Disclaimer: I do not own Bakura. Or TéaOr Ryou. TT Poo. By the way, this story contains a very slight Téa romance. You've been warned. Don't like 'em, go elsewhere.
Theme Song: "Speak" by Lindsay Lohan
A/N: You're correct, Esther'nEra-guardians-ofChaos. Congrats. (grins)
For all those who didn't bother to look, or who simply couldn't figure it out, the reason Ryou's statue of Horus was beat-up looking was because Horus is the representation of the living pharaoh, aka, Yami Yugi. Just a little indication of what is to come… XD Oooh, now who can take that teaser? (sticks out tongue) Ok, go enjoy the story now.
Unwell
White Noise
The next time Ryou awoke, it was in a disturbingly white room.
Shit…
He could feel Bakura hovering near the back of his mind, quiet.
Look, it's all right, he told the spirit gloomily. You did what you thought was best for me, I guess. He was still angry- after all, here he was in an insane asylum, for Ra's sake- but he could understand Bakura's logic. The teen still shivered when he thought of his father's fists swinging down on him… he might have been dead by now if not for his yami.
The two halves embraced.
I… I couldn't stand to watch…
Ryou shushed him with a finger to his lips. I know.
Bakura growled at the memory anyway. Mine.
Heh.
A knock at the door switched Ryou's attention to the off-white panel. He felt Bakura start to surge forward, eager to punish those who had forced them here.
No!
Bakura paused, teeth bared in a half-formed sneer. And why shouldn't I?
We need to prove to them that we're not crazy. We can't do that unless you behave.
The yami grumbled, but allowed Ryou to remain in control. The hikari smiled and answered the knock. "Yes?"
"Bakura Ryou?"
"Yes."
The door opened and a short doctor beckoned them forward, his coat blending in with the room so well that it appeared as though his head was floating in midair.
Why is everything so damn white here? Bakura wondered.
Ryou followed the doctor out the door and down a matching hallway. The only splashes of color were the other man's short brown hair and the Ring. They'd evidently found his clothing too bright because he was blending in like a chameleon at the moment.
And now that he thought on that, why exactly did he still have the Ring?
Bakura was curiously quiet on the matter, but he decided not to press it.
They arrived at a door quite nondistinct from the others that they'd passed, and the doctor knocked politely.
"Come in," was the curt answer, so he opened the door and ushered Ryou inside.
"Ryou," Seiko Bakura said warmly, standing up.
The teen simply bowed his head, the white, shaggy hair doing the rest.
Noting what was going to be a tense meeting, the doctor bowed and exited, closing the door carefully behind him. A nurse shifted in her chair in the corner, mostly unnoticed thanks to her stark uniform and quiet presence.
"Ryou," the father said again, attempting to sound more welcoming. He only ended up registering as pathetic. "Please, talk to me."
Ryou wasn't intentionally ignoring him.
I am going to rip this bastard to bits!
Stop, nonono, don't! Hikari and yami wrestled for control, desperately attempting to clutch the controls.
Remember what happened last time! Ryou yelled finally, causing Bakura to hesitate and open an opportunity.
"Father, why am I here?" His voice was cold and factual.
"Because something's not right with you," Seiko supplied aptly. "This sudden Egytian phase? Blaming the Ring as the reason for spirits in your head? What's gotten into you?"
If he only he believed what we'd said, he would know, Bakura commented with a snide up-turn of the mouth.
"But it's all true," Ryou said firmly. "His name is Bakura, and if you'd only listen-"
"You've gone off it, Ryou!" his father suddenly roared. "Think about what you're saying! This is madness!" The nurse's head jerked upward sharply at his voice; it had been beginning to nod.
"Stop," the teen pleaded, spreading out his hands. "I'm telling the truth!"
"Enough," Seiko said, disgusted. "You don't recognize when someone's trying to help at your age, I understand. Nurse!" She had been nodding off again, but she sat up straight and looked at him attentively.
Ryou looked about, noticing the nurse for the first time. "I'm ready to leave now." His father proclaimed. The nurse peered up from under thick lashes and dark brown bangs, nodding. She looked young, about his age, but she seemed quite reserved. With a graceful flourish, she stood and gestured for Mr. Bakura to journey one way, presumably toward the exit, and Ryou to venture on with her.
