Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ahead he stares at a visage that haunts his every dream, a face plastered on millions of magazine covers, a smirk that is confident, haughty, but rightfully deserved, and eyes that have seen more than any person could even begin to comprehend. Eyes that tell a story countless millennia old.

But they’re not real. None of it is. To many, it would be difficult to tell. Kaiba Tech has become so advanced so quickly. No longer content with mere holograms, the programming needed more, not just to fool the eye, but every sense, until reality meshed with another dimension all together. Something so real you could almost touch it, feel its breath. So easily heard, the voice that carries such arrogant taunting, every syllable tweaked until it hit every perfect note and timbre. The hair had proven to be the most difficult of the programming, but it too had accounted for every lock, perfectly styled into place. He is every bit the vision that Seto remembers.

Only as memory though. A memory that fades into the sands of time, and he’s unwilling to be content with that, with the way things ended. He’s been robbed. What had started as rivalry perpetuated into a deep, agonizing, and painstaking desire to know the truth. He had tested countless strategies, calibrating the computer until victory was an imminent fate, but all for what?

A computer would never be the same. He’d never really know for certain, and how many years could he live with not knowing?

The simulation ends in his victory, but he’s unsatisfied, proven by his remarkably bad mood when he tears down the hall, away from the praises of his staff.  

It’s only when Mokuba’s voice makes its way through his headset and informs him of their recovery from Egypt that he feels something reinvigorating again. There was only so much money he could throw at technology to realize his desires, but the truth is still obtainable, and soon it would be in his hands.

He doesn’t waste time allowing others to sift through the broken pieces. He didn’t need the hands of archaeologists or conservators, this part needed to be done under his supervision, under his technology. Besides, Yugi had done it once before. And Yugi’s mind was no more advanced than his computer. He’d been practically a child then. It had seemed so long ago, and yet it really hadn’t been at all. They had been forced to adapt and mature quickly, given the circumstances and the strangeness that followed the Millennium Items, but there’s no assembly of all seven, no gathering of them for power, there is only one that holds any interest to him.  

The pieces begin to fit together. There’s always a chance that one might be missing, it’s not unlikely since it had been buried again, under the rubble of the ancient village of Kul Elna. It was a wonder that any of the items were still intact, and any number of the puzzle pieces could be missing. There would be no way to know until the computer was finished with assembly. Mere hours of estimated time.

Kaiba had waited this long. He could stand to wait a few measly hours.

Perhaps it would’ve been too good to be true. The entire Puzzle assembled and ready for him on his return to the space station. But it’s almost a mockery, elusive yet again. As if he can never just be satisfied outright. He has always had to work for everything, always a challenge, always a loose end.

And still, his mouth twists upward at the thought, as if it was purposeful, the Pharaoh ending his turn, and Kaiba having to twist his strategy to match the sudden, new direction. The very last piece, the most ornate, bearing the Eye, is missing. And could it be lost to the sands of Kul Elna, deeply nestled in the Earth, never to see the light of day again?

No.

He knows exactly where it is.

“ Can you sign my strategy book!”

“Can I get a picture with you?”

“Oh my God, look, it’s him! ”

Yugi feels the horrible compunction to run, manning the counter of Kame Games while his grandfather takes care of appointments. The crowds aren’t entirely new, but they aren’t usually this vigorous. Apparently word has gotten around outside the neighborhood, that the King of Games really does work at a humble game shop, because it sure seems like this throng of people are out-of-towners, come expressly to see him .

“I, uh, sure- Oh, if you really- h-hi, yes!” It’s too much to try to keep track of, he’d need three heads to keep everyone pleased. And for every gawker, there’s another customer trying to buy a game or a booster pack, or just a schoolgirl trying to flirt with him.

Yami would handle this , the treacherous thought that leaks through his mind as he is nearly overwhelmed by fans. Yami would growl smoothly, purr easily, sign and smile and make everyone happy and send them on their way. Yugi can’t do that.

“Outta the way, you vultures!” The cavalry arrives in the form of Jonouchi, elbowing his way through throngs of admirers and hopping up over the counter to slide behind it. “Jeezes, Yuge, what is this, a cattle auction?”

“Just about…”

Hiroto is right behind, ducking under arms and shoving past bodies to get to them. “I think it’s time to close the store for lunch!”

“Y-yeah.” It takes both his friends body-checking customers out before they can get the door closed, and the sign flipped to a smiling Kuriboh, holding a clock. “ Back at One! ” Yugi slides down behind the counter, only now realizing how much he’s sweating and how hard his heart is beating.

“Hey, Yugi.” Hiroto peers at him over the counter. “You okay, bud?”

“F-fine. It’s the heat.”

“No kiddin’.” This from Jonouchi, setting down the soda he’d brought his friend. “With all those bodies crammed in here, it was a sauna.”

“This is a security nightmare,” Hiroto sighs, opening up the back room, where a small fan blows invitingly. “You could get all kinds of shoplifters in that crowd, if not worse.”

“Grandpa isn’t going to want cameras everywhere!” Yugi follows him, voice urgent. Oh, but it’s so much cooler in here….He sucks gratefully on the soda Jou brought and feels almost faint. “It’s not that kind of store!”

“Maybe, but you’re that kind of celebrity.”

“I-I’m not.” He blushes to his ears, or maybe it’s only the heat. “I’m nothing of the kind, I’m just-”

“Face it, Yugi.” Even Jo looks serious. “You are one hot commodity around here. Whether you like it or not, the King of Games is who people want to see.”

Without thought, Yugi’s fingers fish beneath his shirt, pulling up the chain, and the bit of gold that rests at the end of it. “But that’s not me.”

Hiroto and Jonouchi both look at each other, a knowing glance shared between them. “Yugi-”

“I-I should be grateful, shouldn’t I?” He looks up at them and smiles, but they know him too well to believe in it. “That he left me with this legacy. A lot of people would give up a lot more for something like this.”

“Yugi-”

“It’s okay.” He smiles a little more forcefully now, setting his drink on the table. “You don’t have to worry - I’m not going to disappoint anyone.”

“That’s not what we’re worried about.”

Before the argument can continue, there is the jingle of the store’s bell; the front door opening and closing. Yugi and his friends look curiously at one another. “Who could that-” He goes back out, to the counter, calling, “I’m sorry, we’re not open until- oh! ” If he’d been holding anything, he would have dropped it. “Kaiba-kun!”

“ Yugi.”

A mild reply in return, cool and icy as the eyes set upon him, his tall figure imposing with the rays of the daylight streaming in around him. It’s always this way, it seems, them standing on opposite sides of a room.

Only…

No.

Not quite. Not the same Yugi at all.

The one piece he needs is in Yugi’s hands though. Yugi may very well be his last chance, his connection to that world and worlds beyond it.

“Basking in the afterglow of his reputation, are you?” The fans outside haven’t quite dispersed despite the sign, more resigned to wait; that is of course, until Seto Kaiba had shown up in his stretch and provided a new distraction altogether. 

He takes a few steps closer, long legs closing the distance, and though Yugi has grown a few inches, nearly looks identical to the Pharaoh…there’s a distinct difference, and it’s the eyes that give him away. Always the eyes, and the softness of his face.

This was no King of Games, and he wouldn’t hear otherwise.

When he’s through sizing him up, adequately pleased with what he finds to be true of his suspicions, he speaks again.

“You’ve something I want. I came to retrieve it.”

 Of course someone like Yugi would be sentimental, in the same way that Seto has retrieved the relic for himself- though not out of something as decidedly soft as sentiment…it’s only the truth that he seeks, his desire to know, his desire for power. Closure.

And neither of them would have any if Yugi didn’t cooperate.

“N-no, it’s nothing like that.” Kaiba-kun looks at him in a way that can be described as “piercing,” or even, “undressing.” One feels naked and vulnerable under such a stare. Yugi swallows and collects himself. “I’m just manning the store. I don’t know where all these people came from.” 

“Something you want….?” That undressed, vivisected feeling only grows more intense when the other young man closes the distance between them. Yugi glances over his shoulder to his friends in the back room, but they’re just as clueless. “Did you….place an order?” Some of the tension leaves him, and he smiles up at Kaiba-kun. “That’s great, supporting local business!”

Of course Yugi would jump right to the most innocuous reason for his being here. Of course he thinks nothing of what has been lost, of the burning desire to finish what was started. He thinks only in the present, what fills these shelves and can be contained in these walls- toys, and games, and pathetic friends who pose no challenges, no higher state of thinking. How can he go right back to the way things were, tending to his grandfather’s shop as if they hadn’t experienced chaos, the thrill and adrenaline of duels in the sky, the control of gods and monsters?

And it’s then that his gaze slides down from Yugi’s face, down the familiar glimmering chain, to what should be a barren place, but from it hangs the Sennen Eye staring back at him.

His hand reaches out as if it has a right to, his long fingers curling around the cold metal, and they slide down over each link before the gold fits into the palm of his hand, as he lifts the Eye to face him.

“…You know exactly what I’ve come for. I want him .”

He’s thought of nothing else, since Yugi had gone to Egypt and come back a different man- no, not a man at all, a boy again, as if it’s still their early schooldays. All those duels, all that growth…it had been the ancient spirit as the driving force, and what he leaves behind is a mere hollow shell. It isn’t fair.

“All I need is this piece. And you, Yugi.”

A temporary need, a vessel to house what is his worthy opponent.

“E-excuse me!” His hands cover Kaiba’s as they close around his pendant. Cold hands, like the ice of his eyes. They make Yugi’s heart pound in his chest.

“Alright, that’s enough uh’ that!” Jonouchi comes charging from the back to the rescue, like always. “Paws off, Kaiba. Get lost, shop’s closed for lunch.”

I want him . And you, Yugi . What could he possibly mean? The Pharaoh is gone, Kaiba has to know that by now. “I’m sorry, Kaiba-kun, but Jonouchi’s right. I don’t have whatever it is you’re looking for.”

Hiroto has also come to square up with his friends. “I think you’d better go, Kaiba.”

Yugi’s hands close around his, their shared bond over this singular piece left of the gold labyrinth and the spirit who haunted it, but Kaiba can only think of what it means to have it complete again. He’d do anything. He’d haul Yugi by his own chain, drag him kicking to the limousine with his moronic friends trailing behind, soon to meet the fists of his own bodyguards. How easily he could drag Yugi out, and the adoring crowd could see him for what he really was, no one to revere and adore, but just an ordinary, average person who played vessel to the one they truly worshipped.

So close. His hand squeezes over it, feels the sharp edges dig into his hand before finally his eyes flicker up to Yugi’s face again, barely glancing to Katsuya and Honda. For them, he wouldn’t even need his guards, but there are easier ways of doing this.

But how easy, now that depends on Yugi.

 His hand drops the piece, and it falls against Yugi’s torso. It’s disappointing, but he needs Yugi to be cooperative.

“…We’ll speak again later, Yugi. You’ll want to hear what I have to say.” He turns, and his coat more of an elaborate cape with the way it’s creased, “…Because I have something you want as well.”

The bell rings again, signaling his leave, but despite it, his presence leaves a heaviness behind.

His breath catches as the pendant drops back into place. It’s not magic anymore, if that’s what Kaiba thinks. The only meaning it holds is the meaning in Yugi’s heart, the feeling that he isn’t alone again. That someone is watching over him still, loves him still. But then again, maybe a bit of Yami lingers in the golden eye; Kaiba dropped his necklace like it burned him. Maybe he protects him even now. It’s a comforting thought.

“Well, that was weird,” Hiroto huffs, arms crossed as he watches the mogul go. “No hello, no goodbye - guy needs some serious etiquette lessons.”

“Don’t talk to him, Yugi, whatever he says.” Jou is at his side and is adamant. “It’s a trap, I can smell it.”

“What do you suppose he means?” 

“Does it matter?” Hiroto asks, finally dropping his arms. “Jou’s right, he’s a creep. You’re better off getting a restraining order.”

That might be true - but Kaiba knows how to work him. The promise that he has something the young man wants, that’s a tantalizing puzzle to leave behind.

And Yugi could never keep his hands off a puzzle. 

But nothing happens, and the days go by. Kaiba was probably just….rattled. It’s easy to push the event from his mind, because Yugi doesn’t want to think about it too much, and instead enjoys a promise of normalcy once more. Days working in the shop and studying for entrance exams, evenings spent in the company of his friends. No threats of the end of the world, no one’s soul being stolen, just normal life. He’d missed it.

He’s just closed the shop when the rain starts: a heavy, early summer storm, cracks of thunder peeling overhead. The charge in the air makes his hair pull up with static, and his mother rushes to bring the laundry in before it’s soaked and has to dry again, indoors this time. The electric atmosphere makes him feel unsettled, moody. He turns off his electronics to prevent a power surge, and instead tucks into a book in his room. But his mind isn’t on the pages, it’s not on anything in particular. There’s just a heady feeling, one he never could stand, that something is about to happen, and the waiting is interminable. 

Something does happen. His eyes unfocused, looking out the window, he sees a long, black car pull up to the house door. Who in the world…? Yugi goes to the door; his grandfather is sleeping in front of the television, a quiz program is on, and he doesn’t want the knock to wake him. “May I help you?”

A tall, broad figure in a dark suit and sunglasses stands outside. Sunglasses, at this time of night, he looks absurd. Yugi notices the “KC” of his silver tie pin. “Yugi Muto?”

“Yes…” He’d worry it’s another autograph seeker, but not with that tie pin.

The man bows slightly. “Seto Kaiba has asked you to meet him in his home - and to bring your dueling cards.”

That’s what all this was about? Kaiba could have called the store and arranged things that way… “Well, I could later this we-”

“This evening.”

Yugi’s palms feel slick, holding the door open. “I’m not available this evening.”

“Kaiba-san was insistent. He also said it bears on someone you both know - intimately.” 

Worry stabs at Yugi’s gut. Mokuba, perhaps? But he knows, without knowing, that’s not who he means. Kaiba, holding his pendant, comes back into his mind, and he hates it and doesn’t know why. “Will you drive me back when I’m done? I don’t want to be out all night.”

The man huffs, a crease in his brow showing his irritation. “I’m sure that won’t be any difficulty.”

“A-alright...One moment, please.” He finds his mother, folding the laundry that didn’t get soaked; kisses her cheek and explains he was invited out by a friend, doesn’t know when he’ll be back, not to wait up; and he gets his cards from upstairs. Thunder cracks again.

Why do I feel so sick ?

When he goes back to the front door, that man of Kaiba’s has an umbrella open above his head, to walk Yugi to the car and keep him dry. He tries to remember what it feels like to be brave, lifts his head - and walks forward.

This estate is one of many, elaborate, larger than any one man might have need for…but this was Seto Kaiba, and anything smaller just didn’t seem appropriate. It wasn’t often that people ever saw his personal dwellings, himself included, save for the staff required to run them, but Yugi was an exception, for tonight. An exception that Kaiba could placate, because soon, Yugi would give him something much greater.

He looks to the Puzzle, fingers caressing over the glass it’s contained in. That missing piece, a hole that has left him bleeding out. Yugi owes him this much, a chance to see the Pharaoh again. To have his final say. His victory.

Kaiba has no doubt that his guard will be able to convince Yugi to come. Wasn’t he curious at all? Didn’t he want to know what Kaiba of all people could possibly have that would be of interest to him?

Seto sits, long leg crossed one over the other, and he waits there, like he’s been waiting his entire life for this moment. Yugi wouldn’t dare deny him this. He’d be a fool.

The limousine soon pulls up, down the massive drive, the headlights cutting through the rain to reveal the familiar dragon ornately etched out over the front door, ready to swallow Yugi alive.

That feeling of bravery disappears once they’re actually at the home of the Kaiba brothers. It looks like something out of a storybook, and not in an inviting way, either. He thinks of both Kaiba-kun and Mokuba as children, living in a place like this. It makes him feel overwhelmingly lonely…

Yugi is kept dry by the umbrella, but his escort is completely soaked. Someone else takes over in guiding him through the massive house; the foyer, the mahogany panelled halls. It’s so dark. Every door has a Blue Eyes carved into the wood, which is a little...well, much. And all the doors seem the same. How could Kaiba even use all this space?

The new guard opens one identical door and bows to its occupant, ushering Yugi inside. It’s a...parlor? A library? Something...formal but comfortable. Massive, plush. Oriental rugs line the floor, dark bookcases line the walls. There’s a mahogany desk in front of a large window, where the rain streaks against the glass; and there’s a large, leather sofa, and two leather armchairs in front of a fireplace - which is, absurdly, lit, on such a muggy early-summer evening. 

Yugi can feel sweat bead around his customary buckled choker. He only knows Kaiba is in one of the chairs because he can see his long-fingered hand on one of the armrests. “K-Kaiba-kun.” He tries to sound more confident than he feels, but doesn’t think he succeeds. “You, uh. Wanted to duel? Why? I mean, why right now?” 

Seto’s mouth twitches, his fingers digging into the leather slightly as he hears Yugi break the silence. He’s finally here. Finally all the pieces fall into place, his moves primed, not that he has to worry about a challenge. Just preliminaries before the championship.

“ Yugi .” He nearly purrs. “Come have a seat.”

There’s a chair lined up, and it’s only fair that they come to an understanding this way, as he might with a business associate, dotting their I’s, crossing the T’s of their contractual bindings.

Up close this way, Kaiba doesn’t at all look at home in his home, the shadows from the flames flicker across his face and don’t help to soften the mood in the slightest despite the intimate setting. He does regard Yugi with a nod when he nears though, his smile, if it could be called one, thin, and wavering on what Yugi will do and say next.

“I thought you’d want to know why I came to visit you.” You, because the other wasn’t so easily accessible. You’ll change that, won’t you…?

“We’ve known each other for years. We know what each of us are capable of. You might have the same cards, the same deck, the same face, but you’re not the King I faced. How much of our duels even involved you at all, Yugi…?”

Yugi uneasily takes the seat, now mere feet away from his….what? His former classmate? He’d like to say friend, but he doubts Kaiba would be so generous. The firelight does nothing to soften the young man’s features, cutting his cheekbones more sharply, making his eyes look sunken. If he didn’t know better, Yugi would almost think he looks….tired. 

“Yes, I would,” he agrees. He’d tried to figure it out, before deciding to put it out of his mind entirely. Whatever generous motive he tried to give Kaiba, it never lined up with the way he had looked at him: at him, through him, inside of him. It was a penetrating gaze, and it is even more so in his home territory. Yugi’s breath feels shallow under that stare now. Kaiba hardly even blinks. 

He’s alright with how the conversation’s going - maybe Kaiba really was just trying to make an overture toward friendship - up until the implication his victories are hollow, that he’s a fraud. “Excuse me?” His eyes go hard, and he fights the urge to bolt out of the over-large chair (his feet barely touch the ground). “That’s not- We weren’t like that. I was involved in every strategy. Even before we really understood, well, everything - every card played was still chosen by me.”

Yami would tell you so….if he could …

“ Involved …involved like your little sideline cheerleaders were involved? Cheering you on, pumping that garbage belief in the heart of the cards that I had to hear near every duel? Let’s face it, Yugi, you shared only your body, not your strategies, not your opinions.” Kaiba is so sure of it, the haughtiness oozes through his tone. 

“…You abandoned the Puzzle, hoping to bury him along with it. Content to soak up what infamy he dredged up for you, was that the idea? I thought you a lot of things, Yugi Muto, but never did I take you for someone willing to climb over the backs of others’ accomplishments. Maybe you’d do well in the corporate world.”

He stands, his back to Yugi, “…I’ve waited long enough. Nothing else is going to stand in my way, least of all, you. You have the last piece I need.”

A panel slides open along the wall, and contained there is a glass display case, illuminating what is kept protected inside. Seto moves aside and gestures toward it for Yugi to see. The Puzzle, nearly perfect again. 

“…Complete the Puzzle, Yugi. Call him back.”

He has to, what reason was there not to? Kaiba will be damned if he admits to believing in anything like destiny or fate, but he’ll carve fate out for himself tonight. 

“That’s not-” The outrage flares in him. “That’s not true! None of that is true!” He can’t begin to ask Kaiba what he means, what piece he needs, why he’s doing all this - because a panel slides open in the wall, and gold flares in his eyes.

And maybe Kaiba expected him to be happy, or chagrined, but he’s - horrified. He’s sad . “Kaiba-kun, how could you?” Unconsciously, his hand wraps around his pendant. “That was supposed to stay there, hasn’t enough been done? Let some things rest in peace!”

Call him back-

Yugi’s violet eyes widen. That’s what this is all about, recalling the Spirit of the Puzzle? “I…” His voice catches in his throat. “I can’t. He’s not there anymore. He’s gone, Kaiba-kun. He left, he wanted to leave. Don’t you understand that?” Don’t you, of all people, understand that?

Yugi’s reaction isn’t the one Kaiba anticipates.

Likewise, Kaiba’s reaction might not be the one Yug i anticipates.

At first there is only quiet digestion of Yugi’s words, among them, the stand-outs being, left, gone, wanted to leave…

And to both of their surprise, he starts…laughing. A slow, quiet thing at first. Contained.

All of this that he’s gone through, every fight, every loss, the painstaking effort of hunting this relic down and piecing it together again, creating technology for the sole purpose of breeching some afterlife that may or may not exist, but now Kaiba is forced to rely on the fact that it does…

All for Yugi to stand in his home and tell him that the spirit is gone and wanted it that way. That there’s no way to call him back.

And it’s unacceptable.

Kaiba’s laugh grows louder, and it’s clearly amused in the way that he thinks Yugi’s response is absolutely ridiculous. That they both came all this way to this very moment in time, only for Yugi to say no .

Finally, the noise settles abruptly, and what looks out at Yugi isn’t a glimmer of amusement, it’s a deathly cold glare.

“You can and you will . You’ll do it now. Complete the Puzzle and play vessel to the true King of Games.”

Yugi almost thinks he’s crying at first. He puts out a hand, murmurs, “Kaiba-kun…” After all, he understands. He dealt with Anzu saying she couldn’t look at him for a while, he dealt with the sudden silences in the darkness of his room, he dealt with all of it. He would understand if that loss was too much for Kaiba.

It’s the laugh that unsettles him, makes him draw his hand away again. He takes a hesitant step back, wondering if he couldn’t….couldn’t call Jonouchi or Hiroto, if they wouldn’t find a car to borrow and come get him. He doesn’t feel like going back in Kaiba’s beast of a car, not now. 

The laughter stops too abruptly. Kaiba’s demand makes courage flare in Yugi again, hand gripping his pendant. He’s never backed down from a challenge, and he’s not afraid any longer. Yami gave him that much. “I won’t. There’s nothing you can say or do that will change my mind on this - and even if there were, all you’ll have is an expensive bauble you should have left alone. There’s nothing there anymore, and I’m nobody’s vessel.” 

He turns and strides toward the door, grabs the handle, pulls- If he weren’t so angry, he might begin to feel panicked. “Open the door, Kaiba-kun.”

“ How cute. ”

Of course Yugi would choose a time as desperate as now to practice being assertive, stubborn. So if Yugi wouldn’t do it for the sake of seeing the Spirit for himself again, then Kaiba would force his hand.

“But I didn’t bring you here so that you could deny me what is rightfully mine to have. So I’ll give you an ultimatum- the only way you walk out of here is if you win in a duel against me. Consider it the chance to prove yourself once and for all. And if what you say is true, if you really are the strategy behind the Pharaoh’s fighting spirit, then you have nothing to fear, and we’ll both know the truth.” Seto makes his way toward the Puzzle, staring, his face reflecting in the glass.

“…And if I’m right…” If … “If the true King of Games is somewhere out there…then it’ll be your job to bring him back to me.” Kaiba turns, his gaze locked on Yugi now, from across the room. “However long that takes.”

He didn’t understand the magic behind it all, he didn’t care to. It was ludicrous enough that he entertained any of this, but what choice did he have?

And it was looking like Yugi didn’t really have one either.

“Rightfully-!” Kaiba really knows how to push his buttons. “If it were yours, the Spirit would have chosen you - but it didn’t . I’m the one who put the Puzzle together, I’m the King of Games!” 

“I’ve proven myself against you plenty of times.” He still doesn’t get it….what is going on in that man’s head! “Kaiba-kun, even if you win, it won’t bring Yami back. You aren’t going to get what you want.” 

He should just say no, no deal, refuse to play. It is the surest way to win this no-win situation. No one is going to walk away from this happy. But - Yami would not have declined the duel, neither can he. It is in his very blood, his fingers itch at the prospect. “Fine. But when I win, I want an apology for dragging me out here in the middle of the night for this nonsense.” 

Kaiba smirks, the icy depths of his eyes ignited in blue flame. Seto Kaiba apologizing to anyone…now that really would mark the end of the world. But if it were true…if this was to be a fair rematch, a true test of their strength, would Kaiba be satisfied then? Content to see Yugi on his way, knowing he has been bested by one worthy of the title?

Maybe, yes.

But at the moment, Yugi would have to earn it, just as any duelist would.

“ If you win…” Seto corrects mildly, reaching out to another sliding panel, inputting the commands needed to transform their playing field.

What good was a house if it couldn’t turn into a dueling arena at any given moment in time?

The mahogany walls and floors begin to shift around them, furniture shuffled away, the floor between them suddenly much more barren than before, and now the expanse of his house makes sense, given all the technology hidden away inside of it.

Along Yugi’s wall, where the door had once been - no more, of course - something of a familiar shape is deposited from a panel, it’s not quite the same duel disc that had been used in Battle City, but something far more advanced, no doubt meant to keep up the quality of the technology it was programmed with.

From Kaiba’s side, his own disc is mounted smoothly over his arm, and now they take an all too familiar stance that very nearly mirrors his carefully crafted simulation.

“Now we see what you’re capable of, without anyone’s power to hide behind.”

“Ah!” Yugi’s feet shift uncertainly beneath him; but no, it’s the floor! He nearly loses his balance, but dances back into position, mounting the disc to his arm and gritting his teeth. He feels the way he always did when the Pharaoh surged within his veins. But he knows the truth, and he knows what Yami would say. Take him, Aibou . He doesn’t know if it’s a memory, or he really hears his voice in that split second. He takes a quick breath and manages a smirking smile, feeling the pendant against his sternum. “I’ve never had to hide before, Kaiba-kun, and I’m not starting now! I activate Graceful Charity !” He moves quickly, drawing, discarding. Magician’s Rod in defense. Dark Magical Circle, Dark Magician, set a card- ready. He smiles. “Your move.” 

Yugi seems to flip easily enough, if nothing else, the spirit of the Pharaoh and his host were passionate about the game. But enjoyment didn’t equal skill, or talent, or a title.

Kaiba draws his own cards, “Graceful Charity…you’ll need all the charity you can get in this duel, Yugi.” He begins to lay down his own cards in quick succession, “I activate Mausoleum of White.” A special summon of Kaiser Vorse Raider, along with Maiden with Eyes of Blue.

“I activate her special effect, in which I send a monster from my hand or deck to the graveyard, which allows me to increase her attack by the level of the monster I choose. I have a feeling you’ll know which one, Yugi….” The Blue Eyes White Dragon , one of three hiding in his deck.

“But that’s not all, my Maiden allows me to special summon any Blue Eyes from my hand or my graveyard. And I just so happen to have one--- Blue Eyes White Dragon, come forth !” The walls and floor quake with the awesome force…it feels too real to be a mere hologram, and yet it must be. How much time and effort had Kaiba poured into this last update?

Lightning fills the massive room until the undeniably familiar shrieking cry of the dragon is heard, and it descends onto the field to its master’s call.

It’s the second turn and already Kaiba controls one of his most powerful calling cards, a testament to how deeply he’s longed for this.

“I hope you’re ready to fulfill your word to me, Yugi.” He stands there looking as ominous as the dragon behind him, snarling and ready to attack.

His heartbeat quickens, watching the spectacular dragon burst onto the scene, as if alive and shrieking its fury to the heavens. It’s like Kaiba himself, remote, aloof, untouchable, with eyes of sapphire. 

No, not untouchable. “Not so fast, Kaiba-kun!” He flips his face-down card over, feeling his breathing become heavy. “I activate Magical Dimensions!” He sees lightning crackle between them on the field. “It allows me to special summon the Dark Magician to my hand, and destroy one of your monsters. Dark Magician, destroy the Maiden with Eyes of Blue!” She shrieks and disappears into a puff of ozone, but he isn’t done. “I also activate my Dark Magical Circle, allowing me to banish one of your cards from the field of play.” Their eyes lock, why is he breathing so heavily? Why does Kaiba look so cool? “I banish the Blue Eyes White Dragon!” 

He watches Kaiba set his card, and digs his feet into the flooring, bracing for grip. “I always fulfill my word, Kaiba-kun. And now, it’s my turn.” 

It’s going well. He has several magic and trap cards in his hand, and his breathing begins to ease and even. “Dark Magician, attack Kaiba-kun’s Kaiser Vorse Raider!” 

“Did you really think it’d be that easy, Yugi?! I activate my face down card- Shadow Spell! It prevents your Magician from attacking, along with reducing its attack by seven hundred points!”

Yugi is quick, and maybe it’s still exhilarating this way, the constant back and forth, card for card. The attack ends up going through, Yugi reveals a card from his graveyard, its effect allowing the Dark Magician to continue, but even so, it loses five hundred attack points for destroying his Kaiser. A bite for a bite.

“I activate Pot of Greed, adding two cards to my hand. Try as you might to rid the field of my Blue Eyes, won’t you ever learn? Cut off one head…” Silent Doom allows him the chance to special summon his dragon back to the field, as if never gone.

“Another will take its place, Yugi!”

And this is just the beginning.

Their duels were never brief things, though in the moment, it always felt like the blink of an eye. Just like always, they trade point for point, though he has the edge over Kaiba - for now. He can feel Atem watching, in whatever way he can now, nodding, assessing, encouraging. You see, Kaiba-kun? It was always me.

It was always me .

He wishes the circumstances were different; that Kaiba would give him his friendship, the only thing he’s ever really asked of him. That they were testing each other for the love of it, the exhilarating thrill that runs through every tendon, that makes his eyes come alive with light and shadow and heat. That this were a partnership as much as it is a competition. Because as it is now, it can only end in disappointment, for one, if not for both of them.

The tension has left his body, all that exists is the moment and the cards. It sweeps over him in a tide of experience, and he finishes his play. The air around them is electric. It’s almost wonderful. “I end my turn.”

Perhaps if under different circumstances…but the circumstances of their lives have only ever been this. Disappointment was the only thing consistent. But now would be his chance to bury disappointment.

He might even concede that Yugi was a good duelist that could hold his own…but good was not great. Greatness would be shown here, in the way he offered up his two Blue Eyes and the third alternative in order to fusion summon his Neo Blue Eyes. Great in the way that he set his fury on Yugi and his Dark Magician, the way it has always been, and for a moment he might be able to pretend that this was the victory he wanted, that he could savor.

But he’d never know for certain, and that would eat away at him. Another year of sleepless nights, staring out at the stars.

“Neo Blue Eyes, attack and end this duel-!”

And still, even with victory so imminent, he anticipates the surprise. It’s what he’s come to expect.

“ I activate the Magical Hats !” 

Just as the rage of creation threatens to pour down and consume them all, four silk hats appear, and the Dark Magician is gone, secreted away and protected by their mundane appearance. 

Everything stops, so quiet he can almost hear his opponent breathe. Or is that his own breath filling his lungs? “You’ve fought honorably, Kaiba-kun, no one could do better. Please - let’s end this. No one can possibly win this battle that you want to fight.”

His eyes soften, still the gentle gaze of a young man who surprised even a restless, angry spirit. “Please.” 

So soft, even now, even after everything that’s been waged, the stakes of their duel so high, just as every other, and Yugi dares to plead with him.

The Pharaoh would never. He’d see it through to the end.

Kaiba’s fist clenches tightly, “I haven’t given up this far in my life, I’m not about to now because of your ridiculous tricks, Yugi! I waited too long for this, and I’ll be the one to decide when it ends!” There is no soft gaze offered back, only manic, electrified blue that resonates in Kaiba’s amalgamated dragons.

“Neo Blue Eyes, attack the second hat from the left!”

The dragon obeys, opening one of its maws to do so.

“And even if I don’t get it first try, Yugi, my monster has three heads to get the job done- three chances to-”

There’s a horrible cracking sound. Yugi would shoot back a reply, but his heart has stopped. The hats - he stares. The second from the left vanishes, and his Dark Magician contorts in pain - and then is gone.

The reader on the duel disc quickly ticks down - zero.

His breath hitches in his throat.

He’s lost before; he’s lost to Kaiba before. But not like this.

Not without Yami beside him and with him and through him.

“I-” Yugi’s hands start to tremble, his knees almost buckle. “I-” They really do buckle now, with the holograms gone, cards slipping from his fingers. Why are their tears in his eyes? Atem - did I disappoint you? Whatever is about to happen...that, that would truly be the worst of all possible outcomes. 

Even Kaiba seems stunned at first. Not having expected the duel to wrap up so quickly. There was always another card, then another after that, and back and forth they went, upping each other…

But that was another time…with another person.

And that is why this victory feels so…so…

Hollow.

The monsters begin to fade as the programming indicates the duel has come to a close. Unlike with the simulation, Kaiba does not feel anger…he feels…empty.

It only confirms that the person he’s after isn’t here, that Yugi may have been a decent player, maybe the Pharaoh had indeed rubbed off on him, but what’s been left behind is a mere shell, and Kaiba can’t accept that as is.

The disc is removed and he walks the long stretch of polished floor until he reaches Yugi, who looks less a King, and more a boy fallen to his knees.

There’s no comfort to be shown, not quite in the way someone as soft as Yugi might desire, but there’s a distant look in Kaiba’s eyes again, as if the veil has once again been closed, and he’s come away disappointed again.

“…Your word, Yugi. However long it takes.”

“You don’t understand!” He doesn’t mean to cry, and he’s not even sure why he is. It’s not losing the duel, it’s something else, like something horrible is about to happen, though he doesn’t really know what. “What you want, it’s impossible!” The sobs choke his voice and he covers his mouth with one hand, still on his knees before the impossibly smooth, unbearably cold Kaiba. “You could keep me here forever,” another choke, “ he won’t come back .” He has to lean over onto his hands now, the tears won’t stop, they just won’t stop-

Where there was laughter at the audacity to deny him before, nothing comes now but hands that reach down…not to pull Yugi to his feet out of kindness, out of the regaining of his respect and dignity, but his hands find the chain around his neck and yank upwards as if pulling a dog on its leash.

“I’ve had about enough !” Kaiba’s voice cuts through the chamber viciously, like claws scratching against the tile. Yugi is not a heavy weight to pull in the slightest, but his limbs are wildly windmilling to right himself so that he isn’t strangled in the process.

“Excuse after excuse, content to spend the rest of your days cleaning up after children who scream your name, it’s fucking pathetic !” He snarls, and he whips him around, shoves his lithe body against the case, pinning him there as he inputs the command for the glass to open, revealing the artifact Yugi once held dear.

“Do as you promised and complete the Puzzle, with whatever honor you have left!” It’s terrifying, the sheer, raw anger that quakes against Yugi’s form just as the dragons who graced the battlefield moments prior.

Yugi cries out, feeling the metal links bite into his neck. Has he ever been as afraid of Kaiba as he is now? He tries to right himself, his feet aren’t touching the floor, and he has one hand at Kaiba’s upper arm - firm through his coat - to try to gain some kind of purchase. He’d argue, but he can’t, the world spins, or no, that’s just him, whipped around by the taller, stronger man, pinned against glass. He yelps, crying out more out of fear than pain (though there’s a little of that, too), wincing away in an attempt to protect himself from whatever is about to happen. 

He can feel Kaiba’s words at his ear, on his skin, his neck vulnerable and exposed. He might have even spit on him in his rage. He tries to catch his breath, but he realizes Kaiba has kept his left hand free - to grab the Sennen Eye and put it back where it belongs. Don’t make me do this .

It’s probably only his imagination that hears, Yugi - the eye is only a token. You don’t need it . 

If only that were true. Tears still leak out of his closed eyes as he takes the pendant and reaches toward the Puzzle in its case. He doesn’t need to look, the eye seems to pull to be back with its companion. It slips easily into place, and he only opens his own eyes again to pull his chain free of its thread. 

Kaiba still has his hands on him, but nothing else has happened. Right now, he’d be no worse than a few minor bruises. It might be alright, it might….

His shoulders loosen every so slightly, his breathing becomes more even. Nothing has happened. He’s supposed to be disappointed - he’s only relieved.

Kaiba’s breathing is heavy, waiting as he watches Yugi finally lift the final piece, and it all too easily settles into place, and finally…there’s more emotion stirring in his core than the end of their duel. He’s accomplished this much, how difficult can the rest be? He had done all the work, and his efforts would finally be rewarded.

“… Call him .” Kaiba’s warm breath brushes at Yugi’s ear, and his eyes are locked onto the completed Puzzle, watching it for any kind of sign…he wouldn’t know what to expect, but even so.

There must be some way, whatever connection Yugi has to it. He could accept maybe a few days of silence, but surely nothing so long as forever….

No…

The Pharaoh would have to return.

He feels the heaviness of Kaiba’s exhalations at his back, starts and shivers at his hot breath on his ear. Yugi’s eyes close. “It’s not a telephone.” He turns and looks back up at the other man, still trapped with those large hands on his shoulders. “There’s nothing to call. I told you, he isn’t there.” His eyes are wild, tiny pinpricks swallowed by white madness. “Kaiba-kun.”

What exactly had he been expecting? Yugi would close his eyes, his posture would straighten, and that deep, stern voice would spill out, thus signaling the change? Yes…it seemed to always happen before, that otherworldly presence taking over, commanding such authority.

But it doesn’t happen now.

Why?

What had gone wrong…?

“No…” Kaiba pulls away, his bruising grip on Yugi released, and he takes a step back, sizing up the situation. Something must be out of place…a calculation gone wrong, a piece not quite all the way in…

He didn’t spend billions of dollars and resources on finding this hunk of gold for it to sit here like some museum piece! If this was the only relic suitable to house the Pharaoh’s soul, then he would need to return to it!

“Where is he?” So much he demands from Yugi tonight- his cards, his dueling prowess, his servitude, and now an answer that not even the greatest of philosophers or religious leaders could say for certain.

Yugi bites back the temptation to say, “I told you so,” but only just. Perhaps it shouldn’t - his friends would say it definitely shouldn’t - but once again his heart goes out to Kaiba, wild eyed and pacing the floor. Once again, he knows how he feels, desperately lonely and untethered in this mad and caustic world. 

At that question, Yugi only sighs, shoulders slumping. “You know I can’t answer that…” Maybe this is all going to end well after all. Giving up the Sennen Eye would be worth it, if it made Kaiba understand, if it brought him in at long last. The only thing he’d ever wanted, since he’d first walked into homeroom, to be his friend- “He’s….he’s wherever he is. But, Kaiba-kun,” he tries to walk toward him, a comforting hand outstretched. “Maybe it’s silly, but I think he’s here, too. He’s with us. You know, people don’t leave you when they’ve left such a mark on you. That’s what I think, anyway.”

I can’t answer that….he’s wherever he is…people don’t leave….mark on you…

Kaiba stares out at the Puzzle, only barely registers Yugi’s comforting hand, the sound of his words, because up until this point, he had felt so prepared to receive what was meant for him…

Now he hits yet another dead end, a stalemate. But if Yugi thinks he’ll just give up and accept things as they are….he doesn’t have a clue as to who Seto Kaiba is.

His eyes shift to land on Yugi, and perhaps it’s more dangerous to have those eyes locked on him than an inanimate object.

“I don’t care what you think , Yugi. You’re the only one that has the means to call out to him. To summon him back. I don’t know if you really are unable to, as you claim, or you just won’t do it…but I’m willing to wait.” It’s never quite a smile, but something that upturns his mouth just enough. “ I’ll wait. ” He hisses again, eyes boring into Yugi’s.

There are still options.

There are still experiments.

Not all is lost just yet. If he were the type of person to think that way, all of this would’ve ended long ago, before he took control of this company.

Before Yugi can protest, Kaiba barks out for one of his guards, and the panels begin to shift around to reform the living area into the way that Yugi came into it. The door is unlocked from the other side, the guard standing by.

“…Take our guest to the suite upstairs.” And if Yugi wants to start anything, Kaiba would gladly display a repeat of personally dragging him by his own chain up the stairs.

Any vulnerability Kaiba displays is gone in an instant, replaced by a wall of glass, a wall of silver and steel. Wait? “Fine, if that’s what you want to do. I’ll come back tomorrow, and-”

The walls are shifting, and they aren’t making a comfortable living space - they’re making a prison. Yugi’s violet eyes widen as the full ramifications of what has just transpired begin to hit him - one after another after another-

“Wait-!” Another suited thug, this one at least doesn’t have sunglasses. “I didn’t agree to this! Kaiba-kun!” But he’s already turned away, Yugi is completely dismissed. “You can’t just keep me here forever! Atem isn’t coming back, and keeping me won’t change that! Kaiba-kun, look at me !”

But he doesn’t, he doesn’t, he never did, never did-! His voice chokes at the even larger hand on his arm, the murmur of, “This way, sir.”

Yugi isn’t sure if he’s screaming or not, but his throat feels tight enough to rip apart from it in either case. 

Chapter Text

He’s curled up in a tight little ball when he finally wakes up in the morning, body incredibly stiff. It’s not that the bed was uncomfortable; it’s one of the most beautiful rooms he’s ever been in. A four poster bed with a blue gauze canopy, light blue sheets of silk (he thinks they’re silk, he’s not sure he’d know either way). The floor here is covered in expensive rugs, just like that room last night, and a fireplace, too. The curtains are heavy damask, he doesn’t know what the windows look out on, but it’s probably something expensive. A tufted settee in velvet, a cashmere throw draped across one arm. A large armoire in mahogany with a full-length mirror in the door, a matching chest of drawers. The vanity matches the armoire, the dressing screen matches the settee… An en suite bath with a clawfoot soaking tub, a separate shower with a head to simulate the rainfall. The floors are heated. In addition to the Tiffany floor lamps, there’s a chandelier with a thousand pieces of crystal, dimmed with a switch at the nightstand. It’s a room out of a fairytale.

It’s a prison.

He’s sore from how tightly he’d curled into himself. His voice is hoarse from yelling to be let out, his hands bruised from banging on the door. It was locked, of course, the windows bolted. He’d briefly contemplated taking the vanity’s chair and smashing the glass, but not only did he not think it would work, from the little he could judge in the dark and the rain, he was at least three storeys up, and he didn’t trust a rope made of Kaiba’s sheets to hold him. Or him to not have, for example, vicious packs of dobermans, because it was starting to seem like a thing he just might have. It was starting to seem like maybe, just perhaps….Kaiba was not entirely well.

His cellphone had, somehow, no reception in this room last night. None. He couldn’t even get texts through. Would his mother worry? Would she only think he stayed over with Jonouchi? Probably, until he didn’t come home to open the store. 

His phone is gone now, when he looks for it, and he doesn’t panic and think it’s misplaced, because his wallet is similarly gone. He slept in his clothes and feels rumpled, his tongue covered in a film. As long as it takes . When that means, very literally, forever, what is going to happen?

Yugi tries the door in a kind of resigned curiosity - but the knob turns where it did not last night. Oh. He blinks. Maybe the situation is not completely hopeless, just yet. 

It can’t be hopeless.

If he ever gave way to that kind of thinking, where would he be now? He and Mokuba would’ve been stuck in that orphanage, maybe separated, and both of them would’ve led very different, arguably worse off lives. Everything he has ever done has been through determination and sheer willpower, to never give up, even when it seemed easier.

So in this too, it seems worth the fight. If only Yugi felt the same. What had transpired in Egypt? If he could’ve just been there. He could have seen for himself. He could’ve heard it from the Pharaoh himself , that his wishes were to leave, not forced to rely on Yugi’s word for it.

He spends all night staring at that Puzzle hanging there, complete but just a useless trophy glimmering back at him. Not even that, really. More of a corpse.

When Mokuba arrives, it’s then that Seto finally emerges and looks a bit like death himself, tired circles somehow even more prominent than usual, lost in circling thought that even his brother might not be able to navigate through.  

His big brother joins him in the breakfast nook and looks - well, worse than normal. “You’re not going to work today, are you?” He didn’t mean that to be the first thing he said, it would probably annoy Seto - but he really does look terrible. “I-I just mean, you look sick.” He begins to stand up from his spot at the table. “I could get the thermometer-”

“No…- Mokuba….don’t bother.” 

He has no doubt he looks worse for wear. He’s neglected his own health for the sake of this project. Hasn’t been eating or sleeping regularly. And now, with things so close to being in his grasp, Yugi is the very last obstacle in his way, and oddly the last one he ever expected to hinder him.

…But that wouldn’t be for long.

Seto settles into his seat, though his intention isn’t to eat anything. The only thing he helps himself to is coffee. Black with a spoon of sugar- perhaps the latter might be a surprise to most.

“…And no, I won’t be going into the office today.” Perhaps it’s a lot to place onto Mokuba’s shoulders, he’s still young, but he’s no younger than Seto himself had been, when he’d been pumped and primed of all of his stepfather’s business ventures. 

This was Mokuba’s empire to learn to navigate as well, and the only way to learn how to tame a beast was to ride with it every day. 

There is of course, a greater beast in the room to speak of, the elephant that would undoubtedly need to be addressed. How to put it lightly…?

Seto clasps his hands together. 

“We have a guest staying with us here for a while. Someone that will…” End this madness…

“…Help.”

“A guest?” He blinks up at his big brother, still taller - but Mokuba is hitting his growth spurts and growing lanky as well. Another year, he might be nearly as tall. The only kind of person who could possibly “help,” to his mind, would be a doctor, but he has a feeling that’s not what Seto means. Then his gut sinks slightly, a bad feeling creeping up his spine. “You don’t mean help with that-” He doesn’t finish, glancing meaningfully toward the hall, to the only thing his brother has had any mind for in the last three months. It all gives him a very, very bad feeling. “Do you?”

“ That’s exactly what I mean, ” Seto replies, a bit more snappishly than usual…well, with regards to his brother, at least. No one understands, and he doesn’t expect Mokuba to, but something so important to take him away from every other aspect of his life…his position…it had better be for a damn good reason.

“The only person with a connection to the Puzzle.” A connection he refuses to access, or actively denies now. Kaiba has poured resources into researching rifts between dimensions, creating realities, harnessing the energy of other places and people…and all Yugi had to ever do was just…was just…play a game , and the Pharaoh would…

…Maybe that was part of it.

Maybe he was onto something.

He seems a little more awake then.

“…Yugi has…agreed, via the circumstances of last night’s duel…to stay. To figure out how to…activate it, again.” Because saying the words, “To figure out how to bring the Pharaoh back to me,” seemed a bit too intimate to bear to his kid brother in their breakfast nook. How to even begin to explain any of it, let alone the feeling of being alive whenever they dueled.

He hasn’t liked any of what his brother is saying up until this present moment, and he really doesn’t like it now. “The circumstances? Seto, what did you do?” But he knows what he did. Yugi “agreed,” to precisely nothing, he never would. He’s not so blinded as his brother to miss that, blinded by a glimmer of gold and what lies behind it. Whatever is about to happen, it’s not going to be good for Yugi, and it almost certainly will not be good for Seto, either. 

Seto, who always took so much on himself. Seto, who always protected him. It is time for him to start figuring out how to protect Seto, instead.

“Where is he now? What is it you’re planning to do?” He looks up at the ceiling, as if he could hear their “guest’s,” step across the floor, though of course he can’t. “Seto, he doesn’t need to stay for this. What if we sent him away, and - and went on a trip! Just the two of us, you’re always saying you’ll take me out for something. It’s my last year before high school, let’s go now! As a present!”

Mokuba was very adept at pressing the right buttons. There was nothing Seto wouldn’t do for him. He wants more than anything to take him to wherever he wants to go, but the fatigue would only grow, and the pain would only persist, and the anger, the frustration, the consumption of his mind would plummet into the maw of this great deity that had positioned itself as the center of his shrine.

He can’t move forward. He’s stuck in time, stuck while his technology, the world, and even Mokuba, go on without him.

Just this final duel, he tells himself, and then he can rest, and the Pharaoh can do as he pleases- stay, or go, it wouldn’t matter anymore. It wouldn’t .

“… Mokuba .” Seto’s voice is quiet, restrained. A careful veil. “Now isn’t the best time. My hands are full. Yugi is only assisting me, that’s all. A temporary situation. You have nothing to be concerned about.” Which is precisely the very reason Mokuba should be concerned.

His shoulders slump; he knows better than to push in a moment like this. He’s seen his brother lash out before, and he isn’t eager to see it again. “I’ll help, too,” he says, more cheerfully than he feels. “What if - what if you went and freshened up, and I’ll…” He struggles. “Help settle Yugi in!” Maybe it’s better to pretend it’s all okay. Maybe, if he acts like it’s a sleepover, just a happy new addition to their lives, like a puppy with extra strings attached - maybe Seto will relax, and he can figure something else out then.

The other half of his mind remembers how Yugi never pretended for Pegasus, when he worked to free both him and Seto. And he feels like a jerk.

But he’s not Yugi, he’s not Seto, he’s only him - and until he can figure things out, getting his brother well has to come first. “You should at least take a shower.” Or a nap….

A shower sounded good enough for now. Anything else could be bargained for later. He knows his brother well enough to know not to assume anything conspiratorial would be taking place, he’s not that far gone yet at least.

Sad that a man’s measured gauge of sanity might be reduced to being so paranoid over his own brother speaking ill of him. 

“Fine. He’s upstairs in the guest suite.” He stands from the table, still somehow so graceful, even with how tired he must be from last night’s events.

Maybe Mokuba would serve as a better buffer between the two of them, for Yugi to face first thing in the morning. Not the haunted disappointment etched into the ever growing permanent scowl forming on Kaiba’s face, but instead graced with the infectious cheerfulness of his kid brother to soften the blow that this wasn’t so temporary as Kaiba implied. 

But a prison didn’t have to be miserable. Yugi need only think to the prison that once hung around his neck. Was the Spirit particularly fond of being inside of that ancient, gaudy bauble? Likely not. Isn’t Kaiba so generous, as to not stuff Yugi into a closet and force him to stay inside it indefinitely? It’s the way he sees it. 

He passes Mokuba and sets a hand against his shoulder, squeezing. He isn’t the best with expressing himself in the healthiest of manners- not that he lacks the verbiage, but the struggle of actually voicing what he feels inside. But in his own way, Mokuba understands the gist, and sometimes that’s more than enough. 

It's very quiet… The house is so large, there could be a brass band playing on the other end, and here he wouldn't know. Yugi decides to chance leaving the room. With the door unlocked he most likely was being given permission. 

There's no one on the stairs, no sound from any of the rooms he passes. He'd try to make it to the front door, but no wallet, no phone, on foot… and he still hasn't discounted the possibility of roving packs of dobermans just yet. 

One door is open, sunlight spilling into the hall: it's small, smaller than the room last night, a much simpler table and chairs before a bay window, and- "Mokuba?" His lungs fill with a new hopefulness, he pads into the room. "Where's your brother."

From the looks of it, Kaiba isn’t anywhere in sight…but that meant very little in this labyrinth of a house. It seemed too that guards and staff made themselves scarce, only appearing when required. A useful skill to have.

Mokuba looks a little relieved to see Yugi intact. His brother could be a little reckless at times, but it had always seemed like he operated with an organized chaos. This erred more on the side of… just chaos.

“Hey Yugi…!” A circumstance like this made it a little difficult to say something like, ‘good morning’, but Mokuba has to at least try to lighten the tension.

“Ah…he’s…he’s just getting cleaned up. You must be hungry! The kitchen can make anything you want.” Though it’s doubtful that Yugi has much of an appetite at all. Mokuba doesn’t entirely know what the extent of their…”agreement,” is, but he doubts that it was an understanding both him and Yugi agreed on.

He is hungry, but he has other matters on his mind. "Where's my phone," is first out of his mouth. It doesn't seem to matter if he's asked for anything or not, within two minutes, a quiet girl has placed a dish of steamed eggs before him and then disappeared again. "Why does your brother have the Millennium Puzzle."

Oh…oh this…this is worse than he thought. Mokuba bites at his lip. It’s not that Yugi doesn’t deserve to have answers, it’s just that Mokuba doesn’t have the ones he’s looking for.

“…I…don’t know where your phone is. I’m sorry. We were sent to Egypt to retrieve it. It took a long time…” At the time, Mokuba had chalked it up to…sentimentality or something. He was a bright kid, he understood what his brother did in his virtual worlds he created and carefully crafted every line of code into.

But now it seemed less pretend…it wasn’t just holograms Seto was chasing. Whatever it was, he was convinced Yugi was the only one who could help him find it.

“…He’s wanted it for a while now. I…I wish I could tell you more, but…” He sighs, “…Seto shares a lot with me, but….not everything.”

“What did he say to you last night…?” That was always a decent gauge of how worked up his brother was.

Part of him wants to snap at Mokuba, why would he do that, didn’t it cross his mind that that was a terrible idea? But he doesn’t - after all, it was hardly his plan, and as he’s seen, telling Kaiba no is….no mean feat. 

It was the why that he didn’t really understand. Kaiba had always been….focused on his defeats at Yugi’s hands, much more so when he decided on the Pharaoh as his rival, and not the boy whose body he shared; but why he couldn’t let that go, that is beyond him. 

“Say?” A lot more things he didn’t understand...He almost starts to tremble at the thought of it, and bites his teeth together to stop it. “He….wants to call the Pharaoh back, and told me if he won the duel, I’d have to stay here as long as it takes. He thinks I’m just being stubborn, but I’m not, Mokuba! Atem is gone , I can’t call him because there’s no one to call!”

He said much more than that, though: pathetic pretender to the title of King of Games, among other things….He grips the edge of the table to keep his composure. “I can’t just stay here for….well, forever.” 

The Pharaoh…

It’s all tied together, those seven Millennium Items, the constant fighting over the god cards, the Ishtar family...

So much had happened in such a short amount of time, starting with Pegasus…or maybe long before even that. Thousands of years ago, the stage had been set. It didn’t matter that they had all been children wrapped up in the string of events that followed. Yugi had done the best that he could, and even now when there were no more duels for the world’s fate left, and the spirit of the Puzzle was gone, he still wasn’t allowed to rest.

It isn’t fair.

But none of this was.

“Well….well, not forever-…” Mokuba agrees, because that would be insane. “But…Yugi, ah…maybe you could just…uhm…” How to say it without betraying his brother…it wasn’t as if Seto wouldn’t be smart enough to figure it out. Yugi…pretending. That might make his brother even angrier, the feeling of being mocked and patronized, lied to.

“…There’s gotta be something you can do. Maybe another way to…explain?” A way that didn’t involve dueling, or their usual way of communication.

Yugi takes a deep breath. Mokuba’s right - he just needs to keep explaining. Kaiba….Kaiba needs help. And he is going to be the one to do it, because he always is.

Because he wants to be.

He manages a very small smile. “Alright. But - Mokuba, I need your help, too. I need you to let Honda and Jonouchi know what’s happened. Maybe they can….contact the Ishtars, somehow.” He doesn’t really know how. “I think it’s better if we get the Puzzle away from Kaiba-kun. I don’t think it’s helping.” He spoons egg into his mouth, feeling a lot more hopeful than he did last night. With Mokuba to help him, there must be some way to save Kaiba from himself - and free Yugi at the same time. “And if you can find my phone...But I have to talk to your brother. I mean, he’s got to at least let me go home to get my clothes, right?”

Right?

It’s then that Mokuba doesn’t look so candid suddenly. Yugi requests that Mokuba himself be the one to reach out to his friends, to let them know what happened, and contact the Ishtars.

His brother would be furious.

But…Yugi…he had done a lot for him…for both of them, and it was difficult to outright deny him, to carry on as if any of this was okay. He doesn’t agree with his brother’s methods, but he wouldn’t dare go behind his back. It was a lot to ask, but…

“…I’ll…see what I can do.” Is the best he can provide. Especially on film.

As to Yugi’s other question, well…

“I guess you’d have to ask my brother about that. Maybe he’ll be calmer?” Highly unlikely, but maybe at the very least, this was a chance to reset the playing field. To start again, a new challenge, new strategy.

He does agree that the Puzzle being here seemed to make things worse, he can’t help but to feel a bit guilty for supporting its recovery.

Seto’s made quick work of showering, long since having dressed, his hair still wet, but it’s not a hesitation to return to the dining area of his own house because of facing Yugi. Rather, he’s been watching their interaction via one of the many mounted screens set up to provide continuous coverage in his own home. It was a large home, and if somehow someone was both skilled and stupid enough to have found their way onto his property by any impossible stretch, he’d know. But now these cameras serve a different purpose, and perhaps a far better one.

He shouldn’t have left Mokuba alone with him. He may not have been as commanding as the Pharaoh, but Yugi had a way of getting others to do what he wanted. Did he really think he could use his brother though? Interesting. Maybe Yugi wasn’t such a docile thing after all. It wouldn’t matter though, Mokuba would never betray him that way, but the fact that Yugi thought he’d have any alliance with him at all is galling.

In any case, it provides enough insight into what Yugi’s demeanor is, what he’d be asking for, what Kaiba might be inclined to provide to him, what leverage he could use. That’s all this footage is good for, really, it doesn’t tell him anything he wouldn’t be able to assume on his own.

 Finally he descends down the stairs, sans his usual flaring coat, and he leans a shoulder against the frame of the entryway, his expression no less tired.

Yugi’s surprised to see Kaiba back already, as if summoned, and excuses himself from Mokuba. He manages to smile a little, coming up to the other young man. “Good morning. I, uh, was hoping we might be able to talk. About the current situation, that is.” Kaiba looks….well, kind of awful, really. He might be really sick...He can understand why Mokuba would want him to just try to explain again. Something needs to be done for his brother. 

Kaiba watches him, a faintly amused quirk at the corner of his mouth. Good morning , he says, as if Yugi had merely stayed over the night.

“…I trust you slept well, Yugi?” If that’s the game he wants to play, fake pleasantries, he’ll find it a very short one. “It was the best room we could set you up in on such short notice. I’m sure you understand.” As if the whole thing is his fault- had only he done as Seto originally requested, there wouldn’t be talk of treason in his breakfast nook.

“…Well? What is it you wanted to say?” And he expects he’ll hear the same excuses as before- he can’t, he’s not there, there’s nothing he can do, he has to get home , and if that’s what it becomes, he’d personally rather fasten one of Yugi’s many buckles across his face and shove him back into his room again until he was ready to cooperate. This didn’t have to be long term, Yugi didn’t have to worry about anything if he just…

Just did one thing for him. He always went on and on about the importance of friendship, and no, they never had been friends, had they? Not at all close, and that had been fine. But Yugi had done more for less deserving people, and at least he and Kaiba had a long running history. His refusal to help was beyond comprehension.  

“I, uh- ha….” His smile falters, especially with the way Kaiba looks at him. At him, through him, just as always….His hair is still slightly damp, slightly tousled. He’s not sure he’s ever seen him so….casual as this. Yugi’s certainty and courage falter under that unending stare. “It’s a beautiful room. Th….Thank you.”

Yugi steps around him, into the hall, since apparently Kaiba isn’t interested in having a proper, private conversation in a different room. This is going to be much worse than he thought, why did Mokuba sound so hopeful? But he can’t give up just yet, he hasn’t even started. “Listen.” He tries to smile again “You don’t want me here all the time - I-I mean, you hardly even like me!” Another attempt at laughter with a very rough swallow. “But I can see this is important to you - s-so I’ll do everything I can to help. Every day, after the store closes, I’ll come over, and-”

He turns as Yugi moves out into the hall, watching him, watching the way already he winds up and dolls out excuses. As if he couldn’t see any of it coming. His head drops, his expression out of view for a moment, but he seems irritated, and maybe a little exasperated.

“No.” It’s short, simple, direct. There’s no other alternative. This was the terms of their duel. They had always operated on the contractual bindings of duels before, why was now any different? Because Yugi had to give something of himself, had to do something for Kaiba for once? There are no fans around to see any of it, what difference did it make if he failed one duel, he could still keep his borrowed title.

“You staying here is helping, Yugi.” As to how, he didn’t know yet, but eventually.

“Anything else?”

“I-” The simplicity of Kaiba’s refusal throws him off balance. If he was going to refuse, Yugi had expected it would be more of the bombast and rage of last night. He’s calm, unnervingly so, and he’s reminded of the fact Seto Kaiba is one of the last people in the world he should underestimate.

“Okay….” He tries to keep that smile up. “Well, uh, we should really talk about….what I’m doing, in that case. My mother and grandfather need to know where I am. They need to know why, and they need to know how long. What am I going to tell them?” Because probably even Kaiba would see that simply saying he’s been abducted would not be the best possible option. “I have nothing to wear...no toiletries, nothing to do. I mean, what am I doing? Is this a job? Do I get breaks? I guess you’re feeding me.

“And…” With two fingers, he reaches out and touches Kaiba at the wrist, perhaps the one place he’s warm, where the blood flows through him, a living thing. “I just want to know….why, Kaiba-kun. What’s the purpose in all this?” He looks up at him with those big, imploring eyes - not consciously, he’s never been that good. He just….wants to understand. 

Yugi is one worry into the next, acting as though none of this would be taken care of, as if he didn’t know Kaiba’s methods in any capacity, with all his eye for detail and the great care he put into arranging tournaments, conferences- what does he think, that he’ll be thrown into some dungeon without clothes and food and forced into screen printing shirts with the Kaiba Corp symbol over them? 

But just as he’s about to remind his honored guest as to who he’s staying with and what he should know by now to expect, he’s suddenly frozen. 

Yugi is... touching him. And maybe he hopes to find a pulse there to prove Seto Kaiba is indeed merely human, but...his blood turns to ice under Yugi’s warm fingers. Soft. And his eyes are...soft, everything about him seems soft and quiet, an unassuming and maybe even unqualified person to be expected to change the world in the way that he has. 

And yet for a single moment, he steals away a second of Seto Kaiba’s attention, their eyes meeting. What’s the purpose of all this, Yugi asks, and for that moment, Kaiba himself isn’t so sure. 

...A shudder rolls up his spine and he draws back, scowling. Retreating. “...Yugi, you should understand that better than anyone. I deserve a true rematch with him. As for everything else, it’ll be taken care of. You’ll be informed when you’re needed.”

That's it? One game, and Atem can go back to sleep? No, Yugi doesn't think it's that simple; that may be what Kauba says, but once he got what he wanted, there would be something else to want, one more demand, one more rematch, one more day, one more night. This pit has no bottom. 

"Y-you're a businessman, you understand the value of a contract. I'd rather have it clear and upfront, no waiting and finding out at the worst possible second. I want to know - and what can I tell my family?"

It may as well have been a contract, with how serious it is. Maybe Yugi wouldn’t agree with all the fine print of the arrangement, but Kaiba would argue he shouldn’t have engaged in a duel, should’ve fought harder not to be coerced into coming here, if he really wanted no part in any of it. 

“I’ll make things perfectly clear, then. You tell your family you’re collaborating with me on a project. I’ve heard you mention on more than one occasion your dream of creating your own game one day.” 

In passing, not that he had been actively listening, or paying any attention. Yugi’s friends were loud. 

“As for the terms of our arrangement, since you seem to think the Pharaoh is gone, I need information out of you. Even if it’s meaningless to you, anything could be important.” 

And to buy Kaiba time. Time to figure out how to bring him back from wherever he’d gone. Put him back inside of the Puzzle, and have Yugi here to verify it had worked.

It’s a little distressing just how thoroughly Kaiba’s thought this through - how long had he been planning this? But then he says something, and Yugi’s eyes light up, probably more than Kaiba had expected. “We could make a game?” He leans up on his toes eagerly, full of energy and enthusiasm suddenly. “I have a lot of ideas - good ones, if you wanted to talk about-”

But Kaiba’s already cut him off, back to talking about his role here. Yugi deflates. He wants to focus on the future, Kaiba is only interested in the past - the ancient past. “What sort of information?” He asks, brow scrunching together in confusion.

Kaiba takes note of Yugi’s sudden enthusiasm, frowning, and not quite sure why it’s displeasing to him. Maybe the fact that Yugi doesn’t seem to share any desire along with him to see the Pharaoh again. Didn’t he miss him? Or was their bond purely just professional, somehow, sharing a body out of necessity but using one another for mutual, personal gain.

Or maybe that it’s Yugi is just so…so different than the Pharaoh and it’s painstakingly obvious in most everything. Cheerful, exuberant, maybe a bit childish. All those years of connecting through duels, fighting, growing as duelists…the person he thought he shared any of that with just…wasn’t here in front of him, and it’s difficult to cope with.

“…Anything, really. About him. About where he planned to go, how the Puzzle works, how you could tell when he took over for you in our duels.”

If there had been a way to seal the Pharaoh inside of it once before, there had to be a way to do it again. Maybe the key to that was back in Egypt.

It’s just that it’s hard, when everyone wants to talk to you, and no one wants to talk to you . Yugi might as well not even be here, it seems. Perhaps Atem should have stayed, and he gone to the afterlife. Would anyone here have noticed, aside from maybe his grandfather?

All enthusiasm has left him, and he nods. “Alright. But - I want to go home first and tell my mother and grandfather. I also want to take some things with me.” A much more customary determination enters his eyes now. “A-and I want time to study for my entrance exams. I was working on that, before….this.” Might as well attempt to alter the terms of the deal in his favor as much as he can in other ways, if completely voiding it is right out. And speaking of- “And I want my phone back! And my wallet!”

He gets a better look at the house in the day, huffing very slightly. “So if I’m the prince in the tower, is there anywhere I’m not supposed to go?”

Kaiba’s frown slips away as Yugi’s enthusiasm does, and now he merely looks bored.

“You ask for a lot of things from me, Yugi. And what do I get for all these allowances I make for you, mm?” And what did Yugi require a phone or his wallet for if he wasn’t going out?

“…You can tell your family exactly what I told you. Your books and study materials can be brought here. What personal items would you need?”

Prince in the tower, cute. Certainly more of a prince than a King. Seto thinks it over. There’s no harm in letting Yugi wander around the estate, other than him becoming lost, or wedged between the panels of his shifting plates. That would be most unfortunate.  There’s nothing of sentimentality here that would serve as some great revealing thing about the Kaibas personal affairs- he had virtually nothing from his childhood, the only family photos hanging around his and Mokuba’s necks. Even so, Yugi shouldn’t feel too comfortable, that he could simply mill about at his leisure.

And surely Yugi wouldn’t be coming into his room at any point, why would he want to?

“This isn’t a tourist attraction.”

“You’re getting everything you wanted, remember?” Or at least, he was getting the delusion of it… “I want my own stuff. My games, my books, my clothes - at least something.” He doesn’t think of himself as a particularly material person, but it’s difficult to catalogue the contents of his room and think of what he has to give up now. He at least has his cards here, carefully handed down from his grandfather. He wants some of his portable games, and he’s thinking about bringing a photo album, just in case… “I should at least get to go home and tell them in person, that will let me get my things while I’m there. They’d worry otherwise, they wouldn’t believe it.” 

Yugi rolls his eyes at Kaiba’s dry rejoinder, though he does try not to. “Yeah, well, you’ve basically promised to keep me here forever, so - just wanna get the record straight and all that.” Nor has he forgotten the questions Kaiba’s dodged: “My phone and my wallet.” 

 “That’s yet to be seen.” Everything he wants isn’t here just yet, is it? That doesn’t mean he’ll give up so easily, but it’s a lot more vague than he’d been hoping for.

Still. He has to remember how much progress has been made, not what hasn’t been achieved yet.

“I’m not letting you fill up my house with your toys, Yugi. If they’re useful to what we’re trying to accomplish here, bring it with you, but everything else is just unnecessary. Anything else you could possibly need will be provided.” He shouldn’t have to explain any of this, but Yugi and his friends had always been difficult.

“No phone or wallet.” Seto smirks a little then, “I can’t imagine you’d be texting the Pharaoh, so not very useful, is it?”

Chapter Text

His mother had taken the news well, his grandfather less so. Beyond concern of who would help in the shop, he seemed to sense something wasn’t quite right. Yugi had assured, “Jonouchi would help, he needs the money.”

“Well, before you go anywhere, let’s call him.”

“I-I can’t.” He panicked, trying not to look over his shoulder, back at the car, and the man in the suit and shades waiting just outside it. “We’re in a….really big rush. I left in the middle of something.”

