Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chances ❯ The Truth ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kazuki Takahashi does

AR: ^_^ Yay!! All reviewers get a dozen cyber cookies!!

Diane: I never got why they were called cyber cookies *munches on 1*

AR: Eh, neither to i, but hey, who cares? I got reviews!! *goes dancing around the room*

Diane: ^^;; Um, just wondering Angel-chan, how many cookies did ya have?

AR: Hmm....2, 4, 8, 12, 18, 25, 38, 54....lets just say a whole bunch of 'em!! *eats another cookie and starts dancing around the room again*

Diane: ^^;; How...odd

Ryou: Odd doesn't even begin to describe this scene *eats a cookie*

Diane: ^_^ Ryou-chan!! *tries to glomp him*

AR: *grabs Diane by the ear before she can* Heel, girl, heel!! Bad Diane, trying to huggle sweet little Ryou-chan...especially when u know that u must share him with your adorable little hikari, moi!

Diane: *glares* Grrr....

Bakura: I don't get why we stop by here to make two extremely weird girls happy, especially when they end up arguing over stupid topics

Ryou: And bark like dogs...which is really really weird

AR: Osuwari!!

Diane: *eye twitches, then sits* This is so embarassing...

AR: Good girl...*pats Diane's head before tossing her a cookie* Here, have a doggie treat

Diane: Save the canine cracks for a certain dumb blonde, Angel-chan...

~!@#$%^&*)(_+~!@#$%^&*)(_+

Snip, snip.

Another strand of moonlight-white hair falls down into the bathroom sink.

Snip, snip.

Slowly, and almost mournfully, Bakura closed the scissor blades around another piece of his hair, watching it fall slowly to the ground.

Turn to the other side. Snip, snip.

Why was he giving himself a haircut? He was asking the same question himself.

Just trim the bangs a tiny little bit. Don't want to ruin them.

'I should of never said yes to Yugi,' he thought to himself, examining his shortened hair carefully. It was now up to his chin, and was still as spiky and wild as ever. Except it wasn't as nice and thick as it used to be.

'Then I wouldn't have to put myself through the torture of cutting my beautiful hair. Just for a stupid costume.' He carefully picked up each piece of cut hair and threw it in the trash. He hated cutting his hair, he prefered it long and thick. If people called him a mullet head, he had his own special way of dealing with them, and then they never called him that again.

Now that the personal torture was done, he had to go find his costume. He began digging around the closet, then found exactly what he needed for tonight. He tugged off his sweater and jeans, then pulled his costume on slowly. It had been a while since he had worn this outfit, but it still fit perfectly.

'Heh, rather surprising since I haven't worn this since Ancient Egypt,' he thought, strapping on a pair of leather sandals. He took one glance into the mirror and then frowned. He was missing something...

The Millennium Ring was lying on the dresser, and he carefully hung it around his neck. Perfect. Now he was ready.

~!@#$%^&*)(_+

The small party at Yugi's house was pleasant, with music playing gently in the backround and people talking about various subjects in the foreground. The doorbell rang, and Yugi ran to answer it, adjusting the cape of his vampire costume a little. When he saw who it was, he was surprised.

"Wow Bakura. That's a really good costume..."

And indeed it was. The spirit of the Millennium Ring wore a long crimson hooded robe open, baring a slightly tan chest. A pair of loose white pants billowed around his knees, ragged and frayed. Small gold rings were around his fingers, and a few gold chains wrapped around his neck, topped off with the Millennium Ring glimmering slightly in the dim light. Add that to his short white hair and the scar on his right cheek, he looked excellent.

"Where did you find that, Bakura?" Yugi asked, watching the yami spirit as he walked into his home.

"It's mine. I wore this in Ancient Egypt," he muttered. "And I won't be here for too long."

Without another word he walked into the den, where the party was being held. Several people stared at him, then went back to conversing among themselves, whispering and giggling a little. Bakura glared at Tea, dressed as a witch, and a group of giggly cheerleaders. (A/n: *glares* Tea is a witchy little b***h Diane: -.-n I seriously don't get why u hate her so much...)

