Greetings!
Welcome to the next chapter. . . This one is a little bit longer, so hopefully it'll make up for the lack of updates.
First note: This story has officially become slightly AU. When I started writing this, I hadn't seen any of the Battle City episodes, so I had no clue what would end up happening. Now that I have, my story doesn't match the way the show ends up through Battle City. So, we'll assume that the story takes place before Kaiba announces the tournament, but after he goes to see Ishizu at the museum.
Second note: I'm using Ishizu Ishthal as the girl's name. It's probably spelled wrong, but this was the only spelling I found. I'm not even sure what her Japanese name is. . . the English subtitles on the DVDs are truly horrendous.
Now on to the replies:
Jadesaber: This chapter finally has the Yugi/Kaiba conversation I've been promising forever and ever. I hope it was worth the wait!
Starheart: Okay, so I can't do without those cliffhangers. . . I guess it's just ingrained.
Crossover Authoress: Yup, really liked the idea of a Braille deck. I'll have to think of a way to use that.
Sci fi fan: I love your name, by the way. . . I'm somewhat of a sci fi nut myself, though I don't have much time to watch TV these days.
Katya: Yup, poor Yugi. But you know that we all love to make him miserable just so we can kiss it and make it feel better later.
I Love Yugi and Kurt: X Men Evolution is a great show. I like Kurt as well as Scott. I wish KidsWB would show more new episodes of that. Then again, I wish they'd show more new episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! as well.
stupid kid 04: I'm so sorry to hear about your cousin. Is she doing any better? The thing about swelling in the brain is that it really will get better over time and with the proper care. I hope that your cousin is okay.
Luna339: Glad you're enjoying the story. Not sure if this update counts as 'soon' but it was out as soon as I could get it.
Mutou Yasu: Seto-kun is great to mess with because he's got such angst potential. I mean, there's got to be a reason why he's so cold and ruthless to everyone else except Mokuba. Given the right motivation, I think he can learn to care for others. I'm hoping to find that motivation in this fic!
Stormy_rose: YAY! Poor Yugi needed a break. besides, everyone made it absolutely clear that they didn't want Yugi to be blind. Though I was very tempted to keep him that way. . . :o))
QueenofHearts: Am I going to make Yugi alright? Hmm. that's a good question. What kind of cliffhanger loving author would I be if I answered that? :o)
Yami Cleopatra: Yugi being able to see is a good thing, right? Yup, thought so. . . it made lots of people happy!
Thank you all again for taking the time to review!! I do appreciate it, and it's much easier to write a story that I know people are waiting for. You're the best!
Now on to the story. Enjoy!
*~*
Part 11: Mystery of the God Cards
"That's wonderful, doctor! How long is it going to be before my grandson regains his sight?" Solomon asked.
Yugi could hear the happiness in his grandfather's voice and couldn't help but grin. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Yes, there was still something wrong with him, and he was still in pain, but now there was hope of him getting better with time.
"That depends on your grandson, Mr. Moto," Dr. Suzuki replied. "If he stays in bed, takes his medication as prescribed, and gets a lot of rest, he'll recuperate much faster than if he decides to leave the hospital again."
Now Yugi felt his cheeks burning. He ducked his head to keep the others from seeing the embarrassment on his face.
"Sorry. That was really dumb of me to do."
"Yes, Yugi, it was," his grandfather said. "You had us all worried. What could have been so important that you had to leave the hospital without telling us?"
Yugi swallowed, but said nothing. His grandfather wouldn't understand why he'd done it, anyway. He wasn't sure that his friends would understand either. Yami certainly didn't, but he just had to do it.
* Honesty is the best policy, Yugi. Isn't that what you're always telling me? *
A small smile crept up on Yugi's face.
** Do you always pay attention to everything I say, Yami? **
The spirit actually laughed. * No, only those things I can use against you later *
When Yugi declined to answer his grandfather's question, the doctor spoke up. "I'm going to talk to your grandfather now, Yugi. He'll be back in a little while. Use the call button on the right side of your bed if you need assistance."
With that, the doctor and his grandfather left. Yugi wasn't exactly sure who was still in the room with him, but he could tell that he wasn't alone.
"Um, Yug, aren't those my clothes you're wearing?"
Yugi turned in the direction of Joey's voice and gave the older teen a sheepish grin. He felt along his arms at the folded sleeves of the shirt he wore.
"Sorry, Joey. I couldn't find my clothes, but I found your backpack and borrowed these. I'll give them back as soon as I'm out of the hospital."
"It's okay, Yugi. They look ridiculous on you, though," Joey said, his voice tainted with humor.
Yugi laughed. "Yeah, I bet. They feel pretty big on me. Oh, here," Yugi said and pulled out the wallet he'd been carrying. "I found this in the pants pocket." Yugi held it out, trusting Joey to take it from his hand.
"I was wondering where this was. I thought I'd left it at home. Which reminds me, I'm supposed to call Tristan and Tea to tell them what the doctor said."
Yugi nodded. "They had to leave?"
