Ch. 6 Warmness of Your Touch
Yuugi opened his eyes to be greeted by the first sunrays and calmness of an early weekend morning. He groggily blinked, wondering why his neck was so stiff and rolled onto his side, a tired sigh almost escaping his lips but dying down as soon as he saw Yami's form, still peacefully sleeping amidst the mountain of pillows. Yuugi could see only his face, slightly turned towards him, basking in light and having a regal glow that Yuugi hadn't seen on anyone else before. Yami's expression was serene and relaxed; Yuugi slowly released a held up breath as quietly as he could but even then he thought his breathing ringed loud and ragged, so Yuugi pulled a blanket over his mouth and nose and stilled with eyes still glued to Yami's sharp features, softly airbrushed by gentle sunlight. Yuugi hadn't realized yet that his head was unusually silent and free of worry.
The atmosphere in the room was as still as a cool pond in the depths of a forest, however time was still flowing in the usual manner and once the lukewarm sunlight turned into heat footsteps thumped in the hallway, followed by coughs. Yami stirred in his sleep and opened his eyes, not quite focused yet. Yuugi was about to pout and mentally scold grandpa for waking their guest up, but the thoughts never fully formed after being disrupted by the now familiar flutters in his stomach and chest, caused by wine purple irises, glinting in light like precious gems.
"Good morning," Yami said while sitting up. His voice had no trace of the drowsiness people usually woke up with.
The tranquility of the early weekend morning dissipated and time flow normalized, leaving Yuugi with a tight feeling in his chest. However, he didn't dwell on it; instead he threw off the blanket that was covering his face and shyly greeted back, "Ah, good morning."
~O~
After a rather uneventful, but in Yuugi's eyes blissful, morning Yami and Yuugi sat in the living room, each holding a cup of tea. Yuugi picked up a remote and flipped through channels until he found the one that streamed a Duel Monsters tournament. He carefully sipped his tea and glanced in Yami's direction to see if the TV had successfully captured his attention and sure enough, Yami's stern gaze was already following the game. Yuugi exhaled with relief, finally! Since they woke up, Yami hadn't let Yuugi out of his sight; the constant attention was a cute gesture in Yuugi's book, unless the staring became intrusive to the point of almost feeling two holes being burnt through the back of his head. Yuugi lifted his arm to feel around his scalp, just in case the burning feeling wasn't all in his imagination, but thankfully, his hair was still intact.
Yami indeed was following the duel on the screen, but his thoughts weren't revolving around the game at all. Since he woke up from a dreamless (for once!) sleep and saw Yuugi's big amethyst eyes, twinkling with reflections of sunlight, he couldn't shake off a foreign to him feeling. Yami wasn't sure what the feeling was, except that it made him unsteady on his feet and urged to keep Yuugi close and safe. Yami stole a sneaky glance at the unassuming boy and his senses overwhelmed him; the iridescent amethyst peeking shyly between sleepy blinks, the mellow breaths and sighs, the soft hands gently holding a cup, the sickly sweet smell of honey and lemon tea, the muted murmurs of awakening world outside the cozy Mutou home; the flood of sensations and feelings left Yami stunned, grasping for his determination and ego to ground him, but Yuugi's shy amethyst gaze briefly connected with his sharp wine purple eyes and Yami again was caught in the feeling of velvety fall. Unfamiliar heat rose up his chest and fear instantly gripped Yami's throat; was his magic going out of control? Why was it a more fiery than electrifying sensation? He absolutely couldn't give in, not when Yuugi was so close to him.
A shrill sound rang through the house, disrupting the inner turmoil of both boys. Yuugi put his cup down on a coffee table and hastily stood up, thankful to whoever had rung the doorbell. The atmosphere between him and Yami was becoming rather… too tense for Yuugi to handle. What was that about anyway? Yuugi thought while hurrying to the front door.
Yuugi opened the door and recoiled backwards, hitting the wall behind him. He would have slid down, if he could still feel his legs.
"I have come to challenge the Egyptian relative of yours," Kaiba hissed, looking somewhere above Yuugi.
"W-what?" Yuugi stammered.
