The next day, Ryou was extremely reluctant to go to the museum after school. He hadn't yet told his father about the diorama, but by now Mr. Bakura would have already seen it and was probably disappointed beyond measure.
After lots and lots of persuading, Ryou's friends somehow managed to convince him to go to the museum with them. When they arrived outside the entrance, a large amount of people was standing out on the front steps. There was a mix of regular citizens, newspaper reporters, and several important figures in the field of archeology. Even the three Ishtar siblings were there.
The Gang greeted the Ishtar siblings with high fives, brofists, and general open warmth. Ryou wanted to join in, but it was very difficult for him to put up an act of cheerfulness today, so instead he walked past everybody and went ahead inside. Honda noticed and followed him.
As luck would have it, Mr. Bakura caught sight of Ryou as soon as he entered the museum. "Hi Ryou! Come over here!" Mr. Bakura beckoned. At first, Ryou tried to pretend he didn't notice.
"Your father's calling you," Honda said.
"Fine," Ryou said with a groan of despair. He trudged over to his father put on the politest smile that he could manage.
"Glad you could make it. I wanted to show you something," Mr. Bakura said, leading Ryou down the hall. There was a crowd of people in front of the entrance to the new Egyptian exhibition, but they moved out of the way when they saw the museum owner and his son coming through.
A red ribbon blocked the doorway to the exhibition. Ryou leaned over to peek inside, and to his utter amazement, his diorama was in the very center of the exhibition.
"You're using it?!" Ryou said with astonishment.
"I'll admit that I was a bit surprised. I was expecting a model of Ancient Egypt at the height of its glory, but your diorama perfectly replicates how the ruins of Egypt looks like in modern day. I'm very impressed. How in the world did you accomplish such a thing?" Mr. Bakura said.
Ryou grinned sheepishly. "Maybe I'll tell you about it when we get home. It's kind of a long story."
It was almost time for Mr. Bakura to give a speech. Rows and rows of folded chairs had been laid out facing the entrance to the new exhibition, and a slide show was being projected on wall adjacent to the entrance. Soon, all of the visitors got settled down in their seats. Ryou and all of his friends, including the Ishtar siblings, sat in one of the middle rows next to each other.
Mr. Bakura picked up a microphone and started speaking. The speech was rather long, and Ryou zoned out during a large chunk of it. Mr. Bakura talked for fifteen minutes about the Ancient Egyptians, rambling on about what was known about their culture and daily lives. Everything his father said about Ancient Egypt, Ryou already knew.
Afterwards, there was a five-minute video about Mr. Bakura's archeological journeys in Egypt, which Ryou found to be the most interesting part of the presentation. Once that was done, Mr. Bakura began to formally thank all of the various people who contributed a lot of money or other types of donations.
"I'd also like to give a special thanks to Ms. Ishizu Ishtar for her extremely generous donations of some of the most valuable artifacts we have in the exhibition, including two stone tablets and the mummy of the Priest Akhenaden. You have been truly remarkable. I look forward to working with you again in the near future."
Ishizu stood up and the entire audience applauded for her. He brothers were especially enthusiastic, as they stood up and hollered with pride.
"And finally, I'd like to thank my son Ryou who worked tirelessly for months to complete one of the most spectacular works of art I've ever seen, a diorama of the ruins of Egypt. I really appreciate your hard work."
"Stand up, Bakura!" Yugi urged.
Ryou stood shyly, and his friends cheered so loudly for him that it was actually embarrassing. He was about to sit back down, but then his father beckoned him over with a wave of his hand. Come here, Mr. Bakura mouthed silently.
Obediently, Ryou carefully made his way up to the exhibition's entrance. Once he got there, Mr. Bakura handed him a pair of scissors and said, "Would you like to do the honors, my boy?"
Ryou proudly accepted the scissors and cut the red ribbon blocking the entrance. The audience broke into a standing ovation, cameras flashed, and the next day there would be a photo in the Domino newspaper headlines featuring Ryou and his father side-by-side.
"That's it for the presentation!" Mr. Bakura said. "Thank you one and all for coming. Feel free to explore the exhibition, and there are refreshments over there on the table."
Everyone rushed into the exhibition room in a flurry of excitement. For about an hour or so, Ryou explored the exhibition with his friends, examining in the fascinating new artifacts on display and making fun of Jounouchi for being afraid of the mummies. Then Ryou got thirsty so he went to get a drink from the refreshment table.
As Ryou was pouring some apple juice into a paper cup, he happened to overhear his father talking to Ishizu nearby.
"I'm leading another excavation of some new ruins that were found in Egypt pretty soon. I was wondering if you'd like to come. We might find even more artifacts to add to your museum," Ishizu was saying.
