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duelistkingdom · 3 years

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you’d come back to me

chapter ten: open

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Summary: Seto Kaiba has been presumed dead for four years after the events of Dark Side of Dimensions. His return causes both unresolved feelings of grief to be brought to the surface and the past to be dragged right back up. In hopes of helping Seto move on and reintegrate back into society at large, Mokuba asks Yugi to work on Spherium II with Seto. Never one to leave a friend hanging, Yugi agrees. Over the course of the project, Seto and Yugi both come to terms with their mutual grief and grow towards a better understanding of each other.

Rating: T

Ships: Yugi Mutou/Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba/Rebecca Hopkins, Katusya Jonouchi/Mai Kujaku

Warnings: aged up characters, grief, references to suicide

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The exhibition duel had garnered quite the media attention. Most people wanted to know what the tragedy that Yugi was referring to was and no one seemed to have any answers. Yugi didn’t know where to begin to explain. How could he explain what had happened that led to everything that existed between Kaiba and him? No, it was better to let them wildly speculate. He didn’t care. Anzu had asked Yugi if he’d meant to make Kaiba cry. Yugi still wasn’t sure that Kaiba was actually crying. Either way, Kaiba was now going out of his way to avoid Yugi at work.

“You’ve caused quite the commotion with that Duel,” Isis remarked with a light smile on her face as she stared up at the exhibition for Atem. “Is there any reason you’ve come here, Yugi? You usually try so hard to avoid coming to see me when I’m at the museum.”

Yugi, once again, didn’t know where to begin. “Er, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday,” Yugi said, figuring it was a good enough cover. When Isis turned to look at him with a raised brow, Yugi felt almost like she could still somehow see the future. It was strange that even without the Taulk, Isis seemed to know more than she should. “What? Your birthday’s coming up.”

“Of course it is,” Isis said. “But normally you simply call or send a card. Coming to visit me must mean there’s something on your mind.”

It was strange how such an accurate statement from Isis could make Yugi feel uncomfortable. When it came down to it, Yugi simply couldn’t see Isis without thinking of everything that had happened in Battle City. Isis was also the one to tell them about the Ceremonial Duel. It was not Isis’s fault that Atem was gone. Yugi was certain that with or without Isis, he would have to aid Atem’s restless spirit in finding peace. However, Yugi couldn’t help but harbor some mixed feelings towards Isis. “Well,” Yugi said softly, trying to figure out where to start. “I was wondering why the future changed when Kaiba dueled you but… Atem…”

Isis did not seem surprised by this line of questioning. Instead, she looked away and stared back up at the tablet. “Atem had already died, Yugi,” Isis said softly as she gestured up to the tablet. “He lived and died three thousand years ago. There was no future to change. Ghosts are not meant to live in this world. This does not change even when we love and care for the dead. It is one of life’s cruelest jokes.”

The tablet did not provide any answers to Yugi. It was the same as always: Atem and some priest that Yugi never learned the name of in the middle of battle. It didn’t seem fair that Atem would be required to die. Then again, had life ever been fair to him? “He was so young,” Yugi said softly. It had only just now hit him how young sixteen was. On the other side of twenty, he was now amazed that his teenage self had even managed to keep it together. “It just doesn’t seem right.”

“He is not the only one in the past to have died young. We mourn for the dead but we keep going forward,” Isis reminded Yugi, turning towards him. Her eyes were like the ocean - full of deep, dark secrets that Yugi was scared to ask her about - and she was peering deep into his. Searching out his own secrets, he’d imagine. Unlike her, he never could hide very well. “He is where he should be, Yugi. You shouldn’t live for the dead.”

If anyone had any right to tell him that, it was Isis. The Ishtars knew better than anyone that life was for the living. “Right,” Yugi said, looking up at the carved out drawing of Atem one last time. He knew that Atem wouldn’t want him to remain stuck on him. It was more than time to let go of the past. “Well… Happy birthday once again, Isis. Try to take some time off from work, okay?”

“Thank you,” Isis said with a slightly warmer smile. “I shall try to leave work early to go see my family. You have a nice day, Yugi.”

