Chapter 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I remember writing this chapter, and by the end of it I had the song "her name is Rio and she dances on the sand" stuck in my head so. Hard. Before this story, I'd never written the word "Ryou" so much in my life.

Also, I don't usually use Japanese in my stories, but this is my attempt to merge the Japanese and 4Kidz! version of the show. Not sure if I succeeded, but oh well. In this story, Ryou is from England, but later moves to Japan. Capisce?

Enjoy :)

...a broken mess, just scattered pieces of who i am...

Ryou awoke with a groan, arching his back. Ugh. He'd slept on something hard, and now his shoulder was stiff. What a way to start off the day.

He blinked as he recalled the events of yesterday. It was an odd quirk of his, but Ryou thought exclusively in brightly coloured pictures, no words, and it had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. Spelling bees, particularly. But he instantly remembered his father walking in, and the piece of junk necklace-thing he'd been given as a 'present'.

He frowned. Maybe Dad had decided to stay home today. Maybe they could go outside and play catch, or… something. Wasn't that what fathers and sons were supposed to do?

He buried his face in his pillow. Who was he kidding. He sucked at baseball. And pretty much every other sport, actually.

"Ryou!" A gentle voice filtered up the stairs to his room. He rubbed at his eyes groggily and raised his head. Mum? he wondered.

But no, Mum was sick, in the hospital, eating amazing hospital food and generally living the dream. He smiled to himself, just a little. It was easier to deal with if he thought about it like that.

"Ryou, breakfast time!" the voice sang.

Ah. Suzie. The housekeeper.

Yay.

Reluctantly, he stretched and tumbled out of bed, kicking at the blankets he'd somehow managed to smother underneath him. He'd fallen asleep in his clothes again, his new jeans wrinkled and warm. He shrugged inwardly. Oh, well, he had his school uniform at any rate.

He pulled his sweater over his head and reached for a new, clean t-shirt, crisp from the wash. Then he found himself wearing what was probably one of the stupidest grins he'd ever had grace his face.

Dad was home. Even if he was busy, it was okay. Ryou'd come home from school, and they'd go do something fun. Suzie could join, even. They'd go to the park, and maybe visit Mum, and maybe they'd even find one of Amane's old baseballs and at least try playing catch. Amane had been good at baseball, he remembered wistfully.

Which reminded him. In all his excitement, he'd forgotten to write a letter to her yesterday. Still wearing that stupid grin, he picked up his school bags and headed down the stairs.

He'd write to her in class today. And then he'd get in trouble, and get sent to the office, and get to skip the rest of 3rd period.

Life was great, today.

"Good morning, Ryou," Suzie greeted, smiling at him. She always over-accented his name, stretching out the 'ou' for a moment too long, but at least it was better than how she pronounced his father's name. She generally tried to stick to 'Mr. Bakura', which irked him to no end.

"'Morning, Suzie," he replied happily. "What's for breakfast?"

"Well, since it's a special occasion, I figured crepes and ice cream. Sound good to you?" She winked.

Of course it sounded good to him. That was his favourite food. He nodded eagerly.

Suzie was just drizzling sauce onto his plate when his father stumbled in, looking bleary-eyed and overworked. "Oh, good morning Ryou, Suzie," he mumbled in Japanese before practically collapsing in his chair.

"Ohayo, dou-sama," Ryou answered warily. "Ware wa dono yōna gengo o hanashite iru?"

Ryou's Japanese was about as good as his grandfather's English, which was to say, not good at all. He could understand it fairly well, but he felt stupid speaking it, and his tongue had a tendency to twist on all the wrong accents. But his father was Japanese, and he sometimes slipped into his native language while speaking. So Ryou had asked to learn how to speak it fluently.

Of course, he hadn't quite managed it yet, but he knew enough to gently remind his father that he had slipped.

Good morning, father. What language are you speaking?

His father blinked, then smiled wearily. "Wrong form of 'you', my son," he said in English. "Unless you're attempting to goad me into a fight."

Ryou flushed, but otherwise said nothing. He picked up a fork and began to push his crepes around on the plate.

"Where's your ring?" his father asked suddenly. Ryou froze.

"Oh! Ah, I…uh, forgot to put it on!" He forced a smile. He expects me to wear that thing? To school?

"I got it from an Ancient Egypt exhibit," Father told him absently. "It's very valuable."

"Oh," was all Ryou could say.

