The Devil Wears a Ring

by twylock

This is the first group of kids who faced the devil in the ring. You've heard of how the Ryou Bakura boy made all those kids go mysteriously comatose before he met Yugi, right? These are the tales of the first time the devil took over the boy and unleashed hell onto the innocent children that were once his friends. Abandon hope; you won't be needing it. (Please R and R!)

The Devil Wears a Ring

Prologue

"We all have ideas about love and death. We keep a close eye out for them our entire lives, seeking one out and avoiding the other, knowing all the while that both are mostly beyond our control. It is a both scary and exciting predicament. In the end, it all depends on how you look at it. One thing is for sure; it is never quite what you expect."

This quote is true on too many levels.

Love is not a concept that just binds lovers and couples; love strings together bonds of friendship that may possibly survive forever, even if the ones that are close to us are far away or in a better place. We may love our family members, yet feel more greatly for friendships, letting you know just how invincible that bonds can be. You know the saying, "Blood is thicker than water"? Well, the quote is based off of another quote similar to it, but it has an entirely different meaning;

"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the waters of the womb."

While the more known saying means that family comes before friends, the original quote meant that friends come before family. I guess that I agree with that, as long as your friends are better in characteristics and kindness than your family is. But perhaps your friends aren't as close as your family is? I suppose it all depends on perspective.

My point is, I think blood and water are made of the same liquid. Neither are more important or worse than the other. You stand by either person, as long as they support you.

But sometimes we lose the people of blood and water.

Sometimes we love those people so much that we'll kill whoever took them away from us, as stupid as it may seem sometimes. Revenge should not last for entire lifetime, much less for countless centuries.

But I guess that isn't true, huh?

You know what I'm talking about. Him. The monster that stands among us, the man that is a shadow of his former self due to the fact all he loved died in front of him. Even in death he pursues revenge, and he has followed it for thousands of years. It's an idiotic endeavour, yet he still seeks it out.

Will you follow his path? Or will you forget and forgive?

Will you be of virtue or sin?

We seek one out and avoid the other.

Now is the time. Make your choice, or end up like the devil who wears a ring.

Chapter 1: Stronger Than You

The ice shattered below my feet, crunching and grinding against the concrete street it sat on. An icy wind burst through the air, particles of ice and snow smacking me in the face. I groaned and tightly wrapped my scarf around my face, perservering through the winter weather.

Well, technically, it wasn't winter yet-it was October, yet it already felt like the Earth was nearing farther and farther from the sun, making its yearly trip around the universe.

A woman swept dust off of her porch, the dust being kicked up by the wind and thrown into my face. The lady gasped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Yusuke! Please pardon me!"

I gave a weary smile. "Don't worry about it. So, uh...how are ya?"

"Hm? Me? Why, I'd be doing just fine if it wasn't so darn cold outside! What are you doing out in this weather? Can't your parents drive you to school when it gets cold out so you can stay warm?"

"Nah, it's fine. I can take it."

"Well, be careful not to slip on the ice. I remember when I was little I fell and broke my nose goofing off and not paying attention."

"Gotcha. See ya later, ma'am."

"Bye, Yusuke!"

I skipped over the multiple patches of ice scattered all over the sidewalk and continued on my way to school.

"I'm scared, Mama."

I turned my head slightly to see a boy holding tightly onto his mother's hand.

"Don't be scared, baby. I'm sure you'll do great! Just be yourself and don't be shy! You'll have so much fun, I promise. I heard the kids here are really nice."

"I dunno..."

"Well, when you get home this evening, Daddy will finally be back, and I hear he brought a gift for you!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah! So be a good boy today and we'll see what you'll get, okay?"

"Okay! I love you! Bye!"

"Be careful, honey! Have a good day!"

The kid dashed in front of me enthusiastically as his mother walked away, and he slipped on the ice and fell on his face.

"AGH! Owie owowowowowowoooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww..."

"Uh...you okay?"

The boy laughed and wearily stood up. "Y-yeah!"

He was more careful this time about his footing and walked slowly to the school I was heading towards. I rolled my eyes and grinned.

What a dork.

