Please Read and Review… mainly because I'd like to hear what you think of the story. I'd also like to take a minute to thank everyone for their thoughtful reviews.

BASEBALL NOTE: Hopefully, you don't need to know anything about baseball to enjoy this chapter, but I thought I'd include a basic explanation of any terms used in the story. If you're familiar with baseball, feel free to skip to the Jounouchi Insult Note, below.

Perfect Game: The winning pitcher must make 27 outs in the course of a game (9 innings x 3 outs per inning 27) If a pitcher makes those 27 outs on 27 consecutive batters (no one reaches base for any reason – no hits, walks or errors) the pitcher has thrown a 'perfect game'. In US major league baseball, there have been 17 perfect games since they started keeping records in 1872. So you can see why there'd be a mystique around the subject.

Sacrifice: A sacrifice hit is the act of deliberately striking the ball to allow the runner to advance to the next base, even though the batter himself is put out.

Error: An fielder is considered to have made an error, if he allows a runner to reach base on a play that would have ordinarily been an out.

Baseball Basics: As I was getting ready to post, I realized that some of the people reading this story are from countries where baseball is an unfamiliar sport. So I included a brief description of the game, which I paraphrased from wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Baseball is played between two teams of nine players each. The game is divided into nine innings. During each inning, each team gets one turn to bat and try to score runs, while the other team pitches and defends in the field. In baseball, the defense always has the ball – a fact that differentiates it from other sports.

The teams switch sides every time the defending team gets three players on the batting team out. The winner is the team with the most runs after nine innings. If the two teams are tied at that point the game continues into extra innings until a winner can be determined. Baseball is also the only major team sport that does not end after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed.

The basic contest is between the pitcher for the fielding team and the batter. The pitcher throws the ball towards home plate, where his team's catcher is waiting to receive it. The opposing team's batter stands in the batter's box, and tries to hit the ball with a bat.

The four bases are arranged in a diamond shaped pattern and the batter must advance (in a counter clockwise direction) from home plate to first base to second base to third base and back to home plate to score a run.

Whew!

Jounouchi insult note: Seto and Kaiba use two main insults for Jounouchi in this chapter. A make inu is a stray dog, and a bonkotsu is a mediocrity. I love that one, because being mediocre is the one thing you can't call Kaiba, so I love that it's one of his top insults.

Weapons reminder: A Hambo is a three foot stick and a Shinobigatana is a short, straight sword, attributed to the Ninja.

Oniichan reminder: Mokuba calls Seto, Oniichan in his narrative. It is a more affectionate (and less formal) way to say big brother.

CH 30: FIELD OF DREAMS

YUGI'S POV

I really had to tell Jounouchi to cool it before someone got hurt… probably him. Kaiba-kun clearly looked on being polite to Jounouchi as some sort of self-imposed punishment for having hurt Yami so badly. Of course since it was quite a switch from his usual behavior, it didn't take Jounouchi long to figure out what was up… or to decide it would be fun to see just how far he could push Kaiba-kun in return. But the other day, after Jounouchi had called Kaiba-kun, 'Domino's most famous drop-out' once too often, I'd caught sight of Kaiba-kun looking at Yami as though silently asking for his permission to kill Jounouchi. It was never a good idea to bet on Kaiba-kun's ability to keep his temper.

But I wasn't in any hurry to stop Jounouchi either. He wasn't the only one getting a kick out of the situation. I mean, I knew Kaiba-kun had his good points. I'd spent most of the past week repeating them to myself. He was honest. He really cared for Yami. He was brave. He was loyal. (He really cared for Yami.) And I even liked his dry (and often ghoulish) sense of humor, now that I'd learned to recognize it.

But when I thought of how badly he'd hurt Yami, for no reason (well, no reason that existed outside of his own fucked-up head) I wanted to punch Kaiba-kun in the mouth… even if I had to stand on a chair to do it. Inflicting Jounouchi on him was mild by comparison. And it made me feel better.

I didn't mention my ambition to rearrange his lover's face to Yami. I knew he didn't share it. And I knew Yami was right. I'm not good at holding grudges, anyway – and this wasn't even my grudge to hold. Besides when I was with Yami, all I could feel was his happiness, and I knew Kaiba-kun was a big part of that. And to be honest, I couldn't help but see Kaiba-kun now through Yami's eyes, just a little… just like Yami would always have a soft spot for Anzu because of me. We didn't really talk about it. We were learning to give each other the illusion of privacy, but it was there. And it made a difference.

And Kaiba-kun was really trying. I could see that for myself. The first thing he did when he came in the house now was look for Yami. It was kind of funny seeing the way he couldn't quite relax until he'd seen Yami smile at him in greeting.

Something had really changed since the night Yami had gone to confront Kaiba-kun; since the night he'd stayed to comfort him.

