Chapter 21: Night Blindness

Despite the horrendous way the day had started, it had somehow managed to redeem itself. Kaiba was feeling deeply satisfied with the progress that had been made on the prototype and it looked like the new Duel Board would be actually be released in time for the holiday that was still a few months off yet. He had stayed at the office longer than he meant to because he was working on finalizing all of the paperwork and assignments, but he'd much rather have put in overtime because he was enjoying what he was doing instead of dealing with a crisis. For a time he had considered spending the night at the office, but his spare uniform had been left at the house from the last time he used it; the paperwork could be finished just as well at home as it could be at Kaiba Corporation, so he had left at thirteen past two.

The other benefit to working so late was that there was usually no one else on the road so he could enjoy driving fast without having to deal with people getting in his way. There were few other pleasures for him than being able to properly enjoy the fine engineering and high speeds of his car, even if he found stoplights highly annoying. He was currently idling at one and he looked ahead in the distance to see if there was anyone that would get in his way when he floored it; besides a pedestrian on the sidewalk up ahead, there was no one else around, which suited him just fine.

As soon as the light changed, he switched gears and allowed himself a small smile at the sound his engine produced as he shot down the street at a lawbreaking speed. Flying past the pedestrian, Kaiba could have sworn that it was Yami, but he realized he was being ridiculous; why would Yami be out at this hour and so close to his mansion? Unable to shake the feeling, he slowed down as he glanced in the rearview mirror; there was no mistaking the silhouette and Kaiba stopped his car with a frown. There was no reason for Kaiba to remain, but he was already shifting the car into park before turning it off and getting out, his curiosity having gotten the better of him.

Yami had yet to notice; he looked like he was deep in thought and Kaiba felt some nagging emotion that he ignored. "Yami, what are you doing out here?" he asked when he was sure that the other was within hearing distance.

Startled, Yami looked up in confusion, his voice full of disbelief when he saw Kaiba leaning against his car. "Kaiba? Why are you here?"

It surprised him at how tired Yami sounded, but he didn't let it show. "I'm on my way home from work. What's your excuse?"

"I went out for a walk," Yami told him through a yawn as he came to a stop in front of Kaiba.

"At two thirty in the morning?" Kaiba asked with a snort. "And you just so happened to end up near my place?"

Shrugging, Yami said, "It was the last place I knew how to get to without getting lost."

"What do you mean?"

When Yami ran his hand over his eyes, Kaiba realized that the other actually looked more weary than tired and he began to wonder once again what else had happened after he had left that afternoon. "I already went everywhere else."

"How long have you been walking?"

Sounding unsure, Yami finally said, "Since four? It might have been a little bit before, I don't really remember."

Despite being such a small number, it still took Kaiba a moment to process it as he stared down at Yami and asked incredulously, "Who the hell goes out for a ten hour walk?"

"It's not like I meant to," Yami muttered with a scowl as he crossed his arms. "I accidentally fell asleep for some of the time when I was at the park."

"Was there some reason?"

"I was tired."

Running his fingers through his hair, Kaiba rolled his eyes as he said, "That's usually why people sleep. Why didn't you go back to your house?"

Yawning again, Yami told him, "I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"I left after we got home from school to go for a short walk to clear my mind, but Jounouchi-kun showed up while I was out and wanted to talk to aibou," Yami started to explain, unaware of Kaiba narrowing his eyes at the mention of the other's name. "Jounouchi-kun thought that I had returned to the Millennium Puzzle, so I decided to stay out until he went home."

"And that was at?" Kaiba prompted him.

"Probably around five? I don't have a watch, so…"

"Then why are you still out here?"

"He's spending the night," Yami said with a shrug, "so I decided not to go back."

Yami didn't seem to care about it, but Kaiba was surprisingly irked by that piece of information. "And Yuugi was fine with that?"

