Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Forgiveness ❯ Cards ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, Mokuba would have gotten to bang on pots at midnight, etc. while being held captive by Pegasus. Make his life hell!

Sorry this is late, field trip. Getting home from Spain the 31st.

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Mokuba was home first, as always. Kaiba went straight to work from school. `I guess things are getting back to normal. I'd really hoped that maybe we could spend more time together or something, he's been a lot nicer since Death-T…but I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up…Oh yeah! I don't have to be alone! Yami's here. I can play with him. It'll be good for him.' "Yami!" Mokuba yelled. Kaiba hated servants around the place so except for cleaning once a week and the cook who came in mornings and evenings, they had the house to themselves.

"Yami?!" Mokuba yelled again. He hadn't gotten a response. He waited a bit, and saw Yami coming down the stairs. "Why didn't you answer me?"

"I remember Yugi's grandfather telling him it was rude to yell, and I am a guest here." Yami replied, with an attempt at a smile.

`We shouldn't have left him home alone all day…but what else could we have done with him? We can't take him to school…but Kaiba could have taken the puzzle, like Yugi does. Then he could have talked to big brother. Right, I'll have to nag him about that. He'll probably argue about it. It is sort of big and eye-catching. Not his style.'

"So, Mokuba…did you have a good day?"

Mokuba stared. "A good day? At school? What planet are you from? School is torture. Except for recess." He added, thinking.

Another half-smile. "Sorry, that's what Yugi's grandfather asks him when he comes home. I thought it was traditional."

"Oh. Alright. Did you have fun?"

Yami stared, with one eyebrow raised.

"I mean, besides the whole suicidaly depressed thing. Was that dueling site big brother showed you fun?"

Yami frowned. "Most of the fun in dueling is coming to understand your opponent. What they show on their face tells you much. Judging an opponent, predicting their moves based only on the cards they play and the moves they have made, as well as any chatter they may choose to send, is a challenge, but not as interesting a one as true dueling."

"You really like to duel, huh?"

"It is…something I am good at. Yes, I did enjoy it. But most of the thrill was working together with Yugi. Dueling alone is…" Yami reached out a hand to grab words out of the air. "It…shows me what I am missing. How alone I am."

`Oh…' Mokuba started to understand. The pain behind Yami's eyes…it was like when Seto had been tainted by Gozaburo and ignored him, criticized him. When Mokuba had tried to beat Yugi, to do anything, to win back his brother's approval. Because he needed him. Because he was the center of his life.

`This is…he's really hurting. I can't just let him stay like this. But what can I do?' Mokuba reached out his hand and touched Yami's. "Is there anything I can do? I really want to help, and big brother does to."

"Yes." Yami breathed. "There is something you can do." He got up, and motioned for Mokuba to follow him.

`He looked scary then.' Mokuba was creeped out. `What is it he wants?'

They soon came to Kaiba's office. The door swung open at Yami's touch. "Um, I don't think he wants us to go in here…"

Yami ignored him and walked over to the safe. It, too, swung open at a touch. Yami ignored the papers and cash and took out the thing on top of the pile. The puzzle Yugi always wore, that seemed to contain Yami's spirit. He closed the safe behind him, and returned to the door where Mokuba stood. He knelt down on the ground, and held out the puzzle to Mokuba.

"Please." He said, head bowed. "End this. End my torment. Break the puzzle and let me die." His words were filled with a quiet certainty. Mokuba found himself reaching out to take the puzzle, but stopped himself just before his fingers could touch it.

He looked at Yami to see he had raised his head and was looking at him with anguish in his eyes. "Please. Do for me what your brother can't see I need. He wishes me to live, but this isn't life!" Yami was shaking now. "Please! I don't deserve to live! I broke Yugi's trust! I controlled him against his wishes! He gave me life, and I betrayed him! Smash the puzzle and give Yugi the pieces so he can know he is free of me! Please…" He whispered the last word. "Please…just let me die."

"No." Mokuba whispered, stunned by Yami's actions. "No." He said more firmly. "You don't deserve to die."

"Why not? What have I done to merit life? I have killed, Mokuba." Yami was staring at him, eyes narrowed.

