Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Rivaled Love ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

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Chapter Two

Yugi walked home in silence. He heard his friends goofing around on their way to the game shop, but he just didn't feel like participating. He had to tell Kaiba about Yami soon, especially if they were going to go further than heavy petting. How would Kaiba take finding out he also shared his body with a five thousand year old spirit of a pharaoh.

Granted, ever since his duel with Pegasus, Yami had been able to separate himself from Yugi. But he had to stay near the Millennium Puzzle. Well, maybe not near as in same house, but same country. And no matter how far Yami went, well, okay, they only split up as far as the edge of town, but he could still mind-speak to Yami as clearly as when they were standing together. And to be honest, he really didn't want Yami too far from him.

What if Kaiba freaked, or hated him, or thought he was too weird?

They got to the game shop.

He waved goodbye to his friends and went in, greeting his grampa absently and trailing upstairs. He dumped his backpack in it's usual spot by the desk and sat down on the bed.

/Yami? Can you come out for a while? I need to talk to you./

There was a flash of light and Yami appeared on the bed beside him. He pulled Yugi into a hug.

"What's wrong hikari?" Yami asked in concern.

Yugi cuddled closer. Yami started stroking his hair soothingly.

/I have something I need to tell you./ Yugi thought to him.

//What is it?//

/It's about Seto./

"Kaiba?? What's he done now??" Yami asked angrily.

"Oh, it's nothing like that." Yugi reassured his worried yami.

"Then what's worrying you?"

Yugi looked Yami in the eyes, making sure he had his fullest attention. "Seto kissed me."

"WHAT??!" Yami's indignant shriek echoed through house.

Yugi panicked and jumped on top of Yami, holding his hands over Yami's mouth. Trying to stop anything else he might yell.

"Shhh! What if someone hears you??" Yugi listened intently for a moment, sighing in relief when no rushed footsteps came pounding up the stairs.

Yami was muttering beneath Yugi's hands. "Good for nothing lout. Poacher. That vulture." Yami pulled Yugi toward him, growling beneath his breath. "Trying to take what's mine." He glared at Yugi who was looking at him in shock. "Mine."

Yugi squirmed out of Yami's arms. "Uh, Yami? Are you feeling okay?"

"NO!" He roared. "How dare he." Yami peered at Yugi. "You did tell him to get lost didn't you?" Yami frowned. "No, you wouldn't. You're too nice to do something like that."

Yugi groaned and held his head in his hands. /This cannot be happening./ He muttered to himself. Or so he thought.

//Why can't it?// Yami asked waspishly. //How could you let him kiss you?//

/Contrary to popular belief, Seto isn't all bad. And I happen to like him./ He stuck out his chin and crossed his arms. Just short of saying 'So there'.

Yami was glaring accusingly at Yugi when he noticed the white bandages around his wrists where the coat had ridden up, due to Yugi's crossed arms.

He snatched one of Yugi's forearms gently in a firm grip and looked at the wide bandages.

"What happened?" Yami asked. His face and voice devoid of expression.

Yugi gave a weak laugh which quickly died out in Yami's silence. "Uh, accident?" He tried sheepishly.

"What happened?" Yami asked again. His eyes hard.

Yugi sighed. "I had an argument with Seto the other day. Just before the first class at school. We got a bit carried away, that's all." Yugi told Yami earnestly. "It's partially my fault anyway, I kept pushing him. I wouldn't leave him alone." Yugi's shoulders slumped. "I felt sorry for him. He seemed so alone. I shouldn't have accused him of being cold."

"How did you go from fighting, and getting bruised to him kissing you?" Yami wanted to know.

Yugi blushed. "I made some remark about Seto being too scared to accept help and wanting to die rather than have our support, and he got mad. The next thing I knew Seto had my wrists and had me pinned against the wall, consequently he was pressed up to me." Yami growled when he heard this. Crimson eyes burned.

"And then he kissed you." Yami stated. "Was he still holding your wrists?"

"Only for a little bit. He did let go." Yugi supplied helpfully.

"Did you even try to push him away?" Yami demanded.

Yugi picked at the bedsheet, his face red with embarrassment. "Um, actually, I kinda pulled him closer."

