Everything You Are [A-side, part 2]
Back to part one: He's sure they'll come around, eventually. He has, after all.
There's a new craze at school - a card game. It's mainly Yuugi and his friends that actually play it at school, but everyone knows about it. He hears people discussing their decks between classes. He also hears that there's a plan to make a club for it in motion, even. He's not sure that that will happen - or that if it does it will last any respectful amount of time - but he's amused at just how fast it's all happened. It was only, what, three days ago that he'd first heard about it. Something like that. Yuugi and his friends have apparently been playing it for some time now, but it's only recently that people have started taking it as something more that the latest thing the game otaku's playing.
Magic & Wizards, it's called. Bakura's not really that interested - he's a tabletop gamer, mostly, after all, but after seeing a game - a "duel", they call it - in progress, Yami becomes very interested. Even more interested than he had when they first started playing Monster World. And while it's not exactly his thing, Bakura starts paying more attention to it - it doesn't seem all that hard to play, once you got the cards, after all. They start to acquire cards - though it seems not many people like the more interesting ones, so it appears it's going to take them a while to build a deck.
One day Yuugi has a video camera with him at school. This is unusual enough - but added to the fact that everyone in the group seemed to be depressed (very odd, given their usual personalities), Bakura surmises that something is up. Yami's all but cackling at their obvious distress (he is really quite a sore loser), and Bakura's curious - or possibly just nosy - so he goes over and makes inquiries.
Yuugi's grandfather's soul is in the tape? It's been put there by an Item? This "Pegasus" guy... sounds very interesting. There's no doubt in either of their minds that Yuugi and his friends are going to go and see him, too - and that they're going to go with them, one way or another.
They start talking about this "Kingdom" place; it appears that Pegasus has invited them there, more or less. And it's just so easy to show his interest in the Items... so, so easy to convince them to let him come along.
So easy to convince them his interest is purely academic, too; all he has to do is mention his father and his work, and that he'd found one of the items some years ago.
And he didn't even have to lie to them. It's the truth, after all.
Just not exactly the whole truth.
He feels sorry for Jounouchi.
His sister - his sister - is going blind, and his family doesn't have the money to stop it.
Amane... Amane had got the best treatment available. Everything. Anything that could help, even a little.
But Jounouchi's sister is alive, too.
So he can't help but feel a bit jealous.
--
They leave for Kingdom the next Friday night.
Despite it's popularity at school, they're rather surprised at the amount of people that show up. Obviously, this Pegasus guy isn't intent on just messing with Yuugi. And they're not just high school kids, either, which, for a craze, is kind of unusual. There's a rather attractive woman that Yuugi and his friends all make themselves fools over - though it's possible that Anzu was acting out of jealousy, not attraction.
Yami, rather than being amused, is acting more concerned about the amount of people attending - and what that must say about the amount of people that play.
He obviously knows more than he's telling Bakura, and that's really pissing him off. He'd have thought that after the Monster World game - which he still hadn't got an explanation about, by the way - he might be a bit more open with his plans. Obviously not.
But that was okay. Bakura was going to make sure he knew what was going on this time.
He'd make sure.
Jounouchi Katsuya is either a saint or an idiot, Bakura's decided.
Jumping off a ship for some cards? Cards that weren't even his? Neither of them can understand that. It's not like they're a person, or anything - they might be rare cards, that's true, but they're not something irreplaceable, either.
'Though,' says Yami, 'that proves his undying loyalty.'
Bakura doesn't really care about that, but if what they say about idiots and colds is right, he thinks Jounouchi's just proved his sainthood.
--
He learns a lot about Magic & Wizards as Yuugi and Jounouchi make their way though this so-called Duellist's Kingdom. He'd memorised the rules before they'd left, of course, and many of the more common cards in competition - but there was nothing like watching the actual matches to learn how all that was applied in reality. And just how cut-throat this game really was.
Yami's delight at that baffles him, but it's not really a surprise. Yami is not a nice person, and this, at it's core, is not a nice game. They go together rather well.
Bakura knows about the Kaiba family by reputation, of course. It's kind of hard not to - particularly when your father is sort of a businessman (or at least was, before he went back to his digs).
But he's still surprised at how involved Yuugi seems to be with them - and on a personal level. Though as into games as those two brothers were reputed to be, he's more surprised at the fact that he is surprised. Yuugi's just one of those people.
The duel with the puppet-master raises some sneaking suspicions in his mind - and a whole lot of possibilities in Yami's.
...he can't believe they forgot to bring food.
He just can't believe it. How could they have been so stupid?
Luckily, the attractive woman - her name is Kujyaku Mai, though everyone calls her by her given name - comes to their rescue. She's obviously done this sort of thing before.
He offers to cook, and Yuugi decides he's going to help him. He ...dislikes... cooking with other people, but he can't think of a response that, given the circumstances, would be anything other than tactless.
It comes out delicious anyway.
He's never slept out in the open before (to Yami's disgust), but it's surprisingly comfortable - so much so that he misses most of Mai's abduction by, loss to, and Yuugi's defeat of, the "player killer" known as Yami. (From the little Bakura sees of him, he's offended on behalf of his Yami - even though that's not his real name, to have someone like that share it is insulting.)
Still, Jounouchi's antics are amusing, and it adds another dimension to the game, so perhaps it's worth the missed sleep.
Yami wakes him up once it looks like everyone else has gone to sleep again. He is, of course, irritable about this.
But Yami's looking more serious than normal, so he complies with his request to take the Ring out. As soon as he touches it, it starts to glow - and one of the points move and point at the castle. He's as fascinated as he is freaked out. He hadn't known that the Ring could be used to find things.
Yami tells him that it's limited - you can't, for example, ask it to find a lost pair of glasses, or something of the sort. But directions are okay, and people, if you know them - or have something linked to them, if they have enough magic in their soul. But mainly, he says, it can locate the other Items - providing you don't ask it to do something different, it will do that automatically, if one is in range.
He asks that why, then, isn't it pointing to Yuugi's puzzle. That earns him a gentle cuff 'round the head. Because, says Yami, we already know it's there! That doesn't exactly make sense, to Bakura, but as it's magic, he doesn't argue with it.
Yami's pleased with this, though - it's proof that Pegasus really does have an Item.
He's about to ask why it matters so much, when a vine drops on Honda, who, thinking it's a snake, freaks out and wakes everyone up. He uses the opportunity to hide the Ring from them. He doesn't want awkward questions, if he can help it.
When the helicopter arrives, he about ready to start stealing the soul of whatever idiot had woken him up this time. It was becoming apparent that he was just fated to have a sleepless night - and as he hadn't slept the night before, that made him slightly irritable. Yami thought he was a wimp, of course, but, well. It was annoying.
It's the other Kaiba brother. After about five minutes he decides he doesn't like him all that much.
It's only after Jounouchi gets his ass handed to him (attitude aside, he is a good player) that he realises Yami feels the same sort of hatred for him as he does for Yuugi.
--
At least, after that he gets to sleep the rest of the night. And despite the all-too-frequent interruptions, he's surprisingly alert.
Well, they'd slept until half past nine, so that probably had something to do with it.
Of course, not long after that, Jounouchi goes missing. It looks like it'll be another eventful day.
He's not quite sure how the day can get worse. They're trapped. Underground. Left to die by that bastard foreigner and his friends!
They don't have any food or water and the entrance they came in has been blocked and there might not be another exit and...
Yami pulls him back into the space-in-the-back-of-his-mind. He doesn't do that often; it's a measure of how badly he's freaking out, really.
He's not all the way back - he can't see anything other than the real world - but he can feel Yami (Yami's soul?) hold him (his soul?) close until he stops shaking.
"Idiot," says Yami, but it's not an angry word, really. "You'd never have survived back home." Bakura doesn't quite get the true meaning of that until after he stops panicking, some hours hence.
"I..." he whispers. He's not sure if he's far enough back that he's speaking in the real world, too, so he tries to be quiet.
"Shut up," says Yami. "I know. Use the Ring." Use the Ring? But they've been trying to keep it hidden from Yuugi... "Your fears aren't entirely unjustified. We could be in here for days before we find an exit, if it's a big enough system. Use the damn Ring."
He does so.
There's questions, of course, but he brushes them off as best he can, using the 'my father asked me to look after it for him' excuse. He's not quite sure they buy it - especially not Yuugi - but they at least drop the subject, and let him concentrate.
Unlike the night before, using the Ring to find the exit takes some work. He has to make sure he's thinking pretty much only of that - not that that's hard, given that, at the moment, that's the only thing he wants in the world.
His fears aren't at all put to rest when they come across the Maze Brothers - but they can't move forward until they're beaten.
