Rain On Your Wedding Day
I stared numbly at my reflection in the mirror, beautiful I knew, but looking like someone else's reflection. Is it possible to lose your reflection? Or have it stolen? I miss myself...
Shizuka was chatting incessantly, like she couldn't bear my silence but was too polite to ask me to speak. She went on and on about how everything would be okay, how the weather was a fluke and it really wouldn't be any different, how excited she was for me, how happy. I furrowed my brow.
"Shizuka, do you think this is really right?" I asked cautiously. Shizuka stopped talking so suddenly it was almost like I'd struck her, and I got a sort of perverse pleasure from the effect. She was quiet a moment, before quickly snatching up a tube of lipstick from the make-up case she'd brought.
"Here, Anzu, try this color. I think it'll bring out the color in your face better," she dodged hurriedly. I shrugged helplessly, taking it and applying the lipstick, capping it and setting it back on the case, playing with my lips to make sure it was spread evenly, then licking them to keep the color in place.
"Better?" I asked conversationally.
"Much," she assured me, nodding to accent the statement. I sighed and glanced at my watch, then back at Shizuka.
"So do you think it's right this way? I mean, considering-" I stopped short as Shizuka's entire body frowned, from her shoulders sagging to her brow creasing to her knees weakening. All of her body but her mouth, which still smiled. She looked like a fragile doll in her bride's maid outfit, with skin that seemed unnaturally pale.
"Please, Anzu. Don't talk about him," she said simply. And with a flourish she whirled around in a full circle, spreading her arms, and then looked at me curiously. She appeared joyous again. "How do I look?" she questioned in a tone much too normal.
"Beautiful, Shizuka. Your boyfriend should be pleased," I said numbly. Her invulnerable smile brightened considerably.
"Oh I hope so. I really do miss him when he goes on these business trips and what not. I hope he shows," she said mildly, turning to rummage through a dresser behind her. What she was looking for was absolutely beyond me.
Outside, rain pounded and lightning flashed. I felt an odd, inescapable sense of dread as I shivered and pulled the towel draped over my bare shoulders and my wedding gown closer. All too soon after the flash, thunder boomed, seeming to shake the entire building and causing a shriek to come from some distant part of the church.
xXx
My daughter shrieked loudly, and I laughed, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into a comforting embrace.
"Hey, relax Nin'. It's just thunder," I told her calmly, stroking her beautiful blond hair. Ninna shook slightly, looking up at me with sad purple eyes. She was hardly four years old, but it was a fact that made me feel too old.
"But daddy, it's so loud and so close, won't we be struck by lightning?" she whispered in a fearful and hushed tone. I smiled at her in what I considered a comforting way.
"No way, kiddo. If we're struck by lightning, then I'll eat my dress shoes and walk the service barefoot," I told her jokingly. Ninna smiled sadly, pulling away a bit, and stared at herself in the mirror again, trying to smooth out her dress.
"What if we're struck after the service?" she asked idly. I looked at her a moment, admiring her pure simple beauty, and continued to smile.
"Well then, you and me will leave next Friday and go and try and find your mommy," I said in a sweet, slightly joking tone. Ninna smiled to herself.
"Well in that case, let the lightning come," she said boldly, turning from side to side and trying to find an angle she could appreciate fully. I watched her for a moment more before leaning over her to fuss with the too constricting tie I was wearing.
"But you know, daddy," she commented idly, glancing up at me. "I absolutely hate this dress," she stated. I laughed again, ruffling her pigtailed and braided hair, courtesy of 'Auntie Shizuka', as much as was possible.
"Good. That's your mommy's girl," I told her plainly, and she beamed up at me.
"I love you daddy," she said. I smiled distantly, remembering the few occasions when her mother had said the same thing.
"I know Nin'," I said gently. "I know..." She frowned slightly, but was quiet. How odd...
xXx
I scowled at my image in the mirror violently, yanking off the tie in only a few reckless attempts. My sister gave me a sad look, and then took the black ribbon from my hands and began retying it.
