Yami was inside on the first-floor lounge while Mokuba, Shizuka, and her two friends played together on the pool deck.
He was listening to them talk while pretending to be asleep, and Seto was beside him, with his ankles laced between his and playing a handheld game, the chiming sounds adding to the peaceful laughter coming from the pool deck.
Shizuka noticed Yami and Seto were chilling, and she leaned over to whisper to Mokuba, "hey... did something happen earlier this week? Like a fight, maybe?"
"No?" Mokuba shrugged. "Between who?"
"Your brother and..." Shizuka raised her eyebrows.
"No?" Mokuba repeated, frowning. "Why?"
"Wellllllllll..." Shizuka picked up her phone and tapped it nervously. "Joey asked me to ask if Yami is mad...at Anzu or him. Like work-wise. And I don't know what could've happened there?"
Mokuba paused for a second and then lowered his voice, "Yami had a...mental break-down on Monday. Like he was crying on the stairs, hugging his knees, and Seto was running around making him feel better. So... Yeah, I guess something did happen. Oh, he threw a tablet against the wall. I went to Nat's house after that."
Shizuka raised her eyebrows higher in alarm, "before or after you left for Nat's house? Say it properly!"
"He threw a pad against the wall in an angry moment," Mokuba recited with an eyeroll. "Seto sat him down and I wasn't allowed inside. And then when I came back from Nat's house, I sawsee Yami crying on the stairs. Seto rage-worked until 4AM, took the day off the next day, and then...that's it."
"So he is mad or he's not mad?" Shizuka wondered, her heart clenching with a brief pang of anxiety. "What was it even about?"
"I said I don't know! And ...I'm scared to ask him," Mokuba mumbled, swinging his legs in the pool. "You ask. They both like you more than me, cuz you're smarter."
Shizuka let out a huff and inched her feet out of the pool. Fine, she would ask. Sheesh.
Everyone tiptoed around Yami, it was almost offensive.
Walking into the house, she saw Seto look up and then look back down at his game.
"H-Hey... Yami?" She asked timidly and Yami answered instantly, looking asleep but sounding wide-awake alert.
"Yes?"
"Um...Joey sent me a weird text, so... Can I ask you about it? It's work-related...Seto stop staring at me like that," She clutched the phone to her chest and swallowed thinly.
Was it safe to ask or not?
"Go ahead. I'm ready to hear it," Yami said, opening his eyes to give her his full attention. "What is it?"
Shizuka raised her phone and read the text aloud, "Hhey baby sis. Can you ask Yami if he's mad at me or Anzu? And Anzu be sitting here having a crisis, saying 'we are fucked', but she didn't know. Uh...pic for proof and a recordin' I guess. Can ya not listen to it pretty please? Love you. Just hand the phone to Yami."
Seto let out a huff and gave Yami a knowing smile.
"See?" he said arrogantly. They had spent many late nights debating if Anzu would acknowledge the situation.
He speculated, yes.
That cop was genuine. Her past actions proved she wanted to stay on good terms with Yami through their spa days and manicures.
Yami stayed doubtful.
Having been burned before, Seto understood and didn't push it further.
This was why he didn't keep friends, so it was cute Yami kept wanting to try.
Maybe it was their trauma evolving differently.
Yami kept wanting to try trusting, and he'd given up.
"Let me see it?" Yami asked quietly as he accepted the phone from Shizuka and saw a voice message waiting for him, unread.
Shizuka flushed pink, shrugged, and carefully walked away, heading back to the pool's edge.
Waiting until she was out of earshot, Yami tapped the recording and listened. Seto sat up beside him in mild curiosity, hearing Anzu's ranting about 'being fucked' and 'we should apologize'.
The recording ended and Yami lowered the phone, staring at Joey's name in Shizuka's phone.
How intriguing.
Joey understood his distrust so much, he'd recorded Anzu without her knowledge...to appear genuine.
"Jou is one to watch out for," Yami concluded, giving Seto a nudge, and he only received a huff and the loud pings from his handheld game. "What do you think?"
"Don't care. He and I have an agreement," Seto said offhandedly, draping his long leg over Yami's knees to keep him trapped there while his thumb rapidly tapped the A button on his game. "Regarding a certain gangster."
Yami smiled calmly and raised the phone to give Joey a return message as a voice message.
"Jou, thank you for asking. I'm not angry at all. I did call Anzu to ask if she knew, and she did not, and I believe her. See you anytime you two want to drop by," Yami said, and he sent the message.
"Liar," Seto muttered, and he received another playful nudge.
"I meant it," Yami said, raising his arm to wave at Shizuka to call her back over. "Oh, I should delete this..."
He held the message down and deleted the recording of Anzu.
Shizuka came to take her phone back with a sheepish smile and turned to walk back out to the pool, and Yami leaned back into the couch with Seto's legs over his, feeling relaxed.
He was filled with a warm, happy feeling...
"I love you," Yami felt it slip from his mouth almost like a reflex. Anytime he felt nervous, happy, sad, angry, he would reaffirm that he loved Seto, and it would calm him down, because...
"I love you too, dork," Seto lifted his head out of his game to smirk and then thumped his head back onto the pillows. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."
Yami flushed pink and rested his hand atop Seto's pale knee, staring at his own, tanned knuckles and the rings on his own fingers.
Agreed.
Seto was the most understanding, encompassing partner he'd ever had the privilege of meeting.
And it was all because of a gut feeling, he'd kept the CEO alive.
Author's note:
mai's arc coming next!