Grandpa had rubbed his chin, still sizing up his grandson. It was his mother who encouraged it. “This could be a really big opportunity for Yugi!” Her understanding would have been touching if the situation were anything other than what it was…

Screw what Kaiba said anyway, he is going to pack whatever he darn well feels like and make his staff carry it all out (he is still extremely upset about his phone. At least Mokuba will get messages out to his friends). There is less he thought he needed than he’d initially suspected: he probably doesn’t need all of his identical pairs of jeans, since it seems Kaiba is willing to provide a wardrobe. But he does pack in every buckle, belt, and bangle that he owns, and he throws in his eyeliner particularly because he thinks it would bother his host. He packs his PSP, a small sleeve of games, his exam books…

He turns to the bed, a slightly ragged plush Kuriboh sitting on his pillows just as it had been when he made his bed yesterday morning. Atem had always liked this...Atem had listened to him, to him , even if Kaiba thought that was the dumbest topic in the world. He listened when he talked about a father that had left them, the inadequate gifts that bridged no divides when he did turn up, only to be gone for longer than before, and now maybe forever….

“This was the last thing he gave you?” Atem had turned the toy over in his hands, in Yugi’s hands, looking into its glassy eyes worn dull by play and kisses.

“You can say it’s silly.”

“It isn’t. I wish I had had such a comforting token.” He set it down, gently, carefully. “It wasn’t your fault, Aibou. It had nothing to do with you, and everything with him.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know a little bit about fathers.”

Yugi studies it, picks it up and hugs it close, breathing in the deep, comforting odor. He’ll take this, too, and tucks it carefully into his duffle bag, hidden between his shirts. 

For how obsessed Kaiba was, Yugi is surprised to be left alone the rest of the afternoon when he is brought back, inevitably, to the house. He’d contemplated, briefly, just refusing to go - but he’d promised, and moreover, he’d promised Mokuba to help, a promise that is clearly very much needed in this household. So he actually just spends most of the day unpacking his clothes into the dresser (they all fit in a single, large drawer, the rest standing empty), and studying his exam books. It would be difficult to focus on trigonometry even if he hadn’t just let himself be kidnapped….

No one comes to get him when it is time for dinner, rather someone buzzes an intercom he hadn’t even realized existed, built into his nightstand. These are probably all over the house, for Kaiba’s convenience. He wonders if he could order room service like a hotel, but better, because he doesn’t have to pay for anything. The thought makes him smile a little, because Jonouchi would tell him to take Kaiba for everything he could….

If he’s expected to “dress for dinner,” well, he doesn’t, and it doesn’t seem to matter, because despite the full course meal on the table in the dining room, there’s no one seated there. He waits for a while until a waiting staffer says, “Oh, no, sir, you should begin. Neither of the brothers may join you, so there is no point in waiting.” He’s just about to take that advice when Mokuba does arrive, looking a little disheveled, but a far sight better than his older brother. 

Yugi’s attachments are interesting ones. Kaiba doesn’t share in those kinds of memories, whatever was left of his childhood had been lost, and…well, Gozaburo had never been all that fatherly and interested in providing Seto with stimulation other than priming him for business school.

He knows the very minute Yugi returns, and what he’s doing, and how much he’s brought with him. Of course he has a camera in Yugi’s room. Every room. It’s not as if he had particularly planned for Yugi to specifically stay here so that he could be watched, it had been a sudden turn of events.

Even with the sudden change and addition to their household, Kaiba still had obligations. He couldn’t fall behind just because months worth of culminated obsession and carefully curated planning had fallen through. Nobody invested money in that .

And so he was occupied for most of the afternoon and evening, typing away at one of his laptops. But across the room, on one screen, Yugi and Mokuba’s dinner spread, and the Millennium Puzzle in view on the other.

Mokuba slides into a chair and offers Yugi a smile, but it’s an awkward situation to be in. He never thought his brother would ever go this far, but then, he’d done a lot of things to get what he wanted.

“I…uh…I don’t think Seto will be joining us. He’s got a lot of work to catch up on.”

Yugi can imagine he does, since he seems to have neglected everything else in pursuit of the Pharaoh… “Do you usually eat by yourself?” He feels a pang for Mokuba, too. There’s no doubt the brothers love each other - but it must get lonely, in this big house...like this…

Yugi takes a sip of his soup. “....were you able to contact my friends?”

“Ah…” Mokuba glances around the room, biting at the inside of his cheek. “…Uhm, about that…I’m uh…still working on it.”

It’s not an outright denial, he did say he’d try, but…well, the hesitation isn’t without reason. He does feel a sense of guilt over betraying his brother’s wishes. He had overheard precisely what he wanted Yugi to say, and how he wanted to keep things.

Yugi’s friends wouldn’t understand things from Seto’s perspective.

But Yugi was right in that the Puzzle probably shouldn’t stay here. It was conflicting. What was the right thing to do, ultimately, for his brother’s wellbeing?

It doesn’t seem fair to Mokuba to dwell on all that’s wrong in the present situation; after all, it’s hardly his fault, and he has agreed to help him. Yugi instead tries to smile and pretend that this is normal, mad as that seems. “S-so!” He puts his hands in his lap as a servant removes the soup in favor of the fish. “You’re starting high school next year, right? Have you taken entrance exams? Or did you want to go to Domino? I never understood how your brother ended up there, of all places.” 

At least Yugi drops it. Mokuba can’t really make any promises.

“Oh…! Seto doesn’t want me going to Domino. He only attended because…well…” He doesn’t know if Seto would appreciate having Yugi know about these parts of him, but at the same time, if his brother was going to obsess over Yugi’s Puzzle and force him to stay, it seemed like the usual boundaries had already been crossed.

“…Because of me, really. When Seto took over Kaiba Corp from our stepfather…Gozaburo…didn’t take it well.” Mokuba had been younger then, he hadn’t been around to see what happened for himself, but it had been clear that there was a resolute end to their stepfather’s role in their lives.

“…Seto had to raise me on his own. And to do that, he had to attend school, keep everyone satisfied with his grades, and still run the company and make sure it didn’t sink. It was such a huge change, a lot of people didn’t know what to think, a military company turned to gaming, to virtual technology. But everything he did…it was always to protect me. So he knew he couldn’t fail, it wasn’t an option, you know…?”

Mokuba’s reluctance to give details is strange and understandable simultaneously. Understandable, because the Brothers Kaiba had always been private, Yugi had just assumed that was part of being rich and famous; strange because, well, he hadn’t thought it was so delicate a subject. 

It strikes him now just how little he truly knows about Kaiba - and how he had never thought to ask before, absorbed in all his own thoughts and troubles. It makes him flush with a bit of shame. “I obviously knew he took over the company really early...I hadn’t realized it was so contentious.” Probably he should have. Everyone said Kaiba was a genius, and so him being a powerful company president hadn’t seemed so out of the realm of possibility in that light - but then, why would someone so smart and so powerful end up in the local public school, rather than some fancy private institution? 

And not only had he needed to do all this...he’d needed to be a parent to Mokuba, too. Some of his classmate’s odd behavior begins to make a little more sense. Yugi manages another reassuring smile, but only just. “He’s a good big brother, isn’t he?” 

Mokuba beams, “He sure is.”

Their bond would always be strong, they only had each other, after all. Their parents had died, and no one else in their extended family had offered to take them in. And then their stepfather had come along, demanded so much of Seto, and he’d been so clever to figure out a way so that they might never depend or have to rely on anyone else ever again.

He cares about his brother so much…and to see him so disturbed these last few months, it’s hard to watch. He’s always been so strong, but something had taken a piece of him away when Yugi had gone to Egypt.

“…I’m worried about him.”

Seto’s fingers pause over his keyboard. He’d only been partly listening into their dinner conversation. But that last part…the last thing he’d ever want to do was give Mokuba reason to worry. He was fine, he had everything under control. Just as he always would. These anomalies could be dealt with and fixed. Everything could be back the way it was, stable, familiar.

Chasing after ghosts. And just a year ago he had claimed not to believe in any of it. Now it’s all he ever thinks about.

His fingers rub at his wrist absently as he tries to excuse it away, he’s always been a driven man, and maybe some might argue it had potential to spiral, but it’s his leap to make. He’s never been afraid of the fall. 

So is he. Yugi puts his hand out on the table, like he always has, for all his friends. “I know. But I’m going to figure something out, Mokuba, I promise.” That same reassuring smile. “We’ll do it together. Alright?” 

Almost immediately as the pair’s hands meet with Yugi’s reassurance, Seto’s voice rings out, but it’s unclear as to whether he’s standing somewhere in the vast dining room or looking out over the railing of the floors above.

“Yugi, if you’re finished…” Which it certainly appeared that he was if he was having frivolous conversation on just what should be done about poor, deranged Seto Kaiba , “You can meet me in the study. Mokuba will show you the way. I suggest you don’t make me wait.” Any longer than I already have.

Mokuba sighs a little and withdraws his hand, moving to push his chair back, “…Intercom system. He’s usually holed up in the study when he has to work remotely.” Which was a lot, lately.

Yugi jumps, heart racing and looking for the source. The pretensions that this might not be so bad are, once more, vanishing as he recalls he is completely at this man’s beck and call. Easy to say he was good and kind when it came to being Mokuba’s brother, but then he had to reckon with that other piece of the man, the one who had pulled him up by his necklace last night to pin him against a wall. There was still a mark in Yugi’s neck from the chain, and fingerprints dug into his arms. A sensation he can only name as dread wells up within him, and he follows Mokuba, looking nervously around them as they go. “...Is he usually like this?” Even Mokuba seems somewhat deflated.

“…He’s…a little more…extra, than usual, if you know what I mean.” And little did Mokuba realize that the result of yesterday’s duel would only serve to make things that much worse. A victory that had only ever told Seto what he already knew- Yugi was not the King of Games, and therefore, wasn’t anyone worth lording victory over.

And it’s unsatisfying. Unfulfilling. It just makes the longing even deeper, to play out his strategy as he envisioned it.

Mokuba knows right where to go, but for Yugi, the halls would be impossible to navigate on his own. And who knows what Kaiba actually wanted, how long he’d keep him in there for…

Finally they stand before the large doors, bearing the likeness of the dragon Kaiba so loved, and Mokuba glances to Yugi, looking a bit worried for him this time.

“…It’ll be okay. I…I know my brother hasn’t always been on good terms with you and your friends…but he’s just under a lot of stress lately.” As if stress could explain away his rough treatment of Yugi, his demands, and what was essentially arguably a kidnapping.

Yugi looks at the door, screwing up his courage. Something comes over him in this moment, like a film, a steel in his eyes and a firmness in his footing. It’s the way he felt when Atem was with him. His breath steadies - he smiles at Mokuba. “Just keep your promise to me, and I’ll keep mine to you. Okay?”

He doesn’t linger, because clearly Kaiba is not in the mood to be kept waiting - though Yugi doubts he’s ever in that mood. His hand is firm on the doorknob, and he enters. It’s not the same room as last night, and that throws him somewhat and puts him at a disadvantage. He’d really thought it would be the same, so now it seems he understands the floorplan of this house even less than he thought he had. 

This room is less “homey” than the one they were in last night, and he wouldn’t have particularly used that descriptor then anyway. It’s marginally smaller, two walls covered in bookshelves, and it seems like a built-in liquor cabinet from the crystal decanters on display (does Kaiba drink? They aren’t old enough. That might not stop him). There’s an absolutely massive mahogany desk at the far end, backed by yet more large windows, and the final wall is covered in screens. Some flicker between rooms in the house - Yugi notices his own room from his papers scattered on the vanity, and gulps slightly; others reflect the stock market, international news; a stream of information from KaibaCorp. How can he possibly have this constant flood of data entering his mind? No wonder Kaiba was so uptight.

It takes Yugi a minute to find him, in the blue glow of monitors and the golden light of lamps. He’s just stood up from behind the desk, which has a relatively sensible number of monitors in that there are only three, and they aren’t massive; plus a slim keyboard. The chair looks very large, covered in leather. There’s another leather sofa and two similarly appointed armchairs as well, perhaps for if he ever has business meetings in here. This is the first room he’s seen without an opulent, oriental rug, instead a big wool, circular one, tufted with the letters “KC.” 

He stands in the doorway, somewhat impotently. “Good evening, Kaiba-kun.” His voice is smaller than he wanted, but it’s there. 

“Hmph.”

Not exactly his idea of a good evening. But with Yugi here and at his disposal, maybe something could be accomplished. The Puzzle is at his desk, glimmering under the lights and making it look a more ominous thing. Maybe Yugi would come to think of it as such, now that the Spirit was no longer there, and it seemed to serve more distress than anything.

“…Now that you’re settled, we can get to business. I’ve scheduled you for a complete physical workup, weekly, to see if there are any changes.” If the Pharaoh did make any returns, he’d want to be informed right away.

“In the meantime, you can answer some questions for me about this thing. How you first assembled it…what you might’ve done differently. Were there any instructions with it?” Perhaps it wasn’t the completion alone of the Puzzle…maybe it had to be done in a certain order, each piece with purpose.

Or maybe it needed to be assembled entirely by Yugi.

His manners haven’t improved any. He’s not friendly and he doesn’t offer Yugi a seat. Settled, is this what he thinks of as settled? “Weekly?” That surprises him, too. “That seems like a lot.” His Puzzle is there on the desk….is Kaiba going to give it back to him? He let it go, he doesn’t need it, but if it’s going to be here, he’d rather it was with him. It just seems right that way. 

“Oh, uh-” The questions come on fast, so Yugi takes a seat without being offered one, on the large leather sofa. There’s a velvet throw, and it feels good against the back of his neck when he settles against it. “Okay, so- grandpa brought it back, from one of his trips, before my dad was even born. He said it was impossible, and nobody could solve it...Though I think maybe he just didn’t want me to.” And his concern had been too right.

The questions seem odd, but then he remembers - Kaiba hadn’t transferred to Domino City High yet, when Honda and Jonouchi had played keep away with his box, and Anzu had stopped them...The memory still makes his face hot, all these years later. “I, um, I’d put it together at school, during breaks. I don’t know that I would have done anything differently, I was just seeing what fit together…” He doesn’t like thinking about this, it makes his arms cold, he has to hug himself and lean back into the sofa. “They weren’t….they weren’t instructions . But grandpa said the carvings on the box said that whoever solved the puzzle would have a wish granted, and….” Kaiba doesn’t need to know what he wished for, pathetic as he is…. He looks away from Kaiba. “It also said the person who solved it would receive dark knowledge and power….I wasn’t as interested in that part.”

He looks at it on the desk. “Are you going to give it back to me, if I’m supposed to call him back?” 

Brought it back…his grandfather …perhaps he should’ve inquired after his grandfather more, discover exactly what happened when the Puzzle was found to begin with. Though he doubts Yugi would be very cooperative if any harm came to his grandfather by Kaiba’s hands a second time.

Nothing seems all that helpful, but Kaiba does reach across his desk, taking up the Puzzle into his hand and looking it over, all sharp points and reflections. Yugi’s grandfather had taken this and…hadn’t even tried to pawn it off. Any man who didn’t know what he was truly holding would’ve sold it, it was real gold, it would’ve fetched a fortune.

But somehow, for whatever reason, he must have known this was something more. And then it fell to Yugi, who against all odds, managed to assemble it and fulfill its purpose.

Kaiba considers handing it over for a moment, but pauses.

“…What was your wish, Yugi?”

“None of your beeswax,” is his sharp reply, sharp as Atem would have given, if slightly more juvenile. His eyes glint in the waring lights of monitors and lamps. He leans forward on the sofa, almost doubled over to reach, hand outstretched. It was hard giving up the Puzzle, as evidenced by the piece he kept….so if it had to be out, he’d rather have it back. 

Kaiba smirks, looking faintly amused. Yugi has the gall to be sharp with him? Act as though they’re children in the schoolyard again?

“It is, actually. Everything you ever said and did with this Puzzle is now my business. And if you’d like to leave someday, you’ll think so too.” He leans closer, but not by much, enjoying the way Yugi stretches his hand to it. He wants him to want it, to yearn to hold it again, maybe it would strike a similar spark in him to figure this out.

“…So what was it…?” It could’ve had bearing. Perhaps Yugi needed only make a wish again to summon him. The whole thing was rather ridiculous, like something out of a fairy tale, but there were few explanations that were satisfying about the whole ordeal.

He breaths more heavily, pupils small, lips parted. If he reaches any farther, he’d fall straight into Kaiba’s lap. He looks up, eyes hot. “I could have wished for anything when I solved that Puzzle. It wouldn’t have mattered.” 

Kaiba moves his hand away, and Yugi sits back again, with an angry huff and red cheeks. “Well, what would you have wished for? Maybe we would have asked for the same thing.” 

Kaiba’s icy blue eyes meet Yugi’s.

“It matters to me.”

Something Yugi did mattered to the mighty Seto Kaiba. Perhaps it’s a bit of a hollow victory, nothing to savor, because it involved the Pharaoh, much as everything did.

Yugi’s reply makes him scoff a little then, but even so, he thinks it over. He wouldn’t have wasted his time making wishes, he would’ve said that wishing was a waste of his efforts. Actions decided fate. No amount of wishing on stars ever helped him when he had to crawl out of Gozaburo’s shadow, constantly exhausted.

“…I don’t think we’ve ever wanted the same things, Yugi.” Not in this life, anyway. “...But if I had to guess, you probably wished for victory. To be a better duelist than anyone else.” It made sense, and it’s the most easily notable wish that would’ve been granted, in plain sight.   

He laughs. He can’t help it, the soft chuckle escapes his lungs and makes him smile, even if it’s a touch bitterly. He knows Kaiba doesn’t like it, from the way his eyes sharpen and grow colder, but Yugi can’t help it regardless. “That’s so like you, Kaiba-kun.” He lets his head flop against the back of the sofa, the velvet of the throw smooth against his skin. “You really want that to have been it, I know.” He laughs and reaches a hand up absently, to pet against the blanket. “Sorry, even if you don’t think I’m good enough, I still worked to be as good as I am. That’s not what I wished for.”

Atem wouldn’t like it, him giving up and giving Kaiba whatever he wanted. He’d push back. Wasn’t that one of his most important lessons, standing up for himself? “I answered all your other questions, I won’t answer this one - unless.” His companion sits up a little straighter; Yugi flashes a winning smile. “Let’s play another game. I’ll tell you if you win.”

Kaiba doesn’t appreciate being laughed at, and certainly not mocked by this little wannabe. Sitting there looking awfully comfortable amidst all the leather.

But at the suggestion of a game…the coldness becomes a bit more intrigued. Yugi wants a rematch? Wants another chance to be humiliated and taught a cold, hard lesson? Fine. Seto never could turn down a duel, especially if it meant putting someone in their place, and from the looks of it, Yugi had become a little haughty suddenly, for someone whose life would only remain relevant within these walls for an undisclosed amount of time.

“Fine, Yugi. I know every card in your deck by heart, none of your strategies are new. But if you insist, you are the guest, after all.”

He just smiles, canting his head to the side. Blond locks fall into violet eyes. “Not a duel - you only want to play against the Pharaoh, not me. But, since you’re my gracious host, I’ll let you pick anything else.” He stretches, lithe as a cat, and just as satisfied in his smile, in his eyes. “Can I have something to drink, please?” 

He’s…admittedly right. As quick as it might be to procure an answer from Yugi, it’s a bit too easy now, isn’t it? Nothing won without a little challenge involved was worth quite as much.

And so, Seto moves towards the liquor cabinet, as it’s the most accessible, and sets the Puzzle down atop the tray, pouring himself a scotch. He assumes Yugi doesn’t regularly drink, or at the very least, not anything of this caliber. More accurately, he probably drank anything Katsuya could get his hands on from the corner store.

“Pick your poison.” He says, indulging Yugi in both his request for a drink, and playing the pleasantries of host, as if Yugi truly is a guest here and can leave anytime he’d like.

“…As for the game, I’ve got another in mind. Are you familiar with chess?” It was one of his first loves, before Duel Monsters. The strategic appeal seemed to be a running theme, he enjoyed tearing down the mental defenses of his opponents, seeing through their strategies and sending them frantic.

Yugi swings around, hanging over the back of the couch, to watch Kaiba move to the cabinet. His cheeks turn a little red; he’d meant water, not...But he couldn’t back down after a challenge like that. “S-sake’s fine.” It’s the first thing he can think of. He isn’t surprised Kaiba is a drinker, though. Everything there looks very expensive, and he’s not sure his palate is refined enough for it. 

He perks up a little. “Sure, I know chess.” It would be hard for him to land on a game Yugi doesn’t know, first from years with his grandfather, then on his own, then with his friends. Cards, dice, pieces, he loves them all. Yugi resettles himself on the sofa when Kaiba brings out the board, the pieces carved from real ivory and ebony. They’re smooth in the hand and beautiful to look at - and undoubtedly expensive, too. He sets the board and watches Kaiba sip his scotch, neat. “Okay, I’m ready. Your move.” Yugi plays black. 

Seto sits across from him after pulling up one of the leather armchairs, setting their drinks down, and if it were under any other circumstances, this might be considered one of the more casual moments between the two of them, sitting there in his study. But games between them have never only ever been games, had they? They were certainly something a bit more, an exercise in resilience, determination, a test of strength, of their character.

…But then, the young man in front of him is not that person, and so the stakes are not so high. Seto is quite skilled in chess, and he thinks though Yugi might do alright, it wouldn’t be a long game at all. Yugi says he knows chess, but he doesn’t know it .  

Seto moves his white piece promptly, “Pawn to D5. Your move, Yugi.”

He looks especially tired, and he’s not quite the fearsome dragon keeper of last night, hurling demands and laughing maniacally. The sooner they could end this game, the sooner Kaiba could be a step closer in unlocking the secret of the Puzzle.

Yugi moves the queen’s pawn to E4 and sips at his sake. He’s used to having it warm, but this is Daiginjo-shu, delicate, fragrant and flowery. He starts to understand how people savor experiences like alcohol, nothing at all like what he’s used to - cans of cheap beer and handles of cheap spirits, ill-gotten by someone older buying it for him and his friends, or sickly sweet punches made up for parties. Kaiba’s probably never had a drink like that in his life. In a way….Yugi thinks that’s too bad. He’s not sure he’d trade the memory of his first hangover with Jonouchi for much in the world.

That thought gives him a pang, so he tries to focus on the drink and the game. He needs to make the most of this situation, and from an outsider’s perspective, this is a good night. Good food, good drink, on an expensive couch, with expensive rugs, and across from- Yugi sees Kaiba’s blue eyes studying the board, not hawkish, but measured. He wishes he could blame the color in his cheeks from the sake, but he doesn’t lie to himself about too much these days… “So.” Kaiba probably never talks during games. Yugi can appreciate that, but as much as he loves them, half the pleasure has always been from the companionship of the person across from him. “Lots of work today?”

Kaiba mirrors Yugi’s pawn to E4. It’s quiet at first, just them sipping their drinks…but then Yugi, for some reason, decides to speak.

Why?

Seto has never been much of a conversationalist for the sake of it. Engaging in it for pleasure, or whatever most people derived out of it. And it’s certainly not information out of Yugi’s mouth, which would be far more useful than mere pleasantries and casual back and forth. As if Yugi even really cares whether or not he has a lot to do- it certainly doesn’t stop him from suggesting a game in place of just being honest about what he wished for.

Resting his chin against his palm, his eyes flicker across the board to Yugi.

“What do you think?”  

It flusters him, when his former classmate looks at him like that, all cool and untouchable. The Prince of KaibaCorp . It doesn’t stop him from moving the queen’s knight forward. “I just don’t actually know what you do all day, other than be rich and important.” And not sleep enough, and obsess over dead guys, and- He sips on his sake to stop that train of thought. 

Kaiba moves the pawn forward to F4, and a small smirk twitches over his mouth.

“Being rich and important are excellent summaries of what I do all day. I doubt the details would interest you.” He lifts his glass and takes a sip, waiting for Yugi to take his turn.

In fact, he was overseeing several projects and absorbing other tech companies- it would be easy to merely file it under securing assets for his virtual systems, but it’s not entirely for unselfish reasons. If everything didn’t go according to plan, if he couldn’t make the Pharaoh return here…

There were limits he was willing to test.

They trade moves as Kaiba gloats, which is how they usually played things… Yugi takes the first pawn from the board, setting it gently to the side. He looks up, eyes bright and steely. “Try me.” 

He descends upon Yugi’s pawn with his King- maybe a bit early, but he doesn’t much care for the attitude.

…Or maybe he’s just reading into it. Merely backtalk from someone who didn’t want to be here, would rather be hanging out with his pathetic friends, barely applying himself. Can’t he see, he’d be able to leave a lot faster if he just fell to Kaiba’s whims, like the rest of the world has?

“Already have, it’s why we’re playing chess, remember ?” He knows exactly what Yugi means, but he purposely changes the context, a point to be made. He’s not here to divulge facets about himself and what he does…he’d have to have a talk with Mokuba later about that too. Yugi doesn’t need to know any of it, it’s just…unnecessary.

“I’m a businessman, too, you know.” He threatens with his bishop, and the king flies back quickly. “It’s not like I haven’t dealt with supply chains and accounting and taxes and-” Albeit on a much, much smaller scale. But Kaiba didn’t build KaibaCorp himself, even if he had made it what it was now. Some praise should be reserved for the men who clawed their way into small corners and built lives there. He taps his pawn against his lower lip, thinking, before he smiles and places the piece.

“Of course, Yugi-” Seto indulges him, so ready to dig his claws in, “We’re so alike, you and I, businessman to businessman. Tell me how much of a challenge it is, ordering booster packs out of warehouses, and having to open up all the boxes yourself- I bet it really stimulates you, the way you stock each rack.”

There’s a faint glimmer of amusement in those cold eyes as they slide across the board to Yugi, who presses a pawn to his mouth, looking thoughtful, and as soon as he finishes placing it, Kaiba claims it at once- a foolish move, really, as Yugi’s Knight was lying in wait. 

Yugi has him with the knight in an instant - the fierce knight - and looks up, undaunted. “You wouldn’t know, because you’ve never done it. You have people for that, right?” 

Their eyes meet. “And just how stimulated are you, Kaiba-kun?”

A scowl tugs at his smirk, the bishop is quick to move in front of Yugi’s knight.

“You’d be surprised what I’ve had to do, Yugi.”

He might never have worked in a retail environment, but he’d done plenty, had plenty forced onto him from a young age. Whatever he had now was only the result of constant exhaustive effort, and even now as he has Mokuba stepping up, he’s not once taken a step back and allowed others to manage. He’s involved himself as much as he can, as much of himself that is available.

Seto’s fingers tighten over his glass as Yugi asks him if he’s stimulated. It’s…it’s a difficult question to answer. In what way? At work? There was constant data and requirements for his attention. His leisure? He enjoyed dueling, but the thrill of that had gone- isn’t that what he was chasing after?

Even this game had proven to offer something stimulating- either that Yugi would do his best to be the thorn in his side while he was here, or that he wasn’t willing to back down. Is it admirable? Maybe that’s giving him far too much credit.

“Ask me that again in a few weeks, provided that’s all the time we’ll need.” But it’s never that simple with Yugi, is it?

He loses one of his knights to Kaiba’s bishop, but just as quickly the other knight takes its revenge. They’re quiet for a few moments save for the clink of glasses and the movement of pieces on the board. It's become a more intense experience. “If you got him back,” he sips his sake. “What happens to me?”

The King is moved again, and Seto’s gaze becomes a bit more concentrated, deep in thought, and his eyes suddenly snap to Yugi again, frowning.

“What do you mean?”

What happens to him? Isn’t the answer simple? Things simply go back to the way they were, Yugi has control over his body, the Pharaoh comes out for dueling- isn’t that how it all worked? He supposes being possessed by an ancient King had its own complicated rules and agreements, but it had worked for them so far, hadn’t it? Nothing would change, and isn’t that the whole point?

“Nothing happens to you.” He isn’t completely sure of long term consequences or effects, but that was more of Yugi’s realm of expertise anyway. Or does he mean in terms of being forced to stay here? Because as he’d said, it was only until the Pharaoh was returned, those were the terms of their agreement.

One of his bishops takes Kaiba’s knight. Nothing happens to you , he snorts a little. “Yeah, that’s sort of the point.” He loses the bishop to Kaiba’s king, but he just sighs a little, sipping his drink. “You’re not interested in me, you’re interested in him. So, what, am I a good boy who stays inside and doesn’t come out anymore?” It had been, he thought, a lot of Atem’s motivation to move on - to give Yugi his own life again. And it had been hard….but in time, he’d come to understand it, even to appreciate it. 

And besides, in giving Yugi his own life, Atem got his own afterlife. It was for the best - if only Kaiba could understand that. 

Seto’s eyes roll. How dramatic. As if Yugi was going to be held prisoner, is that how the Pharaoh usually did it, cast Yugi inside of the Puzzle to take his place while he was dueling?

“How should I know how you two handle your time out? You haven’t exactly been a lot of help in explaining how any of it works.” Surely it was understood that Kaiba wouldn’t be standing over him to demand duels every hour of the day, he was still CEO of KaibaCorp, there were still other obligations he had, and the only reason this had eaten up so much of his time currently was the lack of cooperation, the constant setbacks.

The King strikes again to claim Yugi’s bishop.

“So you let us go - and see him whenever you want. Is that it?”

What the hell have they been talking about this entire time! Does Yugi think he just casually blew pocket change to have hired archaeologists comb through the sands of the desert for nothing, only to be mocked in his own home, over his own desires- desires Yugi had gladly fanned the flames of himself, he’d said it himself after all, he contributed something to those duels.

“I do whatever the hell I want, because as far as that’s concerned, I paid for that Puzzle. I own it.” And by extension, the Pharaoh, if he so chose to frame it that way.

He moves the King a bit recklessly, between Yugi’s bishop and rook, floundering on where to go.

Something in him flares, and it’s as ancient as the Spirit of the Puzzle, and it’s also all his. He let’s Kaiba sweat, frustrated, accidentally knocking over a piece as he slams down his drink. When he’s done blustering, Yugi just leans forward and says, “You don’t own us, though,” and makes his final move. Painstakingly soft, carefully enunciated, he whispers, “ Checkmate .”

Seto’s eyes widen, “…What?” Suddenly he’s pulled back to the game, not even having realized his last move, the anger still radiating in his hands, but when his eyes sweep over the playing field, he’s shaking his head.

“….No, you…-“

It’s unmistakable though. Yugi had won. He actually had beaten him at his own game, and with it came a realization of their agreement.

He wants to throw the board, sweep the pieces off, grab Yugi and shake him and force the secrets out of him, but he instead stands, stalks back to the liquor cabinet and pours himself another drink- this one he downs quickly, and he picks up the Puzzle, setting it against the middle of their board. Yugi’s so called prize- the item he didn’t want returned to begin with.

“…One way or another, you’re going to tell me everything. You won’t have a choice. You won’t have the chance to play for it. Do you understand me? You’ll tell me.” Or what? Just what would Kaiba be willing to do to his former classmate? Anyone else might’ve asked ‘ what wouldn’t he do? ’, with all the exorbitant wealth and power at his disposal, he could make Yugi’s life a living hell if he so chose.

He’s a storm, but Yugi can’t bring himself to regret winning. He told Kaiba this, after all - he is the King of Games. “Have you ever considered just being nice to people? That if you want them to tell you secrets, you’re friendly with them, and you trust each other, and-” you don’t lock them in your house and kidnap them from their family. “-and share secrets of your own.” He glares, not hard, but a little. This house is nothing but secrets, and Kaiba hoards them jealously, eyes on his monitors, waiting for every little scrap, every advantage. “You want to dissect me, well, maybe I don’t want to be cut open.” 

He takes the Millennium Puzzle off the board, though, and it’s cold in his hand, because Yami isn’t there. The weight is a familiar comfort, though, and he can’t help but smile a little to feel it resting on his sternum once again. 

Yugi finishes his sake and stands up. “Am I supposed to do anything else tonight? Or do I get to go to bed?” 

“Save me the patronizing speeches, Yugi!” Kaiba bites out, already irritated enough by the loss of his time and the game, but now Yugi really asks for it.

“Did it ever occur to you that being nice doesn’t accomplish anything? People lie through their smiles. Do you ever think for just one minute that outside of the bubble of your worthless friendships that people living in the real world don’t operate under that kind of thinking? If only people were just a little nicer to each other, maybe we wouldn’t fight so much , is that it? It’s delusional! People share nothing, you have to take what you want if you want to survive!”

But secrets, he does know a thing about those. The way Mokuba would hide cards in his books, where he knew Kaiba would be the only way to stumble across them while studying. The only reprieve in those late nights, believing in something more.

But it wasn’t belief that saved him, nor wishes, nor kindness, but his own intelligence, his own determination, his strength.

“Just go. You’ve wasted enough of my time tonight.”

Yugi’s nearly at the door when the tirade begins. “They aren’t worthless-!” He can’t get a word in edgewise, because Kaiba doesn’t stop, a volcano bellowing smoke and ash and righteous fury. He is so dumb, for such a genius. All of this, and he still learned nothing. As if he didn’t share with Mokuba. As if he didn’t do everything in his life for lo-

Yugi pauses, blinking suddenly. He feels like his spine is on fire. You are such a stupid jerk, Seto Kaiba, you’re such a - “Ask me again - but nice this time.” Kaiba looks at him even more hatefully than before, if that’s even possible. “Ask me like you were going to be my friend.” The only damned thing he’d ever asked the young man to be, and even that was too much.

Kaiba already has the exchange mapped out- he’d ask and Yugi would respond with something smug, a dig about how only friends shared secrets, and clearly they weren’t. It’s all such bullshit and he’s tired of useless exchanges like these. 

He should just beat him to the punch, tell Yugi that his wish doesn’t matter, that he didn’t matter, that he could do all of this himself without any help, that no one had helped him this far, and he certainly wasn’t going to start relying on anyone now. 

But instead, he links his fingers together, slowly brings his elbows to rest against the board. 

He isn’t sure how friends are “supposed” to sound, but by some miracle, he manages to keep his voice leveled. “....What was your wish, Yugi?” And he expects he knows the answer to that. Another lie, another disappointment through a smile. 

Something twists in his gut when he looks like that, Yugi has to swallow to maintain his composure and his bravery. It takes a moment, hot shame creeping up his neck, mouth opening and closing again. “I asked for-” He wishes he had more of that sake now. “I wished for friends. Because I didn’t have any.”

He sees Kaiba move slightly in his chair, and it’s too late to stop now. “It didn’t actually grant my wish, of course. I didn’t realize it for a while, but...I had made that wish come true myself. The only friend it gave me was Yami - I don’t know if that counts.” His fingers are beginning to tremble on the door handle. “Goodnight, Kaiba-kun.” He makes his exit, before anything else can happen.

Chapter Text

Yugi’s words in the study that night resonate. He picks them apart, the way Yugi just offers up the truth- and the truth is just…simple, that Yugi had wanted friends and thus wished for them. Not for power, not for skill, not to crush anyone who entered his path, but something so pure and so worthless as friendship.

What a waste of a wish.

But that’s always been the driving force behind Yugi’s speeches, and his cheering of Katsuya even though he stood little chance in his tournaments. Always relying on each other, it was weak. It was weak and yet persistent and irritating just the same. Kaiba doesn’t know if the Puzzle actually granted anything, Yugi doesn’t seem to think so, but even so, the thought of Yugi being tethered to these idiots because of some bullshit magic…

They had nothing to do with any of it, Yugi’s involvement with them was unnecessary. Mokuba owed them no explanation, and it’s not that he thinks his brother would say anything with intention to interfere or derail…but he doesn’t like the way Yugi thinks he can manipulate him as if manipulating pieces on a chess board. He wants to play games? Seto can oblige.

“Sir? Mokuba is here, as you requested.” One of his employees over the intercom.  

Mokuba is never afraid of his big brother, never. For him? Yeah, that was much more familiar. 

He hasn’t been like this since their step-father was alive: distant, haggard, without food, without sleep - single-minded and intense. He shouldn’t have brought back that Puzzle. He did it to make Seto happy, the only motivation he’s ever had, but - what if he just made everything worse.

He pokes his head into his brother’s study. “You wanted to talk about something, Seto?” It’s not going to be anything good, or he wouldn’t have been summoned like this. It’s just not like him. 

Seto leans back in his seat, away from the monitors, taking a moment to realign himself to the present moment. Though he has been arguably distracted, he always still tries to put Mokuba first, tries to be supportive whenever he can. He doesn’t enjoy playing disciplinarian, but certain roles had fallen to him from a young age when it was up to him to take care of things.

“Mokuba, have a seat. This won’t take long.” It’s not as though his brother was in any actual trouble, but understandably, he must have questions…concerns, for whatever reason, and any of his desire to help Yugi might be clouded by misunderstandings of just what it was that was happening here.

“…About Yugi’s stay here. I realize it’s sudden and might seem…” Insane. “…Unusual. But given the terms of our duel, he knew exactly what to expect. I didn’t force him.” Arguable . “He’s only here until our business with the Puzzle is completed, afterwards, he’ll be free to go on his way.”

As if temporary kidnapping were somehow more acceptable, justifiable even.

Mokuba wilts in the seat, barely able to look up at his brother. He wants to support him the way Seto always has for him, he wants to be good- “W-why can’t he talk to his friends?” he asks, digging his toe into the carpet. “They seem okay. I mean, I know they annoy you, but they were always….” Nice to him. Oh, he feels terrible. 

“They’ll interfere.” And it’s not just about annoyance, they’re simply not on good terms. They’d have demands, they’d make things difficult, just as they always did.

“…I need Yugi to focus entirely on this. Away from them. Away from everything.” It’s important, and shouldn’t he want to do everything in his power and capacity to make this happen, even if not to see the Pharaoh for himself again and only to get Kaiba off his back? Though he can’t believe Yugi prefers it this way as well, that emptiness.

“…It’s just temporary.” Seto reiterates again, because everyone here seems to think that he wants to keep Yugi prisoner here indefinitely.  “He can go a few weeks without listening to the garbage Katsuya and the others ramble on about.”

In a way, he was doing Yugi a tremendous favor, really.  

It doesn’t feel right - but he nods. “Okay, Seto. What should I do?” Yugi would understand. Maybe. Hopefully...

“You don’t have to do anything, Mokuba. If Yugi needs something, I’ll take care of it.” Not necessarily in a way Yugi might request, but the matter would be resolved immediately.

“You don’t owe him anything, don’t let him try to guilt trip you. He came here of his own volition.” He chose to get in that car and discover for himself what Seto had alluded to having. And in a way, wasn’t that a desire of his own, that he felt as though he were missing something, enough to want to seek out Kaiba to see what it was?

He wants this too, Seto’s sure of it.

“I’ll try not to let this sting.” The doctor is kind enough, if distant. He rubs the alcohol prep pad on his arm and is quick with his syringe.

Yugi winces anyway. “It just seems like you’re taking a lot.”

“Mr. Kaiba wanted a great many tests run, so we do need a fairly large blood sample.” He unties the rubber tourniquet, and gently presses a bandaid over the spot, still bleeding. 

“Do we have to do this every week?” Yugi doesn’t relish sitting in this room of his, being gone over with a fine toothed comb. They’ve checked his tongue, his teeth, between his toes. If anyone asks him to bend over and cough, he’s jumping out the window.

“The blood tests only need to be done monthly.” The doctor looks into his ears, Yugi winces as he pulls at the lobe to get a deeper picture. “Mr. Kaiba wants the other examinations done weekly, but I think that may be excessive. Bi-weekly ought to be sufficient.”

“I’m not going to mutate in a single week.”

He snorts. “Yes, well, not how I would have put it, but the spirit is the same.” He begins pulling out yet more tools, a medical assistant wheeling in a monitor on a stand. “Ever have an echocardiogram before?”

Yugi cringes back. “Does it hurt?”

But the doctor smiles kindly. “Not at all. You will need to remove your shirt, however.” 

That’s one item off his list today, and the doctor should be finishing up with Yugi by now. He doesn’t expect the results will tell him anything of use at the moment, rather give him a baseline of what Yugi’s natural state is like, and if there’s any inkling of change, he’ll know they’re moving in the right direction.

How did possession via ancient spirit affect one’s metabolism anyway?

Seto pushes the door to Yugi’s room open, after all, what is privacy, when this is Kaiba’s home? He expects to find the doctor finishing with drawing his blood…which…usually did not entail having one’s shirt off.

He blinks, a bit taken off guard, and his eyes finally slide over Yugi’s frame, navigating towards one of the sensors pressed to his skin. His physique is actually not as…puny, as he’d remembered. With the Pharaoh, it was easy to see how strong and lithe he was, he always took every opportunity to remove the jacket portion of his uniform, especially when dueling. It’s only one of many behavioral differences noticeable when Yugi had…well, changed. Inexplicable at the time, but now it made perfect sense.

…But…it had still been Yugi’s body, and there is still obvious physical definition. Perhaps not an organic change so much as it had been posturing, confidence.

Kaiba clears his throat and snaps his eyes irritably to the doctor. Why wasn’t he finished yet?

“Is this going to be much longer?”

Yugi jolts when the door is thrown open, and the monitor starts beeping much more noticeably. The doctor frowns. “I’m afraid it might, this is slightly concerning.” The assistant records numbers onto a pad of paper, and he says, “The diastolic function was not this bad a moment ago.”

“W-what does that mean?” It beeps faster and more loudly, and Yugi glances nervously from the physician to Kaiba, who still has not had the decency to turn around. Or maybe he doesn’t care, they’re both boys, after all. It’s nothing he hasn’t seen.

“It means,” the assistant says, gently, “your heart isn’t relaxing like it should.”

“That’s bad?”

“It’s not good.” It’s strange to see his heart pulsing on the monitor. Yugi doesn’t like it, and closes his eyes. “Is there a history of heart disease in your family?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Very odd.” He gives the assistant more instructions. “You seem very healthy otherwise, so this sudden stress is inexplicable.” 

That’s not what Kaiba wants to hear.

 “What is it, what’s wrong with his heart exactly?” There’s a press, a demand for an immediate answer, because that’s the last thing he needs, is Yugi to have some underlying health condition, to become sick at a time like this. Could it have been a result of using the Puzzle as often as he did before? Was it even related at all?

Rather than leave the room, he steps closer, as if to examine Yugi himself, looking him over, then to the machine that records his panicked rate.

To most, perhaps this probably seemed like a perfectly normal reaction at being held captive and forced to relive a very confusing, dangerous, and odd experience of their life in an effort to appease a very rich and powerful man with an obsession. That would stress out even the calmest of individuals.

Kaiba gets closer, and the beat only speeds up. “Exactly, I can’t say. I’ll need to run more tests.”

“I-I feel fine, really.” A terrible lie. He feels terrified and sweaty and clammy. 

The doctor looks at his employer. “That will take some time, but until I can say for certain, I’d recommend no strenuous exercise or undue strain.” Oh, he’s not going to like that at all… “I’ll have the results of the blood test for you this afternoon.”

No strain? The entire situation is stressful, it isn’t Kaiba’s preference, it simply just is. Something is missing and there’s only one way, one person, that can fix that, and it has to be Yugi, because apparently Kaiba has gone as far as he can.

But if it comes down to it, he’ll go further. He can’t give up after all of this, and not because of this sudden turn of events.

“This can’t wait, whatever testing you need to do, make sure it’s done as soon as possible. If something is wrong, it needs to be fixed.” And just what if it is serious? How far would Kaiba be willing to push him? Enough to see the Pharaoh one last time before he inhabited a body that would finally collapse? Unacceptable.

“I’ll make it my top priority.”

“Can I please put on my shirt now?” Yugi huffs, tired of being talked around yet again. It seems they’ve gotten enough out of him today, the assistant detaches various wires and gives him a moist cloth to rub off any conductive jelly. Kaiba hasn’t moved an inch, examining everything like a deranged hawk. Yugi has no choice but to stalk behind the dressing screen in the corner to get some privacy, even if it’s only a shirt. “Hi, by the way, nice to see you, too.” 

 It’s a frustrating scenario, it’s the only way to describe it. Everything had been the most difficult option possible, as if fate itself was testing his dedication. He had always claimed that he was in control of his own destiny, that everything that came to him was through his will alone, and this can be no different. He’ll do whatever it takes, if that’s the proof that he is deserving of this.

“Oh, is it nice?”

He thinks Yugi probably has a few other choice adjectives he’d prefer to use to describe the feeling upon seeing him, and he’d rather not entertain that list at the immediate moment.

“…So, you can handle being on a blimp at high altitudes and running around ancient tombs, but the mere idea of helping me accomplish anything involving the Pharaoh gives you palpitations, is that it?” There’s a sigh.

Unseen, Yugi’s free to roll his eyes behind the screen. “You’re right, Kaiba-kun, I’m doing this on purpose because it bothers you so much.” He finishes buttoning the shirt and steps into view again. Everyone else is gone, and it’s just Kaiba, standing there. That tight feeling in his chest increases, maybe he really is sick? “I got spontaneous heart disease to ruin your day. Happy?”

“ Ecstatic .” Kaiba replies, deadpan. “Because now I have to figure out activities for us that aren’t too strenuous on you, Yugi. Tell me, does it hurt to talk? Can you manage a conversation, or are you so weak, you couldn’t possibly carry on for the rest of today?”

He’d almost say it was true, that Yugi clearly did this on purpose…but even he wasn’t that powerful, no matter what the articles and billboards claimed.

Someone didn’t like losing last night. A piece inside of Yugi tightens, and he thinks, if that’s the way they’re going to play, fine. He can be the King of that Game, too.

With his eyes as big as possible and his mouth pulled into a pout, he stammers, “I-I don’t know. Everything feels so…” He puts a hand against his chest, turns-

And begins dropping back straight toward Kaiba, like a dead faint. 

He watches him stagger towards him, and it happens before he can consciously understand it. Yugi’s suddenly in his arms then, pressed against his chest, Seto’s rushed to meet him before he’s able to fall. Not even a thought, not a moment’s hesitation. “ Yugi— !"

Of course it’s possible that Yugi was just faking it, over-exaggerating, but it’s not his first inclination, not after what the doctor had just said, and not with everything that hangs in the balance. He keeps Yugi against him, and looks…

Concerned.

And maybe it’s not entirely for Yugi, but in this moment it is. It is and it isn’t.

He’s about to call for the doctor again, maybe they’re still close by, and if not, one of his employees could track them down. 

Ha! Knew it, Jonouchi will laugh his head off when he hears about this. He’s pretty sure Kaiba’s going to drop him when he realizes he’s been played again, but in the meantime, Yugi can appreciate that wow, the working out paid off for his arms, too. “Oh, Kaiba-kun,” he’s laying it on just a bit thick, rolling into his chest. “I’m just so weak, you know…” Ooh, he smells good, too, better not to notice that… “Say you’ll take care of me, Kaiba-kun.” 

He doesn’t catch on.

Why should he have a reason to think Yugi would lie about something like this, especially with what they’d both seen on the monitor? It was difficult for him to care about others, of course it was, and it was always easier to interpret everyone’s intentions as being underhanded, but does he think Yugi of all people would be disingenuous over something as serious as his health? No.

And so he doesn’t push him away or let him drop, but he pivots them so they’re closer to the bed, so that Yugi can sit or lie down if he needs to.

“Just…take it easy…I’ll call the doctor back.” It’s the closest they’ve ever been, physically, and it’s admittedly strange to be cradling his…his rival? His classmate? He doesn’t really know quite how to categorize what they are anymore.

It’s probably…the nicest Seto has ever been, too. Not the usual sarcasm, and Yugi could probably count on one hand the amount of times Seto ever helped them- so long as it was in his interests to do so, it seemed.

His heart really does hurt, suddenly. A joke, just a joke- His fingers find Kaiba’s sleeve, and clutch. “I-I don’t want the doctor.” It isn’t fair, because none of this is for him. But he’s the only one who can accept it. Jonouchi would tell him it serves Kaiba right, but he just can’t believe it, he regrets this game more than any of the others, and he really would call Yami back if he could, right now, to make up for it. 

Kaiba sets him on the bed like he’s a featherweight, and Yugi doesn’t let go of his sleeve. “I want to talk with you. That’s what you wanted, right? You wanted to talk? What did you want to ask me today?” 

There is a bad, bad possibility he played not only Kaiba, but himself. Anzu would be ashamed of him right now, and he is, too.

Seto looks him over, trying to determine his next course of action…Yugi doesn’t want the doctor, but he absolutely should, things could worsen…

But Yugi doesn’t make that easier, either, clinging to his shirt that way. This was so strange, he’d never seen Yugi quite like this before, it was vulnerable and…perhaps a good example of why he couldn’t see him as his opponent, across from him in so many of their matches.

He shakes his head, “It can wait.”

And what a sacrifice it is, to let more time sink through the hourglass, his consistent, prolonged torment of waiting. Waiting for codes to come together, waiting for research, waiting for the Puzzle to be assembled, and now waiting on Yugi’s health, too.

He wants to beg, he wants to confess, but Kaiba has so carefully untangled his fingers from his sleeve, and so gently pressed them into the coverlet, that he’s speechless. Some part of him says to call him back - but he doesn’t. He just curls up in the bed and wonders when this is all going to stop.

“-really can’t find anything else wrong.” The doctor is standing while the master of the house is seated in another of those giant, wingback chairs. This is just a parlor, it looks out over the garden, but Kaiba sits it like a throne. “The results of the echocardiogram are completely inexplicable. I’d have said it was done wrong, if I hadn’t witnessed it myself.” He hands over a complete workup of the patient, every box checked in the range of “average,” which is all Yugi is, to Kaiba. “In conclusion, I’ll conduct the tests weekly, as you prefer, to make absolutely certain nothing is wrong.”

Seto is only partly listening to the doctor, eyes flickering across the page, through the diagnoses, the results, and the very obvious conclusion here being that Yugi is mostly, extremely, and very healthy. Very healthy. So healthy, in fact, it seemed he was in a very joking sort of mood lately.

And Seto isn’t laughing.

“Fine, wonderful. We’ll be seeing you next week.” It’s only when the doctor is dismissed that Kaiba moves out of his chair, his expression sour as he reaches for the nearest intercom, Yugi’s medical papers clutched between a fist, and the fingers of his other hand practically stabbing at the button.

“Yugi. If you’re feeling up to it , head downstairs to the parlor.” There is something deceptively, sickly sweet that rings out through the speaker system. Now it’s Yugi’s turn to ascertain the sincerity of the situation, isn’t it?

Mokuba had been sitting at the edge of the bed, chatting with him, when the call rang out. They both look up at the sound, and the younger brother has a particularly…..particular look on his face. Yugi had welcomed the company, hadn’t even asked about how his promise was coming, and had even put most of the day’s events behind him.

Now, they all come back in a flood. He gulps. “Uh, which one is the parlor?” When Mokuba’s shown him to the right door, he only just pokes his head in. “H-hi. What’s up?”

Kaiba is standing there in yet another one of his massive, ominous, and dizzying rooms. He looks as tired as ever, but there’s something much worse. He’s… smiling.

Surely that could not be a good sign.

“How are you feeling?”

Most notably, one of his hands is behind his back as he waits for Yugi to come a bit closer, like beckoning a frightened animal into a trap.

“You didn’t exert yourself any in coming down here to see me, did you Yugi…?”

Yugi smiles a little. Between this afternoon and now, maybe Kaiba took his words about niceness to heart. He enters the room. “Fine, I-” That second question stops him, he pauses in his approach. “No…” He’s cautious now, guard up. “I’m doing better, I think. Must have been….stress.” He wonders if he could force himself to pass out, he probably could 

“Of course, stress.” He nods in understanding, after all, weren’t they all under a little stress, being thrown into this situation?

“ I just thought you’d want to see the results of your health exam. Why don’t you and I look it over together.” His hand holding the paper, now crumpled from his grip, is finally displayed, and he steps a little closer, smoothing the paper out with care, humming absently.

“Ah, here we are… cholesterol, blood pressure, blood cell counts…look at that, all normal, Yugi. Your height and weight are a perfect ratio, you’re well within all of your normal limits, and no diseases of any variety. Isn’t that great news?” Kaiba’s smile sharpens as he closes in on him.

“ Aren’t you relieved? I know I am. ”  

Kaiba steps smoothly behind him, uncrumpling the paper. His presence crowds Yugi’s mind, it’s difficult to think - and that cologne of his, his eyes close, he really could faint this time- “I told you I wasn’t doing anything on purpose.” Well, almost nothing. 

His sharp teeth are right by his ear, and Yugi almost jumps. It’s good that’s only almost or he’d bump straight back into the man. “I can’t fake an echocardiogram, Kaiba-kun, I wouldn’t know how.” His hand closes over one of Kaiba’s, to hold the paper steady. There’s a lot of things there he doesn’t understand, lipids, sugars, HDL and LDL- lots of percentages, lots of numbers.

There are a couple words there, though, and Yugi knows what those mean - chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV, HIV- His hand tightens and he looks up, sharply. “Why did you do an STD panel on me?”

“No, but you can sure as hell fake fainting into my arms, can’t you ?” Seto snaps, hissing angrily at him as Yugi grabs for his hand to hold the paper steady so that he can read it over for himself.

He feels like an utter fool, taken by Yugi’s moment of weakness, only to have it turned against him. This was the last time he’d ever be made a fool of again. Yugi could take all his talk about kindness and friendship and shove it. Is this what it meant to him, to be friends?

Never again. He’d never fall for it a second time, so if Yugi ever does find himself in ill health, with his heart pounding out of his chest, he could look to the Pharaoh to catch him when he fell.

Kaiba is about to tell him off, but Yugi’s question throws him off. “-- What? It’s —” He fumbles for a response, “…Standard. How am I supposed to know what you did with who before you got here? You deceive me and manipulate me and that’s all you have to say!”

He flushes at first. “I didn’t think you’d-” Hell, he wasn’t even sure Kaiba would catch him! How was he supposed to know, when all he talked about was how useless everyone else was! 

But then it’s Kaiba on the back foot, and Yugi who is pushing. “Oh, standard, yeah, my doctor regularly gives me echocardiograms and STD panels! ” He’s near shouting. “Oh no, no you don’t, you could have asked -” Hopefully these walls are thick… “Oh, I’m the manipulative one, yeah, okay, that’s why you have me locked up here with no way out, because you’re so totally not manipulative-!”

“Didn’t think I’d what?” Catch him? Thought him a monster that would let him fall, was that the impression?

“No way out?” Kaiba turns Yugi then, his other hand grips his shoulder and forces him around, pushing him back, “There’s a fucking door right over there, you could walk out of it anytime you wanted if you cooperated! But no, you’d rather fuck around with me, and for what, for a good laugh later with your moronic friends!”

Kaiba is livid, it’s much a return to their first night with the completion of their duel, Yugi’s unwillingness to activate the Puzzle. His eyes are ignited in anger, his expression bitter and snarling, every bit the dragon he favored.

“You just love playing victim, don’t you? Well the rest of us had the same problems, Yugi, and some of us had it worse! But guess what, I didn’t have a fucking Puzzle that my grandfather gave to me, and I didn’t have some ancient King dueling for me in all of my games, and I didn’t need friends, and you’re a good reminder as to why !”

“I thought you weren’t going to take it seriously!” He shouts right back at him, in fact, he’s almost screaming. Kaiba turns him, pushes him, he stumbles back, lands against a panel of the wall- “ If I could give you what you wanted, I freaking would, okay! I keep telling you and telling you, and you hook me up to machines and want to know all my g-goddamn secrets- ” He’s never been so hot under the collar, he’s not sure he’s ever said that to anyone , ever, in his entire life. “You just want to take and take and-”

“Maybe you wouldn’t be so freaking obsessed with a dead guy if you had some friends, did you ever think of that! Maybe you wouldn’t have to tell me things were so hard if you had someone to share it with-” He covers his ears for a moment as Kaiba yells, desperate to get his thoughts together. “No, no ! You’re not turning this around on me, you still haven’t answered me, why it matters that I get a freaking STD panel, like you’re about to screw the-”

Yugi’s not trying at all, is what it feels like. He wants to keep this bond with the Pharaoh to himself—well it couldn’t have meant all that much to him if he doesn’t even want to attempt to try, to offer anything of use! He’s selfish, for as much as he says he cares about his friends—

But they’re not friends, so of course he doesn’t waste any effort on him. As Yugi sees fit to reiterate to him, of just how void his social life is that he fills it with someone long since dead and gone, only existing as energy for a brief moment in their modern era, a flicker, before going again.

And Kaiba hangs onto that flicker as though he might go out with it.

But the territory the conversation dips into makes Kaiba’s hands squeeze around Yugi’s arms, “ What ?” His eyes are narrowing then, “ What the fuck did you just say- -?”

He breathes heavily, pinned beneath Kaiba’s iron grip. He doesn’t even bother to squirm, he isn’t afraid, and he just leans forward and enunciates, “It makes it look like you want to screw the-”

There isn’t even a knock on the door before it’s thrown open. Pinned as he is to the wall, Yugi can barely turn his head to see - Mokuba, standing there, wild eyed and breathless from running clear across the house. “Seto!” He sounds absolutely panicked. “Seto, you’ve got the intercom on!”

Their eyes meet. Kaiba looks through Yugi’s chest, to where the intercom on the wall is. He’s holding his body against the button. Maybe they can hope his body also muffled the sound, but….he kinda doesn’t think so. 

Seto’s face is flushed- whether from Yugi’s last implication or the entire exchange, it’s not quite clear, but he finally pulls back, releasing Yugi from the wall, and runs a hand through his hair, letting out a breath. He needed to smoke, badly. He needed a lot of things.

“…Mokuba.” It’s embarrassing, having his brother hear…how much of it had he heard? He didn’t deserve that. It’s not as though he never flew off the handle at KaibaCorp, his fury was infamous, but…things between Yugi were different, it wasn’t work, it was…

Not for his brother to be hearing, was all.

He doesn’t...doesn’t trust himself to be alone with Yugi at the moment, doesn’t want Mokuba to be forced into an awkward position, and so he finally turns, forcing himself to place the mask back on, the cold façade of detachment. It was the only way to survive.

“…Mokuba if you could lead Yugi back to his room…?”

He avoids both of their eyes, but the dragon has settled again, leaving Seto looking exhausted as he follows behind them.

Yugi slides back down to his feet once released, still feeling breathless. He barely glances at Mokuba, keeping his eyes on his brother, before he mutely follows. If Kaiba thinks this is over, he really is crazy. Whatever Yugi did or did not do is nothing compared to this . 

Does he really want the Pharaoh that way ? It is already apparent he is supposed to give his body over yet again, but just how much is he supposed to give? He follows Mokuba back to his room, but he doesn’t think he can sleep. Every nerve in his body is on fire. He replays the screaming match over and over with each step he takes. He feels flushed and hot and angry and something else, something so much worse.

Surprisingly, it’s Seto that speaks and breaks the tension when they finally reach Yugi’s door.

“Mokuba, you can go now. It’s alright.” There’s no indication that there’d be another flare-up, at least one not as easily heard this time around. He doesn’t care what his employees might think of him, but his brother doesn’t deserve it.

And Yugi…

There’s so much to sift through. Their own unsteady history, how much of their interactions were really…them, and not when he was possessed. He wasn’t expecting to open Pandora’s Box with this, it should’ve been so simple, but the longer this goes on, the more complicated it’s starting to become, much like a puzzle itself.

He jumps in his skin again, he hadn’t even heard Kaiba following behind them. He whips around, and his eyes are still hot, looking at him. Mokuba beats a hasty retreat. He hadn’t deserved that. Yugi doesn’t think he has anything to feel bad about - other than a misjudged prank - but he does feel bad there. It wasn’t his fault , he didn’t know - but still. His worry for his brother will only intensify with that. He needs to talk to him about his efforts to contact his friends and get that Puzzle away from Kaiba. 

Yugi stands in the open door, just looking at him. There’s some part of him he is ignoring that wants Kaiba to come in and finish what they started, however it ends. “Well,” is all he says. 

Yugi looks angry, but in a way it’s almost admirable, the way he doesn’t snivel and cower, or cry. Anger is something Kaiba can understand. It’s a better meeting ground for them than anything else.

“Well?”

If they aren’t dueling or fighting, or discussing ancient spirits, what did they have in common, really? And maybe that’s part of why it…why it feels like something is missing. It seemed obvious as to what that was.

Seto Kaiba didn’t have friends and it was fine that way, because people were disingenuous and useless, but the Pharaoh was… something . The closest he had, maybe, to any kind of social interaction that he looked forward to, was willing to be around. Their rivalry had been complicated, but it was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. He doesn’t want to let that go, he’s unwilling now that he’s had it.

And Yugi doesn’t understand. He looks at a report on a paper and thinks…

He clears his throat and drags his fingers through his hair again. Slowly, his eyes meet Yugi’s violet hues.

I wish you cared about me the way you care about him .

It comes into his mind unbidden, this thought. Surprises him and scares him. Kaiba’s always been beautiful, he’s never said otherwise. Beautiful and capable and frightening and exciting - and passionate and intense and… He runs his fingers through his hair and Yugi wishes he could hate him the way Jonouchi does. But he doesn’t, he doesn’t. He feels a lot, and some of it’s pity, and the rest he refuses to name. 

“I’m sorry.” It’s out of his mouth before he can hold onto his righteous anger. “I am - for everything.” Not just for his jape gone wrong, but because he can’t give Kaiba what he wants and needs. “I….hope we can put that behind us.” He knows better, though. 

An apology is not what Kaiba expects to hear….but not entirely out of character for Yugi. Whether it’s an attempt to look like the bigger person, or maybe he doesn’t like the feeling of unease between himself and others.

…Or maybe it’s due to the fact that he has no choice but to stay here now, in Kaiba’s home, under his surveillance, and at his beck and call, where, honestly, anything at all could happen to him without objection and interference, and next time, Seto would pick a wall without the intercom.

Kaiba doesn’t tell him that he accepts his apology, nor does he agree to put it behind them, but he does lean closer, unblinking, a mild smirk spreading over his mouth.

“Sleep well, Yugi.”

 If he could.

Chapter Text

The dream that he wakes up from is the same one that plagued him all night: he’s still pinned by Kaiba against that wall, but it’s so much more. Yes, his hands still trap his arms, but Kaiba’s body is over his own, their hips grind together, and their mouths collide. It happens over and over and it’s never enough. Yugi wakes up and he’s tangled in the sheets. He wakes up, and he’s been grinding himself into the mattress, and he’s so hard it hurts, and all he can do is whine into his pillow, because life is incredibly unfair. 

“I have got to stop being so bi,” said to no one but the pillow and maybe the Kuriboh sitting on his nightstand. Girls are better anyway, they are so much nicer, so much softer and kinder. He is gonna find some girl to marry and run the game shop and settle down like his grandfather and his father - ignoring how badly that had ended for his father. 

But then there is Kaiba, with that soft brown hair, and those deep blue eyes, and it reminds him of his childhood crush on Anzu, one that softened out when he understood his feelings more and realized they were better just as friends. Would that happen here, too? He can’t get Kaiba to be his friend, let alone….anything else. But all he can think of is the way he smelled, and how tender he was when he caught him yesterday, and carried him to the bed, and oh God, he’s throbbing . 

He doesn’t trust himself in this room, though, knowing Kaiba’s cameras. And the intercoms, dear God, that’s all he needs repeated. He changes behind the dressing screen every day and every night out of caution, but this isn’t something that can be ignored, much as he wants to. 

Yugi escapes to the ensuite bath, turning the water on in a hard, hot cascade. It’s a beautiful bathroom, all done in expensive tile. The shower walls are glass, and he just….can’t think about that right now, about - ah, him seeing anyone, anyone seeing him - oh, this isn’t fair. He steps under the water and his skin turns red. Good. He is going to boil this out of him.

How had he screwed things up so badly? A simple joke and- but it wasn’t simple, he was being spiteful and trying to get back at Kaiba for all his barbs. That didn’t mean he had intended to hurt him. But he should have known better.

That also didn’t excuse the rest of Kaiba’s behavior. An STD panel. What the hell else was he supposed to think? “How am I supposed to know what you did with whom before you got here?” Not much, not nearly enough. His last years of high school, Yugi’s social life had improved dramatically - having friends would do that. Enough that Jonouchi and Honda would drag him to parties, big ones, with illicit booze and kids from other schools he didn’t even know. There had been a couple of times, pulled into side bedrooms, where he’d done the bump and grind with someone else, guys and girls - but it never went beyond that. He’d wanted to, a few times, he’d wanted to really badly. Maybe he was nervous with the idea of doing anything without the cover of clothes, or maybe he was a romantic and wanted his first to be special...But anyway, whatever Kaiba thought, he hadn’t had the chance to get an STD just yet. Maybe he should be flattered he thinks he has that much game.

It’s time to take care of the insistent nudge below his waist, it’s just not going away, probably because he can’t get his mind off these dirty thoughts. But it also feels a little wrong to think of the one person making him feel this way, a little...voyeuristic. But then, if Kaiba was interested in the Pharaoh in that way, it was this same body - so maybe he has nothing to feel bad about. What would he do, if he got the chance? Yugi slides his back against the wall, feels the scratch of the tile edges, and allows himself to imagine that, if just for a few moments. 

~~

His hair is still damp when he trots down the stairs to the same empty, quiet house. The sun is shining through the windows, he can see a French glass door that looks out on a veranda and a part of the garden. All this time, and he’s never even gotten to that yet, always another new room to find in this impossibly large house. He opens the door to get a little air before breakfast - and is surprised to find another person doing much the same thing, sitting by the edge of a koi pond. “Mokuba.” Yugi’s face flushes a little. It will be better to just be honest and straightforward about yesterday. “Good morning.” 

Mokuba looks up, and it’s clear that a lot is on his mind—and why wouldn’t there be? The intercom hadn’t been on for long, but enough to capture how heated they’d been, and what Yugi was upset about. His brother had said it would only be temporary, that the terms of Yugi staying here only extended to helping with the Puzzle, but it feels like something more is wrong, something that’s making his brother worse than usual.

“… Hey, Yugi …”

What is there to say after last night? It’s left a bit of an uncomfortable air. But Mokuba can’t entirely fault Yugi for that, Seto was intense about the things that mattered most to him, sometimes to a terrible fault.  

He sounds so lost, and Yugi’s heart goes out to him. He can’t imagine how he’d feel, if he heard one of his family members yelling like that, and on such a subject. He comes up to the pond, indicating a round, flat stone. “This seat taken?” It’s a beautiful pond, edged in large stones, and a small wooden foot bridge extends over the far edge, part of a pathway through the garden. There’s a small waterfall as well, and a stone island in the center with a small bodega on top, made of rock. The fish are large and colorful, and pretty fearless. Mokuba’s fingers dip into the water, and one comes up and nibbles on him experimentally, looking for food. Yugi smiles a little. “Wanna share what’s on your mind?”

Mokuba shakes his head, keeping his attention on the koi that swim up as Yugi takes his seat next to him.

There’s a lot on his mind. Where to even start? It’s not just that Yugi’s here...it’s everything- Seto’s erratic behavior, having to pull a bit more of the weight at KaibaCorp. It’s not that he minds, he’s always been involved with the company, Seto’s always made sure his voice was heard, but it feels like his brother is spending too much time on this.

It’s not just the dueling anymore, not just the focus on the improvement of technology, it’s what his brother is searching for and just isn’t finding, and it’s propelling him into this desperation Mokuba hasn’t seen since they were children.

Mokuba sighs, “Yugi…I know this isn’t fair. I know things have gotten out of hand. I’m sorry.” His brother will never say it, and he feels like he has to, that it should be said, that it’s the least they owe to Yugi. He’d done a lot for them, for Mokuba, he’d never turned him away when he came to him for help with his brother before, and even now he doesn’t turn away.

“Hey.” He nudges him with his shoulder. “It’s not your fault. I-I’m sorry, too, I shouldn’t have been yelling at your brother.” It’s just not fair to Mokuba. Surely Kaiba has to see that? This all has to stop for his sake. He doesn’t deserve all this. He’s got to try to talk to Kaiba again, make him see- “But it means we really need to get that Puzzle away from him. Have you gotten through to my friends yet? What did they say?”

Mokuba looks guilty then. He brings his knees up to his chest, pressing his head against the tops of them. He hasn’t gotten through to Yugi’s friends, hasn’t even tried. Afraid isn’t really the word to describe how he felt after his and Seto’s talk…but he feels like things would only get worse if he tried to intervene. Seto made it very clear what he wanted and what he didn’t want…and…his brother knew best, didn’t he?

Even now…?

“…Yugi…please…please understand. I…I can’t .”

He wants to, he knows it can’t be better to leave things as they were…..but Seto always had a plan. As angry as he was to have the Puzzle, he’d be even angrier without it.

He doesn’t even hear him at first, looking down at the fish and laughing as they bob to the surface, flashes of color on the water. Then, he does hear him, and the smile sinks slowly from his face. He turns and looks at him. “Mokuba - you promised me.” How...how was he supposed to do this completely on his own? Without Yami, without even his friends, he couldn’t stop Kaiba. He couldn’t stop any of this. And now, Mokuba-

Mokuba squeezes his legs a little tighter, and when he lifts his head again, there are tears in his eyes.