"Marik, relax. It's just a wedding. You sit there, you look nice, you eat, and you go home. It's not that hard," she coaxed me, making sure to make the tie a bit looser this time, probably assuming that's why I didn't like it. My golden jewellery lay abandoned over a ways, poking out of the top of my bag.
"But why'd she invite us," I moaned, pushing her hands away and adjusting the evil abomination myself. Ishizu sighed, shaking her head.
"Please Marik, don't fret so. You've been like this every time any of these people were involved since the incident. Just be happy we're doing something normal for a change," she said softly, standing behind me. She really looked beautiful today, but in the name of Ra there was no way I would tell her so. I was quiet a minute, staring at our images in the mirror, mine in disgust and hers in awe. In the entire six years since the incident, she'd hardly seemed to age a day. In fact, she still looked twenty at practically twenty-seven.
"It is NOT normal, and it is upsettingly close to Yugi's birthday," I commented airily, wondering if this might get a reaction out of her. Ishizu stared at herself a moment longer, then looked at me. Surprisingly, we were quite nearly the same height now.
"Let's go rescue Rishid from Malik now, shall we?" she asked idly. I groaned inwardly and nodded, dread building.
"Right then. Baby-sitting the psycho. That's what I REALLY don't understand. Inviting that, maniac, too," I muttered darkly, She rolled her eyes playfully and headed toward the door, a small smile hidden on her lips.
"You know Marik," she told me in an airy and teasing tone, "technically you and him are the same person."
I scowled at her. "Yes, Ishizu. Technically speaking, we are," I said darkly, following her into the hall. I hated deeply how we shared such a similar name, or the same last one, and particularly our appearance. He was like my evil twin brother.
Numbly, we followed Rishid's and Malik's battling shouts down the hall.
"Bakura?" a voice behind me said easily. I turned in surprise, but the figure that was smiling at me was only Ishizu.
"Oh, hello Miss Ishtar," I said politely, inclining my head. Of course, my reply was probably drowned out by Malik and Rishid.
"BASTARD! LET GO OF ME BEFORE I BITE OFF YOUR FRIGGIN' HAND OFF!" Malik was yelling, disgruntled and fighting back by kicking and screaming and hitting the tall figure who currently had him pinned against a wall and half-dressed for the service, with his jacket and tie missing from the ensemble.
"I would like to see you try Master Malik," he said in a serious and indifferent tone. Malik growled darkly and, as I'd expected, bite down hard on Rishid's fingers. Rishid screamed loudly just as Marik appeared in the room.
"MALIK ISHTAR! I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU DO THAT AGAIN!" he shrieked, stomping over to the Yami. Malik smirked, straightening himself off and dusting his tux while Rishid fingered the injured digits mutely.
"Of course you will, idiot," he breathed sarcastically. Marik glowered fiercely, watching Malik a moment, as though considering him. Then, with calculated force, he struck Malik hard across the side of the face. Ishizu gasped and I took an awkward step backward.
"Marik!" Ishizu scolded half-heartedly. Clearly by the shocked expression on Malik's face, this was the first time Marik had shown any actually physical action against his Yami. I felt secretly proud of Marik for some reason.
"I am serious, Malik. And you will NOT cause ANY more trouble today, or you will NOT be eating for a good week," he said harshly, and turned on his heel to help Rishid tend his now bleeding fingers. "You okay?" he said in a surprisingly quiet tone considering the ferocity of his last one. Rishid nodded numbly, I'd suppose a reflex, staring at Marik wide-eyed.
"Master Marik," he began, but Marik shook his head.
"Come on now, you're bleeding. Let's go find Shizuka. She should know where we can get you some bandages," he said kindly, leading Rishid from the room. Malik stared after them, still stunned.
