Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! I do not own Vampire Hunter D. But I am going on vacation!

I want to thank my constant readers for being so patient with me, I remember what it was like when I read fanfiction and had to wait for another chapter. I am going to be going on vacation, but I will try my best to get a head start on the next chapter so you won't have to wait so long. Here is a lil' present before I go.

Chapter Four: Dangers of a New World

"I knew he was acting strangely again!"

"Why did he put it back on?"

"Who knows, maybe 'he' made him do it…"

Darkness swirled around him as he listened to the voices. He knew the dialogue by heart, but he could not recall why. The voices were taking a sinister turn, and he wished he could see who was saying these things, but he felt weighed down, and he could not move to look around.

"Did you really want me gone? I did help you when you were alone…hell, if I remember one thing, it's being alone…"

Tears sprung into his eyes when he heard that voice take a wistful tone. That voice had done nothing but cause him pain, but, he had been there when his friends had not. He had been a comfort in his own sick, twisted way.

"I'm glad you killed him finally. He deserved to die."

"NO!" He screamed, reaching out into the hazy light, the weight falling away from his chest, "Amane, don't let him leave me too!!!"

Gasping for air, Bakura looked around wildly, seeing not the swirling darkness, but concrete walls in a dim light, and a young boy rubbing his eyes making tired and confused noises. Falling back against the concrete wall, his body began to deal him the aches and pains of sleeping in such a position for a long period of time. Rubbing his eyes and trying to still the overzealous beating of his heart, he tried to recall what he had been dreaming. Nothing had made sense in his dream, but he now realized he had been replaying the voices of his friends when he had possessed the Millennium Ring. He did not recall when he had heard those words coming from them, but he had a feeling it had probably had been a time when he had been slipping in and out of consciousness. He was alarmed by his reaction, though. What had even brought that up? Quickly glancing back at D, he smiled apologetically for waking him up. The boy gave him a bleary look.

"What about Amane?" He asked, yawning. D knew little about the girl, aside from the fact that she had been Bakura's sister who died in a traffic accident. He had overheard the young man cry out for her before, when he had been in delirium due to his father's experimentation, but had never bothered to ask more, as Bakura always seemed to be in a bad mood afterward. Being woken up so abruptly jarred his usual filter though, and before he could hold his tongue it had slipped out.

"Oh, it was nothing," Bakura said, eyeing his feet, surprised to see that small scrapes were all that he had left. It did not make sense, for the blood caked onto them should have came from far deeper gashes. Bringing one to his face and squinting in the dim light he added, "I just had a really weird dream."

"Was she in it?" D asked, digging a little further. The man had not reacted negatively, and the boy felt that the best time for asking may be finally there.

"No," Bakura replied, frowning. Standing up, he shifted his weight onto each leg, feeling the absence of last night's pain. "But then again maybe she was; I can't remember most of it."

"Oh," D said, realizing that that was all that was to come of that conversation. "What are you doing?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Well, I cut up my feet pretty bad last night when we were coming over here, and I know I did, because well, look at them," Bakura motioned to the dried blood, "there is no way it could have come from the little nicks that I have in my feet, but I can't find anything more substantial."

"Weird," D mumbled, quickly tearing his eyes away from him. The lack of a meal from the previous day made his mouth water even at the sight of dirt laden blood. He may have missed a meal or two before, but as he was so young it felt necessary to eat every day, even though his body could last weeks without a drop of blood. He was living with Bakura now though, so he silently told himself that he would eat what ever Bakura ate from now on. He was half human after all; he would just have to get over his other side. It would also be beneficial to them, since he did not want Bakura to be bombarded with strange questions. D already feared that his appearance would cause many to question him as it was.

