The apartment felt crowded now that the Thief King Bakura was added to the picture.

Of course, technically, Ryou lived alone in a small apartment that was maybe big enough for two people to live in comfortably.

Not that Ryou had the money for a bigger home.

And if he did, wouldn't it have been strange for a boy his age to be living "all by himself" in a big house?


It was the first day of school, after a week-long holiday.

Though, of course, Ryou had spent about half of it sealed away in his soul room while his yami ran around in his body.

The morning had been surprisingly quiet, probably because everyone was tired from all the excitement of yesterday.

At least, Yami Bakura seemed tired.

He laid back with a yawn, and was probably plotting quietly to himself.

White Mage Bakura was his usual, helpful self.

He helped Ryou get ready for the school day, and the two made breakfast together.

The Thief King didn't interfere with Ryou too much, only asking the odd question here or there, asking Ryou what he was doing, or how he did it.

The past day, after Marik Ishtar left, had been used to give the Thief King a brief introduction of everything in the apartment.

He was mostly interested in the TV.

Wondering if it was some kind of box animated by shadow powers.

Ryou giggled when he heard that.


"Where did you say you were going, again?" Thief King blinked as Ryou ate breakfast.

"I'm going to school…" Ryou's answer sounded more like a quiet mumble.

"Can't hear you." Thief King's eyes narrowed.

"Master is going to school to learn and see his friends!" White Mage replied with a smile.

Yami gave a low laugh, "Says our own personal encyclopedia."

White Mage frowned.

Ryou twirled his hair around, nervously. "Say, Mr. Thief King… You could come with me. If you like, of course."

Thief King snorted, "I'm not interested in 'learning' or 'seeing your friends'." He turned the TV off, "…And honestly, I'm surprised someone like you has friends."

This statement hit Ryou like a slap in the face.

Yami burst out laughing.

He got out from his seat and leaned against the table beside Ryou.

He looked as if he wanted to add another, equally harsh, comment, but decided not to. "Actually… Why don't you go with Hikari, today?"

"What?" Thief King scoffed.

"You heard me!" Yami rolled his eyes.

Ryou watched awkwardly as Yami ran his fingers through his hair. "…Besides, it's very rude of you to ignore the landlord's wishes."

"You do that all the time-!" White Mage exclaimed, allowing himself to get caught into the mini argument.

Yami glared at the mage, darkly.

He didn't need to say anything for the mage to silence himself and put Ryou's dish away.

Thief King looked almost as awkward as White Mage.

He sighed, "Fine, if you really want me to waste my time…"

"Oh don't think like that…" Yami grinned, with a face full of triumph, "I'm sure you'll find his friends… Interesting."

Ryou winced, not liking how Yami had said "friends".

He got up from the table and got his things together, "So, you are coming, then? D-Do you know where your body is?" He asked, just to be sure.

"Of course I know where my own bloody body is! Not that this doll could ever really count as one!" Thief King snapped, grabbing the small clay figure.

Ryou giggled, nervously. "Sorry."

"Don't bother apologizing." The Thief King handed the figure to Ryou and quickly possessed it. "Just hurry up and get there! I hate this vessel!" The animated doll shook his fist up into the air.

"You should hurry, Master…" White Mage nodded, adding onto the king of thieves' statement, "You'll be late if you wait any longer!"

"Ah, you're right!" Ryou laughed, embarrassed.

It wasn't as if he could tell the teacher he was late because he was too busy speaking with the three spirits living in his small apartment.

Ryou ran out the door, holding Thief King in one hand, waving 'good-bye' with the other.


"You're staying here?" White Mage blinked after Ryou left, "Usually you stalk Master to school…"

"Oh, don't say it like you're disappointed!" Yami snickered at the mage's obvious discomfort, "I thought you didn't want me to go after him."

"W-Well, I don't like being around you!" White Mage stomped a foot on the ground to exaggerate his point, "Master and the Thief King both left, so now I'm stuck with you!"

"Oh, but we're going to have so much fun while the landlord is gone…" Yami grinned.

White Mage gulped.


Ryou sunk into his desk at school, after having to come up with an interesting story to why he was so late, which the Thief King found very amusing.

He sat the pawn down on the corner of the desk and the Thief King left the figure.

"I think you ought to learn some more stories." Thief King chuckled.

"I'm sorry?" Ryou thought, over a mind-link.

Obviously he wouldn't be talking to himself in the middle of class.


As school went on, Thief King had gotten bored after Ryou decided to focus more on class, rather than talking to him.

As Ryou took notes, Thief King was forced to find other ways to entertain himself.

He walked around the room, fully aware that the students couldn't see him, waving his hands through their faces and doing other various acts.

