Title: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 1)
Pairing: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others
Rating: M (Overall)
Summary: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work as well as intended.
Ryou groaned in pain. It felt like someone had reached deep into chest and twisted his insides around. His head felt even worse. What was that?
He was surprised not to hear the Spirit's voice mocking him for being so weak. He was starting to think the Spirit might be gone, but he'd had his hopes dashed too many times in the past to easily get them up now.
Ryou heard the door at the back of the shop open and looked up to see Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Marik run out of it. The Pharaoh stood a short distance away from him, watching him intently. Ryou hoped he passed whatever mental test the Pharaoh was putting him through.
Téa was the first to come over to him. "Are you okay?" She sounded genuinely concerned about him, and Ryou could see from the others' expressions that they were worried as well.
Ryou smiled weakly and tried to stand. He still felt dizzy. "I'm fi-- ouch!" His muscles gave way and he collapsed hard on the floor for a second time. He winced, rubbing his knees. "Or I'll be fine soon, anyway."
Ryou felt a rush of fear as the Pharaoh walked over and stood above him. The Pharaoh's eyes were wary. "Is the Spirit of the Ring gone from your mind?"
Everyone in the room waited silently for Ryou's response.
He wanted to say yes. He nearly said yes instinctively without thinking about it, just to allay the fears of his friends, but he managed to stop himself. He knew saying the wrong thing would do more harm than good in the long run.
He closed his eyes, trying to feel the presence of the spirit.
He wasn't entirely sure how he could tell whether or not the spirit was there. He couldn't feel any of the most obvious signs of the spirit's presence – the feeling of contempt for him and the rest of the world, the burning hatred and anger ready to erupt at any moment, and the spirit's mocking voice and laughter were all gone. But Ryou knew that the spirit could easily conceal himself when he wanted to.
He opened his eyes. "I don't know. He seems gone..." Ryou half-expected the spirit to start shouting at him in his mind, how dare you think I would be defeated so easily, but nothing came.
Tristan, Joey, and Téa let out a collective sigh of relief. Marik nodded, but looked cautious. The Pharaoh glanced over at Marik, still clearly unconvinced. "How can we be certain he is truly gone?"
"There's no way to test it. We'll just have to wait and see. But the fact that he's gone right now is a good sign. Did you see the spirit leave during the ritual?"
The Pharaoh shook his head. "Once I began chanting, the center of the room became too bright to see."
Marik knelt down in front Ryou. "What about you? Did you feel the spirit leave your body?"
Ryou felt his heart lift. "Yes, I did! It almost felt like I was going to be pulled along with him." He shuddered a little at the memory, but if it meant he was free, the pain had been worth it.
Marik blinked at him. "Like you were--"
But Marik was cut off when the Joey grabbed his shirt, hauling him up off the floor. "You said he wouldn't be affected at all! What were you trying to pull?"
Marik tried to pull away. "He shouldn't have been affected. The ritual was supposed to pull the possessing spirit from the body without harming the host. That's what the book said it would do. We did everything right, I'm sure of it."
Ryou hated arguments more than anything and arguments about him most of all. "Guys, it's okay. I'll be fine. It's nothing if it means he's gone."
Joey let go of Marik. "I guess you're right."
"What happened after you felt the spirit pulled from your body?" the Pharaoh asked, as though the exchange between Marik and Joey hadn't even happened.
Ryou tried to remember. "Um... I saw the spirit on the glass. Then he disappeared."
Marik was triumphant. "See? It worked exactly as planned. The possessing spirit was pulled through the glass and trapped on the other side, unable to get back into the body."
That wasn't quite what Ryou remembered – in his memory it was more like the spirit was trapped on the surface of the glass than visible behind it. But it seemed like a minor detail, so he decided not to mention it. Marik was already taking heat for the ritual being a little different than expected, and he didn't want to add to it. Whatever the group had done had apparently worked and and that's all he cared about.
Ryou tried to stand again and this time Tristan helped him up. "Don't overdo it."
Ryou smiled. "I won't." He paused. "Um... can I ask you guys one thing?"
"Sure, anything," Téa replied brightly.
"What exactly did you do?"
Ryou lay comfortably on the couch in Yugi's living room, listening to Marik explain how he had come up with the idea to free him from the spirit. Apparently he'd found the ritual in one of his family's ancient texts. He'd talked the Pharaoh and the rest of the group into going along with it.
"The Pharaoh was the first to agree. He seemed willing to do anything to get rid of his old enemy." Marik seemed to realize how that sounded right after he said it. "And to free you, of course." Marik then explained the basics of the ritual, though it wasn't much different from what Ryou had seen himself already.
