A Dragoness's Tail

Harsh Truth

By Kinasha Kaiba

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

The room was cold. I was in my bed, my knees drawn to my chest, my tail wrapped around my waist and my chin on the knees. It had been raining non stop for two days. A storm was present, I could hear the rumbling sounds of thunder and the elegant but deadly lightning appeared once or twice every few seconds. It had been a busy Friday, mostly for Master Kaiba, he had been locked in his home office since early morning...and it was almost 6pm. Mokuba was in his room, hypnotized by those flashing things humans here called 'video games', so it was pointless to go and visit the brothers. Not that being alone was something bad...I had been in solitude almost my entire life, so I had no problems with it.

My eyes moved down to stare at the wiggling tail, it had quite a large cut on the underside, product of Mokuba and me in the kitchen, both of us pretending to be pirates. Yes, it was a really childish idea but we had nothing better to do and Master Kaiba forbade us to watch any programs on that box thing...television? Yes that, because of the last 'incident' which of course I will not talk about. We were goofing around, I was chasing the kid around the table until I tripped on a chair and fell to the floor. The legs of the table had really sharp edges so my tail bumped onto it especially hard...resulting in a wound.

The cries were loud enough for Master Kaiba to stop what he was doing and come to my aid, but he just shook his head and called me childish. Yes...I could agree with him as well. Who would cry their eyes out for just a cut? Maybe a five year old...but an eighteen year old Blue-Eyes White Dragon? Never...

Father was always right, I was and I will always be pathetic. I failed him, my family and my entire race. I could still remember what I did like it was yesterday...such painful memories...

- o - o - o -

It all started when I was born...well everyone was happy until I came to life if you could say that. My mother, Sapphire, was as beautiful as a flower. I could remember how she used to sing me lullabies at night and how she helped me up when I fell to the ground and got the smallest of injuries. She was (unless she is still alive) a very young Blue-Eyes White Dragon who also gave birth to three other dragons...my older brothers.

The youngest of the brothers and older than me by just a couple of small years was Reshef. He was the sweetest and most gentle brother you could ask for...a dragon brother at that. Reshef was also very brilliant, knowing a lot about dragonic history and lots of ancient languages, something that I failed as well. I was never good at History.

The next brother was Shinocu...now he was a tyrant, a ferocious meat-eating creature. If I could mention someone who could be described in the text of Master Seto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards, it was Shinocu. He never liked me and I never liked him. The last of the brothers and the oldest was dear Pooda. Now he was often a very serious dragon but he could be as much as a brute as Shinocu.

Since Blue-Eyes White Dragons mate for life, my brothers and I were all the children of the same, tyrannical dragon...Atoru. Everyone was afraid of him and who could blame them? He was a veteran of many bloody wars, he even survived the brutal attack of a Buster Blader, making him blind on his right eye. Father had never been easy going with me nor with my brothers, which explains their attitudes pretty well. I think my father never liked that I was born with a 'curse' as he always called it, he was always calling me a 'reject' making me feel bad about being born even more, but...I reject being born as well. I just want to curl up in a dark corner and die now...

I never attended a 'normal' dragon school because being a humanoid dragon, I would never have fit in with the other large and powerful dragon students, so father was forced in placing me in a school of Magical Arts. It was considered enemy territory due to the rivalry between dragons and magicians...I will never understand why they hated each other so much, a battle between who is stronger? Who knew...

Every time I tried to be friends with someone from a different species or clan I was either pushed away because they didn't like me for reasons I couldn't understand or because my father pushed them away. But I did manage to have at least two friends.

One was a girl, she had blond hair and green eyes, she was always carrying a blue and pink staff. She had quite a perky attitude for her age, she once told me that she was studying Black Magic and that she wanted to be as powerful as her grandfather. The other friend was surprisingly a dragon, he lived near my home and his father was allies with mine. He was quite a large dragon, strong and bulky with orange colored scales and a brown belly, he had large spikes on his tummy and very large fists, he was a tough dragon, always defending me from bullies and dangerous things. I really miss my only friends, we were quite an odd trio: A Blue-Eyes White Dragon, a perky Dark Magician Girl and a tough Armed Dragon but even their loyal friendship was ripped to shreds by what I did...

