And it continues....remember, this ain't a yaoi of any kind, just brother to brother confrontations of comfort. (I'm saying this one last time cause I had a moment in part of it where I began doubting that and the ending...eheh...I think I rid that thought now though, finally). And while Yugi and his yami aren't around, Bakura refers to Akei as Yami...

Ehh...and ya know what I just figured out from reading over me story..? I switched around how Bakura and his yami do mental links o.O Doesn't seem like anyone noticed but here is what it is now...

{Bakura to Akei}
[Akei to Bakura]

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but I own the rights to Akei and **ahem** Dansei plus the card, Shurgarou the Black Phoenix, scene in next chapter.

******
"You beat yourself up this much...?" Yami quirked.

Akei was now seated besides his still unconscious hikari. His wounds had been tended to by Yugi and he was already beginning to surprisingly recover. Yugi had found a wooden chair from the kitchen and brought it in the living room to sit, listening carefully to the two yamis and every so often glanced to Bakura.

"No...I myself didn't do it....but...it was weird, the person looked like me and almost sounded like me, but more sinister. And for one thing, how I hate to admit...his power was greatly beyond mine."

Yugi chimed in. "How did you get so ragged...?"

"He threw me out of a window." On that comment Akei couldn't control a snarl. His head shook like normally though and he leaned against the couch's backing, arms folded over his chest as he glanced wearily at Bakura. "He's going to go after Bakura again now that I'm gone..."

Yami spoke up again curiously this time. "You're actually worried...?"

Akei shot standing up and shouted. "Of course I am-not!" He blinked and sat back in his position, realizing the 'not' probably didn't get into Yami's skull. 'Great now I'm going to get ratted on about this for awhile...being worried...hmph...of course I'm not worried about that runt...why would I be? He's a nuisance. A weakling. A-'

The door bell rang and Yami looked to Akei to answer it. He stood and grumbled, walking over to the door and winging it open to face a postal service man who held out a clipboard to him. "Are you Bakura..?"

Akei eyes the package in the man's hand. 'The knife...' "Yes, I am."

"Sign here."

Akei took the clipboard and signed as the man left him with the package. He walked back to the couch and took his seat, staring at the package for a minute or two, not even moving his gaze when Yugi spoke up.

"What is it...?"

"A knife," was all he answered before opening it up, packing peanuts spilling to the floor.

"You ordered a knife...?"

"Bakura did." He held up the weapon in both his hands, a shining ragged silver blade connected to a golden hilt with the Eye of Ra engraved in it, a sphere ruby at the very end of the hilt. "And I think he did something right for once."

"Why?"

"Because Yami, I can use this when I go back." He stood at those words, facing towards Bakura and his replica of the ring beginning to glow.

Yami stood and grabbed his arm, almost hissing desperately at the crazed yami. "You can't go! You'll die for sure this time!"

"Well then I won't be missed."

"Akei!" He shouted one last time before Akei was gone, back into Bakura's soul room- directive this time. "Damn! That bastard..."

******
Once again in Bakura's soul room, Akei went towards the labeled box he needed but paused. It was sealed up all over again, his eyes fell to the ground to see the screw that he had left behind before. His body sulked backwards until he was leaning against one of the shelves, staring along the row at the mess he made. His eyes drifted along to a paper that had been moved away from the rest before and he looked down at it.

::I still don't understand him. Why he thinks I'm nothing and just a nuisance. Or why he beats on me for sometimes no reason at all. But he can't be all death and destruction can he? There has to be something more to him he's afraid to show...maybe even a side of him that he can care for someone else. For once.::

Akei cringed and looked away from the note and then to the ceiling, slamming his eyes closed and yelling loudly through the soul room. "DAMMIT I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT HIM!!" He wasn't sure why he bothered stating a lie, but he didn't want to admit to the truth.

It took him a moment to calm himself back to normal self for him to approach the once again sealed box. His foot kicked at the screw on the ground and sent it sprawling into some unknown corner of the soul room.

Instead he pulled out his lovely new blade from behind his jeans and raised it above his head. It didn't take much force to actually rip through the box, but it was something and once again the blue light engulfed the area.

But this time he was not already in the room. This time he was standing where he had landed earlier, peeking over at the amount of blood marks and looking up at the window. "Great." He walked to the front door and tried to open it and cursed out in his own tongue. "Why does Bakura have to lock the doors....?" Another grumble and he looked for a way to get in. The gutter.

