The earthquake hit while Kaiba was on his way to a summit meeting, causing him to stumble and grab the wall to keep his balance. When it was over, he stood up and called Mokuba on his phone. "Mokuba, are you alright?" he demanded, the violence of the earthquake making him concerned for the fragile child.

"Seto, she won't wake up!" came Mokuba's frantic voice after a moment.

"What?!" His brother's words struck him in the chest like a physical blow, more than he ever thought they could. "What happened?"

"Sh-She hit head. Seto, I'm scared…"

"Where are you?"

"On the stairs between the 17th and 18th floors," Mokuba answered after a few moments.

"Mokuba, I'm coming, don't move." Seto then hung up and called the emergency paramedics he kept on call. He wasn't going to be taking any chances. Minutes later, he was racing down the stairs at breakneck speed to join his brother. That was when the second earthquake hit, and Seto slipped on the stairs, cursing as he hit the floor of the landing, his arms wrapping around his head to protect it.

As soon as the tremors stopped, he was on his feet again, his thoughts focused on getting to them as quickly as possible, not letting himself consider all the bad things that could have happened. He was there in a manner of minutes, though it felt like an eternity. Soon, he was crouching by her unconscious body on the landing of the stairs, hugging Mokuba tightly to reassure him. She was unconscious, not dead. Thank goodness.

"Don't worry, Mokuba, the paramedics will be here soon," he said, his calm tone belying his inner emotional turmoil. He gently set Mokuba aside and lifted her head gently to see if there was any bleeding. There was. Damn it. He pulled out his handkerchief and folded it, pressing it to the wound to stop the bleeding. "When the paramedics get here, we'll all be boarding the KaibaCorp blimp until the danger has passed."

"Are we going to bring Yugi and his friends on the blimp too?" Mokuba asked, concerned for them in a way that Seto never was.

Seto sighed. "If you want to tell them where to meet us and when, and they actually get there on time, they can board it, but I won't be going out of my way to get them."

Mokuba nodded and pulled out his cell phone, calling Yugi as quickly as possible. Seto stared down at Akira, attempting to unravel the incredible tangle of intense feelings inside him. He was afraid of how hurt Akira might be, and that fear told him beyond denial that he cared for her strongly in some way, but he couldn't figure out why. Moments after Mokuba hung up, the paramedics came, and Seto stepped aside, picking up Mokuba and carrying him all the way to the blimp, even as the paramedics did the same with Akira.

A few hours later, Seto was sitting at her bedside, working as he waited for her to wake up. It turned out that the cut on her head was minor enough to only need butterfly stitches, which was a relief. Even more of a relief was the fact that Mokuba was unharmed by the incident. Before his brother had left to go be with the dweeb patrol, Seto'd had him checked over by a medic to make sure that he was entirely unharmed.

He glanced over at the unconscious therapist again, unsure of why he cared whether or not she was alright.

No, he didn't care, he reminded himself firmly. He just needed her to wake up so that she'd sign the papers promising that she wouldn't sue the company for the injuries she'd sustained in the earthquake. That was all.

There was a severe power outage all over Domino. Water mains had been broken all over the city, and many people had fled until the damage could be remedied and the city made habitable again.

As such, Yugi and friends were immensely grateful that Mokuba had procured them a place on Kaiba's blimp. The earthquake had hit in the middle of Ryou's date with Amaya, so she was there along with Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Joey, Duke, Serenity, and Marik. Bakura had refused to let Ryou get on the blimp without Marik. Amaya didn't know that they were roommates, and Ryou was content for Marik to keep to himself for now.

It seemed like they were going to be on the blimp for a few days, which would give Amaya plenty of time to get to know Ryou and his friends. Maybe too much time. That evening, Amaya and Ryou were talking together in her room. Ryou and Marik were sharing a room that night, though. They'd needed to pair up as roommates because there weren't enough rooms for all of them to have their own.

"I had no idea you were a finalist in the Battle City Tournament," Amaya said, looking impressed as Ryou tried to hide his nervousness. He'd hoped to avoid any discussion of the Battle City Tournament and the mysterious hospitalizations it had caused. "Or that you knew Seto Kaiba."

"He used to go to our high school, before he finally gave up on trying to graduate and focused on his company instead," Ryou explained. "We're probably the best friends he has, and we're hardly more than acquaintances."

"That's kind of sad," Amaya murmured, twirling a lock of Ryou's hair around her finger absentmindedly. After a few moments, she realized what she was doing and that Ryou was watching her, and she dropped it quickly with a blush. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, but Ryou just laughed it off good-naturedly.

"It's alright, I'm used to it," he said kindly, looking pleased. That was one of the reasons girls had flocked around him back in high school: for whatever reason, they'd all simply adored playing with his hair. "We should probably get some sleep now, though," he said as he stood from his chair. "Do you think your classes will be cancelled on Monday?"

"Probably. I'd be surprised if they didn't cancel classes, given the state of the city." She looked hesitant for a moment, then stepped forward and kissed Ryou's cheek. "I had fun today, even though our date was interrupted."

Ryou blushed fiercely. "I did too. When we get back to Domino and everything's back to normal, I hope we can go this again sometimes. Minus the natural disaster, of course."

"Of course," she replied with a giggle. "I would like that. Goodnight, Ryou."

"Goodnight."