A/N: Thank you to all of you who reviewed and let me know I have support where I wasn't expecting. It means a lot to me. After a month break I decided to continue this story, so without further ado, I present the next chapter of Hidden Secrets.

As always;

Seeing as certain symbols don't like to show for me, things are a little complicated;

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

/Ryou to Bakura/

/Royko-Bakura to Ryou/

-Yugi to Yami-

-Yami to Yugi-

(Malik to Marik)

((Marik to Malik))

(((Author's notes)))

Disclaimer: Trust me, I don't own YuGiOh. I do, however own Rei.

Recap: "Are you hungry Seth?" Yami asked as his cousin settled next to him, "We were waiting on you two to show up before ordering. Just so the pizza would be nice and hot…"

"And also so there'd actually be some for you, lest these two gluttons eat it all," Tea added, motioning to Joey and Tristan, both of which grinned sheepishly.

Seth let out a small chuckle. "Your foresight is appreciated," he answered before tipping his head. "So…what is this…pizza?"

Now for the new stuff:

After lunch, the group decided to head to the local mall and look around as well as get Seth some clothes of his own. Bakura and Rei had been about to make their escape when Seto extended the invitation to them, offering to buy Rei some more clothes. They had grudgingly accepted and went to the mall with everyone else.

"You know you two don't have to walk around with them. I'd come with you," Yami murmured to Bakura as they rode in the limo.

Bakura sighed slightly and was about to answer when Rei, who had preferred Bakura's lap to the plush leather seats, answered before him. "We know, however if we stay with the group, we can keep an eye on Seth and maybe we can figure out why he's here. It's been eating at me since last night," she replied softly, Bakura nodding in agreement.

Yami mulled it over and nodded. "Makes sense, all I ask is that you two behave. And don't worry, I'm going to be telling Seth the same thing," he agreed. He'd keep his knowledge of why Seth was here to himself. He had a gut feeling the siblings would find out eventually. All he hoped was that Bakura wouldn't get pissed at him for not telling him sooner.

When the group got to the mall and started walking, trying to decide what store to go into first, Seth dropped back to talk to Bakura. "So tell me Bakura," he started after noting that Rei was walking farther ahead with the blondes, "Why exactly do you care about Rei?"

Bakura frowned at that question. "Because she's my sister," he answered warily.

"You're not blood related though."

"It matters not if we're related by blood or not. We grew up together and I took care of her. That's what siblings do," Bakura replied with a small, irritated snort.

"So you trust her then?" Seth questioned, trying not to start smirking.

That made Bakura scoff. "Of course I trust her. I trust her with my life."

"Pity it doesn't seem like she holds that much trust in you. Tell me, has she ever told you of what happened in her captivity?" Here Seth let a small smirk appear. Bakura had walked right into it. At Bakura's hesitation, Seth smirked wider. "I didn't think so." Before Bakura could come up with a reply, Seth had walked away to return to Seto's side.

"What was that all about?" Yami asked, dropping back to walk with Bakura once Seth was back with his hikari, the two brunettes starting to discuss what Seth's clothing style would be. Reaching out to hold Bakura's hand, Yami gave him a curious smile.

Bakura sighed and gave Yami's hand a little squeeze. "It was nothing, koi. Seth was just trying to be a bigger prick than normal." To himself, though, Bakura couldn't help but wonder if what Seth said was true.

…

"Are we done yet?" Rei wondered tiredly from her perch on Marik's back. They had been shopping for at least two hours and Rei was starting to hate the mall. It had not gone over well when Tea had said that Rei would look cute in preppy clothes, having totally missed Rei looking at the display in the window with disgust. Rei had almost hit her right then and there had Yami not caught her wrist as she had started to draw it back.

Seth looked over at Rei with a slight smirk. "Is the little thiefling worn out by merely walking around for a while?" he sneered.

"Shut up Priest, I don't have the energy that most people do. Not to mention I didn't sleep well last night due to a certain someone," came the answering growl, Rei not bothering to lift her head from Marik's shoulder to add a glare to the statement.

"Touchy, touchy."

"Seth, leave her alone," Yami sighed, "What's next on the list, Kaiba?"

Seto looked at the list that they had made up to make shopping easier. "Well, all that's really left is shoes for both of them…not that we need this many people to go shoe shopping," he answered, glancing around at the group.

"We understand," Duke answered with a dismissive wave, "Come on guys, let's go to the arcade. I bet I can beat you in that racing game, Joey."

"Nu-uh! You're on Dice boy!" came Joey's retort as the others laughed and followed the two, leaving Seth, Seto, Bakura, Yami, Rei, Marik, and Malik watching them walk off.

"You know Kaiba, seeing as you're paying and all, you can always give us one of your credit cards and let us go shoe shopping so you and Seth can go look around some more. I noticed you didn't get much opinion as to where we should go," Bakura offered hopefully.

Seto merely rolled his eyes at that. "Do you think I was born yesterday or something? I do not trust you with my card, Thief," he retorted.

