It was around two in the morning when a sharp cry suddenly rang throughout the Bakura household.

"WAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"HOLY-!" The former Thief King cursed as he fell to the floor. The screams that had woken him sounded oddly high-pitched. He was completely lost, until he remembered what had happened to his 'host.'

"Oh, crap..." Bakura flew down the hall, flying into his hikari's bedroom. "Ryou?!"

The boy was quivering underneath the blankets, just like Bakura had found him the previous morning. The alarmed thief moved over to the bed. "Ryou, what's wrong?!"

Chibi-Ryou didn't crawl out from under the covers- instead, he whimpered just one word:

"Nighmare."

"Nigh- nightmare? Oh, you had a bad dream." The former spirit rubbed the back of his head before shrugging awkwardly. "Right. Well, go back to sleep, I guess." Bakura stood up to leave when he felt a tiny hand tugging on his shirt.

"Way!" Ryou finally let the bed covers slip off his small frame. He was still shaking and his eyes were watery. "Don' go."

The thief sighed and reluctantly sat down on the bed next to his tiny hikari.

"So, what was the dream?"

The doe-eyed child whimpered again. "I'z not nice dream. I'z all dark, an' flying red monster from the sky screams an' it hurts."

It wasn't often that the scourge of Ancient Egypt felt guilty; yet he felt a sharp twinge of regret somewhere in his chest at those words. "Ah. Well, dreams can't hurt you, so you're not in danger... you'll be fine." The former villain moved to stand up, only to find that his hikari still had a good grip on his shirt. Bakura then made the mistake of turning and looking directly into his light's eyes.

The wide, tearful orbs seemed to plead wordlessly with the yami. Bakura soon felt more of that disgusting emotion he'd recently re-learned. Silently cursing his empathy, he relaxed his weight back on the mattress.

"Whatever... you're always complaining that I'm 'nocturnal' anyway." He leaned backwards, allowing his back to rest against the wall. Ryou's new body barely took up half the bed, and the thief managed to pull his legs up in a half-seated position. He folded his arms and watched as the tiny innocent slowly drifted back off into a deep slumber. Soon chibi-Ryou was snoring softly. Bakura couldn't resist making a faint 'hmph' noise in the back of his throat- if the twerp could fall back to sleep that fast, then why the hell did he even need the former spirit there in the first place?!

The sun rose with all of its usual brilliance; only this time its light fell upon two resting forms. The larger body was still resting with his back against the bedroom wall. There was a low grunt, and two crimson-tinged eyes reluctantly blinked opened. The groggy tomb robber scowled as he felt his neck crack- he didn't mean to actually fall asleep like that! Bakura grumbled to himself as he carefully made his way to the edge of the bed. It seemed that his tiny hikari had slept peacefully for the rest of the night, at least. But apparently Ryou felt the shifting of the mattress, because the fair-haired child was soon up and brushing his teeth.

Thankfully, chibi-Ryou was still fond of 'serial', so breakfast was a fairly simple affair. The little boy happily slurped down a bowlful of rainbow-tinted loops while Bakura grabbed his cell phone. It didn't take the pale yami long to learn the current plan, and he soon hung up. Ryou was just trying to dab away the milk drips on his chin when he noticed the 'Grumpy dwarf' returning.

"Right." Bakura pointed one finger at the bewildered tot. "So it seems the blonde dimwits are meeting Yugi at the game shop around noon. So we need to leave soon- go it, runt?"

Ryou blinked his overly-large eyes in polite curiosity. The ancient outlaw nearly groaned- he wasn't sure what was going to fix this mess, but if that damned Pharaoh didn't have the answer...

Suddenly a pair of petite hands lifted up towards the frustrated tomb robber.

"Up?"

The former spirit sighed and hefted the kid up in the air. The boy giggled gleefully.

Bakura relaxed ever-so-slightly. The chibi's laughter was adorable (not that he enjoyed it).

Little-Ryou curled up in his protector's arms. He let out a tiny yawn and closed his eyes.

"Luv ooo."

Bakura blinked. 'What?!'

But the tired tot's eyes were closely shut, leaving a very bewildered yami to carry the sleeping child all the way to the Kame Game Shop. Ryou had faintly started to stir when they reached the middle of Domino City. By the time Bakura was knocking on the game shop door, the hikari was fully awake, and had migrated to hanging onto Bakura's shoulders.

The shop's door opened, revealing the two tomb keepers already waiting background. Meanwhile, a very bouncy head of multicolored hair greeted the duo.

"Hello Ryou, Bakura! Malik and Marik are already here; they told me that you had something to ask... about..." Yugi's chirpy voice faded as he stared at the mini-Ryou clinging to Bakura's back. He paused, threw back his head, and positively roared towards the upstairs level: "YA-MI!"

