I don't own Yugioh.
Chapter 7
When Yami arrived, Yugi was talking to the boy from before while they both sat on a bench near the fountain.
"So then…," Yugi broke off and looked up. He waved, "Yami! Over here!"
Yami shook his head. Even after something like that, he's cheerful…But coming closer, he could still see the fear in Yugi's eyes, pushed back. I'll have to talk to him later.
"Yami, this is Mokuba Kaiba," Yugi indicated the boy three years his junior.
"Hi," Mokuba smiled, "You helped save me! Thank you!"
Yami nodded, "Sure thing."
"He said that he had received threats before, and they finally carried out on them," Yugi spoke up, "He said that those two had even tried to kidnap him before, but his brother stopped them."
Yami smirked, "Well, don't you worry. I don't think those two will ever bother you again. That's a promise."
"Really?" Mokuba gasped.
Yami nodded, "Absolutely."
"Thank you!" Mokuba smiled.
"You said your older brother saves you?" Yami blinked.
Mokuba nodded, "He usually meets me there, but today he was late, so those guys got the jump on me."
"Yami, we should take him back to his home," Yugi looked up, "We can't let him go by himself."
Yami nodded, "You're right…" he glanced at the clock, "But what about you, Yugi? It's already 5:52pm. There's no way you'll make it home before six."
"That's alright," Yugi smiled ruefully, "It's worth it."
Yami sighed, then indicated to the two, "Then let's get going. Maybe we can make it back just five minutes late."
"Thank you guys so much!" Mokuba smiled. He reached up and took Yugi's hand.
Yugi blinked.
"Niisan always holds my hand to make sure I don't get sep'rated," Mokuba stated.
Yugi nodded, "Your brother sounds like a great guy."
"He is," Mokuba nodded, "When mom and dad died and we were in the orphanage, he wouldn't let anyone adopt him if I didn't go, too!"
"Wow," Yugi blinked, "That's some dedication." He glanced at Yami and smiled. /Like us, huh?/
//Yea. I guess.//
"Woa!" Yugi gasped when Mokuba led them to where he lived.
"This is my house!" Mokuba indicated proudly.
"This isn't a house…it's a mansion!" Yugi exclaimed.
"Anyway, let's just get him back in," Yami stated.
Yugi nodded, and Mokuba let go of Yugi's hand and ran to the front door, the two behind him.
"Niisan! Niisan! It's mee!" Mokuba laughed, knocking on the door.
The door opened, and a tall boy wearing a collared sweater and khaki slacks stood there. He had brown hair and ice blue yet kind eyes. He blinked. "Mokuba! I looked all over for you but I couldn't find you! I was just about to call the police!"
"It's okay! These brothers saved me!" Mokuba pointed.
Yami nearly facefaulted. //Brothers?!//
/He asked what our relationship was. What else could I tell him?/
//…//
"Thanks," the boy spoke up, then glanced at them, "Want to come in? It's just Mokuba and me. It gets kind of lonely."
"Can we?" Yugi turned to Yami.
Yami looked at his watch, "They're both going to be home in about half an hour, and it takes about fifteen minutes to get back from here."
"I'm already in trouble," Yugi gulped, "It can't get worse."
"Curfew, huh?" the boy chuckled, "Well, it looks like it's going to rain. I have an idea if you're worried about a curfew."
"Really?" Yugi asked, hopeful.
The boy nodded, "Sure." He stepped aside to let his brother in, then turned around, "You can both come in. My name is Seto Kaiba."
"This is Yami, and my name is Yugi."
"Nice to meet you," Seto nodded, "And thanks again for bringing Mokuba home."
The two nodded, and went inside right before the storm hit.
Mokuba told the story of how Yugi had stepped up to the two kidnappers, then Yami came (since he didn't understand about him coming out of the puzzle, he thought that Yami had just walked by and ran up, too), and challenged the two to a game. Then, he passed out.
"And when I woke up," Mokuba finished, "Yugi-niichan was there, untying the ropes and telling me that it would be alright, and that we should just go to the park and wait for Yami-niichan to finish dealing with the thugs. Then, when Yami-niichan came, they decided to bring me home, and I showed them the way."
Seto nodded.
They were seated around the living room. Seto had called Yugi's parents and told them that Yugi was passing by when the storm hit, and it got so bad that he couldn't make it home, so he'd be spending the night. His parents didn't seem to care, but sounded a bit angry. Seto was puzzled why Yugi and Yami told him not to mention anything about a brother named Yami. Yugi was just relieved that he got out of being a punching bag for an evening. He thanked Seto so many times that Seto told him to shut up already. That caused everyone else to laugh.
"Thanks again," Seto stated, "I am curious as to what exactly you two did to get rid of those guys. I've been trying to get them off our backs for weeks."
