AN: This takes place under the pretext that Yami didn't leave to his own world at the end of the series, and instead chose to stay after separating from Yuugi. Now the matter concerning whether this is set in anime or manga canon, well the only thing from the anime I'm using is the fact that Yami separated bodies with Yuugi at the end, but everything in between is from the manga, including most of the events Kaiba or Yami may talk about in the future.

I have a habit of rating things T when the first chapter is as such, but when (if?) I post next chapter the rating will most likely change to M. I put the rating as T for now because I'm not sure how bloody this is going to get.

…/

Hang 'Em High

1. Shotgun Sinners

…/

The time of the funeral was brimming with sunlight.

Yami could have bantered at the workings of life, not in a humored manner but more so out of the overwhelming sense of irony. This had been the finest condition Domino City had to offer in years according to Yuugi's maunderings, all of which were spouted in attempt to distract him from this unjustified sense of grief. Yuugi felt every discomfort, every fault, every burden even if he was in no way involved with the cause or situation.

Guards dressed in garments fashioned completely of black coverings stood around the premises, some even walking warily to inspect every region within their line of sight. Sunglasses provoked a symbol of callousness, and so did the lack of noise, but of course nothing less was to be expected of Kaiba's employees. The reflection stopped once Yami noticed a few guards turning heads towards a call the more veteran looking guard took.

"What do you mean?" He pressed on the ear piece as a few guards huddled around.

"Seems like something's wrong…" Yuugi muttered quietly to Yami.

He nodded, noticing some of the men approaching them. "Perhaps it's time to leave."

Mornings weren't usually held in such an unnerving atmosphere, bereft of most sounds that accompanied the weekend daybreaks. Yami and Yuugi usually had a go at a few of the old games they'd find in the attic of the shop, playing them after testing to see if they still had their functioning contrivances. And it was indeed the fact that no games were played during Yuugi's severe restlessness, that no outings with their companions were scheduled, that caused Yami to mindlessly watch the television as Yuugi flipped through channels.

"Wait- go back." Yami sat up, leaning in a bit.

"This one?" Yuugi stopped at a broadcast, a familiar name plastered on the banner set at the bottom of the screen. "Are they talking about…?"

'The CEO of the very influential Kaiba Corporation has gone missing. Seto Kaiba has not been sited since Thursday night around midnight, strangely soon after the revelation that his younger brother, Mokuba Kaiba, was dead. Police say-'

"That's strange isn't it, Aibou?" Yami turned to face Yuugi who slightly trembled as a solemn expression conveyed his concern. "…But it's probably best if we don't concern ourselves with it."

"But… What if something happened?"

"Maybe Kaiba's just taking time off, catching a break for sanity's sake? It wouldn't be doubtful what with his situation."

"The guards…" he muttered.

"Were probably just concerned over something else. Stock related? I don't know, I'm not familiar with business."

"But they're body guards. They don't pay attention to those sort of things."

"You're reading too much into this, Aibou." Yami positioned a hand on the unsound shoulder, waiting for Yuugi to stop shaking before he released his grip. "You haven't been sleeping lately either, why don't you rest? I'll just see if I can get a small amount of information. Considering Kaiba's obsession with our rivalry, they're bound to tell me something."

Yuugi nodded slowly, still furrowing his eyebrows in frustration and concern.

Yami waited until the evening to stop by the building, anticipating the time in which Yuugi would fall asleep before actually stepping outside.

The warm weather hadn't lasted long. Yami began to question his outlook on life itself as he bound his jacket close with his arms used as a makeshift barrier from the gale. It seemed unfitting that the cool weather worked its way into the city when the funeral was over. Perhaps it was also unfitting to feel that every funeral, especially Mokuba's, was obligated to be accompanied by morbid rain and cold temperatures.

Truthfully, he had been a little bothered himself, especially after learning the disappearance had taken place shortly after Mokuba's death. Kaiba had revealed himself, perhaps even without realizing the problem, to be unstable in the aspect of his relationship with his brother on many occasions. Mokuba was that one piece, the most important part of the man. Without it, well Yami was afraid to envision the possibilities.

He found himself at an unfamiliar corner and began to turn his eyes. "It's getting too dark… I should have asked for directions before I left."

A little more wandering and again, again he found himself in unfamiliar territory, constantly huffing in frustration. When he came to the banks of a river he stopped for a second, noticing a shifting body in the distance struggling to move something.

Yami slowly approached from behind. "…Excuse me. Do you know where-"

He stood frighteningly still when the man turned around to face him, penetrating blue eyes, and perhaps it was this particular shade of dusk but his hair seemed to be black… but with those eyes, that gaze, it was inevitable.

"Kaiba?"

And then he felt the sensation of a blunt object slamming against his head.