The Purpose of a Heart
Chapter Twelve

The very next afternoon, in the hall, Bakura was confronted with the cheerful question of: "Guess who's your new get-away driver?"

He stared at the smirking face of Blair and groaned. "Oh no."

"Well, since your old one certainly can't drive you, and you have yourself a murder scheduled for tonight…" Blair swung the keys to the station wagon proudly around his finger. "I'm going to drive you."

"Great." Bakura muttered, wishing Blair was still conked out in bed. The sleeping powder had worn off surprisingly quickly.

"So you'd better meet me in the parking lot at 9:00 on the nose, got it?"

"Yes, your highness."

"Don't cop an attitude with me, unless you want to end up like your friend Louis."

"Don't cop an attitude with me, unless you want a personal interview with the barrel of my gun." Bakura spit back. "Louis this, Louis that, Louis the other thing, you keep lording it over me, and frankly, it's getting annoying! Constantly hissing his name doesn't make you more powerful, and it certainly doesn't scare me. He wasn't my friend. He was just someone to talk to, that didn't make him a friend by a long shot."

"Oh? Then why do you always look scared when I say his name? Maybe because you know that if you hadn't told him about that room and hadn't given him any ideas, he'd still be here…"

"That's a lie!" Bakura protested sharply. "Nothing I did or didn't do would have stopped him from getting in trouble, he was a stupid kid like that."

"That's a bit arrogant, calling him the 'kid' when you're only…what, a year or so older?"

Bakura scowled. Try 5000 years. He thought, but said nothing of it, and finally turned on his heel. "Fine, 9:00 downstairs tonight."

"Even a heartless person can't escape a guilty conscience. You can snip at me all you want, but I know that you know you're responsible for killing your friend, just because you were trying to find a way out to save Yami. That's all you ever talk about…it's getting annoying. Do you think your precious Yami would really like to know that you killed a friend for him?"

"I didn't kill Louis and I told you, goddammit, THAT HE WASN'T MY FRIEND!" Bakura shouted, whirling around, fist up. Blair caught his arm in mid-swing and tossed him backwards a few steps. Bakura fell back against the wall, gripping his elbow, growling under his breath.

"9:00 tonight." Blair said, leaning above him. "The boss will be calling you to his office soon to give you the picture and the neighborhood information. Expect it."

Bakura had no reply. Blair turned and sauntered off down the hall. But even once he had vanished from sight and sound, Bakura didn't stand up. He just drew his knees up and looked down at the floor.

"I'm not heartless." He said quietly. The words echoed back ominously in the empty hallway, mocking him. He opened his palm, staring at the fingernail indentions that he'd gotten from gripping his fist too hard. "I'm not."

"Well, here we are." Blair stopped the car alongside the road. "Time to go do your job."

Bakura looked around, eyes widening. He knew this street. He knew this street and each and every apartment building and house on it.

"What the hell are we doing here?" he demanded, thinking it was a joke.

"Didn't the boss tell you? This is the street that the chick you're supposed to off lives on."

Bakura dug around in his pocket and pulled out the picture of the girl, flipping it over. He hadn't, to be honest, been paying much attention that afternoon when he'd been 'briefed'. It was always the same thing, all that changed was his target. On the back was the address of the person in the picture. Before this moment, he hadn't bothered to read it.

Fifth street, Apartment building 1764, room 12A, forth floor.

"You're kidding." Bakura shook his head. Of all the freaking streets, it had to be the street that Yami lived on, didn't it! And as if that wasn't bad enough, Yami's apartment building was only three lots away.

"Nah, the boss doesn't joke around." Blair was delighted. "Now, time to set up a couple a ground rules. First of all, I'm going to run down to the liquor store while you're busy. I'm giving you exactly one hour. You'd better be in this spot or I'm going back home and you can walk the fifteen-odd miles back yourself. Second rule: You'd better not go visiting your boyfriend while you're here, no matter how tempting it might be."

"He's not my boyfriend." Bakura muttered.

Blair shrugged. "He could be a cross-dressing chick carrying your lovechild for all I care." He was very proud of his quip and paused for a moment to enjoy it. "Just don't go visiting him. You'll be sorry if anyone finds out."

