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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"Fuck. You."

The audacity of Yuugi, to use their rivalry against him--

--it's what he wanted. To be pushed against. To feel as if he's in an ebb and flow, and to have his anger answered to! Kaiba's head is already starting to swim, but he's not entirely gone yet. He's there, enough to hiss out his words, then, with some level of spite, but a higher level of answering enthusiasm, he finds himself compelled to crush their lips together.

Inelegant. Forceful.

New.

Exciting.

A challenge was laid in that kiss, though it won't last in his favor. He's already cooling off, vision blurring, within seconds of making contact.

Those seconds were answered with an inferno.

Small hands gripped his face, his cheeks, pushing plush lips to Kaiba's as a challenge answered. A clumsy, inexperienced mouth moved against his with a sharp intake of breath as Yuugi kissed him...

Kissed.

They were kissing.

Yuugi kissed as a riposte, a promise, a challenge, a proposal, a dedication to feelings unsaid but unneeded.

I care about you.

I like you.

My friend.

My Rival.

The one I want standing in front of me on the other end of the arena.

The one I want to walk beside me.

Everything, everything was poured into just those moments, that connection of lips on lips.

"Mmmm..."

Kaiba's eyes roll shut slowly, and with what strength he has left, he laces his fingers in Yuugi's hair, touches it again, because it feels nice and comforting. He pulls Yuugi with him onto the bed, selfishly, until the man's atop him, but he doesn't care.

"Don't...stop."

It's not an order. It's an airy, far off request muttered against Yuugi's warm, comforting lips.

"Never."

Yuugi adjusted himself and his weight so that none of it would be on Kaiba's legs. He straddled him, practically on hands and knees, and yet kissed him like it brought air into his lungs.

"I don't..." he murmured, "...ever want to stop."

This...

He'd thought of this, sometimes. Selfishly, when he was sitting in his room or at Kaiba's bedside. They were idle thoughts tossed aside as intrusive or strange despite how they made his cheeks burn.

He never realized just how right it was.

His fingers threaded in Seto's hair, gently massaging his scalp with a lover's touch.

--

Mokuba Kaiba opened the door just a crack, silently, just enough to see the two men on the bed before shutting it in turn.

Time to hold up the nurses to give these two a little privacy.

He could always say he got held up. It wouldn't technically be a lie, after all...

Kaiba's certain he's fallen backwards into forever, and that he was dragging Yuugi with him. His heartbeat was slowly leveling out, and his returned enthusiasm for the kiss was bleeding away as the painkiller sets in.

"Good," he adds softly. There's a tinge of fondness in his voice, even as his fingers fall away from Yuugi's hair. The fingers threading in his own unkempt mop make his arms prickle and break out in goosebumps. It feels good. He's never let himself feel this.

No one's hands have ever touched him like this, and he's practically swimming in the sensation as he fights his own urge to slip into unconsciousness.

"Mmm..."

He'd never sounded like this before. Even with his own natural ease and gentleness, the dreamy tone was new.

The intimacy was new.

(Exciting.)

He rumbled from his chest between indulgent kisses, fingers still moving.

Still caressing.

"I'll be here when you wake up," He whispered, "And we can do this again. I promise."

"So tired," Kaiba grumbles quietly, "of sleeping."

But inevitably, he's the one that quits chasing Yuugi. His eyes slip shut, and his breathing evens out. He's still at the edge of sleep without quite giving in, floating in a sea of calm.

"So that's why...people like doing that...so much."

"Mmmm."

He can't help it: he leans forward and presses his lips -- so gently -- on his Rival (?)'s forehead.

"You're... the only one I've... done this with.

It's... nice."

"Yeah...yeah."

Yuugi's lips shouldn't feel so nice on his skin. They probably shouldn't feel so nice when pressed to his lips either, but here Kaiba was, enjoying the contact and wishing they were still doing the thing.

"Don't tell Mokuba," he whispers. "If...he's still outside."

(Brother pls he already saw you)

Yuugi pressed another lingering kiss to Seto's lips, foreheads touching.

This was... nice.

No, more than nice. Perfect. Everything he could have wanted, and yet he never thought that he'd know how those lips felt against his.

Thin, but sweet. Better than Burger World's hand-dipped strawberry milkshake.

"It's our secret," Yuugi promised. "I won't say a thing."

Not that he knew Mokuba saw them, but... you know.