After dealing with their bodies' morning necessities, to which Bakura found a relatively in shape and unused bathroom for, they both wandered around the building while they waited for Yugi's return. Morning light filtered in through the broken windows, and as they picked their way through the disarray left from when the ground shook, both Bakura and D admired the fact that the building had resisted the attack quite well. The surrounding buildings from what they could see, as Bakura figured it would be best if they were not seen at all at the moment so they continually rushed past the open windows, were mostly demolished. Some stores caved in by debris that had fallen at the time of the explosions, but some of the more enforced buildings stood tall, albeit the shattered windows. As they hurried past another window, Bakura caught sight of an apartment building still standing, and hoped his own apartment could be accounted for when they were allowed out and given a chance to look. This was not the only thing on his mind at the moment. Although D may not have known, not that Bakura wanted him to worry, he was thinking about how they would fit in. He had contemplated on how to feed the boy the night before just as he slipped out of consciousness, and aside from wondering how his feet mysteriously healed overnight, he had thought about it all morning. He was of course going to allow him to try whatever he liked, but if there came a time where it was necessary, Bakura was more than willing to sacrifice his blood for the boy's nourishment. He would just have to make sure no one was watching at the time. It would not only be odd on more than one instance, but he did not know if the city had dealt with those that had been the bane of his existence for the past three years. Quickly glancing at the boy whose mouth hung open slightly as he bent down to pick up an empty box of ammunition, he hoped they had not.

"What is this place?" D asked, peering into the empty box, and tossing it over his shoulder when nothing of interest was inside.

"It looks like it was once a small police station," Bakura answered.

"Oh," D said, "Is that what he meant by finding weapons?"

Bakura had to think for a moment to realize the boy had been talking about Yugi. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, if there was any of that stuff in here, then why wouldn't they come in and take it?" D asked, "It seems rather foolish to just leave a bunch of weapons for someone else to take."

Bakura laughed. "Let's just hope that they were. I don't want to think about what would happen if we had to run again with so many people chasing after us."

"Would you be able to shoot at them?" D inquired, peeking around the corner and into another room filled with more boxes.

Bakura stopped for a moment. "I really don't know," he answered after a short silence, "I'm just hoping that we don't have to find out."

D shrugged, picking up one of the boxes and shaking it. The box itself was heavy, and when shaken, clanked as if there were thousands of metal pieces inside. Opening it, D procured another box, and opened that one. Curious, he dumped out the contents at one of the counters that encircled the room.

"These are bullets, right?" D asked, picking one up and showing it to Bakura. Leaning down to get a better look at it, as the sun's beam did not reach the corner the boy stood in he nodded as he recognized the shape of the metal piece.

"Yes, they are bullets. Maybe there's a gun or two around here," he said thoughtfully, opening the cupboards above and below the counter. "If you find one, tell me."

"Okay," D replied, mimicking Bakura as they searched for a firearm, "Oh, Bakura? Could I ask you something?"

"Yes?" Bakura answered, believing the question to be one about food. He was readying a list of replies to comfort the boy when the child asked,

"If we have to run, is there any chance we could get something to cover my face and hands? If we can't, that's okay, the sun doesn't bother me that bad…but if we can, could we? It kind of hurts a little when the sun hits me."

Bakura smiled, and ruffled the boy's hair. "Of course we can, D kun," he replied, "and if we can't, then I will just let you have my shirt to block the sun for you."

D smiled back, "Thank you, Bakura sama."

Bakura was pleasantly surprised by the child's reaction. He was glad that the boy was opening up, and hoped that whatever caused him to shut himself up would disappear completely as he began his new life. "You're welcome," he replied, hoping that there would not be a reason that they would have to run again so soon.

As he was about to continue his search he noticed a dark object beside D's foot, and bent down to pick it up. D looked down inquisitively, and as the man stood up, the boy craned his head to get a better look at what he had in his hand. The grin on the young man's face made it obvious that it had been the item that they had been looking for.

"Well, this was convenient!" Bakura exclaimed, eyeing the handgun as he brought it into better light.

"Does it take these bullets?" D asked, offering the box to the man.

"I dunno," Bakura replied, checking over the gun. He recognized the safety and the trigger, but that was all he really knew about guns in general. He had never touched one before in his life before escaping from the compound. Pointing the weapon away from them, he pushed what looked like some sort of button on the side and the gun's clip fell onto the floor with a clatter. Picking it up, he pried a bullet from the clip and examined it next to a bullet from the box. "It looks like it." He pushed the bullet back into the clip and testing to see if it was full or not, attempted to load another bullet into it. It fit in with a click of metal on metal. "It must have not been full," he remarked after repeating the action two more times.

