"Urgh..." The white-haired thief groaned out loud as he struggled to ignore that ever-early asshole, Ra. The sun god had a nasty habit of interrupting his semi-nocturnal schedule.
There was a faint gurgling noise from somewhere under the bedcovers, and the former spirit let out another grumble. Now that he was aware of how hungry he was, he couldn't fall back to sleep.
Cursing the blinding deity, he slugged out of bed and put on whatever clothes he could find. There were certainly plenty of choices strewn about the room. His hikari was always on him, trying to get him to keep it cleaner. Which was a load of bollocks- no one but Bakura (and sometimes the blonde morons) ever came in the guest/Bakura's room anyway.
With a loud yawn, the alabaster-toned yami walked into the hall. He headed downstairs to the kitchen to see what breakfast his former host had made. Halfway down the steps, he noticed a distinct lack of smells coming from the first floor, and was puzzled.
Ryou was normally kind enough to make something Bakura liked (meaning: meat).
Or perhaps he was just terrified of the possibility of Bakura trying to work the stove by himself.
Either way, there was usually something for the carnivorous criminal to messily devour.
"Wha-?"
The former spirit of the ring glanced at the empty kitchen. No bacon, no sausage- not even that wood-chip-like crap Ryou called 'serial.'
Bakura was slightly unnerved- his previous/current landlord was always up and moving around before him. He paused as he thought of a logical explanation. Was his hikari ill?
The yami ran into the living room and looked for another head of snow-white hair.
"Yadonushi?"
His coat was on the rack, so he couldn't have gone out- but then, where-?
Bakura froze- there was a weird sound drifting down from the second floor. His shoulders relaxed as he realized that it had to be his hikari. Of course- if he was indeed, sick, Ryou was probably still in bed.
The relieved (not that he would ever admit it) thief made his way casually up the steps towards his light's room.
There was another set of strange vocals, and Bakura felt his relief disappearing- why did they sound so high-pitched? He bounded up the remaining steps (at a pace which he refused to recognize as 'fast'). Without any warning, the thief suddenly opened the door to Ryou's room.
"Yadonushi? Oy, you sick or-" His voice gave out as his crimson eyes took in an unsettling sight.
Ryou's room looked as it always did- neat and studious- save for a tangled bundle of blankets on the bed.
It was from under these sheets that the unusual cries were emanating.
"Yadonushi?" Bakura felt slightly unnerved as he walked over to the mattress. He slowly pulled back the bedsheets.
There, underneath the pile of tussled covers, was a small figure. The Thief King blinked. It was a little boy. He was huddled over and letting out tiny whimpers.
Bakura stared blankly for a minute- his mind couldn't process what he was seeing. Was he still asleep? Was this some insomnia-tic delusion?
But then the distressed child started crying louder, and he realized that this was indeed, reality.
Bakura pointed an index finger and stated the first question that came to mind.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The small person turned to look up at the loud inquisitor. The child seemed to calm down when he saw Bakura's face, and his outcries lessened. His sniffling stopped as he stared up at the newcomer with a curious composure.
Meanwhile, Bakura was flabbergasted- where the hell had this thing come from?! But of course, the answer soon struck him.
After all, who else did he know that was deranged enough to kidnap some random brat...
The former spirit of the ring angrily found his cellphone and turned it on. Meanwhile, the little tyke seemed to have put off his crying, and was now roaming about the bed.
Bakura viciously stabbed at the phone's buttons, waiting to unleash his full fury on the pranksters.
A few rings later, a tired voice answered. "Ugh, h'llo? This is Malik..."
"You damned Tomb Keepers! You think this is ****ing funny?! What the hell did you do?!"
"Bakura? yawn It's, like, 8 in the morning- why are you calling?"
"Your Ra damned 'prank' isn't funny! Where the hell did you get this kid?!"
"Kid?" Half of Malik Ishtar's brain was still asleep, and the other half was very confused. "What 'kid'?"
"This, this- thing!" Bakura pointed at the brown-eyed child, who was currently making a 'fort' out of the bedsheets and pillows.
