I am now a Bachelor of the Arts. I graduated cum laude from University of the Pacific's class of 2013, and of course the first thing I decided I would do with a sudden influx of free time was work on stories.
I've been updating "Cult of the Dragon King" recently, as something of a stress reliever, but I've neglected pretty much everything else.
The tail-end of this final semester of undergraduate studies was interesting, to say the least. I do believe I was ready to tear my hair out a number of times, and it makes it even more infuriating that I didn't do as well as I wanted.
It's pretty bad when you look at a 3.7 GPA and think, "That's crap," but that's where my head is right now.
I think Seto is rubbing off on me.
I do apologize for leaving you hanging for three months. It was cruel. But I hope you understand.
Let's get things underway, shall we?
A part of Joey Wheeler realized that he wasn't surprised in the slightest at the event unfolding in front of him right now. Kaiba and Yami had some weird kind of understanding with each other, but they'd never liked each other. There had always been that undercurrent of hatred permeating through every encounter they'd ever had.
That Kaiba hadn't pulled a gun on Yami before now was the real surprise.
He knew that it was Yugi's life Kaiba was threatening right now, that Yami was already dead and it wouldn't matter a flying fuck to him. And Joey also knew that he couldn't allow it to happen. But just the same, there was something in Kaiba's fury, something about the raw sense of desperation and…sorrow in it, that held Joey fast.
This wasn't the same kind of anger that had made Kaiba shoot his former business rival's throat out. This was a mixture of primal fury and deep, cutting grief. The tears streaming down the man's face weren't just frustration.
Somehow, Joey knew this.
And part of it might have had to do with the heartbroken expression on Yagami Yuki's face as she watched her son teeter on the precipice of murder.
Some part of him would think later that he should have expected this. Kaiba's parents were dead. If his devotion to Mokuba—and Joey knew full well that it was devotion, even though he'd doubted it many times in the past—was any clue, Kaiba took matters of family all too seriously. What other reaction could he have possibly had to seeing his parents, ten years in the grave, standing in front of him again? What else could he possibly be, except insulted?
Homicidally insulted?
The seconds crawled by, agonizing in their plodding pace. The air was thick, suffocating; it crackled and sparked, popped and smoked, like a bonfire. Joey tried to move his arm. It didn't answer. It didn't twitch a micrometer.
Yami, miraculously, had listened to Kaiba's order. He'd ceased to speak. Even his smirk was gone. He simply stared straight into the young CEO's eyes as if daring him to pull the trigger. Not a single trace of fear was on the spirit's face. He almost looked bored.
Joey was positive that it was going to happen. It was going to happen right now, and his muscles wouldn't answer him. His best friend was being held hostage by a madman—by two of them—and Joey wasn't three feet away from him. Three feet from saving him.
And he couldn't move.
He stared, helpless, and wondered when a crash of gunfire would signal Kaiba's damnation.
And his own.
Until…
"Niisama."
There was a beat of strangulation, where the air itself went solid.
A part of Joey thought that he should be even higher on alert than before; that this only made things worse. But he only tried to deny for a second or two that he felt relief wash over him like warm water. His entire body relaxed, and he let out his pent-up breath and actually smiled a little.
From his peripheral vision, he saw that Yami was smirking again, and that Tristan had the same look of stunned relief that Joey was sure he had. The only person who looked more frightened was the one person who didn't understand just what this meant.
Téa.
The Yagami family turned to see who had spoken. It was the little boy who'd run out on them not too long ago. Yuki blinked, fear forgotten in a sudden flash of surprise; the brunette boy frowned curiously. That look of loneliness, that look of blank, desolate resolve, vanished from his pretty face.
Kohaku didn't seem to have a reaction. His mind seemed to have shut down. Joey couldn't really blame him; once he looked, the blond couldn't take his eyes off the young Kaiba heir. It was like an anchor. The boy's hair was disheveled (more than usual), and his clothes were rumpled. But his eyes were clear. His face was free of fear or worry.
Joey could feel Kaiba come back.
The elder Kaiba brother made no visible reaction, but Joey knew it nonetheless. It was over. Done. There was no need to worry anymore. Some distant part of him thought that that should be absurd, but somehow…it wasn't.
