Memories Should be Treasured

The next morning was a very quiet morning where all three, Kiore, Yami,
and Yugi, were edgy and nervous




 

 

 

 

 

The next morning was a very quiet morning where all three,
Kiore, Yami, and Yugi, were edgy and nervous. The ride to the courthouse was
quiet as well, except for the occasional baby noises Shiro made.

 

Upon arriving they were met by Mr. Johnson who led them to
the front He told Kiore to sit at the table next to where he would be sitting
and then Yami to sit behind her with Yugi right next to him. Before letting
Yugi sit down however he pulled him aside.

 

“Yugi, I know this is going to be hard for you if when I
questioned you is any indication to go by. If you wish to leave after you’ve
been questioned there’s a room just outside and to the right down the hall that
you’re welcome to wait in until the session’s over.”

 

Yugi nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Johnson. I would likee tie time
to at least clean up since it’s pretty much a 90:10 ratio I’ll end up crying.”
He paused for a minute. “Can Yami come with me?”

 

“Of course. I’ll make sure you get questioned after so there
won’t be any problems with waiting.”

 

Yugi thanked him again and then went to sit down, laying his
head on Yami’s shoulder and holding his hand nervously.

 

Not seconds later was Keith pulled in by two officers
holding him by the arms and forced to sit down. He was yelling up a storm and
cursing at everything in sight. It wasn’t long before he spotted the three who
were the main cause of his arrest as well (Yugi shivered and moved closer to
Yami as he remembered the day he got arrested). “You three are going down.” He
growled out. “And, Yugi, you will pay for this; just you wait.”

 

A few minutes later a loud voice echoed throughout the
courthouse. “all rise for the honorable Judge Perkins.”

 

An aged-looking woman with red hair and gray streaks walk
through the back door. “You may sit.” She ordered before sitting down. She
shuffled through some papers on her desk and looked through them and as she did
people waited silently in their seats; surprisingly even Keith was good too
(‘Must be trying to earn points with the judge,’ Yami thought angrily, holding
Yugi closer). She then looked up again. “It seems that everything’s in order
then. Miguel, why don’t you start?”

 

An obtuse, bald-headed man with a sharp black mustache
sitting next to Keith stood up. “Your honor, I see no reason why we should even
be here today. My client is completely innocent of all his charges and is
wrongly accused by who he believed was his family.”

 

“While your opinion is greatly interested, why don’t you
just call your first witness?” The judge ordered more than suggested.

 

Miguel only did an unnerving, lopsided smirk and nodded. He
turned to the court and said, “I call my first witness then, Bones Gravie.”

 

A small person in the back row stood and walked to the
front. He looked dead the way his hair was spiked zombie-like and his face
sunken in to nearly inhuman like. He sat in the stand and swore he’d tell the
truth when the bailiff asked him.

 

“Mr. Gravie, do you know my client, Keith Bandit?” Miguel
asked, pointing to where Keith sat, smirking over confidently.

 

Bones gave an unearthly laugh somehow before nodding. “Yeah,
we’ve been buds a long time.”

 

“Does my client strike you as a person who would rape his
stepson’s boyfriend?”

 

There was a murmur in the crowd and Yugi pushed him himself
still impossibly closer to Yami.

 

“No, he’s always seemed like a caring guy. Me and a few of
my friends that also know Keith and used to hang around with him all the time
all thought he was a really great guy.”

 

“I see; and why did you stop hanging around my client, Mr.
Gravie?”

 

“Because he got married and became completely devoted to his
family. He didn’t want us trying to get him drunk like we used to do all the
time when he was single.”

 

“Thank you, Mr. Gravie. I think that’s about all for right
now. Mr. Johnson, I believe he’s your witness.” He said sickly sweetly.

 

Mr. Johnson stood up, but didn’t move away. “No questions,
your honor.” He then sat back down.

 

“Mr. Gravie, you may sit down now.” The bailiff told the
boy.

 

Miguel asked a few more people to the stand, the friends
that Bones had mentioned, and asked them similar questions to which they all
said the same thing.