"Oh my," I said quietly, just to break the silence. Ishizu walked over to me, looked at me quizzically for a split second before smiling, then headed over to Malik.
"Are you all right Malik?" she said politely, gently caressing the growing red spot on his cheek. He scowled, snapping out of it, and batted her hand away.
"Of course," he snapped, cringing slightly from what I assume was her touch. "I guess I just let my guard down," he added harshly and headed over to the mirror. Clearly his pride was damaged from being slapped without doing anything to Marik in return. Ishizu looked at Malik sadly a moment, then walked over to him again, standing behind him like a guardian angel or some sort.
"Can I help you with your tie?" she offered in a calm voice. He glared at her through the mirror.
"No. I'd rather not 'attend the services'," he hissed, mimicking Rishid from moments before. Ishizu was quiet again and I wondered if she might try something again. I decided quite to my surprise that I better make sure she doesn't.
"Ishizu, um, I hate to say this, but have you seen Anzu yet?" I asked awkwardly. I hadn't but caught a glance of her yet, and was rather curious, although I had actually intended to keep these curiosities to myself. She turned to look at me again, and smiled gently.
"No, actually. Nor have I seen Yami, or, for that matter, your dark," she said in a simple and casual tone. Now she was asking where he was. I grimaced involuntarily.
"I, uh, don't know WHERE Bakura is," I said in an awkward tone. Malik smirked to himself behind Ishizu.
"No doubt he's off stalking some poor girl or trying to strangle the pharaoh," Malik said in evil glee. Ishizu ignored him.
"I'm sure he'll be all right on his own, but just in case, would you mind if we tried to track down him and Yami?" she asked idly. "I'm sure we could visit Shizuka, Anzu and Joey on the way.
"Yes, I suppose," I said numbly, staring down at the floor now. Ishizu looked at me pointedly, as though trying to X-ray my insides, then turned purposefully to look back at Yami Marik who was still watching himself grudgingly in the mirror, though clearly he was not focused on his appearance.
"Malik, would you mind accompanying us?" she asked politely, and my head snapped up. There was no way-
"Why?" he asked in a slow, dark and suspicious voice, turning to look at her. Ishizu spared him a waning, kind smile.
"You are a bit shaken up after my brother hurt you, aren't you? I thought perhaps-"
"It did NOT hurt," he snapped, shoving past her to kick at the wall across the room. As he brushed past me I could've sworn I saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes. I stared at him. He whirled on Ishizu. "And you can STOP trying to pretend you like me!" he snapped bitterly, putting an unusual amount of emphasis on 'trying'. He was absolutely fuming now. It seemed as though he'd been building up for something like this, and I briefly considered what Marik might've thought at this outburst. Rishid had told me an awful lot about his life with Marik and Ishizu lately, much to my discomfort. What would Marik think of seeing Malik act as anything but a heartless bastard?
Ishizu blinked quietly, watching him with an utterly calm expression on her face. "Malik, I am not pretending to like-"
"I heard you," he growled, interrupting her. "Heard you convince Anzu on the phone to invite me. And I'm sure it made you feel absolutely giddy to be screwing with my head again, didn't it?" he snapped. Ishizu's face now betrayed a look of mild surprise. I felt unbelievably out of place in the room, but was afraid to move lest they remember I was there.
"Malik, I was merely trying to make sure none of our family-" she was saying, but Malik must have lost his temper with her, because before she could say another word, he grabbed a vase off the dresser near him and hurled it at her. It hit her hard in the face and before I knew what I was doing I was at her side, and she was in a crumbled heap on the floor, nose bleeding and eyes closed.
"Ishizu!" I heard my mouth say, but could not focus. My heart was racing. I felt bitter, and glared at Malik, who was in turn still glaring at Ishizu.
"Would serve her right if I killed her," he hissed to himself. There was a flash of ominous lightning followed by an immediate crack of thunder. I repressed a involuntary shudder, and stood to face Malik.
