Finally, one of my stories translated now in English thanks to my dear aibou (best friend) who translated this whole oneshot. Cuz, hey I just speak spanish, an my english is a bit poor to translate a whole story.
Although I confess that it is one of the stories I liked the least of all the ones I wrote, anyway I hope you like it.
I did not own Yugioh or their respective characters.
°^°Each One's Decisions°^°
In tough situations, in fights and battles, it's needed the capability of having enough nerve and knowing how to make a good use of it. The most courageous ones can use it until it's totally spent, and when that happens, they can refill it and transform it into an unbreakable force capable of going over any kind of obstacle.
Feelings are a barrier not everyone knows how to get through. People think they can climb that wall and get to the other side, but it's not that simple. Even the bravest ones have to confront their moments of weakness.
In Domino City, the sun enlightened the face of a strong and passionate duelist – Jounouchi Katsuya, a boy who can barely reach the control of his emotions. And there he was facing that barrier, setting to himself the objective of breaking through it.
This boy had encountered a big number of powerful, arrogant and mischievous rivals that never got to shatter his inner strength. He had overcome his fears and insecurities.
But at that moment, his only fear was to ruin his friendship with Yuugi Mutou, his best friend, since it was impossible for him to feel otherwise. Yuugi was a kind, reliable and honest boy. He was the best partner he had ever had, and to lose the bond they had would be even worse than losing life itself.
He had lots of chances to tell him about it – while having lunch, when their classes finished, when he stayed at his place during the night. Even at that moment, as he was standing a few metres away with his back turned to him and seemed to be waiting for something – or someone. His little silhouette was hypnotising, he wished to see his smile and hear his sweet and soft voice.
He got closer as he didn't knew what he would say or do. He would let things be carried by the wind and they would come out as they had to. If he was going to lose Yuugi, it would be because he deserved it for being such an idiot and neglecting their friendship.
Jounouchi was now close enough to be heard. He breathed in, closed his eyes and clenched his fists. 'It's now or never'.
'Yuugi…' He whispered so softly that the noise of cars passing by didn't let him be heard. One more time, he took a deep breath with all of his courage.
"Yuugi!', he shouted loudly as he took his friend by the arm and pulled him towards his lips.
His lips…they were as soft as cotton, as silky as a curtain and just as comfortable as a mattress. Jounouchi didn't dare to caress his tongue with his, he had to control his temptations. He rested his hand upon one of his delicate cheeks. What a wonder! Suddenly, everything had become lighter.
He slowly let him go, hoping to be corresponded. He opened his eyes and took a look to his loved one's face, but his bright eyes were confused, and he had a tense, tense frown…
The weight of the entire sky fell down onto him as a sudden, fierce and intense storm. He wanted to bury himself and never come out again. It wasn't Yuugi.
It was the other Yuugi…it was Atem!
'J-Jounouchi-kun…', the pharaoh stuttered. His lips were trembling and his face had turned red. Jounouchi supposed it was the first time he was running out of words – however, he didn't take his time to look at his expression, and immediately lowered his head to apologize. Oh, it had to be a horrible and pathetic nightmare.
'I-I'm so sorry, Atem! It's a misunderstanding!' He didn't know whether to be honest or not. It was just too embarrassing and Atem was too close to Yuugi. Could he keep a secret?
'I…' It was as difficult as explaining it to Yuugi himself, but he had to solve everything up or things would be totally ruined.
'I-I thought…I thought…' He breathed in again. 'I thought you were Yuugi!', he poorly explained himself. The pharaoh just raised his eyebrows, still trying to process that information.
'Jounouchi-kun, you…' Atem had never imagined something like that. He wasn't upset at all, he was only confused and relieved by the fact he wouldn't have to painfully reject his friend's feelings towards him. However, he didn't know what Yuugi felt for him either.
'I'm hopelessly in love with Yuugi! I wanted to kiss HIM…', he added, almost disappointed. Then it would be even harder to confess his love.
