Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Final Distance ❯ Goldfish ( Chapter 11 )

Okay, Naoya is just getting creepier by the chapters, if that's a possible thing. So I've decided to start something like a poll-the "How Creepy is Naoya" poll! Please rate him on a scale of one to ten, ten being the creepiest, and give me reasons why! I actually have quite a lot of fun making him creepy, though sometimes he scares even me.

Naoya: *smiles*

*shudders* Um, yeah…anyway… Thank you all again for all of your reviews! You all have been so very supportive, thank you so much! I am sorry that this fic and "Distance" aren't getting updated as often as I would like…I am getting to be somewhat narcoleptic…I keep falling asleep whenever I say I'm going to update something.

Disclaimers: I don't own Kaiba or Yami, or anyone from YuGiOh. Nor do I own anyone from Persona. The only thing I can probably make a claim to is Naoya's creepiness, which just comes with his environment, I guess. Also, warnings for bizarre happenings in the beginning of this fic along with some violence later on.

Chapter 11-Goldfish

Toudo Naoya smiled and waved the old lady good-bye, his gold eyes mirthless as they watched his last patient for today's appointments walk out. He stood up and treaded over to look at the goldfish he caught during the summer festival, staring deeply at it, at how it swam in the small bowl that Reiji got for him, complete with a small treasure chest on the bottom.

Just as he was about to leave, the door clicked open and his housemate walked in, his gray eyes on Toudo's face, and then on the goldfish. "Naoya," the deep voice said, breaking the silence of the room. "Would you like to go have lunch together before you start your ER shift?" Smiling in response, Toudo opened the window and allowed the mid-day breeze to waft into the room, cooling off the end-of-summer humidity that stuck itself inside his small office. The comforting breeze allowed a few soft strands of Toudo's blue-black hair to take flight, uncovering his ears and sending a spectrum of light reflecting off his plain silver earring into the room. A small hand reached up to the earring and yanked it off, causing Reiji to wince even though he wasn't the one who had just torn the flesh off his left earlobe. Hard gray eyes watched as the bloodied hand dropped the earring and the small speck of flesh into the fish bowl. The fish, thinking food has come, immediately swam up and poked at the tissue with its puckering mouth.

"Reiji, did you know that goldfish have an attention span of about fifteen to thirty seconds? About the same length as a human's short term memory?" Naoya asked, leaning leisurely against the windowsill to look down at the fishbowl on his metal file cabinet. Reiji shook his head, not going to the boyish-looking man who had blood dripping from his one inflicted ear to his shoulder.

"No," Reiji answered, seeing that Naoya couldn't have seen him shake his head.

"Well, they do…" Naoya whispered, his finger tapping slightly at the fish bowl. The fish continued to nibble at the water-softened flesh dropped to it, surrounded by the dissipating blood. "But after thirty seconds, this fish will no longer eat the fish food I provide for it…nor will it eat the fish food a day afterwards, or the day after that, or the day after that…Because it would remember and love the taste of my blood and flesh." A small chuckle escaped the boyish lips as Naoya lifted his hand swiftly, knocking the fishbowl to the ground, letting it shatter and spill thin red liquid out along with its hapless inhabitant. "Such a hypocritical creature wishes so much for freedom…even though it knows it will suffer and die when it is released from the confines of the fishbowl." Golden eyes leveled with gray ones and Reiji shuddered at the sight of those eyes, of that strangely intoxicating smile. The two of them watched the flopping fish until it no longer struggled and gasped for air on the ground and lied still. Seeing that it was dead, Naoya walked around the mess he had made and slipped his small hand within Reiji's large, callused ones.

"Let's go get lunch," he whispered, leaning against Reiji as the taller man lead him out the office.

***

"Who was I when I said I loved you?" Yami repeated the strange question that was tossed at him out of the blue. Blue eyes stared intently at him, waiting for an answer. The former Pharaoh was at a loss; he couldn't remember a thing from his past life, not even his own name, how can he give an answer that will satisfy Seto right now?

"I love you…"

Heavy feet lifted off the tiled bathroom floor and carried Yami across, approaching Seto. As he crouched down and reached out to touch the brunet's face, however, Seto shrank back from the touch. Fear littered those brilliant cobalt eyes, the taste of the dream still too strong to shake off and the image of Yami's face sending terror down Seto's spine.