"Malik," I breathed quietly, my mind devoid of proper thought. All I could see in my imagination right now was me, planting my fist into Malik's face. She was only trying to be nice to him, only trying to include him.
Malik's violent, red-tinted lilac eyes moved, as though unwillingly, from Ishizu's body to stare back at me. Rarely did I actually look people in the eyes properly, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. This man had had my soul sealed inside the Millennium Rod years before, so he could try to kill and destroy my friends and everything I love. And here I was standing calmly in the same room as him, tolerating his very existence.
"Are you still here?" he asked in a murderous and airy voice that suggested he'd known perfectly well I was still here and just didn't care. I shook my head, unable to form words for the rage, and took a shaky step toward him.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he let them wander up and down my body, were they halted for only a split-second at my fists before resting again upon my face. "What's wrong? Have I upset you?" he asked innocently.
I felt my face grow hotter with rage, and then, all too suddenly, it leaked out of me, like someone was siphoning it off. My hands relaxed, my fingernails no longer cutting into my skin, and my eyes wavered slightly, resting surely on his face, but not on his eyes. "Yes," I said soundly, as though it seemed the right thing to do. And then without another thought, I turned and opened up the door, setting off at a quick stride down the halls and toward the general direction of Anzu and Shizuka's dressing room. If she had bandages, surely she'd have some idea about what to do about Ishizu, yes? Although I hated to leave her alone with that man, bleeding and unconscious.
I paused momentarily outside a door from which I heard muffled voices coming. I wasn't quite sure which one was Anzu's, so I knocked lightly. The room fell silent, and moments later it cracked open to reveal Joey's face, looking older and significantly more worn than I'd seen it at the previous few occasions I'd met him since the incident, peering out at me. Suddenly it brightened, the lines on it vanishing instantaneously and he smiled. "Bakura! You're here too! Come on in, I'd like you to meet someone!" he exclaimed happily, opening the door the rest of the way. Unsure of what to do I nodded and stepped in.
"Everyone calls me Ryou now," I said mechanically. "I gave that name to my other side." And then, rather suddenly as though she had just materialised, I saw her. Standing in front of the mirror, staring at me was a small little girl with soft, wavy blond hair and sharp purple eyes, gazing up skeptically at me. She was dressed up in a beautiful little white dress with small frills along the edges and a few fabric roses placed along it. Her hair was done up in braids, one on each side of her head like pigtails, and she looked absolutely awe-struck at me.
"'Nin, this is Ryou Bakura, one of my friends that I've told you about. Ba- I mean, Ryou, this is Ninna Wheeler, my daughter," he introduced us kindly. At the last part of the sentence, he'd almost sounded weary, exhausted, or perhaps, ashamed. I smiled at her, Ishizu temporarily gone from my mind.
"Hello Ninna, how are you?" I asked her sweetly, leaning down to get a better look at her. She continued to stare at me, making me feel a bit uncomfortable.
Finally, she turned to Joey and looked up at him, seeming incredulous. "That man has white hair, daddy. Exactly how old IS he?" she asked with blunt and shameless offense. "You said that Bakura was as old as you." Joey smiled at her warily, his eyes darting to look at me apologetic like before he answered her question. I straightened up self-consciously.
"I told you 'Nin, he IS as old as me. Twenty-three," Joey said smoothly, looking her straight in the eyes. Ninna watched him for a moment before looking back at me.
"Hello then, Ryou. Are you aware that you look like a sweet old man who has been all ironed out?" she said in a polite voice that was still filled with shameless and brave bluntness. I smiled at her, not unkindly.
"No, but thank you for telling me that. It's very nice to meet you," I replied. Ninna smiled, but her eyes suddenly looked wary. And then at the simultanious crack of lightning and bolt of thunder that filled the room, Ishizu came rushing back to mind, and I pulled Joey aside, while Ninna looked momentarily shaken.
"Joey? Do you know where Anzu and Shizuka's room is?" I asked quickly. Joey looked at me strangely, then shrugged.
