Yu-Gi-Oh 1. Kaibaman!

TO YOU WHO ACTUALLY CLICKED ON THIS: THANK YOOUUUU!

This story is going to seem kind of silly at first, but I promise you it gets better! So please bear with me!

Warnings: This story will contain boy x boy yaoi goodness. Don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. Never have, probably never will. *tear*

Enjoy! ;3

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"You'll never get away with this!" a woman yelled to a group of men surrounding her. She struggled to lift herself from the floor she was sitting on, but the ropes tied around her made it impossible to do so.

A click echoed through the old, worn-down warehouse, signifying the cocking of a gun. The owner of the readied machine chuckled roughly and, raising his weapon at the woman, said, "I believe I already have. _Maiden_."

"Think again, Dartz!"

The man turned to find out who dared interrupt and started at the sight. A well-built man stood in the doorway of the building. He wore a long, sleeveless white coat with a red shirt and black pants underneath and a helmet that seemed to represent a dragon, covering his entire face save his nose and mouth. Long, red hair trailed behind him as he fearlessly strode closer.

"Kaibaman!" one of the thugs yelled, taking a step back.

"Kaibaman!" the woman echoed with a look of relief on her face. In a flash Kaibaman threw a card towards the blue-haired brute named Dartz, knocking the firearm from his hand. The card rebounded back and he gracefully caught it.

He then swiftly held the card above his head and yelled, "I ask that you lend me your strength-Curse of Dragon!" With a flash of bright light a golden dragon appeared, wings spread and ready. "Show them your power! _Hell Flame_!" he ordered. The dragon bellowed out a roar and promptly obeyed; a stream of flames making contact with the group. Shrieks of horror filled the air mixing with a howl of, "Curse you Kaibamaaaaan!"

Once the smoke had finally cleared, the crowd of ruffians were left scattered across the floor whimpering and moaning and some even whining for the mothers. When he was sure that they had all been defeated, Kaibaman relaxed and with a smirk said, "Hn. It seems that you all didn't take too well to my 'warm' welcome." After a moment of basking in his glory, he dashed over to the still tied up and rather dazed looking woman. "Maiden!" he yelled on his way there. As soon as he got to her, he began untying her from her restraints and looking her over to be sure that she wasn't harmed.

"Kaibaman…" she repeated, blue eyes wide with astonishment. Finally, the ropes around her fell and freed her arms.

"Are you alright Maiden? Did they harm you?" he asked in concern.

Slowly, she shook her head saying, "No…no I'm fine." Aside from her long, white hair being slightly tangled and frizzed and her tan colored dress being torn at the end, she seemed to be unscathed. A small smile suddenly graced her face and she said, "It seems that you've rescued me once again, Kaibaman."

"I was nearly too late. If I hadn't of gotten here in time…" he trailed of, lowering his head. The maiden shook her head once more.

"But you did." She stated.

"But if I had arrived sooner, I could have prevented Dartz from-" he began, raising his head.

"It is in the past, Kaibaman." she interjected. "You can go on and on with 'if's' and 'could have's' but that won't change what has already happened. The only thing to do now is to move forward and look towards the future in hopes that it will be bright." she finished placing her small hands on either side of his face, lightly touching his helmet.

"…Yes." Kaibaman agreed as the maiden began pulling his headgear off of him, revealing his sharp, strong facial features. His red hair was discovered to not be his own, but merely an extension of the helmet. His natural hair was a chestnut brown, neatly combed in place. He stared into the maiden's deep blue eyes with a pair of his own as the two of them began leaning closer together.

Closer…and closer… and closer…until…

"CUT!"

The white haired woman groaned and backed away from their "almost kiss".

"What now?" she snapped in the direction of the voice.

"It's not anything you've done, Kisara." A man walked over to the two of them with a look of aggravation. "It's him!" he said pointing with an accusative finger. "You too tense looking Kaiba! You're about to kiss the beautiful Maiden with Eyes of Blue whom you've just saved from the clutches of evil! Not about to get smacked in the face with a wrecking ball! So stop acting like it!" he yelled. Then, turning to leave the set, added, "Everyone take five. I'll be back."

The two of them watched the middle aged man as he left. Once he was gone, Kisara stood to take her leave as well, but not before adding, "Come on Kaiba, get your shit together."

When she had disappeared as well, Kaiba let out the breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding the whole time and massaged the temples of his forehead. That man…just who did he think he was? Kaiba had a right mind to fire the guy. He was lucky that the new episode of "Kaibaman" needed to be released so soon or he would have done it right then and there. Once this episode aired though, he was done. He didn't care that this would be the sixth director he would be firing. He wouldn't tolerate such behavior. A competent director who knew his place- that's all he asked for. So why were they so damn hard to find?

Ugh. He felt a headache coming on.

As for that girl…Kaiba gripped the bridge of his nose in exasperation. One minute she's got your back, and the next she's using it as a protective shield to guard against any possible threat to her perfect image. Not only that, she switches from being your best friend to your worst enemy in a matter of seconds for no apparent reason at all. She was an untrustworthy bitch, that's what she was.

If he could have it his way, he would've kicked her out on her ass a long time ago. Sadly, however, she was a main character in the show and then he would be left with many unhappy fans complaining about her disappearance. After all, it would be nearly impossible to find another girl with features like hers.

'God, I need some coffee.' he thought after a few moments. 'And an aspirin.'

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TADA!

…

It gets better I promise.

I can't decide whether or not I want this Fic to be written strictly from Kaiba's point of view, or if I should alternate between Kaiba and Yami. (They meet in the next chapter by the way! :3) So tell me what you think!

That means please review!

And thanks for reading!


	2. Once In A Blue Moon

Here it is! Chappy numero dos!I decided that I'd just narrate everything from Kaiba's perspective instead of switching back and forth like I'd considered before. It'll leave some mystery in the story!

…I think.

Warnings: Some slight Yami OOCness. Quite a bit on Kaiba's part too in my opinion. Soorrryyy. It's not THAT horribly bad though. Hopefully. Let me know if it is! I'll straighten it out in the next chappy if so!

Enjoy! ;3

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Seto Kaiba was a busy man. On top of being the main protagonist on one of Japan's top TV shows, he ran a multi-million dollar company alongside it. He went day after day after day of stress inducing work: making business deals with some of the most powerful men in Japan, signing contracts, fixing mistakes his employees made in their latest software, firing said employees, keeping their stocks in check, memorizing his lines for the newest episode of "Kaibaman", fighting with the screenwriter about stupid lines in the script, threatening to fire the screenwriter, memorizing the new lines in the script, planning meetings with men that could profit his business so extremely that he would never have to lift another finger in his life, being rejected by such men, firing the next employee he sees out of spite, _AND_ raising his little brother in the process. It was enough to make your brain burst and deflate until you're nothing but a dead-eyed zombie.

There were, however, these rare occasions when Kaiba would find himself with a little spare time.

These occasions came once in a blue moon, and Kaiba made sure to take full advantage of them. Usually they were used on spending time with his smaller sibling, Mokuba. Sometimes he would help Mokuba with his homework or with any problems he might be having, but the two of them typically played a game of Mokuba's choice.

Sometimes, however, on an even rarer occasion, Kaiba would have a little spare time with no Mokuba around.

And thus, resulting in a very bored Seto Kaiba.

Sighing, Kaiba leaned back in his chair. He'd checked through his e-mail a good few times just to find out that there was nothing there for him to take care of. He was so concentrated on his work earlier that he must have blown through everything already. Mokuba was hanging out with some friends right now, so doing anything with him was out of the question. And he had already asked his secretary if the recent bug in their software had been fixed and if the certain someone who caused it had removed their belongings from their desk yet. Both she answered in a polite, "Yes, Mister Kaiba." God, how he always hated her always too well-mannered tone. She was one hell of an employee though. He leaned forward again and clasped his hands together, setting his elbows on his desk.

Well, this was different.

The feeling of having nothing to do was very foreign to Kaiba, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. Stumped, he opened the top left drawer of his desk and retrieved a small, blue notebook with "SCHEDULE" written on the front in silver letters. He flipped through the pages until he got to the one most recently written in. His eyes scanned the page checking off things that he'd already completed.

'Did that, finished that yesterday, that's being checked over, did that this morning…' he thought.

"Meeting discussing new duel disk designs at 5:30 p.m." he said aloud. Kaiba glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of his laptop to see that it was only a little after 3:30.

This was very different indeed.

He had nearly two hours to himself. Two hours to do whatever he pleased. 120 minutes to do something that he actually _wanted_ to do. Kaiba leaned back once more and rubbed his chin absentmindedly.

'What _DO_ I want to do…?'

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The more he thought about it, the more he thought that it was a terrible, terrible idea.

In his rush to decide on something to do, Kaiba thought that it would be nice to take a walk.

Outside. In public. Where people could see him.

Of course, yes, he was wearing a disguise. He wouldn't dare do something like this otherwise. But the last time he attempted something like this, he was quickly discovered and the next thing he knew, he was hiding for an hour from a swarm of paparazzi.

Kaiba shook his head thinking about it.

Granted, the walk _was_ nice. Just walking casually without a real destination was a nice experience for the CEO. He rather enjoyed taking in all of his surroundings for once. As he did, he noticed that quite a few of his surrounds had a similar theme. A theme centered around him in fact.

"Get the Kaibaman complete set for $59.99!" one sign read.

"KaibaCorp. Duel Disk for sale!" another read a few blocks down.

"Kaibaland almost completed!" "Kaibaman comics for sale!" "Kaibaman action figures!" Kaiba almost visibly cringed at that one. It wasn't that he didn't like them; he just didn't find the thought of small children slobbering all over a figure made in his image very appealing. Not to mention that he'd seen the heads of some of them pop off. He'd have to remember to get the model fixed.

"Seto Kaiba and Kisara White more than friends?"

Kaiba abruptly stopped and glared death through his dark sunglasses at the newspaper stand. Why the hell would someone even insinuate such a malevolent thing? The sheer thought was ludicrous. The two of them weren't even friends. It was a stretch to even call them acquaintances! He detested the woman for Pete's sake! Kaiba looked away from the paper, realizing that it wasn't going to drop to its knees and beg for forgiveness under his gaze for its mistake. Attempting to gather his composure, he strode away. Whoever published that article was getting sued, big time.

Fuming, Kaiba made his way over to a bench and, after inspecting it to make sure no animal had dumped its waste there, sat down. He looked around after a moment, suddenly feeling a little unsure about his disguise. He wore some jeans, a black, zip-up hoodie, a dark grey and white hat, and sunglasses. He slowly raised his hands up to his hood, and pulled it up over his hat-just in case. For all he knew someone already recognized him and ran off to spread the word. With his luck, that probably was the case.

What a really terrible, terrible idea.

Kaiba pulled out his phone from his back pocket to check the time. It was 4:22; he still had about an hour to kill. He glanced around again as he returned his electronic device back to his pocket.

'I really need to stop being so paranoid.' he thought as he bent forward and placed his elbows on his thighs, propping his head up with his hands. He shifted his legs, the late-autumn leaves crunching beneath his feet.

It was then that he felt the bench he sat on move slightly. He snapped his head up and slowly looked over to his left to see that someone was now perched on that side of the bench. It was a boy who looked about in his teens; he had on a high school uniform signifying so. Kaiba's eyes instantly shot up to his porcupine-like hair, which was a bizarre mixture of blonde bangs in the front and black spikes with magenta tips in the back with a few stands of blonde defying the laws of gravity with the rest. He then noticed his eyes, which were a deep, rich crimson color. It was a strange combination, and Kaiba idly wondered why someone would style their hair in such an abnormal way. He didn't notice he was even staring at the boy until he turned his head to look back at Kaiba and after a moment said,"…Hi there."

Deciding not to respond, he looked straight ahead and tried to pretend like he didn't hear him. The boy simply shrugged his shoulders and slumped back into the bench. Kaiba stood all of a sudden, figuring that it would be better if he left before the kid got suspicious. He began walking away and thought about just heading home. After all, Mokuba was probably there by now.

By the time he got about halfway down the street, he suddenly heard a voice behind him yell, "Hey! Wait!" He looked back and saw the porcupine boy jogging towards him. Straightaway, Kaiba assumed the worse and started walking faster.

He knew. The kid knew who he was and was about to expose it.

Rounding the corner, he caught another glimpse of the boy and saw him making a mad dash towards him.

Uh oh.

After seeing that, Kaiba broke out into a full on sprint. No way in hell was he going to be caught. He really didn't feel like being drowned by a wave of questions and cameras at the moment. So paying no heed to those in his way, he dashed down the street in hopes of losing his pursuer.

"HEY YOU!" porcupine boy shouted.

Ignoring the attempt at getting his attention, he turned another corner.

"ACK!" he heard from behind. Out of curiosity, he turned around and saw that porcupine boy had slipped and fell on his face. He was about to just give in to the inevitable and go back to help the poor guy up, but as soon as he stopped running, the kid jumped back up and bellowed out, "HEY GUY IN THE BLACK JACKET! I'M TALKING TO YOU!", angrily.

Hm. He seemed kind of upset.

Well, this was just great. Now there were a bunch of people staring at him. Some were pointing and whispering too.

What a really terrible, awful idea.

Panicking, Kaiba started running away again, not missing the now wide-eyed looks he was receiving. Hot on his trail again was Mr. Porcupine, yelling, "HELLOOO!?" They were attracting more and more attention by the minute. He wished the kid would just shut up and go away.

Kaiba gathered all of his remaining strength and shifted into high gear, hoping to leave the boy in his dust. To his horror and dismay, he noticed that at some point he had entered into a neighborhood and that right in front of him was a cul-de-sac. Damn.

When he reached the rounded end of the street he finally slowed to a stop, giving in. He turned back around to see Mr. Porcupine do the same. The kid hunched over, trying to regain his breath.

"…Alright, you got me. Now what do you want?" he questioned, thankful that no one was outside at the moment.

"Why…why…were you…running?" Mr. Porcupine huffed out. "

Why? Kaiba didn't understand. The teen knew who he was, and he obviously wanted something. Why wouldn't he have tried to avoid being caught? He was about to question the boy, but Mr. Porcupine spoke before he had the chance.

"I was…I was just trying to…" He took a few deep breaths and then stood up straight. "…I was trying to return this!" he said, holding out a small, leather case. "Your wallet, right?" he finished, clarifying.

Kaiba just stood there for a while, trying to piece things together. He followed him all this way just to return his wallet? There was no way. There had to be more to it than that.

"…What do you want kid?" he scowled, slowly taking his wallet.

"What do you mean?"

Kaiba opened his mouth to reply, but quickly shut it when he heard the sound of footsteps in the distance. The two of them turned their attention to the direction it was coming from and as soon as it started getting louder, Kaiba started searching for somewhere to duck for cover. Of course the paparazzi would find him. It was only a matter of time. In fact, he was surprised that it had taken them this long.

"What's goin' on a 'here!?" he heard a woman say somewhere to the left of him. "What'd y'all think yo' doin'?"

"Excuse me ma'am, but have you seen Seto Kaiba around here? You know, the man that plays as Kaibaman?"

"KAIBAMAN!?" Mr. Porcupine nearly screamed.

"Yes, we have sources saying that they saw him run down this neighborhood. Have you seen him?"

"NO I 'AIN'T SEEN NO SETA KABA NO WHERE 'ROUND A' HERE, NOW GET THESE DOG ON CAMARAS OUTTA' MAH FACE FOR I CALL THE COPS!" the rather peeved of lady roared.

"No need to raise your voice ma'am-"

"GO ON, GET!"

He heard a sigh and the sound of footsteps fading away. He finally started breathing again. He didn't know who that crabby lady was, but he silently thanked her current bad mood.

"Did you here that!? Kaibaman was-" A moment of silence passed. "Hello? Sir?" Kaiba moved a few leaves away from his face and saw Mr. Porcupine looking around with a confused expression. "Um…why are you in a bush?"Kaiba looked at the teen for a minute, then stepped out of the dark green, leafy camouflage without a word. The kid looked back at him, but seemed to just brush off the oddness of it when he shook his head and said, "Anyway, did you hear what they said? They said Kaibaman was over here! As in OVER HERE, over here!" he exaggerated with a large grin. "Do you think he might be close by still? Maybe if we look around we can find him-" he began excitedly, but cut off with a sudden shiver. It was then when Kaiba noticed that practically the entire front side of him was dripping wet.

Hesitantly, he asked, "What happened?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you drenched?"

"Oh. Slipped in a puddle."

"…While you were running after me?" he pressed, feeling a small amount of guilt start to nibble on his insides.

A nod.

"…I see." he replied, feeling a bit at fault.

'No. Why should I feel guilty? It's his own fault for chasing after me in the first place.' he tried to convince himself, swallowing the guilty feeling down his now quite parched throat; willing it to go away. He looked down at the wallet still in his hand. '…Oh yeah. He was returning my wallet." He looked back up at Mr. Porcupine. 'But the only reason he bothered giving it back is because he wants something from me. No one just does something for you without wanting something in return.' He narrowed his eyes.

"So do you think he's still around?"

"…Huh?"

"Kaibaman! Do you think he might still be around here!? I've always wanted to meet him!" the boy chirped.

Kaiba gawked at him. Did he seriously not know? How could he not know? Why else would he have bothered returning his wallet? He wouldn't have done it otherwise; he wanted something from Kaiba out of it.

…right?

"Hey…uh…" he motioned to the boy.

"Yami." he assisted.

"…Yami. Why did you return my wallet to me?" He needed to get this straightened out right now.

"Why?" Kaiba nodded. "Well…because I saw you drop it."

"…And?"

"And what?"

"What's your other reason?" He wouldn't be fooled. No one did that sort of thing for that reason alone.

"Mmm…because if I had left it there, someone would have stolen it? And I'm sure that that would've been a real pain…"

"And THAT'S your reason?"

"Um, uh…yes?" he answered, as if he was afraid he had answered incorrectly.

Kaiba continued to stare at the kid, not sure what to think. No way was that it. There had to be more to it than that. Maybe he _did_ know who he was, and was just pretending that he didn't to get his sympathy and get him to do something in return. That had to be it…

"Well…" Yami started, shifting under Kaiba gaze. "I'm going to see if Kaibaman is still around. Maybe if I'm lucky he hasn't gone too far." He promptly turned, and began walking away.

He didn't know. He legitimately had no idea who he was. He had rushed after Kaiba just to return the wallet that he'd seen him drop. Not only that, but he had fallen into a freezing puddle on the way and _still_ ventured on to give him the wallet, soaking wet and all. If he stayed out much longer he'd probably get sick.

'Damn it…I hate owing people debts…' he thought acidly.

"…Hey, kid, wait!"

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I really hope the OOCness isn't too bad.

Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Please review and give me some feedback! It would be most appreciated!


	3. Identity

Finally! Chapter three is up!

I really meant to have this up earlier but…well…life happens sometimes. It hasn't been TOO too long, so I guess it's alright.

Enjoy! ;3

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'Way to go Kaiba. Way to keep a low profile.'

Kaiba tugged his hat down over his face as a black 2013 Cadillac XTS Limousine drove toward him. He looked around and saw that the vehicle had caught the attention of quite a few people, and it wasn't even halfway down the road yet. He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for its arrival. He glanced over to Yami and saw him slightly gaping at the automobile as well.

When the limo finally slowed to a stop in front of the two of them, Kaiba wasted no time in throwing the door open and having a seat in one of the six chairs. He looked over at a wide-eyed Yami and said, "You getting in or what?" Yami jumped slightly and then scrambled over and into a chair opposite to him, closing the door behind him.

The vehicle jerked a little as it began moving forward again. Yami scanned the interior and whispered, "Whoa…cool." He turned to Kaiba and said, "You must be very wealthy, huh?" Kaiba didn't answer and twisted to gaze out of the window. Yami went back to admiring the stylishness of the vehicle with a hum of approval here and there.

After he'd stopped Yami from running off, he'd offered to drive him home since it was so cold out and he was soaking wet. Yami declined, saying he didn't plan on going home quite yet. Still feeling like he owed Yami, a feeling he absolutely detested, he blindly asked him over to his house to get out of the harsh elements. Yami had given him a look at first, (which didn't really surprise him; he was rather confused as to why he would offer such a thing too) but agreed nonetheless (which confused him even more).

And so here they were: in _his_ limousine- normally reserved for people of high importance- on their way to _his_ private mansion- a place he rarely ever invited anyone save for the sake of a business deal. Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose and idly wondered if he should stop the limo and tell the kid to hit the road.

"Whoa." Kaiba looked over to see what Yami was admiring. "Is this a TV?" He nodded and looked back out of the window. "Cool!" Kaiba fought to suppress a smirk. The reaction he got when people saw how loaded he was always amused him greatly. Even if he did feel like throwing the person out of the window and telling them to get lost. Of course, he couldn't actually do that. He was the one who invited the kid, after all.

Kaiba watched as the limo stopped in front of a gate with "KC" plastered on the front in silver letters and the chauffeur got out. The man flipped a metal box open mounted on the wall next to the gate and punched in a code. Once the gate began to slide open, he returned and began driving onto the private property. Behind the gate was a great mansion. The exterior was an off-white color with many windows lining the top and bottom. The roof was dark taupe, as were the large double doors being guarded by two large men in black suits and dark purple ties.

Kaiba waited for a reaction out of Yami, but when he didn't hear one he lifted his head up. Yami hadn't said anything because he was too busy gawking out of the window. His eyes were about as big as saucers as he gazed in awe. When the limousine came to a stop, Kaiba opened the door and stepped out, holding it there for Yami to do the same. When he didn't, Kaiba raised an eyebrow and said, "Come on." Yami blinked a few times at him, then climbed out as well.

"Y-you live here?" Yami sputtered out as they walked up some steps. Kaiba didn't respond and glared at the guards when they gave him and then Yami some strange looks.

"…Sir." One nodded in welcome, struggling not to stutter under his glower. Kaiba ignored the gesture and trudged inside once they opened the doors for the two of them.

"Wooow. This is amazing!" He heard Yami say behind him as they made their way down the hall. The walls were painted a deep green adorned with the occasional picture or decoration. About halfway down the hall was a table standing on the polished wooden floors with a black glazed porcelain Chinese vase that had golden dragons going around it.

Once they reached the end, he shoved another pair of doors open to reveal a large, lavished room. Toward the center of the room was a glass table surrounded by a cream colored couch to the left of it, a love seat the same shade in front of it, and a fire place to the right. Underneath the table and furniture was a huge, dark gray rug with various designs woven into it. Behind the couch was a small area with two book shelves filled completely up with a variety of books and files. Across the room was a spiral staircase leading up to another hallway and a balcony to view the room from a higher altitude. A chandelier hung high over the center of the room, glass glittering from the reflection of the crackling fire.

"Oh, wow." Yami gasped. Kaiba walked over to the center of the room, Yami trailing behind him.

"Sit." he commanded. Yami obeyed and plopped down on the couch. He looked down at Yami to see his still damp and rather dirty clothes and, after a moment, stated, "I'll be back." He climbed up the staircase and began walking down the additional hallway very similar to the first one. He needed to find something for Yami to change into; he couldn't very well sit around in the state he was in. Nothing Kaiba had would fit him. The runt was so short, if it wasn't for the uniform he would have mistaken him for being in middle school. Figuring out what he should do, Kaiba veered off to the left into another hallway and strolled into a room to the right.

He walked past a full-sized bed covered in a green and white blanket to a large wooden dresser and opened the second drawer. He moved a few items around and pulled out a dark red robe with white accents on the sleeves and hood. 'This'll do." he decided, shutting the drawer and walking out. Yami would have to settle with wearing his little brother's robe for now. Hopefully Mokuba wouldn't mind.

Once he returned back downstairs he shoved the article of clothing in Yami's direction saying, "Here. Go through there," he gestured toward a doorway to the right of the spiral staircase, "and turn left and you can change into that there. I'll have your clothes washed and dried for you afterwards."

Reluctantly, Yami took the robe. After inspecting it somewhat, he looked up at Kaiba and cracked a small smile.

"Okay. Thank you." he responded, standing and doing as Kaiba had instructed.

Once he heard the door shut behind Yami, Kaiba let out a sigh. 'Why the hell am I doing this again?' he thought. 'Because I owe him one? Yeah, I owe him _ONE_. I already let him ride in my limo and see my private mansion. This is going too far now.' He rubbed the back of his neck deciding, 'Well no going back now. I already offered. Damn.'

A minute or so had passed when Kaiba heard the door reopen. He spun around to see Yami walking back over, now with the robe tied around him hanging down past his knees. He stopped in front of the glass table and gently set a massive pile of keys and key chains connected to a black and red lanyard. He looked back up at Kaiba, holding his school clothes. Kaiba grabbed them from him and began walking out from the way they had come in. "Stay there." he said before shutting the doors behind him.

Upon returning, he found Yami sitting on the love seat playing around with the chess set perched on the table. Kaiba walked over and sat down on the couch with an exhale. As silence settled between the two of them, Kaiba found his eyes wander over to the many key chains set on the table. One in particular caught his attention the most; a chibified version of the Dark Magician pointing its staff forward hung there. It was a duel monster that only showed up twice in the show, but was still popular with many fans nonetheless. This thought brought up a question that Kaiba asked before he had the chance to stop himself.

"How old are you, Yami?" Kaiba almost face-palmed. Yeah, invite a kid you just met over to your private mansion, have him change into a robe, then ask how old he his. If that didn't seem shady, he didn't know what did.

"15." he answered matter-of-factly, shocking Kaiba. The guy didn't seem at all skeptical about any of this. Collecting his composure, Kaiba pressed on to what he was actually curious about.

"Well, don't you think you're a little old to like Kaibaman?"

Yami looked up from the pawn he'd been moving back and forth and answered, "Not really. Besides, the fan base for it has really started expanding. Sometimes I find grown men who watch the show and play the game religiously."

It was a true and rather sad fact that Kaiba knew about all too well. On more than one occasion has he found a middle-aged man begging him for his autograph and a chance to duel him. It was a little frightening to be honest. The game, he could understand. It's a good strategy game that really makes you think. It's recently become a rather popular game. So much so that even people who haven't even seen the show get into it and enter tournaments. But the show? Past a certain age, the show should just seem downright silly. Kaiba was the main character in the show and _he_ thought it was silly.

Kaiba was about to comment, but a yell coming from the hall distracted him.

"Nii-sama!"

A boy came busting into the room with long, wild, black hair and the white Domino Middle School uniform on.

"Nii-sama! I'm ba-" he stopped right where he was. His large blue-grey eyes trailed over to were Yami sat. "…Who the heck are you?" he asked with an accusative finger. "And why are you wearing my robe?"

Kaiba took the liberty of explaining what happened before his little brother blew a gasket. After a few minutes of clarifying, with the occasional snicker from Mokuba, he looked back over at Yami and raised an eyebrow.

"So you just…went with him like that? Without asking anything about him first? For all you know he could be a child predator! And you just walked right into his sick little trap!"

Kaiba choked on his spit.

"Mokuba!" he snapped in disbelief. His own brother…

"Speaking hypothetically of course." Mokuba quickly added.

After a few seconds passed, Yami turned to Kaiba and asked, "…Are you?"

"NO!"

After his fit of laughter was over, Mokuba spoke up again. "So Yami, do you know who this is?" he asked, motioning over to Kaiba.

"Well…I have an idea…" Yami answered fiddling around with his fingers. Mokuba smirked evilly.

"Well, Nii-sama?" Kaiba sighed heavily.

"Mokuba, please…"

In one swift motion, Kaiba pulled the hood off of his head along with his hat and lifted the pair of sunglasses off of his face. A large grin spread across Yami's face and his eyes grew about double their size.

"I knew it!" He jumped up from his seat. "You're Kaibaman!"

"Kaibaman isn't my actual name you know." he pointed out as he turned away and scowled at Mokuba's sly expression.

"Aw man, if I had known I'd meet you, I would have brought my deck with me!" he continued.

"So you like Kaibaman, huh?" Mokuba began. Yami nodded excitedly. "Is that sooo…" he glanced at his older brother. "If that's the case, then-"

"Mokuba." Kaiba interrupted. "Was there something that you needed from me?" he asked impatiently. Mokuba looked at him, then began making his way over to his older brother.

"Well _geez_ Nii-sama. I haven't seen you all day! Maybe I just wanted to come in here and say 'hi'!" he said with big puppy-dog eyes.

"Hi. Now what do you want?" Kaiba pressed, undeterred. Mokuba pouted.

"Here." He handed Kaiba a black thumb drive with "KC" written in small letters on it. "This is yours. I grabbed it accidentally this morning. I guess I thought it was mine." He snatched the device from Mokuba, inspecting it.

"Did you let anyone see it?" he asked.

"No, why?"

Kaiba took a breath. "This has a lot of information on it that a lot of rivaling companies want, Mokuba. You could've ended up in a lot of trouble had anyone seen you with it."

"Oh…" Mokuba rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I didn't know." Kaiba set the drive down on the table and then leaned back in the couch.

"Good thing you didn't lose it." he blew out, relieved.

"What kind of stuff is on it?" Mokuba and Kaiba looked over to a still mildly grinning Yami.

"The important kind." Kaiba answered vaguely and left it at that. There was a knock at the door and a young woman stepped into the room, holding a small pile of neatly folded clothes.

"The clothes that you ordered to be washed are finished, Mister Kaiba." she said.

"Wow, that was fast." Yami said, recognizing the blue uniform. He hopped over to the woman and took the clothes from her. She bowed and left.

"I guess I'll go change in there again." Yami said, leaving the room.

…

"Soooo, Nii-sama-"

"_No_, Mokuba."

Mokuba pouted for the remainder of the time they were alone.

When Yami came back, his grin had faded away in favor of a more serious look. "Um…what time is it?"

"Adventure Time!" Mokuba chirped.

"5:03." Kaiba informed.

Yami nodded and said with a sad smile," Well as awesome as it was to meet you Kaibaman, I'm afraid I have to go."

"Do you need a ride home?" Kaiba could've smacked himself for that. If he drove the kid home he'd be late for his meeting.

"No," Yami answered to Kaiba's relief, "I can get home from here, but thank you." With that, Yami scooped up his mass of key chains and stuffed them in his pocket, letting the lanyard hang out. "Well, goodbye Kaibaman. I look forward to seeing you again."

"What about me?" Mokuba asked. Yami snorted.

"Yes, I look forward to seeing you again too, Mokuba."

Kaiba watched Yami as he left, and once he was gone he glanced at his watch again saying, "I should be heading off too. Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone, Mokuba."

"I make no promises."

* * *

Thanks for reading!

Please review!


	4. On The Table

This is a rather short chapter…like, under 700 words short. But I've been busy, surprisingly, and since I haven't posted in a while I figured 700 words was better than 0!

Soooo…

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

There simply weren't enough swear words in Kaiba's vocabulary to describe the frustration he was feeling. He vaguely remembered using "fuck" a few times, but the word was hardly able to express how utterly pissed the CEO was.

Kaiba shoved papers around on his desk for about the umpteenth time in the last hour, picking up and putting down random items that he was sure he'd checked under before but had decided to look again just in case what he was looking for magically appeared underneath one of them. Nope. Still not there. Damn.

He shoved the drawers to his desk open, filing through the loads of paperwork neatly aligned in each of them. Still not in there either. Kaiba groaned and slammed the last drawer closed, the metal rattling in response as if shivering in fear at Kaiba's now boiling-over anger. He shot up out of his seat, slamming his hands down and yelled out to no one and everyone at the same time, "WHERE THE HELL IS IT!?"

He stood there for a while in silence, waiting to see if anyone would answer his question. Of course, no one did. He was standing in an empty room after all.

'I need to calm down.' He attempted to convince himself. 'Just have to try and remember what I did with that damn thumb drive.'

He thought back to the previous day before he'd gone to that meeting. He was talking with Yami…then Mokuba came in…

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose. 'God, how did I forget!? Mokuba handed the thing to me! Then…' Kaiba grabbed the long, black coat hanging on his chair and his metal briefcase and exited the room.

It was on the table. It had to be.

He stepped into an elevator on the other side of the hallway, steel doors sliding close making little noise as they did so, seemingly not daring to distract the man that had entered in any way. Kaiba ran his long, slender fingers through his hair, strands of chestnut brown falling perfectly back into place.

How could he forget? That piece of plastic, no matter how small it was, was immeasurably important. It had information on it that could quite possibly ruin Kaiba if it was given to the wrong person. There were newly improved designs of duel disks along with the layout of Kaibaland and codes to its security systems on it.

But it would be alright. It was just on the glass table in his living room.

Kaiba marched out of the elevator toward the exit door, stopping briefly to tell his secretary he was leaving early. Once in his limo he barked out an order for the driver to take him home and leaned back in his seat, reflecting on the fact that he'd forgotten such an important thing. He had been so distracted thinking about how strange that boy Yami was yesterday…

Kaiba shook his head, attempting to get rid of the thought. He had more pressing matters to be concerned with. Matters much more pressing than the fact that the boy didn't want anything in return for his help or that warm feeling he'd gotten when he saw Yami's face lit up like a tree on Christmas day when Kaiba had revealed his identity to him.

'Table. The thumb drive is on the table.' he forced himself to repeat in his head rather than wonder about the teen. Once he reached his destination he speedily climbed up the stairs to his mansion and through the doors, not bothering to wait for them to be opened for him.

It was on the table. All he had to do was go get it to make the anxious feeling he was having go away.

He shoved the doors open to the room and walked over to the glass table he'd forced himself to think about for the past twenty minutes. He stopped halfway there, jaw dropped.

It wasn't on the table.

* * *

Again, sorry about the super tiny chapter.

That aside, what do you think happened to it? Meaning: Review and take a guess!

Thanks for reading!


	5. Gone

Yay! A longer chappy! I'll try and update sooner than I have been, I promise! I'll do my best to post a new chapter every other day, but I make no promises. (I'm a slow writer/ thinker, sorry.)

Well, here you go! Let's see if your guess was right as to what happened!

Enjoy!;3

* * *

'Well isn't this just great.' Kaiba thought bitterly as he sat down. He glanced at the now cluttered room around him before lowering his head and rubbing his forehead. Like a bee in a field of dead flowers, Kaiba had searched hoping to find the one thing he needed – but to no avail.

'How did this happen?' he questioned himself. Where in the world could the damn thumb drive have gone? He'd checked the entirety of his living room, office, and bedroom. He'd asked his employees if they had moved it, making sure to threaten their jobs if they lied. When none of them fessed up he considered firing one of them out of sheer anger, but in the end decided against it and simply stormed off.

He'd passed by Mokuba's room a few times on his rampage, each time contemplating going in there and checking too, but each time talking himself out of it figuring Mokuba wouldn't appreciate the sudden invasion of privacy. He would just wait until his brother got home from school and simply ask him; he had no reason to lie.

And so he sat there, awaiting the arrival of the only person he could think of that might know where the device would be.

Finally, after a half an hour of waiting, Kaiba heard the double doors to the room burst open. "Nii-sama! I'm ho-" The raven-haired boy did a double take. "…What happened? It looks like a tornado came through here!"

Ignoring the remark, Kaiba said, "Mokuba. Did you mess with my thumb drive?" Mokuba furrowed his eyebrows.

"No…I thought I gave it back to you yesterday?"

"Have you seen it since then?" Mokuba shook his head.

"That was the last time I saw it…" Kaiba ran his hand through his hair for the second time. "Is it missing Nii-sama?" Mokuba asked, sounding a little worried. "I thought you took it with you. It was gone after you left."

Kaiba looked at Mokuba "It was?"

"Yeah…maybe you left it in your office-" Kaiba shook his head.

"Already checked. It isn't there either."

"Oh…" Mokuba lowered his head. After a moment, he popped it back up saying, "Well I'm sure it's around here somewhere! I'll go check my room. Maybe it got in there somehow." And with that, he hopped upstairs to do just that.

A few minutes passed before Kaiba headed up as well to his own room. Once there he began straitening it back up. He wasn't worried about the living room being a mess, that's what maids were for. His room was a different story. There were so many folders and letters and papers scattered everywhere right now that he didn't trust anyone else to organize them properly but himself. So, with a sigh, Kaiba grabbed the tan folder closest to him.

xxXxx

"Finished." Kaiba declared aloud. It had taken a while, but everything in his room was finally back in place. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the digital clock sitting on the dark mahogany nightstand next to his king sized bed covered in white sheets with a dark cobalt blue blanket thrown across it. The clock flashed "4:47" in light blue numbers. Hm, he'd been in there longer than he thought.

He stood up from the crouching position he'd been in and threw his hands in the air as he stretched briefly, his back popping a few times as he did so. Kaiba made his way out of his room and turned right, stepping into the long corridor. He walked passed a few doors before stopping at one on his left. He knocked on it three times, then listened as he heard footsteps coming from the other side. The door swung open to reveal a reluctant-looking Mokuba.

"Did you find it?" Kaiba asked.

"…No…"

Kaiba nodded in knowing; he didn't think it would be there. He saw a look of guilt on Mokuba's face, so he added not to worry about it. It wasn't his fault. Once Mokuba finally responded with a nod of his own, Kaiba decided to leave the conversation at that and went back downstairs into the living room. Good, it was clean now.

Kaiba grabbed his briefcase that went untouched next to the table, clicked it open, and took a laptop out of it. Since he had no idea where his thumb drive had gone, it was only obvious that he'd need to take some extra precautions. The duel disk designs that were on it weren't a big deal. The new models were already made and tested; they'd be in stores in less than a week. No one would be able to build a replica in that amount of time and claim it as their own. No, what Kaiba was worried about was the security system codes to Kaibaland that were on the small device. With that, someone could easily break in and hack the system. He really didn't need that. The amusement park was set to open in three weeks. A fatal blow like that could prolong that time period by a good few month which would lead to many unhappy fans. And that was something Kaiba always tried to avoid, for unhappy fans would lead to unhappy parents of those said fans, a.k.a unhappy potential customers which would lead to less revenue for the company meaning money would be lost and – oh god, he felt a headache coming.

Kaiba was brought out of his thoughts by the loud "DOOOO" start up sound his Apple Macbook Pro made. No time to alleviate the throbbing in his brain at the moment. He had to e-mail the Kaibacorp security team and have every code changed and secured. Just as he finished typing in the login password, he heard the doors open from across the room. A slightly chubby maid stepped into the room and stood in front of the half opened doors, hands at her sides.

"Mister Kaiba?" she said.

"What?" he snapped, not in the mood to talk.

"There's a boy outside who says he knows you and urgently needs to speak with you. He said his name is Yami."

Kaiba looked up at the maid for a split second, then fixed his gaze on the little circle icon on the computer screen with the white silhouette of a person above the skinny rectangle with asterisks in it indicating he'd typed something there. Finally, he said, "Let him in." as he hit "Enter" on the keyboard.

Great. Just when Kaiba really needed to focus, **HE** had to show up. Yes, he could have easily told her to make the kid go away; he _should_ have told her to make the kid go away. But he didn't, and he didn't quite understand why. And Kaiba hated not understanding things.

The doors opened once again, but Kaiba didn't bother to look up this time. He didn't want to give away the fact that he'd been thinking about the teen as much as he had been. Besides that, he really needed to get those e-mails sent out. Kaiba typed away mercilessly on the black keys of his keyboard as he waited for Yami to speak up. When he didn't, Kaiba figured he must have thought he wasn't paying attention, so he said, "What is it?" Although it came out a little harsher than intended.

A few more seconds passed before Yami said, "I'm guessing you noticed that your thumb drive went missing." Kaiba immediately stopped typing and snapped his head up. He was a bit surprised to see that Yami's face had a quite a few bruises on it and that it was swollen pretty badly below his left eye. His hair was a bit disheveled and his clothes were quite dirty too. Again.

"What happened to you?" Kaiba blurted out before he could stop himself. He needed to work on that.

"Well…"

Oh wonderful. He could tell this would be a long story. He should've kept his mouth shut.

"Yesterday, right before I left, I grabbed your thumb drive by mistake along with the rest of my things. I only noticed this morning, so I'd planned to give them back to you after school-"

"Hand it over then." Kaiba commanded.

"I would, but I'm afraid there's a small problem with that…" he trailed off.

"…You lost it." Kaiba finished for him, disgruntled.

"Not exactly 'lost it' per se…"

"Then what?!" Kaiba growled. Yami didn't look at all daunted or even surprised by Kaiba's sudden outburst.

"After I left school," Yami began, "I was trying to find out how to get here. I really couldn't remember which way to go, so I asked a few people if they knew. Now that I think about it that was probably a stupid idea, but I did. I didn't really get much of an answer out of anyone though. The closest thing I got to an actual answer was that most rich people live over on the west side of Domino. So, I decided to give it a try. On my way over here these guys randomly jumped me, which I thought was pretty strange. I didn't expect people to do that sort of thing over on this side. Anyway, they jumped me. I tried to fight back but there were a lot of them. Then they just stopped out of nowhere and started running away. At first I thought someone had called the police or something, but when I looked around I didn't see anyone. I also noticed that they didn't take my wallet or anything either. When I finally realized that they'd taken the thumb drive, it was too late. They'd gotten into a car and drove away. In the end I decided that I should probably try and find you anyway to let you know what happened. It was a good thing the street name was familiar to me or I don't think I would have ever found you."

Kaiba sat there for a while, letting his thoughts simmer a little. After a short while he finally asked, "What?" Yami stood there without saying anything, probably contemplating whether that was a rhetorical question or not. "You let it get stolen?!" he bellowed. Yami looked down for a moment, but then met Kaiba's gaze, unwavering.

"I'm very sorry." Yami responded with an unreadable expression.

This was unbelievable. He should have seen this coming, really. This is what he got for letting the little brat come to his private mansion. For all he knew, this was just an act and Yami had taken the devise on purpose so he could sell it to some opposing company. Kaiba nearly shook with rage.

"Do you even realize how important that thing is?! Do you know what could happen if someone gets that kind of information!? And you let it get **_STOLEN_**!"

"I said I was sorry Kaibaman-"

"AND MY NAME, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IS NOT KAIBAMAN!" he anything but whispered.

Silence settled around the two of them as Kaiba tried to get his anger under control. He took a few deep breaths, then pointed to the doors.

"Leave." He ordered.

"Kai-"

"OUT." He said in an authoritative tone. He didn't bother to watch as he heard Yami slowly walk out of the room and quietly shut the doors, or he might have leaped across the room and strangled the runt.

Quickly, he finished the e-mail he had started and sent it to every member of his security team. Unsatisfied, he shut his laptop, put it away, and got up. He didn't trust the imbeciles to do it themselves. He'd need to go back to Kaibacorp and make sure it was done properly.

Still seething with fury, he grabbed his coat and briefcase and left. Hopefully it wasn't too late.

* * *

Oh, Kaiba. You should really keep a better eye on your possessions! Especially potential company crushing possessions!

Thanks for reading!

Please review! It would make me very happy!


	6. It's A Date

Alrighty! Here's the next chapter!

They're in the month of November by the way. In case anyone was wondering.

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"So we're absolutely, positively going to open it on the 19th, right?"

Kaiba cracked a small smile at his younger brother who looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"Yes Mokuba. Kaibaland's grand opening date is set in stone." A large grin spread across the young boy's face. It had been a week since the little "incident" with Yami, and since then Mokuba had been worried about whether the amusement park would open on the day that they had planned. Honestly, Kaiba was a bit worried as well but he would never let it be known. Besides, he didn't have anything to _be_ worried about. All codes had been changed, all systems had been checked and re-checked for any sort of virus, and all security systems had been upgraded. On top of all of that, he had employees keeping watchful eyes on everything. Still and yet, nothing was found. No bug, no attempt at hacking, not even an unrecognized file. He supposed that the fact that nothing seemed to be out of order is what made him worried. Someone after that kind of information didn't do nothing with it.

Kaiba tapped his index finger on the desk he was sitting at. Just who was after that information? And why? He pondered this for a while, but simply shook his head and redirected his attention back to what he was doing. There was no point in thinking too much about it. He was able to secure the park before whoever had that thumb drive had the chance to screw with his company. What was done was done; time to focus on the here and now.

He continued pounding on the keyboard of his laptop, finishing an e-mail to engineering manufacturers he'd hired about a problem they were having with one of the rides. Apparently the "KaibaCoaster" was having a malfunctioning problem and wouldn't start properly at times. Kaiba just wrote that they'd better have the problem fixed by next week or there would be dire consequences. Sure, he could just go there and fix it himself, but he didn't see why he should have to do everything. _He_ hired _them_. They needed to do their job, not run to Kaiba every time they found a problem.

'Hm…"KaibaCoaster".' he thought. Nope, that name needed to change. There was already the KaibaDome. And the place was named "Kaibaland" for pete's sake. Aside from that…well, the name just sounded stupid. With that thought, he wrote that he wanted the name changed to "Blue Blaze". He also added that he wanted the "must be this tall to ride" cardboard cutout of himself as Kaibaman changed like he told them to. Some kind of accident happened a few days ago that ended up with black paint being splattered all over the board, meaning a new one needed to be made.

Once he was finished with the e-mail and had it sent, he closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair.

"I can't wait until Kaibaland opens." Kaiba turned his roller-chair around to look at his brother across the room lounging on Kaiba's bed with a history textbook in his lap, a pencil in his hand, and a few pieces of scattered about. "It's going to be so awesome." Mokuba continued.

A loud growl was heard coming from the boy's stomach, who quickly brought his hand up to the source of the noise. "I'm hungry." he stated.

"I noticed." Kaiba glanced at the clock on his nightstand, which said "5:03". "I suppose we could eat dinner a little early if you want."

"OH! Let's go to Burger World!"

"…Why?"

"I like burgers."

"So then we'll just have the cook make you one."

"But Nii-samaaaaaaa! I want a Burger World burger!"

Kaiba sighed. "Did you finish your homework?" Mokuba nodded. "Alright, fine." It's not like they went there very often anyway. So, despite the greasy food, he'd let Mokuba eat there if he wanted. Kaiba wasn't going to eat that stuff though.

xxXxx

"How long before the paparazzi find us you think?" Mokuba spoke up as he and Kaiba strolled down a sidewalk. They were in a limo but they figured it would attract too much attention for a limousine to park right in front of a fast food restaurant, so they got out down the street and walked the rest of the way.

"Who knows?" Kaiba replied. He didn't bother to wear a very good disguise this time. He simply wore a green hoodie with white cuffs and a white zipper and some denim jeans. Sure, he had the hood over his head, but that was hardly enough to be unrecognizable. Then again, there weren't many people out currently, so maybe he'd get lucky.

He looked over at Mokuba who had his hands folded together behind his back as he trotted happily next to Kaiba. The boy wore a gray long sleeve shirt with fire brick red sleeves and dark gray jeans. Kaiba allowed a smile to grace his face for a moment, but quickly covered it when he noticed Mokuba had stopped walking.

"Oh, hi Yami!" he chirped.

Kaiba looked forward and saw the spikey-haired kid standing a few feet away from them. He hadn't spoken to or seen the teen since he had ordered him out of his home a week ago. Thinking back to that day made Kaiba's blood begin to boil.

"Hello Mokuba, Kaibam-!mmmmmmmmmmm…" he interjected himself with a hum, realizing his mistake. "…Kaiba." he finished quickly. "What are you two up to?" he questioned towards Kaiba. Kaiba remained silent.

"We're going to Burger World!" Mokuba filled the silence by answering on his brothers behalf. Kaiba noticed that smirk on his brother's face and dreaded whatever scheme he had swirling through his mind. "Would you like to join us?"

Oh hell no.

"I'd love to,"

Oh god.

"but I don't think your brother would like that very much."

Damn right he wouldn't.

"Besides, I really need to get home anyway." Yami continued. Mokuba pouted, making Yami chuckle. "Sorry. I wouldn't mind hanging out some other time though."

"I know! Didn't you say you wanted to duel Nii-sama?" Mokuba brightened up.

"I did, didn't I?" Yami said, sending a smirk Kaiba's way. "What do you say Kaiba? Care to partake in a friendly little duel?" Kaiba scoffed at him, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Dueling you would be a waste of my time." he stated in a rather condescending tone. Yami's once playful smirk turned much darker.

"Is that so?" Yami matched Kaiba's patronizing statement with one of his own. "Then let's make things a bit more interesting, shall we? You win, and I'll leave you alone for good; you won't have to worry about me bothering you in anyway ever again."

Kaiba did like the sound of that. The boy had caused him too much trouble, and no way did Kaiba want an incident like _THAT_ to happen again.

"Uh…wait a minu-" Mokuba began.

"But if I win…" Yami interrupted him. He suddenly pointed at Kaiba dramatically with his index finger. "You have to sign my Kaibaman poster!"

…

"Tell me you're not serious." Kaiba said.

"I am." Yami brought his hand back down to his side. "I know that you don't particularly like signing anything, except for maybe a good business contract, so this is the only way I can think of to get it from you."

Kaiba glowered at him. The fact that he was right about that pissed him off to no end.

"So, what do you say? You can back down if you want, of course, if the thought of having to sign a piece of paper is simply too much for you." he said with a half glare, half smirk.

"Tomorrow." Kaiba said through clenched teeth. "At 4:00."

"It's a date!" Mokuba piped up. Yami chuckled at the boy's sudden outburst and nodded in acknowledgement. Without another word, he strode past the two of them and down the street.

'Damn him.' Kaiba thought viciously. If he hadn't of pissed him off so much, Kaiba would have just told the twerp to fuck off. But instead, now he had this to deal with. Oh well, it was Yami's funeral. Kaiba began marching angrily toward the giant cartoon burger sitting on top of a building with "Burger World" in red letters in front of it.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba yelled, catching up with him. "You're not really going to make him leave you alone forever when you win, are you?"

"Damn right I am." Kaiba replied acidly.

"But Nii-samaaaaaaa!" he whined. "Oh, can't you just forgive him already!? You know he didn't mean to lose your thumb drive!"

He frowned at Mokuba, but remained silent.

"I'm serious! You know, he seems like a really nice guy! _AND_ he likes Kaibaman!" Kaiba rolled his eyes to the sky. Not this again.

"Mokuba, I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of my love life."

"That's just it Nii-sama! You _have_ no love life!" Kaiba face-palmed. He couldn't believe that they were really having this conversation.

"Enough, Mokuba."

"No!" The boy stopped in front of the restaurant doors with his hands on his hips. "You're 18 Nii-sama! There are so many people out there who DREAM that they could be with Seto Kaiba! _Seto-freaking-Kaiba_! You could easily have almost anyone you want, maybe even multiple people at a time! So why don't you?"

Kaiba stood there for a while in utter shock. Why, of all people, was his little brother telling him this? The kid was 13! He might understand if a grown adult said something like that to him, not that any of them would have the guts, but his little brother? It was a bit frightening at the least.

"Well what do you have to say for yourself mister?" Mokuba prodded.

…

"Get in the restaurant Mokuba. I'm buying you a kids meal."

* * *

Don't worry, I won't write out the entire duel. Probably just the last turn.

Welp, thanks for reading!

Please review!


	7. It's Not A Date

YES, I know this is a day late. Sorry? Sometimes things happen. X3

Annnywaaaays, I hope you all like this chappy!

Note: **IF YOU JUST ABSOLUTLY CANNOT STAND READING DUELS AND CAN'T BARE TO READ THE ONE TURN THAT I WROTE, SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE THE "xxXxx" SIGNIFYING A SCENE CHANGE.**

But it will make me sad if you guys skip it. :(

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Hn. It seems I won't have to 'worry about you bothering me in any way ever again', huh? Those were your exact words, weren't they?" Kaiba mocked. He was in the middle of the duel he'd agreed to with Yami in his spacious backyard. Or rather, in his eyes, toward the end of the duel. He had managed to summon all three of his "Blue Eyes White Dragons" while Yami only had a "Celtic Guardian" on the field along with some other monster that was laid face down. He also had a couple cards face down, but they didn't worry him. They'd been there for most of the duel and it didn't seem like Yami had plans to use them.

"Don't be so sure Kaiba. This duel isn't over yet."

"That may be the case as of right now, but next turn Swords of Revealing Light won't be on the field to protect you." he continued. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Yami scanned his hand for a few moments, then drew a card. A small smirk formed on his face.

"And just like that, your fate has been sealed." Yami said. "Watch closely, I'm about to win this." Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows but said nothing. There was no way the runt could win. So far, he'd yet to even make a dent in the CEO's life points; he still had all 4000 of them while Yami's had dropped all the way down to 500.

"First, I activate the trap card, 'Call of the Haunted' to bring back my 'Skilled Dark Magician' from the graveyard." As he spoke, the said monster materialized in front of him dressed in a dark cloak and heavy armor holding a short staff. "Next, I flip summon the monster 'Man Eater Bug'. Due to its effect, I can destroy one of your monsters."

Kaiba glared as he slipped one of his dragons off of the field and into the slot on his duel disk that was the graveyard.

"Now I'll tribute my 'Man Eater Bug' and 'Celtic Guardian' to summon 'Dark Magician of Chaos'." The two monsters dissipated and a monster with blue skin in a blue outfit with red buckles going down his arms and legs appeared. "'Dark Magician of Chaos's effect! When it's normal or special summoned, I can add a spell card from my graveyard to my hand. I'm going to use that spell card now right now; I activate 'Monster Reborn'! And the monster that I choose to revive is…"

Oh he'd better not.

"Your 'Blue Eyes White Dragon'!" The humongous dragon appeared again, this time on the opposite side of the field. Boy, was Kaiba pissed now.

"Also, I activated a spell card, meaning a spell counter is put on my 'Skilled Dark Magician'. Now I activate the spell card 'Red Medicine' which increases my life points by 500. That's a second spell counter. I'll put a third one on my magician by equipping 'Blue Eyes White Dragon' with 'Black Pendent', which increases its attack points by 500! Do you know what happens when there are three spell counters on 'Skilled Dark Magician'?"

Kaiba remained silent.

"I can tribute it to special summon 'Dark Magician' from my deck!" The purple clothed creature took the place of the sacrificed monster with a battle stance.

"With 2500 attack points, that monster isn't strong enough to defeat my 'Blue Eyes'." Kaiba stated.

"He doesn't have to be because I activate my final spell card: 'Thousand Knives'! While I control 'Dark Magician', I can destroy one monster on your side of the field!"

"That's where I draw the line!" Kaiba said. "I activate my counter trap card: 'Spell Shield Type-8'! This negates the activation and effect of a spell card that targets one monster on the field and destroys it."

"Heh, I thought you might do something like that. I reveal my face down card: 'Counter Counter'! It negates the activation of a counter trap card and destroys it!" Yami said. Kaiba snarled as he placed both the trap card and his second dragon in the graveyard.

"Now, 'Blue Eyes' attack his last monster!"

The beast complied with a roar and spewed a ray of white light at its slightly weaker duplicate. There was a growl heard over on Kaiba's side of the field as smoke engulfed the area. He held his arm over his face as the smoke clouds were blown his way. Once it cleared he looked down at his duel disk and watched his life points drop for the first time to this duel to 3500. He glared death up at Yami who seemed completely unfazed by it. Kaiba's field was completely empty now, and Yami still had two monsters to attack with.

'Damn it.'

"Alright! 'Dark Magician'! 'Dark Magician of Chaos'! Attack Kaiba's life points directly!" He ordered. The two magicians charged up there power and fired their attack at Kaiba. Kaiba shielded his face again as he heard the sound of his life points hit zero.

Once the smoke finally cleared for a second time, Kaiba dropped his arm back down to his side and continued to glare at Yami, trying his best to cover the surprise that was currently overwhelming him. In a matter of minutes, the entire duel had been turned around.

Yami's smirk grew as he said, "Looks like you owe me a signature."

xxXxx

Kaiba sat on the couch in his living room with his arms crossed as he stared angrily at a small poster of himself dressed as Kaibaman with three 'Blue Eyes White Dragons' behind him. He couldn't believe he actually had to sign it. He couldn't believe he lost! Especially to that brat!

That brat…

He looked up at Yami who had a rather smug look on his face and half expected another arrogant statement out of him. However, he remained silent and merely held out a permanent marker to Kaiba. He snatched it out of Yami's hand and quickly scribbled down "Seto Kaiba" in large cursive letters in the top right-hand corner. As he placed the top back on the marker, he heard Yami say, "Kaibaman".

He shot a look over to him. "What was that?"

"You have to write 'Kaibaman' too. If you wouldn't mind." he clarified. Kaiba raised an eyebrow at him. All traces of haughtiness were gone, including that smirk Kaiba thought would never go away, and had been replaced with a more serious look.

Kaiba folded his arms across his chest again and said, "Don't be so damn picky. I signed the thing already. Why the hell should I do it again?"

"Well signing the poster with 'Kaibaman' would add an element of actuality to it. Yes, Kaiba signed it, but in doing so Kaibaman did as well. In a way, it's a very efficient way in connecting with the character. The aura of that charismatic hero that appears on your TV screen will now not only hold a very special place in your heart, but is also now visibly real. You'll be able to look at that poster and proudly say, 'Kaibaman wrote his name there. That very same Kaibaman that millions of children look up to.' It'll be like-"

"Enough!" Kaiba yelled. In an attempt to keep his sanity intact and stop himself from strangling the life out of Yami, he wrote "Kaibaman" below his name, placed the cap on the marker again, and handed it to the teen. Yami grinned wildly and took the writing utensil from him.

"Thank you." he said almost too self-contentedly. Kaiba clenched his teeth. He'd been taunted just now. Yami had taunted him to sign the poster by merely talking and it had worked.

That damn brat…

"Nii-sama! Pegasus wanted me to ask you abou-Oh. Yami, you're still here! What are you two up to?"

Kaiba watched his younger brother descend the spiral stairs on the opposite side of the room.

"Just getting my poster signed." Yami said. Mokuba stopped walking about halfway across the room.

"…Wha? Your poster? Then does that mean…?" Mokuba asked absentmindedly. He stared up at Yami. "You…won?"

Yami nodded. Mokuba slowly looked over to Kaiba with a look of obvious confusion. "And you lost?" He continued, trying to fathom the idea.

"I think it was really just due to luck." Yami spoke up. "If I hadn't of drawn the card that I did at the last minute, there was no way I would have been able to defeat him. He's a very formidable opponent."

Normally, being boasted about was an event that Kaiba quite enjoyed, but something told him that Yami only said that to make Mokuba feel better and he didn't really mean it. And that pissed him off even more.

Nevertheless, Mokuba seemed persuaded by his words and nodded with a small smile and an, "Oh, I see."

"Well now Yami doesn't have to stay away from you forever, huh Nii-sama?" Mokuba asked as he walked the remainder of the way over. "Isn't that niiiiice-"

"Wasn't there something you needed to talk to me about Mokuba? Something about Pegasus?" Kaiba interjected. No way were they talking about THAT again. Especially not in front of Yami.

"Oh yeah. Pegasus said that we need to talk about what we're doing for the grand opening of Kaibaland." the boy explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he said that we should come up with some kind of exciting event to get people hyped."

"…is a one hundred and forty acre amusement park with over fifty attractions not exciting enough by itself?"

"According to Pegasus, no…He suggested that we have a skit acted out starring some toon monsters from the game before we let people in."

"Well tell that cartoon-loving fruitcake that he can take those stupid toon monsters and shove them right up his-"

"I don't think that would be a very appropriate skit to show." Kaiba shot a glare over at Yami. "…Well it wouldn't be. Might scare some people away." the small teen finished.

"What if we just handed out some balloons or something?" Mokuba attempted, diverting his brother's attention.

"And when we run out, then what? You know how many kids will be crying to their parents about how they didn't get a stupid balloon? And how many parents will start complaining about it?" Kaiba pointed out.

"Good point…"

Quietness settled around the three of them. If Kaiba could have it his way, he'd just open the place, tell people to go in, and be done with it. But no, of course Pegasus had to suggest some kind of over-the-top event to go along with it. And as much as Kaiba hated to admit it, the loony might have a good point. Something extravagant right before they opened would be a sure-fire way to attract the attention of even more people. That would mean more revenue; something both he and Pegasus wanted seeing as how it was technically a joint effort. Kaiba had the place designed and built, but all of the Duel Monsters characters still belonged to Pegasus, so he did get a fair cut of the profits.

But what the hell could he do to make such an amazing Grand Opening Ceremony?

"The skit idea…" Kaiba turned his head to look at Yami. "…isn't a terribly bad idea." He raised an eyebrow at the teen. "Well, maybe not exactly a 'skit', but you could have a little mini scene play out. Since everyone loves Kaibaman so much, it could be the typical 'hero saves the beautiful maiden' type thing." Mokuba turned to listen in as well. "Just imagine it, the Maiden comes running through the crowd of people warning people about a 'great evil' and is being chased by…hm…Dartz?"

"No! Nightshroud! The guy who uses 'Red Eyes'!" Mokuba yelled with enthusiasm.

"Okay, Nightshroud. So she's being chased by Nightshroud, and gets backed against the gate. Nightshroud is doing that whole 'I will take over the world' speech, when suddenly: BAM! A card was thrown at him and hit his hand before he had the chance to do anything. People are looking around, wondering what that was or where it came from when: WOOSH! Kaibaman appears and tells Nightshroud that he'll never let him take over the world. Then he summons up 'Blue Eyes' with Maiden's help, and they defeat Nightchroud! Everyone's cheering and yelling how awesome Kaibaman is, until finally…finally…"

"Maiden and Kaibaman seal it with a kiss!" Yami and Mokuba chorused.

"That'll be so awesome!" Mokuba exclaimed. He turned to his brother and said, "We should do that! Everyone will love it!"

Kaiba scratched the back of his head as he thought about how any of that would even work. It wasn't like they could use any special effects or say, "CUT!" If something went wrong. But Mokuba seemed to really like the idea, so Kaiba reluctantly said, "…We'll discuss it with Pegasus and see what happens."

"O-KAY!" Mokuba cheered.

"Um." Kaiba looked over at Yami again. "Do you know what time it is?" he asked. Kaiba just looked at him for a little while, then pulled out his phone and clicked a button on the side to make the screen light up.

"6:38"

Yami shot up out of his spot.

"…What?" Kaiba asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him.

"Oh…nothing." he said, shaking his head. "It's just much later than I thought it was." Yami grabbed his poster, rolled it up, and wrapped the rubber band that had been sitting on the table around it. "I should really get going." he said.

"Aw, do you have to? We could have someone drive you home if you want." Mokuba asked with a pout.

"Mokuba." Kaiba snapped.

"Yes, I'm afraid I have to. I'll be fine just walking, but thank you." Yami assured. "See you Mokuba, Kaiba."

"Bye Yami." Mokuba said. Yami looked at Kaiba like he was waiting for him to say 'bye' as well, but when he never did Yami sighed with a small smile and left.

Once Yami's footsteps could no longer be heard, Mokuba spun around and pouted at Kaiba angrily.

"Nii-sama…"

"Don't start Mokuba."

* * *

So, so far there hasn't really been any romance or anything like I'd intended, so I'll definitely start working on that in the next chapter! Just keep in mind that these things take time. :3 It'll eventually start to build up though, I promise!

Thanks for reading!

Please review!


	8. To Forgive

Next chapter up! Yay! I think I'm starting to get better at writing! :D

As in, not taking _forever_ to write one chapter anymore. I'm still pretty slow, but it's not as bad I think. Practice makes perfect I suppose!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

Quick footsteps echoed softly as Seto Kaiba walked down the long hallway of his mansion. It was fairly early for him to be home; being the young businessman that he was, he normally worked late into the night. With the opening of Kaibaland, though, he found that everything seemed to be moving a lot smoother than normal. The new duel disks were already being sold, nothing had come up about any viruses, and he'd already spoken to Pegasus about the Grand Opening Ceremony. Of course, the fruit was ecstatic about the whole idea and all arrangements for it had been thought up and made possible, though a few changes had to be made.

As of right then, Kaiba had no need to be at work. He didn't have any meetings he had to go to until Monday. Though he did still have a few e-mails to go through and to write, he decided that it would be fine to do so at home.

And so here he was, standing in front of the double doors that lead into his living room and with his bedroom not far from there. He shoved the doors open and stepped into the room, pushing them closed behind him.

"Oh, hey Nii-sama. You're home early."

Kaiba looked up and was about to greet the boy who had just spoken to him, but was caught off guard when he saw a familiar head of spikey hair next to him.

"Why are you here?" he asked in a low voice.

"Well hello to you too." Yami responded.

Kaiba frowned.

"Ah…Nii-sama, Yami's here because I invited him." He turned to Mokuba with one eyebrow raised.

"…Why?"

"Erm…uh…well, because…" Mokuba looked up at Yami shyly, silently pleading for help. The teen nodded at him and looked at Kaiba.

"On my way back from school I passed by the Domino Private Middle School and I noticed that Mokuba was being teased by some other kids, so I went over and told them to knock it off. He invited me over to thank me for doing that I believe." Mokuba's head snapped up with wide eyes and he made a weird squeak noise in his throat. Kaiba's expression must have scared him because once he saw it, he lowered his head down.

Kaiba felt his left eye start to twitch, but he didn't even bother to try and control it as he asked, "Is that true?" Mokuba didn't say anything though.

"It is." Yami said in his place. "Apparently it's been going on for a while."

"Yami!" Mokuba cried out, snapping his head back up toward the teen.

"You can't hide it forever, Mokuba." Yami informed and the boy dropped his head back down in defeat.

"I didn't want to tell him because I wanted to try and handle it myself…"

Had Kaiba just heard right? Some snot-nosed brats had the nerve to harass Mokuba? And this had been going on without Kaiba's knowledge? For how long? And who dared to do such a thing? Dozens of questioned began plaguing his mind and he was seeing red by the time he had actually managed to sputter one of them out.

"Who?" he asked as emotionless as possible, trying with all of his power to keep his rage under control. He must've had a pretty scary look on his face though, because both Yami and Mokuba seemed a little nervous.

"U-uh…" Yami stuttered. A few moments went by without anyone saying anything, so he attempted asking again.

"Who was messing with you Mokuba?"

Mokuba blinked a few times, then frowned.

"Oh-ho-ho, no." he said, shaking his head. "I'm not telling you who. Knowing you, you'll probably threaten them, or ruin their family's business, or hire a hitman to take them out!"

"Oh, I'm not going to kill them." Kaiba assured. The other two options didn't sound too bad though.

Mokuba folded his arms over his chest in a very Kaiba-esque way and said nothing else. Kaiba sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Perhaps it would be best to just let it go…" Kaiba heard Yami say. "After all, no one was hurt and I think those kids learned their lesson."

"They learn their lesson alright. You told them OFF!" Mokuba exaggerated, making Yami chuckle lightly.

Kaiba thought about it for a short while, then let out a small, "Fine." He'd let those little devil spawns off the hook for now, but if he found out about something like this happening again, ohhh he'd make them sorry.

"Hey, Mokuba?" Yami said, interrupting Kaiba's train of thought. "What time is it?"

Mokuba looked at the watch around his left wrist and said, "4:34. Why?" Yami got up from the spot on the love seat he'd been sitting on and stretched.

"Hah…" he dropped his arms down with a large exhale. "I need to get going. I have somewhere I have to stop by before I go home."

"Awww!" Mokuba whined. "OH!" he perked up all of a sudden. "Tomorrow's Sunday!" Yami nodded.

"Yup. Hooray for no school."

"Yeah! We don't have to go to school tomorrow!" Mokuba said, hopping up as well. "You should come over again!"

"Mm…I don't know about that…" Yami replied, eyeing Kaiba for a few seconds.

"It'll be fun! We can all hang out! Please?" Mokuba asked, flashing Yami big puppy dog eyes. Yami hesitated for a moment, clearly caught off guard.

"Well…sure, I'd love to." he caved. "As long as it's okay with your brother that is."

Suddenly, Kaiba found the look Mokuba had given Yami quickly turned toward him as the boy pleaded, "Please Nii-sama? Can he? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?"

Kaiba rubbed the back of his neck. He was still a little peeved about the whole thumb drive incident, but the guy did stand up for Mokuba. And if he hadn't of told Kaiba about the jerks that had been bullying him, he might not have even found out about it. Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows.

'Should I really just forgive him?"

Kaiba began walking toward the spiral staircase that led upstairs.

"Nii-sama?"

Kaiba paused about two thirds of the way up the stairs. A few seconds passed and he continued his way up.

"Ni-"

"6:00." Kaiba stated.

"…Huh?" Mokuba questioned. Kaiba stopped walking once he reached the top of the staircase.

"I want him to leave by 6:00 tomorrow." he clarified, and made his way across the top floor.

"Does that mean you forgive me for the thumb drive thing?" Yami said, taking a step forward. Kaiba didn't answer and simply continued walking until he was no longer seen.

"I think that's a yes." he heard Mokuba say as he turned down the hallway.

* * *

Awwwwww. Kaiba forgave Yami…and expressed it in his own little weird way. :D

PROGRESS!

