Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh.
2015 Note: HOLY COW, AN UPDATE! Akatsuki's Kyuubi left a review back in May (that I only saw recently), and it was then that I realized this story has been in the works for TEN YEARS! Ten friggin years! This month is the official anniversary, so I struggled to finish this chapter before July. I had hit a huge writer's block in the middle of this chapter. I've seriously been working on this chapter since I finished the last one, back in 2011. (cries) I had more writer's block, but Rurouni Kenshin and the sound track of Death Note kept me going. A lot of the DN music really fits this story I think, and Kenshin's two sides remind me of Ryou and Bakura. Whatever gets me to write I guess! I have no idea how many of you are still reading this, but drop a review if you have time.
Rated M for language and mature content.
Summary: When Marik begins stalking Téa and ruining her life, Ryou Bakura offers up his home. He wants her safe at any cost, but Ryou is continuously plagued with illnesses. Téa finds herself left with only Yami Bakura for protection, but the tomb robber is far from anyone's savior. As Marik's attacks grow worse, Téa finds that not everything is as it seems...
Sanctuary
By: Chi Yagami
Her sleep was plagued with nightmares, visions of darkness that Marik weaved in and out of. His face was consumed with lust, and each time Téa thought she had escaped, there he was again. During one dream in particular, Seto Kaiba was there. She asked him for help, begged him practically, but he only sneered and turned the other way, fading into nothing as she heard Marik calling out, chasing after her with a bloody rose in his hands.
Téa woke up a few times during the night, drenched in cold sweat. How she would have fallen back asleep, she did not know, had Ryou not been right there, his hand in hers. She had probably even squeezed it several times during her tremors. She was very grateful that he had fallen asleep there; seeing his peaceful, slumbering form through her groggy eyes was comfort enough to help lure her back to sleep. She had touched his face once, after a particularly nasty dream, to make sure she was really awake and safe in Kaiba's pool house. Knowing that he was there somehow eased her mind back to bed.
However, when she awoke this morning, Ryou was no longer there. Téa was disappointed; seeing him now, while truly awake, would have been a solid confirmation that he had indeed been there through the night, much better physical evidence than her sleepy vision between nightmares. But his side of the bed was ruffled, proving that at least someone was there. That, or she had thrashed around wildly in her sleep, which, recalling the tremors, could very well be true.
But Marik had finally been apprehended. She let out a huge sigh of relief and sank back into the bed. Kaiba had the Millennium Rod now, though Téa suspected it would soon be in the hands of either Ishizu Ishtar or Yami. And without the Rod, Marik could no longer deal out mind control. She wasn't sure what would happen to Marik now, but hopefully he'd be locked away somewhere far from here.
She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Glancing over at the clock on the nightstand, Téa was surprised to find that it was only seven in the morning. Those nightmares had gone on for so long, she had assumed she'd slept through to early afternoon at best. Where had Ryou gone to so early this morning? Possibly to get breakfast? Or maybe he was in the bathroom; the door was now fully closed.
Looking at the bathroom door, Téa realize how much she needed to use it. Reluctantly, she climbed out of bed and shuffled over, praying that Ryou wouldn't be too long.
"Ryou? Are you in there?" she called. No answer.
She knocked. Still no answer.
Téa put an ear to the door and listened closely: nothing. Perhaps he wasn't in there after all. Wondering why the it was closed, she turned the knob and opened the door…
…to reveal nothing. Well, not unless she counted Bakura's clothes that were hanging over the shower curtain, left to air out after Mai had pushed him into the pool yesterday. They must have been dry by now though. Shrugging (as if she cared whether Bakura's clothes were dry or not), Téa closed the door and went about her business.
After she flushed the toilet, Téa washed her hands and took a good look in the mirror. God, she looked awful. There was a light bruise where Marik had hit her, and her hair was sticking up all over the place. She couldn't go out looking like this; she decided a quick shower was in order before doing anything else.
She kicked off her slippers and dropped her shorts onto the closed toilet seat. Hmmm, now where were the towels? Aha! She opened the cupboard under the sink to find four large fluffy blue towels, all embroidered with the KC logo, probably due to Kaiba's massive ego dictating that he brand everything he owned with his initials (or maybe, though less likely, to deter people from stealing). She draped one of the towels over her shoulder and approached the shower. It was a long bathtub set in the ground with a clean white curtain (surprisingly free of logos). Téa flung back the curtain.
And then she screamed.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
"AAHHH!"
Bakura screamed too, shooting up and hitting his head on the faucet with a crack. He crumpled back down into the tub, cradling his head and swearing at the top of his lungs.
"Fuck, woman, what was that for?"
Still recovering from the shock of finding Bakura asleep in the tub, Téa had to force herself to catch a breath before she could respond. "You… you scared me!"
