Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!…blah blah…I do not own Vampire Hunter D….blah de dah.
You should all know this by now!
O.o And I question if "more attention" is a good or bad thing.
Chapter Three: Unwelcomed Guests
Gasping for breath, Bakura collapsed, letting go of D's wrist as he fell to his knees. He did not know how far they had run, or if anyone was still chasing them, but his lungs burned and his legs ached to the point that they were shaking even as he slid to a sitting position. He was in no position to go any further at the moment. Looking at the poor child he dragged along, ignoring the fact that the sun seemed brighter than he remembered and that destruction that littered the surrounding area, he could not help but worry that how much harder it had been on the child if he had pushed himself this far.
D was breathing deeply, but more as if he had been on a light jog then a mad dash for Bakura's life. The child still looked tired, and his eyes were closed, but Bakura was happy to see that the boy looked far better off than he did. Glancing back at his own feet, he was surprised that they looked to be in such good condition due to the fact he knew he had stepped on more than one sharp thing on his way there. Forcing himself to stand up, wobbling as he straightened up, he surveyed the area in a baffled shock.
A battered roof and three walls were all that were left of what once looked like a toll booth. Three other small buildings beside it mirrored the destruction. The road that they stood on was cracked; small weeds, some dead and some that looked like they were attempting life riddled the small chasms that were in the concrete. Digging into the depths of his faded memory he found that he could recognize the area, and remembered the direction that one took to get to Domino City. Quickly looking around again to make sure that no one had chased them out this far, which in all honesty he was surprised they had not, he placed his hand on D's shoulder with a gentle touch, not wanting to cause him anymore alarm than he was feeling at the moment.
In truth, D was indeed feeling alarmed, and frightened. He had never exerted himself in such a manner outside, in fact, his father had specifically told him not to, as he had not been sure if it would affect him in a negative way. Just because he could walk outside did not mean he would function the same, or so his father had said. The sunlight was so bright, and he had not been outside for so long, he was silently panicking, and when Bakura touched his shoulder he could not help but flinch. Looking up at him, opening his eyes as slowly as he could so they could adjust to the light, he could not conceal his feelings any longer. He was only nine after all.
"What were you thinking?!" he exclaimed, wringing his hands.
"I know, I know," Bakura said softly, removing his hand from the child's shoulder, "I didn't tell you, I'm sorry. I wanted you to have a better life, a real life."
"Did you think of what might happen if I'm outside for too long?!" D shouted, "I'm not human you know…" Looking down, D focused his eyes on a pebble on the ground. He did not want to see the sun; he did not want to be in it. It was too warm and took him out of his comfort zone. He was so tired of being taken out of that zone.
"Are you feeling okay?" Bakura asked.
"No!" D shouted, tears budding from his eyes.
Bakura kneeled down, again placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "What hurts?"
"I…nothing…" D sniffed and did not pull away when Bakura hugged him. Even though he had been the one to take him away from the home he knew for the past three years, D felt comforted by this man's embrace. He could feel a compassion that far surpassed his father's pat on the head. This person cared about him, even if he was a little naïve in some of his actions.
"It's okay," Bakura replied soothingly, "I know it's probably scary, but you are okay. Remember when you told me you could go out into the sunlight without much discomfort?"
D nodded, hiding his face under Bakura's arm, ashamed of himself.
"Well if that's the case, I'm sure that a little vitamin D isn't going to hurt you."
D quickly looked up at Bakura, who was grinning. "Vitamin D?" he asked.
"Yes, and vitamin D can't hurt D," Bakura said, patting his back.
D could not help himself, he began to laugh. He could not remember ever laughing so hard, but as his sides began to ache and he had to pull away to breathe better, he did not want to forget the moment, even if the joke had been bad, and partially unrealistic.