"You found a kid? Weird- hey, Marik; wake up."
"5 more hours... snrrrkkkk."
"Yeah ok, he's out of it; but I'm pretty sure he didn't do this. I mean, he was with me all day yesterday. And we didn't go anywhere where there'd be little kids- wait, how old is this kid? Is he Japanese?"
"I don't know!" There was a pause as Bakura glanced over the possible toddler. "He's got white hair and brown eyes and pale... skin..."
The line went silent as both parties took in this information.
Malik spoke haltingly. "That's... that's Ryou."
"Yes, except Ryou isn't three years old, or whatever this thing is." Bakura responded dryly.
"Well, he doesn't have any relatives besides his dad (and he's in Egypt)- who else could it be?"
"Look, you b*stards, you're two of the very few modern mortals who know about Shadow Magic. Now you'd better get your sorry selves over here or I swear to Ra I'll rip both-"
"Alright, alright; we'll come over, sheesh. Hey Marik, wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP! We gotta go to Ryou's house. No, we don't have time for breakfast- oh alright, I'll see if we have some bagels or something..."
An hour later, the doorbell rang at the Bakura household.
In the meantime, the baffled yami had managed to convince the child to abandon his 'blanket fort' and wait in the living room with him. The little tot seemed content to roam about the couch and chairs, occasionally playing with the decorative pillows. He was unusually quiet; only spouting a few random words. His voice was soft, and he spoke mainly in Japanese- although occasionally he murmured something in English.
When the doorbell rang, the boy jumped and ran to Bakura, who was bewildered by the reaction. The ancient thief walked to the front entrance, surprised to find the small child following him very closely.
Bakura immediately opened the door, revealing the Egyptian duo waiting on the front stoop. Maybe-Ryou kept hiding behind Bakura's pants legs, peeking nervously at the two dark-skinned teenagers.
The newcomers looked very foreign to Ryou. He tugged on the denim fabric to hide himself more.
Marik stared at the tiny hikari, then looked at Bakura, then back to the chibi. Suddenly, he gave a broad grin.
"Baka-thief and Ryou-hikari had a baby!"
Bakura made a strangled noise- when the three yami's had been brought back, Marik had lost some of his... knowledge, to put it kindly. Something about his being 'born solely from the hatred and pain of a tortured mind and thus having to be cleansed of evil desires and intents before being returned blah blah blah' (Bakura didn't really give a crap).
Meanwhile, the other blonde just waved a hand up and down in dismissal. "Marik-honey, that's impossible."
Bakura snorted in agreement.
"Ryou has waaaay better taste than that!"
The thief's left eye began twitching, and a vein on his forehead pulsed. Meanwhile the mystery child had taken a very cautious step forwards away from Bakura (while still holding onto his jean's fabric).
Marik knelt down and expertly balanced on his heels. Possibly-Ryou stared uneasily at the very large man.
Marik took off one of his many golden bracelets and showed it to the chibi. The little boy's eyes widened at the shiny pretty thing; and he stared hopefully as the man held it in front of him.
"You can have for today, okay?"
Could-be-Ryou paused, then nodded with a shy smile. He stepped forward and took the bracelet. Then he very politely whispered, "Tank ooo."
Malik couldn't resist crying out. "Ra, he's so darn cute!"
Ryou jumped and ran back behind Bakura's legs.
Surprisingly, it was Marik who understood Perhaps-Ryou best.
"Malik-lovely, you will scare him. Have to be nice, yes? Ryou-baby is very shy."
But Bakura was in no mood for Marik's child-rearing advice. "Get in."
Likely-Ryou sat for a good ten minutes, just playing with the beautiful shiny thing that the spiky-haired man had given him. The way he saw it, there was the nice spiky-man (because of his wild, golden hair), the scary look-alike man (because of his loudness), and the big grumpy man (because he was always frowning).
The grumpy man looked like he might be family, but Ryou didn't remember ever seeing him before.
Meanwhile, the three Egyptians tried to figure out how to handle the situation. They sat down in their usual seats in Ryou's living room and began discussing the young newcomer.
