Kat: oh, damn...I haven't updated in a will, so forgive me. I hopefully will make this chapter easier to read, and maybe a little longer, if I can. I'll more than like hafta change some things, but oh well. Ryou, dear, read the key for me.
Ryou: nods
words that are bold are emphasis in the story, actions before and after the story or in the authoress's note.
Ryou to Bakura
Bakura to Ryou
-Marik to Malik-
--Malik to Marik--
"speech"
'thoughts'
lyrics if any
Authoress' note
--scene change
()()() flashback
)()( Dream sequence
POV POV change
Kat: thank you hun. Um, the disclaimer, the warnings, and the pairings are the same, so yeah. On with the fic!
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Chapter 2: Why are you helping me?
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Ryou woke up the next morning when he heard a thud coming from upstairs. He got up and headed cautiously up the stairs, trying to peer through the darkness that is five a.m. He ran his hand along the wall, feeling for the hall light switch.
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He found it and turned it on and gasped when he saw his yami lying on his stomach on the ground. Ryou walked over slowly to Bakura and turned him over. He gasped when he saw Bakura's pale gray 'dress' shirt was slowly turning completely blood red.
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Bakura's eyes slowly opened and groan escaped his lips. "Bakura? Yami, are you okay?" Ryou asked, a worried and concerned look in his eyes. "Yami, what happened?" the boy asked again. Bakura tried to sit up, and immediately wish he hadn't.
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Pain surged throughout his body and he collapsed back on the floor. Ryou's face showed visible signs of worry. "Bakura? What's wrong?" he asked. Bakura muttered something, but Ryou could only catch "...My....hurts....hell..."
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Ryou picked Bakura up bridal style, careful not to further hurt his battered yami, and carried him down the stairs to the living room. The Hikari gently laid Bakura on the couch and knelt beside him, moving the yami's bangs from his eyes. Bakura's breathing was ragged and he was sweating a bit.
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Ryou stood up and started for the kitchen, when a hand grabbed his wrist. He turned around to see Bakura staring at him. "Why...why are you...helping me?" he asked, voice raspier than usual.
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Ryou took his yami's hand and knelt down once again. "Because I care, Bakura. I don't want to see you hurt, and I'll do whatever I can to ease your pain until you get better. I know you don't like other peoples help, but, please, just let me help you. You're in pain and you know it." He said quietly.
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He stood once again, Bakura's hand still in his. "I'll be right back, yami. I'm going to go get some bandages and a washcloth. Do you need anything?" Ryou asked, letting his yami's hand go.
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"Water...and....aspirin..." came the semi quiet reply. Ryou nodded and headed upstairs towards the bathroom. He grabbed the first aid kit and some aspirin, then walked downstairs, making a stop by the kitchen for some water and a wet washcloth, as well as a semi dry one.
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Ryou walked back into the living room and set everything down on the coffee table. He handed Bakura the glass of water and three aspirins, which Bakura took and downed the pills and water. Ryou took out some gauze, bandages, hydrogen peroxide, and some anti-bacterial medicine.
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"Take off your shirt." Ryou told Bakura without looking at him. "Nani?!" Bakura hissed. "You heard me. I need to tend to your wounds and it needs to be washed. Now, take it off or I'll cut it off you." Ryou said calmly, turning to him with a pair of medical scissors in hand. Bakura growled and reluctantly took off his shirt, even though it caused pain to shoot through his body.
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Ryou looked over at Bakura, his eyes widened at the massively horrible wounds. 'They hadn't looked that bad last night!' Ryou thought. He took the wet washcloth and ran it over a large gash on his chest. Ryou felt Bakura shudder as the cloth was rubbed over his skin gently. "I'm sorry. Is it too cold?" Ryou asked, withdrawing the cloth.
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Bakura shrugged. "Not really. Just feels weird for some reason. Don't worry about it." He said. Ryou nodded and kept wiping off all of the blood, dried and freshly drawn, off Bakura's chest, all while trying to hide his blush. Afterwards, he worked on Bakura's stomach, arms, back, neck, and face. Luckily for the Hikari, it was 99% of the wounds were on Bakura's upper body.
