Hello!
Ask and ye shall receive. You spoil me with awesome reviews, so I spoil you with a new chapter. That seems like a good deal to me. It's a fairly long chapter too. I kind of got carried away.
Now to answer a few questions/comments:
Jenn: There is no yaoi in this one, because I didn't plot it out that way. But who knows, I may try my hand at it later.
Silver Dragon: I quote - "WHY THE HELL IS PEGASUS YUGI'S _GUIDE_????" - This had me rolling! I just thought it was funny. The reason is this: I'm a great admirer of irony. Pegasus was the least likely to be Yugi's guide, which is why I chose him. I've been having quite a lot of fun with him.
Starheart: Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.
To everyone else: I'm very grateful for your kind and encouraging comments. Believe me, it's made writing this story much easier. I wish there was a way to reply to you all individually without taking up an entire chapter, but know that I do appreciate every comment.
Now to the story. Enjoy!
****
Part 4: Conflicting Emotions
Yugi looked down at his left hand, feeling a strange warm sensation flowing through him. There was nothing in his hand, though. He wasn't holding anything. He figured it could be part of the injuries he'd seen his body sustain, but he doubted that it'd feel this way. He felt good, as if he were being bathed in love and caring. He couldn't help but smile a little at the feeling.
"Is something funny, Yugi?" Pegasus asked, startling Yugi out of his musings.
"No, but I think there's someone talking to me," Yugi replied, straining to make out the words. He could hear a soft mumbling, but couldn't make out what was being said. He felt as if he wanted to listen, wanted to follow the soothing voice.
"Nonsense, Yugi-boy. The only one talking to you is me. Besides, you have more important things to worry about."
Yugi turned his head to regard the older man walking beside him. "Like what?"
"Your future, of course. You're here to decide whether to live or die, and I'm here to present you with people who are going to help you make that decision."
"So far, it hasn't been helpful," Yugi reminded the man. "Seto Kaiba said he wanted me dead."
Pegasus turned towards him, his mouth quirking up in a smile. "Not everyone is going to like you, but they won't all be that bad. I think Kaiba-boy just doesn't like you."
Yugi sighed, already tired of all of this. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about what Kaiba had said to him. What if Kaiba was right? What if unconsciously, Yugi really had set out to ruin Kaiba's life as revenge for what Kaiba had done to his grandfather? He supposed that it was possible. He couldn't say for certain that he hadn't done it. After all, he had been very upset and worried about his grandfather, and angry and Kaiba. Who is to say what he did or didn't do in the heat of the moment?
Yugi shook his head, attempting to block out the dark thoughts attempting to hijack his mind. He had been protecting his grandfather that night, nothing more.
"Having second thoughts?"
Startled, Yugi jumped slightly at the unexpected voice. "Second thoughts about what?"
Pegasus shrugged. "What Kaiba said to you?"
"No," Yugi answered quickly, wincing at how defensive he sounded. "Kaiba was mistaken. I didn't do anything to him, I just taught him about the heart of the cards."
Pegasus chuckled. "You can think that if it makes you feel better. I won't stop you."
They continued to walk in silence until they found themselves at a small stream. The gurgling water soothed Yugi's frayed nerves and the soft sound of the tree limbs rustling in the wind gave the place a serene aura. The serenity did not last long, however.
"Looky here, Yugi-boy," Pegasus said, pointing to a spot off to their right. "Your next visitors have arrived."
Yugi turned to where Pegasus was indicating and smiled widely as soon as he saw who it was.
"Joey, Tristan!" Yugi yelled and jogged a little to catch up to his two friends. He stopped in front of them, and frowned when the two guys didn't return either the greeting or the smile.
"Look, Joey, it's that annoying kid," Tristan said, tapping Joey on the shoulder. "What do you want to do with him today?"
Yugi's mouth dropped open, stunned at the contempt in Tristan's voice. He hadn't heard that tone from them in quite a while, not since they'd stopped bullying him.
Joey grinned. "There's a stream over there," he said, pointing to where Pegasus was still standing. "Let's give him a dunk."
Tristan reached out to grab Yugi's shirt, but Yugi took a couple of steps back.
