kittensinboxes | I Ended Up Losing And It's All His Fault

I Ended Up Losing And It's All His Fault

Kaiba had gone to the afterlife. He'd finally achieved his dream, and in doing so, faced his eternal rival in combat.

It was never meant to be permanent, of course, but he hadn't neglected to consider the possibility that he might struggle to come back intact. Before launching across dimensions, Kaiba had set his affairs in order, although only Isono was privy to what that meant.

If he was gone for more than a month, his shares would be converted into Mokuba's name, thereby protecting the interests of Kaiba Corporation. At this point, Mokuba would be appointed interim Chief Executive Officer of KaibaCorp.

If he was gone for two, then Mokuba would formally inherit the business in its entirety, with Isono overseeing most functions from day to day with stricter clauses added to his work contract that would disallow him the chance or ability to destabilize Mokuba from his position, which would still be interim CEO for all public records.

From that point on, the changes were only reversible on paper if Seto returned within a year from the launch date. If not, Mokuba really would inherit the business as the true CEO. He'd meant it when he said he was leaving it all in his brother's hands. What else could you say when you intended to launch yourself at speed from your own space station, with no full guarantee that you wouldn't impact, rather than travel across dimensions?

It wasn't a smart idea from the start to do that, and although Kaiba had achieved his goal metaphysically, the reality was that he had, in fact, launched himself from a space station down to earth. The impact was real, and while the safety features of the pod offset a great deal of the damage, he didn't escape unscathed.

The wreckage was found half a day later, bored sixty feet into the ground. Kaiba had been pulled from it and immediately hospitalized for his injuries which ranged from mild bruising to broken bones, specifically his legs and one arm. His resting heart rate had settled at 130, which was...less than ideal, and needed to be treated.

For the next 3 months, he remained in the hospital in a private room paid for by Mokuba, away from prying eyes and off the general record so that he could heal from his injuries and reawaken healthy but still remain incognito. The former worked out, but waking up...well, Kaiba simply wouldn't. His brain activity was elevated, and his heart rate often spiked, but Mokuba, at least, knew what that meant. He'd pulled his brother from their Neural Network inches before a severe cardiac episode before.

If his vitals were behaving that way, then he got what he wanted--he got that final contact with Atem that he'd been denied due to fulfilling his own dream of spreading Kaiba Land all across the world.

What happened was anyone's guess.

But after three and a half months, Seto Kaiba finally opened his eyes, and the light made his head ache. His heart rate was finally at a level that didn't indicate atrial fibrillation, and although he was pale, thin, and exhausted, he'd finally made it back where he belonged.

He was back home--no. He was...back in a hospital. Why a hospital? Why wasn't he home? Surely, he couldn't have been gone for more than a week or so, right? The dimensional connection had been flimsy at best, and he'd had to spend his time with Atem as quickly as possible.

So why were his limbs heavy? They felt wrong. So much felt wrong, and his eyes wouldn't open all the way, but he can make out a blurry image if he just...forces them to move. Someone...?

"Mo...ku...ba?"

Ugh. No, even his voice sounds awful. The muscles of his throat feel stiff, his voice is hoarse from disuse, and he'd barely managed to say his brother's name, to see if it really was him, or...maybe someone else.

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So they stayed here after all? Hmm.

Kaiba's curled on his side at this point, sleeping in a more human fashion than he had been while he was comatose. He still feels incredibly small, and uncomfortable because of where he was.

He wanted to get up, but he remembers what Yuugi said last night, that he ought to be careful or he might dislodge something. With his mind cleared and his anger abated, he realizes that being comatose probably meant he wasn't getting up anytime soon without the doctors removing...certain things from his body.

If he railed against them, he'd end up here even longer than he wanted to be. And in the meantime, his behavior was not only disrespectful to his concerned brother, but to Yuugi, who it seems had been spending a lot of time visiting him.

Those games...they had a place.

There was a reason for that.

Quietly, he reached a hand out, intending to prod Yuugi. It's not to wake him up, just to touch him. To put hands on him, at least on his shoulder. Kaiba wants to confirm that after all, this was real, and he wasn't in a dimensional hallucination. Had any of it been real?

