Jaazi: Yes! Another chapter…(sweat drop) finally.

DJ: Lazy slacker.

Jaazi: Hey! You know I was busy last weekend! It wasn't my fault mother thought we should have some 'family bonding time'!

KK: (nervously) Um, while those two argue, we'd like to thank the following for reviewing: Thief-Joelle, Hittocerebattosai, Atemu's Lover, BakuMarik Fan, DreamCherry66, Icy Sapphire 15, SiriusBlack's Angel, Blackangeltwin1, AnimeLoverAngel, Dartz'LoyalServant, AnGeLoFmErCeY94, Firezone12, Death by Storm, Hikari-Aoi, Shinigami, RedEyeDarknessDragonLady, LunaBakura-chan, AngelKelley17, Punkergirl-Aira, Deadlybeautygoddess, Anaraz, Green Phantom Queen, Aki Kaminari, Kattocihi, The River Dragon, Spirit dog of life.

Damian: You may all read the chapter now.

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Disclaimer: Saying I owned Yugioh is like saying Yami Yugi is the King of Thieves. It's just not true.

Previously

Ryou was silent. He pondered over this, waiting for Malik, Mariku, and Chibi Bakura to come back.

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Chapter Six: Shopping for a Princess

Chibi Bakura stared in wonder as Mariku and Malik dragged him into one of the biggest buildings he had ever seen. And there were more people there than in his entire village! If it hadn't been for the fact that his jaw was attached to his skull, it would've clattered onto the floor.

"Is this the market place?" Chibi Bakura asked, stunned.

"Eh, sorta…" Malik responded, rubbing the back of his head confusedly.

"Which store should we take Little-thief?" Mariku asked.

"Hm, that's a good question. Let's go to…that one!" Malik said pointing to a random store.

"C'mon, Little-thief," Mariku said gently as he picked up Chibi Bakura and placed him on his shoulders.

As they walked through the crowds of people, Chibi Bakura kept patting down Mariku's hair. He'd push the hair down, but as soon as he let it go, it would bounce back up. The only thing missing was a "sproing!" noise. Chibi Bakura giggled as he continued to play with Mariku's hair.

"You're hair's funny. I like it!" he cried happily. Mariku smiled at the chibi.

"We're here!" Malik cried dramatically.

The store was rather…odd. Chibi Bakura shivered slightly. It was dark-ish and there was a lot of leather and spikes and other such things. Although Chibi Bakura was feeling very out of place, Bigger Me was very much at home.

"I LOVE this place! I've stolen many things from here before…it has the best leather coats and weaponry ever!"

Sure enough, at the farthest corner of the store, they had an assortment of sharp objects. Mariku also noticed this and all but ran over to the weapons section, drooling profusely. If Chibi Bakura hadn't had a tight grip on Mariku's hair, he would've toppled off the boy's shoulders.

"Mariku! Be careful! If Khalid gets hurt, Ryou's going to be very upset with us!" Malik cried as he caught up with his yami.

"C-can I get down now?" Chibi Bakura asked, slightly shaken.

Scowling at the oblivious Mariku, Malik gently took Chibi Bakura off his yami's shoulders and set him on the ground. Chibi Bakura stayed very close to Malik though. The store made his skin all shivery and crawly.

"What are you afraid of , brat? There's nothing here to be scared of!" Chibi Bakura heard Bigger Me growl. He grimaced.

"B-But I don't think Princess Ryou would like to get s-something from here…" Chibi Bakura trailed off as his gaze landed on something. When Bigger Bakura saw what his mini-me was staring at, he burst into laughter.

"Bigger Me? Is that a…kitty costume?"

"…you could say that…" Bakura mangaed to reply between laughs.

Puzzled by his bigger-self's laughter and amusement, Chibi Bakura tugged on the hem of Malik's lavender shirt, which he could barely reach even on his tip toes. Malik looked away from his still drooling yami and glanced down.

"What's up, little person?" he asked cheerfully.

"I'm not little! Take that back or I'll make Diabound bite you!" Chibi Bakura scowled.

"Okay, okay! No need to lose your head over it," Malik said holding his hands up in front of him in surrender, "Now, what was it you wanted?"

Chibi Bakura blinked then smiled, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Is that a kitty costume?" he asked, pointing to a costume on the rack.

It was more like a leather one piece bathing suit thing. On the back hung a long black tail. It came with black gloves that had white fluff on the cuffs and it had matching shoes. There was a headband with black kitten ears and to top it all off, it had fishnet sleeves and stockings.

"Um, Ryou likes kitties…maybe he'd like the costume?" Chibi Bakura asked innocently.

He wondered why his bigger-self suddenly got very quiet and Malik's face held a dumbfounded expression. Mariku, who had noticed the other two's absence and followed, smirked maliciously.

"Yes, Ryou-light would LOVE the kitty costume. Let's go take it!" Mariku cackled insanely. He grabbed the costume off the rack, took the credit card, and ran off to the cash register.

"Er, are you sure you want that for your princess?" Malik asked unsurely.

"Bigger Me, what's wrong? Is Princess Ryou going to like it? Do you think he'll look pretty in it?"

In his mind's eye, he could see Bakura sitting in the park bench located in the middle of the misty gray of his mind. Bakura's face was flushed red and he seemed to have trouble breathing.

"Uh, ahem, w-what did you ask?" he asked nervously.

"Do you think Princess Ryou would look nice in his costume?" Chibi Bakura asked innocently.

