Responsible Parties (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

The silence on the way back to the Apartments had been almost oppressing. No, just oppressing. Malik was in the middle of the group if only because Atsuro was lagging a bit. His mode had changed after whatever he'd wanted to tell Yuugi, and it wasn't for the better. After a while Malik had come upon that it was odd that Yuugi was wearing the Puzzle if the Pharaoh (Atem, they knew his name now) had regained a body. Malik still didn't know what to do with that. He had convinced himself it wasn't what was supposed to happen. The Items were supposed to be sealed, but if Atem was alive and physical now...

Yuugi glanced back and gave a weak smile as the reached the Apartments. He opened the door and stepped inside... and then stopped.

"Bakura-kun!?"

Bakura had been sitting on the stairs ever since Adachi and Atem had run off. He was still trying to figure out where to go. He didn't have money on him. Living on his own wasn't a problem. His father was often away and his other immediate family were dead, so he was used to that. However, he wasn't unaware that the Ring was drawn to him so he didn't want to stay here. He'd been holding his head in his hands when the door had opened. He looked up in time to see Yuugi's surprised face.

"Yuugi-kun...?" And then Malik came up beside him. Bakura blinked, "Namu-san, what are you doing here?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro had been lagging quite a bit behind the other two members of the group, which had a lot to do with his previous conversation with Yuugi. He had to wonder why he did these things to himself. Well, after he got done here, he was going to go find a cafe and hang out there for a while. He was not going back to the hotel any time soon after what had been going on when he left.

Atsuro looked up as he suddenly heard Yuugi exclaim something in surprise. He blinked as he saw Bakura sitting on the steps inside the apartment building. His expression fell as he saw what was on Bakura's cheek, though. That wound from his previous encounter with Abel, it had to be.

What was throwing him the most was why Bakura was sitting out here. Last Atsuro had heard, he was staying with some guy called Adachi, and from what Atsuro remembered, Bakura never really got out much, unless the Other Bakura was in control. On that note, where was the Ring?

[mugenginga]

Malik blinked as Bakura addressed him. It was the first time Atsuro would have seen the "real" Malik surprised. Yuugi glanced back at Malik and then his eyes widened. Right, Bakura had only ever met Malik under that alias. It was more than a bit possible Zorc had known Malik as Malik right up until Dark Malik had... almost killed him. Sealed him away due to a Dark Game, Yuugi had never quite figured out how he'd gotten out of that.

"My name is Malik Ishtar," Malik stated, seeming to take the situation into his hands, "I apologize for my earlier deception."

Bakura looked puzzled, "Wasn't Ishtar-san that guy with the carving in his face...?"

"No, that was my older brother, Rishid. You don't remember much about that, do you?"

Bakura shook his head. He seemed rather depressed. Considering that in the anime, he tended to be relaxed and almost happy when not dealing with crap from the Ring, it was odd. Yuugi's face was full of concern. What had happened? He slipped past Malik and looked Bakura in the eyes.

"Did something happen with Adachi-san, Bakura-kun?"

Bakura let out a bitter chuckle, "Seta-kun was right, Yuugi-kun. He's a murderer. He tried to kill someone because of Anpu. And then Atem-san showed up and... I don't know. I came to and Adachi-san was running off. Atem-san ran after him...."

"What!?"

"Anpu is the original name of the god known as Anubis," Malik looked at Yuugi, his expression critical, "You're not telling me that Dark Bakura was Anubis, are you?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro couldn't claim to know much about what was going on. He was interested in the fact that Malik had referred to Rishid as his brother... well, that did fit with how Malik and Ishizu had thought of him in the show. Atsuro felt a little stupid at this. It was like he was cross-referencing everything he knew with what was apparently the truth. It was a tad bit creepy.

Still, he couldn't help but notice Bakura seemed a bit more down than usual. This was confirmed as Yuugi asked Bakura a question, and Bakura gave an answer. Oh, so that explained it. Bakura had found out Adachi was some kind of murderer and had left. But from the sound of things, Adachi had killed, at least recently, anyways, to protect Bakura. The Other Bakura could be pretty cruel after all.