Yuugi couldn't believe his eyes. Kaiba Seto himself was standing on the threshold of his home, yet again. What was he after this time? Whenever the two teens crossed roads at school, Yuugi made sure to not let out even a single peep about rare cards, or any game for that matter. Every time Kaiba briefly came into an earshot of Yuugi's gang, he clammed up and hushed Jounouchi. Every. Fucking. Time! What could he have possibly heard me mention this time? What is he going to steal from my grandpa THIS TIME?!
"If you're done with your meltdown, Mutou, I'd like you to call for your Egyptian friend," Kaiba spoke, still refusing to look at Yuugi.
Hearing the nonchalant remark Yuugi saw red. He gritted his teeth in a painful way and took in ragged breaths, shaking to his core like a fragile leaf in a storm. His fingers were clenched into tight fists, fingernails cutting into skin with a dull sting. Soon Yuugi wasn't able to take in even the smallest of breaths and he opened his mouth to gasp for air, but there was none for his constricted throat to gulp down. The angry red that had dyed his vision slowly gave way to a blissful black, occupying his eyesight spot by spot, bleeding larger like ink on paper. The thoughts in Yuugi's head were spinning and interlacing so quickly, he couldn't discern his emotions anymore.
Bored with only the TV to entertain him, Yami decided to check what was taking Yuugi so long. He stalked to the entrance and Kaiba came into his view first. The annoyed contempt in Seto's face made Yami's lips curl into a snarky smirk, but soon faded when he came close enough to hear Yuugi's torturous struggle to breathe. Right when Yuugi began to fall to his knees, Yami dashed forward, halted his fall and pressed the trembling boy into a warm hug. Quickly checking Yuugi over for any fight marks Yami turned a scornful glare at Seto. The bastard stood there with his arms crossed, seemingly not affected by Yuugi's suffering.
"Kaiba Seto!" Yami barked, scowling. Oh how he wanted in that moment to be just a rabid beast so he could tear into that snobbish jerk.
"So you do live here," Kaiba commented. His stony expression didn't waver in the least, which made Yami's anger flare up even more, although deep in Kaiba's ice cold soul a tiny bud of regret, guilt and disappointment blossomed. Kaiba swallowed, his eyes darted to the side to hide whatever stupid emotions threatened to break through his facade. He couldn't succumb to some lame feelings, especially in front of his soon-to-be rival. Acknowledging the prospect of having a gaming rival of equal strength lit a fire in Kaiba's gut, silently wrecking his insides with excitement.
"Get out before I punish you," Yami's expression darkened and a surge of magic flooded his veins.
"Yeah yeah, anyway, if you got any guts, come to KaibaLand for a Duel Monsters game. I will destroy you this time," Kaiba spoke, not fazed by Yami's red glowing eyes.
Having challenged his soon-to-be opponent, Kaiba turned on his heel and left with a swoosh of his coat tails. Yami found the motion so familiar, he momentarily forgot about Yuugi's quivering form in his arms, but a growing stain of tears on his shirt made him shake his head to focus on the half conscious boy.
~O~
When Yuugi finally managed to gather himself and turn his brain into full comprehension mode, he was laying on a sofa in his living room. Before his eyes were two cups with half finished tea, forgotten and long turned cold. Like the tea, he too, was alone and forgotten. Yuugi eyed the cups until his vision blurred with tears. Why couldn't Kaiba leave him alone? Surely there were other game shops in the town. Yuugi turned slightly to bury his face in a pillow and furiously shook his head to get rid of the tears and, hopefully, of all the feelings that weighed him down.
After a while Yuugi sat up, visibly calmer than before. His face was slightly red and swollen; the edgy hair no longer formed spikes but splayed in all directions in separate strands. Despite the disheveled appearance, Yuugi breathed evenly and the trembling seized; irises again shone brightly and gaze turned sharp. He stood up, grabbed the half full cups. As he got closer to the kitchen, he stopped to listen in on a hushed conversation.
