Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Closer I am to Fine ❯ If I Bleed ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: bluejay 
Kenta has as anouncement to make. Bakura's not so sure he can let go.
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 12.10.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 179 | Status: Work In Progress
Kenta has as anouncement to make. Bakura's not so sure he can let go.
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 12.10.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 179 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the lyrics to 'It Doesn't Matter', recorded by Alison Krauss.
Closer I am to Fine
Ch.4: If I Bleed
“He’s in here. He fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake him.”
Kenta followed the blond-haired boy past a snoring man stretched out on a couch and into a small kitchen. Bakura sat at the even smaller table, his head laying on the table top. His chest rose and fell softly in sleep. Kenta smiled a little to himself.
“Thank you,” he said to Jou quietly. Jou nodded.
“It was no problem,” he assured Kenta. “Bakura’s my friend, after all.”
Kenta walked over to Bakura and gently shook the thief’s shoulder, frowning when he realized the boy was completely soaked.
Bakura’s only response to the shaking was to groan a little in his sleep and attempt to move his shoulder away from the source of annoyance. Kenta sighed and scooped Bakura up out of the chair, holding him bridal style. Bakura stirred a little and turned his face to Kenta’s chest, one hand latching onto Kenta’s shirt. Then he seemed to relax and was still. Jou cracked a smile.
“Take care of ‘im,” he told Kenta. Kenta chuckled.
“You’re not the first person who’s told me to do that,” he told Jou, keeping his voice low so has not to wake up Bakura. “Don’t worry, he’s safe with me.”
Jou nodded. “Good. And...” he paused, glancing at his own father on the couch. “...always be there for him.”
Kenta swallowed and tightened his hold on the sleeping Bakura a little. “Of course. I wont make the same mistake twice. Thank you, Jonouchi, for getting him out of the rain.”
It doesn’t matter what I want,
It doesn’t matter what I need.
Bakura awoke wrapped in blankets on a familiar living room couch. Glancing around at his surrounding, he wondered how he had gotten home. And then he wondered why he had thought of it as home. But it didn’t really matter because then he realized just how cold he was. He shivered and huddled under the blankets to try and get warm.
“Here,” he heard Kenta’s deep voice say. He looked up and saw the man holding a bowl of what appeared to be soup. With another shiver he pulled himself into a sitting position and took the bowl. It was indeed soup, chicken soup. He brought the bowl to his mouth and took a long drink, draining the bowl. He handed the dish back to Kenta with a contented sigh. The soup made his insides feel warm.
With a smile, Kenta took the bowl back. “Feeling better?” he asked gently. Bakura nodded. He yawned and made to lay back down but Kenta stopped him. “Go upstairs and change into some dry clothes,” he said, helping the thief to his feet. Sleepily, Bakura complied and stumbled up the stairs to his room.
It doesn’t matter if I cry,
Doesn’t matter if I bleed.
Kenta was washing dishes when he heard the phone ring. He quickly turned the water off and ran to answer it. Bakura beat him to the phone.
“Yes, he’s here, who wants to know?” he heard the boy demand. “What do you mean, ‘who is this?’ I’m...I live here as well. I don’t care if it’s ‘imperative’ that you speak to him, you’re interrupting my nap, you and the Ra-damned phone with it’s Ra-damned ringing-“ Kenta rushed in and snatched the phone away from Bakura.
“Sorry about that,” he apologized meekly. “Oh, hello Michi. Sorry about Bakura. Yes, that was him. Cute? I don’t think he’d be so pleased if he heard you say that. And he didn’t sound very cute to me. He has to work on his manners.” He walked off, talking to ‘Michi’ animatedly. Bakura scowled and laid back down on the couch, snuggling back under the blankets.
You’ve been on a road,
Don’t know where it goes or where it leads.
