And here it is, an honest-to-goodness, written in 2010, brand-new super special awesome chapter of Like the Rain. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorite-d the last chapter – it means so much to me that there are people out there still reading this fic! Huge thanks to all of the new readers, especially those who had to slog through the other fourteen chapters (some of them not bad, some of them not so great) to get here. I hope it's worth it.

All of my love and my firstborn child goes to Grace, who lovingly served as a beta to this chapter, and, more importantly, coaxed me out of my fanfiction foxhole. Thank you, darling, for keeping me from making a really bad joke.

Please read, enjoy, and review!

Thanks, RR

Like the Rain

By Revolutionnare Rouge

Chapter Fifteen: Don't Call it A Crush, Baby.

Mai had been just on the brink of sleep when her phone started screeching. Starting at the loud disturbance, she began fumbling for her phone in the dark. The thing lit up from where it vibrated on the nightstand, casting gaunt shadows in the unfamiliar hotel room. Finally, Mai managed reached the wretched machine.

"Hello?" she said, still a bit groggy.

"Hey, Mai? Sorry for calling so late, but I really need to talk…"

Mai sat up some, frowning.

"Anzu? What happened?"

The voice on other end sounded much more awake and clear than Mai, but suddenly went silent. Mai could almost see the other girl, sitting on her bed in their empty apartment, tearing at the nail of her thumb while trying to come up with a response. Stifling a sigh, Mai slumped back into her pillows. Very rarely did something put Anzu at a loss for words, and while Mai knew that whatever happened must have been big, she wished the other girl would just get on with it. She had work tomorrow.

"Anzu, I-"

"Um, I think Seto might have feelings for me."

This time, Mai didn't bite down her sigh.

"That seems about right," she said, thinking back on the last time she saw Kaiba. He had been standing in Anzu's room, half-deaf but wholly transfixed on the sleeping girl.

"Mai, did you hear what I just said? Kaiba. Feelings. For me. Feelings! The fact that he has feelings at all goes against every known law of the universe! Why aren't you freaking out? Or, more so, why aren't you telling me I'm wrong?" A hitch of hysteria made its way into Anzu's voice.

"Because I'm not Yami or Jou, both of whom, I might add, you sound exactly like right now. I know you have better sense than that – to just write Kaiba off under the same label the others do, when you know him better than any of the rest of us. It's seems hard to deny that you two have a kind of companionship." Mai barely avoided stumbling over the word "companionship". Even as she tried to defend Kaiba, it didn't feel right for her to say "friendship". "With the way things have been going since Mokuba's kidnapping, it wouldn't surprise me if Kaiba did have some kind of feelings for you. At the very least, it's an attraction. Kaiba is a man after all."

On the other end of the line, Anzu fell quiet again, perhaps surprised. Normally Mai might have tried to reveal her theory to Anzu more circuitously, but it was past midnight, and she was too tired to be patient with her friend. The space between their conversation was growing frustratingly long.

"What makes you think so?" Anzu finally asked.

"I've seen the way he looks at you. What makes you think so?"

Anzu recaped what had happened in the past few days with little hesitation. Mai knew Anzu had been thinking about this for hours, if not days, replaying each moment of contact and tension over and over; There was an almost poetic edge to Anzu's explanation that Mai could only chalk up to infatuation. Mai couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy as Anzu described the way Kaiba had brushed his lips against hers, or (to think of it!) grinned over her successful solo. Kaiba was, in many respects, the man whose image every female fantasy was modeled after: wealthy, brilliant, and atrociously handsome. He was for so many that untouchable mystery, so much so that any person could easily consider him a canvas and paint him in the image of their own fantasy. Few, if any of the people that had lusted over Kaiba – Mai herself included – had any inkling of the person the CEO actually was. But here was Anzu, the only girl who had not only found the safe where the real Kaiba kept himself, but was beginning to turn the lock. Any other person would have already clung to the opportunity to get intimate with Seto Kaiba, except for Anzu, painstakingly deliberate Anzu. But it was a start.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Mai asked once Anzu had finished.

Anzu sighed. "I dunno."

"Then let's start at the beginning. Do you have feelings for Kaiba?"

The question seemed to surprise her. She paused for a few moments.

"I don't know. I don't think so, but…"

"But it's that 'but…' that's going to keep you thinking about it. Why don't you just go after him, even if it's just for fun? There's nothing stopping you."

"Mai, you know that's not the case."

