Chapter 2: Yugi

Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way,

Through all the pain and the sorrows.

Weep not poor children for life is this way,

Murdering beauty and passions.

Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.

The cards in his hand hit the top of the counter as he brought his hand down repeatedly. He gazed across the dark room, past the shelves stacked with cards, over the locked glass case that held a few pieces of new technology, and over to the glass of the front door, streaked with rain. He found it sad that this was what the Kame Game Shop had been reduced to after all of these years. Hardly anyone came through the door anymore, and if they did it was only because they had heard the old King of Games lived there. But, why was he complaining? By some measure it had been worse when the tiny shop was overflowing with people who all wanted to say they bought their cards from the infamous Moto Family.

Tap, tap, tap.

He huffed out a sigh, lay down the cards in his hand, and pushed himself away from the register. Why was he even standing there, anyway? The shop had been closed for hours now. He shook his head, his tri colored hair swishing through the cold air of the room. Sleep was all he needed, that was all. It hadn't come to him for the past few days, though he wasn't sure why. It wasn't like he'd had an unusual dream or had a stressful week. Every time he lay down in bed, his eyes would stay wide open and fixed on the ceiling.

As he passed a though the hallway, he stopped out of routine. Every night he would stop in the same place on the stairs and look to his right at the picture that was there. It was one of the only things in the house that was cleaned on a regular basis. A smile crossed Yugi's face as he gazed at the picture of his family. It was from a time when they were all so happy. That was, what, ten years ago? Eleven?

Warmth was in his heart as he climbed the rest of the stairs to the bedroom above. He had always been one to dwell on the happiness of it all, rather than the sadness with which it all ended.

The brass doorknob was cool beneath his hands as he grasped it lightly, than twisted it. The door opened with the slightest push.

"Well, well, well," Yugi froze when he heard the voice inside. He squinted into the dark, but all he could make out was a figure on his bed. "Took you long enough, now didn't it?"

It was a female voice that much he could tell. But he didn't recognize it.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, man. Turn on the light."

He did as he was told, for there was not much else he could do. Yugi squinted and blinked as the room became bright, and his eyes hurt for a moment because they were used to the darkness of down stairs. When they adjusted after a moment, he saw who was in the room. A girl around the age of fifteen or sixteen was strewn lazily across his bed. She wore blue jeans and a horizontally striped blue and white shirt that was cut below her breasts so that her midriff was exposed, adding to the paleness of her complexion. A golden pendent shaped like an upside down cone hung around her neck, and it seemed oddly familiar to Yugi. Her hair was snow white, and her eyes an azure blue. Yugi blushed a little when he noticed her, but something was off. The girl wasn't lying in a seductive manor as he expected of anyone lying on someone else's bed; rather the opposite. She was sprawled on the bed as if she were a guy, her arms behind her head. She looked familiar somehow, but most of all she reminded him of Ryou Bakura.

That was it! This must be his daughter! Boy, she got older. The last time he saw her she was only a baby. What was her name? Raya? Roxy? R-

"Rina!" He exclaimed, remembering her name.

She smirked. "Close, Yugi, very close."

Maybe he hadn't remembered her name. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's been such a long time. You're Ryou's daughter, right?"

"I suppose, in a sense."

"Um…"

She sighed. "Ah, Yugi. Even after all of these years it still takes so long for you to catch on." Smirking, she sat up, her arms propping her up. "Yes, this is Rina," She leaned on her right hand and swept the left one through the air, gesturing to her body. "but not this." She tapped a finger to her temple. "This is someone else."

"Who…?"

"I bet you can guess. Let's see, what clue to give? I Know!" Mock excitement filled her voice. "I was also very close to Ryou, but we weren't related."

Yugi thought. Who had been close to Ryou? I mean, he had been Yugi's friends, but not like Tristan and Joey. He hadn't known anyone who was like a best friend to Ryou.

"I'll give you another hint. We played games a lot together, you and me."

That could apply to almost anyone.

"Alright, then, the final clue." Her mouth twisted up into an evil looking grin. "I was a spirit, just like Atem."