Yami tilted his head towards Yugi. Ruby, black and gold locks swaying gently. There was a distant expression in those normally fiery eyes. Yami's mind focused on something else. He pulled himself back, facing his little light. "Does this mean you're letting him court you?" Yami asked finally.

"Huh?" Yugi tried to figure out what Yami meant.

Comprehension dawned. "Oh, you mean like dates?"

Yami resisted the urge to hit his head against the wall. "Yes, like dates." He ground out from gritted teeth.

Yugi looked slightly uncertain. "I don't really know. We never discussed it? Why?"

Yami stood up. He looked thoughtful for a moment. He kept shooting Yugi calculating looks.

Finally he spoke. "Yugi...?"

"Yes Yami?" Yugi looked at his darker half anxiously. He'd been acting so strange.

"How do you feel about me?" Yami asked his hikari intently. Crimson eyes boring into lavender.

Yugi wondered why his yami was asking him this. "You're my best friend. Why Yami?"

"Am I anything else to you? Do I mean anything more than a friend to you??" Yami asked abruptly.

"Yami? Are you sure you're okay?" Yugi was getting worried.

"Please, just answer my question." Yami pleaded.

Yugi thought seriously about what Yami asked. It obviously meant a great deal to his dark half, so he answered as best and as completely as he could. "You are more than a friend, you are the other part of my soul, Yami. You are my strength, my balance. You are my protector, my dark guardian. I trust you, have trusted you with my life, and the lives of those dearest to me."

Yami closed his eyes in unmitigated relief. Taking a deep breath he sat down beside his cross-legged aibou.

"Yugi?" Yami asked very softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think you could feel for me anything like you have felt with Kaiba?"

Yugi's cheeks pinked. He twisted his fingers together.

"Yugi-Hikari?" Yami whispered.

"S-sometimes, before...w-when I'm around y-you." Yugi stammered, flustered. "But I don't know if it's really the same. I didn't even know what I felt for Seto was until he kissed me."

"What if I kissed you hikari?" Yami whispered into Yugi's ear.

Yugi reddened. "I can't."

"Why not?" Yami quirked a brow.

"Because..." Yugi tried to explain. "Seto kissed me first."

"Has he asked you out?" Yugi's dark half asked. "Or made it plain you're in a relationship?"

Yugi scowled at his smug yami. "It's only been one day Yami. Neither of us know what we're doing yet."

"Doesn't matter." Yami smirked. "If he hasn't claimed you as his partner or lover than the playing field is wide open. And I get to court you too."

"Claimed??! What century are you living in Yami?!" Yugi yelped in outrage. "Anyway. It doesn't matter. He doesn't even know about you."

"How can he not? We've dueled him often enough." Yami pointed out.

Yugi shook his head. "We've usually had an arena between us, not to mention the Puzzle is good at clouding memories. Even my friends didn't notice for ages. And they were always with me."

Yami thought about this. Then his eyes gleamed. "So...he thinks I'm you..." He trailed off, thinking viciously.

"Oh no you don't. Nuh-uh. No way Yami. Nope." Yugi frantically shook his head at Yami, tri-coloured locks waving.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked innocently.

"I've seen you get that look in your eyes before. Whatever you're thinking you can just as well forget!" Yugi said determinedly. He sniffed disdainfully. "Anyway If you got close enough he'd be able to tell you weren't me. He's not daft."

Yami snorted.

Yugi glared at him. "What?!" The angry teen snapped.

"I think he's got to be an idiot if he hasn't properly claimed you." He shot a smug look to his aibou. "Then again, I'm not going to complain."

"I'm not a fucking toy to be fought over, Yami!"

Yami gaped at his little hikari. "Y-you. Mouth. Word. Eeep!"

Yugi blushed. /I've been around your influences far too much Yami./

Yami snickered. //I can't believe something like that came out of your innocent, sweet mouth, aibou.//

/What's this fascination with my mouth??/ Yugi thought, his mind flashing back at school when Seto called him sugar-lips. He giggled.

Yami looked at him wide-eyed. Yugi hadn't shut the link when he brought up the image. He coughed in surprise. Then the snickers broke out followed rapidly by full blown belly-laughs. Yugi stared as his dark half rolled around on his bed in hysterics.

Knock. Knock.

They froze. Yami jumped up. He still had tears streaming down his eyes from laughing so hard.

