Greetings!
Sorry for the lapse in updating. Life got in the way of writing. not to mention a bit of laziness in the typing dept. I swear I'd have the stories I'm working on written in a week if I could just dictate them into the computer. Where's Seto Kaiba when you need him? :o)
Reviews:
Yami-Yugi: *hugs Yami-Yugi* Thanks for the warm fuzzies! I hope this update wasn't too long in coming.
Amiasha Ruri: Sorry to hear that you have a cold. Those are always annoying as hell. I hope that you're feeling better by now. Jomei's dream is. . . well, I can't give the plot away, can I? :o).
Amarielle: School. job. boy do I know the feeling! I'm not looking forward to school starting in less than a month. I hope it gets better for you, though! Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm glad that I'm able to convey in words what I see in my head. Makes me very happy! It also makes me happy to know that you like Kaiba! Writing him as a total jerk just wouldn't be any fun. Speaking of which, don't worry about Mokuba. I don't plan on doing anything to him! The line was just a way to express how much Seto loves his brother. And yes, Seto's past will be further explored. The first part of this chapter touches upon it, from a different point of view. But yes, his past is definitely going to be around for the remainder of the fic.
"And what was with Jomei's exclamation of, "Don't do it anymore! I don't want to do that,"?" That depends on what you're insinuating ;o). I will say this: you haven't been entirely perverted. but it may not necessarily be what you're thinking.
TZ: You can call him Jomei for now, since he's not really Yugi. As for him getting his memories back. do you really want to know right now, when the fic is only halfway finished (scary thought, isn't it?) or would you rather wait and be surprised? ;o)
Lady Elfskye: Welcome to the wonderful world of fanfiction.net! This is an awesome board with many, many wonderful fics! Thank you for stopping by my story and giving it a chance, and for reviewing it. I'm very happy to know that you enjoyed it.
SerafinaMoon: Yup, you guessed right, I am going to tell you to wait and see! I've read stories in which the author says things like "don't worry, there'll be a happy ending" or "it's okay, he'll get better". 9 times out of 10, and unless the story is just so unbelievably good, I stop reading. That just ruins the story for me and I don't want to the same to you all, which is why I don't say anything. About the last name: In the anime episode where Kaiba is trying to hack into the Industrial Illusions computer to help Yugi while Yugi duels with the fake Kaiba, Yugi's last name is spelled Moto on Kaiba's computer screen. At first, I thought it was something from the dub, but it was even spelled like that in the Japanese version. The subtitles spell it differently and I think the manga does too, but I just left it the way I saw it. Besides, it's less letters to type ^__^
Cyberkat: *sigh of relief* Okay, good. I'm glad you like the emotional stuff. Funny you should mention consequences, because I just realized that most of this story is about the aftermath of what happened both to Jomei and to Kaiba.
Millenia Star: Parties are fun, but I doubt Jomei is going to have much fun at this one.
Guess: You thought the chapter was short? Whoohoo! I've been smacking myself upside the head *something my muse does not like* quite a bit for getting too carried away with chapters and not being able to write a 6 page one (the last one was 10). This one is longer than the last one! Thanks for putting the fic in your favorites!
Adrienne: Shadow was supposed to be in this chapter but got cut off when the length went over the 15 page mark. He'll probably be in the next one. Yuugi is right, though. killing Shadow is Yami's job ^_^ Then again, Yami is going to have to find him first!
Lizzy9046: Yes, it's sad but true. Then again, I think I spend way too much time looking at the guy's coat. I was watching the YGO Movie the other day, and Kaiba is a lot shorter there than in the anime. He's jut a bit taller than Yami. The flowing coat looks much worse on him there. But I digress. I don't think Freddy would quite fit in with Jomei's dreams. Though I think seeing a homicidal maniac wearing knives for fingernails might just sober the kid up.
Ginger Ninja: Yup, ups and downs are a part of life, unfortunately. I am usually pretty consistent in the way I write, so if you've read my one finished fic, you should be able to tell how this one will probably end ^_^.
Labannya: Uh, oh. as soon as I saw the word bouncy I started to worry! Fanta is pretty strong. I don't usually drink it because of that. I can definitely understand why you were bouncing off the walls. There wasn't any brain damage, right?
Yup, just Jomei and his friends. well, most of them, at least. I'm beginning to think I should have had Asami suffer more! He died way too quickly! I totally agree that it does help to talk and get different opinions, if only to know that you're not the only one insane in the world! I read something in another fic (can't remember which one) about how Bakura (the thief) came from a village that was destroyed or something. That would explain why he's the way he is. Hmm. me thinks I should go read those manga translations I was told about.
Starheart: Thanks for the review! I'm very appreciative that you took the time to leave your comments even though you were on your way to work. Hopefully you weren't late.
Aida: There will definitely be plenty of Yugi/Jomei and Yami bonding in the story. Thanks for reviewing!
Woah. I'm so terribly sorry for the long, long replies. Forgive any and all typos. I don't have someone to beta for me, and I tend to miss stuff half the time. Not to mention that it's late and I'm dead tired.
Enjoy the fic!
**~~**
Chapter 16: Through the Looking Glass
There's no vocabulary
For love within a family, love that's lived in
But not looked at, love within the light of which
All else is seen, the love within which
All other love finds speech.
This love is silent.
*T. S. Eliot
Mokuba Kaiba sat in his room, playing on his computer.
He'd decided against going downstairs to the living room and the big entertainment system because he'd wanted to stay close to his brother. Seto had looked rather worn, and Mokuba was still worried about the injury he'd sustained while in Tokyo. He knew that his brother never told him everything that was going on as a protective measure, but Mokuba was not stupid. He was a child, yes, but his life had taught him to grow up fast and pay attention to the things around him. So he let Seto dilute the information he was given, knowing that his brother knew that he would find out about everything else sooner or later. It had been an unspoken agreement between the two of them ever since they'd first come to live with Gozaburo Kaiba. It worked for them, and neither was going to change it.
Mokuba sighed as he idly played the game he'd been busy with for the past hour. He'd gotten a call from Joey Wheeler about a welcome dinner for Yugi that evening, and he'd agreed to go. He was hoping he could talk Seto into going as well, since Mokuba figured it'd be good for his brother to get out and do something with kids his own age. Not to mention that Seto had helped bring Yugi home, so he should be there. Even Joey had said as much when he'd told Mokuba to bring his brother. Mokuba shook his head. He couldn't imagine Seto and Joey being civil to each other, so he'd have to drag Seto to the Moto's and see how things developed.
"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The loud, heart wrenching cry shook Mokuba out of his thoughts and his heart immediately speeded up. He got up and ran out of his room, headed towards his brother's room. Tears had already pooled in his eyes at the anguish in his brother's voice. Seto didn't cry out from a nightmare very often, but every time Mokuba heard it, it ripped his heart in shreds.