Bakura was also laughing, tears of mirth threatening to spill over. Seeing the boy smile brought his spirits up. It took away some of the fear of what to do next, as the more he thought about it, the more he realized that they were in bad shape. The highway they were on was deep in the countryside, a good two hours by car to get back to Domino City. Considering that they were forced to walk on foot, it would probably take much longer, possibly a day if they stopped to rest, or to eat. That in turn brought up the problem of what they were going to eat. Skipping a day without eating may have bothered him, but Bakura knew he could function just fine without it. D on the other hand…Bakura was not so sure that if he offered to feed him anything, whether it was regular food or blood that he would take it. The boy never seemed too pleased, after their friendship started, to hear that it was time for him to "eat". He seemed against eating overall, and Bakura was not sure if that was a good thing for a boy his age. None of that really mattered though, compared to the fact that someone could possibly be following them still. He wanted to get to his apartment as soon as possible, barricade them both inside, and figure out what to do in a more comforting environment, and that was if the apartment building was still intact.
Wiping his eyes, Bakura took a deep breath and looked again at D, who was wheezing, obviously unused to laughing so hard. It did not take long for the boy to catch is breath again, but when he did, he quickly grabbed Bakura's hand, as if there were a chance the young man might run away. When he smiled at D, the boy's lips turned upward, into his own little charming smile.
"Actually," D said, scooting closer to Bakura, "Being out in the sun for too long is bad for me, it's called Heat Syndrome."
"Heat Syndrome?" Bakura asked, worried.
"Yeah, from what I've deduced, it's like…a really, really bad heat stroke. I've had it only once, when I was five, that's when father decided I should stay inside and run some tests before I was allowed out again. He didn't want me to die, because a lot of dhampirs have a bad habit of getting sick like that, and not having the proper treatment, they die within an hour or so."
When the boy saw Bakura's horrified face his smile widened. "I feel fine though," he added, "I am Father's favorite, and considering I went five years in the sun without getting it, I might actually have a better chance this time."
"What is the 'appropriate treatment'?" Bakura inquired, now quickly hurrying D down the dilapidated and scarred countryside.
"Um…Being buried from the neck down in dirt from what I remember," he answered, snickering, "it seems sort of silly now that I think about it."
D's left hand seemed to want to say something, but held firmly in Bakura's own grip, he was unable to. Bakura glanced down at his hand, a little surprised when he felt the movement, but quickly dismissed it as he was concerned about more pressing matters. Maybe it had not been such a good idea to just pull a child out of what he was used to, if what he was used to had helped him fight a strange disease that Bakura had no idea how to handle. It did not matter now though, D was outside with him, and he would make sure that whatever happened, the child would always have a smile on his face. The one that he had seen had already disappeared, but the inquisitive look gave him hope. There was much to show the boy, even if most had been demolished. After all, D had not had much contact with the outside world.
For hours Bakura and D kept up a fast walking pace, not stopping to find anything to eat or drink, not that there was any to find at the moment anyway. The grass looked relatively new, the weak blades striving to be the height they had once been, and the sky promised nothing but sunshine throughout the day. Bakura tried to ignore the guilt that continuously bubbled up about his failure to realize the sun's effect on the boy. It was made a little easier to handle to watch the boy's awed expression, though. He seemed to be enjoying himself even as they hurried across the countryside.
"So, where are we going?" D asked after the sun had dipped further down the sky, now beating its way into their vision. He had his right hand placed right above his eyes to block most of the offending light as he resituated his left hand that was firmly grasped in Bakura's to a more comfortable position.
"Home," Bakura replied.
"Home?" D glanced up at him, curious. "Do you really think your home is still intact?"
Bakura looked down at the boy who shrugged apologetically. Sighing, he looked back up to realize that his hand had been covering a rather obvious detail on the horizon. He could make out a dark silhouette blocking some of the sun. Its shape was undeniably familiar to him even with a few chunks missing from it. Blinking a few times and rubbing his eyes in disbelief, he gazed at the building that he thought he would never see again.
"What do you know…" he said, half chuckling, half choking back a sob, "it still stands…"
Raising an eyebrow when they young man turned his face away, covering it with his hand. He truly enjoyed his company, but Bakura's emotional instability worried D sometimes. Tugging on his hand, D saw that Bakura was not crying, but laughing when he turned around. The mirth on the man's face confused the child even more.
"What is so funny?" D asked, looking around to see if there was something he was missing. Off in the distance he noticed a large shadow that pierced the land, surrounded by rubble and other smaller shadows. Looking back up, worried now that his friend had lost his mind, the boy took a step back. "What exactly is still standing?"
