Chapter Nineteen

"Bakura! Akeno!"

Bakura stopped dead and gritted his teeth. Why were the gods against him..? He turned to see Tea running up to them, a dopey smile on her face. "Hey guys!" she beamed. "I was just heading over to Yugi's. Do you wanna come?"

"No," Bakura said, not even bothering to make his Ryou act sound convincing. She, of course, didn't notice.

"Oh, alright." Tea seemed disappointed.

"We're just kind of busy," Akeno offered.

"Is that why you have suitcases?" Tea asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

"Oh, well, I…"

"She's moving in with me," Bakura said impatiently.

Tea looked surprised. "Wow, you two sure are moving fast."

"No! It's just today... I found out my landlord evicted me. Ryou suggested that I stay with him."

"Evicted? That's horrible! Let me know if there's anything I can do."

Akeno turned away sheepishly. "Yeah, sure, thanks."

Tea leaned in towards her and giggled, "That's probably convenient for you two though- I notice those clothes look awfully familiar..."

She blushed. "N-no, it's not like-"

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me!" she laughed. "But of course, it won't be much of a secret once you move in!"

Akeno ducked her head, hiding the red in her face. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear...

"Oh, and Akeno," Tea whispered. "I'm not sure if it's a fashion statement or something but if you walk around wearing a collar, people will start to suspect that you and Ryou-"

"Kinkfest, I got it, thanks Tea," Akeno said annoyed.

The brunette merely grinned. "I'll see you guys later. Have fun."

Shoot me now. Akeno held back a sigh. As if I wasn't humiliated enough…

Bakura growled under his breath and roughly grabbed Akeno's arm, making her start walking. She didn't bother complaining about his tight grip or that he was walking too fast. I'm just going to have to put up with him.

There was only one bedroom in Ryou's apartment. It was small but comfortable; Ryou didn't have much furniture in the room so it wasn't cramped. Bakura had ordered Akeno to put her things away in the drawers Ryou didn't use. Her clothes were able to fit nicely in three out of six drawers- Ryou seemed to use his closet more than his dresser. She had decided to bring her school uniform in the hope that Bakura would allow her to continue her education. It was lying on the bed, ready to be stored in the closet so that it'd remain wrinkle-free. She kept her other items in a bag and stored it under the bed. She noticed there was another item stored there, a medium sized case. Curious, she pulled it out.

The case was black, devoid of all fingerprints and cool to the touch. It was a lot heavier than she expected. She turned it on its side, ready to open it when she saw it had a small lock. It wasn't like the typical kind that needed a key or even a numerical combination- it had five letters across it that could be rotated to form a password. That's a bit much, isn't it? There must be something valuable inside… Hearing footsteps, she quickly slid it back under the bed and stood up, dusting herself off.

"Are you finished yet?" Bakura asked in a tone that told her it was in her best interest to say 'yes'.

She nodded.

"Good." The almost neon pink uniform drew his attention. "You attend Domino High School?"

"Yes, it was the closest in the area. Is… that okay?"

He smirked. "It's actually convenient. My host goes there as well."

"You mean I'm still going to school?"

Bakura resisted rolling his eyes at her stupidity. "Of course. Keeping up this ruse may be bothersome but it's necessary. Don't you think it'd be unusual if you suddenly dropped out as soon as you became involved with me?"

"I guess you're right."

"You guess?" he said indignantly, taking a step towards her. "I am always right- you had better get used to it."

"Yes, I'm sorry, master. Please forgive me," she said bowing in a traditional manner.

He seemed to accept this for he walked out of the room. She looked up. This is so degrading… Akeno hung her uniform in the closest and hurried after him. Just as she opened her mouth to ask what she should do, Bakura turned to her with a leash in hand. "I have business to attend to. You will stay here," he said, clipping it onto her collar without explanation.

Akeno raised her brows. "What are you-?" she started but was roughly cut off as he yanked the leash towards him, tightening her collar.

"Do you think you have the authority to question me, girl?" he growled.

