Yami stood up from the stool he'd been seated on for several hours, feeling a number of cracks in his spine as he did so. Why Sugoroku hadn't bought a stool with a back to it, he would never understand. He glanced behind him at the clock hanging behind the counter, which read two thirty. Yami let out a sigh; the day had been exceedingly dull, despite Malik's presence.
Regardless of the evening's event looming in front of him, he longed for the afternoon to finish, if only so he could get out from behind the damn counter. He had no idea how Sugoroku or Yuugi could stand just sitting there all day, surrounded by Duel Monsters cards. He'd much rather be using the cards, than staring at them.
Sugoroku had of course been informed of the "meeting", and had decided to vacate the premises once Yuugi returned from school, saying he'd be back that night, so they could go undisturbed. As three o clock neared, Sugoroku took his leave, and after closing the shop, the two teens once more walked to the school. Yet again, passing down the street, Yami had to shake off the unpleasant feeling that they were being watched.
Reaching the school, they met Yuugi, Jounouchi, Otogi, Anzu and Ryou, while briefly meeting Honda before he had to dash off. They had agreed on five as the time with Kaiba, so they decided to hang around elsewhere before returning to the shop. Jounouchi would need to pick up Shizuka, who was staying in the city with him and his father for a few months, before they went back, and of course, Ryou would need to go back to his house to pick up the main attraction.
As the deadline loomed, Yami found himself feeling slightly anxious, though strangely, it had nothing to do with Bakura, in fact, he couldn't quite explain what was making him nervous, it seemed to be more a general sense of apprehension. He assumed this was from nerves, but was quite perturbed nonetheless; he was far from a nervous person, usually always keeping his cool.
He felt a great deal of tension in the rest of the group, however, he was quite sure their apprehension was directly related to Bakura, unlike himself. Yuugi and Ryou were by far the most strained looking, they'd been working towards this for two months, after all.
None of them felt very much like doing anything, so they merely hung around the school, saying very little, and spending most of the time shifting around awkwardly.
Finally, it was time, and Ryou departed to fetch Bakura, while the others accompanied Jounouchi while he collected Shizuka. As they arrived back at the shop, they saw a limousine pull up, precisely at five, of course; Kaiba could always be expected to be punctual. Kaiba, along with Mokuba, emerged from the back as they approached. The limousine drove off after they had come out, Kaiba clearly expected to be here for quite some time.
"Yuugi, Yami", Kaiba nodded curtly at the two, his eyes then moving over the rest of the group, and narrowing upon falling on Jounouchi. The slightest flicker of a smirk appeared, while Mokuba moved forward to greet everyone. Yami, shifted over and unlocked the door, and held it open for everyone to enter. He thought they might as well all be seated before Ryou and Bakura arrived
Walking in himself, he was surprised to find it was boiling inside, despite it only being a mildly warm day.
"Damn, Yuugi, it's like an oven in here", exclaimed Jounouchi, his sentiments echoed by the rest of the group.
"Sorry, maybe the temperature got set high by accident", Yuugi moved into the back to check, and Yami followed.
Entering the kitchen, Yami strolled over to the windows, intending on letting in some air, but found they were either locked or sealed. "Aibou, did your Grandpa shut all the windows or something? I can't seem to open them"
"I don't think so, I mean I don't see why he would. Well, I'll ask him about it later, I'll just turn on the air conditioning for now."
Yami let the others into the room, and they seated themselves as best they could around the table. Kaiba stood (letting Mokuba sit instead) alongside Jounouchi and Otogi. Once the final two arrived, there would be eleven of them, making the kitchen quite cramped. Yami wondered if they ought to have found a better place for this. Yuugi ensured there was a seat free, obviously intended for Bakura.
"Err, does anyone want anything?" asked Yuugi uncertainly, receiving few replies from the group, all negative.
Yami leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms, and wondering just how this was really going to turn out. An all out brawl? Fairly unlikely, but he didn't think this would turn out to be a friendly night, in any case.
