To those of you so patiently awaiting an update, I'm sorry it took so long (literal fucking months, ugh I'm horrible)! There will be one more chapter after this. Any additional content (smut or drabble) will be posted on AO3 in another story. Also, I hope you brought your anti-cavity toothpaste. You're gonna need it.

Chapter Twelve

"This is quite the undertaking, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus drawled in that annoyingly musical way of his, and Kaiba felt the sneer settle deep into the lines on his face. And the way Pegasus said it all knowingly, like he had scried the exact motives and emotions behind this call. Kaiba could already feel the snarl building low in his throat."It's going to be difficult, I can't lie. Simply impressing it onto the cards would make them potentially readable from the back, and open an avenue for cheating."

That's fucking rich, you fucking cheater.

"You don't need to impress it into the cards," Kaiba growled. "There are plenty of materials that could coat the card that could have the text on it."

Pegasus sighed theatrically, a cloud of static on the receiver. "But then the thickness of the cards would change."

"I don't fucking care! Why should you?! People put their cards in fucking sleeves all the time, and that changes the thickness, too. I don't hear you bitching about that!"

"My oh my, who got your panties in a bunch this morning, Kaiba-boy?"

"Jesus Christ, I fucking hate you," Kaiba grumbled, rubbing his hand on his face. "Look, I just want to know if you'll fucking do it. I got the technological side but I need the fucking cards first."

"Hm, yes, but what do I get out of this?"

Kaiba scoffed. "Don't you like to at least pretend to have charitable habits every once and a while? While many games are open avenues to the handicapable, not many are such for the blind. It's revolutionary, trend-setting."

"I do like trend-setting…"

Kaiba glared up at the ceiling. He could just imagine that insufferable fool checking his cuticles so nonchalantly while Kaiba was trying to have a serious, productive conversation.

"It's good publicity, and the public outreach is never a bad thing," Kaiba continued.

KaibaCorp was all about public outreach and accessibility - all parks and supplementary duel gear were free or discounted for those under a certain age and income level.

"You say that, but I'm sure the whole world will know that your motives are hardly altruistic, Kaiba-boy."

His teeth gritted so hard he thought his molars would crack. "My motives mean nothing, and they are not selfish, either, though that is none of your fucking concern."

But Pegasus sighed melodramatically again, as if Kaiba had said nothing. "All of this for one man. Well, I'll sleep on it and tell you how I feel about this little venture at a later date. Ta-ta for now, Kaiba-boy."

And then the click and beep of the call being ended.

Kaiba wrenched his cell phone away from his ear and glared down at it. "That bastard." The call was wholly unpleasant and rage-inducing, and Kaiba didn't even get the pleasure of hanging up on that fucking lunatic.

He sighed and rubbed his face. Pegasus would acquiesce - he normally did. Some half-assed repentant bullshit about the past.

He thrummed his fingers on the table.

The matter wasn't only the cards. It was technology, too. If he was going to do this, he wanted it to be fully integrated - if he wanted Yugi to be able to participate, he was going to be able to do it in all ways available. The SolidVision technology already incorporated headsets - Yugi didn't need to worry about seeing the holograms, and they already have some audio capabilities, mostly for sound effects. It wouldn't be hard to rewrite the program - it could read off the state of the field to him at but a command or a press of a button.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed again, but his fingertips felt like they were vibrating and something quivered in his chest.

A shaky exhale, a tight grin.

Yugi thrummed his fingers on the table. "Seto's still at work?"

"Mmhm." Silverware scraped on plates. It was a couple of seconds before Mokuba said anything more. "It was a pretty common occurrence before you guys moved in."

"Well, he's come home late before," Yugi commented, remembering that time he got stranded on the staircase. But Seto's late work nights stopped after… after they started sleeping in the same bed regularly.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't come home until well after midnight, or if he didn't come back at all - he has accommodations at the office for the days he works overnight."

Yugi bit back his pout. He'd gotten so used to sleeping in the same bed as Seto, and, lately, cuddling and kissing before and after falling asleep.

