Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Identity ❯ Acceptance ( Chapter 15 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

az: Hmmm.... It's been long, huh? Missed me? Hehe.... and since no one was commenting if anything was amiss b4... I do it on my own...k? Finished my first year of Univ. Thought it'd never end... aaah....

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... there'll be a new dark lord and it's not Zork, Voldermort... or Sauron!! It's me..!! Huahahahahha!! Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi. And pardon me... I can't remember all the dialogues straight.

Chapter 15: Acceptance...

Written by Azzie/Az @ Alienna Azuani @ Yami_Azzie

'Mahado... before you sent us back to the real world... there's something I wanted to ask...'

Mahado bowed over him and placed his hand on his chest. 'What is it... you want to know?', the mage asked as Yugi cleared his throats to ask. 'When I was almost lost in the memory realm... I saw my other self and he was talking to me...!! But... then, he said that he was not my other self and that person was me indeed... I don't understand... if it's true... how could... he talked...'

Mahado smiled weakly as he placed his hand over Yugi's shoulder. 'Do you...', he paused before he spoke again, '...do you remember about the origins of the sennen items..? Of the dark sacrifice that had taken place...?'

Yugi felt a painful jab on his heart as he remembered learning the truth of it. 'Y..yes. But what... what's that had anything to do..?'

Yugi felt chilled as the thought passed him. 'When a part of you was sealed in this puzzle, that part of you was also sealed inside the darkness... Have you known about that?', said Mahado as Yugi nodded. '..When you first completed the puzzle, the other you was not fully awakened yet. He had emerged back from the dead... but his consciousness was not...' Yugi frowned at this as Mahado continued. '...At that time... some of those sacrificed souls had became the very consciousness of the sennen puzzle as did other items...'

'You mean... like that time when the rod showed some of my past's memories at the Battle Ship?', said Seto as he jumped on this new knowledge.

Mahado nodded. 'Yes, and that was also what gave life to both of your DM monster cards... But, master... about what've you said, that other self as you named it, was embodied by these souls. Now that the items were all on good hands... the souls were at peace and now willingly offers the service of power to those who wields the items. All... except one..'

Yugi nodded in comprehension as he realized it too. 'The eye... It's the only one among all seven that turned its user to evil. I'm disregarding Bakura and Malik... since both of them had reasons that caused them to be evil...'

Mahado agreed. 'That was because inside the eye, there's only one dark soul living inside it. Dark Akunadin, or any part of him there is... I supposed that when he gave his soul to gain the dark powers, his darkness grows along with his fiendish treachery through the eye... And.. uh, I think that was enough... was it? For your answers...?'

Yugi grinned mischievously as he tugged on Seto to hide him. 'I guess it is...', he said as Mahado summoned his powers to send them home...

'But, really... I never thought it will turn out like this...', said Kaiba as they both got downstairs, along with everyone. 'Then, how did you suppose it should be...?', countered Yugi as Kaiba made signs to shut him up. Yugi's mother looked up towards them as she motioned to the phone. 'Yugi... I'm glad you are fine now, but could you please answer the phone? Someone wanted to talk to you...', she said as Yugi grabbed the phone.

'Yeah... aah, it's me... No.. no, I'm fine... I was feeling ill just now. What... Kaiba-kun? Ah, wait Mokuba...', said Yugi as Kaiba in front him made acrobatic gestures to tell him not tell Mokuba that he was there. Yugi grinned as he said again, '...oh really? What did he do...? Oh, and what did you said...? Hahahaha...' Yugi glanced cheekily towards Kaiba made grunting noise at him. Yugi clutched his stomach as Kaiba started on his knees, 'Really...? Tell me about it...!!', he said as he laughed again.

Yugi snorted as he and Seto sat on the sofa, drinking some tea that Yugi's mother had served. 'Really..? Shizuka-san? You really LIKE her...!!? How unexpected...!', gasped the spiky-haired lad as he chuckled heartily. Seto glared at him with mixed feelings. 'Okay... okay!! I admit IT!! Just... don't go off and tell that do-- err, mediocre duelist that I liked his sister!! Please... Yugi!!'. plead Seto, blushing as Yugi grinned at him.

'I... don't know...', mused Yugi evilly as the doorbell rang. 'I get it!!', cried the lad as his grandfather was about to do it. Yugi opened the door and glanced at Seto mischievously. '...sorry, my fellow friend. It seemed even if I hadn't tell, he could still find your wherebouts!! Come in, Mokuba...', he said dramatically as Mokuba walked in.

'Nii-sama---!! Isn't it pretty childish of you to run off to Yugi? Not to mention that you never done this before but Yugi has just got out of hospital!! Have you no shame... nii-sama?', exclaimed Mokuba as Yugi shut the door behind him. Seto glared at the little brother as Yugi and Mokuba joined him at the sofa. He made an annoyed face as he folded his arm. 'Ch... I was angry and Yugi and I had started to get close these days, so what? Thankfully I did come though...', he said as he gave Yugi a meaningful glance. But then, he slapped his forehead silly, '...~_~##... and you even told him about that..!', sighed Seto as Mokuba looked pleased.

