Okay, we're getting closer to the end. This is going to be my last author's note, so I'd like to thank all of you guys who reviewed this story. I really appreciate it you guys! Love ya lots! Well, I hope you guys enjoy this. This one's for you!
Chapter 12: Love
Bakura started to run. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him as he tore across Domino City to get back to the house.
He now realized that he could no longer runaway from the only thing he had ever truly cared about with all his heart and soul. There was no way he could hide from the truth, and he wanted Ryou to see it.
He wanted Ryou to hear those four words.
Ryou hung back in the corner and drank his soda quietly. The other guys were currently arguing on which CD to put into the stereo, and the only way to solve the problem was with a game of rock-paper-scissors.
Truth be told he couldn't have any fun. There was no way. After the night he tried to commit suicide he had locked himself away but yet put on a mask so no one would worry. Ryou hadn't even told the others about it yet. They would of course lay the blame on Bakura and Jonouchi and Honda would try to really do something about it. The hikari didn't want to see his Yami hurt, so he kept silent.
When Bakura said he had loved him, it scared him. It hurt, it really hurt. Ryou still hadn't figured out why yet. It had stirred something inside him.
All of the sudden the sound of the front door being banged open rang through the house. Everyone fell silent as Bakura ran into the room.
Jonouchi and Honda immediately got defensive, Anzu had a worried look on her face, while Yugi looked up at Yami, who also had an apprehensive look on his face. Ryou blinked at his darker half, who was right now panting deeply.
"Ryou," he finally breathed deeply, "we have to talk."
"Say it right here," Jonouchi said angrily and Honda added, "Yeah, or you have to get through us."
Bakura straightened up and walked past the two, who were still glaring and ready to jump at any moment, and stood in front of Ryou with a stern look on his face.
"I'm not going to hide anymore," he said to the anxious hikari, "and I'm not going to runaway again. And I don't want you to run or hide anymore from me, either."
"What are you saying, Bakura?" Ryou asked in a shaky voice and bit his lip.
"What I'm saying is that I'm sorry," Bakura said firmly and the room went silent.
"About what?" the hikari asked in the same voice.
"For anytime that I hurt you. I'm sorry I hit you. I'm sorry I cut you. I'm sorry I made you bleed. I'm sorry I made you cry. I'm sorry that I scared you. And I..." he hesitated a moment and took a brief glance behind him to Ryou's friends, "I am sorry I kissed you in the way I did."
The room was silent. Not even Jonouchi or Honda could speak a word.
"Bakura..." Ryou said silently but Bakura interrupted.
"There is one thing I am not sorry about. I am not sorry that I said that I loved you."
The friends gasped, but the Yami ignored all of them. His attention was all on his hikari.
"I am not sorry in the slightest. I was walking and I realized it fully for the first time. I realized all of my real feelings and I wanted to share them with you and not be afraid to do so.
"I love you, Ryou."
Ryou looked at him with wide eyes and dropped his drink.
Bakura stepped forward even more and continued to say, "I love you more than anything. I love you more than the whole universe itself. You are my everything."
"Bakura," Ryou breathed.
All Bakura did was stop directly in front of him. He then gently put his hands on Ryou's shoulders and brought him to him. He lowered his face down to his and wrapped his arms around the hikari and he kissed him.
This kiss was different than the last one. It was not hungry or needy, it was loving. One of Bakura's hands was on his his back and he pressed Ryou gently to him and the other hand was on his waist.
The kiss seemed to last an eternity but soon Bakura broke away. Ryou could still feel his hands on him.
"Ryou, you said that I was you and you are me. If that is true, then please let me be a bigger part of you and become a bigger part of me."
The tears welled up in his eyes and some fell from his chocolate eyes. Bakura looked taken aback for a moment but held him comfortingly. Ryou buried his face in his chest for a few moments and gripped Bakura's shoulders. The yami kept silent but stroked his hikari's snow-white hair.
Suddenly Bakura felt Ryou remove his face from his chest and the boy looked up at him with teary eyes. Bakura tried his hardest not to show how hurt he was, so he kept on a straight face.
The next moment Ryou closed his eyes and moved his face closer to his yami's. Bakura's eyes widened as he felt Ryou's breath mingling with his own and his eyes were as big as saucers the moment the hikari kissed him gently.
The kiss was sweet, kind, and... loving? What was going on?
Ryou moved away and placed his head on Bakura's shoulder, whose eyes still had not gone back to normal size. They got even wider when Ryou put his arms around his waist.
"What are you doing?" Bakura finally asked looked down at him.
Though the yami couldn't see it Ryou smiled and said, "I am sorry, too. I'm sorry because you were obviously hurt when I cried after you kissed me that night. I didn't mean it in the way you thought I did."
"What did you mean then?"
"I was crying because I was just so shocked. I was going to kill myself because I thought you hated me, but it turned out that you loved me. I never expected for you to say that. Bakura, I was going to kill myself because I love you."
Bakura's knees almost buckled.
"You l-love me?" he stammered. "Why?"
Turning his face to him Ryou replied, "I see things in you that other people do not see. I am the light searching through your darkness."
"And darkness needs the light," Bakura finally answered with a large smile on his face.
Ryou barely got the chance to nod, for Bakura had his arms around the hikari again and pressed his lips against his. And this time Ryou was there to return the kiss.
The others stared for a few moments, but then smiled the new couple.
