Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Drifting towards Tomorrow ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, which I'm sure you all know…

If you spot any language errors or anything such, please tell me. English isn't my mother tongue, and I'm still trying to improve in it...

Thoughts and the song lyrics later in the fic are in italics. Yes, and the short dream scene too.

/Yami B's comments/

~*~*~

Drifting towards Tomorrow

Mokuba was sitting on the floor his Duel Monsters deck in his hand. He had spread some of his favorite cards on the floor and was watching them deep in thought. Ryou was sitting on a couch on the other side of the room, watching him silently. They had been dueling some time ago, but by now they both had grown tired of it.

Suddenly Mokuba shook his head, as if to clear it, and got up from the floor. He left his deck lying scattered over the floor, walked to Ryou and sat down beside him. He locked his arms around his knees and rested his chin on them, staring blankly ahead.

Just when Ryou had decided that he should say something to break the silence Mokuba looked up.

"He's late," he said quietly.

Ryou put an arm around him and drew him closer.

"I'm sure he comes soon," he said as Mokuba moved a little so that his head was now resting on Ryou's shoulder. "It's quite late, you should probably go to sleep…"

"I'm not tired," Mokuba muttered barely audibly. Ryou sighed and leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes.

The room was very white, so white that it almost hurt his eyes. The chair he was sitting on was the only furniture in the room. There were two doors, both of them closed, and he was staring closely at the other one. He knew that Seto was behind that door, building a house of Duel Monsters cards. He knew that it was very important, and that it took a lot of concentration, and because of that he was not allowed to enter the room. So he waited...

He woke up with a start, the last remnants of the dream fading away. For a moment he felt a little disoriented, but then Mokuba jumped up waking him up entirely.

"Seto!" Mokuba ran towards the hall, and Ryou got up also, stretching himself before following the black haired boy.

"Niisama!" [1] In the hall Mokuba was hugging Seto tightly. Ryou smiled a little as he watched them, but became more serious when he noticed how tired Seto looked. As Seto watched up from Mokuba he put quickly the smile back on his face and stepped closer.

"Welcome home," he said softly, placing a soft kiss on Seto's cheek. Seto nodded to him.

"I didn't know that you were here."

"I just came to keep company to Mokuba."

Seto nodded again, tiredly. "That's nice."

"Where have you been?" Mokuba asked clinging to his arm. "It's almost eleven…"

"So it is, so shouldn't you be sleeping already?"

Mokuba pouted a little. "I was waiting for you. I wanted to see you before going to sleep, I didn't think you'd come this late… Why didn't you call? I was starting to get worried…"

"Sorry kiddo, I was so busy I kind of… forgot. I didn't realize how late it was."

They had been walking as they talked, and came now to Seto's workroom.

"Do you want to eat something?" Ryou asked. "There's something left over from our dinner, I can…"

Seto shook his head. "No, I ate at work. If you'd just make me couple of sandwiches, that's all I need."

"Sure. Just wait a moment." Ryou left the room, heading for the kitchen, and Seto sat down by his computer turning it on. Mokuba blinked at him. "Niisama? What are you going to do?"

"Work. Go to bed now, kiddo."

"But it's almost eleven!"

"All the more reason for you to go to sleep."

"But…"

"Now, Mokuba." Seto took a disk from his briefcase and put it into his computer. Mokuba stood beside him for a moment looking quite doubtful. Then he shook his head, ran to a big armchair and sat on it swinging his legs.

"Nope. I'm not going to sleep before you go too."

Seto looked at him frowning. "Mokuba…"

"And besides," Mokuba continued cheerfully, ignoring his brother's frown, "I haven't yet told you what happened at school today."

Seto glared at him for a moment, but since that didn't seem to work he sighed and asked the question Mokuba was waiting for. "So… what happened?"

Mokuba grinned. "We had a math contest, and I was the only one who had all the answers right."

"Oh. That's great. Now you told me, go to sleep."

"Nope." Mokuba started to bounce up and down on the chair. "I'm not going anywhere unless you go too."

"Mokuba…" Seto's voice was a little threatening as he turned around to glare again at his brother, but he fell silent when he saw the up-and-down jumping child. "Where do you get all that energy?" he wondered half aloud. Mokuba grinned again.