Bakura snickered, wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh…it is just a building."
"I can't see how you find that funny," the boy replied.
"It just belongs, or maybe belonged, to someone I knew. With his luck, he probably survived right along with the building, though, I would have loved to see how he got down…" Laughing again, Bakura fell, lying on the ground trying not to take in the dirt ridden air that puffed up around him as he gasped for it. Looking at the boy he stopped. "You must think I'm crazy."
"At this moment, yes," D answered, kneeling down beside him. "I don't get why you're laughing."
Bakura sat up, brushing off his back. "It belonged to someone named Kaiba Seto," he started, "Seto Kaiba for you, and well, he was always, um…he ran a company, and went to school with me and my friends."
"What?!" D exclaimed, his interest piqued, "but that means that he must have been young, because a stupid person wouldn't be able to run a business! How did he do it?"
"Well, he was unusually smart. He was the CEO of Kaiba Corporation, which was a gaming company. He loved games. He was constantly challenging Yugi to Duel Monsters, even after all that happened. It was probably due to the fact he had a hard time believing it all."
"All what happened?" D asked, now sitting beside him. They both had completely forgotten that they could have possibly been pursued.
"You know when I told you about that pendant that I used to have?"
"Oh, the one that housed a spirit that would take over your body, and try to kill your friends, or use them?"
"Yeah," Bakura said, surprised at how nonchalant the boy was when he said it, "He had a hard time believing in that, and since Yugi had one too, a spirit that would take control of him in hard times, he never tried to kill anybody that I know of though, and since Kaiba was constantly at odds with Yugi when it came to gaming…"
"Did he not believe that Yugi was being possessed?" D asked.
"Not quite. I think that he thought that Yugi was 'possessed' with confidence when it came to gaming."
"Oh, well that is dumb," he stated, "But why were you laughing? I still don't get it…"
"I guess I found it just a testament to how stubborn the guy was."
D blinked. "Oh, well, I guess that is kinda funny…"
"Speak for yourself," D's left hand snorted, and turned to Bakura. "I think you have a few screws loose, kid," he added, "but then again, I suppose being chased by his father is far more interesting than staying cooped up inside. I just hope you know what you're doing, I need this body just as much as he does."
Bakura's heartbeat quickened. Those last words almost frightened him more than the fact that they could be being followed. It also made him feel a little lonelier. "We should get going. I don't want to have to be walking around in the dark since I don't know what has changed since I've been gone." Getting up and continuing down the decrepit road to what was left of Domino City, he motioned for D to do the same.
Stuffing his left hand into his pocket, D ran to catch up with him. "Can I ask one more question?" He asked, glancing back at the rolling hills that were becoming more distant each step. After making sure that his hand had just been causing Bakura unnecessary worry, he looked back at the young man.
"Sure," Bakura replied, looking down at him. "You can ask me what ever you want, when ever you want. Don't ever be afraid to say something to me."
"Ok." D's face brightened, not into a smile, but enough that made Bakura smile. "How many of those pendants were there? I don't remember you ever telling me that."
"Seven," Bakura said, looking back toward the Kaiba Corp. building, "and not all of them were pendants. There was the Millennium Puzzle, that is the one Yugi had, the Millennium Ring, I had that one…"
"But I thought you said that they were pendants…how can a puzzle and a ring be a pendant?"
"The Puzzle was a pyramid that hung upside down, Yugi had to put it together and the Millennium Ring was really a pendant, I suppose it was called the Ring because of its shape, there was a thin pyramid shape within a ring like structure, and there were pointers that dangled from it."
"It sounds kind of funny looking," D mused.
"It was…beautiful, well, at least I thought so. Then again, my father is a curator for his own museum, so I've always been around ancient artifacts and have grown to appreciate them."
"How old were they?"
Bakura was more than welcome to hear D talk, as he rarely did for the most part. Even when they were in the compound together, most of their conversations were short, and they had sat in silence just appreciating each other's company, partly because they did not want to make anyone believe there was any comradery between them, and partly because they both were quiet people. "They were from Ancient Egypt, created by a ritual that required the death of an entire village."
