So, basically, you all can tell me what a bad little girl I've been, with not updating since what, August? I'd like to blame it on high school, or that my busy life is far too much for me to handle. But, that wouldn't be fair. I was lazy and I worked on this every like, two months. I have no life, nothing to keep me occupied. So, yeah, I should have updated this a long time ago. The end of this chapter is sappy, no doubt. With Softshipping, it's extremely difficult to escape the high cheese-factor. Ah, well. Critique is appreciated, but please do not be harsh. Sorry, guys, for taking so long.
Enjoy.
What on earth is that smell?
Ryou's head lifted slightly from a white, fluffy pillow as his eyes fluttered open. What was that lovely aroma? The scent reminded him of freshly cooked food; in fact, he was almost certain it was. After rising to his feet, he left his room and headed down the hall.
Inside the kitchen, he found Serenity using his stove. She had turned her head and almost jumped, startled that he had appeared so suddenly. "Oh! Good morning!" She greeted, bowing politely.
"Good morning," Ryou rubbed his eyes tiredly. He glanced at her, then at the frying pan in her hand. "What are you doing, exactly?"
"Cooking breakfast," She replied with a cheerful smile. "Here." She handed a bowl to him, and he stared at it, a single eyebrow raised in confusion.
Serenity frowned, looking offended. "What? Did I do something wrong?"
"Oh, no!" Ryou grinned and took the bowl from her hand. "It's just…you really didn't have to do this—"
"No really, I insist!" Serenity interrupted. "I mean, you've done so much for me already. It's the least I can do!"
"Ah, well, if you insist…" He sat down at a small dining table, and waited patiently for Serenity to join him. She fixed up a bowl for herself, and then pulled up the chair across from him. Ryou took a small swig out of the soup she made him, and immediately his eyes widened.
"Wow, this is really good!" He commented with widened eyes before he resumed eating.
"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you've never had miso soup before!"
Ryou only grinned innocently.
"Wow," She laughed, taking a bite out of the rice. "I used to cook this for Joey and myself all the time."
No alteration took place in Serenity's expression as she spoke her brother's name. Ryou noticed this and began to wonder, Could she be improving at all?
"Really? Well, it's very good," Ryou commented as he took yet another sip of the soup.
"Thank you!"
"Mhmm…"
-----
"Hey, Serenity?" Bakura suddenly spoke up a few hours later.
"Yes?" Serenity responded, turning her head toward Bakura after turning down the volume on the television. She placed her hands in her lap gently after doing so; that had become quite a habit of hers.
"I'm going to have to leave the house for a bit," He told her, resting his arms on top of the couch. "I have to turn in something for my work."
Serenity's eyes flew open, much to Ryou's surprise. "You have a job?"
Bakura chuckled at this and grinned. "Yeah."
"But you're so young! You should be in college still."
"I already went to college," He informed her. "I went for two years so I could get my BA, and then I decided not to continue when the local newspaper hired me."
"I never knew you had a job in the paper!" She exclaimed, eyes still wide in awe. "That's so cool! So, you're a writer, I'm guessing?"
Bakura nodded, his cheeks turning a light pink at how excited she seemed. "Yes." He glanced at the clock. "Oh, drat, I'm going to be late! I'll be back pretty soon, okay?"
"Alright."
As soon as Bakura shut the door, Serenity let out a sigh of relief. She was doing well so far. Why did it have to be so difficult to keep a happy composure? It didn't feel right, covering up what she felt inside.
Serenity knew better than to ignore Bakura's advice. After all, he was right. Joey would NOT want her to stand around moping all day, that was certain. She promised that she would not cry today, not even the slightest bit. Today, she was going to be completely happy.
"Be brave, Serenity," Her brother's voice returned to her from long ago with memories of their childhood. Scenes from when their parents were getting divorced flooded her mind, every detail appearing as if it had just occurred the day before. Back then, it was almost possible to endure a day without constant yelling and screaming between the two adults.
Joey always made up for those times by taking a walk to a beach that was conveniently located near their home. The two of them would play for hours on end; Joey seemed to frequently get hit by waves while Serenity made castles in the sand. Just one short day at the beach brought the two siblings happiness in times of stress.
