Author Note: This Fanfic is inspired by two doujinshi that can be founded here

bakuscans .tumblr post/28789368601/how-to-raise-your-own-bakura

midknighthikari .tumblr post/ 27497911373/boku-to-maou-doujinshi-tendershipping

Remove the spaces to use the link and please note that I will not be updating this fanfic as crazy as I did with Open Book (About four chapters a day). Also I cannot read Japanese, so I don't know what exactly goes on in How to Raise your own Bakura so don't ask me. This is purely for my own entertainment.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh or those doujinshi

Chapter One

It's been a while since Ryou had heard anything from the Millennium Ring or from Bakura.

It's been about 4 years since Bakura's voice stopped talking to him through his mind link. There was no good bye or any sign he was leaving. 3 years ago, Yami had found this spell to get his own body and with Ryou left to help Marik separate Malik from his body. When Ryou insisted that Bakura was gone, Marik still wanted to try out the ritual on him. The results were unknown since they never saw the thief king's body. It's possible for the ritual to have failed, but Ryou didn't want to give himself false hope.

It was strange. True, the spirit of the ring made him do awful things, but he was also the only one that gave Ryou some company while his father was away. Now without Bakura, Ryou found that he doesn't really know what to do with his extra time anymore. Yuugi and Yami were probably out with their friends and Marik was probably distracted from Malik. Those two were always off doing some crazy antics, that Ryou did not want to know the details of. Either Marik or Malik decided that they didn't care whether Ryou wanted to listen to their adventures and decided to tell him every single detail that they can muster. They even greatly exaggerated a few actions or descriptions to make Ryou really not want to call and ask if they wanted to hang out lately.

The Yamis and their Hikaris had somehow gotten together in a romantic relationship after a large amount of drama that Ryou happened to be dragged into. Ryou had become close friends with Marik so he had to do some counseling whenever Malik abused him which was often so he gave Marik spare keys. That was the wrong thing to do, of course, because Marik would often just come over to eat Ryou's food, despite the complaints.

Ryou sighed deeply as he clenched the groceries bags in his hands. He's been stocking twice the amount he would usually would, because of Marik. Somehow, while he was half asleep, he grabbed some things that Bakura would only like, because he wouldn't normally eat them and Marik wouldn't touch the stuff. Somehow, even when thinking about food, Ryou's thoughts end up reaching back to Bakura.

He's not coming back. Ryou would always think of Bakura that way to remove all of those lingering emotions for him. He clenched his eyes closed to will the flooding thoughts and feelings from his being when he tripped over a box.

Ow…What did I trip over…? He looked at the box that was opened. It was just a common brown box, but the thing inside of it was peculiar. It had similar white hair to Ryou's, no, actually to Bakura. He was wearing Bakura's favorite coat, only it was too big for him, because it was a child. It was a child that looked exactly as the Spirit of the Ring right down to the hair style, except this was only a little kid. It was an understatement to say that Ryou was shocked.

"B-Bakura?" Ryou squeaked out. He looked around frantically and woke up the little child. It was then that Ryou noticed that the words 'Adopt me' was scribbled down in a very sloppy hand writing. The child had looked up and let out a bright smile that Ryou would never imagined would appear on Bakura's face. "Is that you Bakura?"

"Who are you mister?" the child called out without a single stutter. Even though the kid was pretty much alone, he seemed strong, like Bakura. "Have you come to take me to a warm home?"

Maybe I'm mistaken… Ryou thought to himself. Then again, where in the world would he find a child that looked just like Bakura? It didn't look like a cosplay, because the hair was natural along with the eyes from what Ryou could tell. Even if this child wasn't Bakura, Ryou didn't have the heart to leave, now that the child was awake, and pretend nothing happened.

"My name is Ryou Bakura," Ryou told the child, smiling gently as the child gently held his hand. It was adorable. He saw the little child try to pronounce Ryou, but only ended up with a Ry. Looks like Ryou was stuck with a new nickname. "What's your name?"

"I don't know," the child muttered back. "I don't have a name."

A frown spread around Ryou's face. It made it more possible for this child to be Bakura, but just have amnesia. Unconsciously, the hand of Ryou reached out to touch the young kid's cheek.

"How old are you?" Ryou asked gently.

"Three!" the child answered back, holding up his fingers to show exactly how old he was. Ryou's chest started to hurt. 3 years was exactly the time where Ryou tried to perform the ritual to get Bakura his own body. All the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. There wasn't a clear cut picture yet, but it heavily implied that this child was the result of the ritual in some way or form.

"I think that your name is Bakura," Ryou told the child. "Come on. Let's go home. It looks like it's going to rain."

