Chapter 2
Ryo slid the box back into it's corner on his desk, right next to a small framed picture. The picture of two white-haired children. Two happy children. Ryo and Amane, in the picture he was 11 and she was 7. He loved that picture, of just the two of them. They had the same eyes, the same smile. It was strange to think that if she were still alive she would be the same age as him in the picture. What would she look like? Ryo figured that she would be almost the exact same, except maybe a few inches taller. Ryo hadn't cried over missing his baby sister in a long time. It's true, he missed his mother and sister, but the feelings of missing his loved ones almost made him numb to the hurt now. It didn't even phase Ryo when his father sent him away to live on his own. Ryo had always sort of been a mamma's boy. He couldn't help but think that if his mother was still here.. she would have helped him get through this. She wouldn't have sent him away to live on his own. She wouldn't have agreed with the doctors and the police when they said that something was wrong with him. Ryo's mother would have fought to keep him there with her, he was sure of it. Aren't your parents supposed to be the ones to love you unconditionally anyway? Ryo figured his father couldn't take it anymore, all the problems. Sending him away was just an easy solution. Easy for him. Ryo knew his father still loved him though, it was probably just deep down. He said he would call during the week to check on him.
Ryo glanced out the window of his living room. At this time of day normally the shadows from the dark buildings would be stretching long over the streets, the sky a warm looking orange that would make Ryo's eyes sleepy. Today it had been raining all day though, the clouds were still a mix of about every shade of grey. The view out his window wasn't quite as beautiful as he had described it in his letter to Amane. He wasn't always completely truthful in his letters, some things he didn't want her to know. If she were alive now he would sugar coat things, he didn't want her to be upset. She would likely be sad to find out that the view from his window was mostly just the large building across the street that blocked the beautiful view that stretched behind that building. That building, what was it.. Kaiba Corp, yeah.. that has to be it. Ryo figured they must have a really beautiful view from that building. No one in that building probably cared about the view they had though, they were probably too busy doing paper work or rushing through their day so they could get home and do the same thing again the next day. He hoped they looked out the windows of the building, he was sure it was a beautiful view. Most people probably didn't just sit around staring out windows all day long though, those people were missing out.
The view out his window wasn't the only thing that Ryo lied about in his letter though. His first day of school also went a lot differently than he had described. It wasn't a horrible day, but it wasn't too great either. Thankfully no one knew who he was already. There weren't any rumors going around about him yet, and hopefully there wouldn't be. The teachers didn't even know who he was, how nice. The walk to school was very short, only about five or six blocks. When he went into the office to receive his class schedule the office ladies had their office aid show him around the school. The office aid was in Ryo's class, her name was Miho. She had long hair with a yellow ribbon tied up on top of her head. Upon seeing Ryo she complimented his hair. Long hair on a male student, how strange. A compliment? Ryo hadn't received many compliments from girls before, most girls were afraid of him. This girl had no idea who he was though, how nice. She continued to show him around the school, the common area, the lunch room, his locker, the gym. That gym teacher that came out of the double doors as he and Miho were walking past, such a cocky fellow. First he accused Ryo and Miho of being on a date during class. A date? How absurd. Ryo had only been attending that school for all of 25 minutes, he hadn't even thought of girls yet. The gym teacher's name was Mr. Karita. Miho told Mr. Karita that Ryo was a new transfer student and that she was just showing him around the school and where his classes would be. A transfer student? Mr. Karita somehow already knew who Bakura was though. "You're that Bakura kid? The one who had problems at his last school." Problems.. how did he find out? No one was supposed to know. Damn. This teacher was the most unpleasant person. Maybe Ryo could opt out of gym class, hopefully it wasn't a required class. Mr. Karita reached for Ryo's hair, "You know, boys at this school don't have long hair! You're going to have it cut by the next time I see you, got it?" Cut my hair.. how about I cut your fu-.. No. Ryo couldn't afford to even think negative thoughts like that. Despite Ryo's reputation he was always very polite to everyone and greeted people with a smile, but sometimes he couldn't help it and a negative thought like that would escape. He needed to suppress those thoughts, he didn't want anyone to think he's trying to hurt anyone for any reason. If someone ended up in a coma for some reason, he didn't want to be accused this time. The gym teacher finally went back into his sanctuary, likely the only place where he got any respect in the school. The gym teacher, not much of a teacher at all really, more like a glorified bully. The only reason he probably got respect from the students was because they feared that if they defied him they would end up stuffed into a dark, smelly gym locker.
