Chapter Twenty five

Kaiba watched silently as Bakura walked away from Suki and himself. Every few steps that Bakura took he would stop and turn to face them as if he didn't want to let them vanish from his sight. Kaiba didn't want Bakura to vanish from his, and wondered what he was doing there, with Suki of all people? He stared at her coldly.

"I'm sorry this happened." Suki said as she fidgeted with uneasiness from Kaiba's glare. "Not just for what my father did, but for everything." She couldn't bring herself to look at him as she confessed. "I blamed you for something that wasn't your fault."

There seemed to be sincerity in Suki's words as Kaiba listened to what she had to say. Had she regretted playing those stupid childish mind games and was now facing up to what was to be in store for her in the months to come? Obviously she was starting to act more grown up about the situation so hadn't he do the same in return? After all it was both of their fault that a new life had been created and not acknowledging his child wasn't going to solve anything.

"If you decide to keep the baby then I won't leave it to you to raise it on your own." There, it was done. He'd finally accepted that he would soon become a father, and despite the events and conditions which led to it being so, he was secretly looking forward to it. "Just don't expect me to fill any kind of husband role towards you."

"You don't have to worry about that." Suki's mouth quivered slightly as she tried to smile. "There is no baby and never was."

What? Kaiba thought. How could he have been so gullible to believe such lies in the first place? His head was in such a mess with everything that had happened so far that day that he just wanted to leave and be on his own to think things over. "I've had enough of your games." He told her as he began to turn and walk away.

"Nothing ever happened between us that night." Suki confessed as she reached out and grabbed Kaiba by the arm to try and stop him from leaving, she had to let him know the truth. "You were sick from having drunk all that wine, so I put you to bed whilst I cleaned up the mess and your clothes. When you woke the next morning without being able to recall what happened I used that to my advantage for getting revenge and…."

"You ruined my life!" Kaiba roared as he swung round and threw Suki from his arm which caused him to draw attention from many of the people nearby as they stood and stared.

"I know, and I'm really sorry." Tears began to leak from her eyes and her voice became a higher pitch. Why had she been so stupid to accuse him of something when she didn't know and understand all of the facts in the first place?

Kaiba watched the tears flow not knowing if they were real or fake. And what good would it be if they were true? It wouldn't change anything. Bakura wasn't going to come back to him after what he had said to him, and he certainly didn't feel like he deserved another chance. But what had Bakura been doing there with Suki anyway? He didn't want to, - couldn't think, he just wanted to be on his own. He stormed off through the small crowd of onlookers leaving Suki behind as she continued to cry.

Now aware that she was being stared at by complete strangers, Suki hastily returned to the waiting room. Closing the door behind her she tried to brush away the tears from her eyes but wasn't having much luck as they were replaced by more a second later.

"What's wrong?" Bakura asked from down on the floor where he was still picking up the candy he had dropped. He got to his feet and helped guide Suki to sit down on one of the chairs.

Keiko's face was pale as she asked "Is it daddy?"

Suki shook her head before bursting into more tears. She didn't want to make her sister worry anymore than what she already was but she couldn't help stop herself from feeling guilty about what she had done to Kaiba and so the waterworks carried on.

Bakura quietly left the room as he watched the younger sister move over to comfort the older sister. It must have been something Kaiba had said to cause her to act like this, he had a way with upsetting people and this wasn't healthy for the baby either. He ran down the hall towards the entrance as he searched for Kaiba and found him outside walking down the steps that lead to the car park. "Seto!" he shouted.

Kaiba stopped at hearing his name called. He had convinced himself that he and Bakura wouldn't get back together again and yet here he was chasing him. Would it be so wrong to have a second chance after all?

"What did you say to Suki?" Bakura demanded as he came to a halt beside Kaiba.

Suki? Bakura had been chasing him because of Suki, and not because he wanted to get back together?! "None of your business." Kaiba growled angrily with his disappointment and headed over to his car.

"She's bawling her eyes out back there, people don't just cry for no reason!" Bakura raised his voice before following Kaiba. He was going to find out what had gone on. "Don't leave her like this." He pleaded as Kaiba unlocked the door of his car. "The stress isn't good for the baby."

"Why don't you go talk to Suki about all of this instead of bothering me? She seems to be your new best friend all of a sudden. " Kaiba couldn't believe that Bakura was asking him to be concerned about the very person who had torn them apart. He opened the car door, claimed into the driver's seat and slammed the door behind him.