"Father!" the teen yelped, shocked. "Don't tell me you're just going to leave me here-" The man rounded a white hallway corner and was lost from sight.
Ryou sighed and followed the nurse's beckoning. Odd, that she didn't speak a word…
The teen looked at her curiously and was so unabashed that she eventually looked his way and blushed.
"Hey," Ryou said tentatively.
She looked at him and smiled expectantly.
Mm, Bakura commented appreciatively, shifting their eyes down to her concealed chest.
Bakura! Ryou hissed, mortified, but the girl had thankfully chosen that moment to resume her downcast gaze to the floor.
Still slightly red, the teen tried, "My name's Bakura."
The little nurse cap on her head bobbed as she nodded, smiling again, this time in a more amused manner.
She already knows that, baka, the yami teased, also amused. Why don't you ask the date or the weather to make things more interesting?
Hush, you, Ryou ordered half-seriously.
"What's your name?" he said at last, looking to her. She only shook her head, still with that smile. "Can you talk?" he ventured, confused. She shook it again, the smile slipping.
Smooth.
"Oh. Sorry." Ryou added awkwardly. The nurse patted his arm as if to say "No problem." and ushered him onward toward a lone door at the end of the hall they had turned into. Now that he thought about it, she was probably asked that question at least once a day.
I guess it was my turn, Ryou thought glumly.
The nurse opened the door for him and bowed, gesturing that he go inside. "Thanks," he said, smiling at her in genuine sheepishness. "And sorry again."
A grin blossomed, dimpling her smooth cheeks, and she curtseyed her way out, blushing red as roses.
"Thank you, Miss Téa, that will be all," a cool voice informed the nurse from within the room.
The nurse gave one last bow, shutting the door behind her.
Ryou tore his eyes from her before the door closed and turned to face a rather tall and thickly built woman. "I am Mrs. Gerald, the institution's psychologist."
"Nice to meet you-" Ryou said, or rather tried to say. Mrs. Gerald was already continuing.
"I've read up on your case, Mr. Bakura, and I must say that it is most strange indeed." Here she paused, waiting for a comment, or at least a refusal, but Ryou had already decided to cease talking until she was quite finished. "Well," She moved on from the lapse. "I've decided that if you can promise to be on your best behavior, I will allow you to mingle with the other patients."
Here, Ryou supposed he was to grovel and cower and "Oh pleaseohpleaseohplease!" and such. Tough luck. "I promise," he said evenly.
Mrs. Gerald blinked. "Very well," she said with cheated disappointment. "One more thing."
Ryou waited for it.
"Would you like to turn in that Ring to us for safe-keeping? We tried to get it off
when we changed you into your uniform, but you wouldn't let it go."
Heh.
Ryou rolled his eyes at Bakura's snort; the woman thought it was directed at her. "Hmph. Well then."
She reached a hand to the enormous desk beside her chair and pushed a small, red button.
The door opened, and Téa entered, curtseying.
"Miss Téa, please escort Mr. Bakura to the recreation lounge." The girl bowed once and gestured to the door. Ryou stood, inclined his head to the older woman, and followed Téa dutifully. Wow. That had been rather pointless meeting.
Thanks to the ruckus you caused, he told the spirit, who cuffed him good-naturedly.
They reached an open door from where the sounds of people talking and ping-pongs slapping tables emanated clearly.
Téa nodded Ryou inside, smiling, and the teen passed through a barred entry to the very inside before he was actually within the recreational room. The door clanged shut behind him and Téa locked it, waving goodbye as she bobbed back into the hallway.
Friendliness seems to only go so far here, Bakura observed, shifting in the back of his hikari's mind in order to see more clearly. Sweet Ra- look at that one! He's frothing at us!
Ryou summoned the memory of Bakura snarling, licking at the drop of guard's blood- and yes, frothing at the psychologist.
Sorry, the yami quipped primly, banishing the memory to the shadow realm. Past evidence doesn't count.