Hey there! Uh, I don't know what to say. . .

Malik: But I know what to do *smirks seductively*

Voice: o.o And. . . what?

Malik: Thank your reviewers!

Voice: *anime fall* You're sleeping on the couch again.

To pocketfirefairy: Yesssss, you're absolutely right ^-^ *hugs Ryou*

To Fluffy: Yep. They've got the Eye, the Ring, the Rod, and the Necklace now. Too bad Yami's got the Puzzle, the Ankh, and the Scales. . . T.T

To Molly-chan: He died like a hero *nodnod* I considered letting Isis protect both her younger brothers, but I changed my mind. I need her for later chapters. And everyone knows how much she loves them, but Mariku never mentioned anything like that ^-^ How I love this depression of gone chances. . .You liked the fluff? GOOD! ^-^

To Lee-chan: *confused* Uh. . . yes. No, I've got no plans so far of killing Bakura. But. . . somehow I like the idea.

Ryou: You can't do that!!

Voice: Of course I can. . .

Ryou: Pleaaaase don't? *puppy eyes*

Voice: Argh, don't give me that look. . . *melts* Well, in the next time, no one will get killed I guess.

To snow-shadow-wolf: Glad you forgave me ^-^ There will be more kisses, I promise. Uh. . . I've got the best fic? *blushes five shades of red* Thank you. . .

Malik: *grins* Cute.

Voice: I know. ^-^

To GraveRobbers Aman: I'm. . . so sorry. . . *hugs you* He's not completely dead, he will show up in chapter twenty again!*sniffs* I had an ankh necklace too; but it got lost. T.T Thank you anyways ^-^

*puts all new flowers and green tea on Arisa's Shrine*

*~*

Bakura's POV

The kid -no, Ryou- sure was cute. He was asleep again when I flew the hover plane back to Japan. No nightmares bothered his innocent mind, no pain grazed his angelic features, and nothing disturbed his slumber. Ra damns it. Getting soft is nothing for me. It makes me weak. . . I don't like weakness.

Well, maybe I do. Ryou is weak. I like Ryou. But is he really? I mean, just look at him. How could he stay innocent and angelic and cute and all this stuff with a past like his? Kaiba told me he hadn't any living relatives. He was fifteen, for Ra's sake! Not even these times it was okay for a fifteen-year-old to live all alone. Why did he come to Kaiba Corp. for a job anyways?

I just knew someone wanted to kill him. There had to be something about this family we didn't know. Something about Ryou, sleeping deep inside his pure soul. Again, I lost myself in thoughts and typed the code into the computer. The plane would fly all alone.

Ryou was curled up on his seat, his knees at his chest, his cheek resting on his knee. Strands of silver-white hair fell into the pale face. Carefully, I brushed them away, touching his creamy skin casually. Though, his skin felt slightly strange, different than usual. I didn't know why, but I brought the fingers I had touched him with to my mouth.

How could he enjoy my kisses anyways? My lips were kind of rough. Gently, I traced my index finger over his lower lip. Beautiful. Soft. Kissable. . . I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts. I had promised myself a long time ago that I would never love again; since the day a certain blue-haired girl had broke up with me to be with Yami.

*~* Flashback *~*

"'Kura. . . I. . . I'm sorry." The blue eyes drifted away from the shocked stare of her once-boyfriend. Bakura was rooted to the point, unable to move, talk, or even look away. "K-Kristin. . . "

"I already told you I'm sorry!"

"Ano. . . but. Why?"

She looked up, startled, only to see crystal clear tears forming within pretty dark, blood-red eyes. Though he did feel the burning sensation of them within the corners of his eyes, he didn't want to cry. Bakura bit the tears back, won the cruel war against them.

"B-Because. . . "

"Tell me." He took a step forward, pinning her fragile shoulders gently on the wall behind her. "Please, tell me." The boy didn't plead very often, and he didn't plead everyone. He must've been very serious. Kristin turned her head, unable to look at him anymore.

"Because. . . I'm in love with Yami."

