Seto replayed every detail of the incident in his mind, trying to make sense of it in a way that wouldn't force him to revise his understanding of the world and the way it worked. But while he may be prone to denial when it was convenient for him, not even he could deny or explain away what had happened.

Looking at everything rationally actually forced him to accept the truth: that he had been haunted by the ghost of his step-father and that Ryou Bakura had somehow banished or destroyed that ghost. After all, the laws of logic dictated that it was impossible to prove a universal negative (i.e. that ghosts do not exist, cannot exist, and have never existed). There was nothing that could have impaired his senses, induced hallucination, or created an illusion of the exorcism. It had been real.

Accepting that was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do, and he'd done plenty of difficult things in his young life.

When Ryou opened his eyes, he found himself staring up at a blanket ceiling.

"Ryou? Are you awake?"

The youth in question sat up and saw with a smile that he was inside a pillow fort with Mokuba.

"Yeah, I'm awake now," he said, rubbing his eyes a little before turning his gaze on the child, widening his smile a bit. "How did I get here?"

"Seto carried you," Mokuba answered with a grin. Ryou blinked. He always thought of the KaibaCorp president as Kaiba, not Seto. Seto. It sounded softer than his last name.

"That was very kind of him."

"Why did you pass out?" Mokuba asked curiously, putting a bookmark in his book before setting it down and crawling over. Ryou looked at Mokuba for a moment, trying to decide if he should tell the truth.

"I exorcised a ghost, and it made me tired," Ryou said casually, watching Mokuba's reaction.

"So ghosts are real?" Mokuba looked intensely curious and unafraid. Good. Ryou hadn't wanted to frighten Kaiba's little brother.

"Yes, they are," Ryou answered calmly. "They're real, but they can't hurt you. They just want to pass on to the other side, so people like me help them do that."

"People like you?"

"Mediums."

"What's a medium?"

"Someone who can see and communicate with ghosts."

Mokuba processed this information for a few moments, then picked up his book and held it out to Ryou, who accepted the antique copy of Hamlet with surprise. "There are two ghosts in this story. Seto says that the first one is real, but the second one isn't. What do you think?"

"You're reading Hamlet already?" Ryou was genuinely impressed. "I didn't read Hamlet until I was fifteen. Technically, there's only one ghost, but he makes three appearances. Let's see." He started flipping through the pages, noticing that neat notes had been penciled into the margins. "Here's the first appearance of the ghost," he said, skimming over the pages. "This appearance isn't questioned by people. Obviously the guards are seeing things that they hadn't expected to see, and—"

"Seto says that ghost could be a demon, though," Mokuba interrupted. "Not that Seto believes in demons," he added hurriedly. "Or ghosts or angels or any of that. But he says that, within the world of the book, there are demons and ghosts and angels, so that's how we have to interpret it."

"He's right." Ryou was surprised to discover this literary side of Kaiba. It made him see the corporation president quite differently. "About the interpretation, I mean. All those things are real, whether we believe in them or not." He turned back to the book, flipping to the next section. "Then we see the ghost a second time, and he's doing the same thing he was doing the first time, but this time he speaks to Hamlet and explains how he was killed and all that. Because his behavior is consistent with his behavior the first time, we know that it's the same ghost."

"But what about the third time?" Mokuba asked impatiently, his brow furrowed. "Is the ghost real, or is Hamlet going crazy?"

Ryou flipped to the section Mokuba was asking about, but he paused to chuckle at one of the marginal notations.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," he answered, quickly flipping the pages. "Did your brother make these notes in here?" Mokuba shrugged, but Ryou thought that it must be so, because he saw a doodle that compared Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Graceful Dice and Skull Dice. He chuckled again at the thought of a young Seto Kaiba doodling in his books.

"What's so funny?" Mokuba asked again, looking irked.

"Nothing, nothing." Ryou cleared his throat as he finally landed on the page with the scene Mokuba was asking about. "Usually, people question this scene because Gertrude doesn't see the ghost of Hamlet's father," he began, skimming the text to refamiliarize himself with the content. "And because in previous scenes, the ghost was seen by Horatio and the guards too. This is actually really easy to resolve, actually. You see, ghosts can choose to reveal themselves to a single person or to anyone present. Before, Hamlet's father was wandering the grounds hoping that a guard who knew his son saw him and would bring his son to him. Here, he only appears so that he can rebuke his son for overstepping his bounds." He glanced up at the child, whose face was pinched and wrinkled in confusion. "Does that not make sense?"