There was a rightness to them. They fit well together. They were both made of darkness and light. Just as Yami was the bright spirit behind the Dark Magician; so Kaiba-kun seemed like the shadow that concealed the heart of his luminous dragons.

"The mansion is your true home, now," I said when Yami returned to my room late one morning.

He smiled. "Yes. When I'm with Kaiba, I feel at peace."

I hid my grin, though I knew he could sense it. But the thought of putting the words 'Kaiba' and 'peace' in the same sentence…

But for all we looked alike, for all we had shared a body, me and Yami were as different as sunlight and shadow. I loved Yami more than anyone, except for Anzu. But for all that our thoughts could wander in and out of each other's minds, I had never understood him the way I did Jounouchi. Just as, despite how deeply Yami loved me… his heart beat in time with Kaiba-kun's.

"It's nice to see you so happy. You know, I always assumed when you got involved with Kaiba-kun, our bond would dissolve. That didn't happen," I said.

"Kaiba didn't replace you, aibou. We forged another… a different link. But I built it using everything I learned from you."

He paused and frowned. "I'm stealing from you again, aren't I? First your time.. pieces of your life… even now, I'm still an intruder in your mind – you're not truly free of me. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? I don't want to be 'free' of you! God, Yami – I learned everything about who I am from you. I learned where you ended and I began. And I learned to see myself by looking at the way you saw me. I mean here you were – this powerful spirit… you could have taken over any time… like Yami no Bakura did with Bakura-kun. But instead, you deferred to me. You listened to me. And that's when I started listening to myself. We're a team, Yami – and an unbeatable one."

Now it was my turn to look at him doubtfully. Had Yami been imagining my feelings or projecting his own?

"What about you, Yami? Are you disappointed that we're still tied? That you have your own body, and yet you're not truly separate. Is that what you wanted – to be free of me?"

"Never," he said passionately.

"Then why did you think I did?"

"Sheer foolishness. It seems that I still need you, aibou – to be my wisdom."

I would have corrected him. But after having looked on myself as this wishy-washy cry-baby for most of my life, I liked being called someone's wisdom.

"What about you?" Yami asked. "When this is over, will you talk to Anzu?"

"Anzu needs time. She needs to know she's not going out with me, just because she can't have you. I've waited for Anzu all my life. I can hold on a little longer."

I thought about it.

"I'd take her right now, even if she was just settling for me. It wouldn't bother me, but she couldn't live with that, so neither could I. It's funny… you know, if I'd met her at Battle City or in America, I bet we'd be going out right now. But she's spent her whole life thinking of me as this little kid who needs her protection. I'm asking her to look at me and see someone new… to take all her assumptions… about me… about herself… about us… and throw them out the window."

"That's a lot to ask of someone," Yami agreed. "When you ask someone to overturn all their beliefs, to ignore everything their life has taught them, to change how they see their world, how they see themselves… and to do it all for you… then, you are truly asking for everything."

I didn't need a special link to know that his thoughts had returned to Kaiba-kun.

MOKUBA'S POV

It should have been any kid's dream. My guardian was my teenage billionaire brother who ran a gaming empire – and I could wrap him around my finger. I should have been a lot more spoiled than I was. I mean, he'd do anything I wanted, and everyone knew it. But years of watching my brother destroy himself trying to grant my unspoken wishes had made me very careful of what I asked for. Today it wasn't much. I wanted him to take Oniichan to a baseball game. My brother loved the sport. Of course. It was a game of geometry and statistics. The best fielder was the one who made the fewest errors and sacrifices never counted against your batting average. It was tailor-made for Nisama.

Although Domino's team was named the Dragons, my brother had never rooted for it, had never considered buying it. He just liked watching the game, even satellite feeds from America. It didn't matter who was playing, although he had a mild preference for the New York Yankees. It was the only thing he did without caring who won or lost. Secretly, I thought the game was pretty boring. But I knew the only way I could get Nisama to go was if he thought he was taking me. It was a comparatively harmless deception. And besides, it wasn't quite a lie. I might not have thought much of the game, but I liked sitting in the sun with Nisama; I liked talking to him; I liked watching him relax.

I knew I was asking Nisama to suspend hostilities against Oniichan for the day. Although he had made up with Yami (or Yami had made up with him), he was still as mad as ever at Oniichan. No, he was more than furious – he was agonized and guilty – which was how I knew it had something to do with me. I would have told him that his fears (whatever they were) were groundless… that I trusted Oniichan. But I knew he didn't and wouldn't, so I held my peace.

But Nisama hadn't been hard to convince. It didn't hurt that Eiji Sawamura was pitching for the Dragons. He was in his third year. Already in his career, he had thrown two shut-outs and a no-hitter. The opposing pitcher had also flirted with immortality. Masaichi Kaneda was older. He was just returning after 5 years in America. Although my brother had approved of his desire to play against the best – and for the highest pay – he also felt Kaneda had picked up too many bad habits overseas; had become out of shape and lazy. But as erratic as his first season back home had been, Kaneda, like Sawamura, had also managed a no-hitter. And my brother was dying to see a perfect game. This looked like his best chance.

