The Others: The First Year

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

Chapter 25: Thank You, Grandfather

Sunday, March 12th, 2017

Atem and I slept in the same bed all weekend. That wasn't to say that we did anything other than slip into unconscious at the end of the day and drool next to each other, but we still did. It was nice, for lack of a better word. Nice to fall asleep to the sound of someone else's breathing. Nice to have someone hair to play with when you woke up, despite the fact that it was significantly shorter than it used to be. Though it still made me chuckle at the knowledge that Atem liked to cuddle.

If Amane had a problem with me moving back into my own room, she didn't say anything about it.

It was mid morning when I got the call. Kisara said that it would be safe to bring Atem back now. Between all the students who would be PORTing in, it would be almost impossible to track down her exact signature. She could go back to her family.

I sighed, waiting for my sister to stop talking with Atem. They were saying their good-byes, though I doubted that these would be their final words.

I was getting a little antsy as I waited outside the door. From what I could tell, Amane wanted Atem to keep the old clothes that she had worn this week.

"It's not like I'll be wearing them anymore," my sister had said before the door closed. "It's best if they go towards someone who will use them."

But now they were just taking forever. I thumped my head against the door in frustration.

"…likes you, you know," I heard my sister say through the wood. My stomach dropped. Shit, I hoped that she wasn't talking about me.

If Atem said anything, I didn't hear her but Amane continued to talk, "He's never really taken an interesting someone before. So when he tells you, just…let him down easy, alright."

I frowned and gritted my teeth together. How could my sister say that? She was acting like there wasn't a chance in hell that Atem couldn't like me. I wanted to walk in and shout at Amane. I would have, but Atem was there and I really didn't want to say stuff like that in front of her.

"What makes you say that?" The Immortal asked.

"Well, you're not interested him," my sister said. "He's your student and friend. He's seventeen and you're…well, not. You're too old for him. He should realize that."

Atem didn't say anything for a while; "I'm too old for anyone."

"But you just don't like Ryou. That much is obvious," I could hear Amane smirking.

I didn't hear her answer. The door opened up to reveal Atem. She raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to make a habit of listening in on conversations."

But she wasn't mad. If anything, Atem was a little relieved. Maybe she didn't want to answer Amane's questions. I tried to cover it up, "You were taking a while."

She smiled, relaxed. She turned to my sister, "Thank you for letting me stay here. And for the clothes. Do you want the wig back?"

Amane shook her head, "Nah. It's yours now. Besides, after your last alias was blown, you'll need a new one. Maybe as a brunette."

"Thank you," Atem bowed low.

"You should go by a more female name, " she said. "You look very girly when you have long hair."

"I'll think about it. If you have any suggestions –"

"I'll let you know," Amane grinned.

"I'll see you in two weeks," I told my sister, stepping in and giving her a hug – a drastically different good-bye than what happened last month. Amane hugged me back, just as tightly.

"I want to see what you learn," she told me. "I want to know about magic."

"Alright," I promised her.

"I love you," she said.

"Love you, too," I planted a kiss on her forehead and pulled away, turning and leaving with Atem. She put on her brown wig and descended the stairs with me.

We were just shutting the door when I heard an "Eep!" behind me. Miho stood there, fiddling with the ties on her coat.

"Oh, hey," I stumbled. "Are you here to see, Amane?"

She shook her head and held out her gloved hand, speaking in fractured English, "I…want to…r-return this."

She was holding out the pencil I had given her almost a week and a half ago. She quivered a little as I took it from her slowly, "Thanks."

Miho jerked up and down, turning to leave. I called after her, "Arigato."

She froze, spinning to face me. She stared at me for a second or two. And then Miho smiled a little bit and waved. I waved back as she left.

"Friend of yours?" Atem asked.

"Kind of," I answered. "I literally talked to her for the first time moments before you crash landed here."

"I apologize for interrupting your friend-making possibilities," she said as we walked towards the strip mall. "But then again, I was kind of bleeding."

"Just a little," I joked back, laughing a bit. "So, what did happen? You haven't told me yet. Not really."

