Missing

Duke knocked on the door to Ryou's apartment again, starting to wonder if something was wrong. The last time he or anyone he knew had heard from Ryou was more than a week ago. The others had been unconcerned. Tristan pointed out that Ryou was simply the kind of person who kept to himself. Anzu had added that Ryou was extremely studious and had probably holed himself up in his apartment to complete college and scholarship applications before school was back in session. Joey's contribution was that Ryou was a hermitic introvert—although he'd said it less concisely. Yugi had let himself be assured by his friends, but Duke knew better.

The Black Clown was closer to Ryou's apartment building than the homes of the others, so Duke—who lived in an apartment above his store which happened to be situated between Ryou's apartment and Domino High—was a little more familiar with Ryou's living habits than the others. Most important of his living habits was his weekly visit to Duke's store.

Every Saturday since he'd opened, Ryou had visited and bought something. Duke attributed this penchant to the fact that the Black Clown game store was the only store in Domino to sell merchandise for the Monster World RPG. Sometimes it was a single Duel Monsters booster pack, but more often, it was an MW figurine or some other paraphernalia for the game that seemed to be Ryou's favorite. He'd mentioned to Duke that he'd had to order anything he wanted for it online until now, and he was tired of paying the shipping costs.

It wasn't just the fact that he'd missed the last two Saturdays that made Duke suspicious. The last few times Ryou had been at the Black Clown, he'd seemed listless, almost unemotive. Three weeks ago—the last time Duke saw him—there had been a new order of Monster World figures. It had been the release of a new class of wizards, and Duke had expected Ryou to get excited, but he'd been completely apathetic.

Something was going on with him, that much was certain. So when he'd disappeared, Duke had begun to get concerned. After all, Ryou lived alone. What if something had happened to him? What if he'd been mugged and left to die in an alley somewhere? There wasn't anybody living with him who would report him missing. Duke, Yugi, and the others were the closest friends Ryou had, and most of them hadn't even believed this to be cause for concern.

Duke started to feel along the edge of the doorframe, hoping to find an extra key somewhere. Otherwise, he'd have to find Ryou's landlord and convince him to let Duke in. He let out a grunt of satisfaction as he found a key taped to the top of the doorframe. It wasn't perhaps the safest place to hide an extra key, but that was the last of Duke's concerns right now.

He opened the door and found the one-room apartment ensconced in more darkness than he would have thought possible. He called out Ryou's name, twice, but didn't get an answer. Shivering as he entered, he closed the door behind him before moving deeper into the dark room. Thick blankets had been hung in front of the windows, but Duke pulled them down and opened the blinds so as to illuminate the room.

It was more of a mess than Duke would have thought possible for someone as meticulous and careful as Ryou. He began to inspect it, taking everything he saw as another sign that something was terribly wrong. The bed was unmade, the sheets pulled in different directions as they draped off the bed. Several dirty tea mugs sat in the kitchen sink. The fridge was empty except for some moldy strawberries and an empty egg carton, both of which Duke readily discarded. Dirty tissues and empty plastic water bottles littered the floor, clustered mostly around the couch, where more heavy blankets were piled haphazardly. You couldn't even see the couch cushions. Duke picked up the empty tissue box and tossed it into the trash as well, starting to wonder if Ryou had legitimately gone missing when he heard a small, kittenish sound coming from under the blankets on the couch. Duke froze. Ryou didn't have a cat. His landlord wouldn't allow it. He tentatively lifted a corner of the comforter and revealed the pale face of a waking Ryou Bakura.