Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ I Care ❯ The Encounter ( Chapter 5 )

Emmy: I'm dedicating this chapter to my friend Shawn who I just realized liked Yu-gi-oh as much as I do! Thanks for drawing me a little picture of Ryou!

 

Lastly, I must remind you I am NOT a song writer and it took me a while to come up with the second rate lyrics for the play.

 

Ryou: Why did you make up your own play? You could have used Romeo and Juliet or something.

 

Emmy: … (begins to hit head on the wall repeatedly)

 

Raven: For those of you wondering about Ryou and Aly, there will be fluff soon. We've just got to wait for the right moment…AND I will NOT say that we do not own Yu-gi-oh because the disclaimer was on the first 1-4 chapters.

 

Ryou: You just said it.

 

Raven: …Shit. (begins to hit head on wall repeatedly)

 

 

The Encounter

 

“I have to do it today. Something is wrong, I know it! I've got to talk to him!” Aly thought.

 

Ryou had been absent from school on Monday, and nobody had seen him since Friday.

 

“Oh I wish class would end sooner!” she mumbled for the fourth time that day. It was the last class, but Aly felt like she'd been at school for days. To be perfectly frank, the day had stunk. She had homework in Science, an essay to finish in History, words to practice for French, and they'd served old tuna surprise for lunch.

 

They weren't blocking Aly's big scene that day but she was in more then one total. The woman she played, Sanura, was a muse in the beginning. It all ended up leading to the fact that the Prince had never met people but the muses to advise him in romance and blah, blah, blah…The play was not the most important thing at the moment.

 

“Alright people, settle down, settle down! Now, those of you in the first three scenes come with me and we will block. The rest of you must practice your lines with one another but please try not to interrupt the blocking happening on stage,” Ms. Myers ordered.

 

Malik, Aiko, Aly, three other muses, and some others climbed up on stage.

 

“Now, you are all wonderful actors and as an experiment I will position you for the start of the scene but you, now as your character, will do the blocking as your instincts tell you to! You must be your character, put yourself if their state of mind, clear your head of any thoughts of now. Feel how your character will react, how they walk, how they talk, what their opinions are!” Ms. Myers said dramatically, waving her hands around like mad.

 

“Now, Scene One! Prince Zahur is anxiously awaiting his bride in the great hall. This will be their first meeting before the wedding. And…Action!”

 

Aly and the muses were perched up, center stage. The Arab music that would play any time the girls narrated began and the first speaker stood up.

 

“Dear friends we welcome you to our humble home. Let me be the first to tell you we are going to take you on a journey you will never forget…”

 

The first scene went alright. Most of the muses had adapted to Ms. Myers way of talking and using their bodies to illustrate what they said. Aly and the other muses moved to the corners of the stage where they would be seen but not draw attention. Aly watched Malik's acting curiously.

 

He truly acted the part of the Price. If Aly hadn't seen him up on stage she would have asked him what was wrong. He paced the floor, casting worried glances at the door and talking to the servants. The only reason she knew he was acting was because of the script in his hand.

 

“That was good, very good!” Ms. Myers said happily. “I'm going to make a few minor changes. Get your pens out and write this blocking down.

 

Aly said her lines, did her blocking, and acted her part, but still she could not forget Ryou.

 

“He's only missed one day of school, it's probably just a cold…but, what if it's not? He hasn't contacted anyone since Friday. Oh come on you stupid bell ring!”

 

About an hour later Aly's prayer was answered. The bell gave a loud shriek and the teens piled out of the room. Aly was about to rush out when someone called her name. Aly turned to face Malik.

 

“Hey Aly, brilliant practice today, don't you think?” he asked, smiling. Aly nodded and tried to return a smile but only managed to lift the corner of her mouth for a second.

 

“Yeah, but I'm kind of in a hurry Malik. So, I'll see you tomorrow,” she replied as she grabbed her stuff.

 

“What's wrong? You look troubled, what plagues your mind?” he asked, a slight smirk on his face. It took Aly a moment to realize he was quoting the script.

 

“It is none of your concern my lord,” she replied, as she began to walk away. Malik followed.

 

“I sense an aura of sadness around you. Perhaps problems of the heart?”