"Don't worry, Seto…" Yami whispered, his hands moving slowly in the distance between the two of them, "Don't be scared…" His fingertips made contact with Kaiba's cheeks and he cupped them, staring into those blue depths as his mind searched for an answer.

"You traitor! How could you?! How could you kill him!?" a livid voice screamed, carrying obscenities through the room.

"I put him out of his misery," Seth answered smoothly, his eyes unwavering as they looked into blood-red ones that glared heatedly back at him.

"YOU BASTARD!!"

"Bastard…" Yami whispered, his mind having not found the right answer but instead coming upon the wrong memory. In his daze, the anger that was pent up for three millennia grabbed the chance for release and traveled its way to Yami's fingertips. The Egyptian spirit allowed his fingers to slide down Seto's cheek and circle around the thin, delicate neck, applying pressure.

"Yami?" Seto whimpered, unsure of whether this was a joke or not, having seen the vision as well.

"You murderer! What happened to you, Seth? What happened to the nice, gentle Seth I knew?!" Yami shouted, advancing towards Seth.

"People change, dear Pharaoh…" Seth answered nonchalantly. Without another word, he turned and walked away, descending down the long hall until he couldn't be seen within the shadows.

"How could you…" Yami muttered, the hatred of his memories coming back afresh, causing his fingers to tighten more around that pale neck. Kaiba began to claw at his hands, at the ensnaring noose that cut off his air supply.

"Yami…" he groaned, trying to pull away but with no avail. His assailant was apparently in a trance, his eyes clouded over. Sucking in what little air he could, Kaiba shoved against Yami's chest, surprised at how the much shorter form could have so much power and dominance over him, and he shouted. "YAMI!"

The exclamation seemed to have done the trick, for Yami jolted, snapping out of his trance and he immediately released his grip on Kaiba's neck. The force of the shove wasn't that great, and yet Kaiba was still able to throw himself against the wall next to the toilet. The Pharaoh's victim leaned against the wall, one hand rubbing against the reddened neck, panting. Clear cobalt eyes glared up at Yami, the pupils still slightly dilated due to lack of oxygen, and he hissed even though it caused him to cough in his body's instinctual search for air. Horrified at his own actions, Yami stood up from where he was pushed and back up until he reached the door of the bathroom, his eyes never leaving Kaiba's until the other absolutely refused to look at him, turning away in fear and disgust. It was then that Yami realized that his hands were shaking tremulously, those hands that had nearly killed the youth sprawled before him. Raising his hands, he stared at them as they trembled, his fingers unable to clench. Without another word, he turned and bolted out the door, out of the Kaiba mansion, and out of Kaiba's memories thirty seconds later.

"Yami!" a voice called within Yami's mind.

"What?!" Yami shouted, not caring about the fact that people were staring at him as he ran down the streets, seemingly talking to himself.

"You're going to just leave him in there? Alone by himself!?" Yuugi's childish voice cried out, the look on his face a picture of horror.

"I can't do it, Aibou," Yami whispered, crouching down at the side of the road, sighing. "I can't take care of him when these things are happening. I mean, I just put my fingers around his neck and APPLIED PRESSURE! And I keep seeing weird visions when I'm with him. I see myself hating him and loving him at the same time I don't know which one it is anymore. All I know is that it's not healthy." He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, his mind a blur. "I can't go back there."

"But you have to…" Yuugi insisted.

"Give me one good reason," Yami challenged.

"You left your stuff there."

***

Kaiba shook his head, looking at the opened door to his bathroom. He couldn't seem to remember why his throat hurt so much, or why he was gasping for breath. There was a sour and bitter taste in his mouth, like bile. Scrunching his nose in disgust, he got up and brushed his teeth, not knowing why it felt as though he had vomited. Last he remembered, he was sitting in his office, in front of his laptop, working.

Work. It then hit Kaiba that he wasn't at the office, that he was at home. "I must have fallen asleep at the office and got brought back," he said to himself. Shrugging, he began to trek back to his bedroom, deciding that he should really get into the office now that he obviously overslept. There was an important meeting today at 9:30 that he had to attend, and he absolutely can't be late for it. Checking his watch for the time, his brows furrowed when the watch showed him that it was sometime in the afternoon, but on Sunday.

