Greetings!
I'm so very sorry for the delay in posting this. My computer died two weeks ago and I still have not been able to fix it. I ended up writing this by hand, then typing it up on my old laptop, and then borrowing a friend's computer to post here.
Oh, wow! I was beginning to wonder why not as many people liked this story, but I'm glad that there are people out there enjoying it! Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews. I usually reply to all of the reviews, but I'm on limited time with the borrowed computer, so I'll just say a big THANK YOU! You all rock!
A note: this story is set in Japan, even though I use the American names for the main characters. Any new characters in the story will more than likely have Japanese names.
If any of you read "Paint the Sky with Stars" I'll have a chapter of it up later in the day.
Now on to the story. Enjoy!
**~~**
Part 5: Whispers of the Past
6 months later
"Thank you. Have a great evening and come again."
Joey smiled at the woman as she handed her back her change, and watched as she left with her son. The bells over the door jangled as she made her way out, giving the small shop a light hearted feeling; a feeling it hadn't known in a long while. Joey glanced at the clock and sighed in relief. It was closing time. He walked over to the door and flipped the sign so that 'closed' faced the outside, and locked the door. He straightened up the displays that had gotten messed up during the course of the day, before making his way out of the shop.
As soon as he left the shop and entered the residence beside it, the smell of vegetable stew reached his nostrils. He sniffed appreciatively and smiled when his stomach growled in response.
"Joey, dinner is ready."
"I'm coming. I closed the shop already."
Joey made his way to the kitchen to find Solomon Moto lifting several plates off one of the counters. He put them on his lap, and then wheeled himself out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
"I'll take care of the register later," the older man said as Joey held the door open so that the wheelchair would fit through.
"Okay, Gramps. I'll get the stew."
Joey lifted the pot and carefully carried it to the kitchen table, his stomach growling louder as he got to the table.
"Sounds like someone is hungry," Mr. Moto said, chuckling. "Who knew that keeping shop was such hard work?"
"We had a lot more customers today. The regional Duel Monster championships are coming up, so there are a lot of kids out there reworking their decks."
Mr. Moto smiled as he served dinner. "It happens every year at this time and it makes for very good business."
The two men remained silent as they ate. Joey glanced across the table at the elderly man and felt a twang of sorrow and regret, just as he did every night at dinner. Joey knew that he wasn't the one Mr. Moto really wanted to be talking to and sharing his dinner with. Even if he did, there was still someone else that he wished were here as well.
After the night Yugi was kidnapped, Mr. Moto had not been expected to survive. His back had been broken, and the doctors had been certain that the elderly man would not survive. He had surprised everyone, however, by waking up. He'd been left paralyzed from the waist down because of the injury, so Joey had decided to move in with Mr. Moto to take care of him. Joey's father was never really around their house anyway, so he hadn't really cared about Joey's change of address.
In a way, staying with Mr. Moto was what Joey needed to do. He'd been unable to find Yugi that day at the docks, or in the six months that had passed. The police had closed the case, because they said that after so long, it was very likely that Yugi was dead. They had no other leads or clues to go on, so they'd given up. Neither Mr. Moto nor Joey believed that Yugi was dead, so they'd vowed to keep looking.
It didn't help matters that in the six months that Yugi had been missing, Yami hadn't come out of the puzzle. Joey didn't want to believe that Yugi was dead, but not having Yami around made it hard to keep that belief. From what Joey understood of the way the Millennium Puzzle worked, if Yugi died, Yami would be trapped inside the puzzle again until he could find a new host. However, if Yugi was alive, Yami should still be able to exist outside of the puzzle. He'd have to stay outside for short periods of time, but he could still do it. Joey didn't want to believe that the reason Yami hadn't come out of the puzzle was because Yugi was dead, but his attempts at drawing Yami out had proven in vein.
"You're awfully quiet this evening."
Joey looked up from his stew to see Mr. Moto's violet eyes fixed on him.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking . . . "
Mr. Moto nodded. "I know," he said, and looked away.
Accepting what had happened to Yugi had been almost impossible for the elderly man. Joey had been with him through the hard task of acceptance and grief, but it hadn't been easy for either one of them.
"How was school today, Joey?"
Joey sighed. The more time that passed, the harder it became to talk about Yugi.
"School was fine, Gramps. I had a math test today, though."
"How did it go?"
Joey shrugged. "It was okay. I studied for it a few days beforehand."
"Good. I'm glad that you're doing better. Your grades have gotten much better in the past few months."
