A\N: First fanfic, be gentle. No flames but if you think you can better me than feel free. Also english is not my first language so forgive that. And yeah, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't. Own. Aything!
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The slow beating of my heart was the only real proof I had to believe that I was still alive. I suppressed a moan of pain as I forced my eyes to open. Deeply dark coloured blood ran down the crimson stained walls, the sight completed with bits of corpses smashed into it. I sat up in alarm; frightened of what was in front of me. More details aroused: shattered glass covered the floor; the once exquisite dress that I wore was torn and blemished. I heaved myself from the ground, trying to make it to the outside balcony. Weakly, I grabbed onto the railings and gazed up at the heavens. The moon, in all its glory, lit the stronghold up beautifully; in the black sky, with grey clouds creeping towards it. It struck more fear into me than I could explain. The pendant around my neck seemed to enjoy its presence, reflecting the moon's light off its colourless form. Its jewel moved with my chest, with my breathing and the weight bringing me down. I carried on staring at the moon and hated myself for everything that I was.
…oOo…
Mokuba let out a small, yet loud, yelp when his head collided with the base of the bed. He had suddenly waked up and after recovering from the shock, he breathed with relief as he realised that it was just a nightmare, although one that kept replaying its self for the last fortnight.
'Crap,' He thought. 'Why do I have to dream about things that don't even make sense and that keeps me up all night - because the stupid pills just don't want to work!'
The youngest Kaiba had been exhausted for almost every second of the last couple of days, nodding off at the worst possible moments even thought he got as much medical help as he could get his hands on. The question that frequently came to mind was why he couldn't be like other normal twelve year old boys and have dreams of riding off bridges with cars or accidentally going to school with no clothes on.
Not that Mokuba has ever been normal; having both his parents die and then being adopted by a rich abusive step-father could hardly be describe as normal.
He licked his dry lips and rubbed his forehead to ease the pain from the bump. The bedcovers were twisted around his body and one of the pillows lay beside him on the floor.
He must have rolled off the bed while he was sleeping.
Mokuba sighted and tried to pull himself up. Hardly on his feet when a sudden rap on the door made him jump and almost made him land back onto the floor.
"W-who's there?" He asked hesitantly.
"Your brother, would you open this door?"
"Seto…?" Mokuba hurried across to the west side of his bedroom. His room - not to mention the entire house - was enormous. But then what do you expect from one of the richest families in the world?
"Sorry," Mokuba started when he finally unlocked the bedroom door finding his brother just outside the doorway, patiently waiting.
The eldest Kaiba's chestnut brown hair came just above his deep blue eyes, making them even more noticeable. His face was pale, strengthening the cold hardness of his form, giving the straight oval shape a handsome off tone that was just right for the proud look of superiority that he used for public.
Or that's at least what Mokuba had memorized about his brother Seto, for it was dark and hard to make out any kind of figure about him except for the fact that he was quite tall.
No, actually Seto was pretty much taller than most of the people around him. Which came in quite useful for the young CEO when sticking deals or just firing someone from the family's corporation.
"Did I wake you?" Mokuba asked naturally sweetening his voice.
"No, I was in the study." The young adult plainly replied.
True enough, Seto was still wearing the button up shirt and black pants that he had worn earlier to work.
"Seto, do you ever sleep?!" Mokuba glared up at his brother's tall figure.
The subject of the lack of sleep the young CEO was getting was always a favoured to bring up. Also that he was not eating enough, working overtime, overreacting to most things and the very factor of his health. Mokuba asked himself sometimes if he shouldn't just declare that he was the mother-figure and get it over with.
"I'm fine," the brunet said coolly. "A few applications had to be reviewed and couldn't wait until tomorrow," He gazed into his younger brother's room. "But I'm not here to discuss that. You yelled, why?"
Biting hard on his lip, Mokuba struggled to decide if he should tell Seto about the nightmares. On the one hand if it continues like this he too will start to develop dark rings under his eyes, but then on the other…
'If I tell him he'll send me for professional help before I can say anything.'
"Oh, I just tripped." Mokuba lied, smiling.
The CEO lifted his eyebrow in suspicion.
"Really and what, if I may ask, did you trip over?"
