Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.
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#13: Death
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One day later, Jounouchi showed up at school again. Only, 'showed up' wasn't the right term for it.
Ryou was halfway to the front steps when he heard Jounouchi call his name. He turned around, saw Jounouchi coming towards him, saw the fist, and barely had enough time to get his footing before the blond punched him in the side of the face.
Ryou stumbled, but he managed to stay on his feet. Either the punch hadn't been as forceful as Jounouchi usually gave, or Ryou was getting more impervious to them. He reflexively covered his cheek with a hand and stared at the other teenager. Further away, he could hear Yuugi yelling.
Jounouchi glared at him, fists clenched tightly. "The cops had a witness. He said he saw some white-haired guy outside Mai's apartment before. . . ." Jounouchi clenched his fists tighter, and Ryou took a step backwards, eyes wide. Jounouchi's gaze narrowed at that, and he snarled, "It was him, wasn't it?"
Yuugi and Anzu were both yelling now, and they sounded closer, but Ryou didn't dare look away from Jounouchi. "I . . . I don't know what you mean--"
"Liar!" Jounouchi yelled, before jerking forward and wrapping his hands around the paler teen's throat. Ryou made a choking noise automatically, and Jounouchi's grip tightened, his short nails digging into the skin of Ryou's neck.
"Jounouchi-kun!" Yuugi yelled, as he and Honda tried to drag the teenager away from Ryou. Anzu was beside him, attempting to pry Jounouchi's hands off his throat. Jounouchi's grip just tightened more, and Ryou made another choking noise as his Adam's apple was painfully crushed. He yanked on the blond's wrists as well--but because he was being careful not to break any of Jounouchi's bones, he had no better luck than Anzu.
"Bring him out!" Jounouchi yelled, shaking Ryou. "Bring him out or I swear to God I'll kill you both!"
"Jounouchi!" Honda yelled.
There was a snarl inside Ryou's mind, and then he felt the Sennen Ring begin to heat.
No! Ryou yelled, his grip on Jounouchi's wrists loosening even more. Don't make things worse! I'm okay!
Bakura hesitated briefly, but Ryou could still feel him just beneath the surface of his skin. Taking advantage of the pause, Ryou began pulling harder on Jounouchi's wrists.
Then Jounouchi yelped and jerked one of his hands away, covering his eye. A moment later a second die hit the remaining hand on Ryou's neck, and Anzu finally managed to yank it off. Ryou sank to his knees, cradling his throat. After second's pause, he began coughing as though the lack of air had actually been affecting him.
Anzu knelt next to him. "Bakura, are you okay?" she whispered.
Ryou nodded faintly, before looking up. Otogi, Honda, and Yuugi -- who at some point had turned into the other Yuugi -- had managed to drag Jounouchi to the ground, but the blond was violently trying to get free. He glared at Ryou.
"Why?" Jounouchi demanded. "She didn't have an Item! She didn't have anything to do with him! WHY!?"
Ryou shook his head, doing his best to look wide eyed and shocked. When he spoke, his voice was cracked from the abuse to his throat. "No . . . Jounouchi-kun . . . it wasn't. . . ."
"Liar!" Jounouchi yelled again, managing to briefly throw off Otogi and the other Yuugi.
At that, Anzu pushed herself in front of Ryou in an effort to shield him. "Jounouchi, quit it! Please! You're not thinking straight!"
Honda wrapped his arms around Jounouchi's shoulders and pulled down hard, pinning the other teenager back into a sitting position; and Ryou realized through Bakura's observation that the brunet was using too much force and was going to give himself away. If anyone noticed.
"Jounouchi!" Honda hissed. "Calm down. You're acting crazy."
The blond continued to glare at Ryou. "You killed her. I know it was you."
All Ryou could do was close his eyes and shake his head. His hands were still covering his throat.
"Yuugi."
Ryou recognized the clipped, cold, and slightly condescending voice of Kaiba Seto even as he opened his eyes. Before anyone could react to his appearance, Kaiba continued.
"Ikeda-sensei saw this little drama through the window and is on her way to the office as we speak. You might want to get the loser out of here before the police arrive." He turned and began walking away before the other Yuugi could reply.
Honda and the other Yuugi hauled Jounouchi back onto his feet, and began to pull him off the campus even as the shorter teen spoke. "Come on, Jounouchi-kun. School isn't the place for this."
Ryou missed Jounouchi's reply, because had Anzu stood and held out her hands to help him up. He accepted them, and gingerly rubbed at his throat.
Beside them, Otogi was watching Jounouchi be led away by their friends. "The grief's driven him crazy."
"He just had to lash out. It didn't mean anything," Anzu said. She touched the spot on Ryou's cheek where a bruise was obviously going to appear. "You need to go to the nurse's office. . . ."
"I'm okay." His voice was still scratchy.
"No you're not. Come on, I'll take you there."
"No, really, I'm fine. . . ."
"We'll walk you there," Otogi said. "It's an excuse to ditch some of History."
Once they were inside the building and Otogi was a little ways ahead of them, Anzu said quietly, "Bakura . . . what Jounouchi said, it wasn't. . . ."
Ryou shook his head carefully. "No. . . . It wasn't him."
Anzu nodded, accepting his reply. "Okay."
In his mind, Ryou could hear Bakura's amused laughter.