Untitled

Ame no Mizu

Chapter one:

Theft Unnoticed

(The Game Begins)

Ryou Bakura stepped out of the bathroom into the biting chilliness of the hallway, toweling his hair dry. He hummed to himself a tune he'd heard on the radio earlier, one that he couldn't remember the name of. But the song had had a haunting kind of melody to it, and Ryou couldn't help but like it.

He stepped into his bedroom and abruptly stopped humming. His yami was hanging halfway out of the window, and Ryou could hear him swearing softly to himself. Ryou knew this meant only one thing-Bakura was going out tonight.

Ever since their house had been broken into several months earlier, Bakura had insisted on setting small traps outside every opening to the house, even though Ryou had explained to him that his father had installed a new alarm system after the break-in. But the stubborn spirit would hear none of it.

Sighing, he walked over to his bed and sat on it, thinking. He smiled at the glass chess set assembled on his bedside table and picked up a rook, rolling it around in his fingers.

This chess set was the last thing Ryou had to remember his mother by. It had been hers when she was a little girl, given to her by her own mother. When she'd died, her husband had given it to her last living child-Ryou. He'd had a sister and two brothers, but they'd died years ago.

Amane, his little sister, had been in the car accident that had instantly killed his mother. The girl had died at the hospital from head trauma and heart complications. She was only three. Her twin brother, Anthony, had also been in the car, and died several minutes later.

Ryou's older brother, however, was a bit of a mystery. Ryou wasn't sure how he'd died, or when. All Ryou knew was that he definitely existed, and that he wasn't 'with us anymore', according to his father. His parents had never spoken of him, except when they were alone and they thought Ryou wasn't listening.

"Done," came his yami's triumphant call from the window, snapping Ryou out of his thoughts. He put the chess piece carefully back in its place, and turned to watch Bakura climb back into the room.

"Going out?" Ryou asked, and the dark smiled.

"You got it," he replied, grinning, "Marik says he can break into the pawn shop downtown-I wanna be there when he gets caught."

They laughed together as Bakura slipped on the jacket Ryou had given him for Christmas.

"I want you to tell me exactly what happened when I wake up tomorrow, okay?" the hikari said as Bakura walked out, "Have a nice time!"

"I suppose you want me to call every hour too, Dad?" Bakura teased, and with a laugh, he was gone.

The figure cloaked in shadows watched the spirit leave and laughed silently to himself. A week he'd been waiting for the thief to finally leave the house.

And finally leave his host alone and unprotected.

He'd done his homework. The boy's father was away on a business trip-he wouldn't be back for another week, longer if he gave in to his old habits. The spirit would also not interrupt him; he was usually out until the early hours of the morning.

He checked his watch; it was five to eleven. He had a space of about two hours before he had to worry about being discovered. That was more than enough time for him. The child was slowly falling asleep, buried beneath his covers. In a half an hour's time, he would be asleep enough for him to make his move.

The time passed quickly as he sat in the tree near the boy's window. He checked his watch again; it was time.

He climbed down and began to scale the brick wall. He reached the window in a matter of minutes, and he inspected the trap the spirit had set. He had to give his victim's yami credit-the trap was well set.

But not well set enough.

He carefully detached the hook from the window frame. Without the hook, he could open the window easily. He lifted the window, and the sharp blade on it glittered in the moonlight.

The trap was clever. When the window was opened, the hook was pulled on. When that happened, it triggered a spring that released a series of weights-which would push the window back down onto whoever was trying to break in.

But this thief was smarter than that.

He carefully climbed into the room and stood there, watching his young victim as he peacefully slept.

Bakura, this is your undoing, I promise you…

Bakura was already in a bad mood when he woke up; he didn't need anything to help him get into one that morning. Marik had pulled it off last night, but that wasn't what pissed him off. What did it for him was that the blonde refused to take anything. What was the point of that?

And there was something else…

Maybe he didn't set it right, but when Bakura came home early that morning, and walked into his hikari's room, he noticed that his trap was unset. Ryou was apparently unharmed, and nothing was taken or out of place, but Bakura was still a little unnerved. Had his hikari been here unprotected all night?

