A/N: Yes, this took long. As always, I have an explanation and/or an excuse but I doubt you care as long as I update eventually. Which I tend to do. I'm always apologizing about not updating these days… I should start writing more often just so I wouldn't have to feel guilty xD …and to give you more updates.

Shattered Crescent

Part Eight

Ryou sighed while scribbling on a page he should have been writing on. He had sat down to write and found himself thinking about Bakura, instead of why would someone want to collect limbs. Realizing that he was distracted from his work by someone he had thought to be a pain in the backside wasn't easy. His work had been top priority since he had been hired.

"Alright, concentrate…" Ryou stopped trying to draw a flower; the poor thing looked deformed as it was. "'The reason the limbs go missing is'," he muttered as he wrote but his brain had decided to take a day off and nothing came to mind. Ryou stared at the paper, the pen ready to write in case something popped up. Friday evening passed his mind but that had nothing to do with anything.

Someone leaning over his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. Ryou jumped and whirled his head around to see Honda staring at his doodles. He blushed a little and turned the paper only to find that he had doodled on the other side as well.

"Um, Honda, why… uh… Is there something you wanted?" Ryou asked while trying to ignore the confused frown on his friend's face.

Honda shrugged, straightening himself. "Not really… You just looked a bit out of it so I thought I'd check up on you."

"Oh, ok." Ryou smiled. The other looked at him like he had just grown an extra hand on his head. "What?"

"Ok, now you have to tell me what's going on," Honda told. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile like that."

Ryou tilted his head, the smile coming down a notch but not fading. "Like what?"

"You know, like… that!" Honda tried to explain, pointing at Ryou's face. "Like you don't have a care in the world despite how you're supposed to be writing about some crazy, homicidal guy." A realization lit Honda's face, and for some reason, Ryou felt wary.

"Uh, Honda?"

"Mikazuki Bakura, eh?"

Ryou's face turned red. "What- How did you...?"

"You wrote his name on the corner of the page," Honda gestured towards the paper lying on Ryou's desk. Ryou glanced at it with wide eyes and moved his hand to cover it.

"I… I just wanted to see how his name looked like in my handwriting…" he mumbled, the explanation sounding stupid even in his own ears. He wasn't looking at Honda, too embarrassed, but had he been paying attention, he would have seen the next question coming and it wouldn't have made his thoughts wander into territories he didn't want them to wander yet.

"Did you two..?"

Ryou coughed and his head snapped up to stare at Honda. "What makes you think we did?" he asked and added before Honda could answer, "Don't answer that. And no, we did not."

Honda shrugged. "Whatever you say." Ryou glared at him so Honda raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I just assumed that you got laid but knowing you, I shouldn't have. You probably just had a nice talk with him and that's why you're so…" Honda waved at the general direction of Ryou's face. "…cheery. Because, you know, you're weird like that."

"Honda…" Ryou warned and the other backed away.

"Ok, I'll leave you to your daydreaming. But if you're going out, I want to meet this guy."

Ryou's smile took its time forming. "If you're sure… You might not like him, at first, but…" He tried out a laugh but it didn't work the way he would have liked. "Maybe he'll grow on you."

Honda gave the other a strange look before turning to walk out the door. "Right, well, I must be off…" Ryou guessed he deserved the look for choosing such odd words. But then again, he hadn't been too fond of Bakura at first and yet, he had let himself be kissed and kiss back.

After Honda left, Ryou's shoulders slumped and he let his head fall on the desk. The desk wasn't one of those soft ones so he ended up holding his head while muttering small curses. He had been sitting there for hours and the only things he had managed to write were, "The reason the limbs go missing is", and "Mikazuki Bakura".

By the time Bakura rose to stand over the bastard of a reporter, the man's eyes had rolled to the back of his skull. He had struggled a lot for a guy who spent his days clued in front of his computer, writing crap. Bakura guessed he would put up a fight, too, if he woke up with his better hand nailed to a wall.

The pace of the blood bursting forth from above the shirt collar slowed down before stopping and changing into a small stream. The human body only had so much to offer, after all.

