Chapter 6

"Worth"

When Bakura woke up the next morning, he felt refreshed. His memories last night were forgotten, and he was full of energy, waiting to tackle this new day.

He stretched, sat up, and was about to leave when he felt something beside him stir.

Looking down, he saw Shadow curled up against him. The child yawned, and rubbed his eyes sleepily, having been woken up by Bakura's movements.

"Why are you here?" the teen asked, surprised.

Shadow looked up, and crawled onto his lap. The child grabbed a fistful of the thin tee-shirt Bakura had slept in and cocked his head questioningly at the older boy.

"Ok, ok, I get it. You like it with me. I'm flattered. Now let go, I'm not going to the bathroom with you!" Bakura sighed, though the smile that had appeared on his face softened his rather rudely-spoken words.

Shadow obediently released the teen. Bakura set the boy on the floor, and swung himself off the bed, heading for the bathroom. When he came back out, washed and dressed, he found the kid sitting on the floor in front of the door, patiently waiting for him.

Bakura shook his head, not sure rather to feel annoyed or pleased. He settled for a mixture of both. "Let's go get you dressed."

Over the few next weeks, Bakura and Shadow literally moved into the Kaiba Mansion. In his own defense, Bakura told Seto that it would be easier to raise Shadow with both of them, and that since Shadow had already gotten used to his new home, it would be unwise to move him to new surroundings. Bakura used that first week to figure out everything that Shadow would need, and there was quite a lot. Not that it mattered; after all, he was sure that Seto (who did the actual shopping) was happy to pay the bill.

By the end of the first week, a routine had been more or less established. They woke up at around nine, got dressed, and ate breakfast, all the usual stuff. Then came "Activity time," lunch, more "Activity time", dinner, and "quite time", then bed.

Ever since that first morning, Seto had refused to let Bakura anywhere near the kitchen appliances. Instead, he cooked for them all. He had fired his cook when he graduated, preferring to make his own food. This was a decision that all his friends wondered about, but no one had yet to ask him about it, fearing, no doubt, for their heads that Seto would undoubtedly bite off it they asked about such a personal decision. Shadow continued to find new experiences in store for him at the dinner table. Pancakes, orange juice, bacon, chocolate milk, eggs…the list went on and on. It was safe to say that the mealtimes were his favorite times of the day. There was only one food he wouldn't touch, and that was oatmeal. The first – and last – time Seto tried serving that, he gave it a disgusted look, and turned to Bakura, (who doubled as his high chair) with a look that said, "If you expect me to eat this, you've got another thought coming." He then folded his arms and refused to look at the food in front of him. He stopped sulking only when Seto took the offending food away and replaced it with Jell-O.

"Activity time" was what Seto dubbed the time the three of them spent catching Shadow up on all the things he had missed. It usually involved a lot of Mokuba's old toys. Shadow was especially fascinated with puzzles, and good at them too. Before long, he had solved all of the ones in the house (with help from both his house-mates), and Seto had to go buy some more. He took the child and Bakura with him. It was clearly the first time Shadow had seen anything like the huge mall that they went to, as he refused to get out of the car, and Bakura had to carry him the whole time they were shopping. No power on earth could've made him let go of the teen for he was very convinced that he was literally clinging on for dear life.

"Quiet time" came after dinner; it was a time to wind down after the long day. This was when they (or at least, Bakura and Shadow) sprawled on the couch and watched whatever TV happened to be on and read the books that had once belonged to Mokuba.

Bakura had quickly figured out that Shadow liked sleeping with him. If they started in separate rooms, they would be in the same one by the time dawn came. So rather than have Shadow coming to him in the middle of the night, Bakura just resigned himself to sharing a bed with the kid.