"Isn't today Wednesday?" he murmured, tapping at his watch. It didn't seem to be broken, and it was the newest solar-powered type of watch, so the batteries couldn't have been dying. Since the office wouldn't be open today, Kaiba then decided that perhaps he should go and work on some blueprints for new dueling machines that he had thought up a couple of months ago. It was a good thing it was still summer, he had time to work on them before school started; not that it mattered to him, though. He had applied for graduation last year and was granted the application, his credits for high school already filled up. He no longer had to go to the school and face those fools again. Those fools…what were their names again? Kaiba's mind suddenly drew a blank as he tried to remember the faces of that one posse that seemed to always bother him, and yet he couldn't even seem to form a name to a clear face. All of them seemed so blurry now.

"I guess I'm just tired," the brunet said to himself as he opened the door to his drawing room and sat down to sketch the blueprints.

***

Yami muttered under his breath as he stalked his way back to the Kaiba mansion. It was true that he left everything he took with him to the house: his clothes, his backpack, and most importantly, the homework that he had finally got around to doing. If he could help it, he wouldn't go back to that place, that place where his memories ran amok and mocked him. He snarled and turned a corner, bumping right into someone.

"Sorry," Yami muttered, backing up. When he saw who it was that he bumped into, his crimson eyes widened in surprise. "Maki?" he breathed. He had already been disturbed by Toudo this morning when he was dropping off Mokuba, and now came the woman whom he deemed was indeed nice, but was the deliverer of bad news. Her soft hand was holding Mokuba's, who was now staring up at Yami incredulously.

"Yami?" Mokuba asked. "What are you doing out here? Where's Nii-sama?"

"I…I left him in the house…" Yami answered with guilt, his finger pointing weakly in towards the Kaiba mansion's general direction.

"Alone? By himself?" Maki asked, sounding a bit upset.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry!" Yami shouted, almost hopping up and down in his frustration. "It's just that…weird things happen…whenever I'm around him." Maki studied Yami's face, her orange-brown eyes narrowing in consideration, as though she were searching through his mind. After a moment's deliberation, Maki leaned her head back and sighed. "Normally I would ask that you tell me what happened, but as of now I am quite worried about Kaiba-san's condition. It's best that we go back and check on him," Maki suggested. Mokuba nodded and squeezed her hand tighter than he did a minute ago, and reached out to grab Yami's as well, urging him to come along. Defeated, Yami followed the two of them.

Upon arriving at the large gates of the house, Yami immediately sensed that something was wrong. He felt his blood freeze over and he took a small step back from the door, his eyes widening.

"Yami?" Maki called out, "What's wrong?"

I have to go and see him…Ra knows what he's going to do…

Taking another step back, Yami had to balance himself from falling back on the steps towards the house. He felt his teeth chatter in fear, but there was something else tainted that fear…what was it? Frustration? Hatred? His hands shook as he heard the sound of the door clicking open, but it sounded distant, like he was locked in a small room without any of his senses and suddenly someone had given him back his hearing. When the door was opened, the emotions that kaleidoscopes through Yami's mind only grew stronger, a wave of uncertainty pulsing through him.

"I-I want him to remember…" Yami whispered. A pair of concerned eyes turned and looked at him, their owner smiling wistfully. "We all do," she said, "But we have to be patient."

"I don't know if I can be…" Yami murmured, his voice out of reach from anyone's ears as they entered the house. Mokuba immediately ran upstairs to look for Kaiba as Maki and Yami trailed not too far behind, afraid to lose the boy in this house as well as their way around. Yami looked down at his hands; they were still shaking from his anguish before. He had felt such intense hatred and yet he couldn't seem to find the root of it all; he wondered why exactly he couldn't pinpoint the reasoning to the sudden change in emotions towards the young CEO-one minute he was lusting after him, and then when those strange visions came rushing at his mind, he had wanted to kill Seto so badly. It felt like everything he was doing was so futile, that Seto wasn't going to remember a thing anyway, and a small part of him just wanted to end it all; end the frustration that he felt towards the dwindling mind of what was Kaiba Seto. The man had been so intelligent and self-sufficient, but now he can't even remember when was the last time he ate so that he can go on to eating his next meal.

