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duelistkingdom · 3 years

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you’d come back to me

chapter eleven: challenge

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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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Kaiba was still fixating on what Mokuba had said about his relationship with Rebecca. A leap of faith sounded simply ridiculous, especially when it came to one’s own future. But it worked out for Mokuba. He’d seen how happy Rebecca and Mokuba were together. Could he really follow suit? The last leap of faith had left his heart shattered. And if everything Yugi’s friends had said was true, Yugi’s own leap of faith left him heartbroken too. Falling meant the risk of landing on the concrete. It was why he was grateful when there was a new thing to fixate on.

It seemed that the previous exhibition duel between Yugi and him had been popular enough to warrant another. Pegasus had personally invited both Yugi and Kaiba back to duel for the closing ceremony of the locals tournament for the summer session. Kaiba had asked Yugi if he’d wanted to do another and Yugi had shrugged. “If you want to do another Duel, I’m fine with it.”

“That’s not an answer, Yugi,” Kaiba said, annoyed that Yugi seemed so blase about this. He wasn’t sure what he was trying to ask for, anyway. “It’s a yes or no question.”

“We were both invited for this Duel,” Yugi said as he went back to writing an email to someone on the team. Once again, Kaiba wondered why Yugi didn’t seem to hate replying to emails. Every time Seto had opened up his email inbox, he was overwhelmed. “It’s something we’d both agree on. I know that I won’t Duel unless it’s against you, though.”

For a minute, Kaiba wondered what sort of game Yugi was playing. Was it a test to see if Kaiba really wanted to Duel him? It was always so hard to read Yugi’s motives. “Are you messing with me,” Seto said, once again examining Yugi for any hint of what he was thinking. “If it’s a challenge you want, Yugi, it’s a challenge you’ll get.”

“Cool,” Yugi said with a shrug as he pressed send on the email he was working on before switching tasks. This time, he was looking at a spreadsheet that even Kaiba found boring. Seto didn’t bother to try to figure out what the information being displayed was. He could always ask Mokuba what Yugi had been doing. “Then I accept.”

It wasn’t until Kaiba left Yugi’s office that he realized that Yugi was quietly laughing. Once again, he was lost as to why Yugi would react that way.

“I take the day off for my birthday every year, Kaiba,” Yugi said with a roll of his eyes as he carefully made sure that everything he needed to be done for the next two days was done. He’d already sent off instructions on what he expected to be done when he got back. “I wouldn’t worry about it causing any problems for production. That’s the point of having a team, you know.”

“Taking off for your birthday is a pointless waste of time,” Kaiba argued, glaring at Yugi as if that would change Yugi’s mind. “You keep taking days off for your friends’ birthdays and now your own. Aren’t you worried about how many days you’re wasting by taking them off?”

“Not at all,” Yugi said as he closed up his current progress. “Thanks to you, we’re ahead of schedule. There’s no need to be worried about taking days off at this point.” The compliment was enough to throw Seto off balance and give Yugi time to shut his computer down as he got up, smirking at Kaiba. “You’re more than welcome to stay at work but for the record, you’re invited to my birthday party.”

Kaiba looked stunned and Yugi took the chance to duck out of his office. Once again, Yugi took a moment to think over Kaiba’s reactions. Maybe he was over analyzing things, but it felt good every time he noted Kaiba’s stunned expression when he smirked at Kaiba. He’d like to think it was proof he was having some sort of effect on Kaiba. It turns out that confidence when leading a production meeting or Dueling or even hosting a tournament were all a very different confidence from asking someone out. He knew what Atem might’ve said.

Yugi knew that Atem would tell him that of course Kaiba was into him. He’d always wondered if Atem’s perception of him had been skewed but maybe there was some credence to what Atem had always said. After all, he’d read the message boards that discussed him and his strategies that always seemed to devolve into mentioning how hot he was. Surely that isn’t going to my head, Yugi thought to himself with a small smile. This, of course, all assumed that Kaiba felt the same way.

He knew he could use the messages with Kaiba’s secret account to his advantage. He could figure out how Kaiba felt without ever actually taking the risk. It seemed dishonest, however. And certainly a major violation of Kaiba’s trust. He couldn’t bring himself to do so. Which is why he instead called Anzu. “Is it your birthday already,” Anzu said when she answered, sounding a little bit concerned. “Have I missed being the first to tell you happy birthday? Oh, damn timezones!”

“No, it’s not my birthday yet,” Yugi laughed as he checked his watch. It was currently 5 pm. “You have seven hours before it’s my birthday. Sorry, what time is it there? I didn’t think to check.”

“Oh, it’s three am, but don’t worry,” Anzu said, quickly reassuring Yugi before he could balk at the time difference. “I was already up. We’re doing rehearsals. I’m really sorry I can’t make it for your birthday this year, by the way.”

“It’s okay,” Yugi said for what felt like the fiftieth time. Anzu had gotten the role she’d been after for most of her life so Yugi didn’t mind that it meant less time with Anzu. As far as he was concerned, the best birthday present was the fact that she was living her dreams even if it meant that she couldn’t be here right now. “You’re making your dreams come true. That comes first, always. After all: you being far away is a waste if you aren’t succeeding at everything you do. So don’t worry about it. I can handle you not being here for one birthday.”

“I still feel pretty guilty about it,” Anzu said before she seemed to be saying something to someone else. “Hey, mind staying on the phone with me until I get home? The subway at this hour always gives me the creeps.”

“Of course,” Yugi said as he leaned against the elevator, pressing the button that would take him to the parking garage. “Would it help if I told you that I invited Kaiba to my birthday party?”

“That would indeed help,” Anzu said with a laugh. “So you’re going for it? You’re going to ask him out? Properly, that is.”

“Whoa, calm down,” Yugi said, rather alarmed by how quickly Anzu jumped to that conclusion. “I mean… I do… I do want to ask him out. But I don’t know how he’d react. What if he thinks that’s inappropriate too?”

“I’m sure Kaiba wouldn’t mind if you asked him out,” Anzu said, the sound of the subway in the background of the call. She spoke something in English to someone before switching back to him. “What are you waiting for?” When Yugi did not answer right away, she sighed. “You always wait so long to make a move. I just don’t want you missing out on something that could be great for you because you spent so long overthinking it.”

“I’m not overthinking it,” Yugi said, more reflexively than out of real belief in his words. He’d gotten in his car and stared at the concrete wall in front of him. Yugi was, indeed, overthinking it. There was so much risk involved. “The last time I took a risk like this…”

“Kaiba’s not Atem,” Anzu said, cutting Yugi off before he could even let his thoughts drift there. “I know that they’re similar but they’re not the same person. I know you see the risks but if you could accept those with Atem, you can accept them with Kaiba.”

Yugi almost laughed at Anzu getting to the point faster than Yugi ever had. Wasn’t that exactly the crux of the matter? Yugi supposed, on some level, he did see Kaiba’s attempt to reach Atem in the afterlife as proof that Kaiba might not stick around either. “I suppose there is one difference here,” Yugi said as he started his car. “Kaiba’s still alive.”

“Exactly,” Anzu said softly. “You just need to take that leap. I know it’s scary but if you don’t take that risk… you’ll never know if it would’ve worked out.”

Kaiba was well aware it was very early in the morning. He couldn’t begin to explain himself. He didn’t even know where to start. All he knew was that Yugi wasn’t going to be at work and he wanted to see Yugi today. Maybe he would wind up going to work today. And if he did that, then he wouldn’t see Yugi at all. So the answer was to attempt to see Yugi prior to work. That was why, at 5:30 am, Kaiba was standing in front of the Kame Game Shop. The same place where everything began for him, really. He’d noted the shop was closed but that wasn’t important. He wasn’t here to buy anything, after all. He knocked on the door, hoping Yugi would answer. He wasn’t that lucky. Instead, Suguroku answered, looking surprised to see Kaiba. “It’s 5:30 am,” Suguroku said, opening the door further for Kaiba anyway. “What brings you here?”

Well there was something Kaiba wasn’t expecting to have to deal with. He shifted uncomfortably before taking up the old man on his offer to let him inside. “I… wanted to see Yugi before work,” Kaiba said stiffly. Did Suguroku still hate him for everything he’d done when he was younger? It seemed strange that the man did not bring it up. “Er… I suppose I should apologize for what I did when I was younger. It was… wrong of me.”

He was surprised when Suguroku laughed, waving him off. “Don’t even worry about it,” he said joviely, as if Seto hadn’t tried to steal a card that held deeply sentimental value to him. As if Seto hadn’t induced a heart attack knowingly with his then new technology and was only just now getting around to apologizing for it. It was strange that Suguroku did not demand compensation for it. “You came here to see Yugi, huh… Yugi hasn’t lived here in some time, you know.”

