(A/N) Now, I hope that everyone who read it enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope that you will enjoy this chapter as well. Also, let's please keep in mind that this fic will only be worked on when I am intensely bored and can't think of anything else to do (meaning that the internet's down and I'm supposed to be doing my homework), so don't expect updates all that often. All right?
Well, as I have said this, I believe that I can get on with the fic. Oh, yes, and possible spoilers for the AE arc. You have been warned. In fact, here's the spoiler now: Bakura had this whole works for/commands relationship going with the dark god Zorc Necrophasadu, and in this fic, Yami broke Zorc's hold on Bakura, so our favorite thief no longer obsesses over the Items and revenge. He's still not the nicest of people, though, just not totally psycho and unreasonable.
Now, I know very well that this has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but…my grandmother, the one that was in the hospital (see my other author's notes for details) died. She sorta slipped into a coma or something, and her heart gave out on the night of November 6th, 2005. So, I'm in mourning, and I don't know how long I will be, so, yeah, this story's probably going to go darker because of that.
Ryou
"Um…Bakura, I have a few questions…" Ryou began; feeling just a little bit worried. This could not be good, but if this Bakura person knew him, then he could get a feeling of what kind of person he was, what he did…what kind of culture he lived in.
"Let me guess," Bakura interrupted, "you want to know who you are, what kind of life you lead, what your friends are like, and what society expects from you."
Ryou's jaw dropped. 'How did? But…? That's not…huh?'
"And now you're shocked that I knew exactly what you wanted to ask."
"Y-yeah," the pale amnesia victim stammered.
"In order than. You are Ryou Bakura, a fairly shy but apparently normal high school student. Your so-called friends are very polite to you, and will never turn you away, but tend to avoid me like the plague, even though they destroyed the hold Zorc had on me. All society expects of you is to continue to get straight A's in all your classes. Oh, and there's a huge history test in a few days."
"Wh-what?" Ryou exclaimed, "a test? How can I get straight A's if I can't remember anything, anyway?"
"Heh…not to worry. You won't be going to school for a while. At least…not until we can get your memory back, or, failing that, you're ready to be able to pass the class. I will go to school in your stead, hikari, and you will spend that time studying to relearn what you have forgotten. I may even allow your 'friends' to show you around the city. And you will learn how to cook again. There are cookbooks in the kitchen. I hope you can still read, at least?"
"Wait, Bakura, you're moving a little fast for me. How can you go to school instead of me? Won't people notice you're not me? And why did you call me 'hikari'?"
"Magic, Ryou. I'll use an illusion to make me look like you. Only the stupid pharaoh's pet, and maybe the lapdog or the cheerleader, or even the priest, will be able to tell me apart from you. And I have been able to fool those fools in the past, when they expected you not me. And now, all this explaining has worn my patience thin. You may ask questions later."
"Oh…all right, then."
"Also, don't leave the house. I have enemies that would just love to get their greedy, evil hands on you."
Bakura
Bakura smirked to himself as he walked down the stairs. 'He looked like a lost puppy or something, begging to be taken in and shown around…hikari is so cute when he's confused. Besides, there should be tons of things for an amnesia victim to do around the house.'
The pale fiend grimaced, then, at the thought of what he was about to do next. But, they'd find out eventually anyway, right?
He sighed, and picked the phone up. Then he dialed the number of the last person he ever thought he'd invite into his home.
Yugi
Ring…ring…ring…
Yugi groaned. He'd collapsed on his bed when he got home, and now the phone was ringing. The young man heard footsteps, and the ringing stopped. He paused to listen to his grandfather.
"Hello, Turtle Game Shop," the old man greeted whoever was on the other end of the phone. Then, "Yugi! It's for you!"
"Ugh," Yugi groaned, rolling off of his bed. Great, it was for him, 'probably Jou wasn't paying attention in class and wants the homework. Or maybe Kaiba-kun wants to schedule a rematch.'
Sighing, the King of Games took the telephone from his grandfather.
"Yes?" he said, trying not to sound as tired as he felt.
"Yugi? You sound tired…too bad, there's no way I'm calling back later."
Yugi paled, then switched places with Yami. 'Why did Bakura call me? What could he possibly want? It's a trick…it has to be! But what could the evil spirit be up to that doesn't require him to pretend to be Ryou?'
"Tomb robber, what do you want?"
"Oh, it's the pharaoh, and he sounds suspicious, too. Keh-heh-heh…"
"Just tell me why you called, thief."
"Very well, all you need to do to find out is to come to Ryou's apartment. Oh, and bring your little friends with you."
"What did you do to him?" Yami growled into the phone.
"I didn't do anything. In fact, I'm the one that found him!"
"Wh-what?" the ancient ruler gasped, stunned. But Bakura had hung up.
Yugi took over again, and instantly dialed Anzu's cell number. This was bad. If it wasn't a trick, and something had happened to Ryou that actually had Bakura worried, well, Yugi was worried too. But he still didn't want to go into the evil spirit's lair without back up.
