The Purpose of a Heart
Chapter Eighteen
Through the smoke, Yami waited, heart having moved up to his throat, hoping he'd see some sign of movement. Anything at all…but there was nothing, no reply to his calling and he pushed the door the rest of the way open and slid out.
"Yami, what are you doing? This smoke is dangerous-"
"Oh, shut up!" Yami snapped, waving his hand, walking unstably toward the upturned car, coughing through the smoke. Bakura, why aren't you answering me? You've got to be nearby…
Off in the distance came the sound of sirens. Most likely the police. Yami kept on walking, trying to wave the smoke from his face, his shirt pulled up over his nose and mouth. Spotlights on the fire trucks lit up the evening sky and gave him plenty of luminescence to see by.
"Yami, come back here! The police can look for Bakura, they've got the strength to!" Jared shouted. He was worried about the white-haired guy too, but he didn't think that Yami would be able to do much in his state. It was bad enough if Bakura had already died, either from the crash or from something else, he didn't want Yami to choke to death on the smoke as well. But Yami ignored him, finally reaching the car. He stumbled to the door and peered inside, pounding on the window.
"Bakura! Bakura, are you in there?" He tried the handle and found it unlocked. Wrenching the door open, he shook his head to clear it and looked to see the inside of the car was empty. Taking a step back, he shook his head again, but this time in disbelief. Bakura had to have been with the car, but where was he? Jared had said this was the car he'd been driving…could he have been thrown out? This was the only car they'd seen, so it must be his. He dropped to his knees and screamed,
"BAKURA! ANSWER ME!"
And there, through the fog in his mind, he thought he heard a reply.
"Bakura!" he struggled to his feet and whirled around. "Bakura, where are you?"
Two trucks with flashing police lights and loud sirens pulled up, and the officers jumped out, guns drawn.
"Put your hands on top of your heads, don't move!" they shouted, approaching Jared's truck, while two others carefully walked up to Yami. Jared did as he was told, but Yami instead turned back around and took a step the other way.
"Put your hands on top of your head!" the two of them commanded. Yami took another step back, now against the side of the car. Then he heard it again, a moaning sound.
"Bakura?" He broke from his spot and the police raced toward him, shoving him to the ground as if they expected him to draw a gun on them at any moment.
"Be careful with him, he was poisoned!" Jared scolded the officers. "He's still weak!"
"Please, my friend is here, he's hurt." Yami begged, struggling uselessly against them. "I've got to find him."
"No one is here, he doesn't know what he's talking about." One of the policemen said to the other as he pulled out his handcuffs.
"I heard him!" Yami argued.
"The smoke's gone to his head…"
"Bakura's here, and if you don't find him soon, he'll die!" Yami shouted. "And if that happens, I'll never forgive you! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
The cops couldn't possibly have known the significance that his statement carried, but for some reason they suddenly let him go, the cuff only cinched around one of his wrists. Yami sat up in surprise. He hadn't expected that to work.
Then Yami heard what they had heard too, someone's voice shouting, "Hey! HEY! You, people…HEY!"
"Bakura." He said breathlessly. Only Bakura would shout 'you, people' instead of 'help'.
One of the officers snatched his radio and began dictating orders into it. The others pushed the car away from the trees it was propped against. Yami heard someone's voice gasp from behind the car,
"It's about…goddamn…time!"
Yami, now completely ignored by the police, got to his feet and took the final few steps over behind them, where he saw Bakura sprawled on the ground, his prized gun flung over his shoulder. Yami inadvertently winced at the sight. Bakura's right side was a mass of gouged skin and fabric, dirt, and congealed blood where it seemed the car had fallen on him. His leg, in particular, appeared crushed. Bakura looked up tiredly and his eyes registered on Yami. Blinking, he said weakly,
"Yami…you're okay!"
"Bakura…" Yami had no idea how Bakura could still be conscious, let alone talk, but felt the weight of a million pounds lift off his shoulders at the sound of his voice. If he could talk, maybe it meant he wasn't hurt so badly as he looked. "So are you!"
"To an extent." Bakura replied with a grimace. "I think…the Uzi got…scratched though."
"That can be fixed." Yami said, kneeling down.
"I'm glad…you're okay…" Bakura said quietly, seemingly struggling to hold his head up. "I'm really…" Unable to finish, he finally slumped to the ground with a sigh.