"No, I get ya' wanna go beat Kaiba, hell, I'd beat him up myself with just my fists, but that stuck up bastard has security, and fans, and fuck knows what else!" Jounouchi's voice rang a tad bit louder. Yuugi muffled a giggle; it was probably the first time he heard Jou arguing against a fight.
"None of that matter in a shadow game," Yami's calm voice countered. Yuugi strained his ears. Was Yami irritated? Or was it only Yuugi's imagination?
"Man, fuck this, I see I can't talk ya' out, just go and, I dunno, get yer ass shot."
Yuugi took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen as if he wasn't eavesdropping. He knew very well his friends were arguing for his sake; even his childish naiveness couldn't convince him otherwise.
Yuugi greeted everyone with a small smile. Anzu smiled back, sadness overcastting her usually sunny mood, Jou nodded and quickly looked away. Honda didn't bother to even wave. Yuugi saw their inner battle clear as day: he wasn't a weak friend anymore that they could drag around like a small dog to protect him from the wolves in his life; he had acquired a new protector who threatened to eat up not only the wolves, but their group as well. Sadly, the grudge ran deep and wounded Yuugi greatly; he couldn't let a chance to get back at Kaiba slip out of his grasp. He walked to the sink and gently set down the cups, aware of Anzu's doting gaze and Yami's burning stare.
"I think Yami should accept the challenge," Yuugi muttered, sounding more uncertain than he had wanted to, "and while he's at that, I wish he'd also win back my grandpa's Blue Eyes."
"Yuug', the card was torn in half. It's useless! I bet the bastard already threw it away," Jou's patience was almost all spent on the two spiky teens.
"It's not about usefulness!" Yuugi cried. "It means a lot to my grandpa."
Jou opened his mouth to protest, but the sight of Yuugi's disheveled appearance and teary eyes and Yami's stern look made him forget whatever clever argument he had thought of.
"Argh, whatever, let's go."
~O~
Finding their way to KaibaLand was easy, because Kaiba knew who and how to persuade to have posters with directions plastered all over the city, miles away from the actual theme park. The gang located one bright cyan poster with a vicious-looking dragon printed on it (Yuugi couldn't comprehend why such a teethy and realistic image of Blue Eyes was chosen; wouldn't it scare away kids?) and headed to the part of Domino City occupied by the huge park. The poster promised rides (Duel Monsters themed), snacks (also inspired by the card game) and unmatched fun; however to professional TCG players the site was more known for the huge arena, built specifically to hold game tournaments. If it wasn't for Kaiba's challenge, Yuugi would've been jumping up and down with excitement; he absolutely loved theme parks, especially in the company of his friends.
Regrettably, the group walked through the grand gates of the KaibaLand weighed down by a gloomy premonition and the cheery greetings offered by park staff only fueled the looming dread.
"Yeesh why is everythin' shaped like that frickin' drag'n?" Jou muttered to no one in particular, but loudly enough for people near him to hear.
"Well, KaibaLand needed a mascot and, of course, big bro chose his ace monster," a kid with long messy black hair spoke up. Because of how short he was, no one noticed how he approached the group. "I'm Mokuba Kaiba, the VP of KaibaCorp, by the way."
Yuugi smiled nicely at the seemingly cute kid that reminded him of the children who'd come to the Mutou store to learn to play board games. It had become his second nature to patiently teach kids like Mokuba the wonders of games, but the words "big bro" and "Kaiba" had already, in Yuugi's eyes, morphed younger Kaiba's image to resemble the scorned big brother. Initially Yuugi thought that the kid's silvery blue eyes were warm and friendly, a complete opposite of Seto's repulsive vibes, however, after the fact of their blood relation settled in, Yuugi was convinced the friendly attitude was just an act. He was speaking to a Kaiba, and even Kaibas go through childhood at some point. The sincere smile on Yuugi's face turned into a lopsided grimace.
The sudden change in Yuugi's demeanor made younger Kaiba step back. "Anyway, big bro told me to walk you to the dueling arena," the kid said and hastily turned on his heel. "After me, Yuugi and friends."
There was nothing the gang could do, even if they knew they were about to walk into a trap and witness Yami do god-knows-what to Kaiba Seto.