Seto was his hero; Mokuba didn't keep that a secret. At the same time, Mokuba knew that Seto was human and had his flaws: His brother tended to be cold and indifferent to everyone around except for him. However, Mokuba also knew why that was. Seto had protected Mokuba as much as he could from Gozaburo, which had included making him believe that everything was okay when it came to his relationship with their adoptive father. Mokuba had found out, with time and through Seto's nightmares, about just what kind of 'relationship' they'd had, but he'd never outright mentioned it to Seto. It had been their agreement not to mention it, even though both knew that the other was aware of what had gone on. It had been important for Seto to keep his control over that situation and Mokuba hadn't done anything to take that away. He'd comforted when he could and let Seto deal with the rest when he'd felt his brother wanted to do it alone.
As he let himself into his brother's room, Mokuba found Seto lying on the bed, his head shaking from side to side, his hands clenched into fists. As Mokuba got closer, he could see the look of fear and pain on his brother's face, which made the tears fall down his cheeks. He climbed up on the bed and noticed the bandage on his brother's side. The wound had apparently been pulled open slightly, because the bandage was covered in blood.
Seto didn't like to be touched, especially during one of his nightmares. Mokuba had learned the hard way when he'd tried to shake Seto awake once, only to have his brother throw him across the room. Seto had been horrified at what he'd done, but Mokuba had understood that he'd only been reacting to what had been in his dream. Since then, he'd come up with a system to let Seto know that it was him that was around, and not whoever he was dreaming about.
Mokuba got on Seto's left side and gently put his hands on his brother's cheeks. He rubbed them slowly and rhythmically with his thumbs, knowing that the soothing motion would eventually wake his brother. His tears continued to fall, several of them landing on Seto's face, but Mokuba didn't care. He needed to wake his brother up before he further aggravated his injury.
Seto mumbled something Mokuba couldn't understand, his hands still clenched. Now that his head had been immobilized, his legs began to move slightly, rumpling the bedspread beneath him.
"I should have tried harder, done more," Seto whispered. "I should have known better."
Not all nightmares were like this. Some would be violent, which scared Mokuba. He hated to see his brother in pain and those dreams gave him a glimpse of just how much pain Gozaburo had inflicted. Nightmares like this one would break Mokuba's heart. He wished there was a way for Seto to understand that he'd done enough, that he'd done what he could at the age he'd been.
"Come on, big brother, wake up," Mokuba sobbed. "Please wake up."
Mokuba continued his soothing motions on Seto's cheeks, until Seto's eyes snapped open. He gasped and his eyes were unfocused. He let out a ragged and shuddering breath before he blinked and finally focused on Mokuba.
"Mokuba?"
Mokuba nodded, dislodging even more of his tears. There were tear tracks running down the side of Seto's face, but the tears belonged to Mokuba.
Seto reached up to wipe away Mokuba's tears, and Mokuba laid his forehead against his brother's before burying his head on Seto's shoulder. He sobbed and felt Seto's hand slowly running up and down his back in an attempt to comfort him. Mokuba finally managed to stop his tears and he straightened, to find guilt in his brother's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Mokuba."
Mokuba shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about, Seto. I'm not crying because you had a nightmare, I'm crying because someone hurt you. Are you okay?"
Seto sighed, and then nodded. "I am now. Thank you, Mokuba."
Mokuba smiled at the compliment, but knew that the shadows in his brother's eyes would never go away.
"You reopened the injury. I'm going to get the first aid kit and fix it."
Mokuba was about to get off the bed when a hand on his leg stopped him. "You don't have to do that, Mokuba. I can do it."
"You clean my cuts and scrapes when I get hurt, Seto. Why can't I do the same?"
Seto actually smiled at that. "Okay, you win. I'll just lay here."
"Good. I'll be right back."
He rushed to the bathroom and got the first aid kit from one of the cabinets. When he got back, Seto had already taken off the soaked bandage.
"Ouch," Mokuba said as he climbed back onto the bed and took a good look at the wound.
It had been stitched and, thankfully, the stitches were still in place. Seto had apparently rubbed it while he'd been sleeping and it was slowly bleeding. Mokuba took out an alcohol pad and placed it over the wound, causing Seto to hiss in pain. He cleaned the blood off as best he could without aggravating the injury further, and then placed a clean bandage over it. When he was done taping the bandage in place, he looked up to find his brother admiring the work.
"Nice. Maybe you should become a doctor, Mokuba."
Mokuba beamed. He put the unused items away and took the soaked bandage and threw it away.
"Maybe I will!"
Seto sighed again and sat up, wincing slightly. "Is there any aspirin in that thing?"
Mokuba rummaged around the kit and found a couple of packages of aspirin. He went to the bedside table and poured a glass of water, before handing the pills and the glass to his brother.
"Hmm, or maybe a nurse," Seto joked when he'd taken the pills. "You have an excellent bedside manner."
"I'd rather be a doctor if I had to choose between the two!"
Seto nodded. "So, what were you doing before you had to come in here and wake me up?"
Mokuba shrugged. "I was playing video games in my room. Oh, that reminds me; Joey called to invite us to dinner tonight at Yugi's house. Mr. Moto is having a welcome home get-together for Yugi and would like us to go."
Seto narrowed his eyes. "He'd like YOU to go or he'd like US to go?"
"US, Seto. Joey told me to make sure you went too."
Seto shook his head, glancing down at his side. "I don't think so, Mokuba. I have a lot of things to catch up on. You can go if you want to."
"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!"
Seto continued to shake his head. Mokuba sighed. He had the rest of the afternoon to change his brother's mind.
**~~**
Jomei stood in the hallway outside of the room he'd been given, his back pressed firmly against the wall. Downstairs, he could hear Joey, Mr. Moto, and a couple of other people engaged in conversation. Their voices were animated and laughter drifted up the stairs every once in a while. Jomei wanted to join them in the laughter, yet at the same time felt like he didn't belong. It wasn't he they wanted to talk to, it was Yugi. Jomei was sure that whoever was down there had come expecting their old friend Yugi to be back, but he was far from it.
He sighed, his hands leaving the wall to rest on the golden pyramid on his chest. He felt odd wearing it, because he always felt like Yami was listening in on what he was thinking and would say something to Joey or Mr. Moto about him. The thought had actually gone across his head once and Yami had immediately picked it up, and then reassured him that he would never say anything Jomei didn't want him to say. Jomei had said that he'd start taking off the puzzle to be sure, but Yami was not very happy with that and had convinced Jomei that if the men came after him again, Yami needed to be close to protect him. Instead, Yami had shown Jomei how to block the mental link. Jomei had been skeptical at first, but after giving the block a few test tries, was satisfied that Yami couldn't hear what he was thinking.
"Where is Jomei, Joey? Didn't you tell him to come down?"
The question drifting from downstairs broke Jomei out of his thoughts and he sighed. He'd put off going downstairs long enough.
"Yeah, gramps, I told him. I'll go get him again in a bit."
