Soul's Face
IMPORTANT!!! Anyone who couldn't read chapter 3, send me an email and I'll send it to you! I'll even copy and paste the whole long chapter over an IM window if I have to . . . ^^ that's how much I appreciate you guys! As you know, Sakuuya. . . . .
Note - in the Japanese version, they don't call Yugi's other half Yami Yugi. And since I'm in a Japanese mood for this fic, check the list of Japanese words to see what he'll be called, okies?
No more discriminating between the people I pick on! Mwahaha, free torture for all!!! See, I can be cruel to people other than Ryou. . . .
You know those sentences that begin each chapter? Yeah, those have a purpose. They're intended to be read collectively, and they go with the summary of the fic. So . . . just in case you were wondering ^^
Japanese:
Mou hitori no Yugi - the other Yugi (Yami)
Mou hitori no boku - the other me (which would be Yugi speaking about Yami)
((+)~
But he didn't intend to let anyone know
~~~~~~~~
Yugi sat at his desk, amethyst eyes intently focused on the desk next to his. Jou and another boy were having a duel before classes started for the day. It was quite a close match, but Yugi had faith that Jounouchi could win. After all, he always had faith in his friends, and they had faith in themselves.
His ears suddenly registered the noise of someone sitting down behind him, over the volume of Jou's boasts. Yugi turned around, gasping slightly when he recognized the figure.
"Bakura-kun! Where were you? You missed a few days of school, which you never do, and when I went to your house to see if you were ill, because you had looked pretty bad the other day, no one ever answered! I was so worried!" the shorter boy exclaimed, all in a single breath.
"Yugi-kun, everything is fine," Ryou reassured calmly. "My father had arranged for me to stay with my relatives for a few days, but he had forgotten to tell me. Gomen, but it all came up too suddenly for me to tell you before I left."
"Oh!" Yugi blushed slightly at his own over-reaction. Of course Bakura-kun was alright, he would have told them if anything wasn't. But Yugi had been justified in his worry, for mou hitori no Yugi had had his suspicions about the spirit of the Ring, although the spirit had been quiet lately. Too quiet, to mou hitori no Yugi's mind.
"I'm just glad nothing bad had really happened to you." Warm relief was evident in the innocent voice.
A guilty look passed over Ryou's features. "Gomen nassai, Yugi-kun, I hadn't meant to make you worry so."
"It wasn't your fault," Yugi replied with a grin. "Now, why don't we watch Jou-kun finish this duel?"
~~~~~~~~
Yugi, Anzu, Jou, and Honda often hung out at the Game Shop after school. True to this habit, that's where they were currently at, working on their homework in the living room.
Jou set down his pen. He couldn't take any more schoolwork, he needed a distraction! His mind wandered a bit, and he suddenly remembered something he had wanted to bring up the other day.
"Has anybody noticed Bakura actin' kinda weird lately?"
Anzu's retort of "be quiet and do your work" died on her lips, as her own and everyone else's heads flew up, the same thought running through their minds: the Ring spirit. Homework was forgotten.
'Wow, that sure got a reaction.'
Jou shook his head. "Nah, not like that."
Yugi blinked. "He hasn't seemed any different to me."
"I dunno. . . . when just me an' him were talking the other night, he seemed kinda depressed. It was strange," Jou replied.
"Well, which night was it?" Honda prompted.
"The day we all went to the arcade. He was talking to me on the way over to the Game Shop."
Anzu tapped her chin thoughtfully. "He didn't look like he was feeling very well, perhaps that's what you saw, Jounouchi."
"Are you sayin' I can't tell when one of my own buddies is upset?"
"No, Jou, I -"
"Should we really be butting into Bakura's business like this?" Honda interrupted. "I mean, maybe the guy was just having a bad day. I feel protective towards him, like a brother, just like the rest of us, but wouldn't Bakura get a bit upset if he knew we were blowing one conversation out of proportion like this?"
"Honda-kun's right. If something was wrong, Bakura-kun would tell us. He knows we're his friends, and we'd help him through anything." Yugi looked at the faces of each of his friends for confirmation of his statement.
A frown passed over Anzu's face. "He seems to me to be the kind of person who likes to keep his problems to himself. After all, he's never really had anyone in his life to worry over him. And he doesn't always solve his problems in the conventional way, either. He's content to just take whatever life hits him with as long as no one else gets hurt by it."
"He seemed perfectly cheerful to me . . . ." But doubts were running through Yugi's mind. Was Bakura-kun really depressed, and if so, why didn't he notice it? Didn't Bakura-kun believe in his friends, to help him? Didn't he believe in himself, to solve his problems?
