Notes: 
Yep, Ryou's definitely picking' up on some of his Yami's bad habits. ^_^; But don't worry, he's still lovable, innocent Ryou. @_@ 

I'm really, really sorry this took so long. Work caught up with me, I guess, and being as nocturnal as any other university student, I only write in the wee hours of the morning... @_@ so the idea goes, anyway. Plus I was stuck on the whole meeting the gang thing (i.e. Writer's block **gasp of ultimate horror**). Scrapped this chapter a total of six times and ended up with something totally different from what I wanted. But then again, I was supposed to get this scenario out for chapter 2. **sweatdrop** I have serious misgivings about this chapter. Is that normal? XD 

So, "Meet the Gang" got postponed...again. GOMEN! I hope no one's too too disappointed. I think I'll stop giving chapter previews. I'm making a liar out of myself.
Ah well, let's get this started before my playlist of punk rock runs dry. **bounces along to Nickleback and downs a can of coke** 

Mail me and review! Liz_Hallington@hotmail.com 

Saito frowned, his glasses having slipped down to their proper place on the bridge of his nose. Try as he might, he couldn't quite keep the incredulity from his voice. 
"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" 

Tucking back his picks into their proper slots, Ryou blinked innocently at the three and smiled his serene smile. 

"You didn't ask." 
 
 

Chapter 4: Dog days

God, I should've gotten a cat, Tomodachi Hanako sighed as she walked along the semi-deserted streets, Mikon, her dog, pulling her along. 

Balanced precariously in one arm was a large brown paper bag filled with groceries: the kind you'd see on comedy shows that ripped all too easily and spilled tomato and and egg yolk all over the poor victim's feet. Hana was increasingly disturbed to find that that scenario was far more plausible than she'd like it to be. She was sure she heard something ripping ominously.
Her other hand was latched firmly on the leash of her all too energetic dog. Frankly, it made her wonder who was walking whom. 

Just to prove her wrong, the said dog was now sitting firmly on the sidewalk, happily sweeping his tail back and forth over the dusty pavement and almost causing a messy accident when his mistress by-passed him and was jerked backwards by her stationary dog. Mikon cocked his head to the side and grinned a doggy grin. 

"Mou, Mikon!" she cursed, glaring at her dog in frustration. 

She jerked her head around when she heard an amused sounding cough... Could coughs sound amused? 

"Would you like some help with that, Hana-san?" someone enquired politely. 

Turning, she came face to face with a stock of white hair and laughing brown eyes. 

"Bakura-kun!" she exclaimed, then glared incredulously when Mikon trotted cheerfully over to the boy and started nuzzling a pale, slender hand, begging for attention. 

She sighed, refusing to let a student see a woman of her age pouting over her dog. "Such a traitor," she groused. "If dogs are man's best friends, then a cat must be a woman's." 

Ryou laughed melodiously as he kneeled and scratched the dog behind his floppy ears, hazel eyes gentle. Mikon, for his part, had a smug sort of look to him, tongue lolling to the side. Doggy heaven. 

"Well, it's a first for me, Hana-san. I've never actually been much of a dog person myself," he confessed and once again, Hana had the strange impression of a double meaning to his words. She couldn't quite believe that though. Ryou seemed to be too lovable for his own good: the kind of person that animals would flock to by instinct. 

He smiled enigmatically. "Where do you live, Hana-san?" 

"What?" She started at that, a number of unpleasant scenarios running through her head. She knew practically nothing about this student, and while his records remained clean, he had transferred between schools so often it became a little suspicious. And there were some unexplained incidences that the Board had noted- 

"I'm headed back to the school, and I'm assuming you live around there too, right? I can walk you home." He gently eased the leash out of her hand and she automatically balanced the grocery bag into both arms by reflex. "You seem to have your hands full," he noted lightly. 

She grinned in gratitude, giving herself a mental shake. My but she was getting paranoid in her old age. Living in this part of the city had made her cautious. Bakura-kun had certainly proven himself to be a pacifist by the way he'd handled Kurokaze-san. Granted, he did seem to be a bit of a trouble magnet...
Shouldn't jump to conclusions! she berated herself firmly. He's done nothing to deserve your mistrust.

Mikon yipped and started dragging him away, the white-haired boy having to dig his heels in to avoid being separated from his school counselor. He was grinning all the way. 

"I understand your father's in Egypt, Bakura-kun?" Hana asked, for conversation's sake and her own curiosity, walking at a brisk pace to keep up. 

