Chapter 2

Ryou's eyes slowly opened as they adjusted to the change in light. His body protested for more sleep but he needed to wake up. He had school today. He sat up and looked around. It was cloudy outside so not very much light was coming in through the window. The hall light was on so he figured Bakura was already awake. How strange. He usually doesn't get up until after I leave… Curious as to what the former thief was doing awake, Ryou stood out of bed and quietly walked down the hall.

He peered into the bathroom but nobody was there so Ryou walked over to Bakura's room and silently pushed the door open. When he was still gone, Ryou blinked but went downstairs. Maybe he made himself breakfast today… Doubtful. Bakura do something like cook? Ryou surpassed a smile and looked around downstairs. Still no sign of the other. "…Bakura?" Nobody answered him so Ryou walked into the kitchen to get something to eat.

Maybe he just went out… Agreeing that is had to be that, Ryou walked over the fridge but froze when his eyes fell on the knife block. His heart skipped a beat and his hands started to shake. He then remembered what he had done. Nervous, Ryou pushed the sleeve up on his blue long sleeve shirt and looked at his arm. Nothing. There wasn't a single mark on his arm! Ryou sighed a little. A nightmare. It was all a dream. Just another bad dream. He let out a small sigh and finished his morning routine. Foods, clothes, make Bakura something, and then get on his way to school.

Locking the door to the small house behind him, Ryou jogged down the path he always took to Domino High. He rounded a corner into the city and stopped. There wasn't a soul around. He blinked a little confused and looked down at his watch. "Oh no! I'm running late!" Gripping his school bag tighter, he took off running for the school. Once he was through the gates he slowed his pace as not to get in trouble for running. Ryou pushed the school doors opened and jogged up to his class, opening the door. "Sorry I'm late! I was-"

Ryou stopped himself. The entire classroom was empty. Panic slowly rose in the boy but he shook his head. Must be a break of something. He turned and jogged down to another classroom to see if they knew where his class had gone. He pushed open the sliding door and peered inside only to see this class was also gone. "Where is everybody?"

The same pattern continued for the rest of the classes he checked. There was nobody in any of them! Ryou started to panic now, not bothering to calm himself down. He turned and ran back outside, running toward the familiar game shop close by. They wouldn't be all too happy to see him, but at least Ryou could reassure himself he wasn't mad. The door swung open, reveling the shelves stacked with games. A small bell announced his arrival and Ryou waited a few minutes for either the spiky haired boy of the old man to come out and see him.

Nothing. Ryou took a step further into the game shop, looking around for any sign of life. "Yuugi? ? Anzu? …Anybody?" Panic rose in the young British boy as he walked into the shop more. Like the school, there wasn't a single person here. Ryou quickly turned and ran back outside. They must just be out and forgot to lock the door. Yes that has to be it. He tried to calm himself as he ran somewhere he knew would be populated regardless of what time of day it was. When he saw the corner store, his heart dropped. Not a single living thing was around for miles.

The store was in the middle of a busy area. It was open 24/7 so people were constantly in and out of the building. It was also a busy part of the city. You could walk by at 4am and still see people walking around. But it was mid-day and not a single soul was around. No… No no no NO! Ryou felt his heart lurch as he ran around the city. I can't be alone again! There has to be something, anybody else here! "Hello? Anybody? Please! Somebody!" Ryou screamed out as the clouds above him gave in and rain started to fall. It didn't faze the boy as he ran his uniform now completely soaked.

After what seemed like miles, Ryou fell back against a wall, trying to fill his lungs with air. It was pouring down rain and he was right beside a street, yet not a single car drove by. Not a bus in sight. "This can't be happening. I can't be alone." Ryou staggered up to his feet, panting and turned to look around him. "Somebody else has to be here. I won't be alone again!"

