Disclaimer: (see previous 18 chapters--it's there it black and white).

Chapter 19

The rest of the night passed fairly quickly, and in the morning Kenshin was in a better mood than he had been the previous night. Kaiba, however, had still not resolved his feelings. He wasn't sure if Kenshin was upset with him for what he had said last night and it frustrated him that he should care what other people thought of him. He decided to let Kenshin make the first move.

Kenshin, noticing Kaiba was awake, decided to do what he always did-- pretend it didn't happen, unless Kaiba said otherwise. So, he looked toward his roommate's bed and smiled. "Good morning, Kaiba. Did you sleep well?"

So he's acting like nothing happened, is he? Well, I suppose it works out better this way... Kaiba thought to himself. "Yes, you weren't muttering in your sleep all night." Mentally, Kaiba smacked himself. All night he was regretting saying those things to Kenshin, and now what's the first thing to come out of his mouth? I guess old habits are hard to break. Kaiba thought, bitterly, referring to his habit of insulting everyone.

Kenshin just kept smiling. "Yes, didn't have any more disturbing dreams," /Although Battousai did,/ Kenshin added silently.

//Hey, I didn't invite you to eavesdrop on my memories. You did that on your own. Besides, it's not like YOU never dream about the past,// Battousai said, a little testily. He didn't like people seeing him in his moments of weakness, even if that person was his other half.

Kenshin jumped imperceptibly. He hadn't realized he had sent that thought to Battousai. /Gomen,/ he apologized. /I didn't realize that I said that where you could hear it. I didn't mean anything by it./ The last thing Kenshin needed was Battousai angry at him again.

"Kenshin? Are you listening?"

Kenshin jumped again, realizing that someone was talking to him. He glanced up to see Dr. Kagarashi looking at him strangely. "Hai?" Kenshin asked, trying to act normal.

"Are you feeling alright?" Dr. Kagarashi asked. He had been trying to get Kenshin's attention for two minutes. Kenshin didn't have any head injuries that he knew of; but, then again, Kenshin most likely wouldn't tell them if he did. It might be a good idea to run a CAT scan on him later...

Kenshin saw that the doctor thought that something else was wrong with him because of his lack of response. His mind raced to come up with something. "Hai, I'm alright. I was just thinking about something, and I may have been drifting back off to sleep. It is rather early, you know," Kenshin lied, hoping he was convincing enough.

The doctor, realizing his mistake, laughed at himself. After all, it was 6:30 in the morning. Most teenagers didn't wake up until 9:00 or 10:00 if they were allowed to sleep in. He dismissed his previous suspicions and brought his attention back to the reason he had come. "Well, Kenshin, I hope you were a bit more careful with your injuries? Did you re-open any of them?" he asked, preparing a lecture if Kenshin's answer wasn't what it was supposed to be.

Kenshin smiled. "No, none of them have been re-opened."

Dr. Kagarashi also smiled. "So, you're finally starting to see things our way, eh?" he joked.

"Well, the sooner I'm healed, the sooner I re-gain my freedom."

"Well, just keep that in mind for the next few days. Remember, no walking around until Thursday," Dr. Kagarashi reminded as he exited the room.

Kenshin sighed. Not only was he on strict bed rest, but now he had to be careful when talking to Battousai as well. He didn't want to be here any longer than necessary and if they thought he had mental problems...Well, he didn't want to think about what they did to crazy people in this time.

Kaiba had watched Kenshin the entire time. He was starting to become intrigued by this young redhead. Kenshin was obviously prone to violent mood swings. One minute he's crying in despair, and the next he's happy and carefree. And then there were his eyes. Normally, they're violet. But last night when they were throwing insults back and forth, and during their fight, they had shifted to amber. Then there were also the periods of time when Kenshin would just zone out. Kaiba was beginning to think that Kenshin had one or more mental disorders. He might have multiple personalities - that would explain the mood swings - but usually the base personality wouldn't know what happened while another personality was in control. Kenshin had no such gaps in his memory. Also, the different personalities usually took on a different name. Kenshin hadn't done that, so Kaiba ruled out that possibility. But then, how did you explain it? Kaiba was starting to get a headache, so he left the subject for another time.

