Summary: Runaway. He was going to runaway. His family and friends were
calling him crazy, which wasn't true. He knew Bakura was real again, just
as he knew that there was something going on that no one could comprehend.
Something so real and scary, that he wanted to curl up in a ball and never
move again.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to YGO nor do I claim to.
Bakura = Ryou
Yami Bakura = Bakura
This story will eventually contain Shonen Ai, don't like? DON'T READ!
-Blah- Emphasized words
"Blah" Speaking
'Blah' Thoughts
*~*~~*~* Scene Change
*~*Flashback or Dream*~*
*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~*
Amber Skies
*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~*
"You're just grieving, Ryou. Bakura is gone now, and I can understand that you're still working on moving on. Please stop with this nonsense about talking with him." Ryou's friend Yami said to him on the other line of the phone.
Ryou shook his head and swallowed. "No, you don't understand, Yami. He's here. I can see him; I can touch him."
Yami sounded exasperated. "Ryou, stop. Bakura is –gone-. And he's not coming back. I hate to sound cruel, but there's no other way."
Ryou sighed, and switched the phone to his other ear. "Alright, Yami. I'll talk to you in class Monday."
"Ok. But I want you to call me if you need anything. I don't think I could comprehend how you feel, but I know I would be destroyed if anything ever happened to Yugi." Yugi was Yami's younger brother. "Goodnight."
"'Night, Yami."
The phone clicked off and a few seconds later Ryou was staring at his bedroom walls. "I really am loosing it..."
Out of nowhere a familiar voice asked, "Loosing what?"
Ryou closed his eyes and refused to look at Bakura. "You're not there. I'm just grieving; you're not real."
Ryou could hear Bakura crossing his arms. "I don't know who's been telling you that, but I am real."
Ryou flew off the handle, so to speak. "Damn it! You are DEAD! Stop it! Losing you was enough! Do I have to lose my mind as well?!" The light bulb exploded, and the phone was tossed across the room, without Ryou so much as looking at it. The sound of the phone hitting the wall jolted Ryou out of his rant, and he stared at the aftermath of whatever had happened.
Bakura casually peered over Ryou's shoulder to look at the phone, which was now in pieces. "I told you that you were going to be having new experiences."
Ryou looked back at Bakura, wide eyed. "What's going on?"
"I wasn't supposed to tell you but, this deserves at least –some- explanation."
"-What- are you talking about?"
"When I died, the trauma it caused you opened some odd wave lengths in your brain. You can see me, just as you can see other spirits."
Ryou lifted his palms to show Bakura the burns from a few days before. "And these?"
Bakura peered at them curiously before shrugging. "No idea."
Ryou sat back down at his desk and stared out the window. "I'm psychic?"
Bakura plopped down onto the bed, his translucent form making an indentation on the covers. "Yep. That's what they call it."
Ryou looked at Bakura. "You were –never- this quirky when you were alive. What went on up there?"
Bakura shrugged. "I really don't remember. When I was sent back, all I was told was that you could see me now, and that I had to help you until we can find you a teacher. You're supposed to be a big help with something later in your life."
Ryou tilted his head to the side and smiled. "I miss you."
Bakura gave a rare, and small, smile. "Enjoy what we have now, because it won't last forever."
Ryou nodded and went over to his bead as well and laid down next to Bakura. "Night." He said around a yawn.
Bakura smirked when Ryou curled up and laid his head next to his shoulder. "Night, you."
*~*~~*~*
Ryou gave an uncharacteristic growl when his father started to lecture him. Apparently, Yami had called his father the night before and told him of the things Ryou had been saying. Now, both Yami and his father thought he was going insane. Ryou had been thinking the same thing as well, but he welcomed it. He knew that as soon as reality decided to make an appearance that he would be so hurt and confused that he wouldn't want to deal with it. Insanity was sometimes the only option for many, and Ryou now understood what drove people to such lengths. They wanted to escape the pain of living in reality, and go into a dream world where everything was good, and nothing could hurt them.
"Ryou, you have to start eating, get back into your school work, and try to move on. I know you and Bakura were close, but his death doesn't mean you have to die too." James peered down at his son with lavender eyes.
