Lego: A year and five months is better than a year and a half that one time. I've had this chapter written for a few months, actually, but then I decided I wanted to go back and edit all of Tears of a Lotus, and I just never got around to this chapter. I've decided to say screw it and post this anyway. It's long overdue. The next chapter might not be out for a while because it's the start of Battle City, and there's duels and stuff, and I don't know about my motivation. As a side note, I've been working on a short AU project called Immortal, if any fans of this story want to see it, I might be persuaded to post it.
Notes/Warnings: Some canon stuff but with my own twist. I've decided that since canon exists, I'll be doing things a little bit more my way to keep it interesting.
Chapter 10: Secrets of a Lonely Past
The phone was ringing.
It took Yugi a minute to realize that the ringing he could hear was not in his dreams. He rolled over and fell off the bed. With a grunt and a groan, Yugi pulled himself to his feet, stumbling out of the room and down the hall to where the phone hung on the wall.
"Moto residence," he said sleepily into the receiver. "Yugi speaking." He stifled a yawn.
"This is Ikumi Nakamura, Joseph's mother. I've been told he lives here."
Yugi frowned. Joseph? Oh, right. Joey's full name.
"He does," he said slowly. Joey had said he'd be staying the night at the hospital with his sister. Yugi assumed their mother would be there as well, so why was she calling now?
"May I please speak to him?" Her voice had an almost panicked edge to it.
Yugi's stomach curled slightly. "He's not here."
"What?"
He jumped and swallowed before speaking. "He left for the hospital last night. I haven't seen him since then."
He heard a frustrated sigh through the phone, and when Ikumi spoke, her voice choked up. "Please find him. Serenity won't have the surgery until he's here. The doctor will only wait one hour."
Yugi gritted his teeth, heart pounding uncomfortably in his chest. "Of course."
The line went dead, and he put the phone back in its cradle. Serenity meant everything to Joey. Why wouldn't he be at the hospital? Where could he be?
Yugi went searching for his cell phone. It would be useless to call Joey because the blonde didn't have one—before now, he couldn't afford it, and Grandpa hadn't had time to get him one since he'd moved into the Moto house—so Yugi'd have to rely on his friends.
He pulled the phone out of a pocket on his pants from yesterday and scrolled until he found Tristan's number. If anyone could find Joey, it was definitely Tristan. It rang three times before a surprisingly awake voice answered.
"What's up, Yugi?"
"Joey's missing." Yugi could have sugarcoated it, but it was an emergency.
"What?"
He swallowed. "Apparently he didn't show up at the hospital last night, and now Serenity won't have her surgery until he gets there."
Tristan swore. Yugi flinched.
"Anzu and I will help look, too, but you know him better than we do." Yugi bit his lower lip.
"I'll find him," Tristan growled, and then the line went dead.
Yugi lowered the phone, dialed Anzu's number, and returned it to his ear. It rang four times before a sleepy Anzu answered.
"Morning, Yugi." She yawned.
"Morning, Anzu." Yugi tried to sound positive, but his voice wavered just slightly at the end. "Joey's missing. Can you help Tristan and me look for him?"
She was silent for a moment, as if processing what he'd said.
"Of course." Her voice sounded stronger. The news had probably woken her up. It certainly had him.
"Thanks." He pressed "end," tossed the phone onto his bed, and scrambled to find something to wear.
'Yugi?'
His heart nearly jumped out of his chest at the sudden voice in the back of his mind. Even though Yugi wasn't currently wearing the puzzle, he still had a mind link with Yami, though it was much weaker without the golden object around his neck. As long as the puzzle was nearby, it allowed the two to communicate mentally.
'Morning, Yami.' Yugi threw off his pajama pants and got tangled in the top as he tried to rip it off.
'You seem . . . agitated.'
Yugi threw the shirt to the floor and struggled into a pair of pants he'd found in a pile near the top of his bed. He didn't care what he was wearing or what any of it smelled like. He could worry about that after they found Joey.
'Joey's missing,' he said once again, pulling a random shirt over his spiky locks.
Yami's silence seemed to echo through his mind; Yugi could imagine the look of consternation the spirit undoubtedly had on his face. 'I thought he was going to the hospital.'
'He was.' Yugi grabbed the puzzle's chain, looped it around his neck (Yami's presence in his mind strengthening as he did so), and grabbed his phone. 'Something must've happened last night.' He shoved the cell into his pocket and tore out of the room.
'We'll find him,' Yami said, voice more confident than Yugi felt. Gritting his teeth, Yugi headed out the door and into Domino City.
BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK
The beach reminded him of Serenity.
