Chapter 08: Shuffling the Deck

When Kaiba woke up, he was confused because he didn't remember falling asleep. He immediately noticed that Yami was on the floor, surrounded by a pile of Duel Monsters cards. It made Kaiba curious and he jumped off the bed and landed in the middle of the pile, scattering the cards every which way.

Yami exclaimed, "Hey! Stop that," but there was laughter in his voice.

The sound the cards made when they scattered caused Kaiba to pounce on them, sending them flying further on the hardwood floor. He continued playing until Yami's hands picked him up and placed him in the former pharaoh's lap. Kaiba immediately tried to crawl back out, only to be stopped. "What were you trying to do? Help me shuffle?" Yami asked with another laugh.

Kaiba continued trying to escape without success and finally he ceased struggling, hoping he could lull Yami into complacent so he could get away. Yami took it as a good sign and pet Kaiba calmingly. "I was reorganizing my deck," Yami told Kaiba as he toyed with a velvety ear that flicked away from him. "What do you say to a duel when you return to normal?"

Kaiba meowed once enthusiastically, excited by the prospect of dueling his rival.

"It's been too long," Yami mused as he continued petting Kaiba. "I miss the challenge of our fights."

The wistful tone made Kaiba want to question the picture of himself on Yami's desk, but he lacked the ability to convey such a thought in his current form. It was frustrating and he harrumphed quietly, making Yami laugh as he assumed Kaiba was making a noise in agreement with him. "We'll fix that as soon as you're back to normal," Yami promised before he finally stopped petting Kaiba. It left Kaiba with a mixed feeling of being grateful that Yami stopped and missing the touch all at the same time. It was infuriating and Kaiba was thoroughly tired of it.

A quiet knock on the door interrupted them and Yami called out, "Yeah?"

Yuugi entered with a smile at the duo sitting in the middle of the floor, finding it a precious sight. "Aren't you two cute together?" Yuugi teased, causing Yami to laugh rather than take offense.

"Yeah," Yami agreed as he stroked under Kaiba's chin and earned a growl for his efforts. "What's up?"

"Everyone is coming over and I wondered if you wanted to hang out," Yuugi invited him.

Even though he hated leaving Kaiba alone, Yami knew that turning down the invitation would seem too suspicious. "I guess," he reluctantly agreed.

"You can finish deck building once they're gone," Yuugi promised, assuming that was the source of Yami's displeasure. "Although it looks like you have a bit of a mess on your hands."

"Well, someone tried to help me shuffle and did entirely too good of a job at it," Yami joked, still finding the visual of it funny.

"So I take it you're not signing up for a kitten of your own any time soon?" Yuugi guessed.

Humming to himself, Yami commented, "I wouldn't say that. It's been fun."

Fun? Kaiba venomously thought as he reacted to his current predicament. It wasn't exactly the word that Kaiba would choose. As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Yami's hands once again found Kaiba and tried to soothe away the anger through gentle petting. It made Kaiba get up to try and leave, but he was prevented from doing as such, which only served to irritate him further.

Just as Yuugi was about to say something further, the doorbell rang and interrupted them. "I bet that's Anzu," Yuugi excitedly guessed as he got up and started to head for the door. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, give me a minute to clean up," Yami requested as he started straightening his cards up into neater piles.

"Okay!" Yuugi brightly exclaimed as he left to go answer the downstairs door.

"Are you going to behave while I'm gone?" Yami teased, earning him a fierce glare from a less than amused Kaiba. "I'll try not to stay too long."

That wasn't the problem, but once again, Kaiba didn't have a way of communicating that to Yami.

Deciding that he had believably delayed as long as he could without it looking suspicious, Yami promised, "I'll be back soon," before he left with a final look over at Kaiba before shutting the door and heading downstairs to meet with his friends.