"…not exactly," Yami admitted with a frown, remembering his aibou's protests. "He wanted me to come home after Jounouchi-kun fell asleep, but I didn't want to risk it since he had finally calmed down."

"So you decided to go to my place?"

"If I was going to your house, I would have done so earlier," Yami pointed out with a faint laugh. "I wasn't exactly expecting you to drive by. So it was either here or the docks, which I didn't think would be a wise idea."

Instead of replying immediately, Kaiba continued to watch Yami who seemed to be looking at some far off thing. Yami's shoulders were hunched forward and he was absentmindedly rubbing his upper arms as if he were trying to get warm; it wasn't particularly cold, but after being out for so many hours in such a thin shirt, Kaiba could at least understand why. Feeling somewhat responsible, Kaiba couldn't in good conscience leave Yami on the side of the road, but he was tired of standing outside and talking. "Get in," Kaiba said abruptly as he began walking around to the other side of the car, surprising Yami.

"What?"

"I'm taking you home. Or would you rather walk?" Kaiba asked with a short laugh, but his tone lacked its normal edge.

Yami started to protest, "No, but—"

"Just shut up and get in the fucking car," Kaiba commanded brusquely as he slid into the driver's seat, shutting the door as he started the car up again. He was pleased that Yami obeyed without complaint, but he couldn't help but add, "Don't make this a habit."

"I won't," Yami said with a small smile as he looked over at Kaiba's expressionless face. "Were you late for your meeting?"

He had made it to the office with just enough time to change before going to the meeting, but it was still closer than he would have liked. Instead of explaining, Kaiba simply answered, "No."

"That's good," Yami replied before lapsing into silence, his gaze unfocused as he stared out the window.

Kaiba wanted to ask how things had gone after he had left, but he said nothing as he drove. As the silence continued, Kaiba spared a glance over at him, but Yami's face was turned away from him as the passing lights cast shadows over him. He figured that there would be time for questions later, so he focused his attention on driving instead.

It was only after they had arrived and Kaiba had parked the car that he realized that the reason Yami had become so quiet was because he had fallen asleep. Calling out to Yami had no effect, so Kaiba hesitantly reached over and brushed his fingers along the side of Yami's face. He was shocked at how cold Yami's cheek was and he felt a new surge of resentment toward Jounouchi, although he wasn't very pleased with Yuugi at the moment, either. "Damn it, wake up," Kaiba said a little louder as he pulled his hand away, "because I am not carrying you upstairs."

Yami finally stirred, opening his eyes and blinking rapidly because of the overhead light. "Wait, where…?"

"Home," Kaiba answered as he got out of the car with Yami following suit. The expression on Yami's face was strange to Kaiba and so he asked, "What's that look for?"

"It's just…when you said home, I thought," Yami started to explain before trailing off as he followed Kaiba into the house.

Heading into the kitchen, Kaiba prompted, "You thought what?"

Answering truthfully, Yami finally told him, "I didn't think it would be here," and had to struggle to keep the look of amusement off of his face because of Kaiba's startled expression.

After having heard about the situation, it hadn't even occurred to Kaiba to try and force Yami to return to the Game Shop while Jounouchi was still there and causing problems. He wasn't sure whether to feel awkward or embarrassed, so he settled for getting a drink from the refrigerator as he asked gruffly, "Would you rather have had me take you back there?"

"No."

"Then don't complain," Kaiba told him, leaning against the counter as he took a sip of his drink before setting the bottle behind him.

Approaching Kaiba with a quiet laugh, Yami said, "That wasn't a complaint." Wrapping his arms around Kaiba's waist, Yami leaned into him with a sigh and a quiet, "Thank you."

Kaiba could feel the chill of Yami's skin through their clothes and even as he was saying, "Idiot," he was embracing the shivering body. It was strange feeling Yami relaxing against him, but it was even more so when he felt his own body losing its tension in response.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if I had know before I left that he was coming over," Yami muttered into Kaiba's chest, pleased that he hadn't been pushed away. He was so tired and all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep, but he was enjoying his current position for the time being.