Since she was really little, Serenity had always liked mermaids. She had tons of mermaid dolls and even a few movies about them. She'd asked their mother for quite some time to take her to the beach to see the ocean, but the older woman always refused. Joey had taken it upon himself to scrounge up enough money for two bus tickets to Domino's beach. Serenity had been worried that their mother was going to be mad (and she had been—Joey still remembered the furious shouting, the dark look in the woman's eyes, his never-ending punishment), but Joey had convinced her to go anyway. They'd spent a couple hours making sand castles on the beach and playing in the water. It was the last good memory Joey had of Serenity before his parents split.
Ever since then, whenever things got really bad at home, Joey wandered down to the beach and sat until things got better. The ocean waves and gentle breeze reminded him of simpler times, reminded him of the baby sister he still loved even though they hadn't seen each other since the divorce. The beach calmed him.
Joey watched the waves lap against the shore. They roared, rumbled, and crinkled against the sand, rolling over each other as they retreated back into the ocean. They weren't particularly large waves, but he couldn't help but stare. As the waves looped, rolling first forward then pulling backward, the blonde's thoughts circled through his mind.
Last night had been great. Sure, he'd learned some surprising things about Yami, but it was more than they knew before. Sure, Kiara had seemed a little freaked about meeting a spirit, but she'd taken to Yami better than he and Tristan had. Sure, now Kaiba's tournament was a lot more dangerous than it had started, but he and Kiara and their other friends were going to fight alongside Yami and Yugi.
That last one settled on the floor of his mind and started to rot. He'd left the game shop with full intentions of going to see Serenity at the hospital, but of course he'd had to be stupid enough to try to take a shortcut to the train station. Three hooded men met him in an alleyway, blocking his route. The tallest of the three said he was a Ghoul who had come for Joey's Red Eyes. They dueled. The Ghoul summoned Exodia as his trump card. Joey lost. Handing over his Red Eyes hadn't been enough; the other two goons beat him up for it and disappeared into the night.
Joey halfheartedly punched the sand beside him. Right after his promise to fight by Yami and Yugi's sides in the tournament, he went and lost his best card. He felt like an idiot, a loser, a disappointment. That last one squeezed his heart until he couldn't breathe.
Growing up, he'd never been able to make either of his parents happy. His father only saw him as a dumb kid; his mother only saw him as the scum of the earth. He knew that look in her eyes—disgust. Kaiba had that look, too. And Joey hated it. He'd given up trying to please them so long ago. He didn't care that they were disappointed in him. Their opinions of him were completely unfounded. But Yugi was different, and Gramps and Anzu and Tristan. They were his best friends, his home away from home, his real family even without blood. To disappoint them was too much. He couldn't bear to face any of them.
The waves roared in his ears. His friends weren't the only ones he couldn't disappoint. But it didn't matter if he showed up to the hospital or not; Serenity would be disappointed either way. He'd let her down now, and he couldn't let her see his traitorous face, especially since his mother was at Serenity's side. His sister probably hated him, and for good reason.
"Joey!"
The sudden voice ripped Joey from his thoughts, and he turned his head enough to see Tristan on the sidewalk above him. The blonde normally would have smiled at the sight of one of his closest friends, but the dark look on the other male's face put Joey immediately on guard. He scrambled to his feet, muscles tense, fists clenched, as Tristan came down the hill at a fast pace. By the tension in the brunette's arm and the way his legs shifted underneath him, Joey should have seen the punch coming, but he couldn't quite roll with it and instead found himself sitting on his butt after Tristan's fist connected with Joey's face.
"Nice to see you, too."
Tristan's glare darkened. Joey looked down at the sand beneath him. His jaw ached, but he couldn't convince his arm to move.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The blonde said nothing as gravity dragged his head forward, chin bumping into his chest.
"I asked you a question."
Joey flinched involuntarily at the darkness in his friend's words, but he still couldn't get himself to speak. Tristan grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him back to his feet, which brought the blonde's reluctant eyes to Tristan's.
The other shook him roughly. "Oi, don't you ignore me."
Joey studied Tristan's face and felt his will crumble into nothing. He let out a small breath.
"I ran into some Ghouls last night and lost my Red Eyes."
Silence answered him, and then the brunette's expression twitched into the darkest glare Joey had ever seen on his friend.
"You're telling me that you're sitting here on this beach bemoaning the loss of a card instead of supporting your sister's surgery?"