Malik put a hand on his chin bemusedly. "Hmm, we need to call someone... who knows about kids?"
Marik quickly spoke up. "What about brown-head girl?"
Bakura shivered in disgust. He would rather call Seto Kaiba for childcare advice than to ask the Pharaoh's nosiest cheerleader.
But thankfully, Malik shot that idea down. "Nah, I think Anzu's out of town- something about a dance troupe. Anyway, forget calling one of Yugi's friends; why don't we ask Ishizu? She practically raised me."
Bakura snorted. "Oh yes, and you turned out so well."
"Hey!"
Marik started laughing uproariously while Bakura smirked. Malik stuck out his tongue but didn't reply; he only pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
"Hi Ishizu! Huh? Oh, no; everything's fine- well, mostly fine- ...I think. Eh? What? Oh, not really- besides; Ryou bought a new fire extinguisher last week, so we're all good. No, I'm calling about something else entirely- how much do you remember about taking care of a toddler?" Malik frowned. "No, I'm not talking about Marik."
This time it was Bakura's turn to laugh while the other yami sulked.
"Uh-huh. So don't let him- ok- yeah, I think we can do that- alright, see you later, sis." Barely a minute passed before Malik hung up. "She says she'll be over in an hour- she's finishing up some papers for the museum."
Since moving to the Japanese city, Ishizu had taken to supporting the family by taking a job at the Domino Museum of History. It was a task that she very much enjoyed; and her impressive knowledge of ancient Egypt quickly made her one of the most respected curators on staff. Unfortunately, though, that status meant that she had more obligations- some of which required the occasional overtime shift.
While the 'adults' talked, the tiny Ryou-clone continued looking around the room; occasionally inspecting various objects on the coffee table and the bookcases. He was fairly quiet, and didn't really seem too concerned with the larger men (although Bakura noticed that he seemed to avoid Malik- a habit Bakura himself retained).
But when the former spirit leaned forward to reach the remote on the coffee table, he caught the pale boy's eye. The tot walked over to the other side of the table and looked upwards. He stared curiously at the frown-y man. Bakura stared back, his face level with the minute Maybe-Ryou.
The tomb robber had no idea what to do with the mysterious miniature, and he frowned. "What?"
Malik watched the interaction with utmost curiosity. He then spoke (rather kindly) to the little newcomer. "That grouchy guy is called 'Bakura.'" He pointed a bronze finger towards the scowling yami. "Do you know him?"
Two tiny, cocoa-brown eyes looked thoughtfully at the former spirit's face. The moody man didn't blink.
Suddenly, two petite hands reached out and grabbed the edges of Bakura's mouth.
"Hey! What-"
"Miles."
"Eh?" The ancient outlaw was slightly irritated by the pale hands pulling on his lips.
The small boy began tugging the thief's mouth upwards. "Miles."
"I think he wants you to smile, Bakura." Malik snickered.
The grumpy tomb raider stared at the mini-Ryou. "I don't 'smile.'"
"Bu' why?"
"Because I don't like to smile."
Possibly-Ryou thought for a moment before replying firmly.
"No."
"Eh?" Bakura's infamous eye twitch had returned.
"No. Miles." The little one kept trying to push the frustrated thief's face into a grin.
Bakura was bewildered by the kid's insistence. Meanwhile, Malik sniggered behind his hands. "For Ra's sake, you stubborn tomb robber; just give the kid a friggin' smile already!"
Bakura glared at the bronzed blonde but admitted defeat. He rolled his eyes and gave a very faint, tentative smile.
The chibi-Ryou gave a broad grin and suddenly hugged the man's shin. "'Kura miles!"
Bakura was shocked by the reaction, but his favorable surprise was soon tainted by Malik's laughter.
"Looks like Ryou likes it when you smile, 'Kura!"
The thief groaned- he just knew that damn nickname was going to stick.
Not long after Malik and Marik were (for the most part) done teasing the other yami, there was another ring on the Bakura household doorbell.
