Paradocs: ...

Disclaimer: The only things Paradocs claims to own are Saku, Sesaat, and the Plot.

Bakura grinned, the cold, wicked grin of a hunter who has, at long last, cornered his prey. Saku, still on the couch, found herself unable to move as he drew closer. For once, Saku wished that Sesaat would say something, anything, to make her get up, fight.

But Sesaat was silent, and Saku was alone against the vicious Bakura.

He was five steps away now. Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

He turned to face her, malicious intent gleaming in those red-brown eyes. And then his eyes, those same, evil eyes, rolled up in his head, and the body fell to the floor. Or, would've fallen, if Saku hadn't reached out to catch the body she still knew belonged to her friend.

"Ryou? Ryou?" She whispered, moving her legs aside so that she could pull him onto the couch beside her. Saku shook his shoulders, wishing that he'd wake up, say something, let her know that he was still in there, not that bastard Bakura. She breathed a sigh of relief when his eyelids fluttered and opened half-way, dark brown eyes looking at her almost guiltily.

"He got through," the boy confessed, as though he was expecting some sort of punishment. But Saku smiled and ruffled his long white hair, feeling a little foolish for doing so.

"But I finished the spell. He's gone now." She said, suddenly feeling as if she was lighter than the air that filled her apartment. Then, almost as an afterthought, the girl added, "So's Sesaat."

"Oh?" A familiar voice chimed from the back bedroom. The two looked behind themselves. There had only been two people in here, after all! Where had this voice come from?

Saku found herself staring at two individuals. One, a girl, could have been her twin, if it weren't for the slighter build and darker hair and eyes. The other was a boy, tall and thin, with mocking eyes and a sardonic twist to his mouth.

"We don't leave that easily, do we, Bakura-chan?" Sesaat said with a little giggle at the end. Her companion frowned, and the expression in his eyes seemed to burn with a sudden desire to murder the girl, but he nodded stiffly.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The following day...

"Class," the teacher called from the front of the room, where he stood with two students, both rather familiar in appearance to the students. "These are your new classmates. If you'd care to introduce yourselves first, you can go sit by your, ah..." His voice faltered as the boy glared at him.

"Siblings," the girl provided, barely hiding a giggle.

"Ah, yes, those." The teacher continued, breaking away from the stare. The two new students shrugged.

"I'm Sesaat Toh, and I'm Saku-chan's sister," the girl said with a childish wave and a bright, almost overly-cheery smile. The boy snorted as Sesaat went to take her seat by the book-absorbed Saku in the back.

"I'm Ryuu Bakura. Call me anything other than 'Bakura' and I'll snap your legs off." Bakura growled as he went to his own seat next to Ryou, leaving the rest of the class in mild terror.

Saku smiled as she looked over the top of her book at Ryou, still sitting just across the aisle from her. "Ryuu was a great idea for a name," she whispered as their teacher reclaimed the front of the room. Ryou smiled.

"So was the idea of siblings. Explains a lot to them." He nodded his head faintly in the direction of their classmates, then looked at his 'twin'. Bakura, sitting with the Ring around his neck (having reclaimed it from his former host), smirked as he listened to the lesson.

Silently, the two friends gave each other a thumbs-up from their seats. They just needed to survive class today, and then they'd be free for an afternoon of whatever they pleased.

Which, undoubtedly, would involve scones, creampuffs, and a general lack of apprehension, for the first time in a while.

Fin