Ryou's Story

By: ACE329

Summary: This story is mine to tell. No, not the one whom most refer to as Bakura, the spirit of the millennium ring, just me. He already stole my name but I cannot- will not- let him take away the one thing that I have left…my words.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

A/N: There are some tense changes here, from the past when Ryou is recalling the events, and present, when he offers his opinion. Or, when he refers to a character, the tense may switch to present…because the characters are alive while Ryou mentions them. Sorry if it sounds awkward, I wasn't sure how else to word it….

Chapter Four: Potential Salvation

You know how the villain of a horror movie always manages to resurrect himself, no matter how many times he is beaten, shot, destroyed?

That is exactly how Nameless is.

His soul could be torn to pieces and sent to the Shadow Realm, but I'm telling you, he would still survive.

He claims it is because he is the darkness. And the darkness is everywhere. Even in a room lit by a thousand light bulbs, there will always be a shadow.

That shadow, apparently, is the spirit who stole my identity.

It makes no sense. However, this is the same spirit who has the power to rip someone's soul away and store it into a board game piece, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

I refuse to fully acknowledge what this means. Since Nameless cannot die, and simply will not go away on his own, doesn't that mean he will haunt me forever…?

Will there ever be a day where I will wake up and know what I did the night before? Will there ever be a time where I feel in control? Will there ever be a point in my life where I can choose to do as I please?

Nameless will never go away on his own. He has a second shot at life, and I am his sacrifice, his means of accomplishing that. He will never-

No. I can't think of that right now. If I don't force myself to believe that there is a light at the end of this tunnel, then quite frankly, I will go mad.

There was a phase in my life, earlier on, where I teetered on the brink of insanity. The instable nature of my life was becoming too much; it was to the point where I was considering suicide as an option.

It was a rash thought, I know, but what choice did I have?

There weren't too many options I was granted with when I laid them out.

I could either: a.) Allow the spirit to steal control of my body, b.) Take "control" back through choosing to commit suicide (ironically enough), or c.) Depend on a wildcard.

At the time, I knew I didn't want to completely submit to the spirit- I was too optimistic then. And I certainly wasn't counting on a "wildcard" phenomenon to take place either- meaning, something out-of-the-ordinary would occur and free me. What, or should I say who, would? So that left me with my last choice, simply through process of elimination, which swayed me towards suicide. It seemed rational at the time. So I began to plot out my death, albeit halfheartedly.

But then, something "out-of-the-ordinary" did occur.

It was around the first few days that I had met Yuugi and his friends. As I had brought up before, they actually wanted me to be a part of their close-knit group. I'm not sure what they saw in me, but rest assured, things have definitely changed the day they visited me, after my absence from school. Missing school in Japan is a much more grave offense than it would be in Britain- it rarely occurred unless something really serious was going on. So, like any good group of friends would, Yuugi, Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda ventured to my apartment to check up on me.

I really wish they hadn't.

Why did I miss school that day? Although I couldn't say it was because of something fatal or outlandish, I still had a pretty good reason. As always, Nameless wanted to wreak havoc upon my new school, checking out his newest victims. But his plans quickly changed the moment he first laid eyes on Yuugi.

Yuugi Mutou is not an ordinary teenager. For starters, his hair is indescribably unusual. Comparable to a cartoon star, his hair shoots out into five primary directions, tinged with a crimson red. His golden blond bangs contrast sharply with his otherwise ebony hair and…well, they defy gravity. I would have naturally assumed that Yuugi went through a bottle of hair gel a day, but then I realized that no amount of product could keep so much hair up. And Yuugi is so low maintenance, I highly doubt he even looks in the mirror before going to school.

Aside from his actual appearance, there was something even more unusual that caught Nameless's attention. It was what he wore around his neck.

Hanging loosely from around Yuugi's neck glinted a large golden pyramid. To the typical person, it would appear to be an obnoxious fashion statement. But for me, I know much better.

