Yugi

I walked into the hospital room to find Bakura sitting up in bed, his head buried in his hands. He was crying... Flat out crying... I did not expect this. Not with the way he had been acting. I was at a loss as to what I should do. Should I approach him? Should I make a noise so he would know I was there? In the end, I decided on the latter and cleared my throat loudly.

He looked up at me, seemingly startled. His single eye was red and puffy and that one side of his face was wet with tears. He looked like he had been at it for a while. Several questions filled my head. What was wrong? How had he gone from and insensitive jerk to this in only a few hours? Could Yami have been right? Was this the first time I had seen the real Bakura since yesterday? But how? Maybe his yami was in the ring and had come back when the nurse brought it up. But then why had he been acting like that without the ring? Needless to say, I was very confused. But my confusion was NOTHING compared to Yami's.

<When he didn't have the ring, he acted like Yami Bakura. When he does have the ring, he acts like the normal Bakura. I don't get it! What sort of trick is this?!>

But my attention was on Bakura. I didn't move, but I kept my eyes on him. He blushed slightly and wiped the tears away with the palm of his hand. "You came back," he said, his voice cracking. This took me by surprise.

"Of course I came back. I said I would."

"It's just...You were late and...I know I haven't been acting like myself. I thought...I thought you were mad and weren't coming back. I didn't want to be by myself like this." His lip trembled as he said this. "God, I must sound pathetic."

"It's better than the way you were this morning," I replied. Yami was still suspicious, but Bakura sounded so upset, that I just wanted to comfort him. But I listened to Yami and did not to get to close, just incase.

"About this morning," Bakura said, emotion welling up in his voice. "I don't really know what came over me. I didn't feel like myself at all. And I guess I just took it out on whoever was around, and that was you. I'm... I'm sorry... I didn't realize at the time what I was doing. Did I really use the eye on you?"

He looked at me in a questioning way. I nodded. "You said it was silly to have the power and not use it."

Bakura looked horror-struck. "I can't believe I would say something like that, let alone actually do it." He looked away from me, ashamed. "I don't blame you for being mad."

I wanted to tell him that I hadn't been mad, but that would have been a lie, so I kept silent. But even without my words, the silence revealed the truth of the situation. Bakura sighed heavily. "I scare you, don't I?"

"No," I said without thinking.

"Yes I do," he said. "I see the way you keep your distance. But it's okay. I scare myself. I don't know what came over me earlier." He shrugged. "But I think I'm over it."

"I must say you had all of us worried. This doesn't have to do with, you know, what used to make you act weird, does it?" He shook his head.

"If it was, would he let me talk to you now?"

"I guess that's true," I said, scratching my head. But it was hard to be sure. The first time we met Yami Bakura, he had fooled us pretty good. I suppose it's easy to impersonate someone whom you share a body with. Bakura must have sensed my questioning.

"Would this put your mind at ease?" He took off the ring and laid it on the end of the bed. "And you can let Yami examine it if you wish. I'm telling you, there is nobody in there."

Yami wanted to take him up on his offer. I conceded. But it would look suspicious if there were suddenly two of me in there, so I let him take over.
 
 

Yami Yugi

The situation with Bakura confused me. I don't like being confused. I couldn't explain anything that was happening. I'd been so sure. If what I thought was true, then it was backwards. I was beginning to think that Yugi had had me right the whole time. Maybe I was just looking for problems. Maybe I was paranoid. But I could not shake off this feeling that I should be on guard.

When Bakura offered to allow me to check out the ring, I took him up on it. Possessing Yugi (as he felt that would arouse less suspicion from the hospital staff incase one of them happened to walk in on us), I took the ring from where Bakura had left it and examined it up close.

"A great deal of power has returned to it since your other's defeat. I thought it didn't have any power left? Or so little that you could not detect it?" I knew he had said this.

"A millennium item's power has little to nothing to do with the spirit inside, I thought," he said shrugging. "The spirit's there, and the magic's there. The absence of one does not necessarily mean the absence of the other. And you can see there is no being in that ring. I guess the ring's powers were tapped after that last match, and are only recently coming back to full strength. It was a tough match. I'm sure my yami used the ring as much as he could to try to prevent his outcome."

He was right, of course. If I did not exist, the puzzle would still have magic. And I could not sense any presence from the ring. It was unusual for the ring to take so long to recover, though. I returned the ring to Bakura.