Atem tried to calm him down. Yuugi really loved him. He enjoyed looking at him and Jounouchi made him very happy. Atem was only expecting his friend to be corresponded. 'Keep calm, Jounouchi-kun. It's okay, I understand you', he said softly, with a smile on his face. Jounouchi let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding back.
'Thank you, Atem', he replied.
'We'll keep this between us. Anyways…', Atem rested his hand upon Jounouchi's shoulder. He was already expecting the worst. 'Tell him as soon as possible. Don't be afraid, he's not going to hate you if that's what's been worrying you', he added with a wink. Those were the words our clumsy fair-haired boy needed. And it was encouraging to hear them from someone who knew him so well. 'And try to be more gentle', he laughed as he slipped his fingertips upon his lips, making him blush.
A loud honk disturbed the pharaoh, who looked over Jounouchi's shoulders. 'I have to go', he said with a grin. 'Don't forget what I told you!', he whispered into his ear and ran towards a shiny black car. Jounouchi ignored it – he was always busy with tournaments and that kind of stuff.
Atem opened the car door and slid into the back seat. By his side there was Kaiba Seto, who was looking at him with his arms crossed and an harsh frown. The car wasn't moving.
'What?', the pharaoh asked impatiently.
'Nothing', the brown-haired boy sighed. 'Isono, take us to the mansion' he ordered to the car driver. Atem was relieved once the car started moving, although he was worried about being seen by Kaiba before getting in.
He had called the king of duels to the mansion to try a new duel disk model, but he seemed to had totally forgotten the objective in the moment they stepped in.
Atem kept walking, slightly distracted, until he bumped into Kaiba's straight back. 'Kaiba?' he asked with a trace of confusion.
'What's bothering you, pharaoh?' The question that slipped from between his rival's lips took him by surprise. Did he look that disturbed?
He stepped in front of Kaiba, who was refusing to look at him and looked pretty upset. 'What do you mean?'
'You seem to feel…uncomfortable, for some reason'. Atem noticed he was testing him. He had seen something. But there wasn't any way he would end up confessing what had happened between Jounouchi and him.
'I don't know what you're talking about', he replied with indifference.
'Of course you know what I'm talking about!', Kaiba shouted angrily. Why was he so mad? 'What were you whispering to that clown?' he finally growled while staring at the pharaoh.
'That's none of your business, Kaiba', he answered.
'It is! Do you think I'm going to let you forget our compromises just so you can go and see that dork?' Kaiba's fists were so clenched his knuckles were starting to turn pale.
'I don't have any commitments with you', Atem established as he raised an eyebrow, without noticing Kaiba was referring to the tournaments and his projects. Atem had voluntarily offered himself to help him and try some new duel disks formats.
'Of course you do and you're not leaving until you tell me what you were doing with that useless dog'. Atem couldn't understand why Kaiba was so worried about whatever he did with Jounouchi.
The pharaoh looked back on his friend's strong and rough lips and his teeth meeting his. Jounouchi was tense and nervous, but he wanted to kiss Yuugi tenderly. Since it hadn't come out as he expected, it was such good luck he had kissed the wrong person.
But to think about that specific moment, his first kiss (besides, with Jounouchi), made the former ruler blush. And Kaiba noticed that.
'So that's what it's all about…', he angrily mumbled. Atem recognized the mistake he had just made.
'No! You're wrong! Jounouchi made a mistake!' he shouted nervously.
'HOW did he make a mistake?', Kaiba said harshly. Atem covered his own mouth with both hands to avoid talking more than he should. Why was he giving him an explanation, anyways? He had said it before, it was none of his business.
'Forget it. I'm out of here', said the pharaoh as he walked towards the door, ready to leave and get away of that conversation.
But he suddenly felt a pressure on his arm – Kaiba had caught him. 'What did you do with him, Atem?'
He was staring at him with his lips firmly pressed against each other. Atem felt as if he had a very little space, as if he was trapped inside a closet with Kaiba. His breathing was so warm and so close…he wanted him to be even nearer, but he was paralyzed. Was Kaiba jealous?
'Kaiba…' the pharaoh whispered as he got lost in his rival's blue eyes, which seemed to be getting closer and closer. But he let him go violently.