Joey flinched at Tristan's words. It sounded so much worse when it was said out loud, but his heart couldn't deny its truth. He mumbled an affirmative and found himself back on the sand as Tristan shoved him. The other male swore at him, something he normally didn't do unless he was really ticked off, and Joey knew he'd messed this up big time. If this was how Tristan reacted, he could only imagine the disappointment everyone else would hand him.
"Serenity's refusing to go through with the surgery unless you're there. The doctor won't wait forever. He's leaving in thirty minutes unless Serenity agrees to have her surgery."
Each word pierced Joey's heart, and he ached.
Tristan reached down and grabbed onto the blonde's collar, hauling him to his feet once again. "Nothing is more important than Serenity, do you hear me? Nothing!" He dragged Joey around and pushed him in the direction of the sidewalk. "Now, you get your butt on that motorcycle because we're going to the hospital."
Joey clenched a fist at his side but suppressed the urge to punch Tristan. Tristan was right. Serenity was more important than Duel Monsters—more important than cards and Ghouls and lost games. Besides, even though Red Eyes was a powerful card and he really was upset that he'd lost it, Joey still had the Time Wizard—a rare enough card for the ante rule. He trudged up the hill and sat on the bike behind Tristan.
Joey spent the ride to the hospital trying to come up with the right words to give to Serenity. There was no way he could apologize enough for his actions, but he had to convince his sister to have her surgery so she could see again.
It felt like forever before Tristan swerved around a corner and jerked to a stop in front of the main Tokyo hospital. Knowing he only had minutes to spare, Joey threw himself off the motorcycle and ran for the entrance. He paused only to get Serenity's room number from the front desk before he pounded down the halls and up the stairs to find her. He skidded to a stop two doors away, brown eyes fixed firmly on the doctor, the nurse, and his mother standing outside Serenity's room. His breath came short as his mom's eyes slowly met his, and she pursed her lips at him.
"Joseph." Her voice was monotone. Joey could practically feel the disappointment radiating from her.
"Hi, Mom," he said, forcing himself to move his legs until he stood beside her. He stared at the closed door, gathering his thoughts, and then trudged over to stand directly in front of it.
"Serenity." His mouth was dry; he licked his lips. "It's Joey."
"You promised to be here!"
He flinched at the panicked edge to Serenity's tear-filled voice. "I know, sis, and I failed you. I shoulda been here last night, and I wasn't. No matter how many times I say 'I'm sorry,' it won't be enough. I know that." Joey took a deep breath. "I was selfish. I got caught up in my own messes, and I let my loss keep me from you. It was wrong of me to think of myself when I shoulda been thinkin' of you." He pressed his head to the door. "I'm here for you now."
His pounding heart seemed to echo in the silence. Joey closed his eyes, fists clenched at his sides. Then the door opened, and Serenity stood before him. She slammed into him and squeezed his midsection, and Joey suddenly couldn't breathe, but the smile slowly grew anyway. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
"Promise me you won't do that again," his sister mumbled into his shirt.
His eyes felt wet as a shaky laugh escaped him. "'Course not. I'm here to stay."
The next few minutes passed in a blur as the doctor and nurse prepared Serenity for surgery, and then off she went, and Joey was left alone with the woman who'd abandoned him. They sat in the same waiting room without speaking. Eventually, Joey couldn't stand it anymore and began to pace back and forth. It helped distract him both from the long wait and the intense presence of his mother.
After what felt like hours, the nurse came in to inform them that the surgery had finished. Joey and his mother hopped up and hurried down to Serenity's room to see how she was doing. Both of them listened to the doctor's instructions concerning Serenity's bandages and when she was allowed to take them off.
Joey excused himself to find a phone and called Yugi's cell. The other male picked up on the second ring.
"Hello?" Yugi's voice shook almost imperceptibly.
The blonde gripped the phone a little harder than necessary. "Hey, Yug'."
"Joey!"
He smiled at the other's enthusiastic reply, and his grip slackened just slightly.
"Tristan called earlier to tell us he'd found you and that he'd gotten you to the hospital on time. How did the surgery go?"
Joey twisted the phone cord around one of his fingers. "It went fine. The doctor says that she has to wear bandages for the next couple of days just to make sure her eyes heal and the corrections take, but she should be able to see after they're off."
"That's great!"
He could imagine the grin on Yugi's face.
"Yeah." Joey's smile faded. "Yug', I ran into Ghouls last night."
"What?" His voice was soft.
The blonde clenched the fist that was tangled up in the phone cord. "They dueled me for my Red Eyes, and I lost. That's why I didn't show up to the hospital last night. I was ashamed." He swallowed. "But I'm not out of the running! I'm gonna help you fight in the tournament and get my Red Eyes back."