"Uh...who is it?" Yugi called. /Get back in the Puzzle Yami!/

//Nuh-uh. This is more fun.// His dark sent right back. Covering his mouth with his hands.

"It's me Yugi." Kaiba's husky voice came through the door.

"J-just a s-sec!" Yugi yelled, motioning frantically to Yami to get back inside his soul room. /Yami, If you don't go now I'll never forgive you!!/

Yami waved a hand at him. //Fine. Spoil my fun why don't you?// He gave a long-suffering sigh down the mind-link before vanishing with a flash.

Yugi went over to the door and opened it, looking up into Kaiba's puzzled face. "Did...I thought I heard voices. I didn't disturb anything important did I?" He glanced around the empty room.

"Uh, no. Nothing. Just uh, talking to myself. You know how it is." He gave a small laugh. He waved the other boy into his room and shut the door behind him. Yugi went and sat back on his place on the bed.

"Do you want to sit down?" Yugi asked. "There's the bed and the...uh, chair."

Kaiba looked at the chair and than looked at Yugi pointedly. The chair was child-sized. Since Yugi was a lot smaller than his classmates he didn't always need to buy full-sized stuff. Unfortunately for Kaiba, his long frame had no chance of fitting in it. Kaiba sighed and shook his head amusedly at the smaller boy.

Kaiba sat beside Yugi on the bed. He pulled the smaller boy into a hug. Yugi snuggled into his embrace. He could feel Yami fuming.

//Well.// Came the impatient thought. //Are you going to tell him about me or do I need to make a dramatic appearance?//

Yugi tensed. /Fine. But you'd better behave. Give me a minute./

Kaiba felt Yugi tense. "What's wrong?"

Yugi turned worried indigo eyes up to Kaiba's face. He twisted his fingers in Kaiba's shirt absently.

"You know how you said you heard voices when you came up?" Yugi told him.

"Yes....?" Kaiba looked at his little angel. Yugi looked anxious. Kaiba frowned.

Yugi looked back down at the bed. "Well, I wasn't quite honest with you. I was talking to someone."

"But there's no-one else in here chibi ichi." Kaiba shot a suspicious look towards Yugi's wardrobe. Half expecting someone to jump out.

Yugi followed Kaiba's scowl and laughed. "No. I don't mean like that." Yugi sat up. Looking up at Kaiba seriously.

"You know, when we Duel. Have you ever noticed anything different about me?" Yugi stressed.

Kaiba frowned in thought. If suddenly felt like a fog lifted. His eyes widened. Now that he thought about it, there were times when Yugi seemed...harder. Colder even. Not at all like he normally was. Kaiba had always just figured he was psyching himself up for their duels.

"Sometimes. I thought I was imagining it." Kaiba looked at Yugi intently. Not quite understanding where this was all going.

Yugi swallowed. "Seto. When we were dueling up on Pegasus's castle." He paused. Now or never. "What would you think if I told you that I was not the one who told my Celtic Guardian to attack your Blue Eyes?"

Kaiba looked at him in disbelief. "What?? But I was right there! I saw you. I heard the words come out of you mouth! What kind of game are you playing Yugi??" Kaiba demanded furiously.

Yugi watched Kaiba's reaction to his question. In all honesty he had to admit he had expected no less.

"I swear upon my life and those of my friends that I was not the one who almost killed you by ordering that attack." With that quiet statement Yugi had Kaiba's full attention. "However, I was the one who ordered my Guardian to stop."

"Are you crazy??" Kaiba hissed. "There were only the two of us dueling. Me and You. No-one else." Kaiba stood up and glared down at Yugi in disgust. "I don't know what you're trying to do Yugi, but I suggest you take a good look inside. Because there were only two of us dueling. You cannot refute that." He stalked to the door.

As Kaiba started to reach for the handle Yugi's soft voice rang in the silence. "I can prove it Seto. Turn around and look."

Snarling, Kaiba twisted around. Fury evident by the tension in his long, toned frame. "Fine then. Prove it!"

Yugi climbed off his bed. /Yami, you can come out now./

There was a brief flash of light. Kaiba blinked. There standing beside Yugi was.....well, Yugi. Taller, darker, now that they were standing beside one another, Kaiba could see the differences. Differences which came out when Yugi dueled.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kaiba barked at Yami. He suddenly realised how he had appeared. "What the fuck are you?"