Bakura silently cursed himself. If anything had happened to Ryou because of his carelessness… he would never forgive himself.

"Good morning, yami," called the boy as he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen, already dressed in his school uniform. Bakura smiled and followed him.

"So Ryou," he said conversationally, and the light turned to him, "Anything interesting happen last night?"

"Not really," Ryou replied, "But…"

Something in Bakura's mind panicked.

"But what?" he asked a little too sharply. Ryou looked at him strangely.

"Well… one of my chess pieces went missing," he said, "It was there last night before I went to bed, and when I woke up, my rook was gone. I'll look for it after school."

Bakura told himself to breathe as he relaxed.

"Oh… well, have a nice day at school," he said as Ryou grabbed an apple and prepared to leave.

"I'll see you this afternoon," Ryou replied, "Behave yourself!" The front door opened and slammed shut, and Ryou was gone, leaving Bakura to an empty house.

He wandered back into the living room, collapsing on the couch. Marik would be over soon. He always was (unless, of course, he had a hangover). They would hang out together, waiting for their hikaris to return.

Bakura allowed himself to drift back to sleep, trusting that Marik could get in if he needed to. There was something nagging at him, something he couldn't place. Something dangerous.

He'd discovered his extrasensory talents when he was a little boy, working as a slave in the palace. He remembered it like it was yesterday. He was in a room he'd never been in before and he was afraid of being discovered. He could hear footsteps coming down the hallway.

Then he saw it.

In his mind's eyes, he saw a section of the wall open up and lead to a secret hallway. After the vision, he went to that exact place in the same wall… and it opened.

When the danger was gone, he passed the vision off as pure luck. But the visions didn't stop there. He knew when sandstorms were coming several days before they actually came. He knew where his friends were hiding-no matter where they were. He was in love with Marik years before they actually met.

But… Bakura's visions were always limited. Yes, he knew when sandstorms were coming, but he was never sure where. He knew where a friend was hiding, but not which one. He was in love with Marik, but didn't know what he looked like or sounded like until they actually met.

And now, he knew danger was approaching, but not what form it would take or what its target was. It tore at him to know that someone close to him was in danger, but not be able to do anything.

The front door opened and closed, and Bakura knew it was Marik. The blonde walked in, grinning, and the albino knew something was up.

"What did you do?" Bakura asked slowly, frowning.

"…Nothing…"

"Marik, what did you do?"

"I said nothing."

Bakura suddenly recognized the look in the other yami's eyes and he understood what had happened.

"You jumped Ryou again, didn't you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Marik grinned nervously.

"I can't help it!" he cried, "He's just begging to be jumped!"

"You know he doesn't like that," Bakura said reprimandingly, "He's not interested in you like that…" A slight red spread across Marik's cheeks and he held up his hand, a jumble of envelopes in them.

"Your mail came," he said, and Bakura took them. Marik took off into the kitchen, probably to get rid of his blush.

Bakura let his head fall back down to the couch, looking through the mail. Bill… bill… bill… letter from Ryou's father… flyer from a nearby grocery store…

Then he came across an envelope addressed to… him. He never got mail. But this unstamped, unaddressed envelope had his name, Bakura, printed on it. He tore it open and pulled the letter out. There was something hard and kinda round still in the envelope, Bakura noticed as he unfolded the piece of paper. On it was written only one sentence:

Spirit, he is mine.

Chills ran down Bakura's spine as he turned the envelope upside down above his hand.

Into his palm fell a delicate glass rook.

Chapter Challenge: Okay, this is something new I'm trying. I'm gonna ask you a question that has something to do with the chapter. Whoever answers the entire question first gets a prize of my choosing (usu. A dedication or a story written for the winner… you have to remember that I'm broke and can't afford real prizes).

This chapter's challenge:

What position does the rook stand on the chessboard? In what direction can it move?

Since this is kinda easy, there won't be a very elaborate prize. But as the chapters continue, the challenges will get harder and harder

(Hint for next chapter's challenge: you should brush up on your algebra!!)