"What day does it start?" Mr. Bakura asked, sipping his own drink.
"A week from today. I can arrange for a plane to pick you up on Thursday. We'll meet in the usual spot," said Ishizu.
"Wonderful! How long do you think the excavation is going to last?"
"About two years, give or take."
Ryou looked down at the floor and sighed. What was the point of trying to get his father's attention anymore? Some people never change. The Spirit had taught him that.
Putting on a bright smile, Ryou threw away his cup and rejoined his friends in the exhibition.
Since Ryou was in a better mood the next morning, the main members of the Gang finally took the time to tell Ryou and Otogi all of the details of what happened in the Memory World. Ryou was pretty bummed that he had missed out on such an epic adventure, but at the same time he still felt guilty for inadvertently helping the Spirit of the Ring prepare for the shadow game.
"I'm sorry for putting you guys in danger. I should have known better than build that diorama for him," Ryou said with his eyes lowered to the ground. He had already apologized dozens of times, but the guilt was eating at him in every corner of his being.
"It wasn't your fault," said Yugi reassuringly. "The Spirit of the Ring is a master at manipulation. And to be honest, I also sort of trusted him for a while. He gave me the Millennium Eye a few days ago and said it was his proof of loyalty. I guess we're both too gullible for our own good, huh Bakura?"
"Wait, really? Are you serious Yug?" Jounouchi said in astonishment.
Yugi averted his eyes and laughed nervously as Jounouchi began hammering him for an explanation. Meanwhile, Ryou was wondering how the heck the Spirit got his hands on the Millennium Eye?! But his thoughts were interrupted when his friends started asking him questions.
"What was it like living with the Spirit?" Otogi asked him.
"Hmm? Oh!" It took him a moment, but Ryou finally understood what sort of answer his friend was looking for. "It's not what you'd be inclined to think. He stayed in the Ring most of the time."
"Has he been hurting you?" Anzu said. This was something that had been on everyone's minds for a while.
"No!" Ryou said right away, but then he stopped for a second to think about it. "Well, okay. Maybe he did once or twice. But – "
"Was he abusing you?!" Honda interrupted angrily.
Ryou waved his hands in the air and rapidly shook his head. "It wasn't like that! The Spirit was actually really, really nice to me."
There was an awkward moment of silence as everyone gave Ryou weird looks.
Did I say something wrong? thought Ryou.
All at once, the main members of the Gang huddled together and whispered the following to one another:
"Do you guys think Bakura might have Stockholm syndrome?" said Anzu.
"Yeah it sure looks like it. It's definitely Stockholm syndrome. I can't really blame him though," said Honda.
"Poor Bakura." said Anzu.
"What's Stockholm syndrome?" said Jounouchi.
"It's when the victim grows attached to his abuser or kidnapper! How do you not know this?" Honda said.
"Ick!" Jounouchi recoiled in disapprobation and briefly glanced back in Ryou's direction. "We have to try to talk some sense into him."
But Honda shook his head. "It's impossible," he said pessimistically. "Bakura doesn't have any common sense. He's got his head all the way up in outer space, and he's not going to understand reason no matter what we say to him."
"…that's a bit harsh," Anzu pointed out.
"You know it's true." Honda stated it as an objective fact.
"But what if it's not Stockholm Syndrome? What if Bakura's telling the truth, and the Spirit wasn't really abusing him?" Yugi spoke up.
"Cut the bullcrap Yug. You know what the evil Bakura is like. There's no way Ryou's fine after all of this," Jounouchi said.
"…I guess you might be right," Yugi said hesitantly. He wasn't completely convinced, so he decided to withhold judgment until seeing proof. "How about we go along with it? Let's not try to change Bakura's views. We should just let him believe whatever he wants to believe about the Spirit, even if we don't agree with it."
"You sure that's a good idea?" said Jounouchi.
Yugi nodded. "This way, it'll be easier for him to cope with everything that's happened."
When Ryou came home from school, his father was sitting at the dining room table filling out paperwork. Not wanting to be a bother, Ryou was about to quietly head into his room and study, but then Mr. Bakura gestured for him to sit down.
"Come here Ryou, I wanted to talk to you," Mr. Bakura said.
Ryou seated himself at the table. After a pause, Mr. Bakura finally looked up from his paperwork. "I'm going on another trip to Egypt," he told Ryou.
"Have a safe flight," Ryou said smiling.
Mr. Bakura peered at Ryou curiously. "You're not upset or anything?"
Ryou shook his head. "No, it's fine. Your work is very important." This was an improvement from last time because Mr. Bakura actually remembered to give Ryou a heads up before leaving.
