Yu-Gi-Oh! Love Selflessly (Version 2 - SEMI FINAL)

Prologue 2

The next day, Emiko sat quietly on the swing set in Domino City's public park. The sun was just beginning to set, casting a warm, orange light over the city. Emiko had her guitar out and was mindlessly plucking at the strings, listening to the clean sound that each string brought. The melody she played was sombre, yet still beautiful. In the darkest of times, Emiko felt that music was the one thing that calmed her down and when her mind was racing, the music helped to clear her mind. She had just reached a pause in the song when she heard a familiar, soft voice behind her.

"Emiko?"

She jumped a little, turning to face the person approaching. She relaxed and sighed upon seeing Bakura sit down on the swingset next to her. He asked in his gentle voice, "Are you alright?" Emiko returned to her guitar and said, "Y-yeah. I'm fine." She strummed lightly over the strings of the instrument. Bakura frowned and said, his head cocked to one side, "You don't seem fine. You've been avoiding us all day and you hid in the theatre during lunch. You only ever do that when something is really bothering you." She bit her lip and continued to play, pretending to ignore him. He pressed on, "So what's on your mind?" Emiko paused, the last note she played echoing off, trailing into the loud city noises. She opened her mouth, but then closed it, not quite sure how to tell him what happened without giving away her big secret. He turned away, looking off into the distance and sighing. She finally said, "I got into a fight with my brother."

"Oh," he said, "I see. It must've been a pretty nasty fight, then, huh?" Emiko gazed down at her guitar and said, replaying the events of the previous evening in her head, "Yeah. See, he's always working. He rarely ever makes time for us. I guess I finally lost it. I snapped and said some pretty horrible things. He...he walked out on us." Bakura sighed. Silence fell between them for several long moments.

"What..." he cautiously asked, "what exactly did you...?" Emiko took a slow breath in, then said in a low voice, "I-I...I said that...if he couldn't make time for his family...then maybe he shouldn't have one...." He looked at her, seeing her sad face. Her blue eyes shimmered as tears formed and threatened to fall. He couldn't bring himself to say anything to her, but she wordlessly picked up her guitar and resumed plucking at the strings. He just sat beside her and listened for a while before finally saying, "You should try and talk to him." She stopped playing suddenly. He continued, "You know, make amends before it's too late." Emiko said sternly, startling Bakura and setting her guitar back on the ground, "That's easier said than done. You don't know my brother." Bakura said calmly, "Maybe not, but I know how hard it is to lose the chance to make up with a loved one." Her shoulders relaxed a little and her heart dropped. He said solemnly, "I...I lost my mother and my little sister when I was young. I-I know it wasn't my fault, but I still can't help but feel guilty about it." Emiko sighed.

"I was angry. My mother and I were at odds the day that it happened," Bakura explained, "I just wanted her to leave me alone. I..." he took a long breath, "I ended up shouting at her." Emiko looked down at her feet. He said, "When my father told me that both she and my little sister were killed in a car wreck...I-I felt like I was the one to blame...like if I hadn't said those things, then they wouldn't have been hit." Emiko let out a sigh. His warm brown eyes, now sparkling with tears, finally looked up to meet hers and he said, "Sorry, Em. I...I haven't talked about mum or Amane in years." He smiled through his tears and said, "I guess...the memories just all came flooding back to me at once." She muttered, "I'm so sorry, Bakura. I-I...I had no idea." He cleared his throat and looked up into the orange sky.

"I still write letters to them," he said, "It wasn't easy to let them go, so instead, I just found a way to let them know I still love them." Emiko looked back in the direction of the Kaiba manor, then back to her lap. Bakura reached over and placed his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. He smiled softly and said, "You can do this, Emiko." Emiko smiled. She nodded and stood up, grabbing her guitar and putting it back into its carrying case. Bakura stood up with her and she said, "What if he...?" Bakura said, "Emiko, it'll be ok. Trust me." She thought to herself, "I want to believe him, but Seto is such a selfish, arrogant jerk." She pushed her thoughts aside and said, "Thank you." He nodded. She finally turned and began to walk on her path away from the Kaiba manor, only turning to go home after losing sight of Bakura.