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[Since wiping out the last of the Heartless that had been roaming the island, Kai had for all intents and purposes ceased to exist. He'd holed himself up in the room he shared with Tenar and spent as much time sleeping as he could get away with. The younger boy had managed to drag him out of bed a few times so Kai would shower and eat, but he kept to himself otherwise. What he'd done...it was inexcusable. How could he have let himself slip so far? 'In control of it', sure. More like it had taken control of him. He hadn't given a thought to Ryou or Karasu-

In fact, not giving a thought to either of them right now is the best comfort he can give himself. Instead he's curled up on the couch in a blanket, sketching away, intent on losing himself in the lines of the drawing he's trying to replicate. Tenar had taken Surge out earlier, and Kai has a feeling if the kid comes back to find him in bed again, he's going to get dumped right out of it.]

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[Oh damn this school. Constantly taking things and people that didn't belong to it, and he was almost used to it, but this? He hadn't seen a picture of his mom in years, and everything had been destroyed when his world was. Gone forever, maybe, but here the Creeper of all people had his slimy fingers all over a picture of her...]

Don't talk about my mom. [Kai takes a step forward, eyes locked on the picture. She was...maybe his age in that one? Or a little older, but not by much.]

Who gives a damn about my father. She didn't need him and neither do I. Give me that before I kick your ass.

Like you did before? Want to put a few more marks on my poor host? Heheh... His kindness won't hold out forever if you keep at it, you know.

[He holds it out, then draws it back suddenly.]

I think you owe me an apology for trying to kill me, don't you? I'll just keep this instead, if it's too much for you.

[Those words give him pause, cool his anger for maybe a few seconds, but when Bakura pulls the picture away from him?

Yeah, that's it.]

An apology? Okay.

[Sorry Ryou, he'll explain later. Kai just hauls back and punches the Creeper right in his smug little face. Not as satisfying as lighting his ass up, maybe, but it does the job. That picture is his.]

OW-!

[Ryou recoils, clutching his face in pale hands. What... what just happened?!

What happened is surely obvious to Kai; at the minute Kai's fist flashed out, the spirit simply retreated, leaving his host to endure the pain of impact.]

Damn it!

[Why didn't he see that coming? Idiot! Scooping the picture off the floor only long enough to get it out of harm's way, Kai then reaches out to Ryou.]

I'm sorry! Are you- Let me get some ice, crap-

[He retreats into the kitchen long enough to get a couple hand towels, one wrapped around a few ice cubes.]

Here, I'm sorry, he was- Sorry!

[First attempted murder by Heartless, now this. Poor Ryou.]

[Ryou has to bite back the urge to cry. Ow, jeez... But he's not a kid any more. He swallows back the urge, nodding mutely until Kai returns with the ice-filled towel and taking it for his face.

If he were a more vindictive person he might have told Kai he owed him for life after these two recent incidents. Between Malik, the thief king and Kai, it was like he was an injury magnet.

The cold eases the pain, though he still can't help but sniffle a little. It's embarrassing...]

I'm okay... it just hurts, that's all.

[Sniff.]

It's 'his' fault, right? So I'm not mad...

...He had a picture of my mom...he was saying things...

[Watching Ryou sniffle like that is suddenly making the whole episode with the Creeper seem like the most juvenile incident ever.]

I'm really- damn it, you should get mad. I punched you in the face! Even if he deserved it, you didn't, and-

[Kai groans, burying his face in his hands. He can't do anything right lately.]

[Reaching out his free hand, he pats Kai on the shoulder, not trusting himself to say anything. The chill of the ice is soothing a little and he manages to calm his racing heart enough to get control of himself.]

You shouldn't give him the satisfaction, you know. And I'm not just saying that because it'd mean less pain for me. I know it's easier said than done, but getting that mad when he's probably goading you to get you to do it... it's pretty bad. For you as well.

Did you hurt your hand?

[Kai lifts his head at the touch, frowning. Staying away from Ryou until he learns how to keep his temper better seems like a really good idea, but he'd never be able to. Not after their earlier conversation.]

I know. But- my mom. I-

[He misses her. More than anyone, he misses her, and doesn't even know if she's alive or-

Kai immediately stomps that thought into oblivion and drops his hands away from his face before pausing to bring his left back up. Now that Ryou mentioned it...]

Sorta, yeah. That's funny, I hit him with my left. Being right-handed, you'd think... [He trails off, flexing his fingers. It's not that bad; he's more concerned about his kid brother.] You're sure you're okay, though?