"Uh, my own feet?" Mokuba mentally slapped himself for the idiotic answer he had given to his unconvinced brother. The young Kaiba gazed at the floor while he felt eldest stare a hole through him.
"All right, anything you say Mokuba." The response finally came in bored tone.
"Wha- ?" Mokuba almost cracked his neck by looking up too fast.
Seto sighed.
"I don't need to know everything that you do, but I hope that you can at least tell me if something is wrong." Seto words came out a bit more direct for his taste but Mokuba knew that his brother was just concerned.
"I will if something is wrong you'll be the first to know. I promise."
Not knowing exactly how to react to that answer, Seto ruffled his brother's hair.
"Goodnight, Mokuba." Before anything else could be said the eldest stepped back and went down the passage.
'Love you too Seto.' Mokuba warmly thought.
The young Kaiba climbed back into bed, knowing that he wouldn't be woken up by his dreams again.
……………………………………………………………………………………
"I really don't want to go!"
"That is not even worth an argument."
"But … can't we try it, just for today?"
"No, Mokuba, we can't."
"Seto, come on, please?" Mokuba made his eyes watery, trying to create a cute effect so that his brother might allow him to skip school and just stay home for the day.
Unfortunately Seto didn't even look up from his portable laptop to witness the attempt.
"Mokuba haven't we been through this before? You asked me not to send you to a private school so the only option left is public." Mokuba stopped the watery works for a moment so to retort at his brother.
"Yeah but I only said that 'cause everyone was so stuck-up and snotty. They just wanted to be friends with me because my last name is Kaiba!"
"How tragic."
"Seto!" The eldest Kaiba shut his laptop and turned to his younger sibling.
The limo they sat in was delivering them to their separate schools. From the entering of his first year in Junior High, Mokuba had asked if he could continue being educated in a public facility.
From there on it hadn't gone so well and Seto knew it, but he had chose to for long his younger brother's suffering because, after all, it was Mokuba who had made the decision not him.
Mokuba glared out the tilted window at nothing in particular.
"I don't see what the problem is; it's not as if your classmates can actually be stuck-up or conceited. I doubt they neither know nor care that you're a Kaiba."
"Do they care, no, but they sure as hell know that I'm a Kaiba," Mokuba redirected his glare at the brunet next to him. "And they remind me just how much they know everyday!"
"Please," Seto closed his eyes, like he always did when someone made a weak effort of trying to tell him how hard life is. As if he didn't already know. "Mokuba, their just invidious about your status in society and want what you have."
Mokuba rolled his eyes.
"So they want my hair? They talk enough about that too!"
"Well that's your problem, unfortunately." The eldest Kaiba's interest in the subject lessened more - if that was even possible - and disappeared altogether.
"Just ignore them their no importance to you."
"Easy for you to say." The dark haired kid growled, but decided not to carry on arguing.
They sat in silence for the remainder of the trip, staring out of the car's windows. After a while the limo stopped a block away from Domino Junior High. Mokuba didn't wait for the chauffer to open the door for him and climbed out, with one band of his backpack hanging on his shoulder.
He was about to shut the door when he paused and poked his head back into the car.
"Do you think I should cut it?" Mokuba held up a strand of his hair.
The eldest looked at the hair then at his little brother's face.
"No, Mokuba, I don't think you should." Emotionlessly the youngling let go of the bit of black hair.
"Kay, try to have a nice day at school."
"You too, Mokuba." With that the door was shut and the limo drove off.
Mokuba let out a low grunt as he looked down the street to where one of his most hated places on earth was located.
'Could always just ditch and go to the mall or something,' He shook his head to erase the thought 'No, if Seto finds out I'll be a goner.'
He began the slow walk to the building. Around him children and teenagers were climbing out of cars, hurriedly trying to get away from their parents with out being too much embarrassed.
'They really don't know what they have going for them. ' Mokuba thought as a brown headed girl slammed the door in her mother's face.
The young Kaiba was at the verge of entering the grounds when someone grabbed his hand and held him back.
"Excuse me, Mokuba Kaiba?"
Mokuba glared fiercely at the person who dared to interrupt his route.
A girl, who was a few inches taller than him, had his arm tightly around her fingers. She probably wouldn't have looked so abnormal if her cloud white hair wasn't tied up in multiple tails, making it stand out from the rest of her appearance. Or that the bright school uniform on her tanned skin made her look even more out of place.