Bakura was silent as he ate the supper Kenta had prepared for them, using all of his time to chew and fill his mouth with food. He had a huge appetite, as Kenta had discovered, and was all ready on his third helping of everything. Kenta marveled at how much the boy could consume. When Bakura had finally finished eating and had sat back in his chair with a sigh, Kenta decided to bring up what he hoped would not be a touchy subject.
“Bakura,” he said softly. “How would you feel about moving?”
Bakura blinked. “Moving? Is there something wrong with where I am now?”
Kenta chuckled and shook his head. “No, kid, I mean moving as in moving to a different country. America, to be exact.”
Bakura paled. “Leave Domino?” he asked, looking at Kenta like he was crazy. Kenta only nodded. Bakura shook his head vehemently. “I can’t leave Domino,” he insisted. “I’ve never been anywhere else in this life.”
“All the more reason to move, you’ll get to meet new people, see new places,” Kenta replied. “It would be good for you.” Bakura shook his head again, clenching his hands into fists.
“I don’t want to leave,” he said stubbornly, glaring at Kenta for even suggesting such a thing.
“And if I insist?” Kenta asked, raising an eye brow. Bakura merely growled low in his throat but Kenta saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. “It will be good for both of us, kid,” he continued. “There’s nothing keeping us here now.” Bakura snarled and his glare darkened but deep down he knew Kenta was right.
It doesn’t matter what I want,
It doesn’t matter what I need.
The next day Kenta showed Bakura some pictures of the little house he was buying in America. It was quaint. A small but cozy kitchen connected to the living room, three bedrooms, one bathroom, a garage, a nice yard. No dining room. The paint was yellow but slightly worn. It had white shudders and a chain link fence that went all around the yard and separated it from the neighboring houses, which Bakura could only see the corners of in the photo.
Kenta also showed Bakura a picture of a woman in her late thirties. The woman had long dark brown hair in the picture but Kenta told him that she had since cut it shorter and dyed it purple. Bakura had snorted at that but he still asked what the woman’s name was and what she had to do with them. Kenta had said her name was Michiyo. Saruwatari Michiyo. Bakura asked if she was ‘Michi’ and Kenta said she was. Michiyo would be living nearby. Bakura understood that the woman meant a lot to Kenta from the tone he used when speaking about her. Kenta showed Bakura some pictures of Michiyo’s house, a small blue house that Kenta said wasn’t big enough to spit in. Bakura tucked some of the pictures into his pants pocket when Kenta wasn’t looking.
If you’ve made up your mind to go,
I won’t beg you to stay.
When they began packing Bakura decided it was time he said good bye to Domino by visiting all of the places he knew. He started with the Kame Game Shop, then went to Domino High. Then Domino Pier and Kaiba Corp Mansion. He ended with Ryou’s grave.
He stood in front of the grave stone and stared at the name inscribed on it. A disturbing thought entered his head. Did Ryou’s body still look the same? What if he dug it up to see? He shook his head in disgust and reminded himself that Ryou had been cremated. That made his heart hurt. With no body, how was Ryou supposed to reach the after life?
He knelt down and ran a hand along the marble grave marker. He hung his head, feeling tears burning in the corners of his eyes.
“Ryou,” he whispered softly. “I...I miss you. You’d tell me I was lying if you were here, but I do. Everything is so strange and without you to explain things to me...” he sighed. “Kenta says we’re moving. To...to America. That’s a long ways away from here, isn’t it? I’ve seen pictures of the house. It’s yellow. And it doesn’t have a dining room.”
One tear escaped him and rolled down his cheek. “I’m sorry, Ryou. I should’ve been there...I should have protected you. You were always so weak...I should have known something would happen. I’m sorry.” More tears rolled down his cheeks and he sobbed outright, falling to his knees beside the grave. “I’m such an ass-hole. You wanted me to go with you, I should’ve gone with you. I-it’s not fair, Ryou. I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
He stared at the grave as though awaiting a response. Getting none, he stumbled to his feet, drying his eyes, and ran from the cemetery.
You’ve been in a cage,
Throw you to the wind you fly away.