"Yeah. Tea didn't want to go, but her parents came to pick her up. They said to tell you to rest and take care of yourself. Tristan also had to go home because of his parents."
"Okay. Say hi to them for me, Joey."
"Will do, Yug. See ya in a bit!"
Yugi heard Joey leave, and then settled down onto the pillows. He closed his eyes and was about to try to sleep, when something caught his attention.
"Who else is here? I can feel someone else in the room."
There was silence in the room for a bit, before a softer voice answered.
"I'm also here, Yugi."
"Bakura! Why didn't you say something? How are you doing?" Yugi asked, glad to know that Bakura was still around. He'd seemed odd to Yugi the last time he'd seen him, which had made him wonder if there was something wrong.
"I'm doing okay. How are you feeling?"
Yugi winced slightly as he considered the various aches and pains he felt throughout his body, but concentrated more on the ones in his head. "I'm pretty tired, actually. I still hurt all over, especially my head. There's some soreness around my neck too," he said and rubbed the spot, hissing as he hit a particularly sore point on the side of his neck.
Bakura was quiet for a moment, long enough that Yugi started to wonder if his friend had left the room.
"Bakura?"
"I'm sorry, Yugi, I did that," Bakura finally said, and Yugi could hear the remorse in his voice.
"What? What do you mean? What did you do?"
"I.. I didn't want to, I..."
Yugi turned his head in the direction of Bakura's voice, but he seemed to be further away, as if he were standing at the other end of the room. Even so, Yugi could still hear the sorrow in his voice.
"The spirit of the ring wanted the puzzle and he... well, he wanted to kill you to get it and I.. I lost control, Yugi. I fought him, I swear I did, but he won." Bakura's words were getting faster and louder as he spoke. The sound of the pain the desperation there were like knives to Yugi's heart. "By the time I regained control, I opened my eyes to see my hands wrapped around your neck. I'm so sorry.. so very sorry." Bakura's voice broke, and Yugi could hear the soft sobs that the other teen was trying to repress.
"I'ts okay, Bakura. It wasn't you. I'm still alive, after all."
Bakura was quiet for a moment longer, before he spoke again. This time, his voice was much closer, as if he'd taken a few steps closer to Yugi's bed.
"It's not okay! I tried to kill you. How can you lay there and tell me that it's okay?"
"YOU didn't try to kill me, Bakura, the spirit of the ring did. That's a big difference. Besides, what would have happened if you hadn't regained control?" Yugi asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. His head was pounding, and he could barely stay awake, but he had to see this through for Bakura's sake.
Bakura didn't answer.
"The spirit would have strangled me, right, which means that you saved my life, Bakura. Isn't that worth something?
"I..."
"No buts, no excuses. You did what you had to do. I'm not going to hold you responsible for that, just as no one holds me responsible for almost killing Kaiba on the rooftop that day while we were still in Duelist Kingdom. Yami gave the order to attack, remember? I stopped it. If Kaiba had fallen to his death that day because of Yami's attack, would you have blamed me?"
"No, I wouldn't have," Bakura finally replied.
"Then don't blame yourself. Blame the spirit of the ring."
Bakura was silent. Yugi was beginning to worry that his friend had run off when he felt a hand squeezing his left hand. Yugi returned the gesture, and then covered Bakura's hand with his right.
"Don't stay away, okay? I'm going to need all of you to be my eyes until mine start working again, so please stick around."
"I will, Yugi. Thanks. Now I'm going to leave you to sleep, okay? I'm sure your grandfather or Joey will be back shortly."
"Thank you too, Bakura. I'll talk to you later."
Yugi heard Bakura leave and then leaned back once again.
* I'm going to kill that tomb robber as soon as I get a chance! *
** Now Yami, hurting the spirit would only harm Bakura. You don't want to do that **
* He tried to kill you! I'm not going to let him get away with it *
Yugi sighed. He was used to Yami's protectiveness. It was really sweet sometimes, but at times like this, Yugi wished that his partner wasn't so overbearing.
** The key word here is 'tried'. I'm still alive, so it doesn't matter **
Yami was quiet for a moment and Yugi could feel the spirit's confusion through their link.
* How can you be so forgiving? *
Yugi shrugged. ** Bakura didn't do anything to me, his spirit did. If there was a way for you to get back at him without harming Bakura, I might consider letting you do something. However, my friend is innocent. He didn't do anything wrong **
Yugi heard Yami sigh. *Let me take over for now, Yugi. You can retreat to your soul room and recover there. Your minds eye isn't blind, so you can see what you wish to see, do what you wish to do while I deal with things out there *
Yugi considered the offer for a moment, before nodding. ** Okay, Yami, have at it and have fun **
**~~**
Seto Kaiba walked down the hall that led to Yugi's room, suddenly nervous. He was still thinking about the way Yugi had treated him as Tea had led him to his room. During the limo ride to the hospital, Yugi had treated him as he treated all of his other friends, and Kaiba hated to admit that it had felt good. It had been nice to be regarded as a human being, instead of as just another person to be put up with. Suddenly however, Yugi's attitude had changed, and he'd treated Kaiba the way Joey did. He couldn't figure out what had happened.