Yugi's heart quickened and his eyes became wide as saucers. "Bakura…"

"Correct! You win the prize!" She laughed. Or, he laughed.

"What… How…?"

"Form a complete sentence."

"How did you get back? Atem destroyed you, I saw it happen!"

"When are you people going to learn that you can't win? You might as well accept defeat now."

"Never, Bakura!"

Rina's eyes rolled, exasperated, probably not of the teenager's will, and sat cross legged, drawing herself up straight. Yugi noticed what was now clasped in her thin pale fingers, what he could have sworn was on the bedside table a moment ago. The picture of his family, an exact replica of the one in the stairwell. "This really is a cute little family. I would hate for anything to happen to them." Her teeth were exposed by the next dark grin that crossed her face.

"Bakura, this is between you and me! Leave them out of this!"

"Funny, Ryou said something similar to that when I 'talked' to him about borrowing his daughter. And here we are…" He trailed off, implying how well that had worked out. "What's this one's name again? Hiroto?" Pleasure crossed her face at the horror that filled Yugi. He really was an open book. "Then this one must be Otogi."

"Don't touch them, Bakura." His attempt at sounding tough. Bakura had to admit that he was slightly more intimidating now that his voice was deeper and he was a few inches taller. He was as tall as the fifteen year old girl now. What a laugh!

"Alright, on once condition."

Yugi was taken aback. He hadn't thought it would be that easy. "What?" He stated cautiously.

She got off the bed and came to stand in front of him. She began circling him, as a lion circles its prey. "Ryou is coming here. In fact, he should be here any minute now. When he arrives, you will tell him everything that has happened between us, and then proceed to tell him that both of you will be at the Domino City Central Park in six days, or else… well, I'm sure you know." Both of them cast their eyes upon the picture that had been left on the bed. As the final circle around Yugi was completed, Bakura went to the door behind his nemesis. "Don't be late." And with that last remark, he slipped into the hall, throwing on a long black trench coat that he had deposited by the door earlier. Yugi turned, and could swear that it was the same coat he had used over two decades ago.

Almost the moment the girl disappeared into the blackness, the shop's doorbell rang downstairs.

//

"So, what now?"

Yugi got no reply from Ryou. He had gotten the man a blanket and some hot coffee, for the man's hair had been completely drenched from the rain outside. He was absorbed in his drink, watching the dark liquid swirl around idly, steam twirl off the top of the brown fluid. Yugi blinked, waited a moment, than spoke.

"Ryou?"

"Hmm?" he looked up, and Yugi saw his face in the strange light. The low beams of the lamp accented the age of his face, making him appear ten years older. The circles under his eyes betrayed a night without sleep. Yugi felt sorry for his once good friend, and on some level could understand what he was going through. Years of being controlled and manipulated had shattered both of their innocence. He remembered how scary it was when he had black outs in his own memory, but as soon as he had learned of his other half being the good guy, the fear had gone. It hadn't been the same for Ryou. He had been possessed by evil, forced to watch his own body go through horrifying events. Instead of watching his other half claim victory for righteousness, he had woken up in strange places, often wearing clothes he didn't remember putting on, in some cases a weapon lay somewhere close by; a bloody knife or recently fired gun. It made Yugi almost guilty that he had gotten the better end of the deal.

He put a hand on the worn man's shoulder. "Ryou, are you alright?"

"I don't know anymore."

They sat in silence for a long time, contemplating. Yugi contemplated Ryou, and his hard life. Why did someone who had once been so pure deserve this?

Ryou, on the other hand thought only of Rina. What was Bakura doing to her now? Was he beating her, molesting her? He shivered, despite the heavy and warm blanket he now wore. One thing that crossed his mind was the question of what her soul room might contain. Ryou's own soul room contained a few tables, a reclining chair, and a floor length mirror. He remembered how Bakura used to force him to sit on the floor while he sat in the chair and controlled his body, simply by staring through the mirror. Ryou flinched at the memory of the one time when he had broken Bakura's concentration. The punishment hadn't been pretty. Praying that his daughter wouldn't make that mistake by accident, Ryou pulled the blanket around him tighter.