It was a warm afternoon, my oldest brother, Pooda, was out teaching me a few things that I should have probably known if I were as big as him. He taught me how to fly the other day and how to use my tail as a deadly weapon, now he wanted to teach me how to hunt. We are carnivorous creatures and I had seen my brothers hunt. They had taken out Seiyaryus, Serpent Knight Dragons, Warrior creatures and working as a team they had taken out Levia Dragons, which were very large and deadly sea serpents. My brothers were true predators unlike me, I couldn't even kill a Kuriboh if my life depended on it. Guess then was the time once again to try and kill something without feeling pity for it...

We were in the forest, and I was next to my brother walking, looking from side to side for any specific dangers. Mother had always told me to be careful, especially in the woods because mostly the very large, predatory animals made that place their home. Suddenly, Pooda stopped and moved his large head a grin present on his face, sharp white teeth poking out, I could hear him saying something about 'your prey is here' until I realized what it was. Knocking down a few trees came a large creature, it looked like one of those prehistoric reptiles with the large head and the tiny arms. The beast was black in color with a few red stripes adorning his face and back...or were those battle marks?

I raised my head to stare at my brother, he looked down at me and nodded saying "Go ahead...charge at the Tyranno and attack it" and that is where my world came tumbling down. He wanted me to attack that giant thing? That animal was twice as big as me! He could probably swallow me whole! The giant lizard took a giant step foward, the ground shaking like if an earthquake occured, it was not very pleased that a couple of unknown dragons came over invading its territory. I took a step back, fear entering my system but no matter how much I complained my brother, with one push of his claws had moved me towards the beast. I might as well give it a try...

The Black Tyranno opened it's massive jaws, large and curved yellow teeth showing, saliva slipping down its mandibles. Now that was scary...what did I have compared to that big, tooth-lined mouth? I took a deep breath and dashed foward, both my hands extending and showing off my claws, practicaly the only thing that could possibly harm the beast but of course the lizard was smarter than I assumed. It hadn't taken more than half a second to respond to my offensive attack...I felt a very sharp pain in my back as I was slammed to the ground by a long, whip-like tail. I cried in pain, lying there defenseless, waiting as the larger predator lunged foward to rip my small body apart.

It seemed like an eternity...was I about to die? Was I about to die in front of my brother? I heard a painful roar, I lifted my head to watch the scene. Pooda had locked his enormous jaws on the Tyranno's throat, the beast had no where to go now...death was sure for him. Using his mighty strength, Pooda moved one of his large feet and pressed it on the dinosaurs stomach, pushing him down on the ground. The beast's roars were now downgraded to small whimpers, it's large tail banging on the ground, lifting clouds of dust. It wasn't long until the monster was dead. My brother stood up, his tongue poking out of his massive jaws to lick the blood of the creature he killed that was all over his snout and chin.

I got up and was about to thank him for saving my life, but he looked at me with his cold eyes...like I had done something terribly wrong, then he flapped his wings and flew away back home. He left me alone with a dead body. I returned home and saw Pooda. He knew I was there, so he turned around, giving me the same cold stare as before. Then he started to yell, cursing loudly at me, saying how useless I was, that he was ashamed of being my brother...those words actually affected me, I felt this sting inside my heart. He was ashamed of me...

Tears ran down my face, I couldn't believe what I was hearing, why were people so cold to me? What had I done to deserve this treatment! I couldn't take it anymore, it was no longer sadness but more like anger. They were pushing me around and yelling at me for no reason at all, I was nothing more than an insignificant speck to them...nothing! I never heard an 'I love you' from anyone except for my mother. That left a hole in my heart...

I felt an inmense power growing within me, it was like all of that anger that had accumulated wanted to come out in a huge explosion. I really didn't know what was going on, my body was being engulfed in a bright aura and soon I started to change physically and mentally. My brother took a step back, his cerulean eyes wide as he saw the new me. I was enormous, as big as him, a large but slender White Dragon, the talons of my feet were ripping the grass to shreds as my roars were powerful enough to shake the ground. After this my head moved, watching the nearest thing to me...was it my brother? or was this an enemy about to take over my territory? It must be destroyed...

Moving foward like a desperate beast, I wanted to take a bite out of the intruder, but he rapidly stood aside to avoid my attack. But my mind was clouded by rage and I turned around, slamming my tail into his ribs, then without even thinking, I moved foward taking another bite. This time my jaws connected with his neck, I caught him. The muscles of my jaws applying an inmense pressure on him, there was no way he could escape this grip. His cries of pain and agony could be heard but I didn't care, the enemy was done for...he took his last breath before any vital sign of life was gone. Releasing the dead body, I took a step back and I roared proudly...if only I knew what I did.