Was this?

Or was he still among the dunes, trapped in the shimmering mirage of the afterlife?

...If he was, then he probably wouldn't have dreamed about getting sedated. So...

Yuugi twitches slightly, mumbling something in his sleep that Kaiba can't hear.

What was that?

Seems he's outcold, though.

Yuugi's lack of response emboldens Kaiba, and his slender fingers reach further, settling at the other man's shoulder.

Warm. Present. Real.

Kaiba still doesn't trust it, really, but he has nothing to lose at this point, and so he decides to sate a curiosity he'd had ever since he'd met Yuugi, by reaching out to touch his hair. Bangs first, then the fluffy red and black tinted locks. He's not delving his fingers deeply, nothing of the sort--he's just brushing through, carding the tips through the stiff locks.

In his sleep, Yuugi smiled; he leaned into the touch with a pleased little noise, not unlike a content cat.

Someone was touching his hair.

It felt good. Really good.

Eh?

Kaiba's fingers pull back slightly at Yuugi's reaction. What is he dreaming of, to be behaving like that?! He doesn't even know who's touching him! How could he react so naively?

(a thick hand fisting short hair, threatening to tear it from the root)

He's tempted to shake Yuugi awake. Idiot. Stop sleeping and letting your guard down! Hadn't Kaiba shoved him before? Didn't he remember? And yet here he dozed, at the edge of Kaiba's hospital bed, in the danger zone.

...Kaiba doesn't snatch his hair up in his hands, fisting and pulling at it. It never even crossed his mind to do that kind of thing. But he could.

He does reach out, thumbing Yuugi's hairline beneath the bangs, just because he could. Because he's bored, and alone, and he doesn't want to feel unengaged. What if he slips back into oblivion unbidden?

"Nnnn..."

Again, Yuugi leans into the touch with a happy noise. It sounds...sweet.

"Ka...ah...."

What is he mumbling about?

...Kaiba's invested now, and although he knows he shouldn't press on, he does trace along the hairline, then gently slide Yuugi's bangs behind one ear.

He remembers...Atem had asked about Yuugi with such fondness. They'd seen each other more than Kaiba had seen Atem, so he'd expressed aggravation at it. And Atem? He'd laughed. He'd laughed, and laughed, but then he'd apologized. He cited his reasons, believing that Kaiba had gone to fulfill his own destiny, and that there was nothing left unsaid between them.

But still. Atem had spoken of Yuugi. He'd asked Kaiba to do something truly, absolutely ridiculous: to watch over Yuugi. Protect him.

Protect him? Yuugi didn't need protecting, least of all from Seto Kaiba. It had been a selfish request from the pharaoh, and Kaiba hadn't entertained it! Or...at least that's what he wanted to think. That he wouldn't.

But his bond with Atem...it compelled him to do as he was asked.

He wouldn't, of course. Not unless he wanted to. But he did want to keep touching Yuugi's hair. He wanted to know what was so captivating? Why had Yuugi stolen time from him even past dimensions, and lived rent free in Atem's head when he should have been focusing on no one but Kaiba?

Yuugi shivers under his touch, but it's a pleasant one. In his dream, someone is also touching him gently, watching him with beautiful eyes and a curious gaze.

"K...mmn...st...y..."

He's happy to stay like this...

Even if he doesn't know that Seto Kaiba's fingers touching him isn't just happening in a dream.

Curious. So curious. Kaiba's thumb slides against Yuugi's cheek...but then he catches himself. No.

No, he can't do this. It's highly inappropriate. So he pulls his hand back and tries to shift further away from Yuugi. All he manages to do is wince and rattle the bed. making it creak.

Nngh, seriously, why did his legs hurt? He hadn't wanted to look at them. It wasn't cowardice, but his curiosity was not enough to make him move the blankets. Not yet.

He hopes Yuugi doesn't wake from the sounds he'd made. Mokuba either, because he definitely deserved to rest.

The rattling didn't wake Yuugi, but the sudden movement left him tilting forward, and half of his body was now curled up on Kaiba's bed, fully asleep.

