Yami's eyes widened in shock as he put on hand on Seto's shoulder. "Kaiba-kun?" he asked. He began to shake him, then noticed that Seto was not conscious.
He took hold of the steering wheel. "Dammit! How the hell do you drive!" he shouted. He swerved the car to the left and yelped when he nearly flew from his seat, even with the seatbelt on.
He looked at Seto's feet. His right foot was on the gas pedal. Yami, being the ancient he was, didn't know which one made the car go and which one made the car stop.
He took his chances and pushed Seto's knee so his foot would push on the pedal. When the car sped up, Yami swallowed. He quickly pulled the knee up and with one hand on the steering wheel he made sure he didn't crash. He pushed the knee on the other pedal and sighed when the car stopped.
Now Yami turned off the car. Of course, he broke it for he tore the keys from the ignition before turning it off. The car was not going to start anymore, Yami realized when he looked at the key.
But the car wasn't his problem anymore. He took a hold of Seto and shook him. "Kaiba-kun! Kaiba-kun! You have to be ok!"
He noticed then that Seto wasn't breathing. The ex-pharaoh put his ear to Seto's chest and sighed with relief when he heard Seto's heart was beating normally and was not slowing down.
"How can he still be alive if he's not breathing?" Yami asked aloud. He expected no answer, so he unbuckled Seto and then got out of the car on the passenger side.
He went to the driver's side and opened that door. Then he pulled Seto out. He searched the car after gently setting the CEO on the ground. His lips curled into a small smile when he found the cellphone on the floor. He dialed the Kame Game Shop.
"Hello?" he heard Yugi say.
"Aibou, we're in need of assistance…" Yami trailed off. He looked at Seto and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Immediate assistance."
"Is Kaiba-kun alright! He didn't stagnate, did he!" Yugi shouted.
"Just get over here. Um…District one five four." Yami closed the top of the cellphone. He was about to put it back on the ground when he heard a voice. It was feminine, but it was definitely there.
"Hello!" Yami shouted, looking around.
"I'm not up there you baka na! In the cellphone!" the voice said.
Yami looked at the cellphone before slowly opening it. "Hello…?"
"Give the phone to Seto-kun! I won't talk to a simpleton like you!"
"Simpleton?" Yami raised an eyebrow.
"Is Seto-kun not available?"
"Who is this?"
"AI is the name. Call me Love if you want, but I'm sure Seto-kun meant for Artificial Intelligence." a noise of annoyance came from the phone. "Now, where is Seto!"
Yami look at Seto cautiously as Seto twitched and placed his face in pain. "He's not available. He stagnated."
Suddenly the ex-pharaoh yelped, and tore his hand from the phone, gripping his index finger tightly as the cellphone clattered on the floor.
Yami picked up the phone quickly though and growled into it. "Why did you just prick me?"
"If Seto is not available, then I will speak to you."
"You're going to trust me?" Yami asked.
"Well, you're Yami, affirmative? Because of that, I think I can trust you." AI responded.
"Well that doesn't really help me understand." Yami snapped, annoying by the AI's games when Seto required medical attention.
"Voice Recognition, DNA matches with no files found but little of Yuugi's blood stream."
Suddenly before they could speak anymore, they heard a car coming towards them quickly. Yuugi and Jounouchi jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped, and headed over to them. "Yami, is he going to be OK!" Yuugi asked hastily. The tri-colored teen was trying to be strong, but it was hard as he couldn't really bare having someone he knew and cared about lying unconscious on the ground.
"Yes, Yuugi; he just fainted. I think something happened that got him really upset." Yami explained, putting a hand on Yuugi's shoulder. "However, I think you would be able to understand this contraption better then me." he handed the cellphone to Yuugi, and then went and sat by Seto, checking him over for any other injuries.
"Hello?" he asked, looking into the phone's screen.
"Hello, Yuugi." a voice came from the machine. However, it wasn't AI's voice. It was Seto's voice. And it was loud, so Yuugi placed the phone away from him. All three that were conscious could hear it.
"But you're…" Yuugi gaped at Seto, expecting him to be up and about, but he was still unconscious.
"I know that I may not be around right now and you are probably in amazement that I would be talking to you at the moment. I recorded this shortly after you learned of my disease.
"Something may have happened to either Mokuba or me. I believe that I have most likely stagnated and all attempts to wake me have become futile. But I can guarantee that my sleep can be broken. Now, not to be getting all 'Sleeping Beauty' on you" - a snort from Jounouchi who had been helping Yami with Seto - "but I had been reading some books. I came across Egyptian spells. You know the type, I'm sure. Dark Magic and Murderous spells. I can care less of those, but I did come across a healing spell. If you can gather that book and locate that healing spell, I'm sure my sleep will discontinue and I can wake and continue on with whatever it is I was doing."
