Deliver This Kiss
The smell of carpet cleaner was neither pleasing to the senses nor distracting enough to keep his mind off of the journey. His cards had been chosen and set aside, and now there was nothing left for him to do but to endure the hours until they arrived at their intended destination. So his stomach churned uneasily as he breathed in the smell in the room, trying to relax but not able to think about anything else but the impending duel. It was the final stop in the adventure that they'd been on for the past two years. There was nowhere else to go, no path to turn onto but the path set before them. Yuugi opened the window and sucked in night air, trying to ignore the scent of the carpet cleaner.
Perhaps the thing that was making him the most uneasy was the utter silence and disconnection that he felt in the back of his mind: the warm presence of his other self that was usually there was gone. His gaming partner for so long had shut himself in the deepest portions of his mind, and though he knew it was probably better this way, Yuugi couldn't help but feel like every moment that could be spent enjoying each other's company was slipping through his fingers. Still, they had prepared their strategies. They had made their decisions. There couldn't be any regrets...
But just as Yuugi had a lot on his mind, his other self did too, though he hid it well. Even as Yuugi worried over lost time between them, the ancient spirit sharing his body tried to ditch his concerns and be satisfied with the events that were playing out.
Leaning back into a plush chair, Yuugi pursed his lips and stared at the golden Puzzle box sitting on the coffee table. It almost would have been better to be agonizing over cards for even just a little while longer, just so that he could have something to occupy his mind with. It was unfortunate that he'd already planned everything out. As he had nothing else left to do, it would probably be best to try and get some sleep. The Ceremonial Duel would require his utmost concentration and alertness. Even knowing this, however, Yuugi could not get himself to stand up and leave the chair for the bed some dozen feet away. He could not even lift his gaze from the box, where his greatest deck rested.
It surprised him, as he sat there, to be interrupted by a quiet, hesitant tapping in the back of his mind. This had him frowning. His other self was never hesitant. He opened up to the spirit instantly, welcoming his thoughts in his mind once more. But the spirit chose instead to appear before the chair, arms crossed over his chest and face troubled. Yuugi frowned a little further. "Did you want more time to pick out a deck?" He asked in confusion.
"I do not intend to lose," began the spirit, and Yuugi listened intently. He wanted to commit every interaction with him to memory. "I refuse to do anything less than my best as a duelist, but I have thought hard on this and..." he looked as if he was having difficulties choosing words for his sentence, so Yuugi softened his gaze in an attempt to assure him that he would not be judgemental. With a deep breath, the spirit murmured, "I believe that I must have a contingency plan. So I have one final request for you, Partner, if you will let me make it."
Yuugi sat up straighter. "Of course."
After learning what he wanted, Yuugi could only apologize for being blind to his other self's feelings. In retrospect, he should have figured it out sooner, but the spirit only looked at him and shrugged nonchalantly. It would have made no difference even if he had known, he'd told Yuugi, who could only smile sadly back at the spirit whose emotions were so well hidden behind a mask that Yuugi could not even tell if he was hurting. So he hurt for him, if only because he knew that his other self would never clearly express his thoughts when he knew that he would gain nothing from it.
So Yuugi agreed to his request, and set about doing one of the last things that he would ever do for the spirit residing in the Millennium Puzzle.
xXx
That had been two weeks ago.
Hooking two fingers under the lip of his hood and pulling it down further over his face, Yuugi waited impatiently for the streetlight to change so that he could cross the road. In his jeans pocket rested a very important letter, written in an ancient script and sealed with the only Shadow magic still residing in the world. It looked like a scorched section of the envelope, but it was hermetically sealing the paper to protect the words inside, and even more absurdly it was stronger than any tape or sticker and would not allow the envelope to be opened, no matter how hard one pulled or tried to cut the paper. (He had mentioned it to his friends as something that the spirit had left behind with him, and Joey had been curious, so he'd attempted to cut the thing open with scissors, as much as Yuugi had pleaded with him to stop. It would be suffice to say that the scissors were better classified as bits of metal and plastic now.)
He'd been trying, for the past few minutes while walking down the street, to sort out and find the appropriate names for what he was feeling, but he hadn't managed to decide much. He was nervous, that much was certain, because he didn't know how the recipient of the letter would react and he so dearly wished it to be a favourable reaction. And he was uncomfortable, since they hadn't spoken since the trip to Egypt and Yuugi was not quite sure where he stood in their relationship anymore.
Kaiba Corporation's office building loomed ahead of him, the tallest tower in downtown Domino. Yuugi wasn't even sure if the CEO was in that building, but he supposed that it would be the first place to check. Barring emergencies or dueling, Yuugi was sure that Kaiba's company was his main priority. Mokuba was the only thing that kept his nature in check and forced him to slow down and do fun things every once in a while, so far as he knew. So probably...Kaiba would be in that building, tapping away at his computer, cranking out reports. Yuugi had been a little flustered while leaving the house, or else he would have phoned ahead to see if Kaiba was free, but after he'd walked some distance and realized this mistake he'd decided that he might as well try to get a spare moment with him anyway.
