Bakura didn't leave Ryou alone all day, even when he was in class. Ryou was barely managing to not lash out at him, but he did manage it. He'd run on less sleep than this before, but that didn't make him any less exhausted that day. He was happy to be going to see his mother and sister again that day, though. When he got back to the house, only Amane was there.
"Do you guys have any old pictures from… before we separated?" he asked as he sipped his tea.
"Yeah, I think so. Why do you ask?"
"Dad… burned them all after we thought you'd died." He pulled the long-chained locket out from under his shirt and showed it to her. "These are the only pictures I've had of you two for years."
"I'll go get them now." Amane put her teacup down and went upstairs.
"Aw, the little baby wants pictures of his mama?" Bakura smirked as he sat on the edge of the table.
"Shut. Up!" That was the last straw. "Just shut up, Bakura, I've heard enough out of you! Why can't you just leave me alone?!"
"What, you can't handle me yourself?" Bakura shouted back, which was unusual for him. "You need Yugi and your little boyfriends to stick up for you? Why don't you try getting rid of me yourself, huh?!"
He knew that Bakura was just goading him into doing something stupid, but he was too angry and sick of Bakura's constant bullying to think. He tried to force Bakura out of his mind and felt sharp, severe pain in his head. The pain was enough to bring him to his knees on the floor, making him cry out in pain. He'd slipped out of English now and reverted to the language he'd been speaking primarily for the past thirteen years.
When Amane returned to the room, she found Ryou kneeling on the ground, clutching at his head as he shouted intermittently in angry Japanese. It scared her.
"Ryou, are you okay?" She dropped the shoe-box on the table and knelt beside him to see that he was crying. "Ryou, get a grip!" she shouted, but he still didn't seem to hear her. She didn't know what else to do but dial 999 on her cell and ask for an ambulance. They asked her what was the emergency.
"Ryou, what's wrong? Tell me so I can help you!" she shouted over his own shouting. Out of breath, he managed to answer that there was severe pain in his head, which she relayed to the emergency dispatch. She took a few steps away and added in a low voice that she'd heard him shouting as if he were talking to somebody, but nobody was with him in the room.
"I think he's gone round the bend," she admitted nervously.
They sent an ambulance, and Amane waited beside Ryou, afraid, but stunned into a pseudo-calm state. She held it together even when they got to the hospital, even when she called her mother and she joined her daughter in the waiting room. She remained calm long after she should have broken down, even after the doctors came and told her what, specifically, was wrong with her long-lost brother. They spoke to her because her mother had dissolved into tears and become incomprehensible.
When Amane received Ryou's personal effects in the hospital waiting room, she went straight for his cell-phone and called Seto. She remembered feeling like she understood him when they were Skyping. Besides, Ryou had mentioned in their long talk last night that Seto performed the best under pressure.
"Hello?" Seto answered his cell-phone after three rings; he was at work past midnight for the first time in months. He missed Ryou and was overworking to compensate for it.
"Ryou has a cerebellar pilocytic astrocytoma. It's a... a brain tumor that's usually benign, but this time, it's… not." Her words came out a little frantic, a little rushed. The shock could only keep her calm for so long. "That's what the CT scans told them, but they're still doing a biopsy to be sure. Once they've confirmed it, they're going to operate as soon as they can, but they said it's going to be another few hours until an operating room is open. Statistically, he should be fine, but… I'm scared, Seto," she admitted, her eyes watering even as she fought to blink the tears away. "I'm scared. I don't want to lose him again."
"Take a deep breath, Amane. In and out. Good. I promise you: everything is going to be fine." Seto spoke slowly and calmly, but deep inside, he was scared too. "Duke and I will be out there within the next six hours. What did they say the symptoms were?"
"Um, they mentioned headaches, nausea, vomiting, irritability, weight loss, visual and auditory hallucinations, difficulty with coordination… Do any of those sound like they apply to Ryou in the past few months?"
"He's been having severe migraines since the fall. The past few months he's exhibited occasional irritability, which is unlike him. I also thought he was looking a little thin lately, but he said that all of it was due to stress."
"And he was hallucinating," Amane added, making Seto wince. "That's how I found him when I realized that something was wrong. He was babbling and yelling in Japanese and he was in pain, and I didn't know what else to do but call an ambulance…"
Seto moved his cell to his shoulder as he spoke to his head of security: "Roland, there's an emergency, Code Blue: I need KC 2 prepped for take-off immediately; I need Mokuba and Duke woken up. Tell them to get ready to leave. And I need the air-field in England alerted that we'll be coming in earlier than we planned." Then he turned his attention back to Amane as he entered the elevator. "What was he hallucinating about, specifically?"
