Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Light That Never Goes Out ❯ The 'Promise' ( Chapter 7 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: shadow_genin 
If Bakura wasn't willing to explain anything to Yugi, he certainly isn't any more comfortable talking to Kaiba about it....but a mutilated arm is kinda hard to bluff about.
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.24.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 276 | Status: Completed
If Bakura wasn't willing to explain anything to Yugi, he certainly isn't any more comfortable talking to Kaiba about it....but a mutilated arm is kinda hard to bluff about.
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.24.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 276 | Status: Completed
Chap 7 -
" Seto? Ni-sama ,who're you talking to?" a younger male voice floated over to Bakura's ears.
Kaiba either didn't hear his little brother , or was too focused on Bakura to respond. In which case Bakura could see that Kaiba was unusually shaken , because Kaiba never ignored Mokuba.
However he was quickly recomposing his trademark calm , solemn face.
Bakura just stood there trying not to panic at being found in this state , and trying to think of a plausible lie. He could say he'd had an accident , but Kaiba was sure to ask how , and that would go nowhere as he couldn't explain what kind of an accident would leave his arm cut open and bleeding.
" I won't ask any questions , seeing as you probably won't give any answers." the young CEO stated. " But you need to see a doctor. So if you stay put , I can send someone in a second - "
" NO!!!" Bakura yelled in alarm. " No. Kaiba , I'm fine."
What would he tell the doctors? ' My Yami was upset because I tried to get rid of this ring I wear around my neck and attacked me.'?
" Like hell you are." Kaiba snapped. But his usually cold eyes , seemed to soften.
Something about the terrified look in the boy's eyes reminded him of himself when he and Mokuba lived with Gozaburo , his adoptive father.
Bakura's hazel eyes seemed to be blinking away more tears. He shifted and clutched his injured arm , making more blood fall to the ground.
~ I didn't know Seto Kaiba could be nice. At least not to anyone but his brother.~
" I'll be alright...please , Kaiba. I don't want Mokuba to see this." he looked up , and into Kaiba's face and added ," I don't think you do either."
He knew using Mokuba was hitting below the belt , but it was the truth. He didn't want that little boy to see all this blood , and it would get Kaiba's focus off of his well being and onto his brother's. Bakura could see the dark haired boy's hesitation. He took the opportunity and sprinted away , still holding his arm.
Kaiba watched him go. ~ No one was supposed to know. I see.~
Mokuba poked his head around the corner , pouting. " Big brother , I called you and you didn't answer. I thought you were talking to someone."
" I was talking to myself, Mokuba." Kaiba said tersely, gathering his papers into his brief case.
~ So if you want to handle it on your own, I'll keep your secret. But I hope you know what you're doing.~
He made a mental note just the same to keep an eye on the boy at school - in case anything else was happening to him.
Mokuba wore a puzzled expression as he watched his brother. Was he worried about something?
Bakura ran all the way home. Even when he got to his house , he didn't stop until he reached his room and had flung himself onto his bed , bloody arm and all, breathing hard.
" I hate you , Yami!" he sobbed. " Why do you hurt me? Why?"
As that memory came to a close , Yami Bakura found himself back in the first memory. The one where his hikari was just standing there , with tears running silently down his face.
" I never hated you , though. Even though maybe that doesn't make sense. All I wanted was to not be alone anymore." Memory Bakura said , voice shaking. " I thought maybe
I could handle Otousan being away all the time , if I had a friend."
A shadow fell over the boy , but he was too caught up in what he was feeling to notice.
A scarred hand raised a knife. Yami Bakura could not help himself , despite the fact that it had already happened , and memory hikari couldn't hear him.
" Baka! LOOK OUT!"
The thug swung the knife, but Bakura turned just in time. He heard his hikari's scream as the knife slashed him , then Bakura's mind went dark because the boy had blacked out.
Yami Bakura withdrew from his hikari's mind shaking. He was standing in Bakura's room again in the present time.
His hikari let out a yelp of anger , and shoved him away.
" How could you?! Those were my thoughts, they were private!" Bakura cried.
" Silence! I wouldn't have had to, if you had just told me where you got the stupid -" the Yami stopped in mid sentence.
The boy's eyes were no longer glittering with anger. They had dulled, and he looked exhausted. Suddenly coughed, leaned over, and threw up.
