This story takes place after "A Soul's Last Mission" ended. While reading that story is not required, it is highly recommended.

Disclaimer: I have not, do not, and will neverown Yu-Gi-Oh!

"O'chibi to Oyabaka"

"An Introduction"

It was a rather dull day, the type of day where really, nothing could get you much excited because you've pretty much never really fully woken up in the first place. The gray-cast sky lined with a sheet of gray cloud, threatening rain, the absence of the sun, and the lack of noise did these things to the body. Even when you were inside one of the biggest mansions in all of Japan, your body just did not want to obey your orders to move.

Such was the state of the residents of the Kaiba mansion, which, by the way, was more than the usual number due to visiting guests. It seemed as if the place got flooded by visitors much more than usual lately. Currently, Seto Kaiba, resident CEO, was shut in his office on the fourth and topmost floor, trying very hard to concentrate on his work, but, for once in his life, he was having no success whatsoever. No doubt he was suffering from the same weather-induced symptoms as everyone else. As much as he tried to force his train of thought to roll along the necessary tracks, all he could think about was how much different life had become over the past year.

First, there was the fact that his one and only baby brother, who, really, had out grown that label long ago, had finally graduated from college, and returned full-time to his old position as vice-president of KaibaCorp. Seto was pleasantly surprised that the boy, who, in his younger years, had shown every sign that he would leave the moment he was free to pursue his own dreams, had in the end chosen to work with his big brother in the family business. Managing such a big corporation was much easier with two geniuses instead of one, all the better that both those geniuses be of the same bloodline, and as close as siblings ever got. It also meant that he was able to see Mokuba every day, as much as he wanted.

Then there was the fact that the man who had moved in a year ago for what was supposed to be only a temporary stay now showed no signs of leaving. In fact, Seto was very sure that he had all the intentions of moving in permanently. He didn't know what it was that first tipped him off to this – perhaps it was the fact that Bakura had sold his house. Seto knew that, in order to stay in character, he really ought to complain, and fight tooth and nail to get the white-haired yami out of his house, but he just…well, he just didn't want to. It wasn't that he'd grown to think of Bakura as a friend – because he hadn't! The man was still as much a nuisance as he'd always been – it was just that kicking Bakura out would also mean kicking out the little boy who had become so much a part of his life. And this led him to the third thing on his mind.

Shadow. Specifically, Shadow Okita Sagara. 'Shadow' was the name the boy had come with, when adopted from the orphanage. 'Sagara' was Bakura's legal last name, thus now Shadow's, too. And 'Okita' was the middle name Ryou had thought so long and hard about, and finally decided on, a name taken from the famous Shinsengumi captain, Okita Souji. It was a pretty unique name, really, but it suited the little boy fairly well. It wasn't until later that someone – Mokuba, if he recalled correctly – had finally realized and pointed out that the initials spelled out 'S.O.S.'

But that was beside the point. What he was musing over was just how accustomed to the little boy he'd become. He'd never been too fond of children. Mokuba didn't count, he was family. Mostly, he'd found little kids to be obnoxious, stubbornly defiant, sticky, and, to put it bluntly, smelly. As such, he'd made a big effort to avoid them as much as possible. Until the day he'd run across Bakura, and his newly adopted son. He smirked as he recalled that day – finding the white-haired man stranded on the freeway, the then six-year-old waiflike little Shadow in the backseat, and how he'd proceeded to take them home for what was supposed to be a one-day stay, which had somehow spiraled straight out of control.

He'd been there as Shadow began to grow from the painfully shy, abused child Bakura had taken in to become a bright, curious, and lovable boy. Before he'd known it, he'd begun to think of him, and love him, as a nephew. It couldn't have helped that shortly after he started to talk, Shadow took to calling him "Seto-ojichan." That was why he let Bakura stay – because he wanted the boy in his life.

Other visitors made there appearance much more frequently now, becoming more like parasites with every prolonged stay. Joey, who'd returned to Japan, and to whom he'd made the mistake of offering a job. He must have been very drunk at the time. Marik and his yami, in Japan for a year because Marik's company had transferred him there. Yugi, in the midst of pursuing a career as a musician, had re-opened his grandfather's old game shop. And Ryou, who'd settled happily into life as an English teacher at their old high school. All of the abovementioned people had their own houses, but seemed to prefer Seto's place much more than their own.

He sighed and stretched in his chair, before standing up. There was no way he'd get anything else done today. Perhaps it would not matter too much if he took a day off. He paused for a minute, suddenly aware how foreign a thought like that was to him. Time was, he'd never have even considered slacking off. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Damn that Bakura, rubbing off on me."

