A/N: Bakura is Yami Bakura, normal Bakura is Ryou.
/…/ Hikari's thoughts
…Yami's thoughts
This chapter contains blood, gore, violence, suicide and slight shonen-ai so if you feel strongly against these, please do not read. This fanfic is not meant in any way to offend anyone.
Yu-Gi-Oh is owned by Kazuki Takahashi.
Chapter 6: Revelations
So little Yugi-kun can hear Yami… Bakura was happy that Ryou was pleased about it.
/Yeah… I'm glad for him. He's been a bit suicidal lately… I saw quite a few scars on his arms, but I didn't want to mention it…/ Ryou replied, cringing at the thought of blood.
—Flashback—
"Yami, you don't care about me anymore!" Yugi cried, tears flowing down his cheeks like a dam unleashed. He was sitting at his desk, apparently doing his homework, but when he was alone in such ear-piercing silence, his mind would wander to the pharaoh without fail.
"If you did care about me you wouldn't have gone away!!"
Aibou… Please don't cry!!Yami tried in vain to make his light listen, but to no avail.
"Say something, Yami!"
His misery taking over him, he reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a penknife.
Don't do anything rash!!Understanding Yugi's intentions, Yami hollered as loudly as he could, hoping with all his heart that hikari would listen for once. His other half could be very stubborn at times…
Holding his breath, he neatly made three long cuts on his forearm, which started bleeding almost instantly. To his surprise, the pain was almost negligible. Lifting the blade to deepen the cuts, he realized that he was giggling. In pleasure. /Am I going crazy?/ he pondered for a moment, but shoved these thoughts to the back of his mind. More drops of red trickling down his left arm, he carved the Millennium Puzzle on his wrist. /What would Yami say if he saw?/
STOP!!Yami screamed through their mind link, feeling the almost intolerable pain on his left arm. Whatever his other self did affected him, too. If I could be over there… If that baka would just listen…he thought angrily.
/Yami… you don't know how I feel…/ Yugi mumbled inaudibly. It hadn't hurt at first, but now a wave of pain washed over him, making him feel rather nauseous.
/Am I going to die? Maybe I can see you then… I…/ Everything went white.
Over in Egypt, Yami had passed out with the intense pain. Nobody there knew about his links with the present, nobody knew about the strong—almost unbreakable—bonds light and darkness shared.
"Pharaoh Atemu!" His advisors dumped him onto a stretcher made out of loincloths, and sent him to the palace shaman. [A/N: Are there stretchers in ancient Egypt? ]
When Yugi came to, he felt like he was paralyzed in the left arm. Strolling as nonchalantly as he could to the bathroom so as to not attract too much attention, he washed all the coppery liquid off his arm, wincing a little, wrapped a bandage tightly around the deep gashes, and returned to his room to continue his homework.
/That felt nice… Maybe I'll do it again…?/
—
"Bakura? You home yet?" The front door shut—it was nine in the evening, and his father had just finished his work at the museum, and his mother had returned from her research at the asylum.
"Yeah! Dinner's on the table dad!" Ryou yelled back from his room, a little too enthusiastically.
His parents always wanted him home extra early—he had gotten back at six once, and received a huge scolding for it. Not that they knew when he got back, though they'd call home once in a while to check up on him. Ryou grew to resent this, he envied Yugi and the others who could freely hang out. His parents wanted him to be sociable, yet they forbade him to go out with his friends without reason. And only very infrequently. Unless it was for a study session. This annoyed him a bit, but he learned not to mind. After all, he had Bakura, who was worth ten fair-weathered friends. Yugi and Kaiba didn't really hang out outside of school, the former had just been too disturbed, and the latter had a large company to run as well as look after Mokuba, so there hadn't been any embarrassing explanations. He did enjoy having them as friends.
However, he knew why his parents were so overprotective. They had never admitted it to his face, but he'd been almost run down by a speeding vehicle when he was little. That and the fact that he had kept a box of wooden dolls under his bed… This knowledge he had learned by listening to his parent's late-night conversations… His mom, being a psychologist, had tried to counsel him, and he usually went along with it, pretending it was a normal conversation. All in all, his relationship with his parents was better than most teenagers', it was polite, but not really close.
