Chapter Text
Kaiba opened his eyes slowly, surprised by the brightness that greeted him. He was in his actual body again, he realized as he saw the chandelier of his room. His chin was resting on Bakura's head like nothing was ever amiss. Aside from the dull ache of his head and the pain in his chest, everything felt normal. Normal like he'd undergone too strict of a workout the day before, but pain that was understandable and not otherwordly. Bakura's calm breathing was soothing, and his heartbeat was strong but relaxed.
He didn't like to wake Bakura, he was usually content waiting for the other to come around to being awake, but he needed to know. "Bakura," he whispered, shaking Bakura's shoulder gently.
Bakura hummed sleepily, curling up and pressing his face to Kaiba's chest like that could ward away the dreadful act of waking up. As Kaiba persisted, he languidly answered," Yeah?"
Kaiba swallowed uneasily as he realized he couldn't trust it was actually Bakura- not without seeing his eyes. "Are you back?" he asked softly, his heart skipping a beat as the other hesitated to look up at him. Relief deflated his tensed shoulders as he saw the strong but gentle eyes look up to him.
Bakura's eyes winced as he saw the clear pain melt away from Kaiba's face. Returning to burying his face, he muffledly apologized," I'm sorry, I must have worried you so much."
"I'm just glad you're back," Kaiba assured him, hugging him close. Bakura gave another apology. He was tense in his arms now, and Kaiba continued," It was a small journey for a very worthy cause. We're both okay now, that's all that matters."
Bakura peered to the side, where he could faintly make out the Spirit of the Ring sitting on the edge of their bed. He'd never experienced more than an ominous voice, not that he could remember. It was unnerving to see him, but comforting that he could almost keep an eye on him.
"He's watching us," he decided to inform Kaiba, afraid to keep any secret no matter how small. The thief was barely a glimmer of an image, but Bakura clearly saw his head tilt curiously. It was new for both of them, and would definitely take some getting used to.
Kaiba instinctively adjusted his embrace to be more defensive, like he could ward away the harmful presence. How to handle the thief's return was going to be troublesome. It didn't seem right to keep Bakura with the very monster that abused him, but Bakura seemed sure that he was worth saving, and Kaiba respected his autonomy. Independence was so important to Bakura, and Kaiba knew he couldn't undermine that no matter how he felt of his choices.
"He can't do anything anymore," Bakura said, though he smiled at the sudden protectiveness. "Not really. He doesn't have the same power he did before." Bakura averted his eyes as he received a murderous look from the thief. This only encouraged him that he was right though, the thief did nothing but fume quietly.
"His soul…" Kaiba recalled. Apparently he was running on just about empty.
"He always had a nasty habit of sealing pieces of his soul where they didn't belong," Bakura commented, returning his gaze to look the thief right in the eyes. He wasn't afraid, and he wouldn't make it seem like he was. "I guess I'm not very surprised to find another sliver."
Kaiba thought this over, guilt roiling in his stomach. A poignant question still nagged at his brain. How was the thief here? If it was really because of him bringing back the Millennium Ring, Kaiba didn't know how he'd ever be able to forgive himself. "How did he come back? I thought his soul was purged from the Ring."
"I don't know," Bakura admitted. "He hasn't mentioned it."
"I could explain, if I felt up to it," the thief murmured, looking off in the other direction like he was bored.
"But apparently he knows," Bakura added.
Kaiba wondered how it worked, if they could have whole conversations in private. He could tell Bakura was looking at a target of interest, so he assumed there was an actual source outside of his mind to look at, but was the voice distant, or did it sound like it was right there in his head? Deciding to save the less important questions for a different time, he asked," Is he going to share?"
The thief shook his head, the glimmer of his image like a flickering old movie that was missing frames. Bakura rolled his eyes and answered," No, I don't think so."
Kissing the crown of Bakura's head, Kaiba said," Well, I'm more concerned with the fact that you're here. Let's celebrate." Kaiba was too drained to get out of bed, so he ordered for the raspberry chocolate mousse to be brought in.
"He did tell me how I woke up," Bakura said halfway into enjoying their desserts. He sucked on his spoon timidly, and then quietly voiced," Thank you."
They were still curled up together, which made eating his mousse a little difficult for Kaiba. It was worth the effort though. "Of course," Kaiba dismissed, like the gratitude was unnecessary. He would have never considered doing any less than what was necessary to save someone so important to him. The thief was an unreliable narrator though, Kaiba was sure, so he asked," What did he say?"
"You gave most of your soul, almost too much, and kissed me awake," Bakura answered, then laughed a little sheepishly. "It's like a fairytale. I'm glad the clichés work in the real world too."
Kaiba was glad that how they were sitting, Bakura wouldn't be able to see him blush. "Well, the thief didn't lie." This time.