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After a minute or two, Ryou finally got the last of the blood off of the yami's body and also got Bakura's wounds to stop bleeding. "This might hurt, burn, and sting, but I'm not intentionally trying to cause you any more pain, I promise." The Hikari said, taking the bottle of hydrogen peroxide, applying it to the semi-moist washcloth.
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Bakura's body tensed when Ryou dabbed the hydrogen peroxide on the largest gash on his chest. The ancient tomb robber clenched his hands into fists and lifted his head. looking down at his chest, watching the HyPer lol! hehe bubble. "Why is it foaming?" Bakura inquired, looking at Ryou.
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"That shows it's fighting the bacteria and whatever infection there may be inside the wound." Came the reply. Bakura nodded and laid his head back against the arm of the couch.
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After about ten minutes of cleaning, disinfecting, and dressing the wounds, Ryou was finally through. He sighed and placed everything back into the first aid kit that belonged there and stood up, gathering the washcloths, first aid kit, and the empty glass.
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"Do you need anything while I'm up?" Ryou asked, looking down at Bakura. Bakura thought for a minute, then asked, "Mind cooking?" Ryou shook his head. "Not at all. What do you want to eat?" He asked. Bakura smirked. "You know what I want, Yadonushi." He said, shaking his head.
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"Again? You had that for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner last night!" Ryou said, looking exasperated. Bakura shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with eating red meat all the time." He said simply.
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Ryou sighed. "All right. Anything you want with it?" "Smirnoff, the twisted green apple or sour apple or whatever." Bakura replied, then chuckled at Ryou's face.
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Ryou's face was scrunched up in disgust. "How can you drink something that smells like and probably tastes like a sour apple Warhead or Jolly Rancher with nearly raw steak?!" He asked, looking a bit grossed out.
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Bakura simply shrugged. Ryou sighed once again and proceeded to the kitchen. He didn't feel like going all the way upstairs to put the first aid kit away, so he just laid it on the counter.
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After placing the washcloths and the glass in the sink, Ryou walked over to the fridge and got out a bag with an 18 oz. steak inside it. He set the steak on the counter next to the stove and got out the electric skillet.
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While the skillet was warming up, Ryou took the bloody piece of meat and put it on a plate, adding Bakura's favourite seasonings to it. After it heated up to the right temperature, Ryou placed the steak and placed it into the skillet, placing the lid on it, and letting it cook for about 30 seconds on each side.
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Ryou grabbed the plate that he had used to season the meat on and placed the steak onto it when the 60 seconds were up. He got a knife and a fork out of the drawer, got a Smirnoff from the fridge, grabbed a few paper towels, and walked out to the living room.
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Ryou placed the food, Smirnoff, paper towels, and silverware on the coffee table. "Do you need help sitting up? Does it still hurt when you try?" he asked. Bakura shrugged slightly and tried to sit up. Ryou gently took Bakura's arm and helped him sit up. "You okay for now?" he asked, receiving a slight nod from Bakura. Ryou nodded in return and sat down at the far end of the couch.
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Bakura saw this and looked over to Ryou. "Yadonushi." He muttered. "H-hai?" 'Timid as usual...' "I wont bite you. You can sit over here." Bakura muttered again. Ryou cautiously moved a little closer. "Promise me something." "W-what?" Ryou looked over at Bakura, puzzled.
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"Promise me something." Bakura repeated, taking a bite of his food. Ryou nodded. "Promise you wont mention this to the pharaoh. That's all I need is the pharaoh starting shit with me about 'going soft'." Bakura said quietly.
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"I wont. I promise. It'll just be between us or forgotten, whichever one you want." Ryou said, looking over at Bakura. "Don't worry about forgetting it. Just don't let it slip, don't even tell Marik or Malik." "I wont. I promise." Ryou repeated himself.
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The two sat in near silence as Bakura finished eating. He twisted the cap off of the Smirnoff bottle and took a drink. He looked over at his Hikari who was sitting just a foot away from him, sitting with his hands in his lap in complete silence, his head bowed, looking at the ground.
