Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Here's the next chapter, guys! :D
They won the tournament in Beijing with only a single loss on the finalists' side, then they traveled to New Delhi, India. Fans swarmed there, showering them with gifts. Ryo suffered from severe heartburn from some of the local cuisine, so she could barely walk during the tournament, her inattentiveness causing her to lose a duel. Once she was able to get some antacids, she stepped up her game and had a winning streak the rest of the time.
Their course led them to Moscow, Russia, (two losses) then down to Bangkok, Thailand, (one loss) and then to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (one loss). Marik thrived in the last one because he knew Arabic and didn't need a translator.
They then moved down to Africa, where they flew to many countries, suffering only a loss between all of them, before they stopped at Cairo, Egypt.
The instant they were on the ground, Atem, Bakura and Marik took off, eager to be back in their homeland again. Ryo was sweating like a horse in her high-necked outfit, had been all over Africa, but she couldn't disappoint her fans. She was almost six months pregnant, and her loose clothes allowed it to be hidden. Mai and Anzu hovered as Ryo gulped down bottle after bottle of water, even as she walked next to Kaiba, who was sweating only a little, even with his turtleneck, slacks and duster. He looked down at her and saw she was suffering, before he signed in question, 'Would you like to change clothes before we explore our area of the city?'
She nodded and fell back in faint.
Kaiba lifted his wife up and called for his medical team. They connected her to IVs to give her the fluids she needed and put cooling packs on her body. He stroked her hair as she rested from her heatstroke. Mai asked, "Is she going to be alright, Kaiba?"
He nodded. "Of course. She's been doing wonderfully throughout this whole tournament."
"You're pushing her too hard, Kaiba!" Anzu shouted in the soundproof room. "She collapsed because you insisted on that black trench coat over that high-necked navy blue jacket and slacks! Even if she looks cool, she needs something else to wear throughout the rest of the tournament!"
Shizuka placed a hand on Ryo's fevered forehead and looked at how attentive Kaiba was, never leaving her side. "Kaiba, I'm sure she'll be alright. She's enjoyed this tournament as much as the rest of us. She was excited over coming here and spending time with you in where she and Yugi's dark halves came from. Maybe a wardrobe change should be in order?"
Kaiba looked up at her and nodded in gratitude over her words. He tapped his lapel and his brother's voice sounded from it.
"Yes, Nii-sama?"
"Ryo's fainted from heatstroke, bring over the alternate outfit right away."
"Okay! I've wanted to see her in it ever since the tournament started!"
"Thanks, Mokuba."
"No problem!"
Ryo woke a day later and was changed from her hospital gown to her new outfit: a pastel blue shirt, tan khakis, and a white trench coat, all made out of Egyptian cotton. They still looked impressive, but the difference in coolness was enormous. She sighed in relief as she stepped out of the medical unit, Bakura coming up to her.
/I'm sorry I was unaware that you'd fainted. I'd thought you were tired and fell asleep.\\
/It's okay, Bakura.\
/It isn't, Ryo. For all I know, you could've been kidnapped and knocked out. I'll have to pay closer attention to our bond.\\
/You were out having fun. I wasn't about to have you rushing over when you were enjoying being in Egypt for the first time in three thousand years.\
/You're the reason why I can be here today, plus you're carrying my next godchild. I can't be sloppy or else we might be stuck in a bad situation once we go to England.\\
/Which is your fault in the first place.\
/I'm taking responsibility by protecting you, so don't bring up those times. I've turned over a new leaf and you know it. I haven't touched you in a harmful way since after Duelist Kingdom.\\
/I'm thankful for that, or else I would've miscarried Fuyuki and Akio. They're active little guys now, and they babble really loud when they're happy, like when I'm in the room with them.\
/We haven't gotten to be with them very much since the tournament started. I'm going to remedy that.\\
/How? They can't be seen or else things will get messy.\
/People already know that Kaiba has a pair of wards besides Mokuba. All we'd have to do is dye Akio's hair and we'd be able to take them around with us when we're just walking around the week before the tournament in that city.\\
/Akio hates having his hair wet. How would you have him sit still long enough to dye his hair?\
/I have my ways…\\
She grimaced, but followed him to the hotel to where Mokuba was taking care of the twins. The black-haired boy ran over to Ryo, hugging her.
