I thought I would lump this whole story into a single one shot. Make everybody's experience a little smoother XD. I like genderbending characters a lot, so characters in the Yu-Gi-Oh! DM fandom should feel relieved that I haven't done it to them as much as I would like to.
Also, I'm feeling a little self-conscious on how good this is, but I still hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing.
It'd happened before, but it hadn't hurt so much.
Joey and Yugi were laying on their stomachs on the bed.
FIGHT
The grainy characters bounded about, ignored the laws of physics in their little pixelated world. Joey was by all means a button-masher. Yugi had more finesse, her teeth sinking into her lower lip in concentration as she perfectly executed combo upon combo.
K.O.
"Awww, come on !" Joey shouted, tossing the controller onto the blankets. He laughed with disbelief.
Yugi snickered and nudged him with her elbow. "Can't beat the queen."
"You've had way too much practice with this game."
She lifted a shoulder. "Grandpa's really good at it, and my goal was always to beat him. He could thrash you on any of the characters."
Joey slung an arm around her shoulders and gave her a wicked, scalp-chafing noogie. "Yeah, yeah, admit it, you're just a natural."
Cheek smooshed against his chest, Yugi blushed, squirmed against him, yowled like a wet cat.
Suddenly, he let her go. Yugi looked up.
Atem had leaned her head into the room, one of her fine eyebrows arched. She was all perfectly wild hair and bronzed skin, pronounced curves and sultry eyes. "Joey, you never have any grace when it comes to losing."
He chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, well, Yugi's just too damn good."
"Practice more. Maybe then 'the queen' will fall from grace." She retracted herself with a chuckle, padded down the hall.
A few beats of silence filled only with the tinny sound of video game music.
"Hey, Yug'...?"
Yugi hummed, picked at the blanket. "Hm?"
"Do you think Atem is way out of my league? I mean, I like her a lot. Like, a lot a lot."
The hard lump precipitated instantaneously in Yugi's throat. "I… I don't know, Joe."
Later that night, Yugi cried herself to sleep. But at least her eyes weren't swollen when she had to go to school the next day.
Yugi saw it all. How Tean looked at Atem. When he laughed, he looked right to Yugi's older sister, not Yugi.
She'd read somewhere that that was a psychological sign of attraction.
But she didn't need that. After so many times, she could recognize the pull deep in her gut.
She broke it off later that night, when Tean was pawing at her clothing in front of Yugi's apartment.
She couldn't lay with him in bed knowing that he was in love with another woman. Especially when the other woman was her sister.
Duke had been good at hiding it.
But he apparently couldn't keep it in when they were making love.
Yugi had immediately rolled out of bed. She was shaking. Her sweat turned cold. Oh, god, she was going to throw up.
"Yugi, wait!" Duke cried, wrapping his fingers around her wrist.
She wrenched herself out of his hold. "N-No," she sobbed into her other hand. Never had she felt so used.
"I didn't mean to do it!" He scrambled out of bed, the sheet tangling around his ankles. "I didn't mean to say it!"
"N-No!" she wailed. "G-Go! I don't -" a choking sob "- I don't ever want to see you again!"
"Yugi-" he reached out to touch her again.
"No!" she shrieked, swatting his hand, clawing it, staggering away from him. "Just go, Duke!" She curled into herself, cradled her vulnerable, naked body. "Just go."
Yugi had always been to terms with it.
Yugi may be pretty, but Atem was gorgeous . Yugi was smart, but Atem was brilliant . Yugi was funny, but Atem was witty .
She just couldn't compare.
So maybe it was time to stop trying.
Yugi pushed her reading glasses up, but they almost immediately slid back down.
Somewhere in the code, there was a bug.
But where to find it…
"Yugi," her boss called, leaning into her secluded office cubicle.
She looked up from her computer, over the rim of her glasses. "Yes?"
"We have a meeting about to start in ten minutes."
Yugi frowned, glanced back at her computer. "Okay, well, I'll try to get this bug done beforehand."
"No," James said. "You need to get ready for the meeting."
