A/N: There's a slight lemony bit of goodness later on, so please be advised. It's probably more sour lemon candy than lemon juice, though...

Chapter 27: Invasion

Kaiba was greeted by the sound of footsteps thundering down the main staircase, followed up by his brother calling out, "Nii-sama! You're back!"

He almost expected Mokuba's momentum to cause a collision, but he stopped just short of crashing into Kaiba. "Yeah, I finished up with a last minute problem," Kaiba said with a frown as he remembered Yami's random appearance in his office.

"Is everything okay?"

It had to be better since he didn't see an imaginary Yami anywhere in the vicinity, right? "It's fine now," Kaiba reassured him, doing his best to sound convinced. He half expected to see an apparition of Yami to be lounging on the stairs, but thankfully Mokuba was the only other occupant of the room.

"That's good then," Mokuba said, nodding to himself. "Any news on the new Duel Disk system?"

"No, but there should be an update from the R&D team soon," Kaiba replied as he started making his way into the kitchen with Mokuba trailing behind him. "How was school?"

Hopping up onto the barstool, Mokuba shrugged as he said, "It was okay, although it was kinda boring today…"

Pulling something small out of the fridge to eat, Kaiba offered some to Mokuba who declined, saying, "I already had dinner, but maybe I'll get some desert." Mokuba knew that his brother felt guilty for not being around all the time, so at least this way they would still be able to eat together. Jumping down from his chair, Mokuba went to the freezer to get some ice cream.

"Any news on the Dueling Dragon Coaster?" Kaiba asked, stepping out of the way so Mokuba could get a spoon from the drawer behind him. He had been meaning to read up on the recent reports that had been coming in, but he'd much rather hear his brother's unadulterated opinion instead of some imbecilic yes-man employee's.

Bowl in hand, Mokuba returned to his seat and happily began eating his ice cream. "There was a delay in getting some of the parts earlier, but they're still ahead of schedule," Mokuba answered, pleased that it meant he was that much closer to getting the chance to ride it.

"By how much?"

"I think Katashii said that they were at least a week, if not two weeks ahead, but he couldn't be certain until the parts arrived."

It was good news, but Kaiba still had reservations about being so far ahead of the deadline. "As long as they're not sacrificing the quality of it…"

"Katashii would never risk that!" Mokuba protested. He knew how meticulous and methodical the project manager was being and that was the reason for the efficiency of the work.

Shrugging without comment, Kaiba continued pushing his food around the plate. He wasn't actually hungry, but he knew better than to deprive himself of food when he was already doing so with sleep. That didn't make it any easier to eat, but he continued making an effort.

It pained Mokuba to see his brother acting in such a manner, but he wasn't quite sure if he should try tackling another kind of a conversation after the one from the other night. That didn't mean that he had completely ruled out the possibility of engaging in that kind of talk, though. "Nii-sama, do you have any plans for this weekend?"

"No, why?" Kaiba asked as he set his food aside. There was no sense in forcing himself; he'd just try again later.

"Maybe we could go see Sakaguchi-san?" Mokuba suggested hopefully, knowing that his brother always enjoyed eating at that restaurant. "We haven't gone there in awhile."

Kaiba could only imagine what the older man would say about Yami and despite the slight feeling of dread that accompanied a potential visit, he still smirked at the outcome of that particular meal. "You're right, we haven't gone there for awhile," Kaiba agreed, conveniently sidestepping the fact that he had been there without Mokuba present. "Maybe. We'll see."

"I wonder if Nakamura has made any new deserts since the last time we were there?" Mokuba asked eagerly, excited by the possibility of a new treat.

"I'm sure he has," Kaiba told him, pleased that his brother didn't seem to suspect his answer. Then again, why would he think that he needed to?

Laughing as he finished the rest or his ice cream, Mokuba said, "That would be awesome." Realizing that his brother wasn't going to say anything else, he tried to ask as naturally as possible, "How were your classes, by the way?"

"About the same as always," Kaiba answered stiffly after a brief pause. It was technically true; it was the same as it always used to be before Yami had shown up and disrupted everything. And yet, it was anything but the old normal standard. No one used to wonder where Yami had gone and bemoaned that he would no longer attend Domino High. It irked Kaiba to no end and he was sick of hearing about it. He almost would have welcomed Jounouchi's stupidity if it meant that he could take out some of his irritation on someone who actually deserved it. Although if Bakura kept looking at him in such a disturbing manner and cackling, Kaiba was going to finish what he started the other week since Yami was no longer there to stop him.

"I wonder what Yami will do now that he's no longer going to school?" Mokuba asked innocently, noticing the way his brother seemed to almost visibly tense up at the mere mention of the other's name.

"Whatever the hell he wants," Kaiba muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest. Just like always, he added to himself with a scowl.

"Think he'll have to watch the Game Shop now?"

Sounding more irritated than he meant to, Kaiba asked, "Who cares about what he does in his spare time?"

Mokuba struggled not to reveal his amusement at the fact that his brother seemed to be practically sulking. "I bet he would attract a lot of customers if he did."

