YSF: ok, since Hidden Secrets is giving me trouble, I decided to make an offshoot story. It focuses on my OC, Rei, and tells about her beginnings, how she met Bakura, and the evens that led to her ending up in the present.

Rei: Joy

YSF: Hush. It's for those who wonder where the heck I make some things up.

Note: it's not canon, but merely my interpretation of events.

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Rei lay on her bed in Ryou's house, looking over a scroll that Malik had lent her. Finishing the scroll, Rei set it down with a sigh before rubbing her temples.

"Something wrong, Sis?" Bakura asked from the doorway, having been passing by her room just as Rei had sighed.

"hmm? Oh…no, I'm fine, just this scroll that Malik lent me brought up memories of Egypt," Rei explained, looking up and offering her brother a smile.

Bakura abandoned his previous route and entered Rei's room, settling on the bed with Rei, stretched out on his stomach. "Oh? Like what memories?" he asked curiously, slightly wary of the answer.

Rei rolled onto her side so she could face Bakura. "Of when we met, and after you saved me," came the soft reply.

Bakura sighed gently. "Those memories seem to be triggered quite frequently as of late. Maybe it'd be best if you wrote the memories in a notebook, get them out of your head and onto paper," he suggested.

"You sound like Ryou. Did he give you that suggestion?"

"No, Yami did, and I've filled up three notebooks worth of memories," Bakura answered with a slight snort, "It brings me peace of mind since I dwelled on the memories, thus allowing me to move on and let the pain go."

Rei tipped her head in thought. "Maybe I'll give it a shot."



Bakura nodded and ruffled her hair before getting up and continuing onto his destination. That evening Rei entered her room after spending the day with Marik and spotted a package lying on her bed. Opening it, Rei smiled and fingered the beautiful leather-bound notebook and the several pens that had been wrapped with the notebook. Spotting a note, Rei opened it up and read the contents, her eyes widening in surprise. The note read:

Rei,

Bakura told me that you were considering writing a memoir, so I took the liberty of getting you a notebook to start you off. The leather should keep it in good condition for a long time, and I hope you put it to good use.

-Yami

Rei was greatly surprised that Yami was the one to have gotten her the notebook, still being on uneasy terms with him, and doubly surprised that it was so nice and suited her as well. Making a mental note to thank him the next time she saw him, Rei stretched out on the bed and picked up a pen. Opening to the first page, she took a deep breath, knowing she was about to go on an emotional rollercoaster, and started to write, opening her mind to her earliest memories.

FLASHBACK

The day started out normal for seven year old Bakura. He would get up before the sun and go down to the Nile, wash up, draw water, and return to where his master lived to get started on making breakfast for his master, usually finishing just as his master emerged from his room for the day.

'To think I actually call him that,' Bakura thought with a snort. He didn't see why he ever started calling his caretaker that, even though he did serve the idiot...oh. You see, Bakura, after his family and home were destroyed, made it to Thebes. He had been fully intending to live on the streets when the person he now serves had offered him a hot meal and bed for the night.

Bakura accepted and over the meal, Bakura was offered the chance to stay until he was old enough to live on his own with the only condition being that he had to do the chores as repayment, becoming a servant.

It was a fair deal so Bakura had accepted. The only downside was that when he failed to do something properly, he'd get beaten as a punishment, so he quickly developed a system that got most of the stuff he had to do done while Master went 

wherever he went during the day, leaving him time to correct mistakes in the evening before his work would be inspected. The system worked…most of the time.

Master finished his breakfast and soon left, Bakura cleaning up the kitchen and getting to work on his tasks. He was hanging up laundry behind the house around midday when he heard his name being called. Curiously he headed inside and stopped short. In his master's arms was a sleepy….toddler for lack of a better word. The toddler had shoulder length, scruffy hair that was so dull it looked like it was caked with dirt and needed a good scrubbing. Master set the child down and the little girl immediately fell into a sit, rubbing heavy eyelids.

"Dare I ask?" Bakura stated dryly, already fearing the answer.

"This is your new charge. You will take care of her and when she's a little stronger, she is to help you with your tasks," Master replied.

"Do I look like a babysitter?" Bakura snapped, earning a closed handed hit across his face for his cheek. Hitting the ground, Bakura rubbed his cheek and felt a small hand lay over his. Glancing up, he saw the toddler give Master a dirty look before looking down at him and offering him a weak smile that didn't reach her tired, dark eyes.

Bakura humphed and sat up. "How far did you get in your chores?" Master wanted to know.

"I was finishing hanging up laundry."

"Good. Take your new charge and finish that task and then you're excused from your other tasks for today to go get her washed up and fed and clothed."