"Down about, oh, eight doors or so. Why?" he replied, seeming to since the worry in my voice. Behind us Ninna stayed rooted to the spot, but now craned her neck to try and hear us. I pulled Joey closer.
"Malik threw a vase at Ishizu and knocked her out. I left her and him a few doors to get her some help," I explained quickly. His face furrowed slightly.
"Alone? With Malik? You mean that maniac that brainwashed me and Anzu and had us-" he broke off, suddenly, and I saw his body sag a moment. "I mean, the spirit of the Rod?"
"Well, he's not the spirit of the Rod, technically speaking, but you have the right idea," I said hesitantly. Joey looked at Ninna quickly.
"Ninna, you stay here. Me and Ryou have to take care of something real quick. Don't move and leave the door open," he told her hurriedly, and we headed into the hall.
"I'll go watch out for Ishizu, make sure Malik doesn't pull anything while you're away. It wouldn't take him long to kill her if she's unconscious," he said quickly, and then sprinted down the hall. I sighed, heading down to retrieve Shizuka and perhaps Marik or Rishid too, along with something for the bleeding. What a terrible day to get married on...
xXx
I watched the white haired boy run out suddenly, probably scared. Bakura had been clear that he was a wimp, so somehow I wasn't surprised. I turned back to Ishizu, who still lay on the floor, blood gushing from her nose, shattered pieces of ceramic scattered around her, the small white rose lying haphazardly over a good foot. I felt an almost painful burning in my chest that turned with a monstrous ferocity, and walked over to kneel before her, staring at her face. She seemed almost peaceful, ignoring the fact that she was bleeding. I hated vividly how smug she always was, how omniscient, how, cruel.
"Sorry," I muttered grudgingly, pinching her nose to help stop the bleeding. "You just wouldn't stop."
Her eyes cringed slightly and I moved my fingers a bit to make sure I only had the cartilage, in case I'd broken her nose. Blood had formed a small pool on the ground after streaking her face, mouth and teeth. I cast an awkward glance around the room, searching for something to mop it up with. With a slight smirk my eyes rested on my jacket. I turned back to Ishizu, gingerly releasing her nostrils. The blood started up again only moments later and I scowled. Nothing I could do, really. So I crossed the room quickly, grabbed the jacket, and then headed back over to her, falling down in a crouching position beside her. I could hear voices and footsteps in the halls but was too busy to pay them any mind.
Carefully grabbing her nose again with my left hand, I began the messy process of mopping up the thin blood. Was she taking something for her blood pressure or something? One person shouldn't ought to bleed this much from one vase to the face.
"Look at this mess you've made," I scolded her absently, dapping her chin, lips and even teeth with the corner of my cuff. She was obviously silent. I frowned at myself for being so stupid, speaking to someone who wasn't even awake. Who'd I'd just attacked. I sat in silence again.
"'Ey! What do you think you're doing!" a voice behind me snapped, and I turned just in time to be wrenched away by a pair of strong hands and half-tossed across the room. Rubbing the back of my head and sitting back up I looked resentfully at a blond boy who looked oddly familiar.
"What do you think you're doing you stupid bastard?" I snapped without thinking. "I was trying to help her!"
It had left my mouth before I was even aware of it.
The boy looked at me with suspicious and surprised brown eyes that betrayed his emotions all too clearly. "EXCUSE me? Didn't you throw a VASE at her?" he asked, incredulous. I scowled, mostly at myself.
"Yeah, and hopefully it knocked some sense into the wench," I said darkly, standing up and brushing myself off. "Now hurry up and plug her nose so she'll stop bleeding, will you? I just cleaned up the floor."