"Yes, can I help you?" Mokuba asked making the question sound like it was said through grinding teeth. Early hours in the morning, was just not a good time to try and act friendly.
Calm and almost subtle, she loosened her grip to let go of his arm altogether.
She had her eyes closed through the whole action but opened them again to show a pair of golden coloured eyes that glinted slightly in the cold late winter sun.
Mokuba figured that she did it for dramatic effect.
"Allow me, my name is Joanna Loa," she made a small nod with her head. "I'll make this fast and simple. I'm here to make everything tell you something; to help you gain your heritage. So if you accept it, follow so that we can discuss it further."
…silence…
Mokuba stared at her, his expression blank, but in truth he was completely dumbfounded. Mentally far away, an outdated school bell rang and Mokuba's brain slowly returned to planet earth.
He breathed deeply.
"Right, well, look there's a good clinic not to far from here. I'll sign you up, how's that?"
Then cautiously he stepped away from her and turned around on his heel. She blinked a few times before her face lit up in fury.
"Hey, listen Kaiba you don't kn-"
But Mokuba was already power walking towards the assembly line, ignoring the shouts being directed at him.
'And I thought things were weird before.'
……………………………………………………………………………………
It was almost pass ten in the morning and Mokuba was sitting in class with his head in his arms.
Occasionally he would look up at the teacher who was scribbling on the blackboard as if she thought that her students were actually listening.
'The way she's going on you'd think she's about to solve the Big Bang theory or something.'
Few of the boys in front kept staring at him and ducked their heads snickering whenever he saw them.
'What a bunch of idiots.' As predicted his fellow classmates had given him all out hell up in till the moment.
The young Kaiba had taken his brother's advice and ignored them. Cursing them in his mind also helped in some ways.
Mokuba yawned.
The need to sleep was creeping up again. It's had been like that the whole morning.
His eyes fell shut and even though Mokuba wanted to open them they refused his demand. Mokuba took in a deep breath of air, filling his lungs with numbness. Slowly he breathed out and almost instantly he became more tired. His body felt weak and he couldn't move or feel anything.
So tired.
'I can't sleep here; I can't fall asleep in class …not in school…around these people…just…can't…'
…oOo…
He must have left. What kept him; after all I was no longer an ideal company. I walked around his room in search of a fragment of paper to announce my departing on. A stream of sunlight poured from the full length window bringing some shine into, but what seemed to me, to be a terribly dark space. I breathed it in, closing my eyes to imagine a better setting.
"Domina," A familiar voice broke my moment. I turned to face Levin whose concern and relief was so obvious in his eyes. "Domina, thank the Lord! We've been searching for you, why had you excess so last night?" He arched his way to me, and I knew he wanted to embrace, so I stepped back.
"I had a choice to be made," I began, cursing my bluntness. But the quicker it was completed the sooner I could leave. And after all, Levin was a good man, a great friend and I chose not to put him in any more misery. Not after all I have already placed him.
"I have decided to leave, for good. I came to highly request that you do not try and search for me although if you did you would not find me." I had to stop. He was so close to me that I could count the specks of yellow in his amber eyes. The caring that they held made me wish I was the one who truly had been with him. But, I was neither myself nor something worth loving.
"What are you saying? Are you leaving the fatherland? Domina you can't be serious," He held my hand bringing it up to grace the gesture. I was taken aback, wondering if possibility of staying wasn't so impossible after all. But no, I will not be so selfish. I had made my decision.
I ripped my hand away from his and in a sudden gesture I walked around him to stand in front of the entrance of the room.
"I am serious." I prayed my voice was as cold as I knew it had to be. He stared at me, still unbelieving.
"You wouldn't, I know you! You wouldn't ever do something as cruel as casting everything and everyone you hold dear away! What about your father and your brothers? They need you here and so do I." He must have expected it then, why else would he have recited such a speech. There was still a little bit of hope in him. And it was my duty to crush that hope.
