through Ryou's mind?
Well... read and find out already! ::grin::
Enjoy.
PS: Thanks a million for being patient with me! You guys rock! m/
GUIDE
: Ryou to Bakura :
: : Bakura to Ryou : :
Blah is thoughts
-----
NO POV
"Listen to this," Yami said.
"Today was long and hot. The temperature soared and even stripped to the bare
essentials we've been sweating buckets. M. and Y.M. have found a "creative" way of
beating the heat, and have been in their room since before noon. B. has been stalking
around, and I think he's bored. He's done his part already, and we have to wait until this
heat wave breaks to do anything else. He'll find his way down to the hotel bar before
long, and I'll join him when I'm done here.
Well, there he goes. I hope the bartenders are ready for this.
I've been practicing the exercises he's taught me. I managed to get M. today, before he
sauntered off to his and Y.M.'s room. He wasn't happy, and vowed that he'd make me
pay, using his own.... How should I put this? His own unique way of punishment. I'm not
worried, I can handle them more than effectively now, and after today's run with Y.M., he
should be more than satiated.
I have tried to pry some more information about the J.K. out of B., but he's as silent and
stoic as ever. I'm curious, and he knows it. He also knows that my curiosity is near
unquenchable, especially when I know he knows and he's not telling me. I'll get it out of
him yet, one way or another.
Well, the heat's killing me. It's evening, and it's still in the nineties, or whatever these
people measure their temperature by. I like Brazil, truly I do, but this heat is something
else. I'm off to join B. now. I hope he hasn't killed the bartender yet."
"He traded everything he had for that kind of life?" Anzu asked, shaking her head. She
was flipping through one of the sketchbooks. "I do have to admit, though, these sketches
are beautiful."
"Lemme see," Jou asked, and Anzu handed him the book. "These are good."
The first few pages held various scenes from places he'd been, assumingly. They were
very detailed, even to the point that the people in them had distinguishable faces. The next
several pages were sketches of Malik, Marik, and Bakura. There was one of Malik
sleeping in a chair, throwing a knife, and one where it seemed he had posed; there was
some of Marik of terrorizing various people, as well as themselves; and several of Bakura
either working, napping, and dragging an seemingly drunk Malik. The one that got Jou,
though, was one of Bakura making a face, then after, one of him smiling. Not a cruel or an
evil one, but a genuine smile.
It began to click for Jou.
I think I get it now, he thought. We see one thing, but Ryou sees another. We see Ryou's
dark half as an evil spirit hellbent on collecting the Items and generally destroying everything.
And Malik and Marik are just two psychos who enjoy causing havoc. But these sketches show
different sides of them. They're almost... human...
"Ya know... I think that maybe we did... well, maybe did... kinda... misjudge him," Jou
said.
"As much as I hate to admit, I agree," Yuugi said. Yami just closed the journal and looked
out the window.
"I just can't figure out why he'd go through all of this. Why chose a life of crime and
uncertainty over the good life? Hell, if I lived in a mansion like he did, I sure wouldn't give
that up," Honda said.
"Humans, by nature, love misery," Otogi told him. "You've been focusing too much on
the material aspects; why don't you actually think about Ryou?"
"We are," Honda replied.
"No, you're not. Not really," Otogi shot back. "Listen. Put yourself in his position. Your
mother and sister are dead, your father is never home, and your only companion is a
psychotic thief who won't let you get too close to anyone. It's a life of hell. Sure, he was
provided with all the necessities and extravagance that he could ever want, but there
wasn't any life behind it."
"It sounds like goin' from the fryin' pan and into fire to me," Jou pointed out. Otogi
shrugged.
"Maybe. I can't tell you exactly why he did it, but I can understand his underlying motives.
This life held nothing for him any more. You heard him-- he was being smothered. He had
to get out. He took the only route presented to him," he explained. "He followed his heart
and his destiny."
"His destiny?" Yami inquired, looking over at the raven-haired boy.
"That's something you have to ask them about," came the reply.
"I guess I can understand," Anzu said, taking the sketchbook back from Jou and flipping
through it again. "I mean, I think I know where he's coming from. It's like me and my
dancing; I love different forms and styles, and I'll usually stick with one or two. After
awhile, though, I get bored and it doesn't hold the same... feeling... rush... any more. I
move on to something else, something different. It's kinda like that, isn't it?"
"Kinda," Otogi told her.
"So what do we do now? I mean, Ryou's a thief! A kind one, but one nonetheless. How
can we justify that?" Yami asked.
"Well, I don't like it, either, but he is our friend. And he did come back to us in the end
right? So let's not judge him for past mistakes," Yuugi said.
Otogi mentally sighed, and took his leave. They still thought that Ryou was here to stay. It
was tempting to break the news to them, but it wasn't his place to do so. He just hoped
that Ryou would tell them eventually himself, and not just suddenly disappear... again....
-----
RYOU'S POV
I wandered around for some time before paying the 1500 yen to go to the observatory at
the top of the Tokyo Tower. Before I had left, this had been one of my favorite places to
go. Sure, it was crowded and noisy, but the tourists were amusing and I could just zone
out for a while.
I guess I couldn't be too upset with their refusal of acceptance. I mean, I had known all
along they wouldn't accept me. I suppose, in a warped way, I didn't come here for
acceptance. I came here, instead, for forgiveness. I had left, leaving them hanging and lost.
I knew how that hurt; it had happened when my mother and my sister left this world. I had
been so confused and uncertain. Always having their company before, I was suddenly left
alone. Father had given me the Ring as his way of comforting me, and though I met
Bakura almost immediately, we didn't become close. Rarely spoke, and when we did, it
was just a few words, if anything at all.
It hadn't been until a few years later-- just before Duelist Kingdom-- that we began to talk
more. Things went from there, to the point that I suppose you could've called us friends.
It was like a combination of friends, brothers, and a father-and-son kind of deal. Strange,
but it worked and still does.
I'm not sure what I was thinking leave my bag with them. I'm not even sure I was
thinking. I mean, I had promised myself that no one would ever see my journals or my
sketchbooks, and here I proffered them like it was nothing. Perhaps my subconscious was
directing my movements. Or perhaps I had finally lost what remained of my sanity.
I sighed, leaning on the railing, and looked out over Tokyo. The noise began the blur
together, making a low rumble for a background. I watched, amused, as a wind came by,
blowing the sakura blossoms everywhere. I had missed that during our escapades over the
world-- the simple pleasure of watching those pink blossoms float across the blue sky. It
was comforting to me. I smiled, despite myself, and closed my eyes, letting the low roar of
the crowd and the soft breeze carry me away.
A/N: I hope Yuugi & Co.'s reactions are believable. Poor Otogi... he's like the
Understanding Motives for Dummies manual.
Guess what, though? It gets good next chapter! (Okay, it's already good, so... it gets
better! Err... ::rolls eyes:: I'm such a dork...)