*8* Seto *8*
I don't know what lead me to let him in, you give a stray a few scraps and they move in. Though I let him into my office it took a while for either of us to say anything. I took a breath, ready to speak but of course, the loud mouth had to go first.
"Look, I know you don't want me here," that was an understatement, "and I want to be here even less than you want me here." He continued. I was growing impatient but I let him talk. "The only way I am going to move on is for you to help me. You are the only one who can see me and as much as I wish it were someone else… well it's not. All I have is you." I waited to see if he was finished before I took another breath.
"It seems we are on the same page because it looks like the only way I can get my mental health back in order is to get rid of you." I said.
"Are you telling me that you still think this is an illusion, that I am not here?" he was angry, well what did he expect? There are no such things as ghosts. "I'm right here, talking to you." He said, then before I could stop him his hand came up to touch my cheek. "I can feel you." He said.
Indeed, I could feel warmth from his fingers, I could feel the soft wind of his breath against my face, and I could even smell that particular brand of Axe body spray he used. Could it be that my imagination was that good? That my memory of him was that potent? He withdrew his hand and shoved it in his pocket and I could feel the tingle on my cheek at the absence of his warmth.
"Look. I guess it doesn't matter if you are real or not." I said. "I am going to help you. What's the first step?"
"Well, normally when someone becomes a ghost there is unfinished business so I was thinking we could find my killer. He got away right?" it was true, no one had tracked down the shooter yet but they were still searching. "I know who it was."
"Even if you do, do you have evidence?" I asked. "The police are not going to just take my word for it. They'll want to know how I know and I can't very well tell them I was contacted by a ghost…" it sounded ridiculous saying it out loud.
"I don't but we can search for some when we find him." He said.
"Alright, who was it?" it did bother me that he was out there still, hell he could snap again and kill someone else I knew. He could hurt Mokuba.
"It was Yoshi." He said and explained to me how he used to bully Yoshi a while ago. He told me about the day of the shooting, he remembered every detail of that time.
"Yoshi." I said. "That's going to be a problem. He transferred out of school the next day because he said that it was a very traumatic experience for him." I felt anger flare up in the pit of my stomach. Traumatic for him?
"Whoa, hey are you okay?" Jounouchi asked suddenly. "The vain in your forehead is getting big." He said and poked at my forehead. I yanked away and glared at him. "So where can we find him then?"
"I can try his house but if he is trying to get away with this then he's probably not there anymore." I said. "I'll find him." I vowed and walked over to my desk and sat in front of my computer. Jounouchi followed and stood behind me, peering over my shoulder as I worked.
I typed and searched for hours until I came up with an address and I printed out the location before turning back to Jounouchi. I paused seeing him sleeping on the couch across from my desk. Ghosts can sleep? I walked over to him and noticed him shivering. And get cold? I let out a sigh of annoyance and pulled off my white jacked before draping it over him. Good. I thought. Now I could find Yoshi and end this without Jounouchi getting in the way.
I left the room and bumped into Mokuba. "Hey bro." he said.
"I thought you were at the arcade with Yugi and the others." I said.
"I was but we all had homework to catch up on. It was fun, I'm glad you talked me into doing It." he said
"Well good." Was all I could say? "I'm glad you feel better."
"Um, who were you talking to in your office?" he asked suddenly. "I was going to bother you before but you were talking."
"I was on the phone." I lied; I couldn't even tell my brother I was talking to a ghost.
"That's funny because I have the phone right here. It wasn't on the hook. You know how you wonder around with it."
"I was on the speaker phone."
"Oh? I only heard your voice."
"What do you want?"
"Well, you went to the hospital and you seem sad, now you are talking to yourself." He said. "I was thinking that you could let me take over the company for a while and you can take a vacation."
"Vacation," I snorted, "I don't know the meaning of the word. Why waste time doing nothing when you can be productive."
"Yes, but if you don't take a break then you could make mistakes. I never saw you grieve over what happened at school."
"Why would I grieve? I didn't care about Jounouchi." He gave me a sly look and I knew it was because I used his name instead of a degrading nickname. "You don't speak ill of the dead." I said quickly.
"Maybe so, but it is still a part of your life that is missing, even if he did annoy you, he is something that's missing."
"Mokuba, you can't take over the company for a couple of years yet. You aren't of age."
"What about America?"
"You will get to run that, as I said but it will take time to set everything up. Also, the Americans are trying to play with me. This game is one I am very familiar with." I sighed. "I know that you are worried about me but I am fine."
"Well just take it easy then." Mokuba said, defeated.
"I will." I said and tousled his hair. He glared at me and fixed his hair. "I have something I need to check on I will be back later." I said.
"Okay." He said faintly as I walked away from him. I hated lying to my brother but I hated hurting him like this even more. Once Jounouchi was gone things would go back to normal. They had to.
I got into my car and drove clear of the grounds, toward the address I had written down. Yoshi would pay for what he did.
As I drove I began to think of what Mokuba said, about missing Jounouchi only because he is a part that's missing. He was a great outlet from my anger. My hands dug into the steering wheel at the thought of how annoying he could be sometimes. I let out a breath; it did seem quiet without him around (well before he showed up again, that is).
I pulled up a small house and parked before getting out. I checked the paper in my hand again to make sure I was at the right place. I was. I looked up at the door but something was wrong. As I approached the door I could see that it wasn't closed all the way. I pushed the door open and stepped inside. The place was covered in dust and nothing had been picked up in weeks. I made a face of disgust.
"This place is worse than mine and my dad's place." Startled, I turned to find Jounouchi standing behind me.
"What are you doing here?"
"Duh, I want to catch Yoshi." He said.
"No, I mean, I thought you were asleep."
"I was. But right after you left Mokuba came into your office and yanked up your jacked, thanks for that by the way, and I woke up." He said "then I found the address and decided to follow you. You could have waked me."
"I wanted to do this without you distracting me."
"Jerk. Two heads are better than one."
"Well your head counts as negative one." I said quickly and he playfully punched me in the arm. I went to hit him back but thought against it. I was too scared to find out if he would feel me like I felt him.
"So find any clues yet?"
"I just walked in. stay here." I said but when I started walking he followed anyway. We walked into the adjacent room, the kitchen, but it was the same as the hall. Every room seemed to be unused for weeks. It was as I feared, Yoshi must have run away. There had to be a clue as to where he went somewhere."
So Jounouchi and I continued until the entire downstairs was searched. We headed upstairs and I felt something in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't be sure what it was exactly but it felt something like panic. I ignored it and continued until I reached the top of the steps. It was then that an awful smell surrounded me. I knew it instantly.
"What is that?" Jounouchi asked and gaged.
"Didn't you used to be in a gang?"
"Yes, why?"
"Never mind. Just stay here. I mean it."
"fine." He said. And I followed the smell to where it was most potent. I hesitated before opening the door and when I did I found what I was expecting. Yoshi's stiff lifeless body hung from the ceiling.