"Well you are certainly perceptive aren't you?"

Bakura glanced back to see D shoving his left hand into his pocket, looking up at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, that was rude of him," he said, offering Bakura his right hand.

"Ah, it's okay. If that is the worst thing that I'm ever told, then I'm a lucky person," Bakura replied, checking the safety before concealing it under his pants band and shirt. It shifted uncomfortably against his skin, and Bakura hoped that it would not slip out at an inconvenient time lest it give someone the wrong impression. Taking the boy's hand he handed him the box of bullets. "Since you have pockets, can you carry this?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah!" D exclaimed, taking the box and stuffing it into his pocket, not giving his hand a chance to speak as he did so. "So when do you think your friend is going to come?" the boy questioned, as they began to return to the cell they had been in for the night.

"I don't know," Bakura said, "hopefully he will be here soon." D nodded in agreement.

When they finally reached their destination, Bakura returned to his position on the floor, keeping an eye on the door as they continued to wait for Yugi to return. D sat beside the young man, leaning against his shoulder while thinking about the day before. It seemed like so much had happened already, and he felt an excited trepidation run through his body as he realized he was going to meet "normal people" for the first time. Most of the other humans he had met had been more than happy to help his father, just to gain immortality later on to become like him. They had been cowards in his eyes. They were feeding off of the strength of others for their own selfish gain. Bakura had never been like that. Every time they had taken him out of his holding room, he had thrashed, twisted, and fought all the way, refusing to bend to anyone's will but his own (whether Bakura remembered this or not, D did not know), and even when his father had made mention that he felt the young man would die as another failure, the man had somehow pulled through all of the starvation with his heart and soul still strong, still fighting. D admired this man's spirit above even his father's intelligence and years of experience. He did not care what anyone else said about him, even the man's own lack of self esteem. The more the boy thought about it, the more he could not wait to start his new life with this man by his side, heat syndrome or not. Somewhere deep down he knew Bakura would protect him.

When the door finally clicked open, it was D on his feet first, his acute hearing and quick reflexes trumping Bakura's even thought the young man had been watching the door intently for the past half hour. D eyed the Yugi warily as he stepped in. He had only traded but a sentence with him, but D had a strange feeling that he should be careful with the man. He held the threads of Bakura's fate and his own, and D needed to act as normal as possible so Yugi would not get any strange notions that something other than the fact his friend was still alive was going on. He was determined to become as human as possible, which meant he would have to try to watch his strength as much as divulging his expanding intelligence of the world.

"Well," Yugi began, as Bakura stood up. D took a few steps back to hide behind the young man's leg. D figured that he would need to retain the image he had initially created with this man, so although he was feeling more confident as he and Bakura had a better understanding of the situation, he would remain in his act of the withdrawn child. "It didn't go as well as I had hoped, but he vaguely remembers your name," D kept his eyes on Yugi's even though he was not looking at him, realizing that he was withholding some information, "he wants to see you, just to make sure you are the person you are claiming to be."

"What happens if he doesn't remember me? And what about him?" Bakura asked, motioning to D as he spoke. Yugi looked down, his face showing discomfort at the question. "Yugi-kun, you did tell him about him, right?"

D's head snapped upwards toward Bakura. It was odd to be referred to as that, as the only person he had ever heard being called that in such a way was his father. Looking back toward Yugi, he hoped that he would not have to see that man again for some time. The thought of a peaceful existence with no experimentation was just too appealing.

"Listen!" Yugi cried, surprising D and making Bakura's eyes narrow with its abruptness, "I did, but listen to me Bakura kun!" he stopped for a moment and sighed, "As it stands right now, Kaiba kun isn't so sure about adding anyone right now, period! It was thanks to Mokuba that he even toyed with the idea that he knew you. You are going to have to convince him to let you stay—"

"So what, exactly, are you saying?" Bakura asked, cutting in, "Are you of all people, Yugi kun, telling me that I need to ditch the kid?" D was surprised to hear how callous his words were. Bakura had a tendency to be very polite, unless being dragged from a room against his will, but then again who would be polite then?