"I sleep enough. That helps a lot. Maybe you'd be like me if you also slept well."

Seto made a choking noise when he imagined himself at a meeting bouncing up and down in his chair. "I hope not," he muttered.

"And I eat well too." Mokuba continued happily. "I bet you didn't eat any proper supper today, did you?"

Seto didn't say anything, and Mokuba started to chant in time with his jumping. "Did you, did you, did you…"

"Mokuba…"

"Did you?"

"Mokuba, stop that now!" Seto all but snarled. Mokuba fell silent on his chair, staring at his brother eyes wide. Seto sighed again, rubbing his temples. "I'm sorry kiddo, I…"

Just then Ryou came back with the sandwiches. "What's going on here?"

Mokuba jumped up from the chair and ran to him. "Tell him to go to sleep!" he said, pointing at Seto.

Ryou raised his eyebrows. "I thought you were going to go to sleep," he said. Seto sighed once more.

"I have work to do."

"At this time?" Ryou sounded quite skeptical, and Mokuba beside him nodded firmly. "You should go to sleep, niisama."

Seto turned to look at them. "Look, I had a bad day today, okay? There's something wrong with the new prototypes and we're already behind in the schedule. I have to make them work soon, so that they'll be ready in time. That means that the next few weeks are going to be quite busy, and…"

"Next few weeks?"

"What do you mean, niisama?"

Seto blinked at them. "What?"

"Don't you remember!?" Mokuba's voice was almost desperate. "You promised! You promised we'd go to the sea next week when we have vacation!"

Seto blinked again, and lowered then his eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry… I don't think that it's going to be possible…"

"But you…"

"We can't go anywhere next week, Mokuba. I'm sorry, but…" Ryou stared at him. "What do you mean? Mokuba is right, you did promise. Why do you have to be the one checking those prototypes, I'm sure you have lots of more than competent people hired who could do it! And it's not as if one week would really matter… if they aren't ready when they were supposed to be, then they aren't. I remember very well you saying that in this branch you have no competition, so does it…"

"Do you also happen to remember that I have a contract?"

"So what?" Ryou sounded almost angry. "Get your people to work, surely the success can't be only your on your shoulders!"

"I am the CEO of Kaiba Corporation, and it is on my shoulders to make sure that the contracts are kept!"

"So would you honor your promises to us if we wrote them down on a paper? Do I have to make a contract with you to get to spend a little time with you!?"

Seto stared at him for a moment, and turned then back to his computer.

"As I said, I have work to do. Could you leave me alone."

"Work can…" Ryou began heatedly, but cut off what he was saying and took a deep breath. He walked to Seto and placed a hand on his stiff shoulders. Both of them had totally forgotten Mokuba, who was watching them worriedly by the door.

"Seto… I know you've had difficult today, but you need to rest. You've been working all too hard lately and if the coming weeks will be even harder, you…" He sighed. "Seto, you need to rest, you're not any machine. It would do good for you to get away from your worries for a while …"

Seto turned around abruptly and glared icily at Ryou. "I have work to do. How many times do I have to say it before you understand? We are not going anywhere next week. Or at least I am not. You two can do whatever you want, I can't say that I care."

"Are you saying that your company means more to you than me and Mokuba?" Ryou asked quietly. Seto was staring at the computer screen again. "Leave me alone."

"Seto…"

"Stop distracting me, will you!" Seto shot an angry glance at Ryou over his shoulder.

"So now I'm a distraction, am I? Can't you get it into your thick skull that I'm worried about you!?"

"Be worried, if you want to, but do it somewhere else."

"Fine. I will. Here are your sandwiches." Ryou threw the sandwiches on the table and marched out of the room. Neither he nor Seto noticed that Mokuba had disappeared from the room much earlier.

Ryou was lying in Seto's bed staring at the ceiling. By now he had almost got up three times, planning to tell Seto to go to bed, but he had always decided that it was probably better to let him be in peace. Still, it was starting to be late. Very late. He turned over curling up, and closed his eyes deciding that at least he would start sleeping now. Just then he heard the door open, and someone entered the room. "Seto?" Ryou turned to look at the door, raising his head from the pillow, but it was Mokuba who was standing by the door.