Joey chuckled. "I've noticed that too. I guess living in a stable household does make a difference," he said, then looked down at his food.
He had never really talked to anyone abut his situation at home, mainly because he hadn't wanted to bother his friends with his problems or make them feel sorry for him. It had been hard to focus on school when all he'd had to deal with at home were his father's rants and violent tendencies.
When he looked back up at Mr. Moto, Joey noticed that tears had pooled in his eyes.
"I'm glad that something good has come out of all this heartbreak."
He put his spoon down and bowed his head, and Joey could see that his hands were tightly clasped in his lap. A few droplets of water fell onto the table, causing Joey's own eyes to tear up. He got up from the table and walked to the other side, where he kneeled beside Mr. Moto's wheelchair.
"You're not giving up on him, are you Gramps?"
"No, never!" Mr. Moto exclaimed, raising his head to face Joey. "I will never give up on my grandson. I miss him so much, though. I keep expecting him to come bouncing in, telling me about the new cards he's gotten or about a good grade he got in school. This constant silence, that empty room upstairs, they're unbearable."
"I know, Gramps. I miss him too."
Mr. Moto took a deep breath and gave Joey a tentative smile. He wiped away his tears, and then started to clear the table.
"I'll take care of this, Joey. You can go on upstairs to do your homework if you want."
Joey wanted to say more, maybe talk about what had happened in the last six months, but he new that Mr. Moto wasn't going to go for it. He had walked by Mr. Moto's bedroom many a night only to hear the older man sobbing. Joey knew that Yugi's grandfather blamed himself for what had happened, but he wouldn't talk to anyone about it. It was the same with Joey and his friends. He knew that they all missed Yugi, but no one wanted to talk about him. It was as if everyone felt guilty about not getting to him on time that day, and the only way to alleviate the guilt was to pretend that there was nothing wrong.
"Okay, Gramps. Thanks for dinner."
Joey made his way to his bedroom upstairs, leaving Mr. Moto to grieve in peace. The room Joey now occupied had been Mr. Moto's. Since being confined to a wheelchair, he'd been unable to go up the stairs, so he'd given Joey the room. Mr. Moto now occupied what used to be the guest bedroom downstairs.
Once he reached the top of the stairs, Joey stopped. He didn't go directly to his room, choosing instead to stop in front of the door to Yugi's room. The room was a constant reminder that there was something out there still unfinished, something Joey still needed to do. After a short pause, he took a deep breath and opened the door.
Yugi's room was still as it had been the last time Yugi had been in it. The desk and the wall, which had been damaged the night Yugi was kidnapped, were fixed now. The room was clean and peaceful, patiently waiting for the return of its owner.
Joey walked inside and closed the door behind him. He didn't bother turning on any lights, because the moon outside was full and its rays entered through the skylight in Yugi's room, bathing it in silver. He made his way to the desk and picked up the Millennium Puzzle.
"Yami, if you can hear me, please talk to me. Give me a sign that what I'm doing is right. Let me know if you're around, because if you are, that means that Yugi is too."
Joey waited for a few moments, his eyes so focused on the puzzle that it began to blur. Finally, he sighed and placed the puzzle back on the desk. He'd been coming in here a few times a week during the past six months, making the same request. The result he'd gotten each time had been the same as the one he'd gotten tonight. Did that mean that Yugi was really dead, or was Yami simply unable, or unwilling, to talk to him?
Joey didn't want to give up, but after six months of false hope, was it finally time to let his friend go?
**~~**
Seto Kaiba quickly and efficiently conducted his nightly check of the mansion. He had security guards to do this, of course, but he preferred doing it himself one time each night.
What Ryou Bakura had said to him the day Joey had asked him to take them to the docks to get Yugi had really hit home, especially after the way the day had turned out. It had been the thought of him losing Mokuba that had prompted Kaiba to get in his car and catch up to Joey and his friends, and then take them to the docks. They had been too late to rescue Yugi, but it hadn't been too late to prevent something similar from happening to Mokuba. Kaiba had increased security around his mansion that night, which had included installing a new monitoring system and hiring new guards.
Once Kaiba was satisfied that everything was in order, he made his way up to his brother's room. Mokuba should be just about done getting ready for bed, and Kaiba wanted to say goodnight to him. He reached his brother's room and knocked a couple of times, before letting himself in.
"Hi, Seto. I was wondering where you were."
"What do you mean, Mokuba?"
Mokuba smiled widely from where he was already lying in bed.
