Not as Planned (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

Anpu stood in the alleyway next to a police station he'd been to once before. Well, he'd surfaced in. In regards to that, he'd stood in this exact alley once before when the man named Adachi Tohru had revealed his true colors to him. The only reason what he was doing now was even possible was because that man was still in the city's main hospital. Which was quite well removed from the station in terms of location.

He was in the alley today because he was headed to the station he stood beside. Someone had created quite a ruckus recently with numerous torture deaths. Enough of one that it seemed the Pharaoh or some member of his group had gotten concerned enough to make a missing person's report. A description matching his current body had been released along with the descriptions of a handful of people still missing. While he could do just fine with people looking for him, he didn't actively seek that kind of attention. Besides, he had an idea that may force the hand of the Pharaoh, and he far preferred dealing with the man on ground other than the Pharaoh's current stomping ground.

Even his outfit was different then usual for the illusion he felt like maintaining. He had a blue shirt on with a white pull over sweater. The collar of the shirt came out over the top of the sweater, which had a line of dark blue at the collar and sleeves. He had on jeans, a bit tight for what Ryou was known for, but more comfortable then loose would have been. He had on rather high quality navy and white tennis shoes with velcro straps. He stepped out of the alley and as soon as his foot hit the ground outside it, his entire mannerisms had changed.

Anyone that had met the teenager named Ryou Bakura would assume that was who walked into the station.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Yamada was sitting at the front desk of the station, as usual. He was choosing to work the desk again today mainly because Nekoi-san had been on the warpath yesterday, and he had a good chance of seeing if she was going to be just as pissed off today from here. Adachi was still in the hospital from what that kid had done to him, and Takahashi-san was in the back room. Adachi was likely not going to be back for a while, even once he got out of the hospital. The higher ups were real pissed off at him because he'd killed that miko, accidental or not. It was a real shame; Yamada enjoyed Adachi's company, even with how odd he'd been acting lately.

He actually hadn't been watching the door when Ryou walked in, but when he heard the bell, he looked up. His eyes widened, and he nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Bakura-san?!" Yamada asked incredulously. Just the day before, a kid with really crazy spiked hair had reported Ryou and some other kid missing. And after Adachi's change in behavior, Yamada had realized that it had to be related to Ryou's disappearance. His gaze drifted to the scar under Ryou's eye. The spiky haired kid hadn't mentioned that... Had the torture murderer guy gotten to this kid too?

[mugenginga]

Bakura practically jumped out of his shoes as Yamada jumped up. He winced and grabbed his head as it hit the closing door behind him. He gave a grimace as he looked back towards Yamada, who was still on his feet. He looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened. He nodded, his hand remaining on his head.

"I-I don't think I got your name..." Bakura stated, "Um, is now a bad time?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Yamada sighed and fell back in his seat. He actually had lifted up out of his seat for a moment there. "Someone filed a missing persons report about you yesterday. We thought that guy who's been torturing people might have gotten you. Thank goodness..."

At that moment, Yamada realized that Ryou likely didn't know about Adachi. For whatever reason Ryou had gone missing, he hadn't been at Adachi's apartment for a while now. "Bakura-san, Adachi-san's in the hospital again. You should probably go visit him once I take care of this missing person's report about you."

Yamada didn't quite realize he needed to ask Ryou why he'd gone missing in the first place.

[mugenginga]

Bakura's eyes widened at the missing reports comment. He then hung his head a bit and looked away. He still hadn't lowered his hand from the back of his head. If Yamada tried to get a look at his face, he'd seen an expression that seemed somewhat torn. Bakura finally lowered the hand and his arms hung at his side for a few moments.

"That..." Bakura paused. In truth, Anpu realized that his original plan would just draw more attention to him. If Bakura seemed to be suicidal. Bakura shook his head really quickly as if shaking away unpleasant thoughts, "He's okay, right? I don't want him to worry about me! I haven't spoken to Yuugi-tachi lately, and I heard someone was asking about me..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"Yeah, he's fine. He'll probably be out in a few days," Yamada said. "As for your friends... yeah, this guy with tri-colored spiky hair came by yesterday and made a missing person's report about you. You know him?"

Yamada figured he did. The kid had called Ryou his friend, so it seemed likely.