"Gotcha." Bakura shrugged into the Uzi's strap, glad for the first time to be off on a murder. At least it meant he'd get an hour break from Blair's yap, and perhaps with a bit of luck, he would drink too much from the liquor store and would drive into a pole and die. Well, one could dream. Blair drove off into the night as Bakura began jogging toward his destination. The sooner he got this over with, the better.

By the time he'd located the building, the right window, and had fallen out of the tree he'd been forced to scale in order to see if the balcony opposite the room was empty, Bakura had concluded that things were only going from bad to worse.

Absolutely nuts. The first two murders went off without a hitch. Real simple. One shot, boom, easy. Then the third one I got an unintentional victim and the damn police show up before my own get-away driver does. Now I'm hanging around the same street Yami lives on. And why did…Kristen…why did this 'Kristen' person have to get a forth-floor room? Why couldn't she be reasonable and get a house? Or a ground-floor room at the very least?

Such thoughts were only a few of the rants circling inside his head as he clambered onto the forth-floor balcony across from Kristen's, and wiped the blood from a cut on his hand on his jeans.

This couldn't get much worse.

He hunkered down and tried to get comfortable to wait, when a light inside the apartment behind him came on.

"Honey, I heard something outside."

"It's probably just a stray cat."

"On the forth floor!"

"Fine, fine, I'll go check it out."

Arragg… With a silent groan, Bakura vaulted himself off the balcony back into the overly flexible branches of the tree he'd climbed to get there in the first place, and clung to the trunk, level with the third floor, as the sliding door above opened and someone poked their head out for a moment, before pulling it back in and reporting loudly,

"Nothing's out there."

Screw you! Screw you all! Bakura thought reproachfully, and finally arranged himself on a branch. He hated shooting from trees, since the gun's recoil wasn't a fun thing to experience 24 feet above the ground, on a thin branch. But since waiting on the balcony was now out of the question, he needed a new way in, and finally he used the back stairs to get up to the roof of the six-story building, picking the lock on the door. Shooting from a rooftop was another thing he disliked. Nowhere to run. But what had to be done, had to be done. He got out the binoculars and prayed that Kristen would walk through her living room soon.

As if she'd heard him, she walked in at that moment.

"Thank you, whoever just did that." Bakura muttered, aiming.

The silencer prevented a noisy shot, but the shattering of a mirror behind Kristen got the attention of his light-sleeping friends of the balcony two stories below.

"I told you I heard something!" The sound of a sliding door opening. "It's the college girl in the building across from us, something's happened!"

"Don't panic, maybe she just dropped a plate or something."

"I can see her, she's lying on her floor, bleeding! She's been shot! The killer was on our balcony!"

"Honey, calm down, I'll call the police-"

That's my cue. Bakura returned to the staircase and took the steps three at a time. He figured he'd be able to make it out of the building before any police appeared, since they weren't the most efficient around. But just as he reached the ground floor, no less than six police cars came roaring up. Perfect. The one time the police actually respond to a call without waiting an hour in this city, it has to be this time around.

Bakura pressed himself up against the staircase wall, and as soon as he figured no one was looking, took off at a dead run. Considering how badly everything else that evening had gone, he wasn't surprised to reach the end of the street and see a police car blocking the way. Of course, a roadblock. Of all the damn things.

He spun around and, concealed behind a car, pondered his options. His watch said he still had a little over a half-hour to go before Blair would be anywhere nearby to give him a ride out. Provided he would even be able to sneak past the roadblock to get his ride back to the Compound at all. He knew soon police would start combing the neighborhood. Being caught outside with an Uzi wasn't going to look very good. He sighed. There was only one option.

Yami's evening had been, so far, completely ordinary. He'd taken an early shower, eaten dinner, watched the News, checked the lottery numbers, and sat down to work on his new jigsaw puzzle, this one claiming to be the most challenging one the company made. He heard sirens nearby outside, and was about to get up and see what was going on when someone knocked on his door. He set down the puzzle piece he was holding and walked to the door, curious. First sirens, now someone showing up at 9:30 at night…

He opened the door with his usual polite smile, and stared in surprise at the person standing there. It was Bakura.

Bakura bit his lip and raised his hand in a half-hearted wave, something dark concealed under his other arm. "Um…Yami…I need help."

Yami blinked.