It was scary, but going from despair to cruel anger that fast…it was an act. Yami was trying to scare him. Trying to make him hate and fear him. `It's not that easy, Yami. I didn't give up on Seto even after years of cruelty. I won't give up on you.' He glared back, and Yami dropped his eyes.

"Pegasus, right? He had it coming, Yami. I know you're a good person. You did it to help me and Seto. If you'd had a choice, you wouldn't have done it. I know that."

"I had a choice." Yami shook his head in denial.

"Sure, a choice to let the bastard keep us prisoner, and god knows how many other people, and take the puzzle and get stronger and do more damage…" Mokuba shook his head. "You did have a choice, but all the other options were worse. You. Did. The. Right. Thing." He imitated his brother's patented You-Are-Stupid-To-Argue-With-Me glare.

"No. How could it have been right? If it had been, why would my Light hate me?" Yami laid his head in his hands.

"Light? You mean Yugi?" Mokuba asked, sidetracked.

"Yes. My life and my light. My love, who hates me! Who I failed! Please, please, let me die!"

"No." Mokuba knelt by Yami and gently pulled his hands away from his eyes and made him meet his gaze. "You're a good person. You don't deserve to die for fulfilling your promise."

"It was you, wasn't it? Who made that promise to me. That you would help me beat Pegasus and help my brother. It was you. I remember, Yami. You kept your promise. You saved my big brother. If Yugi tried to take the puzzle and kill you, I'd fight him like Seto did. You're a hero, Yami. You don't deserve to die."

"So you won't break it." Yami stood up, a mask over his pain. He left the puzzle where he had dropped it. Mokuba picked it up, but only to brush the dust off. He put it on Seto's desk, and closed his office door.

"Come on, Yami. Lets go duel."

"I don't have a deck." Flat. Unemotional. Dead. Mokuba cringed inside.

"You built a deck to play online, right? I can use big brother's and we can duel on the computers. Come on, it'll be fun." He said cheerfully.

Yami followed Mokuba down the stairs, silent.

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Kaiba tried to concentrate. Then he pushed his chair away from his desk and stood up. `Dammit. Vacations my ass. They're planning something.'

The Big Five hadn't shown up today. He had been looking forward to grilling them, but they couldn't be reached. Kaiba couldn't concentrate on anything else until he handled them. He'd managed to get through only two matters on the stack that had accumulated. The Big Five had made decisions for him while he was gone, not wanting to let matters slide in the company they planned to hand over to Pegasus. He had to review all the decisions and find the traps. But he couldn't think straight. `Dammit. I should just to home. Maybe after dinner I'll be able to deal with this.'

He grabbed the papers, threw them in his briefcase, stalked out the door, and yelled at his secretary to have his driver be ready. He was tired, and frustrated, and he wanted home. Mokuba's cheerful presence. Yami…

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Kaiba wandered around the mansion until he found Mokuba and Yami in the computer room. Mokuba was just exclaiming, "Man! That's the twentieth time you've beaten me, Yami! And I'm using big brother's online deck! You say Seto started you a new account and you've managed to get these cards with bets and win points?"

"Yes. Hello Kaiba." Yami turned and looked at him from where he sat next to Mokuba.

"Big brother! You're actually home in time for dinner!" Mokuba ran to Seto and hugged him. He pulled Seto down under cover of the hug and whispered in his ear, "Seto, Yami tried to get me to break the puzzle."

Seto looked up, shocked. Yami looked at him with a what-did-you-expect? expression. He had felt the realization through the link. --You know I won't give up, Kaiba. I will die. I will find a way.-

---…--- Kaiba could feel Yami's determination. It…frightened him. `What am I thinking? Why am I afraid of losing him? I want to lose him! I want him to be back with Yugi and this link gone and just be friends…since when have I wanted to be friends?' Kaiba shook himself.

"So, Yami, what have you been up to?"

"Yami raised an eyebrow. ---Yes, I know it's a pitiful attempt to change the subject, but answer the question, dammit!---

"I have been dueling as you suggested, Kaiba." That strong voice, under control…was how it should be. Kaiba wished it was the reality. Oh, how he wished.