'Go away. Whatever you're planning to do with him, don't do it, or you will regret', he said while turning his back to him.
Confused, Atem left the mansion as he tried to understand the words of his rival. He didn't know if he was just jealous, possessive – or something else. Kaiba was a mystery, a pretty much interesting mystery for him. From the moment he had decided to stay in that world to be with his friends, he had been excited about the chance of being with Kaiba. Accepting his feelings for him was hard – he was afraid of not being corresponded. But if Kaiba was jealous, it was a good thing, right?
So he decided to tempt his own luck and visit Jounouchi.
Atem went to his friend's house. He would make up any excuse just to be with him – if Kaiba was that worried about it, he would soon notice that he had been spending his time with the blonde boy. However, he wasn't sure about the way it would affect Yuugi. Jounouchi still had to confess his love, and the more he waited, the further would be his chance to be successful.
There was a black car parked near the door of the residence that Atem was able to recognize. 'Kaiba' he mumbled in surprise. He hid himself behind the nearest lamppost and peeked out a little to observe what was happening. A tall boy with silky brown hair was leaving the house accompanied by a fair-haired one, who seemed to be annoyed. The tall one looked calm and plenty of patience, but the thing is, that boy was Kaiba, and it was so surprising to see him being nice to Jounouchi!
Both of them got into the car, which started moving.
'Kaiba and Jounouchi-kun…what are they going to do?', Atem thought, pretty worried. He wouldn't be able to follow them to the mansion without a vehicle. His chest felt heavier. Had he just got Jounouchi in trouble?
He returned to the game shop, walking fast and looking for a bike.
In the middle of his race towards the entrance, he bumped into Yuugi, who was wearing a black T-shirt and matching trousers. His confused eyes followed him until he dared to talk first.
'Did you finish earlier today, Other Me?', Yuugi asked without bothering himself in calling him by his real name (as he had got used to it that way), referring to the thing Atem had to do with Kaiba. The pharaoh bit his bottom lip, trying not to remember the reasons why the job hadn't been done. Yuugi noticed his concern: 'Did something happen?'
Atem couldn't tell him about their argument – that would imply talking about his feelings towards Kaiba AND mentioning Jounouchi and his situation, therefore, revealing his secret.
'Nothing. It was a quick testing', he answered quickly, softly shaking his head. 'Do you know where to find a bike?' Atem changed of topic, vaguely pronouncing what he was looking for.
Yuugi blinked a couple times, making sure he had heard him well. 'A bike? For what?'
'…For riding it?', Atem said as if it was obvious.
Yuugi shook his head. 'Of course. We don't have a bike'. The pharaoh was stunned – everybody seemed to be into riding a bike, how could him not have one?
'But if it's really a need for you, Jounouchi-kun has one'. Of course Jounouchi had a bike, however, he wouldn't be able to borrow it from him because he was being taken to the mansion by Kaiba's limousine, and he couldn't directly go to his house and take it either.
'Does Jounouchi-kun have a mobile phone?', Atem asked clumsily. All these artifacts were new to him – he hadn't spent much time in that world and it was usually Yuugi the one who took control of that kind of stuff.
He had learnt the wonders of technology while he worked with Kaiba, who hadn't hesitated – not even for a second – to give him one of his cellphones to communicate with him.
'Yeah, it's in my notebook'. As soon as Yuugi answered, Atem couldn't wait any more to enter the house and run upstairs into the bedroom he shared with him, knowing in which drawer the notebook was.
He opened it desperately, almost causing the notebook to fall off from his hands. He looked through every single page until he found Jounouchi's name and his number. Then, he took his phone and began dialing the number, just as Kaiba had taught him.
The tone started to ring inside the pharaoh's ear. He moved his feet impatiently as he waited for his friend's response. He thought it was possible that Kaiba didn't let him answer the call, or that Jounouchi wasn't able to pick it up due to Kaiba's distractions…but what kind of distractions could they be?
'Hello?' The blonde boy's voice buzzed into the pharaoh's ear. His heart sped up – Jounouchi's voice sounded normal, he didn't seem to be troubled, he didn't sound nervous.