"Hey, what are you doing here, kid? Can't get sleep?" Mokuba ran quickly across the room, and jumped onto the bed. He stared quietly at Ryou for a moment, and whispered then: "You… you aren't going to get divorced, are you?"

Ryou blinked. "Who are you talking about?"

"You and Seto of course."

Ryou laughed a little. "You have to get married before you can divorce, you know."

Mokuba frowned. "You know what I mean… There's a girl in my class whose parents divorced some time ago, and she was actually quite happy about it, she said that in the end they didn't do anything but fight and that she couldn't stand it anymore, and I was just thinking that you and Seto fight really much nowadays, and then I thought that maybe you are also going… going to…" Mokuba bit his lower lip to keep it from shivering.

"Don't worry, kiddo." Ryou ruffled Mokuba's hair. "All couples fight sometimes, we are not going to 'divorce' or anything. Go back to bed now and try to sleep."

He smiled at the small boy, and evidently his smile was more confident than what he felt since after staring at him quite intently for some time Mokuba nodded and crawled out of the bed. "Good night, Ryou-kun," he whispered as he left. "Good night, kiddo," Ryou whispered after him.

Fight really much nowadays... Mokuba's voice was ringing in his head. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, he had to admit that the kid was right. He and Seto... yes, they were fighting. Maybe not that much, but more and more all the time, and what worried him even more than those fights they had was that, in some ways, they seemed to be... drifting apart, that was the best way he could describe it.

He wasn't sure when it had started. In the beginning their relationship had been close to perfect. Even then Seto had had much work, but they had always managed to find time to be together, going to restaurants, on walks and picnics, or staying home all day, just the two of them. And sometimes Mokuba too, of course. They had really been like a happy little family, at least in his mind.

/Happy little family, indeed… I could have told you, and I think I did, that something that 'perfect', as you called it, couldn't be anything else than a dream./

Ryou sighed. I don't really need your comments right now yami, please… The spirit snorted inside his head, but fell silent.

Drifting apart… They hadn't been eating out together for a long time, and the picnics were almost ancient history. Seto worked long days at his company, came home, worked some more, and Ryou hovered at the background, trying to stay out of his way, since he knew that Kaiba Corp wasn't doing as well as it could, and that Seto really had much to do. When this had continued for some time, he had started to become worried. Not over their relationship, not yet at that time, but over Seto. Then the fights had stepped into the picture, very gradually, though, so that he didn't pay much attention to them in the beginning.

Or maybe it was just because I didn't want to... Didn't want to admit that there was something wrong. But now...

Now the nights when he found himself lying alone in the bed, waiting for the other to come to sleep were starting to be quite common. The scene was always the same. Seto insisted on working long after midnight, Ryou tried to get him to sleep, some little thing another of them said made the other angry, and then… it was only a matter of time. The icier Seto turned, the more heated Ryou became, and usually it ended with him storming out of the room with tears in his eyes. Absentmindedly he thought that it was strange; he was not one to get angry easily. Maybe… maybe it was all because he was afraid that he was losing Seto. The thought made him highly uncomfortable, and he shifted restlessly in the bed. I can't lose him... There has to be something... We need to talk. Tomorrow, if not tonight, but we need to talk.

Just then the door opened again. He sat up on the bed, and saw Seto enter the room. Seto remained a moment standing by the door, staring at Ryou, walked then to the bed and lay down on it, his back to Ryou. "Seto…?" No answer. Ryou sighed and lay back down. Tomorrow, then.

A bright beam of light entered the room from between the curtains and hit Ryou's eyes, making him shift restlessly. Getting back to shadow he smiled a little sleepily and tugged the sheets tighter around himself, hugging a pillow. He felt himself extremely content; the bed was warm, the pillows soft, and…

The pillows? He half opened his eyes, and looked around. He was lying sprawled on the bed, head on his own pillow, and Seto's pillow in his arms. Seto was nowhere in sight. He glanced at the alarm clock beside the bed. 7:34. He frowned a little but got then up despite his reluctance to leave the warm bed.

He had walked around the whole mansion, but hadn't found Seto anywhere. Now he was back in the bedroom, sitting on the bed with his cell phone in his hand. He hesitated a short moment, and chose then a very familiar number.

"Yes?"

"Seto, I…Where are you?"

Silence.

