The closest he'll ever get
Summary: 'This wasn't real, and it never would be. But it was the closest he would ever get.' Prideshipping. Birthday story for Hug-The-Antihero.
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! does not belong to me. Yet...
Author's note: Hello all, and welcome to the special little piece I wrote especially to celebrate the birthday of my amazing beta-reader and friend Hug-The-Antihero! She is a true Prideshipper, and because I don't particularly like Prideshipping, I thought it would be a fun challenge for me to try my hand at a pairing I don't ship. I hope I did the pairing justice. Enjoy reading, and please go and wish Hug-The-Antihero a very happy birthday! She has also written some amazing stories about Draco and Hermione, so if you're a Potterhead and ship Dramione (and even if you don't), go and read them! I promise you will not be disappointed :) This one is for you, Hug!
The lights in the abandoned private laboratory flickered for a moment before they sprung to life, illuminating an old project Seto Kaiba had been forced to abandon some years ago thanks to the interference of the Big Five.
The thought made him grit his teeth as he stalked passed the Virtual Pod towards the main computer. He had spent countless hours creating that virtual reality game, and it would have revolutionized the gaming industry if he'd had the chance to distribute it. But the Big Five's unwanted adjustments to the program had been irreversible, and before he had been able to recreate the world he'd built, a competitor had beaten him to the punch.
So the Virtual Pod had been deemed a failed experiment and was left to collect dust inside his private laboratory – until he'd found a new use for it.
For this use, Kaiba had created a new program, which consisted only of a single Duelling Arena, and the image of a certain opponent Kaiba couldn't battle against in the real world anymore: Yami Yugi.
At first, Kaiba hadn't believed there was such a person as 'the other Yugi'. He'd merely thought the squirt acted more mature while playing Duel Monsters, or that he was suffering from dissociative identity disorder. The thought that there was an ancient spirit living inside the hideous necklace Yugi always wore was just plain ridiculous.
But he couldn't deny it anymore when that spirit had separated from Yugi after they had returned the Millennium Items, when he'd duelled Yugi in a separate vessel and lost.
When he had gone into the afterlife.
The loss of his rival hadn't bothered Kaiba much at first. Since Yugi had defeated Yami, and Yami had defeated Kaiba every single time they had duelled, Kaiba had assumed Yugi would prove to be just as formidable an opponent as Yami had.
Kaiba had been wrong. Yugi was an excellent duellist, but he was no Yami. He lacked the drive, the pride, the determination not to lose to anyone. And Kaiba had been able to beat him nearly every time they duelled, including the times they had competed in tournaments which influenced their position on the official World Rankings.
So now Kaiba was once more the number one ranked duellist in the entire world. He had finally regained what was rightfully his. But it didn't feel right to him. He hadn't earned his position. He hadn't defeated Yami, the one who had taken away his title in the first place, and he would never have the chance to face him again.
The thought was infuriating, and Kaiba, desperate for a real challenge, had taken it upon himself to revive his ultimate rival – in a virtual reality.
Thus he had started working on the new program for his Virtual Pod, recreating the setting of their duel in the finals of his Battle City tournament; a coliseum, filled to the brim with thousands of spectators cheering for him, the great Seto Kaiba. And, of course, his desired opponent, including his exact duelling deck matched card for card, standing opposite him.
The first time Kaiba had duelled him in his virtual reality, he had obliterated Yami within five turns. Since then, he had made countless adjustments to the program, inserting every strategy he had ever seen Yami use and even causing the cards of his deck to change with every turn, making sure the one card Yami needed to pull off his strategy was on top every time.
But even then, Kaiba still managed to defeat Yami time and time again. There seemed to be no way to make the virtual Yami's duelling skills equal to those the real one had possessed, and in his utter frustration, Kaiba had smashed the hard drive containing the faulty program.
After a while without the program, though, Kaiba had begun to regret his decision to destroy it, and he had set out to recreate the lost data in the hope he could make it perfect if he started from scratch.
That was how he had ended up with the hard drive he now held in his hands. The program on said hard drive, however, was… different from the previous one. After Kaiba had recreated the virtual form of Yami, he had unconsciously decided to change the scenery from the coliseum to... something else. Something else entirely.
