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.

Yugi closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying not to let the contented feeling slip away and let the sorrowful feeling wash over him. But it was no use, he knew that he wanted to look at the evidence again, and something told him that no matter how many times he examined them, they answer would always point directly at Mokuba. The smile on his face faded as he opened his eyes again.
“Yugi, you really don’t have to deal with this anymore tonight.” Yami stood in front of him, a worried look noticeable in his velvety purple eyes.
Yugi sat up. “No, I want to.” He hopped off of the bed and wandered back over to his desk and turned on the lamp. “Well, it’s not that I want to per se, but…”
“Yeah.”
“I just feel that I need to do it. Right now. I don’t think there’s a good reason to wait, anyway.” The drawer slid open slowly. “If we figure this all out, then we’ll have found our killer. Even if it is someone we know…we still have a legal and moral responsibility to turn him in so that nothing like this could ever happen again.”
The bag was pulled out and dropped on the desktop surface. Before he forgot, he went over to the door, looked around to see if perhaps his loving grandfather was on his way over, but nothing and nobody could be seen directly from out of his door. So it shut quietly and he stood by Yami, looking at the bag.
“Tell me,” he said suddenly. “Is there any good in the world anymore?”
Yami was puzzled by this odd question. It caught him off guard, but Yugi didn’t explain, so he was probably expecting some form of an answer.
Thinking it over, Yami replied, “Of course there is. You, for example. Téa, Bakura, grandpa, all good people. All of your friends. Sure, we all have the stray thought every once in a while, but none of us would ever actually resort to killing another human being. And if we’re good, then there must be millions of others.”

“Do you consider yourself to be good, Yami?”
“I suppose so. Why?”
Yugi gave a half-hearted shrug. “What if we’re all evil and corrupt inside, just waiting for it to escape? That we all have a side of us who would do these kinds of things without remorse?” He blinked back a tear or two that seemed to be trying to escape.
Yami gave the boy a once over. His eyes were blank and staring, as if he was in deep concentration and not fully aware of all that was going on around him. His arms lay limply at his sides but he stood ramrod straight, head giving a slight tilt to the right. Yami left his eyes on Yugi, looking for some kind of different reaction.
“I wouldn’t know. But I think these kinds of questions should be beyond every person, don’t you think?” The smaller’s large eyes wavered slightly and a nod escaped him. At least there was some response other than just words.
Yugi said not another word as he spent an hour and a half meticulously looking over every fragment again, only to find, what else, but nothing new. Yami, after 10 minutes, had gone back into the Puzzle to ponder and leave Yugi alone, since he didn’t seem to notice his presence anymore.
Thunder rolled and rain pitter-pattered on the windows softly. The storm had finally arrived. They had both forgotten, but Yugi didn’t even notice it. Yami had wondered for a moment what was with the weather this week. When Yugi was finished, and had put it all back into the plastic bag and then back into the familiar drawer, he sat there in stony silence, unmoving.
He then gave the desk a mighty hit with his fist, shaking the piece of furniture as he ignored the throbbing pain in his hand now. He trembled with pent up rage and sadness, wondering if there was any way Mokuba could possibly redeem himself in Yugi’s eyes, and if he himself could release all of these feelings screwing with his insides daily. Yami quickly reappeared to quell the sudden outburst. He put his hand on top of Yugi’s and kneeled down to his level.
He patted and brushed back Yugi’s hair, trying his best to calm and comfort him and to keep the teen from totally losing any shred of sanity he still had left, as Yami could not find the words to do so.

