Enjoy.
GUIDE
: Ryou to Bakura :
: : Bakura to Ryou : :
Blah is thoughts
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I stayed in the tree until everyone arrived. It wasn't long, only a few minutes until they all
were gathered around the tree. I dropped down out of it and perched on the back of the
bench. By the looks I was getting, saying they weren't happy was an understatement.
"I don't know how they did it, but I don't appreciate it," Yami said. I quirked an eyebrow.
'They'?
"Yeah, ya need to tell those so-called friends of yours to give our stuff back!" Jou said,
stabbing a finger at me. I sweatdropped. Here I had tried to show them who I was, and
they thought that Bakura, Malik, and Marik had done it!
I just stared at them for a moment. They were never going to accept who I was. I needed
to show them who I was, but they were never going to see it. Never. I could see it in their
eyes. I sighed. It had all been a mistake.
"Follow me," I said quietly.
I led them to the Rubicon, where Malik and Marik were sprawled over the back seat on
top of each other. Bakura had the driver's seat reclined, and barely acknowledged our
presence. I had the feeling he knew this would've happened all along. I pushed Malik and
Marik off the backseat onto the floor, much to their dismay, and retrieved a bag that I had
stashed under the seat.
"Here. Your things are in there," I told them, tossing the bag at their feet. I jumped in
shotgun, and Bakura finally cracked an eye open to look at me. "Let's go."
He put the seat back up and started the Rubicon, while Malik crawled back onto the seat
and looked bleary-eyed at me, then the others, then back to me. Bakura had to wait for the
Rubicon to warm up, since it had been beat all to hell over the past few years and would
stall if moved right away. Malik did the back-and-forth look again.
"So that's what you did last night!" he declared happily, or at least until he realized his
head was pounding. "Itai..."
"Wha?" Marik asked, confused, and still on the floor.
"Ryou! He went a-huntin' last night! Whadja steal? Whadja steal?" he began chanting. I
snapped. I had hit my limit and I just couldn't take it any more.
"Just shut the fuck up!" I nearly screamed, whirling around in my seat to face him. "Just
shut... the fuck... up... got it?!"
"Ryou," Bakura cautioned. I turned on him.
"Oh shove it, Bakura, you're not any fucking better," I growled, and got out of the
Rubicon. I was sick of this. Whether they liked it or not, they were gonna hear it.
I walked up to Yami, who was the closest to me. I got right up into his face, his eyes
inches away from my own. He blinked, at first a bit startled, but then he just stared back,
his gaze unwavering. I laughed. I'm not sure why, but I laughed. Not an evil laugh, like
Marik's; not a suggestive laugh, like Malik's; not even a low, calculating laugh, like
Bakura's; no, I just laughed. Free, loose, and almost like a child.
"When you look into my eyes, what do you see?" I asked. His brow furrowed, and he
blinked again, confused. "When you look into my eyes, what do you see?"
"Someone who's lost their way," he said finally. I backed up and faced all of them.
"You see, that's where you're wrong. In your minds, you have this misconception that
they corrupted me," I told them, nodding my head at the Rubicon. "You think that they
somehow messed with my head and turned me evil, am I right?"
"Are ya tryin' to tell us that they didn't do a thing?" Jou asked, giving me a look that said
he didn't believe me. I laughed again.
"How very perceptive of you!" I told him. "They didn't ask me to be a thief or even offer;
I came to them, or more specifically, Bakura. And you know what? They laughed at me.
He laughed at me. They didn't think I could survive, and to tell you the truth, I didn't
think I'd survive. I took the chance anyway, figuring I had nothing to lose and everything
to gain. I had to nigh on beg to let them take me with them. And they still laughed at me.
"You know why they laughed?" I asked. I didn't wait for an answer. "They laughed,
because they saw me the same way you do now. They saw Ryou as the helpless,
ever-polite, solitary, gentle, loving, caring, and let's face it-- wussy boy next door, am I
right?" The look on their faces spoke volumes. None of them would look me in the eye.
"To be honest, I was that once upon a time. Then, after my mother and my sister died, my
world came crashing down. I changed, and whether or not it was for the better I don't
know and I can't tell you. I did change, though, only the world I lived in refused to allow
me to.... I became a living hypocrisy. It was all a lie. It just became worse and worse, and I
was being smothered to death. I couldn't handle any more. I needed to get out, to escape,
and they provided it."
"Then why did you come back?" Yuugi asked, looking up at me. I smiled. He always did
see the line from A to B clearer than most.
"To tell you the truth? I honestly don't know. Several reasons, I suppose," I told him.
I went back over to the Rubicon, and Malik immediately jumped back onto the floor, on
top of Marik. Marik was passed out again, so he didn't notice. I withdrew my bag from
under the seat. I opened it and removed the only thing I couldn't give away-- the knife--
and handed the bag over to Honda.
"Here. Everything you need to understand is in there. Read, look, whatever you want."
"Ryou..." Anzu started, but stopped. I smiled at her.
"Don't worry. I'm not going too far," I told her. I went over to the Rubicon and laid the
knife on the seat, not looking at Bakura. Then I left.
I had to do some thinking.
A/N: ::whistles:: Damn, I didn't Ryou had it in him! Go Ryou, it's your birthday, we're
gonna party like it's your birthday...
Err... anyhow...
Once again, I am very sorry I was late updating. Things get crazy, you know? I hope
you're not too mad at me that you won't review... ::big hopeful grin:: And yes, I count
flames as reviews, so go right ahead!
::crosses fingers::