"What?!" D exclaimed, startling Bakura, who was already a little confused. How had he known about that? He recalled Malik telling him what he had missed after Yugi told him, but he doubted that Malik had given him that bit of information. 'Did you sneak something in, Amane?' he wondered, bemused.
"Something along those lines," he said hurriedly, "but there was also the Millennium Tauk, which was a necklace that foretold the future that was carried by Isis, Malik's older sister, before she gave it to Yugi, the Millennium Scales which I believe weighed the soul, the Millennium Key, which opened the soul to the user, both of those I want to say were owned by someone called Shadi, but I don't remember much about him, Yugi and Malik met him, not me."
"What did yours and Yugi's do?" D asked.
"Yugi's was more of a symbol of unity, and all of the items had the ability to call out a dark realm where the wielders fought with monsters."
"Monsters?" D slowed his pace, "Were there monsters like me?"
"Don't be silly," Bakura answered, "You aren't a monster. When I get us home, if my deck is still in tack I will show you what they looked like. There was a card game based off of them."
"Oh, I suppose that is neat, but what did yours do? And did all of these items have spirits in them?"
Bakura sighed, recalling his darker half, "No, only Yugi and I had another me…"
"Another me?"
Bakura stopped, regretting how he had put it. "Yugi always called his spirit 'the other me' as they pretty much were the same, but just had different ways of reacting to situations. I usually called my spirit 'the voice' or 'that voice' not to any one in particular."
"Did you really not like him?" D asked, quickly glancing down at the hand in his pocket, "was he like…him?"
"Yes, and no, for both questions. I hate to say it, but I always felt a little out of the loop with my friends, so as horrible as he was, I still miss his presence. I do not miss not remembering things, or loosing complete control of my body, but he was like me. Not that I had homicidal tendencies, but I don't know; something about him being there felt right. And I still hate myself for missing him. He nearly killed my friends on more than one occasion."
"I don't hate you," D said, and was silent for a moment, thinking "I guess that I'm lucky then, he—" he motioned to the pocketed hand, "lives there only. I just have to hear him be annoying sometimes. But you are skirting my question, Bakura sama," he looked up, an expression that was far too serious for a boy his age on his face, "What did yours do?"
"It could trap a person's soul into an object, usually a doll. I remember him telling me that he could put a bit of his soul into something else to keep tabs on a situation as well. It also had the ability to find the other items with its pointers," Bakura answered, "but that is all I know about it. I have a feeling that it had a lot more power than what any one else saw in it though."
"Well it was yours, right? They had to choose you? So you might have known more about it than you thought."
Bakura shook his head, "Well it doesn't matter now; they are long gone. Now I believe that I haven't told you about the Millennium Eye that could see into people's minds, once owned by Pegasus J. Crawford, then found by me at the bottom of my sock drawer after he was found dead, having bled to death," he paused to watch the boy's face flicker with horror, and then calm into his more stoic expression, "And then the Millennium Rod, which could control someone's actions by the will of the holder. Malik had that one before giving it to Yugi. But remember that that is all over now, and had been for a good number of years before any of this happened." Motioning to the expanse of what used to be a bustling town just before the city, he realized that twilight had already set in, and it was now becoming too dark to see. They had to get to the city soon.
The walk to Domino City had taken a shorter amount of time than what Bakura expected, but he figured it had been due to them rarely stopping for anything, but he figured that it was close to ten o'clock by the time they reached the city limit, and D who had been such a good sport about everything, was now showing signs of fatigue. Bakura did not doubt that it was due to the fact that he usually would have been asleep during the day and since they had traveled during the day, the boy had not gotten proper rest. He just hoped that it would not affect the boy any more negatively than just being a little grumpy.
Blinking lazily, D gazed toward the ruins that had come into full view. It looked like at one point in time the city had housed millions of people, but all that remained now were a few buildings here and there, some near by and some off in the distance, and the pillar of stubbornness that was a harsh contrast to the rest of the demolished city. He wondered if anyone could live in that sort of a situation, and was just about to ask Bakura whether or not he thought anyone was alive when he saw a flicker of a dark shadow rounding the corner of a building, something held in their arms.
