When Ryou opened his eyes, he was in a new room. It looked to be a basement room. It also had a magic circle in the middle of the room.
There were three people – one woman and two men – standing in front of the magic circle, wearing important-looking uniforms.
"Welcome back to the Vampire's Domain, Sir Bakura," said the woman in uniform.
"Thank you, Miss Ishizu," Bakura said.
"I see you bought along a guest," Ishizu said.
Ryou hid behind his brother and timidly ducked his face.
Bakura laughed. "Don't be shy, Ryou. I'll introduce you to my co-workers. These are Ishizu, Malik, and Rishid Ishtar. They are high-ranking government officials who work at the Royal Palace. They are a family of zombies."
"Zombies?" Ryou gasped.
"Yes, zombies exist in this dimension," Bakura explained.
"You must be the human twin that I've heard so much about! It's nice to meet you! I'm Malik," said the man on Ishizu's left.
"Nice to meet you too. I'm Ryou," said Ryou in a small, shy voice.
"At least he's got manners. He's going to need them if he's going to be the personal pet of the Captain of the Royal Magic Users," Ishizu noted.
"Captain of what?" Ryou asked.
"That's me. I'm the Captain of the Royal Magic Users. I'm a very high-ranking official here," Bakura said.
Ryou said nothing in response. This was too much to take in all at once.
"Come, let's go back to the palace," the man named Rishid said.
"Yes, let's. Follow me outside," said Ishizu.
Ishizu led them to a door at the side of the room, which opened to a parking lot. In that parking lot there was a limousine in which she, Malik, and Rishid got into. She motioned for Ryou and Bakura to get inside too. Bakura dragged Ryou along by the chain.
Once everyone was in the limousine, Ishizu gave the driver instructions to drive to the Royal Palace. They started to move.
"Why is the collar necessary?" Ryou aksed.
"In the Vampire's Domain, it's forbidden for humans to go out in public without their vampire owners. Like I said before, humans are a slave race here, and you are my personal human pet." Bakura explained.
"I see…well, where do zombies belong in the social hierarchy?" Ryou inquired.
"Zombies are in middle ground here. We're not as oppressed as humans, but we have lower status than vampires," Malik explained. "You get used to it. We also have slightly lower status than witches, because witches excel in magic wielding whereas zombies have limited ability to use magic."
"Witches exist in this dimension too?" Ryou exclaimed in surprise.
"Why yes," Malik said. "Do you not have them in the human world?"
Ryou shook his head. "No, they don't exist in the human world."
"You have a lot to learn about our world," Malik said.
After around ten minutes, they arrived at the Royal Palace, which was a large castle made up of gothic architecture. They all got out of the limousine.
While they were ascending the staircase into the castle, Bakura said to Ryou, "I'm about to introduce you to the Queen of the Vampires. I expect you to be on your best behavior."
They went inside the castle and were escorted by the guards into the throne room. Here, the Queen of the Vampires sat on her throne.
"My Queen, I have returned from my trip to the human realm. The plan is proceeding according to schedule," Bakura said with a bow.
"Excellent. A celebration is in order," the Queen replied. "Also, I see you've brought along a new guest."
"Yes, this is the human I have chosen to become my personal slave, Ryou," Bakura said, stepping to the side so that Ryou was in view.
"Hmmm," the Queen pondered deeply to herself as she examined Ryou. "Yes, an excellent addition to the royal court. You have chosen well for yourself."
"Thank you, ma'am," Bakura said.
"I shall prepare a feast to celebrate your return, and to honor the arrival of our new guest," the Queen said. She snapped her fingers, and the guards began to escort Bakura, Ryou, and the Ishtar siblings to the dining room.
The royal dining room had a long table covered with a white tablecloth. Ryou was made to sit next to Bakura, and the Ishtar siblings sat on the other side across from them. Many other vampires of importance sat around them.
Soon, food began to arrive at the table, carried by waiters. The vampires feasted on cups filled with blood, and meat that was uncooked and covered with blood. Ryou and the zombies were given human food consisting glasses of water and stir-fry vegetables and meat.
The food was delicious, but Ryou couldn't help but feel out of place. He was the only human in the room, and the only one wearing a collar to symbolize his slave status.
After the meal, Bakura said good-bye to his zombie friends and took Ryou to his room where he would be living from now on.
"Here's your new home," Bakura said as he opened the door. It was an apartment with a fireplace, lounging area, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. When they got to Ryou's bedroom, Ryou was amazed by what he saw. The bedroom was filled with Ryou's favorite things; his clothes, childhood toys, art supplies, and Monster World figurines.