He had placed a mug under the hand nailed on the wall next to the victim's bed. He just needed a little and the rest could soak the sheets. He picked the mug up, jumping off the bed, and smirked. Even in the computer lit room, he could see well enough.

"You can borrow this mug but then I'll have to kill you," said the red writing on the side of the mug. He chuckled at the irony, facing away from the body. As if a pathetic, wannabe writer could kill anyone, whether someone touched his mug or not. Judging from the one room apartment on the bad side of the city, the latest donator didn't entertain many people. He thought he even saw a cockroach run by his feet.

Now when he had the supplies, he could get on with his little project.

But first things first, there was someone he needed to call before that someone's older brother got himself killed. He hadn't seen Malik around. It could be a good thing, meaning the brat had left, but some regulars from Devil's Lair had also gone missing. People who were guaranteed to be at the same place at the same time hadn't showed up during the weekend. There was a chance that it had nothing to do with Malik but something was going on in Domino and when it came to things, or people, that weren't one hundred percent under his control, Malik came second only to Ryou.

"Yeah, but if my brother thinks it's not that important…"

Seto could hear Mokuba whispering into the phone from across the room. Even if Mikazuki was an idiot, he sure got his timing right every time. Having his rare meetings with Mokuba interrupted didn't sit well with Seto, and neither did the fact that his "friend" was trying to get to him through his little brother. Whatever the artist had in mind had better be damn important. But while fuming in his chair, staring through the huge glass window, Seto realized that the other man knew better than to cross him without a good reason.

"Well, if you're sure… Ok, I'll do something about that. Sure, bye."

After Mokuba hung up, Seto spoke, "If he wanted you to do something illegal, forget it."

Mokuba arched his brows, wiping all signs of guilt from his face. "You should put some more faith in him, you know. I'm sure he knows what he's doing, he always does."

"Faith as in trust?" Seto spun his chair all the way around so he could face Mokuba. "I don't trust him and neither will you." Despite how he had learned to trust his younger brother's judgment, he didn't think that Bakura was capable of being honest. "Now, what did he ask you to do?"

"To dig out information about the Ishtars if you're too stubborn to," the younger one informed, folding his arms and flopping on a chair opposite to his brother's desk. "He says that you 'might possibly be in some sort of danger'." Mokuba rolled his eyes at the choice of words but the corner of his mouth kept twitching up. "Probably not a huge danger since he said it like that but…" he shrugged, "Like you say, you can never know with him."

Seto was about to say something but stopped and settled to glaring Mokuba's forehead when he realized what was happening. Either Mokuba got the information for Seto, willing to protect him, or he, to prevent Mokuba from being sucked into anything, got the info himself. In the end, Seto would find out whatever it was that Mikazuki wanted him to find out. It wasn't often that the CEO got played and he was just as irritated every time it happened.

"Damn him," Seto muttered. He met eyes with his brother who looked concerned. "I will dig up the information. Shouldn't you be working?" Why couldn't Mikazuki find the info himself and send it to him if it was so important?

Mokuba smirked. "Yeah, I'm off," he told and got up. "You coming home for the night?"

"No, I think this will be a long evening." He had work to do that didn't involve KaibaCorp, after all. He needed to find out what was it with the Ishtars and figure out how he could kill Bakura incase this was a joke. The later would take all night seeing how the bastard was near impossible to get rid of.

Since he was getting nothing done, Ryou decided to leave the station. Maybe he could think better at his apartment and he was sure no one would mind him leaving a little early for once. Ryou went to find Honda first so he wouldn't worry over nothing again. Ryou was fine, like he always was.

"Bakura!"

Ryou turned at his coworker's sudden yell. A sobbing lump of hair and blanket was pushed towards him, catching him off guard and almost sending both him and the lump, on the floor. The blanket struggled away when he tried to keep them balanced and stumbled to sit on the floor. Ryou, not quite over his surprise, shot a questioning look to his coworker. "Wha-What are yo-?"

"Take care of her," the officer told while turning to go back to his colleagues. "Found something interesting near the train station, a bit out of hand, I'll give you the info when we have it."