Valuable? That thing? He sighed. He supposed he'd probably have to wear it for the next few days. At least it would give his friends a good laugh.

"Ryou, love, you've barely touched your breakfast," Suzie broke in, sounding concerned. "Are you sure you're not ill?"

Ryou stared dumbly at his crepes. "Um, no," he replied. "I… I just was going to get my ring." Hooray.

His father smiled. "If you're not hungry, I'll finish your breakfast for you," he said, winking

Ryou started, then grinned. "Go right ahead!" he said cheerfully. Now that was how a father and son should act, he thought with a triumphant smirk, heading up the stairs with a new bounce in his step. Lightly teasing, but with a clear respect between them.

He paused as he entered his room, furrowing his brow. Where exactly had he put the ring, even? He remembered throwing it, so it should be on the floor, but the carpet was spotless aside from the sweater he'd taken off this morning. He picked it up absently and dropped it in the hamper.

Oh, his father would be so disappointed if he lost the ring. That would put an end to his great day.

He fell to a crouch and peered under the bed, but there was nothing there. With a sigh, he rose to his feet, placing his hands on his hips. Where could it…

He blinked as he caught sight of the ring gleaming in the sunlight on his desk. What… how… He was sure he'd thrown it. How had it ended up there?

Frowning, he wrapped his fingers around the thick brown rope and pulled it over his head. Ooookay. Well, whatever. He gave an inward shrug and skipped out of the room, making a mental note to zip up his uniform today so no one would catch him wearing such a tacky item.

He froze at the top of the stairs as a voice suddenly exclaimed, /Finally!/

Ryou turned, turned again. "Ah… Father?" he wondered. "Are you-?"

There was a definite snort, this time. /Father? I'm probably old enough to be your father's great, great, great, great, great-/

"I get it!" Ryou shouted, then realized there was no one in the hallway to shout at. He felt a shiver run along his neck. "Uh, where, exactly, are you?"

/Right here,/ the voice murmured. Ryou turned to look behind him, and most certainly did not let out a yelp.

"Wah!"

/Yo./

A short young man stood there, leaning against the railing, looking distinctly unimpressed. Actually, 'stood' was probably not the best word to use. Maybe 'floating', or 'hovering', or…

Ryou felt his breath coming fast. "Are you… are you a…?"

"Ryou?" He turned to see Suzie looking up at him from the bottom of the stairs, a confused expression on her face. "Who are you talking to?"

"Suzie!" he shouted. "There's a gho- mmph!"

Abruptly, a transparent hand clamped over his mouth. /Baka!/ the voice hissed. /Say one more word, I dare you./

Well, he was never one to refuse a request. "There's a-!"

Ryou let out a cry as he was promptly pushed down the stairs.

/You can't ignore me forever, you know./

Ryou munched on his sandwich, swallowing in satisfaction. Yes, he could. He was doing it very well, actually. He was pretty sure if he did any better, he might even manage to convince himself there wasn't a voice in his head talking to him.

The voice that was not in his head did not let out an exasperated sigh and the image of a transparent teenager with the craziest hair he had ever not seen did not randomly appear and settle down beside him. Ryou let out a breath. Whew, this was hard.

/That looks like a good sandwich./

Ryou scowled. "Ghosts can't eat. What kind of ghost are you, anyway?"

/The hungry kind. And for the last time, I'm not a ghost. I'm a-/

"An ancient Egyptian spirit residing in my head, yeah, I know." He glared. "You're still not getting my sandwich."

The ghost frowned, then smirked, just a little. /I could always take over your body./

"You can do that?"

/Mm./ The ghost didn't seem to feel fit to finish the thought.. /Where are we, anyway?/

"Blackwater."

/Blackwater… That's in England, right?/

"Oh," Ryou scoffed, "So the ancient Egyptian spirit knows modern geography, now?"

The ghost didn't lose the smirk. It grew, if that were possible. /You're pouting./

"Oh, sorry," Ryou said quickly. It always embarrassed him when he did that.

The ghost's face seemed to fall a little. Apparently that wasn't the right thing to say.

Ryou shifted his weight awkwardly. "So, uh, no one can see you but me, right?"

/No one./ The ghost sounded sad at the thought, so Ryou sorted through his mind for a way to change the subject.

"And you live inside the ring, then?"

/Sort of,/ the ghost answered. /Things got a little… screwed up./

"Screwed up?"

/The rules changed./

Ryou frowned. "What rules?" he asked, confused.

