More Than Pride

Dedication: This is dedicated to Stranded4Ever because... One, she's an awesome, nice person who deserves it. Two, her fics Candle In The Wind and You're Not Me got me addicted to Prideshipping in the first place. And three, she's one of the best Prideshipping writers on this site.

Warnings: Future slash. Rated for mild language. AU.

Disclaimer: It does not belong to me. Anything you recognize is not mine.

A/N: This is my first attempt at a chapter fanfic, so feedback is very appreciated. I changed the title from Purple Stardust to More Than Pride; I think this one fits more. Sorry if this caused any confusion.

And of course, a huge thanks goes to GlitteredVixen06 for beta reading this!

Chapter One - All It Takes Is Time

I don't know your name or who you are, but it doesn't matter.

I don't know the names of strangers, but they still exist. I don't know who the people in history were; I only know their names. I know what they did. But I don't know who they were. You don't have to know who someone was - their identity - for them to affect you or your life.

I was born without a name. I still don't know who I am.

But I will know yours. All it takes is time.

He sat at a table, fingers typing the keys on the silver laptop relentlessly. He occasionally sipped his coffee absentmindedly, not paying attention to the bitter taste. He was glad he chose to sit in a corner; no one paid him any attention. Until...

"Seto Kaiba?"

Seto glanced up at the unfamiliar voice and stared into gorgeous scarlet eyes. He blinked, trying to regain his concentration. Why would Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp., ever become distracted by some stranger? He had no intention to be polite to that stranger until he figured that out. Hell, Seto had no intention to be polite to anyone. Ever. "Do I know you?" he asked, irritated at the distraction.

The mysterious male smirked and brushed blonde bangs out of his eyes. "No, I don't suppose you do." Seto could smell hints of cinnamon on the stranger's breath.

Seto narrowed his eyes. "You have my name. You should tell me yours." Now that Seto thought about it, the male looked a little familiar…

"No, I don't think I'll tell you my name if you can't place my appearance," he replied. "Why should I tell you if I mean nothing to you?"

Seto hated that the stranger made sense. "You should tell me because I said so." No one ever disobeyed him, and this stranger's nerve was irritating him. Seto respected him a little for it, however; most people were too intimidated by him to ever speak up for themselves.

"And I believe I said no. Last time I checked, I don't answer to you." He laughed at Seto's stunned expression.

"If you're just going to annoy me with your childish refusal to tell me your name, get out."

The stranger laughed harder. "I will, then." The door chimed as he walked out. A part of Seto wanted to break that annoying bell.

Seto glared at it until the stranger was well out of sight.

-

When Seto got to class the next day, that stranger was sitting in his spot. Today must be his first day at school here, Seto decided. Otherwise, Seto would've remembered seeing him. Especially with those eyes… "Get out of my seat," he ordered.

"Excuse me?"

"You're in my seat. Move," he repeated.

"I heard what you said, but I'm not moving unless you ask nicely," the stranger replied. In response to Seto's dumbfounded expression, he added, "That means you have to say please."

"I do not say please to anyone!" Seto didn't even say please to Mokuba.

The stranger shrugged. "Well, I guess you're going to have to find a new seat, then." Seto narrowed his eyes and walked off with clenched fists. He would not say please; that would mean losing. Instead, he took the empty seat next to the stranger.

Seto fought back his anger. Showing it would mean the stranger won; and Seto would not let him win. Not again. Not after he had already taken Seto's desk. He gripped the leg of his desk to release some anger and hoped the stranger didn't notice. Judging by his smirk, he had.

"Good morning class!" Sayuki-sensei said as she walked in.

"Is she always this cheerful?" the stranger whispered to Seto. Seto nodded, and the stranger sighed. "Great. And I already have a fan club, too." Seto looked back, and sure enough, some of girls were pointing at the stranger and whispering. Seto smirked; maybe now they'd leave him alone.

"Better you than me," Seto whispered. "Hell knows I don't have time to put up with them."

"We have a new student today!" Sayuki-sensei continued, oblivious to their whispering. "Yami, could you please stand up?"

The stranger groaned. "This is just my luck," he mumbled, rising from his seat.

"Class, this is Yami Mutou! He's a transfer student from Egypt. Most of you probably know his younger brother, Yugi Mutou."

So that's why he looks so familiar, Seto thought.

"Can I sit now?" Sayuki-sensei nodded. "Thank you," he said politely.

"And you couldn't tell me that in the first place?" Seto asked.

"Tell you what?" Yami asked, feigning innocence.

"Why couldn't you just tell me your name?"

"You didn't say please." Seto thought the desk leg would break under his grip.

-

Yami was sitting in Seto's spot under Seto's tree during lunch. Seto would be damned if he let Yami win again, steal his spot again; so he took a seat next to Yami. Yami stared at Seto with his eyebrows raised questioningly.

"What?" Seto snapped.