“I-I didn’t promise ! I…I told you I’d try, but I…I just…I can’t betray Seto that way…you don’t understand, he’s changed since all of this happened! He doesn’t sleep, an-and he’s short with everyone, and he’s-“ Fixated. It’s the only word for it. Like he can’t tend to anything else until this is taken care of, and the longer it’s put off, the more additional detours that keep being added, the longer this torment would go on.

“I don’t know what else to do! He needs you, Yugi! I need you! Please help us…”

Yugi’s fingers weave into his hair, and he’s going to scream. This is a nightmare. “Please,” Mokuba says, and what is he supposed to do! He can’t work miracles, not on his own! Pretty soon it will be Mokuba, too, “Just give up, just give him what he wants, just stop existing so the Pharaoh can come back,” and what is he supposed to say! When Mokuba’s crying, when it’s “Seto this, Seto that!” Seto, whose fault this all is! Can’t betray him, but Yugi can swing in the wind! 

But...Mokuba’s crying. He’s crying, too. He doesn’t know what else to do but to put an arm around the younger Kaiba brother, and pull him against him, and just...cry together. Why not? They’re both stuck at his brother’s mercy, after all.

 For a house so big, it’s felt too small these past few days, and so Kaiba takes refuge in his tower, shut in at his office, overlooking Domino. It’s stifling at his home there with Yugi, he hadn’t expected things to escalate so far and so fast. But it’s bothered him, that day Yugi had feigned weakness and fell, a joke at Kaiba’s expense, but then had the audacity to say he didn’t even think the man would catch him. He’s bailed out Yugi and his friends more times than he ever had to, and this is what Yugi thinks of him?

He’s been thought of as a tyrant, a cold, detached, and unfeeling person who for some reason, created games and amusement parks for children, ironically. He doesn’t owe anyone answers, he doesn’t need to prove himself or his motivations to anyone, his feelings are his own, and no one is entitled to them. And yet, it bothers him that Yugi is the one to think the worst of him. Like he hasn’t personally seen those moments that Kaiba has extended himself when he didn’t have to. They were small, but they were there.

There’s been no progress, and so he dives into work as a distraction. There’s a spare bed here for those late nights at the office, but it goes unused, because even in his dreams, he’s plagued by visions of past duels, and a King that has him on his knees.

He can’t think about any of that. He has to work. It’s all that’s left. 

Finally though, something breaks the monotony of combing over code and countless emails- it’s a loud and jarring commotion from just outside of his office.

The door is open, and his secretary is nearly screaming. “You can’t go in there-”

“Piss off.” That’s Katsuya, who else could it be, so uncouth and so ready to fight. He shoves his way into the door, and Honda is not much behind, murmuring, “Excuse us,” to his secretary, who is shouting, “Mr. Kaiba, I’ll call security!”

Katsuya hasn’t even heard all that, and he’s made a beeline straight for the desk, a look on his face like he’d like to strangle the man behind it - he probably would, too. His hands slam down, and some of the items on the desktop jump. “ Where’s Yugi .” 

Of fucking course.

Kaiba is met with the very last person on the planet he had any patience for. He can feel an oncoming headache that would plague him for the rest of the day. He isn’t sure how Katsuya and the other moron managed to get clearance all the way up here, but several people were going to be fired today as a result.

Coolly, Kaiba merely rests his elbows against his desk, unflinching at Katsuya’s anger.

“I suggest you take your filthy hands off of my desk and take a step back unless you’d like to personally experience the sensation of what a drop from this altitude feels like.”  

“Kiss my ass, you son of a bitch, where’s Yugi!”

Honda grabs the arm that Katsuya rears back, and it’s clearly taking a lot of his strength to hold the other man back. “We know he’s with you, Kaiba.” Honda’s no less accusatory, but he is very slightly calmer. “He hasn’t answered his phone for weeks, and his mother said he’s working on a project with you. We want to know where he is and what’s going on.”

The explanation to the family had gone over well but…he really hadn’t factored in these idiots into the equation. Of course they’d want to know where Yugi was and if he was alright, they were practically glued to him.

Even as Katsuya squares up, Kaiba isn’t the last bit threatened. People like Jonouchi were just thick-headed, leaping before looking. Critical thinking never was his strong suit.

He stands from his desk smoothly, “If that’s all you wanted to know, you could’ve called and left a message with my secretary, but I guess I’m flattered you just had to pay a visit to me in person. If you missed my face that much, Katsuya, you can see it plastered over the billboards in Domino Square.”  

Honda has to practically trip him to keep him from tackling Kaiba right there. “ Jou ! This isn’t helping Yugi!”

He’s almost foaming, he’s so furious. “If you did anything to him, I swear to fucking God , no amount of money in the world will fix your fucking face after I’m through-”

“Kaiba - we want to know where Yugi is. If you don’t tell us, we’re taking this to the police. He wouldn’t just leave like that, not without talking to us. We’ll tell them that-”

Security can be heard running down the hall, they slam to a halt at the door. “Mr. Kaiba, is everything alright, sir?”

Honda has the sense to look worried. Katsuya still looks like he’s ready for blood. 

Kaiba’s eyes flicker past the frothing dog that Honda struggles to keep leashed and knows his security could take it from here, easily restrain the pair and take them for a little ride.

How easily money could solve problems like these, because most people did most anything with the right compensation attached. And so maybe nobody bats an eye at two missing ex-gang members.

…But he’s no monster like Yugi thinks.

Instead, he smirks, shaking his head at his guards, “We’re having a discussion, you can escort them out shortly. It’ll only take a moment.” His eyes focus on the pair again, his expression sliding back to colder irritation again.

“I realize you won’t take my word for it, so you can see Yugi for yourselves and ask him what we’ve been doing. He’ll be home for the weekend.”

The looks on their faces are so comical, it’s difficult not to laugh. Katsuya slowly straightens, not looking quite as violent as a moment ago. “If we don’t see him,” he replies, not ready to let Kaiba get the last word, “we’re coming back. And we won’t be escorted out by security.”

The secretary has wormed her way into the now-crowded office. “Mr. Kaiba, sir, are you alright? I tried to stop them, I-”

The security team have circled the two young interlopers, and it’s clearly time to leave. “This way.”

“I mean it, Kaiba.” Katsuya’s still glaring. “One mark on him-”

“Let’s go, Jonouchi.” Honda pulls him along, and the office is finally down to just Kaiba and his trembling secretary.

But now there’s a weekend outing to arrange. 

He can’t seem to get any kind of reprieve anywhere. Not at home, not at his office. He’s ragged, running on caffeine and smoke.

This time, it’s not Kaiba’s voice ringing out over the intercom, summoning Yugi. That evening, he goes straight up the stairs to Yugi’s room. True to his expectation, he’d had a throbbing headache that just wouldn’t cease, and perhaps he’d taken it out on more of his employees than were actually responsible for the breach.

He doesn’t knock at Yugi’s door, merely pushes it in a bit too hard and it connects with the wall. He’s standing there in the doorway, surveying the room until he finds the source of his headache through proxy of his friends.

“You’ll never guess who I had the pleasure of a visit from today.”

Yugi jumps from his spot at the vanity when the door bangs hard against the wall. Study time is, apparently, over. His heart calms down a little, and he twists in his chair, taking in Kaiba. He looks like shit. His suits are expensive and perfectly cut, he has - at most - perhaps three hairs out of place, and he looks like he could collapse at any moment. Like he hasn’t eaten in a week and slept even less. He smells like that gorgeous cologne and cigarettes, a perfume so heady Yugi would swoon if this presumptuous interruption weren’t so infuriating. He needs a wash and a rest, and he needs to stop his nonsense. 

Yugi just looks at him, eyes running from his perfectly shined shoes, up those long legs, to that exhausted face. “The U.N. Secretary General.” He’s got to stop running his mouth - but not right now.

“I’m talking about your dimwitted friends, Yugi !” It comes out a little more irritable than usual…though everything was lately. Maybe today it felt a little sharper, it feels that way, with the growing pain of his headache. He presses fingers to his temple and rubs there.

“…They haven’t heard from you and they barged into my office today. Katsuya and the other one.” As if it’s Yugi’s fault for that, as if anyone wouldn’t be naturally concerned to know where their dearest friend had gone, if they were still safe.

“You’ll be pleased to know that as a result of their usual interference, you’ll be allowed home for the weekend.” He’d said two days, but now he regrets it. So long as Yugi was able to keep his mouth shut and merely keep up appearances, maybe that would appease everyone all the way around.

“You took my phone, of course they haven’t heard from me!” Who’s the dimwit now? What did he expect, that Jonouchi and Honda would just forget him? 

Kaiba must have a headache, because he rubs at his temples; and Yugi has an image of sitting him down on the floor in front of him, still in the vanity chair, and running hands through that hair, massaging tired, sore, strained muscles. Down to the back of the neck, the shoulders, he swallows, nope, nope ! That needs to stop this instant! One sexy dream does not mean he has to think like this. Dreams like that are meaningless, he’d had one about a middle school teacher once, and so what if Kaiba is so absolutely his type? He doesn’t have to…

He perks up at Kaiba’s next words. “You’re letting me go?” 

“ For the weekend .” Kaiba grinds out, reiterating, glancing to Yugi with narrowed eyes as he digs his fingers deeper against his skull.

“…And if you say anything remotely hinting about what we’re doing here, you can consider your little vacation over. I’ve worked too hard for too long at this, I won’t have everything ruined because you can’t keep your mouth shut. Oh - but- you should be good at faking things, right?”

Not for them, only for Kaiba, it seems.

“But just in case your honesty gets the better of you, I’ll be there to listen.”

Any desire to touch Kaiba is dimmed when he gets like that . “That’s not fair-” But that last sentence makes his eyes go very big. He stands from the vanity. “You’re….coming home with me?” What in the world would grandpa say! 

“I’ll be waiting in the car. Unless you give me any reasons to come in. ” Kaiba’s hand finally drops, and a terrible smirk spreads over his mouth.

It would be a long weekend, but he’d do anything to get those idiots off of Yugi’s back should it mean he’s bought more time. And as evidenced, Kaiba spares no expense when it comes to the things he wants most.

“I thought you’d be happy, Yugi.” Kaiba feigns a mild surprise of his own, “But if you think I’m so unfair —”

“You’ll be….in the car? What, all weekend?” That’s...insane. “Kaiba-kun,” he takes a hesitating step forward. “Mokuba’s worried about you-”

 It seemed logical, he didn’t know what Yugi would say, and he didn’t trust his guards to handle the situation adequately. He’d done stranger over the past few months, this seemed relatively harmless in comparison.

But then Yugi brings up his brother, and Kaiba takes a step forward, not quite so hesitant as Yugi’s.

“ Don’t you bring him into this .” As if he didn’t know how worried Mokuba must be, as if he couldn’t tell when his brother was upset and anxious over how tense things were, and he’ll fix it, he’ll fix that as soon as he fixes this fucking Puzzle that Yugi won’t do anything about.

“There’s nothing you have to tell me about him that I’m not already aware of, so keep his name out of your mouth if you want me to let you go anywhere this weekend, are we clear?”

“Kaiba-kun, please. Let’s just talk about this. We can talk to him, too! There’s got to be a way to make you understand that-” 

He’d push him against the wall, but it’s not close enough- Kaiba’s hands find Yugi’s arms, and he swings him to the nearest obstacle, the bed.

Yugi’s form bounces against it, and Kaiba is quick to pin his wrists against the comforter, and his expression is nothing short of furious again. He’s exhausted , he’s tired of excuses, tired of explaining himself and what he needs done, it’s the same circle they travel over and over again.

“ Shut. Up. ”

And that’s always been Kaiba’s preference, hasn’t it? That Yugi silence himself, that nothing he had to say was worth listening to. There’s no way to make him understand that the Pharaoh has permanently gone, because it’s not a thought Kaiba is even remotely willing to entertain is true. Admitting to that makes all of this worthless, makes his spiral into questionable levels of sanity a worthless trip, makes all the time he’s put into this, all the emotion he’s carried… meaningless .

He squeaks a little, but that’s it. Kaiba is right on top of him, and he isn’t afraid of him, exactly, but he is a little afraid. He’s a bit dizzy when he bounces on the bed, but that’s all. He looks resolutely up at the canopy above the bed, because he can’t look at the man who has him pinned there. He can’t talk, because all of his mind is focused on not getting an erection right now. Think of his mother, think about baseball, think about anything else. Even half a chub would ruin him worse than a full stiffy in the boy’s high school locker room after gym class. Don’t think about how those elegant, long fingers are wrapped around his wrists, and how they could be pinned over his head, and he’d squirm only because he’d long to be kissed and touched and-

Kaiba pants next to his ear, his hair needs to be washed, and falls limply in his face. Yugi holds his breath so as not to breathe him in. Don’t think about how he’s leaning over him, and his knee is between his legs, and if he lifted his hips he’d feel him. 

He hears his breathing calm a little; he relaxes into the bed. It isn’t even uncomfortable, like this. It’s much, much too comfortable. Yugi closes his eyes and keeps mastery of his composure. 

Satisfied at the silence he hears after his demand, even Kaiba’s rigid form slackens a little over him, and there’s a moment where only their panted breaths can be heard in the stillness of the room, and it’s probably the most quiet he’s experienced in a long time- constantly responding to emails, calls, the demands that a business places on its CEO- all warranted, except he can’t quite focus these days, and it’s infuriating.

And it’s the first time in a while that Yugi’s actually complied. That anything goes Kaiba’s way without a bickering retort.

“…Listen to me.” He’s quieter now, his voice more level, but his hands don’t leave Yugi’s wrists, firm around them.

“We need to give them an explanation, one they won’t question anymore, I can’t have your friends trespassing on company property to demand where you are. Tell them that it’s a huge opportunity for you that you can’t pass up.” Because they sure as hell wouldn’t stop interfering on Kaiba’s account.

The thought of lying to his friends makes Yugi’s stomach flop. He takes a shaky breath to steady himself, eyes still closed. It is getting really hard to focus, when Kaiba’s voice is so soft, but so rough...When he’s right there . “They’ll want to know why I can’t answer messages.” Another quick breath. “It will go more smoothly if you give me the phone back. I promise, I won’t do anything you don’t want.” His stomach flops for an entirely different reason now. “ I promise , Kaiba-kun. Whatever you want.” He has to bite his lip, he can feel himself beginning to twitch right there - 

Yugi says all the right things…but of course Kaiba can’t take them at face value. Everyone lies. And Yugi has the most to gain out of being deceitful. Still, his words are undeniably pretty, and his compliance was not at all expected, it’s much appreciated tonight, and his headache ebbs.

“…We can work out an arrangement with your phone.”

And isn’t it far better this way? The better Yugi listens, the more Kaiba is willing to relinquish things, it doesn’t have to be this grim so long as Yugi cooperates, isn’t that what he’s tried to show him this whole time? This isn’t meant to be a punishment, this isn’t a prison.

But he needs Yugi’s assistance, loathe as he is to admit he needs anyone.

Kaiba lingers there for perhaps longer than necessary, given Yugi’s relaxed posture, and his eyes travel up the comforter to spot a familiar and…horrible sight.

“…Was that really necessary to bring?”

Yugi lets out a breath, and the tension leaves his slight frame immediately. It’s almost comfortable like this, because Kaiba’s grip is firm, but it doesn’t hurt. And he likes it too, too much. But all this, it isn’t for him. It never, ever was. “Thank you, Kaiba-kun.” He’s aching for a kiss, and more than a kiss, and he’d could lie here for hours with Kaiba’s comfortable weight on top of him, if he’s honest; with that warm, firm pressure, and that scent, and that voice-

At the sound of that voice now, his eyes flutter open, and he awkwardly tries to look. “My Kuriboh?” He looks up at Kaiba, who is looking down at him, and his cheeks flush again. “W-what’s wrong with it?”

What’s wrong with it? Plenty. Aside from bringing up memories he’d rather forget, it’s a deranged ball of fluff and cute that doesn’t belong in this setting at all, and the most important thing that Kaiba takes issue with is the fact that he had explicitly told Yugi to only bring the things that he needed, and apparently a stuffed toy was absolute priority.

“I recall asking you to only bring along necessities that would help with our collaboration. Is your stuffed Kuriboh a necessity?”

He asks it with a sort of sternness that could’ve easily been imagined being used with Mokuba.

“Yes.” He wants to sound cute in his reply, but that’s for...someone who Kaiba likes, which is definitely not Yugi. “It helps me sleep.” At the way Kaiba glares at it, he adds, “Atem liked it.” 

To that, Kaiba gives a disbelieving look. He can’t imagine the Pharaoh liking anything as childish as that…but then, he’d had no qualms about using Kuriboh during their duels.

“I think that’s a stretch. I think you just did what you wanted, regardless of what I said. To think, you being obstinate, what a surprise...” Kaiba presses down on Yugi’s wrists, moving the bed with the pressure as he gets his bearings, seeing no reason to continue pinning him when he’s compliant.

Finally he’s to his feet again, and he moves his hair out of his face.

“…Are you up for conversing tonight…?”

So long as it was quiet…the moment things became disagreeable or turned into a yelling match…he didn’t need Mokuba witnessing another scene, it would only cause him more needless worry.

Well, that’s it, control is out the window, with that scolding, commanding tone of voice. He is just losing the battle with the organ in his pants, when-

Kaiba gets up. He bites the inside of his cheek to stop a whine, goes back to staring up at the canopy and thinking every un-sexy thought he possibly can (doesn’t really work. But he’s trying). 

And the answer to his question is, no, he’s up for locking himself in the bathroom again, turning the shower on full blast, and trying not to let himself cry out Kaiba’s name. He risks glancing at the other man. “Will you eat first?” With me, with me, spend time with me-  

Kaiba tilts his head at him, admiring the way he remains in place where he left him- for once, someone is where they should be, and he mulls over when he can remember eating last. He doesn’t feel hungry. But Yugi had been here for quite some time alone, had he eaten with Mokuba already, requested the staff bring him anything? He does know he can use the intercom, doesn’t he?

“…Have you eaten yet?”

If not, it certainly…sounds like an open invitation. They could always speak over dinner. A semblance of normalcy, even if Yugi would rather be with his friends, at his own home.

He breathes deeply through his nose, eyes closed, and shakes his head. He can’t even trust himself to speak, he might start begging. 

No? He’d speak to the chef about that. Make sure Yugi was getting proper meals, especially when Kaiba wasn’t here to ensure it.

“ Well …? Come on.” He realizes he’d…perhaps overwhelmed Yugi, with the news of his friends, and maybe the physical altercations were ramping up more than usual…but he thinks of all the places he could’ve thrown him against, the bed had been the most thoughtful. It was a luxurious bed.

He frowns a little, looking over Yugi, who merely lies there, his eyes closed, and he can’t tell if he’s feigning at something again, or maybe he just can’t stand to look at him.

Well he’d better get used to it, especially if Atem wasn’t going to come back anytime soon.

“I’ll be right down,” and his voice is more steady than he feels. “Five minutes?” He opens his eyes, looks at Kaiba - and his heart flips, and he is in so much danger, so much trouble… “Gotta, uh...change.” He probably would, in five minutes...

Seto looks him over, it’s not in a cruel way, but his usual dissection- and it’s clear that Atem isn’t there, he knows this, so what exactly is he digging around there for? What is he hoping to find? What are those ice blue eyes stabbing into?

“…Fine.” Five minutes seems an easy wait when compared to everything else in his life. “When you’re through, just call on the intercom, someone will escort you.”

He moves away, straightening his suit, and moves out of the room a lot calmer than he’d entered it, which bodes well for everyone, really.

Chapter Text

He hasn’t been this happy in weeks. There’s not much to pack, since most of his clothes are still at home. He’s even leaving the study materials behind, because this weekend is devoted to a good time. And, he’s not even going on bad terms! Sure, being escorted through the house is a little, well, stupid; and yes, Kaiba still only asks questions about Yami and the puzzle. But there haven’t been anymore shouting matches! He’s been eating, sometimes even with Yugi.

He feels so positive about this, he made sure to go to Mokuba first, telling him, “It’s getting better, Mokuba, see? He’s been eating, he’s even going to let me have my phone!” Well, sort of; he gets twenty minutes in the evenings, but it is all supervised. Kaiba will grab the phone right out of his hands in the middle of typing, scour the apps for even a sniff of anything he doesn’t like, and hand it back over again. But...well, that's better than no phone at all. “I promise I’m going to come back, I won’t leave until he really is better.” No need to say his word was better than Mokuba’s. The boy hugged him and sniffled into his stomach, and Yugi hugged him back. It’s just as well he is only gone for two days - for Mokuba’s sake.

There is, of course, one thing he’s not taking with him: the Millennium Puzzle. His friends would instantly know something was up. But, to have it back again, it is hard to leave it behind.

Even so, he hurries down the stairs with just his backpack, and, in his hurry, nearly slams into Kaiba standing in the hall. Nearly, he wheels his arms in the air just in time, and his shoes squeak on the polished floors. “I-I’m ready!” He shoulders the bag, beaming.  

Of course Yugi is excited, the happiest he’s seen him in weeks. He’s getting to return to his home, to his family, to friends, people that enjoy him despite the Pharaoh’s departure.

Of course he’d prefer that.

Kaiba watches him reel back and settle, and a flicker of his eyes over him pins him into place before he finally turns, beckoning him to follow to the door. The limousine is pulled around the drive.

Of course there’s….hesitation to let Yugi leave, there’s always opportunities for things to go wrong- not even intentionally on Yugi’s part, but his friends were persistent. But Kaiba gives an inch because at the end of the day, Yugi has at least one reason to come back, regardless of whether it’s empty or not.

That’s what Kaiba is counting on.

The car door is opened for them and Kaiba slides in against the leather, waiting for Yugi to follow. There’s just one final matter to attend to, just a bit of a security measure to ensure things go smoothly. Once Yugi is situated inside, and the door is closed, the vehicle starting to move, Kaiba reaches over to him in a rather sudden movement.

“I think it should be pretty obvious, but I might as well explain—this is a micro-transmitter that will allow me to listen to every word you say, Yugi…” His fingers catch at the purposely torn collar of his shirt, but the aim is higher still- to the choker he often sports around his neck, and he’s deftly tucking something inside of it, so small that Yugi could barely have seen it before it disappeared.

Kaiba wears a satisfied smirk as he adjusts his collar back into place, cool fingers slipping away, and he settles back beside him.

“…We should also go over any possible questions that will inevitably come up, such as the nature of the project, the time you expect to be away, things to assuage their concerns….” 

Yugi follows him in, still smiling, and is none the wiser - until Kaiba suddenly looms over him, his fingers at his neck. Yugi pulls back out of instinct, startled, but the firm hands hold him in place. A micro- He rubs his choker, but he really doesn’t feel anything. “You didn’t say that was part of me going.” Kaiba adjusts him and sits back, that prince of KaibaCorp, and Yugi swallows and briefly closes his eyes. 

“How much longer do I expect to be away?” He knows he’s not going to like the answer, but it has to be asked. Maybe, maybe it won’t be much longer. It’s dampened his enthusiasm somewhat, and he sighs, looking out the window. “Can’t you just trust me to say what’s right?”

Kaiba indulges him mildly with a small, “Mm …?” As if he had been absorbed in thought. “Oh- well , I don’t know, Yugi. How’s your heart feeling today?”

He’s never going to let that go.

So no, he doesn’t exactly trust Yugi to say the right words anymore.

 “…As for the time you’ll be away, I imagine a minimum of six months would be standard time to collaborate on a project, at least to start.” Wasn’t it supposed to only be a few weeks at the beginning of all of this…? Why had it suddenly become extended?

And the answer to that seems simple to Kaiba- Yugi had cost him time. And so this little problem was now taking much longer than anticipated. It only makes sense to lengthen his duration based on issues like these, where he now has to save face in front of his friends, and with the pile up of work Kaiba had shifted around and away. 

“Awful, thanks.” He rests his chin on his fist, staring at the passing scenery - but Kaiba’s next sentence makes him choke. If he’d been drinking anything, he would have spit it. “ Six months !” His vision tunnels, he feels pale and clammy. Six….six months. He’d miss his grandfather’s birthday, the whole summer with his friends, the new year celebrations. He’d miss entrance exams for schools, and-

His voice squeaks as his eyes water. “It has to be so long?” Because Yugi knows he’s going to say, “ If you just gave me what I wanted ,” but he can’t, he can’t! What happens in six months! Is his sentence extended for another year? Two? Ten?

His heart pounds in his chest and he really might faint now. 

“It doesn’t have to be, Yugi.” Kaiba’s voice isn’t quite soothing, but patronizing in the way of speaking to a small child who doesn’t understand.

It really could be over in as little as a week, if there were some means of making it so. If Yugi pointed him into the right direction, he’d throw all of the resources necessary into it to make it happen. But as such, he offers nothing. They’re both at a stalemate.

“…Just tell them that, to start.” And if they concluded their business and Yugi could leave preemptively before time was up, that was an easy enough explanation. They might not pester him so much.

“…I’m sure it goes without saying that the Puzzle is an off-limits topic, if I even sense the conversation going into that direction, I’ll have to intervene, is that clear?”

He closes his eyes and swallows back his tears, but the tremble still makes itself known in his voice. “What does that mean, intervene?” He has a horrible notion of Kaiba’s suits busting in the doors of the game shop, which isn’t likely, but he really can’t put anything past him anymore. There is, after all, now a bug in his choker. How did his life become like this, in just one night…

Kaiba can’t help but to laugh, it’s not quite as manic as usual, there’s something tired in even this too, now.

“What an image you must have…”

And with that smirk across his face, his head tilting back into the leather headrest to glance at Yugi with lidded eyes- it’s not as though he’s doing much to dissolve any possible imagery.

It wouldn’t be so intrusive a scene as his guards bursting in, but Kaiba himself walking in to collect his so-called business partner would likely not go over well for a roomful of people who weren’t all that fond of him.

 “It doesn’t have to be difficult. Just keep your answers straight.”

By which he does not mean “straight” so much as “lie, and lie well.” But Yugi’s never been good at that. All his happiness at going home again has been replaced by this horror and anxiety - but when the limo pulls to a halt a few blocks away from the shop, when he sees the familiar streets of his own neighborhood once more - it perks him up just a little bit. There’s strength in his own home.

He only glances at Kaiba, pulling his bag onto his shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.” His eyes are lidded still, but there’s a dangerous flash in them. Tomorrow afternoon - if not before. 

The strong embrace of his grandfather, his mother kissing his cheeks, it’s almost enough to put him in tears. It hasn’t been a month yet, and yet it feels like he’s been gone a lifetime, back where he’s supposed to be. The scents and the sights are all the same, like everything has been waiting for him to come back home and continue on as they were before. But even if he got to stay, he’s not sure that would ever be true…

His mother makes tea for them and asks, “Well, Yugi? How is the project going?”

That Kaiba had not given explicit instructions on...He said to keep his answers straight, but Yugi is far too cognizant of the man’s fingers at his throat - but don’t think about that now… “N-not as well as we’d like.” He can’t be faulted for that answer.

His grandfather watches him far too knowingly, sipping his tea. “Difficult man to get along with.”

“Sometimes he is…”

“Now, Father,” Mom scolds, taking her seat with them. “Don’t be cross. Remember, this is Yugi’s big opportunity.”

Yugi rubs at the ridge of his eye with the base of his palm. “T-to be honest...sometimes I feel like...like maybe it’s not a good idea.”

His grandfather has a look that sees and knows too much, but his mother says, “It’s not like you to give up, Yugi.”

No. No, that’s true.

The bell on the front door of the shop clatters about as a familiar head of messy blonde hair races through, like a hound on a trail.

He’d better be here or I swear, rich-boy’s gettin’ his teeth kicked in and then some…-

He swings up the stairs to the living quarters, and between the pair, it sounds like Yugi’s about to be bum-rushed. The door bursts open and Jonouchi spots that familiar triage of hair colors and almost immediately tackles him from behind.

“ Yug ! You’re really here!”

“Jou, don’t snap him in half!” Honda’s too late to stop him, Jonouchi’s already yanked up his body against his chest, overjoyed to see him.

“ Heheh - man, you really worried the hell outta us!” Jonouchi’s knuckles find their way into Yugi’s hair, tousling it even further. “What, Kaiba don’t let you send a text now an’ then?!”

“We’re just glad to see you’re okay, man…” Honda shares in Jonouchi’s relief, reaching between their bodies to give Yugi a gentle slug against the arm.  “I mean, you are, right? Kaiba’s not working you too hard?”

“I can’t believe you’re workin’ with a jerk like that! Whatever he’s payin’, I’ll triple it!”

“With what , you don’t even have enough to fill your bike tires with, and air’s free!”

“Yeah yeah, but I have killer benefits.” Jonouchi finally sets Yugi down onto his feet, grinning.

That emotional feeling overwhelms him again, and it’s like a spell has been lifted off of him. How could he be so attracted to Kaiba, when he knew how much his friends disliked him? And, clearly, with good reason! Yugi squeezes Jonouchi back hard, and Honda in turn with his own (much lighter) sock to the arm. “Man, I missed you guys!” His voice squeaks a little. 

“M-my phone broke.” And here he is, lying to his very best friends in the whole world, like an absolute creep. But what choice, with Kaiba listening at his throat? “And we’ve been so busy, I just didn’t - but it’s getting fixed this weekend! I may not get to talk much, we’re really busy. But I’ll answer every night, I promise .” So long as Kaiba allows it…

He hedges at Honda’s question. “I-It’s a lot. I’m not always sure I’m up to it.” Counts his heartbeats, continues. “But he insists I am….” Well, not a lie… “I know, Jonouchi, it’s just that - I promised him. It’s really, really important to him. A-and I want to help.” Again, none of that is technically a lie.

He hopes they don’t notice how he blushes, thinking of Kaiba on top of him in the bed. How could he be so stupid? He was lonely, clearly, and now he’s in his right mind again, back where he belongs.

But how long is that going to last?

“Listen Yug, I know you feel like you gotta be nice to Kaiba an’ all, but whatever you’re doin’ for him, you’re goin’ above and beyond! So do me a favor and don’t push yourself for that creep, he’s lucky to even have you around!”

“Where’s he got you anyways? Some Kaiba-Land Resort?” Honda asks, and now’s when the real trouble begins.

“Yeah! How come you can’t stay here an’ commute to KaibaCorp! I mean, there’s still entrance exams comin’ up, or is he so outta touch with school now that he’s a big shot CEO?”

“It’s not like you’re studying for exams either, Jou, more like studying your television.”

“’Ey! It’s studyin’! How else am I gonna know my opponent’s decks inside an’ out? They got the preliminaries for the European tour, I gotta stay sharp! Anyways- Yug, if you don’t tell us where you’re stayin’, I’m gonna have to put you into my infamous pretzel sandwich headlock, and nobody gets out of it!”

“Okay, okay!” He laughs, and it’s so easy to be relaxed with them, to not be worried. He should be, they talk a big game, but Kaiba plays a bigger one. But he’s just so happy , he- “No, I’m staying at his place. It’s more convenient for how much we’re working. A-and I’m studying!” He doesn’t know about Kaiba’s school plans, he can’t imagine he’s going to bother with college, busy as he is with KaibaCorp….Should he ask him? Maybe better not to. “I get some free time.” 

“I told him he should let me stay here, but he wouldn’t hear of it.” He’s so relaxed, he’s not even thinking about the chip on his collar any longer. “He’s kinda bossy, you know.” 

“At his place….?” Jonouchi and Hiroto exchange dumbfounded looks, clearly both a little disturbed by the information.

“…Since when does Kaiba go around letting people he works with stay at his house?” Wasn’t that way too personal? Kaiba didn’t exactly strike anyone as the warmest of people.

There’s an abrupt sound that brings the ease and comfort of the moment to an end even further, and it’s not an unpleasant sound, just a more….revealing one, buzzing in Yugi’s pocket.

“….Eh…ain’t that….your phone, Yugi…?”

The one he’d just claimed mere moments ago that needed to be fixed? The one that had been broken?

“W-well, how should I know?” He probably sounds much too defensive. “He insisted.” 

Then, his pocket starts buzzing. “I-I said I got it fixed.” Hadn’t he? Needed to be fixed…..already fixed….shit, and it’s Kaiba, looking at the screen. He feels the overwhelming desire to ignore the text message-

-But he’s a little afraid of what will happen if he does that…

“ Come here ,” is all it says, and he twitches again, but sets his mouth in a grimace. He doesn’t need to latch onto Kaiba like this, when he has his friends to remind him what the normal, sane world is like. 

“S’cuse me a second,” he manages a tense smile. “That’s, uh- production team, needing a word.” On a Saturday. Before his friends can argue, Yugi is down the stairs and out the building at a run - he doesn’t have time for these annoying back and forths.

Kaiba is very much as he ever is, leaned against the car in the alleyway, smoking. “ What .” Yugi is in no mood. 

Kaiba offers him a tight-lipped expression, something of a terrible smirk and grimace, shaking his head, heavy plumes of smoke encircling him, disappointment evident.

“Don’t you what me. Ask me again, Yugi- ask me if I trust you to say the right things. Do I? No. No, I don’t. Should I? Do I have to give you notecards? Should we write down what you should say on your hand in permanent ink? Did it ever—” He takes another drag at his quickly diminishing cigarette before being forced to light another again, biting a new stick in his teeth as he sweeps a lighter- silver and blue, of course, with the mouth of his most precious creature providing the flame for its master - against the end. “–Ever, occur to you, that telling them where you’re staying could, I don’t know, entice them to trespass onto my property?”

He’s seething, heaving smoke, and he presses the heel of his hand against his head. 

“How exactly is that better than harassing me at my office?” 

And he heard that bossy comment.

He wants to cry those sweet tears and make those soft noises, but he doesn’t know the half of what hurting feels like. Hurting isn’t being allowed to stay in a luxurious estate with Kaiba’s own staff at his call at any hour of the day, he acts as though he lives in some dark dungeon, forced to string code together. 

He’s being a bit ballsy, considering only this morning his life was tunneling before his eyes - but it’s much easier to brave out in the open, with his friends nearby. He’ll what him and then some. Yugi rolls his eyes at this lecture, tapping his foot while Kaiba fusses with his lighter. “But I am staying with you. What did you want me to say, the moon? You told me to keep my answers straight!” 

He watches Kaiba smoke like a chimney, and he really doesn’t have time for this. “It’s not going to be a problem, because you’re giving me my phone. It’d be less of a problem if you let me go out once in a while.”

“Well now I have to, don’t I? I have to, or else those idiots will be climbing my gates yelling out for you. You know--- yes , you could’ve said the moon, Yugi, I would’ve rather you said the moon. I have a space station. It wouldn’t be that outlandish. Sure, I sent you to the moon.”

He’s one of the biggest CEOs of their generation, top duelist, hailed a genius and revolutionary, and he’s planning to spend two days of his precious time parked in an alley smoking through a week’s worth of cigarettes in a weekend, all because Yugi can’t say or do the things necessary, the very simple- he thinks- things that he requests, and why?

His long legs carry him up the length of the vehicle until he’s standing before Yugi, staring him down, ever the dragon now as smoke unfurls about him. “I could drive off with you right now. ”

“Why do you have a- I am not having this argument with you right now, they’re waiting for me, and this is so- Okay, Kaiba-kun, we’ll just go to the moon.” They talk over each other and nothing is getting done. Kaiba stalks toward him, trying to be intimidating, but he’s still pulling hard on that cigarette of his. “Will you stop that !” Without a thought, he grabs the lit cigarette from between Kaiba’s lips - and pulls it right out, his mouth slightly open (which is pretty, except no it’s not). He’s going to give himself cancer, the way he smokes! “You grab me now, and you really will have Jou and Honda banging down your door. Can you please just trust me to know how to talk to my friends?” As if to make a point, he puts the cigarette between his own lips, takes a pull-

- ohhhh, that’s not how they make it look in the mangas, don’t cough, don’t cough, don’t cough -

Smoke escapes his lips as he very slightly wheezes, “I need to go back now.” A huff, and his lungs clear. “Please try to calm down in the meanwhile.” His eyes are watering, but he holds it all back rather manfully, in his own estimation.

Sure, Kaiba can probably hear on that stupid transmitter of his, but he’s pleased he doesn’t cough again until he’s a full block out of sight.

He’s gone, he’s actually gone- just dismissed himself and went back. And it’s too late to call the whole thing off, the horrible part, much to the unease of Kaiba’s growing migraine, was that Yugi was right, his friends would be far beyond suspicion and any work between him and Yugi would cease. Was it worth risking all of that? A few days to correct the tension was worth relatively little in comparison to the life-altering task ahead. And yet it always seemed like so much with Yugi, like he has somehow demanded the world of Kaiba and then some in exchange for just a few moments with the Pharaoh again. But that likely isn’t true, Yugi never asked for this, he didn’t want any part of it to begin with, but he is part of it, if only he could understand.

“…. And he took my fucking cigare tte.” He scowls down the alley, leaning back against the car again, fishing out another from his coat.

Yugi had just better watch what he said, or it wouldn’t be smoke spilling out of those lips next time.

He hears the little cough in his bluetooth and smirks.

When Yugi returns, the boys aren’t in the shop, rather, waiting outside of it, clearly trying to decide which direction Yugi had headed into. It just….wasn’t like him, he was acting so nervous suddenly, and even before all of this- almost disappearing over night without a call or text in weeks. Now the weird excuses with his phone…

“’Ey, Yug. Everything okay…?”

“You looked kinda…” It wasn’t quite afraid, but something like it. “Worried.”

Oh no, why couldn’t they have just waited upstairs…

Yugi trots up with his customary smile, waving them off. “I am under a lot of pressure, I admit.” Oh God, the cigarette is still in his hand. “Uh-” He stubs that out on the wall of the building and smiles bashfully. “Say, who wants Burger World, I am starving .” 

Jou and Honda don't leave until late in the afternoon, and things have felt almost blessedly normal. They laugh, they talk, they go through the shopping district drooling over luxuries they can't afford. 

Jonouchi grinds his knuckles into his head when he leaves and says, "Remember, if Kaiba's giving you a hard time - I'll kick his ass any day of the week, and twice on Sunday."

Yugi laughs and pulls his fist out of his hair. "I know," he smiles up at him and thinks how very much he loves these people. 

Mom makes curry for dinner, and even makes the rice look like a little Kuriboh floating in the spicy, brown pool, like she did when he was a child. He and his grandfather play games, and by the time he's getting ready for bed, he's just about forgotten everything - the Puzzle, Kaiba, the fights; it all is pushed from his mind by the deep, soothing atmosphere of home. 

And then the phone starts buzzing. 

"Shit." He spits out toothpaste and learns his forehead against the cool surface of the mirror. Now what…?

“Outside.” Is what the notification reads, the sender can’t spare more than that.

Kaiba has his laptop for remote matters, and though normally quite adept when it comes to multitasking and distraction, as with most things involving Yugi, this becomes more difficult as the hours stretch on. His concentration becomes derailed when Yugi and his friends go out to eat, and not only are the patrons around them raucous, but Kaiba had been subjected to the sounds of Katsuya’s obnoxious chewing, which were beyond disgusting and disturbing.

And then of course there are the menial conversations, ranging from everything involving Duel Monsters to movies that Kaiba has never heard of- hasn’t had time to watch, and events of the over-detailed and tumultuous relationship between Katsuya and Mai Kujaku- shame, a promising duelist of her caliber setting such a low bar, if that were all true. It’s far more than he’d ever need to know about these people’s personal affairs, particularly Katsuya’s.

He picks apart every word Yugi says in reply, and not just the content of it, but the sound of it, the way he breaks each syllable down, deciphering and sifting through the tones to try and catch him in some cleverly crafted way of revealing everything to his friends. Thankfully, if there was such a message disguised and coded, it’s lost on these moronic people he insists on spending his time with.

He’s tucked away inside of his leather interior and darkened windows when Yugi comes down the alley.

It's hard to believe he's still here, it's past nine o'clock...Yugi knocks on the darkened window, which slowly lowers. "Hi." He leans down to look in. "Whats up?" The inside reeks of smoke, and Kaiba looks haggard, again. 

He'd been changing for bed, this little sojourn meant throwing on his rumpled clothes, and he'd really just like to sleep in his own bed for one night…

“I wasn’t inconveniencing you , was I?” Kaiba’s smirk is full of bitterness, the lines under his eyes pronounced, even in the faint glow of his monitor and interior lights.

“Would it be at all possible in the future for you and your friends to choose quieter activities to engage in? Preferably ones in which Katsuya doesn’t speak at all?” And because of the increasingly pressurized situation they’re now in, which should’ve been put to rest weeks ago and is now festering, Yugi would need to keep up appearances, which meant spending weekends in a parked car listening to nothing but this for forty-eight hours.

There were probably countless other ways to go about this in order to resolve the issue- he could simply move on with his life and part ways here, he could actually focus on work again and completely dive in as he usually did, or he could just continue to spiral as he was doing now.

He's trying really hard to be nice right now. "Yeah, kinda. What do you need, Kaiba-kun."

He scrubs at his face at this next complaint. "Or, radical thought, don't listen? Why are you still here? You should go home and go to bed, we'll talk tomorrow. Have you eaten? Mokuba's probably worried." And not without reason, this is, as ever, completely unhealthy. 

“Mokuba is fine.”

Kaiba has worked late many nights, it’s not all that different. There are many things different about the situation itself that he’s pouring himself into, but the methods to the madness are much the same.

“That’s funny, Yugi….” Kaiba’s smirk widens, an amused gleam in his eyes. “As if the moment I leave, you wouldn’t be inclined to tell your friends the truth about everything, and then I have that to contend with on top of a still empty Puzzle no more useful than a paperweight. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

That statement alone should be answer to Yugi’s question- has he eaten, does he intend to sleep? No, it seems not.

“You breathe really loudly too.” As if this is the fault of Yugi and not the listening device he planted against his neck. “Maybe the doctor’s reports were mistaken. Something to look into.”

"Why are you so paranoid!" He slaps his hands against the door of the car. "Have I run away? Have I said anything to anyone? Or even tried? You want me to betray you, Kaiba-kun, you're dying for it."

That is it. His fingers begin fiddling with the buckle of his collar. "Wel, you wouldn't have to hear me breathe like an annoying mortal, if you didn't put this stupid thing on me-"

Yugi’s hands are maneuvering around his buckle, but they don’t get very far. The dragon’s claws are out, Kaiba’s arms are suddenly out the window and his hands are wrapped around Yugi’s, pinning them there against his throat as he pulls him down through the window, as if threatening to yank him in all together.

Inside, he can really smell the state of how many cigarettes Kaiba’s chain-smoked, and there’s no escape from those sharp eyes that seek to cut.

“I don’t have to want betrayal to know it will happen Yugi, it’s just a matter of when. It follows me everywhere. You, just one more to add to the bottom of the list, and it’s a long one ." His own board members, for example. And he’s had his share of lower-level employees too, threatening blackmail, ready to squeal company secrets if not for sizable hush money.

His stepfather had been the most obvious, what he thought had been an opportunity for a better life for both himself and Mokuba as children- a crushed dream.

And could he say Atem, in a way, had betrayed him too?

Their eyes are uncomfortably close like this, practically nose to nose. Yugi can’t look away, and he’s pinned by Kaiba’s strong grip. The man reeks of cigarettes, his breath is stale from them, but he also still has that expensive cologne… 

“But I haven’t, Kaiba-kun,” that plaintive voice, those soft eyes. “And I’m not going to. I promised, remember?” Not just Mokuba, but him, too. “If you won’t go home, would you rather come in?”

Dissecting once more…combing through Yugi’s words, because face-value means nothing anymore, the only truth he can expect is in what isn’t being offered up.

…But he finds nothing to fault him for, nothing outright. They’re merely staring at one another then, eyes moving over Yugi’s face, taking him in properly. He’s always had a soft, friendly quality to him, it’s easy to see why people feel at ease around him. Maybe it’s been a while since he’s really properly examined him, he’d been able to clearly tell the differences between him and the Pharaoh once he’d studied the feedback videos of their past duels…then it became rather obvious. The stern frown, the confident smirk, the eyes that had seen far too much for too long. Experienced things that were painful, better left forgotten, perhaps.

Maybe it was in that pain that they both related to one another. Having to rise through it, defy odds.

…Though now that he’s really looking at him, Yugi’s eyes share a bit of that too. Had they always…?

His hands finally loosen around his neck, fingers slipping down to his shoulders before gently pushing him back.

“…No.” It sounds a little distant then, as if he’s thinking something through. “…I’ll be fine here.”

“Kaiba-kun-” But the look he gives brooks no argument. Why has he always tried so hard? The man could not be less interested in being his friend. Maybe Yugi is desperate to be liked, or maybe it is the challenge of it.

Or maybe he is just crazy.

“Goodnight,” he says, and stalks off back home. He is going to play one of his video games, and he is going to go to bed.

Chapter Text

It’s a miserable weekend for them both, probably more so for Kaiba though, who sits and stews, getting relatively little work done, even at night when Yugi rests. He should, in theory, be able to complete more work at such a point, but even the sound of Yugi’s breathing in his ear for the duration of the night until he wakes proves to be too distracting. He can’t work, he can’t bring himself to sleep- whatever occasional dozing takes place is not restful enough to be useful.

When Yugi finally emerges the following afternoon after his routine, his breakfast, long, emotional farewells, he opens the door to a man huddled against the corner of his seat, head in hand, wincing in the light that spills in when no longer filtered through the tint of his windows.

The ride home is oddly quiet, Kaiba does not berate him further, at least, not at first. He seems markedly more haggard, and perhaps Yugi should fret, leaving the safety of his family and friends to fulfill a promise to a man falling apart at the seams beside him.

It’s only when they are tucked away in Kaiba’s abode again does the master of the house speak.

And it’s likely not anything Yugi wants to hear.

“ Alright. ” His tone is serious. Leveled, but only just barely, clipped.  “You’ve had your weekend, Yugi. You’ve had a piece of your life back. Now give me mine. ”

He should have been more suspicious that he received no summons, but perhaps he’d hoped Kaiba had finally calmed down. It appears instead, when he finally climbs back into the car - which smells horrible, from cigarettes and unwashed skin - that he merely bottled himself up and is now about ready to explode.

Mokuba is not going to like this at all.

He asks him if he’s alright, how he’s doing, but gets nothing but grunts in reply, if even that. At the house, he tries to be mollifying, he tries to be nice. Sure, getting to go home shouldn’t be a favor, but he’d rather not fight, especially after seeing his friends and family again. “What do you want me to do?” he asks, voice calm and appeasing. 

“What do I want ?”

He’s a CEO who seemingly has everything at his disposal, people who would do anything he asked, wealth beyond what any single person would ever have need for…

And yet Yugi Muto stands in his home- one of several of his estates- and asks him what he wants?

“ What do I want you to do ?” He’s already stalking closer, and it should be clear that this interaction wasn’t going to be favorable. “What do you think I want you to do, Yugi? What is it I’ve been asking you for since you got here? How many times do I have to ask—how many ways can I ask it!”

The whole reason for…for any of this, for losing sleep, for losing time, losing his fucking mind over this, unable to understand or cope with any of it, and the one person who could solve any of it stands here and asks as if this is some class project they’ve been trapped together to work on.

“I had to listen to you for nearly two days, all of it things that I could’ve easily lived without knowing, about people who mean nothing to me.” His lidded eyes are wide now, brimming with that ferocity from their duels. “ Do what I asked you for !”

Yugi closes his eyes, breathes deeply, tries to hold onto the calm he felt at home. “I know what you want to have happen , but as I’ve explained - how many times do I have to - look, you know I can’t, I don’t know how, I don’t know what you want me to do .” 

Kaiba’s doing this to himself, and Yugi refuses to be blamed for it. “You didn’t have to listen to squat, I told you-” He throws his hands up in the air. “You need to eat something, and shower, and sleep, Kaiba-kun, this discussion is pointless. We can talk after you do.” It’s ballsy, but he’s been brave since he had Atem, and he actually turns his back on Seto Kaiba - and walks away. 

He can scarcely believe it, the way Yugi just turns and decides to end the discussion, much like in the alley. He isn’t sure if his outing back with his friends is the source for this newfound dismissive attitude, but it’s unacceptable. He’s not going to be ordered around in his own house!

“ I don’t recall ending this conversation, Yugi !” Kaiba’s tone is far beyond level now, Yugi’s made quick work of knocking down his defenses.

“You’re not going to fucking turn your back to me while I’m talking to you—you haven’t tried since you’ve been here to do anything! I ask you questions, you barely have answers, I’ve been patient, I let you study, I would give you anything you needed, but it doesn’t seem to matter to you!” As much as it does me.

It’s a terrible thing, to yearn so deeply for something, to have a means to get there, but no map to navigate it. He’s doing everything he can. He’s tried to forge that rift himself, through space, through time- it’s a last resort, the technology behind it isn’t sound. He’s tried to ebb the anguish through virtual reality, thinking if he could just see him again, would it be enough?

Would it ever be enough?

And Yugi doesn’t seem to entertain the fact that even Seto Kaiba could feel pain. That he still had something inside that could be hurt. He was bleeding out.

“…I’m not asking you anymore. Do it . I don’t care what you do, what you think you’re supposed to do, I don’t care Yugi, it needs to be done, figure it out. Right now.”  

Yugi doesn't stop, eyes fixed straight ahead. Just do it, Yugi: just call the stars from the heavens and learn to photosynthesize and just sprout wings and fly to whatever afterlife Atem is in. Just do it, why are you acting like it's so hard? Pull out your fingernails, give up your life, be a shell for a ghost, but make it happen. 

Well - he won't. He reaches the bottom of the stair and holds the banister. "I'd give you just about anything, but I can't give you what I don't have. When are you going to accept, what you want is impossible. "

Impossible , Yugi says.

Does he know who he’s speaking to? The very technology he uses whenever he’s dueling? The logo that’s stuck to most products here in Domino City? The country’s youngest CEO to date?

There’s nothing that’s impossible. Only obstacles to slow him down. 

Yugi’s not getting out of this again- his constant conjuring of excuses, feigning ignorance, patronizing him. He only makes it as far as the stairs, Kaiba closes the distance quickly.

Yugi stops at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, the end of the hall; and suddenly there’s a terrible urge that bubbles over, it goes beyond using the extension of his dragons to inflict pain on his opponent- he blinks, he moves, and his fist is suddenly throbbing. 

Kaiba is breathing hard, sneering, something very cold and very dark in his stare as he looks down his arm at where his knuckles have met the wall, just narrowly missing where Yugi had stepped. 

There is no more asking now.

A sudden sound- it all happens so quickly, Yugi starting to take a step up the stairs, he doesn't even see Kaiba move. But he sees the dent in the wall, he sees the blackness of the man's eyes. 

He doesn't try reasoning with him - he bolts. The only reason Kaiba hasn't grabbed him yet is that his slick dress shoes slip on the stairs in his hurry. His heart pounds as he makes for the bedroom door, slamming and locking it only moments before Kaiba arrives to pound on it.

What to do. A barricade would take too long, and is unlikely to be effective. The window is still out. He needs to find something to defend himself with, or slow Kaiba down, or-

"Yami wouldn't hide like this," he whimpers to himself, running fingers through his hair and pulling. Yami would have come to his rescue in just such a moment, the irony isn't lost on him, it would give Kaiba exactly what he-

His eyes widen. Yugi scrambles to the bedside table; he needs the Puzzle before that door opens. 

Yugi’s surprisingly fast, but Kaiba’s seeing red, hot on his heels as he darts down the hall to his room. The door is the only thing separating them now, and Kaiba’s fists meet against it with fury long since suppressed and amplified by lack of sleep, lack of results.

“ Open this fucking door, Yugi—!! " In his own house no less, too. The door could be unlocked with a key if he just summoned one of his guards, but the brunt of his shoulder serves as his battering ram. He’s much too infuriated and this is much too personal and intimate a situation to involve anyone else.

Nothing could keep him out and away from Yugi- not an empty Puzzle, not his friends, and especially not a locked door.

Kaiba steps back then and braces himself, kicking the door in finally. It bursts open, breaking the locking mechanism and it swings against the wall, clattering loudly. Not a moment passes and he’s already inside like a storm, ready to grab Yugi regardless of any intercom or passerby listening.

“ Seto Kaiba !” 

The voice is deep and self-assured, frothing with hot outrage. The eyes are hard and steely. And the posture is tall and straight and unbending, the fingers sure and steady. 

Kaiba stops. Yugi - or not Yugi - advances on him as he stands just beyond the ruined door, a fury all around him. “I demand you stop this foul intrusion at once!” He looks surprised, maybe even hopeful. Fingers that may not be Yugi’s collide against his shoulder, shoving him back against the wall, as he had so recently been shoved. “ What ,” that hard hiss, that searching eye, “ do you think you’re doing .”

Kaiba’s mouth slackens, his gaze wide. This was…could it really ---? The voice…the-the unwavering confidence, the absolute authority he commands, quite literally in the way he pushes Kaiba against the wall, and how easily his back meets with it and with it a gasp of air. There’s confusion, then disbelief, it couldn’t possibly have been so simple after everything Yugi---

His eyes connect with the Puzzle now hanging around Yugi’s neck, glimmering there as it was always meant to belong.

His eyes travel up the glistening chain back to Yugi—no---the Pharaoh’s face, searching through his eyes. After so long, after so much , it’s easy to be a little overwhelmed in the moment.

“… You …”

Everything he had prepared for, the words he had wanted to say, the way he pictured it, it isn’t quite…isn’t quite the moment he’d wanted. He isn’t at his best. But then, all of this would be- is - worth it, regardless of the level of picturesque he envisioned.

“…Is it…it’s really you ? You’re here…”

Impossible, lost to the sand, lost to their world, lost even to Yugi, and now it seems that the final piece is in place at long last.

His hands are on either side of Kaiba’s head, and he presses in, one of his knees between the other’s two. “What is it that you’re doing?” Voice husky and rich, he presses a thumb against Kaiba’s chin, which parts his lips a little; runs his fingers against his cheek to brush his hair out of his face, behind his ear. “Is this my worthy opponent? What have you done to yourself?” The eyes meet, and the man trapped against the wall looks so deeply helpless between his hands… “Is this the beautiful Seto Kaiba? His spark and fire turned to what? Violence and scorn?”

He leans deeper in, the knee rises up between the thighs. “All things have their place in this world, Seto, and so do you, and so do I. And you must let me take my place. Don’t hurt yourself like this. Look forward, and not behind.”

Oh…

Oh.

Is that the sound of his own breathing? So harsh, long after he’d come up the stairs, so it isn’t from that. He’s never let anyone pin him this way, not since…

Not since many years ago, he had been weak and malleable then. Unable to fight back.

And the sound of his voice , it sends a shiver shuddering up his spine- has he ever fallen apart this way before? He’s wanted this so badly, wanted to see him again, willing to sacrifice most everything he could for this moment, and his hands are parting through his hair, touching his face, no one has ever, ever touched him this way before…he could lose himself completely in it, he thinks.

The words are…they’re chastising…in a way he expects them to be, but there’s also more there. Something he’s never heard in the Pharaoh’s voice before. And there are words that don’t quite fit this puzzle that’s been assembled. This dream he doesn’t want to wake up from.

Beautiful , he calls him.

Kaiba’s brow twitches, heat in his face from the intimate position they find themselves in, and there’s a faint twinge of recognition that sparks in his eyes as he appraises the man in front of him.

“You want…you want me to…move on…? Take care of…myself…?”

Flushed and pliable and lost, and so badly, badly needing direction. He could give it to him. 

His palm pushes his hair back and holds him steady, leaning closer in still. “Who takes care of Seto Kaiba, I wonder....” His hands rest at the man’s shoulders, slip down slowly to feel each curve of the arm, and their fingers entwine. Yugi-not-Yugi pulls his hands up, so they rest on either side of Kaiba’s head, pinned very, very gently like this. “Yes…” breath soft as he brings his leg up higher, almost at the right spot, but not quite; just below, pressing into his thigh... “I want you to take care of yourself…You’re much too precious to waste like this. Please .” 

Their foreheads brush; their mouths press softly together. It’s technically a chaste kiss, but there’s a lot in it that would make it obscene for anyone else to see. Soft and a little open, and a little deep… Kaiba’s lips are still parted when the other draws away, eyes flashing in that particular way of his. “What else did you call me for?”

It’s beyond what he’s been willing to envision, at least in his conscious mind. There is a bond far beyond dueling and rivalry here, he’s willing to admit that after reviewing the lengths he’s been willing to go. And especially when their fingers are entwined, and he’s pressing so close and yet not nearly close enough, and the way their mouths meet and move, Kaiba is not exactly a mere spectator.

There’s a hunger there in the brevity of it, something longing, something…awakened almost. Kaiba’s pupils are dilated, he’s stunned. Of course it’s his first, not that he’s ever thought of it in particular sentiment- but now that it’s happened, and with who he thinks it’s happened with, there exists no greater victory.

Kaiba’s eyes dart between the violet hues and the mouth that had just met his, he can’t entirely believe what’s happened here, how it’s happened, all of it so quickly in this short span of time. And yet in such a short moment, he’d felt…

He feels….

“…That depends…”

He swallows, pushing back against the wall to right himself, the way he’s slid down it during the exchange, against his knee, “…Who you are.”

Because the Pharaoh he remembers never begged him quite that way, and certainly never kissed him.

Those violet eyes blink rapidly, he pulls back slightly. “W-” He clears his throat, mouth set in a serious scowl. “What do you mean.” He doesn’t let go, but he doesn’t draw in soft and slow again. 

Even if it is a dream he didn’t want to wake from…would it be any better than the virtual world he created to feign that the Pharaoh still occupied their world? To look the part, sound it even, but know deep inside that he wasn’t truly there?

The “Pharaoh” stammers.

It’s subtle, likely not many people, even Yugi’s closest friends, would notice, and hadn’t for the last few years. But Kaiba had spent months watching footage, combing through duels and the man’s nuances and haughty smirks and smug victories, to be subjected to his own defeats and failures and inadequacies painstakingly over and over again. It’s difficult to convince himself now that the man before him who brushes his hair back and tells him he’s beautiful and kisses him is the same man who unleashed the literal wrath of god upon him.

Kaiba is still breathless, and his eyes dip down to his lips again, as if he might lean in and initiate another kiss. He looks as though he’s in need of one, badly, among other things. But he maintains as much composure as he can, because this next part is not one he wants to be true.

“ You’re lying. ”

His eyes flicker to Yugi’s again, staring into them for the truth, waiting for him to falter. The pain of being lied to and strung along would be far worse than the Pharaoh still being gone.

His mouth opens and closes, words forming that don't spill beyond his lips. Yugi stumbles back - and it is Yugi, eyes damp, shoulders slumping, small once more. "I-" His voice chokes, and he can't bear to look at Kaiba when he looks at him like that . So dark, so hateful. The dent in the wall downstairs was preferable to this. 

"I was trying to give you what you wanted."

His fingers close around the Puzzle - empty, as it always was. He said do it now, he said figure it out. What else was he supposed to do? 

Kaiba watches, and maybe part of him wants to be wrong, might even gladly welcome it. But the facade crumbles, the glass shatters, and Yugi is Yugi again. 

And Kaiba is Kaiba. No longer is he the heated rage that kicked in his door to throttle him, but concealed again and...and confused, and exhausted, and so empty, as if a switch has flipped. Cold. Far away. 

He lingers there against the wall, and what is there to say to Yugi’s confession? Toying with him. Trying to humiliate him. It’s cruel, and yet, he almost admires it in a way, the cleverness, the near way he...very nearly pulled it off, if only for a moment or two. He didn’t think Yugi had it in him to behave with that air of confidence before. 

Kaiba turns and walks back to the door, stunned from the exchange and still processing...everything. 

“... You never will.”

He's not entirely sure why he's crying when Kaiba goes. Maybe it's hysteria. The man did just kick in his door, his adrenaline rush has probably abated and left him… trembling like this. But he is crying, and he finds a seat at the edge of his bed and clutches the Puzzle against his chest. "I tried, Atem." There's no answer, and there hasn't been for a long time. "I tried so hard."

He lets the tears come, let's himself gasp for breath and pull his stuffed Kuriboh from the nightstand to hold tight in his arms. A few moments of breathing in its comfortable scent, and the tears trickle to a stop. It's alright… he's alright…

He finds the intercom embedded in the nightstand, and pushes the button for staff. "Can someone fix my door, please?"

Chapter Text

Nearly a week rolls by.

Yugi does not see Kaiba again in that time, not for dinners, not in the evenings, no good mornings. It’s as if he’s forgotten all together, left to collect dust in his room as part of the furniture set. Though it may seem that way though, he’s not forgotten in the least.

Work is a futile effort, his eyes watch less of KaibaCorp news and more often than not slide to Yugi’s monitor, watching him in his room, coming to grips with that day they returned here. He hadn’t intended on hurting Yugi, but he couldn’t take it anymore. It had been compounded by a weekend of being holed up and paranoid.

And then that moment, the one Yugi had seized.

His first inclination should’ve been, and likely was , anger, at Yugi once again attempting to manipulate him, especially with a topic that was quite obviously sensitive.

But then there’s humiliation at what must have been a very pathetic display of hopefulness and vulnerability, if only for a second. Giving way to the “Pharaoh’s” touch, pressed against the wall under what he thought had been his power.

And the kiss…

He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about that moment, hands in his hair, knee pressed between his thighs, and it brings him a measure of shame to feel his pulse throb at the mere thought of it now. He doesn’t know what’s worse- Yugi running with his earlier theory that Kaiba wanted to… desired something physical, and using it as leverage, or the fact that he was right about it and it’s a difficult confession to admit to.

It’s one of those things he doesn’t sink thought into, it never comes up, but now that the topic’s been breached…he considers the stark contrast of these hands on him versus the others in his lifetime that were far less gentle. Hands that he’s watched fan the cards of his deck- Yugi’s hands, because it’s still Yugi’s body. Soft fingers that he can very nearly still feel against his wrist just then, but a quick glance down confirms they’re merely his own.

He buries his head against his hands then as he leans over his desk, still having been unable to sleep- the dreams are even more frequent now, the unattainable. He can’t bear it, the tension seizes hold of him and makes his heart pound in his ears. His bloodshot gaze lifts to the screen in which Yugi resides in bed, long since having fallen asleep, and the monitor can pick out the soft, even tempo of his breaths. He sleeps without worry or concern, sleeps without guilt or humiliation, just sleeps with a peace that he’s envious over, seething.

He slams his hands down against his desk, wrenching open one of the drawers and rooting through it. His deck.

He needs relief, and Yugi’s going to give it to him.

It’s early in the morning, the dead of night, and Kaiba is a storm that once again bursts into Yugi’s room, very nearly breaking his newly replaced door off of its hinges. He crosses the room and pulls Yugi upwards in bed, giving him a shake to rouse him from his rest.

“ Get up .”

The door was replaced that night, quietly, without comment, as if this is something the master of the house just does from time to time. Part of Yugi had wanted to barricade it, afraid of what Kaiba might do after all. But he had done nothing - that night, or in the several following. Yugi is more lonely than ever before, misses home more greatly. 

Why hadn't he been able to keep up the act? Maybe if he had - but no. He couldn't pretend forever. It had been a desperate move for a desperate situation. If it had worked, if he had gotten Kaiba to rest…

But one can't build castles out of "ifs." He studies his exam work and nothing stays in his mind, because it's already full of deep blue eyes. He shouldn't have kissed him. Never mind he thought Kaiba wanted it, it was that he had wanted it so much. Yami would have had something to say to that, if he were here. 

They had talked about those kinds of things between themselves, on sleepless nights. "What did you call it? A crush? Strange word for the sentiment."

"I guess it is." Yugi had looked up at the bedroom ceiling as he had this conversation with himself, back when Yami was here. "Anyway, that was a while ago. I'm over Anzu now, we're better as friends."

He'd felt the hum in his mind. "You like blue eyes in people. There's no need to blush like that, I can tell these things."

"You can't just go saying that…"

"Why not? What's the matter with it?"

Even Yami would probably say there was something wrong with wanting to kiss Seto Kaiba, especially under the circumstances. He couldn't have explained it to the spirit either, merely that...he had wanted so badly to give him something ; not just what he wanted, but rest and comfort and-

The worst of it is he still very much wants to. So maybe he's just going crazy. 

His dream that night is too scattered to really define - something about his grandfather and Jonouchi and cards. He can't pin it down because he's ripped out of it, violently. 

Yugi doesn't know what's happening, only that he's suddenly been hauled up by the arms, gasping for breath, bleary. The hands that hold him are familiar. The scent of cologne and cigarettes fills the room. It can't be- "Kaiba-kun?"

Kaiba…or some deranged version of him-there’s a terrible manic look in his tired eyes, and he doesn’t leave Yugi with much time to process the abrupt interruption to his rest. After all, time slips away from a man who thinks it is nothing more than another boundary to conquer.

 He pulls Yugi up, fingers tight around his arms, and he pivots him out of bed, pulling his stumbling form to his feet.

“Grab your deck. We’re going to duel.” As if this is completely normal. As if this was a common occurrence between them. And it was, in some way, but never quite like this , in the dead of night, Yugi unable to decline, and Kaiba losing his grip on reality.

If the Pharaoh ever was going to make a return, it wouldn’t be to some dormant, sleeping form, no. Kaiba had been thinking about it for a while- since the spirit only seemed to conjure when Yugi was in the middle of dueling, they would have to continue playing, and obviously the duels would have to be strenuous enough to require intervention. This could work.

And if not, Yugi was going to play anyway, to appease Kaiba’s spinning thoughts.

"W-what time is it?" The clock on the side table glows - two in the morning. "Are you out of your-" He's able to stop himself, partly because he's being spun out of the bed, still in those hands, barely able to stand. His heart is pounding. "What?" It's stupid, but it's all he can ask. 

Does he really want to finish that sentence? Of course Kaiba is out of his mind, it’s in the way his eyes shift around, in the way he smiles at Yugi, full of malice.

“Your deck, Yugi.” He says with a surprising calm, his voice low, “We’re dueling. Right now. Come on now, where is it?” His eyes catch across the Puzzle on the nightstand, the terrible object that’s perpetuated this madness they’ve come to know between them, and he lifts the chain, looping it around Yugi’s neck, as if a prize to a contest he’s won.

“We’re going to duel all night if we have to.” Until the sun’s rays finally grace the horizon. Or until the Pharaoh finally returned to protect his host. Whichever came first. Kaiba’s hands tighten around the chain and he begins pulling Yugi along, just enough pressure to be insistent.

"I-I don't want to." The Puzzle goes around his neck like Kaiba's leash. "I-" His calm is almost more frightening than his rage. "Kaiba-kun-" He's pulled through the room, by the chain, it bites into his neck. "Stop-!"

“ Shhh. ” Kaiba hushes his protests, keeping him close as he pulls him over to the desk. It has his studies scattered across it, his notebooks, reading materials. Kaiba picks the textbook up and peers underneath it before dropping it to the floor. His hand is on one of the drawers next, pulling open the golden handle until the drawer reaches its limit, and he spreads his hand along inside of it, feeling for the cards.

“You enjoy dueling, don’t you? Wouldn’t it be nice to win? You could go back to sleep. I might even let you go home then.” He turns his head to him and gives him a patronizing smile as he continues to feel around the pens and pads of paper. Unsuccessful, he pulls Yugi along to the bureau and pulls open the larger drawers where his clothes have been placed.

 His fingers spread against his shirts and he begins to pluck each one of them out, tossing them over his shoulder as his search starts to grow a little more frantic.

He cries out as he's pulled, but his tormentor doesn't notice in the least. "I don't like it when you're like this!" And not at two in the morning. "Kaiba-kun!"

"You won't let me go home." He's not a fool, whatever Kaiba thinks of him. "Please, stop!"

“You truly think the worst of me, don’t you?” Kaiba scowls bitterly before he lets Yugi’s chain drop from his hands in favor of yanking the entire drawer out all together and upturning all of Yugi’s clothes onto the floor.

Still nothing.

The drawer clatters to the floor to join the mess and he steps over it, reaching out and snagging hold of Yugi again.

“Of course I’d let you go if you could beat me, Yugi, and isn’t that worth fighting for?” But then, if Yugi could deceive and manipulate, Kaiba could play that game as well. So what if it was a lie?

“It’ll go by quickly…” He moves to the chair where one of Yugi’s jackets is draped across, and he digs into the pocket- old wrappers from candies, loose coins. The jacket is dropped in a heap and Kaiba paces like a wild animal kept inside a locked cage.

“But if you don’t want to duel me, Yugi, there’s always another option.” An option that Yugi has claimed time and time again is an impossibility.

Finally Kaiba pulls open the only drawer available- the nightstand where the Puzzle had been placed, and in it is Yugi’s cardholder.

“There we go.” Kaiba turns, sickly satisfied, and forces his deck against Yugi’s chest, holding it there and keeping the chain in his other hand, pulling him so that he looks into his face.

