1) This story is shounen ai.
2) The story is a canon variation. In this case, Kaiba Gozaburo survives longer.
3) Naming conventions: In the manga and Japanese anime, Yami Yugi is known as "Yugi" even to his friends, so I'll be establishing him as the spirit of the puzzle and then calling him Yugi in his scenes (as do the characters). I hope that's not too confusing! As usual, Yugi calls the pharaoh "Other Me," while the pharaoh calls Yugi "Aibou." I hope you can bear with my silly nit ... (Same as "Puzzle, Cipher, Key," so if you could deal with that one, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.) If you really like "Yami," sorry about that.
4) The usual disclaimers apply.
1/27/2014: Additional author's notes added.
.
Sunday Get-Together
"Your sign."
Yugi looked up and saw two intense blue eyes gazing down at him demandingly as their owner pointed at the sign in front of his table.
Games 4 Good
"What would you like to know about it? This is a charity drive. There are a lot of clubs and teams here asking for support for their charities. The team that earns the most wins a field trip. You know that. Would you like to know more about our charity?"
Kaiba allowed a very small, tight smile to cross his face and said, "You don't have to tell me all the details about your charity. I'm sure it's quite worthy, knowing you. I'm quite aware of the prize. You're going to an amusement park. I could give your team a donation that would almost assure its victory … but …"
"But? There are strings attached?"
"Can you arrange to have someone else on your team man this booth for a few minutes?"
Yugi waved to Jounouchi, who was at a nearby booth attempting to chat up an attractive schoolmate. Looking up, Jounouchi frowned seeing who it was at the booth and rushed over. "Need help?" he asked.
"Yes, could you sit here for a few minutes while I talk to Kaiba?"
Jounouchi plopped into a chair, scowling suspiciously. "All right, if you say so. Yell if you need help."
As Yugi and Kaiba walked down the hall, the spirit of the puzzle switched places with him. Kaiba was heading toward a private area.
"This shouldn't be painful for either of us … unless you have social concerns."
"Social concerns? What are you talking about?"
"I'll get right to the point," Kaiba said. "To be brutally blunt, my adoptive father has, up until now, made my life … difficult. However," Kaiba smiled grimly, "I'm at a point now where I own enough of the company and am indispensable enough that he can't afford to just kick me out. So …"
"What does that have to do with me?"
Kaiba smirked slightly. "Actually, nothing … unless you want to make a little cash for your charity."
"I don't follow you."
"You will … if you want the money. The point. Gozaburo needs me now and I no longer need to respect his feelings. The reason he adopted me into his so-called family in the first place was to provide himself with an heir. And if this heir turned out to be, well …" Kaiba shrugged. "Care to come to dinner Sunday night?"
"You're saying … as in … a date?" Yugi stammered.
"Of course, but don't take this personally."
The spirit's eye's widened, staring at Kaiba. "So … you're saying you have no interest in me."
"I have no romantic interests at all currently. My plan is purely to torment the man who tortured me for years. Quid pro quo. He wants me to bring my current girlfriend to dinner Sunday, so …" the tight smile reappeared for just a second then vanished, "I thought I'd surprise him."
"Why me, particularly?"
"First of all, to be blunt, you dress the part. Second of all, I respect you because of our duels. Therefore, I trust you more than anyone else I know … which, frankly, isn't saying that much, but nevertheless." He shrugged again. "If I'm going to do this, I'm not going to just pick up some random guy off the street. But it's completely up to you. Your decision."
Yugi narrowed his eyes. Saying yes would make him an accomplice to an act of pure spite. However, the man clearly deserved punishment. What would Kaiba be if Gozaburo hadn't been in his life? Yet … who had put him in that situation in the first place? The other thing, of course, was the charity drive. Kaiba's donation was direly needed and his friends would enjoy the trip to the amusement park so much! And … secretly … he wanted to go to learn more about Kaiba and he knew that his Aibou would want to as well. His Aibou, openhearted as he was, would have fewer reservations and see it as an opportunity to rehabilitate Kaiba somehow.
He sighed, rolling his eyes. "I don't have to … make out with you, do I?"
"At most a kiss. No tongue."
"There will be an extra fee for the kiss."
"Of course."
"Let's negotiate then," the spirit said, and the two leaned against the lockers to make arrangements.
"This is going to cost you …" the spirit warned.
"I don't care," Kaiba said, leaning in and ignoring his "no tongue" promise.