Atem hesitated for a moment, glancing around for people. There was no one, "Alright, listen carefully. I'll only tell you this once."

I nodded eagerly. She leaned in, "The President was lying. I did go in there to find him."

"You tried to…!" I almost shouted, but the quested down, "You tried to attack the President? Are you mad?"

"Not attack. Talk," she explained. "I wanted to tell him exactly what he was happening. Zigfried is the first truly free President since Bill. He needed to be warned about the danger in the White House. Though thankfully, I don't think he'll be targeted."

"Targeted? By who?" I questioned.

"He's not going to be targeted, I just explained that," she said a little irritated. "They won't be going after Zigfried because of his son. He's an Other."

"What? No way!" I exclaimed. "What's the kid's name?"

"Leon," Atem said. "Nice kid. Too bad about his mother. She's fallen ill recently. The healers in the large building with the red cross say she might not make it."

"Doctors. And it's a hospital," I corrected her once again.

"Yes. Of course," she rolled her eyes at me.

"So you went to talk to the President about…what danger?" I prodded her.

She frowned and sighed, "I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Because…" she looked away, "The longer you stay ignorant, the longer you live."

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise," I told her as we turned into the alleyway. I pulled out my phone, "Um…how do you teleport two people at once on this thing?"

"You don't. From what I understand, you can only take one person at a time on those…devices," she explained. "I will be Teleporting separately."

"Oh, so I'll see you there," I smirked as I flicked through my phone apps and chose the PORT option.

"Yes," Atem stepped forwards, touching my free hand with hers for a second and stepped back. Then she disappeared in a whirl of black smoke. I pressed the PORT button and –

Everything's gone black. It's dark, so maybe I've closed my eyes or maybe I haven't. I don't know. And I'm falling. Why am I falling? I just –

"I'm impressed. Most people still trip out of the Realm, even after using magic for a while," Atem commented on my landing.

I smirked a little, attempting to flirt, "I'm not most people."

"No, you are not," she commented, a little darkly. She fixed her wig, which had been knocked to the side in transit, trying to pull the curls out of her eyes. I reached forward and did it for her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," my stomach fluttered a bit. We stepped out into the light and crossed the street. I pulled her into the elevator before she could take the stairs because I figured that Kaiba would want to see her or something.

I was right. The moment we stepped – or rather, I yanked her into the 'useless metal box' – on, the hundredth floor button lit up and the lift sped towards the top of the building. Atem's breathed hard, clutching at the railing on the walls.

I couldn't believe it, "You're scared of elevators?"

"I do not like these things!" She said stiffly. "They are rickety and unsafe and just a box held up on a pair of strings. What if they snap?"

"They won't. I promise. Kaiba – your son - would make sure of that," I promised her.

She nodded, but continued to grip the railing like she life depended on it. I stepped a little closer to her, trying to conceal my movements. She glanced up at me and edged over to where I was. I laughed nervously.

When the doors opened, the hallway was empty. For the first time, I noticed that there were no cameras in this hallway. There was no way for Atem to be tracked.

We went all the way down to where Kaiba's office and rooms were located. I was halfway through my first knock when the door was flung open and Atem disappeared in a surge of arms and legs, of black and brown hair.

"Mother," I heard Kaiba mumble with a longing I never knew possible from him. He clung to her like he expected Atem to fall through the floor. Mokuba Kaiba wasn't much better.

It was the first time that I had met the younger of the two brothers in person. Mokuba was shorter than Seto, but not by much. He had boyish haircut that made him look more like a college student than a politician, but the suit definitely helped his cause. When he stepped back for a moment and held Atem out at arms length, I could see he had bright – but not as bright as his brother's – blue eyes and a face that was lined with laughter.

"Thank god you're alright," he said, joyously. Then he turned to me, "And you…you're…oh my…I see. You're Bakura."

I remembered that Atem had told the Kaiba brothers stories of my past lives when they were young. I hoped that he wouldn't hold it against me, "Yeah. That's me."

"White hair and red eyes…I thought you were dead," Mokuba tilted his head to the side. "Or at least, gone for good this time."

"I'm not really sure why I'm here, but I'm not really complaining," I shrugged, smiling awkwardly. "Its nice to meet you in person, sir."

