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That Weren't Important Yesterday

"Why, Yami? Just tell me why."

"Because it wouldn't work out and then we'd have ruined our friendship."

"So that's all you want? Friendship?"

"Yes," I'd lied.

He stormed out of my room. And now, he barely speaks.

So, maybe the friendship is already ruined.

What I really want isn't important. I just need to make sure I don't lose his presence in my life again, especially now that I don't have my aibou any more. I can't lose Seto too.

My cell buzzing in my pocket startles me. Pulling it out, I find that it's Yugi again. When will he get it that I don't want phone calls from him?

"What?" I snap into the phone.

"Yami?"

"Sorry, Jii-chan," I reply much calmer. "I thought you were Yugi."

"Oh, he's not there yet?"

"What? Not here yet? You mean in Japan?"

"No, I mean Kaiba's house."

My eyes widen in fear. Mokuba's out riding and if Kaiba answers, he's likely to strangle or beat Yugi to a pulp first and ask questions later.

"Jii-chan, why didn't you tell me he was coming?" I admonish, racing down the stairs.

"He wanted to surprise you."

"It's not me I'm worried about being surprised."

I enter the front hall just in time to hear, "What the fuck do you want, traitor!"

"Gotta go, Jii-chan," I call as I flip my phone closed and put it back in my pocket.

"Seto, please don't hurt him," I request, stepping in front of a clearly disturbed Yugi. I'm sure it's been a very long time since he's seen Seto this angry.

Seto glowers at me before stalking off toward his study.

Relived at not having to fight with Seto, I turn to Yugi.

"What are you doing here, Yugi?"

"Aibou."

"What?"

"Aibou. It's what you used to call me," he states hopefully. I narrow my eyes at him.

"I repeat, what are you doing here, Yugi?"

He sighs and looks down.

"I thought if I came here, willing to face Kaiba's wrath just to see you, you'd understand how sorry I am for how I treated you."

He looks back up, locking eyes with mine.

"Yami, I'm so sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me. I missed you so much when you were gone and I can't bear the thought of never being your aibou again."

His head falls again when I don't respond and I see his shoulders shaking as tears streak his face. I guess Seto was right. He did finally realize he was being an ass. And I'm glad because I can't imagine him never being my aibou again either.

"Aibou," I whisper, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He flings his arms around my neck and sobs. Deciding that standing at the front door isn't the best place to do this, I prod him to pick up his suitcase and follow me up to my room. Though that may turn out to be a really bad idea. Seto would probably blow a gasket if he knew I let my aibou into his house.

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I watch him take Yugi's hand and lead him upstairs.

Shit!

It's bad enough that he doesn't talk to me anymore, but now that he has that loser back in his life, he won't need me for anything! I don't have to worry about helping him move, because his "aibou" is here now! He'll help him!

Fuck!

I storm back into my study, eyes falling on the box of letters still in the corner and then on the fireplace. I find myself standing over the box, but I can't bring myself to do it. This could be all I have left, now. I flop into the desk chair at that thought.

No, I can do what he wants.

Friends. That's all. Nothing more.

I can make myself do it.

I will make myself do it.

And I'll even get along with that backstabbing little runt if it means keeping Yami with me.

Mokuba will be home soon. That's why I came home early because I promised him we'd go out to Yoshi's place tonight. And I'll even invite that sniveling little toad to come with us. That will make Yami happy. That's what a real friend would do.

Friends. That's all. Nothing more.

Growling to myself, I bang my head against the desk.

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The first shock was seeing Yugi.

Scratch that. The shock wasn't so much seeing Yugi as seeing him in our house! The second shock was that he was still breathing and that Nii-sama was just standing there while Yugi greeted me with a hug before stepping back to Yami's side with a huge grin. The next shock almost causes a coronary when Nii-sama invites him to go with us to Yoshi's! I must have looked pretty pale because Yami is suddenly checking me for a fever and asking if I'm all right.

"I'm fine!" I blurt, "Just caught a little off guard."

"Me too," he whispers, conspiratorially. "Did you know Seto even offered him a guest room?"

I look over to my Nii-sama and find him with his eyes closed, arms crossed over his chest, breathing slow and evenly like he does when he's trying to get his anger in check.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Yami," I warn.