While the boy was preoccupied by his bodily malfunction, Yami Bakura silently reflected on what he had observed in the memories.
" You've always got to be so soft hearted, don't you?" he demanded when the teen sat up.
" Huh?" Bakura looked up, politely confused , eyes half closed. A few white strands of hair fell idly across his left eye.
" If you had minded your own business about the girl , that punk would not have targeted you!"
" I know her. I couldn't ignore the fact that she was upset." his hikari protested.
" Yes you could!" the spirit insisted. " Do you know what saved you , hikari? A chance move! Pure luck!"
He was agitated. Why couldn't the idiot see? Wasting your concern on other people was fruitless. So he wanted to help the girl. Foolish sentimentalism! Who was there to help him? No one. What was his reward? A slash across the ribs.
" And then, as if you couldn't have been more brainless, you go into a deserted alleyway ALONE and stand there daydreaming and -"
His Yami cut off his sentence abruptly. He was going to end with 'crying' , but was interrupted when one of those weird , unpleasant things called emotions , started to prickle at his skin.
Bakura noted something strange in the Egyptian thief's eyes. But they were back to their usual cold, self possessed expression in an eye blink. That was the trouble with his Yami - every time he thought he was beginning let his defense down, he brought them up again.
~ Why do I feel uncomfortable all of a sudden?~ Yami Bakura grumbled in his mind. ~ It's just the hikari , the same idiot boy who released me from the ring a year ago.~
~ Maybe ,~ countered a sly voice in the other corner of his mind , ~ you're wondering if this wouldn't have happened if you'd been around , and performed your duty to him as a Yami. Maybe seeing him like that made you realize how much you've hurt him.~
~ That's foolishness!~ he mentally snapped back at it. ~ I have no obligation to this weakling! He only exists so that I can exist!~
" Y-Yami?" the boy laying back in the bed with his newly arranged ice pack stammered, uncertain.
Why did his Yami keep staring through him? He seemed to be having a mental battle with himself.
Suddenly Yami Bakura snapped back to life. He snatched the ice pack off of his hikari's head without explanation , and set it on the night stand.
" Role up your shirt and lie on your side." he snapped.
" I...why..?" Bakura asked nervously.
" Do it and don't ask questions."
Bakura had an unsettling feeling in his stomach that didn't come from the virus. He rolled over and lay tensely on his side, facing away from Yami Bakura. Why did he want to see the wound again?
~ He saw it in the memory already. Does he enjoy my pain this much?~ Bakura wondered , grimly.
" Not done correctly." he heard his Yami mutter.
~ What the heck does that mean?~
Lying there with his vulnerable skin exposed to his Yami was not at all comforting. And it was plain terrifying when Bakura darted a nervous look over his shoulder , and the knife appeared in his other's hand
But he made no move indicating that he planned to use it on his hikari. He pulled a roll of bandages out of the drawer of Bakura's night stand - Bakura usually kept them nearby and handy - and he began to cut off a long strip.
" As poorly bandaged as you were , it's amazing you didn't bleed to death." he commented with a grim smirk. " You're a fool , but a lucky fool , Hikari."
~It's not worse than what you did to me.~ thought Bakura , but he felt it would be awkward to make that comment out loud. And anyway , he was too tired to argue the fact.
He simply lay on his side against the cool sheets, letting his silver hair fan out on the pillow.
The spirit wet a cloth , (he'd brought a small pan of water for the ice pack,) and began cleaning up the cut.
Bakura winced as the cold touched it , and gritted his teeth as his Yami began cleaning.
" You're fortunate that the fool's knife skills are so clumsy."
" Yami?" the boy, squirmed uncomfortably.
" Yes , I know. It stings , right? Well don't wriggle around like a snake , you'll make it worse." the Egyptian fixed the boy with an irritated glance.
Bakura didn't doubt this , but it wasn't what he wanted to say. " A-arigatou."
Yami Bakura smirked. " What for?"
" For...for this. Helping me." Bakura said hesitantly. He felt shy for some reason , thanking the tombrobber. Probably because he wasn't used it.
His Yami's smirk vanished." Don't say foolish things! I have to keep you intact more or less. If I don't , what good will your body be to me? And your too much a weakling to take care of yourself."
~ Is he right?~ Bakura wondered , sadly.