Yugi’s breath came slowly but erratically, shutting his eyes tightly and not moving the balled fist. A stinging in his eyes made him realize that he was near tears, so he closed his eyelids even tighter. He tried to keep from gnashing his teeth and breaking down.
How can I accept this? he asked himself in a near yell. How can I believe that Mokuba would ever kill his own brother? That he would set up Joey and Bakura just to save himself? That he was just toying with me the whole time and managed to fool the whole world?
He let out a small choking sound as he kept inside a whimper. That he’s even capable of something of this magnitude?
Yami, while hearing all of this, continued to stroke Yugi’s hair and nodded slowly, still not finding any words.
Yugi let his hand relax, and Yami pulled his own hand away. Yugi opened his eyes slowly and stared at the desktop.
“Why…?” he choked out. He folded his arms sloppily across the smooth surface and rested his forehead on them as he shuddered. “Why?”
Yami rested the caressing hand on the middle of Yugi’s back. “I don’t know.”
Without lifting his head, Yugi managed to get out, “And why not?”
Yami did not take offense to the tone of his voice, but rather replied, “Because as much as you may think so, I don’t have all the answers. Especially when it comes to why men do such despicable acts.”
The thunder rumbled more, seeming to symbolize the current situation and mood of the two. Turbulent, violent, and depressing. Yugi, without any warning, kicked back his chair and stormed over to the door and threw it open. This sudden movement had knocked Yami backwards a bit and he sat on the floor as he watched Yugi and all of his pent up emotion run down the stairs. He heard his rushing footsteps, a word from his grandfather, and the slamming of the front door.
Yami sighed and stood up. He would go after him, of course. Too bad he couldn’t grab the raincoat from the inside of the backpack. Maybe his grandfather would find them and bring it along. He closed his eyes and let himself fade away, going back to Yugi’s mind and the hallway between their separate Soul Rooms. He only needed to be inside for a moment to know what was going on.
Yugi was running, completely blindly and randomly, through the city streets, no destination, no obvious direction. He didn’t appear to Yugi in his transparent form, but rather just talked to him right here. “Yugi, what are you doing?”

There was no response, so Yami asked the question again, a little louder this time. Yugi yelled out his response. “You know what? I just don’t know anymore! Maybe I’m not even who I think I am! I’ve been wrong about some of my so-called friends, so why not me, too?”
Yami didn’t want to upset Yugi any further, but he spoke his mind. “Yugi, listen to yourself! This isn’t like you. You’ve changed too much, I offered to have you do this tomorrow.”
“Maybe I have changed. So what?”
“I know you, I know that’s not how you really feel.”
“I don’t care how connected you are to me, I don’t see how you could know how I really feel!”
Yami touched Yugi’s currently closed door to his Soul Room. “Just think about this, Yugi. Please, just listen to yourself for a second.”
He let out a noise that sounded like a combination of a cry and a sigh. “I just don’t want to deal with this now…please…”
“You don’t have to. You never had to.”
Yugi stopped running and let the rain fall on him, washing away this angry and depressed self of his away, as he hoped to return cleansed of…well, what, he didn’t know, but he hoped to feel cleansed. He never knew if he ever actually started crying, as the water from the pouring rain would have mixed with it.
Yugi, after standing in the rain for a few minutes, turned around and started to walk home, hair matted and clothes wet, a dejected and downhearted aura emanating from him. Yami sighed, realizing that Yugi would be better the next day. It was bound to happen sooner or later, he was just glad that Yugi didn’t do anything too stupid.

Yugi soon came across his grandfather who had run after him. When Yugi didn’t reply to any of his grandfather’s questions, he just draped the raincoat over his shoulders and accompanied him back home. Once home, Yugi didn’t stop and went back to his room.
He kicked off the slightly wet, slightly muddy shoes along with the impermeable raincoat and fell into bed, sighing.
“I’m sorry, Yami,” he finally apologized. “I don’t know what came over me.”
Yami nodded. “It’s all right. You needed to get some of this out somehow. Even I was surprised how well you’re holding up to all of this shock and stress.”
Yugi rolled over onto his left side. “I still feel really bad about this. Maybe I’ll leave it alone, hang out with the gang, just forget about Mokuba for right now.”
He closed his eyes. “You know, I’ve been thinking. What if this, too, is just a piece of an elaborate web from the killer, leading me along while not revealing himself?”
“Always a possibility, I suppose,” agreed Yami.
“If it is,” said Yugi, detest seeping into every crack of his voice, “then he’s a coward, hiding behind others.”
“Or he’s brilliant.”
“Or both.”
“True.” Yami gave his best smile he could muster at this time. “Maybe you should just get some sleep. And if you wake up early, just go back to bed! I don’t think some extra sleep will hurt you any, trust me.”
“Or you.”
Yami nodded. “Yes, but this isn’t about me, now is it? I can live without too much sleep, but you’re wearing yourself out. Not to mention me.”
Yugi closed his eyes and grabbed the closest sheet, covering himself with it.
“Guess you’re right…” he yawned. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Yugi. Sleep well.”
Yugi was soon asleep, obviously tired from the stressful day and outburst. Yami wondered if his grandfather was going to make himself explain the rather frightening actions in the morning, but he shrugged and went back once more into the Puzzle, not quite ready for bed himself with all of the things on his mind.

