Title: Growing Fire

Summary: While in America, Kaiba sees Yami dueling against someone else and it causes him to examine a few things about himself.

Pairing: Kaiba x Yami

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! does not and never has belonged to me.

This was written for the Fragile Balance forum's July contest, where I had to base a story on the following lyrics:

I'm going crazy. Just thinking about the way. I've missed you lately. And I just have to say. I know you're waiting. But I would never change. I would never change...

Egypt Central, The Way.

Kaiba was already distracted from his work before his brother rushed into his office to exclaim, "Nii-sama! Quick, turn on the TV!"

"Why?" Kaiba asked, even as his hand automatically started to reach for the remote in his desk drawer.

"You'll see," Mokuba promised with glee as he hopped onto the couch. "Turn it to channel 637!"

The television was primarily used for press conferences, so Kaiba wasn't overly familiar with what was on each channel, but he did as he was told. It didn't take him long to discover why Mokuba had insisted that he watch, since it appeared to be some sort of international Duel Monsters channel. Kaiba looked on with mild disinterest and he vaguely recalled signing a contract for it a year or two ago.

He only paid cursory attention to the enthusiastic announcer, his mind no longer needing the time to translate into English since they had been in America for the last three months trying to establish the American Kaiba Land. The man's voice slowly filtered through his thoughts when he heard, "Let's take another look at our challenger!"

Kaiba watched with mild disdain at the recap of Enjo Rokume's brief dueling career and remembered that he didn't have the talent to justify the size of his ego. He had fought against him once before and Kaiba had a rather low opinion of the heavily pierced teen both as a duelist and as a human being.

"And now a quick glance at our reigning King of Games! Fresh off of his win at the Kaiba Corporation Battle City Tournament, Yuugi Mutou has been an unstoppable force!" the announcer began, but anything else was lost on Kaiba as he stared transfixed at the screen. The person he had tried his best to forget about, the one person whose challenging and defiant gaze haunted him at night, that single person was now larger than life right in front of him and Kaiba was stunned by his own reaction.

Mokuba was practically bouncing in his excitement, oblivious to his Kaiba's mood. "How awesome is that? It's Yuugi!" he exclaimed, looking over at his older brother. "And you haven't heard the best part yet!"

Kaiba could tell instantly that it wasn't Yuugi that was facing off in the duel; it was the mou hitori no Yuugi who insisted that he was the spirit of some ancient Egyptian pharaoh. He refused to believe such outrageous claims and yet Kaiba could easily tell the difference between the two personalities. The confident demeanor was a give away that it wasn't the normal and meek Yuugi. No, the only one he would ever recognize as being worthy of the position as his rival was the impossible existence that he secretly called Yami because of the darkness he had plunged Kaiba into after their first meeting.

Just seeing the look of fierce determination in Yami's eyes caused Kaiba's competitive spirit to start burning intensely. He hated the fact that look was currently aimed at someone so utterly unworthy and Kaiba tried to quell the anger that started seething when he heard, "I am the only one who can defeat you, Mutou! Only me!"

You're not even worthy to stand on the same dueling platform, Kaiba thought darkly with a hatred that was bordering on unreasonable. No one was allowed to defeat Yami except for Kaiba and he believed they had a mutual understanding of that fact. He felt a possessive desire to monopolize Yami, to renew their rivalry. Yami was his rival and only his; he would never forgive a defeat against a fourth rate duelist that even Jounouchi could beat. If Yami was going to fall, it would be by Kaiba's hand and by his hand alone.

The camera cut back to Yami and Kaiba studied him intently, looking for the signs of victory in those eyes that stirred his emotions. "I wonder about that," a brash American voice dubbed over Yami's, startling Kaiba and sending Mokuba into a fit of giggles.

"They dubbed Yuugi!" Mokuba crowed, wiping away the tears of amusement from his eyes. "Can you believe how bad it is? I wonder what Yuugi would say if he knew?"