When I finally entered the building, I felt a warm rush of air hit me, and I immediatly felt calm. I tossed my coats and scarf into my locker and slipped on my school shoes, darting towards my homeroom so I could see my friends.

They were huddled together in a corner next to the window, all staring down at a tiny Gameboy screen that blinked a small flashing light. I was surprised they didn't get a stroke from the brightness of it, but whatever.

"Can I have your Eevee?" One asked another.

"No way! I'm using it to evolve it into Flareon."

"But that's the worst one besides Vaporeon!"

"Excuse me? Vaporeon was the one I evolved my Eevee into!" One of the kids in the group protested.

"Well then, you're a loser 'cuz Vaporeon sucks."

"Meanie! I'm gonna tell on you!"

The girl stuck her tongue out at the other, and then the group of kids all looked up when they saw me.

"Yusuke!"

I smiled at the children around me, my classmates glad that I had come back to school after being sick for so many days.

Some blond kid glared at our group and huffed, but I didn't know why. He whispered to his friends about something, and I couldn't hear it, but they sure were laughing hard about whatever it was.

"We thought you were dead!"

"Well...I was, but then I came back."

"GAH! He's a zombie! Shun the non-human! Shun the non-human!"

I giggled and pulled up a chair. "So, can I have your Eevee?"

The girl held her Gameboy close. "Why does everyone want an Eevee?! It's not that great a Pokemon! Well, unless you evolve it into Flareon, that is..."

At the time this story takes place, I and my friends are in the fifth grade. My group consisted of two female black-haired twins, Nozomi (the short-haired one with the Gameboy) and Sana (the long-haired one who hates Vaporeon). Then there's Ai, a bouncy, peppy girl who always wears her brown hair up with pink ribbons tied to pigtails.

Of course, I was the only boy in the circle of friends, which was unusual for a kid at that age, seeing as how most boys thought girls were gross and stuff. But I didn't really mind, and neither did they. With Nozomi being the straight man in all of Sana's sarcasm and jokes, and Ai being the optimistic ball of energy she was, I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. It was never a dull moment in our group.

Me? I'm just the idiot who ended up in a batch of funny characters. I was an average, plain-looking boy who didn't have many goals in life other than not dying before my time. Not that I cared, really.

"Isn't that really itchy?" Sana pointed out the lace that wrapped around Ai's skirt.

"Nope." She smiled. "Don't I look pretty? My mommy made it for me!"

Sana sighed. "Eh."

"You're just jealous 'cuz you don't own any pretty clothes."

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Mary-Sue. You should be the one jealous of me because I get to wear comfortable clothes and you don't."

"What's a Mary-Sue?"

"You."

Ai tilted her head. "Hm?!"

Nozomi flinched for some reason. She looked like she was in pain, like she was about to cry. Sana suddenly looked concerned and helped her sister out of her chair and into the hallway to calm her down.

Me and Ai sat there with saddened expressions on our faces. We knew that the reason Nozomi was upset was because her misophonia was kicking in again. It was a weird disorder that made her feel pain and discomfort when hearing certain noises. I guess a student in class made a noise she didn't like.

I heard some kids in the opposite end of the room snicker as they heard Nozomi sob just outside the door.

The little kid was always bullied because of her disorder, and people would purposefully made annoying sounds to make her hurt. Everyone thought she was basically retarded, but that wasn't true. She didn't have a learning disability-she just hurt in a different way than other people did. Some kids just didn't understand that.

Sana, however, didn't inherit the disorder like her sister, so she couldn't understand her problem, but she did all in her power to try and make her sibling feel more comfortable. It was very honorable of her, since it was just way easier to join the herd and pick on the weak, but she didn't. Sana was a good sister.

Trying to make the situation less awkward, Ai spoke up. "Hey! Did you hear about that glitch?"

"What glitch?"

"There's a way in any of the first generation 'Mon games to make the game give you a Mew!"

"What?! A Mew? You'll have to show me that sometime!"

"I have one myself, and the game didn't have any bad effects of the glitch at all!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW-"

"-God, you're both such a bunch of nerds."