"Why would he?" It's not like he's Yuugi," Kaiba scoffed. "Once they figure out that he's not technically the King of Games, what reason would they have to go back?"

"True," Mokuba agreed before deciding to play the devil's advocate, "but he still knows a lot about cards and how to play."

"So?" Kaiba asked, failing to see Mokuba's point.

"So," Mokua emphasized with an impish grin, "that means that duelists would go there for tips and everyone else would go to look."

"To look?" Kaiba repeated incredulously. "What is he? A fucking museum display piece?"

The comment made Mokuba start giggling at the idea of Yami being in a museum and he did his best to try and explain his mirth. "You mean like a mummy?"

An image of Yami wrapped up in white linen was as amusing as it was disturbing. Kaiba quickly sobered up when he wondered whether or not Yami's former body really was in a display case somewhere in a distant museum. How would it feel to stand in front of his own mummified corpse? They did that to high ranking officials like priests, so it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that—wait, what the hell was he thinking? He couldn't possibly be buying into that past life bullshit, and yet as much as he wished to dismiss the idea, the thought of his supposed former incarnation's carcass being on display somewhere really pissed him off for some reason. Even more surprising was the fact that Yami's prior body being exhibited angered Kaiba as well. Why should he give a shit?

Besides, what could he possibly do about it? He probably had enough money to buy back the bodies, but what the hell would he do with two deteriorating corpses? Provided they even existed, of course. Kaiba could only imagine the field day that the media would have if they ever caught wind of such a purchase. At least he could justify purchasing the stupid stone stele as a piece of Duel Monsters history; no one would question his buying that back and he'd be lying if he said it hadn't crossed his mind before. Thankfully he still had enough sense to dismiss such an absurd idea.

"Nii-sama?"

Pulled from his musings, Kaiba did his best to put aside such ridiculous indulgences. The last thing Kaiba needed was his thoughts to turn from Yami wrapped up in linen to being entangled in linen sheets or tied up in—what the fuck? Kaiba cut himself off with a loud mental protest against such unexpected imagery. Such vivid, vivid imagery. Shit, I did not just...why did I just—? Kaiba wondered in disbelief, his mind still reeling from the overtly sexual image he had just accidentally pictured.

"Nii-sama?" Mokuba repeated as he looked at his brother in confusion, unsure about what exactly had caused such a strong reaction.

"Yes?" Kaiba responded a little too quickly, a little too loudly.

"Is everything—"

"Everything's fine," Kaiba reassured him hurriedly, telling Mokuba that it was anything but fine. "I think I'm going to go take a shower now." As if that will help, Kaiba commented sarcastically to himself as he shook his head. What had gotten into him?

So much for teasing his brother about girls coming to the shop to stare at Yami. Even though he was only in middle school, the ruckus over Yami had reached there as well because of older sisters gossiping with their younger ones. Oh well, Mokuba thought to himself, at least that gives me a little more time now…

After finishing cleaning up, Kaiba escaped upstairs, mentally berating himself the whole way. Waiting until he heard Kaiba close his bedroom door, Mokuba finally pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed Isono to ask, "Did you find him?"

"Yes, Mokuba-sama. I'm on my way back right now with him," Isono informed him.

Mokuba hoped that he wasn't making a huge mistake and he did his best to try and calm his nerves. Even though he thought it was going to help his brother, it still felt like he was going against and defying Kaiba. But when he had received the call from Isono earlier with the news, Mokuba couldn't let the opportunity pass by unexplored. "Good. How far away are you?"

"Two and one quarter miles away, sir."

"The door will be unlocked," Mokuba said, hoping that way the ringing doorbell wouldn't give him away. Hanging up the phone and putting his bowl in the dishwasher, Mokuba proceeded to the main entrance. Hovering near the stairs as he waited anxiously, Mokuba could hear that his brother was in fact showering; at least if he changed his mind, his brother would never know the difference. Mokuba jumped a little when he finally heard the door open to reveal a somewhat hesitant Yami.

Closing the door as he cautiously entered the house, Yami hoped that he wouldn't have to wait too long for clarification about why he was summoned. "Mokuba, what—"

Wasting no time, Mokuba interrupted Yami to ask, "Why were you at Nii-sama's office just now?"

Kaiba's driver had reported Yami after all, he realized. He had thought he would get away unseen and without incident, but it appeared that it hadn't quite worked out that way after all. "I wanted to talk to him," Yami answered honestly, some small part of him amused by the way Mokuba was mirroring Kaiba's interrogation pose.

"And?" Mokuba prompted impatiently.

"And that was all." Having answered Mokuba's question, Yami asked one of his own, "Why did you have Isono bring me here?"

Taking a deep breath, Mokuba figured that he might as well see thing thought until the end at this point. "I wanted you to talk to him."

"I can't make him listen."

The words caused Mokuba to study Yami carefully; he noticed that the older boy still appeared tired, but he at least seemed to have some of the fire back that he had been missing last weekend. It made him think that the conversation between the two must have gone somewhat well, but if that were the case, then why hadn't his brother brought Yami home himself? Was it because his older brother was afraid of what he might think? Mokuba wasn't even sure where he stood on the issue, but the more he mulled over the situation, the more awkward he felt in front of Yami as he remembered what exactly he had seen. Did that really make his older brother happy? Evidentially it did, but Mokuba didn't quite get it.