Yugi did just what the pharaoh told him that morning. He somehow managed to wake himself up at around 6:45, but was still too tired to do anything and slept for another 4 hours. He found it odd that he was still a little damp, but he didn’t care enough to spend much time on the passing thought.
He yawned and sat up in his bed, wondering what he should do today. Probably avoid grandpa as much as possible, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Maybe I should lock my door.
He stretched and laid back again, staring at the ceiling, getting more awake by the second. I could work on my deck some more. Hey, I probably have enough cards to make a whole other deck and duel against myself.
Yami gave his own yawn and rubbed his eyes.
"Oh, I’m sorry, did I wake you?"
Yami blinked. "Is it morning already?"
"Yeah…it’s kinda been that way for the past-" Yugi looked at the clock. "…5 hours or so."
"Okay." Yami looked at him. "Got anything planned?"
Yugi half nodded. "I was just thinking about that. Maybe you could help me."
"Sure," he replied sleepily as he rubbed his eyes again.
"Since it’s Friday," mused Yugi, "I guess that means I can’t hang out with the gang today. At least until after school, of course."
Yami, now fully awake, said, "Then what do you suggest we do? I’m rather stumped."
"Oh, heck, I don’t have any idea." He blinked and stared at the opposing wall.
"Do you think…"
Yami sighed. "Yugi, I couldn’t tell you if you’re mentally healthy enough to ever even go outside again, I really wouldn’t know. If you want to go back there, one more time, just to try and disprove Mokuba’s connection to the crime-"
"Or prove it further," mumbled Yugi.
"—then go ahead, I have no quarrels about it. I myself would like to know if maybe there’s something new today." He added, "And I’m sure you’re feeling better since last night."

"No doubt," scoffed Yugi. But for his own sanity, maybe he should just drop his whole investigation entirely. Maybe all of this just wasn’t worth it.
Yami shook his head. "Do what you want but isn’t getting a dangerous criminal off of the streets for a long time worth it? Isn’t finally knowing who killed our friend worth it?"
Yami made a very compelling case, Yugi decided. He shrugged and climbed out of bed, got dressed, and headed downstairs for a hearty breakfast. His grandfather gave a small nod when he reached the table, but was suspiciously quiet the whole time whilst he ate. Suspicious only because this probably meant that he was waiting for the right moment to start asking Yugi about last night, or he was just getting his questions worded out in his head. Maybe Yugi could sneak upstairs before— "Yugi, I’d like a word with you," called his grandfather after breakfast and Yugi had left.
--too late. Yugi sighed and went back downn the 2 stairs he had climbed. "Yes, grandpa? What is it?" he asked rhetorically.
His grandfather must have figured it was rhetorical. "I’m sure you know what," he replied. "Could you come here for a moment?"
Yugi couldn’t avoid this. He just hoped that he wasn’t going to get too much of a talking to for his actions. He had to say something sometime, he just couldn’t keep avoiding his grandfather’s totally relevant questions and concerns. With any luck, though, his grandfather wouldn’t ask any questions that Yugi would normally respond that he need some air or some other believable yet now overused and lame excuse.
And if he ever discovered the true murderer (which he just might have), then he should tell his elder. He would have to tell everyone close to him, at least. Maybe it would be good to reveal all he’s learned to somebody else. He wandered back over to the table and sat down, awaiting the words of his grandfather.

He sighed and sat across from Yugi. "Yugi, tell me, I just won’t accept you answers anymore. You completely blow them off, and I know what you say isn’t the whole truth anymore. Now what’s going on?"
"This has to do about last night, right?" inquired Yugi, although he already knew the basic answer.
"That," his grandfather nodded, "and everything else."
Yugi sighed and figured now was as good a time as any. He tried to decide how best to articulate his words. "I’ve…ever since Kaiba died, I just haven’t been able to accept that there’s no cause for his death."
His grandfather nodded, but said nothing in response, waiting for Yugi to explain further.
"And about, what, I guess it’s been 2 weeks now, yeah. About 2 weeks ago I decided to see if I could figure anything out myself."
"Yugi, the chances of you discovering if anyone killed him when a skilled team of police, doctors, and forensic scientists is some very, very high number to 1."
"I know, I know," Yugi said, waving his hands, trying to let himself speak on his behalf and get the whole story out. "But I just felt like I had to do something. So I went up to the Kaiba mansion."
"You snuck in?"
"I don’t know how, but after I climbed the fence, the front doors were unlocked." Yugi rubbed his chin. "It was really weird. One would normally think that the guards would take care of all that, but…" He shrugged.
"Human error, I guess. Anyway…" he continued, "so I got in. I don’t know if it was the first time or the 2nd, but I ended up finding a single, solitary hair on the floor near the body. I kept it; it’s in my drawer."
"A hair?"
"Yep." Yugi nodded. "The light hit it and I saw it. Looked just like Joey’s blonde hair, you know? So I soon felt like he might be a suspect."

