Chapter 5: Familiar Feelings

Mokuba looked at Joey, shocked at the question he'd just heard. He couldn't believe it. His friends thought he was hurting himself! Why would he do that? Sure he was alone, but he'd never resort to that to make him feel better!

"Wh-what?" asked Mokuba.

"You heard me," said Joey.

"I...why would you think that?" asked Mokuba.

"There's no one else here to hurt you."

"My brother did this to me!" cried Mokuba.

Téa, Yugi, and Joey exchanged glances.

"Mokuba, we wouldn't normally think that, but you're talking crazy. Kaiba is dead. He couldn't have done this to you," said Yugi.

"Yeah, you must've imagined him doin' this to you," said Joey.

"No, I wouldn't do this to myself. How could I hit myself so hard that it hurts this bad?" Mokuba asked.

"You didn't have to slap yourself," said Joey. "You could have run into something."

Mokuba was still horrified. He couldn't believe they were suggesting this.

"Why won't you guys believe me?" Mokuba cried at them.

"Mokuba, Kaiba is dead," said Joey. "He isn't doing this to you."

"I'm not lying to you!" exclaimed Mokuba.

"Maybe we should get you some help," suggested Téa.

"No, I don't need help!" cried Mokuba.

"Judging by you being hurt and you being alone, I'd say you need help," said Joey. "Isn't that right, Yugi?"

Yugi didn't know what to do. He didn't want to think of Mokuba harming himself to feel better about Kaiba's death, but what other option did they have here? What if Tilly, Chelsi, or Roland was hurting him? No, Kaiba trusted them. They wouldn't do anything like that to Mokuba. If they had, they would have been fired a long time ago, but that didn't mean they didn't start afterwards. He shook the thought from his mind. Yugi was about to speak when Yami took over for him.

"I suggest we wait awhile," Yami told Joey.

"What!"

"I have a feeling about something," said Yami. "I think we should wait for awhile before we get Mokuba help."

"You believe me, Yugi?" asked Mokuba.

"I'm not sure what to believe right now, Mokuba, but I am willing to trust your word for now."

"Yugi, how could you say that?" asked Téa. "We have the proof."

"Yeah," agreed Joey.

"Trust me," said Yami.

Téa and Joey still weren't so sure about his idea, but trusted him none the less. Mokuba ran over and hugged Yami, happy that someone decided to listen to him.

"Why don't we go to the arcade?" suggested Yami.

"Yeah, that'll take our minds off of what happened," smiled Téa.

"Maybe Mokuba could beat his brother's high scores!" joked Joey.

Mokuba gave a small smile.

"What do you say, Mokuba?" asked Yami.

"I don't know," he answered.

"Please," said Joey.

"C'mon you know you'd have lots of fun," said Téa.

Mokuba looked up at Yami who nodded in agreement with Téa and decided to go.

"Awesome!" cried Joey. "Let's get going!"

"My feet hurt!" complained Joey. "Couldn't you have gotten us here in one of your limos?"

"I could have," said Mokuba.

"Joey, we're almost there," said Téa.

"Someone please carry me," said Joey.

"Quit being such a whiner, Joey," said Téa.

Mokuba and Yami laughed at Téa and Joey as they continued arguing.

"Wow," said Yugi. "This is the happiest I've seen Mokuba since Kaiba died!"

"Mmhmm," agreed Yami.

"I hope he stays like this.

"So do I."

After a few minutes, they all arrived outside of the Domino Arcade and went inside to play games. Joey kept challenging Mokuba to fighting games and lost every time. Téa was the queen of the dance floor, and Yami found some willing opponents to duel. Everyone was having a good time. After awhile, they all went to a pizza parlor and ate some food.

"I can't believe Mokuba kept beating me!" cried Joey. Mokuba smiled.

"What did you expect?" asked Téa. "He is Seto Kaiba's little brother."

"That is no excuse!"

"Calm down, Joey," Yami laughed.

"I'd like to see you try to calm down after being beaten ten times in a row!"

"I beat you fifteen times in a row," corrected Mokuba.

"What? Fifteen?"

"I think you need to learn to count," joked Téa.

"Shut up!"

They all sat around laughing at one another for the next half hour, then went outside and walked around the city.

"We should do this again tomorrow," said Téa.

"Yeah," agreed Joey. "Then maybe Tristan could come with us."

"Do you really want Tristan to witness you being beaten by Mokuba over and over again?" asked Yami.

"Shut up!"

"What do you say, Mokuba?" asked Téa.

"I don't know about tomorrow," he said.

"Why not?"

"I might just stay home tomorrow."

"You said you weren't up to going out anywhere today," said Yami.

"Yeah, and look at you now," said Joey.

"I know," said Mokuba.

"Actually, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to leave you at that house alone," said Joey.

