"Ryou hasn't showed up, right?" Mira pulled a chair over to the table where both Ishtars were sitting. The common room was full of people who had the next period free and most of them were from twelfth B.
Malik shook his head in a negative. "Neither has Bakura. I well damn missed his stupid antics during Spanish."
Someone's cell phone rang and almost everyone grabbed for the bags, pockets and where ever else you keep this wonder of technique. It was Mira's. She frowned at the unknown number, but answered nonetheless and was met with Bakura's gravely voice.
"Bakura? Whom did you steal the phone from? And where the hell are you?"
"Phonebooth, you're paying for the call, South Bridge, get your ass over here. Now."
There was a sharp click and continuous beeping. The dark-haired girl stared at her phone, then got up and stalked over to Kaiba, extracting a CD and a stack of papers from her bag and unceremoniously showed them in his hands. "My part of project is complete. You're on your own for IT today."
Then she spun around and on her way out latched onto Malik's arm, dragging him along.
"You're coming with me, Egyptian."
He was about to argue and the darker of both Ishtars could only shake his head in disbelief. "Damn. She takes it seriously."
Traffic jams on the streets were a major pain and time-killers and it took almost an hour to get to the other side of the city as the bus dragged along the stuffed streets. Finally they were passing by the worn-down houses and turned onto the quay, getting a good look at the polluted and dead waters of the river flowing through the city. Once lively business region was now gangster and poor people region.
Mira and Malik got off the bus several blocks before the bridge and took the shortest route over litter-filled square, through small courtyards and narrow alleys, and reached the bridge five minutes before the bus shoved up.
"And where exactly did he say he'd be waiting?" Malik glanced around, for the first time getting a look at the most godforsaken part of the city. He'd never been there before and was rather impressed at how easily Mira navigated through the complex web of small curved streets and dark yards, obviously quite familiar with the area.
The girl squinted at something in the distance. "He didn't."
The Egyptian almost stopped in the middle of the wide main street that separated the coast from the block- and warehouses, but Mira dragged him onwards, slipping over the security and speeding lines even though there were cars on the road. With certain surprise he noted that she was familiar with illegal road crossing as well. Made him wonder about some things, but he swallowed the question when they climbed over the barrier and crossed a field overtaken by weeds and small parasitic bushes, heading straight for the bridge.
"There."
"Where?" Malik frowned, trying to make out the one thing that had gotten his classmate's attention.
"On the bridge."
"Where?"
"Never mind," she muttered and climbed over another barrier. While crossing the road, she almost got run over by a car and the girl exploded in such a stray of curses directed at the driver that Malik was truly forced to wonder. Now they were under the ascent roads and Bakura suddenly emerged from the shadows.
"Your amazingly gentle voice can be heard even on the other shore."
"Yeah, whatever. Did you call 911?"
"Do I look like someone with a mobile phone?"
Mira simply threw her cellular phone at Malik. "Do the stuff."
"Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on here?" Malik caught the device and stared after Mira as she ran up the ladder to the next level of the bridge, Bakura following on her heels. None of them bothered to answer and he was forced to follow.
"Why didn't you get him down, Bakura?"
"He chased me off there," the Briton growled in anger. "Threatened to jump down if I don't get lost."
"Remind me to use that the next time you get on my nerves."
"Like I'd care if you jump or not."
Finally they stopped their ascend and now Malik could see the situation that had caught Mira's attention even from afar. Ryou was standing on the outer side of the railing, risking to get blown off any other minute by the fierce wind that was howling up there, his hair and clothes fluttering in the forceful breeze like broken wings of a butterfly. The Egyptian proceeded to call 911, but Mira eventually took over the talking because he couldn't respond on some questions and she knew the region better.
"Mira," Bakura drew her attention back to him while they were standing there, freezing in the chilly wind and waiting for the emergency brigade to come. "Go talk to him."
She looked at him like he'd be a nine-headed monster or something. "Hell no. I have no idea of how to handle situations like these."
"Allow me to point out some obvious things," he crossed his arms. "Long hair -- check, nice ass -- check, noticeable chest -- check. Conclusion -- you're a girl, and girls know how to handle things like these."
"Well, I happen to be an exception."
"Just go, damn you! It won't do any harm, and he might listen to you since he was very reluctant to talk to me. Hell, he even yelled at me. Ever seen him yelling?"
"He's right, Mira," Malik joined in. "Besides, the help won't arrive so quickly and by that time he might've jumped off the bridge already."
Mira glared, but after some time of hesitation and Bakura's permanent glare that intensified with every passing second she finally approached Ryou. He showed no signs of having noticed her presence. He just stood there, completely motionless.
"Ryou!" the girl called out to him, but received zero reaction.
"Ryou!" she tried once again, and once again there was no response, no motion showing that her words had been registered. "Come on, Ryou, get off there. You know that it's not a solution."
Only howl of wind. Mira came as close to him as she dared and unbeknownst to her, Bakura and Malik had done the same, staying within the hearing distance. Now only the old and partially rusted railing separated them.
"Is it because of what the cartomancer said? Ryou, come on! Did you believe her? Just look at what she said and think logically. There wasn't a single true word in what she said. You know that Amelda and I aren't dating, hell, he'd be the last person to date, and look at Kaiba -- he's never stuttered and it's a cold day in hell if he's ever wanted to fit among the rest of the class. Hell, she couldn't even tell that Malik and Marik come from Egypt. And you certainly don't have a depression."
Mira paused her rant, intently watching Ryou for any reaction. Nothing. "Look, Ryou, just get off there and I swear I'll listen to everything you've got to say even though I'm a lousy listener."
Finally there was a noticeable motion from him. For the first time Ryou actually moved, but his classmate was definitely not prepared for the following events. He didn't turn around; he didn't get back to safety. Instead he pushed himself off the edge and fell down, straight into the dirty waters below.
Mira was paralysed in shock and no scream came from her. Hands tightly gripping the railing, she helplessly watched how the body arched through the air. Wind never carried the splash of Ryou crushing against the surface to their ears. It was swallowed within the howling breezes and scattered above the city. She slipped down the banisters, her forehead coming to rest against the rusty bars and she didn't even feel how strong hands pried her off there and pulled away from the edge.
Bakura gripped her upper arms tighter, feeling her stiffness and led the girl down the bridge just as the sirens and flickering lights approached. A rescue team was quickly formed and everything was prepared for Ryou's search. The three of them were escorted to one of the cars and given blankets to get warm. They were more or less in persistent shock, everyone going through it differently. Mira was still partially paralysed and was looking in one point with her eyes not registering anything, Bakura still had kept an arm around her and was trying hard not to go on a rampage, and Malik was slightly shaking from the coldness that had settled within him after witnessing Ryou's fall and disappearance into the waters.
The rescue team was scanning the dirty river waters and it stretched into hours. The only thing that they had managed to find so far was his teal shirt and with every minute the chances of finding him alive were diminishing. When the trio got offered to be escorted home, they dead on refused, insisting to stay until Ryou was found, no matter how long that would take. Eventually everyone got annoyed with their presence and after putting their testimonies down, they got forced into a police car and brought home. However they tricked the policemen, saying that they lived in the same apartment and stayed together and awake for the whole night until the morning sun breached through the darkness.
At six in the morning came a phone-call, informing them that Ryou's body had been finally found.
Thank you for yor time and patience! Your opinion and feedbacks will be most appreciated.
May your day treat you fair!
