Leave Out All The Rest

Chapter Ten

Yami lay on his back in his bed in the guest room Seto told him it was entirely his for the next while. The same bedroom he woke up in its bed a week or something ago, when Seto brought him back to the Mansion. He told Seto last night that he would be comfortable here. But that wasn't so true at the moment. His arms were by his side, fists clenched beside his thighs, pulled taut with tension. His entire body was rigid, not moving an inch and nowhere within a mile of where sleep was.

It was the end of the first day of the three where he took only one of his shots, instead of two. He was very slightly feverish and queasy, his stomach upset beyond reason, and he felt somewhat lethargic and weak. It wasn't unbearable…but it kept him from sleep. That, as well as the anticipation of someone walking into his room to slip into his bed, undressing him to start doing the unspeakable to him…

He bit his lip and clenched his eyes shut very tightly. And again…his father, although a long distance away from him…his mere memory managed to bring him down to his knees in weakness. The memory of all the times he would beg and say please, where every time he was ignored… that made him shiver and made a sharp prick appear at the corners of his eyes. His mind was recalling every single time he felt insecure because of his father…

Too many times…too many times he felt that way.

Why was he recalling this now? Why was he making things worse for himself? Why couldn't he just close his eyes and sleep the pain away? Why did he expect to find that…monster to walk into this safe room right now? The monster who, with how real he was, chased away any other monsters a normal child's imagination might have come up with…

He blinked. A hot trail of the first teardrop made its way down the side of his head, and into his hair.

He sat up, not standing the extra discomfort. He found his chest tightening unbearably and he buried his face in his hands, letting himself cry openly. He couldn't bear this anymore. He needed to pass out… he just wanted to pass out right now in any way possible. Drugs… blood loss or even the pain of getting himself split in half with an unholy act that he never agreed to…

Yes, yes, it was…shameful. He was strong, he believed so. But not all the way through. In some subconscious part of him, he knew that his father's nightly visits came as salvation sometimes…when nothing else worked to keep nightmares and vivid hallucinations at bay. When the strongest and most lethal of drugs failed to bring him down… all it took was to feel the pain and humiliation of having that monster stare down at him with contempt.

Unfortunately, right now, he couldn't take an extra shot of his drugs and he vowed not to start cutting so soon, nor would he accept a sleeping pill so soon either, and, even if he didn't believe it in his mind, his father wasn't here…

He stared up at the ceiling, wondering if he would ever be free from this. A fervent, imploring sigh escaped him and he closed his eyes for a second, listening to the sound of silence…

A few moments later, the deafening hush was interrupted by the sound of soft, careful footsteps, just outside his room. Yami opened his eyes and stared at the door, hearing the faint, barely audible sound of those footsteps, halt, just beside his room. The seconds ticked by like hours, Yami staring at the door, not knowing if he should start panicking, or if he should get hopeful.

He couldn't reach a decision before a very small knock was heard at the door. His heart thudded sluggishly behind his ribcage as his body, without thinking, reacted on instincts and he mumbled out loud, "Come in…"

There was a pause, in which he felt like yelling, 'what are you doing?' at himself at the top of his lungs. He didn't even get the chance to stop crying…

The door opened softly and he saw the now familiar fair face and brown hair and concerned, gentle blue eyes. He stared into them for a long while, trying to get an eternal imprint of the way they looked oh so gently into his own, in his mind, so that when it was all over and there was no reason for him to be around this wonderful person…he would have some light he could hang on to.

Seto stood in the doorway, Yami watching his expressions flicker from cautiousness to slight relief, before a concerned, worried expression appeared on the handsome features, obviously when the brunet saw his tears.

Yami forced himself to stop looking at the gorgeous young man who was currently his best definition of some fairytale prince in shining armor. He stared down at the lush, beautiful carpet on the floor, studying the patterns with a detached pattern of thinking that made him feel slightly better.

"Can I come in?" Seto asked him, pulling him away from thoughts of how much time the people who made this carpet must have spent creating this perfectly symmetrical pattern of flowers, leaves and twirls.