This inmense power that took over my body was starting to fade away, the mind of a savage beast leaving and being replaced by that of a weak, little dragon girl. My eyes opened up and I gasped, staring at the horror next to me, it was my brother, my dear brother with his throat torn apart...did I do that? No...it couldn't be..my mind had no place for that savage act! My ears twitched and I turned around, my father was there with my other brothers...they saw everything, their looks were mixed with anger and fear. I started to cry, my clothes soaked in my brother's own blood while more beings were stepping in to see what I had done. Some were whispering harsh things, calling me 'monster' or 'how could she do this to her own blood' but I didn't mean it. I didn't even knew I had this kind of power inside of my body...why were they looking at me with such hatred?

My relationships with practically everyone around me changed...they thought I was nothing but trouble, a bad luck charm, a demon...even my own mother was rather disappointed in me. After all, that wasn't my only random transformation of rage. I had transformed various times and had caused unnecesary deaths for other people. This had made them angry, they complained to my father about my acts and they all came to a conclusion...I must be banished from the lands. I was so scared, nobody cared about me, I watched my mother, she had a few tears running down her white cheeks but she said nothing to stop them. One of my brothers, Reshef, told that I was only a child and he was right I am a child...an innocent being that was about to be thrown to an unknown world due to something that I had unconciously done, but of course he didn't care, like I said before...he never cared about me.

The last thing I could remember before being thrown into another dimension. I was my running towards my mother, tears running down my cheeks. I wanted her to protect me, to cover me up with her wing like she used to do, but it was no use. The spell that the elder magician had cast started to suck me up into a black hole.

Those were painful memories...

- o - o - o -

"Kinasha-kun...?"

My head moved up from the pillow, it was soaked, a product of me crying. My head turned to see Mokuba, standing right in front of my door. Thank Ra the room was rather dark, I didn't want him to see me crying. Wiping a few of the stray tears, I smiled lightly at him and asked what he wanted.

"Oh, well, dinner is almost ready, and you know how grumpy Seto gets when we don't go and join him in the dinning room," said the child smiling back at me, with that he turned around and left my room.

I took a deep breath and started to get off of my bed. Next to me was a huge mirror, I frowned. I looked rather skinny and my hair was so messed up and long...I really needed to cut it a little bit. I gave up a smile, still staring at the mirror. That tragedy happened four years ago. Why am I still being chased around by it? The past should be forgotten in order for one to move on so why can't I do that? I have no idea...but all I know is that in this strange human world I had found what I believe are my only two, if I can call it, 'friends'

And I'm truly grateful for this...

The End

Bakura's Therapy

"So, Bakura-san. How are you feeling today?"

The thief's eye twitched. "I'm sitting in therapy. My hikari and his idiot friend have nullified my powers until the end of this session. And I have been trapped in a hunk of gold for FIVE THOUSAND YEARS! How do you think I feel!?"

The therapist blinked. "Your...powers?"

"Don't ask," he snapped.

Again the therapist blinked, before scribbling something down on her pad. Bakura squinted, trying to read the kana upside-down. 'Delusions of grandeur,' he made out.

"I AM NOT DELUSIONAL!" he barked.

"Of course you aren't," Dr. Hio agreed with a falsely sweet smile. Bakura glowered at her.

"Now," she continued. "You mentioned something about...five thousand years...?"

"Yes," he spat. "That's how long it's been since I died in Egypt."

"Ohh, so you've been having past-life experiences then?" she asked with wide, falsely curious I-really-don't-think-you're-a-nutcase eyes.

His own eye twitched. "I AM a past-life experience, you ignorant twit!"

"Now, now, Bakura-san, manners. From what I hear, that's part of why you're here in the first place."

"Don't remind me," he grumbled.

The therapist wagged her pencil at him. "Man-ners," she repeated in a singsong voice.

Bakura glared daggers at her. "Don't remind me, Hio-san." He put special effort into the contempt in that last word.

"Better," she replied with a nod. The Tomb Robber's hands twitched in the effort of keeping himself from reaching out and breaking her neck. "So. Back to past-life experiences. When did you begin having them?"

His hands twitched again, and his left eye followed. "I repeat," he said in a low voice, forcing himself to breathe deeply, "I am not having past life experiences. I AM experience from a past life. I died in Egypt. I am dead. Do you understand me? DEAD!"

