The Bittersweet Fate Of A Duelist

Chapter 5

Seto and Yugi's alarm clocks rang in unison at six o'clock in the morning, populating the dimly lit bedroom of the two different and contrasting melodies; a sharp trill the first, a soft sound the latter.
With an irritated groan, Seto lifted one arm and reached for his cell phone on the bedside table, connected to its power cord, and another groan (this time sleepy) told him Yugi was awake and had just done the same thing.
A few moments later, the room fell back into silence, only disturbed by the repetitive chirpings of birds that, thanks to the lush mansion's garden, were perched every day on the tree branches.
Although reluctant to leave the inviting embrace and warmth of the sheets, Seto sat up on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes with one hand and hiding a huge yawn with the other, before deciding to get up and open the curtains.
The electric light of the street lamps placed around the mansion, while being able to easily pass through the window no longer shielded by the heavy white curtains, was not strong enough to flood the room, but just enough to wrest a second protest from Yugi. The young man tried to turn away, covering his head with the sheets, but a brief time later he finally decided to imitate Seto, and sat up straight on the bed, still half covered.
Rubbing his eyes, Yugi took a few seconds to register his whereabouts, bewildered by the absence of his skylight and of all the junk and collectibles usually infesting his room, but after returning on board, he immediately turned to Seto, whose slender figure stood out against the outside incoming light.
«Hey», Yugi said, his voice still hoarse because of sleepiness.
Amazed, he realized he had slept peacefully, for the first time in weeks, and blushed in thinking how much, the night before, he felt safe and protected in Seto's arms, cradled by his heartbeat and his breath. His forced isolation, both physical and psychological, surely swept away that feeling, leaving his prey of horrible nightmares. That thought made him sight.
«Are you okay?» was Seto' s immediate question, sweetly posed but contaminated with imperceptible apprehension. Yugi's slight discomfort had not been missed.
Yugi shook his head, but smiled: «Okay? No. But better that I lately was? Yes», he replied. «Apparently, I really needed to come back here», he then added.
Seto sat down next to him and replied with a light and gentle kiss, just a touch of lips against lips: «You did not need to come back here. You needed to find what you lost. Find yourself».
«Then, I must have left a part of me here with you», was the immediate reply, so immensely honest it made Seto's heart ache, as he blushed and held Yugi tight, before he could notice the tears popping in the CEO's eyes at those words, overwhelmed by raw emotions.
«I don't know what exactly drove me to get away from everyone», Yugi said, head bowed, when Seto released him from the embrace. «It's just... after what happened, I was scared. Deadly scared. And that fear told me and repeated not to let anyone touch me, not to let anyone anywhere near me. He suggested loneliness, but being alone... I had no defense against my own mind. Atem tried to help me, he took my place when being asked, never asked too many questions. But my life... my mind was closed and unreachable even for him. Somehow, not even my own awareness wanted to allow the Pharaoh, a part, literally a part of myself, to understand».
He sighed, clutching his arms around himself, and stopped a while before continuing: «I was obviously never alone, because I no longer dare to take the Puzzle off if I can avoid it, you know that. I only took it off to sleep, but I always have it close to me. But... I felt like I was. To me, it seemed no one was with me. Even if my friend, my grandfather... you, Seto, were always there, I somehow didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to accept it. This all started after I woke up in the hospital, when the memory of... when the pain was still vivid. And it only proceeded to get worse. I relived the same thing, night after night, nightmare after nightmare, over and over again with no exception, and with every day that passed I was more and more sure I had no one by my side. If Atem wasn't part of me, unknowingly making me master of my own action just enough to avoid disasters, I don't think I would be here now».
«Yugi...»
Pushing away the unwanted tears threatening to fall, Yugi smiled again: «I didn't want to put all this on your shoulders, Seto. That's why I didn't tell you, not even with a phone call. The problem is... After the first incident, it was not that difficult coming back as I was before. Well, maybe not exactly as before, but you know what I mean.
However, after what happened the second time I got in trouble... I don't think I can do it. I can't come back with myself alone. Not without you».