/The rules of the game./ The ghost looked across the park at the children playing on the playground. /I'm not where I'm supposed to be./

"Well, yeah, I guess. Ancient Eygpt's not exactly around the corner," Ryou said, voice automatically gentle in response to the returned sadness in the ghost's tone. The ghost raised his eyebrows at the sudden change, then let out a wry grin.

/Ancient Egypt is not where I want to be,/ he told Ryou solemnly. Ryou waited for him to continue, but that seemed to be the end of it. The ghost sighed and leaned back against the tree, apparently lost in thought.

Ryou went back to staring at his sandwich. He wasn't all that hungry, suddenly. He hadn't really been hungry all day, which was strange, because he was always hungry. But now his sandwich looked soggy and dead in his hands. Great. Normally, he didn't care whether the sandwich was made of blue cheese; if it was there, he'd eat it. What was wrong with him today?

He looked back up at the ghost. "Um," he began hesitantly. "Um, can you really take over my body?"

The ghost blinked. /Yes,/ he answered, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. /How else would you expect me to eat that sandwich?/

Ryou stared, aghast. "But you wouldn't, right? I mean, that'd be weird. Wait, if you took over my body, would I become like…. Like you? Oh, I don't think I'd like that." Ryou was aware that he was babbling, but he couldn't really bring himself to stop. Whenever he was agitated or nervous, he had this annoying tendency of revealing anything that was going through his head at lightning speed. And he was definitely agitated right now. Or nervous. One or the other.

This strange teenage ghost was capable of taking over his body. And he apparently thought of it as a normal pastime.

…What the hell was wrong with this world?

Sorry, Amane, he thought instantly. He didn't like to curse, even in his head. Amane would be disappointed in him for using vulgar language. Especially since she was in Heaven now and could probably read his thoughts.

He desperately wanted to change the subject, but he really was curious about the fact that he was apparently possessed. So, he forced his sudden flow of words to a stop, cleared his throat, and asked, "What's your name?"

From the ghost's expression, he might as well have asked if it were okay to eat his grandmother.

/…What's it to you?/ the ghost asked after a minute, glowering. Ryou actually found himself stumbling back against the tree in fear as literal shadows began to grow around the spirit.

"Um, just asking," he stammered nervously.

The ghost was silent for a moment more. Then, his anger seemed to leave him as quickly as it had come. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes again.

/Mou hitori no Yugi./

Ryou's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

/That's my name. Mou hitori no… you heard it the first time,/ the ghost replied, sounding irritated.

"But that's Japanese!" Ryou blurted. "What kind of ancient Egyptian speaks Japanese, of all things?"

The ghost's expression had turned to one of honest confusion. /What are you babbling about?/

"The fact that I'm possessed by a Japanese-speaking, modern-versed, teenage ancient Egyptian spirit! Urgh!" Ryou resisted the urge to bang his head against the tree. This was… This was just plain weird! No, it was more than weird. It was wrong. What would Amane say? What would his father say?

/That doesn't really matter, as you are not going to reveal this meeting to anyone./

Ryou's head jerked. "Are you reading my mind now?"

/It's hard not to, what with your broadcasting your thoughts so loudly. We do share a body, after all./

That was it. Ryou let out a grunt as his face was suddenly bashed into the tree.

/Are you alright?/ The ghost… er… mou hit… never mind. Ryou went through a few translations in his mind before he came up with one that at least half-way made sense.

"The other Yugi" sounded concerned. It was kinda funny, really.

"No!" Ryou shouted, dazed. "No, I am not alright! What in the world would make you think I am even remotely alright? My sister's dead, my mum's sick, my dad's always gone, and it's apparently driving me freaking crazy because I keep hearing this annoying voice in my head who's telling me that I can't even tell anyone what's going on and- oh bloody sodding hell I'm late for 3rd period!" Ryou scrambled for his books and jumped to his feet, stumbling a little before he managed to break into a run for the school.

He didn't even notice the ring glowing slightly as his new "friend" disappeared inside it.

"So how do you know my name?"

Yami scowled, feeling more irritated by the minute. This boy seemed to enjoy finding the most inane questions and latching onto them until they were answered. This was a particular favourite.

With school done, they were now in Ryou's room, the boy spread out on his bed attempting to do homework. According to Ryou, this was the norm for him, but Yami refused to believe any child would willingly submit themselves to such torture.