"He said something about taking on a new project. He seemed pretty excited about it," Mokuba continued. "And I mean, genuinely excited. Not that angry obsession that he had over…" an awkward pause, "... other things."

That perked Yugi up. Yeah, it might suck sleeping alone for a little while, but if Seto was having fun and finding fulfillment in work, then Yugi would gladly set aside his own comfort.

"I'm happy he's found something to be passionate about," Yugi concluded, mostly to himself, a small, fond smile curling his lips.

"Yeah, me too," Mokuba said, and continued to chatter on about this and that, and Yugi listened attentively.

Later that night, when he prepared for bed, he left the light on Seto's nightstand switched on, and slipped under the covers on what they were both growing to consider as their bed.

Seto trudged up the stairs, body heavy with fatigue. It was just after one in the morning, and he could tell with annoying clarity that his body was now used to full-night's rest and going to bed around ten at night.

He froze at the top of the steps. From under the door to their bedroom spilled faint, warm light. Faint, but it seemed so bright in the dark of the hallway. A beacon. He gulped and strode swiftly but silently closer, and, with a gentle hand, turned the knob and peered in.

He sighed quietly, relieved when he saw the lump under the blankets and that mane of wild hair spilling across the pillows. He'd at first thought that Yugi had stayed up and waited for him to come home. He stepped inside, quietly closed the door behind him, and marched up to the desk to set his briefcase on it. He stepped close for just a moment, just to see Yugi, with his slightly parted lips and his hands resting close to his face on the pillow. He watched that small body move with each gentle breath, watched as Yugi's eyes moved beneath his lids, as he dreamed.

Tenderness welled up within Seto's chest, so warm and fathomless that it made his breath catch and his heart pound.

Of course Yugi would leave the light on for him, of course, of course, of course.

For some stupid reason, his eyes stung, and he scoffed to himself as he went about quietly getting ready for bed. It was an easy endeavor, what with the light being on, and it wasn't too long before he was carefully pulling back the blankets on his side of the bed and slipping beneath them. He leaned out just slightly to switch the nightstand light off, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand touch his side.

But it was only Yugi, blinking blearily in the darkness. Seto settled into the mattress and felt Yugi snuggle closer.

"You're home," he whispered, a slurring sigh.

"I'm home," Seto repeated, and Yugi made a happy grunt before he was breathing evenly again, a bundle of sleepy warmth curled into Seto's side.

That wild hair was soft beneath his stroking hand. Each pass became slower and slower, as did each blink, until he was no longer moving and lost to the warm black depths of sleep.

It happened for three or four weeks. Seto would come home very late at night, and the light would be on for him every night. And then his alarm would go off early in the morning, and he'd begrudgingly pry Yugi off of him - which could be damn difficult sometimes - the man was like a koala or a spider-monkey. And Yugi would whimper, all sweet and sleepy, and beg him to stay in bed, and every time he was almost swayed, almost seduced into sleeping longer with Yugi.

But even Seto Kaiba's will of steel would crack sometimes.

The alarm blared, shrill and annoying, and Seto slapped a hand about on the nightstand until it shut up. He groaned, and Yugi, tucked into his chest, blearily echoed it.

Seto shifted, moved a hand to gently nudge Yugi off of him. But those slender arms and legs were slithering and then wrapping around him and squeezing gently.

"Seto," Yugi whimpered, husky with sleep. "Stay. Just a little longer."

"I can't," Seto whispered, trying to pry Yugi's arms off, but each time they just managed to wrap around him in a different position.

"We've barely spent any time together, it's been weeks, Seto," Yugi replied. "The only time I get with you is at night, and even that is not much." His fingers curled into Seto's shirt, and he pressed his face to Seto's neck. "Just cuddle with me a little more," he whispered brokenly. "I've missed you so much."