Kaiba walked over to the computer and pulled up the cards list. "Wow. Are you sure you didn't swipe my credit card number? You won all these in one day?"

"Yes." An edge of contempt.

---Not gonna work, Yami.---

"Let me see your deck… Dark Magician, Magical Hats…Dark Magician Girl, Dark Sage, Magician of Black Chaos, Unhappy Maiden, Exodia, Time Wizard, Magician of Faith, Maha Vailo, Skillful Black Magician, Neo the Magic Swordsman, Kazejin, Apprentice Magician, Lord of Dragons…someone likes Spellcasters. Kuriboh, I should have known…Mirror Force, Magic Jammer, Axe of Despair, Harpie's Feather Duster… What the hell!!!! How'd you get a Blue Eyes!!!? They only released four! I haven't been able to track down the fourth yet…"

"Planning to put a virus in it?" Yami's lips curled.

"Ha ha, very funny." `He made a joke...? Gallows humor, I can't really take it as a good sign…' "Seriously, how'd you manage it?"

"The username was Victory.exe. She used the Gate Guardian combo, a trap heavy deck. I won the Kazejin off her, why I dueled her in the first place. We dueled around fifteen times. She had to sign off, but she was so grateful for having a fun time dueling she gave me the card. Attempt to bribe me into dueling her again and giving her a chance to recover from so many defeats in a row. Suggested I use it to beat you. Guessed I was Yugi, but I had to tell her no."

"Vicky…I should have known! She's the British Champion. Considers me a total idiot, and doesn't mind telling everyone why. We're about even, beating each other. She sent me a very insulting e-mail after Death-T. I hate her guts. She must have been keeping it to spite me."

"She's even, but you're World Champion?"

"I win when it counts."

"…"

`Oh yeah, I guess I can't say that anymore.' "And she can't handle crowds. The world of Duel Monsters is big, Yami. Even you won't run out of people to duel. And weird. The American Champion is a psycho kindergartner who talks to a bear. The Chinese Champion acts like a Barbie doll. The German Champion has long pink hair."

"Oh…" Yami had lost interest.

`Well, I know how to distract you.' "Come on." Kaiba turned towards the door, Yami following wordlessly.

They went down two flights of stairs to the basement. Kaiba opened a door to a room lined with small drawers with labels in different colors. Kaiba's gaze travelled down a wall of gold drawers. "Rare, 2500, non-effect…here." He pulled open a drawer and took out a stack of cards. He took one out and handed it to Yami. It was the Dark Magician.

"Knock yourself out. Pink labels are traps, Green spells, yellow normal monsters, tan effect, ritual, fusion, and the rest of the weird ones. Gold drawers are rare cards. Monsters are sorted by attribute, than attack power, than alphabetical order. Spells and traps are just alphabet."

"Why are you doing this? Are you giving me a deck? Why? I'm not going to be around to use it."

"I want to have a chance to beat you for real. You're not going to manage to get killed until tomorrow at the earliest. Come down for dinner when you're finished. Don't try to wiggle out of it, we won't eat until you come." Kaiba closed the door, leaving Yami surrounded by cards.

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Everyone Yami likes is represented by a card, or cards in his deck. Yugi is both Maha Vailo ( he said it represented him) and Skillful Magician (brings forth Dark Magician). Tristan is Neo (Swordsman). Mai is Kazejin (Wind). Apprentice is Mokuba. The rest should be obvious.

Yaoi next chappie!

Y-n-Y: It started working for me just after I posted the ch. Go figure. Yugi chappie after next, unless things take longer than planned, as usual.

Chibi Pharaoh Yami: Yes, pancakes rock. And here you go!

Kyle Kaiba: No offence, but if he was going to control people he would have made Yugi forgive him immediately and I wouldn't be writing this story. Humm, manipulative Yami…cool concept, but not my idea of the character, I am willing to do AU, as you can see, but all the fun is in staying with the character. But manipulative Yami can be done in character…keep reading this story, that's all I'm going to say.

SilverWing147: Yes, I explained. He's a little more back to normal now.

Yami-no-jean: here you go.