(Surprise gift fic for my friend DragonLady222. The majority of this fic is Prideshipping. There will be little hints here and there of Puzzleshipping. If I get gutsy I may do a bit of Flareshipping. Yes, that means that the main characters are Yuugi, Yami, and Seto. Enjoy. :D Please read and review.

My Beta CrowNoYami is a bit swamped at the moment but as soon as she finishes you'll have the edited version. For now enjoy the 'raw' version.)


Seto had not originally intended to go tracking Yuugi down, however, here he was. He blamed Yami. Yami did not have the balls to confront Yuugi again to find out exactly what was going on; he used the excuse of respecting his lights wishes. He took it for what it was worth, a load of horseshit. He glanced out the window and saw the game shop come into view.

Yuugi was working on closing up the game shop when he saw the limo come to a stop at the curbing. He rolled his eyes and sighed. He did not normally take care of the shop but his grandpa had had something he needed to do, so naturally he volunteered. Why did the jerk have to show up on today? What about those others days, the days he was not around. "I'm sorry but we're closed," he said when Seto was about five steps from the door.

Seto smirked, as if amused by the fact of the store being closed, yet remaining open just long enough for him. "Not here for the trinkets," he retorted. "But, I would appreciate if you would invite me in." He could be a very forceful person when he wanted to be, but having prior knowledge of Yuugi being 'frail', he was refraining.

"I don't have much of a choice do I," Yuugi mumbled as he opened the door just wide enough to let Seto inside the shop. Once the man was inside, he proceeded to lock the doors and close the blinds. When the other was ready to see himself out, he could go through the 'house' exit.

Seto waited patiently for the other to finish what he had started. It was only fair, considering that he had interrupted him. Not to mention he knew what it was like to 'just be done with work' for the day.

"Would you like something to drink?" Yuugi asked he led them upstairs. He had plans on sitting on the sofa this evening and watching TV, alone. Apparently, Seto had other ideas. What he wanted to know was what had sparked the CEO's interest in him- he did not game anymore. He could probably blame Yami for this one.

"A glass of water please." Seto did not follow Yuugi to the kitchen; instead, he detoured to the living room. He made himself comfortable on the love seat facing the TV.

"Here you go," Yuugi said as he handed Seto the glass. He then proceeded towards the corner where there was a recliner. It was more comfortable in his opinion than the rest of the furniture. Not to mention, it was also furthest away from the CEO. "Why are you here?"

"Thank you," Seto said as he accepted the glass. He watched as Yuugi curled up in the recliner with cat like grace. "I'm here because I want to know what you are keeping from Yami." He idly drummed his fingers on the glass.

"You both took advantage of me, stole my innocence. And you know what takes the cake?" Yuugi paused for a moment. "I cannot remember any of it." He refused to look weak, he refused to cry- he had done enough of that. "The person I trusted the most betrayed me. In complete faith, I gave my body to him to control so that he could protect us. Never once did he mention the two of you until after he had a body," Yuugi glanced over at Seto. "Secrets and lies is what our relationship was built on. So, I don't owe it to you or Yami to spill my secrets," his eyes narrowed. Anger was something he rarely showed. "If that is why you came then I think it is time for you to leave."

Seto clenched his free hand into a fist. Every bit of what Yuugi had said in one way or another was the truth. Neither of them had been honest with the smaller of them. He knew all too well about taking advantage of situations, he did it often. Still some parts of him wanted to retaliate and argue back, to fight to prove his point of view. He stood up not wanting to anger the boy further. He felt in some small way that he had failed to accomplish what he had set out to do. "Why do you say you gave Yami everything?" It nagged him, haunted him even.

Yuugi sighed and slumped in the chair. "I cannot tell you Seto," he said firmly. He knew Seto knew how to manipulate situations, and that he was going to ask until he got the information he wanted. To avoid looking at the towering figure he looked towards the bookshelf. "I won't ruin Yami's life. I refuse."