Put him out of his misery…

The sound of that voice came so suddenly, it made Yami gasp and look around. Someone had spoken to him, and it sounded like the sort of speech that can only happen within a telepathic link he shared with Yuugi, but he was sure Yuugi wouldn't say such a thing. Besides, the voice sounded too cold and too silky, too seductive to belong to his innocent light. Gears ground within Yami's mind as he tried to match a face up with that voice, he had heard it before.

Suddenly, Maki stopped in front of him, her hand grabbing Mokuba's to stop him from walking any further, and Yami, lost in his thoughts, bumped into her. She glanced at Yami, who bowed lightly in apology, and then turned her head to Mokuba. "He's in here," she said, motioning towards the door she stopped in front of.

"How would you know?" Yami asked, his eyes narrowing. For a second, the kind aura around her pulsated, giving off a feeling of warm and yet uncertainty at the same time. Maki smiled and the warmth intensified, just like the first time Yami met her. "I am a psychotherapist," she stated, "And therefore I am psychic."

"That's not very plausible," Yami muttered, his hand going to the knob anyway. It wasn't going to help the situation get any better if they searched through all the rooms of the house, so they might as well try out Maki's suggestion. Upon opening the door, Yami felt a salty breeze wash over his body, the heat of an Egyptian day pulsing through his body as he smelled sand and papyrus. He closed his eyes and inhaled, the light of the sun that shot through the windows tickling his cheeks.

"Yami?" a voice, not at all unfamiliar, called out to him. Yami opened his eyes to see Seth sitting there, in his priest's garb, a large scroll opened over his lap, and several more at his feet. The sun colored his otherwise pale skin, making it look not as pallid as it usually was. Blinking, Yami shook his head of this vision by reflex, hoping that when he opened them again, the vision of his priest and that scroll room would still be there, but instead he found himself inside the Kaiba mansion's drawing room, with Kaiba, not Seth, sitting about a few yards away from him on a drawing bench in front of a drawing board. Several crumpled up pieces of paper lied at the bottom of his bench, and Kaiba's hand was still scribbling on the large drawing board despite the fact that he was looking at Yami. "What are you doing here?" Kaiba asked, his hand still working at the pencil, the sound of the lead scratching against paper the only sound in the room as Yami searched for an answer. His mind was a blank after seeing that ephemeral vision, that dream that he wished were true.

"I…"　　Just as he was about to answer, Kaiba dropped the pencil in his hand and gripped the top edge of the drawing board and leaned against it, groaning. Fearing the worst, Yami approached Kaiba and gripped his shoulders. Upon contact, Yami heard the one thing he hated hearing from the CEO's lips during his stay with him.

That gulping, hiccupping sound.

Maki, hearing it as well, came forward and pulled Kaiba back by his shoulders to prevent him from banging his head against the drawing board as his body jolted. Just like before, those blue eyes rolled back in their sockets and Kaiba made a choking sound as he gulped, his head thrown back like a wild animal. Maki held onto his arms as Yami helped grip his shoulders, Mokuba watching helplessly at the edge of the door as his brother was lost in that whirlpool of uncertainty, not sure where the "safety net" was. Eventually, Kaiba proved to be too strong for Maki's hold and he grabbed the finished blueprint on the drawing board, tearing it off and throwing it onto the floor with a wild roar. With that final outburst, he stopped and his eyes rolled back into place, looking as though what happened did not take place at all. He sighed and leaned against the drawing board, Yami's hands releasing him when the convulsions stopped. Immediately he picked up the pencil again and plotted to get back to work on designing the same machine he did for the past hour, for the fifth time.

"Out," Yami breathed, watching Kaiba as the man scribbled away, oblivious to anyone else in the room. "I have to talk to him."

"Yami…" Maki whispered, her tone apprehensive.

"Please," Yami urged. "I want to talk to him myself."

"I'll be outside, then," Maki approved. She then walked over to Mokuba and took his hand, leading him out the door. She left a crack in the door so that she may watch the two of them. The emotions she saw swimming within Yami's eyes troubled her, and she hoped that he wouldn't act out of impulse.

Her hopes were to be crushed in less than fifteen minutes.