'Jounouchi? It's me, Atem', he said with preoccupation. 'Where are you? I need to talk to you'. Jounouchi wouldn't lie to him, Atem had faith in it.
But he began stuttering and it sounded like he was talking with someone else out of the phone. 'I'm sorry, buddy. I'm busy'. Having said that, he finished the call.
Atem held back the words in his mouth. "He was busy?" The voice by his side was definitely Kaiba's. What were they doing? Was Kaiba holding Jounouchi against his will?
He looked at the phone screen. Kaiba Corp.'s logo shined surrounded by a light-blue background, only reminding him the compromises he had with his rival – work commitments, precisely. The ones he had agreed with just to be by his side.
'What if he got a replacement?' He shook his head to that thought. It was dumb to consider Jounouchi as his substitute since Kaiba wouldn't choose anyone as unbearable as him, not even to have him cleaning his mansion's floors daily.
But knowing that, the thing was even worse – because of him, Jounouchi could be being manipulated by Kaiba, meaning the kindness he had seen at the entrance of his friend's house had been completely fake.
Atem had to get to the mansion the fastest way possible. He only thought of one person who would be able to help him.
He ran towards the park, remembering there was an ice cream shop in it. Anzu worked in there, and she might had a bike.
His chest was aching, his lungs were burning. He was agitated and worried, lots of ideas were flying through his head. Kaiba's shouting was buzzing in his ears, making him dizzy and creating an insufferable lump in his throat – maybe he had made a mistake when leaving the mansion.
He couldn't find the ice cream shop anywhere. The park was desolated and the fresh wind hit the skin of his face. It was too cold, an open ice cream shop would be illogical with this weather. So, Anzu wouldn't be there.
He kept walking, looking for her anyways, thinking about giving her a call. He let out a frustrated sigh when he saw the only numbers written in his contacts list were Kaiba's, Isono's, Mokuba's and one from the game shop.
He would have to return for Yuugi's notebook, but he would be making the same effort in going back to his house and then to the park again than if he just walked to the mansion. So he decided to try and run to it.
But all his thoughts suddenly stopped when he saw his fair-haired friend's silhouette, who seemed to be just standing there, listening to somebody.
Both Jounouchi and Kaiba were in the park, just talking, without arguing. Atem hid himself in the nearest bushes – he could barely hear what they were saying, but they seemed to be talking about going out.
'It looks like Jounouchi and Kaiba have made peace with each other. It has to be that', thought the pharaoh, having his doubts about what really worried him. It bothered him to see Kaiba being nice to Jounouchi, but it was relieving he wasn't causing him any problems.
They started to walk, and Atem began following them cautiously.
The more he saw them together, the more he felt that thing in his throat.
Jounouchi laughed once in a while and Kaiba's look was relaxed – and at some point Atem could have sworn he had seen him smile briefly. They were close, TOO close.
Kaiba pointed at some cafés and flower shops. The pharaoh couldn't hear very well what they were talking about – a couple of times he heard some "…that's a good place…" and some "…you should try this…" coming out of Kaiba's mouth.
They finally stopped walking and entered one of the cafés. Atem had seen these kind of interactions in other people…in the so-called "couples".
So that was what was all about…
Kaiba had got mad at Atem when he thought Jounouchi was interested in him – he deduced they had kissed or they were making an arrangement to meet later, and the possibility of that happening made Kaiba's blood boil. Yes, he was jealous, but not for Atem, it was because he was in love with Jounouchi, because he wanted to be with him.
That would not happen – if his memory didn't fail, Jounouchi was in love with Yuugi… 'What if it was all a game just to make Kaiba jealous?'
That thought crossed his mind and made his chest ache again. 'It has to be impossible' he said to himself, looking for consolation.
He came across the café's backdoor, looking for a seat hidden from the blonde boy and his rival's eyes.
He could see they were sitting, with nothing on their table – maybe they were waiting for their order. They were still talking, and Jounouchi constantly looked everywhere. If he had lied to him, that meant it was a secret relationship – in case they were having a romantic one.