"Mind your language." Yami shot at the blue-eyed teen. He glanced at Yugi. "Now I know where you got your language from aibou." He smirked as Yugi reddened.

Kaiba stalked over and stood barely a foot in front of Yami, forcing the smaller teen to tilt his head up to meet his rival's arctic blue eyes. Yugi was torn between coming to his yami's defense and just storming out to leave them to fight it out between them.

Yugi held his head and groaned. "Why me?"

Both taller boys turned to look at him with unreadable expressions.

Kaiba pointed to Yami whilst holding Yugi's gaze. "Who is he?" He demanded.

Yugi pointed his finger at Yami. "Seto, meet Yami. He's the spirit from my Millennium Puzzle. You've actually met before, almost every time we duel." He pointed his finger at Kaiba this time. "Yami, officially meet Seto. You two should know each other well enough. Since we all duel together so often." Yugi uttered dryly.

Kaiba stared at the pair of almost twins. His mind working at break-neck speed. "How come there are two of you here. If you, " he said to Yami, "were the one who told your Guardian to attack, and you," he said to Yugi, "were the one who halted it, then why was there only one person on the castle roof?"

Yami had the grace to look ashamed. "We can share the same body, merging our minds into one entity. When we duel we become one body, one mind, one soul." Yami rubbed his head. "But this time, when we realised what we would have to do to win, our consciousness separated. I had control of Yugi's body. He insisted that he couldn't hurt you. I think he loved you even then."

Kaiba's head jerked towards Yami then Yugi. "How do you know what...? How did you know Yugi and I...?" He couldn't finish a sentence.

"When we merge. We become one. I know everything he knows. Unless he wants to keep it from me, but all surface thoughts are shared. I felt his despair and horror when I told my Celtic Guardian to attack." Yami's eyes shadowed. "I almost lost my hikari that day. He refused to merge after that. Afraid I would hurt one of his friends."

"Then how...?" Kaiba started.

"How did he stop the attack?" Yami asked.

Kaiba gave a sharp nod.

"He wrested control of his body back from me. He forced me back into the puzzle. And then, when he had lost..." They both went silent, remembering Kaiba's harsh words to the broken Yugi.

"I'm sorry for what I said to Yugi. Strength had nothing to do with it. He's one of the strongest people I know." He shook his head mournfully. "I don't regret what I did to end the Duel. I had no other choice. But I should never have been so hard on him."

Yami shook his head in apology. "I should not have told my Guardian to attack. But when I felt the depth of his feelings for you, feelings he didn't understand or even realise he had, I became jealous. Yugi is my light. I was willing to go to any length to rescue his grampa and make him happy. But I was afraid I'd lose him to you." And I've already lost one of my loves. I won't lose another.

"I don't know what to say." Kaiba said, astonished. He turned pained eyes on the smaller youth. Kaiba realised Yami's eyes were blood red. And they were in agony. "You love him too, don't you?" Kaiba asked.

"With all that I am." Yami whispered, just loud enough for Kaiba to hear. "I know how he feels for you, but I don't know if he loves me back. He has always been careful, but recently...he has been shutting me out."

They stood in silence. Each in their own world.

Yami broke the silence. "I'll fight you if I have to. I cannot let him go. He is too much a part of me. But I also know that our fighting will hurt Yugi."

"Then we call a truce. We keep our fighting to the dueling arenas. We let Yugi choose between us." Kaiba declared.

Yami frowned. "What if he can't, or he refuses?"

The two somber teens turned to Yugi, Kaiba gasped, Yami cried out in shock. Yugi was staring at them with wide unseeing eyes, he was reliving the worst day of his life. He could feel his body move, his voice give the go ahead and Kaiba standing on that wall, accepting. Willing to die. Locking away his yami, the other half of his soul. He dragged in a desperate breath, which came in as a sob. Yugi had shoved his fists in his mouth to muffle the sound. He had tears slowly sliding down his face.

"Oh no, aibou." Yami pulled Yugi's small fists from his mouth, Kaiba wiping Yugi's eyes with a soft tissue.

Yugi drew in a cracked breath. The two taller boys forgot their problems and concentrated on the distraught boy. Kaiba lifted him up and laid him gently on the bed. Yami covered him up with a blanket. Yugi's eyes drifted shut.

They left the room and shut the door quietly.