"I don't either, but he won't take 'no' for an answer."

"Why is he doing this?" I wrinkle my brows at him.

"I don't know, but we'd better figure out a way for Yugi not to go with us tonight or stay here. And we'd better do it fast. I don't think he's going to last much longer."

"No. I don't think so either," I frown watching Nii-sama slip into his study. I know he's getting something to drink. He hasn't been drinking anywhere near as much as he used to since he and Yami got close again. I can't let him go back there.

"I'll be right back, Yami," I murmur, quickly heading to Nii-sama's study.

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"Please don't," Mokuba begs from behind me as I put the glass of scotch to my lips.

I sigh and put it back down.

"It's just to take the edge off, Mokie," I explain.

"Don't fucking 'Mokie' me!" He screams.

I turn to him angrily.

"I don't care how old you are, Mokuba. You will not speak to me like that," I hiss.

"Nii-sama, what are you doing?" He pleads, obviously exasperated. "Why would you invite Yugi to stay here and to go with us when you know it makes you so angry?"

"I have to, Mokuba," I begin. "Yugi is Yami's aibou. It makes Yami happy when Yugi's around. To show Yami that I can be 'just friends' and nothing more, I have to do things a real friend would do. That way Yami will stick around this time. I won't lose him if I keep him happy."

I reach for the glass again, but suddenly don't want it anymore.

"What are you talking about, Nii-sama? Yami's not going anywhere."

"Not if I keep him happy. Not if I can make sure he still needs me. That way, when you leave for college in a few months, Yami will still be around and I won't be alone. But if I can't keep him happy, he'll move to Hawaii with Yugi. If I can't have him as…as more than 'just friends', then I'll settle for that. As long as he stays here in Japan."

Shit! I hadn't meant to tell Mokuba any of that, but he's always had a knack for getting me to talk about what's bothering me without actually asking.

Well, he did ask. He just didn't ask that.

"I promise I'm not going anywhere, Seto," Yami's warm tenor extols. I whip around to see him standing in the doorway.

Great.

This time I pick up the glass of scotch and down it in one gulp.

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When Mokuba goes after Seto, I turn to my aibou.

"You know you can't really stay here, aibou," I frown. "And you can't go with us tonight."

"I know," he smiles at me. "That's why I brought my suitcase down when I came to say hello to Mokuba. Seto only offered to make you happy. When we decided not to have anything more to do with him, we knew Kaiba could care less about us, but I guess none of us really understood how much he'd miss having you around."

"Yes. We missed each other," I smile back.

"Don't fucking Mokie me," we hear Mokuba scream from Seto's study.

"Hmm. Maybe you should get in there," Yugi nods toward the study.

"Probably," I scoff.

A pause.

"Thank you for forgiving me, Yami," he whispers reverently.

I pull him into my arms for a warm hug before he leaves, getting into a waiting cab, which he must have called earlier. I wave good-bye and go see what's happening with the brothers. I can't remember ever hearing Mokuba say something like that to Seto, so I'm a little concerned about what could be going on.

I get to the doorway and Seto's saying something to Mokuba.

"…But if I can't keep him happy, he'll move to Hawaii with Yugi. If I can't have him as…as more than 'just friends', then I'll settle for that. As long as he stays here in Japan," he concludes, looking more worried than I've ever seen him.

Seto you idiot. Why would I leave just when we're finally back in tune with each other? Maybe not so much in the last few weeks, but you're still my best friend. That's why I don't want to do anything else. I can't lose this. I won't lose this again! My aibou lives in Hawaii. As much as I love him, he's just too far away. And I don't want to be that far from you. So I'm not going anywhere, Seto.

"I promise I'm not going anywhere, Seto," I affirm to him with a smile. Instead of helping, it seems to distress him even more and he downs the whole glass of whatever before either Mokuba or I can stop him.

Oh well. We'll just have to keep an eye on him tonight at Yoshi's.

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Nii-sama's very quiet at Yoshi's and Yami keeps staring at him, a worried frown on his face.

I just wish I knew what was going on with those two.

Maybe then I could pay more attention in Yakamura's class and stop getting detentions.