Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Room of the Soul ❯ part one ( Chapter 1 )

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

Title: Room of the Soul
Author: Tsutsuji
Fandom: Yu-gi-oh!
Rating: R
Pairings: Kaiba/Yugi. A little bit of Malik (Yami Malik)/Yugi.
Type: yaoi/slash. Angst.
Warnings: brief bit of non-con.
Status: in progress. Barely proofread or spell checked, for that matter.
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to these characters and I'm making no profit from this fic and intend no copyright infringement.
Summary: Sequel to "Kaiba's VRPG." It's Kaiba's worst nightmare - a party at his house, with Yugi the guest of honor. Will his secret fantasy be discovered?

AN: Credit for the idea goes to Beysie and the other reviewers of "Kaiba's VRPG," and without them, this story would never have come into being. So, you can either thank them or blame them!
/.../ indicates thought-speech.

***

Room of the Soul

What had he been thinking? How could he ever have agreed to this? Only Mokuba at his most persuasive, catching him at a weak moment, could explain it. Otherwise he surely would never find himself greeting each and every one of the most annoying people on earth as they arrived in his home, each bearing brightly wrapped gifts. And greeting them politely, besides. Mokuba would not speak to him for weeks if he put on his game-master attitude with these people he was supposed to consider friends.

Bubbly Anzu, loudmouthed Jonouchi, slick thug Honda, sugary-sweet Shizuka, and the quiet but oddly creepy Bakura Ryou, all trouped into the mansion one by one, along with a dozen or more others he barely knew. He did his best to make it clear, without being plainly rude about it, that this was certainly not his idea. They each thanked him politely just the same, but they thanked Mokuba even more profusely.

Everyone but the guest of honor, that is, who greeted him happily and thanked him with just as much enthusiasm as he showed everyone else. Yugi came in beaming like a ray of light as he was cheered by all his friends. All but Kaiba, who stood by stiffly and watched as he was engulfed in the giant friendly circle.

Seto Kaiba reminded himself that he never would have agreed to this party at all if Mokuba had just made it clear from the start that it was for Yugi's birthday. By the time that little detail had been revealed, it was too late to go back on his word to his little brother.

He'd given Mokuba a totally free hand in all the arrangements, limiting only the time (five hours, no more, and then they all had to be out of the house!) and the location (four rooms on the main floor, including two entertainment rooms and a dining room plus a lounge). He didn't even limit the guest list in any way. Once he found out that Yugi was the guest of honor, he wanted as many other people to be there as possible, even if the guests included some of the most abject duelists ever spawned and some of the lowest low-lifes in Domino High School.

If there were enough people, he'd reasoned, he might not have to spend any more than a few seconds in Yugi's actual presence. And then, he might not start to think about the fantasy that had become an obsession, the one he watched unfold nearly every night in his private virtual reality game. That perfectly rendered holographic fantasy that had Yugi submitting to a different lover every time, his perfect body writhing in pleasure, and always calling out for Kaiba as he came.

He couldn't be thinking about that now. He couldn't.

At school he could keep his thoughts under control by concentrating on his studies. And when they dueled, that other side of Yugi appeared, the one that held no interest for him. The side that Yugi's friends insistently spoke of as "the other Yugi" only awoke feelings of competition and pride in him, and that was why he took every opportunity to face the so-called Other Yugi.

But because this was a birthday party and not a Duel Monsters tournament, there was no sign whatsoever of that other side of Yugi. Tonight, the only aspect of Yugi to be seen was the lighter side, that glowing bundle of fierce kindness, loyal affection, and young beauty that filled his secret fantasies. That was the real Yugi, as far as Kaiba was concerned.

He couldn't reconcile his longing for the lighter side of Yugi with his dislike of the darker side. He knew which one he wanted. And he knew it made no sense. And he knew that, even without that other side of Yugi to consider, he could never have what he desired.

And after half an hour of the party, he knew he had to get away. Half an hour of constantly seeing Yugi's sparkling amethyst eyes and excitedly glowing face no matter how much he tried to avoid him - it was more than he could bear. His longing to be closer, to touch the object of his fantasies, grew with every glimpse. To counteract it, he became increasingly rude and snappish to anyone who spoke to him. Mokuba was starting to give him one reproachful looks.

