The power of dreams was intangible. They could be as light as a feather, yet sometimes as deep and full of meaning as the sea. It was almost a completely different dimension, with endless possibilities. Most times, you would wake up before you could grasp what was happening, but at other times, you could be lucky enough to manipulate your own dream. At times, you felt as if you were falling, in other dreams, it was as if you were floating. Sometimes you would not feel anything, but there would always be that vague memory after you wake up. It leaves you wondering exactly what you forgot, and how you could force yourself to remember.

For Kaiba, yesterday was exactly like that, a mere dream. An artist without a name, a friend of Mokuba's ended up playing games with him until they both fell asleep, and he had got little to no work done at all. It was, as Joey would put it, a lazy day, simply for nothing but rest.

Kaiba turned in his sleep and knocked over his own Wii-remote. The thud caused it to blast music way louder than before. The sound was alarming and got him up in no time. He turned towards the TV to look at the blurry images. In the watery mess, he only noticed the watch next to the screen. Eventually, the time was visible, and he could not have cared less. Running to school now was pointless; they had stayed up the whole night and missed out on important information. Kaiba was about to move aside, when he felt the touch of a different object on his arm. Yuugi was still sleeping, even after the noise.

"He's much more bearable when he's silent." Tired green eyes still looked at the sleeping kid next to him, wondering what could make him so drowsy. Kaiba had a meeting some time ago, and barely got any sleep, yet, this woke him up. What hectic lifestyle could this person live that caused them to gain such a great fatigue. While he was observing the sleeping figure, he changed his view and focused on the hair instead. Spiky and messy, the bangs looked very solid, despite the fact it was supposed to be hair. Curiously, without thinking, he placed Yuugi's middle bang in his hand and tried to detect exactly if it was hair or not. It definitely was, and it was smoother than what it would appear to be. It was not solid either, it was silky, but the light color made it look spikier in contrast to the black. He ran his fingers through the hair as well, mainly because it felt so very strange, and because he never thought he would find someone with the same weird haircut. Why not observe it while one can? Curiosity killed the cat.

"Uh, Seto, what are you doing?" The tall teen immediately stopped his actions and turned towards the other couch where the younger Kaiba was sitting, rubbing his eyes tiresomely. He pulled himself up from the couch and cleared his throat; hopefully Mokuba did not notice anything from that angle.

"Oh hey! Did you sit down and play the game without us?" The black haired child pointed at the Wii consoles and the gaming screen, which was showing a completely different area than before. It was as if Mokuba's older brother was caught doing something he should not do, for he attempted to make an excuse.
"No. I was- I don't have to explain myself. You shouldn't stay up that late to play games anyways. I'm going to the library."

To avoid answering the question, he walked out, with his laptop in hand. As soon as Kaiba moved aside, Yuugi lost all support and fell on his side. Mokuba quickly took a hold of Yuugi so he would not fall on the floor, but to his surprise, Yuugi was fully awake by the time he wrapped his arms around him. The raven-haired child blinked, mildly baffled when his friend patted his shoulder.

"Huh? Yuugi, wait, if you knew he was-"
"He makes a soft pillow, I couldn't help but to take advantage of it." They both chuckled in amusement, but their happiness was short-lived when they realized they missed their first couple of classes. Yuugi also realized his own brother was most likely worried sick. Mokuba begged Yuugi to play the game with him some more, even if he had to go. They could have called Yami if he ever bothered to bring his phone with him. Instead of going home, he sat down next to Mokuba and picked up the console to play the game with him some more.

"Fine, but after this, I really need to talk to your brother." The younger child's eyes widened in surprise.
"Seto? Why do you want to talk with him?"

"Because… I was unlucky." He did not exactly want to speak with Kaiba, but had to do so. Yesterday night was a vague memory to him. Was it a dream? No, of course not. He woke up next to Kaiba. If it were a dream, Kaiba would be nowhere near him. So…they actually played this game last night until they both fell asleep?

