Chapter 09: Remorse

After another shower together that was far too pleasurable for Kaiba's tastes, he was thoroughly enjoying the hair dryer afterward. He once again lost his battle against purring and he didn't like the fact that it made Yami have a small smile, even as he was intrigued as to why his reaction would inspire such a reaction. Yami was still as much a mystery to him as ever—maybe even more so now that he had spent a considerable amount of time in the former spirit's presence.

As he shut off the hair dryer and set it aside, Yami couldn't resist the urge to take advantage of the fact that Kaiba was still on his back with his belly exposed and pet him. Kaiba's purring got louder as he stretched in pleasure at the sensation before the more human side of him remembered that was a rather undignified reaction. Swatting at Yami with his paw to make him stop, Kaiba was surprised when he heard a resulting hiss of pain.

"There's better ways to get me to stop doing that, you know," Yami chastised Kaiba as he looked down at his forearm and saw some blood from the small cut of the kitten claws that had snagged on him.

Even though the petting had stopped and clearly wasn't going to continue, Kaiba rolled over and stood up, taking a few steps closer as he tried to see what he had done. He flattened his ears when he saw that he had injured Yami, because it really hadn't been Kaiba's intension. Even though it was a miniscule mark that was barely deep enough to bleed, Kaiba was surprised to find himself feeling bad about what he had done. Why should he feel bad for using what weapons he had at his disposal to defend himself? He certainly didn't have such remorseful reactions when he was a human and had taken out an enemy. The problem was, Yami wasn't an enemy and it hadn't been Kaiba's goal to do such a thing, which was definitely different than what his normal situation was. It felt like a gross over reaction and Kaiba didn't know what to do to make it better.

He watched as Yami got a tissue from his nightstand and wiped off the little bit of blood and as he continued commenting, "Honda wasn't kidding, those little things are pretty sharp."

Kaiba hesitated before he nuzzled at Yami's hand on instinct and he felt himself inadvertently perk up when he was smiled at, even as it managed to make him feel a little worse about what he had done at the same time. "I'm not upset," Yami reassured him as he stroked Kaiba's head since it was being offered, "just a little surprised I guess."

It still felt like something needed to be done and Kaiba felt frustrated that he didn't understand his own reaction to the situation. "It's my fault, I shouldn't have done that," Yami apologized, but that just made it worse for Kaiba somehow.

Meowing twice in the negative, Kaiba put his paws on Yami's shins and stood up a little as he tried to find someway to convey his nebulous thought to Yami. The fact that Kaiba would have struggled with the same issue as a human was little consolation.

Once again smiling kindly at Kaiba, Yami picked him up and held him with one arm while petting him with his other hand and the purring once again resumed. "Although I get the sense that you didn't really mean to do that," Yami continued. "You must just be dying right now from having your humanity overwhelmed by those little kitten instincts that keep kicking in all the time."

The fact that Yami understood that wasn't surprising to Kaiba by now and he looked up at him while pondering why his rival always seemed to understand him on a level no one else did.

The kitten looked so precious in that moment, Yami couldn't resist his own instinct to place a sweet kiss on top of Kaiba's head as he reassured him, "It's okay, Kaiba. I'm sure it'll all be over soon and things will be back to normal for you."

Kaiba was utterly perplexed by how to process the fact that he had just been kissed, nor did he know what to do about it or the fact that the almost wistful tone in Yami's voice was bothering him on some level. "I'd like to think that we could be friends after this, but somehow I doubt you'll want anything to do with me since I've seen you like this," Yami said and before Kaiba could even process what he was doing, he was meowing twice to deny it.

Putting Kaiba back down on the bed, Yami grinned at him wryly as he replied, "No, I suppose you'll have to have something to do with me because you'll feel honor bound to repay me for this. That's really not good grounds for a friendship, though."

For some inexplicable reason, the thought distressed some part of Kaiba and he huffed in frustration. Unable to figure out any other way to convey otherwise, Kaiba cautiously walked forward and crawled into Yami's lap and settled himself comfortably as he glanced upward as covertly as he could.

Yami was deeply surprised and he couldn't stop himself from smiling or once again reaching out to pet Kaiba. "It'll be okay," Yami murmured as he continued stroking the kitten until eventually Kaiba fell asleep.


A/N: I apologize for the late update. I thought I would have more time yesterday than I did. Hopefully it was worth the wait, because this was a new chapter I worked up on my trip. I'm also very sorry that I'm so woefully behind on my review responses. Time keeps getting away from me, which is frustrating.

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 will be posted on Sunday, August 17th and I hope you enjoy it!