Friends

A sheaf of papers filled his backpack to the point where it felt uncomfortable against his spine but it was worth it. It had been nearly a month since he first started working with Bakura and Ryou to find spells that would actually work, but the glow that their trust in him produced hadn't dimmed. Not only did Bakura trust him enough to tell him that he was still alive, the thief actually trusted him to help with Bakura's plans for the future.

To their surprise, the spell to create a new body for Bakura to use was proving the easiest to put together. Bakura had combined several animating spells with his spell for sealing souls into items and the information Yugi had gathered from his Biology class. Actually gathering the materials was proving to be harder, but if the packages Bakura had ordered arrived on time they would be able to perform the spell on the next full moon.

Because of this Yugi had just completed one of the hardest jobs in his life. It had been his job to convince his friends that Bakura was not going to try to hurt them, and now he had to re-introduce Bakura to the group. As he'd expected, Anzu had simply taken his word for it, but Jou and Honda had been harder to convince. Yugi had been forced to bring up the fact that they had been part of a gang and had ended up as his friends to convince them that they could at least allow Bakura as much of a chance as he had given them.

"Bakura," he called softly, poking his head through the door into the school library. The librarian glared at him, but couldn't tell him off because technically he wasn't inside the library. After a moment Ryou came out to see him, head tilted to one side questioningly. "They're ready to be introduced all over again." Yugi said softly and watched as Ryou became Bakura in that strange process he still didn't understand, "I think that as long as you don't do anything to frighten them they should accept you as one of the gang pretty soon." Bakura shook his head slowly, lips pursing in a soundless whistle. "What's the matter," Yugi asked, concerned at the surprising loss of composure.

"I never thought you'd manage it, that's all," Bakura shrugged nonchalantly. "They can be pretty stubborn after all." A flash of mirth showed through, and Bakura flashed him a grin. "Guess I underestimated you, huh?"

Yugi grinned back happily. "Yeah!" It was wonderful being appreciated, especially since it was Bakura who was complimenting him.

"Hey, Yugi!" It was Jou, followed by the others. "You planning on taking all day?"

"Ah!" Yugi flushed painfully, restraining himself from glancing at Bakura with a wrenching effort and smiled at his friends. "Sorry." Fingers lightly touched his arm, and Yugi reached for Bakura's hand, holding it tightly. "This is Bakura."

"I'm pleased to meet you," the thief said softly, bowing his head politely. Yugi looked up at him, an edge of suspicion beginning to grow in his mind. Bakura was never this polite. A dark grin reassured him, and he turned back watch his friend's reactions.

"Uh, you too man," Jou responded, going from confused to cheerful and macho in a second as he always did. "Want to duel?"

"No," Bakura responded, calmly, an edge on amusement touching his voice. "I don't think you want to either, really." Jou blanched at the thought of Bakura's cards and moved backwards a few steps. Honda grinned at seeing Jou so discomfited and punched Bakura's arm companionably.

Anzu smiled shyly and Yugi saw her cheeks grow slightly red. He had to bite his lip to stop himself from telling her to get away from Bakura, but he knew, objectively, that the thief didn't belong to him and that he didn't have any right to tell her to get away from him. Still, it had been him that Bakura had chosen to trust not her, and that was some comfort.