Kori: Helloooooooo! I'm back! Thank you so much for everyone who's read/reviewed/favorited this story. Especially, BobbiJoEgo, my very spirited fan girl! Thanks for your support! I couldn't do this without people like you!

I decided to do a review corner, starting with this fic. I may continue this into my others, depending on how it goes.

BobbiJoEgo: Thanks! I try! I love the support and HAHA I can so imagine that, but that's not quite his reaction to Aphrodite. Of course, I can't give spoilers… So just wait and see. Mwahahaha!

Kori: That's all I have for now! ONTO THE STORY! Oh, and just a reminder. I do not own House of Night or Yugioh.

/ Yami to Hikari /

/ Hikari to Yami /

Into the Night Chapter Two

The House of Night was extremely dark. This was partially because it was almost midnight, but also because of the utter lack of streetlamps or any other illuminating devices on the road leading to the school. Ryou was glad that the almost-full moon cast enough light so he wouldn't trip over anything.

Truthfully, though, Ryou didn't mind the darkness that much. Maybe he was just used to being in the dark, but he didn't think that was it. This darkness was warmer than the shadows. At least, it wasn't heavy or threatening like the shadows that normally tormented him were.

He listened to the crunch of the gravel beneath his shoes as he neared the looming building. His eyes had adjusted to the dark by now, so he could see it clearly.

It was huge, like a castle, and beautiful. The brick that made it up was dark and had ivy growing over it, slowly creeping toward the lit windows of higher floors. The ancient trees that covered the grounds surrounded it, like another wall of protection aside from the stone walls and Iron Gate.

/ Protection from what? / Bakura wondered.

/ I don't know. Maybe it's to keep humans out. /

/ Or to keep us in / Bakura growled. / I don't like this place. /

Ryou found himself agreeing, but he wouldn't admit that to Bakura. He returned his focus to the building and noticed that the lights missing from the path were around the House of Night, casting a faint and almost eerie glow upon it.

Ryou shivered a little bit as he approached the doors. They were much taller than he was and made of ornately carved wood. He looked behind him to ask the tracker if he should knock or just go in, but the vampyre was gone.

Ryou tightened his grip on his two suitcases and reached a hand out to push to door open when it swung open to reveal a woman. She was tall, with pale perfect skin and long and wavy auburn hair. Her eyes were a very bright, almost glowing green. She was wearing a tight black dress the covered everything but still managed to show off every single curve she had.

Ryou felt his cheeks heat up like they always did when someone dressed provocatively, not because he felt attraction, but because he was slightly embarrassed because he didn't know where to look. He settled on her face, studying her tattoos. Her Mark was filled in and spread out, so she was obviously a fully Changed vampyre. Ryou couldn't see the details of her Mark, but it looked like a sort of spiral pattern.

"I've been expecting you," she said, smiling with a wide smile.

Ryou felt Bakura tense in his mind. / What is it, Bakura? / He asked.

/ Shut up, Yadonushi / Bakura snapped, all his attention focused on the woman. / Pay attention. Like this I can only see what you see. /

Ryou was confused, but looked at the woman again. She was still smiling, a fake smile that was almost convincing enough to fool Ryou. He suspected that it had fooled many others. He probably would have fallen for it, had it not been for the people he normally hung out with.

No. That just made him think of his friends, which would only make him sad again.

He blinked. She was talking again. "My name is Neferet. I am the High Priestess of this House of Night. Now, I was not told your name. However, I was told where you came from and that you can speak English."

Ryou nodded slowly. "Yes, I can. My name is Ryou Bakura." He was happy that he had remembered to switch his name, unlike Japan.

Neferet looked him up and down with a slightly surprised expression. "Never have I heard of a tracker being called to another country to Mark a fledgling. Do you have any idea why?" She reached up a well-manicured hand and placed it on Ryou's shoulder.

Ryou felt an immediate and painful pressure on his mind as Bakura tried to force Ryou into his soul room. He grabbed his head as the pain got worse. / Bakura! What are you doing! Stop! / He let out a small cry of pain, pressing his fingertips into his temples.

