Two years ago, I walked out of this house and swore I'd never return.  Okay, it was more like I snuck out in the dead of night, dragging a mostly asleep version of my twin with me.  The majority of thought I put into the great escape was in trying to insure I'd have a few hours to cover our trail before Oyaji realized we were gone, so mostly I concentrated on timing and let everything else sort itself out.  It worked pretty well, but it could have just as easily gone to hell in a hand basket.

It doesn't look like he's increased security at all since we left either, but I can't afford to relax yet.  Yes, I can break into this place with my eyes closed on a good day, but today is far from a good day.  And Kitty's already called to say Amelda's been dead for at least a good half hour now.  Who knows how long it'll be till Yami gets loose or -

"Bakura-kun?" Of course.  I completely forgot about the ghostly Mini-Me.  Of course Yami would send him after me.  It makes perfect sense, but I don't have to like it.  "What are you doing?"

I send the best glare in my arsenal his way, and he falls back a step, feet barely a centimeter or two above the grass of the lawn.  "I'm finishing this.  Don't get in my way."

"But, Bakura-kun...," he starts.  "He's your father, and it'd be wrong to kill him!"

I can't help it; a growl escapes me. "If I don't kill him, he's going to kill me and take Ryou away.  If I don't kill him, it's just going to keep getting worse."

"He might give up!"

It's a good thing I'm the only one here who can hear him because he's starting to get really loud.  It's all I can do to keep my own voice low.  "He'll never give up.  Believe me; I know.  If you don't want to see it, then stay here."

I step past him, carefully working my way through the shadows to one of the darkened downstairs windows, the library if my memory serves me correctly.  Glancing up and over, Amane's window is black; she's either not here or asleep.  I can live with either of those.  And speaking of living...  A glance over my shoulder shows Yuugi still standing where I left him. I guess he'll be staying there after all.  Oh well, no big loss.

At least the window still isn't alarmed.  I guess Oyaji figures if you know which small parts of the fence aren't dangerous, you deserve to get into the house.  Hoisting myself in is a little trickier than usual, and I have to hold back a gasp of pain as my shoulder protests it.  The fucking sling is in the way, and I yank it off and tuck as much of it as possible in the back pocket of my pants that doesn't have my cellphone.  It feels a bit odd to be doing this in gloves other than my usual work ones, but they vanished in the move between the apartment and Seto's, so I'm making do with a pair I snitched.  I think they're Seth's.  I figure Varon or Yami will kill me anyway and save Seth the trouble, so why not use what I can get my hands on?

Oyaji's office is in the room directly to the left of this one, so I need to get prepared now.  I need a weapon then.  I should have grabbed one of Yami's handguns, but a fireplace poker works just as well.  I can get a pretty good swing going with my off arm, but I'm not too sure on my aim.  Guess I'll just have to go for bigger targets, at least till he's down.  This has to look like a crime of opportunity, after all, not premeditated murder.  Note to self:  grab whatever I can on the way out and drop it off at the train station, assuming I make it that far.

"Bakura-kun?"  And I'm never going to admit, even on the threat of death, that I just jumped like an amateur.  I make myself slowly release the doorknob and glance behind me at Yuugi.

"What?"  I have to keep my voice low and I'm working hard to keep it level, but I might be failing on one of those two accounts because the boy actually wilts a bit.

"I-  I-"

I roll my eyes.  "Right now isn't the best time for a case of nerves, Mini-Me."  Of all the people to show up, why did it have to be him?  My nerves already aren't the best at this point.  It's not like I've killed anyone before, and this is not helping.  "Just-"

"I don't think this is a good thing to do, Bakura-kun!"  I really nearly jump out of my skin when he lets that one loose.  "He's your father after all, and-!"

"And do you want him to kill me instead?" I hiss back.  "Leave Yami alone again?"  I think I suckerpunched him with that one.  I mean, damn, that was low, even for me.

While he's standing there looking stunned, I slip out of the library and down a door to Oyaji's office and calmly let myself in like I own the place.  He's sitting behind his desk, looking over a stack of papers and completely ignoring the fact that someone just walked into his office.  