“Are you enjoying your stay here currently? Because that can change, Yugi. So quickly that can change. But if we’re dueling , I won’t have much time to contemplate that, will I? So, are you ready to duel now?”

He doesn't know why, but tears are brimming in his eyes. Maybe it's the four hours of sleep, or maybe it's being pulled by the back of the neck, or maybe it's everything. "You said… you said-" The threats of dungeons, so dismissed at the beginning, rise again. "Kaiba-kun, please!"

Tears are leaking down his cheeks as his cards are pressed into his chest, and he's pulled by the Puzzle; out the cracked bedroom door, down the stairs, back to the same room as the very first night here. Kaiba loads his deck and shoves him to a spot across from him. His hands shake as he collects his cards. "Why are you doing this?" Maybe it's a stupid question - but he doesn't know what else to ask. 

Why?

Because he never had the chance to prove himself, to win.

Because he had convinced himself that beating the Pharaoh was a measure of his true worth, despite the empire he had built and was continuing to build.

Because now without that to strive for, he’s lost.

Because he’s never made peace with him being gone.

He’s never missed anyone this much before.

But to answer Yugi, he merely adjusts his own duel disk against his arm, shoving his deck inside of it as he crosses the floor to the opposite side of the room.  

“It’s all I can do.”

And unless Yugi proves otherwise, this was the fate that would eat away at them both until there was nothing left.

“ Your move. ”

"That isn't true! You can-" It doesn't matter what Yugi thinks he can do (everything, anything), he's told to play, and he plays his first card face down, in defense mode. He's too tired, too shaken, to form an offensive strategy right now. "Please don't do this. Anything else you want. Please, Kaiba-kun. We don't have to-"

He's silenced by Kaiba's first play, one that instantly destroys his monster in defense. They start as they mean to go on. He could do better than this, but he's so tired, and he can't think straight. Every trap he plays, Kaiba is ready for. Every attack, he counters. He tries to talk, and Kaiba silences him. It's awful, it's merciless, it's endless. Hours, defeat upon defeat. He can see the sun rising in the far window, he can barely stand, and still Kaiba will - not - stop. 

It’s not enjoyable. Nothing about this is strategic or provoking, only just barely stimulating enough to keep Kaiba’s thoughts off of concepts so intimate as touch and loss, grieving and needing. He unleashes his fury on Yugi instead, punishing him, and yet he is left no more satisfied than hours ago at his desk.

“Blue Eyes, deliver the final blow…end this now…-- White Lightning !” Kaiba’s voice is hoarse as he issues his last order. The dragon does as it is commanded, if only people were the same. A ball of light generates in its maw before the blast is unleashed, and what’s left of Yugi is knocked to the floor.

Finally, the rays of light stream in through the panes and parted drapery of the curtains, and Kaiba finally crosses the floor to Yugi. He looks him over to see if anything has changed, but nothing has, the entire night has been fruitless.

He doesn’t gloat, there’s nothing to be proud of, he merely leans down and pulls Yugi up off the floor to walk him back to his room.

He's won every round (was it all really Atem? Had he really ever been anything?), and he looks no better than Yugi does. Yugi can barely keep his eyes open, barely hold onto his arm as he's dragged back to the dungeon of his room. "Did you get what you wanted?" His voice is broken and hoarse, standing at the bedroom door with a brand new crack in it. It's not that he thinks so, he doesn't think either of them did. 

But maybe they still could. He looks at him with big, dark eyes, and he's pathetic, he knows that. But it changes nothing, nothing at all.

No. Not what he wanted.

But in a way, their shared exhaustion resonates. That, maybe through it, Yugi could start to understand. That they might share in the unhappiness, the dissatisfaction. He not only feels alone, but alone in holding onto this. Yugi should be as exhausted as he is, he should be desperate to call the Pharaoh back to him again.

Maybe it really is hopeless.

But it’s too late to give in now. He won’t do it. He’ll keep trying, even if he has to drag Yugi out of bed every night, push him to his limits. The Pharaoh would have to come then, unless he was so content to allow his host to suffer this way.

Kaiba’s dull blue gaze meets Yugi’s deep violet hues, too exhausted to search them this time.

“I will.”

He turns now that Yugi is returned to his room, and offers nothing more, instead retiring back to his study to delve into work again.

He falls back into bed, but he doesn't sleep. How can he, when Kaiba's eyes bored into him that way, with only a wall of smog behind them? 

He doesn't come every night. That would be too bearable, too easy to plan around and adjust to. If it were every night, Yugi could merely go to sleep early and fight with everything he has. But that's not how it is; Kaiba comes to him with no forewarning, sometimes at two, sometimes at six, sometimes when he's just gone to bed. 

And he wins. He always wins, and Yugi's hands tremble, and he hates himself. Wasn't he good at this once, even before he solved the Puzzle? Hadn't he briefly been sure and strong? He doesn't remember anymore, much of anything, as Kaiba drags him out of bed and his mind deteriorates and his eyes constantly burn. 

It's selfish, but he wants Atem back to save him as he once did. He no longer believes he can save himself. 

It’s been days of this, the sporadic dueling. Not even Kaiba know when the sudden urge will flare and take hold of him, perhaps a boiling point reached from his nerves being shattered, temporarily out of cigarettes, or listening to Yugi’s breath settle into a peace that Kaiba hasn’t been able to experience for nearly a year now- whatever the reason, he always storms in and they duel until the sun comes up. Yugi’s strategies have crumbled away. Kaiba isn’t necessarily playing at his best, either, they have both been struggling through it and obviously miserable, but even so, the Pharaoh won’t come, and it starts to look as though he might never, that maybe he truly was unable , or unwilling to return to this plane again, even at Yugi’s expense.

But it’s unacceptable. There is no alternative to this. He had settled for nothing less when transforming KaibaCorp to his whims and visions, why should this be any different?

There is a knock against Yugi’s door this time, and a pause to wait for him to come to it. Already this is starkly different from the usual treatment of his privacy and wishes. But once the door is opened, it’s apparent as to why this is. Kaiba is not the one standing there this time, rather, one of his guards, one of many.

“Master Kaiba requests that you join him this evening. I’m to escort you.”

His joints are starting to hurt from the lack of sleep, and he has a constant headache. He’d been sitting at the vanity, staring at his exam book, but reading none of it. He passes in and out of wakefulness, but he does not truly rest , because now his body is always alert, always trying to prepare for Kaiba’s guaranteed assaults. He doesn’t hit him, doesn’t hurt him, but it’s a beatdown all the same.

So when there’s a knock at the door, he jolts just the same as if it were the man himself, pulling him out of bed yet again. He doesn’t bother to argue, that much fight has gone out of him for the present. He just follows, mute, to the usual study-cum-dueling arena. The man hadn’t said to grab his deck, he sighs and almost turns around to go get it-

“Wait, please,” he says, and knocks at the door. There’s a loud bang ! and Yugi is now wide awake. He hears Kaiba’s muffled voice, bidding them enter, and the guard opens the door.

It’s the same study, but not the same dueling arena. The walls have shifted yet again - he keeps meaning to ask how he built the rooms to do that - and are covered in sheets of metal, with some kind of glass between the man and the end of the hall. It’s bulletproof glass, Yugi realizes, with a round hole at the center to put a pistol through, because there are targets at the far wall, in front of plates of steel where the windows would normally be. He’s made his own modular firing range. 

“K-Kaiba-kun.” He’s sweating now. “You wanted to see me?” 

Kaiba turns, watching his guard make to leave and shut the doors now that Yugi has been presented before him.

“Yugi.” It’s a smooth greeting, a far cry from their encounters through the nights before, disturbed and desperate and haunting. Now he almost looks like himself again, rather, the tired, drawn out, and haggard version that Yugi has come to know more personally these days, but in his hand rests a very alarming addition- a pistol. Should it be of any surprise that he of all people has been able to acquire one, under such limiting, illegal circumstances? But then, Seto Kaiba has never operated under the same rules as the average civilian.

It’s a nice piece too, but Yugi likely wouldn’t know much about weaponry to know the maker, the Italian locality, because it wasn’t as if they were discussing a work of art, though in its own right, one could make such an argument.Though the real artistry is on display behind him, the way each target has been hit directly in the same place, with the same measured accuracy every single time.

Yugi must wear quite the worried expression, because Kaiba smirks then, “ Relax , Yugi. We’re just having a discussion.” Though he may as well have been forcing Yugi to duel at gunpoint at this rate.

“The nightly duels haven’t yielded the results I’ve been looking for, and quite frankly, they’re monotonous, with my victories. This repetition isn’t getting either of us anywhere. I’m sure you agree.”

There’s...a lot to take in with this. “Why did I need to be escorted?” For all he’s learned to capitulate to the man’s whims, his curiosity isn’t broken just yet. “And why did we need to talk while you’re….you’re,” he struggles. “Shooting things?” He says relax, but the implications are difficult to ignore. It sure sounds like a message - a very, very loud message, from a man getting tired of waiting for what he wants. “Where did you even get that?” He doesn’t add, “That’s illegal, you know,” because of course he knows, but he also was giving him liquor underage, so it isn’t as if Kaiba is known to be a strong rule follower anyway. “I-” He tries to think of something to say that won’t get the gun turned on him. “I didn’t know you shoot.”

He can’t help but to snort a little. He could have told him they wouldn’t, “yield the results he was looking for,” but then, he had told him, several times. Kaiba only hears what he wants to. “Well, I do agree,” he nods. That part’s easy enough. He’s almost a little hopeful. “We’ll both get to sleep now?””

Yugi asks him how he acquired it, and it draws a chuckle from him, a terribly amused sound. It doesn’t require an answer, because it’s a given that no one and nothing has ever stopped him from getting what he wants.

…Except of course, for Yugi, at present. The exception.

“It’s a good skill to have. You’re never taken off guard that way.”

Yugi agrees to the duels becoming a repetitive nuisance, suggesting that they would both sleep better as a result of dropping it, and he merely smiles. One of them would, at any rate.

“…Come here.”

He hesitates at the command, and his knees almost buckle. It isn’t fair, when he uses that voice , Yugi’s eyes close and he remembers being pinned to the bed; remembers when he kissed the man, and how he wishes the two memories could be combined into one new one that doesn’t end as quickly - and doesn’t involve a gun. Quite rightly, Yugi’s afraid - but the fear and the want combine in his blood into a heady elixir that’s difficult to ignore or deny. He wants to obey, more than he’s afraid to refuse. And dear heaven, but he wants to be praised for his obedience, and treated nicely, like something to be treasured-

-the way he, disguised in Atem’s voice, had treated Kaiba, of course.

Well, and why not? They had always been his vocal cords, after all. It just wasn’t his usual register.

He comes forward, a little frown on his mouth, a small v of concern wedging his brow. But he does come. 

It’s always better when Yugi complies, less yelling that way, and doesn’t it feel nicer not to be dragged around by a chain like a dog? Either way, it’s satisfying to have his command obeyed.

When he’s closer, Kaiba hands over the gun and nods at him in a gesture to take it from him. Yugi may not want to hold it, but like most things since being here, he doesn’t really have much of a choice.

“It’s alright. It won’t bite.”

But maybe the man holding it would.

He doubts Yugi ever had the chance to fire a gun- not only in the unlikeliness of obtaining one, but also in Yugi’s gentler demeanor, he didn’t seem an advocate for violence, except when it pertained to holograms.

“Try hitting a target.”

Kaiba holds the barrel, the grip faces Yugi. He could grab it right now, he could squeeze the trigger, and all of this would be over.

He couldn’t . But he could. Atem could, certainly - if Yugi didn’t stop him first. How ironic, if Kaiba finally got what he wanted that way. 

He takes it, and his hand doesn’t shake, to his surprise. He fits his hand easily through the opening in the glass, lines up the sight with the target-

It fires, and his eyes close instantly, from the sound. His arm flies up a bit, hitting his wrist on the glass, and the yelp of pain that escapes him makes him open his eyes. If he hit the targets - large dummies made of padding to absorb any bullets - he has no knowledge of it. There’s a spent casing that’s at his feet, though, and he looks at that, breathing more heavily than he’d expected.

He glances back at Kaiba, waiting to be told how horribly he did. For once, he doesn’t mind that.

 It’s no surprise Yugi shoots wide and misses- he’s never shot before. Kaiba hadn’t expected him to hit the target, let alone a vital point.

“ Hm. ”

No chiding comes though, instead Kaiba draws nearer, and instead of taking the gun away and showcasing his own skill, he merely encircles Yugi, hands come down around his arms and he has to lean down over him a bit due to their difference in height.  

“You should use two hands. It’ll give you more support that way.” Yugi’s hands are brought together under his own and the pistol is once again positioned through the glass. “Steadier aim. Arms straight.”

He tilts to see Yugi’s shoes and gently  kicks at them to wedge his legs further apart. “Balance. Don’t underestimate the force.”

Kaiba’s hands are at Yugi’s shoulders next, pushing him forward, “Anticipate and counter.” He adjusts Yugi’s aim slightly, supporting his arms, and they are so, so painfully close this way, with Kaiba’s breath just barely grazing his ear.

“Now, look down the gun and line up the sights on it. See exactly where you want to shoot.” The pistol’s aim settles over where the chest of the dummy might be considered, and with it, a vital organ- the heart.

“Squeeze the trigger.”

His breath comes quick, too quick, he feels dizzy. Kaiba is over him and all around him, encircling him. He can smell that cologne, and the very faintest trace of the gunpowder, and Yugi can’t help but to close his eyes as those long-fingered hands slide down his arms and close over his own fingers. He can’t stop himself, he leans back into him, and he’s lost. Kaiba had started working out sometime in his last years of high school, and it seems he’s kept the habit up post-graduation. He’s like a rock behind him, he could probably bounce a yen piece off that stomach, and he’d really like the opportunity to try . Kaiba kicks his legs apart, and his breath stutters. He’s so warm, what would it be like to curl up next to him in a bed, he has to imagine he’d sleep very soundly. Listening to him breathing, or putting his head on that strong chest of his and hearing his heart-

He’s leaning back, but Kaiba positions his hands on his shoulders and pushes him forward again, into a better posture. Yugi almost whines - but there are his arms again, and his breath at his ear, and he can’t, he can’t stand it, he has to-

He tells him to squeeze the trigger, and he does. The recoil isn’t like before, and even if it were, Kaiba’s hands are over his, and his chest supports his back. He couldn’t move with such a foundation. It’s a perfect hit, and his eyes light up, turning to look at his tutor - so close his nose almost brushes his cheek. Screw the gun, he’s going to kiss him-

A direct hit.

Kaiba doesn’t quite move away even once the target’s been shot and Yugi looks over his shoulder at him, and from under long, dark lashes, there’s a familiar light brimming in those violet eyes at his successful hit. It’s almost sweet, the way he savors it. In that, they are similarly driven.  

Finally his hands drop away from the soft skin and muscle of Yugi’s arms and he pulls back from his warmth, righting his posture and holding out his hand for the return of his pistol.

“Dinner? We’ll rest one night and form a new strategy for the Pharaoh’s return.”

A normal invitation to what is to be, strangely, a normal enough evening in the Kaiba household for once.

And that is something most certainly Yugi should be savoring.

“Yes.” He answers too quickly, too excited, handing back the weapon, like an idiot, like a moron. Is he so sleep deprived he’s accepting this? Accepting the violent mood swings of the man keeping him against his will, spitting and bitter at two in the morning, charming and attractive at six in the evening? People write bad paperback novels about these kinds of things, and he doesn’t care . 

He follows so eagerly, bright at Kaiba’s heels. “Can we have coffee? It will wake me up. You still didn’t say why I had to be escorted, I would have come.” Because he’s such a fool. Does Kaiba know that? He might, soon. “Thank you for showing me how to shoot, that was so fun and exciting! Can we try it again sometime?” All of it, first with the pistol, then later, without...If he hadn’t moved away so soon-

He dares to sit next to Kaiba, still chattering. “Mokuba will like this.” And, “Oh, thank you!” as a servant pours him a glass of champagne. “I’m glad to see you resting and eating, Kaiba-kun.” And he is! He’s so pathetic, but he is !

Yugi’s chipper demeanor is almost welcome now in an otherwise silent void. But to his reference to Mokuba, Kaiba cuts in, “He won’t be joining us tonight.” And in true Kaiba fashion, he doesn’t elaborate on his whereabouts, though he knows exactly where he is. For once, he’s not at the office, and there is a twinge of guilt about how much he’s had to take on lately.   

He’d vowed to do whatever it took, no matter the cost, but he is becoming lost in his search, and the cost has become more than anticipated. And despite Yugi having once owned the Puzzle, without it now, he is merely…Yugi Muto again, his former classmate, a game enthusiast. Even now as he sits here and bubbles over from topic to topic, it’s clear that he can’t be some master of manipulation, hoarding some great and powerful secret that he alone wishes to lord over. Maybe the Pharaoh truly is gone to a place where neither of them can reach, no matter what they do.

It’s too hard to accept that though, that all of this…all of everything would have been for nothing, nothing to show for it. Failure. And failure from this high a drop was too brutal a fall to come away from.

But more than that, he has never had the time to consider before, just how alone he was. He had Mokuba, of course, and it wasn’t that he needed anyone. But this was the first time in his life he had ever had a moment to process the loneliness of being unable to reach the only other person who understood any part of him, in any way, even if it was only through dueling.

And taking it out on Yugi…using the game as a means to punish him, it didn’t help to ebb that feeling any. If anything, it had only made it worse.

He is not any more rested or nourished as Yugi might hope for, his eyes are dull, but nevertheless, his focus and attention is on Yugi as he speaks, resting his chin in his hand and listening to every word filling the insufferable silence. He notes Yugi’s champagne is depleted, and another is graciously poured for him.

There’s almost a fleeting thought buzzing there between Yugi’s words – maybe it was time to cut him loose. Otherwise…this might never…

“ A game? ” It’s Kaiba who cuts into the conversation now, a low murmur to contrast Yugi’s tone. “….Not a duel. Nothing serious. Just something to pass the time.” To fill this void.

That’s the only question Kaiba even remotely answers, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Yugi has no doubt that, if he were irritated, he would know. “Oh, I’m sorry Mokuba won’t be here.” But God is it a relief to see Kaiba being a human, eating a meal other than cigarettes, resting. It feels like this is the way it always should have been, the way he’d always wanted it, just friendly.

That champagne goes down easily, but his glass keeps filling up even when he thinks he’s drained it. “This stuff is great.” His cheeks are flushed, and he laughs easily, taking a break with a strong cup of coffee brought to him in a porcelain cup. “See, this makes sense, if I owned everything, I’d have nice meals and wine, too! And burgers, I would have so many burgers.” He laughs into his hand. “So I guess I’m not as refined as you are.”

And he talks, or Yugi does, about unimportant things, just remarks on his studying or an anecdote he’s been reminded of. He’s surprised when Kaiba asks him to a game, but his eyes light up nonetheless. “I love games.” He nods. “What are we playing?”

Yugi has too much humility to have played host to a King, but perhaps one might say that riches can’t buy everything. But then, Kaiba has a space station, amusement park chains, a state of the art, patented virtual system, and a global empire to bow to him that says otherwise.

Yugi has a flush sweeping across his cheeks, and it’s pretty easy to tell the champagne has gotten the better of him. “Mm, I know.” He might argue that Yugi loved games to a detriment, but even if he couldn’t be King over them, there was no harm in playing casually, something with far less stakes.

Not chess.

“…Backgammon?”

More enthusiastic nodding. “Mhm, okay!” They stand, and Yugi almost tips over onto Kaiba’s arm, still laughing. “If I don’t break my neck first, huh?” He has to be guided down the hall, and the walls undulate a little, but this is the most fun he’s had since he’s come back, and he doesn’t care . “How come we don’t do this all the time? It could be nice, you know. Just - hanging out.”

He’s taken to another room, because there’s always another room, this one with bookshelves stretching to the ceiling. “Do you,” he laughs, eyes shiny, “do you ever get lost? Are there rooms you haven’t even been in yet? Wow!” He moves to a shelf and runs his fingers over the spines of the books. “You haven’t read all these, have you? What’s this?” He opens one and let’s the pages turn. “It’s not even Japanese!” Another giggle as he leans back against the shelf. “There’s nothing you can’t do, is there, Kaiba-kun?” Well, there are a few things: summon the Pharaoh; be normal and stable and nice consistently; not be way too pretty. He won’t list those just now. 

Kaiba has the board set up on a low table, set in front of another large, leather sofa. Yugi flops into it, and it’s so deep, his feet barely touch the floor if he leans all the way back. The game board is leather, too, with another set of ivory and ebony pieces. He’s so sleepy, from the deprivation, and the wine...what if he just closed his eyes, just right here… He curls up onto his side, facing the game table and his host, eyes half lidded. “Okay, I’m ready, let’s play.” He stifles a yawn and smiles. 

It’s a valid question- why can’t it just be this way? And the typical answers are that he is busy, he has far more important matters to tend to- but none so great it prevents him from combing through the literal desert in search of an Egyptian artifact, apparently.

But the harder answer is one buried far deeper, and no amount of digging would be worth uncovering that.

“I never get lost.” Not in his own home anyway, in plenty else- thoughts, conflicted emotions, lost in watching Yugi’s monitor.

He takes the book from Yugi’s hands and slides it back into the open space, “It’s a relatively low list.” But the most apparent and most obvious seemed to be the limitations of this current dimension, but this was not exclusively a Seto Kaiba issue, and yet he was making it one.

When they settle to play, Yugi looks much like a curled up cat there, bundled up in the leather. It’s…not a sight he was expecting, but there’s an easy enough fix for that, as he drops his gaze to the board and rolls the die.

Highest roll goes first, and it’s Yugi. He slips the dice into the padded leather cup, but extends it out to Kaiba across the board. “Blow on them for me - for luck.” He’s smiling, still with flushed cheeks and bright, if tired, eyes. “Please?” 

It’s silly, but away from the crowds, Yugi’s troublesome friends, fans, sycophants, how easy it is to blow on a pair of dice. It’s one of the easier things ever asked of him, certainly.

But Yugi could use all the luck he could get lately, with the way he was playing. He’d deteriorated badly, and it’s hard to say if it’s exclusively because of the Pharaoh’s absence.

Kaiba indulges him though, with a mild smirk, reaching out to steady the cup in Yugi’s hand. “Taking on Katsuya’s pattern of relying on luck, are we? You really are desperate for a win, aren’t you …”

He flops back, giggling and pouting by turns, his hand still held by Kaiba as it holds the cup. “Don’t be like that.” His thumb brushes Kaiba’s as he pulls the cup forward and blows gently on the dice. “It’s just for fun, you said.” His hair fans him like a crown of gold, and lazily, barely even looking, he lets the dice tumble from the cup and onto the board.

Double six. Yugi sits up and moves four pips, smiling as he does. “See, it was a good thing I did, you’ve helped me already. You’re so generous.” 

Kaiba’s eyes widen slightly...it is a rather lucky opener, but...of course, luck certainly played a big component in backgammon, it wasn’t anything to become riled over. And it’s not as if it would last. 

“Mmhm. Though my generosity does have its limits.” 

He takes the cup and rolls his own dice. Whatever “luck” he had imbued Yugi with for his first turn was not present for his own- a one and two. 

He passes the cup back to Yugi after he moves his own pieces.

He apparently should not have taken so much of Kaiba’s luck from him. Every time Yugi moves, his pieces are covered. Kaiba, however, keeps getting odd combinations that don’t allow him to move pips to the safety of another line. The exposed pieces are jumped on instantly by Yugi, put back in the center of the board to start all over again - that is, when he can get them back on the board at all. Yugi moves so ruthlessly and efficiently, he’s already gotten a majority of his pieces onto the home stretch. 

He still chats. “What does Mokuba do at the office? He’s so young, he shouldn’t work so hard - I mean, I understand you did, but you work too hard, too.” His eyes are shining. “You need to take more time out, like this.” 

It’s admittedly irritating to have Yugi progressing...and so quickly. It seems all of his rolls are quite fortunate, but after all, it’s just a meaningless game, isn’t it?

...Isn’t it?

The mention of Mokuba seems to soften any rising tension though. Kaiba’s shoulders relax some as he continues suffering through his poor rolls. 

“....He’s been overseeing the distribution of the new duel discs. The launch is scheduled soon and I've been a little... preoccupied .” His eyes flicker with an intensity across the board at Yugi, as if to imply that portion is a fault of his. 

Well it is .

He shivers a bit under that look. He remembers one of Jonouchi’s quips about Mai, that the prettiest ones are always the meanest, and that makes sense to him. Maybe he’s just like Jou, in that way, drawn in anyway. 

He rolls the dice onto the board, clattering out of the cup, and begins moving his pieces into the pocket. He’s winning, by a lot. “Have you considered a vacation?”

“What’s that ?” He smirks at Yugi, eyes sweeping over the board again. He’s making quick work of this. 

But it’s just a board game. It doesn’t matter. 

Of course, if he felt that way, he wouldn’t be who he is today. Games were elevated to artistry, and he’d played a very big hand in that. Dueling was not always so mainstream. His entire livelihood has been built on caring about games.

He falls quiet as he watches Yugi’s dice- they’re not always sixes, but they mostly are, and he’s gotten quite a few doubles.

Kaiba’s capable of humor! He laughs as he keeps moving pieces off the board. “Believe it or not, it’s this thing where you don’t work, and you just relax, and have fun.” The last piece has moved off; Kaiba still has half of his left. “Good game!” He yawns and flops back. “I should really go to bed, though.”

Kaiba is looking down at the board, quiet, thoughtful. He doesn’t outright appear upset, there’s no fit, no argument. He begins placing Yugi’s pieces back out onto the board carefully though, until it’s reset perfectly again, and only then does he offer up a calm request. 

“Again?”

The calm before a storm. 

“Well, I-” But Kaiba looks so determined, his gaze so piercing, Yugi just nods. “Okay. I guess one more can’t hurt.” They aren’t long anyway. He settles on his stomach, a pillow under his chin, one leg dangling off the edge of the sofa and the other tucked against the back. “Should I blow on your dice this time?” He still manages to smile, even into the pillow.

“I don’t need luck.” 

He relies on skill, strategy, superior intellect....all of which played a rather minimal role in this particular game as evident by his starter dice. 

This shouldn’t bother him, but he’s grown...accustomed to his victories, his bored complacency in lording over Yugi, and despite the otherwise decent evening in which he has so graciously allowed Yugi to dine with him, with the near promise of burying the hatchet, at least for now, Yugi’s place was still beneath him, and he needed constant reminding of that. It’s how the evening should go. It’s the last thing Yugi should witness before going to bed and being permitted to sleep. 

He’s not playing at his best, because he keeps dozing off. Kaiba contemplates his moves so long, so thoroughly, and he’s so tired . The coffee only carried him so far. Kaiba has to occasionally shake him, he murmurs, “Awake, I’mma wake…” before rolling the dice and moving the pips.

He’s not even looking as he pours the dice out of the cup now, until Kaiba tells him the number. He only squidges one eye open, jumps Kaiba’s piece in two easy moves, and suddenly half his pieces have been moved off the board. That’s nice, but a good, long sleep would be nicer.

The fact that he’s barely awake for it only serves to bother him more. Yugi has no reason to take the game seriously, it’s absurd, ridiculous, a casual board game, it had even been his own goddamn suggestion.

And yet Yugi is sweeping his pieces one by one off the board, and no matter how many times he casts the dice, he is still behind him.

He can feel that tension start to take hold again, he reaches out and pinches Yugi to wake him, perhaps a bit harder than necessary, but even so with Yugi’s lead and obvious impending victory, Kaiba still wants to see it through to the bitter end.

And then Yugi’s won.

Again.

“Are you sure you don’t need luck?” He smiles. “I keep beating you. Maybe you’re into that sort of thing, though, no shame if you are.” Kaiba is glowering at him. “Come on, I wanna go to bed...Or play something else, beating you gets boring,” this last bit a slight mimic of the man’s earlier jabs in the firing range. 

The board is suddenly flung across the room, the pieces scattering in a storm, and the table between them is knocked away. Kaiba is on Yugi faster than he can get to his feet, and he pulls him out of the chair, fingers gripping his shirt.

It’s much too fast, and this way, so close, Kaiba could do so much to him, but chooses to strike with venom first.

“ You fucking win at two goddamn backgammon games and you think you’re above me, Yugi? You can’t even string two fucking cards together for a duel, but you sure as hell can become some braggart over a fucking board game! Selective about your victories? Or is it just Duel Monsters because you know he’d come if you really tried, if you gave a shit, with all that heart of the fucking cards bullshit you’ve been spewing at me for years! ” He forces Yugi back until he hits a wall, and then he’s trapped between it and that solid mass of Kaiba’s that had held him steady while he shot. Does he still like the feeling?

Kaiba searches his eyes with a raw, livid intensity, breathing hard.

Christ he can’t take a joke! 

Yugi squeaks as he’s hauled up and thrown against the wall, and well, he’s sure awake now! His heart is pounding as Kaiba loses his mind again . “You’re pathetic,” he spits, trying to get his knee up to be a wedge between them. “You lose at two measly games and you come apart like ticker tape in the rain. I haven’t snapped at you when you get me up at two in the freaking morning.” Though he obviously should…

“Maybe he doesn’t want to come back to you.” Almost certainly he wouldn’t, if he knew this was the welcome he’d get… Kaiba is like a live wire, dangerous, unpredictable, ready to unload. “What are you going to do?” Yugi sneers, well past caring. He had, a few minutes ago, when it felt like maybe they had something - but this is just a reminder that they don’t, and it’s not Yugi Kaiba wants. “You gonna hit me? I’ve been hit before, do it.”

He can.

He should.

He wants to.

Just haul back and fucking break his face in, years of having to put up with him and his idiotic, blithering friends, the duels that seem meaningless now, and for infecting his life with bullshit he never wanted to believe in to begin with.

He could beat the shit out of him here in his house and no one would help him, he could lay waste to this little runt who only ever played host to what was his true rival anyway, and he can feel his fist closing, shaking with how angry and undone Yugi always manages to make him.

“ You fucking--- ” The dragon is snarling.

And there is all of one moment when his fist does come up, with full intentions of delivering a blow to him as one of his monsters might, to silence him once and for all.

But there is no pain that comes, and no sound of fist against bone, or wall.

Just their mouths suddenly, ravenously pressed together.   

This confirms his suspicion, that the previous kiss up in his bedroom was Kaiba’s first. He doesn’t have a technique, he thinks mashing mouths together is the same. Well, Yugi figures, the kinds of parties Kaiba went to probably didn’t involve any games of “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” just a bunch of stuffed shirts and boring conversation.

He doesn’t care that it isn’t a great kiss, because if he’s honest, he’s wanted this a lot . The leg that he’d managed to bring up now hooks its ankle behind Kaiba, and pulls him closer. Yugi presses back into the kiss, using his lips as a kind of leverage and a guide - slowing him down very slightly, opening his mouth; breathing into him and slipping his tongue just to the edge of Kaiba’s lips, inviting him to open and join him. Some guys are handsome, some are beefy - Yugi’s managed to come to terms with the fact he’s always going to be “cute.” But Kaiba is and always has been the most beautiful boy he’s ever seen. Since the first day he walked into homeroom, he’s made some little piece of the young man stop and catch and stare. Those long and elegant fingers of his cup Yugi’s cheek, and he’s a very fast learner (no surprise), because he takes what Yugi gives him, and begins a leverage all his own. He opens up the smaller man’s mouth and presses his tongue deeply in, in a kind of conquest. His nose is beautiful when it brushes Yugi’s as they move in the kiss. His clothes hug that taut frame of his beautifully. His eyes are like glass and his hair is like silk, and oh how he’s wanted this, so, so much . 

They pause for air, pulling back ever so slightly, eyes open again. The room spins for Yugi. “You won’t find him in my mouth,” he says, and he leans back in for another kiss, and hopes it won’t stop this time. 

“ Shut up .”

Brief, breathless, and snapping and they’re at it again. He has no idea what’s come over him, but it is an insatiable urge he is loath to admit and lose himself to. Yugi is the only one who seems capable of turning his entire world upside-down, derailing all of his meticulous plans, and even this, now.

It would be so much easier if it was purely hate, unequivocal hatred, like he had for people like Pegasus, or his stepfather, but the way their mouths meet now are far beyond something so simply summed up as hate. There is a deep, longing loneliness that seeps into it, and if Yugi could understand, he’d feel those countless lonely nights pressed against his lips now, the unease of letting anyone get close because whenever he did, they left, or they mistreated him and his brother. And in it are terrible secrets and dreams he’d long since locked away. But like this, pressed so close and Yugi so warm, Kaiba has never felt someone against him like this before, and with it the overwhelming feeling that suddenly it’s no longer enough .

It’s enough to make him draw back abruptly, Yugi sliding down the wall without his support, and they are breathless, Kaiba can’t even look at him.

It stops as suddenly as it began. Kaiba, a quick study, soon doing things that make Yugi whimper into him, arch to increase the touch. And Kaiba seems just as engaged, the way his breath stutters when the tip of Yugi’s tongue flicks against his own, when he leans in to every soul-searing kiss and makes it deeper and longer.

And then he’s gone. Dropped, like so much unwanted baggage. The room is still spinning, and Kaiba won’t look at him, a flush on his face. They don’t even need to talk about it, it’s fine, but God Yugi doesn’t want it to end just yet. He has to scramble back up to his feet, his knees having turned to jelly beneath him when released. His hand reaches out for Kaiba’s, the fingers brush- “Kaiba-kun-” 

He tenses when he hears Yugi’s voice, but still doesn’t acknowledge him, quite obviously  shaken up by how their evening has turned out, and then he feels Yugi’s soft fingers catching at his own and it makes him stagger back, pulling his hand away and pressing it against his head, dragging his fingers through his locks. He lets out a strained breath, turning back towards the doorway and already walking away from him, as if he can’t stand to be in the same room with him anymore.

“… Find your own way back to your room.”

 And soon he is out of sight down the long, dark hall, leaving Yugi and the pieces of their overturned game behind.

Yugi watches him go, mouth open, like he didn’t just press him into the wall, like he didn’t just kiss him; like he hadn’t leaned in to every touch, and liked it, and-

“I really hate that creep,” and tears sting his eyes, because he’s hysterical with sleep deprivation.

Now if only he meant it. 

Chapter Text

It’s abrupt in the dead of night, a pair of hands reaching out through the darkness, and Yugi is dragged upwards from his deep slumber and shaken violently before being unceremoniously dumped to the floor from the luxurious bed, his blankets pooled around him.

No sound, no warning, and once Yugi crosses that bridge from dream to reality he might see that his greatest nightmare has made a return in the living flesh.

Kaiba stares down at him menacingly, and reaches across to the nightstand to where the Puzzle sits, drawing up the clock and turning it so that the glow of the numbers can be seen.

“Look at that, Yugi, do you know what this means?” There’s a terrible grin that crawls across his face as he drops the clock from his hand and it clatters to the floor.

“It’s time to duel! Get up.”

Things briefly got better. Over the last three days, Yugi’s slept - hasn’t seen Kaiba - dealt with that fact - did his studying - didn’t get very far. The kink went out of his neck, and he convinced himself the wanting went out of his fingertips.

And then suddenly it’s all back again, his heart jumping as Kaiba yanks him out of deep sleep and shoves him to the floor. He’s dazed and disoriented, but the one solid is that man, as it always has been, in all its insanity. “You said we weren’t-”

“I know what I said. But you see, Yugi, that was then, and this is now. I changed my mind. After seeing how well you started to play the other night, it occurred to me that this seems to be a step in the right direction! Get up .” He says it again, but this time, he doesn’t wait for Yugi to comply, he reaches down and grabs him in one fell swoop, the strength of a man enraged, and for someone as petite as Yugi, it doesn’t take much to throw him around.

“No excuses tonight, you duel me like there are cameras rolling, and fans screaming your name, I want a proper show, Yugi.” He releases him and reaches for the Puzzle, then forces open the drawer of the nightstand to look for his deck.

“I bet you’d just love the chance to beat me again. Keep up your winning streak. Was it luck or skill that served you better? ”

Maybe you should blow on my cards the way you blew on my dice . But he doesn’t say that, just glaring. He’s reaching a breaking point, and he doesn’t know what will happen when he does. He grabs his deck out of Kaiba’s hands, shoulders squared. “Whether you win or you lose, you’re going to be disappointed. Why do it to yourself?”

Kaiba holds the Puzzle out to him and waits for him to take that, too. Dead weight, just like Yugi was, eager to dig his heels in where he could.

“Do it to myself?” He laughs, “No. You do this. You’re doing all of this to me. This could’ve so easily been finished, you and I would have nothing more to say to one another, but obviously you seem to like it here, you’ve moved right in, haven’t you?” His head snaps to the Kuriboh plush still sitting there where Yugi had drawn it close to sleep with.

“Brought all sorts of useless shit with you full well knowing you’d do everything in your power to ruin me, to eat away at my time! Well now it’s time to eat away at yours.” He moves to the desk and sweeps away Yugi’s books onto the floor, and then reaches around the other side of the bed for the stuffed toy.

The fight goes out of him in an instant, eyes wide, grabbing for Kaiba’s arm at the elbow. “Please, don’t-! It’s not like that!” He tries to pull him back as dead weight, and instead is merely dragged across the floor. “I’m not doing anything, I promise, Kaiba-kun, please! I’ll do whatever you want, really, honest, please-”

“ Honest ?” Kaiba pushes at Yugi, who clings tightly as he can to his arm, his fingers sinking into the soft fur and beady eyes. “What do you know about honesty! You’ve fucking lied to me from the start, feigning weakness so I’d feel sorry for you!”

He brings the plush up and shakes it, “You care more about this fucking stupid Kuriboh than you do about helping me, or getting the Pharaoh back, or anything that actually matters and could impact so much, you’d just rather curl up with all of your childish shit and mundane plans and let everything go, including everything we had!”

Everything we had ? He’d puzzle over that if it didn’t feel like a life or death event right this second. He presses his hand into the toy, between Kaiba’s own. “My dad gave it to me!” The silence after that confession stretches on horribly. “It’s the last thing my dad gave me. I told you, h-he liked it, Atem, you know, I-”

Kaiba stares him down, a faint twitch in one of his eyes. It could be another ploy, an attempt at ringing out sympathy…but when it came to the matter of fathers, this was a chapter he not only read, but wrote two of. His own father, he has very faint memories now, and as for the other…barely a father, barely human. He’d never thought much about Yugi’s family, he knew his grandfather through unfortunate means…of course he had a mother…but…he never paid much mind to Yugi’s homelife, because it never had made a difference before.

But maybe there is a heart buried deep down somewhere in him, encased in ice, because he shoves the toy into Yugi’s chest then.

“I don’t want to fucking see it out the next time I come in here, do you understand me? Keep it out of my sight, or it’ll be in my fireplace.”

He pushes past him and expects him to keep up.  

He might as well be on a leash; Kaiba's presence is so commanding, he's almost pulled to obey, tucking his Kuriboh carefully into the night stand and grabbing his deck. Yugi follows back down into the study. He wants to ask why they're doing this again, but he's wary and still tired. He gets the sense Kaiba is just as dangerous as when he kicked in his door, eyes wild. 

Why can't he win a duel? Is Kaiba right and it was all the Pharaoh? He would never say so. It's like his sense of self has been shattered in this, allowed only to be what Kaiba makes of him. He slips the duel disc onto his arm and sets his cards. 

“I’ll even let you go first, Yugi.” Kaiba stands at the other side of their makeshift arena. But nothing about it is charitable on his part, just more brutal torment in store for them both.

And while Yugi cracks under the pressure and loses himself, Kaiba is falling. Falling through a rush of air, and the ground never comes. He’s always braced for the impact but the longer this stretches on, the more numb he feels. And the farther he falls, the farther away he gets from Mokuba, from everything he’s built, and from the Pharaoh, too.

They duel and Yugi only does slightly better than he as of late, perhaps due to the rest, but it’s still not enough, not good, the slip-ups on his part are inexcusable, and Kaiba can take it no longer.

“ Why would you chain those cards together? That combination was worthless against my dragons, it’s like you’re not even trying to form a strategy, you’re just deliberately failing out of spite, you don’t even deserve to play the game anymore!” He throws down the cards he’s holding, along with the disk strapped to his arm, and it clatters noisily to the floor.

Yugi winces at first, then his eyes get hot. “You drag me out of bed then you don’t like how I play, now you quit in a tantrum - it’s impossible to make you happy.” He slips the disc off, only he doesn’t throw it, carefully putting his deck back into his pocket. 

“Oh no, Yugi-“ Kaiba is quick to cross the floor, “It’s very possible to please me. And from you especially, I ask nothing from you, you are not the reason I’m doing all of this! Clearly you’ve had nothing to do with any of it, other than provide the hands to draw your cards and the mouth to call them out with.”

Yugi’s teeth grit, even as his eyes water. He holds his hands out in front of him to stop Kaiba’s encroach. “Shut up.”

“Why? Does it hurt to hear the truth? You’ve been riding on his cape for so long, you’ve forgotten where you came from. Just another of our peers, easily overlooked and forgotten, and you get one shot, a prize that falls right into your little lap, and suddenly the whole world looks different. Well your height is built on scaffolding, Yugi, my fucking tower will look over Domino City forever, and where will you be ten years from now? King of Games.” Kaiba scoffs, “You wouldn’t even be the King’s servant. ”

“ I said shut up !” He’s never lost his temper like this before. Kaiba leans over him, and he seethes, eyes dry now. “You think you know so much - there’s a lot you don’t know, Seto Kaiba.” His hand wraps the Puzzle - and yanks. The chain breaks against his neck, he barely even winces at the feel of it. “Watch and see just how unimportant I am.”

He can see Kaiba’s eyes widen just a fraction - as he throws the Puzzle down on the floor, and watches it shatter, like glass on pavement, and just as brutal.

That moment seems to last forever, and he is trapped in it. Watching the pieces scatter across the expanse of the floor until there is nothing left in Yugi’s hand, it’s just…it’s gone, again , gone. Buried under the sand, everything he worked towards, everything at his fingertips now just completely undone all over again. It’s nothing more than a golden husk, it may as well be a casket, there’s nothing in it nor has there been in some time, and yet he’s already dropped to a knee, the few pieces near to them gathered in his trembling hands.

He picks them up with more care than he has ever shown to Yugi, and it’s over mere shrapnel. He stands, and reaches for Yugi, maybe to steady himself, for comfort…

His fingers dig into his shirt and yank him to his side, dragging him across the floor, all the way until they’re at the mahogany desk tucked away in the corner, and he shoves Yugi forward onto it, slamming down the puzzle pieces next to him.

“ You fucking put it back together. Right. Now.”

His fingers close around the back of Yugi’s neck and pin him there.

Kaiba looks so heartbroken, so completely shattered, Yugi almost immediately regrets the rash action. "Kaiba-kun…" He's too good to be on his knees like this...He reaches out a hand to pull him back to his feet. "Come on, please-" His hand stretches in turn-

But not to get up. Yugi finds himself yanked to the floor, dragged across it by his shirt so he briefly chokes, thrashing. The regret is gone now, replaced by fierce heat. 

He's prone on the desk, held there, but he's too angry to be afraid. "I won't," he hisses. "You can't force me."

“ Can’t I, Yugi? ” Kaiba’s fingers squeeze around his neck, his breath coming out in harsh pants.

Seto Kaiba was the very definition of force, lightning and fury- the young man that pushed KaibaCorp to where it is today, after having usurped his own stepfather, the same young man who was changing the world and skyrocketing it into the future…all while he clung to the past, this ancient spirit who seemed the only one unconquerable in his progress.

And Yugi thinks somehow he’s an exception, too?

No.

Yugi makes no efforts to concede or cooperate, and Kaiba’s eyes drag over the expanse of his desk until he catches glimpse of a decorative handle, leaning over Yugi to snatch it up, a white knuckled grip as he presses the point of the letter opener to his throat, his hand sliding into his hair.

“I don’t care… how long it takes… you won’t leave this room until you put it all back together again, piece by piece...”

He gasps, wriggles - but only slightly. “K-Kaiba-kun…” He’s starting to panic a little, he can feel the cut and press of the point at his throat. It’s only a letter opener, but it’s sharp . “S-stop! Listen to yourself, this is crazy!” 

 Is it crazy? Is he crazy? Has he lost his mind, gone too far with this, lost himself in this completely, all for someone who no longer even existed?

He doesn’t feel as sure as he’d like to anymore, it’s gone too far, for too long. How much farther is he willing to go to get what he wants?

“ As far as it takes, my boy! ”

Kaiba jerks suddenly, sending the point a little further against Yugi’s pale neck, not quite enough to break skin, but there is a thin margin. His eyes lift, and suddenly there is someone sitting there in his chair, partly concealed by dark shadow cast from between thick curtains, and fumes of cigar smoke; but when one has tread in darkness long enough, there’s a despairing familiarity, he doesn’t need to see to know.

“Wh…what?” Kaiba murmurs, wide-eyed, and by all logic, this revolting creature across from him should no longer be able to speak, and yet he hears him clear as day.

“ Just look at you, Seto.” There’s a terrible chuckle. The burning embers of the cigar glowing as the man takes a puff. “ You’ve grown so much. Built an empire even greater than I did, the world bowing before your technology. And to think I played such a pivotal role in your success.”

Kaiba looks between Yugi and across the desk, uncertain. It can’t be real but it is, he can hear him, he can smell the smoke…he remembers too well the way he would exhale the smoke into his face, the way it burned his eyes.

“ N…no . No. Y…you didn’t, you’re not—”

“ Not real? Not important? ” The man leans back against the leather, and it creaks from his weight. “ You’ve been chasing ghosts your whole life, my boy. You may even have become one yourself, had I not plucked you up and made something out of you. And now look. Finally a son to be proud of.”

“Stop it, shut up-“

“ I pushed you because I knew you had the potential, because you and I are alike deep down- ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes to get what we want. Just like now .”

Kaiba looks down to Yugi’s head still pressed against the table, his fingers buried through his hair…only…it’s not Yugi’s hair, anymore, and it’s not Yugi.

It’s a child.

It’s himself .

Suddenly, he can hear Gozaburo right at his ear, can smell the cigar and feels surrounded, claustrophobic, dizzy.

“ A true Kaiba. ”

 Yugi is suddenly released, the letter opener tossed away, clattering across the floor, and Kaiba is stumbling back, looking mortified.

He heard me . Kaiba’s voice is soft, almost scared. Yugi counts his breaths carefully, eyes closed, telling himself how much he needs his calm right now. “Let’s just take a second, okay? Let’s talk about this, standing up. I won’t go anywhere.” He tells him no, stuttering, stammering. The letter opener preses in, he squeaks a little, and feels the fingers spasm in his hair. “I promise, it’s going to be okay. Please, just listen to me, Kaiba-” 

“Stop it, shut up-”

He goes quiet, waiting. Kaiba’s hands are trembling. Yugi doesn’t know what’s about to happen.

What he doesn’t expect is the horrified gasp, as if he’s suddenly come back to himself. It’s such a painful sound, it makes his insides hurt. The letter opener clatters as it’s tossed to the ground, and Kaiba stumbles away. Yugi doesn’t dare to move for a few seconds, but when he does, he straightens, and looks for the other young man.

He’s standing in the center of the floor, hands over his mouth, looking like the world has just been destroyed. Yugi’s heart stammers in his chest. “Kaiba-kun-'' His eyes are so wild, so...empty. He’s seen this look before. It frightens him. “Let’s sit down, okay?” 

Kaiba looks more unwell than he ever has, trembling as his hands press to either side of his head, which pounds mercilessly. He can’t hear Yugi anymore, doesn’t even register that he’s still here with him, that he hasn’t run off, hasn’t vanished like the Pharaoh has.

Chasing ghosts…

He turns towards the fireplace, wordless and empty and above the mantle is a panel there that slides open, much like the ones that housed their disks the first night Yugi had come here. It’s the same panel he takes his gun from when he changes the panels of the room for target practice. He takes the weapon out now.

So much could’ve played out differently, not just these weeks, but his entire life, and he’s never looked back until now. Always forced to move forward, to be two steps ahead of everyone, but finally it’s all caught up with him.

He can’t have come this far only to step into Gozaburo’s shoes, he won’t fucking do it. And if there really…really is an afterlife…then he’d see him, the Pharaoh, wouldn’t he?

W…would he want to see him, too? Like this?

If he could see himself right now, his best looking down over his worst, he would scream, rage against the pathetic degradation, the selfishness of it, that he’d destroy Mokuba…and maybe it’s that part that manages to resonate the loudest because when the sound goes off and his head jerks, there’s a hole only in the wall.

“Kaiba-kun….are you listening to me?” He walks like an automaton, unhearing, unseeing. “Kaiba-” Yugi watches him go to the wall, pushing buttons and sliding panels. He has the same unhinged, untethered look he’s seen once before - on the walls of Pegasus’ castle; when he stepped back, smooth and uncaring, to the very edge of the wall. “Hey-”

It all goes so fast, he hasn’t even realized he’s pulled the gun from target practice out and slipped it under his chin. But also he does realize, in that split second. “ Kaiba-kun !” The shriek rips out of his throat just as the gun goes off. Kaiba jerks, Yugi hits the floor, he doesn’t look to see where the bullet has gone. He knows he’s alive, and Kaiba’s alive, and that’s all that matters for this second. He’s pulling back the hammer again-

“ Stop it !” Yugi scrambles, his feet slide on the polished floor, but somehow his arms are first around the other man’s waist, then at his arms. He has his palm around the barrel so it can’t turn, then he gets a pinkie behind the trigger so it can’t be pulled - not for lack of trying. Kaiba smashes the trigger back as they struggle, and Yugi holds on like nothing else matters, because nothing else matters- “ Stop it, what are you doing, stop !” 

Hands entangled, he throws them both against the wall, smashing both pairs of hands against it until the gun drops out of Kaiba’s grasp. He looks - Yugi doesn’t know what he looks like. It’s too frightening. He kicks the pistol away before there’s an argument, bleeding fingers grabbing for the other man’s head. “What are you doing, what are you doing-!” He’s crying, Kaiba’s crying, nothing makes sense. He pulls his head down, whole body trembling, so they both fall to their knees, and Kaiba’s face is pressed tight into his torso. He can’t let go. He doesn’t know what will happen if he lets go. “No, no, no….” He feels like screaming again, and doesn’t know if he can stand for the shaking. 

Has he ever reached a lower moment? Close, but never quite. He doesn’t remember crying often as a child, he never had the time. He always had his brother to worry over, to put on a brave face for.

They’re here now though, the tears, and long accumulated. Like a dam bursting. Kaiba clings to Yugi and cries with him like they’re young boys again…but aren’t they, really? They’ve gone through so much, have taken on the world, thrust into expectations, obligations, duty, the whole world in their hands. They were young when all of this started, and they are so young still.

His whole life could be thrown away in one night. Broken into pieces, with Mokuba left to collect them.

His arms pull around Yugi tighter, he’s unwilling to let go either, he doesn’t know if he’ll keep falling again.

Kaiba doesn’t struggle, and that’s an intense relief. Yugi’s heart rate slowly drops, his mind has a chance to think again. They’re safe, Kaiba is safe, in his arms; but they can’t stay here, like this. He understands - all the exhaustion, all the pushing himself. It’s not his fault, his mind has snapped because he’s sapped it of everything. “It’s okay,” he murmurs it into the soft brown hair that needs to be washed, sniffling a little. He needs to know that. “It’s okay….” 

No one can see him like this - not the staff, and especially not Mokuba. Yugi’s legs shake beneath him, but somehow he’s able to stand, wrapping Kaiba’s arm around his shoulders and getting him up. “You need to rest.” Getting him upstairs is a challenge. He’s got some muscle from lifting boxes in his grandfather’s shop, but Kaiba is little more than tall, dead weight. He doesn’t actually know, Yugi realizes, where the man’s bedroom is, so there’s no choice but to take him to his own. He’s sweating by the time he’s dragged him through the door, sitting him on the bed. Kaiba flops back, practically a mannequin, while Yugi begins to carefully unbutton his cuffs. Should he take off his belt? Well….probably, but… “You’re going to rest now. Alright?” He leans down and puts his hand on Kaiba’s cheek, turning his face so the eyes have to meet. “You need to say something, so I know you hear me, Kaiba-kun.” 

He is so lost, so far away, his body heavy and sinking into the bedding, but when Yugi’s hand turns his face, when he meets those violet hues, that soft voice, his mouth parts in a brief, but seemingly lucid reply.

 “… A-Alright …”

Uncertain, but willing enough to lie here. It’s difficult to say what is real and what isn’t anymore, who he’s chasing after, and who he’s become. There’s no more smoke in the air, just a faint scent of gunpowder, and…and Yugi is still here.

Yugi is here.

At Kaiba's lack of resistance, Yugi decides its alright to take the lead. He unbuttons the collar of his shirt so it's a little looser, and carefully unbuckles and removes the Italian leather belt. He pulls the long legs up and tucks them under the covers, settling the man back into the pillows. He looks… haunted. Ravaged. Yugi goes to the washroom and wets down a washcloth with cool water, but not cold. Kaiba hasn't moved when he comes back, which is good, but he almost doesn't look like he's among the living. 

Yugi moves the room's large armchair as close to the bed as possible, and gently pulls Kaiba forward at the wrist. He rubs the cloth against the back of his neck, up to the ears, and murmurs, "Isn't that better? Feel that? You're here, you're alive - that's good." He brings it around to his throat, gently scrubs his face because that always refreshes him; ends on the hands and wrists, before discarding the cloth and massaging between the thumb and forefinger. He can still feel Kaiba's pulse at his wrist, very slow, and Yugi wishes his own panic would subside. It's not the same as seeing the gun, that was wild, white terror. This is fear because he doesn't know what's going to happen. 

How did his mother get him to sleep? He remembers fevers, when she sat at his bedside, but the memory is hazy with youth, more an impression than an image. He leans into that, lifts his hand, and begins to rub at Kaiba's head, bringing fingers carefully through his hair. He hums a lullaby he's long since forgotten, but the melody remains in his heart. Very, very incrementally, those haunted eyes come closer to closing. 

Is it good that he’s alive?

He’s not so sure at the moment. He lies there quietly, though, feels the press of the cool towel against his neck. Yugi’s hand takes his, he’s limp, but he makes no move to remove his hand, to pull away or turn onto his side. It’s not long after that Yugi’s fingers make their way through his hair.

It’s hard to listen to something that sweet being sung to him, he can’t remember his own mother ever singing lullabies, maybe she did and it was buried in his mind somewhere. Or maybe he thinks he doesn’t deserve it. Yugi is so…needlessly kind. Exceptionally kind.

It’s more than enough to bring his tired mind to a halt. He gives way to the exhaustion, and Yugi is not alone in his fear of the unknown, of what could happen next. But for now, the dragon sleeps at last.

He's fallen asleep. Yugi gives an immense sigh of relief, but he's still at a loss as to what to do now. The bed's big enough, he could crawl in beside the other man. But frankly, he's terrified Kaiba will wake in the night and make another attempt. If Yugi is dead asleep beside him, he may not be able to stop it. 

His eyes land on the belt, carefully set on the nightstand. He could tie Kaiba's wrist to the bed, but his outrage in the morning would be immense, and Yugi wouldn't even blame him. The only thing he can think to do is sit in this chair, and fold himself forward so he sleeps on top of Kaiba's legs, a slightly lumpy pillow. If he moves, Yugi wil shift and waken. 

It's not the most comfortable position, but he can finally relax just a little and sleep. 

For a long while, Kaiba does sleep. It is not quite as restful as Yugi might hope, it’s not that Kaiba doesn’t want to sleep, but he is unable to most of the time. Plagued by visions of the past, both his own and the life of a man who looks like him but with skin kissed from the bronze of a desert sun. He dreams of duels where victory is right within his grasp and then snatched away and he is left to crumble to his knees, broken, a failure once more.

He dreams of Mokuba being in trouble, needing him, in a place where he can’t get to, it’s never fast enough, he’s always too late.

And he dreams of falling. That tower he had built up, higher and higher, untouchable, but the higher it goes, the further the drop.

He jerks up from the bed with a startled gasp. His chest heaves, and at first he has no idea where he is- it’s not a room he expects to be in, not his desk, not his chair in his bedroom. It’s a bed.

His eyes drift down over the weight against his legs.

Yugi…?

He’s kicked awake by the sudden jerk of his pillow that is Kaiba’s leg. The panic is still so near the surface of his mind that he instantly jolts, body tense, ready for anything. It takes him several breaths, ascertaining that his charge hasn’t moved, before his heart even begins to slow down.

Kaiba’s eyes are white discs in the dark of the morning. The clock blinks four. Yugi softens and smiles. “Did you have a bad dream?” He takes one of those long fingered hands and lays it out, stroking the palm. “You’re safe, see?”

He’s…not entirely sure this is real. That Yugi is…is real. He should be…gone, far away from here by now. Another ghost, like Gozaburo, like—

And suddenly Yugi’s hand is on his own, his fingers stroking against his palm, and his fingers twitch. He is reluctant to admit to having nightmares, because…because he’s Seto Kaiba, and clearly infallible.

But Yugi knows better. He knows more than most.

Kaiba doesn’t answer, but his fingers curl around Yugi’s hand, squeezing it. It feels real, warm and soft skin, and he needs that point of contact. He’s needed it for a long time, but now that he’s felt it, he needs it more than anything else.

Safe , he says, and the adrenaline from the nightmares begins to fade.

Yugi brushes the hair out of his eyes and gently pushes him back into the bed. “Go back to sleep, Kaiba-kun. It’s okay. I’m looking out for you.”

Kaiba reluctantly settles back again, shifting against the mattress, but his hand…it keeps Yugi’s in his. As long as he can feel it, feel him there, he’ll know Yugi’s words are true.

His chest rises and falls until it becomes slow and steady, and there is so much quiet here, no calls, nothing to arrange, no meetings…

Just Yugi, just a dim room.

His eyes grow heavy again, and he finally falls back to sleep.  

He wakes up with a stiff neck and painfully tired eyes...But Kaiba is still there, in the bed. The relief that escapes Yugi is deeply palpable. He’s there, and he’s not dead, and he did it! He actually did it! He sits up, cracking his neck and wincing - oh, this is going to ache for a while… He’d like a nice, hot bath, but he doesn’t want to leave his patient for too long, so suffices with sponging himself off in the washroom, brushing his teeth and hair, and changing into some refreshingly clean, crisp clothes. He’s just finished buckling on his choker when the person in his bed stirs.

“Good morning!” That’s probably a bit too chipper for a man who almost killed himself last night. Yugi clears his throat and runs a hand through his hair, carefully settling himself on the edge of the armchair. “How are you feeling?” Kaiba’s color is a little improved. He looks quite rumpled, having slept in his clothes… His undone cuffs show off his strong wrists, the tapered forearm; his open collar exposes his throat, a little bit of the clavicle. Oh, maybe he shouldn’t look… 

Kaiba sits up, not quite looking his best, but then, last night hadn’t exactly been his best either, far from it. He’s still tired, the darkness under his eyes hasn’t completely gone, but any rest for a man who normally never got any was better than nothing at all. And true to Yugi’s word, nothing more came, at least, nothing disturbing enough to rattle him in the night.

Everything…feels so numb.

How much….how much did Yugi see…? Hear? Everything? Everything…

How to even begin to explain? He isn’t accustomed to having to, he’s always made his own decisions and never had to answer to anyone, but Yugi had…he could’ve just…let him do it. Then all of this would’ve been over.

But now they’re both still here, and…still empty, the Puzzle still broken. How to progress from here?

“….Fine.” As well as one could feel after holding a gun to their own head.  

“Don’t move.” He pats his leg, the lump beneath the cover. “You need to eat something before you do anything else.” He finds the right button on the nightstand and presses it. “Miso soup, please. You can leave it on a tray outside the door.” 

So...now what? He and Kaiba sit across from each other in a new and impossible situation. Yugi taps his knees with his fingers to break the stillness. “Do you want to move back to your own room or do you want to stay here? It’s okay, either way.” Already there’s a knock at the door, and Yugi fetches the tray, settling it onto Kaiba’s lap. “Think you can eat that okay?” Probably he wouldn’t let him spoon feed him...but he seems so small and worn for once, it has to be asked. 

Oh god, he can’t stay in here. He’d rather get up now, but Yugi already has it in his head that he needs to eat, too.

He sighs, and he can’t quite look at Yugi, not in his eyes at least, he’s terrified of what he might find there now. Pity. Sorrow. He doesn’t expect to find any sort of glee though, many might feel that way, to see the great Seto Kaiba, this self-made genius billionaire on the floor of his home sobbing.

But he knows at the very least that Yugi is far from any of those kinds of people.

He…doesn’t quite understand why he shows any care for him at all, especially given what has happened in his time here.

One thing is for certain, he likely won’t get out of this room without an argument ensuing unless he takes a few sips of the broth, then Yugi might be appeased. But it feels too much like…like he’s licking his wounds, it embarrasses him.

 “I…can manage.” He will not be hand fed, he’s not a child, despite his tears. “…My room would be…more appropriate.”

Not that much else here had been.

Yugi waits, hands folded in his lap, and watches Kaiba lift the spoon to his mouth. Once, twice, three times. He sets it down and tries to move the tray; Yugi puts a stop to that. “No - the whole thing.” He’s still smiling, but there’s a very, very slight edge to it. Not a dangerous one, a firm one. “If you want to go back to your own room, you’ll have the whole thing. It’s good for you, gets you your strength back.” 

As if he needs reminding of his weakness.

Kaiba frowns, it’s so very clearly difficult for him to comply, to sit here a moment longer and be tended to…but Yugi is adamant.

Perhaps to both of their surprise, Seto moves the tray back, a bit more abruptly than intended, and the broth sloshes upwards, only spilling over a little. The faster he could finish this, the quicker he could leave and hide himself away for a moment, regroup, think about…everything, process it all.

…And perhaps it had been a while since he’d had anything.

The soup is finished in silence, and he dares not look at Yugi again until the tray is moved and he’s pulling the covers back.

Yugi has his hand out as soon as Kaiba starts to move. “Let me help you.” He’s still smiling, too. It’s all going a lot better than he’d hoped for, but he doesn’t want to push just yet. 

Kaiba pushes himself up to stand, “I…I’m fine…” He should at the very least be able to walk himself back to his own room, he doesn’t even remember how he got to Yugi’s to begin with, but there’s an image settled into his mind.

Fine , he says, as if the hole in the wall downstairs was a mere misfire during target practice. As if the hallucinations haven’t started again. Maybe he spends too much time in virtual realities, it’s all starting to blend together, and he can never tell what’s real.

He sways a bit, and the unsteadiness is jarring to him…has he really lost so much of himself this time? Even when he’d been in a coma, at the news of Mokuba being missing, kidnapped, he had sprung up with a fierceness, full of vitality, driven with determination.

For himself though? He sways like a tree’s branches in the breeze.

“Kaiba-kun!” His voice is laced with irritated concern as he catches the man’s arm, pulling it around his neck. “It’s fine not to be fine.” The most important lesson of friendship: to lean on one another, so they all pulled through stronger together. But Kaiba stands alone, and it’s nearly toppled him.

But it won’t. Because Yugi’s here. 

“You’ve been very sick,” he says, adjusting his weight as his legs try to stand out of the bed. “I don’t think you know how sick you’ve been, and you need to rest .” But wanting his own bed is understandable, it’s probably far more comforting to be in his own space than here with Yugi. He’s able to get him to the door, and looks uncertainly in both directions down the hall. “Which way?”

Sick…

But even if he slept better, or ate at more regular intervals, it wouldn’t be enough to fix any of it. Merely treating the symptoms, not the issues at hand. He hates that he appears so weak in this moment, that Yugi thinks him in need, last night was…was a fluke was all. Under high amounts of duress, frustration, panic. Just a sporadic incident, and…and it was fine now.

“…Left. All the way to the end.”

And hopefully no one in the hallway would pass them to witness their boss slung over, looking so frail.

That’s Yugi’s concern, too, but they’re in luck this morning. The staff here tend to keep out of sight as much as possible. This door also has a dragon carved in the wood, so in hindsight, perhaps he could have figured it out after all. But, he’d been in a hurry, and there hadn’t exactly been time to check. 

Kaiba’s room is….Well, also in hindsight, it’s what he should have expected in every way. Huge, opulent. The four poster bed looks larger than a king, with heavy damask covers and a deep blue, cashmere throw at the foot. The design is all dark blue, with touches of silver in accent. The carpet beneath his feet is very thick and soft. There are more plants than he’d have expected, exotic, with dark, curling leaves; a bookshelf in one corner, there are issues of Duelist Weekly on one shelf. But there is also something else - the whole place is far too neat. Yugi’s managed to make his room here rumpled and lived in, even with the daily ministrations of the cleaning staff, but this room looks like Kaiba’s never touched it. There’s something very sad about that.

Sad, too, is how small he looks when Yugi sets him up in that massive bed. How lonely, one lanky body in a sea of silk sheets and fluffy pillows. It makes his heart ache a little, but he manages a smile in spite of it. “Stay here, alright?” He needs to sleep more, but he’ll do better in pajamas rather than those wrinkled clothes of his.

There’s a walk-in closet, which is….at least as large as Yugi’s bedroom back home. That’s kind of stunning, the collection of fine, tailored suits, the silk shirts and ties, the leather belts and shoes. His coats, too, from formal wool button downs to his more elaborate style with studs and buckles. Is there anything in here that lets Kaiba just be….eighteen? Not someone pinned into tight shirts, not someone controlling the world, not some impossibly great duelist?

There’s a small chest of drawers at one end that catches Yugi’s attention, and he wanders to that; jackpot. There are graphic t-shirts in here, worn-in jeans, everything cotton and nothing elegant. It makes his shoulders sag in relief. At the very bottom drawer, he finds pajamas, and here he hesitates: sweatpants lie alongside a monogrammed satin set. He grabs the latter, because Kaiba may feel more comfortable in this armor, and he’ll be more covered that way, too.

He wanders back out, and the man hasn’t moved, eyes closed. Yugi’s relieved to see he’s still breathing when he sets the pajamas on the bed next to him. With a very slight blush high on his cheeks, he asks, “Do you need any help?”

Kaiba sits up and reaches for the set of pajamas, and his eyes finally lift to Yugi’s in a resolute stare, “This I can manage myself.”

This one isn’t up for debate, he’s got to regain some sense of his pride, despite what Yugi must have seen. He isn’t sure what he said last night, or how he must have looked. Not his best, he knows that. Yugi is the last person he would’ve ever wanted to see him in such a way, but perhaps there’s relief in that it was Yugi there, instead of anyone else.

“I’ll be fine, really. You can leave, for now.”

For now, and perhaps that will give Yugi enough peace of mind, to know Kaiba will be seeing him again soon, that he’d still be here.  

His firmness, and the knowledge that he is planning ahead for the future help unclench the worry wrapping Yugi’s heart. He smiles and nods, saying, “That’s a promise, then,” and leaves him alone. He really hopes Kaiba gets some rest…

Actually...There might be a way to ensure that, and he perks slightly, leaving the room for the hall. That’s a bit devious, Kaiba might be mad - but the circumstances are extenuating. Mokuba’s room he does know where to find, because the younger brother has been much more friendly during his stay. He’s still in pajamas, eating sugary cereal and playing on a handheld when he arrives. “Hey,” Yugi smiles. “Um, I don’t want you to get too concerned, but Kaiba-kun was very sick last night. He’s okay now, but...you might check on him. I’m sure he’d want to see you.” He’s not sure of that, but wouldn’t he? Kaiba loves his brother more than anyone - except perhaps the Pharaoh...

“Seto was sick?” Mokuba appears very worried then, they are so terribly protective over one another, and it’s not often his brother falls ill.

These past few weeks have been hard though, he understands the enormous pressure Seto has been under, the launch of a particularly revolutionary new product, the Puzzle, Yugi…

Mokuba has found him more than enough times in his study, face against his desk, passed out in exhaustion. It’s no wonder he’s unwell.

“Wh-what happened? Why didn’t he call me? Where is he?”  

Yikes! Yugi tries to calm him down. “He didn’t call anybody, he just sorta passed out. It was late, so I put him to bed. He’s there now, he’s okay, I promise!”  He thinks, anyway.

Mokuba doesn’t seem to have listened. He nearly knocks over his cereal bowl in his hurry to get to his brother. Yugi follows after, trying to tell Mokuba that Kaiba is asleep right now - but it’s of no matter. The door is thrown open, and Mokuba has launched himself onto the bed.

“Seto!” He’s nearly crying. Luckily Kaiba had time to change into his pajamas. If he was asleep, he’s not now. Yugi stops at the door, and feels like he’s intruding on something private. “You’re okay, right? You’re okay?” He puts his head in his brother’s chest and really does start to cry. “Yugi said you passed out!”