Ryou drifted off toward the end of Marik's explanation. When he woke up, he found that someone had covered him with a blanket. He looked around and saw that the others had started watching a movie while he'd been sleeping. He stretched out his arms.
Yugi was sitting on the floor right in front of the couch and turned to smile at Ryou when he noticed him stirring. "Hey."
Ryou smiled back. "Hey."
"How are you feeling?"
"Good." Ryou's stomach growled. "Um. Hungry."
Yugi laughed and handed him a half-full bowl of popcorn. Ryou gobbled it up and settled in to figure out what was going on in the movie.
There was only an hour left. Afterward, the group chatted for a while longer until it started getting dark outside. Ryou hung back a little, uncomfortable with putting himself forward. He still felt a little like an outsider, but he was happy even being able to listen to the others. He did notice with a smidgen of envy that Marik didn't have the same problem he did and freely chimed in with his thoughts about anything and everything.
Soon it was time to go. Ryou stood up shakily. He wasn't in pain, but his body was still weaker than normal. Tristan put an arm around him to hold him up. "I could give you a ride home if you need one."
Ryou imagined zooming around on a motorcycle in his current condition and nearly turned green. "No, thanks. I'll be fine on my own." He took a small step forward to prove his point and luckily managed not to collapse on the floor. "See?"
"If you're sure..."
"I'm sure!"
"Alright then." Tristan shrugged and left through the shop with Joey.
"See you at school tomorrow!" Téa added, following them out the door.
That left Ryou with Yugi and Marik. He made his way slowly toward the door, taking care not to fall on his face. He paused when he reached the doorway, leaning against the frame.
"Are you really sure you can make it home okay?" Yugi asked doubtfully.
Ryou opened his mouth to protest that he was fine, but Marik interrupted him before he could speak. "Don't worry, I'll get him home." He looped Ryou's arm over his shoulders and tugged him so he was leaning against him instead of the door frame.
Ryou felt the same reaction he'd had when Tristan offered him a ride. "I can walk home on my own, but I don't think I'm up for a ride on--"
"I'll walk you home," Marik said lightly. "I left my 'bike at the hotel today, anyway."
Yugi looked slightly confused at that statement, but all he said was "If you need help getting to school tomorrow..."
"If it's that bad I'll stay home sick for the day." Ryou may have resigned himself to having Marik walk him home, but he wasn't going to make himself any more of any inconvenience.
Yugi looked like he was about to object, but then he nodded. "That's probably a good idea. We'll come by to see you after school if that happens."
"I'll just be going, then." Ryou started out the door before Yugi could change his mind, tugging Marik along with him.
They were only a block away from the game shop and Ryou already felt glad he'd taken Marik up on his offer. "Thanks again..."
"It's nothing. I'm responsible for you being in this condition in the first place." Marik stopped walking. "It really wasn't supposed to affect you like this. I'm still not sure why it did."
Ryou welcomed the break from walking. "It doesn't matter. I could stay like this forever if means he won't ever take over my body again."
Marik smiled grimly. "I know exactly what you mean. That's why I convinced the others to do the ritual. We couldn't ask you what you wanted directly, but..."
Ryou shuddered. If they had asked, he'd probably still be possessed right now. "Better that he didn't have any advance warning of what you intended."
"Right."
The two walked in silence until they reached Ryou's apartment.
Ryou pulled away from Marik, leaning against the door for support. "I can make it from here on my own."
"Okay. See you in school tomorrow!" Marik moved to leave.
"Wait, in school?"
Marik turned back. "Yeah, in school. I've decided to stay a little longer. I've never been to a real school before. It should be fun!"
Ryou couldn't remember ever being that excited about school. He'd always been more afraid than eager – first because of his own shyness and tendency to attract bullies, later because of the spirit who might take over his body and start wreaking havoc at any time.
The true weight of the spirit's disappearance finally hit him and he realized that none of those things were an issue anymore. Well, he was still a bit shy, but he had friends now, real friends! The spirit was gone. He could talk to people without worrying about the spirit doing something horrible to them.
He had a real life ahead of him.
Ryou smiled his happiest smile in a very long time. "Yeah! It'll be fun!"
"See you there!" Marik waved and ran back the way they came.
Ryou walked up the stairs to his apartment with a new energy. He felt like he could do anything.
He went to his room and started getting his stuff ready for school the next day. He usually left it until the very last moment (roughly a minute before leaving), but things were different now that he was actually looking forward to school. Nothing could spoil his mood now.
Really? Are you quite sure about that?
Ryou froze. No. It was a hallucination. It had to be. The spirit was gone.
I'm afraid not.
Ryou turned around to see the smirking form of the spirit reclined on his bed. He closed his eyes and sighed.
He should have known it was too good to be true.