Of course, with Yuugi as one of the participants on their side, the result is pretty much preordained. He doesn't pay much attention to what's going on, really.
Anzu does ask him what the matter is, but he brushes it off as best he can. His (now that they've found other live human beings, that actually know their way around, rather irrational) fear isn't exactly something he wants to discuss.
Yuugi - or, perhaps, more accurately, the other Yuugi - messes with people's heads, a little, and he can feel Yami's amusement. He'll ask what's going on later, once the walls stop looming so much. But whatever the other Yuugi does, it works, and they're moving on again, and then they're free. Sunshine, blessed sunshine. He isn't really a daytime person, but he'll be up dawn 'til dusk every day for the rest of his life if it means he won't get stuck underground again.
He's shaking again, but this time it's with relief.
--
Yuugi loses.
Yami cackles with sheer delight at the back of his mind.
And though he does try his best to comfort Yuugi - he can't help but be impressed by Kaiba's manoeuvre. He would, he thinks, make a great DM.
Bakura recognises what's happened the second the younger Kaiba steps into the room. It's slightly different to what Ya... to what they do, but it's close enough. And even if it wasn't, he's seen enough of soulless bodies to last a lifetime.
Yami's interested enough to join him in the front -the normal part- of his mind. It's a very odd sensation, and it doesn't happen very often. But it's... not discomforting.
They watch, as Kaiba - the same Kaiba that just beat Yuugi - gets taken apart.
The Eye is real, then. Even if the Ring hadn't shown them where it was, they'd know it. The Eye is here, and it is powerful. And it's owner is an absolute bastard.
Yami wants that Eye, though, that much is obvious, and the only way they'd be able to get it would be to rip it out of his face.
Bakura's not quite sure about that.
Roughly about the same time Yuugi - the other Yuugi - calls out in surprise at the painting of an Egyptian man on the wall, Yami does the same in his head.
'Shada!' says Yami. Shadi, the others says.
But on all other accounts they seem to agree - holder of the Key, and an all-around bastard.
He'd be somewhat amused at the fact that they're all agreeing on something, but he's a little too horrified at what the Key does to notice.
'The things would eat him,' he whispers in his mind. He feels Yami's confusion.
'What things?'
'The things.' He shudders even thinking about it. 'In the alley.'
'There's nothing-'
'There is. They tried to eat me,' he says. Yami is instantly concerned, which is kind of touching.
'When was this?'
'Just after I- when you weren't in my head anymore. I had to go find you. They tried to eat me.' If he can stick to short sentences, maybe he won't remember. Or at least maybe he won't remember so vividly.
'What the hell are you talking about?' He's spared from having to answer by Honda and Jounouchi fighting.
And the whole thing slips his mind once they eyeballs come out.
He's tired. He's really tired. And it's the middle of the night. Why is he not asleep in his bed?
Oh, that's right. Because he shares a mind with a sadist, that's why!
'Quit whining,' says Yami. 'You know you want to look around too,' Which is entirely beside the point.
'I'd rather we didn't skulk around like some sort of criminal to do so!' he snaps back.
'But we are criminals!' says Yami, somehow gleeful at the prospect. 'So it's only fitting we do this the proper way.'
'...shut up,' he says. He doesn't want to think about that. And then Yami's standing beside him, instead of in his mind. Running a hand through his hair. Whispering in his ear. 'It's nothing to be ashamed of, Yadonushi-mine. Nothing to be ashamed of at all. We've wanted to, and we have, and who can tell Us what to do? They don't - they can't - understand, so why,' he can feel his breath on his ear - but how? 'worry about what they call us, yes?' He shivers, and it's not because it's cold.
He'd kind of like to kill Yami right now.
Really, he would. Getting caught by guards on purpose? What good can that do? (Yami, of course, isn't saying anything - but is also acting incredibly smug, as he does his best to talk his way out of this situation. So aggravating!)
...and now Honda's very, very lucky neither of them hurt him very badly just then. What was he thinking, grabbing them like that!
...well, it appears that Honda's dead set on getting himself killed anyway, so... It's kind of a petty vengeance, but he goes along with Honda's 'plan'. He has to play the fool again, which is so very embarrassing, but, well. Petty revenge usually is.
He's let Yami be 'in charge' of his body, for a bit. He hasn't got a sporty bone in his body, after all, but Yami does, and what they're doing rather requires it. Rescuing Princess Honda from his high tower will be the ultimate form of revenge, after all.
And hey, they might find something else interesting, while they're at it.
It's not that he's surprised at Yami's violence, really. It's more that he's surprised at the whole lack of new Monster World models.
But, perhaps that would scare Honda a little more than necessary. They want to scare him, after all, and take him down a few (more) pegs - but they don't want him running off to Yuugi, terrified. That would be... counterproductive.
And the whole, you know, 'ahahaha how much do you suck' works so much better when you're on an equal footing. (Well, more or less equal, anyway.)
The look on his face is worth it.
--
Honda is suspicious of them, of course. It's not everyday you find a seventeen-year-old gamer-geek that can also knock out three first-class armed guards, after all.
And Bakura's finding he simply doesn't care if he's looked at like he might explode into a violent rage any second. He's almost feeling like he wouldn't care if he did explode into a violent rage in the not too distant future, even if it's just to mess with Honda's mind a bit more. He feels guilty for not feeling guilty about that. But only a little.
They rescue the younger Kaiba pretty easily. Yami's acquired the keys to the tower-prison, after all. Honda seems intent on carrying the boy, though, which Bakura finds quite silly. It had been obvious that, even soulless, this boy could walk on his own. A bit like a zombie, perhaps, but it was still walking. He wondered how it was done. His friend's bodies had just gone into comas. No where near as interesting.
The hard part is finding somewhere to stash him for a while. Honda, despite his obvious distaste for the man, wants to rescue the elder Kaiba's body, too. He isn't in the same tower as his brother, though, so they're left with something of a dilemma. Bakura watches Yami and Honda bicker for a while, but he's gone three days without much in the way of sleep, so he dozes off eventually.
--
He's woken to Yami shoving roughly at his mind. He snarls, and does the mental equivalent of rolling over and going back to sleep. He's not ready to get up yet, damnit.
It happens again, and this time he lashes out, complete with giant fuck off message. The shoving squeaks, and retreats quickly. He's about to roll over again, when his brain catches up. Wait. Waitwaitwait. Yami doesn't squeak. ...doesn't run away, either. What the fuck is going on?
As he rolls out of bed, he hears Yami - the real Yami - laughing at someone. Not him. Hmm.
He moves from 'sleeping' to 'awake and in control of his body' in almost an instant. His eyes feel heavy, and, despite his annoyance, it's all he can do not to fall asleep again on the spot. Unlike his mind, his body's obviously not got any sleep. Again.
"What the fuck," he yawns, "is going on?" This is roughly the point where his vision clears enough for him to be able to see properly. He blinks. Nothing changes.
"You're Pegasus, aren't you?" he asks the rather shocked looking man.
He doesn't like Pegasus at all, he's decided. He knows Yami doesn't like him at all either. Of course, this is probably why Yami's going out of his way to pick a fight with the man. Bakura's not stupid, he can tell when someone's picking a fight - even when said person's not living in his head.
In the end, though, Pegasus justifies everything - everything - he'd done with some lady called 'Cynthia'. As he'd been asleep through that explanation, that goes right over his head - at least until Yami info-dumps him on the subject.
"She's dead," he yells. He didn't even realise he's moving until after the fact. "She's dead, and you can't bring the dead back!" (No matter how much you want to no matter how much it hurts no matter what you'll sacrifice you can't you can't you can't.)
"I saw her! I-" He cuts him off.
"You were delusional! You'd just lost an eye, for fuck's sake! It wasn't real."
"It was, you foolish little boy! You have no idea..." That was it. He snaps.
"Play a game with me," he says, and feels the darkness surround them.
Okay, so maybe a Game of heads-or-tails isn't exactly the most impressive thing out there. He doesn't care. He's won.
"As punishment," he says, "I think I'll take that eye of yours." And then he smiles.
--
He wakes up in his own bed.
He's not sure how he got there. The last thing he really remembers is - oh, gods. Did he really....
There's blood still under his fingernails.
He doesn't quite make it to the toilet before he throws up.
Despite his own feelings on the matter, however, it's obvious that Yami's pleased with him. He tries not to dwell on the reasons for that too much, though. Because, well. It's kind of nice.
By the time he wakes up, it's too late to go to school on Monday. But come Tuesday, he goes and... though he knows he shouldn't be, he's surprised at the normality. Other than Yuugi and his friend's happier spirits, it's the same as any other day. He's twitchy, for a while. But he always is, post wierd-things-happening.
