Unseen Broken

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Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh. Those characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

Rating: T

Genres: Tragedy, Drama

Warning: mentions minor characters death, and serious injuries

Beta Reader: roseofnoonvale

Summary:

Kaiba was always annoyed with the friendship in Yugi's group. But he never imagined he would feel dissatisfied while watching their friendship falling apart.

A/N: I wrote this fanfiction nearly a year ago, but for many reasons I hesitated to post it.

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Kaiba stepped out of his limousine, eyes on the Game Shop in front of him. A strange feeling ran through his body, suddenly he remembered things had begun from here. It had been three years since the day he had left Japan, after the Battle City Tournament ended, and now he was back. Still, he didn't know why he wanted to pass by this Game Shop to meet Yugi's group, but it was the first thing he immediately thought about when he landed back in Domino. Maybe a little visit wouldn't hurt, he told himself. After all, wanting to know what his lifetime rival has done in the years that had passed was normal, right?

The bell of the Game Shop rang when the door was opened. Blue eyes wandered around the small room, and then stopped at the small, familiar figure that was standing behind the counter. Kaiba could expect the young boy's reaction when he saw him, but felt a little bit strange when he didn't have his normal friends with him. The big, puppy, violet eyes blinked as he noticed Kaiba's presence, then he smiled softly looking at Kaiba.

"Welcome to the Kame Game Shop! How can I help you?"

Kaiba stared at the small teen, speechless for a moment. He didn't expect this boy would greet him as if he was a stranger. It couldn't be that he didn't recognize Kaiba, since Kaiba's appearance didn't change much compared to how he looked in the past. He might be taller and looked older, but his face and his style of outfit barely changed. After a moment, he opened his mouth, but there was only one word that came out. "Yugi?"

"Well, yes?!" The young boy blinked again, still wearing a smile on his lips but it seemed curious. "Are you searching for some games? You can name it and I'll find it for you. Although this game shop seems small, it has almost every game out on the market. I'm sure we'll have the game you need."

The young CEO frowned. Why was Yugi acting like he never met Kaiba before? Yugi did not do it on purpose, did he?

"I don't know what you are trying to do, Yugi," he said coldly. "You know well enough I don't need to go to any game shop to buy games."

It was then the small teen's turn to frown in confusion. His eyes turned toward Kaiba and his face was somewhat nervous. Like, he was trying to remember something he didn't usually think about. He bit his lower lip before replied softly. "I'm... sorry, but... have we met each other before? I don't think I know who you are..."

Kaiba frowned deeply for the third time since he came in this store, and it had not been longer than five minutes. He never imagined how weird it was when he was standing in front of his greatest rival and that person didn't recognize him. And he couldn't tell if Yugi was really acting or not. When he was about to retort, the back door of the store opened and revealed the old man, who was nobody other than Yugi's grandfather, Sugoroku.

"Oh, Kaiba-kun?" Sugoroku said in surprise. "I never expected you would come back. What has brought you here?"

"You know him, jii-san?" Yugi looked at his grandpa as if he was his savior. Kaiba looked at the old man too, but he couldn't understand the weird circumstance.

"Well, he is Kaiba Seto," Sugoroku answered his grandson when he didn't hear Kaiba's reply. "He was also your classmate when you were in your first year of high school."

"Really?" Yugi rolled his eyes in surprise, then looked at Kaiba and smiled sheepishly. Kaiba stared back at him without any emotion, and then looked back at the old man, wanting to know the answer. Sugoroku seemed to understand; he turned to the back door.

"It is a long story, Kaiba-kun." He sighed, "If you are interested in hearing it, you're welcome to my living room to talk- in private. Well, I could speak in front of Yugi too, but that's if you don't mind standing here. I need Yugi to watch the store for me, you know."

"Spill it," Kaiba demanded and crossed his arms together; he seemed as if he didn't care about having to stand there.

Sugoroku nodded and glanced at his grandson, then started to talk. "As you see, Yugi doesn't remember anything about you, right?" Kaiba nodded slightly. "Yugi was involved in a tragic accident two years ago. He has survived, but he doesn't remember anything after then. When I said anything, I mean a-ny-thing. He doesn't remember who he was, what his life had been or anybody he had met. He still calls me 'jii-san' because I told him that was what he has called me before."