He knew perfectly well that most of his guests liked him as little as he liked them. They wouldn't mind at all if he took his leave of the whole gang of them, and would probably be happier with him gone. All except Yugi, who continued to treat him as a friend no matter how harshly he dealt with them all. And of course, etiquette demanded that he at least make an apology to the guest of honor before disappearing. But the hell with etiquette. It was his house, and they were here with his indulgence.

He convinced himself that he'd done all that reasonable politeness and Mokuba could expect, and he turned to slip out through the empty lounge to a quieter part of the house. And there by the door stood Yugi.

"Kaiba-kun, I have to thank you again for letting us have this party in your home. I know you said Mokuba arranged everything, but I'm really glad you're part of it as well," he said. He smiled up at Kaiba with a touch of shyness, an extra blush to his cheeks. Long, dark lashes fluttered over those beautiful, impossible eyes.

"You're welcome, Yugi," Kaiba forced himself to say in very formal tones. So what if he sounded stiff and uninviting, it was better than letting his true feelings show. "But I have work to do, so I have to leave the party early, I'm afraid. I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening," he added stiffly. It almost sounded sarcastic, as if he really didn't care a bit if Yugi enjoyed himself or not. He hadn't meant it to sound that way, but as the words came out, he decided it was just as well.

The look of disappointment on Yugi's face pierced him to the core. He felt momentarily helpless, and that made him feel angry, and he ended up scowling down at the spiky-haired teenager. But as usual, Yugi didn't seem to mind being scowled at. He only smiled up at Kaiba even more shyly than before

"I was hoping you would stay so we could play a game - just a friendly game, for once," Yugi said. "You have so many great games here..."

"They're Mokuba's. I don't really play any other game but Duel Monsters," Kaiba said quickly.

"I know you also play chess," Yugi said, gently insistent. "I'm not very good at it but I've learned quite a lot. I thought, maybe, you could even teach me a little...?"

Why was he doing this? Kaiba felt something near to panic rising in him as he continued to face Yugi's friendly, inviting smile. It was a strange form of torture.

"I'm afraid I can't. As I said, I have work to do. Good night, Yugi," he said, as coldly as he could manage. It was a voice that could freeze souls, he'd been told. Just what he needed to hide the heat rising in him.

He had to brush past Yugi to get out the door. He had to hide his reaction to the brief contact with a gruff "excuse me," and he had to hide his face from Yugi's view as he quickly made his escape.

In his haste to get away, he didn't even worry about whether he should lock the door to keep curious guests from wandering around the mansion on their own.
---

Yugi stood looking at the closed door for a long moment. He wasn't really thinking his stare would somehow make Kaiba return, but he did wish it would happen. He was disappointed, and slightly irritated, that Kaiba had left the party so soon. Not because it was a party in honor of him, but because he'd hoped Kaiba might actually relax and enjoy himself at a gathering that did not revolve around either Duel Monsters, business, or school.

"I wish he didn't work so hard," he said to himself. "I wish he could see that he has friends here, if he could just accept them."

There was an answer in his mind. Yami Yugi, unseen guest at the party in his partner's honor, sighed in sympathy.

/I know how much you want to convince Kaiba that you're his friend, Yugi,/ the darker half said in his thoughts. /It's almost as if he's afraid of having friends./

"I know. It isn't right."

Jou and Anzu came in then, looking for him.

"Hey, we're going to do some DanceDance Revolution, want to step in and join us?" Anzu said. She was already dancing as Yugi turned to them.

"Not right now, I'll come and watch in a minute, though," he said.

They looked puzzled at his lack of enthusiasm.

"What's up, Yugi?" Jou said. "Something wrong?"

"No, not really." He sighed. "Kaiba left the party already. I was just wishing he'd stuck around a little longer."

"No great loss," Jou said.

Anzu shook her head. "I'm surprised he even came at all," she said. "He was almost friendly. Well, almost. For him, anyway."

"I know. I thought he might actually enjoy himself," Yugi said. "You know what? I think he works too hard."