"Are you absolutely so pathetic that you cling to me as if I am your mother?! No Levin you are greatly mistaken," I never wanted to harm him and by telling lies I will prevent from ever hurting him again. "I never loved you, I pitied you. In fact I pity you now, to see your stupidity lust out like this. No Levin, you were a great fool." Forgive the sins I can't, for I destroyed some one I love's innocence. I strolled down the steps form my dear lover's room, concentrating on the patterns on the wall to keep my mind away from sorry thoughts. I passed a mirror on the way out and stopped for a moment to shed some tears.
"Why did you have come into my life? Why are you making me runaway from everyone I love?" Nothing answered, nothing ever does, but I could feel the face inside of me laughing and smiling to let me know that, yes, it was still there.
…oOo…
"…Mokuba, MOKUBA!"
His eyes snapped open.
The teacher had moved away from the blackboard and was standing next to his desk. Everyone in the classroom was looking at him, right up to the boys in front. Mokuba could feel that his face was clammy from the sweat. His eyes didn't want to focus either.
"Mokuba are you feeling all right?"
He looked up at the teacher again. She had a panic driven look on her face. The young Kaiba wanted to say something to her but he fainted and ended up lying on the floor instead.
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Loa was sitting on the sidewalk not too far from the school. The little scene she had with Mokuba earlier had put her off edge for awhile. She took the time to gain control again as she waited for him to come out.
'To hell would be best for that little shit.'
Her fingers glided over her hair to flatten it.
The wind was picking up again and it was far from being home time. But for some reason she knew it wasn't going to be much longer before the dark haired boy would come out.
Loa closed her eyes and had her mind drift, literally. She could make out the boy's shape of spirit among the other beings in the building. It was weak signal, sure, but it was there and that was good enough.
She opened her eyes again when she noticed that he was actually coming closer.
'It's about time.' She set off after him when he passed her on the other side of the pavement.
Mokuba had only blacked out for a couple of seconds before he came back again. The teacher had pushed him and everything he had to the school nurse.
After she had told them that it was probably stress or lack of sleep she signed the young Kaiba off for a few days.
The woman, even thought for a nurse, was all right as far as Mokuba was concerned and he gladly pushed open the doors to freedom. Though when he got out and saw the albino girl sitting there his bubble just went right ahead and burst.
He made to ignored her.
Not that it helped much.
"Well hello again." What she said seemed friendly enough but the way she was saying it was totally different.
"What do you want?" Mokuba asked angrily.
"Just to tell you that there is a small chance you'll die in the near further."
"Really and where did you hear that?"
"Look," she glared at him as he began to walk faster. "This isn't a joke. I really am here to tell you about something serious. I know this is sudden but try at least to understand."
Mokuba just kept on, never looking at her. His day had been starting to turn for the better and now she had to squeeze into his picture again.
Somebody somewhere must really like torturing him.
"I think you've got the wrong person." He said still not looking at her.
"I guess but then again nobody else has dreams like you do." Mokuba stopped. She hadn't anticipated that and took a few more steps before stopping too.
"How did you know that," She gave him a smile that sent him back into an irritated mode again.
"What's a weird little girl doing following me around anyway? Don't you have anything better to do?"
She twisted her hair around her finger and continued to smile at him.
"Little girl? You really don't know anything do you. For you information I'm twenty-five years old."
He frowned. Who was she trying to kid; twenty-five, that was insane!
She couldn't be - Loa, or whatever, looked way to young for that to even be considered. And that was really starting to become annoying, her, following him around and telling him things that didn't come close to making sense.
Then again, seeing some things that were described as a form higher power wasn't exactly rare to Mokuba. In fact there were times when he was caught up with life treating situations where the weird kept coming up and there was no logical explanations for them.
But in all of those times it wasn't ever really directed at him.
Mokuba only became drawn in because he was there; the sort of thing just didn't happen to him. It had to stop; there were enough complications without this crazed minded girl in his life. Luckily for Mokuba, Kaiba's were pretty good with scaring people off.
"Come on, can't you get it into your head?! I don't care who are or what you want. Even if everything you have to say is true, I don't care. Find someone else to tell all this crap to because, guess what? I don't care!"
Mokuba pointed at the road behind him a sign for her to get lost.
The smug smile she had carried had faded by every word he had said and now her lip was pierced together, shaking slightly.
Mokuba, thinking she got the message, turned and walked on and that was when she had really snapped.
He was swung around and held up by his collar. So maybe she was the same age as him but she was defiantly much stronger than he was.