"Unlucky?" Mokuba tilted his head slightly and was now completely uninterested by the moving figures on the screen.
"Well... You see, I don't think I can work with your brother." He smiled sheepishly and ruffled Mokuba's hair, assuring him there was nothing to worry about. However, something told Mokuba this was not right. Rather than wasting time thinking about it, he turned towards the screen and nudged Yuugi to pay attention.

Kaiba was working inside the library in their huge mansion. Normal people would have a bookshelf or stack of books they read, but he preferred to collect and read different books in different languages. One thing he hated about Gozaburo, his stepfather, was that he forced him to succeed in everything. The man used to say that knowledge earns someone respect on a great scale. In Kaiba's opinion, that was about the only truth he ever spoke. The problem was that he took it to a very dramatic and overly exaggerated degree.

The rich teen was sitting at a round table with many different books, all placed in order according to his liking. He was trying to find a solution to the coding problem he had but managed to sink into a different world, one with fictional characters and mysterious adventures. Despite what Gozaburo taught him, he enjoyed fantasy a lot, and the endless possibilities of the human mind's imagination. Even if he did not plan to read several chapters, and decided to only read one, some authors could be so captivating with their writing. The individuals could continue reading, and automatically lose themselves in a story. It was amazing, how easily sidetracked some people could get, and it was evermore surprising when it happened to someone as himself.

Once the name of a painting was mentioned in the text he slapped the book together, being reminded of something important.

"…I never called." He searched through his pockets for the note and grabbed his phone to dial the number. It did not take long for the old man to pick up and answer as politely as possible, a polite tone which Kaiba did not have time to deal with. Perhaps he was wrong? Maybe this X person changed his or her mind? Are they still drawing?

"I am greatly sorry, Kaiba. I have tried to contact the artist but he is not answering. He was probably not home by the time I called; his family did not pick up the phone either. I left a message and told him to call me back later. So you will have to remain without an answer for now." It was not like Kaiba was all that upset. Just by these few lines, he figured out some clues of who X might be. X was apparently a male, because the shop owner referred to him that way. Also, he was an artist who still lived with his family? The mention of a family had him think the artist was very young, but he could not comprehend exactly how young, since the painting looked as if it was drawn by an adult.

"That's all right," was the only answer he could give while he was trying to go over what the other man had said, again. The line suddenly got very quiet after Kaiba's reply.
"…Uh…well…good to hear you are not disappointed."
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly happy either, but I do realize the artist has a life. I'll call you back later tonight, let me know if anything changes." He did not even bother to wait for a reply in case the shop owner rejected his proposal. Now, the library remained as silent as it was before the call. The rich teen grinned to himself, happy to know where to start looking.

"All right, time to break into his shop and search for the number to this X."

"Are you going treasure hunting all of a sudden?" a voice replied with a slight giggle. He turned around to meet with bright Lavender eyes yet again, slightly surprised.

"Why is it that I never seem to hear footsteps when people walk behind me?"
"I don't know. Why is it that you always get annoyed when I sit next to you?"
"Shut up." Yuugi took hold of a chair, pulled it closer to Kaiba, then sat on it.
"Does this annoy you?"
"Yuugi." He gave him a stern look in seriousness, but the boy was not easily persuaded to turn silent.
"Oh good! You remember my name!" He laughed lightly and picked up a few books from his backpack that he brought along since yesterday.

"We're supposed to do a presentation together about Anti-smoking and why smoking is bad, then have a debate against the other group with the same topic. Did you already forget the group assignment?" There was something familiar about a group assignment, but he never thought he would be in the same group with someone who was currently in his home. Kaiba closed down his software and opened a document to write in. They might as well get the entire thing over with, even without their third partner. Kaiba had not listened to the assignment at all, while Yuugi came fully prepared. This is what he was afraid of. He was afraid that Kaiba might not want to work with him, and that the mood would be awkward.

The rich teen was known for getting things his way, and setting aside any kind of teamwork. Some people just preferred to work alone, and Kaiba was just like that, it was understandable. However, if he needed a strong push to get started, Yuugi would be more than willing to push him straight over the bridge of teamwork.

