Bakura was on a mission. One approved by the 'parole board' as Usagi had jokingly called it. He was in Italy spying on Usagi's father and Nana's husband.

Iemitsu Sawada was a real piece of work. The man claimed he cared about his family, but here he was in Italy living it up and training a kid who could have passed for Usagi's brother with how close their appearance was.

In fact... Bakura stole a bit of hair off the kid's brush and some from Iemitsu so Hibari could do a DNA comparison test. The more they had to use against this idiot, the easier it would be for Nana to annul their farce of a marriage.

Usagi barely even remembered what the idiot looked like, Nana was sick of pretending everything was fine when Iemitsu didn't even bother to remember the important things like birthdays (he was always late for Usagi's birthday), and to be honest the guy was a total loser.

So what if he was a mafioso? That wasn't an excuse for being a total deadbeat father.

The more evidence Bakura collected, the more ironclad Nana's case against her husband became. At this rate Nana would have all the thing she needed for a divorce and full custody of her daughter.

Bakura smirked.

But why stop there?

The man was an idiot, was more of a field commander than a desk jockey, and didn't really read the papers he signed.

Bakura had checked. He had the man sign an overly large check before cashing it the next morning.

The cat smirked. This was going to be fun, and he had been given full permission to do whatever was needed to insure that Nana was able to get the divorce since Iemitsu failed as a husband and as a father.

Usagi would be much better off if her mother remarried that sushi chef/hit man she was so partial to. The only thing stopping them was the fact she was still legally married to an idiot who was never around.

Well... at least he got to test his new form out for some proper thievery once he had Iemitsu sign the paperwork.


One week later...

Nana was livid.

Not only was her husband not doing construction work, but he had a son with another woman while they were still newlyweds. He was having a grand time living in Italy while she was left alone in a home with a child and next to no support!

As if that wasn't insulting enough, that fool didn't even have the balls to tell her the real reason why he was never around! Finding out he was a mafioso was a shock, but she could have lived with it. Being lied to was inexcusable, never mind the damage he did to his daughter by never being here.

She didn't even question the fact her daughter's cat could apparently turn into a rather handsome man with white hair and red eyes.

That was unimportant compared to the fact that now she had all the reason she would ever need to file for divorce.

Enough was enough.

Within a week she had the paperwork (Kaiba had helped discreetly pay for the lawyer by giving Usagi a bonus...which she used to pay for the legal fees) and her new attorney assured her that there was little chance Iemitsu could contest it after the thirty day limit was over.

He had a month to reconcile with his wife before she took him for everything he had. And with the chaos Bakura had planned, there was little chance he would figure out what happened until long after the grace period was over.

He had seen some very shiny trinkets behind some major protection, which meant valuable/important/worth stealing to him. And it would almost certainly distract Iemitsu long enough for Nana to move on with her life.

He was having way too much fun with this. The idiot didn't even bother to read the papers or the fact he just signed over full custody of his daughter to his wife, along with the majority of his money. He was so assured of the fact his wife would never leave him that he never even thought of signing a prenup.

It took Bakura almost every ounce of self restraint not to whistle as he left the building to deliver the papers to Nana.

He'd be back in the wee hours of the morning, when people were just coming in, to steal the trinkets he saw earlier. One of them looked like they would suit Usagi very well. It was a bright orange color that reminded him of her eyes when she was properly serious about something.

Nana took the papers and sent them off to her lawyer. Iemitsu now had a month to reconcile before it was quietly made official and Nana was a single woman again.

The next morning Bakura slipped in as Mogget, before he found the shiny trinkets that got his attention. With a grin he swiped them from their hiding place before he made sure to trigger every single alarm using a blast of shadow magic, sending chaos and panic in people just coming off the weekend. More than a few were still hung over and therefor useless in helping immediately.

He didn't stop there... he could sense there was another set of these particular rings, and he was never one to resist temptation like that.

By the time lunch rolled around Bakura had both sets and left enough chaos that the divorce notice would go unnoticed. He had seen Iemitsu openly ignore a letter from Japan merely because he hadn't recognized the name right off the bat earlier... mostly because he had sent it.

It disappeared along with the rings.

"What have you been up to, silly kitty?" said Usagi scooping up the cat.

Bakura presented her with his 'prize'.

Usagi blinked, before she looked at the odd rings.

"Are these for me?" she asked.

Bakura meowed, before rubbing against her cheek. Playing the part of a cat was great... he didn't have to work for his meals, she turned a blind eye to his thieving habits, and he had a soft bed to sleep on. He put up with the little indignities for something like that.

Of course he considered the rings a good way to show his appreciation and bribe her to continue the pampering treatment. He might be an adult man trapped in a cat's body, but he was also raised a street kid during times when child care was nonexistent except for nobility and even then it wasn't much.

Being pampered like a prince when he had been raised a pauper was something he wasn't particularly eager to give up, and he'd defend his 'owner' to the death to keep it going.

He wasn't an idiot after all.

Usagi clicked together the orange one, before putting it on a simple chain necklace and slipping it under her shirt. It was pretty, but a bit too noticeable.

There was an odd warmth in her chest and it almost felt like she was connecting to the ring before it passed.

"I'm thinking you deserve a reward for helping Mama dealing with that idiot. How about some proper steak and possibly some pork or goat meat?" she said.