Yugi was silent for a moment. When he finally spoke, Joey could hear the smile in his voice again.
"I know you wouldn't give up. We'll definitely get your Red Eyes back."
Joey nodded even though Yugi couldn't see him. "I'll see you later tonight."
They bid each other goodbye and ended the call. The blonde immediately typed in another number, listening to the dial tone as he waited. When Tristan picked up, Joey let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
"I need to ask a favor." Not that he deserved Tristan's help, but he couldn't trust anyone else with this mission.
"You know I've got your back, man. What is it?"
He took a deep breath. "These Ghouls mean business. This tournament's gonna be worse than anything we've ever faced before. I don't wanna risk gettin' distracted just 'cause Serenity might be in danger. Would you look after her for me until the tournament's over?"
"Of course," Tristan replied. "I'll keep her as far away from the tournament as I can."
The tension dissipated instantly. "Thanks, pal. I knew I could count on you."
"You better believe it. Good luck in the tournament. Keep an eye on Yugi, Anzu, and Kiara for me."
"You know I will." Joey grinned, bid his friend goodbye, and returned the receiver to its cradle. With a slight bounce in his step, he turned around and walked back to Serenity's room.
BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK
Kiara slowly lowered her cell phone and let it fall into her lap. Seto's request echoed through her mind, and she forced herself not to sigh. She gathered up her scattered deck and slipped it into one jean pocket and her cell phone into the other. It might be a good idea to get a holster, she decided before stretching her arms above her head and going to find Kiona.
She popped her head into her sister's room. "I've been called into work. I'll be back later tonight."
Kiona glanced at Kiara over her shoulder, right hand hovering near her face with an eyeshadow brush. "'Kay. I'll probably be on a date when you get home."
Ah, yes. Kiona's date with Duke. Hadn't they gone on one the night before?
"Oh, and Duke and I are flying out to California tomorrow. We'll be back Sunday." Kiona turned back to face her mirror and continued applying her makeup.
Kiara stood silently for a second, only briefly shocked at Kiona's bold news. The older Jensen wasn't above making crazy plans with her various boyfriends, but Kiara knew their parents would not be pleased with this development.
Kiara pasted on a smile. "Have fun."
Kiona hummed. Kiara took that as her cue to leave. The redhead headed upstairs to find her house keys, which she shoved into the pocket with her phone. She gave herself a onceover (her high ponytail swishing from side to side as she moved her head), determined she had everything she needed, and headed out to the Kaiba Mansion.
Ten minutes later, Kiara gave the guard at the intercom her information, and he opened the gate for her. By the time she reached the front door, Mokuba had thrown it open and launched himself at Kiara.
"You're here!"
The redheaded grunted just slightly at Mokuba's weight, but she smiled and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.
"Yes," she said, "I'm here."
Mokuba pulled back and grinned up at her. "We're gonna have a fun-filled night, okay?"
At Kiara's unsure smile and nod, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the mansion. Kiara barely had enough time to register her surroundings before the excitable younger boy dragged her down an unfamiliar hallway. They turned a corner and entered a large room containing a huge TV mounted on the back wall with a couch in front of it, a row of classic arcade games against the side wall, a computer set up in one of the corners, multiple cabinets with their doors wide open to reveal their contents, a couple of tables ideal for card games, and a giant pool table. Her jaw dropped as she looked around at the sheer number of games that littered the floor—console games, board games, card games. She'd seen Yugi's collection of games (and it had been incredibly impressive), but this was beyond her wildest imaginations. It was obviously the result of two game-obsessed rich kids. Yugi would have a field day in the Kaibas' game room.
"This is . . ."
Mokuba laughed from beside her. "Cool, isn't it? We've got just about every game you can think of."
"Can we play anything?" she asked Mokuba quietly, awed green eyes meeting his grey-blue.
He nodded, grinning. "Anything you want."
The two of them practically dove into the mess of games. There were so many options to choose from that Kiara found herself struggling to decide what to start with. As they searched, Mokuba threw out suggestions of games he really liked. Eventually, they ended up with a pile of various two-player games. They spent the first two hours simply playing, from Mario Kart to War to Sorry! to Assassin's Apprentice.
Mokuba shut down the Xbox console and turned off the TV, joining Kiara in the middle of the room as she set up a Candyland board.
"Are you excited for the tournament this week?" he asked, snatching the blue gingerbread man to use as his game piece.
Kiara shuffled the cards. "Yes, but I'm also nervous. I've never competed in an official tournament before." Not even in unofficial tournaments, just duels with random kids at school.
