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The Return	By : rayemars Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > General Views: 2009 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Exactly one year ago today (8/20), I posted the first chapter of this fic on ff.net.

...I want my time back.

Ryou's father's suspicion of drug use is first mentioned in chapter four.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryou woke up more tired than he'd been when he fell asleep. His face and head throbbed.

He pushed the covers back, then blinked and made a face when he realized that he was naked. Ryou burrowed his head into the pillow and closed his eyes again, wondering if there was even a reason to get up. If he just stayed there and waited for the spirit to appear again, at least he wouldn't be caught by surprise.

Unable to fall asleep again despite his fatigue, Ryou eventually tilted his head and looked at the alarm. It was ten minutes past the time he was usually up.

Ryou sighed, and then a bad habit of good attendance caused him to sit up and slide out of bed. He padded over to his dresser and began to get ready for school.

When he spotted the Millennium Ring sitting beneath his folded uniform, he glared. A moment later Ryou raised his arm, about to backhand the Ring off the dresser and onto the floor again. Then he changed mindmind and decided that he didn't even want to touch it. He left the room instead.

Once he caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror, the headache became rather self-explanatory. A dark bruise had formed on his cheek, beside his ear.

Ryou pushed his hair back for a better look and made a brief, annoyed face when one of the strands caught on his bandaid. He knew he'd been hit yesterday, but he hadn't realized it had been so bad...the spirit had never left marks on his face before. It had always been considerate enough to keep them in easily covered places.

Ryou gave a bitter little laugh, and stared at the bruise again. Then he let his hair drop back into place, and gave it a critical look. It wasn't very good, but if he didn't brush his hair, maybe tae tangles would...help hide it? Or something....

Ryou sighed, wished his mother was there so he could steal her hairspray or makeup, and picked up his toothbrush.

Fifteen minutes later, when he was out of the bathroom and walking down the stairs, he frowned slightly. Eggs?

Then he remembered.

Ryou took the rest of the steps two at a time, catching the banister in one hand and swinging himself around when he reached the bottom. "Father!" he called cheerfully as he jogged to the kitchen.

Inside, the table was set for the two of them and Mr. Bakura was leaning over the stove, scrambling eggs. Ryou ran up and hugged him briefly. "Welcome home! How was your flight? Did you--" the sight of the neat kitchen table brought back more of yesterday "--oh, I'm sorry! I was going to make dinner, but I...I was really tired for some reason, and I took a nap...." Ryou moved a strand of hair away from his face, and winced when he touched his cheek. Then his eyes widened as he realized that what he'd done, and immediately pushed his hair forward to cover his face. This was going to be impossible to hide for the next week....

Hoping that his father hadn't noticed the lapse in his conversation, Ryou continued. "Though I guess I shouldn't call it a nap, since I slept all day. I didn't mean to be so lazy, sorry."

"...I understand," Mr. Bakura finally replied. "Bring the plates over here, please."

"Okay," Ryou said carefully, a foreboding feeling beginning to nag at him."I "I want you to come straight home from school today," his father said as he lifted the pan and turned off the burner. "You have a doctor's appointment."

Ryou frowned and glanced over at the calendar on the refrigerator. "I thought my check-up wasn't until November," he said as he set the plates on the counter.

"It is," the man answered. "But I got this appointment so you could go in for a drug test."

Ryou blinked. "What?" Mr. Bakura didn't reply, and ead ead scraped the eggs onto their plates. Ryou shook his head. Then he jerked and brushed his hair back into place. "Why? I...I told you, I'm not taking drugs!"

"I don't believe you," his father said quietly, not looking up.

Ryou stared at him.

A moment later, thn hen held out one of the plates. "Here."

After a pause, Rtooktook it and sat down at the table. He father took the seat across from him, but when the man said nothing else and the silence stretched awkwardly, Ryou picked up his fork and started chewing without tasting. He was hungry, but for some reason the food left him slightly nauseous. He ate anyway.