Suddenly there came a sharp rapping at the shop's front door, making them all jump slightly. Yuugi left the room, and Yami felt the already stifling air grow even tenser on top of it.
Yuugi returned, followed by Ryou. After they'd both entered, they turned, beckoning the final guest. At last, in walked, slowly, a very reluctant looking Bakura. Yami was pleased to see there was no sneer, or mocking look on Bakura's face, indeed the thief looked simply uncomfortable. Perhaps this might go better than he had expected.
Bakura seated himself, looking quite like a trapped animal, and remained silent. Yami glanced at Yuugi, who wore a very "I don't know what I'm doing" expression. Several moments passed before he finally spoke.
"Well...does anyone have anything to say first?"
Kaiba and Jounouchi seemed about to make biting remarks, but both appeared to think better of it. Silence reigned for another few seconds, before Ryou broke it.
"I already know what you're all thinking, those of you who made up their minds two months ago, without giving any chance for Bakura to prove himself. You're thinking this is a waste of time, that he must be the same person you fought before. But I can tell you he's not, and don't forget, he lived inside of me for a long time, I mightn't have been aware of him for most of it, but I still know what he was like. And this person, sitting in front of you, is not him. That's a fact, I know it, and it's about time you gave him an opportunity to prove it."
"And there's no possibility you could have been duped? We've seen he's deceptive before, why couldn't he be now?", Kaiba seemed to be outright scoffing at Ryou's request.
"Kaiba, I know one completely airtight reason he can't be the same person", Yuugi had spoken again, "The gods themselves brought him back, they explained what they'd done pretty thoroughly. The Bakura we knew before was mostly Zorc, and he's dead now, so Bakura's just a normal person now, they told us already he's not evil. Unless you think the gods are wrong?"
Kaiba said nothing; he seemed to have no retort.
"Yuugi is right, the gods wouldn't have brought him back if there was any evil left in him. The problem isn't Bakura, it's all of you, you just flat out refused to trust him without giving him any chance", added Ryou.
"Well, it's not like he's acted innocent towards us, either." Jounouchi now spoke up, "He's been just as rude and hostile as ever, at least to us. Maybe he acts like an angel in your house, but we've only seen him acting like an asshole as usual."
"Indeed, you're quite right" Bakura now spoke himself, and his detractors looked quite taken aback. "Just as you treated me in a hostile manner, I treated you in the same way, in return. I won't claim to be innocent, I am willing to admit I have poorly behaved throughout this whole situation. But I'd like you to admit that you have done the same"
Once again, silence filled the room.
"Well...I suppose that is true...we did jump to conclusions maybe" said Malik, "But like you said yourself, you've not made it easy, you look the same, you act the same, it's not exactly filling us with confidence that you're trustworthy."
"He's acted that way because it was all he knew, and he was just being defensive against all of you", Ryou retorted. "If you'd just be more open to the possibility he might not be an enemy, you may find he's changed more than you think."
Yami now decided to speak, while he did not trust Bakura, he knew it was pointless to try and keep this issue going, when there was a simple solution.
"I believe this is simply a matter of trust. I don't...We don't trust Bakura, and he doesn't trust us in return. We believe he is dangerous, he believes we will never accept him. While I'm clearly on one side, I believe both parties must meet in the middle here, and right now I'm open to any attempt to solve this conflict. We can learn to trust you, Bakura, and then we might find you indeed are a changed man, and in turn you might learn that there's no need for hostilities towards us. Would anyone be opposed to attempting this solution?"
No one answered, and Yami took it to mean no. "I think that's settled then"
"Just how do you suggest we 'learn' to trust one another, Yami?" Kaiba still sounded highly skeptical.
"Well, I think that's what we're here to work out, wouldn't you concur?"
Kaiba didn't reply, but his expression betrayed the knowledge that he privately agreed.
"We'll find some method, it can't be that hard" Yuugi remained as optimistic as ever. "It's only half five now, we've got hours to-" he stopped abruptly. All of them immediately knew why.
