A/N: Okay, so I lied...it's not going to be only three parts. The second part ran on for about twenty-three pages, so I had to separate it out and the same is happening with the third part, as well. I didn't intend to write a mini story, but here we are! Realistically, then, it'll be around 5-6 chapters long :) and, towards the end, the rating will definitely be toeing the line of M rather than T, but we'll see! Having said all of that, here's the next installment and thanks for everyone who left a review and is reading! :D
II.
Standing outside the clock tower, Anzu checked her watch a second time, frowning. Where is everyone? Yuugi told us to meet him and Jounouchi here. She glanced beside her at Sugoroku Mutou, Yuugi's grandpa. She had called him earlier to ask if Yuugi had left the shop yet and he had reported that after Jounouchi had showed up, they had promptly left. He had mentioned, however, that at some point last night Jounouchi had his Red-Eyes Black Dragon stolen from some thug in a duel.
"I don't understand," she huffed aloud, crossing her arms. "Yuugi is never one to just bail after making plans. Something must have happened. Maybe we should just go looking for them, grandpa."
"Hmm...What about Ryou?"
"He's already late!" Just as she spoke, she heard someone call out her name and turned around to see Ryou hurrying towards them.
"Oh good, I'm not the only one not here," he said with a relieved smile.
"What took you so long?" Anzu demanded, scowling. "You're a half hour late!"
"Sorry!" He put his hands up in defense, smiling nervously. "I was up all night writing the next part of my campaign for an RPG I'm playing online."
She sighed in exasperation, rubbing her forehead idly. "Well, we need to get going. I think something's happened to Yuugi and Jounouchi."
The three decided to split up with the intention of meeting back up in an hour. Sugoroku headed off one way while Anzu and Ryou headed together in another direction. On edge in spite of herself, Anzu was quiet as she and Ryou made their way through the streets of Domino searching for their friends. Nowhere in the crowds of duelists could they see the familiar spiked hair of Yuugi or the tall, lean form of Jounouchi.
I know they can take care of themselves, Anzu thought, pausing at the end of a street and crossing her arms, but this tournament has gotten way out of hand. God cards, ancient Egyptian tablets...This isn't just about the pharaoh anymore, this is putting both Yuugi and Jounouchi at risk, too.
"Anzu!" Ryou caught her wrist, forcing her to pause. "Look." She glanced down and stiffened to see that he had pulled out his Sennen Ring. "The Ring is reacting to something near."
"Doesn't it only react to other Items?"
"I think so." He frowned as his gaze swept the crowd. Nothing in the group of people seemed unusual. There were several duelists with duel disks strapped onto their wrist mixed in with the average Domino City resident walking with shopping bags. Anzu edged in closer to Ryou, feeling the back of her neck prickle in sudden apprehension. He glanced at her and gave her a comforting smile. "It's okay. I don't think there's anything nearby. Usually the Ring will point out where the Item is with a pendant, but it seems to be only be picking up on energy." He tucked the Ring back into his shirt, his brow furrowing.
Anzu turned her gaze out towards the people again. She caught sight of a trio of menacing men in dark cloaks and sallow faces. They looked like regular hoodlums, but something in their demeanor made her uneasy.
"Bakura doesn't know, either," Ryou added to her in a quiet voice.
"You asked him?"
He lifted a shoulder in a reluctant shrug. "Sometimes it's easier to ask him than try to understand the Sennen Ring myself. I don't like to, though."
She said nothing to this, hunching her own shoulders a bit. It was clear that Ryou knew nothing of what had taken place between her and his other half. She had been overwrought with guilt ever since that day, as if she had cheated on the pharaoh. She had berated herself for this mindset, however, as she knew that he regarded her in the same light as he did Honda or Jounouchi. She had been trying to come to terms with that since Duelist Kingdom.
Even so, she could not help but feel uncomfortable at recognizing how fiercely she had reacted to Bakura's attentions. It still made its way into her mind sometimes and every time she would go hot; and, each time she reacted, she had to remind herself that this was to help the pharaoh and Yuugi. Whatever attraction and interest that had been piqued by her interactions with Bakura had to be laid to rest. He had agreed to work with Yuugi to collect the Items and that was all she needed from him.
The far too curious inner voice in her head, however, could not stop asking questions about him. Who is he? What are his motives? Why is he this way? Compared to the pharaoh, who was caught up in an obsessive self-identity crisis, Bakura seemed an enigma. Neither of the men were straightforward, which gave Anzu little satisfaction in knowing that she seemed to hold an attraction for complicated males.
