Yami's koi: Gies… I am so sorry for the five-month wait for this. I doubt that many of you will still have interest in this fic, and I can't blame you. I am so sorry, but there's been a lot of turbulence the past few months. I sold my old computer, had my Mom buy me a new one, lost the previous chapters for everything, and then had to buy the Internet services back. And then at New Year I told my Mom I was bi. She thinks I'm just saying I am to impress this gie I fancy, just to follow the crowd. Now please, tell me if you would be able to write after being so emotionally fragile at what's supposed to be a prosperous time of year?

On a different note, here's the update.

"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ryou screamed, lunging himself forwards, tears forming in his eyes. His world felt as if it was falling apart, the walls of emotion and everything that had ever meant anything to him crushing and burying him for all eternity.

"BAAKUUUUURRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Set smirked. "Lucky for him, really. I would have crushed his body like a pathetic, weak little bug. His wrath now is as weak as the wind to me... for his afterlife body will never materialise. Not after the crimes he could never repent. Not after being the Thieving little bastard that he was."

Brother Semerkhet's chains clanked, supposedly in approval – Ryou had little care for what it meant. Set's foul, cruel laugh echoed in Ryou's eyes, and he covered the sensitive organs up, screaming his disbelief.

"BAKURA! NO, PLEASE, I LOVE YOU!" Ryou yelled, to the stone tablets around him, "NOOOOOOOO! Please… just come back…" He whimpered, breaking down completely. His legs gave way beneath him, knees coming into sharp contact with the stone, though he felt no pain. Everything to Ryou was now entirely numb. His heart, his brain… Nothing felt real to him. He lifted his trembling hands up in front of him, examining them as if he had never noticed they had existed before.

Bakura was dead. As much as Ryou wanted to believe it, there was no way he could survive a fall as great as that. And after they had just confessed their love to each other… it was so unfair. It shouldn't have happened to them. The tears fell down across Ryou's perfect, sobbing face, but he could hardly feel them, either.

If he died now, he would be happy. At least this way, he would be with the one he loved. In fact, would it really be such a bad idea if he threw himself down into the pit, after Bakura? Surely that would bring about some happiness? Without thinking, Ryou rose to his feet, face still scrunched up in absolute agony. This loneliness was killing him… no wonder Yugi always looked sad, knowing that there was nothing that could be done to make Yami love him. But their love would last – at least, if they survived Set's ever-consuming fury.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE, RYOU!" Yugi shouted, gripping onto Ryou's arms, predicting what Ryou was about to do. "RYOU, HE'S GONE, HE'S NEVER COMING BACK--"

"I CAN FOLLOW HIM!" Ryou screamed back, his pain so evident through his tormented voice, "I TRIED TO TELL HIM, I REALLY TRIED… But it just wasn't… good enough…" Ryou collapsed at Yugi's feet, gripping his legs weakly.

"I… I… I wanna die… I wanna be with him…"

Yugi's eyes pricked with tears almost automatically at his friend's sorrow, and he let them fall. Bakura was an amazing friend to everyone, despite his old tendencies to 'bully' Yami every so often into a Duel. And now that he was gone… He didn't know what to do. He crouched down next to Ryou, taking the snowy-haired hikari into his arms. Yugi's fingers stroked through the silvery locks, gripping his shoulders tightly as he released his own quiet moan of grief.

"Oh God… Ryou… I'm so… s-sorry…" Yugi sobbed, eyes scrunching up in pain. "I… He still loves you…. Ryou…"

Ryou shook his head, snapping himself back from Yugi's touch. His eyes were oddly bright from the tears they had shed, his cheeks strangely drained in the dim but sufficient light. Ryou's face broke into a wide, almost insane smile. He released a very small, very fake laugh.

"He's still alive."

Jou and Seto

Seto rocketed around the corner, urging his car to go faster, even though he needed to brake. They were less than three blocks from the cabin, and the man forced himself to calm down. He needed to keep a level head… But Jou's sudden outburst of tears several minutes ago hadn't helped him any. His fingers shook on the steering wheel as he slowed his car down, screeching to a halt in front of the now foreboding, ugly looking cabin. Seto launched himself from his seat, urging his partner on.

