Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen Angel, Risen Demon ❯ Unexpected Help ( Chapter 3 )

Atemu didn't even glance up as Kaiba entered, or display any awareness of him.

"Pharaoh!" Kaiba barked. "What's wrong with you? Have you truly lost your mind because of a mere thief?"

Now Atemu looked up, and his face contorted with rage as soon as he saw Kaiba.

"You!" He yelled, leaping to his feet and pointing at Kaiba with a quivering finger. His unused voice was dry and raw. b"This is your fault!"

Kaiba blinked at him, evidently having no idea what he meant. To his credit, he didn't make a fool of himself by replying.

He didn't have to. Atemu railed on, and he wouldn't have heard if Kaiba did reply.

"If you hadn't left, it wouldn't have hurt this much! With you gone he was the only piece of my past, and my only rival as well! Thanks to you he was all I had! Damn you, you bastard!!"

Kaiba's expression hardened. "Don't try to blame this on me, Pharaoh," he snarled. "You're the one who sat down and gave up. If Bakura saw you now, he would laugh in your face. Or he wouldn't even recognize you. You're a disgrace. If you were my only rival, I would probably kill myself as well. This is your fault, not mine."

"That's a lie!" cried Atemu, but Kaiba's voice rose. "Imbecile! Coward! Quitter! Murderer! You killed Bakura, not me! You killed him with your pitiful incompetence!"

"Shut up!" Atemu shouted, his eyes blazing and his fists clenching. "Shut up saying I killed him!"

Kaiba stared at him unbelievingly, but Atemu didn't even notice. "I didn't kill him and I'm no quitter! I've never quit or killed in my life! Never have and never will!"

"Prove that!" Kaiba challenged. "When I come back, I want you to have taken a bath. A long bath. With soap. And put on some clean clothes. Wait...Yugi's won't fit anymore, will they? Hmm...I'll think of something. Then go outside and take a walk. The fresh air will do you some good."

"I will!" Atemu screamed. "I'll show you!"

"Good," Kaiba sneered. "It's shameful, seeing the 'great' Pharaoh I once served and the so-called 'King of Games' I once sought so valiantly to beat being reduced to this."

With that, he turned and strutted out, before Atemu could see his hugely satisfied smirk.

***

Fuming silently, Atemu turned on the hot water and stepped into the shower.

The water scalded for a moment before his skin adjusted. That was one of the bright sides of being a spirit. The fact that he hadn't starved to death didn't seem like much of a bright side, but not being burnt was.

He scrubbed hard, washing away six months' worth of grime. More than dirt and dust and dried blood, he washed away the loss of everything-everything which had vanished into the meaninglessness of his ruined sanity.

Atemu, he thought numbly. My name is Atemu.

The numbness melted away with the warmth, and his mind returned. But some things were bone-deep and didn't melt away: his and Bakura's hurt and anguish and bitter memories remained, but this time he didn't let himself sink back into despair.

He didn't know how much time he remained there, just that he used up all the soap and all the hot water. But it was a different Atemu who stepped out of the steaming shower than the one who stepped in. He wasn't the same man he'd been before, but he was certainly nearer to that man than he had been in the previous chapter.

He opened the closet and scowled. Having been permanently separated from Yugi and thus his stunted height, he had sprouted at least two feet. He was shorter and skinnier than Bakura had been, and certainly shorter than Kaiba, but he wouldn't fit into any of Yugi's outfits.

Then he noticed something on the bed.

Walking over, he lifted a pair of neatly folded skintight jeans and a blue jacket and a leather tank. A post-it was stuck onto the jeans pocket. He picked it up.

Dear Pharaoh

You certainly spent a while bathing. I hope this fits. You only seemed about two feet taller.

Seto Kaiba

Smiling, bemused but touched, he put everything on. A perfect fit. He finished off with a pair of leather boots and a black collar with a silver buckle. He gazed into the mirror and was pleased for the first time in quite a while.

What next? Oh yes. Go outside.

***

Shutting his eyes, Atemu smiled and inhaled deeply. The smile felt weird and tight since his expression had been unchanging, empty, and dull for six months. It hurt to inhale. The smell of warmth and spring felt foreign. But he still smiled, still inhaled. A few breaths later, it didn't hurt anymore. Smiling still did, though.

He sighed and let the smile slip.

"Bakura..."

"Yes?"

Atemu bristled, recognizing the voice.

Of course he recognized it. That voice had haunted him for six months.

It was the voice that had taunted him, the voice that had he had despised and resented, the blood that had made his blood burn with fury. The voice he had yearned for so long to hear again.

Filled with surprise, desire, caution, he turned and opened his eyes cautiously.

He was face-to-face with none other than Yami no Bakura.