Chapter 2: The Mysterious Accidents
But somehow, for the first time in my life, I had real, living friends.
I don't know how or why it happened, but I actually had living friends. Friends I could play games with, friends who wouldn't ditch me for someone else. I guess the Fates must have been smiling on me or my past life karma had been used up. Whatever it was, I had the best time of my life for about a month, with both my living and psychic friends.
Alas, the Fates must have decided I didn't deserve it.
When it started, my father was over seas again at another dig, this time in Greece. I was walking to my apartment after school, listening with a smile to Taro chew me out for getting a 'B' on my last test, when Kyo and my other living friends came up t me and asked if we could play a game. Taro and Rhiamon immediately warned me not to, but I was too elated to listen; no one but Father had ever asked to play a game with me. I led them to my apartment and we began to play my favorite game, Monster World.
We were having a lot fun, even though I was playing as the Dark Master, and it wasn't clear who was going to win yet, when I suddenly black-out. When I woke up, my friends were unconscious, and I couldn't wake them. I immediately called the hospital and watched as the paramedics carried my friends out of the apartment. I transferred schools after that.
And I made friends at my new school as well, but the same thing happened. We would begin to play a game–it didn't have to be Monster World–I would pass out and when I woke up, my friends would be in a coma. It kept happening at every school that I went to, so people began avoiding me again; it was nothing I wasn't used to, and I turned to Taro and the others again to deplete my loneliness. I transferred schools until I had to move to another city to go to school. Father did not come with me. The city I now lived in was called Domino.
The first school I went to was called Domino High, and I was put in class B. As soon as I entered, I noticed four girls giving me wide-eyed looks. Great, I thought, I bet those girls are going to pounce on me the first chance they get. One of the girls batted her eyelashes at me as I passed, and I inwardly groaned again.
Hey, having girl problems? Kiryu taunted as I stopped at the front of the class. I could help you. You know, ideas, ways to get out of a date, and the like…
I don't really need help right now, thank you, I thought back at him. I turned my attention back to the classroom.
"Ahem…" began the teacher, "Attention everyone…We have someone new joining our class today."
"My name is Ryou Bakura. Pleased to meet you," I said, stepping forward slightly; I bowed politely to the class and waited for the teacher to speak again.
"Now where should we have you sit…Ah next to Jonouchi is open."
"That's me! Over here!" exclaimed a blonde boy near the front of the class, waving his arms wildly.
One of the girls that had been staring at me called out rather rudely, "Eww! Be careful, Bakura! Don't let Jonouchi pollute you!"
I almost laughed; the blonde didn't look very harmful, more like lazy, and, as if to prove my suspicions, he yelled back at the girl, "Me pollute him?! Why I oughtta–" He made a violent gesture in the air at the girl and turned away from her.
"Nice to meet you, Jonouchi," I said as I sat down in the empty seat.
"Yo, same here! Let's be friends, huh? Bakura right?"
I smiled and nodded at him. He'll make a good friend. I can sense it already.
During the next break, Jonouchi introduced me to his other friends, and they all seemed nice enough.
"Hi, I'm Yugi," said a hobbit-sized boy with tall, spiky multi-colored hair. "And this is Honda–" a boy with brown hair like the bow of a ship– "and Anzu–" a girl with short brown hair and bright, blue eyes– "It's nice to meet you. My grampa owns a game store, and he always wants me to make new friends so he can trick them out of their money, but he really is a nice guy. I just hope he doesn't trick you like he did Jonouchi."
The blonde shot his friend a look that said, "Why'd you have to remind me?" but I barely noticed; I was more impressed with the other stuff Yugi had said.
"Wow Yugi…You're family runs a game store?" I asked, just to make sure I knew what he'd said. It would be so cool if my family ran a game store!
"Do you like games, Bakura?" he asked, not answering my question.
"Yes, very much!" I answered. "I especially like board games and tabletop games…My favorite is a game called Monster World…Have you heard of it?"
"Wow, Monster World!" Yugi exclaimed.
"What kind of game is 'Monster World'?" asked Jonouchi. I sighed; maybe he wouldn't be such a brilliant friend if he didn't know about Monster World, but Yugi spun off into a long explanation about the game and some of the preliminary rules. I was really impressed with his accuracy and detail.
"I'm impressed, Yugi! You know a lot about games!" I complimented. He blushed slightly and denied it, though I knew he knew I was right.
"That sounds like fun!" Jonouchi exclaimed. "How about we all play Monster World tomorrow! Huh, Bakura?"
"Uh…" I stared sadly at my desk; I hadn't expected them to want to play with me so soon. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of me, but I couldn't refuse. "O-okay…"
[Ask Yugi about that pendant around his neck,] Taro prompted before I had a chance to rethink what I'd said. [It looks a lot like yours.]
"Um…By the way, there's something I've been wondering about…" I started, "Where did you get that pendant, Yugi?"
"Oh, this?" Yugi held up the golden, inverted pyramid so I could see it better. "It's called the Millennium Puzzle. It came from the tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh."
Wow, cool, I love Egypt. It must be so neat to have a possession like that, I thought. Out loud I said, "Wow, can I see it?" Yugi nodded, pulled the cord up over his hair, and handed the pentant to me. Up close, I saw the tale-tell lines that showed it was a puzzle across the surface of the shining gold. I smiled, amazed that I was touching such a cool artifact, and then remembered my own pendant. "Actually, I also–" A sharp pain flashed through my chest, catching me completely off guard. It was gone in almost a second, but the shock hurt more and stayed.
