Double Meaning

gninaeM elbuoD

(( Mondai Senshi ))

-x-

NOTE THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW - There are exactly 3 lines spoken in this whole chapter, and they are written in Japanese. I have them all indexed at the bottom, so go look there if you must. And thank me, because I'm never doing a chapter like this again if I can help it.

Disclaimer: None of the characters in this fic belong to me, and no profit is being made in writing this story.


Ryu stood with his back pressed against the door for several minutes, waiting for his eyes to adjust, but in vain. He then pressed his hands against the door behind him, slowly spreading them across the stone, which felt almost as though it was covered in a thick layer of mildew. Still, he could make out some symbols, carved in the wall, and was almost sure they were Egyptian. He turned to his right, then, and stepped sideways along the wall as he felt, making sure he didn't trip on anything. He soon reached a corner, and as he walked along the next wall, after several steps, he paused and looked upon the wall with blind eyes. As he did this, the wall was alit. Indeed, they were grungy walls, with ancient Egyptian heiroglyphs scrawling across them, but around and within the heiroglyphs were scrawling images and figures. Suddenly Ryou became aware that lights cannot just appear out of nowhere, that fire needs to be started by someone or something. He quickly turned to the source of the light and saw the ghosted version of himself, now completely solid, standing between two high wooden torches, each of his hands above the --respective-- torches as though he had summoned the flame from nothingness, his head lowered and his eyes closed in a prayer or incantation. Ryou stumbled backwards against the wall startled, for the second time, to see this spirit before him. Bakura half opened his eyes and approached Ryou, who was pressed against the wall, shaking slightly in fear, until his face pressed within two inches of Ryou's.

Ryou was petrified with terror and confusion as Bakura pressed his face into Ryou's silvery hair, whispering maliciously into his ear. "Ore no namae wa Bakura desu. Anata no namae wa Ryou desu. Watashi wa Yami desu, anata wa omote tomo hikari desu. Juu nanasai desu, demo, sensai desu.¹" As he said this, the spirit pulled his head back enough to look Ryou in his eyes, yet his own remained without emotion.

Ryou recognized the words to mean that this ghost called himself Bakura, and told Ryou his own name, as well. He called himself darkness, Ryou light and front, but he also told him that he was both seventeen and one thousand years old. A throbbing pain began to pound at the inside of Ryou's forehead.

The spirit's hands, which had, only seconds before, been against the wall to either side of Ryou, were now moving slowly towards his face. As he found it harder to breath, the pain in Ryou's head grew. The spirit's hands brushed gently across Ryou's cheeks before resting carefully on either side of his head above his ears. He spoke again, this time in a kinder tone. "Watashi no koto wo misemasu.²"

Ryou wondered only briefly what he meant, as only seconds later the room vanished around Ryou. He saw nothing, and felt only Bakura's hands upon his head. He then had vivid images, which must surely have been in his mind, of countless games, all of which Ryou won without trouble, yet he could not recall playing any of these games. Perhaps it was his imagination, but were his eyes narrower, darker? Each time, too, when he had claimed victory, Ryou's opponent broke down, fell to his knees, covered his ears, or even seemed to be hysterical, but they all screamed in some sort of agony. Then he felt it - The weightless, sorrowful feeling of falling into the purest of darkness.

A single tear began to roll down Ryou's cheek.

Suddenly the darkness gave way, and Ryou saw himself slowly etching symbols into the very wall upon which his back was still pressed. The maniacal look had returned to his eyes. It was then that he heard him whispering in a tongue he could not understand. Still, the words he spoke raised Ryou's heart into his throat. He had never heard anything before that had made his heart swell. The one thing that could have brought him clearly back to his senses would have been the danger of friends, which was set before his eyes.

He saw himself playing a game again - It was Monster World - The pieces seemed to be moving on their own, all of Ryou's friends among them. This game was far too serious, and Ryou could feel beyond explanation that this was not an ordinary game. He knew that much more was at stake - If it was body or mind he was unsure, but he was fairly certain it was one of the two. This alone kept him from feeling free, led by the words whispered in his ears.

But then this, too, dissapeared, and he saw himself, his face just the same as when he looked into the mirror every day, sitting before the wall - His wall - Scribbling loosely on paper. A figure appeared before him, and ryou was not sure why it now seemed normal for him to see his figure in two places at once. But the form that had only just appeared had a worn expression of forced annoyance.

Forced? Why had that word come to Ryou's mind? It seemed quite honestly hate-filled. and yet, as he thought about it, something about his expression told Ryou that this was not truly even dislike - Simply a confused torment.

And then he walked beside the jubilent youth, still hard at work sketching the characters carved into the wall. Bakura crouched low, his hands folded neatly on his lap, and he leaned towards Ryou - He did not dare to touch him, but simply breathed the odor of his hair. He paused and then, hesitantly, stood, though not completely. After a minute, he reached over Ryou's shoulder and pointed to the images that he was sketching, muttering something to him.

It all overwhelmed Ryou - Bakura had been focusing hard to continue placing images in his mind, and sprung back to reality, letting their connection faulter and break, as he felt Ryou's head jerk suddenly in a hushed sob. He lifted his eyes, then, brimming with tears, and said in a shaking voice, "Bakura-kun, boku no koibito desu ka?³"
¹ My name is Bakura. Your name is Ryou. I am shadows, you are the surface as well as light. I am seventen yeas old, but, I am one thousand years old.
² Let me show you who I am.
³ Bakura, are you my beloved?

-x-

Oh, gawd, that was living hell to have to write. Someone send me pocky, now...