Shadow quickly grew to love bedtime stories. But only the ones Bakura told, about the adventures of Prince Atemu. Once, the teen tried reading something out a book. Halfway through the first paragraph, Shadow stopped him by placing a hand on his arm. "What is it?" he had asked, puzzled. Shadow had shaken his head, pointing at the book. "You don't like it?" Shadow confirmed this with a nod. So he had gotten up and found another book. Again, Shadow stopped him. This was repeated several times before Bakura finally understood that the boy wanted his usual story about Atemu. (Shadow had than given the teen a look that could only be described as condescending, plainly stating, "Took you long enough")

It didn't take Bakura and Seto long to figure out that Shadow had quite a few rules, and unspoken though they may be, they had to be followed. He would only be carried by Bakura. Not even Seto was given permission to carry him around. When the CEO tried, Shadow would retreat right back into his shell.

He must always know where Bakura was at all times, and, if possible, he should also be able to see Bakura at all times. The first and last time Bakura had left the child home with Seto to go somewhere, Seto had to call him on his cell and inform him that the boy was practically going crazy trying to find him. When Bakura had returned, Shadow gave him the silent treatment for an hour, until Bakura had finally broken down and apologized, at which the young boy gave the teen a look which clearly stated, "Don't let it happen again," and then promptly latched onto the older boy's pants.

No one - and especially no adults - was allowed to touch him besides Bakura and Seto. This they found out during a trip to the mall, when they were shopping for new clothes. When the saleslady had tried to measure him for his size, he had started to whimper and press against Bakura. When the lady finally made contact with him, he had suddenly gone limp, retreating behind his protective walls.

Raising such a demanding child was no doubt a challenge, especially for the inexperienced Bakura, but it came with many rewards. Shadow's expression when he encountered something new and exciting was worth any amount of time it took to break through to him, and the grateful look in his eyes made up of all the difficulties they had faced.

As the weeks progressed, Shadow became noticeably more relaxed, though he was no less dependent on Bakura. On a good day, he might even allow Seto to hold him for a while. But, although they had made much progress, there were still two things little Shadow had yet to do. One was talk - he made various sounds to help him out but had never once said a word. The other was smile. Other expressions he had shown, but never once had the others seen him smile.

During "activity time" on a quiet Friday, almost three months since Bakura had adopted Shadow, came a huge breakthrough.

They were in one of the many studies in the Kaiba Mansion. It was quite dusty; even Seto hadn't been in here for years. Said CEO was currently examining an old computer in the room, trying to find out what model it was, and wondering how it would be worth twenty years from now. Bakura was leafing through an old book halfheartedly, when Shadow tugged on his sleeve.

Glancing up through his bangs, he asked, "What it is?"

In reply, Shadow pointed to a cloth covered object in a corner that Bakura had failed to notice upon entry.

After three months, Bakura and Seto had become familiar with the many gestures and expressions the child used instead of words, and he replied as though the child had spoken his inquiry out loud. "Yes, what is that? Let's go see, why don't we," he said, climbing to his feet. He went over to the object in question with Shadow right behind him. Pulling off the cloth cover with a flourish that sent up a plum of dust, he revealed an old grand piano.

There was a few silent seconds in which Bakura and Shadow stood staring at the instrument, Shadow in fascinated wonder, Bakura in confusion. "Seto, why in the world do you have a piano in here?"

"I do?" the CEO replied, looking up. "Well, what do you know? I do."

Bakura snorted, lifting up the cover to reveal the slightly yellowed keys.

"This thing is ancient," he muttered. Bending down, he lifted Shadow onto the wooden piano bench. "This is called a piano. You press the keys and a sound comes out." Bakura informed the boy, who was studying the instrument with a blank look on his face. "Watch." The teen slammed a fist onto a random spot on the set of keys. A booming, ear-wrecking sound was emitted. Shadow let out a yelp and clapped his hands over his ears, and Bakura jumped back in shock, staring at the piano as though afraid it might reach out and bite him.

"Idiot!" Seto roared. "What are you trying to do!"

"Shut up," Bakura scowled, flushing red with hard-concealed embarrassment.

Shadow, who had by now more or less recovered from the assault on his ears, turned around and glared accusingly at the white-haired teen, looking rather like a parent about to scold a silly child.

"Oh, be quiet. You try it," Bakura snapped, feeling bit hurt. It wasn't his fault the damned oversized piece of wood wouldn't obey him!