Yuugi twitched.

Adjusted.

But did not awaken.

No. No?? Why is Yuugi on the bed now with him, he didn't ask for this! Sure, it was only half of him, but he was seriously encroaching upon Kaiba's personal space, and he feels oddly trapped, unable to risk vacating the bed for more than one reason.

His lack of desire to see what the pod crash had done to him, and the doctor who had the audacity to sedate him possibly trying and succeeding once more.

Yuugi...he really was very tired, wasn't he? If Kaiba had heard such a racket, he'd be on his feet immediately, on the offensive faster than his opponent could be on the defensive.

What a soft, pitiful life Yuugi must have lead. A life without strife. A life that left one useless in a pinch.

At least Kaiba had learned something about his hair. It wasn't important, but it sated a curiosity.

By the time Yuugi's woken up, Kaiba himself has fallen back asleep facing him on the bed, breathing as steadily as he had while comatose. The brain activity, however, was much less frenetic. He's sleeping, but not dreaming.

One hand is situated by Yuugi's head. There's no particular reason it had been so close, none at all.

Yuugi woke up with a soft groan as he...

Nnnh. Where was he?

Why was he face-down on Kaiba's bed, so close to him? Did he flop over in his sleep? He wasn't on the floor nursing a headache so Kaiba prooooobably didn't notice and fling him over.

Yeah. Probably.

Everything was fi--

Wait.

Why was his hand so close to him? Did he... wake up at some point--

No, that was ridiculous. Of course not. He probably just shifted in his sleep.

Yuugi sighed, but found his fingers instinctively reaching for that hand.

As he did so many times before.

Without thinking.

And took it in his, gently squeezing it.

"I...I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered. "I was so worried."

Kaiba's not awake. That much is clear in the way he barely shifts when Yuugi's fingers lace with his own. But there's an unexpected reflex as their palms are pressed together.

Kaiba's fingers twitch, then curl closed around Yuugi's hand. He doesn't even move otherwise, though an unintelligible murmur passes his lips.

He wasn't awake, but that touch on his hand gave Yuugi pause.

He closes his eyes, gently squeezing it.

"Next time...let's play games together, okay? You'll probably beat me pretty hard at Monopoly."

"Mmmnh."

The fingers twitch again, and Kaiba shifts slightly. Unlike Yuugi, he's not a heavy sleeper, but he's still not realized that the voice permeating his thoughts is not self-created.

Not yet...

"And..."

Yuugi bit his lip.

"I'll make lunch for us tomorrow. I may not seem like it, but I've gotten better at cooking. Mokuba likes what I make, anyway."

Should he let go...? No, Kaiba hasn't pushed him away.

Holding his hand feels nice, too...

Unbeknownst to him, Mokuba Kaiba is wide awake, taking video of this like he's collecting blackmail evidence.

The voice...it's so close, it has a feel to it that's not spectral, not the voice he'd chased for so long, not...not a dream.

Lunch...lunch? Who's making him lunch...?

Slowly, ever so slowly, Kaiba's eyes start to open. He's so tired that it'll take time to fully focus, but he does feel oddly warm. Well...at least his hand does. Why? Why are his fingers warm, and enveloped, somehow?

"Mm...?"

"Kaiba...?"

Yuugi whispered, but didn't move.

He didn't think to. Not even to let go of the hand that he held so closely; it was warm. It was normal for him to hold hands with people he cared about. He did it with Atem in his soul room, and often shared hugs with Jonouchi and Mokuba.

Why would this be any different?

"Are you...awake?"

"Mmm..."

That voice...it's Yuugi's, isn't it? He's still here, he's right there, so close that Kaiba can practically feel him breathing on the bed. His vision starts to clear up as he comes around, and he realizes--

--he's holding Yuugi's hand.

He's holding Yuugi's hand.

HE'S HOLDING YUUGI'S HAND...

and as soon as he realizes that, Kaiba jerks his own back.

"Don't touch me," he whispers, his voice still affected by yesterday. "What are you doing?"

Oh, shit.

