Innocence?
Mystical Knight Dragon: Muahahaha!!! I have come bringing gifts of another chappie!!! As well as thanks to my reviewers!!! Arigatou MENace tenCHI, Dark Magician Girl / Hikaru (I fixed up the part that you told me about. Thank you soo much for bringing it to my attention!! ^_^), Bakuras-Hell, Lightning Sage, Fuzzle-sama and R.O.M. (*huggles R.O.M., Chibi R.O.M., and Kuri-san* Well, I forgot where I was going to put R.O.M. in...again... BUT I WILL REMEMBER!!! ...OOH!!! I JUST THOUGHT OF ANOTHER PART!!! ...At the rate this is going, R.O.M.'s going to have about fifty parts... ^^;), Carmen5-Nemrac, KokoroHikaru (This chappie doesn't have as much POV changing or cursing. Most of the time when it's a POV it's because I want to get some of their thoughts in, and the cursing is usually stuck in when I'm in a bad mood...but right now I'm happy! I don't know why, but I am! ^_^), Dark-Autumn (Nope! Marik's not Hikaru! ^_^), and DemonSurfer!!! Arigatougozaimasu!!!! *bows*
Marikay: This is the chappie where all of the Yami stuff is revealed! Muahaha!!
Chapter 16: A Chance of Life
Bakura paced back and forth across the room. "First he won't let me speak to him, and now he's closed the link... What the hell is wrong with Ryou today?!"
"Bakura..."
"He's always come to me with his problems. Why is today any different?"
"Bakura..."
"If something's wrong sometimes he'll *force* me to listen... What's wrong...?"
"BAKURA!!!"
Bakura shook his head and looked up. Malik was standing right in front of him and shaking his shoulders, calling his name over and over.
"What?"
"Stop pacing and muttering," said Malik, letting go of Bakura's shoulders. "It's making me feel nauseous."
"Sorry I'm worried," said Bakura sarcastically. "And if he dies, then I'll have to be sealed in the Ring for a few more millennia."
Miles away, Yami was thinking the same thing under a different context.
'If Yugi's really dead, then why haven't I been sealed back into the Puzzle yet...?' Yami slowed down as he saw a large sign loom in front of him: "Domino Crematorium."
(A/N: I've never been to a crematorium (nor do I plan on it... *shudder, shudder*), so if I screw up on something, please point it out to me so that I can correct it.)
The parking lot had a total of three cars in it. Yami didn't even slow when he almost ran into one, one of the buckles of his jacket leaving a rather large scratch in it. He wrenched open the door and ran in. He got to the front desk where a rather spooky-looking woman sat watching him intently. Yami stopped running and almost collapsed onto the ground as he tried to regain his breath.
"Yugi Motou," he gasped out. "Where...?"
The woman raised an eyebrow but began to type a few things into her computer. "He's scheduled to be cremated tomorrow morning at 9:15. Are you here to schedule his funeral?"
Yami shook his head, still trying to stop his heart from pounding. "No... Not...dead... Where...now...?"
"He's in the freezer."
Yami didn't know what that meant, but it didn't sound good. "Where's...that...?"
"Umm...Did you want some water or something...?"
Yami shook his head. "Need...to find...Yugi..."
"Well...he's sort of...dead."
"No...not dead..."
"Are you sure you don't want some water...? Or an anti-depressant...?"
Yami shook his head. "I'm fine... Need...hikari..."
"Well, there's plenty of light here..."
"No...Yugi...my hikari..." Yami took a deep breath of air and marveled at how well this got his racing heart to go down.
"Well...I'm afraid I can't let you see him... It's against our policy..."
"Look... I really need...to see him..."
The woman picked up a phone off her desk and pushed a few buttons. When she spoke, her voice echoed throughout the whole crematorium: "Dr. Long to the front desk, please."
A man in a white lab coat walked in through a door near the back. "What?" he snapped.
The woman motioned to Yami and then buried herself behind a magazine.
"Yugi Motou," Yami said, his voice shaking a bit still as his heart still hadn't calmed down yet. "Where is he?"
Dr. Long shrugged. "He's probably in the freezer. That's what we do with those who are dead."
"HE'S—NOT—DEAD!!!" The Eye of Horus (A/N: ...I think that's what it is... I'm really not sure...) began to glow on his forehead, and his eyes narrowed into slits.
Dr. Long stepped back a little bit. "Then why would he be here...?"
"Misunderstanding," said Yami sharply.
Dr. Long nodded and ran back into the room. He came back out five minutes later with Yugi on a hospital tray (A/N: Do those have a name...? Do you have any idea what I'm talking about...?) and retreated quickly back into the room. "Do whatever you want with him," he said as the doors closed behind him. "Just, please leave..."
