Disclaimer: The characters of Yu-Gi-Oh are owned by Kazuki Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Half-Life

Being In the Wrong Place

It wasn't a psychotic challenger of Yugi's, or a desperate act from the loss of Atem, nor any one of her friends' many enemies out for revenge that brought Anzu to this place. It was a fatal case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As usual, she was walking home from dance class. He knew this because he often watched her as she would hum to herself and nearly dance her way home. He wasn't a stalker or anything, he just liked to watch her.

From afar.

Too far, it seemed. For he could not reach her in time to save her when she was hit by a car turning the corner too fast. The drunken boy had been racing his friends when he lost control of the car and hit her, pinning her lithe body between a brick wall and his vehicle.

He would be found. And he would pay. But not right now. Now he was too busy watching the beeps on the monitor.

His call for an ambulance would be useless, he had known that as he had knelt by her broken body. There had been too much blood. He had kissed her and begged her to live, sobs wracking his body. But she was gone. He was too late. He had managed to fumble his way to punch the buttons and make the call anyhow. The gods must be laughing as he got his wish and was holding her close at last, yet only as she was fading from this world to the next.

He was far too late.

The others would hate him for not calling them to let them know that their precious friend would not live to see the end of the day.

They would hate him even more for what he had planned.

Ryo touched his chest, to the spot where the Millennium Ring rested hidden under his shirt and coat. At that moment, Ryo didn't care if the dark creature inside of him was the Thief King Bakura or the dark god Zorc Necrophades or even the Easter Bunny. The spirit was supposed to be gone, expelled, but there had been moments when Ryo felt... something. He had kept his doubts to himself, not wanting to cause unnecessary alarm in his friends.

The plan had been formed while he was riding with Anzu in the ambulance. When he realized that her crushed body could not possibly survive he began praying, then making deals with creatures he had hoped to never see again. As he watched as her gentle heart began to stutter and fail, he knew he had made a decision.

He could not let Anzu go.

"Bakura... I need your help."

It was time to unleash the Thief King once more. This time Ryo would help him with the theft. All they had to do was steal Anzu's soul

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He liked to think of himself as Bakura. He had grown used to the name.

It was a little startling to hear that name, however, being called into the darkness. Calling him forth. Asking for his help. No one ever called him forth with honorable attentions, so it was again startling when he heard the voice of his once host beg for him to save 'her'.

Bakura chuckled darkly, "Praying to the wrong god, kid."

"Don't go, Anzu!"

Anzu? Wasn't that the name of Atem's woman? Annoyingly cheerful twit, untouched by real darkness. Bored with his confinement, he let Ryo's voice find him, and he held on to the connection. He was given a glimpse into the boy's memories. Pictures of Anzu dancing. Pictures of her playing some dancing game at the arcade. Pictures of her smiling and laughing. Pictures of her tucking her hair behind her ear.

The boy had it bad for her.

Then he saw the pictures of her turning to wave to other girls in her dance class. Pictures of her dancing along the sidewalk. Pictures of a car turning too fast. Pictures of her with broken bones and coated in her own blood. Pictures of her lying on a bed surrounded by doctors and nurses, tubes and machines beeping.

The pictures... didn't seem right. His heart was long dead, yet there was something aching in his chest. He hated the Pharaoh for the destruction of his home and his life. He hated Yugi for his connection to the Pharaoh. He hated the girl's devotion to the destroyer. He hated that she could be so trusting, so caring, so happy in such a dark, ugly world. He hated that she was everything he was not, and could never have or be.

Yet... he didn't hate her.

"Nothing I can do for her."

"You can!" hissed Ryo in a tone Bakura could not recall the polite young man ever using. "And you WILL. You must!"

Bakura shook his head, though there was no way his once host could possibly see. "You need something stolen and I'm your man. But in case you don't remember, idiot, I'm not exactly a healer or a miracle worker. I can't save your friend."

"Yes you can."

Babura's eyes widened. Ryo was intentionally opening himself up, letting his light shine on a path back to his consciousness. He was actually offering Bakura his freedom! Then he became suspicious. Why would he be offering something as precious as freedom? Even the limited freedom of still being trapped in someone else's body. At least he could touch the world once more. It was too big of a gift, especially since he had nothing that could help. It wasn't like he had any sort of knowledge that could knit bones back together or fix crushed organs. There was no possible way for the girl to live. There just wasn't.

He heard the long beep that signaled the end of Anzu Mazaki.

"HURRY!"

In the two years since his absence, his host must have grown a backbone. He would have plenty of time to teach him a lesson now that he was on his way back to the living. And now there was no Atem to keep him from doing as he pleased. Though, without the opportunity of revenge, Bakura wasn't entirely sure how to spend his days. It wasn't the demand that had Bakura springing into action, it was the taste of being out in the world once more.

"Save her," whispered Ryo as he drifted into the back of his mind while Bakura stepped forward.

He probably should have taken off right then, but the bustling in the operating room caught his attention. A doctor called for the time. It seemed wrong that the girl would die alone like that. No friends, no family, no one but a bunch of strangers. Well, and Ryo and now Bakura.

"Shadow Games..."

What? Was Ryo serious? Capture her soul and keep her trapped in the Shadow World? Would that not be a worse fate than letting her soul go to its final destination?

The girl... what would she choose?

He found himself saying the words.

The time of death was announced and her pretty head was covered by a white sheet. The greatest tragedy was that the Pharaoh wasn't around to witness this. It would have devastated him. Losing her would have given him some idea of his own loss. But, being the possessor of Anzu's soul... now wouldn't that just make him scream with rage?

Bakura smiled at the thought and whistled merrily as he walked out of the hospital.

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Author's Note:

This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh story, so please try not to roast me over an open fire too badly. Also, this is not an Anzu hating story soooooo even though I killed her (sorry), this is not an anti-Anzu story.