"What's wrong, Bakura?!" Yugi inquired, voice full of concern. I put on a fake smile.
"Uh…no…it's nothing. Here's this back." I handed him the Puzzle and turned back to my desk. What's wrong with me? My chest hurt all of a sudden, for no reason at all…
[Maybe it's the pendant,] Taro suggested.
It might be magically warded against strangers, Rhiamon suggested.
"Hey, Jonouchi!"
The female voice broke through my thoughts, and I looked up to see that the four girls who had been gawking at me were now standing in front of my desk.
"Don't hog Bakura all to yourself!" exclaimed a different girl. They dragged me out of my seat and toward the hall.
"Hey, cutie! Let us show you around the school!" said the first girl.
"We've already started a fan club for you!" said the second. I glanced back at Yugi and the others in desperation, but it was clear they were at the same dead end I was. It didn't help that both Taro and Kiryu were snickering in the back of my mind. The girls dragged me out into the hall and started pointing at different doors, saying, "That's the bathroom" or "Here's the music room." I nodded politely every now and then to show I was listening, but I'm really not good with girls, especially the fan girl, 'Kyaa'-at-every-cute-boy type of girl, like these girls.
Need help yet? Kiryu asked eagerly.
No, I'm just fine. I do need to know what they're telling me.
And then out of nowhere, this huge guy shows up with the funniest haircut I've ever seen. I think it's called a crew cut, and it makes him look like someone in the military. "Hey you!" he barked. "You think you can walk around the halls with a flock of girls? Whose class are you supposed to be in?!"
Unfortunately, I've forgotten the teacher's name. Not good.
"Uh-oh, it's Mr. Karita, the P.E. teacher!" said one of the girls. Thanks, like I really needed to know that.
The teacher gave me an evil smirk. "Hmph…you're the new kid who just transferred in, aren't you? I hear you had some problems at your last school…"
What?! How could he know?!
Suddenly, Mr. Karita grabbed me by the hair and shook me a bit. Gods, that hurt.
"However, there's rules at Domino High, Mister!" he growled, shaking me back and forth via the locks of hair he had in his grip. "Like this hair! Long hair for boys is against the rules!"
"Yeek! Yeek! Oh, Bakura! Please don't hurt him!" exclaimed the girls. I couldn't help but feel annoyed that they weren't trying to help me a little bit more.
"Listen Mister Fashionable," the teacher growled, pulling closer to him, "or should I say 'Little Miss Fashionable'? I want you to have a crew cut by tomorrow! Then I'll treat you as a student of this school!" He roughly released me and walked away, laughing like some evil psycho from a TV show. The girls instantly began crooning over me.
"Are you okay, Bakura?" asked the fattest one. I almost glared at her for being so incompetent, but my head hurt too much, and my chest had begun to hurt again too. Akira had shown up as well and was ranting something about killing Mr. Karita in a very bloody, sadistic way. Not really helping much, that was.
"Yes, I'm…I'm fine," I lied. "I'm sorry, but could I be alone for a while?"
It seemed like the girls would obey my every command, because even though they were worried about me, they bowed and walked back to the classroom. I pushed past the door into the boy's bathroom and leaned up against one of the sinks. It was like I had a migraine, only it was in my chest instead of my head.
"What's wrong with me?" I wondered aloud. "My chest just keeps hurting…" Ever since I touched Yugi's pendant…
"H-ha, ha, ha…"
I whirled around, searching for the source of the laughing voice, but no one was in the bathroom with me. The voice hadn't been one of my psychic friends, either.
"Hello? Anyone there?" I called. No one answered.
That's strange…I thought I heard someone in here…Am I crazy?
[You know, that was a pretty irrelevant question.]
That pendant of Yugi's…It looks so similar…to my pendant…
"Hey, Bakura!"
Yugi's voice broke through my thoughts as he and the others came running up to me.
"Hi, you guys," I answered.
"I was talking to everybody, and they'd love to play Monster World tomorrow!" Yugi said. "What do you think? Can we go to your place? If not, we could go to my house."
I hesitated, almost stricken with fear; I didn't want my friends to land in the hospital like all the others, but I couldn't think of a good excuse not to play.
Maybe you should tell them, Keiko said quietly. It's no good to lie again.
"You don't want to…?" Yugi asked, noticing my delay.
I shook my head and tried to smile. "No, that's not it! I want to play to game with all of you!" I hesitated again, trying to think of the right words.
[Just tell them, Ryou. I can't hurt anything.]
"The thing is…At my last school, I used to get together with my friends to play role playing games…" I went on. "But when I did, a really strange thing would happen…People who played games with me would lose consciousness. They're still in a coma in the hospital…You may not believe me but it's true."
Yugi looked really shocked, and I couldn't blame him; it would've been a shock to me, too.
"That sort of thing kept happening, so people started avoiding me," I said sadly. "That's why I kept changing schools. Now I'm living in an apartment by myself, away from my family…I want to be friends with you! And I want to play games, but…" I sighed and turned away from them. "I made a decision. I don't want to lose anymore friends…So you shouldn't get to close to me."
That's a real great way to make friends, Ryou. Pushing them away each chance you get.
"Well…I'll see you…" I said, starting off away from the school, trying to keep back the tears in my eyes. Kiryu was right; I'd never make friends if I pushed them away, but it was too late now.
"Bakura!" Yugi called after me. I didn't stop and just kept on running; it felt like I was running back into my past, back when I didn't have friends, but I couldn't stop. I didn't want to hurt the friends I had now.