"What the hell are you doing here!" Yami Bakura shouted, storming up to Ryou. It was bad enough the boy hadn't taken over his consciousness. The fall on the stairs probably broke his nose, among other things. And that would slow him down in the long run. But now, Ryou had invaded the thief's deepest sanctuary.
"Get the fuck out of my soul room, you insolent bastard!"
His yami's hot breath flushed Ryou's face as he screamed. Ryou, however, forced himself to stand his ground.
"Leave!" he screamed again, but Ryou silently refused.
The spirit of the millennium ring fumed.
"How dare you! I should drag your miserable body out into the Sahara, into the most wretched slum I know, and leave you there! Then sit back and watch you shrivel and die!"
Ryou flinched. Part of him wanted to stay strong, and call his yami's bluff. The other part of him, a part traumatized in more ways than he could conceive of, wasn't so sure the spirit was bluffing.
"You… you mean Kul Elna?" Ryou found himself asking.
His yami stared at him oddly.
Ryou, realizing what he just said, clasped both hands over his troublesome mouth.
"What did you just say?" Yami Bakura blinked a couple of times.
"I… I didn't say anything, Yami, really…" Ryou quivered, shaking his head.
"Liar." The spirit of the millennium ring growled. He pointed directly in front of his lighter half's nose. "You just said Kul Elna. You don't know anything about Kul Elna!"
"I… I didn't…"
"You don't know anything about that place! Nobody has ever heard of Kul Elna! Not in over three thousand years!" Yami Bakura fumed, storming away from Ryou. His feet struck heavily against the stone floor. "And the ones that did? They're all long dead!"
"The… the pharaoh?"
"That tyrant is WHY they're all dead!" he screamed, turning sharply around. Rage burned in his eyes, piercing Ryou's face with infernal precision.
"I'm… I'm sorry…" Ryou attempted to interrupt.
"Not like you would know that either!"
Ryou watched as his yami paced around the soul room, slightly unnerved by the fact that the spirit hadn't outright attacked him. Instead, he walked into a shadowed corner, surrounding himself in the familiar darkness.
A loud crack rang out as Yami Bakura punched the stone wall. Ryou cringed, not sure whether it was from the wall or his yami's hand.
"Nobody knows that. Not now. And not then." Yami Bakura's voice uncharacteristically softened as his thin frame slumped out of the dim light. He let out a long sigh, and leaned against the wall.
Ryou could barely see him there, but he knew the wall was familiar. It was the same destitute place he saw the thief king wasting away.
"…Yami?" Ryou whispered cautiously, and took a step forward. There was no audible response. Gulping, he took another step, and then another. "Yami? Are… are you all right?"
As he came closer, the spirit of the ring decided not to look up. He cradled his hand in the safety of his other arm, keeping his eyes fixed on the shadows billowing around his feet.
"Go away." He weakly commanded, his body otherwise still refusing to acknowledge Ryou's movement towards him.
"Why?" Ryou couldn't avoid asking.
"I'm the king of thieves." He answered stoically. His voice droned in monotone. "I live alone. I work alone. I'll die alone. Got it?"
It was an answer he had heard many times that day.
Ryou sighed. And in a state like this, the king of thieves suddenly didn't seem as frightening.
He carefully knelt down until he could look his yami in the eyes.
"And what good will the millennium items do, yami? What happens when you finally do get all seven? When you finally do get your revenge on the pharaoh?" Ryou whispered. As he spoke, he watched his yami flinch. "What will happen then?"
To gain the ultimate power of darkness, Ryou thought in his head. It surprised him, though, when his yami remained silent.
"Nothing will change…" he found himself adding, almost against his will. "You're still going to be alone…"
"Bastard!" his yami shouted, suddenly thrusting his head up. He reached out, and slapped Ryou sharply across the face. The boy fell backwards against the cold bricks, nursing the bruise that was probably already forming. He glared at the whimpering soul and growled. "What the fuck do you know about being alone?"
His answer stung like a second blow across the jaw.
And something inside Ryou suddenly snapped.
"I… I know a lot!" he shouted back, even taking Yami Bakura by surprise. Tears swelled behind his eyelids, trying to push themselves out.
"Hmph."
"Why do you think I came in here?" Ryou continued quickly, his voice still firm. "I don't want to lose any more friends!"
Yami Bakura stared at his lighter half. He was suddenly faced with the same determination the boy possessed when he first learned of the yami's existence, during his first attempt to steal the millennium puzzle. It had been several years since Ryou had been that brave.
By the time Battle City had ended, he thought he had broken his host completely. But suddenly, the weak mortal had managed to find a renewed sense of vigor. He didn't want to admit it either, and he knew he never would, but Ryou's words hurt just as much.
"You don't know what it means to lose friends, host." Yami Bakura sneered back. As he spoke, he glanced away from Ryou's emotion-filled eyes. "If you think sealing those wretches into lead figurines is torture, you don't know shit."
"You know me! You know everything about me! Everything that's ever happened to me!" Ryou shouted back, crawling forward. His cheek stung, but he ignored the pain, inching towards his yami again. "And you know I'm not lying!"
Yami Bakura said nothing.
"You're not the only one who's ever lost everyone, you know." Ryou sighed, his voice trailing off into the shadows as well. And for a few agonizing minutes, neither light half or dark half spoke again.