Nikolai still stood in the boy's way. He wasn't going to move. With the way the boy spoke to him it only made his anger raise even more. That's when he finally lashed out. Usually he didn't hit or touch other people. He reached out lightening fast and snatched the boy by the shirt collar. He soon let out a sound that seemed like a dog's growl. He forced the boy back against the wall and his eyes narrowed. He looked like a snake that was about ready to strike. When Nikolai was angry most people called him a rattle snake. When the male yelled or snapped out on someone that was when his rattle was moving and when that person didn't seem to back off or get what he was saying that was when Nikolai took his first strike.

He soon smiled, but it wasn't warm. The smile was cold and cruel. This was a smile that a bully might have when they had a hold of their prey and was ready to beat them within an inch of their life. With his free hand he got ready to hit the boy. He had enough of the way this boy treated people. "You want to talk bad and be like that trash in the city then I will show you what happens to trash like that." He said his voice so cold that it would bring shivers down the spines of those that had never seen him like this before. He hadn't hit anyone in a long time and for him to do it now would surprise his mother, but he didn't care. He was sick of this boy and he was going to show that he was.

Now he was going to punish the boy. He knew that most wouldn't agree with this, but he didn't care. He didn't think kids should be brought up this way. Because of his abusive step father Nikolai didn't deal well with people that snapped out at others or hurt others feelings. He was a good boy when he wanted to be and he could be dangerous when he wanted to be. Bakura had finally drove Nikolai to the point of dangerous. He wanted to hurt someone and the only one that was around that he could hurt was this boy. He was going to show the boy what it was like to hurt. The first place he punched the boy was in the stomach and he did it hard. "That's the feeling of not being able to have children you little bastard." He growled.

His friendliness was finally gone. He was sick of being friendly. He soon hit the boy in the face. He could have done more damage if he had wanted to, but he didn't. He soon released the boy and walked towards the door. "You talk to me... Your glare at your mother or my mother... You talk to your parents... Like you did tonight... You do any of that ever again... I won't go as easy as I did." He growled and that's when he left the room shutting the door.

James was about to go up, but was caught between his wife and his foster son who sprinted up the stairs. He watched as the other teenager at the table got up and went to go talk with Bakura. Then, the woman at the table went over to Lily, who was holding back tears. Lilian heard Sophie's voice and glanced at her, then her eyes went back to the floor. James went to the other side of his wife and put a hand on her shoulder, just patting it quietly.

Bakura slammed the door to his room and punched a wall, then kicked his dresser, and to end it, he yanked of his hat and threw it at the ground. When his door opened, Bakura started to yell, "Get out of here, James!" When he turned and saw Nikolai there instead. When he heard the cold voice, he immediately tried to leave, but couldn't. The blonde stood in between each side of the door frame.

He didn't know what to say through the entire speech given to him. It angered him. It angered him that this blonde was trying to get into his life, try and fix things, try and tell him where he should be. I want to be back in the city. Abused, or not. In the orphanage, or not. He hated that orphanage. But not as much as he thought he hated it here.

At his last sentence, that's when Bakura interrupted. "If you don't even know everything about this so-called "family" why do you care? Why did you come up here to talk to me? If you care about those kind, loving parents, go talk to them! Don't follow me!" He took a step forward. There was a sting on his cheek. It was the feeling he got from being slapped by those instructors. He yelled all the time at the orphanage. And no matter how much they punished, the more he screamed, yelled, kicked, and tried to run away.

"I'd gladly get out of here.. If you'd move out of the way."

Nikolai looked over at the boy as he lashed out at his foster mother. He suddenly felt something inside himself snap. He had never been the one to listen to something like this. He had never been the one to let anyone get away with snapping at their parents. It was wrong. Everything that boy said was wrong. He felt fire flare up in him and he stood up quickly as the boy ran for the stairs. He looked down at his own mother and gave her a strained but kind smile. "Please... Mom... Comfort Lily... I have something I must do." He said. He soon turned and headed for the stairs. Before he got too far away from the table Sophie grabbed his arm and looked at him. "You know that this isn't right. Its really not something I should let you do." She said softly.

