Title: String of Fate
Author: MiyAsuka
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Kazuki Takahashi does.
Pairing: Bakura/Ryou
Rating: R
Warning: Yaoi (duh!) and a lime in the next chapter.
Summary: The Ring's gone, and even though Bakura is still there, things can't go back the way they were.
Notes: Sorry! I've been so busy I didn't have time to update. But now, I should have more free time.
Chapter 5 : Disclosure
Ryou stared at the Game Shop entrance. There. Now, he just had to enter and have a talk with Yuugi. Easy. Right?
Then why was he shivering with apprehension? He shook his head. There was nothing to be uneasy about. There was no spirit of the Puzzle anymore. Nothing to fear. His right hand grasped the handle and turned slowly. A tinkle announced his entrance.
"Welcome. Oh, it's you Bakura-kun," Mutou Sugoroku said, smiling.
"Hello," Ryou replied, forcing himself to sound cheerful despite his nervousness.
"You came to buy something?"
"No, in fact, I came to see Yuugi-kun." Ryou's voice was shaking slightly, that wasn't good. "Is he here?"
"Sorry, you're out of luck. His mom just sent him on grocery shopping." The old man scratched his chin. "But that shouldn't take long though. Why don't you wait for him here?"
Say no, say no, say no.
"Yeah, why not?"
What had gotten into him exactly? Well, he did enjoy chatting with Sugoroku - the old man always had some story to tell. However, he didn't want to get too close to Yuugi's family because he wasn't sure he would be able to stay friends with Yuugi.
"You know what? I was about to close the shop in a few minutes for lunch. I'll do it now and you can have lunch with us as soon as Yuugi comes back, how does that sound?"
Ryou shook his head. "No, I don't want to impose. I'll come back later."
"You're not imposing," Sugoroku assured. "I'm sure Yuugi will be happy to see you. He's worried, you know. He told me you haven't been to school lately."
Ryou lowered his head. He really didn't want to talk about that. Sugoroku noticed this.
"I'm sure you have your reasons. I just don't like to see my grandson troubled, that's all."
"Is he really this worried?" Ryou found it hard to believe.
Sugoroku laughed. "You have no idea. He cares a lot about you. He's probably too shy to tell you, that's all."
Shy? Ryou wondered. What did shyness have to do with that? He thought Yuugi was just apprehensive of him, because of the Ring and Bakura. And Yuugi really didn't look the shy type. He was always bouncing up and down around his friends. But maybe this was somehow due to the Puzzle's influence. Or not.
Ryou wondered if he should have let Bakura come with him after all. It felt a bit odd without the spirit's constant pestering, even though Ryou was ignoring half of it most of the time. But the thought that Bakura was waiting for him at home was comforting, compared to those last weeks filled with incertitude.
Yuugi sighed. It was weekend and he couldn't even rest. Since he didn't have any card tournament anymore, his mother insisted he helped with the house chores. And so, he had spent the whole morning doing the laundry and now he had to carry heavy grocery bags home. If only his friends had been free today, he could have spent the day having fun. But Jounouchi went to see his sister, Honda had to babysit his nephew and Anzu was working. That left him with no excuse for not helping his mother. It seemed like he ran out of luck for once. Ironic for someone whose alter ego was the king of game.
Finally reaching his place, Yuugi, his hands full, managed to open the door with his elbow.
"I'm home," he called out as he headed toward the kitchen.
"Ah Yuugi," his mother replied. "A friend came over to see you. I thought you would like having him here for lunch."
Ryou was standing next to Yuugi's mother. He waved a bit shyly. "Hi."
Yuugi's eyes instantly lit up. He was so relieved to see Ryou was okay. "Hi Bakura-kun! Are you... feeling better?" Ryou nodded. "Good. We were really worried about you, you know."
"Sorry for making you worry," Ryou replied.