I swiftly snapped my head around and expected Sana to be the one to be sassing me, but it was another kid. He had blond hair and bangs that were split in the middle, leaving a huge gap exposing his forehead.

"Pokemon is stupid. Don't you realize it's outdated?"

"Well...it's a game for kids. What can you expect? Of course it may seem stupid."

"Then why do you play it?"

I shrugged. "'Cuz it's fun."

"If you think it's fun, you're a loser. Just like your retarded friend."

"Whoa, that didn't warrant calling her a retard."

"If she is one, then why can't I call her one? It's what she is, right?" He laughed.

I gritted my teeth. "She's NOT a retard. And don't say retard like it's an insult, because it's not."

The boy grinned stepped closer. "She's. A. Retard."

I punched the boy square in the nose. He doubled over and started crying. "TEACHER! HE HIT ME!"

My homeroom teacher whipped around and gasped. "YUSUKE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

The boy played innocent for the audience. "I didn't do anything! He hit me for no reason, and now I think my nose is broken!"

"That's not true! He-"

The teacher pointed towards the door. "To the principal's office. NOW."

Some kids snickered as I angrily stormed out of the classroom. Ai smiled and tried cheering me up, but I didn't really feel quite as peppy as she did. Nozomi and Sana watched me in confusion as to why I was so angry, but I didn't really need to tell them what I did just now.

When I arrived at the principal's office, I plopped down on the first seat I saw and crossed my arms. I huffed, and the secretary at the desk looked down at me through her glasses. "Name, please?"

"Yusuke Himawari."

"Reason for being sent here?"

"..."

"Your reason, please?"

"...I hit a boy."

The lady shrugged and wrote down my information like this was all old stuff to her...which it probably was.

I sighed and stared at the beige walls, the stupid sunflower paintings that decorated the room, and the worn out old chairs that have probably been here since 1985. The clock on the wall ticked and drove me insane with each second that passed. I scrunched up into a ball and groaned, burying my face into my knees.

"Um...excuse me?"

I looked up and finally noticed the boy that sat next to me. He had shoulder-length white hair and pale skin. I wasn't quite sure if he was an albino or what, but he sure did look unique.

"Yeah?" I said, my arms still crossed.

He quivered and shook, extending a hand out to me. "I-I'm Ryou. I'm new here."

I shook his cold hand. "Nice to meet ya."

"I, uh...well...um..." Ryou bit his lip.

"...Yes?"

"Sorry...I just...is...is this a nice school?"

"Eh...it's nothin' to write home about, but it's okay."

The boy nodded. "So...your name is Yusuke."

"No, it's Janeane Garofalo."

The boy blinked twice and looked confused.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, it's Yusuke. I'm your local Pokemon nerd."

"Pokemon, hm? That's a good game. It's an RPG, isn't it?"

"Yeah. You into RPG's?"

He giggled. "Yeah."

I nodded. "Me too. Do you play any other games?"

"Of course! I have Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Doom, Goldeneye, Metal Gear Solid...oh, and I'm getting into horror games too! Silent Hill, Clock Tower, Resident Evil...what do you have?"

I stared wide-eyed at the boy. "Um...Pokemon Green...that's about it."

"Ah. Cool." He gave a small laugh. "Sorry. I need to close my mouth sometimes, huh?"

"Nah, man. Wish I could afford all those games, but my mom's a real cheapskate. I wouldn't know what to do with all of 'em, anyways."

"Hm, maybe you could play with mine at some point. I could lend them to you if you want."

"Really? That'd be coo-"

"-Himawari! Get in here!" The principal called for me.

"Eh...I gotta go. See ya later, though."

Ryou nodded and smiled. "Yeah. Bye."

I plopped down on yet another antique chair and I sat before the principal's maple wood desk, his piercing eyes glaring down at me.

"I got a call from your teacher saying you hit a boy. Now why would you do such a thing?"

"He called my friend a retard."

"That doesn't mean you should just punch whoever makes you angry. A lot of people will make you angry in life, so you have to learn that you must control yourself at times. If you just hurt whatever makes you upset, that will only make the situation worse than it already is."