Realizing that Mokuba wasn't planning on saying anything further, Yami guessed, "He doesn't know that I'm here, does he?"

"No," Mokuba admitted as he looked away.

It was the answer that Yami had been expecting, but it was still surprising to hear. "Then why…?"

Mokuba hesitated, unsure of how much he should reveal to Yami. He was worried about his brother finding out the truth, but he also didn't want to be taken too lightly by Yami, either. "I…I know."

Yami had a sinking suspicion about what exactly Mokuba was implying, but he forced himself to maintain an unaffected appearance. "You know?" Yami repeated, watching Mokuba's expression for a hint.

It felt too childish to ask Yami not to tell Kaiba, but Mokuba was still concerned about how his brother would react if he knew that he had spied on the pair. "I know about you and nii-sama," Mokuba confessed in a rush of words, confirming Yami's fear.

Yami knew that he inevitably would have figured it out—after all, they hadn't exactly been subtle around the others—but the real question was how much did Mokuba really know? "Oh?" was all Yami chose to say in the interest of not revealing more than he should. Just because Mokuba said he knew, that didn't mean that he necessarily understood.

"I saw you."

The only thing Yami could think of at that moment was that Kaiba was going to kill him if he ever found out that Mokuba knew anything, let alone that. Maybe he would get lucky and Mokuba was referring to something else? "When?" Yami asked, his throat suddenly feeling dry.

"The other night," Mokuba told him, "when you came home late with Nii-sama."

"Oh," was all Yami could manage to say after the revelation. His mind was racing to try and find something else to say, but there was very little he could add that wouldn't be incriminating. Although as concerned with that as he was, he was becoming increasingly anxious about Kaiba's knowledge of his younger brother's awareness of the situation. Then again, if Kaiba didn't know that Mokuba had invited him over, Yami was almost positive that he didn't know his little brother had caught them. He wanted to ask how much Mokuba had seen, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do so.

The two continued to stand in an awkward silence and Mokuba shifted his weight from foot to foot as he looked at a point on the floor near Yami. He really wasn't sure what to do next and Yami was as calm and expressionless as if he were waiting his next turn in a duel. "So…"

"So," Yami repeated, waiting for another cue from Mokuba.

Squaring his shoulders resolutely, Mokuba began to walk up the stairs, gesturing for Yami to follow him. It was only after taking a final glance at the front door that Yami began to fall in line, trying not to feel nervous about the whole thing. The odds that Kaiba would take well to the intrusion were not very high, but something had to be done.

All too quickly they stopped in front of Kaiba's door and Mokuba looked up at Yami, still unable to read his expressionless demeanor. It felt silly wishing him good luck, but when it came to his brother, he knew that Yami was going to need it. Instead of saying anything else, he simply motioned for Yami to enter the unlocked room.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Yami slipped into Kaiba's room before Mokuba shut the door behind him. It felt strange to be there again and Yami considered his options as he heard Mokuba's footsteps receding down the hallway. He had been thrust into the situation with very little warning and he wasn't quite sure about what he should do. As much fun as it would be to capitalize on the element of surprise by walking in on Kaiba in the shower, Yami decided against it.

Instead, Yami continued to linger hesitantly near the door, still undecided about whether or not he should even stay at all. Then again, it would be a shame to waste such a rare opportunity, but he couldn't help but wonder if he was backing Kaiba into a corner over the situation. But if he didn't take advantage of the chance he had now, when would he get another? He knew that getting into Kaiba Corporation wouldn't be as easy the second time and even if he could, it would likely be a wasted effort. Yami wanted to try and reason with Seto as a person and trying to do so when the other was being Kaiba the businessman was pointless. But was entering his room uninvited any better?

It wasn't long before Yami noticed that the water had stopped running and he decided to just wait and see how Kaiba would react to his presence. He wasn't kept waiting for long; Kaiba emerged from the bathroom with only a towel around his waist. Why would Kaiba bother with modesty when there was no one else supposed to be there to see? Or had he been showing off when Yami was there last time by not wearing one? Either way, Yami was still enjoying the sight of Kaiba's still flushed skin and he ignored the rising desire within himself.

Kaiba was halfway across the room before he realized that Yami was there, but his only reaction was a slight faltering in his step before he continued over to his desk. So he was seeing shit again. What else was new?

Yami wasn't so easily deterred and he followed Kaiba over to his desk. When Kaiba sat down and started to check his mail on his laptop, Yami leaned over and shut the monitor. "Aren't you going to say anything?" Yami asked, his hand never leaving the lid of the laptop.

Rather than answering, Kaiba simply opened it once again, refusing to acknowledge the other. It was only after Yami closed the lid a second time, almost catching Kaiba's fingers in the process, that he finally glared at him.

