Title: Three steps forward, two steps back

Pairing: Yami/Seto/Seth

Rating: I guess it's PG-13 this chapter

Warning: If you can't tell, this is a yaoi story, and contains three men in love with each other. If you cannot handle this, I suggest finding something stupid like a story where Shizuka hooks up with Seto. Honestly people, they have only talked a grand total of ONCE in the anime!

A/N: Same as the last chapter. I will try to stick with just Yami, Seto, and Seth being the main characters, the last thing I need is to develop a side story, right?

Part two

It was in the morning that he doubted it would be worth getting out of bed. Usually that was because he'd spent most of his time in bed just trying to sleep, pacing the floor, or at his computer trying desperately to get some work done. But he didn't remember getting up once last night. In fact, what did he remember of last night?

He'd gotten his necessary paperwork done, saved what little he'd done on the computer for later, but what else? Oh, yes that voice, that voice had butted in. That interrupting nuisance, that delusion that his mind had been torturing him with for weeks! It had goaded him on about the one thing he'd tried so hard not to think about. The one person that had found a way to drill inside his head, slowly consuming and corrupting his thoughts to the point that Seto no longer knew how to fight any of it.

Damn that voice.

Damn that sexy pharaoh.

Neither one would leave him alone. No, one had to haunt his thoughts and be just within an arm's length at school. The other had to plague upon his mind and tell him how he felt. He knew how he felt! There was no mistake about that. He could deny it all he liked, but that did not change anything. The voice was at least right about that.

But go to Yami? Tell him? What idiotic suggestions! No, that voice must mean to do him some harm, lead him into situations where he would only get hurt again. How could he trust such a thing?

He rolled over once again pressing that train of thought from his mind, wondering just how out of nowhere he could sleep the whole night through. When was the last time he'd been able to do that? Groaning, the young billionaire got up, knowing that if he didn't get moving now he'd be late for school. And Kami forbid he be late for school.

It was odd though. Taking a shower, drying off, even getting dressed, his room was nearly silent. Where was the voice? Where was the taunting, the encouragement to go make a fool of himself in front of the pharaoh now? Had it just been his mind playing tricks on him after all? Was the voice just a manifestation of his guilt, something he tortured himself with further? Seto shook his head. Why was he even wasting his time thinking about this?

Now in his school uniform, the CEO took one deep breath and he resolved himself to forget both the voice and the pharaoh that haunted him, and see Mokuba before they both had to leave. Briefcase in hand, he headed into the hall before descending down the staircase. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a few of the maids huddled together gawking at him. He could tell some were not always as professional as he was at work, sighing again. What was so different about him today rather than any other day?

"Good morning, big brother." Mokuba greeted him warmly even though the brunette teen had passed right by him for the coffeepot and began to pour him a cup.

"Hn." It was the only reply he was willing to give until he had some caffeine in his system.

The younger boy stared down at his cereal for a moment, biting his lower lip. Seto raised a brow at this. He knew that look. Mokuba wanted to say something, but was afraid to. What did he want now? No, wait, he appeared more concerned than he did nervous. But why? He thought it better to let his brother sort out his own hesitation rather than force an unknown issue, and unfolded the morning paper to prepare to wait. His wait was not very long. "Seto?"

"Yes?"

"Did you go out last night? Like, late last night?"

"No. I actually went to sleep for once." For once he could tell the truth instead of those times he had to cover up extremely late trips to the office back before Battle City. He glanced over the business section to meet gazes with his sibling. "What would give you the idea I left last night?"

"Oh, it's just…some of the staff were talking, and I thought I heard them say you went out really late last night." The boy replied with a small grin. "I guess they're seeing things, huh?"

But Seto didn't answer. Something just didn't add up. The fact that he was hearing voices, that he'd slept through the night for the first time in a long while, that his staff were claiming to have seen him when they couldn't have, it just didn't all add up. What was going on here? Something definitely wasn't right.

And the pestering voice still hadn't said anything.

