This started with a scrap of paper and too much time. Sadly, I now barely remember what it was like to have that much time. In any case, I know the title doesn't make much sense right now, but it will.

Disclaimer: My friends believe that Kajiki's father is dead, drowned in that tragic storm. But as long as Kajiki believes, so will I! *bright lights, triumphant music* Unfortunately, the odds of him finding his father are even better than the odds of me getting my hands on the Yu-Gi-Oh characters… *lights fade, sad violin music*

"No way! What happened to him?"

"Is he alive?"

"Unghh…I hate blood…"

The voices were raised in worry, but Bakura heard none of this. He had left agony behind for now, or he would have been painfully aware of the X-like slashes that crossed his chest.

"He's lucky we found him"

"Yeah. The ambulance is on its way."

"Good." Yuugi studied the limp form supported in Jounouchi's arms. The whole gang had agreed to meet for dinner at Yuugi's place two days before. Everyone had shown up punctually-except for Bakura. After an hour, dinner was cold and everyone was worried. After an hour and a half, they decided to go and look for him. That was how Honda had found him, lying on his back in an alleyway: his face pallid and his trademark sweater soaked in blood.

/What happened, Aibou?/

\I don't know,\ responded Yuugi mentally.

/Let me see./

\Okay.\

Yuugi transformed quietly that time. Yami surveyed the scene silently, trying to catch any clues of what might have occurred. Nothing stood out as he tried to sense any traces of power. Suddenly, it hit him that that was what seemed so strange. He could not detect at all the Sennen ring. He knelt abruptly by Bakura and placed his hand on his chest, carefully avoiding the wound. The ring wasn't there.

Fear rising within him, he scanned the area in the dimming light. If someone should have taken such a powerful item… Then he saw it. It lay by the wall, its cord cut into several pieces. He walked over and carefully picked it up. It remained cold and silent, not giving any clues to what had happened.

The ambulance arrived, siren shrieking in the evening stillness. The friends watched as the emergency personnel loaded Bakura into the back and drove off. Malik went with them, as there wasn't enough room for everyone and he had at least been a close friend of Bakura's Yami. The rest of them caught the bus and arrived a little later.

"They're giving him blood, and he'll have to get a ton of stitches," Malik told them when they got there. "They think he'll pull through."

"Only think?" gulped Anzu.

Malik shrugged, not his usual indifferent motion, but a gesture of helplessness. "He…he'd better make it."

"Is he awake?" asked Honda.

"Not yet. At least nothing vital was really damaged. It's mostly blood loss."

"I hope he'll be okay," said Jounouchi.

"Yeah."

Anzu sat down suddenly on one of the nearby seats as the tears slid down her face, leaving two shining trails from her eyes. "This is just so awful!" she sobbed. "Why would anyone want to hurt Bakura? I mean, why would anyone do something like…like that and just leave him lying in an alley?"

Yuugi sat down beside her and put a hand on her arm. "I don't know, but he'll pull through."

"Yeah," said Jounouchi smiling. "That's right. Bakura's made it through a lot before, and he'll do it again."

Anzu brushed the back of her hand across her eyes. "Thanks, guys."

"And if not, we'll have a lovely funeral for him with lots of impromptu eulogies."

"That's right," put in Honda, "and whoever hurt Bakura, we're gonna kick his-"

"THANK YOU, guys. That's enough."

"Hey, where'd Yuugi go? He was just here."

R&R