Although I knew better than to mention it, I was also hoping that he'd remember just how badly he'd wanted to see a real, live, baseball game when he had been Oniichan's age.

Now Nisama had a luxury box for entertaining corporate clients. But he preferred his season tickets behind Home Plate. They weren't the most expensive seats in the house. They weren't right on the field. But they had the best sight lines for seeing the plays unfold. And they were 20 rows back – just far enough that the ugly chain link fence that stretched from foul pole to foul pole to protect the fans from stray balls (and the players from the fans) wouldn't obstruct our view.

I'd suggested inviting the whole gang. Nisama had surprised me by including Sugoroku. He'd told me: "That crummy little game shop is closed on Tuesdays, so the old man might as well come along, especially since he's closer to dying without seeing a perfect game than any of us." It was a long sentence for Nisama.

Nisama and Oniichan were both in black and blue, but as usual, there the resemblance ended. Nisama had black boots; Oniichan, black high-top Converse sneakers. Nisama was in a black silk shirt, black pants, and a long, sleeveless, midnight blue duster that swept the floor, and made him look even taller. Oniichan was in an oversized black T-Shirt, with a midnight blue skull on the front. The bottom of the shirt had probably been midnight blue, too – but Oniichan had burned it off, so that his dragon belt buckle showed through the charred remains. Even with the belt, his black jeans were threatening to fall off his hips. I couldn't believe Nisama let him go out in public dressed like that.

Of course, they were the only ones not wearing the team logo. I wasn't surprised. The mascot was the cutest, cuddliest, baby dragon imaginable. It made Pegasus' Toon Dragon look like a killer. It had a baby blue body and big, dark blue eyes – which matched Nisama's in color – if not in shape or intensity. My brother grimaced every time he looked at their logo. I kept expecting him to buy the team – just so he could kill off the mascot and replace it with a more respectably intimidating dragon.

Yugi and Yami were in matching, sleeveless Dragon's T-shirts and matching cut-off shorts. Both pairs must have belonged to Yugi once – and Yami didn't seem to realize that since he was a couple of inches taller, the shorts were riding pretty high on his legs. I saw my brother's eyes narrow fractionally at the sight – and immediately re-evaluated my estimate of Yami's cluelessness. This was probably some new move in whatever game he was playing with my brother. It hadn't escaped my notice that there were times when my brother and Yami headed out to the motorcycle track, and Nisama would declare it off-limits to the rest of us – in a voice that brooked no arguments.

It was odd seeing Nisama have a life that didn't include me. On the whole, I approved – but Nisama and Yami on the motorcycle track 'racing' was definitely one more picture I didn't want running around inside my head.

I looked at Anzu instead. She was in one of those skimpy undershirts with the little straps – the kind that girls wear. It had, of course, a baby Dragon holding a bat on the front, sort of snuggled right between her... right on her chest. He had the best seat in the house. I would have traded places in a second.

The rest of the guys, myself included, were in regular boring team T-shirts. Jounouchi obviously had his for years – and spilled lots of food on it along the way. Sugoroku even had a Dragon's hat crammed on his head, instead of the usual bandana.

We were sitting in a row in the stands. Nisama was on one end. Yami was next to him, a buffer between my brother and the rest of the gang. Jounouchi was next to Yami, then Sugoroku, Honda, and Yugi, with Anzu on his other side. I had snagged the other seat next to Anzu, with Oniichan next to me – and as far from Nisama as possible. Kouma was unable to sit still. He kept bouncing back and forth between his brothers – not caring that he had to climb over the rest of us to do it. Of course, neither of my brothers made any attempt to rein him in. And yet, I was pleased with Kouma. If anything, he was even more bored with baseball than I was. But he knew this was Oniichan's dream come true. And Kouma didn't need to like baseball to have fun. I'd never noticed that before.

Kouma jumped into Oniichan's lap (again), grinning widely enough for the both of them.

"This is so cool!" he yelled.

"It's the best," Oniichan agreed.

But Kouma took that seriously, saying, "No, the trip to the aquarium was the best. But this is fun. You've got to take me… lots. Can I have some more ice cream?" he asked, hugging Oniichan. I couldn't believe it – the little midget winked at me over Oniichan's shoulder. I was a faster learner than I thought.

I was the one who ended up taking Kouma for his snack. I didn't want to disturb either brother. I wondered how often they had interrupted whatever they were doing to take care of me, over the years. I was glad to help out now, and proud they trusted me with him. Besides, I wanted ice cream too. And I have to admit, sometimes it was kind of fun talking to Kouma.

"Those lockets are so cool. How long am I going to have to wait to get one?" he asked, grabbing at my duel monsters locket.