The brunette hurled down the path, fumbling with his keys at the door a few moments later. He could find every fucking key, except for the one to open the cabin. Seto knew that it was there, but just couldn't see it… Damn it, when did he get so many keys!

After a few more seconds of frantic searching, Seto's breathing calmed, and he kicked open the door… Just as he noticed the key attached to his many novelty key rings. Oh well. He would just have to make a mental note to himself: charge the cost of repairing the door on Bakura's tab.

"YUGI! YAMI! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO!" Seto yelled, searching the living room for one quick moment before hurling himself up the stairs. "PHARAOH!"

Jou screeched to a halt in the kitchen, searching for any signs of life. The windows were open, so the curtains flapped slightly in the gentle breeze… but other than that, no evident flashes of movement. He was just a little calmer than his boyfriend on the outside, but on the inside, he was just a scared little boy again. He was shivering beneath a blanket of both guilt and worry, these things both clouding his thoughts and haunting his dreams. Jou tried not to allow his vivid imagination to give him any mental images of what possibly could be happening to his friends right now, and searched the other rooms in a vain attempt to fill himself with hope.

Seto vaulted over the stairs, with no regard for his own safety. Promptly he smashed his head against the wall, falling awkwardly on his left arm.

Jou heard the crash, and loud moan, and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He raced to the bottom of the stairs, where he saw his lover, spread-eagled, with blood seeping from the side of his head, one arm twisted oddly beneath his body. Jou gasped, backing away.

Whatever madness that was here… had better not captivate him in the same way it had Seto. But whatever happened, Jou could only do one thing now – tend to his lover's wounds… and fast.

Would there be enough time to call 911?

No. There wouldn't… they always dragged out the process of healing… or at least the time it took for someone to reach the injured person. Jou would just have to stumble on with his faulty memory of first aid… and already, thought everything in his body was ordering him to remain calm… he was absolutely terrified.

Ryou, Yugi and Yami

Yami gasped at Ryou's words, simply staring as the pale boy rose to his feet shakily.

"Ryou… I understand that you are upset… devastated… but Bakura's gone…"

Ryou shook his head, covering his mouth with both of his hands. He was shaking anymore – his tears weren't even falling.

"No… you're wrong. I can feel him. He's here. He's alive. I know it." Ryou insisted quietly, eyes shining with happiness and belief. "Ha! Bakura isn't dead at all. That wasn't a vast pit… I'm not fooled anymore. It's all clear now."

"Ryou…" Yugi whispered, eyes imploring deeply into the chestnut ones of Ryou. "You're upset, I know… But please, don't do this to yourself." His eyes widened when he realised that Ryou was standing at the very edge of the cavern from where Bakura fell from, staring down into the void with eyes of wonder. One of his feet rose from where it was planted, now hovering above the empty blackness below.

"Do it, little Ryou… follow your bastard yami in death… Who knows, you may even go to the same place. Or not." Set sneered, daring Ryou to jump. Ryou froze for a moment, and began to sway horribly.

Yugi ran forward and gripped Ryou's sleeve – heights had always been an issue for the very fragile looking hikari.

"Ryou… Don't do it. There's nothing down there… He's gone, Ryou. Bakura is dead."

Ryou laughed quietly. "You're sadly mistaken, Yugi-chan. He's alive. He wouldn't leave me so unprotected like this… Trust me. This is what I want." He whispered, taking an impossibly deep breath before spinning on the foot still on the ground, and using his other to kick Yugi in the stomach. The impact sent Yugi staggering a few paces back, clutching his stomach in agony, gasping for breath.

Ryou's eyes softened at the sight of his friend in pain – he should have known that using such force on a tender area would cause great agony, especially to someone like Yugi. He felt sorry for his friend but, at the same time… Yugi should have respected his wishes, and realised that Ryou was right.

"Please… please, forgive me." Ryou whispered, before just allowing himself to fall backwards, into the unknown. Too late, Yami rushed forwards, racing to grab Ryou's arm, or his pants, or anything…

… But his fist clenched solely on thin air.