He didn't want to force Bakura back, but this hurt a lot. After the final battle with the Pharaoh, Bakura had gotten to stay but was considerably weaker in being able to take Ryou's body from him. Shadi had even gone as far as to place a small spell upon the spirit so that he could no longer forcibly take control, but that hadn't stopped the spirit from trying. Ryou's head felt like it would explode if the pressure wasn't relieved.

Why was Bakura doing this? Ryou screamed at him mentally to stop, but the spirit hadn't bothered giving him a response since the assault started. Bakura knew how much it hurt Ryou, and he hadn't even tried this in months. They both knew it was useless.

/ Let me have the body! / Bakura screamed at Ryou. / That bitch is trying to get in our heads! /

The pain was almost unbearable by now. / W-what? / Ryou asked through the haze his mind was becoming.

/ It doesn't matter at the moment / the spirit snarled. / Just give me the body! /

/ No! / Ryou said in a moment of defiance. He knew he would be in trouble later, but he would deal with that then. He used all his strength to shove Bakura to the very back of his mind. The pain quickly faded, and he straightened to look at Neferet. She had a strange look on her face that was somewhere between surprise, concern and irritation.

The last one threw Ryou for a loop. Why would she be irritated?

"Are you alright, Ryou?" she asked with the perfect tone of a worried adult.

Ryou nodded and forced a smile. "I'm fine. I get migraines every now and then, but they always pass quickly."

She looked at him skeptically. "Are you sure?"

He felt another small pressure at his mind, but it disappeared so quickly that he was sure he'd imagined it. He nodded, widening his smile. "Yes. I'm sure."

She watched him for a while longer. Her eyes bored into him and he squirmed slightly under the scrutinizing look. Then she nodded. "Alright. If you're sure, then let us be off."

She turned and walked down the hall with barely a glance back to make sure Ryou was following her.

Ryou walked a few feet behind her. He retreated a bit into his mind to talk to Bakura. / Y-yami / he called tentatively.

There was only silence for a long time. / What, Yadonushi? / came a venomous voice.

Ryou flinched slightly. / About what just happened…I-/

/ We will discuss that later / Bakura said.

Ryou swallowed, hard. / I'm sorry / he thought quickly. / It just hurt and- /

/ I said that we'll discuss it later, Yadonushi! / Bakura snapped. / For now, watch that woman. Look at her feet. /

Ryou did as he was told and recoiled at the sight of a spider web-like blackness that clung to the hem of Neferet's dress. Tendrils of the Darkness flung themselves up, brushing her hand. Her fingers twitched, as if stroking the thing, before it went back down into the pool at her feet.

/ I-is that some version of the Shadows? / Ryou thought. Now that he had noticed the stuff, he could feel an energy radiating off of it that made him sick to his stomach.

/ No / Bakura growled, some of his anger beginning to wane. / That is something far more dangerous…I'm just not sure exactly what… /

Ryou was snapped out of his thoughts by almost crashing into Neferet. She stood at another wooden door. "This is the common's room used by the fledglings," she said, smiling at him.

Ryou forced himself to smile back at her, though he wanted to run far away from the mysterious and sickening Darkness.

She opened the door to reveal a small group of teens with the outline-only Marks of fledglings on their faces. There were two girls and three boys. The two girls sat next to each other and seemed to be in a deep conversation. One was light-skinned with blonde hair. The other had mocha-colored skin and dark hair.

Two of the boys were also sitting together. One was tall with dark brown hair and the other shorter with blonde hair. The brown-haired one's arm was around the blonde as the smaller boy leaned against him.

The last boy stood off to the side, away from the rest. He was taller than any of the other teens and had black hair.

All of their faces seemed down, almost angry. Except for the small blonde, who looked like he was going to cry.

Five heads turned to Neferet and Ryou, and then five pairs of eyes bored into Ryou. He pulled down the edge of his hat to make sure his hair was completely covered.