Bakura
The dark spirit breathed a sigh of relief once he'd hung up on the stupid pharaoh. The nitwit was sure to come, if only to find out what he was up to. The only downside was that he would almost certainly think that Bakura was up to something, and therefore would come prepared to fight.
Only one person left to call, then, if only because he didn't want to have to deal with an angry pharaoh on his own. Grinning, the thief dialed Malik's cell number.
The grin faded slightly as the phone rang…and rang…and rang…and rang…
The spirit was just about to hang up and prepare himself to face the pharaoh's little friends without help when the Tomb Keeper finally answered his phone.
"This had better be good, I'm busy and pissed off!" Malik snapped into the phone.
"Good, I'm not so sure about, but if you don't get your sorry self over to my apartment as soon as humanly possible, you stupid mortal, I swear you'll find yourself wishing that you still lived in a hole in the ground in Egypt, and so had never met me! Got that, Tomb Keeper?"
"Oh, it's you, Bakura? What's the emergency?"
"His highness and his dorky friends are coming by, and I don't want to face them on my own."
"When did you suddenly turn into a coward? Besides, Ryou wouldn't let them hurt you."
"He's in no condition to stop them."
"I'll be right there. Terrorizing little kids will have to wait."
Ryou
Ryou opened the closet in the room, and was surprised to see that there were several outfits like the one he was wearing, as well as some more casual looking cloths. There were also a large number of cardboard boxes. 'That's funny. I can remember what cardboard is, but not what those boxes are for. I wonder what else I can remember?'
When he pulled out one of the boxes and opened it, he was mildly surprised to see that it was full of papers. He glanced at one of them, it seemed to be a letter to someone named Amane…and it had his name at the bottom! Did he write these? And who was Amane? Well, he could ask Bakura, if he hadn't already left, that is.
The young man slowly walked over to the door, still holding the letter to Amane. He slowly opened the door and looked out into a hallway, which ended in a staircase.
As he walked down the stairs, he saw Bakura holding some sort of device up to his ear and alternately speaking and listening.
"His highness and his dorky friends are coming by, and I don't want to face them on my own."
'His highness? Does that mean royalty, or is Bakura making fun of someone?'
"He's in no condition to stop them."
'Huh? Was he talking about me? Stop them from doing what?'
Ryou waited until Bakura put down the thing he was talking to before he made his presence known.
"Um…Bakura?"
"What? Ryou? How long were you standing there?" Bakura growled, his hair rising up in a creepy way.
"Not long."
"What do you want, then? I'm not really in the mood to answer a hundred questions."
"Just one question."
"All right, then, just one. So what is it?"
Ryou took a deep breath, Bakura looked kind of scary standing there, his eyes glowing slightly and his hair floating about. "Who's Amane?" he finally managed to say after what seemed like an eternity.
"…why do you want to know?" the other young man asked, in a much softer tone, his eyes returning to normal and his hair falling into place. "Why do you want to know who Amane is? Did you remember her…or did you find the letters?"
"I found the letters. And I want to know who she is, and why I wrote so many letters to her and never sent them."
"She was your sister. Was, not is. You wrote the letters because you never really came to grips with her death. You can't send letters to the dead, hikari. But you used to write one nearly every day, telling Amane what had happened…she was the person you told everything to, and once a year, on the anniversary of her death, you always used to burn the letters so that she could read them in the afterlife. Does that answer your question, Ryou?"
"My…my sister? Yes, it does answer it."
"Alright, then, I was just about to go and get you, anyway."
"What? Why?"
"I invited your friends over; they can help you more than I can."
"You mean my friends that avoid you like the plague?" Ryou asked wryly, but still curious. If these people didn't like Bakura, then why was he asking them to come by?
"Yes, they probably think it's a trap, and they're only coming by to beat me up and 'rescue' you. Don't ask now, it's a long story, and like I said, they can explain it better. Just keep an open mind for my side after they've gone."
"All right, I will. What should I do while we wait?"
"I think I should reacquaint you with the television."
As Bakura walked over to something, Ryou followed, bemused. 'Television? What's that?'
(A/N) Phew! Done! I thought I'd never finish!
Heh…I know I really should be working on other stuff, but this is fun, and relaxing, and takes my mind off of other stuff.
Like Grandma June.
Or the way Mom started railing me about my homework today (and she just gave me the news about Grandma this morning!) without any thought as to how it might make me feel. Just because I don't seem terribly broken up by it (no screaming and crying, no loud sobs…) doesn't mean that I'm in any condition to be yelled at.
I was crying this morning, and maybe Mom thinks I've got it out of my system, but I really don't! I'm going to be upset over this for ages, but I always have trouble with getting my emotions out in the open. To get a better idea about what I'm going through (if you even want to, it's really depressing) you can always look me up on I'm using the same user name there as here…Thunderstorm101.
Not that you'd even really want to read my craptastic poetry. .