Chapter 8

"Reunited"

Sleep did a pretty good job of driving away all the worries form Bakura's mind. When he woke up, he had all but forgotten what had gotten him so worked up the previous night. Shadow, too, was almost back to normal, although he was quieter then usual that day. Whether that was due to the aftermaths of his nightmare or to the presence of a stranger in the house, Bakura couldn't tell. Probably both.

As the next couple of days progressed, the whole "reincarnation problem", as Bakura dubbed it, was pushed out of the way into a corner of his mind. As long as no problems arose because of it, there was no point in worrying about it. So the white-haired yami spent the time getting Shadow acquainted with Ryou. The child warmed up to Ryou much faster than he had with Seto. That was a good sign, Bakura decided. It meant that the boy was no longer quite so weary around strangers. Of course, the fact that this stranger was a close friend of Bakura's couldn't have hurt either.

"Ryou nii-chan, will you pway with me?" Shadow asked, six days after Ryou first arrived, holding up a 100-piece puzzle.

Ryou grinned. "Why sure, Shadow-chan. But where's Bakura?"

"He's tryin' ta work t' come-pew-ta again," Shadow replied, stumbling over the big word. The child sat down on the floor and opened the box, spilling the puzzle pieces all over the carpeted floor.

Ryou winced. "Again?" Last time, his yami had almost broken the monitor by throwing a book at it in frustration.

"Uh-huh. He says he'll get it rwight th's time," the boy said, starting to flip the overturned pieces over while locating the side pieces. "He says not ta disturb him."

"Oh. Ok, then. I just hope he doesn't break anything," Ryou muttered, sitting down on the floor and starting to help Shadow. "Shadow-chan, how about we move to the table? It'll make it easier to put this thing together."

"'k," the little boy replied amiably, scooping the pieces back into the box.

The two were half way through the puzzle when a crash sounded from the computer room upstairs. It was followed by several thumps and…interesting…noises, and muffled yelling.

"Uh-oh," Shadow commented, gazing towards the direction of the sound.

"You're right. It does sound like an uh-oh," Ryou sighed, pushing himself up. He offered Shadow a hand. "C'mon. Let's go see what he's gotten himself into this time."

Shadow nodded and took Ryou's hand, following as the man made his way up the stairs. "Bakura?" Ryou called cautiously. He opened the computer room's door slowly, as though afraid something would jump out and bite him. "Is everything alright?"

"DAMN this blasted piece of equipment! Why won't you do ANYTHING I want you to?" Bakura roared. Ryou raised his eyebrows in an undecipherable expression as he watched his yami hopping around the room on his left leg while holding his right, screaming insults and curses in a variety of languages at the "blasted piece of equipment". Namely, the computer. Well, it used to be a computer, anyway. The monitor was across the room from where it had been. The glass was shattered. There was a dent in the wall above it, suggesting that it had been thrown there with great force. The keyboard was snapped in half and lying in the middle of the floor. The mouse was nowhere in sight, and the computer was on its side, severely dented and missing several parts.

"Onii-chan? I think Otou-sama's gone mad…" Shadow whispered, eyes wide as he gazed in awe around the wreckage.

"Oh, he went mad years ago," Ryou mumbled.

"Nani?"

"Nothing, Shadow-chan. Stay here." Ryou sighed, and carefully stepped into the room. "Bakura? HEY! BAKURA!"

"WHAT!" Bakura screamed, rounding on his hikari. "HAVE YOU COME TO TORTURE ME TOO!"

"Calm down, 'kura," Ryou said calmly, holding up a hand. "Take a couple of deep breaths. Breathe. Go to your happy place. That's good. Now tell me, what happened here?"

"Do you really want to know?" the taller teen asked dryly, running a hand through his hair.

Ryou looked around again. "…good point. Ok, go downstairs and cook lunch. I'll clean up." Bakura nodded wearily, and made for the door, but was stopped when Ryou spoke up again. "On second thought, never mind. I'LL cook lunch. YOU clean this up."

Bakura scowled. "You don't trust me. Fine. Be that way."

"Trust has to be earned, Bakura. Have you earned yours today?" Ryou smirked, leaving the room. He offered a hand to Shadow, but the child shook his head, padding towards Bakura. Ryou smiled softly, not taking any offense, and proceeded down the stairs.

