Warnings: Angst, major character death, violence, language and Kaiba planning murders, so take care. This one isn't as bad as the last one sexually though ;). I think Seto and Yami will take a bit more of time to get so close again.
Again, SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I'm glad I didn't take AS long, but it was still a shamefully long time... I hope you guys enjoy this chapter here anyway.
Yugi's breath came in sharp, forced huffs. There was something silky on his head, blinding him from the outside world. The teen's head was throbbing with an intense pain, and he couldn't remember anything after his encounter with Kaiba today...
Kaiba!
Yugi tried to get up, only to discover that his entire body was tied to a chair, ropes pressing him so tightly it hurt. Fear teared into his mind like a sharp knife. It got stronger when he tried to call out for help and only muffled sounds came out of his covered mouth.
The fabric covering his head was pulled out of him in a quick swipe, making the boy gasp. The brightness that invaded his eyes made him cower against his chair, eyes burning with pain. Tears blocked his already blurred vision, but having the ability to see helped the boy to calm down- if only for a little.
"Familiar place, isn't it?"
That voice was also familiar. Looking up, Yugi could make out a brown-haired man wearing a long red coat. That of course in the middle of the mess that was his current vision. He knew it was Kaiba doing all this, but being actually sure about it was painful to the smaller male. Why? What did he do to deserve this?
"I-I guess you aren't going to give my card back..." Yugi couldn't help but mutter.
"Don't you recognize this place, Yugi?" Kaiba ignored the teen's words completely, an angered tone in his voice. He wanted an immediate reaction.
Yugi gulped and looked around, eyes widening when indeed, he did recognize the place.
It was the orphanage.
"W-Why did you bring me here?" The purple eyed boy questioned, nervous about the whole situation. He also wanted to ask why he was tied up, but too scared to do so.
"It's only fair to end things were they began."
"W-What?!" The young man asked, eyes widening. "W-What that's supposed to mean?"
Kaiba took a gun out of the inside of his coat.
Yugi's breath caught in his chest.
Seto took his time polishing the weapon, giving it a soft smile before loading the revolver. He pointed it to Yugi's head, a soft click filling the silent space.
"The game, Yugi. We're going to finish our little game..."
Yami floated way above town, yellow eyes feeding on the beautiful sunset. The way it's light reflected on the tall buildings... it was breathtaking. He was feeling way better now, the pounding on his head became nothing but a bother. Maybe the tablets Mokie gave him actually helped? He had to thank Mokuba when they encountered each other again.
The ghost was following the possessive messages he received from Seto's side of the bond. Some things Seto said were making him fell all warm and fuzzy, the memories of what they had done together still fresh in his mind. The spirit couldn't help but let out a bright smile at the thought of surprising the CEO with his presence.
He was close now. Surprisingly, he recognized the place. It was a very weird feeling for someone who usually forgot most things in a very short period of time.
Yami felt a cold shiver go down his spine when a very familiar building came to his sight.
"Our game of life or death with the Millennium Puzzle as the ultimate prize..."
The orphanage.
What was Seto doing here? Why this place? Was he ok? These and other questions flooded Yami's mind as he dashed to the old building.
"I win, Yugi."
The small teen was frozen solid on his chair. Kaiba couldn't be serious, could he? What was this all about?
"K-Kaiba-kun! Why are you doing this?"
Seto pressed the gun against Yugi's forehead, making him gulp. There was a crazed look on the man's blue eyes.
"You were trying to steal him from me..."
The tied teen's eyes couldn't get any wider.
"S-Steal?! Who?!" He pleaded, trying to get away from the gun's reach.
"Seto?"
The CEO jumped at the soft voice. He turned around to see confused yellow eyes looking at the scene before them with growing fear.
"Yami..." The taller teen muttered, unconsciously pushing his gun harder on Yugi's head. The smaller male groaned in pain.
"W-What's happening here? What are you doing?"
Kaiba's breath became harsh. He was planning to end the problem in a clean and quick manner- as usual. But he wasn't expecting Yami to come to him. He wanted to erase Yugi's existence completely, but Yami would be hurt if he killed the plague, he was sure of that.
His finger started to tremble. He wanted to pull the trigger. He really wanted to pull that trigger. Crazed blue eyes widened when he realized just how close he was from having Yami all for himself. He just needed to shot the gun. That was all he needed to do.
The ghost watched the scene with big, worried eyes.