Yugi frowned at him. "I'm getting paid to fix these bugs."
"That's true, but the Seto Kaiba is attending this meeting. I need you prepared."
Yugi's eyes widened. "Seto Kaiba…?"
" Yes . Now chop-chop. I need you to be able to recite the summarizations of the programs from memory."
Yugi beamed. "Easy-peasy, Jimmy," she chirped. She collected portfolios and flash drives, neatly stacked them in ascending chronological order.
Her heart thrummed excitedly.
Seto Kaiba. The Seto Kaiba. She'd always admired his work, both in the Duel Monsters professional circuits and as a genius programmer and engineer. It was with her best efforts that she tried to keep her admiration to a professional level, but with limited success.
She straightened her shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles. Today, there would be no mess-ups, and she would keep it strictly professional.
Suddenly, she regretted not asking why exactly Seto Kaiba was attending their meeting. She blanched. Was he going to buy out their company? Buy their software?
She tapped a finger on her lip.
No. He'd have nothing to gain from buying their company, and any software they were developing he could easily replicate, but on a grander scale.
He was famous. Ridiculously so. Maybe this was all a publicity ploy.
Yes, Yugi could see the headlines now.
Seto Kaiba, aiding small programming company.
Yugi smiled to herself, gathered up the folders and the lanyard of flash drives.
"Here we go," she whispered to herself, and she marched to the conference room.
Seto Kaiba was as intimidating a person in real life as he was on television. He was tall, at least six-foot-three, and he easily dwarfed Yugi (which was not exactly an impressive feat).
He declined handshakes in true Kaiba style, and sat at the conference table silently, fingers steepled and pressed to his lips.
Someone had prepared a slideshow for Yugi (based on her portfolios for each program, so it wasn't too difficult to follow their flow). Kaiba asked no questions, barely even moved throughout the meeting. But the other two men frequently raised their hands (but mostly just blurted) to question Yugi about her methods and the programming languages used for each application.
(Yugi briefly wondered that, if she had a penis, they would've shown a smidge more respect while she talked. After all, female professionals in the field were few and far between.)
James nodded along, supported her through every word. He may get demanding and impatient, but he valued her work like no other.
"See, this is why I chose you as our lead programmer and manager," James said, and he clapped her on the shoulder as she sat down.
She smiled in thanks.
The meeting continued, even going through subjects such as finances and product dissemination. That, Yugi knew much less of, but she still sat attentive, even jotted down notes for information that might be useful for future meetings.
Every once and awhile, her gaze flicked to Kaiba.
His eyes were even bluer in person.
His gaze locked with hers.
She tore her eyes away, focussed on the presentation. She tried to steadily breath the heat in her cheeks away.
Focus, Yugi. Stay professional.
Not too long after, the meeting ended.
Yugi eagerly stood, adjusted her stack of portfolios.
She gathered them up, but James tapped her on her shoulder. She looked up at him. James tilted his head towards Kaiba and his entourage. "Help me say farewell to our… guests."
Yugi nodded, wiped her sweaty palms on her pants.
She approached the group. The two nameless men eagerly shook her hand.
"It's admirable how much you've accomplished with such limited resources," one even said. "Incredible, even."
She beamed. "Thank you! I'm grateful for your interest in our company."
And then she came to Seto Kaiba. Prepared to simply incline her head, Yugi was surprised when he extended a hand.
Awed, she looked up at him as she grasped his hand for a firm shake. "Thank you for hearing us out, Mr. Kaiba."
His eyes flicked down, to the hollow of her throat. The corner of his lip twitched. "The Dark Magician. I'm guessing you're a fan of spellcasters."
Yugi touched her necklace, The Dark Magician's scepter on a black chain. Her smile grew so wide it ached. "Yes. My deck is spell-caster-centric."
"Hn."
Yugi giggled. (It was safe to say she became a completely different person when it came to her favorite games.) "I know you're partial to dragons. But, everyone's got their thing, right?"
Another lip twitch. "I suppose so."
It was Atem's day off, so she brought Yugi take-out from their favorite restaurant. Yugi damn near climbed up the cubicle wall to snatch the bag out of her taller, older sister's hand.