Fuming, Bakura poked the broken keyboard with his toe like it was a rotten carcass, a look of pure disgust etched on his face. "Clean this up, he says. Feh. Why don't I just throw it out the window – where it belongs?" He continued mumbling and cursing under his breath, until he felt something wrap around his legs.

Looking down, he saw Shadow blinking up at him with his large crimson eyes. The child had his arms wrapped around the teen's legs in a hug. "You ok now, 'tou-sama?" the boy asked in his soft voice, cocking his head slightly.

Bakura felt an inevitable smile form on his face, the anger instantly melting away. He swung the child up into his arms. "Yeah, kid, I'm fine."

Shadow grinned. "Seto-ojichan ain't gonna be happy 'bout th's."

"Hmph. Probably not. That's alright, he won't notice. We'll think of something to cover it up. He won't be back until…" the yami suddenly paused, his eyes going wide. "…tonight…" he finished faintly.

"Not happy at all, nope," Shadow said, looking around. "'Pew-ta's all browken 'n t' wall's gotta hole innit."

Bakura gulped. "Um…Shadow-chan, d'you think maybe we can say Ryou did it? Or you? He won't kill you…"

Shadow frowned. "Me can't throw t' Pew-ta inna t' wall. I don 'fink Onii-chan will do that, neither."

"I'm so dead…" Bakura groaned.

"If ya clean up real nice 'n not do nothin' else, mebbe it won't be too bad," Shadow commented matter-of-factly.

"It's worth a shot…" the spirit sighed. "Listen, kiddo, go help Ryou with lunch. I'll get things…cleaned up."

"OK," Shadow said, being the agreeable boy that he is, and left the room after giving Bakura one last hug.

Surveying the damage, Bakura fingered his ring. "Alright, shadow realm. Get ready for a piece of modern technology."

Ryou had just taken the TV dinners out of the microwave when he heard a series of crashing sounds coming from the staircase. Poking his head out the kitchen door, he saw Shadow in a heap at the foot of the bottom step.

"Oh no, Shadow-chan!" the hikari gasped, hurrying over to the boy's side. "Are you all right?"

"Oww…" the child muttered. To Ryou's surprise, he didn't start crying, or even whimpering.

"What happened?" the hikari asked.

"Twripped."

Ryou smiled softly. "Well, at least you're not hurt. Let's go fix lunch." He gathered the child into his arms, balancing him on one hip, and was about to turn back towards the kitchen.

The phone, of course, chose that moment to ring.

Rolling his eyes, Ryou went and picked up the closest receiver. "Hello?"

A familiar voice answered. "Is Seto Kaiba there?"

Ryou blinked. "Yugi? Is that you!"

"Uh…yes. Who…?"

"It's me! Ryou!"

"Ryou!" Yugi sounded surprised. "So that's why nobody picked up the phone! I've called your house at least fifty times!"

"Well, yes. I came to visit Bakura, and found him living in Kaiba's house, so I moved in here," Ryou explained.

"Why is he living at Kaiba's? Did he burn his house down?"

"Surprisingly, no," Ryou grinned, shifting Shadow to his other arm. "How've you been?"

"Hmm. Wonderful. And you?"

"I've been fine! Seto isn't here right now; he'll be back later today. Why were you looking for him? And for me?"

"Well, it's been six years…" Yugi paused for a second. "I was wondering…if you could all come for a sort of…reunion. Y'know, old friends, catching up…?"

"That's a great idea! But where?"

"My house works."

"That's great, Yugi, but where do you live? You do realize that we may not all be on the same continent?" Ryou asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, yeah, but everyone I've called said they could come. And it's only you, Seto, and Bakura left. I've contacted Joey, Marik, Malik, and Tristan."

"Really? I didn't Malik would've wanted to come…"

"He isn't so bad. So, can you come or not? It wouldn't be the same without you."

"You bet! I wouldn't miss this for the world! Bakura's coming too, don't worry."

"So it's just Seto now. That's great! So I'll call again tonight-"

"Actually, I can just tell him. If you don't get a call from us, he's coming."

"Thanks, Ryou! That'd be great! So, it's exactly three weeks from now. I live in America. In Oregon. You know, the state right above California."