It was another reminder of the time that had passed from when Kaiba had left for the afterlife and had returned home. It seemed obvious that Yugi, now a twenty-three year old man with a high paying job at Kaiba Corp, would choose to move out of his grandfather’s home. “I’m guessing this change happened in the past five years,” Kaiba remarked as he examined the game shop. A few signed posters of Yugi decorated the walls but what really drew Kaiba’s eye was the sheer amount of Kaiba Corp games in the store. “If… If I wanted to go see Yugi, where would I go?”

Suguroku had a twinkle in his eyes. “Why, that’s information I don’t plan on giving you for free,” he said as he pulled out a deck of cards. Kaiba noted the back. It clearly wasn’t a Duel Monsters deck. “Tell you what: let’s play a few rounds of poker. If you beat me, I’ll tell you where Yugi’s apartment is.”

“You expect us to play a game,” Kaiba asked, stunned. “I would think that you wouldn’t want to play card games with me, considering what happened last time.”

“In Duel Monsters,” Suguroku said as he shuffled the deck, looking confident. “I’ll have you know that while you might have once been a Duel Monsters champion, I am a master at poker. Unless you’re scared?”

Kaiba was no coward. He gave a soft ‘tch’ before moving towards the counter. “Fine,” Kaiba said. Suguroku began to deal out the cards and Kaiba kept a close eye on what he was doing. He suspected that Suguroku might not be lying about being a master class gambler considering his Exodia deck. “I suppose you expect me to bet actual money whereas you’ll bet information?”

“You can bet whatever you’d like, Kaiba,” Suguroku said as he took a peek at his cards. There was no change in expression that could tip Kaiba off as to what was in Suguroku’s hand. Perhaps part of what made Suguroku so good at poker was that he simply had a good poker face. “However, I would recommend betting whatever you’re prepared to lose. I imagine money would be something you’d be willing to part with.”

He wasn’t sure if Suguroku was messing with him. “In that case, I’ll bet a hundred yen to start,” Kaiba said, a little hesitant to go all in when he had no idea what Suguroku’s level was. He frowned as he remembered he didn’t have cash on him. “I don’t have actual physical cash on me right now.”

Suguroku then reached behind the counter and pulled out a box of poker chips. “White is a hundred yen, red is five hundred yen, blue is ten thousand yen, green is twenty five thousand yen, and black is a hundred thousand yen,” Suguroku explained as he pushed the box in front of Kaiba. Kaiba took out a single white chip, placing it next to the deck carefully. “For me, the bet will be that I will tell you exactly when Yugi moved out.”

That wasn’t helpful information. It did not tell him where Yugi was now. “That information doesn’t help me,” Kaiba said as he examined his own cards. He noted that he had the five of hearts, two of spades, three of clubs, jack of diamonds, and the ten of spades. None of these cards would get him a win. He was certain a jack of diamonds wasn’t going to cut it. He selected the ten of spades and a jack of diamonds to return to the deck. Suguroku, for his part, only returned a single card. Kaiba’s next two cards were a four of spades and two of hearts. A pair. “I’ll raise another hundred yen.”

Suguroku looked amused. “I’ll stay,” he said, frustrating Kaiba. “Shall we?”

Kaiba gave a soft ‘tch’ before revealing his cards. “Two pair,” he declared. “What do you have?”

Suguroku flipped over his cards with a sly smirk as he showed the full house. “I take the pot,” he said, pulling the two poker chips to him. “I suppose you’ll be wanting to try again?”

“Yes,” Kaiba said automatically. It wasn’t like he had a choice. If he wanted to know where Yugi had moved, then he had to play Suguroku’s little game. He took a moment to be irked towards Mokuba for shutting down all the equipment that kept an eye over the city. He would’ve known exactly where Yugi was by his Duel Disk. Maybe he could convince Mokuba to turn it back on. “Deal me in.”

“As you wish,” Suguroku said as he shuffled the deck and cut it before dealing out a second hand. He showed no sign of breaking yet again as he glanced at his cards. “Same bet as before. If you win, I’ll tell you when Yugi moved.”

Kaiba examined his own cards. This time he had the four of hearts, ace of hearts, four of spades, three of diamonds, and six of clubs. “I’ll start with two hundred yen this time,” Kaiba said, attempting to feel some bravado as he handed back the ace of hearts. He figured that perhaps the full house was a fluke. However, he almost had a straight in hand. A full house couldn’t beat that. “I’m guessing you’re not going to look to raise your bet?”

This time Suguroku returned no cards. Kaiba, for his part, got two of diamonds in hand. There was no way Suguroku could beat this. “Of course not,” Suguroku said with a glint in his eyes. “Why would I raise my bet? Shall we take a look to see who won?” Kaiba revealed his hand with a smug look on his face though his bravado cracked just a bit when Suguroku didn’t seem concerned. “Oh that is very nice. However,” he said as he revealed that he had a straight flush, “it seems I have won yet again.”

Kaiba spluttered as Sugoroku once again took the pot. “How are you doing that,” Kaiba demanded. Surely there had to be a mistake here. There was no way that someone could have that kind of luck. “Is this deck marked?”

“Of course not,” Suguroku said, looking offended. “But if you are concerned, you are more than welcome to examine the cards yourself. If you’d like, I’ll even get an unopened pack.”

Kaiba grabbed the deck of cards, examining each card carefully. It seemed Suguroku was telling the truth. Not one of the cards had any sign of marking and all the cards were intact. “Fine,” Kaiba said, pushing the deck back to Sugoroku to allow him to shuffle the deck yet again. “You can’t possibly win every hand.”

Unfortunately, once again, Suguroku won that round and then the next round. It wasn’t until the sixth round and almost ten thousand yen later that Suguroku finally lost when Kaiba managed to get four of a kind with the aces. “Alright,” Suguroku said, sighing as he shuffled the deck again. “Yugi moved out two years ago.”

“Why,” Kaiba asked, well aware that was never part of the deal. However, he did know that moving out of home before getting married was rare. Most people chose to stay with their family for as long as possible.

“If you want to know that, you’ll have to win another round,” Suguroku said plainly, dealing out another hand. Once again, Kaiba lost. It seemed that winning was a fluke, Kaiba thought, rather angry as Suguroku took another ten thousand yen from him. At this rate, he might as well call himself an investor in Suguroku’s shop.

Another five rounds later, Kaiba managed to pull off a royal flush. “I won,” Kaiba said plainly as he handed the cards back to Sugoroku. “Why did Yugi move out?”

“I suspect it had something to do with the memories attached to his room,” Suguroku said, a strange look upon his face. Kaiba almost suspected it looked like grief. “Yugi had a hard time sleeping in his room. He moved out shortly after his birthday and said he needed a fresh start. It broke his mother’s heart. HIs father, however, understood.”

Yugi had a mother? Even stranger still, Yugi had a father. Kaiba had never met either of Yugi’s parents. He’d assumed that Yugi was raised by Suguroku but it seemed he didn’t know much about Yugi at all. “Oh,” Kaiba said, realizing that it must come back to Atem. Strange how many broken hearts one man’s death could leave behind. It was another uncomfortable reminder that he’d ignored that Yugi was grieving too. “So where is he now?”

“You know the deal,” Suguroku said as he dealt out another hand. Kaiba was almost frustrated playing against Sugoroku. It seemed like Suguroku was right in stating that he was, indeed, a better poker player than Duel Monsters player. He wondered how much of that was luck and how much of it was skill. As far as he could tell, skill was somewhat involved because oftentimes, he’d found that he would regret returning certain cards when it led to him holding new cards that would’ve synergized better with the cards he’d returned. Kaiba wasn’t sure how Suguroku had learned such a skill. It seemed no matter what, Suguroku knew which cards to return and which to keep.

“Full house,” Kaiba said on the sixth round, almost grateful for the stroke of luck that involved the two cards that he returned to the deck being exchanged for two of the same card. “What do you have?”

“Three of a kind,” Suguroku admitted with a sly grin. Kaiba barely noted that Suguroku had a couple hundred thousand of Kaiba’s own money. “Alright. I’ll tell you where Yugi is now.”

Yugi was awoken at six am the very next day by a very loud knock on his front door. He groaned when he looked at the clock, turning over in his blankets. He had the day off for a reason. No one should have to get up early on their birthday. However, the knocking did not stop. Yugi sat up in his bed, wondering if he should call the cops. After a brief debate, he finally got out of bed, ruffling his hair and not bothering to pull a shirt on. He opened his door, somewhat surprised to see Kaiba. “Kaiba,” he remarked, yawning and stretching. “It’s six am. What are you doing here?” Kaiba did not respond right away. In fact, he seemed tense yet again. Yugi waved his hand in front of Kaiba’s face. “Hello? Kaiba? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said tersely before looking away. “You’re not wearing a shirt. Nor pants.”

