Author's Note: Let me say now, that I apologize for any liberties taken with any of characters' personalities in this chapter. For example, Mai may seem a little more apologetic and Seto may seem more talkative than usual. If these things do indeed happen, then I am sorry, but it cannot be changed because these things are done for the good of the story. Anyway, I want to send a big thank you to Rune-Sorceress for reviewing all of the chapters and being (seemingly) completely honest in her reviews, as well as taking the time to even review. Okay, enough of the mushy stuff, onto the disclaimer so I don't get sued. -glances protectively at her PS2, YGO cards, GBA games, and all her Final Fantasy paraphernalia-

Disclaimer: See Chapter One, 'cause I still don't own anything except Kim.

Relics of the Past
by Judanim

Chapter Three: "Glimpses of Memory"

Yugi struggled to keep up with Mai, who he had just tracked down after a couple more duels not far from the square where that morning's events took place. "Wait up!" he yelled. Not too far behind him were Joey, Tristan Taylor, and Tea Gardner. Normally they could outpace Yugi due to their height advantage, but the little guy had a mission in mind. He wanted to find out about that woman who beat Mai earlier.

Mai finally paused across the street from a coffee shop and turned around to face Yugi. "What's up?"

The shorter boy was gasping for air by the time he caught up to her. He looked at his friends behind him as an indication that he could hardly breathe, no less talk.

"Yugi wanted to ask you about that chick you dueled earlier," Joey said. "Like, who was she?"

She stared at him for a moment and then shook her head. "Why should I tell you?"

"We're your friends, right?" Tea ventured. "It wouldn't be so bad to tell us...would it?"

"All right. But first we have to wait. I won't tell a story while someone is wheezing to death," Mai replied, indicating to Yugi.

It wasn't long before Yugi was able to breathe normally again, and Mai started her story.

Mokuba left the Kaiba Corp. office after fixing some bugs in the system. He had tried getting a hold of Seto, because his brother knew more about the software than he did, but for some reason he wasn't answering his cell phone. So, he had to resort to drastic measures by using the GPS locator to find Seto's phone. This action had led him to a small intersection with a coffee shop on one corner across the street from his spot. At another cross-street, he noticed, was Yugi's gang of friends, which seemed to include Mai at the moment.

The younger Kaiba brother swiftly cross the street and stopped just before the group would see him. He listened in on the conversation after briefly hearing the female duelist from the morning mentioned. Immediately he put his search for Seto on hold. This was one dialogue he wanted to hear.

"So do you want to hear the short or long version?" Mai asked.

Yugi shrugged. "Whichever you want to tell first."

"If they both turn out the same, I'm up for popcorn either way," Joey stated with a grin.

Both Tristan and Tea rolled their eyes. "Will you not think about your stomach for once?" Tristan practically pleaded, as he had many times in the past.

Joey gave his best friend an apologetic glance, but focused most of his remorse on Mai. "Sorry. Go on."

Mai couldn't help the small smile that escaped her lips, but quickly fixed it. "I'm not sure which version this is, but here goes." She took in a deep breath, and gathered together the pieces of the past that were scattered throughout her mind. "When I was just a kid, my parents died due to...an accident. Their will stated that both me and my sister be left to our grandparents on our mom's side, who were the only ones left, but the court ruled that they could only take one of us. I suppose it was because they were getting on in their old age, and they could only handle one child or whatever. Anyway, guess which one they chose?"

Judging by the look on her face, Yugi knew the answer. "You, huh? So, what happened to your sister?"

"I don't know," Mai answered, sadness clouding her lavender eyes. "But that woman I dueled earlier, Kim, that was her. She's my sister."

In the shadows of the building, Mokuba's eyes widened and he muttered a curse. All this time, he and Seto had known Kim's sister? And they had thought for all these years that they would never hear from or see her again, and there was a link staring them right in the face! He had to tell Seto, if only he could find him!

Suddenly, his cell phone went off, loud and clear. He could only hope the group hadn't heard it. He checked the caller ID to see that it was Roland and quickly answered it. The assistant had more questions about the tracking software, but Mokuba got rid of him by telling him to try calling Seto instead, claiming total ignorance to the issue. What a laugh that was, of course. He hung up and leaned against the building, his mind trying to process several pieces of information at once, but he didn't really get the chance.

"Mokuba? What are you doing here?" came Yugi's voice.

Slowly, he turned around to see the entire group staring suspiciously at him. "Uh, hi guys, I was just out looking for Seto. Have any of you seen him?"

Judging from the looks on their faces, none of them completely believed his story, even if it was partly true.