He nodded. He stayed so still, didn't even breathe, as he heard Seto entering the room. He waited for him to close the door, but it was obvious the brunet wasn't about to give him the slightest wrong sign. Yami found himself releasing that breath he never realized he was holding. He wanted to cry harder so suddenly, because every second he spent around this one person…the one person in the whole world who would care about him, he proved to him that there really were good people out there. If this had been a bad person in Seto's place…he would have closed the door and taken from him the compensation for all the trouble he went through for him.

The sob he tried to suppress when Seto sat in the window seat so far away from him, turned into a gasp of distress. Seto really was the most decent person he ever thought he was going to meet in his life, no matter how short it was expected to be around his father. So good and so…wonderful. And so completely out of his reach…

"Yami…what's wrong…is the pain to bad?" the question was so genuine. Genuine and the concern behind it and its tone was equally true.

The pain wasn't that bad. No, that wasn't why he was crying. He shook his head, trying to get the worry wiped off that handsome face. He wasn't worth it. That voice at the back of his mind was telling him that. He wasn't worth making someone like Seto so worried.

Silence hung thick…suffocating, over both of them. Yami wanted Seto to leave, but wanted him to stay at the same time. He was confused and sad and the dull, maddening sensations of the early withdrawal symptoms, were not helping him at all.

He flinched and looked up at Seto, who had gotten up and crouched down on his knees before him. He stared uncertainly into those blue eyes, trying to get himself to either tell Seto to get out, or hold his hand and beg him to stay with him for a while longer. Seto once again cut his train of thoughts and placed a hand on his, squeezing it comfortingly. Yami stared down at it in silence, before glancing up at the brunet once more, choking with the overwhelming emotions rushing through him and the sobs of grief that fought his self-control.

"Why are you doing this?" he whispered, clenching his eyes shut after a while of simply staring at Seto.

He expected Seto to ask, 'doing what?', making things more difficult for him. But he didn't. He simply kept offering the comforting pressure on Yami's hand, keeping silent for a while. He then looked up to stare into Yami's eyes and muttered in guilty tones, "I…I was…wrong," Yami stared at him, tears still streaming down his face. "About you," Seto added, still staring into Yami's eyes.

"So now what? You feel obligated to do this after coming to wrong conclusions?" Yami snapped angrily.

"No," Seto said.

"Then what!" Yami repeated, desperate for an answer.

"I don't know," Seto told him. The brunet shrugged, "I really don't know why I am doing this. But I don't care because…someone had to do it. Someone had to help you…"

"Téa's doing enough already," Yami muttered, his hand pulling away from Seto's so he could wrap his arms around himself, his body bending slightly, shrinking protectively around itself. Téa was more than enough already. Sometimes, he couldn't look her in the eye because of all the support she was giving him. He didn't know why she cared so much. He knew she loved Yugi so much…so that justified her concern a little. But…he just didn't know…he didn't deserve this much care and concern.

"No!" Seto once again said, but this time, there was a lot more determination and sternness in his tone.

Yami looked up at him.

"No! Téa should never have listened to you when you told her not to tell anyone!" Seto snapped, getting up to pace a few times in front of the bed. "Do you have the slightest idea… Do you have any clue what I used to think of you before I actually bothered to pester Téa enough so she could tell me about you? Do you have any idea what might have happened to you up until yesterday? What if you had overdosed on that poison…? What if he gave you a permanent disfigurement for the rest of your life…? No, Yami, Téa may have been a really good friend but she was wrong to decide to listen to you on this…"

Yami stared at the carpet in silence, recalling the time he once lay convulsing, breathless, his lips and fingernails blue and his skin deathly white, after he injected himself with more than what he usually took. He remembered that time when he was thrown from the top of the stairs to land at a wrong angle to break a few ribs and fracture more than just a few. He remembered the long, sleepless nights of lying in bed wondering if he extracted an STD from one of those high and mighty businessmen his father handed him over to as though he was handing over the strings of one of those stage puppets.

