Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Mirrors and Memories Past ❯ Shattered Mirrors and Memories Past ( Chapter 2 )

Darkness surrounded him as Bakura paced his wing of the house. Ryou hadn't come home yet; he should have been here hours ago, He had only gone the Marik's house to study, how long could that take. What was taking so long? Bakura stopped his pacing only long enough to whip his lighter from his pocket and light two long golden taper candles. The dancing flames jumped to life, sending shadows flying up the walls for the spirits room.

Bakura resumed his pacing, back and forth in front of the window. 'Where is he?' The frustrated yami threw open the window and peered into the distance. He saw nothing, no signs of Ryou dead or alive. The silvery- haired spirit pulled back into the room, shutting the window with a loud thud. He was beginning to pace again, when something caught his eye. Bakura smiled slightly to himself, walking over to pick up a small picture frame from his dresser. The picture was of he and Ryou, the day he had taken his excited hikari on his first trip to the zoo.

~ And I give up forever to touch you,

`Cause I know you can feel me somehow. ~

Bakura gently stroked Ryou's face, smiling fondly at the memory. He remembered how happy Ryou had been when the usually malicious spirit smiled and informed him that he was going to the zoo. Ryou had squealed like a giddy schoolgirl and jumped into his yami's arms, thanking him in squeaks of appreciation. Bakura had hugged his bouncing hikari to him, basking in the warmth touch of his lights light's body.

~ You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be,

And I don't want to go home right wow. ~

The next day Ryou had roused him from bed bright and early in his excitement. Bakura may have growled a little but he really didn't protest. Had it been anyone other than his sweet hikari, mind you, he would have stabbed them on the spot. After eating a much-hurried breakfast, he loaded both Ryou and his picnic lunch onto his motorcycle and they made their way to the Domino zoo.

Ryou ran from exhibit chattering excitedly. He had always wanted to come to the zoo. Bakura followed his light indulgently, sharing bits and pieces of information that the spirit thought Ryou might find fascinating. Ryou talked non-stop about anything and everything until suddenly he just stopped, as if entranced by something. When Bakura finally caught up with his hyperactive hikari, he noticed he was staring fixedly at the wolves.

"Bakura…" Ryou whispered his yami's name in awe.

"Yes Ryou?" The questioning yami walked up behind the other boy speaking directly in his ear. The younger male turned his chocolate eyes dancing in amazement.

"Bakura look, wolves." Ryou pointed through the glass of the exhibit.

"Yes Hikari. Wolves, powerful, dark, and mysterious creatures, Wolves…" Bakura looked up at the wolves and shook his head. `I know your pain my friends. Such creatures of beauty should not be locked up. You should be able to run free.' The smaller boy looked over his shoulder, his eyes sparkling with adoration.

"Just like you, Bakura." The spirit was held speechless by that comment and those eyes. Ryou had never complimented him before.

~ And all I can taste is this moment,

And all I can breath is your life. ~

Bakura cupped Ryou's pale cheek, caressing his light gently as not to hurt him. Ryou closed his eyes slightly, leaning into the caress. The spirit wrapped his free arm around the boy's waist, pulling Ryou to him. Bakura dipped his head down and grazed the other's lips with his own Ryou gasped slightly and sighed as his yami kissed him again. At the touch of his tongue, Ryou opened his mouth to allow his darker half to deepen the kiss. Bakura pushed his tongue into Ryou's mouth slowly, savoring the taste of his sweet, little light. Ryou tasted so strongly of honey and melon that Bakura found it hard to control himself. His arms tightened around on the other's waist, pulling every inch of their bodies closer together. Bakura's hand traveled to the back of Ryou's neck, pulling the other to him. The two kissed in a whirlwind of passion, each holding the other tightly. Bakura was the first to pull back, his lungs protesting strongly to the lack of oxygen.

The two moved to the exhibit's bench, hand in hand, and sat down silently, but as they sat there it felt as if something was missing. Bakura soon found out what it was when Ryou crawled onto his lap. He had missed the warmth of his hikari's body. The spirit coiled his arms around Ryou's body, cradling the other in his arms. Ryou sighed leaning his head on his yami's shoulder.

"Thank you Bakura." The younger boy nuzzled Bakura's neck. "This was wonderful. I never want it to stop." The silver-haired spirit nuzzled back and squeezed Ryou lovingly.

