บท 176: Understanding Bakura's Spot
DIMENSION: ANIME (The One That Pays to Save the Day)
"Téa?" Bakura called calmly to her. "Are you feeling better now?"
Téa opened her eyes. Bakura was there interrupting on her bed. "What is it?"
"You almost collapsed, so I put you on the couch," Bakura said. "Are you better enough to reach your bed this time?"
"No." No. "How am I ever going to be better?" She looked around. "Yugi should have took me up."
"They need to wait," Bakura said. "I can help."
"Yeah, but? I don't?" She groaned. "I have enough problems, I don't want this too."
"You don't want what?" Bakura asked her. "What else is wrong?"
"You," she said. "Anyone else that sees 5% of anything would be like 'definitely not much' and back off. You see it and you want to be father of the year, and I don't want it, because you are a . . . reminder."
"Reminder?" Bakura said. "I'm not Bandit King, I don't know Ancient Egypt."
"Yeah, but some you do. It stayed with you," Téa insisted.
"No, it didn't. I've lived a completely different life, I don't know about any of that," Bakura insisted. "Honestly. All I know is what Bandit King reveals. That's all."
"It's not in your memories." Téa propped herself up. "You love games, Bakura."
"Uh huh."
"You are friends with all of us. Especially with Yugi. Even when I disappeared and Joey was out at tournaments, you apparently stayed friends and shared game ideas and played beta games together."
"Oh yes," Bakura smiled. "It was very fun."
"I think you're a closer friend than even Tristan to Yugi honestly," Téa reckoned. "Tristan hung out with Joey first, and they just sort of became friends due to approximation."
"Perhaps?" Bakura moved closer. "I don't understand the point, Téa?"
"If you were such a good friend, then why weren't you around us more often?" Téa asked him. "We'd see each other at Pegasus', but you didn't hang with our party. We just bumped into each other. Kaiba's tournament. Didn't see you an awful lot."
"Don't . . . remember an awful lot." She was hitting a sensitive area. "I was run by Zorc, Téa. A lot."
"You were always there, in the background, but you were never really there. It was more than Zorc or Bandit King," Téa told him. "You always wanted friends, but you had trouble making friends. When you had friends? You didn't . . . you still backed off a lot."
"Well, evil spirit inside, Téa."
"You didn't know there was an evil spirit," Téa reminded him.
"I just prefer smaller settings. Less people. I prefer playing with Yugi than anyone else I guess," he gave in. "I am sorry that I remind you of your past."
He wanted to hang out all those years ago. He wanted to get closer. "You really want to be part of little Hikaru's life, don't you?"
"Yes." That was obvious. "I don't want anything else though, I promise. You and Yugi have a strong connection together that is probably more than friendship. I don't want to interrupt that. I want my . . . I want my family though."
"Yeah. You do." Sure, it was the ancient past, but he was haunted and cursed by the very ones who loved him. Who had grown up with him. When he made friends, he made them small. Not many. Certain things lingered between. "Hey, if we survive, I'll bet you would be a great dad." ///Téa: I hate it. It's still true, Masika. If someone came in and threatened my life, I'd still run to Bakura. I'd hate it though. I don't want to remember, but I can't help it when I see him.///
///Yugi: Sure, great, he'll be absolutely fantastic!///
Huh? Téa knew the feel of that connection. ///Téa: Yugi?///
///Yugi: Sorry. I didn't mean . . . Atem got linked to Masika, and they linked us. Sorry.///
Ugh! Yugi.
///Yugi: Of course you like Bakura.///
///Téa: Not like that. Look, Yugi. Ugh! He's like our superhero, okay?! I'm sorry, I do like Bakura. I want him around, but it doesn't mean I don't want you around, so I always tell myself I don't want him around! Ugh, I hate this, why did they link us? Yugi, I don't mean that you haven't helped in the past, because you have. You're a really great friend.///
///Yugi: Sure, fine, friend!///
"Are you okay, Téa?" Bakura asked. "You look very pained. Should I get someone?"
"No. Yugi can hear my every thought." ///Téa: Worst nightmare ever.///
///Yugi: Double for me. I did what I could. I always did what I could. You went for falling from Atem, to falling for Bakura, but you barely ever fell for me.///
///Téa: That's not true. You don't get it./// She watched as Bakura headed downstairs. ///Téa: Bakura is coming. I just wanted rest./// It wasn't easy to hide feelings with the connection though.
---
"Yugi?" Bakura came straight over while Atem was trying to make contact about Mai's card. "Are you linked to Téa?"