Jou and Seto: the cabin

Jou took a deep breath, and turned his lover over so that he lay on his back. At least now he could see the full damage inflicted upon his lover.

Seto's arm was still bent, and the wrong way at that. Jou swallowed, hard, immediately identifying it as a broken arm. That he wasn't sure how to deal with… Oh, why did he have to skip so many lessons of school! Why!

'Deep breaths, Katsuya…' Jou told himself, trying to steady his breathing. As he had thought to himself before, panicking would do nothing to help Seto's current state, so it was, therefore, something to avoid doing.

After a few more of these moments, Jou gave the Kaiba's body another look over. His legs and other arm seemed to be in perfect working order – he might have sustained a few bruises, but the boy knew very well that Seto could deal with a few minor injuries. As for the broken arm, however… well, Jou would deal with that after he had stopped the bleeding.

Jou raced into the kitchen, skidding to a halt in front of the sink. Getting down on his knees, he rummaged through the now oddly disorganised cupboard, searching for the first aid kit.

"C'mon… green box, green box…" Jou mumbled to himself, eyes growing wide as he began to throw various boxes, bags and cleaning agents across the room. He caught a flash of a green box, and his heart leapt. "All right! No we're getting somewhere!" He cried out, accent strangely huskier than usual. It was probably the immense burden Jou was now carrying taking its toll on his body.

Jou ran back to Seto's body – he hadn't moved an inch. Maybe that was a good thing… or not. In any case, however, it meant that Jou could clean the wound without having to worry too much about having a snarling, impatient CEO on his back, telling him how badly he was doing this, or how unimportant seeing to his wounds was…

Jou opened the large box, finding some syringes, safety pins, plasters, sterile water, painkillers… every fucking thing that he wasn't looking for… In his frenzied state, Jou began throwing these items out as well… Until he finally managed to find some cleaning wipes and bandages. Everything that he had actually learned (or, rather, copied off of Yugi in the end of module exams) seemed to be all a blur… After all, Jou had never been able to see himself in a situation such as this one.

But then… If only he knew what a predicament Yugi and Yami were in, right at that very same moment… Then he would keep his place in earnest. On the one hand, he would be inclined to help his friends in their hour of desperate need. On the other, larger hand, Jou would be more inclined to stay at Seto's side if he only knew what they needed help for. As far as they knew, Ryou and Bakura were dead together, and they might as well be too, for what it was worth.

Yugi, Yami, Set and Brother Semerkhet

It was useless to call Ryou's name, Yugi knew. But he did so all the same, experiencing what he could only imagine to be a fraction of what Ryou had felt when he witnessed his beloved Bakura fall into the black abyss. Now dangerously close to the edge of the jagged, broken stone, Yugi contemplated throwing himself down there with them. His lavender eyes glared down into the darkness, and it wasn't until he heard the quiet, sarcastic laughter of Set did he move and hurl himself at Yami, who stood there, dumbfounded.

"He's gone… Yami, he's gone, and I didn't do anything to save him… If only I was quick enough…"

Yami resisted the urge to slap his hikari. "Iie, Yugi, you cannot blame yourself."

Again, Set's cackle resounded within the chamber, its pitch piercing through Yugi's body and soul. The hairs on the back of his neck rose once again, the eerie sound scaring him ever so slightly. He cuddled up against Yami closer. He was going to die… At least it was in the arms of the person whom he loved.

Yami trembled in Yugi's arms, sensing what his counterpart was thinking. He edged closer to the massive cavern of darkness below them, blinking down into it over Yugi's shoulder.

"Yugi…" He whispered, smiling softly as he pulled back to gaze into the boy's eyes. Yugi whimpered when Yam placed his lips onto his own, the chaste kiss awakening his senses. The wet, warm feeling made Yugi sigh, and he was truly happy for just that one moment.

That was when Yami pressed forwards on his body, pushing them both over the edge.

Jou and Seto: The Cabin

Jou dabbed at the wound on Seto's head frantically, causing the CEO, even in his unconscious state, to moan in pain. A few stray tears passed down the blonde's cheeks, mixing in with the cleaning solution slightly. Then he patted on a clean cloth to clean away any excess dirt to avoid infection… But fuck, Jou had little or no idea what to do for the best once this was done.