You know, I might have forgotten to mention it before, but the brat, Amane, and I really look nothing like our father.  Where the three of us have white hair, his is pitch black.  Where Ryou and Amane have brown eyes and I have grey, Oyaji's are green.  The three of us are fairly tall, but he towers over all of us.  It's downright strange, especially since Amane has a different mother than Ryou and I do.

It doesn't take me standing here long, fireplace poker behind my back, to lose my temper and snap out, "Why the fuck are you trying to kill me?"

"I was expecting you here days ago.  You're late."  And he hasn't even looked up from his papers yet.  Typical.

I'm having a rather... fun time keeping my temper reigned in.  "I couldn't get away.  So sorry to disappoint you, Shachou."  To drop names or not to drop names?  "My-" companions?  new family?  Hell, I don't know what to call our little coterie.  They're all mine, after all. "-friends didn't want me coming here, after all."

That finally raises emerald green eyes to me, at least briefly.  Oyaji's never been willing to look at me for very long.  "Vermin like you don't have friends."  He picks up a pen and starts jotting down notes, hopefully not on this little conversation.  "Kaiba and Mutou must be very creative to come up with a purpose for someone like you."

Okay, it's been a little over two years since I've heard something like that addressed to me, and maybe that's why it stings so much more than any barb he used when I was younger.  Well, that and I've long maintained how I'm the worst person in the world for Yami and wondered what the hell he thinks he sees in me.  Maybe that's why it hits a little closer to home than I'd like.  "Fuck you," is all I manage to get out, not my best retort.

"I'm not interested in two of Domino's," I'd forgotten how the city's name was practically a curse to him, which was why I chose it, "so-called elite's seconds... or would it be thirds?"  He glances up briefly at me.  "What does one call a common whore in your situtation?"

It's all I can do to keep from growling.  As it is, I'm forcing words past tightly clenched teeth.  "I must be more impressive than I realized, to be a whore when the only person I fucked before today was Malik Ishtar."  Now that was deliberate.  Oyaji always did detest Malik, part of why I hung out with him, other than some less than pleasant common interests and histories.  Now is not the time for that though.  That familiar low humming/buzzing that is uniquely Yuugi is close by, and even if he wasn't, in front of Oyaji isn't the place to be spacing out.

He shrugs.  "I suppose trash must seek out like trash."

And that's why I never let Malik in the house when Oyaji was around:  Marik would kill the bastard, if Malik didn't do it himself, before I was ready for him to be dead.   A deep breath in and out does little to calm me down, but I make myself speak anyway.  "I'll ask you again, Shachou.  I've been out of the way for two years, so why are you trying to kill me now?"

He sets down his pen and lifts his head to stare at me levelly.  "I need my heir.  For some reason, he is attached to you, so I need you out of the way."  He taps his fingers rhythmically on his desk.  "If I have you dead by June, I can acquire my heir soon afterwards and have him ready to present to the civilized world by his next birthday."

Behind me, I can hear Yuugi gasp, but it's faint over the rage building within me.  "Do you even know your precious heir's name, you old bastard?"

Green eyes narrow, and he pushes himself to his feet.  His hand flying is almost too fast to follow, if not for Yuugi's yelled "Bakura-kun! Look out!"  As it is, it's close enough to make me have to duck and his hand still brushes the top of my head.  My shoulder cries in protest.

I force myself to stand upright and not let the pain I'm feeling betray me in my voice.  "That was your last free shot, old man."

"Somehow I doubt it."

That's all I let him get out before I take my first swing with the poker.  Maybe it's just an accident that the point end sinks into his chest.  Pulling it back out is a bit trickier, and blood douses my arms as he drops to his knees, before I pull back for another swing.

A hand grabs my wrist.  I follow it up to huge purple eyes.  Yuugi must be concentrating awfully hard to manage this much.  I mean, I know if he thinks about it hard enough, he can grasp solid objects, since I've seen him hold cards and type on my laptop, but usually he can't touch any living being except Yami.  Nonetheless, he is holding me in place.  "The fuck, Mini-Me?"

"He's a bastard," at least we agree on that much, "but he is your father.  You shouldn't kill him."