Doing his best to put Kaiba from his thoughts, Yami put on a smile as he entered the living room and saw his aibou chatting with Anzu and Honda on the couches. "Where's Jounouchi-kun and Mokuba?" Yami asked as he took a seat on one of the individual chairs

Before anyone could answer, the doorbell rang again. "I bet that's one of them now," Yuugi said as he got up to go answer it. To his surprise, Mokuba and Jounouchi were both at the door, having arrived at the same time. As they entered the living room, Yami asked, "Is that everyone?"

"Yeah, Mai-san and Otogi were busy today," Jounouchi explained as he entered the room with a broad grin. "How are you doing, man?"

"Alright," Yami replied, his eyes straying over to Mokuba to see how he was doing. "You?"

"Excellent as always," Jounouchi boasted, very little getting him down ever. "What have you been up to?"

Even though he felt bad for lying, Yami answered, "Oh, nothing much."

"You're not going to tell them?" Yuugi asked in surprise.

I wasn't planning on it, Yami thought to himself, but outwardly he simply shrugged.

"Tell us what?" Anzu asked, her curiosity piqued.

"He's been watching after Isis' kitten," Yuugi told them, unable to contain his excitement over it. "It's the cutest little kitten you've ever seen!"

Arching an eyebrow at his aibou's reaction, Yami could only grin and agree, "Yeah."

"I want to see!" Anzu exclaimed, echoed by a chorus of the rest of their friends agreeing.

Hesitating, Yami warned, "I don't think that's such a good idea. He's not exactly what I would call friendly."

"Awww, please, can we see him?" Anzu pleaded, once again echoed by the rest of their friends.

Looking over at Yuugi and seeing the big hopeful look in his violet eyes Yami knew that he couldn't deny him. Besides, it wouldn't be worth the harassment anyway. "I'll go get him," Yami said with some resignation as he got up from his comfortable spot on the couch chair and went upstairs to fetch Kaiba.

Even though there was some part of him that felt like he should knock to alert Kaiba, it seemed silly to do so on his own door. Besides, with a kitten's delicate hearing, Kaiba probably had already heard him coming up the stairs and figured out what had happened.

Entering his room, Yami was surprised when he didn't see Kaiba anywhere. "Where are you?" Yami asked as he shut the door behind him. Walking over to check the closet, Yami was surprised not to find Kaiba, so that logically left only one place: under the bed.

Crouching down to peek under his bed, Yami grinned when he saw a little white lump standing out against the darkness. "What are you doing under there?" Yami wondered as he reached over to try and get him.

Edging away from the outstretched hand with a hiss, Kaiba did his best to evade capture. He had heard the loud voices carry and knew exactly what Yami was planning and wanted no part of it. "Come on, it's not like they're going to know it's you," Yami tried to reason with Kaiba. "Who in their right mind would ever guess you'd be in this situation?"

It was a valid point, but Kaiba still didn't like it. Kaiba's resistance made Yami lay on the floor so he could reach better and he finally succeeded in capturing Kaiba with a triumphant noise as the kitten struggled in his hold. Hugging him close to his body and petting him even though he knew Kaiba couldn't stand it, Yami promised, I'll do my best to make sure they don't touch you too much, okay?"

Growling in anger, Kaiba continued fussing until they got to the stairs before he decided that was an undignified way to make an entrance. Instead he held his head up high and looked down at them all with as much aristocratic arrogance as he could muster in his tiny little body. "That's more like it," Yami joked with a stroke of a velvety eat that he couldn't get enough of touching. It flicked away from his touch, but Yami didn't take it personally. Instead, he walked into the living room with his captive and took his seat once more.

The cooing began immediately over how cute he was and Kaiba fluffed up a bit under the praise despite himself. He only cared what one person in that room though, though, and that was his younger brother. Mokuba seemed to be doing okay, even though it was unusual for Kaiba not to call him while he was away on a trip. It made him feel horribly guilty, but there was nothing to be done about it in his current state.

"This is Dragon," Yami introduced him, figuring the translated name would serve well enough.