But the name Bakura was using was unfamiliar to Atsuro. He looked toward Malik as he asked his own question. This time Atsuro decided to stay quiet and let someone who had lived through these kind of things explain. But the other Bakura was definitely not Anubis, thankfully.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi looked uneasy as Malik looked at him. Bakura looked confused over the mention of the name Anubis. It sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place from where. One of the tabletop systems he'd been into for a while? He did know some versions used real mythological figures, so it was possible. Considering the situation, it probably had to do with Egypt. Yuugi shook his head after a few moments.

"They're two seperate entities. Anpu was this 'Thief King' in Ancient Egypt during Atem's time," Yuugi responded, "The original spirit was a demon connected to the Millenium Items."

"...demon? And Anpu is... was, human?" Bakura said.

Malik ignored Bakura, "You mean to tell me the previous spirit in the Ring was replaced?"

"I don't know how, either. I do know that Zorc, that was the demon's name, was destroyed when Atem regained his memories. Atem seems to have an idea about Anpu's presence, but he's been..." Yuugi hesitated, "This is why he should tell you..."

"I should go before he comes back..." Bakura said.

Yuugi glanced at Bakura, "...Are you sure? I mean..."

"You said you 'came to' earlier. Is that meant to indicate that the Ring was taken from you, only to be returned and taken again? I'm not seeing it."

Bakura looked startled as Malik hit the issue square on the head, "...yeah. It flew out of Atem's hands the way it did before... I don't know. I woke up somewhere and then blacked out again and woke up in this world," Bakura covered his face, "I'm almost used to not knowing where I am these days..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Bakura couldn't catch a break, could he? Atsuro never could remember the good Bakura getting that much screen time, and Bakura said he was almost used to finding himself in places he didn't know. And Bakura said that the Ring had flown out of Atem's hands just to get back to him. The stupid thing was actively seeking Bakura out.

"Man..." Atsuro said quietly. He looked toward Bakura again. "I don't know if it's a good idea for you to stay here if just being near the Ring caused that to happen, though."

And Bakura had said that he'd learned about that Adachi guy's true past. So... he probably wasn't going to want to stay with Adachi any longer. Atsuro didn't really know much about any of the others staying here, though. Abel had pretty much cut all ties off to his old group of friends; he didn't talk about them much and he certainly hadn't brought Atsuro by for a friendly visit.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi looked at Atsuro. He hadn't need to say that... although it didn't change the fact both he and Bakura were right. Bakura had looked startled when Atsuro spoke, but he seemed almost relieved after the words came out. Malik seemed to be trying to figure something out. Bakura stood up and wobbled a bit, and Yuugi ran forward to catch him. It might have ended with Bakura falling on top of Yuugi had Malik not moved forward and put his hand out.

"S-sorry, I'm still a bit unstable..."

Yuugi winced as Bakura said that. It wasn't from the wounds on his face, those looked to have been handled well enough. Bakura was probably referring to what had happened yesterday. He had to fight to not look over at Atsuro, and doing so only made it more obvious he wanted to. Malik sat Bakura back down. He let out a sigh.

"Bakura-kun, you're in no condition to go anywhere!"

"Then what should I do, Yuugi-kun?" Bakura's voice was a little harsh, but it dropped back down, "I can't stay here...."

"You can come with me," Malik said.

Yuugi blinked and looked at Malik, "What?"

"You and the Pha.. Atem live here, correct? And the Ring is with Atem?"

"...yeah?"

"He and Kihara are right. He can't stay here. I don't know who this Anpu is but if he's anything like the original spirit Bakura doesn't need to deal with that. Until there is a method to expel that spirit, Bakura should be kept away from the Ring."

"What about meeting Atem...?"

"Bakura, do you know what kind of range that artifact has to get back to you?"

Bakura shook his head.

"It got back to him once after Honda-kun threw it off the top of a castle, though..." Yuugi said.

"I don't have any idea how that happened, Yuugi-kun. I just know that one day I was waking up in a place I didn't know again. Ishtar-san-"

"Use my first name."

"...Malik-san, I'll be fine on my own. I'm used to living by myself..."

"Do you have a place to go, then?"