Yami stepped out of the crematorium just as Joey pulled in. He, Tristan, Téa, and Otogi stepped out of the car and stared at Yami. Yami didn't know when he was more grateful to see his friends...and when he wanted to see them less.
"Yami," said Téa softly. "Why? Yugi's dead..."
Yami shook his head sharply, his hair bouncing everywhere. "If he was dead, then I wouldn't be here."
Joey reached back into the car and pulled out the box with all of Yugi's stuff in it. "The nurse gave us this before we left," he explained. He pulled out the Puzzle and put it around Yugi's neck, making sure that the chain didn't touch the wound on his neck.
"Joey," said Yami to his friend. "Would you bring me by the Ishtar's apartment? Marik was the last person who was with Yugi, and I would really like some answers."
Joey nodded. "I think I would, too..."
"Well...I'm not sure if Marik would let you in..."
Téa shuddered. "I don't think I'd *want* to go in."
Otogi and Tristan shook their heads in agreement.
Yami started to put Yugi in the back seat of the car.
"Eh, sorry, Yami," said Joey slowly, "but...I don't exactly want...dead bodies in my car..."
"WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT HE'S *NOT* DEAD?!?!?!" Yami yelled at the top of his lungs, his temper finally snapped.
"I don't know...," said Otogi slowly. "He looks pretty dead to me..."
Yami turned around slowly and glared at Otogi, the Eye of Horus shining on his head.
"Or he looks perfectly healthy!" Otogi corrected quickly.
With a final glare, Yami crawled into the back seat next to his light.
-*-
"So really you're just worried about Ryou because he might die?" Marik asked, not really paying attention to what was going on but was instead flipping through the channels on Malik's TV. "Whoa! You guys have porn?! ...Never mind. It's just MTV."
"No, that's not the only reason!" said Bakura defensively.
"So there's another reason?" Marik teased.
"I don't know..."
"Aww, has the tomb raider gotten attached to his hikari...? Ick. Home and gardening channel. ...Wait! This is the episode with that house that nearly falls apart on top of them!" He turned up the volume, and Malik and Bakura gave him an odd look.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
Malik walked over and opened it up. "Pharaoh?!"
"Malik." Yami walked in carrying a small bundle in his arms. "I just needed to ask your yami a question or..." He spotted Bakura sitting on the couch next to Marik, both of them staring intently at the TV. "What's *HE* doing here?!?!?!"
Malik shrugged. "He practically lives here..."
Yami put the bundle down and grabbed the nearest thing to him—a knife lying on a small table—and rushed at Bakura. Malik grabbed his arms and forced the knife out of his hands. Bakura looked up and glared.
"What do you want?" Bakura snarled.
"I came to ask Marik something, but now I can get revenge on my hikari!!!"
"I didn't do anything to your light!!! He was dead when I got there!!!"
"Can you guys keep it down?" Marik snapped. "I'm trying to watch this! See? You made me miss the sound effects of the guy dropping the hammer on his foot!"
"Yami, shut up and help!" Malik yelled at Marik, slowly being dragged forward by Yami.
"Yami, just sit down," said Marik casually. "Bakura didn't do anything to your light."
Yami glared. "You know who did?"
Marik nodded.
"...Well?"
"Hold on, this is the best part."
Malik walked over and turned off the TV.
"Hey! I was watching that!"
"Yami, this is important!"
"...What are we talking about?"
Yami picked up the bundle and stuck it on the couch. They looked over and saw Yugi's pale head sticking out of a bunch of blankets. "The near-murder of my light!" Yami snarled.
"He's not dead?" Marik and Bakura asked simultaneously in disbelief.
"But he had a knife shoved through his neck!" Marik continued.
"I know, but how can he be dead if I'm still here?"
"Wait a minute," said Malik slowly. "What the hell is going on here?!"
"Bakura almost killed my light," said Yami angrily.
"But I didn't!" Bakura protested. "I'm as lost as you are!"
All heads turned towards Marik, who had taken it upon himself to stare resolutely out the window. "I saw the whole thing...," he whispered.
"Care to tell us what happened?" Yami said coldly.
"Yeah...Ryou did it."
* * *
Mystical Knight Dragon: w00t! I finished!!! Poor Ryou... He's going to have a very pissed Yami coming after him... I should get his POV of Yugi's death as well as the comeback of "Hikaru" in the next chapter. Dark-Autumn is probably the closest to guessing who it is, but it's still nowhere near correct. Those who guess right gets the next chappie dedicated to them as well as a cookie! ^_^
Indie: She finally finished her drawing, too!!! But she still has to find somewhere to put it... Her website's not being too nice to her right now... Once it's up, she'll put the link in her bio as well as the next chappie.
