Yu-Gi-Oh! Love Selflessly – Prologue 2

The next day, Emiko sat quietly on the swing set in Domino City's public park. The sun was just beginning to set, casting a warm, orange light over the city. Emiko had her guitar out and was mindlessly plucking at the strings, listening to the clean sound that each string brought. The melody she played was sombre, yet still beautiful. In the darkest of times, Emiko felt that music was the one thing that calmed her down and when her mind was racing, the music helped to clear her mind. She had just reached a pause in the song when she heard a familiar, soft voice behind her.

"Emiko?"

She jumped a little, turning to face the person approaching. She relaxed and sighed upon seeing Bakura sit down on the swingset next to her. He asked in his gentle voice, "Are you alright?" Emiko returned to her guitar and said, "Y-yeah. I'm fine." She strummed lightly over the strings of the instrument. Bakura frowned and said, his head cocked to one side, "You don't seem fine. You've been avoiding us all day and you hid in the theatre during lunch. You only ever do that when something is really bothering you." She bit her lip and continued to play, pretending to ignore him. He pressed on, "So what's on your mind?" Emiko paused, the last note she played echoing off, trailing into the loud city noises. She opened her mouth, but then closed it, not quite sure how to tell him what happened without giving away her big secret. He turned away, looking off into the distance and sighing. She finally said, "I got into a fight with my brother."

"Oh," he said, "I see. It must've been a pretty nasty fight, then, huh?" Emiko gazed down at her guitar and said, replaying the events of the previous evening in her head, "Yeah. See, he's always working. He rarely ever makes time for us. I guess I finally lost it. I snapped and said some pretty horrible things. He...he walked out on us." Bakura sighed. Silence fell between them for several long moments.

"What..." he cautiously asked, "what exactly did you...?" Emiko took a slow breath in, then said in a low voice, "I-I...I said that...if he couldn't make time for his family...then maybe he shouldn't have one..." He looked at her, seeing her sad face. Her blue eyes shimmered as tears formed and threatened to fall. He couldn't bring himself to say anything to her, but she wordlessly picked up her guitar and resumed plucking at the strings. He just sat beside her and listened for a while before finally saying, "You should try and talk to him." She stopped playing suddenly. He continued, "You know, make amends before it's too late." Emiko said sternly, startling Bakura and setting her guitar back on the ground, "That's easier said than done. You don't know my brother." Bakura said calmly, "Maybe not, but I know how hard it is to lose the chance to make up with a loved one." Her shoulders relaxed a little and her heart dropped. He said solemnly, "I...I lost my mother and my little sister when I was young. I-I know it wasn't my fault, but I still can't help but feel guilty about it." Emiko sighed.

"I was angry. My mother and I were at odds the day that it happened," Bakura explained, "I just wanted her to leave me alone. I..." he took a long breath, "I ended up shouting at her." Emiko looked down at her feet. He said, "When my father told me that both she and my little sister were killed in a car wreck...I-I felt like I was the one to blame...like if I hadn't said those things, then they wouldn't have been hit." Emiko let out a sigh. His warm brown eyes, now sparkling with tears, finally looked up to meet hers and he said, "Sorry, Em. I...I haven't talked about mum or Amane in years." He smiled through his tears and said, "I guess...the memories just all came flooding back to me at once." She muttered, "I'm so sorry, Bakura. I-I...I had no idea." He cleared his throat and looked up into the orange sky.

"I still write letters to them," he said, "It wasn't easy to let them go, so instead, I just found a way to let them know I still love them." Emiko looked back in the direction of the Kaiba manor, then back to her lap. Bakura reached over and placed his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. He smiled softly and said, "You can do this, Emiko." Emiko smiled. She nodded and stood up, grabbing her guitar and putting it back into its carrying case. Bakura stood up with her and she said, "What if he...?" Bakura said, "Emiko, it'll be ok. Trust me." She thought to herself, "I want to believe him, but Seto is such a selfish, arrogant jerk." She pushed her thoughts aside and said, "Thank you." He nodded. She finally turned and began to walk on her path away from the Kaiba manor, only turning to go home after losing sight of Bakura.

When she finally got home, the sun was gone and the only thing lighting her way was the street lamps on the side of the path. She took a deep breath, then opened the door slowly. All of the manor's lights were off.

"Seto," she called out, "Seto? I'm home!" She walked upstairs to Mokuba's room, pushed open the door, and peeked inside. She asked, "Mokuba? You home?" His bed was still made from that morning and his backpack was still missing. She furrowed her brows and called out, "Seto? I need to talk to you." She walked into Seto's office and looked around. His computer and jacket were gone. She sighed and folded her arms, thinking to herself, "I guess they're not home." She looked out the window towards the Kaiba Corp building.

"Seto is probably out at the Kaiba Corp building," she thought, "but where could Mokuba be? He should be home from school by now." She jumped when she heard her cell phone start ringing, the tone echoing loudly through the empty mansion. She reached into her backpack pocket and grabbed her phone. She opened it and answered, "Emiko speaking." Mokuba's shrill voice came over the line, causing Emiko to pull the phone away from her ear.

