Chapter three is up! It took me hours to write it, but I'm content about the result. Do you have tissues ready?

Ryou is not exactly hated because of his voice, but more because of his way of speaking. No, his voice is very popular in the Netherlands. The actor who plays him did a commercial a few months again for 3VO (Verenigde VerkeersVeiligheids Organisatie; United Traffic Security Organisation) in which he sang a song about him being an armadillo that lives on the backseat of the car of your parents and taking care of you fastening your seatbelt. Why an armadillo? The Dutch word for "armadillo" is "gordeldier", which can be translated to "belt-animal". It is attached to your seatbelt and looks like a little ball. When you fasten your seatbelt the little "belt-animal" comes out. Every Dutchman and woman loved the song he sang, especially the sentence "Ik vind jou echt giga-goed als je zelf je gordel om doet." ("I think you are really gigantically good when you fasten your seatbelt all by yourself." In Dutch that rimes) A weird thing he sang was "Now take that banana out of you ears." I don't know what he was supposed to mean with that. Our Ryou is a very good singer, though his voice is a little different. He does Blues Clues too and some famous musicals in which he sings AbbA-songs. He does the Dutch Medabots-song too, together with professor Aaki.

But it's the way Ryou (Ryou himself, not the actor) speaks. His voice sounds a little fragile and he speaks a little sloooooowwwllllyyy. But when Ryou's upset his voice sounds really cool and hysterical. That's one of the reasons why I like him.

Ryou-Ran: Oh, you've got the name of a shark, Ed'Rashtekaresket. A very big shark. Maybe you are going to be a very big chicken.

Yami Bakura: No, please. It will be harder to ea-

Ryou-Ran: (death-glare)

Yami Bakura: OO" play with him! Yes, play!

Ryou: (runs in) Hikari Lunar is lying in front of the door!

Yugi: What is she doing there?

Ryou: She appears to be choking in something.

Mr Bakura: I've got it! It's a heart.

Yami Bakura: MY HEART! (snatches heart from Mr Bakura's hand)

Ryou-Ran: Well, Yami Bakura seems to have his precious heart back.

Yami: AAOW! YOU STOLE MY COOCKIES! YOU HEARTLESS JERK!

Yami Bakura: No, I'm not heartless. (shows heart) See?

Yami: OO" (blacks out)

Yami Bakura: ...

Disclaimer: Ryou-Ran does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Red and White

"That was a good excuse, Omote."Yami Bakura said. "A new avatar... you're getting better at this." Ryou looked up at Yami Bakura. Just like Ryou,Yami Bakura was also bruised and wrapped in bandages. But the difference was that Yami Bakura did not feel the pain, and Ryou did. The Yami sat down behind him. "How long do you think it will take before your daddy finds out about me?"he whispered in Ryou's ear. Ryou shivered. "You want him to find out, don't you?"he softly asked. The Yami stood and loomed over his host. Ryou did not dare to look up at him. "Maybe."Yami Bakura said. "It would be fun. It's been quite long since I've sent someone to the Shadow Realm." Ryou somehow found the guts to look up. "Why?"he asked, looking his Yami straight in the eyes. Yami Bakura's brown eyes narrowed. "Why?"he repeated the question. "I don't like it when people ask me questions." Ryou lowered his gaze again, but Yami Bakura grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him. "Everybody in your life represents a bit of your strenght. Only I represent weakness. If I make your father disappear forever he will take a bit of your strenght with him."he said. "I will go on taking people away until you are broken. Then I will have full control over you." With those words he left his Hikari alone.

When Mr Bakura came to check on Ryou, he saw Ryou had pushed himself in a corner of his bed. Ryou stared at something only he could see, did not appear to have noticed his father. Mr Bakura sat down besides him and lay a hand on the shoulder of his son. Ryou looked up at his father. Again Mr Bakura could read that fear in his eyes, the fear of somebody afraid to loose one of his loved ones. And again he saw Ryou was wearing the Millennium Ring.