Bakura's expression was starting to look frantic. "I need to come inside. Now."

Yami snapped out of his trance and moved to the side as Bakura dashed through the door and into the other room. He yanked the curtains on the front window closed, before returning to the hall. "Close the door!" he hissed. Yami, startled, closed the door as he requested. Bakura collapsed on the floor in a heap, kicking his shoes off; and Yami now realized what the dark object under his arm was. It was his Uzi.

"Bakura, what's going on?"

"Ah…" Bakura paused. He wasn't sure what to reply to that. "Anou…thanks for doing that research for me."

"It was no problem. But you didn't answer my question."

"Well, I was just in the neighborhood…"

Someone pounded on the door loudly at that moment, causing both of them to jump. Bakura shot to his feet. "Whoever that is, I'm not here!" he warned, snatching his boots and dashing for the nearest room, which turned out to be the bedroom.

Yami was thoroughly puzzled by this time. The person outside knocked again and shouted, "Police!" Yami opened the door to see two policemen standing outside.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

Inside the bedroom, Bakura could hear Yami and the police outside talking. Mostly likely they were searching the neighborhood for the murderer. He felt rather subdued. What was he doing here? Now Yami was going to know what really happened. With a sigh, he sat down on the edge of Yami's bed and stared glumly at his reflection in a mirror. He never should have come, he knew it, Yami's apartment was probably the worst place for him to be now. A few months before, he would have been thrilled for the chance to hang out inside Yami's place. Now he found himself wishing he was anywhere-anywhere-else. When had things gotten so out of hand?

Well, if Yami wanted to sell him out right now, he could. But no one came crashing through the door to arrest him. Instead, he heard the former pharaoh calling good-bye, and good luck, and then the front door closing. Surprised, he got up and peered out of the room in time to see Yami turn toward him.

"They're gone?" he stopped suddenly, seeing Yami's expression.

"Did you kill that girl?" Yami asked.

Bakura felt his heart sink. "I-" He stopped again, staring into Yami's face. His purple eyes, so expressive when they wanted to be, were now narrowed in a disbelieving and questioning way. But what got to Bakura was neither of those. It was the disappointment buried deep within the orbs, and he found himself shouting,

"Stop looking at me like that! Stop it!"

Yami looked taken aback at this outburst, but it didn't distract him. "Bakura, I want to know what's going on."

"I can't tell you."

"You're in some type of trouble, aren't you?" Yami asked. "That's why you've been so secretive."

Bakura was silent, thinking: Me! You're the one that's in trouble!

Yami took a step forward. "If you need help, I'll help you, you know."

I don't deserve any help.

Bakura flinched slightly as Yami's hand touched his shoulder. "Bakura, just tell me the truth. I promise I won't call the police back here to arrest you. Did you kill that girl or not? I want to know what's going on. Everything has been so confusing lately. You've gone missing and people are dying and there's this laser thing you made me research, and I'd just…Please, I just want the truth."

Bakura looked at him, unsure of what to do, and part of him wanted to tell Yami what was going on. Wanted to talk to him, wanted to explain. But he couldn't. And he knew he couldn't. Finally he brushed Yami's hand off his shoulder and said coolly, "No. I didn't kill her. And I don't like being accused of things without any proof. Isn't it possible I could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time? Anyone with a gun right now would be stupid not to run and hide, so I came here thinking you might understand. I guess I was wrong." He shook his head. "I shouldn't even be here…I was just coming by to say thank you for doing the research, and I don't even know why I'm doing that. Heartless jerks don't usually say thank you for things, do they? And now…you're standing there accusing me of being a murderer."

Yami blinked and frowned. Bakura's whole demeanor had suddenly changed. Defensively, he replied, "I don't think you're heartless. Yes, you've made a lot of mistakes, but that doesn't make you heartless. And I'm not accusing you of anything. If you say you didn't do it, then you didn't do it. I was only asking."

That was a considerably different answer than Bakura expected, and he closed his mouth, since his comeback he'd thought up wouldn't work now. In all truth, he was only feeling worse now. He'd made Yami angry at him…perfect. He must have looked upset, because Yami suddenly softened his voice and went on,

"I don't want to believe that you're killing people for sport. I don't want to believe it was you at all. But what I want to know is if you're in trouble, any kind of trouble, and if you need help getting out from under it. I'm your friend, and you're my friend whether you like the idea of it or not, and friends help each other out, and I know something is going on."

