Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seasons of Love ❯ I Believe ( Chapter 4 )

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

"What are you doing?" The question was so unexpected that he jumped slightly before turning to regard the man speaking to him. Funny, he was under the impression that the other would avoid him at all costs, not seek him out to play Twenty Questions.

"Waiting," he replied tersely. "Not that it's any of your business." He turned back to his quiet contemplation, fully prepared to dismiss the other's presence entirely.

Which was why the next words caught him by surprise: "You want to go back, don't you?"

Bakura's head snapped back around and he leveled a glare on the younger. "Again, not your business, pharaoh. Now leave."

Atem would not be deterred. Instead, the former king tilted his head to one side and blinked at him in mild curiosity. "Why?" he finally asked. When several minutes slid by with no answer he spoke again. "It's because of him, isn't it? Your Aegean?"

The thief's eyes widened in shock before narrowing to slits again. "What do you know, anyway?" he growled, refusing to answer the question verbally. "Leave me alone."

"You should not have given Jyonouchi your memories," the other continued, ignoring the command. "They've awoken his own, and now you're both suffering because of it."

Bakura had been rising to walk away, to leave the conversation behind; the words froze him in place. Slowly he turned to face his old enemy again, expression carefully blank. "What?"

Atem shook his head slightly, although whether it was in negation or simply in thought was uncertain. "The gods have been watching since the night you visited his dreams," the pharaoh said after a moment. "His memories of his time as Jyonou started returning shortly after that. Now they are worried that he may lose his will to continue in his current lifetime."

"No..." Bakura murmured quietly. "That was not... I couldn't just... I only wanted...."

"I know," Atem replied, tone gentle. "They know that, too. Which is why they've sent me here."

Now Bakura regarded the other with quiet suspicion. "Sent you? For what?"

"To remind you of a promise." When the thief continued to stare at him blankly for a moment, Atem prompted, "One you made long ago, before he killed the only thing you've ever truly loved."

The silver-haired man frowned, letting his thoughts drift backwards for a moment before his eyes widened in realization. "It's impossible now," he said quietly. "Even if I could hear him call to me--"

"The gods work in mysterious ways," Atem said with a cryptic smile. "Just give it time... and listen. This," he glanced around them, eyes lingering for a moment on the doorway just beyond where they stood in the afterlife, "is a good place to wait." He offered another smile, this one more genuine. "I will leave you now. And, if all works out well, I truly will miss you. You were a worthy adversary, Bakura King of the Thieves."

Bakura smirked, the first one since he'd passed from the earth. "The same can be said for you, Once-Nameless Pharaoh."

It was the fourteenth now, approaching midnight, and he was slowly losing what little hope he'd had. He had spent almost all day Wednesday visiting various shrines and temples, hoping to feel something when he called to Bakura, and had repeated the process most of this day as well. Friday, the fifteenth, was his last real chance to even try.

Jyonouchi heaved a weary sigh and leaned against the temple entrance. It was too late in the evening to try anywhere else, and he really didn't feel like going home and dealing with his father. Any other day, any other time before it wouldn't have bothered him to listen to the man's drunken ramblings about how all the decent members of their family were gone and would never return. Right now, with his heart so heavy from wanting--needing--to be heard, those words would cut at his very soul.

"God damn it," he said under his breath, swiping the back of his hand across his eyes. "Any and every god damn it. This is hopeless. He isn't coming back, ever."

Does everyone lose hope so easily?

Jyonouchi lifted his head, eyes scanning the area around him. There was a young couple by the small koi pond, but that was too far for them to have heard his frustrated words. Shaking his head quietly he let his gaze drop to the hem of his t-shirt, fingers toying with a loose thread.

"And now I'm hearing things. Wonderful." He sighed again, free hand running through his hair. "I'm losing my mind."

No, little one. You just aren't listening.

Okay, he was positive he heard something that time. Brown eyes snapped up again, but by now the couple had left and he was alone. "Is someone there?" he called, rising to his feet and reaching for the switchblade he carried. He tried to ignore the fact that he'd actually swiped the knife from Ryou's apartment shortly after that odd dream, but somehow it made him feel like he had a piece of him close by.

Yes, the odd voice came again. But not who you wish to see most.

Jyonouchi frowned, trying to place the voice. It sounded (felt?) familiar, but he'd never known anyone with that soft yet somehow threatening tone to their voice. And he sure as hell didn't know anyone who could talk directly into his head! "Look, this isn't funny," he said instead of asking who or what was toying with him. "You'd better get lost if you know what's good for you."

