Ryou woke up on the sofa in the living area adjacent to the kitchen. A cursory glance at the analogue clock on the wall revealed that it was just after noon. Ryou pushed himself to a sitting position and used the hair tie on his wrist to pull his hair back into a ponytail. He adjusted his t-shirt, which had begun to ride up. A poke to his leg confirmed that he once again occupied his own body.
Ryou took stock of his physical condition. Headache: Manageable. Dizziness: Absent for the moment. Hunger level: Suitably full. An ache pervaded his muscles, but he didn't sense any cold symptoms like a sore throat or stuffed nose. The fog that had permeated his thoughts earlier had cleared somewhat. Overall condition: Tolerable.
"You know," said the figure by the window, "It's not much use for me to fall asleep if you just wake up a couple of hours later." Bakura gestured to a water bottle on the coffee table. "You should drink something; you're probably still dehydrated."
Ryou twisted the cap off the water bottle and tilted it back, swallowing a few gulps. The water was room temperature, but it did the job. Ryou set the bottle back down, noticing his phone resting on the other side of the table, and twisted the label so it faced him.
Bakura rested a hand against the window pane and observed the pedestrians below. There was a drawn quality to his posture, a sense of tension in his frame. He looked tired, if that was something a spirit was capable of being.
"I'm feeling a bit better, I think," Ryou said. He didn't like the silence, it made him uneasy.
Bakura nodded, but his attention remained on the world outside. "That would be the painkillers and an adequate amount of food." Bakura paused. "I noticed that the contents of the cupboards shifted again."
Ryou flushed slightly. "I thought of a different organization system; it makes more sense."
"As much sense as the last one." Bakura sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You should go back to sleep; the body needs rest."
"My body," Ryou corrected. Bakura didn't respond, and the silence stretched between them once more. "Thanks," Ryou said finally, "for your help."
"It's in my best interest for you to be healthy."
"Still," Ryou adjusted the Millennium Ring so that it laid flat. "I appreciate it."
Bakura shrugged. "I take care of my host."
The clock ticked in the background, and a car passed by outside. A low whirl filled the flat as the air con clicked on.
"Can ghosts get tired?" Ryou asked.
"Of course not, Yadonushi."
"I suppose you're the expert," Ryou hesitated. "Only… you've not been this clingy since right after the Battle City tournament when I was healing from…" Ryou's hand found the scar on his upper arm. "And you were recovering from coming back from the Shadow Realm. And mental fatigue is a thing so…" He trailed off.
The spirit let his hand drop from the window and turned to face Ryou. "Is there a point to this, or are you just running your mouth?"
"I was just curious. You know everything about my life; it seems only fair that I know something about you."
Ryou's phone buzzed on the coffee table. Ryou leaned forward, brushing a finger across the home button. His eyes slid over the notification, and he pushed the device toward Bakura. "It's for you," he said, something uncomfortable wriggling in his gut. Bakura took a few steps to the table and snatched up the phone.
"I don't understand why you don't get your own phone," Ryou muttered, scrunching his toes in the rug.
The spirit smirked. "Why should I when I have a perfectly functional one right here?" Bakura's thumbs ghosted across the onscreen keyboard. "You know everything you need to know about me, Yadonushi." He paused to tap on the screen a few times. "You might sleep better in your bed." He waved a hand in dismissal. "Drink the rest of the water before you go."
Ryou stood and swiped the water bottle, tipping it back as he walked. He wished his emotions would stay sorted for more than two seconds.
*Thunk*
Ryou blinked open his eyes to see Bakura crouched in front of his workbench, picking up his sketchbook from where it had fallen on the floor. He groaned and turned over, pulling the quilt over his head.
"I know you're awake." Bakura sounded severely unimpressed. The mattress bounced as he sat down at the end. "You've got a message. It's from Box-Girl."
Ryou tried to connect the words 'box' and 'girl' in his mind. "I don't know any boxes," he mumbled.
"Look, I don't pay attention to your little friends' names. It's the girl whose hair looks like a cardboard box, not the one with a ponytail who follows you around like a lost puppy."
Ryou pulled down the blanket. "Mazaki-san?"
Bakura snapped his fingers. "That one. She wants to bring over your schoolwork for the days you missed." He tossed the phone next to Ryou. "You can deal with it. I'm out," he said and vanished, leaving Ryou alone in his room. Ryou scrunched his nose. He'd left quickly.
Ryou grabbed his phone and slid off the bed, finding his balance. He checked over his sketchbook to make sure none of the pages had bent. Nothing was amiss.