His grandfather’s eyes widened. "Yugi, that’s quite a terrible thing to think!"
"Yeah, but I couldn’t help it." He shook his head. "But after talking with Joey some, I just can’t get myself to think that he did it. So a bit later—hey, remember when I was out all day?"
The grandfather nodded.
"Well, I spent the whole day looking through every room I could. Didn’t find anything. Nada. Zip." Yugi leaned back in his chair. "So the next time I go back, I find one of Bakura’s school books."
"Really? How odd…"
"I know. He insists someone broke into his room and stole it, but…I don’t know, it all seemed rather unbelievable, you know?" He sighed. "I gave it back to him, but not before I addressed my concerns with him. Eh, to tell you the honest truth, he’s still on my suspect list, but I’d hate to believe it."
"I’d have much trouble thinking that kind of thing, too."
"So me and the spirit of the Puzzle, Yami, got to thinking. Perhaps the killer was just toying with us, giving us false clues. Then again…" He gave a shrug. "So yesterday was the kicker. I wasn’t gone all day because I found my evidence as soon as I opened the door. See, we decided this or one other search would be the last, thinking this wasn’t to good for my well being."
"So…" His grandfather leaned in, captivated by the story and thoroughly interested. "What did you find yesterday?"
Yugi looked away at the ground. "That…" he said, "is why I acted so down yesterday. I found an old picture, of the two Kaiba brothers, smashed on the ground near where the body had been. There was a note on the back, supposedly written by Mokuba."
"So you think he’s the murderer now?"

"The letter was pretty darn convincing that he hated his brother," Yugi snapped.
"I don’t see how, but when you think about it, it all makes some kind of sick sense."
"And…" his grandfather started, putting all the pieces together, "you couldn’t handle this, could you… Not only are your friends incriminated, but someone you thought you knew turned inside out and killed his own brethren."
He leaned back again and nodded. "I can understand. Very shocking. But, really, I hardly believe anyone you mentioned could do it."
Yugi nodded, too. "I know…but…" He shook his head. "I don’t know what to do. Go back again, just for one more time? Turn this stuff in? Take another few days off to relax and deal with it later?"
His grandfather shrugged. "I wouldn’t know."
"Is it all right if I was excused now?" questioned Yugi, now uncomfortable with the situation.
"Sure."
Yugi pushed back from the table, the chair scraping across the tile floor with an unpleasant sound. He tried not to rush too fast out of the room and up the stairs, but he did do a little bit of a jog. Once back in the safety and seclusion of his own bedroom, he closed the door tightly and slid to the floor, leaning against it heavily. He put his head in his hands and shook his head. His grandfather said he understood, but how could he? Should he show his elder the evidence he found?
Not like it mattered, he doubted the old man could do much to help him anyway. He go up and walked over to the desk, rolling open the offending drawer slightly. He caught a glimpse of he glass shards from insides its plastic bag and he kicked it shut. He then proceeded to kick over his chair. It wasn’t the smartest of ideas, making his foot become in a bit of pain for a few moments before he ignored it and went on to something else.

