Chapter Four:

Guilty Memories

Ishizu was seconds away from counting her brother as dead when his lilac eyes suddenly fluttered open. "Malik!" The slight Egyptian hugged her younger sibling tightly.

"I-Ishizu? What are you doing here?" Malik asked, his voice raspy.

The older Ishtar ignored the question and instead asked her own. "What happened?" She had limited knowledge of Marik's existence and had a creeping suspicion that he was the reason for Malik's blackout.

"I..." Malik couldn't think of a viable excuse, mainly because his thoughts were obscured by an almost drunken haze. He reached a hand over to his wounded shoulder, only mutely surprised when he found his fingers coated in blood.

"It was Marik, wasn't it?" Ishizu murmured.

Malik nodded, hating to worry his sister as much as he always did. "He's been nothing short of hospitable lately." His glazed lilac eyes closed against the beat of the rain.

Ishizu sighed and carefully helped her younger brother to his feet. "Can you walk okay or do I have to carry you?" she joked half-heartedly.

"I think I'll walk," Malik muttered, trying to stand up on his own. He swayed uncertainly but sheer determination kept him upright. Hmm... My stomach's bleeding too, the blond noted, feeling the rapidly cooling liquid running down his skin.

Ishizu spotted the black bag sitting on the ground and picked it up, guessing it was Malik's meager traveling possessions. "Do you have a place to stay?" she asked, wrapping an arm around her brother's slim waist in case his resolve caved in as they started down the streets.

"Yeah. I was just laying there," the seventeen-year-old replied dimly.

"I thought as much. You're coming home with me then."

Malik looked at his drenched sister sidelong, a golden eyebrow arching skeptically. "You're making me sound like a lost puppy dog."

Ishizu chuckled. "Be quiet. Rishid will be happy to have a puppy running around the house."

Malik brightened. He had never been as close to Ishizu as he was to Rishid and sorely missed his step-brother's company since their parting. To know he would be soon reunited with the quiet Egyptian was heartening.

"So... What exactly has Marik been doing?"

I should have seen that one coming. "What do you think?" Malik snapped without meaning to. He despised Marik as much as his tattoo and would come down hard on any one who brought up the subject.

Fortunately, the seventeen-year-old's tone didn't deter Ishizu. "Judging by your shoulder, he's been practicing his knife throwing skills."

Malik rolled his eyes, making a face when the older Egyptian sneezed, quite violently, again. "Why are you walking in the rain any way?"

"Why were you planning on sleeping in it?"

"I have no where else to sleep."

"My car broke down."

Malik stuck his tongue out in an insanely cute, yet disturbingly immature gesture. "My bike never breaks down. I told you to get one too. But did you listen?"

Ishizu's expression was highly skeptical. "Then why were you walking?"

"I didn't... want it to get wet!" Malik replied quickly.

"It broke down, didn't it?"

Malik nodded, a scowl crossing his features when he noticed Ishizu smirking. "It's not funny! I've had that bike for four years! It's my baby!"

The elder Ishtar shook her head. No matter what happened, Malik would always be the overactive little boy that kept her up until all hours of the night for no reason whatsoever.

"It is!" Malik insisted.

"You don't have to convince me, little brother. You made that fact quite apparent the day you bought it." Ishizu sneezed again.

"I worked hard to get my baby!"

Now that statement peaked Ishizu's skepticism. "Please, don't tell me you honestly believe that? The money you have is from stolen items you sold! Not only that, but you didn't even steal them!" she chided.

Malik's jaw dropped. "You try running a bunch of imbecile baboons and tell me it's not hard work! Rishid was the only competent one in the whole lot and he wouldn't steal!" The insulted teenager huffed. "Besides, the fact that I didn't steal only means that I'm innocent."

"Then it wasn't you that stole Ra from me?" Ishizu shot back, enjoying the completely mindless bickering. For her, it meant that Malik still possessed some sort of a childish nature.

"But Santa wouldn't give it to me! I had to get it!"

"...Where did you hear that bit of lunacy?"

"A nice kid named...Ryou." Malik's tone suddenly fell from jovial to depressed.

Ishizu heard the fall in her brother's voice, but didn't understand it. She didn't want to press the issue, but she wanted to know what had disturbed Malik. "Who is he?"