//

Daytime was not the prime time for moving from place to place in secret, but he had to get across town by that night. Besides, the girl's body could get the sleep it needed when they got there. Rina rubbed her eyes as she sat on the bed in what Bakura had explained was her soul room. Although Bakura could operate all night and still continue at a fast pace without feeling the effects, Rina felt the weight on her body of not getting any sleep at all.

"Don't they have sleep in whatever spirit place you come from?" She asked with a yawn.

His mouth turned down at the corners. Thankfully walking took little concentration and he was able to have this conversation on the side. "Actually, I'm from ancient Egypt."

"Wow, really?"

"Yes, really."

Rina could see that he was concentrating on whatever was going on in his head, so she shut her mouth and just looked at him, lost in her own thoughts. He was facing away from her, standing by the mirror to the right. It seemed to her that it was by looking through it that one could control her body. She didn't want to ask, however, since Bakura was obviously in a bad mood.

Sighing, she looked out across the room to the left, examining the shelves that seemed to be there. Since she wasn't getting any rest, she slid off the bed and over to the suspicious looking furniture. There were two bookcases side by side, one black, and one white. But it contained no novels, no volumes of literature that one would usually find on bookshelves such as these. No, they held objects. Rina wondered as to the meaning of such things and trinkets as the ones she saw stacked on the shelves before her. Bakura probably knew, but Rina was sure that he wouldn't appreciate her conversation at this time, so she just slid back on the bed and tried to rest, though she knew that it was futile attempt because she had been trying to do that all day. Rolling over, she gazed past Bakura to the city scenery that passed by on the mirror's surface.

Day turned to dusk, and dusk became night. Still Bakura continued at the brisk, determined pace that he had been walking at for almost an entire twenty four hours now. And Rina continued to stare blankly at the buildings and alleyways that they passed, all of them beginning to blur together into a repetitive scene from gazing at similar surroundings for hours on end.

But something ahead suddenly caught her eye. She sat bolt upright, pushing her fatigue out of the way as she realized with a sinking feeling that she recognized the figures ahead. Painted onto the mirror was a common street scene; four gangster looking guys standing in an ally smoking. The kind of boys you didn't want to mess with. And it got worse, because she knew them. They were the boys from school who thought they had some sort of claim over her.

"Bakura, wait!" She jumped off the bed and ran to his side.

"What?" his head snapped to her, anger plain on his face. It startled her so much that she had to pull herself together before she could speak.

"I, um,"

"What? Spit it out!"

She took a deep breath. "I know those boys. It's hard to explain, but all you need to know right now is that if they see me walking down the street alone at night in…" She swallowed, not wanting to offend Bakura, but she had to make the obvious statement about her clothes, "in the kind of clothes that you've put me in… they'll…" She trailed off, not able to say what they would do, for she didn't know the specifics. She just knew that it wouldn't be good.

His anger changed to shock for a split second, then to a smirk. "Oh please. They wouldn't dare to mess with me. I'll eat their souls."

"Yes, but, they don't know that! And you're in my body! I don't exactly look like a threat to four hardened street punks who probably have weapons, unlike us!"

She waited for him to say something, anything, hopefully the answer she wanted to hear. But he didn't answer her in the way she thought.

He laughed. Actually laughed; a hard, cold, hysterical laugh. He pushed her gently into a sitting position on the floor. "Just watch."

The group of boys was surprised to say the least when they saw a girl from their school walking towards them. But they were too caught up in their hormones to notice the sadistic look in her eyes as she strode confidently past them, wearing a somewhat skimpy outfit, as it showed off her midriff quite nicely. One of the boys put a hand on her shoulder to stop her as she passed.

Rina watched in a dazed amazement as the man controlling her body spun around, grabbed the boy's hand and broke his fingers in one move with a sickening snap. The boy screamed in pain and stumbled back, cradling his now ruined hand as the fingers turned a bruised and broken purplish black that was visible even in the low light of the street lamp. The girl whose body it rightfully was gasped at what Bakura had just made her do. As far as she was concerned, she was as responsible for hurting that boy as Bakura was, seeing as it was her body.

"Touch me again, and you mortals shall rue the day you ever met me."