He could always leave Seto once he'd been cleaned up to look for Yugi and the others… But what if something happened to him whilst Jou was gone? What if he awakened and hurt himself again? What if somebody came in and killed him? What if Seto fell into a coma? What if Seto died? What if…

No. Leaving Seto was out of the question. But what could he do to help his friends? He felt so useless, and such a good-for-nothing person. His tears spilt again, but this time for another reason. Jou sobbed loudly, wrapping a bandage around Seto's head tenderly, staring up at the sky in both horror and fear for his friends.

He could always take Seto with him whilst he looked for the Mutou's and the Bakura's… But wouldn't Seto only slow him down, and get in the way? Wouldn't taking Seto with him only endanger him further, leaving him even more vulnerable to attacks and such forth than before? Wouldn't just staying here with Seto, ensuring that he was all right… Be the best course of action after all?

A few more tears leaked from Jou's eyes, but again, these were from yet another emotion. These were born from feelings of frustration and worthlessness. He couldn't save his friends and the best thing he could do would be to call an ambulance for…

Wait. Call an ambulance. Before he had scorned doing this, knowing that they delay processes and often neglect patients… But if he truly wanted to help his friends, wouldn't he just wait until the emergency services arrived and then shoot off? Could he really… Do that to Seto? He turned to look at the quiet, passive face of the usually aggressive, but secretly passionate and loving CEO. Jou smiled softly, running his fingers through the chestnut locks, sighing.

"What do I do…" Jou asked aloud, absent-mindedly glaring at the phone on the nearby wall. With a sigh of admitted defeat and yet also of defeat, he reached over and dialled 911. The ringing tone filled Jou's ears.

"Hello, emergency services, which service do you require?" A calm women's voice asked.

"Ambulance." Jou said frantically, peering out of the window to see if his friends were there. Of course, they weren't.

"Please state the reason for requiring this service," The women said smoothly, typing on a computer loudly.

"My boyfriend… He's fell down the stairs and hit his head… He's bleeding and won't wake up… I've cleaned the wound but he hasn't moved or anything!" Jou responded hastily, wishing the women would just hurry the fuck up.

"Please hold."

Yugi and Yami

Yugi gasped as he felt himself fall into nothingness. Wordlessly he tried to make eye contact with Yami, but he had buried his face in Yugi's jacket, either afraid or to protect himself against the build-up of speed around them. The diminutive boy felt himself fall through the darkness, speed gradually increasing as they fell further, further and further into nothingness. Yugi opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

'Don't be afraid,' Yami reassured him calmly through their mind link, still not looking at his alter ego. 'We won't fall for much longer.'

Hardly seeing this as comfort, Yugi whimpered and held onto Yami tighter. He was so afraid… He had never wanted to die without being…

And then, all of a sudden, they had stopped falling. Yet there was something strange about this. They had not made contact with anything. Glancing around, Yugi saw that they had not even stopped. They had slowed down, as if being gently put back down onto the ground, like a father would to his child.

Yami released his hold on Yugi reluctantly as the ground approached. Half-expecting to see two dead bodies lying side-by-side, Yugi closed his eyes, jumping when his feet met with the wonderfully solid floor once again. His eyes reopened, and met with a beautifully bright scene.

Golden objects surrounded himself and his yami. Endless, endless streams of it pooled at their feet, hung off the walls, was embedded in the tiny cracks in the floor… Hell, it was practically a chamber for the riches of the doomed, hated God Set. Statues of Set loomed in the distance; most of them with golden swords cleaved through them to prove his brother had defeated him. Golden coins, golden pieces of jewellery, golden death masks, golden sarcophaguses, golden torch brackets… Everything from Yami's time had been made into gold and placed in this tomb, just for him being a dickhead.

Yugi turned around, seeing yet even more of the substance blinding him. Blinking to adjust his eyes to the sudden brightness, he believed that he heard something metallic clink against something… Something that had definitely been made from the same thing, so it definitely wasn't Brother Semerkhet coming to kill them… It was something different… Remembering his weapons, Yugi produced his gun and pointed it at the source of noise.