It was then that Serenity and Joey were separated. Their mother took Serenity to move somewhere far away, while Joey was forced to stay with his drunkard of a father. The first few months without him nearly killed her spirit. It had been incredibly lonely, and it had been five months since she had even started to make new friends. It wasn't until she was nearly blind that she was able to see him again—nine years later.
No, distract yourself, she commanded herself silently, shaking her head. Rising to her feet, she decided to walk around. There was not much she could do, being alone in a relatively small apartment. She walked through a short hall until she passed Bakura's room.
Serenity stopped to peer inside for a moment. An odd curiosity perked up inside of her; perhaps she could find out more about him there. After all, he was being so nice to her. It would only be polite to get to know him, right?
Subconsciously, she passed through the doorway, glancing around warily. Like every other room in the apartment, the area was organized and tidy. The bed was made, the dresser was neat…
The same people in the portraits that decorated the rest of the walls were scattered upon the ones in this room as well. They have to be his family, Serenity concluded while examining the pictures closely.
Bakura had only mentioned his father a couple of times since she had first met him. He had never spoken of his mother or the younger girl in the pictures. She decided the girl must be his sister—after all, a cousin or a close friend would never be in immediate family photos. A younger Bakura appeared content and joyful, more so than she had ever seen him act before.
It was then that a random flashback of Battle City occurred in her mind, when Bakura competed in the tournament.
Now that she thought about it, the person she saw wasn't the same Bakura she saw.
This Bakura was evil—intent on defeating the spirit inside Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. Serenity to this day had a difficult time comprehending how the mysterious items worked. Joey had attempted explaining the story to her, but his version was unbelievable and out of order. If she remembered correctly, Bakura possessed one of these items. His resembled a dream catcher; it was referred to as the Millennium Ring.
The vengeful, demon-like spirit that controlled Bakura's body was heartless and cruel. She remembered seeing the dark side of Bakura for the first time when he versed Yugi's other half in the semi-finals. Yugi had almost annihilated the evil spirit when a man used an object called the millennium rod to bring the good Bakura out. The plan succeeded, and the true Bakura immediately fell to his knees in excruciating pain. He was begging for help from Yugi, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Kaiba's flunkees, as Joey called them, threatened a disqualification if one of them came in contact with the other.
It was then that the dark Bakura appeared again, just to receive the attack from Yugi's god-monster, Slifer. Although they shared they same body, the other Bakura was physically stronger than the one she knew.
Strangely enough, the spirit disappeared after the attack, leaving Bakura injured and helpless. Everyone, including her, had rushed to his aid. He seemed so innocent and undeserving of this…torture. Bakura was too nice to be controlled by such a demon.
And if Serenity remembered right, he was sort of cute. He still was, actually.
She blushed for a moment at the thought before pushing it away. Joey never liked it when she mentioned boys, or even looked at them for that matter. It was silly in her opinion, but his protective outbursts were only for her own good. To be honest, Serenity missed all of his temper tantrums, no matter how nonsensical they were.
Sighing, she realized that she had indeed been inside his room for more than an hour. It would be best, she decided, that she return to the living room before Bakura returned. If he did return early, the embarrassment would almost be unbearable—
Serenity felt a hand on her shoulder and slightly jumped, startled. Turning around quickly, she almost bumped into Bakura. She blushed as she stepped backwards and placed a hand over her mouth. "I…I'm sorry," She apologized, eyes wide and pleading. It was then that she realized how rude she had been. Bakura was caring enough to let her stay with him, and she had intruded! She found herself wanting to cry, but she pushed the feeling away and waited for his response.
Much to her surprise, Bakura grinned and even laughed. "It's alright, no need to apologize. What's an apartment if you can't go exploring the rooms, right?" Serenity's composure eased as he spoke.
"You aren't mad?"
Bakura shook his head, obviously amused. "Why would I be mad?" He said, chuckling and scratching the top of his head. Then, he simply shrugged. "I don't have a reason." Serenity forced a weak smile at his words.
"You're probably wondering who these people are, huh?" Bakura brought up, gazing at the photographs longingly as if they held a deeper meaning than she had imagined. Serenity nodded, eager to hear about the mysterious strangers.
"This…" He began, pointing to an average sized man with long, blue hair and glasses. "…is my father. I never see him, but he sends money to me every month. I don't think he realizes that I'm no longer a little boy." Bakura smiled before shifting his finger to a woman beside his father. She was pretty and appeared no older than thirty-three. Her long, silvery hair framed her thin, fair-skinned face nicely.