Thanks for reading!

Some feedback would be awesome!


	9. Checkmate

Yet another chapter! Woo! I really tried to make this chapter long. It's six pages in Microsoft Word, but a lot of that is dialogue…so it isn't as long as I wanted.

What's a good length for a chapter to be anyway? This one hits just above the 2,000 words mark.

Sorry, I better stop before I ramble on forever!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Why are you just now telling me about this?"

Mokuba shrugged as he grabbed a pair of faded blue sneakers from his closet.

"I guess I forgot." the boy said.

"Right, 'forgot'."

Mokuba smiled sheepishly and turned to leave when a maid knocked on the open door to his bedroom.

"Mr. Yami is here to see you." she stated, head bowed. Kaiba looked at Mokuba who looked back at him.

"Let him in I guess." he said finally. The woman nodded and left the room. The two of them did the same.

Yami was already inside removing his shoes by the time Kaiba got to the front entrance room. He stood up straight from his kneeling position once he finished and said, "Hey Mokuba." He looked over at Kaiba and continued, "Hello Kaiba." a bit quieter.

"Hey Yami!" Mokuba chirped as he hopped over.

"Going somewhere?" Yami asked, taking note of the shoes the boy was holding.

"Yeah…I have this project I need to work on with a friend that I forgot about. It's due tomorrow so I have to go. _It might take a while too_." he answered, cupping the side of his face.

Yami blinked at him a few times and then said, "Oh. Well…then maybe I should just go? We could always do this another time."

"No!" Mokuba yelled, holding his free hand out in front of him. "You can still stay. It'll just be you and Nii-sama."

Kaiba placed his hand over his face. So _this_ is what Mokuba was up to all along. He should've known. He brought his hand back down and looked at Yami who seemed to have been looking at Kaiba as well, but had quickly turned his head back to Mokuba.

"I-I don't know if that's a very good-"

"It's a great idea!" Mokuba said as he shoved Yami away from the front doors and a few feet closer to Kaiba. "I'm sure the two of you'll come up with something to do!" Yami planted his feet on the floor as firmly as one could when wearing socks on a wooden floor to stop himself from getting too close.

"Mokuba?" he questioned, looking at the boy.

"Come on, it'll be fine!" Mokuba said, puppy dog eyes shining brightly.

Yami jerked at the sudden change and finally stuttered out, "F-fine. I'll stay."

'Oh, for the love of…' Kaiba thought.

Mokuba grinned wildly and jogged over to the front doors, slipped his shoes on, grabbed a few folders that had been laying on a shelf to his right, and said, "Alright, bye you guys!" Just as he was about to leave through the doors, he twisted his head towards Kaiba and Yami and said, "Have fun!" and shut the doors behind him. Kaiba could have sworn that he saw the slightest hint of a smirk on his face.

xxXxx

…

…

…

"Nice place you got here."

"Hn."

…

…

…

"You're doing well I presume?"

"I guess."

…

…

…

"I like this rug."

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. After Mokuba left, the two of them went to the living room and sat down. So far, all that's happened is that Yami would say some random-ass comment which would be followed by a few seconds of awkward silence. Kaiba would get Mokuba back for this.

Yami seemed to notice Kaiba's composure slipping and decided to try and start a real conversation.

"You know how to play chess?" he asked, pointing to the chess set still taking up room on the glass table.

Knew how to play? Kaiba had been playing chess since he was a toddler. He'd won every competition he'd ever competed in and even tricked his step-father into adopting him and Mokuba when he was only 10 by beating the fool at a game of chess. Yeah, he knew how.

"Yeah." was all he actually said though.

"Are you any good?" Yami wondered aloud. Kaiba snorted.

"Something like that."

Yami gazed at the game board for a while, and Kaiba found himself asking, "Do you?"

Yami looked up at him and let the question register in his brain before saying, "Know how to play? No." He smiled sadly. "I've always sort of wanted to learn how, but I guess I just never got to it." He picked up one of the black Pawns and inspected the piece. "Maybe…you could teach me how to play?" he asked as nonchalantly as he could, but Kaiba could hear the eagerness in his voice.

"Teach you?" he repeated. He guessed anything was better than the odd pattern of "statement, silence, statement, silence" that had developed a few moments before. "I suppose." he said.

Yami smiled brightly at him and Kaiba felt something stir inside of him at the sight, but quickly ignored the feeling.

"So, I know that this is the King" Yami began, pointing at the tallest piece with a cross on top of it, "and this is the Queen. And this short piece…" He looked at the Pawn still in his hand. "It can only move one space at a time right?" he said, motioning the action as he spoke. "And…" he scanned around the board and picked up another piece. "What's this horse do?"

"It's called a Knight." Kaiba corrected.

"Well it looks like a horse."

"That may be so, but it's called a Knight."

"Okay, then what does the _Knight_ do?" Yami asked again, emphasizing the name unnecessarily. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"It moves in the form of an "L" in any direction. Three spaces on one side and two on the other like this." He moved one of the white Knights to demonstrate.

"I see…"

Kaiba went on to explain what each piece did and what was considered checkmate and so on as Yami listened to him intently. Once he finished, they began playing. Yami seemed to have been listening quite well and moved each piece correctly. After a while, Kaiba found that he was actually enjoying himself. It was strange; Yami, it being his first time playing, wasn't much of a challenge to face. Kaiba often found a game to be boring and a waste of time if there was no challenge, but the thought never even crossed his mind as he played against the teen.

Kaiba found it interesting how determined he looked even though he only had two Pawns, a Bishop, and his King left. He noticed how Yami yanked at his bangs when he was trying to concentrate and sometimes pulled a bundle of his hair in front of his face like a mustache. He observed how Yami would smirk, even if ever-so-slightly, when he made a decent move or took one of Kaiba's pieces and how he would furrow his eyebrows but not seem angry when Kaiba did so as well.

Something about watching Yami's actions intrigued Kaiba, and soon he found himself downright staring at the guy. Once he took note of the fact that he was doing so, he quickly flicked his eyes down to the game board and chose to focus on that instead. Yami only had one Pawn and his King left. Kaiba blinked. Only two pieces left? Well that was strange. Usually Kaiba wouldn't have let a game of chess go on long enough for his opponent to have only a couple pieced left. He'd let himself get too distracted, more than likely.

"You know, you really should just give up." Kaiba said, breaking the silence that had steadily grown around them.

"Shh."

Kaiba bit his tongue back before he snapped at the teen for telling him to 'shh'. He crossed his arms as he waited for Yami to take his turn. He made sure to correct himself whenever his eyes began drifting away from the board and toward the person in front of him.

Finally, Yami picked his King up and moved it to the left. Kaiba moved his Queen two spaces away from it.

"Check." he said dully.

Yami moved his King again and Kaiba slid his Rook over.

"Check again."

This repeated over and over again until his King was finally surrounded.

"It's over." Kaiba stated. Yami continued to look at the board.

"You didn't say check."

Kaiba blinked and looked back at the board. He'd moved his Knight closer to Yami's King, but it hadn't put the piece in check.

"No." he agreed. "I didn't." Yami smiled and looked up at Kaiba.

"Did you forget about my Pawn?" he asked. Kaiba glanced at the small item. Kaiba had focused on surrounding the King so much, he didn't think much of the piece. Somehow it had gotten across the board and was only one space away from the end. Yami moved the rounded piece to the final space and said, "I'll be taking my Queen back." Kaiba frowned as Yami replaced the weakest piece on the board with the strongest.

"Not like it matters now." Kaiba pointed out. He moved his Bishop to be diagonal to Yami's King. "That's Checkmate." Yami smiled.

"Well, I tried."

"I'll admit, you weren't terribly bad for your first time playing."

"Really? Why don't we play one more time then?"

Kaiba gave the idea some thought and then began setting his pieces up again. Yami grinned and started doing the same.

"Do I get to go first this time?" Yami asked.

"No. The white pieces always go first."

"Why?"

"It's just the rules."

"Well that's a little racist."

Kaiba paused what he was doing for a moment then shook his head, but couldn't stop himself from cracking a small smile for a split second. After all of the pieces were set up again, Kaiba moved a Pawn forward two spaces and finally commented, "I don't think race has anything to do with it."

"So you don't think it's a bit racist for the white pieces to always go before the black ones?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Just take your turn."

Kaiba definitely noticed a difference in Yami's skill level this time. He was being a bit more cautious about his moves and was able to keep so many pieces from being taken. Once again, Kaiba found himself being entranced by the boy's demeanor, and before he knew it:

"Check…mate?" Kaiba looked down where his King was and saw Yami's Bishop sitting diagonal from it. Assessing the predicament, he shook his head, picked up his Queen, and took the piece that had posed a threat.

"No, it was just Check." he corrected.

"Oh." Yami replied, furrowing his eyebrows in comprehension. Kaiba had to hand it to him, he was a fast learner. "Hey." Kaiba looked at Yami. "What time is it?"

Kaiba sighed.

"That's what, the fourth time you've asked me that today?" Yami rubbed the back of his head apologetically. "Don't you have a watch or something?"

"I do. It just doesn't work."

"Well get it fixed or buy another one or something." Kaiba suggested. He pulled his phone out and checked. "It's 5:05. I'll tell you when it's 6:00 so stop bugging me about it."

"Actually I should get going right now." Yami informed him. Kaiba raised an eyebrow at him.

"Now?" Yami smirked.

"What, would you rather me stay?" Kaiba frowned at him.

"You're going to leave in the middle of this game?" he asked, avoiding the question.

Yami smiled sadly and said, "I hate to, but I really need to go. We could play again though." Kaiba folded his arms over his chest. Why did he have to leave so urgently? He was tempted to ask, but decided not to. It wasn't any of his business, after all.

"Fine." Kaiba said, standing up. Yami smiled surprisingly warmly at the CEO and Kaiba wasn't exactly sure how to respond, so he walked ahead of him and opened the double doors leading into the hallway. "Come on, then." he said when Yami didn't move right away. The teen seemed surprised at first, but simply smiled again and followed Kaiba down the hall.

Once Yami had his shoes on, he turned to Kaiba and said, "Well that was fun. Hopefully we can hang out again?"

"…Hn." Kaiba crossed his arms again, suddenly feeling extremely awkward. It was something he wasn't quite used to and he had to say, he wasn't very fond of the feeling.

"See you later, Kaiba." Yami said, stepping outside.

Kaiba heard the doors shut close and let out a breath that he couldn't remember why he'd been holding.

He looked at the spot where Yami had been standing and said, "…See you later. Yami."

* * *

Oh, Kaiba.

I just realized that I forgot to include what everyone was wearing! Oh well, they're wearing whatever you want them to wear because I'm too lazy to go back and put that in.

Why _do_ the white pieces always get to go first? Anyone know? Anyone? Take a guess! No! No cheating! You have to guess! And if you already know…then I guess that makes you smarter than me. X3

Thanks a bundle for reading!

Please let me know what you think!


	10. I Know All Too Well

Yeah I know, this chapter's a little late. I sorry?

I don't really have much to say here, so on with the fic!

Enjoy! ;3

*In Japan, they go to school six days a week with only Sunday as their day off. Yup, they go to school Saturday!

* * *

Kaiba watched the many worn down buildings that passed him that were almost all covered in sloppy graffiti with stupid or obscene pictures on them. He always passed them when he was being driven home, but he'd never really noticed how completely fallen apart they looked; he usually had much more important things to focus on. However, as of the moment, everything that needed to be done in preparation for the Kaibaland Grand Opening Ceremony that was just one day away was done. He already knew the few lines he had to say, as did all the other participants. Everything in Kaibaland was working now; the rollercoaster had been fixed, and the "must be this tall to ride" board had been repaired as well.

Yes, at the moment the only thing the CEO had to do was to look over a few papers once he got home and verify that everything was indeed in order as he thought. Kaiba's eyes scanned over a few more works of "art" plastered on the deserted buildings, though he had to squint a little to see them because of the rain that was coming down. He saw one picture shine in the moon light of two detailed skeletons holding hands like a couple. As he tried to understand the point of that picture he saw another piece of graffiti, this one just words. It said "sory about ur wall bich" in messy handwriting. Kaiba rolled his eyes. As if the joke wasn't bad enough, the person who decided to put it there was also apparently incredibly stupid and had the writing skills of a five year old. On the wall next to that one was another picture. It looked like a poorly drawn man holding what Kaiba hoped was a lopsided bone, but something told him that it wasn't. The graffiti seemed to just go down-hill from there and Kaiba found himself getting bored of looking at them. By this time the rain had picked up and it was too difficult to make out what was on the walls anyway.

Just when Kaiba was about to look away from the window, he saw a flash of red, black, and blond pass by. He snapped his head over to where he thought he'd seen the familiar combination but when there was nothing more than another wall there he shifted in his seat to rotate his head and look through the back window of his vehicle. Lo and behold, there was Yami standing smack dab in the middle of the downpour. Almost immediately after seeing the small teen, Kaiba barked out an order for the driver to stop the limo before they got too far away. He watched Yami for a few seconds to see if he planned to move or just stand there like an idiot and get wet. When he didn't move, Kaiba shoved the door open and grabbed his briefcase as he stepped out, using it to shield the cold rain from his head.

"Yami!" he called out. The teen jumped and looked in Kaiba's direction with a surprised expression. "What the hell are you doing out here?" he demanded.

"Uh…" Yami glanced around. "I was just…I was…um…" Kaiba stood there, waiting for his explanation as to why he was standing in the pouring rain in an abandoned neighborhood on a cold November night. He quickly found his patience leaving him as Yami continued to sputter out only "uh", "erm", and "um", so he broke the continuous sounds of perplexity with a loud sigh, making sure that it was heard.

"Get in." he ordered, moving a little farther away from the door as to make room for Yami to do so. The teen looked at Kaiba for a little while as if actually contemplating whether getting in the limo would be a better idea than standing in the rain, then slowly made his way over and climbed in, flashing Kaiba an apologetic smile.

Kaiba slammed the door shut behind him and told the chauffeur to drive. He scowled in spite of himself out of the window. He'd done it again. Once again, he'd acted without thinking. He seemed to do that a lot whenever it involved Yami. He could have easily just passed by him and pretend he'd never even seen the runt. But he didn't. He hadn't even thought about doing such a thing until after the fact.

And so here he was, sitting in his limo with a cold and soaked Yami just like he was the first day he'd met him.

xxXxx

"So let me get this straight…"

Yami shifted in his seat as Kaiba gazed down at him. He'd taken Yami home with him and had him change into Mokuba's robe again as his clothes were being cleaned. Once Yami had settled onto the couch, Kaiba had almost immediately started interrogating him.

"You went for a walk earlier, wandered into that neighborhood, and got lost." Kaiba summed up what he was just told by Yami, who nodded. Kaiba raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why did you go for a walk in the rain?"

"It wasn't raining when I left."

"It's been raining nonstop since this evening. Must have been one hell of a walk for you to be out there for that long."

There was a short pause, then Yami said, "I was lost for a while." Kaiba formed his eyes into slits and frowned.

"Is that so?" he asked in a disdainful tone. "And what exactly was so confusing about that area?" Yami glanced off to the side.

"It was, um…well I was…the street names were really unfamiliar and…I guess it just kind of caught me off guard…"

"And you expect me to believe all of this? That you couldn't find your way out of that simple little neighborhood? You would have been out of there within twenty minutes at most if you had just kept walking forward! Now tell me, Yami, what is so damn difficult about that?"

Yami stared at Kaiba with his brows furrowed and his jaw clenched, like he was holding something back from spilling out. Kaiba waited in anticipation for the answer he thought Yami was about to give him. A few moments passed, and Yami looked away again.

"…Why would I lie?" Yami asked. Kaiba frowned again and leaned against the arm of the loveseat behind him.

"Why indeed?"

Yami seemed to almost physically shy away at that statement. Silence grew heavily between them, being broken only when a clap of thunder rumbled outside. Yami reached up with his left hand and scratched the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable. The motion caused Kaiba to instinctively glance in that direction momentarily, but once he did, he did a double take. In a swift motion, he grabbed Yami's left hand.

Yami started, surprised by Kaiba's sudden action. He stared wide-eyed at the brunette, and Kaiba stared at the hand he'd just grasped. They stayed that way for a short while, then Yami spoke up saying, "Wha-".

Before he had the chance to finish even one word, Kaiba pulled his hand down until his arm was fully extended out, and yanked the sleeve up. Silence settled around them, not even thunder sounding to disturb it. Kaiba gazed at the arm he'd just uncovered and struggled to form a sentence due to the bewilderment he was feeling.

Finally, he was able to force out, "What is this?" Yami was quiet. Kaiba tore his eyes away from the limb and looked at Yami who seemed almost as surprised as Kaiba was.

"…What does it look like?" he countered, looking away and obviously trying to remove his arm from Kaiba's grasp. Kaiba glared at Yami and continued to hold the appendage in place.

"Yami." he said in a low voice. "Why are there cuts on your wrist?"

All along about halfway down his left arm, there were many cuts all going horizontally. Most of them looked old and a few were just scars, but there were also three fresh looking slices imbedded into his flesh. As soon as Kaiba had seen them, a wave of different emotions had surged through him. He wasn't quite sure _why_ he was so concerned about this, but he was.

"Yami." he repeated sternly. The teen flinched and slowly looked up at Kaiba with his eyes widened slightly and his mouth ajar. He stared at Kaiba for a little bit, then inhaled like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of doors being opened. Kaiba whipped his head to the left to see who dared disturb them.

"Mr. Kaiba, the clothes you asked to be washed are finished." a maid stated as she stepped into the room. Kaiba looked at Yami and he looked back nervously. Reluctant, Kaiba released Yami's hand. The tri-colored haired teen practically jumped up out of his seat and across the room to obtain his clothes. The maid handed then to him and bowed, then left. Yami headed toward the room he had used previously to change.

"There's a first-aid kit mounted to the wall in there. I suggest you use it unless you want those to get infected." Kaiba said. Yami paused on the way to his destination, but continued without saying anything.

After a long wait, Yami returned in the black jacket, gray shirt, and navy blue jeans he'd been wearing before. He avoided Kaiba's gaze as he quickly said, "I'm going to go home. Bye." and walked to the double doors leading out of the room. Kaiba growled at him for trying to leave so suddenly and speedily went to the doors as well. He beat Yami to it and stood there with his arms folded, blocking the way. Yami halted to a stop right in front of Kaiba and stood there in silence as if expecting Kaiba to move. When he didn't, Yami said, "Excuse me, Kaiba." and tried to step around him, but Kaiba easily foiled the attempt by stepping in the same direction.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kaiba asked, holding up a mass of key chains held together by a black and red lanyard. Yami looked up at what Kaiba was holding and reached to take it, but Kaiba pulled it away before he could grab onto it. "First, tell me-"

"I don't want to." Yami interjected. Kaiba glared down at him. "Please, Kaiba." Yami gazed at Kaiba, red orbs flashing an emotion that Kaiba couldn't quite put his finger on. Whatever that was that had stirred in those eyes, it made Kaiba feel uneasy.

Kaiba closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He couldn't look into those eyes any longer.

"Listen," he began, "whatever the reason is, doing something like _that_ sure as hell isn't going to solve anything. Sure, maybe it helps you deal with whatever is causing you to feel like that's necessary and it might feel satisfactory in that instant, but wouldn't it feel all the more satisfactory if you just dealt with whatever drove you to do it? Don't be a coward, and face the problem head on!" Kaiba reopened his eyes to see that, thankfully, the emotion that had been lingering on Yami's face was gone completely and replaced with a look of shock. It was understandable; Kaiba was a bit shocked that he'd said that as well.

What shocked Kaiba even more was that Yami flashed him an incredible smile once he got over the initial surprise.

"You're right."

Kaiba blinked. "Say what?"

Yami laughed. Shit, did he say that out loud? Kaiba suddenly felt a little humiliated, something he absolutely despised and rarely ever felt, which only cause him to feel even more so.

"I _SAID_: You're right." Yami reiterated. He sighed. "I guess I must have been acting a bit strange huh? I'm sorry, there's just been quite a bit on my mind. I'm alright though, really. But I do need to leave, it's late and I have school tomorrow you know." Oh yeah, it was *Friday. Kaiba looked Yami over, then tossed the bug bunch of key chains he'd been holding to him and refolded his arms over his chest.

"Do you plan to walk?" he asked.

"Yeah, it won't take me too long to get home." Yami tried stepping around Kaiba again, but again, Kaiba stopped him.

"You do realize it's still raining right?" As if on cue, a crack of thunder roared and shook the ground a bit. "If you walk, you'll just get wet again."

Yami seemed to ponder the thought as Kaiba turned around and pushed the doors open. He spotted a maid passing by and called her over.

"Tell Fuguta that he's to drive Yami to his house." he told her. "Yami, follow her and she'll take you to my limo. Just tell the driver your address and he'll take you home." Yami raised his eyebrows.

"Ah…" He nodded hesitantly. "Alright. I'll see you at the grand opening of Kaibaland then." Kaiba nodded as his goodbye and watched Yami walk into the hallway.

"Right this way." the maid directed Yami forward, and he complied.

"Oh." Yami stopped walking and spun around halfway to look at Kaiba out of the corner of his eyes. "And thanks."

Kaiba waited until he could no longer see Yami before he closed the doors. He ran his hand through his hair and exhaled heavily. He still couldn't believe he'd said any of that to Yami. After all, Kaiba wasn't exactly known for comforting anyone, if you can even call what he did **comfort**. Whatever it was, it seemed to pull Yami out from being down in the dumps. He seemed to perk right up after he'd said those things to him. In fact, he seemed to be a little _too_ perked up. The fact that what Kaiba had said had the ability to cheer him up that quickly seemed a bit too good to be true. He wondered if he'd just wasted his breath. Kaiba sat on the couch and relaxed back as he thought about it.

Then again, who knows? It might have been a good thing that Kaiba spoke to Yami about it. Not many people would be able to identify with someone who inflicts self-harm and who knew what it was like to deal with problems with a blade and clear spot of flesh.

Kaiba gripped his wrist though his long-sleeved shirt absentmindedly.

Oh yes, he knew all too well.

* * *

My, that got a bit dark. Don't worry, I'll try to lighten things up in the next chapter.

I don't know about you guys, but whenever I read/write anything I tend to visualize everything a lot. So I had a pretty hard time writing that small part about the cuts on Yami's arm! It made my stomach ache. X3

I'm such a wussssss.

ALSO! I have absolutely no idea what it's like for a cutter, so if I got anything wrong I'm sorry! I really hope I don't offend anyone or anything…

Yeah, yeah, I know: "Write what you know Hiita-chan!" But it's part of the story! I didn't want to just graze over the subject; then it would have been such a short chappy! So I did as much research as I could, and this is the result!

Thanks for reading and sorry for the random rant but thanks for reading the entire thing! And if you didn't and are just reading this part then never mind!

I'd be super grateful for some feedback you guys! I'd like to be able to improve my writing, so let me know what you think!


	11. A Crisis In Kaibaland

I'm sorry I keep posting later then I mean to! Oh well, I try.

You know, I get the feeling that this is going to end up being a pretty long story. I guess that's okay though, since none of my chapters are super long anyway. Seriously, I read some stories and people have like 5,000 words each chapter! I just can't do that; my short attention span just won't allow it I guess.

AN-TY-WAYS.

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Mr. Kaiba, there are news crews waiting outside that are asking for an interview."

"Tell them that I'm busy at the moment."

"Mr. Kaiba, Kisara still hasn't arrived."

"…Make sure to inform me as soon as she does."

"Mr. Kaiba, we can't seem to get one of the screens to work in the movie building…"

"Then I suggest you fix it. I didn't hire you all just for you to come running to me every time some little problem pops up; you should have the ability to solve it yourself. I expect it to be fixed before we open or you're all fired, understood?"

"Ah…yes sir."

Kaiba watched the retreating figure of one of his employees as they left. Really, did they expect him to do everything around here?

"Mr. Kaiba."

He turned in the direction of the voice he heard and saw Isono, one of his least useless employees, standing there.

"Mr. Pegasus has arrived and would like to speak with you."

Kaiba nodded and grabbed the helmet of his Kaibaman outfit before leaving the "Kaibaland Hotel" lobby.

Finally, the day had come. It was the day of the "Kaibaland Grand Opening". There was a crowd of people outside all waiting in anticipation for the gates of the amusement park to open at the scheduled time of 10:00 AM and be some of the first to experience the attractions it had in store. Everything so far seemed to be running smoothly. Of course, there were a few last minute things that popped up, but Kaiba had no trouble at all in finding quick solutions to them.

Kaiba was lead through the park until he reached the "Magic House" gift shop/magic show building. In front of it sat a black helicopter with a tall man with long, effeminate silvery hair wearing a black suit and a red turtle neck underneath standing next to it.

"Pegasus." Kaiba greeted with a nod.

"There you are, Kaiba-boy!" Kaiba twitched at the name the man had grown accustomed to calling him. He'd been calling him that ever since Kaibacorp had first began partnership with Industrial Allusions when he was twelve. And oh, how that name pissed him off.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked. Funny how seeing Pegasus almost always put him in a bad mood.

"Oh come now, no need to be so bitter. The theme park that you and brother have been focusing so much time and effort into building is finally about to open!" he practically sang, as he did nearly every other statement he made. Another reason Kaiba disliked the fruit.

"You're right. That being the case, I happen to be very busy and don't have much time to talk. So hurry up and tell me what the hell you want or I'm leaving." he demanded, patience running thin.

"Always so rash aren't you? After all these years of us working together and you still treat me this way." Pegasus said, becoming over-dramatic. "Really, Kaiba-boy, does six years of partnership mean nothing to you?-"

"That's it, I'm leaving." Kaiba spun around and started walking away, not in the mood to listen to the prima donna ramble on.

"Wait! Did you even take into consideration that maybe I actually have something important to discuss with you!?" Kaiba stopped walking and turned his head to view the man from the corner of his eye.

"If you do, I suggest you spit it out."

"The park opens in ten minutes you know. Even so, I'm afraid that we've stumbled upon a crisis…" Kaiba spun around completely to face Pegasus properly.

"What sort of 'crisis'?" He didn't like the sound of that.

"Well, I received a phone call from Kisara a few minutes ago and it seems that something apparently came up unexpectedly and she'll end up being a little late…"

"…How late, exactly?"

"By the sounds of it, she might not be here for another hour or so."

…

"What?" Kaiba growled. That woman…that woman! Oh, he could strangle that woman the next time he saw her. He should have seen this coming; that useless broad was so unreliable, Kaiba wouldn't even trust her if he was hanging off of a cliff from his imminent demise! For all he knew, she would stomp on his hands and watch him fall!

"Now, now, this isn't the time to be getting upset. We need to come up with a solution for this and fast. Those people will only wait out there for so long before they start getting restless." Pegasus stated, his usual cheerful demeanor gone. Kaiba rubbed the temple of his head with his free hand.

"We'll have to just take her part out completely and have Nightshroud run through the crowd instead shouting about world domination or something."

"But that takes the whole feel away! What about the kiss at the end?" Pegasus whined.

"We'll just have to take that part out too." Kaiba said through clenched teeth. Pegasus rubbed his chin as he thought about it.

"Kaibaman can't summon Blue Eyes White Dragon without Maiden."

Shit, that's right.

"And Nightshroud can't be defeated any other way."

That's right too. Damn.

"Well what do you suggest we do?!" Kaiba snapped.

"Find a replacement." Pegasus said casually.

"And were the hell are we going to find a damn replacement that looks anything like her? Let alone in ten fucking minutes!"

"Mr. Kaiba."

"It takes a hell of a lot longer than that for her to get into her fucking costume! And it's not like they even know the goddamn lines they have to fucking say!"

"Mr. Kaiba."

"WHAT?"

Kaiba rotated around to see what was so important and was caught off guard when he saw Yami standing next to one of his workers.

"My, my, that's quite the mouth you've got on you Kaiba." the spikey-haired teen teased.

"Sir, we found this kid sneaking around here. He claims that he's a friend of yours."

"Who are you calling a 'kid'?" Yami said in a low voice. Kaiba felt his right eye twitch and blinked to make it stop.

"What…wh…why are…" He shook his head to try and collect his thoughts. "How did you get in here?"

Yami shrugged. "Wasn't hard." Kaiba took a deep breath. Great, now he had Yami to deal with on top of all of this.

"You can go, Kemo." he ordered.

"Sir." the man said bowing his head, then taking his leave.

"This place is so cool! I can't wait until it opens!" Yami walked over to Kaiba with a large grin. "Sorry I sneaked in, I just wanted to say hi."

"Hi. Now get out."

"Hey, I was wondering if I could get in for free considering we're friends and everything. Right? And friends help friends out. Right? Especially ones who don't want to spend that much money. Right?" Yami asked, completely disregarding Kaiba's statement.

"No. You still have to pay." Kaiba stated, getting a little agitated.

"Why?" Yami frowned. "Aren't we friends?"

"Because I get the feeling that if I let you come for free, you'll end up costing me enough money to equal about ten people." Yami pouted in a way that looked rather cute, but Kaiba quickly dismissed the thought.

"_Well hello there young man!_" Kaiba almost jumped at the sudden obnoxious noise. Oh yeah, Pegasus was still here. The very chipper-looking man came over and started looking Yami over. "You're a friend of Kaiba-boy's? What's your name?"

"…Yami…"

"I see, I see." Pegasus continued to examine the teen. "And how old are you?"

"…Old enough." Yami answered, starting to look a little nervous.

"Hmm…" the man hummed. He lifted Yami's arm and inspected it. "Not bad, not bad. Slim arms…" Yami snatched his arm away from him and hugged it against his body.

"Okay, you're making me uncomfortable." Yami stated bluntly.

"How tall are you Yami?" Pegasus asked, ignoring what Yami said.

"…Are you trying to make fun of me?"

"Hm…looks close. 5''2? Or maybe even 5''3." he rambled out loud.

"I'm 5''4!" Yami corrected, looking offended.

"Perfect!" Pegasus chirped. He bent down to speak face-to-face with Yami. "Yami, I need to ask a favor of you. A simple little task really. In return, I'll give you something good!"

Yami held his arm out in front of him in an attempt to form a wall between them and said, "I don't think I want whatever you're offering me, creep."

Kaiba snorted, but was able to mostly muffle the laugh he nearly bellowed out. Pegasus shot him a glare, then returned to talking to Yami.

'It's his fault for being so damn creepy.' Kaiba thought.

"Listen," he began as calmly as he could, "Both Kaiba-boy and I are in quite a pickle and we could really use your help. If you agree to help us out, I'll let you ride on as many rides as you want afterwards. Deal?"

Yami looked Pegasus up and down a little, obviously still skeptical. He looked over at Kaiba, then back at Pegasus.

"…I guess I could try. If it'll help Kaiba…" Yami drifted off.

"Pegasus, you can't seriously be thinking what I think you are. He's a guy, in case you haven't noticed. I'm pretty sure that people will notice." Kaiba informed.

Pegasus stood up straight and said, "We don't really have much of an option, Kaiba-boy. And you'd be amazed at what my designers can do. Besides, he already agreed." Kaiba noticed a mischievous glint in his eyes when he said that last part, and based on the look Yami had on his face, so did he.

"Uh, on second thought, I think I change my mind-"

"Too late, let's go!" Pegasus cut Yami off and grabbed his arm.

"W-wait! I still don't even know what I have to doooo!" Yami yelled as he was being dragged away. Kaiba watched the two of them leave, feeling a bit dumbfounded.

'I can tell this is going to be a long day.'

xxXxx

"I can't believe you were serious."

"But of course."

Kaiba sighed as he waited in the hallway of the hotel for Yami to come out of the room he was changing in. Pegasus stood opposite to him next to the door.

"This is never going to work." he said.

"Don't be so negative, Kaiba-boy." Pegasus responded. He raised his arm and looked at the watch on his wrist, then knocked on the door the two of them were waiting for to open. "Aren't you done in there yet? We need to get started soon." The man stood back from the door and waited for a response. Finally, it opened slowly and a blushing Yami came sauntering out, white hair trailing behind him along with a long, tan, two-layered dress with silvery-blue dragon figures on the sides around his waist. He also wore matching silvery-blue wrist cuffs and ankle cuffs and a dark blue headband going around his head like a circlet.

Kaiba was a bit astonished at how attracted he felt toward Yami at that moment. He had to stop himself from having his jaw drop open when the boy came out of the room. It was a strange sensation and he did his best to bury the feeling deep within himself.

'Just focus Kaiba. Focus on the task at hand.' he tried to tell himself, but an annoying noise brought him out of his thoughts.

"AH! You make a pretty convincing girl!" Pegasus crooned.

"…I'm not sure how I feel about that statement." Yami said, starting to look a little humiliated.

'Nope, not working. I still think he looks cute.' Kaiba admitted to himself embarrassedly.

"It's not a perfect match to Kisara, but it looks close enough. Don't you think so Kaiba-boy?"

It took Kaiba a moment to realize that whatever Pegasus had said was being directed toward him, and since he hadn't really been listening he did his best to cover up the fact that he'd been thinking that Yami looked _cute_.

"…Why aren't your eyes blue?" Kaiba questioned.

"Uh, well…I tried putting the contact lenses in, but I was having trouble." Yami explained.

"Well go try again."

"I would, but I can't…"

"And why not?"

"Ehm…I kind of dropped one and we can't find it." Yami confessed. Pegasus hummed and crossed his arms.

"Don't you all have another pair of blue contacts?" Pegasus asked, leaning his head through the opened door to speak with the people inside.

"No, Mr. Pegasus. That's the only pair we have at the moment." Kaiba heard come from the room.

"Oh, this is troublesome…How will the Maiden with Eyes of Blue be Maiden with Eyes of Blue without her eyes being blue?" he wondered aloud. "Do you have any a similar shade? Grey? Or even maybe green?"

"Yeah, any color but red." Kaiba added.

"What's wrong with red?" Yami asked, sounding a little insulted.

"…Maiden's eyes aren't red."

"Well they aren't grey or green either." Yami countered.

"Red stands out too much." Kaiba pointed out.

"But bright green doesn't?"

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nightshroud's eyes glow red."

"But aren't they blue normally?"

"Yami, enough! You're driving me crazy here." Kaiba snapped.

Pegasus cleared his throat. "Anyway, do you have some other contact lenses?"

"Well, I'll have to check…" the woman said.

"Mr. Kaiba. Mr. Pegasus."

The two men turned their attention to the employee that had just spoken from behind them.

"What is it, Isono?" Kaiba asked.

"There are quite a few people complaining about Kaibaland not being open yet."

Kaiba groaned. How did everything turn to hell so quickly?

"I suppose we'll just have to make do with this." Pegasus decided. "We need to open. It's already 10:24." Kaiba looked at Yami. Those eyes really did stand out a lot with such light hair and clothes.

"What are we going to do about his eyes?" he questioned. Pegasus looked at Yami as well for a moment.

"We'll have to make some adjustments in the script, but I think we can make it work." He said with a nod. "Now let's get going! We haven't another minute to lose! Tell everyone to get into place Isono." The man bowed and left.

"Wait, we're starting? What am I supposed to do?" Yami asked.

"Just come with me Yami. Kaiba, you should be able to figure out what to do when it starts." Reluctantly, Kaiba nodded and watched the two of them as they left, eyes lingering on the spot Yami had been.

Why did he feel so strange whenever he thought about Yami? It wasn't a bad feeling necessarily; it was just…different. It was different that seeing him made Kaiba's mind go blank, yet full of random crap that really shouldn't matter. It was different that seeing him smile almost made Kaiba smile as well. It was different that Kaiba always had to be more cautious not to act without thinking like he normally would when he was around. It was different that even when Kaiba wasn't around Yami, the teen would somehow weave his way into his thoughts and make him become distracted.

It was definitely different that the thought of having to kiss Yami for the Grand Opening Ceremony didn't disgust him like he thought it should.

He hoped he wouldn't get distracted while they were out there. He also hoped no one would notice that Maiden with Eyes of Blue is actually Maiden with Eyes of Red.

'I wonder if this will work.' he thought to himself. He shrugged. 'Only one way to find out.'

* * *

*Gasp!* A cliffy? :O

Sorry about the cliffhanger. Like I said before, short attention span. No, I'm definitely not bored with the story. I just think/write so slow that it'd be a lot longer than it normally is if I made the chapters longer. And no, it's not that I'm a slow typist, I just have a lot of trouble putting what I think into words. :P

And I think this is a good spot to end the chapter!

How did they get all of Yami's hair to fit under the wig anyway? XD

Wow, I talk a lot at the end of these things, don't I? My bad!

Thanks for reading!

I'd love some feedback from you guys! 3


	12. Maiden With Eyes Of Red

*gasp!* 10 reviews? :O

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! Thanks youuuuu you guuuuys! I loves youuuu!

Oi, sorry about the inconsistent updating. Stuff's been happening and I started school again. *cries*

Summer! Come back to meeeee!

Anyway, thanks again for the 10 reviews! I appreciate it! Now:

Enjoy! ;3

**REVISION: For those of you that already read this chapter, I'll save you the trouble of having to do so again by saying the only thing that changed is the role of Nightshroud was changed to Jououchi instead of Fubuki.** I know that in the actual show, Fubuki was the one with that outfit and the mask and everything, but it was weird to have one random character from GX in here, so I changed it. Also, I had something planned with Jounouchi so I had to fit him in somewhere!

* * *

A large group of anonymous figures were gathered together outside of a large steel gate, murmurs of apprehension and impatience resonating through the air around them. A large portion of them were in their teens, some were young adults, and some looked to have recently hit the mid-life point. Of course, the majority of the crowd was taken up by restless children whining to their parents about how they wanted to go in already.

Suddenly, a flash of purple whipped through the air.

"Hey! What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That!"

"What?"

"_THAT! _By the statue!"

A child started yelling and pointing wildly at something through the gate toward the twenty-foot tall Blue Eyes White Dragon statue that stood in front of a wide set of steps leading to the ticket booths. In front of it was a tall man wearing a long cloak that was a gray-toned teal and purple on the inside with thin, yellow lines going around the edges of the outside. He wore a black mask that covered the top half of his face that represented a dragon, its sharp edges holding his long blond hair out of his face. The mask had blue diamond-shaped eye holes and a single red jewel on the forehead. There was a gasp.

"It's Nightshroud!" one kid yelled. Shrieks of horror and astonishment bellowed from the crowd as many people tried to push themselves closer to the gate to view the scene that was about to take place.

"And he's got Maiden!" another shouted. "Maiden" was draped over the man's shoulder with his hands tied together and a blindfold over his eyes. A collective gasp was heard among the group of people. The masked man smirked wickedly.

"Yes! It's me, Nightshroud! I've taken over this body and soon, I'll take over the world!" He yelled. There were more shrieks and a few "Noooo!"s as Nightshroud laughed manically. Once he finally finished his cackling, he turned his head toward "Maiden" and said, "And _YOU'RE_ going to help me!"

More screaming. Quite possibly some crying too, hard to tell.

There was a short period of silence on the opposite side of the gate were it could be assumed a line was supposed to be said. Ever-so-slightly, Nightshroud nudged Yami.

"Ah-em-n…n-never!" he stuttered out, raising his voice a semi-tone or two to sound more like how Maiden really did. It was close, and any argument that it wasn't could easily be dismissed due to the fact that it was so noisy.

"I'm afraid you don't have much say in the matter, Maiden!" Nightshroud howled, and he threw Yami down to the ground in a very convincing way. Actually it looked a bit painful, but nevertheless Yami sat up on his knees and held a defensive pose. "Now! All I have to do is absorb all of your powers, and the world will be mine in no time!" he went on with another round of maniacal laughter to follow. Once finished, he raised his right hand and slowly inched it closer to Yami, saying, "And no one can stop me!"

There. That's probably his cue.

Nightshroud's hand was centimeters away from Yami when a card came flying toward him. He narrowly dodged the projectile as it passed him, and the card boomeranged around and was caught by a familiar white-cloaked hero.

"_Kaibaman!_" Nightshroud spat venomously.

A wave of cheers sounded when Kaiba pointed a dramatic finger at the masked man and said, "Not a chance, Nightshroud!" Nightshroud gritted his teeth and hoped back a few feet when Kaiba ambled closer as they waited for the crowd to settle down a bit.

"If you honestly thought that I would do nothing as you attempted to corrupt the world, you're sadly mistaken!" Kaiba boomed, sending the crowd into another hyped-up frenzy. They paused to let the crowd calm down again, and Kaiba happened to glance down at Yami and saw that he was wearing a goofy looking grin.

'You idiot, stop smiling.' he thought. Not too long after, Yami pursed his lips to hide the fact, but the corners of his mouth were still lifted a little. Kaiba resisted the urge to shake his head and decided to look away to prevent the urge from becoming too strong.

"How nice of you to join us Kaibaman!" Nightshroud yelled with a smirk, pulling Kaiba from his thoughts. "You think you can stop me? I'd like to see you try!" he said, holding his arms out. He rose them in the air and chanted, "_Come creature of darkness; creature of shadow! Give me your power and win this battle!_ Red Eyes Black Dragon! I command you to appear!"

Above their heads, a large dragon materialized, black wings spread and blood-red eyes gleaming fearsomely. Those crimson eyes sure did remind Kaiba an awful lot of Yami. The way they seemed to shine so brightly…

"_Dark Mega Flare!_"

Kaiba started, then was just able to jump out of the way of the ball of red light that was shot at him. Damn, he needed to pay attention.

"Maiden!" he shouted as he dashed toward Yami.

"Huh? Oh, right! Eh…um…y-y-yes!" Yami stood up, careful not to trip on the long dress, and hesitantly ripped the piece of cloth that shielded his eyes from the world from his face. He kept his eyes closed as he held his still-bounded hands out in front of him and pretended to be concentrating.

Kaiba halted to a stop right in front of him and gently placed his left hand on top of Yami's, the contact making Kaiba's stomach do a weird flip. Trying his best to ignore it, he raised the card in his right hand above his head, took a deep breath, and yelled, "_Beast of hope; beast of light! Listen well and hear my plight! I ask of you to offer your aid! And rid us danger, both small and grave!_ Blue Eyes White Dragon! Lend me your strength!"

A flash of white light shined and a humongous dragon appeared, metallic white armor-like scales across the body shining like diamonds in the sun, and sparkling sapphires for eyes. The creature roared ferociously once it had materialized completely. At first everyone merely gaped in awe, then they went crazy; cheers, whistles, and whoops and hollers blasted out from the other side of the gate.

Nightshroud scoffed, bearing his teeth in frustration. "You think that thing scares me? Red Eyes, attack! _Dark Mega Flare!_" he growled. The black dragon obeyed, sending another ball of red light at the opposing monster. Blue Eyes dodged the attack easily, veering to the right.

Kaiba smirked and said, "Hn. Let's show them what true strength is Blue Eyes!" The creature roared again, ready to take action. "_Burst Stream of Destruction!_" he yelled. The glistening beast threw its head forward and a ray of white light blasted out of its mouth, hitting the lesser dragon dead on. Red Eyes snarled in pain and fell to the ground before vanishing. Smoke from the blast enveloped around them, and in it Nightshroud could be heard yelling, "Don't think this is over Kaibaman! I **will **be victorious!"

Once the clouds of smoke cleared up, Nightshroud was no longer anywhere to be found. Kaiba removed his hand from Yami's and waited for the cheering to die down again. When it finally did, Yami unexpectedly began falling forward. Kaiba caught him and steadied his balance, concern rapidly growing for the boy's safety. Then Kaiba remembered where he was and what was going on and mentally kicked himself for getting unfocused again.

"Maiden." he said, trying his best not to show his current inner frustration. "Oh, right. Summoning Blue Eyes drains most of your powers." he continued.

"Y…yes." Yami confirmed, still keeping his eyes closed which could be mistaken for being exhausted and not because his eyes are the complete wrong color. "It seems you've rescued me yet again…K-Kaibaman." he stated after a few seconds.

This was the moment. The moment Kaiba had both been dreading and been interested in. He had to kiss Yami. And there was no backing out of it now.

The fluttering pain he felt in his stomach realizing how close the two of them were made Kaiba hesitate to do it. During this brief period of hesitation, he took the opportunity to study Yami's facial features. His face looked soft and almost child-like; his full cheeks made his face seem round. His nose was small and delicate as were his lips. Kaiba swallowed as he began moving closer, eyes locked onto his lips. He noticed a light blush start to form on Yami's face as he inched his way closer. Yami knew what was coming.

He went for it. It was a short kiss, but nonetheless it sent a shiver running down his back when their lips touched. As soon as Kaiba pulled away he had the desire to press his mouth back onto Yami's, but he quickly regained control of himself before he did such a thing.

He stood up straighter and waited for their cue to leave. He didn't think he could stay like this much longer without doing something that he'd surely regret. The crowd continued to go crazy, even when the Blue Eyes White Dragon that was still there came flying down and landed right behind the gate, blocking the mass's view of Kaiba and Yami.

Quickly, Kaiba began speed walking toward the ticket booths behind them, guiding a now beet red Yami there as well. They slid pass the booths and stood behind one of them as Blue Eyes dissipated with a final roar, creating the illusion that the two of them had disappeared.

Kaiba breathed out a sigh as the cheering continued. Good, it was over now.

"Eh-um…" Kaiba looked at Yami. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Kaiba. "That was…interesting…"

xxXxx

"Gee little guy, I didn't mean to drop you that hard."

"Yeah, yeah…"

After the Grand Opening Ceremony, Kaiba had noticed Yami holding onto his shoulder and asked him what was wrong with it. He said that it hurt a little from when "Nightshroud" had thrown him so Kaiba took him back to the hotel and had one of the nurses there take a look at it. Turns out the thing was dislocated.

"Really Jounouchi, I know you were trying to make it believable but that doesn't mean you should be reckless about it." Kaiba scolded. The man who played the role of Nightshroud, Jounouchi, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I know! But hey, he's lighter than Kisara; I think I just miscalculated the amount of force I needed to use." he replied.

"I think you miscalculated the amount of intelligence you have."

"Hey~"

"Alright Mr. Yami, I think the Ketorolac has kicked in by now. Ready for me to pop it back in?" the nurse spoke up.

Yami groaned and wearily said, "…sure." The nurse nodded and walked closer to him. Kaiba observed as she raised his elbow to a 90 degree angle and applied traction away from him. She took one hand off or the elbow and placed it on his forearm.

"Sit up straight now. And make sure to let me know if it hurts too badly."

Yami nodded.

"Alright, here we go." The woman warned and started rotating his arm outward, making sure to be careful with it. Yami's face scrunched up a little when:

Pop!

Kaiba frowned at the loud noise that came from Yami's back. The nurse smiled and let go of his arm, taking a step back.

"There, all done. That wasn't too bad was it?" she asked. Yami gripped his shoulder and moved his arm around in a circle. Well, at least he seemed to be better now.

"Yay! Good job!" Jounouchi cheered with a few seconds of clapping. "You want a lollipop to make you feel better?" he joked.

"Why, you…" Yami growled, holding the back of his hand up with a don't-make-me-back-hand-you face.

"Kidding!" Jounouchi said, holding his hands up in surrender. The nurse laughed and started gathering her things.

Kaiba heard the door to the room open and turned to see who it was.

"Nii-sama! That was cool! But I thought we said we were going to-"

The raven-haired boy stopped suddenly and stared at Yami.

Crap. Yami was still in the Maiden costume.

"…Hi Mokuba." Yami greeted. Mokuba continued to stare at him, then looked at Kaiba, then back at Yami.

"Yami? Why are you-? How did-?" Mokuba questioned with incomplete sentences, trying to piece together the scene that lay before him "…Were _you_ the one that was out there?" Slowly, Yami nodded his head. Mokuba stared at him for a few more seconds, then his face broke out into a large grin. "OH? So then you were also the one who kissed Nii-sama-"

"What did you want Mokuba?" Kaiba asked irritably. Mokuba sent him a sly look. "…Well?" he pressed. That look was making him uncomfortable. Mokuba snickered.

"Fine, I'll let this go for now." he said, still grinning like a mad man. "Nii-sama, Pegasus said that you and Kisara need to go greet people at the 'Kaiba Dome'." Kaiba sighed. He sure didn't feel like having to deal with all of those people.

He crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Fine, go tell him that we'll be there soon."

"Oooookaaaaay~" Mokuba chirped. He gave Yami one last smile before leaving.

"Oh, hey Kisara." he heard Mokuba say just outside of the room. He noticed Yami's face light up suddenly; probably him thinking that he was about to meet the one and only "ray of sunshine" Kisara that everyone thought she was. Oh, was he about to be let down.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE!" the said woman screamed in a way that made Kaiba want to jab knives into his ears so he would go deaf to refrain from ever being in danger of having to listen to that voice ever again.

…

...

"Just treating the wounded." Jounouchi said, trying to rid the room of any more awkward silence. "Well… we're not really 'treating' anymore. And not a 'wound' per se." he rambled on. Kisara narrowed her eyes, blue becoming fiery-looking.

"I don't care about that!" she yelled.

"…Then why'd you ask?"

"What I want to know," she pointed at Yami. "is who the hell that is!"

"Make up your mind will you?"

"Just who do you think you are, huh? Trying to steal the spotlight from me like that!" Yami didn't say anything; shock hindering his ability to do anything.

"You're the one who didn't show up on time." Kaiba filled in for Yami. Kisara glared at him.

"I was very busy doing something! My friend really needed me!"

"Oh, so is that what that is on the corner of your mouth?" Kaiba countered. Interesting, not only was she useless, but she was also apparently a slut. Kisara jumped and quickly used her sleeve to wipe the dried up, white substance from her face.

"I-I…I was eating some…ice cream!" she said, attempting to cover up her tracks.

"You were eating something all right." Kaiba retorted. She sent him a look that only a spawn of Satan would be able to pull off, then turned her attention back to Yami who was still frozen in astonishment.

"YOU!" she bellowed. Yami flinched at the sudden attention. "Take off that costume! I never gave you permission to wear it you little wench!" Yami looked at her nervously, a bead of sweat on his cheek. "After that, I want you OUT OF HERE! Got it?" she finished. Kisara took a final look around the room at the people who were all staring wide-eyed at her (not including Kaiba, this was all too expected to him), scoffed, then left, slamming the door behind her.

What a bitch.

"…What…" Kaiba and Jounouchi both turned to look at Yami. Looks like he finally gained the capability to talk.

"What just happened?"

* * *

Poor Yami. I'm so mean to him. He's such a bishie though, ain't he?

So happy about the 10 reviews! Now let's see if I can get 20! :DDDD

Thanks for reading!

Please review my amigos! They make me smile to read!


	13. Power Down

**MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THE REVISION IN CHAPTER 12 BEFORE READING.** Please and thanks!

Wow. It's been two weeks since I last updated. My apologies! I had planned on doing it last weekend, but I got really sick. :(

Just so you all know, I plan on updating at least once a week, probably every Saturday. I'd love to update more often than that, but I really need to focus on school. My classes are so tough this year! But I won't complain, challenge accepted!

Enjoy! ;3

*Steamed monkfish liver. A Japanese delicacy.

**Thick cubes of fatty pork belly simmered at a low temperature for a long time in a sweet sauce.

***Grilled eel coated with a sweet sauce on top of rice. Grilled eel tends to be love-it or hate-it.

* * *

"God, am I glad that's over." a woman with long, white hair groaned.

The click-clacks of heeled shoes bounced around a short hallway as two figures made their way down it; one being significantly taller than the other.

"Children are just _soooo_ annoying."

Kaiba glared hard through the blue eyeholes of his helmet at Kisara. Hearing her whinny voice complain instantly made him want to reach over and smack the shit out of her. He had to deal with the loud, obnoxious group of kids as they had their pictures taken with them several times by elated parents too, but he wasn't about to complain about it. It was just part of their job.

"I can barely stand being around them!" An overdramatic sigh. "I'm so glad I don't have any younger siblings. Really, I wonder how you deal with it Kaiba."

He bit down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from snapping at Kisara. Bringing up Mokuba just made his hatred for the woman intensify.

'What can I say, I had a lot of practice dealing with your whinny ass.' he said to himself. Yes, just like dealing with a child, Kaiba would have to just ignore her shenanigans until she learned that he wasn't putting up with it.

The two of them continued down the hall in silence, to Kaiba's relief, until they got to a plain, white door. Kisara wasted no time in swinging the door open and stepping inside. Kaiba did so as well, closing the door behind him.

Once the Grand Opening Ceremony had finished and Yami had his shoulder looked at, Kaiba and Kisara had gone to the "KaibaDome" to greet fans and to encourage them to try out the virtual system that was set up there. It worked like a charm, kids were lined up to use the machinery and the building was filled with the sound of kids pleading to their parents for money to use what was basically a larger form of a duel disk. Sure, the virtual system that was in the "KaibaDome" was a little different; you could play against the computer on a set level of your choice, but aside from that it was essentially the same thing.

After about two hours or so they had gone down a single hallway in the building to take a break from the pandemonium in the only vacant room available: the control room. Not exactly a place of comfort, but it was the only place to go at the time.

Kisara made a heavy sigh as she plopped down in one of the empty chairs.

"So where is everyone anyway?" she asked. Kaiba removed the dragon themed helmet from his head and rubbed his right temple where the headgear had been digging into his skull.

"Lunch." he answered dully.

"And where is our lunch exactly? Do you really expect me to continue on an empty stomach? Well?"

Just before Kaiba had the chance to tell her to shut the hell up before he took one of the computer chords and strangled her until her eyeballs popped out, there was a knock at the door.

"Mr. Kaiba? Miss White?" he heard come from the opposite side of the door.

"Come in." he ordered gruffly.

The silver handle to the door twisted and a man who looked to be in his forties came inside. He held his arms close to his body as he bowed briefly and said, "You both must be quite hungry after all of this chaos, so if you would like, lunch has been brought to you. Curtesy of Mr. Pegasus."

"Oh, yes! I'm absolutely starved! Thank you very much!" Kisara crooned, putting on the appearance of someone who isn't a total bitch. The man nodded and stepped to the side as another, slightly younger looking man wheeled in a silver cart covered in expensive foods. "Oh, how lovely!" she pretended to praise.

"Enjoy." the man said. The two then bowed and left, shutting the door. Kisara got up from the spot she had been sitting in and began inspecting the food.

"Hmph. Couldn't they have cooked this *Ankimo better? And what's with the **Kakuni? Are they trying to make me fat?"

Wow, more complaining. What a surprise.

"Oh well, I suppose this will just have to do. But really though, ***Unadon? Why Unadon? And, my god, would it kill them to-"

Kaiba decided to block out whatever else she had to say. He didn't feel like getting a headache at the moment. It was then when he noticed a pot of black coffee sitting on the cart and almost cracked a smile of liberation.

Almost.

He promptly grabbed a cup from the cart and poured some of the dark liquid into it. He set the pot back down and took a sip, letting the smooth, bitter taste coat his tongue before letting it run down his throat and went for another mouthful right after.

"Kaiba." he vaguely heard come from behind him. He turned to look at Kisara who was pouting in his direction. "Are you listening to me?"

"No." he answered bluntly. Her frown grew and she whipped her head to the side, sticking her nose in the air with a "Hmph!". Kaiba ignored the gesture and went back to his little cup of heaven. He was about to take another drink, but froze just before the cup reached his mouth when he heard some kind of metallic clank. He looked at Kisara to see if it was her who made the noise, but she looked just as confused as him. He scanned the room, seeing nothing more than a few computers and a screen on the wall. He furrowed his eyebrows when he heard it again, a bit quieter this time. Nothing seemed to have moved in the room, so he rotated around to the door behind him. Just as he thought, another suspicious sound came from it, this time sounding like a heavy thud.

Kaiba put his cup down and sauntered over to the door. He listened for a moment for any more signs of movement, hearing some rustling and what sounded like shoes sliding across the ground. He glowered heavily and pulled the door open, ready to chew the head off of whoever dared sneak around back here.

He was surprised to see a head of spikey hair and bright red eyes looking back at him.

"…Yami?" he said. "What the...?"

"Yo." the boy greeted.

"Hey!" Kaiba looked behind himself at a pissed looking Kisara. "What are you doing here kid? Get lost! I thought I told those bodyguards not to let anyone back here…"

"Yeah, they were pretty rude when I tried coming back here." Yami said.

"And how _did_ you get back here exactly?" Kaiba questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. He tried to sound angry about the fact that the boy was back there, but in reality he was almost excited about it. Strange.

Yami smirked mischievously and pointed his index finger at the ceiling. Kaiba looked up to where the runt had motioned and saw that the cover to the ceiling vent had been removed. He snapped his head back down to Yami and, after a moment, said, "You didn't."

"You bet I did." Yami confirmed, striding past Kaiba and into the room. "I had no choice! They wouldn't let me in!"

"What do you think you're doing you brat!? You can't come in here! Now leave!" Kisara shouted. Yami stopped walking and tilted his head to the side.

"I can't? Why not?"

"Because this room is off-" Kisara cut her sentence off as her eyes widened. "W-wait a second. Aren't you…? Weren't you the one who…? The little monster that was posing as me at the Grand Opening?"

Yami scratched the back of his head shyly. "Ah…yes. That was me."

"But! You're a boy?!" she yelled.

"…Last time I checked, yes."

Kisara stared at Yami for a short while before turning to Kaiba and crying, "Then that means-! You kissed a boy?"

Kaiba lifted his cup of coffee and took a sip, avoiding her gaze in an attempt to evade the question.

"And like a twelve year old boy at that!" she continued.

"I'm fifteen!" Yami corrected.

"Whatever! The point is: Kaiba kissed a fucking boy!"

"Well I mean, you were really late getting here-"

"Oh don't you pull that crap on me!"

"Whoa! Where's the fire? What's with all of the shouting in here?" Kaiba twisted around and saw Jounouchi standing at the still wide open door. "Oh, hey there little guy." he said toward Yami, who waved hello warily.

"Stop acting so buddy-buddy with this **freak** Jounouchi!" Kisara spewed, the insult making Kaiba's blood boil.

"Hey, hey! What's with the name calling? What crawled up your dress and bit you in the butt?" Jounouchi questioned. Kisara pointed accusatively at Kaiba.

"He _kissed_ a _boy_! Like, what the fuck?"

"Caaaalm dowwwn Kisara." Jounouchi attempted. "Someone had to do it."

"But a boy? You guys couldn't find a girl to do it?" she continued. She looked back over at Kaiba and yelled, "What are you, gay?!"

Kaiba lowered his coffee cup away from his face and glared down at her until he felt her presence turn from fired up to frightened, hopefully making her fear for her life. How dare she say something like that out loud? Especially with that tone of voice, like the thought disgusted her? Even if the accusation had been true, the unnecessary dose of homophobia that came with it was more than unwelcomed.

"Ahem."

Kaiba tore his gaze away from the woman that had turned from a tolerable nuisance to an insignificant pest worth less than the dirt on his shoe in two seconds flat. Yami looked at Kisara, then Kaiba, then back at Kisara.

"I didn't come here with the intent to cause an argument; I have an important reason for being here. So important that I crawled through those vents to get here!"

…

"Well, what's the reason then?" Jounouchi asked.

"What I need is…YOU!" he pointed at Kisara. "To sign my poster." Kaiba placed his hand on his forehead. Even after everything that just happened too…

"No." Kisara spat.

"…Why not?" Kisara folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Why in the world would I sign a poster for _YOU_ of all people?" Yami tapped his chin as he thought about the question.

"Well…in a way I did you a favor by filling in for you at the Grand Opening…"

"Definitely not. I didn't ask you to do that, nor would I ever have."

"Oh come on, I came all this way!"

"No means no. Now get out, twerp."

"Is that all you know how to do? Insult people?" Yami asked idly.

"Go!" she ordered.

Kaiba was about to say something when he saw Yami turn around and begin walking away, but chose to keep quiet. No way was Yami really about to let this go. He was sure the boy had something planned.

As if on cue, Yami stopped walking and said, "You know, there's been this rumor going around about you Kisara."

Kisara narrowed her eyes. "What sort of 'rumor'?" she asked, unable to keep herself from wondering if her reputation had been damaged.

"Oh, you know…" he began nonchalantly, waving his hand around. "Just that some of the employees around saw you get here with that one gentleman…what was his name?" Yami turned his head to look at the Kisara and smirked. "Nezbitt?" Kisara flinched. Yami's smile grew. "Yes, that sounds about right. It's a mystery why it is that you arrived with a man so much older than you, not to mention how disheveled you looked when you got out of his car. Why did you, I wonder? Why, why, why…"

Kisara gritted her teeth. "What exactly are you getting at, runt?"

"It sure would be a shame if someone were to find out what exactly happened between the two of you, wouldn't it?" Yami pressed.

Jounouchi put his hand over his mouth to hide his smile of astonishment and watched the sudden standoff in anticipation. Kaiba was surprised himself; this was certainly a turn of events.

"I-I…I don't know what you're talking about!" Kisara denied.

"Why you were late…"

Kisara growled.

"What that was on your face…"

The room became dreadfully quiet as Yami and Kisara remained in the deadlock. Kisara smiled cagily as she finally said, "You wouldn't dare."

"Hm?" Yami wondered aloud with a smile of amusement. He was clearly enjoying this.

"You wouldn't dare even **_think_** about telling anyone anything." She tried convincing herself, obviously fearful for her status. Yami continued to look at her for a few more seconds, then snorted with delight.

"Well then, I guess you have nothing to worry about." he condescended, turning his back to her. "_If you're so sure about that._" Yami only took one step toward the exit before:

"FINE!" Kisara yelled. Yami paused mid-step. "Give me the damn poster!"

Yami spun around, not even attempting to hide the large grin of satisfaction on his face. "My, how generous of you Kisara!" he teased.

"Shut the hell up."

Yami chuckled and walked back over to the woman, grabbing the rolled up, glossy picture from the internal pocket of his oversized, black jacket and the same permanent marker that Kaiba had used before from the pocket of his faded, dark grey skinny jeans, handing both to Kisara after unrolling the poster.

Grudgingly, she snatched the items from the boy, set the poster down on one of the computer desks, and quickly scribbled her name down on it. Yami peered over her shoulder as she did so, saying, "Put 'Maiden' too." She groaned and did as he said, jotting the word underneath her name.

Yami took the marker and poster back from her and said, "Why thank you very much." Jounouchi stood next to Yami and gazed at the picture.

"Wow kid, impressive. You even got Kaiba to sign it!" Yami smiled proudly, nodding his head as he showed the poster off to him. "Alright," Jounouchi began, "go ahead. Give me the marker. I know you want me to sign it too, don't you?"

Yami blinked at the blond a few times and held the poster away from him. "Not really, no." he answered truthfully.

"W…wait, why not?" Jounouchi asked, looking offended.

"Because you play as the bad guy."

"So?"

"_SO_, the bad guys can't sign the same poster as the good guys. Duh." Yami answered like it should be obvious.

"Well…why didn't you get a poster of Nightshroud too then?"

"Because Kaibaman's way cooler than Nightshroud. That's why."

"Hey!"

Kaiba snorted. Jounouchi shouldn't have been surprised with that answer. It was true after all. Kaiba already knew it was true, yet the fact that Yami had said it made Kaiba's heart do a weird flutter thing that he wished would go away.

"What are you laughing at?" Jounouchi asked furiously.

"Don't get mad at me, I'm not the one who said it." Kaiba said, taking another drink of his now lukewarm coffee to try and distract his brain.

Just then, the lights flickered until they shut completely off along with all of the computers. The sudden power dysfunction caught Kaiba by surprise, and he froze in place as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. The room was shrouded in dark, the only source of light being a small glow coming from the hallway.

"What's going on?" he heard Yami ask.

"Maybe you angered the gods by saying that Kaibaman is better than Nightshroud and now this is your punishment?" Jounouchi said.

"Har, har."

Kaiba set his coffee down on the silver cart in front of him and walked as best he could over to one of the computers. He felt around until his fingers stroked the buttons on the back of the machine, and he pressed the first one, holding it there for a moment. When nothing happened, he attempted rebooting the computer, but to no avail.

"Kaiba?" Yami said. "Was this supposed to happen? Is this part of the Grand Opening Ceremony or something?"

Kaiba clenched his hands into fists. A thousand possibilities as to why the electricity suddenly failed swirled around in his head. It just didn't make sense. Everything seemed to be in order earlier, so why the sudden change?

"Kaiba?"

He twisted his body around toward the door. There was only one way to find out what had caused this.

"No." he said, and left.

* * *

Whoa! What happened I wonder? Like I don't know? X3

Yami, you're so mischievous!

Kisara, you're so mean! Calling Yami names…

Kaiba, you're so sarcastic!

And Jounouchi, you're so…unpopular! Some things never change…

I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

I'd be super ecstatic if you reviewed! You know, tell me what you like and don't like about the story so far. It'll help me be a better writer!


	14. Unwelcomed Guest

Yay! Another chapter! Wow, this one's longer than all the others!

I hope this chapter doesn't seem too choppy; I kind of worked on it off and on throughout the weekend. Oh well!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Why didn't the backup generator work?"

"I'm not sure, sir."

"Has anyone gone to the breaker room to turn the power back on manually?"

"Yes sir, someone just went not too long ago."

"Well what's taking so long then?"

"Ah, I…we were waiting to see if the generator would kick in-"

"It should have been done immediately! I'm trying to run a company here, there's no time for waiting! Is that understood?"

"Y-yes. Sir."

Kaiba took a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Why hadn't the generator turned the power back on in the "KaibaDome"? The Bi-fuel generator was brand new, so no way could the battery have failed already. Not only that, but why did the power shut off in the first place?

He could hear the many complaints of children and teens fill the shadowed room as he scanned the area with nothing more than a few flashlights being held by employees to cut through the darkness. It had been over ten minutes since the power shut down, and the crowd was beginning to get rowdy.

"What's going on?" he heard one kid say.

"Come on! I wanna duel!" another yelled. There was a sigh of impatience next to him and he looked to see Kisara's dimly lit figure standing there with her arms crossed.

"Ugh. This sucks."

Kaiba glared at her but said nothing. Like he didn't know that already?

"Mr. Kaiba." he heard someone say behind him.

"What is it?"

A scrawny looking man with a balding head bowed for a brief moment before replying, "Sir, I went to check the breaker and...well, um…"

"Well what? Spit it out."

The man cleared his throat uncomfortably and said, "Well, it seems that all of the fuses are…they're missing."

Kaiba blinked at the man, questioning the validity of that statement.

"What do you mean, 'missing'?" he asked in a low voice to verify what he just heard.

"All of the slots are empty."

"And why the hell are they empty?" Kaiba growled.

"I'm not sure why. Someone must have taken them all out, but I don't know what their motive for doing so is." Kaiba shut his eyes and began rubbing his forehead.

"Why haven't you replaced them if they're all missing?" he asked. There was no time to try and figure out what happed to the original ones, they needed to get the power back on now. Something like that could wait.

"I tried to go get the extra set we have, but the room that they're in won't open." Kaiba opened his eyes and looked at the man.

"Won't open?"

"Yes. Almost like it's being barricaded."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes and, in a dangerously low voice, said, "Listen, I don't care if you have to break the damn door down. Get in there and get the fuses or you're fired. How fucking hard is it to do that? Now go."

"Y-yes sir. Right away."

Kaiba watched the skinny man speed walk down the hallway. Once he was no longer in sight, he turned back around and pinched the bridge of his nose as he analyzed his current situation.

The "KaibaDome" had no power. The building was full of unhappy customers due to this. The backup generator didn't turn the electricity back on like it was supposed to, and seeing how the machine hadn't been there for more than a couple days, the only explanation for its failure would be that it had been tampered with in some way. Apparently all of the fuses in the breaker had been taken, and the room that the replacement fuses were in was being barricaded.

Kaiba was sure that this was sabotage. Someone was trying to ruin him. Kaiba didn't know if it was someone who was working for him or if it was some outside force, but what he did know is that he would make whoever dared do something like this wish they never even knew who he was. He would make sure of it.

"I wonder what could have caused this." he heard Yami say above the loud buzz of the aggravated crowd.

"Yeah, what's the deal Kaiba? Did you forget to pay the power bill?" Jounouchi joked in an irritating voice. Kaiba shot a dark glare over to the blonde and saw him cringe. Good, maybe he'd shut up.

"…Perhaps now isn't the best time to joke around Jounouchi." Yami suggested.

"R…right."

Kaiba glanced at his phone, the screen's light shining up on his face. Nearly twenty minutes had gone by and still no electricity. This couldn't go on for much longer or else…

"That's it, I'm leaving!"

He looked up in the direction of the yelled statement.

"I'm tired of waiting!" a teenager shouted. Kaiba watched as the boy began marching toward the exit door, obviously peeved. Great, he was going to start losing customers because of this. Oh, once he figured out who the culprit was…

The angered teen was no more than two feet away from the exit when suddenly a large, heavy steel gate came sliding down the door, a loud bang sounding when it crashed into the ground making the boy jump. The same thing happened to the door next to it. And every other exit was soon covered by a gate as well.