One of the weirdest things does happen at school, though - Yuugi and his group seem to have taken him in. It isn't just a hello, good bye sort of thing, anymore - it's like he actually belongs.
It's really quite nice.
Before long, though, exams are upon them. Bakura isn't worried at all about them - not to get into second year! - but everyone else is, it seems. So, he helps them study, as best he could.
Yuugi is unsurprisingly quite bright, once he puts his mind to it (which it often takes all four of them, plus his other self to get him to do), and Anzu is thorough and organised (she has to be, to juggle ballet, study, a secret part-time job and still have something like a social life). Honda isn't an idiot, but he doesn't care too much about his marks (but will study if everyone else is, at least). Jounouchi is the one he worries about most, actually. It's isn't as if he's anything like stupid, and he's so dedicated to his continuing education Bakura had no doubt he'll at least end up with a degree - or perhaps even a PHD. It's just that he has trouble understanding things that don't directly relate to the real world. Geography, fine, language, fine, applied mathematics... not so good.
But they get through them in the end, and everyone passes, at the very least. He ends up being second in the year, actually, which he's happy with (apparently the elder Kaiba brother goes to their school. No wonder they had known him so well! And as he is a renowned genius, he really doesn't feel at all bad about losing to him), but impresses Yuugi, Jounouchi and Honda to no end.
He spends much of the holidays working on his board. Or, at least, that was his intention.
He does end up working on it quite a bit, but no where near as much as he'd planned - he keeps being asked out to things. And, he goes. They spend a lot of time playing games - either at Yuugi's house, or at arcades.
He begins to find that he's really enjoying himself, too. It's nice. And though he knew he'd never admit it, he thought Yami was, too. Just a little. (As long as the other Yuugi wasn't around, anyway.) He still doesn't offer to play another Monster World game - and they don't ask, either.
With his father still away, he has to stand in for him at the Museum, a bit. Nothing big - just meeting some of people putting on the exhibits, and other small things. His father has implied that he'll be inheriting it when he is older, so normally he is more than happy to do such things, and they fit in so well with his normal life he barely notices.
Only, the nice Egyptian lady who'd come over from Cairo to check the space out before deciding what she'd bring for the upcoming Ancient Egypt exhibit? Has one of the Items.
He's pretty sure she hasn't noticed him noticing, and even Yami had admits that trying to grab it now - especially when she'll be back in the country for longer than a weekend in a few months - is too risky. But still. It makes him wonder, a bit.
Something big is coming, he's sure. He has no idea what it is, but he's sure it'll change his life.
The night before school starts again, Yami appears as he's running around making sure he has everything ready for tomorrow. This in itself isn't particularly unusual - Yami often appears at odd times, after all - but his serious, almost pensive face is.
"What," he says, not paying all that much attention - he's too busy trying to make sure his uniform is clean, his books are all together, his pencil-case is full, his shoes are clean, he has enough food in the place to make lunch in the morning...
"...you," says Yami and then pauses. The uncharacteristic hesitance makes Bakura look up and actually pay attention for a second. "You said that there are... things. In our head. That aren't us. That attacked you."
"Yes," he says, but finds himself otherwise at a loss for words. That had been weeks ago, now. What did it matter anymore? But Yami seems to be serious about it, at least.
"Tell me." Bakura frowns at him.
"Tell me why you hate the other Yuugi, then," he says.
Later, he'd wonder why Yami waited until it was the day before school started again to ask him. At the time, he was too upset to care.
--
He's starting to get used to this whole I'm-actually-exhausted-but-I'm-not-going-to-show-it thing. Which he thinks is kind of a bad thing. Particularly as it involves catnapping with his eyes open during class. Well, his understanding of what they're being taught is unchanged, so it probably isn't too bad of him, but still...
Their new class is almost the same as their old one - there are a couple of changes, but they'd all stuck together, which is kind of nice.
And most of the girls that had been giggling at him are now fawning over someone else - black hair, not all that bad looking (pretty, in fact, says Yami, and he finds he has to agree). Slightly full of himself, though, it seems. Otogi Ryuuji, says Yuugi.
Then he humiliates Jounouchi, and Bakura decides he doesn't really like him. The other Yuugi humiliates him back, of course, but that's it, for him. He might like thoroughly trouncing people - but humiliation is something he can't stand.
--
Bakura has no idea what DDD is (nor, does it seem, does anyone), but he goes along to the launch anyway. Yuugi's almost exploding with excitement about it (such a game otaku... not that he could really talk), and despite his grandfather's misgivings about the whole thing, they go in and buy some of the ...boosters, he supposes. Yuugi said he was going to buy a rule book, too (and given how expensive they were, Bakura was going to let him. He didn't want to buy one until after he at least knew what the game was).
But they wait outside the store for nearly an hour, before the guards tell them what had happened. It's obviously a pack of lies; Yuugi's too honest a soul to even consider such a thing. (And the half-dozen boosters that Yami had secreted on his person was proof that they weren't actually all that good at finding thieves, anyway.)
But still... he has a very bad feeling about this...
Whatever it actually was, though, DDD was so cool. Dice. It's a game of dice.
He has no idea what the symbols on the dice meant, but they're still awesome. And then Jounouchi drops one by accident.... and it pops open to reveal a monster! Dice! With monsters inside! So cool!
They spend a few hours at Yuugi's house with his grandfather, trying to figure out what the game actually is, and pretending not to fret about Yuugi. Eventually, though, he starts worrying a little too much, and makes his excuses. The way home from Yuugi's house is the opposite way to what he wants to go, but it's not too hard to double back. It's late, now; they've closed the store. Well, it is a Sunday, that's hardly surprising. Of course, since it's obvious that Yuugi's still there, the security guards are too.
Yami takes care of the guards, though. (He's worried about Yuugi, too, not that he'd ever say as much. Because, despite his hatred of the other Yuugi... it was impossible to dislike Yuugi. Not for long, anyway.) They don't have any guards in Monster World yet, anyway. Not real guards, at least.
They watch, for a bit, before they make themself known. Yuugi's in trouble. And the Puzzle's in pieces again.
They kind of want to kill Otogi's father for that. Just a lot. Three thousand years since it's been solved... who would break something like that? (Steal it, they can understand, if it stays whole, but break it? It makes no sense.)
They still don't know how to play the game... but this is Yuugi. And they know that he can win.
Unfortunately, he seems to be losing faith in himself, rather rapidly. The loss of the puzzle hit him deeply. (Bakura can sort of understand. If someone took his Ring... well, he'd get violent rather than weepy, but it's much the same concept, really.) Yami makes an annoyed noise in their head, but... they know what they have to do.
Yuugi's surprised to see them, of course. They're expecting that. It's just that they're acting like they're a DM (he does this whenever he's nervous, actually, and it somehow come naturally to Yami, when he's not talking to Bakura), and they can see the slight fear in him, too. That... sort of hurts.
But they grin (really, they do, and that kind of scares Otogi) and bear it, and they encourage Yuugi along as best they can without actually knowing what's going on in the game. This mostly involves bluffing. But they're good at that.
And, surprise surprise, Yuugi wins. They have to use a bit more of their inside information about the Puzzle than Yami really wants to to spur him on, but he wins.
Bakura helps him pick up the pieces of the puzzle. Only, Yami... borrows one. And does something to it, before giving it back.
'Yami, what...'
'It's to keep track of him,' he says. 'In case something else like this happens to him.' Bakura can't hear him lying... but he's not so sure that's the whole truth, either. But he lets it slide.
They think that's it, then. Yuugi's won, and asserted his dominance over Otogi and his father - at least for the moment. They're really not expecting Otogi's father to break all the rules of gaming decency, and grab Yuugi. They're really, really not - and by the time they see what's happening, getting involved could get... messy. (And stealing souls is sort of not the sort of thing you should do when you're going to have witnesses, if at all possible. Particularly when you have a string of comas behind you already.)
Yuugi's taken into a back room, and after about a minute, smoke starts coming out. Half a second later, the cavalry, otherwise known as Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu and Mutou Sugoroku show up. They appear to already know that he's here, which he finds interesting... but no where near as pressing as the current situation.
Honda and Jounouchi break the door down... and he can feel Yami go queasy at the flames. He doesn't want to know how that works.
Yuugi won't leave the puzzle, though. Everyone else thinks he's mad, but Bakura understands. Even though he somehow knows that fire alone won't destroy it... he understands.
He wouldn't be able to leave the Ring, either.
--
He's visiting the hospital every day again.
But unlike last year... this time, he's filled with hope.
