Author's note: Hanasaki is the last name of one of Yugi's school buddies from the early manga. ( I only have volumes 1 and 3. ) The character in my fic has no relation to that character whatsoever, I just grabbed it as a filler name. Same with Bastanchury, though that name is a street name from around where I live. Also, I apologize for the amount of time this chapter took, I found myself being extremely uninspired for it. x.x

Resurfaced

Chapter 7

Much like the last time Noa had talked to him, Mokuba was aware of being asleep and dreaming. He stood, looking around to notice that there was nothing in the area, just a darkness that seemed to go on forever. While it bothered him a bit, he neverminded it and just turned around, since Noa tended to show up from behind..and he was right, Noa was indeed not far behind, but the kid was laying face-down as though unconscious. This time, there was some color to him..though only in his outfit, which was mostly white with purple trimmings, blue socks, brown shoes, and his hair resumed being the soft green with sea-green bangs. Everything else was still gray.

"Noa!" Mokuba exclaimed with obvious worry. He darted right over to the fallen one and dropped to his knees, first giving him some nudging with a hand to his back. "What's wrong? What happened?"

When this didn't work, he tried turning Noa onto his side to get a better look at his face. The full-blooded Kaiba looked no different than someone sleeping...or maybe dead, Mokuba couldn't tell. He placed a hand near Noa's nose to feel for a breath. Just before the terror could set in at not feeling anything, he remembered that they were sharing a body.

The only way Noa could die is if I die.. he thought. With that idea in mind, he put his hand to his own nose. Once again, he felt nothing. The terror came back raging, at the notion that he could be dead.

"AAH-"

"..ah!" Mokuba's eyes flung open, scared awake from the dream. He sat up in his bed, huffing and heart beating hard. All he did for the moment was stare at the bedsheets just infront of himself. The room was dimmed, suggesting that early morning was out and about.

"Mokuba?"

The younger sibling looked over to notice that Seto was sitting in a chair next to his bed..and from the looks of it, he hadn't slept well at all.

"Seto?" he asked with surprise.

The elder brother gave him a vague smile, "How are you feeling?"

"I..I'm fine.." came the answer as Mokuba timidly looked back down at the sheets. "I had a bad dream.."

"..What about?" Seto leaned in a bit. As tired as he looked, he was very attentive.

"Um.." his ever deep gray-blue eyes skimmed along the bed as he answered. "It was..I thought I died."

"..Hmm."

A moment of silence passed as Seto's hands came together, chin resting atop them.

"..Mokuba, do you remember coming into my bedroom last night, after I returned?"

A confused blink was made as those gray-blue eyes set onto his Nii-sama.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain after you answer my question." he simply stated.

Another blink to that. Mokuba wondered if Noa had done something, but having no idea about it, he couldn't say anything to cover it up without making an outright lie.

"Uh..ah..can you tell me a little about it first?"

Seto's eyes shut. "..Is that a no?"

"..Yes. I don't remember going to your room." he responded with a defeated expression. He really didn't want to have to lie to his brother, of all people.

"Well..you were in my room last night."

"..What did I do?"

"..You woke me up from my sleep. I got startled and hit you on the head. It knocked you out, and so I brought you back to your room. I've been waiting here since." Seto wasn't much into lying either, but he certainly didn't have the nerve to give the full details of the attempted strangling, figuring that it would devastate his little brother if he knew.

"I woke you up?"

"Mmhm." he nodded. "And I've been giving it some thought. I remember when we had dinner together when you ate too much...you were acting strangely though the whole meal, but I didn't give it much concern at the time. You later asked me what you'd done like you didn't remember it.."

Mokuba seemed to sink a bit into his bed, clutching the sheets nervously as Seto continued.

"..And I didn't tell you, but the first time you woke up after getting that shock, you were babbling about wanting to see our father. You didn't recognize me, either. The next time you woke up after that, you didn't remember saying those things.."

"..Is that why you asked me my name, then?"

"Yes, that's why I asked..I didn't think anything of that either once you were back to normal, but.." Seto's blue eyes opened back up slowly, darkened by the dimness of the room. "..it seems to me like since that incident, you keep having these periods of odd behavior that you don't remember..and I'm very concerned about it now."

Mokuba's expression furrowed in a worried manner. "..Seto, I don't think it's a problem. Maybe if we wait a few days, it'll stop for good."

"This is very serious, Mokuba."

"No.." he shooks his head. "I'm sure it's not. Let's wait a few days at least before doing anything. If it happens one more time, then we can do something about it. I really think it'll be okay."