"W-what's going on?" Kisara asked.

Kaiba's eyes went wide and he looked around the room frantically searching for an explanation. The emergency lockdown had been activated somehow, but how was that even possible if the power wasn't working?

The building became dreadfully quiet as frightened children huddled around their parents, confusion painted on their faces. There was a loud click, and all of the lights flickered on. Kaiba perused the perimeter, his eyes eventually locking onto a tall figure standing on one of the dueling platforms. The form was cloaked in a mulberry purple suit and long locks of pink hair trailed down his back. The man looked straight back at Kaiba, and finally he said, "What's the matter Kaiba? Having some technical difficulties?" A wave of whispers swirled through the room as parents and children tried to understand what was happening.

Kaiba clenched his fists and instantly knew who the man was. That thick German accent was hard to misplace when it was paired with that hair.

"Siegfried." Kaiba spat like the name caused a bad taste to form in his mouth.

"Sieg who? Jounouchi questioned.

"SiegFRIED." Yami corrected.

"Yeah, no I got that. But who the hell is Siegfried?"

The pink-haired man grinned down at Kaiba, emerald eyes glistening with malice.

"Oh, what a surprise! The one and only 'Kaibaman' remembers my name!" Siegfried said dramatically. His smile grew. "I'm honored."

"What do you want Schroider?" Kaiba yelled. "Are you the one responsible for this power outage?"

Siegfried narrowed his eyes at Kaiba; a silent taunt saying "And if I am? Just what are you going to do about it chump?". Kaiba's rage began growing rapidly.

"Answer me!"

"Little old me?" Siegfried said, reaching his hand up and flipping his hair back unnecessarily. "I simply couldn't."

"Don't play dumb!" Kaiba snarled, taking a step forward. "You and I both know that you have the technological capability to do something like this! Now confess!" he finished, pointing at him dramatically. Siegfried smirked.

"If you already know that I have the ability to do this, then why ask?" Kaiba glared at him but didn't say anything. A few moments passed, then Siegfried added, "It was such a simple thing to do really. Simple when you have this." He held up a small black thumb drive that had a familiar "KC" written in silver letters on the front. Kaiba did a double take. He was about to say something but Yami beat him to it.

"You!" the spikey-haired teen yelled. "You're the one who stole that from me that day!?"

"Me?" Siegfried question with a fake innocence lacing his voice. "Goodness no. I would never dare do something so terrible."

"But you would pay someone else to do it, wouldn't you?" Yami asked with a dangerous smile. Siegfried said nothing, but matched Yami's smile with one of his own.

"Hand it over Siegfried!" Kaiba demanded. "I don't have to time to play your little games!"

"You want this back, do you?" Siegfried turned his attention back to Kaiba. "Well then, how about a duel? Win against me and I'll give this back to you and return the electricity back to the way it was." He smirked darkly and continued, "But if I win…well, let's just say that your company might not be running for much longer."

"Are you threatening me Schroider?" Kaiba said painfully low.

"Oh believe me Kaiba, it's not a threat. _It's a promise_." He pocketed the small device he'd been holding and crossed his arms. "Well? Is it a deal? Or is the mighty 'Kaibaman' too scared?" he taunted. If Kaiba could glare any harder, he would.

"Hn. Don't make me laugh." Kaiba walked over to the opposite side of the dueling arena and hopped up onto the platform, cheers sounding wildly by kids excited to witness 'Kaibaman' duel up-close. "The sheer thought of me being even remotely intimidated by someone like you is absurd."

"Don't get too cocky yet Kaiba. The duel hasn't even begun yet." Siegfried warned. Kaiba smirked.

"Fine. If you're itching to lose that bad, let's get started already." He punched in a short code on the right screen to change his side of the duel arena from "computer" to "duelist" mode.

"You better win against this pink-haired weirdo, Kaiba!" Jounouchi howled above the cheering.

"Beat him quick!" Yami added. Kaiba's smirk grew at that, even if just a little.

"Isn't it funny, Kaiba?" Siegfried began. "How such a small device can cause you such a large amount of trouble? Ironic, isn't it?" That caused Kaiba to ask a question that had been on his mind for some time now.

"How did you even manage to get past my security systems and screw around with the electricity? I changed all of the codes as soon as I discovered the thumb drive went missing."

"Heh. But in that short amount of time that you were unaware, a virus could easily slip its way into the system." Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows. Even if that was the case, he should have found out about it if it was there…

Siegfried continued, "It's especially deadly if that virus was disguised as a file essential to the function of the system. Then it would be able to laze about unharmed; stealing information that was required to hack into the computer, such as passwords for example…" Kaiba frowned heavily.

"Why you son of a-"

"Now, now Kaiba. Watch your language in front of all of these children. You wouldn't want to do something you'd regret, would you? You are their idol after all." Kaiba gritted his teeth. Siegfried would pay for this. He would pay big time.

"Enough!" Kaiba yelled as he attempted to regain his composure. "It's time to duel Siegfried! I'll go first!"

Siegfried sneered at Kaiba like he really believed he had a chance against him. What an idiot.

"I draw!"

xxXxx

The room was thick with tension as the final monster on Siegfried's field was destroyed, leaving it completely exposed. The once flamboyant male was now silent as he hunched over on his arms, defeated. The crowd remained quiet as they awaited the final move to be made. Kaiba stood proud and confident behind his Blue Eyes White Dragon and Kaiser Glider, as he did nearly the entire duel.

"You may as well give in Siegfried."

The pink-haired man said nothing in response to the statement. Kaiba shrugged. "Suit yourself. I've already attacked with both of my monsters, so I place one card face down and end my turn." he said, his declaration followed by a round of cheering.

At first, Siegfried didn't move. But after a few moments, once the cheering had died down, he finally lifted himself up and looked at Kaiba with raw anger.

"You've got them all fooled don't you?" Kaiba raised an eyebrow.

"What are you rambling on about now?"

"You've tricked them all into believing you're some kind of high and mighty hero! That you really think that justice will always prevail and the good guys always win when in reality you know that things never work like that!" he yelled.

"Cut the crap Schroider."

"Why? Because you don't want them to know the truth? That you're nothing but an evil man only posing as the hero?"

Cries of astonishment and horror resonated from the audience, shocked that someone would say such a thing. Kaiba half-lidded his eyes in annoyance.

"Is that the scapegoat you're going to try and use? Accusing me of being evil?"

"Because it's true! What else could you call what you did to me!?" Kaiba raised his eyebrows. What he did to him?

"And what exactly did I do to you?"

"You know what you did!"

"If I did, would I be asking?" Kaiba condescended similar to the way Siegfried had before their duel. He loosely wondered if that blood vessel on Siegfried's head was going to pop. Maybe if he was lucky the man would have an aneurysm.

"You can't possibly tell me you don't remember what you did to me on that day five years ago! That day that caused me so much distressed these passed years; the day that caused me to become a rival to KaibaCorp!" Kaiba folded his arms over his chest and waited. He could tell that this was going to be good.

"For so many years, Schroider Corp and KaibaCorp worked in partnership with each other, back when your father, Gozaburo Kaiba, owned the company. They worked as one, making deals with others together. Then, suddenly, KaibaCorp cut all ties with Schroider Corp out of nowhere with Gozaburo's death following shortly after. My father was devastated. His only business partner at the time passed away with his adolescent son taking over."

"Our business went downhill, and soon we went bankrupt. My father couldn't take the stress and he passed on as well from a stroke. I, being the only legible heir, had to take over afterward. I needed to find a way to get out of KaibaCorp's shadow. So, I took an entirely different direction to the weapon industry and decided to instead make Schroider Corp a toy company. I'd heard about Duel Monsters and worked to design a machine that would make the monsters on the cards appear in real life. I'd finally finished my prototype of the holographic device and had planned to showcase it to Industrial Illusions, but when I got there you were already there with your own holographic machine! I worked so hard to get out of your shadow only to be thrown back!"

"I was overwhelmed. I was shocked. I was angry! I ditched my machine and gave up completely. I started drinking, doing drugs, anything that would get my mind away from you! I was disgusted with myself. I'd turned from a success to a miserable catastrophe. I didn't want that. I couldn't live with that. So, I sobered up and became your rival! I rebuilt my design with some improvements and started selling it in Europe. It was an instant sensation considering how much less it costs compared to KaibaCorp's! Still, it wasn't nearly as popular."

"That's why I'm here! I want my revenge! Revenge for my father! For ruining my life!"

Siegfried breathed heavily once he finally finished, clearly upset. The audience, including Jounouchi, Yami, and Kisara remained silent in shock. Kaiba stood stone-faced like he had throughout the entire rant and said, "Look Schroider, I didn't ask for your life story." Siegfred growled.

"Don't you feel any kind of remorse for what you've done!?"

"No. Not even a little." Kaiba answered truthfully. "I don't see why I should have any regret for the decisions that I made. It's not my fault you were too slow in building you're machine. Nor is it my fault that you moved into the toy industry as I did. It's time to move on Siegfried! Stop acting like a petulant child who couldn't have their way!"

Siegfried snarled, "You just don't understand at all do you?" Kaiba ignored the question.

"Make your move Schroider!"

"Fine then!" Siegfried yelled. He drew a card and looked at it, frowning in plain disappointment.

"What's the matter? Didn't draw the card you wanted?" Kaiba taunted. Siegfried frowned.

"I end my turn." he stated painfully.

"Hn. This is over." Kaiba said. He drew a card, but didn't even bother to look at it. "Blue Eyes! Attack his life points directly and end this!" he ordered. The white beast complied with a roar and a ray of white light came pouring out of its mouth straight toward Siegfried. He let out a howl of anger and his life points dropped down to zero.

xxXxx

"Siegfried von Schroider, you are being arrested for first degree misdemeanor and theft."

Kaiba watched outside of the gates of "Kaibaland" as Siegfried was handcuffed by a police officer.

Finally, it was over. He'd gotten the thumb drive back and all of the power had been restored to the "KaibaDome". Turns out the missing fuses had been taken by Siegfried as well, the crook.

Siegfried was being hauled off toward a police car when he abruptly turned around toward Kaiba and yelled, "Don't think this is over Kaiba! I'll never stop in my quest for revenge until I've succeeded! Do you hear me!? I'll get back at you even if it's the last thing I do!"

Kaiba was tempted to say a sarcastic remark back at him, but voted against it. That would probably only cause more conversation to ensue, which was something he really didn't want. He was surprised when he heard a familiar voice behind him though.

"You know, you're really starting to piss me off."

Kaiba turned around and saw Yami leaning against the gate with his arms crossed.

"What was that?"

"You heard me." Yami said, pushing off of the gate and walking closer. Kaiba raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing. "You can't stand your inabilities and your own flaws so you just push off all of the blame on someone else instead of taking it yourself when you know you should. And that pisses me off."

"Quiet! You don't understand at all! No one does!" Siegfried shouted.

"How the hell is dwelling on the past supposed to make anything better?" Yami asked, ignoring the proclamation. "If anything, it'll only hinder your ability to make a better future! You're stuck on rewind, Siegfried. It's time to press play, don't you think?" Siegfried looked at the teen irresolutely.

"But if I had only gotten there first! Then _I_ could have showcased my device! Then _I_ could have been a raging success!"

The corner of Yami's lips lifted for a brief moment before he said, "'It's in the past. You can go on and on with 'if's' and 'could have's' but that won't change what has already happened. The only thing to do now is to move forward and look towards the future in hopes that it will be bright'!"

Kaiba blinked, recognizing the quote instantly. He looked back over at Siegfried who simply stared off into the distance with a look of defeat. The officer still holding onto his arms finally heaved the man in the other direction and into the car.

He watched the black and white vehicle take off, glad that it was over. He hoped he'd never see the man again after this, but knowing his luck that would be just too good to be true. He turned to Yami and couldn't stop a small smirk from gracing his face.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really what?"

Kaiba shook his head. "I can't believe that of all the things you could have said to him, you would say that clichéd line from "Kaibaman"."

Yami grinned at him. "It may be a 'clichéd line', but it's one with a good point. Don't you think?"

Kaiba snorted. "Whatever." he huffed.

Yami turned on his heel and sent Kaiba a sly look, boasting, "Well, now that we're finally out of there, I can start taking advantage of the free rides I was promised."

Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"I think I'll start with the "Blue Blaze!" he said.

Kaiba's smile grew and couldn't help himself from saying, "'Must be this tall to ride'.", imitating the cardboard cutout of himself that stood in front of the coaster.

"I am that tall!" Yami shouted.

"Your hair doesn't count."

* * *

Classic, classic corny Yami.

Stupid Siegfried! Er…Zigfried! Whatever! Doesn't matter! The point is: you are estupido!

Hey, where is Mokuba exactly? O.o I guess he was doing something else? Sure, we'll go with that.

I know, I know, the random Siegfried is kinda…well…random. But oh well!

Please tell me the pros and cons of my story so far! I'd really love to know!

Thanks for reading!


	15. On A Mission

Oh. My-gawd. It's been two whole weeks and I'm just now posting the next chappy. D:

I so sorry!

So this chapter marks the beginning of the REAL plot to this story. I know, I know. "It's been 14 chapters already Hiita-chan, what do you mean **NOW** is the start of the real plot?" Patience my little Kumquats. A good story builds up!

Right?

Please tell me I'm right.

It might not seem like much, but the next few chapters are going to be essential to the story! Essential! I think! I dunno…I mean I have the story planned out and everything, but it keeps changing. X3

Well, I think I've talked enough, on with the story!

Enjoy! ;3

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Kaiba glared angrily out of the tinted window of his limousine at the bright ball of light that seemed to float in mid-air above him. The sphere of rapid oxidation was a deceitful lie in his eyes at the moment; the rays that shone down from it provided no warmth whatsoever to make the freezing chills of the December air more bearable. He shivered a little as he waited for the automobile's heater to thaw him. Finally, he tore his eyes away from the sky, blinking rapidly to try and make the colored spots in his vision go away. Once the blotches that obstructed his sight had subsided, he peered back through the window and saw the familiar graffitied buildings that he'd come accustomed to viewing on his way home every day, his eyes grazing lazily over the artwork.

It was rather early for the young CEO to be going home. He rarely saw the sun let alone so high in the sky as he was driven to his house from KaibaCorp. But this particular day was different. It was Sunday, and he had promised Mokuba that he would take him shopping, something he hadn't done in a while. It felt strange for him to leave work so early; it was only about noon he discovered after glancing at his phone. It was almost pointless of him to have even gone, but still and yet he found it necessary to check up on everything in person just in case there was an employee that needed firing. Turns out that there wasn't, surprisingly, but you could never be too sure.

Once the limousine had finally come to a stop in front of his large, extravagant mansion Kaiba shoved the passenger door open, the harsh winds of late fall scraping against his face. He stepped out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind him, and made his way to the front door. Hopping up the steps that led to the set of double doors, he nodded at the two men wrapped in layers of winter clothes that stood guarding the doors.

"Sir." The one on the right said as they pushed the doors open and stepped out of the way.

Like a mother to her child, the warmth inside caressed Kaiba in such a soothing way he gave a hum of gratitude. Thank God for heaters.

After he took a moment to bathe in the bliss that was technology, he finally bent down to remove his expensive leather Oxfords. As he reached down to grip the shoe, he noticed a pair of black boots placed neatly in the corner of the wall and the step that lead to the wooden floors. Kaiba blinked, not recognizing the boots as Mokuba's. Finally, he took his shoes off and headed to his living room to investigate, though he had a pretty solid idea of who they belonged to. He didn't even bother to take his heavy, tan trench coat. He was about to leave again anyway.

Kaiba reached the end of the hallway and heard voices coming from behind the doors. He pushed the doors open like he had many times before, and walked in.

"NI-SAMAAA!" a familiar raven-haired boy yelled.

Kaiba raised his eyebrows at the sudden exclamation. He had anticipated something like that from Mokuba, but he didn't sound very happy when he said it. The boy jumped up from the couch where Kaiba noticed another person was sitting as well. Their eyes met, deep red jewels piercing into blue. Kaiba looked away, not needing to look at them any longer to know who it was that sat there on the couch. He turned his attention to Mokuba who had made it across the room and was currently yanking on Kaiba's coat in a fit.

"Ni-sama! Yami! Yami's leaving! He's leaving forever!"

Kaiba's eyes widened ever-so-slightly and his breath caught in his throat as he looked back over at the teen. Leaving? Forever? When did this happen? Why was he just now being informed about this? Yami smiled toward Mokuba with a please-calm-down-it's-really-not-that-serious look on his face.

"Mokuba. It's only for two weeks." he clarified.

"That's two weeks too long!" the boy cried.

Yami let out a sigh and Kaiba let out one of his own as well.

"Alright, enough Mokuba. You're going to rip a hole in my coat." Kaiba said, prying the boy's fingers from the thick cloth of his coat.

"But Ni-sama! He's going to be gone for a whole two weeks!"

"I think you'll survive."

"But what am I supposed to do for two weeks?"

"You'll figure it out."

Mokuba crossed his arms and pouted sadly. Kaiba shook his head.

"When are you leaving?" he asked as casually as he could, though he was a bit antsy to know.

"In about a week. On the 22nd." Yami answered.

"Do you _have_ to go?" Mokuba asked, though Kaiba was sure he knew what the answer was.

"Yes, Mokuba. I _have_ to go." Yami said with a chuckle. Mokuba frowned again, as if he had been anticipating a different answer. He suddenly perked up again as Kaiba practically saw an idea form in his head.

"Well, then you have to hang out with me a whole bunch until then! Deal?" Yami smiled, amused.

"_Oookay_ Mokuba. Deal."

"Great! Let's start right now! You can come with me and Ni-sama to go shopping!"

"Hm…"

"Come on! It'll be fuuuun~" the boy pressed. "That's okay with you, right Ni-sama?"

Kaiba looked at Mokuba, his big eyes pleading for a yes. He waited a few moments to answer. He actually didn't mind the teen tagging along, but he didn't want to make it seem like he encouraged it.

"I suppose." he answered.

"Then it's settled!" Mokuba cheered. "You're coming with us!" A sudden rumble came from his abdomen, making him jump and instantly pull his hands over his stomach.

"Maybe we should eat first." Kaiba suggested.

xxXxx

"So where are you going anyway?"

Kaiba looked up at Mokuba who sat next to him in the booth that three of them were sitting at. When he registered what the question was and who it was directed to, he turned his head to Yami for the answer.

"America." Yami replied, taking a sip of what was left of his soda.

"Ooh, neat. Who are you visiting?"

"My mom, my brother, and my grandfather." he said after taking another sip.

"They all live in America? Then…you live with your dad here?" Mokuba asked after a few moments of hesitation, unsure whether he had guessed right or not. Kaiba looked at Mokuba as a warning to not ask such personal questions.

"Yup." Yami answered. "They got a divorce when I was…what was I?" Yami looked up as he thought. "Ten I think. Then my mom moved to America to take care of her father. All that custody war stuff happened, and my mom got my brother and my father got me." he finished.

"Aw, why'd they get a divorce and separate you from your brother?" Mokuba asked, though it seemed more like to himself then to Yami.

"Mokuba." Kaiba warned him. Apparently he couldn't take a hint.

"Hm…I don't really know." Yami said, tapping his chin with his index finger. "I guess they didn't like each other anymore. And yeah, it kind of sucks that he lives so far away, but I do get to see them at least." he shrugged. "I guess things happen for a reason. If they hadn't of gotten a divorce I would have probably had to move to America too, and I wouldn't have met you guys." Yami said with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Mokuba agreed, smiling back. All of a sudden his eyes widened and he said, "Oh! Ni-sama! Did you invite Yami to that business party thing that Pegasus planned?"

Oh yeah. That was a thing, wasn't it? And Kaiba was expected to go, wasn't he?

"No." Kaiba stated, leaving out the fact that he had completely forgotten about the occasion.

"Why not? Pegasus said that he was welcomed to come since he helped out at the Grand Opening." Mokuba smirked. "You remember that, don't you?"

"Yes, Mokuba. I remember." Kaiba said, hearing the slyness in the boy's voice.

"…party?" Yami questioned.

"Yeah!" Mokuba exclaimed, getting the attention of a few people near them which caused Kaiba to involuntarily push his sunglasses up to make sure no one could see his eyes. Noticing this, Mokuba said a bit quieter, "It's a holiday party. You get to dress up all fancy and eat extravagant food and stuff. It'd be fun."

"Mm…I don't know if I'd want to attend that kind of thing." Yami answered.

"Sure you would! Wouldn't he Ni-sama?" Kaiba blinked in Mokuba's direction.

"…Why would I know that?" Mokuba sighed.

"This is the part where you say 'yes', Ni-sama." Kaiba rolled his eyes behind his shades. "Don't you want Yami to go?"

Did Kaiba want the midget to come? The immediate answer that formed in his mind was "yes", and it was true. Having Yami there might actually make the gathering not seem so bad. Somehow, any situation seemed so much better if you added Yami to the equation. He'd been having that feeling for a while now, and had finally come to terms with it. He admitted it, he liked Yami. And he didn't see anything wrong with not hating the guy like he did nearly everyone else that wasn't Mokuba. He dared say that he even considered Yami as his friend. And there was nothing wrong with wanting your friend to come with you to a horrible party that you dreaded going to with every fiber of your being to make it seem better, right? But Kaiba would never actually say that.

"He can come if he wants, but I'm not going to beg him." was all Kaiba said. Mokuba's face lit up into a big grin in a way that made Kaiba a little worried.

Mokuba turned to Yami across the table and said excitedly, "That's 'Yes I really want him to go but I'm too embarrassed to admit it' in Kaiba-talk."

"MOKUBA!" Kaiba shouted horrified, uncrossing his arms from over his chest. Not only was he shocked that Mokuba was able to decipher what he said so accurately, but he was more shocked that he had actually said it out loud.

"See?" Mokuba said, pointing to Kaiba with his thumb. Yami laughed.

"_Well_, Kaiba, I had no idea you wanted me to go so _badly_." the teen said dramatically. "I suppose I have no other choice than to go, huh?"

"Hn." Kaiba re-crossed his arms. "I couldn't possibly care less whether you went or not." he said bitterly.

"Oh come on, Ni-sama. Don't be mean."

"Well don't I feel special." Yami said in a joking way. He took a final sip of his soda, then said, "You know, the more I think about it, the more I think I will go. It might make a good story for my little brother."

"That's the spirit!" Mokuba encouraged.

"Now…maybe we should get out of here. I think we've attracted a bit of unwanted attention." Yami whispered, looking side to side. Kaiba took a moment to look around as well and saw quite a few people looking in their direction. Crap.

"Yeah, maybe…"

xxXxx

"Mission objective?"

"Successfully acquire a new pair of shoes without having Mr. Kaiba's identity discovered."

"Risks?"

"Risks include screaming girls, mobs of crazed fans, and the potential of being glomped."

"Chance of survival?"

"Chance of survival 58%."

"Estimated time limit?"

"Depending on how careful we are, time limit may range from 30 to 90 minutes."

"Alright then!" Mokuba shouted, raising his fist to the sky. "There's no time to lose!" Yami laughed.

"Affirmative!" he said in response with a salute.

"Alright, enough. Don't attract attention." Kaiba said, rolling his eyes. Mokuba settled down as they all walking through the front entrance of "Domino City Mall". Past the large, glass front doors, an abundance of sights and sounds awaited. Crowds of people were gathered, whether it was a group of teenage friends or family having a get together, it almost seemed like the entire city of Domino was there. Kaiba tugged at his gray thermal hat.

"So, where to first?" Yami asked, turning to face Kaiba and Mokuba as he removed his light brown gloves and stuffed them into his unzipped, black coat. Mokuba did the same with his dark blue mittens.

"Let's go to Foot Locker!" Mokuba said to Kaiba, then proceeding to lead the way. Kaiba followed without a word, not particularly caring as long as they could get in and out quickly. They all walked past a string of stores and Kaiba glanced at the displays every so often, seeing either a terribly skimpy outfit on a mannequin, or an outfit that appeared to be thrown together at the last minute with strange patterns and colors that didn't seem to go together very well, but would probably be considered some kind of "fashion statement". He noticed Yami pause for a moment to browse through glass windows into a store, then continue walking. His curiosity getting the better of him, Kaiba also peeked into the store, taking note of the dim lighting and punk vibe it radiated. He could hear music blasting loudly from the store, the noise sounding something like techno music on steroids. Kaiba shrugged, not really understanding why anyone would want to make their ears bleed with such loud mechanical racket.

Kaiba heard a gasp come from in front of him and turned his head to see what had happened, but was suddenly, and violently, yanked down closer to the ground behind a plastic plant before he had even turned his head completely.

"OW. Mokuba, what the hell?" he questioned, seeing that it was his younger brother who had done the yanking. Yami blinked at the two of them as he stood beside the plant.

"Sh!" Mokuba warned, placing his index finger in front of his mouth. Kaiba frowned, then looked in the direction that Mokuba was to see what exactly they were hiding from. He saw a man walking by talking loudly on his cell phone.

"Yeah! And you know what I told him? That that wasn't what his mom said last night!"

Kaiba watched the man as he walked past them and laughed obnoxiously at his own bad joke. He looked back at Mokuba and said, "…What, Mokuba?"

"He seemed too suspicious! I think he was on to us!" the boy whispered, still staring in the direction the man had walked. Kaiba sighed and stood back up, dusting off his coat.

"Okay, maybe you're taking this 'mission' thing a little too serious, Mokuba." Yami said, bending down to speak eye-level to the still crouching Mokuba.

"Am I?" Mokuba stood as well. "Sorry." he said, smiling impishly. Kaiba rolled his eyes and began walking again, this time with Mokuba and Yami trailing him.

Once they made it to "Foot Locker", Mokuba wasted no time in hunting for a pair of shoes to suffice him. He chatted with Yami quite a bit as he decided, and Kaiba simply leaned against the wall with his arms folded as he waited. Somehow his eyes ended up wandering over to Yami as he did so. He observed as the teen's large diamond-shaped eyes scanned through the massive amount of shoes that were displayed before them. His thick eyelashes swept across his cheeks as his eyes fluttered closed and open in an almost graceful way. There was still a hint of a pink tint on his nose and ears from being exposed to the harsh autumn air. Yami leaned forward as he took a closer look at a particular shoe, causing Kaiba eyes to trail down at his-

Kaiba immediately looked in the other direction. Nope. He did not just do that. He did **not** just take a glance at Yami's ass. Nopenopenopenopenope.

And yet, he wasn't at all disturbed at the thought that he had…

Slowly, Kaiba looked back over.

'Damn.'

Yami stood up straight again, and still, Kaiba kept looking. No shame.

When Yami started turning around, Kaiba figured he should probably stop looking, but instead of looking completely away like he had planned, he ended up looking back up at Yami's face and was instantly glued to it again. Yami seemed to notice and stared back at him.

…

"What?" he asked, obviously a bit confused. Thinking quickly, Kaiba asked about the very first thing he noticed about Yami when he saw him.

"Why do you style your hair like that?"

Yami blinked, then said, "What's wrong with my hair?"

"It was just a question."

"Well, I don't style it like this. It's natural."

…

…

"No it's not." Mokuba piped up, hearing the statement.

"Yes it is. It runs in the family." Yami confirmed, looking at him.

"You poor thing." Kaiba said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yami pouted. Mokuba laughed and picked up a shoe, inspected it, then set it back down.

"Will you pick something already Mokuba?" Kaiba pressed. They had already been in the store for over forty minutes.

"These things take tiiiime, Ni-sama." Mokuba informed.

"Well try to take a little less time, would you?"

"Alright, alright. I've decided."

"Thank God."

Mokuba stuck his tongue out at Kaiba and picked up a pair of gray Nike Air Jordan 1's. After purchasing the shoes, Mokuba dragged Yami and Kaiba around to a bunch of other stores, one of which was the store Kaiba had seen Yami looking at. There, Mokuba wanted to get some sort of spiked, black dog collar, which Kaiba immediately refused to let him have. After a few minutes of moping, Mokuba finally agreed to leave.

The three of them started walking by the food court, where Mokuba got some ice cream. As they were leaving, a loud noise coming from behind them caught Kaiba's attention.

"You retard! Why don't you back to the special ed. classes you came from and stop taking up space for all the normal people? Look at you! I bet you don't even know what I'm saying!"

Some slobbish-looking woman/creature was yelling a slew of insults at some poor disabled kid who sat silent in a wheel chair. The girl looked like someone had taken a jug and started pouring into her into her clothes but forgot to say "when". Her voice sounded like an air horn and she spoke with her mouth filled with fries. Overall, she was disgusting.

Kaiba turned to leave, no longer feeling like torturing his eyes by looking in that direction, but Yami walked by him and toward the woman.

"Yami?" Mokuba asked quietly.

Yami didn't seem to hear the boy, and strode all the way over to the woman.

"Can I help you?" she honked at him, stuffing more fries into her mouth.

"You do realize that that could happen to any of us, right?" he questioned solemnly.

"Yeah, so? I have a mouth to talk, and that's what I'm gunna do!" Yami raised his head up a little, looking at her from a somewhat higher angle.

"You also have a mouth to eat, but it seems you've abused that privilege as well, doesn't it?"

The woman's eyes went wide and her mouth was ajar, crumbs starting to fall out. Kaiba heard Mokuba snort, but he covered his mouth to muffle it. Yami spun to walk away from the woman, but turned his head to look at her before he left and said, "By the way, you should probably wipe that ketchup off of your chin." She quickly lifted her free hand up to her face and began viciously rubbing the spot she thought the left over condiment was located. "No, no. Your other chin."

Yami walked away, not giving her another look. "Let's go." he said as he passed Mokuba and Kaiba, who followed.

The three of them stopped by a few more stores, upon Mokuba's request, before finally leaving the mall. By the time they had gotten out of the building, they were carrying at least two bags each.

"Geez Mokuba. Did you really need all this stuff?" Yami asked as they got into the limousine. Mokuba shrugged and Yami shook his head.

"I still can't believe you said that to that woman." Mokuba stated with a grin.

"What woman?" Yami asked as the vehicle began moving.

"At the food court!"

"Oh yeah…"

"That was hilarious! You don't think you took it too far, do you?" Yami shrugged.

"She deserved it."

"Yeah, but still." Mokuba said with a chuckle. Kaiba removed the sunglasses from his face now that he wasn't in any danger of being discovered. He rubbed the spot that they had been perched on his nose. He was also a bit shocked that Yami would way something like that as well, but the teen seemed to be full of surprises.

The three of them rode in comfortable silence until they got to where Kaiba assumed Yami's house was located. The limo came to a stop near a few different moderately sized homes, any of which Kaiba could see the teen living in.

"I'll see you later Yami!" Mokuba said unnecessarily loud.

"Yeah, see you Mokuba." Yami replied. He turned to Kaiba before opening his passenger door and looked at him for a moment without saying anything, which made Kaiba feel a little uncomfortable, then said, "So I can come to the party thing, right?" Kaiba thought carefully on how to word what he wanted to say before speaking.

"I suppose."

For some reason, those two words made a large smile grace Yami's face making Kaiba almost want to smile as well.

"Then I'll see you there!" he said, hopping out of the automobile. He gave Kaiba one last look before closing the door. Kaiba watched as Yami walked up to the house to his very left, a two story brick house with a blue roof and a matching front door and garage door. The limo began moving again after Yami went inside, and Kaiba felt a pair of eyes on him. He looked next to him at Mokuba, who had a cunning smile on his face.

"A-" he began.

"Shut up, Mokuba."

* * *

Whoopsie! Did I make a LittleKuriboh reference?

I tried so hard not to, but I just couldn't help myself! :D

Please let me know what you think! Reviews jus' mak meh so dern happeh!

Thanks for reading!


	16. The Party

My! There's been quite the delay on this story hasn't there?

Anyway, the next chappy is up and that means it's time to rejoice in splendor!

…

Or you could just read the story. That works too.

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

Kaiba tapped his index finger against his elbow as he sat in the warmth of his motorized vehicle. He had been waiting there for a good eighteen minutes in front of the blue-roofed house he had been to just a week before for a certain spikey-haired boy to come out. He grumbled, annoyed. Kaiba wasn't particularly one for waiting.

He heavily contemplated the idea of just taking off and pretending that the fact that he had acknowledged the teen's request for attendance to the party had never happened. Before he had the chance to take the thought any further, the front door of the two-story building began to open and a small, shadow-cloaked figure slid out, closing the door with extra care as if they were afraid the entire edifice might come crashing down. Kaiba watched the figure walk leisurely down the driveway, features slowly becoming more prominent as they stepped out of the shadows and becoming illuminated by the moonlight. Black and red spikes stood atop his head, still defying all laws of gravity. Strands of blonde intertwined with the rest, vaguely reminding Kaiba of bolts of lightning. Large, crimson eyes almost seemed to glow; bright red cutting through the dark of the night. A midnight black suit fit snugly around him accented with two silver chains dangling across his abdomen. Underneath were a black vest and a black shirt with white lines running up and down the piece of clothing and the edges being white as well. The cuffs of the shirt were folded over the jacket with a simple, white tie to match.

The teen grinned sheepishly as he got closer to the limousine. He swung the automobile's door open and hopped inside.

"It's about time, Yami."

"Sorry, sorry." the boy replied, the door making a loud slam as it closed.

Kaiba scanned the concrete scenery passing by as the two of them were driven toward their destination. Finding the dull and lifeless stone walls to be rather uninteresting, he glanced at Yami for a brief moment, noticing that he was staring through the window as well. He took this short opportunity to inspect Yami's choice of clothing, a bit surprised that he actually even owned a suit.

"Hn. I'm impressed. You actually look presentable." he commented. Yami turned his head toward the brunette and blinked at him a few times, then smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as he did so similar to the way Kaiba did.

"You don't look half bad yourself, Mr. CEO-Businessman." he retorted. Kaiba frowned at the smugness the boy displayed, a little thrown off by whether that statement had been an actual complement or a sarcastic comeback. Kaiba sported a simple dark gray suit and black tie; an outfit that, though unpretentious, Kaiba made look very fashionable. Even with this knowledge, Kaiba felt almost pleased at the thought that Yami might have just complemented his appearance. Silly, yes he knew it was. Still, the feeling bubbled up right into his stomach like a pot of boiling water. Kaiba quickly attempted to shrug the thoughts away, finding it a more difficult task than he had anticipated. Especially since Yami kept looking at him like that.

Trying to find a distraction, he peered back out of the window and saw the many graffitied buildings that he normally saw on his way home passing by. He glanced at each one as they whipped by, each gradually going past him slower and slower until the limo finally came to a halt. He leaned his head to the side to see what obstacle obstructed their way, which turned out to be just a few cars in front of them. He twisted his head back to the buildings, a familiar drawing of two skeletons holding hands taking up space on a large, red brick wall. The two nearly identical figures stood side by side, heavily shaded. Their heads were turned slightly as if they might be gazing at one another. Their boney fingers curved around each other's, both not seeming to clutch very tightly but also not seeming to plan on letting the other escape. Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows at the picture, still finding the artwork to be strange.

"That sure is an odd drawing." he heard Yami say, though the statement seemed to be directed to no one in particular. Kaiba looked over at the teen and saw a half-smile form on his face. "Although, I guess it is kind of creative." he said a bit louder this time.

"Creative." Kaiba repeated. "If by creative you mean abnormally bizarre, then sure."

"Yeah, I guess it is kind of weird, huh?" Yami agreed. "But in a way, it's pretty cool." Kaiba raised an eyebrow.

"And how's that?"

"Well," Yami began, "when you look at that picture, you can't really tell who those two skeletons belong to. You don't know whether it's a boy and girl, a girl and a girl, or…a boy and a boy. You don't know their age, their race, their social rank…All you know is that they care for one another." He took a pause, glancing to the right for a moment. "I don't know, I just thought it was kind of…cool."

Kaiba continued looking at Yami for a few more moments, then looked back over at the wall as he processed what the teen had said. He saw Yami shrug out of his peripheral and looked back over at him.

"Maybe I'm just thinking to deeply about it." he said, looking back out of the window. Kaiba did so as well again, attempting to find some sort of distinction between the two forms plastered on the wall, but finding not one aside from what looked like could be human error. The shrimp was right, you couldn't tell.

"Hn." was all he said in response.

Finally, the limousine began driving once again.

xxxXxxx

Kaiba scanned the surrounding area as he gracefully stepped out of his limousine. A mansion the size of a hundred Blue Eyes White Dragons erected welcomingly behind a luxuriously built metal gate. The cream-colored building walls were illuminated ravishingly by a warm, orange lighting coming from inside that glistened gently on the grand fountain placed in front of it. The structure had multiple stories, each with many balconies that already held a hoard of people who chattered casually while being engulfed in the aristocratic air.

The building that stood so proudly before Kaiba belonged to none other than Pegasus J. Crawford. The man might have been an obnoxious fruit, but he also had enough money to feed the entire world for a year.

"Whoa." Yami breathed. "That is a _lot_ of people." he continued, the overwhelming amount of upper-class décor not detouring him, but the few hundred people who were there. Kaiba remained silent and stepped forward along the pavement. Yami soon followed.

The interior of the mansion was just as lavished in refinement, if not more so, as the exterior. A crystalline chandelier hung from the high ceiling, suspended above a plethora of people. To the far left of the room were a few stairs leading up to several small, walnut wooden tables where many sat and talked. Behind them were three large doorways that lead outside, the long burgundy curtains that veiled the openings wafting in the mild, early winter breeze. To the right was another doorway that lead to a room with a magnificent staircase that spiraled up to the next story.

Kaiba pushed past the mass of people across the light-brown marbled floor to the opposite side of the room, hoping to find an area that wasn't so compacted with people. He softly took a deep breath, relieved to find that there were less people near the open doors, probably because the cold wind was less favorable to the majority of people. He stepped up the few stairs and walked closer to the doorway at the very back of the room, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he passed by the other two. He slowed to a stop as he neared the end of the room and turned to see Yami following him, eyes wide with what looked like astonishment as he rapidly observed the room.

Well, here he was. He had attended the party just as he said he would. But one question plagued his mind as he glanced around a bit.

'Now what?'

Originally, Kaiba's plan was to come to the event, find Pegasus and let it be known that he had shown up, then leave. Now that Yami had tagged along as well, however, he supposed that would be a bit anticlimactic on his part. But if Kaiba didn't do that, then what was he expected to do? Socialize? With all of these snobby, self-righteous tycoons? The thought didn't sound even a little appealing.

"Wow."

Kaiba looked back over at Yami to see what he was gawking over now.

"There sure are a lot of people here."

Kaiba skimmed around the room again for a moment, taking note that what the runt had said was indeed true, though Kaiba had already known the fact.

"What did you expect? If a multi-billionaire is going to have a party, they're going to invited everyone they know, have known, or want to know. Especially if you're Pegasus." Kaiba stated above the murmur of the crowd. He looked at Yami, noticing that nearly every person who stood near him towered above his spikey head. Even some of the women. Kaiba bit back the laughter he felt coming on, settling instead for a small smile to tug at his lips.

"What?" Yami said, seeing the sudden change in Kaiba's mood.

"What, what?"

"You looked like you were about to laugh or something. What's so funny?"

"You're short." Kaiba said matter-of-factly. Yami furrowed his eyebrows and frowned.

"Thanks so much for pointing that out." he deadpanned.

"Hn." Kaiba said, now full-blown smirking. Even if he did have to be subjected to the complacent mood of the party, at least teasing Yami was always fun.

"Kaiba-boy!~"

Kaiba instantly frowned at hearing the familiarly insufferable voice call out that name. Reluctantly, he turned around and, lo and behold, there was Pegasus. The man strode toward Kaiba, his long hair swishing femininely behind his black suit and red tie. He smiled widely and flipped his hair back in a foppish manner with his hand only for it to fall back where it was.

"It's good to see you've come!" he continued. Pegasus looked over to Yami and grinned much too eagerly. "And you made it too, Yami! How wonderful! How have you been, my boy?" he chirped, lifting his hand up over the teen's hair and rubbing his head in a vigorous manner. Yami said nothing to respond and wore an expression that looked shocked and pissed off at the same time at the man's friendly action. Pegasus finally removed his hand and turned back to Kaiba.

"I'm glad you're here, Kaiba-boy. There are some people I'd like to introduce you to." Kaiba raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Oh, they're very good people, I tell you. Mr. Otogi, the owner of the Black Clown game shop in America, and his son have come to discuss a partnership deal."

"Pegasus," Kaiba began, rubbing the space between his eyebrows," I thought I already told you that I'm not interested in making any more partnerships right now."

Pegasus's face became more serious as he said, "I know, but I am. Mr. Otogi wasn't interested in forming a partnership with just Industrial Illusions; he wants KaibaCorp to be a part of the deal as well.

"…And that's my problem how?"

Pegasus sighed and was quiet for a few moments, then said, "At least talk with them, will you? Who knows, you might change your mind." He turned and began walking in the other direction, motioning for Kaiba to do the same.

Kaiba scoffed. Right, like he was going to make a deal with some game shop owner that he'd never heard of. In any case, Kaiba followed Pegasus figuring that it would be better to do this one simple task than to listen to the man complain to him about it if he didn't.

Kaiba was lead to the room crosswise to where he once stood, Yami trailing not too far behind. The three of them entered the room and began walking up the large, spiral staircase that towered above.

"Hey."

Kaiba glanced behind himself at Yami as he continued to climb the staircase.

"What?"

"Why does Pegasus call you 'Kaiba-boy'?" he asked, a trace of a mocking tone in his voice. Kaiba stifled a groan, making a weird rumbly breath come from the back of his throat that he hoped Yami didn't hear. After a few seconds of the teen not saying anything, Kaiba assumed that he hadn't.

"God knows why." he answered truthfully. He so despised the nickname. It was degrading to be referred to in such a way, especially with Yami right there. Kaiba did his best to brush the thought away, refusing to show how utterly humiliated he felt. He heard Yami let out a short, little laugh.

"It's kind of cute."

…

"Excuse me?" Kaiba said through clenched teeth, trying to keep his composure. He did a one-eighty and looked straight at Yami, who stood two steps below him. Yami grinned.

"Aw, you're embarrassed." Yami teased, obviously aware of how uncomfortable he was making Kaiba. "How _cute_."

Kaiba simply stood there, unsure of how exactly he was supposed to react to that. He was a bit insulted, just as he should be, but at the same time he felt that light flutter in his stomach start to form, building up and catching in his throat, impairing his ability to speak. Yami had just called him cute. _Cute_. Kaiba let the idea run through his mind, and the fluttering in his stomach reached all the way up to his head, making his face start to feel a little warmer than usual. Just as he noticed this, he saw Yami's smirk grow into a wild grin, making his face feel down right hot.

Wait… was Kaiba blushing? No. No, that couldn't be right. Seto Kaiba doesn't blush, that would be absurd. Still apprehensive about whether he had let himself do something that discomfited, he opened his mouth to deny that he was "embarrassed" as Yami had so put it, but was cut off before he had the chance by Pegasus.

"Come on, you two! We don't want to keep the Otogis waiting!" he called above them, already at the top of the staircase. Kaiba stayed as stone-faced as he could as Yami walked ahead of him.

"Yeah, Kaiba. We wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting too long." he said, looking Kaiba straight in the eyes, then continuing onward. Kaiba remained where he was for a little while longer, regaining his once composed disposition. Once he accomplished that, he climbed the remaining stairs, the thought that that last statement that Yami had made had some, strange double meaning to it lingering on his mind.

* * *

You know, this is why I love Prideshipping so much. I feel like Yami would be the only one to be able to rival with Kaiba's personality and win. I just love the thought of Kaiba being embarrassed every once in a while like a normal human being. :D

I mean it happens to everyone, Kaiba is no exclusion! Unless you're referring to the Abridged Kaiba. Then that doesn't apply because he's an effing robot. But that doesn't apply here! (If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about you might want to watch "Seto Kaiba's Real Father" on YouTube. Or don't and stay confused. It's up to you. :P)

The next chapter's going to have quite the twist in it, so be sure to check back here for it!

I will love you forever and ever if you review and tell me what you think of the story thus far!

Thanks for reading!


	17. No Words

Howdy there, my voluptuous macaroons! You excited about the next chappy? You should be! I am! This is actually a pretty long chapter compared to my others, double the length in fact! So sit down, grab a drink, and read to your heart's content!

Enjoy! ;3

*a young foreign person, typically a woman, who helps with housework or child care in exchange for room and board.

* * *

Kaiba certainly knew that the man was talking; he just didn't know what he was saying exactly.

Kaiba had wasted about a half hour of his life listening to Mr. Otogi go on and on about the "benefits of working together" and "how KaibaCorp would better succeed with the Black Clown" or some bullshit like that. After about that long of listening to the man's rant, Kaiba had just completely stopped paying attention, finding the discussion to be pointless seeing how he was just going to turn him down anyway. Still, Kaiba remained alert to the conversation, noting when the man would look off to the side at Pegasus and say something, or when his son would speak up for a brief moment.

Kaiba kept his eyes half-lidded and tapped his elbow with his index finger, a gesture he would often perform when he became impatient or uninterested. He glanced off to the side for a moment to take a look at the large analog clock hanging on the wall to his right. It was some time past nine with the long hand somewhere in between the four and the five he deducted. This conversation had gone on for a much longer period of time than he was comfortable with. Kaiba wondered idly if Yami was still sitting at the table he had been at when Kaiba had last seen him, or if he'd gotten bored and roamed off to find something more thought-provoking to do. He had the urge to simply turn away from the people that stood before him, walk away, and find Yami in hopes that a conversation with him would be far less mind-numbing then this one. But of course, he wouldn't actually do that. That wouldn't be the "proper" thing to do, and he was sure that he would here about how "rude and averse" he was the next morning on the news. So, he simply waited for a gap in the dialogue to speak up and dismiss the meeting.

Finally, a few minutes later, Mr. Otogi took a short pause to let a bad joke he'd told register amongst the group. His son, of course, laughed as if it was the most hysterical thing he'd ever heard, and Pegasus chuckled falsely as well. Kaiba, however, was undeterred by the gag and went straight to business.

"Mr. Otogi." he began. The man's gaze shifted over to Kaiba, his emerald green eyes glistening with the pretense that Kaiba was about to agree to the deal. The poor old fool.

"Mr. Otogi," he repeated, "While it's very clear to me that you are a serious man with a well-structured business, I simply am not looking for any additional business partnerships at the moment. Perhaps at some point in the future I will further consider your offer, but as of right now I'm not interested."

"Mr. Kaiba, the Black Clown has ideas that could revolutionize the world of Duel Monsters." Kaiba heard Mr. Otogi's son say in a much too calm tone.

He turned toward the teen and said, "As I have already stated, I'm not currently seeking out a new partnership."

"If you'd only just take a look at-"

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Otogi." Kaiba interrupted, exasperated, trying to the best of his ability to end the conversation as quickly as possible. The teen's eyes that were nearly identical to that of his father's flared in sheer frustration. Kaiba heard Pegasus clear his throat in an attempt to break up the standoff and glanced to the side to see what he had to say.

"Maybe you could consider at least taking a look at whatever it is that they would like to present to you, yes?" he suggested to Kaiba with a fake smile obviously plastered on to cover up his uneasiness. Kaiba contemplated the notion for a few moments.

"Fine." he forced himself to say.

"Wonderful!" Pegasus cheered with false enthusiasm. "Now, how about I give the two of you the grand tour of my luxurious abode? Let's start on the first floor and work our way up!" he recommended in an attempt to separate them from Kaiba and get them in a more befitting mood for a party. The guy might as well have shoved the two of them out of the room considering how quickly he had them leave, and Kaiba didn't miss the warning glare Pegasus shot his way as he did so. Well, he would definitely be hearing about this from Pegasus soon enough. Oh well, he did say he'd take a look at what they were proposing, didn't he?

Allowing the last hour or so of his life to slip from his mind for the time being, he began his search for the coiffed-haired midget that he had arrived with. He slid past a few small groups of people, easily recalling the spot he had last seen Yami, but not very expectant that the boy would still be there. Kaiba stepped around two or three more people and, to his surprise, there Yami was still perched on the glossy, wooden chair with dark red cushions at the matching table, slouched over with his left hand propping his head upright as he waved the index finger of his right hand around a short, white candle sitting in the middle of the table, watching the flame flail helplessly around as he did.

Kaiba approached the table and took the seat opposite to Yami without a word. He observed as the teen continued to twirl the flame around mercilessly, seemingly deep in thought. He waited a few seconds before speaking up.

"Having fun?"

Yami stopped moving his finger, leaving it to hover above the burning wick and lifted his head up at Kaiba. He blinked at him a few times, then sent him an amused smile and moved his hand away from the flame. Leaning back in his chair, he folded his arms over his chest and drew in a long breath, letting it out through his nose.

"So what happened?" Yami inquired, noticing the slight change in Kaiba's demeanor.

The young CEO took a pause, thinking of how he wanted to answer, then said, "Nothing." deciding that telling the entire story would be pointless and time consuming. Yami nodded marginally, seeming to not believe the short response but at the same time deciding not to prod at it. Kaiba eyed the teen faintly and asked, "So what, did you just sit here for over an hour and do nothing?"

"Not nothing." Yami corrected. "I did talk to a few people, but when I tried starting an actual conversation I had not one clue what in the world they were talking about most of the time, or what they said didn't make any sense. One of them said something like that they were trying to get a pear to teach their daughter Spanish?"

"…What…?" Kaiba drifted off, trying to make sense of that statement. He furrowed his eyebrows as he thought, then widened his eyes as he realized what it meant. He sighed.

"You mean their *_au pair_. Their _au pair_ must be Hispanic." he concluded.

"Whatever. It still doesn't make any sense." Yami begrudged. Kaiba rolled his eyes and shook his head, but left it at that.

The chair that Yami sat at made a squeak as it was dragged backward, catching Kaiba's attention. Yami placed his hands on his hips and curved backwards, making a few quiet pops come from his back. He lifted back up with a huff and looked at Kaiba, saying, "I'll be right back." He then promptly spun around and walked off, vanishing within the crowd.

Kaiba pondered about the boy's reason for excusing himself, then quickly deducted that he more than likely went to the restroom or something along those lines. Relaxing back against the soft cushion of the chair, he patiently waited for the teen's return. He scanned the room noticing that there was a significantly smaller amount of people in this particular room compared to the one they had first entered, probably curtesy of Pegasus.

Ugh, Pegasus.

First the man dared to force Kaiba into that dull, monochromatic exchange with people he'd never heard of and didn't even give the slightest fuck about, trying to get him to sign a contract with them, then he had the nerve to get angry when Kaiba refused? Of course Kaiba refused; that small time game shop owner didn't fascinate him in the least. Kaiba needed no other justification but that.

Kaiba continued his brooding for a good five minutes before he finally decided that he was right and Pegasus was wrong so there was no need to dwell on the topic any longer.

"Boo!"

Kaiba nearly jumped out of his seat at the sudden exclamation. He looked in the direction that the sound came from, wide-eyed and taken aback, and saw a pair of bright blue eyes staring back at him. He had to forcefully stop himself from face palming.

"Not you." he said, dread overwhelming his senses. Kisara grinned much too widely.

"I've been looking for you Kaiba!~" she chirped. Kaiba remained silent as she stepped around the perimeter of the table, her high-heeled, blue, suede shoes click-clacking along the marbled floor, and sat down in the other chair. She settled herself in, allowing her tight, black dress to ride up as she crossed her legs, giving off the impression that she planned to stay for quite some time. Great.

Kisara placed her small, blue clutch purse on the table and folded her thin fingers together as she put her elbows on the tabletop as well and leaned forward, her mound of shiny blue bracelets clinking together as she did.

"How are you, Kaiba? This is a lovely party, isn't it? Pegasus sure did a wonderful job of arranging things, didn't he? It's a nice break from all of the commotion that's been going on don't you think?"

Kaiba sat like a statue as the series of questions were shot at him like he was a dart board. He rubbed his forehead as he contemplated the woman's motive for coming over.

"What do you want from me?" He decided that asking straightforward would be a lot easier than trying to figure it out on his own.

"What do you mean, Kaiba? I just thought I'd come and talk with you since it seems that neither of us are interested in speaking with any of these stuck up snobs." she countered, using that fake "I'm an innocent little angel" voice. Kaiba frowned.

'You say this as if you're not?' he thought.

"Stop acting like we're friends, Kisara." he demanded. Kaiba become even more irritated when she started laughing as if what he had said was a joke.

"You're so _funny_, Kaiba! Of course we're friends!" she giggled. Her face suddenly became more serious, though not lacking that stupid smile, as she said, "Some might even say we're more than friends."

Kaiba felt his left eyes begin to twitch uncontrollably.

"Oh, hell n-"

"Boo!"

Kaiba blinked a few times, then looked to his right and saw Yami standing there, hunched over with his hands behind his back. He raised his eyebrows at the teen, unamused.

"…What are you doing?" he asked. Yami stood up straight and shrugged.

"I saw her come over and scare you, so I wanted to try doing it too."

Kaiba sighed and started rubbing his forehead again, feeling a headache coming on. Yami looked over at Kisara, who was presently glaring at him like he was worth less than the dirt on the bottom of her shoe, and then looked back over at Kaiba. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"Yes. You are. Now lea-"

"No. Nothing important at least." Kaiba interjected. Kisara pouted and Yami gave a half smile.

"I see. In that case, look what I have." Yami removed his hands from behind his back and revealed a black box that read "CHESS" in bold, white letters. He smiled triumphantly as he set the box down on the table. "I got Pegasus to let me borrow it." he clarified. "I figured that since we were just sitting here, we may as well."

Kaiba inspected the box. "Hn. Very well." he said, looking at Yami.

The teen's smile grew and he said, "You better be ready. I've been practicing. I might even beat you this time." Kaiba scoffed at the concept.

"Not likely."

Yami's mischievous smirk dissipated as he turned toward Kisara and blinked at her silently.

"I kind of need to sit there." he pointed out to her, a polite way to tell her to move. The woman frowned heavily and pointed her nose in the air.

"Hmph. That's just too bad, _huh_? I guess you'll just have to go sit somewhere else, _huh_?" she replied portentously, all traces of sweetness having left her voice. Yami raised his head to look down at her from a higher angle as the wheels in his head turned. Finally, he turned and walked away from the table for the second time without a word. Kisara smirked victoriously and rotated back to Kaiba with the same exaggerated smile as before. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a horrid, screeching sound coming from behind her. Kaiba leaned to the right to see what was causing the ruckus, and saw Yami walking back over dragging a chair from another table lazily behind him, not caring about the attention it was causing.

Yami pulled the chair upright once he reached the table and slid it all the way over to Kaiba, the chairs making a loud clack as he made them collide together. Kaiba stared at him with a look of confusion as the boy plopped down into the chair he had placed, wondering how exactly they were supposed to play chess like that. He leaned the opposite direction when he felt Yami's shoulder touching his own, but the teen slid over some more until their legs were touching as well.

"T-too close." Kaiba sputtered out lowly, but not making another attempt to get farther away. Kisara looked like she was about to blow a gasket; her demeanor had done a complete one-eighty. Her nostrils flared and her cheeks became flushed. Her eyes flashed and closed into slits as her lips began to quiver.

"I guess I'll just have to sit here then, _huh_?" Yami said, giving Kisara a daring look. He gazed up at Kaiba with a knowing look, which, honestly, was just making Kaiba even more uncomfortable than he already was. Kisara jumped up out of her seat and slammed her hands down onto the table, breathing heavily.

"You little brat!" she said. She gritted her teeth and clawed at the table, her acrylic nails making light scratches on the surface. She seemed to be having an internal battle with herself as a bead of sweat formed on her forehead. Ultimately, she gave in.

Pointing with a dramatic finger, she yelled, "Switch seats with me this instant!"

xxxXxxx

"Check."

Yami plucked his tallest chess piece up from its position on a white space to the brown one next to it. Kaiba scanned the board as he planned which of his pieces he should move accordingly, but was distracted when Yami said, "What if they made Duel Monster Chess?" Kaiba lifted his head up to view the teen as he considered the concept.

"That's a stupid idea." Kisara snapped as she picked at her nails. Yami tapped his chin as he thought about it some more, ignoring the comment.

"You'd have it set up like a chess board, but each piece would be a monster and would have their own attacks." he continued. Kaiba picked up his Bishop and moved it three spaces diagonally.

"I'm not sure how something like that would work out." Kaiba voiced. Yami shrugged.

"It might be cool."

"Hn. Take your turn."

Yami refocused his attention to the board, letting his Duel Monster Chess idea go for the time being.

"So, Kaiba." Kisara began. Kaiba sighed, purposefully making it loud. "How about after you and the pipsqueak over here-"

"Not a pipsqueak." Yami interrupted, lifting one of his Pawns off of the board.

"…-get finished with this game, you and I leave this place and go do something more…stimulating?"

"Like some math problems?" Yami said. Kisara's left eye twitched, but she persevered on, trying with all of her might not to be deterred by Yami.

"You know, go somewhere alone…just the two of us-"

"Careful Kaiba, it's a trap!" Yami whispered feverishly.

"Shut it you brat! No one was talking to you!" Kisara spat.

"I do believe you are talking to me now, are you not?" he pointed out, setting his piece down one space ahead. Kisara stared at him with her eye twitching uncontrollably. She slurred out slew of unintelligible words in his direction, unable to contain her raging fury. She jumped up and, after throwing out a few more incoherent insults, simply left. Thank God.

The two of them continued their game for a while longer, and piece by piece the game began drawing to an end. Kaiba wrinkled his eyebrows as Yami used his Queen to capture Kaiba's own. Yami grinned gleefully as he placed the piece next to the board.

"Don't look so excited; I still have both of my Bishops and Rooks. All you have is your Knight and your Queen." he warned, becoming a little annoyed.

"You don't need a lot of pieces to win, Kaiba." Yami retorted. Kaiba clenched his jaw and returned back to the game.

"Geez, you guys are still at it?"

Kaiba turned his head and saw Kisara standing next to him again, holding two tea cups in her hands. She sighed and placed the dishes down on the table, one next to Yami and the other next to Kaiba. Yami stared at the green-colored liquid inside of the cup uncertainly. He looked up at Kisara with a raised eyebrow and said,"…You didn't poison this, did you?"

"NO I DID NOT POISON THE TEA." she said through clenched teeth, obviously annoyed. Yami snorted. Once she collected herself, Kisara said, "Well, as much as I would like to stay and watch the two of you play chess, I think I'll go." She glanced at Kaiba. "I'll be on the next floor if you decide to take up my offer, Kaiba."

The woman grabbed her small clutch purse from the table that she had left, and took her leave. Yami lifted the small, handle-less cup up and peered into it.

"You think maybe this is her way of saying 'Sorry for being such a bitch'?" Yami wondered aloud.

"Who knows?" Kaiba answered truthfully. Yami hummed in agreement and took a drink of the tea, then placed it back down.

The two kept playing a little longer, and Kaiba did notice some significant improvement in Yami's skill level. He was impressed. However, Kaiba noticed an opening in Yami's defenses. He smirked proudly and grabbed one of his Rooks, placing it five spaces forward.

"Checkmate." he announced. Yami tilted his head to the side and observed the pieces to confirm Kaiba's statement. After a short while, he plopped back in his chair lazily.

"I guess you winnnnnnn…" he said, holding onto the "n" until he ran out of breath. Kaiba raised his eyebrows at the strangeness, but voted to ignore it. He picked up the white, porcelain cup that he had yet to touch and took a sip of its contents, but frowned at the unusual taste it had and spit it back out. It could have been that the drink was cold now, but it tasted oddly bitter to him.

"I…" Kaiba was pulled out of his thoughts when Yami started talking again. "…have to pee."

…

"Then go to the bathroom?" Kaiba suggested in an "are-you-stupid-or-what?" kind of way. Suddenly, Yami hopped up out of his chair.

"Where's that at?" he asked.

"On the first floor."

"On the first floor, _where_?"

Kaiba placed his hand on his forehead. Yami was reminding him way to much of Mokuba right now.

"Come on." Kaiba ordered, getting up from the table as well. He strode toward the exit, assuming Yami was following him, but was caught off guard when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He spun around and noticed that Yami had a grip on the end of his jacket sleeve like he was in elementary school or something.

"Let go." he commanded. Yami did as he was told and gazed around the room as if he'd just now discovered where he was. Kaiba did his best to ignore the idiocy and continued out of the room.

Once he'd made it down the stairs and began walking through the next room, he felt another tug on his jacket, this time on the back of it.

"STOP THAT." he demanded again. Yami let go.

Kaiba nearly made it to his destination before he felt a sharp tug on his hair, causing his head to be yanked backward. He clenched his teeth together and, in a rage of blind fury, said, "Touch me again, Yami. I fucking dare you." He twisted around a little to get a look at the teen, his eyes glowing with pure anger. Yami smiled mischievously and raised his index finger up, then lightly tapped Kaiba's shoulder with it.

Kaiba swiftly spun around and grabbed Yami by the collar, almost lifting him off of the ground.

"Listen you little-" Kaiba stopped mid-sentence, sensing something not being quite right with Yami. Slowly, he let go of Yami's shirt and carefully inspected his face.

His eyes…were his pupils dilated?

Kaiba froze. His pupils were dilated. Why were his pupils dilated? Could it have been a trick of the light? Without another word, Kaiba grabbed Yami's wrist and pulled him across the room. He shoved the door to the restroom open and hauled Yami in. Steadying himself, Yami started laughing for no reason and said, "Ooh, that was fun!"

Kaiba placed both of his hands on Yami's shoulders and stared into his eyes again. His pupils were definitely dilated.

Without warning, Yami gave a huge smile and flew forward, pressing his lips against Kaiba's. Kaiba froze for a second time, unsure of what exactly he should do in such a situation. He felt Yami's soft lips part and close, inviting Kaiba into the kiss. Kaiba almost was lured in, but he quickly remembered who he was, where he was, and the fact that Yami's abnormally large pupils almost made it impossible to see the rich, crimson color that his eyes were, only leaving a thin ring of red along the outside of it. Collecting what there was of his strength, he pushed Yami away. The boy nearly got a second hold of Kaiba's mouth, but Kaiba sharply held him in place to stop him from doing so. Yami instead settled for lifting his right hand up and touching Kaiba's cheek with it.

"Your face…" he said softly. "…I like it."

Kaiba stared at Yami a bit longer, wondering what in the world to do about this. He glanced around the clean looking restroom, thankful that no one was in there to witness any of that. Deciding that leaving would be the best option as of right now, he grabbed Yami's wrist again and lugged him out of the bathroom.

"Where are we going?" Yami asked.

"We're leaving." Kaiba answered.

"Wait! I still have to peeeeeeeee!"

Kaiba ignored Yami's plea and the fact that they were now being stared at. He shoved the teen through the front doors and continued dragging him along, determined that leaving was the best option considering that Yami had apparently been drugged.

When they made it to Kaiba's limo, he finally let go of Yami. Kaiba leaned his arm on the side of the vehicle, clutching his head with one hand. He heaved an unsteady breath as he listened to Yami hum some tune that he didn't recognize. He thought back to what had caused this sudden occurrence, and remembered how strange that tea had drunken tasted. He was rapidly consumed with a wave of raw anger, recalling how it was Kisara who had given them those drinks in the first place. Breathing heavily, he tried to calm himself, knowing that it was a futile effort. Kaiba's thought were abruptly cut off when he heard what reminded him vaguely of running water. He wheeled around toward the noise and started when he saw Yami turned, facing the other direction, taking a piss in the middle of the street.

There were just…no words.

Kaiba turned to the other direction and covered his face, exasperated. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"I told you I had to pee.~"

Kaiba buried his face into his hand. "Yami…" he began. What was he supposed to say about that? He couldn't exactly make the guy stop. "…Hurry up."

A few more seconds went by until Kaiba heard a zip and feet moving along the pavement. He took this as a sign that the runt had finished and turned back around.

"Done." Yami proclaimed. Kaiba didn't say anything, not seeing a point in doing so, and opened the limo door. He pointed into the automobile, a gesture for Yami to get in. Yami obliged, diving into the vehicle like he was training to compete in the Summer Olympics. Kaiba faced palmed and shook his head. He waited for the boy to get up from the carpeted floor and get in his seat before stepping in and slamming the door shut.

Kaiba leaned back into his seat, feeling physically drained. Okay, he got Yami out of the mansion; he accomplished one thing. Now one question plagued his mind:

'What now?'

* * *

Whoa, whoa, whoa! My, oh my.

What do you guys think? Did Kisara drug Yami? Does she have the audacity?

And can you guess what game Yami's "Duel Monster Chess" is? You guys are smart, I'm sure you can.

Please let me know what you think of my story! Even if you really don't like it (which if you don't, I don't really understand why you've read this far, but whatevs) please give me some critics! Critics galore!

Thanks for reading!


	18. Aren't You Curious?

How goes it my lovelies? I know okay, it's been a while. I GET IT I SUCK AT UPDATING AND I'M SORRY AND I HOPE I DIDN'T MAKE ANYONE MAD WITH MY LACK OF UPDATING SKILLZZZZ. ( ; w ;)

*hides in corner and cries*

I hope you like this chapter nonetheless!

Enjoy! ;3

And don't hurt me! (Q~Q)

* * *

Kaiba heaved out a breath as he collapsed into the rolling chair placed in the corner of his room. He blearily pulled himself, along with the chair, to his desk and rested his elbows onto its surface. Smoothing out a crumpled piece of paper that he'd torn hastily out of a notepad he'd found lying about, he thoughtfully read over the ten digit combination of numbers that had been scratched onto it.

After the behavior that Yami had showcased earlier, Kaiba hesitantly resolved to take Yami to his mansion. He presumed that bringing the boy back to his house in that state might have caused some conflict between him and his father that Kaiba felt could easily just be avoided. So, after struggling to get Yami to cooperate with him once he got home and explaining the circumstance to an awoken Mokuba, sugar coated of course, Kaiba was finally able to force a telephone number out of the teen that he hoped was the correct number of his father.

Kaiba rubbed his forehead as he attempted to form some fake excuse to tell the man once he got him on the phone. He wondered what explanation would be good enough for him, that is, if he even got a hold of the man. It was past 2:00 in the morning already. No sane person who had a job would be up at this time anyway. Still, he felt obligated to at least attempt calling. He could always just leave a message.

He leaned forward in his chair and wove his fingers together, closing his eyes as he continued his thought process. He suddenly remembered the incident that occurred in the restroom with Yami; how he had almost allowed himself to succumb to temptation. He shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the memory but to no avail. He couldn't stop thinking about the damn kiss that had come out of nowhere. It should have disgusted him, just like how the kiss that happened weeks ago at Kaibaland's grand opening should have, but…it just didn't. It didn't and Kaiba didn't understand why. The image of two well-drawn skeletons on a brick wall whipped through his mind at this thought, causing his eyes to fly open and his brain to go blank. He placed his hand on his forehead, recollecting his scattered thoughts and meticulously piecing them all back together like a puzzle.

…Did Kaiba have a crush on Yami?

Kaiba clenched his jaw at the humiliating thought, wanting nothing more than for it to leave his mind and disintegrate into the air. He leaned forward again and allowed his eyelids to fall back down over his eyes as he promptly dismissed the idea and thought instead on what to say to Yami's father.

xxxXxxx

The sound of laughter and the smell of coffee filled Kaiba's senses as he pried his eyes open. Blinking a few times to adjust his eyes to the light that now occupied his peripheral, he forced his head up from its rested position and rubbed the spot on his face that he knew was now red, haven been smooshed against his arm that now had no feeling due to the lack of circulation it had endured. Kaiba's mouth opened wide as he let out a large yawn.

"Shit…" he breathed out unconsciously as he did so. Did he fall asleep here at his desk? That was unusual; normally he was able to pull an all-nighter no problem. Dealing with Yami the night before must have taken a lot more energy than he thought.

Slowly, Kaiba stood up from his chair and groggily treaded across his room, leaning his hand against the door frame once he made it to the other side. He used his free hand to brush his hair back with his fingers, letting the once neatly placed strands of brown fall in whatever manner they may. After taking a deep breath and forcing his heavy eyelids to defy the downward force of gravity that they were so obliged to follow, he used what energy he had to follow the scented trail of coffee that had become stronger once he'd entered the hallway. Quiet footsteps echoed down the hall from his sock-covered feet as he made his way toward the descending staircase that led down into his living room.