Yami glanced at Yugi and Mokuba for a moment, then looked back at Seto, "I'll tell you what I can later."
Seto blinked, then realized that whatever it was, it wasn't suitable for younger kids. Even though Seto himself was 13 and Yami looked to be about 15, Yugi was only 10 and Mokuba was only 7.
Seto dropped the question, "Anyway, let me show you to where you can stay. We have a lot of rooms in here. I inherited the mansion from my father. Mokuba and I moved in as soon as I turned thirteen to get out of the orphanage."
"I'm surprised they let you have legal custody over your brother at only thirteen," Yami commented as they followed Seto up the stairs towards the rooms.
"I think it's because my father was the head of Kaiba Corporation," Seto stated, "So I got a little bend in the rules. Plus, I refused to get adopted without Mokuba. I promised him, ever since our parents died, that nothing would keep us apart and we'd always be together. I intend to keep that promise."
"Wow…that's really nice," Yugi whispered in awe. "Where is Mokuba now?"
"He's in his room," Seto responded, "Probably playing." He looked up and called out his brother's name.
"Yea?!" a reply came from one of the rooms.
"Are you doing your homework?!" Seto shouted.
"Um…now I am!" came the reply.
Seto sighed. Yugi and Yami chuckled.
Seto opened a door, "You can both stay in the same room, or in different rooms. It'd be easier if you both stayed in here. There are two beds here."
"Wow…!" Yugi ran into the room and looked around, "It's so nice!"
It was a plain room with two closest on either side, one of them a walk-in closet, and queen sized beds, each with a dresser near it and a nightstand in between them with a lamp. There was a desk in one corner, and a TV in the front of the room with a VCR under it, all plugged into a cable. There was a computer sitting nearby, also hooked up.
"It's incredible!" Yugi whispered in awe, looking around the room.
Seto sweatdropped. He glanced at Yami, who was smiling.
"Easy to please, isn't he?" Seto asked.
"He's never slept on a bed that size before," Yami replied.
"You two can hang out in here for a while," Seto stated, "I'll go get dinner ready."
"You can cook?" Yugi came over, "Wow! That's neat! No wonder why Mokuba thinks you're so cool!"
Seto turned red, then hurried on downstairs, "I'll call you guys when it's ready! You too, Mokuba!"
"Okay, niisan!" came the reply from the room down the hall.
Yugi flopped down on the bed, "It's so soft…! Am I in heaven, Yami?"
Yami sat down on the bed next to him, "Nope. This is real."
"A real mattress…a real pillow…," Yugi laughed, turning over on the bed, "And even real and warm blankets! I haven't slept in a real bed for a year now when I was moved to the attic! And it's warm in here, and…the bed's so comfortable!"
Yami smiled. It was a bittersweet smile. He was happy for Yugi, but at the same time, felt bad that something as simple as a soft, warm bed would make him so happy.
"Yami? Daijoubu?" Yugi looked up, "Don't you like it?"
Yami nodded, "Un. Yugi…I have to talk to you. About the Games earlier."
Yugi grew serious, "Yea…I'd like to know what happened."
"Remember a couple days ago when you, me, Jou, and Anzu were playing Duel Monsters at the Arena? That day when you asked if there was Duel Monsters back in my time?"
Yugi nodded, "Un."
"They were real monsters, then," Yami replied grimly, "and only the strong could control them and battle them. It was used somewhat as amusement, mostly."
"Like gladiators in ancient Rome?" Yugi blinked.
"Yea…something like that," Yami nodded. "Anyway, occasionally, when the monsters were used for evil…you know, like stealing or hurting people or destroying things…a strong person would be called upon to stop them. Mainly, they were descendants of the royal family."
"So…you had to…?"
Yami nodded, "Yes. My father or myself would be called upon to stop them. And we'd use our monsters through the Shadow Realm if necessary. It's a dangerous place, where not only lives are at stake, but something much more valuable. The person's soul. A challenge to the Shadow Realm could spell certain doom or even death to those who lose or don't play fairly. Eventually, the 'playing' in the Shadow Realm became known as the Shadow Games."
Yugi's eyes were wide. "Then…what happened earlier…the place we were in…?"
Yami nodded, "It was the Shadow Realm. I shouldn't have been able to go there. I was thinking of just doing one of the Shadow Games to decide the outcome. But for some reason, the gateway to the Shadow Realm is open again."
"Again?"