Yuugi's mother, Kokoro, smiled as she listened to their conversation. She really liked this kid, Bakura Ryou. He was calm and polite. Not like some of Yuugi's other friends. Not that she didn't like them. She was just always afraid they might get Yuugi into troubles. And her son had been acting so strangely lately, talking to himself and all. Ryou would be a good influence, surely.
Yuugi sat down at the kitchen table, next to Ryou. Sugoroku was sitting in front of the white-haired teen. The old man smiled to Yuugi. "I was just telling your friend about the latest Monster World expansion we received. You two should try it together."
"You like role-playing games?" Yuugi asked Ryou.
"I love them. I used to play Monster World a lot with..." Ryou stopped mid-sentence, his eyes going glassy for a split second. "With my friends," he ended up saying, smiling a bit painfully though it wasn't easy to notice.
"Yuugi, things aren't all about games you know," Kokoro said. "You should study more. You've got exams soon, right?"
"But mom, it's Sunday! Sundays are for resting."
"He's right, you know," Sugoroku said. "When I was his age..."
Kokoro frowned. "Like you're an example."
Ryou couldn't help smiling. Family life. Something he had been deprived of a long time ago. Of course, he still had his father, but he hadn't actually seen him for a year and half. He felt envious.
Yuugi's mother finally convinced his son to study a bit with Ryou in the afternoon. Ryou didn't mind, since he had missed class last week after all. And that would also be the perfect occasion to confront Yuugi about what had happened last time he came here.
Ryou and Yuugi sat on the floor, face to face, at the coffee table in the living room. Textbooks were spread in front of them. Yuugi was enjoying himself. Studying with Ryou was fun because it actually felt challenging (it wasn't the case at all when he was with Jounouchi). Ryou, however, was trying hard not to show how nervous he was.
"Bakura-kun, what do you think about this question?" Yuugi asked as he handed Ryou a book.
Ryou bit his lip. "Yuugi-kun," he began, surprisingly keeping his voice steady. "There's something we have to talk about."
Yuugi blinked, confused by Ryou's sudden change of mood. "What is it?"
"It's about..." Ryou bit his lower lip before continuing. "It's about the Ring."
"The... Ring?"
Ryou nodded. "About... the spirit of the Ring in fact."
"Oh..." Yuugi wasn't sure where this was going. He truly hoped the spirit wasn't still here bothering Ryou.
"H-He's not who you think he is. He's..." Ryou was at lost. He knew chances of Yuugi believing him were small. "We were close." He forced himself to use the past tense. "He wasn't like that before, I swear."
"I thought he was hurting you," Yuugi said while Ryou shook his head.
"D-Do you remember the last time I came here?"
It was Yuugi's turn to feel nervous. Yes, he did remember. He also remembered not remembering some parts of that evening. His other self had said he had done things for the best. What had happened exactly?
"The truth is... I had come to... retrieve my Ring..."
Yuugi couldn't help feeling a bit hurt by this admission. "I see."
"But... you, or the spirit of the Puzzle, I'm not sure, came and..." Ryou closed his eyes. He didn't like to rethink about that part. "He did something... with my head. And I wasn't able to remember Bak... the spirit of the Ring. Not at all."
"He... really did that?"
"You didn't know?"
Yuugi shook his head. How could have his other self hidden something like this to him?"
"It hurt, Yuugi-kun. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't find out why I had such a hole... in my heart."
"You and the spirit of the Ring, were you close?" Yuugi asked tentatively.
"Very," Ryou admitted. "I knew him for a long time. I got the Ring when I was seven."
"I didn't know."
"He is... was... the closest friend I had. No." Ryou shook his head. "He was more than that. He was... the half of my soul."
Yuugi knew Ryou wasn't lying. And it made him feel horrible. The images of his duel against the spirit of the Ring in the Memory World kept flashing back in his mind. He remembered hurting him, watching him spit blood. And now, Yuugi realized he had brought pain to the person Ryou just admitted being the closest to. "I-I'm sorry..." Yuugi had sworn to himself he would never hurt his friends. But he did in the end. Even if he hadn't known at that time, he couldn't forgive himself. "I'm so sorry!"