"I didn't do anything to you!" he snapped. "I was sleeping!"
"Exactly! I wasn't expecting to find you sleeping in the shower!" she screeched back. "What on earth are you doing sleeping here anyway?"
Still touching his head gingerly, Bakura growled at her. "Well I wasn't about to join you and Ryou in bed! And that chair is way too damn small to get comfortable on."
She stared at him incredulously. "And the bathtub is?"
"It was, until a certain somebody snuck up on me, and now my head aches!"
"Oh please, how was I supposed to know you'd be asleep in the bathtub?" she snorted. "I'm not psychic, you know."
Bakura spent several seconds seething from his spot in the tub, before he began to smirk. His eyes trailed up her legs, and Téa recalled with a flush that she had already removed her shorts.
"I suppose the view could be worse..."
"YOU PERVERT!"
She screeched again and swung the curtain back, blocking his view. Téa hurriedly gathered her clothes and dashed out of there, slamming the door. Screw that! She would just shower later! Téa shoved her shorts back on and went about the room, packing anything else into her duffel bag. After breakfast, she assumed the three of them would go back home. Hmmm… unless Kaiba wasn't even offering breakfast. Though, the invitation did say they could stay the night, so it would be fairly rude not to offer breakfast.
Leaving the room, she headed towards the elevator before suddenly remembering that her slippers were still back in the bathroom. She really didn't want to go back, but she didn't want to walk around barefoot either…
Cursing under her breath, Téa went back into the room. No one in sight… meaning Bakura must still be in the bathroom. Ugh, what if he was… using it or whatever? She knocked on the door.
Once again, no answer.
She opened the door and peeked inside. Bakura was still in the tub, looking fast asleep. He appeared to be wearing a bathrobe over his boxers, and his clothes still hung over the shower curtain rod. "Lazy," she muttered, slipping on her shoes.
"Shuddup," Bakura mumbled. She looked over in surprise; his speech wasn't usually slurred. Come to think of it, he had hit his head pretty hard…
"Are you okay?" she asked, peering at him. "You hit your head pretty badly."
"And whose fault is that?" he retorted. Téa rolled her eyes.
"Yours, as you decided to sleep in the tub. Bakura, I'm serious. You could have a concussion."
"All the more reason to go away and leave me in peace!" he replied, slowly opening his eyes and glaring at her.
"Wrong. If you have a concussion, you shouldn't sleep… you might never wake up!"
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?"
She stared at him with a loss for words. Bakura wasn't the type to go all suicidal. That bump must have REALLY knocked his brain around.
"I mean, for you," he continued. "You and all your stupid little friends. None of you like me anyway."
"Cut the depression already. God, this bump made you loopy," Téa said. Then she added, more seriously, "And for the record, I do consider you one of my friends."
She groaned and leaned over to grab one of his arms. Surprisingly he did nothing, which only reaffirmed her concussion theory. Téa began tugging at him, attempting to pry him from the bathtub. He watched her struggle for a bit, with a weird smirk on his face that reminded her of his prior lewd comments.
He must have gown bored, however, because he finally decided to help her out, and somehow, Téa was able to lead him into the bedroom. She tried to sit him on the bed, but her attempts failed and he slid to the floor instead, propped up against the Western bed frame.
"Just… stay there," she told him, not bothering to care if he was really listening. "I'll get some… coffee or something…" He should probably see a doctor, but that couldn't possibly go over well; Téa could just imagine Bakura sending some poor nurse to the Shadow Realm, and that was only in the waiting room.
Praying that Bakura wouldn't lose consciousness, she left him alone in the room and headed off down the hallway toward the elevators. She was pretty sure breakfast would be served on the first floor… either inside or out at the pool. And knowing Kaiba, there was bound to be coffee. Approaching the elevators, she hesitated, remembering what had happened last night. However, Marik had been taken into custody and the broken elevator seemed to be fixed already (damn fast).
It was a quiet trip down to the ground floor. The lobby was pretty deserted, aside from one guy asleep on a couch. Through the windows, she could see a few people lounging out near the pool, but her attention was drawn to a set of double doors of to the side. One of the doors was open, and Téa heard a small level of noise coming from inside. She poked her head around the door frame…
Breakfast! There was a long buffet counter running along the side of the room and large white tables scattered everywhere. There were around a hundred people or so mingling about, most looking incredibly sleep-deprived. Téa looked around, but she didn't see any of her friends; perhaps they were still asleep… it was pretty early after all.
She made a beeline for the coffee pots, pausing to consider what kind of coffee Bakura might like.
Black, definitely black. Like his soul, she mused wryly.
She prepared a steaming mug and headed back upstairs. She entered the room to find Bakura up and standing at the window.
