Chapter 03: Discovering

Kaiba awoke with a splitting headache and a body that did not want to cooperate. He struggled to move, but everything felt like he was moving through the thickest of sludge.

Opening his eyes, Kaiba was startled that his world was suddenly reduced to muddy browns and yellows. What the hell? he wondered as he blinked rapidly to try and adjust his eyes, but it didn't work. Only then did he notice that he wasn't in Isis' office, but an unknown bedroom. His confusion continued to mount as he looked around and tried to force his body to move off of the bed. He didn't know what Isis had done, but there would be hell to pay when he found out about it.

"Oh good, you're finally awake," Kaiba heard Yami say from behind him and he turned his head to see the source of the voice. What he hadn't expected to see was an unnaturally large version of Yami looking down at him. The weirdness of it caused him to make a sound of distress and Yami's expression immediately became one of concern as he tried to reassure Kaiba, "It's okay—well, not okay, but—" before cutting himself off to spare them both. Instead, Yami reached out and picked up Kaiba, which caused him to start trashing in the hold. "Ahh, don't fight me!"

Kaiba couldn't process how Yami had managed the impossible feat of picking up so easily. Surely this had to be the weirdest nightmare he had ever had. Suddenly they were moving and Kaiba dug his claws—wait, claws?—into Yami.

"Stop that, I'm not going to drop you," Yami chided, but still Kaiba didn't cease his struggle. Yami managed to detangle himself before using all of Kaiba to gesture in front of him. "Look."

Kaiba was about to scoff that he wasn't some loser dog that took orders, but he wanted answers as to why Yami seemed so big. He got his answer when he saw the impossible sight of Yami holding a tiny white kitten and his own body nowhere to be found. Kaiba started to fight again, opening his mouth to rant, but all that came out was an angry hiss, which startled him into stillness. He tried to talk in a normal voice and all that came out was a tiny mewl.

Unaware of how much of Kaiba's consciousness remained, Yami started to explain, "Isis thought you needed to be taught a lesson and she turned you into a kitten."

Kaiba bared his teeth and hissed again at the very mention of Isis' name. Kaiba couldn't comprehend how it was possible, but the proof was before his very eyes: he was currently trapped in the body of a tiny white kitten. He didn't understand it, but he did know that there would be hell to pay when he got his body back to normal. Kaiba continued hissing in his rage and he was startled when it caused Yami to hold him closer to his chest as if to comfort him. Kaiba Seto did not need comforting!

Deciding that staring at himself in the mirror was making it worse for Kaiba, Yami took him back over to the bed and set him on it so they could look at each other. Yami had to hold back a grin that even as a kitten, Kaiba still had an intense blue glare. "Okay, first things first, can you understand me?" Yami asked, figuring it was as good a place as any to start.

Kaiba nodded as best he could as he tried to accustom himself to a much larger Yami than he was used to. He appreciated that Yami still seemed to be treating him with respect rather than as a mere housecat.

"Do you want me to tell Mokuba?" Yami questioned, knowing the answer would probably be, "no."

Kaiba shook his head no and flattened his ears at the idea of his younger brother seeing him in such a state.

"Then are you okay staying with me?" Yami wanted to know. "I'm okay with taking care of you until you're…better."

Even though he was loathe to be indebted to his rival, it was the best option he current had available. Huffing in his annoyance as his tail flitted angrily, Kaiba forced himself to nod once.

"I know you're not happy about it," Yami told Kaiba, "but I'll do my best, okay?"

Lying down as his tail continued to angrily twitch behind him, Kaiba tried not to feel the burn of humiliation at being caught in such a situation. He stared morosely at his front paws and wondered why he was so tiny when he was an above average height in his normal body. Adding insult to injury, Kaiba assumed.

Hesitating a moment before acting, Yami reached out with uncertain fingers and pet Kaiba on the head to get his attention. "Hey, it'll be okay," Yami reassured him. "We'll figure this out somehow."

Ducking his head away from the touch, Kaiba shifted his gaze up to look at Yami critically. "Like I said before, Isis thought that you needed to learn a lesson, but that's the only hint she gave me," Yami continued, hoping it helped Kaiba somewhat. "For what it's worth, I'm really sorry she did this to you. I tried to make her undo it, but…"

Sympathy wasn't going to change anything and Kaiba turned his nose up at it. He hadn't expected Yami to start laughing and he looked at him out of the corner of his eye with disapproval.