"When I became pharaoh," Yami replied, "In my time in Egypt, the Shadow Games were common. People were starting to abuse the power they had been given in using the Shadow Realm. I never liked the Shadow Realm that much. I must admit that I have killed many people there or caused them to lose their souls for a period of time or even drove the weaker ones insane. At first, I thought they deserved it. But when I learned what it really meant to lose your soul, I hated the Shadow Games. Unfortunately, then, it was the only way to solve things. I use it now because it's the only way I know. It's not like I enjoy killing or driving people insane or making them soulless husks. After a large incident where five innocent people nearly lost their souls due to an idiot's abuse of the Shadow Realm, I decided to seal it. It meant sealing myself away, too, but I didn't care. That's how I ended up in the puzzle you have there. The Millennium Puzzle. There were others like me who had been sealed into different Millennium objects. But for different reasons. They were sealed because they abused their power. None of them are nice. They're all evil. My seal was able to be broken. I don't know how you broke my seal. But theirs shouldn't be able to be broken because they were sealed for abusing their power, whereas mine was a consequence to sealing something as powerful as the Shadow Realm. And all I know about this situation is what a high priest told me. He said 'When the time is right, you will be fully materialized in the world when your seal is broken'. I don't know when that will be, but it would mean that I could no longer go in and out of the puzzle. That's why I'm able to do that. Because I'm not fully materialized in this world. I don't know how to, bit I guess it'll happen when something else happens, according to the priest."
Yugi's eyes were wide, taking all of it in.
"As to the monsters," Yami replied, "They were sealed away into the form of cards. Someone must have found the cards when they found the puzzle pieces, and decided to make a game out of it."
Yugi was soaking it all up like a sponge.
"Now you know the truth," Yami glanced at the ground, "And who I really am. I'm no better then some of the monsters in some ways. I have killed people, after all…"
"That's not true," Yugi went over to him and hugged him, "You're the best friend I could ever ask for. The bestest."
Yami chuckled, "That's not a word…"
"I don't care," Yugi shook his head, "You're still my best friend. You've always been there for me, ever since the first day. Every time I got hit, you were there for me afterwards. And you kept your promise to me that you wouldn't hurt mom and dad because of it. You protect me and others. That past is the past. I don't care about that."
Yami smiled, closing his eyes and letting a few tears trickle down his face, "You don't know just how much those words mean to me. I never thought I'd hear it from anyone."
"Believe it," Yugi smiled, wiping away Yami's tears gently, just like the other boy had done for him. "I love you, Yami. As if you were really my brother. That's what it feels like. Like we're really brothers."
Yami's eyes were wide, "You…? Love me…? Like a brother?"
Yugi nodded.
Yami smiled, letting a couple more tears run down his face. "To be honest, that's how I view you as, Yugi. When we first met, my opinion was a bit different. But whether you know it or not, you've gotten stronger since then. Not physically, but spiritually and mentally. I see you as a brother, too."
"I'm glad!" Yugi giggled, hugging Yami.
Just then, the Millennium Puzzle that was sitting on the desk glowed.
Yugi and Yami pulled apart and looked at it.
Suddenly, it rose into the air, turning upside down so that the eye was right side up, and staring strait at them. "The time is now. Now is the time. When you shall be freed from your prison, and released from the walls. Now is the time where you are free of your seal and are permitted to be fully materialized in this world. I only ask you this…do you want to?"
Yami glanced at Yugi, then nodded, "Yes."
"Now I ask you. The other one. Do you want him to stay in this world with you?"
Yugi smiled at Yami, "Yea!"
"So be it. I feel that there is no problem with the arrangement. Fare thee well." With that, the light engulfed the room, and the pyramid disappeared.
The two looked up, then glanced to each other..
"Um…what just happened…?" Yugi blinked.
Yami closed his eyes and tried to go back in. He blinked when nothing happened, and then smiled, "I'm free of the pyramid. I wonder why…?"
"I guess…," Yugi smiled, hugging his newfound brother, "The keyword was 'love'."
Yami nodded, "Yea. I have a feeling that there are going to be a lot of changes for now on."
"That's right!" Yugi groaned, "Mom and dad! I can't hide you anymore…!"
"Yugi," Yami looked at him, "I think it's time to put an end to this."
"Maybe we can ask Seto if you can stay here…," Yugi started.
"No way," Yami shook his head, "Then I couldn't be there for you when they hurt you. I'll come to school with you tomorrow as a visiting brother. We'll talk to Jou and Anzu, and figure something out."
"But they don't know about…," Yugi gulped.
"Then we'll figure something out," Yami stated, "Either way, I'm not going to let you live your life out in fear of your parents."
Yugi nodded, "Okay. Thank you, Yami."
"You're welcome," Yami whispered back.
Just then, they heard a voice call from downstairs.
"DINNER'S READY! Are you three coming, or what!?"
Yugi and Yami smiled, and they could already hear Mokuba charging out of his room. They went out and all three of them came down the stairs.
"Coming!" Mokuba, Yami, and Yugi all said at the same time as they ran down the stairs, laughing.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Japanese – English
Un – Yes/yep/yea