Going through his closet that afternoon, he'd been shocked to see the letter at the bottom of one of his bags, lying nearly forgotten about after the Ceremonial Duel and his other self's subsequent departure. It had taken Yuugi a while to adjust to having his body to himself and not having to deal with saving the world or some other variations of that scenario. It had taken him a while to finally let go of everything that had happened, and move forward, no matter how happy he was that the spirit that he'd known so well had finally left his side for something better. So the letter had been pushed to the far corners of his mind. He'd immediately felt guilty after catching sight of it, and had rushed out of the house to see it delivered. Hopefully it wasn't too late. The magic seal would surely prevent...
The light changed, and Yuugi started across the street, careful to make sure that the slight breeze was not going to push his hood down off of his head. It would not due to have to stop and sign an autograph or take a picture if someone recognized him. He wasn't interested in wasting any time.
As the building drew closer, the crowds of shoppers started to thin, and he noticed more formal attire on the people around him. Yuugi began to feel very out-of-place, dressed as he was in such casual wear in the business district of the city. He tried to swallow his discomfort but found that his throat was dry.
After a few more minutes of walking he entered the building.
Of course the lobby was immaculate, so Yuugi made sure to stop and rub his shoes against the doormat before walking across the floor to the receptionist. He reached the desk and she gave him a thoughtful look. "I was wondering if Kaiba was free for a moment...?" He questioned uncertainly.
The tight bun that her hair was in made her look too stern, and her unsmiling face made Yuugi wonder if Kaiba only hired robot-like employees. She certainly didn't look like she'd been hired for her personality. Her fingers grasped a phone and she pressed a few buttons, barely glancing at him. "I'll make a call to his personal secretary," she informed him, "who should I say is requesting an audience with him?"
An audience, she said, Yuugi thought wryly. What is he now, a king? "Yuugi Mutou."
After barely a minute of talking, and some waiting while the secretary apparently went through his day planner, the receptionist gave him the go-ahead. She clipped a visitor ID card to his sweater to allow him to pass through the security to the elevators, and waved him along. Yuugi was surprised that it had been so easy. Perhaps the CEO's day was more free than he'd imagined it'd be.
Yuugi walked as calmly as his heart would allow up to the elevators, getting curt nods from the security guards and quick instructions on where Kaiba's office was located as he passed them. Then he entered the elevator, and hit the button for Kaiba's floor. A chime sounded through the small space, and then steel shut him in so soundly that Yuugi found himself shifting on his feet uneasily.
Some two minutes later he found himself in front of Kaiba's secretary, who informed him that she had let Kaiba know that he was coming up. "The door is unlocked. Go on in." And she waved him past just like the woman had done at the desk on the main floor below, gaze firmly on the computer and the work before her. Straining to be efficient to the point that she refused to waste even a second looking at him, it seemed.
Yuugi turned the handle to the office and walked inside, closing the door behind him. "Sorry for the intrusion," he called out, as Kaiba glanced up from organizing folders in his desk drawer.
There was a good few metres of space between them, and a couch and the desk, yet Kaiba still managed to look imposing as he stood. It was perhaps due to his face being so comfortably blank that Yuugi frowned before offering a smile, but Kaiba dismissed the slight tension in the room with a wave of his hand. "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you today?" He said smoothly, and Yuugi saw the old rivalry sparking in his eyes, and he knew that Kaiba was hoping that the answer had a thing or two to do with Duel Monsters.
Avoiding the question for the moment, Yuugi asked, "I'm not interrupting anything important, am I? If I am, I could always come back at a better time..."
"Always so courteous," Kaiba cut him off dryly. He gestured to the couch, and Yuugi walked further into the room. "Have a seat. Now, no, I'm not so interested in pleasantries. So don't bother asking how I'm doing or what I've been up to. Be direct. I want to know why you're here."
Sinking into the expensive piece of furniture, Yuugi sighed a little in exasperation. Kaiba dropped back into his desk chair, waiting expectantly for an answer. "I have a letter for you," Yuugi dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out the envelope with the Shadow seal. Kaiba looked mildly curious. "It's from the Other Me."
Now the CEO's gaze grew sharp, but for a few seconds he said nothing. The atmosphere in the room had suddenly altered, and looking at the businessman, Yuugi thought that he could see some amount of regret in his features. They weren't so obvious, but just barely hinted at from the stillness of his body and the clenching of his fingers. Yuugi wondered if he missed him.