Jomei stepped away from the wall and made his way to the stairs. When he was halfway down, he stopped and studied the scene. Mr. Moto, Joey, and three people he vaguely remembered from the restaurant, were gathered in front of the television. Several boxes wrapped in bright paper were piled on the small coffee table. They were talking softly, but would burst into laughter every once in a while.
"Hey, Joey, do you remember that incident at Duelist Kingdom, the night before the semi finals, when you all got those eyes in your soup?" a brown haired boy asked.
"Eeww, that was so gross!" the girl commented.
"Yes, it was. Joey didn't seem to have too much of a problem with it, though. He ate the entire thing," the white haired boy replied with a laugh.
"Hey, food is food! It was good soup. Besides, Yugi ate it all too!"
The girl laughed. "That was probably because he hadn't had anything to eat since the night before when Mai shared her food with us."
"Oh, yeah," the brown haired boy commented. "That was the night your crazy yami locked us up in those cards."
Jomei frowned. That was an unusual comment. He noticed the white haired guy blush.
"Yeah, there was that. My yami was much worse then," the white haired boy said.
Joey laughed suddenly. "Yami kicked his butt, though! And I'll never forget how cute Yugi looked in his Dark Magician outfit."
Jomei smiled sadly at what he was seeing. The group, the house, the ambience, it was what he'd dreamed for as long as he could remember. He'd wanted a safe place to be, people to love him and care for him, a place where he belonged. Listening to the conversation, however, made him realize that he'd never belong here. He'd never be the person everyone down there wanted him to be.
With one last sigh, Jomei cleared the sadness from his face, put on a smile, and walked down the rest of the way.
"Sorry, everyone, but I was talking to Yami and lost track of time."
'Now that's a big, fat lie,' he told himself, before dismissing the chastising voice.
"It's quite alright, Jomei," Mr. Moto said, motioning for him to take a seat on one of the couches. "I'm glad you and Yami are getting along."
"Yes, we are."
Jomei did as he was told and slowly made his way to one of the empty spots on the couch next to the girl. He looked at her, smiling slightly as she smiled brightly at him.
"You were at the restaurant in Tokyo, right?"
She nodded. Her eyes glittered with happiness as she nodded and she tentatively reached out to squeeze his hand.
"We were all there, Jomei," she said, her throat catching a little at the name. "I'm Tea Gardner."
"Nice to meet you," was all he could say.
"I'm Tristan Taylor," The brown haired boy said, extending his hand. "Mr. Moto and Joey have told us what happened. We're just glad to see you again."
Jomei nodded in acknowledgement and turned to the white haired boy. "You're the one I saw in the vision with the two faces, right?"
"Yes. I'm Ryou Bakura. I usually go by Ryou, while the other me goes by Bakura."
'Okay, introductions are done, now what?' Jomei asked himself while looking at Mr. Moto.
As if hearing the question, Mr. Moto wheeled his chair to the kitchen, and rummaged around in there.
"Gramps, what are you doing?"
"Just getting some drinks for you kids. I'll be right there."
Joey immediately got up. "Let me do that, gramps. You go to the living room and relax," Joey said, his tone laced with concern.
Jomei could tell that Joey really cared for Mr. Moto and was happy that the elder man hadn't been left completely alone.
Moments later, both men came back carrying several cans of soda and glasses filled with ice. Joey passed them out, but was left holding two glasses.
"What's with the extras, Joey?" Tristan asked. "They're not for you, are they?"
Joey was about to answer when the door bell rang. Jomei's heart sank. Who else could possibly be here? The door was opened, and Jomei immediately heard a child's voice.
"Hi, Joey! Sorry to be late, but it took me a while longer than I thought to convince my brother to come with me."
A boy of about eleven immediately came inside the house. As soon as he saw Jomei, the boy ran over to him and embraced him. Jomei tensed, not knowing what to do with the black haired child who was suddenly gripping him around the waist.
"I'm so happy to see you! I've missed you a lot, you know!"
"Mokuba, what did I tell you on the way over here?"
That voice Jomei definitely recognized. He looked up from the boy to see Seto Kaiba standing uncomfortably by the front door. He nodded once when he saw that Jomei had seen him, before turning around and closing the door. Jomei was glad to see that Seto had come. There would at least be one person present who understood, if even for a bit, what he was about.
"I'm sorry, Jomei!" the boy, Mokuba, said as he hastily let go. "Seto told me what had happened, but I got so excited to see you that I forgot."
Jomei couldn't help but smile at the suddenly red faced boy. "It's okay. No harm done. You are?"
"Mokuba Kaiba," the boy said proudly.
"Seto mentioned you a couple of times while we were in Tokyo. It's very nice to meet you."
"Well, come in and make yourselves at home," Mr. Moto said, motioning to the one empty spot on the couch next to Ryou.
Mokuba waited until Seto had seated himself on the couch, before taking a seat on the floor beside him. Joey handed the brothers a glass full of ice, then a drink. Mokuba opened his up immediately, while Seto held onto his.
"Just one soda, okay?" he told Mokuba.
Mokuba nodded.
"Dinner is going to be ready in about an hour, so I thought that we could use the time to learn more about Jomei, while telling him a bit about us. If that's okay with you, Jomei."
"Yes, of course," Jomei answered politely.
He sipped on his drink nervously, letting the sugar and caffeine relax him a little bit. He had to admit that while he was anxious to learn more about the people in the room, he wasn't anxious to talk about himself. He didn't want them to know what kind of life he'd had, because he didn't want them to look at him differently because of it.
"Well, who wants to start?" Joey asked. "Mr. Moto, Kaiba, and I have already had time to talk to Jomei. Would the rest of you like to say something about yourselves?"
Mokuba's hand shot up, and he turned to face Jomei.
"I'll start," Mokuba said, grinning.
His eyes shone in merriment and Jomei wondered just what kind of relationship he and Yugi had. From the looks of it, it seemed as if Mokuba had really cared for Yugi.
"I'm Mokuba, as I said earlier, and I'm eleven. I'm in the sixth grade and my favorite subject is math. I love to play video games of all kinds, but especially the ones that involve fights and races. I'm not very good at Duel Monsters, that's my brother's best game, but I'm learning!"
His enthusiasm was contagious, and by the end of his speech, everyone, save Kaiba, was grinning.
"You've really helped my brother and me out, Jomei. You may not remember it, but we do. I'll always be grateful for it and will consider you my friend."
Jomei reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, causing him to pout.
"Oh, you can come over to my house to play video games whenever you want. I know that your grandfather doesn't sell or keep any of them in the house."
Mr. Moto mock growled. "That's because they turn your brain into mush. . ." he muttered.
"He does have a lot of video games, and he likes to hijack my computer ever once in a while to play online," Seto added, a glint in his eye, even thought the rest of his face was serious. "He's lucky he keeps his grades up, or else there'd be no video games."
Mokuba turned and stuck his tongue out at his brother.