"Bakura!" Yami grabbed his hand in terror. "Bakura, wake up-"
"Calm down kid, he's in a lot of pain and stress, he's just passed out. Probably from blood loss." One of the older police tapped Yami's shoulder, not unkindly. "You should move aside, the ambulance will be here soon." They seemed to have forgotten about arresting him and Jared for running.
Yami began to rise, but a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him and felt himself go light-headed.
"Kid…?" He heard the officer's voice, far off in the back of his head, but that was all, because at that moment he collapsed to the ground too, Bakura's hand still in his. When the ambulance arrived a few moments later, the ERs jumped out and rushed over with a gurney. They stopped and looked down at the two lying on the ground. The head of the rescue team glanced at the officers and asked,
"I thought you told me there was just one person we had to pick up?"
Bakura was in a bed…a comfortable bed too, it was soft and felt like paradise compared to the memory of having that car on him. The pain was mysteriously gone, replaced by a floating sensation. Probably the results of world-class drugs. He felt as though he'd just woken from a month's worth of sleeping. Someplace, far in the distance, Bakura heard arguing. The sounds of people's raised voices irritated him and he wanted to shout at them to shut up, he was trying to sleep. But he couldn't find the energy to lift his head, and finally settled for moaning instead. The voices seemed to get louder, and Bakura, getting fed up, finally opened his eyes just in time to see Yami's head over the edge of the foot of the bed. Trying to lift his head again, he saw that he was in a room, (which looked unsettlingly like a hospital room), and Yami seemed to be struggling with two people at the door to get in. His voice sounded oddly scared.
"Let me in-c'mon, LET ME IN, that's my friend, I need to see him. Goddammit, I told you I'm not carrying any weapons or whatever, I just want to see my friend…I know he's unconscious, I just want to see him! Will you please just LET. ME. THROUGH!"
Yami? Bakura thought blearily. Another wave of exhaustion passed over his head and he fell back to his pillows as the angry voices faded into the distance. Maybe it was all just a dream…
Unfortunately, Bakura later woke, (in what was indeed the hospital), to find it wasn't a dream at all, but something of a living nightmare. Everything had been explained to him and he was now simply lying there, a few hours after the fact, feeling sorry for himself. Hearing the door open, Bakura saw Yami again, stumbling into the room, looking positively hectic and watched guardedly by two armed policemen at the door.
"Bakura?" Yami asked, kneeling down. "Are you okay?" His voice was oddly soft. "Are you hurt very badly?"
"I'm fine." Yami didn't look satisfied and Bakura repeated, "Honest Yami, I'm okay, it's not so bad. I should be walking fineagainin a couple three months or so."
Yami's worried face broke into a smile. "Well, I'm glad!"
Bakura said nothing in reply to that, and Yami's smile began to fade again. "What, you're not happy to see me? You have no idea what I had to go through to get in here, it was insane."
Bakura looked away and before he could stop himself, muttered, "I wish you weren't here."
He hadn't meant for Yami to hear that, but when he looked back over, the crestfallen look on Yami's face indicated he had heard it clearly. "Yami-wait, don't take it like that-I didn't mean-" He suddenly stumbled over an apology. "I just, didn't want to be seen like this-" He trailed off lamely. Yami's eyes looked less dejected with that and he pulled himself together.
"Well, don't I at least get a 'thank you' for saving your life? You could still be stuck under that car."
"Oh, sure…yeah, thank you. It's not that I don't appreciate it, I-" Bakura wondered how he was supposed to explain. He just didn't want to have to tell Yami the whole story, which he would undoubtedly ask for now. He didn't want to have to explain the murders and deal with the disappointment that would surely be in Yami's eyes. But instead, Yami asked,
"Bakura…what's up with all the police and suits around your room door? There's even American government agents out there. I had to make up this huge long story about how we were related to get in here. It's like you're some sort of prisoner."
"That's because I am one. Well, not officially, but I am." Bakura said, suddenly smiling lamely.
"What?"
"They think I'm a dangerous international terrorist." Bakura replied, still with that painful smile. "They explained it to me earlier, that the 'situation' is not in my favor and all that crap. I'm surprised they let you in. I mean, they haven't formally arrested me yet, they've got no proof, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. It's obvious they think I'm to blame."
"They think you're…you're a…?"
"International terrorist, yeah." Bakura nodded. "They haven't said it out loud, but they're treating me like one. Check out the room, no windows, see? It's because they think that I, with this busted leg, am going to get up, jump out the fifth-floor window, and escape. They want me nearby so they can arrest me as soon as they get clearance."