"Hey, so that's where my stuff disappeared to! My clothes, my figurines, my books I thought I had lost...there're all here! You stole my stuff!" Ryou said angrily.
"I didn't steal them. I was just helping you move," Bakura said reasonably. "I've been preparing this room for a while for when it is time for you to come live here with me. You'll have a better life here than you did in the human world. You don't even have to work. All you have to do is donate blood every once in a while, which is something you already had been doing for me in the human world for the majority of our lives."
"Do you like this place better than our previous home?" Ryou asked.
"This dimension is like a dream come true for me. It's a world where vampires don't have to live in the dark. I am the dominant race here, and I don't have to live in fear of persecution," Bakura said happily.
Ryou sat down on the bed with a sad expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" Bakura asked.
"Well, I'm happy for you. I really am. I'm glad you've found somewhere you feel like you really belong. But the thing is, why do I have to live here? I don't belong here. You didn't even ask me if I wanted to come. This is basically a kidnapping. When can I go home?"
"You don't like this place I made for you?" Bakura said with a tone of hurt.
"It's not like that. I do like this place. It's very beautiful. I consider this to be a great place to go on vacation, and I'll gladly come visit you on my leisure days. But I can't live here permanently. I have dreams and ambitions in the human world that I haven't accomplished yet. I was planning to go to medical school."
"I bought you here for good reason," Bakura said. "You see, the Vampire's Domain has a shortage of human slaves. We need more slaves, so we're planning on invading the human dimension in order to enslave the human race there."
"But that's horrible!" Ryou gasped.
Bakura shrugged. "It's not like the human world was a peaceful one. You saw the way vampires get treated there. Maybe they're getting their just deserts."
"Not all humans treated you badly in the human world, Bakura," said Ryou, trying to find reason. "Just because you were persecuted doesn't make it justifiable to enslave the entire human race!"
"Either way, it's happening as decreed by the Queen," Bakura shrugged. "There's nothing you or I can do about it. The best I can do for you is bring you into the Vampire's Domain as my personal slave, where you can be safe. I don't want you getting caught up in the middle of a war, which is why I bought you here before the vampire invasion takes place. You'll be the slave of a very high ranking magic user. I managed to climb my way to the top of the social ladder thanks to my skills in magic. You'll have a very comfortable life living as my slave."
"But…but we still have to do something! I don't want the human race to be enslaved," Ryou said.
But Bakura shook his head. "No can do. It's already been decided by the High Vampire Council, and approved by the Queen herself. The demand for human slaves is growing, and we're running out of options. Be thankful you're going to be a high ranking slave rather than one of the commoners, for those humans lead difficult lives. Now, I'm heading out for a business meeting. Stay here until I come back."
Bakura left the apartment, and Ryou was left alone with his thoughts.
A week passed, and Ryou settled into his new life. It was true that this life was easier than his old one. He didn't have to cook for himself because he got all his meals from the dining room, and there were plenty of things for him to do in the castle. The castle had not just a garden but also a swimming pool, a casino, an arcade, a karaoke bar, and a spa. It definitely wasn't an ancient castle; it was very modern.
However, Ryou still longed to go back to the human world. He wanted to be allowed to pursue his dream of going to medical school, and he missed being able to walk around without Bakura accompanying him everywhere. He missed his independence.
Whenever Ryou went to town he had to have Bakura lead him there by the chain. One day Bakura went to a club and took Ryou with him.
While Bakura was away, a man with a bandana showed up in front of Ryou, eyeing him curiously. "You're Bakura's human pet, aren't you? I've heard a lot about you."
"Who are you?" Ryou asked.
"My name is Keith Howard. I'm one of Bakura's co-workers," said the man. "How typical of Bakura to have such a high quality human. You look like a genuine trans man."
Ryou shook his head. "No, I'm not a trans man."
"Not a trans man?" Suddenly Keith sneered with hostility. "Then what are you, some kind of cissy boy?!"
All of a sudden, Bakura appeared. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked.
"Your human says he's not trans!" Keith shouted.
"He is trans," Bakura insisted.
"Then why did he say he wasn't?" asked Keith.
"He was just joking around. You got a problem with that?" Bakura said, looming over Keith menacingly.
"Uh…no, no trouble at all. Will you look at the time, I gotta go," Keith quickly fled the scene.
As soon as Keith was gone, Bakura gave Ryou a disdainful look. "I would recommend that you pretend to be a trans man," he said.
"What? Why?" Ryou asked aghastedly.