The group stared at him and he stared back, unsure of what to say.

Neferet placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him slightly forward. "This is our new student. Damien," the brunette boy looked at her, "he is your roommate. I can see that Zoey is not here at the moment, but I hope that you will all make him feel welcome."

Ryou noticed a slip in her mask as she mentioned this 'Zoey.' Her eyes flashed with hatred and her mouth curled into a frown, but it was gone in a moment.

Ryou blinked. Who was 'Zoey?' And why did Neferet hate her so much?

"Of course," the boy, Damien, said in a sweet voice.

Neferet nodded and turned back to Ryou. "If you need anything, just come find me. I teach a class in the school."

Ryou nodded.

"And one more thing. Now that you are here, you may change your name if you wish. You are no longer human, you do not have to keep your human name."

Ryou flinched slightly at the reminder that he was no longer human. "I would prefer to keep my name how it is," he said, sounding a lot calmer than he felt.

Neferet made him uncomfortable. He didn't like her and he didn't like the Darkness that writhed at her feet.

She smiled. "That is just fine. Now, you are in good hands, so I will leave you be. You will receive your school schedule on Monday evening."

Ryou nodded again and she turned and swept out of the room. The door closed behind her and Ryou turned back to the fledglings.

He didn't trust Neferet, but, by the looks the group was giving the door she had just left through, it looked like they did.

They were looking at him now and Ryou felt like a bug pinned to a corkboard. "H-hello," he finally forced out.

/ Gods of Egypt, Yadonushi. Get a backbone / Bakura sneered from the back of Ryou's mind.

Ryou ignored him and focused on the people in front of him. On instinct, he bowed deeply. "My name is Bakura Ryo-" he cut himself short as he realized his mistake. He straightened quickly, his face on fire. "I-I mean Ryou Bakura!" he squeaked.

They all looked confused, but it was the blonde boy that spoke up. "Erm…Which is it?"

Ryou face got hotter with embarrassment. "My first name is Ryou. I'm sorry, I'm just so used to Japan that I forgot I was in America."

This got their attention. "Japan?" the blonde girl said. "Like the country-"

"-way over the ocean?" the black girl finished for her.

Ryou nodded, a little confused by the girls. "Yes. I came to Tulsa after I was Marked because the only House of Night in Japan is in Tokyo and I decided I'd rather not move somewhere where I don't know anyone. My father's in Tulsa. He's an archeologist and they're excavating some Cherokee burial sites for the next few months."

The girls didn't look convinced. "You don't look Asian," the black one said. "Does he, Twin?" she asked the blonde one.

"Nope. Not at all," the blonde replied. "He doesn't sound it either. His accent'-s more like British."

The black girl nodded. "Just what I was thinking, Twin." She turned back to Ryou. "Not that there's anything wrong with British accents. In fact, they're quite yummy. Isn't that right, Twin?"

The blonde smiled. "Yup. I do love me some accents."

Ryou felt his face heating up more and more as Bakura cackled away.

Damien glared at them. "Leave him alone," he scolded in a stern, almost parental voice. "He hasn't been here five minutes and you're already hitting on him?"

"We weren't hitting on him, were we, Twin?" The black girl said indignantly.

"Nope," the blonde said. "We were simply letting him know that there's nothing wrong with his yummy accent. It just isn't Japanese."

"Besides, Queen Damien," the black girl said. "There wouldn't be anything wrong if we were hitting on him. The boy can't help if he's cute."

Ryou's face felt completely on fire. He tugged on his hat, wanting to take it off and tug on his bangs like he normally did in uncomfortable situations.

The black haired boy stepped forward, wearing an arrogant smirk. Ryou immediately disliked him. "I suppose that means I should tell T.J. and Cole that you're ditching them for the new kid." He smiled at Ryou good naturedly.

The girls look horrified. "Don't you dare," the blonde one said.