"Stop it," Yami ordered, grabbing the pencil out of Kaiba's hand. The brunet glared at him and reached for the pencil, but Yami back up, holding it out of reach. The glare shot his way intensified as Yami did this, and Kaiba stepped off his bench, going over to Yami.

"Give it back," Kaiba ordered, "I have to work."

"No you don't," Yami growled, at the end of his rope. His frustration found its way to his hand and he snapped the pencil in half, snarling as the wood bit into his skin, sticking splinters into his flesh. "You are in no condition to work anymore."

Kaiba looked testy, and he crossed his arms. "Oh? Why?"

Yami had anticipated the defiant Seto to counter him like this, but he had to do this, even if it were to be the hard way, if he could only make him see, make him remember. With his resolve in mind, Yami leaned down and picked up the crumpled pieces of paper, opening each of them up to show the exact same sketches.

"Because this is all you can do now," Yami said, his voice no heavier than a breath even though the gravity of his words weighed down in the air, as thick as the blood that squeezed itself out from the small cuts on his hands. "All you can do is be stuck in that thirty-second timeframe."

"What are you saying?" The tone that spoke those words was trying, but there was a tinge of insecurity in it. The sketches all looked identical, there were no changes made to any despite the fact that they were all crumpled up. Normally, if Kaiba had been designing machines, he would at the very least make some notes on the sketches or some sort of changes, even if they were to be thrown away. There was nothing like that on these sketches, they all looked like a carbon copy of each other.

"I'm saying that you can't remember a thing after thirty seconds!" Yami shouted, throwing the pieces of paper down onto the ground, letting them flutter and land around him. His red eyes burned with fury and aggravation, his teeth clenching as he advanced towards Kaiba. "You've been like this for the past half a month! Look at you! Why are you doing these things!? You're just hurting yourself!" He knew he was out of line, that the situation couldn't be helped when Kaiba can't remember a thing to make the matters a bit better, but he just couldn't take it anymore. He wanted Kaiba to remember, to know that he harbored something for him. Whatever emotions the two of them managed to build up was forgotten within minutes, and Yami was tired of having to construct such delicate plots again. He didn't want Kaiba to keep doing things that will harm his mind, but nothing short of strapping Kaiba in a straightjacket can prevent him from doing these things. "Look at these! They're all the same because you can't think of anything new because you can't remember what you've already done!"

"What exactly are you getting at, Yami? Are you insulting my intelligence?" Kaiba whispered, his eyes narrowing.

"No! I'm saying that you're like a goldfish because your hippocampus got ripped out!" Yami screamed. He then clamped his hand over his mouth as those blue eyes widened in shock. He had wanted to get it across to the other youth that he was no longer in the condition to do work, but to call him a goldfish…to call someone who was as intelligent as Kaiba a "goldfish," and to reveal to him that his very way of life has been changed in such a way that he can't even remember long enough to understand his own condition…it was harsh.

Jaw slack, Kaiba's lips moved slightly, but no words came out. Then, he nodded, his fingers twitching at his sides. "Is that so?" Kaiba whispered. Hot tears ran down his face, but he wasn't sobbing. "Is that the case?"

"Seto, I…" Yami wanted to apologize. He had let his own selfish emotions get the best of himself again. He cursed himself silently and wondered where his royal and calm resolve went every time he was faced with his former High Priest. A hand shot up, silencing him, and Kaiba widened the distance between the two of them, going to the art supplies he kept in a desk. Opening a drawer, Kaiba's pale hand produced a sharp letter-opener, and he raised it with a shaky hand, pointed end towards him.

"A goldfish, am I?" he asked, his voice fluctuating between huffs and actual words. "Well, let's see about that…let's see if I can remember this pain…just like how a goldfish can remember the taste of flesh and blood!!" Spitting those words out, Kaiba plunged the letter opener into his upper arm, letting it rip through his skin and his flesh, but not yet releasing blood. Only when he pulled it out did the blood begin to spill over, staining his shirt and the floor. Yami stared at Kaiba, his mind blank until he saw the young businessman raise the already bloodied weapon for another round.

"Seto!" he shouted, running towards Kaiba and grabbing those wrists. Captured, Kaiba screamed and began to struggle, his pent up frustration bursting out like the blood that was now staining both of them. He snarled like a wounded beast and bit Yami's arm, but the Pharaoh didn't release him. Maki, hearing the commotion, ordered Mokuba to stay in the hall and ran inside. She immediately grabbed Kaiba's waist, pulling him away from Yami before he tore flesh. Infuriated, Seto spun around to punch her, but she held a hand up to his forehead and Yami could have sworn he saw blue light emit from her palm.

