Chapter 16: Evidential Proof

The instant they arrived at the Kame Game Shop, Yami immediately went over to the refrigerator while Kaiba made his way over at a more leisurely pace. Leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, Kaiba crossed his arms smugly as he watched his rival trying to forage for food. He knew that he was being an ass, but it really was about the principle of the matter, so Kaiba stood his ground firmly. Even though Yami had made a few convincing arguments along the way, he wouldn't give in to the other so easily.

Disregarding Kaiba for the time being, Yami stared in disbelief at the nearly empty fridge. There were a few cans of soda remaining, as well as the normal array of condiments that were useless if there was nothing for them to be put on to eat. He supposed he shouldn't be that surprised since there were up to nine people over at any given time last night, but it was still disheartening. Shutting the door with more force than necessary out of annoyance, he tried looking in the freezer. Spotting some ice cream, he made a triumphant noise as he reached to get it, only to discover that it was decidedly too light for there to be anything inside of it. Trying to remain optimistic, he opened one corner of it to look inside, but there was nothing but ice crystals remaining and he sighed, hanging his head as he resealed it. Reaching out through his link with Yuugi, Yami was less than amused and he demanded to know, "Who the hell puts back an empty ice cream container?"

Kaiba, on the other hand, was thoroughly entertained by the whole process and continued to watch on as his rival continued pushing things around in the freezer as if hoping to find something else.

"Uhm, that would be Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi answered after a moment, flinching at the spike of anger coming from his other self. "There was no room in the trash at the time so…"

"How much time do I have?" Yami asked, hoping that it would be enough for him to cook something frozen, but he was once again disappointed.

"We're actually on our way back now."

Stepping back and letting the freezer door shut itself, he opened the fridge again and crouched down to look through the drawers that he had neglected on his initial inspection. "Good, you can stop at the store, then," Yami told him, not in the least bit tempted by some moldy vegetables he found.

"Actually, Mokuba had one of his drivers pick us up, so—"

Standing up and shutting the door once again, he made his way over to the cabinets to see what else was available. "Even better—you can get more things since we won't have to carry them," Yami commented, mildly appeased by the idea.

"We'll go later tonight after everyone goes home, okay?" Yuugi said, realizing that it was the wrong answer when he was subjected to the hunger that was making Yami uncharacteristically irritable. Yuugi was shocked by it; he had no doubt that his other self would be capable of out eating Jounouchi and Honda combined and that was a scary thought. "Why are you so—wait, when was the last time you ate?"

"Last night," Yami answered, realizing that his aibou's cereal box was missing from its place next to their grandfather's. Yami had tried it once and swore never again, no matter how healthy they tried to convince him it might make a person. He was actually hungry enough to cave and have some, only to pick it up and find it empty as well. "Shit! Did Jounouchi-kun eat the cardboard stuff, too?"

Confused for a moment by the reference, Yuugi finally realized what Yami was referring to. "Oh, there was some special offer that Jii-chan wanted to mail in for, but he was running late for an appointment, so he left it to do later when he got home…"

"Fucking empty boxes," Yami muttered out loud, letting the cabinet door shut with a dull noise. It earned him a snort from Kaiba and he spun around and glared at him. "Oh, shut the hell up! I wouldn't be in this fucking position if you had let me eat at your place."

"You wouldn't be in this position if you hadn't started trying to make me your lunch, idiot," Kaiba replied with a smirk, laughing when the other had nothing to say back to him.

"Aibou!"

"We'll order something when we get back," Yuugi compromised, "but in the meantime, I might—might—have something left in my desk from my last cram session."

Ignoring the qualifier and Kaiba, Yami bolted for the stairs, leaving Kaiba two choices: stay or follow. He disliked following, but he felt ridiculous standing alone in the kitchen, so he went up the stairs to find Yami, guided by the sound of banging desk drawers.

When his search resulted with nothing, he remembered that he might have left some in his aibou's backpack, but all he found were wrappers and he finally admitted defeat. Standing, he turned to find Kaiba standing behind him looking more pleased by the situation than Yami would have cared to see.