 

Kiore leaned over to her lawyer. “David, is this a good
thing? They’re all just sayinis lis like it’s planned.”

 

“I know, Kiore, but I have to wait until it’s my turn until
I can do anything. If I try to object I’d mostly get overruled or sustained.”

 

“No further witnesses, your honor.” Miguel finally told the
judge.

 

“Mr. Johnson, do you have any witnesses?” Judge Perkins
asked.

 

Mr. Johnson stood. “Yes, your honor. I’d like to call Kiore
Hitokage to the stand.” He announced, using Kiore’s first husband’s name after
a request when the whole ordeal with Keith started.

 

Kiore stood, carefully passed Shiro back to Yami, and got
sworn in before looking at her lawyer once more. She slightly looked behind him
to where her son and Yugi were sitting and gave them both a small comfort smile
before returning to look at Mr. Johnson.

 

“Ms. Hitokage, how long have you been married to Keith?”

 

“For a few months over four years, I think maybe five months
or so.”

 

“And in that time did you notice anything strange going on
in your house that you were worried about like your son’s behavior or anything
else?”

 

“Well, usually Yami, my son, is very polite towards people
and is never rude to them, but it surprised me that he was abnormally hateful
towards Keith during the summer for his sophomore year, about four years ago,
maybe a month over.”

 

“Yes, and did you ever ask him why?”

 

“No, I like my son to be independent and come to me if he has
problems. Although, I did ask him several times to be much nicer and more
polite to Keith, but he completely refused every time, which usually led to an
argument.”

 

“I see; did you ever find out why he was hateful towards
Keith?”

 

Kiore nodded. “Yes, I did. A short while after Keith was
arrested he finally had a chance to tell me after being interrupted so many
times.”

 

“And what did he tell you?”

 

Kiore’s throat clenched up, making it hard for her to
breathe and unable to talk. Mr. Johnson walked over and held out his hand so
she could hold it and he held it in his comfortingly.

 

“It’ll be okay, Kiore. Remember, this is to help.” He
whispered to her.

 

Kiore nodded and after a few more seconds she finally took a
deep breath and released Mr. Johnson’s hand. “He told me that Keith had been
raping him since that one summer for his sophomore year when he started to hate
him.”

 

“Why didn’t he tell you sooner? Was Keith making him from
telling somehow?”

 

“No,” Kiore shook her head, “No, he said that he felt ashamed
by it and thought that he had to be strong for me and to be that he couldn’t
tell me.”

 

“Do you know why he decided to tell you then?”

 

“I believe it has something to do with the ‘accident’ with
Keith and his boyfriend, Yugi.”

 

“And what happened then?”

 

“Yami told me, after he admitted Keith was raping him, that
Keith had been lusting towards Yugi since he first met him when he came to live
with us nearly a year ago. Yami had been trying to keep him safe and away from
Keith and had even warned Yugi about what Keith was going to do, but
eventually,n I n I was helping a friend to the hospital and Yami was awoingoing
some errands for me with his cousin Keith got a hold of Yugi and raped him too,
causing him to lose his memory when he hit his head on the side table.”

 

“Thank you, Kiore.” He turned to Miguel, who was glaring at
them all with a look to kill for ruining his so-called perfect beginning.
“You’re witness.”

 

Miguel stood. “No questions.”

 

The judge turned to Kiore, “You may step down,” anen ten to Mr.
Johnson, “You may call your next witness.”

 

“Thank you, your honor. I call Yami Hitokage to the stand.”

 

Yami went to the stand after giving Yugi a gentle hug and
then got sworn in before turning to look at Mr. Johnson.

 

“Yami, did you start hating Keith before he raped you or
after?”

 

“I didn’t like him all that much, but I was polite to him
for my mother’s sake. After he raped me though I was scared of him and tried to
avoid him as much as possible. I only just started to begin hating him though
after he continued to do it.”

 

“And why did you decide to tell your mother about what he
did?”