It made sense, when he thought about it. He always had the house in good order when his father returned, but this time...the clothes on the floor (why couldn't he have at least put it in the laundry basket, before doing the wash? He should have known better!), the shower left running (he didn't want to think of what that was going to do to this month's water bill), food left on the table and still in the grocery bag...sleeping naked on top of the blanket, that probably didn't help, and it would have revealed the bruise, too (or maybe not--he hasn't said anything)...and his uniform probably smelled like warehouse and alley grime. That was all damning evidence right there. It was funny, though--he'd always though it would be the lying that would trap him.

It also explained why his uniform had been washed and the Ring moved. Who else would do something nice for him?

Ryou had a brief image of the spirit trying to work the wag mag machine and gave another bitter little laugh, causing his father to look up sharply. He realized that he'd probably just made the situation worse, but Ryou didn't see much reason to care at the moment. Instead, he pushed his chair back and stood. "I have to go, or I'll be late."

His father glanced at the clock, then nodded. "Be back as soon as you get out," he reminded you you left the room.

"I will," he said, picking up his satchel from the place he had left it, next to the couch.

Ryou heard someone chuckling as he pulled the door shut, but he knew it was just in his head.

~~~
School went badly. He would have been better off sleeping in. No, he would have been better off sleeping in yesterday; then he would never have been caught up in this whole mess.

He'd had the idea of asking Yugi to come home with him that afternoon and explain, leaving out the whole 'spirits, Duel Monsters, Millennium Items' aspect of the story. He wasn't sure how much that would have left, but hopefully it would have been enough that his father would cancel the appointment and drop the whole subject. He also wasn't sure what to tell Yugi to explain spacing out like he had, but he would have thought of something. One of them always did.

His first thoughts when he heard the news from T�a were concern for Yugi and a very insulting comment towards Murphy's Law.

After that, Ryou just trio mao make it through his first three classes without moving his head in a way that shifted his hair or passing out. He didn't understand how he could still be so tired after sleeping for nearly fourteen hours, but it got to the point where he had to slip his hand under his sleeve and pinch his arm just to keep his eyes open.

That would only last for a few seconds at best, though, and it interfered with his note-taking. Finally, Ryou quit and just hoped that the teachers wouldn't notice that his eyes were shut most of the time. If he was lucky, lunchtime would wake him up, but the thought of food still made him want to be sick. The feeling seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember why, or from when. He hadn't been physically ill for a long time, so it wasn't that....

Lunch failed to revive him, or even lighten his headache slightly. Ryou tried to eat, but soon he pushed his tray away and listened to Joey and T�a talk about Yugi's adventure while Tristan sat a little ways away, finishing yesterday's Biology homework "T "The doctor said he'll probably be discharged in another day," T�a added, before pulling off another grape. "They just want to keep him this long because of the smoke inhalation." She offered Ryou the bunch.

He pulled off a grape with a small "Thanks," and then frowned. "T�a, what happened to your hand?"

Joey moved his soda down and leaned over to look. "Hey, yeah. What's th' bandaid for?"

T�a glanced away and pulled the bunch back. "I got a little distracted at work, and I accidentally burned myself on the grill."

"Oh my, are you okay?" Ryou asked.

T�a smiled at him. "Yeah, it's nothing. I'm just wearing this so I don't rub it aga any anything." She pulled off the last grape and put the stem in her bag. "We're going to visit him this afternoon--do you want to come?"

Ryou winced and looked down at the ground. "Thank you, but I can't make it. I have a doctor's appointment."

"For that bruise on your face?" Tristan asked coolly, not looking up from his textbook.

Ryou's eyes widened slightly as he stared at the brunet. He'd been so careful--how had Tristan noticed it?

"Bruise?" Joey asked, eyes narrowing as he set down the can. "What happened? Someone givin' ya a hard time?" He cracked his knuckles, and T�a tilted her head, trying to get a glimpse through his cover of hair.

Ryou instinctively clapped a hand over his cheek before he realized how guilty that had to look. He put on a half-grin. "Oh, that? I got it while I was climbing into the warehouse. It's nothing. The appointment is just a check-up
T
Tristan looked up. "Yeah, I meant to ask--how'd ya get into that warehouse in the first place?"

"...like I told Yugi, I climbed up the fire escape," Ryou said uncomfortably. "Did he not mention that?"

Tristan didn't answer that question. "How'd you get in, though? Was there a window open?"

Ryou frowned. "No...."

[I pried one open. Look at your hands.] The comment was faint, but audible.

"I had to pry one open," he finished.

Tristan jerked a thumb at his hands, and the bandaid around his cracked nail. "Looks like it hurt. That was a lot of trouble to go to."

"Yugi's my friend. I was worried."

Joey drained the can and leaned backwards until he was sprawled over the grass, resting his head on one arm and draping the other over his stomach. He grinned up at Tristan. "Hey man, don't be weird jus' cause he managed ta get inta the buildin' faster'n you could."

Tristan glared and jabbed the pencil at him. "Like you were so great. You couldn't've gotten into that place without my help."

"Ha! I could've gotten in quicker!"

"Like hell!"

T�a sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes at Ryou, then started putting her and Joey's trash into the paper bag.

Ryou s up up and reached out. "Here, I'll take that. I have to go inside and see Mrs. Ueda, anyway."

"Oh, thank you," T�a smiled, handing over the bag. "And if you get out of your checkup before visiting hours are over, Yugi's in room 203. I'm not staying long, since I have dance class, but I'm sure that Joey'll be there the whole time."

"You're welcome. And thank you." He waved slightly as he turned around. "I'll see you guys in class!"

