Chapter 1

"Genius"

He couldn't believe it.

He really could not believe it.

It wasn't possible, it wasn't – how was this possible?

Of all the things, of all the things -!

He honestly didn't know whether to feel shocked or proud. Possible both. Yes, that was it. He was shocked and proud.

He was not annoyed. He was not hurt. No way in hell. No way in hell!

It was beginner's luck. That was the only possible explanation. Pure beginner's luck!

He would prove it too. Just wait. Just wait, he snarled to the devil's little minions which he was sure were laughing their heads off at him at this very moment.

"All right, kid," he growled, the aforementioned thoughts still chasing themselves around in repetitive circles inside his head. "I'm not going easy on you this time. Do you understand?"

Bright crimson eyes looked back at him, bewildered as to why the man was so vexed for seemingly no good reason.

Five minutes later found Bakura storming out of the room, trailing a weak excuse about having to use the bathroom, and leaving behind a very, very confused seven-year-old sitting alone in front of the television.

He could not believe he had just lost to his son at Super Smash Bothers twice.

Xxx

Seto came home at ten till seven. He hung his coat up on the not-so-frequently-used rack they kept by the door, before walking into the living room to find Shadow curled on the couch, face buried behind a book, dwarfed by the huge cushion he was sitting behind.

"Hi, Ojichan!" the boy greeted him happily, putting his book aside to come give him a hug.

"Hey, O'chibi," Seto chuckled, lifting the boy up into his arms. At seven years old, little Shadow could still easily pass for a kindergartener, and thus was always in danger of getting stepped on, much to the boy's dismay. Though, his family constantly reassured him that they did not care about his diminutive size, seeing as how he was, as Joey had once put it, "a damn hell of a lot cuter than anything else Japan could possibly offer, including that yellow electric mouse." That comment, truthful though it may have been, helpful though it was intended to be, had gotten the blonde bashed over the head by Yugi for "filling the boy's mind with dirty words."

"Where's Bakura?" Seto asked while making his way into the kitchen to start dinner. Although Shadow no longer stuck to his adopted father like glue, it was still somewhat unusual to see the two apart, especially when they were in the same building.

"I dunno. Upstairs, I guess. I haven't seen him for a while…" Shadow trialed off, and Seto looked down to see a small frown on that cherubic face. He didn't need to ask to know that Shadow was worried about having done something wrong to upset the man he so adored.

"Oh? Well, you wait here, O'chibi, and you get started on dinner. We're having soba. You know how to make that. I'll be back soon." At Shadow's nod of consent, he left the boy and went up the stairs to find Bakura, already preparing the speech he would give the ex-tomb robber, admonishing him for upsetting the child he had come to recognize as a nephew.

He rapped twice on Bakura's bedroom door, and at the grunt of acknowledgement, he walked in to find the white-haired man sprawled on the bed, staring moodily out the window. Shutting the door behind him, he wasted no time beating around the brush and jump straight to his point. "Bakura, what are you doing up here? Do you know that Shadow-chan is down there, worried about having upset you?"

"Well, he did upset me," Bakura muttered, though he sat up at the mention of Shadow.

"Oh really? What exactly did he do? If it's something stupid like last time…" Seto crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the man on the bed.

"Last time was not stupid, Kaiba. You would be upset too if he somehow managed to beat your best time at completing a Sudoku puzzle!" Bakura snapped, pouting like a school girl, causing Seto to roll his eyes in exasperation. Sometimes, that man acted like he was a six-year-old of the opposite gender. "Bakura, if he managed to beat my time at Sudoku, I wouldn't be mad, I would instantly send him off to some college like, say…MIT. Now you, if you weren't busy being such a baby, would have realized that it does not take a genius like Shadow to beat your time. Now what exactly did he do?"

Bakura's face darkened at the numerous insults squeezed into that little spew, furious at himself for failing to come up with a snappy comeback. Worse yet was the knowledge that the perfect retort would, without a doubt, spring into his head hours later. Wishing that Kaiba would just disappear – or at least join his pity party – he reluctantly answered the CEO's question. Though it may have come out a little…rushed.

"I'm sorry, Bakura, you lost me the moment you opened your mouth. Consider slowing down to about two words a second, and enunciate."

Bakura scowled. "He beat me at Super Smash Brothers!"

There was a moment of utter silence, in which a look of pure disbelief formed on Seto's face.

Then the tall man stepped forward and, with an eerie, icy calm, walked up to the white-haired yami –

- and slapped him across the face, before turning around and walking back out, just as composed as he had been coming in.

Bakura sat frozen, eyes fixed on the spot where Seto had disappeared, unable to do much of anything but gape.

It was a full three minutes later that he re-gained the power of speech. And the only thing worth saying was…well…"Oh yeah? Well…you slap like a girl!"

Xxx

"Ojichan? What's wrong?" Shadow paused from where he had been busy washing some vegetables in the sink to look up at his uncle with concern written all over his young face.

Seto sighed. No matter how much he tried, he could never fully hide his feeling from the boy. The mask that worked on everyone else in the world had only ever failed him twice – first to Mokuba, then to Shadow.

"Bakura's being a jerk, O'chibi. So, nothing new," Seto sighed and shook his head. "He's not worthy of being your father, Shadow-chan. He hasn't even grown out of childhood himself."

Shadow hesitated, letting the water rush down from the tap to the drain, missing the bunch of leeks in his hands completely. "Did he…was he mad?" he asked timidly, staring at the CEO with doleful eyes.

Seto sighed, pulling up his sleeves and going over to ruffle the boy's hair. "No, kiddo, he wasn't mad. Just being…Bakura. Don't worry about him, alright? He'll come down as soon as he gets his head straightened out. Or as soon as he gets hungry, which will probably happen first," he added dryly. "Now let's get on with dinner. Mokuba's coming in late; he's got a meeting, so it'll just be the three of us."

"Alright," Shadow murmured, turning back to his leeks.

"Hey," Seto whispered, pulling the boy into an embrace. "Don't you worry about Bakura, okay? He just gets upset easily. But you know, he does love you, more than anything else in the world. What seems like anger is probably more just…frustration, and fear. He's learning how to be a father. And no matter how hard he tries, it's still going to take some time. When he gets edgy, sometimes it's best to leave him alone for a bit. And at other times…well, maybe he just needs to know that no matter what else, you will still love him."

It was a moment before Shadow's face lightened, and the boy returned the hug. "Yeah, okay. I get it."

"Good," the man chuckled. "He can seem difficult to understand, but what you crack the code, you can read the man like an open book with the words dancing out."

Shadow laughed.


Yes, I know this is short. It was originally intended to be the first chapter, as the prologue, but that obviously didn't work out, so I thought I'd just throw it in here.

Thanks for the great ideas you guy gave me, I'll definitely work off them. Still, if anyone out there's willing to write out a chapter?...too much to ask, huh? Well, I gotta stop being lazy. But as a fair warning, it's gonna be quite sometime between updates, unless a plot bunny just springs up and starts beating me on the head. Thanks for the patience, and please – keep those ideas coming! They're really great!

DCW