Yami Bakura sat with the family in the ice cream parlor. He twirled a spoon through his cup of double chocolate chip, watching the two children greedily licking their ice cream cones. Ryou nibbled on his soft vanilla, blushing occasionally at the cold dessert's touch on his lips. Amane was more adventurous, biting through the bottom of her cone first, and proceeding to suck the remaining strawberry ice cream out the wrong end.
Yami Bakura had to admit it to himself. He looked as though he belonged with the family. Anyone walking by would have simply assumed him to be Anna Bakura's oldest son. But he wasn't.
For a moment, he almost wished he were. He could have been part of a loving family, surrounded by such caring people. He knew, of course, having seen it already, that the family wouldn't last much longer. In a few years, the little boy sitting across from him would be eating ice cream all alone.
He didn't know why it suddenly depressed him. It's not like he actually cared. But every time he looked over at Ryou nibbling at the tips of his waffle cone, he thought back to the child clinging to his dead mother's body, shaking her in a desperate attempt to wake her up.
"I just wanted to thank you, again, for what you did, Mister… What was your name again?" Anna Bakura sent his train of thought crashing off the tracks.
"Oh. Um… My friends call me Yami." He answered softly.
"Thank you, Yami. Thank you for saving my little boy."
"Oh, yes. Thank you very much, Mister Yami." Ryou smiled, looking up from his ice cream cone for a moment. Amane nodded, as a few drops of melting strawberry fell from the open hole at the bottom of the cone. Noticing the splatter, she quickly covered the hole with her mouth again.
"It wasn't anything special." Yami Bakura rolled his eyes again. "Anybody could have done it. You don't need to make such a big deal about it."
Anna Bakura just smiled.
"I do. I love my little Ryou that much." She replied. Her smile was infectious, and Yami Bakura couldn't ignore its power. "That's why I'm so very thankful."
"Hmph." He sighed, his voice losing its harsh edge for the time being. "He really loves you too."
"Oh, I know he does." She answered, glancing at her son. His nose was deep in the ice cream cone, his tongue searching for that last treasured drop of vanilla goodness.
"You hear that, kid?" Yami Bakura wasn't quite sure what to say, or if he should say anything at all. "You… You should always love them. They won't be around forever."
Ryou looked up from the ice cream cone, with big sad eyes.
"That wasn't very nice to say, Mister Yami." Amane butted in, taking a break from crunching the dry parts of her soggy cone.
"No, I mean you're lucky." He tried again, quickly skimming his mind for the right words. Although, he didn't know why he was bothering to say anything at all. "When I was your age, I didn't have anybody like that. My parents weren't around. They were…"
He paused, not wanting to finish his statement.
"They weren't around, all right?"
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Anna Bakura offered a consoling sigh. She understood what he was trying to say.
"Just, always appreciate them. That's what I'm saying." He finally sighed as well. "Spend as much time as you can with them, while you can."
"Oh…" Ryou thought aloud, putting his cone down on a napkin. "That… that makes sense… We don't see Daddy much… so… so we should love him even more… when… when we do?"
Yami Bakura was going to say something else, but Ryou's mother spoke first.
"Exactly, Sweety. We'll spend more time together, all of us, as a family real soon."
Ryou smiled, and Amane once again diverted her attention to the cone in her hands. Yami Bakura expected to be scolded by Anna Bakura, but instead, he was met with silence. Seeing no need to clarify his point, he answered her with silence as well.
A few more minutes passed before Mrs. Bakura looked up at the clock.
"Oh, dear me. Children, we really need to finish up here. I still have to run by the bank before it closes today." She announced, already gathering up her things.
"Do we have to?" Amane whined. She already had her eye on a second ice cream cone, perhaps with sprinkles.
Her mother noticed the wandering gaze towards the counter, and quickly intervened.
"Amane, you've had quite enough sugar for one afternoon." She smiled. "But maybe I'll make a small fruit smoothie for dessert instead of fresh fruit. How does that sound?"
The girl turned back around. She thought for a minute, twirling her finger through her black hair.
"Oh, okay, Mom."
"You heard me, Ryou. It's time to leave now." She stood up, as her son was licking his sticky fingers.
"Do we have to?" he looked up. "I… I want to stay with Mister Yami…"
The plea took Yami Bakura completely off guard. He simply stared at his young hikari and blinked.
"Please? Can't we play with Mister Yami? Please?"
"Ryou, I'm sure he has many other things to get done today too." Anna Bakura scolded her son lightly. "I'm sure you'll see him soon."
She glanced back at Yami Bakura for corroboration.
"Oh, Right." He quickly realized her intentions. Plus, if he didn't agree, he knew he'd be dragged around with the kids for the rest of his afterlife, and he'd never get out of these memories. Of course Ryou wanted him to stay. The longer he was in here, the greater chance there was of the pharaoh escaping with the other millennium items! "Your mother's right. I've got to go… shopping."
He quickly made an excuse.
"Grocery shopping. That's where I was headed when I saw the bad guy in the park." He lied, conveniently as always.
"Did you hear that, Ryou?" his mother repeated.
"I know…" Ryou looked down to the floor. He climbed out of the booth, leaving the discarded ice cream cone on the table. Amane slid out behind him, grabbing it as she went by. One person's trash is another person's dessert.
"Now, be polite. I want both of you to shake Mister Yami's hand and thank him for coming to have ice cream with us." She smiled, rubbing Ryou gently on the head. He nodded, and waited for Yami Bakura to slide out of the booth as well.
"Thank you for… for having ice cream with me, Mister Yami…" he smiled innocently. "I… I hope we can play together sometime…"
Yami Bakura shook the child's hand politely. He couldn't help but smile back.
"I have the funny feeling we'll see each other again." He replied, making sure not to tell too much.
Amane shook his hand as well, and they all walked towards the door. Yami Bakura held the door open for them, watching them walk towards the bank on the next street corner. He let out a long sigh.
"Ra, I don't know why I let that get to me." He whispered aloud. "Yeah, sure he's going to lose them in a few years. But what difference does it really make? Hmph. Fucking runt is making me lose my touch. I should have killed both of them myself."
He leaned back against the open door.
"Then the brat would have something to cry about in the future."
He turned his head, and almost did a double take.
"… what the…"