Ryou

My days were spent at school. My nights were spent in my soul room while Yami Bakura depleted my energy sources. I was exhausted, but Yami Bakura said this was the way it was going to be. There was no point in arguing with him. He always won. He always got his way.

It was Friday, and the school had an assembly planned. Another of those don’t smoke, drink, or do drugs type things. Maybe I would be able to sleep through it.

On the way to auditorium where the assembly was being held, Yugi caught up with me. He asked if I minded him sitting with me. I told him he could if he wanted to. I didn’t understand why he was following me around. I guessed that it really didn’t matter. If he insisted on it, there was no point in questioning it. There was no point in anything anymore.

The whole school was piled into the room. I sat in the back so that no one would notice if I fell asleep. Yugi sat at my side. He said some things; I don’t really remember what they were. I was so tired…

The students finished filing in and the lights dimmed. The program was starting. Ten minutes went by. I tried to sleep, but Yugi kept talking to me, nudging me, asking me questions, making jokes. I could see that I wasn’t going to get any rest. I wondered how much longer this thing was going to last. I wondered if anyone would even care if just dropped down and fell asleep forever.

In the darkness, the glow of the millennium eye was much more evident than it had been in the classroom. I quickly covered it with my hand. Yugi looked at me, wondering if he had just imagined that, but I was too preoccupied to take notice of him. Oh, no, God, no. This couldn’t be happening now. How could this be happening? Without thinking, my first reaction was to block out Yami Bakura. If he were to know that it had activated so close to Yugi, he would…well, I didn’t want to think about what he would do.

It was coming on fast now. The voices, the pain. I was in a crowded room filled with thoughts, and the eye was quickly picking up on all of them. This wasn’t like when I had been in the classroom with only a few people within range of the eye at first. I was in a room with hundreds of others. I tried not to show my distress to Yugi, but I needed to get out of there. I needed to get away from the voices.

“I have to get out of here.” I said to Yugi. He seemed concerned.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A migraine. I just need to get out of here.”

{The migraine again; I told you about that; it’s not getting better; what is really wrong with him; what is he hiding;}

These were the last understandable thoughts I heard. There were too many of them now. All screaming in my head. I had to get away. I stood up, still covering the eye with my hand, and stepped past the Yugi to get to the aisle. I then went for the exit, trying not to show how much pain I was suffering or how much of a hurry I was in. With the noise of the presentation and the darkness of the room, I didn’t think anyone had noticed me. As soon as I was out of the door, though, I didn’t worry about the people in the room. I just wanted to get as far away from them as I could. I wanted to get far away from everyone.

I held my head in my hands, trying to bring myself some relief from the pain. I took off running for the opposite side of the school, away from the source of my pain. I was so exhausted. I couldn’t run straight. I kept bumping into the walls and lockers on either side of me. The pain of my injured shoulder and arm was added to the pain in my head as a result of this. I could hear nothing but the voices. I kept running, now aimless. I just kept going as fast as my legs could carry me. Unfortunately, they would not hold up long. I stopped and tried to calm down the way I had before to quiet the thoughts, but I was past the panic point. I was too tired. The pain and exhaustion was going to make me lose consciousness. My feet gave out under me and I fell, but I didn’t hit the floor. Someone caught me. I looked up to try and see who it was, but I couldn’t. My vision was graying out. I fainted there in the arms of whoever it was who was kind enough to be there for me.
 

Yugi

I knew I had seen something. There had been a light. It had come from Bakura, but I didn’t think it was from the ring. This must have been the other power that Yami had spoken of. But before I could get a good look, Bakura turned away, muttering something about a migraine.

<The migraine again> I told my yami.

<I told you about that> he replied.

<It’s not getting better> What was really wrong with him? What was he hiding?

Bakura stepped past me to get to the aisle and went for the door.

<Follow him.> Yami Yugi said. <We need to know what is wrong if we are going to help him. And we need to know what new power he has. I have my suspicions, but I pray to the gods that I am wrong. If I am right, then we are in trouble…>

I stood up and did as my yami suggested. He never worried without reason. I went through the door and looked about for Bakura. He was down the hall, hands and arms holding his head as he ran as if his life depended on it. I followed as fast as I could go (being short was really a drag), but I was falling behind, even with Bakura bumping into walls and lockers.

<Let me take over> Yami said. I conceded. When he took over, he was taller and faster. I went to my soul room and allowed Yami Yugi to continue the pursuit.
 
 

Yami Yugi

Yugi allowed me to assume control of his body, and I continued after Bakura, who didn’t even seem able to walk straight, let alone run straight. He didn’t notice that I was there. I called to him a few times, but he either didn’t hear me or chose not to listen. After a while he slowed and then stopped, still clutching his head, and I was able to catch up to him. He still took no notice of me. I could sense the power clearly now and my fears were confirmed. He started to fall and I caught him. I felt so bad for Bakura. Like Yugi, he was caught in the middle of something much bigger than himself. Bakura looked up at me, though I wasn’t sure if he actually saw me. The hair had fallen away from his face, revealing what I already knew. He then collapsed completely.

<Yami, what is it?> called the innocent voice of Yugi. Unlike me, when he was in his soul room, he was oblivious to everything on the outside.

<Bakura has the millennium eye> I told him. <As I had suspected. This complicates matters quite a bit…>
 
 

Author's Note:  And as for the question someone had asked about what happened to Ryou’s REAL eye, I thought about it while I was writing, but I couldn’t think of a way to put it that wasn’t…gross. So I just left out that little detail. You can just assume that it was part of the mess of blood in the den, or you can use your imagination. Either way, it isn’t pleasant.