Welcome to Another Chance! For any new readers, hi.

For any old readers, this is Inspiration, revised and redone. The later chapters are almost identical to the originals, but the early ones... not so much. However, I hope this story has changed for the better and that you enjoy it as much as (I hope) you enjoyed the original.

P.S Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

P.P.S I don't own any of the song lyrics either. Duh.

The door shut with a loud bang. Ryou ran one hand through his dripping silver hair while the other fumbled with his coat buttons. The wind howled outside and the noise of the rain was almost deafening as it splattered against the firmly closed windows, but Ryou didn't really mind.

Anything, he thought, was better than silence.

The silence he should have gotten used to by now, but never had.

After finally removing his wet coat and shoes, he wandered into the kitchen. As usual, he didn't bother to read the note his mother had written, just crumpled it in his palm. Ryou guessed she didn't care.

He changed course from the kitchen to his bedroom, which was always a good place to go when he was alone in the house. He took the stairs three at a time, making short work of them with his long legs. As he reached the top, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. Lily-white skin, wide eyes the colour of black coffee, long silvery hair. He grimaced. The mirror copied.

Why do I have to look so feminine?

He mentally cursed his own prettiness. Eventually, sighing, he retreated to the small room that was his safe haven.

It was a simple room, with white walls, a small bed with a blue duvet, a wooden desk and a wardrobe. He had his own bathroom, which was a bonus, although it was not much larger than a cupboard. There were a few drawings pasted on the wall above his bed, some more scattered across his desk along with a pot of pencils and some watercolour paints, but that was about it.

Ryou had never been one for games.

At the age of sixteen, he was sweet, gentle and somewhat naive. He was quite shy with strangers and immensely disliked being the centre of attention. He much preferred anonymity. That didn't mean, however, that he did not want to be loved.

It had been a long time since Ryou had felt loved. He felt as though his parents provided for him out of duty, rather than anything more meaningful. His father was rarely around, and his mother was an extremely successful businesswoman, and spent her days dashing from meeting to office to dinner party, spending lavishly the money she earned. From a young age, Ryou had learned that he was not the first priority in their family, not by any stretch of the imagination.

He had always been a little behind everyone else socially. Not that he tried to keep up. He was afraid of rejection. Rejection hurt more than anything else. When people went out of their way to be nice to him, he felt even more worthless. Like a charity case.

Let's help Ryou because he's lonely.

Let's be his friend because he has no-one else.

Ryou shook himself. It was at times like these, when Ryou felt so neglected, when his unhappiness threatened to overwhelm him that he truly didn't understand himself. All he wanted was a little bit of love. But for him, that love never seemed to come.

By the time his mother arrived home, Ryou was already asleep. It had been years since he'd sat up, waiting eagerly for her. He'd been convinced that one day she would transform into one of the people he'd seen outside school; warm, smiling, interested in the latest unrecognisable splatter of paint or junk model that their darling offspring had produced, rather than this cold, distant, frightening woman who couldn't care less about him.

She would gather him up in her arms and tell him she loved him.

He'd even thought his father might move back in.

At the age of about 6, he'd drawn a picture at school of himself, standing alone in front of their huge house. He remembered the conversation he'd had with the classroom assistant like it was recent.

"Ryou, that's lovely, but why are you by yourself? What about Mummy and Daddy?"

To which he had replied "They're at work."

"Well, why don't you draw them with you, at the weekend?"

Ryou did so, and returned to the young woman at the end of the lesson. She noticed that the figures she assumed were his mother and father had downturned mouths.

"Ryou, sweetheart. They don't look very happy."

"Of course they don't. They're with me."

The assistant didn't like to admit it, but she cried at that.

School was a burden, and always had been for Ryou, him being shy and all. The prospect of another long day at school, being plagued by people he didn't like, and ignored by people he did was unappealing at the best of times, but being miserable and lonely just made matters worse. Ryou comforted himself with the thought that it was Friday, although it was freezing and overcast, with an icy wind that battered Ryou's frail form as he walked through Domino towards school. He was almost glad to arrive at the ugly building he spent most of his time in.

"Domino High" the sign over the front office door proclaimed. Great, he thought. Just great. Then the bell rang shrilly, and he was forced to move on.