"...So you're a vampire."

A dark-lined eye began twitching incessantly. "I. Am. NOT. A. VAMPIRE!" He screamed the last word at the top of his lungs. Dr. Hio was suddenly glad of her decision to soundproof the room as she noticed the sides of her hair fluttering. She blinked slowly.

"...Zombie?"

Twitch. "No."

"Poltergeist."

"Closer."

"Ghost."

"Almost."

"Spirit."

"Thank you."

Another scribble on her notepad. "A spirit, hm? You realize spirits are non-corporeal."

"Of course," Bakura agreed.

"Then how do you explain your entirely corporeal presence here in my office?" As if to make her point, she leaned forward, reaching toward him with her pencil.

Faster than she could see, his hand snapped out and wrapped around the pencil. "I realize I'm corporeal. But don't. Touch me." The pencil snapped as his hand twisted, and he dropped the eraser end with a clatter onto the coffee table between them. There was a pause, and the woman then retracted her arm and scribbled something else on her pad. 'Violent tendencies,' he read this time.

"I DO NOT HAVE VIOLENT TENDENCIES!" he roared.

The doctor quirked an eyebrow at him. "Really."

"Ignoring the fact that at this moment I'd like nothing better than to twist your head off your shoulders, yes."

Hio-san nodded, scribbling something else on her pad.

"And why in the sands do you keep scrawling your chicken-scratch all over that tablet?!" Bakura burst out, choosing to ignore the fact that she had amended her previous note to include the word 'homicidal.'

"Merely taking notes on things that interest me," she offered, finishing her amendment with the words 'outbursts' and 'overuse of expletives.'

"Would you like to know what interests me?" he queried. "After all...we are in therapy."

Hio-san paused, wondering if she should make something of 'we' as opposed to 'I.' She decided to shrug it off as his having included her in his statement, and moved on. "Well. Usually my patients don't bring that up themselves, but since you have, yes, Bakura-san. Do tell me all about your interests."

He smirked. "I like to steal things, for one." His smirk widened when he saw her begin writing 'kleptomania.' Before she could finish the word, he went on. "I also beat my other self, when he deserves it." 'Abusive.' "I can show you the bruises," he added, lifting his shirt to show fading spots of purple near his ribcage. 'Self-mutilation.' "For the five-thousand years I was trapped, I lusted after the seven Millennium Items, that I would do anything to get, yet remain beyond my grasp." He took great pleasure into launching into his next sentence before she could finish the words 'obsessive,' 'rambling,' and 'fabricating false memories.'

At the third turn of the tablet's page, Bakura decided to step things up a bit. "And one day, I shall defeat the Pharaoh, and claim the Millennium Puzzle as my own, as it should be and should have been millennia ago. This will bring me one step closer to my goal of opening the Door, and ultimate power! Yes. The Millennium Puzzle will be mine! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" He concluded with a particularly and intentionally over-the-top evil laugh, ending with a mad grin at the sight of sweat breaking out on the good doctor's forehead as she rounded her fourth page.

"But what interests me most, right here, right now, is the thought of running you through in gruesome and painful locations with the gold letter opener which occupies the top drawer of your desk even at this very moment. ...I'll leave the rest to your imagination," he finished with intense satisfaction, leaning back and crossing his leg over his knee as he laced his fingers behind his head.

Hio-san had just finished one hasty line of kana and begun on another when she froze, blinked, and looked up at Bakura quizzically. "How did you know I have a gold letter opener in my top desk drawer?"

Bakura smirked. "I know many things, my dear Hio-chan."

Dr. Hio instinctively scowled at the low honorific, but was too occupied with her thoughts at the moment to make a reply. She thought perhaps she had been opening a letter when Bakura-san first walked in...? Yes, that would be it. 'Over-observance leading to delusions of ESP.'

She looked up at the pale-haired teenager across from her, as if expecting more. When he remained smugly silent, she sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Well. You certainly do have a lot of interests, Bakura-san." She flipped back through her notes, half of which were illegible, and grimaced at the sight.

"Thank you. I do so appreciate your taking the time to make note of every single one."

She shook her head a little, hunching over her tablet to attempt to decipher and sharpen the hastily-scrawled kana. "All a part of the job," she muttered, proceeding to take several minutes to clear and darken the worst bits of it. Bakura's smirk widened with glee.