'I'm glad you're okay, Ryo-chan. Do you feel a lot better with the change of clothes?'
She nodded and patted his head. She picked up Fuyuki as the baby boy giggled, a huge smile on his face at his mom's presence. No one was sure if either twin would have Shadow Magic, but then again, Shadow Magic wasn't a natural thing, but since Bakura was inside Ryo's body while she'd been carrying them, they were being wary, just in case. There hadn't been an udjat on either of their foreheads yet…but then again, they were sure that neither of the twins had thrown a tantrum, and severe emotions often brought out negative things like Shadow Magic.
Bakura picked up Akio, and the baby boy tugged on his hair as the former spirit of the Ring murmured something, before the baby's hair turned pitch black, like Mokuba's. Ryo's eyes widened and she asked, /How'd you do that?\
/Illusion is elementary magic, Ryo.\\
/Oh. So his hair is still white?\
/Yes. I wouldn't permanently color his hair without you or Kaiba's consent.\\
She listened through Bakura's ears as he stood and told Mokuba, "Let's take the twins out for a stroll. They haven't been outside in months."
"But Nii-sama said it wasn't safe, Bakura-kun! He said—"
"I know what he said. With my illusion in place, they won't know that Ryo's the mom."
"Okay…but if Nii-sama gets mad, I'll tell him it was your idea."
They put the twins in a double stroller and went out on the streets of Cairo. Mokuba pushed the stroller, his hair up in a ponytail so it wouldn't get heavy on his neck. Both Akio and Fuyuki had a hat on to keep their faces out of the sun and a canopy was over the stroller so they wouldn't get burned. They squealed and babbled at being outside, pointing at every little thing as their ride went further and further from the hotel. Bakura and Ryo trailed behind, acting disinterested, although they were watching for any people who might just harass Mokuba or the twins.
Ryo suddenly saw someone waving to them, before beckoning. She raised her eyebrows and nudged her other half mentally. /Bakura, someone's beckoning us.\
Bakura looked through her eyes and nodded. /It may be a fan…or someone more sinister. By the outfit, they don't want to be recognized.\\
/Suspicious, then?\
/We'll have to check it out. I'll tell Mokuba to get the twins back to the hotel while we go over to this person. They may be an ally who doesn't want to be seen.\\
She nodded and waited while Bakura and Mokuba talked for a moment, before the mid-teenage boy turned around and headed back to the hotel at a faster pace than when he'd been with the two white-haired individuals. Bakura nodded and they came over to the person, only to have to follow the figure through the dim alleyways to an empty house, where the door was closed behind them. Bakura drew his knife and growled, "Who are you and why have you brought us here?"
The face mask was pulled off and Ryo gave a silent gasp. /Kisara?!\
Bakura flipped his knife back into its hidey-hole and crossed his arms. "So we meet at last. Ryo's told me everything about you, Bakura Kisara."
Her eyes widened for a moment before she calmed. "You must be the one I mistook for my brother on the phone. I've been tracking you for months, ever since that phone call ended. Who are you? You look almost exactly like Ryo."
"Lawfully, I go by Bakura Akefia, but everyone just calls me Bakura. You can relax for this conversation, I've put a soundproof barrier around this place."
She frowned. "What do you mean? You didn't know where I was—" She noticed the Millennium Ring was around his neck and shouted, "That's the pendant Father gave to Ryo! Give it back, you dirty thief!"
The woman lunged at the tomb robber, who dodged without thought, which made her sprawl on the floor. "I may be a thief, but I didn't steal the Millennium Ring from Ryo. She merely borrowed it for a while until she gave it back."
