The black-haired nurse knocked on the door of room 314. She was carrying a covered plastic tray. "Bakura Touzokou? It's lunchtime. And I have tomorrow's menu."

The bandaged-covered face twisted in a scowl. The nurses always brought a menu for him to choose his next meals. They consisted of various 'healthy' choices, and the patients were encouraged to order whatever they liked from the list.

This, according to Bakura, was like asking if he preferred garbage or trash for breakfast. The food was healthy and horrible (two fully interchangeable terms, in Bakura's opinion). But worst of all, he still wasn't allowed anything 'difficult to swallow.'

Which included meat. All meat.

Which was pretty much the only thing he ever ate. Until they made a salad entirely out of bacon, he wasn't touching those soggy, flavorless leaves. He wanted something red and rare... like his absolute favorite: steak. Juicy, fresh, tender steak...

"Bakura-san? Are you alright? You're drooling a little."

The burned teen quickly rubbed a sleeve across his mouth.

F*ck, he'd kill for a steak right now.

Wednesday and Thursday went by with nothing worth noting.

But the next day, to his surprise, the kid came back.

This time the smaller teen had brought with several older issues of 'INKED.' Bakura was curious enough to see the tattoos, and consented to look over the magazines with the 'buddy.'

Bakura had to admit, the magazines were fairly interesting. The large, colored pictures showcased some very impressive works. As they flipped through the pages, Ryou pointed out his favorites. Oddly, he seemed to prefer the more graphic pieces. Bakura soon voiced- or rather, 'typed'- his confusion.

/Why do you like the gory ones so much?/

"Eh? Oh!" Ryou shrugged with a light smile. "I guess it's because of the way that an artist can make something beautiful out of the macabre- not to mention it takes considerable talent to pull something like this off." He pointed to a torso picture of a very realistic zipper opening to reveal a shockingly life-like eyeball. "I mean, anyone can do a tribal tramp-stamp or a heart with 'John' written in it- but it takes real skill to make something like that look good."

There it was again- that strange, ridiculous logic that somehow didn't sound so crazy. Bakura was still pondering why this kid was so weird when they came across a new article.

'All Eyes on the Latest Fad.'

Bakura felt his stomach lurch in shock- the article was all about tattooing people's eyeballs.

Ryou didn't seem to notice the queasy look on the patient's face. "This is a rather new technique- there's still not a lot of evidence as to how safe it is, and the artwork often looks rather squished..."

Bakura looked away, swallowing heavily.

Ryou finally caught on.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I guess it's not everyone's cup of tea." The boy apologized as he quickly took a different magazine from the stack. "I think traditional locations are more attractive anyway."

Bakura was eager to change the subject to anything not involving needles or eyeballs (or any combination of the two). He started typing, fast.

/Why did you decide to volunteer?/

Ryou smiled. "I wanted some activities to put on my college resume; and my sister and I were here once. It was very painful, and I really needed a friend. One of the nurses was really nice, and she helped me a lot. Otherwise I would've been alone."

/Why didn't you talk to your sister?/

Ryou lowered his head so his face was covered by his milky bangs.

"My mother died at the scene of the accident. My sister followed a few days later."

Crimson eyes blinked in shock. Bakura had no idea how to respond to that statement, so he just typed- /Sorry./

Ryou's eyes seemed watery, but he gave a shaky smile. "Thanks. It's hard sometimes, but they wouldn't want me to be sad, right?"

Once again Bakura found himself intrigued by the visitor's graceful honesty.

/I guess so./

This time it was Ryou who changed the subject.

"So, what kind of movies do you like?"

Bakura typed out some action and horror titles (with a few SCI-FI and comedy titles mixed in). His visitor was delighted to find that they shared some of the same favorites, and they 'talked' right up until the end of visiting hours. The cheerful volunteer left, but promised to drop in again on Monday- if that was alright. To which the patient quickly agreed.

"Bye, Bakura!"

Bakura watched him leave, and he was startled to realize that he was almost looking forward to the next visit.

Three days later, Ryou was back, and he surprised Bakura by bringing in an old, portable DVD-player. Ryou had hidden it in his backpack (he hadn't forgotten Ms. Hanasaki) and together they watched some of the movies they'd talked about last Friday.

Bakura didn't comment much (he felt a little guilty since he had to shove the phone in Ryou's face just to get his attention) and Ryou tried to be quietly polite in return. But he couldn't resist commenting when they got to one of his absolute favorites: 'John Carpenter's 'The Thing''.

"The effects in this one have really held up well over the years, haven't they?" The smaller boy gushed in appreciation. "I mean, this is from 1982, and yet it looks phenomenal- they apparently combined stop-motion animation, hydraulics, and even puppetry to make the effects. Heck, I think it's better than most CGI horror films of today."

The kindly volunteer seemed to have a certain reverence for the monster effects.

The inpatient held back a snort of disbelief. 'A real paradox, this one.'

They continued the 'monster movie' marathon until visiting hours ended. It was odd for the pale volunteer to stay that late, but Bakura didn't comment. Instead, he just nodded his agreement for another visit, and waved the visitor off.

An hour later, Bakura was still lying on his bed, just musing to himself. He was feeling slightly less irritated than usual- mainly due to the entertainment Ryou had provided. A faint grin crossed the un-bandaged half of Bakura's face. Hopefully next time they could watch the "Saw" series- he had to admit, the nerdy bookworm had some good films. He felt a vague flicker of anticipation as he wondered what other DVD's the twerp could bring- he couldn't help but feel a little optimistic about-

knock knock. "Bakura-kun? It's dinner time. There's an extra serving of cabbage for you- doctor's orders!"