Okay, I've had all the sanctimonious bullshit I can stomach.  With my free hand, I shove him off me.  Since that was my injured arm, I'm sure I hurt it again, but right now I'm not feeling it over how pissed I am at the moment.  "Lay off me, midget.  I have to do this."  Faintly, I notice him falling to land on his ass on the floor with a faint pained noise.

That doesn't matter right now.  That I just touched a spirit doesn't matter.  That Yami and/or Varon will most likely kill me the minute I get home doesn't matter.  Right now all that matters is I'm finally getting to beat the shit out a bastard who richly deserves it.

After about six or seven more good hits, the majority of them after he's down so that it's a lot easier to hit his head and face, not that it's recognizable as such anymore, the old bastard's starting to make a sound similar to overripe fruit hitting concrete, not exactly the most pleasing sound there is.  I'm breathing hard, I'm aching in more than a few places, and I haven't the foggiest how I'm supposed to get out of this place with this much blood and various gooey bits on me.  Still, I pull back for one more hit when I hear it again, that dark urging voice.  I thought it was loud in Domino; that was no preparation for the shrieking I hear now.  It's becoming more coherent each time, which should worry me, I'm sure.  Someone is screaming a steady litany of 'No!' and it's probably me, but the voice drowns it out.  /Kill him!  Finish him!  Sacrifice him, and give yourself over to me!/

I drop the poker like it might bite me, hands coming up to clutch my head as if to hold the voice out, and back away from the corpse, only to trip and nearly fall over another body.  Purple eyes glare up at me as Yuugi retorts, "That hurt, Bakura-kun."

And that's when the door opens behind him, and Kitty and Malik come tearing in like the damn cavalry.  Somewhere in the midst of all the confusion, the voice recedes again.  Good.  No way I could deal with it on top of a suddenly breathing Yuugi and everything else.  It's not terribly surprising that the two of them look rather confused; I feel about the same way.  Of course Kitty regains the ability to speak first.  "The fucking hell?" passes for coherency around here, after all, even when it is chased by a meow, especially when compared to the shrug I manage in answer.  Hell, I don't think I have it in me to antagonize the situation for once.

"I thought Yami was still in Domino."  OH well, I guess Malik is a pretty good (if second-best) antagonist.  Of course, that could just be the nutball being curious.

"He is" comes from Kitty.  "That's Yuugi."

"The dead one?"

I have to smack myself on the forehead with that little comment.  Ugh...  Something just squished into my gloved fingers, something that looks like remarkably like brains.  "Ugh...," I groan softly, wiping my hands off on my pants before looking up to see the conversation coming back around to me. 

"Dorobou?" is all Kitty asks.  One word, but it's loaded with a million questions.  Such a loaded question surely deserves an equally loaded answer.

"I don't know."

"Don't ask me," Yuugi pipes up when Jounouchi's attention turns to him.

I take  a deep breath and let it out.  "As fun as it is to sit around here and play guessing games, we should worry about getting out out of here before anyone... fun shows up... like the police."  That would just be great:  an out-of-town Were and two of Tokyo's long-lost criminal elements at the scene of the murder of one of Tokyo's most prominent citizens.  They'd lock us up and throw away the key.

"The house is clear," Malik puts forth.  "Katsuya said Amane's been gone for hours."

At that, I can only let out a sigh of relief.  Still, if she's not here now, she could be on her way.  When we get out of here, I'll put in an anonymous call to the police about a 'burglary,'  so she's not the one to find the body.  And Kitty's eyes are narrowing.  "Who's Amane?"  Whoops, guess I forgot to ever play storyteller with him on that one.

"Amane's my little sister.  She and her mother still live here."  For reasons I can't fathom, of course.  It's good she wasn't here.  "If she wasn't here, she won't be a problem.  She's..."  I trail off, floundering for a word.

"Nice?" Yuugi offers, finally dragging himself to unsteady feet.

I shrug.  "That works.  So, are we leaving now?"

"That sounds like a stellar idea."  Ooh, Kitty sarcasm.  "Any ideas as to how we're to do so without tracking blood through the foyer?"  Has he been hanging around the Kaibas when my back was turned or something?  Yeesh, that sounded more like a Seth thing to say.  Still... I need a new shirt, again, and I see only one option tat might possibly fit:  the nutball's.