Seto gulped, and he petted those wild locks. "Yugi…"

"I've been trying so hard to be good." The words brushed against the sensitive skin of Seto's throat. "You have an important project and I understand that. All I'm asking for is another hour of staying like this together." His next words were on a wavering whimper, "Just an hour, please."

Seto's resolve crumbled to dust, and his body crumpled with it, slumping into the mattress with Yugi still wrapped around him like an octopus.

"Just an hour," he croaked. "Then I really need to go."

Yugi murmured happily, purring and nuzzling like an over-sized kitten.

"You're a brat," Seto grumbled, but he stroked the long hair, the smooth back, all with such a tender reverence.

"Your brat," Yugi cooed back, laying butterfly kisses to Seto's neck and chin - swift, ticklish kisses - between nuzzles. One of his hands traced down Seto's arms, fingertips skimming along his bicep, to his forearm, tickling the inside of his wrist, dancing across his palm, and then he was twining their fingers together and lifting their combined hands to press sweet kisses to Seto's knuckles.

"My brat," Seto echoed, eyes closing as he felt Yugi settle against him with a contented hum.

That's right. This was all for Yugi. What was the point if Yugi was unhappy in any capacity?

So when they both fell asleep and didn't wake up until close to noon, Seto couldn't find it in himself to get upset about it.

Although he did do his fair share of complaining.

As he had promised, Yugi backed off after that, though he still would whimper and grumble a little when his giant Seto-shaped body pillow was taken away from him every morning. But Seto knew Yugi's days were growing busy, too; he was picking up more Braille courses, ones for advanced literature and even some for mathematics, and he was starting his training with Sebastian, his chosen guide dog.

Preparations were under way to make the house ready for the new family member, and while the paperwork that was sometimes needed for that was annoying, Seto was glad that it was getting done.

He hummed, scrolling through the code on the screen. It'd been harder than he expected - he had to put in protocols for cards titles, and of course an AI that could properly pronounce the words, since some of the card titles were portmanteaus or compound words that didn't exist in the average dictionary. And those didn't even account for the names inspired by or even in other languages and cultures. Other things fell into place after that, but he had yet to test the program as a whole.

He encrypted the file and fed it into the KaibaCorp network. He was just standing up and gathering some of his notes to head down to the laboratory when a melodic trilling filled his office and the touchscreen on his desk flashed.

He accepted the call - it was from his secretary. "Yes?"

"Kaiba, sir, Mr. Mutou is here to see you."

His brows furrowed. "Yugi?"

"Yes."

What was he doing here? He looked down at the clock. It was just past noon. "Send him in."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." The call ended with a click.

Seto strode to stand in front of his desk, and he watched as the door was opened by his secretary and Yugi came in, white cane in one hand and a plastic bag in the other.

He strode in easily, confidently, cane tapping this way and that as the door closed behind him.

"Hey," he breathed, smiling shyly but brightly. "I figured you hadn't eaten yet, so I brought you lunch."

Seto hadn't eaten yet, true. "Come sit," he said quietly.

"Okay." That smile grew wider, and Yugi continued forward until his cane tapped at Seto's shin. "Oh, that's your leg, isn't it? Sorry."

"I'll take the bag." And Seto did, gently, first touching Yugi's hand and then letting Yugi feel him disentangle the plastic from Yugi's fingers.

"I know I probably should have called, but this was a last minute decision on my part," Yugi said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck before he carefully sat down. He seemed tense.

Seto blinked. Yugi thought he'd get mad, or at least upset.

"It's fine. I don't mind surprise visits from you," Seto said gently, reaching out to softly touch Yugi's chin. His thumb brushed over those pink lips.

"Good," Yugi whispered, smiling, leaning into Seto's touch when his hand moved to cup his cheek. "I thought I'd at least get to spend a few minutes with you. Michael and I were on our way back from the training session with Sebastian."

"How'd that go?" Seto asked, low and deep, and somewhere and somehow Yugi had ended up standing again and they were close, touch-starved, holding one another.