"Of course, of course." Mai could see the looming faces of their friends – Yami, Yugi, Duke, and even her Jou – and could practically hear their reactions. And then there was Ryou… "But just because there are a few obstacles doesn't mean you shouldn't consider it. You would be the shame of all womankind if you didn't try to get with him, or at least into his pants. Or his pocketbook."

"What do I do, then? Let things go and see what happens? Hope to get kidnapped again or something? What would you do?"

It amused Mai to hear her headstrong roommate sound so innocent and confused. Mai knew Anzu had had boyfriends before, but she also knew that the field was completely different when it was Kaiba that was up to bat. Anzu would have to throw hard.

"Sweetie, you don't want to know what I would do. But I think I might know what you should do."

Seto Kaiba was going to walk to school even if it made him ill. He'd slept fitfully, and could barely mute the desire to spend disgusting amounts of money on finding the man who hadn't come up with a cure for headaches yet and firing him – and his head was the least of his complaints. A bruise had formed where Bakura punched him in the gut. Kaiba, naturally, kept himself free of unnecessary fat, and there'd been next to no cushioning the blow. The ugly mark was purpling at the center and spread out across much of his stomach, ending in a sickly yellow ring. More bruised by the blow than his body was his ego; The fact that he'd been so demeaned and physically bested by Bakura was unacceptable. But the idea that perhaps Bakura was correct about what he'd said, that Seto had been "leading Anzu on" while dating Isis and that he didn't deserve to have anything to do with her, was the most troubling. Kaiba was the kind of man who did, and got, what he wanted. Having that challenged was not in the rule book.

His fist tightened around his school bag as a sharp pain lanced up through his stomach.

He had done what he needed to. He ended things with Isis. She'd been crying when he left, though that was certainly not why Bakura had taken him by surprise. It wouldn't happen again. Seto was determined to walk to school even while in a pain that made him visibly pale (although not limp, or groan, or flinch, as it might with anyone else). He'd taken on worse than this before.

A sense of relief trickled into his chest when he was able to stride into his first period class looking as invincible as ever. Kaiba sat down at his desk and unfolded a newspaper, noticing that as he did so, Ryou Bakura watched him. It was like a hawk watching and waiting for a wolf to give in. Well he would have to wait. Today, like any other day, was no time to show weakness.

"Ohmygod Ryou, what happened to your eye?"

Damned, though, if that boy wasn't going to try and wring out every ounce of self-control Kaiba possessed.

Seto merely glanced up from the newspaper he read as Anzu rushed through the rows of desks to where Ryou sat, giving Anzu a martyr's smile while his eye swelled shut. Quickly he looked down again, seething.

"It's nothing, Anzu, I promise."

God, if that deceptively modest tone in Bakura's voice had a throat, Kaiba would get up and strangle it.

Anzu slammed her bag down on the desk in front of Ryou's and sat in the chair backwards in order to face her friend. From the corner of his vision, Seto could see her face, half-framed by hair, brimming over with concern for the other boy. She reached out and, without asking, tenderly touched the edge of Ryou's swollen eye, causing him to flinch slightly. Anzu let out a hiss of apology. "I'm so sorry! Ryou, this is obviously not nothing. What the hell did you do to yourself? This bruise is awful! Have you even iced it or tried to take care of it or anything? Do you need to go to the doctor?"

Her worry filled the space around her, and Kaiba knew that Ryou was positively basking in it. Ryou shook his head, though he grimaced noticeably from pain.

"Anzu, I didn't do anything to myself. And really, it's nothing. After work, Isis was locking up the museum, and I stayed with her just so that she wouldn't have to be out alone at night. Some drunk came up and started giving her some trouble, so I stepped in. The guy got a lucky punch, but I valiantly fended him off without too much effort." His voice became comically heroic in his last statement, making Anzu giggle despite her worry. Kaiba, on the other hand, fought back a sneer. Who's the lying hypocrite now, loverboy?

"I can't believe you got yourself hurt defending that woman," she said, leaning forward to cup Ryou's face in her hands. "You're such a gentleman…"

Ryou broke off in a grin tinged with a hint of self-satisfaction that Kaiba was sure only he could see – peripherally, of course.

"-A gentleman who has no clue how to take care of himself properly. Seriously Ryou, your eye is monstrous. Have you done anything to reduce the swelling?" Ryou responded with a sheepish 'No', causing Anzu to lean back and shake her head in mock disappointment.