He gritted his teeth as his Yami began to clean his wound. It didn't matter whether he was right or not , it mattered that he was there. And who knows, despite all he said maybe he ...cared.
( Hmm...I'm not sure even how I liked that chapter. Was Kaiba in character? **; )
" Seto? Ni-sama ,who're you talking to?" a younger male voice floated over to Bakura's ears.
Kaiba either didn't hear his little brother , or was too focused on Bakura to respond. In which case Bakura could see that Kaiba was unusually shaken , because Kaiba never ignored Mokuba.
However he was quickly recomposing his trademark calm , solemn face.
Bakura just stood there trying not to panic at being found in this state , and trying to think of a plausible lie. He could say he'd had an accident , but Kaiba was sure to ask how , and that would go nowhere as he couldn't explain what kind of an accident would leave his arm cut open and bleeding.
" I won't ask any questions , seeing as you probably won't give any answers." the young CEO stated. " But you need to see a doctor. So if you stay put , I can send someone in a second - "
" NO!!!" Bakura yelled in alarm. " No. Kaiba , I'm fine."
What would he tell the doctors? ' My Yami was upset because I tried to get rid of this ring I wear around my neck and attacked me.'?
" Like hell you are." Kaiba snapped. But his usually cold eyes , seemed to soften.
Something about the terrified look in the boy's eyes reminded him of himself when he and Mokuba lived with Gozaburo , his adoptive father.
Bakura's hazel eyes seemed to be blinking away more tears. He shifted and clutched his injured arm , making more blood fall to the ground.
~ I didn't know Seto Kaiba could be nice. At least not to anyone but his brother.~
" I'll be alright...please , Kaiba. I don't want Mokuba to see this." he looked up , and into Kaiba's face and added ," I don't think you do either."
He knew using Mokuba was hitting below the belt , but it was the truth. He didn't want that little boy to see all this blood , and it would get Kaiba's focus off of his well being and onto his brother's. Bakura could see the dark haired boy's hesitation. He took the opportunity and sprinted away , still holding his arm.
Kaiba watched him go. ~ No one was supposed to know. I see.~
Mokuba poked his head around the corner , pouting. " Big brother , I called you and you didn't answer. I thought you were talking to someone."
" I was talking to myself, Mokuba." Kaiba said tersely, gathering his papers into his brief case.
~ So if you want to handle it on your own, I'll keep your secret. But I hope you know what you're doing.~
He made a mental note just the same to keep an eye on the boy at school - in case anything else was happening to him.
Mokuba wore a puzzled expression as he watched his brother. Was he worried about something?
Bakura ran all the way home. Even when he got to his house , he didn't stop until he reached his room and had flung himself onto his bed , bloody arm and all, breathing hard.
" I hate you , Yami!" he sobbed. " Why do you hurt me? Why?"
As that memory came to a close , Yami Bakura found himself back in the first memory. The one where his hikari was just standing there , with tears running silently down his face.
" I never hated you , though. Even though maybe that doesn't make sense. All I wanted was to not be alone anymore." Memory Bakura said , voice shaking. " I thought maybe
I could handle Otousan being away all the time , if I had a friend."
A shadow fell over the boy , but he was too caught up in what he was feeling to notice.
A scarred hand raised a knife. Yami Bakura could not help himself , despite the fact that it had already happened , and memory hikari couldn't hear him.
" Baka! LOOK OUT!"
The thug swung the knife, but Bakura turned just in time. He heard his hikari's scream as the knife slashed him , then Bakura's mind went dark because the boy had blacked out.
Yami Bakura withdrew from his hikari's mind shaking. He was standing in Bakura's room again in the present time.
His hikari let out a yelp of anger , and shoved him away.
" How could you?! Those were my thoughts, they were private!" Bakura cried.
" Silence! I wouldn't have had to, if you had just told me where you got the stupid -" the Yami stopped in mid sentence.
The boy's eyes were no longer glittering with anger. They had dulled, and he looked exhausted. Suddenly coughed, leaned over, and threw up.
While the boy was preoccupied by his bodily malfunction, Yami Bakura silently reflected on what he had observed in the memories.
" You've always got to be so soft hearted, don't you?" he demanded when the teen sat up.