He crawled closer, planning to slowly snatch the gun away from his aibou when he saw the madness inside of the usually gentle blue eyes. Yami instantly knew that Kaiba wasn't going to back down. Worrying about his Puzzle, Yami sat the golden archifact on an old desk near the exit before floating to the two males.
The spirit got between Seto and Yugi, gulping when the icey eyes focused on him instead.
"S-Seto, put that thing down, please..."
"Get out of the way, Yami." The CEO growled, stressed about this entire thing.
"N...No." The ghost muttered.
That was the first time Yami had ever denied him.
"What did you say?" Seto's voice was poisonous.
Dark tentacles swirled behind the spirit's back as he struggled to appear as big as possible.
"No..." Yami said, still silently, but now in a clear and audible tone. His tentacles curled around Yugi in an attempt to protect him. The ghost swallowed hard.
Seto seemed to be in denial, widened blue eyes flashing from Yugi's terrified face to Yami's trembling form.
"Are you betraying me?! And with that runt?!"
"I love you." Yami whispered, watching the anger in Seto's eyes flail before returning with renewed strength.
The spirit gasped when Kaiba's punch jolted his head to the side.
"You fucking don't." Hissed the male. "You wouldn't be protecting that thing if you actually did."
Yami's head was low.
"S-Seto... I-I swear-"
The ghost's word was cut by another violent punch, and then another. And another. And another.
Yami wasn't being hurt by the hits, but the sole fact that Seto was the one doing this... him from all people, was more than enough to make him cower in another kind of pain.
Even when he was being assaulted by the other, he used his tentacles to free Yugi from the chair and force him to leave.
No matter how persistent the boy was while trying to make Kaiba stop hitting him.
Even when Yugi was long gone, Seto's anger wasn't even close to stop. And for the first time in his life, Yami felt pained and dizzy as his body was tortured by the other.
The CEO didn't stop punching him until Yami was a pool of mess and golden liquid dripped out of his fists.
His anger dismissed, and he wasn't sure of what to do now.
The sudden guilt he felt when he saw Yami's golden blood tainting the floor was almost unbearable. He simply had to get on his knees and pick the injured ghost up.
The spirit's head fell flat against his shoulder and the rest of Yami's members went limp. It was almost like the ghost was about to become liquid in his arms.
"Yami..." He whispered softly, hoping to get some sort of response. The spirit was still and silent.
Something other than guilt began to twirl in his body when no matter how much he called, Yami wouldn't respond.
Fear.
"Yami...?"
"Yami...!"
Seto held Yami's head so he could look at him in the face. The warm golden of the ghost's eyes was getting darker and darker as yellow liquid tainted Kaiba's clothes, almost as if Yami's body was being bled dry.
"Yami...Yami..." Seto began to whisper, trying to use his hands and coat to stop the golden blood. He knelled on the ground and put Yami carefully on the floor, swallowing hard.
Even with Seto's thick coat firmly wrapped around him, Yami wouldn't stop bleeding. For the first time since Yami's sickness after biting Gozaburo, Kaiba realized just how ignorant he was on how his ghost's body worked. Staching his wounds didn't help at all.
Yami was still silent. Yami was still hurt.
Seto knew he had to do something. But he was frozen solid, his eyes glued in the way Yami's body withered as his insides dripped away. He couldn't move- he was unable to even utter a word. The fact that he had probably beaten his friend to death weighed on his shoulders and made tears burn on the back of his eyes.
The human-like body Yami trained so hard to achieve soon became meager and hollow- an empty shell devoid of it's golden filling. That same liquid was now spread in a pool on the floor.
Reality struck the CEO like lightning, and he forced himself to reach Yami's arm with a trembling hand. He touched it as tenderly as he could, but the hollow member succumbed to the light weight and fell off, spreading into black dust when it hit the floor.
Kaiba couldn't take it.
For the first time in years he wasn't able to hold his tears in. Tortured sounds forced their way up his throat as he tried to pull Yami closer, burying his face on the other's hair. It hurt. Everything hurt and the pain was only getting worse as Yami's chest was succumbing under his tight grip... Dark dust mixing with the cooling yellow liquid tainting his clothes. Soon Kaiba recognized the sounds he was making as whimpers and sobs. He was disgusted at his own weakness but he couldn't keep anything in anymore. He couldn't believe he would never see Yami again. He couldn't believe he wouldn't have Yami's warmth sleeping next to him nor the ghost's stupid grin after doing something he was proud of. He couldn't believe that he would have to take guards wherever he went instead of Yami's pleasurable company.
