The bell rung the sweetest note as school was dismissed, and I walked swiftly out of the classroom into the damp courtyard, puddles of water sparkling in the light. "I can't feel the sun," I said sadly to myself. The sun shone brightly, yet I felt no warmth or happiness from it. The only thing I felt was the misery of the gloomy clouds above, promising the rain of sadness.
Watching the other kids didn't help either. They were talking, gossiping, and having fun with their friends. It only reminded me of Yugi, and his friends, the friends I could have had, if it weren't for Bakura. He had threatened me that if I made friends, he would kill them. I knew what he was capable of. He beat me everyday, sometimes almost to death. I had to wear long sleeves and pants in summer to cover up my bruises and wait for broken bones to painfully heal without a cast. I couldn't let that happen to Yugi or Tea or anyone else. So I kept to myself. 'My pain. . .my suffering. . .my troubles. . .'
"Good afternoon, working the late shift tonight Ryou? I need someone to fill in for Anita," my manager said as I entered the grocery store, and tied my blue apron on.
"Sure," I replied, not having anything else to look forward to. He smiled a boyishly joyful smile that I despised so much, that I envied. "Great. We just got some new orders in, and I'll need you to shelve 'em in the back. Also, you'll need to clean up on of the aisles. A package of grapes spilled back there." I rolled my eyes, and under my breath said, "Great, just what I need."
"What was that?" the manager asked. I lied, "Nothing, I'll be right on it." I wore my false smile of reassurance, and he bought it. I was used to lying. That was how I learned to live most of my life, so it came naturally to me… as natural as a normal person hugging their mother or father, something I never received.
Instead of shelving the items or cleaning up the spilt grapes, I sat on one of the massive shelves, dangling my feet below me in silence. 'If I climbed up to the top I could jump. Then it would be all over. My sadness gone. I could escape everything. It would be the easy way out…but…is that what I want?'
I was so caught up in my own thoughts I hadn't even noticed the entry of a large group of men and someone they were chasing. It was a boy. 'The boy I saw earlier today,' I recognized. The boy entered my alley, pulled me off of the shelves and without a word, covered my mouth so I wouldn't scream. But I didn't anyway. If he was going to kill me, then I wouldn't object. His eyes narrowed suspiciously among the shelves, watching the men warily. "Follow me, and don't say a word," he commanded. He took out a millennium item from his back pocket, and I acknowledged it as the millennium rod.
I followed him, aisle after aisle, and finally, he stayed in one place, and used his item on the men. The eye of it glowed blood red, and I watched in interest as one of the men spoke with a distant voice, "He's not here. That boy's escaped us again. Dammit! Come on, we'll check the other warehouses. He can't be that far…"
We waited…for what seemed like an eternity, and the boy finally rose, signaling me to follow him, and I did. I had no choice. He had a millennium item, and I had experienced the power of what they could do firsthand. I wasn't willing to let it happen again. Fear gripped my stomach and turned it upside down. Just the thought of any sort of millennium item invoked such horror inside me that I wanted to scream out for help. It made me feel trapped with no way out. I hated it. I loathed it. For it was the same feeling Bakura had given me everyday when he was about to trap me inside the ring and beat me.
By the time we came outside, it was dark with the smell of rain and the prophecy of thunder. We walked down alley after alley, all without any kind of light except for the thin crescent of moon in the sky. The boy seemed to know every path very well though, so I kept close, not wishing to get lost in such a bad part of the city, known to many gangs and drugs. We stopped at a broken down office building, and he jiggled a key in the rusty doorknob. I coughed as my footsteps stirred dust with every step further inside. It had been abandoned for many years by the looks of the old furniture, boarded up windows, and dust that clothed the barren atmosphere. The room was practically bare except for a single desk and chair, and a moth-eaten oriental rug that lay before it. There was no one around to hear. Not even a cricket chirp filled the air, and I realized what the boy was planning.
"Are you going to kill me?" My voice shook. He looked at me, carefully analyzing my question. "You are safe…for now." His voice wasn't at all reassuring. He lifted up the oriental rug, and dropped down a hole, just big enough to fit a slender figure inside. "Follow me," his voice echoed from down below. I jumped down obediently and did as he ordered. I wanted to ask so many questions, but my throat was constrained from my nervousness.
"Watch your head, and stay close by. There are many traps. See those axes up ahead?" I looked up above and witnessed the dull glimmer of at least twenty axes. 'Why does he have traps set here? Is he worried that the police might come and get me? He doesn't have anything to worry about in that case. No one would bother to tip off the police anyway. No one cares.' We walked down the winding stairs that lead off to many different paths. I tried to keep track in my head which direction we took, but I gave up after about twenty turns. At the end, we came to a wooden door, and the boy knocked a certain rhythm upon its surface. A man greeted us with a bow, and we walked into the main entry dining hall, then to a chamber, which I assumed was the boy's. His couch was woven in red velvet, laced in gold. Covering his walls were numerous papyrus scrolls of hieroglyphs. In all four corners of the room were golden Egyptian cats, encrusted with red sapphire eyes, and his canopy bed was made up of beautifully silken amethyst sheets, a gold frame, and sheer red and gold sheets intertwined with the gold frame above his bed. It was a breathtaking sight that erased all the troubles from my mind until the boy spoke. "This is my chamber, but you are welcome to sleep on the bed, Ryou. I will sleep on the couch."
"How do you know my name?" I asked.
"Bakura," he answered as if it was obvious. "Don't you know who I am?"
"I…you do look familiar, but I…can't remember…" I responded in truth. His eyes grew surprised, but then he smiled, a friendly, knowing smile. A smile that rung with gladness and comfort. It soothed my heart to see it, unlike so many other grins that I had seen before, ones that showed nothing but a temporary glee. Even after his smile was gone, his eyes still held that comfort and knowingness. He laughed softly, "So Bakura erased your memory…seems like something he'd do." My voice trembled, "S-so, you knew Ba-bakura?"
"Yes, I did." He expression was blank, as if trying to hide something. He touched my face warmly, and raised my head eye level to his so that I had to look into his eyes. He must have seen the hurt in them, the pain of my past, because his expression changed to empathy. "He hurt you, didn't he?"
I closed my eyes, forcing the tears back and looked away. He looked at me with a sad smile. "It's okay to cry…you have every right too…it's okay to let your emotions out Ryou…" Tears streamed from my eyes like the rain of sadness, all my suffering pouring out to this stranger who I didn't even know the name of. For the first time in my life, I could let everything go. 'Yes, this is what I truly wanted. I never truly wanted to die. I only wanted to let all the poisons in my mind to leave. My pain. . .my suffering. . .my troubles. . .'
-----Reflections----
*sniffle, sniffle* I've got to stop cutting onions when I write this stuff. ; ) Anyway, kind of sad but weird at the same time, huh? But, it is the perfect beginning to a dark plot, full of passion, dark secrets (ooo, juicy!), and betrayal. And possibly some other characters may step in along the way…so fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a very bumpy ride.
Also, if you're wondering where Bakura or Marik went. . .Marik is still sealed in Malik (as of now….he he he), and Bakura….well later on, the story will tell you what happened to him.