"Why worry about it?" Jou said, waving a hand in dismissal at the door. "More fun without him, I say. C'mon, let's dance, or I'll play some other game with you. Mokuba's got about every video game ever invented in there!"

"Well... you go on. I'm going to get something else to drink, and then I'll come and watch the dance contest!" Yugi said brightly, after a moment's hesitation.

"Okay, see ya there, then," Jou said. He and Anzu hurried back to the game room, where the music was starting up for the dancing game.

Yugi didn't follow them, and he didn't go to the dining room to get a drink. He turned and scowled at the door. If Jou had seen the determined look on his face, he would never have left Yugi alone; all his friends knew what that look meant. Even Yami recognized it.

/What are you planning to do, Yugi?/ he asked, even though he could sense Yugi's thoughts perfectly well.

"I'm going to go find Kaiba and convince him to come back and join the party!" Yugi said firmly - but not too loudly.

/Is that wise? He could be anywhere in the mansion. It's true you're an invited guest, but it's his private home./

"I know. If I don't find him right away, I won't pry too far," Yugi said. With a quick glance back toward the rest of the party, he slipped out the door, and into the darkened, quiet corridors of Kaiba mansion.

***

Kaiba honestly intended to do work when he got to his private offices. But his mind was so filled with a vision of Yugi standing there, smiling up at him hopefully, that he knew he'd never get any work done now. His body was fairly humming, on the verge of arousal, just from that brief touch as he'd passed Yugi a moment ago.

It was ridiculous. He had to find some way to distract himself. Regular work would never hold his attention now. He needed a real challenge to occupy his brain.

That was how he found himself, minutes later, in his private game room. He'd decided that
the program that determined the seme/uke values for the characters in his VRPG needed work. Some were much too predictable while others were so random they locked up the program. A few pairings also locked up the program because their values came out even. And the code was complex enough that it should keep his mind off the party for a couple of hours, if he could just stop thinking about Yugi long enough to get into it.

That took a minute or two, but soon he was deeply into the code, reconfiguring the random values generator to work more smoothly. It was easier than he thought it would be, and only took a few minutes after all - unless he was missing something. And the only way to find out if he'd got it right was to try it out.

Somewhere in his mind he knew what he was really doing as he started the program. He could tell himself that it was merely a test run, and that he wasn't going to use the program in the usual way, as he punched in the commands.

Random pairing... yes. Random setting... yes. Randomly generated seme/uke values... yes.

It was just to see what would happen. He'd note the outcome and then end the scene, and try again, looking for flaws and crashes. That was all he was doing.

He told himself that and believed it, right up until the holographic scene flickered to life. Candlelit bedroom... Malik as seme... and Yugi kneeling submissively before him.

"No!" he moaned softly.

But he continued to watch.

Malik, his golden hair shimmering on his bare shoulders, smiled down at Yugi. Candlelight glinted on the Gold bands on his arms, and also on the gold-threaded hem of the white linen cloth that was wrapped loosely around his thighs. The skirt-like garment barely concealed his arousal. His long fingers entwined in Yugi's hair and pulled him forward, firmly but not roughly. Yugi, long lashes dropping on his flushed cheeks, obediently pressed his face between Malik's legs, nuzzling through the thin fabric.

Unconsciously, Kaiba's hand strayed to his own lap as he sat in the programmer's chair. His other hand remained near the controls. He would stop this scene any moment now. He would.

But he realized that he'd never seen this pairing before, and Malik's programming was unique. Kaiba refused to include the more assertive sides of either Yugi or Bakura as separate characters. But he couldn't deny that in Malik's case, an entirely different persona had taken over halfway through the Battle City Tournament. A distinct change in personality and even in appearance had occurred. It only meant that Malik was mentally ill, a classic case of multiple personality, of course. But because of the marked difference, he'd tried something different with Malik's character in the game. Malik alone had been programmed with both personalities, and they were randomly interchangeable. Even in the middle of a scene, Malik could go from friendly and soft-spoken (and 69% uke) to mad and sadistically violent (with a jump to 97% seme).

