And we arrive at Mission 3! There's thiefshipping in this "Mission".

This will be a two-part mission. Part two of this mission will be considered as "Mission 4", so then we will be back on track with the numbers.

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, YGOTAS, the fanfic cover, or any of the characters/trademarks in those. I don't own Limey Man, but I do own how he looks in this fanfic.

R&R

ENJOY~!

Limey Man Mission 3: Limey Man, Assistant Cupid (Part 1)

—Summary: Bakura informs Ryou that Marik has suddenly run out on him! He doesn't know why. Ryou decides to help find Marik, using his Limey Man powers.

Ryou woke up that Saturday morning a bit early, feeling surprisingly energized. He didn't know why.

He felt an odd stirring in the mind link between him and his dark.

He got out of bed, headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and all that stuff, changed his clothes, then headed to the kitchen to have breakfast.

What he found there surprised him.

Bakura was sitting at the kitchen table, looking depressed. He had his head propped up by his arm with his chin resting on his wrist, there was a pained look in his eyes, and he was frowning deeply. There was a full and untouched cup of coffee on the table next to him.

Secretly, about a year ago, Ryou and Bakura had been given their own separate bodies by the Millenium Ring. They didn't know how or why it had happened, but it had. Neither of them knew if the same had happened with Yugi, and they didn't feel like asking. This hadn't happened with Marik because his dark had been destroyed (they assumed). Bakura looked exactly like Ryou did, with a few differences. Among these differences were the hair, which was a bit spikier and wilder for Bakura and stuck up in two places and looked sort of like "bat wings"; the eyes, which were shaped slightly differently for either of them; and of course the voice. Everything else was the same: skin tone, height, body shape... (Weight varied slightly for them because they had separate bodies and different diets.)

When they had split, Bakura had been allowed to live with Ryou and had been given the guest room to use as his room. Bakura had started being less abusive and mean to Ryou, but in no way were the two on any sort of special friendly terms. They existed more as roommates and distant 'brothers'—in addition to their automatic light-dark former-host-former-possessor relationship they defaulted in—than anything else. But as long as Bakura didn't cause trouble, Ryou didn't mind what he did, and took care of the spirit. He did all of the cleaning and cooking, and Bakura agreed to do the heavy and hard work.

"Good morning, Spirit," Ryou greeted. He always greeted his dark as "Spirit", but always referred to him as "Bakura" the rest of the time.

"Good morning, Host," Bakura greeted back. The same was true for him, he greeted his light as "Host", but referred to him as "Ryou" the rest of the time. (Sometimes, he called Ryou "Lanlord", which Ryou secretly loved being called by Bakura.)

"Something wrong?" Ryou asked as he started making breakfast for himself and Bakura. "You weren't home when I got back last night."

"I'm fine," the spirit mumbled. He picked up he mug with his free hand and took a sip of coffee. "Don't ask."

"You're obviously not fine." He walked over to the cabinets which were behind where Bakura was sitting. "What do you want to eat?"

"Not hungry..." Bakura replied with a sigh.

Ryou turned around and stated at Bakura with a slightly shocked expression on his face. He knew that something was really wrong if Bakura wasn't hungry and didn't accept the offer for food, which he always accepted. He also knew that Bakura wouldn't give up any information unless Ryou already had some of it. Ryou took a peek into their mind link to see what kind of issue it was.

He blinked rapidly in surprise when he found out that Bakura was heartaching a bit. Something had happened last night and it was still bothering him this morning.

"Did something happen with Marik?" Ryou asked.

Bakura's head shot up. He twisted around in his seat and glared at Ryou. "You're awfully nosy," he said, his frown deepening.

About six months ago, and six months after they had gotten separate bodies, Bakura and Marik had started dating. It turned out that their feelings for each other had been there during Battle City, due to the circumstances both of them were in. But those feelings were let out and discovered when Marik had visited Ryou six months ago and discovered Bakura with his own body. They started hanging out frequently after that. Two weeks later, they were officially dating.

Ryou didn't really like them together, but it gave Bakura something to focus his attention on besides being bored and bothering him and being a criminal, and Marik certainly kept Bakura in line. Well...as far as Ryou knew, he did. They were perfect for each other, Ryou felt. But that didn't mean he had to like it. He was never quite sure what the two of them were doing, and he hoped that Marik's good would rub off on Bakura but he had a feeling that it was more that Bakura's bad was rubbing off on Marik. He worried about that. But he didn't try to interfere with their relationship.

Bakura's mood must have something to do with Marik. Had something happened between them last night that Ryou didn't know about?

"I know," Ryou said, a bit guiltily for having pried. "But I wanted to know what was wrong." He turned around and grabbed a box of cereal from the cabinet and poured himself some. Then he went over to the fridge and poured some milk. He put the cereal and milk back, got a spoon, then took the bowl and spoon over to the table. He sat down next to Bakura, on a different side of he table. "What happened? Do you want to talk about it?"

Bakura averted his gaze. He picked up the cup again, hid his mouth behind it, and mumbled "No". Then he took a sip, but left the cup near his mouth.