The material from which it was made, the eye symbol that resided near the center…yes, whatever it was, its origin was from the same place as my millennium ring.

And Nameless knew it too.

It was at that moment when Nameless had one of his first conversations with me.

"Vessel, listen…see that boy over there? The one with that pendant hanging around his neck."

Although I never really talked with the spirit before, I wasn't surprised to hear from him. I could easily sense his emotional unrest the second I stepped into the classroom. Sharing the same mind made it quite easy to intuit the other's intentions.

"Yes..." I tentatively thought. I may have known he would be talking to me, but I never said I wouldn't be terrified.

"I want you to have him over. I don't care what you tell him. Just bring him to your apartment. It appears he has something that I want…"

One look at Yuugi's "necklace" gave me an easy indicator of the spirit's intentions. And another look at the way Yuugi would grasp onto it also told me he would not willingly give it up (I wasn't sure why, though...how happy I would be to dispose of my own ancient artifact!).

So clearly, Nameless would have to take away the pyramid-like object away by force.

"You're not going to put him into a coma too, are you? I-I just got here!"

"Are you challenging me, Vessel?" I could easily hear the threat in the spirit's voice.

After a moment of silence on my part, Nameless's voice transitioned back to persuasive. "Now then. I would encourage you to 'make friends' with that boy and have him over. I may or may not harm him, depending on his cooperation level…" He then broke into a malicious chuckle, fading out of my head and retreating back into his ring.

Mind you, all of this happened while I was first being introduced to the class. So that blank expression that everyone still makes fun of me for came from this very moment when the spirit was conceding his plan to me. Girls may have perceived it as a devil-may-care-attitude, but the guys…they just saw me as a spastic moron.

Even still, the moment class concluded, Jounouchi, whose seat was next to mine, offered to introduce his friends to me in his usual amiable manner. It was time for lunch, leaving the teen in no hurry to snatch a conversation.

"Hey…Bakura, isn't it? It's great to meet you! I know you're new here so do you wanna meet my buddies?" I was so impressed by his straightforwardness. I could never go up to someone and pretty much say, "Hi! Let's be friends!" Rejection seemed to gravitate towards me, and I'd rather not put my theory to the test.

"Well, sure- who are your friends?"

Jounouchi let a pleased grin spread across his face like wildfire before gesturing over to the other end of the classroom. "Here. I'll show you." And at that, he all but dragged me over to his clique.

"Bakura, this is Honda," Honda gave me a nod in acknowledgment, "Anzu," Anzu smiled at me in a truly genuine way (and what pretty eyes-!), "and Yuugi."

I watched as Yuugi energetically waved at me from his desk. His mysterious amethyst orbs gazed up at me with interest, and clearly with delight too. Undoubtedly, he was just as thrilled to make a friend as I was, although I would never dare show or admit to such enthusiasm. Why give Nameless any more clues to destroying my life?

It was painfully ironic, how Yuugi was the one that Nameless wanted to target. If all went according to the spirit's plan, surely I would lose Yuugi's friendship as well as the rest of the group's.

Despite the damper to my thoughts, I put on the most cheerful smile I could muster. "It really is so nice to meet you all. This is such a wonderful school. Everyone has been so welcoming here." And it was true. Ever since I set foot into the building, swarms of girls gathered around me, more than happily showing me around the premises.

I hadn't the slightest idea why.

That sort of attention made me nervous.

Before I could linger on my thoughts, I was broken out of them by a feminine voice. "Sorry- you've probably been asked this a lot today. I've noticed that you have an accent. Where are you from?"

Glancing to my right, my eyes met up with brilliant cerulean ones. I realized the only girl in the group-Anzu- was the owner to the voice. Long thick lashes bordered those entrancing eyes, and I found myself nearly speechless while struggling to remember my Japanese.

