A/N: Okay. Here is the next chapter. ...Not much else to say except it's the next chapter.
Thanks to: MewMewKitty78, xXI. Hate. TwilightXx, sandydragon, ChocolateLizz, Ishiko-Riku, VampirePrinssess, EuphrasieTheOwl, xBrokendollx, and xoyamiforeverxo for reviewing!
Bakura stood outside of his hideout until he heard quiet sniffling coming from inside. With a smirk, he turned and walked off. The further he got from his hideout, the more the smirk dropped from his face, until he was wearing a scowl.
Bakura felt cross with himself. He didn't know why he had chosen to remove the blindfold from the boy's face. The best kind of hostage was a frightened hostage. Sure, the boy was definitely frightened, but being able to see his surroundings might comfort him somehow. There was a window right above the bed. If the boy spoke to his dead relatives (he must be truly crazy) he would probably find some small measure of comfort in the stars.
Bakura sighed and shifted the gun in his grasp.
"I should've killed him last night," he muttered. "Wouldn't have had to worry about this if I had."
Come to think of it, why hadn't he killed the boy yet? He had definitely had plenty of opportunities. So why hadn't he?
A rabbit hopped into his path, somewhat startling the man he shot at the creature, but missed and it bounded away unharmed. Bakura stared after it through narrowed eyes. How could he possibly have missed such an easy shot?
"That boy is bothering me in more ways than one," he growled as silken blond hair and clear lavender eyes flashed through his mind's eye. He continued to wander until he heard a wonderfully familiar sound; horse's hooves and wagon wheels.
He crouched behind a large rock and waited. Soon enough, a covered wagon appeared, drawn by two horses. Bakura cocked his gun and waited for just the right moment before shooting.
One of the horses fell as a perfectly aimed bullet lodged itself in its chest. The man driving the wagon immediately jumped up, grabbing his own gun from the seat beside him.
"Who's there?" he demanded. Bakura left his temporary hiding place behind the rock. The man seemed slightly taken aback by the appearance of the ghostly figure dressed in black, but stood his ground firmly.
"What do you want?"
Bakura laughed his signature wicked laugh. "I want your money and valuables, old man."
"Y-you're a kid!" Bakura's eyes narrowed. He cocked his gun menacingly.
"I'm not playing games," he threatened. He may have been young, but he was the most feared outlaw around. "Give me whatever valuables you have."
"I have nothing!" the man cried. "Let me pass!"
"You are lying to me. I told you, I am not playing games here."
"I do not have anything valuable!"
"Do not make me ask a third time. My patience is growing quite thin."
"I told you, I don't have-"
"Father!" A small boy crawled out of the wagon and ran over to the man, grabbing his leg and staring at Bakura with wide, fright-filled eyes.
"Seth, get back!" the man ordered, attempting to shield his son from Bakura's piercing gaze.
"Akhenaden!" A woman looked out from the wagon. "Just give him the money! It isn't worth your life!"
The man looked at his wife, down at his son, then back at Bakura.
"Alright," he decided. He went back to the wagon and removed a small box, which he tossed at Bakura. The box landed at Bakura's feet, causing dust to fly up. "There. Take it and leave!"
Bakura opened the box and looked inside. Satisfied with the amount, he slipped it into his pocket. Then, without warning, he raised the gun and shot. The man fell forward with a gasp and lay still, never to move again. The woman screamed.
"Father!" the little boy cried, tears streaming down his face. Bakura turned and began walking away, only to stop when he felt something tap against the back of his head. He turned his head and was amused to see little Seth, angrily throwing rocks at him with all the strength he could muster. Which, admittedly, wasn't very much.
"How could you?" the boy yelled. "We gave you our money and you shot him anyways!"
Bakura caught one of the rocks the boy was throwing and threw it back at him with much more strength. Seth flinched, but the rock had been aimed so that it only knocked his hat off. It landed with a muffled 'thud' next to his dead father and the boy made no move to pick it up.
"Consider yourselves lucky," Bakura said coldly. "I hit a vital spot directly. Be grateful that I didn't prolong his death, like I could have if he had not given me the money." Bakura tipped his head one millimeter to the left to avoid a poorly-thrown rock that Seth stubbornly launched at him.
"I'd consider teaching your son some manners, miss," Bakura directed his comment to the newly-widowed mother of the boy. "It could be his downfall someday." With that, Bakura turned and walked away.
"Just you wait!" he heard Seth yell. "Wait till I'm all grown up! I'll hunt you down and avenge my father! You'll see!"
Bakura smirked, counting off in his head.
"Let's see...there's Kaiba, his little brat of a brother, the Taylor's, Joey Wheeler, Duke Devlin's many admirers, this kid...my, my, this is getting to be quite a list I have."
Bakura chuckled as he fingered the money box in his pocket. This simple robbery had been exactly what he needed to take his mind off of the boy waiting in his hideout. But now those thoughts were back. With a small frown, Bakura realized that he didn't even know the boy's name.
It was, Bakura thought, very improper etiquette to not introduce one's self to one's host. Especially when said host was being courteous enough to surrender his own bed to his guest.
Bakura almost laughed aloud. He never failed to amuse himself. Since when did he care about etiquette and being polite to others? He could care less about how others acted towards him, and cared even less about how he treated them. It was the way he's been raised. Who was to tell him that he was wrong?
"But still," he mused. "If that boy is going to be staying for a while, I might as well learn his name." of course, the boy obviously wasn't going to just give his name willingly. How could he be convinced?
Bakura mulled this problem over briefly and a slow smile spread across his face.
"He'll tell," he decided. "He'll tell me everything...as soon as he's hungry enough.
There ya go. Not quite as good as previous chapters, but still better than nothing, I guess.
R&R, please!