"Father bought it from here eight years ago from a street vendor! There's no way you, a kid around her age, could've known it would be so valuable! You probably sold it for some scraps of food!" Kisara argued as she stood up. "And another thing, how do you know Ryo's a girl?!"
Ryo scratched her neck. /Bakura, how do we explain this to someone completely out of the loop? It was bad enough when we had to explain it to Seto and Mokuba.\
Bakura snorted. /I still remember how many times I had to drop my head into my hand because of the sheer stubbornness they had to not believing, especially Kaiba. Your sister is a hundred, no, a thousand times worse. She doesn't even have things we went through to prove it actually happened, and you can't help me because you can't speak or even hear without me.\\
/Well, just tell the truth and see how she takes it.\
"I'm a three thousand-year-old spirit who possessed your sister through the Millennium Ring ever since she put it on the first time. Over time we formed a bond and only recently did I gain physical form."
Kisara switched to English as she stated slowly, "You're. Utterly. Mental. What kind of drugs have you been taking to make you come up with such a thing?"
As if on cue, Bakura facepalmed, shaking his head as he mumbled mentally, /Here we go again…\\
Ryo sighed. /Most people don't believe in magic, remember? Here I thought Seto was bad. I'm sure Kisara's going to be worse, unless you summon the Shadow Realm and scare her half to death with an in-your-face explanation. Seto didn't even believe it then, considering his reaction to Dark Marik summoning it during the Battle City finals.\
/At least in Egypt they weren't ignorant.\\
/Ancient Egypt.\
/Do you wish for me to traumatize your sister?\\
/If it makes her believe, yes.\
/You've become almost as bad as I am.\\
/She's being annoying and I've had it up to here with non-believers. Do it.\
/With pleasure.\\
Bakura summoned the Shadow Realm and Kisara jumped to her feet, shivering. "What is this place? Where is it coming from?!" She turned to Bakura. "Is this some kind of joke? If it is, I'm not laughing."
Bakura shook his head. "This is one of the abilities I've used with my Millennium Ring. Mere mortals cannot stand it for very long, for it drains their spiritual strength very quickly, unlike myself, who existed here for three thousand years while I waited for the Millennium Ring to come to Ryo."
Her eyes widened. "Your English is just like Ryo's! The cadence and vocabulary, well most of it, is a carbon copy! If you're a spirit, which I still don't believe, how did you pick that up?!"
"Obviously from Ryo. Most of the time, while you and Ryo weren't aware of me those first seven years, you thought me her, even if I used different forms to address myself. I played those games with those children and they lost their lives under my superior skills, for they had harmed Ryo's heart with their incessant teasing. Do you really think Ryo was capable of such cruelty?"
Kisara gasped and pieces of the puzzle began to click into place in her mind. "You…you did all that?! No wonder Ryo got in trouble and she had to switch schools so often! I knew something was wrong when she couldn't remember the games she played with those kids! But that last one…you should be the one they're hunting, not Ryo!"
Bakura nodded and took on a remorseful look. "I've taken it upon myself to protect Ryo until the end, her life is more important than my own now, I was selfish and vengeful back then, until I was defeated in the very game I mastered, and I realized how strong Ryo's will was when her friends were involved. That and…"
/Go on. She has to know if she's to understand why you suddenly developed a conscience.\
"…she became with child and I had to protect her life during the dangers of the Battle City Tournament. Because of my selfishness, she almost died from getting her wrist slashed open. The combined trauma and blood loss caused her to give birth early to twins. After that I swore I'd never put her life in danger again. If danger came to her, I'd shield her with my body if I'd have to. No one will hurt her again."
Kisara stared in shock. "You…you're telling the truth. But how…how do you look so much like my little sister?"
He grinned and put a hand on Ryo's head. "She's my reincarnation."
That took the cake, and Kisara fell to her knees. "Impossible…"
The disbelief on her face made Bakura break down in maniacal chuckles. Ryo even smirked. /We just about broke her with that one.\
/Which was what I was aiming for. Most people don't believe in reincarnation, either.\\
After a few minutes of shivering, Kisara recovered and faced Ryo. She smiled and asked, "Ryo, can you at least read my lips? I want to talk to you, alone."
