[He listens to all of that. God, Ryou. Atem knows Ryou doesn't want people feeling sorry for him, he wants people to see past what he's been through, and he's frustrated when people don't...but with a story like that, it's hard not to. His friends were put into the miniatures he made for them...his family was dead or didn't have time for him...and no one ever got to know him, because he couldn't be looped into an already tight-knit group of friends, and because...because of the spirit that possessed him.

The hard truth is, Atem did ask Ryou to live with him because he thought Ryou needed help. Because he was worried. Ryou wasn't taking care of himself.

But...]

You're more than that.

[This is said quietly.]

If you weren't...then you wouldn't have been able to see past what the hydra said, would you? Your heart wouldn't have been strong enough to fight it.

But you didn't give in. You did the right thing -- you got out, and you found a way to help, at a point when it would do good.

You've been hurt, and until you heal, people may see that and want to help you. But that doesn't make you a loser. It means that people like you enough to care about your happiness -- no matter what you have to do to eat.

[Everyone knows what shades eat. And everyone knows that nothing can be done to help it besides controlling the amount of damage done, which Ryou is doing.]