"He was a duelist at Battle City," the blond replied at length. His eyes were now glued fastly to the ground, his head bowed.

"You're acting..." It suddenly struck Ishizu. Malik is talking about the boy who held the Millennium Ring. "Didn't you two hold an alliance?"

"Ryou? Nah. His Item held the Spirit of a thief and my alliance was with him." Malik spoke haltingly, his flaxen hair serving to shield his eyes from his sister.

Ishizu decided then to drop the issue, sensing that something about the gentle Brit's death had struck a deep chord within the youngest Ishtar.

"He was actually a really sweet guy. Kind of quiet, but nice all the same," Malik suddenly stated after a few minutes of tense silent. "I don't think he could hold a grudge against anyone."

Ishizu only nodded, getting the impression Malik needed to talk.

"When me and his yami, we called him Bakura to prevent any confusion between the two, first met and formed our alliance, he cut his arm as proof of his sincerity. I didn't see a need for it and I thought for sure that Ryou would be pissed beyond belief. He acted like it didn't even happen."

"Some people are selfless, above holding something as trivial as grudges," Ishizu stated wisely.

"That was definitely Ryou. He strove to help Bakura and me short of actually stealing something. When they faced the Pharaoh in the finals, I forced Ryou take the hit from Slifer. I had to see if they had a bond as strong as I thought."

Ishizu sneezed a few times, starting to see why her brother felt so guilty. "You wanted to make sure that the Spirit of the Ring didn't hate Ryou like your yami hates you."

Malik nodded sadly. "They did have a strong bond. I could have sworn they were like brothers, that's how close they were." He scratched the back of his neck, playing with the hidden string holding the Millennium Ring in place. "It seems cold to have put Ryou in danger like I did, but I felt it was worth it to know that he was well protected by the Ring guardian. They protected each other 'til the end."

Ishizu hugged Malik tightly. "Don't worry about it, brother." She gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't blame yourself for their death. It's not as if it was your fault."

"Yeah." Malik bit his lip till it bled, trying to focus on the small sting and not his emotions. "I could never do that."

* * * * *

It was comfortably quiet in the Pharaoh's soul room, as usual. Typically, Yami would enjoy this time to explore the different twists and rooms in the labyrinth of his mind. But, with the Spirit of the Ring, self pronounced King of Thieves, lurking around somewhere, the former monarch was nervous.

But, to his slight content, Bakura's oh-so quiet hikari was sitting in a corner counting the bricks that made up an opposing wall.

"Ryou, do you know where the tomb robber is?" Yami suddenly asked, sensing a trap had been set off somewhere in the deeper parts of his mind.

The Brit was quiet as he counted the last of the bricks on the wall. "I think he was going back to the hallway where all the Duel Monsters carvings are." A faint smile graced his striking features. "He said something about summoning a Blue-Eyes to play with."

Yami looked at his guest flatly. "Are you joking?"

A grin broke out on Ryou's face. "No, I'm not. He said he wanted "someone other then the idiot Pharaoh to talk to"."

"I am not an idiot! And that thief knows he can't talk to Duel Monsters..." Yami felt another trap go off, sensing that it was in the hallway of carvings. A second later, an ear-shattering roar pierced the air.

Ryou chuckled as Yami ran off, getting up to follow after the frantic monarch in case the notorious antagonists decided to try and start World War Three.

A cackle echoed through the soul room and soon enough, Bakura made himself known, perched atop a partially solid Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Hey Pharaoh, meet Fluffy!"

"Send that thing back to the Shadow Realm before you kill me, Ryou, and Yugi!" Yami growled in response. "And yourself to boot!" he added.

Bakura petted "Fluffy's" head soothingly. "Don't insult my puppy!" he replied. "Hey hikari, like my dragon?"

Ryou sighed, covering his face with a hand. "Why don't you get rid of Fluffy before you kill something?" he suggested.

"But why? Fluffy can protect me from the psycho Pharaoh!"

Note to self: Keep Bakura away from Harry Potter. Ryou peeked between slender ivory fingers. "I don't think you have to worry about Yami no Yugi."

Bakura tapped the Blue-Eyes head and it stooped to ground level to let the thief off its head. "Then Fluffy can protect me from that Rod wielding mental case with bad hair!"

Yami was half tempted to remark that Bakura himself looked like he had an albino bat nesting in his head, but wisely decided to shut up and let Ryou deal with the unhinged thief.

