The rest of the day was spent on the tedious process of un-boxing and re-organizing all of the Bakura family's smaller possessions. It was a dull chore, and the younger brother felt his mind drifting yet again towards the mysterious being from the golden necklace. Several hours passed, in which the two siblings managed to polish off a large pizza and a liter of pop in between sorting, before Akefia declared that they were finished (for now).

Worn-out, Ginjiro Bakura slowly make his way up the steps to his new bedroom. He decided to hold off on wearing the ring until tomorrow. It would be rude, he reasoned; to wake Ryou up, only to then fall asleep himself.

The next morning came, and Bakura quickly finished his morning routine before re-donned the strange necklace. The wayward youth had been expecting to hear the cheerful voice of the young spirit. But for some reason, Ryou sounded hesitant, and a little somber. It didn't take long for the new tenant to realize that the other boy was trying to hide his despondence. Evidently Ryou was still somewhat crestfallen that their internet search hadn't produced any answers. Bakura was a bit unsure how to address the depressed spirit, when he remembered something from yesterday evening.

"Hey, Ryou- do you think a trip to the mall might jog your memory? I want to check out the local shops, and Akefia asked me to pick up a few things." He held up a short list of home supplies that had somehow been forgotten in the initial moving process.

It seemed like the gleaming pendant grew lighter at those words. 'That sounds like a good idea- I mean, I think I was around your age, so it'd be sensible that I spent time at some of the local hang-outs!'

Bakura couldn't resist noting the geek's word choice. "Oh, I'm sure a 'cool kid' like you went to all the wild parties and 'hang-outs.'" The pale punk gave a short laugh. "You probably even smoked and did hard drugs!"

'I did not!' The voice answered indignantly. 'I never did anything like that!'

"But how do you know?" Bakura was already wearing his characteristic smirk. "You just said you don't remember everything- what if you were actually a wild biker-type guy who just happened to have an overly-formal vocabulary?"

Ryou finally caught on to the other teen's teasing, and his own words became playfully brash. 'Well then I suppose you'd be pretty screwed, wouldn't you? I mean, by that logic my body is probably a hulking, barbaric behemoth of steroid-infused fury- and you think you can just come in my house and take over my room? No way, bud!'

The corporal teen snickered. "Sorry, but I doubt anyone who can use the words 'barbaric behemoth' in one sentence could take on a wounded housefly. You were a major nerd, no question about it."

'Hey! You say that like it's a bad thing! You have a problem with nerds?' The non-vocal voice continued to spout out random nonsense in a cheeky tone. Bakura couldn't help but grin- he was glad that he'd managed to cheer up the invisible teen. 'Well, maybe I was a computer nerd! Yeah, and I'll hack your laptop so you can never use another browser except 'Internet Explorer!' ever again! What do you think about that?'

Bakura only chuckled as he grabbed his bus pass and told Akefia where he was headed.

The ride to the mall wasn't long, but unfortunately no matter what scenery passed, the voice from the ring remained despairingly quiet. Apparently Ryou didn't recognize any of the buildings or streets they passed. Bakura didn't want to risk getting the other passengers suspicious, so he didn't speak either. But he could feel the heaviness of Ryou's soul through the gold pendant.

"Alright, here we are." Bakura chose his words carefully- the mall was crowded, and he really didn't want to be labeled 'crazy' right after moving there. He decided to stick to the 'just talking to myself' routine. "Let's see where the department stores are..."

A short time later, the white-haired teen had made his way into the largest store of the mall. He easily found the items his brother had requested, and meandered past the watch and jewelry department.

Something caught his eye, and he sauntered over to the display. The store clerks were all busy trying to handle the weekend crowd, and paid no attention to the sneaking youth.

'Too easy.' The pale-haired thief chuckled lowly as he slipped away from the display cases.

'Bakura, did you just take something?!'

A pair of reddish-brown eyes widened in sudden realization. 'Crap, I forgot about the stupid ring.'

"Um, no... what makes you think that?"

'I felt your right pocket grow heavy- like you slipped something in there! You stole something, didn't you?!' Ryou sounded shocked.

Bakura decided to set the record straight. "Ok, yeah; so maybe I have a bad habit or two- so what? They're a giant store; this won't put them out of business."

He could feel the ring's frustration building. The metal almost seemed to vibrate and throw off heat.

'Fair enough- but I'm warning you, I won't tolerate stealing.'

"Too bad. My body, my rules." The rude teen felt a smirk growing across his face. He always enjoyed outwitting others- it was ego-boosting and entertaining.

But perhaps he'd underestimated his supernatural 'sidekick'. There was a brief mental pause, and then Ryou began soliloquizing in the most boring, monotonous tone Bakura had ever heard.

'Call me 'Ishmael.' Some years ago, -never mind how long precisely- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim-'

"Alright, alright!" Bakura suddenly hissed towards the necklace. A few shoppers stared at this outburst, but he ignored them. "Stop it already; damn! Boring me half to death with that crap..."

'That was the first few sentences of Herman Melville's literary classic, 'Moby Dick.' Ryou didn't sound the least bit intimidated by his volatile vessel. 'I'm not sure where that all came from- I must have been in advanced classes or something in school- I think I could recite it even further if I tried!'

"NO." Bakura lowered his voice, finally feeling the stares of the onlookers. "Just- just- wait a second." The pale thief backtracked his steps. He easily slipped the watch back out of his pocket and placed it back on the display. "There, you happy?" He whispered to his new conscience.

'Actually, yes.' Ryou didn't even sound sarcastic; he seemed genuinely relieved by the act. 'I mean, really, Bakura; why would you even want a watch like that? I mean, you have a nice phone, so you don't need it to tell time- and it wasn't even expensive or attractive- certainly not something worth bragging about. So why would you take it?'