Mr. Bakura looked like he wanted to say something, but then he changed his mind.
"So tell me," Mr. Bakura said after a long pause, "how did you manage to make the diorama so accurate? It's been a long time since you've been to Egypt."
Ryou lowered his eyes to the table. He wanted to tell his father the truth, he really did, but there was a very good reason why he had been reluctant to do so.
"Before I tell you, I need you to promise me something," Ryou said, gazing at his father with a determined look.
Mr. Bakura raised an eyebrow, for it was rare for Ryou to be so serious. "And what might that be?" he asked.
"You can't go spilling all of the secrets about the Millennium Items to anyone who's willing to listen," Ryou said, finally confronting his father about it.
"Why not?" Mr. Bakura said confusedly.
Ryou rubbed a hand over his face. "Because the more people who know about them, the more people will go after them for power. You blabbered everything to Ms. Chono and she tried to steal my Ring."
"Did she really?"
"Yes! Why did you even agree to date her in the first place?" Ryou said with exasperation.
"I was hoping she'd be able to help me decipher the mysteries surrounding the Items," Mr. Bakura explained. "Didn't you notice how her face kept peeling off? It was very obvious that she'd been in contact with Millennium magic."
Ryou's expression softened a little. Somehow it brought him comfort to learn the real reason why his father had been dating his teacher.
"But don't you see?" Ryou said after a pause. "This is exactly why telling too many people about the Millennium Items is dangerous."
"I see no issues as long as we properly educate everyone," Mr. Bakura argued. "The Millennium Items should be common knowledge. They should be at the core of every school curriculum across the globe. And if we put strict laws in place surrounding the usage of the Items, it will dissuade people from trying to use them for personal gain. Telling the world about the Items will make things safer for everyone, not more dangerous."
Admittedly Ryou could see what his father was getting at, but it was flawed logic. "The Millennium Items are too powerful to be controlled by any law enforcement," he said with a shake of his head. "If somebody were to try to use one for personal gain, the only way to stop them would be to use another Item against them. And if all of the Items were to fall into the wrong hands, the entire world would be screwed."
"You misunderstood me," Mr Bakura said, leaning forward with a darkening expression. "The Millennium Items should enforce the laws, not the other way around. Imagine if we were to create a centralized government with the Millennium Item wielders at the top. This is your chance to become a world leader!"
It took a second for it to sink in, but Ryou's mouth dropped open agastedly as he came to understand the implications. "Is that what you want to do with the Items? World domination?!"
Mr. Bakura tsked. "When you put it like that, it just makes me sound evil."
"But it is evil!" Ryou insisted. He could forgive his father for most of his faults, but this had to be the last possible straw.
"It's not evil as long as we only let good people be in charge of the Items. People like you, Ryou," Mr. Bakura said with a touch of fondness. "Think about it for a moment. In the wrong hands, the Millennium Items can cause the world's destruction. But in the right hands, they're humanity's one chance at world peace!"
"Somebody already tried that," Ryou blurted out.
"What do you mean?" Mr. Bakura said.
Ryou cleared his throat. This was going to be an extraordinarily long explanation. "Three thousand years ago, the Egyptians had a governmental system exactly like the one you just described. The Pharaoh's court used the Millennium Items to control the populace, and although it did create a relatively peaceful society for a while, it was short-lived. The entire system crashed down after one of the priests became corrupted by the Eye's evil energy. Afterwards, the Egyptians buried the Items underground and vowed never to use them again."
Mr. Bakura was taken aback with astonishment. "How do you know all this?"
And so Ryou told his father everything. He talked about the Pharaoh Atem, the Thief King Bakura, the Spirit's soulroom, the Millennium Items' connection to Duel Monsters, and how history had replayed itself on the Memory World diorama until it resembled Egypt in modern times. Ryou talked and talked and talked until the sun went down and his mouth ran dry, and when he was done, his father could barely contain his excitement.
"You met the Spirit's past self?" Mr. Bakura said amazedly.
Ryou nodded.
"And you say his name was 'Bakura?'"
Ryou nodded again.
Mr. Bakura was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was more solemn. "You don't have the Ring anymore?"
Ryou sadly shut his eyes. "The Spirit is gone, so what's the point?"
"He never even had a chance to tell you about his past," Mr. Bakura muttered with a frown.
"And I never got to find out how the Millennium Items were created either," Ryou added with a despondent sigh.
In truth, Ryou was just as passionate about the Millennium Items as his father was. He had been hoping that the answers would be hidden inside the Spirit's soulroom or in the Memory World, but despite his best efforts, he was no closer to discovering the Millennium Items' origins as he was three months ago.
