IkutosGirl: So here is Chapter 16!~

Bakura: Isn't that obvious?

IkutosGirl: You saw nothing!

Bakura: Wha-?

IkutosGirl: *poofs and disappears*

Bakura: That's nice, real nice. Two can play that game! *also poofs and disappears*

Ryou: …Okay, what the hell just happened?

Ryou's POV

I could see Bakura was eager to see what I had to say. Unfortunately, my vocal chords aren't very cooperative.

"Well…you see…I…umm….how can I put this…umm…I…" I couldn't decide on how to begin.

I could tell that Bakura was getting irritated with my lack of confidence, as usual, so I just blurted it all out.

"It all started when my dad gave me the Millennium Ring!" I started and Bakura's eyes visibly widened.

"Ryou," Bakura said through his teeth, clenching his fist. "Don't tell me this is all my fault."

I stared at Bakura dumbfounded for a moment.

"What? No, no, no…no Bakura, it isn't." I told Bakura reassuringly.

Bakura took a deep breath and he motioned for me continue my explanation again.

"Like I said, it all started when my dad gave me the Millennium Ring. For awhile, I didn't even know that you were in my soul because you were so…quiet."

"Repentance is good, but innocence is better. After all, a child's innocence is more valuable than gold…" Bakura whispered and I could tell he knew what he was talking about.

I grabbed Bakura's hand and forced my throat to form sounds and my lips to form words.

"But eventually a part of my conscience had caught on to your presence, but it was too late. My first time playing Monster World…I had no clue what had happened to my friends. Then the constant switching of schools began. By the time I- no we- reached Domino High I could tell something was wrong with me…but I ignored it." And then I couldn't help it.

I laughed. I laughed at my stupidity; my fatal mistake. I pulled my hand out of Bakura's and covered my face. I could tell the laughs were disturbing and I was flinching from every single one, but I couldn't grab a hold of myself. Why was I so stupid?

"Ryou…please calm down…" Bakura pleaded and I glanced at him.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?" I yelled at Bakura, but then recoiled by the look on his face.

He sounded worried, but his face was composed.

"At least one of us has a grip on sanity still." I muttered under my breath, just loud enough for Bakura to hear.

"Ok you know what, enough is enough! Maybe I'll just find something in your room." Bakura complained and I froze.

"No," I said, wiping the few stray tears that had fallen down my face away. "I'll tell you…just stay away from the room for now."

Bakura complied and this time he grabbed my hand and I took a deep breath.

"I began to feel…different…when someone yelled at me, I couldn't find a reason to be mad and yell back. When I made a mistake…let's face it, I never made any. I felt too…good. I was never mad and sometimes when I knew I should be hitting someone for calling me an idiot I only cried. It was like… I was yin compared to yang…but even more innocent." I took another deep breath.

Bakura looked confused, at the very least, and I could tell he didn't have any opinions to voice. I continued.

"I was worried, but I continued to ignore my gut feelings…I finally realized what was wrong after your duel with Marik that you lost…"

Bakura didn't seem pleased by the returning thoughts that were flooding his head now. The cold shadows that gripped at your wrists and ankles showed no mercy as you froze quietly to death in the Shadow Realm.

"Bakura, you're my yami; my darkness! You became a part of my soul, and your darkness was so overpowering…I had to compensate for your light. When you were gone, I was only light and I had no darkness left." I was getting a bit hysterical and tried to calm down.

"So this was all my fault…" Bakura whispered and his grip on my hand tightened.

"No," I argued and shook my head. "It's mine. I allowed you to become so close to me. Even though you didn't have a single thought about me when you went days without eating, I still became attached. I considered that maybe I had even developed Stockholm Syndrome." I felt like laughing again, but that wouldn't do either of us any good.

"Ryou…" I'm sorry.

That's what Bakura wanted to say. He mouthed the words, but he couldn't give them sound. At least he wasn't acting like a little crying child anymore; I liked the stronger Bakura.

"Anyways, once you were gone, I couldn't find any darkness left in me. It felt as if I didn't have a conscience anymore, because making the wrong choice wasn't even an option. My worries were dispelled quickly once you returned to my body…but then things went awry… We all thought the shadows were consuming me…I thought that too. It was weird when I moved or talked. I was in my body, but I wasn't in control, but I was."

Okay, now Bakura just looked confused. I sighed and tried to rephrase my last sentence.

"I was the one making decisions, but someone was…influencing them. When we separated bodies…I didn't feel like the light half of the two of us anymore, but something was still off. I was acting so evil…" I was lacking another comparison and blurted out the first resemblance I could think of. "…and so like you."

Bakura's POV

I was shocked by Ryou's opinion on the way he had acted. When I had first seen Ryou acting so abnormal he did look like me and he definitely acted like me.

Ryou continued on with his explanation.

"It felt so strange when I… did the things I did. That's when I noticed something strange, if not disturbing. You had often explained the shadows as numbing your pain, leaving you with none left."

I nodded. Many a time had I explained my experiences with the shadows to Ryou; both as a warning and a selfish desire for him to give in too.

"I was screaming inside. My mind was conflicting with my actions, but I couldn't stop them. And then when I came back and we found the door in your soul room everything was coming together. You see…the door hadn't been something new to me…"

Bakura gasped but I kept going.

"Or at least I could have sworn it wasn't something new. It had a certain aura around it, but you hadn't noticed it, so I thought maybe I was imagining it. Just, when I saw it something about it had been so recognizable…so I…investigated."

I snorted at Ryou's choice of words.

"I'll take it from here, since this part probably confused you." I told Ryou.

Ryou smiled sheepishly at me and nodded.

"I had been curios too…because I had been feeling weird lately. The blood when you had," Ryou cringed at what I was about to say so I changed the direction of the sentence. "…hurt…the man before had been so exhilarating just to look at."

Ryou eyed me suspiciously, but I shook my head.

"I don't feel like that anymore though. Like I was saying, I had been curious too, so I had opened the door, but then my memory gets blurry. I just remember a figure standing in the doorway and then it disappeared and I felt so…sadistically good. But then you found me like that and I couldn't control myself…like someone was influencing my judgment and actions."

Ryou noticed the similarity in our descriptions of the feeling we had had.

"I was literally trying to fight the influence with my mind, and when you pulled out the Millennium Key one part of me was horrified by what I might do while the other felt thrilled. Thank goodness you left when you did. The next thing I remember is waking up and seeing you teary eyed and just the vague memory that I had hurt you." That particular experience was one that was etched in my head.

"One last thing before I finish my explanation Bakura?" Ryou asked me and I nodded for him to go on.

"Why did you say you loved me?"

IkutosGirl: Yes Bakura, why?

Bakura: I…

Ryou: You never gave me a straight answer!

Bakura: you never gave me the chance to!

IkutosGirl: Anyways, I've been thinking about trying out a songfic for Bakura and Ryou, maybe working on it when I have spare time (IF I have any, that is). Is this a good idea?

Pain: by 3 Days Grace; Bakura's POV to Ryou; Lyrics turned into dialogue; Evil Bakura.