Relative Insanity

A/N: I don’t own YuGiOh.


Relative Insanity


Chapter 10


Ryou willed himself to get out of bed; it was well into the afternoon and Bakura had been gone since morning. Ryou hated how he felt; despair settling over him like a smothering blanket. He remembered what it felt like to be happy, but such an emotion seemed so far from attainable right now. He hated all of this, being so aware of the wrongness of his emotional state, all the while being completely incapable of changing it. He felt like he was drowning.

He went upstairs and found the house empty. The complete silence was a bit unnerving, and for the first time since he’d come, he was wishing for a television for background noise. He looked around the kitchen, wondering what he was doing here; food held no appeal. He might as well take a shower; maybe it would clear his head. Before he knew it, he was standing in the bathroom brushing his teeth and had no recollection of how he’d gotten there. Going through the motions of life mindlessly was become more normal to him with every passing day and he was aware enough of the wrongness to it that it only added to his depression. Ryou questioned his sanity, and wondered constantly about his choices.


Bakura came home, nursing a black eye from a lucky shot during an altercation. Fucking guy had no manners and frankly wouldn’t be rude to anyone again anytime soon. He flexed his hand, wincing slightly, and headed towards the kitchen in search of ice. Another week, he kept repeating like a mantra – another week.

He heard the shower running as he walked into the kitchen; at least Ryou was up - he had talked to Yami 15 minutes before and knew he couldn’t have returned this quickly. Bakura knocked on the bathroom door and turned the knob without waiting for an answer. The bathroom was thick with steam, the monotone spray of the water broken by soft sobs. Bakura’s heart wrenched in his chest at the sound, pulling back the shower curtain to reveal Ryou sitting under the spray, his arms wrapped around his knees, wet hair hanging in his face.

“Ryou?”

Ryou’s head snapped up at the intrusion, looking at Bakura with red-rimmed eyes. Ryou shivered slightly, putting his head back down and resting his forehead on his knees. “Go away.” Ryou’s voice was listless, tired.

“No.” Bakura turned off the water and grabbed a towel. “Time to get out.”

“Just leave me alone!”

“Can’t do that. C’mon, Ryou-“

Ryou looked at Bakura, anger blossoming in his eyes. “I said leave me the fuck alone!”

Bakura took a deep breath, wanting nothing more than to do just that – go into the kitchen, grab a beer and stick his hand in ice. “I’m not leaving you crying in the fucking shower! I said get up!” Bakura couldn’t help the frustration in his voice; he’d had a shitty day.

Ryou’s eyes widened in sudden realization and he stood, allowing Bakura to wrap the towel around him as he stepped out. “I’m sorry.” He sounded small, defeated.

“S’okay.” Bakura rested his chin on Ryou’s wet head, encircling him in his arms. “You okay now?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, get dressed, I’ll meet you in the kitchen – I need a drink.”


Bakura opened a beer, downing half before opening the freezer in search of ice. Ryou was worrying him more everyday. He hoped that just getting out of here and being on their own would be enough, but somehow he didn’t think so. He wrapped some ice in a dishtowel and rested it on his swollen knuckles, taking a deep swallow from the bottle. He hated that Yami was always right.

Ryou came out, still drying his hair with a towel, looking at him sheepishly until he noticed the shiner marring Bakura’s face. “My God, what happened to you?”

“Nothing.” He smirked, tilting the bottle to his lips. “Some idiot got in a lucky punch, too bad his luck ran out.” Bakura looked at Ryou knowing he still looked pissed when Ryou flinched, but unable to help it. “Feeling better?”

Ryou shrugged, and then nodded his head to answer. He knew Bakura was angry, and didn’t trust his voice for fear he would start crying again. “Have you eaten anything today?” Bakura didn’t realize until now how thin Ryou looked – how frail.

“No, but I will. Can I fix you something?” Ryou asked, hoping to make himself useful.

“No thanks, but could you grab me another beer?” Ryou quickly complied before sitting down across from Bakura, drumming his fingers against the surface.

Yami walked in a few minutes later to an awkward silence – Ryou studying the tabletop and Bakura his beer bottle. Bakura turned towards the doorway when he heard footsteps, his face breaking out into a grin. Yami looked at Bakura’s injuries and smirked. “Wow, I guess I heard right, you really put him in the hospital.”

“Yup – I don’t take kindly to getting sucker punched.”

“I don’t think he’ll make that mistake again.” Yami laughed, grabbing a beer from the fridge and joining the two at the table.

Ryou smiled in greeting and stood. “Excuse me for a minute, I’m going downstairs to grab my book.”

Yami watched him leave, waiting for his tread on the stairs to fade before looking questioningly at Bakura. “So, who died?”

Bakura shook his head, flexing his hand. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. I can tell he’s lost weight - hell, he didn’t have much on him to begin with. He sleeps all the time and when he’s awake he’s either crying or reading.”

Yami’s voice was gentle, genuinely feeling for his friend. “You already know what you need to do. You need to make your decision before something bad happens.”

“I can’t betray him like that!” Bakura hissed, trying to keep his voice down. He was supposed to be taking care of him.

“Would you rather he be dead?” Yami whispered the last part, hearing Ryou climbing the stairs.

Ryou stepped into the kitchen and didn’t notice how the two were looking at him. “I’m going to read in the living room, if you don’t mind.”

They both nodded and watched him go. Bakura felt the knot in his stomach tighten – what the fuck was he going to do?


