Atemu Fanfiction

Title: False Accusation
Author: Shadowesque13
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Mystery/Horror
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is © Kazuki Takahashi. Any books, movies, television shows, etc. mentioned belong to their respective owners.

In the darkened Kaiba mansion, a singular figure stood in the moonlight of an unlit room. Seto Kaiba was merely on his way to his bedroom, when suddenly, his head snapped up, a look of anguish on his face, only moments before he fell onto the carpeted floor with a heavy thud. Lying in a sliver of moonlight was a cold, unmoving body.

It was in every major and local paper across the globe. All news channels covered it, and there wasn’t a person on the street that was talking about anything else. Seto Kaiba, CEO of one of the biggest gaming and technology companies known to man, and one of the greatest Duel Monsters players ever, had inexplicably expired the night before. Who else but his own little brother was the first to discover him. A few nearby people claimed they heard Mokuba scream.

The police soon came to investigate the “crime”, though there seemed to be nothing to investigate. No matter how many times the men in blue combed the area, nothing came up to catch their eyes. The doctors and morticians were baffled. What they saw before them was a normal, healthy, Human being. In all likelihood, he should be standing in front of them, giving his cold glare, and ordering them out. But the body remained motionless. They had done every test, searched for every virus, poison, and bacteria known, but to no avail. The next day it was declared that he died of natural, yet unexplainable, causes.

Yugi Mutou sighed as he refolded the paper and laid it on his desk. It doesn’t make sense, he thought to himself. Kaiba, I only saw him about 2 weeks ago, and he seemed just fine. His eyes scanned the visible part of the article again. Something just doesn’t add up…

There was a knock at the door, and his grandfather poked his head in. “Yugi, is everything all right?”
Yugi laughed. “Not really, grandpa.”
“Right, stupid question. But you haven’t even come down for breakfast yet, so I just wanted to make sure.”
“You’re right,” said Yugi, walking to the door, “I shouldn’t have said that. I know you’re just worried.”
The two started their way downstairs. “It just…I don’t understand how Kaiba could just fall over dead like that, no rhyme or reason. The best doctors in the world-”
“Did everything they could. They just can’t find the answer,” supplied his grandfather. “There are plenty of unsolved cases like that in the world, Yugi. Honestly, I think you should stop worrying so much about it.”

There was silence as they sat at the kitchen table and began to eat. The game shop didn’t open until noon on Sundays, but Joey or Téa would probably stop by before then, so the front door was left unlocked.
“You’re going to the funeral, aren’t you?”
Yugi nodded sadly. “Yeah, on Wednesday. There’s only a half-day of school because of all the people attending. Though I doubt any of them are really going out of respect.” He said the last sentence with a hint of disgust. His grandfather looked up at him.
“I can’t say I blame them.” He sipped his coffee. “Kaiba never was the friendly type.”
“I know, but I still consider him-” He quickly corrected himself. “Considered him a friend, even if he didn’t feel the same way.” Yugi sighed again and ate his breakfast in silence.

“Hey, Yug!” came the Bronx-like drawl of Joseph Wheeler. “You home?”
“In the back, Joey!” Yugi called as he put his dirty dishes away. “Good to see you,” he said, turning when Joey entered. “You seem surprisingly chipper.”
“And you seem surprisingly gloomy,” shot back the boy with messy blonde hair.
“Well,” interrupted Yugi’s grandfather as he stood, “I have some displays to put up before opening, so I’ll leave you two to chat. Oh, Yugi, if you go out, be sure to be back by closing.”
Yugi nodded, and the door closed. “So, what’s the gang got planned for today?” asked Yugi, trying to sound less depressed.
“I dunno, I was thinking we’d hang out at the arcade all day or…something…”
“Arcade sounds good to me. I didn’t think you had any more money to blow,” he added with a smirk.
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Joey asked, scowling as Yugi laughed.
“That you’re an idiot who can’t spend his money wisely?” Tristan and Téa stood in the doorway now. The snarky comment had come from the boy who had a wide grin on his face.

“Oh, very funny, Tristan. You had everyone rolling in the aisles with that one.”
Téa rolled her eyes. “So, are we going to the arcade.”
“I suppose.”
Joey pointed a finger towards Yugi. “I swear the guy’s depressed.”
“I’m not depressed!” he countered. “Don’t you think Kaiba’s death is suspicious?”
“Anything,” began Téa, “with that guy was suspicious.”
“What, don’t tell me you’re sorry ol’ blue eyes passed away!” exclaimed Joey incredulously. “Mr. Moneybags, what a jerk.”
“Hey, man, have a little respect for the dead!” Tristan said, whapping Joey lightly upside the head.
“Ow, okay, geez, but it’s hard to respect a guy who insulted your intelligence every chance he could!”
“Could we please just not talk about it? I get enough about him in the news.” Téa spun on her heel and trotted to the front door. “See ya later, Mr. Mutou!”
The others soon followed her with similar remarks.
“See you kids later! Now, where did I put that Dark Magician figurine…?"

