Mrr…
I, like many people, feel bad for Bakura XD But also Yami, more so Bakura, but….oh never mind, I'm sure you understood part of that. Eheh, and Mariku is OOC in both the past and present, sorry but I'm bad at making him evil, and then why I do I can't KEEP him evil…Maybe he'll stay partially IC.
Ah, and I was good and didn't have any painfully
"To find myself again, my walls are closing in…" -Crawling: Linkin Park
******
Yami entered into the living room first, Mariku following behind and watching Bakura jump up and move towards his love. The former ruler cringed and sank back at the sight, but Shinkou held to the silver fiend before getting to Yami.
"Wha- hey! Shinkou, what's the deal?!"
"You've done enough already," the Egyptian hissed as he held back a saddened Bakura, the sight of Yami avoiding him being painful to the mind. Shinkou glanced over to Mariku who continued in with the other, taking him towards the stairs.
"Go rest," Mariku whispered to the other, who had a sense of paranoia about almost everyone.
"But what if-"
"He won't get you, Yami, I promise.." For reassurance there was a hand set to the other's shoulders and Yami gave in, glancing to Bakura wearily before heading up to his room.
******
"Why's he being so….so nice? Hn…it's a trick, a mask!" Yami swore out as he closed the door to his room, moving to collapse atop the small bed and stare at the wall. "It won't last….he'll turn on me…he always has….always…"
******
"What's someone of your nature doing out in the streets?" The lavender gaze waited for an answer, but merely got nothing and approached the fully robed form, grabbing the figure by the shoulder and shoving him into a less populated area. The dark hand quickly snapped up, removing the hood and backing up, dropping it to the ground in a state of shock. "Pharaoh…"
The mentioned form sunk against a near wall, face stained in blood and sweat as he sunk to the ground, not having the energy to fend away. The tomb-robber choked on his words a bit, his mind telling him just to run off like he would any person, and especially someone of superiority. So escaping the poorly guarded cells were always easy…but the getting caught part was never fun. Mariku rolled his eyes and kicked the fallen form. "Come on, get up, someone's going to think I killed you." When the Pharaoh had yet to move, merely twitch, worry was sinking in slightly. This was going to look very bad if some guard turned the corner… "I can't believe I'm doing this…"
Mariku gathered the mess heap of the Pharaoh into his arms, putting the hood back over the figure's head before looking only twice and running off.
******
Yami groaned and rolled over, eyes opening and looking up from a poor-styled bed at someone standing over him, closing his eyes again and trying to slink away.
"Aa-perti-nu-heba. Pharaoh of the games. Hn…why were you in the streets?"
The dark colored eyes opened again to look at the other, trying to sit up but cringing, his arms circling his chest area in pain and remembrance of his recent beating. Mariku's brows furrowed at the robed pharaoh's condition, turning to look away as he spoke. "I was able to clean and heal most of your wounds…though some of the dark magic's healing energy may linger for some time, but it's better than what was there…"
Yami finally managed his mouth, eyes wide at the thief as well. "You….you…" Maybe managing was the wrong word. Mariku turned back to the form and sighed, tossing away all what was left of dignity away and kneeling besides the bed he had put the other in.
"Who has been hurting you?"
The other was able to sit up the second try, turning away and beginning to shake again. Mariku bit his lip and sat besides the ruler, pulling him right into a gentle embrace that the other actually sank against. "I want to help you, but I can't if you keep acting the way you are…"
"But……but you're just a thief….you can't do anything…"
The words hit hard, but the pale blonde dealt with it and continued with the soft voice. "I healed you, I would consider that doing something, ne?" Yami remained silent and the other made him look up into his eyes. "Pharaoh, if you won't tell me who is doing this, at least give me some way I can help…"
******
Yami merely stirred slightly, a smile curled over his face as that was the first good memory/nightmare he's had in weeks. Comfort is what it brought and Yami's doubt he had earlier was fading. "Maybe he really DOES want to help me…" The abrupt thought gave Yami a fuller smile as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as a second thought hit him hard. 'Wait…he knew I was having memories…does that mean he KNOWS my past….?' The former pharaoh blinked and literally jump from the bed, intending to get an answer as he brushed down the stairs in a slow motion, not realizing his body was still tired.
