Yugi didn't know how she ended up in this predicament. She blamed the odd troll known as Reborn, since he had made an 'innocent' suggestion.
Ever since she had mentioned she wanted to design her own games, rather than always playing ones made by someone else, Kaiba had offered her an internship so she could see exactly what went into making a best-selling game. She could still duel on the side, but this meant she could make a bit of money on the side learning a trade she could use later.
Her grandfather had finally come around to the idea that maybe Kaiba wasn't a complete write-off as a person. Her mother tentatively trusted him as well, after hearing how one of the devices he had given her had allowed help to reach her and Jounouchi in less than an hour with no injuries on their part. Though she wisely neglected to tell her what particular issue she was having at the time.
Yami was of no help, he was more amused than anything...though he'd appear in a heartbeat if there was any actual threat.
However by this point he had determined that Kaiba was far from a threat to his other half. He had gone out of his way to keep her safe, and seemed to be on the fence towards either treating her as a potential girlfriend or a younger sister figure.
Yami was fine towards nudging Yugi towards Kaiba. She could do worse, and he was good about protecting his own.
Apparently he was not alone, if the amused expression on Reborn's face was any indication.
The predicament Yugi was in was almost hysterical. Seto had been taking a nap on a couch he had in his office specifically for that purpose. He had learned his lesson while acting as Vongola Decimo...there was no shame in napping between paperwork. He just had to block the door and put on noise canceling headphones to pretend he wasn't there.
Mokuba knew, if he needed anything and his brother was napping, that he could go to Chrome, Mukuro or Noah. He did not need to wake his brother up, since he had almost the same powers over the company that his brother did.
Yugi, did not know this fact. Reborn had unlocked the door on the sly and allowed her to slip in. Mokuba, watching the entire thing from the other office, took one look look at what was going on and tried desperately not to laugh because of one key fact.
Seto Kaiba, known only to a select few, was a snuggler. If someone were to enter into his radius while he was half-asleep and he had previously deemed them safe to nap around, he would latch onto them and pull them close to snuggle with.
Which lead to this...Yugi was currently pinned between him and the couch, and her face was almost as red as her hair.
Hence why Yami was laughing in their shared mental space. Kaiba's hand wasn't anywhere inappropriate, he was just cuddling with her while half asleep.
After about an hour, Kaiba finally wakes up and realizes the situation he's in.
"...Reborn, Mukuro or other?" he asked finally.
"Reborn," she said, blushing horribly. "Does this happen often?"
"He finds it funny to embarrass me. Also, he's one of the few who would think it hilarious to allow you in here when they know I'm taking a much needed nap and know what is likely to happen."
Yugi had to admit, outside of the embarrassment of being used as a human teddy bear, Kaiba was actually rather warm.
"Oh, and tell that 5,000 year old sis-con that if he comes after me for something I did while half asleep, I will start having Chrome asking pointed questions about how he handles 'that time of the month'. I know for a fact Mukuro absolutely hates it whenever he has to deal with that while possessing Chrome."
Yugi's reaction was immediate...she started laughing. Whether it was from the comment about asking Yami uncomfortable questions regarding something she had to deal with once a month, or the fact he had called the pharaoh a '5,000 year old sis-con'.
Yami clearly didn't know what that term meant, and to be honest Yugi was too busy laughing to explain it to him.
(The expression on Yami's face when Bakura had to explain what it meant was hysterical. Bakura certainly thought so because he was too busy laughing to be offended.)
Now one might think that would be the end of it. Except...while Yugi was pretty much trapped by the grumpy dragon known as Seto Kaiba, she had taken the time to actually look at him.
And once you got past the slight tsundere-exterior, he was actually really handsome.
It really wasn't helping her crush in the least.
She thought she had a handle on it...until several duelists showed up after Battle City and made it clear they were intent on getting their hands on the god cards. It had nothing to do with the puzzle and everything to do with the rarity and power of the cards, and the bragging rights for having beaten her at Duel Monsters for their own bit of fame.
It was beyond daunting.
Seto, on the other hand, had an expression of annoyance.
"Mutt, can you distract those idiots out there or do you need me to intimidate them into going away?"
Jounouchi glared at him, mostly at the tone and the implied idea that he couldn't handle himself in a duel. Despite having reached the finals of the tournament.
"What are you planning?" asked Jounouchi.
"I need someone to distract them long enough for Kyouya to show up and scare the living hell out of them into going away," said Seto flatly. "That or I abscond with your pint-sized leader from the side door...I highly doubt they have all the exits covered."
Anzu, who wasn't as oblivious as the boys, hid a smirk.
"Jou will distract the duelists while you escape with Yugi," she said.
Seto gave her a flat look, already knowing her plan.
Still, better to get this out now than have the awkwardness get worse.
Yugi felt relief...for all of a minute...once she was inside the car. Then she realized she was sitting alone with a guy she had a major crush on.
As they were driving off, Yugi squirmed a bit trying to figure out what to say.
"You know I actually don't have a problem with dating. I'm just usually too busy and I have to be on guard against gold diggers and glory hounds," said Seto calmly.
It took her several seconds for that to filter through her mind, but when it did she stared at him.
"Are you saying you don't have a problem with dating me?" she asked, almost incredulous.
"I'm saying if you want to see if it's worth a try, I'm not opposed to it. Just don't expect me to become lovey-dovey or anything, or make too obvious to the masses we're going out," he replied flatly.
Yugi looked like she was seriously considering it. She never thought her crush would actually go anywhere, and it wasn't like she had any experience dating boys.
"Um...what would you recommend we do then?"