"Yami, I don't think he's much of a problem anymore. Malik has the Ring and thinks we're dead," Ryou rationalized.

"And that's why me, you, and Fluffy are going to track him down!" Bakura insisted.

Ryou rolled his eyes, dropping his hand from his face. "Stop being so bloody foolish, yami, and get rid of Fluffy. You two can play later."

Yami looked between light and dark, trying not to laugh at the childish look on Bakura's face as he made the Blue-Eyes White Dragon disappear from the area. "Thank you, tomb robber."

"Oh, cork it."

Ryou sighed, trying to be patient. He had learned in the years he had known Bakura that the ancient dealt with any sort of emotions either violently or childishly. Usually, his reaction was a mixture of both and God help the poor soul that got in his way

"Okay, I just don't want to stand here and have a staring contest with the Pharaoh. Ryou, you're the brainchild. Think of a way to get the Ring back," Bakura suddenly piped up.

"I have been and I can't think of a way that won't wind us up impaled on the wrong end of the Millennium Rod," Ryou replied, frustration evident in his accented voice.

Bakura ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at the ends angrily. "This is hopeless! I say we ditch all logical plans, track the little scarab down, and do to him what he did to us!"

"Well, you certainly ruled out the logical aspect of your plans," Yami muttered sarcastically.

"You want me to arrange a more personal meeting with Fluffy for you?" Bakura growled, crossing his arms. "I didn't think so." The tomb robber focused on his light again. "What do you think?"

"I think we should try a little more tactical approach," Ryou replied slowly.

"That is tactical! It worked for me in Egypt!"

"And look where you are now."

"Shut up, hikari."

Ryou's lips quirked up in a smirk. "I agree with you about tracking Malik down though. If we can find him, I believe that getting the Ring back is simple."

"I don't know. I don't think it's going to be that easy," Bakura replied.

"Dear Ra, the thief can think!" Yami exclaimed.

"That's it!" Bakura growled. Soon after the open-ended threat, "Fluffy" appeared next to the unstable Egyptian again. He climbed onto the dragon's head with a sadistic grin. "Fluffy, rip that overgrown fern off his head!"

"Yami!" Ryou squeaked. "Stop it!" The Brit cast about for something to knock sense into his dark side, finding nothing but a loose brick in the floor. Deciding it was better then having Fluffy eat Yami, the sixteen-year-old picked it up and ran after said Pharaoh.

* * * *

Yugi sighed as he closed the door to the Turtle Game Shop, just having seen Tristan, Joey, and TPa off. The small teenager rubbed his temples, feeling a headache creeping up on him. /Yami, the others are gone./

//Not now, aibou! I'm being chased by Bakura and Fluffy!//

Yugi's eyes widened, if at all possible. /Who's Fluffy?/ The Japanese youth wasn't about to think that he had another unexpected guest.

//Bakura's not-so pleased Blue-Eyes!// Yami replied, suddenly materializing next to his more than annoyed light. He tried to remain composed, his pharaonic ego flaring up.

"Bakura's Blue-Eyes? Is that even possible?" Yugi asked, trying to piece the mini puzzle together.

"Hiya foliage midget!"

Yugi yelped and almost jumped into Yami's arms. "Tomb robber! What are you doing?!" The sixteen-year-old looked over at said Egyptian and his eyes narrowed when they fell on the shrunken Blue-Eyes sitting in the middle of his living room. "Where did you get that?"

"The tablet in our soul room," Bakura replied.

"'Our soul room'? No, thief. It's mine and Yugi's soul room," Yami corrected sternly. "Remember- GAH!" The Puzzle Spirit toppled back onto the couch as Fluffy hit him with a wing.

Ryou sighed, having appeared in the room unseen. Figuring this would be as good a time as any, the Brit chucked the brick at Bakura. "Cut it out, yami."

"My head!" the tomb robber whined. "That hurt!"

"It was supposed to. Now put Fluffy back where he came from and I don't let me see him running around any plane of existence again!" Ryou ordered. He ducked the clawed wing that came at his head. "Now Bakura."

"You're not my mother, hikari. You can't tell me what to do with my Fluffy!" Bakura growled in response. He picked the brick up and chucked it at his other half.