I'm trying to help YOU by killing these people though…that's not so black and white, is it? And besides, I'm not a friend to anyone. I don't know how to be a friend.

"So all I'm saying is that if you need anything, I'll do the best I can. If you need help, or just someone to talk to, anything."

I need a hell of a lot of things, and right now I need more than you could ever do…

"Because you know that if something bad happened to you, I'd be upset. You do know that, right?"

You should be more concerned about yourself for once in your-wait. Did he just say he cared about me?

"I won't tell anyone you were here if you don't want me to. I get the feeling you've gotten caught up in something. But I'd really like it if you'd tell me yourself. I've been worried about you ever since you disappeared and then made me do that laser research."

He did! He did just say he cared! Despite himself, Bakura suddenly felt far more cheerful. And he said it twice! Yami just told me he was worried about me! But…is that really a good thing right now though?

"Bakura? Did you hear me?"

Bakura snapped to attention and straightened up. "I heard you. And…uh…thanks, I guess…you know, thanks for caring. And for trusting me." He secured the Uzi strap on his shoulder, tugged his boots back on, and glanced at his watch. Ten minutes left. Would the roadblock be gone? "But I can't tell you anything."

"I have a feeling it's not that you can't tell me, it's that you won't you tell me. But you must have your reasons."

"Very good reasons." Bakura nodded and glanced at his watch with worry. Blair was going to be such a pain tonight on the ride back to the Compound if he found out that he'd been visiting Yami. He might even tell the boss. That reminded him and he took a deep breath.

"Yami, there is one thing I need to tell you."

"What?"

"You're in danger here. You need to leave Domino. I can't explain why, but…your life is in danger."

Yami looked confused. "Why would I be in danger?"

"I…can't tell you that. But you are, I know it for a fact. Just trust me, will you? You said that friends trust friends, didn't you?"

Yami suddenly looked triumphant. "Ah, so you do consider me a friend."

Bakura paused and made a mental note to forever banish the word 'friend' from his vocabulary. The word was just causing more and more problems. Had Louis been a friend? Was Yami a friend? Would Yami still be a friend if he ever got the whole story? Friendship was, he decided, a lot of trouble.

"Okay, Bakura. I'll see what I can do about leaving." Yami finally answered.

"This isn't a joke. I mean it. But you do whatever you want, ain't my problem if you won't listen. So…do you think those police are gone? I don't want to be caught running around with an Uzi after a murder."

Yami pointed over his shoulder. "I'll tell you a secret. If you go behind this building, there's a section of the fence that you could probably get under. The house in the yard is abandoned, a fire burned half of it down last year, and the street leads back out to the main road. You could probably bypass the roadblock if you're sneaky."

Bakura narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you so that the police don't find you and your beloved gun."

"But why? I know you still think I'm the person behind those murders, and you're just saying you trust me in order to guilt trip me or something." He raised his eyebrow and eyed Yami suspiciously. "You don't like me, so why are you being so friendly and easy-going with me tonight, after all that?"

"Who told you I didn't like you?"

"You did." Bakura raised his other eyebrow. "You always hated me. And I've got a long list of reasons why."

"People change." Yami said, opening the door. "You've changed, I've changed. And one day I think I'll get the whole story behind these murders. I told you Bakura, like it or not, you're a friend of mine. I don't want to believe that you killed them, and if you say you didn't, then you didn't." he paused and added, "Until then, be careful, okay? Because I meant what I said, I'd be really upset if you got hurt."

"Yami…" Bakura stood in the doorway, knowing he was wasting time, but he felt obliged to say something in return. No, it wasn't that…he wanted to say something in return. But what was he supposed to say? He could feel sort of pressure rising in his chest, and didn't know what it meant. "Yami, I…oh, forget it." He took off at a run into the night.

Yami stood there for a long time, knowing that he could always call the police now. But something stopped him, and for some reason, he didn't feel angry at the white-haired thief. He couldn't make himself turn Bakura in; even though he wasn't entirely sure Bakura had been telling the truth. He went back to his jigsaw puzzle instead, and found himself hoping that Bakura would make it back okay, to wherever he was going.