Yugi…

Seto sighs and his arms are around Mokuba at once, holding him. Passed out, he would wonder about the finer details that were offered as to the events surrounding it, but Yugi certainly knew enough discretion than to reveal… that .

But now that he’s more himself, there’s a deep sense of guilt  if he had been successful in that moment of weakness…that Mokuba would’ve been left here alone, and hurting, and scared. No one to turn to with his pain.

“Shh, Mokuba, I’m fine. Don’t cry.” A hand lifts to gently stroke at his hair.  “I was just a little tired, nothing to worry about.”

He doesn’t exactly enjoy lying to his brother either, but some things he needed to keep to himself. They shared nearly everything, but not this.

He shifts in his brother’s arms, giving him an angry, teary look. “Yugi said you were really sick and you need to rest! So you have to do what he says, okay?” His pout brooks no argument. “I’ll take care of everything, but you’ve got to rest!”

He can’t have his brother upset, he already has so much on his shoulders trying to make up for his absence at KaibaCorp. Besides, that pout was undeniable, he had mastered it well.

Even if only to appease him, Kaiba relents, “If it will make you f eel better….then I will listen to what Yugi says. Alright? But no worrying about me. Deal?”

He said he would hear Yugi out, not necessarily that he would do as he said.

“Deal!” Mokuba’s arms tighten around his brother, and he seems significantly happier. “I love you, Seto.” 

“I love you, too…”

He goes, and the hours pass, and Kaiba feels…not great at all still, but better enough to pull himself back together. He’s showered, pulled on a crisp new shirt, and a tie chosen from the multitude that Yugi had walked past.

So many lines crossed. An invasion of one another’s privacy. He’d argue that his prying into Yugi’s life had merely been a means to an end, it hadn’t been personal, but…well, his late night viewings were excessive, he’s willing to admit.

But…now, it’s just…it’s strange. And awful. He hates this.

What else can they do but clear the board?

Over the intercom, Kaiba’s voice finally calls out for Yugi- his summons to return to his room. And in the Kaiba household, who knew what to expect when walking into a room?

It’s among the more relaxing days Yugi’s spent in the Kaiba house. He takes that indulgent bath after all, and his neck feels much better for it. He takes a very well deserved and much needed nap. And he absolutely gorges himself downstairs, because the staff will bring him whatever food he wants. Large, juicy burgers, much fancier than at Burger World (though he doesn’t know that that makes them better), an irresponsible amount of fried snacks; Mokuba joins him eventually and shares some, and Yugi tries to say what happened last night without saying what happened last night…

And in the evening, there doesn’t seem to be any threat of being dragged out of bed and forced into some new game, so he’s actually relaxing on his bed with a book - when the intercom rings.

His heart rate instantly doubles, because nothing good has come from being summoned by Kaiba recently; but no, that’s not fair, he’s been sick. Yugi puts on a brave smile and scratches his fingers through his hair. Surely they’re just going to...talk.

It feels strange to be invited into Kaiba’s room. He’s out of bed and dressed, in an oversized armchair with dragon heads for each arm, and a third over the top. The bed doesn’t look slept in - but he shouldn’t look at that. “Did you need something, Kaiba-kun?”

He looks about as put together as he can muster right now, dressed, clean, but his posture is…poorer, sunken into the chair. He regards Yugi for a very, very long time as he stands there before him, and the silence is deafening.

Kaiba is…for the first time since Yugi arrived…unsure, really, of what to do with him. How to proceed. But he is nothing if not stubborn. And despite everything…he can’t…he can’t have had Yugi see him reduced to such a state for nothing.

“…Yugi.” He steeples his fingers together, his elbows propped against his armrests. “I…” How to say it without saying it…does anything even need to be said?

“About…what happened…”

Why did you stay, why did you help, what do you care-

“I…”

Don’t look at me that way.

“…It doesn’t…it doesn’t change anything. Do you understand?” If he says it enough times, maybe he can convince himself of that too. “It changes nothing about our agreement.”

Oh. It hadn’t crossed his mind, though it should have...He had been so busy making sure Kaiba would live, and then giving himself the break he needed- “W-well,” he rubs the back of his head awkwardly. “I guess that makes sense.” The deal was, lose the game, stay until the Pharaoh returned. It wasn’t predicated on the puzzle. Yugi’s chest hurts. “What...is it you’re planning to do?” 

He shifts, frowning as he breathes out a heavy sigh. “…I’m not sure.” An admission. “…I had thought…the Puzzle was crucial…but…clearly it’s been of no help.” But it was all that he’d had to go on. And whether broken or assembled, it just seemed as Yugi claimed…empty. So what was the secret? What was the real key?

His eyes finally shift to Yugi then, “…I need you. I’ve run out of ideas.” There are more extreme experiments, but after being near death, he needs time to recover from that sudden impulsivity.  

It’s more than his chest that hurts...He walks slowly to the chair, and kneels down in front of it, to look into Kaiba’s face; to see how his hair falls in front of his blue eyes. “Kaiba-kun...I’ll stay, I told you I would. But - maybe there just isn’t a way to do what you want. Maybe you can’t bring people back from the dead.” 

Seto’s eyes follow him intently as he kneels before him. If he were in a haughtier state of mind, fresh off of victory, he might say that was just where Yugi belonged, but…but not after last night. His frown deepens, and he shakes his head, not angry, but unwilling to hear it.

“…I can’t accept that.”

He had entertained all of this talk of magic through their years together, past lives, and now that he buys into it, this is where they pull the rug out from under him? This is his limitation, his perimeter?

“Why…” He murmurs it more to himself, a partly incomplete thought. Why would the Pharaoh just leave? All this chaos that ensued as a result. He doesn’t understand. But maybe he came close enough last night. Seeking some kind of solace away from the constant fight just to survive in this world. But it still doesn’t seem fair.

His faraway gaze drifts back to Yugi again, and he…can’t help but to linger.

Yugi’s hand settles at his knee. “I understand how you feel, but this is what grief is.” Kaiba’s lost enough to know that, surely? Or maybe he’s never allowed it until now. He’s not mourning just his rival, perhaps, but the entirety of his life. “There were things even he couldn’t do, you know? W-what if….what if instead of holding on to the past, there’s a better future for you to take?” 

Kaiba’s eyes are sharp and they flicker to Yugi’s hand, staring there where his warmth radiates, but makes no move to remove it. In a strange way, the contact, again, makes him…feel a little more grounded.

And at Yugi’s words, considering the future…coming to grips with grieving, and with moving forward…out of all of them, these are the ones he chooses to focus on, “…What…what things? What couldn’t he do?”  

Yugi’s smile deepens, it’s more compassionate, and he pets absently at the leg, comforting. This, honestly. Yami would have stopped Kaiba from killing himself last night, but he doesn’t think he’d have known how to be here now, comforting him.

He was always good at comforting Yugi, but that had been different. Because their minds and souls touched in just such a way, Yami could always understand him. It was other people he didn’t always connect with. He thinks Kaiba would be very surprised, if he actually had the Pharaoh with him here now...If he were faced with his coldness and indifference, would he still try so hard to get him to stay?

“Knowing when to stop.” That’s not unlike Kaiba. “I had to hold him back a lot...He’d hurt people.” Oh boy had he hurt people. Especially in those early days, and Yugi can’t remember details, but partly that’s because he doesn’t want to. Maybe that makes him a coward, but- “He just didn’t always understand...He tried, he got better. But it took him a long time to see individual value.” Yes….there are a lot of ways they’re similar. Maybe that’s why Kaiba misses him so much - he misses part of himself. Yugi’s hand rests on his thigh without him even noticing it’s stopped there, and he sighs. “He just….had lost a lot, and he needed to finally have it back, and finally be at peace.” 

If only Yugi knew, really. It’s precisely that. That they both seemed to have lost things important to themselves, people that they cared about, that they had latched onto dueling, it just…felt like two sides of the same coin, not to be cliché.

But now, one of them is at peace, and the other…

The other…is losing his mind down here, pining over someone who had been content that his business here was concluded.

Kaiba’s gaze is so intent over Yugi, he only barely feels his hand climbing higher along his leg, “…That does sound like him. Sometimes you have to hurt people though, before they can hurt you.” A lesson he’d learned very early in his childhood, and especially in business.

“I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think we have to hurt each other.” He brings one of Kaiba’s hands down to hold in his own. It’s cold and dry. “I think we can make things better together, but you have to face that fear. I understand.” He smiles again. “I don’t have to hurt you, Kaiba-kun - see?” He squeezes the long hand between his own. 

Kaiba looks a little more present then, swallowing hard, looking down to their hands, and it’s….it’s too difficult to hear Yugi say these things now, he’s not in a proper state of mind. His fingers squeeze around Yugi’s hand, and in a moment, that fear he speaks of is prominent, he doesn’t know what will happen, what the future might hold. Yugi says it could be better, but he speaks of his own future, because he has no troubles to weigh him down. He is loved. He is looked after.

“…I’m not afraid, not of anything.” He pulls away then, averts his eyes. And it’s a pathetic thing to say, because Yugi knows better.

Yugi says they don’t have to hurt each other, but…they already have, haven’t they? How can he trust that things between them could change, what if he ran back to his friends, spinning stories about how unstable he was, how pathetic—

“Y…you can leave for now. I don’t have anything else.”

He wants to tell him it’s alright to be afraid - he is, too, a lot. But before he can say anything at all, he’s dismissed, like a servant, after everything that’s happened. Or maybe especially because it’s happened. Yugi stands, and his heart goes back to hurting. “Don’t stay up late,” is all he says instead. “I mean that. Mokuba wants you to sleep.” That’s all the goodnight between them. Back in his own room, the book no longer seems diverting...He gets out his Kuriboh, and sits with that instead.

Chapter Text

Kaiba is back to ignoring him. Perhaps because he’s upset he couldn’t get what he wanted, or maybe he’s just embarrassed. It probably would be embarrassing, to know someone you don’t even particularly like saw you at your weakest and most vulnerable…

It still makes Yugi lonely, though. If they couldn’t bring back the Pharaoh with the Puzzle, it certainly isn’t going to happen without it. The pieces are being put back together by one of Kaiba’s machines. Part of Yugi feels that’s wrong, but the rest of him thinks….he couldn’t do it again. Not as in he would be incapable of doing so, but it would…

It would break his heart to make his wish again, and have it not come true.

Maybe eventually Kaiba will get bored of keeping him here, or let him go. More likely he’ll forget he’s here altogether…

But he’s making other friends. He’s finally gotten some of the staff to tell him their names, when they understand he doesn’t have the power (or the desire) to fire anybody. He’s found out from one kitchen assistant that her grandmother lives just two streets from the game shop, which has been fun to talk about; and one of the gardener’s has a wife who is expecting a baby soon. He doesn’t feel quite so alone when he gets to see evidence of people once more.

Today, though, he’s in luck. Mokuba is home, and he’s going over his homework while absently munching on a snack prepared for him by the kitchen. Yugi’s (mostly) always liked Mokuba, but he’s not sure he’s ever been so happy to see him. “What are you doing, Mokuba?” he asks, taking up the chair beside the boy. 

“Hey Yugi!” There’s a brightness in Mokuba’s eyes, he seems equally happy to see him, especially if it means rousing him out of the nightmare that is his homework assignment currently.

“I haven’t seen you in a while…I’ve been really busy between school and work. Homework…” He makes a face, slumping back in his chair and dropping his pencil across the page. “There should be a law, brothers of CEOs shouldn’t have to do homework!”

Yugi laughs, and that kitchen girl he’s friendly with brings him a cup of tea, smiling very slightly. “I think there are supposed to be laws about kids being executives when they need to do schoolwork. What is it you’re working on?”

“History. This week is on the Sengoku period. We have to list out all the different advancements of war and the pros and cons of each development. I hate learning about military stuff.” Mokuba sighs, sliding further down in his chair. “…Normally Seto helps me, but…he’s been so busy lately…”

Busy, tired, and…he didn’t need any more on his plate. Seto had far bigger issues than some lousy homework.

“I think video games would be a way better use of my time. Who cares what a bunch of Generals did anyway? None of it matters now. ”

“Well, I think the idea is, everything that happened then, influences now.” It feels like the kind of thing Atem would have said. Yugi smiles. “I’m pretty good at history! Maybe I can help you? I-if you wanted?” 

“…Really, Yugi?” Mokuba perks up then. He might not like the subject, but having company as cheerful as Yugi was far better than sitting here alone staring at a book he wanted to throw.

“You really don’t mind?”

And maybe in a way, Mokuba was a little lonely too at times. Though he’d never burden his brother with that either.

Yugi’s smile lights up the room. “No, I don’t mind! I’d be happy to help!” He looks over the questions, flipping through the book and finding the right answers, or repeating them just from memory. Mokuba’s impressed, but it’s just that he’s had more years to learn how to study. That’s half of the point of the assignment, to know the information, but to also know how to find it. Together, they find the date for the Kaga Rebellion, the end of the Ashikaga Shogunate, and Mokuba’s even written out his essay on the importance of cavalry in the period. It’s only four o’clock, and Yugi ruffles his hair the way Jonouchi would always do to him. “I think you’re gonna have time for video games after all, Mokuba!” 

“Aw, yeah!” Mokuba pumps a fist into the air and laughs, his fluffy locks settling back into his face again after Yugi musses it.

“You’re the best, Yugi! Thanks for helping me get through it so fast…you made it a lot easier. Do you want to play me?”

And of course their game room- (did Yugi know they had one?) it was expansive, from floor to ceiling were video games of every era, of every company, version, computer, console, as far as the eye could see. A large screen mounted to the wall, comfortable couches. Clearly this side of the house was Mokuba’s stomping grounds.

It’s nice to be with Mokuba, it’s nice to feel appreciated. And it’s nice to feel...normal for a second. “Yeah, I wanna play!” Mokuba takes him to some new, hidden part of the house he hasn’t been to yet, and Yugi is dazzled. “ Wow . This is like...a palace!” A gaming palace! He can hardly take in everything. They have the newest, the latest, the greatest-

Yugi’s eyes instantly land on the older stuff, though, flooded with nostalgia. “Street Fighter! Jonouchi and I used to play this!” 

Mokuba laughs. Though terribly spoiled, he’s not out of touch, it’s not exactly a collection most people would have, but it had been carefully acquired through the years by him and his brother. He’s glad to see Yugi pick one out though. “Really? Let’s play it then! Who do you always pick?”

“Huh? But it’s your house, you should pick. You really don’t mind?” Mokuba insists, and it’s strange, how similar and how different he is from his brother… “Oh, well, Ryu! But I also alternate Vega. What about you? Have you played this one much?”

“Of course I don’t mind, you’re our guest!” Mokuba opens the display case filled with consoles and takes out the one they need to set it up.

“I haven’t played this one much, I think Seto and I did when we were younger though…I remember Zangief.” He laughs. “Who does Jonouchi play as?”  

“He’s Ken,” Yugi smiles, the controller familiar in his hands. He sees a lot of high school weekends with Jonouchi over, up until the wee hours, talking, laughing- “Who did Kaiba-kun play?” It takes him a second to remember all the combos, but soon muscle memory is active again, and the two are laughing together, just like he and Jou once did.

Mokuba is warm and kind. Yugi likes him. He wonders why he and his brother are so different, or if Kaiba really is like that, too, deep down…

“Not in this one, but the sequels, pretty sure he’d pick Chun-Li.” And perhaps Mokuba assumed it was the aesthetic of her colors or strength that Seto always liked and had been drawn to choose.

They laugh, and gaming between them is a pleasant affair, sweet and silly, as games are meant to be. Life isn’t so serious all the time, and moments like these seemed far too few and in between in the Kaiba household.

And it’s here where the elder brother finds them, having looked for Mokuba…He’d wanted to check in on him with school, just to make sure he was managing everything alright.

He listens for a moment, hears Mokuba’s laughter and it warms him, because he is so, so young, and he deserves to experience his childhood properly, even if he had to take on some extraordinary responsibilities.

He wanders a little closer, watching the screen as the fight plays out.

Yugi’s hadouken has just knocked Mokuba out again, but he never gets mad if he loses, and the two are laughing and shoving each other, just enjoying the game and the company. “Hey, you can’t beat me!” He gives him a noogie the way Jonouchi used to do to him. “I’m the King of Games, didn’t you hear?” Mokuba laughs, wriggling free, and smacks him with a nearby pillow. Yugi’s gets up to dodge the next pillow-missile aimed at him and to look for his own projectile-

When his eyes catch on the figure standing in the doorway, and their looks meet. He’s smiling. Yugi can’t remember the last time he saw Kaiba smile so softly, so gently.

“ Oof !” Mokuba’s caught him in the stomach with a throw pillow and almost knocked the breath out of him. “Okay, okay, you win!” He wheezes, still laughing. He ruffles that dark hair again and murmurs, “I think your brother wants to see you.” 

Mokuba looks over, and he looks so thrilled, “Seto!” It was fairly early for Kaiba to be out of his office, and he rounds the couch to run to him, practically tackling him around the waist.

“Did you come to play with us?”

Seto embraces him, and it’s difficult to refrain from any kind of softness around Mokuba, regardless of anyone watching.

“I came to see if you had any homework.”

“I already finished it! Yugi helped me.”

“Is that so…?” Seto’s gaze lifts and flickers towards Yugi, and it’s decidedly not a bitter look in the slightest. Maybe a little warmer than usual, even.  

Yugi blushes under that gaze. “I-I just helped him find the right parts of the textbook, it was all Mokuba. Grandpa would call him sharp as a tack.” That thought sends a pang through him, but when Mokuba is babbling so excitedly to his big brother, about the afternoon and their game…..it’s difficult to stay sad. “D-did you want to play? You can take my controller.”

“You should definitely play, Seto!”  Mokuba tugs at his arm insistently. “I haven’t seen you like all week!”

“I…it’s probably not a-“

“You have to stay out, please, Seto? And then we can all have dinner together…” Mokuba looks up at him with those wide, perfected puppy-dog eyes, and Seto is absolutely incapable of telling such a face no.

“Yugi, tell him!”

Yugi smiles, and even when he’s not trying to puppy-dog...his eyes have a kind of shine to them, too. “I mean, you want to make Mokuba happy, don’t you, Kaiba-kun? Surely one game couldn’t hurt…” 

Oh, so he’s in on it too then? Conspiring against him…

Seto sighs, but his expression is far less angry, and more…annoyed that he’s beaten by technicality of Mokuba.

“Besides, Seto, Yugi’s right, you have to rest more or else you’ll get sick again! You’ll worry me, and you definitely don’t wanna do that, right?” He beams rather victoriously and curls his fingers around Seto’s wrist, pulling him to the couch where the pillow fight ensued.

 Seto is given a gentle shove, and he complies, plopping back onto the sofa.

“…Fine. One game. Then dinner. I’ll stay out.”

“Awww yeah, teamwork!” Mokuba leans over his brother to high-five Yugi. The start of a great and terrible alliance.

Kaiba takes up Yugi’s controller, and Yugi watches from the other end of the couch, knees tucked up to his chest. Kaiba’s fingers are so quick over the buttons, his eyes so focused. He really is great. When Mokuba gets a hit in, it’s because his brother lets him; he could wipe the floor with anyone, and here he is, looking human, laughing as his little brother brags about beating the unstoppable Seto Kaiba.

Yugi’s eyes shine. He’s really beautiful . 

He’s lost in that thought and only pulled out of it by Mokuba coming up and tugging on him to get off the couch. “We’re going to have dinner together, Yugi, come on!” It’s the most lively - well, the most pleasantly lively - the house has been since the backgammon game. It’s the happiest he’s felt in a long, long time. 

There’s a lovely spread, made much warmer by Mokuba’s presence. It is a bit like that night, with Kaiba and Yugi to one end, champagne, and quiet, intently listening. But here, Seto is not quite as detached, he has to be present for his little brother, especially when he asks him questions. And all the while, he glances to Yugi now and then, studying him, especially in the ways he makes Mokuba light up, laughter ringing out over the table.

It’s odd, the circumstances around this scenario, and yet it…somehow makes sense. It’s made more sense than anything else has these last few weeks.

It’s the most Yugi’s seen Kaiba eat since the miso soup, and there’s a bit more color in his face, too. Mokuba looks so happy, talking about what happened at school, asking his brother about his day. He even has a few nice words to spare about Yugi, talking about what a big help he was on his homework. Kaiba’s eyes lift to Yugi and their gazes meet across the table.

And they smile, just a bit.

“I’m supposed to finish reading for my literature class,” Mokuba sighs. “I guess I can go do that before bed. Thanks again, Yugi! Goodnight, Seto.” He gives his brother a warm, close hug before going, and it’s the happiest he’s looked in quite some time.

That just leaves….Yugi and Kaiba. He taps his fingers on the table. “So….I guess we could play a game?” 

Seto thinks it over for a moment. “Cards?” It’s not much of a hesitation, he could’ve very well withdrew and retired to his study again now that Mokuba was gone, and thus his incentive, but he looks in no hurry to rush off, nor is he particularly set on putting Yugi through the dueling gauntlet this evening.

He produces a deck for them rather quickly, but for a man who built his empire on games, it was no wonder he’d have them easily accessible in any given part of the house for any entertainment purposes.

“How about rummy?” He starts to shuffle the cards, and of course he has plenty of practice there, his fingers are adept at running them through.

They don’t even move rooms. Yugi nods and smiles, relaxed in his seat, and staff bring out the coffee and dessert trays while Kaiba deals the cards. Yugi moves his sets in his hand and looks up at Kaiba. “You’re looking a lot better.” He’s gorgeous. “How do you feel?”

Kaiba fans out his hand and glances over his cards at Yugi. He’s certain Yugi is being generous with his praise, he likely still doesn’t look well, but…perhaps when one hits the bottom, any level other than the basement is an improvement.

“Alright…” It’s a careful answer, guarded. He is not as outright and honest as Mokuba is, his younger brother tends to be a lot more open and at ease with others.

…Now was as good a time as any to try.

“…I appreciate you not telling Mokuba. As well as helping him with his studies.” He’s tense, and he dares not look this time, choosing instead to burn a hole into his cards.

Yugi picks up the discard and moves his hand around. He’s half distracted by the dessert tray: a raindrop cake shaped like a dragon with a single blue eye, red bean buns, a rainbow of beautiful mochi… He almost misses Kaiba speaking, he’s so quiet. “You don’t have to thank me, I was happy to help him.” He was, too; he at last begins picking matcha mochi off the tray, eyes glittering. And not telling Mokuba- oh. He blushes a little. “Well, I told you before.” He hasn’t laid down any sets yet, so he discards. “Secrets are shared between friends.” 

Kaiba nearly drops his cards, he hadn’t…hadn’t expected…

It’s…it’s silly, to get worked up over any of it. Anyone so much as smiled as Yugi and he considered them to be friends, it was just the type of person he was, kind, compassionate, all those things that were vulnerable, qualities that only resulted in being hurt in the end or taken advantage of.

…Friends…

Seto also discards, rather distractedly, and perhaps that is always Yugi’s goal in the end, to fluster him in such a way that he makes such poor decisions.

“…Is…is that what we are?”

It’s not the first word to come to mind. He doubts most of them would even be in Yugi’s vocabulary, they were so heinous. How Yugi must and should think of him.

His eyes lift up, and he smiles. “It’s what I always wanted to be - with you, I mean.” It’s true, the only thing he’s ever asked of him, ever wanted.

Until recently. Or, well. He’s only been able to admit it to himself recently.

He’s thinking about that backgammon game, and that hot mouth on his, and the way it had opened, deep against him…

“Rummy.” He lays his cards down and smiles, and begins nibbling his dessert. 

He’s heard it before, it’s not that…not that he’s unaware of Yugi’s desire to befriend him, but that’s just what he did with all of their classmates, even the bullies, hell he had become friends with his own bullies in the case of Katsuya and Honda.

But…even after all of this, the pain, the exhaustion, the years of insults he’s thrown at Yugi, or the Pharaoh, or whoever it was at any given moment. Yugi still wants that? Perhaps that in of itself would be some great victory he wanted to lord over, that he’d broken Seto Kaiba down and convinced him that they could be friends.

Distracted yet again, and Yugi…wins.

Again.

Had the game already….? Flown by so quickly?

He looks down to his own hand, realizing there were several opportunities to make sets. He pushes the cards together and moves them atop the deck.

Rather than react to it, he merely smirks, “…I don’t suppose friends normally keep each other at their houses this way, do they? Maybe I’ve been sending the wrong message. I’d hate to lead you on.”

Yugi chokes on his mochi. 

O-oh ...Right. Duh, obviously. Just…..of course. He should be grateful Kaiba is being kind, putting him off. He’s been very clear, repeatedly, who he wants, and it isn’t Yugi Muto. 

Someone beautiful and successful and intelligent like Kaiba wants someone at his level - like Atem.

That’s not….him.

He smiles, and tries not to let the pain show through - and that’s something he’s had a lot of practice in. “Thanks for the game. We should both get some rest.” Why is he doing this to himself again? He went through all of this back home, with his friends, all the reasons he shouldn’t feel this way. And there are….a lot. 

He leaves the other two sweets untouched, and excuses himself to his room. He fishes the Kuriboh out of his hiding spot. “Hey, buddy.” He ruffles through the scratchy fur. “I hope you weren’t too suffocated in that drawer today.” He shakes the furry head back and forth. “Did you have a good day? Mine was fine. N-no, I’m not sad….Really, I’m not. What do I have to be….sad about?” 

He wishes he still had his pendant.

He sets the Kuriboh on his pillows while he gets ready for bed. It’s not that late, but he just...can’t be awake right now. He brushes his teeth, washes his face, undresses down to just underwear, and crawls under the covers, wrapped around his stuffed toy. Things will seem a lot better tomorrow. 

It’s a bit abrupt the way Yugi leaves, and part of him feels…regretful, almost. Had it been wrong to point out what was obvious? Surely Yugi didn’t really think they could be considered friends…he was essentially being held here, there was no physical contract other than the verbal agreement, but even so. The torment he has put them both through couldn’t possibly be considered by Yugi as still worthy of friendship.

In any case though, the night does not end with a bang, but a whimper. Seto is alone once more, and so he stalks off to his study to try and get a bit more work done before retiring. He is trying to make concerted efforts to sleep more, though it is very difficult.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have said it. It had been an attempt at humor, but clearly it was a misfire. Inappropriate. He doesn’t know and he can’t keep thinking about this. Like most thoughts regarding Yugi, he becomes lost in them and he just can’t do this tonight.

He spends nearly a half hour reviewing projects before he’s switched screens, watching Yugi’s bedroom, and he knows he shouldn’t, he’d tried not to the past few days, but it’s becoming a terrible habit.

Yugi is always there though, soundly asleep and somehow able to tuck his problems far enough away that he can drift off and curl up. Such a content expression. How does he do it? Surely he must have his own fears and traumas tucked away, how does he keep it all at bay?

He doesn’t realize it, but his eyes start to close, and the next time he looks to the clock, an hour has passed. He’d been staring at this monitor like it was a goddamn movie. He has to try to get to bed, he has to try to sleep, he can’t experience anymore hallucinations like that again, it was too much.

He tries for Mokuba, to settle into his pristine pressed sheets, to behave like a (barely) functioning young adult, tries to care for himself at least in a physical sense, but every time he drifts, a terrible visual comes to his mind, or an abrupt sound, or the feeling of falling until he jerks against his bed. He is unable to settle into peaceful contentment as Yugi is, and he’s probably sound asleep right now while Seto spends another hour trying and failing, tossing and turning.

…There is one place where he seemed to have been able to get some proper rest. He remembers quite distinctly, there had been no interruptions in Yugi’s room after the first one. He’d been able to lie there. Maybe it was a matter of sleeping alone, maybe he needed someone.

…He doesn’t want to worry Mokuba. That’s the only reason he’s doing this.

It’s late when Seto quietly slips down the hall to Yugi’s door, and he doesn’t knock, his aim isn’t to wake him or alarm him, but…

Well what is his aim?

Does he intend to stay in here, as if it’s some sleepover? As if they were friends, before he had told Yugi so very clearly that they were not to be considered such?

He runs a hand through his hair and seriously contemplates what he’s considering doing. But he figures it’s either this or the kind of insanity where he doesn’t have a tomorrow. So he slips in, and…he can’t exactly sidle up onto the bed, that would be…inappropriate.

As opposed to being in here, sure, that’s appropriate.

He paces a bit, unsure of where to go and what exactly he wants from this, but the armchair that Yugi had sat in to tend to him is there, and it’s been situated back against the wall. Far enough away to maintain boundaries, but close enough to feel…reassured, perhaps? He’s not alone.

His dreams at least are peaceful; Yugi turns in the sheets, they fall to his hips, skin bare to the night air. His hair frames the pillow and his hands curl gently by his head. The stuffed toy keeps watch, as it always has, so that he sleeps, undisturbed. 

He had been expecting Yugi to wear pajamas, he didn’t realize he...slept this way. Kaiba shifts in the chair and...his face feels a bit warm suddenly. He really shouldn’t be in here, oh , but then he sees that horrible monstrosity Yugi presses to his chest- matted fur and beady eyes staring out at him. Clutched so fondly.

Against Yugi’s skin, in his arms. Not even a toy as ugly as that has to work for Yugi’s kindness, his compassion. 

Kaiba sits back and crosses his arms, glaring at the Kuriboh with half a mind to pull it from Yugi’s arms and have it destroyed, but if Yugi woke, that would be a whole new argument, and he really was tired. 

He tries not to look at it, but he can feel it. Staring. Kaiba pushes himself up to his feet and creeps close, sees the way Yugi’s hair fluffs out around his soft face. His chest rising and falling so gently, so deeply. His hands reach out, not to claim the toy, but to cover Yugi again. 

“Nmm…” He’s warm, he shifts onto his side, and the Kuriboh is buried under his arms and his blankets with a small squeak. Yugi’s lips part, he breathes a gentle and contented sigh, and he sleeps, and he sleeps, and he sleeps…

Chapter Text

The Puzzle is assembled and back behind its display case in his office, but the panel is closed. There but…useless, not worth looking at and remembering. He hasn’t figured out what to do with it, or what to do with Yugi.

Not that it means he intends to let Yugi go, just because they’ve hit a wall with the project. Kaiba has difficulty in letting go, as evident by most everything- duels, trauma, loss, anger.

It’s not exactly as if Yugi is fighting it, either. He hasn’t tried to storm out—not that he could, but if he had really wanted to tie his sheets together and attempt to climb down the wall of his estate, for someone so eager to get away, it wouldn’t be unlikely.

But even so, with the lack of direction, and Yugi’s unwillingness to tip the status quo, Kaiba falls into routine, and back into work, which means less on Mokuba’s plate. He is trying to regulate his schedule, but some nights are better than others. Sometimes he tosses and turns in bed at all hours of the night, perhaps only to have accumulated a total of three hours of rest if he’s lucky. But at his desk, where his monitors are, seeing Yugi settle in and falling to sleep seems to have provided a sense of…restfulness to aspire to.

He remembers in the limo, those terrible two days, cramped and chain smoking, he’d been unable to hear anything but the sound of Yugi’s breath in his ear, and it had been so steady and soft.

A few times, he’ll pace the hall from his bedroom to Yugi’s, hesitating at the door and lingering there. He catches himself then, forcing himself to walk back. There’s no reason for him to be in there, seeing Yugi writhe around in his sheets with that horrible furball tucked tightly to him.

He tries again to sleep, maybe if he just were to hear Yugi’s breaths, to know he’s just down the hall…sleeping, and at peace, and that’s possible for him too.

…Had Yugi remembered to remove the transmitter? Kaiba pulls on his robe to head down to his study, where the Bluetooth lies in one of his desk drawers. There’s a creeping smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Only one way to find out.

Kaiba disappears again. It’s lonelier, but it’s better this way. Yugi can go back to seriously studying, and now that he’s allowed to text his friends on occasion, things aren’t so hopeless. Well, what’s the alternative? He promised he’d stay. He promised Mokuba, too, that he wouldn’t go until his brother really was….better. And yes, he’s improved outwardly, but Yugi isn’t convinced that things have changed on the inside. 

He might actually be ready for the exams at this rate. The uninterrupted sleep is helping. With Kaiba back to work, Mokuba is allowed to act his age, and that sometimes means the two spend time together, which is nice. Mokuba’s insisted they now have to go through all the fighting games in the collection, which is a big task….but it’s good to have a goal that feels fun and possible. 

He doesn’t know why he feels like he’s just...waiting for something to happen all the time. He goes to bed restless - but at least he sleeps. 

Another week passes, and still no summons for Yugi to meet with Kaiba in one of his many, many rooms. There are no nightly duels, no emotional outbursts. Kaiba does actually have a lot to devote his time to, as of course the moment he steps away, these corporate lackeys think they can get away with being lazy, half-assing everything.

Nothing they have to say is an actually satisfying answer to his questions during their telemeetings, just excuses. They drone on for a while, telling him about their proposed workarounds for distribution issues that have cropped up, but he already knows whatever their proposals are won’t be approved, he tunes them out and taps his Bluetooth on.

Yugi hadn’t removed the transmitter.

How fortunate for Kaiba.

It’s small, overlooked really, perfectly nestled against the leather of his collar, discreet. He’d listened to it as if listening to a podcast. It served a few purposes-  he’d know if his… pet …ever wandered somewhere he wasn’t supposed to, it would call attention to him if he were ever in any danger, if the Pharaoh ever somehow returned, and it seemed to keep him calm, to be able to hear his measured breathing, and he could even hear snippets of conversation between him and Mokuba at times. Yugi was always very pleasant towards him. Also, surprisingly, there were conversations with his staff, which displeased him, as they should not be conversing about their personal lives with him at all, and certainly not on his yen.

But even so, as quick as he could have them fired…Yugi seemed to enjoy speaking to them. He’d let it pass. For now.

He zones out during this meeting until they break for lunch, and it’s pretty easy to tell where Yugi is, he’d just put in his lunch order. They don’t normally intersect during lunch, as that would require Kaiba eating regular meals, but…there was no reason he couldn’t casually stop by, in his own house.

Yugi just happened to be there, that's all.

The kitchen staff have gotten really good at making burgers to Yugi’s specifications: they aren’t the beautiful grease bombs of Burger World, no, but they aren’t so hoi-polloi high class he doesn’t think he can bring himself to eat them (“aged sirloin with smoked gouda on a bed of rocket?” That wasn’t a burger. And where was the special sauce?). 

He’s just wrapped his teeth around his first bite when Kaiba drops into the chair across from him, the first time Yugi’s seen him in a week straight. He almost chokes. “Khba-kn.” He swallows with a slight grimace. “I didn’t know you were home today.” It can’t be a day off, he’s still dressed to impress - but that’s pretty standard for him, so maybe? “H-how are you?”

Kaiba supposes Yugi not seeing him for an entire week would beg the question of where he’d been…but of course, Kaiba has seen Yugi all week.

And like most answers to most surface questions, he answers, “Fine.” As fine feeling as one can be when they live the life of Seto Kaiba, near suicide one week, and back to work the next.

“I’ve been in meetings all morning.” That part he offers up all on his own. “I should know not to be surprised with the level of incompetence displayed to me, and yet I always am. Maybe I should just cut off the impending migraine at the pass and fire them all.”

It’s not exactly a friendly conversation that people their age would be having, and certainly not over lunch. He’d come here to get away from those idiots anyway.

“…What’s been happening in Yugi Muto’s world?” As if he doesn’t know. His world was this entire house, after all. But he’d much rather hear Yugi speak than anyone else at the moment.

Yugi’s brow furrows. “Well...Do they have what they need to really succeed at their jobs? Like, this one time, when I was little, Grandpa had this employee at the shop, and he didn’t realize he looked scary to the customers until Grandpa told him. He thought he was just being professional. But then he was smiling and friendly and things got a lot better!” Well, Kaiba doesn’t want business advice from him, but… “It’s just that, I wouldn’t want to fire anybody if I knew I hadn’t done everything I could to help them do what I needed them to do…”

Kaiba’s never cared to ask him that before… “I-I think I’m ready for the entrance exams, or just about. If, uh. If you don’t mind me making an appointment to take them.” Would he be….able to go to school, if he was still here? Would Kaiba allow that? 

Kaiba’s brow twitches, and rather than outright dismiss him, he’s instead leaning forward intently. Of course, it could be that they’re just lackluster employees, and his brother had done what he could to alleviate the pressures…but Kaiba himself had been checked out. Largely absent these past few weeks. Perhaps Yugi was not entirely without merit in his observation. His expectations were high, but perhaps not taking into account the way things have been, the difficulties in achieving those standards…

“…I’ll consider that.”

As for the exams, he knows Yugi is ready, he’s watched him study, after all. It wouldn’t make much sense to deny him his education if he wanted to continue it. There was nothing in their agreement that would prevent him from doing so.

“That’s good. If you’re confident, take it whenever you’d like.”

He’s not sure Kaiba’s ever listened to him before - and he’s okay with him taking the exam, too! He lights up. “W-what about you, are you going back to work? You’re not supposed to work too hard, remember?” 

“I remember.” He smiles, mildly, “I thought I’d split the week up, some days here, some at the office. Though if I’m planning on sleeping, I certainly won’t get any there.”

Even with the feed of Yugi’s room on both computers, for some reason, it helped more if he knew Yugi was still close by.

“…Has anything come to mind yet? Anything that I could be giving to you to help you do what you need to do?” His smile turns a bit more smirk then as he crosses a leg over the other, his elbow propped, and his jaw against his knuckles. Well, it had been Yugi’s advice after all.

He wilts again, slightly, under that smirk. “Well...no.” The only thing that comes to his mind is how much Kaiba needs to let this go. “Maybe...if we knew more about the Egyptian afterlife.” It sounds like he’s saying, “If we knew more about it, maybe we could beat it,” but what he’s thinking is, “Maybe if you knew how happy he was, you’d let him go.”

To tell the truth, Yugi would like to know his other half is happy, too. “I guess, once exams are over, I could start hitting those books instead.” 

Kaiba’s smirk drops, and he looks very intrigued then, “Actually, that is what I had been looking into prior to the other… events that occurred. I dropped it for a while, I was hoping it wouldn’t reach that level of extremism.” As opposed to keeping Yugi here in his home, raving about the Pharaoh’s return, and almost shooting a hole through his face.

“It’s a project in tandem with my virtual reality program, but rather than create a world, I had wondered if it were possible to tap into a pre-existing one instead. Some other plane or energy. Able to bridge this one to the next. The challenges it presents are immense though…”

“…Did he….ever discuss any of it with you? How he came to be in the state that he was? You must think about where he is now a lot, don’t you?”  

“Th-that sounds dangerous.” But he can’t dismiss it completely out of hand. After all, weren’t there all kinds of myths about people going to the Underworld to save the ones they love? He can’t remember any with a happy ending, though…

“Well, his soul was trapped in the Puzzle, and now it’s finally free and able to move on.” He rests a hand against his sternum, feeling a kind of warmth there. “I just...I know, inside myself, that he’s happy. And that’s all that matters to me.” 

He knows why they’re talking about this, it’s the only thing Kaiba cares about - but that doesn’t mean he likes it. Yugi sighs, resting his cheek on the ball of his fist. “You’d save yourself a lot of time and trouble if you just got a ouija board.” 

Dangerous, yes. But then, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar territory.

What he has difficulty wrapping his head around is Yugi’s lack of knowledge regarding the spirit and force surrounding the Puzzle. Had it been him who had inherited such a ridiculous relic, he would’ve had endless research at his disposal, the spirit thoroughly investigated and tested. How could Yugi spend so much time with the Pharaoh and yet know nothing about any of it?

At his suggestion of a ouija board, Kaiba scoffs, “As if it could be that simple.” And then a thought. “…Could it? Would that…?” It’s a ridiculous implication, but he’d bought into this absurd mythos this far, enough to have a psychotic break, he might as well go the distance. “Do you think it could work?”

“K-Kaiba-kun, I was ki-” But he looks so intense, so excited, Yugi doesn’t know what to say, a blush coloring the bridge of his nose. “I, uh - maybe? If he wanted to answer. I guess I don’t see why not?” 

“Hm. Maybe. We could try tonight?” It doesn’t seem likely to work, after all, those were board games played by children, it was meant as a silly diversion, not an actual way to conjure responses from the dead…

“After dinner, perhaps.”

An offer to Yugi, or a promise maybe, that they’d meet again today. He stands and looks down at his plate, “Do you want a fresh one made? It’s probably cold by now.”

D-dinner...Oh, Yugi chides himself, not to let his heart start beating in that way. Kaiba was so clear, why does he keep torturing himself like this? “I’d really like that.” He offers to refresh his food, and Yugi answers, “Oh, that’s okay, I’m not really hungry anymore.” And he has to save room for dinner, after all. 

~~

Because he’s so stupid, he changes into a nice, button-down shirt, and makes sure his eyeliner is sharp enough to cut. Not that that matters at all to Kaiba, who only looks at him as an empty vessel, but again, he’s dumb, so there he is. With tight black jeans that lengthen his legs, too. Not that Kaiba will be looking. 

Yugi sighs and stares at himself in his vanity mirror. “How are you going to pass entrance exams when you’re this hopeless?”

When he comes down to dinner, he finds Kaiba’s already at the table, talking with his younger brother. But Mokuba doesn’t seem to be staying, grabbing a tray to go. “Mokuba, you’re not eating with us?”

“I can’t!” He’s quickly scrambling up from his chair, having wolfed down his food. “Everyone at school is watching Passion of the Flowers , and the last episode ended on a cliffhanger, so if I don’t know what happens, I won’t have anyone to talk to!” That soap opera? Didn’t every episode end on a cliffhanger?

“O-oh, alright...have fun…” Yugi rubs the buckles around his wrist, and takes his seat across from Kaiba - who, if he doesn’t look completely perfect in every way, nearly does, and he’s sipping white wine while the staff serve up unagi and mentaiko. Yugi doesn’t exactly complain when he gets his own wine glass. Wouldn’t the staff get in trouble for serving underage people? Then again, who was going to tell? “Did you, uh….find a board?” 

Mokuba was at a strange age, certainly more adjusted than Kaiba was at that age, but he has the strangest of moods and thoughts in his head sometimes.

Yugi arrives finally though, and Kaiba’s eyes flicker over him, appraising, and they come away without anything critical to say. “About that, yes…I thought it over.” He takes another sip then, waves a hand through the air.

“And the more I thought about it, the sillier it was. If he wouldn’t even come back to duel, I doubt he’d come back to engage in a game of word search with us. No.”

He smiles then, but there’s surprisingly nothing bitter in it, “…You probably don’t think it would work either, I imagine.”

Yugi’s admittedly relieved, and takes a long drink from the wine because of that. “ Well …” He’s blushing again, or maybe it’s the alcohol going to work already. “I think you’re right.” 

It’s a nice dinner, and so far the conversation is mild and somewhat sporadic. There’s sea urchin and salted plums, and of course more mochi for dessert. Yugi is filling his small plate with strawberry this time, when a server comes to the table with a small cart. “What’s this?” He glances at Kaiba. 

“Master Kaiba requested cocktails after dinner.” Yugi watches the man carefully measure, pour, and shake a martini for his employer, perfectly garnished with two olives, before turning to Yugi. “And for you, sir?”

“Ah…” Yugi glances at Kaiba. “It’s alright if I do?”

“Of course, go ahead.” There’s no need for Yugi to hold back, but it’s cute, the way he thinks he has to ask Kaiba’s permission.

Not that he shouldn’t.

There’s nothing pressing planned for the evening anyway, Kaiba is slowing down for Mokuba’s sake and taking an evening of personal time, and perhaps he’d like to drink with someone… And if that someone is Yugi Muto, is it the strangest of evenings they’ve shared together? He could think of stranger.

Yugi’s quite exuberant, especially so with a drink in him. Like the night in the library, but he can appreciate it now without any competition between them, the rosiness across his face.

…Or maybe he can appreciate it more with a few drinks in himself. The veil’s a bit thinner then.  

He doesn’t need to be told twice, eagerly asking for a lemon sour, and the evening seems to pick up a bit from there. Nothing’s really different, the energy is just...more electric. Kaiba slowly picks olives from his skewer, and Yugi nibbles first on the curl of lemon on his glass, then on the mochi so the sweetness is overpowering. “We should use the ouija board anyway. Maybe we’d contact my grandmother - or yours, do you think she hangs around?” 

“Which, my grandmother or yours? Yours would probably talk to you. I don’t even remember mine.” Kaiba laughs a bit. “I don’t think anyone I’ve lost would have anything they’d want to say to me. You don’t really believe it works, do you?” He flicks one of the toothpicks into his glass.

“I guess I know which game in your grandfather’s shop you crack open every time a customer isn’t there.”

“…Do you think it’s all the same place? The same…afterlife? Everyone seems to have a different version in mind.”

“Me either, she died before I was born.” As for whether it works or not, Yugi shrugs; with a few drinks in him, he’ll believe a lot of things. “I mean, I put together a puzzle and an ancient spirit started a timeshare in my body. Stranger things have happened.” He laughs. “No, we don’t sell them! Grandpa doesn’t like that kind of thing, he’s a bit superstitious.” 

The next line of questioning is way more of a downer, but he should have expected it. Yugi begins to sag against the table. “I dunno. Atem said the kind of afterlife the Egyptians believed in was really different, it wasn’t the same as just, you know, heaven. Even he wasn’t sure what it would really be like, though. Maybe it’s more than we can even think of.” What he really, really doesn’t want to hear Kaiba say is how much he’s hoping to see the Pharaoh whenever he does get to that undiscovered country. 

Another servant comes up and bows. “Coffee in the study, Master Seto?”

“Can I have another one of these?” Yugi asks, back to smiling. 

“Timeshare.” That one earns Yugi an amused smile, and he shakes his head at the absurdity of it all. Saying it out loud really does put it into perspective. The entire situation is nonsensical. Perhaps it would be better to move on from what would now never be fully understood, but Kaiba has built his entire business model on pushing the impossible.

It’s still absurd though.

Yugi doesn’t have to worry about hearing those words though, they never come, they’re interrupted by the servant’s question.

“Mm? Yes, that’s fine.” Kaiba stands and pushes his chair back, “Of course, whatever you’d like. They can bring the cart.”

He hasn’t been expressly invited into the study for coffee, but the implication sure seems to be there. Kaiba isn’t complaining when he follows after him, back to being a puppy. The puppy flops onto the decadent sofa while a fresh lemon sour is prepared for him. This time there’s a strawberry cut into the shape of a rose on top, and he almost squeals - but offers it first to his host, eyes shining. “Would you like it?” 

“I’m sure your grandmother would want to talk to you, Kaiba-kun,” he says with deep sincerity and seriousness, as if this is an issue weighing on the man’s mind. “Why wouldn’t she? I bet she’s very proud of you.” He’d say, “Who wouldn’t want to talk to you,” but….he unfortunately can think of a few answers to that question. It doesn’t matter. He wants to keep talking to the young man, taking a much more elegant seat at the end of the sofa. The servants are asking what else can be served. 

“Why don’t you enjoy it for me?” It’s any wonder at all how he could’ve confused Yugi and the Pharaoh, they are two totally distinct people, not even in a negative way, just different. It’s surprising to him now, how obvious it seems, the parts that were Yugi. Saccharine.

His next words only solidify it. “…I’m not sure she would be, now that you bring it up.” He’s never stopped to wonder what his real parents or biological relatives might think of who he’s become, what he did to acquire everything he had now, what he was willing to do to maintain what he desired…no, he doesn’t suppose they would be proud of that. But then, they hadn’t been willing to step up to alter his fate either, now, had they?

“…Nothing wrong with that either, though. Mokuba is more than enough.” He conjures up a cigarette from his pocket, along with his lighter, flicking the flame against the end of it and replies curtly, “Nothing more for me. Yugi?”

Yugi nurses that strawberry very carefully, sucking the lemon and sugar and alcohol from it, and then licking the stain from his fingers. 

He doesn’t quite believe him; if Mokuba were enough, he wouldn’t be...like this. 

“No, thank you,” Yugi smiles, though a cup of coffee is left for him just in case. He watches the other man smoke. “Is Mokuba alright with that habit of yours?”

He takes a very long drag as he watches Yugi devour the strawberry, and sure enough….he does look like he enjoyed it for both of them. He doesn’t realize he’s held his breath, and a puff of smoke is exhaled abruptly then. He doesn’t exactly look away when Yugi licks over his fingers, it’s not something he’s ever seen Yugi do before, and for someone with a hobby of watching a very specific person lately, it’s a new behavior to note and file away. 

In regard to his question, he smiles, “I try not to smoke when he’s around. He knows, obviously, but as to the frequency, I think we can keep that between us.”

“Another secret?” Yugi smiles, but he’s bold with liquor, and leans forward. “What’s so great about them, anyway?” He nearly falls into Kaiba’s lap, but he’s plucked the cigarette from between his fingers - again - and slipped it between his lips. It’s only after he’s done so that he thinks that it’s a bit like sharing a kiss.

He takes a long drag - coughs - and pulls it out, finger running absently down the little paper cylinder. “Doesn’t seem so great to me.” He turns it back around, and slips the filter end back between Kaiba’s lips. “There you go,” he smiles, and doesn’t move back to his end of the couch, stretching out his legs.

Kaiba smirks, “Sure, another secret.” They were starting to forge quite a list already.

He watches Yugi, brazen with a few drinks, steal his cigarette from him and take a puff, and of course he’s not any fonder of it now than he had been in the alley. “An acquired taste. You learn to appreciate things that are bitter and unlikable after a while…” Until it becomes a crippling addiction, really.

And then it’s pressed back between his lips, and what is he to think, with Yugi behaving this way? It hangs there a moment as he watches him situate himself closer. He shifts in his seat and lifts an arm to rest along the headrest.

“I’m sure even you must have your vices, Yugi.”

Yeah, Yugi knows what he means about acquired tastes...Maybe he’s just growing up, but there’s some dark and bitter things he’s come to really like as of late. He takes another sip of his drink and licks it from his lips. 

“Oh yeah, lots!” He smiles and chuckles a little, stretching his legs until the knees click, and rests them up on the sofa; one ankle sits in Kaiba’s lap, but he doesn’t seem to mind. “I eat too much junk food, and I don’t work out a lot. And I’d rather play games than study. Mom says my music is too loud and scary, too, and I should dress more conservatively.” He beams at the other man. “She’d probably think you’re a good influence.” 

Kaiba considers each item carefully, even as Yugi’s legs come up and one of them so casually drapes across his lap. Everything seemed like a relatively normal ....non-destructive behavior. Not that Kaiba understands normalcy, but from what he’s read, this was the standard teenage experience.

“I’d be very concerned if anyone thought me to be a good influence. As for the style, your mother might like the suits, but…the trench coats and the belts, I have my doubts. And I would expect someone lording the title of King of Games to not be especially fond of studying. There’s nothing else you partake in excessively? I was hoping for something more scandalous…”  

“You’re too hard on yourself, Kaiba-kun,” he pouts playfully at him. “You’re a rich, powerful, successful businessman - who wouldn’t want that kind of influence? And so smart and so accomplished…” He flops back against the sofa, his leg still in Kaiba's lap, and sips his drink. “What do you want to know my scandals for, hm?” 

 Kaiba’s other hand settles into his lap, which just happens to have Yugi’s leg across it, so of course his hand comfortably rests there at his ankle, absently.

“How flattering. I wouldn’t be as good a businessman as you say if I didn’t know the things that were in my interests.” And knowing every facet about Yugi has become important now, hasn’t it? If he can’t find answers in an artifact, if there’s nothing there to extract, Yugi seems to be a logical shift in focus.

Though…he isn’t sure what his sleeping habits or scandals have to do with finding the Pharaoh. He’d find an excuse to rationalize it later.

His palm is so warm at the bone of his ankle. He’d like those long fingers of his to sneak beneath the cuff of his jeans, run up his calf, stroke down again, pull him closer in - he’s going to have a lot of fuel for later fantasies just with that idea alone. 

“J-Just normal things.” He’s blushing from the drink and the questions and the penetrating warmth of that hand, and the lap beneath his leg, and those eyes, and that mouth- “You know, dirty magazines hidden under the mattress…” He laughs a little, just a touch awkwardly. “Jonouchi would sneak me videos that must have been copies of copies of copies off those racey cable channels.” 

Kaiba’s cigarette sags a little, and his eyes slowly shift over to Yugi…not so much in disbelief…well, maybe a little, but mostly surprise. But then, when one hangs around dogs, one comes up with fleas, don’t they?

It’s not that it’s so abnormal for their age, but Kaiba had…really not had time to dabble in much. With the death of their parents, fighting off kids in the orphanage, tormented by their stepfather…it had been difficult to find time alone, let alone to…explore.

“Really?” He leans back against the leather, exhaling slowly, “…I wonder if the Pharaoh approved of all of that.”

He sets down his drink a little harder than necessary. “You asked!” All this prying about his vices, and to what, sit in judgment over them? 

But of course it all comes back to him , and Yugi lifts his leg out of Kaiba’s lap and sits more properly. “He thought the material was strange, but not the subject. I guess they got up to similar stuff even way back then.”

“I asked for something scandalous, I didn’t specifically ask you what your choice in pornography was, Yugi!” It’s quite a turn this has taken, but an amusing one. The weight on his lap is missed momentarily, but he slides down the couch until he’s back at Yugi’s side, persistent.

“So is that the image you want to leave me with tonight, you two watching Katsuya’s pirated smut?”

Did he want to think about the Pharaoh engaged or enthralled by any of that? It’s…it’s a difficult subject.

“Well, I didn’t tell you what was in the magazines and on the tapes, now did I? You don’t know.” He’s able to cool his pout and his temper with the amused tone in Kaiba’s voice, that the jab wasn’t meant seriously-

But he’s no longer cool in any respect when the man slides next to him. Don’t want to lead you on . Oh to hell with it, lead, please . Straight to hell, if that’s where the path goes. And he doesn’t want to leave him at all, not right now…

His hand lands just inside Kaiba’s knee, breath short. “What image did you want to be left with?” 

“Should I know? Will knowing change my opinion of you?” Kaiba smirks, and rather than the usual conniving way, here it’s rather boyish, charming, with the way he tilts his head, regarding Yugi with something almost playful. Perhaps they ought to drink more often to take that edge off.

And then suddenly…Yugi’s hand is there, at his knee, and his eyes glance at it before sliding back to Yugi’s again.

“…The image I’d like to be left with tonight…mm. Whatever’s in your dreams.”

“Well, I don’t know a lot , but I think what we got was pretty tame, since it was shown on television.” 

Yugi’s breath catches. That’s...It has to be….an invitation. That winning smile, and those gorgeous eyes, so close, not pushing him away...But he said- Oh . 

He blushes and turns away, moving his hand. “You’re teasing me.” Kaiba’s a flirt when he’s drunk. And Yugi’s a fool. 

What was teasing…? Which part? The part about the smut? Appropriately. But nothing else to his recollection. Yugi turns away, and Kaiba is left to wonder. Is he so incapable of being genuine about anything normally that one’s impression is he’s always insincere…?

Probably. It’s fair to assume. 

“…No, I would like to know. What sorts of things do you dream about? You probably never…” He thinks of himself, waking up to Yugi, so terribly panicked. “…have nightmares, do you?”

“S-sure, I have nightmares.” He turns back and catches the man’s eye again, but he doesn’t try to lean in the way he wants to. “Everybody does. I dunno, I dream about the normal things everybody does…” Because everyone dreamt of being pinned to a bed by a man who was indifferent to their existence at best . “I, um. Let’s see, I have a lot of dreams about being late for tests, or showing up to school without any clothes on - those are the bad ones, obviously. I had a dream with a monkey in it the other day! I don’t, um. I don’t remember a lot of details…” He relaxes incrementally, smiling again. “What about you?”

Kaiba’s brow twitches as Yugi speaks, and the wheels are clearly turning behind those slightly lidded eyes.

But it all seems so…so…standard. Nothing particularly serene about a monkey, for example. Yugi is just so unburdened, it seems, so without these experiences to drag him down.

At Yugi’s question, his gaze focuses again, “…I’d rather not say.” He wishes his nightmares were merely tests and lacking clothes, maybe he could think straight, instead of fighting his demons every night.

“…Wh….what about him ? Do you ever…ever dream of him?”

“Come on,” he teases, gently. “I shared all my vices and all my dreams, and what do I get in return?” He stops teasing at that question. “Yeah.” His chest hurts. “All the time. I don’t know if...if it’s dreams, or if he comes to talk with me, or I just want it to be real. It’s conversations, mostly. He asks how I am, how my friends are, if I’m happy. Sometimes we just sit. It’s...nice.” Warm, and whole, and like he isn’t alone...He could use that feeling right about now. 

“Do you?” He’s scared to know the answer. 

Oh, if only he knew how much Kaiba’s chest hurt in that moment. Perhaps pain for an entirely selfish reason, but still a hole there. Wouldn’t it be something if he did come back to Yugi at night, from whatever afterlife he’d ran off to. How simple everything could be then, what if he could just hook Yugi’s mind up to one of his machines during the night, register his activity, maybe pinpoint the energy-

God.

He turns to Yugi, honest, a flicker of pain brief in his eyes for just a moment before he leans to find an ashtray, stamping out the end of his cigarette,

“ Yes .”

 Only his dreams of him had never been ones of comfort.

Yugi is surprised by just how raw his voice sounds, the emotion behind it. He wants to reach out again, not necessarily with a hand at the knee this time, just...something comforting that gaping pain that seems to threaten to swallow him. Is it always this way for Kaiba? No wonder he always runs. “W-what are yours like?” he asks him instead. 

He’s never told anyone before.

He never thought he would.

They’re deeply personal, humiliating, and of course, disturbing, the capacity in which the Pharaoh occupies his thoughts. It had been that way when he was here, and now that he’s gone, it’s only seemed to have worsened.

He sits now at the edge of the couch, elbows against his legs, head lowered, as if he intends to flee even now, if need be.

“…It always starts as a duel. Sometimes it’s on top of my tower. Sometimes it’s deep in the ground, like a tomb. Sometimes it feels like I’m so close to winning, but I never do. Never. And he’s mocking me the entire time, he knows I can’t do it, I’ll never beat him. And the rest…” It’s too humiliating as is, the rest is just pathetic.  

Even his energy has changed now, his anxiety heightening from merely speaking of his conjured failures.

He’s like he was in Yugi’s bed, so pale and frightened. And Yugi isn’t angry anymore, isn’t hurt, isn’t jealous - he just sees that Kaiba needs someone.

And he’s someone.

And he’s here. 

Probably it won’t be accepted, probably he’ll be shoved off and spit at - but he reaches his arms out anyway. The right wraps Kaiba’s shoulders while the left crosses in front, holding his cheek. He pulls him down and into his own body, and Yugi falls back against the sofa, pressing the other man into him. “ I’m sorry ,” he says, and he means it. Kaiba’s nightmares aren’t unfounded - he remembers. He remembers what he….doesn’t remember. He knows who the other part of him used to be, and it wasn’t always noble, and it wasn’t always gentle. “I’m sorry he did that to you.” He just holds him close, and tries to make him feel like he’s safe. Because...Kaiba deserves that, too. 

There’s terror clear as day across his face when Yugi’s arms come out to him, there’s a moment where he’s uncertain, having just revealed a mere portion of the torment he feels, the memories he had, the horrible coma he’d been in, parts of the Pharaoh that had been merciless, and yet are his only remnants he has left to cling to, he’s afraid that Yugi will…will…will what, exactly? Think him more pathetic? Laugh to his Pharaoh in their dreams together, about Kaiba’s nightmares?

But….no.

He pulls him close, and then to him. That familiar warmth. The one that encompassed him that night he snapped. He is tense when Yugi pulls him in, but after a few moments, he presses to Yugi, his arms slipping around him. Shoved? Spit at? No.

Reciprocated.

“ Oof !” The sudden dead weight of Kaiba - again - knocks Yugi flat onto his back on the sofa. But, a little wiggling to get his legs up, and that’s not so bad. The other man settles as a rather warm, comfortable press on his hips, nowhere too heavy or suffocating. Once set, he runs a hand up and down his back, or very lightly combs his hair. Maybe he should say something - but Kaiba is quiet, and maybe that’s enough. With the lamps on, they probably won’t fall asleep like this, he figures. So that’s alright. He can stay as long as...as long as Kaiba wants him to. 

This is…

This is better than trying to rest while watching a monitor. Yugi’s breathing had helped, but like this, he can feel the rise and fall of his chest. It’s bizarre how it seems to help regulate his own breathing, especially evident in just how worked up he had been a few moments ago, now calmed and evened out.

He shifts and lets out a faint sigh, as if the troubles of Seto Kaiba’s world had been removed off of his shoulders for just a moment.

Yugi thinks he can’t sleep here due to the lights?

Kaiba’s currently running on three hours. Watch him.

Yugi doesn’t remember falling asleep.

But he sure as hell remembers being woken up by a loud bang ! 

He jumps, Kaiba jumps, the warm light of the morning pours into the study. What time is it…? 

“ Hi !” That’s Mokuba’s voice, and he’s way too enthusiastic for this time of day, whatever time that might be. Yugi doesn’t think he’s hungover, but he sure is something right now. “Having a slumber party in here?”

Unfortunately for the sleeping beauties, staff had come in to clean up glasses that were left till the morning, when the light under the door indicated that the young gentlemen were still up late into the evening. Staff had then been so completely unsure of what to do when presented with Master Kaiba sleeping on top of Mister Yugi, they determined - after strenuous deliberation - that the only appropriate course of action was to defer to young Master Mokuba. Who had no problem interrupting them himself, and seems now almost gleeful at the prospect. 

In fact, he’s grinning. “So I guess dinner was pretty good?”

Kaiba somehow untangles himself with the grace of a gazelle, impressive since he and Yugi were so…involved, and he stands there, straightening his clothes and fixing his hair which he assumes must look a mess (which it never does).

Much of his youth was spent leaping to his feet when the door was burst in at four in the morning, his stepfather expectant that his bed would be made and his studies for the day would begin. Even now, he defaults back to it.

“Mokuba. Good morning,” he says, not even daring a glance to Yugi. Best to keep things as casual as possible, as if they hadn’t…spent all…

He squints over at a clock and is…taken aback that it’s morning, he’d slept all the way through…?

“Good morning, Seto!” He’s still beaming, and almost flounces into the study with a smirk on his face. Mokuba flops into an armchair; Yugi still hasn’t gotten up off the couch, and some of his eyeliner smeared in the night. “Did you have a nice night? Want some breakfast?”

“I want to brush my teeth.” Yugi rubs at his eyes and smears more eyeliner. “My tongue feels like...a lemon-flavored shag carpet.” Mokuba starts laughing harder and he furrows his brow. “What!” 

It was one thing to sleep with…no, that’s the wrong terminology, around, around Yugi, when they were tucked away in the privacy of Yugi’s room with extenuating circumstances, but entangled for his brother to find? Not that he looks so particularly disturbed by it, in fact, he looks downright cheeky about it- whatever it is that he thinks is so very amusing.

Sleeping with Yugi Muto on the- sleeping on Yugi Muto on the- god.

Kaiba moves to the leather chair around his desk to check his computer, having slept a little too well it seems, there’s a surprising level of grogginess. Is this what he receives in exchange for attempting to rest? He thought his body might be a little more appreciative of it.

“Mokuba, did you eat already?” He doesn’t exactly have a hangover, but perhaps there were things other than alcohol one could consume too much of, such as someone’s presence.

“Not yet!” He smiles. “We could all sit down to a big breakfast, I bet you guys are hungry after last night?”

“Huh?” Yugi at last sits up, scratching through his hair. “Oh, you mean because of all the alcohol.”

“....yeah, that’s super what I meant.”

 “ Mokuba. ” Kaiba’s tone is unamused from his desk, and his head is pressed to his hands, “…I have a lot of work I need to check in on. I hadn’t anticipated sleeping in. Why don’t you take Yugi, and you can both eat together?”

He still cannot believe he fell asleep here last night, clutching to Yugi as if he were his own little Kuriboh. It’s not that he has anything to be ashamed of, and yet there is something a touch pathetic about it, isn’t there? That sort of weakness would’ve never been tolerated years ago. Not by the people around him, and not by him either.

Mokuba looks like he wants to argue, but is much too smart to do so. “Yes, Seto,” he answers instead, and helps pull Yugi off the couch.

Yugi pauses at the threshold, digging in his heels and turning. “Um!” It seems he’s back to being ignored, but ventures anyway: “Thanks for last night! I-I had a lot of fun.”

Yugi’s reply is a very low noise, as Kaiba’s head is still buried against his hands- whether the sound is pleased, and gracious, or just his usual return to form, it’s difficult to say. But a response none the less.

Mokuba orders their breakfast while Yugi freshens up. Teeth brushed and face washed, he feels a lot more...alive. It’s hard to believe he fell asleep last night, on a leather couch, with the lights on. But the heavy press of a warm body has always lulled him considerably, and Kaiba had been so very warm...If he presses his shirt against his face, he can smell the other man’s cologne, and a lingering odor of cigarettes...Better not to press the shirt against his face, however, and instead dump it in the hamper to be laundered, changing into a fresh one. 

So yeah, last night had been...different. No antagonism, even with the prying questions. They’d been...teasing. Which, who knew Kaiba had even been capable of lightness and humor? But then, he’s been resting more, which could be improving all his faculties and his mood considerably. That must have been it. Yugi finishes scrubbing his face and settles on that conclusion. Really, nothing had changed. It was all about Atem still, as it always had been. He’s got to get a hold of himself.

He’s hoping breakfast will help with that. When he comes down to the table, Mokuba has a big mug of cocoa for himself - still a little young for coffee today - and staff have presented elaborate French crepes. Traditional lemon and sugar, Bananas Foster, mascarpone and fig; savory one’s, too, with salmon and dill, or brie and turkey. Dominating the table, however, in the spot where Yugi usually sits, is an absolute pyramid of strawberries. 

“U-uh…” There’s more sliced strawberries at the bottom, and some cut into elegant shapes - flowers, hearts, birds. “What’s all this?” 

The air is filled with a sweet aroma, fitting given the sweet scene everyone was baffled over. Mokuba wears quite the grin, sipping at his cocoa.

“You tell me…!” Wasn’t it obvious? There’s no way that the pair of them thought that they weren’t the talk amidst the staff, and the display seemed pretty clear that Yugi and Seto had ended last night on particularly…good terms.

Mokuba might be young, but he isn’t stupid. He’s a Kaiba after all.

“ So? ” He’s waiting for Yugi to supply something. Does he have to come right out and ask!

“Is it a special occasion?” He takes his seat and moves the mountain of strawberries to the side, taking a few first. He knows the kitchen staff like him, but this seems a bit much. He’s contenting himself with a dulce de leche crepe when Mokuba gives a particularly wide grin. “So? Uh,” he laughs a little. “We’re not fighting, so that’s pretty good news, right?” 

“I mean, I would hope not, considering what you two got up to last night.” Though he wouldn’t put it past his brother to start any arguments regardless of what he was doing. Mokuba digs into his own platter, piled high with whipped cream- more whip than crepe really, and he’s munching away.

“So is it official, are you dating my brother now?”

Yugi has just put his coffee cup to his lips and nearly spews coffee all over the table.

“Am I what !” He can barely think to speak. “M-Mokuba! Where on earth did you get that idea!” Dating Seto Kaiba, of all the- he ignored him for weeks at a time! Only to come back and, uh. Well, have fancy dinners and after dinner drinks with him. And ask him his most salacious secrets...and what his dreams were...and fell asleep on top of him…

Okay, so maybe this isn’t an unreasonable conclusion, but it is still the wrong one.

“Mokuba…” He digs at his food, red in the face, but mostly sad. “It’s not like that.” 

Mokuba visibly wilts then.

“Oh…”

It seemed so…so obvious though, that his brother had a total thing for Yugi, after all, who else had Seto brought here for extended periods of time? And he’s the only person that Mokuba could really even remotely call his brother’s friend. He doesn’t always know the extent of their arguments or troubles, but Yugi is the closest person Seto has ever had, aside from Mokuba, of course.

 “I…I just thought…maybe…I dunno. You two seemed like you were…getting along better. Seto doesn’t seem as…” Mokuba slumps a little in his chair, “ Lonely anymore.”

H-hey! Why should he feel guilty? Is this how Mokuba gets Seto to do what he wants? That sad, sad, sad face?

“M-Mokuba.” Yugi leans forward on the table, unsure of what to say. “I, um. I like your brother a lot,” though he probably shouldn’t. “And I think we are getting along better. But, um.” Why is he the one having to have this conversation, Seto is the one who really ought to be explaining things to his own brother! “I’m just….He’s not interested in me - that way.” 

