Yami's koi: in this chapter… someone will die!
Bakura: better be someone I hate, mortal. Otherwise you will have to face the consequences.
Neutral Man: what consequences?
Bakura: like having to face my almighty wrath.
Yami's koi: okay then. More at the bottom, dudes!
I have finally managed to get back to this shit hole of a house that the Gods Ra and Osiris have fashioned – or rather, half fashioned - for me. Despite the sticky heat of September, I shiver, and pull my thin blanket over my shoulders half-heartedly. My eyes are so weary after… two and half-hours of being awake. Damn…
Well, I have nothing better to do. And what harm could this do to me? Possibly a peaceful dream will come my way… Fuck this… I'm going to sleep. Not that I can keep my eyes open for much longer anyway.
My only hope is that my dreams will not be plagued with more images of my beloved Bakura.
Bakura
The doorbell rings. Hastily I snap shut all open textbooks, much to the Pharaoh's disgust, and approach the door. I grasp hastily from my back pocket a curved knife, imprinted into its handle a carving of magnificence – an eagle, flawless and in exact detail as in real life. Still, I have no time to admire minutiae.
Through the blurred, fogged glass, I can just make out a blonde, tall and lithe figure, and I groan, loudly. Just what I need. That fucking dumbass. Could anything get possible worse than what it already is? Of course, things could… but I am unprepared to dwell on that.
Still, he sees me, and rings the doorbell once more pointedly. With a grimace I wrench it open and, before I know it, he has barged straight past me.
"Bastard," I mutter, following him. Conveniently forgetting about the knife I am holding whilst I am at it. Yes… 'Forgotten.' If I weren't so depressed, I would be more than happy to play a little joke on our idiot friend here.
But since it is Jou…
"You are supposed to ask before just entering into my personal domain, Katsuya," I berate, stepping in front of him agilely. He pauses and stares at me, unconcern in his honey-coloured eyes. "And now you shall be punished!" I announce, pointing at his nose with my knife. "Prepare to fence!"
"Oh, piss of Bakura. I'm not here for you." Jou snarls, turning his back on me to face the Pharaoh's aibou. "Yugi. Your Grandfather told me you would be here. I have a… slight problem."
At these words I snap. He dares to sound so miserable and lonely when I am barely coping here with my maddening grief? This time, I could actually stab him in the back. My motive would be true and just. The only fault with this plan is that I would lose my two most helpful reading tools. Shit. Still, I may shout in his face for a while…
"Oh yeah? Well unless you have a black mark on your skin, and dealing with depression because your hikari is dead, I suggest that you FUCK OFF YOURSELF!" I scream, pointing with my blade to the door. "If you are grieving and have a dark mark, then you are more than welcome to stay here."
Jou blinks, unable to believe what I have just said. His cheeks have paled considerably, and his eyes brighten slightly with the unmistakable glisten of tears.
"Where… where's… where is Ryou?" He stutters, his voice too cracked to form a sentence properly.
I heave a heavy sigh, and run my fingers through the irregular silvery spikes of my hair. I then stop, remembering the last time I had done such a form of habit… my own hikari, dead, because of… of me.
Right now I could do without having his wide, chocolate eyes staring at me with caution, his hands covering his mouth to suppress a sob. It has the exact same effect as looking in the mirror when upset: unless you shatter it, you weep even harder.
A tear finds its way down my cheek, this a sign for Jou to understand. Just to repeat the events of yesterday by mouth once more is becoming too much for me to handle.
He moves not one inch, though his eyes follow the path my tear takes. I release a small groan when I realise that he has not quite grasped my meaning. Poor mortal… he probably deems that his presence is enough to depress me.
"Ryou is… um… Ryou is… he… he's dead." I manage finally, a warm flush reaching my cheeks as more signs of weakness fall. I only hear his gasp of shock before I rush into the kitchen, my fingers touching the back of my mouth. My stomach churns, and the foul, abhorrent substance chokes its way out of my mouth. I clutch my stomach with my free hand; pressing in at regular intervals to coax even more massed up fluid to make its presence known.