Methodically, Kaiba stepped down each step, still lacking in the vigor that he normally had. Once he made it to the bottom he search the surrounding area for the source of that exquisite smell that he could never see himself getting sick of. Sitting near the edge on the glass table in the middle of the well-furnished room was a small machine that had a glass pot with a black handle that matched the rest of the appliance sitting in it. He walked over to the contraption and inspected it, finding that though the little red light that indicated it was on was lit up, inside of the pot was nothing more than cooked on, left-over residue from the previous day. Kaiba hunched himself over and yanked the coffee maker's cord from the extension cord used to power the machine, ceasing there forth its deceptive ability to perfume the air any longer.

Without a moment's notice, Kaiba grabbed the coffee maker from its spot and ventured to the kitchen, wherein he planned to make a real pot of the caffeinated beverage he so craved. Across the room, down the hall, and to the left he went, carrying the device with his right arm. He came to a halt in the doorway of the room upon seeing a wild mass of raven black hair. Mokuba laughed a small laugh in the direction of another, whom Kaiba instantly recognized as being a certain spikey-haired midget that caused his brain to often turn to mush in the company of.

Yami seemed to have just finished having a fit of laughter, as he had his arms wrapped around his abdomen and was slightly stooped over. The boy turned his head in Kaiba's direction, noticing his presence, and snorted, trying to stifle his laughter.

"Wow, you were right Mokuba, it did work." he said through little chuckles then, standing up straight, let out a breath. Yami was still wearing the suit from the night before, only he had removed the jacket and the tie was loosened a bit. His hair looked a bit more unruly than normal, but it was hardly a noticeable detail. Mokuba spun around at the comment and smiled widely at Kaiba.

"I told you it would! I bet Ni-sama could smell coffee from a mile away!"

Kaiba rolled his eyes at the hyperbole, deducting from the small exchange between the two that the coffee pot trickery was Mokuba's doing. He walked past the two of them and set the appliance down on the glossy, dark granite countertop adjacent to the matching wall. He opened the wooden cabinet above the counter and grabbed a large, cylindrical can from the shelf.

"Good morning Ni-samaaaaa!" Mokuba crooned exaggeratedly. Kaiba set the coffee can down and sighed. He turned his head back toward the small boy with a look of detest for his action.

"If you're going to wake me up, can't you do it like a normal person?" he asked sourly, his voice hoarse from it being the first sentence he'd said since waking up. Both Mokuba and Yami gave a light laugh.

After some time had passed and Kaiba had the chance to refuel his energy, the three of them sat at the tall bar stools placed at the center counter and chatted.

"…And I could see the little vein that pops out of his neck and his nostrils were all flare-y so I knew he was really mad, so I tried resaying what I said but it just seemed to make him even more angry so I just sat down and didn't answer any more questions or try correcting him again even when he said something wrong." Mokuba said, finishing his story about his day at school yesterday.

"I do hope you apologized." Kaiba responded.

"Yeah. After class was over I did. It didn't really seem to make him feel any better though."

"Hn."

"Hey, what's wrong Yami?" Mokuba asked, looking over to the teen. Kaiba looked as well and saw that he had his eyebrows furrowed and his hand lightly touching the side of his head.

"Hm?" Yami gazed over at the two, having not been listening very intently to the conversation. "Oh, nothing really. I just have a little headache is all." he answered, brushing it aside.

"Could it…" Mokuba started, then hesitating a little. Nevertheless he continued with, "…you know…be from yesterday?" Yami looked to the side as if contemplating the notion.

"Maybe. I don't really know." he shrugged. Kaiba felt his breath hitch in his throat as he suddenly and all at once remembered the senseless night that transpired. He clutched the handle of his mug and almost nervously turned to Yami, wondering with horror how the teen felt about the incident.

"Do you…remember what happened yesterday, Yami?" he asked with as little apprehension as he could muster from his voice, hoping beyond hope that there was a small chance that he didn't. Yami shook his head.

"No. Not really. I only know what happened because Mokuba told me."

Kaiba felt a wave of relief wash over him. He was now even more pleased with the fact that he hadn't told Mokuba the entire story.

"If what you told me even _is_ what really happened." Mokuba added, sensing Kaiba's mood change.

"That is what happened, Mokuba." Kaiba insisted, his face unwavering as he presented a calm expression.

"That can't possibly be _ALL_ that happened! Yami started acting weird and you noticed that his eyes were dilated so you brought him here? Is that really the whole story?" the boy insinuated, lifting one of his eyebrows for emphasis, making Kaiba half-lid his eyes in annoyance.

Kaiba made the mistake of glancing back over to Yami, instantly feeling anxious at the facial expression he had, almost as if he was trying to pry for answers like Mokuba was. He vehemently resisted the urge to shift in his seat, deciding that doing so would have been like waving the white flag and screaming "I'm guilty!". Instead, he simply returned his gaze to Mokuba and, after clearing his throat as quietly as he could, said, "I already told you what happened Mokuba, what more do you want?"

"I want the truth!" he stated dramatically, pointing at him with his small index finger. Kaiba raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"I told you the truth. Now stop, you're being ridiculous." he commanded, crossing his arms over his chest and biting his tongue back from saying anything past that. Technically he did tell him the truth, just not the whole truth.

Mokuba lowered his hand down and closed his eyes into slits as he contemplated his brother's statement, then begrudgingly said, "Fine.", crossing his arms like Kaiba did with a little, "Humph." A few moments of silence passed the trio as Yami seemed to accept the vague answer as well. Feeling a bit better about the situation, Kaiba lifted his partially filled mug up and brought it close to his mouth in preparation to take a sip.

"By the way, Ni-sama, what excuse did you tell Yami's dad yesterday?"

Kaiba froze, his mug halting with him no more than a centimeter away from his mouth, its still warm contents radiating onto his top lip.

Yami's father…his father…what did he tell his father? Kaiba rummaged his brain for answers but came up with nothing. Did he even call? He sure as hell didn't remember. He had been so distracted with thoughts of what had taken placed earlier…and then…

Kaiba closed his eyes in shame.

He fell asleep before he had the chance to call.

Setting his cup back down, he turned his head to the left toward Mokuba and Yami, squeezing his lips into a thin line as he wondered how exactly he was going to explain what had happened. Mokuba, noticing Kaiba's stone faced expression falter, piped up, "You did call, right?"

Kaiba remained mute at first, but quickly concluded that he may as well just tell the truth since Yami would eventually find out anyway.

"No. I didn't." he admitted reluctantly, angry with his slip up. He did his best to keep his focus on Mokuba, not wanting to see how Yami reacted to his confession.

"You…" Mokuba blinked at Kaiba several times in an attempt to understand, then, cocking his head to the side, continued, "You didn't? What happened? Did you forget?" Kaiba examined Mokuba's face, seeing how confused and worried the boy was. Honestly he was a bit worried as well; he didn't want Yami to get into trouble because of him. Despite popular protest, Kaiba did have a sense of guilt, even if it was rather small. He gulped silently to clear his throat again before speaking up.

"No, I didn't forget."

"Then wha-"

"Phew!"

Mokuba and Kaiba turned their attention to Yami, who looked just as relieved as someone who just dodged a bullet aimed at their head.

"…phew?" Mokuba questioned.

"Heh, for a second there I was really worried that you did call my father!" Yami said with a thankful smile.

"Did…you not want your dad to know where you were all night?"

"Well, you see…I didn't exactly tell him in the first place where I was going." he explained.

"Wha…" Mokuba trailed off, not quite understanding what Yami was trying to say.

"You snuck out." Kaiba clarified, knowing right away what he meant.

"Yup." Yami boasted.

"Don't sound so happy about it…"

Mokuba frowned at the teen and asked, "Weren't you afraid that he'd find out once he woke up in the morning?"

"Nope." Yami said. "He wakes up so early to go to work, he doesn't even bother to check to see if I'm awake. He probably still has no idea that I'm not at home." he went on, not even the slightest hint of shame on his face.

"Tsk, tsk Yami." Mokuba teased.

"Oh shush."

Kaiba would never let it be known, but he was thankful that he didn't have to explain himself any further. Admitting what had truly happened would have just been too embarrassing.

"Oh yeah, when are you supposed to be at the airport Yami?" Mokuba asked the tri-colored haired teen. That's right, he was leaving for America today wasn't he? Kaiba had completely forgotten. He felt a sting in his chest at the thought of the younger man being gone for fourteen days, but quickly brushed it away, refusing to give even the slightest hint of anything but apathy toward the predicament.

"Mm…close to five-ish I guess since my flight takes off at 6:00."

"Did you start packing yet?"

"No. I don't really plan on bringing a whole lot of stuff, so I haven't bothered." He paused briefly, then stood from his chair and looked at Mokuba and Kaiba. "I guess I should probably get home and start though. May as well get it over with."

"Good idea!" Mokuba agreed much too eagerly. He then stood as well and said, "Let's go!"

"Huh?" Yami questioned, amused.

Mokuba spun around to face Kaiba with a look of determination worn on his face as he said, "Come on, Ni-sama! Let's help Yami pack his stuff!"

"Uh, why?"

"That's okay, Mokuba. It's not that much; I can do it myself." Yami assured him.

"Denied!" Mokuba yelled in his direction.

"Mokuba, I think Yami's perfectly capable of packing his own things." Kaiba attempted.

"Oh come on, Ni-sama! Aren't you even a little curious of what Yami's house looks like on the inside?" the boy whispered to him.

"I can hear you you know."

"No. Now stop being weird." Kaiba lied. Now that he brought it up, Kaiba was a _little_ curious.

"Then it's settled! We're going!"

Kaiba breathed out a sigh as he watched Mokuba skip off out of the kitchen and more than likely down the hall to go change out of his yellow, plaid pajamas. The sound of Yami letting out a small chuckle caused Kaiba to automatically turn and look at the boy, his attention instantly being captured by his rich, red, velvety eyes that glistened with hilarity as he smiled. He almost felt trapped by the way his eyes became glued to the teen's; like he was being forced under submission by some mystic force as he gazed into the exotic looking pools of crimson. He instinctively and abruptly ended the feeling by tearing his eyes from Yami's. Hopping up from his chair, he gave another sigh, this time for his longing to stare back into those eyes he self-confessed degradedly. Without a word, he left as well and made his way down the hall to change his clothes like Mokuba had gone to do. As much as he hated to admit it, he really was curious.

xxxXxxx

"Is it big?"

"It's nowhere near as large as your house, but I guess it isn't small."

"What's it look like on the inside?"

A laugh.

"Pretty average."

Kaiba consciously kept his gaze stuck to the window he sat next to as he listened to the conversation resonate through the limousine. As Mokuba continued to pester Yami with an onslaught of other irrelevant questions, Kaiba's mind remained on the topic of his house. He had seen the structure before, but he wondered what the interior of it was like. Before he knew it, he found himself imagining it; creating a fictional design that he thought best suited Yami. Dark curtains, unnecessary candles scattered about, and abstract art cluttering the walls that only Yami would understand were the first things to come to mind, but the more logical side of Kaiba quickly brushed that concept away since, more than likely, his father wouldn't be too interested in things like that. No, the house was probably, as Yami had said, an average home with average furniture and little to no decorations.

'Why am I even thinking about this?' Kaiba asked himself. It wasn't like it made much of a difference if he guessed correctly about how it looked anyway. He rubbed his forehead as he questioned how he'd even been talked into going to the midget's house in the first place.

"Hey, what's your favorite color?" he heard Mokuba ask. There was a short pause as Kaiba assumed Yami thought the question over.

"Mm…blue."

"Blue?" Mokuba reiterated questioningly. Kaiba hadn't really been expecting that answer either. If anything he thought he would say "red" or even "black".

"Yup." Yami confirmed.

"Boo! That's such a stereotypical color." Mokuba said. "No offense Ni-sama." he quickly added. Kaiba simply gave the boy a look of annoyance and turned his head the other direction.

"Blah, blah, blah. What's your's then, huh?" Yami countered.

"Yellow!"

"Ew."

"Ew? Why ew?"

"Yellow is too bright." Yami stated.

"Well…well…the sky is really bright and it's blue so, **there**!" Mokuba pouted.

"The sky is only bright because of the sun, and the sun is what color? Yellow."

Mokuba frowned furiously and began fuming as he heatedly searched for a counterclaim of some sort. Yami triumphantly smirked with a look of mirth.

"Technically the sun is white." Kaiba found himself all of a sudden saying, not being able to help himself from correcting the mistake. "So your statement is invalid."

"HAH!" Mokuba jeered widely. "Take that!" Yami gave a small frown of disappointment upon realizing that Kaiba was right and turned to the CEO with a small pout of his own.

"Alright Mr. Smarty-pants, if you want to get technical then white is every color equally mixed together, therefore, the sun is yellow! Just mixed with all of the other colors too! So…take that!" Yami refuted heatedly, but with an almost playful tone in his voice.

"But wait, if that's true then doesn't the same thing apply to blue also?" Mokuba added.

…

"Shut up."

The three continued the heated debate the rest of the way there, though Kaiba really just listened in on the ridiculous conversation more so than actually contributing to it. He truly couldn't remember the last time he'd had a silly argument like this, though if he had to guess, it was probably many years ago before Gozaburo had adopted them. Hearing it reminded him of when he and his brother were much younger and how they would fight over the dumbest things, as all siblings did. The debates often had no real significance and were always triggered by the tiniest of things, but that's what made them great. It didn't matter which side won, aside from the ability to brag afterwards. The conclusion to it wouldn't have any large impact on their lives, unlike how things were now for Kaiba. Arguments that flared up between him and any another powerful figure in the media had drastic consequences, resulting in broken contracts, loss of partnerships, etc; things the young CEO couldn't afford. He supposed that that's what made arguments like this one seem so euphoric now.

"Mokuba." Yami began.

Kaiba returned to the conversation with attendant ears, waiting to see how it would play out.

"Stop trying to argue with me Mokuba. It's not going to work. I am the eldest of us two and, therefore, the wisest. Being as such, I have more experience and a much vaster amount of knowledge, allowing me to pass such knowledge on for others to learn and absorb into their tinny-tiny brains. Hence, I'm right and you're wrong and you should stop trying to convince me otherwise!" Yami stated feverishly.

"…You're only, like, three years older than me you know."

"It matters not! I am your elder and you're supposed to listen to your elders! Now do it!"

"Well if you're going to pull that, then Ni-sama is your elder and he agrees with me! SO _NYEEHHH_!" Mokuba yelled, sticking his tongue out and using his index finger to pull his bottom eyelid down toward his cheek. Yami grumbled bitterly through his teeth, then opened his mouth to say something else, but Kaiba spoke before he got the chance, deciding that it was about time to end the conversation.

"Alright, enough. We're here."

After a few gripes of protest, all three exited the vehicle, slamming the doors behind them and facing the unforgiving near-winter wind. Yami took the lead in front of Mokuba and Kaiba and they all walked up the slightly slanted driveway after opening the loosely closed, and a bit squeaky, gate blocking the way. Kaiba observed the building for the third time, the brick walls now looking much more worn than he remembered, probably because he was much closer to the building now. Despite the old bricks, the roof, the garage, and the front door all look like they had all been freshly painted, the deep shade of blue standing out despite the bare trees that surrounded the house covering it up somewhat. The trio hopped up the couple of steps that lead to a small porch past a pair of identical hedges that looked like they had once been neatly cut and trimmed into perfect little angular shapes, but were now covered with dead leaves and had wild branches sticking out in a few spots. Upon further observation, Kaiba noticed that though the cement porch was definitely large enough, there was no chair, no plant, no light, no wind chime, no anything being used to occupy the empty space.

Kaiba finally shrugged the detail away, finding it not very important.

Yami reached into his pocket and pulled out a single key attacked to a keychain ring instead of the mass of key chains that Kaiba had been expecting to appear. Made sense, having all of those pieces of metal clanking together as he walking would have probably gotten annoying.

Without a word, Yami placed the silver key into the dead bolt lock, twisting it to the right with an excessive amount of force. He then yanked the key out and shoved it into the lock underneath it and gave it a twist.

Kaiba blinked in wonder.

* * *

ACK! Sorry to cut it off so suddenly! I was going to write more, but I wasn't sure how long it was going to take me, so I just decided to post what I had instead. I think I made you all wait long enough, don't you?

I'd love you bunches if you gave this story a review you guys! And WOW! I didn't say anything yet, but I got over 20 reviews so far! **20**! That's like 10 more than before! Wowza!

Thanks for reading!


	19. You Owe Me

Hooray! Another chappy!

*Does a dance*

I don't really have anything to say here, so let's just get down to business, shall we?

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

Rattle.

…

Rattle, rattle, rattle.

…

Click. Rattle, rattle.

Kaiba watched with a raised eyebrow as Yami continued to fiddle with the dead bolt on the front door of his house. He glanced over at Mokuba, who had a look of strained enthusiasm as he waited as well, then back at Yami, crossing his arms over his chest. After he'd taken the time to brace himself for the unveiling of Yami's house, the guy couldn't even get the damn door open. He watched as Yami wiggled the key in the lock for a fifth time, to no avail. Finally, he yanked the piece of metal out of the key hole that seemed to fight the abrupt action and blew out a sigh as he turned and looked at his two guests.

"Having some trouble?" Mokuba asked unnecessarily.

"Just a smidge." Yami confirmed with a half-smile. "Stay here, I'll be right back." he instructed all of a sudden. He jumped down the two stairs behind them and veered off to the right, swinging his key attached to a thin lanyard around one of his fingers. Kaiba watched him as he went until he was no longer in sight, then looked down at Mokuba.

"Where's he going?" the raven-haired boy inquired. Kaiba shrugged, though he was aware that the question had been a rhetorical one.

Several seconds of silence passed by as they waited for whatever Yami was doing before Kaiba heard the click of something unlocking. He looked toward the door and, lo and behold, there stood Yami already inside of the complex.

"Hiya." he greeted casually. "Sorry about that, sometimes it won't open if it gets slammed too hard. Something about the angle of the house or something. Stupid door." Kaiba blinked at the teen without a word, though he was tempted to ask…

"So then, how did you get in?" Mokuba asked before Kaiba did.

"The window. Come in." He gestured the two of them in, opening the door wider and stepping to the side. Mokuba practically leapt inside with no problem, but Kaiba found himself hesitating for a moment after hearing that statement. Doing his best to brush it off, he stepped through the doorway as well onto a hard wood floor and immediately began examining the residence.

The buffed surface he stood upon went on for about four or five feet until it got cut off by a step leading up to a white commercial carpet that covered the entire floor in the room. Directly to his left was a large, potted ficus benjamina that looked poorly kept for; its leaves were starting to wilt and the edges of them were turning discolored and dry. A black, clothed couch sat against the light cream wall ahead of him to the right with two red pillows lying on top of it that had black silhouetted pictures of running horses and a few trees in the background next to a tall hill that reminded Kaiba of something you'd see in a western movie. In front of the couch was a pale, alder wooden table that had three pillows nearly identical to the ones arranged atop the couch on the floor around it, just a bit larger and flatter. Right across from the couch and table were large glass double doors with red curtains that were currently spread open revealing a continuation of the cement porch from the front. Unlike the front, this side of the porch had an old, decrepit wooden chair set on it and a metal box that looked like it might contain a set of tools.

To the right of the red drapery hanging over the closed doors were two more ficus benjamina in pots of a smaller caliber than the first one. These plants didn't look dried out or dying like their cousin in the front of the room, but, upon further inspection, this was due to the fact that they were synthetic with artificial dirt compacted within their vessels. Next to these was a pure white, leather upholstered chair with an oak base in nearly perfect condition. Its flawless surface had not one crease nor crack in it, almost like no one ever sat in it. Behind the chair there was something that looked almost like an automated fire place attached to the wall, but the piece of furniture in front of it made it difficult to know for sure what the box-shaped object was. Two empty picture frames were on top of the mystery box with red candles on both sides and a large picture with an array of colors and shapes thrown onto it that almost seemed to form an image- of what, Kaiba had no idea- framed with a thick, black frame hung on the wall over them. Well, he was right about one thing.

A moderately sized flat-screen television sat on a short, wide, oak stand with a shelf that had a silver DVD player on it was next to the upholstered chair, and to the right of that was a wide doorway leading into what seemed like the dining room/kitchen. The carpeted floor came to a halt once it reached the kitchen and was replaced with a tile floor of the same color. From what Kaiba could see, the room had pale red/orange walls, and there was an alder wooden dining room set on the left side of the narrow room, and a ginormous white curio cabinet behind it filled with antique knick-knacks of a wide range.

Kaiba turned in the carpeted spot he'd stepped onto as he had been inspecting his surroundings. Yami lazily threw his shoes onto the floor after removing them and kicked them over next to a pair of black Nubuck leather sneakers that looked like they could belong to him too, and hopped up onto the carpet as well.

"Ooh." Mokuba voiced as he scanned the room, apparently fascinated by it.

"Aah." he uttered further, exaggerating his reaction as he wandered around.

"Hm?"

Kaiba looked over at the small boy to see what was making him express a sound of confusion.

"Hey Yami." The teen looked over as well.

"What is it?"

"Why are these picture frames empty?" he questioned, pointing to said frames.

"Those?" A shrug. "I guess no one's just ever bothered putting anything in them."

"Hm." was all Mokuba said in response, though he seemed to be thinking rather deeply about it. Kaiba strolled across the room to examine the frames as well, which were indeed empty, and found himself looking at the large, abstract painting on the wall again.

His curiosity getting the best of him, he asked, "What exactly is this supposed to be?"

"Hm? Oh." Yami said after registering the question. He snorted. "The hell if I know. It came with the frame." Kaiba blinked. So much for being right.

He and Mokuba were lead out of the room after a few more minutes of Mokuba snooping around and an occasional question being asked. The three went through a door next to the black couch and quietly paced down a small hallway. Their footsteps were nearly silent as they tread upon the white carpet that extended down the hall and up a set of stairs to the left, along the way passing a few doors. Once they made it to the top of the stairs, the carpet came to an end and was replaced with an oak hardwood floor. Down another hall to the left they went, stopping about half way. Without a word, Yami twisted the handle to a door on his right and pushed it open, displaying a room Kaiba could only assume belonged to him.

The wooden floor continued across the large room, deterred only by a black rug with white and green swirls imbedded within the design that lay underneath a bed that looked to be full sized to the left. The bed itself was covered with a white sheet and white blanket, both of which were tucked under between the bed and the wooden bed frame. Two white pillows sat on top of the bed with a small green one as well. In contrast to the rest of the perfectly made bed, a thin black and blue blanket was thrown lazily over it, some of it lying on the floor. Two wooden nightstands were on either side of the bed with matching silver lamps that wore white lamp shades. Both stands were almost covered with different items like game pieces, a few picture frames, and a random pair of scissors. Across from the bed was another television- though this one was a bit smaller than the first one- that sat on a metallic stand with a few shelves below and over it, several of which had various games and game systems along with their cords cluttered on them. A black controller was lying on the floor in front of the stand, buttons up like it had intentionally been put there.

To the left of the television was a large wooden bookshelf with many shelves. Despite its name, the bookshelf didn't actually really have many books on it. The first two bottom shelves were filled with book, sure, but the rest were occupied with more random junk like a few game guides and this weird porcelain animal that looked kind of like a white frog, but it also sort of looked like a rat or a porcupine too. Whatever it was, it was weird. The top shelf was left completely empty like Yami had just run out of random shit to throw onto it. Kaiba smirked. Either that or he was just too short to reach it.

To the right of the television was a grey desk that matched the television stand. The surface of the desk was made out of wood and had papers thrown hastily on top of it that looked like unfinished math homework. A black desk lamp hovered over the papers as if contemplating what the purpose of learning how to solve quadratic functions was. A black, leather rolly chair lacking any arm rests was placed in front of it, pushed in for the seat to perfectly fit under the desk. A large window partially covered with dark teal green curtains was to the right of the bed and what could only be assumed as being a closet stood directly across the room from where Kaiba stood.

"Ooh." Mokuba sounded as they entered the room. "It's cleaner than I thought it would be." he stated, breaking the silence that had been settling around the three of them for some time now.

"Hah. You're funny." Yami replied sarcastically with a look of fake interest.

"Thank you."

Kaiba took this opportunity to remove his heavy tan coat, Mokuba doing the same with his orange bubble coat under which he wore a brown hoodie that said "GAP" with a pair of blue jeans. Kaiba also rolled up the sleeves of his white, long sleeved, button up collared shirt that was accompanied with a brown belt and a pair of dark skinny jeans.

The three wasted no time in beginning the task at hand after Yami pulled a big, red suitcase out from under his bed. It was a bit covered in dust but he merely wiped it off, obviously not caring if the floor got dirty from it. Really the only thing Kaiba did was stand to the side and watch Yami and Mokuba unload clothing after clothing from the seemingly endless pit that was Yami's closet and stuff them into the suitcase. After a while, the two finally seemed to realize that maybe that wasn't the best course of action.

"Hm." Yami said, staring at the pile of clothes that were spilling out of the suitcase with his arms crossed. "Maybe we put too much stuff."

"Maybe if you actually folded them, they would fit." Kaiba suggested in the condescending tone he always used when answering stupid questions. Yami sent him a pout that contained a frivolous gleam in his eyes which made it much harder for Kaiba to retain the stone face he had worked so hard to equip himself with. Suddenly and without warning, he was reminded of the conversation he'd had with himself the night before and that he had come to terms with the fact that he kind of liked Yami, and even might have had a…crush on him. The humiliating feeling washed over him like a free flowing waterfall and it was in that moment that he realized that Yami was still looking at him. He did his best to keep his face plain and hoped that the teen would look away already when he felt his expression begin to slip.

Finally, Yami looked down at the clothes again, pulling one from the heap.

"Okay Mr. Know-it-all, help me fold them then."

Kaiba refrained from spewing any insults or comebacks at Yami for ordering him to do something in case anything might have slipped in the blind rage he felt boiling up. Feeling a wound in his pride, he simply grabbed a piece of clothing as well and began folding like Yami and Mokuba had.

It took a good while to get all of the clothes properly folded and packed since Kaiba had to stop every five seconds to correct a mistake made by one of the other two due to pure laziness, but they did finally finish.

"It's about time!" Mokuba said.

"Huh, what do you know, they do all fit." Yami observed as he shoved the last shirt into the suitcase.

"I hope that's everything, because I don't think anything else is going to fit." Kaiba spoke up, directing the statement toward Yami.

"Actually there is something else." He shrugged. "I'll make it fit somehow." Before Kaiba was able to ask him just what else he needed to put in there, Yami was already on the other side of the room. The teen grabbed the rolly chair from the corner and dragged it with ease back over to where the closet was. With extra precaution, he hopped up onto the chair, wobbly for a few moments, then his footing became steadier as he stood up all of the way.

"Uh, is that safe?" Mokuba asked.

"Safe enough."

With that, Yami began searching the top shelf of his double door closet, pushing bundled up clothes to the side along with some other crap that looked like had been thrown randomly up there.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Kaiba asked as he felt his patience dwindle and be replaced with nervousness on behalf of the unsteady chair.

"A puzzle game."

"You have plenty of games down here, can't you just take one of them?"

"I always take this one when I go visit though. It's here somewhere…" There was a pause as Yami pulled something out of the closet. It was a small silver camera with a little string attached to it for carrying. "Hm. I was wondering where this went. I wonder if it still works?" he spoke to himself, inspecting the device.

"Focus Yami, focus. " Mokuba reminded him.

"Oh. Sorry." he said with a sheepish grin. He threw the camera into the suitcase, then continued searching. Along the way, he came across a red mini umbrella which he threw into the suitcase as well saying, "I might need it." and questionable white stuffed bunny with a pink tutu.

…

…

"Wait, where did this even come from?" Yami asked himself.

"Yami, is there something you want to tell us?" Mokuba asked.

"No really, this isn't mine."

"Uh huh, sure." Kaiba chimed in, questioning the teen as well.

"It isn't!" he swore. "Oh! Now I remember." he said. "Rebecca wanted me to give this to Yugi."

"Huh?" Mokuba probed. Yami snorted.

"This little girl named Rebecca who goes to Domino Elementary School has this huge crush on my little brother which has ceased to diminish even the tiniest bit since he's moved away. When he was here she would always follow him around and pretend they were married. He hated it." he explained with a look of amusement as he reminisced. "She gave this to me a few weeks ago and told me to give it to him. Hm, she always took this thing with her everywhere though. I wonder why she doesn't want it anymore." He threw the bunny down next to the suitcase. "I'm not really sure how I'm going to fit it in there. Oh well, I'll figure it out." He shrugged the thought away and continued his search again.

After a few more minutes Yami at last said, "Here we go. I found it." He started pulling out a shiny golden box, but it got stuck about halfway along the way. He yanked at it a few good times until it suddenly came loose, causing a few things to fall out of the closet and the chair to tip backwards making Yami start to fall.

Noticing this, Kaiba quickly moved toward the flailing teen with the mindset to stop him from falling by steadying his torso. Well, he did stop him from falling, and he did steady his torso. However, in doing so, he instantly felt himself regret trying to help and not letting him just fall. Yami was basically laying on Kaiba as the brunette used his left arm to stop him and his right to hold him in place and keep him from toppling completely on top of Kaiba. Slowly, Yami turned his head to the left from the spot on Kaiba's shoulder it was essentially resting on until he made eye contact with him. He blinked a few times, surprised at how close they were, as was Kaiba. The young CEO wasn't quite sure what to do in response and ended up just staring at him, frozen in time.

"H-ohh. Nice catch." he heard Mokuba say, giving his full approval of the situation. Kaiba half-lidded his eyes in annoyance and used the small span of awkward-free time he'd been given to prop Yami back up onto the chair.

"Uh…th-thanks." Yami sputtered out.

"Hn. Just get down from there already." Yami complied with no problem and hopped down, letting the chair's seat spin in response.

"Hey, what's this?" Yami and Kaiba both turned their attention to Mokuba who was pointing at a strange looking pot on the ground that must have fallen from the closet shelf.

"Oh!" Yami exclaimed dramatically, picking it up from the floor. "Good, it hasn't been damaged."

"What is it?" Mokuba asked again, more interested this time.

"This is a very old artifact, Mokuba." he informed, holding it up so the boy could get a better look. The tan pot had many cracks in it and it had a block sitting on top of it with a rope tied many times over the two to keep them together. All along the top of the pot and bottom of the block were paper seals with "Keep out" and "Beware" written on them. "It's called the Dragon Block. This is a forbidden game that was originated thousands of years ago. If its seal is broken, the ones who broke it are forced to play its evil game, and whoever loses gets their soul taken away and sealed into the pot!" Mokuba stared wide-eyed at the item.

"Their soul?"

"That's right. Their soul is forced to stay in there for eternity!"

Sensing an overwhelming amount of bullshit coming from Yami's general direction, Kaiba decided to take one of the strings to the rope and pull, causing the knot to come loose and the block to fall onto the floor.

"Ahh!" Mokuba yelled, thrashing his arms around like a maniac. "We're all gunna die! Nooo!" Yami started laughing at the boy's hysteria and quickly dismissed the accusation.

"It was just a joke Mokuba. The forbidden game isn't real." The boy stopped his raving and looked up at the teen.

"It…it isn't?"

"Nope. I made it all up. It's just an ordinary pot designed to look scary." he assured with another chuckle.

"…You jerk." Yami brushed off the insult and picked up the block that had fallen on the floor, tying it back on the pot.

"So is that what you've been looking for this entire time?" Kaiba asked, motioning toward the golden box he was still holding.

"Yup. It's a puzzle. And look." He pointed to a message engraved into the side that seemed to be written in hieroglyphics. "It says 'The one who solves me shall gain the powers and knowledge of darkness'." Kaiba blinked at the statement. "At least that's what my grandfather said it says." Yami shrugged.

"Sounds like a load of shit to me." Kaiba said.

"What's wrong Kaiba? Don't you believe in magic?" the teen teased.

"No."

"No? Aw, why not?"

"Why would I believe in something that's not only intangible, but also has not one credible source to prove otherwise?"

"Hm." Yami pondered the thought. "I don't know. Just for kicks I guess."

"For…kicks?"

"Sure. For the fun in believing in something unexplained. And besides, even if no one has ever proven it to be real, no one's ever proven it _not_ to be either, right?" Yami countered. "Don't you think so Mokuba?"

Silence.

"Mokuba?" The two looked around for the raven-haired boy, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Mokuba." Kaiba tried, getting nothing in return. There was a rustle from the closet, instantly getting both of their attentions.

"Moku…ba?" Yami called again as they inched closer to the dark pit.

"Boo!" Mokuba yelled, popping out from the depths of the closet.

"Agh!" Yami shouted. "W-w-why?" he asked, clutching his chest. Honestly Kaiba was surprised that the teen had been frightened so easily.

"Payback." Mokuba grinned impishly, happy with the reaction he'd gotten.

Yami opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the beep of a car being locked and suddenly froze.

"…Yami? Did I scare you that bad?" Mokuba asked with a worried expression. Kaiba heard something come from downstairs that sounded like a door being opened and closed.

"Yami!" Someone called for him in a deep voice that was muffled through the floor.

The said boy flinched.

"Whose shoes are these?"

"…Uh oh." Yami said with a nervous smile.

"Who's that?" Mokuba asked.

"That would be my father actually." he answered, looking a little less terrified now, though footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs.

"Oh. Does he know that we're here?"

"No he does not."

"Oh."

"Yami? Am I talking to the wall?" the man asked, his voice now crystal clear since he made it upstairs.

Yami turned to Mokuba and Kaiba with an unusually cheerful smile as he said, "Sorry about this." Without warning, Yami grabbed the tan and the orange coats from his bed and shoved them and both Kaiba brothers into his large closet, shutting the doors. Kaiba was shocked into silence and immediately felt his rage grow to its maximum level. He turned to Mokuba, whose face was being illuminated by the holes in the bifold closet doors. The boy brought his hands up and moved them up and down, motioning for Kaiba to lower his temper.

"Yami." he heard the man call again as it sounded like the door had been opened.

"Hi." the teen replied coolly.

"Didn't you hear me calling for you?"

"Sorry. I was busy packing."

"That's not an excuse."

"I did say sorry."

There was a pause. Kaiba looked back over at Mokuba and saw that he was peeping through one of the openings in the closet door and decided to do so as well. In front of Yami stood a tall man wearing a tan business suit with a dark orange tie. He had very short black hair and cold dark brown eyes on the edge of being red, but not quite. He wore a pair of glasses framed only on the top and his face seemed to be stuck in an eternal frown, making his middle-aged wrinkles more prominent on his pale face. The lines around his mouth became more noticeable as he spoke.

"Whose shoes are those in the living room? I don't recall you having any shoes like that." the man patronized.

"Oh…uh…those?" Yami asked, buying himself some time to think.

"Yes. Those." the man confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot on the floor.

"Well, you see…" Yami took in a breath as he finished his thought process. "Those belong to my friends from school. See, yesterday when we were changing back in for gym class, two of my friends had this important track meet that they had to go to after school. They had been keeping their shoes in my locker for some time now because people have been stealing their shoes out of their lockers for some reason, and since gym is my last class, I wouldn't be able to return their shoes unless I stayed after school. So, they told me to just hold onto their shoes and give them back when they come see me at the airport."

Kaiba shook his head at the made up story, finding holes in nearly every sentence.

"Is that so?"

"Yup."

"But those aren't even the type of shoes that go with your school uniform."

A shrug.

"They're rebels."

"So then what did they do after their track meet? Walk home barefoot?"

"Beats me."

The man furrowed his eyebrows at Yami's stubbornness to stick with his story.

"Hey, you're home kind of early aren't you?" Yami asked, quick to change the subject. "We don't have to be at the airport until five."

"Don't you listen to anything I say? I told you yesterday that I changed your flight from six to three, remember?" he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"…Oh yeah. E-heh, heh, I guess I forgot."

"Well, it's already 1:24, we need to leave soon, so hurry up. I have a meeting I need to be at by 2:30 and I don't plan on being late."

"Got it." Yami stated with a thumbs up. The man turned to leave, but quickly turned back to Yami with confusion.

"…And why are you wearing that?" he asked, just noticing the suit Yami was still wearing from the night before.

"Oh. Uh…I just wanted to uh…try it on."

"Well hurry up and change! We don't have time for shenanigans."

"Right…"

This time the man turned and actually left the room, closing the door behind him. Yami waited a few moments to make sure they were in the clear before spinning around and opening the closet doors. His calm expression changed to a nervous smile when he saw Kaiba's face, which in actuality was only displaying about a third of his anger.

"You…" Kaiba began.

"I know, I know, I know." Yami said, trying to calm the enraged man. He looked at Mokuba and frowned.

"You too?" The boy simply pouted and turned his head the other way.

"Oh come on, I-"

"Yami?"

The teen shut the closet doors again and leaned against them as Kaiba heard the bedroom door open again. Oh man, was Yami going to get it…

"Yes?" he asked as if nothing was wrong.

"…I heard you talking in here…"

"Me?"

"Yes…who were you talking to exactly?"

"Ah…well…" There was a pause and Kaiba wondered how Yami planned on getting out of this one. "I was talking to myself."

"…What?"

"I was talking to myself. Haven't you ever heard of soliloquizing? It helps you sort out stuff."

"…Uh."

"Hm, he seems pretty confused doesn't he? That's weird. Well maybe if you stopped freaking him out he wouldn't. Shut up, Yami."

…

…

…

Ring, ring. Ring ring.

Yami's father turned his head toward the hallway upon hearing a phone ringing, then turned back to Yami.

"That's my phone. I'm going to go get it now." he stated awkwardly and then doing just that, closing the door behind himself.

Yami threw the closet doors open and looked at the two of them.

"Okay, you guys need to get out of here before my father thinks I've gone crazy."

"I think it might be too late for that." Mokuba voiced.

"And just how are we supposed to leave without him seeing us?" Kaiba asked angrily.

"The window."

"Hell no."

"Oh come on."

"Hell. No."

"There's a ladder and everything though! It's totally safe; I do it all the time!" Kaiba glared at Yami, still peeved at how he'd shoved them into the closet. "Mokuba!" The boy looked up at Yami. "Convince your brother to go! Please?" Mokuba tapped his chin with his index finger as he thought, clearly much more willing to go than Kaiba.

"Maybe we should just go, Ni-sama." the boy suggested to Kaiba. He looked down at Mokuba, still stubborn not to.

"Come on Kaiba, please?" Yami asked again as if adding one extra word would make a difference. "I'll get grounded if he finds out!"

"Too bad, huh?" Kaiba asked coldly.

"Kaibaaa!"

Kaiba actually did plan on leaving like Yami had asked a million times. It's not like he wanted to get the kid in trouble. He just wanted to make Yami beg him some more.

"Please Kaiba! Come on! I'll make it up to you, I promise! Don't make me beg you anymore; I think my pride has been damaged enough!"

Kaiba drew in a breath, then said, "What about our shoes?"

"Meet me before my plane leaves and I'll give them back. Now please go!"

Kaiba threw his coat back on, as did Mokuba, and walked over to the window, seeing the wooden ladder that Yami had mentioned. He slid the window open, the cold wind of winter smacking him in the face as he did so. One thing was for sure. Yami definitely owed him.

* * *

Oh Kaiba! Stop being so stubborn!

I freaking love Mokuba you guys. I. Just. Can't.

I really hope you all like this chapter even though it had so much description in it! Usually stories that have a lot of description make my head spin, but hopefully I didn't put quite **that** much in this chapter.

Let me know if you think I did!

Pst! That means review! (' w ')

Thanks for reading!


	20. Patience Is A Virtue

Hello, hello my bodacious macaroons! I have a present for you all! A new chappy! Hooray!

:D

You know, I'm never really too sure about any of the chapters I post on here. I'm always kind of scared you all will hate them. X3

Ah well, I guess that's what critics are for! They're for letting me know if you actually do! (Don't worry, I won't be mad if you do, I'll just know to do better next time!)

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"…You're not still mad are you?"

"Hn."

Looking intently through the ruby jewels that were Yami's eyes, Kaiba folded his arms across his chest as he struggled to retain his dull expression. He only dared to go as far as looking through the teen's eyes; looking directly into them would only result in Kaiba falling into some kind of trance-like state like he nearly always did. He frowned weightily, displeased with his incapability to correct the action. Taking the gesture as a sign of continued resentment, Yami frowned as well and said, "I already apologized. I gave your shoes back too. There's no need to hold a grudge."

"Who said I was?" Kaiba queried, surprised at how muffled his normally booming voice sounded in the loud hum that echoed through the airport they stood in.

"It didn't have to be said; I can tell by that look on your face that you are." Yami countered, adding emphasis by pointing with his index finger. He let out a sigh after seeing no change in Kaiba's mood and continued, "I'll make it up to you, okay? Both of you," he gestured to Mokuba who stood quiet the entire time next to Kaiba, holding a large brown paper bag that Yami had handed him with both his and Kaiba's shoes inside, "I promise."

"You better keep that promise!" Mokuba shouted above the noise from the swarm of people in the room. Yami nodded at the boy with a smile.

_"Flight 106 to Vermont, America now boarding. Flight 106 to Vermont, America now boarding."_

Kaiba glanced to the side as he listened to the announcement made on the intercom. Once the message finished he looked over to Yami, who looked back down after he'd finished gazing at the ceiling as he listened as well. Yami adjusted the wide strap of his leather satchel slightly then began tugging at the white fluff surrounding the hood of his dark brown, plaid coat that he wore buttoned up with some faded blue jeans and a pair of grey All Star Converse. The midget peered up at Kaiba, saying, "Well, I guess I should go."

"Where'd your dad go? Didn't he want to see you off?" Mokuba asked Yami.

"Ah, he had a meeting he had to go to or something like that. He had to leave before you two even got here." He shrugged half-heartedly. "Oh well." he added, wearing an expression of apathy as though the matter didn't affect him, but Kaiba had no trouble in detecting the slightest bit of vexation in his unsteady voice. Kaiba had partially expected Mokuba to prod deeper into the subject, but to his surprise the boy held his tongue for once.

Yami flashed an impassive smile before saying, "I guess I'll see you guys in two weeks then."

"But Yaaaaami! Can't you just not go and stay _here_ for the holidays? It would be fuuuun!" Mokuba whined loudly. Yami chuckled at the boy, grinning widely.

"I _have_ to." Yami replied. The raven-haired boy pouted impishly, pretending to brood. "I'll see you later, then. Mokuba." he gestured to the child. He turned his attention to Kaiba, still smiling from ear to ear causing Kaiba to have to look away in order to keep his demeanor.

"Kaiba." Yami finished after a few seconds had passed. Not quite sure what would be the appropriate response to Yami's brief farewell, Kaiba simply chose not to say anything at all and instead just gave a curt nod. The motion was apparently good enough since Yami's grin grew right before he turned and left, his body disappearing into the holiday rush crowded around them. Kaiba allowed a few more moments to go by before spinning around and heading the other direction, informing Mokuba that he was leaving by saying, "Let's go."

The boy trailed closely behind him as they pushed past a stream of people moving in the other direction, taking a shortcut by maneuvering around a line of aqua blue seats sitting back to back. Kaiba finally stepped out of the building a short while later, but with Yami's strange display of behavior on his mind. The way the teen had acted when he spoke about his father was a bit odd to Kaiba. It was even odder to him that his father had left so quickly from the airport before Yami had even gotten on his plane. He pondered the two unusual situations for a while as he strolled halfway down the parking lot with Mokuba at his side, but in the end concluded that it wasn't really any of his business anyway. Besides, he had more pressing matters to worry about. He shivered as he felt a gust of the winter breeze brush by, more than happy to relieve himself of the chilling weather by climbing into his Cadillac XTS Limousine after letting Mokuba hop in first.

He shut the limo's door with a loud slam and tersely bellowed out an order for the chauffeur to drive. Once the wheels finally started moving and the vehicle was in full motion, Kaiba quickly whipped out his phone and punched in a short button combination. He held the cellular device up to his ear and listened to it ring, waiting with his patience on the verge of dissolving for the receiver to pick up.

xxxXxxx

Kaiba tapped his black and gold ballpoint pen on his desk continually as he sat in deep thought.

'Maybe this is a bad idea.' he second-guessed himself. Immediately he tossed the doubtful notion aside. 'No, this must be done. I need answers, no matter how loathsome or irritating it's going to be to get them.' he convinced himself determinedly. He stopped his repetitive tapping when he heard the door to his office creak open. A figure came flying through the doorway, not even bothering to close the door behind them. Kaiba saw a flash of white whip by him and swiveled his seat to the right to get a better look of what was charging toward him.

Without hesitation, he dropped his pen and threw his hand up to stop the oncoming force. A pair of audacious, blue eyes stared down at him daringly. He frowned heavily as he recognized who they belonged to.

"'Ey, whut's the bigh ideah?" Kisara forced out despite her cheeks being squished together and her lips puckered out from Kaiba grabbing her face to stop her from getting any closer. Kaiba shot her a glare and forcefully shoved her head backward, the rest of her body going with it. Kisara stumbled back a bit, then gave him an incredulous look.

"Don't look at me like that. What the hell was that? Just what exactly were you planning to do?" He demanded with arms crossed.

"What do you think I was going to do? You call me in the middle of the day and tell me that you need to speak with me in your office- what am I supposed to think? I figured that Kaiba was getting lonely since his little friend was leaving him and he wanted Kisara to come over and play." she said, posing with her arms up over her head and not at all ashamed that the rose-colored, lacy, long-sleeved crop top and black skirt she wore exposed part of her belly.

"Well you figured wrong. And how did you know Yami was going somewhere?" Kaiba questioned curiously.

"Your brother has a major case of motor mouth." she clarified, bringing her arms back down to her sides. "If that's not what you wanted, then what is it?" she asked as she walked around to the front of the desk and sat in one of the leather chairs set ahead of it. Kaiba took a moment to calm himself before proceeding.

'Geez, it's been less than two minutes and she's already got me ready to slit her throat with this pen.'

"The reason I asked you to come here is because I need to talk to you about yesterday."

"Are you referring to that party last night?"

"I am."

"You know, I went looking for you again after about an hour had gone by of you never taking me up on my offer and I couldn't find you anywhere. That's rude you know, leaving a lady waiting that long. I mean, you can only slide by on playing hard-to-get for so long before the other person gives up."

Kaiba did nothing to stop the twitch his right eye was doing and glared a glare that he could only assume resonated the word "death" or "murder". Kisara shifted in her seat with an uncomfortable gaze, holding one of her hands in the air in surrender.

"W-what's that look for? It was just a joke!"

"This isn't a joke, Kisara."

The woman dropped her hand back down and sat quietly, detecting Kaiba's businesslike tone.

"And don't pretend like you don't know what happened. Just fess up to what you did." he added. Kisara raised an eyebrow at him.

"Huh?"

"That tea." Kaiba simplified, narrowing his eyebrows at her show of cluelessness.

"What about it? Was it bad tea or something?"

"Bad in the sense that it had been spiked with some kind of drug." he stated bluntly, tired of attempting to fish it out of her.

"…What?" Kaiba kept his glare sharp and steady as he remained silent. "So then that's why I couldn't find you, huh? You must've left." she murmured more to herself than to Kaiba after seeming to get over the initial shock of the statement. She caught a glance of Kaiba's expression and furrowed her perfectly shaped brows as her eyes closed into slits. "You…you're not insinuating that **I'm** the one who spiked them, are you?" she asked with controlled anger. Kaiba leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk in front of him, weaving his fingers together.

"You _were_ the one to so charitably give them to us."

"That doesn't mean a damn thing!" Kisara yelled, jumping up from her seat with her anger exploding all at once. Kaiba continued to stare her down, trying to read whether she was being truthful or not. "Kaiba! I didn't put any stupid drugs in the tea! Why the hell would I?"

"That's a good question." Kaiba condescended as he leaned backward into his chair and folded his arms over his chest. Kisara flailed her arms a bit, exasperated.

"You damn well know I wouldn't do that!" she pleaded. Kaiba considered this. Though Kisara was a rude, conniving, stuck up brat, and the clear definition of a bitch, the more he thought about, the more he found it hard to believe that she would stoop as low as to seriously harm someone in such a way. She was more likely to hurt someone emotionally rather than physically, or damage their reputation through cheap tricks. He rubbed his chin as he further elaborated.

That being so, having someone she considered an enemy consume a substance that would make them go loopy like Yami had would be the perfect way to destroy their reputation. Especially if you're someone as famous and as closely monitored as Kaiba. Even so, spiking his drink with something that could possibly injure him seemed too extreme. And he wasn't even that confident if she considered Kaiba an enemy or not. She _did_ just try to lock lips with him and all.

Kaiba slowly ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath before asking, "If it wasn't you, then who could have possibly done it?"

"How the hell would I know?" she yelled, still peeved. "Maybe someone slipped it in when you weren't looking!" Kaiba shook his head.

"That couldn't be it. I'm positive I would have noticed; it was right in front of me." He took a short pause as he thought. "Where exactly did you get the tea from?"

"The room right across from the one you were in. There was an entire table piled with dishes and beverages there." she responded much calmer, somewhat sensing that she was no longer under Kaiba's suspicion, but wasn't necessarily out of the water yet.

"You poured the tea?"

"Yes."

"And no one else touched it at all?"

"No. No one else touched it."

Kaiba sat up straight as he questioned the situation. It was pretty obvious now that Kisara really hadn't been the one to spike the drinks because if she was, she would have been more than happy to jump at the opportunity to pass the blame on to some other unlucky soul.

"Did you talk to anyone while you were getting the tea?" he prodded.

"No I-…wait…no, yes I did." Kisara interjected herself. Kaiba raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in her answer, suspicious.

"You did? Who?"

"That man with the black hair…he owns a game shop in America."

"Mr. Otogi?"

"Yeah, that's his name." she said.

"What did he say?" Kaiba questioned further.

"Well, he introduced himself, asked me what I was doing, and then he started talking about this new invention he came up with or something."

"…And that's it?"

"Yup." Kisara confirmed with a confident nod. "Oh!" she said suddenly. "His son also came over and talked to me as well." Kaiba raised his eyebrow. "The dreamy one with the green eyes." she added unnecessarily.

"And what did he say?"

"Nothing really. Just complemented me on my dress."

"Did you ever have your back turned to either of them?" Kaiba questioned further, starting to come to a conclusion already.

"No. Well I don't think so." she answered. Upon further thought she continued, "Well…maybe…"

"Yes or no." Kaiba pushed.

"Yes." she answered positively. "The father-but it wasn't for very long." Kaiba sighed.

"Apparently he didn't need very long to do what he did."

"…You think he spiked your tea?"

"I don't really see who else it could have been, do you?"

Kisara remained silent for a while, which was something Kaiba assumed was impossible for her to do until now. After a few minutes passed, she spoke up, saying, "So how come I didn't hear about this in the news this morning? The press is pretty fast when it comes to spreading around things like this, especially when it's actually true."

Kaiba took a moment to process the question, then answered with, "Because I wasn't actually the one to drink the tea."

…

"So only the pipsqueak did?" she asked. Kaiba gave a quick nod, wondering where she was going with this. Kisara made a face that you would expect someone that smells something horrid would make and said, "So then that's why you're so avid about getting these answers."

"What was that?" he asked, not liking the direction the conversation turned.

"Just admit it, you were so angry about this because you didn't like the fact that someone messed with your precious little 'friend'." she patronized, adding air quotes to the word "friend".

"No, I was angry because someone attempted to do something that could have damaged my business and _OUR_ show to an extent that might have been irreversible." Kaiba corrected in a low voice, unsure whether he actually believed it or not.

"That's right. **OUR** show. The show featuring Kaibaman and Maiden with Eyes of Blue. Nowhere in there does 'annoying little spikey-haired runt' fit in." Kaiba matched the glare that Kisara sent his way.

"…You can leave now." he said darkly as more of a command than an offer.

"Excuse me-"

"Goodbye."

Kisara stared at Kaiba disbelievingly, unsure of how to respond. She settled with a begrudged, "Hmph!" and turned to leave, but not before adding, "And people say that _I'm_ rude."

Kaiba relaxed in his seat once he heard the door shut close, glad that the woman was gone. He didn't allow himself to dwell on what the white-haired demon had said, and instead focused on the bigger problem plaguing his mind.

Mr. Otogi, the owner of a prestigious business in American called The Black Crown, despite the number of ways he could have displayed his anger toward Kaiba's unwillingness to work with him, chose one of the lowest blows possible and somehow spiked his drink, along with Yami's, with some kind of unknown drug that could have possibly been lethal. Kaiba felt his anger begin to reach its peak at the thought. The obvious thing to do was to call the police, but with Yami already on his plane to America and Mr. Otogi being as powerful as Kaiba was sure he was, doing so would come with complications. He had no proof of what had occurred besides a gut feeling. On top of that, if he were to make such a bold accusation, there was no doubt that it would be all over the media of how he had "framed" Mr. Otogi. He could already see the headlines, the exaggerated magazine stories, the interview requests that he would without a doubt deny seeing as how he had no proof of the action, and that would only cause more gossip to spread.

Kaiba held his head as he tried to find a solution. No, he couldn't go to the police. If he couldn't do that, then there was only one other thing that he could do. He would have to confront Mr. Otogi himself. But to do that, he'd have to wait for the right time. No matter how much he wanted to, he wouldn't go do it now, that would be too immediate. He'd wait a little while; he'd wait until the man thought Kaiba had forgotten about what had happen and catch him by surprise. To do that, he'd have to be patient. Very patient.

* * *

Wowie-wow! What do you think? Is Kisara telling the truth?

I guess you'll never really know until I want you too, huh?

Please review! They make my day!

And thanks so much for reading!


	21. Collecting The Evidence

Greetings, my decorative Christmas ornaments!

OMG, **30** reviews! You guys are amazing!

Just for that, I got you all an early present! A new chappy! Hooray! I hope you like it!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"We've been cleared for landing, sir."

"Alright."

Kaiba gazed thoughtfully back out of the window he sat at with crossed arms. The cars he saw crawling along the skinny streets of the city they hovered over reminded him somewhat of ants as they moved much slower than he knew they were actually going. A stifled voice came from the other room in reply to something the attendant had said, and the woman in turn said something back as well, though Kaiba hadn't been paying enough attention to know what it is they were talking about.

Several minutes passed before the jet plane he resided in began to descend from its high altitude. It was landed with perfect care onto the runway normally only used by airplanes belonging to the airport it connected to, coming to a gentle stop. He listened as the engines to the jet died and glanced over to where the blue curtain separating him from the pilot hung just in time for the attendant to appear from behind them. She quickly made her way to the door on Kaiba's left and spun the wheel attached to the wall next to it, then popped the door open and slowly lower it down, allowing it to fall outside forming a staircase.

Without a word, Kaiba rose from his seat and stepped down the metal stairs onto the solid pavement beneath them. He briskly walked across the concrete toward the black Hyundai Equus that was parked adjacent from the where the jet had landed, not bothering to respond to any of the welcomes he was receiving as he entered the vehicle. The back door was shut closed once he was inside and in a matter of seconds the driver had the car started up and in motion. As he was driven away from the airport, a sign that read "Welcome to Burlington, Vermont" passed by in bold, black letters.

Kaiba drew in a breath to try and relax himself a bit, though the attempt was ineffectual. He clenched his jaw and glared heatedly out of the window on his right.

'Otogi…'

He found himself thinking rather crossly about the man; the man who had supposedly been the one to have thought it a good idea to pour some kind of drug into drinks meant for Yami and himself. Kaiba tightened his fist to suppress his anger.

Apparently Mr. Otogi's business had begun to go downhill after a series of accusations had been made that he was guilty of copyright infringement regarding several companies, including Industrial Illusions, and that he had, on more than one occasion, found a way to string money that other companies had made to his own. These accusations had popped up not long after Yami had left; sometime before Christmas.

With so many negative rumors going around about him and his company, Kaiba found this the perfect time to pay Mr. Otogi a little visit. Hopefully the old fool would be desperate enough for some sort of "light at the end of the tunnel" that he would be dumb enough to assume that Kaiba had come to visit because he had actually considered the man's offer earlier that week of opening up a partnership.

He scanned the buildings around him as the car he sat in came to a stop in the midst of some traffic. They were very different from that in Domino. Each building seemed to be structured a bit differently, though nearly all of them were either built from red bricks or cement. Some buildings had several windows while others had only one or two and sometimes none. As the flow of traffic started to pick up again Kaiba noticed small, purple and white flags lined up in a row on his left, though the significance of them was a mystery to him. Many small, bare trees were lined up along the sidewalks in front of businesses like they didn't want anyone to be able to read the signs above each building clearly for some reason. People roamed the area like they were unaffected by the freezing weather, chatting and goofing around like idiots. The city was still decorated in lights and plastic Christmas greenery for the past holiday, covered with a thin layer of frost from the cold.

After about twenty minutes worth of driving, the chauffeur pulled up to a building with a giant sign in front of it with "Hilton" written on it in glowing white letters. Kaiba shoved the car door open rather than waiting for the driver to get out and do it and stepped out of the vehicle, glowering at the building. Mr. Otogi and his son had come to the city of Burlington to presumably visit family for the holiday, and if he was correct- which he knew he was- the two of them were currently staying in this particular hotel.

Slamming the door behind him, he marched forward toward the front doors of the superstructure plagued with an abundance of massive windows. He permitted the men standing at the entrance to open the glass doors for him, giving a brief nod in their direction as acknowledgement but not going as far as to actually look at them. He strode into the electrically-heated hotel; the long, buttoned-up, navy blue coat that he wore trailing behind him along with one end of his pine green scarf. To his surprise, just the person he was looking for stood before him on the other end of the elegantly furnished room chatting up a storm with some giggly, auburn brown-haired girl.

"Welcome to the Hilton Hotel, sir. Can I help you with something?"

Entirely ignoring the question directed toward him by some idiotic looking man in a suit, without a doubt an employee of the establishment, Kaiba sauntered over to the person he needed to speak with.

"Sir?" He heard the man call out for him, but continued to disregard him.

"Otogi." Kaiba called out above the even hum the room echoed, coming to a stop on the marble floor a few feet behind the said person. Bright green eyes whipped around in his direction in response.

"…Can I help you with something?" he asked in a bitter tone, obviously not too happy about being interrupted. Kaiba simply stood there for a moment to allow his instantly flared temper to simmer back down, then silently reached up and slid a pair of sunglasses he was sporting down his nose a bit to reveal his eyes.

"Kaiba!?" the teen exclaimed in a hushed voice. "W-what brings you here?" he finally managed to ask after overcoming the surprise, switching from the English he had at first been speaking to Japanese out of courtesy.

"Hey…is that…?" the girl Otogi had been talking with piped up, seeming to almost be able to identify Kaiba instantly just by seeing his eyes.

"I've come to speak with your father." Kaiba stated, getting straight to the point. "And I have no desire to stay here long, so I suggest you don't waste any more of my time and tell me where he is." he demanded, pushing the shades back where they belonged on his face.

"About the partnership?" the teen assumed. Kaiba said nothing in return and simply folded his arms across his chest to warn the boy that he was serious about not wasting time. "O-of course! I'll take you to him right now!"

"Ryuji?" the girl questioned, not understanding the conversation.

"I'm afraid something's come up, sweet cheeks. But don't worry, I shouldn't be too long." he explained to her in English, then quickly turning back to Kaiba with an affirmative nod.

Kaiba allowed himself to be led into an elevator on the far side of the room and watched as the dark-haired teen pushed the number "6" on the number pad. Once they had reached the designated floor and the metallic doors had slid back open, the boy stepped out into the newly revealed hallway and began making his way down the long corridor with Kaiba not far behind him, their footsteps being the only sound to resonate through the quiet hall. Otogi slowed to a stop when they had made it nearly all the way down the narrow pathway and turned to the left after fishing out a small key from the pocket of his black jeans. Then, after straightening up his red vest a bit, he fit the key into the door knob and opened the door with a quick twist.

"Father." he called out in a respectful tone. On the opposite end of the room, the rustling of papers was heard as a man who sat piteously in a dark brown Victoria leather sofa turned his head in the direction of the teen's voice.

"What is it, Ryuji?" the man demanded in an exhausted tone.

"Mr. Kaiba has come to see you. He wants to talk to you about the partnership we offered to him about a week ago." the young teen replied, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. The man's head nearly snapped off of his neck as fast as he looked up at that. His gaze immediately landed on Kaiba and for several moments he merely sat there staring at Kaiba like some kind of imbecile. Finally, what his son had said seemed to have registered in his brain and he feverishly appropriated the situation he believed himself to be in.

"Oh! Of course! I'd be more than happy to discuss the matter with you Mr. Kaiba. Please, sit, sit! Make yourself at home." He all of a sudden sputtered out exuberantly. His son led the way over to where Mr. Otogi was seated at, and Kaiba hesitantly and despondently sat in the matching seat across from him. His son sat down on the couch as well after moving some papers around on the coffee table set between them in an attempt to make it seem tidier. It was so pitifully obvious that the two of them were desperate for this deal the both of them thought Kaiba had come to discuss to work out.

'How pathetic.' Kaiba thought sourly, feeling not one ounce of sympathy toward them.

"Now then," Mr. Otogi began, just the sound of his voice rapidly making Kaiba's rage grow. "I find it to be to both of our advantages to get this deal put into motion right away. I have many ideas that I can assure you will be profitable to the both of us. I suppose I can get into detail about that later though."

Kaiba didn't respond, and instead just removed the sunglasses that had been perched on his nose, folding them slowly and placing them onto the table in front of him. He placed both of his hands into his coat pockets and sent a steady glare to the man, ready to get down to business.

"Mr. Otogi." he started with a dangerously even voice. "There have been many rumors going around lately about you. Like the one about you wiring money to your own company from other, more successful ones. Or like the one about your intended theft of copyrighted materials. Tell me, are any of these true?"

There was a long pause before the man spoke up.

"…Excuse me?"

"I'm asking you if these rumors about you are true. Are you a thief, Mr. Otogi?"

Another pause.

"What? No, I…"

"No? Then how do you think these rumors came about?"

"I…you know how the media is…" he answered shakily.

"So I suppose the media also fabricated all of the evidence pointing to the fact that a good portion of your company's merchandise _is_ filled with copyrighted materials?"

"…"

"…Aren't we supposed to be discussing the deal we talked about? That is why you came here." The man's son spoke up to make up for Mr. Otogi's lack of explanation.

"Not once did I ever say that that was my reason for coming here. You're the one who assumed it."

The teen blinked at Kaiba disbelievingly, then narrowed his eyes with anger.

"You…"

"Answer my question, Mr. Otogi. I'm getting impatient." Kaiba pressed stubbornly, his gaze unfaltering.

"Listen… if you'd just take a moment and at least consider the offer I'm making…"

"I, under no circumstances, would ever want to make such a deal with you, you pitiful, half-witted dolt. I'd never lower myself to work with such a spineless idiot. Ever. Understand?" Kaiba spewed acidly. He observed as Mr. Otogi's eyes grew wide with wrath in reaction to Kaiba's slew of insults, his mouth curling up into a heavy frown.

"You-"

"Now I suggest that you just come clean about what you've done. There's no point in trying to hide it." Kaiba interrupted the man, unable to control the gaze he held on him any longer and full on glaring straight into his cold, crazed-looking eyes. His thought of seeing insanity in Mr. Otogi's eyes had been a direct bull's-eye as the man suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter, hugging his abdomen as he cackled away with saucer-sized eyes.

Once he had finally finished his display, in between abrupt chuckles here and there he said, "My *heheh!*, it seems we have some kind of damn detective here! *hahahahaha!* Tell me *hmf!*, why are you even bothering to ask me when it seems perfectly clear that you already know!" Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows but left his glare persistent. He chose to ignore the fact that Mr. Otogi seemed to have just had some kind of snap in his mental stability and continued.

"So then you admit it. Both rumors are true."

"Yeah! They are and so what!? Just what the hell are you going to do about it huh!? Go ahead, tell the police! It's not like they don't already know about them! I'm such an influential person that they'll do everything they can to ignore any accusations made against me without any hard proof! And what proof do you have exactly? None!" Another fit of laughter. "Did you really think you'd just waltz in here and I'd fall to my knees begging for forgiveness and promising to confess? Are you honestly that egotistical? What a joke!"

Kaiba stood up from his chair lightning bolt-fast, causing the coffee table to be pushed back slightly from the force. He felt himself shake with anger and desperately strained to control his temper, sensing that getting bent out of shape was just what Mr. Otogi wanted. Through the action, Kaiba had kept his hands clenched tightly in his pockets, never taking them out.

"…On the night of that party." Kaiba forced himself to say with controlled anger. "You and your son spoke to a woman named Kisara as she was pouring tea into two cups, correct?" There was a short pause before he continued. "Did you by chance find it to be suitable to spike each cup upon learning who they were for?" Mr. Otogi grinned madly, not even hesitant to answer.

"Why yes, I did-"

In a flash of blind rage Kaiba leapt toward the insolent man, shoving the table between them to the side causing the papers on it to go flying. He used both of his hands to grab the man's shirt collar, feeling a wave of satisfaction hit him when he heard him yelp out in pain.

"Father!" he heard Mr. Otogi's son yell. The teen quickly hopped up and grabbed Kaiba's arm, trying to yank it away. Kaiba glared darkly over to him, sending all of his fury raging toward him at once. He felt the teen's grip on his arm loosen, but the boy refused to let go.

"Go ahead Kaiba! Do it! Let all of your anger out on me! I fucking dare you! I'd like to see how you plan to explain what you do to the authorities!" Mr. Otogi taunted with a look of sheer lunacy as he broke out into more laughter. Kaiba frowned at the man's breath, deciding that holding his breath was the best option whilst he was this close to him. He closed his eyes in concentration as he tried to lower his anger level. Finally, he let go of Mr. Otogi's shirt, heaving the man backwards into the couch. The son in turn released Kaiba's arm, immediately turning around to attend to his possibly injured father.

"What's the matter Kaiba? You're wussing out on me?"

Kaiba turned away from the man and walked over to the table he had unintentionally flipped over, reaching down to pick up his sunglasses that surprisingly didn't break.

"Come on Kaiba! We still have so much to discuss!"

He continued to ignore the ridiculous banter as he put the shades back on. The man wasn't even worth beating the shit out of like he had had the urge to do a few moments before.

"Mr. Otogi." Kaiba said as he made his way to the door, never turning around to look at the man. He stopped right in front of the exit, then continued, "I'm going to make you wish you'd never taken one pathetic breath into this world. You'll regret the day you crossed roads with me! Senile old bat!"

"Oh, I'm _so_ scared!" he crooned. "Wait Kaiba, don't you have any fight left in you!?" Mr. Otogi kept going, the question followed by more cackling. Kaiba disregarded the tempting notion and left the room, slamming the door unnecessarily loud behind him. He could still hear the mad man's muffled ranting and raving through the walls as he walked away down the hall.

Kaiba stepped out of the hotel fuming. The winter chill that surrounded him did nothing to cool down his overheated temper as he marched away from the building to his black Hyundai, more than happy to leave. However, before he had the chance to make it to the vehicle, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Kaiba?"

The brunette stopped abruptly and angrily turned in the direction of the voice, agitated that he'd been sidetracked. Magenta, black, and blonde spikes of hair shocked him into silence along with a pair of deep red eyes boring straight into his. Kaiba felt a light flutter stir in his stomach but quickly remembered how angry he was and forced the feeling away.

"Yami…?" he replied questioningly as if he didn't recognize the only person he knew that harbored such strange characteristics.

"It is you." Yami confirmed more to himself than Kaiba. The midget strolled over to the young CEO, slowing to a stop a couple feet in front of him before he continued the conversation. "What brings you to Burlington so close to New Year's?" he asked with raised eyebrows as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his dark brown coat to protect them from the cold. Kaiba noticed that the short teen's nose was slightly pink and he wondered for a split second how long he'd been outside and even considered offering to drive him home, but soon realized that he was pressed for time and wouldn't be able to bother with such a thing.

'Besides, Yami's more than capable of simply walking.' he convinced himself. Kaiba could have kicked himself for forgetting that Burlington, Vermont had been the place Yami had mentioned he'd be going. He thought the place sounded familiar.

It was then that Kaiba realized that Yami was starting to give him a strange look, and he frantically began trying to figure out why.

'Oh yeah, he asked me a question...' he remembered.

"I know!" Yami chirped all of a sudden before Kaiba had the chance to actually answer. "You came all this way just to see me! Oh, Kaiba if you were going to miss me that much all you had to do was tell me." he teased with a wide smirk. Kaiba frowned, still peeved at what had happened earlier and in no mood for jokes.

"Like hell I did. I had some business to attend to you arrogant egomaniac."

He instantly found himself regretting the insult he'd added to the end. Yami's smirk slowly straightened out into a thin line as his eyes narrowed into a surprisingly lethal glare. He raised his eyebrows as if contemplating how to respond, and after a few moments had passed, he breathed in a deep breath and allowed a small smile to grace his face as he said, "Since you're here, would you like to stick around a bit? There's this neat game shop I was headed to if you'd like to come with me." Kaiba blinked, a bit taken aback that the teen hadn't lost his temper like he seemed he would. Brushing it off, he shook his head.

