Inner Cold.

"It's so cold..." Blue-tinged lips murmured softly, the words somehow drifting through the layer of ice that separated the two. Kneeling on the surface of the lake, looking down through ice a foot thick, Ryuuji swore mentally, but forced himself to smirk before continuing to chip away at the ice with his pocketknife. A paltry tool, but it was the only one he had to free Seto.

Trying to keep the other's attention on him, he queried in the most disdainful tone he could muster, "What would you know about being cold?"

"In case you haven't noticed Otogi, I'm the one freezing to death." It was strange how well Ryuuji could hear the other - every word sounded as if it was being whispered in his ear, instead of being mouthed through layers of gray-blue ice. Not letting his smirk slip, he tried wedging the blade in the ice to lever chunks of it out as Seto continued, "Shouldn't I be the one asking you what you would know of cold? You who basks in the warmth of your fangirls' adoration..."

Chip. Chip. Chip.

Ryuuji didn't stop working as he retorted, "Yeah, and that just passes right through me. Warmth can't stay in a person so empty." His fingers were bleeding but even his blood wasn't warm enough to soften the ice even just a little. If they got out of this, Ryuuji privately vowed that he would never agree to test another VR game again. And if they didn't get it out of it - well, that would be the least of his worries.

Long dark eyelashes fluttered slightly in a drugged manner, Seto seeming to slip into sleep even as Ryuuji worked so frantically on freeing him. "You, empty? I always knew that charm of yours was too easy to be real…"

"Good for you Kaiba. I don't care. As long the press don't find out, I don't care about anything." Ryuuji replied curtly, redoubling his efforts as he saw the other begin to drift off.

A small laugh, slightly hoarse as if the trapped boy wasn't used to laughing, issued through the ice. "And not caring about anything makes you empty?"

Without a pause, the dark-haired one shot back "I always thought it made you cold."

"How perceptive of you." Seto half-sneered, eyes closed peacefully and the arrogant twist to his mouth lessening.

"Seto!" Giving up on managing to cut through to him in time, seeing the other dying before his eyes, Ryuuji dug his gloved hands into the ice and tried to pull away as much as he could. Collapsing once that proved fruitless, he just breathed against it, softly whispering, "Se-Kaiba. Don't give up, damn you. I'll have you out of there if you just don't give up – I refuse to rescue a corpse."

For a second, Seto's eyes flickered open and he dredged up a smirk for the other. "You couldn't rescue a gum wrapper from the trash, let alone a corpse from this lake."

His eyes closed again, and Ryuuji panicked.

"SETO!" He yelled, and the warmth of his breath made the ice just in front of him dissolve.

Green eyes widening with sudden realization, Ryuuji pressed his lips against it and exhaled as hard as he could. The ice below him suddenly softened, and Ryuuji fell right through it, long arms wrapping around Seto's shoulders and soft lips pressing against deathly-cold ones as the additional weight sent them tumbling to the bottom of the lake.

Ryuuji saved Seto from freezing.

They drowned instead.