He heard Seto sighing and looked up in time to see him running a hand over his face in exasperation. Immediately, he looked down again, knowing that he was causing Seto so much trouble. He couldn't stop himself from wretchedly listening to the different voices in his head reprimanding him for being such a bother. Wouldn't death be a good way out of this? But no. He was such a puny, little coward. He couldn't go through with it till the end. He closed his eyes tightly against the thoughts and tried to breathe evenly, repeating a mantra of, "don't think, don't think," over and over again in his head.

Within a few moments, his mind was such a terrible jumble of yells between his own thoughts and those terrible, little voices at the back of his head telling him he should get up, right now, to grab one of the kitchen knives, and quickly drag it across his neck to rid everyone of his presence. At one side, he was yelling at himself mentally to stop thinking, to stop thinking that way, to stop listening to those voices…and on the other hand, he was agreeing. He was agreeing that he should get up and go downstairs and slaughter himself to stop annoying so many people. Although the amount of blood would be a bother too, so the mean sounds and thoughts in his mind told him he was so stupid that he couldn't even come up with a good, neat way to die.

He was going to lose his mind, he was sure, when he realized with horror that he was failing to keep those voices at bay. They were always there…always reminding him of the worst of all the bad moment he spent in his short life. But he had always been able to keep them at bay. Until now. Now, he could only hear very loud noises in his head, sounds of different aspects of his fucked up psyche arguing about his level of stupidity. That voice that kept repeating to him the reminder not to think about it…it stopped talking completely and left the other mean sounds continue… louder and louder…

Suddenly, everything stopped and faded into beautiful silence and he realized suddenly that he was on the ground, sobbing and shaking with the tears that blinded and choked him. He didn't know what happened but he was grateful for whatever stopped the raging battle that was going on in his head. He closed his eyes and let out one last sob at how…broken he was right now and felt the tiresome way with which his body was rigid, wearing off, leaving him unbelievably exhausted.

Before he could start contemplating what exactly stopped what he had been going through, he felt warmth surrounding him. He flinched and opened his eyes, to see that Seto was sitting beside him on the ground after depositing a blanket on top of him.

He stared into the concerned, sad blue eyes for a moment, before biting his lower lip hard, then saying in a broken little voice, "I am so sorry…"

To his puzzlement, he found Seto giving him a gentle smile, asking, "What for?"

There were so many reasons…he was so sorry, he knew he was so sorry. He was so sorry. He had done so many things that deserved his sorrow. He couldn't think of anything right now, because of how horrible he was feeling. And because he was so tired. And because he was feeling so tempted to give in to the feeling of safety that Seto's eyes, staring at him that way, gave him…

He couldn't think of anything to say. Seto was giving him that look that told him that he was wrong…the way he was thinking was so wrong, on so many levels…he shouldn't be feeling so miserable about himself right now. He shouldn't be blaming himself so much. That was what Seto's eyes were telling him. That was what he wanted to believe right now.

So, he answered Seto's question with the only reply he could come up with right now.

"For being such a bother," he quietly mumbled, allowing his body to soak in the comfort of the blanket on his shivering body.

He stiffened slightly, though, when he heard Seto saying, "You're not…"

He looked at the brunet who was looking at him straight in the eye, and tentatively repeated, "'M…not?" Seto shook his head in negation. Yami stared at him suspiciously. "You're just saying that…"

"No, Yami…I'm not just saying that. I mean it."

At those words, it seemed as though all the tension and discomfort remaining in his body, ebbed away. His head grew heavy and the last thing he saw before he went to sleep were Seto's lovely blue eyes and his handsome, smiling face.

It was nowhere near simple…

Seto was aware of that before he even discussed the idea with the doctor; he knew it wouldn't be easy. He knew it would be a painful, heart-wrenching ordeal. He thought he was ready. He thought he would be able to handle it professionally just like he handled any new situation he faced in life. But he just wasn't prepared at all, because… when he first thought of the idea, he only thought of how much it would be a agonizing and unpleasant experience for himself…he never thought of what seeing Yami in this deplorable condition, would do to him.