Ryo and Miho had made it around the entire school. She then took him to his first hour class, by this time there was only about 15 minutes remaining. What a relief. Hopefully the teacher in his class would be more pleasant than Mr. Karita, he was just awful. They walked into the classroom together and after the teacher introduced Ryo to the class it was time for Miho to leave. She smiled sweetly at him and hesitated for a second and then said something like "I'll see you later, okay?" and gracefully walked out of the class. Ryo felt the blood rush to his cheeks, had Miho just flirted with him? It certainly felt like it, and in front of the whole class. She seemed like a nice girl, but it's not like he could spend any time with her even if he wanted to. Ryo's class seemed very uninterested in his arrival, that's always good. Ryo sat himself in the only empty desk in the classroom, right next to a kid with some really crazy looking hair. Ryo didn't feel like his hair looked so odd compared to this kid. The kid's hair was mostly black.. or possibly dark red.. with a blonde fringe that stuck out in the front. It suited him though, it probably made him a few inches taller since he seemed a little on the short side, but it was hard to tell since he was sitting. On Ryo's right was another boy that seemed a little older than everyone else in the class. He had brown hair that was just long enough to cover his eyes and touched the collar on his uniform. The boy with the brown hair never took his eyes away from his book to even look at the new transfer student. Ryo was relieved that no one had attempted to make conversation with him yet, well.. except for Miho earlier. Hopefully she didn't already have feelings for him, girls are so strange. Ryo wouldn't want to hurt her feelings.
The remaining minutes of the class seemed to just drag on, most of the students were just chatting with their friends. Well.. except for the brown haired boy sitting to Ryo's right. He was still glaring a hole into his book. Ryo didn't dare look at him very long for fear of him focusing his glare on Ryo instead of his book. The kid with the crazy hair was talking very excitedly about something to the boy with the shaggy blonde hair that sat behind him. They must be best friends, you could tell just from the way they talked to each other. They're talking about.. Magic and Wizards. This caught Ryo's attention, he had always been a fan of games of all kinds. Magic and Wizards was a similar game to Ryo's favorite game, Monster World. The two games have similar monsters but Monster World is a table top RPG. Ryo shifted his gaze from his desk to the two boys talking about their card game. What! That pendant … it looked almost exactly like the one Ryo wore around his neck, hidden under his uniform. It was hanging around the crazy haired boy's neck by a long rope. That couldn't be very comfortable on his neck.. maybe that's why he wears that leather thing around his neck. It was so similar to Ryo's, it had the same symbol and shape and shined the same. As much as Ryo didn't want to speak to anyone, he had to ask this kid about his pendant.
