A thin teenage boy dressed in a school uniform walked across the street, towards the Kame Game Shop. His long white hair blew in the wind, which, from Yami Bakura's perspective, had suddenly arisen out of nowhere. The boy's hands were tucked deep inside his pockets, his eyes hardly leaving the sidewalk.
There was no mistaking it. It was Ryou, probably around age 12 or 13.
"What the fuck?" Yami Bakura whispered under his breath. "I just left the runty little host going that way. How the hell is he bigger over there?"
Yami Bakura watched the older Ryou stop in front of the game shop window. He stared, longingly, at something, before finally deciding to go inside.
Curious, the spirit of the millennium ring decided to follow him.
He opened the door just as Yugi's grandfather approached Ryou.
"Ah, is there something I could help you with today, lad?" Sugoroku Mutou smiled, stepping out from behind the cash register.
"Oh…" Ryou whispered back shyly. He avoided any eye contact with the elder man, mostly keeping his gaze to the floor. "I… I was interested in the… the demo of this table top role playing game… in the window."
"You must mean Monster World!" Sugoroku Mutou smiled. "There's a new expansion set coming out next week. If you would like to try it out, I will add you to the guest list for the demonstration. We could use a few more players."
"Th..thank you. I would like that." Ryou attempted to smile back, but could hardly muster it. "It has been a while since I've played games. Is it a lot like Mazes and Monsters?"
"Very similar." The shopkeeper added, and took a book off the shelf. "This is a starters guide for the game. You might be interested in getting one. It will help you make your first character, and if you're interested in leading a game, it will help you design your first game maps as well."
Ryou took the book into his thin hands, flipping through some of the pages.
"I… I think I would like this… yes." He nodded weakly, and reached into his pocket. Ryou pulled out a few bills, and laid them on the counter. "I would like to buy it."
"Wait. I remember this." Yami Bakura paused, watching Ryou pay for the book. "He already has the ring!"
Yami Bakura remembered the book too. It was what first gave him the idea of sealing souls into lead figurines, a way to test the awesome power of the millennium ring. It was the basis for his latest scheme too, not to put too fine a point on it, something Ryou didn't even know about yet! But it would be his greatest achievement!
"That's right. Buy me my ticket to the millennium puzzle, host." Yami Bakura chuckled under his breath.
Ryou didn't even notice the second customer in the store. He simply thanked Sugoroku Mutuo, put the book under his arm, and slowly waked out.
Yami Bakura watched. He knew, inside the ring, that he was eager for Ryou to see what was in that book. But outside, he never realized how sad his host was when he purchased it.
"What crawled in his corpse and died?" he scoffed to himself, as he immediately opened the door to follow the boy.
They reached a home that Yami Bakura was unfamiliar with. It wasn't Bakura's apartment, but the home of his grandparents. Ryou didn't stay there often, or even for very long. But Yami Bakura remembered bits and pieces of the place.
"Oh, right." Yami Bakura mused, as he watched Ryou walking up the steps to the old house. "I think I remember this now. He stayed here after his dad died when that pathetic tomb collapsed."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, the deteriorating outer walls of the house reminded him of his own home in Kul Elna.
"Ryou! Is that you?" a scratchy voice rang out the second he opened the creaking door.
"Yes… Grandpa…" Ryou shouted back, his voice completely apathetic despite the forced volume. "It's me. I'm home from school."
The door closed behind him, and Yami Bakura made his way to a loose window, where he could hear and see everything that was going on inside.
"What took you so long?" the elder man asked, looking up from the newspaper he was reading. His once black hair was now a subtle gray. His complexion was covered in liver spots, and his loose skin sagged over them.
"I… I stopped at… at the Kame Game shop to buy a book…"
The old man picked up his cane, and struck Ryou on the leg with it.
"Foolishness." The man shouted. "A boy your age shouldn't be off playing games!"
"It's… just a book, grandpa…"
He was hit again, this time in the knee.
"You have schooling to do." He insisted. "Why, when your father was your age, he did nothing but schooling. Day in, day out. He cared about it! He didn't run off playing Mazes and Monsters like you. He was serious about his education."
Ryou fought back tears at the mention of his father. It hadn't been very long since he died.
"Grandpa… it's… please… don't talk about Dad… Not right now…"
He sniffled as he felt the cold outline of the millennium ring press against his chest. It was the final thing his father sent back before the accident. And for that reason alone, Ryou never took it off.
"No respect, no respect from the youth of today. That's for sure!" he grunted, and returned to reading his newspaper. He only looked up when he saw that Ryou hadn't moved yet. "What are you still standing here for? Don't you have schooling to attend to?"
"Right…" Ryou bowed his head respectfully, and dashed up the stairs as quickly as he could.
Yami Bakura had hardly climbed up the window when he looked down and saw Ryou walking out the front door again. It was clearly a different day; his host was wearing a white t-shirt instead of his school jacket.
"Time flies in this realm, doesn't it." Yami Bakura grumbled, and climbed back down the drainpipe. He resumed following Ryou, until the boy walked through the doors of the Kame Game Shop.
Ryou looked around. A small table had been set up in the back corner, with Sugoroku Mutou at its head. A couple of other people sat around in the other chairs, talking amongst themselves. They paid Ryou no heed when the bell ringed, and Ryou didn't raise his head to acknowledge them either.
"Ah, you came back to play, I see." The elder man smiled, holding out a pair of ten-sided dice. "There's still plenty of room. Come have a seat."
Ryou nodded politely, and quietly did as he was told. He took his bag from his shoulder, and pulled out the book again.
"Have you already made your character? Or do you want to use one of my pre-made character sheets?"
"Oh, No, sir. I have one." Ryou whispered, also pulling a figurine out of his bag. It was a small, but intricately carved, white wizard. The long white hair and weak smile made it an exact replica of its sculptor.
Unbeknownst to his grandfather, Ryou had spent all weekend making the tiny figurine. And to be honest with himself, it was the happiest weekend he had in a long time.
"You have quite the talent for that, young man." Sugoroku smiled, and put the white wizard figurine at the starting gate next to everybody else's. "And an interesting choice. Most young boys pick warriors or magic gunmen for their first characters. Every once and a while I see a beast tamer, but not usually a healer."
"I… I like those abilities." Ryou whispered, a little unsure of his choice.
"Do you have a name for your character?"
"Oh." Ryou paused. "White Wizard… Bakura…"
He answered the elder gentleman with a weak smile, and Sugoroku filled in the character name at the top of his list.
"All right. As a level one white wizard, he has apprentice level talents." Sugoroku continued. "That includes using his magic to heal the other characters, and to attack with an 'apprentice big bang.' But if you're going to use healing magic, make sure you do it in time. His magic isn't strong enough yet to raise other characters from the dead."
"Raise from the dead?" Ryou's attention was grabbed.
"Yes. If a white wizard gains enough experience, he will be able to raise others from the dead. It's a valuable skill to have in a tight situation."
Ryou sat back and sighed. His thoughts immediately raced to his sister, his mother, and his father. He wished the white wizard were real, that its power really could bring people back from the dead, that he could be with them once more. It was a silly thought, one he scolded himself from even thinking. He knew it was just a game, but still he couldn't help but dream about it.
Yami Bakura watched the entire game from the window. As a team, they succeeded at defeating Zorc, which sent a wave of repulsion down his spine. In the final round, it was his host's attack that actually finished the creature off. And his host was smiling about it.
Yami Bakura continued to watch, almost mystified by Ryou's smile. It wasn't like all the other smiles he had seen in the mirror. It was a real smile, something he had never actually seen before. At least, he had never seen it from his hikari before.