"What difference could that have possibly made?"

"I would have at least brought my wallet."

The comment made Kaiba realize, "You haven't eaten since lunch, have you?"

"No."

"Aren't you hungry?" Kaiba asked, astounded that Yami was being so subdued instead of ravenous like he had been on previous occasions.

Shrugging, Yami answered, "I don't know, I'm just tired."

He wasn't in the mood to cook, but there was bound to be other stuff in the fridge that would suffice. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Not right now," Yami decided, "too tired."

"Suit yourself," Kaiba said with a shrug. As they remained like that, Kaiba was almost convinced that Yami had fallen asleep again since he had become so silent. Kaiba was concerned about what had transpired that afternoon between the Yuugi-tachi after he had made his sudden departure, but he felt strange asking about it. Then again, he wasn't patient enough to wait for Yami to volunteer the information, so he finally brought himself to question, "What happened after I left?"

After a slight pause, Yami finally answered, "Honestly, it was pretty anticlimactic."

"You're joking, right?" Kaiba asked in disbelief since there was no way they would all just shrug off something like that.

It had been a slight relief to Yami at the time, but it still didn't change anything that had happened. "Anzu suddenly ran out of the room crying, so aibou followed her," Yami began to tell him, ignoring the small laugh that it produced from Kaiba. "Jounouchi-kun started to try and talk about it, but he was too worked up, so he left with Honda."

That wasn't exactly the scene Kaiba would have imagined playing out, but there were worse outcomes. At least now he knew that his not being there hadn't made much of an impact; if anything, it had probably helped that he was gone, but that didn't make him feel any better about it. "Which is why he went over to your place later," Kaiba deduced.

"Ah," Yami confirmed, "he wanted to talk to aibou about something."

"Not you?"

It had seemed a little strange to Yami at the time, although it wasn't exactly surprising considering what Jounouchi had seen. "I think he wanted to make sure that aibou was okay."

"Why wouldn't he be?" Kaiba asked with a snort.

Yuugi had given Yami enough updates initially to set his mind at ease, but Yami got the impression that he didn't know everything quite yet. "He was apparently unconvinced that aibou…that aibou's body was never…"

"Why would the mutt care about something like that?"

"Aibou thought it was because it was easier to focus on the smaller issue instead of the larger one," Yami explained, although he felt that there was more to it than that.

"I still fail to see why any of that would be his business."

"He's just being protective of his friend," Yami defended him.

"And what about you?"

Confused, Yami asked for clarification, "What about me?"

"Isn't he supposed to be your friend, too?" Kaiba asked sarcastically with extra emphasis on the word 'friend.'

Speaking through his yawn, Yami said, "This hasn't changed that."

"Are you sure?"

"He just needs time."

"He needs more than just time," Kaiba told him, causing Yami to laugh despite himself.

Even though he was mostly reassuring himself, Yami still insisted, "Everything will be fine. He just…it will fine."

Kaiba asked skeptically, "Do you really believe that?"

"Yes," Yami answered with complete conviction.

Normally Kaiba would have pursued the conversation into an argument, but he was too tired to even try and debate the matter. What difference did it make to him anyway? Kaiba was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when Yami raised himself up on tiptoes to kiss him softly on the lips. It caused him to raise an eyebrow and ask, "What was that for?"

"For being concerned," Yami told him with another small kiss that interrupted Kaiba's initial objection, "and for letting me stay here tonight." When Kaiba tried to protest, Yami used the opportunity to deepen the kiss, although it maintained its languid pace even after Kaiba gave in to it. Kaiba was just pleased that when he brought his hand up to cup Yami's cheek, he could feel that some of the warmth had returned, even though the other still felt cold.

"You know that I didn't want to—that I didn't mean to—" Kaiba tried to explain after they parted, without really understanding why he felt the need to do so. When Yami failed to speak, Kaiba frowned as he tried to find a way to rephrase. "You shouldn't have been left alone in that sort of situation."

