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Chapter 2
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Malik's POV
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S RETURNED??!!! YOU SAID THAT HE WOULD, COULD, NEVER RETURN!!"
I wince as Ryou's screeches got louder and louder. His voice is very nice and all, but really. You'd think, after the first three days of shrieking he'd lose his voice or something. It's a very interesting process though. If you think about it that is.
Ryou never starts at the top of his voice. He always starts with a mumble accompanied with a glare, followed up by an exasperated sigh and louder, more vehement vocal expressions, than he starts to shout, and his voice will draw out a little more into a scream. Then his voice will go up an octave or two going into screeching before developing into yowling. Most people would be cowering by his feet by the time he gets to screeching. People like Yami, Seto and myself have endure screeching and yowling before, but never, never, have we seen Ryou shriek. He's like a Ra-damned banshee! Even the Harpy sisters couldn't make this much noise while PMS-ing. Even Marik is gone from the scene, hiding in the Sennen Rod. Lucky as…donkey…
Ryou can be such a pain in the as…donkey…damn…Ryou has me so well trained that I can't even curse in my mind. Well, doesn't matter. I do NOT want to go through his lecture again as to why I should not curse. But damn…why did I have to live with him? Why couldn't Marik live with him? Nooooooooo….Marik had to go live with Ishizu who so happens to be NOT around ALL the time. Oh and yes, he was the psychotic one.
Well…things were going pretty ok. I suppose. I and my dark side had applied and were had approved permanent residency in Japan, thanks a certain Kaiba, and I moved in with Ryou a few months back and started school as well. My dark got a job with the pharaoh and they got along well enough that they didn't blow things up whenever they were near each other. Marik lived by himself because he couldn't stand living with Ryou, the conscientious one, and since nee-sama needed someone to look after 'our' place, Marik was currently living there by himself. Which is a good thing, since I actually get to SLEEP at Ryou's place. However, there are both good and bad points.
However, no matter how bad tempered Ryou can be or however loud he can be, nothing has ever pushed him to the point of shrieking before. Well, this time I can understand why.
"WHAT THE…??!! THERE IS NO WAY I'M LETTING HIM RUIN MY LIFE AGAIN!! YOU EITHER GET HIM OUT OF HERE OR ELSE I'LL….I'LL…ARGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I wince as Ryou's voice pierces through my thoughts. I look over at him sympathetically. From ranting and raving, he's gone all quiet and is sitting in his favorite overstuffed blue armchair with his head in his hands. I sigh, the worst is over for now. I walk over quietly and squeeze in next to him. He whimpers a little and wraps his arms around me, snuggling his face into my neck.
I sigh again and adjust myself so that he's sitting in my lap. He's not angry that his Dark came back. He's not even furious, he's just really, really tired and afraid. He's afraid of what may happen, of what trouble Bakura may bring. He's just scared of his Dark and we can't blame him. Bakura's not like Yami or even like Marik. Bakura didn't care for Ryou at all. Yes, at one point in Battle Ship he did say that Ryou was the most important thing to him, but that was because Ryou was his host and he needed him to carry out his plans.
Marik in his own twisted way, back then, was trying to help and protect me. Now we've both cooled off and had time to think things over and are on good terms with the others. Yami has always been the 'good' guy for Yuugi so there are no worries there. However, Bakura…no one can really say what his agenda really is. After all he did give Yuugi the Sennen Eye and he did help him when some thieves tried to get the God Cards, but it was for his own agenda really. No one knows what Bakura is really up to, no one can tell. Not even Marik or I, who have worked with him before. He's a mystery. A puzzle wrapped in an enigma.
Ryou had been utterly terrified when he first realized that Bakura had disappeared, he had originally thought that the psychotic tomb robber had gotten a body of his own, like Marik and Yami, and was horrified of the possibility of Bakura returning to harm him, to repay him for getting in his way so often. That was the real reason as to why I had moved in with Ryou. The first few weeks without Bakura had resulted in Ryou having nightmares almost every night. I was the one who comforted him. I was the one who supported him. I am the reason as to why Ryou is stronger than before. But no one cares. But that's not important. Ryou is. He has Baku-Phobia. He still sleeps with a night light on because he's afraid that Bakura will come to get him. He was almost over his fear, almost full hearted in believing that Bakura was gone for good, but no. It wasn't meant to be. Now his fear has come to life. Bakura has come back, and he has his own body now. Ryou has every right to be freaking out.
I rub gentle circles on his back and do my best to keep him from crying some more. I sigh yet again and take a look around at the people in my home. Yes, my home, this is my home now, and Ryou is my sworn brother. I will not let Bakura hurt him again. Even if it means I have to kill him to do so.
Yami is standing in the middle of the room, his eyes lost and bewildered. Yuugi has his arms wrapped around him and his trying to comfort him the best he can. Jou is sitting on the floor at our feet, looking at us with lost in his eyes. Reminding me of the 'puppy' he is. Kaiba is standing by the window, watching the storm that started a while back. Anzu is not around, thank Ra; she's gone for dance class. Honda has to look after his baby cousin, George, so he couldn't come. Ryuuji has no part in this, but is standing by Seto's side, their fingers intertwined.
No one says a thing. We don't have too. We don't know what to do. We are lost. We're afraid of what Bakura might do, the problems he might bring. I feel a slight tingle at the base of my spine and pull out the Sennen Rod from my belt. There is a faint shimmer of light and my yami appears behind the chair. His face is one of deep thought then he sighs and sets himself next to Ryou and me on the armrest of the blue lounger. Looking around at each on of us, he voices the question that no one wants to ask.
"So, what do we do now?"