Yami Yugi leaned back in Kaiba's arms, allowing him to press forward. "Mmmm …" Kaiba's hand slowly moved away from his shoulders down his back …
Thrust suddenly out of Yugi's body, the spirit awoke with a start.
"I asked you to take over in history class and you fell asleep!" accused Yugi under his breath. "And-and what did you do to me?! I'm—!" Yugi turned as red as a beet. "What were you dr—?!"
"Motou! Detention!" announced the teacher.
"Yes, Sensei," he said sadly.
After the bell, he called to his other self again. "Why did you fall asleep on me in the first place? I wanted your help!"
"I know, but … it was boring!" and that dream was so interesting …
"What were you dreaming about, anyway?" asked Yugi, as though he'd caught the thought.
"Aibou! Do I ask you these kinds of questions?"
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't thinking. I guess it would be totally different if I was borrowing your body …"
"I guess it would."
The spirit switched places with Yugi for the "date." There was no way he would allow his Aibou to do this favor for Kaiba no matter how interesting he thought the experience might be.
"Now, remember, you'll need to call me Seto just for tonight, Yugi, for obvious reasons—"
"Not Seto-chan?"
"Gah—! No! Not even!"
Yugi chuckled, looking at the expression on Kaiba's face. "Priceless!" He reined in this amusement and said, "But you have to admit that it would get under your father's skin."
"Mine too. I wouldn't even want a girlfriend calling me that."
Girlfriend …
Yugi was now totally serious. "Any other requests, Seto?"
"Try to look affectionate."
"I will if you will." He had his doubts about his cold-fish companion. The boy, from his piercing, glacial deep-blue eyes to his stiff, if affectedly model-slouched posture, combined to present a distinct hands-off message. He checked him out with a critical eye.
"Oh, am I not friendly enough for you?" Kaiba asked, then offered him a smile. The smile was a sizzlingly confident, come-here-you smile, promising a night of pleasure …
Yugi closed his mouth, suddenly realizing that his lips had parted looking at Kaiba. He prayed that he didn't look too openly lustful, but—man!—the guy looked … positively delectable. As much as he knew it was a put-on, he'd never dreamed that Kaiba even knew how to look so … well, sexy, dammit.
"Don't get too excited," Kaiba said, amused. "We still have to eat dinner with Gozaburo." He grabbed Yugi by the arm and practically dragged him toward the mansion.
"I can walk."
"Apparently not very fast. Do you want me to carry you?"
"No. Are you that anxious to get this over with?"
"I do want to get the night started. You do want to help your charity, don't you?"
The charity. Right.
"Of course I do."
"Good then. Let's get this show on the road."
They were standing on the doorstep now, Kaiba smoothing his clothing. He rang the bell.
"You ring the bell of your own house?"
"Why unlock the door when we have a butler to open the door for us?"
Yugi rolled his eyes thoroughly during the second it took for the butler to arrive and open the door.
"Master Seto. Welcome home."
"Thanks, Horoshi. This is Motou Yugi."
"Very good, sir. Welcome, Master Yugi. Dinner has already been served."
Yugi felt a large hand engulf his own and he was gently tugged to the right.
"This way, Yugi."
Yugi concentrated on following Kaiba while still taking in some of the opulence that surrounded him. They walked through one of the largest halls he remembered ever seeing to the largest dining room he remembered ever seeing.
"Glad you decided to finally join us," said an imperious voice.
The voice came from a large, imposing man with even more imposing eyebrows who was sitting at the end of the table.
"We were delayed by schoolwork, sir," said Kaiba calmly, totally ignoring the fact that it was Sunday. He took a seat next to Mokuba at the other end of the table and indicated the seat on his other side. Yugi sat down in quiet anticipation. "This is Motou Yugi."
"I asked you to bring a date to dinner."
Mokuba shifted in his seat, nearly disappearing under the table with a forkful of mashed potatoes.
"This is my date," Kaiba said calmly.
Yugi sat perfectly still, impressed by Kaiba's ability to maintain his impassive expression. Surely he was grinning like a maniac inside somewhere. It was difficult for Yugi to maintain his poise given the thick atmosphere of the room. He could practically feel Kaiba Gozaburo's anger reaching out to kill.
"Seto," the elder Kaiba said in a voice dripping with cold venom, "perhaps you haven't noticed this, considering his manner of dress, but your date is a boy."