He lounged on three desks and yawned, "How can you just sit there for so long?"

Ryou slightly blushed and ignored the spirit.


At long last, lunch came and Ryou was relieved from his morning classes.

Ryou unpacked the decently sized lunch that White Mage had made for him, plopping a grape in his mouth.

"Mmm, I'm hungry." He smiled, pathetically.

"I can see that." Thief King rolled his eyes.

The thief's attention shifted from his descendant to the other host across the room talking to his friends.

His eyes narrowed.

"Hm?" Ryou stopped eating for a second to see who the thief was looking at. "Ah, that's my friend, Yugi."

"Yugi?"

Ryou nodded.

Thief King didn't look so convinced.

This "Yugi" person looked much like someone he once knew in a past life…

Someone he was not found of at all.

Ryou packed his lunch in his arms and skipped over to the group of friends. "Ah, hello!" He called.

"Bakura?" Yugi rubbed his eyes and smiled, "That last lesson was pretty hard, I'll be surprised if I pass this next exam."

"Hm? Well, it's easy if you really think about it!" Ryou exclaimed, happy to give his friend advice, "If you need homework help, I'd be glad to-"

"Huh? Oh, I didn't mean it like that." Yugi rubbed the back of his head, "I don't think I'll be needing your help or anything…"

"Oh…" Ryou's excitement went down the drain, "Well, that's still good. I know you'll do just fine in the test!"

Yugi nodded, "Yeah, I've been studying extra hard just for this! I know I'm going to ace it!"

The Thief King lounged beside Ryou, cautious as the two hikaris spoke.

Now that he had a closer look at the boy, he could see the golden puzzle hanging from his neck.

"That's the Millennium Puzzle." Thief King said under his breath.

"Er, yes. It is." Ryou answered over the mind-link.

"Which means…"

"Hey, Bakura!" Joey waved a friendly 'hello'.

Ryou grinned at the taller boy, "Yes, hello Joey!"

"Eh, what do ya have for lunch?" Joey reached out and took a sandwich from Ryou's arms.

"Ah?" Ryou blinked as Joey took a bite out of it.

"…Hey, what's in this thing?" Joey slapped the sandwich onto the table, "Who puts cream in with mustard? You gotta have some pretty weird taste buds, dude."

Of course, White Mage couldn't exactly taste the food he made.

Ryou stared at the blond for a little while.

"…What?" Joey mumbled, "O-Oh." He slid the sandwich over the table towards Ryou, "You wanting that back now?"

"Er, n-no. It's fine." Ryou looked down at the half-eaten sandwich.

He could hear Thief King snicker behind him.

Ryou frowned.

"Hey, Yugi," Tea poked the shortest of the group on the shoulders, "Did you say you had everything ready? It's not like we have all the time in the world!"

"Huh?" Yugi tilted his head to the side, "Oh! Yeah, I'm good to go!"

"Cool, all I have to do is get my things together!" Joey joined in their conversation, forgetting about Ryou for the moment.

Ryou and Thief King exchanged glances.

"This is so exciting!" Tea was practically jumping up and down, "I've always wanted to see it!"

"S-See what?" Ryou cut into the conversation, though was ignored all the same.

"Yeah, I haven't been on a vacation in forever!" Yugi smiled, full of cheer.

"Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but…" Ryou made an attempt to get everyone's attention, "What exactly is going on?"

"Mm?" Yugi blinked, "Oh… We're going to a really cool valley in the mountains!"

"Yeah!" Tristan commented as he walked by the desk, "And we might even take part in the dueling competition there! There's a prize of over a million dollars and everything!"

Ryou blinked, "A-A dueling competition? Another one? Didn't you just come back from one?"

"Yeah!" Yugi put on a large smile, "I'm really looking forward to it!"

"Oh…"

"Ah, I'm just so excited!" Tea clasped her hands with a dreamy look over her face, "It's suppose to be beautiful there!"

"Hey, Bakura, have ya ever seen the mountains and the valleys and… Stuff?" Joey shook Ryou lighting over the shoulder.

Ryou giggled and shook his head, "Once when I was very young. I've done quite a bit of traveling."

"Oh…" Joey grinned, "Well, ya should go again sometime."

Ryou nodded, "Yes, I think I will someday."

He looked back over to the Theif King, after realizing how quiet the ancient spirit had been.

Thief King sat there on the closest desk, studying Yugi.

What an odd thing to say,

"Studying Yugi."

Ryou blushed silently, but then gave himself a mental slap for such thoughts.

He turned back to listen to his friend's conversations, relieved that they hadn't noticed him staring off into space.

He sighed as the friendly group began going over everything they would need for a trip.