"Feeling better?" she inquired cautiously.
Bakura only grunted in response, turning and looking at her suspiciously. "What's that?" he demanded warily, nodding at the coffee.
"I uhh… brought you some coffee."
He raised an eyebrow, and she felt incredibly stupid for some reason, an embarrassed flush creeping up her neck.
"I thought it would wake you up," she quickly explained, holding the mug out to him.
Bakura took the cup, still suspicious, and eyed it questionably. Did he really think she would try to poison him? Hesitantly, he took a sip, making a face of disgust. Ah well, she had tried— And then in one fluid motion, he downed the entire thing!
Téa stared at him, her mouth gaping open. He just drank that coffee like an alcoholic shot! It was piping hot too!
Bakura noticed and frowned. "What?"
"That coffee was hot…!"
He glanced down at the mug, then shrugged. "I want bacon," was all he said.
She was confused. "…bacon?"
"Yes, foolish girl. Bacon. You know, crispy pig meat that is eaten for breakfast?"
"I know what bacon is!" Ugh, it looked as if he was back to his old self.
Bakura surveyed the room and sneered. "Where's Ryou?"
"No idea. He was gone when I woke up."
He stared at her thoughtfully for a few moments, before shoving the mug back into her unsuspecting hand. "I want bacon, and more coffee. I hope you aren't being stupid and starving yourself again; get yourself some bacon, too. Find that idiot while you're at it."
Téa narrowed her eyes. Who did he think he was, bossing her around? But, seeing as it had been her fault Bakura had hit his head, she decided to let his rude behavior slide. Gritting her teeth, Téa glared at his back fiercely before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
Maybe she should put something horrid in his coffee… Yes, that sounded like fun…
Excited over the possibilities of messing with Bakura (and not really thinking about the likely consequences), she stopped once again at the elevators and waited for one to arrive. The doors opened a moment later, only to reveal a group of people, headed by none other than Seto Kaiba.
"Out of the way, Gardner," he ordered rudely, "I have serious business to attend." He marched past her impatiently.
The rest of his group consisted of three security guards and… several of her own friends!
Tristan, Joey, and Yami hurried after Kaiba, and she hurried after them. "What's going on?" she asked Tristan, who happened to be closest.
"Marik escaped last night," he explained quickly. Téa felt a cold chill run down her spine. "And someone tried to break into Kaiba's mansion early this morning. We think it was Marik… but Kaiba says he has security video showing the culprit is Yami Bakura."
What?
Marik had escaped?! Not good, not good! Téa had thought she might finally have a chance to relax, and now he had escaped? What else had Tristan said… Bakura tried to break and enter Kaiba's house? But why would he do that? Sure he had been a thief king and all, but if Bakura wanted to steal from Kaiba, he would have done it already.
Kaiba halted at the door to her room and swiftly opened it with a master key, not bothering to knock. Oh, this should be interesting…
At least Kaiba hadn't come earlier, when Bakura was still in tub and wearing a bathrobe. The tomb robber had put on his pants and they found him standing halfway between the bed and the bathroom, with his shirt half-buttoned.
"You," Kaiba started, "where were you this morning?"
Bakura stiffened, immediately on the defensive. "I was asleep. Your little invitation did say we were allowed to sleep here, did it not?"
"Cut the act," barked Kaiba. "I have footage on tape showing you tried to break into my house."
"Why the hell would I break into your house?"
"Maybe because I'm rich?" Kaiba replied dryly.
"If I wanted to steal from you, I would have done it long ago," Bakura mocked. "Besides, you have nothing of true value."
Kaiba looked peeved at that last comment, well, more so than usual. Yami stared daggers at the tomb robber, obviously decided in whose side he was taking. Tristan looked deep in thought, perhaps wise to stay out of it altogether. And Joey… was eating a plate of breakfast, of course; Téa rolled her eyes.
What Bakura had said was likely true, however. He was the type that would collect rare Egyptian artifacts, not petty cash. And seeing as Kaiba had denied his Egyptian past all these years, Téa doubted he was hoarding any ancient magical items.
"But Marik escaped," she reminded them, drawing everyone's attention. Bakura was extremely sour-faced; he hadn't realized she was there until just now. "You should look at the video again. Bakura and Marik have similar hair color and length; you might be mistaken."
Kaiba glowered and scoffed as if she was a moron. "I know what I saw; it was Bakura. Ishtar is still high on my list of enemies, but his hair is not nearly as white as this thief's."
"It wasn't me," Bakura argued, curling his hands into fists.
"Is that all you have to say for yourself?"
"It's all I can say. It wasn't me, I know it wasn't, so that's that."
