Anzu sighed as Jou and Kaiba argued over the whole 'story' they'd just finished weaving for Ryou. Somehow, despite ample evidence to the contrary, the cynical billionaire still refused to believe that their adventures had involved anything 'supernatural.'

She was just thinking of something to say when she was interrupted by the amnesiatic homeowner.

"Anzu? Could I ask you something?" He had a slightly reddish-tint to his face.

The girl was confused but polite. "Certainly, Ryou. Did you want to go somewhere more-" there was a crashing noise from the kitchen, followed by Honda yelling something, "-private?" She deadpanned the last word.

Ryou nodded. "That'd be helpful."

They both went into Ryou's bedroom, leaving the door half-open. Anzu waited patiently for the pale duelist to speak.

"Um, this is a little awkward, but I was wondering... who, exactly, is dating who in our group? I'm getting a lot of mixed impressions..."

The girl's face flushed slightly. "Oh! Well, that's a bit difficult..." She frowned. "Technically, I don't think anyone's 'dating' anyone- at least, not openly."

Ryou tilted his head. "But you suspect there's crushes?"

The girl nodded wryly. "I think it's beyond 'suspecting' at this point, but yes; I'm fairly certain that Yugi and Yami are sweet on one another." She placed a hand on her forehead in irritation. "As for Jounouchi and Kaiba... it's really complicated, and I'm not going to speculate since they're both very vague. But if you notice them fighting, don't worry; they do it all the time."

"Oh." Ryou paused. "We're a weird group, aren't we?"

Anzu laughed. "You could probably say that! But we all care for each other, and we have a lot of fun together. Even Kaiba."

"I can't picture him having fun."

She smiled. "He may not smile a lot, but he does come by often- and with a multi-billion dollar company to run, I'm guessing that he has other things he could be doing with his time. So he must enjoy hanging out with our group."

There was a bellow from somewhere in the living room.

"MUTT!"

Anzu sighed. "Although sometimes, I'm not so sure."

Ryou couldn't help but laugh, and they both headed back downstairs.

A while later the large group had slowly dispersed, until only Yugi, Yami, and Anzu were left.

"Does everything make a little more sense to you now, Ryou?" Yugi asked kindly.

The British native hesitated. "I... think so. It's just so utterly complicated." He shook his head. "I was expecting something a lot simpler. It's not exactly an easy story to accept. Heck, I still can't believe Bakura and I, and you two-" he pointed to Yugi and his darker half "-aren't related."

Yami chuckled in a deep tone, and Yugi repeated his words. "We believe that you and Yugi may be reincarnations of our past selves... like you said, it's complicated."

"Oh." There was a moment of thoughtful silence. "Well, thank you for stopping by- and thank you for all your help. I do hope my memories return soon!"

"As someone who has lost his memories, I know it is difficult. If you ever should need to talk, you may call upon myself or my aibou."

Yugi quickly translated the speech for his darker half, and Ryou nodded.

"Thank you- I might just have to take you up on that offer."

The Bakura household was now empty, save for one very confused teenager. Ryou spent the rest of the evening flipping through the photographs that Yugi's group had brought for him. He could feel some vague tugs at the back of his mind, but nothing really clear seemed to jump out at him. Distracted, he twisted one of the photos in his hand.

"Ouch!" He looked down to a see a thin sliver of blood oozing from a small paper-cut on his right hand. The pale teen headed to the bathroom sink to wash the wound. As he rinsed out the paper-cut, Ryou suddenly felt something drift to the front of his mind- a memory. He quickly focused on the imagery twisting through his head. He was sitting at the kitchen table, holding his wrist. Bakura was leaning over the table, digging through what looked like a small medical supply kit.

"Foolish hikari! Why the hell would you do something like that?!" The ill-tempered man hissed as he opened a small bottle. Bakura then tilted the container and squeezed a clear fluid out onto the other's wrist.

Ryou winced as the liquid antiseptic dripped down over the scratches. "He was hurt and trapped! He would've died if someone hadn't freed him!"

Bakura snorted. "It was a stray cat- who cares?!"

Ryou frowned and gave a slight pout. "Well, I care! And I don't believe in letting people or animals suffer- especially not if I can help it!"

Bakura made a non-committal grunt. "Hnn."