Little Ryou's eyes grew wider than Yugi's, and the toddler buried his face in Bakura's shoulder.

Marik was somewhat confused (he still had some trouble remembering that 'Yami' actually meant 'The Pharaoh'- and not himself or Bakura).

Malik was staring blankly- he had no idea Yugi could yell like that. Hell, he didn't know Yugi could actually get that steamed!

And Bakura was just trying to figure out what the bloody devil was happening, when there was a sound from above.

There was a swift hammering of footsteps down the stairs, and Yami rushed to Yugi's side.

"Aibou! Are you alright?! What's going... on..." Two vivid, magenta eyes slowly drifted over the group; but they stopped once they reached chibi-Ryou. He was still piggy-backing on Bakura's shoulders, and only gave Yami a cursory glance.

The former pharaoh gulped heavily before slowly stepping backwards. "I, uh, believe I left the oven on-"

"You don't know how to work the oven, Yami." Yugi's voice was surprisingly frosty. He frowned at his (now very nervous) boyfriend and folded his small arms across his chest. "Well?"

"Er... um... it was a mistake?"

Bakura's face began heating up with fury. "What the- this isyour fault?! You Ra-damned pharaoh! I'm gonna take your fu- *mtpth!*"

Malik's tanned palm was now positioned over the angry yami's mouth, blocking his threats.

"Language, Bakura! Sheesh, seriously; how many times do we have to go over this?" The blonde shook his head before turning to the taller Game King. "So, Yami; do you know what happened to Ishizu's book? Yugi said you were asking about her personal library collection last week."

The past ruler seemed slightly embarrassed, and his face tinged as he replied.

"Yes... I, erm, 'borrowed' the book so I could use it."

Everyone (save perhaps the tiny boy on Bakura's back) stared as they waited for Yami's explanation.

The ancient ruler seemed strangely abashed. "I... was trying to perform a spell."

"Yeah, it worked." Malik responded dryly.

Marik gave the enchanted Ryou a brief glance before naively commenting. "Congrats, it's a boy!"

Yugi frowned in disbelief. "But Yami, why on Earth did you use a spell to turn Ryou into a baby?!"

To his credit, the ancient game master did seem very upset. "I didn't mean for it to affect Ryou! I don't understand..."

"Well then who did you mean to use it on? Me?" Yugi stared in disbelief.

"Erm, no." The former spirit looked away, clearly embarrassed. "It was meant for... *mumble*."

Yugi sighed. "Louder, Yami."

Yami let out a huff of indignity and reluctantly spoke up. "It was meant for- me. I was trying to make myself younger."

Yugi gasped. "Yami, that's really dangerous! Why would you do such a thing?!"

The Pharaoh seemed a little dejected. "Sometimes it bothers me... how I'm over 3,000 years old, and you're still a teenager." He sighed. "I love you, Yugi, but I can't help but wonder if it's a little wrong..."

"Yeah, it is pretty creepy when you think about it." Malik casually remarked, earning him mirrored glares from the rainbow-haired duo. "What?!"

"Yami, you were sealed in an inescapable void for thousands of years- I highly doubt that counts as normal 'aging.'" Yugi gave an exasperated smile. "Besides, you're definitely less mature than Ryou or I- didn't you nearly blow up the television yesterday?"

The pharaoh frowned in protest. "The TV said he was going to take over the world, aibou! He looked serious!"

"That was just a children's show, Yami. It's all pretend, remember?"

"But he seemed serious when the hotel prank explod-"

Yugi quickly interrupted his partner. "Anyway, I think you're perfect just the way you are." Yugi gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to emphasize his feelings. "So please, don't do anything dangerous?"

The former ruler grinned and returned the favor with a kiss to his little one's nose. "As you wish, Aibou."

The Thief King snorted before pointedly clearing his throat. "Eh-hem! This is all very cuddly-cutesy-nauseating; but I think you're missing the point here: Ryou's a toddler, and I think we'd all prefer him to be his real age again, am I correct?" Bakura scowled as the two game shopkeepers broke apart.

Malik suddenly gasped and clapped his hands together. "Oooh! Oooh! Wait! I just had an idea- why don't you turn Bakura into a baby?! He might be cute, and then we could control him!"

Malik gave the thief a smug look, as if to remind the thief that he couldn't swear.

Bakura flipped him the bird instead.

"Hey!"

The former Pharaoh nodded, clearly amused. "That's not a bad idea," Bakura used his favorite finger yet again, "-but perhaps we should handle Ryou's situation first." He stepped towards the toddler. "Let me look at him."

The former spirit of the Millennium puzzle stepped up to the Thief King's shoulder. He stared right at the child's eyes and smiled.