"Do you think you did the right thing?" asked Yami, who Yugi was just thinking was being a bit quiet.
"Yeah," said Yugi impatiently. "What’s your point?"
"If you think you did the best thing, then stop beating yourself up about it."
Yugi stopped for a moment. He was right. Yugi was doing this because for some odd reason he felt bad about what he just did. Worry started to set in. Would his loving grandfather call the police? No, no, that wouldn’t be good. Or what if he went so far as to call some child psychiatrist?
Yami suppressed a chuckled and calmed the boy. "Now, I don’t think would do that. You’re not crazy."
"Yeah, well, I’m starting to think the opposite."
"Look, you’re stressed out far more than your max. Most people probably would be some form of insane by now. You?" He shook his head. "No, Yugi, you’re not insane. I can see it."
"Well, that’s nice to know, but what about the police?"
"Do you her him talking? Do you really think that he would call the police before you were really ready to say anything definite? He trusts you to hand in the stuff yourself when you think you’ve figured it all out, I think."
Yugi relaxed his muscles and took a deep breath. "Dare I look in that drawer again?"
It was a question to himself, his own mentality and psyche. The answer was unclear, and he decided to leave it alone. What he wasn’t going to leave be was the prospect of going back once again. He so wanted to disprove anything claiming to be evidence against Mokuba. He looked out the window and figured that the weather would be good today.
No over abundance of clouds in the sky, and with all the rain lately, what are the chances it’ll downpour again? He subconsciously knocked on the desk three times, hoping that he didn’t jinx himself.

He made a decision that he would quickly go, look through the first few rooms, then leave. No long 2 or 3 hour stays. Just in, look, out, and back home. He wasn’t sure if his body would hold up to many more multiple hour expeditions. And he wasn’t sure if he could handle many more shockers.
So he slipped on his shoes, slightly caked with some mud but dry, and stuffed his normal blue jacket in his backpack, just in case the weather decided to screw around with him some more today. The flashlight was brought along again, and the extra plastic bags from before were still packed away inside, so he didn’t have to worry about that. He zipped it up and hoisted it around both shoulders. He went back downstairs, told his grandfather he was going to look again, and without even waiting for a response of any kind, verbal or physical, he left without another word.
The temperature was actually quite comfortable for morning, soon to turn into afternoon and considering the recent weather patterns. A constant breeze blew, smelling of the smells of the city and sea and of old, evaporated rain. It was actually comforting to Yugi, which seemed to be a decent omen. The bright yellow sun shone warmly. It would get to any leftover puddles of still rainwater that haven’t totally vanished yet. The sky was a miraculous baby blue, the clouds the softest looking cotton and purest white. It seemed perfect. The slight wind blew his wild hair to the right, his golden bangs falling into his large amethyst eyes, which now showed a happy spark, a more pleased demeanor. Heck, he may not even bother with the mansion and go swimming or something.
Then again, seeing who is obviously a student walk around just fine in the middle of a school day would be rather…not so good. So he never changed his course and continued on his way to the infamous Kaiba mansion. He almost expected there to be irregular dark gray clouds with ominous lightning and eerie music over top the place, and was almost disappointed when it was the same sky, and no, he would not get a soundtrack out of this deal. This random thought made him smile, teeth showing broadly as he approached the never moving gates and fence. He wondered how long the sun had been out, warming everything it touched. If it was for a few hours, all morning perhaps, the black would prove to be incredibly hot.

He’d just have to take his chances, then, he supposed. He decided to try and toss his backpack the whole way over. He stepped back a few feet, letting the pack slide down so the right strap was in the same side hand, and he chucked it as hard, far, and high as he could.
It clipped the top of the gate and became hooked, stuck, on one of the bars. It hung by only one measly little strap on the other side of the gate. He let out an amused sigh and smirked. He’d just have to climb up over there and unhook it before he made his climb back down. He did so (after realizing that, yes, the bars were indeed warmer than normal), and was soon enough on his feet on the other side. He bent down and put the pack back on, turning to go up the familiar pathway. It no longer intimidated him, no longer seemed to grow in length with each time he walked its way. Maybe it was his mood, maybe it was the weather, maybe it was getting a lot of this stuff off of his chest. He could breathe easy for the first time in a week and a half.
With all the sun, there should be almost no use for the seemingly indestructible (waterproof, surviving a few falls, it was solid) flashlight, and would rely on the windows. The breeze became uneven, leaves filtering sun on the path and then keeping still the very next moment. The leaves were still, for the most part, green, but some were turning yellow, even a few leaves of the reddish variety could be spotted in the city if you looked hard enough. But it was so warm, it was like summer had not come and gone too fast, in his opinion.
He paused to stare at the plant life and gave a nod before going up to the double doors. Even they seemed brighter and less menacing. He took a deep breath of the fresh, clean air, adding to his rather relaxed mood, before grasping one of the handles, then the other one with the second hand, and opened them at the same time. His eyes quickly did a preliminary scan for anything huge or obvious before raising a foot to step inside...