Didn't he do all this to keep Yami by his side?
His grip on the small dark body was so tight that the immobile spirit's torso had almost completely turned into dust. Tearful blue eyes looked up to Yami's face again... hoping for some sort of miraclefull response... only to see empty, pinch black holes instead of Yami's beautiful golden eyes.
It hurt.
Everything hurt so much.
Yami couldn't be gone.
There was just no way.
Kaiba spent hours trembling beside the immobile corpse, still don't believing in what happened. Everything was over way too fast...
His mind was almost convincing him that he'd come back home to Yami's smiling face and warm body, but...
The dried tears on his face made him feel uncomfortable. With a deep sigh, he got on his knees and held Yami in his arms again. With a trembling hand, he tried to get some of the gold liquid back into Yami's body, even if knew it was an useless effort.
When the teen got tired of trying, he got up. Yami was turning into dust, Seto was pretending to not see it. He forced himself to carry the hollow ghost to his limo, carefully placing him in the back seat.
The CEO's mind was already working into a way to bring Yami back. Maybe if he got the Puzzle and let him hold it once again? What if he melted the Puzzle and inserted the gold into Yami's body? There was no way his ghost wasn't going to wake up again.
Signaling Isono to wait, Kaiba went back to the building were it all happened. He spend a good hour looking for the Puzzle with no avail. Anger and terror began to build up on his chest, especially when he realized that his archifact was nowhere to be found.
Yami couldn't go anywhere without the Puzzle.
It was supposed to be there.
"That bastard... that bastard!" Kaiba began to whisper as he examined every single bit of the corridor Yami passed through.
Yami had arrived through this corridor...
...
..and Yugi had left through this corridor.
"That. Fucking. Thief!" The CEO roared before knocking the objects over the corridor's desk off. He broke some of them.
"He took my Puzzle... he took my Puzzle..." Seto started to mutter. The disturbed teen walked through the dammed halls of childhood memories and pains. Fists clenched shut together as he tried his best to control his anger...
"Yami..."
How come things go so wrong?
The enraged man slammed the door when he left the building. A loud sound echoed through the now dark street. It was the wooden door cracking and falling apart behind him. He didn't care. He got inside his limo and pulled Yami's body closer.
He couldn't believe he lost to Yugi. He couldn't believe he lost to that runt.
"War and games have a very close relationship, Seto. Every game is a war, and every war is a game. Whenever you lost a game to anyone, you can consider yourself dead."
.
.
.
"Losing means death."
A flash of Yami's lightless eyes blinded Seto's mind for a few moments.
Gozaburo's lessons couldn't be more on point if they tried.
It's been a month. An entire, painful month.
It was hard to explain what happened to Mokie, especially since Seto didn't want to remember any of what happened that night. He just pushed all blame for Yami's death onto Yugi's shoulders and left it at it.
The already unstable CEO became almost unbearable for his mourning little brother and staff. His attitude turned so bitter and angered that Mokuba started to imitate his older brother in hopes that it'd make Seto proud of him and happy again.
But Kaiba was just lost in his own pain and anger. He felt dead inside since the incident, and even though deep, deep down he knew it was all his fault... he couldn't help but feel absolute hatred towards Yugi for simply being there and doing nothing but steal the artifact that kept Yami healthy and alive.
Dark blue eyes focused on the various theme park plans on his desk. He had so many ideas. Just so many ideas of how to destroy Yugi and everything he cared for.
Maybe a tower of horror and hopelessness would be enough.
"Kaiba-kun surely has lots of fans..." Yugi muttered, looking at the giant crowd of fanboys shouting Kaiba's name as they entered the newly founded park.
"Not that he deserves them anyway." Scoffed Jounouchi.
"C'mon, Jou-kun..." Muttered the smaller one, looking at the CEO guiding them through his park. Kaiba personally invited him and Katsuya to see his new atraction- not very nicely, but not very violently either. Yugi was still scared of the tall male for everything that happened a month ago, but Kaiba seemed so happy and changed... and Yugi would not let someone go without a second chance. Mokuba wasn't nice at all though, the poor kid must have gotten his bad manners from his brother's old attitudes...
After a tour through the park, the three teens entered an huge metallic dome. It was filled with excited little kids. Kaiba took them to the center of the arena, were was a huge glass cube. Yugi was looking around with impressed eyes, gasping at the immense size of the building. That until he finally looked at what was inside the transparent box-
"G-Grandpa?!"