After 20 minutes of work, they had about half a page of information. Yuugi had the help of books, and Kaiba was browsing the Internet. Silently, searching for statistics and sources that were reliable. It was very hard to find accurate statistics since statistics do not actually prove anything. You could make statistics say whatever you wanted, unless you reveal all information about them. It was frustrating to go through so much trouble together with someone who was technically supposed to leave several hours ago. Yuugi felt as if he was not welcome, and Kaiba could feel it too, it was perhaps time to leave. If he got stuck, he would think about the layout he needed to code, and then the fact he was stuck on that issue as well. It seemed as if he was simply trapped in everything he thought he was in control of. This assignment was the last straw.

"Why can't they suck a dick instead this crap!" He expected the young boy to question him, or show some sort of shock from the sudden shout that tore the silence apart. However, when Kaiba glanced over at Yuugi, he was pretty much writing equally as fast as he was before the shout. Ignoring proved to turn the situation even more awkward.

"What would the headline be? 'Go blow something else'?" To his surprise, Yuugi was not shocked or disturbed by the sentence, so he tried something different. Could he scare him out of his home to be left alone? It was worth a shot.

"Now that I think about it, cigarettes get nearly all the blowjobs." Did not work.
"Nasty little deadly things." He replied once more, without even feeling embarrassed. Yuugi saw Kaiba's expression and couldn't help but to giggle.

"I live with Yami. What do you expect he is like when he does his homework? Especially during math." He stopped himself when he noticed he was actually starting a conversation about innuendos. Yuugi scratched his cheek nervously, which was tinted with a soft shade of pink, due to the sidetracking they had managed to pull off. Working with Kaiba did prove to be very difficult; since it was obvious he wanted to do other things instead of sit with a classmate he barely even knew the name of.

"Can you not finish this by yourself?" Of course that question would come up eventually, but it did not surprise Yuugi. He expected this much sooner, and came well prepared to argue with Kaiba.

"I'll answer that when you explain why you can't do it with the group."
"Because I have a company to run."
"You won't run it much longer if you get an F."
"Hah, as if you would allow yourself to get an F on this assignment."
"…Don't tempt me. I've gotten F's before, this won't faze me." Kaiba raised an eyebrow and scanned the young boy from top to bottom. He never spoke to this person, yet managed to have such a silly argument with him as if it even mattered. Now, he was being forced to do something against his will, and there was no way around it.

"…THAT is a threat." Yuugi chuckled and pointed at Kaiba's computer screen, then flicked him.
"Now, get back to work." There was nothing much he could say to reply. He felt his hand get flicked slightly, not hurtful, but a tad disturbing. Who was this person, and why could he give Kaiba orders like these? More importantly, why did he need to follow them? The tall teen frowned and glared at Yuugi, in attempt to take the conversation seriously, but ended up acting just as childishly as the other. When you deal with a child, you need to reason like one.

"You dare flick the CEO of Kaiba Corp?"
"Want me executed, your highness?" The thick sarcasm was practically dripping from his sentence. Kaiba let out a low chuckle. It amused him to see that Yuugi was not afraid of him. Most people would have given up and allowed him to have his way. It felt all right to admit defeat and start working along, that was, if Yuugi remained stubborn.

"You win. What do you need?" He rested his hand on the top of his computer-screen, tapping the back of it with his index finger.

"…Well, since you asked-"
"Assignment. Be serious for one moment."
"Yeah, but being serious is boring." The sentence made Kaiba raise a brow.
"Are you claiming I'm boring?" Now, it was Yuugi's turn to be stumped.

"Are you claiming you're serious?" There was an awkward silence before they both realized they ran out of things to say. There was nothing much to do other than to jump straight into the assignment. After that little argument, the talking seemed to even out. If one of them had to ask the other a question, they did so straight away and did not hesitate. Kaiba tried to focus on the assignment, but his interest was still in the book he picked up to read some time earlier. It was not grammatically the best book of them all, but had an interesting story. He noticed the brief looks Yuugi was giving him whenever he appeared to be spacing out, and decided to try and focus on this assignment, even if it was a very boring one.