She desperately grasped at the chain biting into her neck and cutting off her air supply. On instinct, she tried to pull away from him but that only made the chain tighten. She gritted her teeth and reluctantly took a step towards him. He in turn took a step back, keeping the tension on the chain. He laughed at her predicament, relishing every moment of her struggle .

"Has my little pet learned her lesson?" he cooed, a sadistic glint still in his eyes.

Tears falling over her eyes, she painfully nodded. He smirked and abruptly let go of the leash, causing her to fall to the ground. She gasped for breath as he approached her. He bent over and tipped up her chin so that she was looking at him. He paused a moment to take in her tears and shaking form; what he enjoyed seeing most was the fear in her eyes. They both knew he was her master and for however long he decided to keep her around, she was completely at his mercy.

"As I said, I'm going out," he said softly, pausing to see if she would speak up. She didn't and he smirked.

Bakura stood and patted her on the head. "Wait up for me," he said walking towards the door. He stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder, "I trust you won't try to run?"

She whimpered and shook her head. Bakura grinned seeing the fear in her eyes. "Good girl."

Bakura walked down the semi-crowded streets of Domino, his chin up in a haughty manner. He was able to go completely unnoticed- to passerby, he was one of them, normal, with the sole purpose of going about his business. They were half right- he was going about his business however, it was far from normal- his goal was to gain ultimate power, destroy all who opposed him and dominate the world. The first step to achieving this destiny of his was to acquire a few select artifacts and conveniently enough, he knew of one person that possessed two. He first had to locate his prey, one who before had sought him out and now ironically had become the hunted. He felt the cool touch of the Millennium Ring under his shirt, reassuring him of his imminent victory over his prey.

First, he needed a remote place to make his move. He didn't want this to become a citywide spectacle; that surely would spoil his plans. The first place that came to mind that was guaranteed to be vacant was the warehouse where he had sealed part of his soul into a piece of the Millennium Puzzle. Even though he had only been there once, he found his way there quickly and without any difficulty.

The warehouse had nearly burnt down that day, when Bandit Keith went mad and accidentally caused a fire. It had nearly killed the pharaoh's vessel which would have infuriated Bakura seeing as he was the only one worthy of ridding the earth of that filthy excuse for a king, not to mention that he had been there only minutes before. The runt, obviously, survived which only furthered his belief that he was destined to destroy both him and his parasitic partner.

After the fire, the warehouse doors had been boarded up and a danger sign was hung on them. Bakura almost effortlessly kicked the doors in and waited for the dust to clear before stepping inside.

"This should be sufficient," Bakura said to himself while looking around.

Nearly everything was blackened by fire and still an unpleasant burnt smell hung in the air. One side of the dueling platform was horribly scorched as well as the wooden ceiling beams above it, which caused part of the roof to cave in, letting in a few rays of the setting sun. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small object that he had kept hidden ever since he had acquired it. It was a small golden ball bearing the Eye of Horus and curiously enough, had feint traces of dried blood in the grooves of the eye. He smirked as if recalling a fond memory and held the golden eye up to the light as if admiring it. His features froze as he felt eyes watching him.

"I have been waiting for you, Thief King, for over five millennia."

Akeno sat there staring at the door for some time, letting her heartbeat return to its normal rhythmic thumping. I must be crazy. How can I live like this? He's a sadistic controlling bastard who has no regard for my well-being...in fact, he enjoys inflicting pain. She growled and stood up. She loosened the collar and defiantly threw the leash on the floor as if Bakura was there to witness it. Although she was outraged, part of her was hoping that he was far away and unable to burst through the door and punish her.

She sank into the couch cushions and shut her eyes with a heavy sigh. "I can't just take this lying down," she said aloud. Tilting her head back, she cracked her eyes to stare at the ceiling. This is hopeless though. I'm not running for Ryou's sake but I can't even save myself, let alone him! Akeno sighed again and let herself fall sideways on the couch so that she was lying down with her feet hanging off.