After this occurs several times, I notice that my puke has turned into a white, almost clear, substance. Bile. Fuck… that bulimic trick is becoming really addictive to me…
Ryou, dream
"YOU!"
The figure above him smirks. Not one part of his face is exposed to me apart from his lips, the rest being shrouded in complete darkness. Assuming that I name this person 'Shadow,' with the other person being named 'Defenceless,' I feel that I could interpret this situation quite well. Defenceless has been attacked whilst on the way home, much too early, from school, which explains his swiftness – he did not want to be found. However, his concentration had stayed, allowing Shadow to take him down to the ground.
A short laugh emits from Shadow's lips. "Who did you expect, Father Christmas?"
Shadow's voice is low and… almost husky. And too familiar for my liking. However, I find myself unable to place that voice… I need to see his face.
Defenceless stares into the face of his attacker, a mixed look of horror and rage rampaging across his features. Almost as if to perplex me further, his face is also shadowed.
Shaking his head, Defenceless says, "Not you…" Then, I see something cross his face. A deathly looking snarl reaches his lips.
"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO KILLED HER!"
Shadow bursts out into fits of haunting laughter, shaking Defenceless' collar in time with the eerie noise. Such a laugh causes a chill to run up my spine. I have never heard something so ghastly…
"You accuse me of killing someone? Come now, surely you have killed many more than what I have…"
Defenceless' body stiffens beneath Shadow's touch. A nerve has been struck, it would seem. And Shadow is fully aware of it. "I have decent enough motives. I don't kill purely for the sake of it. You should know this…"
Shadow's lips curl up into a sneer. He fists another hand into his opposition's clothing, lifting him so that he can now stand independently. I sincerely hope that he does not release another unearthly howl. The tingling sensation down my spine…
"Are you prepared to battle, little one?"
Defenceless crouches down into a fighting position, and I hypothesise correctly at what Shadow does next. He expels from his mouth that unique foul laughter of his, mocking and authoritative.
"Very well. Prepare to die!" Shadow cackles, darting forwards with a long, sharply edged blade. Fortunately Defenceless blocks it, parrying it with his own. Sadly, the blade he carries seems to be like a dagger compared to that of Shadow's. I fear the outcome of this…
They circle each other, not even the twitch of lips moving when one feigns the first move. My heart is racing in anticipation, along with a slightly sickened feeling in my injured gut. Absently I rub over the long, white scar that shoots across my stomach, coaxing it into a lesser pain.
Shadow this time misleads Defenceless into believing he will strike, which the poor fool does accept as the truthful first move.
"First blood is mine!" Defenceless cries out, flitting forwards to jab at his opponent's chest, falling just several inches short due to their slight difference in height. Nevertheless, Shadow dodges the almost careless stab, and manoeuvres around so that he is at Defenceless' left side.
Before Defenceless can glance around, or even register his own surprise at this, the slightly less inexperienced one falls once more. A well of blood can be seen near his shoulder, just beneath his clothes, yet I deem that the cut is quite shallow: and yet just enough to make one's skin tingle. Unluckily for Shadow, I feel Defenceless' inner rage bubble fractiously, displayed as a snarl upon his lips.
"You'll pay for that one, baka!" He screeches, jabbing his dagger once more at Shadow's chest. In retaliation, his taller nemesis mocks him by using a mere one hand to obstruct the slashes made, sneering that his sword skills were always pitiful.
Despite the obvious advantage that Shadow has, I feel more inclined to support Defenceless. Yet when I open my mouth to call out my encouragement, it ends with a highly pitched scream, forgetting that I am not supposed to be viewing this.
Defenceless had just dashed forwards once more for a surprise attack. Yet as soon as his blade struck Shadow's shoulder, he released an unearthly cry of his own. Drawing back in what I interpret as raw agony, slouched over slightly; I see a second sword, impaled into Defenceless' right hip. That was unjust…
Defenceless, now true to his name, falls to his knees, then on his uninjured side. I can almost feel his life force being extracted from his body, Anubis and his Chariot approaching swiftly. Shadow leers over the defeated figure.
"I think I shall leave you here for someone to find," He states, turning on his heel to stride off.
