With a disgruntled yawn, Ryou allowed his eyes to open. He'd been up nearly all night thinking about the conversation he'd overheard between Marik and his yami. The Brit knew that he shouldn't have been listening, but once he'd started, he just couldn't seem to pull away. It had been so compelling, watching two very hard people suddenly break down and open their hearts. Ryou wondered if Bakura finally understood what he had in Mariku, not a lover but something every bit a precious. He had a friend, and as stupid and frumpy and cliche as it sounded, friendship was important.
"Morning hikari."
Giving a squeak of surprise, Ryou jumped backwards, falling off the couch and landing with a thump on the hardwood floor. "Bakura! Why'd you do that?" Rubbing his backside, the Brit struggled to his feet. "Did you have to sneak up on me like that? Falling off a sofa isn't exactly my idea of a good wake up call!"
Though he looked a bit tired also, Bakura smirked. "Its not my fault the sofa's so narrow."
"And its notmy fault you took the only bed!"
"Well if it matters that much to you, I suppose I could let you sleep in your room again."
"Nani?" Ryou blinked in surprise. Had his yami actually offered to give up the bed just because he'd complained about it? "Y-you don't need to. I don't want to make you sleep on the couch. After all, you're still hurt."
Snorting at his hikari's silly remark, Bakura flicked him playfully on the nose. "Of course I wouldn't sleep on that ratty, old thing. I'd share the bed with you, stupid." The Brit's eyes must have been as big as saucers, because the Thief King frowned slightly. "Or are you not comfortable with that?"
"No! Of course not! I just..."
"Just don't want to sleep in the same bed as your rapist." Bakura suddenly looked very sad. "That's understandable. I'll take the couch."
"Kura wait." Ryou took one of the yami's hands between his own. "Really, I-I wouldn't mind at all. I wasn't scared when you offered. It just wasn't the first thing I'd been expecting."
An uncomfortable silence passed, and then, quite suddenly, the Brit found himself enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. Bakura squeezed the frailer boy tightly. Before he had thought Ryou to be weak, but now the Thief King saw him in a whole knew light. He had come to understand that forgiveness took strength, and the fact that his hikari was able to forgive him further proved this. With a shaky sigh, he buried his nose in the teen's hair. Sometimes he forgot how nice it was to hold someone, to forget about the troubles of the world and take a moment to bask in comforting warmth of another's arms. "Ryou..." The Thiefgrimaced at his own sentimentality. "Ryou...Ryou...Ryou..."
The Brit wrapped his arms tentatively around his yami's shoulders. This was the second time in three days that Bakura had embraced him, and, though Ryou knew it was just because he was going through a rough time, he couldn't help feeling a bit giddy. Much too soon for his liking, the tombrobber pulled away. He didn't leave but stood there, staring into his hikari's eyes.
"Umm...Bakura?"
Jerking as if he had come out of a trance, the spirit drew back a step. "Yes?"
"Are you...okay... about this whole Mariku thing? I mean, you're not still mad at him are you?"
"No." Bakura suddenly became very interested in the floor. "I'm not mad."
Grabbing him by the hand, Ryou smiled softly at his yami. "I just want you to know that even if he's in love with someone else, Marik will never forget you. He's crazy as hell, but trust me. He won't forget."
"It hurts though," Bakura suddenly spat. "I know its for the best, but it still FUCKING hurts!"
Ryou sqeezed the spirit's hand lightly. "I-I know. If only we could control who we love. It would be so much easier."
Confused by the amount of bitterness in his lighter half's voice, Bakura looked up. "Idiot. You shouldn't say that."
"Why? Its true! Don't tell me that, if you had the choice, you would willingly fall for Mariku again!"
"But I would." The Thief took the teen's other hand and press both palms between his own. "I would because I'd rather lose risking it all for something that mattered than win what I don't really want by playing it safe. Life's a bitch, Ryou. Its notsupposed to be easy. It hurts. It kicks you while you're down and spits on you, but thats also what makes it great."
"Great?" Ryou almost choked on the word. "How does that make life great?"
"Its great because when you finally get what you want you know you've earned it." Bakura held his head high as he said this. "And even if you don't, at least it wasn't because you didn't try hard enough."
