Meanwhile, back in the classroom, Ryou's health was still the topic of choice.

"I'm serious, guys. He should really see the school nurse." Tea added, fidgeting nervously with her fingers. "His forehead was really hot."

"You heard Ryou." Joey replied. "He's been to a doctor. He's got medicine."

"Is he taking it?" Tristan questioned. He glanced at each of his friends. "He looks worse than he did last week."

"I don't know why he wouldn't take it. And Ryou doesn't typically go around lying to his buds about things!"

"Except that ring of his…" Tristan reminded everyone.

"I'm worried too, but it's really…"

'Aibou.' Yami Yugi interrupted the boy through the mindlink.

"Really what?"

'Aibou, something is wrong.' Yami Yugi added quickly. 'When he touched you, I could feel something very strange about your friend… I'm not quite positive yet of what it is, but something is certainly wrong.'

"… really our job to make sure Ryou's all right…" Yugi finished his sentence carefully, ignoring the long pause in the middle. "Come on. We should find him."

They didn't have to go far to find him, though.

Ryou had collapsed at the end of the hallway.

"Oh no… Ryou…" Tristan gasped, running towards the fallen boy. The rest of his friends followed quickly behind him.

Yugi lifted Ryou's head gently.

"Ryou, are you all right? Ryou? Can you hear me?" he whispered.

"Ryou?"

The white haired boy grimaced at the loud voices above him. His heart pounded on the underside of his ribs as he gasped for air, coughing and gagging on his own weak breath.

"Yugi, what's going on?" Tea whispered.

"I… I don't know…" Yugi admitted, letting his yami take control of the body. "I think…"

"… He's very sick." The pharaoh soon finished his hikari's sentence for him. Joey, Tristan, and Tea shared glances. Why was the pharaoh taking control? Didn't they already know why he was ill? Hadn't Ryou already been diagnosed by a doctor?

"Any idiot can see that!" Joey added quickly.

"Joey, I want you, Tea, and Tristan to call for help…" he glanced up, catching their full attention. "He needs to go to a hospital. Can you call for a doctor?"

The other three nodded quickly.

"Of course." Tristan added.

"I'll go get the school nurse." Tea suggested. "So she can sign Ryou out for the rest of the day."

"Good." Yami Yugi replied. "Hurry."

He watched the three dash off before turning his attention back to the boy in his lap.

"Ryou… Ryou, listen to me…" Yami Yugi whispered. "I need to speak to your other half."

The white haired boy gave only a disconcerting moan as a response.

"Tomb robber! I demand that you come out of there!" Yami Yugi shook Ryou gently. "Your host body might die if you don't!"

The boy trembled feverishly in the hands of Yugi's other half. His long white hair was practically drenched with sweat. His chest struggled to rise and fall. It was astonishing how much his condition had worsened within just the course of the day.

From Ryou's expression, it was clear he was arguing with his yami. Surely the spirit of the millennium ring was resisting taking control of the sick body. But he knew, especially after Battle City, that the yami would not let his host die senselessly.

After an agonizing few minutes, Yami Bakura slowly opened his eyes.

"… What do you want…" he spat quickly, feeling the pangs of Ryou's distress attack him from all sides at once. It was more than he had anticipated.

"I will make this quick. Do you know why your hikari is sick, tomb robber? Or what's wrong with him?" Yami Yugi demanded, still holding Ryou's head in his lap.

The spirit eyed the pharaoh warily. He tried to flee back inside his soul room, but Yami Yugi urged him to stay in control.

"He's a sickly boy… Like I care what my host catches."

"Don't play games with me, thief." Yami Yugi demanded again, shaking Ryou lightly. "He's very sick. Do you know what's making him ill?"

"He… he caught it in the Shadow realm... I think…" Yami Bakura finally answered, mumbling his words under his breath. He tried to suppress a thick cough, doubling over in obvious pain. His body shook as he tried to regain his composure. "Is that good enough for you?"

Yami Yugi glared into Yami Bakura's eyes. Despite the thief's usual intentions, this time, he could sense no untruth.

'Caught what in the Shadow realm?' Yugi asked from inside his soul room.

'I'll explain later, aibou.'

'What's wrong?'

Yugi protested, but his questions remained unanswered. Yami Yugi directed his full attention to the spirit sitting weakly in his lap.

"Are you certain, tomb robber?" Yami Yugi whispered back.

The spirit of the millennium ring nodded carefully.

"Oh dear…"

"… He… he got sick right after Battle City." Yami Bakura mumbled under his breath. "As soon as he came back to this realm… after you defeated that traitorous tomb keeper… He didn't listen to me… Something was in here… that doesn't belong…"

His voice grew weak, and the spirit started coughing again. Within a few seconds, Ryou had been forced back into control of the body again. A trickle of blood ran from his mouth, and the pharaoh wiped it clean.

The footsteps of Yugi's three friends echoed as they approached the hallway.

"There isn't a moment to lose." Yami Yugi announced. His hands shook as they held Ryou. They watched his eyes anxiously, afraid primarily for Ryou' sake.

Yugi's other half cupped his arms around Ryou's trembling body, and lifted him gently off the ground. Ryou gasped, coughing as he felt the pharaoh's hand press against his back.

"What's going on?" Joey asked.

"Yugi?" Tea questioned as well.

"He is very sick."

"What do you mean, very sick?" Tristan growled, his question demanding a response. But no matter how many times he asked it, it never quite amounted to a response.

"I don't have time to explain right now…" Yami Yugi replied.

Tristan's eyes nodded impatiently.

"Get him to a hospital. Quickly. I will meet up with you later." He added, placing Ryou gently in Tristan's open arms.

Ryou coughed again, curling up in Tristan's grasp. He couldn't believe how fragile the boy suddenly felt. He had carried Ryou on his back after the first duel in the Battle City semi-finals, but this hardly seemed like the same person. Now, he was so uncomfortably light. It was unnerving.

"But…" he attempted to interject. Tea brushed the white bangs off Ryou's burning forehead.

"No time for arguing. You must see to it that he gets to a hospital." Yami Yugi repeated again. "I… have to speak with someone first…"

"Come on, Tristan." Joey hurried him along. "We won't let ya' down. And we won't let our bud, Ryou, down neither."

"Right." Tea and Tristan both replied quickly, taking off down the hallway. The ambulance would be pulling up any minute.

Yami Yugi took off running the other direction.