A rumbling noise could be heard outside the room, it seemed to be coming from right outside the building, in the alley behind it.
"What's that? A car?" Jounouchi's tone was confused.
"Too loud, sounds more like a truck or a van. It's a diesel engine." replied Kaiba.
"Well what's it doing behind the shop?" asked Yuugi.
"Turning around maybe?" suggested Ryou.
Just then the noise ceased; the vehicle's engine had been stopped.
"Guess not"
Yami moved to the window, attempting to see where the vehicle was, but hadn't the right angle of view.
"I think we'd best go and find out ourselves" he said.
"Just a couple of us" added Kaiba, and the two began to move towards the door. However, before they reached it, the doorknob turned.
"What the-" Yami was cut off, as the door opened slightly, and something solid was rolled in, before the door snapped back shut.
All eyes were drawn to the small object now lying in the middle of the floor. It seemed to be a can of some sort, and from one end there was a curious blur being emitted, like a heat wave. After a moment, all of them realised at the same time what it was.
"Shit!"
Yami flew forwards, seizing the canister, and attempting to wrench open the door to get it out of the room, but it wouldn't budge, someone seemed to be holding it shut from the other side.
"Help me!"
Kaiba, Jounouchi and Otogi leaped over and also tried to pull open the door, but it still wouldn't move. The gas was spraying from the can in liberal amounts, and already Yami was beginning to feel lightheaded.
"The window!" He shot across the room, and struggled to open the window, to no avail.
"Damn it!"
"Break the glass, Yami!" Kaiba shouted.
He raised his arm, intending on flinging the can through the window, but his fingers went slack, and he dropped it. He fell to his knees, his head spinning wildly.
"Shit!" the three all dived for the can, but it's effects had already taken their toll, none could raise themselves off their knees, and they were unable to grab it. The others had stood up during the chaos, but were now also collapsing. Mokuba fell face down on the floor, not moving.
"Mo...Mokuba!" Kaiba seemed to forget about the canister, and crawled over to his brother, trying to shake him awake, while Shizuka, Ryou and Anzu all fell to the floor, like Mokuba, unmoving. Yuugi edged closer, trying to grab the can, but went limp before he could seize it.
"Aibou!", Yami could barely see now, his vision had blurred, and he couldn't find the can. From out of nowhere Bakura leapt forward, managing to grab the can and get back onto his knees, he raised it behind his head, and flung it at the window. Yami's heart soared, they were saved!
He heard a loud crack above his head, but it was followed by the can clattering back onto the tiled floor; it had only fractured the glass.
"Sh...shi..." Bakura crumpled, unable to complete his curse. Otogi and Jounouchi had both fallen unconscious, and Yami saw the hazy shape of Kaiba collapse alongside Mokuba, as he tried to move himself forward. He saw the outline of the can in front of him, and tried to grab it, just as a tanned hand attempted to do the same.
"M-Ma...Malik! Get it!" He saw the Egyptian give one final burst of energy, throwing himself forward and grasping the can, and tried to move closer to have a clear shot at the window, but faltered, clearly unable to keep himself awake much longer. Yami pulled himself over, just as Malik collapsed on top of him. Yami tried to catch the can as it fell from Malik's hand, but missed it, and could only watch in despair as it rolled out of his reach, still spewing it's clear gas.
His mind lost any clarity; his head hit the floor, the limp form of Malik still draped over him, as he slipped away, towards unconsciousness.
He heard the door open, and a muffled voice say "Easiest catch in years", before his mind went blank, and he knew no more.
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A/N:
The plot thickens, indeed :p
Next chapter will have some unpleasantries, just so you're warned, nothing too graphic or serious now, just some unsettling things. The really nasty stuff will come later on.
Also, since it bothers some readers, I'd best mention the sexual scenes in this will be male-male. So you might want to bail out now if it's not your thing.
P.S. Once again, any spelling/grammar errors I might have missed, please point them out and I'll correct them.