"It went very well," Yugi murmured, laying his cheek on Seto's chest. He sighed sweetly. "He's a good dog, a smart one, too. They say it should only be a few weeks until I can take him home."

"That's good," Seto replied softly. He carded his hand through that wild hair, watched red and black and gold strands flow through his fingers like water. "Everything's coming together, isn't it?"

Yugi tilted his head up, chin on Seto's chest, and Seto's breath caught in his throat. Those violet eyes were sightless, but he swore they could peer right into his very soul. "It is." A slow blink, and Seto was mesmerized by how those thick black lashes moved and the way the light shifted on amaranthine irises. "Thank you." Yugi's hands were cupping his face, warm and gentle and loving. "Thank you so much. For everything. For helping me, for being there for me." A tight, wavering breath, one that foretold tears. Seto's heart seized painfully in his chest. "It means so much to me." A shaky chuckle on quivering lips. "I don't think I would have been able to do it without you, Seto."

Seto felt it curling and bubbling up in his chest, rising to the surface like a gas pocket in a pond. He held Yugi close, touched his cheek with trembling fingers, felt it floating up his throat and pushing through his teeth and pouring from his lips.

"Yugi," he choked, thumb outlining those quivering lips, "Yugi, I love you."

Yugi gasped, or perhaps it was just a fast exhale, but it felt so sharp and strong against Seto's face. His slim body was arching up in Seto's arms, fingers tangling in Seto's hair, the other caressing his jaw and his cheek and his eyebrow and his forehead, seeing him, and Yugi's words were a whimper that made Seto's stomach flip and his heart skip a beat,

"I love you, too, Seto." And then they were kissing, trembling but rapturous.

"You would've been fine without me," Seto continued, the words spilling forth like blood from a wound and lapping against Yugi's lips. "You would've found a way. You always do." Because although Yugi seemed small and meek and weak, he was strong as a mountain, weathering the worst of storms, and always greeting the sunlight the next day. "You're so strong, Yugi." His voice lowered to a raw whisper, "You make me feel small, so small."

Yugi's brows furrowed, lips parted, but Seto pressed his thumb to that lower lip to silence him.

"But you make me realize if you can be strong in all of this, so can I."

Yugi touched his hand, entwined them against his face, and kissed the pad of Seto's thumb. "We can be strong together."

"Together," Seto croaked.

Yugi leaned forward, and his smooth cheek was resting on Seto's chest. Seto wrapped his arms tight around Yugi's slight body and set his chin atop that wild hair.

"Your heart is pounding," Yugi whispered, quivering with laughter.

"I've got enough adrenaline to fuel a race horse pumping through my veins right now." They chuckled together, and Seto's trembling hand carded through Yugi's hair again.

"Me too."

There was several moments of companionable silence, filled only with the sounds of their soft breaths and the occasional shuffling of fabric. Then, Yugi sighed, his breath filtering through the material of Seto's shirt, and his fingers twitched where they were resting against Seto's back. "I guess I should probably go now. I'm sure you have a lot of work to do still," he murmured with no small amount of disappointed resignation.

Seto kissed his temple, and said against his hair, "Sit with me while I eat."

And he felt Yugi's smile against his shirt, and his own lips twitched in response. "Okay."

The software worked. It paired nicely with KaibaCorp's AI to create a palatable auditory experience. And the cards worked.

Now Seto really could duel someone with his eyes closed.

The headset for SolidVision was still suitable for these intended purposes, and the prototype Duel Disk was coming along all according to plan.

But there was only so much Seto could test on his own - his perception of the experience was flawed by one thing; he could see.

He needed someone to test it with.

And he had the perfect person in mind.

Everything was moving, and he was slipped out of his comfortable position, the warmth against his back slipping away as something beeped shrilly close by. He groaned, low and annoyed. Cold, harassed by cacophonous noise-

- that stopped with a clatter of plastic and a growl that wasn't his own.

A warm hand touched his bare arm.

"Yugi," came the voice, from his dreams, from his life. "Yugi, wake up."