"I need to get going actually." he replied in a much calmer tone. Yami smiled a bit wider despite the rejection to his offer.

"I see." he said. "That's probably for the best. For some reason I get the feeling Mokuba might have a fit if he finds out you went somewhere with me without him." he mused, tickled at the thought.

"Hn." was all Kaiba said. He was probably right though.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then, Kaiba." Yami said with a large grin. He took one hand out of his coat to wave with as he walked away, seeming to already know that Kaiba wasn't going to say a farewell back. Kaiba watched as the young teen walked away and even continued to stare in the direction he had gone long after he was no longer visible. He felt a tightening in his chest as he stared at nothing, recognizing the feeling as something he'd only felt a few time in his life. Guilt. He felt guilty for insulting Yami so unnecessarily. The same man who could bark out a slew of insults at any of his employees for the simplest mistakes and feel absolutely nothing felt guilty about calling a teenage boy one name. Of course he knew why he felt that way. He had already admitted to himself that he…like Yami more than most, but still…

The ride to the airport seemed dreadfully long compared to how it had been coming from it. When he finally did arrive, Yami was still weighing heavily on his mind. He regrettably felt a bit sorry for his behavior and wished that there was some way he could correct what he did.

'Still and yet, what's done is done. Yami will get over it. Hell, he probably already has and I'm sitting here dwelling on something that doesn't even matter.' he thought determinedly. In the words of his brother, he was _Seto-freaking-Kaiba_. He had much more significant matters to trouble himself with. Like that poor excuse for a human being: Otogi.

"Hey." He commanded attention from one of the men standing in front of his ready-to-board jet. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, silver and black device that had various buttons such as "play" and "rec." on it along with many small holes to form a speaker. He handed it to the suited man who uncertainly took it, observing the recording device.

"Sir?" he questioned.

"Take that to the nearest police station. And when they ask you who recorded what's on there, keep the name unknown, understood?"

"Ah…yes sir."

Kaiba smirked darkly as he turned away and climbed the steps up to his jet.

'No evidence, hm? We'll see about that.'

* * *

Jeez, who knew that Otogi guy was so crazy? Well, like…I mean everyone kinda knew but still…

Stupid Kaiba! Don't take your anger out on other people! For shame!

Please keep those reviews coming! They make me so happy to read!

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has/had a great: Hanukkah, Solstice/Yule, Bodhi Day, Karthikai Deepam, Kwanza, or Christmas!


	22. Odd Behavior

Tada! Another chapter! Holy cow!

I hope you all had a great New Years! I wish you luck with all of your resolutions!

Now, on with the fic!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

The rhythmic tapping off fingers against the keyboard of his laptop drilled dully into his ears as Kaiba's eyes wandered from left to right on the email he was currently focusing his attention on.

"-and if what I have instructed you to do is not dealt with immediately, rest assured that I will have no problem dealing with the issue myself and leaving you without a job."

The brunette finished the last sentence of his letter and ruthlessly hit "send" without giving a second thought to the callousness of his threat. It wasn't like his employees weren't used to his cruelty by now.

Once the little wheel that spun inside of the sending box in the corner of the screen had ceased, Kaiba moved on to the next unlucky email recipient. This cycle of "type, send, next" had been an ongoing pattern for the entirety of the young CEO's day, keeping him busy without one moment to spare. Honestly Kaiba was glad that he was being kept busy. It kept his mind off of a certain someone he'd happened to run into during his brief visit to America. For the past few days work around his company had been painfully slow and nearly every free moment he'd had he found his mind roam back to his encounter with Yami. He'd remember how cold he'd been to the boy and would bathe in the guilt he felt eating at him. It was strange; he'd been rude to the teen a number of times before, so why was he feeling this way only this particular time? Maybe it was the way Yami had looked at him with those large red eyes so full of scorn. Despite that, the boy had simply overlooked the insult thrown his way and moved on to a different topic in the blink of an eye like Kaiba's comment had been nothing more than a speck of dust on his coat that he merely had to flick away.

Such thoughts had been the bane of his existence since Kaiba had returned home, almost making him regret ever going to Burlington, Vermont. Some good did come from the trip however. He'd succeeded in his quest for the culprit of the spiked green tea and was even able to expose the bastard. News of the recording that Kaiba had had turned in spread extraordinarily fast and Mr. Otogi was promptly arrested not very long after. Needless to say, business for the Black Clown went downhill fast. Kaiba gave it about six months before the building would be forced to shut down.

There was a loud click as Kaiba bashed the left click button on his laptop, sending yet another email. He allowed his eyes to wander down to the bottom right side of the screen where the time and date was listed, reading "Sat, Jan 3" before returning his gaze back to what he was doing.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day when Yami would be back in Domino. He loathed to admit it, even if it was just to himself, but he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious for that day. Not just because he would see Yami again, but also because he was unsure how the midget would behave toward him in response to Kaiba's unexplained rudeness. He took in a deep breath. He'd just have to wait until tomorrow to find out. There was no point in getting uptight about it.

'Besides, I have no reason to worry about something so miniscule.' he convinced himself for the umpteenth time.

Just as Kaiba was about to begin his final email for the day, he heard the familiar monotone ring of the black telephone placed to the left of him and sighed in response. He glared at the device as if it would simply stop ringing if he did so and despondently lifted the phone from its place.

"What is it?" he demanded after glancing down to see that it was his receptionist calling.

"Mister Kaiba, there is a young boy here to see you who claims to be a friend of yours." Kaiba raised an eyebrow at the statement, not sure who it was that she could be talking about. He didn't have time for this; there was still work he needed to do. He opened his mouth to tell her to kick whoever it was out, but a muffled mumble on the other end that sounded rather similar to a certain someone stopped him. That voice sounded oddly familiar…almost like-

"He says that his name is Yami."

Kaiba froze.

What?

Yami? He was back already? What the hell was he doing here? He wasn't supposed to be back until tomorrow! Kaiba tightened the grip he held on the phone and brought his free hand up to his head, feeling a wave of confusion nearly drown him. He closed his eyes and tried to force some kind of order out to the woman on the other end rather than just remain silent, but came up with nothing and simply clenched his jaw in frustration. Why was it that every time Yami was involved he got so anxious!?

"…Shall I send him up to you, Mister Kaiba?" the woman asked after a good number of seconds had ticked by without a reply. Kaiba quickly gathered himself, finding it utterly ridiculous that the mere mention of a name could invoke such a reaction from him.

"Go on." he finally answered in a low voice. He speedily hung up the phone and turned back to the task at hand, refusing to allow himself to be affected by his rapidly flying heart rate or the fluttering in his stomach. He typed mercilessly away at the laptop's keyboard as he used the short span of time he had to build up his infamous stone face, determined not to let his true emotions show under any circumstances.

After what seemed like not enough time for him to fully prepare himself, he heard the door to his office creak open. Kaiba decided not to take any chances by looking up, even when he heard the door click shut.

"Yami." he greeted calmly, still focused on what he was typing.

"Hello, _'Mister Kaiba'_." the teen replied teasingly, mimicking the receptionist's tone. Kaiba was caught off guard by the joke and ended up having to hit the backspace button to correct a mistake he made. Nevertheless, he continued.

"You're back early, aren't you?"

"Yes. There was a winter storm about to hit Burlington; the flight I had planned to take would have probably been delayed and I would have missed a few days of school, so I took an earlier one." Yami explained.

"I see." Kaiba replied, now less confused. After a few moments of silence he asked, "Is there any particular reason you chose to come here?"

"Can't a friend come to visit after being gone for two weeks?"

"I find it rather odd that said friend would choose to visit at work."

"Well when 'said friend' is visiting someone who works past midnight, it's a bit difficult to do otherwise." Yami countered.

"Hn." was all Kaiba had to say on the matter. "How was your trip?" he asked, trying to find something to continue the conversation with. There was a brief moment of quietness before Yami replied.

"Cold. But it was fine I suppose."

"Hn. Well it's good that you made it back safely."

…

…

Kaiba stopped typing at his computer when he noticed that Yami hadn't said anything and that silence had settled around the two of them. He struggled to keep his gaze set on the screen of his laptop, but the feeling of Yami's eyes boring into him was becoming very strong. He made an internal sigh and finally looked up to see the tri-color haired teen leaning over his desk and staring at Kaiba with a look of extreme skepticism. The crimson-eyed boy frowned at Kaiba.

"You feeling okay? You're being awfully polite. It's weird."

Kaiba felt a mixture of emotions hit him like a baseball bat and his stone face crumble as if it was made of sand. He chose to latch on to the emotion that would cause him the least humility to work with, which was being offended at Yami's previous statement.

"Fine then, remind me not to attempt having any well-mannered conversations with you seeing as that is apparently an impossible task." he said angrily, but still able to hold his composure. Yami chuckled and stood back up straight, not letting the notion bother him. Kaiba had to frown to keep himself from letting a smile slip through upon seeing Yami sport one and looked away from the teens face. It was then that he noticed that Yami was carrying a large, white gift bag in his right hand.

"What the hell is that?" he asked sourly to cover up the fact that he was genuinely curious about it.

"Oh."

Yami lifted the bag up and placed it on Kaiba's desk, letting it make a small "thud."

"It's a gift. Happy late Christmas I guess." Yami explained with a half-smile. "_That's_ actually my real reason for coming." he clarified, pointing to the bag.

Kaiba looked at Yami, then the bag, then back at Yami. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, instantly suspicious.

"What do you want?" he demanded. Yami raised an eyebrow and wore an amused smirk.

"Can't I just give you a present out of the kindness of my heart?"

Kaiba thought for a moment, then said, "I never asked you for anything."

"Maybe so." Yami considered with a shrug. Once another few seconds passed without Kaiba touching the gift bag, he added, "Don't worry, I got Mokuba something too. I do owe you, right?"

Kaiba gave Yami a final look of mistrust before he finally gave in and grabbed the bag with a sigh. He removed the contents to discover a black box had been what was placed inside. He placed the box down onto his desk and raised the top open to peer inside. A set of metallic chess pieces stared back up at him imbedded in a purple, cloth interior. Kaiba looked back up at Yami.

"You do realize that I already own a chess set, right?" he questioned. Yami nodded.

"I know. But look, this one's really cool; it's made out of steel and all of the pieces are shaped like what they really are." He reached into the box and picked up one of the silver pieces that was shaped like a man wearing a large crown on his head. "See? The King looks like a King."

Kaiba inspected the set for a short while, but stopped what he was doing when he felt the sensation of eyes burning a whole into his skull again. Reluctantly, he looked back up at Yami.

"What?" he inquired.

"Isn't this the part when you say 'Gee, thanks Yami so much for this wonderful gift!'? I mean, that would be the proper thing to do, right?" Yami prodded with a teasing smile, imitating Kaiba's voice. Kaiba frowned at the thought of having to say "thank you" to Yami. Whether it was the proper thing to do or not, he didn't want to. It just sounded like an embarrassing thing to do. Especially since Yami went and pointed out that he should like he was some kind of child. Kaiba looked off to the side, beginning to feel angered, but mostly humiliated.

"…Why should I say 'thank you' for something I neither asked for nor wanted?" he spat, his face feeling a little warm. He hoped beyond hope that he wasn't blushing again.

Yami seemed to actually ponder the thought, but simply shrugged in response. Another wave of silence passed and a familiar feeling began to agitate Kaiba.

Again with the eyes.

Kaiba glared up at Yami.

"What now?"

"Let's play." Yami said, gesturing to the chess set. Kaiba leaned back in his chair slowly, crossing his arms once more.

"I can't. I have work that needs to be done." he said truthfully, all feelings of pleasure in having work to do now diminished completely.

"I see." Yami said disappointedly. The disappointment didn't last for long, however, and a mischievous smirk formed on his face that reminded Kaiba of Mokuba. "Well if that's the case, then we'll just play tomorrow."

Yami turned to leave before Kaiba had even fully registered what he'd said.

"Excuse me?" Kaiba questioned sternly once he had realized what the boy had said. Yami stopped walking away and stood silent for a short moment.

"I'll be by your house tomorrow around, say, 2:30, and we can play then." He turned his head to Kaiba, his face displaying a determined, yet hesitant smile.

"Don't be late." was the last thing he said before slipping out of the room.

"Hey, what a second-"

Kaiba was cut off by the door being shut before he could question Yami's motives. He furrowed his eyebrows and ran his fingers through his chestnut hair, unsure whether he should feel uneasy or excited.

'That was…odd.'

* * *

Indeed Kaiba, indeed. But in a good way!

Of course I had to bring Yami back in this chapter! It just wouldn't feel right without him~

Okay, so just as a heads up, I finished the layout for this story and I'm thinking that it will be around 33 to 34 chapters long. BUT! I'm going to try my best to stretch it to 35 because I like that number a lot better! *nods vigorously* (=w=)

Welp, thanks for reading!

And don't forget to review! :D Constructive criticism is always welcomed!


	23. Worse Than Defeat

*Looks back at Ch.13*:

_"I plan on updating at least once a week, probably every Saturday."_

*Laughs hysterically*

Enjoy ;3

* * *

Frowning, Kaiba clenched his teeth to prevent them from chattering as he stepped out into the harsh winter air, pulling his large, silver briefcase from the vehicle he'd been riding in a few moments before. He stood before his extravagant mansion, inspecting the glistening frost that lay on the taupe rooftop. After a moment, he marched forward, squinting his eyes to protect them from the freezing wind. Once he'd made it inside he wasted no time in striding down the hall in front of him, stopping at the doors at the end.

Pensively, Kaiba lifted his hand over the doorknob, allowing it hover in place for a short while. Finally, making an extra effort to sport a blank expression, he shoved the door open.

"Ni-sama!"

Kaiba looked over to the cream couch sitting near the center of the room at his younger brother. The boy smiled widely at him, undoubtedly due to the spikey-haired guest sitting next to him. Kaiba tightened the grip on his briefcase's handle, determined not to allow his gaze to falter once it had been settled on the teen. Yami held a steady gaze back at the brunette after realizing he had entered the room.

"You're late." was the first thing he said, pointing and accusative finger in Kaiba's direction. Kaiba's frown grew as he simply walked over to the glass table ahead of him and set his briefcase down next to it.

"Some of us have actual work to attend to you know." he countered a few moments later, choosing to stand his ground rather than allow the comment to slide. Yami only shrugged at the remark.

"I guess I just assumed you were more punctual than that." Yami backfired with an impish smirk. Kaiba narrowed his eyes at him, finding himself quickly aggravated with his arrogant attitude.

"Now, now, you two. You haven't even started the game yet and you're already trash talking!" Mokuba laughed, attempting to hold a scolding tone. Kaiba glanced off to his younger brother, allowing Yami's comment go for the moment.

"Don't you have homework you need to finish or something? Don't act like you didn't procrastinate the entire time you've been off." Kaiba snapped at Mokuba. The raven-haired boy quickly averted his eyes and bit down on the inside of his lip.

"…no…"

Authoritatively, Kaiba folded his arms over his chest and raised his brow to warn the boy.

After a short standoff between the two, Mokuba finally gave in, puffing out his cheeks as he turned to leave with a small "hnf." Once the boy had made it upstairs and Kaiba could hear the unhappy stomps of unruliness above his head, he hesitantly turned back to Yami. The teen looked straight back at Kaiba, his eyes burning with what could only be assumed as determination. Kaiba forced himself to stare back just as unwaveringly into the scorching ruby orbs, resolute not to allow himself to become lost in them. He felt the fire that had formed in his eyes as well burn down to his belly as he contemplated the challenge he'd be up against this time. Before he could drive it away, Kaiba felt the corner of his mouth curl up into a smirk as he almost became excited about the chess game he was about to take part in. After a short amount of time had passed, Kaiba realized that Yami hadn't said anything and so, took the liberty of being the first to speak up.

"Are we going to just stand here or are we going to play?!" he commanded more so than asked. Yami's eyes widened a bit at the sudden statement, but nodded ardently with a grin.

It was evident rather early in the game just how skilled Yami had become in such a short amount of time. They weren't even 20 minutes into the game and the runt had already managed to take both Kaiba's Rook and his Knight. Not without consequence of course; Kaiba had easily rid him of his Bishop, Knight, and a Pawn as well. The brunette furrowed his eyebrows as he contemplated his next move. He tapped his index finger rhythmically against his elbow as he thought, then finally reached over to his other Knight and moved it to the left in an "L" shape, placing it diagonal to Yami's Rook and in front of one of his Pawns. Satisfied with his move, he pulled his hand away and glanced up to the teen sitting transverse to him. To his surprise, he saw Yami quickly jerked his head to the side once he'd noticed that Kaiba had lifted his head up. Blinking, Kaiba leaned back in his spot on the love seat he was perched on as he observed Yami stare overly-focused at the chess board in between them in an attempt to cover up what had just happened. Kaiba raised an eyebrow.

Was Yami just staring at him?

He quickly shook the thought away only for it to come rebounding back at him like a boomerang. Traveling back a few seconds, he reaffirmed that the spikey-haired half-pint had indeed been staring at him, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. A dozen reasons as to why the teen might have been doing so whizzed through his brain as he found the behavior to be a bit odd. Sure, Kaiba had done the same thing the first time they had played chess, but he later discovered that the reason for it was because he had feelings slightly stronger than that of a friend for the boy. That obviously couldn't be the reason Yami had been doing it.

'That would be ridiculous.' he thought to himself.

With that thought, he exhaled a silent breath, finding himself feeling almost disappointed.

Returning his attention to the game in front of him, he watched as Yami used his first finger to slowly slide one of his Pawns forward one space. Kaiba narrowed his eyes into slits at the move. The way he had positioned his piece diagonal to Kaiba's Bishop made it seem as though he wanted him to take it, and it was quickly discovered why as the teen's Knight would easily take hold of the piece afterwards. Scanning the area around his piece, he realized that there was no other space he could move it to without it being taken by either a different Pawn or Yami's own Bishop. Not moving the piece at all, however, would mean that it would get taken by the Pawn the boy had just moved.

Regrettingly, Kaiba set his Bishop into the trap by taking Yami's Pawn. It was better than simply allowing his piece to be stolen away.

Smirking, Yami quickly scooped up Kaiba's Bishop and placed his Knight in the vacant spot, triumphantly setting the opposing player's piece next to the board. His smugness didn't last for long, though. Kaiba easily found and opening in Yami's defenses and grabbed his metallic Rook, sliding it to the end of the board on Yami's side.

"Check."

Upon seeing this, Yami's smile flipped into a small frown and he knitted his eyebrows together as he focused on what he should do next to annihilate the threat. He grabbed a bundle of his golden hair and pulled it up to his face like Kaiba had remembered him doing the first time they played, and he silently wondered if pretending like he had facial hair made Yami feel smarter. Finally, the teen scooted his King up one space, taking the safest route out.

"So…do you like the chess set?"

Kaiba glanced up from the board at the question, but quickly refocused his attention.

"Sure. I guess." he answered plainly, careful not to sound too interested in the conversation.

"What kind of other gifts did you get for Christmas?"

"Nothing much. Mokuba is the one who receives most of the gifts." he answered truthfully, though a bit skeptical why Yami was asking him such questions.

"I see." Yami responded.

"And you?" Kaiba found himself asking in return. So much for acting like he wasn't interested.

"Me?" Yami questioned redundantly. He shrugged. "Games, clothes, you know, the things you usually get for Christmas." There was a pause as Kaiba finally took his turn. "Oh." Kaiba looked up from the board, as did Yami. "I also got this." He motioned to a skinny silver chain that dangled around his neck and looped through a small, golden, triangular pendent hanging over his long-sleeved, black shirt. A single eye stared back at Kaiba from the pendent. "My brother gave it to me." he added with a small grin.

"Hn."

Kaiba looked at the symbol for a bit longer, swearing that he'd seen it somewhere before. Once he recognized where, he looked away.

"Did the two of you finish that puzzle you were so adamant about taking with you? You know, the one that's supposedly supposed to grant you some kind of 'magic powers'?" Kaiba continued the small talk, not particularly bothered by it.

"Heh." Yami huffed out a short, detached laugh as he moved another one of his Pawns forward. "No, _'we'_ didn't. But to be honest, _I've_ finished the puzzle myself already quite some time ago. I mostly take it with me when I visit to let my brother try and figure it out; I just give him pointers here and there." he admitted.

"Is that so? Tell me, did you gain any magical powers from doing so?" Kaiba asked with heavy sarcasm. Yami let out a knowing sigh.

"No, Kaiba. I didn't gain any magical powers."

"You don't say?" he condescended with an I-fucking-told-you-so expression. Yami rolled his eyes to the sky in response, but said nothing to counter the statement.

"Speaking of Yugi," Yami changed the subject after Kaiba had moved one of his own Pawns, "He really enjoyed getting that poster you were ever so kind to sign for me." Kaiba lifted an eyebrow.

"You mean the one that you essentially tricked me and Kisara into signing?"

"That's the one." Yami chirped, not at all ashamed.

"Hn. So that was your reason for wanting it? To give to your brother." Kaiba more confirmed to himself than asked Yami, feeling a sting in his ego as if a nail had been jabbed into it at the thought that Yami didn't actually want the poster for himself. Though, he was aware that feeling such a way was silly.

"Yup." Yami said, unknowingly hammering the nail in deeper. "But I will admit," Kaiba looked back up at the young teen as he spoke up again, "I did kind of want to keep it..."

Kaiba didn't bother to cover up a snort as he felt a prominent smirk form on his face. Yami sent him a short glare in response, but quickly turned back to the game that was still in progress. Kaiba did as well, but not without noticing a light blush form on the teen's cheeks.

xxxXxxx

Kaiba stared incredulously at the chess board perched on the glass table in front of him.

He'd just finished his turn by using his Pawn-his only piece besides his King left, to his shock and dismay,-to capture Yami's Rook. Observing further, he noted that the only two pieces on Yami's side of the board now were a Pawn and his King as well. He frowned heavily, scrunching his nose and brow to form creases in between his eyes.

Yami stared at the board for a long while, then picked up his lonely Pawn and placed it in the spot right in front of Kaiba's; the only direction he could move it. The two pieces sat next to each other, blocking one another from moving anymore.

"This…" Yami trailed off. Kaiba peered up to the boy, staring past his crimson eyes. "Is this…a…stalemate?"

Kaiba leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed, still frowning. He swallowed down a wave of anger he felt rush through him at the thought and gave a curt nod without having to assess the predicament any further. Yami held his chin between his thumb and index finger as he inspected the way the pieces were set up a bit more. Kaiba stared a hole through the pile of silver pieces on the opposite side of the table, wondering how he'd allowed such a thing to occur. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, finding the idea that he (an experienced player) having a tie with Yami (a mere beginner in Kaiba's eyes) ridiculous.

Coming to a stalemate like this was a discontinuity in the ever precise flow of the game. Having to end the game by being so completely humiliated as to not being able to make a move was simply unmerited. To Kaiba, putting your all into the game and making every move you can conjure and losing wasn't nearly as bad as stopping the game because no more moves could be taken.

With this thought, Kaiba stood, ready to vent out his anger on Yami, but biting back his tongue when the teen gazed up at the CEO. After a few moments, Yami was the one to speak up.

"…Kaiba, are you angry?" the teen asked confusedly.

For some reason, the fact that Yami had asked him that only angered him more.

Without a sound, Kaiba simply glared at the boy who, in an immediate reaction, stared just as strongly back into his icy-blue eyes. The two of them stayed like that for a bit, almost in silent conversation. Kaiba was the first to look away, cursing himself for doing so.

"I have a meeting I need to get to." was what he said as an excuse. He was glad that he actually did, giving him something to do to take his mind off of what had happened. Yami remained quiet as Kaiba gathered his belongings, turned, and strode away to the doors that lead out of the room.

Before he'd left the room, however, Kaiba found himself come to a sudden stop.

This particular situation somewhat reminded him of what had taken place in America when he had run into Yami there. The coldness he'd treated Yami with had haunted him days afterwards, even _if_ all he'd done was insult the boy a little. A nasty feeling similar to what he'd felt then began creeping up on him, and he found that he would feel rotten if he left things as they were, even _if_ he was still infuriated with the game's outcome.

The youth abruptly spun around to face Yami, his glare from earlier replaced with a determined, intent look. Yami's eyes widened at the sudden action.

"Don't think this ends here. Next game won't end in a tie!" he proclaimed. Yami started, then gave a large grin, nodding in agreement.

"You're right, it won't. Next time I'll be the victor!" he challenged with daring eyes, making something stir in Kaiba.

"Hn. We'll see about that." Kaiba dared, unable to mask the smile tugging at his lips. He turned back around and left the room without another word, finding that nothing more needed to be said.

Seto Kaiba left his home feeling an awful lot better about the stalemate than he thought he would.

* * *

That's so like Kaiba, to get angry about a draw.

***cough, cough*, Season 0 ,*cough, cough***

Yes, sadly Ancient Egyptian magic is to be nonexistent in this particular story. But that doesn't mean a different kind of magic won't be if you catch my drift. ;)

Yeah, I'm pretty inconsistent when it comes to updating. Please don't hurt me. (QAQ)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thanks so, so much for reading and putting up with my erratic updates! And please review!


	24. You Still Owe Me

That's right, it's yet another chapter! I know you've been waiting for quite a bit, but here it is finally!

So excited! :D

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

It was starting to become unnerving to Kaiba.

He'd spent a good amount of time watching a particular tri-color haired pipsqueak wander aimlessly down the street from the comfort of his automated vehicle for some time now, and it was quite unsettling.

When he saw him finally round the corner and disappear from sight, he decided that he should probably follow the runt.

Kaiba stepped out of his parked limo and quickly paced down the street to catch up with Yami. He began to question why he was even bothering to follow him. What was he going to do when he caught up with him exactly? Offer him a ride home? Again? Kaiba chose to stop wondering about the reason before he wanted to change his mind. After all, he couldn't just leave the teen walking around outside in the cold; there was no point in contemplating it.

The brunette finally made it around the corner and could see Yami's form slowly making its way down the street, illuminated by the orange tint of the currently setting sun. He felt the late-winter air tickle his nose and brought his hand up to stop a sneeze from escaping as he started walking forward a bit, firm on not letting the short teen out of his sight.

"Yami." he said loudly enough for Yami to hear halfway down the street once his urge to sneeze had subsided. The said person slowly came to a stop. A few moments went by without him making any sort of hint that he planned to turn around or even acknowledge that Kaiba had said anything. Kaiba frowned crossly at this and continued walking until he was only about four feet behind him.

"Yami." he tried again. This time, the teen turned just enough to show Kaiba his profile.

"Kaiba…" Yami trailed off. Kaiba raised an eyebrow at his lifeless tone, a little troubled by it.

"Isn't it a little cold for you to be out walking around right now? Are you trying to catch a cold? Don't you have school tomorrow? Shouldn't you be at home?" Kaiba asked, feeling embarrassed immediately afterwards for asking so many questions. He cleared his throat awkwardly, then added, "Don't tell me you need another ride home?"

Yami shook his head and said, "No…I'm fine walking."

"…In this weather?" Kaiba questioned, surprised that Yami would choose walking over a ride in a limousine. When Yami didn't respond, Kaiba asked, "Where _are_ you going anyway?"

Yami turned his head back to looking straight ahead and shrugged, saying, "Nowhere really."

Now Kaiba was really confused. What the hell did he mean by that exactly?

"Nowhere? You should go home, don't you think? Your father is probably worried about you." Kaiba attempted to convince him. To his surprise, Yami let out a bitter laugh.

"Yeah, I'm sure…"

The two of them stood in silence for a while, leaving Kaiba to merely wonder what was going on with Yami. Just as he was about to ask the teen why he was out wandering around, Yami turned his head to look at the nearly completely set sun and stated, "I guess it is getting kind of late…"

Kaiba took this as his cue to chime in with a gruff command of, "Come on." and to stride off in the other direction. To his relief, he could here quiet footsteps following behind him, signaling that Yami had went ahead and taken him up on his offer to drive him home. Good, he would have been pissed if he had gotten out of his limo for nothing.

Kaiba watched the Domino scenery fly by as he was driven down the street, feeling satisfied to have Yami sitting across from him. The boy's demeanor, however, was unsettling to say the least. The usual mischievously cheerful person Yami was seemed to have been drowned out and replaced with a depressing, miserable looking kid. The look didn't suite him much, in Kaiba's opinion. Even if it might be a bit annoying, he preferred it when Yami would have no problem talking Kaiba's ear off or making teasing little jokes here and there.

He didn't even know what was wrong with Yami, but for some reason, simply seeing him look so peacefully sad made Kaiba feel that way too. Kaiba returned to peering out of the window, feeling worse by the minute.

He had a feeling that whatever was wrong with Yami had something to do with his father. When he'd brought the man up earlier, Yami's despondency seemed to have almost doubled. But what the hell could that man have done to make the teen seem so melancholy? Was he abusive? No, judging by the way the two had interacted with each other that day Kaiba and Mokuba had been hiding in Yami's closet, that didn't seem very likely. Besides, Yami wasn't the type of person to let something like that happen to him. So then, what? Did they just have a fight or something?

Kaiba glanced back over to Yami who hadn't removed his gaze from an invisible spot on the seat directly across from him.

That seemed quite possible. And if the two didn't normally get into quarrels with one another, that could explain why Yami seemed so down. Kaiba continued to ponder the idea as he looked in Yami's direction, allowing his eyes to drop a bit to stare at nothing in particular. Yami seemed to have noticed that Kaiba was looking down toward his arm and instinctively yanked the sleeve of his right arm down and grabbed his wrist to hold it there. Noticing the action, Kaiba really did look at his arm and was instantly reminded of the time he'd discovered a row of cuts on the teen's arm. He quickly turned his head to the left toward the window to avoid any more skepticism from Yami. Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest worriedly.

Suddenly, Kaiba was very concerned about Yami. He would rather die than actually admit that he was worried about anyone other than his brother though. Still, a nagging feeling was weighing on him that told Kaiba to ask Yami what was wrong.

_'Just ask. It could be nothing, but it could also be something really important. Just ask him…'_

Such thoughts whirled through his head, but the young CEO refused to let himself ask.

_'But what if whatever is bothering him is making him cut? You're just going to let him? You're not going to do anything about it? You're going to let him go through what you did?'_

Kaiba swallowed dryly, feeling guilt begin to riddle him. He closed his eyes to try and clear his mind.

Even _if_ something was horribly wrong with Yami, he had the feeling that the teen would only brush away any comment Kaiba made toward it and make up some half-assed excuse for his behavior. Looking at it logically, there wasn't really much he could do.

_'You could at least try.'_

Kaiba reopened his eyes and turned to Yami. Figuring that that stupid voice in the back of his head wouldn't go away until he did what it said, he went ahead and asked, "What's the matter with you, huh? You've been acting weird." Yami looked at Kaiba. He waited a moment before answering.

"Nothing really. I'm probably just tired is all." Yami said with a small smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Hn." is what Kaiba said in return before turning his attention back to the window.

'I knew it. But he's not fooling me with that lame excuse.' Kaiba thought hotly.

He tapped his index finger on his arm as he contemplated just what he should do. It was obvious that something was bothering Yami. Something that involved his dad more than likely, and that might have caused him to slit his wrists—though that last part he wasn't that sure of.

Yami wasn't going to tell Kaiba, and honestly Kaiba wasn't exactly the type of person for others to confide in anyway. Still, Kaiba wasn't okay with the fact that he wasn't able to do anything at all for the shrimp.

Kaiba's eyes wandered down to his briefcase that sat next to his feet and he suddenly remembered a certain something he'd bought not too long ago.

The limousine came to a smooth stop in front of a familiar blue-roofed house just then. Yami began to shuffle closer to the door on Kaiba's right, recognizing the house for his own.

Well, now was a better time than ever he supposed.

"Wait." Kaiba demanded. Yami's hand stopped just short of the door handle and he wheeled around to the owner of the deep voice.

"…Yes?" Yami asked after a few moments of nothing passed.

Kaiba let out a slow and quiet sigh before reaching down to grab his briefcase. He set the silver case down on his lap and forced it open with a "click". He reached inside and opened a small compartment on the top of the inside, pulling a small, plain white box from it and quickly shutting the briefcase closed. Without another look at Yami, he held the box out toward the teen. After a few moments, he felt it being gently taken out of his hand and forced himself to look in Yami's direction once the teen had it in his possession. The spikey-haired boy had one eyebrow raised in confusion as he stared at the box, then, after a few seconds of silence had passed, he looked up, his eyes meeting Kaiba's.

"…What is…why-"

"I hardly think giving someone a Christmas gift constitutes as an appropriate way to pay them back for a favor. In saying that you would 'make it up to me' as you so put it that day, you said that you would repay my act of gratuitous generosity with one of your own. Giving a gift for a holiday is not a gratuitous act; therefore, you still owe me. However, I'm not one to simply take something from someone else because that person would more than likely expect that they then have the right to demand something of me in return." Kaiba motioned to the box Yami held. "That's why. Got it?" he finished, putting as much harshness into his explanation as he could muster.

He expected Yami to give him a weird look or even to laugh or tease him in some sort of way. However, Yami did neither of those things. The teen instead flashed an incredible smile at the brunette. It was the kind of smile that showed reassurance and warmth; it showed acceptance to the situation and to the person that it was being displayed to. It also showed joy and humor to the circumstance, but not in the teasing way Kaiba had expected. It was a contagious smile and Kaiba fought with his twitching lips that were adamant about smiling back.

Kaiba held face in a scowl as he watched Yami lift the top to the box open. The teen's smile grew and he let out a chuckle at what he saw inside.

"It's a watch." he said, amused. It was a simple silver watch that was imbedded into a black leather cuff that had small, silver studs going around it on either side. When Kaiba had spotted the wristwatch, the first thing he thought about was how it reminded him of Yami, and in the end he found himself purchasing it.

"That's right. Now you can stop bugging me for the damn time every five minutes." Kaiba said coldly. Yami laughed again. The teen observed the watch for a short while, then placed the top back on the box. He looked back up at Kaiba warmly.

"Thank you, Kaiba." he said.

"Yeah, yeah." Kaiba replied indifferently.

"Really. Thank you." Yami added, now more serious but still wearing a smile. Kaiba looked at the boy for a moment, trying to read his facial expression. When he found that he couldn't, he simply nodded toward the boy as his acknowledgment to the statement.

Yami slammed the car door closed behind himself and turned to wave goodbye before heading up the driveway to his house. Kaiba watched him as he went, suddenly finding himself very interested in Yami's life. Why did he seem so sad before? Why did he have cuts on his wrist? What was his father really like? Was he really okay now or was he just faking it? He wanted to know more about the boy, because in reality he didn't know much at all.

He saw Yami turn his head slightly with an amused smirk once he'd made it to the front door upon noticing that the limo hadn't moved. Slightly discomfited that he'd been caught still sitting there, Kaiba barked out an order to the chauffeur and was soon driven away.

* * *

Awwwwww.~

I know it's a short chappy okay. I'm sorry! (; - ;)

It WAS going to be longer—I swear! But I really want this story to be the right amount of chapters so I had to cut it short. XD

So why _was_ Yami so upset I wonder? What do you guys think? Did it really have to do with his father, or is Kaiba just making a mountain out of a mole hill? Tell me what you think!

Soooo: REVIEW! Please? Feedback is always welcomed! Even if it's criticism! Just make sure it's constructive criticism so I can become a better writer!

Thanks a bundle for reading!


	25. It

*opens chest*

_~dun,dun,dun,dun!~_

You got a **new chapter**! Your face is beaming!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Hey Nii-sama."

The said person paused in the assault he'd been raining down on the keyboard of his laptop.

"What is it?" he responded to the young boy with ebony hair and grey eyes that requested his attention from across the room.

"You know what we should do?" the boy answered the question with one of his own.

"For the last time, we're not putting a zoo in the amusement park, Mokuba." The young boy shook his head fiercely.

"No, not that! It's something different this time!" he assured.

"What, then?"

Mokuba hunched over in the large bed he was lounging about on that belonged to his older brother, setting his elbows down onto the soft, blue blanket laying beneath him and pushing his legs out from under him to lay completely down on his stomach.

"We should all hang out again. Like go to the arcade or something." he proposed, resting his head into both of his hands.

Kaiba returned to the onslaught of typing onto his keyboard before asking, "When you say 'we', who are you referring to exactly?"

"Me, you, and Yami of course." Mokuba confirmed.

"Why would we go to the arcade when we already own nearly every game that's there?" Kaiba questioned.

There was a short pause, then Mokuba suggested, "Well fine; we don't have to go _there_ per se. But we should hang out!" Kaiba remained quiet as he finished up the few sentences he was typing. When he finished, he hit "send", then turned in his chair to face his younger sibling completely.

"Come on, Nii-sama! It'll be fun!" Mokuba continued once he had his brother's full attention. He sat back up and said, "All you ever do is work, work, work, come home, then work, work, work some more. You should give yourself a break and have some fun!" Kaiba raised his brow at the boy, finding his explanation to be quite exaggerated. "Pleeaasse?" he begged.

Kaiba sighed lightly. "I… suppose we could." he said, surprisingly giving in easily, finding the idea of spending a bit of time with Yami not to be too bad of a suggestion. It had been a while since he'd last done so; back in January actually. He did see the runt pretty often since Mokuba liked to hang out with him so much, but not for long enough to get more than a few sentences in.

"Great!" Mokuba cheered loudly, breaking Kaiba from his thoughts. "Let's hang out this Sunday!"

"I have a meeting this Sunday."

…

"Next Sunday then!" he corrected through clenched teeth, obviously annoyed at Kaiba's work schedule.

"Fine." Kaiba agreed, finding nothing wrong with the date.

"Ehehehe…" he heard come from Mokuba as the boy hopped off of the bed and began to exit the room.

"…'Heh, heh'? What exactly is so funny?" Kaiba asked before Mokuba had the chance to leave.

"Nothing, nothing." The boy insisted, fanning his hand as if the action would blow the matter away.

Kaiba thought about going after him once he'd left to get a real answer out of him, but in the end just decided to let it go, whatever it was.

Shrugging off his brother's odd behavior, Kaiba went back to what he'd been doing. Despite his best effort to focus on the pdf displayed on his laptop's screen with a layout for a new attraction to Kaibaland that was in the final stages of completion, he found his mind slowly drift off to other matters. Matters that involved a spikey-headed, crimson-eyed punk to be exact.

Kaiba ran his slim fingers through the chestnut brown treads of hair on his head as he closed out the document and shut down his device, finding the designs to be acceptable. He slammed the laptop close and grabbed the tan folder on his desk, opening it and removing its contents.

He wondered if that gathering Mokuba was so certain about having with Yami would be a good time for Kaiba to finally learn more about the short teen. He was certainly curious about him. Then again, thinking about it more he pondered if outright asking Yami about his life would seem weird. Maybe he could find a way to casually find things out. But how?

'Why am I even thinking about this? Why do I even care?' Kaiba thought to himself.

'Because you like him.' he answered his own question. He pressed his lips together and shook his head, wanting nothing more than the fact that he had admitted it yet again to go away. However, shaking his head did nothing to rid him of those feelings, no matter how much he wanted them to disperse.

Redirecting his thoughts for the time being, Kaiba violently flipped through the pages of a new script he'd been given the previous day. It was for the season finale of "Kaibaman", meaning it was full of absolute drama, drama, drama. He rolled his eyes, finding many of the lines to be absolutely cheesy, even for Kaibaman, a.k.a, the king of cheese.

'I'll be glad when this damn season is over. That means I'll get four months to take a break from this garbage. And four months to look for a new screenwriter too, because I've had just about enough of this shit.' Kaiba thought venomously.

Scanning through the lines he'd already memorized, Kaiba found himself near the end of the episode when Kaibaman and Maiden with Eyes of Blue had finally defeated Nightshroud "for good", which everyone knew was just a load of bull. He was reading diligently through the lines when he was unexpectedly caught off guard with a particular line that he was actually expected to say.

'Maiden, I was finally able to find you. I was afraid that I had been too late…_(shakes head in resolution)_ But it doesn't matter now. I found you, and the evil has finally been vanquished. _(looks at maiden longingly)_ Through everything we've been through together in the past, you've always seemed to show me the way. And now, I hope that we can continue making it through every obstacle thrown our way in the future. Together. _(there is pause)_ Maiden…I love you.'

Kaiba blinked. Uncertain, he reread the short monologue, just to be sure.

He frowned heavily, throwing the clipped together stack of papers down onto his desk disgustedly as if they contained a graphic image of someone's severe case of toenail fungus. At first he just felt downright repulsed that he was expected to sputter out such nonsense.

Then, suddenly and all at once with absolutely no warning, he felt it hit him like a fucking freight train.

He wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to it at first.

The feeling began to engulf his entire being; it was nearly drowning him as he felt it enter through his every fiber and consume his body and soul.

It seemed like it had come out of nowhere. But thinking about it, it really shouldn't have surprised him like it did. After so many months of denying its existence, it was only logical that it was a bit overwhelming when he finally realized that it was there.

That "it" that he was referring to was love.

Kaiba leaned back in his chair to try and calm down his currently throbbing heart. Did he…love Yami?

"Nonononono." he voiced aloud, immediately denying the notion. He couldn't have such feelings toward the teen.

It was absurd.

Preposterous.

Impossible.

He was a _boy_.

And he certainly hadn't known him long enough to develop such an emotion.

Kaiba grabbed the script that he'd thrown down and placed it back into the folder that he'd gotten it out of.

'It's probably for the best if I take a break for now.' he decided. With that, he went back to business, getting a head start on tomorrow's work and completely refusing to think about Yami for the rest of the night.

xxxXxxx

"Mokuba…"

Kaiba tapped his foot threateningly at his brother, who shifted in the spot he was standing in in response.

A little over a week had passed since the two had planned to meet with Yami and hang out for a bit, and here Mokuba was, backing out at the last second. The boy had claimed that one of his friends was having a birthday party and that he just _had_ to attend since he had promised the boy that he would. Truthfully, Kaiba wasn't buying the excuse.

"I'm sorry Nii-sama. But I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't go?"

"The same kind who cancels on something that was planned nearly two weeks prior." Kaiba countered coolly.

"I'm _SORRY_. I…forgot."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes into a glare and stepped closer to the boy with his arms folded over his chest, forcing him to look up from his small stature.

"Why do I get the feeling you're lying to me, Mokuba Kaiba?" He questioned in an authoritative tone. Mokuba looked off to the side and simply shrugged as his answer, clearly unable to formulate a good comeback. Kaiba sighed, then backed away, but kept his arms crossed. "Fine. I will allow this to slide. For now." he warned. Mokuba grinned at this, obviously not bothered by whatever Kaiba meant by saying "for now". "I guess we'll just do this another time." Kaiba suggested.

"No!" Mokuba asserted quickly. "Ah, I mean…" He cleared his throat, then continued, "I already told Yami where to be and when, and since he doesn't have a phone we can't call him to tell him that we're going to reschedule. _SO_, you're going to have to go anyway to let him know I can't make it. And while you're at it, you two may as well have some fun without me." Mokuba sent Kaiba a sly look, causing him to frown knowingly.

"Mokuba, for the last time-"

"Oh! Would you look at the time!" Mokuba said suddenly, not even bothering to look at the clock on the wall. He quickly darted across the room and shoved his feet into a pair of shoes at the front door, saying, "I better get going now! I wouldn't want to be late!" He turned to Kaiba with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You should get going soon too, Nii-sama. You wouldn't want to keep Yami waiting! Have fuunn!~"

With that, he left without giving Kaiba the chance to yell or say bye back or anything. Kaiba glared angrily at the door as if to blame it for what had just taken place. With a sigh, Kaiba left as well not long after his brother. He could feel his heart's pounding grow heavier the more he thought about the two of them being together alone. Especially after the revelation he'd come to several days before. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up without the "it" he had discovered existed for Yami started to surface.

It was to no surprise of his when Kaiba saw Yami already waiting at the Domino City Plaza. It was already nearly a half hour after the time they'd all agreed on when Kaiba got there after all. This was partly due to the fact that Kaiba had been dawdling around a bit on his way there; something he never did very often.

Kaiba felt a mid-spring breeze brush by him as he ambled closer to the center of the plaza, whereupon he had no trouble detecting the presence of Yami as his wild hair style stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the average manner of his passersby. When he was about eight feet away, Yami finally noticed him heading his way and smirked impishly, evidently about to say some kind of smart-ass remark.

"As punctual as ever I see." the teen stated sarcastically after waiting for Kaiba to get closer, wanting to insure that his comment was heard.

"Hn." Kaiba said, having nothing better to say in regards to his tardiness.

"Where's Mokuba?" Yami questioned, realizing that the raven-haired boy was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

It was at this time that Kaiba took the liberty of explaining the sorry excuse that Mokuba had used earlier that morning before booking it out the door.

"Ah, I see…" Yami noted with a look of both confusion and amusement. He seemed to lightly chuckle to himself, which made Kaiba have to look away and frown harder to keep from doing the same, then looked back up, continuing with, "Well I suppose we'll just have to make do without him."

Kaiba sighed internally, wondering just how exactly he was to get out of this predicament. He wasn't sure he would be able to make it through the day without doing something he regretted, especially if Yami was going to keep smiling handsomely like that.

"But before we do anything," Yami began, "You mind if we stop by the library? I have some books I need to return."

Only then did Kaiba notice the few books Yami was currently gripping against his side. He raised an eyebrow, wondering if Yami was the type to read often or not.

"Sorry. I forgot that they were due today and I didn't want to be late getting here." Yami added with a sheepish smile gracing his rounded face. "Then again, I honestly probably could have and still have been here before you."

"Oh shut up."

The two said nothing on their way to the library, which Kaiba was thankful for. They merely enjoyed one another's company without the long period of silence seeming awkward, and in about ten minutes they arrived to their destination. The amount of time it took to get to the building seemed rather short to Kaiba though, seeing as how they walked the entire way. Being driven would've caused too much attention since the only vehicles that he owned were very expensive looking ones. Kaiba silently rolled his eyes. Sometimes being rich was really inconvenient. Sometimes. Maybe one day he'd invest in a much less luxurious-looking car.

Once inside the establishment, Yami quickly took off on his own to return his few books. Kaiba scanned the large room he stood in carefully, quite pleased with the wide array of books before him and the peaceful mood that encompassed the area. He breathed in and out deeply, then went up one of the staircases on either side of the room, deciding that he wouldn't mind taking a look at what kind of books lay in wait there. When he got to the top, he wandered along the perfectly lined up bookcases, inspecting each slowly. He veered off to the left down the first row he saw that didn't have anyone in it.

Quickly scanning the shelves, Kaiba grabbed the first book that stood out and flipped through it a bit after removing his sunglasses, deciding to take a quick look at it. _The Tower of London_ was its title. It must have been written a while ago too, Kaiba deducted, due to the way it was worded.

"Boo!"

Kaiba was ripped from his passive reading when a sudden exclamation was driven into his ear, causing him to blink and immediately turn his attention to the source of the disturbance. A grinning Yami was what he found, who was clearly satisfied with the reaction he got out of Kaiba.

"What are you reading?" Yami asked after a few moments, taking a peek at the page Kaiba had been on. Noticing how close they were, Kaiba found it nearly impossible to formulate any kind of answer since the only words he could think of were "personal space" at that moment in time. So instead, he just shut the book closed, placed it back in its place and stepped a good few inches away from the teen.

"Are you ready to go?" Kaiba forced the words out after overcoming his previous incapability to speak.

"Almost. I was actually looking for another book." Yami answered, glancing around the bookcase. Kaiba watched as he ran his finger from left to right, then up a bit. "It should be around here somewhere…" he trailed off when he couldn't make his arm go any higher up. For a while, he just stood there with his right arm frozen in place above his spikey head.

Quickly realizing what the problem was, Kaiba patronized, "What's the matter? Too short to reach?", finding the idea comical since he never had the issue. Yami quickly whipped his head around at Kaiba, flashing him a glare. The teen removed his gaze from the brunette and looked around a little as he lowered his hand from the spot it had been stationary in. He hopped over to the book shelf next to the one that contained the book he desired to get a hold of and grabbed a short metal stool from the ground, placing it where he had been standing. Stepping briefly onto the stool, he grabbed a thick, black book and quickly sprang back down.

"No." was Yami's delayed retort once he had the book in his hands. Kaiba rolled his eyes, then glanced down at the book, reading _Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead_ on the cover written in golden letters.

"What do you need that for? School?" Kaiba asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"No." Yami repeated. "I just happen to find these sorts of things interesting."

"What 'sorts of things'? Things about dead people?"

"…Put bluntly, yes. I suppose you could say that. I like to learn things about the past. More precisely, about the ancient past." Kaiba raised his brow. Yami sure was a weirdo, that was for sure.

"I don't see why, but whatever. I for one have no interest in such things. I'm only interested in the future." Kaiba voiced, perching his sunglasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

"Well, the past is sort of like a gateway to the future if you think about it. I guarantee you'll find something that happened in the past that is bound to happen again. Mankind is predictable once you know how they acted in the past. It's important to learn about it." Yami explained as they made their way back down the staircase.

"I don't really think going through the trouble of learning what has already happened is going to change much of anything. Mankind is predictable, but also avaricious and corrupt, and tenacious in terms of that fact."

Yami shrugged.

"I suppose so. I don't know; my opinion is probably a bit biased since my father, mother, _and _my grandfather are all archeologists. I pretty much grew up being spoon fed history."

"Hn."

Kaiba was quite satisfied that he'd been able to learn something about the boy so easily, and was soon craving more. Regardless of this he remained silent, deciding that he'd asked enough questions.

The two left the library, Yami with his book and Kaiba with his newfound information. They wandered around a bit through the city, passing a few stores along the way.

"So where to now?" Yami asked with a smile, causing "it" to begin seeping into Kaiba again. The brunette didn't say anything and stared straight ahead, refusing to look back at Yami. There was a long pause as Yami waited patiently for an answer, but when he didn't get one, he took the liberty of suggesting somewhere. "How about…the museum?" He could see the teen shake his head from his peripheral. "No wait…he said he doesn't like learning about the past…" he said very quietly, probably to himself. Kaiba was a bit surprised that he'd taken that fact into consideration and felt a light fluttering in his stomach. "I know." Yami stopped walking and looked straight at Kaiba, causing him to be forced to do the same. "Why don't we go to Kaibaland? There are still a lot of rides I haven't been on, believe it or not."

Kaiba half lidded his eyes, though he was aware that Yami couldn't see him do it through the sunglasses he was wearing.

"Why would _I_ want to go there, of all people?" he asked.

"Well, I mean, who better an escort there than one of the people who designed the place? Besides, you can consider it like an evaluation of the park to see if everything is like it's supposed to be." Yami suggested.

…

"You just want to get in for free again don't you?" Kaiba inquired, crossing his arms over his chest with an eyebrow raised in suspicion. Yami didn't bother hiding his laughter, which indicated that Kaiba's guess had been spot on. He sighed. "I don't think it would be a very good idea to go there. I'm one-hundred percent sure I would be recognized there. Do you know how much of a headache it would be to deal with so many children at once?"

Yami tapped his index finger against his chin as he thought about Kaiba's statement. A wide smirk rapidly formed on his face.

"Then I guess we'll just have to find you a better disguise." he proposed. Kaiba frowned heavier, not particularly liking where this was going. Nonetheless, he allowed Yami to lead him down the street in the opposite direction that they had been headed and into a large clothing store.

* * *

Oh my, what's Yami up to?

Whatever it is, I want in on it!

Please review and thanks for reading!


	26. Coattails

Oh me, oh my, oh chicken pot pie! What's this? A double chappy update?

How generous of me! :D

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Now let's see here…a good disguise…" Yami murmured, clutching a portion of his blonde hairs and holding them over his lip as he glanced around the room. Kaiba watched the short teen wander around the store and grab a load of clothing and some other items, finding his serious expression as he did so to be quite humorous.

"Put this stuff on." he directed, handing the items over to Kaiba after a while of carefully selecting them.

"…All of it?" Kaiba asked, feeling a little dumbfounded at the idea of it. Yami nodded. Feeling suspicious, Kaiba inspected the bunch of clothes to insure that there was indeed a shirt and pants there, and that Yami hadn't done something stupid like given him a dress or something thinking it would funny. Once he made sure, he looked back up at Yami, wondering why he should even bother to do what the teen had requested. He was about to open his mouth and downright refuse putting on the outfit, but Yami spoke before he had the chance.

"Come on, try it on. You're the one who said you didn't want to be recognized, right?" Yami said, pointing at Kaiba.

Kaiba glowered at the teen. He didn't even want to go to the damn amusement park! There was no reason for him to put the outfit on!

…Yami sure did seem to want to go though.

Before he knew it, he had allowed himself to simply give in upon feeling "it" creep its way through him and was in the dressing room trying to figure out how the hell to put on the stupid outfit correctly. Damn Yami…

Kaiba stood in front of a full-body mirror just outside of the dressing room to contemplate just what exactly he'd gotten himself into.

There he was, in a light gray and black t-shirt and dark gray scarf under a dark gray zip-up hoodie with a red zipper and red and white skull designs printed across it worn with the sleeves pulled up with a black and red, checkered, fingerless glove on one hand and a black sweatband on the other with black skinny jeans, a red and black belt, and a pair of dark gray Converse. These articles of clothing were accompanied with a black and red, brimmed beanie that had a picture of a skull etched into it with white thread and various leather bracelets.

Kaiba looked at himself through the one eye that he could see through due to the wad of hair Yami had insisted he place over the other one.

"Perfect." Yami said after a short while of observation, pleased with what he'd come up with. Kaiba looked at him incredulously. "What? No one will ever know that it's you if you wear that. Especially with the sunglasses." he contended, battling himself as he attempted to keep a content smile off of his face.

Well…he was right. Kaiba would admit that much. No one would even dare insinuate that the person underneath the punk-esque clothes he wore was Seto Kaiba. But still…

"I look like some kind of delinquent." Kaiba noted aloud. Yami blinked at him.

"But those are the kind of clothes that I wear."

"…Your point?"

Yami pouted cutely and looked down at his black t-shirt that had a crow on it outlined in white and the large amount of leather he wore with it, then back up at Kaiba with an annoyed look.

"Alright then, Mr. Coattails." he retorted sourly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"…Mr…'Coattails'?" Kaiba questioned slowly. Yami nodded.

"You're always wearing those really lengthy jackets that have long coattails. Even today you were wearing that blue one with the high collar. No wonder you get discovered so easily whenever you go out." Kaiba observed Yami as he went over to the dressing room Kaiba had been in and stepped inside.

He didn't wear the jackets all of the time. Sure, he wore them often, but not _all_ of the time. Besides, that couldn't be the reason he was always caught when he went places.

…

Right?

Kaiba looked in the mirror at himself.

'Hm. Maybe I should consider getting a new wardrobe.'

A spot of blue in his peripheral caught his attention and he looked back over to where Yami had been to see him wearing the jacket he'd been talking about that belonged to Kaiba, the end of it dragging on the floor behind him and the sleeves pushed up. He should have been angry that the boy had put it on without his permission, but an odd feeling of pleasure bubbled up instead seeing him wear the oversized jacket.

"See?" Yami said, gesturing to the end of the jacket, the motion making it nearly fall off of his shoulders. "Wearing such long coattails is just inconvenient." he informed, pulling the jacket back up.

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't five sizes too big for you." Kaiba teased with an uncontrollable smirk.

"It's not that big on me." Just as he said that, as if in spite, one of the sleeves fell down covering his entire hand. Kaiba was barely able to muffle his laughter as Yami grudgingly pulled the sleeve back up, glaring at him for even **almost** laughing. Yami let out a sigh, then began removing the jacket.

"No, no." Kaiba said, stopping Yami from doing so as a wicked idea formed in his mind. "If I have to wear this," he gestured to his outfit, "then you have to wear that." This way, he either got out of having to go to Kaibaland, or he got to see Yami struggle to get around the amusement park in his jacket.

Yami narrowed his eyes at the brunette and frowned, thinking.

"Fine. It's a deal." he agreed, putting the jacket back all the way on and crossing his arms, undeterred. Kaiba's smirk widened. Somehow he was happier with that choice than the latter.

As they made their way out of the store after paying for the clothes and gathering the ones Kaiba had been wearing before, Kaiba couldn't help but step on the back of his blue jacket—just to mess with Yami.

"Ack!" Yami exclaimed, nearly falling backwards from the jolt the action had caused.

"Whoops." Kaiba said in an even voice, now grinning mockingly.

"Why you…" he heard Yami say lowly as he walked ahead of the runt.

xxxXxxx

Not surprisingly, Kaibaland was packed with people excited to spend their entire day off at the park. What was surprising, though, was that Yami had been right about no one actually being able to identify Kaiba. Not even the employee at the ticket booth could tell it was him, that is, until he lifted down his shades, glared menacingly at the man, and then threatened his job. That got him to let them in real quick.

It seemed that Yami's plan for tackling the colossal coat that nearly swallowed him whole was to roll up the much too long sleeves and to carry the back of it in his arms to prevent anyone else from stepping on it "accidentally". How silly he looked while doing so was amusing to Kaiba. Yami didn't really seem to care that he found it funny though, even when Kaiba outright snickered at him. The teen simply went about his way, choosing, "not to karate chop you in the Adam's Apple", as he so put it. Right, like he would dare.

Kaiba grimaced at the long lines that lay in wait at nearly every ride. He sighed and glanced at Yami, who he had a hunch would want to ride a good portion of them.

His hunch had been right.

After waiting in nine different lines to ride rides that lasted not nearly as long as the waits, Kaiba would only assume that he would be sick of getting on them; sick of standing in lines, sick of being surrounded by obnoxiously loud children; of just being there in general. But it was quite on the contrary. Because if there was one thing he couldn't possibly get sick of, it was seeing Yami smile as they boarded each ride. Seeing him laugh. Seeing him fiddle with the golden pendent chained around his neck impatiently as they stood in line for the next ride. "It" was leaking in again, shooting right up to his face as he realized he was staring at Yami. Kaiba shot his head forward, redirecting his attention to the now much shorter line rather than the person standing next to him.

"Hey cutie, what's your name?"

Kaiba glanced over to the direction of the statement to see that it was made by a girl in her teens with long brown hair and hipster glasses toward none other than Yami. Yami stared up at the girl, but didn't reply. She smirked at her friend with short, blue hair that stood next to her, then turned back to Yami.

"How'd you like to get on the Ferris Wheel with me and a few of my other friends?" she asked with a wink, putting aside the fact that she'd just been ignored. Kaiba clenched his jaw and swallowed down a surge of unexplainable anger he felt rush through him like a missile through a cannon.

"No thank you." Yami said calmly, looking away from her.

"Oh come on. I promise you'll have some fun. Your friend can come too." she motioned to Kaiba. Boy, was she lucky his sunglasses were blocking her from seeing the rage in his eyes.

"I said no thank you." Yami repeated immediately. The girl frowned, then reached her hand out to tug the jacket Yami was wearing in her direction as if doing so would make him change his mind.

"Come on cuti-"

"Please don't touch me." Yami warned in a low voice, cutting her off. Kaiba clenched and unclenched his fists.

'No Kaiba. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to punch her in the face.' he told himself.

"Don't be such a sourpuss! We're just looking to have a little fun!" she raised her voice, placing her hands on her hips. Without thinking, Kaiba grabbed Yami's arm and pulled him forward where there was a clear path to step up the stairs to the ride and walk through the pathway that the bar an employee was currently holding up made before getting inside one of carriages and having the door be closed behind them—effectively cutting off the conversation.

Kaiba stared angrily through the tinted window of the deep red carriage with his arms crossed. He didn't know _why_ he had gotten so angry. He just knew that hearing that girl talking to Yami sparked some kind of heated emotion within him so strong that he couldn't stop himself from acting on it. He sighed internally, not even having to look over to Yami to know what kind of facial expression he was wearing. Nevertheless, he did look over to him and saw the shocked and very confused face he'd been expecting staring back at him.

"…What's the matter…Kaiba?" Yami asked slowly, unsure. Kaiba didn't answer, not even quite sure himself. A sudden smirk curled up on the teens lips a few moments later. "Oh, I know." he began, leaning back and crossing his arms like Kaiba was doing. "You must have gotten _JEALOUS_." Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows and frowned hard.

"Excuse me? Jealous? Are you stupid? Jealous of what exactly?" Kaiba immediately spat back venomously, almost on pure instinct. Yami leaned forward and pointed at Kaiba with his index finger.

"You know, if you keep frowning like that you'll get wrinkles." he said randomly, catching Kaiba off guard. "And calm down, I was only joking." he added. "Besides," he shifted in his seat a little to readjust the jacket that he swam in, "I'm not interested in those types of people."

"What types? The annoying kind?" Kaiba questioned harshly.

Yami chuckled.

"More like…just girls in general." he said matter-of-factly, like the statement was the most casual thing in the world to say. Kaiba only blinked at the statement at first, not fully processing what it meant until he noticed that Yami's cheeks were turning a light shade of pink. He did a double-take.

"Wait…" Kaiba narrowed his eyes in thought. "Are you...you…you're…gay…?" he said very slowly, slightly afraid that his deduction had been wrong somehow and not wanting to offend Yami. Yami nodded.

"I am actually." He said. "Did you not know that?"

"Why would _I_ know that?" Kaiba questioned, using his hand to emphasis the fact that he absolutely **didn't** know. Yami was gay? And why did that relieve Kaiba of all things? Yami shrugged.

"Well it wasn't something I'd been _meaning_ to keep from you..." Yami informed. He pointed dramatically at Kaiba, the sleeve of the blue jacket he was sporting rolling down from the action. "Now you know something new about me!" he stated, not bothered by the jacket. "Now you have to tell me something about you!" he demanded. His blush had only deepened into a red by this point, and Kaiba indolently thought about teasing him about it.

"Get on the internet and Google "Seto Kaiba". You'll find all you want there if you're that curious." Kaiba told him, choosing to ignore Yami's evident embarrassment.

"Well, yeah I suppose I could do that, but I get the feeling that a lot of the stuff I would find wouldn't even be true." the teen said as he rolled his sleeve back up.

"Most people don't really seem to care whether the shit on there is true or not." Kaiba pointed out.

"Well I do. I want to know about real life Kaiba, not the one that people with too much free time fabricated."

There was a pause. Kaiba swallowed as he tried to find out what to say in response. What Yami had said caused "it" to smack him hard right in the face and take any words that he could possibly say away from being anywhere close to coming out of his mouth. He chose instead to simply say nothing, figuring that attempting to fight the sensation would only be futile.

"Hn." he muffled out, not using any real words in case he stuttered. God forbid anyone hear him do that. Yami pouted again. He really wished Yami would stop doing that.

"Fine, make it difficult. I'm up for the challenge." Yami boasted hotly. "But mark my words, I _will_ find something out about you. Something that no one else knows." he claimed, rubbing his chin as if he had a beard. Kaiba involuntarily touched his forearm with his hand.

"If I had something about me that no one else knew, you sure as hell wouldn't either." Kaiba pointed out. Yami didn't say anything back. He just looked out of the window next to him with a smile.

When the two finally got off of the ride, Kaiba discovered himself staring at Yami again as they walked side by side. He couldn't help it. Yami was just so…fascinating. His heart beat rapidly as it began bursting with too many doses of "it" being exposed to it for one day. He had to get away from Yami—he decided—in order to think straight.

"I think it's about time to leave." Kaiba said to Yami, who slowed to a stop. "Mokuba is probably home by now." he used as an excuse.

"Oh." Yami said. "I suppose…" he drifted off. He then perked back up, saying, "Alright, but let's go one more place first." Kaiba thought about it for a moment.

"Fine." he agreed begrudgingly, figuring it wouldn't hurt.

"There." Yami pointed straight ahead. "'The Horror House'. It's new isn't it?" Yami asked.

The line for 'The Horror House' was by far the longest. This was to be expected since it was the newest addition to the amusement park, but the fact that he had to wait in line again still pissed Kaiba off. At least it was a bit calmer in this particular line because the age restriction kept any unbearably loud children under the age of 13 away.

When it was finally their turn to go in, along with about six other people, Kaiba removed his shades, knowing that it would be dark and hard enough without them to see inside, then glanced down at Yami as they walked through the doorway and saw him looking up at him.

"…What?" Kaiba asked, uncertain of why it was Yami was staring at him. The boy looked away from the brunette to peer straight ahead.

"Nothing." was all he said.

After listening to the person that would be their guide through the "house of terror and dismay" inform them about not touching anything and about the exits that existed if someone was to get too horrified, they were led into the dark abyss.

Kaiba didn't even blink when the first deranged-looking person in a costume came jumping out at them. He designed the place after all, he knew exactly where all of the frightening parts would be. He noticed Yami flinch, but the girl in front of them was the one who really got her pants scared off.

About halfway through the house, by Kaiba's deduction based on the purple and red interior that now surrounded them all the way up to the tall ceiling, a man with a giant, fake axe and a ski mask on jumped out at them, swinging the plastic weapon around like a mad man from a safe distance. The same girl screamed again, crying , "Let me out, let me out! I can't stand being in here anymore!"

"There's an exit over therrrre…Arrrggaaahhhh!" the man said, never jumping out of character. The girl promptly ran in that direction, a boy who was probably her date trailing behind her. Kaiba heard Yami let out a laugh.

As they neared the end, Kaiba glanced around as he anticipated the sound of a loud, metallic clank. He was able to identify the source before the sound happened, seeing the glistening of metal across the dark room near the right side of a set of stairs. The object hanging by a rusty-looking chain there in mid-air was a very large, but very fake, guillotine. The oversized equipment was covered in rusty-looking nails and spikes and the part that would be the blade had fake blood smeared along it and was chipped as if it had been used too many times.

CLANK!

There it was. The top portion of the decoration came crashing down at a fast pace, the sound it made making nearly all of the onlookers jump and freeze in place from shock. Everyone except Kaiba, who did pause with the rest of the group, but wasn't at all startled by what happened. Eventually they all began moving again, up the stairs and down another corridor that seemed like a dead end, but contained a door at the end. The guide shoved the door open and held it there, allowing everyone to exit before doing so themself.

Once it was over, Kaiba let out a breath and then turned around with the intent to tell Yami that it really was time to leave now, but noticed that the shrimp wasn't there. He looked around, trying to figure out where he went, but didn't see him anywhere. As the small crowd dispersed, Kaiba was left there standing alone. He blinked, confused.

Did Yami get scared and go through one of the exits without Kaiba noticing? No, he would have told Kaiba if he was going to leave and besides, he hadn't really seemed all that frightened anyway. Was he still inside? He couldn't have possibly gotten lost; it was a one way trip.

Kaiba decided to stand and wait a bit in case Yami _was_ still inside, but frowned when the teen never came out. He tapped his foot on the ground impatiently, then gave up on waiting—he'd done enough of that today—and threw the back door to the house open. He marched blindly inside, not waiting for his eyes to adabt to the darkness. When they did finally readjust, he darted his eyes around as he strode back down the hallway and down the stairs again.

"Hello..?"

Kaiba froze, then turned around toward the sound of the familiar voice.

"Yami?" he spoke as he walked back toward the steps.

"Kaiba!"

The said brunette shot his head up to the ceiling at the sound and widened his eyes at what he saw. There hung Yami by the coattails of his jacket that, by the looks of it, was caught very tortuously on the spikes and nails of the fake guillotine that was now positioned back near the ceiling. The jacket was folded through a hole in the metal decoration and wrapped up near the chain at the top while Yami clung to it for dear life as the majority of his lower torso dangled below the blade.

"Um…help?" Yami said as he continued to grip to the jacket that was starting to slide off of his shoulders.

"Why are…how the hell did you get up there!?" Kaiba roared, feeling panic sky rocket through him at the thought of the teen falling from such a height.

"Eheheh…the jacket got caught on this thing when it came down and it went back up before I was able to get it loose…" Yami explained nervously, not really enjoying the distance he was sharing with the ground. Kaiba shook his head in disbelief, but could see how the coat might have become so tangled in the chain if the person wearing it had struggled while they were being yanked up.

"Agh!" Yami yelped after the sound of a rip came from the now very unwearable jacket, causing him to slide downward more and causing Kaiba to become more panicky. Chances were that he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, and a fall from that high up would cause some serious bodily damage. Even if he was able to hold on, that guillotine was programmed to automatically drop within thirty seconds of a motion detector near the door to enter the room sensed movement. It wasn't a real blade so Yami's lower body that dangled underneath wouldn't actually be severed, but the force of the ginormous object slamming down on him would most certainly crush him. Kaiba quickly darted toward the corridor that lead out of the building with the intention of having his employees stop the device from coming down again and to grab a ladder or something to get him down with, but stopped in his tracks when he heard a scream come from the other room, indicating that another crowd of people were on their way to the room already.

