Chapter 6
The Image In The Mirror

"So," Yugi said as they entered his house, "You go take your shower, I'll wash your clothes, and when you're done with your shower I'll make us all some food to eat.

"Yugi, you know you really don't have to do all this for me..." Bakura said.

"Bakura, I know I don't need to, but I want to help you out. You're my friend and that's what friends do, they help each other out." Yugi pushed Bakura into the bathroom and left Bakura to himself to take his shower.

Bakura was sitting at the table in clean clothes after he had finished his shower.

Yugi put a bowl filled with macaroni in front of each of them along with a glass of lemonade. "Eat up," He said cheerfully and sat down at the table in front of a bowl of macaroni himself.

Everyone at the table began to eat the macaroni, except Bakura. He just stared into his bowl. There was more food in that bowl than he usually ate in 3 days. He could feel how hungry he was but he didn't feel right about eating the food that was right there before his eyes, like if he ate it, something terrible would happen to him.

Everyone stopped eating and stared at Bakura, wondering why he wasn't eating.

"Uh, Bakura, why are you having a staring contest with your mac n' cheese?" Joey said a little confused.

Bakura looked up, "I'm not...It's just that...don't you think this is a bit too much?"

Tea looked a bit puzzled, "Do you mean too much food or we're doing too much for you?"

Bakura looked back down at his meal, "I guess a little too much of everything...too much food...too many favors...I'm just not accustom to this kind of treatment..."

Tristan looked at Bakura, also a bit baffled, "What's wrong with the way we're treating you? Did we do something wrong? Don't you like macaroni?"

"I like macaroni...I just don't feel right being treated so nicely...I'm not very hungry anyways..."Bakura continued to stare into his macaroni.

"Please, Bakura, eat something. You're practically skin and bones as it is." Yugi looked quite a bit concerned.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a little..." Bakura began to eat slowly and so did everyone else, but after Bakura got a little more comfortable with he idea of eating, he ate very quickly. He was the first to finish.

"Someone was hungry," Joey said before taking another mouthful.

"I guess I was a little hungry..." Bakura said with a small smile on his face.

Yugi seemed satisfied that Bakura had eaten, at least a little something, and smiled back at Bakura.

After all of them had finished their lunch the discussed what they should do next.

"I say we go watch some TV, my favorite show will be on pretty soon." Joey said in his usual energetic manner.

"What is it, Power Rangers?" Tristan said laughing.

"NO!" Joey said standing and shaking a clenched fist at Tristan.

"I guess some relaxation could be a good thing..." Tea said after a little thinking.

"Alright then," Yugi said jumping up from his seat, putting his bowl in the sink, and making his way to the living room.

There they all sat, huddled around Yugi's television set, watching Joey's favorite show.

They all sat on the floor while Bakura watched from the couch. The show interested him very little. But this gave him time to think. He enjoyed thinking. His only escape from the life he lived was his thoughts, although some of his thoughts were sad and painful.

Bakura thought silently to himself with his eyes closed as the others watched the soft glow of the television screen. 'Yugi is so kind, they are all so kind. They have all done so much for me. I wish there was something I could do for them...but what? I have nothing to give them other than my friendship, but is that enough? I wonder...do they even really like me, or is it just that they are nice to me out if pity? Could that be it?'

Bakura was deep in though when a powerful, almost overwhelming, voice spoke to him. It was a familiar voice that Bakura recognized at once. It was the voice of that demon that poisoned him, the curse that lurked inside him, right beneath his skin, Yami Bakura.

"Hello Bakura..." The voice hissed.

Bakura's eyes opened immediately and he looked around to see that everything seemed fine. The voice must have spoken to him in his mind, so he closed his eyes and thought back, 'Yami Bakura, what is it that you want from me now?'

The voice in his head replied to his thoughts, 'All I want is a little favor, and then I'll leave you alone.'

'What is it? What do you want?'

'Oh, it's quite a simple task...'The reply was followed by Yami Bakura's cold-blooded laughter that made Bakura's heart ache. 'What I want is for you to go fetch the Millennium puzzle for me.'

'What?! Never, that's Yugi's. I'd never steal it.'

'Bakura, don't make me angry. I'll ask you...no, I'll command you once more. Go get the puzzle for me like a good boy.'

'I will not, never! You can not make me.'

The voice of Bakura's Yami became harsh and as cold as the wind in the Antarctic. 'Shut up, you stupid boy! I can make you do anything I want, and as you will find, I am not so easy to resist.'

Before Bakura knew it, he had stood up and was moving closer to Yugi, who didn't seem to notice Bakura closing in on him. Bakura couldn't seem to control his body as he moved closer and closer to Yugi. His hand outstretched to grab Yugi's Millennium puzzle. Bakura's hand trembled as he resisted his Yami's force with all of his might.

'What are you doing?!' Bakura thought to his mind reading Yami.

'I'm getting what I've come for, and I'm not going to stop until I get it.'

Yugi looked over at Bakura, "Bakura, is there something wrong?"

After Yugi spoke, it seemed the Bakura had gained control of his own body again, and he pulled his hand back quickly. Bakura thought hard before he answered, "Uh...Yeah Yugi, there's something very wrong...I have to go home and cook dinner for my aunt..."