"Ruin his life? How?" Seto perplexed sat back down. He was sure Yuugi let that last bit slip, whether it was intentional or not he did not know and almost did not care. So long as he got the prize- the information, he sought.

"I unknowingly forfeited my life so that he could live," Yuugi said as he stood up and headed towards the bedroom. He had said way too much, and he was certain all of it would get back to Yami one way or another. He sighed softly because that is exactly what he was trying to avoid. "Now please go." He wanted to be left alone.

Seto reached out as quickly as he could to catch Yuugi's hand. What he got instead was a graze of fingertips to fingertips. "Unknowingly?" How could no one know what he or she was doing when it came to something like this? For being a smart man, he was completely blind to the entire picture.

"You will say nothing to Yami." Yuugi felt the soft, brief touch and stopped. He looked over his shoulder at Seto. "It was king against king. I was destined to win because it was time for his soul to rest. Like anyone in love, you are willing to go to extreme measures to keep what you love. He will not remember that I went in his place. I went so that I could bargain his freedom, play one last game. So certain was I that I agreed to their game without second thought. To win meant that we both were allowed to remain as two separate people. To lose meant that I forfeited my life so that he could get to keep his. I guess I agreed to it because deep down in my gut I just knew that knowing no matter what happened he would be happy. I really did not care if it was with me or not so long as he was happy. You won."

Seto looked like a deer caught in the beam of headlights. What Yuugi had said that day they had told him the truth about their relationship made sense. Everything fell into place. Even though he should not have, he questioned his love for Yami. Yuugi had sacrificed far more than he ever could. There was no way he could fix this because you could not make people fall in love. "If you loved him so much why didn't you fight for him? Why did you give up so easily?" He was trying to make himself feel better by making Yuugi look bad once again.

Yuugi turned and faced Seto. "Why would I fight you when you clearly had already won? If I had fought for him, I would have destroyed his happiness in the process because I would have made him doubt his choice to love you. His happiness is the most important thing to me is."

"You're sacrifice may bring him some happiness but your death will bring him sorrow. He is still going to have to face both sides of the coin." He reached out, gripped Yuugi's shoulders, and shook him out of anger. It was as if he was trying to force some sense into the boy. "No matter how hard you try he is still going to feel it," he raised his voice. This trip was not going at all as he had planned for it to.

The more Seto shook Yuugi the tighter he clutched at his chest. He was struggling to breathe. Holding on to life these days was getting harder and harder and the taller of the two was not helping any. "What exactly am I suppose to fucking do?"

"Fight to fucking live!" So that he would not punch Yuugi, Seto instead punched the nearest wall. With the hand that had just punched the wall, he used it to support himself. The other hand clutched his chest. His breathing erratic and he was starting to get dizzy.

Yuugi leaned against the wall before sliding down it. He just did not have it in him to support himself anymore. "It's too late," he looked up at the ceiling as tears started to fall. "Why couldn't you have just left things alone?"

"I love him! I really think that this childishness of you running away is ridiculous. Just man up and tell him what the fuck you did and what the fuck is going to happen. Even if he doesn't love you and you die at least you both will be at peace because you'll both be friends again." Seto held out his hand so that he could help him back up onto his feet.

"You won't leave me alone until then will you?" Yuugi asked as he accepted Seto's hand. It took a bit of work but soon he was standing on shaky legs. "And, what will you do if he falls in love with me?" He asked.

"This game of win or lose between us is no longer about us it is about Yami. He stands to lose the most no matter the outcome unless we all learn to get along." Seto could not really explain his out of character generosity other than it was his love for Yami. "We'll learn to love each other because we both love him."

However odd the words were that came out of Seto's mouth he tried not to give any strange looks. He could tell Seto was trying to be sincere and show genuine concern. He also took notice that Seto seemed to have a solution for this fucked up situation, a solution that could very well keep him alive as long as it did not back fire. If it did, he would not mind so long as Yami was happy.

"Pack your things. You'll be staying with us." Seto said after a moment of silence.