"Guys, what are you doing? This isn't you anymore. We're friends now, remember?" Yugi said, looking from one guy to the other, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Friends?" Joey asked, sneering. "I don't think so. Guys like us don't associate with a shrimp like you."
"Yeah," Tristan chimed in. "The only thing you're good for is bullying." Tristan took another step towards Yugi, but Yugi once again avoided the grasp.
"You don't want to do this, guys. Come on, you've changed. We've all changed. Remember Duelist Kingdom? Joey, your sister and her operation, remember that?"
Joey's face darkened, and he took a step towards Yugi.
"How do you know about that, you little freak? Who have you been talking to?"
Yugi looked from one to the other again, not believing that he was hearing them treat him like that again. It had hurt enough the first time, and it hurt now even more. After everything they'd gone through, how could Joey and Tristan still act this way?
"You told me, Joey."
Joey shook his head. "Nope, I didn't. I wouldn't tell you anything like that. Now come here." Joey reached out to grab Yugi's shirt, and Yugi wasn't fast enough this time. He felt Joey tightening his grip on the shirt, causing the fabric to put pressure on Yugi's neck.
"Let me go," Yugi said, trying to pry Joey's hands off his shirt with no success.
"Let him go, Wheeler."
Yugi shifted his focus, since he couldn't move his head, and saw Téa standing a few feet beside him, glaring at Joey.
"What are you going to do to me if I don't?"
"She isn't going to do anything, Joey," Yugi said, pulling back as hard as he could. To his surprise, he managed to successfully pull himself out of Joey's grasp. He'd never been able to do that before. "I can do it myself."
Yugi felt a hand clenching his heart and squeezing it for all it was worth at seeing his best friends treating him with such disregard. He felt so small and alone again, which was something he'd hoped to never feel again. He turned to Téa and gave her a small, grateful smile. When he turned back, Joey and Tristan were gone.
"Don't pay attention to them, Yugi. They're ignorant and misguided," Téa said. She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Yugi nodded, hating himself for the tears he could feel pooling in his eyes. He still couldn't believe it. It shouldn't affect him that much, because Joey and Tristan had bullied him for a while before they'd become friends. That didn't diminish the disappointment and hurt, though.
"I'm fine, Téa. I'm curious. Why do you stand up for me? You always have, and I don't think I ever thanked you, or asked you why you did it."
It was suddenly very important for him to know. Just as he didn't know what it was about him that got people to pick on him, he didn't know why Téa and a couple of others stood up for him.
She shrugged and seemed at a loss for words. She took his arm and led him to the stream. They stopped at the edge of the water and looked down into the stream, watching their distorted reflections on the surface.
"You see that?"
Yugi frowned and looked down harder. "See what?"
Téa smiled. "Your reflection, Yugi. There's something about you that everyone sees. To some, like me, it's something good and kind, something I want to protect and cherish. To others, like Joey and Tristan, it's something to be destroyed."
Yugi's frown deepened, but he continued to stare down at his reflection. He didn't see anything special there. He looked normal. There was nothing special about him at all. He was small and rather useless, which was probably why people loved to pick on him.
"As long as you don't see what I see, Yugi, you won't know your true worth," she commented, almost as if she'd been reading his mind. Téa turned away from the stream and looked at him. "As long as you believe you're unworthy, you're never going to leave this place. I've done what I can; the rest is up to you."
She leaned forward and hugged him quickly, before turning and walking away. After a few moments, she disappeared.
"What a touching moment," Pegasus finally piped up, sniffling theatrically and wiping his dry eyes.
Yugi kept his back to Pegasus, struggling to rein in his wildly conflicting emotions. He was touched and confused by what Téa had said to him. He wasn't quite sure what she had meant, but he was scared of never getting out of this crazy situation he found himself in. He had to do something and he had to do it fast.
****
Seto Kaiba was dragging his feet and he knew it.
"Come on, Seto, you're walking too slowly."
Kaiba sighed and quickened his pace slightly, if only to better keep track of his much faster moving younger brother.
Mokuba had heard about what happened to Yugi on the news, and had been worriedly pacing the living room when he'd finally made it back home. He'd insisted he be taken to the hospital, and after Kaiba had seen the worried look in Mokuba's eyes, he'd decided that it would be better to take Mokuba to see Yugi. Kaiba didn't know how Yugi was, but he hoped to find out before he let Mokuba anywhere near him.