"Seto," he sighed, rolling into the touch. "Stay a lil' longer," he slurred.

A soft chuckle, that warm hand stroking through his hair tenderly. Yugi couldn't help but purr happily. "Yugi, I need to get up and so do you."

"You get up too early," Yugi huffed in response, more awake now, though he stubbornly refused to open his eyes. "I don't have anything to do today, so I don't know what you're going on about."

"I know, that's why you're coming to the office with me," Seto replied, nudging his shoulder again. "So get up."

Yugi sighed into the pillow and slowly sat up, and then it hit him. His spine turned ramrod straight, and he grinned in Seto's general direction. "I get to spend today with you?"

Seto chuckled again, soft and fond, and Yugi's grin stretched wider. "Yes. Now get up and get ready, brat."

Yugi was already at the edge of the bed and setting his feet to the ground. "I need to get a shower real quick."

"It better be quick, or I'll go in there and bathe you myself," Seto grumbled as he set about getting himself dressed and presentable.

"Don't threaten me with a good time, baby," Yugi purred back.

"Oh, it won't be a good time - I'll make sure you hate every second of it."

"Hmm, I'm not so sure that that's possible. Me, wet and naked, you, your hands all over me. With an equation like that, I don't think there's such a thing as a negative outcome," Yugi sang back.

Something smooth and soft struck his shoulder and fell to the floor - a silk tie. "Take your damn shower already!" Seto snapped.

Yugi cackled.

The quiet rumbling of the engine lulled Yugi's already sleepy senses, and he fought off heavy eyelids and slumping shoulders.

He yawned into his hand. "It's been a while since you've needed me at the office."

Seto grunted.

"Why do you need me now?" he asked, leaning against the door.

Seto didn't answer a moment, and Yugi feared that Seto might not have heard, or might not have been paying attention, but then he said, "I'm testing some accessibility software. You're the perfect subject."

Warmth bubbled up in Yugi's chest, and he carefully reached over to put a hand on Seto's thigh and squeeze tenderly. His voice sounded so quiet, but he was sure that Seto could hear him when he said, "You made accessibility software for the blind."

"I did," Seto replied softly. "It's the project I've been working on." Seto's hand settled over his. His fingers were so long, and they threaded between Yugi's.

Yugi smiled and rubbed his thumb over Seto's. "Can I ask what the software is for…?"

"Hmmm…" He could hear the answering grin in Seto's hum. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

Yugi laughed. "Joke's on you, pal; I can't see."

It wasn't quite a laugh, but breath huffing out, but it still made Yugi all fuzzy and warm on the inside. "Shit…"

"You walked right into that one."

A sigh. "Yeah, a lot of idioms and other sayings include phrasing about sight. It's awkward," Seto mumbled.

"I'm not mad. Hell, I think it's funny. And it's not like you're doing it on purpose, anyway." He leaned in to gently nuzzle Seto's shoulder briefly before he settled back into his seat. "I'm excited to learn about what you've been working on, though." He tenderly squeezed Seto's fingers.

"I am, too, Yugi." The quiet purr of the car, the gentle gust of the ventilation system. But he could hear Seto's next whisper-like words. "You'll love it."

The fluorescent light of the lab stained Yugi in sickly white-green, but even so, he looked so full of wonder, so full of excitement as Seto approached. The box in his hand felt as though it was made of lead, though it was only filled with a neat stack of lacquered cards.

"Yugi, hold out your hand."

And Yugi eagerly did so, his palm facing up. He was practically vibrating in his seat.

Seto's lips quirked up. He cupped the back of that hand with the palm of his own. He dwarfed Yugi, but never had he felt so weak, with the way he was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Seto was excited, too.

He placed the box in Yugi's hand, and moved Yugi's other hand over the lid on the box.

Immediately, Yugi's fingers palpated the object now in his grasp. The insides of his eyebrows lifted up. "A box." Then a smile, small but energetic. "What's in it?"