"I'm not much into games, but I do play Duel Monsters once in a while. I'm not very good," Tristan began. "I do like motorcycles, though. I have one that I've rebuilt with my dad."
"That sounds like a lot of fun, Tristan," Jomei said. "Are you and your father close?"
Tristan nodded. "Yeah, we do a lot of stuff together. Mom sometimes comes along, but she's not into mechanical things at all."
Tea chuckled. "I don't blame her. Mechanical things are so messy!"
Jomei laughed at her expressions. "So what do you do for fun, Tea?"
"I dance. I want to go to New York after high school to study dance."
Now that Jomei thought about it, she did look like a dancer. She had the height, the body, and the grace to be a perfect ballerina.
"You and Joey helped me find a place to practice a few years ago. I have no idea how you found it, but it's worked out perfectly. I love it!"
"Yeah, I remember," Joey said. "It was actually your idea, Jomei. You'd seen that the warehouse was empty, so you decided to clean it up for Tea after we accidentally found out about her dream to go to New York. Naturally, you roped me into doing the dirty work with you."
They all laughed. Jomei tried to imagine himself doing the things he was being told, but found it hard. He could tell that the people with him were kind, giving, and friendly, but he couldn't help be suspicious of them anyway. Nothing good had ever happened to him and he doubted that it was going to start now.
"I guess it's my turn," Ryou said softly. "I play Duel Monsters too, but am not as good as you or Kaiba are. It's okay, though, I just do it for fun. My father is an archaeologist, so I'm very interested in ancient Egypt."
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and a person appeared behind Ryou, someone who looked exactly like him.
"Are you all seeing that?" Jomei asked, pointing at the figure.
His heart had sped up and he was trembling slightly. He didn't like surprises, especially when they dealt with things he couldn't explain.
Before anyone could answer, there was another flash of light, this one from the puzzle Jomei wore. When his eyes focused again, Jomei saw Yami standing next to him.
"Yup, we see Bakura," Joey answered. "We see Yami too."
Jomei looked at each of the people gathered, prepared for some incredulous stares. Instead, everyone glanced from one spirit to the next, mild curiosity on their faces.
"Don't have a stroke, Pharaoh. Since we were doing introductions, I only thought it fair to introduce myself to Jomei," the white haired spirit behind Ryou stated, glaring at Yami.
When Jomei returned his attention to Yami, he noticed that Yami was glaring as well. Jomei already felt bad vibes from the spirit. He was way too sarcastic for Jomei's liking, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle.
"Bakura, right?"
"That's me."
"Nice to meet you. You live in Ryou's ring."
"Very good. You're smarter than I thought you'd be. It seems like there are still some brain cells in your head."
Jomei smiled thinly.
"You know what they say about underestimating; it can come back and bite you in the ass if you're not careful."
Ryou's eyes widened, but Bakura only grinned. "Wow. . . you've developed a backbone. I'm very impressed. You're definitely not Yugi Moto."
"Bakura, that's enough!" Ryou stated, while Yami's hands clenched into fists.
"Its okay, Ryou, Bakura is right, you now. I'm not who you all want me to be."
The silence in the room at that moment was so thick that it could be sliced with a knife. Bakura snickered, while Ryou and Yami both glared at him. Jomei felt guilty for having said what he'd said, but it was the truth. He knew better than to lie to himself. If he was going to be rejected, it might as well happen now before he got too attached to anyone.
The 'ding' of a bell going off in the kitchen caught everyone so off guard that they jumped.
"Dinner's ready. Jomei, could you give me a hand in the kitchen, please?"
Jomei swallowed and got up. He refused to look up at anyone, not even Yami, as he made his way towards the kitchen.
**~~**
"I swear that if you were solid, I'd strangle you!"
"Foolish mortal, you always did have a big mouth. You're all bark and no bite, just like the dog Kaiba is always comparing you too."
Joey gritted his teeth at the insult, but he was not going to take the bait, not in front of Kaiba. He was furious. His hands had clenched into fists so tight that he could feel his nails biting into the palm of his hand. He'd gotten up off the couch and was not pacing in front of Ryou.
"What do you think you're doing? We're trying to help him, not scare him."
"What did you have to gain by that?" Tea asked.
Bakura snickered. "Will you listen to yourselves? How is lying about what's right in front of your face going to help him?"
"What exactly is 'in front of our face'? Tristan asked before Joey had a chance to.
"You're all sitting here, trying desperately to believe that he's the same guy you all lost six months ago. News flash for you, people! He isn't. One look at him and the way he carries himself now, the way he looks like he's waiting for someone to come out and jump him, would tell you if you took the time to look for it. But no, instead, you're all just blindly holding onto the memory of the friend you lost. That's not going to help him, nor will it help you."
Joey was very close to doing something, anything, to get Bakura to shut up, when a thought suddenly struck him. Was Bakura right? Were they all trying to pick up where they left off six months ago, regardless of how Jomei felt about it?
"Get back in the ring, Bakura."
Joey looked at Yami, who looked ready to mop the floor with Bakura. Bakura raised his hands in mock surrender, but his face was a mask of triumph.
"Fine, if you want to keep deluding yourselves, go ahead. I'm not going to stop you." With that, Bakura vanished.
Joey watched him go, and then sat back down. He looked at each of his friends in turn, then at the Kaiba brothers. All, except Kaiba, wore a similar expression of outrage on their faces. He wanted to dismiss what the tomb robber had just said, but found that he was unable to.
Maybe they needed to rethink how they were going to deal with the situation.
**~~**
"What can I do to help, Mr. Moto?"
Jomei was nervous. He was prepared to be told to leave, that he wasn't wanted anymore. Mr. Moto had an incredibly serious expression on his face which was scaring him.
"There are some plates and cups in that cabinet, could you get them? Use the stool in the corner to reach the shelf."
Jomei did as he was told, getting the indicated tableware and setting it on the kitchen counter. Whatever Mr. Moto had cooked smelled great, but Jomei found himself not hungry anymore.
He was about to walk to Mr. Moto, when the elder man suddenly turned and wheeled himself over to Jomei.
"No matter what is in your mind, what you remember or don't remember, you will always be my grandson. I want you to know that and believe it, Jomei. I love you; I've loved you since the day you were born." Mr. Moto reached out and took Jomei's hands. "The six months you were lost to me were sheer agony and I'm grateful that you're back home where you belong. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Mr. Moto pulled him forward and kissed him on the forehead, before wrapping his arms around Jomei. Jomei wrapped his arms around the elder man, feeling the frailty of the bones in his back. He wanted so badly to close his eyes and sink into the embrace, believing that everything was going to be okay because Mr. Moto had said that it would be.
He would try to believe, but that's all he could promise himself.
**~~**
All together now: awwww. Isn't Mr. Moto the greatest? I'd love a gramps like that.
Next up: Shadow pops up. so does Asami. Intrigued yet? Tune in next time to find out.
