Part 2 begins here.

Prepare for a LOT of words and a LOT of italics.

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Season Zero or manga or otherwise, or any of its characters/trademarks.

R&R

ENJOY~!


PART TWO

SEPTEMBER SECOND


~RYOU~

He woke up. He was lying on his back on the floor.

He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked around.

He wasn't in his bedroom anymore. He was in some strange room he had never seen before.

But as he looked around, he realized that it sort of looked like his bedroom. At least, some of the things in it looked like his room.

His bed... His desk... A bookshelf...

The door.

The room had no windows. Only a door.

Ryou stood up and faced the door.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud. "How did I..."

He looked around again.

He had an odd feeling that there was something in the room he couldn't see. Something...he had no idea what.

He was starting to feel scared. He had no idea where he was or why he was there or...

There was a sound at the door. Someone was opening it.

Ryou's eyes locked on it. His eyes went wide in fear, curiosity, and anticipation.

The door opened.

Someone walked in. He wore exactly the same clothes Ryou was wearing, and looked almost exactly the same except for his face and hair. His body looked the same age as he was, 10, but he somehow seemed older...ancient, even. His hair was the same as Ryou's in shade and style, but much spikier and wilder. His eyes were violet and cold, and a different shape from Ryou's.

Ryou took a few steps back. "Who are you!" he shouted. "And why do you look like me?!"

~BAKURA~

His senses locked on the child. Everything...the eyes, the hair, the voice...it was...familiar.

"Ryo?!" he shouted confusedly.

The child's eyes widened. He took another step back. "How did you know my name?"

"That's your name?" Bakura asked.

"Y-yes..." the child said nervously. "My name is...Ryou Bakura."

~RYOU~

The stranger's eyes widened again. Then he chuckled. "Well then, Ryo Bakura, this is very interesting. You seem to share my name, and the looks of someone I used to know."

Ryou's fear was temporarily replaced by confusion. "Huh?"

The stranger took a few steps inside the room. He closed the door behind him. Ryou gulped when it closed. He didn't know where he was or what was outside that door, but he felt like if he could get to it, he could escape this strange place.

The stranger continued. "As it turns out, my name is Bakura. As well. But it's my first name, not my last."

Ryou's eyes widened. "What?! That's a bit odd... But... Who are you? And where am I? Why are we here? What do you want from me?!"

~BAKURA~

Bakura stared at the child, Ryou. Ryou was pretty much an exact replica of his former host, Ryo. He remembered, very vaguely, seeing Ryou before, that day in the hospital. But it was only for an instant, and Ryou had been younger then. Now that Ryou was older, and Bakura had a closer look at him, he could see the similarities. Even the voices sounded almost exactly the same. The only difference was the accent. Ryou had an English accent, whereas Ryo did not. But other than that, the voices were exactly the same.

Aside from that face looking like Ryo's, it also looked like someone else. He already knew who Ryou was related to, by now he could see it. And he just had to ask...

He took a few more steps closer. "I'll answer your questions, so don't worry. Just tell me something first..."

Ryou stared at him with fear and curiosity in his wide and green eyes.

"Are you by any chance related to someone named Amane?"

~RYOU~

Ryou gasped loudly. His eyes went wide. He forgot about his fear and his heart sank. "How do you know about my sister?!" he asked the stranger, "Bakura", with pain and hurt in his voice.

The stranger frowned. "I knew it. You're related to her and her mother."

Ryou's fists clenched and his arms went straight to his sides. "How do you know about them!"

"Oh...no reason in particular..." He paused. "I just happened to be a witness to their tragic and unfortunate deaths that happened four years ago."

Ryou let out a choked gasp. No one—absolutely no one—who knew him or knew his family well ever talked about them or mentioned their deaths. They knew what effect speaking about his mother or sister had on his father, and they knew what affect talking about the event or Amane had on Ryou. The only person who he ever talked about it with was his counselor. Not his father or anyone else he knew.

And this total stranger was bringing it up again.

He hadn't seen the accident, but he had seen a glimpse of Amane's body. And he had accidentally seen a picture in the papers about it.

Despite him not having experienced the tragedy himself, despite him being young at the time and not understanding everything, and despite all of the counseling he had been receiving since then, that day still haunted him every single day since the day he had gone to the hospital with his father. He thought about it every day. It was why he had started writing those letters, because his counselor had suggested he do it. The letters helped. He actually felt better when he wrote them. Secretly, they were the good-bye he had never said. But he will wished he could have said it to her face.

He missed his mother dearly as well. But he had been much closer to Amane, since their mother was usually working. Their father worked from home, but he was always busy so the two siblings had spent all their time together. He missed Amane he most. He hated being reminded of her by anyone or anything else, because when other things reminded him, they hurt more than if he reminded himself.

And this room...and this stranger...they were reminding him again!

He remembered the letter he had just been writing when he had blacked out. Would he ever get the chance to finish?

Ryou fell to his knees and hugged himself tightly. He bowed his head and began to cry.


