Important note at the end regarding the future of this fic

[WATCHING]

From the crack in the door, Natsu watched the figure sit on a chair inside the room. After a solid two minutes of turning the knob slowly to avoid making any noise, he didn't dare push the door open any further. The tiny crack would have to do.

"Hey, Natsu, let me see!"

"Shh Happy. They'll find us if you're loud."

"But I wanna see!"

"Ok, ok, just be quiet."

Preoccupied with his small friend, Natsu failed to notice the door opened completely. In the doorway stood the figure that had been previously sitting in the room. "What are you doing?"

Natsu flinched and immediately stepped back. "Just dropping by to see Ryou-"

"He's sleeping. Go away."

The little cat flew up to Bakura's face with a pout. "We just want to see!"

"And I just want some peace and quiet." Bakura slammed the door in their faces and undoubtedly locked it, judging by the soft click and the receding footsteps inside.

Happy let himself slowly fall onto Natsu's shoulder with teary eyes. "He's so mean. He won't even let us visit Ryou…and we let him borrow that room!"

"You're right Happy." Natsu agreed. "It's our guild that's letting him stay here when he's not a member, so we have the right to go in if we want!"

"Yeah!"

"So we're going to get in there!"

"Yeah!"

Fired up and ready to go, Natsu and Happy dashed out of the building. They went around and slowed down once they were at the back. Natsu crouched close to the floor and crept forward as he made sure to stay beneath the windows. Once they reached the third window, Natsu stopped and looked at Happy as he gave him a silent message. With a nod, the blue creature climbed on top the pink head and peered over the sill and into the room. "Do you see anything?" Natsu whispered.

Happy jumped down again. "The scary man is gone, but the boy is still in there, sleeping."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Positive!"

"Shhh! Someone might hear us."

Natsu thought it was weird for Bakura to be missing after kicking them out mere minutes ago. It was sure to be a trick of some sort. Still, Natsu was not the type of person to back down; he was going to enter that room no matter what.

He looked up over the sill and found that Happy was right, Bakura was not in the room. Only Ryou could be seen sleeping quietly on the bed, a large bulge beneath the sand-colored sheets. At least, it appeared to be Ryou who's head laid on the thick pillow on the other side of the room. The sunlight didn't reach him so only a form in the soft shadows made itself distinguishable to Natsu. However, Bakura looked almost exactly as Ryou did so that white hair and clear complexion Natsu was watched could very much belong to either one of them.

Seconds passed before Natsu made his decision. He hissed lightly to get Happy's attention. "I think Bakura went to sleep. Lucy said she summoned him from the key so maybe he went back. Anyways, now's our chance, ready?"

"Yes!"

The window, which had been left without a lock, opened with a creek that made Natsu and Happy cringe. Moving like snails they stepped inside and tip-toed through the open space. Once he was inches from the side of the wooden bed frame, he paused for a careful and cautious look.

The face still carried traces of blue and purple coloring and ghostly scars but they were fading fast. It was hard to think of this boy as the same beaten up kid bound in the large crate from only a day ago. This one looked more peaceful and calmed.

From the top of Natsu's pink head, Happy leaned in to get a closer look. "He looks better," he said.

"Yeah," Natsu agreed in a quiet voice. "Looks like he's healing alright. We were worried for nothing."

"You were."

At the sound of the deep voice, Natsu spun around and came face to face with Bakura's scowl just inches apart. "H-how-AAAHH." Forgetting the close proximity of the bed, Natsu rushed back too fast and tripped. He fell hard across the figure and triggered another surprised scream.

Natsu didn't have time to process what was happening as his scarf was yanked forward and he was thrown to the floor. "Are the two of you complete idiots?" Bakura screamed above him and Happy.

When Natsu sat up, Bakura was sitting on the bed beside Ryou who had the covers clutched tightly at his chest. His eyes were wide and shifting everywhere like a panicked animal—a squirrel or rabbit, a small animal in Natsu's opinion. When his eyes found Bakura though, he stilled significantly. "You found me..." Ryou muttered.

Then, to Natsu's complete shock, Bakura smiled softly and leaned in just a little closer. In that moment, the angry guy Natsu had met was nowhere to be found. "Of course I did," Bakura said, "I told you you can't run from me."

Ryou let out a deep breath and let out a light laugh to let out the last of his worry from his body. "So you did."

Suddenly, Natsu couldn't bring himself to interrupt them. But even as he stood up, Ryou and Bakura had their attention on him. "Oh, uh, don't mind me."

The scowl was right in place on Bakura's face. "You're too big of a nuisance to ignore, kid." Beside him, Ryou remained silent, looking between Bakura and Natsu.

Oh, last time he saw me, he thought we were going to kill him, Natsu thought. He looked at Ryou and held out his hands. "You don't have to worry about us anymore, we aren't going to hurt you."

"You won't?"

"Well, you're not a demon, right?"

Ryou shook his head. "No...but," he spun his head to look at Bakura, worried all over again.

Hello everyone. First I want to thank everyone who returned and to those that are just discovering this fic. It really means a lot to know that there are people who read and reviewed and want to see more of my writing.

Unfortunately, I may not be updating this fic anymore. After I became busy with school and told myself that someday I'll write out the rest, it was soon years since the last update. I've forgotten many of the details and plot points I had planned.

I at least wanted to post what was left on my computer instead of having only this note. If anyone is interested in picking up the story and continuing, or even rewriting some of the beginning, you are welcomed to. Someone asked about this but because I didn't visit this site as much, never got to answer. And if you do pick this fic up, let me know because I would love to see an ending to this story.

At the moment, I want to prioritize creating original work and stories. If you enjoyed this fic I would be grateful if you would give a short story of mine a try. You can find it on the tumblr page: theirstrangecircumstances . tumblr . com. It's all about magical boys and girls with a lighthearted twist.

Thank you for following and reading. I hope my new work is just as enjoyable.