As Yugi left, his phone pinged and he fished his phone out. The new message from saggithedarkclown left no doubt in his mind that it was Kaiba behind the account. He stared at the message for a while before a second message from the account pinged, apologizing for the first message and that it absolutely wasn’t intended for him.

Kaiba was slightly frustrated. Yugi had been acting weird towards him for the past week now. As hard as Kaiba was trying to dodge Yugi, Yugi didn’t seem to want to let Kaiba be alone. He always had a reason to confront Kaiba, too. It was always that he had to check in on how the coding was going, check in on something that Kaiba had taken the lead on, check in this, and check in on that. Even worse, Yugi seemed to have lost the concept of ‘personal space’ and got just a little closer every single time. This time, Yugi’s chest was less than an inch away from Kaiba’s back and Kaiba had sat up rigidly as he kept his eyes focused on the screen.

He barely noted what Yugi was saying. He was certain whatever Yugi was saying was important. Kaiba, however, was focused on the fact that Yugi’s lips were so close to his neck. If Yugi leaned forward even slightly, he could kiss Kaiba’s neck. Not only that, Yugi’s cologne was all Kaiba could really smell. It was such a nice, crisp smell that reminded him of a clean ocean breeze. “Kaiba,” Yugi said sharply, drawing Kaiba out of his trance. “Are you even paying attention to me?”

The fact was that Kaiba had never been more aware of Yugi in his entire life. However, he was certain Yugi was not referring to his physical presence. “Of course,” Kaiba said and unfortunately, Yugi moved away. Even more unfortunately, Yugi spun Kaiba’s chair around, forcing Kaiba to look at him. He looked expectant and once again, Kaiba had no clue what Yugi was looking for. “I have been doing this for years, you know.”

“Really,” Yugi asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Kaiba instantly noted that the tailored shirt actually flattered Yugi’s arms for once. “Then tell me what line of code I said would be problematic to mesh with the rest of the team’s code.”

“It doesn’t matter what doesn’t mesh with the rest of the team’s code,” Kaiba deflected, turning back to his computer to hide the light flush creeping across his cheeks. “I can fix their code later to work with mine.”

“This is a team project, Kaiba,” Yugi said, sounding very exasperated as he moved once again to keep eye contact with Seto. Yugi raised a brow as he appraised the look on Seto’s face and Seto shifted uncomfortably. “Kaiba, are you okay? You look a little… nervous.”

“I’m not nervous,” Kaiba snapped, more out of instinct than anything else. He pushed away from his desk, getting up with the intention of leaving his office. If Yugi wouldn’t leave, he would leave. It wasn’t a perfect solution but it was all Kaiba had. “I’m annoyed that you keep insisting on having me work with a team and parroting all that nonsense about teamwork.”

This plan backfired greatly when Yugi placed himself between the small space that provided the only exit from his desk to the door. His desk was firm up against the wall - he couldn’t go around the other way. Not unless he literally lept over his desk and he was worried his legs might kick the expensive computer with work he hadn’t yet backed up. “Kaiba, seriously, what’s wrong,” Yugi asked as he moved in closer, cornering Kaiba up against the wall. “You haven’t complained about working on a team in a while. What’s really bothering you?”

What was really bothering him? Besides the fact that Yugi clearly seemed unaware of the effect he had? “I told you,” Kaiba snapped, trying once again to seem intimidating in hopes of making Yugi go away. Unfortunately, Yugi continued to hold his ground. “Working with a team is beneath me.”

“Is this about the Duel,” Yugi said suddenly, looking a little bit rueful. “I’m sorry I was so harsh, Kaiba. I know it was overwhelming but… I’m not sorry for telling you that people care about you. And I’m especially not sorry for telling you that you need to confront your emotions. You spend so much time trying to convince us all that you don’t have emotions but no one’s fooled, Kaiba.”

The horror curdled in Kaiba’s stomach. Did this mean that Yugi knew Kaiba had feelings for him? Were him and Anzu mocking him for his feelings? Or maybe Yugi didn’t really piece everything together and was simply bluffing his way into finding out what Kaiba was really thinking. It wouldn’t be the first time Yugi managed to bluff his way into victory over him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Yugi,” Kaiba said automatically. “I’m perfectly fine on my own. I don’t need your help.”