"What are you actually doing out here?" Tea deadpanned.

"Eavesdropping, I bet," Tristan suggested.

At this statement, Mai didn't look happy, but didn't say anything for the moment.

Mokuba suddenly had a fear for his life after seeing the look in Mai's eyes. "I haven't been dropping no eaves, honest!" he exclaimed, hoping like hell that they'd believe him.

Joey raised an eyebrow. "You've seen The Lord of the Rings too many times, you know that?"

"Well, if you can recognize the line, then you've seen it a lot more than I have," Mokuba shot back.

"Enough!" Mai interrupted. "What did you hear?"

The raven-haired teenager tried to think of a lie to cover up, but finally decided to try to truth. It couldn't hurt. Well, all right, it possibly could, but it'd be better than lying about it...hopefully. "Something to the extent of you and your sister being separated because of your parents' deaths."

Mai looked seriously at him, the angry fire in her eyes lessening slightly. "Why were you even listening? Why would you care about what happened in my past?"

"Um, 'cause I kind of know your sister," Mokuba said honestly.

The coffee shop was mostly empty by the time either Seto or Kim had found any other words to say. The sky outside was slowly turning pink and orange, a good indication that they'd been silent for too long.

"Where have you been all this time?" Seto finally asked, breaking the stalemate of silence. "After we left, I tried to get some information about you, but I couldn't find anything. It was almost as if you disappeared into thin air. Were you ever...?" He knew he didn't have to finish the sentence.

"No," Kim answered, saying her first word since he sat down. "When I was old enough, I went out on my own. I found an old family friend to stay with, and started up my training." She indicated to the katana that still lay still and almost forgotten on the table. "Becoming a shinobi was one of the few things that kept me from losing my mind entirely after my parents died. I'm not sure how Mai got along, but apparently she turned out fine without it."

Seto felt his confusion set in again. "What does Mai have to do with any of this? When you dueled her earlier, you looked like you had revenge in mind. What happened?"

A genuine smile crossed Kim's face. "I never knew you were this slow, Seto. Mai's my sister."

"Sister?" Seto felt like scratching his head. "Then why wasn't she"

"That would be a story that I don't feel like getting into at the moment," Kim cut in. "It was part of the reason why I was dueling her this morning. I had a score to settle, but I'm not really sure it was actually with her. I guess she was the first person I could think of to take all those years of frustration out on, even though I might have been wrong to do so."

Slowly, Seto came to grips with the implications and possibilities in her words. "Oh." He looked into her eyes, but found that she just as quickly ceased the visual contact. He wanted to ask her either about that or one of the other million questions in his mind, but he resorted to staring at the katana. "At least you used your Duel Disc instead of your blade to settle the score."

Kim nodded. "At the least. If I'd been in any less control of my emotions, I might've gone to that length. I can't say that I haven't considered the option in the past. The only thing that's ever stopped me is the fact that Mai is indeed my sister, and I couldn't betray a family bond like that, especially when the whole thing wasn't her fault."

"I've been there," Seto said. "It takes a long time to realize the truth, that you're just looking for someone to blame, and the person on whom you've sworn vengeance isn't that person. Sometimes it's yourself, other times it's just one big intangible mess."

"If I'm not mistaken, you just admitted that you were, at some point, wrong." Kim cocked an eyebrow upwards, at least partly looking him in the eye. "Who are you and what have you done with Seto? You may look just like him, but the real Seto never would've admitted that he was ever wrong, unless of course by some strange turn of events he had an eye-opening experience that he just doesn't want to tell me about."

Seto shook his head, his lips curled into a slight smirk. "It's a long story, which I'd also like to omit, if you don't mind." He caught and met her gaze full on, and this time she didn't turn away. She seemed more confident, more comfortable now than before.

She gave a quiet laugh. "All right, all right. Fair is fair, I guess."

For a long time they just sat there, enjoying each other's company. They didn't have to talk, really. Just merely being there was enough for the moment. The silence was almost comforting in a way.

The corporate executive, who for the first time in years had let down his guard in front of someone other than Mokuba, switched his gaze from the woman in front of him to the coffee shop's window. Outside, the daylight was waning, the light hues of pink and orange turning to deeper shades of gold and red. A few cars passed by, but for the most part the street was empty, save for a couple pedestrians who seemed to be unaware of the existence of the shop. He was grateful for this. He would rather not be disturbed right now; he was trying to put work for as long as he could to spend the most time with his almost lost friend.

