(Takes place 2 weeks after the season 5 finale)
Yugi pulled on his clothes and dashed down the stairs. It was Sunday, and he had overslept. I was supposed to help Grandpa clean up the shop today! he thought frantically. When he threw open the door to the game shop downstairs, he was surprised to see his friend Bakura already there sweeping the floor. “Huh?”
“Good morning, Yugi,” Grandpa Muto said from behind the counter.
“Hey, Yugi,” Bakura greeted him with his usual smile.
“What are you doing here, Bakura?” Yugi asked.
“Oh, this?” Bakura pointed to the broom in his hand. “I just dropped by and thought maybe I’d help out a little.”
“Oh. Okay.” Yugi lacked his normal enthusiasm, maybe because he wasn’t fully awake yet.
“Is something wrong?” Bakura asked, worried.
“Nothing. This is just the first time you’ve ever been over here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, come to think of it, it is,” Bakura realized. “But it occurred to me that when I got stabbed in the arm, your grandpa was the one who brought me to the hospital, so I thought I’d pay him back.”
“I already told him he didn’t owe me anything, but he just picked up the broom and started sweeping,” Mr. Muto explained. “And since you weren’t awake yet, I let him.”
“Sorry about that, Gramps,” Yugi apologized light-heartedly. “So, Bakura, do you want to hang around and play a card game with me? Oh wait, you normally go to church on Sundays, right?”
“Yeah, about that...” Bakura began. “There’s something else I forgot to mention. It had actually slipped my mind for a while, or I guess I just blocked it out. Anyway, last week when I went to church, they were replacing the stained glass windows. When I asked what had happened they told me the all old ones had been smashed in. I wondered who would do such a horrible thing, but then I realized...that’s where I was when the evil spirit took possession of me again for the last time.” Bakura looked down at the floor, full of remorse. “Yugi, I’m sorry for everything that’s happened because of that evil spirit.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Bakura,” Yugi said.
“You have to stop blaming yourself for things that were beyond your control,” Mr. Muto agreed.
“But that’s just it. Maybe if I had just been stronger, I could have done something...but I couldn’t stop him. Or it. I’m not completely sure where the human spirit ended and the inhuman began.”
“Wait, so you’re saying that the evil spirit from the Millennium Ring was part human?” Yugi asked.
“Once was human, but lost the battle. Then I inherited the struggle.”
“Bakura...”
Just then, Joey, Tea, and Tristan came into the shop. “Morning, everybody!” Joey greeted them.
“Hey guys,” Yugi replied, brightening.
“Hello, everyone,” Bakura chimed in shyly.
“What’s Bakura doing here sweeping the floor?”Joey asked.
“I was just...uh...”
“Put that broom down and come do something fun with us.”
“But what about...?” Bakura looked back at Yugi’s grandpa.
“You kids go on,” Mr. Muto said, smiling. “I can take care of the rest myself.”
“Thanks, Gramps,” Yugi said. “I promise I’ll be back to help later!” With that the gang left, taking Bakura along with them.
“Where are we going?” Bakura asked.
“You’ll see,” Joey said. “So what have you been up to lately, other than sweeping floors?”
“Oh, nothing really...” Bakura didn’t want to repeat what he had just told Yugi about the church.
“Nothing?” Tristan echoed incredulously. “Don’t tell me you stay in that apartment all the time by yourself doing nothing.”
“By yourself...” The words repeated themselves through Yugi’s mind.
Bakura shrugged. “Just life as usual, I guess.”
Yugi looked like he was about to say something, but then Tea pointed out their destination. “We’re here, guys, it’s the arcade!”
“You remember this place, right, Bakura?” Joey said, referring to the day after school when Bakura had transferred into their class.
“Yeah...” Bakura wanted to be happy, but being there again brought back memories of that day. It was already bad enough that the Kaiba brothers had kidnapped Yugi’s grandpa and issued a challenge to them back then, but then of course the spirit of the Ring had to act up and cause him pain too. Things had certainly gotten stranger and even more dangerous after that.
“What’s the hold-up, Bakura? Why do you look so bummed?” Joey asked when Bakura just continued to stand there.
“Yeah, if you’ve got something to say then say it,” Tristan added.