Yami thought he understood what Kaiba was trying to say and he appreciated the sentiment. "I was fine."

Even though it was said in such a matter of fact manner, Kaiba still found himself trying to express something he wasn't quite sure how to say. "But—" he started only to be interrupted when Yami turned to sneeze. Yami looked so utterly perplexed that Kaiba couldn't help but laugh out of genuine amusement. "What?"

"Those are so strange," Yami muttered with a small sniffle, scowling as Kaiba continued to quietly laugh at him. "Why is it so funny? It feels weird."

Putting aside his amusement, Kaiba couldn't help but worry that Yami might have caught a cold from staying out too long, so he told him, "Go take a shower."

"Is it okay?" Yami asked, eager to finally get completely warm, although the thought of that long staircase was daunting.

Nudging Yami off of him, Kaiba started leading the way, shutting the lights off behind him. "It's fine, just don't wake Mokuba up," he warned.

Instead of replying, Yami followed silently, speaking only once the bedroom door was closed. "What are you going to do?"

"I've got a few things that I still need to take care of," Kaiba told him without elaborating.

"You still have work to do?" Yami asked in astonishment.

There was always more work to be done, but Kaiba didn't say that. "A little, but I'm going to go check on Mokuba first."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Yami continued heading to the bathroom while Kaiba return to the hallway and walked down to his brother's room. Silently opening the door, Kaiba peered in and saw that his brother was sleeping, something that was reassuring to him for several reasons.

What he didn't know was that Mokuba's heart was pounding in fear of his older brother discovering that he was only pretending to be asleep. It had happened a few times in the past, but Mokuba knew that this was the one time he did not want to be caught. As he usually did on nights his brother worked late, Mokuba had been playing a video game and listening for his brother to return so he knew when to stop. When he saw the headlights in the driveway, he had laid down quickly and tried to find a convincing position that wouldn't make his brother suspicious when he came in to check on him. Kaiba almost always came straight upstairs, but as more time passed, Mokuba's curiosity got the better of him and he had snuck out of his room to see if he could hear anything that would give him a clue. He hadn't been expecting to hear a second voice, so he wanted to get a little closer to find out who his brother had brought home at almost three in the morning.

Because of Gozaburo's strict policies and punishments, Mokuba had mastered the art of sneaking around silently at a very early age and he used his ability as he made his way downstairs to investigate. It was obvious the voices were coming from the direction of the kitchen, so Mokuba approached the spot he knew was the perfect hiding place that would allow him enough time to get back upstairs before his brother even noticed. He had come down too late to understand what they were talking about, but he didn't think even if he had witnessed the beginning of it he would have understood why his brother was holding Yami. As he tried to figure out why Yami was there at all, let alone standing like that, Mokuba's eyes went wide when he saw them start kissing. When Kaiba pulled Yami closer instead of pushing him away, Mokuba decided to make a stealthy retreat, because he couldn't even imagine the consequences of being caught spying on something as private as that.

When his brother finally closed the door, Mokuba tried his best not to breathe a sigh of relief. What he had witnessed answered a lot of his questions from Sunday, but that didn't change the fact that he didn't know how to feel about the situation. Mokuba liked Yami, but he had conflicting emotions about it all. He had never seen his brother look so content before, but it was strange knowing that Yami was the one responsible. It made him wonder just how long it had been going on, although he wasn't surprised that he hadn't known anything about it. It wasn't that his older brother didn't trust him; Mokuba just thought that Kaiba was probably still in the process of trying to figure everything out first before talking. That was just how his brother was and he was fine with that, even though it was weird having to think of the possibility of him being in a relationship with anyone.

Kaiba had his suspicions that Mokuba was only pretending to sleep, but he hadn't wanted to test if he was correct or not. His brother had probably only been playing a game, which meant that even if he had been awake, he wouldn't have known about Yami, so he tried not to feel so paranoid. Instead, he returned to his room after closing Mokuba's door, deciding to work on some e-mails since he heard Yami still in the shower.