No, it wasn't easy in any way. And he couldn't handle it with his normal stoicism. No, not at all.

The first three days passed rather…peacefully. The complications of the first night had its effects on him, of course, since he wasn't prepared at all to have Yami half passing out on him during that unexpected…attack he had. He wasn't able to sleep after he picked Yami up off the floor and placed him in bed. Thankfully, the next day was very uneventful and quite tranquil. Yami was even feeling better that he had been the previous day and managed to engage himself with helping Mokuba with his homework. The same pattern persisted for the third day.

The fourth day was…hell.

Yami had been taking his dose of drugs at around nine or nine-thirty in the morning. A few hours after that designated time, on the fourth day when the time for his dose of drugs passed, Yami started becoming more silent. Seto had been ready for that. He smiled encouragingly, giving Yami a reassuring, comforting pat on the shoulder, along with a large glass of orange juice after he had breakfast.

And he looked away from Yami's curled up figure on the couch of his office, resuming his work.

An hour or two later, things started getting bad. The pain was getting worse for Yami, Seto noticed. It wasn't that Yami started showing it. Perhaps that was the reason why things seemed to be getting so much worse than before. Because Yami didn't show anything. Seto had braced himself to hear screams of agony… but he didn't know how to deal with this silent suffering that stabbed directly into the center of his heart.

It started with Yami rushing to the bathroom so suddenly. Seto stayed in his seat for a while, wondering what happened, until he heard the distinct, painful sound of retching coming from the downstairs bathroom. He got up and went there, finding Yami doubled over the toilet seat, throwing up his breakfast and whatever drinks he had been consuming. He moved closer, holding Yami's hair out of the way so he wouldn't mess it up, while his hand gently rubbed one of the tense shoulders. When Yami was done, Seto wet some washrag with cold water and dragged it over Yami's face gently, trying to stop him from shivering so much. He then left Yami to clean up some more and went to grab the smallest bottle of apple juice he could find so that Yami's stomach wouldn't rebel against it when he swallowed down the odd mixture of medications he assembled for him.

Yami silently accepted the drink and medicine, finishing the prior after swallowing down the latter. He looked so pale and tired, Seto felt like bashing the wall with his fist because of how unfair all of this was. But he didn't do that and went back to his seat behind the desk in his office.

Yami, instead of sitting up with his knees drawn up to his chest, laid down on his side, his body still curled up on itself protectively like he had been sitting before the surprise trip to the bathroom. He put his head on one of the cushions and stared outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of Seto's office, shivering in absolute silence as he tried to rein in whatever sounds of pain he wished to make.

Seto had watched him from the corner of his eyes, not giving away the slightest hint he noticed Yami's pain. He knew Yami's pride meant everything to him, because he had nothing left but that. He wasn't about to scathe it in any way fussing over him and making him feel like he wasn't able to handle himself. Seto knew of course that he would never mean it that way and that Yami would remain the strongest person he met till now…but Yami didn't know it.

So, he was stuck watching from the corner, pretending that Yami was alright and that he wasn't suffering very badly, and praying that the sleeping pill he slipped into the mixture of medications, would start kicking in soon.

Thankfully, half an hour later, it did. But in his sleep, Yami did not have the restraint he had when he was aware. Soon, the sound of tiny whimpers and groans of pain escaped Yami's unsuspecting mouth, and tiny spasms started taking the otherwise limp, sleeping form that was twisting and turning uneasily, by surprise. Little pleas and words tumbled out of Yami's lips as nightmares decided to join in to have their share of making Yami miserable.

Seto completely forgot about whatever it was he had been doing on his laptop. He couldn't help but get up and walk over to the couch to quietly and gently sit down, maneuvering himself so that Yami's head settled comfortably on his lap.