He stared at me more, before turning again to Ishizu and obligingly pinching her nose between his fingers with a very gentle touch, as though he'd done something like it before. I sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted, and ran a hand through my hair which was, of course, as wild as ever. I untucked my shirt, unbuttoned the top few buttons and stalked from the room.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going!" the boy called after me. I shrugged, mostly to myself since I was out of his sight and in the hall now, and spared him no other answer, instead deciding to stalk off to the left and down the hall way. What the hell had I been thinking?
xXx
I stopped rifling through the drawer after the second thunder crack, and quickly raised a hand to my eyes to wipe away the tears before Anzu could see them.
'Yugi...'
There was a sudden knock at the door, a relaxed one consisting of two short and simple raps, and I jumped. I cast a quick glance at Anzu to double check that she was decent, then came and opened the door a crack. Marik was standing outside looking purposeful, with that other man beside him. Rishid, I believe.
"Um hello," I said nervously, casting a look down the hall in both directions to make sure Yami wasn't there. He wasn't. "Come in, then," I told them politely, opening the door all the way. "Anzu, we have visitors," I said brightly, looking at her. Anzu's eyes rested momentarily on Marik, and she smiled a bit, though sadly, before turning back to the mirror. She actually had a chair to sit in, the lucky girl. Most of them were out in the main room.
"I, injured my hand," Rishid said hesitantly, stepping out from behind Marik, who was staring at Anzu blankly, as though intently focused or lost in thought, or perhaps both. Rishid glanced at him, and then looked back at me. "Do you have any bandages I could use?"
"Of course," I say politely, turning and quickly digging again through the open dresser door. Out of the corner of my eye I see Rishid nudge Marik, who snaps out of it and steps into the room, urging Rishid in after him, and then closes it behind them. I frown to myself, pondering. Marik had done things like that during the rehearsals for the wedding too, although the stares seemed less, vacant, and more angry. "Ah, here we are. May I see your injury?" I say, pulling out a white roll. Rishid extends his hand, which has at least three of his fingers bleeding.
"Ra, Rishid. No wonder you screamed so loud," Marik said in surprise, apparently only now getting a full view of the hand as he pried his pretty lilac eyes from Anzu's back. Rishid seemed to cringe slightly as I ran a finger along it.
"It is not as bad as it looks, Master Marik. It as been bleeding for a little while now which makes it appear worse than it is," he said through obviously gritted teeth. I began tearing off a length of bandage silently, then tearing it into three separate strips of medium thickness.
Marik scowled, almost to himself. "He better not have rabies," he hissed under his breath, causing Rishid to smile slightly.
"While we never did check him for it, Master Marik. Although if he did, you and your sister probably have it by now too," Rishid said in a surprisingly playful voice.
"That's not funny Rishid," Marik said, although he smiled at the same time.
"Who? What happened?" Anzu interrupted, voicing my thoughts. She had seemed to suddenly appear at my side, and was looking firmly at Rishid's hand which I was now wrapping up, careful not to get any blood on my white dress.
Rishid glanced sideways at Marik, who scowled and turned away, and then looked at Anzu again, speaking politely. "Malik bit me, Miss Mazaki. Very hard in fact, after which Marik proceeded to slap him-" I saw Marik wince, back still to Anzu, "and dragged me from the room to seek medical attention," Rishid concluded as I finished the wrapping.
"There you go!" I chirped cheerily, looking at his face, which still had that odd tattoo on it. Rishid smiled softly at me.
"Thank you," he said gently, then looked at Marik. "Marik, we may leave if you wish. Is there anything you want to speak about to Miss Mazaki or Miss Wheeler before we go?" Rishid asked politely. Marik glared at him silently, and Rishid chuckled. "All right then. We will be leaving," he said pointedly, and him and Marik headed toward the door.
From which there was at that very moment three feveritive knocks. I blinked. Who now?
Marik opened the door silently, and Ryou Bakura practically fell out into the room, though he regained his balance just in time to crash into Marik's chest. Quickly straightening himself up, Ryou looked at me and then Anzu, then Rishid and Marik, breathless.
