Seto saw a great change in Yami as the weeks passed.
He stopped wearing all black and incorporated color into his wardrobe. It started slowly with white, and then lighter colors…pastels, and sometimes even neon.
He had a feeling Yami was challenging himself, and it was heartwarming to see him come even more out of his shell.
He started wearing more jewelry. Originally, he used to only wear a thin chain necklace here and there. Then it evolved to wearing small thin rings, to large, chunky ones, and then into pairing those rings with a woven bracelet beside a silver watch, and then to full-on bracelets and bangles.
One afternoon, Yami went out and got a couple of ear piercings.
Now he wore two, diamond studs only on his left ear, with the larger stone closer to his lobe and the smaller stone in the second hole.
When Seto asked him why, Yami beamed and said it was a superstition he'd always wanted to act on, claiming that men with left-ear jewelry were protected from misfortune.
Something like that.
And, "comms go in my right ear, so the left one it is."
So Seto sat back and watched the slow transformation, wondering if Yami knew that he looked drastically different
His favorite part of Yami's evolution was watching him experiment with eyeliner.
So on the days where he would be wearing a neon-red sweatband on his right arm, a shiny watch and bracelet combo on his left, maybe a woven anklet if he was barefoot for most of the day, and then a tasteful stack of necklaces while rocking a dark eyeliner that accentuated the sharpness of his angular eyes, it made Seto's heart jump.
It made him want to tackle Yami down anywhere that was convenient and give him an aggressive blow job.
Yami sensed this was his preference and would bait him into it, oftentimes teasing him when he was at the end of a work-related call.
Everyone else also sensed the change in Yami and Mokuba even brought it up, because Shizuka had noticed it.
Shizuka, who was currently sitting beside him on a lounge by the pool, with two of her friends reading books in their lounges, their legs half in the sun while Mokuba and Yami were having a play-fight with pool noodles, occasionally bringing a giant wave over the edge and receiving annoyed yells from the girls.
Seto shut his eyes and tried to enjoy it.
These were his 'days off' now.
He rarely went a weekend without seeing Shizuka, her two friends, along with Anzu, and Joey.
They practically almost lived with him since they visited so much.
The three girls claimed a guest-bedroom, even bringing in personalized touches like picture-frames, stuffed animals, and a couple of their own vases to put in fresh flowers.
As a result, Seto gave up the entire 1st floor to them–including Anzu, Joey, and on one horrifying occasion, even Pegasus–but they were always conscientious not to overstep. Never going up the stairs unless they had permission from Isono, and texting him to come down when they wanted to hang out with him.
So it was nice.
It was weird. Maybe they balanced Yami out, or Yami needed them around that often. Whatever.
His property was big enough that he could go days without seeing them if they did stay over for more than a weekend, and they could be squealing about a movie in the sound-proofed theater and he wouldn't hear them until he was right outside the door.
There was another loud splash and Mokuba was cackling evilly while the girls shouted at him again, "GUYS! Can you stop splashing this way?! Seriously this is the eighth time we've asked!"
"Look Seto! I'm doing a Guillotine hold!" Mokuba crowed triumphantly as he had Yami's spiky hair under his arm while Yami's arms flailed comically before he went still.
Seto didn't raise his head or even open his eyes. He merely gave a thumb-up and stayed in the same position; hands behind his head, sun on his ankles, relaxed.
Sounded like Yami was still teaching Mokuba some combat techniques.
"A what hold?" one of Shizuka's friends asked, putting her book down and drawing her knees up under her chin. "Teach me."
"Yeah," Shizkua called as she grabbed her drink to take a sip. "I'll film it."
"Don't! That's so embarrassing!" her other friend replied.
"Why not? It'll be funnnn…!" Came the encouraging shout from Mokuba in the pool.
"Come on! Jump in, we'll take turns practicing!" Mokuba was ecstatic. Learning new fighting moves with Yami was always a great time. It was the easiest way to feel badass and accomplished.
Seto wrinkled his brow, hearing more loud splashes and even a few droplets landed on his bare feet.
Ugh.
Well, it felt kind of nice.
He could hear them laughing and struggling with each other while Yami's deep voice could be heard echoing off the walls as he gave them tips.
"...Never let them slam you against a wall. If you feel that happening, fight like a crazy bitch…"
There was a round of giggles and then more splashing. Slightly intrigued, Seto sat up and was shocked to see Yami grabbing one of Shizuka's friends by the hair, slowly moving her head towards the edge of the pool and instructing her firmly, "he digs his knuckles in and you feel him moving you to impact, throw your hands up to protect your face…"
She obediently drew her hands up in an X, and Yami corrected her, "staggered, so you can push off one hand and use the other elbow to hit him in the chest. Ready? Slowly now… he grabs, knuckles in, protect,shove," Shizuka's friend pushed off the edge with all her might and drove her arm down to elbow him behind her.