Kaiba, apparently fed up enough, swiftly walked over and grabbed Bakura's collar. "Look you, we all know how you brag about being the world's greatest tomb robber. So just fess up before I make you." Wow. Kaiba must really have been in a bad mood…
Said tomb robber merely shoved the CEO away and dusted off his collar as if there was something unwanted. "I have no need to steal anything right now, so you should just—"
"What's all this then?" Yami asked pointedly, gesturing to Téa's duffel bag and clothes. "Looks like stolen goods!"
Bakura arched an eyebrow. "Those are women's clothes, you moron."
Yami blanched, but he held to his assumptions. "Well, you do dress like a girl…!"
Bakura's hair was practically standing on end, and he looked ready to attack everyone in the room. Before he could do anything, however, Téa cleared her throat to again draw all of the undivided attention.
"Actually… those clothes are mine…"
She could practically see the gears turning in everyone's heads (except for Joey, who was still eating). Kaiba had likely not been referring to the clothes and was just waiting for the others to catch up to speed. Yami tried not to look embarrassed, and Tristan nodded as though formally accepting this statement. The security guards were… well, she couldn't tell what they were thinking, since they all wore tinted sunglasses, but they were probably just waiting for Kaiba to give the word that they could frisk Bakura.
Yami finally looked at her and smiled apologetically. "Oh, well… that explains that…"
Kaiba scoffed. "As if someone would break into my mansion to steal clothes. I'm referring to cash of course!" Kaiba paused, taking a good look at Bakura, who was still fuming with rage. "Check his pockets," he ordered, motioning to the guards.
This could not end well…
"Wait, wait, WAIT!"
Having finished eating, Joey had finally taken note of his surroundings. Everyone looked at him, watching as he glanced around the room. Just as Kaiba rolled his eyes and started to turn away, Joey spoke again.
"Now just hold up a sec," he said, putting up a hand. He looked at her. "Téa, these are your clothes?"
"Yes…"
"Well then Bakura couldn't have stolen from Kaiba," Joey deduced, nodding sagely.
"And why the hell not?" Kaiba growled, irritated.
"Because he was too busy breaking into Téa's room and stealing her stuff!"
…
"You're a moron," Bakura finally rasped, rolling his eyes. "I haven't stolen anything; this is her room."
Yami stepped forward menacingly. "And just what are you doing in her room, tomb robber? Or should I call you a Peeping Tom?!"
Tristan and Joey were horrified at the prospect of Bakura lurking around their friend's room with those sort of intentions, and the security guards all had a hand on their holsters, ready to whip out a taser. Bakura, meanwhile, was growling under his breath and muttering things like "Who the fuck is Tom!"
"You sick pervert," Yami growled, disgusted.
"Oh, you think I came in here to spy on Gardner?" Bakura had finally deduced what had been proposed. "Well..." He smirked and caught Téa's eye, and her blush did not help the situation at all. "The view isn't all bad, I admit," he said slyly.
Tristan and Joey had to grab hold of Yami before he tackled the tomb robber and Mind Crushed his ass.
Despite her blush, Téa knew that Bakura only said these things to piss her off, or in this case, her friends. Bakura might find her body attractive, though somehow she doubted it (he seemed more like an everyone-else-is-beneath-me type), but Téa knew he would never follow through on any suggestive comments made. Getting a rise out of her was just his way of passing the time and amusing himself.
"And anyway, this is my room, too! And I haven't left it since late last night; check your damn security tapes again," he stated loudly, thrusting a finger at Kaiba.
Kaiba stared back evenly. "Oh, believe me, I will."
Just when it seemed as if things were calming down, Joey had to open his big fat mouth again.
"Wait, you two are sharing a room?"
Téa looked like a deer caught in blinding headlights.
Yami let out a gasp of horror. No doubt her other friends were all as equally disgusted. How was she supposed to explain this…?
"Umm… well, yes… technically, but—" she tried.
"But there's only one bed," Joey pointed out.
Everyone looked to her for an answer, even Kaiba (though he seemed more amused at her discomfort than anything), and Téa felt her face grow redder by the second.
"That's right," Bakura lied maliciously. He swung an arm around her shoulder. "We had quite the active night together–"
Téa threw a hand over his mouth to stop the situation from becoming even worse. He was completely full of crap, but Yami in particular seemed to be buying it. The pharaoh looked ready to chop Bakura's head off if given the chance.
"Maybe in your dreams," she argued, rolling her eyes. "Bakura just happened to end up in the same room as me. You see, he was just… uhh… looking for Ryou! And Ryou had been talking to me, so Bakura came to the room, and then Bakura was really tired and wanted to sleep on the bed, but I said No Way and kicked him onto the floor and I guess he fell asleep in the room…?"
