Alpha Male

Kaiba hated this.

It was bad enough that he had to kowtow to Yugi. Now, it appeared that he would have to suffer the Mutt's presence, as well, and Taylor's, and Bakura's. They were bent over the counter at Yugi's grandfather's game shop, engrossed in Duel Monsters. It was strange to see people playing Duel Monsters without Duel Disks. It was like seeing someone use a phone booth.

Kaiba pushed open the door to the shop. The tinkle of the bell didn't raise the boys' heads from the cards right away, which irritated Kaiba, not just from a personal standpoint, but a professional one. It was bad business to not acknowledge the customer.

Oh, but Wheeler was saying something, and God forbid anything interrupt Wheeler from making his point.

Wheeler made the point with a guffaw, followed by Yugi's "That's great, Joey!"

Kaiba wondered how Yugi was doing without his Spirit. Was he as weak as Kaiba himself was, without Kisara?

Kisara never owned my body, Kaiba thought. She didn't take me over.

The comfortable feeling of superiority straightened Kaiba's spine and cooled his anxiety.

It was Bakura who finally looked up and saw him. The white-haired weakling was no longer a weakling. Without the parasite of the Thief King sucking away his vitality, his arm muscles had toned and defined themselves from one another, his shoulders were wider, and his neck was thicker. Though he was far from a body-builder, his physique radiated an athleticism that indicated speed and agility, not brute strength.

Pale eyebrows lifted over deep brown eyes, Bakura's warm grin of welcome was tinged with a sheepish guilt as he regarded Kaiba. He needn't have worried. The only thing Kaiba found Bakura guilty of was being weak enough to be possessed in the first place.

"Hello, Kaiba," Bakura said, his tone melodious and even. "May we help you?" Out of anyone else's mouth, this question would ooze sarcasm. Out of Bakura's, it was quite sincere.

Yugi, Wheeler, and Taylor glanced up then. Taylor looked back down at the cards, as if Kaiba was beneath his notice. Wheeler's eyes narrowed, and his nostril's dilated, to Kaiba's mild delight. However, none of these reactions mattered. What mattered was that Yugi was looking at him with curiosity and concern.

"Yugi, I need to speak with you. Alone."

"Hey, Rich Boy, anything you want to say to Yugi, you can say to all of us."

Kaiba glared at Wheeler, then turned back to Yugi. There must have been something in Kaiba's face, because Yugi came around the counter. Good. Yugi still jumped to oblige.

Kaiba turned and walked toward the front of the store, away from the counter, and turned to the side and wandered through the labyrinth of shelves. When he was as far away from the counter as he could be, he faced Yugi, who looked at him expectantly.

"What's going on, Kaiba? Is everything okay?"

"I'm not here to make small talk."

Yugi nodded quickly. He knew.

"There's something I want, Yugi. It's very important."

"Is Mokuba okay?"

"It has nothing to do with him, but if you must know, he's fine." Kaiba took a long deep breath and let it out. Then he looked back down at Yugi. "Ultimately, this is out of your hands. However, I see you in a gatekeeper position. What little sway you have, I intend to use."

"Well…I'll do anything I can." Yugi was getting more and more puzzled. "It would help if I knew exactly what was going on, though."

Kaiba drew himself up. "You'll keep this to yourself." There was no question in his voice.

"You can count on me to keep a confidence."

Kaiba stood on tiptoe and craned his neck to see over the shelves. Taylor was whispering to Wheeler and Bakura, undoubtedly about him. Their eyes flicked toward him, and then back to each other. Bakura leafed through the cards balanced on the palm of his hand, whistling softly.

Kaiba looked back at Yugi.

"It's Gardner. Téa."

"Téa?"

"Yes. I'm going to take her out. I'm probably going to marry her."

Kaiba had heard the word "gobsmacked" before, but had, oddly enough, never seen it on a person's face. Yugi was well and truly gobsmacked. His jaw hung, and one nostril flexed toward his eyebrow. He eyelids lifted and narrowed, and he moved his lips to say something, and then turned his head to look at Kaiba from his peripheral vision, as if this would reveal that this was a bogus Kaiba, an alien being in disguise.

"Why are you doing this?" He finally said.

"Because you're her best friend. She won't go out with me without a word from you."

"No!" Kaiba saw Wheeler, Taylor and Bakura jolt in their seats, their fight- or flight mechanisms cued. "This is a joke," Yugi continued, his voice dropped to a harsh hissing. "It's a joke, and I want to know why you're making this joke. It's not funny, Kaiba."

"It's not a joke, Yugi. Why would you think—"

"I know what you think of my friends. It's not enough for you to humiliate Joey? I'm sure this is really funny to you, coming here and saying that. What's next? You're going to go to Téa's house and play a prank on her too?'

"Yugi, this is not—"

"I won't let you! I won't let you go over there, and confuse Téa, and then embarrass her and laugh in her face!" Yugi was an inch away from Kaiba , standing at his full height, at Kaiba's chest. His fists were up. His face was red. His teeth were bared. Kaiba grabbed his fists.

