A/N: Sorry it took me so long to finish this third chapter! I was having a
really hard time getting my ideas organized into a coherent story, but I
finally did it! Thank you so much for all the nice reviews! I appreciate
it! Oh, by the way, in this fic Ryou=Ryou Bakura, Bakura=Yami Bakura,
Malik=Marik Ishtar, Marik=Yami Marik, Yugi=Yugi Moto, and Yami=Yami Yugi.
Also, /blah/=italics. Flames will be used to burn many random things!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other brand name products I might happen to mention in here, so don't sue me, please. Not that you'd get much money from suing me anyway.
Ryou Bakura was awakened by a loud, persistent knocking. "I'm coming," he called sleepily. He spotted an emerald ring on his nightstand and picked it up, puzzled. He shrugged and replaced it.
Quickly pulling on a decent shirt, he hurried downstairs and opened the door. There were three police officers, two men and a woman, standing there.
Ryou gaped at them, momentarily speechless. One of the officers said, "Are you Ryou Bakura?"
"Um---yes," he replied. "I am, but---"
"Then we'd like you to answer some questions," the officer told him.
"Uh, what?" Ryou asked. His mind was drawing a blank. He couldn't remember having violated the law in any way.
"You just have to answer a couple of questions," the officer repeated.
Ryou drew in a deep breath, then said, "All right, but could you, um, tell me why you're here?"
"There was a robbery at a jewelry store last night," the officer-whose badge read Sgt. Peter Sagara-informed him.
Robbery. Finally, something clicked in the boy's brain. "Oh, no," he groaned. "Not again."
"You know something about this?" the woman asked him.
"Ah, well-" Ryou hedged. "Maybe---I'm not sure---"
"Just answer the question, son," Officer Sagara said. "Do you know who did this?"
"Wait! Don't you have to read me my rights?" Ryou asked in a flash of inspiration.
The officer sighed. "That's only if we're arresting you, which we're not. We just have a picture on the store's security tape. You're not a suspect at present; the guy on the tape was a good three inches taller than you."
"I'll have to call in to school," Ryou said. "Is that all right?"
"As long as we're present," the officer told him. "Yes, that's fine."
**Five minutes later**
The school secretary, of course, knew who it had to have been on the security camera. "Oh, Ryou," she exclaimed when she heard. "I knew you'd get into trouble hanging around with that cousin of yours! He's been in the office nearly every school day, insulting the principal, the counselors-"
"Um, yes, Ms. Hidako," Ryou said, hurriedly cutting her off. "So you'll tell my teachers that I'm not coming?"
"I never thought you, of all people, would get in police trouble!" lamented Ms. Hidako. "Always so quiet and polite! Such a good student, unlike that other-"
"Good-bye, Ms. Hidako," Ryou interrupted, hanging up the phone. Unfortunately, Officer Sagara had heard enough. "Mr. Bakura, don't feel that you have to protect anyone, even if he's your cousin. Please, tell us all you know."
Ryou closed his eyes for a minute, then began telling all he knew.
**Much earlier that morning**
Malik, former Tomb Keeper, was woken by a harsh knock. He muttered an Egyptian curse under his breath, and went to answer the door. He swore again when he looked out the window to see who it was. It took him about five minutes to undo all the chains that held the front door shut, during which time the knocking continued.
"What do you want?" he demanded. "This isn't an all night restaurant, you know, so if that's what it is-"
"No," Bakura said shortly. "I need a place to stay for a day or so."
"Ha," Malik said, rolling his eyes. "You have a house, remember, idiot? Are you that drunk?"
Without even appearing to move, the Tomb Robber seized the blond boy by the throat. "You dare question me, Ishtar?" he hissed. "You're just a /child/. I won't explain myself to /you/."
"Then what about explaining to me?" a low, threatening voice asked. "And put my hikari down. /Now/. Or you won't be given an opportunity to explain."
Marik stood directly behind his light, an ominous shadow. The Millennium Rod glowed in one hand. A knife glistened in the other. Bakura slowly released Malik, knowing he did not have the advantage here. The Tomb Keeper grinned smugly, stepping back until he was level with his darker half.
"So, you need a place to stay?" Marik looked thoughtful. "Why would that be, thief?"
"Why do you care?" Bakura snapped.