The man laughed, "I'm not knighted, so I'm not a sir. Call me Mokuba. And it's nice to finally meet you in person as well."

Kaiba, who had finally detangled himself from his adoptive mother, cleared his throat, "Bakura, I just wanted to say…to thank you for looking after our mother."

A man of few words, he was. But then again, I doubt that Kaiba was used to thanking people for things, "Its fine."

"Good," he nodded. Kisara, who had remained on the sidelines until now, stepped forwards.

"Bakura, would you mind coming with me for a moment?" She motioned towards Kaiba's office. "There's something I need to talk with you about."

I agreed, shyly waving bye to Atem (which she returned, hells yes!). I followed Kisara's delicate steps into the room, sitting down on a chair.

"You have no doubt seen the news footage of what happened last week," she began, crossing her legs as she gracefully sat in an adjacent chair. "I want you to know that your location is still safe for now. However, it will only be a matter of time before they find out where Atem Teleported to. She's gotten very good at hiding her signature over the years, but they will come to Domino City eventually."

"Who are they?" I asked, feeling as if I was purposefully being left out of something major that no one wanted to talk to me about. "If I know what's coming, then I might be able to do something about it."

Kisara looked worriedly at the door, "As Atem given you a bat charm yet?"

"A wha – oh wait," I remembered now. "At Christmas…she gave me – give me a second."

I pulled open my bag and opened the front compartment, rooting around inside for what I was looking for. It was carefully tucked away in a pocket. I pulled out her gift to me, "Yeah, she gave me one."

"I suggest that you wear it on you at all times," Kisara told me. "If you see it glow: run. Run as far away as you can and send a call straight to either myself or Seto. The charm will give you about a five minute head start, but sometimes five minutes is all you need with those monsters."

She reached into the neckline of her blouse and pulled out a similar charm, "Atem gives these to the people on our side in order to protect us."

"A charm to protect you from your enemies," I muttered, repeating the words that Atem had told me when she first gave it to me. "It's hard to realize that I need protecting when I have no idea what I need protecting from."

"Trust me, if you see one, you will know instantly what you need to run from," Kisara sighed. "They are soulless bodies, warped into monsters. And then their creator warps them even more. They turn into creatures of the undead and they simply cannot die.

"However," she continued, "if you do see one, aim for the head. There will be a big glowing target there, you can't miss it."

"Soulless…bodies," I felt a little sick at the thought of it.

"Yes. When a soul is removed from a body without the body dying, the corpse simply starts to…go looking for it," Kisara shuddered. "I've seen a few before. I don't remember much of what happened."

She looked at her hands for a moment and then wiped them on her suit trousers. But I was worried about Amane.

"Do you know where I can get any more of these?"

Kisara raised an eyebrow, "You'll have to ask Atem. She's the one who makes them."

"And let me guess: no one else knows how," I said sarcastically.

"No," she corrected me. "No one else who can is willing to."

I frowned, "Great. Soulless zombie monsters that are looking for their detached spirits. This is so what I wanted to know."

"Well, you did ask. Knowledge is not always pleasant," she told me.

"I know. I figured that out in January," I sighed. "Thanks."

"There's…um, something else," Kisara fidgeted.

"What?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to Touzoku for a moment," she said, eyes hopeful.

I looked at her incredulously. No one had ever asked me to talk to one of the spirits before, "I'll go ask him."

I entered my Soul Room and immediately knew that something was wrong. Dark God was inside, staring at whatever was behind me like it was the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen. I hadn't even felt him enter.

"What do you want?"

"Touzoku's door outside is gone," strangely enough, Dark God's voice was steady and strong. And then what he'd said caught up to me.

"What do you mean: gone?"

"Gone. Disappeared. Vanished," his voice cracked. "It faded from the wall like it was never there."

"When was this? Why didn't any of you tell me?"

"Because its not gone – disappeared, vanished - anymore," Dark God pointed behind me. "Its right there. But it's no longer a door."