He was reminded of the times he used to comfort Mokuba whenever he had bad dreams. It was the same, except for the fact that now, he managed to get Yami to stop pleading so distressingly in his sleep, but couldn't take away the pain that made him whimper so helplessly. That did not make him leave Yami and return to his work, though.

He stayed in that position, stroking Yami's hair gently and driving away the nightmares he had, until Mokuba returned from school. His brother looked extremely concerned, so Seto told him that today they reduced the drug's dose. He had previously explained to Mokuba what exactly was going on and why Yami was staying with them. Mokuba, if he wasn't old enough, was wise enough to understand and feel compassionate. Yes, he was of great, great help for the first few days.

He didn't disappoint Seto now, either. As soon as he understood what was going on, Mokuba set up his homework in Seto's office, making sure to sit within viewing range of Yami. And he started doing his homework, every now and then taking a glance at Yami whenever he became restless, catching his hand whenever one of those heart-breaking sounds of distress escaped him.

Within an hour or two of Mokuba's return from school, Yami woke up. And with his awakening, Seto witnessed one of the most painful and upsetting scenes ever.

Blinking and trying to fully regain his consciousness, Yami smiled happily for a moment and looked at Mokuba, muttering in askance, "Yugi…?"

He sounded so hopeful…Seto did not know why he had mistaken Mokuba for his deceased twin, since it was obvious that there was no similarity whatsoever between them. Perhaps it was the gentleness of his brother's touch, which persisted in Yami's mind… he really did not know, but he didn't care. The incident was just too…agonizing to witness.

But Mokuba handled it brilliantly. Seto didn't think, if he was in his little brother's place, that he would be able to handle it that well, had their places been reversed.

The boy did not get flustered or confused and didn't turn to him for help out of this situation. Help that Seto wouldn't have been able to provide. He, however, smiled widely and left his books, getting up to sit on a clear area of the couch, saying as he held Yami's hand, "Nope… it's Mokuba." And as Yami's gaze focused and he realized where he was and that Yugi was no longer around, Mokuba smiled widely and leaned down a bit so that he was at eye-level with Yami and asked, "How are you feeling now?"

Seto held his breath, wondering what would be the answer.

To his relief, Yami smiled back at Mokuba, the calmness behind it genuine and he answered, "I am much better, thank you…"

And with that, Seto knew that the worst of it for today passed. The rest of the day would pass a bit more peacefully. And it was true. Yami got up and told them he would go upstairs to take a shower and change so he could get ready for dinner. Seto made sure to make him drink a can of an energy beverage before he went upstairs, not heeding any of Yami's grumbles or protests about how much he didn't feel like it.

Not surprisingly, Yami did not do much to his plate at dinner, except redecorating it and rearranging the food on it into different places. Seto did not push him too much, knowing that that must be normal. Now was not the time to pester Yami about food.

The doctor, when he came over to visit at eight, as he had promised to do everyday, checked Yami over and asked about the progress throughout the whole day. The old man made sure to stress upon the necessity of Seto maintaining a strong will against any future attempts from Yami to ask him to provide him with the drug.

At that, Yami spoke for the first time in a while.

"That is not necessary. I will not be asking him for anything," he mumbled.

"Yami, I just want to make sure…just in case your motivation falters…"

"It won't."

The doctor remained silent for a few moments, before smiling and nodding, "Alright, son… I trust you." And he got up, making Seto follow. Before moving towards the living room's exit, he added, "Remember to stay hydrated. This is just the beginning, Yami, so you might need to stay in bed later on. You won't be able to walk around like you did today."

Yami nodded absentmindedly.

Seto didn't want to think of what was 'worse' than this.

After showing the old man out and promising to take care of Yami to the best of his ability, Seto walked idly back into the living room. Yami looked up at him and smiled tiredly, a smile which Seto returned with one of his own.

"Are you okay?" Seto asked, needing to hear Yami's reassurance.

Yami nodded slowly, "Better than today morning…"

"Why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll get your meds ready and something for you to drink…" Seto suggested.