I groaned. "Wouldn't you do what I did if you were in my shoes?"

The man leaned back in his chair. "Hm...that doesn't really matter. What matters is that you need to have more temperance."

"You didn't answer my question. Would you or would you not?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Son, I don't need to answer your question. I need you to watch your tone."

"You know it wasn't right for him to call that girl that. She keeps coming to you for help with her bullying problems but you do nothing every time. I'm sick of there being no progress."

"And we are doing the best that we can. It's just that some kids don't understand her issues like you do."

"Then make them understand! Threaten them with detention or calls to their parents! Just something, anything to take the weight of fear off her shoulders! School is a place to learn, not to want to die."

The man sighed. "You speak more intelligently than most of the adults here. And yes, it's true it's wrong. But I've stressed all of our options. The kids just won't give up."

"Is homeschooling an option?"

"We've brought that up with her parents, but they don't want her to become a shut-in. They think if they detach her from her social life she'll withdraw from the outside world permanently. You know how anti-social Nozomi is outside of your group of friends."

I clenched my fists and bit my bottom lip. "I just...I don't know what to do..."

"I know it's hard for you. I know it's hard for all of your friends, just...just come to me or tell your teacher if they're bothering your friend next time, okay? We don't want you hurting anyone, even if they're being mean."

I sighed. "Yes, sir..."

"I'll let you off the hook this time. Just...don't do it again, okay?"

I nodded, and I stared at the floor as I exited the office.

Ryou saw the negative emotions on my face and tried cheering my up with a smile and thumbs-up. I returned the gesture and walked out still feeling down.

I covered my mouth and bit my hand in frustration when I got into the empty hallway. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, as hard as I tried keeping them in. I felt so hopeless. Wasn't there anything anyone could do for the girl?

She...she had talked about suicide last year when she broke down really bad one day. Nozomi had cried so hard, and I had never seen her so hopeless. She had gotten therapy soon after that to try and make her have more faith that life would get better, but we were all still worried about her.

What if she tried that again?

It was uncanny that a fourth-grader would even know what suicide was. It was idiotic that someone so young would want to leave the world so soon. I couldn't stand the thought of losing my best friend...

...Well...I have faith in her. That bully wouldn't get the best of Nozomi. Get a grip, moron. She's stronger than you.

...

"Alright, everyone. Get in your seats. Niwa, I see you with the Gameboy over there. Put it up before I take it up." The teacher cleared her throat. "A-hem! May I have your attention, please. This is Ryou Bakura. He just transferred here. Please give him a warm welcome."

Ryou gave a weak wave to the class. "H-Hi."

Everyone whispered amongst themselves, saying things like "What weird hair" and "Why is he shaking?"

"Well, Bakura, why don't you tell us something about yourself?"

"Ah...um...my father had to move to this town because of his job...as an archaeologist...and...when I grow up...I kinda wanna be an archaeologist too, I guess..."

There was an awkward silence for a moment before the teacher finally spoke up again. "...That's very nice, Bakura. Now, why don't you go sit next to..."

Ai threw her hand into the air waved it at the speed of light. "OH! HEY! HEY! THERE'S A SEAT NEXT TO MINE! HERE! HERE! HEEEEEEERRRRRREEEEEEE!"

"...I guess you can sit next to Miss Ai..."

Ai gave herself a high-five. "YES!"

After the bell rang and our first class was over, I walked over to Ryou's desk.

"So...I'm sure Ai has kept you plenty of company, eh?"

Ai bopped up and down. "UH-HUH."

"Well...this is Nozomi and Sana, my other friends."

Sana and Nozomi shook Ryou's hand and smiled at the boy. "Nice to meet you."

Sana narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Hmmmmmm..."

Ryou blinked. "...Is something wrong?"

"...In order for you to be in our group of friends, you have to undergo a test."

Nozomi rolled her eyes. "Sana..."

"Lemme handle this." Sana breathed in. "So. How do you feel about the president?"

"...Never met him."

"How do you feel about the war in Iraq?"

"I don't watch television."

"And do you believe men should be equal to women?"

"Nope."

We all gasped.

"If women were equal to men, they would be dreadfully hard to handle."