"I went to work."

"Oh." Ryou fall backwards on the bed, so that he was staring at the ceiling - which was starting to become quite a familiar sight for him - his legs hanging over the edge. The whole situation felt very unreal, as if he were seeing one of his dreams once again.

"Today is Sunday," he stated flatly.

"I know. Look, I have to go. I might come home quite late, get Mokuba to sleep in time today, okay?"

"Sure…"

"See you." The line went dead.

Am I your boyfriend or a babysitter nowadays? Ryou wondered idly. This isn't working... I have to do something.

/I was beginning to wonder how long it would take for you to realize that. Do you want me to help?/

Ryou shuddered. No thanks, yami. I think I'm going to deal with this on my own. Yes, with his yami's help he probably could have had Seto quite easily just for himself… sealed in a card, that is. Not to mention that Yami Bakura most likely didn't want to help him just out of his sudden great desire to make him happy.

He got up from the bed. He was wide awake anyway, and there was no point in trying to get any more sleep, he knew that he wouldn't succeed in that. As he began to dress up he turned on the radio, in the hopes that it would distract his thoughts. He was feeling vaguely angry, not really at Seto, nor at any other specific thing. Or perhaps it would be better to say that he was angry at everything, he wasn't sure. This affair was really starting to get on his nerves. He could barely concentrate on anything else nowadays, he had dreams - or maybe nightmares would be a better word - about Seto frequently and…

Now that he came to think of his dreams he remembered that he had dreamed of Seto also during the last night, at least he thought he had. The dream had been different from the earlier ones in some way. He had been waiting again, as usual, but then…

He frowned a little, standing on the floor with his jeans in his other hand trying to remember.

Then he had got tired of the waiting and left. Outside, there had been trees and a green meadow, and… something else but he didn't remember what. The dream made him nervous, and for a moment he felt like he wanted to cry. Life certainly wasn't easy.

Just then the radio began playing Natalie Imbruglia's City. Its lyrics caught his attention, and he sat down on the bed to listen.

Had a dream, had a drowning dream

I was in a river of pain

Only difference this time

I wasn't calling out your name yeah

Has it ended before it's begun

You hold on and I try to run...

I've always thought it's me who's trying to hold on... he thought as he listened and started to pull on his jeans. Is it you who's running then, Seto? The thought was strange, somehow he hadn't ever thought that Seto would be running from anything.

Anyway, I don't want this to be over, not yet... not ever. Despair and fear were tied into a tight knot inside his stomach. I don't want it to be over... He bent his head down and closed his eyes. I don't want...

Anybody heading in my direction

Away from the city

Anybody wanna change the way they feel

Step inside

Doesn't really matter where you wanna take me

Away from the city...

Away from the city… Ryou raised his head. Not a bad idea. If I'd only get him to agree to leave his work for a while...

He got up from the bed with new determination and pulled his shirt on. There has to be some way. Maybe Mokuba has some idea, he's a bright kid. Together we can surely come up with something.

The radio was playing the refrain again and Ryou whispered the words together with the singer as he searched his socks from the closet. "I wanna start again, I wanna start again, I wanna take it back, I wanna start again…"

"Did you say something, Ryou?" He glanced at the door. "Morning, kiddo," he said to Mokuba. "Just thinking aloud. Up so early?"

"I went to the bathroom and then I heard noise from here, so…" He glanced at the empty bed. "Where's Seto?"

Ryou sighed. "Working." Mokuba grimaced. "We have to do something to this."

Ryou nodded and straightened socks in his hand. "Just what I was thinking. Let's go on a walk after the breakfast, it seems to be beautiful weather outside… maybe it'll give us some ideas."

Seto glared at his watch with irritation, as if it had been the poor time measurer's fault that his chauffeur was late. He wanted to get home; it was very late, again, and there was still much to do. Now if the damned chauffeur just could do his job… Sighing he leaned against the wall, and eyed angrily the dark sky above him.

Then his cell phone rung.

He grasped it angrily, expecting the caller to be his driver, but paused for moment when he realized that it was Mokuba who was calling. He frowned a little and answered it.

"Hi kiddo. Why aren't you…"

"This isn't your brother," an unknown voice interrupted him. Seto tensed.

"Who is this, then?" he asked, voice very calm.