Yami nodded and got up, swaying slightly on the spot. He accepted the hand Seto offered him until he stabilized himself on his feet. "Thanks," he mumbled, smiling widely, as though he was just given a piece of candy.

"What's the big smile for?" Seto asked with a playful, questioning gaze.

"Seto Kaiba held my hand again…" Yami said with an even wider grin.

And he walked away towards the stairs, leaving Seto standing in the same place, a reddish tint splashing his cheeks and a tiny smile adorning his lips…

Seto realized that the fourth day of Yami's detox was just…a warm-up. The days to follow, where Yami took the shot on every alternate day, went by a lot smoother. After that, however, things got a lot, a lot worse. At one point, he was sure he asked Yami to make some sound or the other… it was okay, he told him that. He just needed Yami to get out of this state of silent agony, as though he was enduring a deserved punishment quietly.

Of course, Yami did not comply with his request.

The second day after they ran out of all the heroin shots they had with them, Yami passed out on the couch, which became his usual spot nowadays. Seto took him upstairs, put him in bed and stayed with him till he woke up again.

It was…bad. It was really bad, and it all passed by Seto as though he was living a really nasty nightmare. He couldn't recall much of what happened, after Yami finally settled down into the first comfortable sleep he got for the first time in four long days. He waited by his side, immensely glad to see Yami sleeping deeply, not bothered at all by nightmares or pains of any type. It was well-deserved sleep, Seto knew that. Even if he couldn't recall everything that happened, he still remembered an outline of what happened. He remembered that Yami was in so much pain. He remembered that instead of screaming out in pain, Yami cried in silence. He remembered wondering what the numerous nightmares Yami had, were centered around. He remembered deciding that he really did not feel like finding out.

He was just relieved, about two and a half weeks after Yami moved in with him in the Mansion, when Yami woke up, features looking much more relaxed and his face losing its deathly pallor.

He smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. "Hey," he said, tilting his head slightly so he was within Yami's near line of vision.

"Hi," Yami told him, his tone, although weak and barely audible, quite cheerful.

"How are you feeling now?" Seto asked, praying to sense honesty behind the "I'm fine," Yami usually gave him.

To his relief, Yami's smiled broadened and he mumbled, "Hungry…"

Seto laughed, "Alright…I'll bring up something for you…"

Yami interrupted him. "No, I think I will get up and take a shower. What time is it now?" he asked, sitting up and tentatively swinging his legs to place them on the floor.

"It's 6:30…" Seto answered him, not moving a muscle to help Yami get up.

"I think I'll be able to make it downstairs before dinner time," Yami said with a calm smile, managing to make it to his feet on his own.

"Alright then, we'll wait for you anyway," Seto assured with a nod.

True to his word, Yami managed to make it down the stairs within twenty minutes. He was dressed in a pair of baggy cargos and a loose-fitting, comfortable sweatshirt. His hair, slightly damp from the shower, was pulled into a ponytail, away from his eyes which were shining with new brightness that made them look like glittering gems, compared to the dullness of the past few days.

Seto couldn't stop looking at him.

Eventually, Mokuba giggled suddenly and kicked him from under the table.

"Ouch!" he said, glaring at his brother.

"Focus on your food and eat it up," Mokuba told him playfully, throwing a sideways glance off at Yami, who snickered and cut up a small piece of beef steak with his knife, stabbing it with his fork and dragging it in the sauce for a bit, before raising it to his lips to eat it.

Seto narrowed his eyes at his brother and looked at his food, starting to eat since he had been too busy staring at Yami who suddenly looked, to him, like the most beautiful thing in the whole world, even if he was a little underweight.

He listened, as Yami and Mokuba spoke about random stuff. Mokuba was telling Yami about the kid in school he bit today, and Yami started laughing at the unique method of self-defense. Seto chuckled slightly under his breath along with them, wondering if it was possible to keep Yami with them all the time so he could keep that smile on his face.

