(Gift fic for DragonLady222.

Main characters are Yuugi, Yami, and Seto.
Main 'ship': Prideshipping (Yami x Seto)
Hints of: Puzzleshipping (Yami x Yuugi). Rivalshipping (Seto x Yuugi).
Fic Goal: Flareshipping (Seto x Yami x Yuugi).

Enjoy. :D Please read and review.

A simple reminder- Yuugi is Mr. Howell and his aliases first name is never mentioned.

This chapter was written in about an hour and has not been beta'd. I don't have an offical beta. Please excuse the errors.

I for the life of me cannot remember if I replied to the last set of reviews (please don't let it stop you from reviewing this chapter). I normally do them as I get them. I appreciate all my reviews and if I didn't reply to them I am sorry. I did read them all.

Thank you everyone for reviewing and supporting this fic! *hugs*)

With a little over a week left until judgment, he was considerably slower. He slept more and worked less. Nevertheless, despite the fact of the ominous feeling of death approaching he was still smiling. He looked half-asleep as he scanned the board, calculating his next move.

"You sure you're knocking on death's door?" Yami asked as he watched Yuugi inch closer to his queen. He was not sure how Yuugi was winning this round in his half there, half not state of mind. Perhaps it was the fact that he himself was only half heartily playing. He made his move, which was no better than Yuugi's.

"For the thousandth time Yami," Yuugi paused to draw in the deepest breath he could manage; however, it only resulted in a coughing fit, "I'm sure." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "If I slipped on the banana peel today I'd die happy. I'm content."

"How can you be so content?" Yami had not bothered to move from his chair to comfort Yuugi. He knew that his light preferred to be left alone to wallow in his own misery. He still had trouble understanding why. He often said something about not wanting others to take pity on him.

"You don't have to tell me you love me for me to know that you do." Yuugi said in a hoarse whisper. He finally took his turn. He rolled his eyes when he noticed Yami's curious, 'kid caught with hand in the cookie jar', expression. He smiled.

"Well mister," Yami did his best to act miffed, but he was not fooling anyone, "if you're so sure of yourself then why do you insist you're going to kick the bucket and not make the return trip." He had grown accustomed to having Yuugi around and was actually starting to warm up to the idea. In addition, it had nothing to do with the sex the three of them had, which he could count the times on one hand. However, he was not lacking because him and Seto had gone at it like rabbits during the in between times. Neither complained about Yuugi's lack of drive because they knew he was not physically able. Just saying that Yuugi might not make it back made his skin crawl and made him feel nauseous.

"Tell me something and be honest," Yuugi was about to ask the question when he stopped himself and added, "oh, and, don't put a lot of thought into it."

"Go on," Yami nodded his head.

"Would you willing share your body with me? You know like I shared mine with you."

"N-" Yami's first attempt at a response. "Ye-" His second attempt at a response, more a recovery. "Ga-" His third and final attempt at a response. He smacked his forehead and then covered his face with the same hand. Suddenly he could not look at Yuugi. He frowned. Now he was left silently questioning himself.

"That's why Yami. Every day gestures and expressions aren't going to be enough to win this game. You of all people should know that Shadow Games and Games with Gods are never easy. They come with a price tag, and usually a very heft one."

Yami sighed and looked at Yuugi with the eyes of a lost puppy.

"And, by the way, check mate," Yuugi made his final move.

Yami now had the expression of a fish out of water. His mouth was flapping as he tried to find something to say.

"What's wrong?" Seto asked as he glanced over at Yami. His lover had not said one word since the limo arrived to pick him up. Now that he had a chance to think about it he had not even really looked at him. Yami was just staring off into nowhere in particular with a very blank expression on his face. "What's wrong?" He asked again, when he got no response. To add emphasis to his question he nudged Yami.

"I fucked up," Yami mumbled.

"How did you fuck up?" Suddenly feeling a headache coming on, Seto rubbed his temples. He hoped that whatever happened while he was at work was nothing serious. More importantly, he hoped that Yami did not get into any time of argument with Yuugi. They were doing so well here lately.

"I killed him."

Seto grabbed Yami and shook him violently. "You what!" He screeched. He thought about the mess Yami would have made. He thought about the cops. He thought about Yuugi's lifeless body. Yuugi. His thoughts stopped there. His heart plummeted to his stomach. He had come to love him.

In an attempt to get Seto to stop, Yami throughout his hands. "Figuratively."

Seto stopped and stared at Yami. His heart, though pounding, was still swimming around in his stomach.

"Blink or something Seto, you're scaring me."

Seto finally let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding. At least, for now, Yuugi was still alive. "Did the two of you get into it again?" He hoped not because then chances are it would be like they were back at scratch. He had noticed that Yuugi was one to retreat quickly when things got nasty. He was sure that once he was not a walking corpse that this would change. That they would have the fiery youth they had grown to know before this all happened.

"Would you willing share your body with Yuugi? My first response was no before I caught myself." Yami frowned. "I don't know why I don't want to. I just don't."

"I would do it for either of you. Even all at once. Although I would prefer that at least one of you two had a body because fucking a blow up doll isn't my thing. Neither is having to have a good fuck in my head like a day dream." Seto realized what he had just said. He mentally laughed. If this had been a year ago he would committed himself.

"You would?" Yami asked. He was not going to touch the later of Seto's admission. He was trying to keep the conversation serious. "Why?"

"I would rather share my body than loose either of you."

Yami simply nodded his head.