Show Me the Way from Crazy
Twelve
For Those Who Feel

(a.n. – Bwah HAH! I FINALLY finished this. I'm sorry it took me so damn long to get this one updated. Thank my Ryou muse for making me get this done. Since it's his birthday and everything today . . . I decided I'd finish it. ^_^ So yay! Happy Ryou's Birthday everyone! Yes . . . I am fully aware of how weird that sounds. Urm . . . just a few warnings. The beginnings of this WAS written at 4 in the morning while we driving my brother to college. Be afraid . . . be very afraid. And . . . this chapter is written in Yami Bakura's POV! Please don't ask why. I was in a writer's block and decided that doing something different might get me out of it [I have a thing against schedules and routine]. So yeah . . . it's just for this chapter. If you don't like it . . . yell at me. ^_^;; Sorry for such a long note. Meep. Onward!)
Disclaimer: I have less money than the last time I updated . . . do you really want to put me through absolute broke-ness?!
Note: This is completely AU. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to Battle City has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the point of view every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is shounen-ai . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?
Other random note: Yami Malik SHALL be referred to as "Marik" in this chapter. I apologize if anyone hates that.

Review Replies: (So many! Squee!)
The Merciless Torturer: *Hides from all the reallys* That was crazy! But I appreciate it! How long did that take you . . . anyway?
Rnji and Mysterious A: Nani?! The 18th?! I'd shoot myself. Goddess – that's torture! And yeah – I don't like suicide either. Completely against it.
Sarith McGregor: Heehee. Did I push the limit on your "Take your time" note? T-T I'm sorry this took so long. Blame it on . . . the world? And the manga of Gravi is hard to get. I might borrow it from a friend though. If they can stop reading it . . . -.-
onlyHAUNTED: Haha – your spelling's not incredibly bad. I make typos all the time. You just don't see them because I proofread this. Bwah hah hah! All of you just THINK I can type. Oh, how wrong you are. I might make typos . . . sorry if I do. And yes – I must wear a uniform at my school. I've gone to public school up until now, so . . . *Shoots self*
Kyrene: Heehee. Way to show them! Hope you don't mind me skipping the end of your penname . . . I'm lazy like that. ^_^;; And yeah – ff.net can be evil at times. *Wonders if she's gonna get bashed for saying that*

"Life is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel."

Yami Bakura's POV

            Malik and Ryou. Malik and Ryou. Where the hell do I even start with their relationship?! It's crazy – it honestly is. There's Malik – who is more like me then I'd like to admit, and my sweet, angelic hikari, Ryou. What a fucked up pairing. But . . . I guess it works.

            I don't know where their relationship is going. I think that it will work out. But it won't be easy. Is love ever easy? I didn't really think so, which is why I gave up on it a long time ago.

            I never really understood why people bothered with love. In the very end, for a couple of years, you might get something special – but up until then, it's all hurt. Are those few years really worth all of those tears? Who knows? I plan to never really find out.

            I don't know what those two are thinking. Possibly every single thing that can go wrong, has gone wrong. And yet . . . they aren't giving up. I don't discourage them from being together, in fact, I support it. I haven't seen Ryou this happy in a long time. It's good for him.

            I don't know what to do about Malik's yami . . . or Ryou's dad for that matter. They're the two people who are keeping this from working. I don't know what to do about them. I have ways of getting rid of Malik's yami . . . I suppose . . . but I can't do much about Ryou's dad. Not unless I want Ryou hating me; he may not look it, but he can be cruel when he wants to!

            But . . . I don't know what to do about anything anymore. I gave up on everything such a long time ago – so the door's closed. What's left that I can hold on to? There's Ryou . . . but he's only human. He'll die eventually and then I'll be stuck in the ring once more . . . all alone. It's sad to think about, but that won't happen for a while, hopefully – so I shouldn't worry about it right now.

            The house is quiet now. I guess it makes sense. Not many people are up at four in the morning. I have a weird tendency to either not need sleep or become nocturnal every now and then.

            I was sitting on the couch, glancing out the window at the illuminated cobblestone walkway that leads up to the house. Things were so much different back in Egypt. But then again, I guess time changes everything. Sometimes I wish that things were the way they used to be. But . . . I suppose that things are less stressful now. That can be a bad thing, I get bored way too easily; it's scary the things I come up with when I'm bored.

