Chapter 3: Stranded

A few hours later, Yami was lying on his bed and staring on the ceiling. It was of no doubt that the date went on just fine. It was fun, to be honest. Mahado understod him and was willing to wait, and that cheered him up the most. And Seto, it was nice seeing the CEO again; after all, they haven't met for the last four years.

"I'm assuming you had fun, huh, Yami?" Yugi said.

Yami sat up, meeting his hikari's amused gaze. He blushed, noticing the mischievous gleam in his hikari's lavender orbs.

"The date was... okay. We had a pleasant conversation," Yami answered, discreetly admitting that the blind date was, for the first time, a brilliant idea.

Yugi smiled. He was happy, to say the least, to see his yami, now all they need is for Yami to trust in Mahado and everything will end as they wanted it to end. He sat beside his dark.

"So, does he... I mean, can he... he does have a chance, right?"

Yugi mumbled. He was never good in dealing with serious matters, let alone talk about it with the very person who did all the talking.

Yami sighed, still looking for an answer. "Perhaps it's safe to say that it's possible, aibou. But I'm not sure in what his real intentions are," he said, "I don't want history to repeat itself," he whispered.

Yugi hugged his yami. It was surprising to hear his yami, his ever confident and fearless yami, talk that way. Although it was also the sign for Yugi to take matters in his own hands.

"Don't worry, Yami. We'll make sure that never happens again," he said, still not letting the pharaoh go. He felt Yami shake his head softly and say, "You don't have to, Yugi."

"But I want to," Yugi proteested, breaking away to meet his other self's gaze. "All these times, you protected me, you guided me, you helped me, and now I think it's time for me to repay you, Yami. You gave me everything, and I feel it's time for me to return the favor, please," he said, hoping the monarch would understand.

Yami was speechless but nodded weakly to reply, receiving a hug from his light.

"I met Seto earlier," Yami said out-of-the-blue, recalling their meeting in the comfort room.

Yugi smiled, "How are they? We haven't seen them for quite a time," he asked.

Now, it was Yami's turn to smile, "He said life was usual for them," he answered.

"Yami?"

"Yes, aibou?"

"Mahado met Seto, didn't he?"

Yami nodded. "Seto and I met in the comfort room and Mahado went to check on me so... they met," he answered.

"Oh," Yugi said, "Yami, I think you should know something."

"What is it, Yugi?"

"Well, we were in the grocery store yesterday and –"

"Yugi, get to the point."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

Yugi blushed.

"They say Seto's getting married."

Yami silently placed his phone in his bag. Inwardly, he was cursing both the rain and his phone, which miraculously ran out of batteries when he needed it the most. The library was already closed for the day, and the duelist finds himself stuck outside of the library, about to get wet when he saw a shed nearby.

Cursing the rain again in his native language, he ran towards the shed, getting his clothes drenched with water.

"Damn," he turned around to see the CEO close his briefcase in disgust and glare at the rain.

"Kaiba-kun, what are you doing here?" Yami said.

Seto, hearing the other duelist call his name, met his gaze. "Yami," he acknowledged, taking note of the duelist's soaked form, and purposely ignoring the other's question.

Yami sat down beside the CEO, momentarily forgetting his dilemma.

Now seems to be the perfect time to sit down... and err, talk, as friends would do after not seeing each other for quite a long time, anyway.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked again, "Shouldn't you be in your office or with Mokuba?"

"I was. It seems my brother forgot to return the books he borrowed so I was coaxed to return them for him," Seto answered. There absolutely was no need to tell the pharaoh that his brother kept whining to force him to go to the library.

"But why are you sitting here? Makes an image you're stranded. I mean, you could just call Roland and fetch you, right?" Yami asked.

"Yeah... well, that's exactly the problem," Seto answered.

"What?"

"I left my phone."

Seto was surprised to hear Yami chuckle, causing him to smirk.

"And what's your excuse, oh mighty pharaoh?" Seto asked.

"Alright, since you happened to be my friend. My phone ran out of

batteries miraculously and I forgot to bring an umbrella with me. Happy?" Yami answered, shivering when a breeze went by.

Seeing the pharaoh shiver, Seto removed his coat and placed it on

Yami's shoulder, just enough to provide some heat, and make the monarch blush when the CEO wrapped his arms around him on the process of wrapping the said coat.

"Did you really meant what you said, Yami?" Seto asked after a few seconds of pure silence.

"What?" Yami asked.

"Me as your friend?" Seto answered.

"Of course I do. You're my friend, whether you like it or not," Yami said defiantly.

"Don't worry, I like it. Could use something to waste my time on for once," the CEO answered. They smiled at each other and then laughed.

After sharing a laugh or two with Seto, Yami remembered his light's words.

"Heard you're getting married," Yami said.

"Why? You jealous?" Seto teased.

"You wish," Yami answered back, his usual smirk gracing his face once again.

"Never mind. Where exactly did you hear that, pray tell?" Seto replied.

"Yugi told me, said he heard some girl in the store talk about it," he said.

"Well, don't believe it. Only proves how insane people are, nowadays," Seto said.

Yami chuckled when—

"Hey, a phone booth!" he suddenly said, pointing to a lone booth by the distance. "Stupid, why didn't I notice it in the first place?" he asked himself. "I'm too charming and you were distracted, that's why," Seto said, earning a punch in the arm. "Whatever, Kaiba," Yami replied. Three seconds later, both duelists were running (and laughing) for the phone booth.

"You got some change?" Yami asked. They were both dripping wet, and tightly compressed to each other inside the phone, although it seems the two duelists were too distracted to notice their position. But Yami eventually noticed it and he blushed. Seto, who was wondering why Yami kept on blushing, took notice of their positions, and he, too, blushed.

"No," Seto answered, "I don't bring change."

"Wait, I think I have," Yami said as he dug on his pockets, successfully retrieving a coin. "It's only good for one phonecall," he said, handing the phone to Seto, "You call," he said.

Seto understood quickly and dialed the one number he dials in case of emergencies. But nobody was answering so he went to reach for the 'Redial' button, which was near Yami. He missed his footing though and he accidentally pinned Yami to the wall.

"Sorry," he said, breaking away quickly. They both bluished "It's okay, Seto. Here, let me," Yami answered before pressing the troublemaker of a button.

Minutes later, they were back in the shed laughing. It was music to the CEO's ears to hear Yami laugh again and he was glad that he was the reason behind it.

They talked about mainly everything and anything they can talk and laugh about, leaving the incident in the phone booth out.

A familiar limousine drove in front of them as Mokuba came out with a large umbrella with a huge mischievous grin on his face. Yami found himself getting engaged to a conversation with both brothers until he got home with a smile, a genuine one this time, on his face.

'The pleasure of having friends, indeed,' he thought.