"Did Ryou finally get the guts to kick you out?" Malik asked casually. "All you bring him is trouble, after all."
Bakura glared venomously at him. "If you value your life, Ishtar, you had better not ask me that again."
"But it /is/ a good question," Marik pointed out. "Why would you come here, to the home of your greatest enemies aside from the Pharaoh---" he smiled, showing unnaturally sharp teeth, "when you could be in your own comfortable home, with a boy who is, in essence, the other half of your soul? At least you can be confident that /he/ will never stab you in the back." Malik snorted at this comment, but said nothing more.
"I will pay you," Bakura snarled. "If you let me stay here, I will pay you in gold. If you ask no more questions, that is."
"And if we refuse?" Marik asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"You won't," Bakura stated confidently. "I'm sure you would both appreciate the money."
Marik and Malik glanced at each other, conferring silently, Bakura realized with a pang. Then he angrily slammed the thought out of his mind.
"Fine," Marik said. "You can stay here, /if/ you pay."
"I told you I would."
Marik and Malik both laughed. "As though we can take you on your word?" Malik asked.
"As though I could take either of you on yours?" Bakura returned sharply. "If you don't have an extra room, I'll sleep on the floor."
"We have an extra room," Marik informed him. "But it depends on how well you can pay." Without a word, Bakura took out the tennis bracelet from a pocket anyone else would have been hard pressed to find.
"Ah. Good. You may sleep in the guest bedroom, then." Both the Egyptians then met his eyes with their piercing stares. "But stay quiet," Malik warned. "We do /not/ need trouble with the police."
"Don't worry," Bakura said in disgust. "I used to rob the tombs of royalty. I've evaded priests, guards, and curses. This will be no trouble."
"Fine. We're going back to bed," Marik said, as Malik took him by the arm. The two of them walked away.
**Later, at the Bakura house**
Officer Sagara was on a cell phone, listening intently. "Mm-hm. Uh-huh. Right, I'll let him know." He hung up. "Ryou, they've found your car." In the last hour and a half, Ryou and the sergeant had gotten to be friendly.
"Where was it? Was my-um-cousin in it?" Ryou inquired eagerly.
"It was in the river," the man replied grimly. "Blood all over the driver and passenger seats. One window was broken."
Ryou stared at him. "What? B-but then, where's my cousin?"
"We don't know," Sagara informed him. "They're combing the river further." He paused. "Ryou, your cousin wasn't involved in any gang activities, was he?"
"No!" Ryou exclaimed. Then he stopped. "Well, I suppose he could have been. I-I don't know."
"So, you're positive," Sagara asked for the fiftieth time. "Your cousin Bakura wasn't carrying any forms of identification? No driver's license, credit cards? Nothing?"
"No," Ryou repeated. "He, well, he drives, but we look so much alike, he didn't bother to get a license of his own. He sometimes borrowed mine, I'm sorry about that, I couldn't really stop him, I know it's illegal. But he didn't take it this time, you saw my license---" he trailed off.
The officer could see that the white-haired boy was upset. "All right, Ryou. It's going to be fine. Now, you're sure none of your friends would be hiding your cousin?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Ryou answered faintly. "I'm sorry, he might have friends I don't know about somewhere."
Sagara frowned. "And you said his most likely flight destination would be Egypt? Why is that?"
Ryou looked at the sergeant and said, "Well, I don't-ah-you see, my father-- -would you please hold on a minute?" The headache that had been nagging at him suddenly intensified. The room seemed to spin. "I'm sorry-" Ryou managed, before he collapsed to the floor.
Sagara stared in alarm, then phoned the nearest hospital.
**The Ishtar household**
"Damn it!" Bakura muttered. "Not again!"
Marik gazed coolly at him. "What?"
"I think-" Bakura began, steadying himself against a wall. "Ryou's passed out again, I think."
"You /think/?" the other spirit asked. "What-" He mentally touched Bakura's soul link. His eyes widened, and he, too, fell against a wall.
*What's the matter?* Malik asked, alarmed. *What the hell-*
**It's that idiot!** Marik replied angrily. **I'll explain later.**
"You idiot!" Marik hit Bakura across the face. "What have you done to your soul link?"
"I closed it," Bakura said, furious. "What is it to you? You have such a cozy little relationship with your hikari, you can't imagine that others don't?"