"Love, I need you to promise me something before I go." Seth had said as he pulled the smaller duelist closer to him, still playing with blonde bangs and gazing into those gorgeous ruby eyes.

"What?" Yami had been playful, leaning up trail wet butterfly kisses down his former priest's neck. The park was empty except for the two of them, and if he bothered to look over Seth's shoulder he could see the sun just beginning to peak over the horizon. Where had the time gone? Had they really been lying in the grass for that long? "What do you want me to promise you?"

"I need you to promise me that you will tell no one of me." The other had whispered softly, unable to meet his lover's gaze at the moment. He had felt his pharaoh tense in his hold, and sought to soothe him. "I don't think my presence should be made known just yet."

"I don't understand, Seth."

"It will only be for a little while." He'd planted a sweet kiss on the lips he'd craved for three millennia. "Trust me."

Yami had considered what this meant, but was still unable to deny the dragon tamer anything. "Alright, I promise. But when will I see you again?"

Seth had appeared hesitant to promise anything. "How about here again? Tonight?"

Reluctantly, the Game King agreed.

Yawning, Yami shook the events of last night, scratch that, earlier that morning out of his head. Math class was hard enough without him losing himself in a daydream, with the concept of both zeros and negative numbers always giving him a headache. Although he had both Yugi and Ryou to tutor him, he still wanted to be able to do the work himself, and he wouldn't know what he needed to do if he fell asleep in class. Or thought about his former High Priest.

A smile found his lips without his bidding. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that Seth's soul had been placed inside the Millennium Rod. Although it had to have been done after his own soul had been placed in the puzzle, but he never thought that his lover would be put in the darkness as well for those long years. And since Battle City some of his memories had been returning, mostly ones about Seth, about what they had been to each other. Could it have been because the Millennium Rod had been put in its rightful owner's hands that not only was Seth free, but his dreams full of passionate nights in Egypt with his priest?

Yami grinned at his own weakness, the fact that his train of thought had gone right back to his beloved even against his struggle to pay attention to his lessons. He never had been able to get the priest off his mind anyway, from what he could tell from his memories.

The bell rang, greeting him back to reality. Sighing, the King of Games gathered his things and headed for the door knowing that Yugi was accustomed to walking with Ryou to their next period together, so he needn't wait, and he headed for his science class. Science was about the same on his scale as math was. And when he entered the room, he found the reason he had such a hard time concentrating seated at the lab table in the back reading a paperback novel and giving no one else a speck of his attention.

Of all people in the majority of his classes, it had to be Seto Kaiba, didn't it? And he was the only one in the class that Yami knew better than the group of girls that called themselves his fan club and practically stalked him through the halls. Part of the ancient spirit caused him to stop, observing the solitary figure for a moment more, before moving on and taking a seat. Yet for some reason, he felt disappointed, but he was unsure why.

He's like this everyday. Why did I think today would be any different? Because of Seth? No, no, not Seto Kaiba. And what does it matter if he notices me or not? I have Seth now; he's all I need.

Seto couldn't believe that the old bat that taught his science class was still breathing, let alone trying to teach a lesson. All in all, he didn't care about the assignment she was trying to explain, considering it would probably only take him ten minutes anyway, so he tried to focus on his book.

"Now, using the materials I give you, your assignment will be that with a partner you are to develop your own way of proving a hypothesis that I approve. Once you have a hypothesis, I will give you and your partners everything you need. After that you will need to create a procedure, that I will need to okay as well…" the teacher droned on and on. Seto rolled his eyes. Not another partner assignment! Why did these idiot teachers always want to pair them off, it was bad enough teenagers already thought you were only socially accepted if you had a significant other, now he needed someone to always be there when he was working?

The old bat certainly seemed pleased that the other students had been paying attention and didn't have any questions when she was done going over everything. "Now, I'll give you five minutes to pick your partner yourself. Anyone without a partner after that, I will have to assign you someone who is also without one. Remember, this is a large assignment, and a good percentage of your grade, so you will want to choose someone you know will be an asset and not a burden."

