Kori: Hey guys. I know I said I'd post every week or two, but as I have uploading access only once a week…well, I'll be trying my best. Now is not the time for apologies though. Nope, it is TIME FOR THE STORY!

Disclaimer: I wish I did but I don't….shouldn't it be obvious that I don't own Yugioh? Because if I did, Bakura would have been forgiven and renewed like all the other villains were.

Fragments of the Past Chapter Ten

Anzu was perched on the railing that followed to sidewalk to the school. Her bag sat on the ground beside her and her sapphire eyes watching as the rest of the student body trickled in from all directions.

None of her friends had arrived yet, so she was somewhat bored. Her eyes caught two familiar white heads. One turned toward her and walked briskly to her, while the other one simply stalked to his normal tree.

As her friend got to where she was, Anzu smiled. "Hey, Ryou- What the hell happened?" she gasped.

Ryou grimaced. His face was partially hidden but his long white bangs, but Anzu could still see that half of it was somewhat swollen and colored a deep purple.

"I-" he started, looking around quickly to make sure no one had heard. "I'll explain later. For now, do you have any make up or anything that could possibly make this not look so…bad?"

Anzu was silent as she studied his expression. He seemed a little scared and a little desperate. "Bakura did this, didn't he?" she said in a low voice.

Ryou reluctantly nodded. "But it's not what you think," he said quickly, seeing her furious expression. "He really didn't mean it. I'll tell you everything…but only if you help me cover this up."

Anzu knew she should interrogate him right then and there, but one look at him with his eyes, wide and begging, had her sighing with defeat. "Fine…but nothing I have will cover that completely."

"That's alright. Can you at least make it light enough so I can pass it off as an accident?"

"You want me to help you lie, Ryou?" Anzu couldn't believe that her sweet friend was actually planning to trick the others.

"I don't like it any more than you do," he snapped, then his eyes softened. "It's just…they wouldn't understand. They'd kill him. He's the closest thing to a family I have!" Ryou's lip trembled and tears shone in his chocolate eyes.

Anzu made her decision quickly. Much as she hated lying to her friends and knowing Ryou was hurt…she understood where Ryou was coming from. Bakura had been there since he was little, so he probably was like family.

"Alright," she said a little reluctantly. She took Ryou's hand in her own and pulled him around the corner of the school to a place where the bushes and trees were left untrimmed. Before they disappeared entirely into their hiding place, she glared at the white-haired teen across the schoolyard. Then she turned back to the space. The foliage formed a little space that was big enough that they could stand, but was secluded enough that no one was likely to find them.

Anzu reached in her bag and pulled out her small make up bag. As she found her foundation, she gave Ryou a stern look. "Ryou, as I'm doing this, you will tell me what happened."

She pulled out the various creams and powders she needed and then got to work on covering the monstrous thing. "Starting now," she said pointedly.

Ryou sighed and nodded as she spread a thick, flesh colored cream on his cheek. "You know how Bakura disappeared from school yesterday at lunch?"

"Yes."

"Well, it seems that he met some drunks in the park, got hit on, punched the guy out and then got invited to have a drink."

"They would offer a drink to a high school student?" Anzu said, shocked.

Ryou gave her a look before continuing. "Well, he drank some and brought a few home with him. When I got home, he was finishing up the last one. I got mad and took them and threw them away. I also yelled at him…quite a bit. He got mad and…" Ryou gestured to his face. "This happened."

"Him being drunk doesn't excuse it, Ryou."

"I know, I know. But when I woke up, he had taken me upstairs and put ice packs on the bruises. That's why my face isn't as swollen as it should be."

Anzu frowned. He was right. His cheek should be puffed up like a blowfish right now, but it was barely swollen. "That still doesn't-"

"He apologized," Ryou said simply. "He's…never apologized ever before…for anything. He talked to me a bit, though he still wouldn't tell me why he'd gotten so mad."

He looked her in the eyes. "What did he say to you yesterday? I've been wondering about that."

Anzu looked away. She had been trying not to think about that particular conversation, as it only served to twist her heart painfully. She understood why he had said it but she couldn't help but be scared that that was how he actually felt.

