Yami Bakura

I used the millennium eye and heard every word of the conversation between Yugi and his yami. This worried me greatly. I'd acted too freely, and now Yami was sure that I was not Ryou. But thankfully, Yugi didn't agree because his other could not explain why I was acting this way without the ring. Yami Yugi didn't realize that I did not need the ring when there was no Ryou to control and I inhabited the body alone.

A nurse arrived while Yugi was gone. She took me by surprise and I had to halt the eye's magic very quickly so that she would not see anything. I forgot my outrage at her intrusion immediately when I saw that she had my ring. I grabbed it roughly from her when she handed it to me. She gave me a look before leaving. I held the millennium ring in my hands. It glowed brightly and I smiled. As useful as the eye was, the ring was my item of choice. Without me using its power as protection, it had fully regained its magic. Its energy filled me and I felt recharged, strong, and confident.

Now that I had all my power and strength back, I had to consider my next move. I was much stronger magically than Yami Yugi was, but I needed something else. Before I could come up with much of a plan, I needed figure out how to throw Yami off his game. I needed something over him. A distraction. You can't go against the Game King and expect to win without some kind of edge. But I was stumped.

Yugi came back into the room about twenty or thirty minutes after he had left. He looked unusually upbeat, considering the way I had been treating him all day. I was tempted to look into his mind right there to find out why he was so happy, but I did not want to push it. So I just asked.

"What's with you?"

"Nothing," he said, grinning. I was a bit nervous. Had he and his yami come up with some kind of plot against me when I had been disturbed by the nurse? No...it couldn't be. That stupid smile was too genuine. Like a little kid who had just found his Christmas presents. I would check it out later.

"I see you got your ring back," Yugi said. The grin temporarily disappearing.

"Nurse brought it up while you were gone."

"Oh. Well," he started, that look back on his face, "I'm gonna go across the street for some lunch at that burger place. You want something? I, for one, can't stand hospital food."

Why was he so nice all of a sudden? I'd been treating him like dirt, and he offers me food. I'll never understand nice people. I said no to his offer.

"You sure?" he asked again. "I saw your breakfast plate. You didn't touch any of it. Your stomach still hurt or something? You were pretty sick yesterday."

"Yeah, I guess," I said, mostly to shut him up. I did not need to be reminded of my being sick. I just wanted him to go so I could think.

"Okay then! I'm gonna go eat, and then I have to the game shop and check in with Grampa. I think he needs some help bringing in the new shipment. It's noon now. I'll be back around two o'clock or so. Two-thirty if I run into a new nurse who thinks I'm underage." He smiled yet again. That was getting annoying. I guess it was supposed to be a joke. I forced a laugh so he would leave me alone.

Finally, Yugi left. I used the eye as soon as the door closed to find out what was going on. It seems that Jounouchi had cheered Yugi up after I had brought him down. They wanted to "surprise" me by welcoming me out of the hospital. Wanted to bring me back to the way "I" was before the accident. Good luck with that! But this did give me and idea. A brilliant idea if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately, it required getting Yugi's trust back. His happy attitude did not change the fact that he thought I was out of my head. I had to convince him that I was the Ryou of old. I would only need a bit of good acting to remove all doubt of my being in my right mind from Yugi. Yami was stubborn, but he would not go against Yugi. I had never been troubled by such things.

I had fooled them before. I didn't feel it would be especially hard now. I needed Yugi's trust so that he would be easy to manipulate. I needed him out of the way at the right time (three to four o'clock to be precise) for my plan to work. So I had to play Ryou's part perfectly. So what would little Ryou do if he wasn't feeling himself and so had hurt his friend? Oh, of course... What else?

What exactly was I up to you may ask. I wanted to force Yami to fight my way. So I needed something that he wants...or wants to protect. Now that I had both the eye and the ring at my disposal, I had no intention of staying in this hospital longer than was necessary to set my plan in motion. The plan? To distract Yugi long enough to get something that he and his yami are willing to fight for. Since I no longer had Ryou as a bartering chip, I needed a new one. Or three...
 
 

Yugi

I really liked Jounouchi's idea. Maybe we could snap Bakura out of his current mood. I couldn't think of anything else we could do. It gave me hope, though, and that was enough to put me in high spirits. Unfortunately, I was also very hungry.

I stopped back in Bakura's room. My good mood must have been very obvious, because he asked me about it. The fact that he ASKED and did not just see for himself was a good sign. Perhaps he was coming around already.

I did not tell him anything about what we were planning. I did ask him if he wanted any non-hospital food. He declined my offer, which was surprising. I knew he hadn't touched his breakfast. I would think he was hungry by now, since he hadn't eaten in a while and the last time he did, he, uh, didn't get to keep it.

I was concerned and asked if he was still sick. He half-heartedly said yes. I guess it wouldn't be right to bring the food back here to eat like I was planning to if that was the case. I would eat at the restaurant. I looked at the clock on the wall. Noon. Grampa had wanted me to come back at one and help him with the new shipment. That would take a few hours. Good thing Jounouchi was taking care of everything for welcoming Bakura back.

I told Bakura I would be back around two or two-thirty. I joked a bit before leaving to test him. I wanted to see what his mood was. He laughed a little bit, but at least he laughed. That was something. He was getting better. He seemed so deep in thought, and it was like he was sizing me up, like it was me acting strange instead of him. Weird.....

I had a nice little lunch at the burger place. Then I took the bus back to the game shop. The truck with this week's shipment was already there. Geez! Grampa had ordered a lot this time. Seeing as I was the young, able-bodied one, it was mostly me moving things about while Grampa told me where to put them. Then there was a bunch of counting and restocking shelves. Yami offered to help. He was feeling bad because he thought he had upset me. He didn't say this, but I knew that's what it was. I told him it was okay. I did not mind the work. It got my mind off my other problems. For these few hours of busy work, I was less stressed than I had been in two days. Wish I could say the same for Yami. And Grampa....

"Where's the new card stand?! I told them specifically that I needed that new display case! Honestly, that company's falling apart since Pegasus croaked. Good riddance, but at least when he was alive I got good service!"

Oh, boy...

I did not even finish my work until after two. I was going to be late. There was no way I was going to make it back to the hospital by two thirty. Oh, well. It's not like Bakura will care. He didn't seem to want me there anyway. Then a thought crossed my mind that hadn't before. I had been thinking that Jounouchi's plan would do well to bring Bakura to his senses, but what if the opposite happened? Bakura was a bit unpredictable right now. What if he didn't feel like seeing the others? What if he got mad? I had never worried before that Bakura might hurt somebody, but then Bakura had been surprising me all day.

Worry gnawed at me. Yami asked if I wanted to cancel. I wasn't sure. Jounouchi wanted to do this. Maybe....Maybe I should check on Bakura first. I should see what his mood is. I'd left him alone for a while. Maybe he was feeling better. If he was still in a bad mood, I would have to cancel. I could not risk it.

I was prepared for anything when I entered Bakura's room again. Anything, that is, except what I found...