'Who am I trying to fool? It's clear; Kaiba has changed since what happened in Egypt, and Jounouchi has grown up too, so it's totally possible they have cleared out his differences and maybe there has always been a connection between them. A connection Kaiba and I will never have'. The lump in his throat got bigger. He hid his head in his arms, feeling how his eyes were getting wet.
He felt dumb, pathetic and trapped inside an illusion that would never become true.
He lifted his head up to observe one more time those two boys sitting next to each other to finally leave. However, he almost fell off his seat when he saw a pale, brown-haired, blue-eyed young man staring at him. He took a look to his previous seat, which was empty.
'Kaiba!' he shouted nervously. His rival was sitting in front of him, with his arms crossed.
'Don't act as if you were surprised, I know you have been following us' he replied, upset.
Atem bit his lip, feeling pathetic one more time. He shook his head – he couldn't show himself like that to his rival. 'For your information, Jounouchi does not belong to you. He's in love with Yuugi', he established with confidence. Maybe Kaiba was vaguely trying to seduce him.
'And what do you think I am doing?' he asked, raising one of his eyebrows. When he found out what Atem thought he was trying to do with the blonde one, he bursted out laughing. "You think I could be curious about that jerk? I thought you would be more observant'.
Atem let out a growl as he took his seat again. 'What were you doing, then? You looked pretty interested in it' he mumbled.
'Does that make you worry?' That question echoed into the pharaoh's head. Was he jealous? Was he worried about losing his chances to be with Kaiba? 'I see the idea of me being with him disgusts you'. Atem didn't know whether to nod or not. He wasn't even sure about confessing his feelings at that moment. 'Or maybe what saddens you is knowing he's in love with someone else, and not with you', Kaiba tested him.
He thought Atem was jealous because he liked Jounouchi. Now it was his turn to say he could have told his rival was more observant. 'Don't try to make a guess on others feelings when you are not even sure about yours' he replied aggressively.
He noticed how Kaiba got tense in his seat and avoided his gaze. 'Are you going to tell me what you were doing with Jounouchi-kun?'
Kaiba smiled one more time. 'Did the roles just switch?' Atem then remembered the argument they had had back on the mansion. However, Kaiba decided not to play with him. 'I was helping the useless dork to reunite with his beloved Yuugi', he said as he turned back to see how Yuugi entered the café and was welcomed by Jounouchi as he took him to the seat Kaiba had been in before.
'So, Kaiba doesn't love Jounouchi. But, why would he help him? And most importantly, how did he know Jounouchi liked Yuugi?' Atem thought to himself.
Kaiba stood up and headed to the back door to exit the café without being seen by the couple. Atem clumsily followed him from behind.
'Why?' he just inquired. Kaiba only looked at him, waiting for him to explain himself. Atem sighed and added 'Why did you help him?'
Kaiba put his gaze away. 'Let's just say I get some kind of advantage from it', he said simply and began walking. Atem looked towards the café's window, which revealed a little what was happening in the inside – Jounouchi and Yuugi were intensely looking at each other; the blonde boy looked embarrased, but Yuugi had a shining smile and he got closer to his friend to kiss his lips softly. Atem grinned while admiring the scene – it was a reciprocal love.
The pharaoh returned to follow Kaiba, who was already getting away from him. 'And what do you win by helping him?' he kept asking, walking behind him.
Kaiba growled and replied harshly 'It's none of your business'. That old argument was now repeating.
'He's my friend, I must know which are your intentions' Atem pressed him. Kaiba stopped walking abruptly.
'My intentions are MY business, and it's not of my interest that your love is not corresponded, pharaoh. You should stop minding about idiots like him and look around. There's a life out of your group of friends'. Anger came back to the brown-haired boy's lips, as he suddenly turned himself to Atem and faced his amethyst eyes with the blue in his.
Kaiba was being simply exhausting to him at those moments. Atem couldn't bare all of his mystery and sudden rage. He decided not to keep follow him. No, he would go home to get some rest and forget all of that. It was irremediable – things with Kaiba were not going to change, anyways.
The following day it would be tough for both of them, they would have to work together again.