At this I feel rage. Pure, unrestrained, hatred. How can someone kill another so needlessly? Forgetting completely that I am much less experienced, I make to chase him. To make him take back what he has done, to persuade him to run for aid.
Then I hear a moan come from behind me. Iie, my mind reasons, iie, that would be a waste of energy. Instead, I feel that I should go and comfort poor Defenceless in his last few moments… if he can hear me.
I approach him swiftly, and his head turns. Hs mouth opens slightly.
"You were the one who screamed… he didn't hear ya…"
"Shush," I whisper, covering him with his ripped coat to keep him warm, although it is now splattered with his blood. The small amount of skin exposed to me visually around his shadowed face pales, and I can feel more of his life being absorbed by Anubis for his own purposes. "I cannot help you, but what I can tell you is that where you are going is better than what it is here… It just has to be."
He smiles faintly. "Arigatou… I need that."
I smile back, allowing his head to rest slightly upon my knee. I stroke his pale, messed up hair comfortingly, though I can feel his efforts, and courage, wavering.
"Ryou…!"
My head jerks to look at Defenceless' lifeless face. Two fingers gently press against the exposed flesh of his neck.
He is dead… and the shadow is clearing.
My eyes widen in shock, and my hand falls limply to my side. Tears begin to form in the corner of my eyes, and my mouth opens several times before closing once more. I sniff, before my tears and grief can be shown. Clenching my fists into his hair, I begin to keen.
"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I roar, not caring if Shadow bothered to return at the cry to gloat in triumph. I shake my head fiercely, as if to refuse that such an outrage had occurred. This could not have happened… there is no conceivable way…
"No, not you. Please…" I whisper desperately, feeling his wrists for a pulse frantically, although I know he no longer lives. Willing myself to calm, I locate where his pulse should be. I feel nothing: my previous attempt was not mistaken. An endless abyss of silence. No comforting beating, no resistance to my actions… I cannot, do not want, to believe that it is he who has just died.
But there is no denying it. The form that I am supporting right here in my arms… now so heavy and broken… is Katsuya Jonouchi.
End of dream
"FUCK!" I exclaim, bolting upright from my makeshift bed. Startled, I glance around, and find the ghostly figure of Osiris sitting nearby. He watches me intently, those dark and soulless orbs staring straight at me. For one moment I stare back, unable to banish the vision of his less divine form.
Yet after that moment, as I am unable to interpret his current mood, or motives, I reach for my jacket whilst rising to a stand. I must ensure that Jou is okay. That he never left the school.
That he is still alive.
Without even so much as another glance at the God behind me, I wrench open the wooden, plain door, and begin to run. I pass several smoking teenagers in the street, obviously too stoned to mock me for my lack of speed.
'Please, no, don't be dead,' my mind screams as I pant, breaking only once near a corner shop that I used to visit everyday for candy. My brain resumes in showing me small flashbacks of the dream… Shadow's haunting laugh… the way they parried each other's moves… how I had spoken to Jou in his last few moments… how Jou had stared up at me when he had died. Before I awoke, I just hope that I had closed his eyes… I cannot stand such a blank look, devoid of all life behind them…
I round the next corner, attempting to gather more speed. I must find him before anyone else does… must ensure that he lives…
Bakura
Barely no time has passed, or at least to me. I can hear a light sobbing from within the adjacent room, doubtless coming from the broken hikari of the Pharaoh. And yet I still have no realistic intentions of re-entering that room, seeing every form of pity imaginable being flashed in my direction from their eyes.
I hear a lightly padding footfall behind me, pausing just before he can touch me. Instinctively I know that the figure is Yami… no one else could possess such an aura of authority and sorrow… sorrow. He knows nothing of the loss in which I have suffered both yesterday and today. Reading Ryou's last words were enough. They… touched me, right at the heart. No one has ever had neither the permission nor ability to actually do such a thing to me before. My tears did not spill onto the page, which they might have done to someone much weaker, yet I did cry. Hell, I cried so hard last night… I keened my grief, screaming out in my Ancient Tongue to express myself even more so.