When nothing appeared however, and Yugi began to feel as if his arm was going to fall off (his arms were not adapted to this sort of thing), he lowered the weapon slightly, and began to edge his way around yet another golden statue of Semerkhet quietly, trying to see what all of the noise was about…

… When a bullet scarcely missed his head, impaling itself in the bare chest of the golden, elaborate statue of Set.

Yugi screamed.

Jou, in the cabin

Jou drummed his fingers impatiently against the arm of the chair, glaring at the clock. In reality, it had been nothing short of ten minutes since he had called the emergency services, but to him, it could have been well over an hour.

"FOR FUCK SAKE!" He screamed at last, tearing at the sofa's cover, ripping the material in one fluent movement. "HOW LONG IS THIS AMBULANCE GONNA FUCKIN' TAKE!"

His momentary rage over, Jou sighed, running his fingers through his messy hair. If only he had known that exactly where his lover was lying, Yugi and Yami had been about to share a kiss when Bakura came in, sobbing his heart out, then perhaps he would have removed Seto's body. Perhaps not. But only if he knew…

A car zoomed past. Immediately Jou was up and out of his seat, peering through the blinds, trying to see if it was an ambulance. Of course, he was proven wrong, and fell back into his seat, disappointed.

Now that he thought about it, going after Yugi, Yami, Ryou and Bakura didn't seem like too much of a bad idea after all. Seto would be in safe hands when with qualified doctors and nurses, despite their tendency to mock and berate people for attending to wounds when there was little else to be done. Scorning himself for even trying to save his beloved wouldn't help either, Jou thought with a small grin. Now that he had calmed down about the situation, and didn't fear for Seto's life anymore, he doubted he would die of a mere bang to the head. Sure, it had been a big fall, and he had been knocked out, but surely, would it be enough to kill him? Taking his eyes off the clock for one moment, Jou glanced down at Seto's body, moving only slightly when the CEO inhaled and exhaled. Of course Seto wouldn't die… he was too proud to die by falling down a mere flight of stairs.

Jou relaxed for a moment, previous anger and aggravation dissipated in the space of a few short moments. That was the beauty of Katsuya Jonouchi, however… He was so carefree, constantly changing and therefore, an unpredictable soul to many apart from his closest and dearest friends. For some, it could take weeks – perhaps even months – to fully understand Jou. For others, it could only take a matter of days to understand what things make him annoyed, or angry, and how to avoid getting yourself into such a situation with him.

To Shizuka, Jou's darling sister, she had not known quite what to expect, what with being separated from her brother so long ago, and having little contact with him. Yet when she had taken the bandages from around her eyes, and had saved his life, she had understood him in little less than a week. He wasn't complex, just… Different. But this took a lot of explaining for some people. Finally becoming aggravated, Shizuka allowed the subject to drop.

In the belief that he heard the distant sounds of an ambulance's sirens, Jou leapt from his seat once more, peering out through the windows. He glanced up each end of the long, winding road, steadily becoming impatient once again. Feeling another mini tantrum coming on, Jou took it out yet again on Seto's sofa.

"DAMN FUCKIN' AMBULANCES!" Jou screamed, pounding his fists into the sofa furiously, tearing out the stuffing with extreme uses of force. Soon, the entire living room was covered in bits of the yellow foam, and Jou paused, about to tear another chunk out from the couch. He raised a hand to his mouth… And began to laugh his sexy little ass off.

Yugi and Yami

After this initial reaction, Yugi whirled his body around, and glared in both shock and amusement at the sight of a half-naked Bakura pointing a gun at him, laughing to his heart's content. From behind him, Ryou emerged, blushing slightly and shaking his head.

"Really, was that necessary?"

Bakura shrugged. "About as necessary as this," He said quickly, before giving Ryou an intense kiss. Ryou closed his eyes, threading his fingers though the silvery locks of his yami. Yugi blushed at this sight… It was reminding him of what had occurred between him and the Pharaoh just before he pushed the down into this gold-filled chasm.

