Author's Note: Trying a three-part story now. I had intended just to make another oneshot, but I thought I should challenge myself. Plus I didn't want to keep on writing for hours, cuz it's currently 3am…

Disclaimer: All characters are the brain children of Kazuki Takahashi, they do not belong to me!

Warnings: None.


Chapter One

Seto Arrives

Seto stepped up to the Kame Game Shop, sneering at the tacky turtle logo. He then frowned, seeing with a pinch of surprise the shop's red door was open, crashing back and forth against the yellow wall in the high wind. Frowning as his hair whipped painfully into his eyes, he grabbed the handle of the door, battling against the force of the gale. The sign that hung on the inside indicated that the shop was closed for the night and indeed that was the way things looked as he peered through the entrance; all the lights were off, the racks of cards and games were safely locked behind glass hoods and no one was manning the till. Seto's frown deepened.

Why is the front door wide open?

He turned back to the K4IBA2limousine and motioned to Roland to wait for him. The reply was a wave and the dull slam of the car door as Roland got back into the driver's seat to hide from the worsening weather. Seto paused for a long moment, glaring hard at the door towards the back of the shop, wide open and casting a rectangle of yellow light onto the dark floor. Things seemed stranger than usual, but Seto knew that Yuugi would never refuse the proposition of a re-match in his own territory.

His nostrils flared and his eyes flashed as he crossed the threshold into his rival's meagre domain.


Yuugi shuffled along the dark landing, rubbing his eyes.

'Are you all right, aibou?'

Yuugi shuddered to a slow halt as a huge yawn overtook his body.

'Y-yes –' another yawn overwhelmed him '– I'm just sleepy, Yami. I'm going to say goodnight to Mama and Ojii-san…'

The Puzzle gleamed softly as the Pharaoh smiled at Yuugi's continued stream of yawning.

The first door on the right led to his mother's bedroom. Yuugi peered through the doorway, expecting to see her at her dresser or watching her television, but she had fallen asleep on her bed, a pair of reading glasses slipping down her nose and an open book in her lap. One slender hand was resting atop the book whilst the other lay wistfully on the empty space beside her, where another would have slept in the large double bed.

Yuugi gazed at his father's pillow and frowned.

'Aibou?'

The Pharaoh sensed his little vessel had grown tense and gloomy, and despite living with Yuugi for almost a year now, he had never seen the father. Yuugi had never even spoken of the man.

'Aibou?'

Yuugi closed his eyes, the Pharaoh's voice was soft in his head. He opened them again.

'Father left on a business trip five years ago,' he mumbled. 'He didn't come back.'

The Pharaoh was silent.

'We don't know where he is. We don't know if he is dead or alive. We don't know if he didn't come back because he left for another woman… We don't know anything.'

'Aibou…'

Yuugi sighed and said no more. He knew his spontaneous muttering would be enough to quell the Pharaoh's unspoken curiosity.

As he was about to leave the doorsill he looked back at his mother's sleeping form. He was half tempted to fold her glasses away and pull a blanket over her but at times he found it difficult to be close to her, as if he was worried she blamed him for the absence of her spouse. He sighed once more and moved further down the landing towards the stairs. His grandfather was so predictable; Yuugi knew that he would have fallen asleep in his favourite chair again whilst watching his favourite television programme.


Seto had meandered into the Mutou kitchen. By now he had wandered through several doors leading to disappointments such as a laundry room, a small toilet room and an incredibly cramped spare bedroom. He hadn't stumbled upon a single soul.

Surely they can't have gone to bed already, he mused. It's barely 9 o' clock… Though I suppose the Mutous are a rather tame breed…

He glanced around the tiny kitchen. He saw the remains of some tonkatsu and rice on plates by the sink and some washed crockery on a drying rack. He looked along the counter; a mugtree, a breadbin, a toaster, microwave, some crumbs…

He sighed heavily, beginning to feel a little claustrophobic in the kitchen that was barely a quarter of the size of his own. He rubbed his sinus. The high-pitched buzz of the obviously ancient fridge was beginning to worm its way inside his head. Cracking his lids open once more he gazed at the small kitchen table and the few off-kilter stools that surrounded it. It was packed tightly in the corner under a tiny yellow-curtained window. He waltzed over and stooped to look at the few objects scattered over the surface. There were salt and pepper cellars behind which someone was propping up a mountain of unopened bills and junk mail. He nosily flicked through them, most were addressed to Yuugi's mother, nearly all the junk mail was for the grandfather and he recognised the school's crest on some envelopes that he identified as absence letters.

Yuugi's been skipping school?

