Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness of Heart ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

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

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Key:

“Bakura speaking through Ryou”

“Normal Speech”

`Normal Thoughts'

“Speaker on the opposite end of the telephone”

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Chapter, Last

James Bakura had never considered himself a negligent man. As a husband he was affectionate and faithful and, as a father, supportive and fair. However, the death of his wife marked a significant change in his character. No longer could he bear the sight of his own children - especially the eldest, his biological son, who so resembled his departed beloved - and so he allowed his work to take him farther and farther away from their home in Domino City. Once a month he sent money to take care of groceries, the bills, and allowance, and he never once forgot a birthday or special event. He trusted his children - now young adults - to take care of themselves and look after each other, and as far as he knew, they did; as far as he knew they were happy and healthy.

The news of Ryou's death hit him harder than the death of his own wife. With Mrs. Bakura, death was apparent. But with Ryou it was sudden and unexpected. James had been on one of his archeological excursions, this time in the exotic, faraway land of Egypt. It was a stout man with gray hair and peculiarly round amethyst eyes that delivered a letter describing the tragedy that occurred back in Domino.

Apparently there had been some sort of fight between Ryou and another young boy. The letter was brief and vague, but did explain how the fight ended with Ryou taking his own life.

In all of his years, Mr. Bakura had never been easily fooled, and he wasn't swayed by this letter. He had always known in the back of his mind that his eldest child was different. As a boy, Ryou was different, and as he grew older that difference morphed and became more and more apparent. James tried to ignore it, pass it off as just an odd phase of puberty. However, now as he held the announcement of Ryou's death in his sweaty hands, he could no longer deny the problem.

Ryou had been sick - not physically, but mentally. And it was that sickness which truly consumed and destroyed him in the end; it was that sickness that drove him to kill himself, not some silly fight.

This acquired knowledge changed nothing, though. Sickness or no sickness, Ryou was still gone. Mr. Bakura blamed himself for being absent too long to help.

That same evening he made a call to Japan, not caring about the expenses.

A sniveling Anzu greeted him in a voice hoarse from crying. In falling tones she gave him a recount of what she saw occur. She had been there in person, witnessed the tragic event with her very eyes.

Firstly mentioned was the matter of Ryou's drastic personality change - that had happened mere two or three evenings ago. Ryou was different, she explained; cold, and cruel, and... different. So different he seemed to be a completely new person altogether.

“He frightened me,” she said in a voice barely audible. “Even before his death, his eyes seemed so... so lifeless. And they were red... red like... like, likeblood.”

James shuddered involuntarily. In his mind's eye he could see the gentle face of his son transform into the countenance of a monster - bleeding eyes, smirking lips. He could see it as if he had been there in person.

“And... when he died?” Mr. Bakura asked, curiously.

“They were brown again... normal, but sad.” Anzu hesitated a moment. “It... it was like he was possessed, and he was able to free himself just long enough to...” her voice trailed off and she let out a sudden cry.

Mr. Bakura felt his throat tighten, but he held back the tears. “Shh... hush, Anzu, hush. It's okay...”

“It is not okay!” Anzu yelled, her voice cracking. “He's dead... Ryou's d-dead... and it's my fault... all my fault.”

Here she couldn't take it anymore and so she broke down sobbing. James sighed quietly. He couldn't blame her for releasing her emotions - he actually wished he was capable of doing the same. But it hurt him to hear the girl cry. She was his daughter (albeit, only through adoption) and now she was the only child he had left. The only family he had left.

He tried again to soothe her, whispering that everything would be all right.

“Why don't you tell me exactly how it happened?” he suggested lightly.

Anzu made a whining sound in the back of her throat. “I... I don't want to. I don't want to relive it again.”

“Anzu...”

Mr. Bakura's firm tone left no room for argument.

Anzu hiccupped, her teats subsiding for the moment. “O-okay,” she said finally. Her voice warbled as she spoke next. “It was two nights ago... Valentine's Day. He locked me in my bedroom somehow and left the house saying he was going after Malik.”

“Who?” Mr. Bakura interrupted, for the name was unfamiliar to his ears.

“Malik Ishtar... He's a new boy at school... he asked me out for Valentine's Day,” she explained slowly. “Ryou... Ryou didn't like him, and he didn't like the idea of me and him together as a couple. I-I guess he was... jealous. I don't really know. But he left the house with that crazed, blood-lusting gleam in his eyes. I was afraid he would hurt Malik - I-I knew that he would, since he had the chance...”

Anzu paused, inhaling sharply.

“He wasn't my Ryou anymore... He was someone - something - else. He wasn't the boy I loved as my brother... He was like a demon, a demon who didn't care about anything but revenge... revenge and... L-lust.”