He turned around to start walking towards his first lesson, when he spotted a familiar group of people.

"Ryou!"

He turned away, feeling immensely guilty and kept on walking.

"Hey, Ryou! Over here."

Ryou turned back slowly, knowing what he was about to see.

Five people. Five lovely people, smiling at him. Five lovely people, pitying him.

"Hi there, Yuugi." Ryou gave a little wave, feeling completely humiliated.

"How are ya, man?" Joey Wheeler, a tall blonde with a strong Brooklyn accent laid a hand on his shoulder.

Ryou fought down the urge to recoil and instead smiled and lied.

"I'm fine, thank you. And you?"

This was good. The group began chattering about the previous weekend, meaning Ryou could step smartly out of the limelight and out of their conversation.

Why was this so hard?

Why couldn't he just be grateful that someone wanted to talk to him, even if they were only doing it out of pity?

"What do you think, Ryou?"

Ryou blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"Do you think Duel Monsters is gonna be big? I sure hope so. My room is being used as a store for the boxes of cards, and I really don't want it to stay like that."

"Maybe you could stand on the boxes, Yuug. It might make you a normal height."

The group laughed. Ryou just looked at the ground, feeling as awkward as ever.

"Ryou? Are you okay?"

Ryou glanced up, only to see Anzu watching him, pretty eyes laced with concern.

Ryou had had enough for one day.

"I...I have to go." Ryou backed away from the cluster of people, who were now watching him confusedly.

"Well, it was nice talking to you!" Yuugi called, beaming.

"Yeah..." Ryou said quietly as he walked towards his first lesson, Science. "Because I'm obviously worth talking to."

"What's up with that guy?" he heard Tristan Taylor say, rather loudly. The rest of the group shushed him violently.

"You're so obnoxious, Tristan!" Serenity chastised.

That's right.

Don't talk about Ryou.

He doesn't like it.

It was only after he had walked away that he realised he shared his Science lesson with all of the people he had just left, except Serenity.

Could I have made it any more obvious that I was ditching them?

That was all he could think about as he ran towards his classroom, but when he burst through the science lab door, a cold fear descended upon him.

"Mr Pegasus!" he gasped in alarm. Noticing the clock on the wall next to the whiteboard, he swallowed. 9.05. He'd been so preoccupied with making sure Yuugi and Co didn't catch him lurking behind the science block, obviously trying to avoid them, that he'd lost track of time. Mr Pegasus seemed to take great joy in dishing out punishments and verbal abuse. Consequently, he was one of Ryou's least favourite teachers.

"Mr. Bakura. What time is it?" Pegasus said icily, putting down the cup of tea he seemed to be permanently drinking.

"Five past nine, sir."

"Are you stupid, Mr Bakura?"

"N-no, sir."

"Well then, you will know that my lesson started five minutes ago. Do you know that?"

"Yes sir."

"Well," Pegasus smirked and leaned back in his chair. "I have deduced that you have deliberately been late for my lesson, seeing as you know that it started five minutes ago and there is no conceivable reason for you to have been late. So now, I will punish you."

Ryou's legs turned to jelly. There was no telling what Pegasus would tell him to do. From 4 hours after school detention, to making him tea, to... There were many disgusting rumours about Mr Pegasus' "special detentions". Ryou had always dismissed them as foolish, but standing there on the receiving end, he felt they could be true.

"You will have detention after school today. Don't even think about skipping." Someone snickered. Ryou glanced up. A dozen pairs of eyes looked away abruptly. Yuugi gave him a pitying look. Ryou looked down.

What is it about me that everyone wants to protect? That everyone feels bad for?

He thought as he went to sit next to a girl with waist length blonde hair and hollow eyes. Ryou's eyes went to her wrists, which were deformed by long pink scars. Ryou sighed. Slitting his wrists didn't sound so bad right about now. Maybe if he was dead people might stop feeling bad for him.

"Now, we are going to begin our lesson. Today, we are doing dissections!" Pegasus' eyes glinted. "What is a dissection?" He asked the class.

Ryou paled slightly. This day just gets better and better.

"It's when you cut something open, sir. A living thing," someone answered.

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" Pegasus barked. "You don't cut open live animals, fool!"

