Ryou groaned and slowly opened his heavy eyes, not long for him to realize that the pain from last night's beatings still ached his whole entire body. He was hoping it would be better in the morning, but it looked like the bruises got even worse. "Ugh. Morning already?" the white-haired boy rubbed his eyes and got off his bed. He started walked towards to the bathroom.

He looked at himself in the mirror, seeing his own reflection. His jaw immediately dropped in shock. "Oh my god, how am I supposed to go to school like this?" his face wasn't only bruised, but his eyes were also swollen from all the crying. He opened the cabinet door and took a first aid kit out and covered the bruises with bandages on his cheek, arms, and legs as much as possible.

Ryou lazily changed into his usual school uniform and finally walked out the house, closing the door behind him as it clicked softly. What he didn't notice was that he had left the millennium ring behind sitting on top of his desk...

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Ryou sighed softly, sitting silently in his assigned seat. The teen's head bent back down to stare at his own both hands that seemed to tremble imperceptibly, slowly observing the scars and cuts Bakura gave him last night. His unfocused mind gradually drifted off to remembering exactly what had happened. "Why? Why me? Just looking at all these scars he gave me... makes me wonder. What did I ever do to him? If only he just understood how I truely felt deeply inside..." his mind suddenly snapped back to when he said those three words to him last night. "Aishiteru." Ryou's eyes slightly narrowed in confusion and shook his head. "...Why did I tell him that last night? I don't even know for myself. No. No. I don't love him. What ever made me think that way? I could never forgive him for what such torture he put me through. Someday, I hope he finally disappears into the darkness forever for good so I could once be free again and live a normal life. I hate him. I hate him! I'v been patient for too long. Next time when he beats me, I'll be ready..." Ryou screamed mentally to himself. Suddenly, it was hard for him to breathe and he noticed how thick his breathe had gotten everytime he tried breathing.

"Boo!" A cheerful voice interrupted his thoughts. Two pairs of hands grabbed his shoulders. Startled, Ryou tensed and slowly turned his head around. It was Yuugi, one of his good friends. The short duelist couldn't help but only let out a cheerful and friendly smile.

"Ryou, are you okay? You don't look well today." Yuugi frowned after noticing the teen's miserable face.

"Oh no, I'm fine Yuugi... I just didn't get much sleep last night." Ryou gave out a small weak smile in return.

"And what's this...?" Yuugi gently reached out to touch a bruise on Ryou's face which made the teen to move away slightly.

"Oh, it's...nothing. Really." Ryou lied while looking away. He didn't like lying to Yuugi, but he knew if Bakura ever found out he told anyone he would yet go through another beating about 5 times worse than his regular ones.

"Oh... um ok." Although, Yuugi still looked concerned for him. "Oh yeah, we have a math test today Ryou. I just wanted to remind you just in case you forgot." The tri-colored hair teenager smiled.

"Oh, thanks for telling me." Ryou didn't know he had a test today at school---he realized that he'd forgotten about studying for it. "Great." he thought sarvastically to himself.

Ryou didn't really do so well on the test, but almost everyone else did a pretty good job. He was still weak and his brain really wasn't working for him today. Luckily for him school was finally over for the day and he could finally go home and get some rest.

"Hey Ryou, would you like to go to the arcade with us?" Yuugi asked cheerfully as both of the teens walked out the building.

"Um, no, sorry Yugi. I have to go home early today because I'm, um, busy..." Ryou gave Yuugi a disappointment look.

"Oh ok, maybe next time then." Yugi smiled.

"Sure."

Yuugi and his friends said goodbye to Ryou and he left them. Ryou walked home alone and quietly; he was getting hungry at the fact he didn't get to eat anything all day and it was also getting pretty dark outside so he had to pace up.

With one final sigh he gently turned the entrance door knob -cautiously- and slowly opened it.

"And where have you been..?" he heard a cold voice.

Ryou then got attacked without any warnings even before he got the chance to even speak. Bakura pulled him into the living room and threw him down hard on the floor. Ryou groaned in pain while Bakura walked towards the small boy menacingly. He picked him up by the collar of his shirt. Bakura spoke quietly that seemed too quiet for anyone to even hear, but Ryou caught every single word loud and clear.

"NEVER ever leave without this again..." Bakura said in a low dangerous voice while he held up the millennium ring close to the teen's face. Ryou's face instantly went pale as he noticed that he'd forgotten all about the millennium ring.

"G-Gomen." Ryou studdered fearfully, but soon got punched in the face hard. Ryou held his cheek and looked at his yami in complete shock while tears started to well up in his brown eyes. Bakura only grinned cruelly before he pushed Ryou against the wall. Ryou then knew he was going to go through yet another beating of his life again.

"Oh God... not again. Please. Please." Ryou begged silently, keeping his eyes shut tightly. But he finally remembered about what he reminded himself earlier this morning during at school. "I'v been patient for too long. Next time when he beats me, I'll be ready..." unexpectedly, Ryou eyes narrowed more coldly towards Bakura, and it was soon known that his crying had stopped so quickly.

"Stop hiting me." he spoke more bravely. It may of seemed that he wasn't afraid of Bakura anymore, but a small amount of fear was also still in presence.

"What did you say?! Don't you dare get an attitude with me you little worthless bastard!" Bakura raised a hand to violently slap Ryou across the face, leaving a big red mark on the right side of his cheek. The teen just about had enough of this.