"Nice outfit, Bakura," a familiar voice drawled, and Bakura turned around. Malik was smiling bemusedly at him, wearing a purple/black GURUS Rare Hunter cape with a small chain on the front.

"Let me guess, Ishtar, you're here because you also couldn't say no to Yugi." The Egyptian nodded, then pulled out a small bottle and tossed it to the albino.

"Here, I thought you might be coming, so I brought us some sustanance." He quickly unscrewed the cap and took a swig, relishing the bitter and fiery taste of the alcohol. He gave a small smile to the blonde, who was drinking his own bottle of liquor.

"Remind me why we don't hang out more often, Ishtar."

"Uh, 1, you live in a beer bottle, 2, I tried to kill you once, and 3, Marik also tried to kill you, and you had to attack back."

Bakura shrugged. "It's a force of habit to try to kill the guy who's trying to kill me."

Malik rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Let's make this party a little bit more interesting by spiking something, shall we?"

"Punch bowl's right over there."

"Perfect." As Malik walked over to the drinks table with a slightly devious thought in mind, the doorbell rang. Seeing as how Yugi was busy in a liplock with Yami on the couch, Bakura answered the door, only to stare in shock.

"Ryou - I mean, Ruki. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Bakura," she said, her eyebrow arched. "And why do you keep calling me Ryou?"

It was hard not to for the ancient tomb robber, especially with the costume that she had on. Half of her white hair was dyed black, and the left side of her face had been carefully painted darker. A black and white robe billowed around her, and a demon wing and an angel wing fluttered from her back. It was such a strong reminder of when Bakura had trapped his hikari and his friends in their favorite cards, and Ryou was in the Change of Heart. (A/n: ^_^ My fave Duelist Kingdom eppie, it's so cute)

"Oh, can't guess what I am, huh? Most people guess a half angel and half demon, but I'm actually the Change of Heart card."

"Ah, I see," Bakura managed to force out, closing the door behind her, and taking another long swig of alcohol until the bottle was empty. He looked at it sadly, then sought out Malik, who was carefully mixing the punch and whiskey together until the last drop was gone.

"Hey Ishtar, got anymore of that stuff?"

"Nope, but feel free to drink as much punch as you want," he replied calmly, pouring out a cup for the teen and handing it to him.

"Thanks."

"Careful though, that's the strongest stuff I could find in my house," Malik warned, his words falling to deaf ears as Bakura walked off and plopped down on the couch right next to Ruki.

"So how come your here, Ruki?"

"Yugi invited me, we're friends at school. And you?"

"Yugi invited me, but I think it's more out of obligation because we met through Ryou."

Ruki frowned slightly. There he was again, the infamous Ryou that he was always talking about. How come he couldn't be found anywhere she checked in Domino City, and why did Bakura always talk about him?

"I've never heard Yugi mention Ryou before, which is odd. I hope I get to meet him someday, just to see how wonderful you say he is."

"Uh, that might be a little difficult..."

"And why's that?"

"Well, it's a long story..."

"I have a theory about something, Bakura," Ruki said quietly, her eyes glued straight ahead and her hands clenching and unclenching in her lap. "My theory is that the reason Ryou can't be here tonight, is that you've finally broken him, after abusing and tormenting him for so long. Am I right?"

"What?!"

Her head snapped, her chocolate brown eyes blazing. "Admit it Bakura, you like to hurt that innocent boy, even though he's done nothing against you. What kind of sick freak are you, huh? But what I would really like to know is, how hurt is he? Is he almost dead? Because if he is, I will make sure you go to a prison in hell where you belong."

"You know what? I don't know how we got onto this subject, but please, let's just drop it," Bakura said quickly, getting up from the couch and stalking over to the door. "Good night, Ruki."

"Bakura, wait!!" The door slammed shut behind him, and he quickly walked in the middle of the deserted street, hoping that she wasn't following him.

"Damn it, Bakura, just answer my question!! Is he still alive?!"

He turned around slowly, clutching the Millennium Ring in one hand as he faced Ruki. She was surprised when she looked at his face, it seemed so sad.

"Do you really want to know about Ryou, Ruki?"

"...Yes."

