Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Forgiveness ❯ Life ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, no one would hate Tea.

Aargh… ff.net is taking so long to update this story! I posted chapter three last night, and I can only get ch. 2 online…I'm posting this by 12 California time (midnight) tell me when it becomes available via search, not via alert e-mail link.

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`Warm…Mokuba, did you have a nightmare again? I hope they stop soon, you'll get into trouble if the people here catch you sneaking out of your bed…' But it wasn't Mokuba's clean sheets scent. It was warm, and exotic, and he opened his eyes to see spiky hair tucked under his and a frown under closed eyes. `Yami… He's still sad…I wish I could make you happy again…Yugi, why did you make him do it? Why couldn't you just trust him? Oh, yes. Because of me.' His hand smoothed rumpled hair. ---I'm sorry…---

He got out of bed and shook himself. `What now? He looks…not peaceful, worried, but maybe it would be better for him to sleep in? No,' he answered himself, `it would not be good if he woke up and was alone. I'd better wake him up.'

"Yami…?" He said, shaking his shoulder gently. "Wake up…"

"Mmmph…" A complaining murmur, and confused eyes opened…to be replaced with despairing ones that began to gleam.

"Shhh…" Kaiba found himself, gathering Yami in his arms again. ---Shhh. It'll be all right.---

"But don't you see, Kaiba? It'll never be all right. Yugi hates me. The only thing I can do now for him is die." The calm words were chilling in the quiet room: spoken with such resigned certainty.

---Don't think that,--- Kaiba automatically responded through the link. Strange, how it was becoming second nature. But doubts seemed to slip away… ---Yugi will see the truth eventually, and for now you have me. You'll be fine, Yami. I promise.---

--I'll never be fine, Kaiba.-Ruby eyes glowed challenge. -The truth is I betrayed Yugi, and you are a poor substitute for him.-

Sigh. ---I know…--- Kaiba could feel the gap inside Yami, where his other half had brutally torn himself away. `How could he do that to him? He probably didn't even know…If Yami's like this, what is Yugi like?' ---I'm not…what you need. I'm not that strong. But I can be…what you want? No, what did I say…I don't know what I mean. Just that…I want to help. I won't let you die! I've protected Mokuba, and I will protect you!--- He squeezed hard, partly to reassure himself.

--Oh yes, you're so good at defending Mokuba…-- Yami could feel the pain that statement caused Seto. --…I'm sorry. I didn't mean that.-

---Yes, you did. You're better at protecting him than I am. That's why I want to keep you around.--- It was the only reason, right? Not when Yami's presence was dark and delicious and intoxicating comfort wrapped around his soul, warming him as he could barely remember, warmth lost so long ago…

--I'm not going to be around long enough to make a difference…-- "What did you wake me up for, Se…Kaiba?" He said, changing the subject at Kaiba's flash of hurt. Why did he care? He should be trying to make Kaiba hate him, as he deserved to be hated, as the one he loved hated him, but he just couldn't seem to do it…

"I have to get up now and go to school, Yami." Kaiba said, moving out of the hug, suddenly businesslike. He went into the huge walk-in closet to change out of his clothes of the day before. Actually, of the half-a-week-before. He hadn't had a change to change on Pegasus's island. He yelled to Yami from inside the closet. "Come have breakfast with me."

"I don't need to eat." Brusquely.

"Can you?" Curiously.

"Yes…" Hesitatingly.

"Then come down. I'll be your first time, right? The cook makes pancakes, they'll be enough for you." Cajolingly.

"But…"

"Come. Down. Now."

Yami decided to skip the argument. It didn't matter anyways. Nothing mattered except Yugi. Nothing at all would matter soon. Why did that feeling seem…wrong?

"I don't have anything that would fit you, can you, you know," Kaiba waved his hand, "Use magic to fix your clothes?"

"Yes," Yami said, rolling out of bed. He was perfectly neat.

`I should have known he wouldn't let his clothes be wild…he's a bit of a control freak, isn't he?' Kaiba felt his lips twitch.

"What's so funny?" Crossly.

"Nothing. Come on, lets go." He reached for the Millennium Puzzle, and stopped himself. `Why do I want so much to wear it? I'd better not take it to school, Yugi might be pissed off I have it, and I need him to calm down so he'll take Yami back…But Kaiba didn't want Yugi to take Yami back.

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"Morning, big brother Seto." Mokuba turned and was surprised. He recovered quickly. "Morning, Yami! Did you use magic to make yourself a body? Cool!"

"Yes, I did…" He trailed off looking at the huge table. All the places were set.