She had talked so fast with the hopes that everyone wouldn't be able to focus too much on what she had actually said… Though Bakura apparently caught all of it and was shooting her an evil glare; she could feel his lips scowling against her fingers. Téa quickly removed her hand and stepped away.
"Enough of this circus," Kaiba dismissed. Then, looking at Bakura, he continued, "You. You're coming with me."
"And why the hell do you think I'll agree to that?" he replied snarkily.
"I never said you had to agree," Kaiba replied easily. He jerked his chin at the guards, who advanced in on Bakura. This would not end well… at least not for the guards. Téa could see that Bakura was about to reach into his shirt and grab the Millennium Ring. Those men didn't stand a chance!
"Stop!" she yelled at the guards, who reluctantly paused in their frisking. "What about the tape?" she asked quickly, turning to Kaiba.
"What about it?" he retorted impatiently, glaring.
"Bakura says he hasn't left the room since last night, and you said the perpetrator tried to break in this morning, right? So we should be able to look at the tape and see if Bakura ever left the room!"
"I agree with Téa," Tristan piped up. "I, for one, still think it was Marik. He'd probably want revenge on you for locking him up."
Kaiba was infuriated. "You can't tell me what to do on my property. I already told you I checked the tapes."
"And I'm telling you to check them again!" Téa snapped back, curling her fists.
They continued to stare angrily at each other. Téa felt beads of sweat run down the back of her neck. Kaiba finally turned away and motioned to the guards. "Bring him," he commanded, referring to Bakura.
"Kaiba–!"
"After you see the damn tapes, you'll agree with me, Gardner," he explained, turning on his heel with his trench coat billowing out behind him. Yami and Tristan hurried after him, while Joey lagged behind.
"Téa, you're not really sleeping with Bakura, are ya…?"
"OF COURSE NOT!"
She was beet-red, though Bakura was smiling cheekily. Joey scrambled after the others, eager to escape the spirit's violent tendencies. One of the guards followed suit, and the other two ushered Bakura after him. Téa hurried after them.
As the group made their way out of the pool house and over towards the Kaiba Mansion, they drew more than just a bit of attention. Seto Kaiba himself was a commanding force, but factor in Yami, a few guards, a pissed Bakura, and the rest of them… and it was quite the scene. Téa wondered what her fellow classmates must think … possibly they thought Kaiba was arresting them. Most everyone knew of the long-standing feud between Yami and Kaiba, and, to a lesser extent, between Kaiba and Joey.
Téa had to admit, there was probably no safer place than Kaiba's mansion in the entire country. Probably not even the prime minister's residence. The entire grounds were heavily guarded around the clock, and security cameras had been placed EVERYWHERE. The group had to pass through three layers of security just to get to the yard surrounding the house. It was at least a good twenty minute walk from the pool house to the inner perimeter of the property. And there were probably another five gates they would have had to go through to actually get into the mansion.
However, Kaiba instead lead everyone towards a small gatehouse off to the side.
"Geez, Kaiba, how did Marik even escape with all these armed guards?" Joey asked, looking around in wonder. Kaiba scowled in response, probably upset at the fact that Marik actually had managed to escape from this all but maximum security prison.
Kaiba granted them all clearance into the gatehouse, and a guard directed them through a metal detector before letting them into the main area.
Inside the gatehouse, there were two main security control rooms. They all followed Kaiba into the smaller room, and he began instructing the on-duty guard Ricky to find the tapes from last night and this morning. It didn't take too long, though just long enough for Kaiba to scold Joey about getting too close to the "expensive equipment worth more than all of your lives combined."
Téa hadn't once looked at Bakura's face since they had left the bedroom, but she could feel his frustration radiating off the charts. She really hoped that he was innocent. She had vouched for him, but it was more than that; she had grown used to having around, possibly even trusted him. She found lately that she didn't mind living with the spirit too much. Then again, if Bakura was guilty, Kaiba wouldn't let him live freely much longer.
"All right," Ricky announced, collecting everyone's attention. "Mr. Kaiba and company, if you will carefully watch the big monitor, you'll see that at exactly 3:25am, the suspect runs across the inner lawn. Right… there!"
Even though the screen was at least fifty inches wide, they all leaned in to get a better look.
Whoever it was, they were definitely not wearing Bakura's clothes. He currently had on jeans and a maroon button-down (the same clothes from last night). The guy in the video wore black pants and a light-colored shirt. As for the hair… It was difficult to discern between white and sandy blonde here, she would give Kaiba that. However, Téa knew for a fact that Bakura hadn't brought any other clothes with him. The only other garment he'd worn in the past day was Kaiba's bathrobe. Of course, it would take more than a pair of clothes to convince Kaiba.
"That is clearly not me," Bakura finally scoffed.
"Just because you've figured out how to change clothes undetected doesn't mean you're innocent," the billionaire replied smoothly. Kaiba had probably already covered the likely excuses.
