Duels of the Heart

A/N

Oh, so sad!

Warnings/Notes: Shounen-ai Seto/Yami. 5-shot.

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO!

Summary: "Yami, don't fucking lie to me about hate! I know you love me…" "No, Seto! I truly hate you! Everything about you! I hate the fights, the quarrels, and the duels against one another! I hate the feeling deep in my heart that I hold only for you! And I hate it… I hate that love I reserve for you…"

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Hatred…

An emotion so strong it can eat you alive from the inside out. Depending on where you hold that hate, how you hold it, and why you even have it in the first place. The emotion that I so very feel for you. You're not only my rival, or my peer, my classmate or my former high priest, but my very hatred itself. The damn emotion welling up inside of me that I can't even fucking control, the hatred that burns in my eyes like a dancing raging fire. And all you do is feed that fire with yourself. Everything about you. Your perfectly arranged silky hair that I so hate, the perfect eyes that could demand respect and clearly show superiority towards others. I once was like that. I once was

Being the Pharaoh of Egypt, and you, my high priest. I respected the fact that you didn't cower under my gaze, or give up all you fought for from just one defeat. But I hated it as well. I despised every fiber of your being, every stare that you didn't back down from, and every duel you did not give up. You challenged me, over and over and over again to the point that I didn't as much look at you with the confidence I always had. To the point that I myself never even threw the insults back at your face. That I didn't recollect that triumphant smirk your supple lips were brought up in when you destroyed one of my monsters. That I didn't even as much as try to win. That I didn't even care if I achieved my usual victory or not. To be blunt, I just didn't care about anything anymore.

In our clashes of never ending repetition of rematches, you constantly had that determination within your soul to overpower me. Constantly.

Your gaze always showed that lethal glint that I had lost long ago. Those emotions that I felt no more. You became what I was, and what I now so loathe in this lifetime. But it hurt…it hurt so much… so damn fucking much…

I know you think of hate as a mere insult. But did you know? Did you really? I hate you with every breath I take, I want you to know, truly know that I hate you. Not the hate rivals have, but pure undeniable hate. I want you to feel the emotion radiate from me, to make you tremble with the strong emotion bursting throughout my entire being. To look into my eyes and return the stare in fear. Or maybe you would like to return the same feeling…?

You, as well as I, infrequently express our emotions through our façade. Deny that mask? I think not. You definitely know of the walls we both place up. I even have secrets I never tell my Aibou. So, how would I have knowledge of the genuine feelings you hold for me? How would I know what to expect from you. Hatred is an unexpected thing, but you yourself is my hatred. So I conclude with confirmation, that you yourself is unpredictable. But that just makes me hate you even more. The hatred is so overwhelming I can't help but speak out my thoughts. My heart clenches and twist with every word I breathe out to you, but all you do is smirk that infamous smirk. And oh, how I hated it…

But hate is just a reaction of the emotion the hate masks. Like ourselves, we mask our emotions from ones around us, and my emotions are masked with others. Emotions take time to understand, but I have been waiting for over three millennia and still have no knowledge of the certain emotion my hatred masks. But, oh, aren't you the one masking it? As you are my hate, you are masking my emotion, as well, you hold it deep in your heart as I suppose you mask your very own emotions as well. Would the emotion our hate dominates be the same? The twin of each other, a reflection of what we truly feel deep down?

Sometimes I wonder if it's an obsession, as you are obsessed with the goal of defeating me one day while I smirk at you, my foe, in our endless duels. But obsession can lead to so many things. Lust, insanity, mood swings as well as many others. But if that was true, what would our obsessions lead to? Do you wonder in the peace and solitude of your inward mind? Or when you are all alone? Or the times we face each other in an emotionally dangerous battle?

But subsequently, I felt defeat from my own hatred's hands, and I hated it…But you didn't smirk like I thought you would. You didn't look at me in disgust, but only in wonder and surprise. You didn't speak with that low and smooth voice that I detested with all my tainted black heart. But I craved for it all the while. And I looked past the things I expected to the unexpected, which was you. Again

Your brows furrowed together in deep thought, confusion etched in your flawless features. Time was passing by quickly as you stared into my uninterested eyes, as if anticipating a reaction from me. What did you anyhow? Me sobbing on the ground with shame and hopelessness. Did you think so pathetic of me? Did you really?

I would've smiled, I should've smiled, but I just stared at you. I supposed my expression wasn't one that satisfied the perfect bishounen of Japan, as you glared at me with ice. I mused to the thought of ice on fire was impossible. But it looks like I was mistaken. Again.

And I still hated it so much. I hated the fact that I hated you and everything about you. I hated that I feel indescribable emotions for you. I hate the duels we face against one another. I hate it that I give the impression of hating you in the first place. I hate that hole in my heart that formed at the first moment of settling eyes on you. The emptiness and longing--I felt incomplete. And it was because of you that I suffer this way.

And I hated it.

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Cool! I typed this in 20 minutes! Maybe I should update more then… --; Anyways, tell me what you think! It's so emotionally dramatic, ne? Hehe. Also, check out my other one-shots I'm posting today! OO;;; It's a lot… about 5 one-shots I think, 1 five-shots is this one, and 3 two-shots as well as 2 continuation fictions. Hope to see lots of reviews in my mailbox by tomorrow!

Ja ne and RR!

Harika Huynh