The crazed CEO stood in front of the entrance for the cubicle, insane eyes glaring at full strength.
"Let's start the inauguration, won't we?" He yelled, his voice echoing on the stadium. A powerful wave of cheers filled the room soon after these words.
"K-Kaiba... what's the meaning of this?" Yugi forced out, afraid for his grandpa.
Kaiba's eyes turned at him. The CEO noticed how Yugi didn't add the "kun" to his last name, and raised an eyebrow.
"Revenge, Yugi. What else it would be?" He laughed, turning to the glass box. Crazed eyes shining with delight as he joined the old man in the duel cube.
"K-Kaiba! Let him go!" Yugi punched the glass with both hands and Jounouchi repeatedly kicked the door in hopes of forcing it to open. Neither of them had success.
The CEO simply let out a maniac laugh while Sugoroku looked at his grandson.
"Don't worry, Yugi." He tried to calm the boy down. "I'll not lose. Not while my heart is in this cards! Someone like this kid wouldn't ever be able to win against me!"
Kaiba scoffed at him, and started the duel.
Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.
Surprised by the realistic holograms and Kaiba's three Blue Eyes White Dragons, Sugoroku wasn't able to stand a chance. After his loss, Seto pulled a card out of his coat with a sick smile on his face.
"Do you recognize this card...?" The younger male asked before ripping the card into pieces. Laughing at the horror in the old man's face, the CEO stepped out of the box were two equally horrified teens looked at him.
"Just like you, Yugi, his punishment isn't over..." With a simple press of a button, Kaiba's holograms began to darken and then melt away, bodies mixing together as despicable pounds of black goo. Soon, the mounts of holographic darkness took form, growing taller and slender in form.
"Y-Yug! That Thing looks like you!" Jou exclaimed, widened brown eyes focused on the terrifying look-alike.
It was the first time both Seto and Yugi noticed it.
That only made the CEO even more angered.
Pulling a lever, he accelerated the process and in no time, a huge dark ghost with yellow eyes approached the old man trapped inside the duel box. The thing's sicky yellow mouth opened, revealing a huge set of black teeth. Golden liquid dripped out of it's mouth and through it's chin as it let out a deafening screech.
The old man cowered against the walls of glass.
"G-GAAAAAAAHH!"
"G-Grandpa!" Yugi turned to the insane business man. "T-Turn this off Kaiba! Turn this off now!"
A teeth-filled smile was the boy's only answer.
"If you want me to turn it off, you'll have to get through Death-T".
A round of loud cheering filled the stadium once again.
"I-I'LL DO IT! Just turn that thing off!"
Snorting, the CEO did exactly that. Seeing a hologram of his beloved ghost may have been comforting at first, but after an while it just served to remember him that Yami was no longer there.
When the duel box was clear once again, Yugi tried to get inside the box and was surprised to discover it was now open. He dashed inside, pulling grandpa so he could sit down, but the old man was just breathing heavily on his arms.
"G-Grandpa..." The boy muttered, tears filling his purple eyes.
"Y-Yugi... take my deck... I know you can teach that... Kaiba kid what's really important in a game with someone..." The older man touched Yugi's backpack.
"Now that you have it... no one will ever be able to defeat you. I know that very personally... with it by your side, harm will never come in your way. Use it... don't be afraid to show it to the world..."
"G-Grandpa..."
With a harsh cough, Sugoroku closed his eyes. Yugi clumsily grabbed his phone, fingers almost slipping in the numbers as he called Hanasaki as fast as he could muster.
He had to leave his grandpa behind, but he knew that Hanasaki had him covered. He had to do as Kaiba told him, otherwise unspeakable things would definitely happen to him and Jounouchi as well. He had to trust that his friend would take grandpa to the hospital and go ahead. Enraged purple eyes watched as the dammed CEO got in the elevator in the middle of the stage. The brown haired man left with yet another round of applause. The thought of these kids seeing Kaiba as their idol made Yugi sick.
Kaiba sat on the top of his Tower of Death, a huge smile playing on his lips. He couldn't wait to see Yugi being destroyed inside his tower. He wondered how many floors he'd last? Kaiba certainly hoped that he'd get the chance to finish him himself.