"Hello, small one."

But Ryou started trembling. He didn't know why, but for some reason seeing that man made him really scared. It reminded him of the time he fell down the front steps- it hurt.

Yami seemed oblivious to Ryou's distress.

Bakura, on the other hand, wasn't pleased. "Pharaoh. You're scaring the kid. Piss off."

Yami was rather annoyed that the Thief King presumed to be better at child-care than him. But Yugi sensed the tension, and gently pulled his partner aside. "Here, Yami; let me try first- he's known me longer." The short teen looked upwards at the small child in Bakura's charge.

Yugi gave his gentlest smile. He spoke very softly. "Hello, Ryou- my name is Yugi. Do you remember me? We sometimes played cards together."

There was something familiar about those amethyst eyes... they made mini-Ryou feel warm, like he wasn't alone.

Ryou reached out to the nice boy and hugged his arm.

"-Oogey."

Apparently 'oogey' translated to 'Yugi.'

The rainbow-haired hikari gladly held the other light while the remaining Egyptians worked to figure out the counter-spell. The six duelists gathered in Yugi's room, where the once-ruler had hidden the spell-book. Yami carefully brought out the large tome from its hiding place under their bed, and placed it on top of the mattress. It did not take the group long to locate the spell that Yami had used, and the (mercifully) simple steps for reversal.

Yugi and Marik kept young Ryou entertained, while Malik, Bakura, and the Pharaoh brought together the few ingredients needed for the spell. It was fortunate that Yugi's grandfather was a stickler for good cooking, and insisted on a well-stocked spice rack.

Bakura looked over the ancient ingredients list, remarking aloud which plants were needed. "Alright... comfrey... chamomile... nettle... along with some celandine and fennel."

"Ishizu gave me a bag of some of her more basic 'supplies'- I think we should have everything we can't find in the kitchen in here." Malik quickly lifted a large sack onto the bed. Inside were countless tiny containers, marked with the names of the herbs and minerals within each one.

It didn't take the much longer for the (surprisingly co-operative) group to mix the ingredients into an unappealing paste.

Yugi peered into the bowl and pulled a face. "Ryou doesn't have to eat that, does he?"

But thankfully, the greenish-orange goo only needed to be smeared across the victim's forehead. Bakura took the toddler from the fully-grown duelists, and placed him on the rug next to Yugi's bed. He then took a large glob of the repellent salve and rubbed a thick line across the minute duelist's head.

The boy blinked, before suddenly shuddering. There was a loud sound of cloth ripping, and a pale flash of a golden-tinted light briefly blinded the gang.

"Ow... my head... What-" Everyone blinked as they saw the light-skinned form lying on Yugi's rug. A fully-grown Ryou looked up at the crowd in confusion. "Yami? Yugi? Malik? Marik?" He turned his gaze to the side. "And yami? Bakura, what's going on? Why am I on the floor?" Ryou shifted his arms to push himself up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Malik smirked bemusedly. "You're a little under-dressed right now."

"Eh?" The bewildered hikari looked downwards and let out a yelp. "Why am I naked?!" His face quickly turned the color of Yami's eyes.

"Here, Ryou." Yugi helpfully took the comforter off his bed and wrapped it around his friend.

The pale boy gratefully covered himself with the duvet. "Um, thank you, Yugi- but I'm still very puzzled. What happened?"

"It's a long story." Malik grinned.

"Yes, but first- Yami?" Yugi gave his partner a stern look.

Yami gulped heavily. "Right..." The proud Pharaoh bowed to the now-teenaged boy. "Ryou, I apologize for my actions- I pray you weren't harmed, and I promise that I will never repeat that spell again."

"..." The polite duelist honestly had no idea what to say, so he just went with the simplest reply. "Um, thank you? But I really don't know what everyone is referencing..."

"Oh, right! Hang on a second..." Malik quickly brought out his phone and showed Ryou the pictures he'd taken of the toddler-fied hikari.

The pale teen nearly fainted when he saw the strange images. "Wha- but that's- if you- then- eh?!"

"His royal pain-in-the-ass over here-" Bakura jerked a thumb at the Pharaoh- "was trying to make himself younger for his little runt. But he hit you instead."

By this point Yami was starting to sound rather troubled. "But- it doesn't make sense!"

Ryou tilted his head thoughtfully. "But maybe it does... Yugi, I was over here a few days ago, wasn't I?"

The shortest teen nodded. "Yep, you were helping me hang up my newest 'Duel Monsters' poster."

Ryou nodded. "The poster was in a frame, and when I was looking at the back I got a small lock of hair caught on the nail, remember? And I couldn't get it free?"

Yugi winced and nodded. "And it looked like it hurt!"