"Don't hit me!" Ryou shouted while allowing new tears to finally stream down his face. Bakura was amazingly surprised by Ryou's sudden outburst---he never heard the boy yell at him before. His shocked expression faded slowly and was soon replaced by a furious look of rage.

Bakura then roughly grabbed the boy by the shoulders and shook him violently, making the boy more angry.

"I SAID STOP NOW!" Ryou screamed loudly, shutting his eyes tightly. Silence then took over for a couple of minutes, until Bakura finally spoke.

"Ah, I see you no longer fear of me." Bakura chuckled sinisterly. "Well... then that means I guess both of us will be having alot more fun from now on..." he grinned evilly.

"You... you would never understand how I feel!" More tears started to run down his face and his voice soon broke.

"Heh. What's this shit feeling?" Bakura smirked, crossing his arms over his chest while leaning and resting his back against the wall behind him.

"It's... nothing." Ryou spoke more softly, shaking his head.

"That you love me? Like what you've once said before? " Bakura interrupted rudely.

Ryou looked at him with eyes more sorrowfully, but the soft expression on his face instantly faded as he grew frustrated again. "I don't love you..." he whispered lowly, a small tint of hate in his voice. "I hate you. I hope the darkness will consume your whole someday, leaving no trace of you left what so ever. And when that day finally comes... I'll be there to watch you die." Ryou spoke firmly, but still softly.

The teen only laughed outloud in amusement, causing Ryou to stand there abit stunned. This was obviously only making the situation more worse. "Me? Die? I can't remember? I'm the darkness itself." Bakura grinned maliciously.

"Yes, you are the darkness, but I would be more happy to see you suffer for once." Ryou didn't know for himself what he was really saying, but it didn't really concern him at the fact that he didn't really care about what would possibly happen to him if he continued any longer.

"Kisama..." Bakura hissed lowly while the darker boy's emotionless dark brown eyes suddenly grew more colder again and void filled with blankness. "You'd better watch that tongue of yours if you wish to live." he warned more cautiously at the end.

"Well... why can't you just kill me now then?" Ryou questioned. "You said I wasn't afraid of you anymore, so why don't you just go ahead and end it? It's better than dealing with your torturings all the time anyways. Why not just end it right now?" Ryou realized the truth that he didn't care anymore, he would rather die then to live with Bakura's abusive ways for the rest of his life.

Bakura sneered sarcastically once more. "As much as I would love to... I can't." he smirked evilly, closing his eyes. "Of coarse, I still need this pathetic body of yours to finish what I'v started." Bakura then gave gim the death glare as he opened his eyes again. "Don't get in my way..." he warned dangerously.

"Well, if your not going to do it now I will be leaving the house then." With that Ryou walked pass him. Bakura quickly spun around and grabbed one of Ryou's arms. "Where are you going?!" he yelled.

"Why does it matter to you? You don't even care about me. I'm going out and I don't know when I'll be back..." Ryou shrugged off Bakura's grip on his arm and continued walking out the door, closing it shut tight behind him.

"Weakling..." Bakura scoffed. He turned back on his heels and walked towards the boy's room, but suddenly stopped at the suspicious thought crossing his mind. "...He said that he would rather be killed then to live through with my torturing... but I told him I would never let him die for the reason that I needed him."He told himself lowly. "Heh. It wouldn't happen anyways no matter how much he begged me. So... the only choice he would have left is to suffer through the pain I give him for the rest of his pathetic life..." A crazy grin was placed upon the boy's smirking lips all along while his dark brown menacing eyes grew into smaller slits as he stared back directly at the previous door Ryou had closed a minute ago.

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Meanwhile, Ryou was walking outside in the dark night. He couldn't barely see anything that well, but was glad at least the street lights were on. Ryou walked on the sidewalk, leading himself to wherever the path led him---he didn't really know where he was going, but he only wanted to get as far away from Bakura.

It was cold and he didn't even have a coat. A strong wing blew by, tussling the boy's long white hair. Ryou shivered slightly and wrapped his arms around himself trying to make himself warmer, but he knew that it wouldn't really help anything.

Ryou still continued to walk while another tear ran down his face. He sniffled and wiped the tears off with his hands. Ryou didn't like it when he cried; it always reminded him how Bakura said he was weak, but sometimes he couldn't help it at all.

"I wish he would understand me...if only he did.." Ryou pondered. He saw a small bench nearby and decided to sit for awhile. his feet ached terribly from all the walking, so he decided to take a rest for a couple of minutes. Ryou let out a small sigh while he looked up at the bright moon. "I don't want to go back...." he murmured. "I hate him.."

Although he said that he hated Bakura, it also appeared to be that Ryou still had a soft side to him, but for some reason he couldn't admit it---he was just too frustrated with Bakura that never understood what he was always trying to tell him. He always wanted to build a nice relationship between him and Bakura in the beginning, but it was obvious that it would never happen... so he had already given up months ago.

Suddenly, Ryou saw another shadow with his own sitting form, but the shadow seemed to be standing up behind him. 'that's weird.'

"Hello?" Ryou looked back frantically, but no one was there. He turned back to look at the shadow, but it wasn't there anymore.

"That's weird..I could of sworn i saw someone standing right behind me." Ryou thought. He felt someone was near his presents, and it wasn't too long until he saw a dark form standing right infront of him menacingly...