Atem laughed, a beautiful sound, a sound that caught the attention of everyone in the office.
"Hungry?"
"You bet your ass I'm hungry!" Yugi chirped. She opened the bag, buried her nose in the opening and took a deep breath. She melted. "Oh my god. I swear they put crack in this stuff."
Atem laughed again, leaned against the cubicle wall. She tugged on Yugi's unruly hair. "How was your day?"
Yugi had a chicken tender hanging from between her teeth. "Pretty good. I got quite a few of the bugs worked out."
They continued to talk about the day, and Atem vented about drama at the museum.
Suddenly, Atem's magenta eyes widened. She looked down to Yugi, who was scraping up the last of her dipping sauce.
Yugi blinked up at her. "What?"
"Seto Kaiba is here!" she hissed.
Yugi jolted. "Crap."
He'd wanted the portfolio from their latest product. Yugi totally forgot about it.
She balled up her bag and threw it into the trash under her desk. She scrambled through the portfolios stashed in her filing cabinet and snatched the corresponding flash drive from the small organizery/utility box she stored them in.
She was ready just in time; Seto Kaiba was towering over her cubicle. And her. She beamed up at him.
His lip twitched.
She lifted the portfolio up, the flash drive attached to a lanyard shut under the front cover.
He accepted it with an small nod.
Then he saw Atem.
And whatever had been there crumbled.
After all, Yugi wasn't the only one with a celebrity crush; the only thing that beat normal Atem was an Atem that reciprocated the attraction.
Yugi's smile fell away as the two fell into an easy conversation, rife with sexual tension.
Yugi turned back to her work.
Atem had to leave, eventually, and Seto Kaiba watched her go, a full-fledged grin on his face.
"You know he didn't have to physically pick up those portfolios. He could've just sent one of his grunts to do it," Grandpa said as Yugi bustled about the kitchen. A couple of days a week they visited one another for dinner.
Yugi lifted a shoulder. "That's true. And maybe the first couple of times he did it so see me. But since he met Atem, he's all but begging to know where she is. Except that man doesn't just ask questions like a normal human being and instead just gets this intense look on his face like he can compel the answers out of me with his gaze alone."
Grandpa laughed. "He's a man used to getting everything he wants. What more do you expect?"
"Some basic modicum of social skills. That's what more I expect," Yugi snorted.
"Well, I wouldn't say that that exactly means he doesn't visit to see you anymore, Yugi."
Yugi sighed. She couldn't count how many times they've had this conversation through the years. "He's vying for Atem."
"You can't know that."
"Except I do , Pawpaw," she emphasized (and even called him what she did when she was a little girl. That usually made him more cooperative). "I do know. I've been through this too many times tonot know."
"Oh, it hasn't been that many times."
Yugi gave him a pointed, droll look. She lifted a hand to start counting off on her fingers. "Joey, Tean, Bakura, Duke, Mako, Tristan, Robert, Dean, Francis-" (Was it cheating to count kids from school she had crushes on? Yugi didn't think so.)
"Okay, okay, I get it. But it hasn't happened with every man you've been interested in."
"No, because some of the guys I dated in college never got to meet her. And even though Ryou didn't fall in love with Atem, we still ended up breaking up because we weren't compatible."
Just Yugi's luck.
"And I'm not mad at her for it, y'know? It's not her fault." Yugi turned her back to attend to the stove. "It's not like she does it on purpose." She sighed. "She just… shines brighter than I do. She's like a supernova and I'm just some dwarf planet on the edge of orbit. Not really that interesting in comparison." She tilted her head to the side. "Or maybe she's like the name brand and I'm the off brand. I'm good in a pinch, but everyone prefers the name brand."
"Oh, Yugi, don't talk about yourself like that."
Yugi shook her head. "It's fine, Grandpa. It's true… and I'm… I'm used to it."
"I'm sure you'll find someone ."
Yugi lifted her shoulder again as she began to plate dinner. "It's not that big of a deal. I'm not really all that worried about a relationship right now."