According to the magazine I was reading this morning, Anzu thought as she and Ryou made their way to where they would be meeting Sugoroku, girls who go after the emotionally distant men are trying to fix them up. Which is ridiculous. I don't want a boyfriend where I have to fix his mental issues for him. I want someone that is confident, has some real-life skills, and can handle himself.
The realization that Anzu was preoccupying herself with listing off the qualities she wanted in a boyfriend during a life-threatening duel tournament forced her to stomp down on that particular inner dialogue.
After meeting Sugoroku, the trio eventually found Jounouchi and, after his duel with Insector Haga, made their way to the aquarium to find the next duelist according to his duel disk.
"Jounouchi, would you slow down?" Anzu called after him as he raced through the crowds of people in anticipation of a duel. "That idiot...what's the point of us even being out here if he's just going to keep running off?"
Taking note of her tone, Sugoroku wisely said, "I'll catch up with him." For an older man, Yuugi's grandpa was surprisingly quick on his feet. Having once been an archaeologist that had spent hours digging through tunnels and sweating in the desert, though, it should not have been so shocking.
"This is the last duel tournament I'm going to," she griped under her breath. Noticing that Ryou was no longer beside her, she paused and turned back to see Ryou staring back behind him, his face obscured by the mane of white hair. "Ryou? What's wrong? Are you coming with?"
"No...," he slowly said and when he turned back to face her, she instinctively took a step back in alarm to see the sharp features of Bakura. He had pulled open his shirt and had the Ring in hand. One of the attachments was pointing, glowing ominously. "The Sennen Item is coming. You and I are going to wait for it."
"What?" Anzu stared at him blankly. "Why do I have to be here? What use will I be?"
He laughed his rough, unpleasant laugh and took hold of her arm, forcing her to draw close to his side. "You're the one who made the bargain for the pharaoh, so you get to stay here." He glanced to the side and Anzu followed his gaze. It was the same men she had noticed earlier that she had dismissed as common thugs. Without thinking, she leaned into Bakura, who still had a hold of her arm. "Wise girl," he observed, his gaze falling back on her. "Those are no ordinary men. They must be the ones the Ring picked up on before."
"I'm not going to sit here and wait for some lunatic with a Sennen Item to kill me, Bakura," she hissed in an undertone and attempted to pull out of his grasp. It was futile, though, as his fingers only tightened threateningly.
"You'll find I have my ways of dealing with common mortals." In a moment, he flipped open what appeared to be a wicked pocket knife from his pocket. Anzu froze, gaping at him in horror. Chuckling, he returned the blade and released her arm as a motorcycle roared past them. "It looks like our prey is here."
"Great," Anzu muttered sarcastically, rubbing her arm where his fingers had pinched her painfully. As he made his way towards the group, she grudgingly followed. It was not as if she had a choice. The group was now blocking her way into the aquarium. If she tried to defy Bakura, she would have to walk past them and she doubted Bakura would let her get very far.
Bakura said something that garnered the notice of the group and the man on the motorcycle. As she came to stand a few feet behind Bakura, Anzu inspected the lean form of the caramel-skinned male. He was attractively built with pale-blonde hair and deep lavender eyes. There was an arrogance in him that reminded her of Kaiba – self-assured and confident without any regard for those around him. Attached to his belt, she noticed, was a golden object with the same Sennen Eye as Bakura's Ring and Yuugi's Puzzle. This, she surmised, must be the one that Bakura's Ring had picked up on.
His lavender eyes slid towards her as she paused next to Bakura. "Hmm, interesting," he murmured, eyeing her thoughtfully before returning back to Bakura. "Fine. Since this is about the Sennen Items, let's talk over there on the docks."
As Anzu hesitated on the threshold, debating on whether to make a run for it, Bakura advised in a quiet voice, "I wouldn't." She shot him a filthy glare that earned her a smirk from him. Tucking his hands in his pockets, he followed the other male and Anzu was not far behind.
"I suppose introductions are in order," the man said as he stopped at the edge of a dock. He was now grasping the Sennen Item, his other hand propped against his waist. "My name is Malik Ishtar. As you mentioned, this is one of the Sennen Items. I hold the Sennen Rod. It has been in the Ishtar family for thousands of years and is a symbol of our status as tomb guardians."