Seto rolled his eyes and continued to read. This whole class is filled with idiots, there's no reason to even waste my time trying to figure out which one would actually have the brains enough to do half of the work anyway.

He was about to go on to the next chapter, although not too thrilled to considering most of the book was as annoying as his teachers, he was brought around by a soft, pleasant voice. A voice he knew well enough that he couldn't ignore it. "Seto?"

"What do you want, pharaoh?" He'd punctuated the last word to plainly mock the other's title, and for once had to look up to meet the ruby gaze of his rival. Yami stood to his left, holding his things, and although he had the same confident air about him, he was biting his lip. Unconsciously, Seto's eyes were drinking in the sight of said rival staring back at him, and inside he felt something stir, something he couldn't identify.

"Do you want to be partners?" The question came after a moment of silence, Yami tipping his head to the side as if he could read the other's blank expression better that way.

The CEO had lost himself. "Partners?"

Slowly, the spirit pointed to the front board; finding what he had asked to be obvious, but giving the brunette teen's mind a push in the right direction out of politeness. "For the project?"

/Could you have asked for a better opportunity, Seto?/

Not you, not now!Seto panicked, looking away. Not only was he now hearing voices in the presence of his only worthy opponent, but he was furious with himself for staring at Yami and not realizing what the Game King was up to. He saw the concern in the pharaoh's eyes and it made something in him snap. "Do I look interested in doing anything with you, pharaoh? If I feel the need for a duel, I'll let you know, but until then, you wouldn't be useful."

He felt a flash of heat in his mind. /How DARE you speak like that to him! Do like to see him in pain? Do you enjoying pushing everyone away, Seto?/

But it was too late for him to regret it, or to say anything to make up for it. With something akin to hurt flashing in his eyes, the former ruler whirled around and stormed over to a group of girls, most likely to ask one of them to work with him.

I do not care what he thinks of me. I do not care what Yami Yugi thinks of me.

/You will never be able to convince yourself of that. Do you think I can't see your heart as easily as you can? You love him yet you shove him away at every instance he tries to reach out to you./ the voice sounded furious, and even a bit bitter. Seto was shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut, but it just wouldn't go away. /Do you want to be alone, Seto Kaiba? Do you?/

Shut up! I refuse to listen to…whatever the hell you are. I don't give a damn about Yami, and I never will.Seto tried to shout in his own defense. Class was going on without him, the teacher so busy trying to give out materials to the other students she didn't even realize that Seto had not been paired up. Get the fuck out of my head! Get the fuck out of my head, do you hear me? You don't know anything about me or what I want, so just leave me the hell alone!

The bell had just rung, and Seto didn't even realize it. His instructor's lecture had taken up most of the hour. But azure eyes landed on a certain someone when he paused in the doorway, and suddenly the billionaire found himself on his feet. But he hadn't wanted to even get up!

/I don't know anything, do I? We'll see about that./ He heard in his mind as his legs carried him out of the science lab and into the already crowded hallway. His body was taking him through the dozens of other students, pushing through them without his consent. The voice had taken over? But that couldn't happen, could it? And no one controlled Seto Kaiba! But even as he fought what was happening, he saw that it changed nothing. He was still hurrying down that hall, and that was when he spotted Yami digging through his locker.

What are you planning on doing?Seto demanded loudly.

/What you are too afraid to do for yourself./

Seto couldn't stop himself. Before he could even guess what the voice had planned he had the pharaoh pinned against the locker bank, that smaller body circled in his arms, and their lips crushed together in his first official kiss.

To be continued

Okay, I gotta say that I was running low on ideas, and most of it came from right now. I didn't know how else for Seto to express his feelings if he refused to acknowledge them than to have Seth run interference. Seems logical right? If Seth wants both Yami and Seto, he has to get them together first right? Anyway, plans for the next chapter are going to be Seto finally meets Seth, and Yami and Seth get to see each other. Oh, and don't forget Yami's reaction to Seto's surprise kiss too! Let me know if this is horrible and needs to be redone!