Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Coalescence ❯ The Transformation of Seto Kaiba ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

2) The Transformation of Seto Kaiba

Summary: Seto tells his brother of his new "project"; Seto tries out a new strategy at school; Yugi chats with Yami about the changes in Seto; Yami has a heart to heart with Yugi about dating.



Mokuba blinked up at his brother as if Seto Kaiba had grown a third eye himself. "Onii-sama?"

"You heard me, Mokuba," Seto repeated, pacing in front of where his little brother was perched on a stool. "There's someone I'm interested in going out with, but before they'll date me, I have to demonstrate that I'm not a total bastard, because basically, that's how they see me."

"No, I heard all that," Mokuba giggled. "What surprises me is that you want to date!"

Seto scowled at his little brother. "I'm a healthy teenager. Why wouldn't I want to date?"

Mokuba, not in the least intimidated by the brother he knew so well, was still giggling. "Because you're the CEO of Kaiba Corporation and the former world champion of Duel Monsters, that's why, silly!"

"NEXT world champion, thank you very much," Seto snapped at him, then subsided. "Well, there is more to life than the Kaiba Corporation and Duel Monsters after all!"

The mop-haired boy nearly fell off the stool. "There is? I mean, you actually think there is? YOU? Seto, are you feeling well?"

"I'm fine," Seto muttered tersely, then relaxed his posture toward his only family member. "Is it really that strange, Mokuba?"

The boy shrugged. "Well, yeah... say, have those dudes on your board pressuring you already to produce an heir or something? Is that why you're suddenly interested in girls?"

Seto coughed abruptly. "NO, I assure you nothing like that is going on!" he hastily corrected him. "You're my heir, anyway, Mokuba. And I am emphatically NOT interested in girls."

Mokuba gaped at him, sure he hadn't heard his brother right. Seto Kaiba, gay? [Well, geez, I can't really see him with a girl anyway... Kami-sama, I can't see him with anyone! I wonder who...] "Onii-sama, are you saying what I think you are?" he asked in a small voice.

[No sense delaying this,] Seto thought grimly. [Above all else I have to get Mokuba on my side first before I can go to work on Yugi and his friends.] "Yes, Mokuba, I suppose you could say I was gay since the person I want to date is male. Do you have a problem with that?"

"N...no, of course not," Mokuba replied, then hopped off the stool to stand before his brother, reaching up to his arms as he peered up at him through the black mop of hair. "Seto, you're really serious, aren't you? I mean, there really is some guy that you like, huh?"

Seto's expression gentled as he looked down into the anxious face of his only sibling, letting the boy hang on him. "It's crazy, but... yeah. I've got it bad, Mokuba." He sighed heavily, then laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "These things often don't make sense, I've heard. Moreover, I'm apparently unacceptable as I am right now. Mokuba, I may need your help..."

Mokuba brightened up and impulsively threw his arms around his brother. "I'll do it! But you have to really mean to be nice, not just act that way, okay, Seto?"

[I'm so lucky to have this kid as my brother,] Seto thought for the millionth time. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."

"One thing, though," Mokuba added, peering up. "Who is it?"

Seto just stared at his brother for a moment. Then he glanced away. "I'm not ready to say."

Knowing how flinchy his brother could be, Mokuba let it go. For now. [But I'll find out...]





Yugi Mutou was sitting at his desk before the first class of the day, chatting with Jounouchi and Anzu, when a shadow fell across his desk. He looked up, bewildered.

"Good morning," Seto Kaiba greeted him gravely, then added a little nod. While the others gaped, he glanced over and greeted them as well. "Yugi. Jounouchi. Anzu."

"Good morning, Kaiba-kun!" Yugi greeted the tall boy cheerily. "We were just talking about the newest series of local tournaments that Industrial Illusions has begun to organize. They'll be starting up in a couple months, I guess. Are you going to enter?"

Jounouchi and Anzu were gaping at the young executive. [Kaiba's talking to us,] Jounouchi marveled. [Kaiba's TALKING to US!] Then he broke in before Kaiba could speak. "Eh, I don't suppose you figure you need to enter, eh, Kaiba?"

Seto managed not to flinch. "I suppose I will," he replied succinctly, then in an even tone of voice, added to Jounouchi, "You both should do well also."

