Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Already Died For You ❯ Already Died For You ( Chapter 1 )

I'm taking a little creative license here... I'm saying that Ryou and Bakura both have their own bodies but can speak telepathically as though they still shared one, OK?

Here's a big thanks to my friend for helping me come up with the title! *claps*

Disclaimer: I don't own Yuugiou.

Warnings: Shonen-ai. Don't like? Don't read. The end.

Key: "Talking," {Ryou to Bakura,} and [Bakura to Ryou]

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He stood to the side, but even then the scarlet rivulets contrasted with the porcelain skin. White hair hung in red-speckled glory in front of once-gentle eyes. Long fingers held loosely the guilty, stained blade. A body lay for all to see; the attacker held no fear of discovery.

A soft voice contrasted with harsh actions. "I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't made me. You wouldn't stop. You wouldn't. I had to."

The 'body' groaned. A low whisper slipped past the bloodied lips. "Why...? Why...?"

"You wouldn't stop." Though his chocolate eyes stared numbly, crystalline tears cascaded down his pale face.

"I did..."

"You stole and hurt. I had to stop you."

"I did stop..." A cough echoed like a gunshot in the room. More of the crimson stuff splattered across the carpet.

"You never did. Never."

"I stopped for you."

His heart skipped a beat. "You never did. Don't lie. You always lie."

"Never to you..."

"Always to everyone. You always lie. You used me to get your own body. I let you stay with me. You always lie, and steal."

"I never stole... from you..."

"You did. You had it the whole time..."

"..." Had the victim fallen permanently silent?

"I know you're still alive. You can't scare me."

"... Not... you..."

"Yes. You lie and steal and terrify."

"No…"

"I'm why you're dying." The tone did not conceal a hint of desperation. He needed him to die. He needed him to understand why he did this and die.

"Don't... under... stand..."

"I understand. I had to do it. I had to hurt you. You're dying because I had to make you die."

The corpse's face, twisted with a post-mortem grimace, snapped up with a sickening crack to stare with glazed russet orbs. "I've already died."

Chocolate eyes opened wide to the moonlit room. His body froze, rigid, as horror gripped him. Breath came in short gasps.

A pale hand slipped over his shoulder to drape over his chest. He didn't have to look to know whom it belonged to. "Having nightmares?" A male voice, identical to the corpse's, fit the inquiring tone.

"Y-yes," he admitted, his own voice tighter than usual after the dream.

"About what?" purred his bedmate.

"You…"

Only the two of them heard the dark laugh. "Am I still frightening to you, Koi?"

"That's not it," he said uneasily.

"I would like to know what could scare you into waking at this hour, besides myself."

"In the dream…"

He could feel a kiss on his neck from the other. "Go on."

"… I killed you."

"But, Koi…" The voice dropped to a laughing whisper in his ear. "I've already died."

His breath caught in his throat. He turned his head slightly to look at the other. Blood dripped from the murdered man's mouth and gleamed on the wounded torso. The worst was the unblinking gaze of those glassy eyes…

He woke up screaming. Soft white hair fell in tousled strands on his damp forehead. He was in the same room: the exact shadows as before spread throughout, twisted by the moonlight that filtered through the window glass. No other living thing existed inside the room.

[Finally awake, are you?] questioned the voice from inside his head.

{I hope so…} He still shook slightly from the dreams.

[What was that?]

{Yes, Bakura.}

"Good," muttered Bakura. He stood just outside the doorway. "Your nightmares have a habit of distracting me."

"I'm sorry," he murmured, not looking at the former spirit. His sore throat protested at the use.

Bakura paused before speaking again. "What were you dreaming about?"

He froze. {It was just a nightmare.}

[You were crying out. Something about death,] prompted the spirit.

{It was just a nightmare.} Ryou examined himself for any trace of crimson, just to reassure himself. A sharp pain bit his side. A small wound - already bandaged - caught his eye. {Bakura,} he asked cautiously, {Do you know how I got this?}

[You don't remember, then.] The thief sounded vaguely surprised. If Ryou didn't know better, he could have sworn he detected a hint of concern.

{I shouldn't ask,} Ryou said hurriedly.

[Do you remember everything that happened today?]

{I don't think so.} This was worth worrying over. Ryou tried to think though his mind was still foggy from sleep. What had happened that day? The white-haired boy had woken up, not feeling too well but deciding to go to school anyway. (Bakura did not go to school, of course. Public education buildings are no place for ancient Egyptian thieves!) He had not felt any better by the end of the day. He had been walking...

Ryou put a hand to his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. {I think I ran into some people on the way home.}

[Mortals from your school attacked. I took care of it. The end,] Bakura replied casually, giving the story in a nutshell.

{What happened?} It slipped; Ryou knew he shouldn't press Bakura for more information than what he was willing to give.

[I already told you. Go back to sleep.] It was an order. Ryou obediently lay back down on his bed. It wasn't as though his body protested the extra rest...

The blade glinted in the afternoon light. Chocolate eyes glimmered with a hint of fear. He was not up to this... The white-haired boy could barely dodge as one of the group attacked. He soon found himself with his back to a wall, chest laboring. The world spun; his body ached. A trickle of blood - a cut from the knife - stained his white shirt. He was too sick to keep up...

A shadow fell over him, though it was not one of the unruly group members'. "I let you out of my sight for one day and you get yourself into a mess," growled a familiar voice.

"Bakura," Ryou breathed. He tried to keep up with the ensuing fight, but the flurry of action made his head swim. He felt it when the ex-spirit called on the shadow realm to "dispose of" the boys. A hand brushed against his forehead.

"You're burning up. You should have stayed home, fool." Bakura picked him up. Ryou looked up at him briefly.

"You could have gotten yourself killed..." he whispered, closing his eyes.

"Fool. Even if they could harm me, I'm not afraid to die." Ryou drifted off to sleep. Bakura continued speaking, quietly. "I've already died. It's terrible… but I'm not afraid to die again, for you."

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This thing was entirely random. I started typing a while ago at night, and here this is, finished a few days later. (That's the reason for any errors, just so you know.) I think I meant the dreams to be manifestations of Ryou's worry for Bakura. (I could just imagine him worrying over a deadly thief, can't you? ^_^) Eh… I might store this idea to re-use later on, or just remake this into something less sudden.

Yeah, just to clarify, I divided this into 4 sections: dream 1, dream 2, reality, and Memory-in-a-dream. I hope no one was confused.

I'm pretty sure "koi" is Japanese for "love".

As for the "I've already died" thing, I'm going to say that having your body die counts as dying. Oh, and you can't forget all those times he's supposedly been defeated/killed/whatever and managed to come back…

Please R&R.