Doing the only thing he could think of, Kaiba turned back around and ran behind the guillotine to stand directly beneath Yami. He tossed the bag he was holding from the store they'd gone to earlier onto the ground and looked up at the hanging teen.

"Yami! Jump down!" he shouted up to him.

"What? Jump? Are you insane? No way!" Yami refused.

"**JUMP!**" he bellowed, his voice echoing through the room. Yami quickly obeyed Kaiba's command after some slight hesitation, allowing himself to slide right out of the torn, blue jacket and to fall down a good twenty feet. Kaiba held his arms out, hoped for the best, and braced for impact.

"Oomph!" Kaiba felt the wind get knocked out of him as his knees collapsed under the sudden weight being thrown at him and he fell backwards, the two of them hitting the ground with a heavy "thud".

He looked up from his position and was relieved when he saw spikey strands of blond, black, and magenta blocking his view of much of anything else. Somehow he'd managed to catch the small teen. A few short moments later, Yami sprang up and removed himself off of basically laying on Kaiba. He sat next to the brunette with wide eyes that were filled with concern, probably for Kaiba. He sat up as well to silently "no I'm not dead", and inspected Yami to see if he could make out whether he'd been hurt or not. Just as he did though…

CLANK!

Yami visibly jumped, then wheeled around to look at the guillotine that had nearly just crushed his internal organs. After screams had died down from the other side of the device, Kaiba could hear a man say, "Why is there a jacket stuck to it?"

"P-part of the decorations I guess…" someone else said.

"Weird decoration."

Footsteps echoed away afterwards; the group left without even realizing that Kaiba and Yami were there. There was a short period of silence after that, in which Kaiba could only seem to think about what tragedy might have played out had Yami not jumped when he did. He rubbed the spot on his abdomen that Yami had landed the hardest on, then stood up. Yami looked at him when he did and then stood up as well.

Yami peered up at Kaiba, and even in the unlit room Kaiba could make out the two large rubies that were his eyes. The teen smiled nervously, clearly haven realized what could have just happened to him.

"Coattails… are really inconvenient." he joked, trying to make light of the situation. Kaiba felt a surge of emotion run through him at seeing him smile after what just happened, emotions that were so strong that they couldn't even be conveyed properly.

"Idiot." was what came out when he felt these emotions. Kaiba strode away from the teen, grabbed the bag he'd thrown down earlier, and began leaving. He didn't think he could stand being in that room any longer.

Yami followed him without a word, and the two left, somehow relatively unscathed.

* * *

Oh-mah-gerd! Yami could have, like, died. xD

Kaibaman saves the day yet again!

Okay, now to be completely honest about why I posted two chapters at once. This chapter and the one before it were actually supposed to be one whole chapter, but when I finished typing I realized that it was way to freaking long. Like, oh-my-god-this-chapter-is-almost-8,000-words long. So, I broke it into two. If the ending of the last one and the beginning of this one seem choppy or cut off like, that's why.

But I digress.

Don't be afraid to review and give me your honest opinion of my story thus far!

And thanks for reading!


	27. Denial

Hello, hello, hello! It's me again! With another wonderful little chappy!

By the way, in case anyone actually cares, I have a DeviantArt account where I'm going to start posting art from my stories!~ I only have 2 deviations so far, but mark my words, there shall be more!

My account on there is under the same username as on here, but with 2 dashed instead of 1 between "Hiita" and "chan". For some reason won't let me give you the link, sorry!

*ahem* Okay, now that I'm done with my self pimping, on with the fic!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Kaibaman…"

In a long coat as white as snow and fiery red hair straggling behind him, the said man turned his attention to the elegant woman that had whispered his name out with relief hanging delicately onto her soft voice.

"Maiden." he spoke back to her, his boots clacking along the ground as he sauntered over. The white-haired beauty peered up to the masked man, staring intently with two pools of blue as he talked to her in a deep, even voice. "…I was finally able to find you. I was afraid that I had been too late…" he trailed off slowly, then briefly shook his head in a hesitant resolution. "But it doesn't matter now. I found you, and the evil has finally been vanquished." The man lowered his head and delicately lifted his gloved hand up to the woman's soft, porcelain cheek. "Through everything we've been through together in the past, you've always seemed to show me the way. And now, I hope that we can continue making it through every obstacle thrown our way in the future. Together." he went on. He leaned closer to her, keeping his lips slightly parted. The snowy maiden's lashes fluttered softly as she partially lidded her eyes in wait.

"Maiden…I…"

A long and heavy pause settled in the room that built the romantic tension around them so thick it could be cut with a knife. However, the scene that was once romantically dramatic turned to just plain awkward when "Kaibaman" made no move to take the half-finished sentence or physical contact any further. The awkwardness that resonated from the man stifled the air, suffocating the two of them.

"Shit." he huffed out. He stepped away from the woman and pinched the space in between his masked eyes as he turned the other way, realizing he'd taken too long.

"CUT!"

An over-emphasized, exasperated groan sounded from behind him as Kaiba removed the helmet that had been digging into each side of his head, causing him to develop a headache. It was either that, or the fact that this would be the fourth time he'd heard that word shouted today that was causing his head to throb.

"Everyone take five." Kaiba heard the director announce, sounding a bit like he was trying to hold back his annoyance. The brunette refrained from saying anything to him, let alone look at the man else he fire him on the spot.

Kaiba silently walked off of the set, pissed at the director, pissed at Kisara, pissed at the script, and mostly pissed at himself. It wasn't like him to make so many mistakes, and the fact that he was was frustrating to say the least. But dammit, how could he _not_ at least hesitate saying something as corny as "I love you"? Kaiba had never once said the over-used line in his life, not even to his own brother. It was just expected that the boy would already know that he did without Kaiba having to actually verbally assert it.

What was really making the line difficult to say, though, was that just as he's about to say it, a pair of deep red eyes and a mischievous smile whipped through his mind like a warning wind in the wake of a sudden storm. In that cautionary wind, it was almost as if it heeded: _Are you really going to say it? To someone other than that bratty kid that you damn well know you have feelings for?_ Kaiba violently shook his head to rid the thought from his mind.

At one point, he had considered whole-heartedly admitting his feelings for the teen and even confessing them to Yami. After all, the boy was gay, and he seemed to have absolutely no shame in admitting so. If he didn't, why should Kaiba? Then, after the little incident that took place with Yami's near-death experience at "The Horror House" at Kaibaland a few weeks ago, he came to realize just how significant Yami was to him. After the two of them had left, Kaiba was so overwhelmed the only thing he could do was silently brood over the emotions he had no control over. He hadn't dared speak lest he lose control of what came out of his mouth.

Did he really feel "it" toward the boy? A crush was one thing…but this…

Kaiba had emphatically forced himself to deny any feelings of "it" toward the teen with every fiber of his being afterwards. He wouldn't allow himself to fall for him. He couldn't. The press would be all over him if anything blossomed between him and someone of the same gender. The news would spread like a wildfire. He couldn't afford to let anything happen between them. That meant everything had to stay platonic. No matter how much he wanted to grab Yami by his spikey hair and mash their faces together.

"Hey, Kaiba."

He didn't even bother looking up from the cup of coffee that he hadn't realize he'd poured until just then.

"What is it, Jounouchi?" he spat, very much not in the mood to talk.

"…Geez, who pissed in your Cheerios?" the blonde retorted sourly, taking a place next to Kaiba. He placed his "Nightshroud" mask on the counter next to Kaiba's helmet before speaking again. "Are you really having that much trouble remembering your line?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Remembering the line is not the issue here, _idiot_." Kaiba corrected. Of course he could remember the damn line. How in the world would he be able to remember his entire monologue, but then not the simplest line in the entire script? What a stupid question.

"Okay then." Jounouchi said through clenched teeth. "What's the problem then, _jerk_?" he countered just as bitterly as Kaiba had. Kaiba resisted the urge to bash the moron's head into the counter behind him repeatedly.

Kaiba really didn't want to tell the shaggy blonde what the problem hindering his ability to say a simple few words was. And when Seto Kaiba doesn't want to do something, he doesn't do it. And so, there the two of them stood, quiet as Kaiba merely sipped his cup of coffee in rebellion and Jounouchi glared at him sending him a silent string of curses for being so difficult.

"Is it that you just don't _want_ to say it?" Jounouchi speculated after a few moments had passed. Kaiba only looked at him, making sure not to give anything away by keeping his face as impassive as possible. "If that's the reason, then why don't you just tell the director to change it? I'm sure he would at this point." Jounouchi continued to presume. Kaiba half-lidded his eyes at the blonde, wondering how much longer it was until the five minutes they'd been given would be up.

Of course Kaiba had thought about having the line changed. The first thing he thought of when he read over it was to do so. But in the end, he allowed it to remain the way it was, figuring it wouldn't have been a big deal. Now he was really wishing he _had_ removed the revolting line from the script. However, he hadn't. And it was too late to back out now. To request for the line to be taken out now would be admitting defeat; admitting that Seto Kaiba was that discomfited with a simple three words.

"Oh, I get it. That pride of yours won't let you, will it?" Jounouchi pestered with a jeering tone and stupid looking grin. Kaiba narrowed his eyes at the bastard. Sure, he was technically right, but the fact that he'd said it still pissed Kaiba off. "Just change it, Kaiba. Just admit that you can't do it and have them change the **_entire_** scene and re-shoot a whole new one because you can't say one simple little line. I'm sure no one will mind!" the blonde sneered wildly in an annoying tone of voice.

"Shut up, you mutt." Kaiba dismissed the jesting coldly.

"Why don't you make me, you prick." Jounouchi countered hotly.

"I don't make trash, Katsuya, I burn it."

"God, you're such a smartass!"

"Better than being a dumbass."

Jounouchi clenched his teeth as he racked his pea-sized brain for any sort of intelligible comeback. When he came up short with one, he instead settled for balling up his fists and hunching his back slightly as if he was about to actually swing on Kaiba.

"I dare you to do it you mongrel." Kaiba provoked.

"Shut your trap, you…jerk!" the blonde sputtered out.

"Oh, nice one. I've never heard _that_ insult from you before." the young CEO taunted. Kaiba scowled. "Please, I've had snappier comebacks from a bowl of Rice Crispies."

"Why you-"

"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE BACK ON SET!" Kaiba heard the announcement echo from the hallway adjacent to the room he and Jounouchi stood in. Ignoring whatever it was the mutt was about to say,—more than likely nothing clever—Kaiba set his foam cup on the counter behind him and grabbed the dragon themed helmet from it before making his way out of the small room.

"Oh, so you _aren't_ going to change the script?" Jounouchi continued to tease, despite the battle he'd just brutally lost.

"Of course not, you imbecile." Kaiba responded without so much as looking at the man. He marched out of the room without waiting to see if the blonde had anything else to say, silently fuming on his way back on set.

How dare that mongrel speak to him in such a way; mock him for not being capable of saying his final line? Of course Kaiba could say that god forsaken line! He gritted his teeth as he brought his helmet over his chestnut brown hair and heaved it onto his head. He wouldn't allow the ghost of a particular spikey-haired runt plague his mind any longer. All he had to do was deny that he ever had any sort of feelings past the line of friendship for Yami. And once he could say that line without his image fluctuating through his head, it would confirm once and for all just that.

Stepping out on set with a newfound determination, Kaiba strode past the ginormous green screen set in the middle of the room and over to his spot across from where Kisara stood and waited for his cue.

"ACTION!"

The scene played out just as before, "Maiden" being as graceful and elegant as ever and "Kaibaman" reaffirming his title as the King of Cheese. The closer his final line of the season came, however, the more Kaiba felt the fire in his belly turn to knots. Nonetheless, he pressed forth, determined not to allow a fifth blunder to arise. As his hand brushed gently across Kisara's smooth skin, the image of Yami flooded back to his mind, enveloping his brain with an unpleasant pleasance that nearly turned it to mush.

"Maiden…" he made himself utter. He dug his heels into the ground, willing the image and feeling to dissipate. With a silent struggle he wiped them from his mind like dust on the counter, repudiating that they existed at all. Taking advantage of the moment, he forced it out of him like a rotted tooth that need to be extracted.

"I love you."

As soon as he said it, the feelings came flying back to him at great-neck speed like a rocket powered mallet, slamming right into his chest with its metallic head. He quickly pushed the feelings from making it to his face, though they had nearly complete control of his mind now.

Kaiba displayed no emotion as the two continued to look at each other, figuring apathy would be better than disgust upon reflecting on what he'd just said and to whom. He brought his face closer to Kisara's hoping that would be enough for the director instead of actually making contact with hers.

"CUT! Alright everyone, that's a wrap! Good work!"

Kaiba heaved out a quiet breath as he turned away from Kisara, relief washing over him. Immediately afterward, however, he felt ill at ease with how strongly "it" had boomeranged back to him. He removed his helmet again, then rubbed his forehead, unsettled.

'You don't like Yami like that.' he said to himself. If he told himself that enough times, he might actually start to believe it.

"Kaiba."

Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by a platinum-haired woman. Kaiba exhaled gruffly.

"What?" he snapped. Dammit, everyone kept bothering him at the wrong time.

"Can I speak with you?" Kisara asked lightly, acting a lot more well-mannered than normal. Which could only be assumed as her wanting something. Her long, white hair swished from side to side as she glanced around, as if to make sure no one besides Kaiba could hear her. "In private?" she spoke softly, lacking the seductive tone Kaiba imagined she would use when saying such a thing to him. "It's important." she urged.

He wasn't sure how exactly he'd been coerced by the broad to follow her to one of the back rooms of the building. It must have been because a crimson-eyed pipsqueak was weighing so heavily on his mind it was making his common sense wither away. Damn Yami.

Kaiba strolled into a small break room at the end of the hall with Kisara trailing close behind him. He sat himself down on a pale green, leather couch facing away from the entrance as the woman entered the room as well, not bothering to close the door completely behind her. He observed her as she plopped down into the couch across from him, crossing his legs and folding his arms defensively across his chest, unhappy that he'd allowed himself to be put in such a situation.

Kisara eyed Kaiba idly from across the coffee table set between them for a moment, then leaned over slightly, letting her long hair to spill over her narrow shoulders.

"There have been some rumors going around about you, Kaiba." she said, getting right down to business. Kaiba knitted his eyebrows together, attempting to fathom why in the world she was telling him that. It's not like that wasn't an everyday occurrence he had to deal with.

"And?" he questioned uninterestedly, wondering if that was really her only reason for wanting to talk to him. No, there was definitely more to it than that. She wanted something from him.

"_And_, I thought I should tell you about them before it started to get too out of hand." she explained, waving her hand about in a nonchalant manner. "Wouldn't you like to know what I'm talking about? It could do some real damage to your reputation." Kaiba sighed.

"What, Kisara?" he entertained with disinterest. Kisara leaned backward into the couch, placing her hands on either side of her.

"Well, rumor has it that the handsome and powerful Seto Kaiba has recently taken interest in boys." she stated, causing Kaiba to involuntarily blink at her dubiously. Kaiba wrinkled his brow and bit his tongue before he went off on a tangent denying the notion outright. Collecting himself, he approached the situation logically instead of charging in head first, which would only have caused suspicion.

"And where, pray tell, did you gather that particular bit of information from?" he asked coolly. Kisara shrugged.

"A little birdy told me." was all she said.

"I see." Kaiba responded. He continued to observe the woman, detecting no signs of nervous behavior or wandering eyes to vouch for a sensation of lying on her part. Despite this, Kaiba was still going to call bullshit. He couldn't possibly recall any time when he'd given any clues about his sexual preference. Hell, he didn't even realize he was something besides asexual until not that long ago himself! It was impossible for anyone else to fabricate such an idea going on anything besides their imagination, and without proof, there was nothing to worry about. Kisara had been so quick to spill that information like a glass of milk, he wouldn't be surprised if it was her who made up the idea. And after all, there was no point crying over spilt milk.

"Well, Kisara, I'm not really that concerned with whatever idiotic rumors are going on about me." Kaiba confessed truthfully.

"You're not?" she inquired, her innocent façade faltering ever so slightly. "Not even this one? Something like this could really ruin you, you know."

That was true. He was sure he'd lose a chunk of fans, a.k.a customers, that were homophobic if such a rumor was to arise.

"But I know a way to keep something like that from happening." Kisara conjectured, unable to stop a small smirk from tugging at her pink lips. Bingo. That's what she was after. Kaiba frowned as her smile grew, knowing exactly where this was headed. "You and I could always-"

"No." he protested immediately.

"…But, Kaiba-"

"Hell no."

"You didn't even let me finish!" Kisara spat crossly.

"Let me guess," Kaiba mused, "You were going to say that you and I should become an item, right? Hell. No."

"Why the hell not? You're 'Kaibaman', I'm 'Maiden with Eyes of Blue'! We'd make the perfect power couple! _And_, it would stop any accusations of you being gay!" she attested fervently. Kaiba only glared at her, not even thinking about changing his mind. Kisara stared back at the brunette, then narrowed her eyes into slits. "Unless those accusations are true…"

"Don't be an idiot, White." Kaiba squabbled. Kisara whipped out her phone suddenly, clicked a button on the side, then again to shut the screen back off— probably checking the time.

"But it would make sense." she began heatedly. "I mean, you're always hanging out with that stupid brat with the dumb hair. What was his name? Yami? I bet you _like_ him, don't you?" she pushed, venom injected into every syllable she said.

"Now you _are_ being an idiot." Kaiba said as coolly as he could, instantly being reminded of what he was battling himself with earlier.

"You two did kiss, after all. When you just went and let him play as 'Maiden' that day Kaibaland opened. I bet it all started then didn't it?" she continued, still not letting what happened that day go. "Wouldn't it be a shame if news got out that the person you kissed that day in front of everyone was actually a boy?" she asked dangerously.

"You damn well know that the only reason that happened was because you didn't show up on time." Kaiba argued back. "I'm an actor; that's my job. To act."

"So what you're saying is that what happened didn't mean anything? You were just doing your job?" she inquired lightly.

"Of course it didn't mean anything. You think I actually wanted to kiss that brat?" Kaiba found himself sputtering out. Honestly he'd say just about anything to get out of this situation. The last thing he needed was for Kisara to go blabber mouthing to everyone that Kaiba kissed a boy. And he knew that if he didn't convince her, that's exactly what she would do.

"And what about Yami? What does he mean to you?" she continued to interrogate. Kaiba felt his heart beat quicken at the question, but answered nonetheless.

"I couldn't care less if that insignificant little twerp fell off the face of the earth. Do you really think I want to have anything to do with him? He's merely a fan. And I was doing what any smart person would do when faced with a fan. I pretended to like him so he could keep make believing that 'Kaibaman' really was a kind hearted hero and to encourage him into buying more Kaibaman merchandise. Aside from that, the runt means nothing to me. He is nothing." he said to her. Fine, he'd take the bait. Anything to get her off of his case.

Kaiba was caught off guard when Kisara started to grin wildly. He knew that that's what she wanted to hear, but the fact that it made her smile so madly was unsettling. Kaiba soon found out why exactly she was smiling like that when she looked away from him and toward the door that was behind the couch he sat in. Curiosity getting to him, Kaiba turned himself around to see what she was staring at.

He felt his heart sink and his breath hitch in his throat when his blue eyes caught hold of a pair of deep red ones, widened in shock.

"Yami…" he breathed.

* * *

Oh mah lord! xD

I swear I don't hate Jounouchi you guys! It's just that I'm writing the story from Kaiba's point of view, so I figure **he** would refer to Jou as a "mutt" and having a "pea-sized brain"!

I also really don't have anything against Kisara, (I think I've already said this but I'm saying it again) I just think it's interesting to see some other girl from Yu-Gi-Oh! get bashed on _besides_ Anzu.

I like Anzu. I don't really know why some people hate her so much.

I also like Kisara! I swear!

Anyhow, thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your opinion on my story so far! I really do love hearing from you guys and your opinions really do help me become a better writer believe it or not!


	28. The Tortoise And The Hare

Whoa! An update? So soon? I'm on a roll!

Yeah, I felt kind of bad for leaving such a heavy cliffy the last chapter, so I decided not to make you guys wait too much longer. And thus, here's the next one!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Yami…"

Silence settled perilously around them as Kaiba helplessly watched the spiny-haired adolescent stare unbelievingly into his eyes, unable to make any words past that come out of his slightly ajared lips. Confusion, shock, hurt—all of these emotions resonated deeply within the boy's rich, crimson eyes as he gazed at Kaiba who could only sit and do the same.

Why in the world was Yami here? How did he get here? How long had he been standing there? How much did he hear?

By the look on his face, no doubt he'd been standing there long enough to hear that last statement made by Kaiba.

'I didn't really mean that.' he thought gratuitously as if the teen could hear him. 'I only said it to shut Kisara up.'

Slowly, as if he'd understood Kaiba somehow, Yami lifted his shocked gaze up to the said woman whom Kaiba was sure was still grinning madly. Upon seeing the woman's facial expression, Yami's look changed from shocked and hurt to tired annoyance and frustration in a matter of milliseconds. He glanced back down at Kaiba for a split second, then glared hard and Kisara before stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him with a bit more force than necessary.

Without a word, Yami plopped himself down right next to Kisara, crossing his legs and spreading his elbows out to lay on top of the back pillows of the couch and have his hands hang lazily down near his chest. He flashed a dangerous smile at Kisara who now wore the same look of shock Yami had been sporting before as the boy lounged comfortably on the couch as if it belonged to him.

"Wha…what do you think you're doing you twerp?" Kisara asked incredulously, more than likely thinking—as was Kaiba—that he would have immediately left after hearing Kaiba's cruel statement about him. No, instead he sat there with a dark smile painted on his face and a malicious glint in his eyes all directed toward the person who hadn't said anything to insult him, save from the name she'd just called him after seeing him sit down next to her.

"You know," Yami spoke up finally, "when I was a child, there was this story my mother told me. It's quite a popular story. I'm sure you know it." He eyed Kisara mildly before continuing. "It's called 'The Tortoise and the Hare'. You know the story I'm talking about."

"In that story, it told about how a tortoise and a hare competed in a race against each other. Normally, it would seem inevitable that the speedy hare would win the race against the slow tortoise. However, that stupid _white_ hare was too damn arrogant and instead of keeping its eyes on the prize, it decided to taunt the poor tortoise about how much better it was than the reptile and even took a nap along the way. And in the end, the tortoise won because of its persistence and the hare's overabundant arrogance."

The teen fell silent after his retelling of the story and continued to glare at Kisara, who stared harshly back. The two seemed to be in quiet combat as Kaiba observed the standoff, taken aback by Yami's sudden urge to instill story time upon them. He sat confused with his brows wrinkled together, finding the story to be rather irrelevant to the current situation.

Kaiba swallowed dryly, now feeling a bit less at a loss for words, and calmly asked, "Yami. What are you doing here?" The teen broke the staring contest he held with Kisara and shifted his gaze over to Kaiba, softening it a bit. He watched the brunette for a moment, then reached into the right pants pocket of his school uniform and pulled out a folded up piece of paper, holding it up so it could be seen properly.

"I found this note in my locker at school today telling me to come here." he answered matter-of-factly. "Here." He reached over the coffee table and held the paper out for Kaiba to take. The man accommodated and slid the note out of his hand, glanced in his direction skeptically for a moment, then slowly unfolded it to divulge in its contents.

_We need to talk. Meet me in the filming and production building in the west wing of KaibaCorp. at 4:30 this afternoon. I'll be in the break room on the 1__st__ floor. If you show this note to one of my employees they will show you the way there._

_-Kaiba_

Kaiba stared dubiously at the note, finding the handwriting to be nearly a perfect copy of his own. Despite this, the note was **not** written by Kaiba.

"And you actually think I wrote this?" he questioned, eying Kisara as it was obvious that it could only have been her who plotted this. The woman looked off to the side, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"No." Yami admitted. "In fact, it was so painfully obvious that it wasn't written by you I decided to go ahead and come investigate." He looked back over to Kisara as well, wearing an amused smirk that at the same time almost looked scary. "But whoever _did_ write this must really be an idiot to think I would fall for whatever they were up to."

Kisara looked up from the spot on the floor that she seemed to be so interested in for the past minute or so and glanced at Yami, over at Kaiba, then back at Yami.

"What are you looking at me for?" she shouted defensively, the statement only hardening Kaiba's glare. Yami stood up from the spot he sat in suddenly, then pointed a rather dramatic accusative finger at her.

"You, Kisara, are that idiotic hare." he said. All traces of amusement were drained from his body as he continued with a hellish glare plastered across his face. "Instead of going about your way honestly and fairly, you choose to mock and jeer untastefully at anyone whom you feel is even remotely a threat to getting what you want. Rather than trying harder to accomplish what you want, you make an effort to step on and crush any and every one in your way in the most demeaning or hurtful ways you can think of, thinking that you need no justification for doing so other than you merely don't like them. You don't care how you might hurt others as long as you get what you want. You have an air about you that reeks of self-centeredness; so much so that it's sickening." he said in a calm tone that didn't match his expression at all.

"Listen here, you-" Kisara began, springing up from where she sat with her fists clenched and nostrils flared.

"You are a mean, hateful woman. And that is why you will never win the race against the tortoise. You already lost your chance; the tortoise is already too close to the finish line while you're still in the cabbage field sleeping the day away."

Kisara's eyes flashed over to Kaiba for a brief moment, then were placed back over to Yami with a glare that could turn him to stone. Kaiba remained silent as he continued to closely monitor the conflict.

"How dare you, you impolite, hypocritical, swine!" she spewed acidly.

"You are two faced." Yami went on, flat out ignoring her comment. "You use the façade of a polite, pleasant, good-natured girl to cover up the truly mean, nasty, ugly woman that you really are. No matter how much makeup you pack onto your face, it will never be enough to cover up how absolutely horrendous you are on the inside. For no matter how much you may try and fake it, you are nothing more than an undeniably ugly, _ugly_ human being." he finished furiously, not caring in that moment how harsh his words were.

It was quiet for a while. Kaiba watched as Kisara's angry glare was slowly chipped away until she only had a distorted frown and wrinkles between her brows left. Tears sprung from the corners of her eyes as she quickly turned and dashed out of the room, collecting what remained of her shattered pride on the way. Kaiba watched as she left, slamming the door hard behind her which caused a picture nearby to be shaken. He exhaled a quiet breath once the woman's presence was gone from the room and looked back over to Yami who was now sitting back on the couch opposite to him with his eyes pointed upward toward the ceiling contemplatively.

"Maybe I went a bit far…" Yami considered to himself softly, tapping his index finger on the leather couch seat next to him monotonously.

"I say she deserved every bit of that." Kaiba voiced. After all, it's not like Yami had done anything to her in the first place for her to try setting a scheme such as that up. Yami brought his eyes down to look at Kaiba, then smirked weakly with an indifferent shrug.

Kaiba viewed Yami for a short while. Sure, Kisara had been deserving something like that for a long time, but Kaiba was surprised that it had been Yami to be the one to give it to her. The teen normally seemed so cool and collected; it was shocking to see him lose his temper so extremely all of a sudden. It was starting to become apparent to Kaiba that there was a lot more to Yami than he'd first thought. Even when it came to simple things like how he reacted to certain situations. His heartbeat quickened at the realization at how mysterious the boy still was and at how much he wanted to know more about him.

Kaiba bit down on the inside of his cheek as he felt guilt suddenly wring at his chest for what he'd said earlier. Of course he hadn't meant any of it, and it seemed like Yami already knew that based on his reaction. Still, he almost felt a need to apologize. Almost.

"You know, none of this would have happened if you hadn't of been dumb enough to come here after you realized that note wasn't even from me." was what came out of his mouth instead of what he really wanted to say, and Kaiba instantly regretted saying anything at all. Yami raised his eyebrows at the brunette as he looked him up and down. Then, after a moment, he leaned back in the couch, crossing his arms with a wide smirk.

"You're sorry for what you said. You didn't mean it and wish that you could take it back but since you can't you're just going to say something rude to cover it up. Right?"

Kaiba chocked on his spit.

After clearing his throat to stop himself from having a coughing fit, he stared disbelievingly at Yami, feeling a little humiliated and hating it and the fact that the teen had been so spot on.

"Excuse me?" Kaiba questioned with his voice raised.

"It's okay Kaiba, I forgive you." Yami said teasingly with a wink. The crimson-eyed youth stood up from the couch with a huff, as if the onslaught of insults he'd rained down on Kisara had tired him out. "I think I should get going then." he said, then began making his way out of the small room.

"Wait a second." Kaiba found himself saying. The teen obeyed, turning slightly back around just before he'd been able to get his hand on the door handle. Kaiba just looked at him for a few seconds, allowing a question he was much too curious to get an answer to to slip out.

"If Kisara is the hare…" he began. Feeling anxious to see what Yami would say, he continued, "…Who is the tortoise?"

Yami stared at Kaiba for a little bit and Kaiba stared back, feeling an odd sensation as their eyes connected. He was practically entranced; he didn't think he could remove his eyes from Yami's even if he wanted to. So, he just kept looking into the rubies for eyes that Yami had as he awaited an answer.

"I'll let you be the one to figure that out. Kaiba." Yami said softly. After a few more moments, the teen finally tore his eyes away from Kaiba's, pulled the door open, and exited the room. The door closed with a light thud and Kaiba blinked a couple times once he was at last broken from the trance he'd been in. He turned to face forward in his seat, unable to erase Yami from his mind.

One thing was for sure. Yami sure was a weirdo.

* * *

Dayuuuuuum! Yami went OFF!

Oh Kaiba, Yami may be a weirdo, but you know you like it! ;D

I hope this chapter was enjoyable for you all! I was so skeptical about it and honestly kind of afraid you all would hate it! But I'm pretty much that way when it comes to every chapter I post! xD

I'm sure I'm not the only writer like that though!

Can anyone take a guess at what Yami meant when he brought up "The Tortoise and the Hare"? What was the point, exactly? Who _is_ the tortoise? What does the finish line symbolize, I wonder?

Oh god, why am I asking you all these questions like we're in English class or something!? O.o

Please don't be shy about reviewing! This being the first multi-chapter fanfic of mine, I could really use the feedback! It really makes me feel motivated to hear what you think! I'm always open to critics!

Thanks for reading!


	29. Pain

It's been a while, hasn't it? Well I'm pleased to present to you all: a new chappy!

*dances like a maniac*

This chapter is slow in the beginning; I'll admit that. But it escalates rather quickly, trust me!

Enjoy! ;3

*the number for ambulance or fire in Japan is 119, rather than 911.

Emergency number info from: japan-guide. com

* * *

Seto Kaiba was indeed a busy man.

Such a fate was meant for one who owned their own company and it could be vouched by any number of successful men he knew that the job was not at all an easy task. As if running a multi-million dollar business and a hit television show wasn't enough to shave off a few good years from Kaiba's life span, the one and only Pegasus J. Crawford, CEO of Industrial Illusions, just had to go and stack more onto the man's plate.

The foppish fruit had emphatically insisted that Kaiba and he host a tournament. On the surface, the proposal didn't seem too invidious; however, when Pegasus had offered for the two of them to do so, what he really meant was for him to bring it up, announce it nationally, then leave Kaiba to do the real work. Damn that stupid, toon-loving nitwit.

Kaiba wouldn't complain too much though. Pegasus _was_ funding the majority of the event. That at least took one stress factor away.

And just when he thought the four month alleviation from his show would lighten his work load. Alas, life just couldn't be that simple.

Kaiba tapped his thumb rhythmically against the top of his closed laptop as he only halfway listened to whatever one of his employees was rambling on about. He and a large number of men who worked for Kaiba sat dully around a large, rectangular table in a meeting that, the more he thought about the more he decided, was atrociously pointless. It was a monthly meeting that they were all required to attend, but nonetheless Kaiba wanted nothing more than to disappear from the room when he thought about how much work he still needed to do.

The brunette slowly brought his hands up as he propped his elbows onto the table in front of him. He wove his long fingers together with an unnerving silence and stared at the man coldly, hoping the gesture of impatience would cause the man to stop his senseless babbling about how "Kaibaman" should be equipped with some sort of weapon next season. It seemed to work well enough; the man's words quieted and quickened in pace as he attempted to finish his sentence with newfound nervousness lacing his voice.

"…and make it a more exciting experience to watch." the man finished as he scratched behind one of his over-sized ears in wait for what Kaiba had to say in response. Kaiba only stared at the man for a moment, noting how his large nose and ridiculously thick man chops made him look somewhat like an ape. Befitting for someone so imprudent.

"Saru." Kaiba finally began. "He is a fictional character on a television show aimed toward young children. We are **not** giving him a gun." he said sternly with a calmness that was deadly. The ape-man hurriedly sat down in his seat at the quick dismissal, remaining there with a statue like stiffness until Kaiba spoke up again.

"Now," Kaiba stood from his seat, the remainder of the men in the room following suite not long after, "if you all are done wasting my time, I have much more productive things to attend to. As do the rest of you. Dismissed." he barked out harshly, glaring hard around the room at its occupants.

Everyone filed out of the room in such a rush, you'd think there was a fire or something. Kaiba shrugged the thought away and gathered his things as he set off to leave for his office. He never really was good at hiding his anger and frustration, he'd admit that.

Kaiba's thoughts were already heavily weighed down on plans for the tournament by the time he'd made it into an elevator and punched in a button corresponding to the floor his office vested in. After a short while of being lost in thought as the narrow chamber climbed up nearly each floor of the tall building, the metal doors quietly stretched open and Kaiba stepped out into the long corridor. His heeled shoes quickly clicked down the hall as he trotted to the end and threw a pair of double doors open. The wheeled chair at his desk squeaked in defiance when he threw himself down onto it before he yanked the laptop out of his briefcase and began to boot it up.

The familiar sound of the Apple MacBook Pro's starting up jingle barely registered in his brain as Kaiba continued to ponder the tournament. In less than a few days, the young CEO had been successful in planning out an extravagant and over the top event and he was sure that the idea he'd concocted would be more than enough to please Pegasus.

A city-wide tournament—that was sure to grab some attention. And attention grabbing was just what he wanted, be it good or bad. Both good and bad attention got people talking, which made news spread just that much faster. Kaiba was quite aware that some people would find the tournament a nuisance and a bother to their daily schedule seeing as how nearly all of the roads would have to be blocked off to make it happen. But the amount of people that found the idea convivial would greatly out way those that didn't. That, Kaiba was sure of.

If he could get this tournament to go just as he wanted, people from around the world would flock to Japan just to be a part of the action.

But that was a big _if_. To do something that huge, he had to get consent by more than just Pegasus. He needed to get the okay from the person who ran the city: the mayor of Domino. Kaiba had heard from numerous people that the man was a force to be reckoned with; he was as stubborn and unwavering as a mule. Still, Kaiba knew his way around people like that, being a rather stubborn man himself. And if there was one thing he'd learned since being in the world of business, it was that money talks. And he had a feeling that the mayor would be more than willing to listen.

Fueled by his determination, Kaiba hammered away at the keyboard of his laptop; typing each word carefully in the e-mail he planned to send to the mayor and structuring each sentence as eloquently as he could muster. It had only taken him about twenty minutes to write the long message out and, after checking over it for mistakes, he sent the letter. There was no point in spending more time on it, he figured. He'd stated what he wanted, there wasn't much more to it. Besides, the offer would bring in so many tourists to the city, the man would be fool to refuse.

Pleased with what he'd done, Kaiba moved on to another task that involved the discovery of some sort of bug in the new Duel Disk models that made the holograms become wispy and static-like if the devices were used in a duel too close to another. He glowered at the message on his computer screen. Whoever had been in charge of the final testing of the machine was sooo getting fired. Yet again, Kaiba would have to take things into his own hands to fix whatever the hell was wrong with it.

Hours filled with developing a plausible reason as to why the Duel Disks were acting up, devising a plan to fix said reason, calculating the cost it would be to fix it, receiving a call from Mokuba telling him that the boy was going to the arcade with some friends, and firing a particular useless employee that would cost his business money because of his incompetence whipped by in the blink of an eye to Kaiba. Now he sat uninterestedly at his desk again reading an e-mail from some news company asking him for an interview about the problem with the Duel Disk. Kaiba rolled his eyes and clicked the little "x" at the top right corner of the message, not even bothering to respond. The reporters should know by now that Kaiba wasn't particularly fond of being interviewed, and he sure as hell wasn't going to keep reminding them.

Kaiba was about to click to the next e-mail that he was sure was some more junk mail, but stopped about halfway to doing so as he suddenly realized something. Even though he'd expressed many times his detest to an interview of any kind, the request for one by every news company around still never ceased to pop up fairly often. And the absence of a request for one based around the accusation of Kaiba being homosexual puzzled him to say the least.

He had more than expected Kisara to spill every bit of information on the topic to the next person she'd seen after what had happened between her and Yami about a month ago. He'd been prepared for it too. Had anyone so much as breathed a word hinting at the fact, the rumor should have reached nearly every corner of the planet by now. And yet, not one reporter had confronted Kaiba about it or plastered it across every magazine, newspaper, and billboard they could get their hands on. Kaiba furrowed his brow as he finally clicked the next e-mail, which was indeed just another piece of junk mail.

He just didn't understand. With such a scandalous piece of information and even evidence to back it up, it only made sense that she would expose Kaiba. Damage him. Hurt him. Hurt him like Yami had hurt her. But instead—nothing.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the white-haired woman had been considerably quiet as of late. Ever since she stormed out of the room that day Yami had gone off on her, he hadn't heard one peep out of her. Maybe the teen had damaged her pride beyond repair. Kaiba smirked at the thought, darkly finding it humorous. His smile quickly disappeared when his mind switched over from Kisara to Yami.

Like Kisara, Yami had also seemed to have vanished from existence since that day. Unlike Kisara, Kaiba was actually concerned about why. His disappearance had been so sudden and unexplained. The boy had seemed fine when he'd left that day. Kaiba leaned back in his chair as his thoughts wandered.

As much as he hated to admit it, he missed the petite teen. Nearly every day since then, on his way home from work, he would find himself peering desperately out of his window. Searching. Hoping that maybe—just maybe—he'd catch sight of that spikey head, climb out of his limousine, and make a big deal about having to drive the runt home again like he always did. Unfortunately, his search had always been in vain. Yami was never anywhere to be seen. Kaiba should have been happy that the boy's abnormal nightly walks had ceased, but there was an uneasy feeling nibbling at the back of his head that he just couldn't seem to shake.

What really distressed Kaiba was that not even Mokuba knew where Yami had seemed to have gone. The two of them appeared to have become awfully close, and the fact that Yami had cut off contact with the boy all of a sudden was unsettling. Mokuba had claimed that he hasn't even seen Yami lately. This was strange considering that Yami had to pass by Mokuba's school on his way home. That meant that Yami had to have been taking a detour to avoid doing so. Either that or the teen had just quit going to school altogether for some reason.

Kaiba rubbed his head in distress. He was starting to get worried. What if something had happened to him? No, if that was the case then he would have at least told Mokuba. Did he have to move suddenly and didn't have time to say anything? That seemed more probable than the latter, especially since he didn't even own a cell phone. Still, the fact that he wouldn't have contacted either of the Kaiba brothers in some way to tell them seemed off…

Distractedly, Kaiba shut down his laptop after discovering what time it was. He had a four o' clock meeting with Pegasus and a few others he needed to get to so they could discuss the tournament some more.

'I need to focus on what's important.' he told himself. With that, he ventured off, but not without that feeling still gnawing on his mind.

xxxXxxx

It came out of nowhere really.

A sickening feeling started creeping up through Kaiba's body not long after he'd made it to Industrial Illusions headquarters for that meeting. His head ached a bit and he had a feeling in his stomach that reminded him of the way it felt after spinning around several times once he made it inside the luxuriously built edifice.

By the time introductions were over and Kaiba had explained in great detail his plans for the tournament, his condition had worsened. His head throbbed with such intensity, he wasn't sure if any amount of Aspirin could help. His stomach churned uncomfortably and an odd and painful strain had formed in his chest and crept deviously up his throat, making it difficult to speak without feeling like he would run out of breath. He struggled to remain focused on the conversation around him and answer questions.

Finally, it seemed Pegasus had taken pity on him and cut the meeting short, telling Kaiba, "You should go home early and get some rest. The stress of the tournament is probably starting to get to you."

Kaiba growled as he shut the door of his limousine, getting a slam that was disappointingly quieter than he intended. He massaged the temples of his head for a bit, deciding to just sit there for a few minutes before giving his chauffeur any orders to drive. He breathed in and out deeply to calm himself and hopefully settle his stomach down enough to be able to say something without blowing chunks. It was just when he felt his digestive system relax into a bearable uncomfortableness when:

"Hmf!"

Kaiba had to hunch himself over and clench his jaw to keep himself from crying out. He wrapped his arms around himself as he felt a sudden and unexplainable panic rush through his body. Though it might have sounded melodramatic, he literally felt some sort of impending doom closing in on him. He could feel danger looming ominously over him. The thing was, he didn't feel that he himself was in danger per se.

Quickly, and without missing the strange look his driver was giving him in the rear-view mirror, Kaiba whipped out his phone and punched in the first number on his speed dial.

Now, by no means was Seto Kaiba a superstitious man. He didn't believe in ghosts or spirits or having some kind of "sixth sense". No, all Kaiba knew was that the last time he'd had such a strong and painful feeling of imminent demise, his brother had been dying in the next room.

It had happened not long after the two of them had been adopted by Gozaburo. Kaiba was studying silently in his room under the bastards orders when he suddenly felt himself panic out of nowhere. He had felt a sense of extreme urgency scream at him to dash out of his room, and so he did. He could hear some rustling around come from the room next to his once in the hallway and bravely investigated despite the fear that was engulfing him. Inside the room, Mokuba was sprawled out on the floor gasping and wheezing for air. He'd had an allergic reaction to a candy bar one of the maids had sneaked to him, causing his throat to swell.

To this day, Kaiba still swears he had been sure to inform every person there that Mokuba was allergic to peanuts. The imbeciles.

"Nii-sama?"

Kaiba breathed a sigh of relief when the boy picked up his phone.

"Mokuba." he forced himself to mutter in a low voice, still not feeling very well. "Where are you right now?"

"Still at the arcade…"Mokuba answered unsurely. "Did you…want me to come home now?"

Kaiba thought for a moment, unable to shake the still painfully strong feeling.

"Yes. I'm coming to pick you up now."

"Oh…okay. Um, are you feeling alright Nii-sama? You don't sound very good." he heard Mokuba ask, worry prominent in his voice.

"I'm fine. Just feeling a little under the weather." was all Kaiba dared to explain.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'll see you when you get here."

"See you."

Kaiba slid his slim phone back into his pocket, then quietly ordered the driver to take him to the arcade, feeling incapable to speak any louder at the moment.

When Mokuba saw the state Kaiba was in, the boy had ardently persisted him to go home as well.

Kaiba didn't bother to argue. He actually preferred doing so, for that tension in his chest and disastrous feeling had yet to subside.

It was only when about an hour had gone by after the two of them had safely gone home that Kaiba started to feel more at ease. The nausea had finally gone away, replaced with a strange coldness. Though it was odd, he favored that over the feeling that he could hurl at any moment. His head didn't hurt anymore, but the tightness in his chest was still noticeably present. Still, it was something he could live with for the moment. Mokuba wasn't in any danger like he'd thought. He was just over reacting.

'Maybe it _was_ from stress.' he mused. Well, whatever it had been, it was gone now. Kaiba figured that he had nothing to worry about.

That was, until he got the call.

He was in his room when he received it, playing a game of checkers with Mokuba.

"Seto Kaiba?" he heard come from the other side. The voice had a familiar accent that caused Kaiba to scowl and snarl irately.

"Siegfried?" he spat crossly, but also confused. "What the hell do you want?"

"Kaiba! You need to listen to me!" the man demanded, his German accent thick and rich as ever.

"No, you listen to me, Schroider. I thought I made it clear that day I beat your sorry ass into oblivion when you tried to ruin me at Kaibaland's Grand Opening that I want nothing to do with you or whatever issues you have with me. Never call me again, do you hear me? **_Goodbye._**" Kaiba spewed, instantly angered by the man's sudden intrusion in his life. Sure, he was a bit curious as to why the pink-haired lunatic had called, but not enough so to stay on the phone any longer.

"Wait, dammit! This isn't about me, or you, or either of our damned companies! It's about your friend, Yami!"

Kaiba felt his heart beat quicken at the mention of the boy's name, but not because he had a crush on him or anything like usual. No, this time his heart raced from fear. And Kaiba almost didn't want to know why.

Slowly, he brought the phone back up to his ear.

"…What about Yami." Kaiba probed. Mokuba looked up from the game of checkers at the boy's name. He could hear Siegfried take in a breath in preparation for what he was about to say.

"He's in the hospital."

Kaiba didn't even need an explanation.

He didn't have to ask why Yami was there.

He didn't have to ask why Siegfried knew before Kaiba did.

He didn't have to ask why Siegfried knew, _period_.

No, the only thing he wanted to ask was why his Nissan GT-R just didn't seem to go fast enough.

Kaiba sped into the parking lot of the Domino City Hospital, disregarding any other cars' beeps for driving so recklessly. He swerved to park right in front of the building, the car jolting forward from the motion. Mokuba practically leapt out of the vehicle before Kaiba even had the chance to finish parking. Kaiba was so distracted that he almost forgot to take the keys out of the ignition before exiting himself.

He followed the boy into the establishment, albeit with a calmer composure than Mokuba. The smell of rubbing alcohol and latex levied into Kaiba's sinuses once he entered. It was a discomforting smell, especially so when he thought about how Yami would be forced to breathe the scent in for however long he would be there.

He quickly noticed Siegfried over in the corner of the room, flagging him and Mokuba down.

"What the hell happened Schroider?" Kaiba demanded, doing his best to ignore the stares he was getting. He hadn't really thought about throwing on a disguise before leaving, so the fact that he was Seto Kaiba was incredibly prevalent at the moment. Nonetheless, no one dared bother the man. It was a hospital after all; it wasn't exactly the kind of place you asked for autographs in. "How the fuck are you even out of jail?"

"Ah, yes. I'm sure you have many questions for me. Like why I'm here, right?" Siegfried took a deep breath. "I'll do my best to explain. I'll start at the beginning." he said, flipping back his incredibly long hair.

"Being as powerfully rich as I am, I was able to pay my way out of jail with ease considering the crime I committed wasn't very serious. When I did get out, I took some time to reflect on what I'd done. As much as I still despised you, the words your friend had said to me that day kept playing over and over again in my mind. 'You can't change the past'. After some time, I came to realize that he was right. The past is irreversible. And the fact that I kept dwelling on it was weighing me down."

"When I'd finally decided to let the past go, I felt all of that weight lift from my shoulders. It burdened me no more. I started planning so many things for the future. Projects, inventions; I can honestly say that I _do_ have a bright future to look forward to, just as your friend had insinuated. Before I can get anything done, though, I need to move back to Germany. And I planned to. I still plan to. But a certain piece of information kept me from leaving today like I had planned."

"My younger brother, Leonhart, has been living in Japan for some time now, you know. And only recently did I find out that he's been getting bullied at his school. He told me himself, and he explained that a teen boy with spikey hair and red eyes that went to the public high school had witnessed his misfortune and hadn't hesitated to stand up for him. It didn't take me long to figure out that the person he'd described could be none other than that young friend of yours that had talked me out of my determination to devastate you and your company."

"I was moved. So much so that I just had to thank that boy Yami in person. When I was able to locate his house, I wasted no time in getting there. I went there earlier this afternoon, around four I want to say. Anyhow, when I got there and knocked on the door, no one had answered. I figured that maybe no one was there, so I turned to leave, but I noticed through an open window that there was a television on. So, I tried knocking again, but still received no answer. I wiggled the door handle out of curiosity, and, to my surprise, the door opened. Now, I suppose it counts as intruding and you can judge me if you want, but I went inside. I called out a few times but still didn't get any answer, which I thought was weird since the TV was on and there was a can of soda on the coffee table. I tried calling out again and walked in a bit further until I was in front of the kitchen. What I saw there was something…something horrible."

There was silence for a moment, save for the low murmur of chit-chat around them from other conversations.

"Yami was lying on the floor with blood pooled around him." The man took a pause to collect himself. "I wanted to help him, but I was afraid that if I moved him I might make whatever happened to him worse. There was so much blood. I called *119 as fast as I could. The ambulance just didn't seem to get there fast enough. There was just so much blood…It wasn't until I got here that I called you. I figured you should probably know."

Kaiba swallowed to get rid of the lump in his throat. He didn't look down at Mokuba to see how he was taking the story. He didn't think he could handle it.

"How did he get injured?" Kaiba asked, allowing the force of the story to seep in.

"That, I do not know." Siegfried admitted. They haven't come out from his surgery to tell me anything yet."

Surgery. Yami. Blood. To Kaiba, those words just shouldn't be associated. He didn't like it. Kaiba sank down into a nearby chair settled against the wall, as did Mokuba, as he felt the cold feeling in his stomach spread through his body. He felt a tug at the end of his sleeve as Mokuba held onto it. Kaiba sat up as straight as he could and did his best to keep his face relaxed. He had to be strong right now. Strong and calm. No matter how much he wanted to march over to the front desk and demand which room Yami resided in.

The three of them sat in heavy silence as they waited for news on Yami's condition. It was a long wait. Kaiba wasn't sure how much longer he could stand just sitting there. But that's all he could do. Just sit there. He hated the feeling. The feeling of hopeless helplessness. He'd only experienced such a horrible feeling once in his life: when his mother and father had been in the accident. The accident that had killed them both in the end after all of that damned waiting.

Kaiba shook the thought away. This time it would be different. It _had_ to be different. Maybe if he was lucky, Yami had only gotten a paper cut that had just gotten out of control…

Kaiba could have smacked himself in the face for concocting such a ludicrous idea. But, damn it all, he had to come up with something to keep hope alive and himself from slipping in front of Mokuba.

"Are you all here for Yami Mutou?"

Kaiba's eyes shot up from the spot on the floor they'd been glued to for the last hour or so at the sound of Yami's name.

"Yes." Siegfried answered quickly before Kaiba had had the chance to. The man who'd imposed the question smiled weakly at the three of them, doing his best to brighten his grim smile when he noticed Mokuba there.

"Ah, I see." he said. He flipped through a few pages on the clipboard he held onto, scanning over it a bit before returning his gaze back to them.

"What's his condition?" Kaiba asked impatiently. He stood from his chair. Mokuba did as well, then Siegfried.

"Well, he certainly lost a lot of blood, but he's not in critical condition anymore." Kaiba felt his chest clench again. That meant that he had been in critical condition at some point.

"There was a gash down his entire forearm. The wound nearly went down to his bone, and there were multiple lacerations around it like it had been slashed at several times." There was a contemplative pause. "I don't have to guess to tell you that the injury was self-inflicted." he stated, shaking his head. Kaiba's throat constricted at hearing what he had been afraid to even think about. He heard Mokuba gasp next to him, the boy haven known nothing of Yami's bad habit of self-harm.

"Can we see him?" Kaiba strained to ask. The doctor shook his head.

"I'm afraid he isn't conscious at the moment. And our visiting hours will be over in less than another half hour. I'm sorry." he informed.

"But! You have to let us see him!" Mokuba cried out loudly, stepping toward the man.

"Mokuba." Kaiba said as calmly as he could. "It's alright. We'll come back tomorrow."

"But…" Mokuba looked up at Kaiba, tears brimming his large, gray eyes. Kaiba didn't know what to say past that. All of this must have been a shock to the boy. Hell, it was a shock to Kaiba. He hugged Mokuba tightly before leading him out of the building. He'd hoped that the gesture would calm the boy, but once they made it into the car, the boy just broke down.

The drive home was painful.

* * *

Yami! No!

Yeah, this chapter is relatively a Yami-free chapter. Sad face.

Geez Siegfried! That man sure can talk! No one asked for your effing life story!

So, do you all think that our so called "sixth sense" can be _that_ powerful? I dunno, I kind of do. I'm curious to know what you think!

Anyhow, thanks a bundle for reading!


	30. Suicide Bomber

Well, well, look who decided to finally update their story after over a freaking month!

**_A month._**

I'm so sorry you guys! Lots of things were happening at once in my life and I was really struggling to find time to write. Blame it on school. :/

Nonetheless! There's a brand new chappy now! Aren't you excited? I am!

Oh, and HOLY COW. I got 50 reviews! 50! You guys are the absolute best!

Just for that, I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: I got the idea for this story from a picture I saw on Photobucket. It was picture of a chibi Yami staring longingly at a television that had Kaibaman on it. There was also some writing on it, but it was in Japanese and I have no idea what it said. Still, I thought the picture was super cute and funny, and it ended up sticking with me for a while and somehow this happened. Don't ask me how, it just did. xD

ANYWHO, enough with my pointless banter, on with the fic!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

The rain was fitting for the mood Kaiba was in.

He watched with feign interest as each droplet of water crashed onto the pavement below, splattering in different directions upon impact and fusing together with others to form puddles. It was rather cliché for it to be raining on such a somber occasion (it was the sort of thing you only saw in movies), nevertheless Kaiba welcomed the gloomy weather, giving in to the sour mood he'd been in since the previous night.

It baffled Kaiba, discovering what had happened to Yami. Especially upon learning that it had been Yami himself who had inflicted his own injury. He had just always seemed so…happy. So composed. So much so that it was easy to just assume he was fine. But that was just it. He had merely assumed that he was fine. Kaiba hadn't even bothered to ask him if that was really the case. Yami had cut before, and Kaiba knew that self-harm wasn't something that just went away after simply having it discovered. It ran deeper than that. He knew, yet he'd done nothing. He should have spoken to him; forced him to talk. Instead he just chose to keep silent, to just allow the issue to slip by. He should have known better. Hell, he _did_ know better. And that made it all the more inexcusable.

The feeling of his vehicle being put in motion jerked Kaiba back into reality and partially out of his melancholy wallowing. Hesitantly, he chanced a glance over to his raven-haired, younger sibling in the seat beside him. Mokuba stiffly sat there, nervously picking at the exterior of his seat as he gazed through the window with drooping, dull eyes. Kaiba thought about telling the boy to stop the senseless action before he ripped a hole in it, but decided to allow it to continue anyway. Hopefully it gave him something to do to alleviate his worries somehow, though, based on his expression, that didn't quite seem to be the case.

Returning his gaze back to the rain, Kaiba heavily pondered how he might be able to console his brother, but came up short with any answer. He grimaced, feeling useless for not being able to comfort Mokuba and even more so for not giving Yami the help the teen had covered up that he needed. After all, if anyone might even slightly understand how the runt felt, it would be Kaiba.

The brunette was so lost in thought he barely noticed when they had pulled into the Domino City Hospital parking lot until the red medical cross resting gravely on the highest wall of the white building caught his eye. The car weaved cautiously around other vehicles before being parked a few good meters away from the entrance. Mokuba was quick to exit the car, but Kaiba was a bit more hesitant as he felt anxiousness, guilt, and excitement surge through his body at the prospect of seeing Yami.

The car door closed much softer than intended once Kaiba had finally gotten out. Both Kaibas walked side by side as they made their way into the hospital. Kaiba clasped a reassuring hand onto his younger brother's shoulder right before they entered, hoping to ease his worry even if only slightly. Mokuba looked up at his taller sibling sadly, uncertainty gleaming in his gray eyes. Kaiba could only imagine how concerned and utterly confused the boy was, seeing as how Kaiba hadn't had the heart to explain Yami's self-mutilation issue to him yet. He gave the boy a gentle squeeze before dropping his hand back down to his side and the two of them gloomily walked into the building.

The familiar smell of latex and rubbing alcohol came as no surprise to Kaiba, nor did the abundance of stared he got as he strode in due to his unconcern with putting on any sort of disguise. What did surprise him, though, was the flash of blonde, black, and magenta spikes coming from the other side of the room.

"…Yami?" he questioned quietly to himself, stopping in his tracks at the sight. What was Yami doing out and about? Shouldn't he be resting? Kaiba slowly began walking toward the figure again, more physical details coming into view as he did so.

Why did his hair seem different? And Kaiba knew he was short, but had he always been _that_ short? The brunette slowed to a stop again when he was able to deduct that this dwarfish person that stood ahead of him was definitely not Yami, but a diminutive replica of the teen.

"Yami!" Kaiba heard Mokuba yell next to him, mistaking the doppelganger as well. Before he'd had the chance to stop him and correct his inaccuracy, the boy had leapt across the room and over to the pipsqueak.

Mokuba came to a sharp halt right behind the look-alike, apparently finally aware of the noticeable difference between them and Yami as the younger Kaiba brother essentially towered over the boy. He paused for a moment, a bit dumbfounded, then asked, "…Ya…mi?", in a quiet and unsure voice. The double immediately swiveled around at the name, clearly recognizing it, and stared up at Mokuba with a pair of saucer sized, grade GEM amethyst eyes. The boy blinked at him a few times expectantly, as if waiting for Mokuba to justify why he'd just mistaken him for another person. Mokuba merely gazed back at him, seeming to be just as confused and surprised as he was.

"I don't think that's Yami." Kaiba stated plainly after moseying over to the two of them, deciding that he should do something to break the silence that had settled between them. The boy whipped his head over to Kaiba at the second mention of the name, a single blonde bang that dangled down the center of his forehead swishing from side to side as he did. He strained his neck as he gaped up at Kaiba with big, round eyes. Based on his height and the chubbiness of his face, Kaiba guessed he was around 5 or 6 years old.

Out of nowhere, the Yami-look-alike broke out into a huge, toothy grin (save for the one missing on his bottom row of teeth), eyes glistening like gemstones in enthusiastic awe as if his most favorite person in the world had just come waltzing over.

…

…shit.

"Kaibaman!" he emphatically yelled, the proclamation quickly followed by him latching on to Kaiba's black and white designer jacket, clutching onto the cloth as if for dear life. He started bouncing up and down in elated glee while giggling his head off, taking the jacket with him. Kaiba wracked his brain for some sort of way to gently tell the boy to cut it out before he tore the expensive fabric. Doing the first thing he could think of, he softly grabbed one of the boy's hands and began prying his tiny fingers off one by one, the action awarding him a sheepish smile and the complete release of his clothing from the child.

"Yugi!"

Kaiba peered up from the flushed boy still standing uncomfortably close to him to see a middle aged woman with auburn hair and tired, sterling gray eyes sauntering over. She placed a gentle hand on his small shoulder and, to Kaiba's relief, motioned with it for him to take a few steps backward.

"Didn't I tell you to stay put? We wouldn't have gotten separated if you'd stayed where I told you to." she lectured him in a slow, patient voice, bending down to speak to him within a closer proximity.

"Sorry." the boy apparently named Yugi said, though the grin that was rapidly forming on his face made the apology seem a little less than sincere.

"And you should know better than to talk to strangers." she continued disapprovingly, ignoring his smile.

"But he's not a stranger! He's Kaibaman!" Yugi beamed, enthusiastically pointing a dramatic finger in Kaiba's direction in a way that vaguely reminded him of another spikey-haired boy he knew. The woman looked up from her kneeling position at that statement to find that it was indeed true. After recovering from her initial shock, she cleared her throat in a rather awkward manner and stood up straight as she flashed an apologetic smile at him, faint wrinkles appearing around her mouth as she did.

Smoothing down her skirt a bit, she said, "Ah, you're…Seto Kaiba." Kaiba just looked at her for a few moments, noticing how stroppy she grew at his silence. Fully aware of whom this woman was, he went ahead and assuaged her uncomfortableness by giving a curt nod. Seeming to be quite satisfied with her own accuracy, she nodded as well and then turned to face Mokuba who had more or less been left out of the conversation thus far. "And you must be Mokuba Kaiba, right?" The said boy blinked at her a few times, surprised that she'd recognized him, then fervently bobbed his wild head up and down.

"And you are…" Kaiba paused to glance down at Yugi, whose unambiguous hair couldn't possibly be related to anyone else. Damn, so it really did run in the family.

"…Yami's mother, correct?" he finished, speaking for the first time since either person had confronted him.

The woman's face immediately fell at the mention of teen, reality smacking her in the face as to why she was here. She vainly attempted to cover up her blunder with another smile, though this one was much more bleak looking as she answered, "Yes." Collecting herself further, she went on to say, "He's told us a lot about you two."

"I thought he was _lying_!" Yugi piped up, receiving an amused chuckle from his mother.

Ms. Mutou returned her attention back to Kaiba and, now more serious, asked, "I'm guessing you two are here to see Yami as well?" Both Kaibas nodded simultaneously, albeit Mokuba with much more enthusiasm than Kaiba. The woman smiled slightly, then tilted her head in inquiry. "Shall we then?" she suggested, already heading off in the other direction with little Yugi trailing closely behind her. Kaiba hesitated for a moment, surprised that the woman was so okay with them invading her time with her injured son, but quickly found himself not really caring if he was intruding or not and followed as well.

Along their way to the correct room, all the way up on the 4th floor, Ms. Mutou began divulging in what her course of action had been after learning what had happened to Yami in an attempt to make conversation. After receiving the call, she had promptly packed her and Yugi's things and hopped onto the fasted flight she could find to Japan. After 12 meticulous hours, the two had arrived and had immediately raced over to the hospital after dropping their things off at a hotel. The story clarified why the woman looked so absolutely drained of all energy.

Kaiba remained silent through her explanation, but Mokuba had been a solace for the woman to continue as he actively remained attentive to her. Ms. Mutou, however, had begun growing quieter the closer the group became to their destination. By the time they had reached the room, she was completely silent, leaving the remainder of her story unexplained. Without a word, she finally pushed open the door separating them from Yami and cautiously stepped inside. With a feeling of apprehension gnawing at his heart, Kaiba followed suite behind.

He should have been relieved to see Yami in such a healthy looking condition, but for some reason the sight just made untapped anger flare up inside of him. After nearly _dying_, he at least expected the teen to look a little fatigued, if not completely exhausted. Yet, there he sat in that oversized, blue hospital gown with the same, proud look on his face that he always wore as if nothing was wrong. That is, until he caught sight of who it was that just came walking in.

"…Mom?!" they spikey-haired teen gaped, surprised.

"And Yugi!" his younger brother chirped, quickly hopping over to the bed and attempting to tackle Yami into a hug with his short arms.

"And Mokuba." the raven-haired boy standing next to Kaiba added a bit quieter. Kaiba remained silent, not feeling the need to chime in so idiotically as his presence was quite evident. Yami scanned the room for a moment, shock and apprehension in his eyes. His eyes remained glued on Kaiba for a bit, and Kaiba found his anger receding back to wherever it came from as his eyes softened at the sight of the person he hadn't seen for what seemed like forever. Yami quickly turned away.

"…What are you doing here?" he asked, looking up at his mother. The woman walked over to him and took a seat on the side of his bed, careful not to sit on his legs.

"What do you mean? Yugi and I came here because we were worried about you." she answered, gingerly reaching over to brush back a stray piece of blonde hair from his face. Yami looked away and frowned at her action, clearly uncomfortable with her showcase of fondness in the presence of others. Ms. Mutou sighed and removed her hand, taking the hint. "…What happened, Yami?" she asked after a few seconds had passed.

"You know what happened. I'm sure the doctor already told you." Yami replied dully.

"Yes, but what I want to know is _why_ it happened." she clarified. Yami simply stared at the woman, the indifferent look in his eyes making it clear that he didn't plan on answering. "Yami." she said after a long pause had nearly drowned the entire room with its growing tension. "Come on, talk to me Yami. Why did you do it again?" she choked, visibly on the verge of tears.

…Again? What did she mean by _again_? Had something like this seriously happened before? Why had nothing been done about it then? Just how long had this been going on? Kaiba kept his series of questions to himself as he watched the scene play out in front of him, hoping that he would get some much needed answers.

"Mom." Yami said, the apathy in his eyes dissolving into sympathy. "I didn't mean to this time…It was an accident."

"An accident?" the woman exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Yami, whether it was an 'accident' or not, you almost died!"

"_Almost_." Yami emphasized nonchalantly. The fact that he was being so lighthearted about the situation caused the anger to bubble back up in Kaiba. And by the look on Ms. Mutou's face, the same could be said about her.

How could he consider something like this so trivial? So insignificant? Like it didn't even matter? Of course it mattered! Hell, if Yami died…

Kaiba swallowed hard, suddenly finding his throat constrict at the thought.

Yami quickly fell silent after seeing his mother become so infuriated. There was another uncomfortable pause as tension began to suffocate them again. Yami glance over to his brother for a moment, who had slid off of the bed halfway through the conversation and was currently staring back at him with a saddened look on his face making it clear that he'd understood the conversation thus far.

"Don't worry Yugi. I'm okay, I promise." Yami attempted, offering a weak smile. The boy sniffled in reply.

"Have you at least been taking your Amoxapine?" his mother cut in, anger still weighing heavily on her voice.

Yami glanced off to the side.

"Yami!" she yelled, exasperated.

"Why should I bother taking it? It won't help." Yami prostested.

"Of course it's going to seem that way if you don't take it." Ms. Mutou tried explaining, her voice a bit softer now but the fire in her eyes still burned passionately. Yami didn't seem very convinced though.

"Yeah, whatever." he dismissed, suddenly becoming very interested in whatever was outside of the window next to him. The woman sighed again, clutching a bundle of her hair in frustration.

"I swear, you're so stubborn. You're just like your father."

The statement in itself didn't seem very offensive, but the look on Yami's face said otherwise. The teen quickly whipped his head over to the woman at the notion, eyes wide and blazing with hatred and disgust. The sudden mood change surprised Kaiba and he nearly felt the need to calm the enraged boy down before he popped a blood vessel. The idea was in vain, however, for just as quickly as his temper had flared, he had turned his head back to the window and settled for sulking. Ms. Mutou seemed to have missed the action as she was preoccupied with soothing Yugi's worry with soft murmurs and a caressing hand, but Kaiba sure as hell didn't.

"Speaking of your father, where is that man?" Ms. Mutou questioned with an expression that would have made you think she'd just eaten something bitter. Yami shrugged half-heartedly.

"At work probably." he answered lifelessly, still staring with unwavering interest through the window.

"Honestly! What's the matter with him? Doesn't he care about anyone besides himself?!" the woman complained rhetorically. She took a moment to rub a spot on her forehead in sheer frustration, the agitation causing her pale skin to flush a light red from how hard she must have been pressing. "I'll be back." she then informed, standing from her seat on the bed and reaching into her purse to retrieve what Kaiba assumed would be a cell phone. "I'm going to give that man a piece of my mind!"

The room became silent once the woman left to make her call, excluding the rustling of sheets as Yugi attempted to climb his way back onto the tall hospital bed, leaving Kaiba to contemplate his simmering thoughts. The conversation Yami'd had with his mother, while helpful in clarifying some things, left unanswered questions in others. By the sound of it, this sort of thing had happened at least one time before, if not more, though why no further actions had been taken yet besides throwing some anti-depressants his way was beyond Kaiba. It was still hard to tell if Yami had actually been trying to kill himself or not, but one sure deduction he could make is that the teen's self-harming was out of control; the fact that both of Yami's arms were wrapped up to the elbow in gauze when the doctor had only told of one wound didn't go unnoticed by Kaiba.

And he wasn't sure what to make of the teen's father quite yet.

"So…how are you guys?" Yami piped up as he shifted himself over closer to the window in order to make room for his younger clone who had finally managed to haul himself up onto the bed.

"Yami…" Mokuba said softly as he took a few steps toward him. "Don't worry about how we're doing…worry about yourself." Yami looked up at the boy and studied him for a bit with an impassive glance, then moved his gaze over to settle on Kaiba.

"Don't look at me like that, Kaiba." Yami said defensively in a terribly solemn voice after a moment, his face still frozen in an apathetic frown. "Don't look at me like you pity me. I did this to myself. Such an action doesn't deserve pity."

Kaiba legitimately didn't know what to say to that. He hadn't _meant_ to seem like he'd been pitying him. For fucks sake, he _hadn't_ been pitying him. And really, he should have chewed the teen out for telling him what to do, especially on the assumption that he knew what Kaiba was thinking. But Yami had just seemed so…sad when he said that, Kaiba didn't have a response for it.

By the time Ms. Mutou had returned, the room had become deafeningly silent. The woman was cursing under her breath when she walked through the door, clearly agitate. Nevertheless, she wordlessly perched herself back onto the bed next to Yugi and moved the inert conversation on to something else other than whatever was troubling her. That included the retelling of the trials and tribulations she went through to get from America to Japan so that Yami could hear it as well, and an update on how Yami and Yugi's grandfather was doing, and how Yugi was doing in school; the conversation spun off so far that somehow they had ended up talking about the tournament that Kaibacorp and Industrial Illusions were planning. It seemed like both Yami and his mother were willing to talk about anything so long as it didn't pertain to why they were all here in the first place. And Kaiba found that to be the worst problem he'd discovered yet.

