Kaiba is still panicking.
He'd known something was wrong. He'd seen it in Atem's exhaustion, the way he always seemed on edge. But pregnancy? That hadn't even crossed his mind.
Though, now that he was thinking about it—it should have.
The incident in Egypt had been more than enough proof that something had happened between Atem and Yugi. Kaiba had written it off as awkward ex drama, but if Atem had been pregnant this whole time...
He felt his jaw clench. Had Atem even known?
And if he had...
Why hadn't he told anyone?
Kaiba didn't like the answer that immediately came to mind.
Atem hadn't told anyone because he hadn't felt safe enough to.
That realization made something sharp settle in Kaiba's chest.
He was going to murder Mutou's old man.
The doors to the KaibaCorp entrance slammed open, and Mokuba's sleek black car screeched to a halt right at the curb.
"Get in!" Mokuba yelled, already throwing the door open.
Kaiba didn't hesitate. He climbed in, carefully settling Atem against the seat before snapping his seatbelt in place.
"Drive," he ordered.
Mokuba didn't need to be told twice.
The car sped off, weaving through traffic as Seto glanced down at the unconscious former pharaoh, his expression unreadable.
"You better be okay, Sennen," he muttered under his breath.
He had a feeling this was only the beginning of whatever storm was about to hit.
Meanwhile at a collage campus across town.
Yugi barely registered the worried voice of his classmate over the roaring heat flooding his body.
His skin burned, his pulse hammering so hard it was deafening. Everything around him felt too sharp, too bright, too loud.
It wasn't until hands gripped his shoulders and shook him slightly that he managed to focus.
"Mutou! Hey, snap out of it!"
He blinked, his breath coming out in short, shallow gasps. His classmate—what was their name again?—looked concerned.
"You don't look okay, man. I'm taking you to the nurse."
"Wait—I—" Yugi tried to protest, but he couldn't even think straight.
His body was burning up, every nerve alight like something inside him was—changing.
It wasn't until they reached the campus nurse's office and he collapsed into the chair that it finally clicked.
The heat. The pounding pulse. The overwhelming assault of smells around him.
He was presenting.
Oh. Oh.
His stomach twisted, realization slamming into him all at once.
Alpha. He was presenting as an alpha.
A part of him—a deep, primal part—settled at the realization.
But the rest of him was spiraling.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?
And worse—why did he suddenly smell—
Yugi stiffened, his nostrils flaring as an odd, faint scent clung to his uniform.
Something warm. Something sweet. Something familiar.
He didn't have the knowledge to name it, but his instincts reacted immediately.
His stomach dropped.
Something was wrong.
Something was very, very wrong.
He needed to go. Now.
Yugi sat in the stiff office chair, legs bouncing restlessly as the campus nurse gave him a firm look.
"Breathe, Mutou."
"I—I am breathing," Yugi bit out, though it felt like every inhale barely made it into his lungs. His instincts were howling, something deep in his chest clawing at him, demanding he move.
But the nurse shook her head. "You just presented. Your body's adjusting. If you don't calm down, you're going to make yourself sick."
Yugi clenched his fists, struggling to obey. He knew she was right. His body was on fire, and his heart felt like it was hammering out of his ribs. But he couldn't—he couldn't just sit still—
Something was wrong.
His nose twitched, the scent clinging to his clothes still bothering him. It wasn't his usual detergent, and it wasn't anything from campus.
It was warm and soft, sweet in a way that made something deep in his gut twist.
He scowled, ripping off his jacket as if that would help. "Can you—" he swallowed thickly. "Can you smell something weird?"
The nurse arched a brow, taking the jacket from him and giving it a careful sniff.
Her face shifted immediately.
Yugi froze.
She looked at him like she was figuring something out.
"…Mutou," she started slowly, too slowly, like she was trying to gauge his reaction. "Are you close to anyone who's… expecting?"
The world stopped.
Yugi's blood ran cold.
"…Expecting?" he echoed, his voice barely above a whisper.
