Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Little Brother ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Kay, there's a bit more shounen-ai happening now. ^_^ Like you're surprised, right? What else did you expect from me, really? *grin*


DISCLAIMER: *glomps Seto* I don't own Yugioh, but I DO own the plot twists in this thing, so I'm giving Seto what comfort I can. I figure it's the least I can do for what I'm putting him through. ...Poor baby. *snifflesniffle*

Oh yeah!

~oO0@0Oo~ = flashbacks
/ ... / = thoughts
*...* = emphasis

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Little Brother
Chapter Two


/I should be...../

The lanky teen sank to his knees in the newly dug-up, rain-soaked earth. The limp white rose slipped from his fingers as he clutched the marker before him like a lifeline. Sobs that he didn't dare let out wracked his throat until he choked.

"Oh, god.." Kaiba moaned. "..I can't take this. I can't-"

"Kaiba?"

Pivoting around on one knee Seto looked up -a relatively short distance, it must be admitted- into Yugi Motou's worried eyes.

"What do you want here Yugi?" His voice was acid, angry that he was caught in such weakness.

Yugi blinked. "Actually, I-I came to visit Mokuba." He holds up a handful of sunflowers that were only slightly less limp than the white rose currently being ground into the mud by Seto's knee.

Kaiba stared at the plants as if he'd never seen them before. Or hadn't seen them in a long time...


~oO0@0Oo~

"Aren't they pretty, big brother?"

A childish hand shoving a yellow-faced flower into his face.

"...I guess."

Disinterest.

"I wanna get a whole bunch and plant them right under my window, so when I wake up and look outside I'll always be able to see them!"

The excitement almost poured out of that young voice.

"They grow too tall; in a while it'd be too dark for you to see around your room, much less be able to see outside."

A grin appeared, foreign on such a solemn face.

"..So I can't get them?"

Watery eyes looked up.

Sigh.

"I didn't say that..."

~oO0@0Oo~


Seto shook his head free of the past. /I hate being clung to, even if it's only by memories./ He glanced over at the incriminating marker. /But I guess...that's all I have worth having now./ He closed his eyes against the anguish that thought brought from the recesses of his mind. He searched for a distraction, anything to stop the flood of grief.

It came in the small hand settling on his shoulder as soft as a whisper.

"Kaiba?" Yugi asked hesitantly as he felt the other teen tense beneath his hand. "A-are these alright? I heard that he liked them, so I.." The last few words died in his mouth. /What am I doing here?/ He agonized.

"They were his favourite."

"Huh?" Yugi's thoughts focussed outside of himself again.

Kaiba gestured at Yugi's hand. "Sunflowers. They were his favourite." He said shortly.

"Oh." Yugi fidgeted with them while an awkward silence descended between the two boys.

Kaiba let his gaze settle on the other boy as his thoughts wandered an inevitable path. /..He's upset. Why?/ He winced, berating himself. /Why else, moron? Why else *would* he come here? To keep you company, perhaps?/

/...Not that I'd particularily mind./

He fought down a guilty blush. /Stop. It. Right. There. Don't think like that. You *can't* think like that. He certainly doesn't. How could he, when you're no better than a.../

Damn though. He *had* wanted a distraction. Gods, what a distraction. /Well,/ he mentally shrugged, /take what you're given, I guess./

"Kaiba?"

"..."

"Kaiba?" Yugi was tempted to shake his shoulder. Was he in some sort of late-stage shock or something? He looked so dazed... Guilt left a dark stain in Yugi. /I should go, but first.../

"...Seto?" He tried again.

Blue eyes snapped abruptly back to his violet ones. "Hm?"

Yugi hesitated again. His voice sounded so tired, almost dead. /Kaiba wouldn't...right? Right?/

"I-I.."

He looked down at his feet. /Come on. You *have* to do this. Just say the words, leave the flowers, and walk away./

/Except.../

Taking a steadying breath, he plunged on. "Kaiba, I'm..sorry. For everything." He couldn't bring himself to look at the other. "I-it's my fault. All of it," he whispered, the tears that had been swimming in his eyes escaping down his face. "I s-should've-"

"Yugi." Kaiba cut him off sharply. Standing up quickly, ignoring the mud stains on his pants, he looked down into Yugi's tear-streaked face. "Yugi," He let his voice soften a fraction, "If anyone's to blame for all of this, it's me."

"But Kaiba-"

Seto turned his back to him, facing the marker. He didn't want Yugi to see how much this was costing him, to admit weakness to someone other than those inner voices that never ceased to haunt him. Clenching his fists against the sides of his trenchcoat, he plunged on.

"Yugi, there aren't any buts. Mokuba was my little brother. The one who was my responsibility to protect. The one I was to keep from getting hurt by anything." He chuckled humorlessly, running a tired hand through his hair. "And look where he is now. Where everyone else important in my life is. Mother, Father..."

He snuck a glance over his shoulder. /Well, almost everyone important./ He amended. He looked back at the marker, then further down to the ground, where the rose was crushed. /Gods, Mokuba. How is it I screw up everything that matters in my life?/ He wondered bleakly.

"I'm so, so sorry." Yugi choked through his sobs.

Kaiba whirled around to be faced with a weeping angel. /I didn't say that, did I? Oh *damn*./ He tried desperately to think of a way to stop Yugi's tears, but his mind had been frozen for weeks now.

"Yugi, don't.."

But the smaller boy shook his head. "I-it's stil-l my f-fault. I w-was there, I coul-ld've, I s-should'v-ve.." He tried to continue, but fighting the words past his tears only caused the incessant hiccups to render him breathless.

Kaiba could only look on at the sorrowful hikari. /He's as grieved as I am./ He realized.

His thoughts were cut off abruptly by a handful of limp sunflowers shoved into his arms. Looking up in surprise all he could see was the rapidly retreating back of the sobbing boy.

/Yugi.../

*Now* the tears slipped past his guard, seeping down his face, blending in with the raindrops as they fell to the ground below and landed on mud-stained petals, the last remnants of a rose.

"oh yugi..."


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A/N: Soooo, how what it? *peeks out from behind Mokuba's marker* Wanna kill me for making Yugi cry?

I hope to have chapter three out a lot quicker than this one was. It *should* be easier, now that I've got an outline up to about chapter seven.

^_^;; Of course, feedback would be a great help in getting me off my lazy ass. So click the purple thingy and get to it! ^_^