"I came here looking for you!" Bakura exclaimed as he watched Kaiba place the key in the ignition, prepared to drive off. His big brown eyes glistened at the thought of him leaving like this.

Kaiba heard Bakura's muffled voice which made him stop what he was doing and look at him with those sad eyes. Bakura had wanted to be back with him and had come all this way to find him. He lowered down his window, he had to tell Bakura that he couldn't risk hurting him again but didn't quite get that far as he was beaten to breaking the silence.

"I didn't mean to get involved with her, but when your father was brought here I couldn't just leave them." Bakura explained and hoped that Kaiba would understand.

"What's wrong with him?" Kaiba asked curiously and couldn't stop the concern in his voice, even after the beating he had received.

"He had a fit." Bakura explained. It was a good sign that Kaiba wasn't leaving just yet, maybe there was still time to sort everything out. "But if you want to know more I think you should ask him yourself once he regains consciousness." He smiled warmly to try to reassure Kaiba that things would be okay.

Not succumbing to the smile, though he wanted to, Kaiba turned the key and started the car.

"Fine, be like that!" Bakura threw his hands in the air with frustration. He'd tried his best but Kaiba was just too stubborn. "Run away from everything and be by yourself." He was about to go back to the hospital when he couldn't help adding. "Not that I care, but you shouldn't be driving in that condition." And with that he walked back to the entrance and disappeared inside.

Kaiba watched Bakura leave in his rear view mirror and once he was out of sight, he was left staring at his discoloured reflection alone in the car. Putting the car into reverse he backed up several inches and then stopped the ignition. Being alone was the last thing he wanted. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit one of his speed dials. Curse you for caring, Ryou.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Bakura had returned to the waiting room only to find that it was now empty. He questioned one of the nurses and she explained to him that the sisters had been reunited with their father who had recently woken up and that she was under instructions from the eldest one to 'send him through' to join them. The nurse led him down several corridors and came to a stop outside a room which had the patient's name on a piece of paper taped to the door. Gently, he knocked before entering.

In the room, Ken sat propped up in the hospital bed with Keiko sat on the bed to his left and Suki sat on a chair to his right. All three of them watched the white haired boy enter the room and Suki smiled warmly. "This is Bakura." She explained to her father. "He's helped us during the time you've been unconscious, I wouldn't have known what to do without him."

"Thank you for taking care of my girls." Ken nodded with his appreciation.

"Just glad I could help." Bakura replied with a slight shrug. He hadn't forgotten why he was there in the first place and now seeing that all was well he just wanted to go but knew it would be impolite at the current moment.

"Daddy?" Keiko spoke up. "Suki said that you spent all of your money on my birthday vacation and that you couldn't afford to buy your medicine so that's why you became ill." Her voice started to turn wobbly as she continued. "I don't want you to get ill again so I'll sell all my toys and give the money to you."

"You'll do no such thing." Ken said as he pulled his daughter into an embrace to comfort her. "That was very thoughtful of you but I get paid next week so I'll soon be back on my medication again."

"Do you think that's such a good idea?" Bakura couldn't stop himself from butting in the conversation and now found both father and daughters staring at him and making him uncomfortable. "What I mean is, your mediation may help you to deal with painful memories in the short term but remembering and talking about them would benefit you in the long run." Why was he trying to get the man to seek therapy? What good would it do if he did remember? Kaiba had already given up, and with good reason from earlier events that day, so why not just leave them alone too? "I'm sure you don't want a repeat incidence of what happen today."

"I can't afford treatment like that." Ken replied knowing full well that that would the correct route to take for him to be able to move on and live his life normally.

"Then let me pay for it." Came a suggestion.

"You!" Ken growled at the sight of the Kaiba standing in the doorway. He would have gotten out of his bed to finish what was started earlier if it had just been the two of them alone.

"Daddy!" Suki cried as she held him back since he had sat upright as though about to leap out of the bed. "Let him help." She begged.

Now Ken was confused. Yesterday Suki had been talking to a newspaper journalist about what a horrid person Kaiba was and now here she was defending him?

Suki could tell by the way her father was looking at her that he wanted answers. "I lied about everything to the papers." She could feel her throat becoming dryer as she confessed that everything she had said had been a hoax. "Nothing ever happened between the two of us. I just wanted to get revenge on him for mom's death."