"You've been up to see me every night for the past few months. I was just wondering where you were tonight. I figured it had probably taken you longer to do your security check. Did you find anything?"
Kaiba frowned. Mokuba wasn't supposed to be aware of what he did every night, which was why he waited until the younger boy was getting ready for bed to conduct his security check.
Mokuba's smile faltered a bit, but did not completely disappear. Instead, he reached out, grabbed Kaiba's hand and pulled him forward so that he sat on the bed next to Mokuba.
"Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean that I don't see what's going on, Seto. I heard you giving orders that night you had the security upgraded, but it wasn't until the next day when I heard about what had happened to Yugi that I realized why you had done it."
Kaiba stared, dumbfounded, at his little brother.
"And here I thought I was being extra careful," Kaiba joked.
He became serious again and decided that he owed Mokuba an explanation. He carefully smoothed the covers around his brother, stalling until he found a way to explain things to him.
"The morning after Yugi was kidnapped, I ran into Joey and his friends outside of school. They were going someplace and asked me to help them, but I refused." Kaiba held up a finger when Mokuba opened his mouth to speak. "Just let me finish, then you can ask me anything you want."
Mokuba nodded, and Kaiba continued. "As they were leaving, Ryou Bakura told me that if you'd been in trouble, if what happened to Yugi had happened to you, Yugi would have helped me if I'd asked. You know what, he was right. Yugi would have helped me if I'd asked. So, I changed my mind and took them where they needed to go. We were too late to help Yugi, but I swore to myself that I would never let anything like that happen to you."
"So you felt guilty," Mokuba stated.
Kaiba thought about it for a moment, before he nodded.
"Yes, I guess I did. I couldn't help thinking that maybe if I'd agreed to Joey's request right away instead of arguing with him like I usually do, then we could have gotten to Yugi in time."
Mokuba shook his head and reached out from under the covers to take his brother's hand.
"It wasn't your fault, big brother. I think you're a great guy."
Kaiba laughed. "Why, thank you, Mokuba. I think you're pretty great yourself."
The two brothers laughed, and then all of a sudden became serious.
"I love you, Seto."
"I love you too, Mokuba."
**~~**
The young man pulled his hooded sweatshirt tighter around himself as the strong, chilly wind threatened to rip it from his body. Around him, the busy streets of Tokyo bustled with activity as the nightlife began to take shape. He shivered slightly as he saw a group of people crossing the street beside him. He'd been travelling this road back to his home after a grueling day of work for a while now, so he knew that the people roaming the streets weren't a threat to him. Not in this part of the city, at least. He seriously doubted anything would happen to him now.
He really didn't know his way around Tokyo, which he found strange. After all, his guardian had told him that he'd lived here all of his life. If that was true, shouldn't he know more of the city by now? He supposed that he was still young and hadn't had a chance to get around yet, but he'd seen other kids out and about while he was at work. One of his co-workers had told him that the kids were going to school, which was why they were out at that time of the morning. That had led him to wonder why he wasn't in school. He looked to be as old as the school kids he'd seen, so he had asked his guardian why he wasn't in school. His guardian had told him that he'd been lousy at school so he'd had to work instead. The young man had accepted the explanation because he'd really had no reason not to.
He stopped at a crosswalk to wait for his turn to cross the street and glanced around at the tall buildings that surrounded him. He wished that he didn't have to spend so much time working at the restaurant so that he could explore the city. Unfortunately, that was not to be.
He crossed the street and made his way to his bus stop. As he stood waiting for the bus, a particularly strong wind blew paper and garbage all around him. Some of it even managed to hit him. He brushed most of it off, except for two pieces of paper that had gotten stuck inside his hood. He was about to dig the pieces of paper out of his hood when he saw the bus arrive.
The paper forgotten for the moment, the young man got out his money and boarded the bus. He smiled at a couple of the people he recognized from his daily bus rides, and then proceeded to his customary seat at the back of the bus. Once he was seated, he remembered the pieces of paper he'd been trying to get rid of earlier. He reached into the hood and plucked them out from where they'd gotten tuck in his hair. As soon as he'd touched them, he realized that the pieces weren't made of paper.
He looked at the pieces closely and it finally dawned on him that he was holding two cards of some kind. The back of them was brown with a swirl like pattern that concluded with a black oval in the center. He flipped the first one over and saw that the front of the card had a picture of an elf dressed in a weird green warrior outfit. The colors on the card were faded and it was well worn and battered, but the picture was still clear enough. At the very top, the card read "Celtic Guardian", while at the bottom, he could see some strange designation: ATK/2400 DEF/1200. He had no clue what any of that meant, though.