“I am wearing pants,” Yugi countered, gesturing to his pajama bottoms. “I’m wearing pajamas. Because I was sleeping. Why are you here?”

“It’s your birthday,” Kaiba said as if this provided an answer. Yugi titled his head, trying to figure out what Kaiba’s point was. Kaiba looked annoyed when Yugi was clearly lost. “I seem to recall that you stated that you do not like your current Dueling outfit. I figured a good birthday gift would be that I purchase you a new one.”

Yugi noted that Kaiba still sounded stiff and formal. “Are you ever going to relax around me,” Yugi asked, sighing as he held the door open further and gesturing for Kaiba to come in. It would be rude to leave Kaiba outside, he supposed, despite the urge to slam the door on Kaiba and go back to bed. “And don’t most clothing stores open at 9 am? Why are you here three hours before anything even opens?”

Kaiba entered and glanced around Yugi’s apartment. Yugi couldn’t find it in him to care that the apartment was small compared to Mokuba’s nor did he care that it was obviously just a little more lowkey than anything Kaiba would be used to. “I went to the Kame Game Store first,” Kaiba said stiffly. “Your grandfather was confused why I was there to see you. When did you move out?”

This question surprised Yugi. He hadn’t thought about the fact that he’d moved out from his grandfather’s in a long time. Exactly two years, actually. “Well, I had the funds to get my own place and felt no need to keep placing undue stress on my grandfather to care for me,” Yugi replied, raising a brow at Kaiba. “You still didn’t answer why you’re here at six in the morning.” He paused, frowning. “Wait… if you went by the shop first… Kaiba, were you going to wake me up at five thirty am?!”

“Waking up early is good for you,” Kaiba said, looking put out by Yugi yelling at him. Once again, he was sidestepping why he came by so early. “I suppose it is rude that I haven’t yet wished you a happy birthday so… happy birthday.”

“Would’ve been even happier if I had gotten to sleep in,” Yugi said as he sat down in a nearby chair, running his hands over his face. He hadn’t gotten a chance to get ready for the day and hadn’t really planned on anyone coming by this early. Last year, he might’ve prepared for Anzu to swing by at midnight. “Kaiba, do you realize the main reason I take my birthday off is so I can sleep in?”

Kaiba hesitated and then took a seat in the chair across from Yugi. Yugi noted that Kaiba seemed to look rather ridiculous in his cheap furniture. “I… I don’t know how other people work,” Kaiba admitted, sounding softer than he normally would. “I don’t know how you’re supposed to celebrate birthdays.”

Yugi’s mouth fell open slightly as he tried to think of how to respond to that. It made sense, of course. He could understand that Kaiba would have difficulty with birthdays considering what little both Seto and Mokuba had told him about Gozubora. “Oh,” Yugi said softly before realizing he’d never told Kaiba where he lived. “Hey wait. How did you find out where I lived after realizing I don’t live with my parents and grandpa anymore?”

“Your grandfather told me,” Kaiba said, as if it was obvious. Yugi’s eyes narrowed at Kaiba and Kaiba splayed out his arms, holding his palms up. “It didn’t come cheap. He had me play poker with him.”

With that, Yugi started to laugh. Of course. He could absolutely see his grandfather viewing Kaiba as an easy mark. “I wouldn’t play against him again,” Yugi said as he leaned back, stretching again. Once again, he noted Kaiba tensed him. Tentatively, he lightly flexed his arms. Once again, Kaiba tensed further. He smirked as realization set in. “Kaiba, would this conversation be easier for you if I put a shirt on?”

Kaiba’s eyes went wide. “If you feel like it,” he said, the same stiff tone from earlier appearing. The pieces clicked together: Kaiba was attracted to him. “Don’t feel like you have to change on my account.”

Yugi got up, teasingly winking at Kaiba and noting the light flush that appeared across Kaiba’s cheeks. He kind of liked the color on Kaiba. “I’ll make this easier for you and go get dressed,” Yugi said, snickering as he noted that Kaiba seemed to be trying to calm himself down. Now this was something he could absolutely take advantage of.

It only took him a few minutes to pull on a casual shirt and throw on a pair of jeans before heading back into his living room. Kaiba was still sitting where he’d left him, his fists clenched and his back rigid. Yugi leaned against the door frame, raising a brow at Kaiba. “Well, Kaiba,” Yugi asked, turning around to showcase the outfit to Kaiba. “What do you think?”

“What does it matter what I think,” Kaiba said automatically, looking away from Yugi. “It’s your body.”

Yugi laughed as he moved forward, throwing himself back onto the chair and letting his legs hang off the armchair. “I was just asking what you thought, Kaiba,” Yugi remarked, looking over at Kaiba. “Anyway. You still haven’t said why you’ve swung by so early. Were you hoping to see something?”

“Of course not,” Kaiba said, flustered at the suggestion. “Like I said, I was… just figuring that the best gift for you was to get you a new Dueling outfit. That is all.”

“Sure,” Yugi said, pulling himself upright as he stared Kaiba down. How could he have missed this? It was entirely obvious. Every single one of Kaiba’s movements pointed straight towards Kaiba’s attraction. “May I make a suggestion that will give you an out?” Kaiba did not respond and Yugi noted that he seemed even more tense. “How about you buy me a birthday breakfast to make up for waking me up this early?”

“What is up with you and cheap places?”

Kaiba had been somewhat grateful for the out that Yugi had provided. However, it now meant that he was at yet another cheap fast food place. Yugi could easily afford the food here without Seto’s help. “Not all of us feel the need to show off how much money we have, Kaiba,” Yugi said as he took a massive bite out of the clearly American food. “Besides, Rebecca showed me these breakfast burritos and I’ve been hooked ever since. None of your fancy places could offer this. Are you sure you don’t want one?”

Of course it was Rebecca that had shown Yugi this disgusting food. It seemed like Rebecca was the route cause for most of the things Kaiba did not like, including the processed food that now filled Mokuba’s cabinet. “If I wanted crappy Americanized food, I’d go to Mokuba’s for breakfast,” Kaiba said stiffly. “Must you eat this crap?”

“Find a new word,” Yugi retorted as he scarfed the rest of the burrito down. He wondered how Yugi could be so in shape despite the vile processed food that Yugi seemed to eat by the truckload. “You could try to loosen up, Kaiba.”

Yugi was not the first to recommend that Kaiba loosen up. As far as Kaiba was concerned, he was loose enough all things considered. He was well aware that most people did not agree with that assessment, however. “I am loosened up,” Kaiba said with a scowl that softened the minute Yugi reached out to grab his hand. Yugi seemed to just absently reach out for casual touching. Kaiba didn’t understand that. “You, on the other hand, are just too loose.”

Yugi snorted. “Is that what you’re going with,” Yugi asked with a raised brow. “Maybe we could put it to a vote. Ask other people online what they think.”

Kaiba knew exactly how people online viewed him. Too intense, apparently. Kaiba didn’t understand how anyone can be too intense. “I don’t care about the opinions of strangers,” Kaiba said as Yugi swung in closer. “There’s no need to care about what others have to say.”

“Sure,” Yugi said as he checked his watch. “I believe you said you were going to buy me a new outfit. I think that the place I usually buy clothes at is open now.”

“I’m not buying you cheap clothes,” Kaiba said, imagining the place that Yugi must purchase clothes at and shuddering. “Nor am I getting you anything off the rack. If this is going to be updating your Dueling look, then I am going to make sure that it is fitting for my rival.”

“Ah, I see,” Yugi said with a playful look on his face. “This is about your ego.”

There were a lot of reasons that Kaiba wanted to help Yugi update his look. It was not really ego, per say. It was simply that he remembered Yugi seeming a little sad about the outfit, even if he couldn’t understand why. “That, and you are no longer sixteen,” Kaiba said stiffly, letting him think it was about his ego rather than genuine concern for Yugi. “You’re what, twenty-two now?”

“Twenty-three, actually,” Yugi said with a frown. “Today’s my twenty-third birthday. I suppose that’s true. No one could fault me if I wanted to look a little more my age.”

Yugi being twenty-three today shouldn’t have made Kaiba feel weird. And yet it was another reminder that time moved on for everyone else. A reminder that it was Kaiba’s fault he put space between him and everyone else. It wasn’t much, but it was enough of a difference to distract him. “Right,” Kaiba said, a little more distant than he intended. “It’s time for people to move on from that old look.”