"That doesn't matter. What does matter, is that your brother, together with that pretty white haired boy - your boyfriend, if I'm not badly mistaken - are visiting us right now, and we thought that you might want to join them."

"Exactly what do you mean?" Seto asked warily, rubbing his temples with his other hand. I don't need this right now... I really don't...

"Oh, they were taking a walk earlier today, and we… offered them a ride." Seto was about to say something, but the man continued talking.

"You see, there's someone who really wants to speak with you and he thought that it might be easier to persuade you to come to visit if you had a good reason for it… like saving those two."

Seto held back a sigh. "I am not coming anywhere," he said, very slowly. "I am going to hang up now and call the police. If you let my brother and Ryou go right now you will spare yourself a lot of trouble. I…"

"Maybe," the man's voice sounded quite cheerful. "But before you hang up, why don't you turn around?"

Seto stood still a moment, and turned then slowly around, letting his gaze sweep the quiet street without any rush. There was no one on the street, only few cars parked on its sides. As he watched, a door of one of those cars opened, and a man stepped out of it. He was holding a cell phone in his hand. Seto felt an uncomfortable twist inside his stomach as he watched the man wave at him happily. Slowly he raised the phone back to his ear.

"So… don't you think it's a lovely night to leave on a little ride?"

The little ride had continued for a very long time, and at this point Seto didn't have any idea where they were. The men had put a blindfold on him, and although he had at first been able to keep track of the turns and had had a vague idea of where they were driving, it didn't last for long. There were three men altogether, two of them sitting on the back seat on both sides of him, and one was driving. Once he had heard the driver snicker, and one of the other two had told him sharply to shut up. Otherwise they had traveled in silence.

Finally the car came to a stop. Seto heard a door open, and another of the men nudged him lightly. "Come out of there."

Seto stepped out of the car and stood beside it waiting. The door closed again, and he heard the car to drive away.

"Have fun, Kaiba!" someone shouted.

What the... I know that voice! He tore the blindfold away form his eyes, and saw the car drive away, the window on the driver's side rolled down and an all too familiar blond head sticking out of it.

"Jounouchi Katsuya! Get back here at this moment!" he yelled, but the car speeded away. Damn that dog... Does he even have a driver's license... can't have, he's too young for that...

"Get back, I said!" he shouted again, although he knew it was in vain, the car was already too far for them to hear him. Of all idiotic jokes... He grasped his pocket, planning to call his driver, but realized then that his cell phone was left in the car.

"Fuck it all!" he snarled and turned around. With a little start he realized that he was standing in the yard of his seaside villa. Good. I can use the phone in the house. He was just about to go inside, when his eye caught a glimpse of white. Ryou?

Ryou was sitting by the shore, watching the waves. He knew that Seto would be there at any moment. Jou had called him some time ago and told that Seto had finally left the building, and that he and his friends were going to 'pull the prank', as Jou had put it, soon. Jou clearly thought that this whole thing was very funny, but personally Ryou was starting to be doubtful. He's going to be quite pissed off when he gets here...

The waves were rolling softly against the sand. Ryou raised his head to look at the moon, which shed its gentle light upon the sea. It was almost a full moon, but not entirely, another side of it wasn't totally round.

Not perfect... I wonder if there's anything perfect in this world...

/I found the answer to that question long ago. Wanna hear it?/ Ryou didn't answer anything, and surprisingly the spirit fell silent.

The night was beautiful, but Ryou couldn't help but feel lonely. "Long hours of loneliness, between me and the sea…" he whispered, trying to remember from what song it was.

/Ocean Soul, yadonushi. It's Ocean Soul./ [2]

How do you remember that? This time his yami chose not to answer.

He remembered now, at least parts of the song. I have always loved the ocean, he thought wearily. It is so… constant. It's good to know that there's something constant in this world. And I would say that it is near perfect…

Should I dress in white and search the sea

As I always wished to be - one with the waves

Ocean soul

Seto had always reminded him of the sea. There was something similar in him, something stable that couldn't be changed, although the surface sometimes roared in a storm. And his eyes... They are oceans in themselves... Always changing as it is, still always remaining the same.