"It does," he said slowly. "But how can ghosts decided who sees them?"

"I don't know, that's just the way it is," the college student answered with a shrug. The similarities between Kaiba and Hamlet weren't lost on him: both had been haunted by their father's ghost, but for very different reasons. The wraiths had told him very few details about Gozaburo Kaiba, but they'd told him that he was evil and cruel and that he was haunting his eldest step-son with the intention of making him miserable. Ryou had seen nothing to contradict any of that, but he had so many questions that he knew he had no right to ask.

"I think your phone is ringing," Mokuba said suddenly, interrupting Ryou's train of thought. He lifted his head and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Hi Duke," he said as he pushed the call button and lifted his phone to his ear. "I guess you're ready to head home, huh?"

Duke laughed, sounding utterly silly on the other end of the line. "I'm not drunk, I swear," he said, much to Ryou's amusement.

"I didn't say you were drunk," he replied, laughing a little himself. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm... inside," Duke answered slowly.

"Where inside?" Ryou stood and carefully exited the pillow fort, Mokuba sighing as he lost his companion.

"Uh, the hallway... ?"

"You're lucky you have me to look after you, Duke," Ryou said with a smile as he walked towards the door. "You're helpless, you know?"

"But that's what makes me cute, right?"

As Ryou opened the door and stuck his head out, chuckling to himself. "Yes, Duke, that's what makes you cute." He blushed a little as he stopped himself from saying the things that he thought actually made Duke an incredibly attractive person. He looked in one direction, then the other. "Which hallway are you in?"

"Do you want me to sing for you so you find me?" Duke suggested, still sounding as giggly as a middle-school girl.

"How about a game of Marco-Polo," Ryou suggested instead.

"Don't you like it when I sing?" the gamer whined.

"Yes, I do, but I don't know if Kaiba would like it that you're singing in his house," Ryou explained as he stepped outside the room, a curious Mokuba on his heels. He was now speaking the way he would if he was explaining things to a small child: patiently, but perpetually amused. "Marco!" Ryou called after moving the receiver away from his mouth.

"Polo!"

"Ow! Move the phone away from your mouth and try again, Duke."

"Polo!"

"This way," Ryou said, looking to Mokuba, who nodded confirmation. They walked down the hall until they came to an intersection. "Marco!"

"Polo!"

Ryou took a left and as he and Mokuba walked down the hall together, he called out again, "Marco!"

"Polo!"

The sound was very close. Ryou sprinted to the end of the hall and looked down the path to the right. He let out a laugh as he hung up the phone and approached his roommate.

"Duke, what on earth are you doing?"

Duke was lying on his back on the floor, his feet resting wide apart on the wall as he stared at the ceiling.

"I'm talking to you!" he answered enthusiastically, still talking into his phone.

"Duke, we're up here," Ryou teased as he walked toward his friend, stopping close enough that he could smile down at him and click his tongue at him in disapproval. "You're going to get us kicked out, I swear."

"Nope!" He hung up his phone and waved it in the air with a silly grin. "I got his number."

"How did you…? Oh, nevermind." Ryou decided to brush off the claim. It wasn't important right now. He glanced over at Mokuba for a moment, who seemed content to enjoy the show, then knelt down by Duke. "Come on, let's get you out to the car." It was a struggle to get Duke to stand up, especially once he started telling stupid knock-knock jokes and making ridiculous puns that not even Mokuba found to be funny. Ryou and Mokuba were still laughing, though, because it was so funny watching Duke tell awful jokes and crack himself up.

"Wait, wait, one more," Duke insisted as Ryou tried to pull him upright. "Why did the plane crash?"

"I don't know Duke, why did the plane crash?" Mokuba asked cheekily.

"Don't encourage him," Ryou muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Because the pilot was a loaf of bread!" Duke burst out into another fit of laughter.

"Do you invent these jokes, or do you get them from eight-year-olds?" As annoyed as Ryou pretended to be, he was more amused than anything else. Trying to pull Duke up into a standing position had been like a drunken dance, but he was relieved when he was finally able to sling Duke's arm over his shoulder and keep him upright.

"Mokuba, how do we get out to our car?" Ryou asked, blowing a stray lock of hair out of his face. He would have moved it by hand if he could have spared a hand to do so.