Bakura purred even louder.

He was never complaining about his new lot in life, because it was loads better than what he had to deal with before. Though he'd still take pot shots at the Pharaoh if given a chance, and even Usagi could agree that the Items need to be put to rest permanently, if only to free the souls trapped inside.

Outside of that, his new life was a major improvement.

Besides... Usagi knew just how to brush his fur to get rid of the knots and he could tolerate the baths since it meant he never itched like crazy. At least she wouldn't bother with getting him fixed...if he wanted female company he could take his real form for a few hours and get it out that way.

Not that he bothered overly much with that sort of thing.


Five weeks later...

Nana seriously wanted to laminate the papers she got in the mail.

She was finally a free woman, and she had been assured Iemitsu was far too busy with something he considered more important than their marriage to deal with the divorce notice.

By the time he did notice, it would be far too late. Not only had she gotten the house, her daughter and most of his money, she also got alimony since it was just a slap in the face to a man who hadn't been faithful to her like he claimed.

So to celebrate, Nana took her daughter and the strange cat-turned-man out to eat at TakeSushi.

Tsuyoshi and Nana shared a few looks that had Usagi smiling.

She knew he was a good man and Takeshi was relatively nice to her back when she was still in that school. Even if it was mostly staying out of the bullying.

She wasn't surprised in the least to hear her mother was now dating the sushi chef.


"You seem in a good mood. Something happen?" asked Yugi.

"My mother finally got a divorce. She's dating this nice sushi chef back in Namimori...they've been dancing around each other for years."

"You're happy your mom got a divorce?" said Jou.

"My 'father' and I hesitate to use that word to describe the lout, was a complete idiot who was never around. He only visited for a week at a time and was always late with the important dates like birthdays, anniversaries or simple romantic holidays. I haven't seen him in years, come to think of it."

There was a group wince hearing that.

"However Tsuyoshi-san is a good man who never remarried after his wife died and his son was one of the few who didn't actively join in on the teasing when I was still living there. He's also the one who gave me my first job washing dishes at his restaurant despite the rumors about how clumsy I am," said Usagi cheerfully.

Usagi had waited until her mother went to use the restroom before she told the chef that he had long had her full approval to date and possibly marry her mother. It would be good for both of them and Nana was still young enough to have more kids.

Something Iemitsu clearly never planned to give her. He had his heir and he was happy with the one he had (and the bastard Bakura had discovered by accident, who was named Basil of all things) while Nana had always wanted a big family full of kids.

"So when's the wedding?" asked Honda.

"They're going to date for a few months and wait for the shock of the fact she's single again to wear off before they start making anything official. After all, she's been married since before I was born. It hasn't fully sunk in yet. And if it does work out then I get a new big brother out of the deal."

"Really?" said Yugi.

"Tsuyoshi has a son who's about the same age I am name Takeshi. He really loves baseball."

Perhaps it was fate, or maybe it was just luck... but by next week another new transfer from Namimori came to their school.

Usagi recognized him immediately.

It was Takeshi!

"Everyone, give a warm welcome to..."

"Ahaha... the name's Yamamoto Takeshi!"

As one, Yugi and the others stared at him, before looking at Usagi who definitely knew who the other boy was. As if to confirm their suspicions, Takeshi finally noticed the ears and grinned even wider.

"Hey Usagi! Guess we're going to be classmates again!" he said cheerfully.

Takeshi had been more or less warned by Nana that Tsubaki had changed her name to "Sorano Usagi" to get away from that horrible nickname that had followed her for years. He had taken that to heart and chose to let her continue using the name Usagi.

It was really easy to remember...once he saw the now-familiar ears and tail.

Usagi's surprise lasted for a few more minutes, before she smiled so brightly it caught Takeshi off guard.

He had never seen Tsubaki smile like that back home or in class. She was always trying to hide her tears or putting on a brave half-smile that was as fake as his own "everything's fine" smile.

But now... major transformation.

Too bad he was banned from playing baseball for a full month because Nana noticed he was wincing every time he lifted his right arm and his dad forcibly dragged him to the doctor's office to find out why.

On the plus side, he was almost immediately included in Usagi's group of friends and soon found himself debating baseball statistics with an enthusiastic Honda and Jounouchi.

"What's with the rabbit and the cat?" he had to ask.

"The rabbit has a weird rivalry with Hibari and the cat is lazy as hell but very vicious if he doesn't like you," said Jounouchi seriously.

They found that out the hard way when Mogget suddenly went after Yugi for no apparent reason only to ignore him immediately when the kid squawked and went submissive.

Yugi had been appropriately freaked out by the whole thing. But Mogget definitely had a real hatred for his puzzle and no one knew why.

Well, that wasn't entirely true.

Usagi had given Yugi fair warning that her cat absolutely loathed the spirit that took control whenever he was in trouble to the point he would attack him on sight if the spirit was out. And he had a perfectly reasonable hatred of the Millennium Items to the point that if there was a chance to lay them and the powers they contained to rest, he would do so without hesitation, regardless of the damage it could cause.

All Yugi knew was that while he was safe from the lazy cat who followed Usagi everywhere, the spirit of the pharaoh trapped in the puzzle had an 'attack on sight' order around that cat.

And no, there was really nothing she could do other than to keep it to easily healed scratches at this point. Her cat really didn't like the other him at all.