[mugenginga]

Bakura let out a large sigh of relief. It seemed he'd been quite worried about Adachi. He wasn't maintaining eye contact, but he seemed to be in thought again. Overall it looked like the boy was picking his words carefully. He looked up after the pause before Yamada described what could only be one of two people. He hesitated before giving a nod in response.

"That's either Yuugi-kun or Atem-san," Bakura said. He opened his mouth and thought for a bit before continuing, "Oh, I think Atem-san is Egyptian. He has a heavy tan, unlike Yuugi-kun."

Anpu thought for a moment about how he could advance this next bit. Given where Bakura's worries had fallen, it wouldn't be too hard to use the Pharaoh as an excuse for Bakura's "vanishing act". But he didn't want to put any implication on the Pharaoh that might involve him getting into legal trouble. The Pharaoh's head was his, the man who bore the weight of the sin for Kul Elna would die by his actions. But the personality of his host wasn't one inclined to complaining about the current situation. There was a rather exaggerated pause before Bakura gave a forced smile towards Yamada.

"I've found someplace to stay, and I haven't gotten around to telling Yuugi-kun-tachi about it. I just wanted to make sure no one here missed something important looking for me. I'll make sure I see Adachi-san today, so he won't worry. If Yuugi-kun or any of his friends come back to look for me, can you tell them I'm okay?"

That seemed enough. If the police officer would let him go, he'd leave it at that and go out. It was enough for the main reason for this. If the Pharaoh knew "Bakura" had reported to the police, he'd do something. Anpu didn't know the Ring's location, but it would be enough to cause movement. Now the current issue was visiting Adachi to fulfill "Bakura's" promise and visiting his apartment for something he'd hidden there quite some time ago... after all, the message he wanted the Pharaoh to get was placed with this.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"Yeah, no prob," Yamada said. He frowned. There was something he had a feeling he should probably ask of this kid, likely paperwork related, but he couldn't really remember what that was. "Oh, and, uh.... tell Adachi I said hi and he's probably in deep shit for what happened yesterday, okay?"

Yamada figured Adachi already knew about that last part, but it felt like a nice thing to say, at least to him. Plus, on the off chance Adachi didn't know, Ryou could inform him for him.

[mugenginga]

Bakura's smile became a bit less stressed as Yamada told him it wasn't a problem. He shifted the weight on his feet as if he was uncomfortable before giving a final slight nod. He was mid-turn when Yamada mentioned that Adachi would be in trouble for what happened yesterday. The slight catch pause in Bakura's step was a touch out of character. People like Adachi and Takahashi on a good day would catch it. It would likely be hopeless for Yamada. The slight scowl on his mostly turned face lasted half a beat before he turned back, and the expression now was extremely concerned.

"I-I know you said he's in the hospital..." Bakura said, "But what happened to him!? I thought he just got hurt in the line of duty!"

Inside, Anpu was pissed at what had come up. Bakura wouldn't just walk away from that. The original owner of this body had annoying traits sometimes. Even if Yamada wouldn't note anything odd from it, he had a feeling the man would report Bakura just walking off. Even if he wouldn't, Anpu couldn't take that risk. So there "Bakura" stood, almost panicking over what had happened to Adachi.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Yamada indeed did not notice anything odd about Ryou's behavior. It wasn't like Yamada had really ever met Ryou. Just heard about him from Takahashi and Adachi, mainly Adachi. He frowned at Ryou's question.

"Well, you know those torture murders lately? Apparently this kid at that apartment complex was on a date with some miko and got attacked by the guy behind them. Adachi tried to shoot the guy, but ended up accidentally hitting the miko and killing her," Yamada explained. "He's in pretty deep shit with the higher-ups because of that."

"YAMADA! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT GOING ON ABOUT SENSITIVE POLICE DETAILS TO CIVILIANS!"

Kenji Takahashi stepped out from the back room. "I swear to god, you're worse than Adachi--" He stopped as he saw "Ryou." "Eh? Aren't you that Bakura kid Adachi was taking care of? I heard you were missing."

And almost automatically, Takahashi was on guard. He wasn't going to be played the fool, and he already knew this kid had some kind of false personality going on from when Seta had been poisoned. He also thought the kid had some balls for coming to this police station when he knew Takahashi had his eye on him. After all, why else had Adachi tried to kill him that one time?