The silk-clad brother's eyes went blank. "..Are you afraid of something? I don't think we should wait on this..if you have another lapse of whatever this is, you could hurt someone or yourself without realizing it."

"It's not that I'm afraid Seto, I just.." he looked down at the sheets again. "I just think it's too soon. Can't we wait a few more days?"

Seto sighed through his nose. "I guess we can wait..but for now, I think it would be best if we treated this like an illness. You're not going to school today, and I want you to stay in your room. Is that clear?"

"Yes, I'm okay with that." he firmly nodded.

"Alright, then.." Seto stood up from his chair. "I've taken the day off too. I'll be checking on you, and if you need anything, you can call me. I'll bring your meals to you, and if you want to play some games, we can do that too."

"Oh..but Seto..didn't you say you were really busy?"

The taller brother shook his head, "This is more important."

Mokuba looked downward again..he felt bad to be taking up more of his sibling's important time. I need to talk to Noa, and figure out what happened..

"I wanna go back to sleep, if that's okay, Seto.."

"That's fine. I guess I'll try to get some sleep too, but remember, you can call me anytime."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks, Seto."

"Of course, Mokuba. Get as much rest as you want."

With that said, the elder Kaiba brother exited the room, shutting the door quietly. Mokuba near-immediately laid back down, wanting to go back to sleep as quickly as possible. Naturally, it was a lot harder for him to sleep when having too many thoughts running through his head, so it was a good few hours before he did finally drift off into slumber.

In the meantime, Seto went back to his room, drooping to a sit on his bed with his cellphone in hand. With a flick of his fingers, the device opened up, and he pushed a few buttons for a quick-dial. He pressed it to his ear as it rang, and someone picked up.

"Hello, this is Dr. Hanasaki."

"This is Kaiba."

"Oh—Good morning, Mr. Kaiba. What are you calling about?"

"My little brother has been having some problems lately, I think it's related to the shocking he'd been through."

"Yes, I remember. I was supervising his stay at the hospital during that. What are the problems?"

"He's been having memory lapses. And during those lapses, he acts different..just being unlike himself. He's also mentioned having nightmares, if that's relevant.."

"Oh my.. That's really been happening? How strange.."

"Yeah. I know that's not normal, so you don't need to tell me." A grouchiness induced from lack of sleep began to escape into Seto's voice. "Does it sound like anything?"

"Hm..well, can you be more specific about how he acts differently?"

"He's like a different person, pretty much."

"Huh.. Off the top of my head, that sounds like dissociative identity disorder. But it could be any form of damage to the brain, or just his psyche I believe...we would have to take him back in to give you a real analysis and diagnosis. We wouldn't be able to do it from your house, the equipment involved to test something like that can't easily be transfered."

"Right. I want to make an appointment for that.."

Mokuba was in a room that definitely wasn't his own. None of his things were in it, and it was smaller..in fact, there wasn't much to the room aside from a bed, desk, chair, nightstand, and lamp upon said nightstand. It was rather plain.

Once he realized he was in the bed, he got out of it and looked around, spotting Noa sitting upright in the one chair. He didn't look any different, still color only to his outfit and hair, and the grayness to his skin..and still seemed to be asleep. The black-haired Kaiba dashed over, putting his hands on Noa's shoulders, giving him a light shake.

"Noa, wake up! Please, wake up, this is really important!"

A few moments of the shaking, and the equally gray eyes finally opened up in a tired manner.

"Mokuba?"

"Yes, it's me." he said with a relieved nod. "Man, you really had me worried."

"Worried?"

"You didn't talk to me for a whole day, and then you were asleep or unconscious, or something.."

"Ngh.." Noa cringed, as if the memory of what occurred struck him with a blow. His hand pressed to the top of his head.

"Are you okay, Noa?" a concerned Mokuba asked.

"..I was hurt for a while. I.." he stopped again, with a wretched feeling of guilt. "..I..used your body without permission..."

"Seto told me about that already.."

Noa's eyes went wide, "He..Seto..he told you?"

"Yeah.." he said, with surprise from the reaction. "He told me that you went into his room and woke him up.."

The gray eyes then blinked a few times. "..Is that all he said?"

"He also said he hit you on the head."

"Oh.." Noa sighed with some manner of empty relief, realizing Seto hadn't told Mokuba all of what occurred.

"Why did you go to my brother's room last night?"

"..Before I answer that, can I ask a question?"

"Um..I guess so."

"Do you..think I'm a good person?"