The smashed together sentences as the only explanation, Ryou was left confused. What, or who, was out of hand? This girl or some situation? He sighed. The people who dealt with hard boiled criminals couldn't deal with crying women. Ryou was sure there was someone with the right kind of training for it but he was always trusted with the panicking, the hysterical and the grieving.

He had thought the young female was crying but the one sitting on the floor, wrapped in a blanket, wasn't sobbing; she was giggling. It wasn't the strangest reaction to shock and stress he had seen but it did make it to his top five. After some hesitation, Ryou sat down and hoped he wouldn't screw up and get hit or bitten or laughed at.

"Hey," he started and smiled even though she didn't look like she was paying attention. "This floor is pretty uncomfortable but there's a chair just behind this desk. Would you rather sit there?" She glanced at him from behind her messy hair. "It's a very nice chair, I should know, I sit on it every day. I'd like to know what happened to you, too."

Ryou wasn't sure if being stared at was improvement, or if he should be unnerved or relieved. He tried the relieved option, and it worked, at least until she spoke.

"…can you bring back my dad?"

It was a whisper but loud enough for Ryou to hear. He felt like starting to giggle like the girl had moments earlier, not because the question was funny but to feel less scared. Ryou shook his head, trying to keep his voice from cracking. "I'm sorry, I-" And what felt like the tenth time he was interrupted today, someone was by the doorframe again.

"Bakura, come and take a look," spoke the officer from earlier. "The shrink's here, she'll take care of her," he gestured towards the girl on the floor. Ryou didn't want to leave her yet but figured that this "shrink" knew what to do better than he did. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what was going on anymore.

"B-brother? Can… can you bring mommy back?"

"… I'm sorry, Amane…"

A knock on the door. Bakura's eye rose from his work, the concentrated frown turning into one of annoyance. He put his brush down, not looking where it landed, stalking towards the door. He hadn't invited anyone over, Kaiba had keys and didn't hesitate to use them… Unless it was Ryou. Bakura was sure Ryou wasn't blind enough to not notice he had a doorbell, though.

Behind the door was definitely not Ryou. A woman stood there, farther than his hand could reach. She was rather beautiful but the look on her face told that this wasn't a social call. Bakura wondered if this one even made social calls.

"Yes?" he asked when she said nothing.

"Good afternoon." Her manner was calm and polite, not friendly but enough to put the listener into an ease. "I'm sorry to disturb you but there is something I need to ask."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. Formal words, serious face, slight accent, weird eyes… If this was another Ishtar…

"I am Ishizu Ishtar."

He felt like laughing but hid it behind a mask of indifference. In situations like these, he almost hoped that he could be wrong for once. The burden of always being right was horrid.

"Perhaps you know my brother," she continued, "Malik Ishtar?" It was posing as a question but she knew the answer, Bakura was sure of it.

He shrugged. "I have seen his face on the wall of missing persons." It was easier to leave things out than to make things up and Bakura didn't know how much this woman knew. Yet. Maybe this was why Malik was in such a hurry to get things done: a big sister coming after her misbehaving baby brother.

She acknowledged his answer with a nod. "When you went to see Bakura Ryou, yes…" Ishizu Ishtar trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging between them. Bakura felt a small smirk starting to play on his face; a careless gesture but if this lady could solve his pest problem, well worth it.

"And what do you know about Ryou?" He leaned against the doorframe, relaxing. This was his territory and he knew how to use his hidden blade.

"Not much," the Ishtar woman smiled a little. "I'm sure your knowledge of him is much more intimate than mine."

Bakura chuckled, adding some teeth to his smirk. "I should hope so." He peeked into the corridor, to see if despite the soundless air, someone was on the move. In a building like this, where the hallways were wide, it was difficult to move without sound. Not impossible, just hard. But most of his neighbors preferred shoes that told they were coming with sharp clicks against the floor, and Bakura wondered if he was getting paranoid.

He made sure to change his smirk into a softer one before speaking again, "Would you like to come in?"

The smile on the Ishtar's face made its final effort to stay alive before fading. "I would rather not."