"Aww, I'm hurt. Don't you trust Yami though?" Bakura asked. Setting his face into a pout, he tried not to smile as Rei giggled and Marik chuckled.

"Ha, no. He'd be more likely to slip off to a leather store."

"Hey!"

Seth chuckled softly at that. "Well, my cousin does like his clothes," he supplied

"Whatever," Yami huffed and started towards one of the shoe stores, everyone falling into step behind him.

…

Bakura entered his and Ryou's home later carrying Rei, Yami following behind with the purchases for her. Rei had fallen asleep on the car ride from the mall, soothed by the gentle motion of the limo.

"If she falls asleep this easy all the time in cars, I now know what to do on nights when she can't sleep," Bakura murmured to Yami as he set Rei down on the couch, smiling softly when Rei cuddled into the soft cushions contently.

Yami smiled as he set down the bags in an out of the way spot. "If you had a car then I'd say go for it." Here he paused to chuckle. "Then again, I might be afraid of seeing you doing crazy stunts in a car."

Bakura smiled and came over to give Yami a soft kiss. "Nah, cars aren't as maneuverable as motorcycles so I'd have to be good," he replied.

Yami shook his head with another smile. He would have replied but he paused when his deck pulsed, grabbing his attention immediately. Reaching into the deck holder on his belt, Yami pulled out his deck, frowning slightly as it pulsed again.

"Whats wrong?" Bakura wondered, noticing the frown on the former pharaoh's face.

"One of my monsters wants my attention," he murmured, flipping over his deck and starting to thumb through the cards. As he went through his deck, the pulse got stronger until he stopped on the Dark Magician.

"The mage? You should go then, Yami. You know he wouldn't do this unless it was important," Bakura supplied, leaning forward to give the shorter male a quick kiss. "Go. I'll go put Rei to bed and put her new stuff away while you go see what he wants."

Yami gave a small nod and after returning the kiss, took a step back, and vanished into the shadow realm.

Once Yami was gone, Bakura turned and grabbed the shopping bags and carried them up to Rei's room, putting the clothes away in the closet before heading back downstairs to collect his sister, hoping to not wake her.

Rei stirred as she was scooped up gently and slowly opened her eyes as Bakura climbed the stairs. "mmm 'kura?"

"Well hello there, sleepyhead," he teased, looking down into sleepy emerald eyes. "Did you have a good nap?"

Rei nodded and stretched with a yawn. Bakura carried her into her room and laid her down on the bed before sitting next to her. "How does your back feel?" he asked, looking over at Rei.

Rolling onto her side, Rei thought about it. "It feels better," she answered after a moment, "my powers are speeding up the healing."

"That's good…I'm glad," Bakura murmured before chewing on his lip in thought. "Hey Rei? Do…do you trust me?"

"Of course," Rei answered without hesitation, sitting up and frowning slightly. "Why would you even need to ask that?"

Bakura shifted uncomfortably. "Its…Damn it, I knew that I shouldn't have asked." Sighing, Bakura ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. "It's…it's just that Seth approached me when we were in the mall. He said that you didn't trust me since you never told me about your captivity….that you didn't trust me enough to share the knowledge," he elaborated.

Rei flinched and a haunted look came over her face. "My captivity in the palace was one of the worst things to ever happen to me, Bakura. Since I was locked away in the shadow realm shortly after the time in captivity, I never had a chance to get my mind off it and bury the past with memories. I promise I'll tell you one day, but…just not now."

Bakura was silent, processing that before he swooped his sister into a tight hug. "I forgot that you were sealed right after. I'm sorry Rei, Seth just unsettled me. I'll wait for you to decide when to tell me." Bakura didn't want to see Rei with that expression again. Thus, he'd try his best to not let Seth provoke it out.

"It's ok," Rei replied, snuggling to her brother, "Though, I think I just figured out Seth's game."

"You did? What is it?" Bakura straightened and stared at his sister. Now he was intrigued.

Rei thought and pieced together her reasoning. "I…think he wants to recapture me. I mean, I can't think of any reason why he'd willingly leave the afterlife except for the gods commissioning him to do the one thing that others couldn't do. Only he was able to capture me, which in turn allowed him and the pharaoh to capture you."

"…That must be what he meant by him not going back until his task is complete. I won't let him take you again, Rei, I swear it." Bakura vowed. In this time, he had the advantage since Seth knew far less about this time than Bakura did. If he did this right, Seth wouldn't be able to get near enough to Rei to complete his mission.

…

Meanwhile, Yami was in the Shadow Realm looking for the Dark Magician. Glancing down at the card in his hand, Yami sighed as it pulsed and tugged as if to lead him on. "Can't you come to me?" he muttered. After another minute of walking, Yami stopped in surprise as the card flew out of his hands and hovered in mid-air. Nothing happened for a minute before it glowed and the Dark Magician appeared out of the card.

