Chapter Three

Tanith awoke the next day with the world's worse hangover. Grimy covers were thrown back from the gym mat that served as a bed and sunshine rained down upon her. She groaned and pushed her hair out of her eyes and squinted up at the salvaged digital clock that sat on her salvaged nightstand.

1:30 PM. Tanith groaned again just as the Ring began to glow and Bakura appeared cheerfully with a beer bottle in his hands.

"Good afternoon Tanith!" he exclaimed and took a chug of beer. Tanith rolled her tongue around her sour tasting mouth.

"You got drunk and now I'm the one with the hangover." She muttered. Bakura leaned down and smiled cheekily then gave her a kiss on the head.

"Oh my." He said with a faked British accent. "The spirit had too many spirits and now I'm suffering."

Tanith squinted up at him, "Who are you imitating now? Prince Charles? The Croc Hunter?"

Bakura laughed and twirled in a circle, lost his balance and crashed to the floor, "Oh my."

Tanith laughed and hissed in pain, "You're drunk."

Bakura jumped up and began dancing around the boxcar, "No, it's a bird. It's a plane. It's my impersonation of Ryou on a bender!"

"Ryou's British?"

The drunk yami nodded vigorously, "Hehehe, I'm Egyptian, he's British and you're… by the way what are you?"

"I'm a girl."

Bakura giggled…something Tanith had never heard before from him, "A girl! Haha!"

She threw the covers back over herself, "Wake me when you're not Fred Astaire."

"Fred Astaire! Oh my."

Tanith felt like she had only rested a few more minutes when she was viciously shook awake.

Wake up Sleeping Beauty, your prince awaits! Tanith threw back the covers and found Bakura glaring down at her.

"About time." He muttered.

"Do you want to wake up and find yourself in a dress." She inquired sweetly as she checked her clock. 6:30 PM.

Bakura went white for a second and growled, "You wouldn't dare."

She sat up and just smiled. He was silent.

"Ya know maybe I ought to wear a dress." Tanith said as she got to her feet. "Everyone said I looked good in a dress when I was younger. Maybe Malik will be so dazzled by me he'll leave us alone."

Bakura snorted, "Please. He's already dazzled enough, I can't take anymore dazzle."

She stuck out her tongue at him as she slipped on her boots.

"Nah, at least I wasn't the one who was dancing around the place giggling, and talking in a fake British accent." Tanith told him then paused, "Though you did sound kinda sexy."

Bakura chuckled, "Sexy hmm? Does Tanith have another crush?"

"Does Bakura wanna wake up wearing pink lace?" she shot back sweetly then busted up laughing at the disgusted face the yami made. She stood up and patted him on the head.

"No worries. I haven't gotten a hold of a dress since I was a child."

"What were you like as a child?" Bakura inquired as Tanith finger combed her hair and put it up in a ponytail. "I mean you didn't always live in the city dump in a buried train car."

The black streaks of her hair slid down in her somber face as she sat down in front of her worktable. She took out a jumble of wires from the mess on the table, put it back down and began tinkering with a set of cables attached to a metal cube. Sparks shot out every time she but the wires together and Tanith would smile faintly when it would.

"I was like most children, happy and innocent." She finally answered putting the cube and wires back from where she got them and picked up another piece of junk she could tinker with. "Had a mom and a dad, I think an older sibling. Normal kiddie stuff."

"What happened?" the yami inquired quietly.

"They died." She replied and turned to face him, "You see when I told you my name was Tanith Lee, I only gave you my first and middle name. My real name is Tanith Lee Rivencroft."

Bakura merely cocked his head inquisitively, "And that's supposed to mean…?"

Tanith laughed, "Don't tell me you haven't heard of the Maxville fire."

He shook his head and Tanith sighed.

"About six years ago there was a small town called Maxville. One day some stupid teenagers thought it would be real cute to start a fire in the school so they could get out of a test. That small fire ended up spreading throughout the entire town and burning it to the ground. The only survivor was a little girl who didn't have a mark on her. Where she stood was some of the prettiest Indian paintbrushes surrounded by a field of black. I was ten years old when I saved myself and those flowers with my telekinesis."

"So how did you end up in Domino, at the park where Ryou and I appeared from the Shadow Realm?"

"Grandparents lived here. After they died, I was on my own."

"You saw your entire village die… Like I did." Bakura murmured.

"You saw everyone around you die too?" Tanith asked incredulous. "Wow talk about coincident. What are the odds of two survivors of town slaughters meeting."

"Slim." Bakura replied with a thoughtful frown. "It appears Fate had a hand in our meeting."

She tossed the toy over her shoulder onto the worktable and smirked, "Whoever said Fate doesn't have a sense of humor…"

Bakura smirked as well, "So I'm not the only one who finds this situation we're in amusing."

"Oh you know I enjoy being a She-male."

There was a brief pause before they started laughing. For a moment they could believe they were normal teenagers laughing over some trivial funny the other had said. Tanith could be laughing with her best friend. Bakura could be laughing with Ryou, the only person he actually cared a little for.

But they weren't.

"So!" Tanith said as they both calmed down. "What to do now."

"Try to take over the world?" Bakura suggested lightly. Tanith giggled and hummed a little bit of the theme song.

"Not right now Pinky!" she scolded with a grin. "First we must plot Malik's demise and safely insure Ryou's safety."

"Don't we sound heroic now."

She waved at him, "Whatever. Ya think it's safe to assume when we get to the hospital, Malik is going to be there…alone."

"I think it'd be safe to assume he's got a dinner party for two set up in Ryou's room."

Tanith rolled her eyes, "Not interested. So what if I just knock him out a window with my power, situation solved, right?"

"Malik is paying the hospital bills on Ryou. His little servant Rashid or something like it, might be angry enough to toss Ryou out a window as well." Bakura replied, "And if not his faithful servant then there's the Rare Hunters that might."

Tanith winced, "Rats! I was looking forward to killing the weirdo."

Bakura chuckled, "You are like a shadow of myself and Ryou."

Tanith cocked her head and was silent as he continued

He nodded and crossed his arms in front of him, "You have both traits of a hikari and yami, a hitokage. A shadow, maybe our shadow…"

"Like that guy who follows Malik around."

Bakura smirked, "In a way."

"Cool. So now that I got a spiffy nickname, what are we going to do?"

"We are going to the hospital and you are going to win the chess game against Malik."

Tanith grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

Now I really would love reviews. Reviews keeps me from taking this story and trashing it.