Yami Bakura eventually walked out of the hospital, leaving the emotional little Ryou clinging to his mother's body. The sight disturbed him, the tiny child shaking his mother's corpse, screaming at her to wake up. But at least, or so he reasoned with himself, at least he had something to cling to. It was better than nothing.
"Why am I getting all bent out of shape about it? It's not like it matters to me." He scoffed, passing through the streets of Domino City. "He's just trying to stall, that's all. To keep me away from the pharaoh. None of this is even real."
He put his hands in his pockets, and kept strolling.
"There's got to be a way out of here." He growled. "Somewhere. He can't keep me locked in here for long."
Outside, the sun caressed his forehead, the warm air of spring carrying with it the scent of freshly blooming flowers. A bird whistled from a tree above him, as he walked through Domino City Park.
In the sandbox was a little boy in a purple shirt. Yami Bakura wouldn't have given him a second glance, except he had short white hair. He couldn't have been more than five. A woman was sitting nearby, with her hands folded neatly in her lap. A finished book was sitting beside her. It was the same woman he saw in the hospital, though very much alive.
"How do you like this castle, Mommy?" the little boy chirped, patting the intricate structure with his hands. It was incredibly detailed; Ryou had even drawn lines in the shape of bricks around the side of the castle with a stick.
"I love it, Ryou." She smiled back, watching him. "You're very good at making castles! I can even see a little drawbridge."
The child beamed with pride.
"Has Daddy has ever been in a real castle?"
"A couple of times." She answered with a smile. "And when he presents his latest paper in Germany next month, he plans on visiting a couple of castles. I'll remind him to take extra pictures for you!"
Ryou gave a half smile.
"Is something wrong?"
"I… I wish Daddy were here… in my castle. Not way across the world."
Anna Bakura opened her arms for Ryou. He rushed into her lap, and she wrapped her dainty arms around him.
"He'll be back for your birthday, sweetie. That's only a month and a half away." She replied softly. "And I know he left rather suddenly. But his team found a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It's not every day someone makes a discovery like that. He had to go oversee the excavation."
"I know…" Ryou pouted. "But I still miss him."
"I know." She ruffled Bakura's hair, a sure way to make him giggle. "Maybe when you're older, you can go on a trip with him. Would you like that?"
Ryou nodded excitedly.
"Can I really, Mommy?"
"I thought so. And yes. When you're older."
She smiled, and kissed Ryou gently on the nose.
"Now, dust the sand off your clothes while I go see if Amane is finished playing soccer with her friends. We need to leave the park soon if we want to get ice cream on the way home."
"Okay!"
She stood up, and walked towards the other end of the playground. Ryou did as he was told. He looked up, and his eyes caught sight of Yami Bakura standing under a large tree.
Yami Bakura tried to look away, but found himself unable to keep from staring at the happy-go-lucky tot in the sandbox.
Suddenly, another person caught Yami Bakura's attention. A dark man with a malicious glare was standing behind another tree. He scratched his stubbled chin, watching Ryou's mother walk farther away. Seizing the moment, he rolled up his tartan sleeves, and walked slowly towards the little boy.
"Excuse me, little boy," he stated gruffly. "I lost my dog around here. Have you seen one run by?"
"What the hell is he talking about?" Yami Bakura muttered to himself. "He didn't have a dog."
"Um… no… I haven't…" Ryou answered back, with his typical shy smile. One foot traced a line in the sand as he looked down. "Sorry, mister…"
"I know he's around here somewhere." The strange man reached out his hand. "Will you help me find him?"
Ryou stepped back slightly.
"…M..mommy says I'm not supposed to… to talk to strangers." Ryou replied, his knees starting to tremble.
"Oh, I understand." The man smiled, making Ryou feel a little relieved. It was shortlived, however. "But I didn't say you had a choice."
The large man jumped forward, and grabbed the little Ryou by his left arm. His hand more than circled the child's thin wrist. He pulled the boy forward, picking him up off the ground.
"Mommy!" Ryou started screaming as loud as his meek voice could carry. "Help! Mommy! Help me! Mommy!"
"Why, that…" Yami Bakura felt his heart sink into his stomach.
"Stop whining, you little brat!" he shouted, putting his other hand over Ryou's mouth to muffle the screams.
But Anna Bakura had already heard her son's pleas, and racing towards him.
"Ryou!" she shouted, with Amane almost on her heels. "You scoundrel! Let go of my baby!"
The man started to run.
"Police! Somebody help!" she screamed, as she darted after the kidnapper. "That man just took my baby! Police! Anybody!"
"She'll never catch up to him in time." Yami Bakura gasped, seeing the man make a mad dash for his car. "He'll…"
The spirit of the millennium ring could easily imagine what the dirty man wanted with Ryou. And none of the thoughts that came to mind were pleasant. The mental image of his young hikari, gagged, beaten, and raped before finally having his throat slit by a sadistic deranged man was enough to make him sick.
It didn't help that his hikari was currently five years old.
Without even thinking of the consequences, he leapt from behind the tree and started chasing the kidnapper as well.
"Get your slimy ass back here, you freak!" Yami Bakura shouted, as he closed the distance between himself and the stranger. He still possessed the endurance and agility from his many years of robbing tombs and running from guards. Not to mention, he was far closer to the deviant than Ryou's mother. "Put the boy down!"
He jumped between the man and the parking lot.
"You got shit in your ears?" Yami Bakura growled. "I said, put the boy down. Or I'll rip your fucking arm off!"
The man laughed, but Yami Bakura ran at him, slamming his fist into the man's large stomach. Stunned, he never saw the second punch coming, or the third. He fell to the ground, clutching a broken jaw. Ryou fell out of his grip, screaming as he hit the ground.
"Oh, Ryou!" Anna Bakura shouted, finally catching up to them. "Oh, my baby. My god, my god!"
She ran up to him, and wrapped her arms around his trembling body.
"Oh my god, Ryou. Ryou are you all right?"
Amane ran up behind her, hugging her little brother as well. Ryou nodded weakly.
"Oh, I was so scared." She whispered, tears streaming down her eyes.
"I… I'm… okay…" Ryou whispered back, trying to stop his own tears. "That… that man stopped the bad guy…"
Ryou pointed up, just as Yami Bakura had turned to make his escape. He froze, knowing he should have ran off after knocking the man out.
"Sir, please. Let me at least thank you." Anna Bakura called out to him. "You… you saved my baby. I am eternally grateful."
Yami Bakura turned back around. Ryou's mother stared at him with nothing but love in her eyes. Ryou, still in the protective arms of his older sister, gazed up at him as though he were a saint.
"Hmph. It's nothing nobody else standing where I was would have done, you know." He scoffed, folding his arms at his waist.
"If you weren't there, I don't know what would have happened…" she smiled, despite Yami Bakura's eye roll. "Please, at least let me buy you some ice cream. We were all on our way there right now."
Amane and Ryou perked up at the sound of ice cream on a hot day such as this.
"Please, mister?" Ryou whispered, acting very polite. "I… Thank you for saving me."
"It would mean a lot to all of us, Sir." She smiled.
He exchanged looks with all of them. He couldn't see any way around it.
"Fine." He growled.
Ryou grinned, happily displaying an almost full set of little teeth. He bounced up, and gave his rescuer's legs a big hug.
"Thank you, mister!"
Yami Bakura paused, almost in shock. His hikari was hugging him. And his legs never felt so warm.