Anger flashed in Ryou's eyes. His father was acting as though Bakura had only been the family pet. No real care or upset was evident from his father since his brother had died, and Ryou wanted to know –why-. Ryou was James' son as well, and if that was how the father acted at the loss of one son, how would he act at his other son's funeral? Would he weep? Would he stand in the door and greet the many people who would attend? Or would he just simply sit on the couch and give no introduction at all, as he had done at Bakura's funeral. Ryou's aunt had taken care of greeting people, and had set up a memory luncheon afterwards. Would she have to do the same if Ryou died too?
Ryou stood from his spot on the couch and pushed past his father. He was going to leave. He was going to leave just so his father wouldn't have to deal with his –problems-. The family owned a house in the mountains, and that was where he would live. After all, he was twenty-three. He could take care of himself. College was something he could finish later, if he ever got the chance.
"Ryou, where are you going?" James watched his son gather his personal belongings that were lying in the living room up into his arms.
Ryou barely looked up from picking up his books. "I'm moving out. I'm tired of being called crazy. Bakura was the other half of my soul. And if he died, then I will too, -without - your lectures about my problems. You've never cared about what happened to Bakura and I. As long as we were healthy, educated, and knew how to use a few archeological tools, you didn't care what went on. You've been acting like Bakura was nothing more than a dog to you. And if that's all he was, then that's all I am."
Ryou went up to his room and locked the door, because he could hear his father storming up the stairs after him. And, without thinking about it, he locked the door to Bakura's room, which was on the other side of the wall. Putting all of his clothes, money, and everything that he and Bakura had shared together inside of a few duffel bags, Ryou started looking for the keys to Bakura's car. Ryou knew that his father would probably sell his as soon as he got far enough away, and Ryou didn't want his brother's car sold as well. The small silver car had been Bakura's pride, as he had bought it all by himself after high school, and Ryou would be damned if he let his father sell Bakura's pride and joy.
Ryou opened his door and came face to face with his father, who was glowering down at him. "You, my son, have –no- right to speak to me in that manner!"
Ryou flipped him off and locked his bedroom door as he slammed it behind him. "Why are you even bothered?" Ryou asked as he walked down the stairs. "You've never cared about my manners before."
"I've lost one son and, damn it, I will not lose another."
Ryou turned around in the open doorway and glared at his father. "Hate to break it to you, pops, but you've already lost both."
With that statement, Ryou shut the front door behind him and left his father standing on the stairs looking after him.
*~*~~*~*
The fury that had been flowing through Ryou's veins slowly died away as he drove into the country, late in the evening. The knuckles that gripped the black steering wheel were white. Other than that, there was no sign of Ryou's outburst hours before.
Bakura appeared quietly in the passenger seat, barely visible to Ryou. "I can't believe you did that. For a moment there, I thought that you were me."
Ryou lowered his tensed shoulders and sighed. "I've never, -ever-, been that disrespectful to –anybody-."
Bakura scoffed. "It's about time."
Ryou glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "I truly don't know what's going on..."
Bakura paused before replying; "I'll help."
Ryou smiled. "That's one thing that hasn't changed; you're always willing to help me."
"You were, and are, all I have."
*~*~~*~*
Ryou paused in the driveway to examine the house in the dawn. It was a moderate size, with two stories, and it was a pretty shade of light blue. He vaguely remembered the house from his childhood, when his mother was still alive. In the summers, the family of four would travel up to the mountains, and come to stay here. It was a gorgeous place. Around the house was a never-ending meadow, and behind it was a large set of woods. After Ryou and Bakura's mother died, their father never wanted anything to do with the house, yet he could not bring himself to sell it. So, for many years, the house had been unoccupied.
Ryou grabbed his duffel bags and stepped up the short flight of stairs that led to the porch. He glanced to his right and smiled at the swing. He remembered the many hours that his mother would spend out there with both of her sons on her lap, and she would spin the most fascinating tales of the creatures and people that roamed the mountains at night. Involuntarily, Ryou made the swing move, back and forth; back and forth. It made Ryou feel as though he wasn't alone, and that thought scared him. Quickly, he located the key and opened the door.