Bakura did, in fact, make it to the street with a few minutes to spare. He hid in a shadowy corner till Blair pulled up and parked crookedly on the sidewalk, fairly drunk, announcing loudly that Bakura would drive him home. Bakura sighed, but took the keys and got in.

The evening had been quite an adventure. Going from bad to worse to not so bad, then to a small moment of a new emotion, a lightweight happiness when he'd heard Yami really was concerned for him. Now that he was back to reality, going back to his days of lolling around the Compound in a mix of boredom and anxiety, the last thirty minutes were going to be an important memory to hang on to. The first memory he ever really wanted to cherish. It was something he wasn't used to, but found that he liked. The only problem was that his guilt was coming back. Yami really trusted him…and he'd lied again. It's for the best. Bakura told himself firmly. I can't tell him the truth. Not right now.

And there was still one other major detail that loomed overhead, the other thing that darkened his outlook. That had been the forth murder, the forth and final person in the pictures he'd been shown. So what was going to happen now?

To Be Continued…

Author's Notes:

Ahh! I have bounced back! There's something about this chapter that I really like. I can't put my finger on it, but I just like this chapter. Guess I won't question it. :niko:

So, I figured that to show some more of Bakura's feelings, no better way to do so than to have him and Yami meet again. Did you all like the meeting? All in all, this chapter was enjoyable to write. I hope it's just as good to read! It's got some refreshingly light points to it. It's nice to see a simple conversation between Bakura and Yami finally. So, Yami's covering for a killer that is also a person he once hated…yeah, we all know what THAT means. Why is he trusting Bakura's word that was an obvious lie? Well…you can take your guesses. Bakura and Yami make such a good couple! I can't understand why so many people don't understand the pairing. I mean, besides me and a handful of others, there's very few Bakura-Yami supporters, and most of them are all like, "sadistic hentai bonanza!", when they write their fics. Seriously! They are, it's ridiculous! I mean c'mon, I'm sure Bakura and Yami MUST have better things to do than lay around having sex in EVERY SINGLE BLEEPING CHAPTER. It's like, Yami's hungry and decides to make lunch.That means go have sex! Bakura decidesto buy a new car. Have sex in theback of it! It's so...freakin'...ridiculous.Hentai pisses me off if it's done so crudely like that. Ah, gomen…I was on my soapbox again, wasn't I?

Right, well, getting back on topic…the length of this chapter means that next chapter will be short. It'll be important, I assure you, but short. But importantly short! (And, though it pains me to burst you all's bubbles, there will be NO sadomasochistic sex, bondage, or pleasure slavery in it. Sorry.)

Replies!

Hershey-Kiss: Whaaaaa, Hershey hates me... :runs off to hide in the corner: I'm just kidding. It's okay. I know how it is to be tired. I hope you're feeling better today. :pats:

You Know Us: Oh dear, what evil have I unleashed into the world…well, I gave you fair warning! Now now, if I told you the circumstances of the picture, it would totally spoil one of my favorite aspects and scenes of the fic. But, of course, Michelle-chan doesn't have a crush. Of course. Yeah. :blinks: Hehehe. I shalt tell nothing! You must just wait and see what will come. I just hope Michelle-chan will not give you a headache. Maybe this chapter will cheer her up. Next chapter will make her upset again, so I do hope she can give you at least one week of relaxation.

AngelicTransmition (a.t): Hi! Welcome to the reviewing community of TPoaH. :niko: Aw, thank you! I feel so special now. :eyes tear up: Fantasy and magic is cool, I'm terrible at writing it though. xD I won't tell anyone your age, I promise. Don't feel bad, when I first was writing shounen-ai, it was mad awkward. It gets easier. Yes indeed, reviews rule! O.o Expire? That doesn't sound very good. I hope your internet is okay!

I'm in a good mood. I got manga today. MANGA! SQUEEEE:launches into a series of odd dance moves: This is what happens when I get manga, I get all cheerful and stuff. Plus, no school today! Yaaay!Anyhoo, next chapter will be short, like I said, but it's coming up to a climax. I mean, sort of the climax before a climax because this fic is going to get a little crazy near the end…but still, there's gonna be a cliffie next chapter. It's gonna be fun. :smile:

See you next week!