Kaiba failed to comprehend Yami's food rampage, so he found himself saying, "You act like there's no food downstairs."

Scowling, he explained, "They're on their way back now, so I don't have time to cook anything and clean it up to look like I wasn't here. And I don't want to risk leaving and getting caught outside, because there is no way I'm climbing up to this window to come back in."

It made sense up until the point that Kaiba realized that he hadn't seen Yami use a phone to contact Yuugi, nor had his brother called him and informed him of the situation. "Wait, how do you know they're on their way back?"

"Your brother had one of your drivers pick them up."

"And you know this how?"

Not feeling like answering the question, Yami dodged it by asking one of his own, "Aren't you the least bit hungry?"

"No."

"How the hell is that possible?" Yami wanted to know. If anything, Kaiba should be in a worse off state than him since he had a larger frame, but the other seemed completely fine.

Shrugging, Kaiba answered, "It's just the way I am." When he had been younger, food had been another weapon used against him, hunger another condition that he had to surpass, so he had progressively learned to ignore it until he forgot about it altogether. His world ran on his time and he would not let even his own body dictate otherwise; a missed meal was nothing.

"Well, aren't you just fucking lucky," Yami muttered before settling down and trying to compose himself. He had never understood why his aibou got snippy whenever he got hungry, but now Yami was quickly learning and he found it annoying as hell.

"You never answered my question," Kaiba told him with a pointed look. He was not one to be put off by such weak diversionary tactics, after all.

"Yuugi told me," he said simply as he began taking off the choker from his wrist that he had doubled up as a bracelet earlier that morning.

"Hn. More useless nonsense?"

Straightening the leather out with his fingers, Yami met Kaiba's gaze and asked, "How much more proof do you need?"

Kaiba felt his mind trying to find an answer and was failing at an alarming rate. It was almost like a programmed response from him at this point and Kaiba knew that continually arguing against some of Yami's evidence would only make himself look foolish. If he could accept that the other had a physical body, how much more of a leap would it be for telepathy? It didn't mean he had to like it, though.

Realizing that he wasn't going to get a reply, Yami shrugged and started to put on his choker when Kaiba abruptly asked, "What are you doing?"

Holding an end in each hand, Yami watched Kaiba carefully; he hadn't forgotten what happened earlier, but he still didn't understand it. "Getting ready."

Kaiba's tone was flat as he stated, "It does not require that."

The more removed Kaiba became, the more Yami knew that something bothered the other, but he could not figure out why this was suddenly an issue. Yami realized that it had to be something that was deeply troubling, whatever it was. Not only was it strange for Kaiba to bring it up at all, but to do so twice made the whole thing even more perplexing to Yami. Understanding that, Yami treaded carefully, but he wasn't going to give in that easily, either. "I know," he replied simply, slipping the leather strap through the silver metal buckle as he took a step closer to Kaiba.

Narrowing his eyes at the other's actions, Kaiba was reprimanding his own ridiculousness for flagrantly displaying itself, but there was something inside of him that refused to quiet down over it. He was unaccustomed to having his thoughts willfully rebel against his common sense in such a manner and he couldn't stop the single word that escaped him: "Don't."

Pushing the metal prong through the appropriate hole, Yami said, "Tell me why," as he continued moving closer.

"Don't," Kaiba repeated firmly, although Yami couldn't tell if it was a command or a warning.

"Why?" Yami challenged as he slid the leather strap through the buckle and secured it in the loop.

Kaiba didn't know why his body refused to listen to his mind whenever it came to Yami, but he was getting thoroughly sick of it. Because even as his thoughts were screaming at him to stop and make a tactical retreat before he made a bigger ass out of himself, his actions were betraying him again. The other had come within his reach and he once again slid his fingers under the necklace, roughly pulling Yami toward him. Yami felt a similar atmosphere to the one from before, but this time there was almost an element of danger to it that he found oddly thrilling as he stared up at Kaiba unwaveringly.