It was a long night – Atem couldn't help thinking about the recent events and what would happen next. He was glad things had turned out well for Jounouchi and Yuugi, but he wasn't sure there was any hope left for himself.
He listened to Yuugi as he narrated how the situation had been in the café. Kaiba's name wasn't mentioned in the conversation, it seemed Jounouchi had kept it as a secret. His partner was radiant. It was a relief for him to see him smile.
The limousine's honk invaded his ears. He went out, hoping not to see Kaiba, but it was a inescapable fact. His rival was inside the vehicle, without looking at him and with his arms and legs crossed. How would it be when they had to talk to each other?
Nobody talked, nobody said a word. Even when they arrived at the mansion, they just focused on finishing the work they hadn't done the day before. Kaiba's commands were cold – there was no explanation, some of them were even destined to his servants for them to intercede and talk to Atem in the name of Kaiba.
The pharaoh just wondered what he was thinking about.
Once the work was finished, Kaiba left the testing room, where Atem was receiving indications from a servant that kept talking and talking without giving him a rest. But he didn't listen, turning a deaf ear to him, and decided to follow his rival.
'Is keeping track of me one of your hobbies?' Kaiba broke the ice, still turning his back to the pharaoh.
'What's going on with you, Kaiba? You're acting like a child. If you're upset, just say it. After all, it's what you do the best', Atem said impatiently. The brown-haired boy turned to him, prepared to face his look again.
'How dare you call me a child', he said with a little exaggerated displeasure, the pharaoh thought, 'when it's you the one who cries for a not corresponded love?'
Those words smashed the pharaoh's calm and woke his anger up.
'What could YOU know about my feelings?' he answered with fury. 'Have you thought about yours yet, Kaiba?' He lifted his challenging gaze up to the brilliant, confused eyes of his rival.
'You're an insufferable dwarf', he mumbled.
'You're a spoiled kid', Atem clenched his fists. 'You're a selfish, annoying imbecile' he could add, helped by his rage.
'And you're such a largemouth. Immature and temperamental'. They could feel the anger coming out of their throats while staring at each other.
Atem brusquely stood on the tip of his toes and pulled his rival by the neck, bringing his face close to his, both crashing into a strong and deep kiss.
Kaiba's long arms held his back and brought him nearer, melting their bodies. He could hear the breath of his rival, who was receiving his lips with passion. Both of them could feel their hearts beating intensely – all the anger had vanished.
They took a little distance to regain some air, but their lips were still touching, as if the world was going to end when they got apart.
'So, what do you think about a double date?', Atem broke the silence with his agitated voice. He was so close to his rival he could perfectly hear him growling. He didn't said anything, but he glanced with a killer look. 'I'm kidding' Atem added, winking naughtily.
'I think I have to shut you up' Kaiba replied and broke the distance between them once again, reuniting themselves in a warm kiss. Atem let a giggle slip out from his lips.
The rivals hugged and did never think about letting each other go. They only wanted to feel each other, hearing their breaths and letting the heat flow through their bodies without thinking in anybody else than themselves. They had been waiting so long for this – they only had to take the first step to abandon their pride and sink themselves into an illusion.
Again, thanks to my aibou for translating. Without her, it would not have been possible to share my stories with other people.
I do not support WIshshipping too much, by the way, I decided to add it because it was an interesting idea for the story, because I wanted to write a story that involved jealousy. And not only a jealous Kaiba but also a jealous Atem, since that way is more attractive and fun.
The idea came because with my brother we think that Kaiba has this hatred against Jounouchi because in a certain way, he feels jealous that Atem gives more attention to his friend than to him, his rival.
And if Kaiba sees a rival, even in love, he will take care of him out of his way, and that's what he did. He was smart, as always.
Adding Atem's jealousy was improvised, since the fic would be dedicated to Kaiba and his plan with Jounouchi, but then I asked myself: How would Atem take it? See Jounouchi and Kaiba together? Strange.
I really hope you liked it, this story was written a long time ago but as I said, it's the one I least like.
Thanks for reading and do not hesitate to let me know your opinion.