            The lights outside were starting to blur together from my lack of blinking. Then, I saw something move along the walkway, obscuring one of the ground lights. Soon after, the doorbell rang. I figured if it was Ryou's dad, he would've let himself in. So it was someone else. What an inconsiderate bastard. Who goes around ringing doorbells at four in the morning? And here I thought I was the only one who found it amusing . . .

            Figuring that the person would run away soon after, I didn't bother getting off my ass. Then it rang again. How annoying.

            Sighing, I got up and trudged over to the door. Opening it, I stared at the sight before me. AHH! There was something multi-colored and pointy growing on this person's head! They should really get that checked out. That's just not normal.

            Upon closer inspection, I realized that I knew this person. Stupid Pharaoh. Why is he bothering me? Shrugging, I decided that I didn't really wish to know and slammed the door in his face. Baka Pharaoh with the midget hikari who probably hasn't even hit puberty yet.

            I was about to go back to the living room when the Ra-damned doorbell rang again. I should strangle him.

            I opened the door and glared. "What?" I questioned icily.

            "We need to talk." I'm not talking with him.

            "You need to leave." I started to close the door again.

            "I'll keep on ringing the doorbell." Damn him. Ryou's sleeping.

            I sighed. "What the hell do you want to talk about?"

            He looked at me seriously, "Marik."

            How the hell did Yami know about that? I sure as hell didn't tell him because I knew that if I did, he'd go psycho-crazy and try to fix everything.

            I sighed, "What about him?"

            "He's here." Yami said, simply inviting himself into the house and closing the door behind him.

            "Thank you for stating the obvious . . . please have a nice day and drive home safely." I moved to open the door again.

            He glared at me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

            "Because I knew you'd get like this. It's not a big deal – I can take care of it."

            "Then why haven't you already?" Grr. He bothers me.

            "I – I . . . leave." I said finally, deciding that I wasn't in the mood to deal with him, and I won't ever be for a least a good thousand years.

            "No. I'm not leaving until I know what's going on." Stupid, stubborn pharaoh that must be all-knowing.

            I sighed. "What do you want to know?"

            "Got any coffee?" And here I thought I was the only one that pointlessly changed the subject. "I'm not used to being awake at this hour." He sighed. He did look a bit tired.

            "Not for you." I replied, wanting to make him more tired so that maybe he'd leave.

            I began walking to the kitchen, where there was a small table and stuff for me to drink.

            As we walked by the wooden dining room table, Yami seemed to notice my collection of coffee spoons on the table, each filled with bits of ground-up coffee beans.           

            He blinked at them for a bit, and then turned to me, "Why . . .?"

            "I have measured out my life in coffee spoons," I explained, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to do, "I ran out of spoons though – so I got mad and threw the can at the wall." I told you I got bored way too easily.

            His eyes wandered over to the lidded coffee can on its side near the wall.

            "I thought you said that you didn't have any coffee . . ."

            "Correction: I said that I didn't have any coffee for you. I have coffee for someones like myself. There's a big difference, Pharaoh."

            He just glared at me and sat down alongside the many coffee spoons. Hmph. I wanted to go into the kitchen. Oh well. The smell of coffee was good.

            "So . . . how long as Marik been here?"

            I shrugged, I'm horrible with time. "A couple of weeks . . . maybe more – less?"

            He sighed. "That's helpful. And just how did he get here?"

            "He was like us . . . comes with ones of those damn Sennen Items, apparently. But . . . Malik said that he was born of his anger, so maybe that's what called him back rather than the item . . ." I tapped my finger against my lips thoughtfully.

            Yami raised an eyebrow. " . . . Malik?"

            "Eh . . ." I wondered how I should explain this. "Ryou's boyfriend. He just kind of showed up on our doorstep one day. Ryou brought him home."

            "Oh . . ." Yami looked a bit scared. Hee hee. "So . . . Marik's still . . . psycho?"

            I nodded in affirmation. "He already tried to kill Ryou's dad."

            Yami sighed heavily, "There's only one way to get rid of him . . . because he's not in the item . . ."