Their stare-off was interrupted by the sound of a quiet knock on the bedroom door. "Come in," Kaiba told his younger brother, pleased by the interruption. If Mokuba reacted to Yami's presence, then Kaiba would finally have his confirmation, but if he didn't…well, that meant he was either going crazy or his brother had something to do with it. But what reason would his brother have to invite Yami over to their house? Unless he had seen them that night—no, Kaiba had to stop being so paranoid.

Mokuba took it as a good sign that Kaiba didn't sound angry with him and he cautiously entered the room. When he saw that Yami was preventing Kaiba from working, it was almost enough to make him laugh, but he chose instead to tell his brother, "I think I'm going to go to bed early."

A quick glance at a nearby clock told Kaiba that it was still way too early for his younger brother to normally even considering going to sleep at such an hour. "Are you feeling sick?" he asked, a hint of concern coming into his voice as he studied Mokuba for signs of illness.

"No, I feel fine. I just—I just stayed up a little late last night and I have a test tomorrow, so…" Mokuba told Kaiba before trailing off into silence. It was all technically true, but the real reason was so that he could give the pair some privacy. He knew that his brother would otherwise worry about him; that was the disadvantage of Kaiba knowing about his ability to successfully sneak around, unfortunately.

The excuse made Kaiba slightly suspicious, but Mokuba had shown absolutely no signs of noticing Yami. Frowning slightly at what that meant, Kaiba told his brother, "That's fine. Do well tomorrow."

"I always do!" Mokuba said with a happy laugh. The fact that he did so well with ease made him feel that much more like his brother.

"I know," Kaiba told him with a small smile, proud of his brother. "Good night."

"Night!" Mokuba exclaimed happily as he left, pleased and surprised that Kaiba had said nothing about Yami. He still felt a little nervous; there was always the possibility that Kaiba was waiting to reprimand him without Yami there to watch. Shrugging it away as he returned to his room, he found himself curious about what his brother would say tomorrow.

Once the door was closed, Kaiba returned his attention to Yami. Even though he had strong evidence that the Yami standing before him wasn't real, why wasn't he completely convinced yet?

"Well?" Yami prompted, still waiting for a reaction from Kaiba. It was hard not to get distracted by the random drops of water that dripped from Kaiba's hair and fell along his chest. He licked his lips and tried to stay focused on the current problem.

"Do you mind?" Kaiba asked with a pointed glare at the hand preventing him from working.

"Yes."

"Tough," Kaiba said as he opened his laptop again, "I have work to do." When Yami tried to close it again, Kaiba caught the edge of the monitor and prevented him from doing so. "Enough."

Refusing to move his hand away, Yami asked, "What could possibly have happened between now and your shower?"

"Anything."

"Doubtful."

Arguing with his imagination was hardly a productive use of his time, and yet he found himself persisting all the same. "And what would you know about running a company?"

Yami wanted to make a comparison between it and ruling a country, but he refrained. "Everyone needs to sleep at some point."

"Hn."

With a smirk, Yami forcefully slammed the monitor shut again and practically ordered, "Get in bed."

"Excuse me?" Kaiba asked indignantly, hardly believing what he was hearing.

"You heard me."

"It's not even midnight!" Kaiba protested, although that wasn't his only problem with what Yami had said.

Looking at Kaiba in amusement, Yami asked, "Your point?"

"My point is that—" Kaiba started to explain before interrupting himself when Yami moved. Before he even got the chance to get to his laptop, Yami had positioned himself between Kaiba and the desk. "Bastard!"

Bracing his hands on the arms of the chair, effectively trapping Kaiba in place, Yami forcefully repeated, "Get. In. Bed."

Ignoring the sudden proximity of his face to Yami's, Kaiba remained defiant. "Or else?" Kaiba demanded, not liking the feral grin he received that told him all he needed to know. "Fine," he consented, satisfied when he saw Yami's momentary confusion.

Faced with Kaiba's sudden acquiescence, Yami suspected that the other had something else planned, but he still followed him to bed, stripping as he went. Kaiba merely raised an eyebrow at the sound of the clothes dropping to the floor, but he said nothing further as he slid into bed.

Getting in on the other side, Yami realized with some amount of amusement, "You replaced the lamp." Hugging the covers closer, Yami made a small noise of contentment. As much as he appreciated everything that his aibou and Jii-chan had provided him with, his bed just couldn't compare to the comfort of Kaiba's.

Looking over at Yami, all Kaiba could see of him were little spikes of tri-colored hair poking out from under the blankets. "Now what?" Kaiba asked once Yami had settled down and stopped shifting around so much.

"What do you mean?"

"You can't possibly be serious," Kaiba said with a snort, not believing for a single moment that Yami's intentions were chaste.

"Why not?"

Staring down at Yami in disbelief, Kaiba asked, "You mean to tell me that you're not going to do anything?"

Propping himself up on his elbow, Yami teased, "Do you want me to do something?"

"Of course not!" Kaiba denied, hating that it somehow managed to sound like a blatant lie. "But if you intend on keeping me in this bed, you better give me a damn good reason."

The potential for a challenge excited Yami, but he continued to bide his time. "Or I could tie you—"

Kaiba interrupted Yami to warn, "Don't even think about finishing that sentence."

