Impermanence

Chapter four

Ryou slowly lifted his eyelids. For a second he glanced around in confusion, taking in the now fully lit room without comprehension. His eyes lit upon Yuugi kneeling at his side, and rememberance came back. Ryou lifted himself up slowly, only to fall back against the desk, a hand flying up to caress a throbbing head.

"Yuugi…?" Ryou asked softly, eyes flicking towards his friend.

"Are you alright? We were worried." Yuugi smiled softly, and Ryou hesitated.

"How… long was I…?" Ryou stuttered out.

"You were asleep for almost twenty minutes." The calm voice of Yami responded, and Ryou turned his head to see the Yami leaning against the cabinets a short ways away, staring into space.

"What happened?"

"Yami…" Yuugi hesitated, gaze flickering to his other for a moment before glancing back at Ryou, "he sealed your yami in the Shadow Realm. And I guess you had used up so much strength that you fainted. You are okay now, right?"

"I'm fine, Yuugi." Ryou chuckled lightly in an effort to brush aside Yuugi's concern. He managed to stand up, but kept his hands on the desktop as a support. "You missed class, Yuugi."

"So did you. We couldn't just leave you lying there. Besides, we were already late by the time we finished dealing with Bakura."

"I guess so. Sorry to trouble you. But at least he's gone now." Ryou's gaze drifted to the floor. Bakura was gone for now, but he always found his way back from the Shadow Realm, always. He had told Ryou once that he was the darkness, so shadows could not hold him back for long…

"Ryou." Ryou looked up hesitantly at the sound of his name, to see Yami's eyes, which were as harsh as his tone. "We all know Bakura will be coming back. The time has not yet come when he will be gone for good. But we won't let him hurt you again. I want you to promise that once he comes back, if he gives the slightest hint that he might hurt you, I want you to come to me and Yuugi."

"I… of course, Pharaoh." Ryou said quietly, lowering his gaze in hopes of hiding his reluctance from Yami. If he went to Yuugi-tachi once Bakura came back, they'd probably get hurt, and Ryou most definitely would…

A pair of hands latched around his shoulders, snapping Ryou out of his musing. His head jerked up in surprise, a startled expression forming as he found himself staring into the intent eyes of Yami Yuugi.

"Don't lie, Ryou! Don't give some half-hearted agreement. He has no right to treat you like that, none at all! And I won't let him hurt you again! Promise you'll come to us if he hurts you again, Ryou! Promise me!" Yami yelled, giving Ryou's shoulders a vigorous shake, tears of emotion coming to his eyes. When Ryou just started mutely back, fear glinting in his eyes and paralyzed with alarm, Yami yelled louder.

"Promise, Ryou!"

"Y-yami… I think you're scaring him…" Yuugi stuttered out quietly.

Yami paused to actually look at the boy he was staring at. Ryou's eyes were wide, and it looked like he was afraid Yami would hit him or something. Yami sighed and loosened his grip. Of course Ryou would be acting like that… enthusiastic yamis usually weren't good news for Ryou.

"I… am sorry Ryou. I did not mean to startle you. I just… can't let him hurt you again, Ryou. You don't deserve it. And he doesn't deserve to try and harm you either. Yuugi and I want to help you, and we won't let him hurt you if we can help it. If you come to us as soon as Bakura returns… I can't promise no-one will get hurt, but less people will get hurt that way, and we can try to keep him away from you as much as possible."

Ryou stared down at his shoes in thought. It was true things would be safer for a while if he did that, but he didn't want to burden Yuugi-tachi like that. Not to mention he knew Yami was supposed to go to the afterlife, and Ryou could imagine Bakura staying with Ryou after then just to continue to torture the boy. Ryou shuddered slightly at the thought. He would really prefer not annoying Bakura to that level.

Ryou hesitantly voiced his concerns to the two Yuugis, but they quickly assured him they wouldn't let that outcome happen.

"Ryou, you know we're more than happy to help our friends."

"Besides," Yuugi interjected, "it's not like Bakura can stay here forever. If Yami's going to leave, Bakura will too. He'll have to move on."

"But… how do you know that, Yuugi? How do you know he won't just stay here forever?"

Yuugi winced slightly. "I… don't. But Ryou, his existence doesn't revolve around bringing you pain. He wants the Millenium Items. Once things are finished, Bakura will leave for good as well. Ishizu said something about all spirits having a place to return to, including Bakura. He can't stay here forever Ryou. You'll be free forever one day, Ryou."

"And in the mean time, we'll protect you as much as we can." Yami finished.

Ryou smiled. "Thank you, Yuugi-kun… Pharaoh-san."

The spirit smiled slightly. "San wa iranai."

Ryou grinned for a second. "Very well… Yami Yuugi. Well, seeing as there are no more classes today, I must go home now. Goodbye Yuugi-tachi." Ryou bowed slightly.

"Bye, Ryou-kun."

Ryou smiled weakly and nodded, before turning and heading down the hall.

Yuugi gazed sadly as he saw Ryou stumble slightly, when a quiet voice caught his ears.

'Aibou, I'm not… inadvertently smothering you like Bakura did to Ryou… am I?'

Yuugi turned to face the spirit standing behind him. He reached forward and clasped Yami Yuugi's hand reassuringly.

"Never, yami."

Ryou closed his eyes as he glided down the sidewalk towards his house, feeling the cool breeze and nothing else. For once there wasn't a feeling of uneasiness or tension in him, or a voice taunting him softly. It was simply quiet and peaceful. Ryou couldn't really remember the last time he felt like this…

It felt slightly weird, though, this… normalcy. He knew Bakura wasn't here now, but it felt slightly surreal… like he couldn't really believe the spirit wasn't just hiding and would come out and hurt him as soon as Ryou was alone.

Ryou slipped into his apartment, eyes scanning the dark room before determining nothing was amiss and headed for his bedroom.

Ryou collapsed back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. He held his breath for a moment, and it was so silent he could hear to soft ruffle of the tree leafy branches outside.

Suddenly, the realization of his situation swept over him, and could not contain a giggle of joy.

He was free. Only for a short while, but for the moment, he was truly free. Bakura couldn't hurt him or his friends now. Yes, he would return, and probably sooner than Ryou would hope or expect, but he was truly safe for now.

Ryou grinned, and shut his eyes. He could feel the marks on his back still. He knew more wounds were still to come.

But Bakura would be gone for good one day. And then, the marks on his body would start to disappear.

And eventually, the scars on his heart would be gone as well.

Author's notes: The bit with Yuugi and Yami was NOT YAOI, silly peoples! Just friendship. -cough- Oh yes, and Yami's "san wa iranai" is a tribute to an awesome anime, and it means "no need for formalities" or "no need for -san".

Anyway, sorry it took me so long to update this, and also that it's only about half as long as the other chapters, but I felt like if I added much more I'd just be stretching it. Hope I didn't disappoint too badly. ^^" I did try to finish by 2009, though! I have another Yu-Gi-Oh! non-one-shot I'm going to be working on, and it's significantly longer than this one (it'll be 15-18 chapters long), but I probably won't post it until February 17 because… well, you'll find out then. ^^

Well, that's the end of my fic! Hope you all enjoyed, and thank you so much to everyone who favorited or reviewed this! It really means a lot to me that you like my work. ^^