The gutter was right besides Bakura's room window and looked pretty easy to climb at that. Hopefully Bakura wouldn't mind large holes in his 'dream' house. Akei walked over to it and looked up, beginning to climb up the thing of metal with the help of sticking the knife in the house wall to pull himself up.

It was a surprise he ever made it up. His hands clutched onto the window and pulled him into a stand between its frames (it was a very large window). When he looked in, Yami Bakura hadn't noticed him, he was too busy about to kill Bakura with his pocket knife.

Akei had never been so "protective" in his life. Never, for anyone. But of course, he was the only one with rights to beat on Bakura, and this was not him doing it now.

His energy sank to his feet and launched himself into the air and tackled Yami Bakura dead on, pushing him away from Bakura and the pocket knife.

Akei mentally rolled his eyes on what he was about to say, but indeed yelled it at this other person who was pinned to the ground, Akei's knife firmly held by his neck. "Who are you to go and try to kill my aibou?!"

"Heh, heh. I am you and yet I am me."

"Answer or you lose your neck!"

"Protective now, eh?" It mocked.

"Shut up." 'What am I doing? It's right...I am protective...why? I don't get it...whatever...I'll figure it out after I kill this fake.'With no more at thought, Akei forced his knife against Yami Bakura's neck until it cut in. "Welcome your death."

"How about you welcome it?" Akei blinked when the knife did no damage, no blood, no nothing. He stared as he felt the weapon be pulled from his hand by some strange force. His body also met this force and was thrown backwards. Yami Bakura stood and brushed off before laughing darkly, body being incased by darkness.

"What the..."

Yami Bakura's form vanished only to reveal a black robed (and haired) form, eyes blood red and skin gray. A spirit. "I enjoyed borrowing your form, it helped bring fear, but I never expected to actually face you. Do me a favor and stay on the ground while I kill your weaker half." He turned towards Bakura and smirked at the boy on the floor. "Now the real pain begins."

Bakura tried sitting up bet his body wouldn't allow it.

"Leave him alone," Akei groaned, in the process of standing.

"Silence!" The spirit whipped around ti face Akei, raising an arm in the air and creating a sohere in his palm. Before Akei coukd move, the sphere engulfed him, taking all energy he had and sending him sprawling onto his back, cut wounds everywhere. "You're as weak as your hikari! Probably more useless too. Oh well, no worries now." He turned his head from an unconscious Akei back to Bakura.

"Y-Yami...?" Bakura blinked painfully, staring at his true yami as Akei's Millennium Ring replica began to glow and he vanished.

"Gone again. Well, well, back to you my friend."

Bakura whimpered meakly, body beginning to throb and shudder as the spirit began to form a black sphere in his palm.

******
Akei sat, half conscious on the couch besides the still unwakable Bakura. Yugi had his place in a chair from the kitchen with a first aid kit and Yami across from Akei in his chair. At one time there was a table in the middle. They moved it.

"Yami, is he ok?"

"I'll get back to you on that one aibou..."

"Where am I...?" Akei blinked to full consciousness.

"Oh you're alive..." Yami muttered.

"Gee you sound so thrilled." Akei hissed tiredly back.

"Sorry."

"I got the first aid kit!" Yugi perked up chipperly.

"...." Yami and Akei responded much the same.

******
"S-stop..." Bakura cried, painfully curling into a ball as he coughed up more blood to the carpet floor. His eyes clenched shut, blocking the tears trying to form.

"Shut up kid," the spirit growled as his leg pummeled into Bakura's chest, making him whimper again.

{Somebody...help....me....} was all he could relay in his mind before cringing in pain as the pocket knife cause deep slits into his shoulder blade.

******
[BAKURA!] Akei shot upwards, turning and readying to enter the soul room again. That is, until Yami grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him away from Bakura. Akei growled and attempted moving but Yami's other hand grabbed his arm, slightly twisting it.

"God dammit Yami let me go!"

"Um, how about...no."

"What are you going to do to stop me? Kill me, yell? And with Yugi here?"

"Aibou, would you please leave the room." Yami muttered, eyes never moving from their glare on Akei's eyes.

Yugi looked between the two various time and then to Bakura before dating into the kitchen, leaving Yami to business.

After making sure Yugi was gone, Yami threw Akei backwards and sneered. "You bloody bastard, what the hell are you thinking?!"

A hiss and a few words was the answer. "He needs help."

