Title: Too Late
Author: celestial-fire-angel
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh
Pairing: Seto x Yami
Summary: I didn't have time for him then, but now I have all the time in the world.
Author's Note: Hi, does everyone still remember me? Hopefully people do...I know it's been a super long time since I've posted anything but that's because of RL stuff that's been happening. Just started college and so getting used to the whole home away from home deal with roommates and such. Went through a hell of a rollercoaster my las semester of high school and during the summer. Not to mention that my creativity flow was disrupted for quite some time but it's coming back so please look forward to updates more frequently now. (Plus my beta would hurt me if I dared to take a long hiatus like I did...but I love my beta! Thank you, ChocolateObsessed!) I'm trying hard to complete chapter 14 of "To My Enemy I've Come to Love" so please look for it...soon? Now without further ado, I present my one-shot, "Too Late". (This one was what got me back into my writing mood!)
Too Late
Why hadn't I noticed the change before? At the time, it only seemed weird he acted the way he did, but it made perfect sense now, only now, it was too late…
Around the time I began to notice the change, my company announced that a new product was being developed. He came into my office one day, lacking all of his usual air. Of course at the time, I was busy and didn't notice.
"I need to talk to you," he had said quietly.
"I'm busy," I had snapped, not even looking up from my computer screen. I hated being bothered when I'm at work, if you didn't notice.
"But…"
"Didn't you hear me? I said I was busy. I don't have time for you! We'll talk later."
He had said nothing after that. He only turned around and walked out of my office.
It was only a few days later before he came back. "I need to talk to you," he said again.
"I have important meetings all day today as well as the rest of the week. I don't have the time," I had said, giving him a dismissive wave of my hand without looking up from the financial reports I was busy reading. Again, he left without another word, just a sigh and curt nod of his head.
The third time he came, I was in my study typing up the program to the newest game I was creating.
"Seto…" he growled, barging into room without knocking. I finally looked up, sending a glare his way for interrupting me. My fingers were poised over the keyboard, ready to go back to work when he left.
"We need to talk."
I had heard this twice before. "Obviously you don't understand the amount of work I have," I growled. I hadn't noticed how gaunt he looked. I hadn't noticed the way his clothes just seemed to drape over his almost skeletal figure. I only had the mindset of getting back to my program.
He had slammed his hands down on the desk, his eyes burning into mine. Frustrated that I was losing valuable time, I stood up and grabbed his arm, never paying attention to how my fingers managed to encase the upper part of his arm easily. I dragged him to the door and gave him a shove. I watched as he stumbled into the hallway, trying to keep from losing his balance. He sent a nasty look my way that went unheeded and I closed the door, effectively cutting him from my view. Rubbing my temples, I moved back, the familiar clicking of the keys on the keyboard was enough to make me forget about his visit.
Months later, before the debut of my newest game, I was called for interviews with the media. Yami hadn't come visit for some time, as I found out later. At the time, I was just glad I didn't have any more distractions or interruptions. On my way out of the mansion, I saw Mokuba standing by the car I was taking to the interview. Curious as to what my brother was up to, I spared a few moments to ask.
"Something wrong, Mokuba?" I asked, glancing at my watch.
"You haven't noticed anything, have you?" Mokuba asked, an almost accusatory tone lacing his voice.
"Noticed what?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow. He wasn't making any sense.
"Hello? What's been going on with Yami?" he asked. "He hasn't been eating and he's always locked up in his room. Something's going on Seto and you need to find out what it is."
"I'm on my way to an interview," I said, brushing it off. "It's probably nothing. He doesn't eat much anyways."
Mokuba just stared at me, like I'd grown a second head or two more arms. Mokuba said. "You've only paid attention to your company and forgotten he even exists. How could you do something like that, Seto? What happened to my caring big brother who told Yami that he wanted them to be together? Do you know why Yami came back?" Mokuba's voice was getting louder by every word that came out of his mouth.
"Of course I do," I said, my voice coming out harsher than I wanted it to. I remember the day Yami left us very well. It was after the duel with Yugi, and since he could finally be at peace, Yami decided to leave and be with the rest of the people from his era. I had watched him go, unable, unwilling to say anything against it for fear of being judged by his friends. It was true in the beginning I thought of him only as a rival, someone who I had to crush on my way to becoming the top duelist, but gradually as he and I went through so many adventures together, he began to grow on me and I reluctantly began to notice. The feelings began to get harder and harder to suppress as time went on but I had a reputation to uphold. As he was leaving, I said nothing, conveying my message with my eyes. And I knew that he got my message because he had found a way back to me. I wasn't sure how he did it but he did and I was glad, for a time. Then the reality of going back to work and furthering KaibaCorp hit and I spent less and less time with Yami.
