Sakakku
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Notes: See, I keep my promises. :P At least 10 of them, anyway.
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Chapter 31
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"Bakura," Yugi said in relief, the tomb-robber being his first sight. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"You- are?" Bakura asked uncertainly, after a brief period of staring in astonishment at a beaming and sincere Yugi.
"Yup!" Yugi giggled, pouncing on him and giving him a quick but tight hug. Then he caught sight of Ryou and bounded over to greet his friend. "Ryou! And Malik! Are you guys okay?"
"I am now," Ryou replied softly, beginning to smile.
Bakura turned to survey the rest of the crowd there. Funny. This was the first time in a year he'd been able to think about them without wanting to kill anyone. They stared back, some with open smiles like Yugi; others looked apprehensive. Joey was staring at him with mistrust- understandable, he thought with a wry smile, seeing as he'd had the boy imprisoned for a year. Mai was giving him a thoughtful glance. Serenity was looking at him carefully, but the look in her eyes told him she was ready to accept him. Geoff was there, too, giving him an odd look. It was as if Geoff were torn between hatred and pity and relief… Oh yes. He'd killed his sister, hadn't he? Bakura winced slightly and looked away.
A ginger-haired girl, unfamiliar, was crouched on the ground, petting a jackal. He vaguely remembered seeing this jackal during the battle, but most of that time was a blur. For some reason, he locked eyes with the jackal. She cocked her head at him, seemingly staring into his soul. Sullenly, he leered back.
Suddenly, the jackal leapt forward, startling the girl. "Anuba?" she called, but the jackal kept moving. She reared up and put her paws on Bakura's shirt so suddenly that the white-haired man didn't have time to jump back. Anuba leaned forward, nuzzled Bakura's cheek with her nose, and gave him a sound lick. Then she fell back and trotted to her mistress' side, sitting patiently.
Bakura reached up to wipe off his face, but suddenly felt that it would be rude. He lowered his hand, feeling the jackal's rough tongue searing into him as if he'd been branded.
"She likes you," Ezra said in a slightly stunned tone. "I mean… she's never done that to anyone."
"Wonderful," Bakura finally grumbled, wishing he could sound more sarcastic and less mushy.
"Who's still stuck in there?" Yugi asked suddenly, worming his way to the center of the group. "Yami."
"And Seto," Ezra added.
"And Marik," Ryou and Malik spoke together.
The four of them exchanged panicked glances.
"Seto's never going to make it out," Ezra said bluntly. "He can't even come to terms with other people."
"Yami has slight issues too," Yugi said worriedly, ignoring the inappropriate bout of laughter coming from Joey. Mai narrowed her eyes and elbowed him.
"We can pretty much forget about Marik," Malik muttered.
"Don't say that!" Yugi protested, his eyes widening. "We can't forget about any of them! They're our friends! We have to go back in there and help them!"
Everyone hesitated collectively, Yugi included. Then he whirled around and plunged directly into the mist.
Ezra gasped, then rose to her feet. Everyone turned to look at her as she walked toward the black mass, her legs trembling slightly.
"I wonder why it's so much worse, going in now…" she mumbled, as if to herself. Biting her lip, she took a small step forward, squeezing her eyes shut as the freezing cold stuff hit her face. When the cold passed, and a warm breeze flowed over her body, she opened them eagerly.
"What?" she gasped. She was back on the front lawn of the palace again! The wall was right in front of her! How had that happened? And where was the-
She slowly turned around and found herself staring directly at the black shadows. She jumped backward, heart pounding.
She'd passed right through the shadows. How? The others must be on the opposite side- but where was Yugi?
'If he can do it, so can I,' she reasoned, gritting her teeth. She clenched her teeth and passed back through the shadows.
"No!" she burst out, catching sight of the wide-eyed group. "I need to find Seto!"
"Kaiba?" Joey asked skeptically. "He's probably getting just what he deserves in there."
She shot him a pointed glare. "Which is why I need to be next to him," she declared, steeling herself. "Because he's my friend!" Darting into the shadows for a third time, she collided with a tall, angry-looking man.
"Yikes!" she gasped, jumping backwards. The leap somehow carried her up and away from the scene, and she got a better look at what was going on.
A small, tired-looking boy was sleeping, sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by books and papers covered in writing. The man, broad-shouldered, with trimmed brown hair and a severe face, dressed in a red suit, towered over him.
"Seto!" he bellowed, and the small boy jerked his head up.
Ezra's heart plummeted as she caught sight of smooth brown locks and those familiar cerulean eyes.
"Father!" Seto gasped, hurriedly scrambling to his feet. "I'm sorry- I was just so tired! I didn't sleep last night! I did a lot of work, I promise- here, look!" He bent down to scoop up papers, but the man backhanded him as he stood up, sending Seto sprawling backwards and the papers flying.
The boy sat up quickly, his eyes blazing- but suddenly they dimmed, and he passively bowed his head and climbed to his feet, clasping his hands behind his back. "I'll try to do better, Gozaburo," he murmured.
"You will do better," Gozaburo threatened. "And in the meantime, you'll have more work to do to make up for napping!"
"Yes, Father," Seto murmured again.
"Seto," Ezra said quietly, catching sight of him.
"I hate him," Seto said, his voice quivering with fury. Her breath caught in her throat. "W-what?"
"I HATE that man!" Seto screamed, his voice ringing in the mist. "He made my life a living hell! He tried to separate me from Mokuba!"