That she was just his charity case, an object of pity and amusement.

Her teeth were once again gnawing at the already raw spot on the side of her cheek, the same place she'd been chewing away since yesterday.

"He just told me the truth," she finally said.

"That you were a charity case?" he said softly.

Anzu jolted as if she had been shocked. "H-how did you…?"

He shrugged. "Because that's what Bakura said that you said to some of your friends."

Anzu swallowed hard. "I did say something along those lines…but I was just trying to get them to leave me alone. He didn't have any need to get so mad. Besides…" she focused on blending the make up together. "I'm pretty sure he meant every word he said. That's all there is to say on the matter. Now…there you go."

She dusted off her hands and admired her handiwork. "That looks good." It really did. The ugly bruise had been lightened to a faded lavender shade that barely stood out from his face, especially when it was shadowed by his hair.

Ryou smiled. "Thank you, Anzu." He gaze got serious and he opened his mouth, probably to continue their previous conversation.

Anzu was thankful when she heard Joey's loud voice searching for them. "You're welcome," she said quickly before hurrying out of the hiding place. She saw her friends and plastered a smile to her face as she reached them.

Ryou followed a few steps behind them. He kept his head down a bit, but still gave the group a sweet smile. "Hello," he said in his naturally cheery voice.

"What were you two doing back there?" Yugi asked a slightly suspicious undertone to his voice.

Anzu shrugged. "I swear I saw someone run back there. I wanted to check it out and Ryou came with me because I didn't want to back there alone." She shrugged again.

There was still some suspicion in her friend's faces, so Anzu sighed. "Really, guys? It's Ryou, for Gods sake!"

That seemed to soothe her friends. Of course they believed Ryou would never do anything ungentlemanly. And he wouldn't.

The bell pulled Anzu from her thoughts and she went inside.

X

Bakura watched as his former Hikari disappeared inside with the rest of them. His eyes rested on Anzu as she lagged a bit behind the others, but he made himself look away. He could not, would not, be distracted by her. When he thought of the whole situation, his head and stomach hurt.

It was obvious that she hated him now. Probably even more so since she had helped Ryou. He'd seen the shock in her face when she saw the damage. He'd seen the completely venomous look she'd shot at him before they disappeared behind the school.

Bakura sighed and went to his first period. He didn't have Anzu in this one, but he had her next period and he was very much not looking forward to it. At least she sat at the front of the class, and him the back.

He barely heard any of his homeroom teachers droning, his hand moving across his journal as he wrote more to what Mr. Marx had read just the other day. It had expanded from half a page to almost a fourth of the notebook. It was everything he could remember…everything that he was afraid to forget.

His hand shook sometimes as he wrote, but it was either this or think about- 'No,' he scolded himself. He wouldn't think of her or the mess he was in.

But he couldn't help it once the thoughts had entered his mind. Anz- Mazaki hated him that much he was sure of. In fact, he was surprised that she hadn't told her friends what he'd done.

Questions swirled through his head and he dug the tip of his pencil a little too hard into the paper. The lead snapped off and flew across his desk, leaving a dent in his paper.

Bakura mentally sighed and leaned back in his seat. He could feel the beginnings of a headache behind his eyes.

Gods of Egypt this was going to be a long day.

(XxX Time Skip XxX)

It was finally last period. The tardy bell would ring in a few seconds, but Bakura didn't care. He dragged himself to the gym and was about to open the door to the boy's locker room when he heard footsteps quickly moving towards him.

He whirled around only to feel something hit him in the head very hard. He stumbled to the side from the force of the blow, his ear ringing and his sight a bit blurry.

Once his vision cleared, he looked up to see a very pissed off Mazaki.

Her cheeks were flushed with the same anger that flamed in her sapphire eyes. Her lower lip trembled as much as her hands did, one of which was holding a world history textbook.

"What the hell, Mazaki?" Bakura snarled, clutching the side of his face. "D-did you just hit me with a textbook?"