He squeezes his eyes tightly together and debates just how much he’ll be murdered if he reveals this. “There’s someone else he….would rather be with.” His hands are starting to shake, so he shoves more crepe into his mouth to try to hide that fact. It buys him enough time to swallow and say, “I do want to be his friend, though. I’ve always wanted that.” 

Mokuba perks up a bit when Yugi says that he likes Seto, but tilts his head in confusion when Yugi claims that his brother doesn’t like him that way, and it takes every muscle in his face to keep from laughing.

Seriously?

The one word in Seto’s vocabulary that he probably says the most is Yugi’s name, he’s always going on rants- Yugi this -, and Yugi that -, and Yugi beat me again , and I can’t let Yugi win again , and Do you think Yugi will be there ?

Mokuba has had to sit through all of that, years worth . He considers himself quite the authority on how Seto feels about Yugi Muto.

“Someone else?” He can’t imagine who. “Well that’s news to me!”  Seto barely had people he called friends around, now supposedly he has this crush on someone that isn’t Yugi ? Sure.

“But hey, if you say you just wanna be friends, that’s cool. But I mean, guess you must be really good ones already, if you guys take naps together that way.”

Just friends...Yeah, well...what else does he have to hope for? 

He tries to smile more genuinely than he feels. “I take naps with my friends all the time.” That part is true, he and Jonouchi have fallen asleep on one another’s shoulders on many a long bus trip. “Anyway, all this talk about dating, and we should really be glad about how much better your brother is doing!”

His coffee is refilled before he’s even halfway through the cup. “But,” Yugi levels his fork at Mokuba. “If you have questions about your brother’s….romantic life, you really should be asking him. It’s not right for me to talk about it.” 

Mokuba sits up in his chair, beaming again, “Okay! I will!” What an excellent idea that he fully intended on doing even before Yugi’s suggestion. If Yugi’s going to go around saying his brother has a crush on someone, well, he’s got to hear it from the source!

Though he’s pretty sure he already knows the answer to that.

The rest of breakfast goes much more normally, even with most of a pyramid of strawberries left. Yugi figures he’ll start making appointments for his exams, and Mokuba says he has his own work he needs to do, so it’s not unusual that they go their separate ways.

It’s slightly more unusual that Mokuba bursts into the door of his brother’s study, where he’s still hunched behind the glow of the computer monitor. “Big brother, I have to ask you something!” 

For anyone else, they’d be dismissed curtly, but not Mokuba. Never Mokuba.

Seto looks up from the monitors and his attention becomes undivided for his brother. “What is it?”

He looks a little less dazed, and of course the acquired coffee at his desk must have been of some help with that.

Mokuba perches himself on the corner of his brother’s desk, a spot he’s sat in a lot over the years. “Yugi says you have a crush on somebody else, is that true? I mean, I’m your brother, I should really know these things.” 

Kaiba’s eyes narrow, not at Mokuba per se, but the statement. Is that the gratitude he receives from Yugi for a pleasant evening, him running his mouth to his younger brother on things he had no real idea about?

“Why am I the topic of your discussions? That’s hardly appropriate.” It figures he tells Yugi about his dreams, and it’s once again misconstrued and pervaded. “It’s obviously not true.”

“Well, uh, what else is there to talk about?” He tries to grin, but it’s strained. 

“I don’t know, whatever else it is that people normally discuss. The weather. School. Games. What even brought that up?”

Maybe he should wear the earpiece more often, especially if Yugi was going to start saying things like that.

Mokuba huffs, looking at the sofa where the cashmere throw is still in disarray. “Seto, come on, you were drooling on his chest this morning. Some people might think some stuff - he just said it wasn’t true.”

“That’s an embellishment, Mokuba.” Kaiba follows his gaze and scoffs, “I was not drooling.” 

Sleeping on Yugi’s chest, absolutely, but he’ll not hear any slander. 

“As for anyone having any thoughts, I wonder just how much more thinking they’ll be able to do when they’re unemployed.”

“Ahaha!” He laughs awkwardly. “You clearly don’t have anything to worry about, since Yugi said nothing really happened.” He didn’t quite say that, of course. He just said they weren’t dating. Mokuba, unlike these two, knows how to read between the lines. “ I just wanted to know, as your only little brother and also the best one in the world, who it was you were so interested in? I mean...he must have gotten that idea from somewhere, right?” 

There is, of course, another important matter of syntax that his brother seems not to have noticed. Mokuba had reported that Yugi said Seto had a crush on someone else . This had been denied, but the other inference - that he must, therefore, instead have a crush on Yugi - had never been denied or even addressed.

Seto is the genius of the family, but Mokuba knows he’s the smart one. 

“Yugi has a lot of ideas, it seems.”

But never any that are actually helpful. Nothing that could be used towards their goal- his goal, actually, since Yugi seems utterly disinterested.

Why? He thought well of the Pharaoh, or seemed to, with dreams like that, of conversation, of comfort. Yugi would have a hell of a lot more reason to want to see him again. So what is it that makes him so reluctant? Of course he’d say something like- I just want him to be at peace and happy , which is bullshit .

The only other alternative is that Yugi prefers it this way, to prevent his return, and because why? Because the truth is what Kaiba has been saying all along. Yugi needs him and he must know it. And rather than cling anymore, he wants to try to stand on his own. Prove his own worth as an individual.

…It’s not so entirely ungrounded. To stand in the shadow of someone else, overlooked, while they reap the benefits of your efforts. Kaiba is no stranger to that feeling. It was not so long ago that he had his own shadow to contend with.

Before he cut down the one casting it.

Chapter Text

Things had calmed down a lot since….well, since the whole… “gun, suicide attempt, sleep in my bed,” thing. Kaiba is eating more, he is sleeping more, he still has demands, but he isn’t as….horrendous about them. Yugi can wander the house a lot more freely, and there’s been no problem with him enjoying the Kaiba’s collection of games. He’s also allowed his phone for two hours every evening and sure, Kaiba can look at it at absolutely any time, and has put on software that lets him scan for anything he doesn’t particularly like, but that’s still an improvement. Yugi’s friends express concern, but not as vocally, now that he’s in regular contact. 

There seem to be no repercussions from the post-booze cuddle session, either, beyond Mokuba’s inferences. Kaiba disappears again, but that’s not strange, he’s like that. The minute he expresses any kind of humanity around Yugi, he’s gone, back to pretending to be some celestial being stronger than any mere mortal, with fewer needs - for comfort, for rest, for companionship. 

But Yugi’s mortal, and he’s never pretended to be otherwise. So is it official, are you dating my brother now ? If only Mokuba knew. Even in his nightmares, Kaiba is focused on one person and one person only - and that’s not Yugi Muto. Yugi needs comfort, and he badly needs companionship. So he’s very glad when six o’clock finally rolls around and he can go downstairs and retrieve his phone.

“Good evening, Mister Yugi.” A maid, Yukiko, bows, holding out a silver tray. “Master Kaiba is not yet returned home, but I was told it’s alright for you to have this.” When Yugi takes the phone and slips it into his pocket, she hesitates, but leans down very slightly, voice almost a conspiratorial whisper. “I wanted to say, sir - you may recall my grandmother lives two streets from your grandfather’s shop.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah!”

“I visited her on my day off, and we went for a stroll. She insisted on stopping by to get a new Mahjong set, and spoke with the proprietor.”

Yugi perks up. “You saw my grandpa?”

Yuki blushes very slightly, looking more nervous. “The shopkeeper looked to be in very good health, it seems he knows my grandmother, and they spoke for quite some time.”

Yugi breaks into a slow smile. “Thank you for telling me that, Yuki.” But he doesn’t pry beyond that, because he suspects she’s risked a lot to even give him that much. Nor does she offer anything else, bowing and hurrying back to her duties. 

Grandpa’s okay...He holds that thought, warm in his chest, as he makes his way to the game room. He likes it there, it feels like a room someone lives in and spends time, unlike the rest of this gilded tomb. Sure, he could ask one of his friends to check in on his family, but they’d want to know why he wasn’t going home or calling himself. He’s not even sure how long he’s been here, or how long he’ll stay. Kaiba’s given up on the puzzle for now, but he still won’t let him go home...What is it going to take to convince him?

Yugi settles cross-legged on the massive couch in the game room. He likes that this one is fabric, not leather, because it feels more homey and comforting. He nestles into it, tapping away on his phone, checking messages and feeling normal for all of two minutes. He’s just thinking he’ll pick out a game and hold onto these good feelings-

When hands land on his shoulders from behind the sofa. 

Kaiba is leaning over him from over the couch, not looking particularly pleased- perhaps something had happened at the office, or maybe the commute, or maybe he was just in a classically awful mood and wanted to take it out on someone.

Or maybe , he really doesn’t like how personable his staff and Yugi have become. The maid will have it coming soon. He’s tired of people conspiring behind his back.

“ What are you doing ?”

 And obviously, Yugi has his phone now, so Kaiba knows exactly what he’s doing, fingers flying over the keys- sending messages, but what? How horrible it is here? How much he detests Kaiba? How he wishes his friends would come and save him from the castle?

“Give it to me.”

“I-I’m just texting-” He’s not usually afraid of Kaiba anymore, but when he looks and sounds like that - dark and hateful and like he used to be… 

Yugi doesn’t get a chance to hand over the phone, Kaiba has snatched it from his fingers in a second. “H-hey!” He sits up on his knees, reaching across the back of the couch. “You can ask first!” 

“I don’t have to ask you for anything. You do what I say. This is part of our deal, remember?” Kaiba’s already scrolling through the text history.

Anzu Mazaki.

God does he remember her. Always Yugi’s biggest cheerleader. She’d stuck her neck out for Mokuba once, but he had repaid the favor by literally saving her life, that was the price of debt and then some, so as far as he was concerned, they had nothing else to discuss. Otherwise, she was particularly unmemorable, always coddling Yugi and hanging around with those morons- what she saw in them, he could never understand. She clearly lacked any standards.

But there’s a photo that’s been sent- Mazaki posed pretty in ballerina-wear, slender legs and arched back, and poised.

It’s not a particularly incriminating photo, it’s not as if he’d found Yugi’s collection of fodder under his mattress he had claimed to have, no, it’s not just the photo, it’s Yugi’s responses to it.

“ What is this?”

There’s something terrible and heated flaring up inside of him, he refuses to give it a word, he shouldn’t be upset about anything, maybe when he gave Yugi access to his phone, it was with the expectation he wouldn’t be using it flirt with a girl that was out of the country .

Short responses to affirm he was still fucking alive and kicking, not leisurely conversation.

“Well isn’t that nice. You took advantage of your privilege, Yugi. I should’ve known you’d abuse it.”

He’s so instantly angry, but Yugi can’t even begin to imagine why; he points at the screen. “Uh…” Anzu’s picture in her practice gear, a couple emojis from him telling her how beautiful she looks - it’s all very standard, their chat log is full of these kinds of messages. “A text?”

Kaiba goes cold and imperious, and starts moving to slip the phone into his pocket. “Advantage! I have not, I haven’t done anything!” He catches the man’s arm. “Stop it-!”

“You know, I’m really starting to get sick of this oblivious act you play! You aren’t stupid, Yugi, and neither am I! Socializing and making a fool out of me—what the hell do you think you’re here for?” Apparently these past few weeks have made Yugi complacent, and clearly Kaiba had been too.

He yanks his arm away from Yugi’s hand, “I should’ve just held onto it myself and responded, something short, just enough to get everyone off your back- we wouldn’t even need to have planned for any of this if you just--!”

“You never said I couldn’t talk to people, you just told me what topics to stay away from! There’s nothing wrong with responding to Anzu, I won’t let you make me feel like there is! I get it for two whole hours and I can do what I want with it!” 

Kaiba starts to pull away, but Yugi’s determined: just as his arm is yanked free, Yugi grabs him by the middle and pulls back. They both fall back onto the sofa, Yugi briefly pinned, then hands quickly going for Kaiba’s pockets. 

Kaiba sprawls out over him and long fingers curl around Yugi’s arms, pulling them away and pinning them back against the sofa.

“Why are you always so impetuous! Does it ever occur to you how your actions affect anyone else? Will you stop that! ” Yugi struggles even now that he’s pinned, and Kaiba plants himself firmly against him, leaning down over him, their faces close.

“ Stop , or I’ll break it.”

He means it, too. Even at the cost of rousing even more suspicion for a few weeks, but it’d be enough to teach Yugi a lesson. He’s thoughtless just like the Pharaoh was.

Yugi doesn’t really hear him at first. His mind is back on the first time Kaiba pinned him, on the bed; the command of his voice; the way he whispered low and harsh in his ear. He sounds very much the same now, though a little more in control, telling him to stop. Yugi stops, panting a little. “What did I do….that affects you so badly…” 

He’s doing it on purpose, deliberately feigning innocence. All those heart emojis- those were just from today, he hadn’t even bothered to check through the messages through the month, let alone whatever bullshit he wrote to anyone else.

Wasting Kaiba’s time and mocking him, he knows full well what he’s doing, what he’s done since he’s arrived here. If only he knew the amount of time he’s stolen away from Kaiba- through his screens, with his voice, stolen away his nights, his sanity.

“ You already know and that’s exactly why you do it. ” Kaiba’s voice is low, accusatory, and there is something deeply intimate lurking there, only heightened by their proximity, the way Kaiba’s fingers squeeze around his wrists now.

Yugi gasps a little, eyes fluttering. It doesn’t hurt...Kaiba leans so close into him, there’s almost no space left between them. “W-why don’t you tell me anyway...so I can apologize properly to you. Like you deserve…” He glances up into those hot eyes, and has to bite the inside of his cheek. 

Like this, Yugi really does play the part well with those violet eyes of his. But Kaiba can see through it, this act meant to drive him crazy, he has to know what he’s doing, the way he’s started getting under his skin. He even goes so far as to send Mokuba in his place to parrot specific, maddening things that Yugi knows bothers him the most.

He’s just so… so …

“I deserve far more than an apology from you.” They are so terribly close this way, achingly, and Kaiba rubs one of his thumbs against Yugi’s wrist.

“Why don’t you start with that first though, and we can go from there…tell me just how sorry you are for everything you’ve done and will continue to do to me.”

It’s instantaneous. Kaiba speaks and touches him, and his body reacts. Yugi doesn’t have a choice, his hips slam up into the other man, his body stretches and maximizes contact, and he’s panting and starting to sweat and so desperate for more, not to stop -

He feels Kaiba’s breath catch when Yugi moves hard against him, and just that small reaction makes him start to writhe, leaning so close- “I-”

It’s difficult not to react to what he…feels…pressed to him. It’s a sudden turn of events, but even then, is it so sudden? It’s just more of what Yugi weaponizes, the kisses he’s taken, the attention he’s stolen…and Kaiba gives and gives, and why, because he thinks Yugi might finally relent one day and give him what he really wants?

…He says that to himself, but it’s not the truth. He wouldn’t be upset in the ways that he is, or straddling Yugi the way that he does, or finding ways to touch him, or watching him for so many long hours.

Yugi has wormed his way into his thoughts purposely, diabolically.

Kaiba’s fingers tighten around his wrists, and rather than do a sane thing like pull away, he presses back against Yugi deliberately.

“… Go on.” He murmurs, low, a bit strained.

The sudden proof that Kaiba is not made of stone (but might be just as hard) removes almost all of Yugi's good sense. And it's maddening, all the touches he's not receiving, everything the man isn't doing. But that lean, that one point of connection, is enough to burst through his pride and his judgment, so that the want is the only thing that matters, and he enjoys doing as he's asked. 

"I'm so sorry, Seto." It's too intimate to use his surname here. "I want to be good, tell me what to do, what you want me to do." He is barely able to lean forward, with the position of his arms above his head; but that little is enough to allow him to nuzzle at the curve of the other man's jaw, and he does, almost whimpering. "Please, I'm sorry-"

Between Yugi’s body pressed to his, and that soft, whimpering voice near his ear- not just through speaker anymore, but right there , with his breath grazing at his skin and sending shudders down his spine- it’s almost too much, it’s something he never knew was so severely lacking in his life until his senses were overloaded with it. Yugi so very intimately refers to him, pleads at him in a tone that makes him all the more reluctant to remove himself, and maybe it’s all a big show to humiliate him, a mockery, but part of him just doesn’t care right now. He’ll have plenty of time to turn it all over in his head later and feed into his paranoia, for now, the friction between them is electrifying.

 He turns his head and dips even closer, his mouth brushing at Yugi’s jawline in what very nearly is for all technicalities and purposes, a kiss, shifting against him within the narrow space of the couch, one of his hands releasing Yugi’s wrist in favor of sliding against his side and slipping around his back.

“I think you know exactly what I want you to—”

Seto’s mouth grazes his skin, and Yugi shivers and moans, leaning in to every touch. His head is swimming with how desperately he not just wants, but needs everything, and so much more than everything. Seto shifts closer into him, and that hard bulge in his tight pants is even more noticeable. Seto slides a hand around his back and lifts him closer, arches Yugi into him, and he just gasps and melts into it, putty to be molded and turned in his hot, elegant hands. Seto eggs him on, and Yugi is about to deliver on that goade, to give him exactly what he wants-

“What are you guys doing?”

Mokuba is standing in the doorway, a skeptical tone to his voice. The couch offers them some protection, but it’s clear even from the door that his big brother is on top of the other man, if nothing else.

Yugi and Kaiba look at each other. The air rushes out of the room. “P-playing video games,” Yugi answers, as Kaiba releases his wrists. He could almost whine with disappointment. 

Fuck.

Kaiba immediately and rigidly sits up, and thankfully there is somewhat of a barrier here, but it’s quite difficult to regain composure. He doesn’t trust himself to speak for a few moments, focusing on calming himself down.

Which is not going to happen here .

He does manage to send a rather sharp and meaningful glare over at Yugi, which is probably not as effective as intended, given the rather heated flush of color at his cheeks; it’s meant to say, not a word of this to anyone, especially Mokuba . There are excuses for falling asleep on someone after a few cocktails, especially when that someone barely got any sleep, but there are none for deliberately grinding against someone.

More secrets.

Kaiba stands and thankfully has on a long-line jacket, it’ll be enough to suffice for now.

“…. Good game, Yugi .”

And so what if the television wasn’t on?

“Doesn’t look like any game I ever saw…” Oh, give it a year or two…

“Y-yeah.” Yugi’s face is still burning, and he doesn’t look at Kaiba as he walks away because he wants to so badly . (To be honest, what he wants is to fall to his knees and beg, for anything, everything.) With a deep breath he adds, “I’d love to, uh, play it again sometime.” Ohhhhhh God, his face is so hot right now. 

“Well, why don’t we all play?” Mokuba walks past his brother and goes to the shelves. “I can find something co-op.”

Oh, with a reply like that, Kaiba could strangle him right here, but he has a feeling they’d both enjoy it a little too much at the moment, and with his brother here, it was absolutely unacceptable, and so he tries to clear his throat and work through the haziness.

“Sorry Mokuba, I’ve spent enough time playing in here. I need to check something for work.”

He needs to get across his house to his study and deal with this. Kaiba is already out of sight without offering any further explanation.

Mokuba sighs with disappointment, but he shoulders that manfully. “Well, Yugi, we could play more Street Fighter.”

“Absolutely!” He moves a throw pillow onto his lap while Mokuba comes around the couch and starts looking through the shelves. “Let me just, uh…..run to the bathroom, and get a snack.” With Mokuba’s back safely turned towards him, Yugi’s able to make a getaway and completely books it back to his room.

Part of him wants to go after Kaiba and finish what they started, but the embarrassment is too fresh. Safer to lock himself in the bedroom and take care of this as quickly as possible. Normally, knowing all of Kaiba’s monitors makes him shy, and he finishes himself off in the safety of the shower; but there’s no time for that now, and Mokuba would ask why his hair’s all wet when he did manage to make it back. And there is just the tiniest sliver of a thought, which he does not allow to grow, that it would be better if Kaiba did watch - every move and every breath.

But his courage isn’t quite up to that, so once he’s sure the door is locked, Yugi instead grabs a bottle of hand cream from his nightstand and ducks behind the dressing screen. His swollen member jumps as soon as it’s freed from his trousers, and he bites his lip as he grips it, leaning against the cool safety of the wall. 

So much had almost happened. He’d almost begged Seto Kaiba. He’d almost let him take everything - his phone, his contact with his friends, himself, and that was of the least concern. And he’d almost kissed him again. I think you know exactly what I want you to do . He’d have liked to figure it out, at the very least. Would have kissed him, wrapped his legs around his hips, bucked into him like he was chasing something beautiful and impossible to catch. He would have done a lot, he knows, would have gotten his fingers under those fine clothes the same way he gets them under his own now; possibly his mouth and tongue as well, tasting and exploring. Yugi’s hand starts pumping, and he thinks of the most recent night in the study, if Kaiba’s mouth would have tasted like gin and olives, and the thought makes him moan and pant, sweating and breathless. “S-Seto, ah-” His eyes squeeze shut and he whines, thumb swiping over the tip of him and his knees almost buckle. So close now- “Oh God, please, yes- yes- yes-!” 

And him, he’d started grinding back into him, too! In this one moment, in this world behind the dressing screen, there’s a reality where Kaiba wants him back, and wants to get his hands under his clothes, and wants to be doing this the way Yugi so badly, badly wants him to. “ Yes -!” Breathy, needy, eyes tight-

He bites into the knuckles of his free hand and whines as he finally comes. It’s harder than he’s used to, the sensation washes over him like a wave and he slumps against the wall, riding each twitch as he spills, hot and tender, into his palm and over his fingers. He slows his touches, and imagines a tall young man covering his body and bringing his mouth to his neck. He’ll be alright now - except he very much won’t be. 

Kaiba is tucked away in the safety of his study, once again sealed away, and it’s the way he prefers it, it’s what he tells himself and yells over and over again in his head, but below the waist is another thought that yells back, demanding attention.

He can’t just ignore this, not when he’s this stimulated. He finds the comfort of his leather chair, fingers drawing back his coat and pulling at the confines of his tight pants---

“Let me just, uh…..run to the bathroom, and get a snack.” He can still hear Yugi, he more often than not has the Bluetooth in, at any given moment he could toggle it to simply hear the sound of his breathing, which normally helps to calm him down, but hearing him now …

His eyes sweep across the screen and catch light of Yugi heading down the hall to his room. Not with Mokuba, playing games…maybe he couldn’t take his mind off of this either…

He watches for a moment, mouth parted, and Yugi takes something from his nightstand- it’s a bit too quick to be certain, a bottle…

Kaiba watches with intrigue, paused and heated and waiting, but then Yugi dips behind his changing screen, and it’s enough to make Kaiba slam his hand against his desk. He really should reconfigure the cameras in Yugi’s room!

What was he doing, he has to know for sure , he can’t watch but he—

He could still listen .

He’s breathing so hard. A continuation of their moment prior to this. It’s not ideal, not perfect with him tucked out of sight, but it will do.

His fingers resume and soon he is free, the air a stark contrast of cool to what has been left heated and wanting. He hears Yugi pant and he shuts his eyes, his fingers curl around himself and he envisions himself straddled against him again, as he babbles his apologies and offers himself to be used in whatever way suits him best.

I think you know exactly what I want you to do.

And Yugi had better, because even Kaiba doesn’t know what he wants anymore. He had thought he wanted something…someone else…maybe that still holds true, but in a different way…this is entirely unexpected, fuck .

Yugi’s whimpers are right in his ear , just like that, yes, and he’d drag his fingers over every inch of him like he owned him, which he practically does, and he’s gotten Yugi’s body down to a perfect calculated science in his virtual reality, but has he ever felt it beneath his hands? Really dug into the muscle of him, slipped over every rib, every ridge of his spine, down to his hips, stroking along his thighs…

“ S-seto…ah…”

Kaiba jerks suddenly then, eyes snapping open, and he’s struggling to determine if it was merely part of his imagined fantasy, or if Yugi knew he could hear him, somehow remembers the transmitter, knew he was watching from his desk…

His mind is buzzing, Yugi cries out and that bliss, that euphoria, whether elaborately faked or not, is still more than Kaiba is prepared for, to hear Yugi’s tone, to imagine what he looks like right now, undone…

“Yes-!”

God, Yugi…

He spills over his hand, and it’s quick, but the most intense he’s ever felt. It’s a rush far greater and more thrilling than dueling, and he doesn’t want to let go of it, he feels so alive then, so present.

He falls back against his seat, panting, his other hand sliding through his hair to sweep it from his eyes, and he reaches over for a few tissues to clean himself up with.

Yugi flops back onto the couch and is able to not think about how, ten minutes ago, he was pinned here beneath Seto Kaiba and about to beg for a whole, whole lot.

“Took you forever,” Mokuba mutters, tossing him the controller. “Where’s your snack?”

He pauses, slightly terrified. Yes, where is his snack? “Decided I wasn’t hungry. I, uh. Think I’m getting a belly.”

Mokuba just laughs. “You sound like the girls at school!” No more questions are asked, and if he’s lucky, it’ll stay that way.  

Since that particular…incident, Kaiba has purposely tried to put distance between them. It’s getting too intimate now, too personal. To think, holding someone at his home and watching him for months at a time could become too involved . He tells himself all of this is merely a means to an end, but that end never seems to come.

What is he doing to himself?

At night when his head hits his pillows, he tries, again, to comfort himself with Yugi’s breathing, to usher him to sleep, but now that soft breath in his ear just makes him…

Need.

It’s infuriating, the way Yugi has taken even this from him, turned it against him. He writhes with insatiable need against his hand, and he is still very much awake and unable to sleep at all then. He’s gone back to tossing and turning all night, his eyes dark with exhaustion.

The past week has been especially frustrating. Suddenly it didn't matter what he was in the middle of, or where he was, if he so much as thought about Yugi, let alone listened to him during the day, he had to stop whatever it was he was doing to tend to himself. Something that had been so rare before and only under extreme stress was now very nearly a daily occurrence.

This is unacceptable.

 He can’t lose himself again, his grip on reality was already so low as of late.

Tonight, he stands outside Yugi’s door and once again debates the necessity of this. He’s just going to dig the knife Yugi’s stuck into him deeper. But how is it any different, spending hours watching him over his monitors?

When he slips inside and finds the leather chair still settled against the wall…he remembers, now, how different it really is to be so close. Here, he doesn’t have to imagine, or watch through some filter, Yugi’s just…right here. Sleeping and soft, and so at peace, no doubt dreaming about a lovely conversation with the Pharaoh, while Kaiba rots out here in the real world, becoming a desperate mess. They’re both probably giddy with it, how undone they’ve made him.

He wonders if Yugi is shirtless under his covers again, like last time. Does he have pajamas? Should he offer any, at some point?

He sinks back against the leather and seems…content, for a while, just to be there, watching over him, trying to think about at what point he became so fascinated by Yugi and everything he did…it feels simultaneously years ago and yet also now. Perhaps he had confused him and the Pharaoh more than he initially thought. He had spent so much time studying the duels, thinking it was him , but maybe…maybe it had been…

No.

He bites at his lip, hard, as he concentrates over Yugi’s prone form, unwilling to admit part of him is not as certain anymore.

But would any of this be happening if he was? He had put all of his stock into someone who, much like himself, did what he wanted to do, he set out to accomplish something and did, and had deemed it finished. Closure.

Seto Kaiba was never finished. There was never enough. There was no end, only more beginnings, more opportunities, more to know, more to innovate. He had his whole life ahead of him.

And what was he spending it on? Setting out to rewrite the past, to fight it?

No wonder Yugi’s dreams are so much more pleasant.

He thinks for a little while that he's made it, that he's with Atem in the afterlife - everything beautiful and gold and white. Then he sees what he's wearing - linen kilt, held by a beautifully woven, purple silk sash - and thinks this must be one of the memories of his past life. 

But that's as lucid as he gets in this dream, and he knows it is a dream, because he knows when he's called Pharaoh, it's him, and not Atem, the way one only knows in dreams. It's a nice one, too: he's taking a bath, but it's outside somehow, he can see ibises in a pool of water, and the shimmering desert beyond. He has gold bands on his arm, and the water is perfumed and it's all so relaxing…

And then the water ripples. Someone slides into this sumptuous tub, and every other image is disturbed. "Seto-" He doesn't look like a high priest. He's pale like his modern counterpart, but his arms might be even more thickly corded with muscle. His eyes are steely, but they aren't hard like usual. They glint and move like the water. 

He doesn't say a word, just slides across the large bath like it's nothing, and traces his hands down Yugi's sides, and fits his mouth at his neck. "Ah!" It's so gentle...Yugi tilts his head to the side and lets himself be taken care of, the way he's longed. He's wanted, and desired, and cared for in this bath. "Oh-! Please-!"

"Shhh…" Those hands are everywhere, and his hips move with them, carried away as if on a current. He murmurs things Yugi doesn't understand, but he knows they're wonderful. "Give yourself to me."

"Yes, yes, yes-" If this is the afterlife Atem is enjoying, Yugi doesn't blame him for not coming back. "Yours," he sighs, and they never quite complete in this dream, because dreams always end at the best parts - but while it continues, it's ecstasy. 

It had been quiet...Kaiba thought…maybe, just maybe, he could find rest here, finally, just a few hours of peace and he’d be out before Yugi ever knew he was here.

“ Seto… ”

Kaiba’s lidded eyes snap open and he is tense in his seat again. It’s a bit too dim to see from this distance, if Yugi is awake, if he is, he hasn’t sat up yet. He waits for a few moments before daring an answer, maybe Yugi is merely dreaming.

…

Dreaming about him?

Was he dreaming about him?

If he moves now and Yugi is awake, then he’ll give way to himself- not that he should need to explain why he is in any room within his own house, but he has given Yugi enough smug satisfaction to know how much space he takes up in his life now.

But he has to know the truth, he has to know that Yugi is truly asleep and dreaming of him…if it was, it couldn’t possibly be anything good, could it, perhaps more of a nightmare—

“ Yes-- -” Yugi’s murmuring so softly, Seto almost misses it as he slides the chair quietly closer to see Yugi’s face, eyes still closed. “ Yours… ”

Th…there could be so many things Yugi could be imagining, it wouldn’t be that . He’s played things up for Kaiba on purpose to drive a reaction out of him, to make him doubt himself, to make him uncertain…

Yugi’s writhing against his bed and nuzzling at his pillow, and this is, this is insane, he should leave right now before Yugi wakes up, if he’s even really asleep at all…god, but if he is, then…

His fingers twitch and pull at the waistband of his pajama pants.

Denied sleep once more.

Yugi wins again.

Just like before, Kaiba’s disappeared again. He revealed a weakness, so he’ll be gone for ages, licking his wounds and building up his walls. Yugi helps Mokuba with his homework and schedules his exam date. They play a lot of Street Fighter - Mokuba’s getting quite good. Yugi asks, “Did you guys hire a new cleaning person?”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Mokuba responds, executing a perfect combo, bringing down Yugi’s meter. “I guess I probably wouldn’t know, though. Why?”

“My bedroom keeps smelling like cologne, mostly in the mornings. I thought maybe there was a new cleaning person who wears too much or something.”

Mokuba hits pause and stares at Yugi. “That makes no sense. It wouldn’t be in the morning.”

Truthfully, he hadn’t considered that, perhaps he hadn’t wanted to… “I guess you’re right - I just didn’t have another explanation.”

“Maybe you’re just crazy,” he says, unpausing the game. Most likely, he probably is.

Chapter Text

He’s successfully managed to sneak into Yugi’s room every night this week- maybe he is getting too arrogant and sure of himself, but he’s so certain that Yugi isn’t suspicious at all… not that he’s spoken to him at all recently to inquire, but it’s his assumption.

And there’s really nothing to say.

Yugi is so quiet and soft when he sleeps…even if Seto doesn’t always manage to get any rest himself, there’s nowhere else in his house he’d rather be.

He approaches the door, cracking it open to slip inside, he’s so used to the routine by now that his stride is smooth and sure.

Only it’s not dark inside.

And Yugi is not asleep.

He can’t sleep tonight. It’s been getting colder, which means he’s been here the whole summer, which means it’s the fall now, which means...so many things. His grandfather’s birthday is coming up. It’s cold enough that he wears pajamas to bed now. Maybe Kaiba didn’t expect him this long, either, because the ones in the drawer aren’t his size, but he hadn’t packed any of his own. A good size and a half too large at least, the turquoise satin drips so low as to expose his shoulders; he’s only able to keep the trousers on because of the tie. 

Tonight he’s comforting himself with a book and a cup of herbal tea, when the door opens. Kaiba looks smug at first, and then kind of stricken, like he’s just eaten a lemon. It’s not exactly a surprise he doesn’t knock. “Kaiba-kun - is something the matter?”

He should’ve known his lucky streak couldn’t have lasted, luck was for chumps like Katsuya, and he has to face it, he’d been sloppy, expectant. But of course he was, he thought he had his schedule relatively well memorized, Yugi, like himself, didn’t deviate terribly-

His hand is still on the handle, his jaw clenches. Did he know, had he known all along, was he hoping to catch him? All difficult to say.

“…Nothing is wrong.”

There’s nothing at all wrong with sneaking into his rival’s room every night to watch him sleep, it’s under control.

…Even when said rival is above his blankets and able to be seen clearly wearing the pajamas Kaiba himself provided…as he had nothing else available, and…and he hasn’t seen them on Yugi until now.

He’s staring at him...A blush spreads over the tops of Yugi’s cheeks, and he doesn’t know it, but there’s a bit down his throat and over his shoulders as well. He wriggles slightly under Kaiba’s gaze. “Did you….need something?” He asks, closing his book with his thumb to mark the page. 

Yes.

He needs a lot.

He needs more than he wants to admit, his pride won’t allow him, but he has plenty of needs he could make Yugi extremely aware of.

Especially when he looks this way, his pajama shirt slipping down his shoulders, and it’s an awfully appealing look.

Kaiba clears his throat, certain his own face must sport a similar flush. He can’t just burst in here without anything prepared, it would be far better to make it look as though he had wanted to ask him something, but what was important enough to break a two week silent streak after their last encounter…

“…Yes. I…I had wanted to ask you something.”

A smile breaks out over Yugi’s face, small and inviting, and he pats the large, empty expanse of the bed next to him. Kaiba is being offered a seat. “Sure, what’s on your mind?”

Of course Yugi smiles so sweetly and invites him in- god. And how can he just…just…stand here in the doorway, so far away, when Yugi gives him a perfect excuse to position himself closer under a perfectly explainable guise.

…Him being asleep is still far easier though.

He moves with an almost wary caution, closer, as if Yugi is some siren at sea, drawing him to his grave. He practically is.

Kaiba settles a knee against the edge of the bed- the weight barely is enough to dip it, it’s such a comically large mattress, but he joins Yugi, a careful enough distance away.

“…Well.”

Now he has to conjure something deeply provoking enough to warrant barging in.

“I’ve…been thinking about our time together. We haven’t…been able to accomplish much with regards to the Pharaoh. You had mentioned dreams of him once, so…I thought maybe, one night, if you might consider going with me to the office, we could have your brain activity scanned just in case…”

That sounded believable, didn’t it?

The smile quickly fades from Yugi’s face. Of course that’s what would be important enough to barge in here. Still, he’s asking, not demanding. That’s kind of sweet, in its own way. “Whatever you want.” Yugi opens the book back up. “I’ll do whatever you want.” He expects that to be it, Kaiba’s gotten what he wanted, and now he’ll be left alone again, quite possibly for another two weeks. 

Whatever he wants.

God.

If only that could be true right now. He doesn’t want to take him to the office for a fucking brain scan, he wants…

He can’t even put it into words, it’s just a terrible feeling that eats away at him, his mind often replays them against the couch together, and t hat’s the sort of thing he wants more of.

“…Really?” His voice is as level as he can manage, but his eyes say far more in the way they are sharp and intent on Yugi’s face.

He glances back up from his book, a little surprised Kaiba is still here. “Yes, of course.” He keeps going, turning the page. “I am entirely at your mercy and disposal. Do whatever you want with me.” 

He knows exactly what he’s doing.

A siren, that’s just what he is, thinks he can lure him here every night just the way he does here, all soft and sweet and smiling, but he isn’t just that, is he?

Kaiba can’t help himself, not when Yugi wants to respond that way. If Yugi dares to glance down at his page, he’s about to find Kaiba suddenly a lot closer, leaning over his legs, one of his hands coming up over the book to lower it.

“…I think you should be more careful with what you say, Yugi. When you invite me to do whatever I’d like, I just might deliver on that.”

“Hey-” He shuts up quickly when he finds Kaiba leaning over him like this, completely intense. “ Oh .” He’s pretty sure steam is coming out of his ears, he’s so bright red. This is a dangerous game, he knows-

But when has he ever played any other kind?

He sinks back into the pillows, a very slight smile on the corners of his lips - one nervous and embarrassed and overwhelmed. “What’s stopping you?” 

That is the question, isn’t it?

What’s stopping them from finishing what was started that day…

But Kaiba’s never…never explored any of this, and how to play a game one didn’t know the rules to? He could be made even more of a fool this way.

What’s stopping him…?

Himself.

He is.

And isn’t that just the kicker, Seto Kaiba, unafraid of anything or anyone, shaping the world to suit him, and yet faced with Yugi Muto, he is unable to take what he wants.

Seto’s eyes meet his, and like this, they are very close, he’s leaned over him, he wants to absorb everything he can. Desperate to dissect what Yugi might be feeling, what he might be thinking right now…

And how hard that is, without his own terrible thoughts leaking in and poisoning whatever he thinks he finds.

Right now, they tell him that Yugi delights in seeing him so reluctant, so nervous, so desperate and unable to use him for what he wants. That he sits pretty and pleased with himself for this, for catching him tonight and offering himself up.

Well, if he’s offering.

“Nothing. And evidently, not you either.” From there, he moves away, to the edge of the bed, and if Yugi thinks they’re through finally, he’ll be surprised yet again, as Kaiba instead begins to rummage through his collection of clothes; which of course could not be without but several dozen belt combinations from which to choose.

When he turns, there’s something downright maniacal in that smile of his, too many nights of watching, of hearing. Yugi wants to be at his mercy? He will be tonight.

And then this will be out of his system finally.

He returns to the bed and offers no explanation as to what he plans to do, as it doesn’t matter, Yugi’s already agreed to do whatever, the details require no explanation.

“Give me your hand.”

There’s that heady combination again, of fear and desire. A person could become addicted to this. Because Yugi is afraid, of the wild look in Kaiba’s eyes, of what he plans with that belt. He hasn’t forgotten, the fist in the wall, being pulled by the throat, the letter opener - all of it.

But he also hasn’t forgotten being pinned to this very bed, and running fingers through Kaiba’s hair as he kisses him, and the sofa, and the way their hips very briefly - much, much too briefly - collided, and the sparking sensations left in that wake.

So he offers up his hand, because he has no choice but to trust Kaiba in this. Jonouchi would howl if he heard such a thing, but it’s true: the choice is to either believe that he is ultimately safe with this man, and that goodness and kindness exist within him - or to be suspicious and afraid. 

That’s no kind of choice at all.

That isn’t going to stop him from asking for other things, too, though. The book is tossed aside on the nightstand, and Yugi curls forward onto his knees, face pressing into the hollow of the other man’s throat, just below the chin. “Kaiba-kun - Seto- '' He can feel the leather around his wrist and he bites his lip. “What if we…” He doesn’t even know what the, “what if,” is, just that it’s slower and more tender than this. Very hesitantly, his lips brush at the other boy’s throat. “If you laid down, I could…” A million coulds flash before his mind, but really, really kissing him stands out as the first one. 

Kaiba very suddenly tenses when Yugi presses his face to his neck, he can feel his soft mouth at his skin, and it makes him shudder.

He can’t do this if Yugi’s going to behave that way!

Oh yes, he bets Yugi could do a lot of things to him if he laid down and let him, but he’s not going to give him that satisfaction, that control. It’s bad enough he’s stolen so much already, he won’t have this too.

He allows Yugi there to linger just for a moment, long enough to matter, and then he’s pushing him away, back down onto his back, eyes blazing fiercely down at him.

“ No.”

Yugi said whatever he wanted. This is all he wants, he’ll prove it to himself.

He grabs Yugi’s other wrist and works the leather around both limbs until they are looped up, securing it around one of the bed’s posts. He experimentally tugs it to make sure it won’t come loose, and now this way, Yugi really is at his mercy, unable to meddle and play games the way he does.

“…Have I ever told you how much I like your belts?”

He wears a terrible grin, with eyes that drag over his prize almost fondly. Almost.

He starts to think this might have been a mistake when he’s shoved back, but there really wasn’t much of a choice, was there? He always has to tell Kaiba he’s at his mercy, normally that’s what keeps him from being...well, like this. They should have talked about this, there isn’t even a safe word- He struggles a little, the fear welling up in him. “I-Is it going to hurt?” he asks, breathing a little more erratically.  

But then those eyes rake over him, and oh God, he wishes it were his hands instead. Yugi swallows hard, eyes closing, and he’s already half-hard. He tries to even out his breath and wait, patient. There’s pleasure in the waiting, too, in the vulnerability of being under Kaiba’s eyes and hands. He reminds himself he’s going to trust him in this, and it makes his muscles relax a little, and his wrists don’t hurt as much, and it’s almost as if he’s floating like this, waiting for what comes next…

Oh, he’s perfect —has Kaiba ever said that about anything other than his own technology, what’s passed through his own hands?

His hands pass over him now, if Yugi thinks he has to wait and wish to be touched, that is not a wish he has to spend eight years putting together a puzzle over to receive. Kaiba greedily slips his fingers over his sides, the satin sheen of his own pajama shirt a pleasant friction against his fingers, feeling Yugi’s soft skin through it.

His eyes flicker back to Yugi’s face, he looks so afraid, and part of Kaiba is glad for it, but when he asks if it will hurt…

…Is that what he thinks? That when he tells Kaiba he can do whatever he’d like, that what he would like is to hurt him…?

His fingers continue their careful, cataloged journey down over his stomach, the bones of his hips, and down over his thighs, purposeful and savoring.

“You tell me. Am I hurting you, Yugi…?”

Oh ...Yugi’s eyes lighten, amethysts in the low light of the bedroom. He shakes his head, and sighs deeply, suddenly being stroked by Kaiba’s long hands...He has never regretted wearing pajamas more, his skin is so hot… He wants to ask to be touched more - he wants to ask to be kissed in particular - but he doesn’t ask, because he said he was at Kaiba’s mercy, and he’s good as his words. Kaiba turns his body in different directions, stroking and examining in new angles. Yugi moves easily, like a boat accepting the tide and bobbing over the water. He leans into those warm hands now, and can feel himself becoming harder. He doesn’t mind in the slightest; this is almost more than he could have wished for.

Almost . 

It’s just his compulsion- interrupted and unable to complete something, that’s all this is, and once he’s satisfied, he won’t have to come in here every night. It will be done and out of his mind. Best to just get it all out of his system now. All of it. He strokes over Yugi’s body and feels what has mostly been only observable, only imaginable.

He lowers himself over Yugi, seeking to fit them together like before, to resume the way they connected on the couch, and if it’s any wonder if Yugi is enjoying this, it isn’t any longer. His hands slip around to Yugi’s back, until he is very nearly satisfied at their resumed position, rocking against him.

Yugi gasps, and his hips lift against the other man’s. “S-Seto…” His eyes close, and it’s...intensely sensual, the slow movement between them. Just the rhythmic noise of their bodies softly colliding, coming apart, colliding again. Sometimes a pause to grind particularly purposefully. Yugi leans into every motion, softly moaning and becoming quickly aroused. The idea that Kaiba had wanted this the way he did....Some part of his mind reminds him, he’s still just a vessel, it’s Atem Kaiba wants. Right now, it doesn’t matter. His whole body is covered in a flush, and he thrusts up against the other man, panting softly. The clothing gets in the way. The belt gets in the way. Right now, he isn’t afraid, and he wants to be naked and vulnerable beneath Seto Kaiba, and be nothing else but what he makes of him. 

He smells so good...And his soft hair brushes Yugi’s cheeks, falls into his eyes. He’s not sure he’s ever been so turned on in his entire life. He tilts his head, and leaves a soft kiss on the other man’s ear, his cheek, the corner of his jaw. “ Oh …” He needs to taste that mouth. “Seto…”

Even with his wrists bound, Yugi finds ways to undo him- the breathy way he says his name, his mouth brushing at his skin as they move together. A hand comes up to stroke his hair back, to dare a look into those violet hues, but it’s a terrible mistake, as Yugi seeks to capture him.

Seto turns away abruptly and instead buries his face against Yugi’s neck, nuzzling there as he grinds his need against him, holding his writhing body taut against him, his grip alone indicative of his inability to let go, of anything ever, but especially Yugi.

Seto doesn’t kiss back, which isn’t entirely a surprise. His eyes are...so intense. Sapphire is a cliche, but has it ever been more true? They’re alive with light, they spark and radiate a heat of their own. Yugi leans up for a kiss, but he turns away abruptly. There’s a pang in him, but feeling that hot breath on his neck is so good (the only thing that would be better would be mouth and tongue and teeth, leaving marks to prove this happened). His ankles hook around the other man’s legs, and he begins to really thrust up into him, so painfully hard, needing so much. He makes a lot of breathy noises, whimpers, moans. Lots of, “ Please ,” and, “ Yes ,” and even, “ Harder …” He needs a lot more, or he’s going to absolutely go out of his mind. The belt rubs his wrists, he’ll have marks burned there by morning, but he doesn’t care, bucking up against Seto. “ Please, oh, please - I need- ” 

Even if he chose to give way to thoughts that Yugi has planned this from the start, if he’s always been this maniacal, under the guise of those sweet gazes and kind smiles, there’s no denying Yugi wants this just as much too, not with the way he pleads and grinds back against him.

“What do you need, Yugi…?” Kaiba’s voice is low against his ear, panting, “Tell me…” He wants to hear how much he needs , everything he wishes Kaiba would do to him, as he so broadly put it- to do whatever he wanted with him.

He’s completely out of his mind, and he doesn’t care . “You, Seto - Oh God, I need you so bad….Please, please, ah!” He whines, grinding for all he can. “K-kiss me, please...A-and...your hands- ah !” Desperate for contact, he catches Seto’s ear between his teeth - but gently, pulling, licking, whining more. With his hands tied above his head, it’s the only way he can touch him back. “ Oh God, please, please, I’m so close-”

Seto breathes out a laugh, warm against Yugi’s skin. Of course he would ask for that. But just because Yugi wants that, it doesn’t mean he’ll get it.

“ Oh , I don’t know that you deserve all of that…” But he does press himself harder against Yugi, shifting in angle, and his hands find the hem of his shirt, sliding under the silk to drag his fingers up along his warm, flushed skin.

If he’s going to touch him this way, he might as well feel what is normally hidden. He holds him and nuzzles at his bared shoulder, and the friction between them is just enough this way, close and hard, while Yugi gasps and moans, it’s enough to send him over.

That’s not fair, he’s been good, so good! He’s done exactly what was asked of him- Yugi moans and his vision goes a little white when Seto really grinds harder against him. And those hands, so warm, they slide under the satin top along sensitive skin. His thumbs brush his nipples as he holds him there, and oh - that’s too much! He imagines lips and teeth and he throbs. He hears Seto coming, a moment of vulnerability he’d like to hold him through, and one hard shove is enough to push Yugi over the edge as well. He twitches, gasping, arching into the other man, as pleasure is wrung from him in agonizing seconds. 

Yugi collapses, sweating, gasping for breath. He wants his hands free. He wants to touch the other person with him very, very badly. He’s helpless right now, and he likes it. He likes it too much. He wants it again, and again, and again. His eyes are hazy as the world stops spinning, but he does not untangle his legs from Kaiba’s. He doesn’t want to.

They are an absolute mess as they climax, and like before, Kaiba feels so ignited then, so grounded. This is real. There is nothing imagined or hallucinated about this, about cradling Yugi’s body against his own, face buried against the crook of his neck, able to smell him, to hold his warmth, to feel the race of his heart against his own.

…There is an echo there, of when the doctor was first here, monitoring Yugi, and his heart rate had been a slight cause for concern. Seemingly no explainable reason. Well there is certainly a reason for it now.

He leans back to take full stock of him, lidded eyes flickering over him with satisfaction over how ruined he looks, and his hands slip out from under his shirt, hooking a finger against the waistband of his silk pants.

“…Guess I’d better let you borrow another pair, mm?”

He savors it, his tense body now relaxed and languid as he straddles Yugi, leaning over to finally undo the belt around his chafed wrists.

Should he apologize? It feels like he should, but also feels ridiculous at the same time. “Thank you,” is what he says instead. For the pajamas, for rocking into him until he climaxed... Seto looks like a god, with the light in his eyes and the slight flush to his cheeks; with how confident and arrogant he appears. 

His hands are free, and even though it feels like he can barely move, he does. He sits up and presses his body into Kaiba’s; the left hand palms his groin, and there’s a damp slide of fabric there, too; the right hand holds his shoulder to anchor himself, while he leans up for a kiss-

Of course Yugi has to ruin it, has to try to put them on any kind of equal footing, because to him, the game is not finished—how much further could he push Seto Kaiba until he found himself spending every waking moment thinking of him when he wasn’t here with him?

His hands come up between them and his fingers are rough and squeezing around both of his arms as he pushes him back.

“ We’re done. ”

He’s gotten what he wanted tonight, now there’s nothing more to keep him here, those violet eyes can stare out at him all they’d like, he bends for no one.

He moves out of the bed swiftly and is on his feet before Yugi can protest.

Yugi is tossed back roughly, mouth open to protest - but there isn’t time. Those shining eyes are hard now, unmerciful. Any intimacy they just experienced was clearly imagined. No tender touch, no goodnight, just….gone. 

Yugi is left to stare up at the canopy of the bed. “What did I just do?” Would his family and friends be ashamed of him, falling so easily? Jonouchi wouldn’t, that’s a comforting thought...He’d balk at the fact it was Kaiba, but not that it happened at all. Oh, he misses him so much right now. What he wouldn’t give to have a shoulder to lean on - if not Kaiba’s, at least someone who cares about him.

He’s tired, but he can’t sleep like this. Yugi pads to the bathroom and washes himself off, thighs and pelvis red from friction. His skin is sensitive. There are marks on his wrists. He’s not going to cry about this, that would be stupid. Instead, once he’s clean, he changes into one of his shirts, and crawls back into the massive, empty bed. But, not entirely alone - he fetches his Kuriboh from its hiding place in the nightstand, and after a little settling, is asleep.

Kaiba’s gone again. It’s much worse this time. Before, Yugi would only be a little lonely, a little bored, when the master of the house was away. Now, he’s a new breed of miserable. A lot of it is realizing what a moron he was that night. Used for a cum rag, why did he want Kaiba so, so badly? But even now, every time a door opens, his head swivels to see who it is, hoping that maybe, just maybe-

“I need to go home,” he tells himself. Jonouchi would set him right again. He thinks even his grandfather would understand. It won’t be much longer. Kaiba’s about gotten what he wanted out of him, and he may soon be content that Atem isn’t coming back. He can survive this. Maybe by the new year, he’ll be home again.

After two days, the only break from his own miserable self-loathing is finding Mokuba in the game room, staring at the title screen of a dating sim. It makes Yugi smile a little and he flops onto the sofa next to him. “I didn’t know you liked these kinds of games.” 

“Hey, Yugi…” Mokuba seems a little deep in thought- much deeper than a game of this caliber would require, but does turn to face him then, setting the controller into his lap. 

“Well…not really. But I was…sort of hoping maybe I could use it to figure something out…” Because when one had a problem in life, who in Domino City didn’t turn to games as a way to solve it? 

“…It’s not exactly something I can ask Seto about.”

That piques Yugi’s interest, he cants his head to the right. “I didn’t think there was anything you couldn’t tell him.” He hopes Mokuba isn’t in any serious trouble. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing bad, it’s just… mm …” Mokuba winces and tries to think of the best way to phrase it. “…How do you know if someone really likes you, but is just pretending they don’t because they think that you don’t…?” It’s a pretty specific question that seems to fit more than one very specific scenario.

“…It’s just that…there’s this girl at school and…it’s dumb. ” 

Oh jeeze, he does not have anywhere near the life experience to provide good answers on girl problems. He thinks back to his middle and early high school days, hearts in his eyes over Anzu, who cared about him - but never as more than a friend or a brother. 

Yugi slips one arm over the back of the couch and clears his throat. “Why don’t you tell me about her, and what makes you think all this, and….we can go from there.”

“Well…” He seems hesitant, never having really spoken about her before, but Yugi makes it easy to be candid.

“She’s in nearly all of my classes, so I have to see her pretty much all the time. She’s the smartest girl in class, and I’d have her beat at history if I didn’t hate it so much, but that’s the only one she’s got over me. During break when everyone was talking, Duel Monsters came up, and so I asked her if she played, and she told me- ‘ No, it’s stupid, why would I play it? ’ And I told her she was missing out and if she ever wanted to try it, I would show her how to play, and then the next week she brought in a deck and asked me to teach her, so I did, and we spent like, every lunch together, and I was pretty sure she liked me. Also she super already knew how to play, so like, why would she ask me if she already knew?”

Anyways, there was another girl in class who didn’t actually know how to play, so I offered to help, and she took the whole thing all weird, like I was blowing her off for this other girl, or I didn’t want to hang out anymore. Cue ignoring me for the rest of the week. Then in science, we all had to pick partners, and she picked me, which yeah, I would pick me too, it’s my best subject, but then she wanted to do the project at her house, and the entire time she was so weird about it, like asking me if I wanted to date that other girl, and I was like, ‘ Gross, no. ’ But then the more I thought about it, I kind of… want to . Not date the other girl! But I want to date her . And I don’t know how to ask, because every week she’s different. Maybe she’s crazy. I kinda like that about her though.”

Mokuba says so much, and so quickly, Yugi has a hard time keeping up. But seeing him so excited, not under constant threat or inappropriate stress - that part’s kind of nice. These are the things a teenager should be concerned with. 

“Maybe she learned how when you offered, so as not to embarrass herself? Or she’s really good at cards.” Mokuba’s eyes are very bright, talking about this girl, it makes Yugi smile. Their color is so much darker than his brother’s. It makes him wonder, suddenly, what their parents were like; who took after whose features; what they might think of their sons now. He wonders where his own dad is, what adventure he’s having instead of having a son. “Well, I don’t think you should play games with people’s feelings, that’s how someone gets hurt.” That part he has down. “So if you like her, you should ask if she wants to go someplace - just make clear it’s not for school. Is your brother alright with you taking a girl out?” 

“Nope!” Mokuba says it so cheerfully. “But that’s why I can’t talk to him about any of this, he’s really protective.”

Not just over dating, of course, of most things.

“Guess I’m kinda nervous though. If I do it wrong, or if she says no.”

“That does make it harder…” He doesn’t think it would be a good idea to advise Mokuba to go behind his brother’s back on this, either. “Well, you could ask him first, just to get that out of the way. But you won’t do it wrong.” Yugi smiles. “Just be yourself, be honest. If she says no...It’ll be alright. It’ll be enough that you did something brave.”

Mokuba sighs and flops back dramatically- in true Kaiba fashion.

“I think I’m more afraid of asking Seto than I am of asking her out.” Not so much that he’d be angry or anything, but he’d get a lecture about how school was not for socializing, and he was too young to be thinking about that sort of thing—it’s not like there’s a huge age difference between them! It’s only six years! And besides, his brother is one to talk about having crushes.

“…I know you said you didn’t, and that Seto liked someone else, but I’ve already asked him…and I’m kinda curious…are you sure you’re not dating my brother?”  

“Well….would it help if I were there, when you asked him?” That might not be appropriate...but if Mokuba really was too nervous on his own, if Yugi could provide moral support…

Then he asks that other question, and Yugi lights up like a traffic signal. “W-what makes you say that!” 

“Well it’d be a lot weirder if you weren’t right?” Staying at their house indefinitely. And Mokuba is not around all the time, but enough to realize there is not a whole lot of collaboration on this supposed project of his brother’s…unless of course the collaboration involved cuddling on couches and having dinners with each other.

“I mean, you did say you liked him right? So…why don’t you ask him?”  

“I-I didn’t say I liked him that way.” Did he? His face is so hot, it could be used to fry an egg. “Anyway, you know it’s not up to me, he’s the one who wants me here. E-even if we were ….together, moving in is a...a very big step, Mokuba!”

“Uh-huh…” Mokuba nods stoically. “…So…what you’re saying is…if my brother were the one to ask you, you’d say yes?”

That was quite the takeaway, but in all fairness, that’s what it came off as!

“I, uh….” He’s certain steam is coming out of his ears. “That’s such a complicated….Not that it matters, because he’s not…” 

Yes, yes, yes, yes -

“N-no.” It hangs there, like Kaiba’s cologne hangs in Yugi’s thoughts. “Mokuba - the truth is...The reason I’m here...Your brother wants Atem back. I’m just...just like a clay pot to put him in. I wouldn’t go out with him, because...it wouldn’t be me he’d go out with. Do you understand?” Ohhhhh God, he shouldn’t have said that. He’s dead for sure if this gets back to Kaiba. 

Mokuba is not quite as certain as to how it works…these separate entities, two sides to Yugi, but he knows enough, from what his brother has said and done for months now, and what Yugi says makes a lot of sense.

He wouldn’t want to be around someone who only wanted him when he wasn’t himself, either.

“I think so.” It explains the Puzzle, having Yugi here, waiting, maybe, for whatever is supposed to happen - to happen.

…But it’s been months since Yugi’s come here. What does his brother think is going to happen?

Yugi takes a big, shaky breath - and tries to put a smile back on his face. “But I’d still be happy to sit with you, when you talk to your brother. You’re old enough to take a girl out for a tea or something. It’d be good to have a friend - don’t you think?”

Of course Mokuba thinks there’s something else there...because he doesn’t see the parts that Yugi does. He sees falling asleep on the couch, and….other things. He didn’t see that look, that look that bordered on hatred and disgust. There’s no question but that it’s not Yugi Kaiba is waiting for. 

He smiles anyway. “Or we could see if the dating sim has a better idea.”

“Thanks, Yugi…”

It’s a bit sad though, really. Mokuba thinks no one understands his brother aside from himself like Yugi does.

And Atem or no Atem, Yugi has always been the one offering a friendly hand. Whatever his brother is searching for hasn’t gone away, he could still find it if only he reached out.

But then he’d probably say, Mokuba was too young to be thinking about that sort of thing too. Maybe in that, he’s right.

“Well, I was right in the middle of telling this girl her skirt was pretty, but I think she has a knife…”

There’s that smell again...In his addled state of half-wakefulness, in the early morning dawn, Yugi wonders if there really is a new employee of the household, one very zealous in coming in to get the laundry while he’s still sleeping. In fact, he must be right, he can hear shuffling near the bed. “Hrmm,” spoken half into his pillow, he sits up, rubbing his eyes. “You don’t have to-” 

Eyes open, he about jumps out of his skin. “ K-Kaiba-kun ?” The man is sitting in that armchair, one leg crossed at the knee, looking as imperious as ever. Oh God, and it’s his cologne! Yugi shrinks in the bed. “H-how long have you been there?” How long has he been home , in fact?

Kaiba glances down at his wristwatch, “About four hours.” And leaves it at that, as if…as if it’s entirely normal, to have not only let himself in while Yugi was asleep, but also to have presumably sat here and watched him for that duration of time, at this proximity, after seemingly ignoring him and using him.

“…Don’t let me interrupt you.” As if anyone could return to sleeping after waking up to this. Though perhaps it’s even more astonishing that Kaiba manages to keep his composure, as if Yugi is the one outlandish for thinking this was anything but natural.  

“U-um…” He sinks back into the nest of blankets, and tries not to think about the last time he saw him, and how it was in this bed - oh, he’s thinking of it, that didn’t work. “D-did you...need something?” Didn’t he ask that before, too? Will Kaiba be looking for the belt momentarily? Will Yugi let him? Will he have a choice? Does he want one?

...Yes. 

Well that was a loaded question, wasn’t it?

The answer is yes, of course, of varying degrees, because evidently the night spent rutting against Yugi did nothing to quell him, it only proved to him how incapable he is of being alone in his own room now, and that sleep is a myth, and the only solace he ever receives these days consists of watching Yugi’s body rise and fall. If anyone had told him this would be happening a year ago, he would’ve laughed and then fired them.

“…What will you give me?”

Because there are a few things, he thinks, that Yugi would refuse, and maybe one of those things he’s getting tired of hearing the answer to.

That fear rises up again - and it’s a fear of himself, too. That the answer would be, “Anything.” There is this pit between them, and one of them is about to fall. What happened three nights ago might just be about to happen again. Can he live with himself if it does? 

...Yugi shifts over in the bed, and lifts the blanket up. He licks his lips and is amazed at his own courage when he says, “You don’t have to be so far away.” Someone just dropped into that pit. 

And here he thought he was close enough, but Yugi invites him closer still…into the pit. Well if he’s jumping, he’ll take Yugi down with him. Maybe it really is part of some very dark and masterful plan Yugi’s had all along, to string him further and further along until he snaps, but that part has since come and gone, and Kaiba is still here- completely out of his mind, but still here.

A moment goes by, is it deliberation or hesitation? Whatever it is doesn’t last long, Kaiba slips into the bed, under the covers, face to face with those violet eyes that haunt his dreams.

Yugi blushes slightly. He expected Kaiba to roll onto his back, to face away from him, not….like this. But he doesn’t turn away, either, looking into sapphire blue eyes that seem very tired. Yugi glances at his ear - there’s still a small red mark there, from his teeth. “Oh…” His fingers reach out and brush over it. There’s a matching mark on his exposed wrist. “Um...did you want to sleep?” He has a lot of questions - why was he in his room, how often had he been doing this, why had he been doing this, does he realize how totally crazy it is to just watch someone sleep - but he’s not sure now is the right time, or if a right time even exists. 

His eyes glance at Yugi’s hand, feels his fingers brush at his ear, before he notes the mark left behind from the belt. His own hand comes up then, fingers curling around his wrist, and rather than pull his hand away, he strokes along the reddened skin.

At Yugi’s question though, he smiles a bit, in a slightly off-kilter and amused way. Would he like to sleep? Oh, how wouldn’t he.

Could such a thing be possible now, would his mind finally deem the area to be sacred sleeping ground, now that Yugi is here and within reach?

“…It crossed my mind.”

His breath catches when Kaiba grabs his wrist. He has a yearning, to feel the press of those lips against the warm, smooth flesh...He’ll crawl into bed with him, he’ll tie him down and rut against him, but he won’t kiss him again…

“You can,” Yugi tells him, as if he didn’t know. He settles his head back against the pillow. “It’s still early...I’ll sleep for a little longer, too.” Unless Kaiba wants to sleep alone? But, uh...that seems unlikely. 

“Can I, Yugi…?”

He asks it so quietly, his eyes so very tired, and yet relentlessly searching Yugi’s face, even through the haze of exhaustion.

His thumb continues to stroke along his wrist before he slips their hands together, just the way he had held it that night Yugi had brought him here, when he’d been crying and so empty feeling.

His hand is warm, pressed palm to palm, fingers curling. Something almost exists there, something bright and alive. “I’ll watch over you,” he tells Kaiba. “So you can sleep.” 

It’s all he needs to hear, to know, Yugi is close, like before.

His head presses against the pillow, and he lets out a soft sigh, as if greatly relieved, and his eyes slip closed, giving way to heavy fatigue.

 Kaiba sleeps again at last, deep and dreamless.

“It’s okay.” Yugi smiles at him and motions him forward. “I’m right behind you.”

Mokuba is far less sure about this, but if Yugi is there...He doesn’t care what either of them have said, his brother is way more likely to listen to him. With a small groan, he knocks on the door of the study. “Seto? Can I come in?” 

“Yes, Mokuba...”

He never denies his brother the chance to speak with him...until he catches eye of Yugi there with him. 

A brow lifts and he finishes his typing before his attention settles over them both rather...suspiciously. 

“What is it?”

“Um….” Mokuba fiddles with his hands, and Yugi gently pushes him into the room.

“Mokuba had something he wanted to ask you.”

“S-Seto.” He takes a big gulp of air. “ CouldIaskthisgirlatschoolout? ” Before he can reply, he continues in a rush. “I know what you said, but we already hang out because she’s my lab partner, and it wouldn’t be anything serious, we would just, um, get bubble tea, and maybe hold hands or something, and Yugi thinks it’s a really good idea, so I thought-”

What are they ...

Seto’s eyes narrow as he attempts to pick apart Mokuba’s jumbled explanation and it’s only then when he says- Yugi thinks it’s a good idea that he very simply, and resolutely concludes the request. 

“No.”

Is that what Yugi enjoys doing in his time here now, poisoning his brother’s head? One Kaiba corrupted isn’t enough! 

“None of that sounds appropriate to me, you’re too young. And what do you think you’re doing, hm?” Kaiba points a pen at him, “Why are you filling my brother’s head with ideas?”

In spite of himself, Yugi’s spine straightens. Maybe it’s because Mokuba looks so dejected. “Wait outside,” he tells the younger Kaiba, and shuts the door. “I’m not filling his head with anything, the only thing I told him to do was to ask you for your permission before asking this girl out. He’s almost fourteen, he needs to have friends his own age. Going out with a girl isn’t going to hurt anybody.”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Yugi! He shouldn’t be discussing this with you. He has plenty of interaction at school, anything further is just unnecessary, and a liability for him to be hurt. I won’t allow it.” 

Look where feeling anything for others had ever gotten him . Mokuba would experience plenty of heartbreak and distrust soon enough in the course of his adult years, he didn’t need to go through that now. Not when Seto had worked so hard to preserve his life, to soften any pain.

“He needed to share it with someone ! I won’t apologize for being someone Mokuba can trust! Th-that’s a good thing, you should be happy! Having more people who care about him and will help him grow is good!” The words from Kaiba’s mouth are so out-of-touch and ridiculous, Yugi can barely comprehend it. “Unnecess- It’s the most important thing there is!” He comes up to the desk, and he should be afraid, but he isn’t. He feels like Atem is here, inside of him again. “ We got hurt - that’s what growing up is. You can’t take that from him, it’s his right as much as it is his burden. You can’t hold onto him like he’s a seed you won’t plant, until he withers - you have to let him grow! And maybe that will mean some rainfall, but it means flowers, too.” Atem would have found that hokey, probably - but he would have appreciated the sentiment. 

“My brother isn’t a flower, Yugi. He’s been through enough, and the only reason he is as good as he is, is because I’ve had to shield him.”

Kaiba stands, too, the desk the only thing parting them, “…Mokuba obviously does trust you, if he comes to you about these matters, but don’t misunderstand- you have no right to meddle. You’re here because of me , your obligation to me. Mokuba’s life has nothing to do with it, so I would greatly appreciate if you tended to your own garden, Yugi, and left me to mine.”

Yugi burns with an outrage for others that he never gives himself. “If you had hung around with people your own age when we were in school, you might not be so-” He snaps his teeth shut, but his fists are balled. 

Kaiba talks like their roots aren’t hopelessly complicated at this point.

Now to this, Kaiba looks greatly amused at Yugi’s outrage, and he comes around to the front of his desk, leaning back against it, arms crossed over his chest, “So what , Yugi? By all means, go on, why don’t you tell me exactly what I am . How would you and your lovely companions have helped alter the course of my life, would I be so much better off then, had I only never tore up your grandfather’s card? Is that it? Even then, I regret to inform you, you would’ve been too late.”

Too many years stolen away from him to make him bitter, unable to mourn for his childhood as he didn’t know what it was supposed to entail, other than heartache.

Yugi turns his head away, but he can’t help but look up through his lashes at Kaiba. “You wouldn’t be so lonely now.” Like the rest of them, he would have been able to let the Pharaoh go - because it wasn’t the only person they had. It’s not about the card, it’s about everything that came after. He wouldn’t be like this . 

His response is not one he expects in the heat of the moment. He’s heard plenty of choice terms from others, ones he even delights in, if it means people were so intimidated by his demeanor.

But Yugi is not like anyone else. He sees through the technology, and the empire, and through the walls, passed the anger, and maybe that’s why he has become so utterly, infuriatingly fascinating, that even if he isn’t who he thought, Yugi is the one who cuts it all away and reveals what even Kaiba himself refuses to acknowledge.

 “…Unlike you, right?” Because he was so well loved, so surrounded. Of course he doesn’t mourn so deeply, he can let it all go. And how can Kaiba fault him for that? For not feeling as hurt, for having ways to cushion the blow, to be able to sleep without a care in the world.

He wishes he could hate him for it, but he can’t muster anything hateful for Yugi . Not for him.

He balks, stepping back. He’s only lonely because Kaiba makes him, keeps him here and doesn’t let him talk to anyone...That’s Mokuba’s fate, he realizes, with a cold feeling at the base of his spine, if he doesn’t do something about it.