Bakura scoffed and muttered, "The Pharaoh already tried that. Unless you can read lips too or know sign language, there's no way she can answer back. Why do you think I'm here for?"
Kisara shot a glare at the embodied spirit. "I don't like you."
A grin was what she received as a reply. Bakura placed a hand on Ryo's shoulder. /I'll be just outside. Call me if she tries anything funny.\\
With that he cut off their connection save the emotional link, just in case she was in trouble.
Ryo embraced her sister and when she pulled back, Kisara had tears in her eyes. 'I never thought that I'd see you again. After all that's happened, it seemed like you'd stay in Japan until the day you died. Can I meet your husband?'
Ryo nodded and waited until Kisara had put on her disguise before they stepped out. She slipped into the shadows and Ryo joined her dark half, who frowned. /What did I miss?\\
/She wants to meet Seto.\
/The danger gets closer. Does she want to get you killed?\\
/She's been in hiding for a long time.\
/Fine, but if she makes this more difficult for you, I'm telling her to get her bloody carcass back to England and stay there.\\
They walked back to the hotel and when they entered their suite, Mokuba fled the room, and Bakura stiffened.
/I feel dark energies coming from Kaiba, similar to the ones I felt on Dark Marik.\\
/Do you think…?\
/Stay behind me and we'll see.\\
They walked cautiously further into the room to see Kaiba holding the Millennium Rod, which he'd never done before. The first time he'd taken it, he'd held it between two fingers like it was something dirty. He'd then put it in a glass case for what he said was "safekeeping".
/Something's not right. His aura's completely different from before.\
/Let me talk to him first. He's unstable and we don't need him lashing out at you.\\
"Kaiba, what's going on?" Bakura asked aloud in Japanese.
"Oh, so you've come back? I didn't think you'd notice until the end of the day," the unknown entity questioned as he stood up, turning his eyes on them. He grinned in a way that made Kaiba's face look deranged as he came up to them. "I guess after so long, I should introduce myself. I'm Noa, I guess you could call me Seto's stepbrother."
"What do you mean? You're not another personality?"
Noa laughed. "Nope. Did you think poor Seto was a schizoid? He's perfectly sane. He doesn't know about me, because he was sick with a raging fever when I was inserted into his mind by my dear father. In the beginning, he wanted me to take over Seto's body and become the heir of Kaiba Corporation once again. But once he 'died', I decided that it was more fun to wait until another source of power came along to give me enough so I could manifest myself separately from him."
Bakura's eyes narrowed. "Now you've found it with Kaiba's acquisition of the Millennium Rod?"
"Precisely. He's quite the superstitious boy, so when he was tired from the day, I used the opportunity to take over his body. He'd never touch the Rod otherwise. Now I can get myself a body and be free. I saw the error in my ways when a portion of myself tried to be forceful in getting a body of his own. So…here goes."
The eye of the Millennium Rod began to glow and out of nowhere, like Bakura had, a young man the same age as Kaiba appeared, but he was a little paler and had teal hair, wearing a white high-necked jacket and pants with black slip-on shoes. Kaiba's eyes cleared and he saw he was holding the "cursed magical item". He dropped it and stumbled backwards, only for Noa to catch him.
"Easy, Ototo. It's not like it'll possess you if you touch it."
Like he'd been shocked, Kaiba tore himself from Noa's grasp and whirled around. "Who are you?!"
"Oh come on, Seto. You don't recognize me?"
It took a split second before the younger Kaiba to realize what had happened. "How did you get your own body, Noa?!"
Noa pointed to the Millennium Item and walked over to pick it up. He squatted and lifted it up. "It rightfully belongs to you, so you should learn to use it properly, or else it might go off on its own."
Kaiba scowled as he took it, then noticed Bakura was standing protectively in front of Ryo. He turned his gaze back to his stepbrother and demanded, "What did you do to Ryo?!"