~*~

Tuesday passed rather quickly, but by Wednesday Kaiba was tired of laying in bed. Kenshin had thought about taking a walk when he felt the all too familiar aura of his not so favorite nurse. She had checked on them many times in the past few days, having had Kenshin as a previous patient and learning that Kaiba followed rules about as well as Kenshin did. She had scolded them time and again for doing things they weren't supposed to do (not much you can do when you're not to leave your bed). Unfortunately for Kaiba, he couldn't tell who was around him by reading their auras. He got out of bed.

"Kaiba, what are you doing?" Kenshin asked although he already knew the answer.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking a walk," Kaiba said, walking across the room.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kenshin warned.

Kaiba glared at him. "I will do what I please, when I please. No one can order me around," Kaiba snapped, annoyed. Kenshin had tried to break the rules as many times as Kaiba. Why was he suddenly acting like this? Kaiba brushed it off and walked toward the door.

//Just let him go. He's not gonna listen to you anyway, and besides I'm bored. Let's just sit back and watch.//

Kenshin gave up. Battousai was right. Besides, it would be fun to watch someone else get in trouble for a change. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Kaiba snorted and walked out of the door. Kenshin waited. /Three...two ...one.../

"MR. KAIBA!"

/Right on time!/ Kenshin said, laughing. He tried very hard to keep a straight face while Kaiba was brought back into the room.

~*~

Unfortunately for Kenshin, the nurse's shift didn't end until that night when he was too tired to walk around and just wanted to go back to sleep. He did, however, get a quick stroll around the hospital earlier, so it made waiting a little more bearable.

/Oh, well, at least we can walk around tomorrow regardless of whether or not she's here,/ he said.

//Finally! Out of this bed! I swear, they put her here just to make sure we followed the rules! // Battousai said, a little annoyed. What good were rules if you couldn't break them?

/That was probably their reasoning. Well, tomorrow we gain back a little of our freedom./

They talked for a little while more while Kaiba watched. He still couldn't figure out Kenshin. He seemed to know things that he couldn't have known. He had known each and every time the nurse was in the hallway. Kaiba had tested that theory several times until the nurse threatened to tie him to the bed if she caught him walking around again. The strange thing was, Kenshin had told him when it was okay to walk around for a little bit. Kaiba, wanting to test the theory, had walked around expecting to be caught. The nurse, however had been on her lunch break and no one else hindered him. Kenshin had even gone with him and had told him to hide in a maintenance closet just before Dr. Kagarashi had come around the corner. Kaiba was surprised, to say the least. Kenshin was a very mysterious person.

~*~

Thursday came, and the doctor said that Kenshin's wounds were healed enough for him to walk, and he could even be released. He reminded Kenshin yet again not to re-open the wound on his side. The wounds on his arms and left leg were little more than scars now. His right leg was not far behind them in the healing process and his side was the same as the first time he left the hospital. Grandpa and Yugi, who had been visiting Kenshin every afternoon, had been informed of Kenshin's possible early release but had not told him in case it had to be moved back. Grandpa came to pick him up alone, as Yugi was already at school. Grandpa decided that Kenshin would stay home Friday and maybe start school again on Monday.

Meanwhile, Yugi was excited as he tried to pay attention in class. They were still studying the Bakumatsu and it seemed that the most prominent people, aside from the leaders, were the hitokiris and the captains of a group called the Shinsengumi. The teacher made it all sound so boring, but Yugi was sure Kenshin would ace this test. After all, he only had to ask his yami! Yugi wanted to talk to Battousai and hear first hand of what it was like. Battousai must have been good if they were still talking about his legend over 100 years later! Yugi wondered if Kenshin had ever asked Battousai about it. Well, he comes home today, so I can finally ask him! Yugi thought, excitedly. Ever since the incident in the park, Yugi had been dying to interrogate Kenshin. Kaiba was always in the room, though, and Yugi wasn't even sure if he knew about Yami. Besides, Kenshin tried very hard to keep it a secret and Yugi wasn't about to go and tell everyone now that he knew. That was up to Kenshin.

