Well, here's chapter 7. I apologize for the erratic updates- usually I try to wait at least three or four days between postings, to give you time to read, but I'll be really busy all weekend, and it's better to update now than wait until Monday, don't you think? Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Chapter 7: Hysterics
I sat rigidly in the passenger's seat of Seto's little silver convertible; clenching my eyes shut against the inevitable return of the Dream World during the few seconds it took Seto to walk to the other side of the car. I heard the car door slam and the car start, but I kept my eyes shut, carefully regulating my breathing. Somehow, this time hallucinations had even crept in under my eyelids.
Seto slid his hand into mine and my eyes fluttered open in mild surprise. "You don't have to, I'm fine," I reassured him quietly. He merely lifted our joined hands to the steering wheel and kept driving, not answering me, and I let out an inward sigh of relief- though I didn't necessarily need his touch, it still reassured me; it was like undeniable proof that I wasn't hallucinating anymore.
Somehow, Seto seemed to understand that.
He finally let go of my hand when we pulled into the museum parking lot; but when, as we exited the car and my hallucinations predictably returned, I froze in place and Seto wordlessly took my hand again. I leaned against him as we walked up the museum stairs; grateful he had stopped trying to outrun me.
"My Pharaoh," Isis murmured, suddenly appearing in the doorway and bowing deeply.
"Just call me Yami," I groaned, rolling my eyes. Seto snickered under his breath.
"Yami, I am surprised to see you here with Kaiba. Your bond has proven stronger than I had anticipated," she said mysteriously.
"What did you do?" Kaiba growled dangerously. He straightened to his full height, towering over Isis as he shot her a vicious ice-blue glare.
"I found another spell to counteract Marik's, but when I attempted to remove the original grounding spell, it reformed itself," Isis explained, seemingly unthreatened by Seto's anger.
"WHAT! YOU NEARLY KILLED HIM!" Seto shouted, letting go of my hand and pulling me into his chest protectively. I could feel his arms trembling slightly as he held me in a bone-crushing hug, my face buried in the folds of his shirt.
I tried to shift my position so air still made it to my lungs.
"This spell should have worked. It would use the bond of all his loved ones to counteract the nightmares. I didn't expect the grounding spell to push this one back," Isis protested.
"I don't care! You should have told him what you were doing," Kaiba snarled, tightening his already bone-crushing grip on me. I whimpered inaudibly.
"Perhaps I acted too soon. But, since my original grounding spell worked, I believed that another spell of the same nature would have equal effect. It seems I was wrong, however," Isis admitted.
"What do you mean, of the same nature?" I asked, finally breaking free of Seto's grip and taking a wary step away from him. He was stronger than he looked.
Isis hesitated. "Well, this new spell would use many loved ones, so it should have been stronger than the first one. The grounding spell…" she trailed off, looking between the two of us with concern.
"Just get on with it, woman!" Seto barked.
Isis sighed. "The grounding spell only works if both parties trust each other completely. The person trapped in the Dream World can only be held in reality by the person he trusts most in the world; since he essentially needs to rely on that person to keep him from the nightmares. And the person grounding the other in reality- in this case, Kaiba –can only do that successfully if he trusts the other with his life. Otherwise both will be drawn into a nightmare."
Seto and I stared at her in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell us this before?" I asked weakly.
"I thought you would be upset, because it was Kaiba instead of Yugi keeping you here," she responded. "Before I tried the grounding spell, I told Yugi of its risks, and he agreed to let me attempt different means to bring Yami back. His friends also agreed to risk themselves for Yami- but I never expected Kaiba to be the one to ground you."
I shook my head and glanced up at Kaiba, reddening. "Yugi can't trust me completely because he thinks I'm the darker half of his soul; so maybe…maybe I doubt him too. A little…" I murmured, hanging my head in shame. This was something I'd never actually admitted- that little niggling doubt that came from knowing Yugi didn't always trust me. I had always been unwilling to let myself accept it, though now it seemed I had no choice…
"And I've always trusted Seto. He's never lied to me, and he helps when no one else knows how," I added, shaking my thoughts away and glancing up at Seto again.
He watched me with dawning emotion in his cerulean eyes before turning to Isis. "Just fix it," he snapped. Without another word, he grabbed my arm and tugged me away from her, back down the stairs.
We avoided each other's gaze.
We paused beside the passenger's side door to Seto's car, but I hesitated because I knew the nightmares would come back as soon as I climbed inside. Reluctantly I placed my hand on the door handle but immediately pulled it away again, my fingers trembling a little. Sighing softly, Seto reached around me and opened for me. "It'll just be a couple of seconds. You trust me, right?" he cracked, grinning slightly.
I laughed shakily. "Yes, I suppose I do," I replied. Impulsively I threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, for everything," I whispered, clenching my eyes shut. I couldn't say why I was suddenly so emotional, but for some reason I just needed Seto right then; needed more than ever just to be close to him; so I clung to him desperately, wishing for…wishing for… something.