Sorry for the lapse in updating. Life got in the way of writing. not to mention a bit of laziness in the typing dept. I swear I'd have the stories I'm working on written in a week if I could just dictate them into the computer. Where's Seto Kaiba when you need him? :o)
Reviews:
Yami-Yugi: *hugs Yami-Yugi* Thanks for the warm fuzzies! I hope this update wasn't too long in coming.
Amiasha Ruri: Sorry to hear that you have a cold. Those are always annoying as hell. I hope that you're feeling better by now. Jomei's dream is. . . well, I can't give the plot away, can I? :o).
Amarielle: School. job. boy do I know the feeling! I'm not looking forward to school starting in less than a month. I hope it gets better for you, though! Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm glad that I'm able to convey in words what I see in my head. Makes me very happy! It also makes me happy to know that you like Kaiba! Writing him as a total jerk just wouldn't be any fun. Speaking of which, don't worry about Mokuba. I don't plan on doing anything to him! The line was just a way to express how much Seto loves his brother. And yes, Seto's past will be further explored. The first part of this chapter touches upon it, from a different point of view. But yes, his past is definitely going to be around for the remainder of the fic.
"And what was with Jomei's exclamation of, "Don't do it anymore! I don't want to do that,"?" That depends on what you're insinuating ;o). I will say this: you haven't been entirely perverted. but it may not necessarily be what you're thinking.
TZ: You can call him Jomei for now, since he's not really Yugi. As for him getting his memories back. do you really want to know right now, when the fic is only halfway finished (scary thought, isn't it?) or would you rather wait and be surprised? ;o)
Lady Elfskye: Welcome to the wonderful world of fanfiction.net! This is an awesome board with many, many wonderful fics! Thank you for stopping by my story and giving it a chance, and for reviewing it. I'm very happy to know that you enjoyed it.
SerafinaMoon: Yup, you guessed right, I am going to tell you to wait and see! I've read stories in which the author says things like "don't worry, there'll be a happy ending" or "it's okay, he'll get better". 9 times out of 10, and unless the story is just so unbelievably good, I stop reading. That just ruins the story for me and I don't want to the same to you all, which is why I don't say anything. About the last name: In the anime episode where Kaiba is trying to hack into the Industrial Illusions computer to help Yugi while Yugi duels with the fake Kaiba, Yugi's last name is spelled Moto on Kaiba's computer screen. At first, I thought it was something from the dub, but it was even spelled like that in the Japanese version. The subtitles spell it differently and I think the manga does too, but I just left it the way I saw it. Besides, it's less letters to type ^__^
Cyberkat: *sigh of relief* Okay, good. I'm glad you like the emotional stuff. Funny you should mention consequences, because I just realized that most of this story is about the aftermath of what happened both to Jomei and to Kaiba.
Millenia Star: Parties are fun, but I doubt Jomei is going to have much fun at this one.
Guess: You thought the chapter was short? Whoohoo! I've been smacking myself upside the head *something my muse does not like* quite a bit for getting too carried away with chapters and not being able to write a 6 page one (the last one was 10). This one is longer than the last one! Thanks for putting the fic in your favorites!
Adrienne: Shadow was supposed to be in this chapter but got cut off when the length went over the 15 page mark. He'll probably be in the next one. Yuugi is right, though. killing Shadow is Yami's job ^_^ Then again, Yami is going to have to find him first!
Lizzy9046: Yes, it's sad but true. Then again, I think I spend way too much time looking at the guy's coat. I was watching the YGO Movie the other day, and Kaiba is a lot shorter there than in the anime. He's jut a bit taller than Yami. The flowing coat looks much worse on him there. But I digress. I don't think Freddy would quite fit in with Jomei's dreams. Though I think seeing a homicidal maniac wearing knives for fingernails might just sober the kid up.
Ginger Ninja: Yup, ups and downs are a part of life, unfortunately. I am usually pretty consistent in the way I write, so if you've read my one finished fic, you should be able to tell how this one will probably end ^_^.
Labannya: Uh, oh. as soon as I saw the word bouncy I started to worry! Fanta is pretty strong. I don't usually drink it because of that. I can definitely understand why you were bouncing off the walls. There wasn't any brain damage, right?
Yup, just Jomei and his friends. well, most of them, at least. I'm beginning to think I should have had Asami suffer more! He died way too quickly! I totally agree that it does help to talk and get different opinions, if only to know that you're not the only one insane in the world! I read something in another fic (can't remember which one) about how Bakura (the thief) came from a village that was destroyed or something. That would explain why he's the way he is. Hmm. me thinks I should go read those manga translations I was told about.
Starheart: Thanks for the review! I'm very appreciative that you took the time to leave your comments even though you were on your way to work. Hopefully you weren't late.
Aida: There will definitely be plenty of Yugi/Jomei and Yami bonding in the story. Thanks for reviewing!
Woah. I'm so terribly sorry for the long, long replies. Forgive any and all typos. I don't have someone to beta for me, and I tend to miss stuff half the time. Not to mention that it's late and I'm dead tired.
Enjoy the fic!
**~~**
Chapter 16: Through the Looking Glass
There's no vocabulary
For love within a family, love that's lived in
But not looked at, love within the light of which
All else is seen, the love within which
All other love finds speech.
This love is silent.
*T. S. Eliot
Mokuba Kaiba sat in his room, playing on his computer.
He'd decided against going downstairs to the living room and the big entertainment system because he'd wanted to stay close to his brother. Seto had looked rather worn, and Mokuba was still worried about the injury he'd sustained while in Tokyo. He knew that his brother never told him everything that was going on as a protective measure, but Mokuba was not stupid. He was a child, yes, but his life had taught him to grow up fast and pay attention to the things around him. So he let Seto dilute the information he was given, knowing that his brother knew that he would find out about everything else sooner or later. It had been an unspoken agreement between the two of them ever since they'd first come to live with Gozaburo Kaiba. It worked for them, and neither was going to change it.
Mokuba sighed as he idly played the game he'd been busy with for the past hour. He'd gotten a call from Joey Wheeler about a welcome dinner for Yugi that evening, and he'd agreed to go. He was hoping he could talk Seto into going as well, since Mokuba figured it'd be good for his brother to get out and do something with kids his own age. Not to mention that Seto had helped bring Yugi home, so he should be there. Even Joey had said as much when he'd told Mokuba to bring his brother. Mokuba shook his head. He couldn't imagine Seto and Joey being civil to each other, so he'd have to drag Seto to the Moto's and see how things developed.
"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The loud, heart wrenching cry shook Mokuba out of his thoughts and his heart immediately speeded up. He got up and ran out of his room, headed towards his brother's room. Tears had already pooled in his eyes at the anguish in his brother's voice. Seto didn't cry out from a nightmare very often, but every time Mokuba heard it, it ripped his heart in shreds.