"Oh yes, Father. I noticed. I'm not interested in girls. I haven't met any girls who are nearly intelligent or attractive enough to hold my attention."
A servant scuttled by and served the both of them salads. Yugi placed a forkful of the exotic mixture of greens into his mouth to prevent a chuckle from escaping his lips.
A dense silence descended between the father and son as their eyes locked in a tense clashing of wills. Yugi couldn't even see the top of Mokuba's head above the table's edge.
"You understand the meaning of the word heir, don't you?" asked Gozaburo.
"Yes. You yourself selected a deserving heir from an orphanage. Very intelligent of you. One of the smartest things I've ever seen you do. Relying on biology is so haphazard, wouldn't you agree? And, although I agree that my genetic makeup is no doubt superior, I'm considering following your example. You do like it when I follow your lead, don't you, Father?"
Gozaburo had been getting steadily redder as Seto went on, to the point where Yugi was nearly convinced that he'd succumb to apoplexy or burst an aneurysm or something.
Having heard no reply from the other end of the table, Seto continued, "Of course, there is the option of surrogacy, but quality surrogates are so difficult to find. … However, with our means … I'm certain that something appropriate could be arranged …"
Yugi surreptitiously glanced to the side. Seto's smile had broadened to such a brightly large proportion that he could easily be mistaken for a toothpaste model. It was so uncharacteristic of him that he was almost unrecognizable. The spirit quickly raised his napkin and cleared his throat to prevent a food-spewing burst of laughter.
The help appeared again, this time bearing main dishes, catching the pair up to the rest of the family. They scurried around helplessly, as though to avoid inadvertently catching the fallout of Gozaburo's wrath.
"What … is …" began Gozaburo, now as red as a beet.
"Pardon me? I'm not quite making out what you're saying."
"What is wrong with you!"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing … that you didn't do to me." Seto's eyes didn't waver from Gozaburo's as he said this. Then he calmly turned his attention to his meal and began carving up his roast beef. "Yugi, this is quite good," he commented upon taking his first bite.
"Of course," Yugi said, realizing he'd forgotten all about eating. Watching the duel between the father and son before him had completely consumed his attention.
"I've done nothing to you," spat Gozaburo. "Except made you stronger. Better."
Seto said nothing, but continued to eat at a leisurely pace.
Yugi looked at his companion and noticed his expression as he bent over his plate was that of someone chewing on something extremely bitter—perhaps a lemon rind.
"And you," Gozaburo said, turning on Yugi, "What's your excuse? Seto's wealth? That's hardly assured, you know."
Yugi could almost feel the sneer curling beside him.
Yugi smiled graciously. "I'm not in it for the money," he said. Of course that wasn't strictly true … but it was true that he wouldn't directly benefit from any money, so he decided that, technically, he was telling the truth. "Do you really think that the only reason anyone could possibly love Seto is because of his money?"
"It certainly wouldn't be because of his warm and gracious personality."
"And whose fault is that?" Seto chimed in.
"Come now, boy, you were already completely ruthless when I first met you. You'd stop at nothing to get what you wanted."
"Please—" ventured Yugi, "I don't think you know Seto quite as well as you think you do, sir. He can be quite warm and winning … when he wants to be. And warmth isn't everything, anyway. Seto's brilliant, hard-working, confident, and a tough competitor. What more could I ask for in a man?" He found himself looking at Seto, recalling the confident smile he'd shown him earlier. When he'd smiled like that, something in his expression has softened just a little and his already amazing good looks had been magnified, enhanced.
Seto turned, gazing back into his eyes with a hint of surprise and Yugi felt himself drawn in, almost hypnotized.
Am I—am I nuts? This is my rival.
Gozaburo snorted derisively, shocking Yugi out of his dreamlike state. Yugi's head snapped around to look at the elder Kaiba.
"I don't believe you!" he stated categorically. "You're doing this just to confound and humiliate me. Well, Seto, I won't have it!"
"No matter what you think, we're dating, Father, and nothing you do is going to change my choice. I still own a good portion of our company and, may I point out, several of its most active patents. Would you care to challenge me?"
Gozaburo uttered a noise that sounded a little like a strangled laugh, then said, "Enjoy your little joke. For now. I'm just going to wait you out, Seto, and see how long your little romance lasts." The man drawled out the word, romance, as though it were some sort of embarrassing secret.
