Ruffleshipping (Pegasus x Otogi x Mokuba)

"What is this?"

Otogi glanced up from the counter. Mokuba was hanging from the counter, kicking his legs back and forth as he stared at a small object next to the cash register. The young Kaiba boy had been coming over lately, ever since he had wandered in and played Capsule Monsters with Otogi. Otogi rather liked the company; otherwise, the slow times of the day were deathly boring.

"That?" he said, following Mokuba's gaze.

It was a picture frame. It was the only picture in the store; he didn't have any left of his father. But he had this one: a photograph of himself on the day he met Pegasus. Otogi smiled slightly, and reached for the frame.

"Oh, that's the day I met Pegasus," he said.

"It's not photoshopped?"

"Please, Mokuba-san. Do you really think I'd photoshop myself into a photo of Pegasus?"

Mokuba shrugged, still hanging off of the counter.

"Pegasus looks as cheery as usual," he said after a pause. "Do you like Pegasus?"

There was something about the way he said it that made Otogi pause.

"Why? Are you jealous?"

Mokuba flushed, and his eyes sparked with almost anger.

"That's not it at all!" he said.

He dropped down from the counter with a loud thump. His dark eyes glared up at Otogi. Otogi blinked – he hadn't expected such fury out of Mokuba.

"I'm sorry," he said, setting the frame down. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something's wrong," Mokuba muttered. "You obviously think that Pegasus was the best thing since sliced bread. I can tell."

"And you don't think he is?"

Otogi couldn't understand it. He had always admired Pegasus for his sharp gamer's mind and talent for business. Pegasus had been the ideal he had always striven for while he was designing his own game, Dungeon Dice Monsters. The day he had been able to meet Pegasus had been one of the greatest days of his life – he had even gotten to show some of Dungeon Dice Monsters to Pegasus, and Pegasus had told him that he was well on his way to becoming a successful game designer!

But there was something in the flash of Mokuba's eyes that told Otogi that something deeper was going on.

"Have you...met Pegasus?" he asked slowly.

Mokuba scowled.

"'Met' is too soft of a word," he said. "He kidnapped me."

"What?"

Otogi stared at him.

"What, don't believe me?" Mokuba said. "Yeah, that's right. Your idol wanted KaibaCorp. While my big brother was still in his coma, he kidnapped me to get the key to the Kaiba safe. I was stuck in his stupid castle for weeks until Yugi helped me escape. And here you are, idolizing a kidnapper and a thief!"

Otogi's eyes grew wider and wider the longer Mokuba talked. Could this be true? Could Pegasus really have done all of that? It didn't seem possible. No, it couldn't be true – but why would Mokuba lie?

"Mokuba-san..." Otogi stared. He swallowed past the dryness of his throat. "I..."

"That was one of the greatest mistakes of my life..."

Both boys jumped so wildly that Mokuba's hand struck the counter and the picture frame fell flat. They looked around trying to see the owner of the voice.

But there was nothing. They could see no one. Otogi and Mokuba looked at each other, dark eyes to green.

"Did you...hear that?" Otogi asked.

"Yeah," Mokuba said.

"It sounded like..."

"Pegasus."

They stared at each other for another long moment.

Then, silently, they turned away from each other, pondering what had just happened. Neither of them saw the silent spirit hovering behind them. He looked sadly at the two of them for a moment: one, a boy filled with dreams whom he had met only once, someone who had inspired him with his youth and exuberance, whose dreams he had tried to keep alive. The other, a young boy who had become trapped in power struggles that shouldn't have concerned him, through no fault of his own, someone that he had involved for selfish reasons.

Pegasus J. Crawford sighed softly, so as not to startle the boys.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he watched at the two looked around wildly again for the owner of the voice.

Then he turned away and disappeared.

A/N: :'( That was kind of sad. Next is Rougeshipping (Pegasus x Siegfried).