Ryou gasped. He had expected many things, but not that Yuugi would start... crying? "Yuugi-kun..."
"If only I had known. I'm sorry, Bakura-kun. I didn't want to make you suffer." Yuugi swallowed hard. "If I had known... I would have talked to my other self. I swear... Oh, I'm so sorry..."
"I... I believe you, Yuugi-kun. Please, stop crying." That situation felt awkward. Ryou spotted a box of tissues. He grabbed one and gave it to his friend.
"Thank you." Yuugi blew his nose. Ryou waited patiently for him to calm down.
There was a moment of silence, neither of them knowing what to say.
"I'm sorry," Yuugi said once more. "I should have at least guessed."
"Maybe," Ryou replied. "Or maybe I should have told you sooner." He didn't think the spirit of the Puzzle would have cared however.
"What did my other self do to you?"
"He didn't tell you?" Yuugi shook his head. "Well, he used another Millennium Item on me. It sort of blocked me completely from... thinking or remembering about the spirit of the Ring. But... it didn't... erase my... feelings for him..."
"Feelings?" Yuugi repeated. "I... don't really understand."
"As I told you, he is the half of my soul. I was able to know something was missing, but I didn't know what. It was really painful."
"I swear I didn't know my other self did something this... extreme."
"I-I believe you." Deep down, Ryou knew Yuugi wasn't capable of such things. "You know... he actually did that twice."
Yuugi turned pale. "He did?"
"Remember when we took the boat in Egypt? I had recovered from this spell by then. And that night, I went to you, well, the other you, to ask for the Ring again."
"I... see..." Yuugi didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to think his other self could have done such evil things. And yet, there was that time in Duelist Kingdom, with Kaiba standing at the verge of death, a single blow being all it would have taken to end his life. And the spirit of the Puzzle had been about to strike.
Ryou seemed to guess what he was thinking. "They're both capable of the worst... our other selves..."
"Yeah..." Yuugi agreed, though it pained him to do so.
"I notice you're always calling him your 'other self', never by his name. How come?"
"I've always been calling him like this, so it's hard to change. It sounds odd to call him Atem. What about you? How do you call the spirit of the Ring?" Yuugi asked.
Ryou hesitated a bit before replying. "I call him Bakura."
"But, that's your name."
Ryou laughed a bit. "I know. I just... gave it to him. Or rather, he took it."
"Took it?"
"Yeah. Like when you're stealing something. Except it was my name."
"That's odd."
"He is."
Yuugi tilted his head to the side. "Is he... still here?"
Ryou wasn't sure whether to tell the truth or lie. He chose to do a bit of both. "Maybe. I guess you can't get rid of spirits that easily."
"I see." Yuugi wasn't sure how to feel about that. "How was he... when he was with you?"
Ryou blushed immediately and hoped Yuugi wouldn't notice. "Very different. In fact, he started acted weird just when he came here in Domino."
"But, he didn't hurt you or anything?" Ryou shook his head, which made Yuugi feel a bit relieved.
"Years made we became very close."
"Like... brothers?"
"N-Not really. Not at all like that, in fact." Ryou blushed harder.
"O-Oh!" Yuugi finally understood. "I-I see..."
Ryou lowered his head, embarrassed. Now, that wasn't something he had planned on letting slip. However, more than looking shocked, Yuugi seemed a bit upset.
"I'm sorry. If I had known... I truly hope you can see him again."
"Thank you." Ryou really felt touched by Yuugi's kindness. He hadn't expected something like this from the young duelist. "I'm sure he'll find me again. He always does." He already did.
Maybe one day, Ryou would tell Yuugi that Bakura never really left. But for now, things were just good the way they were.