"Well, no..."

"Money?"

Bakura flinched, "No..."

Malik crouched down and looked Bakura square in the face. When Bakura turned away because he was startled, Malik grabbed his chin and turned the teenager towards him. It looked a bit violent, and Malik seemed harsher than usual. He waited for Bakura to stop jerking his head and to recover from the surprise before loosening his grip.

"If the Ring is as stubborn as you say, and I have no doubt it is, you shouldn't be alone. If the Ring gets back to you, then someone needs to be there to get it off you. It belongs to the Pharaoh in the first place, someone would have to get it back to him."

"Malik, you don't have to do that!" Yuugi said.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"I dunno, Yuugi," Atsuro said. He stepped forward a bit. "We do need someone to keep an eye on Bakura at least. Malik's right, that Ring's probably going to try to get back to him again, and there needs to be someone with Bakura to at least get it away from him."

He scratched his head. They really needed to get rid of Anpu for good somehow, though. Not that Atsuro had any clue as to how to do that. He looked toward Yuugi.

"Hey, how did Atem get out of the Puzzle in the first place, anyways?" Atsuro asked. He didn't think Yuugi had ever really answered that question for him. Things had gotten a little crazy before he'd gotten a real answer for that.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi looked down as Atsuro addressed him, "He says he made a choice..."

Yuugi looked towards Malik. He seemed to expect a reaction to that. Malik either hadn't heard or had chosen not to react. He continued to maintain eye contact with Bakura. The white haired teenager pulled at Malik's hand again, before settling on looking away. He couldn't move his head, but he could avoid eye contact. He felt like Malik was glaring at him, and it would seem like he was to outside observers as well. He was actually just focused.

"The offer stands," Malik finally said as he stood up, "But you should leave here either way."

_{"I just don't want to get anyone involved..."}

Malik had been turning, but he stopped as Bakura muttered. He turned back towards the white haired teenager. He grabbed the Millenium Rod and Yuugi's eyes widened. Malik held his hand towards the short teenager in a relaxed position. Yuugi looked very worried but closed the mouth he had opened. He didn't need to stop trusting Malik now. Malik held the Rod out in front of Bakura. Bakura's eyes widened. He didn't know the Item, but he couldn't ignore that it held the same kind of eye both the Ring and the Puzzle had.

"I'm already involved, Bakura. I don't know how much you know about the situation, but anyone accepted by the Items is involved," Malik shoved the Rod back in his belt, "No amount of trying to protect them will save them, and at worst it could get them killed."

Bakura's eyes widened. He'd heard the words and he knew what Malik was talking about, but his mind had leapt somewhere else. Because Adachi had almost killed someone, and Bakura had tried to protect Adachi. He'd told Adachi to kill him, hadn't he? If it would save people from Anpu. So it didn't sink in quite the way Malik had intended, but it had sunken in. Malik caught the change in expression.

"If you're interested, I'll meet you after I take care of what I need to do here. Just stay close to the Apartments."

"Malik, I don't think he can walk well en-"

"I'll be fine, Yuugi-kun..."

Yuugi looked to the side as Bakura got to his feet. He did seem more stable than before, but he did wobble a bit. Bakura looked at Malik, but the Egyptian teenager still seemed to be looking at him with a critical look still. He really did seem to almost be judging Bakura. Yuugi seemed to be trying to find some way to object. The issue was that Malik had made a point that Yuugi couldn't argue any more than Bakura. Even Atem had tried to avoid getting people involved at times, and it never worked. The spiky haired teen hung his head.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro jumped pretty high when he saw Malik reaching for the Millenium Rod. He managed to make his heart rate go down quickly enough, which was helped by Malik silently telling Yuugi not to do anything rash. He still looked a bit freaked, though. He still didn't get what was going in. It would help if he actually knew what had been going on between the various Yu-Gi-Oh characters on the island.

Atsuro looked between the three, still unable to really give much in the way of encouragement. Malik had certainly gotten his point across, but Yuugi looked bothered about something. Maybe about what Malik had said. No, probably. Yuugi looked like he wanted to argue the point about people getting involved, but he couldn't find anything to say. Atsuro sighed.