 

Aly didn't know how to reply. Was she worried about Ryou because she had a crush on him?

 

“Well, not really Malik. I-I'm going to see Ryou. None of us have seen him since Friday.” Malik raised his eyebrows and frowned slightly.

 

“So he's been alone with that old baka Bakura for three days?” Malik asked. Aly gave him a questionable look.

 

“Bakura, isn't that Ryou's last name?”

 

“Well yes, but it's also the name of his-uh, well I probably shouldn't tell you-.”

 

“I know about the millennium items and the yamis. Yugi told me everything,” Aly replied. She had actually meant to ask Malik about his for a while but now all she wanted to do was check up on Ryou.

 

Malik gave her an astonished look. “Oh, well that's different! Bakura is Ryou's yami, an ex Egyptian thief lord. He's really a nice guy; well at least he's not pure evil or anything. He's just a little mental. The guy has been known to get violent though,” Malik replied. Aly's heart quickened.

 

“Violent?” she asked. This was news! Aly thought back to the bumps on Ryou's heads, the mysteries cuts on his chin or bruises that were only seen during gym.

 

“Well, yeah, a little violent but he'd never kill-well ok maybe he would but not someone he really cared about.” Aly saw how large her eyes were in the reflection of Malik's eyes. Why had no one ever told her this?!

 

“How do you know all this?” Aly asked him curiously. Malik smirked.

 

“My yami, he's Marik, is Bakura's best bud. I've been over there a few times to hang out with Bakura and Marik.”

 

Aly slammed her locker door shut and slung her heavy back pack over her shoulder.

 

“Thank you for the information Malik, I'm going to go see Ryou right now,” she replied. Aly began to sprint down the hall but Malik ran after her.

 

“Wait! He's not exactly the friendliest person in the world. He might not let you inside, and he'll almost certainly threaten to hurt you!” Malik called. Aly stopped and tried to think. Should she meet up with the gang and fill them in do they could all go save Ryou?'

 

“No,” the little voice told her. “It'd be best if they didn't know. Ryou might not want all his friends to find out he was abused by his yami. Besides, he doesn't like to be in the spotlight remember? And you could be overreacting anyway. How do you know Bakura is abusing Ryou? ”

 

Aly felt like pulling out her hair or crying in frustration. Instead she clenched her fists and bit her lip.

 

“Aly, maybe I can help you get in, since I know Bakura and all,” Malik suggested. Aly turned to him, excitement growing.

 

“For real?” she asked.

 

“Sure,” Malik replied, a look of pride on his face.

 

“What are we waiting for, let's go!” Aly cried, grabbing Malik's wrist and dragging him down the hall.

 

Aly ignored the calls of “No running in the halls!” or the growls of students she knocked into. She ignored Malik's request to slow down. All that mattered at that moment was seeing Ryou.

 

“So why has no one ever told me that Ryou's yami dude is an abusive psycho?!” Aly demanded angrily as the two walked briskly down the sidewalk.

 

“Well, I think Yugi and his `gang' thought the abuse stopped a long time ago. I'm not very good friends with Ryou or Yugi or anyone else that you hang out with but I know that about a month ago your friends found out and stormed over to Bakura and Ryou's house to `put an end to Bakura's terrible behavior'. The next day they seemed to think they'd stopped it. Ryou probably told them it was over. I never really thought about it much though,” Malik replied. Aly passed her house and stopped.

 

“Which way is his house? I've never been there before,” Aly asked. It was Malik's turn to grab Aly's wrist and lead her to the appropriate location.

 

“So you've known about this abuse all along and never told anyone?” Aly asked, glaring at her navigator. Malik frowned and gave her a regretful look.

 

“Well, I mean, Bakura's always been like that. He once sent a mail man to the Shadow Realm for Ra's sake. It's just how things are.” Aly still glared at him.

 

“That's not a good enough reason to let him suffer!” she replied hotly. Malik stopped walking.

 

“Aly, calm down! It's not like Bakura would ever kill Ryou! I mean, if I told someone what do you think he'd do to me? What do you think my yami would do to me? You've never had a yami before so you don't know what it's like. Your yami is part of you, he's your darker half. You need your yami to live and they need you. Also, you've never met Bakura! He's not all bad, as I've said. He just…he doesn't know how to act around people!” Malik said. His eyes seemed hurt by Aly's comment but his voice was firm and level. Aly sighed and tried to calm down.