I turned around, slowly, and couldn't believe my eyes. There was an archway, about the same size as a door, in my wall. From here, I could see into Touzoku's Soul Room: a room with a tatami floor and a futon on the ground. I could see ink paintings on the walls, like a mad man with a brush had attacked them with his drawings.

But the most frightening thing – probably the thing that had scared Dark God of all people so much – was the red line that connected my magical flame to the one inside.

It glowed, in a way reminiscent to boiling hot magma, and was etched right into my floor. I followed it, racing to see if he was all right. Touzoku, god, what had happened to him while I was busy with Atem?

The samurai was staring at one of the paintings on his wall, just out of sight. It was one of a woman with…of course, it would be her. Atem.

"She's fine, you know," I told him. "Everything went fine in the Healing."

"I know," he didn't turn around. "I know everything. I've seen everything – everything – you've seen in the last week and a half. Everything."

"Everything? But I thought –"

"I know what you thought. I can even hear those. Ever since I moved here. Ever since that thing showed up," he turned around, pointing to the line on the ground. "I even know that the woman with the silver hair, Kisara Bleu, wants to speak with me."

"Touzoku…" I wanted to understand what was going on. What was happening to us all?

"I didn't think I would miss this," he said, looking with old eyes at me. "Feeling. Thinking. Seeing her. I could taste her on your lips. It was…wonderful. I'd forgotten what she was like."

"Atem does have that effect on people," I laughed nervously.

"That she does," Touzoku looked upwards. "This woman, do you know what she wants to speak with me about?"

"No," I answered.

"I will find out, then," he stood and bowed low at the waist, hands at his sides. I hastily and sloppily returned it. His eyes narrowed, but left out the archway and into the hall beyond. I could here him speaking to Dark God, "No, you can't. I don't care; you will not touch him just to get this connection. It would drive you madder than you already are."

I sighed, feeling my Necromancy magic activate, leaving me with the feeling of water running out and attaching Touzoku to my body. This was going to get complicated.

I opened my eyes and looked around, breathing air for the first time in a very long time. It tasted different, false almost. How could air be false, I wondered?

I observed the woman. She was taller than Rica had been and dressed in...I believed that Bakura-sama had called them trousers and a…blouse. They were an interesting choice of garb. I remembered Crazy Girl's complained about the restrictiveness of kimonos. She would probably like this world better.

The woman rose to her feet and bowed low, though it looked incredibly practiced. Her eyes never left my face. I returned the bow.

"You're older than I expected," she said.

I frowned, "I was thirty seven when I passed. I was the eldest."

"I know. I have heard the stories," she whispered, looking at me with…I didn't understand what she was looking at me like that for.

"What did you call me out here for?" I asked.

"There's something I want to tell you. A few somethings," she took a step forward. "You did research on magical healing. Most of it was on those with Overpowers."

"Yes, but how do you know that? Anything that had my name on it would have been destroyed after my death by magic," I inquired.

"But there was someone there who remembered it…who wrote it all down, in her language," the woman spoke gently. "Atem was there. She taught it to me and to all the Healers who came before me. She taught them what you discovered."

I stared at her, face calm while I tried to contain my inner torment, "And what does this have anything to do with wanting to talk to me?"

"Your research saved my life," she told me. I frowned. She continued, "It helped my condition to become manageable. I know how to control it now. The anger. The…animalistic rage."

Medical curiousity got the better of me. I stepped forwards, touching my hand to hers and scanned her magical signature for anomalies – oh. There was a beast within her.

"You're a –"

"Yes. I'm a Berserker."

Of course. My research, all those days and years I had spent studying the Gifted. I had discovered the link between a Berserker's emotion and their rages. I had been the one to realize that by changing the focus of the emotion or the emotion itself, one could calm a Berserker down. I was still…helping people? Yes.

Through her. Through that Crazy Girl. Atem. Would she ever stop surprising me? I hoped that she wouldn't.

"There's something else," the woman – Bleu-san – looked me in the eye. "You had children, didn't you?"

"Yes. Two sons. Why?"

"They survived you," she explained and something deep inside me rumbled with the last remnants of fatherhood that I contained. "They had children of their own. Sons and daughters that left the island and traveled west. Eventually, one of your decedents married an English man named Lawson."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

Tears welled in her eyes, "Because my mother's maiden named was Lawson. Caroline Lawson. When she married, she changed her name to Bleu."