"May I see your sketches?" Mr. Bakura requested.
Yugi's eyes darted back and forth as he repeatedly glanced behind him towards the back of the classroom. He silently berated himself for looking back too often, but he couldn't help it. He was nervous. One of his hands was gripping the Millennium Puzzle for comfort, and his other hand was holding on to the Millennium Rod, which he kept hidden underneath the folds of his jacket.
Ryou was sitting in his usual spot in the back of the room with a lost, faraway look on his face, and he was completely oblivious to the fact that Yugi was making glances at him. It was last period, and school was going to end soon. Time was running out. This was Yugi's last chance to do what he had to do.
He had to use the Millennium Rod on Ryou.
It was with the best of intentions, Yugi thought to himself. Malik had said that Ryou wasn't suffering, but that was a long time ago. Who knows what the Spirit could've been doing or saying to him in the last couple of months? Yugi's imagination ran wild when he thought about the horrible things that could've happened behind the scenes. Had Ryou been forcibly locked inside his soulroom? Had the Spirit been preventing him from eating and sleeping? Or worse, had the Spirit been inflicting physical injuries on Ryou to scare him into submission or to punish him for his disobedience? Yugi was overridden with guilt. He should've taken the Ring away from Ryou a long, long time ago.
"Partner…?"
Yugi was jolted out of his revere when his other self called out from inside the Puzzle. Atem had sensed Yugi's negative feelings radiating through the mind-link and had gotten worried about him.
"I'm okay!" Yugi said into the mind-link. "It's all good, I was just thinking too hard about something."
Despite Yugi's best attempts at hiding his distress, his feelings continued to slip through the link. "Why don't you let me take over?" Atem suggested. "I'll be the one to use the Rod on Bakura."
"Are you sure?" said Yugi.
"Yes. You can let me shoulder all the blame."
Yugi hesitated at first, but he relinquished control. The switch was subtle and nobody in the classroom noticed.
It would be pointless to overthink, Yugi thought to himself as he materialized in transparent form next to Atem. Regardless of whether or not the Ring Spirit had really done all those terrible things to Ryou, the fact stood that deception was a form of abuse, capable of leaving a lasting emotional impact. The problem was that Ryou seldom showed his true feelings, and nobody could figure out how emotionally scarred he actually was. That was why they needed to take a peek inside Ryou's mind. They had to make sure their friend was going to be okay. This is justified, Yugi repeated to himself over and over.
And yet why did he feel so guilty?
"Are you ready?" Atem said.
"Wait no, I've changed my mind!" Yugi blurted out, and he immediately covered his face in remorse.
Atem raised an eyebrow. He wasn't angry, but he was curious as to why Yugi would have a sudden change of heart.
"Bakura's already been betrayed by someone he trusted," Yugi explained. "And betrayal still hurts no matter what our intentions. If Bakura were to find out that we did this to him, he might…he might…"
He might stop trusting us too, was the unspoken fear they both had been secretly worrying about.
"We should just believe him when he says that the Spirit wasn't hurting him. He's our friend, and we should take his word for it, even if we don't have any solid proof," Yugi said determinedly.
Atem couldn't look directly at Yugi because it would arouse suspicions from curious onlookers, but he could still flash a supportive smile. "You're right. Let's have faith in him."
On the day that Mr. Bakura was supposed to go on the business trip to Egypt, Ryou was reluctant to go home after school, thus he went to visit the playground by himself. While he was sitting on a swing and idly kicking his feet around, Otogi showed up.
"Hey Ryou," Otogi said.
"Hi Otogi, what are you doing here?"
I was looking all over for you, Otogi thought. But what he said aloud was, "I just happened to pass by. Mind if I join you?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Otogi sat on the swing next to Ryou, and for a while they swung themselves back and forth without speaking. Then Otogi spoke up and broke the silence. "You know, I can't really hate the Spirit of the Ring the way the others do since I wasn't present at either of those shadow games, but from what I saw during Battle City, he was pretty crazy."
Ryou simply shrugged.
"You miss him, don't you," Otogi guessed.
Ryou was frozen for a moment as he considered denying it, but then he sorrowfully nodded his head.
I knew it, Otogi thought. He couldn't understand why the Main Gang found Ryou so difficult to read. In Otogi's opinion, Ryou was an open book of expressions.
"I'm still really mad though," Ryou said with his eyes lowered to the ground. "I can't believe he led me on for so long. I was a fool for trusting him."
Otogi wistfully looked up at the sky. "I don't know if this makes you feel any better, but I know from experience that you can't really control what other people do. Whether or not they betray you after you're kind to them is completely random and dependent on the person and situation."