"I'm not doing this to myself!" cried Mokuba. "I told you it was..."

"Your brother," finished Joey. "We know."

Mokuba started to look sad again and Téa elbowed Joey in the side.

"Good going!" she hissed into his ear.

"I want to go home now," said Mokuba.

"I think you should stay out with us for awhile longer," said Yami. "You can pick what we do next."

"I'd rather go home," said Mokuba. "I'm tired."

"Are you sure?" asked Téa.

"Yeah."

Mokuba stopped, about to turn around, when he caught a glimpse of his brother! Mokuba gasped.

"What?" asked Joey.

"N-nothing," answered Mokuba.

He looked in front of him again and saw Kaiba standing at the corner of the sidewalk, waiting for him. Mokuba took off running in the other direction, surprising his friends.

"What's he doing?" asked Joey.

"I don't know, but we need to follow him," said Yami. "Something is wrong."

Mokuba ran down the sidewalk, passed other people out walking, and passed many buildings. Finally, Mokuba stopped and looked behind him. His brother wasn't there. Mokuba smiled then turned to start walking and ran into someone. He looked up to find it was Kaiba! He smirked at Mokuba and shoved him into the alley beside them.

"Seto, what are you doing?" asked Mokuba.

Eventually, Yami, Joey, and Téa caught up to where they thought Mokuba had gone. They looked all around but couldn't find a trace of him.

"Do you think he's going home?" Téa asked Yami.

"It's possible," he answered.

"You guys," said Joey who had walked into the alley. "I found him."

Téa and Yami ran over to where Joey was standing and gasped. Mokuba was lying on the ground beside a pile of old boxes. He looked like someone had just beaten him up! He was unconscious and bleeding.

"We have to get him to the hospital!" cried Téa.

After an hour, the doctor came out to tell the gang the news about Mokuba.

"He'll be just fine," said the doctor.

"Thank goodness," sighed Téa.

"You're sure you didn't see who did this to him?" asked the doctor.

"We're positive," answered Joey. "We were practically right on Mokuba's trail when he ran off. I don't get how anyone got to him before we found him."

"He told us that he didn't see anything either. This seems very strange. He should have constant super vision."

"No problem, we'll take care of that," said Joey.

"When can Mokuba come home?" asked Téa.

"Anytime," said the doctor. "Just make sure he rests a bit."

"Will do," said Joey.

A few minutes later a nurse walked out with Mokuba at her side. He had bandages all over him and looked as if he was in pain from walking.

"Yami, I don't understand how that happened to him," said Yugi. "He apparently couldn't have done that to himself."

"Yugi, I know that you're worried, but we'll keep an eye on Mokuba," Yami told him. "Perhaps he could stay with us."

"Come on, Mokuba," said Téa. "We'll take you back home."

They walked outside and all of them watched as Mokuba's face scrunched in pain at every step he took.

"Do you want a cab to drive you home?" asked Joey. "Or can you call someone to drive one of your limos out here or something?"

"I'll be okay," Mokuba said quietly.

"Mokuba, are you sure you didn't see anything when you were attacked?" asked Téa, still concerned about him.

Mokuba looked at her sadly, "My brother did this to me."

"That's it!" cried Joey. "There is no way that Kaiba did this to you!"

"I know you guys don't believe me, but I'm not going crazy."

Mokuba started walking away again, but Yami stepped in front of him.

"Mokuba, you're in no shape to be walking back home," he said.

"My brother wouldn't complain about being hurt like this," said Mokuba.

"Yeah, but he probably wouldn't get hurt like that," said Joey.

"Kaiba wouldn't let you walk home like this," said Yami.

"I know, but..."

"But nothing," said Joey. You shouldn't be walking around."

"I don't want to ride in a cab or a limo."

"Why don't we go to my home?" suggested Yami. "It's closer than the mansion if you really want to walk."

Mokuba didn't argue. They all agreed to go back to the game shop, and let Mokuba stay there for the rest of the night. Mokuba slept in Yugi's room again which left Yugi on the couch. It took them all awhile to get Mokuba up the stairs. Eventually, Joey picked him up and took him upstairs. Mokuba squeaked in pain but he was happy he was going to sleep in a soft bed. He went directly to bed that night.

"Poor, Mokuba," said Solomon.

"If only we knew who did that to him," said Téa.

"He doesn't know who attacked him?" asked Solomon.

"He said it was his brother," said Yami.

"Don't tell me you actually believe him!" exclaimed Joey.

"This all seems familiar, but something isn't adding up," Yami told them.

They all stared at him.

"What do you mean, Yugi?" asked Solomon.

"I'm not so sure at the moment," Yami answered. "I just have a feeling that this kind of thing has happened before."

"Don't worry about it," was all Joey could think to say.