Across the street, though, there was an odd sight that was out of place with the nearly serene surroundings. A group of people stood on a corner, conversing almost furtively, huddled together like they had something to hide. Immediately he picked out two faces he would've recognized in his sleep: his brother Mokuba and his rival Yugi. He suppressed a groan of irritation. How in Ra's name did they always find him? He had turned off his cell phone to avoid his company and his brother, and then cloaked the signal from his Duel Disk just for safety. He shook his head and looked away from the scene, wondering what more he could've done to shake them off.

"What is it?" Kim asked upon seeing Seto shake his head.

"The dork patrol is here," he replied, indicating to the window.

With an eyebrow raised, she turned around to see the group, picking out Mai instantly. Briefly she wondered how he knew her sister, but ignored the thought for the moment. She scanned the small crowd and was surprised to see a figure that she knew to be Seto's brother. "Is that Mokuba?"

Seto nodded. "Yeah, all grown up, though sometimes I swear he acts like a kid."

"Wow," Kim said, just a little surprised. "He looks a lot like you, you know. I didn't really notice it when we were younger, but now I can definitely tell." She turned back to him. "Think we should go out and greet them?"

The CEO made a sign in the negative. "I'd rather not have an encounter with them if I can help it." It wasn't his only reason, of course. Going out and meeting them might mean having to separate from Kim again, which would bring about the possibility that he would lose her again. He wanted to hold on to this time for as long as was conceivable, to fend off reality until fate decided to intervene. Not that he believed in fate or anything.

Kim say the look in his eyes, which more or less told her that he was hiding his true feelings. She briefly let a grin cross her face and wondered what his thoughts were. He didn't seem to be that different from when she'd known him all those years ago, but he could just be putting on a front for her. She put aside the thought. Seto wasn't one to play games, and he definitely wouldn't play them with her. "So, um, Seto, how do you know Mai?"

"We met briefly at Duelist Kingdom," Seto replied after a moment's pause. "Then a little more during the last Battle City tournament. It's really more of a 'I've seen her a few times and know that she's a pretty good duelist' kind of thing. Not like I've had tons of conversations with her or anything."

"Oh." She was beginning to ask him a question when the doors to the coffee shop burst open. The other patrons and employees looked surprised, but the look on Seto's face was pure dread.

He resisted the urge to either bang his head against the table or throttle his little brother, who had been the one to run into the shop like a wild maniac.

Slowly, Mokuba regained his composure, waving uncomfortably at everyone who stared at him. He walked over to their table and sat down in between the two. "So, this is where you've been," he said to Seto.

The Duel Monsters genius stayed silent for a moment, casting a meaningful glance at Kim. "Yes, Mokuba, I've been here. Do you mind?"

"Actually I kind of do," Mokuba answered, grinning like the smart alec he'd just made himself out to be. "See, Roland has been bugging me about the tracking software, and you know a lot more about it then I do."

Seto didn't hide his vexation this time. He rolled his eyes and was two steps away from glaring daggers at his brother. "You know enough to fix any bugs. You're just trying to get out of being stuck in the office for a few more hours than usual."

Mokuba nodded. "That's about right." He finally noticed Kim and went wide-eyed. "Kim! It really is you!"

Kim shook her head, glancing between the Kaiba brothers. "Who'd you think it was, the Tooth Fairy?"

"No!" the younger one exclaimed defensively. "I stopped believing in that stuff ages ago." He looked around the shop with shifty eyes, a nervous smile on his face.

There was a long pause as Mokuba's discomfort increased. Then the older two burst into laughter, the male of the pair relishing his brother's embarrassment. Mokuba folded his arms over his chest with an air of indignation.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Anytime," Seto laughed, patting his brother's shoulder.

After a moment, Kim was relatively calm again, but still smiling a bit at Mokuba's red face. "You know, maybe we shouldn't laugh at him. There are just some childhood habits that die hard."

"You're right." Seto took in a deep breath and tried to avoid Kim's eyes. He fought a grin while also attempting to not look at Mokuba. Kim was trying to do the same thing.

As they both were trying to look in opposite directions, their eyes met. At first, nothing happened. Then, both struggled to supress laughter, which ended up coming out as little snickers between breaths. Once they had taken one glance at the raven haired teenager, it was all over. They ended up laughing so hard that neither of them could scarcely breathe, and Mokuba's face was bright red.

He thought for a moment, though. He looked at Seto, who was currently reclining over the back of his chair, head thrown back in laughter. He hadn't seen his brother act like this in years, especially around someone other than him. His embarrassment faded a bit, and he smiled as he mused a thought.

Seto Kaiba was laughing like a maniac.