It was because of those proud eyes, that arrogant tilt of Yami's head that Kaiba couldn't stand seeing the other wearing such an offensive thing. His mind was still lodging a formal complaint about the whole matter, but it was being overruled by the body pressed so close to his, the body he was pulling closer still as he deliberately began moving the leather back out from the buckle. "I said it before, didn't I?"

As Kaiba pulled it back to free it from the metal prong, Yami asked, "Seto, what—"

Cutting him off as he slowly slid the strap free from the final buckle, Kaiba told him, "Only dogs wear collars."

Kaiba removed the choker, sending a shiver through Yami as the ends brushed lightly past his neck in the process. "Are you saying that aibou—" Yami started to say angrily, but froze when he felt Kaiba's lips pressing gently against his neck, vaguely aware of the sound his choker made when it hit the floor.

Figuring he was too deep to stop now, Kaiba found himself slowly kissing his way up Yami's neck, his fingers lightly trailing along on the other side. "I don't care about what he does," Kaiba murmured, pausing to tease the earlobe with the now fading bruise, before continuing in a low tone next to Yami's ear, "only you."

Yami's eyes went wide at that statement and his previous complaint was momentarily forgotten when Kaiba finally straightened up to look at him properly. He found himself captivated by the intensity of Kaiba's expression, even if he couldn't decipher the complex emotions that were underlying it. When he started to ask a question, Kaiba sealed Yami's mouth with his own, effectively silencing him with a deep kiss. Yami rested one hand to rest against Kaiba's hip as his eyes slid shut, enjoying the sensuous kiss that was unlike anything else they had shared. It was lacking the normal heated lust, but there was still a need present, even though Yami didn't know what for; it was slow, but still passionate in a way that was utterly overwhelming to him. He was breathless when they parted and he opened his eyes when he felt Kaiba's forehead resting against his.

Kaiba didn't want to see what Yami's expression looked like so he kept his eyes tightly shut as he tried to understand what he had just done, tried to understand anything that would help explain his own behavior. He had spent so much of his life cut off from things like this that he found it impossible to handle so many emotions at once, much like the fact that he found it beyond comprehension that a single person could disrupt so much of his life simply by existing. "Only you," he repeated softly, resenting the fact that he was unable to grasp the reasons why everything ultimately came back to Yami.

Although the tone lacked the normal assertiveness, there was something vaguely possessive about the statement to Yami. Raising his other hand to cradle Kaiba's cheek, Yami tilted his head in order to place a light kiss on Kaiba's lips before pulling back a little, watching as the other finally opened his eyes, revealing a hint of his conflicting emotions. Even as Kaiba brushed the hand away, Yami started backing the other up the few steps until they reached the bed, gently pushing the other onto it, leaning over him as they lay at an angle on the small mattress. Kaiba looked up at him with a questioning and somewhat disapproving gaze, but said nothing as he lay there, waiting tensely for Yami's next move.

Lowering himself slightly, Yami brushed his lips against Kaiba's again and was pleased when the other yielded, resulting in another intimate kiss that was lacking their normal sexuality, having been replaced by something else entirely. When they parted, Yami raised himself back up on his arms again, watching the other carefully for any clue about what was going through his mind. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting Kaiba to say, but the other finally asked, "Why?"

Even though Yami wanted to ask the same thing of Kaiba since he was completely confused about what had changed so drastically in the last few minutes, he simply answered, "I don't know," as he shifted back, resting his head on Kaiba's chest as he lay down on top of him. He was fascinated by the fact that as calm as Kaiba was currently presenting himself, Yami could hear just how fast the other's heart was racing. It was a comforting sound to him; it was evidence that they both were alive and experiencing everything for themselves, proof that Yami wasn't the only one being affected by the whole thing. Closing his eyes with a small smile, he continued listening to Kaiba's heartbeat, his left hand once again finding its way to the back of Kaiba's neck to gently stroke it and entangle his fingers in the brunette hair. He wasn't sure why he kept doing it, but he could hear Kaiba's reaction, the way his heart rate started to quicken over such a simple touch, and Yami found it deeply satisfying.

