Gossip Girl here. Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Domino City's elite. Coming off this steamy summer heat and into the breezy halls of Domino City Prep may seem like a drag, but I can promise you this is one school year you're not going to want to miss. We all know Yugi Mutou, Domino's it-boy, suddenly vanished in the middle of the school year. By the time we were finished unwrapping presents and toasting the New Year, Yugi took a train to nowhere and never looked back. Question is: where did he go? And why didn't he even so much as bat an eyelash to his friend, Seto Kaiba before saying goodbye?
Well, I asked you all to find out and all I can say is-disappointed. Between the snapshots of Yugi Mutou clique wannabes and false reports, I thought we could maybe find a one clue into mysterious disappearance of our Wonder Boy. After all, you scratch my back and I scratch yours. But in a juicy turn of events, the least likely person revealed Yugi's location, the Wonder Boy himself.
Spotted: Yugi Mutou stepping onto the Domino Station platform, looking dazed and confused, but as handsome as ever. Boy-ish good looks, those red and blonde tips, and that emo-never-died mixed with high school prep style has our blood looking for a chemical romance. From the looks of his new couture skeleton-inspired sunglasses and black 3-quarter cut jacket, he's been doing some shopping. What streets did you strut down to get those, Wonder Boy? And why are you so reluctant to be recognized?
Not Spotted: Seto Kaiba. Completely unaware of his friends return. Yugi, no warm hello from and old friend? Maybe Wonder Boy lost his phone on the train. Let's do him a favor and announce him ourselves. Hope your notifications are aren't on silent, Kaiba, because Yugi sure is.
Seto Kaiba look disgruntled at himself in the mirror. "Next," he ordered, throwing the red, silk tie on the ground. He remarked how cheap it felt between his fingers.
"Right away, sir," the attendant bowed, scooping up the pile of other discarded ties.
He rolled his eyes, pulling at his collar. "This place is such a dump," he scoffed while pushing back his brunette bangs to reveal icy blue eyes. The cold, intensive glare even gave him chills. Yes, he had it all: looks, money, a prominent name, and, awaiting him graduation day, a fortune 500 company. All of that seemed dim without Yugi around. Yugi Mutou, the name he couldn't get off his mind. Almost eight months passed since Yugi left. One minute, Kaiba remembered spending the days before Christmas with him, laughing, drinking rum and eggnog, staying up by the fire long after the parties died down. They tackled their usual drunken troubles together, spent more money than they knew they had. Kaiba even bought a flashy new red sports car, encouraged by Yugi's jeers. Unlike anything else that night, he remembered clearly: "C'mon, rich boy, you gonna let your dad control you your whole life?" The way Yugi licked the rim of his glass and laughed drove Kaiba to do things he would never have done before. In the past, Kaiba was the bossy one, the leader of the two, planning every outing, where to go, even ordering Yugi's coffee because he could never pick one. Something changed the beginning of sophomore year. He first noticed it during the summer after Yugi returned from a trip to Cairo. Yugi wouldn't divulge what happened there, whether it was a fling or something else that brought out this bolder, more confident Yugi.
However it came to be, Kaiba liked it. At first, not having to be the one to order them around all the time was a relief. Soon, though, this new found confidence did something else for him. It was exciting, mysterious, alluring. One moment, he was his sweet self and the next this wild, unwavering persona. Kaiba usually was usually not impressed by egotistical types as they clashed with his own brash personality. The way Yugi could switch between caring and unkind, compassionate and aloof intrigued him, no, it drove him wild. It felt a kiss to a wound and ripping a band-aid off at the same time. Those nights after Yugi returned from Egypt filled him with dizzy memories that still sent a unbridled heat through his chest. Sometimes, that heat crawled through his thighs and welled up at one, throbbing point. His fingers would follow, fanning the flames throughout the most delicate parts of himself, those feelings growing and subsiding, ebbing and increasing until it all built up to a climax that he desperately tried to prolong. His thoughts would race with thoughts of Yugi's face, the way his words could cut through him like butter, the way Yugi threw his head back as they drove down the highway in that red car, the way the wind brushed through Kaiba's own hair and made him feel carefree and cool and no longer anxious about his father's expectations. He remembered on that car ride Yugi's unconcerned pose, almost dead to the world around him. A fantasy flashed in Kaiba's mind, seeing himself straddling his lap, dying to wake up his feelings. He wanted grind him and shove his tongue down his throat, to assert his dominance. He wanted to elicit a string of dirty talk, to be called 'babe' in that passive voice, to extort the same heat he suffered from that boy's body, and carve a vital memory in Yugi's brain.
