Notes: Thanks for all the reviews!

Use the Man

Chapter 3

Mornings were the worst. Waking up was more like clawing his way back into the land of the living, and lately it'd been more than tempting just to stay in bed and let the world turn without him. It wasn't as though going to the school to take his English course did any good anyway, there was nothing he could think of that he would ever want to do for a career that wasn't technically a felony. The only reason he really went was to keep an eye on Ryou and, truth be told, get out of the house for a few hours. Without it he knew he'd end up a recluse, never leaving his apartment other than to go out and 'earn' the money for his rent, groceries and whatever else needed paying. That was a reminder – rent day was Saturday. He wondered if he had enough to pay it without having to go out again tonight and spend a few hours picking pockets. It felt sobeneath him sometimes. He was the King of Thieves for Ra's sake, he could steal anything at all if he set his mind to it. He could have knocked over a bank or a jewellery store, but he didn't want to do anything too big in case Ryou found out or it somehow got him into trouble. They still looked a lot alike, and there was always the chance that he could be caught on a security camera.

Getting out of bed was a chore in itself. Technically it was just getting off the bed, since he'd passed out in his jeans on top of the covers. The stereo was still playing and he lurched over to it, reaching blearily for the power button. Once that was taken care of he staggered to the shower and stripped down, hanging his head and letting the hot spray soak his long hair. Tilting his head up he let the water wash his face clean, waking him up a little. He really, really wanted to go back to bed and pass out again, but if he didn't turn up to his class Ryou would worry. He'd noticed something was wrong last night, but Bakura could cover for it. If he skipped a day now he'd have his light banging on the door, maybe even dragging him to a hospital. Hereally didn't need that.

Dressing quickly in whatever was on the back of the chair where the clean clothes lived, Bakura pulled on a black t-shirt and a tight pair of army patterned cargo pants, along with his clunky black combat boots. The groceries and his rucksack were still where he'd tossed them the night before, so he quickly put everything in its place before grabbing his keys off the table and heading out. He was going to be late, but that was nothing new. He didn't particularly care anyway.

The walk to school was about ten minutes – he lived a lot closer than Ryou. He was still late, but he refused to walk any faster. Getting into class he ignored the dark look the teacher sent him and sat down, at the very back as per usual. He could hear the pharaoh and his friends whispering about something mundane, but Anzu's new boyfriend really wasn't something he could bring himself to be interested in. Malik and his crew didn't take English, but Seto Kaiba was there, sitting beside the window and pointedly ignoring everyone. Every so often the teacher would turn to him and ask a question, just to make sure he was listening. Seto would reply in perfect English, always getting the answer right. That seemed to annoy the teacher, but the CEO refused to notice.

Staring at Seto's back from across the class, Bakura ignored the lesson taking place around him and replayed the conversation he'd had with the CEO the day before.

Just call when you need me.

He had to wonder what it would be like, since he had very little else to do at that moment. Ryou would probably laugh at him. The hikari was right down at the front of the class, working hard even if he didn't really need to be. What was Ryou's opinion of Seto Kaiba? Bakura wracked his brain for if his hikari had ever voiced one. The only things he could remember the boy saying about the CEO were 'that man needs a hug' and 'he's a little obsessive, but he isn't that bad.' That seemed to be a positive opinion. Well, not a negative one, at least. He wasn't sure why he was even thinking about it, other than the fact that Seto Kaiba had sounded as though he actually cared, and that was something Bakura didn't often find himself dealing with.

On the other side of the class, Seto could feel Bakura's crimson gaze settling on him. He didn't mind, since the thief had been on his mind all night anyway. He'd sorted out one of the many spare rooms in the mansion – the one across the hall from his own. Nice clean sheets and a few other minor changes, just in case he happened to end up with a house guest for a little while. He had a vague plan of what he was going to do if it turned out that Bakura was – as Yami had put it – a junkie. He hated that word. He wondered what the thief was taking and how much. The shadows beneath his eyes were getting darker every day, his skin paler and his hands shakier. He'd never been the most talkative of people to begin with, but these last few months he barely said a word to anyone except Ryou – his precious hikari. Still, Seto needed proof before he could do anything. It could be that the yami was just ill, maybe just tired or stressed. But Seto knew the signs, and this was just too close to be a coincidence. Then there was what Yami had said, and no matter how much he disliked the Game King, he was still inclined to believe that the Pharaoh was right. Evidence was needed, though. He wasn't going to step in without it – Bakura was dangerous when he wanted to be. Before this 'mysterious ailment' had afflicted him he'd been able to hit the bullseye of a dartboard from across the room, with whatever pointed object happened to be to hand. Seto had seen him do it with a bread knife, a pencil, a screwdriver and even a chopstick. Where Yami was an expert when it came to magic, Bakura seemed to take the more down to earth path. Anything sharp or bladed became lethal in his hands. Well, before they started shaking so badly, that was. In the mornings it didn't seem so bad, and even towards the end of the day when he really seemed to suffer he could probably still be deadly if he needed to. Seto was taller and stronger, but Bakura was quick and knew every trick in the book when it came to fighting dirty and escaping. The CEO didn't want to have to go up against him without soild proof that he needed to. Besides, if it came to it and he did have to step in, he wanted to be prepared. He had his plan, things had been sorted out and he was going to deal with this in the simplest was he could think of. Now all he had to do was confirm his suspicions. Class would be ending soon, and that seemed as good a time as any, if he could catch the thief alone.

