Chapter Nine: Don't Wanna Go Back
The door slammed close. Mr. Teishin couldn't help but smile as his son fumed into the entrance hall.
"Bakura," he said slowly. The teen didn't slow down. "Bakura! Bakura Koji Teishin!"
Bakura whirled around and shouted, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?"
Mr. Teishin stared at his son with false bemusement. "What happened to your etiquette?" he asked quietly. "Never. Never yell at me again. Do you understand?" When Bakura looked away, his face shadowed by all the lights above, his father grabbed his chin, tilting his head upwards.
Tears. That's what he saw. Mr. Teishin was stunned.
"They took him back," Bakura choked, gritting his teeth as he tried to force himself to stop crying. "They took Ryou back, the officers. I…I couldn't do anything, and Marik was arrested."
The red eyes narrowed. "It's your fault for getting attached to the boy," he said coldly. "I thought you were going to ditch him anyways."
With a cry of pain and anger, Bakura rammed his father into a wall and ran down the hall, blindly.
Mr. Teishin slid down to the floor, his back aching. He groaned, but when Bakura disappeared from sight, he sneered. "Serves you right, you ignorant boy." He timidly picked himself up, wincing as he did so. "I didn't like that little brat anyhow."
-Tomoki's Orphanage-
Ryou sat patiently, shivering. The officer's hand on his shoulder never wavered. The thought of running away crossed his mind many times. Bakura…and Marik. Bakura had hustled out of the hospital, whispering with Marik. When they exited the building, Marik commented about the limo having a flat tire, and that it was great weather to walk. As soon as they were four blocks away, the police mobbed them.
"My, my, you sure have grown."
Ryou jumped. The hand on his shoulder loosened when a figure strode up to him. The child flinched as the man patted his head.
"It's been too long since I've seen you," the gruff, deep voice said. Ryou's shivering increased as the policemen exchanged farewells, leaving only him and his father in the room.
The stillness in the room lasted for only a minute. A hand grabbed Ryou's shirt collar and pulled him off the chair.
"They didn't believe you."
Ryou cowered as the man chuckled.
"They think you fell off that dumb ol' bridge." The stench of the man's breath was vile, the smell of smoke, burnt wood, and dung. "Just wait till we get home." The man placed Ryou down, chuckling some more. "The whips are gathering dust, and the fields still need to be worked. Harvest as well-"
"I don' wanna go back to the farm." Surprised at his own courage, Ryou clenched his fists. "It isn't my home."
A familiar feeling, the feeling of pain, overrode the boy's senses. As the man twisted the boy's hair harder, his breath grew rugged.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that," he said, grabbing Ryou's neck. His hold was released soon. However, the father wasn't finished. "No one wants a boy that doesn't work. You, a lazy bastard, have to work three times harder than anyone." Slap! "Do you understand? You will go back to the farm; you will finish your neglected chores; you'll do everything and more." Another backhand. Ryou fell to his knees, sobbing silently. Bakura! Marik!
The man smirked, delivering a swift kick to the boy's ribs. "Now that your momma's exiled from here, whacha gonna do?" Ryou tumbled across the room, his chest on fire. Shadows fell upon him as his father advanced. "Do you remember those pills?"
When Ryou's eyes grew dark and bleak, the man's smile widened. The boy jerked away from the man, but he wasn't fast enough.
Placing a hand on the child's mouth, the adult reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a small, brown capsule. He tried forcing it into Ryou's mouth. Instead, his hand received a bite. The man growled before he reposed. The tablet disappeared into his mouth and Ryou let his guard down. The man hurdled into him, shoving his lips onto the child's.
Ryou let out a strangled scream as the pill slipped into his mouth from his father's. The man pulled away and blocked the boy's airways. The lack of oxygen pressured Ryou to swallow, but the child refused. He wouldn't go through with that pain again. It hurt too much. The blackness was closing in. The vile taste of his father's saliva plagued his tongue. He needed air. No, no, no! Lightheaded, Ryou felt the pill slip down his throat. Bakura! Bakura!
-Police Station- (Near the Hospital)
Marik rammed into the bars again, relentlessly trying to break the steel rods.
"Would you please stop that? You'll only get bruises," an officer said, waddling over to his small wooden desk, sipping his coffee. "I heard that little kid you brainwashed and beat was delivered safely back to his father."
"What type of law enforcement is this!" Marik shouted, smashing into the shafts once more. "The government can't possibly be run by dumb asses only!" He crashed into the poles again.
The officer stood up and grabbed Marik through the bars. "Stop that, now!" Enraged, the officer was about to go inside and thrash Marik. However, the youth had already won.
"Heh. You shouldn't have come over." Those were the last words the officer heard as Marik pulled him into the bars, hard, knocking him out of consciousness. The last sound the bureaucrat heard was the jingle of his keys.
-Outside the Station-
Bakura elbowed another policeman, throwing him into the female officer. The last ones conscious, they both went down with a thump.
Without savoring his triumph, Bakura coldly stalked deeper into the station.
Noises ahead of him caught his attention. "Take that, you idiotic dip stick! Dolts like you should stay home and drink that sick so-called coffee of yours!" Cries of pain and snapping sounds reached Bakura. "Ever heard of Starbucks, doughhead?"
When Bakura turned the corner, he almost collided with a sandy haired teenager.
"Marik!"
"Kura! What the heck are you doing here?"
"Fetching you."
Eyes met and the destination was revealed. Without faltering, the two turned back toward the way that Bakura had come. Marik took out his cell phone and made a quick call.
By the entrance of the deserted station, a pair of motorcycles sat, waiting.
"Good ol' Porter. I can always count on him," Marik said as he clambered onto one of the bikes.
"I'm not so sure on the always," Bakura commented as he revved.
Grinning, they sped off to rescue a family member who was truly theirs.
-Tomoki's Orphanage-
"Here are all the papers, miss," Mr. Balxander said politely, placing the sheets into the blind lady's hands.
"Thank you, sir." Mrs. Tomoki smiled kindly as she offered them dinner.
"I'm awfully sorry, miss, but it's a long drive back to the farm."
"I understand. Please join us some other time, then." Mrs. Tomoki was about to lead the man out when he said it could do it himself.
"Please, don't exert yourself. Rest. We'll be fine." With farewells said, Ondruw Balxander led his son to the car situated outside.
The shabby and battered 4X4 had obviously seen better days. Ryou was picked up by his father and thrown into the car. Ondruw clambered into his seat and before buckling up, did something that Ryou still had nightmares from; he attached the collar around Ryou's neck…tightly.
The thin but solid chain was a foot off the ground. This forced Ryou into an uncomfortable position and keeping him out of sight from any cars they would drive by.
Ondruw started the car. They were out of the driveway in less than five minutes. A quarter of an hour later, two motorcycles pulled into the paved path.
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-AN: Okay. I apologize for the late chapter. To make up for it, I'm gonna try to add three new chapters by next Sunday. My internet was down for two-three weeks. I couldn't even check my reviews or anything. I smashed my old one and just reinstalled a new one. Anyways, please review and enjoy.