The evolving tightness in his crotch pulled Kaiba away from his thoughts. He hated being this way in public, surrendering so easily to his thoughts, feeling exposed even when fully clothed. Every eye seemed to be leering into his soul, excavating his secrets. He wanted the torment to end. Yugi broke the man he needed to be for the sake of his father's business and his father's honor. Having feelings like this for a girl would be one thing, though the passion still a weakness, but to have feelings this crippling for another boy? His father would disown him. Kaiba already felt obliged to his father's wishes since he wasn't his real father. Every since Gozoburo Kaiba adopted him and his brother when Kaiba barely turned 12, he vowed to prove himself worthy. Maybe, someday, his father could see him as more than an asset and something like a real son. That desire, he assured himself, ran deeper than his flighty desires for someone who ran off without so much as a text goodbye.
Kaiba could forgive Yugi not reciprocating his desires, in fact, it relieved to not have that weighing on his mind, but after 5 years of friendship, after struggling with girls, popularity, and general upper-Echelon drama, to abandon him at a time when his responsibilities for Kaiba Corporation doubled, when his father was harder on him more than ever, and when his younger brother, Mokuba, attempted suicide killed him inside. He had no one to confide in. God knows no one else at this lousy school understood him. All those trust-fund brats spent their days floating above the surface of life, touching the clouds and the stars, but pining for more. They knew nothing of starting from rock bottom and fighting for a chance to be something more than an orphanage punk. Yugi, although he came from old money, didn't take on the usual spoiled behavior of his peers. Like Kaiba, Yugi wanted more than money. Though comfortable with his lifestyle, Yugi strived to do something more with his opportunities, to use his parents' money and influence to inspire and captured people's hearts. On warm summer nights, when Kaiba's stepfather traveled for work and Yugi's parents welcomed him in, they would stay up until the sunset painted the sky orange, talking about the games Yugi wanted to create.
Kaiba, sharing a keen interest in games, wanted to take a different path from Yugi's desired board games and open new possibilities through virtual technology. Before being adopted, Kaiba shared his concepts with no one. Yugi earned the right to see them, however, and listened eagerly, though confused, as his friend tackled the ins and outs of designing, programming, testing, and developing such an extraordinary feat in gaming. He explained how people would be able to touch holographic animals and grip their fur as if it were right in front of them. People could sail on the high seas without leaving their homes and enjoy the cool wind on their faces as the waves splashed against the stern. Admittedly, taste would be more of a challenge, but, nonetheless, Kaiba astonished Yugi with dreams of sumptuous feasts with golden, roasted chicken, freshly steamed green beans, lemon custard, banoffee pudding, and all sorts or elegant foods so even people who couldn't afford or eat such meals would be able to savor them. Yugi admired how Kaiba combined his unparalleled genius with a true will to give to the less fortunate-a trait that Kaiba might have lost to his father's constant berating if Yugi wasn't there to encourage it. That's why Kaiba needed Yugi. Besides promising each other that they would team up and create a game together someday, Yugi's tenderness prevented Gozoburo's overwhelming reproach and violent methods of drawing out Kaiba's productivity from disturbing him on a deeper level.
A twinge of pain radiated from his back, sending a shiver down his spine. As the workload increased over the past few months so did his father's freedom with the whip. He didn't lash him the way he used to, feeling formal beatings should be reserved for idling children. Gozoburo refrained from using it at the office as well so as not to arouse suspicion or disdain from the employees. At home, however, Gozoburo made it a point to tease him with that ragged piece of leather, worn from the beatings of his youth. Sometimes, if he was lucky, a smack on the desk would startle Kaiba and he could feign a chuckle as he collected his disheveled papers from the floor. When Gozoburo needed to vent his frustrations, despite his son's innocence in provoking him, he hovered over, his shadow creeping up the wall, delighted in demonstrating his ability to terrorize. Accustomed to the sting, Kaiba flinched before the whip ever touched him frightened not by the pain, but by his father effectively and undoubtedly convincing him that following to unleashing of that whip the worst beating of his life would ensue, that despite tip-toeing around every trap his father laid, Kaiba could never do enough good to stave off his father's wrath. Gozoburo rarely showed affection and, if he did, he disguised it in sparingly expressed satisfaction tempered with that strap of leather slapping against his palm, maintaining his mistrust of his son. Someday, he swore, those menacing eyes that bored down into him would hold a gleaming recognition of the devotion Kaiba showed to him.
Until then, Yugi tried his best to comfort Kaiba. Many impromptu sleepovers started with Kaiba escaping the mansion after a particularly brutal lashing. He always regretted showing Yugi those deep, bleeding cuts as if allowing Yugi to tend to them dragged him into the beating as well. Emotionally, it did and Kaiba every time he caught a glimpse of Yugi's downcast eyes, it felt like a second lash over his wounds. The very last time Kaiba ran to Yugi's manor for help wasn't even the worst of his lashings yet there were so many white towels soaked in a brownish-red color that nauseated him. Yugi braved out the iron stench and the color though behind a thin smile, threatening to crack at any moment. Kaiba tried using humour to ease the situation, but that always seemed to make Yugi feel worse so they sat in silence as the barely smiling boy washed his back, erasing the stains of his father's anger, using his meager home economics skills (though, as these kinds of visits became habit, he noticed Yugi concentrating more in class) to sew up the deepest of the cuts. He tried not to sob, but sometimes, the lack of conversation brought up the events that led to the abuse and he would start chanting the insults his father hurled at him. Yugi would wrap an extra towel around him, hugging his shaking, crying mess of a corpse, running his fingers through his soft hair and drowning out those insults with affirmations. You are smart. You work hard. You will be great someday. You're already great to me.