Ryou caught the projectile easily and stuffed it in his pocket. "Am I going to have to duel you to get rid of that stupid chibi-dragon?"

Bakura grinned maniacally and sat down. "I win, Fluffy stays! You win, Fluffy goes back to the Shadow Realm. That sound fair to you?"

Ryou nodded and reached into his pocket, his expression slowly falling when he only pulled out the brick. "Where's our deck?"

Bakura made a face. "I grabbed it before we left the Ring," he replied. "Or, I think I did."

"You think?! Great Scott, how stupid can one person get! Yami, how could you forget that deck?! It's my only deck! Now that thieving mental case has it!" Ryou sat down heavily, his phantasmal frame practically shuttering with bound up rage.

"Calm down, hikari. I'm sure that it's behind the Lady of Faith carving. We did have some junk laying around there," Bakura replied.

"What type of junk?" Yugi replied suspiciously, catching the all-too-familiar smirk on the thief's face.

"Just our deck and some things that I had been storing since I moved into the Puzzle." Bakura sent the Japanese teenager a narrow-eyed grin. "Got a problem with that, midget?"

"Stop calling me a midget!" Yugi trilled.

"But you are."

"Bakura, go check your little cache of junk and see if our deck is amidst the crap," Ryou suddenly growled.

"I think the Pharaoh's already gone to do that," Bakura replied, sitting down on the arm of the chair his hikari was occupying. "Calm down, kid. I'm pretty sure I got the cards before we left."

"You make it sound like you're on an extended vacation," Yugi pointed out dryly. "I hate to say it, but there's little chance of you getting back to the way you were."

"If we can retrieve our body and the Ring we can," Bakura contradicted.

Yugi sighed. "Like I said, you aren't getting back to the way you were."

Fluffy growled and tried to take a swing at the height deprived teenager, missing sorely and instead knocking Bakura off his perch.

"You stupid dragon!" Bakura waved a hand and the Blue-Eyes disappeared. "Ugh! I think I broke my ass," he complained bitterly, getting back up.

At that moment, Yami reappeared in the room, looking flustered and incredibly pissed off. "Tomb robber, can you explain to me what this is?" The Pharaoh held his hand out, opening it to reveal the precious globe known as the Millennium Eye.

Evaru: I'm sorry, but Marik's gotta kinda stick around for the plot to work. But, I guess you can maim him in between chapters. [hands over a hog-tied Marik] Have fun.

Sailor Comet: 'Tis fun to have strange tomb robber dreaming of sugary sweet cream puffs. [grin] And the arguments that take place are going to wind Foliage Midget the Lesser in an institution in no time.

Reen: …What is this "alone time" that you speak of? [sigh] Aaaanyway, ain't Ryou a manipulative little shit? [grin] Living proof that people can be strikingly gorgeous and evil at the same time!

r*a*d*i*a*n*y*: [blushes furiously] Um, wow. Thank you! It's nice to know that I'm not screwing everything up for once! ^)^U Ki-chan… hmmm… I like the sound of that! [wide grin] Arigatou domo!

Animegirl: You don't how much it warms my heart to know that I've brought Marik's asshole behavior into a new light! [kicks Marik] An' don't worry. Things will look up for Maly-chan much later on!

I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates recently. I meant to post this chapter yesterday, but I got, like, super tied up. [sweatdrop] Sorry. But, to the real point of this note!

-I'm planning to write a lemon into one of the later chapters but I want to know what you guys think of the idea. So, lemme know!-

Rock hard, rock long, rock out!

-Kiirar

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Chapter Five trailer:

Rishid shrugged. "Murder is a heavy weight on a person's heart, no matter how callous they say they are. I do not believe that young Bakura was slain by your hand, but it still haunts you." The eldest Ishtar leaned forward. "Especially because that child meant something to you."

Malik gasped, his wide lilac eyes searching Rishid's demandingly. "You're speaking of lunacy, brother. Why would I murder someone I cared for, acting as if Ryou meant anything to me to begin with?"

"I just know you, Malik. You can deny it until you die, but it shows in your eyes."

"I don't have to deny anything because there's no emotions attached to Ryou," Malik sneered shakily. Dear Ra... Am I that transparent?

Rishid raised an eyebrow. "If that's what you want to believe, little brother, I won't make you admit it." The older Egyptian leveled his sibling with a meaningful stare.

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