Bakura let his expression drop as it was not working. Smart people got on his nerves sometimes. "Yes… It's just that the corridor isn't the best place for a discussion."

"This won't take long."

Hiroto rushed past the people going to the opposite direction. Something had snapped the whole force into action, the passive silence finally gone and replaced with anger and panic and a steady flow of people. The change of mood had something to do with a girl wrapped in blankets, pointing at random people and laughing.

Hiroto had expected Ryou to be where chaos was but he was nowhere to be found. This had to be because of the damn case Bakura was working on. That idiot, always overworking, putting his sanity on the line and not even telling his own friend what the hell was going on. Why couldn't Ryou rely on him?

Hiroto shook his head, glaring at another busy person who pushed him. It would be ok to call Bakura by his first name if only in his head. Wouldn't it? Hiroto decided that the answer was yes and continued to push his way through. He had asked around and been told that Ryou had left in a hurry with copies of some new material. Hiroto wasn't sure what was going on but it was bad enough to make Ryou abandon ship, and that was all the information he needed.

Ishizu found the man in front of her grinning and stopped herself before she could step back. The twisted expression was carefree in her moment of fright.

"Do you know what little Malik is up to, Miss Ishtar?"

The words were spoken through the grin and Ishizu shook her head once from side to side. She did not know. Neither had moved from their initial spots but the hallway felt smaller, as if the walls had moved in during their conversation. She had readied herself to meet someone like the one standing before her, unwilling to let the person she came to study, study her, but…

"I thought as much. You should take better care of your brother." His eyes widened as though he had just remembered something. "Oh, right. He's an adult now so you're free of all responsibility."

Ishizu's eyes narrowed; the tone was too sweet. She didn't have to take any of this mockery. "I feel I have been here for far too long, taking your time. I must go." She bent her head down a little though the gesture was cold and short. "Goodbye, Mr. Mikazuki." She took that longed for step back, heading for the elevator. This visit hadn't gone like she would have liked. No new information about Malik, only the discovery of Mikazuki Bakura's character. She hoped Bakura Ryou knew what he was getting himself into.

"Have a nice day, Miss. I hope you find your missing brother."

Ishizu clenched her fist. Mikazuki Bakura did not care.

The sound of the elevator gave her new hope. She was getting out of here alive. The door slid open and she was met with a surprised stare. Ishizu stared back for a moment, taking note of the red under the eyes and the fading tear tracks. "Bakura Ryou…" she addressed the young man stood in the elevator.

"O-oh, Miss Ishtar," he forced on a smile. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Worry showed on her features. Something was troubling the poor creature and he came here to search for comfort. Why? Ishizu glanced past her shoulder at Mikazuki. The man stood in his doorway, watching the situation unfold. Her worry didn't fade but a frown made its way to her face. Was this Bakura Ryou not as observant as she had thought? Surely, no one in their right mind would run to that man when in need of someone to lean on.

"What are you doing here?" Her words came out colder than she had planned. Maybe he hadn't come here to meet him, maybe someone else he knew lived here and… Ishizu found the thought stupid even while thinking it.

The other looked taken back, the smile vanishing and leaving nothing behind. "I came here to see Bakura but…" he bit his lip, "I don't… I shouldn't have come. I think I'll just…"

"Since you're already here, and spotted, you owe Me an explanation to your… state."

Ishizu jumped a little when the words were spoken right next to her. She glanced at the man, then back at Ryou, and saw, much to her surprise, well masked worry and hid relief.

"Bakura…" Ryou looked away but Ishizu was certain there had been a small hint of a smile. "This is a bad time, so I just… I don't know why I'm here, I just sort of… came and-"

Mikazuki had moved past Ishizu and into the elevator. Ryou stopped talking and looked up at him, confused. The other smirked. "We have things to talk about and here we would only be bugged by nosy people," he shot Ishizu a look, leaning over Ryou to press the button for the street level. "I'm sure Miss Ishtar can wait for her turn." He grinned, waving at Ishizu when the door slid shut and the only thing she could do, was blink.

Had her instinct been wrong?

This is the point where I ask you to review and you review with glee. Hint Hint.