"Celtic Guardian, attack Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Startled at the sudden loud voice, he looked around the bus hoping to find the source of the sound. No one else on the bus seemed to have heard it, though, since they all continued to go about their business.
Almost as sudden as the voice, the young man had a vision of the warrior elf, Celtic Guardian, he figured, wielding a sword and running towards a rotting, three headed dragon. Behind the three headed dragon, the young man could also see a tall teenager with piercing blue eyes and a flowing blue trench coat, standing on the top of a tower.
He frowned and shook his head to vanish the strange image.
"I guess the cleaning fumes finally got to me," he muttered to himself.
Absently, he flipped over the second card and gasped when he saw the picture of a woman who appeared to be half angel and half devil.
"Change of Heart, huh?" he said, reading the top of the card.
Without warning, the image of the half angel, half devil woman was replaced by that of a kind looking boy with white hair and brown eyes. Like in the card, the picture of the boy split into two, the second half becoming a darker, meaner looking version of the same boy. The young man quickly dropped the card and again looked around to see if anyone else had seen what had just happened. Everyone was still minding their own business, so they must not have noticed.
Tentatively, he reached down and picked up the discarded card. He had every intention of crumpling the two cards and throwing them away, but he couldn't get himself to do it. Instead, he put the cards in an inside pocket of his shirt where they'd be safe. He didn't know why he was seeing and hearing things, though, and that really worried him. He wasn't the type to usually hallucinate or daydream, so he was at a loss to explain what had just happened to him. Maybe if he got home and got more sleep tonight, he'd be okay in the morning.
He reached his destination and got off the bus, then quickly walked to his home. The area he lived in wasn't a particularly safe one, so he didn't want to be outside longer than absolutely necessary.
He reached the building he lived in a few minutes later, then walked up two flights of stairs to his guardian's apartment. As soon as he opened the door, he heard a booming voice call out to him from the small, messy living room at the other end of the apartment.
"Jomei, is that you?"
"Yes, Mr. Asami, it's me."
"Good. Get yourself in here and give me what you have for me."
Jamei closed the front door behind him and headed into the living room. He quickly walked up to his guardian, who was sitting in a recliner watching TV, and handed him the envelope his employer had given him a few hours before. Mr. Asami took the envelope and counted the money inside.
"Very good. You're not a good for nothing weakling after all," Asami stated and put the envelope in his pant's pocket. "There's some soup in the refrigerator for dinner," he said, dismissing Jamei.
Jamei nodded and headed to the kitchen. Asami only paid attention to him and the other two boys he had custody of when they got paid. The rest of the time, it was as if the boys weren't really there. With the money he got from them, Asami provided them with a roof over their heads, food, and a minimal amount of clothes, but not much else. Jamei was smart enough to know that what he made should have been able to afford him better than what he got. He didn't say anything about it anymore, however. He'd learned his lesson after me had mentioned it to Asami once, and his guardian had severely punished him for it. Now, Jamei just did what he was told. He didn't have another choice, not if he wanted to have a place to live.
He served himself a bowl of cold soup from the kitchen and took it to what passed as his room. It was really nothing more than a cramped closet, but it was his. The small apartment only had two bedrooms, and they were both occupied by Asami and the other two boys. The other boys were much bigger and older than Jamei, so he was glad not to have to share a room with them.
Jamei ran into Kioshi as he was walking to his room, but the other boy ignored him. The three boys didn't really get along, so Jomei was more than happy to keep to himself. Once he reached his room, Jomei settled down beside the small window overlooking the busy street below. He sipped his soup, feeling tired and worn down after a long day spent cleaning at the restaurant he worked for. He would need to go to sleep soon, because he had to get up early tomorrow to again go to work. He set the now empty soup bowl aside and got the two cards out of his pocket.
"Why did I keep these? Why do they seem so familiar?"
There wasn't much that Jomei knew about himself or his past. His guardian had told him that he'd been in a terrible accident a few months back that had robbed him of his memories. Jomei supposed that was why his life was such a black hole. All he knew about himself he knew from Asami, and since the man had been his guardian all his life, he had no reason not to believe him.
Jomei leaned his head back and glanced at the full moon. Someday he would get the answers he was looking for.
Someday.
**~~**
Well? What do you all think? I have an idea of where I want this to go, and I can almost guarantee that there will be plenty of angst.