Aha... yeah, he probably wouldn’t like Yuugi touching him, huh? But...he grabbed him in his sleep, so...

Yuugi lifted his hands in a surrendering gesture with a crooked smile.

"Sorry," He scratched his head. His tone was so hushed, Mokuba could barely pick it up. "I heard that physical contact can help a person in a coma, and I got... used to doing it, I guess."

Aha. Used to doing it.

Says the guy who would make sure to drop big brother's hand the second Mokuba noticed him.

"How are you feeling, though? How'd you sleep?"

Yuugi Mutou held his hand while he was comatose? Without his permission?

Kaiba isn't sure if he likes that. It feels as if Yuugi was taking advantage of his state to do something he wouldn't have allowed otherwise! But then...

...if Kaiba was comatose, he was probably trying to reach out to him, and pull him from the void, through physical contact? But that's not really his business to be doing, and it's foolish because Kaiba would have been unreachable regardless. Still, it's too late for before. Now is a different story.

"Don't make a habit of it anymore," he finally settles on, slowly pulling his arm close to his chest. Ohh, he hates his voice. It barely raises above a whisper without blanking out. This is AGGRAVATING!

"I don't have my voice, obviously," he says in answer to Yuugi's question on his condition. "I don't know why my legs hurt, and I haven't had to use the bathroom since I woke up, which means it's being done for me."

YEAH he intuited the catheter. He hates it!

"I haven't eaten in 3 months, so I've probably got a feeding tube in, and my extremities are injured in some way, which no one has deigned to tell me since I woke up.

But I suppose I slept fine sometime after you and Mokuba decided to play games without me."

Most every word he's said, cut off or not by his inability to properly regulate his blown voice, is rather caustic. He's very unhappy to be stuck in a hospital, and he wants everything out of him that doesn't belong.

Yeeeaaah. He didn't blame Kaiba for being bitter, really; he was out for a few months and had to deal with being stuck with tubes. For someone as larger than life as he presented himself, that must have been torture...

Yuugi could only sympathize.

"You should have the feeding tube taken out today, but you'll probably be on a liquid diet for a bit. I can ask the doctor for a nutrient shake or something, though, if you want."

It was the least he could do, after all.

"The rest of the tubes will likely be taken out by the end of the week as your body gets used to being awake. That's what the books I read said, anyway."

As for his knees...nnnngh. How did you tell someone that their legs were mangled and they'd likely need knee replacements? And then months of physical therapy?

Especially to someone as proud as Kaiba...?

(You don't. You let the doctor do that, which inevitably, she will.)

"You've become a regular nursemaid since I've been away, haven't you Yuugi?" Kaiba asks smartly. Then, he catches a glance at his brother and startles lightly, realizing he's awake. Suddenly he's not entirely interested in staying flat on the bed anymore, and shifts to sit up. It's actually easier today than it had been yesterday.

"Mokuba...you slept here?"

Stupid question, wasn't it? Mokuba seemed to think so, because he gave Seto the same look he had yesterday, the one that makes them look very much the same. Only there was still a hint of humanity, and worry.

"I had to make sure you didn't leave me alone again, bro. You're not sticking me with KaibaCorp forever."

And at that, Kaiba lets out a hoarse laugh.

"I guess now you know why I had all the 'schooling' prior to the hostile takeover."

"Look, I'll take Yuugi being a nursemaid if it means he remembers to eat." Mokuba glanced over to Yuugi, whose face resembled a strawberry more than a person.

"Give him someone to take care of and eat with, and--"

"Anyway," did Yuugi just squeak? "I think that's enough about me, right? I think Kaiba's more interested in how you are doing, yeah?"

That same deadpan look as before was thrown Yuugi's way.

"Right..."

...This feels awkward. Kaiba doesn't really care for how out of place he feels between these two. He isn't quite so comfortable with Yuugi as Mokuba is, not like this, when he's at his worst.

Naturally, his response is to be kind of an asshole.

"You're supposed to be running a company, not a person," he says snarkily to his brother. "Yuugi's an adult and his choices are his own."

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1/it's kaiba we'll see

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