Yugi shifted uncomfortably yet again. "I wouldn't tell you that, Bakura kun," he said, "I'm just warning you that you are going to have to have quite the silver tongue for him to consider letting the boy live here."

"I'll do whatever I have to."

The resolve in Bakura's voice visibly alarmed Yugi. The man had known Bakura to be this way, but he had never felt fear toward his friend before. There was something in the young man's eyes that made Yugi wonder, and D watched as Yugi's eyes traveled to Bakura's chest. It seemed as if he was looking for some invisible object, or item. Bakura's own eyes followed Yugi's gaze and smiled. It was not the comforting one that D had become accustomed to, and it worried him.

"No, Yugi kun," he said softly, bringing the hand that was not holding D close to him up to his chest. "No, he is very much gone, you saw to that." His brown eyes pierced into Yugi's deep purple ones, "As is yours, unless you've been lying all of these years."

"I haven't!" Yugi's voice was shrill, and D began to wonder if he should be stepping away from the man who held him so close. Was it for comfort as he had thought before? He mentally shook his head. Bakura would never hurt him, they were friends.

"But he and that man were supposedly friends at one point in time," a voice whispered, and D glared down at his hand.

"Shut up," he hissed.

"I haven't," Yugi repeated, raising his hands as if surrendering, "Why would I? He was one of the dearest people to me. Why would I lie?"

Bakura watched his face for any changes, and when he saw none in his friend's face his own softened. "I'm sorry, but not only being told that I might have to argue my way into living in my apartment, but being silently interrogated that I might still have one of those things got to me."

"I don't blame you," Yugi said, sighing. He allowed his arms to drop and turned around to face outside, "It's been hard Bakura. Over here it is now difficult to trust even our neighbors; we had to kick a family out last week…" Both Bakura and D noticed tears forming in Yugi's eyes. "They tried to threaten Kaiba kun's life. I know that doesn't seem much to you, but he was the reason that this city was able to stabilize in some way right after the war. He hasn't changed too much, but he did this for us. I'm not so foolish to think that he didn't have his own agenda, Kaiba kun has always had that," he turned to Bakura and smiled, "He hasn't changed much at all, and neither have you. You look almost the same as I remember you three years ago when we were celebrating your birthday, and if it wasn't for the way you reacted just now, I would have said you were the same in your personality, but anyway…

Kaiba was the one who brought all of us together again. He had been in his office at the time of the explosion, but thankfully it was far enough away to shatter just most of the glass in his office and knock a few concrete slabs off of the building. After he made sure that Mokuba was safe, he waited for the commotion to die down, and gave us all orders via any working television system. Some are still barely in order now, but we don't have enough people to man the power lines, and aside from small bartering with the neighboring cities, they wouldn't share power with us even if they could. We are the only ones up and running like what it almost used to be, and those things might die out in another year or two. Anyway, I remember waking up to his voice and trying to look for you under the rubble beside me while trying to climb out. He told all of the ones who were awake to listen, and listen well."

Bakura could already hear Kaiba's deep, business like voice booming out orders in his usual fashion, and he pulled D closer to him still, wondering if he could move something so unmovable.

"'Don't go all day about it,' he said, 'but find the people that are still alive and help them into safer places. Stay away from buildings that look unsafe, if there are none nearby but you can still hear me, find them and bring them to the center of the city. We will aid those who cannot hear us later.' It sounds bad, but in truth as the years went by we all realized that those in the city's center had been the safest. Most of the buildings further away had been damaged beyond repair, and there appeared to be no survivors," Yugi raised a finger as Bakura opened his mouth, "that is not to say we aren't still looking, but as I said before, we aren't too keen on newcomers anymore. Our supplies have diminished, and those who have come in, claiming they lived in Domino, or just coming in good faith…well most ended up trying to cause a "revolution" or stole supplies and were on their way again." Motioning for the two to follow, Yugi added, "The rest I'm sure you'll see or hear about around here. The bottom line is, and pardon the way I say it, but Kaiba kun saved our asses that day. The city would have probably degenerated into nothing short of post apocalyptic anarchy."