Ryou noticed how carefully the taller man wrapped the bandages around his wrist. A moment later Bakura spoke. His voice was unusually soft.

"How's that?"

"That feels fine- thank you."

The white-haired grump scowled, and his voice grew rough. "Don't do that again, you fool- having a bleeding heart is better than having a bleeding arm."

Ryou smiled as he noticed the faint flush on the other's face. "I'll try."

"Hm... he can be kind..." The amnesiatic teen murmured thoughtfully to himself. 'But still- given the horrors of my other memories, it'll take more than a little first-aid to convince me that he's reformed.'

At the same time, several blocks away, a black-haired woman was uneasily searching for something. Ishizu frowned as she glanced around the first floor of their home. She soon found her younger brother and his dark half in the living room.

"Malik? Have you seen Bakura?"

Her brother looked up from his cards and nodded his head- he and Marik were apparently setting up a duel.

"What? Oh, Bakura- yeah, I think he's still out back. He was just sitting on the steps, staring at nothing. I asked him what was wrong and he told me to 'f' off,' so, yeah- he's being a moody *sshole."

Meanwhile, the former Thief King was staring up at the cloudy sky, his mind lost in a whirl of recollections.

He'd heard stories of men back in the ancient kingdom- drunks who had been involved in fights and hit their heads. They'd lost some of their memories, yes; but from what he'd heard they only lost the ones from that same night.

This 'elecktrickity' thing was far more dangerous. He closed his eyes as he remembered the first time he'd truly noticed an outlet...

"And this is where we plug in things that use electricity- see? Anything with a plug, like this-" Ryou held up the black tail of the blender, "-can use electricity. So we plug it in, and then we can use it!" Ryou flipped the switch and the blender blades began whirring. Bakura watched with mild fascination- he was already rather familiar with the concept of these non-magical appliances, but it was interesting to see how they drew their power.

"BUT!" Ryou held up one finger while he switched the blender back off. "Electricity can be deadly- you are NEVER to put anything in any outlet except a clean, unbent plug. NOTHING else goes in there- particularly liquids or metals!"

The ancient outlaw let out a frustrated huff. He should've remembered those words- then Ryou would never have gotten hurt. But as usual, his pride had taken over his common sense.

The former spirit scowled- he really felt like punching something.

"Hey Bakura!"

Malik's timing was probably not the best, but the Thief King still managed to hold back (he was a guest, even if only reluctantly).

'What."

The darker Egyptian nearly shivered- he hadn't heard that tone in a long time. "Dinner's almost ready- Ishizu knows you're not a vegetarian, so she made some veal kabab wa kofta!"

"..." The ancient outlaw's desire to pummel something was outweighed by his love of meat, and he sullenly followed the former tomb keeper back inside. The dining room was already crowded, but one large figure was missing.

"Odion's working late, but he promised to join us later." Ishizu added as everyone sat down around the dark wooden table. Bakura didn't comment, but just sat down and grabbed his silverware.

There was some small talk as the foreign group exchanged serving bowls. Ishizu made a point of commenting on the exact number of utensils on the table, leading to a scowl from Bakura. She noticed, however, that the missing spoon from the thief's place-setting suddenly 're-appeared' a few moments later.

Eventually everyone had been served, and the four Egyptians dug in. Malik was buttering a thick slice of bread, and Marik was trying to get to the desert plate first (Ishizu kept swatting his hands away from the rice pudding). The former seer politely nodded towards the thief. "How is the veal?"

"It's fine." Bakura couldn't help the faint voice in the back of his mind that chimed in, reminding him that 'Ryou wouldn't over-cook it, or use so many herbs.'

Marik soon began chatting about random things, and Malik joined in. Bakura ignored the blonde duo's inane prattle and focused on eating. Ishizu also remained thoughtfully quiet, although her concerns were more on how long they would be hosting their ancient 'guest.'

'I suppose it would be cruel to force young Ryou to take on the former King of Thieves when he has no memories of what-' Her thoughts were interrupted by Malik's sudden shout.

"Hey! I saw that! Put the ladle back, you sticky-fingered creep!"

"Heh heh- Baka-thief got caught!~"

The demure lady merely sighed. 'In the meantime, I must be sure to account for all the family silverware...'