Unconsciously, the Brit leaned closer to his darker half. He wished he could live like that. He really did, but Ryou was not his yami. He feared rejection. If he were ever put into a situation like Bakura's, the Brit was sure he wouldn't make it through. That was why he could never tell the Thief how he really felt. He wasn't strong enough to handle being denied. "I don't really know wha..." Ryou's words as well as the mood of the conversation were cut off by the sound of a ringing telephone.
Bakura snorted in annoyance. "Damn contraption! Why even bother with them?" Snatching it off the hook, he thrust the reciever towards his hikari.
"Hello...oh Ishizu...what...no he's hasn't...what do you mean he won't come out?" The Egyptian woman began talking at length, and Ryou fell silent, his eyes growing steadily wider. Sensing his lighter half's panic, Bakura paced about restlessly.
Finally, with a hasty goodbye, the Brit hung up the phone. He turned to his yami, ready to answer the spirit's unasked question. "We're going to the Ishtars'. Hurry!"
"Marik! Please! Open this door!" Ishizu pounded fruitlessly against the wooden structure, actually causing it to rattle in its frame. Her brother's yami had locked himself in the bathroom, and the woman was growing uneasy. Despite still being angry about the previous afternoon, Ishizu had gotten up early to check on the troublesome spirit. There had been nothing to suggest anything was out of the ordinary. He hadn't been in bed, but when she heard the water running in the adjoining bathroom the she had naturally assumed that he was taking a shower. That had been nearly two and a half hours ago.
Giving up on the door, the woman dashed outside to the porch, praying that Ryou and Bakura would get there soon. She didn't know why, but Ishizu had a horrible feeling about this. Something Mariku had said kept replaying in her mind.
'When I leave, perhaps he will return.'
No! It couldn't be. The Darkness may have been insane but not in the suidcidal sense. Besides, why would he want to kill himself?
"Ishizu!"
Snapped out of her thoughts by the Brit's anxious voice, the Egyptian ran to the front entrance and dragged both yami and hikari into the apartment. "Hurry? He's upstairs!"
Not bothering to wait for her to finish speaking, Bakura vaulted up the steps. Turning into the spare bedroom, he imediately hurled himself at the bathroom door. "Mariku, what thefuck are you doing?" There was no reply. All the Thief could here through the door was the sound of running water. "Damnit," he muttered to himself. Grabbing a hairpin from his pocket, Bakura began to pick the lock. With a silent click, it came undone. Smirking grimly, the spirit yanked on the handle. Nothing. The door remained perfectly immobile.
"Do you think he's keeping it closed with Shadow Magic?"
Snarling at his own stupidity, the Thief King concentrated on hisdark powers. Rays of light seemed to erupt from his chest as the Sennen Ring materialized around his neck. Strange. The object seemed to fit perfectly on the scars caused by the Priestess. 'Focus, damnit!' Clearing his head of such eerie thoughts, Bakura focused on destroying Mariku's spell.
Ryou stared in awe at his yami. He could actually feel the two energies pressing against eachother. The Brit shivered. It was as if the very essence of the robber's soul was bared before him. He couldsense not only Bakura's fustration, but also his fear. Mariku's aura, however, was a complete mystery. Try as he might, Ryou could not penetrate it's churning depths. 'Of course not. Only Malik can do that.'
A cracking sound suddenly filled the air, and the Thief gasped harshly as the blonde's binding spell gave way. The door splintered and within seconds shattered like a pane of glass. Bakura stumbled forward, using an arm to shield his face from the oaken slivers. "Marik, you asshole! You'd better have a good excuse for..." The spirit's pupils shrank in horror at what he saw. "Oh shit...SHIT!"
Mariku was covered in blood. It ran in crimson pearls down his left shoulder, fanning out to taint the whiteness of the linoleum floor. Shakily, the Darkness lifted his unmaimed arm, digging the blade of the Sennen Rod deep within his tattered flesh. He continued to drag the metal across his skin, etching the lyrics of his pain into the bronzed and quivering canvas. For that was what they were. The cuts, Bakura realized with a sick sort of astonishment, were not random slashes but parallel lines of hieretic symbols wrapping horizontally around his upper arm. Because of the blood, he couldn't make out the meaning, but this did not lessen the horror of what Mariku was doing.