"Disappearin' for three days seems pretty fishy to me. And polite, concerned Bakura not having time before he left, or the whole while he was staying with his relatives, to make a simple phone call explaining his absence?" Jou pondered aloud.
"Did he think we wouldn't notice?" Anzu worried. "Was he trying to get away from us? Or did something terrible happen to him while he was gone?"
"Maybe he really did go visit family. Maybe it did just slip his mind." Honda shrugged.
"Don't you care at all?! Something could be really wrong with Bakura-kun!" Anzu cried.
Honda's hazel eyes hardened. "Of course I care! But sometimes, the only thing you can do is let someone fight their own demons. If Bakura truly _wanted_ us to know, he'd tell us. Give him a little credit, a little faith. He's growing up, he's not really a child anymore." His part spoken, he got up, gathered his books, and left.
The three sat in silence, half stunned, half worried.
"So, Honda-kun too feels something is wrong. . . ." Yugi murmured.
Anzu shook her head gently, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "I shouldn't have accused him like that."
Jou got up solemnly, and began packing his things. "I'd better get home. If I see Bakura, I'll probably just treat him like I normally do. If I tried to talk to him, I'd probably upset him even more. I already know I lack all tact in dealing with the quiet kid."
Anzu also began gathering her things in a rather subdued manner. She nodded to Jou's statement. "I'm afraid that I might make him angry, like I did Honda-kun. And if he's already depressed, who knows what rash thing he might do!"
Yugi swallowed. "Alright then, I'll see you guys later."
"Bye, Yug'."
"Sayonara, Yugi-kun."
He listened to the faint tinkling of the bell on the door as they left.
Bakura-kun didn't have the faith in himself to help himself, or the faith in his friends to ask them for assistance or confide in them.
Honda-kun didn't have the faith in his friends to save Bakura-kun.
Jou-kun didn't have the faith in himself to help Bakura-kun.
Anzu-chan didn't have the faith in herself to consol her friends.
Had they really had faith in each other and the heart of the cards all along, or had Yugi just been fooled, as he had been fooled to think Bakura- kun was fine?
His head dropped forward until it rested tiredly against the coffee table, a gesture of weary defeat. If there was nothing left to have faith in, what was the point of hope . . .?
((+)~
Review, peoples! If you thought it was so good in the previous chapters, why don't you ever review again? Even just to say that you're still reading it?
-Windswift Shinju ((+)~
IMPORTANT!!! Anyone who couldn't read chapter 3, send me an email and I'll send it to you! I'll even copy and paste the whole long chapter over an IM window if I have to . . . ^^ that's how much I appreciate you guys! As you know, Sakuuya. . . . .
Note - in the Japanese version, they don't call Yugi's other half Yami Yugi. And since I'm in a Japanese mood for this fic, check the list of Japanese words to see what he'll be called, okies?
No more discriminating between the people I pick on! Mwahaha, free torture for all!!! See, I can be cruel to people other than Ryou. . . .
You know those sentences that begin each chapter? Yeah, those have a purpose. They're intended to be read collectively, and they go with the summary of the fic. So . . . just in case you were wondering ^^
Japanese:
Mou hitori no Yugi - the other Yugi (Yami)
Mou hitori no boku - the other me (which would be Yugi speaking about Yami)
((+)~
But he didn't intend to let anyone know
~~~~~~~~
Yugi sat at his desk, amethyst eyes intently focused on the desk next to his. Jou and another boy were having a duel before classes started for the day. It was quite a close match, but Yugi had faith that Jounouchi could win. After all, he always had faith in his friends, and they had faith in themselves.
His ears suddenly registered the noise of someone sitting down behind him, over the volume of Jou's boasts. Yugi turned around, gasping slightly when he recognized the figure.
"Bakura-kun! Where were you? You missed a few days of school, which you never do, and when I went to your house to see if you were ill, because you had looked pretty bad the other day, no one ever answered! I was so worried!" the shorter boy exclaimed, all in a single breath.
"Yugi-kun, everything is fine," Ryou reassured calmly. "My father had arranged for me to stay with my relatives for a few days, but he had forgotten to tell me. Gomen, but it all came up too suddenly for me to tell you before I left."
"Oh!" Yugi blushed slightly at his own over-reaction. Of course Bakura-kun was alright, he would have told them if anything wasn't. But Yugi had been justified in his worry, for mou hitori no Yugi had had his suspicions about the spirit of the Ring, although the spirit had been quiet lately. Too quiet, to mou hitori no Yugi's mind.
"I'm just glad nothing bad had really happened to you." Warm relief was evident in the innocent voice.
A guilty look passed over Ryou's features. "Gomen nassai, Yugi-kun, I hadn't meant to make you worry so."