"Seto…" The wind caught the whisper and carried it to the sea. "Why can't you see it… How much I care for you… I've always tried to be there for you when you need me…" Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he had tried too much only to please Seto, had been too ready to step aside and remain on the background, waiting patiently for a sign that he was needed.

I only wished to become something beautiful

Through my music, through my silent devotion

Then he heard the car engine. It came closer, and without turning to look he knew that it had stopped at the yard. There was a moment's silence, then the car was moving again.

"Have fun, Kaiba!"

Ryou sighed when he heard Seto yell at Jou.

Here we go, no turning back now...

Footsteps fell softly upon the sand, and stopped right behind him.

"Ryou." The voice was totally emotionless, and Ryou shivered a little. He had been thinking about what he would say to Seto when he'd finally arrive, but now he couldn't remember if he had came to any decision. He said the first thing that came to his mind.

"I put Mokuba to sleep in time today, he's sleeping in the villa." His words were very soft, barely audible.

"Ryou…" There was a strange touch in his voice now, but Ryou couldn't define what it was. He didn't like it, anyway.

"Ryou, get up and look at me!" Strong hands grasped his shoulders, pulled him up and turned around so that he was staring Seto in the eyes. He gulped. Oceans indeed... in a storm. Well, I knew he'd be pissed...

"Would you mind explaining me what is going on here?" Seto hissed through gritted teeth. Ryou lowered his eyes to the sand.

"I… we…" He gulped again. Just say something. "We had to come up with something to get you here. You know I'm right… you have to know. You're overworking, you can't hold up that pace for long. If you don't slow down you'll be in the grave at thirty, surely you have to understand that!"

He took a deep breath. "Seto… you need to rest sometimes. And… I think that we should… that we… you know, I'm starting to feel that we… that this isn't working… I mean our relationship, you're always working so late and we spend barely no time together anymore and I… I really don't…" His voice trailed off under Seto's cold glare.

"So you thought that it would be a good idea to make me think that Mokuba's been kidnapped? Do you have lightest idea of how worried I was!? God, I you ever do anything like that again I'll… I'll… I don't know what I'll do, but you'll be very sorry about it!"

Ryou felt tears gathering in his eyes as Seto shook him violently, and he willed them back. That Mokuba's been kidnapped? What about me?

"I know… I'm sorry, I guess it wasn't such a good idea, I shouldn't have gone along with it…" he whispered when Seto finally let go of his collar. "I'm sorry… I just love you so much, and I…"

He fell back to sit on the shore, turning his back to Seto and bending is head down. "I understand if you want to leave now," he whispered as he began idly to draw patterns into the sand with his finger. Only silence answered him, and he closed his eyes.

Seto... The name echoed in his mind and brought the tears back. This time he didn't hold them back but let them run freely down his cheeks.

Walking the tideline

I hear your name

Is angels whispering

Something so beautiful it hurts

Seto watched the boy sitting in front of him head bent, sobbing silently every now and then. He was really getting a headache from all of this, and part of him wanted just to walk away, but he didn't have the heart to do that. Ryou was simply too beautiful sitting there in the moonlight, his hair made silvery by it.

Seto bent slowly down and put his arms around the other boy. Ryou looked up in surprise, and he could see the tears glistening on his cheeks. He felt a little twinge of guilt then, and wiped them away gently.

"You know I love you too, don't you?" he asked softly, feeling a little uncomfortable; he just didn't like talking about his feelings. It made him feel vulnerable. He placed a little kiss on Ryou's lips. "I guess I could stay here for some time…" he continued.

"And your work?" Ryou asked hesitantly.

"Fuck the work," Seto muttered burying his face against Ryou's shoulder. "I'm too tired to think about it now… Actually I'm too tired to think about anything right now. Let's talk tomorrow, okay…?"

Ryou smiled a little and hugged Seto gently. "Tomorrow," he whispered.

Behind them in the shadows, a little figure nodded contently and ran silently back to the house.

~*~*~

[1] Niisama = big brother (kind of, actually it's 'oniisan', but I've been told that that's what Mokuba calls Seto)

[2] Ocean Soul is by Nightwish. Oh yes, and yadonushi means (parasitic) 'host' or 'landlord'.

Btw... Does anyone know how old you can get driver's license in Japan…? Just being curious. I have a feeling that you have to be 18, but I'm not sure…