"Having difficulties?" he asked with a sadistic pleasure, leaning forward and returning his arms to their resting place on his thighs.

"Oh, no no, not at all," Hio-san returned truthfully, finishing the last bit and straightening in her chair. She smiled her paste-me-on smile at him. "But I do thank you ever so much for your concern."

The Tomb Robber blinked in surprise for a moment. Then his eyes narrowed back to their usual glower, and his mouth turned into a frown. "Persistent mortal," he snorted.

Hio-san blinked, brows knitting together. Bakura saw her mouth the word 'Mortal...?'

"Oh!" she remembered suddenly. "That's right. You're still under the impression that you're a spirit."

Thief King growled in his throat. "I AM a spirit, you idiot! Do I have to beat it into your head with that papyrus tablet of yours!?"

"Manners, Bakura-san," she reprimanded sharply, pointing her pencil at him. But then she noticed she was pointing with the broken end, and that one eye and both his eyebrows were twitching in suppressed fury. She quickly dropped the subject, instead returning to her pad to write down 'multiple facial tics.'

"You will remember, Bakura-san," Hio-san went on, "that we are in agreement on two facts: one, spirits are non-corporeal. And two, you are not."

"I'm not a three-year-old, you idiot, I can do the math and DON'T EVEN SAY THE WORD 'MANNERS' TO ME!" Dr. Hio's lips thinned to a line, but she kept her silence. "Yes, I am a spirit. Yes, spirits are non-corporeal. No, I am NOT an idiot. I am a spirit INHABITING a flesh body. This body is MINE, but I was not born in it. I possess it, thanks to this." Here he held up his pendant. The Horus Eye upon it glinted malevolently.

Hio-san tilted her head to one side, seeming to have forgotten about her pad for the moment. "Interesting. What is it?"

Bakura smirked. "This? This is the Millennium Ring, one of seven that I've been telling you about."

"Fascinating," she nodded, scribbling on her pad once more. "And it's in this that you claim to have been trapped?"

The Ring's pointers jingled slightly as Bakura's fist shook on the gold. "...'Claim'?" he hissed. "'Claim'!? I don't CLAIM anything! I was TRAPPED in this pendant for FIVE. THOUSAND. YEARS!" With each word, his grip on the gold tightened. The jingle became almost steady under his shaking fist. "ME! The great Egyptian King of Thieves! Touzoku-ou! Trapped in solitude with a DEMON! FIVE millennia! GO-SENNEN, you TWIT! How many ways must I say it!? Trapped, demon, item, me! ORE-SAMA!"

The doctor's only reaction was to scribble down the word 'ego-centric,' and then flip back a few pages to find and underline the word 'delusional.'

Having had enough, Bakura leapt to his feet. "I am NOT delusional! And I will not sit here and—and—" he cast around, trying to dig up a phrase he'd heard on the talking picture box once. "—Have my head shrunk by a twit!" He huffed and turned to storm out.

"Bakura-san," Dr. Hio called after him cheerily, "your friends booked you an extra-long session. We still have two and a half hours left."

Bakura froze, his hand inches from the knob. Two... and a half... hours? He wasn't sure he could stand another two and a half minutes in the same room as this...being. His hand moved forward, but then his hikari's words reached him: //Remember our deal, Bakura-sama.//

The yami froze again. Yugi's and Ryou's warning returned to him: 'You'll get your powers back when you finish your first session.' His fingers twitched. Darn you hikari.

Innocent laughter was his answer. //This is for your own good, yami.//

Somehow I doubt that.

"So you've changed your mind?" Hio-san asked as Bakura turned and strode back to his seat on the couch. "Wonderful!"

Bakura snorted.

"Now, where were we...?" the therapist wondered, looking over her notes.

"I'm not delusional," the teenager muttered.

"Ah yes, I'd forgotten, that's where we were."

Thief's fingers twitched.

"Now... what was this about your... 'other'?"

Bakura stiffened. "That's not a subject I'd rather discuss."

"Indeed. And why's that?"

The boy glowered at her. "Because he doesn't exist," he snapped.

Hio-san leaned forward. "Did he tell you that?"

A scoff. "Of course not."

"But do you believe it?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "No," he muttered, "but it'd be nice if you did."

More scribbling. "You and your... 'other'... don't get along very well, do you, Bakura-san?"

"Not at times, no."