That is, until Mr. Mutou showed up.

The conversation had morphed into a heated debate regarding Yami's recent attendance at school when Kaiba heard the door behind him open again. He, along with every other occupant in the room, turned his head to see a man with short, black hair strode in wearing a navy blue suit and a prudently positioned black tie. The man's rich, brown eyes held a conjecturing glower in them as they swept around the room, as if he was formulating an opinion of everyone there by a mere glance.

"We'll continue this later, young man." Ms. Mutou warned Yami in a hushed voice before returning her attention back to the man who had just entered the room. "Well look who decided to show up." the woman remarked snidely, a malicious glint glistening in her blazing eyes as she stood from her seat.

Mr. Mutou huffed out a gruff, detached sigh and pushed up his already perfectly perched glasses with a single finger, as if out of habit. "Don't start with me. I have important things to attend to you know." he spoke, each word laced with a sort of venom that Kaiba had more or less expected to be there based on the bad vibes the man carried with him.

"More important than your son?!" Ms. Mutou immediately countered hotly. The man continued to bore his unwavering, menacing gaze at her. He hadn't even glanced at Yami yet since he'd stepped into the room.

"Really, I'm wasting my time being here. I only showed up so I wouldn't have to hear your bitching about it later. But knowing you, I'm sure you'll find something else to bitch about. You're always complaining about something." the man said in a dreadfully calm voice, ignoring her previous regard completely.

"Just listen to yourself, you bastard! Look at Yami! Look at your son! Look at what's happened to him! _Again_! Why? Why has this happened again? Why did you let it happen again? It's your fault isn't it? You did this to him! What did you do!? What did you do to him to make him like this!? Answer me you coward!" Unacknowledged emotions came flying out of the woman's mouth with caution thrown to the wind. Tears were now rolling down her face that was contorted into sorrowful frown as she helplessly motioned in Yami's direction. Kaiba pitied the grief-stricken woman.

Lifelessly, Mr. Mutou turned his head to Yami, who hardened his faltered facade back into the blank expression he'd been wearing before upon noticing the action. The two stared at each other wordlessly; a tension Kaiba hadn't realized was there before now becoming obvious as the harmless looks twisted into nasty glares, causing Kaiba to indolently wonder that if he were to step too close he might be hit with one of the daggers they were shooting at one another. Mr. Mutou was the first to break the standoff, setting his sights back onto the boy's mother.

"Yami's quite old enough to make his own decisions don't you think? I'm not going to baby him by pointing out the obvious do's and don'ts of life like he's still a child." the man spat coldly.

"And just what do you mean by that? That has absolutely nothing to do with the situation! Yami needs help; _our_ help! Or are you really that self-centered and idiotic to see that?" The insult seemed to strike a chord in the man as he harshly lashed back in a blind rage.

"If the dolt wants to kill himself, then fine! I'm sure I could save a lot of money without that extra mouth to feed!"

Kaiba had never heard such an insolent piece of vile come from another person's mouth, and he had a right mind to reach over and slug the worthless man right in the head. He could already feel heat shoot through his body from raw anger and the adrenaline pump through his body telling him to take a more animalistic approach than he favored. After all, he was in a hospital. With a bitter frown, Kaiba settled for clenching his fists into tight balls and holding his tongue—for the time being anyway. Ms. Mutou's rage seemed to match that of Kaiba's, though she seemed to be taking a more verbal approach.

"HOW DARE YOU! Don't you _DARE_ speak of my son like that! Do you hear me?!" she roared, pointing a demanding finger his direction. Mr. Mutou reached up and grabbed the woman's arm, clutching it tightly.

"**Don't**. Put your hand in my face. Understand?" he commanded lowly, throwing her thin hand carelessly off to the side which caused her to have to reposition her feet in order to stop herself from falling. She whipped her auburn head back up to him and growled in an animalistic way.

"You…you're not even fit to be a parent!"

"As opposed to you? How much money do you make in a week? Certainly not enough. Admit it, if it weren't for that game shop you wouldn't even be able to support yourself, let alone you along with Yugi." he countered. "Maybe if you had actually finished school you would be someone of a bit more significance about now." he added cruelly.

"Not everything is about money! All the money in the world couldn't buy you a better personality!"

"I bet you think that statement was real clever don't you? You're pathetic."

"Listen, you egotistical swine…"

The quarreling went on like that for quite a while, growing more and more brutal with each vicious statement said. Kaiba looked past the two to spot both Yami and Yugi watching the argument uncomfortably, but attentively. The two look-alikes swished their heads from side to side as they listened to each cruel exclamation as if they were in the midst of watching a tennis game. Yugi watched with a saddened look, his large eyes drooping and his lower lip protruding slightly. Yami, however, was wearing a look of strained apathy. The teen visibly struggled to retain his self-control; the vain in his neck bulged a bit and one of his eyes violently twitched with his growing agitation. With each slew of insults, his composure seemed to slip more and more until finally:

"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH!" Yami boomed. The sudden outburst silenced the room as both adults stared incredulously over at the teen as if he were crazy for stopping their nonsensical arguing. "Ridiculous…" Yami murmured under his breath at an overlook of their situation. He suddenly seemed much more exhausted than before.

"And just who do you think you're talking to young man?" Mr. Mutou condescended, standing up straight to tower unnecessarily over Yami. The teen glared up at the man but held his tongue. "You…" the man spat as if the three letter word disgusted him. "You never think, do you? Did you even think about how much money your little stunt is going to cost me? And even if you had been victorious in killing yourself…Funerals aren't cheap you little cretin!" Mr. Mutou hissed with an acidic rage. "Not that you would have actually been able to come up with a feasible course of action to successfully do so." He smirked wickedly as if he were proud of the gibberish flying out of his mouth. "Look at you… you can't do much of anything right can you? You can't even take your own worthless little life…_Pathetic_."

Kaiba was at a loss for words.

Even as he watched the sorry excuse for a human being casually waltz his way out of the room as if what he'd just said was something everyone should be aware of, he remained silent. Shock from how ruthless the man had been completely faded the anger he knew he should be feeling and clogged his brain from formulating any of the clever comebacks he'd been piling up in his head. He watched with a heavy heart as Ms. Mutou senselessly ran after the man, screaming more nonsense at him as if it would cushion the blow for Yami if he saw her trying to defend him. Something told Kaiba that that wouldn't be the case.

Kaiba was tempted to run after the both of them, karate kick them both in the head, then drag their limp bodies back into the room and demand some sort of repentance from the two of them. He decided that such an action wouldn't be much help, however. In fact, trying to force some sort of apology might just make things worse for Yami since it wasn't guaranteed that he'd actually be able to get one. So, the brunette stayed where he was, clutching onto the hope that maybe Yami hadn't even been fazed by the man's crudeness.

With a clenched jaw and contracting throat, Kaiba cautiously peered up at Yami with uneasy eyes. The teen appeared frozen in time. He was still staring at the spot his father had been standing as if the man had never left, though his emotionless front had vanished and was replaced with a look of shock matching the intense surprise Kaiba had been feeling. The room was thick with dread as everyone who remained turned their attention to the spikey-hair boy, whose brilliant, crimson eyes grew murky and wet. Realizing that he was being watched, Yami attempted in vain to blink the accumulated moisture away. Kaiba felt his heart sink at the sight.

"So…" Yami spoke up to distract from the losing battle he was having with his insistently wet eyes. "That…that just happened." He darted his eyes around. His voice grew heavy with the passing of each second. Tell-tale hiccups began plaguing his sentences. "Um…so, um…we should uh, totally h-hang out later you guys…We c-could go to the arcade o..or t-the library m-maybe…" He moved his eyes back and forth between each Kaiba brother, his eyes now completely pooled over. "That'd be fun, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it…" He didn't finish his sentence. When the tears finally fell from his eyes, he seemed to just give up on holding them back.

"Yami…" Yugi said quietly. The youth dove at his elder brother, capturing him into a tight hug.

Kaiba had to turn his head the other way as the teen wept.

xxxx

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Oh mah gerd. Poor Yami. D:

I am SOOO mean to him! I even made the poor thing cry.~~~

You know, I was really on the edge about having Yami cry. Cause you know, it's not really something you'd expect from the guy. But you know, I figured that being told that it essentially didn't matter to anyone if you were to kill yourself by your own father would cause just about anyone to shed a tear or two. And you know what, I already messed his personality up in this fic anyway, (yes, I admit it) so the heck with it!

Someone should seriously karate kick Yami's dad in the head. For real.

Kaiba is more or less just a spectator in this chapter who views everything that happened. He didn't really do or say much. Not to worry though, he'll have a lot to say the next one!

Yeah, I'm not sure why I'm calling Yami and Yugi's parents Mr. and Ms. Mutou when they're divorced…I just didn't really know what else to call them. I guess Ms. Mutou decided to keep the name for some reason?

I dunno!

Well, thanks for reading!


	31. Puzzle Pieces

Howdy there my little lovelies!

I don't really have much to say about this chapter, so let's just get right to it shall we?

Enjoy! ;3

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Seto Kaiba was not one to second-guess himself very often. That is, he rarely had a need to. His decisions were always so precise and direct that having any ambiguity on the matter at hand was simply unnecessary. His actions were well thought out and quick, but never rushed by a last minute, flustered, indecisive whim. Kaiba always knew what he wanted and he molded his movements around his goal with the sole purpose of succeeding it. With so much being exerted out, suddenly questioning whether he should go through with what he wanted or not seemed absolutely absurd. Yes, Seto Kaiba second-guessing his own thoughtfully planned decisions happened only on rare occasions.

_This_ happened to be one of those occasions.

The blue-eyed brunette stared debatingly through the window on his left of his currently parked car, arms crossed and gaze as dark and foreboding as ever. While it might seem as if the young CEO was attempting to have a staring contest with the tall building just outside of the window, he was merely in deep thought. "Merely" being used lightly to describe what an utter mess he felt like on the inside. His eyes grazed over the words "Domino City Hospital" that were being displayed in generously large letters in front of the edifice as he wracked his brain for what his next course of action should be.

He'd come to the hospital with the mindset of finally getting down to the root of Yami's problem, even if he had to strangle it out of him. It was now wildly obvious that the boy's father was the source of his dismay, but Kaiba wondered what could be happening between them to make the results from it so severe. Was there abuse? More than likely. Was it physical, along with the mental that he'd seen a slice of the day before? And what has his mother done so far in regards to the issue? By the looks of things, not much.

Kaiba breathed out a heavy breath as he finally removed his key from the ignition and exited the vehicle, no longer able to withstand the sun's unforgiving heat rays that shone down on him which made an unpleasant stickiness begin to form on the surface of his skin. He walked with long, slow strides toward the front entrance, giving himself a little extra time to further ponder what to do. He knew he needed to address the issue,—it could no longer be skimmed over and brushed aside—but just how was he to do it? What _was_ he to do, really? Wag his finger at him and tell him not to do it again?

No, Kaiba knew what he had to do. He had to reassess Yami's situation from his own empathetic view, one that truly understood what it felt like to be backed into a corner that seemed to only give you that one, self-mutilatory option as a means of release. Doing so, however, might mean divulging in an area that Kaiba had kept under lock and key for years; sealed away and veiled under layers of swathe and tight lips.

The cool air and strong hospital smell made Kaiba's heart hammer more violently in his chest at the prospect of him and Yami being face to face in a matter of minutes as he attempted to fumble out words to explain why it was he understood the teen so well. After a moment more, with an unsteady breath and a tightly clenched jaw, Kaiba made his way over to the front desk and then down the hall, each step faster than the previous until he was speeding down the corridor. He came to an abrupt stop at the elevator and wasted no time in pushing the button corresponding with the floor Yami's room resided in. He figured barreling his way up to the boy's room would be better than taking his time, as he might end up talking himself out of his visit altogether if he gave himself time to think on it any longer.

The door to Yami's room, though it looked identical to the surrounding ones, had an almost intimidating atmosphere to it. Once he opened the door, there was no going back lest he make a fool of himself, which was something he had no intention of doing.

How should he approach the subject? Should he bring it up immediately or start the conversation off on a different note, wait for an opening, then bring it up? What if Yami didn't want to talk about it like the day before? What if he spirals the conversation off topic again?

Kaiba stood there in front of the door for a bit, arms crossed and glare hard as he contemplated how he should nudge his way into the subject. He was still in deep thought when an unfamiliar voice tugged him out and partially down the hall.

"Can I help you with something, sir?"

A nurse, probably somewhere in her forties, wearing the mandatory blue scrubs that all nurses wore, addressed Kaiba from a few doors down with a conjecturing glower. Putting it into perspective, him ominously standing there in front of a patient's door with that menacing stance probably seemed a bit suspicious in all honesty. Despite that bit of knowledge, Kaiba was still pissed at the fact that his thoughts had been so rudely interrupted and he made sure to let it be known by striking his legendary glare at the woman.

"Mr. Kaiba." the nurse corrected after recognizing him, though she seemed completely unfazed by the realization or the unfriendly look she was receiving. Kaiba considered telling the woman to go fuck off, but resolved that, based on her current demeanor, she probably wouldn't even bat and eye at the remark. So, after regarding her for a moment more, he just shook his head and entered the door in front of him, figuring he'd prompted enough suspicion.

"Kaiba…"

The door softly clicked shut as Kaiba peered up. There Yami sat, just as the day before, in the same baggy hospital gown with the same stoic expression plastered on his handsome face as he bore his ruby eyes into Kaiba's sapphire ones. There was a pause, a long pause that held a silence so deafening that Kaiba almost missed what Yami said next.

"Well, this is unexpected. I never thought you'd come visit me without Mokuba." the teen said, his eyes scanning around Kaiba's figure to double check that the raven-haired boy was indeed not there. "Was there…something you needed?" he questioned. Kaiba didn't say anything. His brain was too cluttered with jumbled up thoughts to form a coherent sentence. Yami shifted in his bed uncomfortably at Kaiba's silence, the sheet draping over his legs rustling in response. He then smirked suddenly. "Oh, I know. You wanted to see me so badly that you just couldn't wait until later on when school lets out. Tha-a-at's it, isn't it?" he drawled teasingly. Kaiba involuntarily rolled his eyes at the remark, the action awarding him a chuckle from Yami. He ignored the fluttering he found tickle his stomach at the sound. He needed to focus on why he came here, not on how attractive Yami looked when he smiled.

Allowing Yami's boastful teasing to slide, Kaiba found himself taking a seat near Yami's resting spot as he nearly drowned himself in deep thought. It was a touchy subject, what he wanted to talk about, and he decided that no matter how he brought it up, Yami would react however he would react. So, with that thought in mind, he was about to just dive in but Yami spoke up suddenly, ceasing his ability to.

"So I'm getting released tomorrow." the teen said in an attempt to spark conversation.

Kaiba was actually a bit relived, more so than he'd like to admit, that Yami had spoken first. Even if it was steering their chat in a different direction than he'd been hoping for, he responded to the piece of information with a gruff, "Hn."

"I was going to be released today, but they said they needed to run some tests first." Yami continued. Kaiba raised a brow.

"What sort of 'tests'?" he questioned, now genuinely interested. Yami indolently shrugged and stared through the window next to him with droopy eyes. It was then when Kaiba noticed how much more fatigued Yami looked as opposed to the day prior.

"They kept asking me a lot of questions, so I'm guessing for a new prescription." he answered mildly, then, as if realizing what he'd said, he snapped his head back over to Kaiba with culpable eyes that reminded him of a guilty child waiting for a scolding. It was too late to take back what he said however; though Kaiba was surprised how easily the teen had brought it up.

Taking advantage of the opening, Kaiba pressed on, saying, "By prescriptions, I presume you're referring to your antidepressants." Now it was Yami's turn to not speak, leaving a heavy tension to fester in the room as he returned his gaze back to the window. Kaiba wasn't deterred by this, however. "Have you really not been taking them?" he inquired after a few moments.

"Don't." Yami warned in a low voice. Kaiba paused at the request, noting how Yami's demeanor had gone completely downhill.

"Yami."

Hesitant at first, the said teen turned his gaze to fall on Kaiba, whose expression softened, even if only slightly, at the pleading look stirring in Yami's crimson eyes.

"I need to talk to you about something." Kaiba informed, detaching himself as best he could by speaking in his business tone. Still left with no response from Yami, Kaiba went on to begin asking the questions that had been plaguing his mind for quite some time, starting with, "Why don't you take your prescriptions?" Yami just stared at Kaiba with a dumbfounded look that seemed to say, "Whatever do you mean?" as if he believed that playing dumb would work. Kaiba continued his probing nonetheless, saying, "I remember you saying yesterday it was because you don't think they help. When you said that, were you meaning that when you did take them you were still feeling the need to cut-"

"Enough."

Kaiba stopped. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, agitated that he'd been interrupted, but understanding the pressure he'd just dropped onto Yami as well.

"That's enough." he repeated darkly. "I'm not in the mood for another lecture, Kaiba. Especially not one in the form of one of you long-ass monologues." Kaiba ignored the sting to his ego.

"I'm trying to help you. You should feel fortunate; I don't do this sort of thing for everyone." Kaiba said in a surprisingly even voice considering the anger that was shooting through his body at the idea that Yami dared refuse his offer.

"Well I don't. I didn't ask for your help." Yami stated harshly as he glanced off to the side.

Kaiba ignored the urge to curse a string of insults at Yami for his imprudence. He ignored the urge to yell, "If you don't want my help, then fine!" and storm out of the room. He needed to somehow find some patience, no matter how impossible it seemed, and try to talk some sense into the boy. He took a breath to control his risen temper, then began, "Listen Yami-"

"No Kaiba, you listen." Yami interrupted again. He turned to Kaiba with a hard frown, then said, "I _don't _want to talk about this."

"You don't want to talk about it? Hn, you _don't_ want to talk about it. How the hell do you plan on fixing your problem, then? Do you plan on doing it yourself? After it's nearly too late and you're covered from head to toe in scars; each one a reminder more painful than the last of what you could have prevented?" Kaiba asked bitterly, his once plentiful amount of patience now wearing dangerously thin.

"Save it." Yami hissed. "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Just…just leave me alone."

Kaiba hadn't even realized he'd risen from his seat until after the fact. The metallic part of the chair screeched defiantly against the hard floor and it fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Leave you alone so you can continue to be a danger to yourself? Just how long to plan to wallow in self-pity? Don't you want to get better? You need to start acting like it and stop letting whatever the problem is walk all over you!"

"Just stop! Stop trying to solve my problems! You're not a psychiatrist and you're crappy at pretending to be one!" Yami shouted, hysteria welling up in his eyes.

"I'm not trying to be a damn psychiatrist! I'm trying to get it through your thick skull that you need help, whether you like it or not! You're clearly out of control! In case you didn't notice, you almost fucking died! You almost _killed_ yourself!"

There was a pause. Yami's contorted, angry expression fell, leaving a miserable frown in its place.

"I realize." he said practically inaudibly.

"And you don't find that to be a problem?"

"Of course I do…"

"Then do something about it." Kaiba scolded. "You can't get better without help, and you can't get help without seeking it out." Yami shook his head.

"It's just…it's not that simple." He sighed. "You don't understand."

Kaiba hesitated. "I understand better than you think."

"Don't even. You don't understand. You don't."

Kaiba reached his breaking point. Just like that, a surge of fury came rushing up his body, firing through his mouth and actions before he could stop it.

"I don't understand." Kaiba reiterated in a deadly voice that reached just barely above a whisper. "I **don't** understand?" In one swift movement, he threw off his black jacket, earning a strange look from Yami. "You honestly think you're so special, that your life is so extraordinarily awful, that no one could possibly understand!?" He hastily shoved the sleeve of his green shirt up his left arm and held it out. "Why don't you take a look at my arm and then dare tell me that I don't fucking understand!"

He instantly regretted his decision, but it was too late now. The barricade of his past had been sheathed, leaving his blemishes of fragility on full display. He watched as Yami's eyes widened into round saucers and mouth fell ajar. The teen sat as stiff as a board as he stared at the blemishes taking refuge atop Kaiba's skin. Thin, white lines of imperfections scattered up and down the interior of his appendage, faded and scarce near the bottom gradually growing more notable and abundant closer to the nook of his arm.

It had been a while since Kaiba had really paid attention to his old scars. He noticed how many were perfectly lined up and recalled how he had so meticulously placed them there those years ago. Others were situated in a more reckless manner, carelessly splattered every which way. Each mark, no matter clean cut or jagged, represented the demons still lurking even years after his torment as a child was over. Looking at the scars now made his arm feel sore.

Kaiba said nothing as Yami reached a hand over and gently touched his exposed arm as if to confirm that what he was seeing was real. His icy fingertips singed Kaiba's skin as they ran over the risen remnants of a woeful past. Kaiba found it unnecessary to bring to attention just how far up his arm the scars went, or how there was a second set of white lines placed on his other.

Yami was undoubtedly in the midst of an internal battle as his hand trailed down to settle at Kaiba's wrist for a moment before dropping back down into his lap. He stared off at nothing as he seemed to immerse himself deeper and deeper in thought until he looked almost lost. His shoulders slumped a bit and his brows rose in perplexed slants as his proud, impassive demeanor deteriorated away. He seemed…defeated. Baffled. Like he'd spent the last few years piecing together a puzzle only to just now realize that he'd been trying to wedge pieces in where they don't fit all this time. He looked up at Kaiba again as if to ask for help in finding the pieces' correct places. Kaiba looked back with a calmer gaze, not as worked up as he'd been a few minutes ago.

The silence that began growing between them quickly became unbearable as Yami's eyes continued to bore into Kaiba's in a way that turned painful. He slid his sleeve back down over his arm, now loathing the fact that he'd pulled it up in the first place, and quashed the heavy stillness by saying, "…No one has ever seen that. Not even Mokuba."

Yami continued to stare at him a bit longer, then smiled suddenly. It was a bleak, dejected smile that only constituted as one because of the lifted corners of his mouth. The rest of his face held a miserable downcast as he let out a feeble, "Heh." Turning his head to face away from Kaiba and toward the ever fascinating window, he said, "I did it."

"…Did what exactly?" Kaiba questioned, thoroughly bemused.

"Don't you remember? When we were at Kaibaland on the Ferris Wheel, I told you I'd find something out about you that no one else knew, didn't I?"

Kaiba remained quiet for a moment as he thought back to the day Yami was referring to. Silently, he knelt down and seized his jacket from the floor, then set the chair behind him back up properly.

"I suppose you did."

The two sat in a dreadful silence after that, and Kaiba idly wished to drown it out by saying something. Anything. But in the end he voted to keep quiet and allow Yami some time to sort out his thoughts in peace. And so, there he sat, waiting for any sort of response from the teen on what he'd said earlier.

His eyes wandered over Yami; from the golden strands of his hair, to the smooth skin on his neck, over to the blue gown draped over his small frame, all the way down to the bandages wrapped around each of his thin arms. He wondered how severe the wounds underneath the strips of gauze were. Based on the fact that they had to be bandaged up as heavily as the wound on his other arm that had nearly killed him, he was sure they would scar. Maybe if the teen was lucky, the dressings the hospital provided would make the marks faint. As for the scars that had already been there, Yami would be stuck with those for the rest of his life…

Kaiba's eyes snapped up when he noticed Yami move. His sight fell on the teen's precarious gaze, and his stomach twisted as he anxiously awaited for whatever it seemed like Yami wanted to say. The teen opened his mouth to speak, but then:

Slam!

"Yami!"

A blur of blonde came whipping through the door and toward Yami.

"J-Jounouchi?" Yami sputtered after being tackled into a hug. The said man nodded as he continued to squeeze the life out of the small teen.

"YamiohmyGodIheardyouwereinthehospitalandIjusthadtocomeandseeifyouwerealrightIwassoworriedwhathappened!?" came spilled out of his mouth dumbly. Kaiba involuntarily growled in agitation, exceptionally pissed that he'd been prevented from hearing Yami's next statement. His anger was especially heightened upon seeing the cause of the interruption snuggle Yami like some kind of security blanket. Since when did the two of them become so buddy-buddy anyway? Hearing Kaiba's frustrated grunt, Jounouchi released the teen from his clutches and spun around.

"Oh. Kaiba. You're here." the blonde said. He looked down at Yami for a moment, then back up at Kaiba, flashing a sly grin at him. "Oh, did I _interrupt_ something?" he asked, looking between the two as if he had any clue what had been taking place before he bombarded them.

"Yes. Get out." Kaiba spat crossly. Jounouchi frowned at him, apparently unhappy with his bluntness.

"Well damn, you don't have to be so rude."

"And you don't have to be so moronic."

"Why you…"

"Kisara…"

Kaiba looked up at Yami, then slowly followed the teen's gaze over to the still wide open door to his right. Lo and behold, there stood the declared white-haired demon, her hand on her hip and her deep blue eyes commanding for attention as they scanned the room. Kaiba hardened his glare when her eyes landed on him, feeling satisfied when she immediately looked off in the other direction. What the hell was Kisara of all people doing here? She goes and disappears for a month, and then suddenly decides to show up at a hospital of all places? And comes to see Yami no less?

Collecting herself, Kisara marched in and over to the bed Yami lay in, stopping on the side opposite to Kaiba with a heavy stomp.

"Uh…" the teen voiced aloud, the look on his face clearly showing that the same questions Kaiba had been wondering about were buzzing around in his spikey head too. He frowned and raised an eyebrow in question as she continued to stare him down. Wordlessly, she lifted her arm up and threw a wicker basket into his lap. Inside resided what seemed to be a decorative assortment of fruit covered in a plastic wrapping held together with a golden bow on top. Yami stared at the basket for a moment, then looked up at Kisara incredulously.

"…Huh?"

Without bothering to clarify why she'd just chucked a hotchpotch of fruit at him, Kisara unzipped her leather purse and pulled out a silver tin that had a thin red ribbon tied around it and threw it at him as well. Taking a moment to look at it, the kanji for "Duel Monsters" could be seen etched onto the top of the container, meaning it must have been some special collector's tin.

"…Eh?"

Yami looked back and forth between the two items and Kisara, utterly baffled. Nonetheless Kisara remained silent as she slowly zipped her purse back up. She turned away and began walked toward the door as if she planned on leaving, but stopped halfway there.

"When I heard you were in the hospital, I figured that if I came I'd find Kaiba here too. So, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to talk to both of you at the same time. To…reconcile my behavior."

The room was still as its occupants attempted comprehending just what exactly she was talking about. Kaiba more or less understood right away, but decided to keep quiet and watch her squirm instead of clarifying himself.

"So…I'm asking for your pardoning on my actions a few weeks ago." she tried. After a few more seconds, she turned her head to see if she'd stricken anything in anyone. When she was faced with nothing but blank faces, however, Kaiba could literally see the patience drain from her face.

"God! Do I have to spell it out for you? I'm _apologizing_!" she snapped, spinning around and holding a defensive pose. She looked from Yami to Kaiba back to Yami, then took a breath and calmed herself back down in a surprisingly short amount of time. "Look…Yami, about that fake note I wrote you…and Kaiba, about tricking you into saying that stuff…I…I'm!...I'm sorry, alright!? I…shouldn't have done that…and stuff…" she forced herself to say. It sounded odd to hear something even remotely close to genuine consideration come out of her mouth, and Kaiba was a bit at a loss for words. He turned his head over to Yami, whom did the same toward Kaiba, and they silently conversed a confirmation with one another saying, _"Did she just say that?" "Yeah, I think she did." _They simultaneously turned back to Kisara, who was looking rather humiliated at the moment.

"Wow Kisara, that's…uncharacteristically nice and civil of you to say." Yami said.

"I CAN BE NICE IF I WANT TO!" she yelled in response, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"Right, right…"Yami snorted.

The conversation spun off on a lighter note after that, but Kaiba only vaguely held his attention to it; he had much to many things swirling around in his head to concentrate on whatever silly things the other three were talking about. He wondered how he might find a way to make Yami tell him what he wanted to know; to answer all of his lingering questions. He'd been so close just a few minutes ago, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to prod whatever Yami had almost said out again. He thought about maybe giving up on asking Yami and talking to his mother instead to see what she knew, but he had a feeling she only knew about as much as he did now. Belittling himself enough to talk to the teen's father was simply out of the question, and it's not like the man would tell him anything anyway. So, that left him no choice than to get Yami to spill somehow.

"How did you end up in the hospital anyway?" Kaiba heard Kisara ask. He looked over to Yami, waiting for whatever excuse he knew the teen would make up.

"Oh, uh…I…fell down some stairs." he answered lamely.

"…And injured your arms?" Jounouchi asked, motioning to the heavily bandaged appendages.

"…And crashed through a…window…" Yami added. He fiddled with the plastic wrapped around the basket still sitting in his lap, then slowly peered his crimson eyes up to Kaiba knowingly. Kaiba lightly frowned at him, but said nothing.

"Is that so?" Kisara questioned. Yami nodded, but didn't take his eyes off of Kaiba.

"Man, that sucks. Be more careful kid." Jounouchi said.

Yami nodded again, then finally tore his eyes away from Kaiba's. Kaiba continued to look at him for a short moment more, but, feeling another pair of eyes boring into him, turned his attention over to his right. Kisara studied him for a moment with a speculative regard, and Kaiba immediately knew she wasn't buying a word of it. He had to hand it to her, she was smarter than he'd at first assumed.

Choosing to keep quiet on the matter, Kaiba whipped out his phone to check the time. He cursed under his breath, just now realizing how long he'd been there, and stood up from his chair.

"I have a meeting a have to go to." he explained briefly as he headed for the door, throwing his jacket back on in the process.

"Oh." Yami said. "I'll see you later then, Kaiba."

"Hn." was all he said in return with a nod. The door clicked shut loudly as Kaiba left without bothering to say anything to the other two in the room. His thoughts raced as fast as his steps as he sped down the hall and to the elevator at the end. His mind kept drifting off to the look on Yami's face when he'd shown him his arm. The confusion, the surprise –the helpless defeat he seemed to be suffering.

'Fine.' Kaiba resolved. 'If you really want my help and just won't ask me, then fine. I'll go out of _my_ way just to help _you_. You better feel fucking fortunate.' Besides, Kaiba liked a good challenge.

And after all, he just so happened to be great at puzzles.

xxxx

xxx

xx

x

* * *

Yas Kaiba, yas. Tell it to Yami like it is!

I don't really find it necessary to explain Kaiba's childhood or his reasons for cutting. If you've watched the anime/read the manga you should already have a pretty good idea.

Whoa! Look who it is! Kisara can be nice? What is this witchcraft?

I guess I kind of accidentally made her tsundere, huh? Oh well!

Seriously Yami, if you're going to lie at least come up with a better one than that. x3

Thanks for reading!


	32. Nothing Good Ever Lasts

Finally! An update!

-says every person actively reading this story, who, by the way, I'm super grateful for. ;)

…so sorry.

I know I'm slackin'! Ah well…

If it's any consolation, this chappy is hella long compared to the other! So, relax and read to your heart's content my lovely little tangerines!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

"Court?"

A nod.

"That's why I was wondering if you could watch him."

"I see."

Kaiba took a sip of coffee as he mulled over the request made to him. He peered across the table to the spikey-haired individual seated on the other side whose bright eyes were like daggers as they intently pierced through Kaiba's sunglasses and into his azure eyes. Apparently, according to the information that was just haphazardly thrown at him, Yami had a court date to attend on the 18th in a little over a week and needed someone to take care of his younger brother that day. Since he'd gone and asked another person, it could be presumed that since neither of his parents were able to, they were both going as well. Based on what he'd witnessed not long ago, there wasn't a need to elaborate on why.

"Yeah, I would have asked Jounouchi, but…well…I mean it's not like I don't trust him, it's just that…" Yami trailed off.

"You don't trust him." Kaiba finished for him. "And you shouldn't. Knowing him he'd probably lose the kid. In fact, hanging around him is just bad news in general. I don't see why you would want to voluntarily spend time with that mutt anyway." he found himself slandering.

"Kaiba-a-a.~" Yami drawled in a sing-songy type of way that caused Kaiba to raise a brow in question. The teen pointed toward Kaiba with the fork he'd been using to devour a slice of cake with and, with his lips curled up into a satisfied smirk, said, "Your jealousy in showing."

Kaiba choked on the sip of coffee he'd been in the middle of taking. He let out a heavy cough to clear his lungs and wiped his face with his free hand.

"_Excuse me?_" he questioned in a low voice. He shot a glare over to his right at his snickering younger brother who seemed rather unfazed by the silent threat as he continued to chuckle away. Not sure how else to respond and, frankly, feeling a bit humiliated, Kaiba leaned backward in his seat and folded his arms together in displeasement.

"Uh oh." Mokuba jeered as he reached over and pulled the untouched piece of cake resting in front of Kaiba over to himself, scooting his empty parfait glass out of the way. "I think you made him mad." he proceeded, then—knowing full well that his elder sibling had no intention of eating the sweet he'd ordered—used his finger to swipe a glob of frosting from the dessert as if to test whether he wanted it or not.

"Kidding. I was just kidding. It was a joke, Kaiba." Yami assured, though he seemed to have been having some trouble wiping that smug smile off of his face. Kaiba didn't respond, but rather lifted his mug and emptied its contents as if he didn't hear anything at all. Yami rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"So," Mokuba began after demolishing over half of his stolen snack in less than two minutes. Kaiba raised his eyebrows, surprised that he'd eaten so much so fast, then dragged what remained of the dessert back over to himself and threw a napkin over it to stop the boy from intaking anymore sugar than he already had. Mokuba took a moment to pout, making it clear that he'd planned on finishing it, but turned back to a tickled Yami anyway and continued, albeit with a hint of annoyance lacing his young voice. "I'm guessing you have to go to court for more custody stuff, huh?"

"Yeah." Yami confirmed as he finished off his own snack.

"You'll probably end up getting to live with your mom then, won't you?"

A pause.

"Yeah." Yami repeated, though, Kaiba noticed, a bit quieter this time. Mokuba seemed to detect the shift in his mood as well.

"That's a good thing, isn't it? Don't you like your mother? She seems nice." the boy said gently.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is." Yami agreed. He hesitated, then added, "It's just that…she lives in America." Kaiba caught on right away, however the fact of the matter didn't seem to register in Mokuba quite as quickly.

"…Can you not speak English or something?" he prodded innocently.

"No, I can. I learned when I was little. That's not a problem."

"Oh." Mokuba glanced down as he thought. "Then, are you afraid people will make fun of your accent?"

"No, I'm not really worried about that." Yami replied with a weak, mildly amused smile. "The thing is…I'll be living over 6,000 miles away."

A longer pause.

"Oh." Mokuba said, finally understanding. Kaiba felt a pang in his chest at the thought. For a moment, he selfishly hoped that maybe Yami would wind up remaining in Domino instead. He hoped that things could just continue the way they had been; unmindful of the harm it might cause Yami.

But the thought only lasted a moment. As fast as it came, it left, leaving a bitter feeling to fester in his mind at the notion that it had even been there in the first place. Of course Yami couldn't stay. It wasn't healthy for him to. Whatever he had to go through on a daily basis was wearing on him bit by bit, like a pair of shoes worn by a clumsy, pigeon-toed child who didn't know how to care for them properly. Soon they'd be damaged beyond repair and get thrown out to sit idly among other articles of trash with nothing to do but collect dust. Kaiba peered down into his empty mug as he internally repeated the haunting phrase.

Of course Yami couldn't stay…

"How's everybody doing? Anything you all need?" Kaiba suddenly heard a young woman ask, breaking the stifling silence that had grown between the three of them. He broke away from his thoughts and looked up at her, identifying her as the waitress from earlier when the trio had first arrived.

"Coffee." he ordered plainly, detaching all emotion from his voice.

"Ah, y-yes, of course. Right away, sir." the woman stuttered out nervously, bowing a few short times in a weird little awkward way before scurrying away to obey his command. Once she was gone, Kaiba could literally feel the stare he was getting from across the table. He drummed his fingers against the table once, then glanced over to Yami, a pair of amused rubies reflecting back at him.

"…What?" he questioned. He heard Mokuba snort in an attempt to hide a laugh and quickly darted his eyes over to the boy.

"What?" he demanded.

"It's nothing, really." Yami answered. "It's just that…" he fought to suppress a grin, "…you were so _serious_ when you said that."

"Yeah, I think you scared the waitress a little." Mokuba agreed.

"…Your point being?" Kaiba inquired. It's not like he should care whether the woman was so easily intimidated or not. That was her own damn problem.

"The point, Kaiba, is that you should try to be a little more polite." Yami suggested with a wave of his hand, as if the motion would cast some sort of spell over the brunette to do just that.

"Nicer." Kaiba repeated impassively, not particularly caring what the teen's opinion on his social behavior was.

"And you should lose the sunglasses. Wearing them inside makes you look kind of like a creep." the teen ruthlessly continued.

"I don't really feel like being bombarded at the moment, nor do I care how I may be perceived while I wear these." Kaiba said, biting back the insult he'd really wanted to throw Yami's way for the comment.

"You won't be noticed _that_ quickly, will you? It couldn't hurt to just take them off while we're here." Yami argued tenaciously. Kaiba merely looked at the teen for a moment, insulted that he dare doubt Seto Kaiba's fame to so much as suggest that he wouldn't be recognized the moment someone caught a glance of his face. His eyes were ablaze as he suddenly felt compelled to take the challenge head on, regardless of the consequence.

"Hn. Yes **_mother_**." he mocked starkly as he removed the tinted protectors from his face without further protest. Yami glared at him, but seemed content and even perhaps pleased nonetheless.

Kaiba crossed his arms and awaited the inevitable, confident that the three of them would be high tailing it out of there in a matter of minutes.

Or, by the looks of it, maybe more like a matter of seconds.

He didn't miss the long stare he'd received from a couple walking by their table, and he was almost inclined to throw the sunglasses back on when he saw the awkward young waitress headed their way again with a fresh pot of coffee in hand. He didn't though, of course, for doing so would be like backing down from a fight, which was something Seto Kaiba _never_ did.

"Here you are, sir." the waitress announced as she began pouring a stream of dark liquid into Kaiba's mug without even bothering to look up at him.

"**_Why, thank you so much_**." Kaiba exaggerated in a purposely obnoxious way, staring intently at Yami as if to say _"How's this for polite?"_. Yami covered his mouth to muffle his laughter.

Surprised and a bit nervous looking at the sarcastic comment, the woman quickly lifted her head to look at him and immediately froze in place, not to Kaiba's surprise.

"Y-you…you're…!" she scrambled for the correct words that would express her thoughts.

Ignoring the unfinished sentence, Kaiba's gaze darted down and his eyes widened as he apprehensively, but coolly, pointed out, "…the coffee."

The waitress instantly lifted the pot she'd completely forgotten she had been in the middle of pouring, embarrassedly assessing the steaming liquid that had overflowed due to her carelessness from the mug down onto the table and nearly into Kaiba's lap.

"Oh! I-! I'm so sorry!" she stammered, clumsily grabbing a big bunch of napkins from their holder and using them to sop up the wasted coffee. She had only wiped up a part of the mess before giving up on the now soaked pieces of paper that were really only moving the flavored water around at this point. Flustered, she eyed Kaiba up and down with a stupid looking grin like she was about to tackle him into a hug at any moment, which only made Kaiba stiffen with nervousness that it might actually happen. Just when he was getting himself ready to throw his hands in front of himself and shove her across the room if need be, she spoke, "I'll be right back. Stay right here, I'll be right back." Her repetitive words ran together with clear excitement in her unsteady voice. He only briefly watched her speed away, then promptly turned back to the people seated at his table. Yami was currently silently dying of laughter with his hands pressing firmly against his mouth to cover it up. Mokuba sipped his tea with an entertained smile, used to the sort of thing just displayed happening pretty regularly. Kaiba sighed, wondering why in the world he'd agreed to go anywhere with the two in the first place.

"Time to leave." Kaiba instructed. He threw down a wad of cash before departing from the table, Yami and Mokuba following closely behind.

"Ah! Wait a moment! Please wait!" Kaiba heard from behind. Reluctantly, he turned his head just enough to see the nervous waitress from before and a few other people stumbling toward him as if not sure whether they should approach or not. Great, now the entire café was staring at him.

As casually as he could, Kaiba slipped his sunglasses back on and marched through the glass doors away from anyone who'd recognized him—of course, not without sending Yami a quick _"I told you so"_ look first. Feeling both triumphant that he'd proved Yami wrong and anxious that the people behind him would decide to follow him after all, he started taking longer strides down the sidewalk with Yami and Mokuba having to step more quickly to keep up. He finally decided to chance it and swiftly checked behind himself.

Oh god.

More people.

And they _were_ following him.

"The hell with it." he murmured almost inaudibly before breaking out into a light jog.

"Okay, I realize that there's a mob of adoring fans behind us," Yami said between breaths, as he and Mokuba more or less had to run to keep at Kaiba's pace, "But do we really have to run? I mean what's the worst they could do? Ask for an autograph?"

"They might also hug him. And fans get kind of grabby. And we don't even have bodyguards with us." Mokuba explained.

"I'm not running." Kaiba refuted, feeling he needed to correct the statement. "I'm tactfully retreating."

"Oh, is that we're doing?" Yami asked with chuckle.

"Yes. Now shut up and run."

xxxXxxx

Why he'd allowed such a ridiculous idea to unfold was beyond his ability to comprehend. Normally Kaiba was the type of person who always thought things through; who didn't take shit from anyone.

And yet, there he was, scavenging through his own home for that damn kid because he happened to slip up just _one_ time.

"Yugi…" he called out as calmly as his rising temper would allow. "I give up, alright kid? You can come out now. Your brother is going to be here soon." He received only silence.

It was the day of Yami's court date, the day that Kaiba had reluctantly agreed to look after the teen's much younger sibling while he and his parents were occupied with the judicial system. Everything had been completely fine at first. He found the boy to be rather well-behaved as he quietly sat with Kaiba, fiddling with some Duel Monsters cards as the brunette attended to some much over-due paperwork. Yugi would glance up at him every now and then, and the few times that Kaiba glanced back the boy would just smile shyly and then turn back to his cards as if they were the epitome of entertainment.

After a long while, the young boy seemed to have finally built up the guts to speak as he softly said, "…Kaibaman?"

"Just Kaiba, kid." he had corrected. He didn't care if Yugi was just a child, no way in hell was he about to allow _anyone_ to constantly call him that. Yugi shifted on the couch he'd been sprawled out on to face Kaiba. He waited a few moments before speaking again.

"…Can we play a game?" he asked. Kaiba peered over to the boy for a short second.

"I'm a little busy right now." he answered truthfully. He hated to admit it, but he'd put his ever-growing stack of paperwork off for a while now and really needed to finish looking through them. On top of that, there was still a ton of preparations that needed to be made for the tournament he and that fruit Pegasus were planning.

"…Oh." Yugi said, sounding a bit disappointed. A few more second went by, then he continued, "Can't we just play one game? One short, itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny, little game? Please? I promise I won't bother you anymore after…"

Kaiba'd had every intention of standing his ground and refusing the request again, he really did. But that pathetic, pleading, doughy-eyed look Yugi had on his face just reminded him so much of Mokuba when he was that young, he almost instinctively gave in out of habit. Damn those eyes…

As soon as he'd agreed, Yugi had hastily insisted on playing Hide and Seek, and quickly scurried upstairs before Kaiba'd even had the chance to stop him.

"Yugi, wait!" he'd called out uselessly, the command not reaching the eager six year old whose footsteps could be heard off in the distance. Kaiba cursed under his breath and hurried after the boy.

Now, here he stood nearly an hour later, impatient and frustrated as he trotted down yet another hallway looking for the boy.

How the hell was he supposed to find the twerp? His mansion was over 7,0000 square feet! Even with nearly all of his maids and a Mokuba searching as well it would still take hours if Yugi never came out of hiding! Kaiba rubbed his forehead viciously, utterly agitated. He had work he needed to do!

"Mr. Kaiba." he heard a maid say from across the room.

"_What?_" he snapped, whipping his head in her direction and glaring, just to make sure his currently welled up anger was correctly conveyed. Her flinch made it evident that it was.

"Mr. Mutou has arrived." she informed quickly, shooting her eyes in the other direction as if she were afraid any direct eye contact with the fuming CEO might turn her to stone.

Oh, great. How fan-fucking-tastic. He could only imagine the look on Yami's face upon hearing that his little brother had been missing for the last hour or so.

"Fine." he huffed exasperatedly as he plopped himself down onto the cream loveseat he'd been pacing back and forth in front of. It was better to just get it over with and face the inevitable. He absolutely hated how worried the thought of Yami being upset with him made him feel. He could feel the guilt clenching in his chest. Damn it all…

"Hey Kaiba." Yami's voice came flowing into his ears, the cheerful sound making his stomach do an unpleasant flip at the idea of having that same voice yell dejectedly at him. Damn it all to hell…

"Yami." he greeted nonetheless. The teen waltzed his way over to Kaiba, the ends of his slightly too long, dark dress pants dragging along on the floor. Kaiba attempted not to let himself be distracted by how handsome Yami made a simple tieless suit look, but failed miserably as he ended up eyeing the teen up and down anyway. "How'd it go?" he asked, remembering his current situation and hoping the question might curb Yami from asking about Yugi for the time being. Maybe he'd tell Kaiba in depth how the court proceedings went? That might give enough time for Yami's younger brother to show up.

"Fine." Yami answered shortly.

Fuck.

So much for that.

"Where's Yugi?" Yami asked, inspecting the perimeter and noting that his brother was nowhere to be found.

For fuck's sake.

The _one time_ Kaiba had actually _wanted_ Yami to talk his ear off…

…

…

…

"Kaiba?"

The said brunette stared up at Yami. Well, no use in trying to hide the obvious.

"I have absolutely no idea." he admitted as nonchalantly as he could.

…

…

…

"What?" Yami asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"We were playing Hide and Seek. Needless to say, under the circumstances, he's doing a much better job at hiding than I am seeking." Kaiba stated bluntly.

It seemed to take Yami a moment to fully understand what Kaiba had said. He just stared at him for a while with a blank expression, the wheels turning rather slowly as he thought. When it finally clicked, however, his face contorted into an intensely irritated frown, his eyes narrow and mouth ajar like he couldn't even begin to fathom the information he'd just been told.

"What?" he repeated. He began pacing back and forth worriedly like Kaiba had been doing a few minutes earlier. "How…! Why…! Y-…you…" He stopped pacing and turned back to Kaiba. "What?" Kaiba didn't respond; he just sat there blankly. "Who the hell plays Hide and Seek in a gigantic mansion?" he demanded, flailing his arms to further express his frustration.

"It wasn't my idea. Your brother was the one to initiate it." Kaiba defended himself, not caring if he sounded like an indignant child saying something like, _"They started it!"_.

"…And you just allowed this?" Yami asked, switching from being enraged to being in utter astonishment. Well, he supposed astonishment was better than the latter. Still, that half-lidded, condescending look Yami was sporting wasn't very favorable. Kaiba didn't respond to the question, figuring that silence was better than him countering, "Well if your damn brother wasn't so fucking hard of hearing, this wouldn't have happened!" No, it was probably best not to go there, no matter how completely furious he was beginning to feel at the teen acting like it was _completely_ his fault.

"Where's your mother?" Kaiba asked suddenly, hoping a change in conversation might calm Yami (and himself) down a bit. "I figured she'd come in as well to pick Yugi up."

"She had some errands to run, so she just dropped me off." Yami obliged to the question, though not without the tiniest hint of cold frustration still plaguing his normally warm, rich voice.

"Hn. So she just assumed I'd be fine with keeping you as company? What do I look like, a damn babysitter?"

"**Well it's a good thing you're not considering the fact that you ****_LOST_**** my little brother.**" Yami snapped. Great, there came the guilt again.

"I didn't lose him. He's…" Kaiba motioned around the vicinity. "…around here somewhere."

Yami flailed his arms again, as if the extra excursion of energy required for the action somehow rid him of some of his fury. By the look on his face, it wasn't working. Kaiba supposed an apology of some sort might be the most appropriate measure to be taken to calm the teen, but he quickly refuted the idea. Apologizing would only make it seem even more like it was his fault, and it would open him to some sort of retributive action from Yami, he deducted.

"Which way did he go?" Yami asked, sounding just about fed up.

"Upstairs."

"Alright, well then he's more than likely down here then." Yami decided aloud. "He's a strategic boy for his age. It would be just like him to go upstairs to make you think that's where he would hide, and then come back down here while you're up there looking for him." he explained further when Kaiba gave him a doubtful look.

"Impossible." Kaiba disagreed wholeheartedly. "I already checked everywhere down here and have yet to come across any sign of your brother."

"Everywhere, huh?" Yami hummed, eyeing around the room like the boy might appear at any moment.

"Yes. Everywhere. I'm certain he's not down here. Not unless he's just as reckless as you are and decided to hide out somewhere stupid like in the vents or something." Kaiba affirmed.

Slowly, Yami turned to face Kaiba, the color rapidly draining from his face.

…

"I surely hope he _isn't_ as reckless as you are..." Kaiba remarked slowly. He noticed Yami's eyes dart one way and could have kicked himself, he was so irritated. Standing from his seated position, he glanced up to the decorative, golden vent placed ever so carefully next to the fireplace. No, that one was far too small, even for a six year old to fit in.

Really, he should have considered the carelessness that Yami harbored to have rubbed off on Yugi as well, they were brothers after all. That particular piece of knowledge should make finding him significantly easier.

Without another look at Yami, whom he was currently fuming at, Kaiba marched his way to the next room. A conglomeration of books stacked neatly on several pale oak bookshelves accented with golden designs greeted him and Yami as they entered. The two were surrounded by the full shelves that stood nearly as high as the ceiling, leaving only a few feet to separate them from the very top and leaving just enough space for a few vents to be placed above them. Kaiba's eyes narrowed.

He didn't even have to guess which vent Yugi was in. The ladder used for reaching books that were too high up was erect directly in front of the one closest to them. How did he not notice that before?

Yami seemed to catch on as well, for he marched forward before Kaiba'd had the chance and began climbing up to reach the decorative outlet. Once he'd made it to the top, he placed one knee up on top of the bookshelf for stability and then, with an audible click, unhinged the vent open and ducked his head inside.

"Game over, Yugi." Kaiba heard Yami's soft echo bounce through the air system from his place on the floor.

Yami dropped back down to the ground first, shortly followed by a sheepish looking Yugi.

"What were you thinking, going up there Yugi?" Yami scolded, removing his hands from the ladder he'd been holding onto to insure it didn't tip over as the youngest of the three slowly climbed down. "You could have fallen and hurt yourself."

Yugi stared up at his brother abashedly, his shy eyes twinkling with guilt as he clutched at the ends of his baggy, red and white t-shirt. "I was thinking about that time you told me how you got in the air vents to sneak past security at Kaibaland." He cocked his head to the side in a very Yami-like way as he asked, "You did it, so what's so bad about me doing it?"

"That was…" Yami faltered for a moment as he tried coming up with an acceptable excuse. "That was different."

"But-"

"No 'buts'. Just don't do that again, okay?" Yami directed sternly in such a way as to show that his word was final. Yugi didn't argue any further, though he didn't look very convinced.

The three soon after returned back to the spacious living room. The spikey-haired brothers occupied the space that Yugi had left his cards scattered about in, and Kaiba went right back to his stack of paperwork to divulge himself in. They all sat in a comfortable quietness for a short bit until it was sharply broken by the voice of another.

"Nii-sama-a-a!"

Looking up from his work, he watched as Mokuba came prancing into the room, eyes darting around to take in its new inhabitants.

"Oh! You found Yugi!" he noted. "Hi Yami."

"Yo." the teen replied curtly, too focused on the card house he'd nearly finished stacking up to say anything further.

"What did you want?" Kaiba pressed.

"Oh, I was just going to ask if you found him yet." Mokuba clarified for him. "Hey, Yami." he said, rounding the glass table to get closer to said teen.

"Yes?" was his delayed reply after successfully propping up another two cards, completing the fourth row of the paper structure.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked.

"Sure…" Yami said as he grabbed another two cards.

"…In private?" the boy clarified.

A pause.

"But I'm building." Yami protested playfully. Mokuba pouted at him, then quickly puckered out his lips and blew a soft gust of breath out toward the card house. They all watched in silence as the carefully placed playing cards came crashing down.

Yami frowned at the boy, but stood from his spot on the floor and begrudgingly followed him out of the room. Not without griping out a few of his unhappy opinions on what had just taken place, however.

Though curious as to what it was that Mokuba was wanting to speak with Yami about, Kaiba made no move to question the boy as he left, and he promptly returned back to his work.

"Hey, Kaibaman." he heard Yugi say from across the table. He peered up from his work for the third time, starting to get quite annoyed at the number of disturbances he'd endured. It was like the universe just didn't want him to get anything done!

"Kaiba." he corrected again.

"…You're a close friend of Yami's, right?" he continued. Kaiba didn't answer, not exactly sure how to respond when his feelings for the crimson-eyed boy had been so jumbled up as of late. Yugi seemed to take his silence as a "yes" though and went on, "You wanna hear a secret about him?" The boy's normally soft and agreeable face unexpectedly twisted into an impish one; a roguish smile curled at his lips and his now mischievous eyes held a knowing glint in them.

It seemed Yami was rubbing off on the boy a bit _too_ much.

Nonetheless, Yugi had piqued his interest, and he lowered the paper he'd been meticulously dissecting down a bit further to show that he had indeed done so.

"One time, when Yami came to visit in Burlington in the summer, me and him were hanging out at our cousin's house with him and some of his friends. They were playing around and stuff and kept daring each other to do some stupid stuff, and one of them ended up daring Yami too, even though me and him hadn't even really been a part of it. They dared him to sneak into our cousin's mom's room, and steal the girliest thing out of there, and wear it and go outside and hit on the next guy he saw. And like I said, me and him weren't even a part of the game in the first place, so he had every right to say 'no', and he started to but they kept calling him a chicken so I think that's why he gave in."

Kaiba sat silent, absorbing all the new information at once and deciphering Yugi's youthly stutter and pauses between words.

"So he snuck up to her room and came back wearing a dress!" Yugi said excitedly.

Oh this was just too rich…

"Well, it was actually a tutu. A rainbowy one with a lot of frills." Yugi clarified after a moment. "And he really did go outside and hit on someone too!" he continued. "To this day, sometimes when my cousin sees him he'll still call him 'tootie fruity' because of it! And I can tell it really embarrasses him!"

Oh this was far too _rich_…

Kaiba didn't think Yugi even realized the weapon he'd just given him. Though, with that smile still plastered on his chubby face, it wouldn't surprise him if he did.

He hadn't moved a muscle when Yami and Mokuba returned from their conversation; he was still frozen in the comicality of it all. It was just so…_ironic_, that Yami had put on a dress not just once, but twice in his life. _Twice_. And freely at that, no ultimatums or anything unfair like that thrown in. He was merely asked and he caved without even putting up much of a fight.

"…Kaiba?"

It was only at this moment that Kaiba realized that Yami was talking to him, and was even now sitting next to him in the loveseat instead of on the floor like before, eyeing him up and down with confusion painted on his face. He couldn't effectively respond though. The bubbled up pressure resting at the top of his throat made it too difficult to do so. He felt his nose begin to flare and his lip start to twitch uncontrollably. He didn't think he could hold on much longer.

"Are you alright? You kind of look like you need to sneeze…?"

He couldn't hold it in.

A quite unattractive snort regretfully escaped his nose, and before he knew it he'd broken out into a fit of violent laughter, chuckles and chortles booming through the room. The group around him stared at him silently, confused as Kaiba clutched at his sides for breath.

"Kaiba?" Yami asked amusedly once Kaiba's cackling had subsided ever so much.

"T…'tootie fruity', huh?" Kaiba managed to squeeze out in between chuckles. Yami's reaction was absolute gold.

The color rapidly faded from his face as he clearly understood the meaning behind the name, then, just as quickly as the color had left, his face flushed into the deepest shade of red he'd seen the teen's face turn yet.

"Yugi!" Yami yelped embarrassedly, whipping his head around to glare at the boy who was already cowering behind the couch.

"You had it coming." Yugi countered softly, heated but well aware of the fury he'd just ignited within his brother.

"My own brother!"

"That's what you get for embarrassing me in front of Anzu! Payback!" Yugi said as he poked his spikey head out from behind the piece of furniture to stare intently back at his taller duplicate.

"Wait a second, what did I miss? 'Tootie fruity'? What does that mean?" Mokuba questioned curiously, looking back and forth between Yami and his own older brother.

"You don't want to know." Yami said miserably, still violently blushing.

"Oh yes you do." Kaiba contradicted with a wicked smile.

"I don't see what the big deal is!" Yami attempted to argue with Kaiba, slamming his hand down onto the plush seat as he turned to face the brunette. "I wore a dress for your stupid 'Kaibaland Grand Opening' crap, didn't I?"

"Yes." Kaiba agreed elatedly. "You did. And that just makes it all the more hysterical."

"I had to do it! It was a matter of pride!" Yami tried justifying.

"HAH! You willingly put on a **_rainbow tutu_**, walked **_outside_**, and **_flirted_** with another poor, unsuspecting, and more than likely, straight man. I think pride is out the window at that point. Tell me Yami, did you manage to get his number?" he jeered wildly, feeling satisfied at the humiliation he could see seeping into Yami's pores by the second.

"Wait, what? You did what?" Mokuba asked, on the verge of laughter. The look Yami gave him sent him off the edge and he began to snigger away as well.

Yami calmly folded his arms over his chest and sat back tall in his seat as he proclaimed, "I have nothing to be ashamed about. We've all done some dumb and embarrassing things. I'm sure even you have, Kaiba."

"Hn. Not in front of any witnesses I haven't." Kaiba argued defensively, subconsciously mimicking Yami's posture.

"But Nii-sama, what about that time when we were little when you were reaching for something in the bathroom and fell into the toilet?"

"MOKUBA!" Kaiba cried, abashed that his own brother would rat him out like that.

"See, he was standing on the toilet seat so he could reach something in the cabinet, but ended up slipping and getting stuck in the toilet. They had to call firefighters to come and get him out, his legs were lodged so far up there!" Mokuba excitedly divulged toward Yami, ignoring his brother's protest. Now it was Yami's turn to have a fit of patronizing laughter.

"Maybe when they were trying to pull you out they accidently stretched out your legs, and that's the reason why you're so tall now." Yami teased, tickled. Kaiba gritted his teeth and glared harshly at the two. How dare they make fun of him!

How humiliating…

"Oh Kaiba, relax. We're just messing with you." Yami reassured after calming down a bit. "You know something embarrassing about me, and I know something embarrassing about you. Now we're even."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes haughtily at the teen. Slowly, he leaned over toward his crimson eyes until they were merely inches apart.

"Seto Kaiba doesn't play to get even. He plays to _win_." he corrected in a low voice.

He couldn't quite tell from his position, but it almost seemed like Yami shivered at that.

The conversation, thankfully, moved on to much more trivial topics and away from Kaiba's degradation. He made a mental note to get Mokuba back for that later.

He'd finally managed to make a dent in his paperwork as the other three chattered along, and decided to allow himself a short break to check his email. As his laptop booted itself up, he was pulled back into the conversation when he heard Mokuba ask Yami a question.

"So…how'd it go at court?" he inquired slowly, as if to be nonchalant.

"Fine." Yami answered just as he had when Kaiba'd asked.

"I mean like, are you going to have to move back to America with your mother?" the boy cautiously clarified. Kaiba lifted his head up to look at Yami as they awaited an answer. The teen stared down at the floor for moment as if he hadn't heard the question, then popped his head up to look back at the boy.

"Yeah."

The room grew quiet as everyone absorbed the response. The only one who didn't seem upset about the answer was Yugi as the boy peered up at his brother hopefully, probably ecstatic about it.

"Oh." Mokuba replied after the silent pause. Yami suddenly looked over at Kaiba, an unidentified emotion gleaming over his rich, wine-colored eyes as they stared deeply into Kaiba's.

"But," Yami began, turning back to Mokuba. "Since my mom isn't in the…_best_ financial standings at the moment, I'll be living here a bit longer than intended until she can afford to care for both me and my brother. Until then I'll be under foster care."

"Oh." Mokuba repeated, sounding a bit more cheerful, and a bit surprised this time. "How much longer do you think you'll be here then?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but by the sounds of it I'll probably leave somewhere around December-ish maybe."

"Well that gives us-" Mokuba took a moment to count the months on his fingers, "-four months." He cocked his head over to Kaiba, hope shining in his large, gray eyes. "That's plenty of time to hang out and stuff, right?"

Kaiba said nothing. It didn't matter whether that gave them "plenty of time to hang out" or not, the fact of the matter was—Yami was going to leave. He was going to leave and move over 6,000 miles away. And as much as he hated to admit it, Kaiba found the thought to be dreadful; glooming over his head like a dark cloud.

Sensing his brother's mood, Mokuba added, "And we could even buy you a cell phone so you can call us!", without even bothering to discuss the investment to Kaiba. Not that he had anything against the idea, it was just that he didn't really think Yami would accept the gift.

"No, that's alright Mokuba. I think I owe you two enough already."

Called it.

"But…" the boy trailed off sadly.

"Don't worry, Mokuba. I promise I'll work on saving up some money so I can buy one myself." Yami reassured.

"Were you informed who it was that would be caring for you while you're under foster care?" Kaiba blurted out suddenly before he could stop the probing question from slipping out. Yami gave him a quizzical look, curious about the sudden change of topic.

"Ah, yeah…Kuda…Ku…Kujaku? Yeah, Kujaku I believe is her name. Mai Kujaku." he replied nonetheless.

"Hn."

Another wave of silence passed over them and Kaiba soon felt his eyes being dragged like a magnet back over to Yami's slender frame in the midst of it, scanning up to his eyes that were, to his surprise, looking right back at him. He felt his muscles tighten as he was once again entranced by the teen's gaze, his thoughts becoming muddled as he felt himself lose his sense of reality in the crystalline pools of deep red.

Mokuba seemed to take notice of the moment as Kaiba heard some shuffling from his side of the room and his adolescent voice ask, "Hey Yugi, do you want to play a game with me?"

"A game? What kind of game?"

"There's a whole room full of games upstairs if you want to take a look!" Kaiba heard the younger boy lightly gasp.

"Can I Yami?" he asked, hopeful.

With what could only be described as reluctance, Yami tore his eyes away from Kaiba, breaking him from his trance.

"…I suppose." he answered. The boy smiled gleefully and skipped over to Mokuba. "Just make sure you don't lose him like a _certain_ somebody-"

"Oh, shut up." Kaiba spat. Yami chuckled.

Kaiba watched as the two younger siblings hopped merrily up the grand staircase to bury themselves into a world of fun and adventure in the room full of games that awaited their arrival. The energy exuberating from their youth radiated as they zoomed upstairs, leaving Kaiba and Yami alone to conversate. And now that they were alone, Kaiba knew just what he wanted to conversate about. He just didn't really know how to go about doing so.

After everything that happened—the hospital, his parents, even court—how could he not say _something_? For if he were to say nothing, he knew exactly what would happen. Yami would continue to go about life like nothing was wrong. Like nothing happened. Like he wasn't in any sort of pain. Like he didn't slash and mar his skin and then hide the evidence under pieces of clothing. No, Kaiba knew that damned feeling, and even if he hid the fact behind a wall of stone, he cared for Yami and he didn't want the teen to go through the same kind of anguish he did.

His eyes grazed over the login screen flashing on his laptop's monitor that he'd yet to click passed as he tried formulating his jumbled thoughts into understandable phrases.

"You…you know…" he trailed off, suddenly feeling very awkward. He didn't dare look at Yami, and instead kept his eyes pinned very solidly on the flashing, vertical line on his laptop waiting for him to type something in. "You…you don't have to keep doing that you know…"

"…Doing what?" Yami inquired further.

"Acting like that."

Yami snorted.

"How specific of you." he joked. Kaiba took another pause, noting how dry his mouth suddenly became.

"Acting like…you don't care. Pretending like everything happening around you isn't bothering you." Another pause. "Because no matter how much you try to ignore it, it is. And acting like nothing's wrong; that nothing's even happened isn't going to fix your problems, it will just push them aside for a short while to fester into something more problematic to deal with in the future. So… you should consider…talking…about it." Kaiba felt his face warm a bit but ignored it. "I suppose I wouldn't particularly mind." he finished. It was awful, the feeling he felt crawling up his spin at the thought that he'd just said something even remotely close to what his true feelings were. It left him feeling open. Exposed. And he loathed that feeling.

He didn't say anything passed that. If Yami couldn't decipher his words and connect the dots, that was his own problem. Kaiba sure as hell wasn't going to explain it to him.

After a silence that seemed to drag on for far too long, Kaiba braved himself to turn and steal a glance at Yami so he could decide whether the teen had understood him or not. Yami stared at him with a surprised look gracing his handsome features, a rosiness dusted onto his cheeks. Kaiba's gaze must have pulled the boy back into reality, because as soon as he caught sight of Kaiba's face, he smirked madly.

"Is this your way of saying you care? Aw Kaiba, you're actually just a big softy aren't you?" he jeered. "Like tofu." he added unnecessarily. Kaiba felt red hot anger pump through his blood stream. Here he was, trying to _help_, and Yami had the nerve to tease him!

"Fuck you." he outwardly insulted, not caring how rude or blunt it was. Yami lowered his lids slightly and softened his smirk in a strangely seductive one as he leaned over to the brunette.

"Well, _if you insist_."

Kaiba was quite caught off guard with the bluntness of his flirt. He fought with every bit of strength he had not to allow himself to blush. It would be like the cherry on top for Yami, and he refused to allow him the victory.

Wait. Was Yami trying to distract him? Was he trying to skew him from the conversation by angering him? And flirting? He couldn't see any other reason why the teen would do so, especially at this particular moment.

Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows, finally seeing just what it was Yami was doing. The teen must have done this to him a dozen times before. He needed to pay closer attention.

Yami was a tricky one indeed.

"I'm serious, Yami. Stop taking this as a joke." he stated firmly. Slowly, Yami's smirk faded as he realized his trick had been figured out. His crimson eyes peered down to the glass table in front of him and he sat there for a bit just studying the surface as if he was searching for some other alternative out of the conversation. Kaiba didn't give up, however, and remained just as quiet as he waited for Yami's response.

Unexpectedly, another smile formed on the spikey-haired teen's face, but this time warmer, and even a bit sad. Softer and genuine, as if he'd finally, humbly accepted his defeat. His smile grew as he turned his head back to Kaiba, whose heart fluttered out of his control. The boy nodded at the CEO.

"Okay." he said softly, and it took Kaiba a moment to register what the word meant.

"Okay.": his admission to his dishonesty.

"Okay.": his admission to his bottled up pain.

"Okay.": he would trust Kaiba really was serious.

"Okay.": he would trust Kaiba would listen when he talked about whatever it was he needed to.

"Okay.": he would trust Kaiba.

And Kaiba had no plans of thwarting that "okay". Even if it was just a recognition to those things, it was a start. And they had to start somewhere.

That single "okay" and the picture of Yami's damaged smile were still fresh in his mind as he continued his work. As Mokuba and Yugi came back downstairs, ranting and raving about the fun they'd had. As Yami and his brother said their goodbyes and left. As Mokuba chimed "Goodnight!~" and headed off to bed. Even at 11:00 p.m., he'd yet to have been able to rid them from his mind as he tapped away at his computer. Not that he wanted to. He'd rather savor the thoughts, keep them lingering on his mind for as long as they'd last as a memory. because soon enough, that's all he'd have left of Yami. Memories.

In a mere four months, Yami would leave Domino.

He would leave them.

He would leave Kaiba.

And that thought hurt worse than his pride had at the thought of him selfishly asking him to stay. But he couldn't possibly ask him to stay. Where would he live after all?

Of course he had to leave.

"Isono." Kaiba called upon noticing his bodyguard roaming the hall as he was on his way to his room.

"Sir?" the man with deep green hair replied, focusing his attention on his employer.

"I need you to run a background check on someone."

"Their name, sir?" Isono asked.

"Her name his Mai Kujaku. Find what you can about her and inform me once you've compiled the information immediately."

"Yes sir."

xxxx

xxx

xx

x

* * *

Geez Kaiba, calm down! Yami's just moving he's not dying! xD

And aw, look at him making sure the person looking after Yami isn't some psycho or anything.~

I KNOW, I know: "Mai?" But I mean, I wasn't really sure who else to put there. I guess I could have just made up a name, but bleehhhh. Besides, Mai would make a cool guardian I think.

Sorry if it's a bit choppy or bland toward the middle/end-ish. That last part probably wasn't even necessary to add, but oh well! I was running out of fuel with this chapter. I'll do better on the next! Er, will attempt to anyway!