Kaiba was grateful when Yugi did not comment on his emotions. It seemed like Yugi had the uncanny ability of realizing what Kaiba was feelin before Kaiba could name the feeling himself. It was annoying. “So if you’re not letting me buy from where I usually buy, then where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Kaiba said as Isono drove up. He’d arranged this only yesterday and he didn’t understand why Isono had seemed a little annoyed by the request. Apparently, Isono had gotten used to having a week’s notice before being asked to drive Mokuba anywhere. Kaiba thought that maybe he should start following that example that Mokuba had set. “For now, get in the car.”

Yugi climbed in the car, almost looking vaguely nostalgic. “I see you aren’t letting me drive,” Yugi remarked, waving to Isono. “Hi, Isono. How’s the wife?”

“She’s fine,” Isono said, almost looking vaguely fatherly towards Yugi. The same look that Isono typically reserved for Seto and Mokuba, actually. Exactly how close were Mokuba and Yugi? Kaiba supposed he shouldn’t be surprised to have further proof that Yugi had been there when Seto had left. “Happy birthday, by the way. You know, Seto called me yesterday afternoon about driving you and him around. Maybe you can tell him how we do things around here now.”

“Oh, if Kaiba hasn’t gotten used to how things are done now, he never will,” Yugi said, eyeing over at Kaiba. It seemed like there was something that Yugi was trying to communicate with him that Kaiba was missing. “After all, it’s been a year.”

“I can do anything,” Kaiba huffed. Once again, it seemed like Yugi was having a private joke at his expense. “I just don’t see why it’s a big deal if I call for a ride.”

“It’s not,” Isono said as he pulled off to the shop that Kaiba had set up an appointment with. “After all, that is what I’m paid for.”

Yugi once again seemed to be sharing a joke with Isono that Kaiba was not in on. Whatever it was, he didn’t care. Maybe he could ask Mokuba later. “I’m certain you’ll find what you’re looking for at this store,” Kaiba said as he leaned back in his seat, crossing his legs and hunching in on himself. “If not, whatever. We’ll find another.”

“Should I ask how much you’re planning on spending?”

“It’s a gift,” Kaiba said with a shrug. “You can take it how you’d like.”

Yugi sighed, shaking his head before glancing at Isono again. “Fairly certain that means Mr. Kaiba isn’t taking no for an answer,” Isono said with a good natured grin. “Hey, you’ve been complaining that the outfit’s outdated for years now. Consider yourself lucky, Mr. Mutou.”

“I’ll consider myself lucky if I get to sleep in on my birthday next year,” Yugi said with a glance towards Kaiba. “Can I expect you to wake me at six am next year?”

Kaiba sniffed, looking away from Yugi. Yugi had started to smile and it was harder to maintain the facade of not caring whenever Yugi did that. It did strange things to his heart. That weird pitter patter that the doctor insisted was nothing. “If that’s what you’d like for your birthday, who am I to argue,” Kaiba conceded. “It’s your birthday, after all.”

There was a twinkle in Yugi’s eyes again. Kaiba felt like Yugi knew everything about him and it left him feeling exposed. He could feel a small bit of heat under the collar of his turtleneck forming and he wondered if he was starting to fall ill. The last time, the doctor had insisted he was fine but surely the doctor would understand now. It was the same symptoms as always: the racing heart, the feverish feeling, and the sweaty palms. “It’s my birthday indeed,” Yugi said softly with a light smirk. “Lots of things I could get on my birthday.”

Something told Kaiba there was a double meaning in this but once again, Kaiba was lost. Yugi seemed to speak exclusively in riddles. He was almost grateful when Isono pulled in front of the store, allowing Seto a chance to get fresh air. He had to get a hold of himself. He was better than this.

The tailor, Yamazaki, inside the store greeted Seto warmly before looking over at Yugi. “This is Yugi Mutou, my guest,” Kaiba said as he noted the look on the tailor’s face. “It is his birthday so I thought I might be generous and get him a new Dueling outfit.”

Yamazaki’s eyes lit up in delight. “Ah, the famous Yugi Mutou,” Yamazaki said as she held her hand out to Yugi. Yugi took it with an awkward smile and shook his hand. “I”m Hoshi Yamazaki. It is an honor to have a chance to dress such a talented Duelist. Are you seeking to keep a similar vibe to your old look?”

“Er, I’m certain my manager would kill me if I went too different,” Yugi said with a light laugh. Instantly, Seto was curious. As far as he was aware, Yugi hadn’t had a manager when he’d left. Then again, had he ever actually asked Yugi about his career? He hadn’t even known that Yugi was a talented game designer until recently. If only he’d thought to ask. “I do want to update it, though. Less a sixteen year old going through his goth phase, more of a twenty-something who is for sure goth.”

Yamazaki gave a twinkling laugh and placed her hand on Yugi’s bicep. Instantly that gut feeling that Kaiba couldn’t explain reappeared, the same one that had shown up when he’d thought Anzu and Yugi were dating. “Of course,” Yamazaki said, smiling as she pulled the tape measure off around her neck. “I’ll need to get your measurements before I can start showing you outfits. Is that okay?”

Yugi, for his part, seemed at ease with the process of having his measurements taken. He and Yamazaki had started talking about colors that he might want and fabrics while Kaiba took a seat in front of the mirror. He’d waved off one of Yamazaki’s employees who had offered him a drink. He didn’t need a drink. Not when he was clearly feeling unwell. It seemed to only get worse when Yamazaki started handing Yugi various tops and pairs of leather pants in various colors. Must he keep those godforsaken pants? He shouldn’t have been surprised when Yugi walked out of the dressing room in bright red leather pants and a mesh top over a dark blue tank top that clung to his chest. “Well,” Kaiba remarked drily. “No one could argue that you aren’t still goth.”

“You think,” Yugi asked as he examined himself critically. For what, Kaiba was uncertain. He couldn’t find a single thing to criticize in the look. In fact… Yugi looked amazing. There was that damn rapid heartbeat again. “I dunno. I don’t think the mesh top is very me.” And with that, he pulled the mesh top over his head and tossed it towards Kaiba. “Not much of a change though, is it? It’s just a new color.”

Kaiba was once again paralyzed. He clenched the top that had been on Yugi just seconds again and realized with horror what the feeling he was having was: it was excitement. Being around Yugi excited him. The prospect of Dueling Yugi again sent a thrill down his spine. It was all the feelings he’d thought for certain he’d only have for Atem. What was wrong with him? Did he have a type? Was his type someone who could kick his ass at Duel Monsters? “I suppose,” Kaiba said stiffly, throwing the mesh top aside and all the feelings it brought with it aside. “If you don’t like it, you could always try on something else.”

Yugi shrugged. “Suppose I might as well try on the other stuff before making a choice,” Yugi said as he headed back to the dressing room as Yamazaki handed him potential shoes and accessories. “Thanks.”

“I’m certain he’ll find something he likes,” Yamazaki said brightly as she sat next to Kaiba. “I can’t wait to tell my girlfriend that the King of Games was in my little shop. I mean, she knows you’re a regular, or well, used to be, but… the King of Games!”

Kaiba wasn’t certain why Yamazaki mentioning she was taken relaxed him. However, as far as he was aware, Yamazaki was single four years ago. When did she get a girlfriend? Maybe she meant girlfriend in the way some girls referred to their friends? Would it be rude to ask? He fixated on this long enough for Yugi to walk out of the dressing room in the next outfit. He’d put on motorcycle boots with the dark leather paired with a distressed shirt with some band that Kaiba had never heard of on it. Kaiba noted that the distressed shirt gave him just the slightest glimpse of Yugi’s abs that were shockingly well toned. Yugi looked vaguely amazed and examined himself in the mirror. “Well, Kaiba,” Yugi asked with a small smirk on his face. “What do you think?”

Kaiba looked away, wondering if it was obvious he liked this look on Yugi. It was, indeed, still very similar to his original dueling outfit. Similar but not exactly like his old one. There was that mature edge that Yugi claimed he was looking for. It took Kaiba a while to note the silver earrings in Yugi’s ears and the fact that there was a slimmer version of the leather collar around his neck. Not only that, it seemed like Yugi’s sharp jawline was accented by this look. Kaiba wondered if it would be possible for Yugi to slice him open with his jaw. “It’s whatever,” Kaiba said with a shrug. “It’s your look.”

“Is that what we’re going with here,” Yugi asked as he spun around, staring directly at Kaiba with a predatory look. Kaiba had the feeling he should be running and yet he was frozen in place. Whatever Yugi had going on in his head, Kaiba wanted to find out. “You’re the one paying for it. I think maybe I should know if you like it.”