Apparently Ishizu had stopped by a specialty store and picked up several things for Ryou- a blanket, a teddy bear, some toddler-friendly food, and a coloring book set.
"Forgive my lateness, but we do not have many child-care supplies in our new house."
The exotic lady smiled when she saw the diminutive duelist.
"Hello, Ryou. Do you remember me? I am called Ishizu."
The boy gave her a curious glance, but his eyes soon drifted down to the tawny teddy bear in her hands.
"So, he is Ryou?" Malik tilted his head questioningly.
Ishizu gently handed the stuffed toy to the thrilled child. "Oh, the little one is Ryou, alright. There is no mistaking his gentle energy." Ishizu nodded quietly. "The real question is, how did he become a child?" She gave Bakura a composed glance. "You say that he was in this form when you awoke?" The faint-skinned yami nodded tersely.
"All right." The Egyptian woman stepped gracefully into the hall. "Perhaps you should detail everything that has happened so far today."
As the others explained, Ishizu chose a spot on the living room couch. She soon guided the confirmed hikari up on the cushion next to hers. Ryou sat happily near her lap, gently hugging the soft teddy bear.
Bakura described everything he knew about the strange chibi-fication of his hikari- which wasn't much. Ishizu nodded placidly as she took in the little information.
"I see... this is most puzzling."
"So, what do we do?" Marik sounded rather untroubled by the whole ordeal- Ryou might be funnier as a grown-up human, but this little creature was interesting.
Ishizu seemed more conflicted. "He is not in any danger- this is not a harmful curse of punishment. Rather, this is more of a spell than a curse. It was probably meant to help someone, although I am not certain who or how. Regardless, it should not be hard to break once we find the counter-spell."
She looked thoughtfully down at the tiny tot. His wide, chocolate-tinted eyes were full of delight as he glanced upwards at the generous lady. Ishizu gave him a kind smile before returning to her thoughts.
"Aside from our family, the only two I know of with ties to the ancient kingdom's magic are-"
"The damned Pharaoh and his brat." Bakura spat the titles out like spoiled water. Ishizu gave the pale Egyptian a warning glance, but the irreverent thief just rolled his eyes.
"Yes, well; I cannot say for certain if they were involved; however, it might prove a good place to start. Malik, do you have Yugi's cell phone number?"
The slighter of the dark-skinned duo gave an abashed grimace. "Yeah... erm, I accidentally erased it last week... but I think I still have the game shop's main line- hang on."
There was the soft beeping of numbers being pressed, and Malik held the phone to his ear.
ring! ring! click! "Hello, Kame Game Shop! How can we add some fun to your day?"
"Greetings, Mr. Motou! Are Yugi and Yami home? This is Malik Istar- I need to speak with them."
"Hello there, Malik- I'm sorry, but Yugi and his partner are out of town for a tournament in Shikoku. They should be back sometime tomorrow after 3. Can you call back then?"
"Ok- thanks! Bye!"
Malik hung up and quickly repeated what he'd been told. "Yeah so it's gonna be a while until they get back."
Bakura was struggling not to swear- of course that Ra-damned Pharaoh would be gone right when he actually had a need for the useless s-
His string of internal expletives was broken by the same loud voice.
"-but, maybe Ishizu can find something in one of her books?"
The former holder of the Millennium Necklace nodded her head, her eyes closed in thought. "Yes, I will try to see what I can find written in the ancient scriptures. I do not recall any spells designed to result in this... situation, but I know of some books which may help. I shall look through them later tonight. But now..." She stood up and glanced at the three. "I must head home soon. Can I trust you to take care of little Ryou for tonight?"
Bakura nodded rather stiffly, but Malik actually seemed annoyed. "Geez, Ishizu; you think we can't handle a baby?!"
The oracular tomb keeper gave an unusually wry grin. "Given the... memories I have of your own childhood, brother; I believe there is only one thing I can say-" she turned at the door frame and gave a last glance over her shoulder at the three, "-'good luck'."
The door closed with a rather ominous thud as the three Egyptian villains were left to handle the (apparently teenaged) toddler.
...right on cue, Ryou began crying.