Chapter 9

Sorry for the long wait!! And I actually got plenty reviews for chapter 8! O__O Arigatou, Minna-san!! XD And everyone seemed unhappy about your behaviour, Kura!

Bakura: You made me to that, baka! I won't do a thing to hurt my Ryou! *huggles him*

Ryou: *blushes deeply* ^^ Ya-Yami…

Oh, and Dawn said hello to you two!

Bakura + Ryou: *looks up* Err, hi! *starts to cuddle again*

Errr, and reviewers tell you, Bakura, to give up your DAMN COLD MASK and LET HIM LOVE YOU!!! ^^:;

Bakura: *looks up* Uh, you know, my AUTHORESS, its not my choice if I can love him or not in the fic. Hm, I wonder *who* is in charge of that…?

Uhh… well, um, I, I… err…

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Last Chapter:

  "Of course I do! I hate you, I hate everything about you!" Ryou said, unable to control himself. 

  Ryou gasped as he felt a great tug from the back of his neck. The next image he saw was his yami standing in front of him, the sennen ring in his hand. Ryou's eyes widened, he felt a part of him, some part of him, disappear. Ryou understood; it was the the part of Bakura's soul that disappeared. The soul, the spirit, the connection, the bond of Bakura… it was gone, gone, gone. Ryou was no longer a hikari. He is just… himself. He no longer has a yami.

  Ryou looked up at his yami, with the ring in his hands, as he forgot about being angry. Bakura had ripped his ring off.

  Bakura threw the ring to the ground. "From now on, we aren't connected or bonded in any way. I suppose this is what you wanted…"

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  Ryou felt immense heat rising into his head, spreading like a wildfire and steaming out from his silver hair. Ryou feel like screaming, shouting, yelling, or any form of releasing anger; but he sucked the fury in, swallowing it in his heart. It lurched, and Ryou started trembling, as fresh tears rolled down from his eyes. His body, mind, heart, and soul ached, as Ryou leaned down and grabbed the ring from the ground.

  "Yes, that is what I wanted… But only part of what I wanted." With that, he flung the ring as hard as he could into the air, and into the water below the bridge they were standing on.

  Bakura opened his mouth wide open, but no words came out. His eyes stared into the waters of deep black as they widened. "…Ry, Ry…Ryou…"

  Ryou's breath was ragged, as he snapped back to life; anger and frustration fading. The soft voice of his yami lingered in his ears, and coming down from his fury; Ryou realized what he had just done. …What had he just done…?

  The brown eyes widened. The ring… the sennen ring… he had threw it in the water… he could never get it back now… Ryou could feel his connection with Bakura fading, the bond with Bakura disappearing… The thoughts, the feelings, the link of Bakura were gone. Gone, gone, gone… Ra, what had he done?

  Ryou began trembling uncontrollably, shaking with fear, confusion, frustration…

  "Ryou?" Bakura asked softly. His hikari looked like he was electrified. But Ryou didn't response. He didn't know how, what, why to response. He had done something horribly wrong, he had, he had…

  Ryou ran. Ran from the figure in front of him. Against the rain he speeded, as fast as his limp legs could carry him.

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(A/N: Malik = Hikari Malik. Marik = Yami Marik)

  Bakura reached Malik's house. Wiping his tears, he forced himself not to think about Ryou. Saddened at the thought of the boy, Bakura looked up at the large house in front of him. It was past midnight, but judging by the noises booming out of the house, the pair of Ishtars weren't asleep.

  Strangely the door was unlocked. It needn't have to be, anyway, since no thief would dare go into Malik and Marik's house. Well, except himself, Thief King Yami Bakura. Hehehe. (A/N: Er, yah. Hehehe. - -'') Bakura stepped into the house, and see it in total disarray. Not a surprise, Bakura told himself. Sighing to himself, he climbed up the stairs to the origin of the noises. The walked to the room and peered in.

  A horrible sight filled his eyes. Bakura wasn't surprised to see it, anyway. He had expected something like this from the psychotic pair of Ishtars. Sigh, how he wished he and Ryou's relationship could be the same. …Well, maybe not the same…

  Bakura coughed slowly, gaining Malik and Marik's attention. The pair looked up, eyes widening, and hastily stood up and put their clothes back on. (A/N: Don't ask, you understand what they were doing. ^^)

  "Um, hey," Malik said, embarrassed with a shade of red on his face.