Nikolai gently pulled his arm away from her and then offered her a shaky smile. "Don't worry. I just want to talk to him." He said. With that said he walked up the stairs leaving his mother alone with Lily and James. He had something to say alright and it was going to be something that he had wanted to say to someone like this boy for a long time. Sophie soon got up and walked over to Lily. He hadn't seen someone sad in a long time. She reached out and took one of the woman's hands and looked at her. "Its alright don't cry." She said softly. She had always been the type that soothed people. Nikolai looked around upstairs, but he knew who's room he was going to.

He opened the door without knocking and he looked at the boy his eyes blazing with anger. He hadn't been this angry in a long time. He soon crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at the male. "That was wrong of you." He said his voice going cold and hateful. It didn't seem like his voice could go that cold. He was usually warm and friendly, but all of that was lost. Everything that he had tried to hold back suddenly had came to the surface and it wasn't at all pretty. He soon smirked coldly and made sure he was standing in front of the door so that if the boy decided he was going to try and leave that he couldn't. He narrowed his eyes at the boy and let his smirk grow colder.

He had never liked the people from the city, but he could see that this family was trying. The only one that wasn't trying was their son. He was going to make him hurt. He would probably end up doing it mentally though instead of physically since his mother didn't want him hurting the neighbors just because of where they came from. He soon decided that he was ready to speak. What he had to say wasn't going to be at all nice. "You are cruel. She could have decided to leave you to be homeless. She could have let you go to an abusive family... But maybe that's what you want. Maybe that's what you need." He said his voice growing even colder as he spoke.

"Your a brat that needs and ass beating. You don't know how to treat your parents or the people that are trying to be nice you. You have no right to say what you did to your mother. Foster mother or not. You are city trash just like all of the other people that come here from the city. I didn't like you when I first seen you and I like you even less now. You shouldn't have been adopted by such a good family. You should have been left to be taken in by someone that would beat you every day of your life. You should have been left in the city to rot and burn. Just because of someone taking you in and spending their money on you doesn't mean you can walk all over them. She didn't get you to replace something she can't have. She got you because she apparently wanted to give you a better life..." He soon stopped to take a deep breath only to start all over again.

"You don't deserve the life they have given you. You deserve to be wherever you were before. I can't believe the way you just treated her. You never say something like that to someone. That is like a punch to the stomach. That would be like me telling you that you couldn't have kids and that you will never be able to have kids because no one wants you to produce." He snapped. Soon he stood there breathing hard. He soon uncrossed his arms and balled his hands into fists. "You think you know why they adopted you... You don't. Neither do I, but I have a good feeling that they love you more then anything else in the world and they just want you to be happy. Apparently they weren't happy in the city. So what. They are happy here and you should respect that... Maybe if you can't respect that... Then you should just get out of here." He snarled.

"Oh! Yes, no problem." Lily nodded, "Sophie.. I have to remember that.. I'm Lilian, this is my husband James.. And this is our son, Bakura." She never called him a foster son, pointing to the Asian male at the end of the table. She frowned, now noticing he wasn't eating. He was sitting with a blank look on his face and the fork in a tight grip, seeming to be deep in thought about something.

"Baku?" Lily called across the table and Bakura's eyes flicked, glancing up at his foster mother. "I'm Bakura." He looked back down, but James went at it now. "We weren't asking for you to introduce yourself. We want to ask you if you're eating."

"Isn't sitting here enough? You guys never invite people over.." He said it as if the company wasn't there. Lily didn't like this at all. "Bakura. Don't talk like that. You should be happy they're here. We're friends with neighbors."

"Don't say "we're friends". You guys are. Who said I make friends?" Bakura put down the fork.

"Even if you want to be rude.. you haven't eaten anything since we've gotten here.. Please, just eat something." Lilian changed the subject and Bakura didn't answer. "Baku. I don't care if there are friends here or not. I will force you that food like you're a baby." Bakura scooted his chair back, "Don't you dare." A mother's voice came out from the cheerful woman, "You will sit here. Be rude all you want, but you will sit here. And you will eat. I'm not going to starve my child."

"I'm not even your child!" Baku suddenly yelled. "I'm just a homeless kid who sits here and takes your money away!"

"Don't think like that!" Lily raised her voice.