—Flashback—
Hmm. I can play a shadow game with the baka pharaoh in the museum, everything I need is there too…
"Dad, can I um… borrow the room at the back of the museum? For a party with my friends?" Bakura asked as politely as he could, in his light's usual manner.
"Can't you have the party at home?"
"Uh… It's kinda small here? And we don't want to mess things up?"
"Well. Okay then… If you really want to… You mustn't mess things up over there. But I know I can trust you, my boy."
Hehe now the pharaoh's going to die!! My plan is working out so well!Bakura thought to himself.
/No stop, other self!! I won't let you kill the pharaoh, because his aibou is one of my best friends!!/ Ryou interrupted.
You!! Don't go around ruining my plans!
"Dad, it's okay… We can go to the fast food restaurant instead of hold a party," Ryou convinced his father that the artifacts in the museum were too expensive to hold a party around.
"Alright then…" his father agreed, albeit quite confused with his son's sudden change in attitude.
Ryou what are you doing!?Bakura flung his hikari against the wall when his father was gone.
/I won't let you hurt my friends!!/
Am I not your friend?
/Yes but…/ Ryou was at a loss for words, not wanting to hurt his yami's feelings. But apparently his yami didn't feel the same way, and kicked him in the stomach.
Now I have to hypnotize your father!!
/I can't let you hurt my dad!!/ Ryou stood in the doorway, rare anger on his face.
Oh, shut up. Get out of the way!!Bakura flung Ryou backwards, and the already injured light started crying.
/I… I don't want you to be my yami anymore!/
The ruthless thief began his hunt for Ryou's father.
Now we can kill that pha—Bakura cackled sadistically on his return, then saw that his other half was knocked unconscious, a trail of blood on his forehead. Hikari!! I… I'm sorry!!
Running to the bathroom, Bakura dampened a cloth and wiped away the red on his other half's face, trying fervently to stop the bleeding. The crimson drops trickled down Ryou's forehead, and fell onto Bakura's lap.
I can't believe I did this to my own hikari… I'm sorry… Bakura pleaded, knowing that it could be a tad too late. Realizing that what he was doing was ineffective, he lifted the Millennium Ring, and used its powers to try and stop the persistent bleeding. It could fail, and make it even worse, which was why Bakura had initially refused to use the Ring.
Ryou opened his eyes, wondering why he felt so ill, yet sort of comfortable. Seeing he was lying on his yami's lap, he drew back in fear.
Hikari, I'm sorry for what I did. I really am. Please forgive me… But I… have to kill the pharaoh. Or I'll lose my soul—
/Of course I forgive you./
--
Ryou? Your dad is being wayyy too quiet…
/Come to think of it, you're right Bakura…/
But then we're being too quiet ourselves…Bakura tightened his arms around his hikari's shoulders, smiling slightly…
—
"Hey you guys!" Yugi said brightly, smiling so hard that his face almost cracked.
Aibou, your friends are gonna think you're crazy…
/Hehe, who cares?! You're back!!/
"Tell you something! Yami is back!!" Yugi announced, beaming his face off.
"That's great Yugi!" Kaiba grinned. "That Yami guy… Where's he?"
Glancing at Yugi's left wrist instinctively, Ryou whispered, "Are you sure telling Kaiba is a good idea? What if he wants to duel Yami again?"
What is Seto Kaiba doing eating lunch with you?! And Bakura!? The King of Thieves?!!Yami glared suspiciously around, his eyes seeing Domino High and Egypt at the same time.
/Oh… They're my friends!/ Yugi informed Yami.
What happened to Jounouchi-kun?!Yami inquired, but yielded no reply, only an uncomfortable silence.
Yami appeared out of thin air, and to his amusement, Kaiba went over to him, reached for his hand, and slipped the new Duel Disk onto his left arm. Thankfully, the cuts had healed, thanks to the shamans.
"Duel me? Please?" Kaiba asked hopefully.
What is with this guy?!
