Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Everything changed on that day.
I was walking home from school (I was a senior, perfect grades, life planned), and from a block away I smelled smoke. As far as I was aware, no-one had any fireplaces or grills or anything like that; I walked a bit faster, turned the corner; I saw my home going up in flames. Now, any rational person would call the fire department and stay back; it seemed no-one else had noticed, but then we're not with all of the other shops in Domino. I ran up to the door, but couldn't get it open; I backed off and grabbed my cell and dialed.
'/This is the Emergency Operator, what is your emergency?/'
"My house is on Fire, and..." Oh no... Grandpa...! "-And I think my grandfather is trapped inside! The address is 549 Haikori Street."
'/Ok. Stay on the line with me, and I'll have the fire department en route soon. Don't do anything rash./'
"But My grandpa-!" Suddenly, I felt like I was drowning in something, something not water. Helplessness, I realized. I heard sirens wailing, approaching fast, and a minute later felt someone haul me away from the building roughly.
"Is anyone inside?" The fireman yelled over the now roaring flames.
"G...grandpa..." I was numb. I couldn't think, couldn't control; my hands started trembling violently, and I felt tears beginning to pour down my face. The fireman yelled over his shoulder to the others, then called the paramedic over.
"He's going into shock!" Shock... is that why I felt lightheaded? No, wait... I stopped breathing. Why couldn't I start again?
"Someone get this kid some oxygen!" the fireman yelled; he turned back to me.
"C'mon, kid... don't collapse on us now. We'll find him." The world had gone fuzzy by that point; I felt a mask being strapped over my face, felt someone pushing on my chest and forcing me to breath. Oxygen rushed to my brain as I passed out.
"...gi...Yugi... c'mon, Yug... wake up." I opened my eyes to a bright light, and shut them again. My head was still fuzzy, but my eyes adjusted once I opened them again. The sterile, white walls, the beeping machines, and the somewhat uncomfortable bed meant one thing: hospital. I hate hospitals. I turned my head to the left, and saw Bakura sitting next to me.
"You gave everyone a scare there, Yug," he said, attempting a weak smile. I pushed up into a sitting position.
"What happened... after I passed out?" I asked, too afraid of the answer to ask what I was thinking.
"They were able to save part of the house... I think they saved most of your room, and the vast majority of the shop. All of the stuff in storage was saved. I think everything else was too burned to be rescued. They said it was a gas leak." A gas leak. We're lucky the shop didn't explode.
"...Grandpa?" I asked, my voice little more than a whisper. Bakura's face grew grim.
"I...I'm sorry, Yugi... he was pronounced DoA... Dead on arrival..." He looked away, instead of giving me a look of pity. My respect for him grew a bit, even as my heart shattered. My grandpa, my only family and the the one person I could go to when I needed help, was dead. My mind went numb again, but I was able to keep breathing this time.
A nurse walked in a few minutes later, and shooed Bakura out so she could check me over.
A/N: Um... wow. I'm not really sure where this one came from... It's part of a bigger story I've had going [Read as: not written, just thought out] for the past five or six years... Finally found a way to wrestle the words out, so hopefully I'll be posting more of this once soon. Maybe, just maybe, I can make it not a fanfiction at some point. *not getting her hopes up*