Ryou slapped his arms around him and pushed his face in his father's chest.

A few days later Ryou was able to go to school again. He was a few minutes early, as usual. He saw some of his classmates look at the plaster below his eye, but they did not ask anything. Appareantly the teacher had told them about him having fallen down the stairs.

"Bakura-Kun!"a happy voice suddenly shouted. It was Yugi. He seemed glad to see Ryou again. "How are you doing?" Ryou smiled vaguely. "I'm okay."he said. "And your father?"Yugi asked. "Still with us."Ryou said. They went inside, Yugi walking, Ryou stumbling. The teacher greeted him. "Ah, Ryou. It's good you're back."she said. "What happened exactly?" Ryou gave her a whistful smile again. "I fell down the stairs and was unconscious for a few hours."he quietly said. "I had a severe concussion." "Well, it's good you're with us."the teacher smiled and lay a hand on Ryou's back. "Did you do your homework?" Ryou handed her a handful of papers. "I did it as well as I could."he said. "I couldn't concentrate really well." The teacher quickly checked his homework and saw Ryou had done fine, though he had made a few more mistakes than usual. She directed him to his seat and began the lesson.

While the teacher explained what they were going to discuss today Ryou began to feel out of sorts. He felt hot. Tiny drops of sweat appeared on his forehead. He undid the front of his jacket, hoping he would cool down a bit. By doing that, he revealed the Millennium Ring. He did not know Yami Bakura was wide awake and was monitoring him.

"Ryou, are you alright?"the teacher suddenly asked. Ryou looked up with a start that made his head tingle. "Oh... yes, Ma'am."he said. "It is just a little warm in here." The teacher noticed Ryou had an unhealthy blush on his cheeks. She decided to keep an eye on him.

Yugi had looked up and had seen the Millennium Ring. He was alarmed. He saw what the others had failed to see; the pointers of the Ring were moving weakly, though there was no wind and Ryou was sitting perfectly still. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring was awake and active.

Ryou began to feel worse. He was feeling sick and he became dizzy. He closed his eyes and opened them again, seeing blacks spots in his field of vision. He pushed his hand against his forehead, trying to stop the pounding pain he could feel inside his skull. "Ryou?!"he could vaguely hear the teacher cry. "Ryou, are you okay?!"

Ryou looked up and opened his mouth to answer, but all that came over his lips was a faint groan. His big brown eyes turned away. His upper body fell on the table. "BAKURA-KUN!"Yugi cried. Ryou could not hear him. He was deep inside the playground of his mind.

Tristan grabbed Ryou's shoulder and pulled him up a bit, but when he saw the Millennium Ring he released him again. Ryou's forehead smashed with a sickening "bonk" back on the table. "Idiot! What are you doing?!"Joey's reedy voice came. Tristan backed away from Ryou as if he were a poisonous snake. "The... the... the Ri..."he began, but Joey pushed him aside and lifted Ryou up. Immediately the tormented head of the Japanese boy smacked against the table again, but now Ryou rolled out of his seat and fell onto his back on the floor. His face had an eerie yellow color, and the wound below his eye had begun to bleed again, but that was not what had scared Tristan and Joey.

It was the Millennium Ring. The five pointers were pointing in all directions. The golden jewel was glowing a bright light. Ryou's classmates backed away from Ryou, just like Tristan had done. Only Yugi, no, Yami dared to come close to him. He wanted to grab the cord the Ring was attached to and take it off, but one of the pointers suddenly pointed in his direction like a sword. Yami retreated his hand. "Spirit of the Millennium Ring!"he bellowed. "Come out!" The Ring began to thrash around Ryou's neck. Appareantly Yami Bakura did not want to come out. Yami stretched his hand out to the Ring again, and now all the five pointers pointed in his direction and would have hurt him, if they weren't attached to Ryou's neck through the Millennium Ring. "I warn you, Yami Bakura!"Yami threatened. "Come out or I'll do something!" He absolutely did not know what to do to the Spirit of the Millennium Ring if he was still inside the Millennium Ring, but it appareantly worked, because the pointers fell down and the Ring stopped glowing. Yami carefully took the cord the Ring was attached to between his fingers. He felt no magic. The Spirit of the Ring was not active any more. He pulled the Ring over Ryou's head and then put it into his own schoolbag. "Someone must call Bakura's father and tell him he passed out and will be brought home right now."he said with so much authority in his voice that the teacher ran away to call Ryou's father.