"Aa..." the transfer agreed, glancing back at her, "He's an archeologist. Papa said a colleague of his had found what they suspect to be directions to a pharaoh's tomb." She could see his lips curving up at the corners. "A bit of a treasure map, so to speak. Papa has high hopes." A pause and he shot her a faux-secretive look. "I think all the Indiana Jones movies have finally gotten to him." 

Only years as a counselor kept her from giggling like a school girl when he said that. Indiana Jones, she knew, was a classic gaijin movie featuring an archeologist and some pretty wild adventures. Creepy tombs, crazy cults, that sort of thing. Things that seemed more fiction than fact.
"Does he leave often?" 

"Yes, but I don't mind, really," he hastily defended. "I'm used to being on my own and I know he loves his job. Normally I'd just stay at home on my own when he's away but..." he trailed off, biting his lip and then shrugging. "...I guess Papa's worried, things-" he stole a glace in her direction and laughed. It sounded forced to her ears though, not like the laugh when he'd petted Mikon earlier. 

Hanako frowned. Now she knew he was hiding something. What had changed and to make James Bakura suddenly decide to send his son to a boarding school? He was worried about... what? 

She studied the boy walking in front of her. Bakura-kun certainly didn't seem to want to reveal any more.
In the light of the setting sun, his hair had taken a reddish-orange hue and his skin was painted a luminescent gold, an acute contrast to his usual paleness. Despite all that, he still seemed remarkably fragile. Like porcelain. 

She didn't dare push too hard. Not yet. 

"Did your father give you your pendant, Bakura-kun?" 

She was surprised when he flinched and her brain started working overtime. She watched as his fingers clutched the item spasmodically. 

"Yes, my ring. He bought it Egypt. The peddler said it was very ancient," he said mechanically, as if it had been drilled into him. 

Curiouser and curiouser... she studiously kept her face blank. 

Ryou stopped suddenly and Hana almost crashed into him, juggling her bag to keep her groceries from toppling onto the floor. 

"Ah, is this your house, Hana-san?" he asked meekly. Mikon was scratching vigorously at the door while Ryou hesitantly tried to pull him back in case it wasn't the right house. 

With a start, the brunette realized they were, indeed, already at her house. She'd barely noticed. And she really was getting paranoid. When he'd stopped so suddenly she'd expected the worst. 

Fumbling sheepishly, she reached for her keys. 

"Here," Ryou offered, and reached for the grocery bag. 
As he took it, Hana's sharp eyes caught the flash of discoloration around his wrist. She swallowed as she slid the key into the lock, trying to get a better look with furtive glances while trying not to be too obvious about it. 
The purple-blue color spread around his wrist and was outlined by an unhealthy green. They branched off into four adjacent lines around the outside of his arm. 

Finger marks, she realized with growing horror. 

He'd been bruised. 
Deliberately. 
Recently. 

She tried to catch his eyes as she reached for her bag again, Mikon running by her legs and into the darkened house when the teen released his hold on the leash, but they were purposely hooded. 

"Thank you, Bakura-kun." 

"Iie, you're perfectly welcome, Hana-san." 

He bowed and turned to leave, his long sleeves covering his wrist. She couldn't just leave it at that! 

"Bakura-kun!" she called and then flustered for something to say when he looked back inquiringly. 

"If you ever want to talk..." she offered. 

He smiled knowingly. "Arigato, Hana-san." 
His tone carried a gentle finality. 

Shadows played over his retreating figure as the street lights flickered on, and as she closed the door, Tomodachi Hanako was disturbed by the distinct impression that the white-haired teen would never deliberately take her up on that offer.

Important note:
Liz: You guys have to tell me if this doesn't meet your standards. There's nothing I hate more than a story that starts out great, weaves a web and pulls you in only to take a wrong turn and take a nosedive into a black hole from there. 

Ryou: To translate: tell her if you think this fic is starting to go astray in a bad way, ne? Liz can get really weird sometimes and she needs a smack once and a while to get her going in the right direction again. 

Thanks to:
SilverScreamer, Ashley, Yami Krissy, TAFKAE, ElvenRanger, Rosz of the Angel, Dreamchaser149, Serphant Night Dragon, ShadowFire, Lady Yami and Marika Tairys who reviewed. 

Special thanks to my sister, Susan (the poor dear has to put up with me far too often :) who beta-ed. Thanks for pointing out the difference between "councilor" and "counselor". x_x You're a life saver.