"If you die that doesn't help anyone."

"He's a freaking weakling!"

"If he was weak he would be dead by now!" Yami snapped, leaving Akei trying to gather up his words.

"If I don't help him, he WILL die."

"Why do you care anyway...?"

Silence.

"Akei?"

"Dammit Yami, I don't know!"

"Whoa, calm down, just curious..." He paused then shook his head to continue. "Anyway, you aren't going back until we find a true way to stop this thing."

Akei briefly nodded. [Hang in there.]

{Why are you helping me..?}

[Why does everyone keep asking me that...]

{It's not like you.}

[I wasn't looking for an answer.]

{S-sorry....}

[Whatever, I don't know why.]

{..... ..... ............You were right though.....I am weak...} His voice dropped to a mere whisper, in his location on the floor, Yami Bakura had left the room to search the kitchen for a Butcher's knife.

[In Yami's words, "If you were weak, you would be dead."]

Bakura whimpered. {I am dead...h-he's coming back...}

[He was gone...?]

{To get a b-bigger knife...and he h-has one....}

[.......]

{P-please...I don't want to d-die y-yet........N-n-}

Akei cringed painfully as pain cut through the mental link. [Bakura!] There was no answer...

"I have an idea!" Yugi announced as he rushed in the room.

"What is it aibou?"

"Yami, is there anyway we can like transfer bodies? Send the spirit from Bakura's 'dream' and to Akei's?"

Yugi recieved two blinked, one from Yami and the other from Akei. Wasn't quiet the answer he wanted but eventually Yami spoke up.

"If we can some how get to Bakura, he should be able to send a mind surge towards the spirit and chase it into Akei's mind..." He let his gaze shift from his aibou to Akei. "Have you even ever used your mental link?"

"Yes." He returned with a hiss. "Though somehow I doubt someone who is DYING will talk much!"

In a worried tone, Yugi spoke up. "He's dying...?"

"Yes." ((If only itallics would work for me...))

"Akei. You have to go in that dream and quickly tell Bakura to focus his mind to thoughts on a surge of pain on the spirit. His mind WILL comply. But just to warn you, once the spirit enters you mind and sends you into a dream, Bakura will awake and you will fall unconscious like he is now." Yami intructed.

He nodded and turned to Bakura. 'This is insane.'

The Millennium Ring lit up with a shine and Akei vanished to once again, Bakura's soul room.

******
Akei had not wasted any time to arrive in the dream and was already within the room. His mind was racing much more then normal and he had to focus on his thoughts through the mental link. His body stood shaken in an unnoticable corner, staring at a crippled Bakura and a gauffering spirit.

[Bakura. Listen to me, focus all thoughts you have on any form of pain directed on the spirit's mind. You do this and you can awaken back in the real world.]

{I can't breath anymore...}

[Get a hold of yourself, you can still breath, just do this damn thing and you'll be in Yami and Yugi's care.]

{O-ok...}

Bakura laid still as his eyes close shut. Various thoughts of death and randow things focused towards the spirit in the room. Thoughts of pain and darkness, total shutdown. But it was enough, enough that his mind complyed to the intentions in a wave of inflicting pain, hit within the spirit's mind. This caught it very much off guard and caused only some damage, but it did do what was intended.

It fled. Out away from Bakura, it turned and vanished to form a new dream room....within Akei.

Bakura's eyes flipped open long enough to see his yami fall forward to his knees, horror-struck, and then to the ground. Then he blacked out himself just as Bakura had done.

******
"Yami, it worked!"

"Let's hope for the best...." He whispered, looking over at Akei who had separated from his hikari and is now collapsed on the couch (after moving him off the floor). Bakura didn't wake up slow, but quickly, and with mixed emotions.

"No!"

"Well good to see you alive..." Yugi started, eying the newly awakened and wide-eyed Bakura.

Now Bakura was beginning to shake uncontrollably, head twisting to his right to see his yami. "W-what's going on...?"

Yami cut in, trying to comfort the boy (ha, yeah right). "You're safe now, don't worry." That didn't help at all, tear were now forming and streaming from his eyes.

"What h-happened to him...? He can't be dead..."

"He's not dead, Bakura. But we have to do something soon of he will be."

"But _what_ happened to him?"

"The spirit left your mind and entered his." Yami simply stated.

"Isn't my yami a spirit?"

"Eh...well, yes, technically Akei is..."