The arcade, located downtown from the shop, was far busier than normal. Kids buzzed about, telling tales of one of the greatest Duel Monsters duelists of all time. Cards were thrown about on tables, and any game having to do with the monsters had long lines and many spectators.
“So much for that,” slyly smirked Joey, “eh, Téa?”
Her voice lowered. “Shut up, Joey.” She then proceeded to the back to the DDR platforms where two people were already facing off in a duel of feet.
“Yeesh, one lousy comment…” muttered Joey as he overheard a pre-teen reciting an obviously exaggerated story to younger boys.
“And then, his mighty three-headed dragon flew into the air!” He made large gestures as the children ‘oooh’-ed and ‘aaaah’-ed. “With one beat of it’s shiny wings, it blew Yugi’s little Kuriboh away!”
“But-” said Joey, walking up behind him.
“…He’s…gonna make a fool of himself again, isn’t he?” asked Yugi rhetorically.
“Yeeep,” was Tristan’s reply. “So I’ll just be over here at the Whack-A-Mole machine.”

“—let’s not forget that Yugi had played the card Multiply, so the Kuriboh kept on comin’, makin’ Kaiba’s dragon’s attack useless,” Joey continued.
The kids looked at him with suspicion. “Who’s this guy?” asked one.
“I’m Joey Wheeler!”
“No way!” squealed a teen girl nearby. “Really? Oh my god, you’re so awesome!”
“Yes,” he said, striking a pose, “yes I am.”
“Hey, he’s the one who came in 2nd in Duelist Kingdom!” yelled the 11-year-old storyteller. “And 4th in Battle City!”
“Oh, tell us some stories!”
“Can I see your deck?”
“Did you really duel Yugi?”
“Sounds like Joey’s ego just hit the roof,” Tristan said, missing a mole.
“And that he’s got some new fans.”
“I feel sorry for ‘em.”
Joey swelled with pride. “That’s right, but Yugi’s my best friend, too.”
“How’d ya know about what happens in the duel?”
“Easy, I was there! You know, I dueled Kaiba in the Battle City finals.”
“Really? No way, wow!”
“So, he cleaned the floor with you, right?” asked the teen.
Joey facefaulted. “Er…yeah…”

“Since he’s the 3rd best duelist ever, I doubt anyone would think you could beat him,” she added.
“Uh…guess you’re right… But that underhanded sleaze ball-”
The kids cheered. “Yeah, he, Yugi, and Pegasus rule!”
“Well, I guess I’m 3rd best now!” said Joey with a look of triumph on his face.
“…Oh, yeah, he’s right…” one boy sighed. “So, Kyle, what happened next?”
Kyle the exaggerator continued, ignoring Joey.
“Here comes Joey,” announced Yugi.
“He can’t keep what’s in his head away from his mouth…”
Joey slunk up to them. “Eh, kids…”
“Don’t worry, in a year, they’ll probably be cheering for you.”
“The guy’s dead, I don’t get it!”
“It’s like a famous painter,” explained Tristan. “Nobody likes his work until he’s dead.”
“Oh joy, what a lovely thought. C’mon, I’ve got enough money for a few of us to race.”
“I’m game!”

Yugi headed toward the rear. “I’ll check on Téa.”
The other two shrugged and nodded, then proceeded to act like morons rushing to the first racing game and tossing insults back and fourth, scaring a few teen guys by the prize grabber.
Téa was beginning to drip with sweat as her feet moved with a quick grace, stepping on the lit panels. Her opponent was good, but was obviously a rookie. The music ended and the loser walked off dejectedly.
“Who wants to try me next?” cried Téa with a wink.
“Man, she’s good!” one spectator whispered to another.
“Téa, having fun yet?” Yugi asked.
“Yugi! Tell these punks to throw some real competition at me!”
“I think you’re scaring all the competition away with that attitude.” He pushed through some of the others to get closer. “So, you gonna do this all day?”
She sat on the edge of her platform. “Well,” she gasped, “a ballerina has to be used to vigorous dancing.”
“Good point. Joey gained and lost some fans in the span of about 5 minutes, now he’s racing Tristan. Wanna join?”
She scoffed. “Hardly a record for him.” She thought for a moment. “Nah, I’ll just dance some more. Wanna try it?”
He backed away, a bit embarrassed. “I’d just trip on my own feet. I’ll just waste my money on a shooter or something where I won’t have to see my face go red…or my knees for that matter.”
“Suit yourself. Okay,” she announced to the crowd once more. “Who’s next? C’mon, I’m getting bored up here!”

