It wasn't long before they reached Kaiba's mansion and Yami was being lead to the large game room. Kaiba no longer seemed willing to hold contact with Yami now that they had left the club. While Yami wished this wasn't the case, he was more than willing to give Kaiba his space, recognizing that the other needed it.

The path to the room was familiar; only towards the end did they deviate from the route that Yami remembered taking when he dueled Kaiba just weeks ago. Inside, the room contained nearly every board game imaginable, as well as several gaming systems. Off to one side, almost as though it were on display, was an ornate chess board, the pieces finely polished and carved out of marbled wood, giving it a lavish feel. Conspicuously absent, however, were any hint of duel monsters cards.

Kaiba shrugged and gestured to the room. "What do you want to play?"

Atem immediately went to the shelf that contained the board games, and was browsing through them when one of the console systems caught his eye. The controllers looked like steering wheels, almost like an arcade game. He was not familiar with the system, Yugi didn't have one, but he was good at driving games at the arcade and figured this couldn't be much different.

"Coming here was a replacement for the arcade, right?" he asked, a smirk gracing his face. "So why don't we go with whatever that is?" he pointed to the controllers.

Kaiba smirked right back. "Mario Kart it is," he replied, finalizing the plans.

Yami found that Kaiba was consistent in his choice of character and car, preferring the brute strength of Bowser and a heavy offroading car. His play style depended on a combination of his own proficient steering skills and his ability to knock the smaller characters off the map. Yami fell victim to this several times before attempting a much smaller bike.

"You really expect to win with that lightweight?" Kaiba jabbed.

"Wait and see," Yami defended, hoping his choice was the right one.

Much to Kaiba's ire, once Yami had the hang of the smaller bikes, the races were brutal and came down to the seconds. Yami eventually settled on Baby Peach, who seemed to have the best bonuses for speed and maneuverability, giving him the best chance to avoid Kaiba's attacks.

The longer they played, the more consistently Yami won, and the more frustrated Kaiba became. He refused to stop playing, demanding additional time, even though it was well past two in the morning. The pair grew tired, their eyes half closed, but still Kaiba refused to stop challenging Yami, and Yami refused to back down. Eventually Kaiba's experience with late nights gave him some leverage, and he won a game after a streak of nearly forty losses.

Kaiba's wide-eyed look, a stark contrast to the half-lidded fatigue that plagued him earlier, swiftly turned to one of triumph.

"Hah! I told you that strategy wouldn't hold out."

Yami just scoffed. "One win and you think you have proved me wrong. How many times did I win using this approach?"

"I bet I win again," Kaiba snapped, clearly not liking that Yami was right.

"You're on," Yami replied, blinking bloodshot eyes.

Kaiba did win again, still holding the advantage of having pushed himself past his limits before. He won the next game as well, before Yami finally gave into his exhaustion and fell asleep during the fourth race, steering wheel still in his hands.

Kaiba's first response was a triumphant huff of air, causing his bangs to fly upwards. His second was to wonder what to do with his rival. The other wasn't in condition to go home on his own, and Kaiba didn't want to be the one to deliver him back to the game shop. Kaiba's proud look left his face, and he sighed.

Gently he pried the controller out of Yami's hands and picked him up, carrying to a nearby entertainment room containing a couch. The guest bedrooms were too far away, he reasoned, and it was still more comfortable than the floor. He pulled an afghan off the back of the couch and covered Yami in it, deciding that would be good enough.

He exited the room, and navigated the hallways to his own, stripping to shower before sleeping himself. Reflecting on the date as he lathered up, he was surprised to find that he enjoyed himself overall. Still, was that enough to prove that dating Yami wasn't a waste of his time?

No, he decided. Dating Yami was necessary for nothing. And though he was taken aback by how enjoyable the evening had been, he decided it wasn't enough to impress him. He would get Yami home when he woke in the morning, and they would go back to be rivals, as though the date had never happened.

That settled and his body clean, he toweled off, got his pajamas on, and curled up to sleep.

Yami woke up late the next morning, confused. Why was he in an unfamiliar room filled with the largest stereo system he had ever encountered? He racked his brain to remember what happened last night, but his memory stopped after losing at Mario Kart.

That was still enough to put two and two together; somehow in his fatigue he ended up on a couch for the night. The fact that it was a couch stung a little. He had expected to at least end up in a guest bedroom, assuming correctly that Kaiba had many. Still, he had been allowed to stay, rather than shoved back to the game shop, for which he was grateful.

Pushing aside the afghan, he sat up and rubbed his sore neck. His stomach growled and he wondered if it would be imposing to look for breakfast. Figuring there was only one way to find out, he stood and opened the door, trying to remember how he got to this section of the house. He thought he remembered passing a kitchenette on the way, and it seemed his best bet.

Taking a left out of the room, he began to wander the house, trusting himself to find the way.

A half an hour later, he found himself in front of a large window overlooking an indoor swimming pool. He was nowhere near the kitchenette that he thought he had seen. Frustrated, he entered what might have been a locker room, to find out that description was only partially right. There were no lockers, simply a pair of cubbies and a massive shower before the pool entrance.

He sat on a bench in the shower, sorting out what he ought to do next. He reasoned that somebody would have to enter the room eventually, so he decided to stick with conventional wisdom and stay put. Now the only trick would be determining how to pass the time as he waited...