"It'll be a while," I admitted. "Over two years. The first thing Nisama will do, as soon as Gozaburo is dead, is put it around your neck. Let me show you… it doesn't just have Nisama's picture. Behind it is the card that gives me access to the Kaiba Corporation computers. I'm a Vice President. You want to know a secret? I've decided, that when I'm old enough, I'm going to handle all the business and marketing stuff. Nisama's just going to design things all day. That, and duel."

(Maybe if he wasn't so busy taking care of me and running a business, he'd finally have the time to figure out how to beat Yami.)

"Cool," Kouma agreed. "I can't wait."

"Me, neither. And anyone who messes with Kaiba Corporation – or Nisama – is going to learn the hard way that there's a new Kaiba to deal with… Mokuba Kaiba."

"Mokuba…" he scrunched his nose, "Mokuba… Kaiba?"

"Yeah," I said firmly. "Mokuba Kaiba. Kaiba's the name Nisama picked out for us. It's not Gozaburo's any more. It's ours. And I'm going to stand straight up and spit it in everyone's face – just like Nisama does."

When we got back, I looked over at Yami. He had barely glanced at the field all day. I doubted he knew anything about the game, and probably cared as little as I. From the direction of his gaze, I was willing to bet that he was much more interested in watching the sunlight bring out the gold and red highlights in my brother's hair.

My brother and Jounouchi were being reasonably polite – well, polite for them. Partly it was because my brother had been on his best behavior since Yami. Partly it was because Jounouchi liked baseball, and actually knew something about it. Although of course, they were arguing.

Jounouchi, not surprisingly, was getting antsy with the pitcher's duel. He wanted to see some action – which for him meant home runs. They were leaning across Yami, arguing. He was regarding them with his usual smirk. I could see he was getting into watching Nisama enjoy himself; watching him have a fairly normal conversation – even if it was being conducted at the top of his lungs.

"Kadaihyouka Medachitagari is the best!" Jounouchi shouted as his favorite player, the Dragon's Left Fielder, came up to the plate.

"Only a mediocrity like you would consider that over-hyped buffoon to be 'the best," my brother sneered. Well, at least for once he was taking Jounouchi seriously.

"What do you mean, you walking hot air balloon? Medachitagari drove in, like 100 runs last year!"

"Ninety-two runs, to be exact. Which, to a shallow idiot like you, probably looks good. But between his propensity for striking out in clutch situations and his sloppy fielding, he cost them, conservatively thinking, at least 126 runs. That makes him a detriment, not an asset. He makes too many errors. And he misses too many balls he should be able to get. He hits home runs, but his game is too one-sided. He has no defense."

"Big talk for a guy who doesn't know how to put a monster face down."

I tried to hide my smile. Yami didn't bother, grinning and pointing at Nisama, as he said, "And he gloats too much, too."

It was one of the best games I'd seen. Then again, it was the first game I'd gone to with Anzu. Thanks to Nisama, I knew all the players' names and could talk about them. I knew a lot more than Yugi did. I was glad the Dragons hadn't gotten around to building a modern indoor stadium. There was something cool about watching Anzu in the sun. And the breeze was blowing my way. She smelled good. It's funny the way girls even smell different.

Considering we were surrounded by Yugi's friends, Nisama was pretty relaxed. But as much as I liked watching Nisama – and liked watching Yami watch Nisama – it was Oniichan who was attracting my attention. Since we were in public, his face was expressionless, but anyone who knew him could see how much he was enjoying himself. And nothing could disguise the intensity of his attention. I was sure that if you asked him, he'd be able to describe every pitch; diagram every play.

As the game when on though, I noticed he got a little tenser – although he still flicked me that little half smile, every time he caught me looking at him – just as he had when I was eight. But his eyes darted upwards and sideways, more frequently now, surveying the park. And I caught his brief flash of dismay when the camera started scanning the crowd, displaying the happy faces on the scoreboard.

My brother was famous; the stadium knew where his seats were. He was certainly not publicity shy – at least not when he was the one in control. But his unguarded image had never appeared on the scoreboard. I wondered how much it had cost him in bribes.

"You don't have to worry," I told Oniichan. "I think he's paid off the stadium. And there's no one to see or care that we're here, anyway." I paused. "You were worried about getting caught the whole time… whenever you took me out, I mean. Wow," I said as it suddenly hit me what those outings must have been like for him. "I'm sorry. It must have been hell."

SETO'S POV

Damn.

I should have known he'd catch me. The thing was – even though he had taught me how to ride his motorcycle – I kept forgetting he wasn't eight.

It was odd. For once I was going to make him feel better by telling him the truth.

"I remember every outing perfectly. So does he," I said, nodding towards Kaiba. "And I wouldn't trade a single one. Not for anything. Not even for that fourth Blue Eyes White Dragon that's out there somewhere."