...nevermind.

Another week passed, and Ryou visited twice. He always tried to bring something interesting (a comic book, a puzzle game, etc.) that he could leave behind. His visits were also starting to become more regular ("It's between exam times," the devoted student explained).

Bakura was rather annoyed with how ridiculously devoted the other teen was to his classwork. He wasn't sure if Ryou's school was private or public; but he was pretty sure that either of those would've sucked had he gone anyway. He'd been tossed through so many school districts over the years that he didn't have a damn clue where he was ('supposed to be') enrolled.

But, of course, the little nerd was totally addicted to school, and he acted like every homework assignment was the difference between the good fortune of the gods, and falling into a bottomless pit of scum and shame.

Still, they didn't talk about school-type trash that often. Instead they usually spent their time talking/typing about random junk. Soon the street hood was inadvertently telling his white-haired 'buddy' more and more about himself. Ryou didn't seem nearly as judgmental as most of the people from the 'other side of the tracks.' Bakura even admitted that one of his deepest desires was to have a vast knife collection featuring blades from all over the world and from all time periods.

Most people would've been very nervous to hear those ideas coming from the burned brawler, but Ryou was excited. He asked if there were any specific styles that Bakura wanted to find, and how he would want them displayed.

Soon they had painted together a rather amusing fantasy of a massive mansion with walls completely covered with decorative blades. Ryou had suggested that the toilet handles be replaced with antique silver butter knives, while Bakura joked that the ceiling fans should each be made up of four large, flattened scimitars. Neither boy seemed to realize just how much they were enjoying the conversation until a red-haired nurse knocked on the door.

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over for today- they start again tomorrow at noon."

Ryou nodded at the nurse and said his goodbyes to the other pale-skinned teen. The bandaged punk waved him off before he realized that Ryou obviously wasn't going to visit his real 'buddy' now.

'Probably saw him before coming to my room.' The red-eyed patient frowned in confusion- how was it that the nerd had time to visit both residents?

Bakura's mind unwillingly drifted to one of his most subconscious concerns- what would the bookworm do when he inevitably had to shave down his schedule for his exams?

It was around 4 AM and Bakura was struggling not to wake up. He still found sleeping difficult (what with the whole 'breathing through a burned trachea' thing). It didn't take much to disrupt him.

And now he could hear two nurses talking right outside his door. Why the hell were they standing around chatting loudly outside his room at this bloody hour?! He was trying to sleep, dammit!

His door was slightly ajar and he could clearly hear their remarks- they seemed to be taking notes on different patients' rooms.

"Ok, number 314- 'Bakura Touzokou.'"

"Isn't he that cocky little street-urchin who gives all the doctors hell?"

Bakura flipped her off from behind the door, but of course she couldn't see him.

"Doesn't that sweet, white-haired kid like him, though? I've seen him sign in at least twice this week."

The other woman shook her head. "I doubt it- I think he was just assigned to him by that 'Bedside Buddies' program."

"But his assigned patient was in room 214, remember? He got mixed up the first day he was here."

"Oh, that's right- hmm, they're not related, are they?"

The first nurse sniffed. "I doubt it- that boy's an angel. Remember that time he helped find that lost little girl from the cardio ward?"

"Oh yes... that was very smart thinking. I would never have thought to look for her in the exam room."

There was a pause, and Bakura imagined the first girl nodding her head. "Neither would I; most kids hate that room. Why was she in there, anyway?"

The other nurse laughed. "Apparently she wanted to be 'doctor for a day' and he found her playing with a stethoscope. So he played 'patient' for her until we were able to set up her appointed room."

"That's adorable!"

Bakura nearly snorted at the image. He could just picture Ryou in a hospital gown- a thin, paper gown- a thin, very short paper gown- with the ties on the back not fully... he was jolted out of his thoughts by the other nurse's reply.

She seemed to titter before speaking. "Well, apparently a lot of the younger nurses think so, too- I heard a rumor that Ms. Hanasaki is dying to ask him out. She's been forcing him to spend more time with her by holding him up at the sign-in desk." The woman put on a fake, high-pitched tone. "'Oops, I've lost my pen; could you help me find it?' or 'Oh no, this reference book is too heavy for me- can someone help me carry it?'"

Bakura subconsciously balled his hands into fists.

"She's not having much luck, though. He seems completely oblivious. Either that, or he's trying to reject her as politely as possible."

The fists unclenched with the same unawareness.

"So who is the boy's actual 'Buddy?' I can't remember who's in 214 right now."

There was a rustling of paper and Bakura figured she was looking through the charts.

"That's probably because there isn't anyone in 214. In fact, the previous occupant was discharged over a week ago."

"That's odd... so, who is his 'Buddy' now? Hasn't he been assigned to someone else?"

"It doesn't look like it- in fact, the program isn't even looking for new volunteers. They must be over-staffed now that all the universities are on break."

Bakura blinked. Was Ryou coming back every week- just because of him?

"Strange... well, it's nice having him around- even if he only spends time with that snotty punk."

So Ryou was at the hospital every week to visit with him... and only him.

And Ryou also didn't seem to want to go out with that dim-witted nurse.

What the hell was it about those two facts make him feel so damn pleased?