Bakura chuckled at this. "I promise not to do anything physical Yugi kun, if that is what you are getting at. But I am not going to back down when it comes to returning to my home. I have to look after D and myself too you know."

"Dee?" Yugi inquired.

"No, more like the letter D," D replied quietly. Yugi looked down at the boy and for the first time since laying eyes upon the shorter man, he felt some sort of acceptance now.

"So your name is D?" Yugi asked, kneeling down to talk to him. D watched him for a moment before nodding. "That is a very interesting name. I'm sorry that we haven't been introduced properly, but things are a bit complicated right now. I'm Yugi."

"I know," D replied, "Bakura talked about you a lot before we came here."

"Oh really? And what did he say about me?" Yugi glanced up at Bakura who gave him a half hearted smile.

"You like games like he does, and that you used to play together a lot before…" D stopped himself. He was going to answer "before the Millennium Item thing really got going" but he did not want this man to know how much he knew already about such things. He might be seen as a danger, as a normal "child" would easily let something like that slip.

"Before?" Yugi asked.

"The explosion…" D replied.

"But we have time for all of this later," Bakura said, walking toward the door so Yugi would have to move and D would have to follow, "first we need to secure a place here."

"Right!" Yugi said enthusiastically, "and after that, we can catch up! I have so much to tell you, and you need to visit the Kame Game shop as soon as possible!"

"Of course!" Bakura replied, brightening. D looked between the both of them and wondered if they were faking niceties or actually completely forgetting about how they were almost at each other's throats a moment ago. Well at least he thought Bakura had been.

"What did I get myself into?" D mused as they walked toward the tower known as Kaiba Corp.

The walk there was uneventful. It seemed that the remains of the city did not begin to come to life until later on, although the sun was now a little higher in the sky. Bakura guessed that it was around six o'clock. As they neared the largest building around, both Bakura and D noticed that there were some television screens still attached to the sides of some half dilapidated buildings. A few looked beyond repair, but the others looked like they might still have some use. This was what Yugi had been talking about. Bakura stared up in awe of what remained of the city, surprised that no one was wandering the streets. He remembered once needing to run to the store for some milk on a weekend early in the morning because his father was returning home, and seeing crowds as early as four thirty in the morning. Now the streets were empty, some light poles missing from their areas, some bent in some strange frozen dance. Bakura was happy to notice that the streets closer to the middle of the city were clean, so his feet did not receive the punishment that they had taken the night before. He only wished that he had been able to clean up before coming, but D seemed clean enough, and that was not the point of the meeting. This was about finding a place for this young boy to live in peace. He could care less what happened to him so long as the boy was safe and happy.

Yugi stopped a few feet away from the door and motioned them to stay there. Bakura felt D's grip tighten around his hand again, returned a soft but firm squeeze. The boy would have nothing to be afraid of if Bakura could muster up the courage to stand up against such a powerful man. 'Amane, help me,' he thought as Yugi returned and waved for them to come in.

"Bakura sama?" D half whispered as they walked inside. Bakura could feel the cool tile on his feet, and wondered as he looked at the building, noticing few if any blemishes present, if he would be able to move someone like Kaiba. The war had not.

"Yes?" he answered, giving a small wave to what seemed like a guard in jeans and casual top covered by security armor. The guard did not return the gesture, but eyed him carefully. Bakura hoped D would not be able to tell that he was nervous. He willed his hands to not shake, or become clammy.

"We are going to be okay, right?"

Bakura glanced down at the boy who had not made a single complaint as they had walked through the sun, nor had spoken a single word to Yugi about all he knew about the Millennium Items, and his heart went out to him. He had been so brave so far, and had been more of a help than he would have ever asked him to.

"Yes, we will," Bakura said, hoping his voice had the confidence he did not. It seemed to work as D gave him a small smile and began watching Yugi as they ascended the stairs.