“Kaiba, you can say that all you want but I know you’re hurting,” Yugi said, his hand now on Kaiba’s wrist. Kaiba took a step back and felt his back hit the wall. There was definitely no escape now. Yugi’s other hand had cupped at Kaiba’s cheek and Kaiba felt his heart leap into his throat. This was far too intimate. What was Yugi thinking? “It’s okay, Kaiba.”

“What would your girlfriend say if she saw you in this position,” Kaiba asked acidly, yanking his wrist from Yugi’s hand. Yugi, for his part, looked shocked. “Just because Anzu’s far away doesn’t mean you get to mess with me.”

A beat passed before confusion settled in on Yugi’s face. “Kaiba,” he said slowly, tilting his head. “What the actual fuck are you talking about? Anzu and I aren’t dating.” He paused yet again, before smirking. “Did you really think that I was dating Anzu?”

“Well, why wouldn’t I think that,” Kaiba asked, suddenly very embarrassed to realize his assessment of Anzu and Yugi’s relationship was very offbase. “I mean, I saw you show up with her to Rebecca’s birthday party and you guys were matching. And she’s nice and you guys have known each other for a long time… and you used to have that crush on her.”

Yugi had started laughing. “Anzu and I are just friends, Kaiba,” Yugi said, still laughing as his hands were placed on either side of Kaiba. He had a look in his eyes that Kaiba had only seen in his dreams. Was this a dream? “We both agreed nothing would work between us. She wanted to stay in New York City, I needed to be here in Domino City. Neither of us wanted to be in a long distance relationship that had no real date in sight where we’d be in the same city, so we’re just friends. I am very much not in a relationship.”

Kaiba’s head was spinning. Yugi was single. Yugi was single and he had Kaiba pinned up against a wall. He’d barely processed anything Yugi said beyond “Anzu and I are just friends”, actually. “So you’re single,” Kaiba said, stiffer than usual. “What does that change, anyway?”

“Is that really what you’re asking,” Yugi asked, a slight smirk on his face as one of his hands moved back to cupping Kaiba’s cheek. His thumb lightly brushed against Kaiba’s lower lip and then Yugi’s lips were pressed to Kaiba’s. Kaiba’s breath hitched, his head spinning as Yugi pulled him in closer. This couldn’t be a dream, Kaiba realized. There was no way he could come up with these details. When Yugi pulled away, he had a look of victory on his face. “Does that tell you what that changes?”

For once, Kaiba had no retort. He hadn’t wanted Yugi to stop kissing him. He wondered if he was allowed to kiss Yugi himself. It took a while before he finally managed to say something except what came out was a strangled noise. Not exactly his best line. Yugi looked vaguely concerned and seemed on the verge of asking Kaiba if he was okay again. “If you ask me if I'm okay one more time, Yugi, I will throw you out of my window,” Kaiba said, almost pleased he was able to properly speak again. “Why did you do that?”

Yugi looked stunned. “What do you mean why did I do that,” Yugi said, looking bewildered. “Kaiba, I like you.”

This was a meaningless statement. Yugi liked a lot of people. However, Yugi seemed to think this statement held a lot of meaning in it. “Yugi, we’re at work,” Kaiba said in an attempt to direct the conversation towards something he understood. “Is it really appropriate for you to be…” Kaiba trailed off, making another noise of frustration as he realized he was once again at a loss for words. “This!”

Yugi paused, frowning. “I guess,” Yugi said with a shrug, stepping away. No wait, he didn’t want that to happen. “You’re right. That was inappropriate of me,” Yugi said and Kaiba cursed his own big mouth. “I’ll email you what you need to fix in your code later.”

Kaiba nearly called after Yugi to stay. Instead, he watched Yugi walk out of his office.

“He clearly wanted you to keep kissing him,” Anzu said, rolling over on her bed and holding the iPad up further away. Yugi had explained everything to them as Honda was shaking one of his birthday gifts, trying to figure out what was inside it. “Seriously, I can’t believe he thought we were dating, though.”