"It's okay, Niisama," Mokuba said. Kaiba turned to look, and the black-haired boy held up his hands. Roland Ackerman stood behind the boy, looking haggard. "See? I'm not hurt. I'm sorry. I made you worry, didn't I? It's okay now. Nobody's hurt. Right? It's okay, now, right?" Kaiba's eyes flicked to Yuki, to Kohaku, and the question on his face was clear enough…to Mokuba, anyway. The boy said, "I was scared at first, but…but it's okay now. I'm okay. Promise." He tried a smile.
And that was it.
Kaiba closed his eyes, sighed, and slammed his weapon back into its holster. He turned away from the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle and walked over to his sibling. Mokuba gave a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around his brother's waist, and all the tension evaporated from the room.
Kaiba put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder; the rest of the world ceased to exist for him.
Joey stole a glance at Yuki. Gone was the fear, the heartache; in its place was pure confusion. She was staring at the Kaiba brothers with a blank expression on her face. Joey saw her mouth the word "Niisama."
Yami took in a deep breath as himself, and let it out as his host. It was like an optical illusion, and a lot smoother than Joey could ever remember seeing before. The man's expression went from calm and collected to exasperated and shaken.
"…Ohgoodholychrist." Tristan all but collapsed with relief, cracking a grin and letting out a sharp, less-than-pleasant little laugh. Kohaku was still clearly on guard, but seemed to notice that everyone else (except Téa) was calming down. Eventually he seemed to accept that the danger was gone.
Joey found that he could move now.
Yugi was walking over to the card table, which had upended and was lying on its side (thankfully, there was no way that Kaiba would see the bloodstain and slash mark from the knife that had impaled it). Joey stepped over and helped his friend lift it and take it out of the room before shots started flying. He, and Yugi, knew without thinking that if the elder Kaiba saw proof of the injury Yami had inflicted on the younger, that would be the end of it. Reflex and instinct would burn common sense to a cinder, and Yugi would be dead, whether Mokuba was here or not.
"Did he letcha out?" Joey asked as they entered the storeroom attached to the main floor.
"I forced my way out," Yugi said, grimacing. "This guy, whoever he is…he's smart, and he's obviously powerful, but he can't be trusted to act anything like the Yami we remember. I can't let him talk anymore. He's liable to make Kaiba's head explode. Or mine."
"Hey…I'm sorry, man. I tried to do somethin', but…I couldn't move."
"Don't worry about it," Yugi waved it off. "I think he had something to do with that part, too. The important part is that we should be okay now." He looked over at Joey with an odd look in his eye. "You don't think Kaiba will do anything, do you?"
Joey thought about this for a moment, then shook his head. "No. Kid's here, and Kaiba ain't one for lettin' anger get the better of him where Mokuba can see." The fact that he felt like such an expert on Kaiba's psychology struck him as ridiculous, but all the same he couldn't shake the certainty. "Gotta set the right example, y'know?"
Yugi grinned as he picked out another table—long and rectangular instead of round—and headed toward the door. "You've certainly gotten soft on me, Joey. Since when do you give Kaiba the benefit of the doubt?"
"What can I say?" Joey shrugged. "Kid rubs off on ya. I'm…wiser now. Or whatever." They headed back to the main floor of the shop with the table in hand. Yugi leaned it against the counter and began picking up the various toys and games that had fallen to the floor as a result of Kaiba's…welcome.
Joey set to helping him.
"We're just as confused as you are, Seto," Kohaku was saying, and Joey had to steal a glance up at Kaiba to see his reaction to being called by his first name. It wasn't pleasant. Kohaku didn't notice, however, and looked at his wife. "Truth be told, I'm not sure this was such a good idea."
"I know that, Ko," Yuki said. "But what else could we do? No one else offered to help us. Besides, I guess in this place…Gozaburo is dead?"
"…He is," Kaiba finally spoke, his voice flat and noncommittal.
"He died five years ago," Mokuba put in.