"He wouldn't say, not in English anyways. He kept referring to this 'him' that he wouldn't identify. He was yelling at him after I left the room and when I came back."
"Why did you call the ambulance? Could you not get him… under control?"
"I couldn't get him to talk straight. His head seemed to be hurting him, badly, and he was… distressed. I don't know what his hallucination was telling him, but it upset him a lot."
"How's your mother handling it?" He stepped into the limo, telling his driver to step on it.
"She won't stop crying, so now I feel like a terrible person for not crying at all."
"You're not a terrible person," he assured her, pleased that he could empathize with Ryou's sister, despite the circumstances. "Your mother needs you to stay strong, she needs someone to count on. I was that person when Ryou was in the hospital last summer and Duke was upset—"
"He was in the hospital last year?" she interrupted, shocked. "What happened?"
"That's a long story," he sighed.
"Ryou said that more than once yesterday," Amane pointed out suspiciously. "I guess you guys will have a lot of long stories to tell us when you get here."
"Yes we will," he assured. "You'll hear all of the stories in due time. It's complicated."
"It must be; Ryou said the same thing."
"Is that an accusation?" Seto found himself quite impressed with Amane Bakura; she had balls, and he respected that.
"Maybe. Did you guys get mixed up in something illegal?" That was blunt. "I'm only asking because I'm worried about him," she added hastily. She hadn't meant to come across as rude.
"I was the victim of blackmail, he was the victim of foul play, Duke was abducted by the mafia, so yes, in a sense, we did get mixed up in something illegal."
"Oh, okay. I'm sorry, that sounded wrong—"
"No, that's okay, I get it. Life can be rough, and it kind of callouses you, and then you say things without realizing how harsh they sound." Seto spoke slowly and from personal experience.
"Yeah…" She was surprised by how much he seemed to understand. She made a mental note to do more research on him later. "What do you mean by foul play?"
"Cyanide poisoning," Seto answered. There was no reason not to keep talking to her while he and Roland were in the car en route to the mansion. Roland was still making calls as he followed through with Seto's orders. "It was purposeful, involved with the blackmail."
"Oh." Amane couldn't think of anything else to say for a few moments. "Did the mafia break Duke's fingers?" She'd noticed the finger splints when they Skyped last night, but hadn't felt inclined to ask.
"Yes, they did. I'd tell you why, but... that's Duke's business."
"Of course." A pause. "Ryou told us that you're a teddy bear. Is that true~?" Her tone turned teasing as she engaged in humor as a means of coping with her distress.
"Pft, a teddy bear is the last thing I'd call myself," Seto answered, flustered, causing Roland to raise an eyebrow.
"So it's true, then?" she retorted insolently, then laughed. He chuckled as well.
"He told me you were smarter than you looked," he replied glibly. "I guess he was right about that too."
"Are you assessing my intelligence now?" asked sarcastically.
"He told me you wanted to work in the gaming industry when you graduated. KaibaCorp will be opening a new office in the UK about a year and a half from now as part of our long-term plan. If you are as smart as Ryou says you are, I could offer you an internship when the time comes. Only, of course," he teased, "If you're actually as smart as Ryou says you are."
"Seriously?" She hadn't expected such an offer. "That'd be… incredible. Thank you so much. I guess it pays to have a brother-in-law in high places. Remind me to hug you when you get here."
"That won't be necessary."
"Really? Ryou told me you liked hugs."
"When did he get the chance to tell you that?"
"We stayed up all night playing video games and talking."
"I see. Is there anything you two didn't talk about?"
"Sex." She smirked as she answered.
"Well then…" Seto didn't really know what to say to that.
Amane burst out laughing at Seto's disgruntled response. She liked shocking people. It always told her something about their personalities, and it told her that Seto was a private person, maybe even shy.
"Look, as fun as this conversation is getting," Seto answered somewhat sarcastically, "I have to get going now. Call me as soon as you hear anything new or if something goes wrong. I'll be the one flying us to England, so I'll have an open line for the next six hours."
"Alright, will do," she answered. "Thank you for talking with me. It helps."
"Anytime." Seto hung up as he climbed out of the limo, going to get his own suitcase and collect his family. "Roland, I need a cup of coffee and some caffeine pills."