"Malik, threw a vase at Ishizu, knocked her out, bleeding. Joey's, making sure he doesn't try and pull anything," he said through quick and airless gasps.
"Unconscious? MALIK!" Marik roared, shoving Ryou out of the way and into Rishid's arms, storming down the hall. I blinked as Rishid thrust Bakura over into my arms.
"Master Marik!" he called after him, trying to stop him or quell his anger. Anzu stared, shocked, after them. Awkwardly, I released Ryou and let him dust himself off, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily.
"Oh, I KNEW it was a bad idea to invite him. Just like with Bakura," Anzu breathed sadly to herself. I looked at her pityingly. I'd been in the room while she spent a good thirty minutes arguing with Ishizu about whether or not to invite Malik to the wedding, and during the twenty that she'd spent discussing rules and outlining regulations on a three-way with Ishizu and Ryou after they'd decided it would be unsafe to leave either alone anyway.
"Ishizu convinced you, right?" Ryou asked quietly, looking at the floor. Anzu looked hesitantly at Ryou, then nodded.
"Yes, actually. Why?" she asked in a gentle and generally curious tone. Ryou shrugged.
"That's what they were arguing about when he threw the vase at her. He was sick of her trying to pretend to like him, or so he said," Ryou repeated dismissively. I looked at Ryou for a long moment, studying him for some sign of lying. He was avoiding Anzu's gaze, just like Marik had been, I could tell. I slowly pursed my lips in thought. Marik and Rishid were acting strangely around Anzu, Rishid hinting at something. Ryou too was acting strangely, even more so than usual, and seemed to be more than a little distracted. Marik had actually seemed ashamed of hurting Malik for biting Rishid. And Malik didn't want Ishizu 'trying to pretend to like him'?
I gasped sharply, causing Anzu and Ryou to look at me. Were they perhaps...? I would have to look into the matter, although what difference would it make after Anzu was married I was unsure. "Ah, Anzu, what time is it?" I asked hesitantly. Giving me a strange look, she glanced at her watch.
"Twelve twenty-one. The hired help should have the wedding ready by two thirty, and it starts at three. Why?" she replied automatically. I grimaced. If anything were to come of this I'd have to act quickly.
"No reason. Come on Ryou," I said hurriedly, grabbing the boy's arm and dragging him from the room, proceeding down the hall to the right and straight for the doors that led into the chapel.
"Wh-what? What are you doing? Where are we going?" he asked quickly. I smiled grimly.
"So, Bakura. Where is he?" I asked, dodging the question. Ryou blinked, struggling to keep up with me. I stopped, wrenched open the door and headed across past a few workmen and through to the other hall.
"Ah, on one of the balconies maybe? I don't know, really. Where are we going?" he asked again. I sighed, and slowed down as we reached about halfway down the hall. There was a balcony on both sides of the chapel, with large spiral staircases leading up to them on each end of each hall.
"The balcony, actually. So Ryou, what are your feelings toward Anzu exactly?" I asked conversationally, letting go of him finally.
"Wh-what?" he said quickly, face turning a slight shade of pink. I smirked.
"That's what I thought," I said firmly. It was one thing, physical drama like people getting slapped and knocked out and bleeding, but emotional turmoil was a whole 'nother case. And I was, although a bit biased, rather proud to say it was also my speciality to remedy. Although it hadn't turned out particularly spectacularly when I hooked up my brother.
Without one more word, I sped down the hall, and sprinted up the staircases. On one balcony I expected would be Yami, and on another Yami Bakura. Either would work fine, but Bakura seemed more likely than Yami to gravitate toward an abandoned place like this side of the chapel. No one occupied any of these rooms at all, really.
Rain outside continued to pound fiercely, as though trying to tear down the building by sheer torrentual force, and although seeming a tad abashed and rather hesitant, Ryou was following at my heels.
Probably going to be a two-shot. Not sure yet though. R&R, tell me what ya think.