He really wasn't much help here. More of an observer than someone actually involved in things. Well, not like he wasn't used to being an observer like this. He'd found that lately he didn't really have much to say about a lot of situations.

[mugenginga]

Malik stepped to the side to let Bakura past. Yuugi lifted a hand to try and stop Bakura, but he stopped halfway up. Bakura had been used by Dark Bakura for some time, but it had never been so in their face. And Bakura always seemed to bounce back, but it seemed to be weighing on him this time. Bakura didn't look at anyone as he pulled open the door outside and stepped out. Yuugi looked at Malik after the door shut.

"Why were you so hard on him, Malik?"

Malik looked towards Yuugi. His eyes did pause on Atsuro for a moment, who seemed to be going through quite a few negative emotions over the whole situation, but ended on Yuugi, "Have you been pitying him the entire time that Ring has been with him?"

"I've been trying to help him!" Yuugi's voice was defiant.

"How? By trying to remove the Ring?"

"What else!?"

Malik let out an annoyed sigh. He respected Yuugi for his actions during that Duel that had rid him of his sentient hatred. He'd only been aware for about half of it, but Yuugi had dealt with the pain of being erased. He'd supported Atem as well as he could as a piece in his hatred's game. Still, it seemed that Yuugi was blind to what his support was doing. He closed his eyes.

"I don't know the full difference between the original spirit and the one he calls Anpu, but you're encouraging him to run from it. I doubt it will leave him," Malik pointed at the pendant around Yuugi's neck, "Can you use the powers of that Puzzle?"

Yuugi followed where Malik's finger had pointed. He looked uncomfortable. To be honest, he didn't know. He knew he could sense his friends, which was a power of the Puzzle now Pendant. But could he start a Dark Game? He didn't even want to think about that. He'd been in a lot of them, Atem had started more than a few. He had memories of enough that he didn't think he could think in the same manner. There was always some psychological torture that at best ended in death for the loser. He looked irritated and looked away.

"Why is that important?"

Malik let out a frustrated sigh, "The right Dark Game could destroy Anpu while keeping Bakura alive, providing you won."

Yuugi's eyes widened and he looked at Malik. He looked shocked. Malik was suggesting he start one of those horrid games of torture to kill someone. He didn't like them in the first place, and even Atem had stopped running them after they fully accepted each other. All the ones after that point had been because he and Atem had been forced into them. He opened his mouth to try and object, but closed it and just looked cross.

"I'm done talking about this," Yuugi said, and it was one of those cases where Atsuro not seen who was talking (and the self pronoun used), he would have guessed it to be Atem. There were times in even the show when the two ranges the actor used for the two characters sometimes seemed to overlap, after all.

(OOC: I'll bring Atem back in my next post. :3)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro's eyes had widened as Malik suggested that they use a Dark Game on Anpu to get rid of him. No, that was just crazy. Even Atem had stopped doing those later on in the series, and Atem had always seemed the type to consider it. The idea of Yuugi even conciously doing one of those was insane.

"You're not seriously asking him to do that?!" Atsuro asked. He hadn't gotten an answer out of Malik; Yuugi had said that he was done talking about that after Atsuro had spoken. Atsuro shut his mouth, and continued glaring at Malik. He almost couldn't believe Malik had actually suggested that. That was freaking crazy.

Atsuro had seen some pretty fucked up stuff. Done some pretty fucked up stuff too, things that he didn't like talking about. But he knew what happened with the Dark Games, and even he had to draw a line there.

[mugenginga]

Malik looked cross, but said nothing more. He had looked at Atsuro after Yuugi said the conversation was over. The teenager was glaring at him. Malik returned the favor, although his glare was more judgmental. An anime, it was a laugh. No one could know the kinds of hell he'd lived through and the things he knew from just an anime. He'd spent around eight years since his father had died as a result of him being unable to control his hatred doing things he doubted Atsuro would be able to stomach. Using innocent lives as chess pieces? Standard mode of operation. And here the other teenager was balking at taking care of an actual menace. Yes, he'd been serious. He should have known better than to suggest it to the Pharaoh's apparently former vessel.