"Are you satisfied?" he asked, but in an honest, unsarcastic way. I merely nodded, even though I wasn't really. I still had a few questions I wanted answered.

"Why do you think you acted the way you did?" I asked. "How did you feel?"

"It was strange," he said, looking thoughtful. "My mind was real cloudy, and I was confused. I started acting upon things before thinking them out. And I said things as soon as they came to my mind. It was like, like in the case of the eye," he gestured to it. "The thought crossed my mind that things would be easier to understand if I used it, so I did. I regret it now, but at the time it seemed like a good idea because I wasn't really thinking. And the mean things I said. I was frustrated, and just said the first thing that came to my mind without reflecting on it or even meaning it." He sighed again. "I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, but that's what happened."

His story seemed so solid. I could only find details that were questionable. Like why he wasn't eating, and why I had felt a disturbance in the shadow realm. Or thought I did. It could have been anything, now that I thought about it. A dimensional shift. Another item holder acting up. Why had my mind jumped so readily to Yami Bakura? It was unusual for me to doubt myself, and even more so for me to be wrong, but I was questioning my instincts now. And I didn't like it. But I had to concede. I had no more evidence that couldn't be explained away.

I allowed Yugi his body back. It was no secret to him that I was angry at being wrong, so he left me alone. I stayed in the confines of my soul room and pondered where I had gone wrong.
 
 

Yami Bakura

Acting is nothing but lying, so obviously, I was a natural. A few tears, a seemingly heartfelt apology, and stabs at making them feel guilty, and Yugi and Yami were easy enough to fool. I almost felt sorry for them. Almost...

Taking off the ring and allowing Yami to examine it sealed it. All his doubts and questions had been explained away. I was just innocent little Ryou having a tough time. Nothing more. At least nothing more he could prove. He was pissed though. Geez, was he ever pissed. The great Game King does not like being wrong. Imagine how mad he would be when he eventually found out he was right? But I could not let the satisfaction of this show. After all, Ryou would not want Yami mad.

"I do hope he's alright," I said. "He seemed a little angry."

"Don't mind him," Yugi said, finally approaching me after his Yami had deemed me safe. "He really is glad you're better now."

"Yeah," I laughed. "Who'd have thought that a bump on the head would be such a pain in the as- neck." I'd almost slipped up there. I'd forgotten Ryou didn't curse. Luckily, Yugi didn't notice. It seemed he was trusting me now. I'd played my part well. Now for step two.

"Yugi, when did the doctor say I could go?"

"Five," he replied. "We need to stop at Anzu's house, too. I need to, uh, pick up something from her."

"But her house is in the opposite direction of mine."

"But it's only a five minute bus ride from here. Your house is clear on the other side of town."

"Yes, I suppose it wouldn't make sense to make you come all the way back here for that," I said, playing along.

"Thanks," Yugi replied. "I'm glad you don't mind."

"I really don't want to have to walk around in my clothes from yesterday, though. How bad off are they?"

Yugi stood and walked to the little closet. He pulled out my jeans and shirt from the day before (the hospital staff must have put it there when they changed me into this ridiculous hospital gown) and tossed them to me. I examined them, making sure to put a disgusted look on my face to make sure I looked like the very thought of wearing these clothes like this was sickening.

"There's blood all down the collar," I said. "And I don't want to know what else. I really don't want to wear this in public, but I guess it's that or this." I pulled at the hospital gown. Yugi bit his lip. He was so predictable, I might as well have used the eye.

"You know, we have a couple hours. I didn't have any other plans. I guess I could stop at your house and pick you up some fresh clothes."

"Oh, but I don't want to make you go all the way down there just for me. We were just talking about how long a ride it was. And all this bus fare must be wearing on your wallet."

"The thing about the long bus ride was only because I have plans for tonight." I made sure not to question what plans. "I don't mind, really."

"Would you really, Yugi? That's very kind of you. Here," I pulled a couple crumpled bills out of the pocket of the jeans. "At least let me pay the bus fare."

"Okay," Yugi said, accepting the money.

"The key's under the mat on the back porch," I said. "You know where my room is. Just grab a pair of jeans and a shirt from the top drawer of my dresser."

"Alright." He started walking towards the door.

"And please check the messages on the machine," I called. "I'm expecting a call from my father. He'll be wondering where I've been."

"Will do!" He smiled broadly. "I'll be back before you leave. Promise!"

He left, closing the door behind him. He was not going to be back before I left, fore I was leaving now....