"Nothing, Bakura's just being cautious. I am a stranger, after all. Neither of them came to the virtual world."
Ryo raised her eyebrows. /Virtual world?\
/I'm as clueless as you are, Ryo.\\
"Ryo, did he hurt you?"
She shook her head and stepped out from behind her dark half. She came over to Noa and bowed in greeting. He reached out and mussed her hair. "It's nice to meet you too, Imoto. If you weren't already taken, I would've loved to have dated you."
She held her hair and frowned at him. He laughed and commented, "Still picky about your hair being mussed, I see. I'm sure Bakura's not like that."
Bakura snarled, "Touch my hair and you'll be missing a limb before you blink."
Noa shook his head with a smile and looked about the room. "I think I might've scared the pants off Mokuba when I first surfaced, so I should go find him so he's not too afraid to come back here. We're good friends, after all."
Kaiba almost went after him, but Ryo grabbed him around the middle and Bakura stated, "We have someone for you to meet, Kaiba. Someone important to Ryo."
Like a shadow, Kisara entered the room and pulled off her face mask. She looked Kaiba up and down and then looked to Ryo. "He'll do, Ryo. You must be the one who talked to me besides Bakura on the phone, Kaiba Seto. Who was that who walked out here just now? A cousin or brother? He looked too much like you to not be related in some way."
Kaiba came over and asked, "That was Noa, my stepbrother. It's just a coincidence that we look so much alike. Who are you?"
"I'm Bakura Kisara, Ryo's older sister," Kisara explained, before she looked bemused. "Your stepbrother's sure a looker. Is he single?"
Ryo rolled her eyes. /She sure changed her tune once she knew how handsome Seto was.\
Bakura snorted. /Of course she did. You know she likes "bishounen".\\
/Kisara and her bishies. And Noa's far from ugly, considering he looks almost exactly like Seto. I guess we might have a wedding in the near future.\
/Two brothers married to two sisters…that's not complicated at all.\\
Ryo snickered and focused just as Kisara chirped, "I think I can go back to England assured that you're safe, Ryo! But before that, can I see my nieces or nephews? I'm sure they're adorable."
The spiky-haired girl led her sister to the small side bedroom where Akio and Fuyuki were fast asleep in their crib. Kisara lit up and breathed, "They're precious. Can I hold the one who has your hair?"
Ryo gently lifted up Akio and placed him in her older sister's arms. Immediately Kisara cooed, "I want one. Where's that stepbrother-in-law of yours? I'm getting married and pregnant as soon as possible."
/Kisara's biological clock is ticking for sure. Until now, she didn't even want to get married, let alone date anyone.\
/Noa's going to have quite a bit of fun handling such a headstrong woman like your sister. I'll enjoy watching this romance.\\
/Me too.\
Within an hour, Kisara had "kidnapped" Noa and they were off on their first date, their chemistry amazing. Bakura spied on them the whole time, and both he and Ryo weren't surprised that the pair sneaked off into a dark corner to snog each other senseless.
/I think we can leave them alone for now.\\
/For sure—\ She felt Kaiba put his arms around her and kiss her cheek. /I think I'll be busy for a while, so wander around the city. Seto wants some.\
/What's with Kaibas and being impassioned with their women?\\
/I don't know, but I like it.\
/I'll talk to you later.\\
"I had a great time tonight."
"I did too."
"Can you believe it's four in the morning?"
"Nope. We talked and danced all this time. I didn't even notice until I looked at the clock."
"Just one more good night kiss?"
"I'm good with that."
Kaiba grinned as he lay in bed with a sleeping Ryo. He reached up and stroked her hair. "Everything's going well. They should be married by the time we get to your home country."
An unintelligible murmur came from her lips as she moved closer to him.
"What'd you say?" he asked, right in her ear.
"…I'm hungry…gimme some sausages…"
His eyes widened and he held her so she was flush against him. "You can hear again…I hope it's for forever…"
Oh? Is this a new development?
Please review!