"He came back for you," Mokuba said, ignoring what I had said. "That's what he said, remember? And now you don't even go see how he's doing!"
"Mokuba," I said firmly. "We'll have to talk later. I have an interview in twenty minutes that I absolutely cannot miss…"
"See? There you go again. Everything is always about your company! Why don't you just marry your company, Seto? Yami's not important to you anyways, right?"
"Of course he's important," I had said, unwilling to say more on the topic. I pressed the little remote I had in my hand to unlock the door to the car. "Now get out of the way, Mokuba, I have to go."
"Obviously not as important as KaibaCorp," I heard Mokuba mutter before watching him run back to the mansion, slamming the front door shut. Sighing, I pushed what Mokuba said out of my head for the time being. I couldn't be distracted at the interview.
After the interview had finished, I headed straight home, Mokuba's words echoing in my head. Locking the car and closing the garage door, I headed upstairs, passing Yami's door. I stopped momentarily to stare and raised my hand to knock but the fatigue hit me from the long nights I spent typing away and let my hand drop as I walked back to my room. I didn't know it would be the biggest mistake of my life to walk away that night.
The days following the interview, I had many other business meetings that I had to attend to with the CEOs of other companies that expressed interest in my holographic technology. Before I knew it, many more weeks had passed without me ever seeing Yami.
One cold December day, Mokuba ran into my office with news that would change everything. Out of breath and flushed from the cold outside, Mokuba had an urgent look on his face.
"Seto…hurry…Yami…" he wheezed out in between breaths.
I couldn't understand what he was trying to say. "Slow down, Mokuba," I said, not wanting my brother to collapse in my office. "Catch your breath first."
"No time…Yami…he's…" Mokuba took a deep breath before blurting out. "He's in the hospital and it doesn't look good!"
I blinked, thinking Mokuba was playing a trick on me just to get me to go see Yami. I had been planning to go see him after work after launching the new game, I had a couple of weeks where everything could be taken at a slower pace. "That isn't funny, Mokuba," I said, crossing my arms.
"I'm not joking!" Mokuba said, nearly hysterical at my thick-headedness. "He's really in the hospital! He tried to…" Mokuba choked on the last few words of his sentence.
My eyes narrowed. "Tried to what?" I asked, feeling a chill run down my spine.
"Kill himself!" Mokuba screamed. He ran to where I sat and gripped onto my arm tightly. "He cut his wrists…there was so much blood and…it was everywhere…"
My eyes widened and I stood up quickly. "He tried what?" I asked, not sure if I had heard correctly.
"I found him in the bathtub and there was a razor and….blood all over the floor and the water in the tub…" Mokuba was shaking beside me. "It was so…red…"
I could only stare at him in disbelief. It couldn't have been Yami…there was no way Yami would do something so stupid.
"Hurry, Seto!" Mokuba said, his voice dragging me out of my dream-like state.
I nodded and immediately called my driver to ready the car. "Stay here, Mokuba," I told my brother, somehow knowing that he wouldn't want to be at the hospital this time. Mokuba looked ready to protest but one look at the expression I had made him comply with my wishes. "Which hospital was he taken to?"
"He's at Domino Hospital."
Nodding, I ran to my private elevator, pressing the "down" button frantically as if it would make the elevator come faster. When it finally arrived, I stepped inside and pressed the button for the ground floor just as frantically. I could do little as the elevator made its way down the sixty some odd floors. Tapping my foot impatiently, I watched as the number began the slow descent down to one. Before the elevator door opened fully, I squeezed out of elevator and hurried to my car. Grabbing the keys from my driver, I climbed into the car and started the ignition. Not bothering to buckle my seatbelt, I sped towards the hospital.
Not caring that I parked in a disabled space, I cut the engine and ran through the entrance, not even bothering to lock my car.
"Yami Mutou's room," I told the nurse.
The nurse looked at the rest of the nurses at the desk, all of whom gave me a wary look. Apparently they thought I'd do something…imbeciles.
"Stop fucking stalling and tell me," I said, ready to throttle every single one of them.
"R-room 2-224," one of the nurses stammered.