Staring at the proffered letter in Yuugi's hand, and the quiet uncertainty on his face, Kaiba reached over the desk and grasped the tip of the paper, accepting it. As soon as his fingers grasped the paper, it let out a sound like a hiss, almost as if air was suddenly escaping an enclosed space. He turned the envelope over and watched a strange black burn on the paper like a scorch mark disappear, releasing the lip of the envelope, which flapped open. The letter fell out onto the desk.
Yuugi stared with wide eyes, but Kaiba abruptly decided that he was going to ignore the strange occurrence. The envelope was discarded from his hands; he unfolded the letter and stared at the ancient script on the page. For all the size of the paper, there was only a single paragraph of hieroglyphs, in the very middle of the white space. He dropped the letter, irritated. Yuugi ventured aloud, "You're not going to read it?"
"You're not about to tell me to read a language I never learned," Kaiba warned, and his mouth twisted into a scowl. Typical of that man, to forego Japanese and write it in his own language instead. Just to further stick it in his face that the things that he did not wish to believe in were true.
There was no response from Yuugi, just a mournful look on his face, like he'd been hoping for a better reaction. To save himself from any further staring, Kaiba reluctantly looked down again at the page.
There can be no false feelings in the world, just ones which are freely shown and ones which are hidden deep in the heart. I have lived to the fullest extent of my being, and then I have lived again, through the extension of a vessel very dear to me. I have done all that I was meant to, so I can rest easy now. But there is one last expression of my feelings that I wish to make. With this, my mind will be at peace. If you are receiving this, Kaiba, then I have gone to paradise. There are no further words to express what I have wished to say, so indeed this letter will end here, leaving you at a loss, no doubt. Forgive me for this. Actions have always meant more to me than words.
After reading it, Kaiba looked up and met Yuugi's gaze. "Was this all?" He demanded, and Yuugi flinched at the tone.
He returned haltingly, "Just the letter and..."
"Me."
Kaiba started at the voice, and spun his chair around, eyes widening in shock at the very real image being presented to his brain. Yuugi sank further into the couch, trying to become invisible. He suddenly felt that he was intruding, though for all the world it was as though he no longer existed to the other two occupants of the room.
For there standing behind the desk, back leaning against the glass of a large window, was the transparent form of the Other Yuugi. His arms were crossed and his face held all the seriousness of the situation, which was all Kaiba needed to see to know that it wasn't a joke. But this was not the form of Atem, the Pharaoh, that he was seeing. No, this figure's skin was pale, and he was dressed in a school uniform. It was the man that he'd come to know so well, and Kaiba thought that he must not be mistaken though logic said that it could not be true. "You..." Kaiba trailed off, at a loss for words, which was a rare occasion in and of itself.
"For the most part, I have passed on." Dark Yuugi intoned, his voice heavy with reluctant acceptance. Kaiba regained his composure a little, straightening in his seat. "This is the final piece of myself that I broke off from my soul in order to fulfill my last desires. It was protected by the magic sealing the letter, but now that the seal has been broken, this piece of myself will wear away and then cease to exist. It is but a matter of time." He uncrossed his arms and rubbed his fingers together in front of his face, staring sadly at how transparent they were. Kaiba watched, fascinated, as his form began to get misty at the edges.
"You're...disappearing," the businessman said unnecessarily.
"It will be perhaps a matter of minutes," he responded with a casual shrug, like nonexistence was not in the least bit concerning. Kaiba's mouth formed a hard line. "You read the letter in its entirety, I assume." Kaiba neither agreed nor disagreed to this statement, causing the spirit to continue speaking as if he had heard a positive answer from him though no answer had been given at all. "I am afraid that as much as I wish to erase the vagueness of my words, I cannot. I have no physical body to express my feelings, and so..."
With a quiet clearing of his throat, Yuugi interjected, startling Kaiba, who had forgotten that he was still in the room. But the spirit turned his eyes from Kaiba and met Yuugi's with a thoughtful expression. "I'll let you use my body, if you want." Yuugi murmured to his other self.
There was a short moment of silence between them, before the spirit's face melted into a warm, thankful look. Yuugi only smiled softly, and got to his feet, coming around the desk to stand by the spirit, who slid so carefully into his body that Kaiba was sure that he was just going to pass right through him.
But then Yuugi's features began to alter, as the mist of the spirit's form faded from sight. All of a sudden Kaiba was staring once more into the face of his old rival. "Do you mind," he ground out, getting thoroughly fed up with the run-around, "telling me what this is all about?"
The ancient spirit's face was alit with faint mirth and taunting. "Kaiba," He took two steps closer, now standing right before his chair. His mouth was creaking into a smirk which Kaiba did not like in the least. Then he placed his hands on the edge of the desk on either side of Kaiba's chair, effectively trapping him. Kaiba started to raise his hand to push him away, a little baffled at his behaviour. "You are not going to like this in the least." The spirit let out a brief chuckle, and leaned closer.