The closed door blocked any and all sounds of the early morning. Ryou could no longer hear the comforting sound of the birds chirping. The silence pressed upon his ears like cotton, and his footsteps echoed off of the solemn looking walls. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, Ryou moved upstairs where he correctly remembered the bedroom he and Bakura used to share as kids.
He prepared himself for bed, but didn't get to lie down as planned. There, in the corner, and old man was sitting. The old man's eyes were gray, and they seemed to be staring at Ryou as though he was a new species of human. "Young man, who are you?"
Ryou lifted himself up with his elbows, and hardly blinked as he slowly replied, "Ryou...Ryou Bakura."
The translucent senior citizen looked at him with a nod. "You're the one they've been talking about. You can see us, eh?"
Ryou swallowed. "I guess. But who exactly is 'us'?"
The man stood and made his way over to the bed. Ryou was truly creeped out about how he could see the old man and the bed at the same time. Suddenly, Bakura appeared in his line of vision and stood defiantly in front of him. "Leave him be, old man."
The old man looked up at Bakura indignantly. "Why should I? He's one of the few who can actually see us; touch us. Why can't I speak to a living soul? Why can't I take that soul for my own...?"
Ryou shuddered and scooted backwards until his back met with the headboard. Faintly, he could see wisps of color coming from Bakura, who was now fuming. The air in the room had become tense, and the anger was quite tangible. You could almost reach out and touch the frustration coming from both entities.
Bakura looked back at Ryou for a moment before muttering out of the corner of his mouth. "Ryou, banish him."
Ryou looked up in a startled daze. "Wha.....what?"
"Focus on his soul energy and force him out of this realm."
Ryou tried to focus, as Bakura said, and found that he could actually see the old man's soul. It was a thin silver line surrounding his form. Ryou willed it away, and after an invisible explosion, the old man was gone. Ryou was breathing heavily, and he could feel a great terror at the thought of what he had just done.
"What –was- that?"
Bakura turned around before pulling the covers up and on Ryou's shaking shoulders. "Nothing that you need to worry about now. Get some rest." With that, Ryou laid down on the pillows, and Bakura crossed his legs Indian style next to Ryou's side. The weight was comforting to Ryou, whose head was heavy, and he was still shaking in fear.
What had just happened?
*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~* End Chapter Two. Hope you enjoyed!
Please review and don't flame.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to YGO nor do I claim to.
Bakura = Ryou
Yami Bakura = Bakura
This story will eventually contain Shonen Ai, don't like? DON'T READ!
-Blah- Emphasized words
"Blah" Speaking
'Blah' Thoughts
*~*~~*~* Scene Change
*~*Flashback or Dream*~*
*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~*
Amber Skies
*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~*
"You're just grieving, Ryou. Bakura is gone now, and I can understand that you're still working on moving on. Please stop with this nonsense about talking with him." Ryou's friend Yami said to him on the other line of the phone.
Ryou shook his head and swallowed. "No, you don't understand, Yami. He's here. I can see him; I can touch him."
Yami sounded exasperated. "Ryou, stop. Bakura is –gone-. And he's not coming back. I hate to sound cruel, but there's no other way."
Ryou sighed, and switched the phone to his other ear. "Alright, Yami. I'll talk to you in class Monday."
"Ok. But I want you to call me if you need anything. I don't think I could comprehend how you feel, but I know I would be destroyed if anything ever happened to Yugi." Yugi was Yami's younger brother. "Goodnight."
"'Night, Yami."
The phone clicked off and a few seconds later Ryou was staring at his bedroom walls. "I really am loosing it..."
Out of nowhere a familiar voice asked, "Loosing what?"
Ryou closed his eyes and refused to look at Bakura. "You're not there. I'm just grieving; you're not real."
Ryou could hear Bakura crossing his arms. "I don't know who's been telling you that, but I am real."
Ryou flew off the handle, so to speak. "Damn it! You are DEAD! Stop it! Losing you was enough! Do I have to lose my mind as well?!" The light bulb exploded, and the phone was tossed across the room, without Ryou so much as looking at it. The sound of the phone hitting the wall jolted Ryou out of his rant, and he stared at the aftermath of whatever had happened.
Bakura casually peered over Ryou's shoulder to look at the phone, which was now in pieces. "I told you that you were going to be having new experiences."
