Calai'di-

Yoshiko-

I guess this is the third time I've thanked you for showing me around. Meet me after school by the front gate and I'll explain about the last two cards in your reading. See ya then, and be prepared for anything,

-Ryou

* * * * *

Once the Art class was dismissed, Ryou quickly got his homework materials and ran out to wait be the front gate of the school. After a short time, Yoshiko showed up and he led her to a café. There, they found a somewhat secluded table, ordered some drinks, and relaxed until Ryou began to explain about the last two cards.

"So, what did those last two cards mean, Ryou. Why did you look so scared when you saw them?"

"First I have to show you something," he answered. He put his hands up to his chest like he was going to summon something. Then he began to hum softly and a golden pendent emerged through his shirt. It was a large ring with a triangle in the middle, and the triangle had a large Egyptian-like eye on it. Five spikes hung off the circle, two from each side and one from the bottom. It hung from his neck on a brown cord, which allowed it to move freely so that the spikes jingled when he moved and even when he didn't move.

"This is the Millennium Ring, one of the Millennium Items. And before you ask, no you can't have it. Anyway, the spirit of a three thousand-year-old Egyptian tomb robber resides in it and he's also looking for the Millennium Items. I think he's the spirit your last card was talking about; he's going to affect your future, but hopefully it doesn't mean he'll force me to give you the Ring so that he'll possess you instead of me, like the Possessed Dark Soul suggests. He doesn't like me very much since I don't care about finding the Millennium Items, but I'm sure he'd like you a lot."

"Well, you're right about that at least," said a voice from beside Yoshiko. Ryou looked up in surprise at the transparent form of his yami, sitting smugly to the right of his friend. He could tell Yoshiko was twice as startled as he was, but that was to be expected; most people aren't used to spirits showing up out of no where right beside them, but he hadn't been part of that 'most people' group for a while. But then he also noticed that, once she'd calmed down, Yoshiko was admiring Bakura extensively, or more accurately, they were admiring each other. Bakura seemed to like Yoshiko quite a bit. Oh gods, why did those two have to get together? Well, might as well make the best of it.

"Yoshiko, this is Bakura, the spirit I told you about. Bakura, this is-"

"The girl who wants the Millennium Items; I know," Bakura finished for him. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her for the whole time he'd been sitting there, and Ryou was worried. His yami had never acted like this before.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bakura," she said holding out her hand. The boy took it briefly saying, "The pleasure is mine."

They sat there staring at each other for a few moments until Yoshiko broke the silence.

"So, you're looking for the Millennium Items, too?"

"No, not 'looking', I already know where all but two of them are. My problem is winning them. I've lost to Yugi twice and Marik once, but I did beat Pegasus. I got the Millennium Eye from him." Bakura ordered Ryou to give him the Eye, and then he allowed Yoshiko to hold it. Ryou was becoming more and more shocked every second. Bakura had never talked about his losses like this before, and even Yami hadn't known they had the Eye. And then, Ryou wasn't supposed to touch the Eye, and now his yami was letting this girl in on all of their secrets. How could this possibly get any worse?

"Wow, two Millennium Items? How does this one work?"

That's how it could get worse.

"The Eye can put people's souls into inanimate objects, like the Ring, and it can read minds."

"What about the Ring; what does that do?"

"The Ring can locate other Items, that's its main power. Here, I'll show you. Go hide this." He handed her the Eye and she ran off to obey.

//Hikari, I'll have to possess your body for this demonstration.//

/One demonstration, right…right?/

//Actually, I was thinking of three…//

/Three?/

//Or more.//

/You're not trapping me in a card again./

//All right, I won't do that one.//

/Why are you so keen on showing her this stuff?/

Bakura didn't answer and instead, promptly possessed Ryou's body. The next thing he knew, Ryou was looking down through his arm to the table and shuttered. He should be used to this by now, but being a spirit was still creepy.

Yoshiko looked shocked when she came back. Obviously, she was confused about Ryou being transparent and Bakura having the body, but the hikari could tell she liked his yami even more this way. No, this could not end well.

"So, now what?" she asked.

"Shhh," Bakura answered. He held the Ring out parallel to the floor and whispered a few words. Instantly, it began to glow and the two left side spikes pointed straight out to the left. As he turned, all of the spikes raised and pointed directly ahead. He walked slowly in the direction the Ring was showing, and as he got to the door out of the café, the Ring pointed left again. The Item led him on like this until they were in an alley and Bakura found the Eye behind a pile of boxes.

"That was so cool!" Yoshiko exclaimed. "What else can it do?"

"I can also summon real monsters from Duel Monster cards," answered Bakura. "Would you like to see?"

"Sure!"

"All right, but my deck was meant to scare people, not to do demonstrations."

"In that case, here." Yoshiko pulled a deck of cards out of her pocket and handed them to Bakura. He looked through them briefly; Ryou could sense the excitement in his other's mind, but it was combined with annoyance and, somehow, gratitude. Bakura gave them back to Yoshiko saying, "I'm sorry, but I can't use these."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's a thing Yugi calls 'the Heart of the Cards,' but it's more like only being able to use cards familiar to you. Don't worry, I won't pick a really sinister card to demonstrate with."