"You fool." Marik's tone was cold. "I think I'll explain something to you now that you should have figured out yourself."
A/N: Well, there was chapter three! I'll probably have more Ryou POV next chapter or the chapter after that, when it'll get a bit weird again. I'll try to update sooner next time. Please leave a review! ^_^
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other brand name products I might happen to mention in here, so don't sue me, please. Not that you'd get much money from suing me anyway.
Ryou Bakura was awakened by a loud, persistent knocking. "I'm coming," he called sleepily. He spotted an emerald ring on his nightstand and picked it up, puzzled. He shrugged and replaced it.
Quickly pulling on a decent shirt, he hurried downstairs and opened the door. There were three police officers, two men and a woman, standing there.
Ryou gaped at them, momentarily speechless. One of the officers said, "Are you Ryou Bakura?"
"Um---yes," he replied. "I am, but---"
"Then we'd like you to answer some questions," the officer told him.
"Uh, what?" Ryou asked. His mind was drawing a blank. He couldn't remember having violated the law in any way.
"You just have to answer a couple of questions," the officer repeated.
Ryou drew in a deep breath, then said, "All right, but could you, um, tell me why you're here?"
"There was a robbery at a jewelry store last night," the officer-whose badge read Sgt. Peter Sagara-informed him.
Robbery. Finally, something clicked in the boy's brain. "Oh, no," he groaned. "Not again."
"You know something about this?" the woman asked him.
"Ah, well-" Ryou hedged. "Maybe---I'm not sure---"
"Just answer the question, son," Officer Sagara said. "Do you know who did this?"
"Wait! Don't you have to read me my rights?" Ryou asked in a flash of inspiration.
The officer sighed. "That's only if we're arresting you, which we're not. We just have a picture on the store's security tape. You're not a suspect at present; the guy on the tape was a good three inches taller than you."
"I'll have to call in to school," Ryou said. "Is that all right?"
"As long as we're present," the officer told him. "Yes, that's fine."
**Five minutes later**
The school secretary, of course, knew who it had to have been on the security camera. "Oh, Ryou," she exclaimed when she heard. "I knew you'd get into trouble hanging around with that cousin of yours! He's been in the office nearly every school day, insulting the principal, the counselors-"
"Um, yes, Ms. Hidako," Ryou said, hurriedly cutting her off. "So you'll tell my teachers that I'm not coming?"
"I never thought you, of all people, would get in police trouble!" lamented Ms. Hidako. "Always so quiet and polite! Such a good student, unlike that other-"
"Good-bye, Ms. Hidako," Ryou interrupted, hanging up the phone. Unfortunately, Officer Sagara had heard enough. "Mr. Bakura, don't feel that you have to protect anyone, even if he's your cousin. Please, tell us all you know."
Ryou closed his eyes for a minute, then began telling all he knew.
**Much earlier that morning**
Malik, former Tomb Keeper, was woken by a harsh knock. He muttered an Egyptian curse under his breath, and went to answer the door. He swore again when he looked out the window to see who it was. It took him about five minutes to undo all the chains that held the front door shut, during which time the knocking continued.
"What do you want?" he demanded. "This isn't an all night restaurant, you know, so if that's what it is-"
"No," Bakura said shortly. "I need a place to stay for a day or so."
"Ha," Malik said, rolling his eyes. "You have a house, remember, idiot? Are you that drunk?"
Without even appearing to move, the Tomb Robber seized the blond boy by the throat. "You dare question me, Ishtar?" he hissed. "You're just a /child/. I won't explain myself to /you/."
"Then what about explaining to me?" a low, threatening voice asked. "And put my hikari down. /Now/. Or you won't be given an opportunity to explain."
Marik stood directly behind his light, an ominous shadow. The Millennium Rod glowed in one hand. A knife glistened in the other. Bakura slowly released Malik, knowing he did not have the advantage here. The Tomb Keeper grinned smugly, stepping back until he was level with his darker half.
"So, you need a place to stay?" Marik looked thoughtful. "Why would that be, thief?"
"Why do you care?" Bakura snapped.
"Did Ryou finally get the guts to kick you out?" Malik asked casually. "All you bring him is trouble, after all."
Bakura glared venomously at him. "If you value your life, Ishtar, you had better not ask me that again."