 

“Sorry Malik…let's just go see Ryou ok?” she asked. Malik nodded solemnly and they jogged down the street.

 

“This is just TOO weird! Ryou's got this…darker half who beats him up, but nobody seems to care enough to actually DO anything about it? Why dose he tolerate it? What about his father? How come Yugi and the others haven't noticed how thin he is or how he always seems to have the bruises?” Aly was trying to organize her thoughts when Malik slowed down.

 

“We're here.”

 

Aly looked at the house in front of her. It was a small, brick, two story home with a small lawn area. There was a small alley that separated the house from another. Aly tried to look in the windows but the curtains were closed. There was one uncovered window on the second story but Aly could see nothing through it. She continued to stare though.

 

Suddenly a white haired figure walked right by. Aly gave a small gasp.

 

“That must have been Bakura!” she thought. She'd only seen the figure for a moment but like Yami you could find differences.

 

“Are you going to knock?” Malik asked in a low voice. Aly nodded slowly and walked up to the door, Malik right behind her.

 

The nervous girl took a deep breathe before knocking firmly on the hard wood. They waited. Nothing happened. Aly raised her hand again and knocked louder. Still nothing happened.

 

Aly knocked a third time and Malik yelled “Bakura it's me!”

 

They waited and moments later the door slid open.

 

Aly stood face to face with Bakura and almost gasped again. His eyes were narrow and menacing, as though he had seen a great many people die in his time; his hair was spiked up in certain angles unlike Ryou's soft girl like hair. His body was muscular; Aly could picture him getting into a lot of fights. Aly also felt something. She felt the presence of evil, as if she were reading Bakura's vibes. He gave off the aura of darkness.

 

“Malik what-who is this?!” Bakura growled looking Aly over from head to toe. When they locked eyes Aly felt goose bumps rise on her skin but she tried to return his cold stare with one of her own.

 

“Bakura, this is Aly. We're here to see-.”

 

“No,” Bakura cut Malik off. Malik furrowed his brow.

 

“But-!”

 

“Malik, as much as I like your yami I will not let you see Ryou,” Bakura said coolly, giving Malik his glare. Malik seemed taken aback.

 

“Why was he gone yesterday?” Aly demanded. Bakura shifted his gaze to her.

 

“Who are you and how to you know Ryou?” Bakura demanded. Aly swallowed.

 

“I'm his friend,” she replied. “And I'd like to know what's wrong with him.” Bakura smirked.

 

“So you've decided to join that midget Yugi and his band of idiotic do-gooders have you?” he asked. Aly nodded.

 

“Then get off my property before I send you to the Shadow Realm,” he replied. Aly clenched her fists.

 

“Not until you tell me what's wrong with Ryou!” she demanded. Bakura scowled.

 

“I said get you fat ass off my property,” he said coldly. Aly swallowed again. She couldn't back down now-but she was afraid. This Bakura was the most frightening person Aly had ever met. She also felt a pan in he chest. He'd touched a nerve by calling her fat.

 

“Aly, maybe we should-,” Malik began but Aly shook he head.

 

“If you've done anything to him Bakura I'll-!”

 

“You'll do what?” Bakura asked, taking a step forward. “Send that idiot pharaoh on me? Challenge me to a duel?” Aly couldn't help it; she couldn't hold her angry glare for that long. She felt her intimidating self slipping away. Bakura smirked, seeing her discomfort.

 

“You're afraid, I can see it in your eyes,” he whispered, his face was about an inch from hers. “Now, get off my property or I'll send you to the Shadow Realm.” Aly opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Bakura gave a satisfied grin and slammed the door in Aly's face.

 

For a moment neither Aly nor Malik spoke then Malik said:

 

“Aly, I'm sorry. I-I thought-.”

 

“Be quiet Malik,” Aly ordered, her voice was shaking with rage and fear. Aly looked to see her hands were as well. Her tightly clenched fists had caused her hands to go white. She felt like screaming and crying at the same time! She wanted to cry and seek comfort but she wanted to smash something or yell at someone in her rage!