He eliminated the distance between them so quickly that Kaiba did not have any time to protest. The kiss was light at first, then firm, and the spirit moved his lips over Kaiba's like he was memorizing every detail. Kaiba's brain tried to process what was happening, and when it finally occurred to him that the man trapping him in his chair did not intend on moving anytime soon, his hands pushed at his shoulders to get him away.
But he'd anticipated that, and rather than grabbing at Kaiba's hands, he grasped his head. So as Kaiba pushed him away, he only ended up being dragged forward as the spirit wished for their mouths to stay pressed together. "Umpf," Kaiba went for his fingers now, which were threading themselves through his hair. The spirit's attention was focussed on sucking on his bottom lip, so he managed to release a hand without much resistance and pulled his head back. "What do you think you're—"
"Mmm?" Came the reply, and Kaiba felt the smirk against his mouth. He finally got most of his wits together and swiped out a foot, knocking the spirit's knees inward enough to use his hands again to try and push him over. But the once-named Game King only entangled their legs and kicked the chair sideways in order to pull Kaiba down with him.
They hit the floor hard, and Kaiba tried to twist his head for air, which he was granted, but only briefly. His vision was still filled with the pale skin of the man's cheeks, and he contemplated actually hitting him before he caught sight of his eyes flickering open, shining darkly with a challenge. And Kaiba, stunned and confused and highly irritated, opened his mouth to utter some complaint, but the spirit underneath him only smirked more widely and tilted his head up to flick his tongue in-between Kaiba's teeth. Kaiba jerked his head backward in alarm, and the hands loosened from his head.
The spirit lay back on the floor with an air of satisfaction as Kaiba pulled back far enough to sit with his back against the desk, feet finally untangled from the spirit's on the floor.
Setting his elbow on the floor and his chin in the palm of his hand, Dark Yuugi said decisively, "I win again, Kaiba."
"What are you talking about?" Kaiba snapped back heatedly, much to the spirit's amusement. Kaiba luckily could not see himself, or else he would have been even more furious about his mussed hair and crinkled suit. Dark Yuugi thought that he looked good with these imperfections, though he wasn't about to mention it to Kaiba. "That wasn't some game!"
"Oh, but it was," corrected the man across from him idly, confidently, "this is the day you'll always remember as the one and only time you lost to me...off of the dueling field. Now I have beaten you utterly and completely."
Kaiba scrambled forward, and grabbed the front of his sweater, snarling, "You didn't win at anything!"
"I made you lose your composure," he held up his fingers and began folding them down as he spoke, further infuriating Kaiba, "I did something you did not expect and managed to get my way though you were against it. And finally, I have proven myself better than you." Kaiba looked down at him like he had four heads, and the spirit bit the inside of his cheek in an attempt to hold down the laughter. Casually, he continued, "I would have thought that you might have tried to show me that you were the better kisser, but this was not the case. Therefore, by default, I win." Letting go and getting to his feet like touching the spirit was burning his hands, Kaiba did not take his eyes off of Dark Yuugi as he too stood and straightened his clothing. Kaiba's mouth was hanging open slightly; he was more shocked than angry now. "Since I have won, I feel I can be at peace now, though it is a pity that we did not get to play more games together. Farewell, Kaiba," said the spirit mockingly, and Kaiba could indeed see that he was misting away from Yuugi's body.
As the more angular features on Yuugi's face began to soften, Kaiba regained a shred of his anger and said bitterly to the disappearing man, "You cut off a piece of your soul just to further rub it in my face that you've beaten me?"
A sad smile graced his face for a fleeting instant. "No. I wanted to...see you, one last time..."
His anger faded with the spirit's soul, and then there was just Yuugi standing there, looking more than a little uncomfortable. Kaiba stared at him coolly. "If it makes you feel any better," Yuugi mumbled hesitantly, "I think that he really liked you, Kaiba. Even if he didn't exactly say it, in the end..."
Kaiba continued to stare at him until Yuugi fidgeted. Then he returned, "He didn't even let me figure out what he was going to do to give me a chance to think about responding." The tone was cutting. Yuugi blinked a moment before flushing pink. "Typical of that man, to not even give his opponent a chance to think about strategies—"
"Erm, Kaiba, human interactions...aren't games, you know that right...?"
He was given a sharp look. "Yuugi, unless you're challenging me to a duel, I have more important things to spend my time with, if you don't mind."
"...Good-bye, Kaiba. I'll be off then." Yuugi turned around and strode to the door, turning the handle and starting through it.
There was a quiet voice sounding out from behind him, but Yuugi did not turn to acknowledge it as he continued outside and closed the door behind him with a gentle click.
"You could have at least given me a moment to say good-bye to you, too..."
The End.