The room had a light gathering now, Jou and Seto seemed to have left, the CEO to a meeting most likely. Ryou remained in the room to comfort his now sleeping other, who was stretched upon the couch, and Honda along with Anzu had also disappeared. Yami's eyes scanned the room, locking to his cousin as the other ignored Otogi, something about Dungeon Dice Monsters was in the air, and the shorter boy gave a shudder at that. Silent lingo passed between the two relatives, information being tossed to Yami with the simple short movements of lips: Yugi went to sleep in his room.
Ryou looked up with a light yawn as Yami moved to a certain chair seating an oh-so-certain Egyptian, legs up on the coffee table, arms crossed and eyes closed. But there was no sleep, and that was obvious, giving Yami the right to speak out to the other quietly for the others not to hear. "You know my past very well, don't you?"
Mariku opened one eye, looking at the other calmly before closing it shut again, voice not faltering one bit, though internally he hated to lie. "No."
"Fuck that, Mariku!" Yami snapped loudly, causing Otogi, Shinkou, and Ryou to look at him, all but Mariku. That didn't help Yami's annoyance and he spat out towards Ryou to drag his yami into his soul room and leave now. Ryou stared at him briefly before doing so, leaving the house skittishly. Otogi glanced over from talking with Shinkou (though the other was watching Yami and Mariku), but he wasn't sent from the house and instead silently watched as well. "You are such a liar! Tell me what you know, I need to know!! I deserve to!"
"Do you now?" Mariku muttered curiously, eyes still closed softly until he cringed and leant forward, legs planted to the floor, eyes opened to lightly glare at Yami who had just kicked his legs harshly. "The past isn't important."
"Then why are you and Shinkou so edgy?!"
"Yami, you really shouldn't kn-"
"Shut up!!" Yami growled angrily to his cousin, knowing it wouldn't make him flinch even the slightest. His eyes fell back to the relaxed other, letting his anger simmer before voicing softly. "Mariku…I know you can answer me….I know you…"
As the one looking over him paused, Mariku felt a tinge of inner panic. 'Dear Ra….what if he saw…what if he dreamed…gods…please no….he wouldn't trust me!! He'll kill me! No, no, no, please don't be-'
"I know you helped me…even when I thought you couldn't….but that's all I know! I don't know what's going on, why can't you both tell me?! At least you, Shinkou, how you knew I was being….well…….abused…weren't you always out in the desert somewhere…?" Yami continued ranting, not catching Mariku's sigh of relief. The blonde was safe, no worries, Yami had no idea….none at all…yet.
Shinkou looked towards Mariku who nodded approvingly to him, emphasizing with his eyes that at least the small bit of info on Shinkou's part was safe. Some of it anyway. "First off, I was not living in the middle of the desert, my mother locked me in a small house by the Nile. And you want to know how I found out about you?"
Yami sat himself down upon the near couch's armrest, glancing back to the brunette who finally strode into the living room, taking the couch opposite of his "other" and sighed lightly. "Alright…"
******
Bakura yawned, russet eyes opening in the expectation that he'd see Yugi's living room. But no such sight occurred…only the morose soul room of his, the atmosphere blending various colors over his small sized bed. Or…it seemed small anyway, compared to the bed he "used" to share with Yami. It was obvious that his soul room had been left for quite some time, a purple fog coating the area up to his stomach when he stood out of the bed, gazing around at the area above. Blacks, grays, white, blues, purples, gold. So this was his mind now?
Black; darkness. Gray; Darkness mingled with light. White; light. Blue; confusion. Purple; the Shadow Realm's energy in the ring. And gold for his always Egyptian mind, making it so he would never be fully taken by the black darkness.
But why, and how did he get in his soul room? He was sleeping on the couch, finally unable to stay up and wait for his….love. Yes, his love, he still cared deeply for the other yami…even if he was rejected. But it didn't matter to him now, all he wanted was to know why.
[Ryou?]