Ryou tapped at his phone, letting Anzu know that it was okay to come drop off his stuff but also that he was sick and she probably shouldn't come inside his flat. He pulled on a pair of jeans and tucked the Millennium Ring under his t-shirt. He fixed his ponytail that had come partially undone in his sleep. Now all he had to do was wait.
Ryou clicked on the lamp on his workbench, examining the unpainted figures he had left there; Egyptian villagers for Bakura's diorama. The board itself was finished, as were all the unique figurines, and he had moved them to a room in his father's museum. All that remained was to finish filling the village with peasants to give it the illusion of a living city. They were almost done. Whether that was good or bad, he didn't know.
His eyes caught on the display shelf that held his old Monster World figures, mostly NPCs and a few monsters. He used to have a model for his own white mage character, but, well, he was dead now. Ryou tapped each figure, counting them quietly, a nervous habit he'd picked up after he'd found out some of them had souls stuffed in them by his evil doppelgänger. After he reached the end of the row, he began again, and then a third time, and then—
A hand landed on his arm, and Ryou's fingers hovered over the figure that resembled his old P.E. teacher from when he had first arrived at Domino. Karita-sensei had grabbed Ryou's hair and threatened to cut it off; the spirit hadn't taken kindly to that. Speaking of, Bakura tugged Ryou out of his room and with the trigger gone, Ryou was released from his counting loop.
"Thanks," Ryou muttered, observing the patterns of the floor.
"No problem." Bakura pushed Ryou toward the door. "The girl's here," he said in explanation and settled against the wall. Presumably, to watch the show that was Ryou having a regular social interaction. Ryou steeled himself and went to answer the door.
"Oh! H-Hello, Bakura-kun. You're looking well. Well, not well, exactly, but..."
Mazaki Anzu was not a timid girl, nor was she afraid to speak her mind, which made her hesitant greeting all the stranger. Ryou began the conversation feeling like he had missed something. Anzu was infatuated with the other Yugi and hadn't ever felt the need to be either nervous or overly energetic around him like most of the girls at the school. A fact that Ryou very much appreciated about their time together. Regardless, he had spent enough time with his friends to know how he was meant to act around them and barreled through the awkward opening to the conversation.
"Sorry to keep you in the hall." He smiled and tapped a finger to his chin. A practised lightness entered his voice. "I don't think I'm contagious; it's probably just a mix of exhaustion and a weak immune system. I'll be back to school in no time, I think."
Anzu nodded. She started to say something and then stopped, something shifting in her stance. She squinted at him, and her usual confident tone returned. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Um, no?" Ryou ignored Bakura, who chuckled. "I am sick, after all."
She shook her head. "I meant… hmm." She seemed to be looking for specific words. Ryou looked over at the spirit, who looked back at him expectantly. Ryou sighed.
Fine. It wasn't like it would hurt to actually understand what was going on. Bakura smiled and strode over, bracing an arm against Ryou's shoulder. He waved his other arm in Anzu's general direction.
"A second ago, she shifted her weight so it was spread evenly. Crossed arms and tucked chin are defensive, instinctively protecting vital areas. Narrowed eyes mean she's focusing her vision," said a voice only he could hear. A finger trailed down the exposed leather that encircled his neck. "She noticed that you're wearing the Millennium Ring."
Ryou pulled at his shirt so it covered the Ring's cord. Hopefully, Anzu wouldn't make a big deal about it. He cleared his throat and would have shifted his weight if he didn't have Bakura leaning against him.
"Y-You said you had schoolwork for me?" It came out a bit more timid than he would have liked, but it got the job done.
Anzu nodded, her brows knitting together. ("Concern or confusion.") She shifted her schoolbag from her back and rummaged through it, producing a three-ring binder stuffed with papers. She flipped through it, pointing to specific pages as she explained. "I have your assignments as well as copies of my notes from the classes you missed. Miho sent along notes for the classes that you two share…" Anzu hesitated, closing the binder with a snap. She looked up, meeting Ryou's eyes. Ryou felt the urge to shrink under her gaze, but Bakura's physical presence held him in place.
"Listen," she said finally. "I hope you know that we care about you and that if any of us had been there when that teacher laid into you, we would have told her where to shove it." She smiled. "Especially, Jounochi-kun. So… Bakura-kun? Are you alright?"
Ryou's nails dug into his arm. Bakura had begun to chuckle beside him. Ryou shrugged him off, no longer worried about looking odd in front of Anzu. The spirit took a few steps back, breaking into a full laugh. The sound sent chills up Ryou's spine.
