Under Circumstances || Better Titled: What The Hell Are You Doing, Kaiba?

If you want to be free from this, you'll have to kill them all, Kaiba.

Blood spattered over the side of Siegfried's vehicle.

Bakura turned to me, a smile on his face.

He was excited.

He had gotten to use the gun.

Had this been more important to him than the trust I had given to him?

No.

That couldn't have been it.

He was just glad now, glad that he had gotten the chance to prove himself.

He had done good.

No one else had noticed the Walker which had come in from the town, which had been stumbling toward our group.

Bakura had done good in shooting it before it had been able to get closer to us than it had. It seemed that it had been closest to Von Schroeder. If anyone needed to be thanking Bakura, it was him.

If I had decided upon keeping the duty of protecting everyone to myself, we would have lost Siegfried. I knew now that it was best we left that duty with the one of us who was the least busy. Bakura had never been given many responsibilities, we never had relied on him much. It was clear to me now that he was one of out best players.

I took a moment to calm down after having heard the gunshot.

Jounouchi and Mutou stood speechlessly behind me.

Out of all of us, Von Schroeder was the one who showed the most fear. He had every right to.

He had almost died.

What would I have done if we had lost him?

I didn't want nor need to think of it.

Before I realised it, I was rushing to Siegfried.

I pulled him into my arms.

I didn't want to lose him.

I didn't want to lose anyone.

The embrace I shared with him was stiff, at least, until he had calmed down. He relaxed in my arms. Soon he was tightly holding onto me, as though he didn't wish to let go.

I allowed us to stay in this embrace for a while longer.

I didn't take notice of the other two joining Bakura at out side.

They also ignored the two of us, as well as they could.

I could hear them talking, praising Bakura for his shot.

A comment made by Motou seemed only to concern me.

"How did you know you wouldn't miss? If you had, you'd have hit Siegfried."

I held him tighter now.

I felt him trembling in my arms.

With desperation I felt myself holding tighter and tighter. I held him as close as I could.

Von Schroeder was my friend.

I could have lost him.

So easily.

If I had made any choice different, he wouldn't have been here now.

The weight sunk in.

Each choice was vital.

Each choice led down a different path.

Each choice held the weight of our lives on it.

I needed to think more clearly before making decisions.