Bakura carefully folded his clothes and stacked them inside the boxes. They only filled up two. He filled up three more with table top role play supplies. The poly resin castle and all the other plastic buildings. Plastic trees. Magical dice. Miniature figures. Picking up the model Ryou had made of the time he had went head on with Yami in a shadow game of Monster World, he stared at it for a moment before carefully placing it in a box as well. Then he filled up another box with Duel Monster cards and Ryou’s old note books. And one more with bed clothing. Then he took the tape roll and taped them all up, marking what they contained on the outside of the box with a marker. And all of his things were now packed in boxes, except for some clothing he had kept out, one set of bed clothes, his dueling deck in his pocket, and the millennium ring that still hung around his neck.
It doesn’t matter what I want,
It doesn’t matter what I need.
Bakura helped the moving men carry all of the boxes into the back of the van. He wouldn’t see any of his things again for some time. Then he watched as the house’s furniture was loaded into another van. When the men were gone Bakura looked around the house one last time. It seemed even bigger now that it was empty. Kenta watched him quietly from where he stood at the front door. Bakura turned to him.
“Will you take me to one other place?” he asked softly.
“Where to?” Kenta asked.
It doesn’t matter if I cry,
Doesn’t matter if I bleed.
The apartment was still vacant so the land lord allowed them to go and look around. When they stepped in, Bakura realized it was almost as empty as the house, except for a few odd pieces of furniture. Furniture that Bakura remembered. He ran his hand over a chest of drawers that had kept Ryou’s clothes. Noticing something, he bent down and pulled a small book out from under it. ‘My Diary’ was written across the cover of the book in gold lettering. Bakura blinked back tears and tucked the small book inside his jacket pocket.
“Ready to go?” Kenta asked. Bakura looked around the apartment one more time before nodding.
Feel the sting of tears,
Falling on this face you’ve loved for years.
To Bakura’s surprise, the car stopped once again before they reached the air port. In front of Domino High. It must have been about time for school to let out because teens were filing out of the building.
“Go say goodbye,” Kenta told him. Bakura stared at him for a moment before nodding and climbing out of the car. He looked around for the group of friends and found them easily. They were laughing and joking together as they exited the school building. Bakura stayed where he was, beside Kenta’s car. Having second thoughts, he made to get back in the car. What would he say? They weren’t his friends, they were Ryou’s friends. They wouldn’t care that he was leaving. They might even be happy.
“Bakura!” Yami’s voice cut through his thoughts and he looked up to see that the group was coming towards him. He braced himself.
“Hey Yami B, what’re you doin’ here?” Jou asked as they came closer.
“I came to say goodbye,” Bakura replied softly. He kept his arms straight at his sides, his hands clenched into fists.
“What are you talking about, Bakura?” Yami asked, raising and eye brow.
“I mean exactly what I said, Pharaoh,” Bakura replied. “I’m leaving. Kenta is moving and obviously I have to go with.”
“You’re moving?!” Yugi and Anzu exclaimed at the same time. Bakura nodded.
“Yes. To America.”
“Wow, ‘dat’s a long ways away,” Jou marveled. “You’re really leaving?”
“Are you hard of hearing?” Bakura snarled. He hadn’t meant to but it still came out that way. He cringed. “...sorry.”
“It’s...okay,” Jou said softly. “Why’d you apologize?”
Bakura looked away. “Because I owe him a lot of apologies, Katsuya. And I can’t make it up to him now.” Jou nodded.
“I understand,” he said.
“So...” Bakura said hesitantly. “Goodbye. I don’t know if I’ll miss any of you or not. But goodbye anyway.”
“Goodbye, Bakura,” Yami said softly. He held a hand out to Bakura, who stared at it for a moment before shaking it.
“Goodbye Pharaoh. Katsuya. Yugi. And the rest of you. Maybe I’ll see you again one day...” Bakura’s eyes became distant and to Yami he looked just a little lost. “I’ll come back when I can.” With that he turned his back to them and climbed back inside Kenta’s car.