Kaiba Seto's office was still the one near the very top (Bakura wondered if it was such a good idea, as the building as pristine it was, still had quite a shaking) and when Yugi knocked on the door, Bakura felt his stomach clench. 'Stay calm,' he told himself, 'for D's sake, stay calm.' There was a muffled reply and Yugi opened the door and motioned them to go in. Trying to steady his breathing, Bakura gripped D's hand harder than he intended and walked into the room to face the man now fully in charge of the city that was once called Domino.

Yugi had been right, Kaiba had hardly changed since the last time he had seen him. His face was a little more defined, and he seemed to be a few inches taller, but other than that, he had the same haircut and the same piercing blue eyes. That was not entirely true though, as Bakura noted when he took a better look at Kaiba's right eye. Within the deep blue was a streak of lighter blue, which seemed to reflect the light a little more. The man before him (for as Bakura thought, he was far more a man than either he or Yugi could ever hope to become) gave a snide grin as he noticed him staring straight into that eye.

"I am well aware that the eye you are so intent on staring at is different," Kaiba stated, his voice as cool and smooth as it had ever been. Bakura quickly looked at the other eye which only made the man's grin widen. "But that is not why you are here," he continued, "You are here because I supposedly know you. Make me believe it."

The command was so abrupt; Bakura could only stand there silent for a moment, trying to comprehend what had been said to him. "I," he began after a while, clearing his throat, "I went to school with you."

Kaiba considered him for a moment before bursting into laughter. D clutched Bakura's side, partially hiding his face. This man made D feel very uncomfortable, and if he was the one who determined whether or not they belonged here, he had a feeling that they should leave, before they were disappointed from being denied a home. "Well, I don't believe I have ever heard that before," Kaiba snorted, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "Are you seriously interested in staying here? If not, if that is the best you can do, leave now, and stop wasting my time."

"I sat next to Jounochi, I hung out with Yugi!" Bakura started, allowing any miniscule bit of information that he might have to jog this man's memory come forth in a torrent, "I was in Battle City—"

"Yes, and so were a good amount of third rate duelists that have come here saying similar things, only to have ripped this city off. I will not have that happen again," Kaiba interrupted, but Bakura persisted.

"My father was the curator for the Domino City Museum!" he exclaimed.

"I had nothing to do with the museum, aside—"

"Aside from Isis talking to you about your destiny and giving you Obelisk which you lost to Yugi while I was missing from the Battle City blimp!" Bakura watched as Kaiba became physically surprised at this bit of information, but continued on anyway, his heart beating with excitement. 'I almost have him already!' he thought.

"Malik and I snuck into your tournament, with different reasons of course, but I was that one who passed out after the duel between me and Yugi, the first one that he pulled out Osiris," Bakura added, seeing the man's eyes widen only slightly, but enough to prove that he was on the right track. "You didn't want to land the blimp so you continued the tournament, lost," Bakura again watched as the man's eye twitched in disgust, "and after that I went with Yugi and everyone to Egypt. Also, if I may backtrack, you were in a coma when I first arrived as a transfer student to Domino High, so you wouldn't really remember me because you weren't there due to Yugi mind crushing you!" Bakura finished, taking a deep breath in the end, feeling jittery and full of energy. It was an odd feeling for him.

"Mind crush?!" Kaiba flashed him and Yugi a fierce glare.

"Yes," Bakura said, "Mind crush. You were gone, locked in your own mind to figure out what horrible things you had done to deserve such punishment. Because you had deserved it and you know it Kaiba san."

Kaiba looked livid for a moment. Then his eyes, which had been so turbulent, calmed again and became ice. "So, saying I believe you, where exactly do you live?" He asked, his lips returning to his snide grin.