I tore down the hallway, eyes scanning for his room. When I found it, I threw open the door, not caring about who I disturbed in the process. If any of the staff had a problem with it, they would be looking for new jobs.
"Yami!"
He lay there on the pristine white sheets, eyes closed, still. An oxygen mask had been placed over his nose and mouth, connected to a ventilator, helping in breathe. His arms lay by his side on top of the white sheets. His wrists had been bandaged, hiding the hideous cuts he had inflicted on himself. On shaky legs, I walked to his bedside, staring down at him.
This was the first time in many months that I had looked at him properly. I had just noticed how thin he had become, the bones in his arms sticking out hideously, ready too puncture the tan skin at a moment's notice. It seemed his body was being swallowed up by the hospital bed. He had become vulnerable.
"Yami?" I called softly.
He didn't move. I wasn't sure if he really wasn't conscious or if he was just too mad at me to open his eyes so I stayed silent for a while, listening to the occasional beep of the EKG machine.
"Look, you knew that I was busy," I said, in no way trying to find an excuse for what I did. It was a fact; I was busy and had no time. "I have a company to run…and it takes a lot of my time. I can't just take time off when I feel like it. There are too many people who depend on me to lead them."
I took a seat and looked at Yami's face, relaxed in sleep or whatever state he was in. I was shocked to see a tear escaping from the corner of Yami's eyes, running slowly down his cheek and finally seeping into the collar of the hospital gown he was wearing. He had heard me, I was sure but why didn't he open his eyes? I watched as another tear escaped his eyes and just as the tear was soaked up by the fabric, I heard a loud 'beep' go off. Startled, I looked around wildly around, trying to find out what was going on. It was only when my eyes fell on the EKG machine that I finally realized what had happened.
There was a flat line.
The rest played out slowly, as if someone had pressed a button somewhere and now the world was in slow motion. I saw the doctors rush in with a horde of nurses. A forest of people blocking Yami from my view. I saw the doctors try desperately to revive him, performing CPR and using a defibrillator. I had to close my eyes; it was too much to take in. The chill that had gripped me in my office now turned into a numbing sensation.
I hadn't realized that I had slid to the floor until one of the doctors placed his hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and turned my icy blue stare on him. The voiceless message I sent to him was received and he took a deep breath before shaking his head slowly. His words seem to echo in the room.
"We tried everything. It was no use. I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba."
That couldn't have been true. I refused to believe it. Then as if someone returned everything to normal and I leapt at the doctor, both hands fisting tightly in his labcoat.
"You're lying!" I snarled, gripping onto his coat hard enough to hear some of the seams rip.
The doctor was trembling but cleared his throat and readjusted his glasses. "M-Mr. Kaiba…it's true…we tried everything…nothing worked….he's…he's dead."
The word 'dead' rang through my head over and over again. I let go of the doctor and turned my gaze to the bed. The nurses were standing on the opposite side, heads bowed, eyes downcast. I can't say how I managed to walk over to the bed but somehow I did and I looked down at the white sheet that had been pulled over his head.
Suddenly, I felt angry at him. He had left without saying anything. He had left without opening his eyes and looking at me. I never got to see those crimson eyes one last time.
"Damn you, Yami!" I heard myself scream. I gripped the sheet and pulled it off his body, letting it flutter to the floor. I gripped his shoulders and shook him roughly. "Wake up, you bastard! Open those eyes of yours and quit playing this stupid game!"
Suddenly I was yanked backwards by the group of doctors, and as they dragged me back, I was still screaming at Yami, uncontrollably. I watched as the nurses placed the sheet over Yami again hiding him from my view. It was the last time I saw him.
Days later, after I had calmed down, somewhat, the doctors told me the cause of Yami's suicide was depression. That one word, depression, was the final piece to everything. I had caused Yami's depression because I had been the one that forced him to come back and yet I spent virtually no time with him. I had rudely thrown him out time and time again when he needed to talk or just wanted some company.
The reason he had wanted to talk all those time before was probably to confront me, but as usual, I made no time for him. I pushed him aside, made him take a backseat to my company. While he was alive I had no time to spare for him. I had no time to talk with him, to be with him simply because I gave myself no time to do so.
And now that he's gone, it seems like all I have is time. Only now, it is too late.
Author's Note: So how was it for a piece that I've written since my hiatus almost half a year ago? Was it good? Bad? Please let me know! And as always...
Read and Review!
Arigatou gozaimashita!