Yami looked at Seto as a look of pain came across his face. A loud groan came from him and Yuugi shut off the phone as he ran to Seto's side.
(Back to first person)
I dreamed that I was back at the orphanage. That I was sitting in the corner with a table around me, as if guarding me from any dangers that the orphanage would bring. All the other children appear as normal as ever, and ignored me completely, which was a normal thing that happened at the orphanage.
But the most unusual thing was that I could see the children's souls. I could feel their pain and it was almost over bearing. I could sense their anguish and hatred for their parents or previous guardians. They wished for love, and even though they got it from their friends, it didn't seem enough. They cried out for love, and it was almost as if the Devil himself was dragging them into the deep depths of Hell to burn in their pain forever.
And the most difficult part about watching all of this was that I couldn't cry. I couldn't feel sorry for them. And then, it was I who was one of those children, who watched others and pretended to be happy when really they just wanted their mothers or fathers back. It was now I who stared into the face of another who looked directly into me. The face which had deep sapphire eyes, filled with innocence right down until the core. The face which had a bruise on it from saving his brother's toy plane once again. It was me who hated that person for at least having some surviving member of family to be their for him. The selfish feeling.
And then, as if my thoughts came true, I felt a hand grab me, and pull me into the ground, past the hard wood floor and the hard soil. Past the 1st Core, the 2nd Core and past all the hot, oozing lava that was within the Earth's center. And I was there suddenly, in the Devil's Hell. Watching others cry as their flesh burned and then grew back and then burned again.
A gasp spit out of my mouth as my skin began to burn away. And suddenly the image of my mother and father grazed my eyes. And Mokuba…oh, Mokuba. I'm so sorry that I'm here, and that I failed you… I'm sorry that it's about to be all over.
And yet I knew that this pain was to be constant and that this pain was going to continue forever, until Heaven fell apart and perhaps even longer.
And suddenly…I was back. I was Kaiba Seto, sitting in the orphanage, a throbbing bruise on my face for saving my little brother's plane. I was Kaiba Seto, looking into my brother's eyes and feeling so thankful that I was here and hadn't gone anywhere else without my little brother. My Mokuba. My hope. My savior. My light. My last puzzle piece.
And tears filled my ten year old self. They didn't flow over, but they were enough to gain a look of worry from Mokuba. A look of worry which sparked the arms around me and the cuddling head into my chest as Mokuba hugged me. The hug that sparked tears from Mokuba's face.
But I'd like to think: maybe we were crying for the same reason. Maybe for the acknowledgement of being together as our promise that bounds us together to make us never let go. Maybe we were crying for that.
And the look on his face. Filled with innocence. The looked which he will have and always carry with him no matter what age he is. The look of innocence that matched mine so long ago. The innocence I had before going to the Kaiba residence and becoming the one who had to beat the master before I could become the CEO of my company.
And I suddenly regretted everything. If I could have stopped my father from driving and dying in that accident. If I could have stopped myself from getting adopted to Kaiba Gozaburo. If I could have maybe tried to wait a little longer and find someone with true love in their heart. True love that wouldn't waver or disappear from us. If I could have waited for that person, I wonder if I could have ended up happier?
Would I be like Jounouchi: happy, carefree, with many friends? Or Yuugi, and be the one who can help old men with their game shops. To be able to accept a few things that logic has taught me to believe never possible. Perhaps I would be like Anzu, and be ranting on and on about friends because-even though it's annoying-it is really all that I'd have left.
Which makes me wonder. If I am so like I am, would I try and cling onto someone. Would I go for a friend or two and try to be with them every moment just because they are the only thing I have left? Maybe Anzu-and her friendship speeches-are a lot more powerful then she lets on. And maybe they have much fear and strength backing them up.
I can't help but wonder now. Is it too late to go back? Too late to start from the beginning. To late to accept anything illogical?
Suddenly I knew I was awake. I could open my eyes any second and I could see the world. I could open my eyes, and any second Mokuba would be there, ready to start his day with me.
…I remember now. Mokuba isn't here anymore. I have to go get him. But what happened last? How did I end up asleep. Did I stagnate? Did I get in an accident and was knocked unconscious?
A groan escaped my lips unexpectedly and I fluttered open my eyes. Crimson eyes were my first acknowledgement. They belonged to Yami, I knew, but I can't really understand why he stuck around. You think he would have played Hero and tried to get places himself.
But I also noticed Jounouchi, and Yuugi was coming over with my cellphone in hand.
"Kaiba-kun…" Yuugi whispered. Yami took control and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Kaiba-kun, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." I said. I moved my shoulders rigidly to get Yami off me, and it worked as he back off. "Listen. I don't know what you may have heard-"
Jounouchi cut me off in the rude was he always cuts me off. "Heard what? Whatever we heard about you stagnating was the last I heard. And about some ancient book."