Seto was his hero; Mokuba didn't keep that a secret. At the same time, Mokuba knew that Seto was human and had his flaws: His brother tended to be cold and indifferent to everyone around except for him. However, Mokuba also knew why that was. Seto had protected Mokuba as much as he could from Gozaburo, which had included making him believe that everything was okay when it came to his relationship with their adoptive father. Mokuba had found out, with time and through Seto's nightmares, about just what kind of 'relationship' they'd had, but he'd never outright mentioned it to Seto. It had been their agreement not to mention it, even though both knew that the other was aware of what had gone on. It had been important for Seto to keep his control over that situation and Mokuba hadn't done anything to take that away. He'd comforted when he could and let Seto deal with the rest when he'd felt his brother wanted to do it alone.
As he let himself into his brother's room, Mokuba found Seto lying on the bed, his head shaking from side to side, his hands clenched into fists. As Mokuba got closer, he could see the look of fear and pain on his brother's face, which made the tears fall down his cheeks. He climbed up on the bed and noticed the bandage on his brother's side. The wound had apparently been pulled open slightly, because the bandage was covered in blood.
Seto didn't like to be touched, especially during one of his nightmares. Mokuba had learned the hard way when he'd tried to shake Seto awake once, only to have his brother throw him across the room. Seto had been horrified at what he'd done, but Mokuba had understood that he'd only been reacting to what had been in his dream. Since then, he'd come up with a system to let Seto know that it was him that was around, and not whoever he was dreaming about.
Mokuba got on Seto's left side and gently put his hands on his brother's cheeks. He rubbed them slowly and rhythmically with his thumbs, knowing that the soothing motion would eventually wake his brother. His tears continued to fall, several of them landing on Seto's face, but Mokuba didn't care. He needed to wake his brother up before he further aggravated his injury.
Seto mumbled something Mokuba couldn't understand, his hands still clenched. Now that his head had been immobilized, his legs began to move slightly, rumpling the bedspread beneath him.
"I should have tried harder, done more," Seto whispered. "I should have known better."
Not all nightmares were like this. Some would be violent, which scared Mokuba. He hated to see his brother in pain and those dreams gave him a glimpse of just how much pain Gozaburo had inflicted. Nightmares like this one would break Mokuba's heart. He wished there was a way for Seto to understand that he'd done enough, that he'd done what he could at the age he'd been.
"Come on, big brother, wake up," Mokuba sobbed. "Please wake up."
Mokuba continued his soothing motions on Seto's cheeks, until Seto's eyes snapped open. He gasped and his eyes were unfocused. He let out a ragged and shuddering breath before he blinked and finally focused on Mokuba.
"Mokuba?"
Mokuba nodded, dislodging even more of his tears. There were tear tracks running down the side of Seto's face, but the tears belonged to Mokuba.
Seto reached up to wipe away Mokuba's tears, and Mokuba laid his forehead against his brother's before burying his head on Seto's shoulder. He sobbed and felt Seto's hand slowly running up and down his back in an attempt to comfort him. Mokuba finally managed to stop his tears and he straightened, to find guilt in his brother's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Mokuba."
Mokuba shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about, Seto. I'm not crying because you had a nightmare, I'm crying because someone hurt you. Are you okay?"
Seto sighed, and then nodded. "I am now. Thank you, Mokuba."
Mokuba smiled at the compliment, but knew that the shadows in his brother's eyes would never go away.
"You reopened the injury. I'm going to get the first aid kit and fix it."
Mokuba was about to get off the bed when a hand on his leg stopped him. "You don't have to do that, Mokuba. I can do it."
"You clean my cuts and scrapes when I get hurt, Seto. Why can't I do the same?"
Seto actually smiled at that. "Okay, you win. I'll just lay here."
"Good. I'll be right back."
He rushed to the bathroom and got the first aid kit from one of the cabinets. When he got back, Seto had already taken off the soaked bandage.
"Ouch," Mokuba said as he climbed back onto the bed and took a good look at the wound.
It had been stitched and, thankfully, the stitches were still in place. Seto had apparently rubbed it while he'd been sleeping and it was slowly bleeding. Mokuba took out an alcohol pad and placed it over the wound, causing Seto to hiss in pain. He cleaned the blood off as best he could without aggravating the injury further, and then placed a clean bandage over it. When he was done taping the bandage in place, he looked up to find his brother admiring the work.
"Nice. Maybe you should become a doctor, Mokuba."
Mokuba beamed. He put the unused items away and took the soaked bandage and threw it away.
"Maybe I will!"
Seto sighed again and sat up, wincing slightly. "Is there any aspirin in that thing?"
Mokuba rummaged around the kit and found a couple of packages of aspirin. He went to the bedside table and poured a glass of water, before handing the pills and the glass to his brother.
"Hmm, or maybe a nurse," Seto joked when he'd taken the pills. "You have an excellent bedside manner."
"I'd rather be a doctor if I had to choose between the two!"
Seto nodded. "So, what were you doing before you had to come in here and wake me up?"
Mokuba shrugged. "I was playing video games in my room. Oh, that reminds me; Joey called to invite us to dinner tonight at Yugi's house. Mr. Moto is having a welcome home get-together for Yugi and would like us to go."
Seto narrowed his eyes. "He'd like YOU to go or he'd like US to go?"
"US, Seto. Joey told me to make sure you went too."
Seto shook his head, glancing down at his side. "I don't think so, Mokuba. I have a lot of things to catch up on. You can go if you want to."
"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!"
Seto continued to shake his head. Mokuba sighed. He had the rest of the afternoon to change his brother's mind.
**~~**
Jomei stood in the hallway outside of the room he'd been given, his back pressed firmly against the wall. Downstairs, he could hear Joey, Mr. Moto, and a couple of other people engaged in conversation. Their voices were animated and laughter drifted up the stairs every once in a while. Jomei wanted to join them in the laughter, yet at the same time felt like he didn't belong. It wasn't he they wanted to talk to, it was Yugi. Jomei was sure that whoever was down there had come expecting their old friend Yugi to be back, but he was far from it.
He sighed, his hands leaving the wall to rest on the golden pyramid on his chest. He felt odd wearing it, because he always felt like Yami was listening in on what he was thinking and would say something to Joey or Mr. Moto about him. The thought had actually gone across his head once and Yami had immediately picked it up, and then reassured him that he would never say anything Jomei didn't want him to say. Jomei had said that he'd start taking off the puzzle to be sure, but Yami was not very happy with that and had convinced Jomei that if the men came after him again, Yami needed to be close to protect him. Instead, Yami had shown Jomei how to block the mental link. Jomei had been skeptical at first, but after giving the block a few test tries, was satisfied that Yami couldn't hear what he was thinking.
"Where is Jomei, Joey? Didn't you tell him to come down?"
The question drifting from downstairs broke Jomei out of his thoughts and he sighed. He'd put off going downstairs long enough.
"Yeah, gramps, I told him. I'll go get him again in a bit."