"I don't care about your family," Bakura dismissed. "You'll give that Item to me or die here." Anzu had to raise her eyebrows at his words, impressed despite the situation by his blunt manner of speaking. Not many men could open up a conversation in such a way without fearing the consequences. Even Jounouchi was a little more subtle.
"What reason do you have for the Items?" Malik asked him, seemingly unconcerned by the threat on his life. "Are you collecting them?"
"The one who wields all Sennen Items will gain dark power from the stone tablet in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Only then will I be able to access that ancient power."
"You seem to be missing a key element." Malik smiled slightly. "When I was a boy, the prophecy was transcribed on my back as part of my initiation into the tomb guardians. True, you need the power of the Sennen Items, but you also need the three stone tablets of the gods. But, in a modern context, that refers to the god cards. I have two such cards – the third was stolen from me. You will need those and the Items in order to access the tablet."
"Another round of collecting?" Bakura muttered, a scowl of petulance briefly contorting his handsome features.
Ishtar..., Anzu repeated in her head, frowning. That's the same name as the woman we met at the museum!
"Your sister," she spoke up, "she's Isis Ishtar, isn't she?"
"So, she's already in Domino," Malik said with an ugly twist of his mouth. "Leave it to Isis to always be one step ahead. Yes, she's my sister. And she has the other god card and, in fact, the Sennen Tauk." He shrugged suddenly, eyeing the Rod in his hand. "To be frank, I don't care about the Sennen Items. All I want are the god cards. I expect Isis to have done something with Obelisk and I plan to win it in this tournament. Either she has given it to Yuugi or is planning to use it herself. Once I get them, I'll have no use for the Sennen Rod." He returned his attention to Bakura. "If you agree to help me, I'll gladly give you the Rod once I've won back Obelisk."
Bakura frowned and aside from his expression, it did not appear as if anything that Malik had said affected him. His hands were still in his pockets and he was still surveying Malik with the same intent gaze he had when they first arrived at the docks.
"Well?" Bakura asked Anzu suddenly, glancing to her. "Does Yuugi have the card?"
"Isis didn't give him anything," she answered, shaking her head. "She showed us the stone tablet and told us that the god cards would be here in the tournament, but that's all."
"My guess is that she gave it to Kaiba if she doesn't have it anymore," Malik remarked. "The Sennen Tauk has the ability to show her the future and would have shown her who it would benefit her most to have Obelisk. It would explain why he's so keen to start this tournament."
There's something else he's hiding, Anzu realized, frowning over at the male. For one thing, why is he here? He has the Sennen Rod, shows up where Jounouchi and I are, and has purposely not been mentioning his plans for the pharaoh or why he wants the god cards. It's clear he's trying to access that power from the tablet just like Bakura, but he hasn't said why. She looked up at Bakura and found that he, too, had a thoughtful, albeit suspicious expression upon his face. He noticed it, too. I can tell he doesn't want to help him, but wants the Sennen Item. What is he going to do?
"Now, do we have a deal or not – what did you say your name was?"
"I didn't," Bakura replied, "but you can call me Bakura."
"And Anzu," Malik added, smiling too widely at Anzu. There was a glint, a subtle flash in the Sennen Eye of the Rod and her mind went briefly fuzzy, as if a fog had fallen over her.
Abruptly, she seemed to fall back into her body and she was crushed against Bakura, his arm painfully tight around her. Wincing, she tried to raise her head, but it was swimming and she briefly felt as though she might be ill. When her gaze cleared, she saw the Sennen Ring was glowing on Bakura's chest.
"This one is mine," Bakura was saying, breaking into her disoriented thoughts. "I have my own need for her. You'll think twice before doing that in front of me again, Malik."
"If you want the Sennen Rod, I would suggest you think twice about breaking my mind control again," was the retort he received. Malik appeared annoyed at whatever it was that Bakura had done and Anzu, catching up in the conversation, could well assume what had just happened. While she was grateful to Bakura for intercepting the Sennen Rod's control, she did not like the way he had spoken of her towards this man. "I'll give you time to think on this, Bakura. You have five minutes." He flicked a glance towards Anzu before stepping away, as if she were the reason he was now in a foul mood.
"I don't trust him," Anzu immediately said, still fighting off the wave of nausea that had hit her.
"He isn't meant to be trusted," Bakura told her dismissively, "he is meant to be used. He clearly wants you for something, so you'll play along as long as needed until I can get my hands on the Sennen Rod."