I looked over at Kaiba. He was arguing baseball with the blonde kid as though anything that jerk was saying mattered. I was sorry Kaiba had pretty much stopped calling him a make inu. I loved seeing his stupid face get red, hearing him stutter – even though I had no clue why he reacted. I mean he hated Kaiba – so why did he give a shit what Kaiba called him? Not to mention that since he couldn't knock the smirk off Kaiba's face – why advertise how weak he really was, by admitting that something he couldn't do anything about bothered him? So many of the things that these people did made no sense. Sometimes I wished I was home.

I didn't have to ask myself why Kaiba put up with them. I could answer that with one word – Yami.

Most of the others I could ignore as easily as Kaiba did. But the bonkotsu was different. He would have fit in just fine at the orphanage. He was just like the guys who picked on Mokuba because they were pissed off, and he was small enough to be a tempting target; because they needed to hit someone little, in order to feel big, themselves. The guys who acted like I had no right to beat them, since I was smaller and younger. The guys who never understood that I won because I had to, even though they were the first ones to teach me that the only alternative to winning was dying. They never understood: I wasn't going to lose, because they weren't really going to kill me, and I was ready to die. I couldn't lose because they were fighting for nothing, and I was fighting for Mokuba.

The mutt was just like all the guys at the orphanage who laughed in my face when I said that Mokuba and I were getting out. They didn't get that the difference between us was that unlike them, I would never give in. I would never accept the hand that I'd been dealt. I would never rest until I'd reshuffled the deck. In the end, I showed them. I showed everybody.

It was the top of the 7th inning and no one had reached base yet on either side. The others were rooting for the Dragons to win. Kaiba and I were rooting for perfection, and it didn't matter to us which pitcher made history. As if on cue, Medachitagari almost misplayed a routine ball, just barely made the catch to preserve Sawamura's perfect game.

"I guess you got a point," Jounouchi admitted. "He almost wrecked things for Sawamura. Imagine blowing a perfect game on an error. Ooops, shouldn't have mentioned it! I hope I didn't jinx him."

One more reason to despise him.

I hated the way the mutt confessed that he was wrong so easily, the way he joked about being superstitious. As if none of it mattered, as if he could reveal all his weaknesses and not pay the price.

"That just shows how stupid it is to rely on others for your victories," I sneered. "Not that I expect a bonkotsu like you to understand."

I was surprised when Kaiba spoke up. He wasn't defending Jounouchi, (of course) but he was disagreeing with me, speaking slowly, as if working the answer out as he spoke.

"Each player bats alone… fields alone… but for all that each performance is individual, like it or not, they are part of a team – and must stand or fall together. I never noticed that. I always followed each player's individual stats as though that was the whole. And yet, what is a team, but a collection of individuals forced into a temporary alliance?"

I heard Anzu giggle. She leaned over to Yugi and whispered, "I guess this isn't the time to mention that there's no 'I' in 'TEAM'?"

I would have pointed out that was pretty obvious to anyone who could spell, but I heard Mokuba laughing beside me, making me wonder what stupid joke I'd missed. Again.

Medachitagari's catch ended the half inning. No one had reached base yet, on either side. Kaneda cracked first. We had barely taken our seats after the seventh inning stretch, after the inevitable singing balloons and newly released doves, when he surrendered a single to the lead-off batter. Kaiba leaned forward in his seat.

"He's lost his perfect game. Let's see how well he handles it. Will he throw away his chance at a win, too? Let's see how good he really is."

Kaneda clearly hadn't left all of his skill in the United States. The lead-off hitter, Rukii Shinjin, who had just come up to the majors when I left home, stole second. But that was as far as he got. Kaneda struck out the side. Kaiba gave a brief nod of approval.

"What the fuck's wrong with you, Kaiba? You're happy that Kaneda got out of that jam? That was our best chance to score! We had the lead-off guy on second with no outs!" Jounouchi ranted.

Kaiba ignored him, but I couldn't take his inane comments anymore.

"Why the fuck do you care? You're not playing, you have no control over the outcome, and it isn't going to change your life, no matter who wins or loses. So why do you give a shit? You must be even stupider than you look."

"If you don't give a damn who wins, why do you like baseball so much?" he asked.

I glared at him.

I loved the game because it was… beautiful. I loved the right angles the bases made. There were 360 degrees on a baseball diamond, and 360 feet around the bases. I loved the way the outfield grass was cut into a cross hatch pattern of light and shadow.

I loved the way the batter faced those nine fielders on the opposing team, determined to beat the odds. It might have been a team sport – but for the batter, it was one against nine. And I loved the way, in a shut-out like today, the pitcher and catcher seemed to be having their own private game of catch, oblivious to everything around them. I always pictured them being me and Mokuba.

I loved how every aspect of each player's performance was measured, yet how so much was hidden unless you knew where to look. Like two players could have the same batting average, but until you knew how well they performed with men on base, you wouldn't know which one was better.