Yami stared at him, as if waiting for a punch line. Then: "Bakura…why do they think you're some sort of terrorist?"
"Remember that laser research you did? And that big fire you found me in? Well, that laser caused that fire, it blew up a building there in the mountains. See, it was originally aimed at America, and I turned it around. They think that I was trying to fire it at Domino too for some reason or another." Bakura shrugged. "What the hell. There's worse stories that could be made, I suppose."
"But, you weren't trying to fire the laser at Domino…where you?" Yami asked.
"No! What sort of person do you think I am? Lasers! Way too high-tech. Give me a good old-fashioned gun or some dark magic any day, then we'll talk destruction." Bakura offered a glare toward the police at the door. He didn't much care what they heard anymore.
"But-I don't understand-" Yami blinked rapidly. "I don't get this, what the hell is going on?"
Bakura shrugged again, but it turned into a grimace when it put too much strain on his wounds. "I'm not sure myself. I'm not a terrorist, I was trying to stop the stupid thing. Still, what they say goes, I mean, they found the satellite up in space. I can't exactly deny there's a laser up there. They need someone to prosecute, and they just happened to find me running from the scene. So I'm their scapegoat, plain and simple."
"And you're just going to let them assume this?" Yami asked, aghast.
Bakura shook his head. "In case you haven't noticed, Yami, I'm hurt, drugged up, and bedridden. I don't have the strength to fight back. Heck, otherwise, I'd be out of here by now!" He jerked his thumb toward the door. "If I had two working legs, I'd be miles from all this right now. Fifth floor or not. It's not as if I like being treated like a common criminal."
Yami was silent for a long time as he recovered from his shock, and finally asked,
"Bakura, I want you to tell me what happened."
"I already did." Bakura muttered impatiently. "I already told you."
"No, I want to know how all this started. Why you went missing, what was the deal with those laser plans, why that guy kidnapped me, everything. I want to know what I got caught up in. Your friend, Jared, he told me all about how someone poisoned me. I want to know if it's over. Is there someone else that's going to come after us?"
"No, it's over." Bakura said, avoiding the first part of the question. "And I definitely don't plan on pulling it again. There's only so many times a person can endure having a car land on them, and I think my limit is once per lifetime. Besides, seeing as you seem to have serious short-term-memory loss, I'm practically under arrest right now."
"I've noticed, Bakura, you don't need to be rude. And I think you've avoided my first question long enough." Yami narrowed his eyes. "I want the whole story, Bakura, I don't care how many police are standing outside your door. I don't care what lies you told them, I want the true story. I think I deserve it."
"I-I can't tell you." Bakura saw no other way to handle it, a flat-out refusal was his last chance.
"Why not?"
"Because…" he fell silent.
"Is it because the police are listening?"
"No, that doesn't matter."
"Then why?"
"Because if I tell you then you'll know just what sort of person I am and you'll hate me!" Bakura exploded. He hadn't forgotten the words of the ill-fated Issei back at the Compound:
"Think about it, you go tell him that you killed a lot of innocent people, do you really think he's going to give you a hug? No, he's a reasonable person, he'll see right through that you're a killer and he'll run away from you. Who wouldn't?"
The words were burned into his memory and they tormented him as he tried to imagine Yami's reaction. Issei's prediction seemed likely, and Bakura felt defeated.
Yami, I tried, I really did try to change. …I don't want you to run away from me.
"I already know what kind of person you are." Yami replied, puzzled. "We've been over this, that stuff all happened in the past, didn't we agree when Mahaado resurrected us both that we'd try to put what happened behind us and see about being friends? I know why you did what you did, and-"
"It's not about the past!"
"Then will you please make some sense? Why can't you tell me?"
"Look, if you knew the truth…you said it yourself, the stuff is all in the past. Can't it just stay there? I'm tired of thinking about it." He looked away. "I just don't want to have to think about it anymore. It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does matter." Yami persisted. "It matters a lot, and it matters to me." Bakura glanced over at him and to his surprise he saw Yami's eyes were starting to look shiny, as if he were about to cry at any moment. He wondered if maybe he shouldn't have been so blunt before. He had to admit that he himself was still in shock too over waking up after major surgery to be called a terrorist. I guess Yami must feel even more lost than I do. He doesn't even know what he got caught up in.
Finally he mumbled something under his breath. "Ilidetooyu."
"What?"
"I said, I lied to you. You once asked me something in confidence and I lied to you."
"And how is that something new?" Yami asked, somewhat amused. "You always lie to everyone. Why are you suddenly stricken with guilt?"
"I killed those people." Bakura said, making no move to lower his voice. If the police heard, it wouldn't make any difference. He was already screwed, a few more marks by his name would make no difference now. "I told you I didn't, and I didn't think you believed me when I said it, but you still trusted me and I still lied. Now I'm really telling the truth. I killed them."
A dozen different emotions crossed Yami's face. Disbelief, realization, confusion, disappointment, anger…even a small spark of fear. Finally he asked, "Why did you kill them?"
"Because…because if I didn't, the guy that stole the plans for that laser from the American military, his name was Iyoku Issei, he was going to have you killed. He told me I had to kill these four certain people, and if I didn't, he'd kill you. So there you go." He glared. "There's the story. There's the big important news you wanted. I did it to protect you."
To his surprise, Yami didn't move, he appeared to be lost in thought. Then: "Why me? My life isn't worth any more than those people's lives. If anyone should have died, it should have been me, I've gotten the chance to live two lives."
"Yes, your life is more important!" Bakura started to sit up, but a sudden burst of pain found its way through the drugs and forced him back down, wincing.
"Why?" Yami wanted to know.
"Because…because…" Bakura squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see whatever look that would appear in Yami's face, "…Because I love you! And I didn't want anything bad to happen to you!"
He wasn't sure what to expect in the way of a reaction. Shock seemed most likely. Instead he heard Yami's voice, sounding curious, "So…this 'Issei', he wanted you to kill certain people, and he threatened to kill me if you wouldn't? He used me as his threat? Is that why I was kidnapped too? He had me poisoned?"
"Weren't you listening to what I just said!" Bakura snapped, opening his eyes.
"Sure I was listening. I'm just trying to understand." Yami's eyes watched him intently and Bakura felt his anger slide away. It seemed that for the moment, he wasn't going to be chewed out. He sighed.
"Let me start at the beginning…"
It took a good few hours to explain everything, from where he'd been and why, and explaining why the former commander-in-chief had wanted the laser. When finished, his throat was dry and he felt oddly empty. Empty of emotion, of thoughts, of everything. He just wanted everything to be over with. It was ruined, his one chance at doing the right thing had resulted in him being punished. Obviously some things never changed. What I told Louis was true. He thought bitterly. No one really gets what they deserve, it was true. Issei was right after all…he's getting his revenge. I never should have stopped that laser. I should have let it fry America and just ran when I had the chance.
Yami folded his hands and rested his chin on them. "Those people you killed still weren't worth any less than me." He began. "All things considered, you should have tried to get out of there and forgotten about me."
"Fine, then next time I'm kidnapped by a psychopath and forced into becoming their assassin, I'll just let you die! It'd be a hell of a lot better than getting blown up and accused of terrorism and thrown in jail! If this is the thanks I get for doing the right thing, then SCREW DOING THE RIGHT THING!" Bakura snapped, at the end of his temper. Yami was so methodical about his answers, he drove him up the wall.
"I wasn't finished." Yami said sharply.
"Oh. Go on."
"As I said, they weren't less important than me. I understand that you had a justified reason, but not everyone will understand that reasoning, their families won't care who you did it for. They were innocent and didn't deserve to die."
"I just wanted to do something right." Bakura said miserably. "I just wanted to become someone you could like. I wanted to prove that I wasn't heartless. It all got messed up, everything just got screwed up someplace. I was going to protect you, I only had one choice, I never wanted to kill them, and this laser business-I saved the world and I'm getting punished-"
"Are you ever going to let me finish my thought before interrupting?"
"Sorry, sorry, go ahead and finish. But if you're working up to a good long scolding, just hit me over the head with something first so I can be unconscious for it, okay? Even heartless people don't much like being yelled at. I'm goddamned sick of being yelled at."
"I'm not going to yell at you."
"Huh?"
"However far off track you got, your intentions began as good ones." He rested his hand on Bakura's shoulder, very gently. "I know what it's like to want to do something right and then it doesn't work out. I don't think you're heartless, not at all. I think you have a heart and you just never learned to use it. Unfortunately, you had to figure it out in circumstances without any right or wrong. You can't be blamed for that. Bakura, you did what you thought was the right thing, and I'm really, really sorry that you're being blamed for it now. It's not fair."
"Well, 'sorry' isn't going to save my butt." Bakura muttered. "I'm sorry this whole damn thing happened. I'm even sorry I beat that show-off in the shooting contest because if it weren't for that, none of this would be happening. But that's not changing anything! And furthermore, you confuse me! One second you're saying I can't be forgiven and the next, you're saying that you don't blame me after all. After everything is said and done, I still killed those people. And I'm still the jerk that killed your friends back in Egypt. And I'm still the guy you always hated. So why are you being so nice to me now? That's something I've been wondering about for a long time. Despite everything, you gave me a second chance at a life, you helped me out that night the police were swarming your neighborhood, and you're understanding about this. Why have you done all that for me? Why haven't you given up on me? Why are you still here? Anyone else would hate me for all that, but you don't!" His voice rose to a frustrated howl. "Why don't you hate me, Yami, why don't you hate me for everything I've put you through?"
Yami looked away. "Maybe I've got a few feelings I'm still trying to work out. About you and about myself too. If you want me to hate you, it's not going to work.If anything, I just wish I could help." He paused. "Did you really mean it, when you said you loved me?"
"You think it was another of my lies?" Bakura asked scathingly.
"No, I'm just wondering exactly what you meant." Bakura was surprised that Yami's voice was so calm, and he suddenly felt rather bad for snapping at him. As it was, he might not have a long time left to talk with Yami. Even if they decided to forego the terrorism charge, he was pretty sure that five counts of murder were being added to his list as he spoke. The police at the door were all talking excitedly among themselves. The thought depressed him further.
"I mean it exactly as it sounds." He said. "I mean that I think about you and there's all these emotions that I have that I never had before, and I think that I'd do anything for you, that's why I became Issei's assassin. I mean that when I look into your eyes…I don't know, it just feels like I finally belong there." He stopped. "I can't believe I just said that."
Yami blinked. "That was really nice."
Bakura stopped in mid-rant. "You thought so? I thought it was pathetic."
"And you're not afraid to say that?"
"Well, considering there's really nothing I can say now that'll get me in anymore trouble than I already am…Aw heck, no, I'm not. It's true. I shouldn't be scared to tell the truth for once, I suppose. He shrugged.
"You're a lot braver than I…" Yami said quietly.
"No, I'm not." Bakura muttered just as quietly, as the half-open door was thrown the rest of the way open and a police officer, presumably the head one, stomped in.
"You." he said, pointing at Yami. "You've been here long enough."
"Can't I-" Yami began.
"No, you've already been here ten times longer than you're supposed to be, now move it."
"Just a few more minutes?" Yami asked.
"Look, this guy is a dangerous criminal, and we just let you in to shut you up. Now move yourself along."
To Bakura's surprise, Yami suddenly looked very angry, and got to his feet. Despite that the officer easily had at least a foot on him, Yami suddenly seemed much larger. His eyes flashed as he snarled, "Bakura isn't a criminal!"
"Yami, what are you…?" Bakura hissed.
"He told us some sort of convoluted story about a secret society, and we heard him just now confessing to the five murders here recently. He didn't even tell us that part." The officer looked rather annoyed that it had been Yami who'd gotten the full story and not the officials.
"Yeah, and you heard the rest of his story, didn't you? The part about how they threatened to kill me if he didn't? Isn't there some sort of clause in criminal law about that?"
"If he were protecting his own life, there might be a clause in the law for it. But we don't even have any proof he was telling the truth. Give me one person that will stand up for him if this were a court."
"First of all, you haven't formally arrested him yet so you don't have the right to talk about him like that. Second, he WAS telling the truth, and if this were a court, I'd stand up for him, and I wouldn't care who I was facing, I'd stand up for him either way!"
"Yami…" Bakura suddenly felt a rush of gratitude. Yami wasn't angry after all...he believed his story.
By this time, Yami's yelling had attracted the attention of the others in the hall, and no less than seven official-looking people were watching the scene curiously.
"You can't treat him this way without due reason." Yami argued fiercely. "You heard what he was telling me just now, and there's enough to support that as there is to support that he's some sort of Egyptian terrorist trying to destroy America and Japan. You just want someone to blame, someone to show to the public and say, 'look, we caught the person responsible.', and you don't even care if he's innocent or not, you're going to put the blame on him without a second thought. Even though you've got no proof at all, you still guard his door and tell every person nearby that he's guilty. That's just sick!"