"E-England…I'm from England," I finally managed to stammer out. I could easily feel my heart hammering away inside my ribcage, unsettled by the intensity by which Anzu's eyes stared at me.

I was broken out of my spell when I heard a book crash to the ground. I looked down to see Yuugi hastily bending over to pick up his math book.

"Sorry! That was really loud, wasn't it? These desks are just so small…." Yuugi quickly rearranged the objects on his desk. He appeared to be flustered. "So, um, Bakura, where did you get that necklace from? It looks a lot like my puzzle."

I remember staring at Yuugi in bewilderment before it finally became overwhelmingly obvious that he had stronger feelings for Anzu than friendship. His reddened face practically screamed that he suffered from a high school crush.

I felt awkward then, uncomfortable with the attention Anzu had given me moments ago. I decided to go along with the topic change. "You mean this ring? My father had given it to me while on a trip to Egypt-"

"Really?! My grandpa was in Egypt too when he gave me my puzzle! Well, it wasn't exactly a completed puzzle at first, but I managed to assemble it…."

I listened while Yuugi rambled on about his struggle to complete the puzzle, evidently quite pleased with himself, and evidently forgetting about that look Anzu had given me earlier.

Now that I think about it, I wish my ring was as difficult to put together as Yuugi's puzzle- surely I would have just given up and left it on a dusty shelf in a storage room.

But when are things ever so simple…?

Somewhere along Yuugi's very extended monologue, I managed to pick up on something that caught my attention.

"So your grandfather owns a game shop?"

I said this essentially while Yuugi was in the midst of his narration, but he just smiled and answered me anyway. "Yup! It's doing so well right now, with the explosion of all these new games that are coming out. Do you like games, Bakura?"

I couldn't help myself as my lips curved slightly upwards. "Why yes, I love games very much. Great way to pass the time, you know? I'm a particular fan of RPGs…'Monster World' is my favorite-"

"Oh I love that game! It's definitely one of the better ones, well, at least if you ask me." I always notice a spark in Yuugi's eyes whenever he speaks of games. He clearly has an extreme passion for them. Even to this day, I wonder if I ever had even a fraction of the enthusiasm for anything that Yuugi had for his beloved games.

"So, uh, what is this 'Monster World'?" Jounouchi finally piped up, showing interest.

"It's probably like Dungeons and Dragons…you know, a nerd's game," Honda sniggered as he propped himself against his desk, arms folded.

Yuugi's chest puffed out at this. "It is not a 'nerd's game'! It's about war- what's so nerdy about that?" Yuugi then paused at this, considering his thoughts. "…It is sort of like Dungeons and Dragons though. It's an RPG that focuses on chance as a means to get the desired results. You use a set of die…"

Yuugi then proceeded to give the entire history of 'Monster World,' the rules, and trivia facts that even I did not know. Jesus.

Despite my occasional zoning out from the conversation, I noticed how engaged Jounouchi, Anzu and even Honda were while listening to the teen talk of battling figurines. I almost laughed at the sight, until Jounouchi broke me out of my musings.

"Hey- why don't we all get together and play 'Monster World' together at Bakura's place? I'll bet he has a huge game board! Wouldn't that be awesome, Bakura?" I could see the eagerness just brimming from Jounouchi's cappuccino-colored eyes. I knew he meant well, but that just made everything-

"Too easy!" I heard Nameless laugh to himself in his malicious delight.

I suppressed the feeling of panic that rose from within me as three pairs of eyes stared at me expectantly.

"Um, i-it sounds like a wonderful idea, but you see…" I trailed off, unsure of what excuse I would use. I didn't want to give the impression that I was rejecting them. It would probably break the fragile bond of friendship that was beginning to form between us.

Already I saw disappointment emerge from the groups' eyes. They certainly were interpreting it as rejection.

It was too much for me to handle. "People fall into comas whenever they come over to my apartment!" I hastily blurted out.

Pardon my language, but shit. I had no intention of being that honest.