Yugi opened his mouth, but Jounouchi was faster. "Whoa, is that a vote of confidence I hear from Seto Kaiba? Man, Yug, get out the bazookas, this guy's an imposter!" He leapt from his chair and imitated taking aim with a gun. "Blam!" he yelled, pretending to shoot Kaiba.

"Stop that, Jounouchi-kun!" Yugi hastily broke in, then looked sheepish at Kaiba, who'd merely frozen, his eyes turning to dark ice. "Don't mind him, Kaiba-kun, and thanks for the compliment."

Seto opened his mouth, closed it again, then managed to reply, "I'm just stating a fact, not seeking to puff either of you up," he murmured. [Oh, that wasn't very tactful...] "I mean..."

"Jounouchi thanks you, too, don't you, Jounouchi-kun?" Anzu interceded, throwing the blond boy a look.

"Yeah, whatever... so when did you decide to start greeting people, eh, Kaiba? That's a new trick for you..."

"JOUNOUCHI-KUN!" Anzu and Yugi cried together.

Seto took a deep breath. "It's all right. We're in the same class. It doesn't hurt to be civil." [And that's all I can handle of THIS right now...] He began to move toward his seat. "Now, excuse me. Class is starting."

"Right," Jounouchi muttered, then looked at Yugi, who was staring after Kaiba. "What?"

Yugi smiled. "Nothing."





Once Yugi was alone in his room after school that day, he immediately addressed his other self. "Yami! Are you there, Yami?"

"I'm always here, aibou," the ancient spirit murmured, appearing before him. Yami stood with his arms crossed over his chest, regarding his little host fondly.

Yugi bounced on his heels in excitement before him. "Did you see? Kaiba actually made an effort to be polite to us! Usually he avoids eye contact with me and my friends and pretends we don't exist. Is this because you and he talked yesterday?"

Yami looked thoughtful. "He did make an effort, didn't he? Yes, we did have a bit of a chat about that."

Yugi tilted his head, peering up at the taller image of the Egyptian spirit. "I wonder why he's suddenly wanting to have anything to do with us at all? Does it have to do with the new tournaments coming up?"

"No, I do not think so," Yami murmured, glancing aside. He'd spent a great deal of time since yesterday contemplating one Seto Kaiba. Finally he'd admitted to himself that he did feel some powerful chemistry between himself and Seto, something that must have grown out of their fierce, intense duels. But paramount in his mind was concern for how little Yugi would be affected. [Now is not the time to talk to him about that,] he decided. He did not want Yugi to know it was Kaiba he was thinking of a relationship with. [Later...]

"Maybe he just finally realized that it was silly to keep being so cold to me," Yugi was yammering on. "I mean, we have a lot in common, don't we? With dueling, I mean. Why not be friendly rivals?"

"Why not indeed?" Yami returned, barely listening.

Yugi noted that his aibou was deep in thought about something. "I'll talk to you later. I need to get going on my homework."

Yami glanced at him again. "Very well." He disappeared.

[Wow,] Yugi thought as he got out his books. [Yami's preoccupied tonight. I wonder what's on his mind?]





Just as Yugi was ready to crawl into bed for the night, he was surprised to feel his aibou's presence again. "Yami?"

The spirit appeared before him and sat on the bed. "Yugi, if you don't mind, there's something I'd like to talk to you about," he said seriously.

Yugi sat beside him, wondering. "Ah, sure, Yami, what is it?"

Yami took a deep breath. This could be tricky. "Yugi, you're sixteen years old. Have you given much thought to the future? About what you want to do with your life? About wanting to spend it with someone?"

"Huh? Oh..." Yugi shifted a bit uncomfortably. It was going to be one of those talks. His Yami could be so deep sometimes, something Yugi wasn't used to. "I dunno, I figure I still have time to decide on what I want to study in college. And... I dunno, I can't see myself married with kids or anything, at least not yet! Er, maybe with kids, I do like kids... Is that what you mean?"

"You're old enough to start dating, Yugi," Yami reminded him gently. "That's a good place to start."

Yugi's eyes went bigger. "Um, dating? Oh, sure, yeah... I suppose so. I just haven't given it much thought." He giggled nervously. "Who'd want to date a shrimp like me?"

"Don't you dare sell yourself short - literally, Yugi!" Yami returned a little strongly. "Height isn't important, the heart is. You know that!"