Then it hit him. Bakura. He had to be here! Bakura had never left him! Almost tripping over himself, Ryou pushed his legs faster until he was back in his neighborhood. The houses flew past as he ran, the rain making them seem like a blurry image. Ryou shoved the gates open, not bothering to stop when they tore at his jacket and cut one of his arms. "Bakura!" Wet hair was plastered to Ryou's slim face as he pulled out the keys and tried with shaky hands to open the door. When the familiar click was heard Ryou threw himself inside panting, and looked around the pitch black house. "Bakura? Are you here? Please! Please just say something!"

When he heard nothing, Ryou quickly went into the living room. Bakura often could be found on the couch. If he wasn't out or asleep, he was usually flipping through TV channels. Ryou would usually quietly sneak in and watch from affair as his former Yami was completely unaware. But now Ryou was making his presence known. "Bakura are you here? Please answer me!" Nothing. He was alone in the living room, the only faces being the one of his family in a picture frame. Tears were swimming in Ryou's eyes as he dashed back out and upstairs. "Bakura please I'm begging you!" He ran into the thief's room, praying he'd be sitting down flipping one of his knives up and down. When nobody was there, the tears started to fall from Ryou's eyes. "Please…! Bakura just… please! Yell at me, order me around, just- anything!"

Ryou slumped down on the stairs, hugging his knees to his chest. "I don't want to be alone… not again." He hated the feeling. Being alone and having nobody else there. Nobody to see, not another living being to justify your life, nothing to give you some comfort that you weren't alone. At least not completely. That's why he let… no wanted Bakura to live with him. Bakura had never left him. No matter what had happened Bakura had been with Ryou. He wasn't ever really alone. There was always the gruff voice of the Yami that reminded him he was alive and not alone. But now that voice was gone. There was not a voice ordering him to cook or telling him how worthless and weak he was… It was just Ryou. Alone again like he had been long ago.

"No… I won't be alone again." Slowly, Ryou rose to his feet and went down into the kitchen. Thunder clasped loudly outside as Ryou walked into the kitchen. His eyes were still swimming with tears as they combined with the water dripping from his soaked clothes and made a wet path on the floor. He reached a shaky out and grabbed one of the knives from the block he kept them in. "I don't want to be alone… I won't be alone." He sobbed to himself and fell back against the cabinets, lowering himself to the floor. "Why… Why are you gone? Bakura why did you leave me?" Ryou held the knife up to his throat, sobbing more as he closed his eyes for the last time. "I can't be alone again!" Blood trickled down his shirt as he shakily held the knife there and started to move it across.

"Ryou! Stop it!"

The loud familiar voice froze Ryou in place, but he frowned and kept the knife at his throat. "N-No! You left me! I can't be alone! I Won't… not again…"

"Ryou I never left! I'm standing right here! I swear to you I'm not gone! Open your eyes boy!"

He so badly wanted to open his eyes. Wanted to see if the owner of the voice was truly there. But he was already hurt enough. There was no reason to. "Go away! You left me! Just like everybody else did! Why should I trust-"

"Because I'm here!" Something forcefully grabbed his shoulders, strong fingers digging into his arms. Ryou choked out another sob but kept the knife there.

"You left. You left me to. You don't care. Let me die. Just please go away." Ryou sobbed more, wanting to open his eyes but afraid to face the fact that nobody was there.

"Hikari I AM real! I never left you! Open your eyes!" The familiar voice demanded again and Ryou gave in. He forced his chocolate orbs open and in a flash of lighting saw his reflection looking back at him. Only his reflection had darker eyes, different clothes, and his hair spiked up as horns.

"B…Bakura…?"

"Yeah it's me. Ryou give me the knife and it will be okay." Something warm fell over the hand Ryou gripped the knife in and slowly move his hand away from his neck. He was shaking from head to toe as Bakura skidded the knife across the floor and looked back at Ryou. "What the fuck are you doing? Do you know what you could have done? Ryou you could have killed yourself!"