What startles me now is the feeling of a hand placed on my side, persuading my body to turn or face being broken again. Yami stares intently into my eyes, then at the contents still rippling in the sink.
"You have been sick. That is understandable," He says gently, his tone soothing me greatly. My trembling is still there, restless and wild, yet it is less now.
"Come. Take a seat, Bakura. The faster we may read, the sooner you shall have Ryou back." He adds, steering me softly but insistently into the living room.
Immediately I note that Jou has vanished – most probably gone home to mourn for my hikari. With a sudden jolt I realise that this has not only affected me, as it is so easy to forget in times of intense anguish. I stare into both Mutou's faces and, I note, that both are tired, pale and, in Yugi's case, shuddering. I do not know whether to feel more sorrowful, grateful, or selfish. It is so easy to take things for granted…
…Just like I did to my hikari.
Osiris
"My master?" I ask, rapping lightly on the hall of light's most elaborate, delicately carved door. It is made from the finest of all oak, with carvings depicting many scenes that occurred throughout Egypt during Yami's reign. I hear a small mumble from inside declaring that I may enter, and I take a long, deep breath. This sight never fails to impress me…
My Lord, master and creator, stands there, staring out of the overly illuminated window. How he ever managed to withstand such brutal light force, and gradually build that up over time never ceases to amaze me.
Yet this is not why I have come. I must speak to Ra… and discuss the youthful, and fallen, Ryou Bakura.
He turns and offers me a brief smile, before settling down onto a golden substance that is tainted with the purest of all silvers… the one much too divine to gift the mortals below us with. A hand raises and gestures to the chair opposite his own, and I gladly take it. I feel uneasy when in the presence of Ra, and he sat when I am standing, and it shows. Laying down my sceptre, now a deep violet colour, I begin.
"Master, I am… concerned for our newest arrival. Although it is most unlike me to pity a mere mortal, I must admit that his case was enough to turn my stomach. Did it not yours?"
Ra grimaces slightly as he thinks… a most endearing habit in which he possesses. Eventually, I claim my answer.
"Slightly. He realised too late his fault, and for that I must consider him as a unique and… hopeful… child." He pauses slightly before continuing, adjusting an armband.
"I… have been monitoring the Tomb Robber Bakura, Ryou's counterpart, and his movements most intensely of late. It seems that he and the Pharaoh have set aside their differences, great though they still are, and are searching through texts to resurrect his Ryou. It is futile," He adds, "Because for that, he need a body. And that is what we have."
I pause for one moment to absorb fully what Ra has just said. His smooth, tanned face seems to grin in amusement. It is then in which I realise something.
"Master-"
"Osiris…" Ra begins, wearily, and I can almost predict what he is about to state, "Must you call me that? We are equals, friends. Not even mortals would offer me such respect, or at least not now in this day and age. Ra is my given name, and I pray you use it."
I smile. "Ra, you just said 'his Ryou.' Would this imply---?"
Ra's smirk widens, a slight flash glistening in his eyes. That look is so mischievous, never to be seen by any living mortal, or any mortal, for that matter. It is only I, and perhaps other close friends, who have seen such a side to the Great Sun God.
"You have a problem about Bakura being yaoi?"
The way he is looking at me is unnerving. I shake my head, unable to do much else.
"No… I have no problem." Ra seems to smile gently now, not smirk, and he surveys me with his deep sapphire eyes. Although to mere mortals, our eyes are naught but expressionless orbs, we superior beings see each other with actual eyes. And beautiful Ra's eyes are. And yet so is everything about him.
"Osiris…" He whispers, rising to a stand. I do not move, or even twist around in my levitating golden throne to see what he is doing behind me.
Then I feel a small, light kiss just below my ear, and my eyes widen.
Ryou
I am just rounding the corner to our school, and, even from here, I can see a small, unmoving figure before me. With sudden respect for the one in which I know is dead, I fall to the ground beside him. I feel for a pulse in his neck, but instead feel my own, uncontrollable, rapid, restless beating, almost mocking the fact that the one lay next to me has none. It is almost as if the beat is compensating for the loss of another.