Kaiba raised his eyebrows and looked directly at the young boy. Yugi looked back at Kaiba nervously, his hand raised running through the back of his hair.

"Everything you mean, including his friends and Duel Monster?" Kaiba asked, his eyes never moving from Yugi.

"Yes... He even forgot all about Duel Monster. I have tried to teach him to play it again, but it seems he doesn't have interest with it as much as before..." Sugoroku said with sad tone.

"Then what did his friends do about it? They didn't just stand there and watch him without helping, did they?"

The old man shook his head. "No. They didn't. In fact, they cannot stand to watch Yugi since Yugi was the one who had the best state out of them."

"What do you mean?" Kaiba frowned.

"The accident... It happened on a school trip, more specific, Yugi's class school bus." Sugoroku now was talking with very small voice. "It means all of Yugi's friends were stuck in this accident. More than half of the class died. Yugi was one of the lucky people who have survived, and had no physical wound other than amnesia. His friends were different stories..."

Blue eyes widened as they stayed glued on Yugi's face. Violet eyes half closed with sadness filled his face. Kaiba seemed to have a hard time before he spoke up. "What happened to them?"

"Anzu... died in the accident." the old man said carefully. "Bakura's arms were completely destroyed in the accident, with his neck broken, and it was miracle he was still alive, but he won't be able to talk again. His father has arrived from England and carried him back to England with him. I lost contact with him until now."

Kaiba swallowed hard; he didn't know what he was feeling while hearing the news about the people he didn't really care for in the past. But at least… they had fought together with him in many dangerous situations and now…

"Honda is still in a coma since the accident. The doctor said he would never wake up and is only lying there waiting to die... Jounouchi-" Suddenly Sugoroku's eyes went wide as he turned to Yugi, "I forgot! Today you have to go to visit Jounouchi-kun, don't you remember, Yugi? It's the end of the month."

Yugi's big violet eyes widened as well as his grandpa. "You're right! I completely forgot about that. I should go now. It's late." With that, he ran to the back door and disappeared.

"What happened now?" Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "And what's wrong with bonkotsu?"

"Jounouchi's case is a little bit... complicated." Sugoroku rolled his eyes, "I prefer that you go visit Jounouchi with Yugi and discuss it with him later." He smiled sadly, "Even though nothing would change if you go there, at least Jounouchi might be happier than having only Yugi there to visit him."

Kaiba nodded and didn't ask any further. He then looked at the small figure, who had re-appeared with the blue jacket. "Kaiba-kun will come with you, Yugi. Can you tell him about Jounouchi's state on the way to the hospital?"

Yugi agreed with a small smile and waved at Kaiba to come with him. Kaiba said nothing, but followed the small teen and left the Game Shop. Normally he wouldn't follow any command of another, but he was curious. The Yugi in front of him was not the one he knew, and he really wanted to know what had changed everything.

The two started on their way to the hospital. At first, Kaiba offered a ride but Yugi said he wanted to walk and thought it would give them more time for a conversation. Kaiba then agreed and walked with him. At the beginning, none of them talked with each other until Yugi then started the conversation with a shy voice.

"Erm... Kaiba-kun?" He then paused and continued after a moment, "Can I ask you a question?"

"You already did," Kaiba retorted automatically, making Yugi shivered slightly, but it seemed as if he didn't dare to open his mouth again. Kaiba noticed it and sighed. "I'm sorry. You might ask."

Yugi gave him a small smile. "Are we... I mean, what were we to each other when we in high school? We weren't just classmate, were we? I guess because the way you talked with jii-san. It seemed... you two were close even though you were a little... cold..." he said nervously as Kaiba raised his eyebrows. "I figured that you and I were more than normal classmate, right?"

Kaiba nodded his head and looked at the street in front them. "Yeah, we were... rival. You were the only one I recognized as my worthy rival, but..." he stopped, the memory of what Sugoroku said about how Yugi didn't play Duel Monster anymore made him feel a slight angry shot through his head.

"But...?" Yugi asked quietly. The lost memory boy could not tell what in him made him become a rival of this brunet. He had nothing, and even though he didn't remember this guy, he could still tell this guy was someone very special.

