Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ We'll Be There ❯ Part I ( Chapter 1 )

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

Destiny: Hiya! I'm doin' my first shorter fic! Also, let me announce THIS IS NOT A YAOI!!! Yaaaay for people who don't like yaoi! And please don't click the back button b/c you don't like non-yaoi fics; at least give this fic a chance. Well I feel bad that some people don't like shounen-ai or yaoi…there are some really good YGO slash pairings, in my opinion. Anyway, let me repeat, THIS IS NOT SLASH [meaning no man-to-man pairings]. Just to clarify for those of you who don't like that stuff….

Mackenzie: *shakes her head* You ate chocolate again…

Destiny: Anyway…the characters from YGO are the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi. And the lyrics from "We'll Be There" that are used to accompany this piece belong to Dominic Nolfi and Lindsey Warner. However, the rest of this story is my intellectual property. Which means you're not allowed to take my story, switch the characters around, and use it…

Mackenzie: Destiny, you're being paranoid again…

Destiny: *grins sheepishly* Yea, I guess so…

Mackenzie: Enjoy!

Destiny: Btw, the lyrics from "We'll Be There" will be shown ~like this~

And this is the legend/key:

Ryou=Bakura Ryou

Bakura=Yami Bakura

Oh yea, another thing…the yamis and hikaris have separate bodies…

I'm lazy, Audrey, unlike you, lol. I still cannot believe you wrote out Bakura and Yami Bakura every single time… j/k

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

We'll Be There

Part I

Dedicated to: My friend Audrey [aka xox PunKin oxo], for her 15th Birthday. I hope you like, Audrey!

Ryou cringed as Bakura slapped him across the face, hating the sound of Bakura's hand making contact with his cheek. The strike had left Ryou's skin stinging, his pale cheek tinged with pink. Ryou felt a tear slide down his cheek, which made his vulnerable skin tingle.

"Stop crying, you pathetic mortal!" Bakura growled.

Ryou sniffled, attempting to cease his weeping. Nonetheless, crystal tears continued to pour down his pallid cheeks. Each salty drop fell on the floor with a faint splatter. His heart was pounding against his chest, getting louder and louder; his sobs became increasingly shrill, and Bakura was ceaselessly kicking him--he wanted it all to end. He wanted Bakura to stop hurting him, to stop yelling at him…Ryou wanted his heart to stop hammering, the tears to stop falling; he just wanted it all to--

"STOP!!" Ryou shrieked, clutching his throbbing head.

Bakura seized Ryou's shirt collar, pushing him against the wall. His eyes narrowed, and his nose was centimeters from Ryou. "What did you say to me?" he demanded.

Ryou immediately cowered in fear, his gaze avoiding Bakura's dark glare. "Please don't hurt me," he begged him. "I…I'm afraid I can't take it anymore…"

"You must never show weakness," Bakura snarled. "You must not show that you are in pain, even when you think you can't take it anymore."

Ryou sniffed in reply, and continued his desperate attempt to avert his eyes from his yami's.

"Look at me!" Bakura commanded, giving a sharp jerk on Ryou's shirt. "Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"

Ryou gave a quick nod, but the tears continued to leak down his cheeks.

Bakura abruptly released Ryou's shirt collar and stomped out of the room, leaving a crippled Ryou on the marble floor. His hikari slumped to the ground, closing his eyes in utter defeat.

* * *

Several hours later, around midnight, Ryou finally gained enough energy to rise from the cold floor and stumble upstairs into his bedroom.

He didn't sleep well that particular night; even during the next five and a half hours he woke several times to find himself completely drenched in sweat. When he finally got out of bed to get ready for school, he discovered patches of dried blood on his sheets. Crusty blood was coated beneath his nostrils and around his mouth.

Ryou took a hot shower, which proved to be an efficient method for rinsing off the hardened red substance. He ran his fingers through his silky white hair, pushing out all of the dirt particles.

Ryou was ready for school a mere twenty minutes later, and was about to step out of the front door of his apartment when he felt an icy hand clamp down on his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" came the frosty voice. Bakura's poisonous words were thick with venom and malice.

"S-school…" Ryou stuttered.

Bakura smacked Ryou across the face. "Don't stutter, you fool! What have I told you about not showing weakness?"

"I suppose in your twisted view, stuttering is also a sign of weakness?" he muttered.

Bakura snatched Ryou's uniform shirt into his tight fist. "Who do you think you are? Don't you dare talk back to me!" he thundered.

Ryou glanced away nervously, struggling in Bakura's grip. "Bakura, I have to go!" he sputtered. "The bus is coming!" With that, Bakura reluctantly released his hikari, and Ryou bolted towards the bus stop.

Although most teenagers despised school, Ryou found it somewhat tolerable. After all, being in school kept him away from Bakura. Unfortunately, school also meant being in the presence of other people. And most people didn't like Ryou. Therefore, in many cases, he would opt to avoid people. To Ryou, there was something so…unpleasant about being around people who loathed his very existence, whatever the reason be.

Ryou was on his way to his first period class, English, when he heard an obnoxiously loud and lively voice call his name.

"Ryou! Hey, Ryou!"

Maybe if I pretend not to hear him he'll leave me alone…

He had no such luck. Even at Yugi's major height disadvantage, the shorter boy eventually caught up to Ryou.

"Hello, Yugi. How are you?" Ryou inquired, smiling sweetly.

"Me?"

No, Jonouchi, Ryou thought sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm doing well," the blonde boy responded. "What I really wanted to know is how you were doing."

"I'm doing fine," he replied. It was true, according to Ryou's definition of F.I.N.E: fucked-up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. Just F.I.N.E.

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked. "You seem a little…tired. Are you and Bakura getting along okay?"