{Hai?}
[Why am I….here…?]
His other sounded a bit quiet, stumbling over his words and stopping to try again. {The others told me to take you into your soul room and go home…} That made enough sense.
[Aibou, do you at least know what's going on?]
A mental shake of the head was his answer, or part anyway. {No…they won't tell any of us, I can't really see why though…}
[Who's they…?]
{Nani? Oh! Right….Shinkou, Mariku, and Yami… But other than Yami, the first two really know a lot, but they just won't tell anyone! I promised them though, that I wouldn't let you out…alright?} Bakura returned his other with a soft reply of yes, a bit discouraged that he was being held back from everyone.
Everyone including Yami.
******
"Out of the many books I found around that shack, I was finally able to get enough magic skills to break from the place and the many seals locking me in. I had made it into the streets, a simply task, took the short amount of money I had and bought a pretty large and long, dark-gray and hooded cloak. Just so my mother didn't somehow catch me. And then I started wandering down random, quiet streets, looking for a new place to hide away when my hood slid over my eyes and I couldn't see myself trip over something…"
"When I had stood again, I never expected a person, not moving, but alive. It surprised me when I saw you, only having us meet a few times face to face due to my mother locking me up, but I knew it was you and almost panicked… Hell, if it weren't for all those books I read, you would probably have been dead-"
"You never told me he was almost dead when you brought him!" Mariku broke in suddenly, glaring at the current storyteller. Shinkou returned that look but Mariku took over the tale. "Now Yami, I'm…not sure if you know yet, if your mind has given you the information, but I had a pretty stable, single floored, four room house, shack, whatever. It looked like it would fall at anytime, but when I heard a loud knock on my door, I assumed it was you because there weren't many people showing at my door. So I was surprised to see Shinkou (with his name unknown to me at the time) with you and well…"
"Oh hell, give me that rod!" Shinkou snapped out, tackled against the yami and swiping the item from Mariku, pointing it towards Yami. "It gets too confusing, nothing can really hurt you from this memory."
"No! Shinkou, don't!!"
Yami's eyes were wide as the item glowed, a narrow sliver of gold shooting out towards him and before he could do a thing, he felt his eyes closed and his body slide down from the armrest to the floor.
******
"Shit…Yami…" Mariku bit his lip, not surprised to see Yami at all. But his wounds were worse than normal, much worse and immediately the Egyptian went pointing fingers, snatching the unconscious pharaoh into his arms and glaring at the innocently cloaked form in the doorway, eye-to-eye. "What did you do to him?!"
"I-I didn't do anything! I was wandering down one of the alleys and tripped over him!"
"Oh and why the hell were you coming out here?!"
"I was just looking for someplace to have for myself! Onegai, look, he's my cousin and I don't know what to do….you have to…help him…" The voice dragged off, hazel shaded eyes looking away at the ground in hopes he was able to come in. Mariku finally sighed and stepped aside, letting the form enter before closing the door with his back, cradling Yami closer to him.
"What's your name, kid?" The darker one asked, moving to lay Yami over a table, though shaky it always managed to hold up Yami while Mariku tended to the many wounds. Brows furrowed at the sight, it seemed to be getting worst day by day…
"S-Shinkou…"
"You say he's your cousin?"
A quick nod.
"Hn. Have you ever seen him in this condition?"
"No…" Shinkou whispered, looking over to where the relative was, pulling the cloak tighter around him. He was shy now (too bad that wasn't true in the future), but he had been in a shack for over a year, so communicating with others was a bit difficult for himself right now. "I haven't gotten out for awhile…I haven't seen him for over four years, and he wasn't like this then…"
"I take it both you are the same age?" Not once did the lavender eyes drift away from his bandaging and cleaning the cuts on Yami.
"Hai."
Mariku acknowledged the answer and said nothing else until he was done, lifting Yami and carrying him towards the bedroom.
******
Yami lightly stirred, showing his mind was conscious again, but he remained asleep comfortably beneath the covers and curled against a certain someone. That someone being none other than Mariku, who's arms were wrapped around the other, sitting against the bed's backing and holding the other close. It wasn't anything new though, Yami was often able to get out of the palace, Seth being the only one to know he was out, but not why.