Later that night, Yugi squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think about how empty her bed - and her heart - felt.
Once again, the day Atem visited coincided with the day Kaiba came for a portfolio. Yugi tried to block them out and get some work done, but her ears couldn't miss it when Kaiba invited (more like challenged) Atem to dinner.
Yugi saw it every time she scrolled through any of her social media accounts. Atem in chic cocktail dresses, Seto Kaiba begrudgingly in the background of her numerous selfies, though, every time, he looked at her with such adoration that it made Yugi's chest ache.
She wanted that. She wanted someone to look at her like that.
But she was happy for Atem. Atem deserved a man like that.
Yugi stopped looking at her social media apps so often.
"Seto hasn't beaten me in a duel," Atem said smugly. She nudged her shoulder into his chest.
He sneered at her, half-playfully but wholly competitive.
Yugi chuckled. She could imagine Kaiba's frustration; he was the Duel Monsters World Champion, he could beat anybody, and yet he couldn't manage to beat a woman who didn't even play professionally.
Yugi leveled Atem an equally smug look. "And you can't beat me." She shrugged. "I guess that makes me even better than the Duel Monsters World Champion."
Kaiba immediately challenged her to a duel. And lost.
It was a family dinner; their mother, Grandpa (who was their father's father), Yugi, and Atem was late. It wasn't too rare that she got caught up in something at the museum.
Yugi was bubbling with giddiness. She couldn't keep it in, couldn't wait for Atem to arrive.
"Guess what?" Yugi blurted, practically bouncing in her seat.
"What?" Mom asked. She smiled at her daughter's childlike antics.
Yugi nearly squealed. "I finally get to program my own game! James accepted my proposal!"
Grandpa's grin split his face. "That's wonderful, Yugi! I know you've been working towards this for a long time."
Yugi nodded enthusiastically. "I start on it -"
Atem burst in the front door, tears smeared black with mascara on her face.
Yugi feared the worst until Atem raised her hand. A diamond-crusted ring clung to her finger.
"Seto and I are engaged!"
Yugi was Maid of Honor at their wedding.
Yugi would have accepted no less.
"Son of a bitch," Yugi hissed.
It was a hot summer day in Domino. The sun pelted the asphalt unforgivingly, and sweat made Yugi's shirt cling to her back.
In other words, it was a great day to have a flat tire.
The last lug nut was obstinate; no matter how much weight Yugi put into the wrench, she couldn't get it to budge.
She had everything prepared for such an occasion; spare tire, lug wrenches, a jack, wheel wedges.
But, apparently , preparation didn't matter if you didn't have the upper body strength for the job.
She tried one last time to twist the lug nut off, and, with a grunt of exertion, collapsed back against the vehicle. Her legs sprawled out on the sidewalk.
At least it was on the passenger side, so she didn't have to worry about getting hit by a fucking car.
She lifted her water bottle to her lips, took deep gulps of it, and it crinkled noisily in the thick, humid heat.
She could call Grandpa. But he didn't exactly have what Yugi would call 'upper body strength,' either.
And then a shadow fell over her. "Need help?"
She looked up. And then had to look higher.
"Uh, hello."
The man was a fucking giant .
Dark eyes blinked down at her, and his blond hair shone almost painfully bright in the sun.
She looked to her flat tire, the lug wrench still protruding from the hubcap. "Yes, actually." She looked back up at him and beamed. "I'm going to politely guess that a behemoth like you has the upper body strength that I lack?"
He smiled, something small but still kind and amused. "I'd hope that your guess is correct."
He knelt down next to her. He wore a thin muscle shirt, and damn did he have muscles.
Ah, hope was bright!
"I've got all the lug nuts except for one." She jabbed a finger at the lug nut in question. " That stubborn bastard has been giving me fits." The stranger nodded. Yugi extended a hand. "I'm Yugi, and thanks bunches for the help."
The man accepted it, and his huge hand dwarfed her own.
Was he even out in the same weather as her? His hands weren't sweaty at all .
"Rafael. And it's no problem."