But before she had left Yami could sense the magic of the Ring once more. The other classmates gathered around Ryou's motionless form. "What happened to Bakura?"one of them asked. "He fainted."a second said. Yami concluded Yami Bakura had erased their memories of about what had happened the past few minutes.

Ryou was brought home. His father was upset and worried. And when Yugi held up the Millennium Ring he choked and required to be slapped on the back for a few minutes. "That... Ring... again."he panted. "There's something about the Millennium Ring." Yugi was shocked. He remembered what Ryou had told him about Yami Bakura. "He wants my Dad to find out."the boy had said. "Oh, it's probably nothing."Yugi said. "Perhaps he's lying on a a bad earth-line, at night." Mr Bakura looked at him dumbfounded. He took Ryou in his arms and carried him up to his room. He lay Ryou in bed and tucked the blanket in around him. Yugi left and Mr Bakura went downstairs to make himself a cup of cofee and to get worried even more. The Millennium Ring was lying besides his cup.

Outside, Yugi and Yami were talking about Ryou. "What do you think Yami Bakura was doing when Bakura-Kun fainted?"Yugi asked. Yami did not answer immediately. "I think he was taking some of Bakura's power."he said. "He's planning something. He's going to do a big thing and wants us to know." Yugi played with the Puzzle. "Do you mean he is going to..."he asked. This time Yami's answer came immediately. "He is going to get rid of Bakura's father soon. One of these days. Perhaps even today."

"Today is the day, Yadonushi!"Yami Bakura happily said. "Today I'm going to remove that old man of yours out of our lives!" He had come out of the Ring. Ryou was sitting in a corner of the room, with his arms slapped around his knees. His Yami went to stand in front of him. "And the good thing is: You are going to get him up here!"he said. "Never!"Ryou shouted to his own surprise. "I won't-" Yami Bakura kicked him in his bruised chest. A scream like that of an innocent animal that had been hit escaped Ryou's lips.

Yami Bakura was reading a book about Egyptian mysteries when he suddenly heard a muffled cry, followed by a slump. He recognised the voice of his son. When he looked at the place where the Millennium Ring had been he could see the jewel had disappeared. He threw away the book and rushed up the stairs, to Ryou's room.

When he opened the door he saw Ryou was lying on his side on the floor, back against the wall, pressing a hand against his chest. He was wearing the Millennium Ring. His eyes were filled with fear. "No... Dad... He'll kill you!"he cried. "Run! You must run, before it's too late!" He tried to crawl away from his father, but was with his back to the wall already. Mr Bakura wanted to grab him, but Ryou lashed out at him, to keep him at a distance. "Please, Dad! You must run away!"he pleaded. Tears ran down his face. Mr Bakura did not understand. "Who, Ryou?"he demanded. "Who wants to kill me?" A little bit of blood slipped over Ryou's lips. "The... the Spirit of the Millennium Ring!"he cried. "Yami Bakura! I lied about the avatar! Yami Bakura wants to kill you! Go away, before he comes- Aaargh..." The Ring began to glow. The light blinded Mr Bakura. When he opened his eyes again he saw his son was standing in front of him. But the look in the eyes wasn't Ryou's at all. And the hair stuck up like devil's horns.