"He trusted you!" she hissed at him, ignoring his questions. "He's always tried his damn best to please you and then you go and do that to him? How could you?"

Bakura dropped his hand from his cheek and stared at her evenly. She glared back, not even flinching when the bell rang.

He finally sighed. "I suppose you're talking about Ryou?"

"You suppose correctly," she said coldly.

Bakura bit the inside of his cheek. He felt horrible for what he'd done, he really did. Of course, she would never believe that. Oh no, she thought he was an emotionless monster.

He forced his usual smirk to his lips. "What exactly do you want, Mazaki? For me to tell you how guilty I feel? Fine, I regret it. That doesn't change anything. I could give so many excuses as to why I did it, but it won't make a bit of difference. I did it because my drunk-ass self felt like doing it. My only question is, why haven't you ratted me out to your little cheer squad yet? I know you want to."

"I didn't tell them because Ryou practically begged me not to." Her eyes seemed to soften as she took in what he had said. "You really regret it?"

Bakura nodded slightly and sighed again. "How can I not? Now that I'm technically human again, there's not much I can do about the fucking emotions. And don't look so surprised, Mazaki. I'm not a robot."

"No," she admitted. "But you certainly don't give a shit about the few emotions you do have."

"Shut up," Bakura growled. "You know nothing about me."

"Well I was trying to get to know you before you overreacted to something you weren't even meant to hear!"

"'Over reacted'!" Bakura said incredulously. "How did I overreact? I merely thought that the air should be cleared. All-"

"All cards put on the table," Mazaki hissed. "I remember that line well enough. But guess what, Bakura? My cards were not on the table. There was a reason you weren't supposed to hear what I said to those girls!"

"Because you didn't want to lose your pathetic-"

"Shut up and listen to me!" she all but yelled. "I didn't mean a thing I said to those girls! You know nothing, Bakura! Had they found out that I was friends with you, all hell would have broken loose! Rumors would have spread like wildfire! I don't give a shit because I've been through all of that before. I'm used to people looking at me weird! I'm used to rumors about my life! You're not! You were having a hard enough time adjusting without those bitches making it harder by spreading lies!"

"What would they have said that would have been so bad?" Bakura said as calmly as he could.

"They would have convinced the school that we were dating," she said with an almost disgusted look. "I was merely trying to save us both from that inconvenience."

Bakura felt something twist in his gut. She really did hate him; he could see it in her eyes.

"But this is all for the best, I guess," she said, shrugging. "Now I know the truth and you no longer have to force yourself to spend time with someone as pathetic as me."

She turned and entered the girl's locker room, leaving Bakura speechless for the first time in five thousand years.

(XxX More Time Skip XxX)

Bakura frowned at the television. He could hear Ryou in the kitchen, pots clanging together as he prepared dinner for the pair.

His mind was a whirl of questions, like it always was after had a conversation with Mazaki.

He pressed his fingertips to his temples. He would admit that he felt guilty, though never out loud. He wanted to fix this, if only to relieve his suddenly for frequent migraines.

"If you're that eager to get back on her good side, just apologize," said a soft voice from the kitchen door.

Bakura glanced back at Ryou. Before he could even open his mouth, his former host interrupted. "And don't even try to deny it, I know you want to." There was something akin to amusement in his eyes, with the tiniest bit of unease. He was obviously trying his best not to seem afraid. He was a better actor than Bakura gave him credit for.

"It's not like she would believe me, even if I wanted to apologize. Which I don't," he said pointedly.

Ryou shrugged. "Well, if you happen to change your mind, I have an idea."

He met Bakura's eyes easier this time and held the gaze until Bakura spoke. "Spit it out already!" Bakura growled halfheartedly.

Ryou had the slightest smirk on his face. "You might not like it very much."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "And why would that be?"

"Because it involves you attending a Halloween party…"

Bakura groaned, but sighed and stood. He trudged into the kitchen and leaned both elbows against the counter.

"Go on."

Kori: Next chapter: the party! I wonder what Ryou has planned? Well, of course I know, but I'm not going to tell you! That would just ruin everything. See you in the next chapter!