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We'll Be There
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Part VIII
Ryou's Point of View
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Bakura…I wasn't there for you. I wasn't there when you needed to talk.
Maybe I'm just not a good listener.
Maybe I'm just not a good person…
Everyone needs friends, even you. Everyone needs someone--someone to talk to, someone to listen to.
Everyone needs someone that they count on--no matter what. Everyone needs to learn to be counted on.
Paranoia only leads to depression and anguish.
That's always been your problem--you've been depressed and angry because you don't have anyone you can trust with your problems. You refuse to trust in people.
But why, Bakura? Why are you so sad and miserable? Why do you mentally live in the corner of that cold, dismal Ring, even now that you have a body of your own?
"Don't worry, I sent the best doctors in the area to be stationed in Bakura's room."
I looked in the direction of the voice I'd grown quite accustomed to lately; one that, ironically, I had become more used to than Bakura's.
I met the cerulean gaze of Kaiba Seto. "He's going to be okay," he stated confidently.
"How did you find out?" I questioned weakly.
Kaiba's gaze faltered momentarily, an uncharacteristic action on his part. He stared at the wall across from him, as if mesmerized by it. "I asked the medical personnel to contact me if anybody by the name Bakura was admitted to the hospital."
I glared at him, anger beginning to cloud my vision. "Have you been stalking Bakura and me?" I demanded. "What else have you been up to? Did you put a tracking device in my backpack, for Ra's sake?"
"I just wanted to make sure neither of you got hurt."
"Why would you think we could get hurt?"
Kaiba rolled his eyes, for once looking a bit like the teenager he was. Then his face hardened, wisdom seemingly aging his facial features. "I've known you and Bakura have been going through a difficult time, and I know what one of you feels will affect the other. If one of you did something drastic, all of your friends would be upset, especially if they found out I could've helped to prevent it."
"My friends?" I spat out bitterly. "I don't have any friends."
"Yes, you do," he replied seriously. "Yugi, Yami, Jonouchi, Honda, Anzu…"
"They're all a bunch of idiots," I retorted, shaking my head in dismissal.
"They're all a bunch of idiots who would do anything they could to help you and Bakura."
"They can't be my friends if they were the ones who started this whole mess," I shot back.
"I don't believe they're entirely at fault. Especially not Yugi, Jonouchi, Honda, or Anzu. The Pharaoh--maybe. But some of this Bakura brought onto himself. He made a choice today that could have sent him reeling to the next realm. But he's strong; he'll make it."
"Why did he do it? Try to kill himself?"
"I'm not omnipotent. You will have to ask him yourself."
"You sure act it," I muttered.
"Besides," Kaiba continued, "Bakura's been making the choice all along to isolate himself, not trust people. It was a bad decision, and now he's paying the price." Kaiba sighed, his eyes darkening. "I should know," he spoke softly.
An old, gray-haired doctor with a receding hairline approached us in the waiting room. "Are you Bakura Ryou's brother?" he asked me.
"Yes, I am," I answered hesitantly.
"We've stabilized your brother's condition. You will be able to visit him tomorrow during visiting hours." The doctor spun on his heel and left.
I let out a sigh of relief. I closed my eyes, feeling tears burn the retinas.
"I bid you farewell, Ryou," Kaiba told me. Before he left, he spoke in a low voice, staring into my eyes with a meaningful glance, "Get a good night's sleep. You look tired."
"Wait, Kaiba," I called out to him. I just had to ask him; I had to know the answer. "Why are you being so nice to Bakura and me?"
Kaiba didn't answer; he just kept walking away, his trench coat floating behind him.
Damn. I hated when he did that.
tbc
Ryou: As you'll notice, Ryou makes some revelations at the beginning of this chapter, and you will begin to see some change in his character.
Kaiba: I think you will notice that Kaiba can relate to Bakura and Ryou's situation, in some ways. Maybe not so much now as in the future…