Biding his time until Kaiba's heartbeat became normal once more, Yami thought about the whole incident and realized that there was no way he was going to understand it without Kaiba directly telling him. At the same time, he also knew that an explanation would be highly unlikely, but there had to be a reason for the other's strange reaction to his collar. What was the difference between it and a belt? Yami considered them to be one and the same and Kaiba certainly wore enough belts, so it just didn't add up for him. And it wasn't like Kaiba had any objections when Yami had made the necklace into a bracelet, so he was completely at a loss. Despite his inability to understand the situation, he knew that Kaiba wasn't the kind of person to act without a reason, even if his recent behavior would argue otherwise. Figuring that it was a relatively harmless concession, Yami softly said, "I won't wear it," amazed at the sudden response he could hear.

Kaiba's breath caught as he waited for the questions that would follow, only there were none. Yami made no attempt to look up at him and Kaiba kept waiting for some condition to be placed upon the consent, but the other remained silent, his fingers continuing to soothingly trace along the nape of Kaiba's neck. He felt stupid over the way the relief washed over him with those words and the lack of inquiries afterwards, hated that he felt grateful about it. The words felt awkward on his tongue, but he forced himself to quietly say, "Thank you," waiting to see the crimson gaze that was still turned away from him.

Yami wanted to see the other's face, but he got the impression that he shouldn't move just yet. Instead, he settled for replying, "You're welcome, Seto," raising an eyebrow when he once again was privy to the instant reaction of the other, surprised further when he felt Kaiba's arms hesitantly wrapping around him in an unexpected embrace. He also realized it was probably the most formally civil exchange they had ever had and he was amused by the thought.

Nothing more was said and they remained motionless like that for a time, Yami continuing to listen as Kaiba's heartbeat began to slowly resume its normal rhythm. Kaiba was once again amazed by the fact that his mind was silent, despite the fact that it should have been facing an onslaught of thoughts at the moment. There was the occasional stray observation about how comfortable he was at the moment, but no questions or thoughts were being processed about it at all. He hadn't thought it possible, but it continued as he held the other close, and he eventually closed his eyes with a small sigh he hadn't meant to let escape.

Yami was being lulled into sleep by the steady sound of Kaiba's breathing and heartbeats, but he was distracted when he heard his aibou's voice filtering in softly through the link, "Yami?"

"Hm?"

"We're almost there, so if you're downstairs, you should probably head up now," Yuugi informed him, shocked by the peaceful change he could feel coming from his other self.

Not wanting to leave the comfortable position he was currently in just yet, Yami asked, "Where are you?"

"We're a few streets away from the park," Yuugi said after looking out the window to check their current location, "so you've got about five minutes."

When their connection became silent, Yami opened his eyes, suddenly wishing for more time, even though he knew it was impossible. As much as he didn't want to say anything, he knew that they didn't have the luxury for delaying. With a hint of disappointment coming through his tone, Yami spoke up, "They're going to be here in about five minutes."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Yami confirmed, caught off guard by Kaiba's neutral response.

Kaiba knew that he needed to let the other go in order to leave, but he still made no move to release Yami. He didn't want to give up the moment just yet, even though he knew he would be berating himself over such selfish stupidity later. In his mind, "about five minutes," could mean that there were six minutes, maybe even seven if they were bad at judging time. Then again, it could also mean four, so it was a calculated risk to linger, but he noticed that Yami didn't exactly seem to be trying to free himself, either.