Ryou looked back at Bakura, wide eyed. "What's going on?"
"I wasn't supposed to tell you but, this deserves at least –some- explanation."
"-What- are you talking about?"
"When I died, the trauma it caused you opened some odd wave lengths in your brain. You can see me, just as you can see other spirits."
Ryou lifted his palms to show Bakura the burns from a few days before. "And these?"
Bakura peered at them curiously before shrugging. "No idea."
Ryou sat back down at his desk and stared out the window. "I'm psychic?"
Bakura plopped down onto the bed, his translucent form making an indentation on the covers. "Yep. That's what they call it."
Ryou looked at Bakura. "You were –never- this quirky when you were alive. What went on up there?"
Bakura shrugged. "I really don't remember. When I was sent back, all I was told was that you could see me now, and that I had to help you until we can find you a teacher. You're supposed to be a big help with something later in your life."
Ryou tilted his head to the side and smiled. "I miss you."
Bakura gave a rare, and small, smile. "Enjoy what we have now, because it won't last forever."
Ryou nodded and went over to his bead as well and laid down next to Bakura. "Night." He said around a yawn.
Bakura smirked when Ryou curled up and laid his head next to his shoulder. "Night, you."
*~*~~*~*
Ryou gave an uncharacteristic growl when his father started to lecture him. Apparently, Yami had called his father the night before and told him of the things Ryou had been saying. Now, both Yami and his father thought he was going insane. Ryou had been thinking the same thing as well, but he welcomed it. He knew that as soon as reality decided to make an appearance that he would be so hurt and confused that he wouldn't want to deal with it. Insanity was sometimes the only option for many, and Ryou now understood what drove people to such lengths. They wanted to escape the pain of living in reality, and go into a dream world where everything was good, and nothing could hurt them.
"Ryou, you have to start eating, get back into your school work, and try to move on. I know you and Bakura were close, but his death doesn't mean you have to die too." James peered down at his son with lavender eyes.
Anger flashed in Ryou's eyes. His father was acting as though Bakura had only been the family pet. No real care or upset was evident from his father since his brother had died, and Ryou wanted to know –why-. Ryou was James' son as well, and if that was how the father acted at the loss of one son, how would he act at his other son's funeral? Would he weep? Would he stand in the door and greet the many people who would attend? Or would he just simply sit on the couch and give no introduction at all, as he had done at Bakura's funeral. Ryou's aunt had taken care of greeting people, and had set up a memory luncheon afterwards. Would she have to do the same if Ryou died too?
Ryou stood from his spot on the couch and pushed past his father. He was going to leave. He was going to leave just so his father wouldn't have to deal with his –problems-. The family owned a house in the mountains, and that was where he would live. After all, he was twenty-three. He could take care of himself. College was something he could finish later, if he ever got the chance.
"Ryou, where are you going?" James watched his son gather his personal belongings that were lying in the living room up into his arms.
Ryou barely looked up from picking up his books. "I'm moving out. I'm tired of being called crazy. Bakura was the other half of my soul. And if he died, then I will too, -without - your lectures about my problems. You've never cared about what happened to Bakura and I. As long as we were healthy, educated, and knew how to use a few archeological tools, you didn't care what went on. You've been acting like Bakura was nothing more than a dog to you. And if that's all he was, then that's all I am."
Ryou went up to his room and locked the door, because he could hear his father storming up the stairs after him. And, without thinking about it, he locked the door to Bakura's room, which was on the other side of the wall. Putting all of his clothes, money, and everything that he and Bakura had shared together inside of a few duffel bags, Ryou started looking for the keys to Bakura's car. Ryou knew that his father would probably sell his as soon as he got far enough away, and Ryou didn't want his brother's car sold as well. The small silver car had been Bakura's pride, as he had bought it all by himself after high school, and Ryou would be damned if he let his father sell Bakura's pride and joy.
Ryou opened his door and came face to face with his father, who was glowering down at him. "You, my son, have –no- right to speak to me in that manner!"
Ryou flipped him off and locked his bedroom door as he slammed it behind him. "Why are you even bothered?" Ryou asked as he walked down the stairs. "You've never cared about my manners before."
"I've lost one son and, damn it, I will not lose another."