He cast a quick eye over the rest of the items on the table. A choked ashtray, one of Yuugi's textbooks and a maroon exercise book – Seto squinted at the unholy scrawl across the front of it – Katsuya Jounouchi – hands off!He smirked when he saw that another person in another coloured pen had circled Katsuya's note and written in a bold script on a connecting line, 'THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!'

'Kaiba!'

Seto nearly coughed his own heart up and felt as though his skin had leapt three feet off his body. He whipped around, eyes darting to and fro. The voice had been muffled, as though coming from another room. He felt suspicion rise. Surely he hadn't been seen by anyone in the house yet, how could anyone know he was here? With a thundering heart he crept out of the kitchen towards another open door that he had yet to explore.

'Kaiba!'

The voice was irritatingly familiar and still muted as though separated by numerous thin, plaster walls. Seto noticed that the voice was accompanied by a soft jangling sound. He moved into the last room on the ground floor, an open plan living room-come-dining room. The carpet was hideous and threadbare; none of the dated furniture matched and every inch of wall space was taken up by ugly paintings and faded photographs. He peered at the photograph closest to him; it was of a young Yuugi playing with a large, shaggy dog. He blinked at the peculiar insight into his rival's life and continued into the room.

'Kaiba!'

Seto froze. The voice was closer now, the accompanying tinkling sounds were more urgent than before. When he heard the voice he felt strange and wary. He shot a glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was standing behind him for he was sure he had felt the ghostly fingers of soundless company.

He looked back to his surroundings. He was met with the back of an old armchair situated right in front of the television. Over the top he saw several spikes of brittle grey hair.

'Mutou Sugoroko…'

He took a step forward to confront the old man, or to wake him up as he suspected he would have to but before his foot even hit the ground the voice roared loud and desperate in his ears.

'KAIBA!'

He looked down and his eyes widened. Yuugi's ridiculously over-sized puzzle pendant was lying on the floor at his feet, shivering and tinkling like a strange pyramid faerie. The prickly feeling of unseen company filled Seto once more and suddenly he felt as though he was surrounded by a circle of people, each and every one of them staring at him.

The Puzzle shook violently and shuddered across the floor, startling Seto. He darted away from it, circling around the armchair that Sugoroko was sitting in. He glanced at the old man, wondering if he had woken him up, the floorboards were creaky and Seto certainly wasn't a lightweight person.

The first thing that unnerved Seto was the fact that Sugoroku was sitting with his eyes wide open, staring blankly at the television which had flicked to the blue stand-by screen. The broad, unblinking gaze made Seto's skin crawl. He eyes flickered.

'Mutou-san, what are you staring at?'

The old man didn't show any signs that he had heard Seto, or had even acknowledged the presence of another person in the house. Seto began to feel increasingly uncomfortable. The silence of the small, dark house was intimidating him greatly. He looked down at Yuugi's Puzzle, now motionless, but somehow much closer than it was before.

He suddenly realised the strangeness of the fact that Yuugi's Puzzle was lying forgotten on the floor of the living room. The boy swore blind that the spirit of a man, a ruler of ancient Egypt no less, resided in the Puzzle and that it their combined mission to rid the world of evil and eventually set said spirit free. Seto had come to understand that this imaginary soul was Yuugi's best friend, his partner and his father and his god. He assumed the boy would shatter to a thousand pieces without the Puzzle, he had never seen him without it slung around his neck. He would die unless his soul mate wasn't resting by his heart.

Seto crouched to pick it up, but no sooner had the flesh of his fingertips brushed against the cool metal, a surge of power flared in his vision and the deep voice of the Other Yuugi filled his ears.

'Kaiba! Help me–'

Seto yelped and fell backwards, crashing into Sugoroko's armchair and cracking his head on the corner of the television stand. He swore loudly. Surely that fall would have woken the old man up? He looked up at the old man through his hair. He felt a jolt of nerves. Sugoroko's head had flopped forward, his chin buried into his chest. His eyes held the same unblinking gaze as before.

Seto rose on his knees. He cast a slow eye over the old man, taking everything in, the stiff arms, the short tumbler of an amber liquid grasped in the left hand and the dead cigarette in the right hand, an inch-long ash cherry balancing precariously. It was clear that Sugoroko hadn't moved in quite a while.

Tentatively Seto reached out a long hand to touch the grey, parchment skin of the man's face. He gasped loudly and drew sharply away when he felt stone cold flesh.

Mutou Sugoroku was dead.


Author's Note: That actually wasn't quite as hard as I thought it would be. It is rather short though. What did you think? In a sea of Prideshipping and Puppyshipping I thought a little SetoxYugi interaction wouldn't be so bad (this is NOT a yaoi fic by the way, I ship SetoxJou).

Review or Seto will sneak into your house and poke through your mail!