Bakura paused for a moment, feeling the fear rush out of him, and a form of confidence he never had felt before flow in, and then recited his address clearly. No ums, no hang ons. This had been far too easy. Leave it to the magic Kaiba had difficulty believing in to save his and D's behinds. Bakura could feel D's grip on him loosen, and he was glad for once. During that short time he had felt his clothes become slightly tighter under the waistline, and it had disturbed him as much as excited him. He was thankful that his shirt covered down to mid thigh, and that he was half leaning over a chair to speak to Kaiba (the man had never offered them a seat), but it scared him. It was the fear that he saw in Kaiba's eyes as he spoke that had made him feel this way. He had been frightened, brought back to a place he had never wanted to go, and it was thanks to Bakura that he was reminded of that hell. The false tough guy smile did not help Bakura either in this other feeling. 'I got you,' he thought after reciting his address, 'I got you and you know it, so you're trying to hide it. Well, hide it all you want, Kaiba san, because I have seen your demons, your weakness, your dependence on being the greatest, and I can make you fall. I will make you fall.' He stopped that thought there, and felt the blood drain from his face as he realized exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to hurt Kaiba, and that had never been a thought in his head before. He knew he also wanted to hurt Yugi, and if given the chance he would. They would both pay, Kaiba for being such a forgetful prick who had never bothered to help him when he needed a doctor (forget that he survived, that had been thanks to his other half) and now he was trying to weasel his way out of helping him again, and Yugi…for leaving him in the dark. Bakura mentally shook his head. No, Yugi had never left him in the dark, had he? Sure there were things he did not know, things that would probably be better not known, but surely his friend had his reasons.

'What reasons?' he heard a voice in his head ask, 'What would the point be in hiding the fact that Kaiba would more than likely not allow the boy to stay. I bet he told Yugi that the boy couldn't stay, and Yugi was hiding that little tidbit of information.'

Bakura froze when hearing that voice. It could not be. Had Yugi been right to look at him like he did earlier this morning? No, he was gone, he was, which was worse. This was all him.

'What is wrong with me, Amane?' he asked, begging for an answer, but his head seemed clear of voices now, 'what did those bastards do to me to make me like him?! To make me want to turn against the one who saved my friend's life as well as my friend!?'

"Well?" he heard Kaiba's voice say in a rather annoyed tone. Bakura snapped out of his strange dilemma and saw D sitting down in one of the chairs, Kaiba motioning for Bakura to sit in the one he was behind of. Bakura did this willingly, thanking whatever god or gods there were that there was no trace of what might have been below his waist band any longer. Now not feeling so confident, but feeling more afraid of himself than ever, he listened to Kaiba.

"So is he yours?" Kaiba asked, motioning to D. D began to shake his head before casually flipping his hair over his shoulder, hiding his reply. If there were questions, Bakura needed to answer them. This D knew.

"In a sense yes," Bakura replied, starting slow so he could regain his composure, "He is nine years old, so I would have had to have been—"

"Approximately thirteen years old, go on," Kaiba stated, waving his hand.

"Yeah," Bakura said lamely, "I am what you could say his legal guardian, if that counts for anything anymore."

"I see," Kaiba said, his blue eyes closing as he brushed a piece of his brown hair out of his face, "Yugi, why didn't you tell me that when you came here?"

"I didn't know, Kaiba kun," Yugi replied a little sheepishly. He glanced over at Bakura, alarmed at what to him would have been a blatant lie. Bakura only smiled, and another thought burst into his head before he could quiet it.

'I knew it. He had said D couldn't stay.'

He mentally shushed it so it would say no more and turned back to Kaiba, who was deep in thought. "So what is his name?" Kaiba asked.

"D, like the English letter," Bakura replied.

"D is it?" Kaiba asked, raising his eyebrow, "Who names their child D?"

"A really unimaginative family," D replied, coming to Bakura's rescue, "I had a brother named A and a sister named B. Funny isn't it?"

Bakura looked down at the boy, a little bit of shock mixed in with pride. It was hard for him not to laugh, because he knew that out of what could be called D's siblings, few if any actually had names aside from Test Subject insert number here. It was sad, but at that moment it seemed to be hilarious.

"Oh really?" Kaiba asked, a genuine smile forming on his lips, "so who was named C?"

"Our dog," D added without missing a beat.