He kept blinking a few times, wondering if Téa's suggestions to take Yami out on a date, really got to him.

He studiously decided that the beef steak was particularly good today. He had to remind himself to thank the chef.

He was thinking about how to thank the chef even after dinner so, needless to say, he was grateful for the more sensible, reasonable distraction of his phone ringing, a call from his assistant. He was vaguely aware, as he left the dinning room to go into his office, that Mokuba excused himself and said he would go upstairs to finish up his homework before he went to bed, while Yami…he didn't know where Yami went.

Half an hour later, he went outside into the living room to see it completely empty. There was utter silence in the house, no indication of anyone in the downstairs level of it. Seto was about to go upstairs to search for…someone, when he stopped when he was passing by the windows overlooking the garden.

He smiled a bit and allowed his feet to do the thinking, leading him towards the door that led outside to the garden directly. He quietly made his way to one of the comfortable seats placed under a large tree. He settled comfortably and sat watching Yami, who was sitting on the grass, playing with the stray kitten which, not so surprisingly, was adopted by Mokuba…

It was a calming sight to behold. Especially after the tension of the past two weeks, it really did a very good job soothing the strain Seto felt for the past while. He never thought he would be doing something like this for another person who was not his younger brother. He never thought he…cared enough about anyone.

He tried not to make himself think about anything in particular right now. His mind was as though on fire from the thinking he had been doing for the past while, so he decided to just relax and stop worrying so much. he focused his attention on Yami, as he hung the drawstrings of his sweatshirt in front of the kitten, and whenever it reached up to catch it, he would playfully pull it away, making his new, furry friend meow and climb on top of him to try and reach the thread.

He wasn't aware of how much time passed as he sat like that, but when Yami suddenly realized that he wasn't alone in the garden, and Seto looked at his watch, he saw it was a little past 09:30PM.

Yami picked up the kitten and walked over to the other seat beside Seto's. He sat down in it, stroking the area under the animal's chin, making it purr happily and curl up on his lap. Comfortable silence hovered, until Seto remarked, after seeing that the kitten fell asleep, "You're so good with her… it took me and Mokuba almost a whole day to get her to trust us."

Yami looked at him for a bit, before looking down once again at the sleeping kitten, "Yeah, I had a cat…" Seto nodded slowly, not daring to push Yami into telling him anything more than that. Yami, however, after a while of silence, added, "Her name was Chixo. She was a white, Persian cat who… erm…" he trailed off for a moment, as though the words failed him. Seto glanced at him, studying his features and the sad longing that appeared on them as he resumed finally, "She died…"

"I'm sorry," Seto offered in a low voice. It was such a sad thing…the story behind the simple, short "she died" that Yami gave him…it made him want to take all of the crap that happened to the person beside him, away.

"It's okay…she really is in a better place. I mean it," laughing, Yami said.

Indeed, Seto thought with bitter sarcasm, looking ahead at some bushes. He heard a small sigh beside him, feeling Yami shifting slightly in his seat. He looked to his side, watching as Yami shifted slightly, so he wouldn't disturb the sleeping kitten, and slid down further in his seat, so he was in a semi-upright position. He watched in fascination, as Yami's eyes got fixed above him at the sky, which, with Yami's condition, cleared, not a speck of a cloud visible.

Once again, time flew by without meaning as he kept staring at Yami's peaceful face, observing every turn of his eyes and every single twitch and motion. It was such a fascinating sight to keep looking at, Seto realized with a sudden burst of enlightenment. Yami wasn't…he wasn't the very, very beautiful type, that made heads turn and made girls –or boys—swoon at the sight of. Perhaps if he gained some more weight and if he had some more color on his face…perhaps then he would be that type. But now, as Seto stared at him mesmerized, after the brunet saw for himself a very small piece of the suffering this…this mere human being went through everyday… Yami looked to him like some fallen angel.

And just like he did not realize that he was staring for more than ten minutes at Yami as he looked up at the sky, he did not realize that his hand had moved on its own accord, reaching for Yami's face.