~~~
Mrs. Ueda had been upset when he told her that he wouldn't be able to tutor that afternoon and had asked why he hadn't mentioned the appointment earlier so that she wouldn't have to find a replacement at the last moment, but Ryou just apologized again and said that it had slipped his mind. He left grateful that he didn't have any classes with her, and headed for the bathroom.

Inside, he wet his hands and ran them over his hair, fixing it back over the bruise on his face. If he was lucky--or just less unlucky--it would stay long enough to get him through class. Ryou checked his reflection, and sighed. It would be nearly two weeks until it faded, on a guess. And most of the time would be school days. Just bloody great. How was he supposed to manage keeping it hidden that long?

The spirit had never been this careless. He must have really irritated it, somehow. But he hadn't said anything to it that he hadn't said before....

"That's a lousy disguise."

Ryou started and jerked around. Tristan was leaning against the wall by the door, arms folded over his chest.

"Anyone with half an eye of experience can tell what you're hiding," the brunet added.

"Yes, well...I just didn't want to deal with a lot of questions," Ryou said quietly.

Tristan raised an eyebrow, but his face remained cold. "Questions? Like, how come, if you got that bruise helpin' Yugi like you said, it wasn't starting to show during school yesterday?"

Ryou started to open his mouth, then realized that there was no answer to that.

He glanced reflexively at the way out. Tristan was leaning against the wall right next to the door, and he was halfway across the room--even if he tried to run, the other teen could block the exit before he got near it. He was trapped.

There was another snicker in the depths of his mind, but Ryou ignored it and took a awa away, putting his back against the small corner formed by the stall wall and the sink.

He knew the stories around the school. The three girls who had taken it upon themselves to show him around his first week had informed him that he was making friends with some of the worst kids in their class. Joey and Tristan were a little infamous, for freshmen--there were sophomores and juniors who avoided fights with them.

Tristan noticed his action and narrowed his eyes. "You didn't get that at the warehouse," he said flatly. "So who gave it to you?" He blinked slowly, expression unchanging. "Or 'what'?"

Ryou's hand twitched slightly by his side. Then, suddenly, he reached up and jerked at the collar of his uniform, undoing the buckle. He pulled open the first button on his shirt, then yanked them both to the side, exposing his bare neck. "Whatever you're implying, you threw the Ring off the tower, remember? That's what you told me, at least."

