Okay, so it's way past Friday. Sorry I got REALLY caught up working on my online government class, I need to pass it or I can't graduate this year. But this is the first part to my next chapter. New stuff! Finally! This will probably make no sense whatsoever, but that's okay.

My updates are going to be a little spread apart from now on instead of one after the other like when I was just putting up what I've already done. I'd say either once a week or once every 10-14 days. I'm hoping for once a week, but I don't know how nice school will be treating me.

Sorry this is so short.

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Disclaimer: Freai doesn't own Ryou Bakura, Arthur Bakura, or the spirit of the Ring.

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"Hands are distant lullabies"

(Part 1)

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Ryou hugged his pillow to himself, keeping his eyes squeezed shut for fear of what he would find in his room. Longer silver hair spilled over his shoulders, ruffled from his uneasy sleep… however long that sleep may have been. Taller than he was in London, the now fifteen year old boy had curled up his long limbs in and kept his face hidden from his empty dorm room. His ninth dorm room, in his ninth boarding school, and this time no one was there to celebrate his forgotten birthday. No one except… him.

It was obviously male, and not a thing, Ryou had learned that by now. But it still had not given him its name, and Ryou preferred to call the spirit a thing, because then he was above it on a moral standard. It was the only advantage he had, his only victory over the cruel spirit that resided in his ring. For it had more control than ever, with each day its power grew and Ryou was becoming more and more useless. It was attached to him now, calling him empty endearments and crooning over him. Pretending to be helping his "host" from whatever may be ailing him. Bullies, troubles with teachers, loneliness. Ryou shuddered at the thought of what the spirit might have done so he wouldn't be alone on his birthday. Because he knew the spirit had taken over his body once more during his sleep, leaving him exhausted and scared.

But all of the things that the spirit did to "help him", he knew what its intentions really were. It was isolating him. Keeping everything from getting to close and realizing how much Ryou was damaged and how much sanity was left in his frail form. The spirit wasn't stupid, he adapted to the modern world very quickly and knew of its dangers. Even more than Ryou did. That would be the only aspect in which it would be helping the teen, and for that Ryou could regretfully say he was grateful.

He was scared of the spirit, but over the years he had come to trust his actions… because it was all that he had. The last thing to grasp on to, no matter how frightened of it he was, it was still there with him. Year after year, any person that he ever met wouldn't stay more than a few days, weeks, months in the case of teachers and… his father. He hadn't spoken to his father in a while, and it was his fault. He kept pushing him away, afraid that the spirit would hurt him as well. Turn his only living family into a soulless shell, into another one of his… dozens… of dolls.

There had been so many, so many people that meet Ryou and love him at first sight… and want to help him. But no one could, no one could save him; he started to just ignore people, keeping them away and suffering alone with his tormentor. It liked to talk to him, liked to push his buttons and pull at his stings so to speak so his sanity was hanging by a thread. It loved how Ryou tried to stay rational, tried to ignore the comments about how much fun it was to tear apart his friends' minds. Loved to see Ryou struggle being alone, and have someone be nice to him and have Ryou weigh the options of how he could have a friend and keep them safe and then realize that he couldn't.

It loved his suffering so much, and especially liked saying it. The endearments and bitter-sweet nothings… and that's what they were. Nothings. Saying one thing and meaning another, at times Ryou just wanted to stop thinking. Stop the evil voice in his head and just have silence. That's where the sleeping pills came in.

At first it was one pill, then two, right now he was at three a night; and he couldn't hear the thing. He could rest, keep his sanity for one more night. For those few hours everything was all right. He was spacing out the doses, trying to avoid getting addicted seeing as he didn't have a very large supply. They were left over from his father, who had left them when he went on another dig seven months ago. They sat in the little medicine cabinet for almost half a year before Ryou tried one… just to get it to stop.

His chest felt warm as the ring glowed, and the ice cold hands were combing through his hair, sweeping it behind his neck and petting him like a child. "Wake up, Yadoneshi," it told him, the words were harsh, always harsh and it hurt to listen. "Wake up and see your birthday present, I know you'll like it." Ryou shivered so violently at the statement that it shook the cold hands away from his neck and hair. He could feel the other frown, feel it like he himself was frowning though his face didn't move. Sometimes he couldn't distinguish the difference and he would mimick what the other was doing inside his head, not knowing that he was doing it. But not today, Ryou was biting his lip hard, trying to control his shaking, and not daring to look up. It was getting annoyed with him again, he just knew it! Over the years the spirit had a tendency to smack his host if he was acting "irrational", and most of the time it REALLY hurt. He wasn't abusive, and he didn't do it often, in fact most of the time the spirit's hand would phase right through him. The spirit had never really… touched Ryou though it felt so real to both of them.

"Look up," the command was sharp, and Ryou's shaking stopped. He slowly sat up, his long hair tossed about by his restless sleep, and looked about his room with weary eyes. Unconsiouly leaning towards the spirit, ready to dart behind it or hide his face once more whenever he discovered what horrid present the thing had brought home. "Why do you fear so much yadoneshi? It's your birthday, why would I torment you today?" It mocked him, leaning against him and nuzzling him making Ryou shiver from the cold. He looked around, but his sight was still a little blurry from the aftermath of the sleeping pills. But he finally saw it, amongst all of the figurine supplies.

Sliding off his bed, still shivering from the cold he didn't trust his thin legs, so he crawled over to his desk and stared at the new doll. It was a… cat. Or kitten, he guessed from the ridiculously large eyes. Grey with black stripes… and it was kinda… cute? Picking it up, he noticed that like all of the other figurines he owed it was warm, and if he put it to his ear he could hear faint mewling.

The spirit… stole the soul of a cat… and put it in a doll.

Ryou blinked, not at all disgusted as he usually was, but utterly confused as he stared at it. What was he suppose to do with it? Put it with the other figurines obviously… but he couldn't play with it. Yes, Ryou admitted that he ACTUALLY played with the figurines that his spirit had trapped, mostly out of guilt. They were alive inside the pieces of clay and wood, he felt that he had to do something with them.

Then a thought crossed his mind… where was the body of the cat? Ryou looked back at the spirit, who lounged on his bed watching him for reactions. Still looking confused, sitting on the floor with the cat figurine warming his cold hands, he thought about asking but closed his mouth before he got the chance. He didn't think he wanted to know… just in case he would find it later. The fear crossed his features again, and the spirit smirked. Entertained.

"You worry SO much yadoneshi," it laughed. "What would I do without you?" Ryou turned his gaze back to the ground with a blush of embarrassment staining his cheeks. It wasn't meant to be sweet, it really meant 'I would be so bored if you weren't here for me to torment, I don't even have to do anything! You suffer on your own! It's so funny!' And that was why it always laughed, at anything he did. Because he was always scared, always worrying, and always paranoid. If he was looking at himself, he would laugh too.

The smile that crossed his face wasn't meant to be there, but it made the spirit stop laughing. And just merely smirk at him, watching for his reaction. Ryou was startled at himself, because he didn't think that the insane creature would really be able to warp his mind into the state it was in now. 'What would I do without you?' it had asked with a laugh, and maybe it was the horrible realization what made him think what he did. 'I don't know' Ryou had answered with a smile 'what I would do without you either.'

TBC

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Please review, I might update faster if you do!