Ryou turned around in the open doorway and glared at his father. "Hate to break it to you, pops, but you've already lost both."
With that statement, Ryou shut the front door behind him and left his father standing on the stairs looking after him.
*~*~~*~*
The fury that had been flowing through Ryou's veins slowly died away as he drove into the country, late in the evening. The knuckles that gripped the black steering wheel were white. Other than that, there was no sign of Ryou's outburst hours before.
Bakura appeared quietly in the passenger seat, barely visible to Ryou. "I can't believe you did that. For a moment there, I thought that you were me."
Ryou lowered his tensed shoulders and sighed. "I've never, -ever-, been that disrespectful to –anybody-."
Bakura scoffed. "It's about time."
Ryou glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "I truly don't know what's going on..."
Bakura paused before replying; "I'll help."
Ryou smiled. "That's one thing that hasn't changed; you're always willing to help me."
"You were, and are, all I have."
*~*~~*~*
Ryou paused in the driveway to examine the house in the dawn. It was a moderate size, with two stories, and it was a pretty shade of light blue. He vaguely remembered the house from his childhood, when his mother was still alive. In the summers, the family of four would travel up to the mountains, and come to stay here. It was a gorgeous place. Around the house was a never-ending meadow, and behind it was a large set of woods. After Ryou and Bakura's mother died, their father never wanted anything to do with the house, yet he could not bring himself to sell it. So, for many years, the house had been unoccupied.
Ryou grabbed his duffel bags and stepped up the short flight of stairs that led to the porch. He glanced to his right and smiled at the swing. He remembered the many hours that his mother would spend out there with both of her sons on her lap, and she would spin the most fascinating tales of the creatures and people that roamed the mountains at night. Involuntarily, Ryou made the swing move, back and forth; back and forth. It made Ryou feel as though he wasn't alone, and that thought scared him. Quickly, he located the key and opened the door.
The closed door blocked any and all sounds of the early morning. Ryou could no longer hear the comforting sound of the birds chirping. The silence pressed upon his ears like cotton, and his footsteps echoed off of the solemn looking walls. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, Ryou moved upstairs where he correctly remembered the bedroom he and Bakura used to share as kids.
He prepared himself for bed, but didn't get to lie down as planned. There, in the corner, and old man was sitting. The old man's eyes were gray, and they seemed to be staring at Ryou as though he was a new species of human. "Young man, who are you?"
Ryou lifted himself up with his elbows, and hardly blinked as he slowly replied, "Ryou...Ryou Bakura."
The translucent senior citizen looked at him with a nod. "You're the one they've been talking about. You can see us, eh?"
Ryou swallowed. "I guess. But who exactly is 'us'?"
The man stood and made his way over to the bed. Ryou was truly creeped out about how he could see the old man and the bed at the same time. Suddenly, Bakura appeared in his line of vision and stood defiantly in front of him. "Leave him be, old man."
The old man looked up at Bakura indignantly. "Why should I? He's one of the few who can actually see us; touch us. Why can't I speak to a living soul? Why can't I take that soul for my own...?"
Ryou shuddered and scooted backwards until his back met with the headboard. Faintly, he could see wisps of color coming from Bakura, who was now fuming. The air in the room had become tense, and the anger was quite tangible. You could almost reach out and touch the frustration coming from both entities.
Bakura looked back at Ryou for a moment before muttering out of the corner of his mouth. "Ryou, banish him."
Ryou looked up in a startled daze. "Wha.....what?"
"Focus on his soul energy and force him out of this realm."
Ryou tried to focus, as Bakura said, and found that he could actually see the old man's soul. It was a thin silver line surrounding his form. Ryou willed it away, and after an invisible explosion, the old man was gone. Ryou was breathing heavily, and he could feel a great terror at the thought of what he had just done.
"What –was- that?"
Bakura turned around before pulling the covers up and on Ryou's shaking shoulders. "Nothing that you need to worry about now. Get some rest." With that, Ryou laid down on the pillows, and Bakura crossed his legs Indian style next to Ryou's side. The weight was comforting to Ryou, whose head was heavy, and he was still shaking in fear.
What had just happened?
*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~* End Chapter Two. Hope you enjoyed!
Please review and don't flame.