"Mokuba, wait by those chairs over there, okay? I need to speak to the nurse."
He saw Mokuba turn an annoyed face towards him, before reluctantly sitting down on one of the chairs he'd pointed at. Mokuba's feet moved constantly, burning off excess energy. With a resigned sigh, Kaiba turned towards the nurse manning the station.
"I'm looking for Yugi Moto. He was brought in earlier. Can you tell me what room he's in?"
The nurse gave him a sympathetic glance, before looking down at her computer. After some typing, she returned her attention to him.
"Mr. Moto is in room 423. You can take the elevator up there, sir."
Kaiba nodded, and then walked over to collect Mokuba. "Come on kid, let's go up the elevator."
When they exited on the fourth floor, Kaiba immediately saw the posted room numbers and turned right, following the curve of the corridor until he found the room he was looking for. He was about to reach for the door when it opened, and a very tired Mr. Moto walked out of the room.
The elder man stopped, startled out of his musings. He looked up and his faced hardened immediately when he saw Kaiba.
"You. What are you doing here?"
Kaiba swallowed at the anger in the elder man's voice, but held his ground. He schooled his features into their usual mask of indifference, and made sure that his voice was cold and devoid of any emotion.
"My brother and your grandson are friends and he was concerned for him. I simply brought him so he could see how Yugi was doing."
Yugi's grandfather blinked, then looked down at the silent Mokuba.
"Mokuba, I hadn't seen you there. You can go in and see Yugi if you want. He's still unconscious, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the visit."
Mokuba smiled, glanced up at Kaiba for his okay, and then slowly went into Yugi's room.
"I don't want you anywhere near my grandson," Yugi's grandfather said softly so only Kaiba could hear.
Kaiba felt the familiar anger stirring in his gut. "I didn't do anything to him," he ground out between clenched teeth. "Besides, who do you think brought him here?"
The elder man's features softened momentarily, before the angry mask returned. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Kaiba squared his shoulders, clearly towering over the man. "I found Joey and Yugi and gave them a ride to the hospital so they wouldn't have to wait for an ambulance."
Yugi's grandfather's features suddenly fell, as if he'd gotten tired of keeping up the angry façade. He took a deep breath, and then let it out. When he looked up again, Kaiba could see unshed tears shinning in his eyes.
"In that case, thank you."
With those words, the elder man walked away, leaving Kaiba standing alone in the hallway.
Kaiba made his way to the door of the private room and looked through the small window. He saw Yugi lying on the bed. He seemed peaceful, as if he were sleeping. There was a bandage around his head, which Kaiba knew couldn't be a good sign. He also saw Mokuba sitting on the edge of Yugi's bed, trying to rearrange the blankets around Yugi to give him more protection. On the other side of the bed he saw Joey. Joey's head lifted in that instant and their eyes met. Even through the door, Kaiba could feel the piercing hatred emanating from Joey. Before he could stop it, Kaiba smirked. Joey's face clouded in anger and he started to get up from the chair. However, he glanced at Yugi momentarily and the fight went out of him. Instead, he slumped back onto the chair and ignored Kaiba.
Kaiba, too, chose to ignore Joey. Instead, he watched Mokuba rearrange Yugi's blankets. He didn't know how or why those two had gotten to be friends, but he had to admit that a deep part of him was glad. Mokuba needed friends and Yugi treated him like he treated everyone else: with respect and honesty. Kaiba hated to admit that he was grateful for that. He also hated to admit that he was worried enough about Yugi to want to walk into the room and ask Joey what was wrong. He held himself in check, however. After a few minutes, Mokuba exited the room.
"Okay, big brother. Thank you for bringing me."
Kaiba looked down at Mokuba and noted that the boy seemed very sad.
"Joey says that Yugi hasn't woken up and that the doctors don't know if he ever will."
Kaiba swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, telling himself that it was because he hated to see Mokuba so upset.
"He'll get better, Mokuba, you'll see."
****
Joey watched Mokuba leave the room, grateful for the solitude. He could hear the Kaiba brothers speaking out in the hall and wished that they would just go away. He liked Mokuba, but could do without seeing Seto.