He finally reached the door to the room, relieved that there was no one else inside. Yugi sat on his bed with his head turned in the direction of the opposite wall. Kaiba had been afraid that Yugi would be asleep, so he was glad to see that he wasn't.
He softly knocked on the door and let himself in. As soon as Yugi turned towards him, Kaiba knew that he wasn't looking at the teen he'd found in the street about to cross in front of incoming traffic. The person on the bed looked taller, his eyes were darker and more angled, and his face wore an expression of smugness and slight superiority, things that Kaiba had never seen on Yugi.
"You're not Yugi, are you?"
The person on the bed narrowed his eyes, before a smirk graced his features.
"It took you long enough to figure it out."
The voice was different too, deeper and more confident.
"Who are you?" Kaiba asked. "Where is Yugi?"
He walked up to the bed, his eyes never leaving Yugi's face. He'd never really been this close up to Yugi when this personality was in charge. This usually only happened during duels. Kaiba had noticed, but had dismissed the idea as nonsense. He'd been wrong to think that.
"What difference does it make if you know my name?"
"If I'm going to talk to you about the Egyptian God cards, I want to know your name."
"Very well. You can call me Yami. It's what Yugi and his friends call me. I am the spirit of an Egyptian Pharaoh and I now reside inside the Millennium Puzzle."
Kaiba saw Yami trace his hands over the puzzle he wore around his neck. "Yugi put the puzzle together several years ago, and I've been with him ever since."
"Where is Yugi now?"
Yami smiled slightly. "He is resting. The activities of the past few days have exhausted him. It's my duty to protect him, so I will deal with things until he is ready to take over again."
Suddenly, the spirit's smugness got to him, and Kaiba did what he always did in situations where he felt as if he were losing control.
"If you're supposed to protect him, where were you when he was originally attacked?"
The question hung heavy and accusing in the air. Kaiba saw Yami's jaw tighten, and his hands clenched the sheet underneath them even tighter. He turned in Kaiba's direction and Kaiba could see the intensity and anger in that glare. Yami looked like he wanted to get out of bed and deck Kaiba, but because he couldn't see, Kaiba knew that Yami was helpless to do anything.
Suddenly, Yami's eyes closed. When he reopened them, Kaiba found himself staring at Yugi.
"That was uncalled for, Kaiba. You have no idea what you're dealing with."
Yugi's voice was calm and held a tint of anger. Anger Kaiba could deal with. As a matter of fact, he was a master at it. It just seemed out of place in Yugi.
"He didn't answer the question. It's convenient for him to go away so he wouldn't have to answer it."
"He didn't 'go away', as you put it," Yugi countered. "I took control of the body away from him. I rarely do that, but it was necessary in this case."
"Why would that be?"
Yugi's face was blank of all emotion, but before that happened, Kaiba saw something akin to humor flash through Yugi's eyes.
"So you two wouldn't kill each other."
Kaiba's eyes widened at the response. He knew that Yugi didn't mean that literally, but it was still surprising to hear it.
"Okay. Can you answer the question then? If Yami is sworn to protect you, why didn't he protect you the day those guys attacked you?"
Yugi was quiet for a moment, his face facing Kaiba but his eyes focused somewhere else.
"Why do you care?" came the quiet response.
Kaiba opened his mouth to reply, but found that he didn't have an answer. Why did he care? Why did it seem so terribly important for him to know why Yami, if he could have prevented this from happening to Yugi, hadn't done so? Why did he feel anger in knowing that Yugi could be sitting at home right now, playing Duel Monsters, instead of in this hospital bed, blind, if Yami had helped him?
"You don't deserve this, Yugi. You shouldn't be here."
Yugi frowned at the reply. He took a deep breath and then released it, before laying his head back onto the pillow. He closed his eyes and rested his hands on his lap.
"Is that it? Do you only care because if I weren't here, then you wouldn't be here either? Is this all merely an inconvenience to you?"
Kaiba couldn't help but feel hurt at the statement.
"I thought you were different," Kaiba finally said. "I thought that when you treated me like an equal, a friend, you meant it."
"I thought you did too," Yugi replied, without opening his eyes.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Yugi opened his eyes again and turned his face towards Kaiba. "You told Joey that you were only sticking around because we made a deal, and you honored your business deals. That made me realize that the only reason you went out to look for me was because you still felt guilty about what you did to my grandfather. It's stupid, but in the limo, I thought that you were staying because I had asked you to, and because you cared."
Yugi's voice was soft and calm, but Kaiba could see the hurt reflected in his eyes.
Kaiba sighed. He hated these types of conversations. He wanted more than anything to walk away and never have to face this, but he couldn't. It was like he was rooted to the spot, but he had to stay and finish this.