"Emiko," he shouted, "Emiko come to the Kaiba Corp building! Y-you have to hurry!" Emiko's heart sped up and she said, trying to stay calm for Mokuba, "Wh-what!? It's okay, Mokie! Just calm down! I'm on my way! What happened?" She ran outside, grabbed her bike and jumped onto it, still holding the phone in her hand as Mokuba explained through sharp breaths and hiccups, "I-I don't know! He duelled with Yugi and lost! When the duel was over, Yugi said something about opening his mind, but now he's on the ground and he won't get up!" As Mokuba sobbed, Emiko said as calmly as she pedalled, "Listen, Mokuba. Have you called the emergency services?" Mokuba said, "Y-yes! They're sending an ambulance." Emiko rounded a corner, nearly drifting off of the curb, but managing to keep herself steady.

"Okay," she said, "I'm about ten minutes away! I'll be there as soon as I can!" Mokuba cried into the phone, but managed to slow his sobbing a little. Emiko ran her bike carelessly through a puddle, getting her knee-high stockings and the hem of her skirt wet. As she pulled up to the front of the building, she jumped off her bike, letting it crash to the ground and sprinting inside. She finally hung up and took the elevator up to the fifth floor. Pressing the buttons, she paced around the empty elevator impatiently.

"Please," she thought, "Be okay, Seto."

As the elevator doors opened, she ran out into the duelling arena and called out, "Mokuba!" The young boy shrieked from one of the duelling platforms, which at this moment had been lowered to the ground, "Over here! Emiko, he's still not waking up!" Emiko fell to her knees beside her brothers and grabbed Seto's arm, begging for him to wake up. Mokuba tried to explain the situation, but she was too afraid to hear more than a few words here and there. Behind them, paramedics, rolling in a stretcher, told the two to move out of the way. Emiko grabbed Mokuba by the shoulders and pulled him back away from Seto. Right as the paramedics were checking his pulse, Seto shifted. Mokuba gasped and Emiko let out a quick sigh of relief. The lead paramedic asked, "Sir, do you know where you are?" Seto looked around and said calmly, "I'm in the Kaiba Corp duelling arena. Floor five." The paramedic gestured to her assistant and said, "I'm going to do a few basic tests, sir." Seto sat up, despite the warnings the paramedics gave him. He told them that he felt fine, so they continued their tests. He passed them all. He answered all of their questions, he followed their directions, and before long, they packed up and left, determining that nothing was wrong with him overall, but urging him to go to a hospital should anything unusual arise.

"Let's go home," Seto said, "It's been a long day for us all." Emiko was still holding Mokuba rather tightly by the shoulders, but the young boy wriggled free of her grip as Seto turned to walk out. Emiko was frozen in place. She was still in shock from the events that had just transpired. She looked up at the duelling arena, lost in thought, when Seto turned back and asked, "Emiko? Are you coming?" She looked at him, then nodded, walking quickly to catch up with them. Mokuba was rubbing the last of his tears from his now-red eyes as he climbed into the limo that was waiting outside for them. Seto got into the car after, followed by Emiko, who remained completely silent. She wondered, "What in the world happened? He seems different somehow." She stared out at the night sky over Domino City as the car curved and swayed with each turn.

"It's as if the cold, uncaring Seto we knew yesterday is gone, replaced with the old Seto we used to love," she thought, "No, there's no way. He wouldn't just switch like that." She thought back about what Mokuba had said earlier and thought, "Could it have been something Yugi did?" The car came to a stop outside the manor and the three siblings got out. They walked inside and put their shoes, coats, and bags in their respective places. Seto calmly flicked on the lights and Emiko looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Seto...?" she said gently, "I-I'm sorry, but we really need to get to bed." Mokuba started to protest, but Emiko scolded him softly, "No buts, Mokuba. It's almost 10:00. We have school in the morning. Besides, I think we're all tired." Seto nodded and said, "Alright." Mokuba smiled at the two older siblings before turning to walk up the stairs to get ready for bed. Emiko and Seto watched him go. He started to go upstairs, but then turned and said, "Good night, Seto. Good night, Emiko." Emiko smiled and said, "Good night, Mokuba." Seto nodded. Emiko turned to Seto and said, "I guess that means I should go, too. Good night, Seto." He nodded and said, "Alright. Good night, Emiko." She walked out of the room as Seto walked to the living room and sat heavily onto the couch, letting out an audible sigh. She shut her door softly behind her before going into her bathroom to change out of her damp, dirty school uniform and into her light, white nightgown, which had the Kaiba Corporation logo embroidered on the collar. She walked out, running a brush through her hair, and looked out her window at the starry sky.

"It's so strange," she pondered, "It's almost like his mind was reset." She sighed and put the brush back on her bathroom counter before going out to check on Mokuba. She peeked into his bedroom and saw him already tucked into bed, sleeping. She returned to her own room, turned off the lights, and fell into her bed, letting sleep wash over her.

October 16, 2020 – 2066 Words