Rivalshipping (Yugi x Seto)

Yugi was all that was left. As far as Seto was concerned, anyway. Yugi was the only left who had been there from day one of Seto's slow recovery from the darkness in his heart.

And Seto hated him for it.

The red-eyed Yugi was gone, disappeared into that light that could not, should not have been real, leaving the violet-eyed Yugi behind. And now, every time Seto closed his eyes, he would see those violet-eyes bubbling over, the tears barely restrained by sheer will alone, as he watched the red-eyed Yugi – Seto's one and only true match – disappear. It brought a scowl to Seto's face that bothered him.

The red-eyed Yugi had been the only worthy opponent for him. He was the only one strong enough, determined enough, strategic enough, just plain tough enough to face Seto. A far cry from the other Yugi, whose bleeding heart got him into more trouble than not in a game. There were no others, now, that Seto could face. He had sulked in the realization of this almost since the other Yugi had vanished, almost two months ago.

So why was he standing in front of the Kame Game Shop?

He had been standing outside the door, his hand hovering over the handle, for the better part of fifteen minutes. He knew there were people across the street staring at him, wondering what the distinctive white-coated figure of Seto Kaiba was doing in this part of Domino City. He scowled at himself, and then gripped the handle and pushed inside the dark, dusty shop. It was better than being stared at like some exhibit in a zoo.

It was just as he remembered, that far away day when he had stormed in and demanded the Blue Eyes White Dragon from Yugi's grandpa. It seemed so much farther away, almost like a dream to him. Well, it had been some time before the red-eyed Yugi literally shattered his heart into tiny pieces. A lot of things between his childhood and that day were blurred and strange to him now, like they were the memories of a stranger.

"Hello, welcome to Kame Game Shop...oh, Kaiba-kun? What are you doing here?"

Seto almost hadn't recognized the voice. It was...deeper, than he remembered. But there he was, the violet eyes blinking at him from across the dusty space. Seto's hands clenched into tight fists, and he wondered again what he was doing here. He opened his mouth to make some degrading remark about the state of the shop. But then he looked at Yugi Mutou. Really looked at him.

Even from the other side of the shop, Seto could tell that the boy had gotten taller. Had it only been two months since he had seen the barely five foot teenager? He looked almost as tall as Seto now. The lines of Yugi's face has begun to sharpen, the soft, baby features that had annoyed Seto so much beginning to fade. Even his shoulders looked somewhat broader. Had Yugi grown up so much in just two months?

"Kaiba-kun?" Yugi said again, prompting Seto out of his shocked silence. "You okay?"

"Fine," Kaiba said through gritted teeth.

He made a show of glancing disgustedly around the room, but really, he was just trying to avoid Yugi's eyes. The only thing familiar about him were those round, violet eyes, and it was unnerving seeing them look out of a face that didn't seem quite right.

"This is about him, right? The other me?"

Seto started, shocked by the assumption. He met Yugi's eyes again, and found the young boy smiled ruefully.

"I thought so. I miss him too."

Seto tensed up.

"Miss him? I don't miss him," he snapped.

Yugi laughed slightly, leaning his arms across the counter. It was the only thing not covered in dust in the whole room.

"You can keep telling yourself that," Yugi said. "But despite everything, you saw him as something of a friend, too. He felt the same way."

"We weren't friends," Seto snapped.

Yugi kept smiling.

"He thought so," he said softly.

Seto deflated slightly. He was annoyed with himself for the small gesture, but he couldn't help himself.

"Did...did he?" he said. "How do you know?"

Yugi shrugged.

"I was connected to him in a way that you can't imagine, Kaiba-kun," Yugi said. "Neither of us could really feel anything without the other knowing about it. He really, really respected you, Kaiba."

Yugi laughed slightly.

"Although, he got pretty annoyed with you a lot. Something about your obsession with defeating him getting redundant."

This made Seto bristle slightly, and he felt better because of it. More like his old self again.

"Oh really? Because I found him and his unity and magic speeches pretty annoying myself."

Yugi smiled mischievously at that comment, and Seto scowled back. They maintained that position for a while. Seto took the moment to search Yugi's eyes. To be honest, he didn't know that much about this Yugi. He had always focused on the other one. All he knew about the violet-eyed Yugi was that he was an annoyingly kind and sacrificial boy, had terrible grades in school, was almost on par with him in gaming, and would do anything for his friends. Suddenly and strangely, Seto wondered if he fell into that feeling, too.

He shook his head firmly, shoving the feelings away. Instead, he focused on what he had seen in Yugi's eyes: a weariness and loneliness only thinly masked with cheerfulness. Seto had never really been able to come to terms with the idea of two entirely separate Yugis, preferring to think of them as, say, two halves of the same coin, but still one person. But if they really had been two Yugis...this Yugi must be...missing something now...

Seto scowled at himself. He hated feeling sentimental.

"Yugi. Duel me."

"Huh?"

"Duel me. Right now."

"Wha...? Oh, okay...my Duel Disk is upstairs though..."

"Forget the Disks."

Seto stalked over to the table and pulled his cards from his coat pocket starting to shuffle them.

"Kaiba-kun?" Yugi said, looking at him as though he wasn't quite sure if he had heard him correctly.

Seto sent him a glare. He smacked his own deck against the counter.

"You heard me; forget the Disks. We'll do this the old fashioned way."

Yugi blinked at him for a moment, frozen in place. Seto blew out in irritation.

"Are you going to make me wait all day? The other Yugi beat me, and you beat him. That means you're the world champion now. If I want my title back, I have to beat you. Now get your pathetic deck and starting dueling."

Yugi stared only a second longer. Then a brief smile played across his lips, and he reached under the counter for a deck of Duel Monsters cards. He continued to smile as he shuffled his cards.

"What's so funny?" Seto snapped.

Yugi shrugged, and put his own cards on the counter between them.

"Nothing. It's just good to hear my rival acting like his old self again."

Seto glared at him, and reached for the top five cards of his deck. But as the cards slid into his hands, and he glanced up to judge Yugi's expression, a strange thrill of excitement fled through him. He, too, let a small smile show through for a moment.

Yugi...it was true, then, he guessed. All this time, Yugi had been his only rival...because only one of them could ever beat the other Yugi...

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this one. Seto and Yugi's personalities just bounce off each other so nicely. I suppose that's why they work so well in the original series. Next is Ripshipping (Thief King Bakura x Ishizu).