"You are welcome, Hikari." The two of them cuddled on the bench watching the sunset and the wolves in silence.

Ryou soon fell asleep, curled comfortably on his yami's lap, the sweetest smile playing on his lips. Bakura lifted the sleeping light to his chest, cradling him there and got to his feet. He carried Ryou back to his motorcycle and set him gently into the side care before speeding home.

~ But sooner or later it's over,

I just don't want to miss you tonight. ~

Bakura felt hot tears sting his eyes at the happy memory. In the past year, his hikari had stopped paying attention to him. Ryou had been spending all his time with that goody-goody Marik and his yami. The tears pushed at the back of his eyes again, threatening to overtake him.

~ And I don't want the world to see me,

`Cause I don't think that they'd understand. ~

Bakura threw the heavy red and gold velvet curtains over the window, blocking out the world. No one would see him in this state, NO ONE! Bakura moved slowly back toward his dresser, looking first at the picture and then at his reflection.

~ When everything's made to be broken,

I just want you to know who I am. ~

He set his fist into the center of the mirror. WHY! Why did Ryou have to be the one staring back at him? Bakura slowly pulled his fist back marveling at how the pain made him feel. It stung but it gave him an odd sense of relief. He watched as the myriad shards of glass fell to the floor at his feet. Shards of every size and shape lay scattered acrossed the dresser and the floor, reflecting the candlelight in all different directions.

~ And you can't fight the tears that ain't comin',

Or the moment of truth in your lies. ~

Bakura shunk to the floor in front of the dresser, amidst the pieces of his broken mirror, and sobbed. Loud, heavy sobs racked his lean frame, but no tears would come, and it hurt. In all his years upon this earth, he had never felt such pain. His eyes burned and his body ached, but no tears fell to sooth his pain.

~ When everything feels like the movies, ~

Bakura looked franticly around the room to find something, ANYTHING, to ease his pain. There were pills in the bathroom, but that was too far away, that wouldn't do. There was liquor under his bed, but there wasn't enough to stop a hurt like this one, that wouldn't do either. Just when he thought that there was nothing to take away his pain, he felt something warm and sticky drip off of his hand. `What's this?' Bakura turned his hand over to look at it more clearly. His knuckles were bathed in a layer of thick, ruby fluid that he had seen a million times before. On Ryou's lips after someone had hit him, on his own hands after he had killed…a million times. `Blood?' He noticed that several of the shards of the mirror had coated in his blood when it had cut him.

~ Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive! ~

The thought struck him fast and it struck him hard; cut…bleed…pain…relief. He picked up one of the larger shards of the mirror and turned it over in his hands. It was sharp; it would do the job he so desired. This hurt him terribly. He wanted the pain to stop; he wanted not to hurt anymore. It hurt to be alone, and no matter what his hikari said he now knew that he was truly alone, and that pained him heavily. He placed the shard to his left wrist. "Glorious instrument of destruction, grant my deepest desire and deliver me into the dark arms of fate!" He drew the glass slowly across his wrist, reveling in the pain it caused. Immediately, the dark vermilion color of his lives' blood painted his pale skin, seeping languidly from the shallow cut. Slowly he became numb to the pain of his body and his mind as he proceeded to slice his wrist several more times, each time the cuts becoming deeper and more blood colored his ivory flesh. He watched in morbid fascination as five rivers of crimson flowed from his wrist, down to gather in his hand, and finally cascaded over his bowled fingers in a carmine waterfall. It dripped slowly down his hand and pooled on the tawny carpet. With extremely fascination he turned the shard over in his hands, watching the coagulated gore slid down the side of the mirror shard and dripping into the puddle with a sickening splat. A small, slightly demented smile crossed Bakura's feminine features as he put the bloody shard into his other hand. The pain would not return; he would make sure of it. He continued the job he had begun on his left wrist with his right, until ten rivers of life flowed from his body. `That's better…numb now.' The pain became fuzzy and nonexistent as his mind swam from lack of blood. He fell back onto the carpet with a small sigh and waited, his arms outspread, for the sweet darkness that came to claim him.

~ And I don't want the world to see me,

`Cause I don't think that they'd understand.