Bakura let go of her as if he had burned his hands. He took a step backwards, staring at her unbelieving. But the girl never had been more serious. "I'm sorry. I'm going to leave with him. Good-bye." With that, she turned and left, leaving Bakura behind. The boy felt numb inside, realization slowly creeping over him.

*~* Flashback end*~*

I smiled sadly. Yami. That bastard. I remember the night Anzu told me about her death as if it was last night.

*~* Flashback *~*

Bakura sat on the couch in one of the smaller living rooms, staring at the screen dully, a cup of ice cream melting within his hands. If his eyes hadn't been open, he could've been asleep. Another boy entered the room, quietly, almost timid. "Bakura?"

"Hn?" He didn't bother to look up.

"There's. . . something I gotta tell you."

"Fire away then.", Bakura said, eyes unfocused on the evening news. Seto said down beside him, with ice-blue eyes full of sadness and worry. "You know. . . " He stopped. In the evening news, there was just what he wanted to tell the unsociable boy.

An excited reporter, a carpet of red, drying blood, a dead body. . . glassy blue eyes within a deathly pale face under tangled blue hair. Bakura tensed. The ice cream cup fell out of his now trembling hands, splashing melted vanilla over the expensive carpet.

"You. . . you've got to be strong now.", Seto said softly.

"This can't be happening. . . "

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you earlier." The CEO avoided Bakura's piercing stare which was focused on the screen. Only careful he watched the white-haired boy out of the corner of his eye. The white hair fell into his face, shielding his eyes.

"What happened?" His voice sounded cracked.

"Yami. . . Yami killed her. With Anzu watching. I found her and the corpse earlier."

"Damn him. . . ", Bakura hissed softly, and Seto noticed the wet stream of hot tears on the other boy's cheek. "I'm gonna leave you alone now", he said gently.

*~* Flashback end*~*

Yeah. That was the last time I cried. A few years ago; I swore myself my heart would never heal. I didn't cry, I didn't laugh. I didn't even smile within these years. Only harsh words, sarcasm and light smirks could escape my lips.

I couldn't get over it for a whole year, searching new partners, and new lovers. Yami killed all of them, with this cruel smirk on his face. He injured me, mentally and physically. I would never admit it.

And then Ryou came. This boy with his innocence, his skills, his past as sad as mine. With this need for protection. I began to betray myself by watching him, protecting him. . . loving him. Did I love him? I didn't know. I knew the sensation of love, yes, but Ryou was different. It was like I wanted to rip everyone hurting him apart. I wanted to protect him from everything. I wanted to beat him just to make him stronger. I may be sadistic, but I was fond of the imagination of bruises appearing on his skin, hardening him, so nobody could break him. I wanted. . .

I wanted to never leave his side. The kid healed my heart from still bleeding wounds without producing any scars. I noticed that I could look at a photograph of Kristin again without feeling the urge to scream in agony.

Now my face was in front of his. I studied his features with wary eyes, smiling softly as he gently started nibbling on his lower lip. No, I couldn't love him. I wasn't allowed to. He could get killed as well. While I was thinking, large green eyes fluttered open and blinked cutely.

". . . 'Kura?"

I flinched slightly; so the boy had took on Anzu's habit calling me that. He just had to notice that our faces were only inches apart. He smiled.

"What is it?" "Nothing, Ryou. We're nearly at home.", I said, changing my own subject, leaned back and changed the plane's mode. Ryou sat up and yawned. So adorable. . .

"I'm sorry I slept so long.", he said. I shook my head. "It's okay." The hover plane softly landed in front of the mansion. I watched Ryou climb out excitedly; of course he had missed the others. I followed him, but no one was there. Except Isis.

The calm woman I saw as my own older sister came towards us and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face into my chest. I looked down at her confused as he began sobbing again and rubbed her back soothingly. "What is it, 'Nee-san?" She sobbed even harder when I addressed her like that. Ryou watched us, blank horror in his eyes, mixed with worry. Of course, Isis can be scary when she's angry. But she's even scarier when she's sad, because that's something that happens even rarer than anger.