On the other side of the class again, Yami was half paying attention to the lesson and half turning in his seat every now and then to watch the quiet little drama unfolding before his eyes. He could see Seto staring out of the window, probably thinking about that thief. He was tapping at his desk distractedly with the end of his pencil, something he only ever did when he was mulling something complicated over. Not that Yami really considered Bakura to be complicated, and he was pretty sure the thief didn't consider himself complicated either. Seto just had a way of over-analyzing things.

The Pharaoh turned to look discreetly towards the back of the class where the thief was sitting, resting his elbow on the desk and supporting his chin with the palm of his hand. He looked bored, his eyes flitting around the room from the teacher to Ryou and always back to Seto Kaiba. He managed to look good whatever he was doing, which made Yami smirk. There was someone who, like generations of rock stars before him, managed to make heroin look sexy. Well, the idea of it, anyway. He could imagine the thief taking the stuff – it probably made quite a pretty sight. It would kill him in the end and poor Ryou would have to deal with losing yet another family member, although Yami suspected that Kaiba was going to do something about it. Probably catch the thief alone and give him the 'drugs are bad' talk. Did that ever actually work? He assumed Bakura already understood that drugs were bad. It made him wonder why the thief felt the need to take them – what exactly was it that he couldn't deal with? Yami knew full well how hard it was existing out of one's own time, especially when they'd lived so very long ago. Still, he was the hero, so any help he needed, he got. He was the good guy and he'd saved the world more times than he could count, so he'd probably never want for anything. He made enough money from all those card game tournaments, and he had his friends to rely on if he was ever in trouble. What did Bakura have? Well, he had Ryou, but Yami knew that if the thief ever needed anything Ryou was the last person he'd go to. He would never ask anything of the little hikari. He didn't really have anyone else he associated with, and Yami had no idea about where he lived or how he survived. Maybe it wasn't that bad, and Kaiba's speech – if that was what he had planned – would frighten Bakura enough that he'd go back to being a creepy recluse without the drugs. He must be afraid of Ryou finding out, after all. Now that would be a drama, not that he would ever tell Ryou about his ailing darker half. The poor boy was so fragile he'd probably have a seizure if he ever found out his yami was slowly poisoning himself.

For a few moments Yami considered sticking around after class to see what went on between Kaiba and Bakura, but Yugi, Jounouchi and the others were headed to the arcade and he wanted to keep n eye on his hikari. He could always find out what had gone on later, or the day after, which would be Friday. It would be easy to see if Bakura had really stopped or not – the withdrawals would probably be a little more noticeable than just shaking hands and that hollow look in his eyes.

XxXxX

The bell for the end of class finally sounded and Bakura sighed, having spent the last ten minutes of the lesson staring emptily at the clock above the teachers head. He spoke English perfectly, thanks to Ryou, so everything they were being taught went in one ear and out the other. He was too busy thinking about everything that needed doing once he got out of class anyway. He had to make sure he had enough to pay the rent and the other bills on Saturday, make something to eat – although he wasn't really hungry, but he was going to force it down for Ryou – go out and get more money from the rich and stupid if he didn't have enough, deal with the brats that would probably be waiting for him outside the school because they never learned... He also had to see Keith, even though he hated going anywhere near the man. Plus he had to figure out some way of making himself look less ill to stop Ryou worrying for as long as possible.

Standing up, the thief made to walk out of the class, waiting as usual for the crowd of people in front of him to get all their foolish pushing and shoving out of the way. As the last few left, Bakura watched Seto Kaiba stalk past him. To his surprise the CEO closed the door and turned to him, eyes narrowed.