"Why are you sitting here?" Yami asked curiously.

"Because this is my spot," Seto replied.

"You could always ask me nicely to move, you know."

"No." Some part of Seto wasn't sure he wanted Yami to move. Of course, that part was small; barely there - but it was there.

Yami shrugged and bit into his apple, the juice moistening his lips. Seto was memorizing Yami's facial features. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to forget them. Yami glanced up to find Seto looking at him. "Why are you staring at me?" he asked.

"I'm not staring at you," Seto said, folding his arms over his chest.

"I never thought you would be one for denial," Yami said, shrugging and biting into his apple again.

"I'm not in denial," Seto replied.

"See? That proves my point."

Seto decided not to reply; he thought it was pointless to continue this argument. Seto Kaiba could not possibly be in denial.

Could he?

Minutes passed, the silence only broken by the crunches the apple made as Yami bit it. Seto was staring his notes for Chemistry, pointedly not looking or staring at Yami. He didn't think the quick glances counted as long as they went unnoticed.

But Yami did notice them.

"Why did you move here?" Seto found himself asking.

"I didn't move here," Yami replied. "I'm just visiting here for a year, that's all. Then I go back to Egypt."

"Why are you visiting, then?" Seto pressed the issue.

Yami was silent for a moment. He didn't even crunch into his apple. "I don't think it's any of your business. Why are you asking?"

Seto wished he knew the answer to that.

"When you can think of a reason why I should tell you… I'll tell you. Until then, you don't need to know," Yami said. He finished the apple and pulled another one out of his lunch sack.

"Is that all you eat?" Seto asked.

"Do you ever eat?" Yami replied with another question.

"Sometimes," was the reply. Yami raised his eyebrows questioningly, so Seto added, "I eat when Mokuba, my little brother, forces me to."

Yami tossed the apple to Seto. "Eat it. And no, I don't eat only apples."

Seto found himself wondering what else Yami ate, but asking would mean admitting he cared. "Why should I eat it? You might've poisoned it."

Yami rolled his eyes. "Why would I poison it if I was planning to eat it? Besides, poisoned apples are a little too Disney for me. I'd like to think I'm a little more creative than that."

The bell saved Seto from answering, and Yami's apple core lay forgotten on the ground.

-

Yami didn't sit with Seto at lunch the next day.

He was at school. Seto was staring at him from across the schoolyard, trying to figure out why Yami wasn't sitting with him; trying to figure out what that odd, distasteful feeling was.

He crossed anger out first. He knew that burning feeling better than most, after all; and he felt too calm to be angry.

Pity was the next to go. Seto preferred silence; he had no reason to pity himself. Likewise, he didn't pity Yami for being alone. Alone and lonely are two different things, as Seto had learned over time. No, Seto wasn't feeling loneliness, either. He hadn't felt that in a long time.

He didn't feel guilty, either. He treated Yami no differently than he would've treated anyone else. Seto sometimes wondered if he even had a conscious, but he doubted it.

Seto finally decided he was feeling disappointment that Yami wasn't sitting by him, although he wasn't sure why. He got a headache from thinking about it; he had no chance in figuring it out. Not yet, anyway.

He walked over to Yami's bench. "Why aren't you sitting by me today?" he asked, glaring. Yami shrugged, and Seto noted with amusement that Yami was eating grapes today instead of apples.

"I figured you didn't want me to sit by you," Yami said, tracing the clouds in the sky.

"That didn't stop you before, did it?" Seto asked.

Yami sighed so quietly Seto could barely hear it. "You got what you wanted, didn't you? So shut up and leave me alone."

"I never said I didn't want you to sit by me," Seto replied. He paused a minute before adding in an indifferent tone, "What's gotten into you today?" Seto pretended not to care; it was easier for him than explaining why he cared.

"Nothing, Kaiba. Don't ask questions if you don't really care for the answer."

"Fine, then. Don't tell me," Seto huffed. He took a seat next to Yami.

Yami stared as Seto pulled an apple out of his book bag. "What are you doing?"

"I thought it was obvious," Seto replied. "Would you like an apple?"

"Well, sorry, but I'm in no mood for your games today," Yami snapped.

"I noticed," Seto mumbled. Louder, he said, "If you're not going to sit by me, I'm going to sit by you."

"I didn't know there was a difference, but whatever," Yami mumbled. "It's not like I can convince you to do otherwise."

"I'm glad you're finally catching on."

-

"Yugi."

Yugi glanced up. "What do you want, Kaiba?"

"What's gotten into Yami today?" Seto asked, getting straight to the point.

Yugi frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with Yami."

"He acted strangely today," Seto replied. He disliked relying on Yugi for information; but he found he didn't mind so much when it came to Yami.

"How would you know what he acts like, Kaiba? You don't even know him. Why should you care?"

Seto was still trying to find the answer to that.

He decided to find out what was wrong with Yami first, though. And make no doubt, he would.