Disclaimer: If I owned Ryo Bakura, a part of Yu-Gi-Oh, he would be cuddled so much he would be dead, and he's still alive, so...

"Yugi, Atemu! Dinner!"

Atemu, lying down on his bed, groaned and got up. He wasn't at all hungry and he wasn't in any mood to eat.

"Come on Atemu!" Yugi shouted, already halfway down the stairs to the kitchen.

"I'm coming," he snapped back, making his way to the door and following Yugi. He had a plan. If he acted like he was feeling fine and just acted cool, his jii-chan wouldn't think he needed to stay home tomorrow. But this was a bit of a problem when he realized he wasn't hungry, and would have to eat to make the act work.

Yugi and Atemu each sat down, Yugi digging into his food hungrily after a long day of school. Atemu found that even looking at food made him feel queasy. He stirred some potatoes around on his plate and forced some of of the creamy vegetable down before a sharp pang shot through his stomach. He winced and bit his lower lip in pain.

"Are you all right, Atemu?" asked the boys' grandfather.

"I'm fine," he replied raspily. "I just... bumped my knee on the table."

"You were holding your stomach."

"I was?" Atemu did his best to look innocent, but it was hard to do as his stomach still felt like it was being shot.

"I know exactly what you're doing young man, and it won't work. You are not going to that concert tomorrow, and that is final."

"WHA- How did you know?"

"Yugi's done the same thing countless times, except he was trying to fake sick. It works both ways."

"Please, Jii-chan? I can't let the whole band down! We've worked too hard for this to happen!"

"You're sick, and you are NOT going. One more word of this at this table and you will not be a part of that band at all!"

"You wouldn't do that to me!"

"I would."

"Fine." Atemu slouched in his chair, trying very hard not to let his lower lip quiver. But his grandfather saw straight through him.

"You may be excused if you wish, Atemu. Just leave your plate."

Atemu did just that, and practically ran up to the boys' room, at the mercy of the sobs threatening to escape from his lips. He flung himself on his bed and sniffed into his pillow, whole body shaking with rage towards his grandfather. He loved Yugi and Sogoroku more than anyone else in the world, but they had no clue as to how much his band meant to him, and every member of it. They all had needed something solid to help them stand, and that was the ticket. They all loved music and were incredibly musically inclined. This competition was a chance they couldn't miss.

He closed his eyes and thought of what this band and this competition meant to everyone.

Malik had confided in all of them that after the Battle City finals, when the evil presence that had inhabited the Sennen Rod was destroyed, he felt lost without it. The force had been strong, and that presence was even stronger. It had been what held Malik together. Only playing his beloved drums had kept him from falling into unfathomable depression.

Isis spent the days after Battle City constantly worried about her brother and her pharaoh, the fate of the world, and how everything was going to turn out. Her heart was torn apart when her boyfriend died in a car accident, and she sought help from her friends. Her voice could be tender and soft, but carry sheer power and wrath enough to cleanly slice a mountain in two, and her soul poured itself through the keys on a keyboard like water warming ice. She was the one who came up with the band's name, their name, Crimson Love.

Then there was Rishid. He had a voice like a rock, but on his electric guitar, he was a whole new person. His dark eyes lit up when he played and his face would crinkle into a smile that could melt armies. What with his brother and sister falling apart and still being confused after Battle City as well, he followed the other two in finding family in his friends.

Bakura's situation was much like Atemu's. After the whole deal with Anubis rising had caused him to be placed in his old body, he felt naked without Ryo. He also felt weak as his compassionate side was revealed. He had let out his confusion and anger through his talent in songwriting, and eventually come to trust as a best friend the one he had once called, 'that baka Pharaoh.' His skill on the acoustic guitar surpassed anything of beauty Atemu could imagine.

Mai was left mixed-up and in doubt of herself after Battle City. She tried in vain to claw her way to the top of the dueling world, in fear that if she lost another duel, she would get hurt like Malik had hurt her. Her drifting, paralyzing voice and amazing ability with the drums had pulled her through those dark times, and they were helping her aching spirit to rise from darkness now.

Atemu's thoughts came to himself. What did this band mean to him? He could sing the crucial supportive low notes of any song Bakura came up with, adding into the mix raw emotion and love for his music. After getting over the shock of waking up one morning on the floor in his own body, his life had felt meaningless. His friends were only 'his friends' because of Yugi, and now that he was separate from Yugi it was becoming evident just how different the two were. Atemu was tan of skin from the Egyptian sun, as were Bakura, Malik, Rishid, and Isis, and it reminded him that this wasn't his real home. It was his home, and he wouldn't give it up to spend a split second in ancient Egypt, but he still had felt left out. That's where the band came in.

They had all found each other, all depressed and struggling, and had relied on each other's remaining strength to stay standing. They were nearly there, nearly.

And he wasn't going to give all of that up. One measly little cold wasn't going to stop him from finally breaking free of the chains that had fastened him down for months, and he wasn't going to let his friends slip back down, under silence's black cover.

Never.

A new plan began to form in his mind.

He was not going to give up.

Electric Fire, yeah, I know, another sick-fic... I am obsessed. Pathetic, really. But this one's actually got a plot! How many colds can't one guy get should be the question. See you Saturday!

Angel-of-the-Apocalypse, it IS a small world, isn't it? YGO and music are MY two favorite things, too! That's kinda cool! Yeah, Atemu is grumpy... but aren't we all when we're not feeling well? Pity the poor dude, he's got a tough road ahead.

Anonymous, thanks for reviewing, though a name would help... but anonymous is cool too! 'Person of Mystery', ne? I'm glad you like it, and thanks for thinking I can at least semi-do humor!