"Look!" D exclaimed, pointing to the figure. They were approximately two hundred meters away, so he had to point again for Bakura to notice something moving in the darkness in front of them. "I think it's a person!"
The figure stopped, the item in their hands seemingly pointing at them. Without thinking, both Bakura and D ran forward; Bakura for his joy of being home and the possibility of him not being the only survivor of the city, and D for the simple fact of meeting someone who lived outside. They had only a little way to go before they could make out the person when Bakura skid to a stop when he heard a shot ring out, rocks painfully digging into the already tender skin on his feet. Grabbing D and pulling him behind him, he gawked at the figure that stood in the shadows. They had just shot at them.
"Get out of here!" he heard their muffled shout. Bakura could feel D tense up and he worried that things had changed too much since he had been held hostage.
"Who are you?" Bakura asked, straining to make out the person.
"That is none of your business, we don't accept wanderers here! Get out of here!"
"I used to live here!" Bakura shouted back.
"Yeah, right! Please," the person's voice dropped, still projecting but not full of any of its previous malice, "Get out of here, I see you have a kid, and I don't want to have to hurt either of you. I can shoot you from here, heck, I could shoot you from where you two started running, but I didn't. So get out of here before I have to."
"Listen," Bakura started, holding D closer to him, "I used to live here three years ago, before this all happened! I was here when everything got blown up!"
"Where have you been then?"
"I…." Bakura stopped. He did not want to have to explain anything, lest they get chased off any quicker than they were, or worse, getting a face full of lead. "Listen, could you please just let us in?"
"Sorry, unless you have proof that you were here, I'm not allowed to let anyone in. It is a new procedure due to the fact of so many wanderers killing off the people in our city."
Bakura groaned, frustrated that things were not as smooth as he anticipated them to be. "I….competed in Battle City."
"Lots of people did," the person replied, "Do you have more proof?
"I was a semi-finalist."
The person seemed to stop all movement for a moment. Bakura wondered if he had said something to set them off, but he could not think of anything. He had been one, even if he did not remember anything but how much his arm hurt. The person reached under its cloak and pulled out something that he could not see. Tapping it against his leg a few times, quietly cursing whatever it was, a light flickered on, and was quickly swung towards them. D hid his face, burrowing it as far as he could into Bakura's back. Bakura figured that the confrontation had been too much for the tired boy, and felt pity for the child who was afraid of a beam of light from something he knew full well where it came from. The flashlight bobbed in the person's hand as they took one step forward. "You, what place did you come in?" Their muffled voice wavered, "Sorry, I can't see you from over here that well, I have to wear these protective goggles and all. Take ten steps forward when you answer me."
Bakura nodded, and held D to him as he began to walk. "I didn't get very far," he replied. "I went against Mutou Yugi in the first round and lost um…due to a…"
"Due to Osiris?" The person asked.
"Yeah, and then I don't know if you would know about it, but I passed out due to a rather nasty gash on my left arm, and I had been bleeding rather profusely. I could show you the sc—"
"Bakura kun?" The person's voice wavered as they said his name, "But we never…"
Suddenly it clicked. Even though it was rather muffled and now shaking as much as the child behind him was trying not to, he knew that voice. Tears sprung into his eyes, a happy disbelief washing over him.
"Yugi kun!" He exclaimed, as the shorter man ran toward him dropping the flashlight as he hugged him, accidentally wrapping the small boy into it with them. A small yelp could be heard from behind him, and Bakura was only too aware that D was not used to this type of greeting at all.
"Oh thank…thank…I don't know who to thank!" Yugi cried, tears streaming from under the protective goggles, and Bakura was not surprised that he had not recognized his friend sooner. Even with his own disheveled appearance, he looked decent compared to Yugi. While the young man had the same three toned hair in its messy fashion, his clothes were nothing compared to what he used to wear. Tattered, patched, and baggy, his cloak was obviously a dirty bed sheet. His jeans were a mess and no where near as tight as he used to wear his leather pants, and his shoes were full of holes covered by duct tape. What topped it all off was the gun he had reattached to his back after getting out his flashlight. Nothing about his appearance showed what the man was truly like except for the bright smile that stretched across his face at the sight of his old friend coming back from the dead. "Where have you been!?"
