A Means of Communication

Chapter 10: TV News

The streets were very dark that night; Ryou could barely see out of the windows in the bus as it drove steadily to his destination. Finally Ryou's stop came into sight. He pushed the "Stop Requested" button and jumped out the door into the night.
Ryou felt like an idiot standing there on the sidewalk, alone, barely a few cents of change in his pockets for the bus ride back. He looked around but Ryou didn't see anyone there.

"Hey," a voice hissed from behind him. Ryou turned to see a pale hand beckoning to him out of a small alley. Ryou approached cautiously. Sure enough, there was Bakura, wearing a long black coat and a black hat for disguising proposes probably. Even in the darkness Ryou could see his pale face smirk. "I'm glad to see the number worked. You're a little late though, kid."

"My name's not 'kid'," Ryou said firmly. Bakura would not intimidate him; he would get his mother's necklace back and leave as soon as possible.

"Ouch. Touchy," Bakura taunted taking off his back hat and shaking out his long white hair majestically. Ryou blinked the magic away.

"I'm going to be very late for work because of this. Could you give me what I came for?" Ryou asked as politely as he could manage. Bakura leaned in closer to Ryou, his black coat blending in with the darkness like a shadow.

"I missed you," he said, voice smooth.

Ryou took a step back. "Don't play games with me."

Bakura frowned, looking slightly hurt. 'I was being truthful, I think...' the rock star muttered silently to himself.

"Kaa-san's necklace, please," Ryou reminded him. Bakura scowled and fumbled around in his various pockets.

"Here," Bakura tossed it into the air. Ryou saw the glint of metal as it caught the light of the moon and it landed in his open hands. He examined it as well as he could in the pitch darkness. He ran his thumb over its smooth surface and corners. But something was odd. The necklace felt surprising heavy and the points of the cross it felt too big and too sharp.

"What? No thank you? It took me forever to find it," Bakura grumbled darkly, hands stuffed into his pockets. Ryou held the necklace up by the chain so it could catch the dim light and didn't say anything.

"The chain is different," Ryou commented dryly.

"The other one broke so I replaced it," Bakura answered automatically.

"This is not Kaa-san's necklace," Ryou said coldly. "Its made out of real silver, hers wasn't. And it's too big; Kaa-san's was almost half this size. The sides are too clean and too smooth, there used to be a large knick on this corner. This feels like it's been made recently." Ryou's voice sharpened. "You thought I would be fooled by this fake."

Bakura didn't move, he didn't say anything and Ryou couldn't make out his expression in the night. The average, white-haired teenager's insides flamed; his fists shook as he threw the necklace angrily at the rock star's head.

Bakura caught it with one hand, dark eyes fixed upon the ground.

"Where's the real one?" Ryou demanded. Bakura didn't say anything. "You told me you had the real one!"

"I told you what happened to the real one," Bakura snarled. "I threw it away, it was junk."

"Stop toying with me! You told me found it! On the answering machine you said you had found it!" Ryou cried.

"I said no such thing," Bakura answered mildly, as dully as though the conversation was suddenly boring him. "I said: 'It's shiny and I think it might have belonged to a dead relative of yours.' I never said anything about finding your mother's necklace." Ryou's jaw clenched.