The nurse nodded. "Pregnant omegas tend to smell like milk. It's faint, but you've been around someone for long enough that it clung to you."
Pregnant. Milk.
Yugi's stomach lurched.
His body had been screaming at him to move—to go. And now, with that single word, everything clicked.
Atem.
Oh Gods.
Yugi shot to his feet so fast his chair nearly toppled over.
"Mutou—!"
"I have to go."
He didn't wait for an answer.
He was already running.
Yugi practically slammed the door open as he stumbled into the game shop, panting. His whole body felt wired, like he'd downed three energy drinks and got punched in the gut at the same time. His hands shook as he gripped the counter, forcing himself to focus on the familiar sight of the shop, of home—
"Grandpa!" His voice came out sharp, urgent. "Where's Atem?"
Sugoroku, who had been arranging a new shipment of cards, blinked in surprise at Yugi's sudden entrance. "Atem?" He set down the box in his hands. "Oh, he left for a meeting at KaibaCorp a little over an hour ago. He should be back before too long."
An hour ago.
An hour ago.
Yugi's throat went dry.
Something was wrong.
His instincts weren't calming down. If anything, the sense of urgency was getting worse.
His hands clenched against the counter, knuckles white. He needed to move. Needed to go.
But he forced himself to breathe through the thick knot of panic rising in his chest. Think. He needed to think.
Maybe Atem was fine. Maybe it was just his instincts messing with him because he had just presented—maybe—
But deep down, Yugi knew better.
His scent glands burned with the urge to track, to find—
Without another word, he turned on his heel and bolted for the door.
"Yugi?" his grandfather called after him.
"I'll be back later!" Yugi yelled, already running again.
He had to get to KaibaCorp. Now.
At the hospital, Kaiba is losing his shit.
Seto dragged a hand down his face, exhaling sharply as he stood just outside the hospital room, listening to the doctors talk in hushed but urgent voices.
"His blood pressure is through the roof," one of them muttered, flipping through a chart. "If it doesn't come down, we're going to have to operate."
"A C-section?" Seto's voice was low, sharp. He wasn't good at emotions, but even he knew this was bad.
The doctor nodded gravely. "Yes. He and the baby are both at risk."
Seto's stomach twisted. He'd seen Atem survive monsters, magic, actual death itself—and yet now, lying unconscious on a hospital bed, he looked so small. So fragile.
Another doctor sighed, shaking his head. "I've seen this happen before. When an omega is under prolonged stress without the care they need." He shot a glance at Seto, as if implying something. "They need affection. Stability. Safety. If they don't get it…" He trailed off meaningfully.
Seto's jaw ticked.
Atem had been dealing with all this alone. Of course, he had.
Seto wanted to curse. He wanted to punch something. But that wouldn't help Atem now.
Instead, he exhaled and turned back to the doctor. "Do whatever you have to do to keep them both alive."
And then he pulled out his phone, gripping it tight.
Yugi needed to know.
At the Game shop.
Sugoroku Mutou was many things—an old man, a shop owner, a former adventurer. But right now, he was just a grandfather answering the phone, completely unaware of the storm about to hit him.
The landline rang, and with a sigh, he picked it up. "Kame Game Shop, Mutou speaking."
"Yugi?" The voice on the other end was sharp, impatient.
Sugoroku recognized it immediately. Kaiba.
"Ah, Seto-kun? No, Yugi just ran out of here like his shoes were on fire. Is something wrong?"
A pause. Then, Seto's voice dropped lower, gritted between his teeth. "Atem is in labor."
Sugoroku nearly dropped the phone. "I—I beg your pardon?"
"He collapsed during a meeting. He's at Domino General. They're prepping him for an emergency C-section."
For the first time in a long while, Sugoroku's heart skipped a beat. He had suspected something was off with Atem—he wasn't blind, and the boy had been looking more and more exhausted over the last few months—but this?
Yugi. Yugi needed to know.
Except—
Sugoroku's stomach dropped.
"He ran out of here saying he was going to KaibaCorp." His voice was tight, urgent. "He doesn't know yet."