"Oh God." Ishizu stood frozen with shock. "Oh God, what is he..."
Hearing this, Mariku finally looked up. He stared at the three horrified faces, expression one of confusion and pain. The blonde tightening his grip on the Rod, either not noticing or simply uncaring of the fact that the blade was slicing deeply into his palm. Why were they here? They weren't supposed to find out until it was already too late. That's why Marik had left the shower running, so no one would walk in on him. Perhaps...perhaps he'd taken too long. That or maybe Malik had sensed him. Maybe Malik had felt the spirit's agony and decided to save him from himself. But no. The violet-eyed hikari was not among those who had discovered the Darkness. In an instant the breath of hope Mariku had been harboring crashed and burned like so many dying cinders.
"Marik! Stop this!" Voice unusually panicked, Bakura stumbled towards the other yami. He reached out his hand to knock the Rod away, only to be stopped by yet another barrier. The eye on the item's head began to glow, and within seconds Mariku was surrounded by a pale gold light.
"You don't understand!" They all winced at the desolate keen resonating in the blonde's words. "Just let me die. Everyone will be happier!" He resumed his carving, the bloody script boiling up beneath the dagger's point. His handwriting wasn't as neat as before. Mariku was growing dizzy, and his intricate symbols were growing steadily more sloppy as he continued down his arm. Soon he wouldn't even be able to read what he wrote. His vision was beginning to blur.
Ignoring the painful sting it's magic emitted, Bakura clawed desperately at the golden wall. "No! You're wrong! You idiot, killing yourself won't solve anything!"
Mariku sneered in a way that was almost reminescent of his Battle Ship days. "Why? What could possibly be gained if I survived?"
"Malik...he..." The Thief's mind refused to function. For some reason he couldn't figure out how to express his thoughts verbally. "He...he...damnit! YOU CAN'T DIE!"
Marik's grip on the Sennen Rod lessened, and for a moment it looked as if he would let it go. Then the light faded from his eyes, and the Darkness let out a mournful laugh. "On the contrary. Dying is very easy. Its living that I cannot understand." There was a sudden burst of energy, and the tombrobber was thrown back. The translucent barrier Mariku had created glowed brighter until only a sillouette of the spirit could be seen. "I'm sorry Bakura. One day perhaps you will all forgive me, but I doubt it."
'No! NO! He's wrong!' Ignoring his hikari's astonished cry, the Thief bolted from the room. He had to prove to Marik he should live, but the spirit wouldn't listen to him. That meant only one thing. He would find Malik. Even if he had to swallow his jealousy, even if it hurt to know that the Darkness cared more for his hikari, he would find Malik. Because Mariku couldn't die. Bakura would not allow it.
Wandering the deserted streets of Domino City wasn't exactly what Malik considered a good time, but it was better than staying in the motel room all day. The blonde wrapped his arms about himself as he walked. It was by now early March, and everything was still cold. He smirked stonily as the wind tussled with his hair. For some reason he found thinking of his yami harder than ever to avoid. Mariku had been plaguing Malik's mind more than ever this morning, and he was beginning to feel uneasy. Was it just coincidence, or had something more sinister taken place? The teen had even considered seeking out the Darkness through their mindlink but shoved this thought aside as pride quickly took the upper hand.
Still, that shivery feeling wouldn't leave him alone. Malik leaned against a nearby building, trying to find comfort in the lifeless brick. He gazed off into space, seeing nothing but the raging torrents coursing through his mind. So deep were the blonde's musings that he didn't see the ragged figure approaching at a dead sprint.
"ISHTAR!"
Malik cried out in alarm as the Thief King all but tackled him to the ground. How had he been found? Oh wait, the glow of the Ring sitting on Bakura's chest answered that one. However that still didn't explain his odd behavior. "What the hell do you want?"
The spirit wasn't listening. He simply tightened his grip on Malik's wrist and began dragging him down the street. "Hurry! Damnit, HURRY!" Forcing himself and the teen into a run, Bakura tried to sense some of Mariku's Shadow Magic. It was growing weaker but had yet to die. There was still some hope.