"Really? I can tell we have a LOT of catching up to do…"

Yugi laughed. "Yeah. So, it's 71361 SW Nailenrock Way, Beaverton, OR, 70079. I can meet you guys at the airport, if you want. I'm picking up the others, anyway."

"It's alright. We'll make it," Ryou said, remembering how much Shadow disliked strangers. Speaking of which…he felt an evil grin creeping onto his face as he realized that, ohhhh, it was going to be precious seeing the looks on the others' faces when they caught a glimpse of the child.

"OK then! See you soon, Ryou-kun."

"Same to you. Bye, Yugi!"

Ryou hung up just as Bakura came down the stairs. "Who was that?"

"Yugi. We're going to Oregon in three weeks. I'll go buy our tickets later today," Ryou said happily. He handed Shadow to Bakura to free his hands and finish lunch.

Bakura swung Shadow up into the air and spun him around several times, before dropping the child onto his shoulders. The boy giggled softly. "Where's Oregon?" the yami asked.

"In the United States of America."

"Oh…" pause. "Where's that?"

A crash was heard as Ryou anime-fell.

Later that afternoon, Seto called to tell them that he won't be home for at least another two weeks, as some unexpected problems have arisen ("YES! I'M SAVED") Ryou told him about Yugi's reunion.

"That sounds interesting. I'll go. As a matter of fact, I'll just go straight to his place. I'll see you guys there, all right?"

Of course it was all right.

So that was why, three weeks later, Ryou, Bakura, and Shadow found themselves on a plane bound for the USA.

Shadow wasn't happy about their current situation. He had been terrified at the airport. There were so many people, and Shadow wasn't known to like people. He had refused to leave the car, his eyes filling up with tears as Bakura tried again and again to convince him to leave. At last, an agreement was negotiated, the terms being that Bakura was to carry the child the whole time, and buy him an ice cream cone (two scoops, chocolate), and Shadow wouldn't fuss.

Shadow had his face buried in Bakura's shoulder the whole time in the airport, only lifting his head long enough to finish the promised ice cream. The boy wouldn't even let Bakura go to the bathroom alone, much to Ryou's amusement.

At long last, they were on the plane. Ryou was able to convince Shadow to let Bakura go. The child contented himself with holding Bakura's hand while snuggled up in Ryou's lap. The hikari felt thankful they had been able to get seats together. He wasn't sure how Shadow would've taken it if he had been forced to sit next to a stranger.

"Onii-chan?" Shadow whispered, two hours into the flight. He didn't seem to like speaking in public, and had barely spoken a word since they'd arrived at the airport.

"Yes, Shadow-chan?" Ryou murmured, careful not to wake Bakura, who had fallen asleep. Ryou couldn't blame him; the yami had spent the whole night packing.

"Where we goin'?"

Ryou sighed. "I've explained at least a hundred times, Shadow-chan…"

Shadow frowned. "We gonna see yer old frwends, rwght?"

"Yes, that's right. Our old friends. We haven't seen each other for years."

"'s Seto-ojichan gonna be there? I miss him…"

Ryou smiled. "Yes, kiddo, Seto'll be there. Go to sleep, okay? It'll be hours before we get there."

"Oh. Okay."

The rest of the trip was pretty smooth sailing. Bakura and Shadow woke up when the meals arrived. The plane meal wasn't great. Bakura refused to touch it, but Shadow ate it like nothing was wrong. Even Ryou couldn't finish. However, by the time the attendant came to take their boxes away, all three were empty. Apparently, Shadow had been hungry.

They spent a few hours watching TV, playing cards, tic-tac-toe, and various games that could be played with a pencil and paper. Ryou got out an atlas and spent some time entertaining both Shadow and Bakura with facts about the world. The attendant brought around chips and soda. The rest of the flight was similarly spent.

When they at last reached Portland International Airport, it was five in the morning. Ryou and Bakura were wide awake, suffering from jet-lag, but Shadow was fast asleep. He had the ability to fall asleep almost anywhere, as long as he felt safe. All the activity on the plane and staying awake for most of the long plane ride must have worn him out.

It took more than an hour to get their luggage and rent a car. Shadow somehow slept through it all. It was two hours before they found Yugi's house. By the time they arrived, it was almost eight in the morning.

"I think this is it," Ryou muttered, checking the address again. "71361. Yup, that's it."