I'm so very sorry for the delay in posting this. My computer died two weeks ago and I still have not been able to fix it. I ended up writing this by hand, then typing it up on my old laptop, and then borrowing a friend's computer to post here.
Oh, wow! I was beginning to wonder why not as many people liked this story, but I'm glad that there are people out there enjoying it! Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews. I usually reply to all of the reviews, but I'm on limited time with the borrowed computer, so I'll just say a big THANK YOU! You all rock!
A note: this story is set in Japan, even though I use the American names for the main characters. Any new characters in the story will more than likely have Japanese names.
If any of you read "Paint the Sky with Stars" I'll have a chapter of it up later in the day.
Now on to the story. Enjoy!
**~~**
Part 5: Whispers of the Past
6 months later
"Thank you. Have a great evening and come again."
Joey smiled at the woman as she handed her back her change, and watched as she left with her son. The bells over the door jangled as she made her way out, giving the small shop a light hearted feeling; a feeling it hadn't known in a long while. Joey glanced at the clock and sighed in relief. It was closing time. He walked over to the door and flipped the sign so that 'closed' faced the outside, and locked the door. He straightened up the displays that had gotten messed up during the course of the day, before making his way out of the shop.
As soon as he left the shop and entered the residence beside it, the smell of vegetable stew reached his nostrils. He sniffed appreciatively and smiled when his stomach growled in response.
"Joey, dinner is ready."
"I'm coming. I closed the shop already."
Joey made his way to the kitchen to find Solomon Moto lifting several plates off one of the counters. He put them on his lap, and then wheeled himself out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
"I'll take care of the register later," the older man said as Joey held the door open so that the wheelchair would fit through.
"Okay, Gramps. I'll get the stew."
Joey lifted the pot and carefully carried it to the kitchen table, his stomach growling louder as he got to the table.
"Sounds like someone is hungry," Mr. Moto said, chuckling. "Who knew that keeping shop was such hard work?"
"We had a lot more customers today. The regional Duel Monster championships are coming up, so there are a lot of kids out there reworking their decks."
Mr. Moto smiled as he served dinner. "It happens every year at this time and it makes for very good business."
The two men remained silent as they ate. Joey glanced across the table at the elderly man and felt a twang of sorrow and regret, just as he did every night at dinner. Joey knew that he wasn't the one Mr. Moto really wanted to be talking to and sharing his dinner with. Even if he did, there was still someone else that he wished were here as well.
After the night Yugi was kidnapped, Mr. Moto had not been expected to survive. His back had been broken, and the doctors had been certain that the elderly man would not survive. He had surprised everyone, however, by waking up. He'd been left paralyzed from the waist down because of the injury, so Joey had decided to move in with Mr. Moto to take care of him. Joey's father was never really around their house anyway, so he hadn't really cared about Joey's change of address.
In a way, staying with Mr. Moto was what Joey needed to do. He'd been unable to find Yugi that day at the docks, or in the six months that had passed. The police had closed the case, because they said that after so long, it was very likely that Yugi was dead. They had no other leads or clues to go on, so they'd given up. Neither Mr. Moto nor Joey believed that Yugi was dead, so they'd vowed to keep looking.
It didn't help matters that in the six months that Yugi had been missing, Yami hadn't come out of the puzzle. Joey didn't want to believe that Yugi was dead, but not having Yami around made it hard to keep that belief. From what Joey understood of the way the Millennium Puzzle worked, if Yugi died, Yami would be trapped inside the puzzle again until he could find a new host. However, if Yugi was alive, Yami should still be able to exist outside of the puzzle. He'd have to stay outside for short periods of time, but he could still do it. Joey didn't want to believe that the reason Yami hadn't come out of the puzzle was because Yugi was dead, but his attempts at drawing Yami out had proven in vein.
"You're awfully quiet this evening."
Joey looked up from his stew to see Mr. Moto's violet eyes fixed on him.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking . . . "
Mr. Moto nodded. "I know," he said, and looked away.
Accepting what had happened to Yugi had been almost impossible for the elderly man. Joey had been with him through the hard task of acceptance and grief, but it hadn't been easy for either one of them.
"How was school today, Joey?"
Joey sighed. The more time that passed, the harder it became to talk about Yugi.
"School was fine, Gramps. I had a math test today, though."
"How did it go?"
Joey shrugged. "It was okay. I studied for it a few days beforehand."
"Good. I'm glad that you're doing better. Your grades have gotten much better in the past few months."