The CEO took his hands to under his chin, intertwining them. His patience was running dry in the first two hours already. Maybe he should have made it three floors tall- even though it wouldn't look intimidating at all.
He was suspicious at how well Yugi was doing. Of course he had that blonde guy, his badly chosen employee, that insignificant gangster and a baby to help him out. But they were all so skilless Kaiba was surprised they weren't dragging Yugi down with them.
Soon they had passed through three floors, and even though the gangster died, the rest of them was still moving, and Kaiba hated that. Mokuba was supposed to end them in the fourth floor, but Seto knew he wasn't going to make it. Yugi's weird sprints of luck weren't going to end until they faced each other personally.
And just as Kaiba calculated, his brother lost, obligating Seto to punish him with a penalty. Of course Yugi had to fucking pull him out of the simulation, just to make Kaiba's life worse once again. Anger was already building up in Kaiba's chest as Yugi got into the elevator to his own floor.
Enraged blue eyes finally met with darkened purple ones.
"So, you've finally arrived..."
"Stop this."
Yugi's voice was deeper than usual. His purple eyes were turning... slightly pink? A dim light was coming from his stomach...
The CEO's eyes suddenly became huge.
It was...!
"My Puzzle!" Kaiba forced out, his rage intensifying so much Yugi was probably able to feel it from the other side of the room.
"This is my Puzzle, Kaiba."
"Your..." Hissed the CEO, eyes flaming with rage.
"Your?!" He yelled, slamming his hands on the table and looking the other in the eyes once again.
His heart nearly stopped when all he saw was two blood-red orbs and a excruciatingly familiar golden eye on the other's forehead.
Cliffhanger! Yay! :D
I don't have much to say other than a "Sorry" for taking so long. School and Work have been way too time-consuming, and I had no vacations last year, so I didn't have any extra time. I really hope you guys liked this chapter, and I hope it was a good start for this new year! :D.
Please comment, fave, or follow if you like my fic! It'll really inspire me to write faster and make my day!
Wolf's Vine, I have to especially thank YOU for commenting so quickly and inspiring me to write most of this chapter in one sit! Thank you so much for the support, and I'm extremely happy that you enjoyed my bizarre smut scene, haha. You've got an amazing answer, didn't you? :). I can't spoil my own story though! I highly hope you didn't have a heart attack with this chap! xD. Seto is delusional and getting deeper into insanity because of Gozaburo's teaching. He lost the ability to properly love someone, and is desperate to keep anything that matters to him by his side. Yami and Yugi like each other already, and that quick connection sounded all sorts of alarms inside of Seto's ill mind. I hope you'll stay following my fic and discover what happens next ;).
Howl3, Oh God, I'm worried about you! D: . You've been sick for such a long time! I really hope you'll get well soon, please focus on getting better! _(_ _) _ . I'm glad you liked the lemon scene, it was very awkward to write, huahaha! xD. POOR YAMI INDEED. Seto isn't holding his "spit" in anytime soon, haha. You always inspire me so much, thank you for the continuous support! S2. The Game Shop isn't going down so soon, hahaha. I really wonder what you thought of THIS chapter then! xD. Thank you again, I hope you'll get better soon!
Kiki, Hello there! :D. A new person? Wow! I try to keep everyone as canon as possible, because for me, there's few things as perfect as YGO xD. Yami is the only one considerably different because he wasn't able to get Yugi's memories and world views this time- he was basically "born" without a single memory and used Seto as a basis for everything he knows. That made him innocent yet dangerous. Like you said, he's like a learning kid. I'm trying to slowly turn him into his canon self, and I think I'm getting there! Hah, I wonder what you think about this new chapter here xD. It's Yami's transition from a shadow-made body to... something different. I still have to decide if he'll be touchable or not, or even visible for Seto at all. Seto will definitely prefer him as a shadow anyways, haha. I think so too. The soul room is always an option! Huahaha, I'm glad you felt that way because that's what I was trying to express! Kaiba is getting out of hand and deciding things too early, too fast. I also love possessive! Kaiba, and I wonder if he'll calm down... I also wonder if you'll want to kill me for how I "solved" the situation, hahaha. WOW, your English is pretty great! :D. I could understand you perfectly! . Oh man, you can tell me were the errors are when you find them, so I can correct them later! (Sometimes I use Jou instead of Jounouchi so I won't repeat his name too much. When that happens it becomes tiring and repetitive to read! ^^. I'll try to find other alternatives though! Thank you for enjoying my story!)