"Nice," Bakura yawned. Cars had a way of putting him to sleep, and staying awake for almost the whole ride on the plane was starting to take its toll on his body.

"Yes, it is nice. Big, anyway. Come on, let's go see if we really found them."

"You go first. If it's not them, I don't want to get out of the car."

"Lazy, aren't we?" Ryou said, rolling his eyes. The hikari got out of the car, went to the door, and pushed the bell.

Almost immediately, the door was flung open, and Yugi stood in front of him. The first thing Ryou noticed was that Yugi had grown. Not a whole lot - Ryou was still taller – but the other hikari was almost as tall as Yami had been. Yugi was a lot more grown up, but innocence still sparkled in his eyes, if only a little more…subdued, now that he was older. His hair was still spiked up. Like Ryou, he had grown to be more manly.

"Ryou!" Yugi cried happily in his still perfect native Japanese, throwing his arms around his old friend. Ryou laughed and hugged him back. "It's great to see you, Yugi!"

"Hey Ryou. Had fun at my place?" Seto appeared behind Yugi with the whole gang trailing after him.

Ryou grinned. "Here's a hint: don't go into the computer room."

Seto groaned. "What's that baka done now?"

"Ryou, it's great to see you!" Marik smiled, yanking his fellow hikari into a hug. Joey gave him a slap on his back that could've broken a bone. Tristan settled for a one armed hug. Malik nodded to him as Tea hugged him in turn.

"So, where's Bakura?" Marik asked.

Ryou looked back. "BAKURA! What's keeping you?"

"Stupid seatbelt's stuck!" the yami called back. "Oh wait, never mind! I got it." The door opened and Bakura stepped out. Going around to the back, he opened the door and leaned in.

"What's he doing? We can get the luggage later," Yugi pointed out.

Ryou exchanged an amused look with Seto. "He's not going for the luggage," Ryou said with a smirk.

"He's not? Then what's he need?" Joey asked, confused.

Bakura drew out of the car at that moment, little Shadow in his arms. The boy was now awake, and had latched onto Bakura's shirt at the sight of so many people he didn't know.

"Who's that?" Marik inquired in an incredulous tone. "You trust BAKURA with a child?"

"I heard that!" Bakura replied. "A lot YOU know anyway!"

Marik grinned in return. ""kura's gotten so-oft"

"But who's the kid? Is he Bakura's?" Yugi asked, still confused.

"Legally," Seto answered vaguely. "Get inside. Poor kid doesn't like strangers at all. You must've had a hell of a time at the airport."

"Too true," Ryou sighed, rubbing his eyes. "He's right, guys, best get inside."

Yugi nodded and left with the group trailing behind him, leaving Seto and Ryou at the door.

Bakura came up to them. "Come on, Shadow-chan, it's alright. They're our friends, remember? Look, here's Seto. Say hi to Seto, ok?"

Shadow looked up and, upon seeing Seto, gave a small smile. "Hawo, Seto-ojichan. I misseded ya."

"Missed you too, Shadow-chan. Come in. And, Shadow, the others are really nice. They won't hurt you, okay?" Seto ruffled the boy's hair affectionately.

Shadow didn't look really convinced, but gave a slight nod. He cuddle back against Bakura as they went into the living room where everyone else was gathered around chips and soda.

Yugi looked up and smiled. "So, who's the little one?"

Bakura grinned, sitting down on an empty couch. Ryou and Seto settled on either side of him. "Oh yes, you'll need to be introduced. Hang on." He looked down. "C'mon, Shadow-chan. It's all right," the spirit whispered, lifting Shadow up and turning him around so that he faced the group. Shadow didn't like it at all, pressing back up against Bakura with a slight whimper.

The others had clearly seen him for a few second, however, and it was enough. Joey chocked on his chips. Marik and his yami looked stunned, staring at the child's turned back. Tristan was craning his neck to get a better look at the boy. Tea looked about to cry, obviously reliving the attack seven years ago. And Yugi…Yugi was staring at the child with a look of wonder upon his face, fingering the Millennium Puzzle that hung around his neck.

"Aww, Shadow-chan, come on. They won't bite," Bakura whispered pleadingly to the boy, running a hand through the boy's messy hair.

Shadow hesitated, and then complied, slowly turning around to face the people in the room, most of whom were still gawking at him.

Bakura grinned proudly. "Everyone, this is Shadow."