It took us a moment to get it, but when we finally did we all burst out laughing.

Sana pat the boy on the back. "You're alright, kid."

...

School let out and everyone departed for home. I was about to do the same, but I heard a familiar voice call for me.

"Y-Yusuke-san!"

I tilted my head and saw Ryou running towards me. "Hey."

"H-Hi. Uh...I'm going to go to the game store. Do you want to...um...come...with?"

I seemed a little surprised he asked me to hang out with him, considering we had just met that day, but I guess that you gotta strengthen the friendship somehow. "...Sure."

"It's not that far from here. I think it's called 'Ganguro's Gaming Gear'?"

I laughed. "Oh my god, is it ran by an actual Ganguro Girl?"

Ryou smiled. "I'll let you wait and see for yourself."

I was right. The cashier was a woman with tan skin and bleach blond hair, her make-up bright pink, her nails long and rhinestone studded. She wore girly, colorful clothes, and the store was very fashionable, just like her. The whole place was decked out in designer furniture, all either pink or blue. The shelves were clean and shiny, covered from head to toe with every video game imaginable. There was a seperate room connected to the shop that looked like a cafe, and some tables in the cafe had computers that were hooked up to game consoles, as if they were made for people who wanted to eat and play games at the same time. It was overall a really cool store. I wondered why I had never heard of it before.

"Wow..." I gawked at my surroundings. "This place is amazing..."

"Thank you!" The Ganguro Girl giggled. "It took awhile to make it look this good."

"I can only imagine..." My wide-eyed expression must have not been the first one to view this place.

"Hiya, Ryou-chan! How ya doin' today?" The woman smiled down at the boy.

"I'm doing great, ma'am!"

"Tell ya what, I'll give you and your friend half off on any merchandise since ya brought in anotha customer, eh?" She winked.

"Wow! Thanks!" Ryou began his search for something fun to play.

When we were alone in the corner of the store looking at games, I gave a small chuckle. "So, is this your gimmick?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You bring in new customers and you get 50% off any purchase?"

The boy blushed. "Wh-what?! Of course not! I just wanted to show you this place because I thought you'd li-"

"-I'm kidding!" I broke into a louder laugh. "You're expression is priceless, kid."

Ryou kept on blushing, but he gave a small grin. "S-Sorry. I'm...weird like that."

"You're not weird at all. But this game sure is." I picked up a game off the shelf. "What is this even about? A racing game with zoo animals dressed in clothing?"

The boy laughed. "Well, I suppose that's the reason why this place is known for having every game in the world."

"I guess so..."

Ryou suddenly halted in his tracks. I saw what he was looking so closely at and walked closer towards it.

"Wow..." He smiled.

"Hm? Oh, that's that new TRPG, isn't it?"

"You know about it? It looks so cool..." He picked the box off the shelf and read the description on the back. "'Embark on a mystical adventure in the land of Monster World, where the Dark Lord Zorc has overthrown the king and doomed the kingdom with his demons. Save the town by choosing from a wide range of classes and becoming the hero of your very own story! Your adventure awaits!'..."

"It sounds interesting. Maybe TRPGs could be your new frontier."

He nodded. "I think...I think I'm gonna buy a starter set of it..."

Ryou excitedly rushed up to the front counter and placed his box in front of the Ganguro.

"Oh, you want Monster World? It's very popular. It shouldn't be too hard to find some RP partners."

"Really?! I'd love that!" The boy gushed with happiness.

When we finally left, Ryou gave me a small bow. "Thanks for coming with me. I really appreciate having someone to tag along."

"No problem, man. Let's do it again sometime."

He nodded.

I began to walk away, but the boy called out to me one more time. "Y-Yusuke-san?"

I turned. "Yeah?"

Dead, orange and yellow leaves were blown across the sidewalk, the wind smelling like pumpkin and cinnamon. Ryou's red scarf danced in the breeze as the boy stammered, looking down at the ground. "Are you...would...you consider yourself my friend?"

Wha...?

"Well...yeah. Sure."

Ryou looked up, and a wide open-mouthed smile spread across his face. "Th-thank you...see you later..."