/Um. Maybe dueling with you changed him… Anyway, he wants to duel you… I'll explain everything later, 'kay?/
"Okay!!" Yami replied, smirking. It had been quite a long time since he'd dueled Kaiba. "Let's duel!"
Dueling was all the ancient spirit lived for. He never admitted it, but he enjoyed the risk involved in gaming; how his heart hammered in his chest when he reached out to pull a card from his deck, it was all such a surreal experience, and he did not usually remember the minute details after it was all over.
Looking in front of him, a holographic list of cards appeared in front of Yami, he chose his deck.
Fishing out his Blue-Eyes card, Kaiba said, "Lets do this in DMRPG!"
Yugi handed Yami his card, Ryou activated the game, and the group appeared in the Egyptian palace, where Yami [in reality] was sitting on his throne. Gaping in awe at his surroundings, Yami commented, "Not bad, Seto."
"Thank you." Kaiba replied, slightly sarcastically. Yugi he did not mind, since the guy was so cute, but this arrogant pharaoh he had to defeat.
The two drew five cards each, and Kaiba started first with the toss of a gold coin in Egyptian currency.
"Summon Lord of Dragons—Dragon Ruler! And I activate a Spell card, Graceful Charity! Equip the Dragon Summoning Flute, and Special Summon two Blue Eyes from my hand! End turn."
"Okay, my turn! I set two cards, and summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior! Attack Lord of Dragons!" Yami announced. "Lord of Dragons destroyed!"
"I set a monster in defense position. Blue Eyes attack!" Kaiba yelled.
"Activate trap! Magic Cylinder!" Yugi countered by using a trap card.
Kaiba's LP decreased to 4800. Cursing, he muttered, "End turn."
"Okay, I set another card face down in the Trap/Spell card zone, and summon Beta the Magnet Warrior. End turn!"
"Yugi prepare to lose! Flip Summon Kaiser Seahorse, which counts as two monsters when sacrificed for a Light main-type monster! Tribute Summon my third Blue-Eyes, activate Spell card Polymerization to Fusion Summon Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Yami gasped, he hadn't seen BEUD in such a long time, he began to feel a bit apprehensive. Could he still defeat that monster?
"Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon attack Alpha the Magnet Warrior! And set a card."
Reeling back in shock, Yami didn't know how to react. None of the cards he had set could help him. Yami's LP/4900, Kaiba's LP/4800.
Drawing, Yami brightened as he saw that he had drawn Change of Heart. "Activate Spell card, Change of Heart! I take control of Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
"Sorry Yugi! Activate Magic Jammer!"
"Argh! Okay then, activate counter trap, Seven tools of the Bandit!" Yami's LP decreased by 1000, and Magic Jammer was negated and destroyed. "Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, direct attack Kaiba!"
Yami's LP/3900, Kaiba's LP/300.
"I'm not gonna lose to you, pharaoh!" Kaiba was annoyed that Yami had knocked off 4500 of his LP just like that. "Tempest! All cards in the Spell/Trap zones of both players are sent to the graveyard! I set a card! End turn."
"Activate Raigeki! BEUD destroyed! Activate another spell card, Monster Reborn to revive Beta the Magnet Warrior! And I sacrifice Alpha, Beta and Gamma from my hand to summon Valkyrion the Magnet Warrior! Attack!"
Flipping over a trap card, Kaiba cried, "Activate Negate Attack!"
"Okayyy… End turn, then." Yami grumbled.
"My turn!" Kaiba activated a Ritual Spell card and summoned Relinquished, using its effect to copy Valkyrion's attack and defense. [A/3500, D/3850] Valkyrion then became an equip spell card on Kaiba's side of the field. "Relinquished attack!!"
Yami/400, Kaiba/300.
Triumphantly, Kaiba said, "See I told you I'd beat you once and for all!!"
"Don't be so sure!" came the reply. "Activate spell card Deck Destruction Virus of Death, all monsters on the opponent's side of the field with an attack of more than 1500 destroyed! All monsters above 1500 attack that the opponent draws for 3 turns are destroyed too!! Summon Kuriboh, to attack the player directly!!"
Kaiba's LP decreased by 300, resulting in Yami's victory.