The woman slipped her fingers in between mine and wept silently, happily, "So I just want to say thank you. Thank you, grandfather, for helping me to get better."

I couldn't believe it. I had a granddaughter – one that was separated by many a generation, but a granddaughter nonetheless. I looked at her face; that was Rica's face. And while Rica had never been beautiful or anything worth paying attention to, the woman…no, Kisara was something that I would never want to let go of.

"You look like my wife," I told her.

Tears of joy began to roll down her face. Had she been anyone else, I would have been ashamed of her show of emotions. But this was something different. This was Kisara. My granddaughter.

I reached up and swept the tears off her face. I smiled slightly, "What is your weapon?"

"My primary's a katana," Kisara spoke through her tears. "And my secondary are a pair of tiger claws."

I placed both of my hands on her shoulders, "Yes. You are truly a member of the Bakura samurai clan."

And with that final acknowledgement, I slipped back into my Soul Room, knowing that I had a legacy left on this earth. Kisara would be my future: the woman that defied her inner beast and became a Healer. Kisara, the woman that contained the heart of my clan.

Though, some part of me saw the loneliness in her eyes and wondered if there was not a little bit of that Crazy Girl inside her as well. Knowing Atem, there probably was.

It would be a nice surprise if it were true.

I regained my footing in my body again, blinking away the blurry parts of my vision. I looked at Kisara, "What's a Berserker?"

"It's the Combat Overpower," she said a she wiped the tears from her eyes. "When I…get too angry or too anything really…I loose myself in that emotion. I can't control what I do. Back in High School…I shot someone when I was like that. Vernon…he was fourteen years old."

"Oh," there wasn't much more that I could say.

"I just get so angry, but Atem…she helped me. Taught me how to control it. But it was Touzoku who discovered all of it. If it weren't for him…" Kisara looked through me at the samurai within my mind. "I wouldn't be alive. Most Berserkers don't make it into their twenties. I was lucky."

"I…I didn't know…I'm so sorry," I breathed. I didn't know that Overpowers could be so dangerous. I felt that I was the one that got off lucky with what I was able to do. The only thing a Necromancer had to worry about was a spirit walking off with your body.

"Don't be. It's the way I am. I can't help that anymore than you can help the fact that you can see the dead," she sighed. "Thank you Bakura, for letting me see him. I've been trying to track Touzoku down for almost a decade. When I found out we were related…"

"No problem. Am I free to go?" I asked.

"Yes, you are. Thank you," she nodded, dismissing me. I waved and left.

There was no one in the hallway when I opened the door. I slipped into the elevator, pressing the fourth floor button and checked in on Touzoku to make sure he was all right. He responded, telling me that he was fine and that he was the Master Healer, not me. He could take care of himself. I gave him the mental version of the bird. He had no idea what sticking up your middle finger meant, so the effect was lost on him.

When the lift opened, I stepped out, walking to my room. Along the way, a door opened behind me and someone I really didn't like walked out.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the student of the terrorist," Valon drawled. His two friends, Raphael and Alister, stood behind him like imposing bodyguards.

"What do you want?" I growled, handed itching towards my knife, which, out of paranoia, I had started to keep on my arm in the week that Atem had stayed with me.

"I'm surprised you're still here, that's all," Alister sneered. It was lovely to see that he had such an opinion of me already. This was the first time he'd said anything to my face. "I can't believe they haven't kicked you out. Who knows that Yugi Mutuo was really teaching you in those private lessons?"

"You leave her out of this!" I shouted, hissing through my teeth.

"Is that a hint of protectiveness I hear? Don't tell me you actually care about her? Atem's a fucking maniac. She'll kill you, like she killed all the other people over the years," Valon laughed. "Or maybe she'll end up turning you into her little bitch."

"Shut up!" I snapped, hands curling into a fist.

"All talk and no bite, that's what you are," he continued to taunt me, that asshole. "Tell me, is Atem as good in the battle field as she is in bed?"