Joey chuckled. "I've noticed that too. I guess living in a stable household does make a difference," he said, then looked down at his food.
He had never really talked to anyone abut his situation at home, mainly because he hadn't wanted to bother his friends with his problems or make them feel sorry for him. It had been hard to focus on school when all he'd had to deal with at home were his father's rants and violent tendencies.
When he looked back up at Mr. Moto, Joey noticed that tears had pooled in his eyes.
"I'm glad that something good has come out of all this heartbreak."
He put his spoon down and bowed his head, and Joey could see that his hands were tightly clasped in his lap. A few droplets of water fell onto the table, causing Joey's own eyes to tear up. He got up from the table and walked to the other side, where he kneeled beside Mr. Moto's wheelchair.
"You're not giving up on him, are you Gramps?"
"No, never!" Mr. Moto exclaimed, raising his head to face Joey. "I will never give up on my grandson. I miss him so much, though. I keep expecting him to come bouncing in, telling me about the new cards he's gotten or about a good grade he got in school. This constant silence, that empty room upstairs, they're unbearable."
"I know, Gramps. I miss him too."
Mr. Moto took a deep breath and gave Joey a tentative smile. He wiped away his tears, and then started to clear the table.
"I'll take care of this, Joey. You can go on upstairs to do your homework if you want."
Joey wanted to say more, maybe talk about what had happened in the last six months, but he new that Mr. Moto wasn't going to go for it. He had walked by Mr. Moto's bedroom many a night only to hear the older man sobbing. Joey knew that Yugi's grandfather blamed himself for what had happened, but he wouldn't talk to anyone about it. It was the same with Joey and his friends. He knew that they all missed Yugi, but no one wanted to talk about him. It was as if everyone felt guilty about not getting to him on time that day, and the only way to alleviate the guilt was to pretend that there was nothing wrong.
"Okay, Gramps. Thanks for dinner."
Joey made his way to his bedroom upstairs, leaving Mr. Moto to grieve in peace. The room Joey now occupied had been Mr. Moto's. Since being confined to a wheelchair, he'd been unable to go up the stairs, so he'd given Joey the room. Mr. Moto now occupied what used to be the guest bedroom downstairs.
Once he reached the top of the stairs, Joey stopped. He didn't go directly to his room, choosing instead to stop in front of the door to Yugi's room. The room was a constant reminder that there was something out there still unfinished, something Joey still needed to do. After a short pause, he took a deep breath and opened the door.
Yugi's room was still as it had been the last time Yugi had been in it. The desk and the wall, which had been damaged the night Yugi was kidnapped, were fixed now. The room was clean and peaceful, patiently waiting for the return of its owner.
Joey walked inside and closed the door behind him. He didn't bother turning on any lights, because the moon outside was full and its rays entered through the skylight in Yugi's room, bathing it in silver. He made his way to the desk and picked up the Millennium Puzzle.
"Yami, if you can hear me, please talk to me. Give me a sign that what I'm doing is right. Let me know if you're around, because if you are, that means that Yugi is too."
Joey waited for a few moments, his eyes so focused on the puzzle that it began to blur. Finally, he sighed and placed the puzzle back on the desk. He'd been coming in here a few times a week during the past six months, making the same request. The result he'd gotten each time had been the same as the one he'd gotten tonight. Did that mean that Yugi was really dead, or was Yami simply unable, or unwilling, to talk to him?
Joey didn't want to give up, but after six months of false hope, was it finally time to let his friend go?
**~~**
Seto Kaiba quickly and efficiently conducted his nightly check of the mansion. He had security guards to do this, of course, but he preferred doing it himself one time each night.
What Ryou Bakura had said to him the day Joey had asked him to take them to the docks to get Yugi had really hit home, especially after the way the day had turned out. It had been the thought of him losing Mokuba that had prompted Kaiba to get in his car and catch up to Joey and his friends, and then take them to the docks. They had been too late to rescue Yugi, but it hadn't been too late to prevent something similar from happening to Mokuba. Kaiba had increased security around his mansion that night, which had included installing a new monitoring system and hiring new guards.
Once Kaiba was satisfied that everything was in order, he made his way up to his brother's room. Mokuba should be just about done getting ready for bed, and Kaiba wanted to say goodnight to him. He reached his brother's room and knocked a couple of times, before letting himself in.
"Hi, Seto. I was wondering where you were."
"What do you mean, Mokuba?"
Mokuba smiled widely from where he was already lying in bed.
