The Purpose of a Heart
Chapter Six
Bakura looked around, knocked on the door, and ran across the street, diving behind some bushes, heart pounding. He'd decided on his plan on the way there, he would knock first and hide, and if he got no answer then he would just have to bust down the door and make his presence known. After a few moments, the door opened and Yami-very much alive and well-stepped outside.
"Hello?" he asked, peering around. "Was someone out here?"
Getting no answer, he shrugged to himself, turned, and walked back inside. Bakura heaved a sigh of relief. Yami looked unharmed, which took a large weight off his shoulders. Then he cursed himself because he'd run off from the Compound so quickly, when he should have taken the time to write a new note and leave it at Yami's. But he'd been worried, and hadn't thought clearly. He patted his pockets but of course he had no pen or paper, and talking to Yami directly was out of the question.
Getting to his feet and dusting leaves from the hedges out of his hair, he walked across the road and pressed himself up against the side of the ground-floor apartment, peering around the corner of the window. There were navy blue curtains on the windows, the sort that hung straight. They were open, revealing a comfortable-looking, (though small), room with a couch, TV, and square table. The table had a half-finished jigsaw puzzle on it. The picture looked like a lighthouse…or maybe part of a castle. There was a light still on, and Bakura wondered why Yami would be up so late. It was long past midnight, and yet there were signs of life all over the single room. And Yami had been dressed, he'd noticed, in jeans and a shirt, so unless he slept in those, (and Bakura knew from experience that sleeping in jeans was very uncomfortable), he must have been awake when Bakura had knocked.
There was a movement at the door to the room and Bakura quickly smacked himself up against the wall. When he dared peer in the window again, he saw Yami now seated on the couch, studying the puzzle with his back to the window. Of course, he thought, Yami was the sort of stubborn person that would stay up late to finish a puzzle. As he watched while Yami selected a piece and snapped it into place, he found himself feeling lonely. What he wouldn't give to be in that room right that moment too, helping to choose jigsaw pieces…the thought suddenly scared him because he realized that there was almost nothing he wouldn't do.
Suddenly, for some reason unbeknownst to him, Yami turned around. Bakura was so deep in thought that he didn't realize it till it was too late, and the two locked eyes for a split second. Bakura froze, staring back into Yami's purple orbs without blinking. Yami's eyes widened in recognition and he got to his feet. That single movement broke Bakura's trance, and he turned and ran, hiding behind someone's van in the driveway a few places over. He saw the door to Yami's apartment swing open.
"Bakura?" Yami asked aloud. "Bakura, I saw you out here-where are you?"
Bakura squeezed his eyes shut and pretended he wasn't there. After what seemed like an eternity, Yami eventually stopped calling and went back inside, and Bakura sagged to the ground with a hefty sigh.
This is crazy. What I want more than anything else is for Yami to notice me, and then when he does see me, I turn and run. Bakura scolded himself.
Look, you've been here, seen that Yami is fine, it's time for you to get going, hear me? It doesn't matter what you want…that can be concerned for later. Right now, you need to get back to the Compound and stop standing around out here, pining. A new voice popped up.
But I like watching him, dammit! It feels…right. A third voice, this one in agreement with the first, pushed it's way into the conversation in his mind.
Oh please. You're an evil spirit. Yami doesn't like you. So get over your fixation and go back to the Compound.
But I want to stay and watch him for just a little longer…
In annoyance, Bakura fell back against the side of the van with a thump. A speaker in the van began blaring and a mechanical voice said loudly,
"YOU ARE TOO CLOSE TO THE VEHICLE. PLEASE STEP AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE."
With that, Bakura decided he'd spent enough time hanging around.
It was around 10:00 the next morning when Blair went to find his boss in his office. The older man was typing away diligently at his keyboard, but turned off the program when Blair walked in.
"Yes?"
"Boss, I've got to ask you something."
"Mm-hmmm?"
"Why shouldn't I go kill Yami right now?" he asked. "Bakura's strutting around the dining hall like some sorta king, and when I tried to just remind him that he's not that great, he told me to go away because he would rather talk to his coffee. He said he could at least carry on an intelligent conversation with it. No one insults me like that and gets away with it!"
"I told you, Yami must remain alive."
"Yeah, but WHY?"
"Because he is, in theory, the weak link of my plan."
"But he doesn't even know about us."
"Yes, but he's what keeps Bakura here. Do you know what would happen if we killed him?"
"Uzi-boy would be mad?"
"Exactly. You saw him last night when he heard what you said. Most people would have crumbled to the ground and frozen in shock, but instead Bakura's first instinct was to kill us without any hesitation. Do you know what that means?"
"That he has a temper?"
The boss raised an eyebrow. "I'm starting to think that my assassin has a point with all his jokes about your lack of intelligence."