"Mm...you taste nice."

Seto no.

"And I know you can keep a secret. You kept your hurt from your friends. From me."

Seto pls.

"If I'd have been there...y'wouldn't have been hurt."

Oh my god.

Seto...

Was it normal to feel this happy to hear Seto Kaiba talk like this? To hear that he...

Cared?

That he wanted to... what? Protect him? Keep him from being hurt?

Gods, Yuugi couldn't stop smiling.

"Are you saying you... would have protected me?"

Another kiss, nice and soft, on Seto's lips.

How is he supposed to focus, when Yuugi's kisses are so soft and gentle that he could probably have fallen asleep right then and there? Ughhh, Yuugi...

"Haven't I...protected you enough for you to know...?"

He's protected Yuugi. He's protected Yuugi's friends. The last time they'd been in battle side-by-side, he had given his existence up so Yuugi could win against Aigami. Had he not...then it would have been a permanent sacrifice.

"...Didn't that matter to you?"

He hadn't meant to say what he did...but it spilled out anyway.

"Of course it did. It always has."

Because Seto always has protected him, hasn't he? Always, always, always.

"Against Aigami, I... was so scared that I'd lose you for good. I was scared of losing everyone, but you... you hit me harder than anyone else. I didn't know why back then."

He did now. He was so stupid, how could he have missed it? How could he have missed all of this?

"I do now, though. And...I never did quite thank you properly for that, did I?"

He kissed him, deeper, slower than the others. It was clumsy, but a lover's kiss if ever there was one.

As He pulled away, he whispered:

"Consider that a fraction of my gratitude, Seto Kaiba."

"Why me?"

Kaiba opens his eyes sluggishly, wanting to focus enough to press for that answer. Why did Yuugi even think that about him? Hadn't it been more important to save the world? It was always more important to save the world, objectively.

Subjectively...Kaiba resented both him and Atem for their burdens.

But he won't be able to say anything about that. Not before Yuugi's lips press to his, and then...Kaiba's sinking into a sea of warmth again, his eyes half-lidding as he lets out a soft hum of approval. It's the best response he's got for a good long while, because when Yuugi pulls away, the only evidence of a reaction is the dusting of color across Kaiba's cheeks.

It's almost...innocent.

Then, too long afterwards, he finally speaks.

"...More of that."

It's not a demand so much as a request, but even if Yuugi tries to give him what he wants...Seto will struggle to reciprocate, before actually falling the fuck to sleep.

Sorry Yuugi. He is not used to being on morphine. This man is gone.

"Because, I..."

He leaned in, words feeling hard and heavy on his tongue. Barbed knots sat on the edge of each, and yet--

Honesty. Honesty.

He needed to be honest, gripping words and yanking them out of his chest by the root to come tumbling in the air, out in the open.

"...love you."

Did Seto even hear him?

Or were those words doomed to sit in dead air...?

Unfortunately for Yuugi...Kaiba's already fallen asleep. The peaceful expression on his face, the steady rise and fall of his chest...that's how he's looked for so long, whether it was during the coma, or afterwards.

It was simply poor luck on Yuugi's part, of course. Nothing he did wrong.

--

Kaiba has an unfortunate trend towards nightmares when he sleeps. It doesn't always show on his face, and he's long since stopped being startled for the most part. But sometimes, it's as subtle as the sweat on his brow, the way he clings to the sheets.

Even his dreams were work, or reminders of important things baked into what should be restful.

He hasn't ever dreamed of something so pleasant he doesn't want to wake up. So...it's definitely interesting when he breathes out a gentle sigh, followed by an unintentional, but overly-fond murmur, a string of words that's unintelligible.

A couple of hours after he'd fallen asleep, Kaiba comes around. It's faster this time, at least. He hasn't opened his eyes yet...but he does speak groggily.

"I want to eat something. I want to drink something."

Good morning? Sure, whatever. Kaiba woke up and decided he wanted to do normal things already.

Yuugi, bless him, had only just gotten up himself. All the emotional turmoil and feelings tuckered him out, the poor thing.

He sat at Kaiba's bedside, softer than usual with sleep, hazy eyes watching him as though he was trying to translate what he was saying.

Mokuba was gone -- he'd been the one to wake Yuugi up, letting him know that he had to get to the office -- leaving just these two in the room for now.

He... wanted to eat.