After some more minutes, they had gathered enough information to split the writing up into parts. They needed to argue for their position, which was not all too hard, but they had to be prepared for the other team's arguments. That was more problematic, since they had no clue what arguments the other team might come up with. They needed to be prepared for everything. If they got stuck somewhere or ended up mumbling incoherently, the teacher would notice, and think they never took the debate seriously.

After a good few minutes, of them thinking about the opposite team, Yuugi said something unexpected.

"Isn't there a movie based of that book?" It seemed to have sparked his interest since Kaiba would not stop looking over at it a few times.
"I think there is, but books tell things in greater detail."
"I thought you didn't have much time to waste. At least, you made that very clear yesterday night when you were speaking out loud. A movie would be quicker to watch."

For some odd reason, they had started speaking about movies, and unlike he expected; it did not bother him in the slightest. Kaiba could not understand exactly the reason to why Yuugi brought it up so randomly, but decided to reply to what he had to say. Eventually, they ended up talking about design, composition and cliché's. Things you should and should not do in movies to make them good and enjoyable to watch. It was strange. They were supposed to be debating about anti-smoking, yet, ended up debating about whether or not Avatar was a good movie. From that point on, their conversation sidetracked majorly.

"It's a story I've watched and read about a million times. Nothing special." The short teen rolled his eyes at Kaiba's statement.

"Yeah that's true, but you have to see it from an artistic point of view. The details and colors were amazing."
"Yes, but a movie is more than just a pretty cover. It's the content that matters too."
"You mean like the game Journey? It has nearly no content or dialogue at all, but is just full of music and art. That's a pretty amazing game, don't you agree?" He had already played through that game, and found it highly amusing even if it had no goal at all. What he enjoyed most in the game was in fact, as the other teen stated, the music. It was a relaxing game, which had no real goal to reach. The argument put forward bothered him a bit, but then made him realize where Yuugi was going with all of it. Games. His territory.

"…Are you seriously going to talk about games with ME?" The CEO leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers against the table; proud to admit he was in charge of one of the largest, most successful, game companies. The other teen replied simply by leaning his elbows on the table with a smug smile. It did not look as if it fit, not on his petite figure, one could tell he was trying hard to prove his point. It was rather peculiar and fun at the same time.
"That depends, do you know what you're talking about?" Who was this guy and what gave him the right to speak in such a manner, not that Kaiba did not enjoy seeing it. This was a rare occurrence. Everyone else feared of standing up to him, talking back, or even arguing. It was all because of his status, but for one reason or another, this individual did not seem to have a problem with it. That attitude was welcomed for its diversity, solely.

"You aren't just a little cocky." Was it because this person was not connected to him in any way, and had nothing to lose? That may be one of the reasons. Whatever it was, he found it enjoyable.
"I have the right to be when I know what I'm talking about." Amethyst eyes glanced at the clock and gasped in shock. That was what cut the conversation short.
"I-I-I was supposed to be home a long time ago! Yami is probably worried! So are the teachers!" Kaiba barely got to open his mouth before Yuugi gathered all the books and forced them down in his backpack. Was it normal to see someone so calm and collected freak out over something as simple as the time?

"I'm sorry! We have to take this another time, I really have to go, bye!" The young teen rushed out of the library and closed the door. However, it only took about a second or two for him to return and open it again.

"Ok, your mansion is huge, I'm going to need directions toward the exit." Amusing. Very amusing. Without any remorse, Kaiba left his work and got up to escort Yuugi to the exit. After all, the faster he was out of the house, the better.

Yuugi ran straight towards his grandpa's game shop, with the right keys in hand. Yami should already be home by this time, and in case that was true, very worried. Lavender eyes darted towards left and right, trying to spot anyone outside of the game shop. Not a single soul was around, perfect. He crouched to not be spotted from the windows, in case someone was in the kitchen, and silently unlocked the door.