She tried to say something, but he interrupted again. "The only good thing I can say about him," he breathed, clenching his fists, "Is that he opened up doors for me. He made me strong, stronger than he intended- He made me strong enough to take over KaibaCorp."
"Was it worth it?" Ezra asked, her voice sounding strained.
Seto gave her a startled look. "I would have made my way to the top anyway," he answered curtly.
"Your little brother…" she whispered.
"What about him?" Seto asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Push me higher, Seto!" Mokuba cried, swinging his legs. Seto gave a grunt and shoved the swing harder, sending Mokuba soaring into the air, laughing with childish delight.
"That was at the orphanage," Seto explained coldly, crossing his arms, wondering why he was bothering.
"You're smiling," Ezra noted softly.
"What?"
"Look at you," she said, pointing at the vision. "You're… smiling. You don't do that much anymore."
He glowered, crossing his arms. "Smiling is a waste of time."
"A waste of time?" she asked incredulously. "Are you kidding?"
"I have everything I need," he said coldly.
She cocked her head at him in utter disbelief. "But… don't you enjoy yourself?"
"Not particularly," he said wryly. "Especially as of late. You don't expect me to, do you? Running around Egypt, trying to help out that worthless Pharaoh…"
"That doesn't mean you can't smile!" she said, her mouth dropping open. "Are you serious? If you take everything seriously, you'll die of high blood pressure before you reach twenty."
Seto glowered. Again.
"I just wish Seto would smile more," Mokuba confessed, scuffing his shoe in the dirt.
"What?" he asked in disbelief, staring at the scene. "This isn't a memory!"
"Yes it is," Ezra said quietly.
"What??"
"He takes everything so seriously," Mokuba said, his eyes watering. "I worry about him. How can you go through life so angry?" he asked desperately. "It's not fair- he forgot how to smile when we lived with Gozaburo. It's like the best part of Seto died."
Ezra reached out and ruffled his hair, her eyes sad.
"And he's angry, and miserable, and rotten to almost everyone else," Mokuba spilled in a rush. "He has lots of friends, but he doesn't realize it! People are ready to give him a chance- and they'd see what a great guy he really is if he lets them! But he pushes everyone away! You're the first person I've seen him be nice to in three years!"
"It is a memory. It's my memory."
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"Hiya, Yami," Yugi said, grinning sheepishly.
"Yugi?" Yami whirled around. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think, silly?" Yugi giggled. "I came back for you."
His gaze was so open and guileless that Yami actually flinched. "Yugi…"
"This looks an awful lot like your soul room," he interrupted, gazing around.
Yami's gaze darkened slightly. "My whole life has been a puzzle," he said quietly. "I shouldn't wonder."
"Hm." Yugi cocked his head. "It's different. Everyone else had memories."
"My memories are lost to me," Yami explained quietly.
"True… but you still have memories of the last few months. Right?"
Yami shrugged hopelessly. Yugi bobbed his head around, examining the room. "Maybe we should go exploring?" he finally suggested, holding out his hand.
Yami stared, wondering, at the small hand before taking it gently. Neither of them spoke a word, but simply stepped forward, holding their breaths unconsciously. By some mental agreement, they chose a door randomly. Tugging Yami up to it, Yugi stood before it, and slowly pushed it in.
The demons attacked.
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Seto was reliving his life in a blur, now. Mostly scenes with Gozaburo. Even more terrible than those, however, were flashes of Mokuba he kept getting. Somehow, cruelly, he was tapping into everyone else's memories and even the private thoughts of his little brother, talking sadly about how he missed 'the old Seto'. And then it was new people- Téa, accusing him atop the roof of Duelist Kingdom; Yami, in another world and another time, telling him that he lost the duel because of his hatred; Joey, sneering after him in Battle City; his employees, saying vicious things about him when he wasn't in the office; Serenity, in an alternate universe, asking him if he had any compassion; Pegasus, petulantly calling him cold-hearted. He might have been on his knees now- it was hard to be sure anymore. All he knew was that he was drowning in memories. Ezra was trying to touch his shoulder, but her fingers couldn't quite make contact.
She stretched desperately. It was so weird! She was standing not a foot away from him, yet the closer she extended her hand, the farther away he seemed to be. She bit the inside of her cheek in frustration. What made this all worse was that none of these images were lies. They were all true, she could tell, and they seemed to be piercing Seto's heart for the first time. He was clenching his teeth, as if in physical pain.
And then that one…
"Bawk, bawk, bawk!"
Ezra blinked. Rubbed her eyes. Blinked again.
"Bawk, bawk!" Joey continued, grinning around the campfire circle. "Don't I do a great impression of Kaiba?"
Bursting into laughter would be the wrong thing to do at this time. So she kept a solemn face. Beside her, Seto's pain seemed to ease a little. Enough, at least, for him to look up and scowl. Of course.
"Hehe. I forgot I did that."
"Wheeler," Seto growled, struggling to rise to his feet. He pulled it off, amazingly. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah, looking for Yami, to tell ya the truth," Joey said, grinning sheepishly. "But the Shadow-ball thing brought me here. Funny world we live in, aint it?"
Ezra watched in shock as Seto, coldly enraged, drew back his fist and swung it at Joey. Joey reflexively brought up his hand, and when their hands met a blinding light grew. Ezra instinctively threw her hand over her eyes, but nothing could drown out the faint screams and shouts now filling the air.