I whipped my head around and looked at Yuugi with a glare. "Cellphone." I said with frustration in my voice. It was simple when he handed it to me, and I stowed it away in my jacket pocket.
"Now, can you explain." Yami said, trying his best to get a reaction out of me. I glared at him too. "How long was I out?" I asked, and before Yami could use what I wanted information wise against me, Jounouchi piped up and answered. "Around half an hour."
I have forty-seven hours and a half to get my brother back. They didn't tell me what they would do to him after forty-eight hours if I didn't give up my company, but I didn't exactly want to find out.
Without making any more conversation, I got up as quick as I could. I became slightly dizzy but shook it off. I climbed back into the car and notice half of the key still in the ignition. That would not do. Not at all.
I jumped out of the car and noticed Yuugi had brought a Volkswagen. I proceeded towards that without answering any of the questions and comments thrown in my direction.
A rough hand gripped my shoulder and spun me around just when I was making way to opening the Volkswagen's door. I was pushed into the car with chocolate eyes facing me off.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" Jounouchi yelled at me. His hot breath was right in my face, and his arm over my neck caused it hard to breathe. He couldn't control his rage. I probably would have suffocated if Yuugi hadn't stopped Jounouchi. I could have stopped him, but rage is a powerful thing.
"Listen m-Jounouchi-san." I said, almost calling him a mutt. But this was a serious time and he was raged. I wasn't fearful, I hardly am, but I couldn't deal with this now. "I'm in a situation that requires much attention! If I don't get home quick, then I'm in deeper shit then anything you have probably ever done!"
Jounouchi glared at me and shoved me once more before he let go. Then, as I barely even recovered from his blows before heading into the driver's seat, he was already in the passenger, with Yami and Yuugi climbing into the back.
"You really are a demonic angel, Kaiba-kun." I heard Yami say. Whether it was a comment of complementation or a comment of insult, I wasn't sure. However, I was one to be a quick thinker, and I quickly replied, "Well this halo is only a couple of inches from turning into a noose."
I'm sorry that this chapter is short. I'm also sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. No excuse I could give is good enough, so I'm just going to tell the truth: I was so lazy I couldn't come up with a good enough idea for this chapter, thus leading me into writer's block with almost all of my stories.
But, now, finally, reviewer responses!
Sia - I enjoy Yami/Seto a bit more then JouxSeto. However, usually a Yami/Seto coupling revolves around ancient Egypt or it's an AU. Or it's Yami angst. Pouts. I will admit, a Mokuba getting kidnapped idea is very old, but what else is there really? The only thing Seto cares about is Mokuba, and he wouldn't really care if anything else was taken, though he'd be pretty pissed.
IcyPanther - I guess you found out that Yami can't drive. Maybe Seto can teach him when everything is done? Of course, reading a ff story about Seto teaching Yami to drive makes things seem a little too complicated for me. I'm not that good at humor unless it is afew groaners for the overly energetic.
Nachzes-Black Rider - I knowwhat you mean about anonymous reviews. They are a great idea to invent, eh?
Nephyths-Poison - The one who stole Mokuba will be revealed soon, I think. I erally don't know when I should make everything come together for them to be introduced.
the-kaiba-heir - i think that it was your idea in your review that made seto think what he did when I wrote this chapter.
Yume no Zencho - I got the idea for Stagnation from another anime called Onegai Teacher. More like the manga. But I dun own Onegai Teacher, so I also can't hold much rights onto the Stagnation thing. However, I think that there is a real disease that does this to people. Not completely sure, and it isn't called Stagnation. but you never know!
Shadu - I continued! Hope you're still around to read this!
Heart Of The Wizard - I hope you waited long enough for this! Though I really don't deserve much anymore...
PyroKittyKat - I can only do one thing at a time! I'm kinda out of ideas for that story at the moment.
Saiyan Jedi - Glad I went to the store! You may have as much milk as you want! I'll take the soda...
Randon Reader - It should! However, then I can't use it either.
this person - I don't know how to respond to all you said...
Inu Kaiba - Could you do a girl a favor and review all the other chapters as well? I'm trying to beat my friend in the whole 'Review' department.But glad for your one review at least!
Kaya Kioko - Seto angst is the best ever invented! If only more people like to hurt/comfort him in their stories...
Mokuba-chan - I did that to my other fic. I didn't put Yaoi. I'm still pretty indecisive on it, really. I mean, usually non-yaoi is good because there is no fav. couples in them. But really good yaoi has to have a good story, and many people think this story is. I'm sorry if I disappoint you, but I'm indecisive.
IMPROVED Uber Rei Model 06 - you found out!
cherry-star-aus - I updated!
samuraiduck27 - I finally updated! Oi, and I like your penname. Very original.
Koi-Bara - Saving people was never my strong point, either. .'