Finishing much faster than anticipated, Kaiba was about to go change when Yami emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. "Should I turn off the lights?" Yami asked with a yawn as he gestured behind him.

"No, leave them on," Kaiba said before entering his closet to hang his suit. After he was finished, he went into his bathroom to get ready for bed, turning off the lights when he was done. It was strange seeing Yami waiting for him in his bed, but Kaiba was just glad that he had at least gotten in on the proper side this time. Double checking his alarm to make sure that it was set for the morning, Kaiba got into bed and barely had a chance to pull the covers over himself before Yami was trying to get next to him.

"So warm," Yami murmured as he got comfortably situated against Kaiba's side, snuggling even closer when Kaiba's arm wrapped around him. Even Kaiba had to admit that the heat radiating off of Yami from his shower was pleasant and he found himself unintentionally drawing Yami that much closer. He was a little surprised when he felt a soft kiss on his neck as Yami told him through a yawn, "Good night, Seto."

"Night," Kaiba finally said in return, amazed at quickly Yami drifted off to sleep afterwards. He hadn't known that it was possible to fall asleep so fast, but given the circumstances, he supposed it was understandable why. What did surprise him was just how much he wanted to drift off as well, but he held for a little bit longer. His thoughts weren't quite ready to let him go so easily, but as he felt the gentle rise and fall of Yami's steady breathing, his mind was quickly losing to his body's desire for sleep. He could always figure out later what he was feeling and try to name what calm emotion he was currently experiencing. For the moment, he just allowed himself to enjoy the warmth that he had been missing last night and it wasn't long before he fell asleep as well.

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one. Alas, between finals and getting ready to leave, I didn't have time to get it posted before I left. Then upon my return, I ended up getting sick and have spent most of my time between doctors and family, so that was the reason for the late posting. Holidays are wonderful, but they can be so stressful, ne?

Anyway, perhaps this chapter was not quite what everyone was expecting, but hopefully it was enjoyed. It was tempting to write some awesomely witty argument after Kaiba left, but since this is largely from his point of view, having an entire Yami/Jounouchi chapter would have seemed quite strange. Then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Jounouchi really wouldn't know what to do. He's not the kind to suddenly calm down and be capable of a mature and relatively delicate conversation. I think that he would try to talk to Yami, but I could see him failing miserably. Thus, out of respect for Yami and the need to get away from such an awkward thing, I could see Jounouchi making a hasty retreat with a promise to talk later after he calmed himself. Because seriously—what would you say after seeing something like that? He would have to wrap his mind around that and I can't see him being capable of doing that immediately thereafter.

As for Yami's late night wandering, I could see him being that stubborn. He would be convinced that it was the proper thing to do and Yuugi would be less than thrilled. The idea of Yami being a vagrant asleep on a park bench made me giggle, though. But he would be extremely exhausted and more concerned about getting sleep than anything else. He would have hit that too tired to even think about eating point, and there's no way that anything else would happen. XD

Not a whole lot to add to this one, honestly. I got so many wonderful comments last time and it just made me feel bad for getting this chapter out so late, but I'm sure everyone was busy with their own holiday craziness, so hopefully it wasn't too bad. Thankfully it is rare for me to be so off on a posting, so I thank you for your patience.

NEXT CHAPTER: Morning Madness

Kaiba starts it, Yami finishes it, and Yuugi gets caught in the aftermath.

…that just sounds strange. Uh, it's a pretty smutty chapter, so for those who were missing the lemony yumminess, it makes a rather amusing return. XD

I'd love to post it this Sunday, but I'll still have family over and graduate applications need to be completed so that's highly unlikely. I'll post it next weekend instead. There shouldn't be any delays, so please look forward to it and sorry again. Take care and I hope that everyone has a wonderful new year!