"I…" Bakura started, but stopped when D shyly removed his face from hiding, looking up at the man who had as strange of hair as Bakura's. Both men were silent as the boy came fully out into view, unintentionally commanding their attention.
"He saved my life." His quiet voice and sweet demeanor seemed to melt Yugi's heart instantly. "He has been trying to find me somewhere safe to live for a really long time."
Yugi looked up at Bakura in shock and disbelief. While they both looked as if they had been through a rough day or two, it did not seem that they were as fatigued as they should be. D himself almost looked as pristine as he had before he left running with Bakura, give or take a few dust marks on his silk black attire and a smudge or two on his face. Bakura was at a loss of what to say, unsure if he would help the situation any.
"Of course my dad wouldn't have any of that, so it's been sort or a recent development," the boy added, shrugging.
"You kidnapped this kid?" Yugi gasped, covering his mouth as he continued to stare at his friend.
"No!" Bakura shouted, but his guilt of not knowing the boy's weaknesses fully took over, "Yes, but I had to! His father was not a good man." D stood thoughtfully beside him for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"Was that where you've been? Why didn't you want to tell me?" Yugi asked, examining the boy from afar. His eyes holding a look that only D noticed he motioned for them to follow him.
"I didn't want you to think poorly of me," Bakura replied truthfully.
Yugi laughed, and Bakura smiled at the man. He did not want him to know the full truth for the child's safety, but he was glad to see that Yugi would not be quick to think ill of him. Following him into the city, making sure D was close to his side at all times, he looked at the destruction left from the war.
Many of the buildings that still stood had their windows boarded up, and not a flicker of light could be seen from inside. Some of the roads looked to be in a decent condition, but streets that once opened into others were blocked off by debris, and some looked like they had been intentional. Yugi climbed onto a fire escape of one building and quickly hopped over to the other side of one of these obstructions. Without much of a choice Bakura held D on his shoulders to help him up, and soon followed, banging his feet on the rusting metal as he hurried up, trying to keep D in his sights as the boy slid down the other side. Bakura did his best to pick his way through without injuring his feet further, but adorned new cuts by the time he reached the ground. Cursing the fact that he had not had the idea to find shoes along the way, he wobbled over to the other two as Yugi unlocked a door to a building that looked like it had once been a police station.
"Okay, you guys are going to have to stay here until morning. My shift is almost over, so I have to go back and trade with the next guy. No one comes here unless they go against the new laws, and that is a rarity, especially at night. I'll come back here for you later, so don't leave, understand?" Yugi turned swiftly and stared hard into Bakura's eyes, "I cannot stress this enough, Bakura kun," he started, and the other man could not remember the last time he had seen his friend like this, "Our community is small compared to the city it used to be. Most of us know each other by name, and all by our face. The chance of you running into someone who remembers you is slim to none, and no one has ever seen the boy before." He looked down and smiled at D who did not seem to know how to respond. After an awkward moment Yugi continued, "You know not everyone would have done what I did, and if it leaked out that I did this, you two and I would not be the only ones affected by this," he waved off Bakura's curious look, "I will tell you tomorrow. Here we are." Opening the door, he motioned them into a room that was far darker than the night that surrounded them. Bakura squinted, unable to see a few feet in front of him, but D could see just fine, taking a few steps into the building as Bakura lifted his hand toward him in protest.
"It's disgusting in here," D remarked, his nose crinkling. Living with his father in the compound, he had become used to a pristine cleanliness. He only had vague memories of being in his fathers "home", and even then it had been his duty to see that his room was in mint condition. What D saw now was the opposite; it seemed that whoever actually entered the place did nothing to pick up the rubble and trash on the floor. The air was choked with dust, and only D managed to stay upright walking further into the building. The light of Yugi's flashlight did nothing for the other two, and Bakura found himself falling flat on his face more than just a few times. By the time they reached one of the containment cells, Bakura had no interest in walking any further, and promptly sat down on the first bench he could feel out, without realizing D's vehement arm waving. Before the young man knew what had happened, the board beneath him had cracked, and he was now sitting at an odd angle on the floor, his left fingers crushed beneath the boards that he sat on. Standing up, his face betraying his annoyance, he rubbed his hand, trying to recover from the embarrassing fall. D looked at him concerned, but Yugi shined the flashlight on his friend's face and smiled.