"Yes! See I told you I was the King of Games?!" Yami hopped around in glee, glad that he hadn't lost to Kaiba, his all time rival. Expecting Kaiba to be sore though, he said comfortingly, " I was just lucky…"
"Yeah… Hm. It's okay… That was fun!" Kaiba laughed at Yami's expression.
"You surprise me all the time!" Yami returned Kaiba's grins.
Kaiba's acting nice!Yami frowned, slightly shaken by his rival's new attitude.
/He IS nice…/
I'll bet he wants something from you… Better be careful.
/Yami! We shouldn't doubt his sincerity! And get your mind out of the gutter!/
He has his little brother though…
/Yami! Maybe he likes you…/
Aibou!
Hikari? Why are the pharaoh and high priest skipping around like a couple of schoolgirls?Bakura asked Ryou, amused.
/Don't know… Maybe they're just happy to see each other after such a long time?/ Ryou quipped.
The pharaoh and the high priest…Bakura sang, making Ryou roll his eyes.
—
/Yami… I'm really really glad you're back./
I know!
/Yami! Don't tease!/
Seriously… I'm glad you can hear me.
/Yeah./
You cut yourself because of me. You shouldn't have.Yami took Yugi's hand and examined the scars, comparing them with his.
/I'm sorry… I know you could feel it./ Yugi looked solemnly at his wounds.
Promise you'll never do that again.
/Okay, if you give me a hug./
WHAT?!Yami blushed a fiery crimson, feeling really awkward.
/Just kidding…/ Yugi giggled, Yami pulled him closer anyway, and his light rest his head against his shoulder.
You know something? This feels really nice… Better than you cutting yourself.
/Yeah…/ Yugi realized that Yami could read all his thoughts like an open book. /Yami, how do you read my mind?/
I just listen.Yami explained with a smile. And you don't really block your thoughts from me…
/There's nothing to block…/ Yugi thought to himself, /He's so cute when he smiles like that./
See, you just blocked a thought from me! What were you thinking…?Yami raised an eyebrow at his hikari.
/Huh? Nothing!!/ Yugi said as innocently as he could.
Anyway all I wanted to say was that we can switch bodies, you can go to Egypt for a bit and be the boring old pharaoh, and I'll be in Domino City doing your homework for you…
/REALLY?! Cool!! Please can we?/
—End Chapter 6—
A/N: Quite a stupid pointless chapter to serve as the basis for the next… Hope you guys like it… And YES!! MY BRIBE WORKED!! 5 REVIEWS!! And for the duel between Seto and Yami, I'm not sure whether Deck Destruction Virus of Death is in the TCG yet [don't complain that it doesn't exist, 'k? 'Cause it does, in the Japanese Kaiba 2 Structure Deck. ] In case you were wondering, I play the Japanese card game because it's cheaper and tournament-usable unlike the Asia-English cards… Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing!!
POLL: HOW WOULD YOU REACT IF SETO GOT MAD AT YUGI AND RYOU? [In the end their conflict will be resolved though, as will the fight between Seto and Mokuba…]
And… The bribe stays…
FREE TRANSLATED MANGA SCAN OF THE LATEST YU-GI-OH! MANGA THAT I HAVE!! THAT'S A FEW PAGES FROM VOL. 36 IN ENGLISH FOR MY DEAR REVIEWERS!! POST YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH YOUR REVIEW! [I STILL HAVEN'T GOT BOOK 37!! --]
invisible-eyes: Yeah… Finally! I was practically dying to write that part where Yami and Yugi were reunited, it was initially planned for chapter 4, but Yugi didn't seem… desperate enough… Yeah I know I'm a sadist…
Azzie: Thanks for the info, I'll be using it quite frequently in the next few chapters…
ladysuger: Thanks for your input, give me your email if you want manga scans…
Peter Kim: Hmm… Pegasus… That's an idea, but I don't really know how to work it in for this fic yet… But I did put in Relinquished!! Love that card! But my current fave is Deck Destruction Virus of Death. Please give me your email if you want translated manga scans…
Yami Tangela, pharaohs angel: Well here's the update, and thanks for your encouragement!