'I caught you because of that. Yugi was laughing too much and I had a feeling that you at least was here with him to make him sound a lot more than amused. He was laughing at you!!', he said as Mokuba started to chanted the phrase of 'My brother had a crush'. Mokuba grinned as Seto's face started to flush red.

Yugi smiled as he watched the two siblings quarrelling. A thought suddenly crossed his mind as he noticed the change of attitude in Kaiba. The said person noticed this and immediately expressed his concerns...

'Yugi... what...?'

Yugi immediately looked up towards him as he smiled nervously. 'Aah... nothing!! I was just daydreaming...', he gasped as the other two gave him a wary look. Yugi bit his lips. 'Oh... okay. I was just... thinking...', said Yugi halfheartedly. Seto looked at him unblinking.

'...Seto, Mokuba. Until now, how long had we known each other? From the very first time we met each other until now, we have changed a lot. But then, you two had known me by my two different personalities. So now... what would happen between us? Are we to remain as friends still? And my other friends... will that stays the same too? Even as I speak right now... I could feel some part of me disappearing. Part of my memories... mostly of things from my childhood and another of my double selves... started to fade and overlapping with my old memories and maybe that will also vanish too. So what will become of me then?!!'

Seto was struck dumbfounded and tried to object but Yugi suddenly got up and out of the house. The two siblings stood as Seto motioned Mokuba to sit. 'I'll talk to Yugi alone. I don't know what hit him... but I'll do what I can. You stay here and wait for us, okay..?', he said as Mokuba nodded. Seto walked away to catch up with Yugi.

'Eh..? Where's Yugi and your brother... child?', said Iria as Mokuba smiled at her. 'My name is Mokuba. Err... they went out for a while. Hmm... I'll help you with the glasses, aunty...', gasped Mokuba as he picked up the glasses and put it on the tray for the elder woman to take away. Iria thanked the little boy as Sugoroku came to sit with him.

'Haa... they left you behind is it? Now, what did I hear about someone mentioning Jyounouchi's younger sister..?', said the old man as Mokuba grinned. 'I'll tell you, ojii-san! It's about brother...'

'Yugi... what's wrong? Don't go around having some up down emotional instabilities and make everyone confused about you...', said Kaiba as he and the other perched themselves on the side of the railing, looking out towards the Domino port. Yugi let out a sigh.

'The memories of outward me remained as the memories of the inner me is fading. Whether it was the timid me or the other me... I could not recollect the memory when either of me had stayed inside the puzzle. Also when I tried to recollect again those times when I conversed with the other part of my soul, it now shows me that I was talking to myself and not another person... I'm answering my own question and contradicting my own self. It was like a second part of me had never existed... even as it did...'

Seto gave a shrug. 'What the hell with it... as long as the memories still exist, that was fine with me. And why did you question my being your friend? To me, you will always be the same Yugi and the same rival-friend that I grew to respect more. To hell those split personality-soul dilemma..!!'

'But I felt so empty now... It felt like I was no longer Mudou Yugi but the long asleep pharaoh, waking up to find that he was reborn again and was at lost...'

Hearing this, Seto smacked Yugi's head and dragged him back towards the Kame Game shop. 'You stupid... Go home and drown yourself!! You are alive and probably had a personality disorder right now but who cares? Just pick yourself up and start from scratch... no use of worrying for things inevitable. We already had pulled away from the Duel Monsters arena but we still are very good. That alone had shown our full potential and self worth! At least, most of the questions has been answered. You've got this problem now after all this time... certainly you won't give up?'

Yugi smiled. 'Thanks... I won't. Perhaps I've been wanting to hear something like that from you. But I guess... I would have trouble catching up with the others. Some of them don't really understood about the existence of the former me and other self. Some, even had different feelings revolving both of my old self...'

'Yugi... you shouldn't be--'

'..t's okay. I just needed to say this out aloud. I've been wondering if my life would ever be normal anymore...ah well, forget it. Seto... did you realized it? When I first met you, I know that I wanted to be friends with you... and look now!!'

Seto snickered. 'Aah, but then I wasn't at all nice, is it..? Sorry, since I've had treated you badly then...'

'Well, can't blame you... At that time, my other half was just been released from the dark realm. And with me constantly bullied, no wonder he's cranky...'

'That's a point to be taken... But Yugi, it's been fun having to know you... both in the present and in the past. I can't have a better rival, friend or cousin than you...'

Yugi shrugged. 'Aside from the fact that I always beat you in Duel Monsters? Yeah... you're right. Jyounouchi was a good friend et al. but really, he's not a good person to talk to when I had these conflicts about the dark realms and all...'

Seto smiled as Yugi had started to cheer up. 'Feel better now?', he asked as Yugi nodded. '..that's good since we'd best be back at your place. Who knows what more of my secrets that Mokuba would tell back there...'