Having nothing better to do, Ryou finished eating his lunch.


"Quite some group of friends you have there." The king of thieves laughed as Ryou was walking home, "Can't say I ever pictured them as the type of people you'd hang out with."

"Mmm, really?" Ryou yawned and stretched his arms out, "I like my friends. They're there for me…" He was sure to add a quick, "And I'd rather keep them." In case he knew what the thief was going to try to pull.

Thief King chuckled to himself with an amused face, "Sure, because it's always the best of friends who go off on all these travels and adventures without inviting the lesser of the group."

Ryou winced at the spirit's words, but shrugged it off.

He knew perfectly well that he was third-wheel in the group, but they were the only friends that he really had.

So Ryou was going to do whatever it took to keep his friends,

Fake friends or not.

"They have a lot on their minds." He decided to defend them, "At least Yugi does. He's possessed, too, you know."

This caught the thief's attention, "Possessed? There's a spirit in the puzzle, as well?"

Ryou nodded to confirm his answer, "Mhm, the pharaoh."

Thief King stopped.

Ryou looked back at him, and instantly regretted saying that.

"…Pharaoh." Thief King spat out the word, venomously.

The host gulped, nervously.

"I should've known… Even in this time, he's here to haunt me."

What was about a moment of awkward silence, soon ended when the Thief King Akefia burst into hysterics, laughing like no tomorrow.

"Yeah, you're pretty smart, Ryou!" Thief King cackled, "Getting on the pharaoh's good side! I wouldn't expect anything less from my own descendant! Now all we have to do is wait for the right moment…"

"Wh-What?" Ryou stuttered, "B-Bu-But I n-never said…"

"Looks like the Gods are in my favor after all!" Thief King ignored the smaller, paler boy, "Or just Zorc. Either way it looks like we have some work to be done!"

He made an impatient gesture to say to "hurry up", and Ryou sighed, running ahead back to the apartment.


Yami was waiting for them at the door with that famous smirk on his face.

"Oh... We're back, Yami!" Ryou greeted his darkness with a slight blush.

"Perfect." Yami pulled Ryou closer to him and quickly possessed the boy.

"Can't even wait until we're in the door, can you?" Thief King crossed his arms with an amused grin.

"There's just a thing or two I need to get." Yami gave a straight answer as he put on his favorite, black, trench coat.

"…What?" White Mage called out from inside, "Don't take Master the moment he walks through the door! He might have homework!"

"Oh trust me, nothing exciting happened!" Thief King yelled back at the mage, not bothering to ask why on earth he was tied up on the couch.

"How was your school day, anyway?" Yami laughed.

Thief King shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Oh, I'm sure you know perfectly well what happened, don't you."

A pleased grin reached the yami's face and he walked past Akefia, right out the door.

Now that it was only the two of them, Thief King looked over to the mage sitting, tied up.

He still refused to ask.


Yami wasn't the world's greatest thief for nothing.

He looked around in the local art store, picking up large amounts of clay and other art supplies.

"I-I don't think I need that much clay, Yami…" Ryou followed him around in spirit form.

"Oh, but you will." Yami examined the stolen goods, taking all precautions so that he wouldn't be caught.

Ryou sighed, "You know, you could just buy it... I-I don't want to get in trouble for stealing."

Yami rolled his eyes and ignored his host's whining.

He stuffed the items in the inside of his coat and went off to make his grand escape.

Ryou pouted, not that his yami wasn't the best thief ever.

Other than maybe the Thief King himself, but that was the yami's past self.

"Why do we need all of this?" Ryou decided not to hide his curiosity.

Yami laughed.

He was going to bring it up anyway.

"Because I have a job for you, Landlord." Was his answer.

Ryou blinked, "A job? For me? You'd like me to make something for you?"

Yami laughed again, "Yes. I want you to create a model."

His host smiled, "Ooh, a model…?"

"You could say I've decided to add onto your world…"

"The game world?" Ryou skipped along, cheerfully.

"Yes, I would just like to add to your little world. I want you to make a model of Egypt, and mix it with Monsley Kingdom. Just a little thing I'll be experimenting with." Yami explained and somehow managed to disappear into the darkness with Ryou's body.

Well, at least they wouldn't be caught at the checkout.

"So…" Ryou followed his yami out along the sidewalk, "Basically, you want to bring back the Dark RPG."

"Perhaps."


Yami was in a surprisingly good mood,

Perhaps because he finally had his plot ready, so he could get the Millennium Puzzle for himself.

He had the idea for the past few days,

And he had been thinking to himself…

The last time he played the Dark RPG against the pharaoh, the only thing that had truly stood against him was his own host.