 

Aly willed herself to turn around and walk slowly down the street, Malik was right beside her.

 

“That-that horrible, evil, scum bag!” Aly cried, making Malik jump in surprise. Aly was trying really hard not to curse.

 

“I just want to take him by the neck and-and-!” Aly imitated someone breaking a neck in half. Malik raised his eyebrows at her display of violence.

 

“I bet Ryou is hurt! I bet Bakura did something to him! Ugh! I thought you said you could get me in!” Aly glared at Malik.

 

Malik looked at the ground. “I'm sorry Aly,” he said quietly. Aly clenched her fists.

 

“Sorry won't help me!” She cried, tears of anger and fear were forming in the corners of her eyes. She looked down quickly, not wanting Malik to see her cry. Malik did see her cry but made no comment. Aly was shaking from head to toe, she felt like any second now she was going to have a nervous breakdown!

 

“You're having it right now!” her little voice screamed. Aly began to run. She didn't want Malik to see her cry and she didn't want to snap at him again. She was furious at him for not being able to help her but somewhere inside the reasonable voice reminded her it wasn't really his fault.

 

Aly ran all the way home and collapsed on her bed, sobbing uncontrollably. She stayed like this for a long time, crying and thinking, trying to get all of her thoughts in order. It was times like this she wished she had a diary or a journal. Something to tell her fears, her secrets and he dreams to.

 

Instead she stood up shakily and went over to her computer. She clicked up a Word Document and began to type.

 

Organized Thoughts of Aly Carter

09-15-05

3:31

 

Its times like these I wish I had a diary. Too much is going on and I feel like I'm gonna have some kind of break down. My new friends have weird counter parts called yamis that they say are their `darker half's'. There's this place called the Shadow Realm that Yugi's yami who is actually named Yami says is worse then hell. How can this be true? I thought magic only existed in books or movies. Sure' I've hoped that it existed. I've wished for magical adventures but…I never thought I'd actually get one.

 

I haven't seen Ryou since Friday and I'm afraid his yami-Bakura-did something horrible to him! Bakura's supposed to be this violent, psycho dude who lives with Ryou and hurts him! Why hasn't anyone noticed this or done anything about it! Ryou doesn't deserve that kind of torture!

 

Ryou is kind, polite, sweet, smart, and I've never seen him do anything mean to anyone! How could someone be so evil as to hurt someone so kind and caring? I just wish I could help Ryou but I don't know how. He won't let me get close to him. Is he afraid that I'll hurt him or something? I don't know, this is too overwhelming! All I know is that as soon as Ryou comes back to school I'm going to ask him about everything! I won't just stand by and watch this happen to him! I have to help him!

 

Aly saved the document and returned to her bed. She felt exhausted but she had tons of homework to do.

 

“I'll only rest for a bit…” Aly thought. Moments later, she was asleep.

 

 

Bakura's P.O.V.

 

Bakura slammed the door and went back upstairs. He watched her and Malik from the window. He had to admit it, that Aly girl had spunk, but she also had something else. Bakura had seen two things of interest on the girl. One, she had given him a glare of angry passion. She had really been angry at him.

 

Bakura glanced at Ryou, sleeping peacefully in his bed. He looked so innocent and sweet when he slept.

 

“She's probably just one of his stupid fan girls…” Bakura thought. For some reason Bakura felt a tightness in his chest when thinking about Ryou's fan club.

 

“Oh Ra no! I'm not...I'm not jealous am I? NO! Of course I'm not jealous. Ryou is my light which means I own him and anyone who thinks other wise is looking for trouble!”

 

Aly and Malik began to walk away, Aly was clutching her fists and holding her head low. Something shiny caught in the sunlight as she stomped away and Bakura thought of the other thing he had spotted on her that was of interest to him.

 

The angry girl had been wearing an Egyptian necklace with the god Bastet's symbol on it. Bakura grinned evilly.