At lunch, Ryou noticed that Yugi was a little more cheerful and energetic than normal.

"Wow, Yugi, you sure are excited today. What's going on?" Ryou asked.

Yugi smiled at him. "Kenshin should be getting released from the hospital today!" Yugi told them excitedly.

"Hey, man, that's great! Ya know, we should all go over to Yug's house after school, to welcome him home," Joey suggested.

"I think that's a great idea! I kinda feel bad for never going to see him in the hospital, but I'm free this afternoon, so I'll be there!" Tea said, catching the spreading excitement.

"Yeah, we don't got detention yet and, if we're careful for the rest of the day, me and Joey will also be free for the afternoon," Tristan said, while Joey nodded his agreement.

Ryou looked a little worried. He didn't remember anything from halfway through Kaiba and Kenshin's fight until he woke up in the park later. He had watched the conclusion of the fight (Tea had taped it and lent it to Ryou), but he also knew his yami had done something afterwards. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Yugi about it, and he wasn't sure how well Kenshin would receive him. After all, Bakura had attacked Kenshin not only once, but twice. And from what Ryou had seen from the tournament and Bakura's repeated failures, Ryou did not want to be on Kenshin's bad side.

Yugi seemed to notice Ryou's reluctance to accept the invitation and he guessed at the reason. Yugi caught Ryou's eyes and motioned outside. They managed to slip away unnoticed and walked over to a secluded bench where no one would hear them talking. Yugi turned to Ryou. "So, what exactly do you remember from Saturday?" Yugi asked.

"I was sitting next to you watching the fight between Kaiba and Kenshin. Kenshin had the advantage; Kaiba could not seem to hit him. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground in the park. Tea recorded the tournament and I borrowed the tape from her, so I know what happened in the fight. I told her that I wanted to watch it again. But, I don't know what took place afterwards. What happened?" Ryou asked, a little confused.

"Well, Yami came out after Bakura, and we lost him in the crowd. Yami went outside to wait for Kenshin and saw him exit through a side entrance and walk deeper into the park. We were confused, so we followed him. But, it was weird. He knew we were there. He stopped and asked why we were following him. He also knew that Yami was in control of my body. I don't know how, but he knew. And what's more, apparently Bakura had followed as well, but I didn't know. Kenshin knew he was there and he also knew when he was going to attack. He pushed me out of the way, and then ran up to Bakura so fast I couldn't even see him and knocked him out. That's why you woke up in the park. Kenshin re-opened the wound on his leg when he saved me and that's part of the reason why he's in the hospital again. Grandpa saw that it was bleeding when we got home and they wanted to keep Kenshin for a few days because he had lost so much blood when we were walking home," Yugi explained. He didn't mention anything about Battousai because Bakura might be able to use that against Kenshin somehow and also it was obvious that Kenshin didn't want anyone to know.

Ryou was silent as he let it sink in. "I thought that Bakura had tried something. I'm sorry Kenshin had to go to the hospital because of it. I don't think that he would want to see me tonight," Ryou said, sadly. He really liked Kenshin and was a little upset that Bakura was ruining his chance to be friends with the redhead.

"I don't think he would mind," Yugi said, bringing Ryou from his dark thoughts, "After all, like you said it's not the first time Bakura's attacked him. And he didn't act any differently towards you after that, did he? Like I said, I think he can tell who's in control of your body. I'm sure he wouldn't hold that against you."

Ryou thought about it. Yugi was right. Kenshin didn't treat him any differently than he did before. "Alright, Yugi. I'll be there," Ryou said, smiling.

"Great!" Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.