"Open it and find out," Seto replied, somehow breathless, but he hoped he hid it well. His words were for naught - before he'd even really started, Yugi was carefully lifting the lid on the box. "I'll take that."

Yugi held the lid out. "Thank you."

"Hn."

And Yugi reached into the box. His eyes widened at what he felt. "... what…?" And then he was eagerly but carefully upturning the contents into his other palm. He fingers caged around the edges of the deck. He plucked the first card up, thumb roving over the glossy surface to find the bumps lining the top and bottom. "Dark Magician…" he breathed, wonder etched into every line in his face.

He flipped through the cards. There were much more than the standard deck - any card Yugi ever used in any recorded duel was in that box.

"This is…" A tight breath. His eyes glistened with unshed tears in the harsh light. "... this is amazing…" A quiet sniffle, and he set the cards back into the box to haphazardly swipe at his eyes with his sleeve. "Seto…"

Seto swallowed down the lump in his throat. "Two months from now, there will be a simultaneous release of products to make Braille Duel Monsters cards available all around the world."

Yugi was shaking his head, speechless, and Seto turned to the table at their side to pick up the two devices waiting there.

"And that's not all…"

He gently took the box out of Yugi's hands.

"... I personally designed this from a SolidVision headset, and made alterations to the newest line of Duel Disks for compatibility for the visually impaired." The cuff was longer, nearly sleeve-like, for greater stability to the arm, and each of the slots and buttons labelled with concise Braille "At the touch of a button, the headset can read off the state of the field to you, from monster stats to active cards to lifepoint standings." Yugi reached forward, touched each item in turn. The headset was even clearly labeled 'left' and 'right' on each side. "It took a lot of work programming a whole database of cards in, but it was worth it," Seto added quietly. "Even if… even if you never want to Duel again… any blind person can now." Distantly, he knew he was babbling, but he couldn't stop the words from pouring forth for the life of him. "I actually created a whole department for accessibility software. Everything that a blind person feasibly could use, will be usable. I've had the drive to do this all myself, and I normally would, but I've been spending enough time here as it is, and delegation only creates jobs -"

"-Seto," Yugi interrupted, laughing wetly and swiping tears away again. "Put those down."

Seto did, automatically, and as he was turning back, Yugi stepped forward to engulf Seto in his embrace. At first it was awkward, from the side, but Seto shifted to hold him properly. Yugi was warm and shuddering, his hiccuping breaths filtering through Seto's clothes.

"This was what you were doing the whole time?" Yugi asked, and though his voice was muffled by Seto's chest, Seto could still hear him clearly enough.

He petted those shaking shoulders, down Yugi's back. "... Yes."

A ragged, wet inhale. "You… Y-You did this all for me."

"... Yes."

Yugi nuzzled closer, nestled into Seto's shirt. "Y-You didn't have to."

That long, wild hair in his fingers, his palm on a smooth, damp cheek, he tilted Yugi's face up. "I know." He skimmed his thumb over the plane of Yugi's cheekbone. "But I wanted to." He chuckled, low, intimate. "I don't do anything without wanting to." Yugi laughed wetly, and he leaned into Seto's hand. "I want to give you everything you deserve," Seto replied. Even washed out in the white lights, Yugi's unseeing eyes gleamed so warmly.

And Yugi's face crumpled, but those tears of his were those of unspeakable happiness.

"I love you, Seto," he whispered, croaking and rough.

Seto leaned down, cupping Yugi's face with both hands now. "Yugi…" he whispered, lips ghosting over Yugi's.

A pause, it seemed like not even their breaths were audible, just the electrical hum of KaibaCorp's laboratory.

"... Duel me."

Chapter end

If you thought I would end this chapter with literally any other line, you're crazy XD I probably won't have the actual duel because I can never seem to learn card games (guess that's the one area where I don't retain information well), so I don't even know how to play Yu-Gi-Oh! irl. But I guess we'll see what happens when it happens ^-^ I hope you all enjoyed this (very late) chapter!