Jomei stepped away from the wall and made his way to the stairs. When he was halfway down, he stopped and studied the scene. Mr. Moto, Joey, and three people he vaguely remembered from the restaurant, were gathered in front of the television. Several boxes wrapped in bright paper were piled on the small coffee table. They were talking softly, but would burst into laughter every once in a while.
"Hey, Joey, do you remember that incident at Duelist Kingdom, the night before the semi finals, when you all got those eyes in your soup?" a brown haired boy asked.
"Eeww, that was so gross!" the girl commented.
"Yes, it was. Joey didn't seem to have too much of a problem with it, though. He ate the entire thing," the white haired boy replied with a laugh.
"Hey, food is food! It was good soup. Besides, Yugi ate it all too!"
The girl laughed. "That was probably because he hadn't had anything to eat since the night before when Mai shared her food with us."
"Oh, yeah," the brown haired boy commented. "That was the night your crazy yami locked us up in those cards."
Jomei frowned. That was an unusual comment. He noticed the white haired guy blush.
"Yeah, there was that. My yami was much worse then," the white haired boy said.
Joey laughed suddenly. "Yami kicked his butt, though! And I'll never forget how cute Yugi looked in his Dark Magician outfit."
Jomei smiled sadly at what he was seeing. The group, the house, the ambience, it was what he'd dreamed for as long as he could remember. He'd wanted a safe place to be, people to love him and care for him, a place where he belonged. Listening to the conversation, however, made him realize that he'd never belong here. He'd never be the person everyone down there wanted him to be.
With one last sigh, Jomei cleared the sadness from his face, put on a smile, and walked down the rest of the way.
"Sorry, everyone, but I was talking to Yami and lost track of time."
'Now that's a big, fat lie,' he told himself, before dismissing the chastising voice.
"It's quite alright, Jomei," Mr. Moto said, motioning for him to take a seat on one of the couches. "I'm glad you and Yami are getting along."
"Yes, we are."
Jomei did as he was told and slowly made his way to one of the empty spots on the couch next to the girl. He looked at her, smiling slightly as she smiled brightly at him.
"You were at the restaurant in Tokyo, right?"
She nodded. Her eyes glittered with happiness as she nodded and she tentatively reached out to squeeze his hand.
"We were all there, Jomei," she said, her throat catching a little at the name. "I'm Tea Gardner."
"Nice to meet you," was all he could say.
"I'm Tristan Taylor," The brown haired boy said, extending his hand. "Mr. Moto and Joey have told us what happened. We're just glad to see you again."
Jomei nodded in acknowledgement and turned to the white haired boy. "You're the one I saw in the vision with the two faces, right?"
"Yes. I'm Ryou Bakura. I usually go by Ryou, while the other me goes by Bakura."
'Okay, introductions are done, now what?' Jomei asked himself while looking at Mr. Moto.
As if hearing the question, Mr. Moto wheeled his chair to the kitchen, and rummaged around in there.
"Gramps, what are you doing?"
"Just getting some drinks for you kids. I'll be right there."
Joey immediately got up. "Let me do that, gramps. You go to the living room and relax," Joey said, his tone laced with concern.
Jomei could tell that Joey really cared for Mr. Moto and was happy that the elder man hadn't been left completely alone.
Moments later, both men came back carrying several cans of soda and glasses filled with ice. Joey passed them out, but was left holding two glasses.
"What's with the extras, Joey?" Tristan asked. "They're not for you, are they?"
Joey was about to answer when the door bell rang. Jomei's heart sank. Who else could possibly be here? The door was opened, and Jomei immediately heard a child's voice.
"Hi, Joey! Sorry to be late, but it took me a while longer than I thought to convince my brother to come with me."
A boy of about eleven immediately came inside the house. As soon as he saw Jomei, the boy ran over to him and embraced him. Jomei tensed, not knowing what to do with the black haired child who was suddenly gripping him around the waist.
"I'm so happy to see you! I've missed you a lot, you know!"
"Mokuba, what did I tell you on the way over here?"
That voice Jomei definitely recognized. He looked up from the boy to see Seto Kaiba standing uncomfortably by the front door. He nodded once when he saw that Jomei had seen him, before turning around and closing the door. Jomei was glad to see that Seto had come. There would at least be one person present who understood, if even for a bit, what he was about.
"I'm sorry, Jomei!" the boy, Mokuba, said as he hastily let go. "Seto told me what had happened, but I got so excited to see you that I forgot."
Jomei couldn't help but smile at the suddenly red faced boy. "It's okay. No harm done. You are?"
"Mokuba Kaiba," the boy said proudly.
"Seto mentioned you a couple of times while we were in Tokyo. It's very nice to meet you."
"Well, come in and make yourselves at home," Mr. Moto said, motioning to the one empty spot on the couch next to Ryou.
Mokuba waited until Seto had seated himself on the couch, before taking a seat on the floor beside him. Joey handed the brothers a glass full of ice, then a drink. Mokuba opened his up immediately, while Seto held onto his.
"Just one soda, okay?" he told Mokuba.
Mokuba nodded.
"Dinner is going to be ready in about an hour, so I thought that we could use the time to learn more about Jomei, while telling him a bit about us. If that's okay with you, Jomei."
"Yes, of course," Jomei answered politely.
He sipped on his drink nervously, letting the sugar and caffeine relax him a little bit. He had to admit that while he was anxious to learn more about the people in the room, he wasn't anxious to talk about himself. He didn't want them to know what kind of life he'd had, because he didn't want them to look at him differently because of it.
"Well, who wants to start?" Joey asked. "Mr. Moto, Kaiba, and I have already had time to talk to Jomei. Would the rest of you like to say something about yourselves?"
Mokuba's hand shot up, and he turned to face Jomei.
"I'll start," Mokuba said, grinning.
His eyes shone in merriment and Jomei wondered just what kind of relationship he and Yugi had. From the looks of it, it seemed as if Mokuba had really cared for Yugi.
"I'm Mokuba, as I said earlier, and I'm eleven. I'm in the sixth grade and my favorite subject is math. I love to play video games of all kinds, but especially the ones that involve fights and races. I'm not very good at Duel Monsters, that's my brother's best game, but I'm learning!"
His enthusiasm was contagious, and by the end of his speech, everyone, save Kaiba, was grinning.
"You've really helped my brother and me out, Jomei. You may not remember it, but we do. I'll always be grateful for it and will consider you my friend."
Jomei reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, causing him to pout.
"Oh, you can come over to my house to play video games whenever you want. I know that your grandfather doesn't sell or keep any of them in the house."
Mr. Moto mock growled. "That's because they turn your brain into mush. . ." he muttered.
"He does have a lot of video games, and he likes to hijack my computer ever once in a while to play online," Seto added, a glint in his eye, even thought the rest of his face was serious. "He's lucky he keeps his grades up, or else there'd be no video games."
Mokuba turned and stuck his tongue out at his brother.
