Sorry about Mokuba...I had this entire story planned before I began, and it had to happen. The story isn't over, though. So, those of you who are following this story, keep following it to the end. Hopefully you'll find it worthwhile. Yami appears in this chapter, in case any of you were wondering. You'll notice I've made him a bit of a cynic, but sometimes a cynical view is the right view. In any case, enjoy the chapter.

***

Yugi wiped tears from his eyes and re-folded the paper.

"Oh, man..." Joey whispered. "Just...whoa..."

"Poor Kaiba..." Yugi whispered. He honestly couldn't figure out who he felt more sorry for: the little boy who left too soon, or the broken man left behind. Kaiba's blood was spilt into that verse.

"What are you doing here?" a cold, mechanical voice demanded from behind them. Yugi turned and saw Kaiba standing in the back doorway, about twenty feet from them, dressed all in black; black pants, black shoes, and a long- sleeved, black shirt. His hair was disheveled still, and his eyes were red and bloodshot.

"Just wanted to say goodbye to the kid," Joey said softly. "We just found out what happened."

"How did you find out?"

"There was an ad in the paper saying Mokuba was missing, so we came by to see if we could help," Yugi said. "Hobson told us the truth."

Kaiba grunted. "Someone must have noticed he was gone and filed a missing person's report. The paper couldn't very well send that away..." he sighed. "Fine."

Yugi sighed, looking into his classmate's eyes. They were mirrors again. Apparently their – his and Joey's – being on his property made him angry, which brought him out of his stupor, and returned him to "normal."

"Kaiba, I don't understand why you wanted to keep this quiet. I mean...don't you think...I don't know...maybe it would have been better? I mean...Mokuba had friends, and I'm sure they're wondering about him, right? Don't you think you owe it to them to let them know—"

"I don't owe them shit," Kaiba snapped. "Nobody knew my brother, not even you two. Oh, you think you did, sure, but you don't. I knew what would happen if I had a public funeral. Thousands of idiots would flock to the graveyard, crying and falling all over themselves to tell me how sorry they were. It's all bullshit. Nobody cared before he died, and nobody cares now. I don't need their fake sympathy. I don't need their lies."

"Kaiba...we care."

"Then pay your respects and leave."

Kaiba turned on his heel and began walking back inside the mansion.

"Kaiba! Kaiba!!"

He didn't respond.

"Seto, for God's sake, listen to me!"

He stopped. His back went rigid. Shaking, he turned his head slightly. Silently, he stalked down the pathway and gripped Yugi by his shirt, pulling him forward so that their faces were inches apart. "Don't call me that..." he hissed, his voice filled with barely contained fury.

"What, Seto? That's your name—"

"Don't call me that! Don't you fucking dare call me that!! Only Mokuba calls me by my first name, no one else! No one!!" he screamed in Yugi's face.

'Don't you mean only Mokuba called you that?' Yugi thought, but he was smart enough and compassionate enough not to say it aloud. Reminding Kaiba of his brother's death would only rub salt into an open wound, and Kaiba looked ready to kill. And considering the fact that he had an iron grip on Yugi, that wasn't good.

"This isn't going to help you, Kaiba," Yugi said, his voice shaky. He cleared his throat. "All this anger isn't going to help."

Kaiba scowled. "Nothing can help me, now, Motou," he said coldly. "I have nothing left."

He pushed Yugi to the side and whirled around, walking back to the mansion.

"Yo, Kaiba!" Joey called.

Kaiba stopped, turned his head. "What...is it...Wheeler?" he demanded through clenched teeth.

"Listen...Kaiba...I know we ain't seen eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and I know ya don't like me, but...I'm an older brother, too. I got a little sister. I ain't tryin' to say I know how ya feel, 'cuz I don't, but...but I feel for ya, man."

Kaiba's cold gaze held Joey for a moment, and it seemed as though he was going to say something. Then, he sighed heavily, turned back to the mansion. "Just hurry up and get off of my property," he said, all anger gone from his voice.

Once Kaiba was gone, Joey helped Yugi to his feet.

The two friends looked at each other, neither saying a thing.

Yugi turned when Hobson walked out to them. He held something in his hand. When he pressed it into Yugi's hand, he realized that they were Magic & Wizards cards, three of them.

He examined the cards.

Each had the words BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON on the top of the card, stamped in gold lettering. Three identical pictures of a silver-blue dragon lay just below the writing.

If they were any other cards, Yugi wouldn't have thought much of this.

But there were only three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards in existence, and Kaiba had owned all three of them. They were worth – together – millions of dollars. And now all three were in his hand.

"W-What...?" Yugi began, looking at the butler with confusion in his eyes.

"I found these in the waste bin in Master Kaiba's study," Hobson said. "I know you are interested in this game, and so I thought you would appreciate them."

"I...I can't...accept these, Hobson. They...they're worth..."

"I know. That is why I would like you to have them. You will appreciate them much more than the garbage collector. Take them, Master Motou. Please."

Yugi sighed, put the cards into his pocket. "Fine...I'll take them...for now."

"I'm terribly sorry you had to learn the truth in this fashion," Hobson said. "And I'm sorry that Master Kaiba was less than sympathetic. But you must understand...I've known Master Kaiba since he was a child. He was orphaned at ten, and was adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba a year later.