"But Yugi's always making friends with his enemies. How come it works for him?"
"Yugi is just disproportionately lucky."
"So does this mean I'm cursed with bad luck?"
Otogi cast Ryou a weary look. "I wouldn't say that. You converted Ms. Chono, didn't you?"
"Hm…that's a valid point."
But then Ryou did a double take. "Wait. Who told you it was me who converted her?"
A mischievous smirk appeared on Otogi's face. "You did just now. I was only speculating. We were all supremely confused when she apologized to us for messing with our families, but I had a feeling you had something to do with it. Turns out I was right!" He flashed Ryou an appreciative smile.
Ryou blushed and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.
Otogi chuckled behind his fist. "God, you're so cute! I think this is why our fangirls tend to like you more than me. I always have to work to get their attention, but you're popular with them without even trying!"
"It's not like I ever asked to be popular," Ryou said with an annoyed grimace.
"And that's exactly why they like you so much," Otogi said teasingly. "When you keep them at a distance, they only grow more obsessed with you over time."
"Yeah, why are they like that? It's so irrational."
Otogi shrugged. "I guess that's just human nature."
"Human nature is counter-productive and doesn't make any sense," Ryou grumbled mostly to himself. And now his thoughts were drifting back to the Spirit again. "You know, I think the worst thing about the Spirit is that he never truly cared about me. He acted like he did, but he was only pretending."
Otogi's expression hardened. "Hey, forget about him already! Who needs him when you have us? There's me, Yugi, Atem, and the entire rest of the gang."
Ryou smiled. "Yeah, that's true."
The two boys continued to chat and joke about random things for a while. The wind grew colder and the sun began to set, and eventually they decided to go home.
Ryou and Otogi were walking down the sidewalk together getting ready to split paths, when suddenly the wind picked up. Unfortunately Ryou's schoolbag was partially open and several of his papers were blown away. Ryou frantically gathered the papers and tried to stuff them back into his bag, but the wind blew his hair into his eyes and he couldn't see.
"Ack! Hey Otogi, can you get my hair out of the way? My hands are full," Ryou said.
Otogi reached out and brushed back a large chunk of white hair, tucking it neatly behind Ryou's ear.
"Thanks," Ryou said without looking up.
In the spur of the moment, Otogi leaned down and kissed Ryou lightly on the cheek. Then he immediately ran away sprinting down the sidewalk.
Ryou blinked at Otogi's retreating figure and tenderly touched his face. The spot on his cheek where his friend had kissed him was still tingling like a feather against the skin. What does this mean? he wondered to himself.
Ryou was expecting to return home to a lonely, empty apartment, but to his surprise, Mr. Bakura was at the dining table pouring over a large stack of Ryou's sketches.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were going on another business trip," Ryou said as soon as he came home.
"I turned down the offer," Mr. Bakura said casually.
Ryou was shocked. This had never happened before. "But why?" he said as he walked over to the table.
Mr. Bakura held up one of the sketches to the light to study it. "These are amazing," he muttered to himself. Then he put the sketch down again and turned his attention to Ryou. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
"Why didn't you go to Egypt?" Ryou repeated.
Mr. Bakura adjusted his glasses and studied Ryou's face for a moment. He had adopted this boy in order to gain a Millennium Item, but what he had obtained instead was a son.
"I've been thinking," Mr. Bakura cleared his throat. "Both of us have made many attempts to figure out the mysteries of the Millennium Items on our own, and neither of us has had much success. But if we were to combine our efforts, we might have better luck at discovering their origins. So what do you say? Will you work with me?"
Ryou hesitated. If he said yes, he would be putting himself at the risk of being used for selfish gains, just as things had been with the Spirit. Could he really trust his father?
"I'd understand if you don't want to," Mr. Bakura continued, "but you should at least let me tell you more about your childhood. The Millennium Ring has made a large impact on your life and you deserve to know more details about it."
Ryou decided to throw all caution out the window. "I'll work with you," he said.
There's was originally an epilogue where Ryou gets his father an interview with the Pharaoh Atem, and then Mr. Bakura publishes an article about the Pharaoh's life so that the world can finally learn about him. Also it's revealed that Ryou rebuilds the diorama because it's easier the second time around considering he still has all of the sketches and molds and stuff. But I don't feel like posting the epilogue anymore; it was poorly written and nothing but an info dump.
I feel as though there should be a sequel in which Ryou goes on an adventure to discover the truth about Kul Elna, and then he tells his father, and his father publishes something to tell the whole world so that the Thief King can finally, finally get a little bit of justice. The problem is, I don't know how to write it, and I most likely never will.
Thanks for reading. Goodbye!