"Does Yugi's grandpa know about you?" Kaiba asked quietly when they sat down.

Yami looked up towards the blue-eyed boy. "Yes."

The room fell into an awkward silence. Without Yugi there they didn't know quite what to say.

Finally, Yami spoke. "Do you want a drink?" He asked, standing.

"Please, Coffee." Kaiba nodded. "I'll check on Yugi while you make them." Kaiba stated, half expecting the other to object. When nothing was said he got up and quietly opened Yugi's door.

He slid in, careful not to make any sound. Walking up to the bed he saw that Yugi was in a deep sleep, his chest still shuddering with every indrawn breath. Kaiba watched him for a minute. Then he leant over Yugi, brushing back a golden bang from the smaller boy's tear-stained face and kissed him gently on his forehead.

When he turned round to leave he saw Yami standing at the doorway, watching him, his face unreadable in the shadows. Yami turned and left, Kaiba following him. He shut the door silently and sat back down next to Yami on the couch, noticing the drinks ready on the small table. Exactly the same as when Yugi had done it last.

Yami passed a black coffee to Kaiba, watching as he added his two sugars and barely any milk. He shrugged, picking up his hot chocolate, proceeding to add twelve sugars into the half-full cup, much to the appalled shock of the other boy. Yami then filled the rest with hot milk. He stirred vigorously.

"Fuck me!" Came the expletive out of Kaiba's horrified mouth.

Yami took his first sip and sighed, flopping into the soft back of the couch in ecstasy, moaning his appreciation, eyes closed to capture the full effect from the cup of ambrosia cradled in his hands.

Yami, his eyes still shut, smirked. "If you insist."

"Oh ha ha." Kaiba growled. "Real funny...." Something occurred to the cobalt-eyed youth. He frowned.

"What's your name?" If he had the other guy's full name maybe he'd be able to find something out through his computers about this 'spirit'.

Yami gave him a funny look. "Yugi already answered that."

"No, he gave me your first name." Kaiba pointed out. "I want to know the rest of it."

"Why Kaiba??" Yami asked, smug. "So you can run a check on it?"

Kaiba looked blankly at him. "I have no idea what you mean." Damn. He's quick.

Yami snorted. "Yami isn't my real name anyway." He stated offhandedly.

Kaiba looked sideways at the sprawled boy. "Oh?" He asked, appearing uninterested. "So...what is it then?"

"Can't remember. Most of my memories are missing. Or jumbled." Yami shrugged. He didn't know his own name yet, but he remembered more than he'd let his young hikari believe. Which was why Yugi thought the spirit didn't like Kaiba. Liking him had nothing to do with it. Loving him....Amoset. I can still see your face. My Set. Yami frowned inwardly. One of the reasons he stuck to calling the other boy by his family name. Seto was just to close to his pet name for his lost lover Amoset. He pushed away the memories threatening to rise. Focusing on his drink. Showing no expression of his turmoil outwardly. Stop thinking about it. Yami shot a small, guarded look at the sprawled teen. He got an idea.

This could be fun.

Yami took another sip of the sweet chocolaty treat. He moaned in a paroxysm of pleasure, little sighs escaping.

Kaiba swallowed. With his eyes shut like that, and his features relaxed in bliss, he looked identical to Yugi. His body responded to the stimuli, the same as it would if it were Yugi's mouth uttering those delightful sounds. Kaiba cleared his throat and adjusted his trousers, leaning forward holding his cup, hoping to disguise the effect Yami was having on him. He blushed.

Yami cracked open an eye, noticing Kaiba's predicament. He snickered.

"What!" Kaiba snapped.

Yami shook his head. "Nothing." He said innocently, although the effort was wasted when he started snickering again.

Kaiba growled at Yami.

"Down boy." Yami drawled, amused at the other teen's discomfort.

"I don't happen to find this amusing." Kaiba snapped at Yami, the latter doing his best to keep the innocent expression firmly on his face.

Yami repeated the procedure, taking a sip and moaning.

"Will you stop that." Kaiba hissed.

Yami sat up and looked pointedly at Kaiba's trousers. "It's not my fault if your body can't tell the difference between myself and Yugi."

"Yes, well, unfortunately for me, those noises you make sound just like the ones Yugi makes when he's aroused. Which happens to affect me!" Kaiba ground out.