"Come on. Just tell me." Ryou began eating.

"No. Mind your own damn business."

"Well could you at least tell me why you weren't home last night when I got here?"

Bakura scoffed. He put the cup down and folded his arms in front of him. "You came home at 7. I came home at 8. You were asleep when I got here. It's not that late. Not for me, anyways. Why did you come home so late?"

Ryou swallowed before speaking. "How do you know when I got home? I came home at 5 and I fell asleep at 7:50."

"That's awfully early for you to fall asleep on a day when you came home at regular time."

"I was tired."

Bakura's eyes flicked to the Millenium Ring. "You were wearing that in bed when I checked on you. You always take it off before bed nowadays."

Ryou shrugged and took another spoonful of cereal so he wouldn't have to respond. "You only ever take at most two hours to finish your homework," Bakura continued. "And you're never so tired as to fall asleep an hour after finishing it. What were you doing with the Ring yesterday?"

Ryou was still chewing, and didn't answer.

"Alright," Bakura said with a small sarcastic grin. "Who did Limey Man save this time?"

Ryou smiled faintly and blushed. He swallowed. "A little girl who spoke only English and was separated from her mother. It took a while to help her get back, and the street was unusually crowded as well. I would have come home at 4 like I usually do if I hadn't helped her."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "I still don't know why you bother. This city doesn't really care if you help them or not."

"Well I care."

"Whatever." Bakura glanced at the Millenium Ring again. Then he faced forward. His grin faded back into a frown. He sighed.

The mood that Bakura had been in had temporarily disappeared from their mind link, and now it had returned. Ryou remembered what they had been talking about. "Oh yes, why did you come home so late?" While he let Bakura talk, he took another spoonful of cereal.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'd rather tell you now than have you annoying me and breaking my sanity." He looked Ryou in the eyes. "I actually came home at 8. I kept quiet because I didn't want to bother you with whatever you were doing and cause you to want to check on me. Marik was with me. We were continuing a conversation we had been having on the way here. All of a sudden, he got upset and just walked out on me. I tried to follow him to ask what was wrong, but he ignored me. I eventually lost him. I checked to see if he had gone home, but he hadn't. I came back here and found you sleeping."

Ryou frowned and put his spoon down. "What did you say to make him leave?"

"I don't know!" Bakura cried in exasperation. "Or rather...I don't remember."

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Don't remember?" he echoed. "Were you—"

"NO," Bakura interrupted. "I wasn't drunk or anything. I just don't remember what I said to piss him off. And we argue all the time. But it never comes between us. We talk, laugh, talk more, argue, talk, then laugh again. Our fights never get between us. Not like this, anyway."

"So...what was different last night?"

"You think I bloody know?!" Bakura asked with a scowl. "That's what I've been trying to figure out! We were fine. We weren't even arguing or anything while we were here! I was in the middle of a sentence when out of nowhere his face turned irritated and he cut me off and said 'You know what? I'm out of here. See you tomorrow or Sunday. Maybe.' Then he walked out!"

"What were you saying?"

Bakura threw his hands up. "I. Don't. Know!"

"Well..." Ryou thought for a moment about what could have happened. It seemed that Bakura hadn't said anything to set Marik off at THAT MOMENT of him walking out. So...what could have happened?

Ryou suddenly had an idea. He opened his mouth to say it, but Bakura spoke first. "Why do you care?" he asked. "I thought you didn't want us together?"

"I never said that," Ryou said. "I just don't like it. I'm not trying to split you apart. And besides, I want to help you out. Now as I was about to say..." Bakura rolled his eyes. "...maybe you didn't say anything to cross him at that moment, but maybe something you said during the conversation before you came here bothered him a little. And perhaps by the time the conversation reached the point it did, he had thought about it and it had bothered him enough to make him walk out on you, even if you weren't saying anything to bother him at that moment."

"That's rid—" Bakura paused. He looked away and his face grew thoughtful. Ryou waited for him to say something. After a few seconds, he met Ryou's gaze again and continued. "Now that I think about it, on the way here I said something. I don't remember what, but I remember that Marik had frowned and said, 'Seriously? I love how you worded that' very sarcastically, as if it bothered him. I asked if there was a problem with the way I had worded it, and he just smiled and said there was no problem. He cracked a joke about how I had worded something awkwardly last week, and I brought up an example when he had done the same thing. The conversation went okay from there. And I also remember that a few seconds before he had walked out, I looked at him while I was talking and he didn't seem to be paying attention. His face was...thoughtful. I asked if he was paying attention and snapped out of it and said 'Oh yeah sure I am.' I continued what I was saying and that's when he got pissed off out of nowhere and just walked out."

Ryou had been listening closely the entire time and nodding once in a while. "I see. Do you remember what you said that he asked why you had worded it how you had?"

Bakura looked away again as if he was trying to remember. Without looking back at Ryou he said, "No...not really." Bakura put a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

Ryou did a double take. "When did you serve yourself cereal?" he asked.

Bakura smirked faintly. "I didn't. You did."