"Who are you?"Mr Bakura asked. He was not scared of the stranger standing in front of him, only angry. Yami Bakura blew a lock of hair out of his face. "I'm the Spirit of the Millennium Ring."he said. His voice was Ryou's, but lower and harsher. "I want to gather all seven Millennium Items and become the strongest being on earth. Everything that stands in my way must be eliminated." "Why do you use the body of my son?"Mr Bakura asked. He looked at him without fear in his eyes. Yami Bakura was amused. That mortal was not afraid of him, but he didn't know what kind of terrible things were lying before him in the future. An unpleasant grin spread across his face. "Five-thousand years ago I was a mighty tomrobber, wanting to steal all seven Millennium Items. But I would not have enough time to gather them all and use their powers. I had myself killed, and my soul was transported to the Millennium Ring."he said. "I had to wait for a special descendant, one that would be identical to me. Then I would be able to use the powers of the Ring and get my hands on the Millennium Items." Mr Bakura strained his muscles. "That descendant; that's my son, isn't he?"he asked. Yami Bakura nodded. His grin became wider. "Remember the man who sold you the Millennium Ring when you were in Egypt? That was me. I had taken over the body of that man to get the Ring close to Bakura. In fact you were the one that gave him the Ring. Thanks to you Bakura has to share his body with me."he said. Mr Bakura's green eyes locked with his brown ones. "And I am standing in your way?"he asked. Yami Bakura made his hands form a circle around the Ring. "Yes."he said. "You will rot in the Shadow Realm. It's dark powers will draw all the energy out of your soul, until just a shadow of what you have ever been will be left of you." The Millennium Ring began to glow. Mr Bakura clenched his fists. Before Yami Bakura could have sent him to the Shadow Realm, his fist collided with the chin of the Yami.

Yami Bakura hissed and staggered back. The Ring was deactivated again. "Do you want another one like that, tombrobber?"M Bakura panted. Yami Bakura hid his eyes behind his bangs. "Don't forget this is the body of your son."he said. "If you hurt me, you will hurt him too." Mr Bakura lashed out at him again and hit him on the nose, but not a complaint escaped Yami Bakura's mouth. "I do not feel the pain."he said. "Your son does." He looked up. Again he activated the Ring. "Now it's time for you to disappear." Mr Bakura looked at the mystical jewel. He was lost. He would never see his Ryou again.

But suddenly Yami Bakura bent over. His eyes bulged. "No... Bakura..."he panted. He tried to get up again, but fell onto his side. The next moment he was pulled out of Ryou's body. Ryou lay on the floor cringing. But about a meter away from him there was another Ryou on the floor. Yami Bakura had quickly changed plans. He would confuse Mr Bakura by pretending to be Ryou. The older man would not know who of the two Ryou's was his real son. He had used about the same trick at the BattleShip a while ago, but had been found out. But Mr Bakura did not know him so well.

"Dad!"the Ryou on the left cried. "Help!" "No!"the other Ryou screamed. "Run, Dad! Run away!" They looked at each other, the real Ryou truly bewildered, the other one just pretending to be. "Don't listen to him!"one of them cried. "He is Yami Bakura! He wants to kill you!" "No! He is the Spirit of the Millennium Ring!"the Ryou sitting next to him shouted. "He wants to destroy you!" Mr Bakura did not know who of the two was his real son. They were both absolutely identical. "Leave my father alone, Yami Bakura!"one of the Ryou's suddenly shouted at the other one. The other Ryou's jaw fell and he began to scream too. "Yami Bakura?! You are Yami Bakura!" One of them wanted to grab Mr Bakura's ankle, but Mr Bakura backed away from his hand. The Ryou looked up at him with a begging look in his eyes. "Please, Dad... It hurts..."he groaned. The other Ryou grabbed him by the legs and tried to pull him away. "Don't touch him!"he yelled. He threw himself on Ryou#2 and they began fighting.

Mr Bakura was completely baffled. He saw two Ryou's fighting, rolling over the floor, pulling each other's hair and punching each other. But he saw one Ryou that cried out every time he was hit and he saw one Ryou that did not seem to suffer that badly from it.