"Yeah," the other one said. "New kid may be cute, but T.J. and Cole are-"

"Fiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnneeee," the two said together, drawing it out and doing a little bump and grind.

Ryou hid his flaming face behind one hand.

"Okay, you two," Damien snapped. "Enough. We're supposed to be welcoming him, not embarrassing the hell out of him."

The girls shrugged and smiled at Ryou. "Sorry, Ryou," they chimed together.

Ryou took his hand away from his face, hoping his blush had faded. "It's alright," he said quietly, then cleared his throat and spoke louder. "And the reason I sound British is because I am. I was born and grew up there. I only lived in Japan for a few years."

The girls, Damien and the other two boys nodded.

Damien smiled warmly. "Well, I'm Damien, the two girls who were harassing you are Erin and Shaunee," He pointed to the blonde then the brunette. "They also answer to Twin, as I'm sure you understand."

The girls looked at him. "We were Marked on the same day. We're soul twins," they laughed, bumping and grinding again.

Ryou frowned. Soul twins?

Damien shook his head at them. "Ignore them, Ryou. Anyway," he pointed to the black-haired boy. "That's Eric and this is Jack." He put his arm around the boy next to him, glancing at Ryou.

"Jackie and Damien are dating," Erin piped up.

"Just putting that out there," Shaunee added.

Ryou smiled at them. He had no problems with homosexuality. Malik was gay, and Ryou had his suspicions about Yugi. As for himself…he hadn't really figured that out yet. He didn't like to think about relationships at all, gay or not, when he couldn't have a real one. Not with Bakura around.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts and hoped Bakura hadn't been listening in. There was no reaction from the yami, so Ryou doubted it.

Damien smiled back and was about to say something when Erin cut in.

"You can take your hat off, you know."

Ryou flushed again. "Well, er…"

"I mean unless you're totally bald and you're just using the hat to cover up," Shaunee said.

"He probably has his reasons," Jack said. He was watching Ryou a little creepily, like he knew him. Ryou didn't like it much. He didn't like people staring at him in general.

"It's alright," Ryou said, forcing a smile. "My hair color just isn't particularly…typical."

"That's okay," Shaunee said.

"Yeah, you're from another country. I doubt your hair will make much of a difference," Erin added.

"Ignore them," Damien said with a glare at the Twins. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Ryou actually laughed a bit. "It's quite alright. I'll have to get it over with sometime." He reached up a little hesitantly and pulled off the black hat. His snowy hair fell around him and he ran his fingers through it to smooth it a little bit.

All of their eyes widened at him. The Twins were the first to completely recover. They jumped up and rushed to Ryou. Erin touched a lock of his hair and looked back at Shaunee. "Oh my Goddess, this is so cool."

Shaunee nodded. "How did you get it like this? Bleach never goes this pale that I've seen."

Ryou felt claustrophobic and uncomfortable. "I-it's natural," he stuttered.

"Really?" Erin said. "That is so cool."

Ryou could feel Bakura growling in the back of his mind. He hated when people touched his host.

/ It's alright / Ryou quickly sent.

Bakura ignored him, but stopped growling, though he was still tense.

Damien stepped up again, pulling the Twins back. "Hey, don't scare the poor kid. He just got here. Don't run him off by being incommodious."

"Incomm-what?" Shaunee said, looking bewildered.

"Odious- who?" Erin finished.

Damien sighed, and glanced around as if hoping someone would know the answer.

Ryou did and spoke up. "It means bothersome. But they weren't, really," He insisted. "It just surprised me."

"Yeah," Erin said indignantly. "We weren't bothering him-"

"-we were just admiring his awesome hair," Shaunee said.

Damien rolled his eyes. "I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Ignore the illiterates." He smirked a bit at Ryou as the Twins looked confused for a second before they figured out he was insulting him.

They looked ready to pounce, but Eric spoke up. "Just cut it out," he said.

The Twins glared at him and Damien, but shut up.

"I just figured out who you are!" Jack squealed, surprising Ryou. His look was now less creepy and more admiring.