"What the hell is going on?!" Taylor's breath, smelling of grape bubblegum, slammed into Kaiba before Taylor's body. He grabbed Kaiba by the shirt and pushed him backwards away from Yugi and into the shelves behind him.

Kaiba remembered pushing Téa into the wall in the girls' bathroom. He remembered the wall pushing her back into him, how secure he felt knowing that she couldn't go anywhere, not with the wall working for him.

The shelves dug into the back of his ribs. Wheeler stood now at Taylor's side, huffing through his nose, his eyes poker tips. Bakura stood behind Yugi, his arms crossed defensively across his chest. His eyes were dark and wary, torn between his innate peace-loving nature and responsibility toward his friends and saviors.

Kaiba closed his eyes and thought of Kisara. It brought some relief from the hard eyes and fists balled up against him, some soothing. He wanted to go to her, but he had been through this with himself before. He couldn't give up.

He opened his eyes.

"Yugi," he kept his voice very soft, for Yugi alone. Right now, he told himself, he and Yugi were the only ones in that room. This was a test he had to get through, to prove himself worthy of an audience with the gatekeeper.

"Yugi," he said. "Have them punch me."

Yugi ran his wrist over his eyes in exasperation. "What?"

"If it will prove this isn't a joke, then have them punch me. Have them beat me up."

Yugi's eyes widened. "Kaiba…"

"Do you honestly think I would risk these two breaking every bone in my face for a joke? This isn't a joke. They can go ahead and do it."

Even Wheeler and Taylor saw the logic in that. Their elbows dropped, and their fists pulled away slightly from his face, even if they didn't unclench. "I just need you to hear me out, Yugi."

"What isn't a joke?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, what isn't a joke, Kaiba?" Wheeler pushed Taylor's shoulders to the side with his own so he could lean into Kaiba's face. He peered at Kaiba with malicious deliberation. "This is probably a trick." He directed this at Yugi, though he never took his eyes off of Kaiba.

Kaiba reached out and grabbed Wheeler's wrist. He pulled it toward him, placing Wheeler's knuckles below his right eye. He stared into Wheeler's eyes. He noticed that they were as much golden as they were brown. He had never noticed Wheeler's eye color before. They were, appropriately, puppy dog eyes.

"Go ahead, Wheeler," he said, softly. "Go ahead."

Wheeler cocked his head at Kaiba, like Yugi did, as if Kaiba had grown scales and a third eye. "Who are you?" His voice was just as soft as Kaiba's; the rage was replaced with confusion, and a little touch of fear. "What did you do with Kaiba?"

"Kaiba," Bakura spoke up. "Are you feeling ill? What is this about?"

Kaiba looked into Bakura's eyes next. Eye contact seemed to work. "I'm not ill. I need to speak to Yugi, in private. It's nothing for you to be concerned about." He wasn't being rude, only stating a fact.

Maybe I should have gone to Yugi through Bakura, he thought. Bakura is a reasonably objective third party, Yugi trusts him, plus he owes me for Mokuba. The idea was such a good one, he felt like smacking himself for not thinking of it.

Yugi stood, studying Kaiba's face. Kaiba stared back.

Finally, Yugi spoke. "I'll talk to you, Kaiba."

"You sure, Yugi?' Taylor asked. His grip was still firm on Kaiba's shirt, but no longer white-knuckled and trembling.

"Yes. Please let him go."

"You're not going to talk to him alone," Wheeler said. "He's gone crazy. And what is this about a joke?"

"We'll stay in this room, Joey. You guys get back to the game. We're just going to talk for a little bit. I'll be right here. Kaiba won't try anything." Yugi's tone was placating.

Tristan let go, and he and Wheeler stepped back. They joined Bakura, who still had his arms crossed over his chest, and the three slowly backed toward the counter.

"You just raise your voice, Yugi, and we'll be right there," Wheeler said as they moved away. "And I've got my eyes on you, Kaiba. I may not be listening, but I'll be watching."

Neither Kaiba nor Yugi spoke until Wheeler, Taylor, and Bakura sat down and at least pretended to look at their cards again. Wheeler's gaze lingered the longest, glaring poison at Kaiba until Kaiba wanted to poke out his eyes.

I give that weaselly little fuck the opportunity to punch me in the face, no holds barred, and he backs down? I was right about him all along.

He turned back to Yugi, who was looking at him with long-suffering patience.

"I've already talked to her parents, Yugi. They said I could take her out."

"I would have loved to hear that conversation."

"I don't have to prove anything to you. Have you ever known me to be dishonest?"

"I just don't understand why, Kaiba."

Yugi stared up at him expectantly, as if Kaiba would explain it to him. Kaiba supposed he could tell the whole story, about seeing Téa's leg coming long from under her skirt while she lay on her back under that tree, so long ago. The glimpse of the strawberry speckled underpants. How Téa went up to him to apologize for her rudeness, and needing money, and he took the opportunity, the way Yugi never did, to explore and take pleasure in her. But he wasn't going to.