He snapped out of it, though, when Yami blinked and turned to look at him with slight apprehension.

He swallowed nervously, wondering how to get out of what he was doing just now. His hand moved by itself and made the decision for him and he gently tucked away a stray bang of Yami's hair which slid down into his eyes.

For a long while, Yami kept staring at him, different emotions making his eyes seem brighter suddenly. Finally, he moved. He got up, mumbling as he cradled the sleeping kitten in his arms, "I'm going to bed, Seto…"

But before he could leave, Seto's hand caught his and he held on to it. Yami stared at down at their joined hands for a moment, giving Seto the chance to get up and stand before him, shifting slightly.

"I'm…I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," Seto muttered, hitting himself mentally. That really was a very wrong thing to do. What would Yami think of him now? If he did not apologize now, Yami would definitely start thinking that he expected something in return for helping him. He had to make Yami accept his apology and realize that he really did not mean to demand anything of him.

Yami stared up at him and the corner of his lip twitched in a lopsided smile. To Seto's alarm, which he tried so hard not to let it show, he found Yami leaning closer staring at him in the eyes, intentions as clear as sunlight.

Seto couldn't…stop himself. He was no saint and even a saint in his place wouldn't be able to resist tilting his head downwards slightly, to meet Yami halfway through so that their lips brushed for a moment, in a kiss that redefined delight in his book. It was just too perfect, as though they were the lock and key to perfection of such an intimate, calming action.

But he suddenly recalled that time…when they had been in the gym's lockers…he remembered where that particular action led the last time they did it.

And he found it very natural to pull away, telling Yami firmly, "Stop!"

Yami stood back a step or two, chewing on the corner of his lip, his tongue darting out slightly to lick the same corner, as though he just had a very tasty treat. Seto swallowed nervously because of the effect the sight had on him, and forced himself to understand Yami's words as he said, "I'm sorry. I crossed the line," and was about to leave.

Seto stopped him, "You didn't…I am not scarred for life, Yami. Far from that actually."

Yami stared up at him in silent, blank lack of understanding.

"I do not want it, however, to end up like last time," Seto added.

Yami calmly looked at him, "Do you want it to?"

"Oh God!" Seto exclaimed in exasperation. "No, Yami. I don't," he vehemently stated. "What do you think of me…? I told you, I am not doing any of this expecting something in return. When are you going to trust me on that?"

Yami smiled and shook his head, "I already do."

"Then why do you keep repeating such awful things? When will I be sure that when I kiss you, you won't be doing it feeling indebted to me in some way or the other?" Seto demanded.

Yami's smile turned bitter, "I keep repeating those things just so I can hear you say what you just said…I want to be sure…"

Seto stared at him in silence, wondering if Yami truly was hurt so much that he couldn't trust anyone who told him they wanted to care for him, without expecting a return.

"You're not like them…" Yami mumbled, staring down at his feet, hugging the tiny animal he was still holding, closer to his body. "Please tell me you are not like them…"

Seto did not know who the 'them' were. He had a pretty good idea, though.

So, he shortened the distance between him and Yami, who now had small, crystalline tears sliding down his face in silence. He hooked his index finger beneath Yami's chin and raised his head, so he could stare into the tearful, glittering crimson eyes.

"No, Yami. I am not like them and I won't be. Please believe me, because I don't want to repeat this to you ever again, alright?" he firmly said, making sure to keep looking into the crimson eyes.

Yami took a step towards him, so that their bodies stood right in front of each other and he leaned into Seto's taller frame, placing his head on his shoulder. Seto raised his arm and wrapped it around Yami's shoulders, pulling him closer and placing a tiny kiss on top of his head.

Perhaps…Téa had been right.

A/N: thank you sooo much to everyone who's been reading and reviewing… there so many people I want to thank in person but I simply don't have the time for it. I am sooo sorry, Internal Medicine is a round that is not to take lightly.

Thanks a lot to everyone, though. :D

Hathor…