[mugenginga]

Anpu had heard of them. He'd even come across one of the victims. He almost lost his cool at the thought of that. He had a feeling the police were scratching their heads over why the wallet would have been found a few feet from the man. The identification and credit cards had been there, but the dead man had been lacking jewelry and money. Anpu had relieved himself of the jewelry in the back alleys with one of the few people on his side of the law he knew wouldn't squeal.

Bakura's reactions, however, didn't betray much of what Anpu was thinking. It wasn't precise, Anpu's confidence had gone up with this idiot, but it wasn't as if Yamada could tell. Bakura's eyes had gotten wide at Yamada's explanation. There was shock... and a bit of worry. Miko. Her. Anpu knew that Adachi had spilled to Ryou about his... indiscretions. Bakura nodded towards Yamada and turned to go when a familiar shouting was heard.

Bakura had put his hand on the door and had it opened up a crack when Takahashi cut himself off. There was a rather prominent enunciation on some of his words. Anpu knew that Takahashi had found him suspicious before, so the words didn't surprise him. It was all Bakura when he turned towards Takahashi again, his expression stressed and worried. He avoided eye contact first by looking to the side and then down. He gave a slight nod.

"I-I found someplace else to stay..." Bakura looked up, but still didn't seem comfortable with eye contact, "I came here to let everyone know I was okay... I'm really sorry if I caused problems by worrying everyone!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Takahashi wasn't fooled. Bakura may have been using "boku" again, instead of "ore" like that time with Seta, but he'd seen this kid's true face. Seta had been poisoned and kidnapped, and Takahashi at one time had proof Bakura had been doing the same thing to all of those other kids at some point.

"You found somewhere else to stay? And without even telling the man who had been looking for you all this time?" Takahashi asked. He took a few steps toward Bakura. "Where are you staying? I would like an address, if you wouldn't mind."

[mugenginga]

Bakura looked down as Takahashi criticized him over not telling Adachi. No, he was trying to corner him. Anpu wasn't blind to that. The former Thief King also wasn't blind to the fact that the man was approaching him. To detain him? There wasn't anything he could think of that the man would have as evidence. Maybe some paranoia, but that wasn't enough to convict a man in this modern world. He didn't back up as Takahashi approached him, it would seem Bakura didn't notice. He jumped when Takahashi spoke up again, lifting his head.

Anpu was a bit pissed in his mind at that question. He didn't have an address, and any he could make up would seem suspicious. Beyond that, Takahashi would be checking there before the hour was out. He hadn't set up any contacts. How much did Bakura know about police enforcement? A quick run through the leaked knowledge he'd gotten from his host came up with nothing. In all this time, Bakura simply looked worried and perhaps a bit apologetic. There wasn't anything of particular suspect as he answered.

"I... I'd really rather not share it..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"Is that so," Takahashi said flatly. He tossed his lighter a couple times in his hand and continued to keep a careful eye on Bakura. He pocketed the lighter as he spoke again.

"In that case, I'll have to get a warrant to investigate you," Takahashi stated. "I have reason to believe you are behind the murder of Nakajima Sakura and the poisonings of several other children her age. If you come along quietly, you will make things much easier on yourself, Bakura-san."

Yamada froze. Those cases from almost a month back?! Takahashi thought Ryou was behind those?! But Adachi had always said Ryou was so nice...

[mugenginga]

Anpu's mind was jumping over every possible reaction to this in his head. He could just feign complete ignorance. Not so much insult, that would be out of his host body's original character, but confusion. He'd gotten a bit of a crash course on the legal system in this era during his time in the alleys. With the evidence Takahashi had, there was no way he could get a conviction. Let alone a warrant.

The other option was having "Bakura" admit to the Ring. It was the riskier option, especially since he didn't know where that "god" using Adachi's body had taken the Ring. If Tohru was in the hospital, odds were that god wasn't using him anymore, but it wasn't impossible that god had put him there. The only true risk of that direction was how much the Pharaoh knew about the situation. Then again, the Pharaoh and his bleeding heart friends did seem to want what was best for Ryou.

And so, Bakura tensed up as Takahashi stated he was possibly behind the murder of the child. His eyes squeezed shut and he looked down to the ground. His bangs fell into his face and his shoulders slumped. He looked like the world had come to a crashing halt. His voice was quiet and made it sound almost as if he were on the verge of tears.

"S-so you know...," Bakura shook his head rapidly. He lifted up his head and his eyes were watery, "I tried to stop him! I didn't want... I never wanted anyone to die!"