With that, both Bakura and Yugi were stunned to see Kaiba give a bona fide smile, and laughed. This made them a little frightened at how un-Kaiba like it was, but Bakura was happy to see that D could worm his way into another heart so quickly, especially one so vital. It made Bakura's fears of him failure fall away, and any worries of his mental state disappear completely. This was who he needed to work for. This boy was now his everything. He needed to be there for him.

There was a knock on the door and all four in the room turned to look. Without waiting for an invitation, the door swung open to reveal Kaiba Mokuba. Bakura was amazed at the changes that had taken place with him. His black hair was still long, but he was nearly the height Kaiba had been at his age. His eyes still had the same warmth, but they were eyes of a true teenager now, and one that had mastered the ways of persuasion.

"Nii sama," he said accusingly, "You promised to wait for me."

Kaiba smiled and motioned for his younger brother to come inside. "Does it really matter, Mokuba, when it ended up going your way already?"

Mokuba's face brightened. "Good!" he exclaimed, sauntering into the office with the full swagger of someone in charge, "I thought I was going to have to remind you of how lucky you were he didn't press charges when you hadn't taken him to the hospital when he needed it during Battle City."

"In a sense, I did," Bakura responded, smiling at the teen who patted him on the shoulder in return.

"Well, I'm surprised he forgot about you in all honesty," Mokuba replied, "You were one of the weird ones."

"I would have to say all of us had our own little quirks," Yugi added.

"So this is the kiddo Yugi was talking about. I see what you mean, he's a cutie. Couldn't take my title though, could he Nii sama?"

"Never, Mokuba," Kaiba said offhandedly, "Now the two of you are on a trial basis," he motioned to Bakura and D, "You may go to your apartment, it is rather far from the core of this city, but it is still ours for the moment. I expect this boy D to be at the school that is set up by tomorrow so we can gauge his intelligence and place him in the appropriate class. You will be given your own assignment, and will be paid accordingly with the rations necessary for one adult and one child to live on. We will supply you clothing, Bakura, as it would seem you are lacking, but don't expect it to be free, or brand new."

"I have no money," Bakura cut in, but Kaiba waved his hand for him to be silent.

"Today, you will help the group that gathers rations; tomorrow we will give you a more permanent job. This should take care of payment." Bakura noticed Yugi's face drop at the mention of his first job, and Mokuba looked a little wary.

"Nii sama, we can't just expect him to be ready to do something like that, I mean, we have lost some of the ones who have been doing it for months recently."

"I'm sure if he was Yugi's friend, he'll be fine," Kaiba replied, brushing off his brother's worry.

"Um," Bakura looked between Kaiba and D, "What about D kun?"

"I will give you one hour after returning home to get him comfortable. There will be a guard to protect him as you work today; we will have something set up for you later. We can't send him to the daycare just yet as they need a little time in advance to make room for him."

"Oh…" Bakura looked down at D who looked a little nervous, "He really is a very shy boy, and is a bit…sensitive to the sun…"

"Sensitive to the sun?"

"Yeah, he has a tendency to break out into a rash if he stays in it for long periods of time," Bakura lied, "That is why he is covered the way he is."

"I see," Kaiba mused, "We'll figure something out. Just get to your home quickly, before anyone sees you. I have to make an announcement so the morons won't try to kill you."

Bakura and D stood up. "Thank you for everything," Bakura said.

"Yes, thank you very much; you have no idea how much this means to us," D added.

"I'm sure I don't," Kaiba replied dryly, "Mokuba, please take one of the security guards and escort them to their residence."

"Okay, Nii sama!" Mokuba exclaimed, still forever obedient to Kaiba's whim.

"And Yugi, enjoy your day off."

"Thank you, Kaiba kun," Yugi said, although it seemed a little half hearted to Bakura.

"Now go. I have things to do. It isn't like this city could still be run with anyone else in charge."

So they left Kaiba's office, D once again holding Bakura's hand for comfort, while Bakura reflected on the meeting. He still had one burning question to ask. He figured he would just ask Mokuba on their way home.

Thank goodness they were finally home.