Her voice grew impossibly quiet as she came to the last word in the sentence, and Mr. Bakura easily figured why. His brown eyes fell closed, hating the thought of his son acting such a way.

Anzu continued.

“I left my room by climbing through the window and using the vines on the side of the house to help me down to the ground. I got scratched pretty badly, but I didn't care about it... I ran all the way to Malik's apartment. Malik lives downtown, on the eighth story of one of the older complexes. By the time I got there, they'd... they'd already begun fighting.”

She sniffled. “I couldn't stop them... I wanted to... I wanted them to stop so badly... But they didn't listen to me... they didn't even see me there...”

Two nights ago...
February 14th

Brown-haired Anzu Bakura - no, Anzu Mazaki - stood in the entrance of Malik Ishtar's small and dirty rented apartment, her clothes soaked thoroughly by the pouring rain she had traveled through in order to make it this far. She watched in horror, her azure eyes taking in the sight of the two teenaged males on the floor, both desperately trying to strangle the life out of one another.

Ryou's body was on top of Malik's and He was straddling the Egyptian with His hands placed firmly around the blonde's throat. His nails, sharper and longer than usual, scraped across Malik's neck, digging into the naturally dark skin and drawing blood - blood which, in further proof of insanity, He licked away with a deep chuckle.

Malik cringed, trying to disappear into the ground. He coughed, choking out the little oxygen that was still left in his lungs, and his face began to drain of its healthy color.

“Poor thing...” `Ryou' hissed, smirking. “Should I show you mercy? Let you live?”

For a moment He allowed His grip to fall lax. Malik gulped down air greedily, restoring life to his shriveling body.

He shook His head, deciding against the idea, and pressed His fingers into Malik's throat, successfully blocking the passage of air to the blonde's lungs.

“No... I think I'll kill you. But slowly. I'm in no rush.” He chuckled to Himself, “Actually, the more I draw it out, the more enjoyable it becomes.”

“You're... you're in-insane,” Malik wheezed, clawing at the hands around his neck.

The albino made a humming noise of agreement. “Perhaps, yes,” He said, “I suppose I am insane... But that's what people say love can do to a man, right?”

The Egyptian managed to free himself from Ryou's chokehold. He grasped the red-eyed fiend's hands in his own tightly, eliciting a low growl from his opponent.

“She'll never... never love you.”

Malik steadied his breathing as the possessed Ryou tried to free His hands. Now with a somewhat advantage over the other, Malik flipped their positions so that he was pinning Ryou's body down.

“If you hadn't come here... If you hadn't stolen her away... She would have been mine!”

“She could never be yours!” Malik screamed. “She's your sister, for God's sake!”

Ryou laughed, an oddly hollow sound. “You think so? I happen to know differently.”

“SHUT UP!”

Malik silenced Him with a swift punch to the jaw.

“True or not, it doesn't matter. She could never because - well, look at yourself!” His lip curled in disgust as he surveyed the other, taking in the bloodied hands, the cracked lips, matted hair, and crimson eyes of the albino. “You're a monster!”

At the accusation, Ryou's expression changed. It was as if something inside of Him had shattered. His eyes reverted back to their normal chocolate-brown color, and they were filled to the brim with pent-up frustration, grief, and self-loathing. Malik could see the tears gathering at the corner of Ryou's eyes, and though he hated to admit it, he felt slightly sorry for the older teen.

Malik sat back, releasing his hold on his attacker. Ryou stayed motionless on the ground, appearing to not even register the movement. Breathing heavily, Ryou's eyes fell shut after a long moment and several crystalline tears escaped from underneath his dark lashes. The room was silent, with the exception of ragged inhalations and exhalations, and the rain which was still beating against the apartment.

And then Ryou laughed.

The sound was quiet, but it was definitely there. The albino's was a remorseful, broken laugh - the one made when someone knows they've lost an important fight. There was no smile on Ryou's face, no evidence of joy.

Malik watched him with suspicious, narrowed lilac orbs. His stance was defensive, guarded and ready for any sudden attacks Ryou might launch. Nothing came, and he allowed himself to relax - but only slightly.

“...Ryou...?”

It was the first time both Malik and Ryou acknowledged Anzu's presence in the room. They hadn't even noticed her earlier.

Ryou's eyes, soft and sad and brown, moved to look at her. Anzu could clearly see his regret.

“Anzu,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “I am a monster... aren't I? That's what... that's what you think of me?”

“No!” the brunette disagreed, taking a step closer to the young man who for the longest time she believed to be her older brother.

