Slightly re-vamped on April 8th, 2015. Previous title was called, "A Story behind Everything". Used to be just one chapter. While editing, I split it into two and made it two chapter because it was so darn long. xD

I hope you all enjoy this one. To be honest, I actually wrote this a long time ago for a friend of mine. I just remembered about it and decided, what the heck? Why not write a Yu-Gi-Oh version out of it? So, here it is! :)

Alternate Universe

WARNINGS:

-OOCness

-Joey x Mai pairing

-Character Death

Enjoy!

Stories Buried Underneath

Chapter 1

It was late January and the snow was slowly melting, leaving icky, brown slush on the ground. However, to get rid of her worries, Mai's morning was instantly brightened by the warm morning sun that shone gently upon Domino City. Her golden, long hair swayed in the wind as she walked with a bounce in her step. Purple eyes were wide with relief, and utter happiness, but did not cover up the sharp, competitive nature. With a small smile on her lips, she turned the corner of the alley and stopped in front of a rundown looking apartment building.

Waiting patiently, Mai watched the morning fog quietly, absentmindedly wiping the dew off her violet, buttoned up jacket before stuffing her purple, leathered covered hands back into her pockets. A while had passed by, causing her to grow slightly impatient. Irritated, she tapped her purple, knee length heeled boots on the ground while she glanced at her black jeans out of boredom. Finally she looked up with relief when a dirty blond male popped his head through the front doors.

"Hey, Mai!" was his cheery reply as he stepped out, the big doors swinging closed. She glared at him, her face firm.

"What, no sorry?!" she exclaimed, stepping away from him as he came close. Honey coloured eyes widened.

"What are ya talkin' about?"

"It's almost eight, Joey!" she shouted. "You said you would be ready by seven forty five, but I've been waiting down here for fifteen minutes!"

"Really?!" Joey replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't think it'd be that late. Besides, I kinda thought that, you know, you'd take longer cause you're a girl and-"

Mai's eyes slanted and then rolled. "Tea was right. You've never even been on a date so what could you possibly know about girls." She then looked up with a start as Joey grabbed her hand and pulled her close. With wide eyes she stared up at him, not seeing this side of her friend – possible boyfriend – before in all the time she had known him.

"Mai, I'm sorry, okay? I promise I'll try to be on time next time," and she watched worriedly as he smiled at her. "I really like you so I want to try my best to at least let you have a great time today." Pulling away and stepping back, she looked back up at him with a frown, nodding.

"Alright, but promise that you'll stop taking 'dating lessons' from Tristan," she warned, and watched at Joey's eyes grow wider with surprise.

"Wait, how'd ya know that Tristan was the one who told-"

"It's not that hard to figure out!" she called, walking away before stopping to turn around and look at him. "So, are you coming or not? I'm hungry!"

Joey broke out into his regular, silly grin and ran up next to Mai after grabbing his jacket.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they walked back towards the main road. Joey shrugged.

"I thought we could walk to Kiku's Coffee House across the street and then head to the park and wander around until lunch time. And then, after lunch we could head on to the movie theatre to watch that new movie." Joey trailed off after that, his concentration fully on avoiding the deep holes and trash that littered the area. "Wha'dya think?" he asked after a while, looking up quickly to glance at her. She nodded her head.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea actually. I bet you thought of this one yourself," she teased, "and not from Tristan. It doesn't suck."

Joey laughed. "Nah, I asked Tea for advice." At that, Mai stopped laughing and gave the teen a look of shock. She then shook her head after getting over the surprise.

"Of course. I should have known that you couldn't have thought of anything on your own."

"Hey!" he exclaimed at the comment.

Two minutes later, the two were nearing the end of the wide alley and almost on to the main road. They would have gotten out earlier if it wasn't for the many pot holes filled with water from the rain that had fallen the night before. With slightly soaked shoes, they breathed in air that didn't have the smell of urine and trash.

"I'll probably get Kiku's latte. I heard they have a new worker that makes amazing latte art!" Mai exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'll probably get a regular coffee with a bagel. I want to get in and out quickly," Joey said before he scowled. "I don't want to see Tatsuya's ugly face."

Mai grumbled, rolling her eyes at the name. "Oh yeah… him. Even though he's fired, people still has to see his face every time they go in."

"Kiku should kick him out."