"You can't do this, understand?" she whispered. As though struck by a spell, Kaiba groaned and fell against Maki, his body slack, in a deep slumber. Sighing, Maki set the boy down and grabbed a piece of cloth that was used for cleaning palette knives. It was dirty, but better than nothing, and she wrapped that around Kaiba's arm. When she finished her makeshift first aid, she turned her head and glared at Yami, her eyes flaring up in anger. "What were you thinking?!" she shouted. Then she reconsidered her words and shook her head. "No, excuse me, you WEREN'T thinking!" Yami felt like a child being reprimanded by an elder in this situation, and in truth, he felt just as bad, if not worse. "What possessed you to do that?!"

"I-I'm sorry," Yami whispered, lowering his head. Maki shook her head again and looked at Kaiba, who was considerably paler due to the loss of blood. His wound wasn't clotting up well enough, and she picked him up with amazing strength that she didn't exhibit moments ago. "Let's go," she said to Yami.

"Where?" Yami asked, getting up on his feet as well.

"The hospital," Maki answered, opening the door to pat Mokuba's head with a reassuring hand. "We have to get him to Naoya. He can help patch him up and do some brain scans to see if he's more damaged…by the way he cried, it seems that something inside him remembers."

***

At the hospital, Maki had managed to borrow a stretcher from the emergency personnel, and Yami helped wheel the stretcher up to Toudo's office, which was on the third floor of the hospital. It was quite amazing how a small woman like Maki could carry Seto around with one arm, having slung him over her shoulder, when she couldn't even hold his arms back when he was going into convulsions. But right now he couldn't worry about Maki's strength or how she was able to put Kaiba to sleep like some beast tamer. He had to worry about Kaiba's condition.

"Naoya?" Maki called, stopping at a door. She knocked softly and listened for an answer. "Funny, he's usually in here when he's on break…" Shrugging, she opened the door to the office. Naoya was inside, all right, but his eyes were intent on a chess board set in front of him. It would appear that he was playing by himself, but the look on his face was so grave it looked like he was staking his life on the game. Hearing the sound of the stretcher being wheeled in, he looked up and smiled. "What seems to be the problem?" Naoya inquired, his hands putting the chess board onto a small table next to his desk but making no motion to return the pieces to their original positions, making sure that they stayed in-game. Maki gestured to Kaiba and Naoya nodded, smiling.

"I see…" Naoya said, going over to the stretcher. Yami looked around the office and noticed that the place looked more like a school's infirmary than a doctor's office in a big hospital. There were three infirmary beds off to the side, and a desk was set by the window. Next to the desk, there was a small tree with maroon leaves inside a pot, and the chess board set on a play table.

"Strange office," Yami noted, his head turning this way and that. Naoya smiled again as he lifted Kaiba and set the sleeping form onto one of the beds. "I rather like it," Naoya said, "Reminds me of my high school days." He stood up and walked over to his supply cabinet, pulling out a metal dish and some cotton, gauze, tweezers, a plastic pouch with something in there, as well as a bottle of alcohol.

"I'll need you to leave," Naoya said, sitting back down next to Kaiba. "All of you. I'll call you when he's awake." Maki nodded and walked to the door, giving both Yami and Mokuba's shoulders a little push. Yami turned his head and looked for one last time as Naoya sat down next to Kaiba, then the door was shut.

Naoya studied the wound that Maki had wrapped up with the cloth, noting how dirty it was and how he would have to clean it off more than he expected. Sighing, he pulled the cloth off and took a pair of scissors to the stained sleeve, cutting it open. The wound was deep, but it didn't look like it had severed any nerves, and Naoya immediately got to work, opening the small plastic pouch to take out a needle to stitch up the hole that Kaiba had punctured himself with. "Cutting yourself like this…" he murmured, stitching the wound up. "Is it really that bad? Maybe it'd be better for you if you didn't remember at all…" His eyes narrowed as his hand made a loop in the skin. The tall figure on the bed groaned and blinked his eyes open and looked at Naoya. His eyes widened as soon as he saw what was being done to him.