Chuckling to himself, Yami rolled over onto his back as he told Kaiba, "I wouldn't do that," although he was unable to resist adding, "unless of course you wanted me to." Even then, Yami still didn't think that he could; Kaiba just wasn't meant to be restrained. Besides, why would he deny himself the pleasure of those hands roaming along his body?

"Don't be ridiculous," Kaiba said angrily, trying to ignore the images he had earlier of Yami being—no, he refused to think of that when the person was right next to him, real or not.

Shrugging, Yami rested his hands behind his head, forming a makeshift pillow. It wasn't something that personally appealed to him, but he had been subjected to enough of his aibou's videos that he knew some people were really into that sort of thing. Instead of provoking Kaiba further, Yami remained silent as he stared up at the ceiling.

Once Kaiba's indignation subsided, he shifted positions and studied Yami carefully. The level of detail he was seeing in his hallucination was incredible—even for him. Logically, if he was capable of doing that, he should be able to picture one of his Blue Eyes White Dragons just as well. Even if he tried, he knew that he would never achieve the same level of realism that he was currently experiencing. Was that because he had never actually seen or touched a dragon before? Reaching out and lightly running his fingers along Yami's side, he was once again confronted by the solidity and warmth of his hallucination. How was such a thing possible?

Turning his head slightly to face Kaiba, Yami looked up at him with a questioning gaze. Kaiba appeared to be deep in thought as his fingertips continued lightly gliding along Yami's skin. The lower Kaiba's hand began to drift, there more difficult it became for him to stay silent and motionless.

Kaiba sat up in the hopes that a better look would help him understand. The logical conclusion was that it Yami was actually in his bed, but he had already determined that it was impossible. His dreams had been fairly realistic, but they had all lacked the intensity of sensations he had come to discover in reality. He continued mapping Yami's body with his fingers, letting them trail slowly along as his thoughts meandered.

As amusing as he found Kaiba's current attempt at observation, Yami was becoming increasingly frustrated by the unintentional teasing touches. His body kept arching up in the hopes of a more substantial feeling, but the ceaseless motions of Kaiba's fingers constantly denied him. It was getting to the point where Yami was about ready to take action, but he was surprised when Kaiba suddenly was on top of him, staring at him intensely. Before he got the chance to question him, Kaiba had engaged Yami in a rough kiss, his tongue exploring the wet warmth—purely for comparison purposes, naturally. Kaiba was determined to figure the situation out and once he was satisfied with his assessment of Yami's mouth, he moved on and began kissing his way down the other's body.

"Seto?" Yami asked, but was promptly ignored as Kaiba continued his precise ministrations.

As he carefully placed slow kiss after slow kiss along Yami's chest, Kaiba frowned at his discovery. When he trailed his tongue along the way, Kaiba could faintly taste the distinct traits of what he had come to associate as Yami. In his dreams he had never experienced that, but then again he had never had anything to go off of before then. Things were different now, but did that really excuse the realistic rising and falling of Yami's chest as his breathing became more labored under Kaiba's lips and tongue? Surely he had done so even in the dream, but was it only under careful scrutiny that Kaiba was noticing at the moment? And what about the distinctive noises that he was hearing every time he placed another kiss? There were plenty of encouraging sighs and sounds coming from Yami, but Kaiba still couldn't be sure whether or not that meant the current moment was real or not. But how would Yami have gotten into his room?

It was becoming clear to Kaiba that despite his methodical manner, it was still enough to cause Yami's body to respond. With a final kiss on one of Yami's hipbones, Kaiba paused as he debated whether or not to proceed any further in the interests in pursuing the truth. There was only one thing that he could think of that he would have no frame of reference with, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to go that far. Then again, if Yami wasn't real, what difference would it make? Shifting his body further down, Kaiba took a tentative flick at Yami's member with his tongue, earning him a sharp gasp.

There was a hint of uncertainty in Yami's voice as he quietly exclaimed, "Seto!" To say that he was shocked was an understatement; he was even more stunned when he felt Kaiba's tongue tracing from the base all the way up to the tip in a languid movement. "What are you...?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kaiba asked smugly before taking as much of Yami in as he could stand to. It was more awkward than unpleasant as he began sucking cautiously at first, progressing to a more productive speed in an attempt to make Yami lose control. He wasn't even sure why he wanted to see Yami in such a way, but he was determined to make sure that he didn't lose; it wouldn't be fair if Kaiba was the only one whose self control wavered, after all.

Even as Kaiba refocused his attention on making Yami moan his name, he was still mentally trying to judge his own experience. The bitter taste in his mouth was new, but was it real or just what he imagined it would be like? He was quickly becoming irritated by how quiet Yami was being and he refused to allow himself to be worse at giving a blowjob than him. Redoubling his efforts, Kaiba let one of his hands drift back in order to tease Yami's opening. That earned him a sharp cry that he was strangely disappointed to hear muffled. It just made him set a relentless pace as he tried not to get thrown off of his rhythm by the way Yami was bucking his hips.

