Confessions
By: Tima, Yami's wife
I don't own YuGiOh. I just own the new characters.
Chapter 3: Real and virtual confusion
Duelist kingdom had come and gone and Battle City was coming to a close as well. Malik had taken hold of many people on the ship, including Tiki's dark side (1). Kaiba was getting a little worried but didn't show it. That night, as he was preparing his deck for the finals, he kept thinking about Tiki for he thought that she was the one who got injured by Ra. Finishing his deck, he tried to do some work but her face kept popping up in his head. Growling, he got up and asked himself, "What is going on with me? Why does SHE keep appearing in my head? What is this?"
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. Looking at the time and seeing it was almost midnight, Kaiba groaned and asked gruffly, "Who is it?"
"It's me," a familiar voice sounded.
Kaiba's eyes softened a little as he went to the door and opened it. There in the doorway was Tiki in a pink nightgown. He was relieved to see her but his face didn't show it. "Tiki…nice to see you on your feet so soon."
Tiki laughed. "You make it sound like the injury was really bad. I can handle an attack from that guy." In her mind, she said to her recovered dark side, 'Only for you would I pretend to be the one who was injured, my friend.'
Kaiba nodded. "It was a serious injury. You almost died. You were in a coma since that duel and…well, what can I do for you?"
Tiki smiled. "Just wanted to wish you good luck for tomorrow."
Kaiba raised his eyebrow. "You're wishing me luck…when we might fight each other tomorrow?"
Tiki shook her finger in a no fashion. "Mm-mm. That's where you're wrong. You won't be fighting ME; you'll be fighting my brother. He's the one you want to defeat, not me. I just stand next to him and imitate him."
Kaiba nodded. "You're right."
Tiki nodded. "Well, I'll let you get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow."
She turned around to leave and Kaiba felt his body move on his own. He hugged her from behind and held her tightly. Tiki blushed deeply and asked nervously, "W-What are you…doing?"
Kaiba wasn't sure what to say so he gave her his honest answer. "I don't know. I just…needed to hug you…after what happened. The doctor said you were on the verge of death…and…"
Tiki smiled and touched his arms with both hands. "But I'm not dead…and I'm not going to die. I'm alright. Really."
Kaiba let her go. "I know."
Tiki smiled and turned around to face him again. "Even you're not sure why you hugged me…I'm glad you did. Now you better get some sleep. You want to be at the top of your game tomorrow."
Kaiba nodded. "You too."
Tiki went down the hall but stopped momentarily. Looking back at him, she said, "See you in the morning."
With that, she turned and walked back to hers and Yugi's room. Kaiba watched her until she was out of sight, then went back into his room. Once inside, he groaned and ran his hand through his hair. "What happened out there? What is going on with me? What is this power she has over me? Well…maybe when the finals are over tomorrow…this hold she has over me will hopefully disappear." Little did he know that they wouldn't be getting to the finals as soon as they had hoped.
---
The next morning, as they were getting closer to the island, Noah appeared. Using certain methods with his computers, he hacked into the blimp's computer and altered the course of the blimp to his ship from the sea. When they finally landed in his fortress, everyone got out and headed toward the sound of Noah's voice.
When they got to the main room, Kaiba got a big surprise. His former colleagues, the Big 5, were there. After they explained everything, including the new rules with the Deck Master, everyone fell into what seemed like a bottomless pit. Tiki seemed the most scared out of all of them for she was terrified of long drops. Suddenly she felt herself be ripped into two. She groaned loudly in pain and passed out.
When she awoke, she was next to her brother on a meadow in front of a lake. Waking her brother up, they started to wonder where everyone else was. As they were looking around, the leader of the Big 5, Gansley in the form of Deep Sea Warrior, appeared on top of the lake and challenged them to a duel. Yami and Tima took over and proceeded.
In a forest far from the meadow where Yugi and Tiki ended up, Kaiba came to. Looking around, he saw that Mokuba and Tiki were lying near by. He shook them awake and they proceeded to find an exit.
As she was walking with Kaiba, Tiki looked down at herself. She saw that she was in a completely different outfit than she had ever worn before. She was no longer in her lucky white dress which she was wearing throughout the entire tournament. Now she had on a red shirt and jeans and was barefoot. Her Millennium Puzzle wasn't around her neck. Feeling her hair, she felt that it was in a braid.
Kaiba, who was too preoccupied with finding Noah and getting them out of this world, noticed her outfit and hair style. Raising his eyebrow, he asked, "When did you get into that outfit?"
Tiki shrugged. "I don't know. I don't get it. I hate wearing pants, especially jeans. That's why I never wear them."
Kaiba continued to look around for an exit but smirked at Tiki's comment. "Well, you should. It's a good look for you."
Tiki turned bright red and smiled. "I'll…I'll consider that."
---
What neither of them knew was that Noah had, in a way, split Tiki into two different people for both Yugi and Kaiba. The one with Yugi was the original, for he knew that the two of them always dueled together. The one with Kaiba was a computer program of her whom Noah called Tiki 2, one that was similar to the original in looks and attitude.
Seeing the way Kaiba was behaving with the program he created, Noah grinned. "Just like I thought; Seto may act smart but he still can't tell the difference between the original and a duplicate." He laughed a little. "Such a weakness is one of the many examples why he shouldn't have taken over Kaiba-Corp."
---
During the first half of their journey, both Tiki and Tiki 2 didn't know either of them existed. Tiki remained with her brother, trying to find where their friends were. Tiki 2 stayed with Kaiba and saw the replays of his memories of when he was a little kid. Everything was going fairly smoothly for them, despite the situation they were in. That is, until Noah kidnapped Mokuba and Tiki 2 and the original met up with Kaiba.
(1) Full story in chapter 22 of "Tima and Atem."
What will happen? Find out next time!