The randomness of the whole situation had left Malik in a bit of a daze. He stumbled along behind Bakura as best he could, wondering what could possibly cause the tombrobber such distress. 'Probably has something to do with my yami.' The thought flew unbidden from the back of his mind, manifesting itself even more as they neared the Ishtars' apartment. Malik stopped just short of the door. "I'm not going in there, Bakura. I don't give a shit what's happened to Mariku. For all I care he can rot in hell!"
The Thief whirled around and, in one fluid motion, belted the Egyptian across the face. "If you ever say something like that again it will be you rotting in hell, tombkeeper!" Bakura slammed the smaller of the two up against the wall, eyes flashing dangerously. "You don't know how lucky you are! I would kill for ANYBODY to love me the way loves you! Do you understand that? He'd fucking DIE for you!"
"Die for me? Bakura, he tried to MURDER me!"
"That was a long time ago. People change." The white-haired spirit sighed. "Mariku is not what he once was. He didn't try to rape me, and he most certainly doesn't want you dead."
Malik's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "What do you mean he didn't try to rape you? I saw him shoving you up against a wall! Don't even try to tell me it was a misunderstanding!"
"But it was." The blonde felt as if Bakura's gaze was impaling his very soul. "You cannot possibly comprehend how many terrible things can happen because of a simple misunderstanding."
"Fine." Malik's body grew limp, and he allowed the spirit to drag him into the house. "I don't care anymore. If you want me to see him that bad then I will, but stop with all the love bullshit. I don't need to be lectured about such things by a homicidal Thief."
Bakura didn't reply. He simply hauled his load up the stairs, panting with exersion from each step. Damnit! He shouldn't have wasted so much time talking. What if it was already too late?
"Little brother, is that you?" As they mounted the stairs, Ishizu rushed forward to greet them. "Rishid and I have been so worried about you! We..."
"Out of our way." Shoving the woman aside, Bakura entered Marik's bedroom. He turned to Ryou, who was standing in the bathroom doorway. He was screaming himself hoarse.
"Please! Mariku put it down! Don't...STOP THAT!" The Brit sobbed harshly and looked away. He couldn't stand to watch. There was just so much blood. Rishid had also returned by now, and, though he remained silent, the man's eyes were filled with pity.
Dashing forward, Bakura gave a cry of alarm. Mariku was still alive, but only just. Unable to support himself any longer, the blonde was slumped against the glass door of the still running shower. His bleeding body had left a vivid streak of red against the pane. He still clutched the Sennen Rod in his hand, but his grip had loosened. The meticulous hieretic figures had long ago given way to an illegible, jagged scrawl. Glancing up, Mariku stared blearily at Bakura. "Malik." It was a demand, not a question.
Biting back the selfish jealousy gnawing at his heart, the Thief King nodded and stepped aside, clearing the path between yami and hikari. Both Egyptians froze as their eyes finally met. Malik looked terrified, ill, andhorribly confused all at once. As for Mariku...well Mariku just looked happy.
/ You came. / The Darkness grinned, but it was the smile of a spectre. / I didn't think...that you would come. /
The bronzed teenager simply nodded. He wanted to speak but couldn't. His throatburned with too many unshed tears. / Why? Why are you doing this/
/ Because I want you to be happy. / Mariku closed his eyes, and his grip on the Rod's blade grew a little tighter. / Because you hate me...and I can't live with that. /
Tears streamed silently down Malik's face as he stared in disbelief at his other half. "No!" The word came out as more of a sob. "No, I could never hate you!"
Shaking his head as if to rid it of these contradictory words, Mariku brought the Rod down hard. It pierced the flesh at his elbow and continued down until it grazed the knobbly protrusion of his wrist. No more writing. The spirit was out of time. His powers were weakening, and soon Bakura would be able to break through his magic wall. Besides, he was shaking too badly to continue much longer. Mariku actually cried out as he tore another vertical gash in his lower arm. Damn, it hurt. It hurt worse than he would ever have imagined.
"No! No, please don't! Please! Mariku, I'm sorry! I don't hate you! I-I love you..."
Fireworks going off in his mind, the Darkness stared in disbelief at his hikari. Had Malik...had Malik said heloved him? 'No, not me. He could never love me.' Caught in the throes of astonishment, Mariku's grip on the Sennen Rod accidently loosened. The barrier began to flicker.
