AGKamon: Welcome back my friends! This is a short, sweet, but kinda important chapter. Also, I have important news!
Marik: Really? *looks interested*
AGKamon: I got a Deviant-Art account and posted a picture of Kayla on it today! *cheers* The link is on my profile, so go take a look before or after you read the chapter. Someone do the disclaimer.
Kayla: I will, to thank you for drawing me! AGKamon doesn't own Marik, Bakura, or anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh! However, she does own me!
Bakura: Alright, start the chapter now. You still need to figure what to write for your review replies, AG.
AGKamon: Er...right. *runs to computer and starts typing rapidly*
The Next Morning:
Kayla's P.O.V.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew this wasn't my room. I sat up and glanced around, wondering what the heck happened when it all came flooding back to me. I was in Bakura's room because he didn't trust Marik's darker side to leave me alone. I looked across the room, spotting the still-sleeping white-haired spirit.
What's so special about me? Why does he care about me of all people? Those thoughts kept bothering me, why did he care? I was a girl who ran away from home at age eleven to prevent my parents from sending me to the loony bin. Why would anyone care what happened to me?
"Should I be concerned that you'll be having weird bouts of behavior on random occasions?" I blinked a few times.
"Huh?"
"You looked completely out of it, so I asked if you were alright. You didn't answer, so I asked if you'll be acting strange like this very often," Bakura clarified.
"Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking." I swiftly tugged on my gloves.
"Are you going to watch the next duels?"
"No. That weird new Marik's out there; I don't wanna leave the room."
"Good. …Can I ask you a question?" He sounded nervous. What does he have to nervous about?
"Depends. How personal is the question?"
"It's not that personal, I think, but why are you always wearing gloves? I understand that when you're committing your usual crimes; they're useful for preventing yourself from leaving fingerprints, but you're wearing them now, when there's no reason to." I laughed slightly.
"I have a scar on my right hand, and I don't like the look of it; wearing one glove would look silly, don't ya think?" I replied.
"I guess…" he muttered.
"Are you curious, Bakura?" I asked, a sing-song tone infiltrating my voice.
"Are you willing to let me see?"
"It's no problem, really. It's a burn scar, nothing special," I remarked, pulling off my right glove. Instantly, he stiffened.
"How did you get this?" he asked quietly. Pretty much the entirety of my right hand (both the palm and the top) was covered in a burn scar. He brought his fingertips across the scarred skin with a curious gleam in his eyes, as though he'd never seen such a burn before. I would've expected he'd seen something like this before.
"After I ran off when I was eleven, I discovered that the docs were right about my mental issues. I still didn't wanna go home, so I just gave into my urges. Of course, my pyromania caused me to set fires. I got too close to the flames the first time I set something on fire, and I got this. It's not that I'm ashamed of it or anything, I just don't like the way it looks against my skin; it seems out of place, and keeping it covered keeps people from asking questions," I explained.
Bakura's P.O.V.
I never would've expected her to be hiding such a large scar under a simple piece of fabric. I dragged my fingertips gently across the top of her hand; I would've expected the scarred tissue to be rough, but it wasn't She really was an interesting girl, who has had a hard life so far; I'm glad I decided to care about her. After a second, I released her hand and she wandered off into the bathroom. I couldn't help but eye her when her back was turned. If I was still in Egypt, I would've thought she was a goddess in disguise, or was related to one. Everything seemed to be perfect about her looks, the scar made her look more attractive in my opinion. Despite her problems, she acted strangely happy and had a bright outlook on life most of the time. But her episode yesterday...that was such an opposite from her usual attitude.
She really must be terrified of being alone. If that's so, then I definitely have to defeat Marik's dark side and avoid being sent to the Shadow Realm. She's a resourceful and smart girl, but I have no idea what she'll do when she's scared. I ran the outcomes through my head; there were so many possibilities of what could happen. However, if I wanted to protect her, I needed to think through them all. Every last one of them.
That Night:
Looking to my side, I saw her peaceful sleeping face facing me. I felt my expression soften; she looked-
"Hey Bakura!" I shot up and almost shouted something but stopped myself so I didn't wake her. That was…Marik's voice, but it was the light-hearted Marik. The one I knew before. I glanced around, soon catching the translucent form of the Egyptian in my eyes.
'What are you doing here?' I mouthed. The fact that she was still sleeping gave me the information that she wouldn't be able to see or hear him if she woke up.
"We need to defeat my dark side! Come on, I've got a plan."
'Last time you had a plan, I was stuck in this bed, unconscious.'
"That's not important! I'll be able to help you defeat him!"
'How do you know I wish to defeat him?'
"...You just told me. I'll give you my Millennium Rod if you help!"
'You already promised me that…' Then again, having an ally with me when I go after the darker Marik could work to my advantage.
"Well, uh, I guess…" the partially-clear Egyptian started before I carefully set my feet on the floor, motioning for him to follow me as I snuck out the automatic doors. He stopped babbling and nodded.
"What's your plan?" I asked quietly once the doors had closed behind me.
"We duel my dark side, defeat him, and I get my body back!"
"That's it…?" I raised an eyebrow. Someone please remind me why I ever agreed to work with this kid.
"Yes! It's brilliant, isn't it?" I bit my lip and turned toward the door I'd just walked through, running all my plans and Marik's through my mind as quickly as I could.