The child blinked and smiled. He stood up and grabbed Ryou's hand. They started to walk home in an awkward silence that was soon interrupted by the little Bakura shouting out, "I'm hungry, Ry!"

Ryou smiled at the nickname, but frowned when he remembered who this boy could be. He told Bakura that he'll get food as soon as they get home. That managed to get Bakura to stop making excessive noise until it started to rain hard on the two. The child started giggling and running ahead, playing in the puddles that were quickly forming.

Splash! Splash! Ryou didn't feel a sudden urge to get him to stop, but if this was really Bakura, he knew that the Spirit of the Ring would somehow find him back as usual. He remembered those times where he tried to get rid of the Ring, but it would always end up around his neck as if he never tossed it aside. The next morning would always be Bakura scolding him about how he needed to take better care of him, because Ryou needed him or so he says. Those were good memories.

Ryou remembered something a long time ago. Of the time he was walking with his sister on a day like this, but then something happened. What was it? He struggled to think of what happened those many years ago. He remembered his sister running out into the street and-

Bakura!

He saw a repeat of the past in front of his eyes. He ran up to Bakura and held onto his arm before he tried to splash in the huge puddle that would form in the streets. Cars ran by and the child backed away in fear of the fast moving vehicles.

"Don't cross the street without big brother's hand," Ryou said to the child before he noticed that he was repeating the same lines that he said to his younger sister when she was still alive. He remembered that someone held him back that day before he suffered the same fate of his mother and sister. He supposed that he should be grateful, because Ryou had saved the child this time.

"Big brother?" Bakura asked, looking at Ryou with those big eyes. He looked adorable with his white, fluffy hair being flat against his head and clinging to his skin. "Ry is my big brother?"

"Wha?" Ryou squeaked out. He wasn't prepared for something like this to come around but he kneeled down next to Bakura and petted his wet hair. He couldn't help smiling at the child. "Yeah, Ry is your big brother now."

Hopefully Bakura won't remember this or else, he'll make fun of Ryou for being so nice to him. He'll probably taunt Ryou and put him through some sort of torture once he's back to his normal self, but Ryou wondered how long it would take for it to happen? How long exactly will it be until the cute child to become that hateful, revengeful spirit? Yet again, another sigh escape Ryou's lips.

"Ry? Big brother?" Bakura spoke.

"Yes, Bakura?" Ryou replied with a forced smile as he reached for the keys to his house. He hoped that Marik wasn't there that day. He didn't want to spend the day explaining everything when he wasn't even sure that the child was Bakura. Ryou only continued to call him Bakura, because he noticed that was the name that the kid reacted to the most.

"I don't understand. Are you trying to smile or cry, big brother?"

"What?" Ryou said as he stopped to look at the kid. Sure, he wanted to continue this conversation inside where it was warm and dry. But he couldn't ignore this odd question from the child. He waited for an explanation while Bakura was chewing his lower lip.

"Well, when Ry tries to smile it looks sad," the little Bakura tried to explain, but his face twisted in confusion. "And Ry looks like he wants to cry really badly. Does Ry hate me?"

"No, I don't hate you," Ryou said as he opened the door and picked up Bakura. He held him in his arms while he walked in. Bakura wasn't all that heavy, so it wasn't as difficult as he was expecting it to be. He looked around for Marik, but due to the lack of mess around his house, it was safe to assume that he didn't take today to bother Ryou. He tried to think about what Bakura said to him, but he was interrupted.

Little Bakura had sneezed very loudly.

Oh, right. Ryou couldn't forget the rain. He didn't want the little guy to get sick and die. If he did, then Ryou knew that Bakura would defiantly come back to haunt him. The thief would make sure that he would, he knew it.

"We have to get you warm and dry before you get sick," Ryou told the boy. He carried him to the bathroom and dried the boy with a towel. He frowned as he didn't have any proper clothes for the 3 year old as. He took off the wet clothes on Bakura and went into his room to get a button up shirt that was clearly too big for the little boy. When Bakura put it on, it was draping around his body like a dress that was long enough to drag across the floor.

Bakura didn't mind and started running around in it until he tripped and fell onto his face. He started to sniffle and Ryou picked him up right away before he started to cry by saying, "So who's hungry?"

Apparently the hunger override the pain as Bakura sprang onto his feet and let out a childish, "I am! I am!"

Ryou smiled and changed into dryer clothes before heading to the kitchen with the bag of groceries that were slightly soaked because of the rain. He opened the bag and started to put the food away. He turned to look at Bakura that looked really bored. Ryou patted Bakura's head.

He thought about what Bakura would like to do. The first things that came into Ryou's mind were of course stealing and revenge, but a little kid couldn't do that while he was cooking. The old Bakura also liked watching scary movies, but this kid was only 3. Would that even be okay? Ryou pondered for a bit and realize something very small that he overlooked over the years. The Spirit of the Ring would always sketch out a few things whenever he was given a chance to.

