Disclaimer: Dustbunny still doesn't own YGO!

Dustbunny: Hi, hi! I really have nothing to say, so... Bye-bye!

Relationship: RyouMiho

POV: Third person perspective

Warning(s): Character death; suggested murder. There's also a curse word a little further down. This is also a bit on the fluffy/corny side. Many, many apologies.

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"Don't you dare die on me!" cried Miho, tears streaming down her face. In the back of her mind she cursed the thug who had done this.

"You... may want to put me to the side, then," Ryou offered her a weak smile. But his morbid humor didn't distract her from the fear she could read in his eyes, fear and regret.

"No! An ambulance is on the way. Just hold on," she pleaded, shoulders racked with sobs. She was distraught personified; her usually neat hair was half pulled out of the band that held it. She wasn't sure where her trademark yellow ribbon was. Her school uniform was dirty and rumpled. One cheek was starting to develop a bruise and her legs were banged up and bloody.

"The bullet hit me... it hit me in the-" he tried to reason with her, prepare her for the inevitable. He should have known it was no use.

"I don't care where it hit you!" she declared stubbornly, shaking her head violently. "You're stronger than that! Please, just stay with me!"

"It's okay... Please... don't cry. I don't want to leave you crying," he sucked in shallow breaths, determined to spend the rest of his meager time with her.

"Then don't... don't leave at all... please, Ryou," she squeezed his hand tightly and stared directly into his ever-dimming eyes as she begged. If it was the last thing she did, she would make that creep pay for hurting Ryou. He had no right, just as he had had no right to touch her. But this was more than a slap across the face and a feel. This was Ryou's life. He had no right.

"I'm glad... to go like this, Ribbon," he attempted to reassure her, but knew the effort was futile. He only hoped that she would look back on his words some time and be comforted.

"Well, I'm not glad to see you go like this! I hear the siren; they'll be here soon," her watery eyes filled with hope. But it was false, as he saw that she was trying to deny. Even if he wasn't beyond saving, she could tell how far away the sirens were.

"It's... it's alright..." he whispered, barely audible. He was fading.

"It's not alright! Not yet. Soon, though. You'll be better soon," she babbled, hardly believing the words herself.

"You know... that's... a lie..." he told her bluntly, looking up at her, trying to find some way to help her understand.

"No!" she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make reality disappear. She refused to believe that what he was saying was true.

"Yes..." he said as sternly as he could, trying not to wince too badly. "But don't... cry for me... I'm okay with it... as long as you're okay."

"I won't be if you don't make it!" she fixed him with a hard stare as she made the declaration.

"Is... that a... a threat?" he tried to smile again but wound up cringing from pain.

"Stop talking! Save your strength!" she held his limp body close to her, not caring about the blood he was dripping onto her lap.

"I'm... dying for you..." he said with a far-off look to his eyes.

"Don't! Live, dammit!" she screamed at him, shocked at the foul word that fell from her lips. "Live for me!"

"I wish... I could..." he said honestly. "But, now... you... you have to live... live for us both... for me..."

She watched in horror as his eyes lost all life. She could feel well the moment he went completely limp in her arms. Her head shot up for a sign of the ambulance but it was still several blocks off. Hope fading, she looked back to the frail young man in her arms. She gave him a light shake, trying to wake him back up. Even as she tried, she knew in her aching heart that it was no use. But she wouldn't give up, couldn't.

"Ryou? Ryou!" her voice raised in pitch. "No... please, no... don't leave me... Ryou, live!" she sobbed and hugged him closer, forgetting the disgusting alley she was in, the sound of the far-way sirens, the warm, sticky blood that soaked her as it flowed freely from his wound. "Live for me..."

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Dustbunny: Gah. Sorry about the corniness

Bunnydust: Not as sorry as the readers, I'm sure

Marshmallow: Um, please review