All the plans I've come up with will take much more time, but Marik's plans have always failed. Do I want to get rid of Dark Marik now, with the high risk of it failing and me leaving Kayla all alone, or do I want to use one of my longer-term plans that are more reliable but still have the risk of failure? Suddenly, I felt something course through my veins.
"Give me a second to think it over," I said before quickly retreating to my room. I cast a glance at her; she was shaking severely, her lips forming words that had yet to be spoken. My eyes narrowed, was she having another episode? I knelt by the side of her bed and shook her awake, her entire body jolted when her eyes opened.
"Are you alright?" I asked gently. Her eyes were watery with what looked like tears that hadn't spilled yet: strike one.
"O-of course. Wh-why wouldn't I be?" Her voice was shaky: strike two. She was still shaking: strike three. She'd been having another nightmare, probably about being alone.
"I can tell you had another nightmare, why are you denying it?" I questioned. She sat up slowly and tried to look at anything but me.
"I-I felt like a burden when you had to comfort me last night. I survived on my own for six years and didn't need anyone to hold me like you did last night. Now I feel like I need you to talk to you after my dreams turn into nightmares, and I don't know why."
"You're not a burden, not at all. You're tired of being lonely and having to comfort yourself, am I right?" She nodded, and I kept talking, "I already told you, since I'm around, you're not alone anymore. Don't delude yourself into thinking you'll be fine on your own, everyone needs someone eventually. Your time to need someone by your side is now." I'd taken her right hand in one of mine and was stroking along her knuckles and the top of her hand with my thumb. The scar on that hand fascinated me for some reason.
"What about you?" I looked up into her dark-blue eyes at hearing her question.
"What do you mean?"
"When will you need somebody?" Suddenly everything clicked together and made sense in my head. The reason why I cared about her, why I felt protective over her safety, why I even tried to comfort her last night. I needed this girl to be around me, but I didn't tell her that. I wanted Dark Marik out of the way before I said anything to her.
"…I don't know, I honestly don't have any idea. I never felt the urge to need another person in my life back in Egypt; it's been 5000 years since then and I still don't feel it. Maybe I never will." I stood up and sat on the bed next to her. She lay her head on my shoulder, maneuvering herself so she was comfortable, then gazing up at me. To me, she still looked like she was part-goddess.
She had walls made of steel built around her heart that was as fragile as glass. Her eyes held the knowledge of someone who's seen too much, despite their young age. Her left hand was calloused from work, stress, and use, her right was burned with her obsession. The slight smile playing across her lips caused my heart to beat a little faster. It was relaxed, showing that she only felt this at ease when she was with me because only time she truly smiled like that was when we were together. I would never find another person anything like her again. That's what brought me to my decision; I had to get rid of Dark Marik as soon as possible.
"You need to go back to sleep," I said.
"…Fine…" she sighed, yawning soon afterward. I retreated to my bed, pretending to return to sleep as she fell back into a dreamland that I hoped would be free of loneliness. As soon as I heard her breathing even out and relax, I rushed out the doors again.
"What took you so long?" Marik exclaimed.
"She had a nightmare." There was a pause of silence.
"…So she was telling the truth when she said you cared about her…" I could've asked why she told him that, but I disregarded it for now.
"I'll go along with your plan, we go tonight. Understand?"
"Completely. Let's go get my body back!"
"I couldn't care less about your body, honestly," I growled at him.
"Then why are you doing this, Bakura?" he asked. I coughed nervously, quickly walking ahead of him.
"…Special…circumstances. Now where's that darker half of yours?"
AGKamon: How'd ya like it? Sweet, huh? Now to reply to my reviewers...
Adriatic Rose - I'm glad you liked the opening chapter and my OC. Also, I feel flattered that you are now my obedient friend.
Adriatic Rose (2) - Bakura's kinda always in a bad mood...I think...
Adriatic Rose (3) - I am also happy you gave Neutral a chance because you were my tenth reviewer! Technically, your last review was the tenth, but I decided to congratulate you now! *throws confetti* Yay! Also, thanks for reviewing, adding this story to your story alert list, and your favorite story list.
katz341 - I am starting to anticipate your reviews whenever I update now...that's a good thing. Thanks for congratulating me on my tablet, take a look at the picture I drew of Kayla - tell me if it looks good for the first I've posted that I drew with my tablet. When KittyFluffyninja mentioned a friend who had already read this...I suspected it was you. Yes, you are awesome because Exercise is awesome and you're the reader who's reviewed the most. Bakura's just too stubborn to compliment anyone...besides Kayla. I enjoyed the cookies, and my whole day brightened when you said 'AGKamon is too awesome for poisoning!' ...None of my readers have ever called me awesome. Nah, you're probably just having writer's block or somethin', I wouldn't poison anyone for that. Actually, I wouldn't poison anyone at all... Thanks for reviewing again!
Also, thanks to KittyFluffyninja for putting Neutral on her story alert list; you too Alice's Sister for putting this in your favorites and listing me under your favorite authors!
Marik: I'll sign us out, AG if you don't mind.
AGKamon: I'd appreciate it, thanks.
Marik: Thanks for favoriting and reviewing! Keep on reading and doing just that!
Kayla: And check out her Deviant-Art page!
Bakura: We'll obviously be back next chapter. Bye.