"So soon?" Yugi said with a small frown.

Bakura just nodded. The others looked in his and Yugi's direction.

"Alright then," Yugi said, "If you must, I guess you must."

"I'm so sorry, Yugi, please forgive me. I thank you very much for your great hospitality." Bakura said, standing up and walking to the front door. Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea all bid him farewell before he left.

As soon as Bakura closed the door he felt a painful stabbing sensation to his chest. It felt like five knifes piercing his skin. Bakura looked down. Blood was seeping through his shirt in five places, the bloodstains made the shape of a semicircle.

The cold voice of his Yami spoke to him in his mind again, 'This is what you get for disobeying me. Suffer Bakura, suffer!' His words were followed by cruel laughter that broke Bakura's heart.

"Oh God..." Bakura said out loud as he began to make his way home, hunched over.

He ran around behind his aunt's house and opened the large metal doors that guarded the stairs to the basement. He hoped to God that his aunt didn't see him sneaking back home. He slipped down the stairs and closed the heavy doors behind him.

Bakura sat on his bed and pulled off his shirt. Looking down he saw what had happened. The five sharp points of the Millennium ring had burrowed themselves under Bakura's skin. Blood oozed from the cuts that made a perfect semicircle in Bakura's abdomen.

"Damn you, Yami Bakura..." Bakura muttered to himself as he tried to soak up the blood with his sheets.

Bakura lied in his bed for hours. He had given up all hope of stopping the bleeding. His sheets were soaked with blood. He knew Yami Bakura's powers were probably keeping his blood from clotting. Bakura felt so weak from blood loss he could hardly move, but he knew he had to; he had to make dinner for his aunt.

Bakura propped himself up slowly, slid off his bed, and put his shirt back on, not caring if it got any more blood on it. Making his way up the stairs was not easy, but he managed to stumble up the stairs and enter the kitchen. To Bakura's luck, his aunt was not there to catch him.

Making dinner was no easy task either. Walking back and forth in the kitchen with five deep holes in his middle was difficult, but Bakura was able to pull it off. Bakura stumbled back down the stairs and back to his bed before his aunt came, looking for her dinner.

Bakura rolled onto his side and, with great effort, pulled his journal out from under his pillow. He opened it slowly and began a new entry:
'Dear Journal,

I'm sorry if my writing is sloppy, I'm very weary. I'm sorry for any bloodstains, but I am bleeding all over the place.

I had to weed the garden in exchange for my aunt's old steak bone. The weeds in the garden scoured my hands, but I pulled every single one. After all the work I did, my aunt sent me away.

I walked down the street since there wasn't anything better to do. Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and TŽa caught up with me on the street. Yugi invited me over. He was very kind; he let me take a shower and he cleaned my clothes for me. Afterwards he fed me; it was more food than I had eaten in 3 days.

My Yami spoke to me and almost made me steal Yugi's Millennium puzzle. He completely took control of my body and I could not stop him. My insides felt cold and empty when he controlled me; a great feeling of deep sorrow came over me. I held him off long enough until Yugi realized something was wrong. I couldn't take any more chances, so I left immediately.

As soon as I left, I felt what felt like five six-inch nails were digging into my skin. I got home to discover that all five points of the Millennium ring had dug their way under my skin. It was my punishment for not stealing the Millennium puzzle. I tried to stop the bleeding, but it didn't work.

I feel too weak to write anymore, but there's not much else to tell.'

Bakura put away his journal and climbed under his now crimson sheets. He lied there for hours, tossing and turning, not able to fall asleep. He really didn't want to go to sleep and continue his endless torture, but he was so exhausted from blood loss and all the work he had done earlier that day.

Around 1:00 AM, Bakura felt sick to his stomach. He knew that he had eaten too much after not eating for several days, which could easily make a person sick. He felt as if he was going to throw-up at any second. Since he knew that vomit was a pain to clean up, he decided to get to the bathroom as quickly as he could.

Bakura limped up the stairs and into the bathroom as quickly as he could. He hunched over the sink and splashed some cold water on his face. He looked up slowly, into the mirror. He stepped back, half surprised, half afraid, and his pupils dilated.

The face that looked back at Bakura from the mirror was not his own. It was the face of the pale demon that tortured Bakura every day and night, Yami Bakura.

"What are you doing here?! What is it that you want from me now?!" Bakura said, being very careful not to look straight into Yami Bakura's eyes.

The image in the mirror frowned, "What, is that how you greet me?!" Yami Bakura's eyes narrowed. "You should be grateful to me you know. If it weren't for me you wouldn't even exist." Yami Bakura pointed an accusing finger at Bakura. "It's my blood that runs through your veins! It's my heart that beats in your chest! You cannot deny your origin! Don't try to pretend you don't know!" Yami Bakura put his hand down and gave Bakura a sharp glare. "You should be more respectful to me, your master. I am practically your father...in fact; I'm more than just that...I am practically you. Until next time Bakura...do NOT forget this!"

Yami Bakura's image faded and Bakura's sad, ill looking reflection returned to the mirror. Bakura stood there, stunned, for a few minuets and thought everything over, until he decided that his stomach felt better, and he returned to his bed. Sleep did not come easily for Bakura, but it finally found him 2 hours later, although Bakura regretted it, for the torture was about to start all over...