Then he twisted to the side to feign being hit, narrating the scene, "his grip doesn't loosen, what do you do?"
"Nuts!" Shizka called from the edge where she had held a floaty noodle against the pool wall to make it a soft landing. "Toes! Nuts, toes!"
"Correct," Yami beamed, and he planted his feet apart again to regain his hold in her hair, grabbing her elbow in the water to guide it to his chest. "You hit him here, it's a warning hit. He still thinks he's got you. Now you're twisted to the side, away from the wall, stamp your heel down on his foot to shock him again, good. Then…bring your heel up to his balls-–not for real! AH!"
He dodged to the side and nearly got heeled in the nuts to the shouting laughter of Mokuba behind him.
"Okay, his grip finally loosens, but not completely, what now?" Yami asked as he stayed firmly standing in the shallow water as the waves from Mokuba's movements splashed up around them.
All the girls grew silent, and Seto decided to help.
"You grab his hand and back up," he offered, and Yami gave him a handsome smirk.
"Sure, that's half of it," Yami said as he moved back and then told her, "spin, you're already half-way away from the wall, right? Swing your body around, then grab…my hand with both your hands in the grip we all did earlier…"
The girl swung around with an impressive splash and was now facing Yami, with her ponytail in his fist, her arms locked around his wrist, with the edge of the water at her mouth.
"Now you're lower than me, assuming your attacker is bigger," Yami said carefully, feeling her hands slip against his skin due to the wetness. "It's wet, right? No grip? It could be sweat, it could be a spilled drink…"
"Yeah," everyone nodded and Yami swayed left and right as if he was 'fighting her'.
"Go lower, use his hands in your hair to drag him down, but not to the ground. Almost-squat, while backing up aggressively, making him stumble…then make sure you block here… his upper thigh, so his knee doesn't come to your face…" Yami lifted his knee in the water and it almost grazed her chin. "Then he's trying to balance on one foot. That's your opening. Or…"
Yami put his foot down again, "strike him in the nuts with your palm if you had missed earlier," her hand gently came for his center, and he curled forward in pretend-pain, "elbow to the nose, then grab my shoulder as I'm bent like this….push me to the ground as I'm going down, my hand should loosen because I want to defend my face first…"
She did exactly as he said and Yami didn't lean away when her elbow gently tapped the tip of his nose, and her hands wrapped around his shoulder to shove him face-down into the water.
Everyone clapped excitedly and Shizuka stuck her leg in the water. "I want to do the neck hold!"
"Yeah! Me too! Someone do it to me so I can practice escaping from someone other than Yami!" Mokuba yelled.
Yami popped out of the water and palmed it off his cheeks, invigorated. This was fun.
"Seto come be the attacker! He's big!" Shizuka pointed accusingly at him, and the other faces in the water turned to face him with determined nods.
Seto froze and grit his teeth. Hey.
"We're going to Las Vegas for next year's spring vacation," her friend said with a grin as she leaned against the edge of the pool to wave him over. "We're learning how to defend ourselves in case some creep tries it with us in a club or something."
"It's not realistic if you're doing it in a pool," Seto growled, but he stood slowly to take off his shirt so he could get in.
"But Yami isn't big enough to grab any of us," Mokuba said with an impish grin. "I've gotten taller."
"Yes you have," Yami beamed and gave Mokuba a pat on the shoulder.
Seto sank his calves into the cold water and shivered, wading over to them and feeling Mokuba come piling onto his back like a sack of flour, almost dragging him backwards into the water.
"Fucking….–Mokuba!" Seto struggled to keep his hair dry while Mokuba's arms locked around his neck in a playful roughhouse.
"CHOKEHOLD!" Mokuba shouted, and the girls giggled while complaining, "that's not realistic! No guy is gonna come up behind us and choke us out! Do it over!"
Seto shoved Mokuba away and was about to splash him back when Yami hovered prettily in front of him and grabbed both his hands, placing them on his shoulders and giving him a bright smile that made his heart flutter.
"Choke me," Yami said playfully, and the girls groaned, floating away to the edge.
"Lesson's over," Shizuka announced as she rolled her eyes. "We're leaving. We didn't sign up to watch this."