He strained a moment against the lug wrench, but, after some muscling (oh damn, what fine muscling he did) he got the lug nut off.
"Sweet baby Jesus," Yugi gasped. "Thank you!"
Rafael actually laughed at that. He moved to pull the hubcap off.
Yugi actually swatted his hand. "I can do the rest! You've already been such a big help. I don't want to take up any more of your time, Rafael."
"Don't worry about it," he murmured back. "I wasn't really doing anything, anyway." He pulled the hubcap off.
Yugi chuckled. "Okay, who am I to argue with one of the Titans of Greek myth. Which one are you, by the way? Prometheus? Chronos? Atlas?"
He laughed again. It was deep sound, from his belly, and something about the way he did it told her that he didn't do it often.
Yugi's grin widened. "Thanks again, by the way. As you can see, I was in a bit of pinch."
Rafael switched the tires. (Holy shit, it should be illegal for someone to have biceps like that!) He glanced at her, and when she realized she was caught ogling, she looked at some place across the street, her cheeks hot from more than just the relentless sun.
"You don't have someone for this? A boyfriend or something?" he asked, replacing the hubcap.
Okay, that was obvious fishing. Yugi chuckled, adjusted her ponytail. "Uh, no. Single pringle, here. I thought about calling my grandfather, but he might actually be shrimpier than myself."
Rafael chuckled, and he twisted the lugs back on. "I wouldn't exactly call you shrimpy."
"Well, that's high praise from someone as stacked as you." She grinned. "Or you're just trying to get into my good graces, as if you aren't already."
His dark eyes peered up at her. "Maybe it's both."
The job was done, and Yugi lowered the jack and stored everything away in her trunk.
"I know I keep saying it, but, seriously, thanks," Yugi said, extending her hand again. Rafael shook it. "I don't know how I can repay you."
He shrugged, smiling that understated smile. "You could give me your number."
Yugi gasped, scandalized, but she was already digging in her bag for pen and paper. "That was your intention all along! I bet you do this all day, rescuing damsels in distress like some Herculean swain." She found her sticky note pad and quickly scribbled her number down.
"Guilty," he intoned, voice thick with amusement. He seemed surprised when Yugi actually handed him the sticky note.
"Well, thanks again, Rafael. You're my savior!" She held her thumb and pinky out, her other fingers folded, and wiggled her hand by her ear. "Call me," she mouthed as she climbed into her car.
As she pulled away from the curb, she waved her hand out the window. In her rearview window, she saw him there, standing on the sidewalk, arms crossed, and - what was the phrase?
Oh, yeah, grinning like an idiot.
Later that evening, Yugi was sitting on her couch in just her underwear and a T-shirt. It was way too hot for anything else, so she languished in the path of her fan.
"I really need to get that damn AC fixed," she muttered to herself.
She jumped when her phone started ringing. She picked it up. She frowned. She didn't recognize the number.
She shrugged and answered anyway. "Hello, Yugi Muto speaking."
"Wow," a deep voice on the other end rumbled. "I honestly didn't expect this."
Yugi's eyes widened. "Rafael?"
"Uh, yes," he replied.
Yugi's smile made her cheeks feel like they were about to split. "My hero!" Then she frowned. "You didn't expect this? What, did you think I would give you a fake number?"
A sheepish chuckle. "Yes."
Yugi gasped, once again pretending to be scandalized. "Why ever?"
"I don't know if you noticed, but you're incredibly beautiful. You're way out of my league," he said.
Yugi's cheeks grew hot. "Well, I could say the same thing about you…"
Rafael chuckled. "Sure."
Yugi pouted. "Hey, it's the truth! If you keep offending me, mister, I may be inclined to hang up," she blustered, but made sure her tone was playful enough to make clear that that was no where near her intention.
"Sorry, my bad," Rafael said. "I was just surprised when you said you were single."
"Well, I wasn't surprised in the least. I saw it coming a million miles away," Yugi replied, blase.
Rafael laughed again, and Yugi's stomach did funny things in her belly. "Well, I honestly didn't plan this far ahead. I expected to have been calling a mortuary or something."
