Once the bus finally got there, Yami figured out how to pay the driver, and was informed that this bus would take him to the city mall. Good.

The ride there was silent. He didn't speak to anyone. His first and only priority was to get Yugi back. Yugi wasn't hard to miss, so surely finding him wouldn't be that hard.

What would he do if he didn't find him? Would he go back to the house? How could he live with himself if he couldn't find him? Was Yugi looking for him, too?

The bus stopped and he stepped out into the snow, making sure he still had the phone and the money.

It was a Friday, so there weren't many teenagers, but he was going to search every inch of the place, before he was done. Before he even had time to look properly, a girl stopped him. He didn't have time for this. He had to find Yugi.

Who was this girl? One of the character's friends?

"Do... I know you?"

He could blow the whole thing right here, if he wasn't careful. He was supposed to be playing a character, but how could he pretend to know someone when he had no idea who they were? He had never seen this girl before.

"Yeah! Come on, Hannah, don't tell me you don't remember me!"

There were two options here. Lie, and try to wing it, or tell the truth. He could pretend to know this random girl, but where would that get him? He was wasting time.

"I... No."

"Your friend Jen, remember? It's been so long since I've seen you! What have you been up to?"

No, he didn't remember, because he wasn't this character, and he didn't have time for this. He needed to get rid of her. Quickly.

"...Nothing. Just... looking for someone."

Which he needed to get back to.

"Oh? Anything I can help with?"

What? Now she wanted to tag along? No, that wouldn't work at all. He couldn't have someone holding him back.

"...No."

There was a strange look of hurt in the girls eyes, but he ignored it. He needed to find his partner. He couldn't waste time gossiping all day.

As she was turning to leave, she said

"Well, it was nice seeing you again! I hope you find whoever you're looking for!"

He could use a little luck in that department.

"Thank you."

And he could finally begin his search. He went around each floor of the mall three times before giving in to defeat. Yugi wasn't here. At least, not today. He'd try somewhere different, tomorrow.

He caught the bus back home, just as it was getting dark.

He had no other choice. He had to go back to the house. He'd call it "home base". Every day that he failed to find his partner, he'd return to home base, think it over, make a plan, and search more the next day.

This was a game, and he was good at games, but this was different. There were no rules to follow, and no goals other than the vague, "find Yugi", which was easier said than done. So far, he had failed himself, failed his Hikari, and he was failing the game. He'd have to do better than this.

It was so sudden. He just woke up this morning (which was an odd thing all by itself) without Yugi. He had no warning. No time to plan.

It wasn't until he got home that he realized he hadn't eaten all day. He'd have to do that, wouldn't he. And sleep. This was all new, and it was frightening, even if he wouldn't admit it, or let it show. He needed Yugi now more than ever. Yugi was there to guide him just as much as he was there to protect Yugi. Or, so it should have been.

He finally ventured out into the rest of the house to find food, when he noticed someone else was there.

It was the girl from the mall. She looked horrible. She was crying, her hair was a mess, and she was bruised and bleeding. He felt a little bad for her, but he had more important things to think about.

"Who's that?"

"Oh, Hannah, this is Jenny. She's had a rough night, so she's staying here tonight. It's alright if she sleeps in your bedroom, I assume?"

What an inconvenience. He had work to do and things to figure out, and now a little girl needed to share the bedroom he was staying in? She did look pretty bad...

"Yes... I don't see why not."

He turned to go back to the bedroom, to continue planning and thinking. This was too hard. Being without Yugi was too hard. He didn't have time for hurt little girls, even if he did feel bad. He was too distracted with finding his partner.

"W-Wait..."

He should have kept walking. He wanted to ignore her and keep walking, but then he thought, that wasn't what Yugi would want. Yugi would rush over to help the girl, and he'd be happy to let her stay in their bedroom. He could at least see what she wanted.

"Yes?"

She looked so sad. So desperate. So hurt.

"C-Could... you help me? This nice woman has done a lot of work, and she looks tired..."

She wanted his help? Why? If times had been different, he wouldn't have done it. Yugi taught him compassion, and apparently, it stuck.

"Where are you hurt?"

It looked pretty bad. He wondered how she managed to get in such a state. She looked fine earlier in the day, when they met.

"Well... a little bit of everywhere..."

She was handling the pain pretty well for a girl her age, it seemed. She looked hurt, but she wasn't crying hard anymore.