"Akei...?"

"Your yami's new given name," Yugi said with a chuckle, giving in his two cents.

"....Ok.....But how can a spirit be in a spirit's mind....?"

Yami blinked. "It can just....happen."

Bakura buried his head in his hands uneasily. {Please tell me you're alive....Whatever you did worked for me, but if you died...}

No answer.

{God please no! I don't care if you want to beat me like always, it's better then that spirit! Now will you answer me?! You're still my yami and besides, if I could hold out so long, you should withstand for awhile!}

Still the link remained dead.

{YAMI!}

******
Akei lay unconscious in a new mildly dark room, different then the last. Still square but the only thing in the wooden floored room was a round table and two mahogany chairs. He was sitting against a corner, the spirit nowhere in sight. Though his mind took in what Bakura had been saying, he only truly snapped awake when Bakura resulted to yelling.

[Bakura...?] Was the only drowsily said thing.

{Don't DO that! I thought you were dead, you totally freaked me out! Oh...is the spirit there? Are you ok?}

[He isn't here...damn I can't move my head though...cursed headache...]

Akei could feel Bakura's eyes roll.

{We'll get you out of there...}

[Like you care.]

{What's _that_ supposed to mean...?}

[Don't play stupid Bakura!] He hissed, almost...enraged. He still remembered well about what was read in Bakura's soul room, very well. [Trust ne, I KNOW how your mind revolves around some painful death to me!]

{H-how do you know that.....?}

[Your damn soul room.]

{Y-you raided my thought....?} He was beginning to get weary, but who could blame him? He just found out his yami knew some of the things he had said that were locked in his soul room, never SUPPOSED to be read!

[So?! You should be thrilled as it is! A quicker way for me to die.]

{....}

Akei broke the disscusion, the spirit had returned by simply appearing, arms folded as he chuckled at the yami's weakness. "Well, well, well. The old tomb-raider at his most pathetic stage. There are no doors, no windows as you can see, you can't escape your fate. Once you're gone, your hikari will fall more easily."

"Leave him alone," Akei growled, still unable to move from his corner position.

"Worry about yourself for now. No one will save you, not that Pharaoh or the weakling Bakura. He hates you, actually everyone does! Especially me."

"Who are you!?" Akei demanded, getting beyond ticked now.

"Don't you remember me? We were like best friends.....that is until you let the Pharaoh catch and kill me!!"

"Dansei..." He spat out angrily.

"Ah, see you remember," he mocked, eyes staring like an owl at Akei, though he was only a few feet from him.

"What do you want with Bakura?!"

"Oh pipe that voice down. Why should you care for that boy?! He wants you dead just like I do. Stop bothering time over him, and stop fooling yourself that he cares if you live or not."

Akei slammed his eyes shut with rage and tried standing, but Dansei reacted quicker and drove hit foot into Akei's chest, having him fall forward to his knees.

{Yami...you ok....?}

[Shut up bastard!] As anyone could see, well except for Bakura, Akei was in a very bad mood and starting to believe what Dansei was saying. That is not a good thing.

{W-what did I do...?}

[I SAID SHUT UP!]

{B-but Yami...}

[SHUT THE HELL UP YOU FREAKING PAIN IN THE ASS!]

******
Bakura cringed leaving Yami and Yugi in a confused state of mind. The silver-haired boy shook his head over and over again, knowing something was off balance. "No, no, no....something isn't right..."

"....Use the ring...." Yami said, spacing in from his own world.

"Eh, Yami?"

"Sorry aibou...I mean, I think I know how you can stop this thing."

Bakura raised his head to meet Yami's game. "How..?"

"Use the ring. Bring the spirit from the dream to the Shadow Realm, that way you can hurt it and hopefully, kill it," Yami explained.

".....Alright....um....how do I, enter the dream.....?"

Yugi chuckled and pointed to the unconscious yami. "You gotta enter his soul room and find some way to enter his dream."

"Eh...sure....whatever...I'm going...."

"Be careful."

"I will Yami, trust me, I will."

His body was gone- directly to Akei's soul room. {I'm coming.}

[I don't need your bloody help!]

{Well I don't really care what you want right now, there is no way I an letting you die!}

[.....]

******
Bakura wandered through what seemed to be just a pitch black room. "Yugi made this sound easy..." Eyes darted back and forth, hoping to find some source of light.

