The walls seemed to press in on them through the silence that followed.
"I remember a little, though," said Bakura softly.
All eyes flew to his face.
"I was walking to your house when something grabbed me by the back of the collar all of the sudden. Then next thing I knew, I was on my back in an alley. My Yami came out then, so I don't remember that part well. I saw a little bit through his eyes, though, as they fought."
"Like what?" prodded Seto.
"Cold eyes, dark hair, and something sharp. A blade, I think."
Honda shook his head. "Must be a tough guy to take out your Yami."
Bakura looked a little sad. "I think I'll miss him, believe it or not."
"Your Yami?"
"Yeah." He studied the bed sheets for a while. "Oh, there's something else. Just after I saw the blade, I remember pain."
"Well, duh. You got an X carved into your chest."
"No, not that. I don't remember that pain. It was like a fiery brand all over my body, a blinding sort of pain."
Malik gave a shudder. "Brands? That's harsh."
There was another moment of quiet as everyone tried to deal with their own unpleasant thoughts. "When do you get out of the hospital?" asked Mokuba, kindly changing the subject.
"Later today," said Ryou, brightening.
"That's good."
"Yeah."
Jounouchi glanced at the clock. "Cool. But I've gotta go. I have some chores at home that I skipped out on." He was out the door before Anzu could start lecturing. The others followed a little more slowly, everyone wishing Ryou a speedy recovery. They stepped outside together, the warm sun smiling benevolently down at them.
"That's still so weird," she mused. "I don't get how anything like that could have happened."
Yuugi nodded. "Me t-"
"YEEEEEEEEEEE!!! ARE YOU MUTOU YUUGI?"
Yuugi nearly fell over backwards as he found himself suddenly staring into the face of a very excited girl. She seemed around his age, about Anzu's size, and at the moment her black eyes were wide with enthusiasm.
Trying to regain his composure, he managed to mumble out, "Ano…yeah…I'm Mutou Yuugi…"
"The kid who won the Duelist Kingdom tournament?" she inquired, almost bouncing in place.
"Yeah…"
"With…" her eyes lit up as she saw the Egyptian artifact around his neck "…THE Sennen puzzle? Is it real?"
Yuugi glanced down at it fondly. "Yeah, it sure is."
She clasped her hands. "That's AMAZING!!"
"Yeah, whatever. What do you want?" Anzu was looking seriously ticked.
Jounouchi decided he could butt in too. "In case you didn't know, I'm Mutou Yuugi's best friend, AND I won second place in the same tournament!"
The girl smiled. "Not bad, but first is better."
Jounouchi looked a little crestfallen.
"I'll take your autograph too, though," the girl said suddenly, pulling out a pencil and a piece of paper.
All jaws dropped. "AUTOGRAPH??"