"We used to play Duel Monster with each other, you and your other self," Kaiba said. "Did your grandpa tell you about your other self and the Millennium Puzzle?" He hated to acknowledge the mystery or the Millennium Items, but still mentioned them. Yugi nodded his head quietly, he then signed. "He had, but I didn't really understand. I mean, mystery things aren't real... right?"

Kaiba snorted. He never expected those words could come out from Yugi, the one who had been with a lost soul of a pharaoh in his body and had tried many times to convince Kaiba to believe in shadow magic. He never knew he would felt... irritated because someone denied the existence of magic, something that Kaiba had refused to believe in years ago. He then decided to change the object.

"How's about bonkotsu- I mean, Jounouchi? Your grandpa said his case is complicated. And what is the meaning of your visit him at the end of every month?"

Yugi's violet eyes saddened as he looked down to the street. "I don't know where I should start... I don't remember anything about him, but jii-san said Jounouchi was my best friend, and since he has no family to support, I think I have a responsibility for him..." He paused for a few seconds. "He was like me, after the accident he lost all of his memory. But unlike me, my wounds are all healed and I have no sequela, but Jounouchi… His memory is like a smashing cheese now. He's not only lost his memory but he forgets everything day after day. Like, if he meets you today, he might not remember you tomorrow. I spent nearly a year to make him remember my name and that I'm his friend. But I don't really remember him either, so our relationship is quite hard and uncomfortable... I mean, it's like I was forced to be friends with a stranger and he doesn't know me either..."

The young CEO froze at Yugi's words, once again the news shocked at him. The one who always raised friendship and claimed it as it was the best thing in the world, the one who made Kaiba have to silently admit the strength of friendship even though Kaiba would never say it out loud, now was denying and refusing to believe he has friends. Yugi also said he visited Jounouchi because of responsibility but not because he saw Jounouchi as his friend. But... why was Jounouchi still in hospital two years after the accident? And... no family? Didn't he have a sister? Shizuka or something...?

"Is that all? You grandpa said Jounouchi's case is complicated. If he only lost his memory, there is no big deal, right?" he asked in a harsh tone.

"No... It's not..." Yugi shook his head. "Jounouchi's spine was broken from the accident. He cannot move his lower body and never can stand up again, so he always has to stay lying in bed. He cannot sit up by himself and has to have someone to help him do that. And we cannot know if he has anybody other than his father as a family, but his father was dead a few months before the accident, caused by illness. After that, Jounouchi has lived alone and has no record about other members of his family. The only one who knows about them is Jounouchi himself, but he barely remembers things from yesterday, there is no way he could remember about his family."

"Then he is staying alone in the hospital, permanently?"

Yugi just nodded.

Kaiba didn't say anything further. He now had many things running around his brain, and these things were even harder to accept than the things he had been through with Yugi in the past. After all, this was the last thing he had expected from the trip to visit his old rival. There was nothing to celebrate when you had run around chasing your greater rival, when it turned out that that rival was no longer walking the same path with him. He won without his own awareness, nor the rival of his. It was not the win - lose game. Kaiba suddenly realized he didn't need to chase after someone anymore, his largest goal in life, and it made him feel… empty.

The two went straight to the hospital without talking to each other after that. Sometime Kaiba could feel Yugi secretly glanced at him, but was too shy to say anything. The brunet himself didn't feel like making a conversation, since the event he had heard today shocked him enough. There was nothing he could do since it had happened a long time ago, but it still bothered him inside and made him feel slightly helpless. He tried to convince himself that if he didn't have Yugi as his opponent anymore, he would easily move on. And he didn't have to be chained with Yugi, the mysterious magic things, or the past Egyptian life things anymore, but still…

The Domino General Hospital finally appeared in front of Yugi and Kaiba. Kaiba quietly followed the younger teen, wondering why he was still here with Yugi. After all, he knew the former duelist would never be his rival again, and that was all he needed to know; so then why was he was still going with him to visit Jounouchi? He and Jounouchi never exactly knew each other, and they never even have an actual conversation with each other in the past. And like Yugi said, even if he visited Jounouchi, the blond wouldn't remember him anyway. He should happily leave and go back to his mansion (in Domino or America) and enjoy the fact that he never would be bugged by the 'geek quad' again. Then why hadn't he left yet?