" Huh?" Bakura looked up, politely confused , eyes half closed. A few white strands of hair fell idly across his left eye.
" If you had minded your own business about the girl , that punk would not have targeted you!"
" I know her. I couldn't ignore the fact that she was upset." his hikari protested.
" Yes you could!" the spirit insisted. " Do you know what saved you , hikari? A chance move! Pure luck!"
He was agitated. Why couldn't the idiot see? Wasting your concern on other people was fruitless. So he wanted to help the girl. Foolish sentimentalism! Who was there to help him? No one. What was his reward? A slash across the ribs.
" And then, as if you couldn't have been more brainless, you go into a deserted alleyway ALONE and stand there daydreaming and -"
His Yami cut off his sentence abruptly. He was going to end with 'crying' , but was interrupted when one of those weird , unpleasant things called emotions , started to prickle at his skin.
Bakura noted something strange in the Egyptian thief's eyes. But they were back to their usual cold, self possessed expression in an eye blink. That was the trouble with his Yami - every time he thought he was beginning let his defense down, he brought them up again.
~ Why do I feel uncomfortable all of a sudden?~ Yami Bakura grumbled in his mind. ~ It's just the hikari , the same idiot boy who released me from the ring a year ago.~
~ Maybe ,~ countered a sly voice in the other corner of his mind , ~ you're wondering if this wouldn't have happened if you'd been around , and performed your duty to him as a Yami. Maybe seeing him like that made you realize how much you've hurt him.~
~ That's foolishness!~ he mentally snapped back at it. ~ I have no obligation to this weakling! He only exists so that I can exist!~
" Y-Yami?" the boy laying back in the bed with his newly arranged ice pack stammered, uncertain.
Why did his Yami keep staring through him? He seemed to be having a mental battle with himself.
Suddenly Yami Bakura snapped back to life. He snatched the ice pack off of his hikari's head without explanation , and set it on the night stand.
" Role up your shirt and lie on your side." he snapped.
" I...why..?" Bakura asked nervously.
" Do it and don't ask questions."
Bakura had an unsettling feeling in his stomach that didn't come from the virus. He rolled over and lay tensely on his side, facing away from Yami Bakura. Why did he want to see the wound again?
~ He saw it in the memory already. Does he enjoy my pain this much?~ Bakura wondered , grimly.
" Not done correctly." he heard his Yami mutter.
~ What the heck does that mean?~
Lying there with his vulnerable skin exposed to his Yami was not at all comforting. And it was plain terrifying when Bakura darted a nervous look over his shoulder , and the knife appeared in his other's hand
But he made no move indicating that he planned to use it on his hikari. He pulled a roll of bandages out of the drawer of Bakura's night stand - Bakura usually kept them nearby and handy - and he began to cut off a long strip.
" As poorly bandaged as you were , it's amazing you didn't bleed to death." he commented with a grim smirk. " You're a fool , but a lucky fool , Hikari."
~It's not worse than what you did to me.~ thought Bakura , but he felt it would be awkward to make that comment out loud. And anyway , he was too tired to argue the fact.
He simply lay on his side against the cool sheets, letting his silver hair fan out on the pillow.
The spirit wet a cloth , (he'd brought a small pan of water for the ice pack,) and began cleaning up the cut.
Bakura winced as the cold touched it , and gritted his teeth as his Yami began cleaning.
" You're fortunate that the fool's knife skills are so clumsy."
" Yami?" the boy, squirmed uncomfortably.
" Yes , I know. It stings , right? Well don't wriggle around like a snake , you'll make it worse." the Egyptian fixed the boy with an irritated glance.
Bakura didn't doubt this , but it wasn't what he wanted to say. " A-arigatou."
Yami Bakura smirked. " What for?"
" For...for this. Helping me." Bakura said hesitantly. He felt shy for some reason , thanking the tombrobber. Probably because he wasn't used it.
His Yami's smirk vanished." Don't say foolish things! I have to keep you intact more or less. If I don't , what good will your body be to me? And your too much a weakling to take care of yourself."
~ Is he right?~ Bakura wondered , sadly.
He gritted his teeth as his Yami began to clean his wound. It didn't matter whether he was right or not , it mattered that he was there. And who knows, despite all he said maybe he ...cared.
( Hmm...I'm not sure even how I liked that chapter. Was Kaiba in character? **; )