"I'm not much into games, but I do play Duel Monsters once in a while. I'm not very good," Tristan began. "I do like motorcycles, though. I have one that I've rebuilt with my dad."
"That sounds like a lot of fun, Tristan," Jomei said. "Are you and your father close?"
Tristan nodded. "Yeah, we do a lot of stuff together. Mom sometimes comes along, but she's not into mechanical things at all."
Tea chuckled. "I don't blame her. Mechanical things are so messy!"
Jomei laughed at her expressions. "So what do you do for fun, Tea?"
"I dance. I want to go to New York after high school to study dance."
Now that Jomei thought about it, she did look like a dancer. She had the height, the body, and the grace to be a perfect ballerina.
"You and Joey helped me find a place to practice a few years ago. I have no idea how you found it, but it's worked out perfectly. I love it!"
"Yeah, I remember," Joey said. "It was actually your idea, Jomei. You'd seen that the warehouse was empty, so you decided to clean it up for Tea after we accidentally found out about her dream to go to New York. Naturally, you roped me into doing the dirty work with you."
They all laughed. Jomei tried to imagine himself doing the things he was being told, but found it hard. He could tell that the people with him were kind, giving, and friendly, but he couldn't help be suspicious of them anyway. Nothing good had ever happened to him and he doubted that it was going to start now.
"I guess it's my turn," Ryou said softly. "I play Duel Monsters too, but am not as good as you or Kaiba are. It's okay, though, I just do it for fun. My father is an archaeologist, so I'm very interested in ancient Egypt."
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and a person appeared behind Ryou, someone who looked exactly like him.
"Are you all seeing that?" Jomei asked, pointing at the figure.
His heart had sped up and he was trembling slightly. He didn't like surprises, especially when they dealt with things he couldn't explain.
Before anyone could answer, there was another flash of light, this one from the puzzle Jomei wore. When his eyes focused again, Jomei saw Yami standing next to him.
"Yup, we see Bakura," Joey answered. "We see Yami too."
Jomei looked at each of the people gathered, prepared for some incredulous stares. Instead, everyone glanced from one spirit to the next, mild curiosity on their faces.
"Don't have a stroke, Pharaoh. Since we were doing introductions, I only thought it fair to introduce myself to Jomei," the white haired spirit behind Ryou stated, glaring at Yami.
When Jomei returned his attention to Yami, he noticed that Yami was glaring as well. Jomei already felt bad vibes from the spirit. He was way too sarcastic for Jomei's liking, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle.
"Bakura, right?"
"That's me."
"Nice to meet you. You live in Ryou's ring."
"Very good. You're smarter than I thought you'd be. It seems like there are still some brain cells in your head."
Jomei smiled thinly.
"You know what they say about underestimating; it can come back and bite you in the ass if you're not careful."
Ryou's eyes widened, but Bakura only grinned. "Wow. . . you've developed a backbone. I'm very impressed. You're definitely not Yugi Moto."
"Bakura, that's enough!" Ryou stated, while Yami's hands clenched into fists.
"Its okay, Ryou, Bakura is right, you now. I'm not who you all want me to be."
The silence in the room at that moment was so thick that it could be sliced with a knife. Bakura snickered, while Ryou and Yami both glared at him. Jomei felt guilty for having said what he'd said, but it was the truth. He knew better than to lie to himself. If he was going to be rejected, it might as well happen now before he got too attached to anyone.
The 'ding' of a bell going off in the kitchen caught everyone so off guard that they jumped.
"Dinner's ready. Jomei, could you give me a hand in the kitchen, please?"
Jomei swallowed and got up. He refused to look up at anyone, not even Yami, as he made his way towards the kitchen.
**~~**
"I swear that if you were solid, I'd strangle you!"
"Foolish mortal, you always did have a big mouth. You're all bark and no bite, just like the dog Kaiba is always comparing you too."
Joey gritted his teeth at the insult, but he was not going to take the bait, not in front of Kaiba. He was furious. His hands had clenched into fists so tight that he could feel his nails biting into the palm of his hand. He'd gotten up off the couch and was not pacing in front of Ryou.
"What do you think you're doing? We're trying to help him, not scare him."
"What did you have to gain by that?" Tea asked.
Bakura snickered. "Will you listen to yourselves? How is lying about what's right in front of your face going to help him?"
"What exactly is 'in front of our face'? Tristan asked before Joey had a chance to.
"You're all sitting here, trying desperately to believe that he's the same guy you all lost six months ago. News flash for you, people! He isn't. One look at him and the way he carries himself now, the way he looks like he's waiting for someone to come out and jump him, would tell you if you took the time to look for it. But no, instead, you're all just blindly holding onto the memory of the friend you lost. That's not going to help him, nor will it help you."
Joey was very close to doing something, anything, to get Bakura to shut up, when a thought suddenly struck him. Was Bakura right? Were they all trying to pick up where they left off six months ago, regardless of how Jomei felt about it?
"Get back in the ring, Bakura."
Joey looked at Yami, who looked ready to mop the floor with Bakura. Bakura raised his hands in mock surrender, but his face was a mask of triumph.
"Fine, if you want to keep deluding yourselves, go ahead. I'm not going to stop you." With that, Bakura vanished.
Joey watched him go, and then sat back down. He looked at each of his friends in turn, then at the Kaiba brothers. All, except Kaiba, wore a similar expression of outrage on their faces. He wanted to dismiss what the tomb robber had just said, but found that he was unable to.
Maybe they needed to rethink how they were going to deal with the situation.
**~~**
"What can I do to help, Mr. Moto?"
Jomei was nervous. He was prepared to be told to leave, that he wasn't wanted anymore. Mr. Moto had an incredibly serious expression on his face which was scaring him.
"There are some plates and cups in that cabinet, could you get them? Use the stool in the corner to reach the shelf."
Jomei did as he was told, getting the indicated tableware and setting it on the kitchen counter. Whatever Mr. Moto had cooked smelled great, but Jomei found himself not hungry anymore.
He was about to walk to Mr. Moto, when the elder man suddenly turned and wheeled himself over to Jomei.
"No matter what is in your mind, what you remember or don't remember, you will always be my grandson. I want you to know that and believe it, Jomei. I love you; I've loved you since the day you were born." Mr. Moto reached out and took Jomei's hands. "The six months you were lost to me were sheer agony and I'm grateful that you're back home where you belong. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Mr. Moto pulled him forward and kissed him on the forehead, before wrapping his arms around Jomei. Jomei wrapped his arms around the elder man, feeling the frailty of the bones in his back. He wanted so badly to close his eyes and sink into the embrace, believing that everything was going to be okay because Mr. Moto had said that it would be.
He would try to believe, but that's all he could promise himself.
**~~**
All together now: awwww. Isn't Mr. Moto the greatest? I'd love a gramps like that.
Next up: Shadow pops up. so does Asami. Intrigued yet? Tune in next time to find out.