"So did the rest of us, Jackie," Shaunee said. "When he introduced himself five minutes ago."

Jack glared at them. "I meant, I know where I recognize him from now." He looked back at Ryou. "You were a finalist at Battle City."

Ryou's eyes widened.

Damien looked confused. "What is Battle City?"

"It was a Duel Monsters tournament a couple years ago to determine the champion. Ryou got eighth, but he could have gone a lot further if he hadn't been up against the champion in the first round of the finals."

"Duel Monsters?" Damien said slowly. "Isn't that the card game you were trying to explain to me yesterday?"

Jack nodded happily. "Yep!"

"Do you duel?" Ryou asked quietly.

Jack flushed. "A little bit, but I'm not very good. I haven't had much practice."

Ryou smiled and this time it was real. "Well, maybe we can duel sometime? I'm a bit out of practice as well."

Jack beamed. "Of course."

Ryou noticed a wary look on Damien's face, but it disappeared quickly.

"Now that introductions are over, maybe a small tour would be in order?" he said.

Ryou nodded at the same time his stomach growled. Loudly.

Jack laughed. "And some food."

The group all stood and led Ryou through the halls, pointing out classrooms and ending up at the cafeteria.

When they opened the doors, Ryou was happy that there weren't very many students inside. Of course, the few that were stared at Ryou from the moment he walked in.

Ryou kept his head down and got a bowl of spaghetti with a piece of garlic bread. The food was good, at least. Damien and the others were discussing something that happened before he had gotten there. It seemed to be private matter, so Ryou didn't pry.

After they ate, Ryou yawned. "I'm a bit tired. Can you show me where my room is?" he asked Damien.

Damien nodded and showed Ryou the way, promising the group that he would be right back. When they got there, there was a small cat curled up on the lower bunks pillow. Damien showed Ryou where his closet and drawers were. "I have the bottom bunk, so you get top. If that's alright?"

Ryou nodded, "That's perfect."

Damien left and Ryou climbed up to the top. Bakura phased out as a spirit and glared at Ryou. Ryou trembled and had to keep himself from huddling against the wall. "I-I'm sorry," he said quickly, backing up slightly.

Bakura said nothing as he solidified. When he finally spoke, his voice was eerily calm. "I told you we would discuss this." Ryou thought he saw a few Shadows swirl around Bakura and he whimpered.

"Calm down," Bakura snapped, irritated. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're not?" Ryou blurted before he could stop himself.

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not. Though I can make a physical body now, it doesn't last long and I can't have the body getting hurt until I figure out how to make it permanent. However," Bakura glared at him. "I won't go so easy on you the next time you do that."

"I wouldn't have done it if you had just back off," Ryou snapped, anger tainting his fear. "You were hurting me, badly, and I was just trying to seem normal for Neferet."

"Neferet is not normal! That magic surrounding her is not normal! It is quite possibly the Darkness that your little Goddess wants us to defeat! I could have taken care of her right then and there if you had-"

"If I had what? Let you take over the body and kill her! That would have been a great first impression! 'Hi, I'm a new fledgling and I just killed your High Priestess!' And, you don't even know what we're looking for! That could be a normal magic for High Priestesses! You don't know! Just because you haven't seen it before doesn't mean it's not normal!" Ryou felt his anger beginning to fade as he realized that he had just yelled at Bakura.

He scooted back until he hit the wall, shaking a bit. "I -erm- I didn't mean that. I meant -uh…"

A hand collided with the side of his head, sending him sprawling to the side and into the wall. It wasn't hard, though, and it hadn't hurt. It was more surprising than anything. Ryou looked up at Bakura and was surprised that he didn't look angry at all, just a little irritated and very tired.

"Quit flinching," he said. "I already said I wasn't going to hurt you."

Ryou sat in the corner silently for a few moments. His head hung down and his bangs were in his face. Then he looked at his yami and smiled softly. "Thank you," he whispered, but he knew Bakura had heard him.