"My life is not yours to bargain with, Bakura!" she snapped angrily, forgetting to just whom she was speaking with at the moment. At another time, Bakura's temper might have terrified her, but compared to Malik, she felt that he was the safer option at the moment. Whatever power Malik had with the Sennen Rod could be used to control her into walking off a building without being conscious of even dying. This rattled her more than she would have liked to admit.
"Our deal, girl, is that you would help me if I agreed to help the pharaoh."
"But he's obviously trying to kill Yuugi or something! I didn't agree to that."
"Quiet," he hissed and while she settled into silence, inwardly she was still fuming. "You seem to forget that I need the pharaoh and Yuugi alive. I have no intentions on letting Malik kill Yuugi before I get my hands on the pharaoh. We'll go along with his little plan, but for our own purposes."
"And what about me?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Malik isn't going to kill you. I need you later. Even if the pharaoh isn't interested, Yuugi has a soft spot for you. I can use that to my advantage." Anzu flushed and made to open her mouth to retort, but he had raised a finger in warning. "Enough, girl. I'll keep an eye on Malik." Suddenly, he smirked. "And I have a plan that will gain Malik's trust. Play along and I promise to keep your pharaoh safe – and the Sennen Items."
Anzu pursed her lips and raised her chin to meet Bakura's gaze head on. She was unsure if she trusted him, but knew that she had no other choice. She had put herself in this situation when she had compromised herself with Bakura. She wished, now more than ever, that she had kicked every piece of curiosity she had regarding Bakura out the window and had gone on in her life peacefully. She wished she had listened to Ryou when he had warned her about making deals with Bakura.
But then, she had never been very good at keeping herself out of trouble.
"Time's up," Malik called to the pair, stepping back towards them.
"If you're after Yuugi," Bakura drawled lazily, turning away from Anzu, "then the only way you'll get to him is through his friends."
"I'm aware." The lavender gaze shifted onto Anzu, who cringed under his too-familiar stare.
"She might be one of Yuugi's friends, but you'll get far more done by threatening Katsuya." Bakura pulled out the pocket knife from his jeans, popping out the blade with a smile bordering on madness. "And I have a way of making sure that you'll have an in with him and the others once we end up in the finals."
Before either Anzu or Malik could stop him, he had slashed open his arm with a quick gesture and tossed the blade into the water behind him. Malik's lip curled in distaste while Anzu went pale with horror. She grabbed at Bakura's shoulder just as his body slumped against hers. When she looked down, however, it was Ryou collapsed against her.
She heard Malik's footsteps and swung a wide-eyed stare to him as he knelt next to her. Pulling out a handkerchief, he tied it around the gash in Ryou's arm. It looked worse than it was due to how jaggedly Bakura had cut it. "Let's go, then," Malik said with a frown, "before his host bleeds out. And play your part or else you get the Rod."
Flinching, Anzu nodded numbly. She did not need him to explain to what he was referring in regards to the Sennen Rod.
Anzu leaned against the wall, listening to the excited chatter of her friends. Her eyes, however, were on the pharaoh. He had approached her shortly after Kaiba's blimp had lifted off and had asked her if she had any lasting effects from the mind control that Malik had performed on her during his duel with Jounouchi. She had reassured him that she was fine, but had felt the lingering stare on her face. After seeing Bakura walk into the arena as a finalist and introducing Malik as 'Namu' as a friend, she knew that she had fallen too far down the rabbit hole of deception. Stuck between Bakura and Malik, there was no way for her to pull herself out of the position she had put herself in.
But it's not just me, either, she realized, at last pulling her gaze from the pharaoh's face that looked so like Yuugi's. The pharaoh must realize that he is putting all of us at risk, too, just in the pursuit of his memories. I know that Yuugi would help him no matter what, but Jounouchi and the others don't know the truth about this tournament. Kaiba clearly is just after the god cards like Malik.
Pushing off from the wall, she called out, "I'm going to go check on Ryou to make sure he's doing okay."
"Good idea, Anzu," Honda said. "That guy gets himself into shit wherever he goes. I still can't believe he got attacked and cut up like that."
Ignoring the new conversation, Anzu exited Yuugi's room and made her way down the corridor, holding her arms to her torso. She shivered and then, a moment later, her entire body was wracked with trembles. Pausing, she hugged herself tightly for a moment. I'm scared. What if this doesn't help him? What if I lose Yuugi because I helped Malik? The thought had been running through her mind ever since she had been roused from her mind control. The sight of Yuugi and Jounouchi drenched had unsettled her.