"Hello. My name is Ryo.. sorry if I sound a little strange... but where did you get that pendant?" Ryo said in the most polite way possible. The crazy haired kid and his blonde haired friend both looked over at him simultaneously and smiled. Wow, they're so friendly. "It's not strange, I know this pendant is a little odd looking but that's because it's from a tomb in Egypt. My grandpa got it for me a long time ago. Oh, and my name is Yugi and this is Jonouchi." the crazy haired kid replied as he pointed a thumb at the blonde sitting behind him. "Very nice to meet you," Ryo said cheerfully "It looks similar to one that I own." Yugi held his pendant out to Ryo for him to look at it closely. Ryo continued speaking as he gazed at the pendant. "Did I hear you guys talking about Magic and Wizards?" Ryo reached his hands out to touch the pendant. "I would love to learn to play, it's similar to my favorite-" Ryo's fingers lightly touched the eye on the front on Yugi's glimmering pendant. Yugi and Jonouchi's eyes widened as they waited for Ryo to finish his sentence. Argh! My chest..it hurts. "I, I have to go." Ryo said and ran out of the classroom before the teacher could protest. Ryo made his way into the restroom and stopped at the sink to find the source of his chest pains. He unbuttoned his uniform and glanced in the mirror before pulling his white t-shirt over his head... blood? The front of his t-shirt was speckled with blood. "Hahaha" Oh, was this bathroom not empty when Ryo came in? Ryo turned around and crouched to see if there was someone in the stalls behind him.. nothing. Am I going crazy... Ryo pulled his shirt off and... my pendant.. it's... "-Ahh!" Ryo cried out in pain as he watched the spikes on his pendant dig further into the skin on his chest. Ryo tried to remove it from his chest, which only made the pain worse. "Hahahaha!" "Who's there! I know there's someone watching me!" Ryo yelled out to.. no one. Ryo knew he couldn't be crazy. There's no way. If I'm aware that I'm having crazy thoughts, then I can't truly be crazy. Right? The silence began to choke Ryo as no one replied to his yells. The pain was beginning to make him feel sick. He walked over to the nearest stall and locked the door. Ryo knelt on the floor in front of the toilet, just in case. If he didn't throw up from the pain, the thought of his face being only a few inches from a germ infested toilet would surely make him hurl. He peered over the edge of the toilet and his reflection was surprisingly clear.. maybe it was cleaner than he thought. He looked a mess though. A mess. That what this was, just a mess. What's happening to me? Why is my pendant stuck in my chest.. how could I even explain this to someone? They would surely think it was some form of self-mutilation.. what a mess. Though he didn't want to admit it.. the voices he heard were not his imagination. He had heard this voice like someone was standing right next to him. Maybe I am crazy. What a mess. "So.. Ryo Bakura, you really can hear me?" This voice almost sounded like it was whispering in Ryo's ear.. but no one was there. Ryo stared wide eyed at his reflection in the toilet in disbelief. "Am I crazy?" Ryo spoke out loud to the voice. "Hahaha! No. I'm really here, speaking to you. I've lived within you and the Ring of Wisdom for a very long time. You've been a good host for me, you've found the boy with the Millennium Puzzle!" "Living within me.. and my pendant.." Ryo spoke softly as he took in the information of the voice, "So, you did this?" Ryo said as he touched his chest where the pendant was still buried in his skin. "Of course! You see, you' get to be my permanent host since you found the Millennium Puzzle. And plus, I grant your wishes in return! Hahaha!" "My wishes?" Ryo said in disbelief, "I don't want any wishes granted, not from you." "Too late, I've already granted at least a dozen already.. don't you remember.. you wished you could be with your friends and play games with them all the time, I helped you do that." "My friends..." Ryo couldn't believe what he was hearing.. all the friends that he had been accused of "hurting" them and putting them into coma's were they.. It was true, that he wished he could be with them all the time. He was happy when he was with his friends, unlike his home life. Such an innocent wish.. to be surrounded by people who adore you and make you laugh... turned into something evil. "Yes, that's right! Your friends are all safe in your Monster World game." Safe.. in Monster World. The figurines.. they must house my friends' minds.. or souls. That is why they can't wake up, they're trapped in the game.
Ryo quickly turned around to see if he could see the spirit that was talking to him. Nothing. He moved away from the toilet and sat with his back against the wall. He couldn't handle this..
"No.. no.. STOP!" Ryo screamed. The voice didn't reply with a single word, not even some annoying laughter. So everyone was right.. Ryo was hurting his friends. He was hurting them.. by wanting to be with them. It's my fault they're like this.. now they'll never wake up. This couldn't really be happening though.. could it? Hearing voices.. hosts... stealing souls.. magical pendants. Maybe I am crazy.