 

“It was exactly what my mother said. I could handle him
doing it to me because I knew I could take care of myself, but Yugi’s had so
much happen to him in the past that I just snapped when I found out what
happened.”

 

“Can you tell us what happened that day and then anything
else about Keith?”

 

“Yes, the day Yugi was raped I realized something didn’t
seem right for some reason while I was out with Nuka, my cousin, doing errands.
We ran the rest of the way home and when I did the first thing I noticed was
Shiro, my baby sister,” he gestured to his mother where Shiro was sleeping in
her arms, “was crying and Yugi was supposed to be taking care of her and I know
Yugi wouldn’t just leave her alone for no reason like that. I found Keith
upstairs and Yugi was on the floor unconscious, both weren’t wearing anything,
and there was a lot of blood on the bed. That’s just about when my mother came
home. I covered Yugi in one of the blankets my mother keeps under the bed and
went downstairs to tell her what happened. Keith interrupted though and told my
mother that Yugi was trying to give Shiro a bath and fell down the stairs.”
Yami took a minute to catch his breath before he continued. “After that Yugi
went to the hospital where we found he’d lost his memory from hitting his head
on the side table. Keith started to get careless after that and I had bruises
all over my face. That’s when I decided to tell my mother what had been going
on. Keith made a mockery of it though and I just couldn’t control myself. He
was lying to my mother and he’d already hurt Yugi badly so I ran at him. He
beat me and my mother knew about it then too because she was right theren
hn
he did it. That’s how I ended up in the hospital. And that’s basically it.”

 

“I see. Thank you, Yami. You may step down now.”

 

Yami nd and and walked back over to where Yugi was silently
shaking. He looked behind him when he saw the Yugi’s eyes weren’t looking at
him though, but instead at Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson also was looking at Yugi
with a sad and concerned look in his eyes. Yami quickly sat down next to Yugi
and pulled him closely into a comforting hug and gave him a gentle kiss on his
forehead; he knew what was coming now.

 

“You may call your next witness, Mr. Johnson.” Judge Perkins
told Kiore’s lawyer.

 

Quietly, almost as if he didn’t want to say it, but he knew
he had to, and looking at the floor, Mr. Johnson said, “I call Yugi Motou to
the stand.”

 

Almost mechanically, Yugi pulled afromfrom Yami and wiped
his face on the sleeve of his shirt in case there were any tears before
standing and walking to where the bailiff was waiting. He sat down and got
sworn in before slowly looking at Mr. Johnson, waiting for what he knew would
come first.

 

“Yugi, can you tell the court what happened the day you were
raped?” The man asked, looking ae fle floor.

 

Yugi swallowed around the large lump in his throat and
nodded. He decided it would be best if he didn’t look at anybody, especially
Keith, or else he wouldn’t be able to finish. Taking a deep breath, he began,
starting at the beginning of the day how Kiore kept making Yami hang around
with Nuka since he didn’t get to see his cousin very often because his parents
divorced. He moved on to when Yami and Nuka nearly begged Kiore if Yami could
go run her errands with them, then to when Kiore had to leave to help her
friend to the hospital, to when Keith cornered him in the kitchen and he tried
escaping by telling lies. It seemed like forever to Yugi when he finally told
them he awoke in the hospital with a nurse in the room and she told him about
his memory loss and then to when Yami came in and the first words out of his
mouth since he woke up had been, “Who are you?”

 

By the time Yugi finished he had tears streaming down his
face no matter how hard he tried and he was half glad nobody had interrupted
him to object to some of the things he had said and then also half upset that
nobody had interrupted him for lack ottertter of an excuse to stop. Slowly, he
looked up and he saw Kiore with tears also coursing down her eyes and holding
little Shiro tightly to her, to Yami with rderrderous look in his eyes as he
glared at the back of Keith’s head (Yugi could tell he was doing everything in
his power to not go over and bash the bastard’s skull in, to Mr. Johnson who
was looking reserved at him, and then to the court where some people were from
crying to concerned to disgusted looks at what Keith had done.