Yugi laughed as he heard nobody answer the challenge. Maybe this day would be just what he needed before Wednesday, a good day full of fun. He was about to see two girls begin a duel when he passed by the large windows and glass door of the building. Looking out of it, one could see the towering, colossal Kaiba Corp. building. He briefly wondered what would happen to the company, then to Mokuba, before shaking his head to tear his gaze away and focus on the amateur moves of the women.
By noon, almost all money had been spent on an assortment of video games, prize grabbers, bets, and other classic arcade furnishings. Yugi, only really watching and playing some duels (and trying not to be mobbed when word got out who he was), had the most money left over, so he volunteered to buy pizza at the nearby pizza place.
“Dude, I’m telling you, I won!”
Joey gawked. “Excuse me? You gotta be kiddin’ me!” He turned to Yugi who carried the large box of steaming pizza (with the works) and said, “Yug, tell Tristan here who won the last bet!”
“I think,” panted Téa, still catching her breath from dancing, “that neither of you finished the race, so technically, neither of you won.”
“So…what are ya givin’ me here…?”
“I’m saying that either you don’t do the bet at all, null and void, or…you both technically lost, and should both do your ends of the bets.”

The two tall guys looked at each other. “Uh…”
Yugi sat down. “Dow we even want to know what you bet each other…?”
“…Probably not.” Joey opened the pizza box. “So let’s just forget about it and EAT!”
“Hunger City, right here, man,” added Tristan as his stomach gave an almost rehearsed grumble.
“I’ll get us some drinks,” Téa said.
“So…got enough for another pizza, Yugi?” Joey asked, scarffing down another slice.
“Hey! You had better save some for the rest of us!”
“Uh…aw, Yug, do I have to…?”
Yugi’s stare answered his joke. “Anyway, I guess we should decide what to do next.”
“I vote,” said Téa, hopping back into her seat and passing out cans of Pepsi, “that we go window shopping in the mall!” She received blank stares form the 3 boys. “Uh…”
“Téa …I’ll try to put this gently and simply. We’re male. You’re the only female in our group. We don’t do window shopping and hanging out at malls.”
“No, of course not, you’d rather beat each others brains out.”
“Ex-actly!” came the choir of Joey and Tristan.

Téa facepalmed while Yugi rolled his eyes. “What they mean to say is, no to the window shopping.”
Téa folded her arms. “Fine. Make fun of me if you must.” She yawned. “Maybe I’ll go home and take a nap, regain some energy.”
“It’ll take more than a nap to get you up to speed with Trist and me!” said Joey, giving Tristan a random noogie.
Yugi decided to play leader, as he usually ended up doing anyway. “Let’s just hang out at Téa’s for a while, watch some movies or something. Play some cards. Be back home by supper.”
The gang nodded, thinking this to be a good idea, so that’s what they did. Téa’s place went from clean and tidy to a mother’s worst nightmare as popcorn flew during movies and general carrying on was done. A few games of Duel Monsters were played, and before they knew it, it was 4:30.
“Well, we’d better be heading home.” Yugi grabbed his deck and headed for the door. “Téa, you gonna come with us?”
She grinned. “Sure.”
They walked in general silence. The city, normally very busy and full of life seemed eerily calm and quiet. On the way to Tristan’s, Yugi stopped at a corner and thought for a moment.
“Eh? What’s up?” asked Téa.

“I just…something…I dunno, it was just a feeling. Hey, let’s go this way, see if we can see anything at the Kaiba mansion. There’s a good route to Tristan’s from back there anyway.”
“Yugi…I don’t think-”
“Can we throw rocks at it?” joked Joey. After the other three started giving him a speech about respecting others and the dead, Joey shrugged it off and apologized half-heartedly, which was good enough for them.
“I was just kiddin’ anyway…”
The small gang walked along a street that became less and less dense with houses until a wall with a large gate was there. It was almost Victorian in structure, but it was obvious that someone had done work on it to make it look more modern.
The windows looked black from where they stood. No noise but the rustling of leaves in the chilly wind was heard. It was, so to speak, quiet as a graveyard.
“Guys, this is creepy. Can we go?” Téa started back down the street, hoping to get the others to come.
“Seriously, Yugi, what do you expect to see?” Tristan scratched his head. “I mean, you know the police found nothing, and it’s not like we can get in anyway.”
The shortest of the four shrugged. “I really don’t know. I’m telling you, something’s weird about this whole thing.”