"That's my mum," He said proudly before his gaze dropped to the floor, seeming somewhat saddened by the topic. "I haven't seen her in more than five years." Dropping the subject, he moved his index finger to the last member in the photo.
"This," Bakura said softly, his tone decreasing noticeably. "This is my little sister, Amane." Serenity's eyes widened. Remembering the letters in his room, she realized that this was the girl he was writing to. He probably missed her an awful lot. Why didn't he ever mention his mother and sister?
Without giving Serenity anymore time to ponder about this, Bakura headed for the door and gestured for her to follow. "We should do something," He suggested with a smile, pausing as she caught up with him.
"Like what?"
Bakura shrugged. "I don't know, just something, I suppose." He entered his living room and sat on the couch, clearly bored. Serenity joined him without another word and patiently waited for him to come up with an idea.
"What do you do on days like these?"
Serenity paused for a moment to think. "Well, I used to clean the house, because Joey would always make a mess of things and then he'd go out with his friends. But I was really sick when he died so I hadn't had a chance to…" Suddenly, she stopped. How could she even say that sentence so bluntly? His death was due to her illness. How could she be so insensitive?
Immediately Serenity rose to her feet and turned from him, trying not to let him see the tears welling up in her eyes. "I need to…go to my room," She said softly, beginning to head toward the hall.
"Wait," Bakura said suddenly, standing up as well. She stood silently, waiting for him to continue. A moment of silence occurred between the two; none of them did so much as move in the few minutes that they stood there. With a sigh, Bakura shifted his gaze downward.
"You know, you don't always have to run from what you feel," He finally spoke, his voice soft and hesitant. Serenity put a hand over her face to keep the tears from rolling down her cheek. She wouldn't cry again; crying didn't benefit her at all.
Bakura continued. "I know I said that Joey wants you to be happy, but I don't think pretending to be is the same thing, you know? It's alright to be upset and to cry, really. It takes a long time to acquire happiness after losing someone. Trust me, I know."
Serenity said nothing, knowing how stupid she would seem, crying in front of him like that. She would hate to make things awkward. Before she could think any further, Bakura's nearly inaudible voice spoke once again.
"I lost two members of my family in the same accident when I was around thirteen. My little sister, Amane, from the pictures, she wanted to go to the store with my mother. I stayed home because I was busy with some sort of new game my father had bought me from one of his travels. He was on a trip at the time. A few hours later, I received a phone call that my mother and sister were in an awful wreck with a bus. They had died instantly, and I couldn't do anything for weeks. I resembled a constantly lifeless zombie all throughout the funeral. My father took some time off of his job for me; God knows I wouldn't be able to be alone all of that time. After some mishaps at my school, I was sent here to live in an apartment. This is my second or third one; I can't remember at the moment. Anyway, I was just like you, for the longest time. Nothing was able to cheer me up, so I faked being happy, and it killed me. There's no reason you should have to—"
Before he said anything more, Serenity spun around and buried her face into his chest. Her breathing quickened as she began to sob, almost reaching the point of hysteria. She knew what she was doing was slightly awkward, but at this moment, she could care less. Everything became less awkward once he put his arms around her in an embrace. At least he didn't mind.
"I was sick," Serenity said through her tears. "I couldn't go and pick up the medicine I needed, so Joey told me that he would for me. I…I wouldn't let him at first, but he insisted he go instead of me. And at the…at the pharmacy, that's where a man shot him. None of us know why, either. The police told me the man with the gun was high or drunk, but I don't know why someone would even do something like that. Joey didn't do anything. He only tried to help me." She stopped momentarily as she continued to cry. "It's all my fault."
Bakura shook his head. "It's not your fault. It wasn't my fault that my mother and sister died just because I didn't go with them. You don't know how long it took me to realize that. Years, Serenity, years. I don't want you to have to go through the same thing I did. Believe me; you had no doing in your brother's death from what you told me. You would only be responsible if you shot him yourself, which you didn't."
Serenity nodded as much as she could with the position she was in. To be honest, she didn't mind him holding her at all. Bakura had an odd way of comforting her, one she couldn't understand. It wasn't just his words that made her feel secure, but also something she was unable to describe. "Thank you," She said softly, her breathing now starting to regulate itself.
"Don't worry, love. Don't worry at all."