"I didn't bring any extra clothes! Ask the woman," snarled Bakura, jerking a finger in her direction. Téa had been trying her best to stop bringing attention to the fact that they were sharing a room, but he had to go and bring it up again! How stupid was he? She remembered very well there was a period last night when she and Ryou had entered, and Bakura hadn't been in the room then. It was right after Marik's attack, they had come back to the room, and the bathroom door had been wide open. She couldn't remember seeing if the shower curtain was open or closed, but the shower itself had been dripping, and the rest of the bathroom was empty. That was hours before the suspect tried to rob Kaiba, but still… What was Bakura playing at?
Everyone was still staring at her with raised eyebrows, and Téa swallowed nervously. Kaiba's face dared her to try and provide evidence to support the claim. Tristan was scratching his chin, while Yami undoubtedly was trying to figure out why in the world Téa would know anything about Bakura's wardrobe. Bakura himself wore a blazing look that told Téa he really didn't want her help but she better get him out of this or else. The only person not waiting for an answer was Joey, who was too busy spying on the pool party through the cameras.
"I mean… those are the same clothes he wore yesterday," she said at last. Bakura's eyebrow twitched furiously. "He didn't bring anything extra," she quickly clarified. "Check the tapes from when we got here."
Seeing as she had just admitted that they arrived together, Téa plowed on with her explanation. "I don't remember him having anything on his person. Ryou didn't either. I'm the only one who brought extra clothes, and we can go back and check my duffel bag if you'd like."
The room was silent for a moment, until Kaiba turned back to Ricky. "Zip through the rest of that feed. Let's see when Bakura leaves the room last night."
Ricky swapped to the feed from the corner camera on the fourth floor of the pool house, starting around midnight. The minutes on the tape flew by as the hallway remained fairly empty. A few classmates walked up or down the hall at various times, but no one emerged from the room in question.
Until the time read 2:46am.
Someone, without a shirt, bolted from the room quickly, running oddly down the hall and out of sight.
"As you can see," Ricky explained, "someone flees the guest room at 2:46am. It's definitely a male due to the lack of…" He floundered at their expressions. "A shirt! Anyway, I was saying… This male runs out of the room wildly– there you can see where he bumps into the wall before taking off again. And based on the white hair, it matches Bakura perfectly."
"Where does he run to?" Tristan asked, watching the tape as 'Bakura' seemingly ran off-screen.
"We don't know," Kaiba supplied, sounding victorious. "He isn't seen getting onto the elevator, and he doesn't return back to the room. Ricky, fast forward to when someone leaves or enters the room next."
It had to have been whenever Ryou got up this morning. He was gone before Téa had even gotten out of bed. But the minutes rolled past, and Ryou never left the room. The next person coming out was… her!
Téa sheepishly grinned as the tape showed her exiting the room sometime after 7am, only to return shortly. "I'd forgotten my shoes…" Ricky rewound and yes, there were her bare feet. He rewound further and paused the screen on at 2:48am, which had the best visual of the suspect.
"How do you explain that, thief?" Kaiba demanded smugly. The others watched as Bakura struggled to find an answer. "Clearly you ran out before 3am, found a change of clothes elsewhere, eluded security tapes, and then tried to break into my house."
"There is nothing in your house worthy of stealing," Bakura retorted, his fits at his side as the guards gripped their tasers. "I'm telling you, that's not me!"
"Oh really?" No one in the room seemed to believe him. Téa was not sure what to believe. She glanced at the footage again, taking in the snowy white hair obscuring the person's face. And then she took another look at their pajama pants.
She gasped. "That's not Bakura!"
Kaiba crossed his arms. "What the hell, Gardner, now is not the time for–"
"Look!" she implored, reaching out and touching the screen where the man's pants were. "Those are blue pajama bottoms! Those belong to Ryou! That's…"
Seto Kaiba laughed in a tired voice. "You can't be serious. You expect me to believe that sickly kid from Duelist Kingdom tried to break into my mansion? There's no way that weak boy could even get past the first level of security."
"I'm not suggesting he was trying to break in, Kaiba," Téa stated as calmly as she could while worrying about the health of her friend. "But Ryou had left the room this morning before I did, so it has to be him! Isn't there a small public bathroom at the end of that hall, right before the elevators?"
"Why would Ryou need to use the restroom in the hall?" Yami questioned of her. "He could just use the restroom attached to your room!"
"Because Bakura was sleeping in the tub!" she exclaimed. Then she slapped her hands over her mouth.
"I thought you said you kicked Bakura onto the floor…?" Tristan voiced.
"As if she could land a kick on me! When I got out of the shower, she and that moron were already in bed together. I wasn't about to stay in the room," Bakura snorted.