~BAKURA~

Bakura's eyes widened. But not in surprise. Something similar had happened before, for different reasons, but nonetheless it had happened before that one of his new hosts had had a little breakdown in their soul room. For some, it had been because they had not been entirely sane upon meeting him. For some it had been because of exposure to their soul room, which was a pure representation of their very soul and personality, and some people just couldn't handle such a truth being revealed to them in such a way. For others, it was an emotional breakdown, caused more by the memories contained in the room than the actual room itself. This last one seemed to apply to Ryou.

Bakura knew what to do when it happened. He simply had to let them have their breakdown, wait it out for a while, then try to calm them down and talk to them.

However, this isn't what Bakura did with Ryou. For a reason he couldn't quite understand, he instantly rushed over to Ryou. "Ryou!" he shouted.

Ryou showed no sign of having heard. He just continued crying. Crying for his sister and mother. Both of whom Bakura had killed.

That guilt returned. Or, again, was it regret? It didn't matter.

Bakura decided then and there that he didn't want to feel guilty about what he had done. Especially because of someone who looked like Ryo, who was involved with the reason why he had done what he was guilty of in the first place! The only way he could do that would be to make up for it...

And here was his chance.

He didn't exactly want to atone for his crimes. Rather, he wanted to make up for what he had done so he wouldn't have to feel guilty about it later. After all, he had sensed that important things would happen in his time with Ryou. And if he was going to use Ryou the way he wanted, guilt would only get in the way. Emotion would always get in the way.

There were other emotions here that could get in the way. But above all of them, he would first deal with the guilt.

So, he made a decision: help and protect Ryou to make up for having killed his sister and mother.

He knelt down and wrapped his arms around the crying boy. He pulled him close in a comforting embrace, similar to one he had given Ryo when they had first met. "Relax," he said as softly as he possibly could. "Calm down and stop crying. You're going to be okay."

Surprisingly, Ryou actually quieted a bit. He didn't stop crying, but he wasn't crying as loudly. He sniffled.

They stayed like this until Ryou had quieted completely, which took several minutes.

Bakura loosened the embrace and leaned away from Ryou. He put one hand on the boy's shoulder and wiped away Ryou's still-falling tears with the other. He then moved his hand to under Ryou's chin and gently tilted his head up so their eyes would meet. Looking into Ryou's eyes, their closeness made it even more apparent to Bakura how much Ryou looked like Amane's mother and Ryo. "Better?" he asked.

Ryou's lip was still trembling slightly, but he nodded slowly. "Y-yes. A l-little bit," he stuttered. "But...who are you?"

"Well..." Bakura hesitated. Despite how many hosts he'd had in the past, none of them had been as young as Ryou was. All of them had been teenagers or older. Ryou was only 10. Actually, he had only been 10 for a handful of hours, at most, and his mind was probably still 9. How exactly would he explain this situation to him?

He didn't have time to think it over. He would just have to be nice about it. Simple. Don't say anything to scare him.

"Now don't be alarmed or scared..." he began in a soft and reassuring voice. Of course, his tone was forced.

He let go of Ryou and let him sit down by himself.

"I am a spirit inside your pendant, the Millenium Ring. Like you, when I was very young, someone very dear to me was taken away from me. Because of this, my soul became restless and wanted to avenge them. To do that, my spirit was transferred to the Millenium Ring. Since then, the Millenium Ring has been passed on from person to person over the years."

Ryou nodded, showing that he understood so far.

"These people have become my vessels. I'm only a spirit, and I need a body to be able to interact with the outside world. That's why I need people like you become my vessels so you can...help me avenge my loved one."

Ugh. I've sweetened up my explanations before, but his has to be the thickest sugar-coating I have ever done!

Ryou nodded again. "Okay?" he said uncertainly. "But...who was it? And...how long ago was it? And why me? And what's the revenge you need to do? And—"

Bakura put a finger to Ryou's lips. "Stop asking so many questions. That's not important. You'll find out later. What is important is you promising me that I'll have your help." He lowered his hand. "I can't do it alone. I'll need your help. I need you to be willing to help me."

"But—"

"You were meant to have the Ring and help me," Bakura continued. "The Ring chose you. It only allows certain people to wear it. It rejects anyone who isn't meant to have it. You were meant to have it, and it accepted you. That means something. It means that you're destined to have it and destined to help me." His gaze bore into Ryou's with such intensity that Ryou's eyes widened and he leaned back a little.

"Ryou... Do I have your word that you will help me?"

"I—"

"You're going to have to promise me. There's even a special vow you have to take."

"V-vow?"

"Yes. It's a simple one. But you have to agree to it."

"Wh-wh-what is it?" Ryou asked in a small voice.

"Do you, Ryou Bakura, accept your status as the current bearer of the Millenium Ring and the responsibilities that come with it, willingly agree to be come my vessel, and help me in my quest?"

Usually, Bakura said "host" instead of "vessel" and "quest" by itself instead of "quest for revenge"/"quest for vengeance". However, Ryou was one of the few special situations that compelled him to alter the wording.

But even if the wording was slightly altered, the agreement would have the same binding effect that it always had. Bakura would be properly bonded to his host and his host would be officially connected to the Millenium Ring.

If Ryou accepted.


I hope all of these italics aren't hurting your eyes.

See you next chapter!

BYEEEEEEE~!