"Well, is there anything I can do help? There should be time to go down to the infirmary and see if they have any cold packs or something…"

Seto made the error of looking up at both Anzu and Ryou. At that very same moment, Ryou had glanced over to Kaiba, trying to gauge if he was listening. Ryou and Seto locked eyes, and the white haired boy sent him an almost imperceptible smirk. He looked back to Anzu.

"Kiss it and make it better?" Ryou whimpered, pouting childishly.

Upon Ryou's comment, Kaiba felt his blood pressure surge, heard his pulse pounding angrily in his ears. The way Ryou had played off his little request, as a joke between friends…

Anzu let out a laugh, and without a moment of hesitation, leaned forward and pressed her lips gently to the skin under Ryou's eye, at the very edge of his bruise. She pulled away, but then was back again, leaving another kiss near his eye. With the second kiss, Kaiba could practically feel the growl rising in his throat.

"All better!" Anzu exclaimed, smiling widely. Ryou returned her smile, but glanced over to Kaiba once more. It was all Kaiba could do to not glower at him. He wouldn't give Ryou that kind of satisfaction.

He felt warm all over. It was not jealousy – he knew that much. It was an issue of territory. Anzu was not Ryou's.

Anzu stood up, and took her usual desk, to the side of Kaiba. As she did, she too glanced at him. Their eyes met, but Anzu didn't look away. Instead, she raised her eyebrows, her face a silent challenge. Apparently Ryou wasn't the only one who had noticed Kaiba furtively watching them. At her look, his body temperature went from warm to hot. It was as if she had slapped him, and left the words "Whatcha gonna do about it?" imprinted across his face. He took a breath and regained his composure, but didn't break the gaze.

Class was already starting. Students poured in with the final bell, and the teacher was already writing the main themes of the lecture on the board. Ryou was chatting with Yugi, while Yami flipped impatiently through his notebook. Someone was making an announcement about yearbook sales over the PA system. Someone was passing out old quizzes. From somewhere down the hall came the sound of a locker being slammed shut, frantic footsteps running to get to class. But for Seto, everything around him had condensed, from the classroom, to him and Anzu and Ryou, and finally, to only him and the girl in the nearest desk.

Blue poured into blue – Seto refused to break their stare. His eyes were a clash of flint and fire, and he looked at her until his message came across: if she kept it up, she would find out exactly what he planned to do about it.

Sudden, uncontrollable lust with the overtones of malicious glee.

Ryou paused, lunch tray in hand, in the middle of the school courtyard. He felt the hot flare of desire raking over his skin, and could only roll his eyes, mumbling a quiet curse to himself. Ahead of him, Anzu had just sat down, poised on the bench with the kind of elegant posture one could only find in a dancer: back bent slightly in a smooth curve, shoulders set straight and arms angled forward, every portion of her body turned with a natural grace that drew the eye to appreciate the form as a whole. Her head turned slightly to respond to Shizuka's greeting, putting her in near-profile. Another kind of desire eased over Ryou, quieter, deeper, aching.

This was overtaken, again, by that searing feeling of sheer, almost violent, need. It was an emotion unique to only one thing – or, well, person.

"Hey, guys, I just remembered that I was supposed to meet up with Bakura for lunch. Anzu, I'll see you in class," Ryou called.

The teens at the table acknowledged his departure, with Yami sending a rather cheerful "Tell that damned tomb thief to go choke on a baby!" as a parting message. Ryou nodded, and didn't stifle a laugh as he imagined his dark counterpart comically enacting Yami's wish. He'd probably done something like that before.

As Ryou turned back towards the school, he acknowledged the feeling flushing across him, and beat it back with his own feeling of piqued composure – annoyance with a cool front that sometimes made him feel a bit like a harried parent. It was a soft emotion, individual to him. Immediately, the lust flushed out of his system, gone as quickly as it came. It was replaced instead by a haze over his vision, which cleared into a transparent image overlaying the vision of his surroundings. Along with the bricked wall of the school and the various students sitting at benches or under trees was the interposed image of the inside of the computer room. After a moment, it flickered and disappeared. Ryou was to himself again.

(+81): I cant believe it, but you were wrong yesterday

(1-81): Huh? Abt what?

(+81) : HE did it.

(1-81): NO WAY. Last night?

(+81): Yea. Shes a wreck today

(1-81): Well this changes things.

(+81): Srsly.

"Please tell me you saw that imbecilic look on his face this morning!"

