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Sanity

Peace

Sheraton Cairo Hotel, One week later
“Yugi, are you almost ready?”
“Yep, I just got to pack the souvenir I picked up for grandpa,” Yugi said.
Yugi Mutou, and the love of his life, Atem Atenkaten were vacationing in Cairo Egypt. The two looked a lot alike. They both had spiky tri-colored hair. Yugi’s was ebony with amethyst tips and his blonde bangs framed his angelic face. His eyes matched the tips of his hair. Atem had the same ebony base and blonde bangs, but he had crimson tips instead of amethyst and some of the bangs shot up through the black part of his hair. His eyes too matched the tips of his hair. They were once known as Hikari and Yami. A hikari was a person who had another soul residing inside of their bodies. Less than a month ago, Hikari’s all over the world had been enslaved by the “Organization.” The “Organization” was a corrupt group that acted much like a government. They kept strict rules that oppressed the Hikaris. Some of those rules included living inside of a facility, never being able to fall in love with their Yami’s (the souls that resided in them, and yes, it did happen.) and finally, never allowing a Yami to take control. Due to a series of rather strange events, Yugi ended up separated from his Yami, Atem, and with the help from some of their friends, they defeated Dartz, the man in charge of the “Organization.” Shortly after, the entire “Organization” fell apart, and Hikari’s all over the world were freed and now more and more were being separated from their Yami’s. Yugi and Atem left for Egypt shortly afterwards and now, a week later, they were heading home.
Atem walked into the room as he slipped on a plain black t-shirt. Blue jeans sat snugly on his hips and he had yet to put on his boots.
Yugi folded a small blanket that they had bought for his grandfather. Arms circled around his waist and he gasped in surprise, “Atem!”
“Hello, beautiful,” Atem purred into his ear, “Ready to go?”
“Yep, just let me put the blanket in the suitcase,” he said.
Yugi placed the blanket into a huge suitcase and zipped it up. He turned and wrapped his arms around Atem’s neck as the other gave him a long slow kiss.
“I love you,” he said when they pulled away from each other.
“I love you too, koi,” Atem replied, “Let’s get going.”
“Okay,” he said.
The two picked up several different suitcases and headed to the door. Yugi paused and took one last look around the place they had called home for the past week. A small smile graced his lips as he sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Atem asked as he watched him.
“I just can’t believe that we’re leaving,” Yugi said.
“I know,” he replied as he put the suitcases down that he was carrying. He walked over to Yugi and wrapped his arms around his waist.
“I’m going to miss it here,” Yugi said as he leaned back into Atem. He closed his eyes and relaxed into the embrace.
“We’ll come back, someday, akhu,” Atem whispered.
“I hope so,” Yugi replied, “I feel so at peace here.”
“Come. Let’s go,” Atem said as he let go of his counterpart and picked up the suitcases.
Yugi nodded and with one last look around the room, left the room, the door closing softly behind him.

15 hours later
“We’re home,” Yugi said.
The two exited the airplane, collected their luggage, and headed outside to catch a cab.
“Hey you two!” a voice called out to them.
Yugi turned around and was almost immediately thrown backwards when a long silver haired boy launched himself into his arms.
“Yugi! We missed you so much!!!” the boy said.
“Hello, Ryou. We’ve missed you as well,” Yugi said as he hugged one of his closest friends.
Another boy that had similar hair to Ryou approached the group. He looked pissed off for some reason.
“Hello, Bakura,” Yugi said with a smile.
“Hey shorty,” the boy named Bakura grunted, “Pharaoh.”
“Tomb Robber,” Atem replied with a nod.
Yugi and Ryou untangled themselves and Ryou helped him up.
“What are you guys doing here?” Yugi asked with a smile.
Ryou and Bakura looked at each other, their faces suddenly turning grave.
“Kaiba sent us to pick you up,” Ryou said.
“Why?” Atem asked as he crossed his arms.
“Something’s up.”

30 minutes later, Kaiba Corp’s Japan Headquarters
The four got out of the limo. The limo driver promised that all of Yugi and Atem’s luggage would be taken to their apartment straight away. The four of them had spent the ride to Kaiba Corp in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Yugi and Atem would occasionally trade ideas on what was happening, but in the end just decided to wait to see what Kaiba had to tell them. The receptionist informed them that Kaiba was waiting for them, and to take the last elevator on the left. They made their way to the elevator and into Kaiba’s office. This one was furnished slightly different than the American office. Kaiba still had a humongous desk, but instead of couches, there were several different style pillows for seating, as per the Japanese custom. The four didn’t bother with formalities as they entered. Yugi and Atem noticed with some dread that Malik, Marik, Serena, and Wynter were also there. As were their old teachers, Mai, Duke and Tea. The only difference this time was that Mokuba, Serenity and their Yami’s, now separated from them, were also there. They nodded their greetings and sat down on some of the pillows that were scattered around the room.
“So, what’s up?” Yugi asked.
Kaiba shut his laptop and looked at each of them over intertwined fingers. (A/N: I don’t think Kaiba will ever get rid of that laptop.)
He heaved a sigh and stood up. Blinds closed over the windows, successfully throwing the room into darkness, which did not last long. A huge projection screen lit up the room as Kaiba started to speak.
“Troubles been rising,” he said, “I’ve been keeping a close eye on all of the Hikari’s around the world. Yes, this includes all of you. Lately, a lot have been disappearing.”
A map flashed up on the screen showing hundreds of thousands of dots. It only stayed on the screen for a few seconds when another map appeared in its place. This time, there were fewer dots. A lot fewer.
“These are maps of all of the Hikari’s that I’ve been able to keep track of. I say able to because unlike a certain departed “Organization” head, I’ve asked all of the people represented on these maps if I couldn’t keep track of them. These are all of the ones who’ve agreed and given me their current address,” he said, “The next map was made two days ago. As you can see, there are a lot of people missing. Too many to be coincidence.”
“So you don’t think it’s just a simple case of them moving and not telling you where?” Atem asked.
Kaiba pushed a button and the screen disappeared and the blinds opened, blinding everyone in the room.
“No. I don’t. I had some of my men check out the ones in the immediate area,” he replied, “All of their belongings are still in their homes, ready to be used.”
“So they’ve just disappeared without a trace?” Wynter asked.
“Precisely. Now the worst part is, these maps only show the ones I’ve gotten permission from,” Kaiba said as he leaned on his desk and crossed his arms.
“So there could be thousands more missing?” Yugi whispered.
“Yes.”
“What do you want from us?” Bakura said.
“Well, we’re going to have to find out who’s behind this,” he said, “And stop them.”
The group nodded in agreement. Yugi and Atem shared a look and they both sighed.
“You’ll all be working together this time,” Kaiba said, “We’ve come to far now to let anything happen.”
“You’re right,” Atem said with a slight yawn.
“You two better go home and rest,” Kaiba said, “I know you haven’t even had a chance to unpack yet.”
The two of them nodded and the group stood up. They headed towards the elevator when Kaiba stopped them again.
“Be careful.”
The group nodded and filed into the elevator.
So much for peace, Atem said to Yugi over their mind link.
Yugi nodded and stared out the window of the elevator.
So much for the peace, he repeated.