She what?! Bakura couldn't believe what he'd just heard. She had made the whole thing up; Kaiba had been innocent all along. He glanced over towards the brunette, who was still focused on the father and daughter conversation, and wanted to be able to tell him how sorry he was. But why did she lie in the first place?

"What makes you think he was responsible for your mother's death?" Ken asked his daughter.

"When you lost you job after he took control of his company you had to decrease mom's care since you couldn't afford it and I believed that was why she died." Suki didn't want to look at her father any more and looked down at her hands which were now clasped together in her lap. It had been easier for her to pin all of the blame onto Kaiba than something she didn't understand and know the facts about and now she knew that she had done the wrong thing in doing so.

"That's not why she died." Ken reached out and took hold of his daughter's hand. He was now angry with himself for not explaining things sooner. "When your mother gave up her job it was because the cancer had advanced so far that the doctors told her she would only have six moths to live. She wanted to spend that time with you and your sister and proved the doctors wrong by living way past that timeframe." He watched as his daughter crumbled into floods of tears from the memory of her mother and hugged her tightly.

Envy glistened in Kaiba's eyes as he watched his own father comfort the girl. "I haven't got time to stand around all day so just be ready and have your bags packed in three days time." He managed sternly and was gone before anyone had the chance to say anything in return.

"I better go too." Bakura blurted out as soon as Kaiba's departure registered in his brain. He couldn't risk losing him again and didn't care anymore if his own exit seemed rude towards the farther and daughters. "It was nice meeting you all." He added as he back towards the door and out of the room to chase after Kaiba.

It wasn't too long before Bakura had managed to catch up with Kaiba as they neared the front doors to exit the hospital. They walked silently beside each other until they where outside and walking down the steps. "I'm sorry about ever doubting you." Bakura said.

Its okay, you have nothing to be sorry for. Kaiba thought but didn't say anything in response for fear of giving Bakura false hope about them getting back together. He didn't want to hurt him anymore than what he already had done, but he couldn't just ignore him. "How did you get here?" He asked as he sat on a low nearby wall.

"By train." Bakura replied as he too sat down beside Kaiba. "How else could I have gotten here?"

Kaiba quickly glanced at his watch. "I think you may have missed the last train back to Domino. Roland will be here shortly to pick me up so you can ride back with me." He wasn't prepared to leave Bakura behind on his own and would drop him off where ever it was that he had gone to. "Where did you go, Yugi's?"

"I don't want to go back to Yugi's" Bakura said and smiled at Kaiba hoping he would get the hint that he wanted to be with him again.

"Well, I don't want you back at the mansion." Kaiba snapped as he looked away from Bakura. He should have known that the white haired boy would have gotten the wrong idea from his offer of riding home together.

Slightly startled by the tone but not completely unprepared for a response like that, Bakura attempted again at getting his lover back. "Now that Suki has confessed it was all a hoax, I thought we could give it another try and go back to how it was before this morning." He smiled to try and catch Kaiba's attention but failed as he continued to look away from him.

"We can't." Kaiba whispered. It seemed like Bakura wasn't going to give up on him so felt that he needed to know why. "I promised that I would never hurt you and I broke that promise with the things that I said this morning."

"We both said things that hurt each other, we were angry and knew that neither of us meant those things, it wasn't real." Bakura reached out and took hold of Kaiba's hand. "But last night and the time we had before that, that was real." He saw Kaiba's bruised face stare down at their hands which were becoming entwined knowing that he was remembering the good times.

"I can't." Kaiba pulled back his hand. He wanted, needed, Bakura more than anything else but wasn't convinced that he himself deserved that second chance which was being offered to him.

Bakura couldn't stand it any longer; he wasn't going to let Kaiba push him away again. He took a deep breath before getting to his feet. "You're going to have to get use to me being around because from now on I'm going to be the last thing you see before you go to sleep at night and I'll be the first thing you see when you wake up." He moved so close to Kaiba that his body was pressed against his and gently so as not to hurt Kaiba's bruised face, took hold of him. "I'm not going anywhere." He said before kissing him passionately.

Unable to resist Kaiba pulled Bakura closer to him, careful not to rub against his broken rib. It had seemed like years since that morning and if Bakura was really determined to stay with him than he was fighting a losing battle. "Since when did you become so stubborn?" He smirked as they both stopped to breathe again.

"Since Joey made me realise just how much I love you." Bakura smiled back.