A small smile crossed the thief's face, an almost imperceptible twitch of his lips. He reached out his hand again and Ryou didn't flinch away this time. Instead, he let Bakura touch him, even though the movement was only to ruffle his hair. "Shut up, Yadonushi," Bakura growled, but it sounded almost teasing.

Ryou smiled again and ran a hand through his snowy locks to smooth them out again. There was silence for a moment before a loud yowling at the window made both teens jump. Ryou immediately looked out and saw two cats sitting on a branch that ended only a foot from the window. One was quite a bit larger than the other and pure white. It was staring at the window and yowled again. The other was pure black and huddled against the larger ones back as it tried not to fall off the branch.

"Open the window," Bakura ordered.

"You have your own body," Ryou said without thinking. He didn't actually flinch, but only tensed a bit and was pleasantly surprised when all he got in return was a quick glare.

"Yes, but I told you to do it."

Ryou sighed and decided not to push his luck. He climbed down the ladder as Bakura shifted out of his way. He unlocked the latch on the bottom of the pane and pushed the window open. The white cat gave him a quick glare, as if asking him what took so long, and grabbed the other cat by the scruff. It immediately ran the rest of the branch and cleared the foot-wide gap easily, not even flinching at the deadly drop if it missed. It set the black cat down and looked up at Bakura, who was staring at the two creatures.

It meowed loudly at the teen, continuing to stare at him.

"I think he wants you to pick him up, Bakura," Ryou said, a bit confused.

"I'm not touching the bloody cat," Bakura said, lying down on the bed. "Get rid of them."

Ryou sighed and reached for the white cat first. It hissed and lashed out one small paw, leaving four shallow scratches. Ryou yelped and jumped backwards, cradling his injured hand in the other.

He glanced up at the top bunk. Bakura had sat up and was glaring at the offending cat. He merely pointed a finger at it and said, "No."

The cat shrunk a little and, to Ryou's surprise, even looked at little sheepish. Ryou tentatively reached for it again. This time, it merely glared at him before allowing itself to be picked up. It looked at Bakura, who was lying down again, and began to meow even louder than before.

Ryou looked from the cat to his still-solid yami and made a decision he hoped he wouldn't regret. He stood on his tiptoes and placed the cat at Bakura's feet. Then he climbed the bottom two rungs until he could see what the cat was doing.

The creature immediately bounded up Bakura's body and stopped on his chest.

Bakura's eyes snapped open with a start, crimson-brown orbs flicking from the cat to Ryou. Ryou shrunk down a bit at Bakura's glare. He was working up quite the record today. He'd fought back, yelled at and now outright disobeyed Bakura. He could only hope the yami's less violent attitude would hold.

The cat's reaction to Bakura was the exact opposite of what it had been to Ryou. Instead of hissing and scratching, it pressed its head against the bottom of Bakura's chin and purred loudly. Its small paws kneaded the thief's chest as it curled up on top of him.

That Bakura had not thrown the cat off of the bed immediately surprised Ryou enough. He watched with wide eyes as Bakura reached up a hesitant hand and stroked the creatures back softly. The purring got louder and the cat pressed it's spine into Bakura's hand.

"I think it likes you, Bakura," Ryou said softly.

Bakura shrugged, but otherwise ignored Ryou. The look on his face was one Ryou had never seen him wear. It was happy, but not the sadistic happiness of watching your enemies burn and bleed. It was a peaceful, serene look that relaxed Bakura's face and revealed a side that Ryou had never before seen…but one that he wouldn't mind seeing again.

Ryou turned back to the window and noticed the other cat. Its eyes were closed and it shivered, curled into a tiny ball. Ryou's heart twisted for the poor thing and he scooped it up, holding it to his chest.

It lifted its head a bit and mewed softly before opening its eyes. They were emerald green and practically glowed against its ebony fur.

It mewed again, revealing a mouthful of tiny white teeth. Ryou petted its fur and smiled. He'd never had a pet before, but he loved animals.

