The next morning, there were no fangirls waiting for Ryou when he came to school because they were too busy crowding around Otogi, watching him perform magic tricks. This was the benefit of being friends with Otogi – he diverted the fangirls' attention away. It was a blessing.
Ryou greeted his friends as usual. "Good morning everyone!" he said enthusiastically.
Instead of greeting him back, Yugi, Anzu, Honda and Jounouchi exchanged solemn glances with one another.
"We should tell him right now and get it over with," Honda said quietly.
"Yeah we should," said Yugi.
"You want me to do it?" Jounouchi whispered.
"No, I'll do it," Anzu whispered back.
"Why do you all look so serious? Did Yugi's grandpa's soul get sealed into a video tape again?" Ryou said.
Anzu cleared her throat. "Bakura, you know our teacher Ms. Chono?"
"Hey yeah! My father talked about her last night. They're dating each other," Ryou said cheerfully.
"What!?" sputtered Jounouchi.
"Oh no!" said Anzu.
"We're too late!" said Yugi.
"Calm down guys, it's cool! I think my father and Ms. Chono will make a really cute couple," Ryou said.
"You're really fine with it?" Honda questioned.
"As long as it makes my father happy, I'm happy!" Ryou smiled.
"But Ms. Chono's a witch," said Jounouchi.
"Hey! Don't say that," scolded Ryou. "I'm sure she's nice on the inside. Anyways, I think class is about to begin. Talk to you guys later."
Ryou sat down at his seat several desks away from the rest of the gang just as the bell rang, signaling the start of class. As students shuffled to their places, Yugi leaned over towards Jounouchi and whispered, "Do you think Bakura's going to be alright?"
"I don't know. He seems fine on the outside, but the guy's an enigma. No one can ever tell what he's really thinking," said Jounouchi.
Ryou's life at home hardly changed. Even though Mr. Bakura wasn't on a business trip anymore, he was still rarely ever home because he was either at the museum working or going on dates with Ms. Chono. He would often come home very late at night, after Ryou had already gone to bed. And even if he did come home early, all he would talk about was the Millennium Items and Ms. Chono.
Still, Ryou remained outwardly cheerful and kept smiling. Whenever his father talked to him, he smiled. Whenever he talked with his friends at school, he smiled. When he Ms. Chono waved at him in the halls or during class, he smiled and waved back. When the girls got bored of Otogi's magic tricks and started following Ryou around again, he acted polite.
Only when he was home alone, hiding inside his bedroom with the door shut and lying on his bed with his face buried in his pillow – only then did Ryou allow himself to cry. He cried and he cried and he cried.
All I really want is my father to pay more attention to me, Ryou thought. I wish he'd put me first for a change. Is that such a selfish thing to ask?
Ryou didn't see it, but the Millennium Ring glowed. Then he fell asleep.
My soul is tainted partially black.
My heart's in constant pain.
It gently throbs from front to back,
No sugar in my veins.
My mind is elsewhere wandering free.
Alas my spirit's hurt.
Oh how I wish that I could flee
Somewhere away from Earth.
The air swooshed with a gentle, warm breeze that felt pleasant against the skin. Thousands upon thousands of stars twinkled overhead, some of them shooting across the sky in streaks of light. The ground glowed like the surface of the moon, and craters of various sizes were scattered everywhere. Some of the craters were filled with toys and games, others with books or art supplies, and still others with old clothing from Ryou's childhood years.
Ryou sat on the ground facing the breeze, letting his hair flow freely. A lone door stood upright several meters behind him in the middle of the room, not connected to any wall. Ryou never bothered to check what was beyond that door. He already knew what was behind it without looking, and it was of no interest to him.
Suddenly he heard the door swing open, and somebody entered. Ryou pretended not to notice.
"Landlord, come here," said the Spirit.
"Leave me alone. I'm busy," spat Ryou.
It was quiet for a moment, and at first Ryou thought the Spirit had actually left him alone. But then the Spirit grabbed a fistful of Ryou's hair and yanked him into a standing position.
"OW!" Ryou hissed, slapping the Spirit's arm away and jumping out of reach. "What gives? You know I hate it when people touch my hair!"
"Quit whining and come with me," the Spirit ordered.
"Why should I?" Ryou said.
"Because you've got a lot of work to do, you lousy idle-headed brat. Let's go."
Ryou stuck out his tongue. "No thanks. I'm not going anywhere with you."
The Spirit grabbed Ryou's arm and twisted it behind his back. "Ow ow ow ow!" Ryou cried out as the Spirit forcibly escorted him out of his soulroom. Once they were both in the hallway, the Spirit threw Ryou against the floor and slammed the door shut.
"What the hell's your problem today? Jerk." Ryou sat up and massaged his arm.
"Your father's expecting you to build him a diorama of Ancient Egypt. You'd better not let him down," the Spirit said, crossing his arms.
"A diorama of Egypt? Since when?" Ryou blinked, getting up and dusting himself off.
"Since this evening. The museum's having a new exhibition in about three months and I told your father you wanted to help. You're highly skilled at building things out of polyresin after all."
Ryou was flabbergasted. "What? Why would you tell him that?"
"You made a wish, remember? If you want your father to pay more attention to you, you should do something that will make him happy."
Ryou began to panic. "But I don't know anything about Ancient Egypt! I'm doomed! It'll take ages for me to come up with the research, and there might not even be enough records! What on Earth made you think this was a good idea?"
"Calm down, Landlord. I never said you had to do it alone," the Spirit said, moving closer to the door that was opposite from Ryou's soulroom.
Ryou watched with anticipation as the Spirit materialized a key out of thin air and unlocked the large, heavy iron chain that was wrapped around the dark metal door. The chain loudly clattered to the floor. The Spirit grunted as he pushed hard against the door, slowly getting it to open.
Behind that door was a large, expansive desert at nighttime where miles and miles of sparkling sand stretched on as far as the eye could see. A river flowed in the distance and glistened with moonlight, though strangely enough there was no moon in the sky. Beyond the river laid the splendid buildings of an ancient civilization.
"Welcome to Ancient Egypt," the Spirit said smiling.
The idea that Ryou's soulroom is the moon is actually not my own idea. I got it from another fanfic called Chase, written by consumedbylove. Despite being super short, it's one of my favorite fics of all time and left a bit of an impression on me. My actual headcannon is that Ryou's soulroom is a life-sized version of Monster World, but the moon idea works too. Ryou is pretty spacy after all. *Ba dum tiss*