He sighed and leaned back on the chair. His eyes landed on everything in the room except for Yugi. He couldn't stand to see his friend lying so helpless, especially when there was nothing he could do about it. For the last few hours, he'd kept replaying the events of the day in his head, wondering what he could have done differently to keep this from happening. No matter how often he did it, he couldn't come up with a damn thing. He should have stopped Yugi from leaving school, gone home with him, or he should have reacted faster when he found the pieces of the puzzle. Anything would have been better than what he'd ended up doing.
Joey rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his head in his hands. He should have done something.
"Joey?"
Joey's head snapped up, immediately searching for the owner of the voice. He frowned when he saw that the room was empty. He got up and did an inspection of the room. He even opened the door to look outside. Mr. Moto wasn't back yet, Bakura had gone home for a few hours and the Kaiba brothers were nowhere to be found. Was he hearing things?
"If you can hear me, Joey, answer me."
Joey jumped slightly, startled.
"Who are you? Where are you hiding?"
"I am not hiding. However, I am very weak. It is a miracle that you can hear me."
"Who are you?"
There was silence. Joey was beginning to think that he'd been imagining things, when he heard the voice again.
"I am the spirit of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Okay, so why can I hear you? I thought only Yugi could hear you."
There was silence again, and when Joey heard the voice this time, it was much weaker.
"I am desperate. Yugi needs help, and I need to help him. However, I can't do it because the puzzle is in pieces and is not on Yugi."
Joey waited for the spirit to continue, having gone past astonishment and disbelief when the spirit said that Yugi was in trouble. When nothing happened, he spoke again.
"What can I do?"
There was another long pause.
"You can put the puzzle together."
"What? Are you out of your mind? It took Yugi years to put it together in the first place. Even though he was able to put it back together in minutes just a few weeks ago, that doesn't mean that I can do it."
"You have to try. I can barely feel Yugi's spirit, but it is troubled. I must help him. Take the puzzle out, put it around Yugi's neck and put it together, Joey. It is Yugi's only chance."
****
Can Joey put the puzzle together, or is it going to be too late for Yami to help? And what's up with Kaiba? Is he getting soft in his rip old age. just kidding. More to come soon!
Ask and ye shall receive. You spoil me with awesome reviews, so I spoil you with a new chapter. That seems like a good deal to me. It's a fairly long chapter too. I kind of got carried away.
Now to answer a few questions/comments:
Jenn: There is no yaoi in this one, because I didn't plot it out that way. But who knows, I may try my hand at it later.
Silver Dragon: I quote - "WHY THE HELL IS PEGASUS YUGI'S _GUIDE_????" - This had me rolling! I just thought it was funny. The reason is this: I'm a great admirer of irony. Pegasus was the least likely to be Yugi's guide, which is why I chose him. I've been having quite a lot of fun with him.
Starheart: Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.
To everyone else: I'm very grateful for your kind and encouraging comments. Believe me, it's made writing this story much easier. I wish there was a way to reply to you all individually without taking up an entire chapter, but know that I do appreciate every comment.
Now to the story. Enjoy!
****
Part 4: Conflicting Emotions
Yugi looked down at his left hand, feeling a strange warm sensation flowing through him. There was nothing in his hand, though. He wasn't holding anything. He figured it could be part of the injuries he'd seen his body sustain, but he doubted that it'd feel this way. He felt good, as if he were being bathed in love and caring. He couldn't help but smile a little at the feeling.
"Is something funny, Yugi?" Pegasus asked, startling Yugi out of his musings.
"No, but I think there's someone talking to me," Yugi replied, straining to make out the words. He could hear a soft mumbling, but couldn't make out what was being said. He felt as if he wanted to listen, wanted to follow the soothing voice.
"Nonsense, Yugi-boy. The only one talking to you is me. Besides, you have more important things to worry about."
Yugi turned his head to regard the older man walking beside him. "Like what?"
"Your future, of course. You're here to decide whether to live or die, and I'm here to present you with people who are going to help you make that decision."
"So far, it hasn't been helpful," Yugi reminded the man. "Seto Kaiba said he wanted me dead."
Pegasus turned towards him, his mouth quirking up in a smile. "Not everyone is going to like you, but they won't all be that bad. I think Kaiba-boy just doesn't like you."