"What! You asked a question and I answered it. All I got out of last night was that Bakura is a wimp. He had a chance to kill us, and he didn't, instead he ran off to check on that boyfriend or crush or whatever he is. If you ask me, he just didn't have the guts to shoot. He should have gone and done what he had to do, he had the perfect chance." Blair shook his head. "Stupid. I don't even see why you call him the 'threat'. The guy's afraid to shoot someone he really hates, how is that a threat?"
"Bakura is a threat, a very large one in fact."
"Would you just give me a straight answer!" the body builder asked in exasperation, wishing he was back in the gym with his wonderful anabolic steroids. Lack of sleep and too much beer from the night before wasn't helping his morning personality either.
"Fine. Blair, Bakura isn't a coward. He is, in fact, the polar opposite. He's a very self-confident person. The reason he didn't kill us last night should be obvious. He doesn't need a 'perfect chance'. You were unconscious, but I saw it in his face. He's ready to come after us the moment we lay a hand on Yami, and he wouldn't care if we were alone or surrounded by an army. He's simply not afraid of us. Unlike other people, he can't be manipulated by threat of personal harm. That's what sets him apart, he's virtually fearless. The only thing he does seem to care about be Yami. I can guarantee you that if you told him right now that Yami was dead, he'd have killed us all by nightfall. If we kill Yami, we lose his loyalty."
"And you're still insisting on keeping him here as your assassin?" Blair asked in astonishment. That seemed like a pretty stupid thing to do, in his mind.
"Of course, because I need him."
"Not really." Blair replied. "This could be accomplished without those people-"
"Of course it could. I'm just having some fun before the whole plan takes effect. Besides, he's certainly keeping you on your toes, which is a nice change. Your drugs might make you feel invincible, but you won't be a very good body guard unless you're kept in mental shape. And he does that quite well."
Blair blinked, lizard-like.
"If we kill Yami, Bakura will snap and ruin my plans, and I'm not going to have that happen. So Blair, you will, under no circumstances, hurt Yami. Got it? Threaten to all you'd like, but never follow through on the plans, because once he's dead, we are too. There's only one of him, after all."
"Okay, okay, I got it." He muttered.
"Wow, and then what happened?" Louis asked in excitement. Bakura shrugged, sipping his second cup of coffee in an attempt to keep himself awake, and considering going and taking a nap anyway. The lack of sleep over the past nights was taking its toll on him.
"I turned and ran off to go check on Yami."
"And then what?"
"And then I found out he was fine so I came back here and went to bed."
"And then?"
"Lou, that's all, there is no more to the story. I've gone over this like, five times so far, the ending is going to stay the same."
"I still think that's awesome. I can just see you, both these powerful guys on the ground and you're threatening them with your gun-"
"Louie, are you sure you're a college student? Because right now you remind me of a first grader. A first grader on a sugar high."
"I just think it's cool that you're taking a stand and pushing your limits. You're all brave like that. I'd never have done that."
"Well, it's nice to see someone looking up to me as an inspiration rather than a bad example." Bakura said, bemused.
"It's about time someone gave Blair what he has coming anyway. He walks around all swollen up and ugly as hell and yet he thinks he's so handsome and strong. And here you are, effectively kicking his ass." Louis was elated.
"You know, sometimes I feel like I fit in here, at least." Bakura replied, leaning back. "With my old life…well, not many people liked me, let alone were my friends. Here, I've got people who at least talk to me without giving me this look like they think I'm going to blast them into oblivion. And when I slug someone, I have people congratulating me for it. If there's anything good about this place at all, that's it. They don't know my past…so they can't judge me on sight." He paused. "If the circumstances were different…I might like to stay. In many ways, I do at least feel at home here. I like not being hated for once."
"Don't you think your old friends miss you, even just a little?"
"Why should they? I told you, I was never nice to them. I'm still not nice to them. And I'm probably not going to be nice to them, even in the future. Being evil and using people is in my blood."
"No wonder you're so lonely."
Bakura glanced at him with a frown. "Who said I was lonely? Maybe I like things this way. They certainly don't care much about me and I don't care for them. That's just the way it is. Life is cruel, we should just accept it and stop trying to change it. The past is the past and no matter what, people will always remember it, it won't go away with apologies or penance, no matter what someone does. Besides," he added morosely, "I saw Yami last night and he's certainly not sunk in any grief."
"But he bothered to come outside and look for you when he saw you." Louis reminded. "He might have just written you off as a delusion. So that means he must care a little."
"You think so?" Bakura asked hopefully. Louis began laughing.
"Listen to yourself!"
Bakura sunk back down in his chair. "Haha. Real funny. It's not nice to mess with my emotions you know, they're unstable enough as it is."
"I'm sorry." Louis glanced down at his watch. "Oh, I've gotta run, my favorite television show is going to be on in a few seconds." He got up and jogged off, waving.
Bakura, left alone at the table, found himself thinking of what Louis had said, and without willing himself to, he began smiling down into his cup.
"He's right, Yami could have ignored me, but instead he came to see if I really was outside. Maybe he does care." He said quietly.