And I loved how, even in Gozaburo's mansion, I could look up the box scores the next day, and replay the whole game in my mind, where no one could take it away from me.

Not that I was going to admit any of that to the mutt – which left me with nothing to say.

"I don't know about Seto," Anzu said, "But I like watching, even if the Dragons aren't playing, because the game's just so… beautiful."

I scowled. Who did she think she was? Did she think I needed her help? I was about to snap: 'Spoken like a true cheerleader,' when I saw Mokuba's face. I couldn't insult her in front of him.

I hated this place. And I hated seeing the knowing smirk on Kaiba's face; the faint trace of sympathy in his eyes.

KAIBA'S POV

I didn't like him. I didn't trust him. But that didn't mean I was going to laugh in his face, either. Because I also knew where he was coming from. After all, I'd been there first.

Seto was restraining himself for Mokuba's sake. Because Mokuba couldn't defend Anzu without attacking him. But I could see how Seto longed to throw her gift back in he face. She had dared to know what he was thinking. Worse, she had given his unspoken thoughts, words. He was probably wishing for his Hambo, if not his shinobigatana, his Ninja's dagger.

Anzu had been trying to be kind. Is there anything worse than the kindness of the ignorant? They all expected Seto, in the few short weeks he had been here, learn the lessons I had not mastered in the two years since Death-T. And they expected him to as easily unlearn the lessons, our 'family', the orphanage, and Gozaburo had spent those years teaching, instead.

Yami had always cared for me. I knew that now. Even at Death-T, where he had shattered my heart. But that was the only gift he could have given me that I would have accepted, then; the only way to show his concern. Anything more gentle, I would have read as a sign of weakness, an invitation to attack.

I looked at Seto, who was still scowling. He didn't have an answer that he wanted to give the mutt. But staying silent meant tacitly accepting Anzu's help.

I smothered a grin. It was time for the punk to sit back, look, listen, and learn. I turned to the mutt. "Rooting for a team is stupid. The players come and go, and the only constant is that none of them will ever know your name. You want to know why I watch baseball, Bonkotsu? Then listen carefully. The answer is simple enough for even you to understand: You have to respect a game that has a working definition of perfection."

The mutt sputtered, but as usual, nothing intelligible came out. Yami was staring at me, as though he was considering my words. I didn't care what the others thought, as long as they kept their mouths shut. I glanced at Seto. He was still scowling, but he raised two fingers to his forehead in salute.

Seto had learned to hide his emotions. But he hadn't yet picked up the socially useful skill of revealing just enough of them to end the conversation.

I didn't really expect to see a perfect game, and I didn't. In the top of the eighth, the lead-off hitter rapped a single down the third base line. The Dragons' pitcher, Sawamura, recovered as well. The next batter hit into a double play, and Sawamura struck out the third to end the inning. He still had faced the minimum number of batters, but the perfect game was gone.

Finally in the bottom of the eighth, Shi Boru drew a walk, stole second, and was brought home by a single from Hoketsu Senshu, a journeyman infielder, enjoying his day in the sun. He had, it turned out, driven in the winning run, as Sawamura held on to the shut-out.

"Man," Jounouchi grumbled. "That's so unfair! Sawamura faced only 27 batters! It still should be a perfect game, even if that guy did reach first base!"

I didn't bother pointing out that since Sawamura hadn't fulfilled the requirements, there was nothing unfair about it at all.

"He made a mistake. End of story," Seto snapped. "He needed to be perfect. He wasn't. Why are you wasting your sympathy on him?"

As if Seto wasn't doing the same thing. As if he wasn't about to make the worst mistake of his life. Again.

"All games are perfect games," I pointed out, not looking at Seto. "Until the first pitch is thrown. From then on, it's just a matter of time until perfection slips through the pitcher's fingers, until he finally makes the mistake that will wake him up in the middle of the night, replaying the game in his mind, trying to change the ending… knowing all the while that he can't."

"But Kaiba," Sugoroku said quietly, "Have you forgotten? Errors are part of the game."

Thanks to Clarity for betaing this chapter.

Thanks to CrimsonVioletEyes for sending Yami to a baseball game in her contribution to the Round Robin on the Pharaoh's PalaceII (a yahoo group), and being kind enoughto let me use her idea and keep him in shorts.

Thanks to cool orchard for helping me come up with appropriate baseball player names and translating them.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: You know your story is an angst-fest when you decide to send your characters to a ball game in the middle of it. I went back and forth on whether or not to include this chapter. Even while I was researching it and endlessly rewriting it, I kept thinking: 'Okay, why are they going to a baseball game, again?' But after a while I decided, crazy as it sounds, we all needed a break, and a chance to sort things out… and a baseball game seemed the perfect place to do that. And it was a lot of fun figuring out which characters might be into the game. I eventually settled on Seto Kaiba (both versions), Anzu, Jounouchi and Sugoroku as the true fans. Anzu comes across as a bit of a tomboy in the manga. The first time you meet her, she's been playing basketball, and complaining that the boys are trying to look up her school uniform. And I think she'd appreciate the grace of the game. I could see Jounouchi rooting passionately for 'his' team. As for Seto Kaiba, what can I say… you have to love a game that has a working definition of perfection.