Yugi picked at the hem of her shirt. "You could start it off by inviting me out to dinner."
"Yugi, would you like to go out for dinner?"
"Yes, Rafael, I would love to."
"So, what do you do?" Yugi asked, and she took a drink of her water. She left little pink lipstick smudges on her straw.
"I'm a bodyguard," he answered. "I'm also a bit of a mechanic, but that's just a hobby."
"Bodyguard," Yugi echoed. "Fitting. You could probably just break attackers in half and call it good enough."
He laughed again.
Yugi suddenly wondered whether, if you found them valuable enough, you could make currency out of laughs.
"What about you?" Rafael turned the question back on her. His dark eyes were alight with interest and intrigue, as if she would tell him all the forbidden knowledge in the universe.
The attention made Yugi preen and tremble with nerves.
"I'm a computer programmer and software developer," Yugi answered. "And I'm also a bit of a duelist, though that's just a hobby," she parroted his phrasing back to him with an impish grin.
"A duelist?" Rafael repeated, and he smiled. "I guessed as much, with that Dark Magician necklace you were wearing. Where did you get it?"
Yugi lifted a shoulder and her hands in a comical shrug. "No clue. My sister got it for me. We have a matching set."
Rafael smiled, though this seemed a little solemn. "Are you close with your sister?"
Yugi laughed. "Close? We're attached at the hip. My grandpa used to swear that we might as well have been the same person. What about you? Do you have any siblings?"
Yes, solemn. "I used to."
Yugi held a hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry."
Rafael shrugged. "It happened a long time ago."
Yugi shook her head. "That doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt. I lost my father when I was five," she murmured. "I barely remember him, but… but I still miss him, you know?"
Rafael nodded. "I was thirteen. I lost them all in one fell swoop. My sister, my brother, my parents." Yugi could see his anguish in the slight furrowing of his brow.
She reached forward, set her hand on top of his. It was tiny in comparison, but she still rubbed her thumb over his scarred knuckles. "Do you have any distant relatives?"
Rafael's head moved, but Yugi wasn't sure if it was a negative or affirmative. "Yes, but we're estranged. After the accident, they just came crawling to get some of my parents' money."
Yugi's lips twisted. "You're better off without them." Her eyes widened when she realized how badly that sentence could be misinterpreted. She leaned forward. "I mean the money-grubbers. Not…"
Rafael chuckled. "I get what you mean." He sighed. "I apologize. This probably isn't the best conversation for a first date."
Yugi snickered. "I've found that there's never a 'best' conversation for a first date. Trust me, I know."
Rafael arched a blond eyebrow. "Have you dated a lot?"
Yugi decided to be honest. "More than I'd like." She chuckled sheepishly. "I have really bad luck with relationships. Most of them ended fairly quickly, and the ones that didn't end quickly went over like a dumpster fire."
Rafael nodded at that. "What was your worst breakup?"
Yugi snapped her finger. "That one's easy. His name was Duke. We broke up because he called someone else's name during sex. My sister's name."
Rafael sucked air in through his teeth. "Ouch. Was he cheating with her?"
Yugi snorted. "No. Atem would never do that to me."
Rafael paused. "Atem? As in Atem Kaiba?"
"The one and only." Yugi felt herself droop. The advantage she thought she had… never existed.
She hated feeling like she was competing against an opponent who wasn't even playing the game.
"I've met her before. My boss does dealings with the Kaiba family," Rafael said. "I should have realized that you two were related. You look too much alike."
Yugi laughed, a little strained, and scratched the back of her neck. "That's us."
Rafael grinned a little. "Well, I'm glad it was the pretty sister I found on the side of the road with a flat tire."
Yugi blushed and swatted at him. It wasn't the first time a man had said that to her, but she hoped that, this time, it wasn't a lie.
After their third date, Rafael drove her home.
It was Yugi's first time on a motorcycle. It was terrifying, exhilarating. She loved it.
They stood on the doorstep on Yugi's apartment building.