Heading down the stairs, he became aware of sounds coming from the unlit living room on the first floor. He found the whole gang gathered there, spread out over several couches and chairs, armed with popcorn, chips, soda, and blankets, while a merrily crackling fire danced and crackled in the old-fashion fireplace behind them, casting a mesmerizing glow over the room. All eyes were glued to the television, on which Die Hard was playing. As he entered, several people glanced absentmindedly at him. Mokuba gave a welcoming smile, and waved him over, patting the spot beside him on the leather sofa. Seto began picking his way over the empty chip bags and soda cans on the floor, until he reached his little brother and settled down next to him.

"I'm glad you decided to call it a day," Mokuba whispered, grinning. "You're finally beginning to know your limits."

"Don't be ridiculous," Seto muttered back. "I've always known my limits."

"Shh," someone to his left hissed. Mokuba only rolled his eyes knowingly at his older brother, before turning back to the movie. Seto grimaced inwardly. His brother knew him too well.

He shifted slightly, settling into a comfortable position to sit through the rest of the movie. It was a pretty good movie – he really did enjoy it, the first – oh – say, ten times he'd seen it. After that, things started to get a little repetitive. It's always a bad sign when you can practically recite twenty minutes' worth of dialogue by heart.

Suddenly, he realized that this movie was definitely not a Walt Disney animated film – and definitely not suitable for Shadow. He jerked around, scanning the room, but the lack of proper light made it impossible to clearly make out anything more than two feet away. Leaning forward, he whispered into Mokuba's ear, "Hey, where's Shadow-chan?"

Mokuba grinned, and whispered back, "Don't worry, he's that lump of blankets you see next to Bakura. He's sleeping. Amazingly, when you consider how much noise this movie makes…"

"Yeah, O'chibi concked out about an hour ago, before we started the movie," a voice beneath him chipped in helpfully, causing Seto to jump in shock. Leaning over, he saw that he'd somehow missed seeing Joey sprawled at the foot of the couch.

"'O'chibi'?" he repeated bemusedly. "Is that what you call him now?"

"Hey, why not? It's shorter than 'Shadow-chan', and it's what he is, see, cause's he's beneath say, y'know, eight, so we can call him a baby, and one of his chromosomes were obviously missing a leg, so he's a boy. A baby boy," Joey explained in a tone of voice that plainly suggested it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Seto blinked, silent for a second, before cocking his head and inquiring, "Have I been spending too much time with him, or did that all just make sense?"

"Shh!" someone hissed again. "Kaiba, if you can't watch a movie like a normal person, then get out!"

"Oh shut up, Marik," Seto grumbled back, having recognized the Egyptian's voice. Moments later, an empty can smacked him in the head.

Scowling, he reached down and snagged Joey's can of 7up right out of his hands, and hurled it back in the general direction Marik was in.

"Oi! Dammit Kaiba, that thing wasn't empty! What's the matter with you?" Marik howled indignantly. A crunching noise was heard, before –

"Ow!" a young voice cried out in protest as a dull clunk resounded above the noises of multiple killing devices going off from the TV, signaling that Marik's latest attack had hit an unintended target.

"MARIK!" Bakura's furious roar sent everyone clinging to a comfort object. "What the HELL do you think you're DOING?"

"Sorry Kura sorry Kura sorry!" Marik yelped. "Totally unintentional, totally! I was just trying to get Kaiba to shut up! Please don't kill me!" he pleaded pitifully.

"You hurt Shadow-chan!" Bakura snapped. "Alright, get over here so I can hit you!"

"Yeah, Kura, Marik's just going to walk over and say, 'Here pal, hit me as hard as you can, because I know Shadow-chan getting hurt makes you want to rip someone's arm off.'" Joey commented sarcastically in a wry drawl.

"Alright, that's it, both of you get over here so I can hit you!" Bakura growled bluntly. "I'd get up, but I'm too drunk, and I'd probably fall over."

"Oh, that man's such a wonderful role model for his son," Seto deadpanned.

"Indeed, he's an example to us all," Mokuba quipped in a dreamy voice. "He's the ideal idiot father. If you ever want to play an idiot parent, be like Bakura."

"Oyabaka and O'chibi. I like it!" Joey piped up.

"Yeah, it's a recipe for disaster," Ryou smirked, though no one saw it through the darkness in the room. "You put those two together – nothing good can come of it. Nothing at all."

The term "Oyabaka" translates form Japanese as, literally, "parent stupid."

"O'chibi" means "baby boy". Fans of Tenisu no Oujisama or Prince of Tennis will recognize this as what the Regulars (or 'Starters') refer to Ryoma as.

So, there's the short intro to "O'chibi to Oyabaka". Not much about Bakura in this chapter – that'll come soon. I need suggestions for this story – I'm begging here! It took me a year to come up with this four-pager – if no one decides they like this, I dunno…it's probably going to bite the dust real quick. Please, help? Like I said in the last notes on 'Soul's Last Mission,' I'd like this to be a round-robin fic. So, if you have any ideas, either send them to me raw, or write a chapter and send it over! Thanks for all the help!

-DCW