"Then he'll be living on the streets! Kiku wouldn't do that to her nephew no matter how much of a jerk he is," Mai said, sighing. She then turned to Joey with a different idea. "Do you want to get breakfast and have it at the park?"

"Nah, I don't wanna to be rude. Kiku will feel bad if we buy and just leave," Joey explained.

Mai nodded, agreeing. "Yeah."

Coming to a stop light, Mai and Joey waited patiently for the lights to change, not even affected by the loud honking the cars made or the deep rumble trucks made when they rolled by. Due to the norm of these type of sounds all her life, Mai found it quite odd to hear a soft mewling sound coming from somewhere. It was very soft, and sounded like a little plea for help. The heartbreaking cry made her heart hurt, so immediately she turned around to find the source.

"Mai, what's wrong?" Joey asked, watching as she stepped on to the sidewalk and began to look around the dead bushes.

"Can't you hear it?" she whispered, trying to keep her ears on the sound of the crying. Joey rose a brow, not sure of what she was talking about.

"Hear what?"

"It's crying," she said, looking around more frantically.

"What?!" Joey exclaimed, turning to look at the sign that now said GO. Seeing that Mai wasn't going to leave the mystery of the sound alone, he groaned before walking up to her.

"Mai, it's probably nothing!" he insisted, but let out a deep breath when he saw that Mai had wandered into the alley way. Frowning, he followed her in with a helpless sigh.

"Help me find it," she said, pulling her hair behind her ear as she looked around the boxes and trash.

"Find what?" Joey mumbled, staring at her with an annoyed pout on her face.

"The cat! It sounds like a kitty," she said.

"What…" he began, but he never did finish his confused sentence because Mai's squeal could be heard through the loud traffic.

"Aww, isn't she the cutest thing," Mai cooed, kneeling down as she reached out to touch the cat that was curled up behind a dumpster, shivering on a pile of dirty cardboard. It mewled once more as it saw her and she couldn't resist the urge to pick it up and cuddle it.

"Mai, don't touch it! It might have germs or somethin' on it," Joey warned, however it was too late. Mai was walking over to him with a cat with soft, grey fur that was now darkened due to rain, dirt, and mud. Its feet was darker which showed that the paws were naturally a darker shade than the fur. As Mai brought the cat closer, Joey melted under the big, watery green eyes and the pink, runny nose. Joey watched wearily as Mai cradled it in her arms.

"Mai, I'm tellin' ya. That thing could be infected or somethin'! Leave it and let's go!" Mai however ignored him and continued to hold the cat. He watched as Mai reached under its neck.

"It's not a stray, Joey," she said.

"Look at it! It has to be a stray," he shouted exasperated. "There's no way someone could purposely leave the cat here."

"Oh, and you're ready to leave it?" Mai shot back, smirking as Joey stuttered and then was ultimately silenced by her comeback. "See, it has a collar," she stated, and showed Joey the small, red strap where a golden coloured circle lay against the cat's fur. On the collar, Mai noticed a word engraved on to the circle. Leaning closer, her eyes widened by what it read.

Prince.

"It's not a her, it's a him," she exclaimed, looking up at Joey. "And by this pure gold collar, I could say that this boy here is an actual prince." She grinned, looking at Joey who just scowled.

"A rich person's cat? Of course. Only they could throw a small animal like that out. They have no soul!" Joey shouted.

At that, Mai had to frown. At first she had thought that the owners were probably unable to take care of it, or the cat had simply run away. The owners however were very wealthy if they were able to afford a gold collar for their pet. Surely they should have been able to take care of the cat. Her frown then stiffened and her eyes hardened with anger.

"We should take him to his owner," Mai said, determination in her voice.

"What about our date!?" Joey exclaimed.

"We'll worry about that later. As for now, we're going to clean this kitty up and then go and give his owner a piece of my mind," she declared angrily. "Being stuck up and a snob is one thing, but mistreating animals is just cruel!"

Joey sighed, having no other choice than giving in. "Alright. Where do we go?" he said, shooting he cat an annoyed glare. The cat in return hissed and swiped its paw at him.

Mai chuckled, seeing the interaction. "Aw," Mai said. "Looks like little Prince here can defend himself from the big, bad doggies." She chuckled, winking at Joey for reasons that caused Joey's List of Things that went wrong on his First Date, to grow longer. He scowled at the old joke which given to him by his sworn enemy, Seto Kaiba, who was the CEO of the biggest gaming company in Japan.