"I don't know what it is about you, Yugi. When you talk to me, you see me as just me, not Kaiba the CEO or Kaiba the Duel Monsters Champion. Well, ex- champion since you have my title now," Kaiba added, chuckling slightly at the lame joke. He smiled when Yugi chuckled as well. "I meant it when I told Joey that I honor my business deals, but that's not the only reason I'm here. Call me selfish, but I like talking to you. I hate what's been done to you and want to help if I can. I realize that you may find that hard to believe, but it's the truth."
Yugi was quiet for a very long time, so long that he was beginning to wonder if the younger teen was okay. Finally, Yugi spoke.
"That is the most honest thing I think you've ever said to me, Kaiba. I appreciate it. For the record, you are just you. You're an annoying and arrogant pain in the butt sometimes, but you're not so bad when you want to be."
Kaiba laughed. "Gee, thanks, I think."
The two teens remained in companionable silence, until Yugi broke it.
"The puzzle was shattered."
"What?" Kaiba asked, confused at the sudden change in conversation.
"That's why Yami couldn't help me. I was attacked so suddenly that I barely had time to react. The guy shoved me against the wall, and the puzzle was shattered on impact. Yami can't take over my body unless the puzzle is intact."
"Oh," Kaiba muttered, staring that the pyramid on Yugi's chest, wondering what the spirit inside it was doing.
"He's listening to what we're saying, Kaiba. Unless I block him, he can hear what I'm saying and thinking."
"What are you, a mind reader now?"
Yugi laughed. "No, but that's what people usually ask me when I tell them about Yami. I just figured I'd answer you before you asked. Now, tell me about the Egyptian God cards."
Kaiba took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was, after all, what he'd come to discuss.
"I went to a museum opening a few weeks ago and talked to a woman named Ishizu Ishtahl. She wore something around her neck with the same eye symbol as your puzzle there. I think she called it a Millennium Necklace. She said something about there having been monsters in ancient times that were so powerful they couldn't be controlled. Pegasus recreated them as cards, 3 Egyptian God cards, to be precise, but then sealed them away when even he couldn't control them," Kaiba paused, making sure that Yugi was following. "The cards were dug up and stolen by a group that she called the 'Rare Hunters', and now Ishizu wants them back. She was the original keeper of the cards and wants to bury them again. She gave me one as incentive to come up with a plan to draw the Rare Hunters to Domino so I could help her regain the lost cards."
"What do I have to do with it? Why would these Rare Hunters attack me? Do you think that it was them that attacked me?"
"I'm not sure," Kaiba said, and went to sit on the side of Yugi's bed. "What did they say to you when they attacked you?"
Yugi closed his eyes, and Kaiba could see the slight shiver that ran through him as he recalled the events of that night. Unconsciously, Yugi gripped his injured hand, as if he were sheltering it.
"They wanted my God card. They said that if you had been given one, then it was likely that I had one too. When I didn't tell them what they wanted to hear or give them the card, they beat me."
Kaiba was quiet, contemplating. He didn't have to hear the rest to put together what had happened. He had seen Yugi after the beating to know that it'd been bad.
"I don't think it was the Rare Hunters that attacked you, Yugi."
Yugi's eyes snapped open, but his gaze was focused at a point beyond Kaiba's left shoulder. "What makes you say that?"
"The bastards that attacked you seemed too desperate. From what Ishizu told me about the Rare Hunters, they're nothing if not methodical and patient. They wouldn't get sloppy."
"Are you saying that there are two groups we're going to have to worry about?"
Kaiba sighed. "It appears so."
**~~**
"What's your location?"
The man sighed. He hated to be disturbed while he was staking out his victims.
"I'm at the hospital, like you told me to be."
"Good, good. . . do you have him in sight?"
He laughed. "You're not going to believe this, I have the two of them in sight," he said, watching as the two teenagers, the tall, blue eyed one and the one with the funky hair, spoke. "We can grab them with no problem while they're alone."
"What about the other people coming and going? How are you going to get rid of them?"
"I have my ways. There is only an old man and a blond teenage kid that I really have to worry about. I can handle them with no problem."
"Fine, get Kami up there so you can take care of this. The sooner we have the brats, the sooner we can get both cards. Remember, there is no margin for error. If you fail to apprehend them, it'll be your life on the line."
The connection went dead, and he sighed. He knew the stakes. He had the scars from previous 'punishments' as incentive not to fail. He wouldn't fail. The tall teen could be easily disabled with a tranquilizer dart, and the other teen was smaller, lighter, and currently blind. He'd be no problem at all.
The man picked up his weapons and made his way out of the storage room, slowly walking forward to the room in front of him, Yugi Moto's room.
**~~**
Now just remember that if you hurt me, it'll take longer to get the next chapter out. :o). So who are these people plotting against our heroes? Are they the Rare Hunters or another group of crazy people? Tune in next time to find out!
Okay, I have to ask: Is my Kaiba okay, or am I making him too mushy? See, I like how he is on the show, except that I really want him to have friends. Well, at least one friend. I just don't want to totally ruin him.
To those of you who speak Japanese and have watched the original episodes: What does Yugi call Yami? The subtitles say 'another me' but that just sounds silly. What does the term really translate to?
As always, thanks for reading!