"Master Kaiba was not allowed to have friends; he was pushed to his limits when it came to school. Gozaburo wanted nothing but the best from his adopted son. Master Mokuba was the only solace he had, then and when he became the CEO of Kaiba-Corp. You must understand that Master Kaiba is completely devastated. He may not show it, but...that must be blamed on Gozaburo. He didn't tolerate weakness of any kind."

Yugi nodded slowly. "I...I understand."

Joey was surprised. "I didn't know he was an orphan...oh, man...Poor guy...that had to be hell..."

Hobson nodded. "If you wouldn't mind, Master Kaiba is still extremely upset. I think your being here agitates him further."

"I-It's getting late, anyway. We'll go."

"Thank you, Master Motou."

Hobson led them out to the front of the mansion. Joey and Yugi got into the Hyundai and drove off. Neither said a word. Joey dropped Yugi off at the shop.

***

Yugi opened the front door, walked up the stairs into the residential part of the building, where Solomon sat in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace. The elderly man turned to his grandson.

"So? What happened, Yugi?"

"Mokuba....h-he died."

"What?" Solomon leaned forward, surprised. "Dead! But, what about...?"

"Kaiba wanted it covered up, he wanted it quiet. 'Cuz he didn't want false sympathy. But I guess someone noticed Mokuba hadn't been around for a week, and filed a missing person report. The newspaper wouldn't refuse that."

"Oh...I'm so sorry, Yugi..."

"So am I...I mean, he was so young...he was only nine, for God's sake! And he was such a good kid...I mean, you know how the guys are about Kaiba. They all hate him. Calling him a jerk and stuff like that all the time. And almost everyone is like that.

"But Mokuba always defended his brother. He always stood up for him. And now he's gone...I don't know who's worse off, really...I mean, it's horrible that Mokuba is gone...but he's in a better place now.

"But Kaiba...he depended on Mokuba. I can see it. Kaiba always depended on Mokuba's love and trust to go on...and now Kaiba's alone."

Solomon sighed, leaned back in his chair. "The poor boy..."

Yugi wasn't sure who his grandfather was talking about.

"I'm...gonna go to bed..."

Solomon nodded. Yugi went into his bedroom, shut the door, and sat down at his desk. He glanced at the various objects that littered the surface. His eyes locked on his prized possession: the Millennium Puzzle.

The puzzle was a golden pyramid made up of at least two hundred pieces (Yugi had never counted them). Solomon had given the puzzle to his grandson of his fifteenth birthday with the challenge of putting it together.

When Yugi finally had put it together, he'd discovered that the puzzle had a hidden secret: there was a spirit inside. The puzzle had originated in ancient Egypt, and the spirit of a master gambler of that time resided inside it.

At first, Yugi had thought he was going insane, when he began hearing the gambler's voice in his head. Eventually, however, he had come to accept it, and now he didn't mind when the spirit decided to show up.

Yugi turned toward his bed and saw the translucent form of the gambler – whose name was Yami – appear.

Yami looked almost exactly like Yugi. He had the same wild hairstyle – black spikes with violet tips, and blond bangs – the same build, the same eyes. Yami could have passed for Yugi's twin.

There were major differences between them, however: Yami had a much deeper voice than Yugi did, he was much more confident than Yugi, and he was – at times – completely insane.

The gambler crossed one leg over his other and clasped his hands atop his knee. "So, Yugi," he said in his low baritone, "want to play a game?"

Yami was always asking Yugi if he wanted to play a game. Yami was a gaming fool. He would play any game against anybody. Mostly, however, he enjoyed card games – normal games like Poker and Spades, and other games like Magic & Wizards.

"Not now, Yami...I'm not in the mood."

Yami raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Yugi?"

"You know how Kaiba's been acting weird lately? I've said something about that."

"Yes..." Yami said with a frown on his face. He didn't really like Kaiba.

"I found out why."

"So...what?"

"It's Mokuba...he...he died."

Yami's eyes widened. "The boy had only seen nine summers! Are you certain, Yugi?"

"Hobson told me...Joey and I went to his grave today...He died a week ago."

Yami lowered his leg, sitting silent in contemplation. "So...Kaiba is like his co...com...." he grimaced, gestured angrily at Yugi. "You know."

"Computer," Yugi said.

"Yes...like his com...computers...how they will shut down when they have no purpose...so too has Kaiba shut down, now that he has no purpose..."

Yugi nodded. "It's not fair..."

Yami agreed. "Fate is cruel at times, Yugi...Fairness holds no sway with fate." The spirit clenched his fist. "My father once said to me that – to the gods – we were insects in a glass box. And he said that their highest form of entertainment came from taking that which we cannot live without, and whisking it away in the blink of an eye."

Yugi frowned, shook his head. "Yeah, well...I was taught that God loved us all, and that if we would only trust in Him, we would find salvation."

Yami snorted. "If the gods loved us, they would have made us as animals, with no knowledge of our mortality."

Yugi sighed, stood up and put the locket and cards onto his desk. He changed into his pajamas – he still blushed whenever he did this when Yami was there – and lay down on his bed. Yami stood, began to pace about the room.

Yugi watched the spirit for a while. "We have to help him."

Yami glanced at him and frowned. "A man cannot survive without his heart, Yugi. Young Mokuba held Kaiba's heart in his hands...and he took it with him into the afterlife. It is only a matter of time before Kaiba follows him."

Yugi closed his eyes, sighing again. Sometimes he wished Yami weren't so direct, so blunt. But he had a point...

As much as Yugi hated to admit it, Yami was probably right.

It was only a matter of time...