A spectacular giant dome, shaped like a very rounded Blue Eyes head, soon came into view and loomed over them in all its grandness. One could only speculate how a gigantic mochi-dragon-head, painted a soft sky blue color, could look this menacing. Yuugi felt incredibly small at the foot of the dome, but he swallowed whatever fears were threatening to rise up his guts; after all, he had to see the downfall of that thief Kaiba. Yuugi clenched his fingers into tight fists to hide their shaking and pressed on after his friends, led by Yami who seemed confident and not intimidated by the grandness of the arena at all.
Yami's unshakeable stride was admirable to watch, but one worrisome thought kept circling around in everyone's heads: they've seen the dueling dome on TV; wasn't there a large dueling field and rows upon rows of seats for spectators? Will hundreds of people see Yami's powers!?
Thankfully, the insides of the dome dragon were void of people; only a tall figure of KaibaLand's owner could be seen, already taken position on one side of the field.
Without any hesitation Yami strode forward to stand in front of Seto on the other side of the field. Not saying a word to each other, both men shuffled their decks and placed them on the dueling panels in front of them. A large screen above the field lit up to display players' life points.
"Oh man, my guts are 'bout to spill," Jou whined. The group, including the younger Kaiba, silently agreed. Indeed, the tension in the air between the opponents seemed to thicken before their eyes.
"Duel!" Yami and Seto's shouts signaled the beginning of their game.
Needles to say, the duel was intense: Seto relentlessly threw monster after monster on the field, each stronger than the last, not forgetting to mock Yami for using an inconsistent deck; however, Yami wasn't fazed by head-on attacks and counter-acted effectively with spells and traps, a nasty smirk plastered on his face.
Absorbed into the game, Yuugi initially didn't notice anything amiss. It was only towards the culmination, when Yami laughed and declared his imminent victory, Yuugi locked his eyes on Yami's face and his body went cold. What he saw in Yami's eyes was a lack of red glow. Yuugi gaped at the man until he was certain: Yami wasn't using magic. Why?! Yuugi screamed in his head. Won't he punish Kaiba? Didn't he accept the challenge for my sake?
Yami began to draw a card when he felt like someone was staring holes into him. He stilled, card already half drawn in his fingers, and glanced at his friends. Anzu and Jou were still absorbed by the spectacle of monster holograms, young Kaiba wasn't letting his brother out of his sight and Honda had an unfocused gaze directed somewhere upwards. When Yami moved on to the last person, an unpleasant shiver ran down his spine at the sight of those big round amethyst irises, glistening under the arena's bright lights. Was Yuugi tearing up? Yami glanced back at his hand, assessing the situation; he definitely was winning, so what upset Yuugi? An idea popped up and Yami gave the most reassuring smile he could muster up.
"Well, what's the hold up? I thought you were winning?" Kaiba hissed through his teeth. He was no fool; judging from the cards Yami played, he had an Exodia deck. Had he already drawn the last card needed to win?
"Since I am going to win," Yami smirked, his maliciousness fueled by Seto's irritated tone, "you will return the Blue Eyes card to Yuugi."
After Yami's bold statement was registered, a surge of emotions filled everyone present. Little Kaiba's glare turned poisonous. "You dare imply my big bro stole Yuugi's card?" He even stomped his foot, the normally childish gesture quite intimidating; a true Kaiba indeed!
"Silence!" Seto barked. "You have to win first."
"Then don't mind if I do," Yami gave Seto one last smirk and finally drew a card. It was the last piece of Exodia he needed, completing the five-piece set. Yami slammed Exodia cards on the panel and shouted, "I summon Exodia and therefore win this duel!"
A bright yellow light erupted from Yami's side of the field and a giant monster, resembling a buff armored mummy of a pharaoh, appeared with a terrifying roar. Exodia sent a blast at Seto, wiping his board clean of the three-headed Blue Eyes, along with the remainder of his life points.
Jou and Anzu cheered, shouting loudly and jumping, although upon noticing Yuugi's somber expression they composed themselves. Mokuba dashed to his brother with a shout, however, Seto didn't react; he stood there, frozen behind the dueling panel, with a stony face and blank stare.