Yugi steps closer, they’re less than an arm’s breadth away from one another. His voice is quiet. “Let Mokuba go be around people his own age, let him have what you didn’t. Please. Give them an escort if it makes you feel better, but please .”

If Yugi thinks for a moment that Kaiba wants Mokuba to end up anything like him, he’d be severely mistaken. He’s done everything he could to make certain that doesn’t happen.

But even so…one wonders, if Mokuba met a Yugi of his own at this age…maybe he would flourish where his brother was weakest. But then there are thoughts, too, of when they were children, between orphanage facilities, all of them bad, how the other children were merciless and cruel, and just as bitter and ready to take out their anger on those smaller and weaker than them. And it was there Seto learned how ruthless his peers could be.

And then his stepfather.

So who else was there to turn to but to himself?

They aren’t children anymore, though. And Mokuba has reached a point where he does have to grow into himself, to know he’s strong, that he doesn’t have to take the abuses of others. He doesn’t need to tolerate the company of anyone, but could do so, if he chose to.

In that…maybe Yugi has a valid point.

“…I’m not quite convinced, Yugi…but perhaps if you begged just a little bit more, maybe the cold, black-hearted, lonely Seto Kaiba will let his brother make a friend. What do you think?”

“I didn’t say you were-” He has the most reason, yet he’s the last person who would ever call Kaiba any of those things. His eyes widen just a little. This is for Mokuba . What a convenient excuse - he can actually hear Atem for a moment, saying that. He promised Mokuba he’d stay, he promised Mokuba he’d make things better. He doesn’t have to admit to the gnawing depths of want when he says it’s for the younger Kaiba brother.

“Ah…” Yugi sinks down onto his knees, slowly, and takes up one of the hands that brace up against the desk. He kisses the back of the fingers the way a cardinal reverently kisses the ring of the pope. Well, maybe not quite the same: his lips are softer, they linger longer. He can smell ink and tobacco on those hands. “Please, Seto?” He just barely manages to look up at him. He ought to be ashamed of how much he likes him from this angle - he likes him a lot. 

He expected a bit of fervent pleading- of course it was entirely unneeded, as he would give in to anything Mokuba wanted, provided there were some rules…but…then Yugi sinks to his knees in front of him in a grandiose display. Seto’s mouth parts, maybe partly at the complete commitment to it, to quite literally beg, and also partly how incredibly arousing he finds it.

He is not comfortable with his brother potentially walking in on yet another scandalous scene between them though, so he merely smirks and pulls his hand away from Yugi’s mouth…not entirely though, sweeping his fingers against the hair that falls into his face and gently urges him to make eye contact.

“You may send my brother back in.”

His eyes shutter for a moment, he’s about to lean forward, catch that thumb in his mouth-

Inappropriate. Bad. No. He’s done enough, he doesn’t need to...give everything to Seto Kaiba, who takes what he wants regardless. Yugi clears his throat and stands, but he doesn’t look at the other man anymore. He takes one, deep, steadying breath - and goes back to the door. 

Mokuba is leaning against the opposite wall, nervously kicking his heels. Yugi smiles at him. “You can go in now.”

“Really?” He stands straight, hardly daring to believe it. “You talked him into it?”

“I just explained things, that’s all.”

“You’re amazing, Yugi!” Mokuba rushes into the room, eyes bright. Yugi steps into the hall, but he can still hear them. It’s all he can do to get a hold of himself. Mokuba clears his throat. “Y-you wanted to see me, Seto?”

Seto seats himself back behind his desk, yet another thankful barrier, and his eyes flicker towards the door to make certain Yugi has not come in behind him again. When safely deemed a private conversation, Kaiba addresses him.

“…This girl you like, it’s important to you that you spend time with her?”

Mokuba nods emphatically. “She’s really smart, Seto, and she’s got this hair that-”

Seto holds up a hand, “I’ll see for myself.” Because whoever his brother had his eye on must be nothing short of perfect for him, it’s what he deserves. But maybe it’s just enough that she makes him happy.

“You may ask her out on a date, provided you do something for me…” He clasps his hands together, “…Come to me with it next time?”

And maybe his advice was not as well informed as Yugi, the socialite , but if it makes Mokuba happy, truly happy, and doesn’t involve jumping off of a cliff or something stupid, he’d very nearly always concede to him. He has to know that.

Mokuba throws his arms around his brother like he’s still a child, because with Seto, he probably always will be. “You’re the best big brother in the whole world!” He might cry.

In the hall, Yugi sure is.

Chapter Text

Yes, time for his phone! Yugi tucks himself into the library, because it doesn’t seem to be used as often as the game room or the study, and he needs a bit of privacy. His fingers fly over the screen, happy for a minute with Jonouchi, even if it is limited. “Can I talk to you about something?” 

There’s a few minutes of ellipses until Jou responds.

“Always!!!!”

“Don’t um. Try not to get weird about it.” He hits enter on the first message. “Things have been kind of intense around here lately.”

“???”

“Uhhhhh what do you mean intense?”

“Are you ok?”

Oh God, is he okay….No? “I’m fine :)” 

“I know um like….how you feel about him and stuff - but I’ve just been really, um. Drawn to him, lately?”

Several minutes of ellipses occur.

“…what does that mean?”

“Are you talking about HIM him? Yugi plz don’t hurt me this way….”

“Haha, never mind! Hopefully things can be less busy and we can get together soon!” Yugi hides the phone under a throw pillow and brings his knees up to his chest, sweating just a touch.

“No never mind!!!”

“Cmon Yugi. U know you can tell me anything even weird stuff like what do I know?? I hang around Honda every day so its not like I can talk :P “

“Just tell me what is on ur mind and I promise CROSS MY HEART I will listen!”

“Read!”

“U KNO WHAT I MEAN”

The pillow buzzes, the coo of kuribohs repeating, tripping over each other, a melody he would hate. Yugi covers his ears - gets the phone - closes his eyes and types.

“SO LIKE HE KEEPS COMING INTO MY ROOM? THAT’S WEIRD, I KNOW THAT’S WEIRD, BUT I LIKE IT??? LIKE HE SMELLS REALLY GOOD.”

“ REALLY GOOD.”

“uhhhhh ok???? Ok! So you like the way he smells….thats fine….”

“what else is going on? Like whats he doin in there??”

“....so like we’re not kissing.” He’s tempted to hide the phone again. “But like, imagine if we were - which we’re not - but like if it were you and Mai, but you didn’t kiss.”

“UHHHH WHAT?”

“now im confused”

“are you”

“doing stuff??? With KAIBA?”

Yugi has to flop his head against the back of the couch to try to come up with an answer for that; it’s half the reason he texted his friend, to try to make sense of what’s been happening. “Yes,” he decides, hitting send.

“I’m, like, totally out of line, right? It’s super inappropriate of me, I should stop, shouldn’t I?”

“UHHHHHHH”

“if u want my opinion, YES!!!!! YUP! STOP THAT! IT’S KAIBA!!!!! Do u need me to come and get u?! I will hijack Honda’s moped if I gotta”

“will scale the walls of kaiba’s fortress”

“just give me the A-OK”

“BUT I also feel like, hes technically ur boss now right?? thats gotta be against a rule or somethn”

“NO! No, I’m fine! Everything is fine, really!” Yugi tries to think of what to say, how to explain how he aches for how much he wants those blue eyes to see him - really see him . How to make Jonouchi understand how much he wants the man he totally hates, and not without good reason. How to justify the unjustifiable. 

How Kaiba runs roughshod over him, and he wants it, and he wants it more, and more, and- 

“You’re right,” he manages to tap out. “It’s a terrible idea.” 

That’s as far as he gets. 

Kaiba’s hand comes around Yugi’s phone and promptly rips it out of his hands without so much as a hello, or indication of his presence. Now just a looming shadow over Yugi in that leather chair he looks so small in, and sharp, cold eyes glare over the messages sent back and forth between the pair.

He is merciless and in a mood tonight, it seems, because within a moment of reading, he decides it’s enough, and he turns, hurling it against the wall. The remainder of Yugi’s phone crumbles into pieces over the floor.

“You can consider your phone privileges over, Yugi.”

“Hey-” That’s all he gets to say, suddenly ducking his head as the phone hurtles against the wall. His eyes are wild, what did Kaiba see? What part made him mad? Sharing anything at all? That it was Jonouchi? “P-please-” he starts, almost trembling. 

“Please what , Yugi? Please let Katsuya come and take you away from me, from your prison ? How terrible it must be for you here!”

He’s not hearing it tonight- those sad, sad eyes, and that quivering mouth. It’s all bullshit. He comes home from dealing with imbeciles all day, only to find Yugi purposely out of the way here, tucked away and typing out their business.

“I asked you to be brief with them, business-like, you can’t do anything I ask, can you! Why is it such an aversion with you? You’re accommodating to everyone else in this city other than me, and you just love it, don’t you? You love that you think you hold any bit of power over me…” He entraps him into the chair, a hand on either side of the armrests to keep him there.

“I didn’t say that, I told him no-” He cringes back against the chair as Kaiba looms over him, incensed. “I’m sorry-” He isn’t making sense. Yugi closes his eyes and pulls himself into as tight a ball as possible, waiting to weather out this storm. “I-I just...wanted someone to talk with...Kaiba-kun - I’m sorry - please-”

His apologies only seem to make things worse. “You’re sorry… I am so sick of hearing that from you, that word, over and over again. It doesn’t change anything!” Yugi makes himself so small, and it somehow only serves to make Kaiba angrier.

“ Stop that .” His hands slip to Yugi then, forcing him from his ball. “You’re not a child!”

He has the audacity to act upset when Kaiba’s angry with him, as if he had no role to play in that! So very little has been asked of him lately, just to follow some simple rules, he had been lucky to have a phone at all! He shouldn’t even have needed to stay here this long, Kaiba had said that from the beginning!

“ Look at me .” He demands sharply. “…You could’ve spoken to him about anything else. Anything.”

His eyes shimmer. He doesn’t think he’s going to cry, but it’s….close. Yugi looks up, as instructed. “I just...needed to talk to someone...I’m…” Don’t say sorry . “I just have...a lot going on in my head right now...I wanted someone to help me figure it all out…”

Kaiba’s eyes search over his face, and he slips to the floor then, to kneel, a less invasive and aggressive position over Yugi.

“…I see. You needed to speak to someone. And…you chose Katsuya …”

There seems to be something implied hanging there in the air between them…perhaps even something…

Hurt.

Yugi wraps himself around Kaiba like a bracelet, limbs tangled around him. “I-I’ll talk to you. I will, don’t go, please-” He can’t breathe, he can’t- “ Please .” His fingers dig into his back, he is crying now...

Kaiba is tense, and at first he…he doesn’t respond to the way Yugi drapes himself around him, heavy and chest heaving…and soon, crying.

But very soon his hands come around Yugi’s back, and he pulls him close.

He is just as much at a loss as Yugi is, but this was theirs to figure out, not any of Yugi’s friends, not Mokuba, not even the Pharaoh, wherever the hell he is now. What this is, what it’s becoming…it’s…it’s private. And painful.

A hand lifts to stroke through his hair, and it’s a rather intimate scene, if not for the event that preceded it.

“ Shh …” He’s gasping, and it’s far too real feeling against his chest to entertain a thought of Yugi faking anything. “Calm down.”

Yugi does as told, because he’s good at that. He goes limp, resting against Kaiba, struggling to breathe, but calmer...He really does smell so good...And it’s not that things make sense when he’s nearby, if anything, the opposite is true. It’s that...something is right , here, connected to him. It thrums within his whole body, like a tone struck against a tuning fork. His body goes slack, ready to be molded, and he stops crying, sniffling only a little, head on the other man’s shoulder…

Kaiba kneels there and waits until Yugi has calmed down enough, his breathing more regulated against his own, and once Yugi has gone completely slack, with only the occasional sniffle, he rises from the floor. Not to pull away and leave him…

But to shift him into his arms.

To carry him.

There’s no chance to protest- Yugi is so very limp in his arms now, docile, quiet.

His intentions are wordless as he carries him from the library, navigating down the twisting halls that Yugi himself has even come to know better now, and he heads straight to his room, the only place in the household they can fit together and have it make any sense.

He carries him to his bed and shifts him so that he can use a hand to pull the blanket back, placing him down into the soft space.

He’s so strong ...Those arms pick him up, like he’s still a child, and Yugi tucks his face into that firm, firm chest...That cologne, it makes him senseless, it makes him half-hard. And those hands that just destroyed his only link with the world beyond this house, they’re so tender when they tuck him into the bed. Yugi’s fingers catch on his sleeve. “ Don’t go .” He needs so much , each touch of his fingers, each stroke of his palm; every muscle, every fall of hair. “Please…” 

Yugi invites him in, asks him to stay.

He doesn’t make him beg.

Kaiba slips in beside him like before, facing him, and there is no residual anger from earlier, only something searching Yugi’s eyes, which are full of such sadness now, so tired, so lost.

His hands come around his sides, so that there is constant contact between them, feels the warmth of him radiating into his fingertips.

“…Yugi…” He isn’t alone in how busy his thoughts are, in how much he wants to make sense of them, wants to talk through them with someone who can be trusted. But for Kaiba, that’s…Yugi.

“…That night. Why didn’t…” His voice catches, and he takes a moment, swallowing. “…Why didn’t you let me?”

“Hn?” His breath hasn’t fully steadied, it catches in his throat. Oh - oh ...His hand comes up to hold Seto’s shoulder; what a question to even ask…

Yugi brushes his hair where it falls into those...amazing eyes of his… “Because,” he answers, like it’s the simplest thing in the world. “You’re….Your life is precious…” He wriggles closer. “To a lot of people…To….To me…” There’s only inches between them now...He’s so warm...he wants him so badly-

He doesn’t know that there are a lot of people who might think his life precious, other than Mokuba, but something seems to…fill something missing deep inside, then, when Yugi tells him that his life is precious to him.

To him.

It doesn’t make any sense, and yet…they are words he never knew he needed to hear until just then.

Even after the chaos, the demands, the….the insanity, the magnitude of it all, Yugi thinks this way of him.

It’s reckless, but most things between them are, Seto pulls him the rest of the way to meet him- not just to hold him, but to kiss him.

Yugi’s breath leaves him in a gasp, pulled into Seto Kaiba - and kissed... Really kissed, because this time, it’s clear, there’s no chance of confusion that he’s kissing anyone else… A line has been crossed. Everything after this moment is going to be different, frighteningly different. Yugi doesn’t care. He melts into the Prince of KaibaCorp, his mouth opening soft and eager and ready, his tongue gently prodding at the bottom of his lip. Noises escape his mouth, needy, breathless...They invite, they beg…

Seto rolls over top of him, and Yugi’s legs spread of their own accord, his hips anchor the weight of this other body, and his ankles wrap around him. Nothing so beautiful has ever happened to him before this. His hands are brave enough to come up, to tangle in his shirt, to pull- There’s a gasp when they part for breath. “ I want you so much .” He’s achingly hard, leaning his hips up into him. “Th-that’s what I was telling Jonouchi, oh God, Seto, please, please-!” He’ll confess any sin, if it keeps this man in his bed, if it keeps this body on top of his own. He bucks and he begs. “Seto-!” 

Suddenly, they are not close enough. Kaiba has been content to watch and pet, but now that they can kiss and touch, he wants more. How has any of it before ever been enough? That he could writhe against Yugi and think that would satisfy them both? Truly delusional.

He assists Yugi in pulling off his own shirt, but Yugi’s is quick to follow, both bared to one another, and Seto sinks down over him, fingers brazen and territorially roaming over flush, soft skin.

“ For how long, Yugi...? ” His voice is low and wrought with want- he wants to know the exact moment Yugi has been burdened with this.

He doesn’t understand at first, head thrown back - until the shirt is off, and he can see….all that promised muscle, and skin… Yugi’s mouth goes dry. “Since I first saw you.” His hands ghost over flesh he’s longed to touch, his mouth skims the top of his chest. “You’re so beautiful...So….” He pulls himself closer, hips fitting together, legs tucked around his back as he grinds up into him. “Seto…” He pulls that face down to him, mouth open, hungry, exploring. His tongue tangles with the other man’s, and his hips grind into him, and he can only pray Seto wants the same things he does, the way he’s prayed for all these weeks and months and years… “Oh God, I want you, I-I-”

Since he first saw him…?

All the way back in school, that first day when he’d walked into homeroom?

His interest in Yugi had been fairly instantaneous as well, but for entirely different motives, they’re not quite comparable. Even so, it had been spark enough to intertwine them, to lead them to this moment. He wishes he could say that he’d only spent the better half of this year watching Yugi, but the truth is, he’s been watching him all along, far longer than he’d ever been in this house, and until now, he had thought it must have always been the Pharaoh he’d been looking for.

But it’s Yugi who tells him how much he wants him…how beautiful he is…it would be so easy to think this is a hallucination, but since when does he ever hallucinate anything nice, or warm?

He is at his neck, tasting, kissing, fingers stroking over his lithe form and dragging down the ridges of his spine. Has he ever wanted something so much before?

Yes.

And it feels like once he gets it, it is never enough.

Yugi moans, a desperate sound he’s been waiting to make for a long time. This is like that dream, the bath, his mouth, at his neck...He can’t stand it, he takes one of Seto’s hands and places the palm over his groin, bucking slightly. “This is what you do to me...See?” He takes the other hand and places it over his pec, the palm over the bud of the nipple, and he begins to writhe. “Anything you want...I’ll do anything you want…” 

Seto squeezes at him, feels how achingly hard he is, and there’s something sickly egotistical in even this, too. That he can undo Yugi the way he does to him. That he might even push the envelope even more with this knowledge, force Yugi to bend to his whims not through show of force, but in execution.

And it’s a far more pleasurable experience for them both this way. His fingers pull at the leather of his belt until it hangs open, and he’s pulling his pants apart, one less layer between them, so that he can properly feel the extent of Yugi’s desperate longing.

“Oh Yugi …” He practically purrs it, the warmth of his hand back over him once more, “During our matches, is this why you’ve been unable to duel as of late? Am I too distracting ?”

He gives a hiss as that gorgeous, long hand snakes beneath his clothes. Too good, too good … Yugi catches Seto’s mouth in another kiss, fingers squeezing his shoulders. “W-what about our other games…” He’s panting. “Did I distract you?” 

Yugi’s earned a bite at his soft mouth for that statement. Seto pulls his hand away, a mild smirk twitching across his lips as he glares down at him with equivocal desire.

“You enjoy it, don’t you? Trying to get under my skin…”

Or at the very least, under his clothes.

He purposely grazes his fingers over the heat of him, but never quite touching in the way Yugi needs to get off on, “I wonder what it will take to humble you…? Even now, so difficult…so insulting…”  

He really is a genius, for how little experience he’s had, Seto learns quickly. Yugi moans at the nip at his mouth, and his eyes glitter at the question. “Sometimes.” But at that particular challenge - Yugi thinks he’s more than proven how well he can behave. He takes the hand that doesn’t tease him, and slips the thumb into his mouth, eyes half hooded and looking very obliging. They disconnect with a wet, “pop!” 

“I’m good, Seto, see? I want to be good…” 

Sometimes , he says.

More like all the time.

What a fool he had been to ever chalk Yugi up as some sweet little thing, oblivious- he’d been far more of a cunning minx than he’d ever thought him capable of. 

“I don’t think you’re very good at all, Yugi…” He suppresses a shudder at the feeling of Yugi’s warm and inviting mouth sucking lewdly at his thumb, it’s a pretty easy rabbit hole to fall down to think of where else that mouth might better be used.

But one prospect at a time. Besides, Yugi would enjoy it far too much.

“In fact, you were very disobedient tonight…sneaking off to talk about me…what else did you want to text Katsuya that you never got the chance to, mm ?” His fingers slip against Yugi’s waistband, dragging the fabric down, slowly.

Oh, he is good. Yugi pants, and would almost welcome that belt right about now. Anything to make Kaiba stop this teasing.... “Th-the other night, in bed...I was going to tell him about that…” He leans against that strong chest, face tilted up for a kiss. “I did feel like I was being...bad….But I liked it so much…” He means he felt he was behaving inappropriately with Kaiba, though he’ll probably take that to be a confession, that he knew he shouldn’t have said anything to Jonouchi at all...Right now, he doesn’t care, he only wants to be what Seto makes of him. He wants to be good, and touched, and adored…

“What about that other night, Yugi?” He nips at Yugi’s mouth, but never quite lingers long enough for Yugi to press their mouths together.

Oh, he is enjoying this.

“What exactly were you going to tell him I did to you? I want to hear it out loud…or else I might lose interest…” He has very nearly pulled Yugi’s undergarment down, but not quite, and he certainly isn’t touching him the way he needs.

Each nip, Yugi leans forward, each time, he’s denied. He’s starting to whimper and whine. “T-Tied me to the bed...And, u-um…” He flushes, he’s never said anything like this before. “Th-thrust on me? Is...is that how you want me to say it?” He wraps his arms around his shoulders and presses his face into that long neck, bucking toward his hand. “ Made me come… ”

“Now that you mention it in greater detail, I do remember that night, Yugi…yes…” He’s finally wrapped his fingers around Yugi, pulled him into the cool air, and he feels every inch of what he has done to Yugi.

“Shall I make you do it again…?” Yugi’s heat throbs into the warmth of his hand and he strokes along it, squeezing.

“Are you good enough?”

He gasps, twitches, and is completely helpless. "I will be," he promises, covering his face with kisses, trembling with want. "I-I'll do whatever you say...Seto, please…" That pull, he shudders. "D-do you have...um...y-you know, any…" He isn't sure he has the courage to say that.

“Use your words, Yugi…” He pauses to let him answer- it’s a bit cruel perhaps, but it seems the only way to get Yugi to do anything agreeable.

Ugh, who knew Kaiba liked filthy talk so much? "L-lubri..cant…" He holds his hand over Kaiba's. It's wonderful, but dry, it almost hurts. "Do you have any...lube… please." He's so red, a flush spreads over his shoulders. 

Lubricant?

Where does Yugi think he is right now? A mansion with near anything at his disposal, that he very well should expect a billionaire bachelor to have lubricant on him in any given room for any given moment? And what kind?

He sits back for a moment to think, eyes narrowing as he so very carefully considers what might best be used as a substitute. He seems to recall something…

Was it even really necessary though? It couldn’t have made that much a difference…

Kaiba removes himself from over top of Yugi and leans over to pull out the nightstand drawer, “That bottle you had…”

Lotion? It had better be.

"Good enough," Yugi sighs, too desperate for anything better, and too throbbing to give any thought to Kaiba cataloging what he keeps in the nightstand. He hurriedly squirts a sweet-smelling glob into the other man's hand, massaging slightly as he leans forward for more kisses - before bringing the hand back down and wrapping his fingers around the shaft again. Yugi sighs with relief, leaning into the motion. " Oh, Seto...yes… " It's never felt so good as this, with another person to touch him. And him, of all people! He's not even certain this is real, it's too good to be happening to him. 

The sensation is a bit strange at first, but as the lotion warms up, between his hand around Yugi’s heat, it grows slicker and easier to stroke.

He is so deeply concentrated on the feeling of it, the way their mouths fit together, for once his mind is absolutely only on Yugi right now, what he’s done to him and how utterly ruined he wants to make him. That Yugi is his , in this room, in this house, in his hands. His life, his pleasure, his pain, it’s all in Seto’s hands.

Who wouldn’t go a little power hungry with that?

He thinks back to Yugi moaning his name in his sleep that night, and then behind the changing screen…god, he’d thought then he’d merely been…been…fucking with him, aware of his growing…his interest in him.

…And maybe even now he strings him along, but he doesn’t care right now. Yugi is beautiful laid out this way, panting and flushed. All because of him, because he lets him feel this good.

It’s the best, the most intense it’s ever been, and therefore among the fastest. “Seto - I’m-!” He claws at his back, spilling cries into his mouth as, with a few more tight strokes, he spills across his hand. He holds the other boy’s hand steady, too much, too intense, while he struggles to catch his breath, face flushed. “ Oh …” He tucks his face into the crook of his neck and shivers. “ Thank you, thank you...nn… ” It’s like he could float away...like the whole world doesn’t exist outside this moment...He turns his face up for another kiss, and pours himself into it. 

Seto smirks into the curve of Yugi’s mouth, holding him there to allow him that chance to enjoy ecstasy. A reward, incentive perhaps, that he doesn’t need anyone else for anything. Could Katsuya do this for him? No. Never.

He pulls away, his hand coming up to gently tuck a finger against his chin, to keep his eyes on him- those beautiful violet eyes that are lidded in delight, “You’d like to keep being good, wouldn’t you, Yugi…?” It’s a hell of an argument in his favor, to be agreeable.

With his other hand, he finds Yugi’s, closing around it and pressing it to his own neglected arousal.

“Uh huh…” He doesn’t need much encouragement, the invitation to touch is enough. He rests one hand on Seto’s shoulders while the other palms him, and turns them so he’s propped amongst the pillows. Yugi’s eyes are bright, mischievous, even, as he settles on the other boy’s legs. He leaves marks on Kaiba’s neck - mostly nibbles and nips - as his fingers elegantly work his length out of his trousers.

He pauses in his kisses to properly appreciate the weight in his hands. “Oh, Seto...look what you’ve been hiding all this time…” Seto Kaiba is above average in every measure, and he is here, too. Yugi nips at his mouth, drawing out a long kiss. “It looks so good…” He does actually find it quite aesthetically pleasing: the elegant curve upwards, the sensitive, pronounced vein along the bottom, the bright red tip... 

Yugi is more than happy to prove himself the king of this game, too, rubbing lotion into his palms. He leans forward, but doesn’t quite kiss him, just looking into his eyes with a half-lidded gaze. “Can I touch you, please? I’ve wanted to for a long time…”

Already, not even a moment with Yugi’s fingers exploring him and sounding pleased, he flushes, his mind going back to that night he’d listened to Yugi breathing, thought about how he might touch and claim Yugi for himself- nowhere in that fantasy, surprisingly, had there been Yugi’s touch on him . And now, he realizes, for good reason.

He hadn’t been able to think when it came to Yugi’s breathing , now feeling him, kissing him…he begins to wonder just how much he’s underestimated his allure over him, thought even for a moment he could ruin him without Yugi dragging him down with him.

His haughtiness has slipped a little, replaced with something a lot needier in his gaze when Yugi looks at him that way and asks so prettily, despite his efforts at maintaining any kind of control, “…If you have to ask, maybe you aren’t ready…” He says, as if he himself is ready.

God he’s ready.

Yugi grins, but he bats his eyes very prettily, nuzzling into the corner of Kaiba’s jaw. “Oh no, Seto, please! I just wanted to be good …” He’ll show him who’s not ready…

Because the fact is, Yugi has a lot more knowledge of this than Seto does. He’s seen more; he’s done more - mostly by himself, but there had been some above-the-clothes groping at some parties; and he’s thought about it a lot, lot more. So he’s not exactly shy, when first he runs his right palm down the base of him. With that, he settles his thumb against the center of his testes, that soft spot where they separate. And then his left hand closes around the shaft.

Nor does he merely stroke in a single up-down motion. He twists downward, varying pressure as he goes: first along the tip, then on another stroke, harder on the base, then vice versa again. He really pulls on the man, works him over, while the right hand holds him down at the base, and the thumb teases and curls. 

Yugi repositions himself, on his knees beside the young man, able to whisper in his ear more easily this way. “ Oh Seto… ” It’s a purr, watching him gasp like the soul is about to leave his body. “You’re so amazing…” He sucks and nibbles at his neck, just below the jaw. “You’re so strong...and so big...Is it difficult, walking into a room and being the most gorgeous person there?” He pulls his earlobe between his teeth, sucks, licks, pulls again, and then busies himself with the sensitive spot just below that, at the column of his neck. 

“Am I being good now?” His breath is hot against his ear. “I want to be good so badly ...I bet you’re even more beautiful when you come.” He releases him with the right hand to hold his chin between thumb and forefinger. “Can I see, please? Please, Seto?” His mouth is against his, but he doesn’t quite kiss him. “I want it so bad…”

Oh no…

He should have known from that grin what he was in for.

In an instant, whatever smug satisfaction that was there is now gone, replaced, and reduced down to a young man who suffice to say had never gone beyond the realm of treating masturbation like it were a chore, an inconvenience to suffer through.

He didn't know the true meaning of pleasure until he felt Yugi’s hands around him. This way, he struggles to think of anything at all, his mouth has gone dry, he trembles with need, never quite realizing just how deprived and starved he’s been for touch.

“ Ah….Yugi …!” Yugi always has a rebuttal for him, but in this case, all of Yugi’s words are welcomed, warmly cascading over him as smoothly as his hand pumps away at him, far too good at this---it leaves many questions behind of who before him, but not now, no jealousy now, Yugi is here, doing this to him .

Beautiful , Seto absolutely flushes, it’s not the first time he’s called him that. Yugi is everywhere, smothering him in affection and touch, and he can’t get enough, bucking into his hand, panting harshly. There’s no need at all to ask if he can see, he is without any self-control or pride, he wants to come and he does.  

He is even more beautiful like this - flushed, beaded with sweat, muscles tense and body taut. His stomach and legs clench, showing off just how muscular he is, and Yugi kisses him through his climax, moaning into his mouth because it’s all so wonderful, so intensely erotic.

Yugi slows his strokes until Seto collapses back on the bed, and then he releases him. “What a mess you’ve made, Seto…” A hot curiosity makes him put out his tongue to lick what’s dribbled onto his thumb, and it’s much nicer than he’d hoped for. Yugi purrs again, pets the young man’s leg, and whispers, “Stay here.”

He cleans himself off in the washroom, so much better than that other night, alone, hot with shame. Maybe he should be ashamed of this, but he’s not. He brings out a fresh, damp washcloth and rubs his...his what? Is he rubbing down his lover, his keeper, his rival? The labels are less important than the cloudy blue eyes assessing him; than the way his brown hair falls into his face, damp with sweat.

Yugi smiles, tossing the cloth into the laundry bin and sliding into the bed next to Seto, whatever his title may be. “Was I good, like you wanted?” he asks, his hand slowly petting from his thigh, up to his hip, his side, over his shoulder. “Can we….do that again sometime?”

Part of him is still trembling when Yugi comes back to clean him up, partly in shock still with how adept Yugi was, and partly that it could feel that good. For a long while, he’s collecting himself, trying to latch back onto reality, and when Yugi returns to him again, nestling up against his side, there’s enough regained sense to turn into his touch, loop his arms around him and pull him close, bury his face against his warmth and his scent.

“…Yes. To…all of the above.”

He can’t deny it anymore, not that he’s done such a convincing job of it before. He does need Yugi. And at this rate, it would be very difficult to go without him ever again.

What’s a contract without a few clauses in it?

Yugi is giddy with delight, that this isn’t a fluke, that he really is wanted. His heart palpitates in his chest and he laughs a little, fingers combing through Kaiba’s damp hair. “Seto…” Their legs tangle together, and he feels himself twitch - “again,” might be sooner than he thought. “The other night...why wouldn’t you kiss me?”

Seto’s not very eager to return to whatever reality they were living in before, he experiences too much of it for too long as is, and so he only draws Yugi closer, nuzzling against his neck and pressing his lips at his skin, in slow, soft trails.

“…I’m kissing you now …aren’t I…?”

And if he’s honest with himself, which, who has time for that , he thinks part of it was the idea of giving in. Being weak. Letting Yugi think they were on equal footing. But what did it all matter in the end? He watches his computer constantly, just for glimpses of Yugi throughout the day. He listened to him pleasure himself. There’s only so much he can deny, and already he is at full capacity in his denial of being convinced the Pharaoh is still out there and able to be conjured- there’s not room for anything else!

Yugi purrs, sighs, curls into every touch and tease. And he’s young, so he really does have the stamina to find this all much, much too arousing… “Yeah…” He rewards each touch with whimpers and soft, pleased sounds. “But why not then...what’s different?” 

“ Yugi …” Kaiba nearly groans, but doesn’t let up in his kisses, seeking to claim as much as he can while he has the chance…who knows when he’ll lose his self-respect again?

Probably soon.

Must Yugi talk and ruin it all though, with questions? Now he could very well do the same thing, but he suspects any of the answers would only infuriate him, and so he settles for covering Yugi’s mouth with his own in an attempt to silence him.

It works - for now. Kisses given now are far more interesting than ones denied previously, provided there are no more denials. He pulls Seto on top of him and revels in that weight, the completeness of his body covering his own. “D-do you want to sleep…” He cants his hips up. “Or...keep going?” If they’re going to sleep, it’ll have to be now, or he won’t be able to stop. 

He could very well be satiated and content to curl up against Yugi, welcoming the ever elusive sleep.

But with an offer…an implication, like that, it makes him reluctant to end this. Too many times has he sworn to himself that there would be a last time when it came to Yugi- if there was just one last duel, if he just turned on the monitor to check on him one last time, if he just listened into the transmitter once more to see what Yugi is chatting about to his staff, if he just sneaks into his room, if he just ties him up and gets it out of his system-

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps- and it never is enough. Never .

How can he sleep when now it’s all out on the table? He should touch as if there is no tomorrow.

And then do it all again tomorrow.

He rocks back against him, kissing him slowly, savoring  the way their mouths fit, and how they fit, and his eyes are not so filled with ice when they gaze down at Yugi, rather deep, and dark, and wanting.

“… More …” A man who has everything straddled over Yugi and begging for more .

Yugi is lost and drowning in pools of blue eyes, and he wonders how he’ll ever refuse this man anything ever again. If he is always like this, he will never want to. The world outside this room is forgotten for one glorious night. Maybe it won’t always be that way - but right now, it is. 

He arches into Seto, breathless, every inch of skin more sensitive than when they started, every sense heightened. He holds his face between his hands and brings him down for more kisses as they rock into one another. “Mm - but we really - nn - should get some lubricant.” Not because he thinks they’re going to…. go all the way , but it would make this much, much smoother. 

The length of Seto rubs against the length of Yugi, and the smaller boy purrs, pulling him very close. “ I really liked it, the other night...when you were on top of me .” He runs one hand through the hair at the back of his head, and the other holds them together so that delicious rubbing continues. “ Do it again, please …” It’s not “all the way,” but it’s near enough, the simulation of it is so delicious and so tender, he feels completely lost and helpless to Seto.

And he likes that feeling, heaven help him. 

“ Whatever you want …” He replies quietly, as equally entranced. Yugi can have anything he wants, especially if it improves their experiences together.

For now though, his arms are under Yugi’s form, molding him into that perfect place their bodies come together just so, and he rocks a little helplessly up against him, wondering how he could have ever thought one time would be enough to be satisfied wholly.

Yugi is so perfect under him. It’s where he belongs, where he’s always belonged, where he’ll always be.

“Tell me what you liked most about it…” He nuzzles at his neck, at his jaw, his ear as he murmurs, thrusting against him, “Being under me, or being tied up…?” He doesn’t have a belt handy, but he could always procure one…

But then Yugi’s hands wouldn’t be in his hair or at his back, and what a detriment that would be.

Seto is so tender, it drives him wild . He can’t go slow, he’s too keyed up, and bucks frantically up into the other man’s hips, panting and desperate. He tries to formulate thoughts to answer his questions, but all that’s in his head is white noise and sensation. “Being under you!” He cries out, the hand at his back sliding down to grab at his ass and leverage him closer, harder. “Being at your mercy - Seto! ” So close, so close! “Oh God, oh God, I-” He bares his neck, whining and writhing. “Bite me, I want to feel you-” He wants marks to prove he belongs to Seto Kaiba, like the marks he left on his wrist. “ Harder, please, please! ” 

That desperation Yugi feels now, it’s what Kaiba has had to contend with for weeks now, it’s a good taste of his own medicine. He smirks in satisfaction at it, hearing it oozing out of Yugi’s breathless words and pleas, in the way his hips almost violently jerk against his. He didn’t think it possible to adore Yugi even more, to find new things to become fascinated by, but he is proving to always be a surprise, even if a maddening one.

And then he asks to be bitten.

He wants so badly to be pinned down and taken so roughly, claimed so thoroughly? He gladly obliges, jerking them both together, catching his other wrist in his fingers and pinning it, writhing with that delicious friction, and that soft mouth becomes teeth that capture his flesh, and he has no trouble biting down and making Yugi cry out. Their whole relationship has been based on pain and pleasure, it may as well be present in this, too.

He sucks at the skin and tastes him, a low, pleased sound in his throat when he comes against Yugi, biting just a bit harder with the sensation of it before he lets go with a small gasp, heavy against him and burying his head against the crook of his shoulder.

Seto's teeth sink into his flesh, and Yugi falls over the edge - hard. So hard, it almost hurts, a wonderful combination of pain and pleasure that leaves his skin buzzing and his mind blank. It's never been so intense before: he bucks up into Seto, feels him reach that precipice as well, and Yugi is loud as he finishes, a mess between their bodies. He doesn't get up to clean them this time. He doesn't think he could walk, and frankly, he doesn't want to. He likes the evidence of what just happened, especially the swelling on his neck where the other man's teeth just left a mark.

He struggles to catch his breath, or think. "You're so good …" He loops one arm around his back so he remains on top of him, sweat cooling between them. "Seto… that was amazing."

With his other hand, he combs that very damp hair and lifts his head so they can see one another. Yugi's eyes are wide and shining. "Stay with me? Please?"

Yugi asks him to stay as if he isn’t pressed against him, already intending on staying there for the rest of the night. As if Kaiba can stay away from him, despite his efforts to control himself. His arms wrap around him, eyes tired, but any previous irritation from where he had first found Yugi and what he had caught him doing has since been soothed away, and he looks content, pleased with the outcome of tonight’s events.

He thinks so long that Yugi remains here… indefinitely …that he might be very used to these regular occurrences. Holding him, breathing him in, claiming him in ways no one else can, making him feverish with need that only he can fulfill.

And even so, knowing full well there is no other place he’d rather be right now, he pretends for a moment to consider it, as if he doesn’t listen to him breathe just to drown out the noise of his own mind.

“Tonight I will.”

And every night.

Chapter Text

He wakes up - to an unfamiliar weight on his chest. A mop of very messy brown hair is all he can see from this position, and it takes his mind a second to catch up - oh . Mostly naked with Seto Kaiba....Wow, that’s one item off a bucket list he’d made in high school.

He stretches a little, trying not to wake the man using him as a pillow, and feels his stomach twinge. His muscles are actually sore from how tight they were with pleasure. Wow . That’s either amazing, or a sign he needs to start working out. 

He doesn’t want to wake Kaiba, but he also feels completely disgusting: sticky with seed, with sweat, probably with saliva if memory serves him...He’d also like to brush his teeth before stealing anymore kisses. 

But oh, it was all so, so worth it. Last night was...Mm, his head flops back against his pillow just imagining it again. Those gorgeous blue eyes - and that mouth - and those long fingers - and those teeth . The way those hands slipped beneath him, held his ribs and his back, so tenderly...Yugi begins to fondly run his fingers through strands of brown hair, putting them back into place. Everything is going to be different now. It’s going to be good. He doesn’t know exactly what Kaiba wants, but it can’t be that far different from his own feelings. The passion between them was too intense to deny, and it’s been building insatiably for some time. And Yugi, he’ll get to show Kaiba just how good life can be, outside these walls, outside this trapped life.

He stirs a little and Yugi feels a fierce and protective emotion well within him. His hand slips down to his back, as far as he can reach, and cradles him there. He’s going to see now, it’s going to be different. 

It’s going to be wonderful. 

As with every night he spends with Yugi, he sleeps deeply and soundly, and there are no recurring dreams of taunting duels, or plagued images of those he would rather forget. Just serene sleep and a mended mind, but unfortunately for Yugi, a good night’s sleep after engaging in a much needed night of released passion isn’t enough to change Seto Kaiba.

He stirs slightly, so much of him still so relaxed against Yugi, the tension of the day not yet registered and he is content to enjoy it for a little while longer. Eventually though, he does rouse from sleep, and the sensation, aside from warmth, and grogginess, is the feeling of his pants against him in what has now dried in an uncomfortable manner that requires attention, but despite the discomfort, it is still valued evidence of Yugi and his shared intimacy.

He turns his head and rests his chin against Yugi’s chest, those watchful eyes almost soft from sleep still, his arms still wrapped around Yugi, not once did he ever let go during the night, and thankfully, no one had decided to burst in. Seto doesn’t think he could explain this one to Mokuba, not with their shirts off anyway.

“Hi.” Yugi’s smile is wide and a little bashful. “Sleep well?” His fingers are still combing through Seto’s hair. 

It’s a sight too sweet to wake up to, it’s like waking up to the sun with a smile like that. But he thinks he could get used to it. Alarmingly used to it.

“Better.” He lets out a small noise in approval. And because of last night, there’s no reason not to come in here whenever he needs some peace of mind. Not that there was anything ever stopping him before, except pride, perhaps.

He pulls his arms out from around him and starts to push himself up…but the fingers in his hair make him linger for a moment longer, shifting into the touch before he finally has to force himself to pull away. There’s too much to do, and first and foremost, they both need to…clean up.

Yugi lets him go, fingers drawing away. “I need to shower, but, um, after - breakfast?” Seto looks really good in the light of the morning. God, that chest, and those abs...He wants to bite into him right now, but that can wait a little longer.   

“Of course. I need to shower as well, obviously.” And from the looks of the direction he’s heading after flexing his shoulders and stretching the kinks out of how he’d been positioned all night, he’s not leaving Yugi’s room just yet.

Yugi’s adjoined bathroom light flickers on and soon there is the accompaniment of running water.

“Coming, Yugi ?”

He looks just as good from behind, too...Yugi jumps at that invitation. Is he- in his shower? At the same time ?

“I’m coming!” He hurries after his...paramore, but blushes a little. It shouldn’t matter that they’ll be totally naked, after last night - after all, there’s not much Kaiba hasn’t seen. Still, that does seem to be an extra….something. He brushes his teeth while the water warms up and keeps stealing surreptitious glances in the mirror as Seto undresses. Yugi decides he’s got a great butt, too. He’s just spit toothpaste into the sink when steam begins to fill the room and Seto steps into the water.

Yugi hesitates, but slowly undresses, having to peel the clothes from his body from how they stuck. Will he look….good enough? Okay? Big enough? He closes his eyes and steps in. “I-I’m here.”

Seto turns to look, there’s a flicker of his eyes down his form as he joins him. It’s a spacious enough shower, there’s no reason why, especially after last night, they couldn’t shower together, it seemed only logical.

And if Yugi is worried over how he looks or measures up, he shouldn’t be. Does he think Kaiba only settles for parts? It should be obvious by now that he is an all or nothing man. And Yugi is far from nothing. He’s so good this way, obedient, compliant, soft…

Wet.

“ So you are …” He sounds so terribly pleased too, “Turn around for me.”

There’s such a hungry light in his eyes, it’s almost a little frightening, a bit like a wolf in a fairy story. “Huh? O-okay.” Yugi turns and faces the tile, and puts his hands on the wall. He wasn’t specifically told to do that, it just seemed like the right idea. The water drips down his skin, sluicing everything from his body, which is refreshing. And it’s hot, the same way Kaiba’s eyes on his skin are hot…

Oh…

Doesn’t even have to be told, really, he just presents himself so prettily and practically begs for Seto’s touch, his care.

Kaiba does not take long to encircle around him, hands slipping over his slickened sides, and suddenly the steam has a sweeter aroma from the lather worked against Yugi’s skin from under his hands.

“I’ve made such a mess out of you, the least I can do is clean you up properly …” He’s at his ear, hands sliding over his stomach, trailing over his warmth and working the soap around him.

At least they’d be in the shower this time, provided they became a little more reckless. Again.

That wasn’t what he was expecting, and Yugi jumps at the hands working soap over his skin. Unfortunately, Kaiba’s voice at his ear, and his hands over his body...Yugi’s recovered, and instantly shows his interest, leaning into every touch with a breathy moan. This really hadn’t been his plan for the morning, he really did want to get cleaned up and eat something.

But if he was offering …

He presses back against the wall so he leans into Seto’s body, breath shallow. “S-Seto…” He purrs. “Y-you could...make a mess out of me again...if you wanted…” 

“Oh, I know I can…” Seto purrs right back, smirking as he pushes back against Yugi, his fingers sliding over each dip and muscle, his mouth descending to Yugi’s neck to add a matching mark to the other side.

He does want. Terribly. Yugi has twisted him into some addict, needing his constant fix of him in some way. Yugi knows what he’s done, just as he knows now, and now that there’s no need for restraint…

His hand finds him, wraps around him to coax him back into that needy state- god does he love hearing Yugi beg. In dueling it has been a pleasure reducing him down, but in this, it’s an entirely new and indulgent challenge.

“And I will.”

“ Nn !” Between his teeth on his neck and his hand around his length, all sense goes out of Yugi, replaced by sensation, and the desire for more sensation. He likes being Seto’s toy in this way, he likes being the center of his attention, and wanted, and pleasured...It’s what he’s wanted for weeks, and he’s not complaining, even if it makes a wanton out of him. His skin is very sensitive after everything last night, but he doesn’t care, letting the slight pain simply help to build the pleasure.

His right hand wraps Seto’s, just because he needs to touch him back in some way. His breath leaves him in heavy puffs. “ H-how did you get so good at this …” H encourages his thumb to linger at the tip, and already he leaks over his hand. 

It’s good that Yugi likes this, because he’s opened the floodgates by encouraging more of it- even in the ways he didn’t realize he was, in his gaze, his teasing, and even in his acts of rebellion, what few there were. Whether intended or not, Yugi had fit himself into that hole that had been carved out of him. It’s not a perfect fit, but it fits, it’s no longer gaping and oozing out, not losing any more of himself.

No, this is madness with a name now. He can stare out across the room and feel confident in calling out to it now- Yugi . He’d have the spirit return just to see what had become of his host he’d been so eager to leave behind.

There is something sick and satisfying about being the source of Yugi’s undoing and pleasure, and how easily he could give and take it away, and it plays perfectly into his hand that way. The ebb and flow of their actions against one another, the same rush and thrill of a duel without the disappointment at the outcome.

“Why Yugi , you seem almost surprised by that…” He lets go of his skin to murmur at his ear, squeezing around him, slick and aided by the lather. “You should know me better by now.”

He should - there’s nothing Seto Kaiba can’t do if he puts his mind to it, or nearly so. He leans back against the hot, wet body behind him, and one hand snakes up to tangle in damp, brown hair, while his hips thrust and stutter. So close it’s painful- “ Please - c-can I…” Yugi’s a quick study, too: asking permission is probably the safest way to get what he wants out of Kaiba, who loves being asked, loves being in power. Yugi doesn’t mind giving him that power in moments like this. 

Seto can feel him- is he so close already? Oh it sends a particularly vicious thrill through him, his smirk spreads against Yugi’s neck, and on brand with his crueler streak, his hand suddenly leaves him.

“What are you asking me, Yugi?”  His other hand trails down Yugi’s arm. “Use your words…” He’s going to hear him say those things he wants from him, exactly what he wants him to do.

“Can you what ?” His hands are over him again, not to continue, not to spoil him, but to turn him around to face him, pressing his back up against the cool tiles.

That was the other danger, of course: it might have been better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission…

But that’s part of the thrill, isn’t it, the delay of pleasure? Yugi lunges up to catch his mouth, and this way, he can see just how interested his partner is as well. He doesn’t touch him just yet, but he slides his hand to rest just above him, on his stomach. (How does he get those abs?) “Make me come, Seto, please,” he begs against his mouth. “It’s so much better when it’s you, because you’re so amazing.” 

He is quite pleased with the level of control he’s maintained here, but to a point- Yugi’s words are a double-edged sword, they’re revealing but also poisonous in how effective they are. He suppresses a shudder at the praise, and his arms are around Yugi, hiking him up against the wall with a newly stoked level of impatience, their eyes meeting, and it’s much better this way as he presses between his thighs, lets him feel the heat of his own need as he rocks them both together.

“ I will. ” It’s a promise, another clause to their contract that he would be the one to make Yugi come- the only one.

It’s the price of negotiating with Seto Kaiba.

His mouth presses to his again, everything is so wet and warm between them.

It's a tangle of wet teeth and lips and hair. Water drips into his face, into his mouth when he pauses for breath in between kisses. 

This simulation of the conjugal act - it's amazing how wonderful it is. So close to Seto, all his passion, all the overwhelming sensation; none of the fear he'd have, the pain, if he completely gave himself over. Yugi leans into each thrust, encourages his partner over the edge, and bucks his hips against him as he finishes ecstatically on that marble-hard stomach. His legs are tight on the other boy's length, and Seto looks so beautifully vulnerable, for a single moment. Yugi combs through his damp hair and whispers soothingly in his ear. "That's it, I want to see it… You're amazing, Seto-"

He feels his arms tremble as he's slowly lowered back to his own feet on the shower floor, the tile scratching at his back. He keeps his fingers in that hair anyway, and continues to kiss him and murmur, " Gorgeous. "

Vulnerable for just a moment, and then they’re left to come back down to reality, or whatever this version of it is, hot water rushing over them. And the rest of the shower really does have to be spent washing up. It is understandable if Kaiba spent a few personal hours away, but suspect when half of those hours were spent in Yugi’s room, especially in his shower.

He releases Yugi once he’s steady, and the rest of the time is hastily spent passing bottles between them until they’re clean and able to function long enough to get out and towel off.

…And to realize he has no clean clothes available to tread down the hallway with. It had been a choice though, either walk down the hall with soiled clothing, disgusting , or risk the walk of…well, is it shame, really, or had he passed that stage weeks ago now?

A sigh, and he instead busies himself with drying off and keeping his wayward glances to a minimum lest they start all over again- entirely plausible.

“...I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Maybe it’s too personal, but Yugi presses up against his back once, as he towels his hair, holding his abdomen. “Last night was really amazing…” He places a kiss along the knobs of his spine, and is overwhelmed with affection. “Thank you for that.” 

Seto leaves his room in just a towel, and Yugi feels...giddy, like he’s had too much to drink, like he should be waltzing. He dresses, he dries his hair, he almost floats down the stairs. Everything after this is going to be wonderful, and better, and they’re going to figure all this madness out, and-

“Wow, you’ve got a smile on your face.” Mokuba is waiting at the breakfast nook, drinking coffee. “What’s up?”

“Aren’t you too young for coffee?” Yugi doesn’t answer his question, instead loading his own cup with sugar and cream.

“I’m a Vice President, I get to drink coffee! What’s got you so happy today?”

“Oh, you know.” Yugi shrugs while steaming bowls of miso soup are brought to the table. “Slept well.” 

When Seto does finally join them again, he looks himself, put together properly, not the gaunt haggard look of a man haunted, and not a man face down against the chest of his rival-not-rival; but dressed, clean, his hair only very slightly wet. He moves in for coffee murmuring a ‘ good morning ’- mostly to Mokuba, but it may as well be for Yugi too, after all, who’s to say when they saw one another last, and under what circumstances.

He brushes against Yugi when he pulls his seat nearer to him- was it nearer to him? He was merely pulling it closer for himself to sit down, purely coincidental that had put him in closer range to do things like, bump one’s knee. Seto couldn’t help his height, after all.

Yugi's eyes glitter when Seto joins them - he looks so handsome - and he passes a plate of mackerel to him, murmuring a quiet, "Morning," in return. His hands drop back beneath the table, and his fingers brush the other man's before returning to his lap.

Mokuba raises an eyebrow at his brother as he digs into the fish. "You're eating breakfast? That's a miracle. You look like you slept, too. Who's blackmailing you?"

“Must it be blackmail? Can’t I ever just sleep well for once…?” There’s a mild smile at his mouth too- no, surely there must be something wrong, because he’s too…stable. Too sure, and too much like himself again, before that hole had been torn out of him. Much too alive.

Has the man’s mind ever been close to content before, ever in his life? Content meant being satisfied with one’s current state, and standing still to analyze it only ever invited the chaos to swarm him. Best to keep moving, keep his mind occupied, throw himself into projects and tournaments.

But here, if he didn’t think too hard about it, and merely existed in this moment with Yugi and his brother, it was almost…its own brand of paradise. Not the one Atem had gone to, but maybe even better this way, somehow.

He sips at his coffee in one hand, the other occasionally finds its way to a lap not his own. It’s dangerous business to conduct in with his brother mere feet away, but Kaiba finds himself ravenous this morning, and for far more than just breakfast.

Yugi just smiles quietly to himself, and his left hand inconspicuously drifts to his lap - tangles with that other hand, strokes the wrist, twines the fingers. Nothing could ruin today.

Except for maybe a servant coming in with a platter and bowing before the master of the house, murmuring, "The lubricant you ordered, sir."

"Why did you order machine lubricant for the breakfast table?" Mokuba asks, and it's all Yugi can do to keep from turning bright red and school his features at all. It's definitely machine lubricant, in a large, blue steel container. 

So apparently they have some work to do. 

Kaiba manages to appear unfazed enough for both of their sakes, merely nodding at the servant, “Put it in my study for now.”

He’d figure out what Yugi wanted with it later. Whatever it was, he had his…. doubts , but thus far, everything else had been pleasant.

To Mokuba, he finally answers, “Yugi requested it.” It’s vague but honest enough. And whatever Yugi wants, Yugi gets, within reason. Yugi misbehaves and displeases him? He loses something- like his phone, those leeches he calls friends. But how much easier it is on them both when he listens. It could’ve been this way from the beginning…

Well. Maybe not this way. This part of it was unexpected. The part that is his hand squeezing his thigh under the table.

Oh God, Yugi is definitely red now, staring at his soup. Mokuba gets a smirk on his face, very reminiscent of his older brother, and quirks a dark brow. “Yugi?” he asks, leaning his arm on the table. “Why did you order machine lubricant?”

“I, um.” He can’t think of a lie - and it sure is starting to look like at least one Kaiba brother paid attention in sex ed. “Like cars,” is all that he can come up with.

Kaiba’s eyes narrow a fraction across the table at his brother- just what was that look for? If he thinks he knows anything, he’s not supposed to!

Of course, Yugi’s answer does nothing to help matters. Cars? Could he think of nothing else, no other substitute? He can’t help but to scoff, “Well we’re not building a car . It’s…for a project Yugi is working on, for me.” His grip is a little harsher in his silent scolding of Yugi, with eyes that say, ‘ lie better ’.

This is Yugi though, what did he expect, really? Discretion ? Yes. Why is that even a question!  

Kaiba makes it much worse, squeezing him like that. It only makes him want to cry out, which will not help this situation at all. 

Mokuba doesn't help either, laughing his head off. "Ohhh, a project. So you guys are really revving those engines, huh?"

"Mokuba." It's about as much as Yugi can glare, bright red. 

"I don't want to get in the way of your project. Don't work too hard, okay?" He leaves the table, still snickering, and Yugi doesn't think anything good is about to happen. 

"What is wrong with you?" he hisses at the older brother. "Machine lubricant?"

What is that horrible school teaching his brother?

He snatches back his hand from Yugi’s lap and turns, glaring once Mokuba is believed to be out of sight and earshot, “ You like cars? That’s the best you could come up with? What do you mean, what’s wrong with me? You asked me for it! You could show more appreciation.”  

“Sir-“ There’s another interruption in the doorway, and Kaiba’s glare turns icy.

“I said put it in my study.”

“But sir-“

“What part of that did you not understand hearing it a second time?”

“We’ve caught an intruder!”

Ah…now that gives Kaiba pause, and the irritation of the morning melds with something intrigued. Curious. “Is that so? I wonder who would be ignorant and foolish enough to trespass onto my property…” He smoothly stands from his chair then, rising to his full height.

“He only made it as far as over the gate, sir. He was apprehended quickly and we’re detaining him now.”

“This morning just gets more and more interesting, doesn’t it?” He glances to Yugi with something more unreadable, almost contemplative. “Well by all means, why don’t we see who our guest is?”

“I didn’t ask you for machine lubricant ,” Yugi hisses. “ Personal - lubricant .” He really doesn’t want to ask, but, “Do you not know what that is?”

There’s a noise just beyond the door. It seems Mokuba has come back amid all the commotion, because Yugi can hear him say, “Hey, Jonouchi.”

“Hey, Mokuba,” much more deadpan. The color drains from Yugi’s face as his eyes go large as saucers. He glances up at Kaiba, who now has a very particular look on his face - and not a good one, either.

Forgotten is the warmth in which he woke up after a peaceful rest, the dragon’s claws have returned, and he makes quick strides to the hall where his guards detain one of the last people he ever had the patience for- now standing there in his home, grass stains up and down his torn jeans.

“ Katsuya , what the hell do you think you’re doing here?” It was one thing to barge into his office, but this was something he had severely wanted to avoid. He was a filthy nuisance, and no doubt this occurred specifically because of Yugi’s messages. Oh how he played the little hostage well, didn’t he? The little bird in his gilded cage, trapped and seeking freedom— oh if only someone would come along and free him?

“You’re lucky you’re still standing, my guards could - and should - have done worse.”

“ What did you do with Yugi .” Jonouchi’s never been afraid of Kaiba, and he isn’t about to start now.

But Yugi is, even now, and that threat makes him scramble out of his chair and rush to the doorway. “Jonouchi!”

“Yugi!” His face lights up with affection and relief. “You’re alright? I was so worried, you stopped answering, I couldn’t get through to you-”

Oh God, how could he have forgotten, his phone ! He drops his face into his hands before squaring his shoulders. “I’m so sorry! There was...an accident,” an accident named Seto Kaiba, “and I got so caught up - I’m really sorry.” Even with his arms held, each by one guard, Yugi can wrap his own around his friend’s torso. Jonouchi’s cheek rests on the top of his head with intense relief. “I am so, so sorry-”

Kaiba’s eyes are wide as Yugi speaks, in disbelief as to the earnestness he hears, only magnified to worse proportions when he crosses the tiles and slips his arms around his dear friend, holds him, soothes whatever worries and concerns any friend would normally have.

It’s infuriating.

“ Quiet, Yugi ! I’ve heard enough—apologizing for having obligations that don’t involve your pathetic friends—did it ever occur to you, Katsuy a, that if he’s here, then his time is being utilized on something far more important than whatever it is you have to say?” It had been five steps backwards from their…shall he refer to it as progress? Yugi being obedient, only to turn around and betray him the first inch he’s allowed. It’s a perfect example as to why he no longer has a phone, and why he’s still here, months later.

“ Hey! Don’t you tell him to be quiet you son of a-” Jonouchi’s arms are already tense against the suits that wrestle to keep him still.

“I’d be very careful about how you finish that sentence, Katsuya, there are so many ways I could respond in return, none of them pleasant.”

“Stop it, please!” Yugi stands between Kaiba and Jonouchi, not that it matters, arms outstretched as if he’d protect him. His lavender eyes are imploring. “ Please . Everything’s alright, so there’s no reason to be upset. I’m fine...and no harm was done...Just let him go home.” He looks up at his friend and smiles. “I’ll get the phone fixed, and then you won’t have to worry-”

Of course Yugi stands between them, to defend Jonouchi. It’s sickening how his loyalty flips so easily.

“Let’s get one thing clear—if you ever trespass onto my property again, which really should extend to the entirety that is Domino City, in case you’re unclear of what exactly I own here, but I’m being generous in allowing you to remain in your filthy hovel with your fourth rate deck, but if you ever specifically harass me at my home or at my office again, I am personally guaranteeing you that anyone that does remember your name will never see you again.”

Kaiba’s eyes are daggers that land on Yugi next, there’s deep resentment that swims to the surface, disappointment, “And as for a phone, it’s out of the question. Your commitment to me has been questionable from the start, but these added distractions are only hindering us further.”

He nods to his guards next, “Take the trash out of my sight.”

Everyone, even Mokuba, looks pretty stunned - if not horrified - by that short speech. Jonouchi starts to speak, “Why do you get to decide anything about Yugi’s phone, or anything he does-” but he’s cut off by staff pulling him down the hall, heels dragging in the carpet. “Yugi!”

Yugi starts to go after his friend, but tight fingers on his arm stop him. He turns, glares. “ Kaiba-kun - Jonouchi isn’t part of our agreement, you don’t have the right to-”

“Don’t you tell me what I have a right to do. I’m Seto Kaiba. I bow to no one.” His eyes are piercing through Yugi’s, as if to say , especially you .

“I’ll tell you what’s part of our agreement. Since you’ve forgotten .” His fingers squeeze around his arm as he pulls him closer. “You said you’d stay until the Pharaoh’s return. Tell me where he is, and when you plan on fulfilling that part of our bargain, and I will have Katsuya released back into the wild from whence he came. You’re only good at lying when you want to be, aren’t you Yugi?”

He releases him and turns, storming away from them, back to his study, and retreating away from Yugi once more.   

He tries to pull those fingers off, but the grip is too strong. There are going to be bruises on his arm now that don’t quite match the ones printed along his neck last night. “You know I can’t do that-!” He whimpers when he’s released - almost shoved - and rubs at his bruised arm.

Mokuba comes up to him as soon as Kaiba is out of sight. “Are you alright?” He really has lost it, to be so unhinged in front of his little brother. “He was really mad. Let me see.”

“I-I’m alright.” He’s not alright. Nothing’s changed. Everything that happened - every kiss, and every touch, and every deep, longing breath for Seto - and it’s all exactly the same. The tender hands along his body are the vicious hands who manhandled him now. It’s too easy to say Seto is two people, one light, one dark. The truth is so much more complicated: they’re both the same man, and he is capable of great tenderness, and great viciousness. Tears brim in his eyes, but Yugi swallows them down. “Please, Mokuba - just don’t let them hurt Jonouchi.”

“I don’t think they’re really going to do anything…” He smiles a little nervously. “Seto talks a big game, but-” But nothing, they both know it. “I’ll check, though.”

He leaves, and Yugi is left standing in the hall, exactly where he was however many days ago. No phone, no friends, no kindness. How things change in only a minute. 

Now that he has no one to talk to once again, Yugi talks to his Kuriboh, stroking back the unruly fur. “I totally failed Jonouchi today.” He’s tucked in amongst the pillows on the bed, and completely miserable. “I was….a dumb slut, I never even thought about him last night. And he got hurt today because of me…” Looking at the Kuriboh, he can almost hear Atem. He would say that isn’t true, not to give up - but the fact that he almost can, but not quite, makes everything hurt a lot more. If he could hear Atem now….Jonouchi might not have been hurt at all.

But that’s not Atem’s fault, either. That’s someone else’s fault entirely…

Yugi flops back. “What am I going to do now?”

It’s easy to let Yugi stew in the pain, the loneliness- especially now that Kaiba knows how much Yugi desires him . But he can’t keep choosing whoever is convenient. Doesn’t he see how weighed down he is by all of them? Demanding his attention as if they even knew what to do with it. Yugi is special in ways he can’t even explain, but knows simply through watching him, how rare and unlike anyone else he is, of course there are so many hands hoping to grab onto him.

But only Kaiba will have him. And if this is the best he can have, if there’s no King , then he’ll occupy the throne himself and keep Yugi at his feet where he belongs.

It’s late now, the rest of the day had passed without further incident, enough time for them both. Yugi should be plenty sorry by now- and to the right person this time.

There’s no knocking, it’s his own house after all, he merely lets himself in, stands in the doorway and his eyes flicker over Yugi’s form beneath his covers, that…filthy creature in his hands.

“ Yugi. ”

Yugi jumps as the door opens - he didn’t really expect a knock anymore - and quickly (and, it must be said, reluctantly) shoves his Kuriboh into the nightstand. “Hello…” His voice is low, far from the happy, affectionate cadence of this morning. “Did you need something?”

The door is shut behind him, and blue eyes are trailing over him, trying to get a read on his demeanor. Obviously changed since this morning, and for what? Wasted on concern and worry over that little punk who had no business trying to break into his home. Nothing more than a criminal- and a third rate one at even that, too. Amusing.

Kaiba smirks, slowly spanning over the floor to Yugi’s massive bed, it’s almost predatory the way his eyes stay on him.

“As a matter of fact, I did . A few things, actually. Why don’t we get the more unpleasant business out of the way first.” He sits at the edge of his bed, crossing a long leg over the other, “Please feel free to start with whatever prepared apology you have.”

“Prepared-” Yugi almost chokes. Is that what he thinks he’s spent all day doing? Rehearsing an apology to Kaiba ? It’s a mistake, he ought to know it’s a mistake, but-

Yugi’s eyes flash. “Why don’t you go first.”

Kaiba’s grin sharpens just a little, there’s something terrible lurking in that hungry gaze, but he stays seated pretty at the edge- always at the edge, isn’t he- and he rolls a shoulder, as if they are casually speaking, and it’s a mere disagreement.

“I don’t see what I’d have to apologize for, Yugi.” His tone placating, as if speaking to a child, “As I recall, I was not the person sending out messages needlessly, speaking about personal, private affairs, to the city’s living dumpster, who seeks any and all reason to break into my personal, restricted properties just so he can ask you if you’re feeling okay.”

He slides closer, “And how are we feeling today, Yugi? Can we assume sorry ?”

“Don’t call him that.” His hand fists in the sheets. “Jonouchi is a good person, he’s a good friend. He’d do anything for the people he loves, and that’s not nothing. He’s brave, and good, and he works hard-”

He’s sorry for a lot of things, but not for anything involving Jonouchi. However...He leans back, eyes still narrow, cautious. “Yes.” Kaiba didn’t ask what for, anyway. 

“And he’s also the reason you don’t have a phone anymore, isn’t that also right?” Kaiba looks absolutely smug, so satisfied with himself in shifting blame to the mutt. Katsuya was also nothing more than a world class failure who relied on luck to shift his changing fate, rather than take fate between his own two hands and bend it to his whims.

What Yugi sees in him, he’ll never understand.

“Enough about him though. Tell me how sorry you are, giving him reason to intrude, defending him this morning. Make it believable.”

“I don’t have a phone because you smashed it!” Yugi is starting to regret the liberties of last night. He hadn’t known Kaiba would be like…. this . “Which, if you hadn’t done that, he wouldn’t have been worried, and he wouldn’t have broken in, so it sure doesn’t sound like my fault at all.” His brow draws in, arms crossing. “And I’d always defend him. Nothing would ever change that.” There is an implicit statement in that: not even you .

This is always what happens when he sees his friends- they deliberately undo all of the hard work he does in reigning Yugi in, they make him feel empowered, like he can mouth off and act as he wishes. Maybe that’s part of the draw, no matter how much Kaiba seems to crush him, he always stands up again.

His smirk is unsettling as he moves over Yugi’s legs, moving to straddle him.

“Oh no? Nothing at all would change that? Hm…well…” He looms over him, extracting something from his pocket and dangling it in front of him so that the words can clearly be read before dropping the tube onto his chest.

“I wonder if that might change your mind any…?”

Yugi leans back, surprised, as Kaiba leans over him. He doesn’t see exactly what he’s talking about until it drops onto his chest. It’s lubricant, and it’s not for machines.

His eyes are hot as he looks up at the other man. “Kaiba-kun - I’m not going to bed with you. Not after what you did to Jonouchi.” At least, not tonight.

How cute. He thinks he can decide the circumstances of how this newfound game goes. But even so, Kaiba mildly obliges, “ Yugi …spite, really? You don’t wear it well.” He settles over him, one of his hands gently tracing up his side, thoroughly enjoying the journey, and those icy eyes are melting into Yugi’s.

“I was so hoping you’d want to show me just what you wanted this for. Is the dog really going to come between us…?”

His breath catches, he continues to lean back into the bed as Kaiba leans forward. “D-don’t call him that.” He won’t break, not until Kaiba stops that. Maybe, just maybe, if he drops the subject, Yugi will oblige, to “kiss and make up,” as it were. He could hold on to some dignity that way. 

He’d prefer not to refer to him at all, especially not right now, not when Yugi is pinned between his thighs, and trying so very hard to stay stubborn for the sake of it. Why bother, when they both know that what they share is far too addicting to stop now? Not for the sake of Katsuya or anyone else. He won’t have this taken from him, too.

His hands part through blankets to more insistently touch at Yugi’s sides, and he continues to lean closer until his face is at his neck, mouth pressing kisses at freshly formed bruises from last night, soft and sweet like a lover- how terrible he is to be so gentle after spewing such hate that morning.

He is terrible, gentle, soft, like last night. For a moment, his ruse works, Yugi melts into the touch and a delicate, whimpering sigh flutters past his lips. One hand reaches out to run along Kaiba’s arm and shoulder. He’d like very much to be touched right now…

But he’s already learned that lesson, that giving in to Kaiba and forgetting entirely about his friends has much too high a cost. The fingers on that arm tighten: with all his strength, Yugi pushes Kaiba off of him.

He pulls his knees to his chest and looks away, face red and eyes damp. “I said I wouldn’t.”

It’s rather… surprising. Yugi rejects him, part of why he’s able to throw him off so easily. Kaiba’s flung back suddenly, closer to the edge of the bed again, watching Yugi huddle into himself, so adamant.