Yugi sighed, already tired of all of this. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about what Kaiba had said to him. What if Kaiba was right? What if unconsciously, Yugi really had set out to ruin Kaiba's life as revenge for what Kaiba had done to his grandfather? He supposed that it was possible. He couldn't say for certain that he hadn't done it. After all, he had been very upset and worried about his grandfather, and angry and Kaiba. Who is to say what he did or didn't do in the heat of the moment?
Yugi shook his head, attempting to block out the dark thoughts attempting to hijack his mind. He had been protecting his grandfather that night, nothing more.
"Having second thoughts?"
Startled, Yugi jumped slightly at the unexpected voice. "Second thoughts about what?"
Pegasus shrugged. "What Kaiba said to you?"
"No," Yugi answered quickly, wincing at how defensive he sounded. "Kaiba was mistaken. I didn't do anything to him, I just taught him about the heart of the cards."
Pegasus chuckled. "You can think that if it makes you feel better. I won't stop you."
They continued to walk in silence until they found themselves at a small stream. The gurgling water soothed Yugi's frayed nerves and the soft sound of the tree limbs rustling in the wind gave the place a serene aura. The serenity did not last long, however.
"Looky here, Yugi-boy," Pegasus said, pointing to a spot off to their right. "Your next visitors have arrived."
Yugi turned to where Pegasus was indicating and smiled widely as soon as he saw who it was.
"Joey, Tristan!" Yugi yelled and jogged a little to catch up to his two friends. He stopped in front of them, and frowned when the two guys didn't return either the greeting or the smile.
"Look, Joey, it's that annoying kid," Tristan said, tapping Joey on the shoulder. "What do you want to do with him today?"
Yugi's mouth dropped open, stunned at the contempt in Tristan's voice. He hadn't heard that tone from them in quite a while, not since they'd stopped bullying him.
Joey grinned. "There's a stream over there," he said, pointing to where Pegasus was still standing. "Let's give him a dunk."
Tristan reached out to grab Yugi's shirt, but Yugi took a couple of steps back.
"Guys, what are you doing? This isn't you anymore. We're friends now, remember?" Yugi said, looking from one guy to the other, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Friends?" Joey asked, sneering. "I don't think so. Guys like us don't associate with a shrimp like you."
"Yeah," Tristan chimed in. "The only thing you're good for is bullying." Tristan took another step towards Yugi, but Yugi once again avoided the grasp.
"You don't want to do this, guys. Come on, you've changed. We've all changed. Remember Duelist Kingdom? Joey, your sister and her operation, remember that?"
Joey's face darkened, and he took a step towards Yugi.
"How do you know about that, you little freak? Who have you been talking to?"
Yugi looked from one to the other again, not believing that he was hearing them treat him like that again. It had hurt enough the first time, and it hurt now even more. After everything they'd gone through, how could Joey and Tristan still act this way?
"You told me, Joey."
Joey shook his head. "Nope, I didn't. I wouldn't tell you anything like that. Now come here." Joey reached out to grab Yugi's shirt, and Yugi wasn't fast enough this time. He felt Joey tightening his grip on the shirt, causing the fabric to put pressure on Yugi's neck.
"Let me go," Yugi said, trying to pry Joey's hands off his shirt with no success.
"Let him go, Wheeler."
Yugi shifted his focus, since he couldn't move his head, and saw Téa standing a few feet beside him, glaring at Joey.
"What are you going to do to me if I don't?"
"She isn't going to do anything, Joey," Yugi said, pulling back as hard as he could. To his surprise, he managed to successfully pull himself out of Joey's grasp. He'd never been able to do that before. "I can do it myself."
Yugi felt a hand clenching his heart and squeezing it for all it was worth at seeing his best friends treating him with such disregard. He felt so small and alone again, which was something he'd hoped to never feel again. He turned to Téa and gave her a small, grateful smile. When he turned back, Joey and Tristan were gone.
"Don't pay attention to them, Yugi. They're ignorant and misguided," Téa said. She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Yugi nodded, hating himself for the tears he could feel pooling in his eyes. He still couldn't believe it. It shouldn't affect him that much, because Joey and Tristan had bullied him for a while before they'd become friends. That didn't diminish the disappointment and hurt, though.