"Very well, then. But you must know, that by learning about him, you must know every single thing. Because every event in his life makes him what he is today," he said softly.

"Just get to the point, Bakura, because that's the only thing that matters," she said crossly.

"Ryou...he always was a shy young boy, he never could make friends easily. And it didn't help that both his mother and sister were dead, and his father was an archeologist, traveling all the time. One day, his father brought him the Millennium Ring, and gave it to him as a birthday present. That was the day that ultimately changed his life, because that Ring was magical."

Bakura paused for a moment, then continued on when Ruki glared at him.

"Bakura, please stop avoiding the question. Is Ryou alive, or isn't he?"

"...yes and no."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Ryou did die, but not by my hands," he said, staring her straight in the eye. "He committed suicide, eight months back. Probably around the time you showed up in Domino."

"T-That's right, how'd you know?" she asked, clearly puzzled.

"And it's almost coincidence that your name, Ruki, is so close to Ryou's, and that you have dreams about him, and that you like the same Duel Monsters card, AND that you look almost exactly alike," he pointed out, taking one step closer to her. She nervously backed away, and they continued this pattern until Ruki bumped into a parked car.

"So yes, Ryou is physically dead to the world. But, his spirit still lives on inside of you, because you are his reincarnation," he told her bitterly. Telling it to her somehow made that small fact real, and Bakura just wanted to keep hoping it was all just a dream.

"No, I...don't believe you," she said weakly. "Reincarnation is just a silly notion that Hindu people created. I-I wasn't an abused boy before, and I never will be."

"Try and convince yourself that, but everything does make sense that way, Ryou."

"No!! Stop calling me Ryou!! I'm Ruki, and I always will be!!" she shrieked, bursting into a run and trying to get as far away from there as possible. She could faintly hear Bakura yelling something after her, but that only made her run faster.

"Don't try to run, Ruki, your past will come back to haunt you!!" he called after her.

'Like mine has...it's my fault that you died, Ryou, and now fate is forever teasing me by keeping you close, but forever different...'

He sighed sadly, then started trudging home, only to end up passing out cold on the couch, an empty beer bottle clutched in one hand. Such a sad ending to a person's day, especially a day like this.

"She will die soon, I can sense it."

Bakura whirled around, and frowned when he saw two robed figures standing in the middle of the street. He hadn't even heard them approach, and there were piles of dead leaves all around.

"What, you mean Ruki?"

"Yes, that girl you were talking to. She has that certain aura about her, that makes her such a vulnerable target. Especially to us." You could tell it was a girl underneath the robe, her voice was light and delicate.

"Look, whoever you weirdo's are, get lost. Halloween's almost over anyway," Bakura snapped at them, continuing his path home.

"I would be careful if I were you, Bakura," the girl called after him. "Because tomorrow is the day when you life will utterly change."

"Ha, yeah right. That day already passed, and it was the day that my Ryou died," he bitterly called over his shoulder, not even realizing that they knew his name even though he never told it. The two girls looked at each other, as if relaying mental messages to each other.

"I must say, he's quite thickheaded."

"Yes, but he'll realize that we're right soon enough."

"True, for tomorrow is the day that will ultimately decide what his future is like, and we'll be there with him."

"Do you think our plan will work?"

"We've done other plans similar to this one, and they've all worked 100%. So this one will go no different."

"Yes, but this is the first time any mortal would be in our headquarters. What if they come back to it someday, this time, with our greatest enemy?"

"We must be willing to take that risk, Reaper."

"*sighs* Yes, I suppose your right, Grim."

"Come on, we have a busy schedule tonight, and the night has barely started."

They started walking along the sidewalk silently, but then vanished into the shadows and not a trace was left. It was like they had never existed.

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AR: ^^;; I'm SO SO sorry it took so long to write this chapter

Diane: Yeah, u'd better be sorry!!

AR: Zip it, Diane, I'm not in the mood to hear anything from you

Diane: But I'm the co-authoress, and your yami!! I have a right to speak!!

AR: -.-n *uses authoress powers to tape Diane's mouth shut* Not anymore

Diane: =X Grrr....

AR: Well, plz review, no flames, and ja ne!! Next chapter'll be up soon, I promise!!