Researching this chapter was an absolute blast. I know quite a bit about American baseball, so it was fun finding out all the things I don't know about Japanese baseball.

Baseball player names: When I first started writing this chapter, I had to come up with a bunch of names for the players, particularly the pitchers. While researching (which sounds so much better than goofing off by visiting random Japanese baseball sites) I was struck by how much the biographies Japan's two most respected pitchers, matched the characters in the story. I decided to borrow them, with all respect.

Eiji Sawamura threw the first no-hitter in the history of Japanese Professional Baseball. He went on to throw three no-hitters in his brief, seven year career. Eiji Sawamura never pitched a perfect game. Real life, in the form of World War 2 interrupted his career. He enlisted in the Japanese Navy, and was killed when a torpedo struck his ship in 1943. Today, Japan's highest pitching award, The Sawamura Award, is named after him.

Masaichi Kaneda, whose nicknames include being called "The God of Pitching" and "Emperor Kaneda" is Japan's winningest pitcher. He pitched for 19 years, from 1950 – 1969. He was with the Kokutetsu Swallows for 15 of those years, then fed up with the extreme workload of the Swallows (he pitched in about twice as many innings as the average US pitcher), he became Japan's first free agent by refusing to sign with or play for them. He went on to sign with Japans premier team, the Yomiuri Giants, and pitch for four more seasons. Although those seasons were somewhat erratic, he won the league's pitching crown in 1965. In a time when there was widespread feeling that Japanese baseball players, particularly on the Giants had to be of totally Japanese ancestry, Kaneda was very proud of his Korean heritage.

Pretty cool, huh?

As for the rest of the names… I tried to find words that described the players in some way and (luckily) had a friend translate them into Japanese, or used an online Japanese baseball glossary. Kadaihyouka Medachitagari means (literally) over-valued show-off, which seemed to describe Jounouchi's favorite player. Hoketsu Senshu means back-up player, since he was not a starter. According to a baseball glossary, Shi Boru means four balls, or a walk, and Rukii and Shinjin are both words that mean 'rookie'.

Dragons Note: There really is a team called the Dragons – The Chunichi Dragons, to be exact. And in 2004, their mascot really was this adorable baby dragon with blue eyes. Over the winter they changed their mascot a little… he's now got black eyes. I used their original stadium as the model for the one in the story. (And baseball stadiums in Japan really do have a chain link fence from foul pole to foul pole, so people in the seats closest to the field have to peer through the links. For that reason the seats 20 – 40 rows back actually have better sight lines.) They have since moved to a domed stadium complete with stores, restaurants, and according to every website I visited, seats that are so far back from the field, the sight lines for actually telling what's going on in the game are terrible. It also has artificial turf (yuck!)

RESPONSES TO REVIEWS:

Promises: (Desidera, elirian 19) As Kaiba notes, promises really are curious things. I think you're right, for Mokuba they are a kind of childish comfort, a belief that no matter what happens Seto will make it right. But now that he's older, and able to see the cost of those promises, I think he's reject the idea. But he's still a kid himself, so in spite of feeling (or wanting) to be too old for promises, he'd still feel comforted by Yami's. Similarly, Yami may not want to be another promise, but he also knows that this is the way that Kaiba expresses caring, so he'd also be comforted by this proof of Kaiba's feelings. As for Kaiba, well this is simply what he does. As you said, I think it's his way of reassuring himself that he can and will live up to his goals. I can kind of see him repeating his promises to himself.

Manga/anime: (Aramis-chan, Katie Torango, Wintersslayer) This may seem like an odd ambition, but one thing I wanted to do with this story was to work in bits of the anime and manga as seamlessly as I could, so that it would be hard to tell where the anime/manga left off and my story began…

Seto and Gozaburo: (AmunRa, Daje Elle Namte, elirian 19, Kagemihari, Kekewey, Nachzes Black-Rider, QueenOfGames2, YGO EcoGoth) I've always pictured Seto as being an active and somewhat willing partner in his very destructive game with Gozaburo. Because I think the one thing he could never have done was admitted he was a helpless child, and that events were out of his control. So having, in a sense, trapped himself and Mokuba (and even Gozaburo) in this game, he would have played it to the best of his ability to the end, regardless of the personal consequences. And I agree, that for him (and I think he's intelligent enough to have realized this at some point) this became essentially an no-win game, where no matter what happened, he had lost, in the sense that he had lost his grip on the things that mattered to him.

