Double Meaning
gninaeM elbuoD
(( Mondai Senshi ))
-x-
Oh, I love playing with name meanings, they're so much fun Anyways... Through my research and according to what I already knew, Ryou-chan's parents and sister Amane (?) are never said to be alive or dead - I read that, every now and then, Ryou has been known to write letters to his sister. I think I remember reading somewhere that Ryou said he left, or maybe had to leave, home because of all the mysterious dissapearances of the friends that he played Monster World with. That's where Bakura comes in. Actually, it was some time after Bakura began to control Ryou that he became aware of his presence, before which he only knew about some strange happenings... I'll stop, now...
Disclaimer: None of the characters in this fic belong to me, and no profit is being made in writing this story.
-x-x-x-x-
Yuugi stood with his ear pressed against the red door with the black chipped paint. He turned to the spirit of the pharoah. "I think we should be going about now - We can talk to them later."
Yami Yuugi nodded. "There is much that must be done, besides. And we needn't anger the spirit of the ring by disrupting his own private matters." The spirit dissapeared into thin air as Yuugi headed out of the hallway into reality.
-x-
Several days later, Yuugi sat, again, with Katsuya and Honda in the resturaunt where Anzu worked as a waitress. The three of them and Anzu, though especially Yuugi, seemed distracted. Since the attempt to reconnect him with Bakura, Ryou had been acting rather lethargic. He hadn't left his room, and refused to speak much - especially about the spirit of the ring - claiming that he only needed a bit of time to think. Still, Yuugi and his friends tried not to let it bother them too much. They teased, joked, and laughed almost as much as usual, though they may have lacked a bit of their usual enthusiasm.
-x-
Ryou lay on his bed silently. He looked out of the window, avoiding the stare of Bakura, who sat on the other side of the bed. Bakura could not blame him - Everything had been so hectic and, he was sure, overwhelming. At Ryou's last question, the last thing he said, Bakura had been unable to answer. Instead he searched Ryou's eyes for an escape, but none came, and Ryou had soon slipped out of Bakura's hands and walked out of the door. The silence was the most horrible thing that Bakura had ever expirienced, and, over the last few days, he had almost always remained within his soul room.
"Why couldn't you answer?" Ryou asked, barely audible even in the silence of the room.
At first Bakura had thought he imagined it, but changed his mind immediately as Ryou looked at him for the first time in days, eyes again brimming with tears.
Bakura sighed heavily, knowing that he must be especially careful what he said. After several minutes, in which Ryou had again turned his attention to the window with a new sense of dissapointment, he spoke.
"I cannot love you, Ryou - I am nothing more than a spirit, a preserved memory of someone who once was." Bakura, too, was difficult to hear fully. "There could be nothing between us, though if there could, it would be my one ambition." Ryou continued to stare out of the window. "You must eat, Omote-chan, or you will not live much longer." Having said this, Bakura vanished again, and it was much later when Ryou decided to take his advice.
-x-
As Yuugi walked back into his grandfather's shop that afternoon, the phone began to ring, and he hurried to answer. "Hello," Yuugi said quickly, "Kame Game Shop, how may I help you?"
He was a bit surprised to hear Ryou's voice on the other end. "Yuugi? I was wondering if I could talk to you."
"About what?" Yuugi was both curious and puzzled.
"About the spirit of the ring."
Yuugi nodded, though Ryou had no way of knowing, and said, "I'll be over in a few minutes."
-x-
At this point, Ryou couldn't have cared if Bakura didn't want to be in the same room as the pharoah. He sat on the couch with a red robe draped carefully over his shoulders, examining a small tin figurine of himself in what seemed to be a magician's outfit. He ran his fingers across the sides time and time again, enthralled by every inch and every tiny detail. He was suddenly startled by a knocking at his door, and placed the figurine carefully on top of the robe, which he lay on the coffee table. He then hurried to the door, which he opened only enough to see a sliver of Yuugi's face, at first. He then muttered a greeting as he pulled it open enough for Yuugi to step inside, then led him to the couch and sat down.
Yuugi did not know what to say, at first - Ryou sat with his shoulders hunched and his face, dull and limp, in his hands. Luckily, Ryou spoke first.
"He always has been violent, hasn't he?"
Yuugi seemed mildly surprised by this. "I suppose. Kindness and compassion aren't really found in a thief, are they?"
Ryou seemed to sigh. "He wouldn't even answer..."
Yuugi seemed even more puzzled by this. "Answer...?"
"I asked him," Ryou said slowly, carefully, "what he thought of me. He couldn't answer."
Yuugi didn't answer immediately, trying to be sure that he gave Ryou a fitting answer, and struggling with his uneasiness. Even then he began slowly. "The spirit of the ring seems to have trouble showing any heartfelt emotions. He knows anger, hatred, wrath, maybe even jealousy - He has for the last thousand years. But he doesn't know how to tell people when he's happy, nervous, sad, even infatuated. It just isn't his way - You need to give him time to learn."
Ryou still didn't seem entirely satisfied with this answer. "But still, he is only a spirit - I can never talk to him face to face anywhere real, or..." Ryou seemed uncomfortable beyond the ability to finish his thought and, if his face was not already rather pink as though he had a cold, Yuugi would have felt sure that he was blushing.
Yami Yuugi sat beside Yuugi, now. "Omote-kun, please let me speak to the Great Thief alone - Leave the puzzle in his care."
Yuugi sighed, thinking quickly. "Bakura," he said, "Take the Millenium Puzzle, the Pharoah wants to talk to the spirit of the ring."
Ryou nodded in silent consent and carefully took the chain from Yuugi, looking at the small tin figurine still, face blank, rather than at Yuugi, who slowly stood and walked towards the door. As he walked out, Ryou looked up, finally, and said, "Thank you for your help." Yuugi turned to face him, then shot a quick grin and a thumbs-up before he closed the door behind him.
It was quite a while later when Ryou finally decided to retire to his room, grabbing only a single potato chip before he went. He tossed the puzzle on the bed, first, then looped the ring's string over his neck, as it had been hanging from one of his bedposts, before laying on his back, staring at the ceiling, holding the puzzle and examining it carefully. He noticed that it began to grow warm, as did the ring on his chest, and he was sure that they were talking in somebody's soul room.
-x-
"There is a way, I'm sure of it. Unfortunately, search as I may, I can't remember any details."
"Then it's no good," Bakura said flatly, lounging on the nearest set of stairs.
"That's not true at all," The pharoah wore a clever, almost sinister, and still somehow regal, smirk.
Bakura scoffed. "Even if something can be done, there's no use hoping unless somebody knows what the choice is."
"Oh, but I do know," The pharoah still grinned cunningly. "I simply don't remember." Bakura glared at him out of the corner of his eyes, a disgusted look of pity across his face. The pharoah spoke again. "We need only for somebody to search my mind for me."
Bakura's eyes lit up with a rare burst of excitement.
-x-x-x-x-
Oo-wa-ooh... Fat hobbit is always so polite... You keep nasty chips.
Anyways, finished another chapter. Gah, I so wish my sister had internet, honestly. Could have posted this as soon as I'd finished, instead I wait four and a half hours longer. Gah. Boredom. Anyway, the next chapter will be hard to get started, so I'll apologize beforehand for my slowness.