Using this knowledge, Ryou gave the young child a pencil and a piece of paper. He made a little note in the back of his mind to buy the little Bakura a box of crayons when the child's face brightened up.

"I can draw something, Ry?" Bakura asked, looking at Ryou, who replied with a simple nod. The young Bakura took the two items that were given to him and ran off to the living room to doodle. Ryou gave a gentle smile before going into the kitchen.

If the young boy really was Bakura then it was common sense for them to have similar tastes, though of course some likes might come later in life. Ryou frowned as he cooked. What if Bakura was stuck like this? Ryou didn't mind having the normally malicious Spirit of the Ring being a cute, nice child, but however he feared that he wouldn't be able to raise a child correctly.

Ryou finished making dinner and brought it to Bakura. He looked down at the doodle that was actually kind of cute. It was messy and unprofessional, but it was the kind of children's drawing you'd adore when you see a little child holding it up like it's a masterpiece.

"Oh, this is pretty cute," Ryou said, taking the picture when Bakura had practically shoved it into his face. "I'll hang it on the fridge later after you eat your dinner."

Bakura's little tummy growled hungrily.

Ryou laughed and put the food in front of Bakura, who almost inhaled it. Ryou had to take a napkin to wipe the child's face every so often when he made a mess. After Bakura was done, the white button up shirt was now ruined as well. Ryou shook his head and cleaned up the dishes after eating his meal. He put them gently into the sick and picked up Bakura.

"Oh, look. You made a mess of yourself," Ryou said fondly. "You should take a bath."

"Otay," Bakura said as he jumped out of Ryou's arms to get to the bathroom. The little kid couldn't keep still. It must be all the energy contained in his little body. Ryou couldn't believe that this kid was anywhere similar to the Spirit of the Ring who was often lazing about on the couch, watching TV, when he wasn't trying to do anything malicious.

Ryou took his time to get to the bathroom, but Bakura was already naked in the tub, even though there wasn't any water in it. The sight was cute.

"Bakura, you're supposed to take a bath in water," He told the little white haired boy as he took him out of it before turning on the water. He made bubbles for Bakura to play with and tested the water to make sure it wasn't uncomfortable.

"Bubbles!" Bakura cried out as he reached over to touch the bubbles when he fell in. Ryou's heart raced, but the tiny Bakura popped his head out with a huge grin. He laughed. Ryou calmed down and smiled gently.

"Ry's smiling prettier now," the kid said as he blew bubbles at Ryou. "Ry, should get in too!"

Ryou took off his clothes, because he couldn't say no to those adorable orbs that stared at me. He got into the bath and blew some bubbles to Bakura. They laughed and Ryou started to think about what Bakura had said while the little boy was playing around with the bubbles.

Am I trying to smile or cry? Ryou actually didn't know. He missed Bakura, but at the same time he was glad that he was gone. These feelings were contradicting themselves and he probably would have heard the Spirit of the Ring teasing him if he was able to use his mind link. Ryou looked at the Bakura that was innocently playing around in the bath. Maybe Ryou was feeling a little lonely, but that didn't mean he was going to cry over it. The many years with sharing a body with Bakura taught him that crying won't get you anywhere.

"Ry! The bubbles are almost all gone!" Bakura shouted out, waking Ryou from his deep thoughts. Ryou looked down to see that indeed most of the bubbles were gone. He took this as a sign to get out. He rinsed both of them off and took Bakura out of the tub. He dried Bakura's body with the towel gently. "Ry, are you lonely too?"

What? Ryou looked at the kid and forced on a smile.

"No, I'm not lonely," he'd say to cheer up the kid. "Come on sit down so I can dry your hair."

Bakura sat down onto the little stool and frowned. He looked at Ryou with his big orbs in a questioning expression. He seemed to be thinking as his face twisted around into several different emotions.

"Ry is lying," Bakura stated as he turned away from Ryou. That caused the Hikari to stare at the younger boy with a curious look. He shook his head and started to dry Bakura's hair with the towel.

"I'm not lying," Ryou told him gently as he smiled. "I have Marik and Yuugi. I have you too. I'm not lonely. I just miss someone."

Ryou eyes widened as he admitted missing someone. It could have been his sister or mother as he was treating Bakura like his younger sister, but he knew that deep inside, he missed his Yami. He fought back the tears that wanted to come to his eyes. Though Bakura was a child, he could still see that Ryou was alone.

"I don't think that person left," Bakura said with a pout as he closed his eyes to enjoy Ryou's gentle drying. "I just think that Ry didn't look hard enough."

…

"Maybe," Ryou said softly.