While she had come to respect the unspoken truth of where she lied in the pharaoh's mind, it did not mean she cared less for her friend. She and Yuugi had been close friends before Jounouchi and Honda had ever entered their lives as anything but delinquent bullies. Her own complications with Bakura and the pharaoh aside, she did not want to lose her friends. They were more important to her than a stone tablet and any attraction she felt for an ancient tomb robber. She certainly had no intention of putting that above what was tangible and present. She only hoped that the pharaoh would come to realize that, too.
Giving herself a shake, she continued down the corridor to Ryou's door. Tapping softly, she opened the door to see Bakura lounging comfortably on a couch near the window, his arms slung on the back of it. Shutting the door, she released a small sigh as she stepped into the room further. She was unsure of his mood. When she had seen him in the arena, he had been emanating a cold fury that at first she had thought was directed at her, but upon second glance, had been shot towards Malik. Clearly their partnership was already going poorly.
"I need to talk to you," she said to him, moving to stand in front of the couch. He tipped his head back, coolly appraising her. "Yuugi and Jounouchi almost died on the pier today if not for Kaiba. You said that you wouldn't let Malik get to Yuugi!"
"Nice to see you're not too concerned about you almost dying, as well," he commented with a sneer.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "In case you don't realize it, I'm not exactly conscious when he controls me! I don't remember anything from on the pier. Nobody said that I was in danger, just that Yuugi and Jounouchi were put in a duel match against each other. They almost drowned to death."
Bakura snorted, turning back outside the window. "Spare me. Yuugi gets a bigger hard on for seeing Jounouchi in danger than you otherwise he would have mentioned it. But if you must know, you had a pill in your mouth with a deadly poison inside it. Lucky for you, the pharaoh's predictable. Yuugi doesn't like playing death games like he does."
Anzu sank onto the couch next to Bakura, feeling as if he had thrown a punch into her stomach. A poison pill? Why didn't anyone tell me? she wondered. After recalling Bakura's other words, she felt the sting of the insult. It had been going this way for some time, ever since Yuugi and Jounouchi had become best friends. While Honda and Anzu were often sidelined and put in as much danger, Yuugi was more likely to be concerned for Jounouchi's well-being than her own. Or rather, the pharaoh would put more effort into protecting him. Most times, she found herself with Ryou or Honda and either of the boys would be keeping her safe.
It had, she admitted, created a type of dichotomy in her heart.
She valued her friends and wanted to help the pharaoh and Yuugi as much as possible. At the same time, however, she could not help the feelings of bitterness and had yet to tell either of them of her work with Bakura. Somehow, she felt that the pharaoh would not approve. Yuugi was more understanding and forgiving. Even so, she knew that she would have to tell them eventually. While she trusted Bakura to keep to his word as he had given her no reason to think otherwise, she was not so sure that Malik would not try to use him for his own nefarious reasons.
"You said you'd watch him," she quietly said at last.
"He is proving to be an annoyance," was Bakura's reply. Looking up, she caught the same glint of anger in his dark eyes. "I made it clear what I thought of his meddling with what's mine."
Anzu cast him a puzzled stare, but chose not to address his comment on what he considered 'his.'
She was exhausted, drained from the stress of the constant threat of her friends' lives being in danger and the effort of working with Bakura and Malik – or rather, Malik. At the moment, Bakura was the least of her worries and had given her less trouble. Malik was the issue for both of them. She had no way of combating his Sennen Rod and while she knew that Bakura could, that required her to remain close to him. While Bakura's plan of injuring himself had worked well to get Jounouchi and Yuugi's trust in Malik playing as Namu, it had cost Anzu her safeguard against Malik's Sennen Rod. If Bakura had remained near, she might not have had the issue of standing with a pill in her mouth during that duel.
"Isn't there something you can do about him?" Anzu queried desperately, hating the pleading note her voice had taken. "You got Pegasus's Sennen Eye without bargaining. Can't you just do the same?"
He cracked out a laugh. "Interesting way of putting it. If you mean torturing him and stealing the Sennen Rod like I did with Pegasus, I could. Something tells me that Malik has a better understanding of his Item's power than Pegasus, though, and I have only barely tapped into the Sennen Ring. No, the easiest way to get it without getting Ryou killed in the process is to play his game."