"And why do you think that is?"

Bakura scoffed. Maybe because I'm a five-thousand-year-old thief and he's a seventeen-year-old honors student? Could that possibly have something to do with it?

//Be nice, Bakura.//

I didn't say it out loud, did I?!

"Could it be," Hio-san interrupted into the silence, "because you are the...'possessing spirit' and he is the...?"

"Host?" Bakura finished. "Probably."

"Host," Dr. Hio repeated. "Interesting. And how does your...'host' feel about being possessed?"

Bakura shrugged.

"Never thought to ask him?"

"Never cared. He doesn't complain."

"Doesn't he?"

"No."

Another note. "And how long have you been...'possessing' your host?"

Again the Thief King shrugged. "Few years now."

"And what was your host...what's his name?"

"He doesn't have a name," Bakura snapped quickly. Hio-san raised an eyebrow. "We share our name," Bakura amended. "His name is my name and my name is his."

"So your host's name is also Ryou Bakura?"

The thief sighed inwardly. "Yes," he answered, relieved. The less some stranger knew—really knew—about the two of them, the better. There was no 'yami' and 'hikari'—just tenant and landlord.

"So what was the other Bakura-san like before you met him?"

Both Bakura and Ryou smiled to themselves at 'the other Bakura-san,' for Ryou's being called 'Bakura-san' as much as the fact that neither really remembered either of them ever being called 'the other one.' "How should I know?" Bakura asked. "It was before I met him."

"And you don't share his memories?" Hio-san asked.

"Of course not," Bakura said in mild surprise. "Why the heck would I? I have my own."

"From Egypt."

The glare returned. "Yes, from Egypt. What are you getting at?"

"So you don't have your own memories from the time the other Bakura-san was born to the time you took control?"

"I told you. I was trapped in the Ring with a demon."

"Do your memories ever coincide with the other Bakura-san's?" she asked, pointing back and forth with her pencil between Bakura and an invisible figure apparently sitting to his left.

Bakura's eyes narrowed. He really didn't like where this was going.

***

-Two Hours Later-

***

"So," Yugi asked, "how did it go, Bakura-kun?"

The small boy's constant smile faltered at the sight of the white-haired yami's face. He looked as though he'd seen a ghost—which, given that it was Bakura, didn't make much sense.

"Bakura-kun?" Yugi asked. "Are you okay?" Bakura didn't seem to hear him, and kept walking. Yugi panicked.

"Ryou!" he exclaimed, running forward and stopping the taller boy with a hand on his elbow. "What happened?"

A flash from gold, and a warm but worried chocolate gaze looked down at him. "Ano... Yugi? I think perhaps this might have been a bad idea."

Yugi blinked. "Ryou, what happened?"

The taller boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, Hio-san has spent the last two hours picking apart the differences and similarities between Bakura and myself—what he'd tell her, at least—and trying to convince him that we're the exact same person, our separation of personas is self-induced, and that he has no powers."

Yugi blinked. Again. "That's crazy."

"You know that, and I know that," Ryou agreed. "But she kept insisting that it's all in our head—that he's delusional. She's good; she almost had me convinced."

Yugi shuddered. "Okay, that's creepy."

Ryou nodded. "Yes. I think perhaps it would be best if we didn't come back here again."

"Agreed." The boys turned to leave—

—When Hio-san popped her head out the door. "See you next week, Bakura-san!" she called with a cheery wave.

Yugi pulled his next step short to avoid crashing into the boy in front of him, who had frozen at the sound of the doctor's voice. Yugi saw a flash of gold, and glancing up saw locks of white hair curving into horns—and felt nearly yanked off his feet when Yami pulled partial control to leap them out of the way, a mere split-second before it happened.

"GYAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Bakura let out with a strangled yell. "NO! I can't TAKE it anymore!" Everyone else in the room stood frozen, and Bakura spun, Ring glowing blue as it cut the air in a wide arc, taking supreme advantage of his having finished that session—and praying, just praying that it counted.

His eyes were wide, his irises red and narrow, and the horns of his hair looked sharp enough to cut. "PENALTY GAME!" he screamed, pointing a finger directly at the doctor's face.

Everyone. Froze.

For a moment, nobody breathed.

//Please,// Ryou thought,//don't let it have worked.//

Please, Bakura thought, let it have worked.

Onegai, Yugi thought, don't let it have worked.

