Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness of Heart ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Key:

(“Bakura to Ryou, mind speech”)

(“Ryou to Bakura, mind speech”)

“Bakura speaking through Ryou”

“Normal Speech”

`Normal Thoughts'

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- Part I -
February 12, 2006; 2:48 AM

The house was quiet, the only source of noise being the ancient Grandfather Clock in the downstairs den which would clang loudly every half hour. There were no movements due to the fact that it was late at night, and the two inhabitants of the house were sound asleep. Up one flight of stairs and at the end of a lightless hallway were the bedrooms. On one side of the hallway was her room and on the other side was his. The two were as close as possible even when not awake.

Ryou Bakura slumbered through the still night, dreaming of that which he could never have - the one who slept in the room across the hallway of his home. Every so often he would turn over in his bed, clinging to his blankets, and whisper her name. And whenever her name was spoken, the dark Voice inside of his head would laugh and do its job of reminding the young boy of how the girl he wanted would never love him in return.

And so the night progressed... until the stillness was broken by a barely audible rapping on the door. Brown eyes opened slowly, their owner trying his hardest to clear away the sleepy haze that clouded them. Again there was a knock. He sat up, wondering who would want permission to enter his room at such a time.

Then he heard a voice; not the harsh one in his mind, but a light, delicate one.

“Brother..?”

The door to the bedroom opened suddenly to reveal a petite girl with frightened azure eyes. She approached the bed, appearing relieved upon finding out that her brother was awake.

“Anzu, what are you doing?” Ryou asked, reaching a hand out to the teenaged girl.

She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. “I... I had that nightmare again,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. “Since father is away on one of his trips, I was hoping that... maybe... maybe I could... stay in here for the night...” she explained slowly, keeping her head turned away from him.

Ryou shook his head negatively. “Don't you think you're a little too old to sleep in your brother's room after every nightmare you have?” he asked her. He looked away, feeling his heart beating faster at the mere thought of them sharing a bed.

Anzu looked down at him pleadingly. “I-I know I am, brother... but you make me feel so safe. I don't want to be alone for the rest of the night... That nightmare I had... it was so real... it really scared me. I-I thought that, in the end, I was going to... him-he was going to...” her voice cracked and she turned her head sharply back in the direction of the door. “N-never mind.”

The white-haired boy sighed loudly, feeling himself give in. After all, deep down he didn`t want to refuse; deep down he was thrilled at the prospect of them sleeping in the same room. “Will it really make you feel better to stay in here?” he asked after a moment of silence.

She nodded and he exhaled deeply, pushing aside the comforter and scooting over to make room for her in the bed. She smiled in thanks and dove under the covers, making herself comfortable on the mattress space he had given her.

Ryou lay back down, feeling both uncomfortable and breathless. Already he regretted allowing her to have her way. Already he could feel that dark presence prodding at his mind; begging him for control over their joint body. He closed his eyes tightly, willing himself to fall asleep as quickly as possible. The sooner he succumbed to his sleep, the sooner that Voice would leave him be, and the less he would have to think about whom he was currently sharing his bed with. And his plan would have worked, had Anzu not decided to snuggle up close to him and drape her arms lazily across his chest.

“A-Anzu?” he sputtered, attempting to sit up again. His heart began thumping much louder in his chest, and he was amazed that she couldn't hear it.

Anzu didn't say anything right away, only nuzzled her face in his neck. “I'm sorry, brother,” she replied at last. “You're just... so warm...” her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes, falling back into her deep slumber.

Ryou rested his head back down against his pillow. He turned his face faintly to the side, fixing his eyes on the now-sleeping girl. He reached a hand up and tentatively ran it through her shoulder-length chestnut hair. He held some of the locks to his nose, inhaling the sweet citrus scent that it exuded. Oh how he could lose himself just by staring at her perfect face, or catching a whiff of her intoxicating scent. It thrilled him to be so close to her... and yet it disgusted him at the same time.

He blinked rapidly and pushed himself away from her snoozing form. He felt so dirty, thinking the thoughts that were swirling around in his mind; all of them being of Anzu, of course.

`When did I become like this?' He couldn't help but wonder. `How could I ever let myself think this way... about her? She thinks I'm her brother for God's sake! I'm-I'm horrible to evenconsider...'