It seemed that Yami was thinking of things along the same lines. For he approached Yugi silently from behind, wrapping his arms around the young, small hikari's waist, smirking when Yugi squirmed in his arms. In a sudden, fleeting moment of dominance, Yugi entwined their hands together, allowing them to rest upon his stomach gently. Yami laughed softly in his ear, kissing the outer shell softly. Yugi released a soft sigh, smiling.

Finally releasing Ryou from the kiss, the King of Thieves glanced over at the Mutou's, a small smirk crowning his lips.

"So, I take it you two have finally decided to stop being so thick-headed and fuck each other?" He asked casually, much to Ryou's distaste. He tutted, and ran over to embrace Yugi happily.

"I'm so happy for you! You two have finally realised you're meant to be! Go Yugi!" The boy cried, smelling faintly like Bakura. Yugi blushed.

"Well, Yami hasn't asked me anything yet… He's only kissed me, so I don't really think we're going out." Yugi said shyly, blushing like hell.

Bakura eyed this scene happily, but his eyes narrowed when he heard what Yugi had to say for himself. He glared at the Pharaoh darkly.

"You can be a real prick, you know that Pharaoh?" Bakura said with a sigh, taking Ryou back into his arms thoughtfully. "If you don't ask him, I'll do it for you. And I'll probably twist things around a bit, too." He added as an afterthought, grinning evilly.

Yami flushed very faintly. "Well, I--"

"Yugi, if this bastard ever actually got around to asking you, would you go out with him?" Bakura asked loudly, over Yami's voice.

Now it was Yugi's turn to blush. "I… Well, I mean…" He stuttered, glancing over at the Pharaoh's curious, hopeful eyes. He sighed. "You fucking know I'd say yes."

Bakura grinned. "But…?"

"But he hasn't asked me yet."

"Hmmm… Well, this poses a dilemma!" Bakura mocked, using his super-sarcastic tone to aggravate the Egyptian. He placed his hands on his hips, taking a step away from Ryou to observe the two slightly confused, embarrassed boys before him.

"Pharaoh! You're usually quite quick on the uptake, aren't you?" Bakura asked, quickly and angrily, "Right. Boy likes boy. Just to avoid confusion, on of them will be called Pharaoh Dickhead, and the other will be called… Oh, I don't know… Yugi Mutou, perhaps?" Bakura used his fingers to demonstrate.

"You see, Yugi and Pharaoh Dickhead both love the arse off of one another, but Yugi is too shy to ask out Pharaoh Dickhead. Pharaoh Dickhead, however, is a dickhead. As a result, he will not ask Yugi out because he is too stupid to see what everybody else can, despite it isn't right in front of them, as it is for Pharaoh Dickhead!" Bakura said furiously. He lowered his fingers, eyes meeting with the deathly pale face of the Game King. "You're the master of puzzles and such forth… You solve the fucking problem!"

Yami placed his hands on his hips, imitating Bakura's standoffish stance. "I assume that Pharaoh Dickhead must ask little Yugi out then, to solve this crisis!" He said loudly, not caring if Set and Brother Semerkhet heard him.

"Correct!" Bakura yelled, breathing a sigh of relief, "So, tell me this Pharaoh Dickhead… WHY HAVEN'T YOU!"

Yami inhaled deeply, preparing himself both mentally and physically for what he was about to do, which would most probably involve surprising his little hikari.

"Well, if some bastard would have shut his fucking face, then maybe I would have done so sooner!" Yami replied calmly, turning to face the stunned, open-mouthed Yugi Mutou. His eyes were alight with hope and almost disbelief. Yami smiled and took both of Yugi's hands in his own.

"So, Yugi… Will you go out with me?" Yami asked, trying to keep the tremor out from his deep, husky voice. It worked… To an extent.

Yugi smiled and nodded his consent. With a sigh of relief from Yami, and a 'Finally,' from Bakura, the Game King leaned down and gave Yugi a proper, full-on kiss.

Yami's koi: again… I don't blame you for hating me. I've neglected this story so badly, but I just hope that… I'm gonna make this up to you gies, I swear. My fingers are sore, my head is sore and my neck is sore. Please review if you haven't abandoned all hope already… I could do with the encouragement.