Confusion replaced disappointment as the quartet inspected me disbelievingly.

"What do you mean, 'coma'…?" Honda asked me uncertainly.

Alarm bells were ringing loud in my head. I could sense Nameless's sudden awareness of the conversation I was having.

I could also feel the tips of the ring's spikes ever so slightly poke into my skin. It was a warning.

It was enough to silence me. "Look. Forget I ever said anything. I-I just can't, okay? See you guys later," And at that, I swiftly turned on my heel and strode off in a hurried pace. I didn't bother looking back.

The spirit inside the ring remained surprisingly quiet until I rushed into the restroom as a feeble attempt to hide from my newly acquired friends. Much to my dismay, the restroom was empty. It was the perfect time for the spirit to communicate to me. I vaguely wondered if he was preparing to release his wrath on me or simply try to manipulate my actions again.

"It would appear that you forgot to invite your little friends over to your apartment. Where are your manners, Vessel? They even asked to come over. "

"I thought you just wanted Yuugi over."

"Oh, but I did! Until it occurred to me that we could use some more game board pieces…"

I cringed at Nameless's reference to 'we.' "Please don't hurt them…they didn't do anything wrong. They're…they're my friends."

I could hear a caustic laugh ringing throughout my ears. "Foolish Vessel! You hardly know these people! We should get rid of them now, before they become too close to you. We both know how bad it is for you to become attached to anything in this world."

In terror, I clutched onto a nearby sink for support as I felt my knees grow weak. I knew Nameless was being perfectly serious.

"Who are you?!" I finally yelled in my mind. "What do you want with me? Why are you doing this?"

I really wanted to know. What kind of spirit would choose to possess someone's body merely to capture souls and store them into inanimate objects? What could he possibly gain from it?

"I believe that is none of your concern. Just do as I say. And if you don't…" The ring's spikes dug into me again at this point, "Then I assume you know the consequences."

I could feel my chest starting to bleed. The lethargic trails my blood would make down my body made me nauseous. Hastily, I unbuttoned my shirt to clean off the mess, hoping that my new school uniform hadn't been stained. I winced as I saw the damage done.

Ever since that one time the ring permanently attached itself to my body, my skin became much more susceptible to being broken open again. It was like a wound that would never heal.

My eyes welled up with uncontrollable tears at this point. My chest was throbbing in pain, although the ring didn't inflict too much damage. I was more hurt by what I knew I had to do to my new friends. Would there ever be an end to the madness?

"Now now, little Ryou, don't upset yourself too much. I grant wishes too, you know. Consider it as my 'rent' to reside in your body." I ignored the taunting cackle as I finally buttoned up my shirt again. I was in too much dismay to ask the spirit what wishes he exactly planned on fulfilling.

It was as if he had read my thoughts as he continued. "Do you remember when you had your old 'friends' over and played your childish games with them? You were thinking, 'I wish this could last forever' and guess what? I made that happen. Because of me, they will forever be a part of your favorite game. You should be thanking me…"

A sound of disgust emerged from my throat as I washed off my hands, watching the blood dissipate as the water rinsed it away. "Y-you're sick. Leave my friends alone! I never asked for this." With those words I had spoken aloud, I quickly dried off my hands and bolted out the door, ignoring the perplexed look an incoming classmate was giving me. I couldn't bear to listen to Nameless any longer.

"Remember your task…" the spirit reminded me as he faded out of my head.

For the remainder of the day, I kept my mind strictly on my schoolwork, refusing to spare a glance over at my newly acquired friends. It was unfortunate how in Japan, one had to stick with the same classmates for the entire day, as opposed to a single class. It made it infinitely more difficult to keep to myself, especially when Jounouchi, who was seated next to me, tried to whisper a million and a half comments to me during classes.

"Pssst! Hey Bakura! So when do you think you can have us over? Is your place like, huge? We can make it a party or something! I'll bring the beer! Oh wait, do you drink? What do British people drink besides tea?"