Yugi didn't know what Kaiba was thinking. He just kept going and passed the big building in front of him, then entered the old building that was behind the larger building; it seemed like it had been built a very long time ago and was about to collapse. Inside the building didn't have many people, it was dark and had an uncomfortable smell of medicine. Yugi kept walking down the hallway and went to the very end of the building, where he finally stopped at the last room in the last corner of the first floor. Kaiba glanced at the door, before he hesitantly stepped inside. He then felt slightly shock at the scene inside the room.

The room was old, small and smelled bad. It was darker than in the hallway and seemed dirty. On the very limp small bed was a blond, lying lifeless there with dull half-opened brown eyes. His face lacked the always-cheerful expression Kaiba had remembered. He looked small and pale, with a face that didn't change when Yugi and Kaiba stepped in. It took a whole minute until the blond actually reacted, and all he did was smile absently at Yugi and Kaiba.

"Good afternoon, Jounouchi-kun!" Yugi said as he stepped closer to Jounouchi. His voice didn't seem happy, as if he came here unwillingly. Kaiba narrowed his eyes at Yugi, then he eyed the blond, who still was lying there with an empty smile directed toward Yugi. A short nod came from him. "Mutou," he said weakly. "Is it the end of the month already?"

"Yes." Yugi responded quietly, but he didn't say anything further. That was when Jounouchi noticed Kaiba and stared at him. "Is he..."

Kaiba blinked and looked back at Jounouchi, wondering if Jounouchi still remembered him or not.

"Is he... Are you... Mutou's friend?" Jounouchi asked and changed to talk to Kaiba directly, with brown eyes still looking at him. "Is this the first time you've been here? Sorry I can't remember..."

"It is the first time I've been here," Kaiba confirmed. "But I'm not exactly Yugi's friend." He continued, when suddenly he had a feeling that he was making the blond confused.

Jounouchi really was confused. His eyebrows frowned and slowly looked at Yugi, then back to Kaiba. "Um... Then why are you here? I... I want to ask your name, but I know I'll forget it tomorrow, so I think I don't need to... It isn't like you will come to visit me again, right? As far as I can remember, Mutou is the only one who usually comes to visit me."

"It's Yugi," Kaiba said.

"Eh?"

"It's Yugi, not 'Mutou'. You used to call him Yugi back then, since you two were very close friends to each other," Kaiba explained. He had to admit, he felt very weird when Jounouchi kept calling Yugi as 'Mutou' and had a strong will to correct it. Yugi's face suddenly appeared a slight pink as he looked at Jounouchi.

"Oh... Then... then I called him wrong too? I'm support to call you... ehm... Kat- Katsu...?" he tried to remember.

"No, you didn't. I don't know why, but you called him 'Jounouchi-kun' all the time in the past. And his first name is Katsuya, but I know nobody has ever called him that," the young CEO said naturally, arms crossed with eyes still on Jounouchi. He found this situation ridiculous, but also bitter. Yugi then looked at Kaiba with wide eyes, but no word came out.

The next hour was more than uncomfortable. It was quiet and heavy. Kaiba just stood there while Yugi sat on the chair near Jounouchi's bed. Kaiba's ex-rival didn't say anything, just looked at Jounouchi. The blond looked back at Yugi with blank eyes; sometimes he glanced at Kaiba but said nothing. Kaiba didn't feel like talking either. He wondered why he didn't get out of here already, instead of just standing there and staying silent. But he secretly felt pity for the blond. Jounouchi had been staying here for almost two years without moving or anything, and the only one who came to visit him was no other than Yugi but it was not the Yugi Kaiba used to know. This Yugi lacked the friendliness he showed before, but he was still a nice person, since he still came to visit Jounouchi even when he didn't remember him every month. Kaiba knew it was hard. To Yugi, visiting Jounouchi was a duty he was stuck with and couldn't resist. And the CEO, watching the two people who had been very close in the past now behaving to each other like two strangers somewhat made him mad. Didn't he have tried to do many cruel things to them in the past and couldn't separate them? Why now were they broken, pathetic, and they didn't even realize that themselves?