"Stupid rich boy..." Joey grumbled, remembering the moment Kaiba gave him the awful nickname.

"Silver drive, Kennedy Road. House number two hundred and eight. Y. Moto," Mai said to herself.

"What's that?" Joey asked, still fuming, even though the address had caught his interest.

"It's the address," Mai said, holding on to the squirming Prince in her arms. "And, the owner's name is also engraved here."

"That's the address?!" Joey yelled out.

"Yeah, why?" Mai asked, looking at the shocked face of her boyfriend with a curious look.

"Kaiba lives on that street!" Joey cried out, grabbing his hair in frustration.

Mai sighed. "Joey, relax. Silver drive is a long street. I'm pretty sure that you won't run into Kaiba anyways, so stop being a big baby. Besides, the owner isn't a Kaiba, it's a Moto," she scolded.

"But all the rich people live on that street. I get irritated just being around those people!" Joey shouted once more, crossing his arms.

Mai scowled. "Well, I want to go get justice for Prince. If you don't want to go with me, I'll just go by myself," she said, and then walked away.

"Where are you going?" Joey called.

"I'm going to Kiku's to get Prince cleaned up! She loves cats!" Mai replied, and seeing the light start to count down as she crossed the street, Joey sighed and ran up to catch her.

"Okay, okay, I'll come with you."

Mai turned around. "Promise?"

"Promise," Joey replied.

It didn't take them long to clean Prince up. When they were done, they thanked Kiku and Mai continuously petted Prince's soft, grey fur, feeling his black coloured paws graze against her jacket. Prince was sick also, so they needed to get him to a vet as well. As they got outside, the cab they had called to take them to the desired address was already waiting. They got in the back seat, and with Prince on her lap she gave the driver the directions. In no time they were pulling away.

Fifteen minutes later they turned down Silver drive. Joey glared at each of the houses, probably hoping that he was glaring at the right house of a certain someone. He stopped though when Mai shot him a stern look, only to continue glaring at the houses with hatred a minute later.

Actually, the structures they drove by couldn't be called houses. They looked like mansions! There were huge lawns, royal entrances, big gates forbidding intruders from entering, and as an extra precaution, guards standing watch in front of each. The most popular and wanted cars stood in the driveways, security cameras eyeing the property to make sure no one was sneaking in and doing things they weren't supposed to be doing. The streets were clean, lawns well taken care of. The drying snow not even making slush as they were washed away, dim green grass being seen underneath.

They then stopped as the driver announced their stop. Getting out, both held their breaths as they came face to face with the biggest mansion on the street. It was a creamy white colour with gold outlining it. Even the gates were a golden colour and the driveway was covered with ivory white and elegant tiles.

"Wow," Mai breathed as she stared in awe. Prince was squirming, trying to jump out of her arms, but she held on tightly. "Looks like someone can't wait to see their master?" Mai said, brushing his head. Prince arched at the touch. "Don't worry. I'll make sure your owner never hurts you again." Prince mewled.

Joey just shot secret glares at the house as Mai pulled him towards the gate. They came to one of the many guards that was standing in front of the gates. Feeling a somewhat morose aura coming from the house and the guards, Mai and Joey gave each other quick glances. The thought of why so many guards and security was surrounding this house in specific had crossed their minds. He watched as the cops walked around the area, glancing around as if looking for something. He then watched as they left, getting into their cars and then driving off.

"What do ya thinks goin' on?" Joey asked, watching as the police car drove away. Mai shrugged in response.

"State your business," a gruff voice said as Mai and Joey approached. Joey was about to give the guard a piece of his mind before Mai started to talk.

"We found this cat in an alleyway. Seeing the collar we came to return it to its owner," Mai said as calmly as possible while holding the cat in full view.

The guard's eyes widened. Saying things too quickly for them to understand, he opened the gates without another word directed towards them and ushered them in. Mai looked puzzled and Joey thought the guard was nuts.

"Well, that was odd..." Mai trailed off. Joey just shrugged.

"Nyeh. I don't care. Let's just return the cat, yell at some rich snobs, and then go back to our date."

"His name is Prince!" Mai said, punching Joey in the arm.