Welcome to the next chapter. . . This one is a little bit longer, so hopefully it'll make up for the lack of updates.
First note: This story has officially become slightly AU. When I started writing this, I hadn't seen any of the Battle City episodes, so I had no clue what would end up happening. Now that I have, my story doesn't match the way the show ends up through Battle City. So, we'll assume that the story takes place before Kaiba announces the tournament, but after he goes to see Ishizu at the museum.
Second note: I'm using Ishizu Ishthal as the girl's name. It's probably spelled wrong, but this was the only spelling I found. I'm not even sure what her Japanese name is. . . the English subtitles on the DVDs are truly horrendous.
Now on to the replies:
Jadesaber: This chapter finally has the Yugi/Kaiba conversation I've been promising forever and ever. I hope it was worth the wait!
Starheart: Okay, so I can't do without those cliffhangers. . . I guess it's just ingrained.
Crossover Authoress: Yup, really liked the idea of a Braille deck. I'll have to think of a way to use that.
Sci fi fan: I love your name, by the way. . . I'm somewhat of a sci fi nut myself, though I don't have much time to watch TV these days.
Katya: Yup, poor Yugi. But you know that we all love to make him miserable just so we can kiss it and make it feel better later.
I Love Yugi and Kurt: X Men Evolution is a great show. I like Kurt as well as Scott. I wish KidsWB would show more new episodes of that. Then again, I wish they'd show more new episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! as well.
stupid kid 04: I'm so sorry to hear about your cousin. Is she doing any better? The thing about swelling in the brain is that it really will get better over time and with the proper care. I hope that your cousin is okay.
Luna339: Glad you're enjoying the story. Not sure if this update counts as 'soon' but it was out as soon as I could get it.
Mutou Yasu: Seto-kun is great to mess with because he's got such angst potential. I mean, there's got to be a reason why he's so cold and ruthless to everyone else except Mokuba. Given the right motivation, I think he can learn to care for others. I'm hoping to find that motivation in this fic!
Stormy_rose: YAY! Poor Yugi needed a break. besides, everyone made it absolutely clear that they didn't want Yugi to be blind. Though I was very tempted to keep him that way. . . :o))
QueenofHearts: Am I going to make Yugi alright? Hmm. that's a good question. What kind of cliffhanger loving author would I be if I answered that? :o)
Yami Cleopatra: Yugi being able to see is a good thing, right? Yup, thought so. . . it made lots of people happy!
Thank you all again for taking the time to review!! I do appreciate it, and it's much easier to write a story that I know people are waiting for. You're the best!
Now on to the story. Enjoy!
*~*
Part 11: Mystery of the God Cards
"That's wonderful, doctor! How long is it going to be before my grandson regains his sight?" Solomon asked.
Yugi could hear the happiness in his grandfather's voice and couldn't help but grin. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Yes, there was still something wrong with him, and he was still in pain, but now there was hope of him getting better with time.
"That depends on your grandson, Mr. Moto," Dr. Suzuki replied. "If he stays in bed, takes his medication as prescribed, and gets a lot of rest, he'll recuperate much faster than if he decides to leave the hospital again."
Now Yugi felt his cheeks burning. He ducked his head to keep the others from seeing the embarrassment on his face.
"Sorry. That was really dumb of me to do."
"Yes, Yugi, it was," his grandfather said. "You had us all worried. What could have been so important that you had to leave the hospital without telling us?"
Yugi swallowed, but said nothing. His grandfather wouldn't understand why he'd done it, anyway. He wasn't sure that his friends would understand either. Yami certainly didn't, but he just had to do it.
* Honesty is the best policy, Yugi. Isn't that what you're always telling me? *
A small smile crept up on Yugi's face.
** Do you always pay attention to everything I say, Yami? **
The spirit actually laughed. * No, only those things I can use against you later *
When Yugi declined to answer his grandfather's question, the doctor spoke up. "I'm going to talk to your grandfather now, Yugi. He'll be back in a little while. Use the call button on the right side of your bed if you need assistance."
With that, the doctor and his grandfather left. Yugi wasn't exactly sure who was still in the room with him, but he could tell that he wasn't alone.
"Um, Yug, aren't those my clothes you're wearing?"
Yugi turned in the direction of Joey's voice and gave the older teen a sheepish grin. He felt along his arms at the folded sleeves of the shirt he wore.
"Sorry, Joey. I couldn't find my clothes, but I found your backpack and borrowed these. I'll give them back as soon as I'm out of the hospital."
"It's okay, Yugi. They look ridiculous on you, though," Joey said, his voice tainted with humor.
Yugi laughed. "Yeah, I bet. They feel pretty big on me. Oh, here," Yugi said and pulled out the wallet he'd been carrying. "I found this in the pants pocket." Yugi held it out, trusting Joey to take it from his hand.
"I was wondering where this was. I thought I'd left it at home. Which reminds me, I'm supposed to call Tristan and Tea to tell them what the doctor said."
Yugi nodded. "They had to leave?"