"I had a great time, Rafael," she played with the lapels on his leather jacket. "I was wondering… if you wanted to keep doing this." She blushed heavily. "Because I do."
His big hand cupped her cheek, brushed through her wind-whipped hair. She leaned into the touch. He smiled that small, private smile Yugi was becoming so fond of. "Of course."
"Kiss me?" She asked quietly, as she figured it would be a little rude to climb up him to take what she wanted.
They both meant it to be a small, chaste, goodbye kiss. But then it became gently mouthing, lips moving and hands holding and grasping. Rafael's hair was as soft as it looked, and his body as hard.
When Yugi moaned (a little kittenish mewl of a moan that left her flushing with embarrassment), Rafael pulled away and simply rested his forehead against hers.
"I'll see you later, okay?" He whispered, husky.
Yugi nodded, tilted her head up to steal one last kiss. "Yeah, okay." They reluctantly withdrew from one another. "Ride safe."
"Will do. Now get that sweet little ass of yours inside. I want to know you're safe before I go."
Yugi laughed and blushed harder. And she wiggled her butt playfully as she ascended the steps and entered the vestibule.
Her heart pounded hard into the night.
She lost count of their dates. Sometimes, they saw each other every night of the week.
Tension was building between them. Hot, achy, the kind that made Yugi's knees weak and her hands tremble. The kisses got longer and it was harder to pull away when the night was through.
So, Yugi invited Rafael to stay over.
They didn't really make it past the kitchen.
Yugi was sitting on the peninsula, and her thighs ached for how wide she had to spread them to accommodate Rafael. They were just making out, heavy petting, but Yugi's heart trilled with anxiety.
Rafael was kissing down her neck. "Listen-" she began, but her breath caught when he sucked on a particularly sensitive part of her neck. "Uhn, Rafael," she breathed his name out, felt her thighs jump a little when be teethed her skin. "I'm not… not ready for sex."
"That's okay," he said, voice husky and growling. "I just want to touch you. Can I?"
Oh goodness. "Yes," she whimpered, "if I get to touch you back." Her hand slid to the front of his pants.
"Deal."
She spent a good part of the night with either his hand or his head between her legs.
Yugi's head was on his chest, her hand laying on his sternum. He was snoring lightly, but the rumble of it in his chest was comforting.
She marveled at the skin-on-skin contact. It'd been a long time since she laid with a man like this. She craned her neck back, looked at his sleeping face, lips parted and hair tousled from her clenching hands. He had a little (tiny, really) scar on his left eyebrow from a childhood injury, and a few more dotted his chest and back from his life as a bodyguard.
He was so sturdy, so sure.
Under those stoic edges, he was soft and kind and warm.
Her heart fluttered.
She loved him. She'd never felt so intensely for anyone.
She laid her head back down and stared at the glow of muted morning light on the pale walls.
And she was afraid.
Rafael didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving, so Yugi invited him to the family dinner Seto and her mother were planning.
He accepted the invitation, and her family was abuzz with gossip about the elusive boyfriend they had yet to meet. (Apparently, Seto threatened to make the man 'disappear' if he didn't meet Seto's standards, and Yugi's heart warmed when she realized that her brother-in-law really cared about her happiness.)
The whole drive to the Kaiba manor, Yugi was fraught with nerves.
Rafael would reach over, hold her hand, smile reassuringly at her. Her own smile trembled.
Rafael didn't realize it, but it was a make-it-or-break-it moment for him.
Yugi didn't know if she could handle it if she had to let him go.
Roland accepted the car keys when they pulled into the huge circle drive.
Rafael touched her cheek, carded his fingers through her hair. (She loved that he loved her hair so much.) "Relax, baby," he murmured, "It'll all be fine."
She laid her hand over his, traced the scars on his knuckles with her thumb, and wanted so desperately to believe him.
Seto and Atem instantly recognized him, and they shook his hand. Next came Grandpa, who smiled brightly but still gave Rafael a stern glare. Mom gave him a hug, and asked Yugi whether or not she broke into the zoo to steal a bear herself or if she paid someone to do it for her. Mokuba, Seto's younger brother, gave the man a wary handshake. If looks could kill, Mokuba would have been a murderer.