 

“What a valuable little trinket…that would be worth stealing…” he muttered. Ryou shifted in his bed and Bakura left the room silently. It was only after he closed the door did he say:

 

“Yes…that really would be something worth stealing…”

 

 

Ryou's P.O.V. (the next day)

 

“You should eat something, it will give you back your strength,” Bakura said as he stuffed a piece of bacon into his mouth. Ryou stared down at the plate of eggs and orange juice in front of him. He sighed and picked up his fork, the little bits of yellow seemed like alien food. He hadn't tasted egg in a while.

 

When he had stomached Bakura's home cooking Ryou stood up and declared:

 

“I'm going to school today.” Bakura shrugged and handed the dishes to Ryou for him to wash.

 

“Is your fever down?” he asked.

 

“Yes Bakura-sama,” Ryou replied. It wasn't a lie; it was more like a half lie. His fever was down yes, but it was still a fever.

 

“Fine then,” Bakura replied. Ryou wasn't sure but was that a bit of disappointment in Bakura's voice?

 

After he had finished the dishes and packed for school Ryou set off for the walk to school, hoping his friends wouldn't ask where he'd been the past five days. He hadn't seen them since Friday.

 

“Like they even noticed…” his little voice said.

 

“Oh they'll notice. They're not total idiots. They'd realize if their friend had missed the past three days of school,” another voice replied. Ryou stopped. He'd never heard this voice before. It didn't sound like Bakura but it sounded familiar. He wondered if it was actually somebody or if he was as mad as Bakura.

 

Even if his friends did ask him about it he wouldn't be able to tell them much. Truthfully Ryou had slept through most of being sick. His head had hurt, his nose had been stuffed up, and he'd been extremely tired. Bakura had taken care of him though. That thought made Ryou a bit happy.

 

Bakura abused him, called him names and was usually terrible to him, but he'd taken care of Ryou. He'd been gentle and he'd been kind. He'd actually cooked food for Ryou! Ryou would never tell him that it had tasted horrible though. It was the thought that counted.

 

Bakura's P.O.V.

 

Bakura sat down on his head and stared at the ceiling. He was bored. Ryou was healthy again and he no longer needed Bakura's care.

 

Ever since Saturday Ryou had been stuck at home with a bad cold.

 

“Probably because you left him out in the rain…” his inner self said.

 

“Why did you do that anyway?” another voice asked.

 

“Because he was afraid of the lightening,” he growled. The other voices gave off the feeling of rolling their eyes and Bakura glared at no one in particular.

 

“Stupid voices…” he muttered. He sat in silence for a moment, back to his boredom.

 

“You aren't just crazy, you're a pervert. You actually hurt Ryou so he will be weak and unable to protect himself…” the first voice sneered. Bakura clenched his fists.

 

“Shut up!” he ordered.

 

“But he only wants Ryou weak so he can take care of him himself,” the other voice argued.

 

“Going soft, are you Thief Lord? Or are you so desperate for any type of compassion that you must hurt your own light just so you can clean him up when you're done?”

 

“I said shut up!” Bakura ordered, clutching his head.

 

“It's hard to show Ryou that you care for him. He isn't like some sexy belly dancer that you can just hop into bed with. He's different, which means he needs a different kind of affection,” the second voice replied to the first.

 

“I said SHUT UP!” Bakura yelled, leaping up and running out of the room. He rushed into the bathroom and splashed cold water onto his face.

 

“You know it's true. You want Ryou to hurt so you can be there to comfort him. You've wanted these past few days to go on forever. Just you and Ryou. Him depending on you…”

 

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

 

The room was silent other than the sound of running water. Bakura waited but nothing happened. He turned off the water and stormed out of the room.

 

“Stupid voices…” he muttered.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Emmy: Remember how I referred to the last chapter as the `calm before the storm'? Well, think of this as the…powerful wind before the storm!

 

Raven: She doesn't like putting to much in one chapter. So we hope that the next chapter will involve the `big scene'.

 

Bakura: (Grins)I finally got to fuckin curse!

 

Ryou: Yeah, woo-hoo. Anyway, why was Malik so…different in this chapter?

 

Emmy: (smiles wearily) I've got plans for him. Anyway please R&R, reviews are to me as liposuction is to movie stars or something like that. (yawn) I worked on this chapter for a few hours and I'm really tired so, until the next chapter!