Mokuba's feet lifted slightly off the ground and then his whole body was pushed up against a boundary wall.
It was the kind of wall where little spikes were at the top. The kind you could literally die trying to climb it.
"Now you can listen to me. First, I've a habit of not showing compassion to brats so be happy I did before. Second, if you ever tell me to get lost again know that I'm not going to take it lightly." She let him go and then pushed him roughly aside.
Mokuba stumbled, lost his balance and tripped. She walked by him as if he wasn't ever even there.
He followed her with his eyes until she turned a corner and disappeared.
Straitening up and stroking down his shirt the young Kaiba also walked on and decided to forget the whole confrontation.
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Mokuba had spent the whole afternoon in his room. Many of the maids had come up occasionally to check up on him. They left him be when finding him lying on his bed listening to music or watching TV on the flat screen.
But it was now dark out and they had all gone home, leaving him completely alone in the enormous house. Seto hadn't stepped through the front door yet so he was probably still at Kaiba Corp.
Mokuba sighted as he began to undress. He didn't bother to take a bath or shower - he just wanted to go to sleep. Though he did lean over the washbasin to brush his teeth and wash his face.
Slowly he rubbed the wetness off with the towel, taking away all the day's dirt with it.
He let the cloth down to look at himself in the mirror. The shadows on his face made his skin look even darker. Unlike his brother he had always had slightly more bronzed skin although he couldn't ever recall being more in the sun than Seto. He himself had a slight round face that looked quite appropriate for his age. Dark hair framed his face standing out from pretty much anything else. Mokuba's full eyes were coloured grey-blue, always shining some sort of light off them. And again, looking nothing like his brother's. Loads of people had told him that once he gets older he would look a lot more like Seto.
Mokuba doubted that.
He changed into his copper red PJ and lay on his bed to stare at the ceiling. He hated nights like these, it always made him feel so lonely and helpless.
He turned over to lie on his stomach and let his fingers search for something under the mattress.
Finally he found a small bottle with sleeping tablets in. Mokuba had stolen it from his brother's medical cabinet once when he got really tired of waking up through the night.
Tipping the bottle upside down a few of the small blue pills landed on his palms. He placed them in his mouth and swallowed.
Then after putting them back in their hiding place he muffled his face into the pillow and slept awhile.
……………………………………………………………………………………….
There was a cold drift coming through and Mokuba shuddered at the chill.
He wished that he had closed the window before he had gone to bed….
…but hold on. Didn't he?
He opened his eyes causing small déjà vu scene.
He had expected to see the side of his bed, maybe even most of his room. His window, which was letting in the drift and the curtains flowing in the wind.
But the young Kaiba wasn't asleep and he wasn't in his bed.
The feeling that something was wrong washed over him like cold water. Freezing his body; inside and out. Mokuba blinked once or twice to compress the intake of light that was shining brightly above him. His head felt like it was going to explode into a thousand pieces when he lifted his it off a hard surface.
He wasn't lying down; he was sitting upright in a chair. One you could get at a bar or…
Wait a bar? There was a bar in front of him? The whiskey and vodka bottles all glinted in the light.
No wait! It was too small to be whiskey bottles. They looked more like … medicine bottles? But then this isn't a bar, it's a pharmacy. So he was sitting at a counter in a pharmacy? But how…?
He suddenly noticed that most of the highest shelf bottles were all broken or cracked. There was some red stuff on them and on the rest of all the bottles too.
'Red stuff?'
It was dripping too. Mokuba turned slowly around in his seat. On the ground lots of bits of glass were scattered everywhere. More of the blood that Mokuba identified and a big black thing lying on the foot of the counter a bit further from where he sat.
Big black thing looked awfully lot like a body.
'Dream, dream, it's a dream!' Mokuba kept on staring at it.
It kind of looked like it was coming closer.
'Dream, dream, it's just a dream!'
"Mokuba?!" In the entrance the pint sized teenager stood. Wild hair and a shocked look on his face.
He was in his nightclothes too.
"Yugi …?" Mokuba began before he blacked out for the second time that day.
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A\N: It gets more exiting as the story goes. If you're confused you should be! Everything will get a little bit clearer in the next chapter. Or not, still debating :). Ask questions and I will answer. Thanks for reading!