            I knew where he was going with this. I slumped down in the chair opposite Yami and looked at him coldly. "I can't kill Malik."

            There was a pause. I know he didn't want to do it. He has to maintain his image that he was oh so honorably fighting for the good of all. It pisses me off. The truth about life and what we should do lies neither in the absolute good nor the complete evil. It rests in the depths of a mix of the two; the in between. The impure . . . yet still not corrupted. The world's happiest people are branded sinners.

            ". . . Do you want me to do it?" He finally asked in a barely audible voice.

            "I won't let you."

            He looked a little shocked. "And why not? You already said that he tried to kill Ryou's dad. He obviously hasn't changed since . . . back then. There's no other way to do this."

            "There has to be . . ."

            "There's not."

            "Well . . . then . . . fine – so there's not. But I'm still not agreeing with it, nor will I let anyone kill Malik."

            "Why?! He's not your damn hikari to protect!"

            I looked him straight in the eye. "No, but Ryou is. I've never seen Ryou this happy in my whole life with him. I'm not going to let anyone ruin the best thing that's happened to him in a long while."

            Yami stared at me. I knew he could understand this. I'm sure he was picturing having to take away something that made Yuugi happy.

            "Fine," He finally responded, "I'll see if there's anything else . . . a binding spell or something . . ."

            "Yeah . . ." I mumbled, standing up soon after he did.

            He walked over to the door and opened it, "Good-bye, tomb robber."

            "Mm," I mumbled, leaning against the wall closest to the door, one foot resting up against the white wall. "Thanks . . . for understanding."

            "I can grasp where you're coming from this time, at least." He closed the door behind him and walked back down the cobblestone path.

            I sighed and banged my head softly against the painted wall. Was I even doing the right thing? Marik was dangerous . . . but I couldn't do something like that to Ryou. Not after what happened to his mom and Amane.

            I heard a soft padding sound. It seemed like someone was either going up or down the stairs in shoeless feet. When the padding grew softer, I assumed that someone was going upstairs.

            Switching into high-alert mode, I walked over to the staircase. Had someone broken in? . . . Maybe I was just being paranoid. Even still, I slowly ascended the steps. When I got upstairs, I peeked into Ryou's room and saw him laying there with Malik.

            A small smile crept across my lips. My insecurities slowly melted away. Yes. I had done the right thing. They seemed so right together, even when I didn't believe in love, and even if I was a bit overprotective of Ryou. He'd be so sad if Malik went away. I can't stand to see him sad.

            Hmm. Now to find the criminal. I popped my head out from Ryou's doorframe and continued my trek down the hallway, pausing to look in every room.

            When I was close to looking in the last room, I heard a noise behind me and spun around, looking around wildly. I saw Ryou standing there.

            "Bakura," He said softly, and a little tiredly, "Thanks." He hugged me quickly for a moment and then stumbled back to his bedroom.  

            I stood there, utterly confused. What was he thanking me for? Then, a thought struck me. There hadn't been any intruder or anything downstairs. Makes sense. Yami's Ra-damned ringing spree must've woken him up and he heard the whole conversation.

            I am worried about this whole thing, but Ryou's happy. That's the important thing. This whole situation is confusing and crazy. But then again, when did things ever make sense? This decision may be wrong in the long run, but will I have any regrets? None.

"Do things you really care about. You're going to be dead so much longer than you're going to be alive."

(a.n. – Wahoo! That chapter done. Next chapter shall be Ryou's POV once more. I just needed a break from routine. I do often. Heehee. And I'm not a huge Yami fan . . . but you know, it only makes sense that he'd wanna know about the situation. I do tend to bastardize him in my fics . . . I try not to, really! *Cough cough* I also didn't mean to make fun of Yuugi! Heehee – I actually like him; he's a cutie. But I don't think Bakura does . . . yeah . . . and the beginning of this was also written listening to "Superhyperspastic" by Sugarcult non-stop for about an hour. That song is just too amusing at 4 in the morning. Please review to tell me if you liked the random change chapter or not. It was 11:24 PM when I finished this . . . dunno what time ff.net is on [hah – and I meant time, not drugs . . . although I wonder about that sometimes, too] – hopefully I still made Ry's birthday. ^_^ . . . My notes are getting too long. -.-)