That thought affixed in his mind, he stood up and tossed the cup into the trash, heading for his room to sleep after all. If he wanted to give Yami a chance, he was going to need to get out from under this whole assassin mess. And to do that, he knew what he needed to do. He had to return to that computer room in the basement tonight.
Bakura waited till midnight to leave his room. He half-expected to see someone guarding the room, or at the very least, a better lock. But instead, it was the same old easy-to-pick lock and no one in sight. He was fairly sure Blair wouldn't be cornering him tonight, he'd been watching in awe that evening in the dining hall as the body guard downed no less than seven beers in two hours, a handful of tablets, and then vanished to the gym.
Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll drop a weight on his head while he's bench-pressing. Or maybe he'll overdose. Or maybe he'll attract the attention of the fleas of a thousand camels and they will infest his armpits. I'd sure like a picture of that. Bakura mused as he unlocked the door. The room looked about the same as it had before. He flipped on the flashlight he'd remembered to bring this time, and shone it around. To his right were the tall machines, to his left was a table with regular computer monitors upon it. The table in the middle of the room had been cleared off, most likely the paper was now stowed in the file cabinets he saw placed in a neat row against the back of the room. The walls, floor, and ceiling of this room were of the same cold stone as the hallway. It was the kind of room someone could feel claustrophobic in, even if they were the only person in it. The walls seemed to press in upon him. It reminded him, more than ever, of some kind of cell or dungeon.
Well, the papers didn't matter anyway. Instead he selected one of the normal-sized computers, located the power buttons, and turned it on. With a perky blink of light, the monitor identified the computer as Windows, and flashed a password screen. Bakura laughed. Password screens my ass. He hit the 'cancel' button and sure enough, the program opened just the same. The background was cause for a double-take; it portrayed a woman with an unnatural-sized bust lounging on a beach. A copy write in the corner indicated it was property of Playboy. Bakura snorted. Of course, he reflected, the evil villains always have a dumb obsession over boobs. Was there ever really a bad guy in any movie or book that was devoted entirely to his cause and was never led astray by seduction? Bakura had watched a lot of action movies, and he found it amusing that he couldn't think of any.
Eventually, everything loaded. He opened Microsoft Word first, and clicked the name of the newest document saved, only to find a 476 page list of random numbers. And though it was impressive to think that someone had typed a 476 page long document consisting entirely of numbers, it wasn't going to help. Other documents were similarly unhelpful, and he was getting very close to picking up the computer and chucking it on the floor, when he finally found a document that helped. It was mostly a very long listing of what looked like mechanical plans for something, but what he found most noticeable was all the references to America, in between stretches of English text that he couldn't read. Scrolling, he found that word on many of the pages.
Glancing at his watch, he realized he'd been in the room for nearly an hour, and decided not to push his luck. He closed the program and shut down the computer. Returning to his room, he considered the one piece of information he'd found, and wondering what 'America' had to do with the boss's overall plan…whatever it was.
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes:
Ahh, and now we're finally getting someplace. I found this chapter rather fun to write. I got to show some of Bakura's soft side, which was both cute and enjoyable, and I got to finally start to push the sl along. (along to an important plot point anyway.) I'm looking forward to where this is going, and I can tell you now with certainty, this fic will be longer than any others I've written. Even longer than Love, Life, and Loss, which was fifteen chapters. Even longer than Run Away, which I even wrote an alternate ending for.
Wow. :thinks of all the typing she'll have to do: This will be fun!
Bakura's emotions are a great deal of fun to write for too…he's the sort of character that you just want to write lots and lots of dialogue for because he's so expressive in some ways and yet so withdrawn in others. The sort of person whose voice holds so many things, and it's hard to put all those things into just text. Well, I'll give it a try.
By the way, the info about the password screens in windows is true. I tested it on my own computer. The cancel button isn't just there for looks! I suppose a good password program wouldn't have this in it, but for just windows in general, you can bypass those screens, easy.
Replies:
Kate: Hey! Welcome to the reviewing family of TPoaH. :niko: I hope you're enjoying the fic!
You Know Us: Glad to see you two up and alive, (and not abducted.) Bakura is just full of surprises, but that is a pretty neat trick, ne? "You pissed me off!" :clamp:opponent drops to floor: xD Hahahaa…Michelle-chan has a crush! No need to feel bad, Yami's very crush-worthy, and you're not the only one in this household with his interests in mind. :fangirlish niko: Bakura, of course, is also looking out for him too. You didn't say you'd read ch. 5 yet in your review, but by now you probably have, and you see how protective he is. The plot thickens!
I hope everyone is enjoying the story...I have to say, this is a far more indeapth fic than usual, and I'm really pleased with how it's coming out. It's better than I'd ever hoped for, and so I just hope that everyone out there reading it is enjoying it. - See you next week!
Wait...I gotta say it before I go...EPPY 163 RULED! It was so shippy and passionate and beautiful and angsty and painful and sad and just so...damn...beautiful. :cries: IT SO RULED:runs off to squeel into her Yami pillow like a nut: