The Purpose of a Heart
Chapter Nineteen:
Joey had gone over to Yugi's apartment the next afternoon to play duel monsters.
"Did you hear about the explosion in the woods last evening?" Yugi asked as he placed two cards face down.
"I saw it on the news." Joey replied, drawing and frowning at the card. "You hear anything about the cause?"
"No, you?"
"Nothing concrete, but I heard some crazy rumour about it being caused by a government laser that a terrorist got a hold of."
"No way!"
"I'm serious, wanna bet? I'll bet you 2000 yen. I could go buy some more curry rice."
"Okay, you're on." Yugi reached for the TV remote. "It's almost three o'clock, let's see if they have an update." He flipped it to a news station and nodded. "Yep, right on time. There's some pictures from the fire."
"…Firefighters have got the fire from last night's explosion tamed and as you can see from these aerial shots, an area with a radius of about two miles was burnt before they could extinguish the blaze. No homes were endangered, however the nearby town of Domino was issued a standby for evacuation late last night-"
"We were?" Joey asked blankly. "Gosh, good thing the fire stopped. I didn't hear nothing about a standby-"
"Probably you were asleep. Be quiet, they're talking about the explosion-"
"…While stories vary as to the cause of the explosion, which destroyed a privately-owned building whose owner's name is not able to be released at this time, police this afternoon confirmed that a satellite laser was found in orbit, and that the attack could likely be the work of a terrorist organization that struck the western side of the United States yesterday. For unknown reasons, the laser was then turned on the building, and remained there till it switched off. We now take you live to a satellite expert. Sir, can you tell us any more about this laser?"
"Well, it is very similar to an American design that was-"
"I TOLD you! Hand it over-" Joey collected his winnings and turned his attention back to the game. "Boy, I'm glad that Mai is here right now, and not over there in America. I wonder what sort of terrorist organization it was?"
"Dunno…I guess if they'd arrested anyone, they'd have told us, and anyway, those kind of societies are really secretive, I doubt…Bakura?"
"Bakura?" Joey asked blankly, looking around the room. "Where?"
"There, on TV!" Yugi pointed wildly. Joey turned to see a full-color picture from Bakura's bus pass being displayed in the upper right corner of the screen as the newswoman went on, "While no arrests have been made yet in this case, this young man, Touzokuou Bakura, is the only known survivor of the incident, and is also the prime suspect. He is being questioned at this time."
"What the hell?" Joey yelped.
"Shut up, I'm trying to listen-"
"The police have informed us that while he is not officially in custody, inside resources report that Bakura, found running from the scene and whom is currently in Domino Hospital for multiple injuries sustained from the explosion, is the main and only suspect at this time. In a statement earlier this afternoon, Bakura told reporters only that he is not guilty of a planned attack, and that he considers himself to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He refused any other comment. A background check has shown no connection to any known terrorist groups, but police are investigating. In an interesting twist, Bakura was overheard confessing to the five murders that Domino saw in the past few months-"
"Bakura's a terrorist and the murderer?" Yugi asked in a daze. "What got into him? I never thought he'd go around shooting people for no reason."
"To hell with that, where'd he get a SATELLITE LASER?" Joey demanded. "I mean it's not like you can just go buy on one e-bay!...Can you?"
"And why attack America, Bakura's never even been to America." Yugi wondered aloud.
"That must be where he's been for the past couple a months!" Joey said triumphantly. "That's got to be it, he's been off trying to destroy the world again! I knew it, I knew we couldn't trust him…"
"We'd better call the others, they're going to want to hear about this…"
Two hours later, when Yami knocked on the door to Yugi's apartment, he was nearly bowled over by a group of people whom had gathered there to gawk at the news on his large-screen TV set, now all talking at once.
"Bakura-"
"-terrorism, if you can believe that-"
"Have you see the news?-"
"-He was the murderer also!"
"I knew we couldn't trust him…"
"-He's a terrorist! Man, I never would have guessed-"
Yami stared blankly at them, the group including all of his friends, for a moment. "Well…I guess you guys all already know, then."
Once they found out that Yami had been there and knew more about it than anyone else, they all settled down to listen to his story, and the room was very quiet for a few moments afterward.
"I don't believe it. You're sure he's telling the truth?"
"I know it."
"So…he was actually trying to help us…" Tea said slowly.
"So he's in jail now? He's okay though, right? Is he hurt very badly?" Mai asked.
"He wasn't actually arrested, not yet anyway, but they have guards all around his room and they're treating him as if he's guilty." Yami replied moodily. "The surgeon says his leg will be good as new if he takes care of himself, and his other injuries are healing fine, so far. I think mostly it's his pride that's been hurt. See, he thought he was finally doing the right thing. And truthfully he was, he saved a lot of Americans from being killed. But instead of receiving any sort of honour, he's being punished for it. I can see why he's so upset. And I think he's probably pretty scared too, there's no telling what's going to happen now. As long as he's in the hospital recovering, they can't do much, but after that…" He rested his chin in his hands. "I feel like this is my fault, he joined that group trying to protect me."
"Why would he want to protect you?" Tristan asked, looking quizzical. "I thought he hated you."
Yami hesitated. He hadn't exactly told them why Bakura was so keen on protecting him, because it wasn't the sort of thing he could find a way to explain, nor could he think of a way to explain how he himself felt about the way Bakura felt about him. It was all just very confusing and for some reason…he just wanted to keep it to himself for awhile.
"He changed his mind." He finally replied.
"Kinda amazing that after all that, he was actually trying to help people." Joey said. "Never thought I'd see the day Bakura put aside himself for someone else. Guess you were right Yami, he really has changed."
"Unless of course he made that stuff up." Tristan started to say.
"He wasn't lying!" Yami turned on him so fast that Tristan shrunk back in fear. "He was telling the truth, I know he was."
"How?" Tea asked.
"I could just tell. It was there in his face. I could tell he was trying to hide it, trying not to let it show, but I could just see it, he's so upset over not being believed, and he's scared. He would never admit it, but it showed, he's afraid of what's going to happen to him. He's never been to jail! I can't blame him, I'd be frightened too."
"I wish there was some way we could help clear his name." Yugi said quietly. "Even if we could just find some type of proof to help him…"
"The police here and the American FBI have already decided that he's guilty, they just haven't said it yet, but they've decided. It's obvious they don't want to gave him a chance to defend himself. Even if they give up the laser business, there's still the murders." Yami muttered. "They won't believe anything else because it's too easy to blame Bakura. He's not in the position to fight back. He said it himself, he's the perfect scapegoat for them. Apparently that laser completely destroyed the Compound, that was his name for the building,and there were no bodies found in the ruins, yet, so his story has no collaboration. Even if they do find any trace of someone else's body, it'll be hard to find enough of them to identify if they were Iyoku Issei or not."
"So there's nothing we can do." Mai said. "Nothing at all."
"Basically, yeah, that's it."
"This bites." Ryou scowled, and suddenly looked quite a bit like Bakura himself. "Maybe he was mean to us before but in the end, he saved us. If Japan had really gone to war, think about it, our lives would have been changed forever, and my yami sacrificed himself to prevent that. It's the first time he's ever done something like that, with a pure purpose in mind, and he's been accused of all these things…"
"That's the bottom line." Joey said. "It sure doesn't seem fair, does it?"
"Who said anything about fair!" Yami suddenly asked. "It doesn't 'SEEM' fair! Hell, it's NOT fair! It's not fair at all, why they have to target Bakura like this, just when he was starting to believe in himself!"
Everyone stared at Yami in surprise.
"Yami, are you keeping something from us?" Yugi asked. "I can understand you being upset, but I didn't think you'd be this furious. I know he's your friend, but you guys WERE always rivals foremost."
Yami fell silent and refused to answer.
Tristan picked up a newspaper lying on the table and flipped through it. He was quiet for a little while, then suddenly asked,
"Yami, is this today's paper?"
Yami glanced at it and caught the picture of the fire on the front. "Yeah, why?"
Tristan slapped it down in front of Yami. "Then check this out."
"A super-sale on lawnmowers?" Yami asked, puzzled, studying the full-color ad. "Tristan, you don't have a lawn-"
"Not that, that." Tristan pointed to a small caption to the right of the ad. "It's a short little thingabout a guy that's been missing for over a year and just showed up at his house late last evening. He says he has amnesia. But get this, he used to be a computer programmer."
"Do you think…?" Mai began.
"Maybe he worked at the Compound too?" Yugi finished for her.
Yami stared at the paper and stood up. "What is there to lose? If we can find just one other person that'll verify Bakura's story, it could make all the difference. Let's go pay him a visit."
I wonder what exactly the government does with terrorists. Bakura was lying in his hospital bed, twirling a CD around his finger, watching it toss rainbows on the ceiling when it caught the light. I never thought much about it. I guess it's safe to say they don't get many luxuries. Or firearms…I miss my Uzi, I wonder whatever happened to it…I ought to have asked Yami. I bet he'd take care of it for me. I hope I have a chance to ask him about that someday. I really don't want it getting sold to some idiot in a second-hand gun shop.
He picked up a second CD from the small stack he had resting on his chest, and began twirling it with his other hand. It was a mindless activity, but it was better than laying there, doing nothing. Jared had sent the CDs to him that morning to keep him entertained. He appreciated the gesture.
I wonder how long it'll take them to finally officially arrest me. I wish they'd just get it over with. Anything would be better than this constant waiting. Being treated like a criminal bites, the least they could do is decide I'm guilty and have it over with.
In his anger, he tossed the CD in his left had across the room, where it hit the wall and clattered across the linoleum on the floor. Immediately he regretted doing that, since now he was unable to fetch it, and it had some good songs on it. With a sigh, he slid the pile of CDs and his CD player off his bed and onto the table beside it, upon which was propped a lone "get well" card, sent to him by Yami. After having been inspected inside and out and found to be harmless, it had been given to him by a nurse only a few hours before. It wasn't much, a simple picture of some type of flowers with a get-well wish inscribed inside. Yet, it made him feel a little better.
The young woman standing in the doorway looked extremely surprised to see a large group of teenagers standing on her doorstep.
"Can I help you?"
"We need to talk to your husband." Yami stepped forward. "We need to ask him about where he's been."
"My husband has amnesia, and he can't talk to any morereporters right now." She replied quickly, starting to close the door. Yami caught it.
"We're not reporters." He said. "And this is a matter of life or death, we need to talk to him. Just five minutes. Please."
She gave them a suspicious look, but stepped out of the way. They filed inside and she vanished into another room, returning with a young-ish looking man, the same one that Bakura had held back at the Compound, but of course they didn't know that. "These people said they need to talk to you." She told him.
"I'll make this quick." Yami began. "I need you to tell us where you've been for the past year."
"I can't remember." He said, in what sounded like a clearly-memorized speech. "The last I can remember, I was going off to work as normal one morning, and then the other day I found myself standing on the doorstep here."
"Well, if you remember all that, then you must know where you've been!"
"I'm sorry, I can't."
"Were you programming a satellite for a man named Iyoku Issei so that he could start up a new World War? Do you remember that?"
The man looked startled for a moment, then shook his head. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
Yami slammed his palms down on the table and stood up. "Look man, my friend is currently taking the heat for this whole thing, and none of the police believe his story. We need to find someone to back him up before he gets arrested for it."
"Well, I'm afraid I can't." He started to get up. Yami grabbed the front of his shirt and snapped,
"You can too, and you WILL. I know as well as you do where you've been, and there's no way in heck you're getting away without helping my friend out, got it? You're going to verify his story, and clear his name."
The man looked terrified. "Did the boss send you here?" He asked, voice cracking. "Are you assassins?"
"Boss?" Mai asked.
"The "boss" is dead!" Yami snarled. "We don't work for him! We're working against him if anything. He was killed when my friend Bakura, the one that's being blamed for this mess, demolished the building. You must have known him while you were there, you have to tell the police that he's telling the truth."
"Bakura?" the man asked, glancing around. "I-I don't know who-"
"Bakura, BAKURA, how can you not remember a name like that!" Yami shouted, fed up. "He's got brown eyes, spiky white hair, about yey-tall, carries an Uzi around like it's his baby, has no respect for authority, HOW THE HELL CAN YOU NOT KNOW WHO HE IS!"
"I-I-Look, I don't want to have anything more to do with that place…" The man whispered.
"So, you do know what I'm talking about!" Yami tightened his grip to the point that his victim was practically choking.
"Yami, you can let him go." Tea said quietly. "He can't help us if you choke him to death."
"Right…sorry." Yami said shortly, dropping him and retreating to the chair he'd been sitting in. "Look, I can understand your not wanting to be involved in this anymore, but wouldn't it be worth it if you kept an innocent person from being arrested? All you have to do is tell your story to the police, and if we can find any of the other people there…so many similar stories, they'll have to accept that Bakura was telling the truth."
The man looked a bit shaky. "Well…I guess I could…I knew a few of the other guys' names, I could try to look them up, if they haven't gone into hiding too…"
"Thank you." Yami said, before he could change his mind. "You won't regret it."
"But I don't want my name made public." He added.
"I'm sure that it'll be kept private." Tristan said helpfully. "The government is all secret like that."
They all left the house feeling as though they'd accomplished something big, something worth doing. Yet, Yami was oddly quiet.
"Yami, what's wrong?" Ryou asked. "We found someone to verify Bakura's story, why don't you cheer up?"
Yami shook his head. "What? Oh-no, I'm really glad we found him. Tristan, thanks for noticing that in the paper."
"No prob."
"Then why don't you look happier about it?" Yugi asked.
Yami shrugged and once more refused to answer their questions.
Bakura stared at the shadow from the lamp on the wall and then over at the door. Outside, he could see the silhouettes of two guards. They claimed not to be assuming anything, and yet they were acting exactly as if he were guilty. He'd asked them earlier and knew that they weren't allowing any visitors to come see him. He wished there was some way he could get hold of Yami. He'd thought about it for a long time while lying in bed, and the sort of future he foresaw for himself wasn't pretty. After arrest it'd be off to jail, and then to trial. He knew what the verdict would be, the head of the law enforcement office seemed to have it in for him and Bakura knew he wouldn't be leaving any courthouse an innocent man. And after that…if they could find terrorism involved, then for all he knew he'd be shipped off to America to be tried there and then, most likely, executed. And though he'd told Yami that he loved him, there were a few more things he wanted to say before he got killed. He just hadn't figured out how to put them into words yet.
Even if that didn't happen, and they only found him guilty for the murders, the likelihood that he'd ever be released was slim to none. The idea of being stuck in a jail for the rest of his life made him feel sick. Nothing to look forward to except crappy food and the occasional jail fight. Nothing to look at except four walls and barred windows and doors with heavy locks. Being locked up was not something he took lightly.
They've already decided I'm guilty. Might as well plant evidence and make it easier on themselves.
He scowled. Death would be better than sitting in a jail for the rest of his life. And it was definitely preferable to never seeing Yami again. His eyes fell on the pile of CDs and he picked one up, studying it, then reached for the pad of paper and pencil resting on the desk. Well…if it were between death and being arrested for murder, if not terrorism…
"Yami, something's up with you, and I want to know what it is." Yugi had cornered him back in his apartment. Everyone had split up after their meeting, but Yugi had followed him home, determined to get the whole story. His quick-thinking mind, excellent when it came to games and puzzles, had picked up right away on Yami's odd behavior, and he knew something was wrong.
"There's nothing wrong." Yami insisted, turning on the radio.
"Yes there is." Yugi argued back, turning the radio off just as quickly.
They stared at each other for a few moments. Then: "It's no big deal."
"It's making you act funny, whatever it is. I get the feeling that we didn't get the whole story before, did we?"
"What-what do you mean?" Yami blinked, innocently he hoped.
"You're hiding something. Something about this story you're keeping secret and I want to know why."
"Fine, fine." Yami folded his arms. "Bakura told me why he was protecting me."
"Why was he?"
"He said he was doing it because he loved me."
Yami was expecting Yugi to go on to asking why the heck it was Yami that Bakura loved, of all people, but instead Yugi's eyes suddenly dawned comprehension and he seemed to be holding back a smile as he said,
"And you love him too, don't you? That's why you're being so militant about this. You're upset because those police are keeping you two apart!"
"No!" Yami looked away, his cheeks turning red. "No, that's not it at all-"
"Oh look, you're blushing, that means I must be right." Yugi looked pleased with himself. "Well, this explains a lot that I was confused about before."
"No-I mean, it's not completely like that." Yami struggled to explain. "I just-I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Bakura, okay? I'm still figuring it out. So…don't go telling anyone else about this, alright?"
"Okay, but why? At the very least you know that you care about him-I didn't say 'love'-but you definitely care about him. You can't deny that, it's obvious in your face."
"Is it that clear?" Yami asked, surprised.
"Crystal. So, why can't I tell the others?"
"Because this is a delicate situation." Yami replied quickly, his poise clearly ruffled. "And I don't want Joey singing that stupid "kissing in a tree" song that he picked up from Mai. I saw how he acted when you and Tea began dating."
"Now you're trying to change the subject. So you care about Bakura, and alright, I can see why you don't want Joey knowing. But there's no reason to hold that back from Bakura himself. What he needs right now, more than anything else, is all the support you can give him. Letting him know you return the feelings-even just a little-would help him a lot."
"You think so?" Yami perked up, then he looked depressed again. "But the police won't let me go see him, they're acting like I'm his accomplice or something. There's no way I'd be able to get into the hospital to visit him, I'm clearly not welcome-"
The phone rang and Yami cut himself off. Yugi picked it up.
"Hello…yes, he's here…he what? No…of course, I'll tell him. Right. Thank you." He hung up.
"Who was that?" Yami asked, looking up in time to see Yugi turn back toward him, his face pale. "Yugi? What's wrong?"
"They-they want you at the hospital. That was a nurse in the psychiatric ward…Bakura's just tried to commit suicide."
As if he didn't need to look guiltier than he already does! Yami slammed the door to his car in the parking lot and sprinted toward the hospital doors. Just when we were finally starting to get someplace, he has to go and try to kill himself! That idiot, what was he thinking…?
"Where's Bakura?" he thundered, storming into the main room of the hospital, causing two small girls playing on the floor to skitter away from him towards their parents in fear.
A nurse seemed to have been waiting for him, because she popped up immediately and motioned. "This way." Leading him down the hall, she began, "He tried to slit his wrists with the broken halves of a compact disk, and it was effective. It was a good thing the guards saw him or who knows what might have happened. He wrote us this note." She held out a folded piece of paper. Yami snatched it and read:
Here's a question. What's the difference between dying in a jail someplace because I was accused of something I didn't do, or killing myself? The difference is that the second choice means that I win. You won't give me a chance to defend myself, you're all treating me like crap, and worst of all, you won't let the one person that believes me come visit me. Yami's all I ever had to live for, and you cut that out too. My life is pointless. Far as I'm concerned, death seems like a far better choice. So, I win.
"Your name was in it, so we decided to call you." She finished. "The police didn't want me to, but it seemed best."
Yami crumpled the paper in his fist. "Well he's going to be wishing he WAS dead once I get a hold of that idiot." He raged. "He's going to regret being such a dunderhead…"
But once Yami reached the room in the psychiatric ward where Bakura was now, his verbal assault he had planned for him vanished from his mind. Bakura was lying on the cot, both arms swathed now in bandages, eyes half-closed as he stared at the ceiling. It struck Yami just how lost he looked. Somehow it was a very sad scene.
"Bakura!" he called, running toward him. Bakura lifted his head at the sound and his eyes widened.
"Yami…they let you in?"
"Bakura, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He said with a small smile. "Compared with the car, this is nothing."
Yami suddenly frowned and slapped him across the face.
"Ow! Man, don't you think I'm hurt enough?" Bakura asked, wincing.
"You idiot, what were you thinking? Trying to kill yourself, that was a ridiculous, childish, and stupid thing to do!" Yami yelled. "Tell me Bakura, what the hell WERE YOU THINKING!"
"I thought that if I left that note, it would make them let you come see me." Bakura replied. "And see? It worked. Besides…anything is better than being shipped off to jail."
The expression on Yami's face changed from anger to confusion to one of mixed pain and frustration.
"Bakura, there are other ways of getting to see me! I'm sure you could have come up with something else. What if you had succeeded? What if no one found you and you'd died!"
"It wouldn't really matter." Bakura said dully. "No one would care. They'd probably be happy, since now everyone would be spared the trial issue and all. I'm a murderer, Yami. No one cares about what happens to people like me. And my insurance company would be happy, they wouldn't have to keep paying my bills. It's not like I'd be missed."
Yami bit his lip. Bakura sounded so unlike his usual self. It was like his spirit was missing. "Of course it would have mattered. There're people that care about you-"
"Who?" Bakura shot. "Tell me Yami, give me the name of one person that would mourn me if I died."
Yami faltered. "Ah-"
"See, no one." He spit angrily. "I told you, no one would care. I wish they would have just let me die. I wish they would have left me alone and just let me die." He glanced down at his wrists and Yami saw, for a split second, Bakura's lower lip wobble, as if he were about to cry.
The nameless feeling in Yami's chest deepened. "Bakura, none of that is true. I would have cared. It would have mattered to me." He said, kneeling down. "It would have mattered a lot to me. If you died, I'd…I'd really miss you. I'd-well…it was a really stupid thing of you to do. I know all this is hard on you, and you're scared, but-"
"I am NOT scared!" Bakura objected.
Yami let it slide. "Fine, you're not. But killing yourself is not going to help! You're just lucky your little plan worked out with yourself still alive. Now what was so important that you put all this together just so you could talk to me?"
Bakura lowered his voice to less than a whisper. "Where's the Uzi?"
Yami furrowed his brow. "Uh…Jared has it. And those two little guns of yours too."
"Oh, good, Jared will take care of them. He takes good care of his guns, he's told me he has a nice glass cabinet and-"
"Bakura, would you please get to the point?" Yami asked in exasperation.
"That is the point." Bakura replied. "Look, I want you to thank Jared for taking care of them, and I want you to have them, okay? Now, remember to polish the Uzi twice a week-"
"Bakura, what are you talking about?"
"Sooner or later they'll tote me off to the prison, and-"
"They've arrested you?"
"No, not yet, but it's only a matter of time Yami. So, about the Uzi, there's this special brand of polish that-"
"Bakura, why are you telling me all this?"
Bakura looked somewhat disgruntled that Yami hadn't figured it out yet. "I told you, I want you to have the Uzi. All the other stuff to my name has been thrown out by that idiot of an apartment manager I used to have, and my other belongings were in the Compound, but it blew up. I…I just want you to have something of mine, that's all. To say thank you for believing me, something you can remember me by. After I'm in jail or killed or whatever they're going to do…I just want to give you something that was special to me. That's all."
"But, but you don't need to give the Uzi to me Bakura, because you're going to show them all that you're not a terrorist, and not a murderer, that this is all a mistake, and you're innocent. And then you can have your gun back." Yami said, shaking his head.
"Look Yami, let's not lie. The likelihood of that is slim to none. If they ignore the terrorism business, they'll still put me in jail for murder. If they pin the laser on me too, the American government will be involved too, and I'll be executed eventually. I want you to have the Uzi. I know you'll take good care of it, all right?"
"No, no it's not all right!" Yami shook his head even more furiously. "These ideas of yours are not all right at all! I'm not going to stand here and let you give up, and I'm not letting Issei's screwed-up plan make you go to jail! I'll do whatever it takes Bakura, I'm going to get you out of here and I won't let anyone lock you up in jail, do you hear me? I'll do whatever it takes, no matter how tough it'll get, no matter what anyone says, I'll do whatever I have to, Bakura. I won't let anyone hurt you like that."
Bakura stared in surprise at Yami, who now drew himself to his full five feet, and swung his arm toward the door. "Me and the others, we've found one of the guys that worked at the Compound. He's going to try to find others and we're going to prove that you were telling the truth. And you'll be free, so I don't want to hear any more of these ridiculous notions about you going off to jail, or to America to be executed, and I never want to get another phone call saying you tried to kill yourself, got it? Don't do anything elsestupid like that."
Bakura nodded. "Okay Yami…I got it, I got it."
Yami's expression softened. "I'm sorry I slapped you."
"Aw, it's okay. I probably needed it." Bakura smirked. "Everyone needs a good slap now and then to keep their heads on straight."
"Well..." Yami paused before beginning again, "Well, Bakura, there's sort of something else I want to tell you too."
"What's that?"
"Well, the reason why I'm helping you, the reason why I want to clear your name and why I did all that stuff for you that you were confused about. Remember? You asked me why I helped you?"
"I remember."
"Yeah, that, well…the reason why I did all that…it's because-"
He was cut short at that moment by the door to the ward flying open as three police and two American FBI agents walked in. The police officer in front gave Yami a dirty look. It was the same detective, the one that Yami had nearly gotten into a fight with the last time. Ignoring this spiky-haired bystander, the officer thrust a badge out in front of Bakura's face and announced,
"Touzokuou Bakura, you are under arrest."
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes:
Awright, I want to apologize for the late-ness again…it's very mean of me to make y'all wait when something interesting is finally going on, and I'm afraid the next chapters may be late was well due to that I'm finding myself up against a writer's block. I know where I am and where I want this to go, but darned if I can find a way to get it there, and my last resort idea is sort of weird so I don't want to use it. So, please, forgive my late-ness, and understand that I'm trying to do what I can to keep this running smooth.
And now…drum roll please…My review count is officially over 400, (It went over 400 last chapter actually…I just forgot to count. I'm sorry!), and the person that sent my infamous 400th review, was…Una-chan! Congrats, and thanks to everyone for helping me make it to this point! First time I posted a fic here, I was elated when I got my first review. I thought it was the most freaking awesome thing ever. Never thought I'd get to 400, and I owe it all to you guys. You're the best!
I often reveal spoilers to future chapters in these, in case you haven't noticed by now. So maybe it'd be best if you didn't pay too much attention, ne? xD Whateva.
Curry Rice and Joey: If you didn't already know, curry rice is Joey's favourite food. It's a type of Japanese fast food, and so therefore he could buy a nice amount of it with 2000 yen. (About nineteen dollars.)
Yami's height: Turns out, after re-evaluating my centimeters-to-feet conversions, (I'm blamin' my calculator and pure idiocy for that one…), that Yugi is indeed only 5 feet tall. (Kawaii little bugger, ain't he? I just wanna hug him…A boy that's actually shorter than me. :niko: Who would've guessed!) I know that Yami is five inches taller than Yugi in the anime. But because I like to go by the manga's calculations, (which started with Yugi and Yami being the same height), I put Yami at five-feet too. This is very amusing seeing that Bakura is like, almost a foot taller, and thus the idea of Yami comforting Bakura is somewhat comical…but whatever.Anyhoo, five feet it is. He's so tiny! I wanna hug him too…tiny people are very huggable.
This chapter was very…interesting…to write. Once again, I think I crammed too much stuff in at once. Gosh, when will I learn? Probably never. So, anyway…Bakura's continuing to 'decompensate', (which is psychologist lingo for "lose it"), and has tried to kill himself of all things. Ooh, and BTW, the broken edges of CDs can be quite sharp, and thus, one could cut themselves. Not that I've really tried it, but I did get a decent papercut-like injury off one on accident one time, (I suggest not trying it for yourself, it's rather painful. Have you ever accidentally sliced your finger with a razor? Feels like that.), so I can imagine it's possible. Yami's trying to get him to cheer up and also clear his name, and then those freaking police have to interrupt what might have been a nice sappy romantic scene…to put Bakura under arrest. As if he wasn't decompensated enough. But anyhoo, the next chapter will be Chapter TWENTY, (this will be the first time I have ever written a chapter number starting with a 2 before…). I'm very surprised at how this fic took off. All the way to chapter twenty…pretty cool, really.
Yami says he'll do whatever it'll take. Pay attention to this line, for it is very very important. We'll find out just how much he meant it.
I'm pretty sure they have capital punishment in Japan, but, realistically, the American government would probably be the people to take care of such things since it was their country that got zapped. (The death toll is quite high after all.) So, yeah, that's why he was talking about getting taken to America. Not like Bakura knows any more about howthe government works than I do.
Replies!
Hershey-Kiss: Yeah, I'm serious! You're my best critic, (yeah…that was the word all right.), so getting a compliment from you must mean I've done something right. I like Yami's quiet intensity…there is something very cool about it. …Well, and the fact that if I tried to tell someone I wouldn't forgive them, they would just laugh, so I'm also rather jealous of his power over words…Okay, and dude, either you're hacking into my computer and reading the chapters before they are posted, or you just know me too well. Whichever way, you still predicted how this would open. xD
You Know Us: You want another long chapter? You got one this time around. The latter chapters in this fic are all fairly long, actually…seriously, he would be very handy to have on your side! xD Yeah, love is wonderful…even when it involves all this crazy stuff. Heh, Yami is community property anyway. He belongs to all the fangirls and he belongs to Bakura and he belongs to anyone else that anyone can pair him up with…I just adore cuteness, I'm glad you are both enjoying it as well! As for those police…they sure could use a good mind crush…or seven. Too bad Yami doesn't possess the power to do so anymore. Well, surely someone's gonna do something. We'll have to wait and find out!
Well…hmmn, I dunno what else to write down here today. Lessie…I got manga yesterday! Woot! This cheers me up. Oh, and dude, only SEVENTEEN more school days left! For this I am truly grateful. We're watching Pearl Harbour in my History class.We saw the end today...it's so SAD. I was crying so hard at the end. But so was everyone else.Tell me, how much of a coincidence is it that we're studying WWII right when I'm writing this fic, huh? I didn't plan this, honestly I didn't. Plus, my cramps have thankfully left me alone finally. You know, things seem much less stressful when pain isn't in the picture.
I'll see you next week, my loves. Bai!