"O-oh, great gods!" Bakura swore. Chibi Bakura gasped when he saw his bigger self's nose began to bleed.

"Bigger Me! What's wrong? Why are you bleeding?" Chibi Bakura asked worriedly.

"Nothing, nothing," Bakura said gruffly as he wiped his nose free of blood, although his face was still flushed. Chibi Bakura shrugged in response.

"Yeah, my princess loves kitties! Can we go get Princess something else, too?" Chibi Bakura asked.

"Sure…I guess," Malik said. He couldn't wait to see the look on Ryou's face when he got his gift.

Bakura rushed to the glass box that held all of the daggers and short blades. He needed to buy his princess a dagger. He saw that his daddy once got his mommy a pretty dagger, "just in case" he said. Chibi Bakura needed to get his princess a dagger too, "just in case".

Chibi Bakura pressed his hands and nose against the glass panel looking at the daggers. There were many gold-hilted daggers in all different designs and figures. They all sparkled nicely, but there was one in particular that caught his eye.

It was a light thin blade with a silver hilt. The hilt itself had the image of the eye of Horus imprinted on it. The eye had a modest emerald in it. It was just like Ryou. Beautiful but very shy and modest…he always tried to hide his beauty but never succeeded.

"This has Ryou written all over it."

"Really? Where? Wait, I don't know how to read, Bigger Me!"

"…it's just an expression. Idiot. Can we just leave already. We've been away from Ryou for too long."

Chibi Bakura nodded tiredly. He was getting sleepy…

"M-Mal-" he yawned.

"Aww, you're tired! Did you want to get anything else?"

"That…dagger…the silver one," Chibi Bakura muttered.

Malik nodded. He picked up Chibi Bakura and cradled him in his arms. Chibi Bakura was asleep in no time. Mariku and Malik made their purchases and put Kaiba's credit card in his pocket for later use. Mariku smirked at the sleeping chibi.

"I like Little-Thief. He has good taste," Mariku cackled. Malik glared at him.

"You pervert."

"I want to see how Ryou-light likes his gifts…Malik-pretty wants to too, does he not?" Mariku commented casting a sly glance at his hikari. Malik giggled.

"Yeah…we have to have a camera and take a picture of him when he gets it."

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"Bigger Me?" Chibi Bakura asked.

Once again, he was sitting on the park bench inside his head. He was swinging his little legs back in forth, staring at the ground. His bigger self was sitting on the other side of the bench, arms crossed, glaring at some random patch of gray mist.

"What?" he snapped.

"Why are you always so angry?"

"None of your damn business, that's why."

"…do you hate Ryou?" Chibi Bakura asked, curling into himself slightly.

"Why do you ask?"

"Ryou hurts when he thinks of you. I can feel it, in here," Chibi Bakura placed a hand over his heart, "He worries a lot. I can tell."

"Stop your babbling!" Bakura snarled.

He didn't want to listen to this. He knew Ryou hated him. He knew that Ryou suffered because of him. He knew that Ryou was better off without him! But…he didn't want to leave. The mere thought of not having Ryou near felt like a stab in the heart.

"Do you hate him?"

"Shut up, I said!"

"Bigger Me, I just…you hurt a lot, I feel that too…and then our princess hurts a lot…and you two shouldn't have to hurt a lot." Chibi Bakura sniffled.

In his mind, Ryou and Bakura didn't deserve to hurt inside because, well, because it hurt. Chibi Bakura didn't want his princess and Bigger Me to hurt at all, they were his family. He wanted to help make them stop hurting.

"You have no idea what I've done. I deserve to hurt. I've done nothing but hurt others. I can't have it not hurt. I don't know how! It's better that I not like Ryou, it's better that I hate Ryou. The people I hate always end up better off than the people I love," Bakura's voice cracked. His entire body trembled.

"But…hating hurts people and…and you don't want to hurt Ryou. You want to be able to see Ryou again, remember? But if…if you hate Ryou, you'll never get to see him again," Chibi Bakura said, very confused.

Chibi Bakura knew that Bakura wanted to be with Ryou and Ryou wanted to see Bakura again. But…Bakura wanted to be with Ryou but didn't want to. It confused him to no end.

"Go away. Leave me alone to think, brat."

Chibi Bakura's bottom lip trembled. Sniffling, Chibi Bakura slid off the bench. Dejectedly, he walked off, pulling his little red cloak around him more tightly. He just wanted to help. He didn't like his only friends hurting so much. Diabound, his ever faithful mini-monster, snuggled up against him as they walked through the mist to get some actual sleep.

Once Bakura was sure he was alone, he curled up into himself, very much like a scared child would have. There, he began to cry his first tears in thousands of years. This time, he had no beer to numb the pain, he couldn't escape into sleep or hang overs. He just felt the raw pain of emotional wounds that refused to go away.

What he didn't know, something that Chibi Bakura did know, is that those wounds could only heal with the soothing touch of someone who cared for him. Chibi Bakura knew that, Ryou could make Bakura stop hurting and vice versa. They just couldn't seem to see it themselves.

Chibi Bakura sighed. Diabound and he had their work cut out for them.

TBC

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Jaazi: Finally, I posted another chapter! Sorry for the lateness.

DJ: Punish her! Punish her for her laziness!

Jaazi: I wasn't being lazy! I was too busy last weekend to update any stories! It wasn't my fault!

KK: Please REVIEW!

Damian: It would make Jaazi and KK feel better and make DJ miserable, but it's worth it anyway.