The boys were frightened by the tone of her voice, though they would never show it. When they had approached her the other day at school, she wasn't nearly as threatening. And they were confused by the way she said 'mortals', as if she wasn't one. Maybe she was just crazy… or maybe not…

In their moment of indecision, the leader stepped up to snap them out of it; he wasn't about to be beaten by a girl. "What are you idiots waiting for? Get her!"

The two who weren't injured stepped forewords and threw a few punches at the girl, but she blocked them easily and skillfully. As they became more annoyed that their attacks weren't working, they began punching and kicking harder and harder. Finally one of them got fed up and threw all of his might into one punch, letting out a yell as he did so. But instead of blocking like he expected her to, she dodged out of the way, pulling his gun out of the holster as he fell. Bakura now had a weapon.

With less than a moment's thought, she pointed the barrel of the automatic pistol at the boy who had just fallen to the ground. He froze when the cool metal of the pistol touched the back of his head, brushing against his short black hair. The boy was scared; he didn't want to die. But Bakura had other plans. Rina's body's slim index finger rested on the trigger, before it paused, as if trying to decide if it should really end this boy's life. The pause was almost as if Rina had for one moment regained control, and was trying to stop Bakura.

But Bakura pulled the trigger anyway.

Crimson blood washed over the boy's head, over the rough short black hair, over the smooth white skin of his neck and face, and pooled on the concrete, lit eerily by the street light above. In her soul room Rina gasped, her hand flying to her face as tears threatened to leak out. But she couldn't let Bakura see her cry. As her innocence drained away as quickly as the boy's blood, she tried to keep herself under control.

A horrifying laugh tore through the silence of the scene. The boy's friends and gang mates had been just as horrified to see him shot, and a shudder went through the group as the girl's maniacal laugh ripped the night to shreds. One of the boys filled with revenge and rage at the carefree attitude of this intruder. He went for the girl, not thinking as to what could happen to him as well. He let out a cry in anger and despair, which was cut off with a bang as Bakura wasted no time in pulling the trigger yet again, sending another waterfall of blood across the streets. The third, the one with the injured hand, tried to run away. Instead of using a bullet, he broke his leg with a swift kick, followed by a crunch, as he passed.

The fourth one took out a knife, resolving to fight for his life. But that worked as well as the first two, and soon he was lying face down on the sidewalk as a light rain began to fall. The girl shook her head, and Bakura spit one word through Rina's lips with a chuckle. "Fools."

Just then, he heard a cry of pain from behind him. He turned to see the final boy, who had tried to run earlier, was flipped over on his back, clearly not dead but severely hurt. His fearful eyes grew wider as he saw an evil smirk play across her features. She took an ominous step towards him. "P-please." The boy whimpered. The girl put her foot on his chest and pointed her weapon at him. She was about to pull the trigger, when she stopped.

"Wait," sneered Bakura from inside Rina's soul room. He turned to the girl who was sitting at his side, her eyes glued to the scene in the mirror as a single tear escaped from her wet eyes that shone like glass. He grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up in front of the mirror. "You do it."

"What? N-no!" she protested as she could feel herself gaining partial control.

"You have to."

"No!"

While the two were arguing inside Rina's head, the boy waited in silence as his doom loomed closer and closer, the rain falling heavier from the sky. He took in what he presumed to be his last view of the world. He started shaking, not just because he was cold and wet, or because of the enormous pain he was in, but because he knew. He knew she would pull the trigger. He knew he would die.

Exasperated with Rina's refusal, Bakura finally took back control; partially. Both he and the girl stood in front of the mirror, Rina in front and Bakura behind. He held one of her wrists to her side in his steel grip. He pulled her other arm up into a shooting position, and she could feel the gun in her hand now. She could feel the cold metal that was slightly warmer near the barrel because it had just been recently fired. She looked into the boy's eyes, and for a moment he thought he could see the change in character. But it could have just been a trick of the rainy night. Bakura wrapped his fingers around Rina's and guided her hand to the trigger, resting his fingers on top of hers.

The rainy night was stained with blood, as Rina was forced to pull the trigger.