Yami was trying desperately to be mindful of the fact that Mokuba was right down the hall, but it was becoming increasingly difficult for him as Kaiba continued. It made him want to move on to other things, but Yami was concerned that Kaiba might misinterpret the reason why he wanted to stop. As much as he wanted to cum, he couldn't do so when he knew that Kaiba was still assuming that Yami wasn't really there to enjoy it. Once Kaiba figured out the truth, Yami couldn't imagine that the reaction would be a good one; he was pushing it as it was. Despite his good intentions, Yami was finding it hard to protest as Kaiba became bolder in his actions and his fingers sought purchase in Kaiba's hair. He began unintentionally guiding the movements and that seriously annoyed Kaiba. His growl of displeasure shot straight through Yami and had him arching his back as he failed to hold in a moan. When Kaiba refused to relent, Yami fingers tightened their grip as he struggled to maintain control.

It had been a minor sensation, but Kaiba had felt pain when Yami accidentally tugged on his hair. He stopped and pulled back in order to look at Yami once more. The pain had been minimal and momentary, but Kaiba had definitely felt it. More than anything else, that was cause for suspicion. He knew that it was impossible to truly feel pain in a dream; for years that was the only way that he could distinguish his nightmares from reality. Surely the same theory applied to hallucinations as well?

Grateful for the respite, Yami continued to lay still as he panted slightly in an attempt to catch his breath. He wasn't sure what had caused Kaiba to stop and stare at him in such a puzzled manner, but Yami figured he would find out soon enough.

Sitting up and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Kaiba tried to ignore the vaguely unpleasant aftertaste. Narrowing his eyes as he continued to regard Yami, Kaiba finally said, "Explain yourself."

Holding back a frustrated groan, Yami barely managed to ask, "What?"

"How did you get here?"

Yami was far too close to find his release to suddenly be denied for another round of fruitless questioning. He took advantage of the fact that Kaiba was no longer holding him in place and he quickly knocked Kaiba back before situating himself on top of him. "What difference does it make?" Yami demanded, resisting Kaiba's initial attempt to overthrow him. "Why can't you just accept it and move on?"

"Accept what?" Kaiba scoffed, finally succeeding in flipping Yami back onto the bed.

"That you actually want this?" Yami suggested, refusing to back down over the matter.

"Ha! Why would I—"

Yami wasn't interested in hearing any more protests and he forcefully pulled Kaiba's head down to engage in a fierce kiss that was intended to silence him. Any time Kaiba tried to free himself, Yami prevented him from doing so until he felt as if his own lungs were going to burst from lack of air. "Admit it."

"Fuck you," Kaiba managed to grind out, trying his best to hide the fact that he was out of breath as well.

"Go ahead."

"What?"

"Fuck me," Yami told him, unable to keep the smirk off of his face, amused by his own perverseness and the way Kaiba was reacting to it.

Kaiba found it hard to respond to such a straightforward comment and he struggled to come up with something appropriate to say. "Why?" Kaiba asked in an attempt to buy some time.

"Because I know you want to," Yami answered, one of his hands snaking down and groping Kaiba's hardened member. "Or are you going to try and deny that, too?"

He could already feel the blush rising in his cheeks and Kaiba knew that it was stupid to try and blame the slight physical exertion for it. "Shut up," he muttered.

"No," Yami refused, his fingers loosening their grip in order to lightly stroke their captive. "Not when I know that you want it and you're being too stubborn to admit it."

"There's nothing to admit to!"

Dropping his hand onto the bed out of frustration, Yami sighed heavily as he gave Kaiba a level look. "What's it going to take?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Kaiba shot back with a glare. "What's it going to take to get you to stop harassing me? You have your stupid little friends, so why can't you just leave me the hell alone?"

Doing his best to put aside his anger at the way Kaiba was belittling his friends, Yami tried to focus on the heart of the problem. "Why can't—" Yami started to ask, but Kaiba wasn't interested in listening.

"Just go back to the mutt and the rest—"

Even though Yami logically understood that Kaiba was acting out of some misguided jealousy, he was still angered by the words. "What do you mean?"

"You have him so—"

"You think I do this with him?" Yami asked indignantly, his pride not responding well to the insinuations. "With anyone else?"

"How the hell do I know?" Kaiba asked. "It's not like I keep track of what you do in your spare time."

"Damn it, Kaiba!" Yami swore loudly, temporarily forgetting that Mokuba was right down the hall. "He's just a friend!"

"So? I'm just your rival. What's your point?"

Yami didn't want to argue with Kaiba, but the hurtful comments demanded clarification; he knew if he didn't do so now, he might never get another chance. "You're more than just my rival!" Yami insisted, forcing Kaiba to look at him. "Listen to me! I would never do this with Jounouchi-kun, understand?"

It was uncomfortable for Kaiba to look into Yami's honest eyes, but he refused to advert his own gaze. Why was there almost a sense of relief that Yami had confirmed he was limiting his attentions to him—something that he had been fairly confident in all along. Why did he want to believe him? It was an unexpected desire and one that he didn't completely understand. "And how can I be certain of that?" Kaiba asked, an unintended hard edge coming into his voice.

"You're just going to have to trust me."