That was the straw that broke the preverbal camel's back. As they started to laugh, I burst forwards, grabbing Valon by the wrist and –

Emperor Go-Shirakawa screamed beneath my rage as his skin burned and –

I called upon my Medicine magic, but this time it was different. It was angry and painful and full of hatred and the thought-smell of death in a hospital bed flooded my mind. This bastard had insulted Atem, insulted the only girl I'd ever liked and he had to pay for that.

Valon yelped and wrenched his arm away from me, clutching it in pain. A burn, shaped like a handprint was etched into his skin.

"What the hell did you do to me, you damn Necromancer?" He screamed. People had started to come out of their rooms to watch, forming a circle that I was all too familiar with. What do you know? Atlantis had sharks too.

Alister was next, rushing in and attempting to grab me, but –

Remember what the former Emperor said: aim for the –

I swept to the side, turning as I went, pressing my hand onto his hip for a second, releasing magic and jolting his nerves, sending his leg into a twitching frenzy. Alister collapsed on the ground and I had to get out of the way quickly to avoid Raphael and his goddamn fucking axe of doom.

"What the hell is this?" A woman's voice called out and I heard the click of high heals approaching. "Leave Bakura alone, you bastard!"

"That Necromancer had it coming. Didn't you see what he did to Valon, Mai?" Raphael cried. "Who do you think taught him that? That terrorist who's teaching him. That whore of an immortal."

"Shut your mouth or I'll cut out your tongue!" I shouted at him.

"And now he's talking in gibberish. What else do you think he knows? What else do you think he can do? He's a freak." Alister snapped. I tensed up. Freak. No. Not again.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Mai and Mana, looking very worried. I scoffed at my attackers, turning my back on them and following my friends out. They led me into their room, locking the door. Marik was there.

"What the hell happened out there?" Mai screamed at me, "How did you learn all that stuff? No one's ever used Medicine magic as an offensive magic before, not in all of history. How did you burn Valon's arm?"

"He what?" Marik jumped up, shouting. "Did they attack you again? And you did what?"

Mana gasped, "What's going on? Bakura?"

"And then there's this thing with Atem. I thought that Kaiba wouldn't let dangerous people in," Mai started to pace.

Tell them, Bakura-sama, Touzoku said. It's all right. The others agree as well.

I sighed, "There's something I need to tell you, guys. Some of it Marik already knows. But…this is really important."

And I did. I told them. I told them everything about the spirits and Atem, about what happened over the last week (minus the kissing bit). I even told them about Amane; they were most shocked about her.

When I finally fell silent, nothing was said. And then Mai said, "You had her…Atem…at your house while the entire world was out searching for her."

"Yep," I returned.

"I don't know whether to marvel at your genius or punch you in the nuts," she muttered, staring at the ceiling as she did.

"I'm really hoping for the first option here," I complained.

"Marik? You knew about this?" Mana whispered.

"Some. I mean, I knew about his reincarnations living in his head, but that's pretty much it," he answered. "I didn't know about what they were. And as for Atem staying at his house…shit, Bakura. You really know how to get into trouble."

"I don't try to," I sighed. "It just seems to find me."

"So let me get this straight," Mai tried to wrap her mind around the concept of me…well, being me. "You were originally born back in the day when the Mayans were flourishing and was bought as a slave by Atem – who is a princess, right?" I nodded and she continued, "Something happened and you died. Atem tried to bring you back to life and was cursed in the process.

"Then, for some inadequately explored reason, you then proceeded to reincarnate and have said reincarnations trapped in your skull," she sounded exasperated. "Your dream about your first life, can have your past lives possess you, and weird lines pop up on your skin when you…what did you say: merge with them?"

"Pretty much."

"And I'm not even going to go into your sister because that's just fucking ridiculous and insane," Mai looked back up at the ceiling. I think she was praying – for what I don't know.

I bit my lip, "I think I absorbed a bit of Touzoku's powers when I merged with him."

"And he's not done yet! There's still more weird stuff!" She huffed, throwing her hands up.

"I'm serious," I told them. "During the fight right now. I didn't know how to do that before, but now it just happens. I just remembered being trained to do that by an Emperor and I somehow managed to take down Alister. I don't understand!"