"That's okay." Mokuba offered Kiara the other three game pieces. "I'm sure you'll be great!"
Kiara blushed lightly, placing the cards back-side up next to the board and selecting the red gingerbread man, which Mokuba placed at the starting line next to his.
"Thanks." She wasn't certain she was as good as Mokuba and Yugi claimed she was, but she appreciated the confidence nonetheless.
"You're welcome." He grinned at her and indicated for her to go first. "What got you into dueling anyway?"
Kiara pursed her lips, picking up a card and moving her game piece. When they'd first met, she'd told Mokuba about her deck and favorite card and that her parents had never really been supportive of her dueling so she hadn't been able to join any tournaments, but she hadn't talked about her dueling origins.
"I was eleven when Duel Monsters was released in America," she said as Mokuba took his turn, "but I didn't hear about it until a couple months later when it got popular; the older boys in my neighborhood got really into it." She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and took a card from the top of the pile. "My parents forbade us from participating, but I'd fallen in love with it from watching my friends at school play, so I saved up my monthly allowance to get booster packs at the local game store."
"Whoa!" The younger boy moved his game piece halfway up the board. "You were a rebel? Did you have to hide your deck from your parents?"
Kiara smiled sadly. "Yeah. I did really well for a while, but then they found out about it. I was grounded for a week." She took her turn in the game, fingers lingering on her gingerbread man. "They tried to get me to get rid of my deck, but by then I'd finally traded for a Red Eyes, and I wasn't about to let them take that away from me." Even though they'd stopped giving her an allowance, she found other ways to make money. Kiona even sacrificed some of her own savings to help Kiara out because the elder Jensen also suffered from their parents' lack of support and wanted to get back at them any way she could.
"That's really brave of you." Mokuba pouted briefly as he got stuck in one of the color-only holes.
"I-I guess."
The two of them took rapid-fire turns for a couple minutes before either of them spoke again.
"I don't remember my parents very well," the younger boy admitted in a soft voice. "My mom died when I was born, and my dad died when I was five. Gozaburo Kaiba is the only parent I've ever really known."
Kiara watched Mokuba quietly as he fingered the card he'd drawn. Before Kaiba had taken over KaibaCorp and turned it into the gaming enterprise it was now, Gozaburo Kaiba had molded his company into a weapons empire. She vaguely remembered a news article she'd once found about Gozaburo adopting two young boys, but that was the extent she knew of the man and his relations, other than his death two years previous. She was so lost in her thoughts that she jumped when Mokuba continued speaking.
"He was really abusive, especially to Seto. He never treated us like sons, and he never tried to be a dad to us." Mokuba frowned at the board, hands clenching into fists.
Kiara bit her lower lip, then leaned forward and placed both hands on his. "But he's gone now, right?"
He looked up at her, eyes wet, and nodded slowly.
"And you still have your brother, right?" She tried for a reassuring smile.
He nodded again, hands shaking slightly.
"And now you have me so—so who cares about Gozaburo Kaiba?"
Mokuba sniffed once and threw himself across the board to hug her tightly. She returned the embrace, pretending she couldn't hear him crying softly. They stayed silent like that for a moment.
Finally, Mokuba pushed away from Kiara and settled back into his seat. He rubbed his face dry and then gave her a shaky smile.
"Oops," he said, glancing down at the game pieces he'd knocked over and the pile of cards now strewn around them.
Kiara giggled. "Oops."
They laughed as they gathered the cards back up and replaced the game pieces. Two turns later, Mokuba claimed victory. Kiara congratulated him, and then both jumped as a new voice spoke from the open doorway.
"You've made a mess, Mokuba."
"Seto!" The younger Kaiba grinned at his brother. "Play a game with us!"
Kaiba raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between Kiara and Mokuba, then shook his head. "Not tonight."
The younger Kaiba's face fell, but he perked back up in an instant. "Maybe next time?"
The brunette gave a noncommittal grunt, cobalt meeting Kiara's bright green (and sending her heart racing in the process). "It's getting late. I'll have Roland take you home."
The redhead nodded, quickly helped Mokuba put Candyland away, and followed the two Kaibas to the front door.
"Thanks for the games," she said to Mokuba with a smile. "It was fun."
"Yeah!" he agreed, flashing her a cheesy grin. "See you tomorrow?"
"Maybe." Kiara shrugged and turned to Kaiba. "Good luck in the tournament."
The brunette grunted again then inclined his head. "Same to you."
Kiara bid the two of them goodnight and met Kaiba's chauffer (Roland, she thought he said it was) at the car. With one last wave at Mokuba, she climbed in, and they headed off into the night.