When everything's made to be broken,

I just want you to know who I am. ~

Ryou looked up from his homework and stretched lazily. As his eyes came down from the ceiling, they fell upon the clock. `Ra! It's seven 'o clock! Bakura will be worried sick.'

"Something the matter Ryou?" Malik asked, his deep, violate eyes meeting Ryou's eyes of chocolate brown.

"No. I was just thinking that I should be going. Bakura will be worried if I'm not home soon." `Yeah, an hour and a half ago, soon.' Ryou began to cram his things into his school bag and stood up; moving quickly to the door, he bowed. "Thanks for helping me you guys, really appreciate it. Have to do it again sometime, bye!" he slipped on his shoes and ran out the door, leaving Marik and Malik to ponder the reason for his rush.

~ And I don't want the world to see me,

`Cause I don't think that they'd understand.

When everything's made to be broken,

I just want you to know who I am. ~

"Bakura! Bakura, I'm home! Sorry, I lost…track of…time…?" Ryou had burst into a completely dark house. "Bakura? …Bakura where are you?" A scared whimper escaped the boy's lips as he shut the heavy oak door behind him. `Bakura's probably just reading in the study and didn't hear me.' The boy reassured himself in the stifling sounds of silence. Ryou dropped his school bag at the door and padded down the hall to the study in his stocking feet.

He rapped softly at the door before pushing it open. "Bakura? Are you in here? I'm home." No warm answer echoed off the forest green walls of the study as they usually did. Nothing greeted Ryou but the deep silence the rest of the house was so heavily blanketed in. `Maybe he's up in his room.' Ryou closed the door on the eerie soundlessness of the study and headed up the stairs to his yami's bedroom.

A soft knock, a gentle push, and the door swung silently open.

~ And I don't want the world to see me,

`Cause I don't think that they'd understand.

When everything's made to be broken,

I just want you to know who I am. ~

Ryou gasped into his hands, his eyes becoming as large as dinner plates.

"Bakura!!" The light screamed and fell to his knees beside his pallid yami.

"Hi…Hikari? Is that you?" The spirit's voice was very weak, but in the silent house Ryou could hear it as clear as a bell.

"Yes, yes Bakura. It's me."

"You…are safe, Hikari?" Bakura's voice grew weaker still.

Y…yes. Bakura what happened?" The spirit smiled weakly, raising his eyes to Ryou's; his eyes, every heavily lidded, had lost most of their luster.

"I…stopped the pain." At that Bakura convulsed and began to cough, reopening ten slashes acrossed his arms and wrists.

"Bakura! You're bleeding." Ryou began to take off his white over-shirt to stitch the wounds, before his beloved yami lost any more blood. Bakura shook his head.

"Never mind that. I have something to tell you, little hikari."

~ I just want you to know who I am. ~

"No Bakura! Save your strength. You can tell me later." Silver tears brimmed Ryou's chocolate brown eyes.

"There may not be a `later', Hikari."

"Don't talk like that! You're not going anywhere Bakura. You'll be all right. I'll take care of you." Ryou sobbed as he tore his shirt and stitched off his yami's wounds. "You'll be all right. You'll be all right." Crystalline tears fell from his eyes as the young boy watched his yami slip away from him slowly.

"Ryou…" Bakura now panted heavily, straining to fight back the impending darkness. "…Ryou, I … have to… tell you… this… before… I go." Ryou nearly broke into hysterics at the word `go'.

"Ryou…I…I…ll.…"

~ I just want you to know who I am. ~

"Save your strength, please." Ryou sobbed loudly.

"Ry…ou…I…l.o.v.e…y.o.u…unn." Bakura moaned incoherently as his head lolled to the side and he slipped into darkness. Ryou's eyes widened.

"Bakura? Bakura! No! No, Bakura wake up. Please wake up! Bakura, no, please don't leave me! No…" Ryou collapsed onto his yami's chest sobbing uncontrollably. He was gone. Bakura was gone.

Ryou curled up against the limp body of the spirit and laid his on Bakura's chest. The light mewled, a sad little sound made in utter misery. He nuzzled his yami's neck one last time and laid his head back onto Bakura's chest. Ryou was about to turn himself over to the merciful darkness when he heard something that melted the shattered pieces of his heart back together again. The slightly labored, but still relatively strong, beat of Bakura's heart.

~ I just want you to know who I am. ~