I take a shaky breath, trying to calm my own heartbeat. I must be sure… must make sure that he is dead before I seek assistance from within the school. From where I will probably be blamed for this.
Now that my breathing is relaxed, I know what I must do. Yet when I touch the skin for a second time, I notice the thrilling coldness of the skin in comparison to my own sweating form. My fingers move to the exact place they had felt in my so-called dream, now more like a never-ending horrifying vision.
Again, I feel no beat. There is no part of me now that can convince me that he still lives, that Shadow never came to murder him.
I must contact Shizuka. She should be the first to know that her poor niisan had died. Slowly I rise from my kneeling position and, with deep remorse slowly making their way from my eyes, I venture back into the school.
Osiris
"Ah… Ra?" I stutter, feeling my Lord's warm, inviting lips travel down from my ear to my cheek, kissing every inch there. Strong, muscled arms come around me, the tempting embrace causing me to melt.
"Hmmm?" He whispers into my ear softly, nuzzling the exposed skin there. Despite myself I cannot quite suppress a small whimper, my breathing coming ragged from my mouth. I… have never been touched like this before…
When I do not answer him, he pauses his ministrations and turns me around, pulling me to my feet. I note immediately that he has not released his grip on my hand. His flawless azure eyes stare intensely into my own, alight with both lust and wonder.
"Do… Osiris, is this what you want?" Ra asks me, stroking a strand of dark hair from my eyes, afterwards using it to caress my cheek. I nod my head after not even a second of thought.
"Yes."
He smiles. "Then allow me to show you to my room…" He whispers seductively, leading us both out of his office. My heart is racing… and I have never experienced such bliss. For long now I have wanted my master, but have never said anything because of my fear of rejection.
And it is then that I realise. It seems that poor Ryou's situation has inspired him. He desires me to know before we part, drastically thrown into the chasms of chaos once more.
Thank you, Ryou.
Ryou
"Master Ryou Bakura, we are aware that you were dismissed from within this school at approximately ten minutes past ten today, due to the usage of the word suicide in front of your sensei. You confirmed just that you arrived home twenty minutes later, and fell asleep. What made you return to the school?" Sheriff Nihongo asked, peering intently into my eyes.
I have alerted the school who, eventually, believed my story and contacted the police. They have believed my story up until now. Yet how do you explain to someone that you had a prophetic dream?
The rational answer is that you don't. But in a completely alternate universe (I still remain clueless as to where I am), how would you go about such a subject?
Come on Ryou… think! To stall for some time, I release a shuddery breath, laying my head close to the table to feign sobbing. Small whimpers of sorrow choke their way out from within my mouth, and I stare at the table from my current position hopelessly.
Shit. Why didn't I take this into account?
"I… my father asked me to go grocery shopping for us…" I say in between sobs, raising my head slightly to look at them. Well, from their faces, I can say, with utter confidence, that I act quite well. "And then I turned… the corner… and I saw… I saw…"
"Take your time, Ryou." Nihongo says gently, though a cold glint in his eye granting him special permission to hell and back. "Don't worry now… Ryou, did you see anyone around that area? Anyone at all?"
I stare into their eyes so that they may never accuse me of lying, trying also not to blink more than I usually do.
"I… can't remember." I say finally, folding my arms. Nihongo glances at the time with a slight grimace.
"Interview concluded at approximately eleven fifteen hundred hours." He presses a small button on the recording machine and looks at me once more, regarding my tearful, flushed face with almost pity. "You may leave now." He says eventually.
I rise and smile weakly. My relief is hidden when I turn, my eyes raising to the sky above. What both Osiris and Ra are doing at this precise moment, I know not what to deem of them.
I must find Shizuka. I feel that she has the right to know before anyone else.
So, instead of heading left, I go right. Just as I set foot back within the building, the break bell rings, and I head a thunderous approach.
I think for a moment. Yugi would be in Science now, so he would be most likely to head for the Old Hall, probably the only building within a school which has a straightforward name, which directs you to the point quickly. It is a hall that is old! How ingenious of me to finally acknowledge that slight fact that so many seem to overlook.
