Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Family Day ❯ Big Brother ( One-Shot )

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Family Day

Tip of the Day: Plaid shirts and striped pants rarely make a positive fashion statement.

Ahem. Today I, The Rabid Toenail (also known by such names as Cassandra Rettop, Aki, and Jet ski), have decided to write a one-shot. *gasps* I know. It's momentous.

Oh yes, and Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi (AKA not me), which, coincidentally, means that I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

~Ryou(hikari) thinking to Bakura~

Now, to begin!

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Ryou Bakura sat at his desk, chin resting on his fist and his ivory hair spilling over his shoulders. He sighed, utterly miserable. The source of his melancholy was Family Day. Why would a bright, responsible student like Ryou be sad about parents' day, you ask? Well, because he was the only kid in his class without a family member to accompany him to lunch that day, that's why!

A few feet away, his classmate was chatting hyperly about his crafts projects to his parents and any other parents who would stand still long enough. At the moment, it was about fifteen minutes before lunch time, and the steady stream of arriving parents had finally come to a stop. By now, the twenty-some odd extra adults were crammed into the tiny classroom, each standing near their child's elbows. The teacher had been trying unsuccessfully to recapture the class's attention, but the students didn't seem overly concerned about learning the steps in the water cycle.

About five minutes later, the teacher finally just turned the class over to their parents. The teacher scanned the room, suddenly stopping at the sight of Ryou, in his own corner, all alone. Her heart went out to the little boy. She quickly walked over to him, Ryou hearing the approach of her clicking high heels. Ryou said nothing, and hardly acknowledged her presence at all when she leaned over his desk.

"Ryou, isn't your father coming today?" she asked, tone sympathetic.

Ryou didn't answer.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be here soon. So, cheer up! Here, have a mint!"

Ryou stared at the mint without really seeing it, as the teacher was called out to by someone's concerned parent. His father wasn't there, but it was his fault. He hadn't even mentioned Family Day to his father, not because he didn't want him there, but he didn't want him to feel guilty for not being able to make it to his school.

<Silly aibou, always worrying about someone else…>

~Eh? I thought we agreed we wouldn't speak while I was at school?~ Ryou asked, popping the mint into his mouth.

<Feh. Like I care. Hmm, nice mint; what kind is it?>

Ryou rolled his eyes and looked at the empty wrapper on his desk. ~Lifesaver.~

<Ah. We'll have to bully your father into getting us some then, won't we?>

~Oh, yeah. `Dad, you know that old ring with the eyeball in the middle that you gave me? Well, there's an evil Egyptian spirit in there and he wants some Lifesavers. So, let's go to the store and get some right now!~

Out of the blue, Ryou felt a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to come back to reality. It was his teacher.

"Ryou, honey, it's time for lunch."

<How dare that woman call my aibou honey!>

"Oh. All right. Um…bye…?" Ryou made his way to the cafeteria, clutching his lunch box in his hands. Once he got there, he found that his normal seat had been taken by a parent. He sighed, wondering if it was healthy for a child to sigh so much, and went to sit somewhere else.

He opened his lunch box, pulling out two bags and a juice container. His lunch was a nutritious ham and cheese sandwich, some Goldfish crackers, and a box of apple juice. He pushed the little plastic straw in the juice container and took a sip of it.

About this time, a man in a suit sat down beside him. Ryou stared down the table as a boy and a girl, twins, and their mother, came to rest beside the man.

To have a family like that again…Ryou attempted to force down the tears by stuffing his mouth full of ham sandwich, which only caused him to start choking. He felt someone hitting him on the back as he tried to keep coughing. He finally succeeded, with tears streaming down his face. He drank the last of his apple juice and threw what was left of his food in the trash can, before excusing himself.

He ran to the restroom; luckily, no one was there. He slowly slid down the wall, feeling the tears making their way down his cheeks. He honestly didn't know why he was having a breakdown like this. His mother and his little sister had died a long time ago.

~Yami, I need to talk to you!~ Ryou called out desperately, but he received no answer from the elusive spirit of the Sennen Ring. Now, feeling even worse than before, he curled his arms around his knees and cried.

"Ryou?" a voice called.

Ryou lifted his head. That voice was so familiar…but it seemed oddly different from how he remembered it. The footsteps echoed through the bathroom (after all, bathrooms have very good acoustics), getting closer to where he was. "Ryou!" came the call again.

Ryou sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. He struggled to his feet just in time to see the white-haired boy come into view. Could it be…? It was impossible, but nothing else made sense (?).

"Y-yami?"

"Hai," Bakura answered, moving toward his Hikari. "Now, do you mind telling me what you're doing here? Because you're obviously not relieving yourself."

"You're not entirely right," Ryou said, "because in a way, I was."

"Yeah, whatever."

"What are you doing out of the ring? I didn't know you could do that."

"It's not easy," Bakura answered. "I just thought you needed--."

Bakura didn't get to finish his sentence, because Ryou had a firm grasp on his hand and was leading him back to his classroom.

Ryou glanced at the clock hanging above him; there was still a little time before lunch was over. He increased his pace, leaving Bakura to be dragged along for the journey. They finally made it back to the room, to see Ryou's teacher sitting at her desk, eating some blueberry yogurt. She looked up as they entered.

"Oh, hello, Ryou. Who's that there?" she asked, staring at Bakura.

Ryou considered this for a moment. He couldn't exactly call Bakura his yami, or the Tomb Robber, at least not when introducing him to normal people. He finally decided, though, and he was happy about his choice.

"Miss Brown, meet my big brother."

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AN: Tee-hee! I hope you people enjoyed that. Oh, and if you hadn't noticed, the setting is Ryou's school when he was in Britain. Yeah. I probably made a bunch of mistakes and had Baku-baku-chan and Ryou-chan really OOC. I cry for the characters.

Oh, and I don't own Goldfish or Lifesavers…although I do think I own Bakura's liking for mints. Do they even have Lifesavers in Britain? Feh. Oh well.

Please read and review!

9/06/03