{Man...where's the light switch....}

Again Bakura couldn't harness a responds....that was NOT a good sign. But a sudden image flashed before his eyes, a rim of a faint light hidden behind something. A door. "Is that...?" His body pulled him towards it, hands gliding along the wood surface for a handle of some sort. "Come on...please be it..." His voice echoed.

After some wasted time, his face brightened, hands clutching a knob. He turned it slowly, beads of sweat tumbling from his forehead and down the nod of his neck. He feared what was ahead, what was on the other side of the door...

His eyes clicked open and closed for a brief second, a nerve in his hands jerking and causing the door to open. The light that was seen before leeked and poured from the door, blinding Bakura for thoughs few seconds...

******
Akei and Dansei weren't doing too well. Subtle pain was boiling through the yami's bones ever since Dansei had made a chain type whip appear out of thin air. The spirit had been talking each time before he'd strike his weapon at Akie, voice as a lunatic, madman, crazed spirit lerking in the brinks of revenge.

"I thought we could be friends, you know that? I don't think you did!"

A clash hit along his face.

Akei was still down on both knees/shins, hands tied behind his back and hair falling ragged over his face. Bakura watched, unnoticed, from the back of the room, and unable to move at the sight.

"I could go kill that Pharaoh for executing me, but it was YOUR fault I got caught! You ran like a child from the guards, leaving me at the tomb to be caught. Of course you and Mr. Dignity didn't care, didn't help!"

Another thrash and a cut along his face, Bakura could see some of the red liquid dropped to the ground, almost able to hear a splashing sound when it hit the floor.

"IF it was you being dragged off to the palace, I would have helped you! You are such a careless bastard!"

Akei unleashed a soft, spontaneous cry before the whip hit him and instead of being hit, the weapon hit besides him.

"You're getting soft," Dansei snarled. "How _pathetic_." And the belated lashing hit at his sweater where his rib cage was located.

Bakura cringed. This was surreal! Impossible! His yami's strength was writtling down, his energy, his arrogance. He was getting feeble.

"Don't be stupid my old friend. Only once you're dead, Bakura will be an easy target. As I keep and will continue saying, I don't know why you keep protecting someone who hates you. Either way, it doesn't matter, killing you both clears away my revenge, he's suffereing because of you, such a spineless fool like you should at least be able to understand that." For the last time, the chain whip hit along anb already formed cut, the blod rippling before drizzling like rain to the hardwood floor.

Akei shuddered, holding back a scream and took a few minutes to recove until his voiced rapsed out softly and weakly ((I need a new word.)). "Leave....Bakura....a-lone...This is.....bet-ween.....you...and me. Dammit Dansei...he doesn't...deserve this!"

"Such brave words. Oh well, so long old friend." He raised the whip above his head so the chain fell behind him. As it bagan to move upwards, it stopped as some force held it back.

Dansei turned around to see Bakura holding the other end of the chain. "What, you?!"

"Let's not say so long to him just yet," he growled in return.

"What?! No! You can't be here! You're supposed to hate him, not protect him!!" Dansei wailed out in astonishment and utter confusion.

"Now who told you that?"

Akei's head lifted painfully, only enough to see a determined look on Bakura's face.

Bakura looked down at his Millennium Ring and backed away (letting his end of the whip go) into a wall. He tried a few times but couldn't figure how to work the ancient item.

{How does this piece of golden junk work?!} Bakura cried as Dansei began towards him.

.........

{Please Yami! Akei, whatever! I CAN'T work it, you have to take us to the Shadow Realm!}

[.....I..........can't.........] Was the only faint answer Bakura recieved through the mental link.

{YES you can, you can't die here! That Dansei guy is wrong, you AREN'T pathetic and it isn't your fault he wants me dead too and I DON'T hate you!}

[.......]

Bakura's ring began to glow, having be so bright that Dansei had to cover his eyes.

Thei surroundings changed from its white walls to an eerie black and deep blue world....

******


WOW! That was a LONG chapter! That's what ya get for me being on vaction ^^ 14 whole pages, 4222 words, well, counting everything before I said how many words...Aren't these two so noble? I like how I have Akei being nice but still being his self...it seems to work great ^^

If you have any questions, confusions, or comments, please review ^^ I'm so happy I have a lot back hehe...Chapter five will be up soon, I have it done but I'm going to wait until later tonight (it's 2:42 Pm now). AND CURSE SPELL CHECKERS! Eh sorry, just mine hates me again and won't work. Heh..