She had gravitated towards him once more, her soft cheeks pressed against the pale skin of his back. One of her arms looped around his side, almost as if she were giving him a hug from behind. Ryou blushed brightly, wanting to rip out of the embrace and run as far from her as possible. Yet he couldn't move. There was that dark voice inside of his mind telling him to stay where he was, to enjoy the little time that he actually had to be so close to her.

Anzu shifted again, mumbling incomprehensibly under her breath. Ryou let out a soft groan and clenched his eyes tightly together, turning his head away from her and covering it with his pillow.

`Stop it, Ryou,' he shouted at himself. `Don't think about her... Just sleep. For the love of God, fall asleep already...'

A long while later the young man's wish was finally granted, and he was able to slip back into the dream he had been a part of before interrupted by Anzu's knocking on his bedroom door.

- Part II -
February 12, 2006; 6:15 AM

“Big brother! Big brother, are you still sleeping?”

Ryou moaned, opening his eyes leisurely and tossing aside the pillow that covered his face. He yawned and sat up, turning his head in the direction of his bedroom door.

“Big brother, I'm coming in so you better be decent!”

The door opened to reveal Anzu, dressed in her formal high school uniform. She smiled, waving her hand at her sibling. “Good morning, sleepy,” she greeted jokingly.

“What's so good about it?” the white-haired teenager asked, pushing aside the light blue blankets that covered his bed. He rose slowly to his feet and stretched before heading towards the bathroom.

The brown-haired girl followed him. “What's the matter?” she wondered aloud. “Did you not sleep well? I'm sorry if I hogged all the covers; your room is a lot colder than mine.” She bowed her head in apology.

Ryou's cheeks involuntarily reddened as he thought of the previous night; how she had been so close to him, how she had refused to remove her arms from around him when he'd try to push her away. He swallowed hard and grabbed his toothbrush. “Don't worry about it,” he said softly, turning the hot water tap on. “It wasn't your fault if you had a bad dream.”

“No, no; don't make excuses for me. You were absolutely right last night by saying that I was too old to need to sleep in your room just because I had a nightmare. I'm sixteen - an adult!”

Ryou chuckled and nodded his head. “All right, point proven. Now let me change.”

Anzu nodded and left the bathroom. The white-haired teen sighed loudly, sinking to his knees in front of the sink. He let out a small groan, staring inertly at the water which poured from the open faucet. `I have to stop thinking this way. I... I can't risk thinking about her, because He's always listening. That Voice... these-these thoughts make that thinggrow stronger.'

He stood up slowly and splashed some water on his face in order to clear his head. He then left the bathroom to change into his school uniform.

- Part III -
February 12, 2006; 3:10 PM

Ryou yawned, leaning against the main entrance of Domino High. He watched with bored russet eyes as his peers made their way past the double doors, down the front steps, and towards the student parking lots. School had let out ten minutes ago and the adolescents who made up the student body were eager to get wherever they needed to be next.

Ryou was standing in his usual spot waiting for Anzu so that they could walk home together. It was their daily tradition, and it had been since even before they began attending public school together. After eighth hour they would each go to their respective lockers, gather the books needed for the evening, and join at the front gates five minutes after three o'clock.

“Big brother!”

The nineteen-year-old turned his head quickly, seeing Anzu running towards him with a large grin on her face. She stopped for a moment in the middle of the corridor to whisper a few words to some of her friends. Her friends, a group of sophomore girls, giggled at whatever she had said. Ryou smiled at this and crossed his arms over his chest, his brown eyes gazing at her fondly. Anzu was quite the social butterfly; she was very popular in their school, especially when compared to the eldest Bakura child.

“Bye, Bakura-chan! See you tomorrow,” the leader of the group of girls said. She waved and began walking away. Her friends echoed her words and followed her further down the hallway in the direction they had originally been going.

“Bye.” Anzu waved and turned back towards the entrance of the school. She grinned and ran over to Ryou, throwing her arms around his neck in a warm hug. She didn't notice the heated blush that spread across his face as a result of the action. “Thanks for waiting for me,” she said.

He nodded wordlessly as he tried to steady his racing heart. After swallowing he slowly hoisted her into his arms and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek. She rolled her eyes, feeling slightly embarrassed. If the remaining students in the hall didn't believe that the two were brother and sister, they would probably guess that Ryou and Anzu were dating.

“So,” Ryou began, releasing his hold around the brunette and settling for holding her hand in his own. She squeezed his hand gently as they began to walk away from the school. “How was your day? You seemed rather happy when you came out.”