I let out a ragged sigh, placing my head in my hands. I heard one of the chairs scrape back as someone stood up. A gentle hand was placed on my shoulder.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Mana asked. I looked up at her and made a face. She smiled softly, "I can understand if you were. I'd be pretty scared too, if it was happening to me. But I'm going to have to go with Marik on this one."

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

"She means that she's not abandoning you," Marik explained. "Remember? I promised you that I'd stand beside you."

"And I will as well," Mana nodded. "You're the first person I met here, in this world. And we're friends. I don't abandon my friends, no matter how many voices they have in their heads."

I didn't know what to say. The words were just caught in my throat, unwilling to come out. Mana…Marik…they weren't going to run? Even though I was the freak? Even though such strange things were happening to me?

I should be used to this by now, this acceptance. I wasn't, though. I doubt I ever would be.

Mai spoke one last time, "You're really telling the truth, aren't you?"

I nodded soberly before my vision was filled with curls of blonde hair.

"We'll keep your secret," she whispered in my ear. "Promise."

I gripped at her shirt, "Thanks."

Kisara wasn't lying. She really is related to Touzoku. And she really is a Berserker.

Kisara Bleu was born into a relatively wealthy family in Union City, California. They were part of the oil market and made a killing off of the profits in that industry. They weren't the nicest of people, even to those without the Ward hanging over them.

She was the middle child, with one older brother and a younger sister. Apparently, Kisara was supposed to have an even younger sister, but the girl never made it out of the delivery room. Something about a hole in her heart.

She was always the quiet child, but for different reasons than she is now. Kisara realized early on that she was dangerous when she got mad. When she was young, her older brother stole her Barbie dolls and then proceeded to play 'Nude Beach' with them. Apparently, she stabbed him in the shoulder with a fork in retaliation. She still can't remember doing it, but she was five years old at the time. That might have something to do with it.

But as she got older, the anger within her simply increased. When she was ten and a girl made fun of her hair, Kisara leapt at her and ripped her earrings out. She had to change schools afterwards, though it was only her parent's money that kept her out of any legal trouble.

It continued to escalate until her sixteenth year, where she shot and killed someone as her school for dosing her with water (Kisara was wearing a thin white shirt that day and there were a bunch of perverted teenaged boys around). She wasn't caught because she ran away and never returned home, living on the streets of two years and hiding from humanity.

And then she came to Atlantis.

Kisara managed hid her Overpower from nearly everyone. Nearly, of course, meaning that someone discovered what she truly was. Luckily for her, it was Seto Kaiba. And the first thing he did was put her in touch with his adoptive mother.

Atem taught her how to manage her emotions, how to curb her impulse to kill. She was understanding and caring, something that made Kisara burst out into tears because – finally – she didn't believe that she was a monster.

She and Kaiba became inseparable shortly afterwards. Though that might have had something to do with the fact that Kisara was crushing on him so freaking bad at that point. And Kaiba, being the emotional dunce that he is, never found out until several years later. Idiot, for not realizing that he had a hot girl waiting for him to sweep her off her feet and –

…You know, I'm going to stop writing now. I'm going to make a complete fool of my self for being so hypocritical.

Hello!

I'd like to thank all those who posted reviews for the last chapter: Ebony-Ivory-and-Rachele, ilovemanicures, Malik'sStalker, AsianWolf, Kyo's 1 lover, and Akikee.

If you remember from chapter 6, I mentioned that there was a Berserker living at Atlantis at the time of Bakura staying there. Well, here's your answer as to who it is: Kisara. She's been through a lot, but I'd like to think that it has made her stronger.

I know that I've been posting in really quick succession with the past few updates. That's mainly because I'm really excited about almost ending The First Year. I write three chapters in advance for this story and I'm almost in May, which is the month where I am planning to put in the epic ending scenes. However, recently Amane has been on the brain so I believe that The Abnormal will get another update as I love where her character is going and her relationship with the God. So look out for that next.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can leave a review, post on my forum, or drop me a PM.

Until next time,

AlcatrazOutpatient