"It doesn't matter how long it lasts," Seto said calmly. "I just hope that you don't inconvenience any of us by requesting that I bring home a date again."
"Is this what this is all about?"
Seto smiled blandly. "No, but we didn't want to come here. Yugi knows what I think of you."
"If he's really your boyfriend, prove it."
"Fine, if you insist."
"I do."
Seto shrugged and stood, taking Yugi's hands and helping him to his feet. "I really don't enjoy making a public spectacle of this," he murmured softly, then he leaned over, gently tipping Yugi's head back. Very softly he meshed their lips together, allowing the kiss to linger for a few moments, then parted, leaving Yugi slightly breathless.
There was no tongue, but this was even better than the dream. Yugi struggled to calm the growing excitement flowing throughout his body.
A loud bang caused Yugi to open his eyes and stare at Gozaburo, who had slammed his fist down on the table. Yugi was dimly aware of Mokuba, who he could barely see out of the corner of his eye, still hiding behind the edge of the table with both hands covering his mouth and his shoulders shaking.
Dammit, Mokuba …
"Get. Out. Of here." Gozaburo's voice was very low and measured.
"I beg your pardon, Father? I didn't quite hear you."
"Get out of here, you queer! Get out! Get out! I don't want to see that—that person at dinner ever again!"
"If you say so, Father. Yugi, please, let's go out. I'll take you someplace nicer to finish our dinner."
"No problem, Seto. I understand perfectly."
"Mokuba! Sit up straight!"
Mokuba disguised his laughter as a coughing fit and reappeared. Recovering control, he said, "Yes, Father. May I be excused, please? I'm not hungry anymore."
"Yes, Mokuba. It's understandable. Go right to bed."
"Yes, Father." He jumped out of the chair and scrambled out of the room without daring to look at his brother.
Yugi bounded down the steps of the Kaiba mansion with Seto following. "That was exhilarating!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms above his head and whirling about to face his "date." "I'd almost do that for free! Almost."
"I'll make out the check for your charity at the restaurant."
"What are you talking about?"
"You had, what, two bites of salad and one bite of roast beef? You're thin enough without missing dinner. I said I was taking you out to eat, didn't I?"
"But that was for Gozaburo's benefit. And look who's talking, anyway. You're not exactly full-figured yourself, you know."
"I don't care why I said I was taking you out, you need a decent dinner and I'm sure your grandfather's in bed by now, so let's get going. Do you want your check or not?"
Yugi sighed as loudly as he could but relented.
Kaiba led him to the drive, where a little Audi Roadster was parked. "Well?"
"You're not taking the limo?"
"No, the staff has the evening off and I'm certain that Gozaburo isn't interested in asking anyone to work late on my account tonight. He probably won't appreciate my taking the Audi, but it's technically mine anyway and I have the keys."
"It's technically yours?"
"It was one of the gifts KaibaCorp received as a result of my Solid Vision technology." Kaiba said this so tersely that Yugi decided not to inquire further into the circumstances. He could always ask Mokuba some time if an opportunity arose.
Yugi slid down into the little machine and watched as Kaiba folded his long body into the driver's seat. He was a little surprised to see that Kaiba actually fit.
Kaiba pulled out and began driving toward the city. The sensation of the performance auto was invigorating, and its driver operated it with a high-precision grace. "… would you like to eat?"
"Mmm?"
"I asked where you'd like to eat."
"Oh, right. Anywhere would be fine."
"I'm not taking you out for hamburgers."
How did he know?
Kaiba didn't say anything more but simply drove decisively. After a few minutes, he stopped in front of a small restaurant.
A few minutes after that, they were dining on blackened sole.
"This is quite good," said Yugi.
"It's Creole cooking from New Orleans, in the US."
"I've never had it before."
"I thought you might like to try something different."
"Yes, thank you." He ate a little, thinking about the dinner with Kaiba's adoptive father. "So … your father. Do you really dislike him so much that you can't cooperate with him?"
"It's best not to. Say I brought a girl home. He'd expect me to actually date her. I'd probably have to bring her around more than once. Sooner or later he'd probably expect me to marry some girl."
"Is that so unlikely?"
"Right now I have no prospects. It's best not to have him breathing down my neck. This way I don't have to worry about it."
"So you give him the impression that you're gay? Isn't that a little extreme?"
"It's very effective."
"And it doesn't bother you to be known as gay?"