'Oh God, I'm pathetic.' Even if those words continued repeating themselves in his head, it did not stop his actions. He took a peek inside before walking in, then closed the door. The game shop looked deserted, for the first time in a long while. Boxes were lying around messily, filled with new games and cards. Curiosity rushed through him when he realized the new Duel Monster cards were supposed to arrive today. He felt guilty for leaving his phone behind, but could not resist the temptation to see the cards before anyone else.

He looked at the box from above, wondering if this was the order or if it was another item. Yami and he usually opened new packages together, just so they could look at the cards with each other. It felt wrong to even consider looking at the cards alone. Speaking of his older brother, Yami did not seem to be around. It felt strange to Yuugi, was he not supposed to be home already?

In a split second Yuugi released a high-pitched cry and turned around in shock. The noise of a slap echoed through the game-shop as Yuugi's face flushed madly. Crimson eyes stared into deep purple orbs, demanding an answer for why he was so late. The shorter teen swallowed the last bit of his pride and decided to speak up.

"T-T-T-That is- YAMI! J-just because I come home late does not mean you get to sexually assault me!"
"I just slapped your ass, it was a spanking."

Yuugi stepped back, but continued facing Yami, simply because he did not want the other to do the same thing again. Playing card games constantly could give one a rather strong right arm.

"Now, tell me where you were last night, and all up until now, actually." The feeling of guilt hit him. He knew he was supposed to call, but Yami was probably not going to ask about that, since he knows his younger brother forgot his phone constantly. Yuugi lowered his head and twiddled his thumbs nervously.

"I fell asleep at Mokuba's place, I told you I was going over to play games. It got out of hand, we both fell asleep late, but I think we have to deal with my-"
"I already called you in sick. I'm happy you didn't go to school, or else I would have been caught lying for your sake." The way Yami phrased it was true, but very hurtful. Yuugi did not want him to lie for his sake; it was all a horrible accident. He never expected to fall asleep, but so he did. What made him so anxious was the fact his older brother was worried sick for him. Even if he stayed collected now, and joked around earlier with the slap, his seriousness was still visible through those dim, red eyes. If their grandpa had been home during this time, he would be very mad with them both. He would be upset with Yami for lying, and Yuugi for being careless. Good thing he was out with one of his colleagues to do some research.

"I'm sorry…I didn't really…" Yami sighed at his brother's words and wrapped his arms around Yuugi's waist, to pull him in for a hug.
"I know, I shouldn't have yelled at you, but you had us both seriously worried." Yuugi blinked in confusion, not being able to understand whom this other person was. Another slap echoed through the game shop, and this time, it was Yami who yelped in alarm.

"JOUNOUCHI!"
"Yams, it's not my fault ya have a slap-able flat ass. Also, ey! You don't have to use my full name!" Yami's face heated up with a dark red blush as Joey spoke. He grabbed the blond male's hair and pulled at it in annoyance, still looking flustered from what happened seconds ago. Their height difference only made it look more hysterical, as Yami had to stand on his toes to be on the same eye-level as Joey.

"I was doin' it for Yug!" His brown eyes locked onto his best friend's violet ones, giving him a thumb up. Yuugi chuckled at this and stepped back cautiously, not wanting to get involved much in their little dispute. He walked up towards his own room and shut the door tightly. The last thing he wanted was questions. Yami knew why he had been gone the entire day now, and next time, he would have to bring his phone.

Yuugi dropped his backpack down on the floor and threw himself on his bed shortly afterwards. "Ow." He raised his head and scratched his forehead in confusion, then looked down and saw his phone. It had about 15 missed calls. One name came to mind, Yami. He groaned and lied next to it. Yami was about the only one who ever called him, apart from Honda, Joey, Anzu and occasionally, Ryo. Even if he knew whom all calls were from, he decided to check them and make sure there was not a call from the teachers, or the other student from their group assignment. He thought Ryo was the third one on the team, but maybe it was someone else. As he scrolled through the latest calls, he was not surprised to find out they were all from Yami, all except one. This was more than astonishing. It left him speechless and forced him to read the number again to make sure his eyes were not tricking him.