--
He knows Yuugi wants to talk to him. He's not at all surprised about that, actually. But while he's in the hospital, there's not really a chance to; there's always people everywhere. There always is, in hospitals - except for perhaps the coma ward (which he has to sort of acknowledge, was created due to him. He tries not to think about that). And Yuugi does have some tact.
But even though Yuugi's injured worse than Jounouchi is (more time in middle of the fire, plus a smaller frame will do that to you...), it's not all that long before he's back at school, too. It's almost summer, as well, so it's not that hard for Yuugi to get Jounouchi, Honda and Anzu to go and play basketball one lunchtime. It's masterfully done; if he wasn't watching for something like it, he never would have noticed. In fact, given that it's Yuugi, he may not have done it consciously. But it's still ...interesting.
They try to convince them to play basketball too. But Yuugi's got a new game - an odd 3D maze, today - so they don't push him too hard. They try a bit more with Bakura, despite having seen how awful he is at the sport in class, but they eventually leave him alone. He continues eating his lunch and mentally designing a new dungeon boss model.
It only takes Yuugi five minutes to finish his maze. He fidgets nervously for a second, glancing up at Bakura.
"Bakura-kun, I..." He looks down at Yuugi (he's sitting on his desk), and smiles.
"Shall we go to the roof, then?" Yuugi's look of shocked embarrassment is absolutely priceless.
The chain-link fence is a little high to lean against, but he tries his best, anyway. He's tempted to jump up and sit on the top of it, like Yami's doing, but he's already a head and a half taller than Yuugi, who's looking nervous enough already, so he doesn't.
He looks out over the city, and waits for Yuugi to say something. He hasn't actually been up on the roof, before, apart from the bit you have to cross to get to the science labs. It's kind of a nice view, actually.
"Bakura-kun..." Yuugi starts. Stops. Looks around nervously. He wonders why it's so hard for Yuugi to just say it.
"The guards, at Otogi-kun's shop, they were... and I..."
"Were wondering if the Amazing Coma Boy had struck again?" says Yami, and Yuugi jumps in shock.
"Ba... Bakura-kun... there's someone sitting on the fence behind you..." he says.
Okay, so not only could Yuugi hear Yami, he could see him, too, once he knew he was there.
This was... unusual.
Bakura deliberately ignored any jealousy he may or may not have felt at that.
"Oh," he says, "yes. There is," so you're not crazy, is implied, though he doesn't say that, as it wouldn't be precisely true. Yuugi calms down at his completely unsurprised tone, which is a very good thing.
"He's... someone you know?"
"I am," says Yami, jumping down of the fence and peering at Yuugi over Bakura's shoulder, "the soul sealed into that Ring." He grins, full of scary teeth. "Similar to the other you, an essence of darkness."
"I call him Yami for short," says Bakura, giving a half-grin.
Once he gets over his shock, Yuugi's very curious about them, unsurprisingly. They try not to give away too much - neither of them is comfortable with others knowing their secrets - but Yuugi doesn't call out his other self, so it's not a bad time.
Bakura's never been around anyone else that can see Yami before, so it takes a while for him to get used to; he's so used to not outwardly acknowledging anything Yami says that it's difficult to remember that it's actually a proper conversation between three people, not a two-way one with snide comments in between.
Yuugi asks about the comas, of course, and while they admit that yes, they had caused them... that's all they say about it. And Yuugi's smart enough not to push them.
Before long, though, the bell for lunch goes, and they have to hurry back to class. He can tell Yami wants to say something to him... but doesn't. Perhaps it's because of Yuugi, perhaps it's because he worries about being on class on time... but all he does is touch his hair, and disappear back into the place-in-the-back-of-his-mind.
He's slightly wary, the rest of the day... but Yuugi doesn't say a thing to anyone else about Yami. He's relieved, about that. He doesn't really mind Yuugi knowing (Yuugi, who can, in some small way, understand), but everyone else... he doesn't want them to know. Not if he can help it. Not yet.
But Yuugi has compassion, as well as smarts, so he's pretty sure he won't tell unless he has to, since he doesn't immediately.
--
Yami jumps him, as soon as he gets home. His hands are in his hair and he's pushing him against the wall, and he's kissing him, and... it's pure ownership. With everything he is, Yami is saying mine to him. And for some reason that makes him happy, so, with all his body and soul, he says mine back. If he didn't know better, he wouldn't have even known that Yami wasn't physically there.
It's not about lust at all... though as he goes off to make dinner, he concedes he wouldn't mind if it was, either.
--
The next day at school, everyone's talking about the exhibit opening on the weekend at the museum.
"Oh," he says, once he figures out just which exhibit they're talking about, "you mean Ms. Ishtal's exhibit. Yes, I think it will be a good one; some stuff that's never been out of Egypt before is supposed to have come over for it." He hasn't seen it himself, yet; he's supposed to go over on Thursday evening, to check that everything's going smoothly (which it is; they'd have called him if it wasn't), and it's still only Tuesday.
It takes him a moment to notice that they're staring at him. He moves his head in a silent 'what?' gesture.
"Bakura-kun..." says Anzu, "You know the person putting on the exhibit?" He laughs, short, but not exactly bitter.
"Not exactly. I met her, a while ago, but...." he pauses. Thinks. What should he say? He decides on the purest truth. Its nothing bad, and Yuugi... and these people deserve that, if he can give it. "My father, he owns the museum. But he's abroad right now, so I occasionally have to look after things for him here." He smiles, and they stare at him a little more.
"Wow," says Honda, after a second.
"That's cool!" adds Jounouchi. He smiles at them again.
"So I can get you in for free, if you want!" And then they laugh, and, like so much that happens to this group... they just accept it for what it is.
They're so enthusiastic about the exhibit that he invites them to come along on Thursday. It's almost summer, so it's still light out, despite it's being almost eight out. (They'd eaten beforehand, and the museum wasn't exactly close to school in any case, after all)
Ms. Ishtal is standing at the top of the steps as they're climbing them, arguing with a blond boy (roughly their age?) in Arabic. His Arabic isn't all that good, and they're speaking very fast, so he's not certain what they're arguing about, though.
He can feel the Ring notice them, though. He wonders if it's just pointing out Ms. Ishtal's Item again, or if the blond boy has one, too. Neither would really surprise him, the way things are going.
As they get a bit closer, he can tell that something's ...off... about the blond, too.
'He's given himself to chaos,' says Yami. "Or perhaps only part of himself?' he sounds confused. And Bakura knows enough about the world to know that when Yami's confused about things involving magic... bad things are about to happen.
As he greets Ms. Ishtal, and vaguely (very vaguely, just in case) introduces his friends, he notices the way the blond eyes the Puzzle, and feels his apprehension return. As Ms. Ishtal introduces the blond as her brother, Malik, the apprehension somehow turns to dread. There will be trouble, from this one, he somehow knows.
Yami rolls his eyes at him, and calls him a melodramatic twit, of course, and starts to plot on how to best use the boy, which he thinks is rather mean of him. But he's not surprised at all.
And as he chats to Ms. Ishtal, he notices the way she's eyeing Yuugi, too. And he almost bursts out laughing. She doesn't know he knows about Yuugi and the puzzle, and he's sure that the only reason she hasn't all but jumped him. Because no matter how much you want to talk to the one who solved the Puzzle, you don't do anything that might offend the guy who is, to all intents and purposes, in charge of your exhibit. That's just good sense.
It's a very interesting exhibit. Yuugi and his friends wonder over the two tablets, of course. Bakura finds them amusing - and slightly unsettling - himself, but what really throws him is some of the newly-unearthed jewellery. It's old and slightly broken, as most discoveries are - time has a way of doing that to things, after all. But it's unmistakably the same things Yami wears, as his spirit-self.
It obviously disturbs Yami, too; he just stands there, staring, for the longest time. He thinks, privately, that perhaps it's only now - seeing something of his own put on display as the ancient past - that Yami really understands what had happened to him.
He wants to hold him, to let him know hey, you still have me, I'll be yours forever, but he's quite sure that Yuugi and his friends aren't quite so involved with the tablets as to ignore that. And getting them involved with something so personal would just be awful.
--
They don't get home until after midnight. It isn't unusual for him to be up that late, this is true, but it's still quite a weird thing, for them.
He potters about the kitchen, for a while, washing the morning's dishes, and making sure he'll have enough food ready-to-go for lunch tomorrow. He has the feeling he'll sleep in in the morning. But he does that most Fridays. It isn't a hard thing to guess.
Yami is quieter than usual, and just curls up on on corner of the couch. It doesn't surprise him, but it still worries him. So after he's finished in the kitchen, he goes over to him. And though it's physically impossible, he sits on his lap, and strokes his hair, and they stay that way until they both fall asleep.