That shift occurred just as Yugi's gentle hand caressed Malik's thigh and slid under the linen skirt. Malik's image changed; his smile became a leer and his hair flew up into devilish peaks around his distorted face.

With a horrible laugh, he grabbed Yugi's hand and twisted it. Yugi winced and cried out in pain. But he could not struggle or try to get away. It wasn't allowed in his programming. He was the perfect uke, completely submissive.

Kaiba felt a flush of heat surge through him as Yugi whimpered again. Roughly this time, Malik yanked on his hair and crudely rubbed his swelling crotch against Yugi's face, muffling his cries.

It could only get worse. Once Dark Malik had appeared, he would not revert to the kinder side before the scene ended. Often, his partner was no longer conscious by that time.

Suddenly, face aflame and hand shaking, Kaiba slammed his fist onto the control.

"Stop!"

The scene froze.

He sat for a moment with his eyes clenched tight shut, his breath coming in quick gasps. Then, barely looking at what he was doing, he began to type. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he backed into the program and recalculated values. In seconds the hologram flickered and new shapes filled the scene.

Malik was gone. The generic form that represented Kaiba's own presence in the game appeared. And where Yugi had been kneeling, he now lay back against a small mountain of pillows, while the other knelt almost reverently before him.

Yugi's face seemed to shine brighter than the candles, his eyes wide and glittering, as the other man touched him, gently and carefully removing his clothes, all the while caressing him with soft strokes. In moments, his glowing skin was bare and softly flushed. His arousal was evident, and he sighed as the other's hands roamed over his bare skin.

"Yugi," Kaiba whispered, as his holographic counterpart bowed his head to touch his lips lightly to Yugi's thigh. "Yugi, you deserve better," he said. He hardly knew what he was saying.

He clenched his fists on his thighs, denying himself even though his body throbbed with need, as he watched himself make love to Yugi.

***

As Yugi wandered the shadowy corridors of the mansion, he thought about the hurting anger he felt after Kaiba's abrupt departure from the party. He realized that the hurt was so strong precisely because he'd come to like Kaiba so much. He wanted Kaiba to accept him, he wanted the young man's friendship, and he just wanted Kaiba around. He couldn't explain it to himself any more clearly than that.

But those feelings, illogical as they seemed, pulled him on through the winding corridors of the mansion. He allowed the feelings to guide him as he sought out Kaiba's rooms... or maybe it was a subtle scent in the air that he recognized as Kaiba's own.

Whatever it was, it led him unerringly to a door in a long, quiet corridor, where he walked silently on plush carpet under electric candlelight. The door was nearly closed but not latched, left open a crack. His heart pounding, Yugi gave it a light push. It opened easily.

The room was unmistakably Kaiba's bedroom. His familiar long coat was tossed on the bed, and the distinctive scent that Yugi had unconsciously been following filled the air.

But Kaiba himself wasn't there. Yugi spotted another door at the side of the room which had also been left unlatched. He thought he heard the near-silent hum of electronic equipment coming through that door, and other soft sounds he couldn't quite make out. He was confident that Kaiba would be there, working, as he'd said - working instead of relaxing with people who wanted to be his friends.

/Be cautious, Yugi,/ his other self warned quietly. He didn't put more in words, but Yugi caught his thought: this was like an inner sanctum, the real-world equivalent of a Soul Room, and he was as uninvited as Shadi had been when he searched Yugi's soul. But, Yugi reasoned, Shadi meant no harm, and neither did he.

/Nevertheless, you don't know what you may find if you enter,/ Yami warned again.

Yugi paused. He thought he knew what he would find: a sad and lonely man who didn't need to be alone any more.

He stepped up to the door and pushed. It swung open on silent hinges. Yugi entered a room of shadows and flickering lights.

***
Passing through the lounge with another plate of cakes and chips, Ryou Bakura noticed that the door at the other side of the room had been left open. A sudden strong curiosity filled him, and he walked over to peer through it, wondering where it led. At the last second he realized that it wasn't his own curiosity that led him to step through it and into the darkened corridor beyond.

Yami Bakura had a better instinct for caution than either Kaiba or Yugi. He very carefully closed and locked the door behind him before creeping away into the shadows.

***
to be continued. Right?