I need a way to defend myself in case he goes too far… Too late, she thought dryly. There's no way I can physically overpower him, unless maybe he's in a body cast. And honestly, I barely know what I'm up against so I doubt I could outmaneuver him in a tense situation; it doesn't help that I normally panic either… There has to be some way! I can't sit here and wait for him to put whatever plan he has for me into motion. I don't even want to know what it involves…

Akeno gasped as a sudden thought struck her and she bolted upright. "Oh that's it!" she said excitedly, "My soul was able to overcome his before! It destroyed the part of his soul that resided in mine! That has to mean something, even if he was just caught off guard that time! And hell, it scared that Malik half to death!"

She stood and started pacing excitedly. "Bakura said my soul was innocent or something and that its power is triggered by intense fear… That must be it; I was scared when Malik tried to take over my mind and also, when Bakura acted like he was going to kill me. I just need to be able to use it at will."

But what good will that do? Sure, you get a chance to run away but, hell, you have one now! What's stopping you now, huh?

"Ryou," she said softly.

Her excitement left her and she sat back down, thinking hard. Maybe if I get strong enough, I could get rid of the rest of his soul or weaken it enough so that Ryou can take control. It's all a theory, and one based off of virtually nothing too, but, it's all I have to go on. It's my best shot.

Akeno stood, still mulling over her 'plan'. "I need to scare myself."

A moment passed with her thinking of ways to frighten her soul awake but nothing came. She sighed and lowered her head. "It's like trying to tickle yourself, it just doesn't work."

She refused to abandon her idea so quickly. "I can't go and ask random people to scare me, can I? I'd look insane! 'Hello Mr. Bakura's landlord,'" she started, holding up her hand like a phone, "'If it isn't too much trouble, could you send someone up with a chainsaw and hockey mask and have them try to lop my head off a few times? You can? That's great!'"

She frowned. She didn't want Bakura knowing about what she planned to do. For one, it kills the element of surprise and two, he'd probably kill her.

"I need an outside force to scare me but won't ask questions or have me committed," she stated aloud. "What scares people? Better yet, what scares me?"

Akeno began pacing again. "Well, there's Bakura, but he's out of the question, and there's clowns and they're definitely out of the question… Malik was pretty scary but I don't have the Shadow Realm Hotline so he's also out… Spiders might work but… that might be overkill; at least the others were rational fears."

Suddenly an idea struck her. "Horror movies!" she said as if yelling Bingo, "Well not the cheesy ones but maybe a legit scary one."

She looked around Ryou's main room till she found where he kept his DVD collection. They were mainly documentaries and the occasional action movie; she giggled when she saw that he owned a romantic comedy. But no horror. I don't blame him when he's living in one.

"Maybe… there's one on TV." It was a long shot but worth a try.

Ryou only had basic channels so her search for a movie was short-lived. She sighed and turned it off. Maybe I can convince Bakura into renting a movie... Doubtful. She moved her gaze from the black screen to the window; the sun was starting to set. A yawn escaped her, making her suddenly feel tired. Her eyelids grew heavier as she resisted sleep but soon closed. She stretched out on the sofa, then, due to its lack of legroom, curled into a comfortable fetal position.

"I'm not… going to sleep," she said to herself. "…just relaxing."

She forced her eyes open, as if to demonstrate that she was in control of herself and able to stay awake. However, almost immediately after she shut her eyes, she was sound asleep.

AN: Okay, so this was particularly hard to get through. I didn't want the plot to jump ahead suddenly; I'd like it to be a gradual increase but not slow or boring. I hope you like this chapter, I tried making sure it wasn't an extreme cliffhanger since I'm buried under a pile of schoolwork I need to do and don't know when I'll next update. I always want to get the next one out ASAP but it just doesn't happen. (which might benefit the story since I won't rush through it…) THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT REVIEWED! It spurred me along in writing A LOT. I always appreciate and love any feedback so thanks again. (excuse any typos and grammatical errors!)

I had a request for a picture of Akeno. The quality isn't that great because I had to use my camera. Oh well. So here it is (blushes) :

i598 . photobucket albums/tt69/xxlvowlxx/IMG_41661 . jpg

i598 . photobucket albums/tt69/xxlvowlxx/IMG_41811 . jpg

You have to remove the space before and after the 3 periods. Sorry, but it wouldn't let me keep the whole http otherwise.