"I thought you were supposed to keep me under when you do this!" he shouted, his body moving away by instinct. The thread pulled at his loose skin and flesh, tugging at them in pain in its unfinished state and Kaiba had to stay still, hissing. "I had put some local anesthetics," Naoya replied nonchalantly, the edge of his lips quirking up just a bit. Finishing his work, he placed fresh gauze around the wound and went to his desk to retrieve a clipboard.

"Why am I here?" Seto questioned, looking around at the office. He didn't remember it being a school day, neither did he recall that the infirmary at school looked so…dark. The feeling the whole place gave off was a bit strange, like there was something lurking in the shadows.

"You cut yourself in art class," Toudo answered, writing something down onto his clipboard. "No big deal, but I still have to do some checkups on you." With that, he pulled the stethoscope around his neck up to his ears and placed it on Kaiba's chest. "Breathe in."

Confused at why a cut would result to a checkup, Kaiba furrowed his brows and did as he was told. He was then ordered to breathe out, which he did with a huge heave of breath. Naoya nodded and set down his clipboard, his hands then going to his ears to remove the stethoscope, placing it back around his neck. He then clasped his hands on his lap and smiled, leaning in to study Kaiba's face. "Funny," he chuckled.

"What?" Kaiba asked, annoyed.

"You don't have a heart…" whispered the boyish doctor. He raised his middle and index finger, pointing it at Kaiba's chest where the heart is, and placed them softly over the thumping beneath the skin. "That can go thump-a-thump-thump." He removed his fingers and let his hand hover over Kaiba's chest, his smile growing as his eyes glimmered in the afternoon sun. Narrowing his eyes, Kaiba shifted back in his position. The action struck Toudo as humorous, and he laughed, his hand going up to his chin as he rubbed it in consideration.

"Go to sleep now, when I come back in with your friends, you'll be awake," Naoya said. His voice wasn't a suggestion, it sounded more like an order, and Kaiba found his eyelids growing heavier despite himself. He slumped forward and Naoya settled him onto the bed, pulling the blankets over the younger boy.

"Maybe it's best if you forget. Then you won't be so tormented by those memories…but…" Naoya sighed and placed his thumb over Seto's forehead, running it down to the point between his eyebrows. "The line between your subconscious and your consciousness shouldn't be so blurred. If you persist, then I will help you." He sat back and watched the sleeping face for another few minutes before standing up to go to the door. Upon opening it, he saw Yami and Mokuba sitting on the waiting benches across the hall from his office door.

"Maki went to work," Yami explained, seeing that Naoya seemed to be searching for Maki. The doctor nodded and motioned the two into the room.

Yami entered the room just in time to see Kaiba sit up, shaking his head slightly. He always did that when he woke up due to a bit of anemia, his first waking minutes always a bit tipsy and incoherent. He walked over to the bedside quickly, in wide strides, wanting to apologize for what Kaiba had done; it was really his fault. It wasn't like Kaiba would remember, but at least he would make up some story so that he can apologize and get the guilt off his chest. Maybe something like an accident in gym class when they were practicing fencing would work…

"Seto," Yami said, sitting down next to Kaiba. Kaiba lifted his head and studied Yami's face with a blank look, and Yami decided to give him a few more minutes to clear his head of the anemia. Mokuba hopped onto the chair that was opposite of Yami's, on the other side of the bed, and Naoya watched them from a corner of the room, his arms crossed in front of his chest. When Kaiba continued to stare at Yami with that same blank stare after the allotted time, the once Pharaoh placed a soft hand over the CEO's shoulder, his head lowering to look Seto in those blue eyes he was always so intrigued by.

Those blue eyes blinked once, twice, before focusing on Yami's face and the voice spoke.

"Who are you?"

To be continued…

Wait…what just happened? I thought that Naoya was only supposed to be here for medical reasons but now that people think he's creepy and suspicious I couldn't help but turn him into something like a…mystical character. Yeah. But he's still not my own character, he belongs to Atlus.

But seriously, I didn't even see this one coming. Plot bunny from under my bed shot up and bit me in the head or something… Sorry that this one came so late, but I kept falling asleep and this one time I read a hilariously funny fic that turned me stupid for one night.