And it is enough.
Save a family, feed an author?
There's a new craze at school - a card game. It's mainly Yuugi and his friends that actually play it at school, but everyone knows about it. He hears people discussing their decks between classes. He also hears that there's a plan to make a club for it in motion, even. He's not sure that that will happen - or that if it does it will last any respectful amount of time - but he's amused at just how fast it's all happened. It was only, what, three days ago that he'd first heard about it. Something like that. Yuugi and his friends have apparently been playing it for some time now, but it's only recently that people have started taking it as something more that the latest thing the game otaku's playing.
Magic & Wizards, it's called. Bakura's not really that interested - he's a tabletop gamer, mostly, after all, but after seeing a game - a "duel", they call it - in progress, Yami becomes very interested. Even more interested than he had when they first started playing Monster World. And while it's not exactly his thing, Bakura starts paying more attention to it - it doesn't seem all that hard to play, once you got the cards, after all. They start to acquire cards - though it seems not many people like the more interesting ones, so it appears it's going to take them a while to build a deck.
One day Yuugi has a video camera with him at school. This is unusual enough - but added to the fact that everyone in the group seemed to be depressed (very odd, given their usual personalities), Bakura surmises that something is up. Yami's all but cackling at their obvious distress (he is really quite a sore loser), and Bakura's curious - or possibly just nosy - so he goes over and makes inquiries.
Yuugi's grandfather's soul is in the tape? It's been put there by an Item? This "Pegasus" guy... sounds very interesting. There's no doubt in either of their minds that Yuugi and his friends are going to go and see him, too - and that they're going to go with them, one way or another.
They start talking about this "Kingdom" place; it appears that Pegasus has invited them there, more or less. And it's just so easy to show his interest in the Items... so, so easy to convince them to let him come along.
So easy to convince them his interest is purely academic, too; all he has to do is mention his father and his work, and that he'd found one of the items some years ago.
And he didn't even have to lie to them. It's the truth, after all.
Just not exactly the whole truth.
He feels sorry for Jounouchi.
His sister - his sister - is going blind, and his family doesn't have the money to stop it.
Amane... Amane had got the best treatment available. Everything. Anything that could help, even a little.
But Jounouchi's sister is alive, too.
So he can't help but feel a bit jealous.
--
They leave for Kingdom the next Friday night.
Despite it's popularity at school, they're rather surprised at the amount of people that show up. Obviously, this Pegasus guy isn't intent on just messing with Yuugi. And they're not just high school kids, either, which, for a craze, is kind of unusual. There's a rather attractive woman that Yuugi and his friends all make themselves fools over - though it's possible that Anzu was acting out of jealousy, not attraction.
Yami, rather than being amused, is acting more concerned about the amount of people attending - and what that must say about the amount of people that play.
He obviously knows more than he's telling Bakura, and that's really pissing him off. He'd have thought that after the Monster World game - which he still hadn't got an explanation about, by the way - he might be a bit more open with his plans. Obviously not.
But that was okay. Bakura was going to make sure he knew what was going on this time.
He'd make sure.
Jounouchi Katsuya is either a saint or an idiot, Bakura's decided.
Jumping off a ship for some cards? Cards that weren't even his? Neither of them can understand that. It's not like they're a person, or anything - they might be rare cards, that's true, but they're not something irreplaceable, either.
'Though,' says Yami, 'that proves his undying loyalty.'
Bakura doesn't really care about that, but if what they say about idiots and colds is right, he thinks Jounouchi's just proved his sainthood.
--
He learns a lot about Magic & Wizards as Yuugi and Jounouchi make their way though this so-called Duellist's Kingdom. He'd memorised the rules before they'd left, of course, and many of the more common cards in competition - but there was nothing like watching the actual matches to learn how all that was applied in reality. And just how cut-throat this game really was.
Yami's delight at that baffles him, but it's not really a surprise. Yami is not a nice person, and this, at it's core, is not a nice game. They go together rather well.
Bakura knows about the Kaiba family by reputation, of course. It's kind of hard not to - particularly when your father is sort of a businessman (or at least was, before he went back to his digs).
But he's still surprised at how involved Yuugi seems to be with them - and on a personal level. Though as into games as those two brothers were reputed to be, he's more surprised at the fact that he is surprised. Yuugi's just one of those people.
The duel with the puppet-master raises some sneaking suspicions in his mind - and a whole lot of possibilities in Yami's.
...he can't believe they forgot to bring food.
He just can't believe it. How could they have been so stupid?
Luckily, the attractive woman - her name is Kujyaku Mai, though everyone calls her by her given name - comes to their rescue. She's obviously done this sort of thing before.
He offers to cook, and Yuugi decides he's going to help him. He ...dislikes... cooking with other people, but he can't think of a response that, given the circumstances, would be anything other than tactless.
It comes out delicious anyway.
He's never slept out in the open before (to Yami's disgust), but it's surprisingly comfortable - so much so that he misses most of Mai's abduction by, loss to, and Yuugi's defeat of, the "player killer" known as Yami. (From the little Bakura sees of him, he's offended on behalf of his Yami - even though that's not his real name, to have someone like that share it is insulting.)
Still, Jounouchi's antics are amusing, and it adds another dimension to the game, so perhaps it's worth the missed sleep.
Yami wakes him up once it looks like everyone else has gone to sleep again. He is, of course, irritable about this.
But Yami's looking more serious than normal, so he complies with his request to take the Ring out. As soon as he touches it, it starts to glow - and one of the points move and point at the castle. He's as fascinated as he is freaked out. He hadn't known that the Ring could be used to find things.
Yami tells him that it's limited - you can't, for example, ask it to find a lost pair of glasses, or something of the sort. But directions are okay, and people, if you know them - or have something linked to them, if they have enough magic in their soul. But mainly, he says, it can locate the other Items - providing you don't ask it to do something different, it will do that automatically, if one is in range.
He asks that why, then, isn't it pointing to Yuugi's puzzle. That earns him a gentle cuff 'round the head. Because, says Yami, we already know it's there! That doesn't exactly make sense, to Bakura, but as it's magic, he doesn't argue with it.
Yami's pleased with this, though - it's proof that Pegasus really does have an Item.
He's about to ask why it matters so much, when a vine drops on Honda, who, thinking it's a snake, freaks out and wakes everyone up. He uses the opportunity to hide the Ring from them. He doesn't want awkward questions, if he can help it.
When the helicopter arrives, he about ready to start stealing the soul of whatever idiot had woken him up this time. It was becoming apparent that he was just fated to have a sleepless night - and as he hadn't slept the night before, that made him slightly irritable. Yami thought he was a wimp, of course, but, well. It was annoying.
It's the other Kaiba brother. After about five minutes he decides he doesn't like him all that much.
It's only after Jounouchi gets his ass handed to him (attitude aside, he is a good player) that he realises Yami feels the same sort of hatred for him as he does for Yuugi.
--
At least, after that he gets to sleep the rest of the night. And despite the all-too-frequent interruptions, he's surprisingly alert.
Well, they'd slept until half past nine, so that probably had something to do with it.
Of course, not long after that, Jounouchi goes missing. It looks like it'll be another eventful day.
He's not quite sure how the day can get worse. They're trapped. Underground. Left to die by that bastard foreigner and his friends!
They don't have any food or water and the entrance they came in has been blocked and there might not be another exit and...
Yami pulls him back into the space-in-the-back-of-his-mind. He doesn't do that often; it's a measure of how badly he's freaking out, really.
He's not all the way back - he can't see anything other than the real world - but he can feel Yami (Yami's soul?) hold him (his soul?) close until he stops shaking.
"Idiot," says Yami, but it's not an angry word, really. "You'd never have survived back home." Bakura doesn't quite get the true meaning of that until after he stops panicking, some hours hence.
"I..." he whispers. He's not sure if he's far enough back that he's speaking in the real world, too, so he tries to be quiet.
"Shut up," says Yami. "I know. Use the Ring." Use the Ring? But they've been trying to keep it hidden from Yuugi... "Your fears aren't entirely unjustified. We could be in here for days before we find an exit, if it's a big enough system. Use the damn Ring."
He does so.
There's questions, of course, but he brushes them off as best he can, using the 'my father asked me to look after it for him' excuse. He's not quite sure they buy it - especially not Yuugi - but they at least drop the subject, and let him concentrate.
Unlike the night before, using the Ring to find the exit takes some work. He has to make sure he's thinking pretty much only of that - not that that's hard, given that, at the moment, that's the only thing he wants in the world.
His fears aren't at all put to rest when they come across the Maze Brothers - but they can't move forward until they're beaten.