"Sorry," Yami apologized as he tried to reign in his amusement, "it's just that you manage to maintain your arrogant dignity even as a cat. It's nice to know that some things never change."

Pleased to hear that Yami could still sense his dignity, it mollified Kaiba to a degree.

Sobering up some, Yami told Kaiba, "We still have to tell Mokuba something. He's going to worry that you just disappeared without a word."

It was a good point and Kaiba was mildly impressed with Yami's forethought. Spying Yami's cell phone on the sheets, Kaiba walked over to it on uncertain feet and batted at it while looking up at him.

"You want me to call him?" Yami asked, trying to interpret Kaiba's actions.

Shaking his head no, Kaiba tapped on the screen repeatedly with his paw to try and convey his meaning.

"You…want me to email him?" Yami guessed, relieved when Kaiba nodded. "But it won't make sense—wait." Interrupting himself, Yami got off the bed and went over to a bag on his desk. The crinkling paper made Kaiba's ears perk up and he watched with interest as Yami dug through the bag, which he saw was filled with his own clothes. Finally making a triumphant noise as he pulled out Kaiba's cell phone, Yami brought it over to where Kaiba was waiting on the bed. "What should we tell him that he'll believe?" Yami wondered. "A sudden business trip?"

Kaiba nodded at that; it sounded plausible enough that Mokuba should believe it.

"Where, though? Osaka?" Yami asked, earning him a head shake. "America? It's got a long flight time that would believably keep you out of contact."

Nodding, Kaiba was once again pleased by his rival's thoughtfulness. It was just further proof to Kaiba why Yami was a worthy rival.

Decision made, Yami tried to access the phone, only to be denied by a password protection feature on it. "What's your password?" Yami asked, wondering how Kaiba was going to communicate it to him.

Meowing three times in a row, Kaiba looked expectantly at Yami, but got a blank look in return. Kaiba meowed three more times as he nudged his phone with his paw. "Oh, the number three?" Yami realized, entering it into the phone. Kaiba meowed the rest of his password and Yami entered it carefully, relieved when the phone unlocked. Pulling up Kaiba's inbox, he saw a personal and business email. "Which should I use?" Yami asked him as he showed Kaiba the phone's screen. "One meow for business, two for personal."

It irritated Kaiba to be reduced to such a method of communication, but he begrudgingly had to admit that it was an effective method. Meowing twice, Yami nodded in understanding. He read the email out loud as he composed it and finally Kaiba meowed his approval. Kaiba could only hope that Mokuba would forgive him for such a thing and that he would turn back into himself soon.

"Is there anybody else you want me to email right now?" Yami asked and received a no. "Okay, what else?"

Kaiba tried to figure out how to communicate that he waned to see his emails, but figured it was just easier to go look himself. Standing up and walking over to Yami, Kaiba hesitated a moment before climbing in his lap and turning around to see the phone. Realizing what Kaiba wanted, Yami lowered the phone and slowly scrolled through his inbox. Thankfully there was nothing pressing and Kaiba quickly jumped out of Yami's lap and put some distance between them.

"What, I'm not a comfortable chair?" Yami teased as he set Kaiba's phone on his nightstand.

Kaiba lay down on the bed again, his tail curling around him protectively. He realized too late that it was a mistake as his eyes started to close against his will.

Yami thought it was the cutest thing, watching Kaiba try to stave off sleep and it made him want to pick up the kitten and cuddle him, but he resisted the urge. Somehow he doubted Kaiba would appreciate it. Still, he couldn't resist the urge to caress Kaiba's soft fur and was relieved when it didn't cause him to awaken.

With nothing else to do, Yami watched Kaiba sleep and thought about how much his rival would want to kill him for thinking he made the cutest kitten ever. Then again, he secretly thought Kaiba was cute as a human, so there was no change there; he was good at hiding his secret crush.

"…:::…"

A/N: And so the "fun" finally begins~. Thank you so much for your support on this story! I know it's a little odd, but I mean well.

Oh, and if you want an idea about what I think Kaiba looks like in this, please visit my Twitter page (my user name is Kamiyashi) for a link to my relevant Tumblr post.

NEXT CHAPTER:

"I suppose you want to take people showers, too?" Yami asked in an amused tone.

Because apparently it just wouldn't be a Kamiyashi story if somebody didn't end up in the shower, rofl. The next chapter will be posted on Sunday, July 6th, but until then, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this one!