The logical next question was "How?" but Joey was relieved by the fact that Yuki didn't ask it. When he and Yugi had set up the table, and Yugi began to put out the folding chairs for them all to sit, the blond studied their guests again. Somehow, he couldn't stop staring at them. Maybe it was because he knew that they were supposed to be dead. But then, Yami was dead, and the spirit of the puzzle had never given him a feeling like this: a feeling like the world itself was teetering on the edge of a cliff, and if they moved too far in one direction it would topple over and crash into a world where up was right and down was left.
"I don't like this," Kohaku said.
Joey saw Kaiba start to speak, but he clamped his mouth shut and turned away instead. Mokuba had let go of his brother's waist, but still kept a vice-grip on his hand. Kaiba sat down on one of the chairs, and Mokuba sat next to him, watching Kaiba's face.
"None of us like this," Yuki said. "Someone is threatening our lives."
This seemed to catch Kaiba's attention. Mokuba's, too.
The black-haired boy looked over at Yuki; his brother gave a little flinch in her direction. Yugi, apparently deciding that this was as close to interest as he was going to get out of them, said, "Okay, everyone. Let's sit down and regroup. And…pretend the last twenty minutes or so never happened."
The Yagamis all turned a surprised look at him; they hadn't seen the shift, and apparently didn't know what it meant. Yugi's voice had changed. It was lighter, somehow brighter, and his face clearly showed far less confidence and nonchalance. He looked nervous, but he also had a look of self-control about him that Yami hadn't.
Yuki was clearly inching up on the almost lethargic level of shock that had afflicted her husband; the word had next to no emotion behind it, and her eyes had gone blank. Kaiba muttered something, but Joey didn't catch it at first. Yugi gave his rival a blank look and said, "Huh?"
"Chamomile…tea," Kaiba hissed.
"You…you want some—"
"Just get it!"
Yugi went white as a sheet and scrambled out of the room. Mokuba whispered something that only his brother could hear. Kaiba closed his eyes and visibly calmed. It was a weird thing to watch; like putting on a mask. His muscles relaxed, his scowl lightened to the faintest quirk of irritation, and when he opened his eyes again, they actually seemed to have dimmed.
He turned his gaze to Yuki, kept it trained there for a while like he was forcing himself to admit that she was there, and spoke. He sounded like a machine; the most advanced voice-box software ever. No emotion was in his voice as he said, "…Sit. Before you faint."
Yuki didn't speak. She didn't nod, or shake her head. She simply took a chair and sat down. Her son and husband quickly followed her lead. Little Seto Yagami sat next to her, and Kohaku next to him. Mirroring Mokuba, the youngest Yagami took hold of his mother's hand. This seemed to settle her.
Kohaku looked just as tense as Kaiba did.
Not a single word was spoken in the ten or so minutes that followed until Yugi came back out with a steaming mug of tea. He set it in front of Kaiba, who pushed it across the table to Yuki.
"Is the water still hot?" Kaiba asked without looking at Yugi.
"Yes."
"Hot chocolate. Two mugs."
"I…couldn't you have said something about that before I—"
"You have two hands, not three. Do you trust yourself with a tray right now?"
Yugi stared, blinked, and left the room.
"The hell? One o' us coulda helped him carry it."
Kaiba glanced at Joey, raised an eyebrow. He didn't give an answer.
Joey wondered fleetingly if this was some kind of punishment. He didn't press the matter further. He didn't figure it was worth it. The man still had a gun, and his trigger finger probably still itched.
When Yugi came back with the hot chocolate, he set one down in front of Seto Yagami, the other in front of Mokuba. Kaiba nodded curtly and said, "Scotch." Before Yugi could snap an irritated retort, Joey stood up.
"I got it."
Yugi blinked. "…Huh?"
"Si'down. Calm down before he finds an excuse to knock you flat. None of us are havin' too good a day right now." And he left before Yugi could say anything. He found a liquor cabinet upstairs, grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass, and went back to the main floor. Without having to ask, he set them in front of Kohaku and sat back down.
"…I'm not sure what that was," Yugi said.
"Yeah, you are," Joey muttered. "You're just pissed at Yami, and you're projectin' it on Kaiba 'cuz he ain't makin' things any easier. Anyway, everybody calm down a bit, kick back with a drink, and we'll figure out what the hell's goin' on."
Yugi stared, openmouthed.
Kaiba actually smirked.
Joey leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
…What the hell's happening to me?