"This way," he said, taking Duke's other hand and helping him tug their inebriated friend along. They made it as far as the first corner, but the act of turning was enough to make a giggling Duke topple on top of Ryou and bring them both to the ground. All Mokuba had to do was release Duke's hand and step to the side to avoid him, but Ryou was pinned down by his friend, who was too silly to care.

"Duke, you're squashing me with your big butt." Ryou's comment made Mokuba giggle as the Brit tried to push his way out from under the dice-master, but Duke just rolled over and threw an arm around Ryou, humming and mumbling to himself incoherently.

"It doesn't look that big to me."

Ryou froze and felt heat rising to his cheeks. He knew that deep, resonant voice. He almost didn't want to look up, but how could he not? He raised his head slowly, craning his neck back to lift his gaze to the familiar face of Seto Kaiba. He was smirking down at the pair of them, and Mokuba was laughing even more, finding the entire situation hilarious.

"Mokuba, didn't I tell you to tell me when he woke up?" The brunette fixed his brother with a stern gaze, and the child immediately stopped laughing and looked abashed.

"Sorry, I forgot," he muttered, making his brother sigh almost imperceptibly. Then his sapphire gaze turned back to the pair of party-guests on the floor.

"Do you need help with him?" Kaiba asked, nodding towards Duke.

"Uh, I-I think so," Ryou admitted reluctantly. "I mean, I tried to get him up, but—"

He stopped short as Kaiba bent down and easily lifted Duke off of Ryou, hefting him over one shoulder. Ryou quickly stood and brushed himself off a bit, flustered by this turn of events. He picked up Duke's phone off the floor and tucked it into his own pocket, glancing up at Kaiba again, who watched him thoughtfully.

"You were on your way out, I assume?"

Ryou nodded bashfully, lurching into motion as Kaiba turned and started walking away, having to move more quickly to keep up with the quick pace his long legs allowed him.

"Thank you for your help," the flustered Brit said, his words somewhat rushed. "I wasn't sure how I was going to handle him by myself."

"You're welcome." Kaiba watched Ryou for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something.

"I don't mind being handled," Duke giggled, lifting his head to roguishly grin at his roommate. His legs dangled down Kaiba's back, swinging carelessly.

"I'm sorry about him—"

"Don't apologize." The brunette fully turned his head when he looked at Ryou this time. "It's a sign of weakness."

"Or a sign of humility," Ryou countered without missing a beat, which impressed Seto, even though he didn't show it.

"What's the difference between humility and shame?"

"Humility is a virtue, while shame is a natural byproduct of wrongdoing."

"And what defines a virtue? Who decides that criteria?"

"Virtues are like the laws of nature. They're not defined or determined by people. They simply are." Ryou snuck a peek at Kaiba, surprised at finding himself in a philosophical discussion with the president of KaibaCorp.

"I like your shoes, Duke." Mokuba's voice sounded from behind them, surprising them both a little.

"Mokuba, it's past your bedtime."

"But I want to stay up!" Mokuba whined like the small child he was.

"We're not arguing about this, Mokuba. Go get ready for bed."

"Will you come to say goodnight?" Mokuba asked, wanting to ensure that his brother didn't forget to do so on a night when he had so many distractions.

"Yes, now get a move on, kiddo."

"Okay. Bye Ryou! Bye Duke!" Mokuba called before scampering off to do as he was told.

The interaction between the brothers touched Ryou's heart, making him see the elder in a new light. He never thought he'd hear the great Seto Kaiba, who seemed so above the rest of the world, say the word "kiddo." For those few moments, he'd witnessed how the shattered remnants of the Kaiba family, a pair of brothers twice orphaned and preyed upon by corporate corruption, managed to function as a family all on their own. "Nobody hurts my family and gets away with it." That was what Kaiba had said when he was dueling Pegasus for Mokuba's soul. Ryou now understood the significance of that statement: Kaiba didn't consider himself to have or derive from a broken family. Mokuba was his family, his whole family.

"What were you doing in the library?"

The question pulled Ryou out of his own thoughts. "I was just needed somewhere quiet to sit for a while. All of the noise was giving me a headache."

Kaiba could accept that. He felt a touch high on his thigh and glanced down to see Duke trying to slide his hand inside the brunette's pants pocket. Seto rolled his eyes and casually removed Duke's hand from his pocket as Ryou dashed out in front of them to open the front door for Kaiba, letting the brunette carry his roommate out into the chilly night.

"What exactly… happened in there?" Kaiba asked hesitantly, and Ryou couldn't remember ever hearing him hesitate before.