"Yeah. Tea didn't want to go, but her parents came to pick her up. They said to tell you to rest and take care of yourself. Tristan also had to go home because of his parents."
"Okay. Say hi to them for me, Joey."
"Will do, Yug. See ya in a bit!"
Yugi heard Joey leave, and then settled down onto the pillows. He closed his eyes and was about to try to sleep, when something caught his attention.
"Who else is here? I can feel someone else in the room."
There was silence in the room for a bit, before a softer voice answered.
"I'm also here, Yugi."
"Bakura! Why didn't you say something? How are you doing?" Yugi asked, glad to know that Bakura was still around. He'd seemed odd to Yugi the last time he'd seen him, which had made him wonder if there was something wrong.
"I'm doing okay. How are you feeling?"
Yugi winced slightly as he considered the various aches and pains he felt throughout his body, but concentrated more on the ones in his head. "I'm pretty tired, actually. I still hurt all over, especially my head. There's some soreness around my neck too," he said and rubbed the spot, hissing as he hit a particularly sore point on the side of his neck.
Bakura was quiet for a moment, long enough that Yugi started to wonder if his friend had left the room.
"Bakura?"
"I'm sorry, Yugi, I did that," Bakura finally said, and Yugi could hear the remorse in his voice.
"What? What do you mean? What did you do?"
"I.. I didn't want to, I..."
Yugi turned his head in the direction of Bakura's voice, but he seemed to be further away, as if he were standing at the other end of the room. Even so, Yugi could still hear the sorrow in his voice.
"The spirit of the ring wanted the puzzle and he... well, he wanted to kill you to get it and I.. I lost control, Yugi. I fought him, I swear I did, but he won." Bakura's words were getting faster and louder as he spoke. The sound of the pain the desperation there were like knives to Yugi's heart. "By the time I regained control, I opened my eyes to see my hands wrapped around your neck. I'm so sorry.. so very sorry." Bakura's voice broke, and Yugi could hear the soft sobs that the other teen was trying to repress.
"I'ts okay, Bakura. It wasn't you. I'm still alive, after all."
Bakura was quiet for a moment longer, before he spoke again. This time, his voice was much closer, as if he'd taken a few steps closer to Yugi's bed.
"It's not okay! I tried to kill you. How can you lay there and tell me that it's okay?"
"YOU didn't try to kill me, Bakura, the spirit of the ring did. That's a big difference. Besides, what would have happened if you hadn't regained control?" Yugi asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. His head was pounding, and he could barely stay awake, but he had to see this through for Bakura's sake.
Bakura didn't answer.
"The spirit would have strangled me, right, which means that you saved my life, Bakura. Isn't that worth something?
"I..."
"No buts, no excuses. You did what you had to do. I'm not going to hold you responsible for that, just as no one holds me responsible for almost killing Kaiba on the rooftop that day while we were still in Duelist Kingdom. Yami gave the order to attack, remember? I stopped it. If Kaiba had fallen to his death that day because of Yami's attack, would you have blamed me?"
"No, I wouldn't have," Bakura finally replied.
"Then don't blame yourself. Blame the spirit of the ring."
Bakura was silent. Yugi was beginning to worry that his friend had run off when he felt a hand squeezing his left hand. Yugi returned the gesture, and then covered Bakura's hand with his right.
"Don't stay away, okay? I'm going to need all of you to be my eyes until mine start working again, so please stick around."
"I will, Yugi. Thanks. Now I'm going to leave you to sleep, okay? I'm sure your grandfather or Joey will be back shortly."
"Thank you too, Bakura. I'll talk to you later."
Yugi heard Bakura leave and then leaned back once again.
* I'm going to kill that tomb robber as soon as I get a chance! *
** Now Yami, hurting the spirit would only harm Bakura. You don't want to do that **
* He tried to kill you! I'm not going to let him get away with it *
Yugi sighed. He was used to Yami's protectiveness. It was really sweet sometimes, but at times like this, Yugi wished that his partner wasn't so overbearing.
** The key word here is 'tried'. I'm still alive, so it doesn't matter **
Yami was quiet for a moment and Yugi could feel the spirit's confusion through their link.
* How can you be so forgiving? *
Yugi shrugged. ** Bakura didn't do anything to me, his spirit did. If there was a way for you to get back at him without harming Bakura, I might consider letting you do something. However, my friend is innocent. He didn't do anything wrong **
Yugi heard Yami sigh. *Let me take over for now, Yugi. You can retreat to your soul room and recover there. Your minds eye isn't blind, so you can see what you wish to see, do what you wish to do while I deal with things out there *
Yugi considered the offer for a moment, before nodding. ** Okay, Yami, have at it and have fun **
**~~**
Seto Kaiba walked down the hall that led to Yugi's room, suddenly nervous. He was still thinking about the way Yugi had treated him as Tea had led him to his room. During the limo ride to the hospital, Yugi had treated him as he treated all of his other friends, and Kaiba hated to admit that it had felt good. It had been nice to be regarded as a human being, instead of as just another person to be put up with. Suddenly however, Yugi's attitude had changed, and he'd treated Kaiba the way Joey did. He couldn't figure out what had happened.
