Sorry it took a little while to update!

Thank you for the review and the follows/favorites. The plot thickens in this chapter, you really start to see exactly what the plot even is. Like I said… Chapters 1 and 2 were more of introductions to the characters.

Each small flurry seemed to increase the chill in the air. Small wisps… almost like smoke but even less substantial… were floating- no, darting around the man's head. There was something sinister in their movements. These dark, amorphous tendrils of black/gray air kept to the shadows under the stones of the small structure the man had happened across and spent the night in… waiting. Waiting for them to arrive. Slowly, one of the dark patches of swirling wind separated itself from the rest and began to coil into something large and monstrous.

"We've come a long way."

The creature didn't speak, but the man could hear its growling voice in his own head.

"Yes… Yes I wished to… I simply-"

"Why have you called?" It rasped horribly, making the man falter.

"You all… you are not the only beings to return from the Destroyed Realm." The man hoped, if he brought the information they needed, he wouldn't end up never walking out of this crumbing stone house.

"Who have you seen?"

"The one with the gray/white hair has returned for his Light… and the blonde Tombkeeper stays close."

Bakura

Bakura sat in the darkness, waves of shock still rolling over him. Putting aside the "what the hell am I doing alive?" question, he still could not process what happened with his Light. He sure as hell hadn't just been beaten like that by Ryou… RYOU!? Small, fragile 'wouldn't hurt a fly' Ryou. That must have been some kind of crazy evil twin or something. Despite the aching pain between his eyes and the throbbing everywhere else, he snorted with laughter. If Ryou had an evil twin…it was himself. But then that was Ryou, little Ryou just kicked his ass to kingdom come and threw him out the door without even a word. Actually that wasn't true. With a stream of obscenities and hate. He adjusted himself slowly and stood up, wincing slightly as his head spun and momentarily losing his balance. He gripped the pillar behind himself and attempted to remain upright. He threw a glance towards the corner where his… 'host'… hm don't like that term applying to someone else… lay still as stone. At least he didn't see that. He still felt very weak.

Managing to make it to the couch the other had previously indicated, he collapsed onto it, grunting slightly as his head throbbed once again. Then, all of the sudden, so fast he barely had time to process it, a terrible piercing pain shot through his chest. It was all he could do to keep himself from calling out. He lay on his stomach, arms and legs twitching slightly as what felt like electric currents wracked through his body, charging each of his muscles into a short frenzy before ending, then beginning again. He watched the red lit numbers of a clock across the room tick from 8 to 9…10…11…12… Even the black curtains couldn't keep out the sunlight as the sun reached its peak at noon. It poured through the cracks at each end of the curtain and reached across the floor, as though all it wanted was to touch his skin. Suddenly that was all he wanted as well. He got up, glancing back at the Tombkee- at Malik he corrected himself with a sneer, to make sure he was still asleep. He remained still as stone. Bakura opened the curtain and let some light spill into the room. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the shadows hop and slither to the corners of the room… in an almost animalistic fashion. The pain immediately disappeared. He blinked.

"Hm." He let the light flood over his skin… his pale, creamy skin without a single blemish. Ryou's skin, not mine. If this were his skin, it'd be brown, a deep tan like Malik's and his hair would be short… nowhere near this length. He always kept it short and… He sighed and let his forehead rest against the windowpane. Can't exactly complain about looking this way when I threw my own body away…I'm just lucky Ryou ended up with it and not his old man, or some other, older or fouler person… though if someone else had found it… maybe he would have gotten a normal life…Not maybe. Most definitely Ryou's life would have been different if he'd never seen that Ring. He sat down, his back to the window. He didn't know why but he couldn't bring himself to close the curtains again.

It must have been a considerable amount of time later that Bakura woke to the sound of running water. He sat up and groaned, feeling all the muscles in his neck and back protest as he attempted to use them. He looked over and saw the bed empty. Great. He grit his teeth. He didn't like the idea that he had allowed himself to appear so vulnerable in front of Malik, to be honest he barely knew him. Speak of the devil… Malik stepped out of a door off the kitchen where the sound of running water had been coming from. His hair looked damp and he was wearing only a pair of green jeans. He had a towel in his hands that he was using to dry his torso as he walked over to a chest beside his bed, opened it, and pulled out a black tee shirt. He pulled it on and began rubbing the towel on his head. When he emerged, his hair was spiking in all different directions.

"Well good afternoon sleepyheaded weirdo." He said, not facing Bakura.

He decided silence was all he wanted to give Malik in reply to that greeting. Malik turned and smiled… not sneered, smirked, leered, or bared his teeth… simply smiled, which caught Bakura slightly off guard.

"I really meant you could use the couch… did you move from spot to spot on my floor the whole time I was asleep or was there something special about that one?"

He turned to face a glass mirror hanging on the wall and began combing and taming his hair into it's smooth, normal appearance.

"I… preferred to be by the window."