"Flashy," Yami commented, smiling at his long time companion, "Though, why all the precaution, Mahaado?"

Mahaado sighed "I figured privacy was best for this conversation. Seth has found out about yours and Bakura's relationship. He deceived me and got it out of me. Atemu, I fear that he'll use the knowledge to his advantage," he replied.

Yami mulled over this. "That's not good. Don't worry about that though, I'll figure something out. Does Set have anything planned, do you know?"

"He plans to use me as an informant, that's the extent of my knowledge."

"Hmm." Thinking a bit more on it, Yami realized that there was a possibility to turn this against Seth. "Mahaado. Would you mind being a double agent?" he asked.

Mahaado blinked in surprise. "I…you mean like sharing information with you?" Giving it a little bit of thought, Mahaado decisively nodded. "Sure. I'll report in what Seth is planning, he deserves it for deceiving me."

Yami nodded, knowing that he could trust his friend. "Thank you Mahaado. Keep me updated," he replied. Mahaado nodded and disappeared back into his card, the card hovering for a moment before sinking down back into Yami's hand. Placing the card back into his deck, Yami turned and made his way out of the Shadow realm. Emerging back into Bakura's house, Yami took a minute to reorient himself before heading upstairs.

A quick peek into Rei's room proved her to be asleep and Bakura nowhere in sight. Moving on to Bakura's room, Yami opened the door and found Bakura standing at the window looking out over the backyard. As Yami closed the door quietly, Bakura turned to face him, eyes almost glowing from the effect of the moonlight reflecting off them. "That's…kind of a creepy effect," Yami commented, trying to lighten the serious look on Bakura's face.

Bakura didn't smile and instead a small frown flitted across his face. "How long?" he asked softly, so softly that Yami almost missed it.

"How long? How long for what?" Yami wondered, gaining a sinking feeling in his stomach. The look on Bakura's face and his own instinct were telling him that this was not going to be a pretty discussion. Something must have happened while he was in the shadow realm, whether Seth had made another attempt or something had happened between the siblings.

Bakura's eyes slid closed for a moment as if he were steeling himself before he opened his eyes again. "How long have you known that Seth was here to retrieve Rei and seal her away again?" he demanded, his face transforming into a sharp scowl.

This wasn't good. Yami winced slightly at the piercing stare that was targeted at him and fought not to fidget. He had been dreading this and had been hoping to come to Bakura and tell him in a 'guess what Mahaado told me' sort of way. Deciding that the truth would be best right now since his small and slight reactions wouldn't have gone unnoticed, Yami sighed and lowered his gaze slightly. "Since last night," he answered. All that he could do now was hope that Bakura didn't snap and try to do something irrational.

Why was he not surprised? Gaze narrowing, Bakura spoke again, the fury inside of him leaking out in a bit of a hiss. "And you were planning on sharing this bit of knowledge when? You've been acting different all day and now I know why. What were you going to do, sit by and let him snatch my sister and just say 'that's life' or 'she deserved it?'" As he had spoke, Bakura's voice had raised in a crescendo to the point where he was just shy of shouting.

In reaction to Bakura's anger, Yami felt his own anger start to rise. "I was waiting for some time where we weren't near Seth or Rei so I could let you know and see what you wanted to do to keep them apart," he snapped, "You believe that I'm planning on helping Seth but that's far from the truth. As much as I'm glad to see my cousin again, I have not joined his side. Even when we were alive I never agreed to him capturing Rei in the first place just to use her as bait."

"If you have never agreed with his tactics, why didn't you stop him?" Bakura spat, "Rei has suffered much at his hands, all because you never told him 'no' and then sealed her away!"

"I never knew and still don't know what exactly he did to her," Yami growled, the Sennen eye on his forehead faintly flickering to life. He wasn't going to do anything, though, unless Bakura made the first move. "And I sealed her away not as part of getting to you, but she had become a traitor to Egypt in her own right. I don't know how much you knew about her actions but she dug her own grave."

Bakura jolted slightly. He had known what Rei did, she had been his second in command after all. Turning away to look out the window, Bakura closed his eyes. "Leave Pharaoh."

"Bakura…I…" Yami didn't get a chance to continue before he was forced to dodge a dagger that Bakura had thrown. Looking into the furious russet eyes, Yami sighed and turned to go. "I hope we can talk about this after you cool down," he murmured before leaving the room and heading downstairs to leave. As he reached the front door, he turned due to feeling eyes on him. Looking up towards the second floor, he smiled sadly at seeing Rei watching him quietly from the head of the stairs. She must have woken due to the raised voices.

"Make sure your brother doesn't do anything stupid," he requested. Rei blinked before nodding as she turned and disappeared into Bakura's room. Yami didn't wait around to see if anything would happen. Instead he left the house and walked out into the night, making his way towards the game shop.

A/N: My lovely villain named Seth is starting to put his plan into motion. If anyone has ideas about what Bakura and Yami can fight about next, lemme know?