Kaiba patiently waited for Yugi, staying there with Jounouchi for more than two hours. After one hour, Yugi started telling jokes to Jounouchi, but the blond didn't catch up on the jokes and didn't laugh. His brains seemed to have more injuries than Kaiba had expected and was running slower. He didn't talk much and always looked distantly into space. It made Kaiba admit, even though he didn't want to, that Jounouchi looked so lonely.

And more than once Kaiba had thought, that maybe if Jounouchi did die in the accident, it might have been better for him than the half-live half-dead state right now.

The two left the hospital after Jounouchi fell asleep. Somehow, Kaiba had a feeling that the blond really wasn't sleepy as he showed Yugi and Kaiba, but he did that on purpose to make Yugi and Kaiba leave. He could tell because when he looked at Jounouchi's expression, he saw a small message, wishing that Yugi and Kaiba would leave as soon as possible. Kaiba knew clearly that expression, because he himself always showed the same face if he wanted someone to stop bothering him too. But the different was, Kaiba wanted others to stop bothering him because he found them annoying, but Jounouchi wanted him and Yugi to leave... it seemed because the blond didn't want to bother the two anymore. Jounouchi seemed... guilty when he looked at Yugi, even though his brain ran slower, he still realized enough to know that Yugi didn't want to come here and visit him.

Kaiba said nothing on the way back with Yugi. He thought he didn't have to deal with Yugi and his problem anymore, but didn't want to call the limo to pick him and leave Yugi. It was strange. Why didn't he just walk out and leave everything here behind? Things that didn't concern him anymore.

Suddenly Kaiba remembered something. He turned to Yugi and looked at the ex-rival solemnly. "I still can't figure out this. As I know bonkot- I mean Jounouchi had a sister, and they seemed very close. Why didn't I see her? Why didn't you know her? She has to be there somehow."

One again the small former duelist looked at Kaiba in confusion. Kaiba sighed quietly, waiting for the answer. If there was anything from Jounouchi that impressed Kaiba, it was the love Jounouchi had for his sister and the willingness to do anything for her. Kaiba memorized it because it reminded him of himself and his brother Mokuba. Jounouchi's sister seemed to love her brother too, then she couldn't just abandon him when he was in the worst state, could she? Or... maybe she didn't know?

"I... I'm not sure about that. As my grandpa said, Jounouchi has no family aside from his dead father. If you said he has sister... I assume that she lives far away... Maybe his parents were divorced and his sister didn't know he was here in that bad state? Or she might have... you know, left him..."

Kaiba frowned; he didn't like when Yugi thought Jounouchi's sister abandoned Jounouchi. But the divorce seemed likely logical. And thinking about that, he realized Jounouchi's sister was never somewhere near him. Kaiba only saw her once in Battle City. He then suddenly thought about something he never thought he would do. He was going to track Jounouchi's sister, and if she really didn't know of Jounouchi's state, she would know then. After that, Kaiba wouldn't care anything about Yugi and his friends anymore. That was it, he decided. At least he would do something for the 'geek squad', to payback everything that binding him with them. Without them bothering him anymore, he would move forward and live on, would have his own life without chains with the past. Satisfied with that thought, he smirked.

The young brunet CEO looked at Yugi one last time before he got in his limo. This would be the last time Kaiba meet Yugi, since the young boy wasn't the duelist he admired anymore, and now he was just only a normal ordinary teen. He had nothing for Kaiba to care about anymore. No more dueling, no more mysterious magic, no more friendship's crap. Nothing...

As the limo started driving away, Kaiba glanced at the Game Shop one last time before it disappeared from the blue eyes' sight. However, he didn't feel joy with that conclusion, but felt like there was an invisible stone staying inside his chest. Perhaps everything would slowly fade with time. Perhaps…

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-End-

August 17, 2012

P/S: If you wonder where is Otogi in this story, you should be happy since I didn't bring him in because if I did, he would have ended up dead like Anzu. Just go with the thinking he went to America and didn't come back. :P

I wanted to make a sequel for this story, and it would be puppyshipping, but I don't know if I should write it or not. Please review and let me know what you think. :)