"Well, be as that may, your testimony would not make any difference." One of the American FBI men said coolly in broken Japanese. "For all you know, that whole story he gave you was a lie as well."
"I was poisoned by someone from that 'secret society', and that should be proof! There's a doctor that will confirm it-"
"Maybe he had you poisoned just to set up an alibi." The first officer said, pointing at the person in question. "Wouldn't put it past him-"
"No, that's not true, I'd never have poisoned him!" Bakura suddenly shouted. "Someone else maybe,but I'd never have done that to Yami-"
"Be quiet, your own testimony means nothing Bakura, you'll just make up lies. Now, Mr. Atemu, please leave."
"No, I'm not going to leave!" Yami stood his ground stubbornly. "I'm not going to let you accuse Bakura of things he's never done. You should be honouring him, he's saved a lot of people from getting killed by redirecting that laser! Just ask the American government, there were laser attacks there, that fits his story! Tell me why he'd purposely redirect the weapon if he wasn't trying to save them!"
"Look, no one's arrested him yet, you can get off your soapbox. We'll ask you one last time, please leave."
"Yami, just listen to them. It doesn't matter anymore." Bakura spoke up angrily. "They'll believe what they'd like to. And I don't want you to get in trouble with the law too."
"I don't care about that." Yami said. "I don't care if I get in trouble. I'm doing this for you, I'm doing this because this is what friends do for each other. You asked me why I was still here and why I hadn't given up on you, and that's my answer, even though I know you don't believe me. If I have to get in trouble to prove to you that I care about you, so be it."
He cares about me… Bakura fell silent.
"We gave him fair warning." One of the officers said quietly. The others seemed to agree, and without warning, the one nearest to Yami lunged at him, grabbing his arm.
"Let me go!" Yami snapped, struggling to get away from him.
Bakura took in the scene in an instant. "Hey, leave him alone, he wasn't doing anything wrong!"
"Failure to comply with an officer of the law, impediment of justice…"
"I don't give a damn about that, I want you to start treating Bakura with the respect he deserves, not like a criminal!" Yami's voice rose above theirs.
I don't understand, why are you defending me like this? Bakura asked silently as he watched them pin Yami's arms behind him and one of them shouted about how this was why they didn't allow visitors. You could have just left, it wasn't any big deal. Now you're going to be in trouble, just because of me…after everything, how can you defend me so unconditionally?
"Say good-bye to your friend, because you're not coming back to see him." The FBI agent snapped at Yami, who was currently being restrained by two of the police officers as they pulled him out the door. The former pharaoh stopped struggling and raised his head to meet Bakura's eyes again.
"Bakura, don't worry, we'll get this straightened out." Yami said, his voice firm, yet also oddly gentle. "I won't let them arrest you."
"You don't have to-" Bakura began. "This is my business-"
"I'm not defending you because I have to, I'm doing it because I want to."
"But why?"
Whatever Yami's reply might have been, Bakura didn't hear it because the door was slammed shut at that moment, and though he could hear Yami's shouts over the cries of others outside, he couldn't make out any of the words.
Eventually the voices faded away. Bakura found that he once again felt exhausted. The last few hours seemed even more unreal than ever. He could hardly believe everything that had happened…awakening to find that while unconscious and in surgery for his leg that he'd been accused of being a terrorist, seeing Yami, telling him the whole story, discovering that Yami didn't blame him after all, wasn't angry at him after all, then seeing Yami defend him so blatantly…it all swirled together in a mix of memories and emotions, many of which he'd prefer to forget. Squeezing his eyes shut, he enjoyed the feeling of making the room go dark, of blocking out the plain white walls, the police still standing outside the door, and of the reality of where he was. Yami was right, it wasn't fair at all, but that couldn't change anything.
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes:
I realize that I referred to Yami as "Yami Mutou" back in chapter one, and now he's "Yami Atemu". This is explained by the fact that Yami's 'legal' name is Yami Atemu, and Bakura didn't know this. (See, Bakura was not aware that Yami had not taken Yugi's last name. To keep things simple, Yugi and Yami generally pretend to be brothers, you know, the similar looks and all, so Bakura assumed they used the same last name, and he wouldn't ever have a chance to know any different seeing that he and Yami never talked much.) That's why Bakura called him "Mutou" in chapter one, when it's supposed to be 'Atemu'.