"Thank you for your concern, Mazaki-san." Ryou stared at the floor. "But you don't need to worry about me; I'm doing perfectly fine on my own." A lie on a good day and a bigger one now. "I appreciate you bringing over my work; it must have taken time to get everything together." He let out a shaky breath and bowed. Anzu held the binder out to him. She rested a hand over his as he tried to take it. It felt like ants crawling over his skin.
"Sato-sensei was fired, Bakura-kun. Apparently, this wasn't her first time harassing a… a special needs student. You don't have to worry about her anymore."
"I'm sure I don't," he whispered. Ryou grabbed his schoolwork and rushed back into his flat, letting the door slam behind him.
The Spirit of the Millennium Ring sat on the counter leaning his weight back on his hands. Though his laughter had ceased, there was still a manic energy about him and an odd light in his red eyes. "We don't have to do this, you know. You can go to your room to start on your assignments, and we can both pretend none of this ever happened. You can wallow in your ignorance, and I, well, I don't care either way."
Ryou held the collection of papers to his chest. "I've never known you to be shy boasting about your exploits."
Bakura laughed and then smiled; both were sharp. "Oh, I'm not, little landlord. I couldn't give two shits. No," Bakura tapped at his chin, "what I'm offering you is an out. You've had a rough day, and whether you believe it or not, I do care about you. So, I'll let you choose: an uncomfortable truth or a more palatable lie. It's up to you, Yadonushi."
Ryou let the ring binder drop onto the coffee table with a thud. "Is it my choice? How generous." Ryou's hands trembled, and he tightened them into fists. "Tell me what you did."
"Well, as Box-Girl said—"
"And cut the bullshit!" It came out louder than he had intended. Bakura blinked and tilted his head, then disappeared, reappearing in the shadow of the sofa. Ryou took a step back.
"Alright then, host. As Mazaki said, the teacher who bullied you lost her job. And as far as your friends, your school, and the authorities of this city know, that's all that happened." Bakura paused.
"But it's not all that happened," Ryou said.
"No." Bakura's voice was quiet, but it filled the room. "She met a suspicious stranger in a dark alley and lost a Shadow Game, suffering the Penalty Game of being fed to the shadows. You don't have to worry about her ever again." There was something in Bakura's eyes that Ryou didn't like, something in his voice.
"Why?" He asked.
"Oh please, Ryou. You're not that dense. She crossed a line and paid the price." Ryou flinched back as Bakura grabbed the cord of the Millennium Ring, pulling it from its hiding place under his shirt. Bakura yanked it, forcing Ryou to take a step forward. The spirit's brows knit in confusion. "The real question is: Why do you care?" Bakura's eyes searched Ryou's. Ryou looked to the side. "She was awful to you; she berated you in front of your classmates for something you can't control. And that was just one instance! How many times did she make snide comments at you? How often did she look for any tiny opportunity to mark you off on your work? How frequently did she pull you in front of the class to do board work when it was obvious you were having a bad day? You hated her; she made you miserable. You wished nothing more than for her to just…"
"Go away," Ryou finished.
"Exactly." Bakura shrugged, falsely nonchalant. "Why am I here if not to grant your wishes?"
Ryou shivered and shook his head; he didn't want to do this again. He was tired of others suffering because of him. Tired of being ostracized because bad things happened to the people around him. "You have no right to interfere in my life like that."
Bakura barked out a laugh. His grip on the Millennium Ring tightened. "Right? You seem to be mistaken on a few counts, Yadonushi. One: no one, not you, not the Pharaoh, and not the gods themselves, tell me what I can and can't do. Two: you have no idea the number of people I've killed if you think one more will make a difference. And three," Bakura grabbed Ryou's chin with his free hand and forced him to meet his eyes. "From the moment you first touched the Ring, every aspect of your life became my domain. Your thoughts, your mind, and your very soul belong to me, and there's nothing you can do to escape. You are mine."
Bakura released Ryou, and he stumbled back. His legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed to the floor, full-body tremors wracking his frame. His breaths came in short bursts. Ryou looked up at Bakura, who stood cold and impassive over him. As his breathing evened out, Ryou felt his resolve harden. He was done with the spirit's games.
Author's Note: This is the first chapter that I've written fully in just a week! A big improvement from the months it was taking before. That being said, I'll probably come back and edit this chapter a bit more later. Nothing major (probably).
Next time on "A Day in the Life of Ryou Bakura": Ryou's response and an exchange of information in a Yu-Gi-Oh appropriate manner.