«Oh, Yugi...».
Seto enclosed him again in his arms, more gently this time, and tried several times replying to Yugi's words, to make him understand he would never leave him alone. But he was not able to. Instead, incredibly grateful to have received a long awaited explanation, despite imagining how hard it should have been for him, he heard himself whispering: «Dewa-netjer en-ek», in Ancient Egyptian, the old language fluent and natural as if it was his native one. So as to make clear not only to Yugi, but also to the Pharaoh, how much Seto was grateful.
Finally, Yugi forced the spell to break: «We should get ready, Imi-ib», he said, reluctantly sliding away from Seto's embrace.
The still had a work day to deal with, and Yugi didn't want Seto to spend it at home just because of his issues.
«Damn it, you're right», Seto replied, begrudgingly as well.
Sighing, he got again out of bed to get around it and directing his feet to the adjacent bathroom, turning around just after opening the door: «You're not coming?».
«Give me a minute», Yugi replied, throwing away the sheets.
With an nod, Seto closed the door behind him and Yugi immediately heard him turning on the shower to heat the water.
"Is something wrong, partner? You know, you could have waited a little longer before talking about it".
Yugi shook his head: "No, I... I would have not solved anything by waiting. It's been two months, it's enough. You are worried, Seto is worried, and I can't even imagine how my grandfather must feel. I took off from my shoulders a weight I didn't actively know I was carrying this way. However...".
"However?".
"I don't think this is enough. Maybe I should talk with someone more experienced. But coming back here, talking about it aloud with Seto... I think I might have opened my eyes only now". The man got out of bed, stretching both arms over his head: "We'll see how the situation evolves, and then I'll choose how to deal with it".
Stumbling toward the bathroom door, Yugi blinked several times to wipe away the last residues of sleep on him and lowered the handle, immediately greeted by a wave of hot steam, whose swirls invaded the large private bathroom and misted the mirror.
«Don't miss!», Seto warned Yugi, just before throwing him his toothbrush.
Yugi caught it on the fly and carefully brushed his teeth, squinting to look at himself in the mirror. In the end, defeated, he raised his hand to wipe the surface and be able to see his reflection on it.
His hair were more of a mess that usual and Yugi still had the pillow marks on the cheek, but the relaxed night sleep had worked wonders.
As soon as Yugi turned off the sink faucets, Seto waved to the shower, whose water temperature was now perfect: «Do you want to join me or...?».
Yugi nodded, and Seto removed his pajamas with fluid movements before moving in the shower. He glared at him, and Yugi soon took off his own clothes to join him, subsequently closing the sliding glass doors to hold both the water and its beneficial heat inside.
During the first time the showered together, long before they dared to try making love, Seto still could not bear Yugi's close proximity; he was so embarrassed, insecure and self conscious he could not even speak, let alone think. He was almost made uneasy by Yugi's proximity, whose body was not scarred by dozens of scars, and Seto literally rushed out as soon as he had the chance.
After that particular event, Seto had tried to actually avoid Yugi, fearing to have offended or hurt him with his behavior, but his companion had proved to be patient and understanding, and didn't put weight on the matter. He knew Seto was not used to being close to other people, with just Mokuba's exception, and a progressively developing romantic relationship had put a strain on his nerves, so he let him progress one little step at a time, without hurrying the man.
Now, Seto trusted Yugi enough he could almost always be near him, without withdrawing so often at his touch.
In the end, however, the biggest problem in their relationship were Seto's pride and absurd stubbornness, two things still able to put him in trouble with the most common stuff, like inviting Yugi out on a date or, as Mokuba defined them, assuming the classic "boyfriend behavior", but he was slowly getting there.
«What are you thinking about?», Yugi asked, already busy shampooing his hair.
Seto hugged him, dragging his companion directly under the hot water flow in doing so, and did not answer. He merely bent down enough to kiss him, and whispered three simple words on his lips: «Mw I Tw».
He then let Yugi go, grabbed the nearest shower gel bottle, and finally gave a sense to that shower.