"That's what I am! I'm a replacement! I'm just something there because you can't have it!" Bakura yelled, pointing at his foster mother, "Listen, Lilian! I know you don't care about what I think. I'm just an object that replaced another. You couldn't have a baby, so I replaced that baby. I'm not even your blood, I'm just something you want because you can't have it!"

"Can we calm down?" James said and Lily sat back, on the edge of crying. She put one hand on he mouth and the other on her stomach. Bakura got up and left the room, shooting a glare to Nikolai and Sophie before he went, as if it was their faults. He had no one else to blame. Because he didn't want to blame himself.

Nikolai looked at his mother and smiled. He was glad that they were greeted warmly. This made him happy. He soon ran a hand through his blonde hair and soon walked with his mother to the kitchen to get sat down. He sat down next to his mother and looked around. He got himself what he wanted to eat and then he got the food for his mother. He never minded getting food for her or helping her with stuff. He was always constantly doing something that would make his mother happy. He was glad that no one had asked where his father was. He didn't like that man being called his father. He soon looked at his mother who he didn't think had introduced herself yet and he wondered if she was going to or not.

Soon Nikolai's mother seemed to realize that she hadn't told who she was yet. She knew that was something that she needed to do. She soon smiled as she looked at them. "Well I seemed to have forgotten my manners. My name is Sophie." She said. She didn't mind talking to people though she was really nervous around people when she didn't know what to say or do. She could be the most friendliest person in the world, but sometimes a lot of people didn't see that. She wanted people to love and respect her, but she wouldn't force them to. Nikolai soon smiled. Everyone already knew who he was so he didn't feel that he needed to tell anyone who he was. Soon he looked around the table at everyone. He could feel eyes on him.

He turned just slightly and let his eyes fall on Bakura. He hadn't wanted to come back because he hadn't wanted to talk to this boy. He really hadn't had a choice. He soon ran a hand through his blonde hair. He looked at his mother and smiled softly. He was glad that she was so friendly towards people. It made him really happy that she was going to be around people.

"That's them!" Lily's happy voice rang through the dining room as she ran over to the door. Bakura watched her go and couldn't help comparing her to a child. Sometimes, he was surprised she didn't skip to the door. It was never her fault though.. Lilian was just so small and her personality was as bright as the morning sun. She was a child, it seemed, inside and out.

She opened the door with a big smile on her face, "I'm so glad you two came!" Even if she was expecting three. But she didn't ask immediately about it. She stuck out her hand, shaking theirs and letting them in. James got up from the table and walked down the hall. Out of the suit, but still looking like he belonged in the city. He shook both of their hands too, thanking them for coming. Bakura didn't move. He didn't touch the food; hearing the voices in the other room, he was surprised he didn't vomit already.

Lilian made sure to remove one of the plates and chairs and put them aside, then had everyone sit down. "Well, dig into anything you want.. I made turkey and fruit salad, some mashed potatoes... And I'm not one for leftovers." She giggled, pulling in her chair, her feet just touching the floor when he sat up. James sat and pulled in his chair, nodding. Bakura just stayed sat back, looking like he wouldn't eat. He glanced over at Nikolai, then glanced back away and stared at his mother. They looked somewhat similar. It made him sick again, so he just looked down at the floor.

The woman paid Nikolai for his trouble before he left and went inside. She sighed, hearing absolute silence. Then, she got on her knees and began to finish up the unpacking.



"- And he just stormed into the house and slammed the door..."

"Did you pay that boy?"

"Of course I did, sweetheart.." Lilian wasn't in the usual happy mood, not knowing how to solve their problem with Bakura. James shook his head, "He's joining us for dinner. I hope he knows that."

"I'm sure he will.." Lily was almost done setting the table before James started spreading the food throughout the center of the table. "There. What's for dinner?"

"Nice fresh turkey and a fruit salad." Lily smiled, "NOT from the grocery store."

"I hope it tastes good." James smiled back at his wife, "It smells delicious." Lilian gave her happy giggle and became to brighten up. Before the guests came, Bakura came downstairs. He stopped dead at the table. "... Why is there so much food?"

"You're staying downstairs and eating with our company." James answered, not even having to explain as Baku sat down with a frown. Lilian tied her hair back, still wearing the sundress and bare feet she had that morning. James didn't have his suit, but had formal wear on. Baku kept the hat on at the dinner table.