"No, seriously now," Yami said as he turned to give the girls a solemn nod. "A man is talking to you at that club, and you refused his advance. He flies into a sudden, drunken rage and…" He lifted Seto's hands from his shoulders to place them onto his neck, patting Seto's arms to stiffen them. "Pretend…rage-choke."
Seto kept his hands surrounded around Yami's slender neck, a chill going down his spine.
His thumbs could meet around the base of his adam's apple.
Yami was…small.
"Look, this is quite accurate," Yami said as he patted Seto's hands around his neck, feeling the water bob as the girls inched closer to watch, while Mokuba stayed off to the side with wide-eyes. "His thumbs meet, and…trapped."
He flailed comically, clawing at Seto's face, his elbows, his chest while Seto kept his arms flexed and didn't let go.
"Can't do a nut's kick because it'll only make him angrier right now," Yami said as he rested his hands lovingly on Seto's pale forearms. "So…how do you escape?"
"Bite!" Mokuba offered.
"Spit!" Shizuka suggested.
"No, ew, some guys like that," her friend protested.
"Scratch his eyes!" Her other friend offered.
"All of those are minor get-aways," Yami said as he playfully landed his palm against Seto's nose. "He could have something in his eye and still hold you like this. So, a soft situation is…you scratch his eyes, Seto closes his eyes….pushes me harder against the…wall to choke more…"
There was no wall, so they floated closer to the pool's edge.
"Then," Yami paused when he saw Anzu come walking out into the pool deck and almost drop her bag in shock at what was happening.
The girls hung onto his every word, splashing water towards him, "then what?" they asked, and Seto was giving Yami a funny look, turning to glance behind him and seeing Anzu gaping at them from the sliding doors. Oh.
"Hi Anzu!" Shizuka waved cheerfully. "We're learning how to defend ourselves when we visit Las Vegas!"
Anzu could only nod speechlessly as she walked to stand under the umbrella to watch…Seto holding Yami in an intimate choke, and Yami…being extremely knowledgeable about how to get out of it…
"Then you shrug your shoulders up as much as you can to get that space," Yami shrank up and floated lightly on his feet in the water. "He's not expecting you to shrink. So do it fast."
The girls all nodded, watching with serious faces.
"Weak point…here, his thumbs," Yami visibly wrapped his fist around one of Seto's thumbs. "Your other hand goes down underneath, between his elbows–weak points–Shizuka can you recite it?"
"A man's weak points! Eyes, Nose, neck, nuts, elbows, back of the knees, and toes!" She chanted, with Mokuba chiming in at the end, "...nuts, knees…toes…!"
"Good and where his thumb goes, his body will follow," Yami said as he grabbed Seto's thumb and shrunk down again. "Shrink, grab, tear…to the side, Seto please relax…"
Seto grit his teeth and tried his best, feeling Yami slip out of his grip then force his hands apart with a sudden movement, and a palm was in his face, making him go cross-eyed.
"Base of your palm, up! Fast! He's tall, so one strike with your body weight all on your front foot," Yami patted his leg, and grabbed Seto around the back of the neck with a warm hand. "Pain, he is stunned and will automatically curl down, where your knee, will meet his forehead–Seto hold your breath–"
Seto barely had time to take a breath before his face was gently eased into the water, and his nose was hovering dangerously by Yami's knee. H-Holy shit.
CQC taught to him as a tall person was completely different.
It was always techniques assuming the other person was as big as him.
"Scan the area…for danger, and then run," Yami jerked his head left and right, and then shoved Seto away with a playful motion while he floated backwards in the water. "Who wants to try it?"
"ME ME!" Shizuka hopped into the water and floated towards Seto who was sweeping water out of his face with a splutter. "Okay, this is better. He is much taller."
"Right?" Mokuba exclaimed, hanging off a pool noodle lazily. "Having Yami pretend-fight you is kinda unrealistic. He's tiny. We need to practice on a bodyguard or something. Maybe Curly."
"Ew no," one of the other girls cried. "He creeps me out."
"And Seto doesn't?" Yami asked with a smirk, and he received a round of laughs.
Anzu sat down on the nearest lounge and watched with deep interest. Aw…
Now this was Yami using his powers for good.
She might even be able to learn something, even if she was all trained up by the academy.
"Can we do the hair grab first?" Shizkua asked importantly, grabbing a scrunchie from her friend and keeping it in her teeth while throwing her hair up in a ponytail. "I know it won't always happen if my hair is up, but for easy practice…"
Seto felt a pang of anxiety as the other girls hopped in the water to surround them, eager for the lesson. Like holy shit, he didn't know it was this serious, but…it made sense.
