Yugi had first met Bakura at the beginning of the school year, he always found that Bakura's eyes were always very lively. Now as he looked into the eyes of his friend, he found that they were slightly clouded and filled with pain and suffering.

Yugi lightly rubbed his hand over the scars on Bakura's face. "You're worth a lot more than my tears, you deserve so much better. I can't bear to see you treated like a worthless animal."

A single tear fell from Bakura's eye and dripped onto Yugi's small hand. His lips drew up in a small smile and he closed his eyes. "Yugi, I thank you. You have just lifted a great deal of pain from my heart. You've made me happier now than I have been in a long time."

Yugi thought about the words that Bakura had said, 'I did hardly anything. If what I did made him really happy, than he must live in agony!' Though he managed a weak smile, the tears started to flow even more.

A yell from the kitchen broke the silence; it was the voice of Bakura's aunt, "Bakura! Why are you not up here making dinner?!"

Bakura stood up and opened his eyes. "I'll let you out the back way," Bakura said leading Yugi to some stairs. Bakura opened the large metal doors and pushed Yugi out.

"Thank you Yugi," he said in a slight whisper, "You should leave now. My aunt doesn't like visitors." Bakura closed the metal doors behind him as he ascended back into the basement.

Yugi stood there stunned for a second, but as soon as he snapped out of it, he heeded Bakura's advise and left.