Me likey flirty Yami.

Let me know if you want more flirty Yami by reviewing! ;3

Thanks for reading!


	33. Don't Say The F Word

Eheheh…It's been a while huh?

*sweats profusely*

I'm so sorry I keep taking so long to update! I have a real reason I swear! And I would tell you, but it's kind of personal…

Nothing serious though, I assure you! And nothing that could possibly stop me from updating! Even if it does take me forever!

(=w=;)

On a side note, I've got over **70** reviews on the story so far! That makes me so happy, like, ermagerd!

Thanks so much you guys for the feedback! You're the best!

Anyhow! On with the greatly overdue chappy!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

It was a slow process, but a sure one all the same.

It started off with the spasmodic visits. Kaiba would periodically come home some days to find a particular tri-colored hair sporting, crimson eyed, leather clad teen lounging about in his luxurious abode, normally with a cheerful Mokuba at his side. He hadn't bothered to question why. He enjoyed seeing him after all and besides, often times as soon as the two had managed to exchange greetings the teen would just as quickly utter a departure, as Kaiba rarely came home earlier than 10:00 because of the upcoming tournament he and that looney called Pegasus were planning.

At first, Kaiba found the sporadic stopovers to be strange, especially since Yami always seemed to…wait until Kaiba came home before he left whenever he decided to drop by? It could have only been his imagination, but he couldn't really see any other plausible reason as to why he would willingly choose to stay out so late when he had to attend school the next morning. The idea was…charming. Even if it was just a figment of Kaiba's imagination, and he slowly found himself anticipating the end of his work day at the thought that he might see Yami afterwards.

Silly, yes he knew it was.

Inefficient, most definitely.

With such a prospect hanging on the back of his hormone-induced mind, focusing on his work became increasingly difficult as his brain would wander about in the mystery that was Yami Muto. His work suffered as a result of the distraction, and Kaiba would have to barrel through whatever it was he had left to do for the day in order to get home in time to actually see the person he'd been daydreaming about all day. It was often a futile effort, however, and the days that the teen did show up, Kaiba was still so late getting home that Yami still always had to leave immediately after.

The only day, it seemed, that Kaiba was able to get off from work at a reasonable enough time was Sunday. He realized this because on that day he would occasionally notice that even though the sky had grown dark, warm rays of light would still be peeking out beyond the horizon, indicating that sunset was still pending.

Yami's visits eventually dwindled down after a while until the teen seemed content enough to simply show up his every day off from school, like Kaiba's mansion was supposed to be some sort of Sunday School or something. Not that he was complaining of course.

With the knowledge that he would have a guest of such caliber on Sunday, Kaiba felt motivated to get as much work as possible done during the week with the hopes that he could arrive home earlier that day. (Though he felt absolutely silly for doing so and would die before he unveiled his plan to _ANYONE_.)

The event that had driven his every movement a mere weeks ago was now draining him, and he dared curse that it was even happening at all if it was going to be so damn time-consuming…

But that was how any big event was, especially a tournament, and a city-wide one to boot. If Yami was to take part in said event however, it made planning it not _too_ terrible, he deducted.

So, Kaiba persevered through the paperwork. The mapping out. The paperwork. The contracts. The paperwork. The bickering with Pegasus about the rulings and with the mayor about which sections of the city could and couldn't be used. The paperwork.

The paperwork.

**The goddamned ****_paperwork_****.**

Kaiba'd had it about up to the top of his chestnut brown locks with the paperwork constantly being thrown his way. Naturally, with any tournament comes the printed out nuisance, as he had to be sure that the people that would be given invitations were actually qualified, but it still pissed him off.

He _hated_ paperwork…

Whilst attending to said loathed object one day, Kaiba was surprised to come across the familiar looking kanji for "Kujaku" printed across a sheet of paper. Apparently Mai Kujaku, the woman Yami was currently in foster care under (and, to Kaiba's approval, with a squeaky-clean record and respectable occupation), was going to be a duelist in the tournament; she was more than qualified according to her previous dueling history.

"Hm. I knew she plays sometimes but I didn't know she was going to be in the tournament. Cool." was what Yami had said when Kaiba brought it up. "I hope I stay long enough to be in the tournament." he'd added a short bit afterwards.

"You sound confident that you'll qualify." Kaiba had replied, skipping over the part about the teen leaving.

"We-e-ell, not to _brag_ or anything…" Yami drawled in way that made it blatantly obvious that he undeniably _did_ intend to brag, "…but I _have_ won every tournament I've ever competed in."

"Hn." Kaiba said in reply. He believed it. He'd admit it, the kid had skills.

The two had fallen into another rote of silence after the short exchange, and Kaiba went back to his work while Yami did whatever it was he had been doing. Whenever Yami came over, that was normally how things would be. When the teen showed up, Mokuba would automatically go upstairs and leave them alone, flashing Kaiba a rascally smile and saying that he didn't dare "interrupt". What he had meant by that, Kaiba didn't even want to know. Then, the two would just sit and be in one another's company until Yami left.

He mildly wondered why Yami even bothered coming over in the first place if all he planned to do was sit and say nothing as the sound of Kaiba typing on his laptop or fishing through some papers filled the otherwise still room. He'd developed the notion some time ago that perhaps Yami's reasoning for coming over was because he finally wanted to talk. And Kaiba had fully prepared himself for it too. At the mere mention of his father, Kaiba would have dropped whatever he was doing and given the teen his full, undivided attention. He was the one who insinuated for him to open up after all, and he'd meant it. It seemed that in doing that, however, it was having the opposite effect. Yami would glance over to him once in a while, seeming to have words just on the tip of his tongue and ready to spill out, but whenever Kaiba looked up to return the gaze Yami would immediately dart his eyes away and shut himself up again.

Kaiba knew first handedly what it was like to close yourself off and bottle up your every emotion, meaning he also knew just how unhealthy it was. He didn't care whatever harmful effects it had on himself, but dammit, Yami was different. Yami was supposed to be cheerful and fun and charmingly impish and healthy; and Kaiba hypocritically wished the boy would just talk and let it out so he _could_ be all of those things.

He considered a few times prodding Yami into talking, but, knowing that the pressure that would weigh down on his shoulders being put on the spot like that would only clam him up further, he relented. He'd have to take a different approach to this sensitive situation, one that made him feel nauseous at the very thought. Nonetheless, he shoved his work aside, closed his laptop, swallowed his ever damaged pride, and turned to Yami.

This was exactly like a game, if he wanted Yami to show him his hand of cards, he'd have to reveal a few of his own first.

"…My father was a businessman…"

That was how he'd started it. Ever so carefully, he'd slowly described bits and pieces of his past experiences with that bastard Gozaburo Kaiba that he used to dare call "father", digging up all of the things that he'd spent so long burying in the first place.

He hadn't explained too much. Only fragments at first; shards and subtle hints that he was sure clever Yami was able to pick up on. Still, the fact that he was even lightly grazing over the topic was enough to nearly spiral him down into a bundle of nerves. But, he was Seto Kaiba. As being such, he had to maintain his cold, impassive demeanor. Even if he did feel like disappearing after merely the first sentence was uttered from his mouth.

He cursed himself every time he caught his hand wander up to his neck by itself and rub the side of it like it was supposed to be some sort of damn magic lamp. He stopped immediately as soon as he noticed he was doing it and ended up feeling even more flustered because of it. It was an old nervous habit he'd had as a kid thanks to Gozaburo's fucked up view on "discipline". He'd stopped doing it years ago, but it seemed that revisiting his childhood memories had caused it to respawn. Yami hadn't said anything about the action though, either because he hadn't noticed or just didn't care, Kaiba decided.

Kaiba was tremendously relieved when Yami finally spoke up. Whether he'd done it out of sincerity or out of pity for Kaiba's rapidly increasing(and, regrettably, probably noticeable) perturbation, he wasn't sure, and he really didn't know if he cared all that much at that point. The heat was off of him now, leaving a sign of its existence right on the side of his neck, where he was sure had turned red from how much friction he'd applied to it. Now it was Yami's turn to fidget nervously and awkwardly fumble out the words that he did and— at the same time— didn't want to say. Kaiba could tell before the first word even made it past Yami's lips that this was just as difficult for him as it was for Kaiba. And in some twisted way, it was almost comforting to know that someone else was in the same boat as he.

"…It's a coincidence, huh? My father is a businessman too..."

Kaiba held a polite stare as Yami spoke, his nerves relaxing as he listened to the teen's words. His speech was slow and high-strung, but his voice was still even and smooth. The rich sound trickled into Kaiba's ears as Yami finally buckled down and began to let it out.

At first, Kaiba had thought that it would only take a simple nudge to get him to lay it all out on the table, but he quickly realized he should have known better. To want Yami to spill his guts right there in front of him without having to dump his was something he never should have assumed. Yami must have found solace in having Kaiba reveal himself, for whenever he'd come by, he would never speak unless Kaiba did first. It deeply annoyed him at first, and he started to loath how stubborn that spikey-haired punk could be. But, the more he and Yami spoke, the less irritated he became; the easier it was to talk. He might even go as far as saying that he was becoming more comfortable about the whole thing. It wasn't as awkward anymore, and he eventually found himself casually jabbering, throwing out things that he'd never told _anyone_ before. And he was sure Yami could say the same.

Several weeks flew by, several Sundays being spent with the two just blabbering away. In those several talking sessions they shared, at some point Kaiba came to two horrifying realizations.

One: He and Yami were the _same_.

The two had the misfortune of having several awful things in common, with, unfortunately, the main one being the fact that they both had simply horrendous human beings for "fathers".

Kaiba had learned a lot about Yami throughout the course of their time spent together. Like the teen had once explained, his mother and father divorced when he was around the age of ten. His mother high-tailed it out of there and over to America with his younger brother Yugi, and his father remained in Domino with an adolescent Yami to care for. Except, the man did anything but "care" for the once younger boy. In fact, he believed the word "neglect" would be the most appropriate description of what Yami had expanded upon.

In a nutshell, from what Yami had said, his life from 4th to 8th grade had consisted of either being blatantly and utterly ignored by the only adult figure in his home, or being beaten by them. It wasn't something Kaiba wanted to hear, especially coming from a nonchalant Yami who made every terrible ordeal in his life seem like something to flick away into a trash can and be forever done with. Still, the brunette had had a hunch that something such as that had been the case, not that he wanted to be right about it of course.

Luckily, the beatings had come to a halt the summer before Yami's 9th year of school. Apparently, in Yami's words, because, "he probably realized that I hit puberty and could kick his ass if I wanted to."

Another thing he'd learned about Yami, but was not at all surprised at, was that the kid was a complete delinquent at school. What did surprise him though, was that Yami seemingly got into fights quite often. Actually getting physical didn't really seem his style. By the sounds of it, it had spawned from elementary school when kids would pick on his younger brother, and it just sort of stayed with him up to high school. Kaiba doubted Yami was the one to throw the first punch the majority of the time though. The teen's I-don't-take-no-bullshit attitude, sly manner, and sharp tongue seemed like plenty to make someone want to whack him in the head one good time. Hell, even Kaiba had wanted to do it once or twice.

And yet, there was still something about the way Yami carried himself that was just so…fascinating to him. Whether it was the way he was able to strike Kaiba silent with a mere glance, or the way he was able to smoothly dribble out a stream of words so eloquently when he chose to be polite, or even the way his eyelashes batted effortlessly over his eyes seductively, even when he wasn't meaning to be, Kaiba was still having trouble figuring out.

Yami truly was… intriguing. Even after the things he'd endured, the things he never should have had to endure, he seemed so unfazed. The wounds so freshly implanted into his heart by his so called "father" were being so heavily protected, it made it hard to distinguish whether the teen was being indifferent, or was genuinely hurt by anything. Kaiba'd started to doubt that it was even possible _to_ hurt the runt's feelings. As it turned out, Yami's stone wall was stronger than Kaiba's.

"Doesn't anything bother you?!" Kaiba'd exclaimed one day, about at his limit when Yami had been explaining a beating he'd taken when he was younger as if he was informing Kaiba of the weather instead. "You talk about these things like they're nothing!" He wasn't meaning to be as insensitive as he sounded, he was just overwhelmed.

And of course, Yami shrugged an unconcerned shrug at him, his expression alert, but casual.

"I just don't care."

At the incredulous look Kaiba sent him, Yami was quick to elaborate.

"Sometimes it's better to just not care. Because if you care too much, it hurts. It hurts in that unbearable way that wrenches at you and slowly destroys you from the inside, because you know that no matter how much you want or pray, there's nothing you can do to make it disappear. So sometimes you just have to let it go. I don't care what _has_ happened. I care about what _will_ happen, what _is_ happening at this very moment. I've learned the hard way that I can't just pretend the last six years of my life never happened, but that doesn't mean I have to let it control me. I can't change what happened, so why should I let it rule over me by slipping into my mind and messing with my already fucked up head? Things happened, and I'd like to be able to move past them. Besides, all I can do is "look towards the future in hopes that it will be bright", correct?" The grin on his face was triumphant at that last sentence, and Kaiba cursed himself for being unable to keep a smile off of his own.

"Hn. You're a dork." he attempted to scathe for the teen's use of that stupid cliché line.

Kaiba knew he was still hurting. A closer look into those deep red eyes of his showed the turmoil and chaos built up after six years in hell swimming aimlessly around behind his stoic wall. But even though Yami was hurting, he was trying. He was trying to do the things he said; to put it all behind him. But Kaiba knew that simply putting years of torment "behind you" was no easy task and that the scars would be forever imprinted in your damaged heart no matter how much healing you did. Still, Yami was no fool. The teen was probably well aware that his pain wouldn't simply vanish at the snap of his fingers. And yet, he was still trying. And even if all he was doing was hiding his pain and fragility behind his laid-back façade, or lying every time he said, "I'm okay.", Kaiba couldn't help but respect him. He respected his ability to shrug off the bad and focus instead on the good. He respected that he could stare wickedness in its face and laugh, that he _could_ laugh (and smile) genuinely, and Kaiba treasured each one.

He respected that Yami could still trust. After Kaiba had made it through his darker days, he vowed never to put his faith in another person again, save for his younger brother. That was just how he'd been raised and what he'd experienced first handedly. Giving someone your trust is like handing them a knife. Doing so only makes it easier for them to stab you in the back, and Kaiba felt he had enough scars already.

Yami, on the other hand, had taken an approach completely opposite to Kaiba's. Not only had he endowed Kaiba with his knife of trust, but he'd also opened his heart to him and given him the full tour of the disarray that resided within it. Kaiba found him a naïve boy for doing so, for if Kaiba wanted to, he could effortlessly drive the blade into Yami's exposed flesh and watch as the life drain from his eyes and hope pour from his wound.

But that was just it. Kaiba _didn't_ want to. There was something in how Yami had so blindly and willingly given Kaiba his trust that made it a precious thing; something the brunette want to treasure. Rather than use it as a hateful weapon toward the teen, he wanted to use it to protect him; protect the unguarded, bleeding heart that Yami had so faithfully displayed to him. The fact that the runt had even done such a thing led Kaiba to his second horrifying discovery: that even after he shattered the stone barrier around the boy, ripped out his slick tongue, peeled away his scarred flesh, and cracked his bones down into dust; when there was nothing more of him to see than his poor, battered heart that hung onto life by a mere string, he still found nothing but fond endearment for him. He found nothing but love. And that's what made it so absolutely horrifying.

Before Kaiba knew it, months had passed by with each week beginning with the ritual visit from Yami. He'd grown so accustomed to the teen coming by so often, that the idea of him no longer being present every Sunday would seem strange. Especially since the teen would be moving in a matter of a month.

Shrugging the thought away, Kaiba trudged into his limo and out of the shooting November chill that threatened to freeze his nose off. It was an unexpectedly cold day, and Kaiba relished in the thought of being near his fireplace at his large domicile. He was heading home early, just as he did every Sunday nowadays, but he was especially raring to go that particular day due to the weather. Well, he'd like to have blamed it on the weather, but he knew deep down that he was just as anxious every other Sunday to leave work. And all because of that spikey-haired midget.

By the time he'd made it home, Kaiba's fingers had already started to go numb. It tingled a bit when they started to warm back up, but he kept them securely folded beneath his arms anyhow as Yami— whom was already present and making himself quite at home by the looks of it as he seemed to have gotten a hold of some hand held games—and him sat together. The two talked for hours as Yami played his game and Kaiba took care of some work, though the farther their conversation went, the less aware the two became of the other tasks they'd been doing. Finally, a gap in their conversation arose when neither had much more to add. Kaiba didn't mind the pause though, for he didn't have anything else to say, and he promptly returned to his work when the pause grew into flat out silence between them. Yami however, apparently wasn't completely done. He muttered something, but Kaiba hadn't really heard his quiet mumble.

"Hm?" he inquired, prompting the teen to repeat what he'd uttered. Yami shook his head like he didn't want to reiterate what he'd said, but ended up speaking anyway.

"Maybe they're all just rotten…"

"Who?"

Yami shifted in his spot on the loveseat to allow himself to lean back all the way, the movement causing Kaiba, who sat beside him, to have to steady his laptop to keep it from toppling over and out of his lap.

"Just…fathers. The whole lot of them." It took Kaiba a moment to respond.

"Every father in existence. Is rotten." he echoed, thinking that maybe if he repeated the statement back to Yami, he'd hear just how dumb it was. "I _highly_ doubt that. I think we just happen to be the unlucky ones." he continued when Yami didn't say anything in reply.

"…I suppose."

"Besides, if every father is 'rotten', then if you ever decided to become one, then that means you'll be as well?" Kaiba questioned, trying to knock some sense into the teen, who was evidently not thinking clearly at the moment.

"That's a big 'if'. I am gay, remember."

Oh Kaiba remembered all right.

"Irrelevant. Adoption exists."

Yami hummed as he contemplated the idea. A wicked smirk formed on his face after a few short moments.

"Why do you ask anyway, hm?" A fake gasp. "Don't tell me you were wanting to adopt a child with me Kaiba?!" he asked in an obnoxiously smug tone.

"Don't be an idiot." was Kaiba's automatic retort that came out much more calmly than his heated face felt. Yami's flirts were becoming more and more abundant as of late, and Kaiba, as always, wasn't really sure what to make of them.

"I don't know…" Yami said after a sigh. "I just feel as if I might end up being just as shitty of a parent as my own father is. Sons tend to imitate their fathers whether they mean to or not, don't they?"

"Hn. If that's the case, then I suppose I'd wind up being a controlling, conniving, vituperative, son-of-a-bitch father." Kaiba scorned. Whether it was actually toward Gozaburo or himself, he wasn't all that sure.

"Well that's different." Yami voiced resolutely. "_That guy_ wasn't your real father, he adopted you. So you don't have any of his 'son-of-a-bitch' genes in you or anything. And besides, you technically raised Mokuba, and he's turning out fine. So I don't think you'd make an _awful_ parent." he assured.

"So basically what you're saying is that not every father in the world is rotten to the core." Kaiba said, avoiding the indirect compliment.

"I guess." Yami admitted after a moment. Another wave of silence passed before he spoke again. "Alright fine, I might consider it later on in life. But I'd have to have someone living with me to help. You know, someone good with kids. Who cooks. Cleans. Isn't half bad to look at. Does stuff for me-"

"I do hope you're referring to a significant other and not a servant."

Yami chuckled.

"What about you, huh?" the teen prodded.

"One Mokuba is enough for me."

"Oh come on, don't you eventually want to have a 'significant other' for yourself one day? You are Seto Kaiba; such a task couldn't possibly be very difficult to achieve?" Yami asked with a curious gaze.

"Such things don't interest me." Kaiba replied, attempting to fan the question aside. He felt his heart begin to race and fought with desperation to calm it.

"Don't interest you? Isn't there anyone you've had your eye on? I don't see why you wouldn't take action if so, I'm sure there are many people who would be more than willing to oblige." Kaiba suppressed the heat attempting to climb up his body and into his face at Yami's seemingly innocent question.

"Even so, I'm positive that they would all annoy the hell out of me." he spat to distract Yami from his notion.

"Annoy you?"

"Yes. Extremely. Even if I did somehow, _perchance_, find someone that I was even possibly, _remotely_ interested in in the _slightest_, I'm sure they would be so goddamn annoying anyway. You know, by bugging me. And such." Kaiba used as his lame excuse. He knew it didn't sound very convincing and, by the look he was giving him, Yami seemed to agree.

"By bugging you…" the boy repeated, "…'and such'? Would that really be so bad? And _everyone_ annoys you, Kaiba." he informed amusedly.

"Though out of everyone I know, you annoy me the most." Kaiba backlashed, his intention being to veer the teen away from where their conversation had turned. The shock Yami wore on his face confused him at first, but the smirk that slowly curled up onto the boy's lips said it all.

"_No._" Kaiba stated firmly before Yami'd even had the chance to speak.

"My Kaiba, I had no idea-"

"**_No._**"

"-that I annoyed you in a way that caused you to be 'possibly, remotely interested' in me." he finished, batting his eyes.

"What I said about that and what I said about you are two distinctly different things." Kaiba argued.

"Tell me," Yami continued in a lower voice, ignoring what he said and leaning over to inch himself closer to the brunette, "just how often do I push your buttons?"

Kaiba swallowed to lubricate his suddenly dry throat. His heart hammered violently in his chest as he felt blood rush down below his waist without his control at the tone Yami was suddenly using. Nonetheless, he leaned forward as well, refusing to back down. Fine, he'd play along with Yami's little game.

"Quite regularly. I'd say you've mastered the art of button pushing by now." he finally replied, his voice lower than he meant for it to sound.

"Is that so? Do I really make you tick?"

Kaiba inched closer, his voice just above a whisper.

"Exceptionally so." he breathed. He watched with growing fascination as Yami shivered a bit, and found himself eyeing the teen up and down from his spikey head of hair, to the studded collar around his neck, to the unnecessary amount of belts and buckles thrown around his tight fitting and, in all honesty, rather aesthetically pleasing pants.

"What is it about me that irks you so _deeply_?" Yami asked, his now huskier sounding voice encouraging Kaiba to continue.

"I don't think there's anything about you that I don't find irksome." he answered.

The two were mere centimeters apart now. Kaiba could feel Yami's warm breath brush against his chin and neck, sending his already piqued hormones into overdrive. The crimson eyes staring back at him were halfway lidded over, the cheeks underneath were slightly rosy, and the plump pair of lips a bit further down beckoned him closer. Really all he had to do was tilt forward a little and he could claim, and then conquer them. Just close off the space between them and he could devour his lips into a carnal battle.

Just a little closer…

"Nii-sama!"

Kaiba essentially flew over to the other side of the couch upon hearing the door slam open and the voice of his younger brother call out.

"I'm back from the library!" Mokuba chirped as he waltzed his way over to the two. Kaiba couldn't even look at the boy, much less Yami who still sat rather close. Shock, embarrassment, and shame all came flying at him once he realized the reality of what had just been happening. Not only had Yami been in full-force flirt mode with him, but Kaiba had been _condoning_ it, and even taking part!

"…Hello Mokuba." Kaiba managed to squeak out through the hand that he had pressed tightly against the bottom half of his face in an attempt to hide the red-hot blush he knew was painted as clear as day on it.

Mokuba must have taken note of his odd behavior, for, after a few moments passed, he asked, "OH, I'm not _interrupting_ anything, am I?" Kaiba didn't even have to look at him; he could hear the complacent smirk the boy was surely sporting proudly on his chubby face.

"NO." Kaiba quickly answered. He was more than a little surprised to hear Yami answer as well, but instead with a firm,

"Yes."

He slowly turned his head over to him, his eyes wide as he questioningly viewed the teen who seemed to be struggling to fight off a pout.

…

Had Yami…_wanted_ their conversation to take the turn that it had been headed? Had he _wanted_ Kaiba to move forward those few inches? That was…absurd. What they had been doing wasn't supposed to be anything to be taken seriously, right? It wasn't like Yami really felt **that** way about Kaiba…right?

…or did he?

The agitated look Yami had upon the two of them being interrupted said otherwise though. And for some reason, the thought was horribly terrifying to Kaiba.

The two of them couldn't be together like **that**. It wasn't possible. Or logical. Or right in any way whatsoever, because…

because…

…Why was it they couldn't again? Kaiba couldn't seem to remember.

Was it because they were both male? No, that couldn't be it. Yami was gay, as the teen had ever-so-kindly reminded him.

Then **_why_**?

Because Yami was moving? Yes, that had to be why. Long distance relationships were too difficult to keep up. They never worked out. That had to be why. Kaiba's mind was just a bit muddled from what had just happened, and that's why he'd had trouble remembering. Yes, that was it.

"Oh, well." he heard Yami sigh, bringing him back to reality. The runt took a glance at his slick watch (of which had caused Kaiba's heart to skip in an odd way when he noticed that it was the watch that he'd given Yami some time ago) and stood up from the loveseat. "It's getting late anyhow. I should be heading home."

Yami said his goodbyes and left, leaving only the two Kaiba's in the large room. After a short while, Mokuba turned to Kaiba with another mischievous grin.

"Nii-sama.~"

"**Stop.**"

"_Yami and Seto, sittin' in a tree! K. I. S. S. I. N_\- ow!"

Kaiba felt no shame at all in watching the couch pillow he'd thrown at Mokuba hit him smack-dab in the face.

xxxx

xxx

xx

x

* * *

Kaiba gives no fucks about your feelings Mokuba.

I just kidding! ;)

So! Yay for more flirtyness! Even if it was kind of dorky!

I gave you some cutesy stuff there at the end because next chapter's going to be a downhill ride for Kaiba! :D

Well sort of. *shrugs*

Can you believe it? Only two more chapters to go! I'm so excited!~

As always, thanks for reading!


	34. Some Things Are Worth Holding Onto

Hello, hello! It's that time my lovelies!

A brand new chappy!~~~

Aren't you excited? I sure am!

Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to thank you all for the wonderful reviews you've been dropping my way! I really appreciate it and I really do read every single one!

Now, on to the second to last chapter!

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

Kaiba was absolutely pissed.

His enraged temperament only intensified by the things around him; every little inconvenience or disturbance nearly teetering him over the edge and into a pit of rage, the fiery flames of hatred engulfing him in the process. He swore… he'd make the next person who so much as looked at him funny regret their entire existence with a simple glare.

And whatever was it, you ask, that was causing the young CEO to swell with such strong emotions?

Why Yami, of course.

Yes, the teen had managed to do it yet again: light the match to Kaiba's emotions making it almost impossible for the brunette to put it out. He seemed to have a knack for doing so, but this particular time resonated within Kaiba much stronger than any of the other times. He stared up with feigned apathy at the large, silvery white letters plastered on the building in front of him so tall it nearly rivaled KaibaCorp's size.

"Domino City Airport."

Kaiba's simmering rage was instantly re-ignited at the words hanging over his head. At the people passing by him like everything in the world was just fine and dandy when the reality couldn't possibly be any further from it. At the fact that he was even there at that moment in time when he should have been preparing himself for the tournament that was merely weeks away, as should Yami have been. But no, instead he was there at the "Domino City Airport" nearly an entire month earlier than he should have been. And that made his blood boil.

He'd been informed a few days prior of the rescheduled date. Instead of departing off to America December 6th like Yami was supposed to, the date of his exodus had been pushed back four entire weeks due to a sudden influx of income on the boy's mother's part. Something about a second job or some hullabaloo of that sort. He hadn't really been listening after that point.

With a heavy scowl, Kaiba trotted into the building, his much shorter brother trailing behind with his long, raven hair bobbing up and down through the autumn chill.

It was unbelievable. Yami was seriously just going to up and leave like that without even attending the tournament that Kaiba'd been planning for months now? He wasn't even going to put up a fight? After so many squabbles and deviances toward those with authority, this just had to be the one damn time that Yami chose to submissively obey? Was Kaiba's tournament really worth so little of his time?

Kaiba grinded his teeth as he stepped further into the establishment. He wanted answers.

Finding one person in a crowded, compacted room wasn't nearly as difficult as it Kaiba had first thought it would be. Especially when the person you're looking for has brightly colored hair that resembled somewhat that of a porcupine. He was able to locate the teen relatively quickly and wasted no time in dodging the passing bodies in his way as he marched over, glancing behind himself ever so often to make sure Mokuba was still right behind him.

"Kaiba." Yami greeted like he normally did with the same half-smile he normally wore when he met up with the much taller of the two. Kaiba remained silent at the address, still seething at the boy's spinelessness. Yami didn't seem too worried about his behavior, however, as he turned to Mokuba and greeted him as well.

"Yamiiii." the youth whined. "Don't leeaavvve!"

Yami forced his lips to curl up into a smile as he tilted his head apologetically to the boy.

"I wish I didn't have to, Mokuba." A sigh. "But I do…" he trailed off, as if losing himself in thought as the smile slowly faded from his face, leaving a genuinely contrite look in its place. Kaiba felt his frustration slowly begin to dissipate, but stubbornly held on to what little he could, determined to express the anger that sparked within him at the boy's last-minute decision to be absent to such an event. Before he'd fully had the chance to do so, however, Yami had already began explaining as if he somehow knew what it was Kaiba had wanted to say.

"Kaiba…" he stated, the long pause afterwards making the said person knit his brows together as he waited for the continuation of the statement. "I really was looking forward to going to that tournament. It's too bad that I can't…" Yami explained, his crimson eyes boring into Kaiba's. "If I could stay any longer, even if just long enough to attend then believe me I would." he said, looking between the two Kaibas. "But by the time I found out when I'd be leaving, my mother had already bought me the ticket days in advance. And I'd hate to ask her to return it and end up making her lose money when it's already so tight for her, you know?"

Kaiba still wasn't satisfied. He didn't care if Yami's explanation made complete sense. He didn't care if it was logical. He didn't care if it would have been selfish or thoughtless of the teen to have done otherwise. He wanted him to stay. Even if it was just for one more day, he just didn't want him to go now. As pathetic and pointless as he knew that want was, he clung to it, refusing to let it die. He didn't want him to leave.

What if he just asked Yami not to go? Kaiba was filthy rich after all. He could easily buy the teen a new ticket.

But Yami was more than aware of Kaiba's wealth, yet he hadn't bothered to bring up the notion. If he _really_ wanted to attend the tournament like he'd said, then wouldn't he have at least asked Kaiba to cover the airline fee for him? He would have done it at the drop of a hat had he been requested, no questions asked. But instead, Yami chose to leave now rather than later like he could have. And if that was how he was going to be, then so be it. If he didn't want to stay then let him leave.

_"Flight 106 to Vermont, America now boarding. Flight 106 to Vermont, America now boarding."_

"I suppose that's me, huh?" Yami said after the three finished listening to the announcement made over the loud intercom echo through the building. The teen made absolutely no indication that he planned on moving from the spot he stood in though, as his pair of dark, aqua, Martin Boots remained firmly planted to the floor.

"…Make sure you get a phone as soon as possible, okay? And you better call us as soon as you get it!" Mokuba spoke up after a few moments, prompting the conversation further. Yami nodded toward him.

"I will. As _soon_ as I walk out of the store with it." he confirmed amusedly.

"You better…"

Kaiba suddenly felt sick as reality smacked him dead in the face: Yami was going to leave Domino and move to America. Whether Kaiba liked it or not, Yami was going. The runt didn't show any indication of doing otherwise. A strange feeling began to churn his stomach into knots, resonate in his chest and cause his heart to pound heavily and quicken his breaths; like not enough air was being taken in to accommodate for the oxygen needed in his blood stream. He needed to say something. Anything before Yami got the chance to board his plane and leave for who knows how long. He couldn't just stand there and remain quiet while he watched him go. This was the last chance he got to somehow tell the small teen how he felt. How he _really_ felt. Even if just a hint. It would be better than nothing.

But the strong overflow of emotions he felt coursing through his body was making it difficult for him to even speak. How was he expected to begin expressing such emotions? It was lost on Kaiba, hidden in waves of feelings he rarely felt. Feelings he only noticed flare up when Yami was involved. The world around him seemed to be going by in slow motion as he stood there in front of the teen, his mouth ajar as he miserably failed to get any words past his lips.

Yami stared up at the mute brunette expectantly, as if he was waiting for him to finally muster up the nerve to speak. His ruby-red eyes flickered around a bit as he picked at the end of the sleeve to his black sweatshirt, seeming to grow impatient at Kaiba's continued silence.

"Kaiba…?" Yami spoke up. At merely hearing the teen say his name, Kaiba choked. He quickly receded back into himself, crossing his arms over his chest for added protection. He couldn't do it.

"What?" he practically spat, pissed that he couldn't properly display his feelings for some reason; that he was really just going to let Yami leave without uttering a single syllable of what he wanted to say.

"Is there…anything you want to say before I leave per chance?" Yami asked with a gleam in his eyes that seemed almost hopeful. "You might not see me for a while you know." he pressed.

Of course there was something he wanted to say. There were a million and one things he wanted to say. But in the end, he just couldn't. Or rather, wouldn't. He didn't know if it was pride or anxiety or what that was preventing him from doing it, but he just wouldn't. And hell, if Yami really wanted some sappy goodbye from him, he was more than capable of initiating it himself. Kaiba wasn't about to do something ridiculous like that.

"And what exactly is it that you were expecting me to say?" he finally replied, a self-justified feeling swelling within himself. Yami just looked at him for a moment with this strange emotion swimming around in his rich, velvety eyes that almost looked like disappointment, making Kaiba instantly want to take back whatever he had said to cause such a look to wash over his face and his previous feeling to deflate.

"…Nothing I guess." Yami answered more quietly, his voice difficult to distinguish from the constant hum buzzing around them from the crowded airport. A few more moments of silence passed between the trio before he spoke again. "Well, I'll see you later then." he said, taking another look at Kaiba, then sending Mokuba a weak smile before turning around to leave.

The two brothers watched silently as Yami disappeared into the crowd, neither taking action to stop him and receive a proper farewell from the teen.

They stood there a while longer, Mokuba with a sad pout and Kaiba with a vacant expression to match his suddenly hollow feeling.

"Nii-sama…" the younger of the two said, peering up at Kaiba with dissatisfied look. It was just then when Kaiba noticed how small the crowd around them had grown.

"Let's go Mokuba." was all he said in return, and the two soon left.

xxxXxxx

It had become quite apparent that Mokuba was a little more than upset with Kaiba.

The boy had been ever so kind enough as to fully display just how displeased he was the day a few weeks ago when the two had departed from the airport after seeing Yami off by absolutely refusing to speak to Kaiba for three days straight afterwards. Getting the cold shoulder thrown to him by his own brother had stung a bit, but nonetheless Kaiba returned to business as usual. There was still so much to do, after all, he couldn't afford to let any of the recent events in his life delay what he needed to get done.

Mokuba had eventually relented in the silent treatment he'd been dishing out to Kaiba, probably doing so in realizing that choosing not to speak to someone he lived with was too difficult a task to uphold consistently. So instead, the youth seemed to have just settled for scowling a lot whenever Kaiba was in the room and adding a lot of unnecessary attitude whenever he spoke to his elder brother. Kaiba, though already aware of the answer, had asked the boy at one point what was causing him to act in such a way, and was coldly dismissed with a stark, "You know why."

Mokuba was pissed that Kaiba had been so cold toward Yami on his last day in Domino, not even having the decency to say a proper goodbye to him. For fuck's sake, _Kaiba_ was even pissed that he'd failed to say anything even remotely close to the whirlwind that had been swirling around inside his brain that day. But it was over with now, he couldn't go back in time and change what happened.

He knew that Mokuba had fabricated some sort of fairy-tale, wishy-washy relationship between Yami and Kaiba by now and had been trying with all his might to make it a reality for a reason beyond what Kaiba could comprehend, but the boy was just going to have to get over it. Things didn't always turn out the way you think they should. Things almost never turn out the way you think they should; the way you want them to.

And in many ways, it was better that it turned out the way it did. It would've caused too much commotion if it had ended up differently. It would have been too inconvenient for the both of them. It was better if they just drifted apart. That way, Kaiba wouldn't have to worry about something as trivial as relationships again. He'd made a mistake letting someone in so far. Letting someone take a looksee as deep into his soul as he'd allowed Yami. Because he knew that if anyone were to look too far, they would be horrified. Repulsed.

If possible, he'd like to keep whatever opinion Yami had of him the way it was. He didn't want to end up tarnishing it.

There are some things worth holding onto in the world, but this was certainly not one of them.

Already two weeks since Yami had left and there still had been no phone call, which caused a slowly growing downcast to form on Mokuba's chubby face as each day went by. Not hearing from the teen he'd spent so much time with the past few months on end both relieved and disheartened Kaiba. He really wanted to hear from the teen, no matter how much he fought to deny it, but even if Yami did call, he wouldn't know what to say at all.

It was always mixed emotions when it came to that runt!

Kaiba leaned back in his rolly chair with exasperation and placed his hand over his face, frustration seeping into his every pore at the fact that he'd yet gotten anything done that he'd planned on accomplishing. He needed to focus. The tournament was tomorrow and he needed to make sure everything was in order for the event to be flawless, Yami or no Yami. So, ignoring the constant tug the spikey-haired teen always held on his mind, Kaiba pushed himself forward and sat up in his chair as he peered down onto his neatly organized desk and continued the work on his laptop.

Several hours went by before he finally felt satisfied with every detail of the event. He'd checked and double checked everything thoroughly, made sure everyone who was supposed to be there would be there, reevaluated the preparations with Pegasus, and had even looked over his deck a little to refresh his memory of the cards that lay stacked within it (though he wasn't at all worried about the outcome of the tournament and the fact that he would no doubt be the victor).

More or less content, Kaiba relaxed in his chair. Everything seemed to be going relatively smoothly, both in the tournament provisions and in his life. Sure, Mokuba might still have been upset with him, but at least he wasn't ignoring him anymore. And sure, maybe things seemed a bit duller knowing that a particular spikey-hair individual was no longer a resident in the country Kaiba lived in, but at least he could focus on his work better now, right?

…

…

Strange…

Even after using these reasons to justify why things truly were better this way, Kaiba still felt discontented. He still felt off. Like his life was lacking now that Yami was no longer going to be a constant part of it.

Kaiba huffed out an aggravated sigh while the solemn feeling swallowed him bit by bit. He unconsciously combed his glossy, brown locks of hair with his long fingers, allowing the strands to fall back into place before repeating the action as he wallowed in his thoughts.

He needed to clear his head. And he knew the best way to do so.

xxxXxxx

The vibrant autumn leaves crunched beneath Kaiba's black, leather Chelsea boots as he strode down the sidewalk in his gray, plaid-covered pea coat and slim fit, black slacks. He didn't even care that his identity was as plain as day as he made his way through the streets, this due to the fact that he hadn't bothered to put even a hat on to allow himself at least a few minutes of peace. Everyone who stared or who dared approach him so far he'd simply dismissed with a cold disregard of their existence.

He _could_ have gone home first and changed into something less conspicuous, but damn it all he wanted was a walk for fuck's sake. A walk to free his mind. To wipe away the things that lingered so insistently on his brain. And he sure as hell wasn't going to let the walk he'd already begun go to waste now.

His irate demeanor seemed to be enough to ward people off for the time being. Most would just stand like idiots and stare, like a man walking down the street was something of another world that they'd never bared witness to before.

Setting the idiocy of the world around him aside, Kaiba tried his best to relax with each step he acquired as he took in the remainder of his surroundings. Several minutes passed by and soon Kaiba had made it to the center of the city where a grand stone fountain lay. He slowed to a stop before it and took a moment to watch the mostly leaf-covered water ripple in the light breeze, then peered up at the giant analog clock resting high on a pillar in the middle of the fountain before strolling away.

Still so strange…

The world was bustling around him. He knew it was. Yet, everything he set his cobalt eyes on seemed to go by in a slow, sluggish way. The colors of autumn were florescent and lively. They'd not yet turned gray with the cold gust of winter on its way, for he'd not dare host a tournament during such a time. Yet, everything may as well have been dull and dreary because it struck no impact on Kaiba. And this time of the year normally had great weather, yet Kaiba felt a bit…cold.

Everything just seemed so sullen. The man Kaiba saw to his right whom smiled widely as he held some woman's hand seemed sad despite his manner. The child laughing in front of Kaiba as she tugged on her mother's sleeve looked oddly gloomy. Kaiba shook his head, wanting nothing more than the strangeness to fade away. But stay it did. Heavily it seeped into his body, weighing down on him. It got to the point where Kaiba felt he had no choice but to sit on the bench nearest to him before he felt completely overtaken by it.

Looking up from the place he sat, Kaiba felt some familiarity with the way it felt to sit in that particular spot. He glanced around a bit, his eyes eventually falling on the empty bench space next to him. Seeing it, he instantly remembered why it felt so familiar where he sat.

This was where he first met Yami one year ago.

Granted, it wasn't the most pleasant experience he'd had, but when he thought back to that day, how Yami had _literally_ **_chased _**after him to return something as mundane as a wallet, he couldn't help but feel a soft fondness for the memory.

The feeling of the bench he sat on move ever-so-slightly tore Kaiba from his thoughts. He lifted his head up to see who decided to sit themselves next to him and saw a woman there in a green and white dress with black stockings, a cream sweater, and a pair of suede, brown boots. Her large, brown floppy hat covered the majority of her face along with her dark sunglasses, but Kaiba immediately knew who it was by the pure white hair she had draped over her shoulder in a braid.

"You sure are causing a commotion today, aren't you Kaiba?" Kisara spoke first as she lowered her shades and looked over to him. Kaiba didn't respond, but rather looked straight ahead, suddenly feeling annoyed. "Oh come on, it's rude not to say anything when someone speaks to you." she said, feigning offense. "Oh, but I hear that's something you have a habit of doing all the time toward people you know. Particularly people with a ridiculously insane head of spikey hair."

Kaiba whipped his head over to the woman again, this time with agitation twitching at his eye.

"Ho-"

"A little birdy told me." Kisara defended herself before Kaiba'd even finished his question.

Kaiba was going to have to teach Mokuba not to go blabbering every little thing off to other people.

"Listen-"

"Wait." Kisara interrupted again. "Before you go biting my head off and telling me not to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, at least hear what I have to say first." Kaiba narrowed his eyes at the woman, but remained silent anyhow, feeling unusually generous toward the girl he still considered as the "white demon".

"All the years I've known you, you have never _once_ shown interest in anything but your work." Kisara began. "To be blunt, you're basically a workaholic. You've always been that way. And to be honest, that's kind of what attracted me to you. You're always so determined no matter what you do. I always admired that. I found it amazing that someone so young could be so strong-minded. Everyone else I knew like that were either old and wrinkled or a complete stick in the mud. But you were neither of those things. You're handsome and intelligent, but so interesting at the same time-"

"Look, if this is supposed to be some damn love confession then allow me to stop you right there-"

"No!" A sigh. "No, that's not what this is. You're right, I'm getting off topic." Kisara cleared her throat before continuing again.

"While the things I just said about you were true the majority of the time, I soon began to notice something pretty out of character that you did whenever you and I had to act out an even slightly romantic scene; whenever you had to get both physically and mentally close to _anyone_ for that matter. You clam up. Your entire being tenses up like you're afraid that anyone who touches you might turn into ice."

"Afraid? Excuse me?" Kaiba shot back to her, appalled that anyone dared use the word to describe him. There was a pause.

"Answer this Kaiba." Kisara continued, despite Kaiba's displeasure. "Why is it so hard for you to open up?"

Kaiba glared at the woman for a good while, annoyed by her very presence. He crossed his slim arms and puffed out his chest before finally saying, "I don't see why you even find the need to ask me such a ridiculous question. And I _really_ don't see the need for me to answer it, White."

Kisara studied Kaiba for a moment, a slow smile that held a sort of smugness to it curling at her glossy lips. She crossed her legs and leaned backward as she continued to stare at him.

"See? You're doing it right now. You're tensing up. Withdrawing from what you're scared of and flipping the conversation around in your favor." She said. "Is this what you did with Yami? How often, I wonder? It must have been so frustrating for him to deal with."

"Shut your trap!" Kaiba suddenly snapped. "I've heard what you have to say, but my response is just as you predicted it would be: Mind your own damn business!" he went on in a low voice.

It went silent between them. The only noise that filtered its way into Kaiba's ears was the rustling of leaves in the wind and the click-clacking of shoes that trudged along down the street. He really didn't need this. He didn't need anyone to tell him things he already knew.

"Is this really okay?" Kisara spoke again, breaking the stillness. "I'll admit it, Yami isn't a bad looking kid. I'm sure a plethora of people wouldn't mind getting their hands on him. And I hear homosexuality is a pretty normal and accepted thing in America. I'm positive that he wouldn't have any trouble finding someone interested. And you have to ask yourself: if he does, will you be okay with that? Will you be able to stand it?"

Kaiba froze.

If he just let Yami go like he did at the airport, then it would only make sense for him to start moving on. To forget Kaiba and move along to someone new; someone more worthy of his time. What if he already had? It had been two weeks already, that was probably plenty of time. On top of that, the teen hadn't even _called_ yet. What if he really had decided to go find someone better?

It just didn't seem right.

Yami together with someone else…

With someone other than Kaiba…

It just seemed so completely wrong.

Kaiba felt sick.

"If not…" Kisara continued, tugging Kaiba out of his mind. "Then I suggest you do something about that. And pronto buster. Love waits for no one." Her azure eyes dulled with a murky dejection as she said the last bit. "It's like I told you before, Kaiba. You can only play hard-to-get for so long before the other person gives up."

_Gives up._

What if Yami gave up? Got tired of waiting for Kaiba to finally make up his mind and decided it wasn't worth the wait after all? Could Kaiba live with that? Live with knowing what he could have prevented with just a few short words? It didn't even have to be anything special. Yami would have more than likely known what he meant no matter what he said. He could have fucking said **_anything_**.

Kaiba was walking. He didn't remember getting up from the bench, but there he was, halfway down the street already. His mind was so cluttered he couldn't even properly use his memory of the city to navigate his way to where he was headed, but his legs seemed to be in control now anyhow as they hastily took him down the block and to the left with a mind of their own.

This just wasn't going to work for him. He didn't have to think about it long to know that he was unequivocally **not** okay with Yami being taken by some guy in the West. He wouldn't allow the runt to move on. No way in hell. And he better not have given up either, because Kaiba sure as hell hadn't.

He was running now. He was in a full sprint weaving his way around crowds of people as he trucked it to his destination. Running wasn't going to be particularly time-saving considering where he was headed, but he still felt the need to be as quick as he could all the same.

Kaiba was able to spot Kaibacorp Headquarters several roads ahead of time, the edifice standing as the tallest building for miles. Once he finally made it to the front entrance, albeit out of breath and with many strange looks from his employees, he flew inside and sped down the hall on his right. Before making it too far, he spotted another one of his workers and quickly called out to the man with dark green hair.

"Isono. Make preparations for P. Jet number 2 to make a departure to America." he ordered sternly.

"America? Ah, sir, may I ask why? The Battle City Tournament is tomorrow. Here in Domino? If you leave now you'll never be back in time-"

"Do as I said. We're leaving right now, understood?" he barked. Like he didn't know that already? But he couldn't risk anymore time. He needed to do this now.

"Sir, please..-"

"_NOW_. Do I make myself clear?"

"…Y-yes sir."

After a few arrangements and a long ride in the elevator to the top of the building, Kaiba was seated inside his well-furnished, blue Jet Plane along with a worried looking pilot and an Isono making due for a flight attendant. After an agonizingly long wait, the machine was finally brought to life and then lifted off of the ground, the turbulence making Kaiba's head spin.

Even so, Kaiba felt relief pour into his body and mix with his anxiousness at what he was doing. He was seriously about to miss the tournament he'd spent so much time on planning for this one person. But in the end, he could care less about the event compared to the teen.

Yes, he'd quickly discovered that some things _were_ worth holding on to. And this, without a doubt, was one of them.

xxxx

xxx

xx

x

* * *

Wowza! You go Kaiba!

Quite a dramatic chapter, wouldn't you agree? Only the best when we're so close to the end!

Next chapter is the last! I repeat, next chapter is the very last to this fic! So excited!

Thanks so much for reading and I'd be so happy if you threw a review my way! Constructive criticism is always welcome!


	35. Silence Speaks Loudly

Oh my gosh you guys! It's the last chappy! It's finally out!

I swear I didn't intentionally make you all wait for freaking ever for this to come out. I've just been going through some stuff. Mental stuff. Dumb stuff that shouldn't have made me take as long to post this as it did. And now, I'm sick. D:

Ah, well. Enough about me. It's up now and that's all that matters!

:D

Before I continue, let me thank all of you lovely lovelies that have been sticking with me throughout the whole story, despite my awful ability to post regularly. You guys are awesome! I'd also like to thank any of you new readers for making it this far as well!

Also! There will be a few pictures put up on my deviantart based on this chapter within the next day or so if anyone cares!

*Ahem* Now then:

Enjoy! ;3

* * *

One thing was for sure, it was a lot colder in America.

You could only blame Global Warming for the dramatic difference between there and Japan, though. Despite the heat circulating around the enclosed space he sat in, Kaiba could still feel the chilly air outside resonate from his window when he held his slender hand close to the glass, which felt like ice when his fingertips grazed over its surface.

He was almost there. And knowing that made his heart beat uncontrollably in his chest.

He was really doing this. There was no turning back now. No telling the pilot "never mind" and having him redirect the jet back toward Japan. He had no choice now but to go through with his plan. To somehow find this one person in the entire city of Burlington and unleash the emotions he'd bottled up for months now to them. No way could he release them all in one go, for they ran much deeper than he'd first realized; were too complex and yet oh so very simple to be able to explain in a way that sounded even the least bit comprehensible. Nonetheless, he was just going to have to dive in. To hope that Yami was clever enough to decipher whatever was going to end up spouting from Kaiba's unsteady mouth in a stream of what he could only assume would be nonsense with a few mild insults mixed in just for good measure.

"Fuck." Kaiba verbalized his frustration aloud, clutching a bundle of his brown bangs.

He'd had plenty of time to think about this. Plenty of time to calculate what he should and shouldn't say while he sat immobile in his flying vehicle. And yet, in spite of all that time, the things he'd finally set himself on saying suddenly seemed not good enough anymore. They seemed either too cliché or too straight forward for his liking. And thus, back to square one he was.

Though the brunette had gotten the chance to doze off one or two times throughout his ride to Vermont, the toll of international travel was still weighing on his eyelids, making them droop down as he peered back out of the window. Even so, no way could he sleep anymore. He was far too anxious now.

"Mr. Kaiba." he heard himself be addressed in the same breath as what sounded like a yawn.

"What is it?" Kaiba replied gruffly as he looked up to see his employee, Isono, gazing lazily through his dark sunglasses down at him.

"We've been cleared for landing, sir. We should be descending shortly."

Kaiba felt his heart skip.

"Hn." he said. He couldn't quite tell if his head was spinning because of turbulence or because of just how nervous he was. Regardless, he needed to use what strength he could to focus on the task at hand. It was nearly time; time for him to buckle down and actually do this. Actually say what he really felt rather than dodging around it or ignoring it completely. It was time for him to tell Yami he _loved_ him, no matter how silly or absolutely corny it sounded to him. Just thinking about uttering those words made Kaiba instantly want to disappear from humiliation. Damn his stupid pride… What was used as an asset many times before now became an unsightly hindrance.

Shaking his liability aside for the time being, Kaiba focused back to a bigger problem he was going to have other than his inability to display affection of any sort. Before he could do anything; before he could profess the emotions consuming his mind more and more by the minute to the ruby-eyed teen he so desired, he needed to figure out just where that familiar head of spikey, tri-colored hair resided within the city of Burlington. He'd thought about it earlier during his flight across the oceanic terrain that had separated them, and in doing so had found himself scrolling through the internet in a desperate, and maybe even a bit pathetic, search for any kind of clue that might assist him in his hunt so that he wouldn't be running around the entire city like an idiot looking for the teen.

He'd eventually come across a list of schools in Burlington, Vermont and was quick to inspect. After some contemplation, he'd finally decided that he'd pay a visit to Burlington City High School once he landed. It was the largest high school in the city, which meant it had a better chance of having Yami as one of the students attending there. If his calculations were correct, he'd be arriving to the city around 3:00, which wouldn't be much later than most classes in the area ended. Hopefully Yami _did_ go to that particular school, and hopefully he would decide to stick around for a while before going home. That would give Kaiba the perfect opportunity to grab him and unleash what needed to be said.

But again, the chances were slim. Even if he _did_ attend Burlington City High School, there was no guarantee he would hang around long enough for Kaiba to get there. He supposed could always ask other students still roaming around there if a new foreign student with dumb looking hair went there to be sure if he didn't see the teen right away. He was sure they'd know who he was talking about right away if Yami went to school with them. After all, it's a little hard not to notice someone that looked like that.

"Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba was drawn out from his thoughts and looked back over to the curtain that separated the front from the back of his jet, just then noticing that Isono still stood there, using an arm to keep the dangling cloth from falling.

"What now?" he ordered.

"It's just…well…I've just been curious as to why you felt so strongly about flying over to America _now_ of all times…sir. If you don't mind me asking."

Kaiba's mouth twitched into pursed lips.

It was only for a second he'd let the action show, but he knew instantly that Isono had taken notice of the uncharacteristic hesitation.

"I'm attending to a personal matter." was all Kaiba could come up with to say. Isono's eyebrows shot up.

"A…personal matter, sir?"

"Need I repeat myself? At any rate, it shouldn't matter what my reasoning is for doing this. It's your job to do what I order you to do, no questions asked, got it? If I say jump, you jump like your life depends on it—point blank." Kaiba shot at the man, hoping his boorishness would make him shut up and go away. There was a pause as Isono continued to stare at his employer with a quizzical expression still on his face.

"…Yes sir." was all he said nonetheless before returning to the front of the private jet, to Kaiba's relief.

The jet's landing was rather sloppy. The turbulence made Kaiba have to grasp onto the arms of his chair to keep from sliding down, which would cause the metal plate on his seat belt to dig into his stomach very uncomfortably. He could only assume that the fatigue from a nearly 14-hour flight was to blame since there was only one pilot manning the vehicle. Thinking about it now, he was lucky they hadn't crashed, though autopilot was probably to thank for that.

It felt like he was being slapped in the face with a hand made of ice when Kaiba stepped out from his auto-heated shelter to brave the harsh elements of the foreign country. Wind blew his hair around wildly as he marched down the retractable stairs of his jet. He was quick to shove his hands into the pockets of his pea coat as he stepped onto the pavement below, only to be confused at the presence of what, by the bright yellow color it possessed, could only be a taxi. He cocked his head back a bit to look at Isono, who now stood at the jet's entrance.

"Though we were able to be cleared for landing, sir, we were unable to get a proper means of transportation over here due to the short notice, unfortunately." he explained immediately, clearly understanding Kaiba's inquiring demeanor.

Though greatly displeased with the excuse, Kaiba ventured forth anyhow, climbing into the vehicle that smelled a bit like mildew and dead flowers.

"Where to?" the middle-aged man who sat in the driver's seat asked before Kaiba'd even had the chance to close the door.

"Take me to the nearest car place." he demanded in the clearest English he could muster, slamming the door in frustration. No way was he going to go find Yami in that piece of junk. Even if he was in a rush, he had dignity.

"Yes sir." was the chauffer's quick response. Kaiba tried not to let the man's grimy appearance or whatever it was wrapped in the brown paper bag tucked snugly between his and the passenger's seat worry him. He _tried_. The swerving and the insistent honking at passersby made it a more difficult task than he'd like to admit, though. He clutched the car door handle for dear life as the man made another sharp turn, his seatbelt not doing very well at its job due to the fact that it held together toward the top by threads. As much as he'd like to find Yami and fully divulge his feelings, he wasn't quite sure he'd make it there _alive_ at this point.

Kaiba practically flew out of the vehicle after throwing a wad of cash at the taxi man once they arrived at a large car lot, amazed that he'd even made it there without being involved in some sort of accident. He quickly pulled himself together and then strode his way over to the nearest group of cars he found, noticing that the weather was much calmer than before whilst doing so. Whatever front had been covering the sky in a dark blanket of gray clouds seemed to have finally cleared away, leaving a relatively sunshiny day in its place. It was still cold as hell though.

Scanning over what type of cars were being displayed, Kaiba quickly picked the one he favored the most which was, according to the tag taped onto the side window, a 2015 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG. His reasoning for picking that car didn't particularly have anything to do with the model though. He just liked the color.

The car beeped obnoxiously loud when Kaiba opened the night-blue door, causing him to jolt in shock. He wasn't surprised that the car beeped, though. He was surprised that the door actually opened.

Shrugging the thought away, he slide himself into the automobile and shut the door, surprised yet again to see the key to the car poking out from the sun visor. He swiftly decided that either someone had just finished test driving and left the key inside, or was about to test drive and ran inside to grab something before doing so. No way was someone actually dumb enough to leave every car like that.

Nonetheless, whoever had left this particular car in the state that it was was just out of luck. Kaiba was taking this one.

When someone finally came running toward him, Kaiba clicked the alarm off. He then inserted the single key into the ignition, listening to the car purr obediently as he continued to watch the a little more than chubby man wobble over to him.

"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing!?" the mustachioed man huffed out between his breaths, shaking his fist in a way that you normally only ever see on television.

Kaiba used the time he still had before the man had made it over completely to whip out the black checkbook and pen from his inner coat pocket and scribble out his name and a random amount of money that he figured would be enough to suffice for the car and whatever complaints the man would have about Kaiba essentially "stealing" the expensive looking car. $250,000? Yeah, that should be fine.

He didn't even bother to explain when the heavy-set fellow had finally made it to the car in a heaving mess. He just rolled down the window and stuck the check out for the man to take. It was almost humorous to see the look on the man's face at the dollar amount on the slip of paper as Kaiba triumphantly drove away.

Surely he wouldn't regret that later?

Well, there was no point in dwelling on it now.

Instead, Kaiba chose to dwell on the fact that the traffic cluttering the narrow roads of the city was practically immobile on the right side of the street for the majority of his drive to the address he'd quickly searched for within his cellular device. So, naturally, he spent the preponderance of his time driving on the opposite side of the road, only swerving over to the correct lane when a car was headed his direction. Thus, due to his time-efficient, albeit reckless, driving, in no time he pulled into a small parking lot that stretched across the front side of a wide edifice with small, white letters plastered onto it reading "Burlington City High School". To his surprise, there was still quite a crowd of high school students standing around outside in front of the building that seemed to be made mostly out of glass, as if they had nothing better to do.

Kaiba heavily pressed down on the breaks, the car jolting forward in response. He meticulously scanned the area, his heart pounding as he closely eyed the crowd of people. He focused in as best he could on any signs of red shuffled into the conglomeration of teens, though none of which belonged to a spikey-haired, punk midget.

Quickly growing impatient and tired of searching, Kaiba was just about to get out and forwardly ask the teen nearest to him if they knew any new kid named Yami, but rapidly stopped mid-way to opening the door when he saw them:

A pair of blazing, crimson eyes. A red so rich and vibrant in color it was haunting. This, accompanied with a round face and a thrice-colored hair style left no doubt in Kaiba's mind that it was Yami whom he was watching strode out of those double doors and partially down the sidewalk.

Kaiba instantly froze. He immediately felt himself clam up again and felt almost completely incapable of following through with his plan at all. Almost.

With the knowledge that he'd missed his _own tournament_, been ignoring Pegasus's persistent calls throughout the _entirety_ of the day, brushed _death_, and bought a _fucking car_ that he damn well knew he wasn't ever going to use again after this, he decided that backing out now probably wasn't his best option. It was now or never. So, with an unsteady grip and a racing heart, Kaiba shoved his door open with as much force as he could, hoping the physical exertion would relieve some of his nervousness. It didn't work.

He ignored the looks that those around him gave at his sudden action as he stepped out of his new vehicle. He didn't even bother closing the door as he began making his way toward Yami, his pace quickening along with the beat of his heart. He was so close.

The kid with white hair that was chattering with the teen noticed Kaiba before Yami did. His awe-struck expression was more than enough to instill the need to turn around and gaze at whatever it was that was so fascinating in the runt. And so turn he did.

…

"KAIBA?" was what unsurprisingly came blurting out of Yami's mouth at the tall brunette sauntering over toward him. Kaiba didn't say a word in return. The anxiety in his brain and adrenaline rushing through his veins probably wouldn't let anything intelligent come out anyway. So instead, Kaiba just walked up to Yami, grabbed his wrist, and began dragging him back over to his car—completely silent.

"K-Kaiba? What the hell are you doing here? What are you _doing_?" Yami orally resisted. Physically, however, the teen didn't struggle at all as he was being pulled away.

Kaiba still said nothing when he made it to the sleek vehicle, opened the passenger-side door, released Yami's arm from his grasp, and proceeded to enter through the driver-side. Even so, Yami— although reluctant— still climbed in through the door that Kaiba had ever-so-kindly opened for him, shut the door, and even buckled his seat belt (though he wore a look that said "The fuck is even happening right now?" as he did so).

"…Um-"

Yami was sharply cut off by the hum of the car motor as Kaiba shifted it back into drive and veered out of the school parking lot within a mere few second. Still as silent as a mime, Kaiba sped down the road, not exactly sure where he was going in all honesty.

"…Where are we going?" Yami ironically asked. Kaiba didn't answer, partly because he was still as nervous as hell but also partly because he didn't really want to admit that he had no idea where the road he was driving on led to.

"Hello? Kaiba?" Yami continued to prod. "You know, I'm pretty sure this is considered kidnapping. And in front of all those witnesses too. Tsk, tsk." He feigned a disappointed shake of the head as he crossed his arms over his chest, the leather jacket he sported squeaking in the process. "What a shame poor old Kaibaman has to go down the drain like this."

Ignoring Yami's attempt at humor, Kaiba spotted a break in the fencing along the edge of the pavement he drove on, leaving a perfect, grassy spot for him to pull his car into on the side of the road.

"Oh, did the guilt finally start to eat at you? You going to let me go and bribe me to keep quiet about this little endeavor?" Yami continued to joke when Kaiba finished parking the car onto the frosted, leaf-covered, sod. He breathed out heavily, already mentally exhausted.

"Really though, what's going on Kaiba? Don't you have a tournament today?" Yami inquired, now more serious.

What should he say? Should he just blurt it out now? Or would that be too forward? He should conversate with the teen first…relax the situation a bit before dropping the bomb. But what the hell should he say? "Yeah, I just decided to miss the tournament I've been planning for months now to come over here and say hi… Hi."?

He needed to come up with something…Something to help build up to what he really wanted to say; what he'd been avoiding to acknowledge for a while now. Maybe he'd start it off with something like, "The tournament means nothing to me compared to what's happening right now."…

Hell no. That sounded dumb. Like something you'd here from a bad anime series.

Maybe something more like, "I had to miss the tournament. There was something important I had to attend to. I would have won anyway, so fuck it."

Yeah, that might be better. It sounded less stupid, anyway. And Yami was sure to at least snicker at that last part, which would be a plus. Finally set on what to say, he was just about to face Yami and actually speak for the first time toward him that day when he heard the teen say:

"…Kaiba?"

It was the way that he said it that made Kaiba whip his head around toward him. That took the words from his mouth and erased them from existence. It had come from the teen in such a soft, airy way that held so much uncertainty and exposure that it made Kaiba want to instantaneously wrap his arms around the teen and squeeze any doubts from his little body. And he might have ended up doing so too if it wasn't for the fact that he was currently being taken into a trance when he gazed into Yami's deep, rich eyes that were the color of fine wine.

The two just stayed like that for a moment, staring intently into one another's eyes like whatever was around them didn't exist for the time being. Kaiba's heart was beating so rapidly in his chest at this point that he felt like he could fall into cardiac arrest at any moment. Any thoughts other than how absolutely gorgeous Yami was looking up at him like that with his nose and cheeks all flushed like they were and how cute his black scarf looked around his neck vanished completely.

"…Say _something_ will you?" Yami urged.

He couldn't do this. Not verbally anyway like Yami so requested. Which only left one option for the brunette to act on. He couldn't hesitate, otherwise he might just chicken out completely.

He had to do it now. So, he went for it.

Despite the fact that it was probably the most sloppy, out of the blue, apprehensive kiss in all of history and time, and that Yami seemed more stunned than pleased like Kaiba had been hoping about the sudden invasion to his personal space, he continued to press their faces together in a pathetic attempt to say what he just simply couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. It only lasted a few seconds, for Kaiba didn't think he could handle pressing on for much longer than that, especially if Yami was going to continue sitting there like a statue. He knew it was sudden, and he wouldn't blame Yami if he was upset by the abrupt action. But nonetheless, he also knew that in doing that, his feelings were finally being conveyed like he wanted them to be. They should be heard loud and clear now, even if Kaiba hadn't said a word.

When Kaiba pulled away, he wasn't surprised to see Yami's shocked expression. Eyes wide and mouth still ajar, Yami stared up at Kaiba as if trying to process what had just taken place. Kaiba stood his ground, attempting not to look quite as terrified as he felt that maybe this wasn't something that the teen had wanted after all. Still and yet, what happened, happened, at what will in return, will. He couldn't take it back now.

"I…" Yami paused. His eyes drooped over after a moment and he slowly lifted his fingers up to his lips, grazing them over his soft flesh. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that. You'll have to speak up…"

Kaiba needed nothing more to be said.

He approvingly abided to the subtle request.

The two crashed their lips together, the contact being a lot more graceful this time due to better timing and the fact that they were both partaking in said action of lip locking. It felt a little awkward and kind of weird at first but oh so good at the same time. They continued to essentially devour one another's faces far beyond how long Kaiba felt was a healthy amount of time for the human to be able to go without oxygen, and eventually had to break the act for a small gulp of air before going right back in to the carnal battlefront. Kaiba never knew he could feel so absolutely terrified and yet so overjoyed at the same time. It was strange. But he wouldn't change the feeling for anything.

xxxXxxx

"So you're telling me that you skipped out on the tournament, flew over here, and bought a _car_, just to come see me?"

Kaiba groaned internally. He hadn't actually said all of that to Yami, but what he had explained had apparently been enough for the teen to connect the dots. He could practically see the punk's spikey head inflate by the moment.

"_Wow_, Kaiba. I had no idea that you were such a _romantic_. That sounds like something you only here on TV." Yami continued to ruthlessly stab away at Kaiba's ego. "Turn here."

Kaiba followed Yami's instruction, turning the wheel of his vehicle right in the direction he'd pointed.

"Hardy-har. Are you having fun making jokes about my stupid decision?" Kaiba spat, starting to feel a bit humiliated.

"Right here." Yami instructed. Kaiba stopped the car right in front of a small building that had an orange sign with a turtle painted onto it reading, "Kame" directly beneath. He then remembered Yami saying at one point that his grandfather owned a game shop.

"I never said it was stupid. Maybe a little silly, but at the same time I think it's kind of…sweet."

Kaiba watched Yami's cheeks darken a bit and fought to keep his from doing the same at his statement. Yami turned to Kaiba, eyes bright.

"Thanks for the ride home." A pause. "So, since you went and already ditched your tournament, and so have some free time on your hands, why don't you come inside and play me a quick game of chess?. I've gotten a lot better you know."

"Is that so?" Kaiba challenged.

"I might even beat you." Yami continued, his eyes daring Kaiba to accept.

"Hn. In your dreams." Kaiba retorted, shifting the car into park. Yami smiled at Kaiba's silent agreement.

The brunette began exiting the vehicle, but stopped when Yami said, "Hey, Kaiba."

"What-" he started as he turned back around to see what the teen wanted, but was cut off when Yami unexpectedly pressed his lips onto Kaiba's, pulling away before he'd had a chance to react. He watched as Yami hopped out of the car and commenced walking up to the shop door as if nothing had happened.

"Are, you coming?" Yami inquired when Kaiba didn't move at first.

After pulling himself together, Kaiba finally stepped out and shut the door, following the crimson eyed-teen into the establishment.

Kaiba had no idea what he was doing. He didn't know how this was going to work out or how he would control this relationship between himself and Yami, or what effect it was going to have on him and his business if anything got out. He didn't know why didn't really care that much about what the effect would be either.

What he did know, though, was that he was going to be making a lot more visits to America.

xxxx

xxx

xx

x

* * *

Hooray for Kaiba!

Hooray for Yami!

Hooray for me for finishing this story!

You know, I've learned a lot after writing an entire story. Like not to over-describe things because who really wants to read about the layout of a teenagers room? And also like writing a few chapters ahead of time, that way you can post a little more often than every month or so.

I'll do better with my next fic! Which will probably be based around Puzzleshipping if anyone is interested!

Don't worry, I'm absolutely going to write more Prideshipping in the future. I just love it too much to _not_ to!

Thank you all SO much for reading! I hope you enjoyed!


End file.

Yu-Gi-Oh, Humor, Romance