"Yeah, I remember," Tristan said, scrutinizing his neck before glancing back up. "I also remember more of that 'dream' I had, where the three of us were caught by Pegasus." He stared at Ryou's eyes. "Yugi banished the Ring spirit to the Shadow Realm earlier, but he just reappeared again--right when you were threatened. Which makes me think that either you don't have any sort of control over or yor you let him back."

Ryou straightened slightly and looked at the floor. He didn't answer for a minute.

"...I....He just appeared, and I tried to keep him away, but when Pegasus said he was going to take our souls...."

"You just let him return, after he tried to kill us?!"

Ryou's hand clenched around the fabric of his collar, trying to push away the angry, frustrated tears he could feel forming. "I'm sorry that I didn't want to die, Tristan! We got out of the mess--the Lately?

[Oh, come now Bakura. Even you must have realized that your father is spending far less time at home ever since he found those letters to your dead little sister.]

It was the mental equivalent of a punch in the Ab Abruptly unable to sit up any longer, Ryou bent over, wrapping his arms loosely ar his his legs and burying his head in his knees.

[Bad enough that you can't control your own actions, but when you don't know your own thoughts....If you can't even tell when I'm twisting your emotions and when you're being yourself, Bakura, do you honestly think you deserve to call this your life?]

Shut up! "Shut up," he hissed, arms tightening around his legs. "I don't want to listen to you." If I wait just another week, your voice will fade completely. I know it will. It has so far. I can be patient.

There was a long silence, and Ryou finally decided that he needed to get up and go back to bed.

[It hurts, doesn't it?]

Huh?

[Your body. It aches, under the skin and in your bones.]

Ryou frowned. ...So?

[It's the Ring.]

What?

[You obviously understand what it means if my voice fades. But have you stopped to think of what will happen to you?]

.... Ryou sat up again.

[You're my body, Bakura. You have the marks that guarantee my co-ownership. And they will not fade, not while the both of us live.]

Ryou's hand drifted reflexively to the scars above his stomach, made what felt like so long ago when the Ring's pointers had decided to bury themselves in his chest one afternoon. I...you don't mean....

[Are you willing to die, just to ensure my end? I promise you, there is no other way to do it.]

You're lying!

Ryou heard that laugh again, and faint though it was, he remembered why he had flinched. [I am the one who made those marks; I am the one who can break the contract. Not you. Now, do you want to die?!]

Ryou stared wide-eyed at the carpet, trying to sort his thoughts out. There were plenty of places where the spirit could be twisting the truth...but the risk he would be taking...if it wasn't....

The price he would be paying, if he wanted to live.

Ryou shut his eyes tightly, then reached out and groped along the cushion until he felt the Ring. He lifted the cool metal, and without opening his eyes, slid the cord back around his neck.

There was a small explosion in the back of his mind, and then the spirit returned in full force, bringing all it was feeling with it.

The pain crashed over Ryou so fiercely that he fell off the couch without even realizing it, a thin, strangled scream coming from his throat. He curled up instinctively, one arm braced across his chest as his free hand clenched the carpet tightly.

This time, the spirit's voice was neither faint nor weak. It was as clear as if it had never left, though it was still thick with similar pain.

[Like I said: hurts, doesn't it?]

Ryou tried again to scream, but his throat was too constricted to work and his ribs felt as though they were going to shatter. He could only lie there, trying to get away from his skin.

Stop it! Please! Anything...I'll do.... Stop!!

[No.]

The spirit was keeping him conscious, though that hurt itself as well, to make him pay for what it had suffered. As soon as Ryou realized this, he remembered the first time it had happened. And as soon as he recalled that, his desire to escape consciousness was magnified.

That strength of will was the secret that the spirit had guardedly kept from him, and so for the first time, Ryou found him sta standing in his soul room voluntarily.

He whirled around and slammed the door behind him, effectively shutting out the pain. Then, as it drained away, he fell to the floor in exhaustion and gratefully blacked out.

~

13

14

15

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