"A-About Mariku. . . " I lifted her chin up and wiped her tears away much gentler than I had been in ages. "What about Mariku?"

I was shocked when I stared into her eyes which were clouded with deep sadness and glittering brightly with tears at the same time. "What about Mariku? Tell me!" Her face grimaced, and new twin streams of tears rolled down her tanned cheeks.

"Tell me, Isis!!"

Worry washed over me, fear, and uncertainty. What was it what she had to tell me about him?

"The pyramids. . . and. . . the chimaera. . . "

My body felt cold. "Chi. . . maera?"

"His last word. . . was. Run.", she sobbed, clutching my chemise and staring up at me with those pleading, sad eyes, as if she begged me to tell her Mariku couldn't be dead. It was like when Seto told me about Kristin's death. I didn't felt anything but numbness, but I knew the pain would hit me later like a rock, when I was alone and free to cry and rage. This very moment, I pulled her closer, resting my cheek on top of her silky black hair, letting her cry her heart out at my shoulder.

I closed my eyes; I couldn't stand see both Isis' and Ryou's horror. "Go inside, Ryou.", I said quietly, and heard soft footsteps as he obeyed. My body started to take over my mind, started whispering soothing phrases into my 'sister's' ear, hands roaming over her back in comforting, petting touches. All I want was her crying to stop.

Later, after I visited Malik in his room and found him staring out of the window, not noticing anything, I rested on my bed. I just laid there, not moving, and tried to stop breathing. I know I'm weird. I wanted to show my tribute to Mariku's soul by imagining how he died. . . I knew it was painful. Not only physically; but mentally even more. I had tried to tell Isis earlier that day, while she was still crying in my arms, that it wasn't her fault, that he sacrificed himself for both his siblings because he loved them too much to let them get hurt. . . I don't know if she believed me. She reproached herself over and over again, until I led her to her room and told her to get some rest.

A knock on my door. I grunted softly and the door crept open the tiniest bit to let a soft green eye peek inside. I didn't bother turning my head.

"What do you want?" "I. . . ", he trailed off timidly. I would've smiled if my stony mask would've allowed it. "Close the door. Decide yourself if you wanna come in or stay out." Slowly he came inside and closed the door silently.

"Come here." Again, he obeyed. "You. . . you two were really close. Weren't you?", he whispered. I glared at him.

"Yeah, we were."

"I'm sorry. . . " Hold on a sec, were there tears in his eyes? I sat up and my eyes softened as I noticed silent tears glittering on his cheeks. With a fluid motion I pulled him down and made him sit on my lap. "What are you crying about?" He blushed adorably. I just had to wrap my arms around the delicate body. "Ano. . . you're sad, aren't you?" I smiled barely visible. "Yes, I am."

"Why aren't you crying? Isis was earlier, and Anzu was, too, when I left the living room.", he said quietly. "Anzu-chan was crying?" He nodded. I closed my eyes for a while. Damn. I did know they had had a little crush on each other. I felt the tears coming to my eyes; a strange sensation when you didn't cry in ages. Ryou's fingers roamed over my cheek gently.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw something wet on them. Lifting my hand up to my face I noticed the wetness there, too; I was crying. Silently. Unnoticed by myself. The tears were just there, there weren't any sobs, or sniffs, no, just silent tears streaming down my face.

"Yes. I am sad.", I whispered. Pulling Ryou into a tighter embrace, I rested my forehead on his shoulder, crying silently into his sweater, half loathing, half enjoying the sensation of his hands gently, soothingly stroking my hair.

*~*

Uhh. . . I feel bad again.

Bakura: Excuse me. . . did you just made me CRY??

Mariku: Hey, it's okay to cry over my death!!

Bakura: Oh you think so??

Both walk off bickering.

Ryou: Poor Kura-chan. . . Well, actually I feel sorry for them all.

Voice: Me too T.T *gets hugged by Ryou and Malik* Thank you, guys *sniffs*