"Planning an escape? I swear I was going to untie you!" Malik placed a hand over his heart, caught his eye in the reflection, and winked.

"You seem different than you did this morning."

Malik turned to a small box by his bed and opened it. He pulled out something that made a small metallic noise against the metal box edge. Turning back to the mirror, the Thief watched as Malik inserted his triangular golden earrings.

"Sleep can do a person wonders.., though knowing someone else is here definitely helps as well."

"Why's that?" Bakura assumed he was being playful with him again.

"Because if he comes, then I don't have to deal with him by myself." Malik said this so quietly that Bakura barely caught the tail end of the sentence. "But hey," Malik said a little louder, reaching back into the box and pulling out four golden bangles he proceeded to roll up his arms, "maybe he isn't even back… or doesn't care where I am… or"

"He cares. You... have to care. One way or another, bad feelings or good… he'll look for you."

Bakura noticed the space between Malik's eyebrows crease in the reflection of the mirror as he considered him, he didn't like it.

"Ryou's tough now, has to be. Has to deal with the repercussions of being banned to the Shadow Realm and worse, handling a Millennium Item with ill intent."

"What repercussions?"

This felt like dangerous territory to be entering into. Bakura was straightening and unstraightening his arm and bending his neck forward and backward experimentally, trying to work out the tight muscles. He didn't like the turn this conversation had suddenly taken. He hadn't meant to imply he felt that way about Ryou… though….

Malik, more out of habit than anything else he suspected, rolled his eyes and smirked as he fastened a thin golden chain, so intricately woven that it looked like a single strand of gold, around his neck.

"Just leave him to himself."

Bakura felt the bottom drop out of his stomach.

"Can't." He replied simply, standing up swiftly and gracefully for someone who'd just spent two hours on the floor and turning back towards the window.

"You have to." Malik's voice replied in measured tones.

"I know. "

He turned around to find the blonde staring at him.

"You… want to go to the store with me?"

"Uh- What?"

"Come with me." Malik turned, grabbed something off the counter and stuffed it into the back pocket of his green jeans. Then he walked towards the door, opened it and left.

Bakura slowly followed, intending only to see if the blonde was simply waiting outside the door. Malik was already halfway down the first flight of stairs when he popped his head out.

"Shut the door behind you."

Bakura suddenly had another piercing jolt run through his torso and he grabbed the side of the doorway to keep himself from falling over. I'm not staying here wrapped up in my thoughts with this pain continuing to wreck me. He pulled the door shut and started, stiffly, down the stairs.

Malik

Forcing himself not to twitch into a frenzy looking back and forth and up and down every side street they passed, Malik glanced instead to his left. Bakura was looking all around, his deep green eyes were thoughtful.

"So… what exactly would you like to be called?"

His eyes rolled onto my face and locked there.

"I don't understand your question."

His gaze was so intense. Wonder if he gets that from Ryou or if he was like that on his own as well.

"Well 'Bakura' you stole from Ryou…right? This his sir name. So what's your real name?"

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "My 'real' name died with my 'real' body. I don't care to use it anymore."

"Well you shouldn't use Ryou's name as your own just because you made a mistake."

They both froze. Thinking he'd gone too far Malik glanced up at Bakura's face, and was surprised to catch a smile lingering there.

He followed the slightly taller man's gaze towards a group of children all lingering outside of a tall apartment building with a big red ball. They were taking turns running into the street and throwing the ball for a friend to kick. Malik raised a hand and cuffed Bakura over the head, for some reason he just felt himself becoming more and more comfortable with him.

"Hadn't thought about it like that." Bakura rubbed his head and frowned, every trace of whatever thought had consumed him a moment earlier gone.

"Well, I really do have a crapton to do so let's go." Malik headed off towards the University building straight ahead.

I'll at least turn my paper in, get some groceries, drag him all over town… anything to stay busy…

His thoughts turned fully towards Ryou for the first time since he had left his apartment and another certain someone. Ah… now he would be worth a visit for sure…

Ryou

Ryou hadn't gone to bed. He had barely moved. He managed to control himself long enough to discipline his fingers into texting gently enough so as not to crack the screen of his phone

Seto

Won't be there tonight.

That was it. That was all he had managed.

The apartment was in disarray, completely torn to pieces. The table was flipped (oh how the tables have turned Ryou thought ryly) completely over, resting on his carpet, which was littered with the debris of his smashed lamp. Books lie on the floor where he had thrown them angrily as he paced all afternoon trying to calm down and understand his thoughts. The most concerning of which nagged and pulled at the back of his mind, where is the aching? Why don't I feel the darkness? Small blood spots made a trail of sorts to the door. That was where he decided to start.

Ryou viciously scrubbed at the offending spots angrily.

If he'd been here for so long he could have found my things so easily. Thank goodness he's so disinterested in me that he didn't even look around.