Yami scowled at the taller boy. "Since I don't know what sounds Yugi makes when he's aroused how could I know that." Yami slammed his cup on the table and stalked off angrily to the kitchen.

Kaiba watched him go. Something about Yami seemed to rub him the wrong way. He felt sparks when the smaller boy came near him, similar, but not quite the same as with Yugi. It seemed that even his body couldn't tell the difference. It was like he was having to remind himself that the crimson eyed youth and Yugi were separate. He wasn't having much luck. Yami was too much a part of Yugi for him to feel comfortable. I'm just jealous.

Damn him. Yami thought dispiritedly. Kaiba really knew how to press his buttons. He stared out through the second-story window. The city lights twinkled like stars in the evening sky.

/Yami?/ He felt his aibou wake up. /Is something wrong?/

//No hikari, I'm sorry I woke you// Yami could feel Yugi wipe the sleepiness out of his eyes. /Is Seto still here?/ Yugi asked.

//Yes.// Yami could feel his aibou's indecision. //Why?//

Yugi got out of bed and stretched. /Because I don't want the day to end like this. I didn't mean to fall asleep./

Yami made Yugi a hot drink and carried it through to the bedroom. As he made his way past the living room he called to Kaiba. "He's awake. He wants to see us."

Without waiting for the other youth's response Yami entered Yugi's room.

Yugi had turned on his bedside and desk lamps, bathing the room in a warm cosy glow. He sat in the centre of the bed and took the hot chocolate gratefully. Kaiba came in. Yugi patted the bed on either side of him. Rolling his eyes at Kaiba and Yami when they glanced at each other before settling down gingerly on the bed.

Yugi watched them both carefully as he sipped his drink, surprised at the small guarded looks they kept shooting each other when they thought they weren't looking. His violet eyes widened. He could feel the tension in the air. /You like him./ He sent in amazement to his other half.

Yami's head shot around to stare at Yugi. "NANI???!!" His eyes narrowed. //Don't go there aibou.//

Yugi stared evenly at him, unperturbed. /Why not. I can see the way you're looking at each other./

They both turned to stare at the brunette teen who had been watching them cautiously since Yami's outburst. He frowned at the spiky-haired boys. "What's going on?" He raised a brow at Yugi. "Why did he just yell?"

Yugi glanced at Yami who started shaking his head emphatically at the younger boy. //Oh no you don't aibou. You have no idea what I feel.//

Yugi narrowed his eyes. He didn't like being told he didn't know what he was thinking. He put on his best poker face, the one he'd learnt from watching Yami. /You look at Seto really hard and tell me you don't feel anything for him at all./ Yugi instructed the pharaoh.

Kaiba watched as a range of emotions flitted past Yami's face, and Yugi's eyes narrowed in....anger? Then his face went blank. What is going on here?

Yami swallowed. He couldn't. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew he could not lie. //Fine.// He turned that piercing crimson gaze on the unsuspecting blue-eyed youth, making him start.

"Uh...Yugi? Yami?" Kaiba asked. He knew something was going on between them, but unless they were telepathic...maybe they were. Kaiba frowned. He didn't like being left out of the loop.

"Stay out of this. Kaiba." Yami growled. He glared at Yugi. //Yes I do feel something for him...// He paused at Yugi's sudden smirk, so like his own. //...but that's only because he reminds me of someone I knew a long time ago.// His eyed darkened, in anger or sorrow Yugi didn't know. //I can't go through that again.// The scarlet-eyed pharaoh suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to escape. He didn't want to remember....not now.

Yami jumped off the bed, almost racing to the door. He was stopped by an arm which reached out lightning fast to grab him as he passed. Yami stared at the arm then glared at it's owner. "Let. Go." He enunciated.

Kaiba's lips pulled in a taut line, his grip tightened. "No. Not until you tell me what the HELL is going on here."

Yugi put down his half full cup of chocolate on the bedside table. He turned to face the two taller boys whose gazes hadn't parted.

Yami's bright ruby orbs dimmed. He sent a dull glance to the young CEO. "Please. Let go." He said monotonously. Worried, Kaiba dropped his hand from Yami's arm. The smaller youth striding out the door swiftly, not wanting to return to his soul room.

Kaiba looked at Yugi questioningly. The younger boy sat on the bed with a vague look in his eyes.