  "You could have rang the doorbell at least," Marik said. "We – uh – were just having a little fun…"

  Bakura grinned broadly. "Heh, that explained the sound I heard while I was outside your house…"

  "You heard us from outside?" Malik said, alarmed. Bakura nodded with a smirk. Marik pinched Malik (A/N: Guess where) and shouted playfully at him. "I told you not to scream so loud!!"

  "Well if you weren't so hard when I wouldn't screan!!" Malik pinched Marik back. Bakura rolled his eyes and coughed once again when they started arguing swiftly. Malik looked up and stopped his actions. "Um, sorry. It was Marik's fault. … Nevermind… Anyways, why are you here?"

  Bakura looked away, trying to avoid the question, only to find out that he couldn't. "Problems…"

  Marik grinned. "… Hikari problems?" Bakura nodded slowly.

  Marik grinned even wider. "Hikari problems… in bed?" Bakura glared at him. "No."

  Marik looked disappointed. "Yeah, hikaris are getting pretty lousy these days… No worrys, Kura, mine is too."

  It took Malik a few seconds to realize his yami's words. "Freak you, Yami!!"

  "Heh, bring it on!" Marik said, smirking, and Malik leaned down onto his yami. Bakura rolled his eyes and coughed once more, this time so loud that caused the pair to jump. "A-HEM!"

  Malik stopped at once and looked up. Rubbing the back to his neck, he looked slightly disturbed. "Sorry… and why are you all wet?"

  Bakura rolled his eyes. "Took you long enough to realize." He stared out to the window, still a bit depressed. Bakura sighed. "Well, if you haven't noticed, it's raining outside!"

  "In that case, you can borrow some of my clothes…" Marik trailed off, an evident smirk spread across his face. "Malik, go get him some clothes."

  Malik groaned and glared at his yami's commanding tone, but stood up anyway.

  //Give him the extra revealing leather pants. And my silver buttoning shirt.// Marik said to his hikari.

  /Why?/

  //Because, he can be veery hot if he chooses to be!// Marik said, grinning, seeing that Bakura wasn't aware of their private conversation.

 /Hmph, I think I'm getting jealous here!!/ Malik said with hints of annoyance in his tone.

  //Oh, don't worry koi, you'll always be the hottest guy in my heart!// Marik said, trying to hide his amused thoughts to Bakura.

  Malik smiled at his yami as he handed the clothes to Bakura. "Change," He said simply.

  Bakura took the clothes and stared at them in disbelief. "These… aren't my style…"

  "Well, they would have to be unless u want to stay in your soaked sweater and sweatpants," Marik said, rolling his eyes at Bakura's clothes. Obviously Ryou had picked them for him, and that Ryou's taste is totally plain and simple, matching his innocence and carefree attitude. Bakura didn't seem to care though; he's not really the kind of 'my-shirt-doesn't-match-my-bag' guy.

  Bakura sighed irritatingly but got up and headed to the nearest bathroom.

  Malik crossed his arms, pouting slightly. "Hmph, I thought he would strip in front of us!"

  Marik shook his head, but he agreed with his hikari. "I was hoping for that too…"

  Just then Bakura walked out in the clothes, examining them. "Why am I changing into these for? I mean, I'm not going anywhere and I'm not going to sleep in these, am I?" He added, gesturing to his leather pants. "These are rather… uncomfortable."

  Malik and Marik didn't response. Eyes glued to Bakura, their hynotic gaze started from his hair, all the way down to his feet. His hair was wet and stuck together in jagged spikes, the shirt was unbuttoned, showing the middle of his bare chest, and it hung loosely, the silver fabric matching to the shiny locks of white. Bakura's pants were what attracted them the most—it was incredibly tight and low, the hips completely bare. It hung loosely too, as if it was going to fall right off, but it stuck to the legs like glue. All together, it showed off how amazingly hot Bakura was. They couldn't help but drool a little. (A/N: *image bubbles on top of head as she writes* O____o *drools*)

  "You know," Malik said out loud, his eyes not blinking at all. "I'm often quite jealous of Ryou… to be blessed with such yami…"

  "I agree…" Marik said, his violet orbs acting the same as Malik's.

  "Are you two going to sit here all day and stare at me?" Bakura snapped, rolling his eyes. Malik and Marik snapped back to life, as they payed attention as Bakura explained his 'hikari problems'. Unsurprisingly, 'Oooh's' and 'Ahhh's' were present as the sweet parts came. In the end, Malik came with a gasp.

  "He—He threw the ring away!?" Malik said, alarmed. Bakura nodded sadly, forcing his tears back.

  Malik's eyes widened. "That just… doesn't seem like him at all…"

  Marik slapped Malik's shoulder. "What do you know about him?"