Anzu nodded her head. “I had a great day,” she let him know. “Takahashi-sensei talked of the upcoming preparations for Prom. I had no idea it was so much work; the Juniors must be busy since they're the ones organizing it all. Miho told me that the theme was going to be Happily Ever After… it sounds very magical, from what she said. I can't wait to go.”

“Prom is only for Junior and Senior students. How are you going to get a ticket?”

“… Mai asked me to join the cheerleading squad. Try-outs for next year's competitive team are in two weeks,” the brunette said, changing the subject.

Ryou raised an eyebrow slowly, wondering why all of the sudden she held no interest in their Prom conversation. “Cheerleading? You never told me you were interested in joining the school's team.”

Anzu brushed some bangs out of her eyes. “Well, I never really thought I'd be any good at it. But Mai insists that I'd make an excellent addition to the squad, because I'm light enough to be a Flyer.”

The white-haired teenager nodded his head, deciding not to even bother to ask what the heck a Flyer was. “I'm sure you would be,” he exclaimed with a soft smile.

Internally, he felt angry with the girl named Mai for even suggesting cheerleading as a team for the brunette to join. It's not that he had anything against the sport, because he didn't, but he most certainly did not want Anzu to be a member on the school's team. The girls on the Domino High cheerleading squad were nothing but pretty toys for the jocks to just use and throw away whenever they pleased, and he most certainly wanted more for his Anzu than that.

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head; a sign that the dark presence that lurked in his mind wanted release from the body it was confined to. He stiffened and placed a hand to his forehead, willing the pain to go away.

(“Release me.”)

Anzu noticed the change in Ryou's posture and placed her free hand on his shoulder, moving so that she stood directly in front of him. “Big brother..?” she said softly, concern clouding her azure eyes. “Big brother?” her voice rose slightly, along with her anxiety of what could be wrong with her sibling.

Ryou snapped his eyes shut, blocking Anzu from his view, so that the Voice could no longer see her. But even though his eyelids covered her form from view, Anzu's image was still right there in his memory. The dark presence stirred; impatient from being kept inside for so long.

(“Release me.”)

(“Leave… leave me alone,”) Ryou whispered in his mind. He began to shake slightly, feeling Him trying to force His way out. (“Leave me alone!)

“Big brother!” Anzu cried, shaking him gently. “Brother, please; tell me what's wrong.”

Using all the strength he could muster in his current state - which wasn't much, since the Voice was absorbing all that He could in hopes to overpower the body - the nineteen-year-old pushed the brunette away roughly.

Anzu stumbled back, a look of shock and hurt on her face. “B-brother..?” She approached him cautiously, hoping that he wouldn't lash out at her. This wasn't the first personality change of his that she had witnessed; it had happened a handful of times before, and some cases had been much worse than this.

Ryou turned away from her, placing his hands over his ears so that he would be unable to hear her gentle voice. `I need to get away… I need to be somewhere far from her, so that He won't gain control.' Turning his eyes sharply on the younger teenager, he yelled for her not to follow him and then took off in the opposite direction of their home. He didn't know where he would go; he just knew he needed to get there quickly. He ran slower than he usually would, mainly because half of his mind was screaming for his brain to make him return to Anzu.

`I can't… I can't risk going back there like this. If He takes over… if He gains control over me… I don't know what will happen. He'll do whatever He pleases with her, and I will be powerless to stop Him. No! I can't let that happen. I won't let Him touch Anzu… not now, and not ever. I have to protect her. Even though I want to be with her the same way that He does, I can't let my love for her get that out of hand.'

(“You fool. I am growing tired of your defiance.”)

He could hear that the Voice had gotten much quieter, and guessed that He had lost strength since Ryou had distanced himself from the object of his - or their, rather - affection. Pursing his lips together, Ryou slowed his pace down to a slow jog. He knew now that he would be safe, and that the dark presence would not be able to control him at the moment. He had no reason to worry, for the moment, at least.

The Voice sensed his thoughts and chuckled darkly. (“You may be able to restrain me now, but one day I will break free of your hold. I will take over your body, and I WILL take Anzu as my own. There is nothing you can do to stop me, boy.”)

Ryou didn't make any effort to respond to the threat. He knew that It was right… one day he would no longer be able to control himself. Eventually he would give into his deep desires, and allow the dark spirit of his mind to possess him in order to get what he wanted. He just hoped that it would be a long time before that day actually came.