Yami was the size of most women and children in most countries.
He would know how to fight defensively and tactically…
"Okay ready!" Shizuka announced, turning around with a swish of her ponytail grazing the water. "Yami?..."
Yami was taking a sip of water after having hopped out and was sitting on the edge. He patted the pool noodle against the side and nodded. "Okay. This is the wall. Seto, grab her roughly–not too rough, obviously–and throw her face against the edge… Ready? Three, two…"
Seto shot his hand out to gripped her ponytail, feeling weird. He hesitated here and Shizuka whipped around in slow-motion to elbow him in the neck, and then his arm was suddenly twisted and trapped under her armpit while her friends clapped and cheered.
W-WHAT?! Come on, he didn't get to do anything!
"Good," Yami said, grinning. "Seto, push next time. And seriously please, I saw your hand wasn't even in her hair. You merely yanked her ponytail. Grab. Again. A realistic practice means a higher chance of getting away in a real threatening situation."
Miffed, Seto got his hand back and positioned himself behind her again, eyeing her pink sparkly hair tie, aiming to really dig his fingers in.
"Okay, ready," Shizuka announced, and Yami shook his head.
"That's not how it works," Yami said slyly. "Will an attacker wait for you to say ready before grabbing your h–"
Seto shot his hand out to dig his fingers into her ponytail and pushed with 20% playful strength to shove her head against the pool noodle by Yami's leg.
Screams echoed in his ears from the other girls, "NUTS! TOES! Nose! LEG!"
And water whipped his face as Shizkua spun around in his grip, shoving him back with surprising force, something hard landed atop his big toe, so he hissed and took a step back, then barely wasn't able to block a quick palm-strike coming for his balls. It did graze through his thin swim trunks, making him genuinely panic, let out a frantic, "Ah!" And he made sure to keep his grip harder in her hair out of spite, but she was facing him now, and had locked her palms around his wrist in an iron grip.
"Now you're facing him, it's elbow, shoulder, face," Yami called, and Shizuka dragged Seto's arm down into the water, making him almost lose balance, tripping him forward, then she shot upwards to playfully rest her elbow to his nose, calling out, "hit!"
"Good!" Yami called, patting his own shoulder. "Wrap your arm around his arm…"
Seto felt tiny hands come wrapping around his forearm while a palm slapped heavily on his shoulder joint, wrenching him dowards. His face hit the water first, his shoulder and arm trapped in a stretch while she floated in the water beside him and patted his chin with her knee, calling out above, "hit!"
"Scan for danger," Yami instructed, and she whipped her head around left and right, "run!"
She shoved Seto back and kicked away with a triumphant splash and Mokuba was cheering for her, waving his kickboard in the air and Anzu clapped too, amused and impressed.
She threw her hands up in the air and took out the loose scrunchie, celebrating, "I did it!"
Seto shook the water out of his eyes and huffed.
Sure.
That was good.
Even though he'd seen Yami teach it a few times, he still wasn't prepared to brace against the coordinated strikes.
"So have we learned a good lesson?" Yami asked as he raised the glass of water from the edge of the pool. "How do you throw a punch if you're short?"
Anzu turned to pay attention with interest.
"Fist tight," Mokuba raised his fist out of the water. "Strike upwards, always."
"Lean in with your body, front foot weight momentum," Shizuka added, and her friends chimed in.
"Lean in to make him think you're complying, then strike."
"Make room for yourself. You have more room to move because you're small."
"Good," Yami beamed, giving them all a playful toast. "Great lesson today. Remember he will always think you're helpless, and moving faster than him will give you the advantage. He won't expect it."
There were serious head-nods, and Anzu carefully spoke up, "you should come teach specifically the smaller officers at the academy."
Seto tensed, and he watched Yami's face carefully for changes. Everyone was supportive of the idea, swimming up to him to smile and add, "yeah! Your training helps girls like us and kids your size so much!"
"Your academy teaches combat and all kinds of disarming techniques. You don't need me," Yami said with a handsome smile in Anzu's direction. "I've seen you fight quite well."
Anzu blinked and retaliated, "not the way you just mentioned. I was taught to always be in the aggressive stance. Seto will know what I'm talking about, right?... Seto?"
Seto waded into deeper water and bobbed up and down, hating that he agreed.