It doesn’t matter if I cry,
Doesn’t matter if I bleed...
Closer I am to Fine
Ch.4: If I Bleed
“He’s in here. He fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake him.”
Kenta followed the blond-haired boy past a snoring man stretched out on a couch and into a small kitchen. Bakura sat at the even smaller table, his head laying on the table top. His chest rose and fell softly in sleep. Kenta smiled a little to himself.
“Thank you,” he said to Jou quietly. Jou nodded.
“It was no problem,” he assured Kenta. “Bakura’s my friend, after all.”
Kenta walked over to Bakura and gently shook the thief’s shoulder, frowning when he realized the boy was completely soaked.
Bakura’s only response to the shaking was to groan a little in his sleep and attempt to move his shoulder away from the source of annoyance. Kenta sighed and scooped Bakura up out of the chair, holding him bridal style. Bakura stirred a little and turned his face to Kenta’s chest, one hand latching onto Kenta’s shirt. Then he seemed to relax and was still. Jou cracked a smile.
“Take care of ‘im,” he told Kenta. Kenta chuckled.
“You’re not the first person who’s told me to do that,” he told Jou, keeping his voice low so has not to wake up Bakura. “Don’t worry, he’s safe with me.”
Jou nodded. “Good. And...” he paused, glancing at his own father on the couch. “...always be there for him.”
Kenta swallowed and tightened his hold on the sleeping Bakura a little. “Of course. I wont make the same mistake twice. Thank you, Jonouchi, for getting him out of the rain.”
It doesn’t matter what I want,
It doesn’t matter what I need.
Bakura awoke wrapped in blankets on a familiar living room couch. Glancing around at his surrounding, he wondered how he had gotten home. And then he wondered why he had thought of it as home. But it didn’t really matter because then he realized just how cold he was. He shivered and huddled under the blankets to try and get warm.
“Here,” he heard Kenta’s deep voice say. He looked up and saw the man holding a bowl of what appeared to be soup. With another shiver he pulled himself into a sitting position and took the bowl. It was indeed soup, chicken soup. He brought the bowl to his mouth and took a long drink, draining the bowl. He handed the dish back to Kenta with a contented sigh. The soup made his insides feel warm.
With a smile, Kenta took the bowl back. “Feeling better?” he asked gently. Bakura nodded. He yawned and made to lay back down but Kenta stopped him. “Go upstairs and change into some dry clothes,” he said, helping the thief to his feet. Sleepily, Bakura complied and stumbled up the stairs to his room.
It doesn’t matter if I cry,
Doesn’t matter if I bleed.
Kenta was washing dishes when he heard the phone ring. He quickly turned the water off and ran to answer it. Bakura beat him to the phone.
“Yes, he’s here, who wants to know?” he heard the boy demand. “What do you mean, ‘who is this?’ I’m...I live here as well. I don’t care if it’s ‘imperative’ that you speak to him, you’re interrupting my nap, you and the Ra-damned phone with it’s Ra-damned ringing-“ Kenta rushed in and snatched the phone away from Bakura.
“Sorry about that,” he apologized meekly. “Oh, hello Michi. Sorry about Bakura. Yes, that was him. Cute? I don’t think he’d be so pleased if he heard you say that. And he didn’t sound very cute to me. He has to work on his manners.” He walked off, talking to ‘Michi’ animatedly. Bakura scowled and laid back down on the couch, snuggling back under the blankets.
You’ve been on a road,
Don’t know where it goes or where it leads.
Bakura was silent as he ate the supper Kenta had prepared for them, using all of his time to chew and fill his mouth with food. He had a huge appetite, as Kenta had discovered, and was all ready on his third helping of everything. Kenta marveled at how much the boy could consume. When Bakura had finally finished eating and had sat back in his chair with a sigh, Kenta decided to bring up what he hoped would not be a touchy subject.