"Give me your shirt," I demand.

Malik looks lost for a second, then annoyed, before shrugging out of his black over-shirt.  I know a certain blond leopard who's doing some quality ogling.  The shirt gets tossed my direction, and I start pulling it on after taking off Seth's gloves ad gingerly removing Seto's shirt.  Looks like I pulled a couple sections of Varon's 'oh-so-loving' stitches; let's add that onto my list of things I've done to get in trouble tonight. It's bleeding, but sluggishly, so I just use Seto's shirt to wrap around it before Malik speaks up again.  "You aren't getting my pants, Boss.  These are new."

I roll my eyes at him.  "Forgive me if I'm not interested in getting you out of your pants.  Kitty might be, though."  And the Mini-Me, but that's one I'm not getting into.

"I'm not the only one," Kitty smirks.  Now that catches Mini-Me's attention, and he glances over at Jounouchi.  "Hey, looking's no big, but don't forget he's mine."  There's some extra meaning there that I neither am aware of nor want to know.  From the look of things. the nutball's in the dark too, not that's all that uncommon.

"But Jounouchi..."  Mini-Me whine as I tune out the conversation to tug my borrowed gloves back on and start examining some of the various artifacts in the office.  Hmm, there's that strange gold dream catcher thing I always liked; that's a keeper for certain.   There's that puzzle box thing the old bastard brought back from Egypt; Yami would love it, and maybe it and Yuugi might be enough to get me out of trouble with him.  Okay, I'm building enough between those two and various statuary and such to necessitate turning my sling into an impromptu bag.  The safe is on the wall, and it only takes me a moment to open it (knowing the combination is helpful there) and empty it.

A car horn beeping repeatedly finally drags me away from my... 'shopping'.  Kitty's at the window - which is now open and he's still holding the edge of it with his hands covered by his jacket - and he looks ready to go completely into pissy kitty mode as the blaring noise repeats itself.  "Damn stupid tiger," he snarls.  "This beats the four-on-one thing."  And that is pretty much a dead giveaway who's out there.  I wonder if I can't get Cynthia to patch me up so I don't have to deal with monster Varon.

Still, I can't help a snicker and side-comment to Ishtar, "Kajiki is the most impatient getaway driver ever."  Another snicker escapes me.  "I'm glad he didn't use to work with us."




Okay, I'm doing some hardcore avoiding of the inside of Kaiba Mansion.  I've seen Sasame off on her way back to Tokyo.  I've introduced Mini-Me to all the wolves and what leopards I could find outside.  I can't really say anything about my behavior, though, because Mini-Me's been right beside me.  I guess neither of us is really looking to trying to explain this to Yami.  Of course, I'm also avoiding Varon, even though Cynthia was good enough to piece me back together,  so I don't know what Yuugi's excuse is; it's not like he's in trouble or anything.

It's an hour till dawn before we finally head inside by silent mutual agreement... or rather, I start walking and Mini-Me falls in behind me as close as a shadow.  Wherever his brother is, it's going to be somewhere where he can get a good lap of pacing going.  My - our - my... whatever.  The bedroom isn't big enough, somehow I get the feeling he'll be in one of Treeboy's main places (the study, the office, etc.), so that narrows it down some.

"Are we going to talk to niisan now?" Yuugi asks quietly.

"If I can find him," I mutter under my breath.  "Library or hallways?"

Yuugi's quiet a moment then decides.  "Library.  More stuff to throw if he's still in a bad mood."

That does not bode well at all.  I'm screwed - and not in a fun way.  This is going to be a fun - 

"Bakura?"

Show and tell.  Did I mention I'm fucked?

---

08 January 2006

Sorry for the delay.  I didn't realize Avarice had already been updated, so I guess my end- of-story surprise this story is going to fall a bit flat. I guess I'll have to live with it. One or maybe two chapters to go, then I'll start on Automatic Paranoia. 

And if you missed the updates, please read Metal Heart and Our Farewell.  These were my two entries into the GWYaoi.org 2005 Contest.  MH took first place, and OF tied for second.