"Okay, okay. Let's hurry up and return, Prince, so we can go back to our date," Joey said, speaking the name with sarcasm. Mai shot Joey a firm look before they walked up to the big oak doors which had golden handles on it. As soon as Joey reached out to knock on the door, it swung open by itself.

They stood in the doorway, both blinking stupidly with absolutely no idea what to do.

Cautiously stepping in, they admired the furnishings and all the small details of the house. A grand staircase was in the corner on the left, before it a wide living room, couches facing a huge flat screen TV pressed against the wall. To the right, a long, glass dining table that could seat thirty people was there and just behind it were two sets of big double doors. They looked farther down and saw a small door that probably led outside. Or, so they assumed, however. Right in the middle of the hall there was a big frame that hung from the wall. This caught both Mai and Joey's attention as they went all the way in, looking at the picture frame with high curiosity.

In it was a teenage boy. He was smiling brightly, his hair like none have ever seen before. Golden bangs hung from his head, outlining his face and shooting upwards into his black hair with was highlighted with red tips. The boy was very pale, and he had crimson eyes. His smile was soft, yet happy. He was wearing a black dress shirt, the collars folded as two of the top buttons were left open, revealing his neck. His sleeves were also unbuttoned, rolled up to his elbows as a small cat sat in his arms; a cat that Mai and Joey knew very well. The picture had a golden frame around it, and at the bottom was a gold platter with a name on it.

"Yami Moto," Joey read out loud. "So that's your master?" he asked, looking at the cat who was desperately struggling to get out of Mai's arms. "He doesn't look very mean."

"And he doesn't seem like the type to just dump his pet and run," Mai said next.

"Then, where is he? And, why was Prince outside for who knows how long?" Joey questioned, looking up the stairs as if waiting to see if anyone would walk down them.

Mai looked around. "I have no idea, and there's no one here that we could even ask!" She looked back at Joey who was now wandering around. Mai then caught a middle age woman who was carrying a basket of laundry.

"Hey!" she called out.

The woman stopped, shifting the basket to get a better grip. "Yes?" she asked softly.

"Uh, do you know where Yami Moto is? I believe we found his cat," Mai explained, showing the woman Prince who was clawing at her arms. Luckily his claws were not too long, so it didn't hurt much.

The woman paled as she saw the cat, then looked back up at Mai. She then began to shake, her eyes turning red as if she was about to cry before taking off, running up the stairs as fast as she could.

"Well, that was even odder," Mai said to herself.

"Well, did she know?" Joey asked as he finished looking around the living room and then walked up towards her.

"No. I asked her if I could meet her owner and she ran away!" Mai exclaimed, looking at the staircase. Joey shook his head sadly.

"I'm tellin' ya, these folks probably poisoned their minds, that's why they're acting so skittish and fearful," he wondered out loud. Spotting the glare Mai shot him, he raised his hands in defense. "Okay, I'm being good."

It was Mai's turn to shake her head sadly. "There's no one around, and we most likely came all this way for nothing. Ugh! You try to do one good thing and- You know what? Maybe we should just go to the cops."

"Now why would you do that?" a voice said suddenly said, and Mai and Joey turned towards the voice. Immediately though Joey's yelling was heard.

"Why you, Kaiba!" he shouted, balling his hands into fists.

Mai face-palmed. Oh, why was everything going wrong? Maybe she should start adding things to Joey's list.

"Wheeler? What are you doing here?" Kaiba asked not so very nicely, a sneer on his face and anger in his voice, rolling his ice blue eyes.

"Joey, cool it," Mai whispered.

Joey took a deep breath as he put his hands down. "I swear if he makes me mad, I'm gonna give it to him," he whispered back.

"We brought Yami's cat, Prince. Where is he?" Mai asked Kaiba ignoring Joey who was shooting the CEO a death glare.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, dropping the glaring contest he was winning against Joey to give Mai a serious glance.

"Where is Yami?" Mai repeated, pointing at the picture frame that hung on the wall.

Kaiba was silent, staring at the picture sorrowfully for a long time. He sighed, bracing himself before looking at Mai. He was unable to hide the heartbrokenness and sadness from his face.

"Yami? You'll have to go pretty far to reach him now."

Yeah, so I split the two chapters. Hope this is good. I really like how I'm re-doing it. Two years is a long time apparently since I was such an awful writer! LOL

Review! And thanks for reading. The next chapter will be up soon. This story is after all, a two-shot. I have the other chappie ready xD