Suddenly I burst into tears.
Seto slowly returned the hug, and he stroked my hair gently as I cried into his shirt. "Yami, what's wrong? Is it your Jiichan? Did Isis do something else to you?" he asked in confusion.
I shook my head, still weeping uncontrollably. "Just don't leave me, please don't leave me alone!" I sobbed.
"What… Yami, I'm not going anywhere," Seto replied incredulously. I just dug my face deeper into his shirt and clutched at him, keeping my eyes screwed shut. "Why are you so upset?" he whispered, running his fingers through my hair.
"I…I don't know. I just… As soon as I'm better, you won't…you'll be gone," I choked, as my sobs gradually began to subside. That thought hadn't even occurred to me until it slipped from my mouth, and as the idea registered in my mind, fresh, hot tears poured down my cheeks, soaking the front of Seto's shirt.
He sighed and dug in his pocket for a cell phone. With me still clinging around his middle, he called for a limousine to come to the museum. "What are you doing?" I asked his shirt.
"What you asked. I'm not leaving you alone," he replied.
By the time the car arrived I had calmed my hysterics, but I still clutched Seto's arm tightly. After he parked, the driver climbed out of the car and opened the door for us. "Mr. Kaiba, a Yugi Mutou called the house while you were gone. He said not to bother returning to the hospital today, since Sugoroku Mutou wouldn't be allowed visitors until tomorrow."
Watching me out of the corner of his eye, Seto nodded curtly at the man, and I sighed in disappointment. Still clinging tightly to Seto's arm, I climbed into the limousine behind him as he pushed the button to block us from the driver's view. Then, Seto surprised me by pulling me close to his side and wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
He must have felt really sorry for me.
"Look, I know it's been a rough few weeks for you, to say the least," Seto said, chuckling morbidly, "but I promise things will get better." I rested my head against his side and he paused, carefully scrutinizing my face. "Isis was right," he continued. "I would trust you with my life, and I have before. I…I won't leave you, even after you escape that nightmare world. That is, if you still want me around."
Seto drew his arm away from my shoulders and I sat up, watching him as he turned his face toward the window, observing the passing scenery. "Thank you," I told him softly, sliding my hand into the crook of his elbow. He nodded but kept staring out the window, and shafts of sunlight streamed onto his handsome face, making his bright blue eyes shine brilliantly in the glow.
Wait, handsome?
I gulped at the thought. Why did something like that even cross my mind? Because you believe it, a voice answered in the back of my head. Well, even if I did think Seto was handsome, it didn't mean anything… The voice laughed. Except that you're crazy about him. I frowned at my growing insanity and lifted Seto's arm so that it draped around me.
I would show that stupid voice.
As I settled into Seto's side, nothing happened for a moment- no strange reactions whatsoever. I sighed, relieved, until Seto finally looked at me, giving me a brilliant white smile. My stomach lurched strangely and my heart skipped a beat; then the voice popped up again.
See? I told you so.
After that, I tried to touch Seto as little as possible. That afternoon, Seto sat beside me on the couch, typing on his laptop, and I tried to read another novel (making sure it was right-side-up this time) while we waited for Mokuba to come home from school. I curled up on the edge of the couch as far away from him as I could; trying to ignore my growing attraction.
It was impossible.
Every time Seto yawned, sighed, or shifted position, my eyes involuntarily fastened on him. I read the same sentence about fifteen times before I finally just closed the book and tossed it on the floor in frustration. Seto glanced over curiously and my heart did a tiny flip when he looked at me. "Can't concentrate," I muttered, looking away.
I heard him close the laptop and set it on the coffee table. "I think I'll take a break," he commented, stretching. My eyes shifted back to him against my will, watching the shirt ride up on his long, lean torso, exposing an inch or two of his smooth skin. As I tried to tear my gaze away he suddenly scooted closer to me and leaned across my lap, looking at the book on the floor.
My heart started pounding a calypso beat.
"What were you reading?" he asked, still leaning over me.
"Er, I don't know," I replied weakly.
"You sure weren't paying close attention to your book, then," Seto laughed. He stretched farther across me, reaching for the book on the floor. Now he was almost lying across my lap. My stomach lurched and churned crazily, and I felt a wave of nervous nausea wash over me.
Oh no.
"I…I don't feel so good," I murmured, holding my stomach. Seto straightened, holding the book, but when he saw my face he dropped it again.
"Yami! You're so pale, what's wrong?" he asked, and placed the back of his hand gently against my forehead. "No fever…" he started to say, but at his touch my stomach gave another giant leap.
I ran for the garbage can in the corner, ignoring the swirling shadows creeping into my vision, and vomited violently. I threw up again and again, until my stomach had emptied completely, and even then I kept gagging uncontrollably.
"Shh, shh, it's okay. Calm down, Yami," Seto murmured, tenderly brushing the bangs away from my face, until I gradually calmed and quit gagging. I wiped my face with my sleeve and knelt in front of the foul-smelling garbage can, afraid to move. I don't think I'd ever felt so nervous in my life.