I struggled to ignore such comments, especially ones that I practically itched to respond to (such as that jab at my country's preferences in drinks), but I mostly succeeded in keeping my answers to a minimum. I really hoped Jounouchi wouldn't mistake me for being rude or snobby. I just couldn't bear to look at the very people who tried so hard to befriend me while knowing that Nameless was scheming to harm them.

Although time took no mercy in my struggles and passed as slowly as ever, the school day had finally ended. Overdramatically shoving my materials inside my backpack, I gave Jounouchi a hurried excuse regarding a doctor's appointment before he could even open up his mouth to ask me to whatever he had been planning.

Again, I cannot stress enough how badly I wanted to hang out with Jounouchi, Yuugi, Anzu and Honda. I would have loved getting to know them better and maybe going to get a bite to eat. I would have loved going to the Kame Game shop and formally meeting Yuugi's grandfather. I would have loved to do anything to distract me from the purely evil spirit who nagged at my thoughts. To this day, I can't remember a time where I acted like a normal teenager, enjoying an afternoon with friends without a single care in the world.

But no. I knew I had to rush out of that school the moment the final bell rang, before Nameless could remind me to ask Yuugi and his friends over. Surely the instant he discovered my disobedience he would promptly take over and do the deed himself. But I couldn't allow that to happen.

I decided, from the time Jounouchi so kindly welcomed me into his group of friends, that I had to do whatever it took to protect them. Even when circumstances eventually altered the group's attitude towards me, I still felt obligated to defend them against the spirit's wrath.

Why? Because they so willingly accepted me as a part of their group. They wanted me to be good friends with them. Granted, that changed because of Nameless's doings, but their intentions were still there.

So while Nameless lied dormant inside the ring, I hurried on home, running past buildings, signs and people unashamedly to ultimately lock myself away in my own apartment.

I would even miss school the next day. I told Nameless it was because I was violently ill, as I even forced myself to retch in order to pull off a convincing performance (it was a good thing he had no clue what syrup of Ipecac was). I didn't know what I planned to accomplish by holding off the spirit's plans one more day, but I figured I would delay him until I could think of something better. Oh, and he was mad. But I assume that he knew he would get his way eventually, so didn't bother to steal away the control I had over my body for the time being.

As I had stated earlier, it really was too bad that my friends decided to check up on me after school had ended the next day.

The moment they set foot into my apartment, the spirit of the ring immediately assumed control, completely disregarding my frantic begging and pleading. He was determined to carry out his plans of stealing away my friend's souls, as well as snatch away Yuugi's puzzle.

Although the quartet immediately noticed a change in my personality, they went along with it, assuming my so-called "illness" was to blame.

It didn't take the spirit long to cut to the chase- within minutes, he had convinced all of them to play 'Monster World.' Likewise, it only took another few minutes to unceremoniously transfer the group's unsuspecting souls to figurines he had expertly designed to look exactly like them. He assumed it would be their final resting place so he at least made the carved out figures look accurate. Generous, wasn't it.

I wished the whole ordeal had never happened. I wished I had enough power to take back control of my own body. As I watched my friends literally panic as they came to life through the form of game board pieces, I so strongly wished I could have somehow prevented it all from happening.

But then again, although the happenings of that day had ultimately changed how Yuugi, Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda would perceive me, it introduced me to the "wildcard" option that I so desperately needed for salvation.

I knew it from the moment that Nameless realized that his little "conquest" was not over. He had not in fact captured every soul in the room- one still remained.

Turns out, my savior could be the spirit who resides inside Yuugi's puzzle.

His other half- the Pharaoh.

A/N: Keep in mind that when Ryou is writing this, it is approximately before the Egypt Arc begins. So yes, he is well aware that Yuugi's darker half was a Pharaoh.
Part 2 of this chapter is on the way!