"Yes!" Yugi didn't look good. "The goddesses did it. Atem's linked to Masika now and she is linked to Sekhmet."
"Oh. That's not good," Bakura said.
"No, Bakura, it's not good," Yugi said miserably.
"I? Yugi, I don't mean any harm to your relationship with Téa at all," he assured him. "Really. She doesn't even like to be around me, I remind her of her past too much. I just, I want to help how I can. I don't want to lose Hikaru."
"Well, too bad you can't switch with Atem, he'd probably gladly take the five percent 'do you even count percentage' over Silhouette, she's already been born and he's really not good with-" Then, he thought about how that sounded. To everyone there. "Sorry." He looked toward Atem. "Sorry."
"Get it together." Yeah, Atem didn't look good. "Go see Téa and talk it out with words."
His feelings got the best of him. He didn't even know what he said. "Sorry."
"That's a command, Yugi, go and talk it out between the two of you with physical words. We have enough to deal with down here," Atem told him. He crossed his arms.
Yugi went upstairs. He saw Téa sitting up on the couch. "Sorry."
"You just don't get it," she uttered to him. "Did you just yell Silhouette was already born?" Oh, those shining eyes. He couldn't have seen that from that far away. "Yugi. I love you, not Bakura."
What? ///Yugi: You love me?///
///Téa: Silhouette's already born. I don't have time to hold things back anymore. That's why I was dealing with Bakura. That's why I'm telling you./// "I don't know how much time I have, and I don't want to have regrets when I leave."
Oh. ///Yugi: I'm so stupid. I get bogged down in details when I should be working on figuring out that sacrifice card!///
"It's your feelings, they are gonna shoot everywhere," Téa told him. "I need to explain something to you. I don't have romantic feelings for Bakura. Not now, and I didn't in the past either. He helped us through some things . . . but that's not the same."
Yugi nodded. "I know. You were young. A slave even. I understand that."
"When I was younger, I did get superhero mixed up with romantic feelings. A lot of girls do that. So yeah, I did crush on Atem," she said, drudging up the past. "If I were younger again, and all this came back to me, maybe I would think it's romantic love. But? It's not." She smiled. "I love the guy who waited for hours for a game to come out anxiously. I love the guy who was there for me, no matter what, even if he just played the friendship role. The biggest one though? I loved the guy who understood I had some big dreams that he wouldn't be able to follow me for, but still let me try for them anyway without ever saying 'don't go'."
New York. Dancing. ///Yugi: It meant the world to you.///
///Téa: Still does. It's not in my top ten things to worry about right now.///
///Yugi: So. Bakura?///
///Téa: Do you ever watch superhero movies? Not like the main heroine, just any old sequence. A girl walking home with a guy or something, someone attacks them, the hero takes care of it and then what?///
///Yugi: Usually a sequence like that is with a small time villain that has info on a bigger boss, so they stop and try to squeeze it for information.///
Téa just smiled at him. "That's right, Yugi. The couple are always forgotten. She doesn't break up with her boyfriend and go for the hero. They are both thankful they had them at that minute in their lives. They'll always be thankful, but they are going to go home, eat, watch a movie, and probably just go to bed together still. The hero doesn't always take the girl. Bakura isn't taking me away. Do you get that yet?"
"Yeah." It was starting to really sink in. "You love him . . . but not romantically." She loved Yugi romantically. "What was all that talk about with him and us being friends?"
"Eavesdropper," she teased him. "Bakura isn't always there around us. He wanted friends, but he didn't want friends. Something inside still tickles him, and, he's afraid to get too close to anyone. He's polite and friendly on the surface. Not many will ever get him to his core."
"Bakura doesn't remember the past . . . but something about it stayed with him?" Yugi asked.
"Yeah. I just wanted him to know that."
Yeah. Yugi always noticed that too. The curse apparently went on a very long time, and, it must still have had some effect on parts of his souls. "One hundred percent, I have no worries about Bakura with you?"
"Right," she agreed. "Atem might have worries with Dark Bakura, I dunno for sure, but that's Masika's area. I'm not messing with it. Not enough time." She stood back up. "I just hope? I mean I know they can't but, dang. Forget it. Let's head to my room, Yugi. I hung out with my hero for a little while, but now I just want to relax with my boyfriend."
Yugi smiled. Probably goofy, and he didn't care. He helped her to her room's bed. "I need to remember to apologize to Atem later." His mind just absolutely blabbered about anything that came to it, too overwhelmed to think. "I need to apologize to Bakura too. Five percent is still family."
"Everything later," she insisted. "Just hang out with me for now. Uh? I know it's weird, but do you want to play a game with me?" She winked.
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