"He could smile like that any time he wants." Yami Bakura scoffed. "It's not my fault he doesn't. And I don't even know why I'm even bothering to follow the stupid kid around this memory world."

He grumbled to himself, turning around for a moment. As he did, he was shocked to see Ryou Bakura walk by him again.

He quickly turned back to the window of the Kame Game Shop, but it was dark inside. It was still early, and Sugoroku hadn't even opened the doors for the day. He glanced back over his shoulder.

His host walked slowly, almost aimlessly down the sidewalk. An air of despondency circled him like a thick cloud of shadows. It was so strong, that Yami Bakura almost fell backwards under its power.

And the image kept replaying itself.

Day after day, or so it seemed, he kept watching Ryou walk across that sidewalk. His hair grew a little longer, and the uniform kept changing, but the spirit of the millennium ring could hardly take his eyes off Ryou's face.

Over time, even the depression in his eyes was fading. After a while, it just looked empty. He walked like a prisoner in the pharaoh's dungeon, having long realized that escape was a dreamer's impossibility. It was a feeling that the yami knew all too well, and one he never thought to look for in his host.

"I wonder if… he knows I'm there yet." Yami Bakura mused.

His thoughts came to a sudden stop when the figure in front of him accidentally tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. His book bag spilled open as the youth skidded across the cement.

He lay still for a moment, physically all right, but emotionally destroyed. It was as though he just didn't have the will to stand back up, here or anywhere.

And Yami Bakura found himself unable to stay hidden under the alcove of the game shop.

"Are you all right?" he asked, a little unsure of his voice. Ryou, surprised at the voice above him, turned his head weakly.

"I'm fine." He whispered, his tone completely stoic. For the most part, he kept his eyes on the ground, almost afraid to even look at anyone in the eye. "I… I just lost my footing."

Yami Bakura offered his host a hand. Ryou, surprised, took it, and slowly stood back up. Yami Bakura froze, never really holding the hikari's hand before. He never realized how thin it seemed. In fact, Ryou 's entire body looked fragile, like a final leaf, about to be thrown violently off a dying tree by an approaching sandstorm.

"Are you sure? You sure as hell don't look fine."

Ryou couldn't believe his ears either. It was the first time in weeks anyone had actually addressed him, yet alone expressed concern.

"Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to trouble you…" he suddenly pulled his hand back, fearful of what could happen if he didn't. He quickly tried to gather up his papers, while not taking his eyes off the stranger in front of him. "I'd better go now…"

"Why?" Yami Bakura asked.

"You're… a nice person… You shouldn't be around me…" Ryou whispered, lowering his head again, and running away from the spirit of the millennium ring.

Yami Bakura called out for Ryou to wait, but the boy didn't listen. He simply kept running.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Yami Bakura scowled, glancing down at a couple pieces of paper that must have fallen out of Ryou's school bag. He bent down, and picked them all up.

One was a letter to Amane, his dead sister, probably written during class. The other was a notice from the school. Ryou had just been expelled. The letter to his sister just recounted the notice, revealing that it was the fifth school this year he'd been thrown out of.

"I know it has something to do with everyone always falling into comas, sister." Yami Bakura read aloud to himself. "I tried my best to avoid everyone. But I accidentally made an acquaintance. I guess I will have to try harder. I'm running out of schools."

Yami Bakura looked up, in the direction that his host had run.

"Yeah." He sighed, involuntarily. "I'm there."

Yami Bakura sat down on the curb. He didn't want to follow his host any more. Despite three thousand years of hardened exterior, the face of the boy was almost too much to bear. And as much as he refused to admit it to himself, Ryou just reminded him of himself, a young boy in Kul Elna sleeping with one eye open.

"… Ryou…" he whispered, unable to shake everything that he experienced from his mind. He seemed so… lonely…