It was the only possession he had after Ryou died, save the clothes he had magically materialized in. And it was pretty much all he took with him as he fled from Domino City.
He had spent a few days in Ryou's apartment after the funeral, but each time he opened his eyes, he was blinded by more and more memories of the boy. Pictures hanging on the wall documented his short life. Ryou always smiled, and that smile kept haunting Bakura's dreams.
Yugi had come by on the first day to keep Bakura company. He also saw to it that the makeshift altar was destroyed, and that all traces of the poison had been disposed of. He didn't know what the former spirit would try to do in his despair.
His yami and Bakura talked for the longest time. To Yugi that seemed more surreal than Ryou's untimely death. Enemies from the ancient past suddenly sitting down over tea and crackers that Yugi had prepared in Ryou's kitchen.
At least the former spirit was eating something.
They talked at length about the millennium items, about their lighter halves, about Yami Yugi's upcoming trip to Egypt. He invited Bakura along, but the former spirit of the millennium ring declined. It still brought back too many painful memories.
Tea and Tristan came over at least once that day. Joey dropped by the next, in order to return a few cards that he and the others had won from Ryou over the years. Kaiba also stopped by for a visit, even if it was a short one. The teens staggered their visits around the clock, none of them comfortable about leaving Bakura alone in that apartment for very long.
Whenever anyone would arrive at the apartment, they found it exactly as the last visitor had left it. The rooms were usually dark. Maybe a candle was still burning in the corner. Most of the time, it had snuffed itself out.
They usually found Bakura laying in the dark against a wall, clutching the cold millennium ring. They tried to comfort him as best as they could, but he was, for the most part, inconsolable. Except for Yami Yugi, he hardly spoke to anyone.
If he was sleeping, they let him be. Tea often prepared food, and left it there for Bakura. She considered her visit a success if she found a half-eaten dinner on the tray the next morning.
The next time Tristan and Yugi arrived, they found Bakura facing a fallen mirror with a razor blade in his hand. In an act of desperation, or was it guilt, he had sliced his face open in a pattern the pharaoh recognized instantly. They were the same scars that the young thief had gained from fighting his way out of a busy market in ancient Egypt. Bakura was crying, his blood mixing with his tears upon the tile floor.
Yami Yugi appeared to question Bakura, to which just he replied, "I'm don't want to look at Ryou's face anymore. I try… but I can't see anything else…"
The pharaoh was stunned as Bakura laid his bleeding head in his lap, and just cried. Yami Yugi held him for hours, stroking the former spirit's hair and consoling him. In the meantime, Tristan was disposing of the razor blade, just in case Bakura would use it for a more sinister purpose.
On the fourth morning after Ryou's funeral, Yugi opened the door to find no one in the apartment. The lights were off, and the dinner Tea had prepared was still sitting in on a tray on the floor. He searched all of the rooms, but Bakura was nowhere to be found.
He quickly called for the others to meet him there.
Tea, Tristan and Joey helped Yugi search the apartment for clues to Bakura's whereabouts, but they couldn't find anything. The only missing items were the millennium ring and a jar of loose change Ryou kept on his bedroom shelf. To Bakura, Joey imagined, with little conception of modern day currency, it probably looked like a lot of money. In reality, the jar probably only had enough money for one meal.
By the end of the day, they had given up hope. Bakura was gone. And he probably wasn't coming back.