Shadow turned back to the piano, and, having learned a lesson from Bakura to not slam anything, gently pressed a key down. This time, a soft note floated into the air.

"Much better," Seto sighed. Shadow cocked his head slightly, listening to the result of his trial, and pressed down another key, and another.

"If you can press them in the right order, you can make a song," Seto commented. He ruffled through a shelf for a minute, while Shadow continued his little experimentation, and came back with some sheet music, which he showed to the little boy. "See? If you can learn to read these notes, you can make beautiful music from the piano."

Shadow traced a finger over the music, and looked questioningly at the CEO.

"I can read it. I wasn't given a choice of rather I wanted to learn or not." Seto sat down and lifted Shadow onto his lap. Placing the music in its place on the rack, he started to work his way through the piece.

Shadow watched, eyes wide, as gradually, note by note, a melody immerged.

The piece was an easy one, and when Seto had finished it, Bakura started to applauded. "Encore!" he yelled, grinning like a madman. "Here we see the next Mooart."

Shadow looked at him like he was beginning to seriously question his sanity, and Seto shot him a disgusted look. "I believe you meant 'Mozart' genius. Don't listen to him, Shadow, he's crazy."

Shadow decided to forget he had ever heard Bakura say anything. Instead, he turned back to the instrument before him and put his hands on the once-white keys. Turning around, he gazed up at Seto with a pleading look in his eyes.

Seto grinned. "I'm no teacher, but here. We can play a short piece."

He took one of Shadows hands, and put the forefinger to a key. Note by note, he guided a melody into existence. It was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Bakura started to hum along behind them. How did he know the song in the first place? Thank Ryou, who had once gotten the song stuck in his head and managed to sing it one hundred and seventy-two times in a row before Bakura had finally reached his breaking point, cracked, and furiously kicked him out of the house, forcing the hikari to spend the night and Yugi's place.

When the last note had faded, Bakura let out a whoop, and grabbed the child, swinging him up into the air. "You're even better than Seto! You're talented! Hey, Kaiba, we should let him take lessons. And you can play Mossart, and Box, and Batovan!"

Seto let out a groan and put a hand to his forehead, wondering what in the world he was doing living with and breathing the same air as a lunatic.

And then, still being swung around in the air by and over-excited Bakura who had no doubt drank way too much coffee during breakfast, Shadow slowly smiled. It certainly started out as a very uncertain smile at first, as if his muscles didn't quiet remember how to pull off this peculiar expression, but it gained confidence until the child was grinning happily. His crimson eyes were dancing with laughter, and as Bakura tossed him into the air, his smile grew wider still.

As Bakura pulled the child close, he could not help but grin also. There was no doubt that he was being blessed with the presence of the sweetest smile on the face of this earth, he thought, looking at the little boy admiringly. "You're beautiful when you smile, Shadow-chan. How about you do it more often, huh?"

At that, Shadow's smile became a bit sheepish, and he buried his head in Bakura's shirt.

The teen chuckled. On the spur of the moment, he bended down and whispered in the boy's ear, "I love you, Shadow-chan."

Who knows what was going on in Shadow's mind just then. Perhaps he was just caught up in all the excitement. Perhaps he was finally ready to take the first step in forgiving the world of its wrongs against him, and open up to these people who had grown to mean so much to his young heart. In any case, at that moment, he opened his mouth and spoke for the first time in many years.

"I wuv you too, 'tou-sama."

His answer was soft, and at first, Bakura wasn't sure if hadn't imagined it. But when he looked at Seto, his saw a look of shock on the CEO's face, and knew it hadn't been wistful imagination.

Bakura looked down again, and hugged Shadow closer. The child's words had been a bit tentative and rusty, the result of having not said a single word for ages, but that would no doubt be cured with time.

"Otou-sama?"Bakura asked, suddenly registering what the child snuggled up against him had said.

Shadow nodded.

And as Bakura gazed down at the little boy, his heart told him that that single moment alone was worth everything.