"You've been up to see me every night for the past few months. I was just wondering where you were tonight. I figured it had probably taken you longer to do your security check. Did you find anything?"
Kaiba frowned. Mokuba wasn't supposed to be aware of what he did every night, which was why he waited until the younger boy was getting ready for bed to conduct his security check.
Mokuba's smile faltered a bit, but did not completely disappear. Instead, he reached out, grabbed Kaiba's hand and pulled him forward so that he sat on the bed next to Mokuba.
"Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean that I don't see what's going on, Seto. I heard you giving orders that night you had the security upgraded, but it wasn't until the next day when I heard about what had happened to Yugi that I realized why you had done it."
Kaiba stared, dumbfounded, at his little brother.
"And here I thought I was being extra careful," Kaiba joked.
He became serious again and decided that he owed Mokuba an explanation. He carefully smoothed the covers around his brother, stalling until he found a way to explain things to him.
"The morning after Yugi was kidnapped, I ran into Joey and his friends outside of school. They were going someplace and asked me to help them, but I refused." Kaiba held up a finger when Mokuba opened his mouth to speak. "Just let me finish, then you can ask me anything you want."
Mokuba nodded, and Kaiba continued. "As they were leaving, Ryou Bakura told me that if you'd been in trouble, if what happened to Yugi had happened to you, Yugi would have helped me if I'd asked. You know what, he was right. Yugi would have helped me if I'd asked. So, I changed my mind and took them where they needed to go. We were too late to help Yugi, but I swore to myself that I would never let anything like that happen to you."
"So you felt guilty," Mokuba stated.
Kaiba thought about it for a moment, before he nodded.
"Yes, I guess I did. I couldn't help thinking that maybe if I'd agreed to Joey's request right away instead of arguing with him like I usually do, then we could have gotten to Yugi in time."
Mokuba shook his head and reached out from under the covers to take his brother's hand.
"It wasn't your fault, big brother. I think you're a great guy."
Kaiba laughed. "Why, thank you, Mokuba. I think you're pretty great yourself."
The two brothers laughed, and then all of a sudden became serious.
"I love you, Seto."
"I love you too, Mokuba."
**~~**
The young man pulled his hooded sweatshirt tighter around himself as the strong, chilly wind threatened to rip it from his body. Around him, the busy streets of Tokyo bustled with activity as the nightlife began to take shape. He shivered slightly as he saw a group of people crossing the street beside him. He'd been travelling this road back to his home after a grueling day of work for a while now, so he knew that the people roaming the streets weren't a threat to him. Not in this part of the city, at least. He seriously doubted anything would happen to him now.
He really didn't know his way around Tokyo, which he found strange. After all, his guardian had told him that he'd lived here all of his life. If that was true, shouldn't he know more of the city by now? He supposed that he was still young and hadn't had a chance to get around yet, but he'd seen other kids out and about while he was at work. One of his co-workers had told him that the kids were going to school, which was why they were out at that time of the morning. That had led him to wonder why he wasn't in school. He looked to be as old as the school kids he'd seen, so he had asked his guardian why he wasn't in school. His guardian had told him that he'd been lousy at school so he'd had to work instead. The young man had accepted the explanation because he'd really had no reason not to.
He stopped at a crosswalk to wait for his turn to cross the street and glanced around at the tall buildings that surrounded him. He wished that he didn't have to spend so much time working at the restaurant so that he could explore the city. Unfortunately, that was not to be.
He crossed the street and made his way to his bus stop. As he stood waiting for the bus, a particularly strong wind blew paper and garbage all around him. Some of it even managed to hit him. He brushed most of it off, except for two pieces of paper that had gotten stuck inside his hood. He was about to dig the pieces of paper out of his hood when he saw the bus arrive.
The paper forgotten for the moment, the young man got out his money and boarded the bus. He smiled at a couple of the people he recognized from his daily bus rides, and then proceeded to his customary seat at the back of the bus. Once he was seated, he remembered the pieces of paper he'd been trying to get rid of earlier. He reached into the hood and plucked them out from where they'd gotten tuck in his hair. As soon as he'd touched them, he realized that the pieces weren't made of paper.
He looked at the pieces closely and it finally dawned on him that he was holding two cards of some kind. The back of them was brown with a swirl like pattern that concluded with a black oval in the center. He flipped the first one over and saw that the front of the card had a picture of an elf dressed in a weird green warrior outfit. The colors on the card were faded and it was well worn and battered, but the picture was still clear enough. At the very top, the card read "Celtic Guardian", while at the bottom, he could see some strange designation: ATK/2400 DEF/1200. He had no clue what any of that meant, though.