Yami gave a last small "heh" sound in Kaiba's direction and with a swish of his jacket turned to face his friends. Yuugi watched him slowly approach in the usual carefree yet commanding manner; with every step it became clearer to Yuugi that Yami had no intention whatsoever to punish Kaiba. He didn't even take back my grandpa's Blue Eyes!
"What's wrong?" Yami's deep voice made Yuugi look into his clear wine purple irises.
Where are the red sparks? Why didn't he take revenge for me?
Yuugi furiously scratched his arm, the pain of nails digging into skin didn't register immediately; the dull ache came late like a distant thunder after lightning, disrupting whatever excuses, coated in fake kindness, were about to spill out of his mouth. Behind them a little figure of Mokuba approached, seething with anger, so Yuugi bit his tongue to shut himself up before he could upset the younger Kaiba.
"Big bro told to give you this," Mokuba muttered, seemingly to no one, but the piece of paper in his hand was extended in Yami's direction. Yami only raised an eyebrow in response and took the folded paper. After reading the contents, Yami smirked and turned to his friends.
"Seto is giving back grandpa's card," Yami announced, then, looking at Yuugi added, "I will get it for you. Go have some fun with your friends."
Yuugi was at a loss for words. So Kaiba didn't have the card with him? Figured as much, there was no reason to carry around an extra Blue Eyes card, especially one torn in half. But why was it Yami who had to meet with Kaiba? Yuugi glanced at the piece of paper in Yami's hands, but he couldn't see what was written in there. Maybe if he slowly stood on the tip toes and leaned just a bit towards Yami…
To his great disappointment, Yami folded the note and pocketed it away. However, Yuugi barely had time to pout, before Jou swung his arm around Yuugi's shoulders, making the smaller boy slump down.
"Yuug', let's go, it's not every day we get a chance to loiter 'round the KaibaLand," Jou said, already pushing Yuugi towards the exit. Yuugi knew that it was useless to fight Jou's stubbornness and muscle strength, unless he wanted to make a fool out of himself looking like a fly wrestling a bear, so he let himself be pushed away, casting one last glance in Yami's direction; to his dismay, Yami was already gone. When had he slipped away? Yuugi's guts made an unpleasant flip, setting off a wave of anxiety.
~O~
Yami stood in front of a massive black castle covered in cobwebs, surrounded by spooky ghost cut-outs and with a lit billboard roughly nailed to its' facade; as if it wasn't obvious enough, the giant words on the billboard were written in bloody splattered font and read "horror house". Maybe the modern nightmare-inducing contraptions were enough effort to spook kids, but Yami wasn't impressed in the least. He pressed on, ignoring plastic skeletons jumping out of hidden latches in the floor.
"Whe-he-he," cackled a dirty fat resin clown, "are you having fuuuun? Or are you scaaaaared?" It sprung up and down and then suddenly was thrown to the middle of the corridor. Yami nonchalantly walked around it, muttering under his breath, "I'm definitely not having fun." He had grown tired of all the dolls being thrown in his way, who would be amused by this nonsense?
Finally after ten minutes of walking, Yami spotted a tall figure in a small side room. Yami ventured in, already knowing who it was, after all Seto himself wrote in the paper memo to meet him in the horror house.
Yami stopped a step in front of Seto. The blue eyes caught Yami, mercilessly showering with icy needles. Yami resisted a shiver and instead stared right back, refusing to shrink under the cold gaze.
"I suppose I should congratulate you on winning the duel," Kaiba said, "however, next time you won't be so lucky."
Yami smirked and crossed his arms close to his chest, the gesture both exhibiting confidence and fending off the unpleasant cold tingles. "Your words sounded nothing like a heartfelt praise, rather a sorry attempt at asking for a rematch."
Kaiba's face twisted with anger, he lunged at Yami and grabbed the front of his shirt, twisting the fabric in fists. He yanked the smaller teen towards himself and hunched down a little, getting their faces centimeters apart. "Listen, you freak," Kaiba hissed through clenched teeth, "I don't know what magic bullshit you performed last time, but I'm not falling for your mind games again." Kaiba violently shook Yami. "I promise to destroy you in any way I can," Kaiba said, finally stifling his annoyment.