"I'm fine, Téa. I'm curious. Why do you stand up for me? You always have, and I don't think I ever thanked you, or asked you why you did it."
It was suddenly very important for him to know. Just as he didn't know what it was about him that got people to pick on him, he didn't know why Téa and a couple of others stood up for him.
She shrugged and seemed at a loss for words. She took his arm and led him to the stream. They stopped at the edge of the water and looked down into the stream, watching their distorted reflections on the surface.
"You see that?"
Yugi frowned and looked down harder. "See what?"
Téa smiled. "Your reflection, Yugi. There's something about you that everyone sees. To some, like me, it's something good and kind, something I want to protect and cherish. To others, like Joey and Tristan, it's something to be destroyed."
Yugi's frown deepened, but he continued to stare down at his reflection. He didn't see anything special there. He looked normal. There was nothing special about him at all. He was small and rather useless, which was probably why people loved to pick on him.
"As long as you don't see what I see, Yugi, you won't know your true worth," she commented, almost as if she'd been reading his mind. Téa turned away from the stream and looked at him. "As long as you believe you're unworthy, you're never going to leave this place. I've done what I can; the rest is up to you."
She leaned forward and hugged him quickly, before turning and walking away. After a few moments, she disappeared.
"What a touching moment," Pegasus finally piped up, sniffling theatrically and wiping his dry eyes.
Yugi kept his back to Pegasus, struggling to rein in his wildly conflicting emotions. He was touched and confused by what Téa had said to him. He wasn't quite sure what she had meant, but he was scared of never getting out of this crazy situation he found himself in. He had to do something and he had to do it fast.
****
Seto Kaiba was dragging his feet and he knew it.
"Come on, Seto, you're walking too slowly."
Kaiba sighed and quickened his pace slightly, if only to better keep track of his much faster moving younger brother.
Mokuba had heard about what happened to Yugi on the news, and had been worriedly pacing the living room when he'd finally made it back home. He'd insisted he be taken to the hospital, and after Kaiba had seen the worried look in Mokuba's eyes, he'd decided that it would be better to take Mokuba to see Yugi. Kaiba didn't know how Yugi was, but he hoped to find out before he let Mokuba anywhere near him.
"Mokuba, wait by those chairs over there, okay? I need to speak to the nurse."
He saw Mokuba turn an annoyed face towards him, before reluctantly sitting down on one of the chairs he'd pointed at. Mokuba's feet moved constantly, burning off excess energy. With a resigned sigh, Kaiba turned towards the nurse manning the station.
"I'm looking for Yugi Moto. He was brought in earlier. Can you tell me what room he's in?"
The nurse gave him a sympathetic glance, before looking down at her computer. After some typing, she returned her attention to him.
"Mr. Moto is in room 423. You can take the elevator up there, sir."
Kaiba nodded, and then walked over to collect Mokuba. "Come on kid, let's go up the elevator."
When they exited on the fourth floor, Kaiba immediately saw the posted room numbers and turned right, following the curve of the corridor until he found the room he was looking for. He was about to reach for the door when it opened, and a very tired Mr. Moto walked out of the room.
The elder man stopped, startled out of his musings. He looked up and his faced hardened immediately when he saw Kaiba.
"You. What are you doing here?"
Kaiba swallowed at the anger in the elder man's voice, but held his ground. He schooled his features into their usual mask of indifference, and made sure that his voice was cold and devoid of any emotion.
"My brother and your grandson are friends and he was concerned for him. I simply brought him so he could see how Yugi was doing."
Yugi's grandfather blinked, then looked down at the silent Mokuba.
"Mokuba, I hadn't seen you there. You can go in and see Yugi if you want. He's still unconscious, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the visit."
Mokuba smiled, glanced up at Kaiba for his okay, and then slowly went into Yugi's room.
"I don't want you anywhere near my grandson," Yugi's grandfather said softly so only Kaiba could hear.
Kaiba felt the familiar anger stirring in his gut. "I didn't do anything to him," he ground out between clenched teeth. "Besides, who do you think brought him here?"
The elder man's features softened momentarily, before the angry mask returned. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Kaiba squared his shoulders, clearly towering over the man. "I found Joey and Yugi and gave them a ride to the hospital so they wouldn't have to wait for an ambulance."