"But it /is/ a good question," Marik pointed out. "Why would you come here, to the home of your greatest enemies aside from the Pharaoh---" he smiled, showing unnaturally sharp teeth, "when you could be in your own comfortable home, with a boy who is, in essence, the other half of your soul? At least you can be confident that /he/ will never stab you in the back." Malik snorted at this comment, but said nothing more.
"I will pay you," Bakura snarled. "If you let me stay here, I will pay you in gold. If you ask no more questions, that is."
"And if we refuse?" Marik asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"You won't," Bakura stated confidently. "I'm sure you would both appreciate the money."
Marik and Malik glanced at each other, conferring silently, Bakura realized with a pang. Then he angrily slammed the thought out of his mind.
"Fine," Marik said. "You can stay here, /if/ you pay."
"I told you I would."
Marik and Malik both laughed. "As though we can take you on your word?" Malik asked.
"As though I could take either of you on yours?" Bakura returned sharply. "If you don't have an extra room, I'll sleep on the floor."
"We have an extra room," Marik informed him. "But it depends on how well you can pay." Without a word, Bakura took out the tennis bracelet from a pocket anyone else would have been hard pressed to find.
"Ah. Good. You may sleep in the guest bedroom, then." Both the Egyptians then met his eyes with their piercing stares. "But stay quiet," Malik warned. "We do /not/ need trouble with the police."
"Don't worry," Bakura said in disgust. "I used to rob the tombs of royalty. I've evaded priests, guards, and curses. This will be no trouble."
"Fine. We're going back to bed," Marik said, as Malik took him by the arm. The two of them walked away.
**Later, at the Bakura house**
Officer Sagara was on a cell phone, listening intently. "Mm-hm. Uh-huh. Right, I'll let him know." He hung up. "Ryou, they've found your car." In the last hour and a half, Ryou and the sergeant had gotten to be friendly.
"Where was it? Was my-um-cousin in it?" Ryou inquired eagerly.
"It was in the river," the man replied grimly. "Blood all over the driver and passenger seats. One window was broken."
Ryou stared at him. "What? B-but then, where's my cousin?"
"We don't know," Sagara informed him. "They're combing the river further." He paused. "Ryou, your cousin wasn't involved in any gang activities, was he?"
"No!" Ryou exclaimed. Then he stopped. "Well, I suppose he could have been. I-I don't know."
"So, you're positive," Sagara asked for the fiftieth time. "Your cousin Bakura wasn't carrying any forms of identification? No driver's license, credit cards? Nothing?"
"No," Ryou repeated. "He, well, he drives, but we look so much alike, he didn't bother to get a license of his own. He sometimes borrowed mine, I'm sorry about that, I couldn't really stop him, I know it's illegal. But he didn't take it this time, you saw my license---" he trailed off.
The officer could see that the white-haired boy was upset. "All right, Ryou. It's going to be fine. Now, you're sure none of your friends would be hiding your cousin?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Ryou answered faintly. "I'm sorry, he might have friends I don't know about somewhere."
Sagara frowned. "And you said his most likely flight destination would be Egypt? Why is that?"
Ryou looked at the sergeant and said, "Well, I don't-ah-you see, my father-- -would you please hold on a minute?" The headache that had been nagging at him suddenly intensified. The room seemed to spin. "I'm sorry-" Ryou managed, before he collapsed to the floor.
Sagara stared in alarm, then phoned the nearest hospital.
**The Ishtar household**
"Damn it!" Bakura muttered. "Not again!"
Marik gazed coolly at him. "What?"
"I think-" Bakura began, steadying himself against a wall. "Ryou's passed out again, I think."
"You /think/?" the other spirit asked. "What-" He mentally touched Bakura's soul link. His eyes widened, and he, too, fell against a wall.
*What's the matter?* Malik asked, alarmed. *What the hell-*
**It's that idiot!** Marik replied angrily. **I'll explain later.**
"You idiot!" Marik hit Bakura across the face. "What have you done to your soul link?"
"I closed it," Bakura said, furious. "What is it to you? You have such a cozy little relationship with your hikari, you can't imagine that others don't?"
"You fool." Marik's tone was cold. "I think I'll explain something to you now that you should have figured out yourself."
A/N: Well, there was chapter three! I'll probably have more Ryou POV next chapter or the chapter after that, when it'll get a bit weird again. I'll try to update sooner next time. Please leave a review! ^_^