Suddenly one Ryou grabbed the bandaged arm of the other and squeezed it. The other Ryou began to scream out. "AAAAHH! LET GO!"he screamed. Mr Bakura looked at the face of the squeezing Ryou. The boy had a fiendish look in his cold, black eyes. "Wait... Ryou's eyes are brown!"Mr Bakura thought. "That means that is Yami Bakura!" He grabbed the shoulders of the mean Ryou and tried to pull him away, but the boy appeared to be attached to the floor with spiritual glue, or something. Mr Bakura couldn't move him an inch. He saw the other Ryou flounder and fight to get free. He saw the mean grin on the face of the fake Ryou. All he saw were the white teeth of the evil Yami. That grin drove him crazy. He grabbed a vase with flowers the Yami had not broken, poured the water out and broke it on Yami Bakura's head.

Yami Bakura cried out and released Ryou. His hair stuck up again. Ryou held his arm and pushed it against his chest. He coughed up blood. Yami Bakura held his head in his hands and moaned. Mr Bakura sought for something heavy, but before he had found something the Yami had recovered. He leapt up and pushed Ryou aside. His hand went into a drawer. When he retreated it again a knife was in it. Ryou uttered a little shriek. Mr Bakura pulled back from the Spirit of the Ring.

Yami Bakura was standing before him. He held the knife tightly in his hand. His eyes radiated a cold, blue light. His canine teeth had grown out to long fangs, like the teeth of a vampire. "This is the end for you, old Bakura."he hissed. Golden blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. "By killing you I will weaken my Yadonushi and become stronger myself." Mr Bakura found himself with his back against the wall. He looked at the sharp knife Yami Bakura was holding. Ryou looked at what was happening in terror. His arm had begun to bleed again.

"THERE YOU GO!"Yami Bakura shouted. The hand holding the knife rose and then plunged down. A loud "NO!" broke silence. Yami Bakura's knife dug itself in someone's stomach. But it was not Mr Bakura's stomach.

A loud, penetrating scream sounded through the small room and echoed inside Mr Bakura's skull. Standing in front of him was Ryou. His back was turned to his father. Mr Bakura could see the the sharp end of the knife sticking out of Ryou's back.. When he looked up at Yami Bakura's face he saw the Yami was horrified. His eyes were as big as saucers and his mouth was wide open. He withdrew the knife. With a metallic sound it was pulled out of Ryou's stomach.

Ryou gasped. His hands went for his stomach. Red blood squirted out of the wound. He fell onto his knees. By doing that, he revealed Yami Bakura's stomach to Mr Bakura. Yami Bakura was hurt too. Golden colored blood exploded from his belly. He looked down and gasped too. He dropped the knife. Both he and Ryou fell onto their sides. Right at that moment Yami burst inside.

"Oh no!"Yami cried. He saw what Mr Bakura had seen. Ryou was hurt, Yami Bakura was hurt too. But he understood what Mr Bakura did not. Yami Bakura's soul lying on the floor, bleeding from a wound that was inflicted on Ryou meant that Ryou was mortally wounded.

Mr Bakura took Ryou's face in his hands. "Ryou, why did you do that?"he asked. Ryou was trembling. He could not speak well. "I... wanted to save... save you..."he weakly said. One of his hands was trying to stop the bleeding. His other one grabbed the arm of his father. His blooded fingers made red stains on the fabric of his father's shirt, but he did not care. "Why, Ryou? Why?"Mr Bakura cried. "I'm old! You are young! You have a whole life lying in front of you!" Ryou's eyes became darker. "D-do you think?"he asked, his voice growing a little stronger. "With that Yami? He u-uses me for... for his own good! My arm... he... he did it." He panted. His gaze shifted from his father's to the face of his Yami, who was frantically trying to stop the blood from flowing out of his wound.