Everyone stopped to look at Téa. Clearly, Bakura was referring to one, specific person...
"I thought you said you and Ryou aren't dating," Tristan spoke at last.
"WE'RE NOT!"
Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "So you're just sleeping together?"
"It's not like that! We're friends! We just happened to fall asleep while talking on the bed!" she hurried to explain. Before anyone could interrupt, Téa steered the conversation to a more urgent topic: "And Ryou's been awfully sick lately! He probably had to throw up but was afraid of waking Bakura in our bathroom, so he went down the hall. I haven't seen him all morning… he could be really sick! We have to go check on him!"
"Two men are already on their way over," Ricky announced. "As soon as you mentioned the bathroom, I sent for someone to check and see if he is still in there."
"He probably is," she replied quickly. "I haven't seen him all morning." Ryou, please be okay!
"So..." Joey started, finally up to speed. "Why were you two sharing a room anyway?"
ARGH. He just couldn't let that detail get away, could he?! Why was Joey so perceptive about these things? Why couldn't he just focus on the important parts of the situation? She looked to Kaiba, hoping he would consider this conversation trivial and unimportant. Unfortunately he just seemed amused by her misfortune. Rich jerk.
"Yeah, and didn't you and Ryou, and Bakura as well… didn't the three of you arrive together?" Yami inquired, crossing his arms.
"You two have been spending a lot of time together," Joey said suggestively, waggling his eyebrows.
Bakura rolled his eyes, clearly enjoying Téa's discomfort. "Fools, as if that incompetent weakling has the nerve to approach women. Gardner has been living with us for almost two months."
Well shit. Téa really hadn't wanted her friends to know that she lived with Bakura! It would only stress them all out, and they would go to the trouble of offering to let her live with them instead. And she had no real excuse not to move out and live with, say, Yugi. But she couldn't do that to her friends! Téa already felt a burden to Ryou; if she hadn't moved in, Bakura wouldn't hate him half as much, she was sure.
While they waited for a report back from the men who went to check on Ryou, Téa reluctantly filled Yami, Tristan, Joey, an uninterested Kaiba, and a semi-interested Ricky in on how the stalker burned down her house at the end of spring break and that she had been living with Ryou ever since.
"You mean, you've been living in the same house as that creep and you two haven't killed each other?" Joey marveled, not noticing how aggravated Bakura looked.
Yami cleared his throat. "Téa, you know you could have told us. Yugi and I would have offered you a place at once if we'd known!"
"And that's why I couldn't tell anyone," she explained desperately. "You and Yugi don't have a lot of room already. Same with Tristan and Mai. And no offense, but Joey your place is too messy for me." Joey looked terribly offended, but the other two cracked a smile.
"Besides, guys, Ryou needs me," she continued. "He's been very sick lately, and we all know Bakura isn't going to nurse him back to health." Bakura made to cut in, but she keep talking. "Ryou has an extra room, we get along well, and Bakura hasn't killed me yet. So we're all good."
Who was she kidding? One day, she and Bakura were getting along as best they could, and the next day he was twisting her arm around. Téa didn't know how long she could keep going on this rollercoaster. She might crack one day and then Bakura really would try to kill her. Or maybe they could be friends. Haha, yeah, no, she seriously doubted that. Bakura wasn't one to make friends, or even want them.
She could tell none of them believed her; they were all glaring at Bakura as if expecting him to try to harm her any second. Even the guards seemed on edge, at least, more so than before. "Really guys, it's fine!" Téa pleaded. "Bakura's not so bad; he even helped me get away from Marik a few times!"
Oops. Maybe she shouldn't have said that. Bakura looked positively murderous.
Thankfully, the static of a walkie-talkie blared through the room before the tomb robber could even open his mouth. Everyone turned back to Ricky, who pulled the device off his hip.
"Hiko to Ricky, we have confirmed there was a sickly male in the public fourth floor bathroom. We've taken him to the office on the second floor and called for a nurse. Hiko to Ricky, over."
Ryou had been sick in there for practically FOUR HOURS! She had to make sure he was okay!
"Gardner, where do you think you're going?" Kaiba yelled as she reached for the door.
"Look, clearly the suspect isn't Bakura, so you should let him go. It wasn't Ryou either. I'm going to make sure my friend is okay, and don't you dare try to stop me." She gave Seto Kaiba one of her most intense stares until he broke eye contact. Assuming that was all the permission she was going to get (not that she needed it), Téa raced out of the room at top speed. The guys' conversation drifted out of the open door behind her.
"It has to be Marik. Where's the footage of his escape?"
"Say, Kaiba… where's the Millennium Rod? Marik probably wanted to get it back."
"It's locked in my high-tech, completely secure steel vault."