Seeing his chance, Malik began to inch his way forward. He held out his hand to the spirit and continued talking, hoping to distract him long enough to disarm him. "Please, you can't do this to yourself. Its not worth it. There's too much to live for, too much of this world I haven't shown you yet!" The teen's hand finally met the weakening barrier. He winced at the sharp, tingling pain the contact caused but continued to force his way through. Slowly, Malik began to move through the crumbling wall. "Ido love you, Marik. I really do. I just didn't realize it before. S-stop this, and we can start over."
"You mean that?" Mariku could sense his lighter half breaking the barrier. He could also sense the genuine truth of the boy's words. The Rod clattered to the floor, the glowing eye at it's head extinguished.
Malik stumbled forward as the wall's resistance gave way. He almost fell but caught himself and moved forward, finally collapsing at his yami's side. "Mariku..." He caressed the wilder blonde's cheek gently, trying to wipe the tears from the other's eyes. He could feel his own tears falling into the reservoir of blood beneath them. He watched as crystal drops from both himself and Mariku fell into it, marring the once perfect crimson. "Why?" He shook his head and clung to the darker boy, noting how clammy his flesh now felt. "You idiot! Why?"
Mariku was amazed by the warmth of his hikari. As blackness rose inside his mind, the Darkness gave the teen's hand a quick squeeze. / ...so sorry...I hurt you again... / And the spirit knew no more.
Screaming at the top of his lungs, Malik began to shake Mariku's limp body. "You bastard! You bastard, no! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD!"
Ryou, Ishizu, and Rishid stared in morbid awe as the distraught hikari bashed his yami against the shower door, willing him hopelessly to wake. Only Bakura knew what to do. "What the FUCK are you doing? You don't even know if he's dead!" Moving forward with the speed of a cat, the Thief pried Malik off his unconscious darker half. He felt Mariku's neck, sighing with relief at the faint but unquestionably existant pulse. Still, there wasn't much time. Panic beginning to creep back into his heart, Bakura turned to Ryou. "Do something! Damnit, why are you standing around? DO SOMETHING!"
Snapping out of his shocked state, the Brit dug his cellphone from his pocket. "Hello...I'd like t-to report a suicide...the apartment complex at the end of Tsukikage Avenue...114...please...please hurry..." Snapping his phone shut, Ryou bit his lip nervously. "They're sending an ambulance. It should be here in about ten minutes."
Bakura nodded and glanced over at Malik. The Egyptian boy was sitting off to the side, gazing stupidly at the Sennen Rod in his hand.
"Don't get any ideas."
Malik looked up. "I-I'm not." Glaring hatefully at the item's blood-spattered blade, the boy hurled it as hard as he could at the mirror on the other end of the bathroom. It hit, shattering the pane into a million spider web fragments. The boy ignored his sister's cry of alarm. He just turned his back to the Rod's unmaimed surface and crawled back towards Mariku. Throwing the thing had felt good, but it wouldn't fix anything. The truth was that his yami would most likely die, die before he knew what it was to truly live. Malik grasped his hair in anguish, sobbing miserably into the bloody expanse of his yami's chest. "Oh God...its all my fault! I killed him! I...I killed him!" Sobbing uncontrollably, he stared at the sanguine script on Marik's arm.
'The tears of the wicked will oft go unheeded.'
'When the demon weeps, no one will hear.'
'Looking into the eyes of the monster, do we see the heart of the child?'
'Not innocence lost. It was never there at all.'
Blood obscured everything else, everything but one jagged phrase.
'Help me! Help me, please!'
-TOT (This was a hard chapter to write, but I was fairly pleased with it. I'm going to be gone for a week, but I'll try to update as quickly as possible. I'm planning two more chapters, and I hope to finish by mid August. Thanks once again for the beautiful reviews. They are very much appreciated.
I almost forgot...
Thanks to Madam Foogie for that bit about morphine. You're absolutely right. I should have done more research on painkillers before I wrote that chapter. I was rushing and remembered a tidbit from one of the Jurassic Park novels (Michael Crichton owns J.P., not me), but thats not much of an excuse. Next time I'll try to be more thorough.)