“Bakura,” he said softly. “How would you feel about moving?”
Bakura blinked. “Moving? Is there something wrong with where I am now?”
Kenta chuckled and shook his head. “No, kid, I mean moving as in moving to a different country. America, to be exact.”
Bakura paled. “Leave Domino?” he asked, looking at Kenta like he was crazy. Kenta only nodded. Bakura shook his head vehemently. “I can’t leave Domino,” he insisted. “I’ve never been anywhere else in this life.”
“All the more reason to move, you’ll get to meet new people, see new places,” Kenta replied. “It would be good for you.” Bakura shook his head again, clenching his hands into fists.
“I don’t want to leave,” he said stubbornly, glaring at Kenta for even suggesting such a thing.
“And if I insist?” Kenta asked, raising an eye brow. Bakura merely growled low in his throat but Kenta saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. “It will be good for both of us, kid,” he continued. “There’s nothing keeping us here now.” Bakura snarled and his glare darkened but deep down he knew Kenta was right.
It doesn’t matter what I want,
It doesn’t matter what I need.
The next day Kenta showed Bakura some pictures of the little house he was buying in America. It was quaint. A small but cozy kitchen connected to the living room, three bedrooms, one bathroom, a garage, a nice yard. No dining room. The paint was yellow but slightly worn. It had white shudders and a chain link fence that went all around the yard and separated it from the neighboring houses, which Bakura could only see the corners of in the photo.
Kenta also showed Bakura a picture of a woman in her late thirties. The woman had long dark brown hair in the picture but Kenta told him that she had since cut it shorter and dyed it purple. Bakura had snorted at that but he still asked what the woman’s name was and what she had to do with them. Kenta had said her name was Michiyo. Saruwatari Michiyo. Bakura asked if she was ‘Michi’ and Kenta said she was. Michiyo would be living nearby. Bakura understood that the woman meant a lot to Kenta from the tone he used when speaking about her. Kenta showed Bakura some pictures of Michiyo’s house, a small blue house that Kenta said wasn’t big enough to spit in. Bakura tucked some of the pictures into his pants pocket when Kenta wasn’t looking.
If you’ve made up your mind to go,
I won’t beg you to stay.
When they began packing Bakura decided it was time he said good bye to Domino by visiting all of the places he knew. He started with the Kame Game Shop, then went to Domino High. Then Domino Pier and Kaiba Corp Mansion. He ended with Ryou’s grave.
He stood in front of the grave stone and stared at the name inscribed on it. A disturbing thought entered his head. Did Ryou’s body still look the same? What if he dug it up to see? He shook his head in disgust and reminded himself that Ryou had been cremated. That made his heart hurt. With no body, how was Ryou supposed to reach the after life?
He knelt down and ran a hand along the marble grave marker. He hung his head, feeling tears burning in the corners of his eyes.
“Ryou,” he whispered softly. “I...I miss you. You’d tell me I was lying if you were here, but I do. Everything is so strange and without you to explain things to me...” he sighed. “Kenta says we’re moving. To...to America. That’s a long ways away from here, isn’t it? I’ve seen pictures of the house. It’s yellow. And it doesn’t have a dining room.”
One tear escaped him and rolled down his cheek. “I’m sorry, Ryou. I should’ve been there...I should have protected you. You were always so weak...I should have known something would happen. I’m sorry.” More tears rolled down his cheeks and he sobbed outright, falling to his knees beside the grave. “I’m such an ass-hole. You wanted me to go with you, I should’ve gone with you. I-it’s not fair, Ryou. I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
He stared at the grave as though awaiting a response. Getting none, he stumbled to his feet, drying his eyes, and ran from the cemetery.
You’ve been in a cage,
Throw you to the wind you fly away.