"What?! You haven't given it back to Ishizu Ishtar? You need to stop being so…"
Their voices faded away as Téa left the gatehouse and headed back to the pool. Dear Ra, she prayed that Ryou was fine. He had been ill an awful lot lately, and she was sure part of it stemmed from his worries about her. If anything happened to him, it would be her fault; she couldn't let him down. He was letting her live with him; the least she could do was help him out.
"Téa!" Ryou perked up as soon as she walked into the second floor office. He appeared paler than usual, but other than that he said he felt fine.
"Ryou, I'm so glad you're okay," she cried, rushing over and crushing him into a hug. "I meant to come looking for you this morning, but I got distracted when Kaiba showed up and accused Bakura of trying to steal from him!"
He listened with wide eyes as Téa explained what happened at the gatehouse. Ryou then filled her in on how he woke up last night with terrible stomach pains, and, not wanting to provoke the wrath of Bakura, he had gone to use the public bathroom where he proceeded to throw up… many times.
"The nurse didn't say it officially, but she hinted at food poisoning," Ryou whispered as she sat next to him on the bench in the office. "I don't think she wanted to go against Kaiba on record, you know, since it would have been food I ate here."
"Figures," Téa grumbled. "Everyone's scared of the big, bad wolf."
Ryou chuckled but quickly became serious. "I can't believe Marik escaped again. And you said he tried to break into the Kaiba house?"
"Yeah, probably trying to steal back his Millennium Rod. When I left to come find you, the others were still discussing it."
"Did Kaiba let Bakura off?"
"Why don't you just ask him?" a voice growled from the doorway. Téa jumped and looked up to find a very angry tomb robber. "What the hell is wrong with you, telling those geeks about things like that?!"
Telling those geeks things like that…? What things? That he had saved her from Marik?
"I had to tell them something," Téa argued, standing to confront Bakura directly. "They weren't about to let me just live with you as if I was perfectly safe! I had to say something to pacify them!"
"Well it didn't work, woman," he rasped, gripping his belt loops. "They all lectured me about how 'I better not lay a finger on you' among a bunch of other crap. And you don't go around telling people the great tomb robber is a savior!"
Oh lord, was this about his 'evil reputation' or something? He was afraid of being labeled a do-gooder now? She rolled her eyes.
"Are you mocking me?" Bakura demanded, rage evident in his yells. "I will not be made a fool of!" He marched forward and shoved the girl backwards. Pain shot through Téa's head as it slammed against the wall.
"Bakura, leave her alone!" Ryou cried, trying to separate them.
The tomb robber pushed Ryou back with his free hand, causing the boy to trip and stumble into the office desk. Still reeling in pain from the impact, Téa did her best to wriggle out of Bakura's grasp. However, he was a lot stronger than her. Crushing her arms into the wall, he pinned her in place.
"Do not think that just because I let you live in my house, you can walk all over me and say what you like! The only reason I haven't sent you to the Shadow Realm is because that bastard Shadi is just waiting for an excuse to show up."
He was… he was only letting her live because Shadi would kill him if he did something? Téa had thought… she had foolishly believed he was getting friendlier! Well not friendly, but she had hoped that maybe Bakura didn't mind having her around at least. And she really shouldn't care what the tomb robber thought of her; he'd been out to kill them all since day one, so why it should be any different now... But his words cut into her like thorns.
He leaned down to place his mouth by her ear so Ryou wouldn't hear what he said next.
"But don't think for a second I won't hurt you as much as I can without Shadi finding out." Téa's breath caught in her throat. He really, truly despised her, didn't he?
"So just…" He paused in his whispering, and his hot breath tickled her ear and neck. "Just stay away from me and don't give me a reason!"
He pulled back, and she could see some sort of hungry expression on his face. Hungry for blood, her mind supplied. He slowly released her arms, leaving his hands there for an extra moment. Then he turned on his heels and… ran away!
Téa let out the breath she had been holding. She was terrified. If her stalker didn't kill her first, Bakura certainly would. The only thing standing between her and an early death was that mysterious priest named Shadi.
Trying not to let Ryou see how her shoulders were shaking, she hurried over to him and made sure he was not injured. Ryou fretted over her as well, worrying about a concussion. He led her back to their room so that they could pack and go home. Téa wasn't paying attention; she was too busy thinking about what Bakura had said to care enough to tell Ryou he was packing her bag wrong. She shouldn't be surprised at Bakura's actions. But… what about all of that other caring stuff he had done? She didn't know what to think of him anymore. He had certainly seemed angrier this time than ever before…
She took huge breaths of air and closed her eyes. She had seriously thought he was going to kill her then. His hot breath on her neck had sent backwards chills running down her spine. And that look he had given her… she shuddered just thinking about it.