He wanted to drink.

Right out of a coma.

Yuugi let out a little noise, rubbing his eyes.

"I'll... call the doctor," he mumbled with a yawn.

We'll do this again. I promise.

...before absent-mindedly kissing Kaiba on the forehead. As you do.

He didn't even think about it: he was already fumbling with the call button.

Well. That gets him to open his eyes. Not so much Yuugi tiredly responding to him as the kiss to his forehead. It makes his skin tingle in a way that feels...foreign.

He's uncertain if he liked that. But he's equally uncertain as to whether he cared all that much about it, which evens out his temperament, and keeps him blessedly silent for at least long enough that Yuugi can hit the call button.

Kaiba slowly sits up again. It's getting easier every time.

"Why are you still here?" he asks quietly, choosing not to comment on the kiss for the moment. Besides, it's a valid question. Doesn't Yuugi have things to do...?

It took him a moment to talk with the nurse and urge her to get the doctor at her earliest convenience; they were always so nice to him, but it felt strange having authority like this.

He yawned, sitting on his usual chair with a sheepish look.

"I, ah. Can work anywhere on my laptop. The hospital is quieter than the office."

Especially with the rumor mill flitting about. With Yuugi's sudden hiring, it was inevitable.

"I am mostly doing prototyping and engine study for Spherium right now, so I don't need on-site facilities to do my work just yet."

"As long as you're being paid fair, I don't care where you work," Kaiba responds, though...that really isn't up to him right now, is it? Mokuba's acting CEO. Seto has no power here.

He reaches behind him awkwardly, repositioning one of his pillows on his own, because he is not asking for help! Nope!

"I would like to see the prototype sometime. When you feel it's ready."

Kaiba's not sure why, but he feels terribly awkward around Yuugi like this. It's not as if he's ever shunted off the idea of being embarrassed about something he'd done, and moved on from it! Why would this be different?

(because you can still taste him)

"Oh, don't worry about that," Yuugi chuckled, "Mokuba would not let me leave the room until we agreed on a wage. I kept lowballing it."

Because of course he did. This was a man who didn't know his own worth.

Effortlessly, he stood, adjusting the pillow as he spoke.

"And I'd love to show you. The digital version isn't going to be ready for a while, but if you ever want me to set up the board, let me know."

He needed to quit looking at Kaiba's lips. He needed to stop thinking about how soft they were, how perfect it was to kiss him.

Now.

Immediately.

"If I can be honest...I was always hoping we'd get to play it together."

"Sorry to have disappointed you," Kaiba says coldly. He's more annoyed at himself than Yuugi, but he always sounds like an asshole, so it might be hard to tell. "I think it's best to hold off for now, until I can give you a real challenge."

The words feel like acid on his tongue. He's admitting that he isn't at his best, after all. Which is, consequently, why he doesn't thank Yuugi for adjusting his pillow the rest of the way. That and...one other reason, which he's trying to keep off his mind.

Oh, you thought he was...

...

Did Kaiba truly think he disappointed Yuugi, or did he simply feel disappointed with himself...?

"Kaiba, you didn't disappoint me. I'm just looking forward to when we can really play all the more now."

Because what was he supposed to do: expect him to be at his best right out of a coma? The man was lucky to be talking, much less able to move as well as he did!

Yuugi shifted his legs slightly, stretching them in front of him in his seat.

No force in the world could ever truly stop Seto Kaiba from talking, or asserting himself in some way. Even being in multiple comas had only shut him up temporarily!

Admittedly...he wasn't at his best. Talking and moving, he'd done that during the fight to regain his company and his brother from Pegasus, out of sheer power of will. This was no different.

And because it was no different...there were deficits elsewhere.

His inability to walk. His inability to regulate his emotional outbursts, apparently. He might be awake, but Kaiba was inadvertently behaving like a cornered beast at all times, including now.

"You say that, but without the challenge inherent, I'd only be wasting your time," he says sharply. "It's a waste right now."

He licks his lips suddenly, a reflex. They sting from disuse, from breathing open-mouthed during months of unconsciousness, and he wonders, unbidden, if that had been unpleasant for Yuugi?

They...they had kissed, hadn't they? That wasn't a dream.

His gaze follows the movement of Yuugi's legs covetously, but he tries not to let it show, not anymore than he wanted to reveal why he'd licked his lips in the first place.

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