"He's so tiny!" Jounouchi exclaimed, causing Kaiba to flatten his ears in displeasure. "Aren't you afraid you'll step on him or something?"

"He's smart enough to stay out from under foot," Yami explained, petting Kaiba's head despite himself. It was just too hard to have a cat in his lap and not do so.

"Can I hold him?" Anzu asked, never having seen a kitten so small and cute before in person.

Hesitating, Yami once again warned, "I don't think that's such a good idea. He really doesn't like being touched very much."

"He seems to be okay with you petting him, though," she pointed out, making Yami curse his wandering hand.

"I think that's only because he's used to me," Yami tried to explain it away.

"I promise I'll be gentle," Anzu said as she came closer to examine the kitten up close.

When she reached out to pet him, Kaiba swatted at her hand with his paw, causing Yami to tap his paw disapprovingly as he warned, "Don't be rude."

Turning around and barring his teeth at Yami, Kaiba growled for good measure and stopped when Yami lightly bopped him on the nose in reprimand. "Be nice," Yami told him.

When Anzu tried to pet him after that, Kaiba allowed her two strokes before he jumped off of Yami's lap and onto the floor to escape it. He had thought it was a good idea at first, but he realized without Yami's protection from the many hands, he had just opened himself to everyone touching him.

Rather than accepting that, Kaiba made a beeline over to Mokuba and sat down in front of him, hoping he would get the hint. Mokuba did and bent down to scoop up the kitten with kind hands. "Maybe he just doesn't like girls?" Mokuba wondered, earning him an eye roll from Anzu at the comment.

"That's silly," Anzu said, although she was at a loss to explain why the kitten was so eager to get away from her; normally animals loved her.

Petting the kitten gently, Mokuba was pleased when the touch wasn't rejected outright. "I bet my brother would love this," Mokuba commented with a note of sadness in his voice that made Kaiba's heart ache.

"I can't imagine your brother liking something as worthless as a kitten," Jounouchi countered, figuring that Kaiba would see them as a waste of time.

"He's a surprising softy when it comes to thing like that," Mokuba confessed, although he could imagine his brother's displeasure in his doing so. "Besides, this looks like a furry little Blue Eyes White Dragon. He'd love it."

Hiding a grin behind his hand at the similarity of their thoughts, Yami agreed, "Yeah," and continued watching the brother carefully and hoping he hadn't made a miscalculation in bringing Kaiba down to see everyone.

"Speaking of which, where is your brother?" Honda asked, surprising Yami and Kaiba both with his curiosity. "I haven't seen him around much lately."

"He's busy with a project in America," Mokuba answered with a frown that quickly disappeared when Kaiba rubbed his head against Mokuba's hand. "He should be back soon, though."

Petting the kitten's head at the urging, Mokuba couldn't resist the urge to pick the kitten up further and rub his face against the soft fur. "He's so cute!" Mokuba exclaimed, laughing when the kitten tentatively licked his cheek. "I'd never want to give him back!"

Smiling at Kaiba's affectionate reaction toward his brother, he replied, "I know what you mean. But he's not mine to keep," and tried not to feel the underlying truth in his words. Kaiba would never be his, much as it pained him.

Kaiba glanced over at Yami, hearing the sadness in his tone and wondering what would cause such a reaction. He saw the troubled look in Yami's crimson eyes for but a moment before it was gone and it made him flick his tale in irritation at not being able to understand his rival's quickfire emotional changes. However, he could devote time to thinking about that later; for now, his attention was on Mokuba. Even though he didn't want Mokuba to know the truth, it felt good to see with his own eyes that his brother was fine and doing well. The very smell of him was a comfort to Kaiba, but it was different than with Yami's. There was just something reassuringly familiar about his brother's scent and he wondered how he had never noticed it as a human—or if he would even notice it when he returned to his normal form.

"Let someone else see him," Jounouchi told Mokuba as he held out his hands expectantly.