[Ryou nods slowly, setting the ice aside so he can lean over and hug him tightly. It doesn't matter if it hurts his arm, Kai is hurting worse, dammit. He knows how much losing a family member hurts. And being taunted about that... it's enough to make anyone angry. If anyone had talked about Amane or his mother in any kind of taunting way, even his gentle nature would have given way to rage, and Ryou is incredibly hard to rouse to anger.]

...I know. It hurts, right? He was digging into the wounds in your heart in the hope that you'd be unable to stop yourself tearing them open further.

That's why I'm not mad. Because I... would have gotten angry too.

[Letting him go after a moment, he sits back.]

I've had worse. Don't worry.

[He taps the crossed scars below his eye with his nerve-damaged left hand, trying not to look miserable.]

I wonder why you hit with your weaker hand, though... Maybe you were holding back without knowing it.

[It's kind of funny how much he's missed being hugged. There were always tons when he was a kid, and even after he hit the awkward 'Geeze, I'm a teenager, people are staring' phase, he didn't really mind it. Then all he had was 'Jem, and now this.

Kai leans into it and hugs him back, managing a tiny smile when Ryou lets go.]

Remind me not to get on your bad side, huh? I think you might be pretty scary if the right buttons get pushed.

[Ugh, having those pointed out is making him cringe inwardly, even though he had nothing to do with them. Ryou's starting to remind him of a pinata, and it's disturbing.]

Maybe, but my mom's left-handed, you know. It could've been a subconscious thing.

Hehe, hardly! I'm more prone to hurting myself than I am anyone else. The worst I've ever done to anyone else is throw pebbles and that was only at Kaiba-kun.

[Oops. Maybe admitting that was a bad thing. He flushes a little, looking away. Resting that hand on his knee again, he retrieves the ice to press it back against his face.]

Maybe you were defending her honor by taking on her attributes, you mean? Who knows...? It's kind of hard to tell when it comes to subconscious things.

You were throwing pebbles at Kaiba?

[No lecture here, only a muffled laugh. The image of Ryou chucking anything at people is kind of funny.]

I never did go out and get my handprints all over his jet.

[Taking on her attributes? That was a weird idea, and maybe a little creepy. Kai snorts and pushes his bangs out of his eyes.] She'd deny having any honor to start with, then get annoyed that anyone actually thought she needed the defending.

He was kind of a jerk to Yugi-kun. No... really a jerk. Yugi-kun cried for a long time. So I started sitting on the roof and throwing pebbles at him one night with... a friend. He got really mad but he didn't see me, and I just climbed down the side of the building when he went to come up and see who did it.

It was actually pretty cathartic...

[He rubs the back of his head ruefully. His secret shame, revealed. Though he's not admitting he's done it again since then, when Malik pissed him off, and with less discerning targets.]

You still loved her enough to defend her even if she'd reject it. I think that's a good thing.

Yeah, that calls for stoning, all right, even if it's just pebbles. [Making people cry, really? It should've been paint-covered handprints all over the jet.]

Climbing down the side of the building? What, you forgot to tell me you're a superhero? [There's that teasing note again, but he's honestly surprised, too.]

She was a good mom, even if- Never mind. [Kai makes a face as he realizes the cookies are still all over the floor and sets about cleaning them up.] Figures these would be another casualty. Poor things, rest in peace.

[After he disposes of them, he grabs the picture where he left it and takes it back to the couch, dropping down and just studying it before showing it to Ryou. He's very careful not to let go of it.] See, this is where I get my hair from. I don't know about my eyes, really, amethyst didn't run in her family, as far as I know. Just green. ...She never called them purple, you know? Said amethyst sounded prettier. I remember complaining that I wasn't a girl.

[And little Yugi, no less! Ryou smiles a little at that, nodding firmly.]

There were pretty good handholds and this building isn't all that big. It's only one floor after all! I wasn't blindfolded or anything, so it wasn't too hard. Kinda scary, but I tried not to think about it.

[The sight of the broken cookies makes him a little sad, though, and he ignores his pain to go down on the ground and help him with the cleanup.

When Kai shows him the picture, he leans over to look at it, respectfully not touching it.]

She looks kind of pretty... It's pretty cool seeing more people with white hair.

[Huh, come to think of it, Kai and Malik have almost the same colour eyes... they're both purple. He'd never noticed that before.]

'Amethyst'... It's kind of a less flat way of saying it, isn't it? Since amethyst calls up jewels, rather than just paint. Maybe she was trying to make sure you weren't ever self-conscious about them.