"And what about when he tries to kill Yuugi?" she persisted. "And if he tries to kill you in the process?"
"You seem less and less concerned about the pharaoh these days." He smirked, shifting suddenly so that he was facing her on the couch, one leg drawn up on the cushion. "You might want to get your priorities straight, girl."
"They are straight," she informed with narrowed eyes. "He's putting both Yuugi and Jounouchi in danger all for the sake of his memories. He shouldn't be dragging everyone into this." She looked away from him, a troubled frown pulling her lips down. She was shivering again, instinctively feeling a dark foreboding looming in their future. She briskly rubbed her arms in an attempt to calm herself and briefly pressed her palms against her face to sigh out a breath.
"Pull yourself together. You're of no use to me crying."
"I'm not crying!" she snapped, lowering her hands. "And even if I was going to, I think I deserve it after the hell that I was put through today!"
"Then go to the pharaoh and tell him to handle Malik by himself," Bakura said indolently. "It should be easy for you – or maybe you're afraid he'll find out about us?" The smirk that curled his lips was positively devilish. Anzu stiffened, her eyes spitting fire warningly.
"There is no 'us.' He would know that."
"Would he?" he taunted. "Is he going to know that when he finds out you've been kissing the enemy?"
"You're not – that wasn't – it's not like that and you know it!" she sputtered out, her face going hot with shame.
He laughed at her and when he leaned forward, capturing her chin to tip her head up, she tensed at his touch. "Oh," he murmured, "I think it is." Instinctively, she made to back away, but his other hand had left the back of the couch and had the back of her head cupped, holding her in place. After a few seconds of resistance, her hands pressing against his chest, she subsided at the pressure of his mouth.
It did not take long for the kiss to turn heated and dredged up incredibly complicated emotions within Anzu. In moments, he had pulled her on his lap, her fingers were in his hair and his mouth was feasting on her neck, nipping at it with sharp teeth. His hands were beneath her shirt, rough palms against smooth skin. He was, she realized, wholly intoxicating. When his mouth met hers again, she uttered a soft moan and clung to him harder, pulling slightly at his hair. With a deep-throated growl, he had flipped her onto her back on the couch and she gasped slightly when his hand swept up the outer side of her thigh as he fitted himself between her legs.
The vulnerable position made her aware of just who she was engaging with, but her mind was having trouble calculating why this was a problem. And, as he kissed her again, his tongue finding hers, it was as if she had been mind-controlled again. Whatever misgiving she had considered a moment ago was lost and she gripped his hips with her thighs, clinging to him.
"Tell me," he said quietly in her ear when he drew away a bit, "what you would call this, then, little Anzu?"
She drew in an unsteady breath and blinked up at him, unable to find an intelligible reply. This, somehow, seemed to be an answer in itself. He laughed lowly, darkly, and when he kissed her, she felt what little will and resistance that remained melting away. She was quite willing to succumb to him right then.
She could feel the warmth of his body heat above her and responded hungrily to his touches. His hands seemed to be everywhere, stroking, running along skin that burned at his touch. Her own body strained upwards towards his, trying to fill in every space between them. There was no mistaking the desire that coursed through her, no mistaking his own arousal, and she quite forgot where she was or what their conversation had just been.
A sudden knock startled her out of the embrace that was quickly turning to a different direction. "Anzu? Ryou?" Honda called out. "You in there?"
Bakura swore under his breath and Anzu scrambled from beneath him, getting to her feet and smoothed her clothes and hair out just as Honda entered. "Hey!" she shakily greeted, smiling brightly. She hoped he could not see how warm and sweaty she was feeling. She felt unbearably hot, as though she had just walked out of a sauna.
Honda, however, seemed oblivious to what had just taken place. "We're going to get some food," he told her, thrusting his thumb towards the corridor. "You coming? How's it going, Ryou? Feeling okay?"
With all the warmth of Ryou's typical voice, Bakura answered, "Doing brilliant! It's just a scratch, really."
"You haven't been wearing your Sennen Ring again, have you? That thing makes you go all funny."
"Oh, no, it's fine!" He pasted on another warm smile and stood up. "Where are the others?"
"They're already heading out there. I hear Kaiba's got some top-notch steak here." Honda rubbed his hands together eagerly, grinning.
"Let's get going then." Honda turned to leave the room and Bakura slid a look to Anzu, his mouth curving mischievously. Anzu felt her heart stutter as he added in a low voice, "And next time, there won't be an interruption."
End Part II.