Following the line of Yami's gaze, Kaiba sighed. "The maids do it like that. I don't know why, I give them plenty of warning if I'm going to throw a business dinner, and the silverware gets all dusty…but it's convenient today. Pull up a chair," Kaiba said, motioning at the stack of pancakes, "And help yourself. There's about twice what we can eat, even with you here, unless you eat as much as that puppy Wheeler."

Yami glared. "Do not make fun of Joey. There is more to him than you think."

Kaiba tried to keep his lips from twitching upward in his usual excuse for a smile. Yami was acting more…alive now that he was being forced to interact. "Whatever. Sit. Eat."

Yami tentatively sat down, took the tongs and took a pancake. "That's all?" Mokuba asked. "I can eat seven!"

"And give yourself a stomachache." Kaiba interjected. "Don't even think about it." He said warningly.

"Alright, Seto…you're no fun."

"I don't need to eat at all. I'm only taking one to be polite. I am a guest here, albeit an unwilling one."

Mokuba chose to ignore that. He reached over and pushed the syrup and butter towards Yami. "Here. Put the butter on with the knife and then pour on the syrup. It's great!"

"I've seen how to do it in Yugi's memories."

"Huh?"

"How can you look at Yugi's memories if you aren't linked anymore?" Kaiba was surprised.

"I have a copy of them. At least up to the moment the puzzle was solved. After that I know of the times I was awake and the information I looked for in Yugi's mind about what was going on."

"Oh." Both Kaiba brothers said.

"Jinx! One, two three…" Mokuba said teasingly.

Kaiba fake-punched him on the shoulder. "Cut it out, Mokuba."

Shock and glee shone on Mokuba's face as he touched where Seto had touched him. Was this change because of Yami? No way he'd let Yami get away, if he helped Seto like this!

Mokuba and Seto happily chatted, and they exchanged a quick smile when Yami reached for a second pancake.

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Kaiba leaned back in the limo on his way to school. He hoped that online dueling site would keep Yami occupied. He didn't want him thinking himself into knots. He'd extracted a promise to not sit still for more than one minute, and by sitting still he included pacing. "Find something to do!" He'd yelled.

He laughed at the memory of Yami's shock at someone daring to yell at him. He could still feel it, though dimly. `The link's fading,' He thought sadly. `It's probably because I'm getting further away…' Already he missed it. `Yugi's been linked at lot longer than I have. What has the link being broken done to him?' He shuddered. It'd been less than a day, and already he couldn't imagine life without it.

His breath caught. Was this normal? This wasn't like him. He should be fighting this like hell. He should have broken the puzzle rather than let another inside his head. `Is Yami…doing something to me?' He shook his head. `No, he'd never do anything that would make me want him to keep me around. He still wants to die. But I can't let him…'

`No one should die like that, as punishment for saving lives, to be killed by the one you love?' Kaiba shattered. `Yes. I can't let that happen. That's why I saved him. That's why I won't give him up…until Yugi regains his senses, of course! I'll let Yugi have him back then, right? Right.'

The limosine arrived at the school. Kaiba gave a quick thank you and left before seeing the shocked expression on the driver's face. But he could sense it. His lips curved up in his usual sarcastic smile.

`I'm a little late, but there's no way the teacher would dare give me a hard time about it, or the school I missed while I was finding myself…I'll still set the curve.' He slid into his seat without a word from the teacher. He looked around.

There, in the corner, was Yugi's little gang: Joey the mutt, Tristan, Tea and Ryou. Tea was the only one with a brain in the bunch. He was still annoyed that she'd beat him for class president. Not that he cared who won a popularity contest among these juvenile fools.

`What she said to me on the battlements…she was right. I was really acting heartless. And it cost Yami his. That's why he had to take over Yugi, isn't it? Because Yugi felt like he couldn't trust him after he did the right thing and almost made me fulfil my threat of jumping off the battlements. Damn.' Kaiba chewed his lip. `I really messed things up for him. And he still saved me. Why did he bother? Because he needed my helicopter? No,' he shook his head. "He's not like that. He really cares about people. It's dangerous to care that much. Look at Yugi's rejecting him has done.'

Kaiba looked over at Yugi's group again. `Looks like Yugi isn't coming. Right, if I were his grandfather I'd keep him home to. I should have made Mokuba stay home. But that would have given him too much leverage in trying to get me to stay home…' He finally noticed the expressions on their faces.

Joey was sort of glaring at him, like he should be mad but was mostly just confused.

Tea was sort of biting her lip. She looked worried, and questioning.