“I'm... sorry...”

“Ryou, please don't.”

He held a hand up, efficiently silencing her. Inhaling deeply, he averted his gaze back to the wooden floor. Several thick tears fell from his eyes, splashing down by his feet and leaving fat droplet-stains in their wake.

“I was so... blind,” Ryou said slowly. “I wanted you to know the truth... to know who you really were so that, maybe, you could see me the same way I see you... that you could really love me. Because I loved you... I loved you so much. And I still love you, Anzu... I still do.”

Anzu didn't - couldn't - say anything.

“I guess I was selfish... stupid and foolish, too. Deep down I knew things would never change. Even if I told you the truth, you wouldn't love me as anything more than my sister. But... He told me otherwise... He said He could make you love me. And like the idiot I am, I listened to Him.”

Swallowing, the brunette hesitantly inquired, “He?”

Ryou gripped the soaked material of his T-shirt, his form shivering. He nodded his head.

“That Voice in my head... The manifestation of my sinful love... the... darkness in my heart.”

Ryou's voice had grown impossibly quiet and his words were barely coherent to the two other occupants of the room.

“... The other me.”

The room grew silent after that, and Anzu tried to process this information. Another Ryou? That made sense, in a strange way. It explained why the albino seemed to become a whole new person. But the brunette also knew that such a thing was impossible. Two souls could not inhabit one body. There was no way that this other Ryou could exist. It was a serious mental condition, Anzu knew. Schizophrenia, or something like that. Split personalities.

“Oh, Ryou,” she whispered, shaking her head and taking another step towards him.

He gasped, eyes widening for a moment in pain. He brought his arms around himself, shuddering. Anzu made to come closer, but his strangled voice stopped her.

“No... Please, don't come near me,” he whispered. He looked around frantically, eyes flickering from red to brown. He whimpered as he spotted the window, and slowly moved closer to it. “He's... He's trying to come out again,” he said softly, clutching the material of his shirt.

His eyes wavered again, bleeding red before melting back to mocha-brown. Pale lips parted in a silent scream. Shaking his head, he turned to face the window. “He'll hurt you both... He's very angry.”

“Don't give in to him, Ryou!” Anzu pleaded, disregarding his warning to stay back by walking to his side.

“Please!” Ryou cried, wrenching away from the brunette's outstretched hand, pushing her back. “Don't come close to me. I... I don't want Him to hurt you again.”

Anzu's cerulean eyes filled with tears, but she nodded her head and stayed put, opting to stare sadly at him. She wished more than anything to help him, for she hated to see the gentle boy suffer so greatly. She could hear in his voice the deep regret, and she couldn't bring herself to be angry at him. Nor could she be afraid of him. It wasn't Ryou who scared her, it was his `other self'... that lustful gleam in His eyes.

“I... I can't destroy Him,” Ryou said suddenly, snapping her from her thoughts. His head was bowed in defeat, his pale hand barely touching the glass of the window before him. “He's a part of me... He is me... but... I have to kill Him. I don't care about the consequences anymore... He's... I've don't too much.”

The brunette didn't understand at first, but as she saw his hands move to the latch of the window it dawned on her. She began to cry the tears she didn't even realize she had left.

Ryou pushed the window open and the rain entered the small apartment, most of the droplets slapping him across the face in the process. He didn't mind; it was a welcomed punishment. Tilting his head to the side, he looked over to Anzu, smiling sadly.

“I'm sorry,” he said, “I'm sorry I hurt you.”

“Ryou... you can't... you don't mean to...”

Mocha eyes closed slowly and Ryou nodded. He had to kill Him... and this was the only way. It was the only way to get rid of Him, and Ryou understood that now. He was responsible for creating that dark entity, and so it was his job to rid the world of Him once and for all.

“... I love you, Anzu.”

Anzu shook her head. “No, Ryou! Please... there has to be another way! Please! Please don't leave me!”

But Ryou wasn't listening. He stepped to the ledge of the window, and in an instant his body was gone, falling, falling to the ground below. Lightening crashed and thunder roared outside, nature indifferent to the suicide.

Anzu screamed and lunged after him. Malik seemed to regain all his senses and rushed over to her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her away from the window she was prepared to jump through to her death.

“Anzu... oh, God, Anzu...”

The brunette turned in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest.

“Ryou... Ryou...”

- - - - -

“Ryou... Ryou...”

James's eyes welled, blurring his vision with tears that began streaming down his face. His son... his only son, dead.

Anzu continued talking on the other line, unable to stop now that she was finally getting the story out.

“There were already people gathered when we went down to the street... His body... Oh, God, his body... I could barely recognize it....”