/Yami. Please, we need to talk about this. You can't just walk off./

//Watch me.// Came the scathing reply.

Yugi sighed, catching sight of the look on Kaiba's face as he did so.

"What's wrong with him?" Kaiba asked. Part of him concerned at what the other youth may do in the state he was in.

Yugi turned an anxious gaze on his other love. "I...he....I..." He stopped, rubbing a hand through his tri-coloured locks.

"Were you talking to him?"

Yugi lifted a brow. "Yes. That obvious?"

Kaiba shrugged. "Yeah." He held open his arms, half expecting Yugi to ignore the invitation. The violet-eyed youth didn't. He shuffled over the bed and snuggled up into Kaiba's chest. Needing the comfort. He felt the strong arms wrap around him.

They stayed like that for a time. Yugi didn't want to let go. He listened to Kaiba's reassuring heartbeat and breathed in the scent that he was rapidly starting to crave around him. The scent of fresh icy brooks and dark forests. His cologne had a woodsy, earthy heavyness which lingered around the brunette, accenting his own scent. Yugi wanted to stay like this forever. But he had to ask. "Seto?"

"Yes little one?"

"How do you feel about Yami?" He asked softly, his head still burrowed in Kaiba's chest. He heard Kaiba's heartbeat quicken.

Kaiba swallowed. What on earth possessed him to ask me that?? He nuzzled Yugi's hair, trying to get more time to think about what he was going to say, glad that the spikes that adorned the other's head were soft, rather than stiff. "Yugi..." He tensed. Not quite knowing what to say. Will he think I'm betraying him? What if I tell him how my body reacted to his darker self and he doesn't like it?

The small teen felt Kaiba's indecision. "It's okay Seto. I don't mind." He gave Kaiba a wide innocently sweet smile which made the brunette's heart clench.

Kaiba turned a pained gaze on the petite teen. He shook his head. "Gomen nasai chibi ichi."

"Why?" Yugi looked truly puzzled. "I don't mind if you like Yami." He stated, much to the bewilderment of the blue-eyed billionaire. Yugi gave him a knowing look, which somehow seemed at odds with his innocent demeanor. "Yami is a part of me Seto." He gave the taller boy an unconcerned shrug. "It wouldn't be a betrayal."

"But...Yugi. I don't know if it's possible to love two people." His shoulders slumped. Yugi knew that this was not a regular state for the taller boy. Normally he refused to show anything which could be construed as a weakness. His voice trailed off into a whisper. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore..."

Silence hung in the air.

Yugi frowned, thinking things through. Is Seto right? Some of the feelings he had for Kaiba were reflected with Yami. I....Do I love them both? Can I love both of them? I don't even know if what I feel for Yami is the same as what I feel for Seto. They are so different, one fiery, one icy. They make me feel alive. They make me want to be all that I can. Yugi giggled, making Kaiba glance curiously at him. And they both make me feel tingly and hot inside.

I think. Yes. Could I live without them? Could I simply let things return to the way they were? No. I need them. They make me feel whole, complete. I...I love them. I really do love them. Yugi felt awed. He hadn't realised the depth of his feelings. He turned shining eyes towards the brunette who was watching him closely.

Yugi leant towards him. He placed a soft kiss on the other boy's lips. "I love you Seto."

Kaiba's eyes opened wide. "Yugi?"

Yugi placed his finger over Kaiba's mouth. "Shhh." He looked into Kaiba's eyes. Making sure he had his full attention. "I do love you Seto."

Kaiba shut his eyes. Please, don't say 'but you love him more'.

"Seto. Look at me." Kaiba opened his eyes. Carefully blanking them to hide his hurt at what he assumed Yugi was going to say next. "I've thought about it, and I've come to realise that I love you......and Yami. You are my ice Seto. He is my fire. I need both of you. And I think, that maybe, if you thought about what you feel, then maybe you could love us both back."

Yugi finished his softly spoken speech and sat back, waiting for his love's reply.

Kaiba sat in stunned silence. He hadn't expected that.

"Yugi.....I....Oh, Aishiteru." Kaiba pulled the anxiously waiting boy into his arms, wrapping them around his small frame. "I love you." He whispered, feeling a sudden sense of calm when he said it. It feels right.

~*~*~

Tbc....

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