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Who: Bakura & Lyall
When: After school
Where: Lyall's classroom then elsewhere
What: Bakura's starting to get really uneasy about one of the past selves he's remembering stuff from and goes to talk to one of the few adults he actually trusts.

At the end of the day, Bakura was often one of the first people busting out of the door to head out, even more with the police presence hovering around the building. But today instead, he hung back, heading for the science wing, waiting until the students had all left before knocking on the side of the door.

"Heading out or staying after?"

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Lyall looked up from his laptop-- he hadn't gotten started on grading, at least, so that was something-- and offered Bakura a smile. "Well, I hadn't decided how long to stay today, though I'm not meeting anyone in particular yet. Which would you prefer?"

Given how quickly the boy disappeared at the end of the day, he could probably guess.

The teen hesitated a moment, feeling just... awkward.

"Figured I'd walk with you, at least part of the way, if you were leaving," he shrugged.

Thankfully, Lyall was used to slightly awkward teens, even if they do want to talk to him about whatever's bothering them, which was admittedly a little less common. He stood up. "Leaving, it is, then. Just give me a minute to shut down my laptop."

The thing took a minute to do that, but Lyall spent the time putting his few remaining papers away and tidying up a few chairs. "Are you managing all right, still, in class?" he asked, figuring that probably wasn't the problem and thus would be safe to ask.

"Yeah..." Bakura shrugged. "They put me in a different math class. Found one without any of those stupid girls in it. So that's been nice. Even if it's still math and it sucks. Different lunch period too, but I'm still taking that in the ISS room as long as they'll let me..."

He wasn't going to get to the real heart of the matter until they were clear of the school. So small talk made a good opening.

"You can always come here, too, if they stop letting you, even if it isn't the same time as my lunch period," Lyall offered as he shut the laptop lid and slid it into its bag. "I could set you up in the lab room with something to do, or a book, or just the network to keep you occupied." Since he'd all but given up on nagging about homework.

"You don't mind food in the lab when it's not class?" Bakura asked with light amusement.

"If you're careful and clean up after yourself, I'm sure we could manage. I'd bring you in a tray or somesuch." He offered a smile, back, and shouldered his bag, picking up his hat from its shelf under the counter-top. "All right, ready to go."

Bakura nodded, shifting his bag higher up on his shoulder to follow Lyall out. "Might take you up on that, then. Much rather be here than in ISS anyway."

Lyall turned to lock his door behind them, then headed for the doors out of the building. "I thought you might. I take it the request for independent study didn't go over well? Or are they still mulling?" He was of two minds about the whole idea, himself, but he'd support what seemed best for Bakura, if he could.

The teen sighed softly, kicking at the floor a bit as he walked. "It's annoying. There's all sorts of shit they have to do and no one's doing it," he sulked, shoulders slumping. "Even though I got my grades up... Mrs. Jesson says it looks like it won't be set up until next semester. Which means them saying I could start taking classes and Locke U was just bullshit to get me to do what they wanted," he muttered. "Hate this fucking school..."

"Well, I don't think they specifically promised that they could set it up immediately," Lyall offered, somewhere between apologetic and hopeful. "And next semester is better than nothing. I'll at least try to do what I can to make it bearable for you."

"Just wish I could fucking leave already..." Bakura muttered, clearly sulking. "You're the only good thing about this shit heap... And they keep trying to get me to try out this 'alternate' school bullshit so they can just get rid of me," he scowled. "Fucking waste of time..."

"I don't think that alternate schooling is them trying to get rid of you," Lyall put in mildly, and now that they were outside, he needed his earplugs-- or, well, one of them. He fished it out of his pocket and fitted it into the ear not facing Bakura. "They're just trying to find something that works better for you, that's all. But I don't really think that's what you came to talk to me about." Otherwise he would have been happy to do that at school, he imagined.

"Still feels like it..." Bakura grumbled, looking down as he kicked at a leaf.

He was quiet a moment.

"Things I'm remembering of some of the other of me.... are starting to get worrying..." he finally spoke, voice quiet.

"Worrying how?" Lyall asked with a little frown. "I know two of them were not particularly pleasant...." If he was seeing things that were particularly uncomfortable-- well, Lyall wasn't exactly pleased with whatever was sending these "pulses" to children and teenager, anyway, but it would make him even less pleased.

Another long moment of silence, the memory playing once more in his mind.

'This boy's weak soul, this fragile body...they only exist for that day...!'

"One of them was using another so he could obtain the powers of darkness..."

"Oh dear." Sometimes the things that came out of these pulses just got worse and worse, and Lyall just wished-- again-- that his students wouldn't be involved in the "worse" parts so much. "Which one was that?" Obviously one of the nasty ones, but still.

"The modern day one that isn't the creampuff."

