In which Kaiba goes a little 'Holmes'-ish to find out why Yugi has begun to change. Life is better when nothing changes.
Seto Kaiba watched Yugi walk quietly from his seat in the classroom. From here, he could see that the short boy was dressing differently little by little every day.
It was small changes at habitual intervals. He had changed the cord he kept the Millennium Puzzle on first. It had become a steel chain. Them he had added a leather collar with a metal buckle facing forward. Next came the leather bracelets. Then were his shoes. They went from sneakers to leather boots. The uniform jacket came open. He wore a plain white shirt beneath it at first, but soon he had that partially unbuttoned with a black, tightfitting shirt beneath it.
It's like he's changing little by little. But no one changes on such a consistent basis. Is someone making him?
His mind lingered on that thought for a moment. Yugi had been bullied before. It bothered him, but he didn't want to become involved. But if the latest one was trying to force him to become someone he wasn't…
Kaiba looked up as Yugi and his trio of friends entered the room. His eyes drifted to the newest addition to Yugi's attire, a black belt hung with a thin steel chain. With his vibrant hair and the leather and steel, Yugi was beginning to look like he was trying for a 'bad boy' look.
Seto continued to ponder as to his acquaintance's reasons for altering himself. He concluded that being bullied into the change was the most likely theory. As the class ended, he decided he would confront Yugi about this. They had several more classes together, and he could walk with Yugi to any of them.
He fell into step beside the diminutive teen as they strode to the gym, deciding that now was a 'good time'.
"Good morning Mutuo."
Yugi looked up at him, looking puzzled for a moment before his face erupted in an alarmingly bright smile. "Seto! Good morning to you too."
Kaiba was stunned for a moment. Yugi never acted as though anything was wrong, though he had seen this same smile several times when bullies were torturing the boy. He was flabbergasted that Yugi could use his first name so casually. He had never recalled telling him that he was alright with it, but he found that he didn't particularly mind.
He cleared his mind and returned to the task at hand.
"I need to ask you something. It's very important."
Yugi tilted his head, still smiling. "Anything for a friend."
Kaiba fought back a sudden smile. "Mutuo, is anyone bullying you?"
The other boy was silent, seemingly shocked by the question. He, however, shook his head and spoke meticulously, careful to choose every word as though stepping on hot coals. "No. No one has been bothering me. Why?"
Kaiba looked towards Yugi, aware that this was a very serious situation for him. Yugi had been bullied for most of his life here. His height and nerdiness made for a mix that was irresistible to ruffians who had nothing better to do than torment their peers.
"You're changing. You're not the same Yugi Mutuo I played cards with last year. You've become… Darker."
The short boy blushed unhappily, looking down at his feet as they walked. "People change… No one's perfect, so we have to change to try and be perfect, even if we never get there."
Kaiba let those words sink in, rolling them over in his mind.
No one's perfect… We never get there.
He thought of his adoptive father and his younger brother, how much happiness he had sacrificed to keep Gozaburo's abusive and manipulative hand from turning to Mokuba. He had never spoken of his childhood with anyone, but suddenly, he felt the need to.
"Yugi, you heard the rumors about my father's suicide, I'm sure."
He looked up at Kaiba questioningly. "Yeah… Everyone said it was your fault."
"It was, in a way. Gozaburo Kaiba was a hard man. He came to the orphanage my brother and I lived at to tell them he was going to tear it down. I didn't want that, but I could see that this man was wealthy and intelligent. So I challenged him to a game of chess. If he won, the orphanage would be demolished. But if I won, he would leave the building alone and adopt my brother and I. He agreed. I didn't know back then that he was the current champion at the game. I beat him after several hours with Mokuba by my side. It looked like things were going to change for us. And they did. I was forced into hours of extra schoolwork. I barely got to stop to eat and sleep. I couldn't spend time with my little brother. He was trying to turn me into himself. A game master. Then, two years ago, he realized that he had succeeded, and that he was no longer 'on top' of his world. To him, being on top was everything. When that was taken from him, he took the one thing he had left to take, his life."
The two entered the dressing room to the gym silently. Kaiba thought about how he had never shared that with anyone. He hoped Yugi understood that. They changed in silence, jostled lightly by the other boys. They didn't speak again through the entire P.E. period.
Kaiba changed slowly, knowing that Yugi was always the last one out. The boy hid from the other so he wouldn't be picked on. When Yugi finally showed himself, Kaiba had finished dressing and stood leaning against the lockers.
They were silent while Yugi changed, but something seemed different between them. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was comfortable, like when two close friends didn't need to talk to get across their feelings. Kaiba could sense the loneliness Yugi felt.
Finally, Yugi looked at him. "You've never told anyone that."
Seto shook his head. "No, I haven't. No one else would understand. Some changes are bad, Yugi. He changed me in a way that I probably won't recover from. I became heartless and selfish. Don't be like that."
Yugi smiled softly. "I heard once, that you can't make someone into something they never were to begin with. You aren't heartless, your priorities are just a little misplaced. And everyone is selfish sometimes. That's just the way people are."
He took Kaiba's hand, squeezing it gently.
"Seto, I promise you that I won't let a few external changes take me over. But only if you promise me something."
The elitist raised an eyebrow. "Alright, it's only fair."
"Promise me you'll never change. You'd be boring if you were perfect."
Kaiba felt himself smile. "I suppose perfect is boring, isn't it?"
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! This is not my true first and will not be my last. Please Rate, comment, and fave!