~~
~~
Bakura was treating Mokuba to cheesecake at a local cafe he loved coming to. His was topped with strawberries, and Mokuba had chosen chocolate the second he saw it on the daily menu. It was after school on a thursday, which Bakura had kind of turned into their mandatory sweets day of the week.
The thief watched silently, testing his new awareness that let him see more than only what Bakura did. They didn't quite have it figured out. When he tried to speak, it was distorted, and he couldn't hold a firm image yet. Bakura insisted he work on it; It felt more open, easier to trust what he could see. The thief had yet to take a stance on if he intended to practice or settle back to just not interacting at all. He was starting small with bit comments here or there.
Mokuba was excitedly telling Bakura all about a funny interruption in class that day when he broke off suddenly. Bakura looked up from his cake curiously, surprised by the serious look on Mokuba's face. No kid had any business looking that downright serious while eating cheesecake. He could be reading a eulogy with that expression.
"Speaking of coming back…" He had been talking about the kid who came back to class after the incident. "Um, my brother and you are back."
They'd missed a day of school from the soul room adventure. It hadn't exactly been blink and you miss it occurence. Bakura supposed it was only natural that Kaiba would have informed his brother at least a little bit about what went on. That was a long time to be locked in one's room, and with his history of dealing with Ancient Egyptians, Bakura supposed it was only natural he'd feel the need to warn his brother he may be gone for a while.
"Yes, I was trapped in my soul room," Bakura confirmed, not feeling the need to leave any of the situation up to mystery.
"Is… the other Bakura still here?" Mokuba was hesitant, unsure if he should bring it up, but he wanted to know.
"Of course I am, brat," the thief said, receiving an off hand glare from Bakura.
Bakura tentatively answered," Yes, he is." He wondered how much Mokuba knew about the whole ordeal with him having another soul like Yuugi had. He wasn't actually sure how much Mokuba knew in general concerning the Dark Games and the Egyptian lore. He was sure Mokuba knew more than he let on, a Kaiba was a Kaiba after all, and they'd collect all the information around them no matter how it shattered their world views.
"Okay," Mokuba said with a shrug, trying to play cool though clearly a little perturbed. "I was just wondering."
"May I ask why?"
Mokuba embarrassedly looked away. "Well, I think he was the one knocked me out a few months ago."
"He what?!" Bakura cried out a little to loud for the public space. Mokuba donned a neutral expression, but Bakura looked absolutely distraught. The thought of having harmed a single hair on Mokuba's head with his own hands, even if was someone else's mind…
"I never really brought it up since you seemed so different, and I didn't want to remind my brother since he needed you." Mokuba shrugged again, trying to laugh it off like not that big of a deal. He'd been so relieved when Bakura started coming over regularly, figuring it must have meant his brother had actually opened up to someone. Mokuba had been so worried about him, but he just wasn't the right person for his brother to confide his problems to. Mokuba was pretty sure his brother would rather never speak again than admit he was hurting to his little brother.
Bakura looked to the thief with furious eyes, demanding an explanation. The distorted iamge of the thief was immediately defensive.
"What? He wasn't important to you then!" the thief protested, raising his arms to the side to form a questioning gesture. "I needed to motivate his brother to fight somehow, landlord." As he'd gotten good at, he disappeared, back to distantly observing Bakura's life.
Oh, the thief was getting a talking to once they were back home. Bakura was absolutely livid. He kept it away though, for now. Mokuba wouldn't understand his sudden anger. Instead, he showed the other half of how he felt. Pure sorrowful guilt.
"I'm so sorry, Mokuba. I didn't realize." Bakura ran a hand through his hair, sighing at the new knowledge. "I never even knew. It must have been hard for you to even look me in the eye."
With a cheeky grin, Mokuba proudly proclaimed," Nah, I'm the toughest middle schooler around! I'm not afraid to look anyone in the eye!"
Bakura smiled warmly, propping his cheek up with one hand. Sometimes he was envious of the confidence the Kaiba's radiated. "You certainly are. Still, I'm sorry about that. I hope you weren't ever… uncomfortable around me. I'm really sorry if you were." Retroactive guilt roiled in his stomach as he thought back to the first few times he'd offered to pick up Mokuba from school or take him out for ice cream. What if all Mokuba could see was the man who'd punched his lights out…? Or worse? How did the thief do it?
With the bluntness only children could manage, Mokuba asked," You won't lose control to him, will you?'
"No," Bakura promised, though his grip on his fork tightened so his knuckles paled. He didn't know. He was suddenly afraid of what the future had in store for him. What if he hurt Mokuba again?
He hadn't had fear for himself. He could take whatever tumbles came his way as far as his own health in dealing with this spirit. If more harm should come to Mokuba on the other hand… Bakura smiled as his stomach began to turn with apprehension.
"Awesome! Now where was I with that story…? Oh, right, so Tanaka comes back into the room just wailiing…"
Bakura listened politely, finding it hard to enjoy the rest of his cheesecake.