Holding the cat carefully in one hand, he climbed back onto the bed. He sat at the end and stroked the creatures back. "Bakura?" he said in his usual quiet voice.

"What?" the yami said, glancing at Ryou from where he was still laying. The white cat was curled on his chest and seemed to be asleep. Bakura was absentmindedly petting it as he waited for Ryou's answer.

"Umm, well…" Ryou was unsure how to say it. He'd never asked Bakura for something like this before.

"Spit it out," Bakura said, slightly irritated.

"That one seems to like you…and this one likes me. I was just wondering if it would be possible for me to…or us to…" Ryou trailed off, still nervous.

"Keep them?" Bakura said. He raised an eyebrow as Ryou nodded, then shrugged. "The dumb fur balls will probably just come back even if we get rid of them."

"You mean we can keep them?" Ryou exclaimed, his face brightening and a smile spreading across his face.

"Sure," Bakura said indifferently. The he picked up his cat by its scruff and dropping it ungraciously beside him. The cat sat up, disgruntled, and glared at Ryou as if it were his fault it got kicked out of its sleeping place.

Bakura turned back to a spirit and went back into Ryou's mind. / Go to sleep, Yadonushi / was all Ryou heard before the pressure of the spirit lifted from his mind and Bakura disappeared into his soul room. Before he left, Ryou felt a wave of exhaustion from the spirit that probably had come from holding up the solid body for almost twenty minutes.

The new ability seemed to take a lot out of Bakura. Maybe the tiredness was the cause of the spirits suddenly slightly kinder nature.

Ryou climbed down for the last time and changed into his pajamas, which were just a pair of gray pants and an oversized white t-shirt. He brushed his teeth and stared for a long time at the sapphire crescent moon that stood out so prominently against his colorless skin.

Something seemed different about himself, though Ryou couldn't quite put his finger on it. He frowned as he scrutinized every detail of his face. Then it hit him. He looked almost…older. His chocolate eyes were more prominent, and his face had an almost confident air that he'd never seen on himself.

He wondered why he looked like that. Maybe it was the Mark that made him look different. Maybe it was the Mark that made him look confident, because he wasn't. Not at all.

He finally shook his head and turned off the lights before crawling back into the bed. The cats had taken up residence on his pillow. Ryou attempted to move them and only succeeded in getting hissed at again.

Giving up, settled for using his arm as a pillow and tried to sleep. As his eyes began to close, he noticed something about his new pets.

The black one was curled into a small ball and the other was wrapped around it protectively.

/ Bakura / Ryou thought tiredly, not even knowing if the spirit could hear him.

/ What is it? / came an irritated voice. / I'm trying to sleep. /

/ I think the cats are brothers. One's protecting the other. /

There was a sigh. / Go to sleep, Yadonushi. /

Ryou yawned. / Goodnight. /

/ Night. /

Ryou didn't go right to sleep, however. For a minute more he thought about the cats. It was something he wished he could have in his life. Protection. Sure, Bakura protected the body, but that was only so he could use it. He couldn't let Ryou get crippled or the body would be useless.

Ryou felt a tear slip out and form a moist spot on his arm. He wished he had someone to protect him, to care about him. He wished for someone who didn't see him as just a tool like Bakura did, or as a nuisance like his father did. He wished for a family.

X

Neferet sat on her bed, stroking the tendrils of Darkness and thinking of the new boy. There was something strange about him. Something…off. When she'd tried to read his mind to understand why he had come from Japan, there had been some sort of block. There was obviously nothing special about Ryou himself, but maybe he possessed some sort of hidden power.

And maybe that power could be useful to her.

A sinister smile crossed her face and she held a tendril of Darkness in her hand. It hissed at her for blood and she shushed it with a small tap. "You'll get your blood soon enough."

Her smirk widened to reveal a mouthful of brilliant white teeth.

"Soon enough."

Kori: And that concludes it for now! Poor Ryou!

I'm not sure as to what to name the cats yet, so can someone please give me some ideas!

PLEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!