The class continued to discuss dissection while Ryou stared at a patch of ceiling in the corner of the classroom. It had greenish mould growing on it.

How lovely.

"Mr Bakura! What is so interesting about the ceiling?" Ryou jumped. "Stand up."

Ryou stood up, feeling self conscious with the twenty nine pairs of eyes trained on him once again.

"Who will have Mr Bakura in their work group?"

Ryou felt ill. He had been so distracted; he hadn't noticed people getting into groups. I don't have a single friend in this class He said to himself. I'll be working on my own, again.

"Ryou can join our group!" Yuugi announced brightly. Ryou smiled weakly at him as Pegasus handed him a dissection knife. Ryou found his hands were trembling. He felt faint. Ryou detested anything to do with bodies. Blood, guts, detached limbs. Ryou shuddered. He didn't even like cooking with meat.

He wandered over to the table where his adoptive group stood, tripping slightly on someone's bag. Pegasus was going around putting a covered tray on each table, practically skipping with glee. He loved upsetting students even more than he loved himself.

Yuugi looked up at Ryou and gave him a wide smile. Yuugi's wild tricoloured hair and diminutive size made him an object of much speculation in the school. But he had friends, his tight knit group of fun loving, happy people. He was loved, he had his grandfather. Ryou was insanely jealous of him.

"Joey, you take the top off!" Anzu whined. "It'll be gross!"

"Oh no, blooood!" Tristan cried in a mocking falsetto. Anzu slapped him playfully in response.

Joey grabbed hold of the plastic top and pulled it off.

"Eww!" Anzu squealed, covering her eyes. The smell of blood hit Ryou hard. He tried to shut his eyes, but caught a glimpse of glistening red meat and the maroon bloodstains on the white tray. He heard somebody gasp as the room span sickeningly, and Ryou fainted.

"Back on the dance floor, bad enough to take me home. Bass kicking so hard, blazing through my beating heart!"

The song echoed loudly in the small room, while the baseline made the floor vibrate and sent shivers up Ryou's spine. Ryou was standing in a club, all flashing strobe lights and swaying bodies. Among the crowd, he spotted people he recognised, but he made no effort to reach them. He was happy just to be there, alone but surrounded. There were also people he didn't know, unfamiliar faces. He caught a glimpse of wild, spiked hair and, for a split second, slanted crimson eyes staring right at him.

Suddenly, the walls flew away from him, the people vanished. He was standing on a pillar, and below him danced a sea of red flames. They seemed to sing enticingly as they crept up the pillar towards him, forming shapes. Love hearts, flowers, birds, plants. Ryou was entranced. A resounding voice from above called out "You will burn in the fire of hell!"

"Burn with lust..." hissed the voices from below. A vocal collage reached his ears. A collage of many songs that Ryou had heard in the past.

"I want to find you, tear out all your tenderness...babe, pick a night to come out and play...It's like the darkness is light...I can't feel it, I wanna feel it. Harder, harder, harder! AND YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO FACE IT, YOU'RE ADDICTED TO LOVE!"

It was so unreal. Love, love, love. And then, the most vivid part of the dream so far. A man appeared, randomly sitting inches from Ryou, back turned. All Ryou could see of him was his tanned back, and wild blonde hair, tinged reddish from the feverishly dancing flames below. The man spoke so quietly Ryou had to listen hard, but the three words were seared into his memory. "Just say yes."

Ryou woke up in the school's sickbay, in a cold sweat, heart hammering in his chest. He was lying on his back with a rather unpleasant view of the blotchy, dirty ceiling.

I wonder if they thought it was amusing, putting sick-coloured wallpaper in a sick room, Ryou thought drily as he sat up, feeling all the blood rush to his head.

A clattering of boxes announced the arrival of the nurse, Amy. Ryou gave her an angelic smile, which was a rare but beautiful thing. Out of all the adults in the school, the young disorganised nurse was Ryou's favourite, because she treated him like a real person, rather than a burden that had been foisted upon her. Ryou was always flattered that, after spending her day dealing with crying, vomiting, grouchy, germ-ridden teenagers sent from their lessons to the infirmary, she still deemed him important enough to bother with whenever he found himself in the sick room, which was often.