Mokuba was caught off guard by that, though he answered soundly. "Well..you did some pretty awful things..but I never really thought you were a bad person. You did a lot of what you did because of your father..it was more his fault than yours, I think."

The lids fell half-way over Noa's eyes as his gaze dipped to the floor, "I see.."

"Why are you asking?"

"Simply put..I wanted to know how much damage I'll do telling you what I was doing."

"What are you saying? Did you try to do something bad?"

"..Mokuba, as my memories have been coming back, one thing that really stands out in my mind..is how much I hate your brother."

"Ah..?" he gasped in a confused sort of way.

"Everything that was his should have been mine..I deserve it more than he does..but.."

"No, it doesn't have to be that way anymore!" Mokuba suddenly interrupted. "If we can get you your own body, then you can share with us! I'm sure Seto will let you be part of KaibaCorp, especially after what your father put you though.."

That caught Noa's full attention. "What?"

"Oh..you don't remember that yet, huh?" his mouth pressed into a thin line. "What's the latest thing you remember?"

"..I remember bringing you all into my virtual world. The Big 5 and I were going to escape though the bodies that came, after proving their worth to me.."

"Oh..then it shouldn't be much longer before you remember everything else.."

"..Are you saying there isn't much more left to remember?"

"Well.." Mokuba now looked downward. "..I shouldn't say. It's better if you learn on your own."

The teal-haired one raised his stare, which was now hardened. "Either ways..I want you to know what I did in your brother's room."

"Was there more to it than just that? Seto didn't say anything else happened."

"..He probably wanted to protect you by not telling you..but I was going to try to kill him."

Mokuba's hands flew off Noa's shoulders as he took a step backward. Noa continued.

"I went into his room while he was sleeping..I had every intention of strangling him with some cloth I found. I didn't really think about what I was about to do until the last moment..that's when I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen to you if I went through with it.." The gray eyes lowered to the floor yet again, with his mouth gritting, appearing rather upset. "You're the one protecting me..and I was going to put you in danger by doing that.."

The initial shock of this confession softened along with Mokuba's expression, which now became one of worried concern.

"..But even though I thought of that, I still tried to do it anyway. Seto saw me there, and I panicked. I tried to strangle him. He grabbed me and threw me..and I don't remember what happened after that. I guess that's when I got hit."

Mokuba went quiet in an effort to think of what to say. Noa simply waited it out, opening the room to a silence so heavy, it weighed uncomfortably on the boys' shoulders until the sable-haired one found words to speak with.

"Noa.." he began. "..I promised to help you, but only if you didn't have any bad ideas for when you came out with us. You wouldn't remember that yet..so I want you to agree to this promise now. I'll help you out, but only if you won't try to do bad things anymore."

"..Are you willing to forgive me that easily?"

"You're not completely yourself yet. I know that through it all, you're a good person." ..You wouldn't have helped us escape that virtual world if you weren't. he added to himself.

"I..find it weird that you'd be willing. I thought you'd hate me for this."

"You did a really terrible thing. I'm definitely not saying I'm okay with what you did, but I want to give you a chance, at least. Though, if you try to hurt him again.."

"I won't. I promise. I don't want to do anything that'll hurt you." he said with an affirming nod.

"Good." Mokuba cheered up at that. "I can't protect you all that well if anything happened to Seto, or me." then his expression went blank, recalling what occurred just before. "But..we've got another problem to figure out because of this."

"I'm guessing Seto thinks you're trying to kill him now, huh?"

"He doesn't, but he does think there's something wrong with me. I had to talk him out of taking me to a hospital. This isn't something a doctor can cure, that's for sure."

"Did you tell him about me?"

"No. I still wanna wait until you get all your memories back..you might know how you got here in the first place. I'm pretty sure that'd be important to know when we explain to Seto about you..being in me."

"Yeah, I still don't remember that, assuming there's anything about it to remember."

"I guess all I can do for now is just try to convince him that there's nothing wrong with me..so I'm going to have to ask you not to use my body at all until you have all your memories back."

"Are you sure?" Noa asked with obvious displeasure. "It's really boring when I'm conscious and you're conscious too. All I can do is lurk and listen."

"Hmm.." Mokuba gave it a brief thinking over as his hand came to rest on top of his head. "Well..maybe we can play a game together when the chance comes up. Seto said he was gonna be checking up on me a lot..and then he also said we could play games.." he huffed a sigh suddenly. "..I really don't get many chances to spend time with him like this.."

".. I understand. We can do something another day, I guess.." he said, with a mildly despondent tone. That made Mokuba feel a little worse about it.