"…I haven't seen this number in ages…" He hesitated to call them, but maybe there was some sort of problem? What if something serious had happened? Though, it had been about a year or two. What could they possibly want now? He took a deep breath and called the other person. As soon as he heard the beeping, he wanted to hang up. The fact he was going to speak to this person after such long time had passed was ridiculous. Especially by the way it all ended.

"Hello? Yuugi! I am glad you called back!" The old man sounded as cheerful as ever, almost as if he forgot why they stopped contacting each other completely. He nodded and replied with a silent 'mhm' to allow the other person to speak up. After all, Yuugi was not the one who had news; it was the individual on the other line.

"You see, there was this fellow who wanted to buy that one painting you drew a long time ago-" The minute he heard something about a painting, he wanted the conversation to end. It had been ages, why do they need to bring this up?

"You can give it to whoever wanted it for free. I don't like any of my paintings enough to sell them."
"This man wanted to pay you around 100 000 dollars."
"EXCUSE ME?" The amount shocked him greatly and nearly caused him to drop his phone. The next sentence coming out of the shopkeeper's mouth was not all too pleasing either.
"That was a minimum…"
"Oh my various Gods!" He considered the fact this could be a joke. A prank the old man would pull on him just because he did not visit the gallery any more. Though, he knew fully that this man would not be doing something alike or even call unless it was important. No matter how unreasonable it sounded, someone did want to buy his painting, now whoever that was, was irrelevant.

"You have to tell him I really can't accept that kind of money! No, wait, why am I saying this? Just give it to him. As if he would have issues with getting it for free." There was an awkward silence on the other line before murmuring was heard.

"…Why am I almost certain he would have issues taking it for free?" The old man sighed, knowing this would create a disagreement between him and Kaiba.

"Well, apart from this call, what have you been up to lately, Yuugi? Drawn anything new recently?" This was not a conversation he wanted to have, not after what happened years ago. However, what happened then was not the group's fault, or this individual's fault. Now that he was already on the phone with the shopkeeper, why not ask if he would consider receiving one more painting for the art gallery? He wanted to give this to the old man about a year or two ago for the exhibition, but never got to it, was this not a sign to go through with it?

"I have this painting from a long time ago… It's just gathering dust here in my room, so I thought-"
"You want it next to your other painting?"
"No…If the person really liked my painting, give that one to him as well as thanks. It's old and I don't like it." He shook his head slightly before he continued talking.
"After all, if he liked one, he might as well like the second one. He'll be the only person who-"
"Yuugi, my boy, stop." It did stop the young boy from continuing. He swallowed his words and waited for the old man to speak up again. Were they going to have a disagreement?
"Is it wise to start a conversation about that, when we have not spoken to each other in such a long time?" No, there was no disagreement, and they were not about to talk about what occurred years ago. The sentence made Yuugi chuckle, he knew he was heading into unwanted territory, but the incident still bothered him greatly.

"Yeah, right. I'll tell Yami to drop the painting off at your shop. I have some work to do, so I can't come to see you personally."

The tone of voice was chirpy and clean, but they could both tell what real intentions lied behind Yami going to drop the painting off instead.
"That is more than all right Yuugi. I understand. Well, I will be awaiting Yami's arrival then. Good day, my boy."

Once the voice on the other line vanished, Yuugi exhaled sharply and sat down on his bed, looking out the window with a tired expression. Who was the person who wanted to buy his art? Why was it worth such a huge amount of money when he was just a novice? Was a name ever mentioned in their call? Should one call back and clear things up? Maybe it was best to not bring up past memories. Then again… the past had never been forgotten. There is no way someone can forget ones mistakes when they are always on display. The young teen sighed and lied down in bed, burying his face in the pillows tiresomely. His head hurt but his chest felt warmer. Whoever this person was, had made him feel slight accomplishment from those paintings back in the past. To think they were worth something, not to mention such a large amount, made him happy. That alone was enough to warm his heart immensely.

"…I wonder if I should tell him I never really stopped drawing or painting…"