"You mean with Duke, or…?" Ryou wasn't sure what kaiba was referring to.

"In the library, I mean," he clarified. "What was that?" Kaiba had already made up his mind about it, but now that he'd accepted it, he needed to understand it.

"I… sent him away," Ryou answered simply as he trotted down the marble stairs beside Seto. "He won't bother you again."

"How did you know—?"

"The ghosts told me. I know that's probably not the answer you want to hear, but it's true."

Kaiba looked troubled, in Ryou's opinion. It was the only fitting descriptor that he could attach to the billionaire's current expression. It wasn't confusion, even though it might be anticipated; it wasn't irritation, even though it might be expected; it wasn't anger, even though it might be likely.

"Explain it to me."

Ryou handed the tag to the valet who subsequently disappeared to fetch Duke's car, then looked up at Seto in surprise. "It's complicated."

"I'm sure I could understand it."

"But I don't think you'd accept it."

"Try me."

"It's a hard pill to swallow."

"I'm sure I've handled harder."

Ryou sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, rubbing at his temple with the heel of his hand. How was Seto so alert and clear-thinking at this time of night?

"It's late, and I'm not sure I could explain it properly right now," Ryou admitted as he opened his large eyes and turned their soft brown gaze toward the brunette, who was removing Duke's hand from his pocket a second time. "Perhaps I could explain it to you another time?"

"I look forward to it. Let me give you number."

"I already have your number," Duke piped up then, a teasing, sing-song quality in his voice.

"No you don't." Seto frowned down at his burden as the younger man turned his head to grin up at him crookedly. "And cut that out," he added, reaching down to stop Duke's hand from trying to dive into his pocket again. "Why do you keep doing that?" Duke chuckled while Ryou gasped in shock.

"Duke! Honestly, I expected better from you." Ryou sounded like a parent cross with an unruly child.

"Not my problem." Duke giggled again as Kaiba sighed and used his free hand to hold both of Duke's wrists together and keep him from getting into anymore mischief.

"I should have picked him up the other way around," Seto grumbled.

"I don't think that would have made much difference." Ryou's eyes twinkled as he suppressed a laugh, imagining Duke trying to poke around in Kaiba's back pockets.

"You wouldn't happen to have a sharpie, would you?"

"I actually think I do." As Ryou pulled the permanent marker out of his pocket, Kaiba set Duke down on his feet, holding the other's shoulders to steady him. Ryou handed him the sharpie from his pocket, and Kaiba uncapped it before lifting Duke's arm and writing his cell number on the smooth skin.

"There. Now you both have my number." He handed the sharpie back to Ryou, who was trying not to look utterly astonished at what Kaiba had just done. "Call me when you want to meet, and I'll make time for you." He looked up at Ryou again as he released Duke's shoulder, thinking that the Dungeon Dice Monsters creator could probably manage to stand on his own now. "Don't look at me like that. It's not like I carry my business cards with me when I'm in my own house."

Duke tipped forward and leaned against Kaiba, boldly throwing his arms around the brunette's neck. He mumbled something quiet and lurid into Kaiba's ear that Ryou couldn't hear, and it was enough to make the CEO blush a little.

"Okay, that's enough out of you." Kaiba forcibly removed Duke's arms and quickly distanced the two of them, maintaining his hold on Duke's wrists to keep him an arm's length away.

The valet drove up in Duke's classic convertible just then, saving them all from anymore awkwardness. Duke broke from Kaiba's hold and tried to reach for the keys as the valet held them out, but Ryou grabbed them just in time.

"There's no way that I'm going to let you drive like this," Ryou reprimanded his roommate with a superior air as he held the keychain out of Duke's reach. A flash of movement caught his attention, and he turned his head to see Seto retreating to the mansion. "Thank you, Kaiba!" he called, waving at him with the hand that held Duke's keys. Seto turned for a moment and waved briefly back, a smirk teasing his features into something pleasant as he watched Duke leaning over Ryou to try and grab his car keys.

Author Notes: If you enjoyed this, then please review, because the more reviews I get, the sooner I update!

And for those of you who are curious about how much alcohol Duke consumed, he's currently walking the thin line between buzzed and drunk. He drank enough to act like... this, but not enough to get sick or severely hungover.

Fun fact, btw. The joke about the plane crashing and the loaf of bread is used as an exhaustion test in my friend group at my college. The funnier you think the joke is, the more sleep-deprived you are.