"Because I can." He mumbled to himself.

'...And you called 'Moby Dick' a load of crap?'

Bakura nearly ran into a display of jeans when he heard the gentle spirit curse. "Did- did you just try to swear?"

'I was only quoting what you said- but yes; I'm basically saying that's bull-pucky.'

The shopper snorted as he stepped over the store's threshold and into the main mall. "Oh? And why's that?"

'You're not stupid.'

Bakura just raised an eyebrow. Even with his voice lowered, some of the other mall-goers were still curious as to why his lips were moving quietly.

He didn't need to be labeled 'crazy' just a few days after moving here.

'I mean, you wouldn't just do something risky without a reason.'

"Hm." The teen was silent as he made his way towards the food court. He paused outside a fast-food chain. He stood in front of the giant poster listing the menu items. Though his lips still moved, at least now folks would assume he was going over the menu options in his head.

"You're right- I wouldn't."

There was an awkward silence as Bakura got in line and ordered a meal. He was already taking a seat at a small table when Ryou finally spoke up.

'So... what is it? What do you get out of stealing something you don't need, or even want?'

Bakura continued chomping into his double cheeseburger. He waited several moments before swallowing and responding.

"I'll explain later. Right now I want to keep shopping, and it's hard to do that when everyone's watching me have a one-sided conversation with the air."

Ryou didn't reply, but there were no negative emotions flowing through the ring. Apparently he was satisfied with a later answer.

Bakura took his time with the rest of the trip, but it wasn't much fun. The mall itself was small and predictable, with the same stores as every other chain mall in Japan.

He bought a few smaller items, including a bottle of that weird soda Akefia liked, and some junk food for himself. True to his word, as soon as they were outside the mall, Bakura began speaking again.

"You wanted to know... why I steal."

'You don't have to tell me- I just want to understand.'

The corporeal teen sighed, and shook his head. "No, it's alright... it's just... after the accident..." Bakura paused, making sure his voice was under control. It was hard to keep it low and quiet, what with the wavering emotions threatening to break through. "...I got depressed. I felt sick all the time- I didn't want to eat or move. I just wanted to sleep, all the time, and I felt so... hollow."

'It's like you're constantly numb; but it still hurts- somehow.'

Bakura blinked at the words- he'd forgotten that Ryou had lost family as well. "Hn... yeah... anyway, I was pretty miserable. I was desperate to get away from all that gloom. Then, one day, I accidentally stole a piece of fruit from a grocery store." He snorted as he watched the trickling waters falling down the large fountain outside the mall. "I was looking through the produce section, when Akefia decided to be a d*ck and shoved me. A bunch of apples almost fell, and apparently one of them slid down into the front pocket of my oversized hoodie. Neither of us realized until we got home, but then it hit me: there was this little thrill, this inkling of excitement."

Ryou held his tongue, and the physical teen continued.

"I hadn't felt anything like that in weeks- it was the only thing that seemed to break through the misery. I don't know what to say, except... it was like waking up from a bad dream. I just... felt alive again."

'But it didn't last, did it?'

Bakura was starting to wonder if he liked having such a smart spirit for a companion. "No, it didn't. So I started taking other things- just small junk like candy bars and breath mints. It went on for a long time... but then I got caught."

'I figured as much- what happened?'

Bakura made a 'tch' noise before speaking. "I nabbed a mini-MP3 player that had one of those hidden security tabs- it was a cheap brand, so I didn't think it would have one. The police felt sorry for me when they heard what had happened recently, and they let me off with a stern warning." He paused, his eyes growing wide. "But it was Akefia who was really furious!" The teen shuddered involuntarily, and Ryou was amused to find that there was a slight hint of fear in his tone. "I know his eyes are normally reddish-purple, but I swear they were freakin' glowing red, like flames or something!"

The invisible being held back a giggle before responding calmly. 'Did he say why he was so upset?'

"Yeah... he thought I was throwing away my future. He kept saying that he was disappointed in me for not asking him for help with my 'addiction.'" Bakura snorted and threw a piece of trash at the fountain.

'Wow... he must think a lot of you.'

"Eh?" The crimson-eyed teen frowned. "What the heck are you talking about?"

'Well, he obviously thinks you're a lot better than that. It sounds like he was frustrated that you thought you couldn't go to him for help.'

Okay, now he knew the spirit was too damn smart for his own good. "Tch. So, what; you're a shrink now?"

'Nope, just making some casual observations. Besides, you wouldn't have felt that thrill in the first place if you didn't believe that stealing was bad, right? So you must have good morals. That's probably part of why your brother was so mad- he was really stunned that you'd do that.'

"...huh."

The fountain burbled cheerfully as the pale teen rested silently on the painted bench. There were no further words from the ring. Apparently Ryou knew that his host had a lot on his mind, and was respectfully quiet.

A short while later, the corporal teen gave a sigh. "Well, I'm ready to go home." He stood up, stretching slightly. He looked downwards at the ring, hoping for some sort of positive response.

'I didn't recognize anything specific, but I think there used to be a small bookstore where that 'Sweet Toothie-Smoothie' stand was... maybe I spent a lot of time in there?'

Bakura snorted. "I can't imagine why- given how many books you already have in your room, I don't know what else they could've possibly sold you."

Ryou didn't remark on his host's assumptions. 'It's a shame the store is gone- maybe you could've asked the shopkeeper a few questions- for me.'

The white-haired punk shook his head. "Tch- it's a bad economy; a lot of little stores are going belly-up." He felt the pendant on his neck growing heavy, and he quickly added: "Don't worry, we're not giving up- we'll find something sooner or later. Right?"

'Right. ...thank you, Bakura.'

Had he not been distracted by the flush on his own face, Bakura might've noticed that the ring itself was unusually warm on the ride home.