  "Enough," Malik said, grinning. "To know that it is only a symbol for frustration of love!" Bakura smiled slightly, before looking down again, feeling guilty. Malik and Marik reassured him that Ryou would always be back for him, and that they offer one of their many useless bedrooms to Bakura.

  "Thanks…" He said, smiling at the pair of Egyptians.

  "There is a rule though," Marik said, as Bakura nodded for him to continue. Marik smirked, "You have to let us dress you up in any way, and that you have to wear whatever we tell you to."

  Bakura grinned and nudge Marik in the stomach. The pair was quite amusing, after all.

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  Ryou walked into his house—he and Bakura's house—…wait, don't think of Bakura! Looking around, the house felt… different. Ryou didn't bother turning on the lights… he wasn't in the mood to do so. The living room stayed dark and gloomy, as Ryou's face was as well. Full of tears, he was assaulted with thoughts: Was this the way light falls without darkness?

  Before, when the house was dwelled by both dark and light, it held a well-balanced atmosphere that was comfortable and relaxing. Now, the house was brought down by only the light. Too much light, in fact. There was no dark to balance it. The light weighed down on the scale, too alone and too heavy to survive…

  Light wasn't a whole… it needed the dark to be whole again. And now, they were separated… but they are weak. They needed each other, yes, one cannot deny. Both will only suffer.

  But Ryou wasn't going to suffer. No, he wasn't. As he walked down his front hall, Ryou forced himself to be strong. No tears will ever roll down from his eyes to his yami anymore, because he was going to be the one—the light who could survive without a yami.

  As Ryou looked up to the framed picture hanging on the wall, his oath broke. His tears, for no one else but his yami, spilled; and his thoughts, for no one else but his yami, burst. Ryou could not hold back any longer. He let his tears fun off freely. He couldn't make it—he had to suffer. Suffer without a yami.

  Thoughts fogged his mind as Ryou's eyes continued to stare at the painting. Bakura and Ryou, dark and light, yami and hikari, pure and tainted, innocent and nocent….

  The painting was no other than the 'Change of Heart'.

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  It was 3 in the morning when Malik and Marik finally slept. Bakura crept out to the balcony, and stared up at the sky. Ryou always said the night sky was beautiful… No, don't think of Ryou.

  The sky was deep black, and the storm had finally ended. The clouds, however, did not fade, but remained in the sky; covering the moon, stars… anything that would lit the pitch-black up. All that remained was the black alone, no light to support it. Was this the way darkness falls without light?

  Ryou… it was all that Bakura's mind could think of. Ryou, Ryou, Ryou.

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  Hate to leave it there, but… ^^ Anyways, I believe this was the longest chapter I've written. Sorry if Marik and Malik were a bit OOC, but hey, they're better than way! XD

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Reviewers!!! *glomp*

Queen of Eternal Darkness: Sorry if it was 'sad' was a bad thing to the story… *sniff* I felt the same writing it too!
IrOn Mousy: O___o *gulp* Errr, I promise it will be all good in the end!
Illumimi: ^^ That was so sweet of you to put me on your favorites list! *huggles*

Faia Ookami: Can I help? *grabs frying pan* ^^
Kaelas: Thankyou! ^^ And don't be too sad, they will be together in the end… as for when and how, I have no clue. XD
Ancient Angel: Thanks for putting it in your favourites!! *hugs*
Setos Little Kitten: I will! I promise 100% I will get them together!! ^^

Dragon Sword: ^^ That was sweet!! Aishiteru, Bakura and Ryou-kun!! XD

Dawn: Yes! I said hi to them for you! ^^ Thank me! XD I'm kidding, I'm kidding. XD

FeArLeSs-Kaitie: Thankyous! Sorry if I was a bit late on updating!
Voilettegal345: ^^ Thanks! I hope you enjoyed it! XD
Misty Magic: ^^ I felt my eyes watered too as I wrote this… =') Anyways, glad you liked it! =D
cHibIluVeR: Err, sorry! I know I haven't updated since … last week, but, *sigh*
citcat n skittles: No, its not the end! Not yet, at least. XD
Sage Kaley: I know! Kura, its all your fault!! *glares at him* I mean, *hugs him* XD
StrawberryPocky: Ahh, I cant believe anyone would have the patience to read all eight chapters at once!! And you did! ^^ *hugs*
The Chaoctic Ones: Yes! There were Malik and Marik! XD Hope you enjoyed it!!

Thankyou! Thankyou all! *bows* 17 different reviewers!! *bows again* Thankyou soooo much! XD