Bakura carefully folded his clothes and stacked them inside the boxes. They only filled up two. He filled up three more with table top role play supplies. The poly resin castle and all the other plastic buildings. Plastic trees. Magical dice. Miniature figures. Picking up the model Ryou had made of the time he had went head on with Yami in a shadow game of Monster World, he stared at it for a moment before carefully placing it in a box as well. Then he filled up another box with Duel Monster cards and Ryou’s old note books. And one more with bed clothing. Then he took the tape roll and taped them all up, marking what they contained on the outside of the box with a marker. And all of his things were now packed in boxes, except for some clothing he had kept out, one set of bed clothes, his dueling deck in his pocket, and the millennium ring that still hung around his neck.
It doesn’t matter what I want,
It doesn’t matter what I need.
Bakura helped the moving men carry all of the boxes into the back of the van. He wouldn’t see any of his things again for some time. Then he watched as the house’s furniture was loaded into another van. When the men were gone Bakura looked around the house one last time. It seemed even bigger now that it was empty. Kenta watched him quietly from where he stood at the front door. Bakura turned to him.
“Will you take me to one other place?” he asked softly.
“Where to?” Kenta asked.
It doesn’t matter if I cry,
Doesn’t matter if I bleed.
The apartment was still vacant so the land lord allowed them to go and look around. When they stepped in, Bakura realized it was almost as empty as the house, except for a few odd pieces of furniture. Furniture that Bakura remembered. He ran his hand over a chest of drawers that had kept Ryou’s clothes. Noticing something, he bent down and pulled a small book out from under it. ‘My Diary’ was written across the cover of the book in gold lettering. Bakura blinked back tears and tucked the small book inside his jacket pocket.
“Ready to go?” Kenta asked. Bakura looked around the apartment one more time before nodding.
Feel the sting of tears,
Falling on this face you’ve loved for years.
To Bakura’s surprise, the car stopped once again before they reached the air port. In front of Domino High. It must have been about time for school to let out because teens were filing out of the building.
“Go say goodbye,” Kenta told him. Bakura stared at him for a moment before nodding and climbing out of the car. He looked around for the group of friends and found them easily. They were laughing and joking together as they exited the school building. Bakura stayed where he was, beside Kenta’s car. Having second thoughts, he made to get back in the car. What would he say? They weren’t his friends, they were Ryou’s friends. They wouldn’t care that he was leaving. They might even be happy.
“Bakura!” Yami’s voice cut through his thoughts and he looked up to see that the group was coming towards him. He braced himself.
“Hey Yami B, what’re you doin’ here?” Jou asked as they came closer.
“I came to say goodbye,” Bakura replied softly. He kept his arms straight at his sides, his hands clenched into fists.
“What are you talking about, Bakura?” Yami asked, raising and eye brow.
“I mean exactly what I said, Pharaoh,” Bakura replied. “I’m leaving. Kenta is moving and obviously I have to go with.”
“You’re moving?!” Yugi and Anzu exclaimed at the same time. Bakura nodded.
“Yes. To America.”
“Wow, ‘dat’s a long ways away,” Jou marveled. “You’re really leaving?”
“Are you hard of hearing?” Bakura snarled. He hadn’t meant to but it still came out that way. He cringed. “...sorry.”
“It’s...okay,” Jou said softly. “Why’d you apologize?”
Bakura looked away. “Because I owe him a lot of apologies, Katsuya. And I can’t make it up to him now.” Jou nodded.
“I understand,” he said.
“So...” Bakura said hesitantly. “Goodbye. I don’t know if I’ll miss any of you or not. But goodbye anyway.”
“Goodbye, Bakura,” Yami said softly. He held a hand out to Bakura, who stared at it for a moment before shaking it.
“Goodbye Pharaoh. Katsuya. Yugi. And the rest of you. Maybe I’ll see you again one day...” Bakura’s eyes became distant and to Yami he looked just a little lost. “I’ll come back when I can.” With that he turned his back to them and climbed back inside Kenta’s car.
It doesn’t matter if I cry,
Doesn’t matter if I bleed...