Bakura nodded sullenly and grabbing the toddler's hand, tugged her along, ignoring the indignant squawk of protest at being handled so roughly. After finishing the laundry, the toddler sitting next to the house, trying to catch up on rest while he finished, Bakura grabbed soap, some washcloths and a clean shirt of his and took the girl's hand, leading her to the Nile.

It wasn't hard to get her into the Nile, and her rags off. Hell, she played with the water as Bakura washed her skin….and then it came time for her hair….

"Ra damnit! Shut up!" Bakura growled, clapping a hand over her mouth to stop the shrieking. "I'm just washing your hair, nothing more."


The toddler pulled away and looked at Bakura with wide, teary eyes, which made Bakura realize that they were green, dark with hunger and fatigue. "But mama said my hair is demon hair and I should always keep it dirty to look normal," she whimpered, speaking for the first time.

Bakura rose an eyebrow. "Kid, my hair is white. I'm not made fun of or feared, you'll be fine," Bakura said as warning before putting a hand on top of her head and dunking her under before pulling her back up, rubbing the soap through it and dunking her backwards to rinse the soap out, all the while ignoring the girl's protests. Bakura repeated this process, going more gentler when the toddler stopped fighting, until her hair was clean.

Bakura helped her out of the river and dressed her in his extra shirt, the shirt being big enough that when tied around the waist with a little rope, it made a passable dress. "What's your name?" he asked as he combed through her hair, the girl playing with a lotus flower.

"Rei," she answered shyly, giggling softly when Bakura took the flower and tucked it behind her ear. Bakura got up and moved in front of her and sat down, studying her.

"Mmm, nope. I don't see any demons. What I see is a unique girl with green eyes, and black hair that looks like it was streaked by the sky," Bakura stated. Rei's eyes widened in surprise before she smiled at Bakura, her smile reaching her eyes this time. Bakura returned the smile a little and stood, helping Rei up before catching her as she stumbled. "You're tired aren't you?"

"Sleepy," Rei whimpered in affirmation, "I dunn wanna walk, 'Kura."

Bakura sighed and turned his back to her before crouching. "Get on, I'll carry you home." Once Rei had climbed onto his back and had looped her arms and legs around him, Bakura climbed back to his feet and started home. Once home, Rei slid off Bakura's back and followed him into the house, watching him prepare dinner for their master. Once their master was eating, Bakura retrieved two bowls and split what was left with Rei. Once everything was clean and put away, Bakura took Rei to where he slept and realized a dilemma. While he had a pallet that he slept on, Rei didn't. Making a mental note to bring that up tomorrow, Bakura set Rei on his pallet and after covering her with the blanket, stretched out on the floor next to the pallet.

"'Kura, why're you going to sleep on the floor?" Rei asked.

"Because sleeping on the floor is nothing new and you need more comfort than I do," Bakura answered. Rei shook her head defiantly and sliding off the pallet, curled up next to Bakura.

"If 'Kura won't sleep on the bed then I won't either," she declared softly.

Bakura growled softly and lifting Rei, put her back on the inch-high bed and holding her down so she couldn't get up, settled on her other side. "Better, brat?"

"Uhu…" Rei answered, cuddling to him, the darkness making her miss the small smile that threatened to creep across Bakura's face.

The older boy wrapped his arms around her, getting comfortable. "Rei, how did master obtain you?" he wondered.

"He…saw me sneaking food…said I could stay with him," Rei explained, yawning every so often.

"…How old are you and how did you end up on the streets?"

"I'm this many," Rei answered, holding up three fingers, "came from a nearby village once mama died. Tried to find my daddy, he's a soldier, but I got lost."

Bakura's eyes widened significantly at Rei stating that she was only three. Before he could comment on that, his sharpened hearing picked up steady breathing, signifying that Rei finally fell asleep and whispering a vow to protect her from master, fell asleep as well.

End Flashback

Rei paused in her writing, reading over what she had wrote. Deciding to write one more paragraph before going to bed, Rei thought and then resumed her writing.

'I never told Bakura, but even then I was hiding much from him. I had heard his vow and knew that he wouldn't always be able to uphold it. Having a horrible first few years of life turned me into a pessimistic little brat, but that will come in time soon enough. One thing I never told him was exactly how my mother died. It's not that I was ashamed, I just viewed Bakura as the first good thing to ever happen to me and didn't want to change that. He might have denied anything being changed had he known it was I who 

killed my own mother to escape her tyranny and abuse, but I wasn't a stupid child. I know now and even knew it then that he would have been more cautious and less open to me once he got used to having me around. But I guess things happen for a reason, and maybe one day I'll finally tell him the truth, but that won't be for a while and the rest of my story is for another day.'