It filled Kaiba with an inappropriate desire to hear Yami's real voice calling out and taunting properly. Watching the duel unfold, Kaiba's fingers felt the need to hold his cards and fight, but he was half a world away.

Kaiba had never experienced homesickness before, but the longer he watched, the more it made him want to return to Japan and challenge his single worthy adversary. It satisfied him immensely to see that Yami didn't even have to try to defeat Enjo; Kaiba should be the only one that was worth an effort, the only one that could make a casual duel into a fight for victory.

Yami drew a card and Kaiba's eyes were drawn to the hands that had soundly defeated him on more than one occasion. He studied the way Yami's fingers cradled his cards, and it gave him an odd feeling inside, but he didn't waste time questioning such pointless things. Even though the dubbed voice was loud and obnoxious, Kaiba could still catch the faint murmur of Yami's real voice and something deep within him responded.

It had been three months since he had fought against Yami and yet he missed the feelings that only his rival could make him feel. There was nothing else that made him feel so alive and he ached for the challenge that no other posed for him. It annoyed him that Yami had taken up so much space in his mind; Kaiba resented it and he cursed the other for occupying so much of his time and thoughts. He would never admit that a phantom spirit was something he needed in order to feel complete, but Yami had become an increasingly important figure in his life. There was no way Kaiba was signing up to join the Yuugi-tachi friendship brigade, but Yami was a presence he could not only tolerate, but even enjoyed on occasion.

He knew that Yami was waiting for him to declare that they were more than just rivals, but Kaiba would never say such a thing even if he did feel that way. The speech Yami had given Kaiba after his defeat in the Battle City finals still caused him to feel irritated when he thought back on it; he didn't need friends and he never had. And yet not seeing Yami was bothering him more than it ever should have. He shouldn't have cared at all, should have been able to ignore his presence like he did with everyone else, but for some reason Yami was different.

Suddenly Kaiba became aware of his brother staring in his field of vision and he managed to control his started reaction. "Yes?"

Mokuba wasn't sure what his brother had been thinking about, but it was obvious that he had been far away in his thoughts. "It's over," Mokuba said in an odd tone of voice, knowing better than to voice his concerns.

Taking a final look at the smirking face of his triumphant rival, Kaiba numbly turned off the television. It was easier to think without those challenging eyes staring at him, easier to return to being the Kaiba Seto and that was exactly as it should be. "Anything else?" Kaiba asked, carefully blanking his expression.

"I can't wait to show that to Yuugi," Mokuba said with a wide boyish grin. "When do you think we'll go back to Japan?"

"In a few weeks," Kaiba answered, "in time for school."

Groaning at the reminder that summer was almost over, Mokuba started to leave the room. "Thanks, nii-sama," he said before leaving Kaiba to his work once more.

When the door shut behind Mokuba, Kaiba returned his gaze to the blank television screen and scowled. He wanted to challenge Yami now more than ever, but he couldn't help but question his reasons for doing so. It had gone beyond simply wanting to win against someone that strong, but Kaiba didn't understand his hidden motivation. He needed to let it go, needed to move beyond such an unseemly obsession with a single person who technically didn't even exist. Kaiba couldn't afford to change when he had so much to lose; weakness was not an option.

Turning his attention back to his computer, Kaiba forcibly blocked his thoughts about Yami somewhere deep inside of his heart. For some reason, the deeper he hid the pain, the more hollow his chest felt. Ignoring the emptiness and discontent, he resumed his identity of Kaiba Seto, C.E.O. and president of Kaiba Corporation; nothing could get in his way. He had to walk his path on the road of his future and Kaiba wouldn't allow himself to get distracted.

A/N: Not too bad for an hour and a half of quick writing for a deadline, ne? I can't believe I actually wrote a K rated fic finally…

While it was tempting to set it as a oneshot companion piece to Whenever, Wherever, I decided against it. That would have been much darker in tone and mood, plus I think everyone would prefer having a proper sequel, haha.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave your thoughts!