Tristan was unreadable, as always.

Ryou looked…blank. Tuned out. But the lines around his eyes… `He looks haunted. What's up with him? Is there something going on at home? Something's not right, and he's trying not to show it. He looks…scared. But it's not about the whole Yami situation. He's the only one not looking at me. Well, Tea isn't looking at me currently. But that's just because she doesn't want to be rude and let me know she's staring at me.' He turned back to the teacher, still tuned out, and sighed. `I'd better talk to them. Find out what's going on with Yugi.'

He tapped his fingers on the desk. `You know, it might actually be a good thing Yugi isn't here. He's got to be pissed as hell at me for taking the puzzle. Give him some time to cool down.' He nodded. `Right.'

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As he walked out the classroom door, he sensed them following them. He led them behind the library, his favorite spot to be alone, and turned around. And waited.

"Uh…" Tea said finally. "Kaiba…"

"Talk man!" Joey interrupted. "Why'd you take the puzzle? It belongs to Yugi."

"Because I couldn't just let him just kill the one who saved all our lives."

"What?" Joey said, echoing the confusion on everyone else's faces.

"You think Yugi would have stood a chance against Pegasus without magic? And Pegasus isn't the kind to leave witnesses. You think he wants to be accused of putting people in comas? He would have been able to deny you were even there. You weren't on the guest list, after all. What do you think he would have done to you?"

Joey and Tea looked surprised, and thoughtful. Tristan nodded slightly. `Ah, so one of you already figured it out.'

"He saved all of us. He saved Mokuba," Kaiba went on. "I owe him, and I'm not going to let him die. I'm going to make sure he gets back where he belongs, with Yugi. So don't complain about me taking the puzzle."

They looked at each other. Tea was the first to speak. "I don't think it's going to be that easy, Kaiba. Yugi's really…"

"It was creepy." Joey interrupted. "He really hates him now. I mean really. I didn't think he could hate anyone. Like I said, creepy."

Kaiba sighed, but inside…'So I'm going to get to keep him longer? No.' He frowned. `He needs Yugi. He was bonded to him first. But Yugi threw him away…'

`I shouldn't. I shouldn't try to keep him. He's not my property. But the puzzle is, I paid for it, and it didn't kill me…I wish Yami was mine. Is he?'

"Um, Kaiba," Joey interjected. "About that check you gave Yugi…"

"What about it?"

"Well, um…do you know why I went to Duelist Kingdom? Well, I went to support Yugi, but do you know why I dared to go up against so many duelists who were probably going to just kick my butt?"

"Yes, I had wondered. Did you have a reason besides stupitidy, Mutt?" Kaiba held up a hand to stop Joey's angry sputtering as Tristan and Tea held him back. "I'm sorry. Force of habit. Why, Wheeler?"

"My little sister…we were separated when my parents divorced. She's going blind and Mom can't pay for the operation, and Dad couldn't either if he cared. So I wanted to win the prize money to pay for it, but when Yami killed Pegasus the tournament was cancelled, so…Yugi didn't want your money. He gave it to me. Do you mind? I promise I'll pay you back eventually, and I'll give you what's left over as soon as we know what the charges will end up being…"

"Keep it."

"What did you say?"

"It's kind of my fault the tournament was cancelled. And Yugi would have given you the money if he won. So I owe it to you."

Tea frowned. "What do you mean, you're responsible for it? Yami was?"

Kaiba sighed. "Haven't you figured it out yet? The reason he did what he did is because Yugi needed help but didn't trust him. And Yugi didn't trust him because I made him have to let me jump to save Yugi's grandfather. So it's my fault."

Tea's eyes were wide.

"What?" Kaiba asked.

"…That was very mature, Kaiba."

A half smile. "Don't get used to it." Turn. Walk away.

`I'll have to bring Yami to school tomorrow. Maybe, if Yugi sees him and they actually talk…'

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Again, less done than I thought. Oh well. This is turning into an epic. I promise I won't rest until I get it done! Next computer session tomorrow evening, Spain time. Another chapter then!

Y-n-Y: Right, it is a good explanation. And here is more. You got chappie 3 to work? I can't right now. Poor Yugi: I feel so bad…

Hikari Ryu: Here you are! Or actually, since you reviewed two, here the second is!

Mullet ( ): Thanks for the compliment.

Koishii no Tenshi: Thanks for the compliment, and here you go.

Chibi Pharaoh Yami: Yes, he was. No complaints about my explanation? Anyone? Good. And Yugi is being annoying…He is supposed to forgive Yami, the show got that right.