Yuugi looked away, still irritated but the anger visibly less. He opened his mouth to suggest they head to the apartment when he heard the sound of a door handle being turned. He stopped and looked towards the door, and he knew who it was even before it opened. Not many people in his home world commented on the similar styles he and Atem shared, but the shape was impossible to miss in silhouette. He seemed to lose most of the anger as the door pulled open. Atem stepped in and paused as soon as he saw Malik. His eyes widened.

"Malik?"

Malik seemed a bit startled as well. It was almost humorous, if it didn't actually reach there. He'd been told by Yuugi that the Pharaoh had his own body. He knew that the Pharaoh had looked more than a bit like Yuugi as well. People who knew Yuugi didn't look at that tablet and make that mistake for no reason. Still, he couldn't stop a bit of lingering dislike (hate was too strong a word at this point) for the darker skinned teenager. The two stared at each other and didn't seem inclined to do anything else.

"Atem...?"

Atem shook his head, "Sorry, Partner," Atem glanced at what was hanging from Malik's belt, "...did that show up with you?"

Malik unfroze at the same point Atem did. He had placed his hand around the Rod when Atem apologized to Yuugi. Partner? Considering Yuugi used an honorific even for Jounouchi, Malik realized his earlier suspicion was probably right. It would create problems for sealing the Items, the Dark Games, and sending Atem to the Land of the Dead. After all, the Ishtar Clan weren't the only one with responsibilities. It had caused a momentary frown. He pulled the Rod out of his belt and held it out to Atem.

"Yes, it was probably drawn to me. You'll need it."

Atem actually hesitated as Malik said he'd need it. It was only for a moment, and Atem took the Rod. He held it at his side as he walked past Malik. Yuugi blinked and looked between the two for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something when Atem stopped and turned his head towards the other Egyptian teenager.

"You want an explanation, don't you? Then come with me. Atsuro, you can come but I'm concerned as to how Abel would react. Is everything okay in that regard?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro turned as he heard the door open and blinked as he saw Atem step through it. He chose not to say anything due to the fact that he was still pretty much an observer in this situation. Plus it was probably not a good idea to get between Malik and Atem if the former still held any grudge toward the other. Which was highly likely.

He looked away as Atem addressed him and asked if he coming along would cause any problems with Abel. "Abel's got his own problems right now... I'll be fine."

Atsuro really wasn't too sure on that regard. Abel tended to have a quick temper, and he'd seemed more than a tad bit unstable since they'd come to the island. Even with the phase of the moon, Atsuro was stepping more carefully. Abel had broken his arm despite how close it was to the new moon the previous day, after all.

However, Atsuro felt like he needed to hear this. If Abel got pissed off about it later, he'd just have to deal with it.

[mugenginga]

Atem hadn't even waited for an answer. He had turned around and began back up the stairs. Yuugi waited for Atsuro to move forward before he went. Malik had no such reservations, falling into step right behind Atem. The group was silent as they reached and entered the apartment. Atem gestured to the couch that had come with the pre-furnished apartment and Malik sat down. Atem leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, not checking to see what Atsuro or Yuugi were doing.

"I'm not sure I like telling this to you before the friends I've made here, but you probably have a right to know considering what my legacy caused your family."

Yuugi hadn't sat down yet. He had stopped behind the couch and watched as Atem walked over to a wall. Atem had leaned against it and crossed his arms. What was bothering Yuugi the most is the conversation that was about to come up was about what was dragging Atem down the most. He doubted, if he understood things right, Malik would be happy to hear it.

Malik had narrowed his eyes as Atem finished up his first sentence. Whatever the Pharaoh was about to say, it related to the duty forced upon them? And whatever he had to say he had a "right" to know. He looked a bit peeved. Yuugi looked towards wherever Atsuro had gone. Atem had to know Abel would learn about it, too. Yuugi glanced back up at Atem as Malik spoke again.

"Don't try to spare my feelings. If it's something I'll be upset about, tapdancing will just bother me more."

"I had no intentions of it. I'll put it simply. I don't think the Dark Games can be sealed anymore."

Malik stood up, "Explain yourself."

Yuugi looked nervous.