"Mr Bakura."a low voice suddenly blustered. "We should act quickly." Mr Bakura looked over his shoulder and saw two Yugis standing behind him; a small one and a bigger one. The Puzzle the small one was wearing was glowing. "WAAAAAAH!"the older man screamed and tried to protect Ryou with his body. "Don't touch my son!" Yami raised his hands. "No, I'm a friend of Bakura's."he said. Mr Bakura looked at Ryou. Ryou nodded. Yami knelt down besides Ryou, looked at the wound and lay a hand on Ryou's hot forehead. "We must get help quickly, or he will die."he said. Yami Bakura looked up in shock. "Whaaat?"he asked. Yami gave him an angry look. "Be quiet, tombrobber."he said. "We do not care for you. We care for Bakura-Kun." "Why is he so shocked?"Mr Bakura asked. "Isn't he immortal?" Yami shook no. "Yamis need host-bodies in order to live. We use the bodies of our descendants for that. If the descendant dies, the Yami will die too."he explained. "So if Bakura dies, the Spirit of the Millennium Ring will die with him."

"I'll call an ambulance."Yugi, who had been quiet until then, said. He ran away to get a phone. Mr Bakura still held Ryou in his arms. Ryou looked at his father's face. His vision was starting to go out of focus. "Dad..."he said, his voice no more than a sigh. "Yes, what is it, son?"Mr Bakura asked. Ryou winced. "Am... am I going to s-see Amane a-again?"he asked. Mr Bakura stroked Ryou's hair. "I'm sure you will."he said. He could feel the life flow out of Ryou's body with all the blood that streamed out of the wound. A single tear ran down Ryou's cheek. "And Mom, Dad? Am I going t-to see m-my mother?"he asked. Tears began to run down Mr Bakura's tanned cheeks. "You will see your mother, Ryou. I feel it."he said. "She will be up there, waiting for you." Ryou's eyes were partly closed. His lips moved. Mr Bakura held his head close to Ryou's mouth. "Tell me, Dad."Ryou whispered. "How was she... how was she like?" Mr Bakura swallowed a sob. "She was... warm. A warm woman, who loved children."he said. His voice grew stronger as he spoke about his deceased wife he had loved so much. "When she turned out to be pregnant, we were incredibly happy. When she turned out to be expecting two children we were absolutely as pleased as Punch. But after the second child was born she died. She gave the child a name. She called him Ryou. Ryou Bakura." When he looked at his son's face he saw the big eyes were closed. Ryou had a vague smile on the lips, a little brim of his teeth was visible. He was absolutely motionless. He had stopped breathing. His heart had stopped beating.

Yami Bakura suddenly fell down like a house of cards. He landed on his back on the floor. He tried to scream, but could only gasp. A terrible, wheezing sound came from his chest. The next moment he exploded, like a beaten duelmonster and vanished. The Ring on Ryou's chest had lost it magic. It looked tarnished. Yami looked at the silent body of his friend in shock..Yugi came in and cried out when he saw Ryou. Yami lay a hand on his shoulder. Mr Bakura bent over his son's corpse and cried with his face in Ryou's still warm neck.

Tragic, isn't it? This isn't the end yet.

Ryou: Boohoo...

Ryou-Ran: Aw, don't cry, Ryou. You aren't dead.

Ryou: (sob) R-really?

Ryou-Ran: No, you're standing right next to me.

Ryou: --"

Yami Bakura: (holds heart) What should I do with this?

Yugi: You should place it back into your body again.

Yami Bakura: Okay. (swallows heart)

Yugi: OO"

Yami Bakura: (belches) There.

Yugi: Don't you think that thing belonges inside your chest?

Yami Bakura: What?

Yugi: In your chest.

Yami Bakura: It does?

Yugi: (nods)

Yami Bakura: Oh. (looks troubled)

Yugi: You ate your heart. How are you going to get it back?

Yami Bakura: BWOOOOAAARGH!

Yugi: --" That's a way.

Yami Bakura: (wipes his mouth) So. And now place it back. (cuts his chest open, puts heart in it, closes chest again) Done!

Ryou: OO"

Next chapter will be up soon! Please review!