When Kaiba tried to pull away, Yami wrapped his legs around the other to prevent him from leaving. "Hn. What am I supposed to trust? That your feelings for a dead priest will prevent you from being interested in that loser dog?" Kaiba asked sarcastically.

"No," Yami answered gently, "you're just going to have to trust me, trust that I have no interest like that in Jounouchi-kun or the priest."

While some part of Kaiba's mind registered that Yami referred to the other as, "the priest," instead of, "my priest," for once, Kaiba still didn't feel at ease. It was why he was somewhat surprised when Yami added, "Did it ever occur to you that I might have been interested in you before I found about my past?"

It was a deceptively simple question, but it was still enough to make Kaiba pause to consider it. "No," Kaiba answered honestly with a frown.

"Only you," Yami reminded him, hoping that Kaiba would eventually get it. Wrapping his arms around Kaiba's neck, Yami smiled faintly once the other relented and gave in to the embrace. "Not Jounouchi-kun, not the priest, okay?"

Not wanting to crush Yami under his weight, Kaiba extracted himself and lay on his back once more. Yami was quick to straddle him, bracing his weight on his arms as he leaned forward to look down at Kaiba. "Seto?"

Kaiba's voice was gruff as he said, "Don't patronize me." He reached up and pulled Yami down into an embrace; anything to escape the concern in those scarlet eyes that were almost overwhelming with their understanding. Why did Yami have to look like he actually cared?

"I'm not—" Yami started to protest before stopping himself once he realized that Kaiba was probably just trying to hide his embarrassment again. Smiling to himself as he lightly kissed Kaiba's neck, Yami situated himself so that he could comfortably rest his head on the other's shoulder.

The weight on his chest was as reassuring as it was confusing and Kaiba tightened his hold on Yami's small frame. He didn't understand how Yami had managed to gain access to his bedroom and he tried to ignore the fact that he would be somewhat displeased if he woke up to find himself alone yet again. Sighing heavily, Kaiba found himself relaxing despite the current state of his confused emotions. How had it turned out in such a way?

Waiting for some sort of cue as to what would happen next, Yami continued to wait in silence. The longer it continued, the more Yami began to realize just how tired he actually was. Even though his body had calmed down from Kaiba's recent attentions, his earlier restless nights were apparently starting to catch up with him. The absentminded way Kaiba was tracing patterns on his back only served to further lull him into a relaxed state and he had to try and force himself to stay awake a little longer.

It wasn't that Kaiba didn't want to talk, it was just that he didn't know what to say. He had expected a follow up comment from Yami, but it never came. Instead, Yami seemed to be drifting to sleep and it made Kaiba want to shake his head. How could Yami fall asleep so quickly after what had just happened? Kaiba assumed that meant it either wasn't a big deal to Yami or he had pushed his body to the limit earlier. Given how emotionally invested Yami seemed to be, the latter seemed the most probable cause, even if Kaiba didn't understand why. Could Yami have possibly lost sleep over the matter as well? "Hey," Kaiba said softly, nudging Yami in an attempt to get a response.

"Mm?"

"You're not going to sleep, are you?"

Yami's reply was once again as short as it could possibly be as he answered, "Mmhm."

"Not on me you're not," Kaiba told him as he tried to pry Yami's grasp from around his neck. "Get off of me."

A perverse snicker was the only response he got, followed up by another kiss on the neck as Yami continued to resist any attempt at displacing him from his current position. He finally managed to get Yami back onto the bed, but he was instantly wrapping himself around Kaiba. How he was able to succeed without even opening his eyes was beyond Kaiba, but he allowed it for the moment.

The upshot was that it meant he would no longer have to continue the awkward conversation with Yami, but that didn't mean the issues would go away. It also freed him up to go deal with his inbox or check up on his brother and after waiting a little longer, Kaiba swiftly got out of bed before Yami had time to realize what had happened. Before doing anything else, Kaiba went into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

On his way back out of his bathroom, Kaiba looked over at the lump in his bed that signified Yami's current location. Getting back in bed was more tempting than Kaiba would have liked to admit, but there was little preventing him from giving into that desire. His brother was probably already asleep and even though it pained him to admit that Yami was right, most likely nothing significant had happened that would require his immediate attention.

Unable to believe what he was about to do, Kaiba slowly walked back over to his bed and turned off the light before getting back into it. He was immediately captured in Yami's one armed embrace again and had to force himself not to laugh at the sleepy noise of pleasure the other made. It wasn't even midnight and he was actually in bed with the intention of sleeping in the near future. Even when he was sick, Kaiba never did such a thing—not even when a doctor ordered it. At least he could take solace in the fact that Yami wasn't the sole reason for it; as much as he liked to consider himself recovered from his sleepless week, he knew better.

Wrapping his arm around Yami and pulling him closer, Kaiba warned himself to not get too accustomed to the feeling, even as his mind was protesting that it was a little late for that now. He knew that there were plenty of things that he still needed to think about and go over in his mind, Kaiba was surprised at his complete lack of desire to do so. Gradually his mind became quieter and he found his breathing evening out and matching the gentle rise and fall of Yami's chest. It wasn't long before he was overtaken by sleep and for once he didn't resist it.