Yugi would be quick to help her. Knowing that, and wanting to do what was right, despite not having Yugi to help, he took what he would need to help her from the character's mom, and started towards the bathroom.

"Come on."

He turned back to see her limping behind him. When she finally made it there, he said,

"Here, you can sit on the counter. Where does it hurt the worst?"

He wanted to help, but he also didn't need to let himself get distracted. This could easily be a distraction or trap sent by Yami Bakura to throw him off.

"My knee... I...I fell down a hill."

He knew enough to help her, considering that he'd cleaned and bandaged Yugi's wounds the first few times he got hurt in shadow games. That was before Yugi was fully aware of him.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

He quietly, carefully, cleaned all of the open wounds he could find, which was more than he expected, until she spoke again.

"Did you find the person you were looking for?"

So she did remember meeting him earlier. She had no idea how much of a touchy subject she'd just brought up.

"...No."

She looked remorseful, but not surprised.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

He did all he could for her, including wrap a sprained ankle, and then turned her over to the character's mother.

She found a sleeping bag, pillows, and made her hot chocolate. Meanwhile, Yami sat on the bed, legs crossed, thinking.

This girl could easily be a trap. A distraction, sent to throw him off. He'd hate to admit it, but he had enjoyed her company... he'd been so lonely that day, it was nice to be talking to anyone, even some random npc girl.

He yawned, realizing all over again that he would actually have to sleep, or things would get difficult. He hadn't ever been tired. Not like this. This was new. But he couldn't let his surprise at the odd feeling show through. Not with the girl here. Speaking of the girl...

"Do you want to come with me to look for my friend, tomorrow? I could use some help..."

The look on her face was sincere as she replied,

"I'll help you. We'll find them, wherever they are."

He was thankful that she was so willing to help, even though they had hardly met, but he still had to be careful. He couldn't let her hold him back, or steer him wrong.

"Thank you."

He yawned again. Being tired was highly inconvenient. He needed more time to think, but his mind was just as tired as his body was.

"You look like you had a long day..." , the girl said, catching how worn out he looked.

"You know... I did."

He had looked everywhere for Yugi. Everywhere. In all of his searching, for hours, he was unsuccessful. It was a horrible feeling to know that he'd tried so hard, and made so little progress.

The girl looked tired, as well. She yawned, rubbing her eyes, trying to stay awake long enough to finish her hot chocolate.

"Tired?"

He asked, feeling a bit of familiarity in the situation, despite how absolutely foreign it was.

"Maybe a little..."

Familiar words.

"Why don't we both get some rest. We'll need to start looking early tomorrow. This person I'm looking for... they're very important to me."

"Alright..." The girl said sleepily, as she rolled over onto her side to sleep.

Yami didn't sleep right away. The room was dark, and he was tired, but the sheer new-ness of the situation kept him awake. He'd been mentally tired before. Plenty of times. And he had rested before, falling into what could almost be called sleep, but he was sure didn't count. This was different.

How did sleep work? Well, he knew well enough, watching Yugi... but he'd never actually slept, himself. What an odd realization.

He laid there, eyes closed, waiting to drift off. Easier said than done. Once Yugi was back, he would tell him all of this.

After an hour or so, he finally managed to fall into sleep.


Author's Note:

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'm sorry it took me so long to post.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Oh, and speaking of reviews, someone asked a very good question in a recent one, and I figured I'd answer it here, just to make it clear to everyone, since I didn't really fully explain it in the original story.

What was the point of the first goal, if Yami just ended up forcing Yugi to remember anyway, and if he could have done that all along?

The first goal was for Yugi and Ryou to remember who they were, by themselves, with no help. Returning any of their memories to them was against the rules.

However, before Yugi was even aware of Yami's presence, Bakura got impatient, and he cheated, and made Ryou remember everything.

When he did that, little did he know, Ryou's character's memories were so deeply embedded in his mind that they, or that personality, wasn't going to give up without a fight. Ryou's soul split into pieces, and the character's memories clung to one of them. Thus, why they both exist. Ryou and his character both exist within the same body now, for that reason.

Yami knew this, at least, after chapter 11, and that's why he didn't give Yugi his memories back right away. Because he didn't want to risk spitting his soul into pieces.

In the final chapter, he debated ending it, and he knew that his decision decided the safety of Yugi's soul.

That's why he didn't end it sooner.

So, I hope that clears that up!

Sometimes I forget that I have deeper details of the story in my head, than I have written down.