“To be fair on Kaiba,” Mai said with an amused smirk on her face, “I don’t think he’s ever dated once in his life. Probably saw you and Yugi looking sweet and went well, obviously that’s a couple. I know what romance looks like. Didn’t even think to ask.”

“I’m more amazed you actually kissed Kaiba,” Jonouchi said, making a face. “So you’re gonna give me all of rich boy’s money, right?”

“Jou,” Honda said with a roll of his eyes as Rebecca snatched the gift away, reminding him that Shizuka hadn't arrived yet as she set it back on the table. “I doubt Yugi’s gonna give you all of Kaiba’s money. He’s gotta give some to me, after all.”

“I’m right here,” Mokuba pointed out as he came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of food that Yugi barely glanced at. Instead, Yugi was lost in his thoughts as he wondered if Anzu was right. Should he have tried to kiss Kaiba again? “Personally, I think it’s great that you and my brother are dating. That would make you my big brother as well! Though I do have to warn you that if you break his heart, I will hurt you. No offense, Yugi.”

Yugi felt a light flush color on his cheeks. “I don’t know if I’d say we’re dating,” Yugi said quickly, not wanting Mokuba to get the wrong impression. The idea of dating Seto was a strange one, actually. He’d never imagined dating after Atem, much less imagined dating Kaiba. Then again, none of that mattered if Kaiba didn’t want to date him. “It was just one kiss and Kaiba did threaten to throw me out of the window after. Is that really dating?”

“No, but you did say his issue was that you two were at work,” Rebecca said as she popped a rice ball into her mouth as she sat down on a nearby ottoman. “So the solution is obvious: you try kissing him again outside of work. If he’s receptive, then he probably totally wants to date you.”

“I would say just ask him out,” Mokuba remarked with a shrug. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He could take it badly and then make my life difficult while we work on Spherium II,” Yugi pointed out with a frown as he noted that Otogi had been surprisingly quiet during this conversation. “Otogi, what do you think?”

Otogi grinned. “I think you’re overthinking everything,” Otogi said as he stretched out, throwing an arm lazily around Honda. “You already kissed him. Think back over it. Did he kiss back? If he kissed back, you’re totally in. No need to make it harder than it has to be.”

“This coming from the guy whose idea of romance was telling me we were on a date midway through a casual hangout,” Honda remarked as Yugi thought back on how Kaiba had responded. He zoned out, ignoring Honda and Otogi’s small lover’s quarrel as he wondered if Kaiba actually had kissed back.

Yugi knew what he wanted the answer to be. He wanted to think that Kaiba might’ve responded in kind. But was that what actually happened or was he just being hopeful? This continued to distract him even as Shizuka arrived, apologizing for being late and remarking that finals were coming up next month. At that point, Yugi figured that he’d dwelled on this long enough, preferring to present for the rest of Honda’s birthday party.

Kaiba wanted to avoid mentioning that Yugi had kissed him to Reiki. He had, after all, other issues to unpack at this point. “When I was younger, I didn’t think romance was real,” Kaiba said, knowing this was the worst place to start. “My mother died long before I could remember. My father died shortly after. I had no real framework in which romance works. My adoptive father treated it as if it was an afterthought.”

“Interesting starting point,” Reiki remarked as he glanced over his notes. “What made you start thinking about this?”

Because Yugi kissed me, Seto thought. “It’s just something that’s been on my mind because of Mokuba’s relationship with Rebecca,” he said with a shrug. “I was wondering how Mokuba could have managed to settle into a relationship while I…”

Seto trailed off, unsure where he was going with that statement. Surely he had to have a point. “You can’t go around comparing yourself to others,” Reiki said. “There’s nothing happy in comparison.”

“I know,” Seto said softly, finally piecing together what he was trying to say. “I merely meant that Mokuba and I shared similar experiences. Yet he seems to socialize better and has even found a relationship. Meanwhile, a year later, and I still feel as if I am on the outside looking in. I… don’t understand.”