He finally reached the door to the room, relieved that there was no one else inside. Yugi sat on his bed with his head turned in the direction of the opposite wall. Kaiba had been afraid that Yugi would be asleep, so he was glad to see that he wasn't.
He softly knocked on the door and let himself in. As soon as Yugi turned towards him, Kaiba knew that he wasn't looking at the teen he'd found in the street about to cross in front of incoming traffic. The person on the bed looked taller, his eyes were darker and more angled, and his face wore an expression of smugness and slight superiority, things that Kaiba had never seen on Yugi.
"You're not Yugi, are you?"
The person on the bed narrowed his eyes, before a smirk graced his features.
"It took you long enough to figure it out."
The voice was different too, deeper and more confident.
"Who are you?" Kaiba asked. "Where is Yugi?"
He walked up to the bed, his eyes never leaving Yugi's face. He'd never really been this close up to Yugi when this personality was in charge. This usually only happened during duels. Kaiba had noticed, but had dismissed the idea as nonsense. He'd been wrong to think that.
"What difference does it make if you know my name?"
"If I'm going to talk to you about the Egyptian God cards, I want to know your name."
"Very well. You can call me Yami. It's what Yugi and his friends call me. I am the spirit of an Egyptian Pharaoh and I now reside inside the Millennium Puzzle."
Kaiba saw Yami trace his hands over the puzzle he wore around his neck. "Yugi put the puzzle together several years ago, and I've been with him ever since."
"Where is Yugi now?"
Yami smiled slightly. "He is resting. The activities of the past few days have exhausted him. It's my duty to protect him, so I will deal with things until he is ready to take over again."
Suddenly, the spirit's smugness got to him, and Kaiba did what he always did in situations where he felt as if he were losing control.
"If you're supposed to protect him, where were you when he was originally attacked?"
The question hung heavy and accusing in the air. Kaiba saw Yami's jaw tighten, and his hands clenched the sheet underneath them even tighter. He turned in Kaiba's direction and Kaiba could see the intensity and anger in that glare. Yami looked like he wanted to get out of bed and deck Kaiba, but because he couldn't see, Kaiba knew that Yami was helpless to do anything.
Suddenly, Yami's eyes closed. When he reopened them, Kaiba found himself staring at Yugi.
"That was uncalled for, Kaiba. You have no idea what you're dealing with."
Yugi's voice was calm and held a tint of anger. Anger Kaiba could deal with. As a matter of fact, he was a master at it. It just seemed out of place in Yugi.
"He didn't answer the question. It's convenient for him to go away so he wouldn't have to answer it."
"He didn't 'go away', as you put it," Yugi countered. "I took control of the body away from him. I rarely do that, but it was necessary in this case."
"Why would that be?"
Yugi's face was blank of all emotion, but before that happened, Kaiba saw something akin to humor flash through Yugi's eyes.
"So you two wouldn't kill each other."
Kaiba's eyes widened at the response. He knew that Yugi didn't mean that literally, but it was still surprising to hear it.
"Okay. Can you answer the question then? If Yami is sworn to protect you, why didn't he protect you the day those guys attacked you?"
Yugi was quiet for a moment, his face facing Kaiba but his eyes focused somewhere else.
"Why do you care?" came the quiet response.
Kaiba opened his mouth to reply, but found that he didn't have an answer. Why did he care? Why did it seem so terribly important for him to know why Yami, if he could have prevented this from happening to Yugi, hadn't done so? Why did he feel anger in knowing that Yugi could be sitting at home right now, playing Duel Monsters, instead of in this hospital bed, blind, if Yami had helped him?
"You don't deserve this, Yugi. You shouldn't be here."
Yugi frowned at the reply. He took a deep breath and then released it, before laying his head back onto the pillow. He closed his eyes and rested his hands on his lap.
"Is that it? Do you only care because if I weren't here, then you wouldn't be here either? Is this all merely an inconvenience to you?"
Kaiba couldn't help but feel hurt at the statement.
"I thought you were different," Kaiba finally said. "I thought that when you treated me like an equal, a friend, you meant it."
"I thought you did too," Yugi replied, without opening his eyes.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Yugi opened his eyes again and turned his face towards Kaiba. "You told Joey that you were only sticking around because we made a deal, and you honored your business deals. That made me realize that the only reason you went out to look for me was because you still felt guilty about what you did to my grandfather. It's stupid, but in the limo, I thought that you were staying because I had asked you to, and because you cared."
Yugi's voice was soft and calm, but Kaiba could see the hurt reflected in his eyes.
Kaiba sighed. He hated these types of conversations. He wanted more than anything to walk away and never have to face this, but he couldn't. It was like he was rooted to the spot, but he had to stay and finish this.