Kaiba locked eyes with Yugi and he was knocked breathless by Yugi’s intense stare. It seemed Yugi was serious about wanting to know what Kaiba thought about how he looked. How odd. As far as Kaiba was aware, Yugi had never really cared what Kaiba thought about how he looked. Kaiba examined his rival again, noting the way the shirt still managed to showcase Yugi’s well toned arms despite covering just a little more than Kaiba would prefer. “Seems like you’re attached to leather,” Kaiba remarked. “The last two pants were both leather.”

Yugi tilted his head and shrugged. “I suppose that’s fair,” Yugi remarked. “If I’m going with a new look, I might as well try a different pair of pants out.”

“I think I gave you a pair of jeans,” Yamazaki said, startling Kaiba. He’d almost forgotten that she was there. “Would you prefer a different fabric outside of denim?”

“Nah,” Yugi said as he headed back to the changing room.

Kaiba once again was left with his thoughts. He thought he’d be able to handle looking at Yugi try on new outfits that he intended on dueling Kaiba in but instead, that stupid aryhtimia had returned accompanied by an uncomfortable feeling settling deep in his gut. When Yugi had stared at Kaiba, all Kaiba could think about was how bad he wanted Yugi to choke him. Was that a normal reaction? He didn’t know exactly how he was supposed to react to his rival trying on outfits. And once again, Yugi walking out of the changing room presented yet another strange feeling. Yugi had, indeed, tried out the jeans that seemed to cling nicely to… Kaiba forced himself to look away to note that Yugi was wearing yet another short sleeve shirt that had a v-neck. Yugi seemed to like those motorcycle boots, however, as he hadn’t bothered trading them out for a different pair of shoes.

Yugi was fiddling with the silver cuffs on his wrists, a furrowed brow as he looked in the mirror. Kaiba thought that this was easily one of the best looks that Yugi had put on. However, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He was certain if he said something he would sound like an absolute idiot. Right now, he was very focused on rebuilding his own deck in his head. He picked apart the cards that were not working for his deck and compared it to the new support cards that were out. “You look great in those jeans,” Yamazaki gushed, breaking Kaiba’s concentration. “This absolutely looks like an upgraded version of your old outfit.” She’d gotten up as she pulled out a leather jacket from somewhere. Kaiba honestly hadn’t been paying much attention to her. “I think this could be a great finishing touch.”

Yamazaki had placed the jacket on Yugi and Kaiba’s stupid heart skipped yet another beat. He hated that it looked great on Yugi. Instead, he focused on the previous trap card Yugi had used to defeat him. How would he circumvent Fiendish Chain? “Oh that does look great,” Yugi said as he spun around, examining himself carefully in the mirror. “Kaiba, what do you think?”

Kaiba’s gaze met Yugi’s and he noted the knowing look in Yugi’s eyes. Did Yugi know what was going on in Kaiba’s head? Was he mocking him for it? The sparkle in Yugi’s eyes left Kaiba feeling unbalanced. He wasn’t sure what to say. “It’s fine,” Kaiba said, looking away yet again. “Are you done?”

Yugi had a strange look of triumph as he turned to Yamazaki. “Yeah, I think I’ll take this,” Yugi said as he examined the leather jacket with a strange look on his face. “I think the jacket might look better like this, however,” Yugi remarked as he removed the coat, turning it into a makeshift cape around his shoulders. Kaiba was stunned to note that Yugi was right: it did look great on him like that. “Yeah. That’s better.”

Kaiba handed his card over to Yamazaki wordlessly.

Yugi wasn’t surprised to learn that Pegasus was the one hosting their next Duel. It seemed like Pegasus had a vested interest in the outcome of this duel. He supposed that was partly his fault for telling Pegasus about Kaiba’s attempt to bring back Atem. If he hadn’t said anything, Pegasus wouldn’t want to have updates on the AI. However, as of late… there really wasn’t anything much to say. Kaiba seemed to have lost interest in the AI. Mokuba swore up and down he’d checked the logs multiple times to see if Kaiba had attempted to Duel the AI again and yet, Kaiba hadn’t Dueled the AI in quite some time. Yugi found this strange, actually.

He’d never known Kaiba to be the type to give up. It wasn’t like Kaiba ever really moved on easily, either. In fact, the whole reason Kaiba was in his life still was because Kaiba was a strangely persistent dude. This led to Yugi wondering what the reason could be that he would have just stopped messing around with the AI. There was always a reason as to why Kaiba did things the way he did, even if Yugi didn’t fully understand it.

In fact, Yugi suspected that Kaiba had other motivations for buying him the new Dueling outfit even though Yugi didn’t really want to look a gift horse in the mouth. It felt a lot better wearing a new outfit that didn’t remind him of Atem. He was wearing something Atem had never worn. He ran his fingers over the tidy stitches Yamazaki had done when pulling the shirt in and examined how the dark blue shirt rested against his pale skin. He knew that if he went over to the AI, he could easily find out how Atem might’ve looked in this outfit. Yugi knew, however, that would be a bad idea.

Anzu might not have been able to fly in for this Duel but Jonouchi was there. “Nice new threads,” Jonouchi remarked approvingly as he grabbed Yugi’s hand and spun him around with an appraising look. “Kaiba bought these for you?”

“Yeah,” Yugi said with a laugh as he yanked his hand back, trying to steady himself. The motorcycle boots clanked against the concrete floor and Yugi stood back up straight. It’d taken time, but he’d finally gotten used to standing up straight. He was amazed how much he grew after he stopped hunching over all the time. The boots graciously added yet another inch to his height, allowing him to actually be the same height as Jonouchi for once. “He insisted that it was because he couldn’t have me showing up to our Duel in cheap clothes but I’m fairly certain he was short circuiting.”

Jonouchi laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, he’s got it bad for you,” he said, poking at Yugi’s stomach with a teasing grin as Yugi doubled over, swatting Jonouchi’s hand away with an embarrassed grin. “Who can blame him, though? You do look great, bud. The forums are gonna be talkin about your new look for ages!”

Yugi caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, noting the bright red flush appearing on his cheeks. “Jou, please,” Yugi said, waving Jonouchi off as he leaned against the lockers provided by the stadium. “I’m fairly certain that they have better things to talk about over how I look, you know. I got a new deck for this.”

“Oh yeah? Not gonna make him cry with Gravekeepers this time,” Jonouchi asked with a sly grin. “Seriously, I can’t believe you made him cry like that.”

“I didn’t think he’d cry,” Yugi said with a frown. He honestly hadn’t expected Kaiba to cry. In fact, he had been fairly certain during the previous Duel that Kaiba was angry. It was surprising to realize that Kaiba had, in fact, cried. “I just wanted to make him realize that we can’t… You know,” Yugi said softly, examining Jonouchi. “Kaiba needs to accept that Atem’s gone.”

Jonouchi nodded thoughtfully. “Been a while since you talked about that, Yug,” Jonouchi said, examining Yugi with the same level that Yugi was examining him. Yugi knew what Jonouchi was looking for: to see if he was okay. “I know that you’re worried about talking about it with us cause you’re worried it’ll upset us since we cared about Atem too. But it’s okay, Yug. You don’t have to bottle it up. Kaiba comin back clearly knocked some stuff loose.”

It wasn’t fair that Jonouchi could read Yugi better than anyone. In many ways, Jonouchi was right. Yugi hadn’t expected to be knocked backwards by the mere sight of the AI. He hadn’t been expecting to feel those old, long forgotten wounds to rip open at the seams. And yet, he hadn’t been surprised to see Kaiba again. In many ways, Yugi knew things between him and Kaiba weren’t finished when Kaiba had left. “It’s just,” Yugi said, sliding down to sit on the concrete floor and staring at his shoes, trying to gather his thoughts. “When Kaiba disappeared, it… It was like I thought I’d lost two people that mattered in only six months. I was so certain at the end of that Duel that Kaiba and I… that we were…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jonouchi said after Yugi took a longer pause, joining Yugi and nudging him with a look of concern on his face. The same look of concern he’d had when Yugi was struggling to talk about Atem. Yugi wondered how often he worried Jonouchi. It wasn’t that he wanted to worry his friend. He just couldn’t help it at this point. “You don’t have to explain yourself if you don’t want to. I won’t make you talk.”

Yugi gave a half laugh - the kind of laugh that let Jonouchi know it wasn’t entirely real. It sounded brittle and hollow to Yugi. “I know,” Yugi said, gesturing vaguely as he tried to find the words for what he was trying to say. He sighed, staring up at the ceiling that had no insulation. The pipes and electric work were all exposed and Yugi wondered if there was a symbolism in that. “I feel like I kind of owe you an explanation for how weird I’m being, though.”

“Nah,” Jonouchi said. “You don’t owe me any explanations.”