The thing is, when he made it into the streets there was only one place for him to go, and that was to the thief's home. Not that either of them minded it, Mariku enjoyed the company in all honesty, but the reason why Yami always came was not a joyful thought. The bruises he had from someone (the name was still refused to be given) were getting worse and worse.
So every time he came, Mariku patched the other up and put him into the bed. It was only a few visits ago that when the blonde was about to leave Yami, the other begged him to stay. The crimson eyes had shimmered with tears, his body shaking weakly and tiredly and Mariku couldn't refuse, it was true that Yami had woken many times before with nightmares of what's been done to his fair skin and mind, and since Mariku's been laying with the other, none of the nightmares came.
******
"Is he going to be ok?" Shinkou moved into the room slowly, looking a bit nervous and worried at the two on the bed, but mainly his eyes fell upon Mariku.
"Hopefully…this is worse than it normally is…" The other held his head lightly, whispering against Yami's sleeping form before lifting his head again with a noiseless sigh.
"You really care for him….don't you?"
Mariku opened his mouth to say something to the other, but at that moment the mind viewing the situation began to pull away from the image.
******
Yami rolled over with a tiresome feeling, opening his eyes to look at the couch's legs. He blinked away the sleep and realized he was upon the floor, sitting up a bit sore and glancing to the others. Mariku had sunken against the opposing couch, staring up at the ceiling and muttering curses to Shinkou. The brunette lowered the rod he stole from Mariku and opened his closed eyes, tossing the rod back to its owner.
"Neh, gomen, Yami.." Shinkou muttered with a sigh and the shake off his head. "But that was better than an explanation." Mariku glared up at the brunette, hiding the Sennen Rod from view.
Yami glanced between the two, holding his head lightly, his gaze held to Mariku a moment. 'I wonder what his answer was going to be…?' He shook his head, not bothering with the responds and averted his eyes to the other occupier of the room, Otogi seeming to have left.
"If you could just send me a memory right now….why don't you give my whole damn past back!?"
Shinkou had a perfect responds, but held back and gave the clear-cut truth. "It's too damaging to the mind, Yami…it could kill you…"
"So what…?" The comment made the room fall silent as Yami sank to sit into the couch closest to him. "What does it really matter…? The one person I ever really cared for, I'm afraid to be in the same room with, what's the point of being so worried to stay around here when he was all I had….all that really cared…?" Yami lowered his head, not noticing the wide-eyed look etched across Mariku's face until the other stood and left the room. Yami stared at his back before glancing up at his cousin. "What did I say…?"
The other met his gaze and sighed, following after the other Egyptian to leave Yami in a state of confusion.
******
Mariku stood around in a room, Shinkou following in and closing the door, the blonde spinning to face him with a glare. "Why did you have to do that?! We could have explained it JUST fine! But no….of all things…you went and did THAT!"
"I stopped the flashback before you gave the past me an answer."
"He already has enough to deal with!"
"He wanted to know how I came into it all, I showed him," Shinkou shrugged lightly, "I don't see your problem with it all."
"Shinkou!"
"Look, it was the past and you cared for him, this is the future and now you don-"
A sting swept over the brunette's face and he stumbled back a bit, staring bewilder at Mariku, blinking every so often at the reaction he received from the blonde, not quite understanding until the words hit.
"You bastard! I still care for him, do you realize what you've done?!"
"I…gods, Mariku I thought…"
"Damn you and your thoughts!" Mariku hissed back darkly, turning and opening the door, and heading to exit the house. 'I don't need this…too much stress…'
As Shinkou exited in hopes of stopping the other, further down the hallway a form stepped out of the shadows, staring through darkish eyes at the now empty room, eyes turning soft and surprised, even worried for where the other was going… 'I guess I got my answer…'
******
^^ See? Non-violent chappie, well, compared to the last one anyway. Heh, I had fun I think with this…thought over some of it in school…Not gonna type much here because I want to post it ^^ But I must edit first…
But now Mariku is added to the angst XD