"Okay," Mokuba reluctantly said as he started to hand over the kitten, laughing when it clung to him to prevent going to Jounouchi. "I don't think he wants to see you very much, though."

Taking the kitten in his broad hands, Jounouchi watched in amusement as the kitten fought with everything it had to escape from his grasps. "What's his problem?" Jounouchi asked in exasperation, wondering why the reaction was so different from the one he had to Mokuba.

"I told you he really doesn't like being touched," Yami reiterated.

Inhaling sharply when the kitten's claws managed to slice into him, Jounouchi exclaimed, "Hey, stop that!"

"Well, you know what they say, cats and dogs never get along," Mokuba teased as he continued watching the struggle in amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," Jounouchi muttered, hearing all too clearly as the older Kaiba called him a loser dog in his mind.

Getting up off the couch and walking over to Jounouchi, Yami picked up Kaiba and held him close to his chest. He could feel Kaiba's little heart pounding hard and he made a comforting noise at him as he smoothed over his fur. "It's okay," he reassured him, earning him another growl. "I think he's at his limit for human interactions."

Walking back over to his seat and sitting down, Yami placed Kaiba in his lap and pet him comfortingly as he tried to get him to calm down a little. It mad Kaiba curl up into a tiny ball as he harrumphed quietly in displeasure. Yami continued petting his head and back in steady strokes, eventually causing Kaiba to purr despite himself. He did his best to quash the noise, but it stubbornly persisted. He didn't like the way it amused Yami, but there was nothing to do about it. "That's better," Yami murmured, pleased with the acquiescence.

"Honda, you still haven't seen him yet," Jounouchi realized, causing Kaiba to flatten his ears in displeasure. He was tired of being passed around like some toy!

"I don't think he's very interested in me at the moment," Honda said with a laugh, easily able to read the kitten's body language. "Maybe later when he's calmed down some. I'm not that interested in being sliced to shreds by little kitten claws. Those things hurt!"

"Why would Isis have you watch her cat if it hates everyone?" Anzu asked, causing Yami to groan on the inside at the question.

"I'm not really sure," he truthfully answered, figuring it was better than lying. "But she asked me to, so I agreed. I don't mind it."

"How long are you keeping him for?" Mokuba asked, still amused that he was the only one that the kitten hadn't reacted badly to of the group.

"She didn't say," Yami replied, wondering if that sounded as strange to the group as it did to him. "It should only be for a few days until he's finished with her business."

"I can't imagine she'd want to take such a tiny kitten with her back to Egypt and here again," Mokuba commented, knowing it would be a traumatic experience for such a tiny creature.

Despite himself, Kaiba was being lulled to sleep by the rhythmic petting he was receiving. He fought against it, but with a tiny kitty yawn, he was soon gone into sleep despite his best efforts to stay awake.


The sound of a quiet click woke up Kaiba and he was startled to see Yuugi standing in front of him with a cell phone. Baring his teeth at Yuugi and hissing, he was less than amused when it made Yuugi laugh before he walked away. It was enough to get Kaiba to look back and up to see Yami asleep, with one of his hands resting on the kitten's back, as if he fell asleep mid-pet. It made Kaiba turn around and instead of nipping at the hand like he had planned, for some reason his body insisted on licking Yami instead. Kaiba was surprised by how different Yami tasted when compared to Mokuba and yet both were still somehow comforting. Why was it that word kept associating with Yami? It was weird to Kaiba and he wanted it to stop.

Still, he darted his tongue out for another lick, then two, and was startled when Yami moan, "Mm, Kaiba," in his sleep. It sounded downright sexual and Kaiba flattened his ears over hearing something he shouldn't have. Surely that was just a mistake, right?

It was enough to get Kaiba to nip at Yami's hand and it woke him up as he exclaimed, "Ow! What was that for?"