Reiki sighed. “You can’t expect to be able to just jump right back in where you had left off,” he said as he went over his notes. “You’ve made remarkable progress, Seto. When you first arrived in my office, you barely wanted to talk to me. Last week, you called me after you Duel when you were experiencing distress. Today, you knew what you wanted to address today. I know that it must be frustrating that progress has been slow, but you have been making progress.”

“It doesn’t feel like I am,” Kaiba said, feeling frustrated. “It feels like I’ve stagnated.”

“Of course it feels like that,” Reiki said, matter of fact. “You’ve spent the year looking around and seeing how much everything around you has changed while still being who you were four years ago. You have grown over the past year, though. Cut yourself some slack, Seto.”

There were a lot of thoughts going through Mokuba’s head right now. Most of them revolved on wondering why getting Seto to talk to him was like pulling teeth. Mokuba knocked on Seto’s door, glaring at him when the door swung open. “Why did I have to find out from Yugi that you and Yugi kissed?”

There was some satisfaction when Seto looked stunned by the question. For the most part, Seto had never really been forthcoming to Mokuba when something happened. Mokuba was tired of it. He wasn’t about to be blindsided by Seto again. “He told you?”

“Of course he told me,” Mokuba said impatiently, annoyed that was what Seto had chosen to fixate on. Seto, as per usual, was fixating on all the wrong things. It seemed like Seto did that best. During Battle City, Seto had been so fixated on the God Cards that he’d failed to see everything else going on around him. Mokuba, meanwhile, saw so much more. He saw past what Seto was fixating on. This time, however, Mokuba couldn’t be sure what Seto was fixating on. “We’re friends. Friends tell each other what’s going on.”

Mokuba pushed his way past Seto to enter Seto’s apartment. He noted the rather sterile feeling to it. If he didn’t know Seto lived here, he would assume it was a show apartment. “Oh, please, come in,” Seto grumbled sarcastically as he closed the door behind him. “Why does it matter to you if Yugi kissed me, anyway?”

“Because Yugi’s been hung up on Atem for years. You’re the first person Yugi’s actually expressed any level of interest in,” Mokuba said, well aware that Seto would never figure that out on his own. As expected, Seto did not react in the way most people would expect. His steeled eyes and straightened spine would never give away that Seto was surprised. “If there’s any two people that I think would be great together, it’s you and Yugi. I think you should give it a chance.”

“This doesn’t involve you,” Seto said automatically. It was expected. Mokuba had never known his brother to be willing to open up. “This is between Yugi and I. And… And it doesn’t matter.”

Mokuba examined Seto before sighing and taking a seat on one of Seto’s chairs. “Have I told you about how Rebecca and I got together?”

Seto mirrored Mokuba, crossing his arms over his chest. “I fail to see how this is relevant,” Seto said, looking away. “But no. You did not.”

“You know how we met, of course. After the KC Grand Prix, she gave me her email and told me to keep in touch,” Mokuba said, smiling fondly as he remembered how bossy she’d sounded. It seemed like Rebecca’s default state was being bossy, actually. “You know she had that crush on Yugi at the time and so we were just friends. Over time, I… I started to get feelings for her but figured she’d never feel the same way back. I resigned myself to that. Then you vanished and Rebecca was there for me. She even flew out just to be there while I was worrying about you.”

Seto shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Rebecca told me that she was there for you,” he remarked and for once, Mokuba could tell he felt guilty. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t think about you when I did what I did.”

It wasn’t the first time Seto had apologized. Mokuba waved it off. “It’s fine. You’re here now,” he said with a shrug. “But anyway, while she was here… she casually mentioned that she was going to transfer schools for her PhD. And she asked if I would be okay if she transferred to Tokyo. It took me a minute to realize that she wanted to know if I wanted a future with her.”

“And you did,” Seto asked, looking curious. “How did you know it’d work out? What if it had failed?”

“I didn’t know it would work out,” Mokuba said as he stood up, shrugging. “I knew that I wanted to take a chance with her. And so I took a leap of faith. That’s all relationships are, Seto. They’re leaps of faith.”

#fic: you'd come back to me #myfanfic #rivalshipping #dm rivalshipping #rivalshipping fanfiction #rivalshipping fanfic

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