Chapter 25: Too Good to Be True

"Hey, aibou, can we talk?" Yami hesitantly asked as they sat down on the couch in Yuugi's room after dinner on Monday night.

Yuugi sounded hesitant, but agreed, "Sure. What's up?"

"You remember how I told you that I like Kaiba?" Yami reminded Yuugi.

"That's a little hard to forget," Yuugi dryly said.

Yami wasn't sure how to interpret that, so he continued speaking, "Well, the thing is, Kaiba and I talked about it yesterday."

"Okay," Yuugi replied without really understanding where Yami was going.

"He likes me, too," Yami informed Yuugi, watching his reaction carefully.

"Okay," Yuugi repeated, still sounding a little unsure.

Frowning at the response, Yami asked, "That's all you have to say?"

Yuugi just shrugged, because he honestly wasn't sure how to react. He knew he should be happy that his two friends were getting together, but for some reason, Yuugi felt really hollow and unhappy. It made it hard to be supportive and Yuugi could only question, "So you're going out with Kaiba-kun now?"

"Yeah," Yami confirmed with a nod. "Are you okay with that?"

Shrugging again, Yuugi replied, "I honestly don't know."

It hadn't been the reaction Yami had been expecting and he wondered how to handle the situation. Deciding he needed more information, Yami asked, "Why?"

"Because I feel like I'm losing the only true friend I have here," Yuugi softly replied as he looked down at his hands.

"Aibou, you know that's not true," Yami reassured him.

"It is true," Yuugi insisted. "Let's be honest. Kaiba-kun tolerates me at best. Other than Haruhi-senpai, I don't really feel like I've clicked with the other members of the Host Club. And to the people in class, I'm nothing more than a curiosity."

"I'm sure that's not true," Yami tried to comfort Yuugi. "When I was still in the Millennium Puzzle, I saw that you classmates really liked you. I doubt that's changed."

"That doesn't make them friends," Yuugi pointed out sadly. "It just makes them polite."

Trying another route, Yami insisted, "Just because I'm with Kaiba doesn't mean that I stop being your friend, aibou. You know that."

Yuugi knew in his heart that was true, but he still had a hard time accepting it. "Yeah, but now you'll want to spend all of your free time with him," Yuugi said.

"You act like I'm just going to abandon you," Yami protested. "Nothing is going to be different between us from the way it was before."

"Except that's not true," Yuugi told him. "You already spend all your time with him when you're not with me and even when you're with me, you would probably rather be with him."

"Now you're not being fair to me," Yami complained. "You know that's never been true and never will be."

Sighing heavily, Yuugi said, "It sure feels that way sometimes. Like I'm this awkward third wheel that no one wants."

Reaching out and hugging Yuugi, Yami apologized, "If I've made you feel that way, I am truly sorry."

"Thanks," Yuugi mumbled into Yami's shoulder as he returned the embrace. "It's just hard. I was so used to always know how you were feeling and what you were thinking and now…not so much. You really aren't the mou hitori no boku anymore."

"You know you're still my dearest friend, right?" Yami asked as he pulled back to look Yuugi in the eyes. "That will never change."

"I guess I should be grateful that you didn't have these types of feelings for Kaiba-kun when we shared my body," Yuugi said with a small smile. "That would have been really awkward."

The very thought made Yami laugh he couldn't help but agree, "You have no idea."

"I think I need some time to get used to the idea of you and Kaiba-kun being together in that way," Yuugi decided. "It was hard enough coming to terms with the fact that you two had become such close friends."

"If it's any consolation, Kaiba's struggling with the exact same issue," Yami told Yuugi with a grin.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Yuugi said with a quiet laugh. "Does Mokuba-kun know yet?"

Shrugging, Yami replied, "I'm not sure. I'm assuming Kaiba will tell him soon if he hasn't already. We only reached a consensus about this last night, so…"

"I wonder how he'll react?" Yuugi commented. "It's just been the two of them for so long."

The truth was that Yami was very nervous about what would happen if Mokuba reacted badly to the idea of them being together? Would Kaiba change his mind and stop being with him if Mokuba didn't approve? The thought pained Yami and he tried to ignore it as best he could. "Yeah," Yami finally agreed, "but hopefully he'll understand. If Kaiba can see the logic of us being together, surely Mokuba will, too. The better question is will you be okay with this?"

All Yuugi had ever wanted for Yami was happiness after so many centuries of pain and loneliness. If Kaiba was the one who made Yami happiest, was it really right of him to not support that? "I just need a little time," Yuugi said, knowing that a phone call to Anzu would probably help settle his mind on the issue. "But I promise that I'm not mad."

A small sense of relief washed over Yami and he smiled at Yuugi. "I can live with that," Yami decided.

"Good, because I have some homework to take care of now," Yuugi replied.

"Is it okay if I watch?" Yami hopefully asked. He knew that he needed all the help he could get before he had to enroll in school.

Smiling at Yami, Yuugi told him, "Of course," as he started to pull out his books.

A/N: Just give it time…

NEXT CHAPTER:

"Oh, please tell me you have what I think you do," Yami pleaded, not sure if he could survive another night of teasing.

The next chapter is going to be posted on Sunday, June 28th, so please look forward to it! It's a majorly important one, so it will be fun for everyone~.