Ryou's voice hitched in his throat as he stared at the man whose soul he used to be connected with. Another wave of tears hit him and Ryou threw himself at Bakura, sobbing into his chest. This cut the Thief off mid rant as he looked down at the boy. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Part of him wanted to hold the boy there. But he couldn't do that... "Ryou…"

On hearing his name, Ryou sobbed more and clung to Bakura's shirt. "Please don't leave me again… I'm sorry. I'm sorry Bakura. I'm so sorry…"

"Ryou shut up." Bakura put an arm around the younger boy's shoulders and held him there. "I'm not leaving you and I never did. I promise you. I'm not going anywhere." Ryou sobbed more and Bakura moved his other arm up and stroked the smaller boys hair. It was tangled and wet. Not at all how Bakura liked it, but it seemed to calm Ryou down. "It's okay Ryou… Just calm down."

A few more minutes went by but Bakura finally felt Ryou stop sobbing. He was still shaking but the sobs had stopped. Reluctantly Bakura let his arms free Ryou as he sat back and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry Bakura…" He tried to meet the thief's eyes but couldn't. He was afraid to. Not that Bakura would be angry with him, but because he didn't want to get up. He liked being in Bakura's arms. It was reassuring and comforted him into thinking he wasn't alone. But Bakura was only doing it to shut him up and Ryou didn't want to anger him anymore then he already had.

Bakura frowned a little but remembered the boy had managed to cut himself again before Bakura had found him. "Come on Ryou. Let's go fix you up." He stood and pulled Ryou to his feet.

Ryou looked at him and tilted his head. But… I thought I was dreaming… It was then his body reminded him of what he had done and Ryou cried out, falling back down. Arms caught him moments before he impacted with the hard kitchen tile and steadied him on his feet. "Easy. Your body's still weak." Ryou looked up at Bakura who was now helping him up the stairs.

What… happened to me? His eyes went down to his arm which was in serious amounts of pain. It was blood soaked with old and new blood. It was running down to his fingertips and falling against Bakura's shirt. Ryou tried to move his arm away but whimpered in pain. This got Bakura's attention and he frowned, lightly holding Ryou's arm where it was. "Don't try and move it anymore idiot." He tried to make his voice sound comforting but it was hard.

Once they were in the bathroom he helped Ryou sit on the side of the tub and unwrapped the shredded bandages from before. 3 new cuts were crossing the others, making some of the old wounds reopen. The collar of Ryou's shirt was stained red from where the blade had cut him, being held there. Growling annoyed in his head, Bakura grabbed a towel and wet it to try and wipe the blood from a few of the boy's wounds. Ryou winced in pain but didn't move. At least he was showing signs of live now.

"I… did this?" Ryou's voice was almost too hard to hear against the pouring rain but Bakura heard him. He glanced up at the boy but nodded once, wrapping the bandage around Ryou's arm. Ryou bit his lip and looked away. Bakura saw a few more tears slide from the doe eyes and he gritted his teeth annoyed. Why was he once again playing nursemaid to the suicidal boy?

"Lift your chin." Ryou did as told and Bakura wiped the blood away and held the towel there. He took Ryou's right hand in his and pressed it against the towel. "Hold that there to slow down the bleeding." Once again Ryou did as he was told and Bakura got to his feet.

He started to walk out to get a change of clothes for the boy again but a panicked hand grabbed the back of his shirt tail. "Where are you going?" Bakura looked back at Ryou who was looking up at him terrified.

"Just to get you something else to wear. I'll be right back." Ryou frowned a little but let him go, looking down at his bare feet. With a sigh Bakura walked out and into Ryou's room to find a different shirt for the boy. He grabbed a grey one from the dresser he had left open and walked back to the bathroom where the Hikari was looking at his feet. "Here. Let me help you." Ryou looked up to protest against Bakura helping him but before he could, Bakura had his arms raised and the bloody shirt off. A faint red dusted Ryou's cheeks so he looked down, praying Bakura hadn't noticed.