Yeah, I wonder a lot about Seto's birth parents, too. As I've indicated earlier, I don't see him coming from a happy family, because he's far too ready to throw his life away by challenging Gozaburo, and I think he learned that trait very early in life. Also, I would imagine that his Dad, who would have been overwhelmed by the sudden death of his wife, and having responsibility for a small boy and an infant, might have withdrawn both physically (by working late) and emotionally. If you look at the way Kaiba reacts to stress, it's by withdrawing and repressing his emotions. It's not too farfetched to think that his father was his first model for this behavior.

Mokuba: (Ceribi Motou, Daje Elle Namte, Kagemihari, YGO EcoGoth) There's a line in the LOTR where Aragorn is talking about Merry, after his run-in with the Witch King, and he says: "His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom." I've always thought that described Mokuba very well. One of the nice things about writing fanfiction is that you get to add all kinds of details to relationships that are mostly implied. But I think Mokuba and Yami would be interesting together. First, in his loyalty and his ability to both understand and love his brother, Mokuba has a lot of traits that would remind Yami of Yugi. And I think while Mokuba likes and respects Yami, he wouldn't be intimidated by him… after all he's used to dealing with arrogant overly competitive gamers.

Kaiba and Yami: (Daje Elle Namte, Desidera, Nachzes Black-Rider, QueenOfGames2) I can see Kaiba being a bit shocked to find that Yami cares enough about him for his actions to hurt. But I can also see him understanding what he's done and taking responsibility for behaving differently in the future. But I also think there may be a big difference between acknowledging that Yami cares for him (which is a big step for Kaiba) and knowing what to do with that knowledge. And I can see Yami needing to confront Kaiba know what he's done, and feeling comforted by Kaiba's reaction – because it's one more proof to him of his own existence. I tried to write a conversation that left you with the idea that they understood each other, but where most of it was implied, rather than stated. I think Kaiba (or at least my version of him) would be pretty mute when it came to expressing anything relating to emotions… and I don't see Yami as being a lot better. I think the main difference is that Yami has a better sense of timing, and knows when things need to be said or dealt with.

Advantaging Kaiba: (Aramis-chan) That's an interesting point. Since the story is told mainly through the point of views of Kaiba, Seto, or the people who see their faults and love them anyway, like Mokuba and Yami, it does give Seto Kaiba a built-in advantage. For example, Kaiba's actions (basically dumping Yami without a word of explanation), not to mention Seto's (considering double-crossing the gang) are pretty bad. But because you see the story largely through their eyes, you see how their actions have come about and understand them. I admit, though, that when you care about characters you're writing about, it's hard not to portray them sympathetically, sometimes too sympathetically. I think that's part of the reason why I include narratives from Yugi and Jounouchi – from people more inclined to judge Kaiba based on his actions and their consequences.

First Shadow Game/Death-T clarification: (Moonrunner) I probably should have included a manga note, because it can get confusing. In the first Shadow Game, Kaiba steals the BEWD from Yugi. Yami challenges him to a duel in retaliation. Kaiba loses when he plays the BEWD, and it destroys itself rather than obey his order to attack Yami. Yami forces him into a penalty game where he is experiencing the illusion of being trapped in the Duel Monsters world and killed by his own demons. In revenge, Kaiba designs Death-T, and forces Yugi to play. When Yami defeats him at Death-T he shatters Kaiba's heart, which puts Kaiba in a coma. The flashback in the previous chapter shows Kaiba after losing the first shadow game. Death-T hadn't occurred yet at that point. (Remind me never to do a time travel story again, will you?)

Note to Maris: yeah, I've always thought Kaiba has a childish (or maybe child-like streak) And he's really driven to see that other kids have the chance to experience the childhood that he lost/gave up.

Note to Sylvia Viridian: Yeah, as you can tell, I'm a sucker for the Sekiho Army….

Note to Daje Elle Namte: Thank you for such a thoughtful review! I hope most stuff got answered. Regarding Isono: I loved the scene in DOMA where he tells Seto that he was the one who destroyed Kaiba Corporations weapons factories, and he'll always be the boss to him for that. With that one sentence, Isono suddenly became more than this black suit that kept following Kaiba around. And it struck me that given the fact he's had a front row seat for all of Kaiba and Yami's tangled interactions, he'd probably be embarrassed to be in the position of reporting on how his teenager employer's relationship with his main rival was going to his employer's even younger brother. Like Mokuba, I thought that was pretty funny.

Note to laura m: The line started out as: "Yami might have been mad enough…" After I sent it to Clarity (this is my fault) I decided to change it to "Yami might have looked mad enough…" and I left both in by accident.

Note to Ceribi Motou: Thanks. I can see Mokuba feeling like Yami owes him some answers too. I like the idea of their being a bit of a back and forth thing to their relationship. Oddly enough (I'm not sure if I should confess this) my favorite line in that chapter (yeah, I had one) was Gozaburo's: "And I only torture that which interests me. But for better or worse, boy… you fascinate me." I kind of think that sums up their relationship.