"It wasn't your fault," Yugi replied with a grin. "Now, why don't we watch Jou-kun finish this duel?"
~~~~~~~~
Yugi, Anzu, Jou, and Honda often hung out at the Game Shop after school. True to this habit, that's where they were currently at, working on their homework in the living room.
Jou set down his pen. He couldn't take any more schoolwork, he needed a distraction! His mind wandered a bit, and he suddenly remembered something he had wanted to bring up the other day.
"Has anybody noticed Bakura actin' kinda weird lately?"
Anzu's retort of "be quiet and do your work" died on her lips, as her own and everyone else's heads flew up, the same thought running through their minds: the Ring spirit. Homework was forgotten.
'Wow, that sure got a reaction.'
Jou shook his head. "Nah, not like that."
Yugi blinked. "He hasn't seemed any different to me."
"I dunno. . . . when just me an' him were talking the other night, he seemed kinda depressed. It was strange," Jou replied.
"Well, which night was it?" Honda prompted.
"The day we all went to the arcade. He was talking to me on the way over to the Game Shop."
Anzu tapped her chin thoughtfully. "He didn't look like he was feeling very well, perhaps that's what you saw, Jounouchi."
"Are you sayin' I can't tell when one of my own buddies is upset?"
"No, Jou, I -"
"Should we really be butting into Bakura's business like this?" Honda interrupted. "I mean, maybe the guy was just having a bad day. I feel protective towards him, like a brother, just like the rest of us, but wouldn't Bakura get a bit upset if he knew we were blowing one conversation out of proportion like this?"
"Honda-kun's right. If something was wrong, Bakura-kun would tell us. He knows we're his friends, and we'd help him through anything." Yugi looked at the faces of each of his friends for confirmation of his statement.
A frown passed over Anzu's face. "He seems to me to be the kind of person who likes to keep his problems to himself. After all, he's never really had anyone in his life to worry over him. And he doesn't always solve his problems in the conventional way, either. He's content to just take whatever life hits him with as long as no one else gets hurt by it."
"He seemed perfectly cheerful to me . . . ." But doubts were running through Yugi's mind. Was Bakura-kun really depressed, and if so, why didn't he notice it? Didn't Bakura-kun believe in his friends, to help him? Didn't he believe in himself, to solve his problems?
"Disappearin' for three days seems pretty fishy to me. And polite, concerned Bakura not having time before he left, or the whole while he was staying with his relatives, to make a simple phone call explaining his absence?" Jou pondered aloud.
"Did he think we wouldn't notice?" Anzu worried. "Was he trying to get away from us? Or did something terrible happen to him while he was gone?"
"Maybe he really did go visit family. Maybe it did just slip his mind." Honda shrugged.
"Don't you care at all?! Something could be really wrong with Bakura-kun!" Anzu cried.
Honda's hazel eyes hardened. "Of course I care! But sometimes, the only thing you can do is let someone fight their own demons. If Bakura truly _wanted_ us to know, he'd tell us. Give him a little credit, a little faith. He's growing up, he's not really a child anymore." His part spoken, he got up, gathered his books, and left.
The three sat in silence, half stunned, half worried.
"So, Honda-kun too feels something is wrong. . . ." Yugi murmured.
Anzu shook her head gently, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "I shouldn't have accused him like that."
Jou got up solemnly, and began packing his things. "I'd better get home. If I see Bakura, I'll probably just treat him like I normally do. If I tried to talk to him, I'd probably upset him even more. I already know I lack all tact in dealing with the quiet kid."
Anzu also began gathering her things in a rather subdued manner. She nodded to Jou's statement. "I'm afraid that I might make him angry, like I did Honda-kun. And if he's already depressed, who knows what rash thing he might do!"
Yugi swallowed. "Alright then, I'll see you guys later."
"Bye, Yug'."
"Sayonara, Yugi-kun."
He listened to the faint tinkling of the bell on the door as they left.
Bakura-kun didn't have the faith in himself to help himself, or the faith in his friends to ask them for assistance or confide in them.
Honda-kun didn't have the faith in his friends to save Bakura-kun.
Jou-kun didn't have the faith in himself to help Bakura-kun.
Anzu-chan didn't have the faith in herself to consol her friends.
Had they really had faith in each other and the heart of the cards all along, or had Yugi just been fooled, as he had been fooled to think Bakura- kun was fine?
His head dropped forward until it rested tiredly against the coffee table, a gesture of weary defeat. If there was nothing left to have faith in, what was the point of hope . . .?
((+)~
Review, peoples! If you thought it was so good in the previous chapters, why don't you ever review again? Even just to say that you're still reading it?
-Windswift Shinju ((+)~