"Er, yeah, I guess so," Yugi replied, blanching at his aibou's abruptly severe expression, but then calmed when it eased right away. [Yami's just so intense all the time... he needs to chill out. Hmmm...] "You know, perhaps you should date, too. I think it'd be good for you!"

"What?" Yami asked, startled.

"I mean it..." Yugi shrugged sheepishly. "I know you'd have to use my body, but I don't mind and I know you'd always take care of me. Even if..." He blushed suddenly and lowered his head, staring at his toes.

"Even if what, Yugi?" Yami prodded gently, though he thought he could guess what had made his aibou suddenly embarrassed.

"Um..." Yugi picked nervously at the bottom edge of his pajama top with his fingers. "Um, even if... youwantedtohavesex," he said in a rush, turning bright red.

[If he should mean that...] Yami leaned down, trying to peer into the teenager's face. "Yugi... do you understand what you're saying? You'd really be willing to allow me to have a relationship with someone else... even a sexual relationship?"

Yugi turned his face away, still blushing fiercely. "Yami, you're a real person even if you don't have your own body. We've talked about sharing mine, I know. I never thought about this before, but it'd be pretty selfish of me to want to have something like that if I didn't let you, too. It's not like I can ever get rid of the Puzzle or you or would ever want to." He took a deep breath and made himself turn to look up at his aibou. "You're part of me for the rest of my life - at least I hope so. And I want you to be happy. I know you want me to be happy - that's why you brought up about me starting to date, isn't it?"

"Yugi," Yami breathed softly. "I don't know what to say..."

Yugi took a deep breath and nodded. "It could be tricky finding girls who would be willing to share as well, but not impossible. I mean, well, I guess I kinda like Anzu a little, and she's probably someone who could understand. At least she already knows about you."

[He's amazing,] Yami thought, feeling a warm rush of tenderness for his little alter ego. [So giving...] "Yugi, you should know... I believe I am only attracted to males."

Yugi's eyes went impossibly bigger and his mouth fell open in shock. "You mean you're only into guys?"

Yami nodded, serious. "Although I do not have specific memories of this from my past life, I believe this is how I've always been. Same-gender relationships were not unusual or shunned in my time." He paused, studying the boy's face. "I imagine this could be difficult for you to accept, aibou."

Yugi gulped as he tried to recover from the surprise. His other self was gay? Yugi didn't think he was, but then, he'd never really given any of this much thought at all. "Um, ah... it's a little weird... I've just never thought about... that." He glanced away, uncomfortable. "But I do want you to be happy."

"If it's too much to accept, I understand," Yami murmured, standing up. "Your happiness is far more important to me than my own. I never want to do something that would make you uncomfortable. I would rather remain celibate than ever do that."

"Er, ah, thanks," Yugi muttered, then took a deep breath. "Um, I think you've just given me a lot of things to think about, Yami. I'm not against you being with a guy, it's just... it's just... WEIRD. I need to think about it."

"I understand. Good night," Yami murmured, then disappeared back into his own soul room.

[Yami's GAY?] Yugi's mind was spinning as he plopped into bed. [That means... some guy would be touching my...] He grabbed protectively at his crotch at the thought. [AAAACKKK!] Then he shook himself out of it, rolling over onto his side. [But I wouldn't even know, so... when Yami has full control over my body, I'm just in my soul room like he is now in his. Although he usually has full awareness of what I'm doing so he can protect me, when he's in charge, I usually do not, and don't have to...]

He sighed deeply. [I should trust my aibou... he'd never, ever allow me to be hurt, I know. If I'm unaware of what's going on, why should this bother me? And if I meant what I said, that I want him to be happy with someone, too, then I can't be silly and squeamish like this. I mean, even if it was a girl... I shouldn't be weird about that either. A girl, a guy, what's the difference, right? And actually, if I'm with a girl, that should be much easier for her to accept, sharing my body with a guy rather than another girl, right? Girls hate to share...]

He rolled to his other side. [But guys have sex together differently. They...] He swallowed with difficulty. [Oh, man... I totally never, ever thought about that! Hey, wait a minute... if Yami's my other self... doesn't that mean I should be gay, too? What if...?]

Yugi made a decision. [I'm going to ask Anzu out tomorrow! I'd better find out as soon as possible!]