YUGIOH
Amnesia
Chapter 11.
It was the last day just before the weekend, and everyone gathered together to meet back over at the diner.
"Hey Seto." Tea said. "Joey told me you had a little experiment going, with trying to get your memory back. Did it help at all yet?"
"No, nothing." He said, leaning his head back. "It's almost like there's something in my head keeping me from remembering anything. I just don't know why nothing comes back to me........nothing at all."
"Has Mokuba said anything to you?" Yugi asked.
Joey suddenly stiffened, still worried about Mokuba telling him stuff. 'What if he starts telling Kaiba how he's suppose to act around us, and starts calling me a dog again? Damn.......why do kids always have to get in the way of everything!'
"Yes, he told me a lot of things, just the other day. It was mostly about my past, my parents, my adopted parents, things......I'm not sure I even want to remember." He shuddered, reminding himself of Mokuba talking about the abuse they both had to endure from Gozaburo Kaiba, and how Seto took over his business.
"Huh.......yeah, I can understand that." Joey thought, referring to his own father.
"Yet, no matter what he told me, none of it even sparked a memory in me. They say I'm supposed to remember little by little.......and if nothing comes to me, the chances of this being permanent is pretty high. I simply assumed that eventually, it would all work out and come back to me.......now I'm not so sure if I'll ever remember." Kaiba said.
"These things take time, Seto.......give it some time, I'm sure it'll eventually come back to you." Yugi said, offering his support.
Kaiba was not so sure, and couldn't think of anything more he could do to help this out.
"Hey Seto, didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to talk to us about something, too?" Tristan asked. "Or was this it?"
"Huh?" Kaiba asked, coming out of his thoughts, then said, "Oh, yes.......there was something else. For the last couple of days, there's this.......girl I've been seeing."
Everyone paused, thinking, 'Kaiba's got a girlfriend??' "Yer kidding me! That's great!" Joey said.
"Yeah, congratulations.......I mean it, man!" Tristan said.
"I'm really happy for you, Seto." Tea said.
Yugi added, "Yeah, me too!"
'A girlfriend?'
'Ssshhh!' Yugi said back to the spirit.
"Well, yeah....I suppose you can say that. But, there's this problem with her. You see.......she told me she has this overbearing brother, and she's afraid to tell him, because........well, he's a bit overprotective. I guess she's afraid to go out with any guy, because of him." Kaiba explained.
"Well.......I can understand about wanting to protect a sister. As you know, I got one, myself." Joey said. "It's gotta be hard for any guy to see their sis start to grow up and start dating. I know eventually I'll have to deal with that with my sister, but......."
"I figured that, as well." Kaiba stated to Joey's response. "That's why I brought it up. Since you have experience with this Joey, maybe you can tell me what you would do if, let's say......a guy started dating your sister, when she got old enough. What would the boyfriend have to do to accept your approval?"
Tristan suddenly became extremely interested in this, as well.
"What are you looking at? Get outta my face!" Joey said, pushing Tristan back. "I dunno.......I can't see thinking any guy is good enough for my sister. But I do know this.......if the guy is man enough to walk up to me and admit he was trying to date my sister, and try and work something out with me, I guess you can say I'd atleast have some respect for the guy."
"Hey Joey, I wanted you to know that I want to date....." Tristan began.
"Shut up, Tristan! You don't count, no matter what you say!" Joey snapped at him.
"Hmmm....." Kaiba said, putting his hands together on the diner table, leaning his face into his hands in thought. "So, I should try to find this brother, and face him."
"That's right. Show him you have the guts and you care enough for her to do this. Believe me, even if the guy wants to hate your guts and rip yer throat out for getting near his sister, he'll still have respect for ya." Joey said, giving him the thumbs-up. "And by the way, I say go for it, no matter what this guy says. Sometimes if you find the right person, you only get that once in a lifetime chance, you know? If I wuz you, I'd go for it."
"Thanks Joey, I'll talk to her about it." Kaiba smiled. "Maybe if she tells me who this brother is, I could have a heart to heart talk with him, as you suggest."
"There ya go!" Joey said.
-------------------
Later, after they left, Yugi was back home. He looked at the spirit of Yami, who was outside of him, and said, "Do you think Kaiba will ever get his memory back?"
"It may be sooner than you think, Yugi...." Yami said.
"How can you be so sure?" Yugi said.
"It's just the way he described it. A block preventing him from remembering? I'm beginning to believe that perhaps it might have been Kaiba himself that put up this block." Yami stated.
"Why would you say that? Why would Kaiba keep himself from remembering anything? Plus, he's been trying so hard to remember! If he didn't want to remember, why bother to try?" Yugi asked.
"Just because he's possibly preventing himself from remembering, it doesn't mean he realizes it. This is undoubtedly something subconscious in him. It could be a few things. Perhaps it was a way for him to get a break from all his work. Perhaps he didn't want to remember all the horrible moments with his stepfather, which he even mentioned not wanting to know at the diner." Yami explained.
Yugi then asked, "......and what's the last thing?" Sensing there was more.
"Perhaps.......he has enjoyed our company more than he wished to admit." Yami said. "If he reverts back to his former self, it would undoubtedly be a matter of pride to continue to hate us, or atleast pretend to. This way, he doesn't have to. Perhaps Kaiba has learned to actually enjoy our company, and enjoy having friends.....and his subconscious realizes that he doesn't want to loose that."
"But........if all of Kaiba was in there somewhere, wouldn't there be noticeable signs of it?" Yugi asked.
Yami smiled, "There already has been, Yugi. You simply have not been watching carefully enough. Joey mentioned a fight with two bullies that ran away from Kaiba without even throwing a punch, fearful of what they saw. What did they see that would have made them so frightened of him? We have all witnessed certain looks or attitude changes, if even for a split second, showing the face of the real Seto Kaiba. He's there Yugi, just on the edge of the surface. One of these times, something's going to cause him to surface permanently."
Yugi looked down, even more sad, now. "But.......but I began to really like Kaiba as our friend. I don't want to loose that friend, Yami."
"I believe whether the Kaiba we knew came back or not, he would always be our friend. But whether he shows it or not, is yet to be seen." Yami told him, trying to reassure his light.