"Yeah, what you're teaching is actually tactical defense, specifically if you're tiny," Seto said with a shrug, leaning into the shade at the edge of the pool because his shoulders were getting warm from the sun. "The defense classes I've taken were all for 'if an attacker comes at you with a weapon, how do you disarm?' and never, 'if you're this small, what do you do?', 'if he's grabbed your hair, how do you fight?' I didn't know how to brace for half that shit and I think I know how to fight."
"Oh, how do you load a gun without ruinning a manicure?" Shizuka asked innocently, batting her eyelashes as she leaned her head playfully against Yami's knees.
Yami's heart skipped a beat and realized…maybe that wasn't common knowledge after all.
"And a lot of women have trouble with the combat part because the instructor is huge," Anzu said as she nodded. "Imagine someone as big as your bodyguard, Curly. It's not fighting dirty like grabbing your hair, but officers have had their hair grabbed before! And their partners had to step in to help! They emphasized partnership fighting, not…how do you get out of a wall-slam hair-grab."
"Ooooo," the girls at the edge of the pool nodded and all touched their hair nervously.
"How did you pass?" Seto asked with a challenging tone, and Anzu gave him a defiant smile.
"Heel to the neck strike, but only because I'm flexible," she declared, and the girls ooo'ed again. "But what Shizuka did there was really useful. I'll remember that when someone grabs my hair since I've grown it out over the years."
"I have long hair," Mokuba offered, whipping his black hair over his shoulder in a proud motion. "They did grab my hair before and all I did was stamp on the guy's foot. He didn't let go."
"You didn't do the toes-elbow-nuts move," Shizuka said helpfully, jerking her elbow out and then slapping her hand directly downwards. "Natural motion is to unbend your elbow after hitting him. Palm-strike his dick then! That's what Yami said!"
Seto let out a huff of laughter and sat up on the edge of the water, dangling his feet in while watching Yami grin, standing up to walk around the deck to sit down beside him, leaning his head playfully onto his shoulder. Seto rested his hand on Yami's knee and gave him a squeeze, receiving a pretty smile in return. Aww….
"Anzu, get in and play the attacker," Mokuba instructed, waving his pool noodle back and forth. "I never got to practice the hair-grab escape!"
"I don't want to be the attacker! I wanna learn how to defend too!" Anzu protested, pointing at Seto who was touching Yami's leg. "Use him! He's tall."
"Not interested," Seto called, and Yami gave him a playful nudge.
"You were a great attacker," Yami said slyly, feeling Seto tense and give him a low growl, followed by a stinging bite to his ear, and everyone poolside groaned in annoyance.
"Don't use Seto! He didn't even grab hard," Shizuka protested. "I'll call Joey over."
"He's on duty. I can call for a real instructor?" Anzu offered and she was pleased to receive eager head-nods from the girls, Mokuba included. "And have Yami tell us what to do?... Yami, what do you say? Can we please have you for two afternoons with the female cadets?! You could do a lot of good!"
Yami felt Seto sliding his hand over his and was given pulsing squeezes.
"Should I?" Yami breathed, and he aimed this question at Seto, whose lips were hovering at his shoulder, and he was given a soft kiss there as Seto replied, "Whatever. As long as it's fun for you. That's your motto now, isn't it? Do it because it's fun. Not because it's work or because someone asked. Your feelings come first, and if it does 'some good' great. But you'll be surrounded by baby cops. How will you feel about that?"
Yami laughed and paused for a moment and nodded at Anzu across the pool deck, "I'll do it."
Anzu's mouth dropped open and she froze for a second before leaping to her feet to dig out her phone, quickly calling for someone while everyone else splashed happily, their chatter blending in with the sloshing of the water up against the edge.
"This might be a fun hobby for you," Seto commented as he hopped off the edge and sank into the water to lean his head against Yami's tanned knees, giving him a loving look. "I know you love teaching Mokuba this stuff. Teaching others how to act in tense situations might be therapeutic for you. It's a good thing. She's right."
"Wow, you agree with her, for once. It must be good," Yami replied with a smirk, and Seto bared his teeth playfully, scooping water up to palm it down Yami's drying legs.
"Whatever. Get in." he coaxed, and Yami lunged at him with his arms outstretched, playfully wrangling him into the chokehold he'd felt Mokuba do earlier.
"Chokehold!" Yami called, and Mokuba came swimming over to pile on
"MY TURN!"
Seto's eyes watered as his lungs struggled for air, and Yami's muscular body hanging against his was comforting. It was sweet.
Author's note:
yami teaches his secrets / basic self defense
(am aware my upload schedule has been erratic! thank you for your continued support, I'll try to stay motivated to post more regularly! in the meantime, please consider supporting me here!)
-Ugli