I push open the double doors and enter the Old Hall. Once again, the familiar scent of rotted cheese and diesel petrol enters my system through the nose. After several moments of reflecting about Bakura and Yami's daily race in this room, I spot Yugi and Yami, huddled close in a corner. Yami is whispering into his hikari's ear, and I wonder just how… close… they truly are.
I inhale deeply, and head towards them. Should I tell them that Jou has died before I ask where Shizuka is? It would seem logical, ne?
"Yugi…?" I say, without awaiting his respond. "I have something to tell you… and I need you to tell me where Shizuka is."
He regards me with both disbelief and sorrow. Yet beneath that, I see his rage. The rage that was fuelled by Yami's appearance.
"How you know about Shizuka, I shall probably never know," Yami says at length, parting slightly from his light, "Yet this is not… easy to complete."
My smile falters. "Please. It is vitally important. She must be the first to know."
"You don't know?" Yugi asks, tears streaming down his face. He lunges forwards, free from Yami's grasp, staring up at me in anger and in sorrow.
"Jou told you about his sister… AND DIDN'T TELL YOU THAT SHE IS DEAD?"
NANI? What did he… just say to me…?
Oh, shit. This cannot be happening… cannot have happened to her. She is dead? Not now… IIE!!
My face pales dangerously close to the tone of my hair. I lay a hand on the nearby wall to support myself, running my other through the spikes of my hair. The action only bringing tears to fall from my eyes at the remembrance of Bakura. It seems that I have some explaining to do.
"Ryou, why did you have to bring that subject up?" Yami demands, gingerly steering his little Yugi to the side so that he can bellow in my face. At least, in this world, he knows how and when to protect his chibi tenshi.
I release a shuddery breath, my voice coming out choked and husky from my tears.
"I have every intention of telling you... especially now because I know of Shizuka's death. I… wanted to tell Shizuka that… Jou is… dead."
Their faces turn a deadly white, competing with my own.
Bakura
I must tell them… but… she can't be gone! It's just not right!
My head jerks up too suddenly for no one to not note it. Yugi glances at me and, seeing the look of complete horror upon my face, decides to keep his silence. The Pharaoh is doing naught but staring at me, regarding my face with interest. I am unfazed by neither reaction, focusing solely on the voice I have just heard.
That voice… it was so like my Ryou's own… but could it even be his? I have heard his voice before, when it was not intended.
However, this is different, and by far. He was committing suicide at that precise moment, on the brink of death and yet still living. Now he is dead, probably suffering the eternal torments of Anubis' lethally acclaimed passageways, dedicated now to experiencing only agonising torture.
Why, Jou? Why did Shadow have such a grudge? What did you ever do to harm him?
Shadow? Harm… who? Does he mean Jou? Is Shadow he or another?
AAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! Am I truly becoming deluded from my grief?
Or is it… really Ryou's voice that I am hearing?
Yami's koi: wahey! One person who reviewed got the person, and his sister, right! Wow… this is eleven pages long! Did it satisfy your needs for angst? A death! How more violent can you get?
Neutral Man: er, a war?
Yami's koi: that would be too demanding for me, but a very valid point. Over a million deaths to write!
Bakura: rereads chapter and I would turn bulimic for what reason?
Yami's koi: the grief that is turning you mad, apparently. Now… I'm thinking of doing a LOTR parody with Yugioh characters in it. I got the main people figured out… like Yugi is Frodo, Anzu is Gollum, Jou is Pippin, Honda is Merry… what do you think? Please review and give me your thoughts on this. And the comments on the story so far, of course.
Neutral Man: Tell her how crappy and gay her writing really is.
Yami's koi: just because you suck so much, you have to be jealous. Thought enters mind Bakura! NM said that Ryou is a mother fucking cocksucker and that he hates you so much!
Bakura: COME HERE YOU BASTARD! YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH CALLIMG MY RYOU THAT!
Yami's koi: like I said, plushie of… Jou for reviewers. Please review! The plushie comes with the traditional edible rose of the finest Belgium chocolate. Or, just take a donut with chocolate sauce to dip it in with! LUVVIES!!