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"Try it. You might like it." The yami said, holding out the Smirnoff bottle to Ryou. Ryou shook his head. "C'mon, Hikari. Be a non- girly man for once. Just try it. No poison, no spit, no backwash, no piss, nothing wrong with it."
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Ryou sighed and took the bottle. "I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. I just don't like drinking alcohol much, that's all." He said. He hesitated before putting it to his lips and taking a sip from it.
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"Yadonushi, it's okay to drink once in awhile. You need to drink more than a sip of it to get the full flavour." Bakura said. Ryou sighed once again and took a bigger drink, then he handed it back to Bakura. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Bakura asked. Ryou shook his head. "Not really, I suppose." He said quietly.
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The two sat in silence for what seemed like hours, though in truth it was only a minute. "Want to go out somewhere?" Bakura asked suddenly, causing Ryou to snap his head in his yami's direction. "Go out somewhere?" Ryou asked.
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Bakura nodded. "That's what I said. My body doesn't hurt much anymore and I'm fucking bored as hell. I just thought we could find something to do outside of the house, considering you don't go out much, except to go to school and what not." Bakura shrugged. "You don't have to go with me, if you don't want. I could always get Malik or even Marik to go."
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Ryou shook his head. "N-no. I'll go with you." He stammered a bit. Bakura nodded. "Okay then. Let's go." He said, standing up. "A-anou...I think you're going to need a shirt." Ryou said.
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Bakura shrugged. "Fine whatever..." he muttered. "Hand me your other one so I can throw it in the washer later and I'll bring you another one." Ryou said, taking the bloodied up shirt that Bakura handed to him.
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Ryou walked down the hall, stopping by the laundry room to throw Bakura's shirt in the washer like he said he would, then continuing to his room. He walked to the closet and pulled out a black tank top for Bakura to wear, it being nearly 90 degrees as it was. Ryou took the tank top and walked back out to the living room.
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"Here. It's the only thing that would be cool enough to wear outside. It's nearly 90 degrees outside, and I'm sure that it'll only get hotter." Ryou said, walking over to Bakura, handing him the tank top.
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Bakura nodded and put it on. Luckily for him, there weren't many wounds on his arms so there weren't many bandages on them.
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Ryou and Bakura walked through the park in a secluded area near the pond that hardly anyone knew about. The reached a bench under the shade of a row of Sakura and willow trees. They sat down a few feet apart from each other in silence. "A-anou...Bakura? Can I ask you something?" Ryou asked, breaking the silence.
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Bakura side glanced at him. "I guess so. What?" he asked. Ryou had his head bowed a bit. "I was just wondering...how come you haven't hit me or yelled at me yet? How come you asked me to go somewhere and do something with you outside the house?" he asked, taking a quick glance at Bakura before looking down at the ground.
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Bakura shrugged. "I guess I figured that since I know that you're going to keep your promise of not telling anyone, and that I guess I should thank you for making the pain going away, tending to my wounds, and I guess caring and worrying for me when I know no one else would." He said and sighed.
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'I am going soft on him...' he thought and leaned back against the bench, tilting his head back with his eyes closed. Ryou nodded, with his head bowed. "I-I see...well, then, you're welcome!" he said, seeming to become a little less shy. He stood up suddenly and grabbed Bakura's hand. "Well, then I guess I should take you somewhere to thank you!" he said.
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Bakura blinked. "For what?" he asked. Ryou smiled. "For being honest with me, of course! That was the first time you've ever been honest with me and said thank you to me." he replied and dragged Bakura out of the park. "Where are we going?" the baffled yami asked. "I can't tell you, or it'll spoil the surprise!" Ryou said, looking back at him.
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Kat: sighs that took forever to finish. I didn't know whether to end it there or not. I need ideas of where Ryou and Bakura can go... Email me (email is on my profile) and give me some suggestions, okay? It'll be greatly appreciated! oh, and i added the '---' so the the story would be a little easier to read. they wont always be there, but oh well. sorry if it makes it too long.
Ryou: r&r please! Sayonara!
Kat: hai, ja ne!