I'm used to climbing down rocky cliffs, not buildings, so it's a little weird. [Though he's fallen more than once, with 'Jem lecturing him afterwards.] ...Okay, yes to buildings if there's a ladder, but- wait, where does a blindfold come into this? [Really Ryou, full of surprises, aren't you?]

Yeah, she is. And we just have this weird shade of silver that mostly looks white, depending on the light. [Kai smiles, touching the picture gently before raising an eyebrow.] Huh. Maybe. I don't think she was ever self-conscious about anything, so it'd make sense if she didn't want me to be.

[Considering what he knew about his mom's upbringing, her lack of worry about what others thought always surprised him.]

Eheh... It was back during Duelist Kingdom. We had to sneak around the castle the tournament was being held in at one point, to try to find out if the guy hosting it was cheating. Honda-kun and Anzu-chan and I had to climb up a tower without being seen by the guards, but Honda-kun made Anzu-chan go first so he could catch her if she fell. Only... she was wearing a skirt, so she made us go up blindfolded. We had a rope to climb so it wasn't just the building itself, but it was still the scariest time of my life... After that, I was a lot less scared of climbing, so short distances like this building was pretty okay.

[Even scarier than nearly dying trying to protect his friends from the evil spirit inside of him. Finishing his soda, he throws the can out.]

Silver, then... it's still really cool to look at. Before coming here, only Amane-chan had hair even close to mine.

Hehe, I think it worked a little. You never seem self-conscious about your appearance or anything like that.

Well, there's an adventure for you- ...If you guys were stuck wearing blindfolds, how were you supposed to see to catch her if she did fall? [Maybe that mattered less than a boy seeing up your skirt...He totally knows how girls' think, really.]

Ah, it's just hair. [But he's blushing a little anyway. Tucking the picture into his sketchbook, he stands up to go put that on the kitchen table.] Naw, I'm just self-conscious about other things.

Amane?

I told Honda-kun that, but he just shoved me and told me to keep climbing...

[Sigh. That was such an awful night... and he still doesn't remember how it ended. His blackouts were a real pain.

...that's right. He never did tell Kai anything about Amane, did he?]

Like what? You're pretty good at hiding it.

[His hands twist together and he finally manages to say something. Being silent after mentioning her so abruptly would just be bad, right?]

Amane-chan's my little sister. She's in heaven with mom now. That's why I said I live alone now. Father is always traveling, you see.

No one wants to point out flaws in girl logic and get beat up. [Like when 'Jem had picked out the teddy bear with the white fur and named it after him.]

Eh, just stuff. My art, for one. [Sorry, probably not getting anything else out of him. Kai turns to look at Ryou, biting his lip. What?]

Ah Ryou...I'm sorry.

[Knowing that someone you love is dead seemed worse than not, in his opinion. At least he still had hope.]

I don't understand how girls think at all... She could have gone up in the middle and just had Honda-kun blindfolded.

[That teddy bear sounds perfect for him. Ryou shakes his head slowly. His soft voice is tinged with sadness, but still unerringly calm.]

It happened a long time ago, when I was pretty little. There was an accident. A car went out of control. Father was far away, but he came back really fast when he heard.

[There's an oddly bitter taste in his mouth.]

Don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong by asking. No bad memories to dredge up. I never forgot her. I've been writing to her, telling her everything that's going on. I think... she probably likes knowing.

[That sounds so crazy, but... it's his way of coping.]

That's...terrible. [It really is. Kai never gave much thought to how lucky he was to even have what he did in regards to family. So what if he wasn't his dad's son by blood, at least he had someone that loved him.]

Still, if it bugs you, let me know, huh? [Writes her letters...that's both cute and painful to imagine. Kai has to fight the urge to go hug Ryou again; he's going to end up squishing him. Instead he manages a faint smile.]

I'll bet she does. It's a nice feeling, knowing you weren't forgotten.

[Giving a slow nod, Ryou rests his hands against his knee.]

Don't worry. I won't hold back on telling you.

[A slight smile.]

We're friends, after all. It'd only be worrying if I did.

Yeah...friends.

[Friends that put you aside in their quest for vengeance...damn. Kai pushes the thought away, suddenly smiling wider. Better thoughts...

Ha!]

Hey, once I get my hands on some proper cloaks to go with those swords, we should toss some magic into the adventure. I mean, maybe I could make it snow in the hallway or something. I've almost got the hang of that now.

[There won't be any ice shards raining down, he promises. And speaking of magic...Assuage his guilt, Ryou.]

You want a potion for your leg? I'd try Cura but I don't want to mess it up. The potion'll heal up at least some of it.