Ryou seemed pensive. "We couldn't get it all untangled, so you ended up trimming most of the strands." He turned to look at the former Pharaoh. "My guess is that one or more of those hairs somehow ended up in the concoction that Yami was making-?"

Yugi gasped. "Oh, I see! And then the spell went after you instead!"

Yami still looked distressed. "Yes, but that still doesn't explain why- I did sacrifice a portion of my own body!"

Bakura snorted. "Your hair looks just as ridiculous as always- what the hell did you add?"

"I clipped my nails and added the trimmings to the potion."

The ancient thief blanched. "...you tried to summon the dark powers of the Shadow Realm, and the only thing you gave up was your fingernail clippings?"

"Well I certainly wasn't going to cut my hair!" The past ruler sounded appalled.

Yugi sighed. "So that's what happened- Ryou's hair was more powerful than your, erm, contributions."

Malik shook his head up and down. "Yeah, Ishizu always says that magic is strongest when it affects the heart and the mind. So Ryou's hair (which is closer to both) was probably more potent that your fingernails."

But Yami was barely listening. Instead, the troubled Pharaoh carefully pulled the palest hikari aside and gave another bow. "I really do apologize- it was not my intention to cause you any sort of grief."

"No, that's alright- you were just trying to make Yugi happy, right?" Ryou beamed. "There's no harm done, really."

But Bakura seemed to disagree. Ryou flushed as he felt a larger arm wrap around his chest and guide him backwards.

Bakura snarled at the other Ancient Egyptian. "Keep away from my hikari, you moronic magician!"

The past Pharaoh glared angrily at his nemesis. "I am no magician!"

The thief smirked mockingly. "My mistake; that fact has been made very clear."

Yami gaped as he realized that he had, indeed, walked right into that one.

Sensing trouble, Yugi quickly distracted them with the reason for the gathering. "So, is Ryou alright? He won't change back?"

Two crimson eyes widened in terror, but only for an instant. No one noticed.

Malik seemed completely unconcerned. "He should be fine- the book doesn't say anything about lasting effects or consequences. And even if something happens, we have Ishizu's book with the cure, right?"

While the other duelists began reassuring each other and chatting casually, the thief hung back, an uneasy frown crossing his face.

Hours later, Ryou Bakura was sleeping softly in his own bed. The yet-again teenager easily fell into a light slumber in his quiet room. But the hikari's hickory-hued eyes fluttered open when an audible disturbance broke the stillness. A thin figure with brilliant white hair was trying to stealthily make his way around the piles of textbooks on Ryou's floor.

"Nngh... Bakura?" The other boy yawned and rubbed his eyes. "It's really early- what are you doing in my room?"

The thief froze- "I'm... looking for stuff. Stuff to steal." He drew himself up and crossed his arms. "I am still the Thief King, you fool."

But Ryou raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Bakura, you're been in my bedroom plenty of times- you know there's nothing worth stealing (at least, to you) in here."

Bakura paused, not sure how to deflect that logic.

"Wait..." Ryou's face suddenly turned a tad mischievous, and the ancient plunderer felt a sense of foreboding. "You were checking up on me, weren't you?" He pointed teasingly at his yami. "You were afraid that I might change back!"

"NO!" The thief replied a little too quickly. "I just- I just wanted to... mess with your stuff! And blame it on the two blonde jack*sses!"

The pale hikari wasn't fooled. "Hmm, if you say so... well, g'morning, 'Kura."

Bakura snorted- "Yeah, whatev- wait- what did you just say?"

This time it was Ryou's turn to fluster. "Um, g'morning?" His face was growing steadily warmer.

The tomb robber's face broke out into a knowing smirk. "Oh no, dear hikari; I think you remembered something from your 'second childhood' there.

"Um, no?"

Bakura gave a disdainful snort. "Sure, whatever." The former spirit turned away. The yami had almost reached the door when he heard a rather subdued question from behind him.

"Do you mind it?"

He turned to see his hikari looking downwards at the bedsheets. His face was mostly hidden by his long, pure bangs, but Bakura thought he saw a tint of warm pink.

"T-the nickname, I mean."

The fair-haired yami felt his own face warm slightly. "No... you can use it... if you like." He paused for a second before growling out an addendum. "But if you ever call me that around those two blonde morons..."

Ryou smiled as his yami swiftly stepped out of the room. His gaze drifted over to his nightstand, where the picture Malik had taken of the group at KaibaLand last summer still stood. Ryou had been leaning against his yami, gently teasing his darker half. Bakura, meanwhile, had a surprisingly sincere smile on his face, and was pushing back against his light with equally playful force.

Ryou's grin widened as he laid his head back down on the blue bed pillow.

'And yet, something tells me they already know...'