Of course, with Yuugi as one of the participants on their side, the result is pretty much preordained. He doesn't pay much attention to what's going on, really.
Anzu does ask him what the matter is, but he brushes it off as best he can. His (now that they've found other live human beings, that actually know their way around, rather irrational) fear isn't exactly something he wants to discuss.
Yuugi - or, perhaps, more accurately, the other Yuugi - messes with people's heads, a little, and he can feel Yami's amusement. He'll ask what's going on later, once the walls stop looming so much. But whatever the other Yuugi does, it works, and they're moving on again, and then they're free. Sunshine, blessed sunshine. He isn't really a daytime person, but he'll be up dawn 'til dusk every day for the rest of his life if it means he won't get stuck underground again.
He's shaking again, but this time it's with relief.
--
Yuugi loses.
Yami cackles with sheer delight at the back of his mind.
And though he does try his best to comfort Yuugi - he can't help but be impressed by Kaiba's manoeuvre. He would, he thinks, make a great DM.
Bakura recognises what's happened the second the younger Kaiba steps into the room. It's slightly different to what Ya... to what they do, but it's close enough. And even if it wasn't, he's seen enough of soulless bodies to last a lifetime.
Yami's interested enough to join him in the front -the normal part- of his mind. It's a very odd sensation, and it doesn't happen very often. But it's... not discomforting.
They watch, as Kaiba - the same Kaiba that just beat Yuugi - gets taken apart.
The Eye is real, then. Even if the Ring hadn't shown them where it was, they'd know it. The Eye is here, and it is powerful. And it's owner is an absolute bastard.
Yami wants that Eye, though, that much is obvious, and the only way they'd be able to get it would be to rip it out of his face.
Bakura's not quite sure about that.
Roughly about the same time Yuugi - the other Yuugi - calls out in surprise at the painting of an Egyptian man on the wall, Yami does the same in his head.
'Shada!' says Yami. Shadi, the others says.
But on all other accounts they seem to agree - holder of the Key, and an all-around bastard.
He'd be somewhat amused at the fact that they're all agreeing on something, but he's a little too horrified at what the Key does to notice.
'The things would eat him,' he whispers in his mind. He feels Yami's confusion.
'What things?'
'The things.' He shudders even thinking about it. 'In the alley.'
'There's nothing-'
'There is. They tried to eat me,' he says. Yami is instantly concerned, which is kind of touching.
'When was this?'
'Just after I- when you weren't in my head anymore. I had to go find you. They tried to eat me.' If he can stick to short sentences, maybe he won't remember. Or at least maybe he won't remember so vividly.
'What the hell are you talking about?' He's spared from having to answer by Honda and Jounouchi fighting.
And the whole thing slips his mind once they eyeballs come out.
He's tired. He's really tired. And it's the middle of the night. Why is he not asleep in his bed?
Oh, that's right. Because he shares a mind with a sadist, that's why!
'Quit whining,' says Yami. 'You know you want to look around too,' Which is entirely beside the point.
'I'd rather we didn't skulk around like some sort of criminal to do so!' he snaps back.
'But we are criminals!' says Yami, somehow gleeful at the prospect. 'So it's only fitting we do this the proper way.'
'...shut up,' he says. He doesn't want to think about that. And then Yami's standing beside him, instead of in his mind. Running a hand through his hair. Whispering in his ear. 'It's nothing to be ashamed of, Yadonushi-mine. Nothing to be ashamed of at all. We've wanted to, and we have, and who can tell Us what to do? They don't - they can't - understand, so why,' he can feel his breath on his ear - but how? 'worry about what they call us, yes?' He shivers, and it's not because it's cold.
He'd kind of like to kill Yami right now.
Really, he would. Getting caught by guards on purpose? What good can that do? (Yami, of course, isn't saying anything - but is also acting incredibly smug, as he does his best to talk his way out of this situation. So aggravating!)
...and now Honda's very, very lucky neither of them hurt him very badly just then. What was he thinking, grabbing them like that!
...well, it appears that Honda's dead set on getting himself killed anyway, so... It's kind of a petty vengeance, but he goes along with Honda's 'plan'. He has to play the fool again, which is so very embarrassing, but, well. Petty revenge usually is.
He's let Yami be 'in charge' of his body, for a bit. He hasn't got a sporty bone in his body, after all, but Yami does, and what they're doing rather requires it. Rescuing Princess Honda from his high tower will be the ultimate form of revenge, after all.
And hey, they might find something else interesting, while they're at it.
It's not that he's surprised at Yami's violence, really. It's more that he's surprised at the whole lack of new Monster World models.
But, perhaps that would scare Honda a little more than necessary. They want to scare him, after all, and take him down a few (more) pegs - but they don't want him running off to Yuugi, terrified. That would be... counterproductive.
And the whole, you know, 'ahahaha how much do you suck' works so much better when you're on an equal footing. (Well, more or less equal, anyway.)
The look on his face is worth it.
--
Honda is suspicious of them, of course. It's not everyday you find a seventeen-year-old gamer-geek that can also knock out three first-class armed guards, after all.
And Bakura's finding he simply doesn't care if he's looked at like he might explode into a violent rage any second. He's almost feeling like he wouldn't care if he did explode into a violent rage in the not too distant future, even if it's just to mess with Honda's mind a bit more. He feels guilty for not feeling guilty about that. But only a little.
They rescue the younger Kaiba pretty easily. Yami's acquired the keys to the tower-prison, after all. Honda seems intent on carrying the boy, though, which Bakura finds quite silly. It had been obvious that, even soulless, this boy could walk on his own. A bit like a zombie, perhaps, but it was still walking. He wondered how it was done. His friend's bodies had just gone into comas. No where near as interesting.
The hard part is finding somewhere to stash him for a while. Honda, despite his obvious distaste for the man, wants to rescue the elder Kaiba's body, too. He isn't in the same tower as his brother, though, so they're left with something of a dilemma. Bakura watches Yami and Honda bicker for a while, but he's gone three days without much in the way of sleep, so he dozes off eventually.
--
He's woken to Yami shoving roughly at his mind. He snarls, and does the mental equivalent of rolling over and going back to sleep. He's not ready to get up yet, damnit.
It happens again, and this time he lashes out, complete with giant fuck off message. The shoving squeaks, and retreats quickly. He's about to roll over again, when his brain catches up. Wait. Waitwaitwait. Yami doesn't squeak. ...doesn't run away, either. What the fuck is going on?
As he rolls out of bed, he hears Yami - the real Yami - laughing at someone. Not him. Hmm.
He moves from 'sleeping' to 'awake and in control of his body' in almost an instant. His eyes feel heavy, and, despite his annoyance, it's all he can do not to fall asleep again on the spot. Unlike his mind, his body's obviously not got any sleep. Again.
"What the fuck," he yawns, "is going on?" This is roughly the point where his vision clears enough for him to be able to see properly. He blinks. Nothing changes.
"You're Pegasus, aren't you?" he asks the rather shocked looking man.
He doesn't like Pegasus at all, he's decided. He knows Yami doesn't like him at all either. Of course, this is probably why Yami's going out of his way to pick a fight with the man. Bakura's not stupid, he can tell when someone's picking a fight - even when said person's not living in his head.
In the end, though, Pegasus justifies everything - everything - he'd done with some lady called 'Cynthia'. As he'd been asleep through that explanation, that goes right over his head - at least until Yami info-dumps him on the subject.
"She's dead," he yells. He didn't even realise he's moving until after the fact. "She's dead, and you can't bring the dead back!" (No matter how much you want to no matter how much it hurts no matter what you'll sacrifice you can't you can't you can't.)
"I saw her! I-" He cuts him off.
"You were delusional! You'd just lost an eye, for fuck's sake! It wasn't real."
"It was, you foolish little boy! You have no idea..." That was it. He snaps.
"Play a game with me," he says, and feels the darkness surround them.
Okay, so maybe a Game of heads-or-tails isn't exactly the most impressive thing out there. He doesn't care. He's won.
"As punishment," he says, "I think I'll take that eye of yours." And then he smiles.
--
He wakes up in his own bed.
He's not sure how he got there. The last thing he really remembers is - oh, gods. Did he really....
There's blood still under his fingernails.
He doesn't quite make it to the toilet before he throws up.
Despite his own feelings on the matter, however, it's obvious that Yami's pleased with him. He tries not to dwell on the reasons for that too much, though. Because, well. It's kind of nice.
By the time he wakes up, it's too late to go to school on Monday. But come Tuesday, he goes and... though he knows he shouldn't be, he's surprised at the normality. Other than Yuugi and his friend's happier spirits, it's the same as any other day. He's twitchy, for a while. But he always is, post wierd-things-happening.