"I love Téa, Kaiba."

"I could've guessed that."

Yugi's lower lip trembled, and his eyes welled up large and liquid. "Then don't," he whispered.

Kaiba felt a sensation comparable to what he felt in the hallway with Téa, after the bathroom. Somehow, the lack of hate in Yugi's eyes made this more uncomfortable.

"Do you want Téa to be happy?" He asked. "Do you want her to have every thing she could ever want?"

"Of course I do."

"I can do everything for her. You know that."

"She's my best friend. I don't want to lose her."

"You think I'll keep you two apart?" Yugi glanced up at that. "I know how close you two are. I understand and accept that."

"You'd damn well better."

Kaiba could have sworn Yugi grew a little taller, his eyes hardened, and his voice deepened. But that was impossible. The Spirit was gone.

"And," Yugi continued, "if she tells you no, you better understand and accept that. You don't even know her, Kaiba. What makes you think she'll even say yes to you? I've known her since we were little. We love each other. As friends."

"How well do you know her, Yugi?" Kaiba's voice was calm and assured.

"Very well, Kaiba. Better than you ever will. "

Kaiba had to stifle a laugh. Yugi knew nothing.

"Yugi, I have one more thing to ask you."

Yugi had gone back to his short, big-eyed self. "What is it?"

"Did you and Téa ever kiss? Did you ever touch?"

Yugi darkened. "Kaiba, I'm not going to give you tips on how to seduce Téa. Téa is not going to go out with you just because you kiss her a certain way. She's not the kind of girl who can be just…"

"I'm not asking for tips. Answer me, Yugi."

Yugi crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged one shoulder. "We've hugged a lot, and we've held hands, and we've kissed each other on the cheeks. I repeat, Téa is not the kind of girl you seem to hope she is." Yugi's voice was self-righteous, but Kaiba could detect the pride running underneath it all.

Kaiba clenched his jaw on another laugh. The tendon under his cheekbone popped.

"Well, Yugi, if you respect her so much, why don't you let her make her own decision about this? I mean, if you two are meant to be together, she'll say no, right?"

Yugi obviously hadn't thought of that. He brightened. Kaiba had no idea he could use his strong powers of persuasion when it came to affairs of the heart. He had known exactly what to say. He decided to feed Yugi a little bit more.

"What's the worst that could happen, Yugi? I can tell how close you two are. I'm obviously at a disadvantage here. What are you afraid of?"

Yugi looked directly at Kaiba with his humongous, violet eyes. Those eyes were unnatural to Kaiba. They were like a toy's eyes, an alien's eyes. "Nothing," Yugi said, shrugging again. "But if you hurt her…"

"I never would. "

"I'll kill you, Kaiba," the sweet pipe of Yugi's voice was dead steady. "I'll kill you."

Kaiba held Yugi's gaze. He knew Yugi couldn't actually kill him—of course not—but Kaiba realized that he would try. He would try to kill him, for Téa's sake. Good for him. Kaiba knew what he himself, and his Blue Eyes White Dragon card, had done for Téa, and Téa alone, not just Téa as a friend in a group of friends.

"You have my word, Yugi. I would never hurt her. And if I do, and it will be unintentionally, you and your friends can rip me apart."

"She won't say yes to you."

"We'll see."

"She won't."

"We'll see."

Kaiba said these words to the door's handle as he strode past Yugi and out of the shop. She could feel Yugi's eyes on his back, and sensed the wave of energy that came from Joey, Taylor, and Bakura rushing from the counter and clustering around Yugi to pump him for the details of the conversation. He didn't give a shit what Yugi was reporting to them. He stepped smoothly through the open door of his limo and settled into his usual seat.

So, Yugi had hugged her, kissed her, held her hand. He let himself laugh then, a quiet laugh that didn't even open his mouth. He had done all those things too, more than Yugi. He had embraced Téa for what felt like hours, his face in her neck or her hair. He had held her hand, in this very limo. The memory of it made his breath catch.

He let his head fall back and catalogued the things he had that Yugi didn't. He had seen Téa naked. He had lifted her into his arms, a physical impossibility for Yugi. He had felt her legs, those long, smooth legs, tight around him.

He gritted his teeth and let his breath hiss out. He knew how her breasts curved under his hand. Yugi didn't. He had felt her heart beat under his palm. Yugi hadn't.

He had felt inside her. He knew what she felt like inside and out. Yugi could never imagine that. He would never know it. The facts, the objective facts, proved that he had a greater claim on something Yugi thought was his. He was the winner, the superior.

Kaiba's hips thrust, and he strained to keep them still. Funny how a short time ago, he would have answered his hips thrust for thrust with a rock. Right now, sitting in the limo, he felt his own maleness—his muscles, his blood, his sex. He never imagined his own body would give him the same rush of pride and power the God Cards did.

It was good.