Ryou shrugged off his yami's comments at first. But after a couple of weeks had passed, it was clear that something was actually wrong. His yami hadn't taken control of the body since Battle City, and for good reason.

The days at school were extremely tiresome. Ryou tried his best to pay attention to the lessons, but instead found himself instead concentrating on the sudden tightness in his chest. Breathing had become extraordinarily difficult as of late, and he was constantly coughing. His bones ached, to the point that even his clothes felt painful. He had also been losing weight, his appetite diminishing more and more with each passing day. And while he tried his best to mask all of those facts, it was more than evident that he was growing sicker.

And that worried his friends.

"Heya', Ryou! Wait up!" Joey shouted as the bell rang, dismissing them for lunch.

Ryou muffled a cough and slowly turned around. His back hunched over protectively as he shivered, trying his best to straighten up again.

"Ryou, are you all right?" Tea asked.

"You don't look too well." Yugi corroborated. "Perhaps you should go home?"

"… No… That's all right… I'm fine…" Ryou lied, as a spasm of pain rushed through his chest. He hunched forward, as though his arms could hide it.

"You are not fine." Tea's face grew concerned. She put her hand on Ryou's forehead. It was more than uncomfortably warm. "You're burning up!"

Before Ryou could protest, a nasty cough escaped his throat.

"Man… Ryou, you're sick." Tristan added, eyeing the boy carefully. Ryou coughed again. "You should be at home, in bed."

"Have you seen a doctor?" Yugi asked.

Ryou weakly nodded, still coughing. He lost his balance, and almost passed out. Without thinking, he grabbed Yugi's arm for support.

"Yes, I've seen a doctor, Yugi… I've got… medicine too."

"Well that's good, but why are you still here?" Joey added.

"What did the doctor say?"

Ryou was quiet. His friends looked worried. And he hated being a burden to anyone. He slowly walked over to an empty desk, and weakly sat down. He tried to quickly recover his failing strength.

"The doctor said… it's just… just a bad case of pneumonia." Ryou eventually admitted. "It's not contagious… It must have come from… from the flu I had… And as long as I finish taking the medicine, I… I should be all right…"

"Well, that's a relief." Joey smiled.

"That sounds pretty serious though." Tristan admitted. He stared at Ryou, noticing the extra prominence of his thin cheekbones. "You should really be at home."

"Or at least taking it easy." Tea added. "You could get out of Mr. Karita's class easily."

The group paused. What any of them would probably do to get out of that gym teacher's sight, even for just a few days.

"… No… I'll be fine…" Ryou managed a weak smile, and stood up. He brushed the pain aside, and slowly walked out the door. He hunched over again once he was out of their sight, and certain that he didn't hear them following.

'Host, go home.'

He jumped in the empty hallway. The voice of his yami startled him.

'Not you too…' he answered through the mindlink.

'Well, at least you finally stopped ignoring me!' Yami Bakura shouted back, making Ryou's head throb.

'I'm fine, yami.'

'No, you're not. You're sick.' He answered. 'And you know it. Not like I should care anyway.'

Ryou continued to protest the voice in his head as he limped down the hallway.