"You haven't changed one bit in all these years, have you?" he asked, grinning.
For a moment D opened his mouth as if to say something but in the end joined Bakura in the cell without a word. Taking the young man's hand in his own, he held it tightly, feeling comforted by the gentle but firm pressure that was returned. Looking up at Bakura, he saw the young man's face cringe as if it pained him to hear those words from his friend. Curiosity ate at the young boy, and he completely forgot about his nervousness again.
"I wouldn't know really," Bakura said sheepishly, "but thank you for being the one to find us."
"It was no problem, really," Yugi said, waving his hand. D raised an eyebrow; it was obvious that it was a problem; otherwise they would not be hiding in such a place until morning. "Anything for an old friend. Now, I know it is kinda dark in here, but in the morning it will brighten up. Feel free to take any weapon you find lying around, a board, pipe, or a gun just in case things don't go right. There still might be one in the back somewhere. I'll be back to get you once I've talked to Kaiba kun."
Bakura's eyes widened, "Kaiba san is alive?"
"Yeah, both he and Mokuba made it. Thankfully he was there to calm down our half of the city, but I'll tell you more about that later. Now I really got to go. I'll see you soon!" Yugi waved, and Bakura returned the gesture. D remained silent, watching the man leave and lock the door behind him. The click seemed far louder to D than he thought possible.
"Bakura sama," he began, watching the young man struggle to find a decent spot to sit. Bakura's arm was stretched forward, and he was leaning down as if he was going to tie some invisible shoe. Patting the ground, he was finding nothing but more trash and concrete. D pulled him over to a clear spot, and allowed him to sit down and blindly examine his feet before he continued, "Bakura sama, I don't think that man likes me."
"Why do you think that?" Bakura asked, motioning for the boy to sit beside him. He had not thought the boy had seen him, so he was about to vocalize the offer when the boy plopped down beside him, resting his head on Bakura's slumped shoulder. The older man could not help but be amazed at how perceptive the boy was. Talking about it was one thing, but actually seeing it was another. He truly was a special child.
"The way he looked at me outside, and the fact he was talking to you, and not to the both of us," he replied.
"How did he look at you?" Bakura inquired, gently petting the boy's head, smoothing the tousled hair down. D sighed happily, although a smile did not grace his face. He had to admit that after all that had happened that day, he still felt content with Bakura, even if they were locked in a room again.
"He stared at me like I was some kind of monster or something," D said, shrugging.
"Are you sure that you aren't just overreacting? It was dark, and he had on goggles, he probably was just trying to see you."
D shrugged again. "Maybe."
Bakura pulled him into a hug. D's face reddened, again unsure of how to reply to such an action; but the comfort of his arms soon took over and D leaned against the man's chest, listening to his heart beat. One-two…one-two…the only thing that caused the boy any alarm was the almost silent flow of blood that traveled through Bakura's body. D did not wish to tell Bakura that he was hungry, he knew how the man felt about being treated as food, and it was not as if the boy had never had twenty four hours pass by without eating. His father had wanted to see his limits as well. So biting his lip, he refused to mention his hunger even after his hand had made a noise that sounded like a snicker.
Looking up when the man's heartbeat slowed, he could not help but smile. Bakura looked almost childlike as he slept. The man's head had sagged off to one side, his mouth partially open as he snored. It was not an offensive sound, and it only added to the youthful effect that sleep had on him. D returned to leaning against him, and although he was far more awake than he had been during the day, he closed his eyes, figuring it to be a better idea to follow Bakura's sleeping pattern, so as not to cause anyone to question anything, and drifted off to sleep.
As he fell into the darkness of his dreams, the last cohesive thought D mustered was the look that Yugi had given him while they had been outside. Through the grime, he recalled that the man had looked at him like he had recognized him, and that he had never had the intention of seeing him again. Had it been him though? Or had he glanced at the child in fear of seeing the other man for any longer than he had to? D shifted and muttered something under his breath, clinging to the older man for warmth.
Only the morning would tell.