"I don't know what it is about you, Yugi. When you talk to me, you see me as just me, not Kaiba the CEO or Kaiba the Duel Monsters Champion. Well, ex- champion since you have my title now," Kaiba added, chuckling slightly at the lame joke. He smiled when Yugi chuckled as well. "I meant it when I told Joey that I honor my business deals, but that's not the only reason I'm here. Call me selfish, but I like talking to you. I hate what's been done to you and want to help if I can. I realize that you may find that hard to believe, but it's the truth."
Yugi was quiet for a very long time, so long that he was beginning to wonder if the younger teen was okay. Finally, Yugi spoke.
"That is the most honest thing I think you've ever said to me, Kaiba. I appreciate it. For the record, you are just you. You're an annoying and arrogant pain in the butt sometimes, but you're not so bad when you want to be."
Kaiba laughed. "Gee, thanks, I think."
The two teens remained in companionable silence, until Yugi broke it.
"The puzzle was shattered."
"What?" Kaiba asked, confused at the sudden change in conversation.
"That's why Yami couldn't help me. I was attacked so suddenly that I barely had time to react. The guy shoved me against the wall, and the puzzle was shattered on impact. Yami can't take over my body unless the puzzle is intact."
"Oh," Kaiba muttered, staring that the pyramid on Yugi's chest, wondering what the spirit inside it was doing.
"He's listening to what we're saying, Kaiba. Unless I block him, he can hear what I'm saying and thinking."
"What are you, a mind reader now?"
Yugi laughed. "No, but that's what people usually ask me when I tell them about Yami. I just figured I'd answer you before you asked. Now, tell me about the Egyptian God cards."
Kaiba took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was, after all, what he'd come to discuss.
"I went to a museum opening a few weeks ago and talked to a woman named Ishizu Ishtahl. She wore something around her neck with the same eye symbol as your puzzle there. I think she called it a Millennium Necklace. She said something about there having been monsters in ancient times that were so powerful they couldn't be controlled. Pegasus recreated them as cards, 3 Egyptian God cards, to be precise, but then sealed them away when even he couldn't control them," Kaiba paused, making sure that Yugi was following. "The cards were dug up and stolen by a group that she called the 'Rare Hunters', and now Ishizu wants them back. She was the original keeper of the cards and wants to bury them again. She gave me one as incentive to come up with a plan to draw the Rare Hunters to Domino so I could help her regain the lost cards."
"What do I have to do with it? Why would these Rare Hunters attack me? Do you think that it was them that attacked me?"
"I'm not sure," Kaiba said, and went to sit on the side of Yugi's bed. "What did they say to you when they attacked you?"
Yugi closed his eyes, and Kaiba could see the slight shiver that ran through him as he recalled the events of that night. Unconsciously, Yugi gripped his injured hand, as if he were sheltering it.
"They wanted my God card. They said that if you had been given one, then it was likely that I had one too. When I didn't tell them what they wanted to hear or give them the card, they beat me."
Kaiba was quiet, contemplating. He didn't have to hear the rest to put together what had happened. He had seen Yugi after the beating to know that it'd been bad.
"I don't think it was the Rare Hunters that attacked you, Yugi."
Yugi's eyes snapped open, but his gaze was focused at a point beyond Kaiba's left shoulder. "What makes you say that?"
"The bastards that attacked you seemed too desperate. From what Ishizu told me about the Rare Hunters, they're nothing if not methodical and patient. They wouldn't get sloppy."
"Are you saying that there are two groups we're going to have to worry about?"
Kaiba sighed. "It appears so."
**~~**
"What's your location?"
The man sighed. He hated to be disturbed while he was staking out his victims.
"I'm at the hospital, like you told me to be."
"Good, good. . . do you have him in sight?"
He laughed. "You're not going to believe this, I have the two of them in sight," he said, watching as the two teenagers, the tall, blue eyed one and the one with the funky hair, spoke. "We can grab them with no problem while they're alone."
"What about the other people coming and going? How are you going to get rid of them?"
"I have my ways. There is only an old man and a blond teenage kid that I really have to worry about. I can handle them with no problem."
"Fine, get Kami up there so you can take care of this. The sooner we have the brats, the sooner we can get both cards. Remember, there is no margin for error. If you fail to apprehend them, it'll be your life on the line."
The connection went dead, and he sighed. He knew the stakes. He had the scars from previous 'punishments' as incentive not to fail. He wouldn't fail. The tall teen could be easily disabled with a tranquilizer dart, and the other teen was smaller, lighter, and currently blind. He'd be no problem at all.
The man picked up his weapons and made his way out of the storage room, slowly walking forward to the room in front of him, Yugi Moto's room.
**~~**
Now just remember that if you hurt me, it'll take longer to get the next chapter out. :o). So who are these people plotting against our heroes? Are they the Rare Hunters or another group of crazy people? Tune in next time to find out!
Okay, I have to ask: Is my Kaiba okay, or am I making him too mushy? See, I like how he is on the show, except that I really want him to have friends. Well, at least one friend. I just don't want to totally ruin him.
To those of you who speak Japanese and have watched the original episodes: What does Yugi call Yami? The subtitles say 'another me' but that just sounds silly. What does the term really translate to?
As always, thanks for reading!