Authoress' Note: Sorry it took me so long to update, but I kind of burned myself out the last time.
Bakura's first instinct was to pull the knife out of the wall, slit the pharaoh's throat, and carry off Tea. But as soon as it suggested itself, the thief dismissed it. Rash action had never been his style, and acting too soon might diminish his chances of success. A bowl shattered next to the knife as another thought struck Bakura. "If she remembers, maybe he does, too." He had known that he would have to face the pharaoh in this time as well, but Bakura had hoped he at least had the advantage of a full memory. Infuriating as this possible development was, the spirit reasoned, it was not dangerous. No one knew Bakura had returned. Yet. Perhaps it would be wise to accelerate his plan.
Tea flipped through all eight hundred of the offered cable channels, refusing to settle on one. She had said goodbye to Yami after a meal of microwaved Spaghetti-O's, the only food Tea wanted to take the time to make, and given Yugi a parting hug shortly after that. As almost all of her memories had returned, Tea hoped that her stomach would remain as calm as it had been for the past few hours. She paused and stared inattentively at an infomercial for a rotary nose hair trimmer as she reviewed each of the scenes of her past life. It was a curious experience, this amalgamation. She was still trying to find a balance between her two halves. Tea realized what she was watching, and with an "Eeeewwww!" finally turned off the TV. She could reminisce in bed without having to look at a revoltingly hairy nose. She went upstairs to what she knew would be a sleepless night.
A woman in an exceedingly low cut shirt pawed at Bakura as he tried to make his way into the bar. A hard look from him made her retreat quickly, muttering something about his mother and a dog. The spirit of the Ring continued, indifferent, into the smoky recesses of the building. He looked around disdainfully, then made his way to a table in a poorly lit corner. In contrast to the rest of the institution, this table was littered with cigarette butts instead of beer bottles and held only a single patron. Bakura flopped down opposite the large man who looked like he could use a nose hair trimmer and dropped a large wad of money on the table. The owner of the now discarded jacket had obviously been rather wealthy and mistrustful of credit cards; no one who did not fit that description would carry around several hundred dollars around in cash. The hairy man nearly inhaled his cigarette but ended up spitting it onto the floor. Bakura began without preamble, "That can be yours, but only if you do exactly as I say. If you get drunk and screw it up, you'll not only lose the money, but I will kill you. Do you understand?" He could see that the man was bridling at his condescension but restraining himself. "Yeah. Whadam I suppos'd ta do?" Ignoring the stench of cigarettes, Bakura leaned in to explain.
The man grunted as Tea's school bag caught him in the stomach, but it did little to slow him down. Adrenaline surged through the girl's veins, allowing her to put on a burst of speed as she turned down another unfamiliar alley. Tea's fight-or-flight response shut out everything but the pounding of her feet on the pavement, but even if she had been able to think about why this man was chasing her she wouldn't have been able to come up with a reason. She had tried screaming for help, but she had been herded into a part of town that was populated only by those too inebriated to help even themselves. "Herded." That word broke through into her conscious mind just as her pursuer reached out and grabbed her tangled hair. Tea's head snapped back, quickly followed by the rest of her body. She landed on her back, hard enough to knock the wind out of her, with the man towering above. He leaned down and leered at her. Tea cringed. But suddenly his grin froze on his face and he keeled over on top of her. Tea wiggled out from beneath him to see Ryou's hand extended to her. "Ryou! I-he was…." she panted, unable to put together a sentence. Then she gawked for a moment and shrieked. For she had finally noticed the hairy man, face down, with a knife firmly embedded in his neck. Instinctively, Tea tried to wrench away, but she realized that Ryou still had a grip on her hand. All she ended up doing was spinning herself around to face him. His face was expressionless as he bent down to wipe the handle of the knife with his sleeve, never once letting go of the girl. "We have to leave." was all he said. Tea was too stunned to oppose him, so she followed passively.
Although he maintained a stoic façade, inwardly Bakura was crowing. It had been far easier than he expected; dispose of the lackey, get Tea, keep the money. And she had put up so little resistance! They soon came to a relatively nondescript house and Ryou led her inside. As the door clicked shut behind her, the full implications of where she was and whom she was with dawned on Tea. "You say you're going to avoid him, so of course you go home with him! To say nothing of the fact that you just saw him kill someone!" She backed gradually away from him, saying, "Ummm…Ryou, I really think I should go." He cocked his pale head, amused by her discomfort, and said, "Really? Because I'd like you to stay." Tea opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. "And I would appreciate it if you would call me by my proper name." She closed her eyes and said flatly, "Bakura." He made a slight bow. "Your Majesty." Her eyes flew open at this and he smiled. "You really should watch what you say." Tea suddenly realized that the spirit of the Ring had come unnervingly close, but he placed his hands tightly on her waist before she could move. "Poor, naïve Tea." he breathed into her hair. "Helping me without even asking why." It was this last comment that really repulsed Tea. "Compassion is not a weakness." She promptly brought her leg back and kneed him in the groin. As he fell back, oddly silent, she followed up with a kick to the stomach. But before she could touch him, Bakura had rolled up onto his feet and out of the way. He grabbed one of Ryou's neckties off of the coat rack and wrapped it around her neck from behind. He didn't garrote Tea for long, however, and soon put her down to ask, "Had enough?" In response, the queen slapped him harshly across the face. Bakura immediately swept her legs out from beneath her and they both went down in a flurry of punches. He landed on top of Tea, straddling her hips. He grinned wolfishly as he fully appreciated their position. "Mmmm. Not yet." Tea glared up at the spirit, about to throttle him with her bare hands, but suddenly his expression went blank and he coldly smashed his left elbow into her left temple.
Reluctantly, Bakura lifted himself off his captive and scooped the dazed girl into his arms. To his surprise, she was not unconscious. He carried Tea into his bedroom and placed her tenderly on the bed. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked Ryou. The boy had long ago given up on trying to stop Bakura and had quietly observed from the Ring. The spirit received no answer.