Resting there for a little while longer, knowing that such things would be few and far between with someone as temperamental as Kaiba, Yami finally pushed himself up on his arms and looked at Kaiba's face. His expression was blank, but his arms remained around Yami, making him wonder if Kaiba wanted to stay as well. No matter what they wanted, it just wasn't possible and they both understood it. Lightly tracing the outline of Kaiba's jawline with his fingers, Yami leaned forward and kissed Kaiba one last time, surprised that it actually felt like a goodbye. When they parted, Yami smiled down at him, pleased when he saw a flicker of one in return from Kaiba, even if the reserved mask that he was so familiar with immediately hid it. Slowly sliding off of Kaiba, he felt the displeasure of having those arms no longer encircling him, watching as the other stood up to leave.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, if anything at all, so Kaiba settled for a final glance at Yami before walking out of the room without uttering a word. Shutting the door quietly behind him, he reached into his pocket to get his keys as he began walking down the stairs in order to make his way back out to his car.

Yami laid back down, still feeling the warmth of the other's body and sighing in disappointment as he listened to Kaiba closing the door downstairs. Unsure of what else to do, Yami continued to rest on the bed, waiting for his aibou and their friends to arrive, shutting his eyes when he heard Kaiba's car door shut as the engine roared to life. Even though he was utterly mystified by the other's actions, he couldn't help but think it had been nice while it had lasted.

A/N: I felt bad for Yami not getting fed, but Kaiba isn't exactly a pushover, so there was really only one way to go on that one. Heh.

Needless to say, this chapter is basically a result of the collar idea refusing to leave me alone. I don't know why the two of them and that just seems likes such a charged situation, but it just seems like there's a lot of potential for combustion. And the aftermath could go a couple of ways, some more…explosive than others. Kaiba's moods have been known to fluctuate at an insane rate, so hopefully the pacing didn't seem too strange. It's really weird trying to maintain that believable balance with him sometimes. I just kept thinking of the finals at Battle City where he goes from, "Blow up the fucking tower! I'm done here," to shock that his brother opposes him, to the whole rage/disbelief/ anger conversation he has with Isis when she tries to convince him that Yami needs his help to win, which ultimately ends with him being cocky and overly self-assured, and (shock!) deciding to cooperate. Even if it was only to try and prove Yami wrong. XD I just kept going, "Wait, weren't you being all emo a few minutes ago and threatening to blow up the place, regardless of the fact that everyone was still there? And now you're laughing like a maniac? Oh wait, that explains everything…" Ahaha. Love the boy! But man, ego and pride can be a real bitch. And he will learn that the hard way in the next chapter, yes he will. Fufufufu

Even though this chapter was short (ha!), I still enjoyed it for some reason. Hopefully it wasn't too corny and it's probably the closest thing you're going to get to a sappy/romantic/awwww/whatever scene in this story. Because Kaiba Seto does not cuddle. XD

The responses from last chapter were so great and it made me feel bad that I couldn't get this one up Sunday. It was especially welcomed because of my not so lovely midterms. But, they're over and now they won't be effecting the story, so that's good news, right?

NEXT CHAPTER: A New Game

The whole gang shows up for the ultimate battle, but what do salad dressing, milk, and wine have to do with it? Kaiba's about to find out what happens when his pride gets in the way of common sense and quite a few of them are going to come out of the whole thing in need of therapy after Anzu's idea is finally put into action. Laughs abound.

Needless to say, the next chapter will be filled with the funny and some questions will finally be answered. Primarily, just what exactly did Anzu want to do with Yami that made him seek shelter at Kaiba's place? :wicked grin: It was definitely a challenge to have all ten characters speaking in one chapter and trying to keep everything flowing well, so it was a first for me to juggle so many people and keep their personalities true to the show. Never in a million years did I think I would actually write the chapter that I did, but when you have someone as cocky as Jounouchi trying to prove Kaiba wrong, Kaiba refusing to back down because of his pride, and Yami having no problems showing off and playing up an audience, well, things can get very interesting no matter what the situation is…

It'll be up on Sunday, so please look forward to it. If nothing else, it should be good for a few laughs. More than a few if I did it correctly. So hopefully you're willing to take the leap with me and enjoy the cracktastic madness that is the next chapter. Until then…

...although it kind of feels like there needs to be an evil laugh on the end of that, doesn't there? XD