"Familiarity breeds contempt." - Aesop
Ryou wished he had listened to the Spirit and never gone near Yuugi. From afar, Yuugi was perfect: kind, smart, funny, and above all, honorable. Every time Ryou saw Yuugi, he was teaching a friend to play a game, blushing as a teacher read out his "perfect" essay, telling his friends a joke, or taking the blame when he managed to make a mistake. Ryou enjoyed watching from afar, and if the Spirit hadn't spoken up, maybe Ryou never would have become friends with Yuugi.
But the Spirit warned Ryou to stay away from Yuugi. It said he was violent, selfish, and a liar. Ryou knew the Spirit was evil, so everything it said had to be a lie. The Spirit must be trying to keep Ryou from meeting the only goodness in his life after Amane passed away.
For the first year, Yuugi did seem perfect. He talked with Ryou between classes, and even introduced him to more friends. But Ryou started noticing things. Yuugi and Jounouchi would trade VHS and DVDs secretly, and if Anzu found out, she would yell and them and throw the VHS or DVD in the trash. When Ryou asked about it, they would both redden and tell Ryou it was nothing. Then came all of Yuugi's laziness. He rarely did his homework until a few minutes before each period, his essays were written on the bus ride to school, and he hid cheat sheets in the back of his calculator. A few times, Ryou and Yuugi made plans to get together, but Yuugi would call at the last second and claim a much needed cram session, a cold, or a visiting aunt or uncle. Often Ryou heard someone else in the background.
On the dueling field Ryou noticed signs of pride: boredom when playing a much less skilled player, then toying with that player, and finally crushing them. When someone did ask to duel, Yuugi made a great show of sportsmanship, but Ryou could now see the anger that flushed his face when someone started to win, Ryou knew that furrowed brow meant that he was so jealous, he would take a bathroom break until the end of the lunch period and then claim he would have won if he hadn't been stopped by a teacher berating him for "running in the halls".
Ryou slowly pulled away from Yuugi, who seemed more than okay with the situation. More than once, Ryou overheard Yuugi telling others, "He's just kinda creepy. Like, he just stands there and smiles. Like he's secretly plotting your death. And that hair…" He always laughed, as if the thought of tri-colored hair was less ridiculous than long white hair.
Finally, Ryou started avoiding Yuugi. And despite what the Spirit said, it wasn't because of Yuugi's faults. Everyone had faults: Ryou himself had plenty. But at least Ryou never pretended to be better than he actually was. And that pride was possibly the worst quality a person could have, Ryou thought. So he spent time alone, trying to forget the perfection he had thought Yuugi had.