There was a sharp inhale on the other end, then a frustrated curse.
"Then he's running in the wrong damn direction."
Sugoroku gripped the phone tighter. "Kaiba-kun, I'll head to the hospital right away."
"Good. I'll deal with tracking Yugi down. He needs to be here."
The call ended.
Sugoroku exhaled slowly, setting the phone down with careful hands. His thoughts were racing, his nerves on edge. But there was no time to process, no time to ask all the questions that needed answering.
Right now, he needed to be there for Atem.
He grabbed his coat and headed out the door.
Hayate Mutou heard the shop's front lock click into place and frowned, descending the stairs just as his father pulled on his coat.
"Where are you going?" he asked, voice laced with irritation. It wasn't like the old man to be out this late, and he doubted it was for anything important.
Sugoroku barely spared him a glance. "The hospital."
Hayate's frown deepened. "What for?"
The old man turned then, staring him straight in the eye as he said, "Atem is in labor."
Silence.
Hayate's lip curled. "Tch. Figures." He crossed his arms, sneering. "So, the damn brat finally got caught, huh? Guess he couldn't hide it forever."
Sugoroku's jaw tightened. "You knew?"
"Of course I knew," Hayate scoffed. "Akari told me weeks ago. She felt bad for the little wretch, but I told her not to interfere. Not my problem." He shook his head, laughing under his breath. "Unbelievable. That damned omega thought he could just waltz in here, mooch off my son, and keep secrets?"
Sugoroku took a slow breath, forcing down the fury rising in his chest. "He wasn't mooching, Hayate. He's family. He has a job. He's been working himself to the bone while you—"
Hayate cut him off with a sharp glare. "Oh, don't start with that. He should've told us. Instead, he's been sneaking around, lying to Yugi, lying to everyone."
Sugoroku's patience finally snapped. "What the hell do you think would've happened if he had told you? Hm?" He stepped forward, voice low and furious. "You, who sneers every time you even look at him? You, who can barely hide your disgust when he so much as breathes near you?"
Hayate stiffened but didn't reply.
"You want to talk about lying?" Sugoroku pressed. "You abandoned your own son, Hayate. You left him when he was sick, never called, never wrote, and now you have the audacity to act like Atem is the problem?"
"Shut up."
"No." Sugoroku's voice was like steel. "I'm going to the hospital. You can either stay here and rot in your own damn self-righteousness, or you can get in the car and actually be there for your son and grandchild."
Hayate didn't move. He just stood there, glaring, shoulders tense, hands clenched.
Sugoroku gave a disgusted sigh. "That's what I thought."
And with that, he turned and walked out the door, leaving Hayate standing alone in the dark.
Infront of the KaibaCorp Building.
Yugi barely had time to catch his breath before a firm hand caught his arm.
"What the—?!" He twisted, only to come face to face with Roland, Kaiba's ever-loyal head of security.
"Mr. Mutou." Roland's voice was calm but firm. "Come with me."
"What? No, I need to see Kaiba—"
"Kaiba is the one who told me to get you." Roland didn't let go, instead steering Yugi toward the sleek black car already idling at the curb. "We don't have time for questions. Get in."
Yugi yanked against his grip. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!" His heart was pounding, instincts screaming at him that something was very, very wrong.
Roland exhaled sharply. "Atem collapsed in a meeting," he said, cutting straight to the point. "His condition was critical. He's at Domino General now, being prepped for an emergency C-section."
The world tilted.
"What?!" Yugi's legs nearly gave out, but Roland's grip kept him steady.
"We need to go. Now."
Yugi didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled into the car, barely registering the door slamming shut behind him before they were speeding through the city streets.
He leaned forward, bracing his hands on his knees, trying to breathe past the panic clawing at his chest.
Atem… Atem was pregnant? Atem had been pregnant this whole time?!
And now he was in surgery.
Oh, god.
Yugi squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't care about the hows or the whys right now. None of that mattered.
He just had to get to Atem.