“Thanks,” Yugi said with a wry half smile, looking away from the ceiling to really examine the dressing room provided. It was barely a dressing room. It had the feeling of a locker room and all the nasty memories associated with them. He had to assume that this was normally where a football team might dress before a match. It was easier to focus on that than on his thoughts. “I just feel like… I feel like it’s weird to say that Kaiba came back to me specifically but that’s what it feels like. Like we just have unfinished business.”

“I guess you guys do,” Jonouchi said with a shrug. “Besides, who better than you to force someone to confront their feelings?” He looked rather serious for a moment before shrugging with a grin. “That’s what you do best.”

Yugi grinned at Jonouchi before standing up and holding out his hand to him. Jonouchi took Yugi’s hand and Yugi pulled him upright. “You’re right,” Yugi said as he hugged him tight, grateful that Jonouchi had remained a constant in his life. “Let’s get going. I have a Duel to win.”

Kaiba had not really thought through the implications of the new outfit Yugi had selected for this Duel. Yugi had walked out into the pitch with that leather jacket thrown around his shoulders with a light smirk on his face as he waved out to the crowd. He’d drowned out Pegasus’s commentary for the most part but a comment on how Yugi was sure to make Kaiba cry again made its way through Kaiba’s filter. Kaiba frowned. He supposed it didn’t matter that everyone was sure to speculate on this Duel like they speculated on the last one. Yugi and Kaiba seemed to be twined together in most of the posts that Kaiba had read. None of them knew that Kaiba and Yugi’s feud wasn’t nearly as old as they all assumed.

He was starting to accept that the Pharaoh might’ve been right. His rivalry was, indeed, with Yugi. Each of the Duels that he had with Yugi so far had relit a spark that Kaiba had sworn was gone forever. The minute Yugi called out “Duel” in sync with Kaiba, it sparked through his entire body. Even when Yugi had flipped Kaiba’s entire deck face up with a card that Kaiba had never heard of. “Now, I activate the Eye of Truth,” Yugi called out, holding out the familiar trap card. “You must play with your hand revealed to me from here on out!”

It didn’t take long for Kaiba to figure out Yugi’s new strategy. It was a new control deck but relied on knowing every single card in Kaiba’s hand. As per usual, Yugi’s backrow and frontrow was untouchable. No matter what Kaiba did, Yugi was ten steps ahead of him. At this point, Kaiba was convinced that forcing him to reveal the next card he’d draw into and his entire hand to Yugi was simply to throw Kaiba off. There was no way that Yugi actually needed to see what Kaiba had. Kaiba suspected if he’d even gotten the Eye of Truth or that other irksome card off the field, Yugi would still have the upper hand. Kaiba suspected it was more about forcing Kaiba to reveal himself to Yugi. And every second of it thrilled Kaiba in a way that he’d thought he’d never feel again.

The Duel was all over in five turns, the deciding turn a five minute long combo on Yugi’s part that Kaiba had no disruptions for. The roar of the crowd barely registered to Kaiba. Instead he was focused purely on Yugi’s triumphant look and the way he’d casually looped his thumb through one of the belt loops on his jeans. Yugi looked the part of a confident Duelist who was well aware that he had control over the board. Kaiba felt that familiar arrhythmia in his chest and he tore his eyes away from Yugi. He walked off the pitch quickly and barely noticed Yugi following after him. Yugi’s hand gripped Kaiba’s bicep, his fingers digging in as he spun Kaiba to face him with a raised brow. “Seto,” he said, tilting his head. “Are you okay?”

Kaiba didn’t bother to correct Yugi. He was a bit dizzy about how bold Yugi was. “Why wouldn’t I be,” Kaiba retorted, his eyes darting down to Yugi’s lips before forcing himself to look back into Yugi’s eyes. His mouth twitched into a smirk with the look of a predator in his eyes yet again. “What do you want, Mutou?”

“Are you distancing yourself from me,” Yugi asked, looking annoyed by the use of his last name. Kaiba was, indeed, trying to put some distance between him and Yugi. Especially when Yugi was just too damn close. He’d pinned Kaiba to the wall and Kaiba vaguely wondered how Yugi managed to keep that damn leather jacket around his shoulders. “I thought we were past that, Seto.”

How did Yugi manage to slip past his defenses like this? Kaiba felt almost dizzy as Yugi began to move in closer before closing the gap entirely. Yugi’s lips pressed to his lips as if questioning if this was okay. Kaiba gave a soft groan of approval and this was all Yugi needed to press his body to Kaiba’s, one of his hands coming to rest on Kaiba’s hips. Kaiba’s head was spinning as Yugi pulled away and all he could find in him was to say with a low, “Yugi.”

Yugi, for his part, gave a soft laugh as his other hand lightly traced out the shape of Kaiba’s jaw. “By the way,” Yugi remarked, lightly pressing a couple of kisses to Kaiba’s jawline, “You owe me dinner. See you at work.”

And with that, Yugi sauntered off, smug as could be. Kaiba wondered what sort of place he should make the reservation at.

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

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ryntaia · 7 years

Text

Title: Gachapon

Fandom: Yu Gi Oh

Rating: T (language)

Genre: Friendship/Fluff

Pairing: Implied KaiJou/Puppyshipping/Violetshipping

Summary: KaibaCorp releases a new series of Gachapon for the new year. Jounouchi expresses his delight and disdain.

Status: Complete

Read on Ao3!

Read on FF.net!

Or read below the cut.

Gachapon

“They’re kinda cute, don’t you think?”

Jounouchi only scowled at the little resin doll. It was small enough to fit between his thumb and forefinger, if they stretched out a little, and glared obnoxiously back at him with disgustingly ‘chibified’ features. He rocked the doll back and forth in his hand, sticking his tongue out as if the miniature Kaiba Seto was the man himself. Anzu sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned the crank on the machine again; a small ball emblazoned with the KaibaCorp logo fell out. Gently she popped it open with a short giggle.

“Got him.” She said proudly, turning to display her new keychain decoration to the blonde teen. He tore his eyes away from his internal argument with the resin Kaiba to look at Anzu’s Gachapon catch of the day. As if Yugi couldn’t get smaller, here he sat in the crook of Anzu’s hands with a smile painted obliviously onto his face. She quickly clipped it onto the top of her phone with her other catches—a small resin Bakura Ryou, a small resin Kujaku Mai, and a generic Rare Hunter charm of a man in a cloak with his face obscured.

The most common one was the last; Anzu had actually tossed several of them. Jounouchi supposed every Gachapon pull needed at least one junk draw but the Rare Hunters seemed like it was in bad taste. It wasn’t like anyone was going to get it aside from the finalists. Maybe Kaiba just wanted to mock them, or tout that he had destroyed the organization. Likely without acknowledging their contributions.

He’s such a goddamn jerk.

“There are three tiers of rarity for this new ‘Best of Duelists’ gachapon line, you know..” Anzu rambled on, gently rubbing the small Yugi doll on the head before tossing her phone back in her bag. Jounouchi only grunted in acknowledgement as he shoved the Kaiba doll in his jacket pocket, following after the girl. “The first tier are these generic cloaked bad guys. The second tier is Noted Duelists. The third tier is the Best of Duelists. They’re the hardest to get. That Kaiba one is pretty rare, I think, so you got really lucky!”

Don’t let him bother you was laced into her tone but he didn’t acknowledge it. They had to meet Yugi at Burger World but the brunette had insisted on stopping by the arcade to see their new Gachapon machines. He had told her to just go to Kame Game Shop, since they had the same machines, but she had told him that she wanted to surprise Yugi. Probably why they had spent an hour trying to GET Yugi out of the machine. It didn’t surprise him; Kaiba was an asshole but he had to acknowledge that Yugi deserved to be respected as the best of the best.

Meanwhile I’m probably not even in that dumbass machine. Such a prick.

“Hey! HEY! Guys, where have you been?”

Jounouchi looked up sharply; Yugi was running down the steps of the fast food joint with a hop in his step. When he came to a stop in front of them, a smile spread across his face. The duelist just had that kind of a smile; the kind that made you forget what you were annoyed about, shoving Jounouchi’s irritation to the back of his head. He grinned widely back, throwing an arm around the smaller teen’s shoulder while Anzu chuckled at the sight.

“Sorry we took so long. I had to pick SOMETHING up!” Anzu flashed her phone to Yugi, the small charm bouncing off the back to cast a mirror of his contagious happiness back to his counterpart. Yugi gasped loudly, a blush spreading across his phone when he realized that HE was clasped onto ANZU’S phone of all places. Jounouchi watched in amusement as the shorter teen babbled through talking to her about how nice it was and how good she was at Gachapon while the girl shook her head with a nervous laugh, explaining how long it had actually taken.

“Why d’ya think we took so long to get here, huh?” Jounouchi quipped. “She wanted to get THAT specific one, y’know?”

Anzu flushed. “Shut up, Jounouchi. You’re just mad because you only tried once.”