One of the weirdest things does happen at school, though - Yuugi and his group seem to have taken him in. It isn't just a hello, good bye sort of thing, anymore - it's like he actually belongs.
It's really quite nice.
Before long, though, exams are upon them. Bakura isn't worried at all about them - not to get into second year! - but everyone else is, it seems. So, he helps them study, as best he could.
Yuugi is unsurprisingly quite bright, once he puts his mind to it (which it often takes all four of them, plus his other self to get him to do), and Anzu is thorough and organised (she has to be, to juggle ballet, study, a secret part-time job and still have something like a social life). Honda isn't an idiot, but he doesn't care too much about his marks (but will study if everyone else is, at least). Jounouchi is the one he worries about most, actually. It's isn't as if he's anything like stupid, and he's so dedicated to his continuing education Bakura had no doubt he'll at least end up with a degree - or perhaps even a PHD. It's just that he has trouble understanding things that don't directly relate to the real world. Geography, fine, language, fine, applied mathematics... not so good.
But they get through them in the end, and everyone passes, at the very least. He ends up being second in the year, actually, which he's happy with (apparently the elder Kaiba brother goes to their school. No wonder they had known him so well! And as he is a renowned genius, he really doesn't feel at all bad about losing to him), but impresses Yuugi, Jounouchi and Honda to no end.
He spends much of the holidays working on his board. Or, at least, that was his intention.
He does end up working on it quite a bit, but no where near as much as he'd planned - he keeps being asked out to things. And, he goes. They spend a lot of time playing games - either at Yuugi's house, or at arcades.
He begins to find that he's really enjoying himself, too. It's nice. And though he knew he'd never admit it, he thought Yami was, too. Just a little. (As long as the other Yuugi wasn't around, anyway.) He still doesn't offer to play another Monster World game - and they don't ask, either.
With his father still away, he has to stand in for him at the Museum, a bit. Nothing big - just meeting some of people putting on the exhibits, and other small things. His father has implied that he'll be inheriting it when he is older, so normally he is more than happy to do such things, and they fit in so well with his normal life he barely notices.
Only, the nice Egyptian lady who'd come over from Cairo to check the space out before deciding what she'd bring for the upcoming Ancient Egypt exhibit? Has one of the Items.
He's pretty sure she hasn't noticed him noticing, and even Yami had admits that trying to grab it now - especially when she'll be back in the country for longer than a weekend in a few months - is too risky. But still. It makes him wonder, a bit.
Something big is coming, he's sure. He has no idea what it is, but he's sure it'll change his life.
The night before school starts again, Yami appears as he's running around making sure he has everything ready for tomorrow. This in itself isn't particularly unusual - Yami often appears at odd times, after all - but his serious, almost pensive face is.
"What," he says, not paying all that much attention - he's too busy trying to make sure his uniform is clean, his books are all together, his pencil-case is full, his shoes are clean, he has enough food in the place to make lunch in the morning...
"...you," says Yami and then pauses. The uncharacteristic hesitance makes Bakura look up and actually pay attention for a second. "You said that there are... things. In our head. That aren't us. That attacked you."
"Yes," he says, but finds himself otherwise at a loss for words. That had been weeks ago, now. What did it matter anymore? But Yami seems to be serious about it, at least.
"Tell me." Bakura frowns at him.
"Tell me why you hate the other Yuugi, then," he says.
Later, he'd wonder why Yami waited until it was the day before school started again to ask him. At the time, he was too upset to care.
--
He's starting to get used to this whole I'm-actually-exhausted-but-I'm-not-going-to-show-it thing. Which he thinks is kind of a bad thing. Particularly as it involves catnapping with his eyes open during class. Well, his understanding of what they're being taught is unchanged, so it probably isn't too bad of him, but still...
Their new class is almost the same as their old one - there are a couple of changes, but they'd all stuck together, which is kind of nice.
And most of the girls that had been giggling at him are now fawning over someone else - black hair, not all that bad looking (pretty, in fact, says Yami, and he finds he has to agree). Slightly full of himself, though, it seems. Otogi Ryuuji, says Yuugi.
Then he humiliates Jounouchi, and Bakura decides he doesn't really like him. The other Yuugi humiliates him back, of course, but that's it, for him. He might like thoroughly trouncing people - but humiliation is something he can't stand.
--
Bakura has no idea what DDD is (nor, does it seem, does anyone), but he goes along to the launch anyway. Yuugi's almost exploding with excitement about it (such a game otaku... not that he could really talk), and despite his grandfather's misgivings about the whole thing, they go in and buy some of the ...boosters, he supposes. Yuugi said he was going to buy a rule book, too (and given how expensive they were, Bakura was going to let him. He didn't want to buy one until after he at least knew what the game was).
But they wait outside the store for nearly an hour, before the guards tell them what had happened. It's obviously a pack of lies; Yuugi's too honest a soul to even consider such a thing. (And the half-dozen boosters that Yami had secreted on his person was proof that they weren't actually all that good at finding thieves, anyway.)
But still... he has a very bad feeling about this...
Whatever it actually was, though, DDD was so cool. Dice. It's a game of dice.
He has no idea what the symbols on the dice meant, but they're still awesome. And then Jounouchi drops one by accident.... and it pops open to reveal a monster! Dice! With monsters inside! So cool!
They spend a few hours at Yuugi's house with his grandfather, trying to figure out what the game actually is, and pretending not to fret about Yuugi. Eventually, though, he starts worrying a little too much, and makes his excuses. The way home from Yuugi's house is the opposite way to what he wants to go, but it's not too hard to double back. It's late, now; they've closed the store. Well, it is a Sunday, that's hardly surprising. Of course, since it's obvious that Yuugi's still there, the security guards are too.
Yami takes care of the guards, though. (He's worried about Yuugi, too, not that he'd ever say as much. Because, despite his hatred of the other Yuugi... it was impossible to dislike Yuugi. Not for long, anyway.) They don't have any guards in Monster World yet, anyway. Not real guards, at least.
They watch, for a bit, before they make themself known. Yuugi's in trouble. And the Puzzle's in pieces again.
They kind of want to kill Otogi's father for that. Just a lot. Three thousand years since it's been solved... who would break something like that? (Steal it, they can understand, if it stays whole, but break it? It makes no sense.)
They still don't know how to play the game... but this is Yuugi. And they know that he can win.
Unfortunately, he seems to be losing faith in himself, rather rapidly. The loss of the puzzle hit him deeply. (Bakura can sort of understand. If someone took his Ring... well, he'd get violent rather than weepy, but it's much the same concept, really.) Yami makes an annoyed noise in their head, but... they know what they have to do.
Yuugi's surprised to see them, of course. They're expecting that. It's just that they're acting like they're a DM (he does this whenever he's nervous, actually, and it somehow come naturally to Yami, when he's not talking to Bakura), and they can see the slight fear in him, too. That... sort of hurts.
But they grin (really, they do, and that kind of scares Otogi) and bear it, and they encourage Yuugi along as best they can without actually knowing what's going on in the game. This mostly involves bluffing. But they're good at that.
And, surprise surprise, Yuugi wins. They have to use a bit more of their inside information about the Puzzle than Yami really wants to to spur him on, but he wins.
Bakura helps him pick up the pieces of the puzzle. Only, Yami... borrows one. And does something to it, before giving it back.
'Yami, what...'
'It's to keep track of him,' he says. 'In case something else like this happens to him.' Bakura can't hear him lying... but he's not so sure that's the whole truth, either. But he lets it slide.
They think that's it, then. Yuugi's won, and asserted his dominance over Otogi and his father - at least for the moment. They're really not expecting Otogi's father to break all the rules of gaming decency, and grab Yuugi. They're really, really not - and by the time they see what's happening, getting involved could get... messy. (And stealing souls is sort of not the sort of thing you should do when you're going to have witnesses, if at all possible. Particularly when you have a string of comas behind you already.)
Yuugi's taken into a back room, and after about a minute, smoke starts coming out. Half a second later, the cavalry, otherwise known as Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu and Mutou Sugoroku show up. They appear to already know that he's here, which he finds interesting... but no where near as pressing as the current situation.
Honda and Jounouchi break the door down... and he can feel Yami go queasy at the flames. He doesn't want to know how that works.
Yuugi won't leave the puzzle, though. Everyone else thinks he's mad, but Bakura understands. Even though he somehow knows that fire alone won't destroy it... he understands.
He wouldn't be able to leave the Ring, either.
--
He's visiting the hospital every day again.
But unlike last year... this time, he's filled with hope.