Just when you thought they were home free! Now the justice system has turned on Bakura as well. Well, I told you we weren't without one last twist. Besides, a laser's been bouncing all over America and Japan, you think that was just going to be ignored by the government? This is much more realistic, and far more exciting too, than my originally planned ending. Though, I must question the common sense of this thing. I could have given this fic a nice happy ending: Yami finds Bakura, Bakura's story is believed and he's home free, Yami isn't mad at him, Bakura and Yami declare their undying love for each other, and everyone lives happily ever after. It would have been so simple.
But NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOO, that just can't be. It might be cute…but it's cliché. And there's been too many cliché stuffs in this fic so far.
Well, I hope you paid attention to the above chapter. (If you didn't, go back and read it again, and read it CAREFULLY.) It got a little random in some places. I think I crammed too much stuff in at once. But there was no real good breaking place, and so many things that had to happen…:sigh: Well, this chapter does contain some things setting up for future sl logic, so if you want the future sls to make sense, (as much sense as could be expected, given that I'm writing them), then please pay attention right now.
"I'll never forgive you": One of Yami's most famous and deadly lines in the manga and anime. Probably his second-scariest line you could hear from him if you made him mad. (The first being, "let's play a game".) If he's pissed off at you and says he'll never forgive you, you might as well accept the fact that you're going to be mind crushed, driven insane, or killed. And you better hope you just get killed, which he rarely granted you the kindness of. Since he doesn't have his millennium/shadow magic in this fic, his line isn't as scary as it would be, but it's still very significant. I just wanted to toss it in.
Replies!
You Know Us: Yeah…when there's a huge laser about to fry everyone, redirecting it is probably good. :wink: And yes…Yami was in it. I'm starting to become scared that if I was to even make him get a papercut that Michelle-chan will come fillet me. O.o Shocking! Shocking is good! That's the result I was after. I want to shock you.:smile: (And no way, I'm here to help on history tests, not hinder.) And you, my friend, know me too well. One day I'll kill off all the charrahs just to surprise you. xD I'm just kidding! I'm glad you're enjoying all the crazy stuff.
Una1: xD Yeah, you don't need my help. You're perfectly capable of it on your own. Syahaha…yeah…I put the series charrahs through a good deal, but when I'm creating a bad guy that everyone is going to hate, I create him, (or her), just to make them suffer. 'Tis great fun. :laughs: Nah, not Catholic…I'm…uh, there's a fancy name for it, but like, a self-taught religion, you know? One that a person makes up on their own? There's a name for it, but darned if I know what that is…:smacks herself: Damn, I feel like an idiot now. I went back and checked Janime's site and sure enough, he's five feet even. Turns out I made a mistake in my cm-feet conversions. Man, I…feel…stupid. Oh well. Because, it wouldn't be exciting if they didn't cut it close! xD Yeah…you know what would be really cool? A mute villain, so he or she couldn't rant.That'd be great for a humour story. :plots: You know, he probably doesn't. Yami's so…unassuming sometimes, I really don't think he knows he's gay till it slaps him in the face. Yeah…it's a cycle. It's predictable…but it's fun!
Hershey-Kiss: Oooh…I see. Hmmn…ah well, not important. You don't? Eee, I'm glad! I worry about predictability sometimes but you're right…there are some things that just never get 'old'. :claps: I'm so glad! Normally you're big on critiquing, so, believe it or not, I really care a lot about whether or not you liked whatever happened considering you're one of the biggest…uh…critiquers. I know there's a better word for that, I just can't think of it. Demn head cold. Oooh, Bakura being dead and staying dead would have been really crummy. Like the end of the book 1984. That ending was so...bad. Just a whole load of a downer ending. KidsWB…I won't even give them the honour of going into what I thought of that line-up. --;
Sooo, I'm in a lot better mood now that WMM let me save my "I'd Do Anything" vid. Turns out there was a technical malfunction…WMM didn't like the order of these two scenes, so I switched them…it saved perfectly. Go figure. Yugioh is back on at its normal times, so my sanity has returned to a fairly balanced keel. (The sight of Yami in his sleeveless shirt may have helped…) Plus, only 23 more school days left this year:D It seems things are finally looking up for me, which is very very good.
Much love everyone, I'll see you all next week. :smile: Bai!