"Aren't you getting rather personal, Yugi? As a matter of fact, no. I don't care what people think of me."
"Even if it's wrong?"
"Yugi, are you asking me whether I'm gay?"
Yugi dropped his fork, realizing that's exactly what he was asking. He really wanted to know Kaiba's preference. He'd admitted to himself that Kaiba was attractive and now, after they'd kissed, sham kiss or not … whatever they'd agreed … "I guess I am."
Kaiba looked very serious and stared at his plate. "I … haven't really been attracted to anyone very strongly, but …" he looked straight into Yugi's eyes. "Forget it."
"No, what? I promise I won't use it against you—not even in a duel."
"Hn." Kaiba stared at him for a long moment, then said, "Never mind. I don't remember what I was going to say, anyway."
They ate on in silence for a couple of minutes, Yugi staring at his sole as though it could give him advice. When he looked up, it seemed that Kaiba was in a similar state. "Kaiba? Uh … do you think it would be better—given what your father said—if we hung out for a while?"
Kaiba looked up, frowning slightly, and said, "Are you saying we should date?"
"Well, your father accused you of playing some kind of trick on him and if we hung out—I won't say date—you could refute any arguments he might make."
Kaiba snorted. "Since when do you care about my relationship with my father?" His expression changed and he laid down his fork. "Or do you just want to make more money for your charity or whatever?"
"No … Kaiba—Seto, this would be for free."
Kaiba's frown deepened as he pierced Yugi with his intense gaze like a bug with a pin. "I don't get you at all," he said at last, and pushed his plate aside.
"That's all right," Yugi replied. "I'm not sure I even understand, myself." A thought hit him. "You know, if it makes you feel better, you could help me study. My grades aren't exactly the best."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
The spirit stepped out of the Audi in front of Kame Game Shop and gave Kaiba a final wave goodbye. Once in Yugi's bedroom, he placed the check on the desk and switched with Yugi, manifesting in spirit form.
"There you are, Aibou," he said. "That ought to give your team first place for sure!"
"Thank you so much, Other Me!" Yugi said, looking at it. "Isn't that even more than Kaiba agreed to?"
"He had to kiss me—er, us."
"But that's more than—"
"I guess he was feeling generous."
Yugi gave his other self a strange look. "Or something," he said. "I stayed mostly out of it, but didn't I overhear something about hanging out?"
Yami Yugi blushed as brightly as he could in spirit form. "Oh yes, that. It seemed only fair. That Gozaburo is so—"
"I get it. He's not a nice guy and he's done some nasty things to Kaiba."
"And our grades aren't that good. He's the top of his class."
"I told you, I get it." The spirit didn't like the way his Aibou was looking at him, but he thought it was a lot better to let it go. "Other Me, don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about what?"
"Just … don't worry about it."
The spirit harrumphed and said, "Whatever. Good night. Go straight to bed, now, tomorrow's a school day. I'm sorry that I used up your entire Sunday night."
"I'm totally good."
Yugi took his puzzle off and placed it next to the bed, its spirit retreating within it. The spirit of the puzzle tried to empty his thoughts for a night of repose, but the puzzle is a place of memories—scattered memories, perhaps, but memories nevertheless—and there was one memory that he couldn't easily forget.
… the memory of Seto's warm lips against his own.
~ Fin ~
Author's notes ...
As promised, here is the short story to make up for taking so long to finish Curio. Thank you for reading it! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please take the time to review. This is a bit lighter fare for this pair for me, so I would be grateful for the feedback (hint, hint).
Due to my propensity to revise up until the last second, no beta this time, so feel free to point out any errors - spelling, grammar, character, plot, etc!
it was a put-on: Kaiba's ability to put on a great magnetic false front is established in the manga.
our grades aren't that good: It's also established that Yugi isn't exactly a great scholar in the manga.
I haven't met any girls, etc.: No doubt Kaiba has met interesting and intelligent girls, but he hasn't really noticed.
1/27/2014: Sanis-chan PM'd me with a couple of little sketches to illustrate this chapter, where Atem falls asleep in history class. If you are interested, see (i40 dot tinypic dot com slash 2qmqhk0 dot jpg) and (i44 dot tinypic dot com slash 27wyd5z dot jpg). (Sorry I can't provide direct links, but you know this site!) Thanks for sharing, Sanis-chan! :)
Well, that's it for now. I have no idea what will be next! So, until next time,
~ DD