//Oh,// Yami thought, //NO.//

The good doctor blinked a few times. Then she knitted her brows, and tilted her head to one side. "...Who are you, exactly?"

Bakura smirked in triumph, lowering his arm. "I, dear Hio-chan, am a delusion."

The woman blinked quizzically.

Bakura's smirk cracked into a fanged sneer. "I'm a figment of your imagination, Hio-chan. That's right. You've spent the last four hours psycho-analyzing a figment. You're delusional, Hio-chan.

"After all," he added, spreading his arms, "look at me. Do I look real to you? Red-brown eyes." He pointed at his right eye. "Hair—" he pointed to his horns "—that defies gravity. My jacket—" he grabbed his lapels and shook them, making the tail wave "—defies gravity. My pendant—" he shook the still-blue Ring "—glows. Do I look real to you!?"

Hio-san only stared, her jaw going slack.

Bakura sneered at her. "Good luck with the rest of your clients, Hio-chan. I hope the next one's real." Then he turned and strode out the open door.

There was a pause, wherein Hio-san stood there in confusion and an appalled Yugi looked with horror back and forth between the shrink and the open doorway.

After a moment, Yugi pulled his jaw up, swallowed, and turned to the doctor. "Ano... Hio-san?"

This seemed to knock the woman loose from her stupor, as she jumped, then shook her head as though trying to clear it. "Crazy people are starting to rub off on me..." she muttered.

Yugi tried again. "Are you okay, Hio-san?"

She looked at him as if only just noticing he was there, and her eyes bugged. "Puh—!" she said, pointing at him. He blinked.

"Hio-san...?" he took a step forward.

This was apparently a bad idea, as the woman leapt back, the arm pointing at him now shaking. "Puh... puh-puh-puh-puh!"

Yugi blinked.

"Purple!" she finally shrieked.

...

"What!?" Yugi burst out.

"PURPLE!" she repeated, pointing from one of his eyes to the other. Then her own eyes widened, as her gaze slid higher. "Geh..." she choked out, pointing once again. "Guh..."

"Hio-san?"

"GRAVITY HAIR!" she shrieked, before letting out a final scream, turning on the balls of her feet, and pelting back into her office, slamming and locking the door behind her.

Yugi stood there for a moment with his mouth hanging open. Then:

"BAKURA!" he hollered, turning and pelting out the door.

This time, he actually was lifted off his feet, by Bakura's hand on his jacket collar as he shot past.

The thief set Yugi back down and crossed his arms. The smaller boy looked up at him. The yami's still-red eyes were narrow, his jaw set. Yugi's eyes bugged at him.

"Bakura!" he exclaimed. "Put her back!"

Bakura burst out laughing. "And why should I?"

"Please, Bakura, it's not right; she was only doing her job—"

"No," the thief intruded with a sadistic grin, turning and walking off.

"Bakura-kun!" the small hikari shrieked, chasing after him. "Stop! Put her back!"

"No," the yami repeated, still laughing. "Though I might have to if my own hikari doesn't shut up."

"Ba-kurr-aaa!" Yugi whined.

"Oh hush, Chibi-Yugi. You should be pleased; I must admit I feel much better now."

"Bakura-kun that's not the point."

The thief seemed to ignore him. "And it was more than worth it for what she said about your hair."

"Bakura!" Yugi turned pink. Once more, Bakura burst out laughing.

Yami! Yugi shouted across his link with his other. Help!

What he got in return was a snort of suppressed laughter.

Yami, it's not funny!

Another snort, suppressed with more difficulty this time. //Sorry,// the Pharaoh replied with definite amusement in his voice. //You're right, it's not funny.//

You have the same hair! Yugi snapped.

This time, the Pharaoh laughed outright.

Shut up! Yugi whined. And anyway, help!

//What do you want me to do, Aibou?//

Fix her!

//I can't undo a Shadow Game, Yugi, not one enacted by somebody else.//

Then make him do it!

//You think I can?//

You can try!

//Give me control, then.//

-shift-

//Fine. Now help!// Yugi pleaded.

Yami chuckled to himself. "Touzokuou."

Bakura glanced back at him with a smirk. "Pharaoh."

"My hikari wants me to ask you to undo your last Shadow Game."

"Does he?"

"Mm."

"Well. Now you've asked," Bakura noted, fangs glinting.

"That I have," the Pharaoh returned with a smirk.

//YAMI!//