Yugi's grandfather's features suddenly fell, as if he'd gotten tired of keeping up the angry façade. He took a deep breath, and then let it out. When he looked up again, Kaiba could see unshed tears shinning in his eyes.
"In that case, thank you."
With those words, the elder man walked away, leaving Kaiba standing alone in the hallway.
Kaiba made his way to the door of the private room and looked through the small window. He saw Yugi lying on the bed. He seemed peaceful, as if he were sleeping. There was a bandage around his head, which Kaiba knew couldn't be a good sign. He also saw Mokuba sitting on the edge of Yugi's bed, trying to rearrange the blankets around Yugi to give him more protection. On the other side of the bed he saw Joey. Joey's head lifted in that instant and their eyes met. Even through the door, Kaiba could feel the piercing hatred emanating from Joey. Before he could stop it, Kaiba smirked. Joey's face clouded in anger and he started to get up from the chair. However, he glanced at Yugi momentarily and the fight went out of him. Instead, he slumped back onto the chair and ignored Kaiba.
Kaiba, too, chose to ignore Joey. Instead, he watched Mokuba rearrange Yugi's blankets. He didn't know how or why those two had gotten to be friends, but he had to admit that a deep part of him was glad. Mokuba needed friends and Yugi treated him like he treated everyone else: with respect and honesty. Kaiba hated to admit that he was grateful for that. He also hated to admit that he was worried enough about Yugi to want to walk into the room and ask Joey what was wrong. He held himself in check, however. After a few minutes, Mokuba exited the room.
"Okay, big brother. Thank you for bringing me."
Kaiba looked down at Mokuba and noted that the boy seemed very sad.
"Joey says that Yugi hasn't woken up and that the doctors don't know if he ever will."
Kaiba swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, telling himself that it was because he hated to see Mokuba so upset.
"He'll get better, Mokuba, you'll see."
****
Joey watched Mokuba leave the room, grateful for the solitude. He could hear the Kaiba brothers speaking out in the hall and wished that they would just go away. He liked Mokuba, but could do without seeing Seto.
He sighed and leaned back on the chair. His eyes landed on everything in the room except for Yugi. He couldn't stand to see his friend lying so helpless, especially when there was nothing he could do about it. For the last few hours, he'd kept replaying the events of the day in his head, wondering what he could have done differently to keep this from happening. No matter how often he did it, he couldn't come up with a damn thing. He should have stopped Yugi from leaving school, gone home with him, or he should have reacted faster when he found the pieces of the puzzle. Anything would have been better than what he'd ended up doing.
Joey rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his head in his hands. He should have done something.
"Joey?"
Joey's head snapped up, immediately searching for the owner of the voice. He frowned when he saw that the room was empty. He got up and did an inspection of the room. He even opened the door to look outside. Mr. Moto wasn't back yet, Bakura had gone home for a few hours and the Kaiba brothers were nowhere to be found. Was he hearing things?
"If you can hear me, Joey, answer me."
Joey jumped slightly, startled.
"Who are you? Where are you hiding?"
"I am not hiding. However, I am very weak. It is a miracle that you can hear me."
"Who are you?"
There was silence. Joey was beginning to think that he'd been imagining things, when he heard the voice again.
"I am the spirit of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Okay, so why can I hear you? I thought only Yugi could hear you."
There was silence again, and when Joey heard the voice this time, it was much weaker.
"I am desperate. Yugi needs help, and I need to help him. However, I can't do it because the puzzle is in pieces and is not on Yugi."
Joey waited for the spirit to continue, having gone past astonishment and disbelief when the spirit said that Yugi was in trouble. When nothing happened, he spoke again.
"What can I do?"
There was another long pause.
"You can put the puzzle together."
"What? Are you out of your mind? It took Yugi years to put it together in the first place. Even though he was able to put it back together in minutes just a few weeks ago, that doesn't mean that I can do it."
"You have to try. I can barely feel Yugi's spirit, but it is troubled. I must help him. Take the puzzle out, put it around Yugi's neck and put it together, Joey. It is Yugi's only chance."
****
Can Joey put the puzzle together, or is it going to be too late for Yami to help? And what's up with Kaiba? Is he getting soft in his rip old age. just kidding. More to come soon!