He had but decided against saying anything. Bakura pulled the grey shirt over Ryou's arms and carefully over his head. He pressed the towel back against Ryou's throat carefully and stood. "You need some rest." Ryou nodded once and tried to stand but his body gave in. He'd lost way to much blood and was too weak to stand on his own. Bakura picked him up which caused the red to darken on the pale boy's cheeks. Bakura grinned a little to himself but quickly shook his head. Pity. He reminded himself of this and placed Ryou back down on his own bed.

Shivering, Ryou snaked down lower into the blankets and rolled onto his right side and closed his eyes. Bakura stood there, watching him for a second. It didn't seem like this was happening. One minute he was sound asleep and the next he's being jerked awake by the sound of Ryou screaming. Screaming his name of all things… Coincidence. Nothing more. Bakura turned to leave but Ryou sat up, panic lacing the accent he spoke with. "B-Bakura…?"

The thief looked back at the boy and kept his frown on his face. "What?"

Ryou blushed more and looked down at the floor. "I… I was just wondering if… if…"

"Out with it boy." He didn't mean to sound impatient. Especially after all Ryou had been going through.

"W-Would you please… stay here with me? Just until I fall asleep…" Ryou glanced up at him but quickly let his gaze fall down to the floor.

Bakura just looked at him for a few seconds. He really did want to stay with him. Why… he wasn't sure. Maybe it was to make sure the boy didn't try and hurt himself again? Yes that had to be it. He would stay to be sure Ryou wouldn't try and harm himself. "Fine." Bakura walked back over to the bed and Ryou smiled happily. He moved over until he was against the wall and Bakura just looked at him. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you some room…?" Ryou said this as a question, afraid he was doing something wrong. He didn't want to sleep alone. He was trying to be careful and not scare off Bakura.

Bakura sighed a little and took one of the pillows and put it back against the nightstand. "I'm fine here."

Ryou frowned when he heard this and sat up. "N-No. Then you get the bed and I'll sleep on the floor." When he tried to stand his legs gave out, causing him to fall forward. Bakura grabbed him before he collided with the ground and put him back in the bed.

"No. You need to sleep in the bed."

Ryou frowned at him. "Then sleep up here with me. I can't rest well knowing you're on the floor." Bakura sighed annoyed but gave up and sat on the side of the bed. He'd wait till Ryou fell asleep then move back to the floor. Anything to shut the boy up. Ryou smiled a little and made room for him, leaning his head on one of the pillows. Bakura laid back and put one of his arms behind his head. Just until he falls asleep. He promised himself, glancing over at Ryou who already had his eyes closed, his knees curled up to his chest.

Bakura sighed and looked back up at the ceiling and shut his eyes. The storm outside was calming down and rain fell against the window. In the distance he could hear thunder as the storm passed on to the next town. He was on the verge of sleep when something moved against his side. Bakura's eyes snapped open and he looked to his left where Ryou had his bandaged arm clinging to Bakura's shirt. The boy was curled against the thief and his chest rose evenly. Bakura felt his face heat up but shook his head. "Ryou… move over." Nothing happened so Bakura gently tried to push the boy over a little. Ryou let out a light whimper and snuggled closer to the thief. Bakura sighed annoyed and looked back up at the ceiling. Knew this wasn't a good idea…

Next to him Ryou shivered and Bakura glanced down. With a defeated sigh he pulled the blankets up over the boy and moved his arm around him. If he was stuck here he might as well make himself comfortable. Ryou shifted and moved up so his head was resting on Bakura's chest. Well… Things could be a lot worse. Sighing a little, Bakura shut his eyes, unaware that his hand was stroking the sleeping boy's hair.

…

NOTE: Yus Yus it's done! 2 chapters in one day! GO MEEEE~! And It's not over yet so don't worry. Also I have the feeling Bakura kinda got out of character in places so sorry! I really hope its okay. But hey. If someone as cute as Ryou asks you to stay with them, in the name of Ra would say no?