"..Okay! I got it, I'll just wait until after Seto wants to stop playing games with me. Then we can do something for the rest of the day."

"If you think it's too risky, we don't have to do anything.."

"No, it'll be fine, I'm sure. Seto always knocks before he comes into my room, so if he comes to check on me while we're doing something, you can back out real quick, right?"

"Yeah, that wouldn't be a problem.."

"See? It'll be fine!" he stated with a confident nod. "We can spend time together today, too!"

A gentle smile formed on Noa's face, "..Thank you, Mokuba. I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it." he responded with a bigger and less delicate smile of his own, which eased up as he thought to ask, "By the way, what is this place? It doesn't look like anyplace I've been."

"This.." Noa looked around for a moment. "..This is my old room. I was remembering it.."

"That's why I don't recognize it, then." he said, looking somewhat surprised. "Is this your dream?"

"I'm not too sure, but I'd assume so. Maybe it was brought about from taking that hit."

"Man, this is really weird." Mokuba commented with an embarrassed smile, anchoring his fists on his hips. "I mean, I've said it was weird before, but when I really think about it..it's just really weird. It makes me wonder how Yugi dealed with it."

The teal-haired boy raised an eyebrow, "Who's Yugi?"

"Oh—um, he's sorta a friend of mine. He was one of the people you trapped in your virtual world."

"Is that so? Which one was he?"

"The one with the hair."

"Oh." Noa immediately recalled the captive with the maddeningly spiked and colored hair. "That one.."

"He's helped my brother and I out a lot before. But anyway, I should wake up now. I wanna spend time with Seto."

"Wait," he raised a hand in a halting motion, "what did you mean by how Yugi dealt with it?"

"He..Yugi had an ancient spirit in his body..I was thinking that this is kinda like that, maybe."

He then lowered his hand and raised an eyebrow. "What? An ancient spirit? That doesn't make sense."

"It's a very long story.."

"Eh, I'm not really that interested to hear about it. Did you want me to wake you up now?"

"Yes, please." he eagerly nodded.

And just like that, Mokuba's eyes opened. He took the moment to reaffirm his surroundings..and he was greeted with the comforting sight of his own room.

"Ah.." he sat himself up in his bed, glancing out the window.

The sun had moved higher into the sky.

At the KaibaCorp hospital, Dr. Hanasaki was walking down a particularly long stretch of a hallway, doors lined up to the left and right with patients getting their diagnosis, resting in beds, or undergoing check-ups. The man was busily walking before being stopped by another doctor standing before him. This other man had a large pair of round glasses on his face, so wide and thick, his eyes seemed to be obscured behind the lens.

"Dr. Hanasaki." he greeted plainly.

"Dr. Bastanchury." Hanasaki greeted with equal response.

Bastanchury wasted no time in getting to the point, "I heard the announcement you made in the staff office. The little Kaiba brother is going to be coming back here under mysterious conditions?"

"Essentially. Mr. Kaiba doesn't know what's wrong with him, and it sounds like a mental condition we'll need to do some extensive monitoring on to figure out."

"Is that so?" he asked, pushing his glasses further up on his nose with an index finger. "A mental condition? And you'll be overseeing his stay here?"

"Of course. I normally do."

"You don't do it when a special case comes up for the other patients assigned to you."

"That's because they trust my expertise. Are you getting at something?"

"You know I specialize in behavioral conditions." he stated with a slight lowering of his head, the lens' reflecting a bit of light at the angle. "This sounds like a case that would be better suited for my skills. After all, my brother works in the pharmaceutical field, developing medicines for things of this sort."

"We don't know what's wrong with him yet, Bastanchury. We don't know if this is the sort of thing you can stabilize with drugs."

"Eitherways, I believe I should be the one to oversee his stay here. I'll follow the protocol accordingly, and if it turns out that it's not a behavioral condition, then I'll gladly hand the work back over to you. There's no harm in that, is there?"

"I suppose there isn't, but it's not my call to make. You'd have to speak with Mr. Kaiba. Where his little brother is concerned, he prefers me to take action. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to continue making preparations."

"Of course." Bastanchury said, standing to the side, allowing Hanasaki room to pass.

Hanasaki continued on his way as Bastanchury simply watched on, a slight glare hiding behind the frames before he too walked off, in the opposite direction. The doctor briskly headed into a nearby elevator..standing inside, then turning to face forward with his hands in the pockets of his white coat.

It's rare that either of the Kaiba brothers get ill enough to merit a stay here. he thought. I can't miss this chance.

The elevator doors closed, descending down the shaft.