Ryou looked down and discovered that his bowl of cereal was missing. Bakura had obviously taken it. "Hey! When did you steal my cereal?"

"Sometime right after I said 'I. Don't. Know'." He ate another spoonful. "And if would have been soggy by now if I hadn't. I'm pretty sure you would use forgotten about it."

"I would have. You thief."

Bakura cupped a hand around his ear and leaned closer to Ryou. "I don't hear you saying the second half of my title."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to call you 'Thief King'."

Bakura sat up and lowered his hand. "You would do well to start. If you do, I just might spare your life once I take over and rule the world."

"You are not going to take over the world, Bakura. Why do you keep saying that?"

Bakura closed his eyes and shook his head in mock disappointment. "See, Landlord, that kind of attitude is exactly why I don't plan on sparing your life when I rule the world." He put down the spoon and took another sip of coffee.

Ryou smiled.

By then, Bakura had finished his coffee. He slid the cup over to Ryou. "What are you doing?"

"Put this in the sink for me?" He continued eating Ryou's cereal.

Ryou gave him an odd look. "No! You stole my cereal. You put both dishes in the sink yourself. Don't be lazy."

Bakura moved the bowl aside, put his head on the table, let his arms and shoulders go limp, and looked at Ryou with the most heartbroken expression he could manage. His lip even trembled a little bit.

Ryou knew that Bakura was faking it. He gave Bakura a neutral face. But that face started cracking a few seconds later. A sympathetic and caring look replaced it. He grabbed the cup, walked over to the seat and put he cup in it, then sat back down. When he sat again, Bakura's sad and heartbroken look had been replaced with a triumphant smirk.

Ryou realized what had just happened, and frowned at him. "Stop doing that to me!" he cried. "Why do you keep doing that?" he asked sadly.

"Because it's fun and because you always fall for those faces when I use them on you. You never learn."

Ryou frowned more and got up to get himself some more cereal. "One day I will..."

"No. You won't. I highly doubt it."

"I'm not your slave, you know. Not anymore."

"I didn't say you were. But your actions say otherwise."

"Well it's not my fault."

"Maybe it is. You can't resist helping people. Even me."

"I'm not putting your bowl in the sink, just to let you know."

Bakura finally finished off the cereal, and lifted the bowl to his mouth so he could drink the leftover milk. He set the bowl down, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and slid the bowl over to Ryou.

Ryou automatically took the bowl over to the sink.

When he sat back down, Bakura said, "You were saying?"

Ryou shook his head and facepalmed. "Why do I..."

Bakura stood up. "You know what else you could do for me? You can turn into Limey Man and track down Marik for me. Ask him what his problem was. Save our relationship and save the day, you know?"

He laughed as he walked away. He entered the hallway leading to his room.

Ryou thought about that. Maybe he should...

Bakura's head reappeared a few seconds later. His face was serious. "Before you get any ideas, I was joking about that. Don't consider it."

"I'm not," Ryou lied.

"Liar," Bakura said. "You are. Stop. I don't need your help. You'll only get in the way."

"Where is Marik, anyway?" Ryou asked. "Would he be home?"

"No clue. He wasn't home when I went after him. But seriously, don't interfere. And besides, if you go after Marik, he will think that I sent you to look for him, and not only will that make me look bad but he'll also avoid me for another day. And for all I know, he could be expecting me to know why he's upset and he'll know that I don't. And that'll make me look even worse. So don't you dare..."

"I'm not..."

Bakura paused.

Ryou tried to hide his thoughts from Bakura in their mind link, but he was a bit too slow.

"You are," Bakura insisted. "Don't make me take the Ring away from you. If I find out that you tried to get involved and you make things worse..." A dangerous and threatening glint came into his eyes. It passed, but not before Ryou noticed it and understood the implications of it. "...you know what'll happen."

Ryou nodded and gulped.

Bakura gave him one last glare before disappearing into the hallway again.

Ryou sighed. He looked down at his cereal and started eating. He tried to keep his mind off of Marik and Bakura, but it didn't work very well. But at least his thoughts weren't so loud as to alert Bakura again. At least, Ryou assumed they weren't, because Bakura wasn't complaining.

He couldn't shake the feeling that he could help. It kept nagging him, even after he finished eating and headed back to his room.

He sat on his bed for a few minutes, trying to not think about it.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Bakura had said not to get involved, but Ryou knew he could help. And when he knew he could help, it bothered him and made him feel guilty if he didn't help.

So, despite Bakura's wishes and threats, Ryou was going to help. At the very least, he would locate Marik and tell Bakura where he was.

And the only way he could locate Marik without actually going after him was to transform into Limey Man.

Ryou slid off of his bed and stood up.

He smiled. "Limey Man isn't going to just walk away from this without helping out," he said.

He locked the door and window and closed the shades.

As quietly as possible, he began the transformation...

This chapter (^_^).

Next chapter is going to be VERY short, almost as short as the "Aftermath" chapters usually are.

There isn't really any "Battle" in the next chapter, but it's still going to be labeled as such.

See you next chapter!

BYEEEEEEEEE~!