Yugi stepped in. “He was telling me and Gramps earlier that he feels bad about everything that’s happened.”
“You’re not still blaming yourself for all that, are you?” Tea asked, astonished. She thought they had moved past all that. Zorc and the evil Bakura were defeated, the world was saved, the Pharaoh had passed on, and the Millennium Items were gone. What more was there?
“It’s true,” Bakura sighed. “I just don’t know how I can make it up to you. I was supposed to be your friend after all and I ended up letting you down. I’m...sorry...”
“Hold on, Bakura. Maybe it’s us that’s let you down,” Yugi conjectured.
“Huh?” the other four asked, shocked.
“Think about it, guys. We didn’t really do anything to help him when he needed it. We didn’t even notice until something had already happened. And only when it affected us did we even really care. Half the time we were just too angry with the evil Bakura that we that didn’t even realize...”
Joey cringed. It was weird having a good friend and a terrible enemy both in the same package, which was probably one reason why they didn’t hang out with him as often. Joey himself had even avoided him once because of it. Even so, they had tried to defend him against Kaiba and his warped sense of justice, but it didn’t take. At least not until it became Mai’s turn. That made Joey feel a twinge of guilt. Bakura had been there in his dream too. Shouldn’t he have tried harder to help? He loved Mai, but Bakura was his friend too!
Tristan thought about it. That evil spirit did piss him off. He’d tried to get rid of him back in Duelist Kingdom, but that didn’t work. And they had Serenity to thank for finally convincing Kaiba to give Bakura medical attention after he collapsed after the first semi-final duel of Battle City. Serenity did occupy his mind plenty too, as well as his rivalry with Duke Devlin. But then what did they do? They searched for the Millennium Ring again, and to no avail. When was the last time he even talked to Bakura? It seemed like the most natural thing in the world, and yet...
Everything was a blur to Tea. Bakura had gone through so much. To think that he had been suffering like that behind the scenes, not just physically but emotionally. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. And yet he’d just kept smiling for them as if nothing had happened. They thought he was fine, but who would be in his position? Surely none of them could have gone through the same things without feeling even a fraction of what he’s feeling right now. Why hadn’t they been paying more attention? They had just let him fall through the cracks. He was their friend, after all. They should’ve had more consideration for him all along, just as much as they had for the others. They hadn’t done it on purpose, but still.
Bakura was stunned. He felt bad, but he hadn’t wanted Yugi to blame himself. It certainly hadn’t been his intention to make everyone else feel bad either. “No, there’s nothing you could have done. Really. Having the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring created a barrier between myself and other people. Most of the time I hid behind it, but in the end people still got hurt and so did I. Sometimes I felt so alone, but then I realized I wasn’t alone as I thought I was because of all the times you all were there for me.”
“We probably could have helped more if we wanted to,” Tristan said quietly, “but we just weren’t there for you enough. We were too concerned with other things.”
The mood had grown somber. So that’s what was missing, Tea realized. Closure. He needed closure too. All this time, and he didn’t even say anything...until now. I was so worried about Yugi and the Pharaoh that I had completely forgotten...
Joey couldn’t handle everyone being depressed anymore. “That’s it!” he exclaimed, grabbing Bakura by the shoulders. “We’ll start over! We’re going to have fun together until you believe that you’re one of us!...No, wait, that’s not what I meant. We’ll still have fun together even after you believe that...”
Yugi tried to smooth things over. “What Joey means to say is that we should hang out with you more often so you feel more like part of the group. With the evil aspect of the Millennium Items gone, there’s nothing to stop you.”
“From now on, nobody is getting left behind, not even you,” Tristan declared.
“And I’ll never leave you out of another friendship speech ever again!” Tea determined.
“Yeah, Tea, about that,” Joey teased. “Friendship speeches have been outlawed.”
“What? Why?”
Bakura laughed. This was just like the old days. He could have fun again with his friends and have nothing to fear. They were all moving forward together. He wished the human spirit inside the Ring could have done the same. Oh well.
“Now let’s play some games!” Joey said. “And next week, we can go to the amusement park!”
Bakura grinned the sincerest, happiest grin he had ever grinned in a long time. “Yes, let’s!”
*The End*
~ “I Will” by Sowelu ~
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