Ryou's entrance was greeted with Bakura's grating voice. His near-twin was leaning against the teacher's desk in the computer lab, doubled over as he let out a raucous cackle of delight. Bakura straightened as Ryou set down his backpack and walked over to him, and the two men mirrored each other in their sharp grins.

"I didn't think you had it in you, you limey girl, but you've proved me wrong on two accounts."

Bakura pounded Ryou on the back with his fist, a painful sign of approval from the rougher of the two.

"I'm afraid I didn't see Kaiba's expression this morning," Ryou said, still grinning," I was too busy basking in Anzu's affections."

"That sure pissed him off! Mr. Cool and Composed was about to lose it." Bakura was laughing so hard that tears of mirth had rounded out in his eyes.

Ryou could feel Bakura's pride and approval almost as if the sensations were his own. However, he could also sense a careful curiosity arising in his partner, the sort of feeling he might get when encountering a snake that he wasn't sure was poisonous or not. Bakura was sizing him up, seriously this time.

"But you didn't just come here to congratulate me – unless you were just being a prick by sending me those sensations."

The caution flared up in Bakura, and both knew Ryou could feel it too. Ryou gave his counterpart a measured stare, watching the features of the ancient thief even though he could feel the internal debate going on behind the man's sharp visage. Ryou and Bakura, Yami Bakura, had shared his body for years. They had been able to move into the mind of the other, exploring the emotions, ideas, memories, and dreams. That bond had been retained, even after their souls were split.

"Getting nostalgic, aren't you dear?" Bakura sneered, sensing the direction of Ryou's thoughts. "I did want to talk to you about something, although naturally I couldn't resist messing around with you, too."

Ryou shook his head. "Honestly, you live to make me feel uncomfortable, don't you?" He thought back to the intense sensations of brutal lust he had felt in the courtyard – an emotion that wasn't his, but expressly Bakura's. Bakura impressed the feeling on Ryou to get his attention, like a signal marker. Ryou himself liked to fill Bakura with feelings of warm, fuzzy, over-the-top love and affection, just to piss him off. It was part of their routine.

When Yugi unleashed the power of the Egyptian God cards, he did what Pegasus had hoped to do with the Millennium Items – "bring back" the dead. He had been attempting to release the Pharaoh spirit, who they called Yami, in order to give the long gone man a chance at life again, either in the past or in the present. Yami had been given a body in the present, and by some fluke, or perhaps a connection within the Millennium Items (Bakura suspected the latter, claiming that the Rod, Ring, and Puzzle had all been connected through his soul), so had the other two "Yami"s – Yami Bakura and Yami Marik, now called Malik. It was the most unexplainable, and even illogical, turn of events, yet Bakura had almost anticipated it, and Ryou, equally used to the impossible happening, accepted it. However, as far as Ryou knew, his connection to Bakura was different than the links between the others and their dark sides. Even after being split into two bodies, Bakura and Ryou retained their ability to see into the mind of the other, although it proved somewhat more tenuous. Each could feel the emotions of the other and see what the other saw, allowing them to communicate through these feelings and images even when apart.

"Oh, yes, darling, every moment of every day is spent plotting new ways to make your life just slightly more awkward than it already is. Please." Bakura rolled his eyes. "I wanted you here to congratulate you on your stunning display of asshole behavior, and also tell you that Kaiba ended it with Isis. Marik told me about it last night."

A tightness found its way to Ryou's chest, and he could feel the cold fingers of nervousness lacing over him.

"If Kaiba's done with Isis, then he's free to do whatever the hell he wants," Bakura added, voicing what was buzzing in Ryou's mind.

"Looks like you're going to have to get to the finish faster than you thought. You might want to invest in a stacked deck."

Ryou scowled. "Kaiba and I aren't playing some stupid card game, Bakura. This is reality. Real feelings."

"Of course, of course." Bakura's voice was petulant, mocking.

There were times when Ryou wondered just how much of their souls had been separated when Bakura had been given his own body. He was beginning to believe that the break hadn't been entirely clean. Ryou shook his head and, with his dark twin at his side, began to plan.

For much of the day, Anzu was fairly certain that she had done Mai proud. She had intended the day to be somewhat of a trial period, allowing her to gauge how Kaiba acted around her now that she had a fresh perspective. With Mai's advice in mind, she was to try doing little things – wearing a bit of makeup, pitching her voice a little lower, holding eye contact just a fraction longer – not just to test Kaiba's interest, but to determine some of the variables of her own feelings. For a subject so unpredictable, it was a fairly solid plan.

