Chapter 3. This is me revising by the way.
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"There have been, noises, in the Shadow Realm recently; screaming mostly. I wanted to know if you knew anything about them," I say without pretence. I want to get straight to the heart of this matter and pussyfooting around reality isn't going to be helping that.
A flicker of surprise through Yami's eyes and his brow quirks a little. "I've heard it, but I don't know what's doing it or why. Do you?" he asks looking curious now.
I'm not entirely surprised that he hasn't identified it and I merely nod slightly not taking my eyes off of him. Perhaps if I stare at him long enough the wheels will start turning and realization will dawn. After a few moments he frowns at me outright, silently inquiring what he had on his face. Perhaps not then.
Concentrating, I open a small rift in this reality to the Shadow Realm: not large enough to be visible or dangerous, but enough for sound to leak through. It's only a whimpering now; a pathetic little noise that I want to slap Yami for in disgust for allowing even a small part of him to make it. At least the screams carried some strength in their torment.
"You really don't know what that is?" I prompt, opening my face up a little to appear less threatening. He might just be doing an exceptionally good job of deceiving me and knows full bloody well that it's him and is just too embarrassed to admit it.
He sighs in exasperation. He's clueless then. "No, Tomb Robber, I don't. Now will you either tell me what you obviously think I need to know or go away and leave me in peace," he bites out. Strangely, despite the strength in those words the whimpering increases, sounding impossibly more pitiful.
It wants to be acknowledged. Whatever part of him that is crying for attention wants the rest of him to bloody well notice and put an end to this torment. And I think that he's sensing an inkling of it on some level, hence him being out here and staring into nothing.
Can't be having that now, can I? I'd gain very little pleasure from tormenting that which is not at its best. I relish a challenge, and although Yami's resistance to me had been irksome at times, I love returning to our feud. And if he's going to go off and get lost in his mind as a result of this… No: I'll do the deed and wake him up to the part of himself that he seems to have misplaced.
Without any kind of warning, I bring up my hand and snap it across his face. The whimpering stops instantly, replaced by a delighted sort of sound that seems to be a cross between a purr and a mewl. Yami's head snaps to the side with the impact and I catch the fist he instinctively throws back at me in my own. He blinks at me looking genuinely surprised, which I can excuse him for. Usually we trade at least a few insults before resorting to the physical or outright magical blows.
"What in the Seven Hells are you doing? What was that for?" he demands indignantly, retracting his fist from my palm. My hand hovers in the air for a moment in case he decides to throw it again. I return it to my lap when he crosses his arms stiffly instead.
"You enjoyed that," I state leaving no room for debate. It's true though: when I hit him I heard a sound of pleasure. Admittedly, it's something of a horizontal move in switching from depressed to masochistic, but it's a start.
"Excuse me?" he asks with a quirked brow, taken off guard by that proclamation. I grant him the mercy of answering immediately, not bothering with long pauses during which he could suffocate in his own perplexity.
Opening the rift marginally wider, I wait until I see him register the increase in volume of the sounds before leaning in close to him. "You're doing that."
He stares back at me for a few moments, either seeking a sign of deception or an impending punch-line. He quickly realises that I'm being completely serious and, for once, entirely honest.
"That's me?" he barely speaks in shock, features furrowed as he tries to understand it. But there's some realisation in his eyes. He's discovered the elusive reason as to why he's been feeling miserable recently.
"Part of you, yes. I think it wants recognition." I stop myself before I can go into his relationship with his Hikari. He's having to absorb rather a lot at the moment already; he doesn't need that on top of it for the moment. Perhaps in a few minutes.
"What do you mean, 'part of' me?" Yami pounces, leaning towards me a bit. He clearly wants every bit of information about these sounds that he's been making out of me. I'd gladly tell him too, but I haven't thought about the 'how' so much as the 'why'. I can try to muddle through an explanation of what I initially thought had happened though.
"When you were locked in the Puzzle I don't think that you were imprisoned intact. I think your spirit was shattered from the energies and magic required to cage you, and that you pulled yourself together whilst you were in there and when you were released by Yugi. But you weren't entirely, 'in touch' with everything. The Pharaoh five thousand years ago was a bastard to put it mildly. I remember even if you don't, and I think that something from then isn't happy with this nicey-nice relationship of yours with your Hikari."
"What does Yugi have to do with any of this?" Yami shouts angrily. He's frustrated now. I know something important about him that he doesn't and that definitely rubs him the wrong. I can't say that I'd be any different if our positions were reversed.
"He's light, and you in your true nature are dark. You were a sadistic creature in Egypt and then you were locked in blackness for years on the brink of insanity. I was too, so I know that it does things to your mind. Perception of time wasn't one of the things that we didn't have from the start of being in the Items. You've been affected by your Light reincarnation and it's changed most of you, but that one distant little bit that is still what you were and are at your very core hasn't been tainted. And it's pissed. You're hurting a part of yourself, so I'd make a bloody decision if I were you."
I'm trying my best to explain this to him as plainly as I can but I'm having a lot of trouble. At the moment all I can really do is try to answer his questions. From the look on his face he has a lot of them.
"Like what? How do I make it stop?" It's been driving him insane too I see. Glad to see that I wasn't the only on suffering. Well, Ryou was too but he's not exactly significant in my mind.
"Decide if this is what you really want. Love and all that bollocks isn't all sweetness and roses; it's bitter sometimes, so even if every part of you was content with this thing you and your Hikari have, it still wouldn't be easy. So you can ignore your true nature and let the screaming carry on, or you can indulge it." I finish those words with a smirk that I couldn't help.
He continues to stare at me, so I take the opportunity to expand upon the latter part of my little speech. He's clearly very unsure.
"You're aware of it now, so why not listen to it? You can keep up your sappy little relationship thing but still-" I raise a fist with the pretence of hitting him and he lashes out at me instantly. I ignore the comparatively mild blow and nod slightly, indicating the silence from the rift. "- Indulge your true nature." I grin as I let it sink in, his eyes remaining on mine steadfastly as he thinks. "You're a yami. You're dark and corrupted. The dark needs the light, but it shouldn't be completely illuminated by it. That would completely destroy you."
"You want me to be like you," he mutters, nodding slightly as his eyes narrow.
I contradict that immediately. "I want you to be true to yourself."
"Why do you care anyway?" he asked. I'd been waiting for that one.
Rolling my eyes dramatically, I rise to my feet and point at him sharply. "Because I'm going to have to start drugging myself to get any sleep if that damn noise continues. Ryou's started to whine about it too so it won't be long before Yugi gets wind of it, and I already have enough of a headache."
His eyes widen a little and the scowl falls. He misinterpreted that into caring. Either that or he thinks that there's an underlying reason to my actions. Still, I've made him think.
"Mull it over and make a decision before I suffocate you in your sleep," I growl as my parting words, turning on my heel and striding away from him. He remains on the bench; I can feel his eyes on my back as I walk away, keeping a steady pace and my eyes forward.
Closing the rift as an afterthought, I groan internally as realisation dawns: I've just become uncomfortably involved in something fairly intimate. Sourly resigning myself to it, I make my way home to see if I can get any sleep.
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Okay! I said last chapter and it isn't! So sue me! And now I'm stuck. Suggestions? Comments?