He turned around and ran home, his scarf still whipping in the wind. Then he slipped and fell on his face again. "AGH!"

"You okay?!"

He sat up and rubbed his face. "Yeah..."

I sighed and smiled.

What a dork.

...

This next part that I am going to tell you about is the origin of how he came in contact with Mephistopholes himself. This poor boy had no idea he was going to become the next Anti-Christ.

"I'm home!" Ryou burst through the front door, his hands full of goodies and trinkets from the game shop.

"Hi! Did you have a good day?" His mother asked, cooking something at the stove.

"Yeah! I made a new friend!"

"That's great! Are they nice?"

"Mm-hmm! They like games too!"

"I'm happy for you, honey. Guess what? Daddy's home, and he has his gift for you."

Ryou's eyes brightened up as he was pulled up onto his father's back, the man giving his son a piggy-back ride. "Daddy!"

"My boy! How've you been? Was school good? Did you make any friends?"

"Yes! Everything is great!" The boy giggled.

When the father finally put his child back on the ground, he sat down on his knees and handed a brown paper bag to the boy. "I brought you back something."

Ryou excitedly took the bag into his hands. He held it close to his chest and laughed in his giddiness.

"What are you waiting for? Open it!"

The boy pulled the item out of the bag and gawked in awe at it.

It was a somewhat large golden ring (about the size of a hand) with a triangle in the center of it, and in the middle of the triangle was the design of a single eye. Five sharp, pointed miniature cones dangled all the way around the ring, making it look like a dreamcatcher. It was a bizzare trinket indeed.

"That's called the Millennium Ring. I bought it from an antique shop in Egypt."

Ryou continued to stare down at the artifact in awe.

The father tilted his head. "Do you like it? Or is it lame?"

"I love it! It's amazing! Thank you so much!" The young child embraced his father warmly.

"You're welcome! Now, promise me you'll be extra careful with it, alright? Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"I promise!"

Later, Ryou lay in his bed holding the ring up in the air, examining it with fascination.

It felt worn-out to the touch, as if it had been through a thousand owners. How old was this thing? It wasn't rusted or corroded, so it couldn't have been that old...

The boy stood up and went to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a string of rope. He pulled the rope through a hole in the ring and tied it tightly, putting the string over his head and pulling it onto his neck so that it dangled onto his chest.

He laced his fingers around the smooth surface, the light of the sunset coming in from the window hitting the golden ring, making it glitter and gleam like nothing Ryou had ever seen.

Then the boy's shadow began to grow.

And grow.

And grow.

And grow...

And a wicked grin spread on the shadow's face. A loud cackle broke into the silence of the room, laughing in Ryou's voice, except...different.

His eyes lost their innocent brightness and grew dark and grim. His hair became ruffled and wild, the same wicked grin the shadow wore appearing on Ryou's face.

The boy licked his lips and cackled.

"Finally...fresh meat."

...

This story.

This. Godforsaken. Story.

Get ready for a lot of unessecary nostalgia...

It's been five years in the making of this story. When I was ten, I got into Yugioh and absolutely ADORED Bakura. His character seemed so interesting to me, so I wanted to make a story about what life was like before he met Yugi. Originally, the prequel was called "When I Met Hime Nazo", which was the original name for Ai. It was basically all of the characters you saw here, except as teenagers and Hime was the narrator instead of Yusuke. Then I changed the name of the story to "King of Thieves", and the main character was still Ai. Then I finally changed it to its permanent name, "The Devil Wears a Ring". Instead of Ai being the narrator, it was Yusuke and Nozomi switching back and forth between the narration. Everyone was still teens, and the story really bugged me when it came to that part. At first, Yusuke's group would be like the fourth or fifth group Bakura bumped into while moving from city to city, but I figured that would be boring and I made the group the first one Bakura met while owning the ring. Now they're all teeny tiny fifth-graders running around trying not to die. Oh, how my babies grow so fast...well, technically they became younger, but that's not the point. My point is, this story has been many years in the making, and through thick and thin I've worked so hard to make this look nice and tidy. I really appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I hope you liked it. Expect more soon.