Muses: Please review! ^_^
Mystical Knight Dragon: Muahahaha!!! I have come bringing gifts of another chappie!!! As well as thanks to my reviewers!!! Arigatou MENace tenCHI, Dark Magician Girl / Hikaru (I fixed up the part that you told me about. Thank you soo much for bringing it to my attention!! ^_^), Bakuras-Hell, Lightning Sage, Fuzzle-sama and R.O.M. (*huggles R.O.M., Chibi R.O.M., and Kuri-san* Well, I forgot where I was going to put R.O.M. in...again... BUT I WILL REMEMBER!!! ...OOH!!! I JUST THOUGHT OF ANOTHER PART!!! ...At the rate this is going, R.O.M.'s going to have about fifty parts... ^^;), Carmen5-Nemrac, KokoroHikaru (This chappie doesn't have as much POV changing or cursing. Most of the time when it's a POV it's because I want to get some of their thoughts in, and the cursing is usually stuck in when I'm in a bad mood...but right now I'm happy! I don't know why, but I am! ^_^), Dark-Autumn (Nope! Marik's not Hikaru! ^_^), and DemonSurfer!!! Arigatougozaimasu!!!! *bows*
Marikay: This is the chappie where all of the Yami stuff is revealed! Muahaha!!
Chapter 16: A Chance of Life
Bakura paced back and forth across the room. "First he won't let me speak to him, and now he's closed the link... What the hell is wrong with Ryou today?!"
"Bakura..."
"He's always come to me with his problems. Why is today any different?"
"Bakura..."
"If something's wrong sometimes he'll *force* me to listen... What's wrong...?"
"BAKURA!!!"
Bakura shook his head and looked up. Malik was standing right in front of him and shaking his shoulders, calling his name over and over.
"What?"
"Stop pacing and muttering," said Malik, letting go of Bakura's shoulders. "It's making me feel nauseous."
"Sorry I'm worried," said Bakura sarcastically. "And if he dies, then I'll have to be sealed in the Ring for a few more millennia."
Miles away, Yami was thinking the same thing under a different context.
'If Yugi's really dead, then why haven't I been sealed back into the Puzzle yet...?' Yami slowed down as he saw a large sign loom in front of him: "Domino Crematorium."
(A/N: I've never been to a crematorium (nor do I plan on it... *shudder, shudder*), so if I screw up on something, please point it out to me so that I can correct it.)
The parking lot had a total of three cars in it. Yami didn't even slow when he almost ran into one, one of the buckles of his jacket leaving a rather large scratch in it. He wrenched open the door and ran in. He got to the front desk where a rather spooky-looking woman sat watching him intently. Yami stopped running and almost collapsed onto the ground as he tried to regain his breath.
"Yugi Motou," he gasped out. "Where...?"
The woman raised an eyebrow but began to type a few things into her computer. "He's scheduled to be cremated tomorrow morning at 9:15. Are you here to schedule his funeral?"
Yami shook his head, still trying to stop his heart from pounding. "No... Not...dead... Where...now...?"
"He's in the freezer."
Yami didn't know what that meant, but it didn't sound good. "Where's...that...?"
"Umm...Did you want some water or something...?"
Yami shook his head. "Need...to find...Yugi..."
"Well...he's sort of...dead."
"No...not dead..."
"Are you sure you don't want some water...? Or an anti-depressant...?"
Yami shook his head. "I'm fine... Need...hikari..."
"Well, there's plenty of light here..."
"No...Yugi...my hikari..." Yami took a deep breath of air and marveled at how well this got his racing heart to go down.
"Well...I'm afraid I can't let you see him... It's against our policy..."
"Look... I really need...to see him..."
The woman picked up a phone off her desk and pushed a few buttons. When she spoke, her voice echoed throughout the whole crematorium: "Dr. Long to the front desk, please."
A man in a white lab coat walked in through a door near the back. "What?" he snapped.
The woman motioned to Yami and then buried herself behind a magazine.
"Yugi Motou," Yami said, his voice shaking a bit still as his heart still hadn't calmed down yet. "Where is he?"
Dr. Long shrugged. "He's probably in the freezer. That's what we do with those who are dead."
"HE'S—NOT—DEAD!!!" The Eye of Horus (A/N: ...I think that's what it is... I'm really not sure...) began to glow on his forehead, and his eyes narrowed into slits.
Dr. Long stepped back a little bit. "Then why would he be here...?"
"Misunderstanding," said Yami sharply.
Dr. Long nodded and ran back into the room. He came back out five minutes later with Yugi on a hospital tray (A/N: Do those have a name...? Do you have any idea what I'm talking about...?) and retreated quickly back into the room. "Do whatever you want with him," he said as the doors closed behind him. "Just, please leave..."