He stares a moment, collecting himself, and in that silence there is something sinister, because the wheels in Kaiba’s head are always turning and twisting to find the avenues to his victories—Yugi wants to hold out for his friends? Wants to be touched at his own convenience? He wants to reject the same man whose kisses and touches he begged for just the night before? The man whose house he has remained in for months now?

He wants to complain about his keep here, how he is so without, how disconnected from everything else he is. Kaiba will show him what that feels like, to truly and utterly be alone, and then maybe he won’t be so picky over his company.

He stands, those long legs straightening from the bed, and he adjusts the wrinkles out of his shirt.

“That’s really a shame, Yugi. I was expecting a different outcome tonight. I am very disappointed with you. It seems we’ve come to yet another disagreement in our perspectives. But clearly you just need time alone, and I’ll give you as much as you need.” He moves towards the door, giving him one last glare of disapproval on his way out, and the door is smoothly shut behind him without another word.

And locked.

Yugi watches him for a moment, surprised. He sounds...reasonable. Like this, they could almost talk it out. “Thank you-” Sure, the disapproval, the glare, that’s not good, but the rest is….hopeful? 

And it remains hopeful until the next morning, when he tries to leave his room and finds the door locked. 

The panic that overwhelms him is quick, like a flash flood, because he knows immediately without being told what’s happened. Yugi bolts to the intercom - but doesn’t know what to do, precisely. Call Kaiba, apologize, beg? He’d snap and snarl about how Yugi wants alone time. Try to get someone to unlock it? No one will. The panic is high in his throat, and he doesn’t know what to do.

He thinks of Atem. He’d counsel calm - and after all, if anyone knew about surviving loneliness, it would be him. He thinks of his other half’s soul room, goes back to the bed, and settles cross-legged, with the Kuriboh in his lap. 

He can do this.

It won’t be forever.

Probably. 

Kaiba is watching the monitors dutifully of course, he’s watched all night because he hasn’t wanted to miss this, Yugi’s moment of realization that alone time was now on Kaiba’s watch, for as long as he himself could stand it.

Yugi wants to play victim and pretend as though everything has been taken from him, that he lives in such misery? He doesn’t know the meaning of the word. He doesn’t feel half the modicum of loneliness that Kaiba does. But he will. And maybe then he’ll understand.

Kaiba watches Yugi’s panicked expression as he moves to the intercom- he smirks and rests his chin against his hands, waits—but Yugi says nothing into it, not that he’d get a reply from anyone.

There’s a terrible chuckle, manic, amused. He can’t say he prefers this game to the others they’ve played, but it’s entertaining in its tragedy.

He thinks he can outwait Yugi though. He’s waited for a lot of things in his life- happiness, security, his rival’s return- none of it really happens, he’s still waiting.

He tries, he really does. He reads all of his books, what few he has, but it’s mostly academic texts and he can’t concentrate, his mind is too full of panic. It grows, hour by hour, as he sees the sun go up and down through the window. Meals are delivered to his door, but there’s no communication, and the food is bland, for sustenance and not for pleasure. Even this is a punishment. 

He tries to rearrange his deck, but his hands shake too much. He tries to think of stories to remember and tell himself, but they make the loneliness much more intense, much worse.

An entire day passes this way. He doesn’t sleep much, because he hasn’t done much. And how much longer a day is when the night is passed awake…

The next day is a repeat of the previous one. He presses the button for the intercom, whispers, “Hello?” but it doesn’t sound like his voice gets through. The connection is probably cut off. 

Why doesn’t he just break through the windows this time? What does he have to lose? A lot, still, he knows. He’s not like Jonouchi, he can’t scale the walls even if he could make it to them. Jonouchi...if he knew about this sacrifice, such as it is, would he appreciate it? 

By nightfall, he’s curled around his pillow and silent tears are slipping down his cheeks. “Please…” he whispers in a hoarse voice. He’s not even sure what he’s begging for, but, “Please…” 

Kaiba can wait.

But his own sanity slips the longer he stays away, his nights become sleepless affairs again, his eyes irritated and red from staring at screens all day and all night. Unable to focus on anything but Yugi, the way he suffers, the way he tries to fill his time, but none of it relieves him.

He lets it hurt for a while, even though his own chest aches to have to let it unfold, even if partly for selfish reasons. But he has to. He has to do this so Yugi learns and understands, because he can’t fight him on this, on closeness, on intimacy, because now that he’s had it, he thinks he just might die without it, and what a fucking waste that would be.

He needs too though, and he can’t help but to longingly envision pulling that petite frame against his chest, to rub over his back and tell him all is forgiven, and everything could return to how it was before Katsuya came and ruined it all.

It’s only until the second nightfall that Kaiba wanders in, the early hours of the morning, not because he thinks Yugi has been punished long enough, but because he can’t help but to be near to him, he has tried and failed to control himself in that regard.

He wasn’t really asleep, because he hasn’t been able to since the morning he discovered the locked door; but he doesn’t realize Kaiba is there until he hears and feels the bed shift, and finds hands gliding soft over him. “Seto?” Yugi hitches his leg around the back of the other man’s knee, prevents his escape, and pulls him tight into him, drawing him deeper into his embrace, deeper into the bed. “A-am I forgiven?” his voice is trembling.

He’s warm, and real, and smells so good...Yugi buries himself into that chest and feels himself starting to cry, though he doesn’t want to.

The way Yugi presses to him, clings, the whimpering sound of his voice- it’s all so good. Much better. His hands gently rub over him until one lifts to stroke through his hair. Yugi seems better adjusted again, and Kaiba is all the more pleased to reward him for it.

“ Oh, Yugi …” He murmurs, so tenderly. “I want to forgive you, I do. Do you think I prefer it this way…? But what am I to think when you push me away, mm ?” He shifts, holding him close and protectively.

“ Shh , there, there…” How well he manages to keep from smirking, those tired, dark eyes filled with longing that has a name now. “I know it hurts…I feel it too, you know. You left me no other choice...”

“I-I’m sorry-!” Yugi leans in to every touch, and he’s already forgotten how this is all Kaiba’s fault . Because of course it is - everything terrible comes from him, and everything good comes from him, so what choice is there but to accept the terror and perform for the good? 

He pulls him in so close, like he’s trying to make one person out of the pair of them. “S-stay with me? Please ?”

“I could…only if that’s what you really want, Yugi…” His hands are all over him, inviting, tempting him, showing him just what he’s missed.

He’s missed it too.

Kaiba twists against him, seeks to nuzzle at his skin and remind him of how good everything had felt, and how much more they could do. The one rare instance in which it shouldn’t need to be a fight, if it was something they both wanted, much like another proposal Kaiba had presented to him.

But that doesn’t matter now, not with Yugi writhing against him, not with this pent up need.

“ Shall I forgive you …?” His mouth trails along his jaw, sweet but hungry.

“ Please !” It’s a cascade of begging; he should be appalled. He only knows he needs this, needs Seto here, with him. Seto is always slower about these things, not Yugi. He pulls the man’s shirt free of his trousers and runs his hands over the firm skin. “ Please - I n-need you so much…” Yugi tilts his chin up to give him access, but then he leans forward and takes his mouth, hungry for kisses. It’s in his tongue, the way it searches and tastes. It’s in the way he leans in to each touch, guides hands where he most wants them. “Seto,” breathless on his lips. He lays himself before him, a meal to be devoured, and begs to be eaten. 

It’s perfect. He’s perfect. Yielding again, compliant, so beautiful in his desperation- a quality Kaiba himself shares for the moment, the way their hands land against one another, grabbing, stroking, mouths ravenous and seeking.

A hand slips between them to the edge of Yugi’s pants, and slips the waistband down, sliding until he finds him and feels how in need he is.

“You have missed me, haven’t you…?” He whispers, his own arousal twitching against his seam at the thought of Yugi’s yearning- not just lonely, but lonely for him .

Yugi gasps against his mouth, hips twitching up into that hand. He nods against his jaw, soft and pliant. It doesn’t take much teasing, though, for that softness to become determined. He detaches from Seto, leans over to reach the nightstand, and paws through the dresser, coming back with the tube Kaiba had so unceremoniously dropped on him the other night. Yugi’s fingers work the buttons of his shirt while he nips at the other’s neck. “P-please...let me touch you. I want to make it good...I really want to feel you, Seto…” 

Oh, it’s far better than he anticipated. Yugi is so undone and eager to please. Right back where they should be again. Yugi makes quick work of his shirt, and this time he doesn’t mind letting Yugi take some initiative for himself, not for something like this anyway.

“If that’s what you want most, Yugi…by all means.” He purrs, pleased. Especially if it means Yugi wants this more than he wants his friends, or to remain stubbornly loyal to them.

Most? Oh no, not most. He’s hungry for many, many things in this bed - but this is where he’ll start. He leans Seto back amongst the pillows, sliding his body long against him, sucking and nibbling at the long, thick column of his neck while his fingers delicately undo his belt and free his fly. He kisses between his pecs, down his torso, flicks his tongue against his stomach - and takes him in hand, relishing the weight and the heat of him. Still glorious to look at. Yugi runs his thumb down the length - then retrieves the small tube.

This time, when he strokes, his hands are slick. “It’s better than machine oil...isn’t it?” He watches Seto’s whole body hitch, and he really is beautiful. “Is it good? Am I doing what you want?” He wants to be told, and nibbles at him again, breath hot against his white skin. 

He’d thought Yugi’s hand alone would be enough, but the added lubricant- he had no idea it could, or was supposed to, feel that good. How had he gone so long without it? No reason to want it, really, to invest any time or care into something so tedious or irritating, but Yugi makes it worth his while. Those hands ruin him, make him regret those hours apart. A necessary evil though, the reward is worth the punishment.

“ Fuck …. Yugi …” The fingers of one hand are clawing at the blankets twisted beneath them, his hips bucking needily. “ Yes …”

A year ago he might have seethed at the thought of his rival and former classmate seeing him this way, so intimate and under his hands, coaxing him, stripping away his pride. Forgotten now though. This is the one place where he doesn’t have to only be Seto Kaiba.

He comes apart like a puzzle, and Yugi has always loved puzzles. He goes very slow, pulling each breath from his body, leaning against him and leaving soft, nibbling kisses along his throat. “Tell me what you want me to do,” he breathes into his ear, and kisses that, too. “I’ll do whatever you want…” 

Whatever he wants…there’s a lot promised in that, particularly things he himself is not yet sure of. But god how he wants to better know the things that “whatever” entails.

He’s panting, his usual pallor so flushed, fingers pressing to Yugi’s lithe sides and squeezing, as if he might dig claws into him and keep him that way. It’s not so far a cry from what he’s already done, but as he’s always thought from the beginning- if Yugi really didn’t want to be here, he’d fight it more, wouldn’t he? Not that he’d ever win.

“I …want you against me. I want to feel you... ”  

Yugi’s eyes light up. “You-” His hand pauses, he trembles a little. “Y-yes.” He kisses Seto very softly - and moves to settle between his knees, shimming the bottoms of his pajamas down. He’s already hard, of course, watching the other man like this, being near him like this...He pours more of the oil-like substance onto his palm. Then, he grabs Seto by the hips - and pulls him flush against him. They both moan at the contact, but like this, Yugi can bring that long-fingered hand to his own arousal. “Mmn,” he bites his lip. “You really are beautiful…” 

Then, he brings them together, length against length, and wraps their hands together around the two of them. “ Seto -!” He keens a little, head thrown back. It’s so soft and sensitive and he swipes his thumb over his own tip and shudders. “Th-this is what you wanted?” He guides him in a stroke, and pants heavily. “Tell me if it’s good…”

Like this, Yugi could ask anything of him. Does he know that? These moments when he has him most captivated, when he looks down at him with a gaze all for him and calls him beautiful despite the monstrous things he does, he really could ask the world of him and he’d give it. How much power Yugi had and didn’t even know it, how much power he had and Kaiba didn’t even fully comprehend it, but pleasure is something he is starting to understand, and having been without for so long, it’s no wonder he’d do anything to keep receiving it. Perhaps there would never be closure for him, but in this, a consolation prize.

Kaiba’s fingers squeeze around Yugi’s, torturous heat as they’re pleasured together this way, chasing their ends.

“ Fuck, you know it is …” His breath is harsh, eyes squeezing shut, feeling Yugi throb against him.

His head is swimming, it’s all so intense, even more beautiful than it was before. He leans forward and catches his mouth, kisses him as their hips buck and hands move. “Look at me,” Yugi speaks into his mouth, seeing those sapphire blue eyes open in the dark and lock onto his. It makes his breath catch, so intense, and so beyond lovely… “I-It’s better this way, isn’t it?” 

He’s close, he’s so close. He starts to move their hands faster, gasping for breath, a whine of need escaping his lips. “Don’t leave me alone again…”

He’s nodding, kissing at him, forcing Yugi’s hand tighter around them. It’s better. It is. He hates that he had to separate them. Hates that they had to be without one another for even one night. He doesn’t blame himself for that. Yugi is partly to blame. But Katsuya deserves to be dumped into the bay.

“ I’m here …” He rasps, and it’s unbearable how much he wants Yugi. He tells him he’s here now, but he won’t tell him he’ll never leave him alone again. Punishments were there for a reason. Incentive would be useful. And Yugi needs to know that so long as he is here, he belongs to him.

“ Yugi …!” He’s falling and this time it’s exhilarating, the end in sight, and he’ll gladly crash if it means taking Yugi down with him.

“That’s it.” He kisses him again, and squeezes at him tightly. “Let me see you come, Seto, it’s so pretty….I want to see.” He bends to his neck and bites - not as hard as Seto bit him that night, but hard enough. It’s reassurance, that he’s here, that there’s ground beneath them, that the night is real. His hand is punishingly fast-

He does want Yugi to see exactly what he does to him and what he’ll keep doing. Their hands together, Yugi’s slick heat against him, the feeling of his mouth at his neck, it’s all so much, and he gives Yugi what they both want, spilling over into their hands, and he’s shuddering, panting, hips bucking and vision white for just a moment.

His hand is still over Yugi’s to make sure he reaches his end too. It’s a mess, they both are. But it is better that way, like Yugi says. The anguish of night becomes forgotten, Yugi’s become a soft reprieve, not to keep him on his knees, but to push him up. Whether for pleasure, in pain, out of anger, no matter what it was, it was stable. It was real.  

If he’s honest with himself, Yugi likes outlasting Seto. He has to have some advantages, and this way he gets to watch the way his muscles contract, the way his mouth hangs open and his head falls back, exposing that strong, white throat. Yugi licks up the length of it, and he finishes right after, whining and curling as close to the other man as he can. It’s even better than the glory of the other night. 

It’s difficult to push out of the bed and leave Seto, but they really have to clean up...He comes back with another damp cloth, and smooths it over the other boy’s body. This done, he curls into him on the bed, their limbs inexorably tangled, so they cannot be pulled apart. Seto smells like his soap - lemongrass, juniper, bergamot. His chest is very slightly damp with sweat from exertion, and it’s nice to slide his cheek against him and hear him breathe, and feel his heartbeat. “Please, stay with me,” Yugi asks him, shivering a little from everything that’s happened. “I was good, wasn’t I? Stay. Please….please.” 

He pulls Yugi tight to him, stroking a hand against his back, a content sigh of relief. 

It is so easy to want to stay. Yugi surely has learned his lesson now, hasn’t he? 

But it had still fucking hurt. And that needs to be looked into. And hasn’t enough been ripped away from him already? Yugi thinks he can jerk him off once and get what he wants because he’s satisfied the master of the house? 

His fingers gently press to his shoulder then, curl against it to push him away, and where there might normally be a satisfied smirk, there are only serious eyes that appraise him. 

It’s easy because Yugi makes it so easy. But he can’t become accustomed to this, to thinking there are ways to get what he wants. To be rewarded after pulling yet another stunt. And most importantly, they are losing track of why he is here, and what the end goal is, and it’s a vicious circle of deprivation. 

“I have work I need to catch up on.” It’s a lie, but there are things he needs that can’t come from this room at the moment.

"It can wait, can't it? It should at least wait until morning!" Yugi scrambles over him and sets his weight in his hips, an effort to pin him down. He's small, but surprisingly dense; Yugi sits, and Kaiba isn't moving. He holds his face tenderly, smoothing his thumbs over the dark circles below his eyes. "Have you slept? Stay, please." He presses his ear against his chest. "Please, Seto, please."

Yugi makes himself heavy against him, there’s so much desperation between them. They are tethered and is it the Puzzle, empty but gold as heavy as Yugi is now, keeping him here? Or is it something else that he’d rather not name?

He thought he knew exactly who he wanted here, but it’s not Atem sitting atop him, it’s not Atem who kisses him and begs him to stay. It’s not Atem he keeps from seeing his friends. 

“Yugi…” He is tired. He hasn’t slept. Yugi has learned a lot about him in his time here, the Seto Kaiba that isn’t plastered on every billboard in the city, who rules his kingdom. It angers him yes, but there’s so much more in that anger than he’s ready to face up to. 

His arms come around Yugi again, pressing him against him. His sigh is more exasperated now. 

Yugi had won this game too.

It'll be the first time Yugi's really slept since the door locked, too, and he settles on Seto's chest with a smile on his face, legs still splayed over him. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you," he sighs, his head tucked under his chin. He shouldn't be so happy, so relieved. 

But it's better than the alternative, isn't it.

Chapter Text

The excuse to take Yugi to the office wasn’t entirely bullshit. His technology is cutting edge, if there were remnants of the Pharaoh left behind in Yugi’s subconscious, they could be pieced together again just as easily as the puzzle had. It only made sense to bring him, they could both scope out the landscape of his mind far easier this way. Yugi had to have some deep, longing desire to see the Pharaoh again that might be made manifest. And if he wouldn’t vocalize it, Kaiba would access his very thoughts. Owned in body and in mind.

There are rules here, too, obviously. Much like when he’d gone to visit his friends, he’s to stay at Kaiba’s side, not to talk to anyone unless necessary, transmitter at his collar. Not that anyone would go against their boss if they enjoyed living, but there is the occasional idiotic intern.

When was the last time Yugi had been to KaibaCorp? It’s not quite the same building he’d remember, even though from the outside it still stands tall like a beacon at the center of their city, spotlights on it at night to illuminate the dominating presence as a constant reminder as to the owner of this city. Inside, there are holograms everywhere, and homages to their game industry contributions- and of course what Kaiba-owned building would be Kaiba’s at all without statues of his beloved dragon.

He steps into his office not the man who Yugi pleasured and comforted within the confines of his mansion, but the Kaiba whose face is far more familiar. The face of a man who has all the answers and will stop at nothing to have what he wants.

“This is KaibaCorp’s latest technology, Yugi.” He speaks with an air of arrogance, as if the very fact that it exists is a gift onto humanity that only Seto Kaiba could bestow. “The Crystal Cloud network allows duelists to engage in duels across the globe without ever having to leave their homes. You shape your own reality you want to duel in, you control the fabric of space and bend it to your whims. The only limitation is your own imagination.” It’s quite the advertisement.

“For us, though, this software will be utilized to analyze your mind, Yugi. With it, you can create the reality you want to see.” And the reality that Atem surely has to be included in, somewhere.

Seto adjusted his collar this morning, and tested the bluetooth connection. "Say something," he told Yugi.

He slipped his foot forward, caught him at the ankle and ran up his leg. "I want you," the obedient reply. 

Seto had smirked, glancing up at him with warm eyes. "The connection is fine."

Yugi really is on his best behavior today, so excited to be leaving that house again! But he's a little incorrigible, too, going from one window to the other, draping himself over Kaiba's lap, asking questions about his commute and the plans for the day.

People stare when the boss comes in with the young man at his side. There are whispers: "- that the King of Games?" It makes him blush and pull close to Kaiba. 

The first stop is his private office, the tower's top floor, with plate glass windows and a commanding view of the city. It's a nice room, not as sterile as he might have thought: a solid wood desk, a leather chaise, a bearskin rug- "Is that a polar bear?"

The question is ignored because, after gathering papers and dropping off their jackets, they are back in the elevator, to the gleaming, truly sterile atmosphere of the R&D lab.

Truthfully, Yugi's a little bored until he mentions games. "Can we play a game?" Yugi perks up, staring at a headset but not daring to touch. "So I could see Anzu like this? It's not just a wifi connection?"

“Eager to duel again, are you?” Yugi does so love games…too bad he isn’t the King of them. But Kaiba still indulges, because if nothing else, he loves showing off.

“Well suffice to say, the technology doesn’t improve one’s skills.” Unfortunately for people like Katsuya. “But it will change the scope in which people are able to connect. No longer bound by the rules of this reality, you can create your own, encounter anyone within it.”

Ah, of course the first thing he thinks of is one is his friends, and her no less. “No, it isn’t wi-fi.” The scowl could easily be passed off over the insulting comparison as he reaches for one of the headsets, affixing it around Yugi’s wild locks until one of the sensors is at his temple. His fingers linger, as does his stare, to ensure it is properly affixed.

“In a sense. As is, since only one of your minds will be uploaded to the server, the version of her you see would only be the one you conjure from your own memories.” And fantasies. But he’d better not be considering that.

He slips his own headset on and nods back at a windowed terminal, the operator inside running whatever software was now fitted at their skulls.

“You can summon anything, Yugi.” People. Places. Things. Memories. Daydreams. This was virtual reality on an entirely new level. The data extracted from it could be bought and sold, it would forever change the world as they knew it. And yet it had all come about from one very selfish, manic idea.

What was reality worth if he himself could not control it?

Yugi listens, picking up whatever he can. “But it wouldn’t be real.” He looks up into Kaiba’s serious, clear eyes. “Even if...I thought of him now - it would just be a reflection. It wouldn’t be him. Isn’t that right?” 

Yugi has always been brighter than the rest. Kaiba will always give him that.

“That’s right. But you were closest to the source Yugi. Maybe your reflection is more of a ripple.” He knows firsthand after all, he’d painstakingly went to great detail to recreate the Pharaoh’s image from his own mind, and though he says all the right things, he looks the same, he duels exactly as he remembers…it’s just not him, no matter how Kaiba twists and forces reality to bend to him.

But Yugi could make it so, perhaps. His bond with the Pharaoh had been different, perhaps there were remnants left behind, weaved throughout Yugi’s consciousness.

“…Reality can be what we tell ourselves.”

“I don’t want it to be what we tell ourselves. I want it to be...real,” he says, at a loss for words. But…he likes to say Atem is with him. Is it so crazy? He nods and closes his eyes. “What do I need to do?” He’s hooked up to a bunch of monitors - oxygen level, blood pressure, heart, a lot he doesn’t understand. The heart rate is a little elevated, but nothing too out of the ordinary.

That’s the problem with reality, though, it’s defined by horrible parameters. Limitations. Kaiba will break reality down all together, and if it means doing so to reach the Pharaoh, then he will. He simply will.

“Just conjure the image you want to see. It’s simple, even children can do it.” There’s a thin smile, “Nothing more than a thought, a memory, a vision. Think it, and your mind will work in tandem with my technology. You will make the unattainable happen. You will bring to life the world you want to see.”

And Kaiba will be able to see that world too. One with the Pharaoh in it.

“What I want to see…?” Yugi smiles, slowly, soft. The unobtainable… He laughs to himself a little, well, that seems very obvious, eyes sliding closed. Instantly his mind conjures images of the couch in the room above the shop, where his friends always gathered with him and his grandfather to watch Duels or enjoy tea and snacks. He imagines it now, and it really does seem almost real, like he can hear Jonouchi’s loud laugh beside him. If he opens his eyes, the sterile, white room is sort of blue, and shimmery; and it’s sort of not there at all, he really is on the couch. Jonouchi is sitting on the floor, laughing - Honda is in the armchair. Even Anzu is there, in the other chair, a much more sensible giggle. There’s tea on the coffee table, and binders full of cards-

And a head in his lap, a new laugh, that makes this the unattainable and not a memory. It’s Seto, with his long legs dangling over the side of the sofa, and Yugi’s fingers combing his hair. He wonders what they’re all laughing about. Kaiba’s laugh makes him sound his age, and carefree, and it makes Yugi’s heart swell- he can almost hear the heart rate monitor, but not really-

It’s…

He shouldn’t be at all surprised.

Of course Yugi wants to envision himself back with his friends. Even here Kaiba has to suffer through Katsuya’s obnoxious laugh, and his jaw tenses as he tries to focus on the heart monitor and the sound of it increasing. There’s no Pharaoh in sight.

And worse, in his search, he sees that someone occupies Yugi’s lap, and it’s the last image he expects to see staring back at him. Is that what Yugi dreams about? A place at his game shop’s couch where Kaiba himself mingles with these low-lifes, seeing him as nothing more but his peer, his classmate, despite everything he’s accomplished, everything he’s capable of?

Kaiba’s fist shakes for a moment, threatening to come down onto one of the monitors…it doesn’t, though.

“…You’re getting the hang of it, now. Simple, isn’t it?” His voice is level enough, but icy, “Why don’t we try another image. One less… domestic. ”   

Yugi’s smile fades, and the scene does with it. He lifts the headset up at his right temple. “It wasn’t good?” He doesn’t look at all pleased. Yugi’s stomach drops. “What do you want me to do instead?” He knows...but make him say it, make him admit it. Don’t make Yugi….have to guess at his own unworthiness. 

Kaiba’s gaze is sharp and unyielding, and anyone on the other end of it would be foolish to deny him.

“I want you to bring him here.”

Whatever capacity this was, it had to somehow be greater and more real than what he himself had imagined. And who knows, perhaps Yugi merely envisioning him could summon him, like a missing piece of his soul.

He takes a deep, unsteady breath - nods - slides the headset back down. Bring him here, a memory, easily said, not easily accomplished. Every time Yugi tries to think of Atem, he worms away from his grasp - which makes sense. He never would have consented to something like this. He seemed to have come to respect Kaiba eventually, but affection is not the word he’d have used-

It feels like something is pulled from him. Yugi’s breath catches in his throat, a quick gasp - and it’s like it’s all happening again. He feels himself, but also sees himself, the way one does in a dream: on the parapets of Pegasus’ castle, his hands around the Spirit’s wrist, both of them trembling from effort.

“You’re going to kill him!”

“He asked.” The Spirit’s teeth are bared - it’s hard to think of him as anyone other than that, in this memory - and his eyes are flaming red. He’s known this look before, felt it when his memory lapsed and he woke up with strange cuts on his hands, bruises for which he did not know the origin. “I’ve never held back and I won’t start now.”

“He’s my friend!”

“He’s not your friend!” He’s vicious like this. “Why do you want to be friends with everybody! What’s he worth?”

“A lot, to a lot of people-”

“What’s he worth to you .”

“He’s precious to me!” His knees begin to buckle with effort. “A-alright?” He sees those red eyes soften. “He’s...precious to his brother, and to me, too….”

It’s all gone just as quick and Yugi rips the headset off, gasping for breath like he’s just come out from underwater. The instruments are no doubt delicate and expensive, but he throws it on the ground anyway, ripping off nodes from his arms and chest. “I’m not doing that again,” he tells Kaiba, barely looking up. 

Surrounding them is a terribly familiar sight, and one he’s reluctant to say that he’s seen more than once- another memory to fuel his nightmares. One of the most traumatizing moments of his life, fresh out of a coma, desperate to save Mokuba. He’d been willing to do anything. And Yugi…Yugi had been willing to do it, for a moment. He’d been willing to seize victory and cut him down, before falling to his knees, sobbing.

But he sees now. The internal dialogue, now that he understands the dichotomy that went on inside of Yugi, behind those eyes. It hadn’t been Yugi. And as for what was dueling in his place, this was not the regal Pharaoh who spoke as if born a hero, but he speaks like someone willing to do anything to win, clouded by something darker. And maybe that viciousness deep down is what made him such a worthy opponent in his eyes, that they both refused to back down.

Here though, if he had lost, if the spirit had gone through with it…Seto wouldn’t have saved Mokuba. He would’ve been blasted off the edge, dead before he ever had a chance to shape the world before him, everything gone in an instant.

Yugi had saved his life twice .

Yugi called it precious twice .

Kaiba flinches as the headset clatters across the floor, and the vision of Yugi’s memory fades, and in the corner of his eye, he can see himself, younger, eyes far away, he is pale and a fraction of the man who stands here now, unable to envision this future, only able to think of what a failure he was, how much his brother needed him.

He has accomplished much since then…but…it’s a sickening thought that twists inside of him, to think he came so close to that edge again, only spared by Yugi’s intervention.

Why of all the memories he had of the Pharaoh, why this one? Why was this the one that came forth so easily?

Kaiba has to take a moment, too, collect himself, reign in his anger from reliving that moment again, that Yugi had chosen it, that he…that even in this, he is no closer.

“ Fine. ” He spits out finally, and turns to leave without another word. There’s too much to unpack, the argument can come later.  

No. Not now. He doesn’t get to do this now. “You leave me a lot, you know!” He’s choked, tears threaten his vision, and his hand is at his throat. “W-whenever….whenever it isn’t what you wanted...whenever it’s convenient for you. You ask a lot of me, you take everything from me, and then you go .” This is a bad idea. He shouldn’t do this.

He can’t do anything else. 

Kaiba is quick to turn on his heel then, Yugi knows so well how to provoke him.

“Oh, I leave you ? I have a company to run, I have tournaments to organize, products to develop, the world to change, my time should only be reserved for you, is that right? You don’t tell me what it’s like to be left, I know . I ask that you give me one thing back. Just one !” He comes very close, almost enough to hit him if he wanted, but he doesn’t.

“You took everything from me . You and your Pharaoh. You stole victories, you stole my titles, you took an entire year of my life—you’re still doing it now, and you love it, don’t you? You love being the center of someone’s world, that’s your reality, isn’t it, one where you really are King.”

Yugi closes his eyes and leans away as Kaiba berates him, tears leaking quietly down his cheeks. “If you don’t want me here, then let me go. Really go.”

“You act like you’re a prisoner. I don’t know very many kings who are victims, Yugi. Grow up.” He leans away again, still reeling from his trauma being yanked out into the open.

“You’re the one who agreed. You knew you wouldn’t do it and you agreed anyway. You lied to me.” He doesn’t know what to do with him. He doesn’t dismiss Yugi, he never will, if he’s waiting on those words to give him the okay, he’ll never hear them. Kaiba can’t let him go now. They’re trapped, locked into place, moving around the chessboard in the same back and forth motions at a stalemate, neither of them able to win.

“And you know what else? You should have listened to him.”

“You know I am!” How can he keep saying this! “What can I do that you don’t watch? Where can I go that you’ll allow? Who do I talk to besides you !” He grinds his teeth. “ I didn’t lie . I always told you I couldn’t do it, you lied to yourself.” 

That last sentence stops him short, looking up into the abyss that is Kaiba’s eyes. How can he say that? What about Mokuba? What about him ? 

Before he knows what is happening, Yugi finds himself against the other man, pressed into his chest, arms limp at his side. “ Don’t say that. Please .” He’s barely able to control his tears. “Kaiba-kun-”

It was true even before Yugi was at his estate though. Where did Yugi go that Kaiba didn’t have eyes on? Where in this city could he run to that Kaiba wouldn’t see? Did it really make all that much a difference, knowing he was being watched versus being oblivious to it so long as he could experience the monotony of his daily life?

Maybe he had lied to himself since day one. Since retrieving the Puzzle. He had been so sure, after all his developments…perhaps it just simply wasn’t ready. And no matter what realities could be conjured, they weren’t the ones already out there, speckled across the Universe- and any one of them could be the world Atem waits in.

Or maybe it’s all bullshit all together.

He hears Yugi crying against his chest, and he’s quick to bring up his hands around his arms, squeeze them and push him back. He doesn’t release him, it’s not to push him away.

“Stop crying, Yugi.” His expression is still displeased, but he’s trying to hold them both together long enough to leave this room and head back to his office. “ …Please. ”

Yugi obeys, doesn’t he usually? He breathes deep and nods. And anyway - Kaiba didn’t get to make the clean getaway he wanted. “D-don’t say things like that anymore….please.” He’d rub at his eyes, but his arms are pinned, albeit gently. “It would upset Mokuba.” 

Kaiba’s teeth are grinding, his jaw is aching from it, but he manages to hold in any further outbursts. Mokuba means everything to him. He’d always taken hits for him growing up, did everything he could to make sure he was happy, and wouldn’t his big brother being dead absolutely destroy all of that?

He knows.

But some days are harder to forget, especially harder when he dreams of them all the time. They are constant reminders that with every loss, death becomes a more fitting punishment.

They stand there a moment, a collective regroup before Kaiba deems them both stable enough, his hands slide down the length of Yugi’s arms- wholly unnecessary in an effort to release him-, but his hands envelop Yugi’s for just a moment before releasing him all together, turning to head towards the hall, the elevator, and he expects Yugi at his heel.

His fingers are warm where they touch Kaiba’s palm. It’s enough. The other man turns to go, and Yugi follows, a little stiff, a little stoic. “You have cameras everywhere, huh?” he asks him, not looking at him, as if it’s just an observation. 

“Everywhere imaginable.” Even in the most unlikely of places. On site, at home, throughout their city. There is nothing that Kaiba doesn’t know about, and like hell he’ll ever be on the receiving end of that. His paranoia knows no bounds. And besides, knowledge is power, isn’t it? 

The trip in the elevator up to his office is quick despite how high up it is. Everything here is designed that way because their CEO cannot stand having his time wasted. Yugi seems to preoccupy a lot of it now, and it wouldn’t be any easier, but at least explainable if it were solely in collaboration towards Atem, but not all of it is, and he has no idea what to do with that part. Does Yugi even know? 

"What about in here?" Yugi asks, following him into the office. His eyes slide over the room, quiet, assessing, while Kaiba does… whatever it is he does. "Who watches them?"

Kaiba circles around to his desk, settling back into his chair, and glances out the window, the whole city laid before him, and yet it seems like such a small offering. 

“In here? Just me.” He has his own security channel for this room, fortified. No one but him need be concerned what occurs within this room, after all. 

“…Why do you ask?” Yugi takes a sudden interest in his security, and it makes him wary, considering what had just happened. 

"That's good," he nods, following him to his chair. It's big, and leather, of course. This high up, no one would see them. 

Yugi doesn't answer. He just slips onto his lap like it's the most natural thing in the world, straddling him. Before Kaiba can say something, his hands hold his face, and Yugi brings their mouths together. It's Pavlovian at this point: they fight, some horrible thing happens, some threat or some memory he'd rather forget, and he has to have him. The tension is smoothed out by lips and teeth and tongues and hands. This happens, and they aren't fighting anymore. 

He's not particularly soft, it's more hungry than anything else. His mouth is open, he draws Kaiba's tongue in deep, and presses his body hard against him. " Seto, " he keens, encouraging him to action. " I need you …"

Yugi forces him to be present again, not wading through that memory at Duelist Kingdom. He feels Yugi press against him and it seems to be the only way to interrupt those intrusive thoughts. Never mind that Yugi is the epicenter from which all of those stem.

He says he’s trapped like some prisoner, but not when he straddles his lap this way, telling him how much he needs him. It would be almost laughable if Kaiba hadn’t felt the same.

Kaiba’s hands grip at him, and some part of him is still angry more than anything, with the way Yugi picks and chooses his own moments of give and take. It’s difficult to tell how deliberate it all is, or maybe he’s just as lost here in this haze. Whatever the case, one of his hands comes up to push Yugi back from their kiss.

“ Get off .” It’s strained sounding, Yugi has accomplished much in a short time. But they’re not finished yet. “Face my desk.”

Seto always tastes so good, and his hands are so hard and demanding today...It reminds him of that night, after the phone, when he bit down into him, and how he wants that again. 

His face starts to drop at the command - but then he perks up at the second part. He blushes a little, and it’s from shyness, not from heat. But he started this, he can’t back down now. Yugi slips off his lap, breath short...and turns. 

There’s no sense being coy about this, whatever is about to happen, it probably won’t be with him standing up. Yugi leans forward and braces himself on the smooth, wood top, moving a keyboard aside to better make room. 

There’s the sound of a belt coming undone as Kaiba stands and moves behind him, hand splayed over Yugi’s back and sliding up the length of it before reaching the back of his head, fingers curling into his hair and pushing his head against his desk.

“If I didn’t know you better, I would almost say you planned on upsetting me today. You seem to prefer it. I wonder why…” He presses himself taut to Yugi, letting him feel, to an extent, through the layers of fabric, just how mutual it is, and how dangerous that can and should be.

“Is that what you wanted? Is that what you think you deserve?” 

“N-no.” His breath comes in small bursts, but his eyes are closed, and he leans into Kaiba anyway. If he’s going to- he’s not sure he’s ready for- 

“No, you don’t.” Kaiba agrees, and his hands come around Yugi’s hips to start working his own belts free. He’s rougher because Yugi’s wound him up, and clearly neither of them are going to be able to calm down unless there’s some sense of relief, and it may as well be this.

“Do you know how many people wish they could take up as much of my time as you do? Do you know how many people in this city would give me anything I asked for? You’re so unbelievably selfish. You don’t deserve the allowances I give to you, the mercy I extend…” He yanks Yugi’s tight pants down over his bottom and peels the fabric down his legs, fingers dragging against his soft skin.

“Tell me again how much you need me .”

“D-don’t say that,” he starts, but it’s lost in a gasp at the way Kaiba manhandles him. That fear and desire again, and here he hadn’t been afraid for a little while. Yugi leans forward onto the desk, bowing his back and leaning into the touch. “ So much ,” he gasps for breath. “M-more than anything. Please .” 

“More than anyone?” Kaiba’s hand smooths over his flesh, parting his slim thighs and forcing him further against the desk- never mind anything that falls off of it.

“Tell me you need me more than anyone else.” It’s sharp and demanding, it leaves no room for Yugi to falter unless he risks upsetting the balance further.

“ More than anyone else. ” It slips easily from his mouth, because isn’t it true? Isn’t he so inexorably tangled up in Kaiba now that it’s impossible to know where one stops and the other begins? He leans back sharply, his hips connect with Seto’s, and is able to just look over his shoulder. “ I need you more than anyone, Seto .” He licks his lips. “Touch me, please.” 

Oh…it’s perfect. Yugi’s response is exactly what he wants. What he aches to hear. It’s not captivity if there’s no one else he needs to see outside of that manor. Those eyes that look back at him now should always be on him.

“Good boy…” He reaches around and his fingers find what he expects- Yugi warm and waiting, and terribly needy. Just for him.

“You don’t deserve my attention, but I’ll give it to you since you want it so badly…”

“D-don’t I?” he gasps. Kaiba’s free hand is flat on the desk beside him, but his weight is hardly braced there. Yugi pulls him free and slides one long finger into his mouth, laving with his tongue, and sucking very gently. “Don’t I deserve it, since I’m so good?” It’s strange how erotic it is just to serve in this way. It makes him twitch in the other man’s palm, and he hums with want. 

The only thing he’s good at is doing everything he isn’t supposed to. This shouldn’t be happening right now, not ever, and yet there is no moment when either of them don’t ever want this, and Kaiba presses his need against Yugi’s soft thighs and pushes him further across the desk. 

It’s all the stress, all the tension, Yugi uses it to his advantage, but the cost is being used, now is this so very low to him? Perhaps not, given how much he gives of himself to others- to the point even of allowing ancient, cursed souls to use his body as a personal means of transportation. 

For now though, he is used against Kaiba’s desk as he bends over him, breath against the back of his ear. “You only deserve what I let you have. This is what you deserve.” The whole of it. His own personal purgatory that they both remained trapped in.

“ Let me have it all, Seto .” He means it, said around fingers when he pulls them from his mouth with a wet “pop!” “I want it hard and fast…” He snaps his hips back and hears the stutter of breath from the other man. “Right now, please…” Just like the shower, the ecstasy of feeling him against him, between the legs...Please- He brings Kaiba’s thumb back into his mouth and sucks, hard. 

He tells himself it’s not because Yugi wants it so much, it’s because he needs to purge this out of his system. But so often he has told himself that and still he comes back for more. How quickly boundaries have shifted between them.

He pushes hard against his legs, and it’s difficult not to imagine that warm wet mouth working around him there, instead. It’s too new a thought though, he doesn’t think he could entertain it just yet. No, it’s enough to have Yugi facing away like this, merely made to be used- he wants to create constant tension out of some sick, masochistic tendency, then fine. Kaiba will take this from him until he’s ready to give him what he really wants.

He pulls his hand away from Yugi’s mouth and grips a handful of hair, forcing his head down against the desk, panting harshly as he rocks against him.

“All? No.” Kaiba laughs, a breathless, bitter thing. His other hand grips around Yugi, but torturously slows its movement around him. “ You don’t get to tell me what to do. ”

Yugi whines, keens; stills at first to placate the man above him, but moves again when it's clear he's being held, not hurt - not yet. He tightens his thighs around him and bucks into the movement. It increases sensation for Seto and for him. 

But Seto already showed his hand. " I need you more than anyone else ." He thinks about that first night Seto was in his bed, after the gun. And he thinks about all the other times he came to him willingly. Something has happened, and it's wrong to encourage. This isn't...a relationship, it's hysterical coupling and bonding. They've broken apart and crashed into one another in desperation, and he should stop it-

He won't stop it. He knows how to play a trap. "You're the most incredible man in the world and I'm so lucky to be under you, because-" a gasp for breath. "N-no one is as good as Seto Kaiba. Like a god, like a king-"

Falling again, the hand pressed against Yugi’s head comes away to brace against the desk. The words Yugi utters are sweet and vile, the way he proclaims him king. Such words seem so hollow sounding though, has he truly earned them if he hasn’t defeated the one who owned that title? But to many he might as well be already with the way he lives and operates, so far above the rest. It’s never good enough. 

“You think I don’t know all of that?” But Yugi’s trap must have worked just well enough, because Seto’s hand is engaged with him again, making certain they reach both their ends. If one falls, so must the other. “You are lucky. You do need me. You’ll never have anyone else but me. Say it again, Yugi. ...” The end comes out softer than he intended for it to, strained.  

He’s mewling now. “I don’t want anyone else but you, Seto.” It’s true - heaven help him, it’s true. He wants those eyes and those hands, forever- “Don’t let me go- please, don’t stop, I’m so close! ” This last is almost a squeak. He really, really wants to turn, catch that mouth with his own. But Seto said bend forward, so Yugi bends forward, and he bucks wildly against him. He wants to feel the hot fluid dripping down his thighs- “ Please, please, please -” He waits to tumble over the edge, into that black precipice of pleasure.

It’s better that Yugi doesn’t turn, that they don’t make this more romantic, it’s enough that Yugi tells him how much he’s wanted. It’s always felt like a bit of a one-sided affair- who he knew as Yugi had always seemed more preoccupied with ridiculous things like saving the world or some other such nonsense. But here he has him finally pinned down under him, unable to think of anyone or anything else.

He jerks against him, Yugi’s body shifting harder and harder against his desk from his movement until he finally lets go with a harsh pant, releasing that pent-up stress between his thighs.

The desk bites into his stomach, his hips, his thighs - a different spot with each thrust, but Yugi doesn’t care. He only cares about the way he’s being shoved against the smooth wood, and the way Seto’s hand suddenly squeezes hard on a downward stroke. He’s never been so tight, and Yugi cries out and spills against the desk drawers, crying out, clawing at the smooth, wooden top. 

They stay like that for a long moment, panting, senseless. Seto steps away to clean himself, and Yugi catches the hand that had just been giving him pleasure. He turns and slips one finger into his mouth, cleaning his own seed from Seto’s skin. Their eyes meet. “Like a pharaoh,” he whispers, like a king and like a god. 

There’s a time in which some version of him was just that. Not by conquered force, but as a request, a dying last wish.

Here though, he tires of that word, and all the baggage that comes with it. What good is it to be heralded as some god-king and not even be able to pass through worlds to face the man who challenges him? Kaiba will surpass even a pharaoh, even a god, he’ll transcend all dimensions until there’s nowhere left for Atem to hide. Then they will see which is more powerful, the things of fantasy or what Kaiba has built with his own willpower.

“In that case, I order you to get off my desk.” Kaiba finishes doing up his pants and slides back into his chair, his eyes icy again, but his smirk haughty, and pallor still faintly flushed.

Not quite as sweet as he’d have liked, for such a compliment - but what was he expecting? Yugi tucks himself back in, straightens his clothes - and sinks down to the floor, sitting at the foot of Kaiba’s chair. There’s a terrible image of slipping beneath his desk and distracting him during important meetings. Yugi brings that finger back to his mouth, and licks it again. “Is this better?” 

Kaiba’s eyes narrow a fraction, his breath hitching, and he pulls his hand away abruptly from that warmth that he very much wants to feel on other parts of his body.

“An improvement, if you stay put. ”

He reaches to straighten the fallen objects across his desk, a faint scowl returning. “I won’t have you distracting me, if you misbehave, I’ll put you in a corner.” As opposed to what he’s been doing thus far. Today’s efforts proved to be useless, thanks to Yugi, and now that he’s here, what to do with him but keep him?

The company could be far worse.  

Yugi sets his head on his not-lover’s lap. “May I have a pillow to sit on, please? Then I’ll be good.” He may even just fall asleep, he’s quite tired. But the floor is hard beneath the desk, and he’d like some comfort first. 

It’s a small request. Yugi shouldn’t have anything , because he shouldn’t even be in here, shouldn’t be living with him, but a pillow is the very least Yugi asks for after parasitically inserting himself into every facet of his life, sucking his life out of his veins.

Kaiba makes sure to impress this upon him in the mild glare he sends down at him before pushing out of his chair, making his way over to a discreet panel that pushes open- a door to a hidden room where nights at times got the best of him, even here, and though not an enjoyable rest, he at least had a mattress to fall onto should it help any.

“Go in there.”

Like a dog to its pen.

Yugi perks up - that’s much nicer than a pillow on the floor. He follows, leans up to Kaiba on tip-toe for a kiss- “Thank you…” 

There is but one moment when Kaiba looks down at those glimmering eyes and considers pulling away. It’s fleeting before he even has the chance to follow through with it, though, he leans down, a hand settling at his waist, and the other at his jaw, angling his face to return the kiss. It’s a strangely intimate position before it comes to an abrupt, forceful stop, both of Kaiba’s hands pushing against Yugi then to shove him back onto the bed.

“Now, stay quiet. ”

He doesn’t look back when he shuts the door, because the last thing he needs to see right now is Yugi sprawled over a mattress.

Kaiba acts tough, but all he’s done is prove Yugi’s theory right: they fight, something terrible happens, they devour one another, and the world is better and warmer and closer for a bit. The kiss is tender before he falls back into the bed, smiling a little to himself. It’s dark in here, practically a closet, but that adds a kind of coziness to it. It’s somehow better than a full bedroom attached to his office, because it’s clandestine, and does not invite one to stay and live. Yugi doesn’t want him staying here...when he could be home instead…

He’s asleep in a moment, curled in sheets that smell like Seto.

He’s groggy when he wakes, pulled from sleep by the sensation of arms wrapping warm around him. Yugi shifts a little in the mattress, yawning. “Mmm….Seto?”

“ Mmhm …”A soft murmur of confirmation as those spindly limbs find their way around Yugi in the ways that Kaiba likes, curling around him possessively, pulling him back against his chest.

The rest of the day had been relatively normal and without incident. Tasks accomplished, no further traumatizing events or interruptions, and Yugi had made himself scarce. Oddly enough, it almost helped, to just know Yugi was so close nearby, that he could fall into him the way he did now. Had he become so…reliant?

He turns, threading fingers through the fall of his brown hair. This is like it was before, comfortable and safe and warm. So beautiful - it isn’t fair. Yugi isn’t stupid, he knows, he knows this isn’t for him. Seto Kaiba doesn’t really love or want him, he’s imprinted hysterically onto him because he’s all that’s left, because he’s here, because he kept him from shooting himself - that’s not a relationship, and he shouldn’t encourage it. He can hear Yami in his head saying all of these noble, sensible things.

And yet, there is some terrible part of him that wants to be selfish just once ; that wants something for himself. Has he ever, ever asked for something that was just for himself? Really? And why not: he takes care of him. With him, Seto sleeps, he eats, he doesn’t shove a gun into his mouth - but none of those are the reasons Yugi combs fingers through his hair now, and he knows it, and he’s ashamed, yes-

But he won’t make himself stop.

He kisses the boy’s face softly, unhurried. It isn’t hungry like before, it’s kind, it’s sweet. “What time is it?” he murmurs. 

“Around ten…” Late, so very, very late. Before Yugi, was this really how Seto spent his time? Not always at work, at his tower, necessarily, but always doing something. Traveling somewhere, arranging something, always building and moving.

He shifts into Yugi’s touches, allows himself the chance to indulge this soft moment because there are so few instances in his life like it, he wants to savor them. His eyes slip shut, his lips catching against Yugi’s when they pass deliberately over his face.

He sits up. "Seto, it's so late! Mokuba will be worried." Yugi cups the tired face between his palms. "I'll bet you haven't eaten, either."

There’s a faint groan in his throat at the way Yugi scolds at him, as if he were a child that needed to be told. Still, he keeps his eyes closed, just one more moment before he has to open them and face…well…

He sighs, his tired eyes finally revealing themselves, “Mokuba always knows where I am at all times. He isn’t worried.”

As for food, well, that could just as easily be explained away. “Nutrition shakes count.” Arguably so did coffee. It wasn’t that he was always this way, Yugi just happened to be here for this part of his life, the one he helped to derail.   

"Don't you growl at me," but he's smiling, bringing Seto in close so that his head rests on his shoulder. Yugi's hands run down his back. "Just because Mokuba knows where you are, doesn't mean he doesn't worry."

"They most certainly do not count." No wonder he looks so tired. "You need something you can chew. Let's go out, we can surprise Mokuba with something - then we'll go home and go to bed." Let's, we'll, as if they're a matched set… foolish. 

Yugi’s hands tame something in him, and for a while, he is placid, as much as can be for Seto Kaiba. He is almost lulled into those suggestions, almost tempted, but there are words that pluck at him and he finds the sound to be unpleasant, out of tune in the otherwise perfect symphony Yugi puts on just for him.

He pulls back a little, a horrible little smirk forming, and his tired eyes go sharp.

“Go out? You are out.”

A reminder he needs to be put back into place, like a trophy on a shelf, or under a display case. Surrounded by glass and cameras.

“But yes, let’s go home , Yugi.” He says it knowingly, almost mockingly, the way Yugi equates Kaiba’s home to prison but also his home now. Which is it? Maybe a little of everything.

One of his hands trails down to Yugi’s, lacing their fingers together and he presses a knee to the bedding, pivoting against it to push off and pull his pet up with him.

"I'm hungry," he whines, pulled along by Kaiba. "Your office isn't out." He lands on his feet, very close to the other man. "Let's go out, and get some air! And a surprise for Mokuba!" He thumbs the edges of Seto's hair, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "It would be fun…"

Kaiba frowns. The more Yugi suggests it, the louder the opposition whispers in his ear- what for? To run away? It would be foolish on Yugi’s part to do so. He’d never be fast enough, he’d never run far enough. 

But really, if that’s the case, then what is there to be paranoid of? He won’t disappear like the Pharaoh had. Will he? No. That’s ridiculous. Yugi couldn’t go five steps without being recognized by someone. 

“…Where would you want to go?” Kaiba asks, wary. It’s not a yes, it’s testing the waters.

Yugi lights up. "Where do you want to go?" Something intimate and cozy, where he can run his foot up his leg under the table? Or something busy and popular, where he can show off just who is on his arm? Oh, but he's not dressed for a club. "What's Mokuba's favorite? So we can surprise him."

There’s an irritable sigh that aims to huff out Yugi’s light, but does it ever really dwindle any? The better focus is Mokuba, because if it were only up to Kaiba, he would’ve headed straight home for tonight, but Yugi looks at him with a gaze he must have been working on for a while in secrecy with his brother, because that’s what it reminds him of. Eyes that are very, very difficult to say no to.

He pulls Yugi along through his office, only stopping to grab his briefcase on the way. Whether he’s made up his mind to take Yugi anywhere, the information is kept to himself, and Yugi will have to merely trust that he’s been victorious in his convincing.

He guides Yugi down the hall to the elevator where Seto discreetly calls for a car with the simple press of his insignia on his coat lapel- did Yugi even know he could do that? Should he even be surprised anymore?

Through the lobby, there’s a car already there waiting, and a man in a pristine suit and sunglasses, and though all of Kaiba’s men seemed nearly identical, it’s entirely possible Yugi might recognize this one as referee to all of Kaiba’s official tournaments through the years- Isono.

“Sir.” He gives a stiff bow upon sight of them and opens the car door to them both.

Yugi is unperturbed, fingers twining with Kaiba as he’s pulled through the now-empty office building. He smiles at the familiar face, even in spite of the sunglasses. “Isono!” He stops politely. “I’m sorry we’re making you work so late.” 

He slips into the back of the car with Kaiba, and while he’s not particularly desirous at the moment, he likes these times when he gets to quietly touch, like Kaiba is really his. His hand runs up the inside of his leg, along the knee, and it’s not really seductive so much as a comforting pet, an intimacy that they’re both here, together. “So, where are we going?”

“There is no such thing as too late when it comes to Mr. Kaiba-san’s schedule, Mr. Muto-san.” Isono is loyal perhaps to a fault, but he is impassioned when it comes to his duties. The door shuts and he rounds to the driver’s side.

They settle in and Kaiba’s eyes drift for a moment down to Yugi’s hand, those graceful fingers that slide over the length of his leg, and it’s only at Isono’s added prompt, “Home, sir?”

Kaiba’s brows furrow a moment, it’d be easy like everything else, to have his way, but the warmth of Yugi’s palm is a nice weight there, and he doesn’t want to say anything that could result in losing it.

“Just drive. I’ll tell you when to stop.”

“Erm, yes, sir!” Isono turns back and the car pulls away from the curb.

It makes Yugi smile, widely, that they aren’t going straight home; and the way Kaiba looks down at him, arms stretched easily along the back of the seat. He looks up into those eyes that reflect the lights of the city, and then out the window at the lights themselves. “It’s fun driving at night, don’t you think? Everything’s lit up like stars. It’s all very pretty.” He cracks the window very slightly, and the chill fall air rushes in and blows his hair back. It’s brisk on his face, and with the long nap, he feels very alert and alive right now.

“This is so fun. We could go anywhere! We could go to the pier...the clubs downtown...oh, the arcade-!” He flops back against the seat, and Kaiba’s arm is above and around him. He looks up at him and grins. “So where do you want to go, Mr. Kaiba-san?”

The city lights have nothing on Yugi- the way he lights up, becomes so excited to spend time out…even if it means still being alongside Kaiba. His enthusiasm even so late, is endearing in a way that Kaiba has always resented before now, and maybe it’s less that Yugi is so happy, but who he shared that happiness with, that Kaiba felt such resentment and jealousy.

There is something distinctly much softer in the smile Kaiba wears now, not critical or full of snark, but admiring, mildly, as Yugi entertains himself with endless possibilities. Eventually, he has to force himself to look out the other window in search of wherever they were supposed to go, though he thinks he’d be quite satisfied remaining just like this in the back of his stretch, arm around Yugi, eyes full of stars.

Nothing too formal…not that he couldn’t get in, he could get in anywhere, but he didn’t need any attention on them right now. Something quiet, sort of obscure, a little less prestigious than usual without being devoid of any class at all.

“There, park.” It’s abrupt and Isono does just that, swerves through the lanes to a curb where tightly packed buildings line a street, and it’s not exactly routine to pick at random without any prior research, but anyone who dared include ‘dragon’ in their namesake had better have a modicum of respect.

Yugi nearly falls against the door with the sharp turn, but Kaiba catches him again, pulls him close, and there’s that cologne. His eyes close and he revels in it - but he opens again when the engine turns off. “‘The Dragon Spirit?’” He looks up. “It’s just a bar. Not that I mind! But is it good enough for you?”

The izakaya is unremarkable except that, beneath the red lantern, a small tile in the shape of a white dragon hangs. Of course Kaiba picked this one. “Have you been here before?” Isono has opened the door and Yugi slips out, almost not even feeling the cold from the energy of the city all around them. Ohhhh, he missed this so much .

They step inside, and it’s moderately busy, regulars, not much else. Isono seems reluctant to let them sit at a corner table. Yugi likes it.

Is anything ever good enough for Seto Kaiba?

But they’re in now, and…well, a few people glance their way, but more so at the way Isono hovers nearby, ready to intercede, but it is terribly difficult not to regard them at all- not with Yugi’s hair, and certainly not with Kaiba’s stature.

“…No, I have not.” Would Yugi think him sillier for picking it solely because it had featured a dragon, or because he wanted to appease him? No, he doubts Yugi would find any of it silly, he always seems so genuine, and that’s a difficult way to take someone, at their word.

He absently flicks a crumb off the table and shifts back in his seat, ever so statuesque and rigid, even here in this dive.

“…But if you don’t like it, we can always go somewhere else.” He purposely keeps himself from saying anywhere, because he assumes he knows where Yugi would request, and…no, this doesn’t have to turn into that kind of night, filled with arguing.

“I like it!” he chirps, while Isono stands guard nearby. “Hey,” Yugi leans forward conspiratorially, giggling. “Should we try to get a drink?” There’s a touchscreen menu, and Yugi highlights the Kirin lager, looking very pleased. And why not? The touchscreen won’t card them! “Alright, what do you want to eat?”

He’s barely flicked through the menu when a tired looking waitress appears with his bottle and a dish of edamame. She pauses, however, seeing them, and eyes Isono. “You gentlemen are old enough?”

“Everything is in order,” Isono assures, which does absolutely nothing to assure anyone.

“If you’re a government sting,” she sets Yugi’s bottle down, “my grandmother’s ghost will haunt you. Anything else I can get you?”

“Thank you!” Yugi is beaming that charming smile of his. “It’s alright, we’ll order off of this.” When she’s given up and gone, he says, “Maybe we should let Isono have a break, huh? Take a nap in the car or something?”

“Feeling mischievous already I see.” Not even a half hour out into the fresh air and already Yugi seeks to test his limits. Well in this, Kaiba won’t stop him. Hell, it might even be amusing. He glances over the screen before selecting a beer of his own and debates over which of the food items look the least likely to be poisonous and considerably edible.

The waitress returns again and Kaiba flashes her a smile that’s too patronizing to be as charming as Yugi’s as she sets his bottle down against the table.

At Yugi’s suggestion, Kaiba’s brows raise, he actually chuckles. “You try telling him to take a break. The man sleeps even less than I do.” The place doesn’t seem unfavorable yet though, the clientele seemed mild and uninterested in the pair of infamous duelists sitting across a table from one another, and so Kaiba turns over his shoulder towards Isono and nods his head in the direction of the door.  

The man looks hesitant for only a moment, but not any longer than that- like a trained dog, he bows his head at the dismissal, as it seems to obviously have been cleared for his employer’s contentment. For now, anyway. And should he ever need him, he is just one very mad dash away.

Yugi, of course, has no such concerns about the food (and he's not delicate like Kaiba is), and is quickly ordering a feast; after all, it's been a while since he ate. Sashimi, grilled fish, gyoza.

He brings the bottle to his lips and sucks the beer down. "I would tell him to take a break, but it's you he listens to. You all work much too hard." His leg slips up under the table, and his foot catches behind Kaiba's knee. "So," he smiles, eyes hooded. "Tell me about your day. What other important work did you get up to?"

Kaiba has only just begun to tilt the bottle back when Yugi makes his move- does he think he’s so subtle? They’re still in public after all, just because no one recognizes them yet doesn’t mean it was improbable.

But is he one to simper and retreat when Yugi plays a bold move? Never. He lowers the bottle back down to the table and steeples his fingers together, and if Yugi wants his attention so badly, clearly, then he’ll have it, every ounce of that impenetrable gaze to pin him in place.

“Well, as I recall -…” He starts out, low as he leans in, looking smug as ever, “After I ruined you on my desk, which I had to clean, by the way, the rest of my day was spent wondering how many other areas of my office could be sullied, in between meetings for product developments, of course.”

And as for Yugi’s day, well, he spent a productive day traumatizing them both by forcing them to re-live a painful experience, followed by a sexual encounter, and sleeping it off. And now they’re here in this… establishment.

It might even be considered a date, if Kaiba found such a thing recognizable.

Yugi looks at him like the sun rises and sets in his eyes. “I would have cleaned it for you,” he says, sipping delicately at the bottle, and trying not to get hard at the promise in the other man’s voice. “It sounds like it might have been better than normal, in that case.” He lifts his foot so it settles in Seto’s lap - and rubs at the crotch very, very gently. “What other places in the office did you have in mind?”

The light pressure is at his crotch now, and Yugi had better tread carefully because there’s nothing preventing Kaiba from throwing him into the back of his limousine and having him finish what he started.  

“Maybe against the window next. You’d have a nice view of Domino. You could see everything I own, think about how untouchable you are to everyone else. You’d see all of it and none of them could see you, what I’d do to you…” And in many ways he was above everyone else in this city- not quite the dueling god king he’d thought, but still adequate in many other ways, and many… surprising ways.

“Of course, if you continue that way.” He nods down at the table, but of course means what’s occurring through it, “I might just end up taking you back tonight. And then I’d be at the office again. Which sounds to me like you want me to end up working more.” Seto smirks and raises a brow, sipping at his beer.

His mouth fits around the bottle in that way ; it’s all he can do to keep from moaning at the thought. Yes, he would be untouchable....but Seto, Seto would be touched by him . He swallows down beer the way he’d like to swallow Seto, smooth and easy. “I-”

The waitress sets down a plate of sashimi, and just as quickly, Yugi’s feet are on the floor, and his expression is inscrutable, smiling sweetly and looking very innocent of any wrongdoing. “Thank you,” he says, tipping the now-empty bottle. “Could I have another one of these?” 

She’s gone, and Yugi gets out his chopsticks, examining the platter of tuna, salmon, scallop and octopus. He taps the chopsticks gently against Kaiba’s wrist first, though. “I don’t want you to work more, Seto.” His eyes lift up to the other’s gaze. “I want you to be able to rest, and be home with your family, and live your life.” 

Seto can’t help but to glare at the waitress and her timing, if only because the weight in his lap is missed, but…really, they should get in and out of here before anyone figured out they were here and decided to slap pictures of their inappropriate behavior over the cover of something or other.

To Yugi, his narrowed eyes soften a little, incapable of searching for less, but far less critical in the way he normally does. “….I rest. It’s better than before.” And life was… this . Was Kaiba Corp. Was dueling. What else was there?

Atem.

That seems to be the biggest what else , but he doubts Yugi would like that answer any more than he himself does.    

But as for family, he’s done a piss poor job of that lately. Everything had been about the Pharaoh, all of it, even Yugi being here, and though he doesn’t like to think so, had it led to Mokuba being prioritized last? Does he feel that way? Does he understand what’s happening here, or why it has to happen? Does it even matter now?

“…I…have been planning to take time off for Mokuba.” He just hadn’t known when he’d have the time. But since there’s no immediate breakthrough…

As if he knows what’s in his heart, Yugi says, “We’re going to bring him a surprise. What does he like best?” He taps the menu, and begins shoving fish into his mouth. It does nothing to stem the onset of drunkenness, beer on an empty stomach. The waitress brings his second bottle along with the grilled fish. 

Kaiba props an elbow against the table and leans over to tap a few items, “What doesn’t he like.” He corrects mildly, “He’d eat every item on the menu if we brought it home to him.” It’s fried and unhealthy, which is to be expected from a place like this, but…well, he is a teenage boy and deserves a treat now and then.

While Yugi has an entire fisherman’s catch at his end of the table, when the waitress returns next with Kaiba’s, it’s the polar-opposite end of the spectrum of both Yugi and Mokuba’s chosen dishes. A bowl of Motsu Nikomi with a side order of mustard greens and another beer, and if Yugi was uncertain as to whether the man he was dating…or at least was now freshly sexually active with, was or was not utterly insane, this could be a decent indicator.

Kaiba and his refined tastes. “You’re like Atem,” he laughs, getting way too deep into his cups. “That’s the sort of thing he likes, anything out of the ordinary. Oh, he’d love this!” He takes another sip of beer and offers some grilled fish to his date across the table. “You want some? It’s good!” Yugi eats more scallop. “He was always so mad we couldn’t go out drinking, he thought it was so silly - but I guess our drinks are a lot harder than what he was used to, he got pretty ridiculous once, it was so funny . But I guess ancient Egyptian beer was a lot weaker than what we’re drinking. I remember, he-”

Kaiba’s expression becomes…closed off, again, cold, distant. A return to true form, and perhaps the difference might not be notable to most- but the progress he had made within the past few weeks quickly diminishes as he’s forced to be reminded yet again that Atem was here, and would like these things, and how alike they were , and it feels like that hole inside is just being torn open again. The fact that someone did understand him and everything he’d been through, and now that someone is just gone, and he is left only with memories that Yugi has and wants to share.

But he can’t hear it tonight, not after what happened that morning, not after seeing him, and hearing how close he came to being blasted off of that roof with not a second thought- by a man as ruthless as he was.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk about him.”

It’s as bitter as the greens on his plate. His stomach lurches a bit and he instead reaches to drown it with his drink.

Yugi wilts instantly, head spinning as it tries to sober up. Stupid, stupid Muto, putting his foot in it again. He knows he’s said the wrong thing. The only thing he can think to say instead, as he picks at the remnants of fish, is, “You didn’t have to say what you did earlier.” He glances up at that cold stare. “That...everyone in the city wants you; that I’m lucky to have your attention. I know all that.”

It’s a cold, calculating stare that sifts through him and tries to come up with something equally as hurtful, to remind Yugi what he’s lost too…

But they’ve played that game before, and the outcome is…it’s exhausting.

“…Good. So you know that I don’t like to waste my time.” And he’s certainly not going to waste his bizarre dinner with Yugi in some desolate hole in the wall on pining after a three thousand year old carcass. “…Are you implying you’d like to cap yourself at two drinks, or do you think you could manage another?”

He perks back up a little, but he’s not quite the bold, independent minx of a moment ago. Even when obeying, Yugi’s not one to back down from a challenge. “Of course I can. Should we move to sake, whiskey?” He smiles again, just the corner of his mouth, and his eyes catch a little more light again. 

Yugi follows his lead beautifully, and though the soured moment is not completely buried yet, this is a better game, one that doesn’t end in both their losses. At least not Seto’s, for certain. 

“Why Yugi, I never thought you a whiskey drinker….” The idea of it seems to relieve more of the tension…or perhaps direct it into a more entertaining flow, especially with that smirk Yugi wears. Far preferable than sulking. 

“If that’s what you think you can handle…” He taps the menu again. There’s no way Yugi can manage his liquor that well, he can only imagine the cheap booze his hoodlum friends had snuck to him. Beer and sake were one thing.

"I'll have you know, I'm a great drinker! My grandpa was a gambler, it's in the blood! We can do shots, if you'd rather." Seto has never defused a situation like this, been this calm and charming. Yugi offers a bite to him on his own chopsticks, smiling. "It really is good! Do you drink it neat, on the rocks, or mixed?"

Kaiba tries to hide his surprise at Yugi’s declaration, wondering why in the world he wouldn’t know this about him. Was he sneaking into bars and clubs all along? Did he have some secret scandalous night life prior to all of this?

“A gambler…” He frowns a bit, mulling  it over. “…Well, that explains a lot.”

He glances to Yugi’s offered morsel and holds up a hand. “On the rocks. You?”

He takes back the bite, but he's pouting about it - sweetly this time, a child denied his game, a lover denied his kiss.

"Grandpa's the coolest. He used to travel all over the world before he married Grandma. He told me this story about how one time he won three million yen in Monte Carlo."

He finishes off the second beer, ready to go. "I like it with soda, but I'll drink it how you do, Kaiba-kun," he says, smiling, resting his chin on the backs of his folded hands. 

Three million yen is mere pocket change to a namesake like Kaiba’s, but anyone else would enjoy such victories. Gambling could be foolish though, people like Katsuya relied on luck rather than skill, and it showed.

But a calculated risk… those could pay off. Every businessman had to take one of those, hell, he had, when he’d completely upturned his stepfather’s company. Investors were running scared, and look how it all turned out. 

The waitress returns with their glasses and Kaiba admires the look on Yugi’s face with a mild, slow shake of his head, and a creeping smirk at his mouth. 

“I won’t have you throwing up in my limousine when this is all said and done, this is your last chance to back down, Yugi.” 

Yugi fixes him with a sharp look - and tosses half the whiskey back. "Duel."

The rest of the food cannot help them now. Even with the sashimi dispatched and gyoza to follow, Yugi is absolutely silly with drink. "What are you going to do with Mokuba on your time off? Has he told you more about his little girlfriend yet?" He giggles, and his foot catches Kaiba's ankle this time. "The heartbreaking Kaiba Brothers, is that it? You're gonna have a real casanova on your hands pretty soon, Kaiba-kun."