But not this time…

This time, Ryou was going to be the Dark Game Master with him.

Even though he honestly couldn't figure out how he had decided that it would be a good idea to include his pathetic excuse for a host.

The idea of partners sickened him.

He wasn't going to let that idiot pharaoh get to him.

The pharaoh and his host were partners, and Yami hated the pharaoh.

No, Yami was simply going to make sure that Ryou wouldn't have the time to get any bright ideas when he was so close to winning.

And why start another RPG?

That was one thing he and his Hikari had in common.

Role-play was their favorite.

Duel Monsters always seemed more like a tool for world domination, where as RPG was his favorite hobby.

So why not?

Now seemed like a perfect time.


Yami couldn't seem to wipe the smug look off his face for the whole way back.

Ryou following him, quite thrilled about the idea of making another world for himself to play in.


When they got back to the apartment, Yami quickly reminded Ryou of his job and then granted his host control.

"Oh… Back already?" Theif King leered over at them.

"Mhm! Yami just stole some things!" Ryou nodded.

"Well, that part was obvious." Thief King snickered.

Yami rolled his eyes.

Ryou blinked, "…Why is White Mage tied up?"

White Mage sent glares to everyone in the room, "Why is that the third time anyone has wondered that, and yet I'm still here?"

"Shut up, Toy." Yami gave a half-hearted reply.

Ryou quickly untied the pouting mage and the two of them went into the game room.


The game room was always the liveliest place in the Bakura apartment.

There were two tables, one where Ryou would make his creations, and one in the very middle of the room.

The center of attention,

Where the Monster World game board sat.

A little world, Monsley Kingdom, sat there for all to see:

Ryou's world…

"Now you have to make a whole world?" White Mage gasped.

Ryou giggled at his small friend. "Yuppers! Yami's wants me to make Egypt, then mix it in with Monsley Kingdom."

"Egypt and Monsley Kingdom? That's a really strange combination…"

Ryou shook his head, "Well, I think it's a neat idea…"

He played around with the clay, building random figures as he thought.

White Mage sighed, "Oh, while you were at school, a letter came for you."

"A letter?" Ryou blinked.

"Mhm. From your father."

"Oh…" Ryou stopped for a moment.

"I-I'll go get it." White Mage smiled and ran off to get said letter.

He came back no sooner than he left, and handed the piece of paper to his creator.

Ryou sat back in his seat and read through the letter.

It had been a good year or so since he had last heard from his father.

He sighed.


His father had always been the type, who obsessed over work,

And the few moments where Ryou had actually gotten to spend time with his father,

He was usually drunk.

It didn't seem like it, but Ryou had once been wealthy, back when he was a child living in Britain.

It was from his mother's side of the family.

But after his mother and sister died, his father had lost it.

Which was the reason why Ryou was -almost- all alone in Japan.

But it was nice to receive letters from his father every-so-often.


"What does it say?" White Mage leaned over to read from Ryou's shoulder.

However, just as quickly as he had opened the letter, he slapped it closed before crumpling the paper up and tossing it to the other side of the room.

White Mage blinked, "…Is something wrong?"

Ryou sighed, and went back to work. "Father was drunk when he wrote it."

"Oh… Sorry, Master."

"Ah, it's fine." Ryou forced himself to smile, hiding his annoyance.

If his father was going to send him a letter, he'd might as well do it while he was sober.


Thief King burst into the room, in quite the mood.

Yami followed him in and leaned back against the door with a smirk.

"So, I heard you're making Egypt, right?" Theif King was almost jumping out of his skin in excitement, "Are you going to tell me the plan?"

"Plan?"

"You heard me! How is it going to work?"

"O-Oh!" Ryou giggled, "Well, the two boards will be set side-by-side. Certain squares will actually be traps that will teleport the adventurers from world-to-world."

"That's… Interesting." Thief King replied, not being exactly knowledgeable about some of the bigger words that Ryou had used.

Whatever "teleport" means.

"Yup! I'm really looking forward to this…" Ryou yawned, "…Oh! But no killing players!" He quickly told his yami.

Yami snickered to himself, whispering quietly, "…You won't be saying that for long, Landlord."


Ryou worked through the whole night, putting together models of cities and villages, along with a large palace.

It was in the middle of the night; long after White Mage went back to his soul room, and the Thief King became more interested with the TV again, when he fell fast asleep in his chair.

Yami slipped in and took a look at the boy's creation.

"Kul Elna could use with some work, but so far so good…"

The darkness sighed and looked over to his sleeping host.

A small grin reached his face as he stroked the boy's hair.

He bent over; kissing Ryou softly on the head, "Sleep well, Hikari. You'll need it."

And then he left.