If Yugi meant that, why was Kaiba here, left with nothing but those intimate memories, old and new, sorting out the pieces of his crumbling life alone? If Yugi didn't abandon him in those hard times, what could possibly be so insurmountable now? Why, after all Yugi did for him, didn't he give Kaiba a chance to return the favor? Did he pity Kaiba? Think he was too weak to handle whatever upset him? Showing someone your weakest moments unfortunately opened the door for others to misjudge what you could manage. Kaiba managed a lot of feelings by himself before Yugi came around, but, of course, he never saw that. Yugi's kindness made it easy to let go of his callous side. Without him, he could feel himself becoming more abrasive by the day.
"Not this one either," he mumbled, flinging another unseen tie into the abyss. "I think I'll leave."
"One moment Mr. Kaiba," the attendant pleaded, "this is the last one from our newest collection."
He received a soft, luminescent tie across his palms. The violet color complimented his pale, cool skin and reminded him of the rich purple of Yugi's eyes. At first, he wanted to pitch it out the window, but after another moment, he reconsidered. He reluctantly placed the fabric around his neck, watching his reflection closely as the attendant tied it to perfection. It hung perfectly, emphasizing his slim, tall, yet powerful figure. A confidence burst through him, though he only showed it with a subtle nod.
"I'll take it," he conceded flatly.
As the attendant took the tie to be packaged, his phone rang. Though he hoped it was Yugi every time, he didn't jump for it the way he used to. His heart beat faster as he swiped open the screen. Ugh, that blog again, he growled internally. Gossip Girl followed the lives of every elite teen in Domino City since Kaiba began going to school here. Yugi informed him that it started in middle school, a year before Kaiba showed up. No one knew who the silent agent was, but everyone had their theories. Some suspected Kaiba himself, wondering if he started the website from another school and moved to get closer perspective of his subjects. Kaiba had no time for such childish antics though. Besides, some of his most embarrassing mishaps were documented on there, like the time he almost blew up the most popular girl at school in chemistry class or the time he spilled his lunch on an upperclassman. Thankfully, none of his personal life horrors made it up. That would end him.
Usually, he flicked the notification away, uninterested in the drama. Keeping out of trouble proved difficult enough without getting involved in a scandal. Yugi kept tabs on it though mostly to help out its newest victim and get justice for any wrongdoings. Gossip Girl seldom took back a story unless it severely lacked credibility and someone had hard evidence to counter the claim which was maybe once. This time, Kaiba only opened it because he spotted Yugi's name. He thought his eyes deceived him once he saw the image, but it was Yugi, standing in the Domino City Station at three different times once getting off the train, once walking toward the main lobby, and one more time ordering a coffee from the cafe. In each shot, Yugi avoided eye contact with not only the camera but everyone around him. Everyone else may have been chatting about his new sunglasses, but Kaiba immediately noticed the lack of something-the golden, triangular puzzle necklace he wore everyday after his trip to Cairo. 'The Millennium Puzzle,' as the natives called it. Yugi's grandfather picked it out for him, being a world-renowned treasure hunter. His grandfather's career skyrocketed the Mutou name to international recognition and raked in a boatload of cash. This was back when the few and far between rules on treasure-collecting were hardly enforced. Nowadays, Grandpa Mutou would have been nothing more than a poor scientist, but Yugi still fantasized about following in his grandfather's swashbuckling footsteps which is why seeing him without the artifact surprised him. The disappearance, the lack of any contact, the sudden reappearance and, now, no millennium puzzle? These events added up to something suspicious and Kaiba would find out what.
Hey all you, Dominites, it's Gossip Girl here. As if this day couldn't get anymore delicious, Seto Kaiba comes to our beck and call. Or should we say Yugi's? Oh, but that's right. Yugi never called.
Spotted: Lonely-eyes Kaiba skipping his mid-morning shopping spree at Bedford's in favor or something that will really get his heart rate going-a little stroll to the Mutou residence. Careful Lonely-eyes, in our experience, no call back means he's really not that into you, but what's a train ticket in the night between old friends?
I told you this was one school year you wouldn't want to miss. I just didn't know even I'd be on the edge of my seat. If things keep up, we'll be trading in summer for something a little hotter. Don't pack up those short skirts and tee-shirts just yet boys and girls. You might need them when Domino Prep turns the heat up. Of course, I'll be here, giving you all the updates on the latest and greatest of our beloved elites.
And before you bombard me for yet another year with this question, let me ask it for you: who am I?
That's a secret I'll never tell.
You know you love me.
XOXO Gossip Girl