Bakura was quiet a moment. "The one that creampuff died to stop."

That had Lyall pausing and frowning over at him. "Died to stop." That was a new one, he hadn't heard that bit yet. "That-- doesn't sound very cream-puff-like." He wasn't sure how much he ought to ask. He was curious, but he didn't want to push, either, so he waited to see if Bakura would volunteer any further before he broached it.

"Self destructed. Shattered his soul." The words were clipped, Bakura's hands sinking deeper into his pockets. "Killed himself so that I would lose and then die myself," he scowled.

"You are not necessarily these people you're learning things from, Bakura," Lyall said gently, the first thing he'd always say in this situation. They were themselves now, no matter what their actual relationship to these other people. "You know that. Your choices do not have to be theirs."

"Of course I fucking know that!" Bakura snapped, entire frame tensing before he looked sharply away. "Doesn't make me any less upset remembering both sides of a fucking death RPG...."

"No need to shout." Even if it wasn't exactly a shout, it still felt like it when people raised their voice even a little. "And no, it doesn't make it any easier. But it can help, keeping it in mind... to keep you separate."

He paused, though he kept walking, before adding, "I remembered dying, too. Though it wasn't so dramatic as that."

The teen's shoulders hunched a bit more at the pseudo reprimand. "I think the dying is the least of it... the fight to the death... with another idiot whose memories I keep getting back!" His fists clenched before he forced them to relax. "Soul stealing, black magic, death games... Werewolves and Queen Victoria sound far more sane than any of that shit..."

"It does, when you put it like that. At least you aren't getting the kinds of things Chris is, but I think she may be the worst off of us, that I'm aware of...." Lyall shook his head. "I wish we knew more of the point of all this. It's completely unfair to ask you to sort all this out at once."

Bakura let out a long sigh. "Worst part is that this isn't the worst of it... Compared to Anthony and Chris and hell, even Hajime... this is nothing. It just feels worse because it's all up in my head and what's to say the next time I lose my shit I don't turn into Asshole and suddenly go all supervillain? I can barely handle normal shit some days..."

"You won't." And Lyall sounded very firm about that. "You are yourself, no matter what these people have done in their past. I have faith in that." Even if nobody else did, including Bakura.

The teen fell silent a long moment. "I don't..." he finally said, voice soft. "I've..." he hesitated a long moment. "There's been at least one time... when I wasn't myself..." he admitted, voice almost inaudible.

... interesting. And admittedly worrisome. But Lyall managed to keep from looking like it, just barely. His brows just furrowed a bit. "What happened? When was it?"

Another long silence. "Over summer. There... there was a crash... and...." his voice faltered. "Don't remember any of what happened... but... that asshole recorded it. Showed me what went on."

He looked over, eyes suddenly very intense and tone pleading. "You can't tell anyone, if something like this..." he trailed off, shaking his head, shoulders and fists tensing. "You can't tell anyone...."

There was only a brief hesitation before Lyall realized that telling anyone would result in a rather uncomfortable diagnosis that probably wasn't exactly right, and certainly would be untreatable. "I won't. This isn't psychological. Does your doctor know?"

Since his doctor was one of the network, Lyall was sure. Since this was before the good doctor forgot everything again, mun thinks....

"That asshole's the one who told me..." Bakura muttered, crossing his arms. "The fucking last person I wanted to know about it...."

And yet, probably the best person to know about it. Lyall nodded. "All right. He would have been the only person I'd have even considered telling. What happened, when you weren't yourself?"

There was another long, uncomfortable pause, Bakura starting to fidget with the sleeves of his hoodie. "...was acting like Creampuff," he half muttered. "Lost and timid and spacy and just... just not me!" He tensed a moment before forcing his hands to relax. "Don't remember any of it and I swear that asshole just showed me enough to get me to shut up." He crossed his arms, looking to the side.

"Or to show you the gravity of the situation," Lyall pointed out carefully as an alternative. "Are you both sure you weren't simply disassociating...? I know you've been prone to... similar things, in the past." Because Lyall did read the notes he got in Bakura's file, even if he hadn't experienced dealing with a fugue or disassociation directly.

The teen's step froze and he looked up with wide eyes. "...how--" he faltered. "How did you--"

"When things might affect your behavior at school, your teacher on record does get notes on them," Lyall told him gently. "I thought you knew that. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you with."

((and if that's totally wrong, uh, poke me... XD I assumed he'd know!))

"...That bastard put it in my file, didn't he?" Bakura scowled deeply, kicking at rock. All those years of being terrified that someone would find out...!

"That is actually his job," Lyall reminded him. "I am sorry you didn't know."

"...he said he wouldn't," Bakura sulked. "And he shouldn't have known from before, damn it!"

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Yeah, before, pretty sure.

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Totally fine! :D Bakura just thought no one knew :D

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