"Celtic Guardian, attack Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Startled at the sudden loud voice, he looked around the bus hoping to find the source of the sound. No one else on the bus seemed to have heard it, though, since they all continued to go about their business.
Almost as sudden as the voice, the young man had a vision of the warrior elf, Celtic Guardian, he figured, wielding a sword and running towards a rotting, three headed dragon. Behind the three headed dragon, the young man could also see a tall teenager with piercing blue eyes and a flowing blue trench coat, standing on the top of a tower.
He frowned and shook his head to vanish the strange image.
"I guess the cleaning fumes finally got to me," he muttered to himself.
Absently, he flipped over the second card and gasped when he saw the picture of a woman who appeared to be half angel and half devil.
"Change of Heart, huh?" he said, reading the top of the card.
Without warning, the image of the half angel, half devil woman was replaced by that of a kind looking boy with white hair and brown eyes. Like in the card, the picture of the boy split into two, the second half becoming a darker, meaner looking version of the same boy. The young man quickly dropped the card and again looked around to see if anyone else had seen what had just happened. Everyone was still minding their own business, so they must not have noticed.
Tentatively, he reached down and picked up the discarded card. He had every intention of crumpling the two cards and throwing them away, but he couldn't get himself to do it. Instead, he put the cards in an inside pocket of his shirt where they'd be safe. He didn't know why he was seeing and hearing things, though, and that really worried him. He wasn't the type to usually hallucinate or daydream, so he was at a loss to explain what had just happened to him. Maybe if he got home and got more sleep tonight, he'd be okay in the morning.
He reached his destination and got off the bus, then quickly walked to his home. The area he lived in wasn't a particularly safe one, so he didn't want to be outside longer than absolutely necessary.
He reached the building he lived in a few minutes later, then walked up two flights of stairs to his guardian's apartment. As soon as he opened the door, he heard a booming voice call out to him from the small, messy living room at the other end of the apartment.
"Jomei, is that you?"
"Yes, Mr. Asami, it's me."
"Good. Get yourself in here and give me what you have for me."
Jamei closed the front door behind him and headed into the living room. He quickly walked up to his guardian, who was sitting in a recliner watching TV, and handed him the envelope his employer had given him a few hours before. Mr. Asami took the envelope and counted the money inside.
"Very good. You're not a good for nothing weakling after all," Asami stated and put the envelope in his pant's pocket. "There's some soup in the refrigerator for dinner," he said, dismissing Jamei.
Jamei nodded and headed to the kitchen. Asami only paid attention to him and the other two boys he had custody of when they got paid. The rest of the time, it was as if the boys weren't really there. With the money he got from them, Asami provided them with a roof over their heads, food, and a minimal amount of clothes, but not much else. Jamei was smart enough to know that what he made should have been able to afford him better than what he got. He didn't say anything about it anymore, however. He'd learned his lesson after me had mentioned it to Asami once, and his guardian had severely punished him for it. Now, Jamei just did what he was told. He didn't have another choice, not if he wanted to have a place to live.
He served himself a bowl of cold soup from the kitchen and took it to what passed as his room. It was really nothing more than a cramped closet, but it was his. The small apartment only had two bedrooms, and they were both occupied by Asami and the other two boys. The other boys were much bigger and older than Jamei, so he was glad not to have to share a room with them.
Jamei ran into Kioshi as he was walking to his room, but the other boy ignored him. The three boys didn't really get along, so Jomei was more than happy to keep to himself. Once he reached his room, Jomei settled down beside the small window overlooking the busy street below. He sipped his soup, feeling tired and worn down after a long day spent cleaning at the restaurant he worked for. He would need to go to sleep soon, because he had to get up early tomorrow to again go to work. He set the now empty soup bowl aside and got the two cards out of his pocket.
"Why did I keep these? Why do they seem so familiar?"
There wasn't much that Jomei knew about himself or his past. His guardian had told him that he'd been in a terrible accident a few months back that had robbed him of his memories. Jomei supposed that was why his life was such a black hole. All he knew about himself he knew from Asami, and since the man had been his guardian all his life, he had no reason not to believe him.
Jomei leaned his head back and glanced at the full moon. Someday he would get the answers he was looking for.
Someday.
**~~**
Well? What do you all think? I have an idea of where I want this to go, and I can almost guarantee that there will be plenty of angst.