Yami stepped out of the crematorium just as Joey pulled in. He, Tristan, Téa, and Otogi stepped out of the car and stared at Yami. Yami didn't know when he was more grateful to see his friends...and when he wanted to see them less.
"Yami," said Téa softly. "Why? Yugi's dead..."
Yami shook his head sharply, his hair bouncing everywhere. "If he was dead, then I wouldn't be here."
Joey reached back into the car and pulled out the box with all of Yugi's stuff in it. "The nurse gave us this before we left," he explained. He pulled out the Puzzle and put it around Yugi's neck, making sure that the chain didn't touch the wound on his neck.
"Joey," said Yami to his friend. "Would you bring me by the Ishtar's apartment? Marik was the last person who was with Yugi, and I would really like some answers."
Joey nodded. "I think I would, too..."
"Well...I'm not sure if Marik would let you in..."
Téa shuddered. "I don't think I'd *want* to go in."
Otogi and Tristan shook their heads in agreement.
Yami started to put Yugi in the back seat of the car.
"Eh, sorry, Yami," said Joey slowly, "but...I don't exactly want...dead bodies in my car..."
"WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT HE'S *NOT* DEAD?!?!?!" Yami yelled at the top of his lungs, his temper finally snapped.
"I don't know...," said Otogi slowly. "He looks pretty dead to me..."
Yami turned around slowly and glared at Otogi, the Eye of Horus shining on his head.
"Or he looks perfectly healthy!" Otogi corrected quickly.
With a final glare, Yami crawled into the back seat next to his light.
-*-
"So really you're just worried about Ryou because he might die?" Marik asked, not really paying attention to what was going on but was instead flipping through the channels on Malik's TV. "Whoa! You guys have porn?! ...Never mind. It's just MTV."
"No, that's not the only reason!" said Bakura defensively.
"So there's another reason?" Marik teased.
"I don't know..."
"Aww, has the tomb raider gotten attached to his hikari...? Ick. Home and gardening channel. ...Wait! This is the episode with that house that nearly falls apart on top of them!" He turned up the volume, and Malik and Bakura gave him an odd look.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
Malik walked over and opened it up. "Pharaoh?!"
"Malik." Yami walked in carrying a small bundle in his arms. "I just needed to ask your yami a question or..." He spotted Bakura sitting on the couch next to Marik, both of them staring intently at the TV. "What's *HE* doing here?!?!?!"
Malik shrugged. "He practically lives here..."
Yami put the bundle down and grabbed the nearest thing to him—a knife lying on a small table—and rushed at Bakura. Malik grabbed his arms and forced the knife out of his hands. Bakura looked up and glared.
"What do you want?" Bakura snarled.
"I came to ask Marik something, but now I can get revenge on my hikari!!!"
"I didn't do anything to your light!!! He was dead when I got there!!!"
"Can you guys keep it down?" Marik snapped. "I'm trying to watch this! See? You made me miss the sound effects of the guy dropping the hammer on his foot!"
"Yami, shut up and help!" Malik yelled at Marik, slowly being dragged forward by Yami.
"Yami, just sit down," said Marik casually. "Bakura didn't do anything to your light."
Yami glared. "You know who did?"
Marik nodded.
"...Well?"
"Hold on, this is the best part."
Malik walked over and turned off the TV.
"Hey! I was watching that!"
"Yami, this is important!"
"...What are we talking about?"
Yami picked up the bundle and stuck it on the couch. They looked over and saw Yugi's pale head sticking out of a bunch of blankets. "The near-murder of my light!" Yami snarled.
"He's not dead?" Marik and Bakura asked simultaneously in disbelief.
"But he had a knife shoved through his neck!" Marik continued.
"I know, but how can he be dead if I'm still here?"
"Wait a minute," said Malik slowly. "What the hell is going on here?!"
"Bakura almost killed my light," said Yami angrily.
"But I didn't!" Bakura protested. "I'm as lost as you are!"
All heads turned towards Marik, who had taken it upon himself to stare resolutely out the window. "I saw the whole thing...," he whispered.
"Care to tell us what happened?" Yami said coldly.
"Yeah...Ryou did it."
* * *
Mystical Knight Dragon: w00t! I finished!!! Poor Ryou... He's going to have a very pissed Yami coming after him... I should get his POV of Yugi's death as well as the comeback of "Hikaru" in the next chapter. Dark-Autumn is probably the closest to guessing who it is, but it's still nowhere near correct. Those who guess right gets the next chappie dedicated to them as well as a cookie! ^_^
Indie: She finally finished her drawing, too!!! But she still has to find somewhere to put it... Her website's not being too nice to her right now... Once it's up, she'll put the link in her bio as well as the next chappie.
Muses: Please review! ^_^