'I wondered about that...', said Yugi happily before revealing a very forlorn look. He clutched his heart suddenly in pain. 'Yugi..!! What's wrong..?', Yugi looked at Kaiba with sudden bout of fear.

'...suddenly, I felt a foreboding feeling. Just now, I thought I just saw a vision of the sennen items... 'The seven items are now returned to where they came from...'... these words came to mind. I felt that the flashes of memories are real... and that incident had passed. But Kaiba!! These days... all that happened... is this real? And the sennen items are still with us!! Kaiba...!! What's going on!!?'

Kaiba frowned as he felt something from the back of his mind but can't remember it. '..calm down, Yugi!! This... cannot... be...'

'You felt something strange too, hadn't you..?', asked Yugi as the other lad shook his head. 'No... there must be an explanation for this!! This can't be a lie!!...', whispered Kaiba to himself as if to try to make believe everything. Yugi grabbed Seto's arm to convince him.

'Seto!! I wanted to ask you... other than the events of the last few weeks and of several months ago, do you remembered anything else? Me right now, the last things that I could remember... was me entering my old memory world and trying to find the pharaoh's name. But after that... I couldn't remember...!! All these periods when I wondered about this. I always said to myself that I was still alive and had probably escaped safely back to the real world. And I had always had this thoughts that the lost memories was incomplete and that's why my other self was still existing till few days ago...'

'Yugi... I think we should discuss this later... You're tired...'

'Seto...!! Ryou's other self is still here... but if I had survived the duel in the memory world, he couldn't have--!!', Yugi's strength wavered as his stumbled on his steps. Kaiba caught him before hand. '... my mind are all jumbled up. As I tried to piece together everything one at a time... I felt that there is a large gap of emptiness in my memory... my head felt like breaking...', Yugi's voice shook as he knelt on the ground.

Kaiba looked at his friend with concern as he placed an arm around him. '...we'll try to find out about this later. I promise... we'll try to straighten everything up later. This event... this troubling feeling that I had started to feel by your startling words, we'll find out the truth. For I too had realized the gap of memory lost during those time. But now you are ill...! Stop thinking about this for a while. Your families and friends would worry if they saw you like this...'

Yugi sighed heavily as he could not shake away the forbidding feeling. 'I guess so...', he said as the two continued walking...

'Mokuba!! Let's go home...', said Seto as he and Yugi arrived. Mokuba, on the other hand was having a lively chat with Grandpa Sugoroku. The elderly turned aside to greet them. 'Hullo there, young 'uns!! Having a nice walk? Why didn't you two go to Jyounouchi's place?...' You should tell him about your crush...

'Going to---WHAT?!', exclaimed Seto as he turned to his brother. 'Mokuba---!'

The said boy merely grinned evilly at him. 'Gomen, nii-sama!! I told...', said Mokuba as Seto slapped his forehead. 'Oh no..!', he gasped as Yugi comforted him. ..

'It couldn't be helped... someone else will know sooner or later...', said Yugi eventually as both of them sweatdropped together. Seto nodded. 'Aah... yes, indeed. My otouto is an idiot..', he answered weakly as Mokuba smiled innocently. Seto glanced quickly towards Yugi as he saw that the lad had recovered his cheerfulness; with no signs of him still thinking about the troubling things they talked about earlier. The brunette sighed in relief.

'...we'll be alright. I'm sure... Yugi...', he whispered to him as he tightened his grip in Yugi's hand. Yugi smiled as he returned the gesture towards him...

[TBC]

az: Okay... I'm truly back!!! Edited a lil bit on chapter 5 and a lot in this. I hoped it worth the wait. Ja... I hoped for new reviews... ^_^ I'm going to S'pore next Monday. Want to see the LoTR exhibit... T_T but at what price?! I'm gonna miss the third last episodes of God of Honor!! WaaHHH!!! I hoped someone there had TV3 signal!! I know that some part got it... T_T...

A/N: I've found out about the ending of Yugioh... and I thought, I had meant this to start long after memory world. But considering what that had been written, this fic had evolved into being AU. And I had two options on either make this AU or or follow the manga. I chose option 2. And this will mean that I should either change the whole storyline or devise a big twist to the story!! And I think you know what option I chose. I love this fic and don't want to destroy this... so, this fic will have a drastic u-turn after this before I continue the story after that. The change will be a little as to fit with the true manga plot... but in the end, it'll have the same ending as I had intended. There will be spoilers to the ending of the manga but I won't make it too much. (It is inevitable...)

But rest assured... I still believed that (that present/past ID as follows) ==> Yugi/Atem, Kaiba/Seto (whaaaat?!!) Shizuka/Kisara, Ryou/Bakura (or Akeifa... someone had called him by this. I wonder if this was his true name!!), Ishizu/Isis, Shadi(or Shadu)/Rishido... One clue as to the ending of this fic, everyone will be ONE complete person. Not 50/50 or mixed up or anything... Those people souls would be fixed back to where they belong finally...