Jou arrived two hours later to find Ryou alone. Yami and Bakura had left together to deal with a difficult ‘customer’ and had promised to be home within the hour. “Where’s Yami?” Jou didn’t wait for a reply, throwing his jacket onto an empty chair and heading towards the kitchen. Ryou heard the sound of Jou opening a beer before returning. “I asked where’s Yami?” Jou sat down, draping his leg over the arm of the chair and studying Ryou, brown eyes piercing.

“Out.” Ryou answered, returning his attention to his book. Jou made him generally uncomfortable - the man was way too intense.

Jou chuckled amicably. “C’mon, you can do better than that! Where. Did. They. Go?”

“I. Don’t. Know!” Ryou glared at Jou, not caring that doing so may be bad for his health. His desire for self-preservation was virtually nonexistent – suicide by stupidity – he smirked at the concept.

Jou moved towards Ryou like a flash, bracing his arms on either side of Ryou’s head and leaning in close. “I wouldn’t fuck with me if I were you – Bakura’s not here to protect you, pretty boy.” Jou sneered, enjoying the fear that was slowly igniting in Ryou’s eyes. “Or do you want to experience first hand how your little friend died? What was his name again? Oh yeah, Marik. He squealed like a stuck pig as his blood ran out.” Ryou gasped, feeling his stomach churn. Jou was so intent on scaring Ryou that he didn’t hear the door opening behind.

Bakura opened the door and something inside of him snapped. The sight of Ryou’s face, drained of what little color he had, and Jou leaning over him was just too much for him to process. Bakura grabbed Jou roughly by the shoulder, spinning him around before punching him in the face – the audible crunch of Jou’s nose breaking sounding in the room. “Don’t you ever touch him!” Bakura punched Jou again, doubling him over. He turned his body slightly to spare a glance at Ryou, making sure he was okay, taking his eyes off of Jou for one second too many.

“Bakura – look out!” Ryou called out a warning, his eyes wide.

Bakura turned into Jou’s fist, being knocked to the floor, his vision momentarily doubling. Jou wasted no time jumping on him, pinning him with his knees. Moving fast Jou pulled the dagger from his boot, holding it painfully against Bakura’s neck and drawing a thin line of blood. Jou grinned with ferocity, his teeth bloody from his broken nose. “You were saying?”

“You stupid fuck!” Yami’s voice was seething with rage. Jou flinched slightly when he felt the cold steel of a gun barrel pressing against his temple, the telltale click of the hammer being brought back. Yami stood behind him, eyes blazing. “If you want to live, get the fuck off of him.”

Jou complied slowly, stepping back and allowing Bakura to regain his feet. “You’d shoot me for this low life?” Jou turned to face Yami, eyeing the gun still aimed at him.

“In a heartbeat.” Yami smirked, shacking his head. “I knew you were stupid, but I never thought you were this stupid. I warned you once before never to touch Bakura, and one warning is all you’ll ever get. Get the fuck out of here. If I see you again, I’ll kill you – do you understand?”

“Yami, you have to be fucking kidding me. You’ll trade me for this faggot?”

“Get the fuck out, Jou. If I tell you again, you’ll be crawling out.” Yami aimed the gun at Jou’s kneecap.

“Don’t think this is the end-” Jou turned and walked out, slamming the door in his wake.

Bakura couldn’t believe what had just happened. “Yami – man, I – “

Yami shook his head. “There’s never been a choice, you know that – it was always you first.”

Bakura was stunned. “That guy is fucking crazy, you – “

“If he comes here again, I wasn’t lying, I’ll kill him.” Yami sounded tired. He slipped the gun into the back of his pants, processing what had just happened.

“I’m sorry.”

Yami shook his head again and smirked. “I guess I’m in the market for another fuck toy. Speaking of which, where’s Ryou?”

Bakura looked at the empty chair where Ryou was sitting, he had been there a few minutes ago. His stomach flipped over as he started through the house. “Ryou?” He found the kitchen empty, walking through and checking the bathroom to find the same. He tore down the basement stairs into the pitch black. “Ryou?” He reached for the light switch, flipping it on. Bakura found himself paralyzed, aware of a low moan that he suddenly realized was coming from him. Everything was moving in slow motion - after what felt like an eternity he found his voice as his as his paralysis broke. “Yami!” He lunged towards the bed, grabbing the blade and throwing it to the floor, quickly finding his hands coated in blood. “No! Ryou, no – “

Ryou’s voice was calm and soft. “I’m sorry, Bakura, I’m so sorry.”

“What did you do? Oh my God, what did you do?” Bakura held him, crying, hands slipping across Ryou’s slick skin as he tried to stop the flow.

“Bakura, move!” Yami ordered, pushing him aside and taking over. He worked with calm efficiency, tearing strips from the sheets and starting to bind Ryou’s wrists tightly. “Put pressure here.”

Bakura did as he was told, stunned by how quickly the material was turning red, soaked with blood. He felt sick looking at Ryou’s drawn face, a wave of nausea passing over him. “We need to take him to the hospital.” Bakura’s voice was tinged with defeat, tears streaming down his face.

“We do.” Yami lifted Ryou, amazed at how little he weighed, and carried him upstairs. Yami called down to Bakura as he ascended, pulling Bakura from his stupor. “Grab my keys off the table, hurry up.”

Bakura hesitated for a moment, looking at the blood smeared across his shirt, over his hands – Ryou’s blood. He followed Yami upstairs, wiping his hands on his jeans. This felt like a surreal nightmare - he had failed.


To be continued…

A/N: I’m sorry to say, in a bittersweet way, that the next chapter will be the end. Please review and tell me what you think!