"Come on, you'll probably feel better now. Just let your stomach settle," Seto coaxed. He sat against the wall and tried to tug me toward him, but I twisted out of his grasp and curled up near the garbage can, not looking at him.
"Yami, what's wrong?" he sighed.
"My stomach," I replied shortly, still looking away.
"I know, your stomach, but why are you pulling away from me?" he asked, sounding a little hurt.
"I…I might throw up again," I lied.
"You can't, your stomach is empty," he said. "Just come here, you'll feel better if you relax."
"I'll relax over here," I sulked.
"You're right beside the garbage can!"
"So?"
He groaned in exasperation and stood in one swift motion as I watched him apprehensively. Frowning, Seto stomped over the three feet or so to where I sat curled in the corner and picked me up off the floor. "Hey! Let me go!" I shrieked, scrambling to escape from his tight grasp, but he carried me across the room and dropped me on the couch.
"You'll be sick again if you just sit there by the garbage can," he admonished, making me lie down.
"No I won't! You said yourself I couldn't throw up again if I wanted to," I protested, sitting up. He pushed me down again and held me against the couch by my shoulders, and I swung my legs off the sofa and slid sideways out of his grasp.
"Why are you being so unreasonable?" Seto groaned. He shoved my legs back on the sofa and sat on them. Then he gently pushed my shoulders down again, panting slightly as he leaned over me. His brown bangs hung over my face, nearly brushing my cheeks, and he gave me a smug grin, staring straight into my eyes.
My stomach flopped again and my breath hitched. "Please, please get off me, Seto," I begged. "I…really…I don't feel…I think I'm sick," I panted, starting to hyperventilate. "Please…just let…me go." I started pathetically gasping for air and clutched at his shirt, forgetting that he was the one making me react like this in the first place.
"Oh god! I'm sorry!" Seto cried. "Calm down, please calm down," he pleaded and slid off my legs. I continued to gasp, clutching at him, so he picked me up again. Seto settled in the floor with his back propped against the couch and cautiously rested me in his lap. He rubbed my chest soothingly, trying to get me to breathe normally again. "Shh, I'm sorry," he whispered.
I nodded and slowly calmed my breathing. "Sorry," I murmured.
"You couldn't help it. But I don't understand; you've been upset about something all day. Did I do something?" he asked.
"No… Just, a lot has happened lately," I replied vaguely.
"I understand," he murmured.
Hah. Sure he did.
Suddenly I realized I was sitting in his lap, and I tensed, nervousness washing over me once again and making my limbs feel like jelly. Seto felt my reaction. "I just got you calm," he groaned, exasperated, and let out a weary sigh.
"Sorry, I'm sorry, please don't be angry," I begged pathetically, and scooted away from him, but he caught me before I could escape his lap and pulled me close again.
"Yami, just relax," Seto said. "What do I have to do?"
"Nothing, I'm sorry, I'm relaxed, I'm fine," I replied shrilly. He chuckled.
"Yes, of course you are," Seto retorted sarcastically. He kissed the top of my head like he would with Mokuba, and I smiled despite myself and rested my head against his shoulder. He laughed softly. "There, that's better," Seto murmured.
I shrugged and closed my eyes, and he wrapped his arms around me gently.
The next thing I was aware of was Mokuba's voice. "So you told him, then?" he asked excitedly.
"No! He was sick and I just… He doesn't know, and I don't plan on telling him, so leave it alone," Seto snapped.
"Why won't you tell him? Are you afraid?" Mokuba asked. He sounded disappointed.
"A little, maybe. But he's going through a lot right now. I don't want to add to that," Seto explained.
"But Seto," Mokuba protested. "What about what you're going through? I know how much it must hurt you! How can you stand it? To be this close and still not be able to…"
"Just leave it," Seto sighed. "He doesn't feel…"
"HI YAMI!" Mokuba interrupted loudly, noticing my eyes had slid open. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. What were you talking about?" I rasped. My throat was raw from vomiting.
"Nothing," Seto replied hastily, pulling me to my feet. "Let's go get something for your throat."
I let him lead me downstairs without comment, but the wheels were turning in my mind. Apparently Seto had some sort of problem that he hadn't told me about. Maybe that was why Mokuba had been so upset when I moved in; the Kaiba brothers had a secret.
What could it be?
A/N: Well can you guess what's going on with Mokuba now? lol I'm surprised no one's guessed it already, actually...
Thanks to all my reviewers! I hope you all liked this chapter...poor Yami...lol
FIC RECOMMENDATION: Everyone go read SLJade's story Time Crisis! It's a Seto/Yami AU... I don't want to give anything away but you guys HAVE to read this! It's like a mystery novel, and SO much fun trying to guess what's going on. I've pestered the poor author to death with all my theories...lol! Anyway, the author link is on my bio, so check it out!!!