Meowing once indignantly at Yami, Kaiba swished his tail in annoyance as he looked up at Yami with his nose turned up at him. "What's your problem?" Yami wanted to know as he picked up the kitten and held him close to his chest as he stood up from the couch. "And how long was I asleep?"

"About two hours," Yuugi answered as he returned from the kitchen. "You were pretty out of it with the kitten, so I thought it best to leave you alone."

"Oh," Yami said with some surprise since he wasn't really the napping type. But after everyone had left, Yami hadn't had the heart to disturb Kaiba's rest, so he had remained as he was on the couch. Apparently there was just something about the rhythmic purring that lulled him to sleep in the interim. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," Yuugi told him as he waved it away.

"Thanks," Yami said, still stroking the kitten in his arms. It caused Kaiba to try and nip at his thumb and Yami turned his attention to the kitten. "What did I tell you about biting?"

Growling at Yami in the most threatening manner he could manage, Kaiba wasn't pleased when it caused both of the teens to start laughing at him. "He certainly acts bigger than he is," Yuugi commented.

"Tell me about it," Yami commiserated with a laugh. "I don't mind, though. I think it's cute."

"You think everything about him is cute," Yuugi pointed out, having seen enough of their interactions to judge that much.

Even though Yami knew there was no way for Yuugi to know about his crush on Kaiba that caused the same reaction, he still felt a flutter of nervousness flash through him. "I just can't help it," Yami said with a laugh of his own. "He's just too precious for words."

The reaction caused Kaiba to growl again in displeasure, because he really didn't like thinking that he was cute or precious or anything less than awe-inspiring or intimidating. "I know, I know, I'm damaging your little kitty ego," Yami told him with a pat on the head. "You just have to face the facts."

Yuugi stifled a laugh at the duo as he commented, "You're going to miss him when he's gone, aren't you?"

Ruffling the fur on the kitten's head, Yami softly confirmed, "Yeah," with a sadness that confused Kaiba. "But I'll worry about that later."

"I bet Jii-chan would let you get a kitten if you wanted," Yuugi suggested since their grandfather had reacted well to having the kitten in the house.

"Somehow I doubt it would be the same," Yami said, knowing it would be true. "We'll see."

The idea of being replaced didn't sit well with Kaiba and he harrumphed at the thought, earning him another petting that he didn't reject this time. "Oh well, I should probably get upstairs. I bet he's hungry."

Meowing twice in negative, Kaiba was pleased when it made Yami correct himself, "Or most likely a shower."

When Kaiba meowed once enthusiastically at that, Yami couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, shower it is."

"I've never known a cat who likes to take showers," Yuugi commented, finding it strange.

"He follows me there, so he must like it," Yami said as he turned and started to walk toward the stairs.

Following after him, Yuugi added, "That is so strange."

"Quirky kitty," Yami teased with a laugh as he played with Kaiba's ear that was quick to flick away from him. It was only once he was safe and alone in his room that he added, "Quirky Kaiba is more like it."

If Kaiba had possessed the ability to shrug he would have; there was nothing wrong with liking cleanliness. Besides, with his white fur, it was a necessity to bathe often since he refused to take cat baths.

Putting down Kaiba so he could gather his clothes to take with him to the shower, Yami hurried up and led the way down the hall. Kaiba was quick to follow, eager for another shower with Yami's divine fingers to work his body.


A/N: Really nice and long chapter for you to enjoy this week! I have a very specific image of the card "shuffling" scene and if you visit my Twitter account, you can see the link with the adorable gif set!

NEXT CHAPTER:

Kaiba begrudgingly had to admit that Yami was more than just a mere rival, but what did that make him?

The next chapter may go up very late on Sunday, August 10th because I'm returning home from a trip that day, but it WILL be posted on that day. Unfortunately, I don't have time to answer reviews tonight, so I will be doing that periodically throughout this week. I apologize for my delay, but things were a little more hectic this week than normal with my jobs. However, I WILL reply. Eventually. _ My apologies!