"Is there a problem?" Bakura asked, forcing a cocky smirk onto his lips. He just wanted to get out of there and get all the daily bullshit he had to deal with over. Most of it was normal everyday tasks that every other person on earth had to do, but for an ancient Egyptian tomb robber who still had no idea what VAT was, it was all too much.

"Yes." Seto said coldly, stalking towards him. The thief considered taking a step back, but in the end held his ground. So Seto Kaiba was tall and imposing – he wasn't about to let that intimidate him.

"And that would be?" Bakura asked, looking serious now. He could see that Seto was angry over something, there was a certain intensity in his eyes that Bakura had never seen directed at him before. To a regular mortal it would probably have been quite frightening.

"I wanted to check something first." Seto said, taking a quick stride forward and grabbing Bakura's left wrist.

"What are you doing? Take your hands off me, I do not need the complication in my life of figuring out where to bury your corpse!" The tomb robber snarled, glaring angrily up at the CEO and trying to yank his arm away from the iron grip.

Saying nothing, Seto bought his other hand up and swept Bakura's sleeve up to his elbow, exposing his pale arm. As the CEO had feared, the milk-white skin was marred with a lightening pattern of track marks, zigzagging in angry bruises down towards where Seto held his thin wrist. At having the evidence of what he'd been trying to keep a secret exposed so easily, Bakura growled savagely and staggered back, finally breaking the grip Seto had on his arm. Pulling his sleeve down quickly and backing well away from the young executive, the thief glared darkly at him without a word and waited for the lecture he knew was about to happen.

"Why?" The CEO asked simply, the harshness in his eyes softening slightly. Was thatpity? Bakura backed away another step, not sure what to make of that.

"Get out of my way." The thief hissed, wanting to be anywhere else on earth than in that room right then. He didn't want to talk to anyone about this, especially not this man he barely knew. It had felt nice to think that maybe someone cared, but he didn't need to pour his heart out to them. He had always dealt with everything alone and he always would, he didn't want to have to explain himself to some mortal who had no right interfering. It was his problem, it had nothing to do with Seto Kaiba.

"No. Tell me why you think you need this." Seto growled, moving closer to the thief.

"Get out of my way." Bakura repeated in a voice that said he was about ten seconds away from getting violent. Seto glared sternly at him, expecting an answer. He was ready to pin Bakura down until he got it if he had to, but before he could make his move the thief darted to the side and around him, dashing for the door. The former tomb robber was out of the classroom and gone before Seto had even turned around, the door slamming closed behind him almost hard enough to shatter the frosted glass pane in the middle of it.

Seto turned around again and stared at the window, not really looking outside. Luckily, he'd planned for this. Bakura didn't want his help, that much was clear. That didn't mean he wasn't going to get it anyway. Stalking back over to his desk and opening the briefcase he'd left there, Seto dug out the sleek, black mobile phone strapped to the inside of the case lid, hitting one of the autodial numbers. His chauffeur answered, confirming that he was waiting outside the school gates. Smirking, Seto flipped the phone closed and took up his briefcase, heading for the door. It was going to be a busy night.

Bakura sprinted down the corridor and out of the school as fast as he could, heading for the school gates. Two of the little gang that insisted on harassing him at the end of every school day were waiting for him, but he really didn't want to deal with them right now. Barely stopping for breath he skidded to a halt next to them and swung his bag around, catching one in the side of the head. He went down like a brick, the second soon joining him. A jab to the ribs with his elbow had the boy doubled over and Bakura was off again, running out of the school gates past the dark shape of Seto Kaiba's limousine, which was waiting obediently at the kerb. Still feeling numb from shock and anger like he hadn't felt in years, Bakura raced away from the school building, heading in the opposite direction from where his flat lay. Instead he headed into the heart of Domino, wanting to see Ryou. Terror gripped him at the thought of Seto mentioning something to the hikari before he got the chance, and he knew he had to talk to his light first. Even the thought of admitting this to Ryou sent cold sweat trickling down his back and he stopped in a shadowed shop doorway, gasping for breath. A wave of nausea griped him and he leant heavily against the wall, fighting not to throw up and stumbling back into the shadows in shock when the dark shadow of a limousine glided slowly past. Terrified that it was Seto heading towards Ryou's flat, Bakura swallowed down the nausea and set off again, head pounding. He knew, in that moment, that he would rather die than have Ryou find out. If he didn't get there first he might as well give up. But if it happened... Seto Kaiba was going to pay.

TBC