"There's a new Egyptian exhibit at the museum...one not funded by the Tomb Keepers. Marik was particularly unhappy when he heard what one of the artifacts were," said Seto. "Considering our joint luck, odds are we're going to be dealing with another headache so we might as well enjoy the sights."
"So...we're avoiding the exhibit?" she asked.
"I was thinking of taking you to see the building where we're developing special holographic technology. Something tells me that if your Puzzle comes into contact with this 'pyramid of light', it's just going to cause me headaches. Besides, I really want to avoid Pegasus for a while longer."
Yugi was really confused by that.
"What does Pegasus have to do with anything?"
"I have a unique intuition, and ever since that pyramid showed up it's been yelling at me to go visit that pest to pick something up. However it also told me that there's no issue if I wait until Reborn gets back so I can give that one-eyed nuisance a heart attack."
For a first date, it was certainly interesting.
She never thought it would be so much fun to play what he called "Duel World". Players could dress up as their favorite duel monster and used specialized equipment that allowed them to duke it out with realistic looking weapons, cast spells, and command a select amount of creature types like Kuriboh as their partners.
Yugi fell in love with the game immediately, particularly since she was dressed as Dark Magician Girl again and had a Kuriboh for a pet. She had to giggle as Kaiba once again donned his Blue Eyes White Knight costume purely for his own amusement. It looked a bit like a rip off of the "White Dragon Emperor" armor from the High School DxD series, to be honest. Likely because the actual thing had yet to be created.
For a first date, it was highly entertaining. She had enjoyed herself immensely and she occasionally caught Kaiba smiling at her indulgently. He didn't take her to any fancy restaurants, but rather the discreet cafeteria for the employees.
The food was rather good, and the atmosphere was fun.
She almost forgot the duelists after her blood because of the god cards, at least until she got a text from Anzu.
When she got home, she found her grandfather looking a tad dazed.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I was visiting the new Egyptian exhibit and there was a sudden blast," said Solomon. "The mummy on display disappeared and the guards have no idea where it went because the only evidence was the smashed case."
Yugi thought back to the awkward moment when Kuriboh actually appeared and there had been a flare from the puzzle. They had to call it quits because she had realized almost immediately that it was the real thing, not the hologram version she had been using.
Seto had suggested she practice bringing Kuriboh out regularly. It was a harmless enough monster and it could double as a pet of sorts since her grandfather refused to have the real thing.
And if people asked, then she was to mention she was testing out some new holographic equipment from Kaiba Corp. That would presumably make anyone too nosy back off.
The fact it would allow her to practice her shadow magic was just bonus. She liked having the super cuddly Kuriboh around.
Though she hid a blush over the fact she had a rather enjoyable date with Kaiba...with the hopes of a second one soon.
"Did you really need to build a jet based off that dragon?" asked Reborn amused.
"I don't want to hear that from a man who always has an espresso on hand," said Seto flatly. "You have your quirks, let me have mine in peace."
Reborn snorted at that.
"So, where are we going and why?"
"My intuition keeps telling me to visit a certain pest who created the game, and retrieve a card capable of taking out the three god cards."
"Which doesn't explain why you waited for me to return before going," said Reborn.
Seto's smirk was evil.
"I used a mental image of you in your true form to make him back off from reading my mind. What better way to tell him not to come after me for taking one of his unreleased cards than to unleash the real thing and allow you to inflict as much chaos as possible while I'm dueling him for it?"
There was dead silence for several moments, before Reborn started laughing darkly.
"I have trained you so well," said Reborn, a slight tear of pride appearing in his eyes.
Seto smirked at him. He made sure that no one heard what he said next, not that he needed to worry much.
"You know I aim to please, Chichiue," said Seto.
"One of these days I'm going to find out what exactly it is that word means," said Reborn.
"You already know what it means, and it shows I respect you far more than I'll ever respect the jackass," said Seto.
Pegasus was as annoying as ever, but he was so focused on Kaiba that he failed to notice the extra. And without the Eye, he would have zero warning of what was to come.
As Kaiba went through the small stack of cards, he found three of interest. Only one sorely tested his poker face though.
"What's this? Golden Eyes Chaos Dragon?"
There was no mistaking who this particular dragon was based off of. Clearly Pegasus had been strongly impacted by mental representation of Reborn when he had pissed off Kaiba.
Pegasus gave him a flat look.
"You wanted a card to defeat the god cards...the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon is it," he said annoyed. He still had nightmares of that man he had seen in Kaiba's memories.
"...Then why do you also have one called the Pyramid of Light, which shares the same name as the stolen necklace from the museum?" he asked.
"What?" said Pegasus, taking the cards from him. "I certainly didn't add this to the unreleased cards!"
"Considering my luck, I believe you," deadpanned Kaiba. He left the card in the deck, but he confiscated the dragon version of his Sun Guardian. He was sure Reborn would get just as much of a laugh out of it as Kaiba had.
It was so incredibly satisfying to see the expression on Pegasus' face when he saw Reborn in all his Arcobaleno-sized glory...and make the obvious connection to the terrifying man he had seen in Kaiba's mind and the smaller version sitting on his shoulder like some form of demonic parrot.
The dark smirk he gave the one-eyed civilian was so terrifying it gave Pegasus further nightmare fuel...and ideas for a second card to the unreleased deck in the form of the tiny green chameleon that appeared out of nowhere on Reborn's hat.
"So...what level of chaos did you leave behind, and don't spare the details," said Seto as they got back on the jet.
Reborn's smirk was downright evil. He was more than happy to elaborate all the traps he left behind for Pegasus and his hired goons to find. Kaiba started cackling about five minutes in and didn't stop until they had to land.