While he had been working on this new virtual environment, Kaiba had been on the verge of deleting the program countless times. And after he had finished it, it had taken him weeks to gather the courage to go his laboratory and run it. Even on his walk over, he had considered turning back more than once.
Yet here he was. And there was no turning back now.
He swiftly and expertly installed the hard drive before he turned on the main computer, which instantly whizzed to life at his request. After entering his security code, the screen of the Virtual Pod in the centre of the room opened, allowing his to climb inside.
Once he was seated, the machine automatically secured his head and shoulders. "All systems go. Virtual screen closing."
On cue, the screen closed, trapping him inside the pod. "Virtual screen locked. Reality uplink loading."
Kaiba drummed his fingers on the armrest of the pod, waiting impatiently for the red light the screen emitted to turn green. When it did, the Virtual Pod instantly activated the mind-transport portal that would allow his escape into another world, a little adjustment he had made to the system to ensure he wouldn't have to drag Mokuba along to start the program every time.
And he wouldn't want his little brother to witness this particular program anyway.
The trip through cyberspace seemed to last for ages, even though Kaiba knew very well it could not have been more than a few seconds, because he had programmed it that way.
Nevertheless, it was a relief when his feet hit solid ground.
He stood upright, and took in his surroundings. A blue carpet. White walls. An oak desk to his right. Two doors to his left. One door behind him. A four-poster bed in front of him.
A bedroom.
His bedroom.
For a fleeting moment, Kaiba considered turning around and running – the door behind him, which lead to the other rooms of his mansion in reality, was the way out of the simulation in the virtual world. This virtual scenario needed such an exit, for there was no way to complete the program. It would loop until he decided he'd had enough.
His hand was already on the door handle, but all thoughts of running left his mind when the door to his bathroom opened, and out stepped the man he'd programmed to perfection.
"Going somewhere, Kaiba?" the virtual Yami asked, a cocky smirk on his face.
Kaiba froze, his hand sliding off the handle at the sound of his rival's voice. "Of course not," he responded, his voice raspy, as he turned to face the other man.
"Good," Yami smiled as he made his way over to the magnificent four-poster and took a seat on the edge. He padded the empty space on the bed next to him. "Come. Sit."
Kaiba wanted to protest – who was he to order him around in his own bedroom? But then he realized that it had been him who had programmed Yami this way, because this was how he'd envisioned the King of Games to behave in such a situation.
He swallowed, his mouth dry, as he slowly walked to his bed and sat, tensely, next to Yami on the satin sheets.
Yami placed a hand on Kaiba's forearm, which caused the brunet to flinch, though he didn't pull away. "I know what you want, Kaiba," he said quietly.
Kaiba had the urge to say something sarcastic – of course this virtual version of Yami knew what he wanted. Kaiba had created him, after all. But the words stuck in his throat, because in reality, Kaiba didn't know what he wanted at all. "What do I want, then?"
There was a pause. Then: "You want me."
Kaiba's head shot up to see Yami leaning towards him, his eyes slowly fluttering closed. And Kaiba, despite a strong voice of reason in his mind screaming that he was being an idiot, that this was merely a virtual illusion, followed his example.
Yami tasted like pomegranates and mint, the way Kaiba had always imagined him to. The hand that slipped underneath his shirt to caress his back was cold, the way Kaiba had always thought it would be. Half-lidded amethyst eyes filled with lust stared into his very being, the way Kaiba had always dreamed they would.
Maybe it would have been different in reality. Maybe the real Yami would have tasted like cherries. Maybe his hands would have been warm. Maybe he would have avoided Kaiba's gaze the entire time.
And Kaiba knew, though he tried his best to suppress his ever-present voice of reason as he unzipped his pants.
This wasn't real, and it never would be.
But it was the closest he would ever get.
Well, that's all, folks. I had a blast writing something so different from what I usually do, and I hope that showed at least somewhat. I hope everyone enjoyed reading, and again, don't forget to wish Hug-The-Antihero a happy birthday and go read her Dramione stories! Also, if you have some spare time, please leave me a review to tell me your thoughts on this story. Until next time!