(That's when Yugi realized Mokuba's crush on her; before, she had thought that he simply saw her as an older sister.)
Dinner was comfortable, and Yugi's family asked them all about how they met and what Rafael does for a living.
Seto was pissed about the flat tire story. "You should have called me," he grumbled, and Atem talked him down in the way only Atem could.
Under the table, Yugi and Rafael held each other's hands.
Yugi was mixing the mousse. Atem was pulling pies from the double-dutch oven. Mom was just watching.
"You're all grown up," she had said, "I'm done with Thanksgivings. Time to pass the buck to you, girls."
"I really like Rafael," Mom said, swirling her wine in her glass.
Atem nodded. "As do I."
Yugi smiled at them. "I'm glad."
"When's the wedding?" Mom asked teasingly.
Yugi gasped at her. "Woah! Hold your horses, crazy lady!"
Atem cocked a brow. "It's a good question. You should see the way he looks at you, Yugi. It's like you hung the stars and the moon in his sky."
Yugi blushed. She hadn't noticed, but she'd definitely pay more attention now.
Atem stood up at the table after dessert. "Seto and I have an announcement to make…"
Mom gasped, slammed her hands on the table.
"I'm pregnant."
Yugi squealed into her hands. Rafael laughed, wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
She muffled her next shriek in his shirt.
His big hand petted her hair, and she looked up at him. The tender light she found there, in his dark, solemn eyes took her breath away.
That night, they made love for the first time.
Rafael had her folded in half, her legs hooked over his arms.
"You're so damn beautiful."
It'd been so long - it was so good -
Yugi panted, clawed at his back. His eyes drank her in, and the intense gaze turned her insides to hot, trembling jelly.
" Yugi ," he growled. "Yugi, Yugi, Yugi." Her name was a broken chant.
"Mm, mm, Raf-Rafael…" She tried to kiss him, but she was breathing too heavily; she just ended up panting hotly against his lips and jaw, weakly mouthed his skin.
"I love you," he gasped, pressed his forehead against her temple. "I-I love you so much."
Yugi wanted to respond. She was too overwhelmed; she could only get his name out alongside her mewling moans.
Neither of them could hold on too long. Rafael rocked her into the mattress with his last thrusts, and her spine bowed hard with overstimulation. Their final moans drew out like the ecstasy they clung to.
He held himself above her, elbows trembling.
She reached up, fingers quivering, to caress his face. She tried to catch her breath, but gave up.
"I… I love you, too."
He laughed. "That's good… it just… came out. But it's true."
Yugi giggled and buried her face in his neck.
They were walking down the sidewalk, and, in typical Yugi-fashion, her foot caught on an uneven edge and she tripped.
Big arms banded around her, and Rafael lifted her up and set her back on her feet.
She panted, looked up at him with big eyes. "Thank you for once again saving the damsel in distress."
Rafael smiled down at her, traced a calloused finger along the edge of her face to push her hair away. "It was my pleasure."
"I'm sure," Yugi murmured. "I feel like you get a particular kick out if doing it."
"I do," he said quietly.
Yugi snorted at him, and they continued walking for a little bit, hands entwined. And then Rafael stopped them again.
"And I'd…" he paused, lifted his gaze to hers, "... I'd like to continuing doing it for the rest of our lives." His eyes searched her face. "If you'll have me."
Sniffing away tears (and failing horribly), Yugi pulled him in for a kiss.
Atem was Matron of Honor at their wedding, and little Kisara the flower girl.
When Yugi walked up the aisle on her grandfather's arm, she looked into Rafael's eyes and had a revelation.
She suddenly wasn't so hurt about always falling into Atem's shadow…
Not when she'd found a man to sit in the shade with her.
Hurhurhurr. My first one shot for this fandom that isn't Hatshipping (if you wanna know what the hell I am talking about, check out my other works)
Also, I've seen this pairing before, but no one seems to have bothered to name it, so I will.
Soulshipping. Because... well... the whole soul stealing thing...
Thanks for reading!