Before he'd allowed the shock to overtake him early this morning, after he'd tossed Bakura bodily from the place, he'd thrown himself towards his bedroom and taken the key that hung on a chain and never left his neck. Unlocking his closet, he'd taken stock of his dark black staff with the scarab etched into the handle, the dark iron knife and thigh strap it rested in, and thank you thank you thank you the large glass jar secured tightly with wax. As he shut the door, he averted his eyes from the swirling black and purple contents within the jar.

The blood soaked up and the floor no longer bearing any memory of that person, Ryou grabbed his coat and walked out the door, He knew who he wanted to see.

Yugi was up on a step stool in his grandfather's store when Ryou busted through the door.

"Yugi! Is he- where's the Pharaoh?"

Yugi , who had looked up happily at the sound of his friend's voice jerked so violently that he almost fell off the stool. Looking like he wasn't quite sure what to make of the question, Yugi laughed slightly.

"uh haha um- Ryou… he's been gone for so long…"

"He's not back?"

Yugi blinked. "No. Why would that happen? He went to his final resting place."

Ryou stared at Yugi before sighing heavily. "What the hell is going on…"

Yugi lead him to the back, where he offered a hasty hello to Yugi's grandfather, who was really getting on in years.

"Yugi… Bakura is back. He was in my apartment this morning when I arrived home and-"

"Arrived home this morning?" Yugi sighed. "Ryou I thought you were done with that group."

"You of all people should understand why I cannot be done with that group."

Ryou lifted his head and saw tears slowly rolling down Yugi's face.

"You miss him. Still?"

"Always." Yugi looked at him. "Maybe this is just what you need to let this whole thing go…. It's time for someone else to worry about the light and the shadows. The fate of the world doesn't always have to be up to us."

Ryou stood up, anger flaring within him. He was so tired of being angry.

"You don't understand. Of all of us I never would have guessed you'd be the one to completely turn your back on the truths we discovered when we owned Millennium Items… as a fellow bearer-"

"Don't preach to me." Yugi glared uncharacteristically. This was a sore subject and Ryou knew that but he was exhausted and on edge. "I spent years of my life running around the world doing whatever the hell fate-" he traced the words with his fingers "-brought my way. To help my friend. But he's gone. The fight is over, light won."

"If light won what the fuck is happening out there!?" Ryou gestured wildly out towards the windows, towards the sky, as he did so, he felt the pang… the familiar ache within him twitch back to life.

"Ryou… I just don't think you and Kaiba should be worrying about his anymore."

"Kaiba doesn't like thinking things are out of his control. I have no choice… you know what I have to deal with. What that bastard exposed me to."

Yugi blinked, finally seeming to understand something

"Wait, he's really back…?"

Ryou folded his arms and leaned his head towards the ceiling.

"Ryou, what if he's back because all that stuff-" Yugi gestured towards the outside, mimicking Ryou earlier "- is here… maybe he has answers. What did he say to you?"

Not wanting to admit that was a decent suggestion Ryou shrugged. "We didn't sit down for a nice chat… not exactly the kind of house guest I want."

He felt his phone buzzing as multiple texts were received at the same time.

"I didn't mean to yell earlier." Yugi was looking sheepishly around the room, a hand lifted to his head. "It's a sore subject… I want him back so badly and if he can't come back then truly I just want this all to be over."

"I get it." Ryou did get it. He really did. Hell, he'd love for it to have ended for him that day. "But I can't just decide. I know what's out there and-"

"You don't have to explain. I don't agree but I understand."

"I should go. Seto wants to talk to me, and if my phone keeps buzzing it's going to vibrate itself into an early grave."

Yugi cracked a smile. "He'll never do anything half-heartedly."

Bakura

As he followed Malik all around, completing his seemingly endless list of chores, Bakura let his mind wander back to the memory that had sprouted so abruptly and beautifully it had taken him right back to his childhood in Egypt. He had had friends just like that group of boys, and they had played games in the same way.

Teasing each other playfully.

Competitively shoving each other as they ran for a snake near the village, wanting to be the one to kill it.

Malik's voice and fist had brought him back to himself, in a different body on a different part of the planet. He sighed quietly.

"Oh come on, this hasn't been that bad."

Bakura glanced at Malik and let his head loll to one side. Cocking an eyebrow he smirked. "You're worse than a woman with all this running around."

Malik made to cuff him again and he blocked easily and without thinking. He was easy to get along with… this other Egyptian teen.

"We have to get home soon, it'll be dark but I wanted to stop in here."

Bakura glanced up at the small entirely black square building in front of them.

"Why?"

"To see a friend." Malik entered without an explanation or invitation, so Bakura just trudged along after him.

A woman at a desk looked up as they entered and said, "Who have you brought with you?" apparently she was familiar with Malik. Well… lets face it… he leaves an impression."

"An old friend. Is he here?"

Bakura watched as the woman nodded her head towards a large silver door on the left of the room. Malik thanked her and walked over to it.

"Mr. Kaiba, M. Ishtar is back and he brought a guest." He heard the woman murmur into a phone as they passed through the door.

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