“Jounouchi tried too?” Interrupted Yugi, excitement in his eyes. Internally the blonde cursed the girl; he should’ve known better. Every time he tried to tease Anzu, she brought it back at him tenfold. “What’d you get, Jounouchi? We just got those machines in at the shop, so I haven’t been able to try them yet.”

“Uh, I didn’t get nothing special.” He lied, trying to pass it off as he desperately wished he had just tossed the dumb resin keychain. But Anzu said it was rare, which probably meant it was valuable, so he had thought he could hock it to some dumb kid fanboy of the Kaiba Corporation. Whatever money he could’ve gotten from it didn’t really seem worth it now.

“Come on, don’t be that way.” Anzu scolded, reaching swiftly into Jounouchi’s pocket to snag the doll. Ignoring the blonde’s protests, she presented the small Kaiba to Yugi. It scowled back at him just as the real Kaiba would regularly scowl at the other duelist. It didn’t seem to phase Yugi, though; if anything, he seemed amazed by it. “Jounouchi got the Kaiba one. He’s just being a big baby about it.”

“Whoa, you got that one on your first try?! That’s really lucky, Jounouchi. We got a rarity index for the Best of Duelists Gachapon back at the shop. The highest tier is pretty impossible to get.” Yugi seemed to glow with excitement; anything to do with games brought the best of the boy out of his shell. He pulled out his phone to search through the internet, presenting the results back to his friends. They leaned in; it looked to be an index of the full content of the new Gachapon, as well as which rarity tiers each resin keychain doll would be in.

At the lowest tier was, as Jounouchi had expected, was the generic ‘Rare Hunter’ designs—although they weren’t labeled as Rare Hunters, just as ‘Hunters’. The second tier was the widest one containing Bakura, Mai, Pegasus, and all of the Ishtar siblings. The final row was outlined in bright gold and emblazoned with the series title, Best of Duelists. The smiling Yugi Gachapon doll sat in the number one slot, while the Kaiba Gachapon doll sat aside it scowling at him from the number two slot. Seemed about right. Jounouchi raised a surprised eyebrow at the third member of the Best of Duelists rank.

Better known as himself.

The doll stood triumphant, a look of self-confidence plastered across the resin facial features. One hand was held out in challenge, a tiny card lodged between the small fingers, with his other arm pulled back with a purposely battered looking duel disk clasped to the forearm. At that point the real Jounouchi’s brain just kind of shut off, unable to make sense of his placement—he hadn’t even expected to be in KaibaCorp’s shitty Gachapon draw, much less one of the top three rarest dolls in the pool.

He sat back with his arms crossed. His lower lip jutted out in thought, and his head tilted to the side to let untrimmed blonde hair tickle his cheeks. Anzu and Yugi watched him curiously, almost cautiously, as the ex-delinquent duelist took his sweet time digesting the paper in front of him. To their relief, a cheeky and broad smile finally stretched across Jounouchi’s face—and, Yugi noted with a tinge of worry, his smile was somewhat smug and overconfident.

That….could mean trouble.

“It has been GREAT seeing you guys but I gotta head back to the arcade—”

“Grampa said my friends can get a discount on the Gachapon right now at the game shop.”

“….I gotta be heading over to the game shop, it’s been a while since we’ve just popped in and said hi to Gramps! Come on, come on, no point waiting around, don’t wanna waste time and money or whatever it is they say…” Jounouchi said impatiently. Yugi rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face as he was pushed in the direction he had come from, exchanging a knowing glance with the brunette girl aside him. Anzu could barely restrain her giggles.

“So, uh, how many of them did you buy, exactly?”

Jounouchi grinned, rocking the little resin version of himself next to his face as he sat on his desk facing Yugi. The triumphant grin on the doll was reflected perfectly on his face. “A lot. I think I got all of them but, eh, don’t really care. If you and Anzu want ‘em then they’re yours. I got what I wanted.”

“Yourself?” Anzu asked, eyebrow raised.

“It’s more than that. It’s—”

The moment that Jounouchi trailed off and locked onto Kaiba Seto entering the room, it all suddenly all clicked together for Yugi and he sunk back into his chair to prepare for impact. The blonde jumped over the desks to skid to a halt in front of the CEO’s desk, one fist on his hip and one presenting the resin doll that so oddly seemed to mirror his current confident pose. Kaiba cast a brief glance at the keychain and then snapped his eyes to the face of the shorter blonde in front of him. Yugi groaned; even from across the room he could almost see Kaiba’s eye twitching in annoyance.

“Is there something you’d like to discuss or are you just wasting my time as usual, bonkotsu?” Kaiba said distastefully, briefly trying to shove past Jounouchi. The other duelist wasn’t having it, moving to plant himself right on the top of Kaiba Seto’s desk and ignoring the attention that they were gaining from the class. “Get off of my desk, you mongrel. I don’t have time for your idiocy today or any day.”

“You put me in the Best of Duelists top tier rank for the Gachapon.”

Silence overtook the classroom for several minutes as Kaiba stared down the blonde and his resin toy. If Jonouchi hadn’t known better then he would’ve thought that the brunette duelist was trying to will him out of existence, or burn a hole straight through his skull to get rid of him once and for all. The dark, annoyed look in his eyes definitely spoke that in spades.

It didn’t explain the slightest hints of a flush around Kaiba’s ears, though.

“…Company mandates.” Kaiba finally said, slamming his bookbag down on Jounouchi’s middle. The blonde coughed and slammed against the wall beside Kaiba’s desk. “When the Kaiba Corporation assembled all their duelist data you ended up being tallied into the third place. So congratulations, a computer data system really thinks you are incredibly talented. It’s certainly a pity that computers have such a regrettable margin of error.”

“It took me three hours to get this damn thing!”

“You spent three hours at a Gachapon machine. Congratulations. You’re even more of an idiot nobody than I had previously assumed.” Kaiba said flatly. Jounouchi flushed in embarrassment, feeling the sharp points of the resin doll poking against his hand as he clutched it into a fist. “Get off my desk, Jounouchi. If you want to waste your own time, that’s fine, but don’t waste mine.”

“…You’re such a fucking asshole, Kaiba.” Jounouchi muttered, finally sliding off Kaiba’s desk and moping back to his own seat. His bait went ignored; the brunette only sat in his own seat as the teacher strode in to begin writing on the blackboard with a strained smile on her face. Yugi patted the blonde on the back comfortingly but Jounouchi could only manage a nod of acknowledgement, staring instead down at the confident little doll in his hands.

It looked a lot more confident than he felt right now.

The only thing that managed to take him out of his moping was his battered, barely functional old cellphone vibrating slightly in his pocket. He clipped the gachapon prize to his jacket and flipped open the phone underneath the wood of his desk. The teacher had stopped bothering to tell him to put the damn thing away but old habits really did die hard. It was just a bunch of text messages—from Kaiba Mokuba. The young millionaire had marked them as ‘important’ but Mokuba did that with a lot of texts that didn’t really have any cause for alarm.

Jounouchi found that he got along with the younger Kaiba much better than he did the elder. While Mokuba was, in his own way, a bit of a stuck up brat he still was capable of embracing fun. He had never made it much of a habit to hang out with kids but after Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, the wild haired heir had made it clear that he enjoyed the company of Yugi and his friends whether his brother liked it or not. Ever so often he would ring one of them up about something he was excited about and more often than not it turned out to be enjoyable. And while Mokuba had picked up on Kaiba’s insulting mannerisms towards Jounouchi, it hadn’t been hard to tell that Mokuba favored the blonde more than anyone in the group apart from maybe Yugi.

It got a small chuckle out of him. At least not all the Kaibas were complete dicks.

M-KC [Kaiba Mokuba]: Hey Jounouchi!

M-KC [Kaiba Mokuba]: I got a list of upcoming card releases for the next fiscal year

M-KC [Kaiba Mokuba]: You and Yugi wanna see?

M-KC [Kaiba Mokuba]: They’re in the Simulator already and everything, you can try them out if you want

As soon as the teacher was facing the blackboard again, Jounouchi nudged Yugi and held his phone out to the smaller boy. The joy that spread across his face was just as contagious as usual; he figured he could take that as a yes and brought his phone back under the desk. A small chuckle caught in his throat to avoid being caught—Yugi was not subtle in the slightest. The king of games looked right ready to explode with anticipation at the idea of seeing the new releases. Jounouchi couldn’t blame him. Even Kame Shop didn’t get the official Industrial Illusions card lists until mandated.

Wheeler [Jounouchi Katsuya]: lol if u could see the look on Yug’s face

Wheeler [Jounouchi Katsuya]: u’d think he won the lottery or something

Wheeler [Jounouchi Katsuya]: anyways

Wheeler [Jounouchi Katsuya]: where u want us to meet u

M-KC [Kaiba Mokuba]: I’ll send someone to pick you guys up after school.