Yami sighed. /I told you. I can read your mind./

The boy's eyebrow's knitted in a delicate frown. "But you haven't," he said, drawing out the words as if it were some great revelation. Yami snorted inwardly. "If you had," Ryou continued in a firmer voice, "you'd know that no one calls me 'Ryou' but my family. Everyone else calls me Bakura."

The spirit rolled his eyes. /So maybe I haven't read your mind. Doesn't mean I don't know things about you./

"Like what?"

Yami paused, considering. Pretty much all he knew about Ryou came from Yugi, and none of it was good. He knew, for instance, how Amane had died, and how all of Ryou's friends had been reduced to lead figures by the tomb-robber. And he was beginning to know of other things as well. Like how Ryou's mother was very sick, and his father was away almost as often as Yugi's was. And how the boy was often picked on at school for his emaciated appearance.

Basically, the kid's life sucked. And he knew it.

But unlike Yugi, Ryou whined about it. He cared about what others thought of him, so he was extremely self-conscious about his looks. He cared that his father was never home, even though the man probably had legitimate work to do. He cared that he was possessed by an ancient Egyptian spirit, and he cared that said spirit had a tendency to be a bit of an ass.

What he didn't care about, however, was that Yami had things he needed to do. And therein lay the problem.

/I know that you like gaming,/ Yami said finally. He could almost feel the pathetic little child light up at the mention of his favourite pastime.

"Monster World, actually." When Yami didn't immediately respond, Ryou seemed to find it necessary to elaborate. "It's an RPG that-"

/I know what Monster World is,/ Yami cut in. Ra, this kid was annoying.

But Ryou was frowning. "…How is it that you know so much about the modern world again? And you even know about Monster World, which is really weird, 'cause most people today don't know about it, so how is it that a spirit from ancient Egypt knows-"

He knew it was rude to cut people off. Yugi had always given him a disappointed little frown when he did it to Otogi, so he usually tried to keep his impatience leashed. But, as he was beginning to discover, Yugi wasn't here.

/Why are we in England?/ he wondered, interrupting Ryou flawlessly. The boy gave him a glare, an expression that was much cuter on Yugi, thank you very much.

"What do you mean?" Ryou asked peevishly.

/I mean, before you were… you're supposed to be in Domino. Japan,/ he supplied at Ryou's confused stare. /…Like I said, the rules were changed./

"Domino?" Ryou repeated, apparently stuck on the word.

/Yes./

"That's where my dad's from."

/Sure./

"He promised to take me there one day."

Yami felt his entire being light up at this sentence. /Anytime soon?/ he pressed hopefully.

Ryou was leaning back on the bed, a wistful expression flitting across his face. "He always said he'd show us where he'd grown up, and take me to meet all my relatives, because everyone was so eager to meet Amane and me…" The boy trailed off with a sigh.

/Alright, then. When're we going?/

Abruptly, Ryou rolled over to face him. "Never," he replied in a curt tone. "See, my dad promised. Which basically means it's never going to happen."

Yami's heart sank. Dammit, he was so close! Think. Think. Why had Ryou first moved to Domino?

His blood ran cold as he remembered. Bakura. The lead figures. Ryou constantly having to move, because every time he played Monster World, his opponents somehow landed in a coma. Finally settling in Domino, where the tomb-robber had promptly taken over his body for almost every day after.

No. No, he would not resort to the thief's tactics, no matter what the cost. Yugi would never be able to forgive him if he did.

But how was he supposed to get to Yugi now?

"What's Yugi?"

Yami started at Ryou's soft voice. /What?/ he asked.

"Just now. You said you wanted to get to Yugi, or something." Ryou's face twisted into a thoughtful expression. "'Yugi' means 'game', right?"

Yami hesitated. /Yes…How did you hear me?/

Ryou shrugged. "Guess the whole 'mind-reading' thing works both ways. But you keep saying 'Yugi'. What is that?"

It's everything, Yami thought instantly. It's the whole world and then some. It's my entire being, my light, my other self, everything. It's good, and kind, and beautiful, and caring, and honest, and I don't think I can live without it.

I don't know how much longer I can wait.

He didn't say any of this out loud, of course, but he was pretty sure Ryou got the message. The boy's face melted into a sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry," Ryou told him. "We'll find your Yugi. Somehow."

But Yami, for all he had learned since first meeting Yugi, could already see the solution, deep within Ryou's mind.

…Mum…

TBC