Ryou felt his body stiffen upon hearing Bakura's name, but quickly regained composure. He didn't think Yugi noticed his change in posture.

"Yes, we're getting along quite well now."

"All right, then…"

"Well, I'd better be going now…" Ryou continued, quickly shifting the subject of conversation. He turned his back to Yugi, proceeding to his first class.

"Hey, Ryou?"

Ryou rotated swiftly on his heel. "Yes, Yugi?"

"Just remember you can talk to us. Any of us. Me, Yami, Jou, Anzu…"

~*~

~Think of us

And we'll be there~

~*~

"Thank you," was Ryou's gentle response. He then strode away, refusing to turn back, even if Yugi did call him once more.

* * *

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful for Ryou. He took some notes, took some tests; but his mind was almost completely absent during the school day. He found it increasingly difficult to prevent his mind from drifting away from his conscious movements; he often realized that his thoughts would center on his yami's recent behavior.

Why does he hate me so much? he wondered, the voice inside his head cold and bitter.

Does he really hate you? the other voice argued. You're just being melodramatic… Ryou pushed aside his voice of optimism, believing that his pessimistic side was actually right for once.

He beats me. Therefore, he hates me.

~*~

~In your heart

Forever…~

~*~

When Ryou returned home that day, he could not have been in a worse frame of mind.

As soon as Ryou entered his house, the door slammed shut behind him, and he was forced up against the hard barrier.

"Where have you been?" Bakura demanded, his hot breath scorching Ryou's cheeks.

"School," Ryou responded thickly, determined not to be punished for 'showing weakness'. He carefully removed himself from Bakura's grasp and headed towards his bedroom. "I'm going to start my homework," he announced before locking himself in his room.

* * *

It was nine o'clock, and Ryou still had not emerged from his room. He had not even appeared to eat dinner.

"What in the name of Ra is that blasted boy doing?" Bakura muttered. "It can't take that long for him to do his homework…"

Bakura strode up to Ryou's door, giving it a quick, sharp rap. "Ryou, are you in there?"

"Yes, I am," came Ryou's sweet voice. "What do you need, Bakura?"

"Let me in," he ordered.

"I'm doing my homework."

"This long? You've been working since two-thirty."

"…I got quite a heavy load tonight…"

"Liar." Bakura gave the door an abrupt tug. "Open the door, Ryou!"

"No."

"Open up!" Bakura bellowed. "If you don't do so right this moment, I swear I will kick your arse all the way to Uranus!"

If Bakura could have seen through the door, he might have caught Ryou rolling his eyes at Bakura's pronunciation of 'Uranus'.

Bakura soon became frustrated because of Ryou's refusal to oblige to his orders. With one swift movement he kicked the door open, revealing Ryou's small frame hunched over a pile of papers.

"What the bloody hell are you doing…?" Bakura began, but halted when he saw the immense mass of papers sprawled across the desk.

"Homework, like I said."

"You shouldn't be doing homework!" Bakura snapped. "You should be exercising, building your muscles."

"But--"

"How are you going to be able to protect yourself when you need to if you sit around all day doing this useless crap?"

"I--"

"Get up! I want you to get on the treadmill and run ten miles at the constant speed of ten miles per hour. Go!"

Ryou leapt into the air, scurrying into the basement, where the exercising equipment lay.

He didn't know how he did it, but Ryou managed to maintain that speed for ten full miles without collapsing. By the time he was finished, he was exhausted, about ready to pass out. He felt disgusting; his hair was drenched with sweat and grime, and his pores were leaking with his excretions.

As soon as he slumped into a chair, Bakura yanked Ryou back out of the seat. "Now start your weight training," he told Ryou. "Start with your arms, and work your way down the body."

Ryou got by his excruciatingly extensive weight training session using only very light weights, and he thought he was done until Bakura stood in front of him, dressed in a clingy pair of sweatpants and a tight t-shirt, which pulled firmly across his well-defined chest.

"Fight me," Bakura stated, his eyes flaring with enthusiasm.

"You've got to be kidding," Ryou returned breathlessly. "I can barely stand."

Bakura took another step towards him, once again looming in the slighter teen's face. "Never show weakness. Just put it all aside and fight me."

Ryou shook his head. "No…I can't."

"C'mon, I'll even give you a free shot."

I can't just hurt him. Even if he hurts me. It's not right.

Ryou hesitated, drawing in a shaky breath.

~*~

~Sometimes when you're unsure

Sometimes when you're afraid~

~*~

"Just take you anger out on me," Bakura insisted.

Upon those words Ryou felt a sudden spark of energy, giving him the power to attack his dark half. Clenching his fists, he swung hard, straight at Bakura's face. His fist connected with Bakura's nose, which crunched as a result. Blood splashed onto the floor and smeared onto Ryou's knuckles.

Bakura grinned maniacally, blood seeping between his teeth and smudging on his pointy fangs. "Nice shot," he sneered, licking his lips.

"Oh, my!" Ryou gasped. "Are you all right, Bakura?"

"If you hit me again like that it might get you some brownie points."

Ryou glared at his darker half, appalled by Bakura's words and his own actions.

I can't believe it. I actually hit Bakura.

And for some reason, I enjoyed it. It felt good.

~*~

~At times it's hard to live

With the choices you have made~

~*~

I'm turning into a monster. A monster like Bakura.

Ryou never felt so utterly ashamed of himself in his entire life.

~*~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

Destiny: Yikes, I planned on this being a one shot, but I guess I'll have to post it in two segments. I'll work on it when I can during vacation, and I'll finish it after I get back. ^^;;

Happy Birthday, Audrey!! I hope you like it so far! Please tell me what you think of it so far! I'm not sure, but revisions may be necessary.