"Okay then," Yoshiko said apprehensively, "go ahead."

Bakura pulled out his own deck, selected a card from it, and threw it out in front of him.

"I summon Sangan to this plane!" he declared. "Come forth my creature!"

The Ring glowed again and a beach-ball sized, nut-brown, fluffy creature with three yellow, cat-like eyes materialized in the air where the card had last been. It had four green limbs with silver claws and jagged teeth in a large mouth.

"Cute!" Yoshiko exclaimed. "Can I pet it?"

"Only if you want your arms pulled out and your heart devoured," Bakura answered. Ryou was starting to get anxious. It wasn't the Sangan; he'd seen Bakura summon more sinister, adverse monsters than he could count. What he was worried about was Yoshiko. He was sure anyone who thought Sangan was 'cute' would be thought of as a worthy accomplice by Bakura. Those two did not need to be allies; they shouldn't have even met. Ryou could feel his world collapsing into oblivion.

"Sangan, return!" The fluff-ball disappeared and a card flew back into Bakura's hand.

"So, anything else?"

"Yes, yami, is there anything else you would like to show our friend?" Ryou said bitterly. Bakura turned and glared at him with just as much bitterness in his eyes.

"You stay out of this. Even you don't know everything this Item does."

"Then why don't you enlighten us?"

"Yes, Bakura, why don't you enlighten us," came a laughing voice from the shadows. Ryou recognized that voice; that was the voice of-

"Yami?"

The owner of that deep, chuckling voice stepped out of the shadows, and it was all Ryou could do to keep from running over and hugging his old friend. The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, Yami, was standing there laughing softly at Bakura, and Yugi Motou, Yami's hikari, was standing, still half in the shadows, behind him. Yoshiko looked surprised to see these two newcomers, but Bakura was beside himself, literally and figuratively.

"What are you doing here, Pharaoh?" Bakura hissed warningly.

"I was wondering where you disappeared to, tomb robber." answered Yami. "Guess you two had to move again. Was it because of all the soulless bodies in Domino? Or was it because you'd done so much damage already that you needed a fresh city to reek havoc on?"

"How about neither? We had to move because my stupid hikari couldn't keep his mouth shut about my plans. We're lucky we didn't end up in one of those mental health correction facilities, or whatever the hell they're called."

This last remark seemed to amuse Yami even more because he went into a fit of silent laughter. Ryou blushed in the darkness of the alley. It was because of him that they'd moved here, but he'd been disturbed about every thing Bakura had been doing. The yami had stabbed his own arm just to help with Marik's plan so he could get the Millennium Items; Ryou hadn't been sure what the dark would do next. Ryou'd been close to submitting himself to a mental hospital just to make sure Bakura didn't hurt anyone else. But in the end, Bakura had convinced him not to do that; however Ryou persuaded his father that they had to move to some other city for both of their protection.

"Hey, Yami, why did we come here?" asked Yugi.

"Exactly the reason I said, Yugi. I was wondering where Bakura went to, so I followed him here. I didn't want him to leave Domino, and now he's over stepped his boundaries. I know it probably wasn't his fault, but I don't know what to do with him. I want him where I can keep an eye on him."

Ryou had seen this happen before, but it surprised him every time. Yami was laughing and joking one minute, serious and arrogant the next.

"And why would you want to keep an I eye on me? To keep me from building my own kingdom perhaps? I already have one follower," Bakura said, wrapping his arm around Yoshiko. Every single other person present gasped in shock; that was a very affectionate move coming from Bakura. "So, Pharaoh, you can have Domino, I get Clearwood, agreed?"

"Heh, afraid not, Thief King, since I'm withdrawing your status as a 'king'; therefor you can't have a kingdom."

"You can't do that!"

"Oh I can and I will. I'd like you to return Ryou's body to him so he can explain to his father that you two have to move back to Domino. If he encounters any problems his father can talk to me and I'll explain it in his terms. Understand?"

"Of course I understand, Pharaoh, I understand perfectly. That doesn't mean I have to obey. Ryou, we're leaving! Let Pharaoh-boy and his loyal servant to their dreams; I don't have to adhere to their rules!" Bakura released Yoshiko and began to walk out of the alley. Ryou was about to follow him, if Bakura's temper got any worse, he'd probably spend all night robbing people's houses, but one look at Yami and he froze in his tracks.

"Bakura! Stop right there!" The Millennium Item symbol had appeared on Yami's forehead, golden and luminous, and his hair had started to act like a fire. Noticing the tension between them, Ryou hurried Yoshiko back against a wall, leaving the path between the two yamis clear.

"What's going on," she whispered to Ryou.

"Shhh, keep clear and watch. I don't want you to get hurt," he answered. He stared fearfully at his yami. It was a good thing Ryou did not carry a superb pocketknife, because at times like this, Bakura would make use of it.

Bakura turned around slowly, chuckling quietly, raising the volume until his quiet snickering became maniac laughter.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked through his psychopathic laughter. "You don't even know how to use your Millennium Puzzle, and you're challenging me?"

"That's right. I'm challenging you…do you accept, or are you to much of a coward?"

"You will rue those words, Pharaoh. I accept your challenge, but we'll do it my way…real monsters, real magic. Deal?"

"You're on, Bakura."