A laugh. You're so brave, too. As spirited now as you were then. No wonder he used you as bait for his trap.

The words sent a shiver down his spine, and Jyonouchi tightened his grip on the knife in his hand. "Leave me alone," he whispered. "Please. I can't take this now."

I know. The words were warm yet cold as ice all at once. You've a strong spirit, but it's dying right now. You don't have the will to go on, but you are more important than you know, little Aegean. Those that are coming could easily remove you now.

"Go away," the blond muttered, the switchblade falling from his hands as he raised them to cover his ears in an effort to shut out that voice. "Leave me alone."

And why should I? There's no one to protect you, no one to care if you vanish tonight, no one to care if the coming darkness steals you away--

"Liar!" Jyonouchi snapped. "There are people who will miss me!"

But only if they remember you, the voice whispered silkily. Did anyone remember you when he stole you from Egypt? Not a soul cared about one little slave, a temple virgin who was stolen long before he perished....

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" The blond would never really be sure whether the next words were spoken aloud or simply in his mind: "Bakura, please, I need you here!"

"Bakura...."

Bakura's head snapped up, a frown crossing his lips. He almost swore he had heard his name called....

"...please...."

There it was again, this time he was certain he'd heard the voice calling to him. Bakura looked suspiciously at the door before him, unsure if he should trust what his instincts were screaming at him.

"I need you here!"

The desperation in that voice spurred him into action.

There was silence after that last outburst before the odd voice began to laugh quietly. Ah, of course, it whispered, all warmth gone now. Your true strength lies in being together rather than apart. You know this in your heart; you finally understand. I cannot allow that. It threatens my foothold on this world.

Jyonouchi was no longer listening, eyes tightly closed and hands still over his ears. He said nothing but in his mind was desperately denying all that the voice had said before. His friends would miss him, and if Bakura did come back he knew the thief would miss him.

"Go away," he finally forced out again. "You're nothing. Leave this place."

The voice chuckled darkly. Oh, but I am something, little Aegean. And I will have this world, one way or another.

Bakura growled in his throat as he heard that voice in the darkness around him. He could hear the words he was saying and quickened his pace.

"Not this time," he growled. "Never again."

Jyonouchi opened his eyes, blinking silently even as the voice's words permeated his thoughts. "You..." he whispered, lifting his head and staring up at the sky. "It was you we were dealing with all the while. The yami no RPG, Malik's dark side, Dartz... they were all pieces of you...."

The voice sounded smug: So you can be taught. Pity, since you're going to be dead by midnight.

"I don't think so, Zork."

The voice actually snarled at the new voice, this one almost painfully familiar to the blond. Aren't you a little lost, my puppet? The afterlife is the other way. I'll send your whore along shortly.

"Excuse me?!" Jyonouchi demanded. Whatever he was about to add was swallowed by the other, equally offended voice:

"I'll overlook that slander for now. But if you ever show your face in any form that I can kill, you've an appointment with my blade."

Empty threats, empty promises, the darker voice whispered viciously. I will return.

"I look forward to it," was the reply; the tone was both cruel and calming. An unearthly silence then seemed to settle over the temple, the only indication that the other had left. Jyonouchi's eyes fell shut as he heaved a sigh, sliding down the wall as all his strength seemed to bleed away.

"Shit," he mumbled, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on them. "If I ever complain that my life is boring...."

"Are you alright?"

Jyonouchi froze. He... didn't recognize the language, but somehow he understood what had been asked. More than that, he still recognized the voice. Slowly, as if afraid to see that the other from before had found a new way to torment him, he lifted his gaze to the one who'd spoken. For a moment he wondered if he'd hit his head, and could only reply by blinking.

Bakura frowned to himself and wondered if he should repeat the question; that was all he had time to think for the moment as he suddenly found himself knocked to the ground with the blond clinging fiercely to him. He wrapped his arms securely around Jyonouchi and shifted to a slightly more comfortable position before resting his chin atop the boy's head, letting his eyes slip shut as he listened to the other's breathing calm.

"You're here." Jyonouchi's voice was somewhat muffled against the older man's neck. "You're back."

"You called," Bakura murmured softly, fingers combing through the other's hair, "and I heard, and answered." He shifted again so he was sitting instead of lying flat on the ground, slipping one hand behind Jyonouchi's neck and kissing him softly. The kiss was returned, pale hands moving to cup Bakura's face as the two said everything that they could not convey with words alone.

owari