"In this dimension, trans men are at the top of the gender hierarchy. It's like how in the human dimension, male calico cats have very high value due to their rarity. Vampires measure human worth on the ability to provide blood. Trans men extremely high value because they are period blood providers who are men, which makes them rare and more desirable."
"You compare humans to cats? Like we're animals?" Ryou hissed.
Bakura shrugged. "You're treated like animals, that's for sure. There is a common stereotype that trans men provide healthier and tastier period blood than cis women, which we now know is a myth. Current research shows that there is no difference in quality or taste. But many vampires still believe this stereotype, as they have believed for thousands of years."
"So where am I on the gender hierarchy?"
"You're dead last," Bakura said flatly. "Cis men are like junk food. It's like this. Trans men have the most privilege, followed by trans women who have rarity value but can't provide period blood. Cis women are oppressed, and cis men are even more oppressed. Remember how Keith called you a cissy boy? That's a slur against cis men. You can't provide period blood, and you don't have the rarity value of being trans. That means you're junk food. And that's why I highly suggest you pretend to be a trans man. You'll get treated with a lot more respect."
"But I don't want to do that," Ryou said nervously. "Pretending to be trans is wrong."
"Not in this dimension," Bakura said with a wicked grin. "In your world there is stigma associated with pretending to be trans, as the trans community is always debating as to whether you need to have dysphoria. But in the vampire world, everyone's always trying to pretend to be trans. There's an entire underground black market that sells fake trans IDs. In this world, all children are raised as the opposite gender from birth, which means that everyone experiences dysphoria except for trans people. Those who make it into adulthood without experiencing any dysphoria get the proud privilege of being trans."
"Wow." Ryou was speechless.
Bakura nodded smirkily.
"So that means having dysphoria is considered the default?"
"Yep, pretty much. Very, very few kids succeed in growing up free of dysphoria, which is why it's considered a badge of honor to be trans. Cis people can try to pretend to be free of dysphoria, but it's a lot more difficult than you'd think. It puts a heavy strain on your mental health. Most cis kids give up trying to live the role of the opposite gender by the time they're teenagers."
"But what about non-binary humans? Or…or how about intersex humans? Where do they rank on the gender hierarchy?" Ryou wondered.
"A valid question. Both non-binary and intersex people rank higher than cis women but lower than trans women, and the amount they're discriminated against is based on whether or not they're able to provide period blood. By that definition, cis men are still dead last."
"That's a lot to take in."
"You'll get used to it."
"But I still refuse to pretend to be trans. I don't feel comfortable with it."
Bakura growled. "Ugh, come on. You don't really have a choice. I already told everybody in this entire dimension that you're a trans man."
"What?! When was this?!"
"Since I the very first day I arrived in this dimension! I can't have a sibling who's low down junk food, let alone have one as a mortal pet! Nobody ever chooses junk food as a mortal pet. That's an outright scandal! Cis women are the most common form of mortal pets for middle class vampires because they can provide period blood and they are in high supply. Trans women are for upper middle class vampires who can't afford trans men so they settle for second best. If word gets out that my pet is a cissy boy," Bakura spat out the word cissy as if it were poison, "it'd ruin my reputation forever. I'd be the laughing stalk of the century."
"So you care more about your reputation than honesty?"
"Yeah duh. Isn't that how it's always been? Including in the human dimension? And you're already very feminine. You've never conformed to gender norms, ever since we were kids. It was very easy to convince everyone that you're a trans man. Plus, I already paid a lot of money to forge documents to prove that you're trans. I don't want all that money going to waste."
Ryou was silent.
"Okay Ryou, look," Bakura sighed, sounding exhausted. "I just need you to do this for me. Please? Because we're brothers."
"Fine," Ryou sighed.
"Yes!" Bakura celebrated.
"Are you pretending to be trans too?" Ryou asked.
"No, I'm a vampire so I don't have to. I'm a deity no matter what. Now, I'm going to find my friend, so you stay out of trouble."
Bakura went inside the club, and when he came out again he was accompanied by a woman.
"Is this your human pet?" the woman asked.
"Yes, this is Ryou. He's a trans man," Bakura said. "Ryou, this is Kara Devlin, my friend. She is a trans woman."
"He'll make a fine play-mate for my Duke," said Kara. "They're both trans men, which means they're in the same rank."
"Who's Duke?" Ryou asked.
"Duke Devlin is Kara's human pet. He's the same age as you, Ryou," Bakura said. "You two would make great friends."
"Next time I'll bring Duke along with me so that you two can become friends. It'd be good for the both of you to get to know each other," Kara said.
Ryou wasn't sure if he wanted to meet Duke, but his instincts told him he didn't have a choice.