This morning had created an unexpected result; She supposed she couldn't account for everything, especially when human nature was at play. Ryou had surprised her with his request for a kiss, even one so innocently placed, and from the expression on Kaiba's face (as much as he had tried to mask it with disinterest and hauteur), it had startled him too. Kaiba's reaction, and the glance exchanged afterwards, had been incredibly rewarding. Anzu couldn't have asked for better.

Once again though, a feeling of unease pecked at her. The entire day, Ryou had been just slightly over the line of Ryou. She almost couldn't explain it, or even process it, but there was a difference. None of his actions, like the kiss, had been outside of the boundaries of their relationship… but they skirted that edge and then blurred it to the point where Anzu wasn't entirely sure if she was just making up the whole thing or not. It made her think of the day before, when a sort of sharpness had passed over her friend. It was just-almost-but-not-quite Ryou. The way his voice peaked when he saw her, the half grin on his face when she worried over his eye, that extra fraction of a second that before he pulled out of her hug and told her he'd call her tonight.

"Alright, I think that is all for today!"

Madame Dugin's voice brought Anzu out of her reverie. Anzu lowered her leg and let go of the barre where she and the others had been doing cool-down stretches. As the other students began to change and pack their bags, Anzu bent over, touching her chest almost to her legs and her hands to her feet. Beyond the line of her legs, she could see the inverted image of the little sitting area the adjoined the studio. Mokuba had stood up from the overstuffed armchair and was holding Rebecca's bag while he waited for her, with a look of what Anzu could only describe as concern formed in his features. He was alone.

After believing for the entire day that Anzu had Kaiba's attention, she was taken aback when he didn't show up for her dance class. Perhaps she had misjudged the entire situation.

Anzu straightened from her stretch and tugged on a tank top and jeans to cover up her leotard and leggings. Thinking, foolishly, that Kaiba would be there that afternoon, she opted out of wearing her usual post-dance tee-shirt and workout shorts, instead bringing something more flattering to her form. It wasn't exactly a get up that Mai would consider impressive, but it was a change for Anzu. Slinging her bag over her shoulders, Anzu walked over to where Rebecca had joined Mokuba.

"You looked great today, Rebecca," she said to the younger girl.

"That's just what I was telling her," Mokuba responded as he slipped his arm around Rebecca's waist. He smiled at his girlfriend affectionately, but Anzu noticed that Mokuba's same look of disquiet had now spread to the both of them. It sunk deep in the creases of their eyes like a bad gothic makeup job.

"Thanks, Anz'! Don't tell anyone…" Rebecca lowered her voice in mock-secrecy, "but I've been practicing every day after school in order to catch up."

Anzu leaned in towards the two young teens, voice equally conspiratorial. "Don't panic. I do the exact same thing."

All three laughed and headed outside. Instinctively, Anzu looked up to assess the sky. As if by some miracle, all was clear. In the back of her mind, that minute nagging voice reminded her that the chances of seeing Kaiba again that day were dwindling… which meant she might have to spend another day "testing".

"Where are you two headed?" Anzu asked, turning back to the couple. She almost missed the glance the two exchanged. Almost.

"Probably back to Becky's place," Mokuba said. "I'm helping her study for her calculus exam."

"And by 'help study', he means 'sit around and watch a Dragonball Z re-run marathon on the anime channel'," Rebecca snorted. Mokuba scratched his head sheepishly.

"Seto doesn't let me watch Dragonball Z anymore…" he mumbled as Rebecca rolled her eyes. Anzu's expression of disbelief served to ask her question.

"I, uh, may have sent a prank e-mail from Seto's address outlining a new company policy in which all Kaiba Corp employees were required to adopt the new motto "Over 9000!" and apply it to their department goals…"

Anzu's laughter, which had been mounting through Mokuba's explanation, was cut off by a sharp growl of frustration.

"I had to sit and listen to my Ad team talk about boosting sales to "Over 9000!" for three damn weeks."

The three turned to face the older Kaiba, framed in sharp umbrage.

"I had to rehire 200 people after I figured out what had happened."

Mokuba practically shriveled under the gaze of his brother, but through the mass of hair that hid his face, Anzu could see the slightest smile of pride.

"Welllll… that's my cue to leave. Come on, Becky."