The anger seething out of Seto didn't bother Yami in the least. In fact, none of Seto's words registered; instead, Yami was pinned on the spot by the fierce icy eyes and hot breath against his skin. Again the deep blue and irrational rage awoke a sliver of memories, flowing in Yami's mind like a piece of tattered cloth in a gust of violent storm. He squinted, hoping to visualize the memory, but to his disappointment there was nothing, except for a distant feeling of comfortingly warm hands which had once grasped his clothing in a similar way Seto held him now. Shock must've been obvious on Yami's face, as Seto leaned back in surprise.
Seto bit his lip nervously, not knowing what to do. Did he go too far with the threats? He never expected his newly appointed rival to be so vulnerable. Seto cleared his throat wanting to say something to ease the situation despite his head being completely empty of apologetic words, but when he refocused on Yami, the shocked expression was already gone.
"I will look forward to a rematch," Yami simply said, to which Seto could only nod. "Now give me the Blue Eyes White Dragon that originally belonged to Yuugi's grandfather."
Seto scowled and forcefully pushed Yami away, then took out two cardboard pieces and threw them at Yami. With nothing left to say, Seto turned to exit the horror house. The decorations he initially found funny now looked idiotic and annoying. A flock of animatronic bats swung over his head with cartoonish screeches, causing Seto to feel his neck and cheeks heat up. He sped up, leaving Yami a few steps behind. He absolutely couldn't show that he was embarrassed of his own theme park!
To Seto's dismay, someone was blocking the exit. He walked closer to see a lanky man wearing a KaibaLand uniform, looking straight at the approaching CEO. Normally the staff of KaibaLand knew better than to offend their boss who infamously fired employees left and right in accordance to his mood swings; the rudeness of this employee was certainly an unusual sight for Kaiba and he quickly decided to fire such careless worker.
"Hello, Mr. Kaiba," the man said, still staring Seto down.
Seto stopped abruptly. That voice had greeted him before. Seto's hands trembled slightly, so he shoved them into his pockets, putting an air of indifference. He made sure the mask of arrogance was in place to start the damn act. "I see some of Gozaburo's leftovers have managed to slip in."
"Heh, still throwing around insults, Mr. Kaiba," the ex-exec of KaibaCorp sneered, "I suggest you watch your language, or your friends are going to die way sooner than planned."
"Pfft, 'friends'? I don't have any friends!" Seto's raised voice was evidence enough of his patience running out. His fingers, concealed in depths of his coat pockets, were twitching, restless to strangle the source of his aggravation.
"No need to pretend, Mr. Kaiba," the ex-employee stepped back, just in case Seto's self control slipped. "I will give you a chance to save them. The first clue can be won in a game stand closest to this place. But hurry or your friends will blow up. One. By. One," the man laughed, clutching his sides.
"And I'm telling you I have no idea what 'friends' you are talking about!" Seto shouted and lunged at the man, however, he didn't get far as Yami grabbed the back of his coat.
"Wait, Seto," Yami said. Now that Seto had his attention brought back to Yami, he took notice of how pale the shorter teen had gotten. Seto stood in silence, observing his disturbed companion, but was again at a loss facing the other's complex emotions. Seto's mind went in circles trying to remember when Yami had started calling him only by the first name and why the heck was he allowing such rude behavior.
Yami addressed the ex-employee with feigned calmness, "Those friends you mentioned, are they perhaps the group that was watching our duel earlier..?" The hand on Seto's back clutched the coat tighter. Even through the thick material the warmness reached Seto, making him squirm from the onslaught of muddled feelings.
"Heh, indeed," the ex-employee confirmed with a laugh.
The shaky heat on Seto's back vanished, leaving skin-deep traces of warmth. Yami's tri-colored hair flashed momentarily in front of Seto and disappeared behind the closing doors. Seto was left in the dim corridor with only the sickly green exit light and an echo of a wicked laugh.
"Yami!"