Wheeler [Jounouchi Katsuya]: 1 of those fancy limos?

M-KC [Kaiba Mokuba]: In your dreams, Jounouchi.

He snickered and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. The kid definitely wouldn’t send a limo, but knowing the typical Kaiba brothers procedure, he WOULD send over some fancy hybrid car complete with a chauffeur and a bodyguard. Mokuba was not shy about his wealth like some kids might have been. Then again, as Jounouchi’s phone rumbled again and went ignored, the blonde remembered that the boy wasn’t shy about many things.

In fact, in many ways, he was way too damn forward for his own good.

M-KC [Kaiba Mokuba]: You should bring Shizuka too.

M-KC [Kaiba Mokuba]: She likes chocolate, right?

Damn cheeky kid.

He had to admit that he was still a little unused to being in Kaiba Manor. He never felt particularly posh but there was something about an army of maids that succeeded in making Jounouchi Katsuya feel like an unwashed heathen. If he didn’t know better than he would’ve assumed that Kaiba had them all greet Mokuba and him at the door just to make him feel out of place. He grimaced at the thought—who did he think he was kidding? That was exactly the sort of thing Kaiba would do.

“Welcome home, Master Mokuba! Welcome to the Kaiba Manor, honored guest of Master Mokuba!” They chorused so loudly that the sound reverberated against the walls of the wide foyer. Instinctually Jounouchi shoved his hands in his pocket, wishing desperately that Yugi hadn’t been forced to make the decision no one should have to make: his passion for his hobby versus his passion for his crush. In the end, Yugi had apologized profusely and gone to the movie with Anzu. Jounouchi was nearly certainly they were dating at this point and just keeping it under the table.

It still left him high and dry and feeling awkward as hell standing in the Kaiba Manor being led down the halls by Mokuba. He’d been here before, of course, but always with Yugi or Otogi or even Honda…never solely by himself. It hadn’t seemed to faze the younger Kaiba but Jounouchi himself was waiting for his brunette sibling to jump out from behind the corner to throw him out.

“Hey, you got your own keychain doll.” Jounouchi blinked; he had forgotten it was even still clipped onto his jacket. But Mokuba was tugging at the small resin figure and nodding approvingly. “That’s one of the rarer ones. I have ‘em all, of course, courtesy of the manufacturing department. But nii-sama told me it meant more if I got them on my own so I’ve been cranking the gachapon at the arcade a few times a day just for the hell of it.”

“Taking it at a slow pace, huh?” Jounouchi managed a strained grin. “You can have this one if you want. I don’t really want it anymore.”

Mokuba blinked large, uncomprehending purple eyes at him. “What? This one is hard to get. That’s stupid. These things are pretty valuable to the right person, you know. I haven’t even gotten it from the arcade yet. That old bastard who runs it told me that its been the rarest drop so far.”

“Yeah, well, it don’t mean anything.” Jounouchi mumbled.

“Jeez, not in a good mood or something?” Mokuba mused, crossing his arms and fixing Jounouchi with that patented look of disapproval. It made the blonde want to roll his eyes. The younger Kaiba may be the more tolerable of the two, but he was picking up on his brother’s habits way too much. His expressions were starting to mirror Kaiba Seto’s. “You wanna see the design works for them?”

“Huh?”

“Before we look at the cards. You wanna see the gachapon designs?”

“You got ‘em on a USB or something? Who designed them, anyways? They did a pretty good job, at least.” Jounouchi muttered, holding the doll up towards the window; the soft yellow paints caught the sunlight coming through and formed almost an odd glow about the keychain. He was entranced with it for a moment before he caught the odd, almost confused, look that Mokuba was giving him. “What? What’s up?”

“Uh…nothing, just…” Mokuba hesitated; he seemed conflicted on something. “…I think they’re in the file library, he usually puts design work in there after the product releases…come on.”

Jounouchi wasn’t given a chance to protest as the wild haired child grabbed his arm and whisked him down the hallways. It was almost dizzying; Kaiba Manor always was. Sometimes the blonde wondered if it had been built as some sort of maze to trap and confuse anyone with under a million dollars in their bank account. The constantly curving passageways certainly gave credence to his theory. The thoughts were blown out of his head as they stopped in front of a pair of double doors. Mokuba pushed them open with no hesitation to reveal walls and walls of files cabinets.

The blonde stood awkwardly in the disturbingly clean room as Mokuba flipped through the files inside. Something inside him wished he had dumped the gachapon toy. Those things had brought him nothing but annoyance and frustration so far. Finally, though, Mokuba let out a small confident chirp and threw one of the files down onto the white marble floor. His guest kneeled down with one eyebrow raised, pushing the papers away from each other.

They looked like…designs.

Toy designs.

Gachapon toy designs.

The Best of Duelist Gachapon toy designs.

“Seto designed all the prizes by himself. The Best of Duelist collection has something of a pet project of his for the last few months.” Mokuba rolled his eyes with a smile and Jounouchi could almost feel the pride radiating off the middle schooler. “He spent so much damn time compiling the data for the collection. Went through a bunch of designs for each of the dolls.”

“…That’s not what Kaiba said…”

“Huh? Really?” Mokuba cocked his head to the side. “The heck did he tell you?”

“He said that a computer compiled all the duelist data.” Jounouchi held up a secondary folder in the designs file—it was easily the thickest of the design folders. The rest seems to have a small collection of about nine or ten prototypes and a final design page. This one, however, was stuffed full of easily thirty to forty pages. The second he tried to pick it up, the paper within toppled out all over the floor. Mokuba let out a shriek and fumbled forward to push all the paper together.

Jounouchi caught all of it anyways.

Meticulous drawing after drawing stuffed together with paper clippings, each one highlighted with abnormally neat written notes. One was covered with a variety of golden yellow sample sheets, another with a variety of simple sketches noting the flow of the subject’s face. The strong curve of the nose, the broad smile, the surprisingly sharp and vibrant eyes cloaked under poorly trimmed blonde hair. Several pages seemed dedicated to eyes—each colored and marked precisely with the correct and incorrect colors. Other seemed dedicated to poses—how to properly capture the subject’s mannerisms and confidence in posture without removing the warm and open feeling.

He carefully picked up the design sheet marked as the final one and unclipped the doll at his waist, holding it up against the paper.

Identical. Same pose, same expression, same feeling.

Same Jounouchi Katsuya.

Mokuba coughed awkwardly.

Jounouchi managed to slip his fingers in between the papers and pull one out; a very simple charcoal drawing of himself wearing a very irritated expression. He recognized this one; they had been assigned as partners in art class one day and it hadn’t ended well. The blonde hadn’t even gotten around to doing the portrait assignment and Kaiba had left quickly after his partner obnoxiously removed to stay still, muttering curses under his breath. Apparently he had actually been working on the assignment rather than just bantering.

And for a lot longer than that, apparently.

“Look, Jounouchi, if you could maybe never tell nii-sama that I let you in here that would be…that would be just great, y’know?” Mokuba said awkwardly, just short of stuttering his words out. Jounouchi chuckled a bit, waving the charcoal doodle in his hands back and forth in Mokuba’s face. “What? You’re gonna tell him? Come on, Jounouchi, don’t be an asshole.”

“I’ll stay quiet if you give me this one.”

“Huh?”

“Well, it IS of me, isn’t it? So that means it belongs to me, right?” Jounouchi said innocently. From the look on Mokuba’s face, the blonde’s logic didn’t check out—but he still needed to cover his own ass. Finally, he was treated with an exasperated sigh and a nod. “Great! I wasn’t even here today, then.”

He didn’t catch the odd look of contemplation on the other boy’s face as he exited down the hallway, and Jounouchi didn’t much care either. A broad grin matching the toy clipped at his side now spread his face, confidence sparkling in brown eyes. So Kaiba Seto could say all he wanted that Jounouchi Katsuya was a dud, a loser, a has-been, a moron—but his files showed differently. The blonde had been thoroughly researched and planned for a pet project of THE teenage CEO himself. He wondered, briefly, if he should rub it in Kaiba’s face and decided against it.

After all, it couldn’t mean any more than the designs and effort showing that he actually did consider Jounouchi not only capable but worth piles of his own effort.

Maybe I’ll go get back the rest of those dolls from Anzu…

#Yugioh #Puppyshipping #Violetshipping #Jounouchi Katsuya #Joey Wheeler #Kaiba Seto #Seto Kaiba #Mokuba Kaiba #Kaiba Mokuba #Mazaki Anzu #Mutou Yuugi #fanfiction #gachapon

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