Ryou was rather prone to injury. He wasn't particularly delicate, just unlucky. It didn't help that some people thought it amusing to trip people in the corridors and Ryou was often in his own little dream world and so didn't think to avoid the outstretched leg or dodge the not-so-gentle shoulder barges that were flung around during lunch break. Amy returned his smile.

He's a strange one, she thought, but so sweet.

Ryou generally felt slightly pathetic, knowing the nurse's shallow kindness meant more to him than anything. She probably went home to her family, her boyfriend, whatever, and forgot he even existed, while he clung on to every kind word aimed at him like it were gold dust. When he was alone, he replayed these moments in his mind to keep him sane.

It's not working... the sceptic in his mind kept telling him, you need to get a grip!

"Ryou? You best get back to lessons now. One more hour, and then we'll both be free, eh?" Amy winked at him.

"Oh...ok." Ryou had been trying in vain to shake the image of the mysterious man from his mind. He was so...enticing. And so real. For some reason, Ryou couldn't rid himself of the notion that the man might not just be a figment of his imagination. However, he did have last period, Social Studies, to worry about.

"Erm...Ryou?" Ryou glanced up to see Amy by the door, keys in hand. He quickly moved outside the office.

"Good luck, Ryou. Damn, if anyone needs it, you do." Amy said, smiling. She turned and walked away, flat shoes making no noise on the cheap carpet. Ryou took off, hoping to get to his next lesson before the register closed.

The first thing Ryou noticed as he entered the room, was the lack of noise. He stood by the door, looking around for his seat.

Great, right at the front.

Ryou began to walk across the room, feeling the eyes on him.

Did you hear? He fainted when they were doing dissections.

Really? Poor him. Do you think he has some kind of problem?

Nah. He's just a pussy.

Their social studies teacher, Miss Valentine, was glaring at him, her red lips pressed into a disapproving line. She was a top heavy, platinum-blonde woman in her early 50's who never wore anything that wasn't tight and aimed at women half her age. She was lax when it came to rules, but not when it came to her own opinions. Her best feature was her daughter, who was extremely pretty and had half the boys in the school lusting over her.

As Ryou sat down he found himself thinking about how the school desperately needed some new teachers.

Miss Valentine walked up to the whiteboard.

"As you know," she said, "we have been studying relationships this term. We're now moving on to talking about romantic relationships. Now, no need to laugh." She directed the latter comment at Joey, who was laughing along with Tristan and gesturing something that was obviously to do with breasts.

He doesn't get it, Ryou thought despairingly. None of them do. This is probably the most useful thing we're ever going to learn in school, and all they can do is laugh and stare at Miss Valentine's cleavage.

"There are lots of different types of romantic relationships. Shall we list a few?"

As the class volunteered contributions, Ryou drifted into a daydream. Suddenly, something hit him on the back of the head. He twisted sharply and saw it was a piece of paper, screwed up.

On the back, there was a note. Ryou recognised Yuugi's neat block capitals instantly.

I hope you're okay now. Don't do that again, it was scary!

I gave Mr Pegasus your homework for you. I hope that's okay.

Ryou briefly felt grateful that Yuugi insisted on looking after him.

He turned the note over, intending to write back, and noticed it was the remains of a permission slip.

Year 12* Trip to Domino Arts College

Ryou groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. Another day, another pointless school trip.

Little did he know, this particular trip was going to change his life.

The bell rang shrilly, jolting Ryou from his vague daydreaming. He half-smiled to himself.

End of the day!

He shoved his book unceremoniously into his bag, jumped up from his seat and walked quickly out into the corridor. The journey from the classroom to the school gates took about five minutes. On Friday, there was always a feverish buzz in the air.

The happiness of two days freedom. That "Friday feeling". That was what put the slight spring in Ryou's step as he walked alongside the metal fencing outside school towards home.

As he neared his house, he noticed the atmosphere change drastically. There were no students sitting on walls and talking or children chasing each other too close to the road. There weren't even any fallen leaves to kick.

The wind always seemed colder on this side of town.

P.P.S Year 12= 11th Grade or 16-17yrs :D Good Old Wikipedia.

Thank you for reading!

Reviews? Thanks!

Kal277