 

Mr. Johnson finally moved and walked over to the judge. Yugi
couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he had an idea when the man moved to in
front of him. He pulled out a hanky from his pocket and told Yugi he was
excused for as long as he needed did he wish to come back.

 

Yugi took the hanky gratefully and quickly stood, walking as
fast as he could without running out of the room He could hear Yami’s steps
right behind him as soon as he past by where they had been seated.

 

Yugi found the room easily and he collapsed in emotional
exhaustion on the couch. Feeling Yami’s arms wrap around him tightly he leaned
into the embrace and hid his face in Yami’s shirt.

 

Yami started rocking Yugi back and forth on the leather
couch whispering loving nothings in his ear, glad and relieved that it was
helping calm the boy down and stop himself from crying before he did.

 

When Yugi pulled away from Yami at last Yami was happy to
see that very few tears had been shed and he leant over to give Yugi a gentle
kiss on the cheek. “I’m so proud of you, Yugi. You’re very brave to go up there
and tell everybody something like that.”

 

“Yami,” Yugi whispered. Yami had to lean down slightly to be
able to hear what his love had to say. “Sometimes, at night, I dream that it’s
happening all over again. I can feel his hands going over my bare skin and I
can hear him laughing and calling me all sorts of awful things.” Tears slipped
over his amethyst eyes as he continued to talk; Yami didn’t dare interrupt.
“After I wake up I don’t scream though because I remember he always slapped when
I did and I didn’t want to get hurt again. After that I feel so dirty, Yami,
and it’s hard to go back to sleep feeling like that.”

 

Yugi stopped and Yami guessed that Yugi was done. He pulled
the teen into his arms once more and held him tightly and kissed him on the
forehead, telling him everything would be all right. The truth was not only
that Yugi desperately needed the comfort; after Yami had heard everything that
Yugi had been through from the beginning to when he first saw Yami after the
‘accident’ he’d needed the comfort and to hold his small lover in his arms as
well.

 

The smaller teen mumbled something into Yami’s shirt and the
crimson-eyed teen pulled away to hear. “What did you say, little love?”

 

“Will it ever go away, Yami?” Yugi asked with a scared, far
away tone.

 

Yami sighed and held Yugi to him. “I’m sorry, but I don’t
know, Yugi. Maybe someday it will, but for right now I’ll just hold you and
tell you everything will be okay. And whenever you have a nightmare you can
always wake me up. Okay?”

 

Yugi nodded and wrapped his arms tightly around Yami,
holding on in fistfuls of the cloth of his shirt as if it were a lifeline.

 

They stayed there for a while longer, not sure how long,
before Yami finally suggested they should go back to the courtroom, for his
mother’s sake in not to worry if anything else. Yugi agreed and they stood up.

 

Lookingthe the clock Yami estimated that they’d bee the the
room for a good half an hour at least. He led Yami back to the room and quietly
they entered and went back to their seats. Mr. Johnson smiled at the both of
them and nodded apologetically to Yami for Yugi since the amethyst-eyed teen
was looking at the floor.

 

It seemed like just as they sat down Judge Perkins spoke up.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the court, this has been a hard case and in being so
it will take the jury time to come to a conclusion based on the evidence. Mr.
Johnson, Kiore Kamikage, Keith Bandit, and Delly Miguel will be the only ones
needed tomorrow and you’re to show up here at eight ‘o clock of the closing
stages and Mr. Bandit’s sentence in his crimes. The court is adjourned.” She
banged her gavel before turning around to leave the way she came.

 

After the judge disappeared other people also started to get
up and leave. Yugi stopped only once at the door and looked at Keith who was
glaring at him with a look of death for Yugi written across his face, causing a
shiver to go down Yugi’s back. Afterwards, he turned and quickly caught up with
Yami, who was walking a few feet behind his mother and Mr. Johnson who were
discussing probably the business of tomorrow’s meeting.

 

“I’m glad we can go home now, Yami.” Yugi told him as he
slipped his hand closed around Yami’s.

 

Yami also closed his hand and looked down at Yugi, a small
smile gracing his face. “So am I, Yugi.”