Taking a deep breath, Mokuba stood outside of his brother's door and tried to gather up his nerves. His hand was already on the doorknob and he tried to remind himself that his brother needed sleep more than anything else. Mokuba had specifically gotten up early to do this, so he stopped second guessing himself and tested the lock, surprised to discover that the door opened. Peering into the room, it was obvious that his brother was asleep, so Mokuba walked as silently as possible over to the Blue Eyes White Dragon alarm clock.

It took a moment for Mokuba to register the fact that the clothes on the floor belonged to someone other than his brother. Recognizing them as Yami's, he approached the alarm clock cautiously, more than a little shocked to discover that the owner of the clothes was in the same bed as his brother; it wasn't quite what he had expected to happen. They both were facing Mokuba's direction and he could clearly see that his older brother had his arm slung around Yami in a loose hold. Doing his best to ignore it, Mokuba quickly turned his attention to the alarm clock.

Kaiba didn't have any business meetings that day and sleep was definitely more important than school in Mokuba's opinion. Apparently things had gone well enough that Yami hadn't been kicked out, but Mokuba really didn't want to speculate much further than that. Instead he tried to remember which button turned the alarm off; since Kaiba had specially designed it for himself, there weren't any labels to distinguish the camouflaged settings. He was pretty sure it was in one of the Blue Eyes White Dragon's claws, but the question was which one? Instinctively pushing one, he was rewarded by the quiet beep that let him know he had found the right one.

Mokuba froze when he heard Yami murmur his name and he turned around guiltily when he was asked, "What are you doing?"

"Alarm," Mokuba whispered, desperately hoping that his brother was so exhausted that he wouldn't wake up and catch him.

"Off?" Yami managed to ask through a yawn.

Too worried to speak again, Mokuba simply nodded and he tried not to bolt for the door when his brother started to stir. "Yami," Kaiba muttered without ever opening his eyes, "shut up." When he received a sleepy laugh in response, Kaiba drew drawing Yami's body closer to his own, barely aware of Yami's fingers entwining with his own.

He knew that he had already seen too much, but Mokuba was rooted to the spot. His level of understanding deepened tenfold and while part of him was pleased to see that his brother had a slight smile on his face, the other part of him didn't want to risk what would happen if Kaiba found out that he knew anything. At least that meant his chance of facing punishment for his actions was less likely than if things hadn't gone well between them.

Quickly making his way out of the room, Mokuba was careful to lock it behind him. That way the maid staff would know not to disturb his brother's room, although he was wondering if he should just have them notified that their services would not be needed at all today.

With his duty done, Mokuba pushed aside all of his thoughts in favor of figuring out what he was going to have for breakfast. He had plenty of time to anticipate what would happen once he got home that afternoon from school.

A/N: I'm a couple of days late, but it's kind of a two for one deal, so hopefully it's forgiven? When I realized that the chapter was getting a little on the longer side, I was originally intending to split it right before Yami enters Kaiba's room, but I decided against it. In the interest of having the longer chapter, I wanted to take a little extra time to make sure that the flow was what I wanted, plus I ended up being unable to resist adding Mokuba's morning after observation. XD

I've been hinting at the fact that Mokuba was trying to come up with some sort of idea, but I couldn't see him being such an active influence. When he called Isono to go pick up his brother, I figured it would be fairly logical to have the older man reporting the Yami sighting, which Mokuba would be a little more inclined to capitalize on, I think.

Ultimately there's only so much the kid can do since it's really up to Yami and Kaiba to sort out their little mess. I was probably having a little too much fun with Kaiba's logical lemon (ha!), but as much as I wanted it to continue, I had to be realistic in regard to the situation. Emotional discussion aside, both of their bodies would be worn out to the point where such…strenuous activities would be a somewhat bad idea. Doesn't mean I wasn't tempted, though. Ergo the shower scene got cut, sadly…

For me, Kaiba's concerns about Jounouchi aren't so much a product of jealousy as they are from a lack of understanding. The unknown extent of that friendship and presumed close bond between the two, combined with his own uncertainty and lack of willingness to trust, could result in some of the things Kaiba said. I don't believe that he would honestly think that Yami was with Jounouchi, but that self-preservation fear of being hurt or rejected could possibly use it as an excuse, flimsy as it might be. If that makes any sense to anyone else…

As for the mummy thing, I just thought that was an amusing/interesting point. What would they do or feel if they ever stood in front of their own mummified bodies? That's a whole different story, though.

I'm sure I had plenty of other things that I wanted to mention, but my mind is fairly shot right now. The fact that this chapter was entirely written on post it notes amuses me greatly, though. Nothing like getting paid while working on this, ne? XD

NEXT CHAPTER: Intensions

When Kaiba wakes up and finds Yami still there, what will he do?

That probably doesn't sound too exciting, but then again given how Yami has been inclined to wake up in previous chapters… XD

Oh well, that's enough out of me for right now. Update in about a week, as per usual. So thank you for your continued support and sharing your thoughts! I look forward to them, as always.