The black-haired boy grabbed his girlfriend's hand and nearly ran in the opposite direction. Rather than chasing or calling after him, Kaiba simply shook his head, annoyed face marred by the crinkle of laugh lines that bent around his eyes as he tried to hide his amusement. He turned and stared at Anzu. She stared back until the silence made her uncomfortable.

"Kids these days, huh?" she said, breaking eye contact to fidget with the thin strap of her tank top. She suddenly felt incredibly exposed. "No respect for their elders." She could literally see Mai in her mind, putting her hand to her head in embarrassment. Anzu was supposed to have the upper hand on this situation.

The way Seto looked at her seemed to indicate that he hadn't even heard what she'd said. Blue eyes fixed on her eyes, then moved down her form, then back up to her eyes in abrupt little ticks like the second hand of a clock sweeping over the pale face of time. He was breaking her down in his mind fraction by fraction, putting his hands in her pockets and turning them inside out, unscrewing her head from her neck to peer down into her chest cavity. He must have found what he was looking for, as his eyes suddenly focused on her face and stayed. Anzu should have told him just how eccentric he was being, but she didn't dare. Yet.

"Come have coffee with me."

Anzu blinked, and opened her mouth to respond. Kaiba waited.

"Excuse me?" was all that she could manage.

"Coffee. You're going to come with me and we are going to drink it, Mazaki. It's not that difficult to process."

Not what she had been expecting.

"No way. I'm disgusting and need a shower." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she wished she could have taken them back. She was supposed to be the one baiting Kaiba, judging his responses and attracting his attention, and here she was messing it up. But by the time Anzu responded, Kaiba had already begun walking in the opposite direction, towards a place Anzu assumed had coffee.

With a cluck of exasperation, Anzu sped to catch up with Kaiba. Walking quickly, she matched the pace of his long strides to stay at his side. Kaiba glanced down at her as she looked up at him.

"For future reference, when you want someone to do something with you, you typically invite them."

Kaiba's brows furrowed. "That's what I did."

"No, Kaiba, you commanded me to come have coffee with you. You might be able to throw around orders all day when you're at Kaiba Corp, but here in the real world, normal people have certain social rules."

The man snorted, face a half sneer. "Screw the rules."

Anzu rolled her eyes, over-exaggerating her irritation.

"You should be thankful that I'm such a generous and kind-hearted person, otherwise you'd be getting your damn coffee on your own."

"Oh, well thank you so much, Anzu. I have no idea what I would do without your philanthropy."

The girl let out a little gasp of indignation and sped up to pass Kaiba before stopping directly in front of him. She crossed her arms under her chest and stared up at him menacingly, blocking his path.

"Getting rude isn't going to get you anywhere, Mr. Kaiba."

"Well, Miss Mazaki, getting in my way is certainly going to get you thrown over my shoulder and carried."

Seto took a few steps closer to Anzu, until he was looming over her. She could tell from the smirk that crossed his face that he was enjoying immensely her irritation.

"You'd abuse a girl in such a crude fashion, Kaiba?"

His smirk only widened. Something almost mischievous flashed across his face.

"I didn't say I'd be rough, Mazaki. Maybe I just want to touch you."

Kaiba stepped around Anzu as she stared at him, mouth agape. Her head turned mechanically to watch him as he passed her. He didn't even try and coach his expression – it was obvious that he was gloating over her speechlessness.

He paused before he had gone far.

"Now, Mazaki, would you like to have coffee with me?"

"Speaking of feelings, Honey Bee, what was it that you found so funny earlier? I was so distracted with working out your little love game that I forgot to ask."

The silence broken, Ryou looked up from his biology book to where Bakura lounged on his bed. As always, Bakura had been perusing the internet while Ryou studied. Ryou rolled his eyes; Bakura mimicked him.

"Oh, nothing really, Gaga. As I was leaving lunch to go find you, Yami wanted me to, and I quote 'Tell that damned tomb thief to go choke on a baby". It seemed like something you would do."

The other white haired boy sat up straight and slammed down the top of his laptop. Ryou raised an eyebrow at his twin's reaction.

"He still hasn't let that go?" Bakura's face flushed as he fumed. "Ra forbid a person makes a mistake! That happened once, five thousand years ago!" He picked up his laptop and stalked to the door. He turned back to the mildly bemused Ryou.

"You tell that damned pharaoh to pull that spiky hair out of his ass and get over it."

Bakura wildly opened the door, stomped out, and slammed it closed.

"Whatever you say, Bakura," Ryou said, turning back to his reading.