[Usually, Atem would tell Ryou to lie down, that he might make his injuries worse, moving around like this. But there's still horror in his slit-pupilled eyes, he's still drowning in sleep-debt, and while he knows what's real, he knows and believes it when Ryou tells him he didn't do it, didn't do that, wasn't that person, he still whispers hoarsely, hollowly, the words spilling out as he grips the front of Ryou's shirt in clawed fingers:]
I was him. It was me holding the knife this time, I was--
[Daniel. Only instead of Elias, it was for the Fog, and instead of his mind in Yugi's body, it was -- it was eyes he's seen in mirrors in memories, and seen in Ryslig in person, betrayed and terrified as he realized what Atem was about to do, as Atem showed the Fog, who was watching, always watching--!
If it were anyone but Ryou, the words might not have come out. They might have stayed in Atem's heart, out of an unwillingness to speak them, a need to hide pain and sorrow even from people he trusts. But it is, so they do.]
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I was him. It was me holding the knife this time, I was--
[Daniel. Only instead of Elias, it was for the Fog, and instead of his mind in Yugi's body, it was -- it was eyes he's seen in mirrors in memories, and seen in Ryslig in person, betrayed and terrified as he realized what Atem was about to do, as Atem showed the Fog, who was watching, always watching--!
If it were anyone but Ryou, the words might not have come out. They might have stayed in Atem's heart, out of an unwillingness to speak them, a need to hide pain and sorrow even from people he trusts. But it is, so they do.]