--
He knows Yuugi wants to talk to him. He's not at all surprised about that, actually. But while he's in the hospital, there's not really a chance to; there's always people everywhere. There always is, in hospitals - except for perhaps the coma ward (which he has to sort of acknowledge, was created due to him. He tries not to think about that). And Yuugi does have some tact.
But even though Yuugi's injured worse than Jounouchi is (more time in middle of the fire, plus a smaller frame will do that to you...), it's not all that long before he's back at school, too. It's almost summer, as well, so it's not that hard for Yuugi to get Jounouchi, Honda and Anzu to go and play basketball one lunchtime. It's masterfully done; if he wasn't watching for something like it, he never would have noticed. In fact, given that it's Yuugi, he may not have done it consciously. But it's still ...interesting.
They try to convince them to play basketball too. But Yuugi's got a new game - an odd 3D maze, today - so they don't push him too hard. They try a bit more with Bakura, despite having seen how awful he is at the sport in class, but they eventually leave him alone. He continues eating his lunch and mentally designing a new dungeon boss model.
It only takes Yuugi five minutes to finish his maze. He fidgets nervously for a second, glancing up at Bakura.
"Bakura-kun, I..." He looks down at Yuugi (he's sitting on his desk), and smiles.
"Shall we go to the roof, then?" Yuugi's look of shocked embarrassment is absolutely priceless.
The chain-link fence is a little high to lean against, but he tries his best, anyway. He's tempted to jump up and sit on the top of it, like Yami's doing, but he's already a head and a half taller than Yuugi, who's looking nervous enough already, so he doesn't.
He looks out over the city, and waits for Yuugi to say something. He hasn't actually been up on the roof, before, apart from the bit you have to cross to get to the science labs. It's kind of a nice view, actually.
"Bakura-kun..." Yuugi starts. Stops. Looks around nervously. He wonders why it's so hard for Yuugi to just say it.
"The guards, at Otogi-kun's shop, they were... and I..."
"Were wondering if the Amazing Coma Boy had struck again?" says Yami, and Yuugi jumps in shock.
"Ba... Bakura-kun... there's someone sitting on the fence behind you..." he says.
Okay, so not only could Yuugi hear Yami, he could see him, too, once he knew he was there.
This was... unusual.
Bakura deliberately ignored any jealousy he may or may not have felt at that.
"Oh," he says, "yes. There is," so you're not crazy, is implied, though he doesn't say that, as it wouldn't be precisely true. Yuugi calms down at his completely unsurprised tone, which is a very good thing.
"He's... someone you know?"
"I am," says Yami, jumping down of the fence and peering at Yuugi over Bakura's shoulder, "the soul sealed into that Ring." He grins, full of scary teeth. "Similar to the other you, an essence of darkness."
"I call him Yami for short," says Bakura, giving a half-grin.
Once he gets over his shock, Yuugi's very curious about them, unsurprisingly. They try not to give away too much - neither of them is comfortable with others knowing their secrets - but Yuugi doesn't call out his other self, so it's not a bad time.
Bakura's never been around anyone else that can see Yami before, so it takes a while for him to get used to; he's so used to not outwardly acknowledging anything Yami says that it's difficult to remember that it's actually a proper conversation between three people, not a two-way one with snide comments in between.
Yuugi asks about the comas, of course, and while they admit that yes, they had caused them... that's all they say about it. And Yuugi's smart enough not to push them.
Before long, though, the bell for lunch goes, and they have to hurry back to class. He can tell Yami wants to say something to him... but doesn't. Perhaps it's because of Yuugi, perhaps it's because he worries about being on class on time... but all he does is touch his hair, and disappear back into the place-in-the-back-of-his-mind.
He's slightly wary, the rest of the day... but Yuugi doesn't say a thing to anyone else about Yami. He's relieved, about that. He doesn't really mind Yuugi knowing (Yuugi, who can, in some small way, understand), but everyone else... he doesn't want them to know. Not if he can help it. Not yet.
But Yuugi has compassion, as well as smarts, so he's pretty sure he won't tell unless he has to, since he doesn't immediately.
--
Yami jumps him, as soon as he gets home. His hands are in his hair and he's pushing him against the wall, and he's kissing him, and... it's pure ownership. With everything he is, Yami is saying mine to him. And for some reason that makes him happy, so, with all his body and soul, he says mine back. If he didn't know better, he wouldn't have even known that Yami wasn't physically there.
It's not about lust at all... though as he goes off to make dinner, he concedes he wouldn't mind if it was, either.
--
The next day at school, everyone's talking about the exhibit opening on the weekend at the museum.
"Oh," he says, once he figures out just which exhibit they're talking about, "you mean Ms. Ishtal's exhibit. Yes, I think it will be a good one; some stuff that's never been out of Egypt before is supposed to have come over for it." He hasn't seen it himself, yet; he's supposed to go over on Thursday evening, to check that everything's going smoothly (which it is; they'd have called him if it wasn't), and it's still only Tuesday.
It takes him a moment to notice that they're staring at him. He moves his head in a silent 'what?' gesture.
"Bakura-kun..." says Anzu, "You know the person putting on the exhibit?" He laughs, short, but not exactly bitter.
"Not exactly. I met her, a while ago, but...." he pauses. Thinks. What should he say? He decides on the purest truth. Its nothing bad, and Yuugi... and these people deserve that, if he can give it. "My father, he owns the museum. But he's abroad right now, so I occasionally have to look after things for him here." He smiles, and they stare at him a little more.
"Wow," says Honda, after a second.
"That's cool!" adds Jounouchi. He smiles at them again.
"So I can get you in for free, if you want!" And then they laugh, and, like so much that happens to this group... they just accept it for what it is.
They're so enthusiastic about the exhibit that he invites them to come along on Thursday. It's almost summer, so it's still light out, despite it's being almost eight out. (They'd eaten beforehand, and the museum wasn't exactly close to school in any case, after all)
Ms. Ishtal is standing at the top of the steps as they're climbing them, arguing with a blond boy (roughly their age?) in Arabic. His Arabic isn't all that good, and they're speaking very fast, so he's not certain what they're arguing about, though.
He can feel the Ring notice them, though. He wonders if it's just pointing out Ms. Ishtal's Item again, or if the blond boy has one, too. Neither would really surprise him, the way things are going.
As they get a bit closer, he can tell that something's ...off... about the blond, too.
'He's given himself to chaos,' says Yami. "Or perhaps only part of himself?' he sounds confused. And Bakura knows enough about the world to know that when Yami's confused about things involving magic... bad things are about to happen.
As he greets Ms. Ishtal, and vaguely (very vaguely, just in case) introduces his friends, he notices the way the blond eyes the Puzzle, and feels his apprehension return. As Ms. Ishtal introduces the blond as her brother, Malik, the apprehension somehow turns to dread. There will be trouble, from this one, he somehow knows.
Yami rolls his eyes at him, and calls him a melodramatic twit, of course, and starts to plot on how to best use the boy, which he thinks is rather mean of him. But he's not surprised at all.
And as he chats to Ms. Ishtal, he notices the way she's eyeing Yuugi, too. And he almost bursts out laughing. She doesn't know he knows about Yuugi and the puzzle, and he's sure that the only reason she hasn't all but jumped him. Because no matter how much you want to talk to the one who solved the Puzzle, you don't do anything that might offend the guy who is, to all intents and purposes, in charge of your exhibit. That's just good sense.
It's a very interesting exhibit. Yuugi and his friends wonder over the two tablets, of course. Bakura finds them amusing - and slightly unsettling - himself, but what really throws him is some of the newly-unearthed jewellery. It's old and slightly broken, as most discoveries are - time has a way of doing that to things, after all. But it's unmistakably the same things Yami wears, as his spirit-self.
It obviously disturbs Yami, too; he just stands there, staring, for the longest time. He thinks, privately, that perhaps it's only now - seeing something of his own put on display as the ancient past - that Yami really understands what had happened to him.
He wants to hold him, to let him know hey, you still have me, I'll be yours forever, but he's quite sure that Yuugi and his friends aren't quite so involved with the tablets as to ignore that. And getting them involved with something so personal would just be awful.
--
They don't get home until after midnight. It isn't unusual for him to be up that late, this is true, but it's still quite a weird thing, for them.
He potters about the kitchen, for a while, washing the morning's dishes, and making sure he'll have enough food ready-to-go for lunch tomorrow. He has the feeling he'll sleep in in the morning. But he does that most Fridays. It isn't a hard thing to guess.
Yami is quieter than usual, and just curls up on on corner of the couch. It doesn't surprise him, but it still worries him. So after he's finished in the kitchen, he goes over to him. And though it's physically impossible, he sits on his lap, and strokes his hair, and they stay that way until they both fall asleep.
And it is enough.
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