“Yeah, that Kaiba died for no reason, we get it.”
They all soon ended up at Tristan’s house and decided to try and not speak of the recent death—crime, murder, passing away, whatever anyone wanted to call it. Once they delivered Joey safely home, Téa said her good-byes and backtracked home.
From the street corner where he currently stood, a small bit of the mansion could still be seen. Yugi stared before running across the street and into the game shop where his grandfather was just about to lock up.
“Close one, eh, Yugi?”
“Er, sorry, grandpa.”
“You wouldn’t believe some of the business I’ve been getting.” He changed the subject.
“Finished your homework?”
“Yes, I did that Friday, grandpa…”
“Good. Then let’s get supper ready.”
The rest of the night was quiet, nothing happening. Yugi just couldn’t get to sleep, however. Sitting up on the edge of his bed, he contacted Yami, the ancient, powerful spirit locked away inside the Millennium Puzzle. He seemed awfully quiet as of late.

“Yami?”
A silhouette of his past life appeared next to him. “Yes? What is it, Yugi?”
“…I’m…”
Being connected in spirit, Yugi didn’t really have to say anything for Yami to understand. He nodded. “Mixed feelings. Scared because nobody knows how it happened. If it was murder, you wonder if they’ll come after you next.”
Yugi nodded slowly as Yami continued to list.
“Sad that someone you thought you were getting through to is gone. That nobody seems to care at all.”
Another nod.
“And angry for the same reason.”
“Yami, how do you feel about all of this?” Yugi blurted out. “What do you think happened?”
“I know not what happened, but it may not be good…” He stared out the window. “As for your first question, I feel the same as you. Like I lost a good, faithful friend. Actually, it seems more so. Which isn’t so hard to imagine, since we both had Egyptian pasts, we may have been like best friends for all we know.”
He heaved a sigh and smirked a little, looking back to Yugi. “I think it’s best not to dwell on such thoughts and get some rest. Don’t want to fall asleep during class.”
“Like Joey always does?”
“Indeed. Goodnight.” The spirit vanished from sight, most likely retiring to his own mysterious Soul Room. Yugi still was restless, but pulled the sheets up to his chin and closed his eyes anyway.

After a rather bad night full of hardly any sleep, Yugi awoke and soon went to school, where, of course, everyone was talking about the event of the weekend.
All day, he could hardly concentrate from thoughts like, I wonder how Mokuba is taking all of this. The police couldn’t have missed anything, they searched the place over. Once the school day ended and Yugi was on his way home, the spirit decided to have a chat with him.
“You’re starting to worry me, Yugi,” he said, translucent image walking beside him. “I know you’re starting to plan something. Please, tell me what it is.”
Yugi shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just keep thinking that there must have been something missed or overlooked.” He shook his head.
“But maybe that’s just my imagination. I should focus more on my schoolwork and the funeral in a few days.”
Yami nodded. “Do you know who’ll be speaking?”
“From the rumors I’ve heard, I don’t think anyone will.” He opened the door to the game shop and gave a wave to his grandfather before heading upstairs to his room.
“I haven’t heard a thing about Mokuba, and nobody’s asked me to. Maybe he said something about a quiet funeral in his will?” He shrugged again and tossed his backpack onto his bed.

“Perhaps. Just make sure you don’t do anything drastic,” Yami added pointedly.
“Wanna help me with my math homework?” laughed Yugi.
“I may be a 5,000 year old Egyptian spirit, but math was never quite my stronger point either. Plus, that’d be cheating anyway.”
Yugi groaned as he pulled out multiple schoolbooks. Yami did give him a few hints to help him along, however, so he was done by suppertime. Joey had come over for some food, and Yugi discussed his fear with him. “Hey, Joey, are you going?”
“What? Me?” he answered incredulously. “Yug, you know how I feel ‘bout that guy. I’d spit on his grave if I didn’t fear Téa ripping my head off about it.”
“Joey! What a horrible thing to say, surely you didn’t hate him that much.” Yugi rolled his eyes. “He may not have respected you, since your dueling skills really aren’t very comparable with his-” Joey twitched. “—but he was a very respectable man.”
“Riiiight, just as ‘respectable’ as Pegasus, eh?”
Yugi sighed in defeat. “Fine, whatever, don’t come. I think Téa is.”
“I’ll probably be at the movies or something.”
“If you can find some money.”
“Hey, how was I to know Tristan would want so many rematches?”

Joey soon left, and Yugi locked himself in his room to muse and brood. Maybe everyone was right, maybe he was making too big a deal about this. He’d try to put it out of his mind until Wednesday afternoon.