The Bittersweet Fate Of A Duelist

Chapter 17

Months had passed since the last time Seto has seen his rival. Returned from the dimension representing the afterlife, the CEO has thought and rethought about what Atem had told him, about what happened with the Pharaoh.
It was a complicated situation, still, difficult to understand even for Seto's brilliant mind, and having spent more than two weeks after his return under careful supervision didn't help. He needed to get distracted as soon as he came back, but no one wanted to hear any of it.
Seto wasn't made to stop and reflect. He was made to move tirelessly, thinking about what bothered him while doing something else. Such was his nature, and seeing it trapped only added to his confusion. He wanted to move around, if not work at least play a game, read a book, anything.
But with Mokuba constantly worried about him and his entire medical and scientific teams determined on keeping all his parameters stable and under control, the CEO hadn't had much choice.

It had been a difficult couple of weeks, and also an interesting one. Despite jumping through dimensions and almost dying, his body was in nearly perfect physical conditions, maybe just a little bit thinner. His journey seemed short to him, a matter of hours, but Mokuba told him he's been away for days.
Dehydration and hunger hadn't been a thing for him, luckily, but the huge time jump had left the CEO dizzy and sick for the majority of the first day.
From then on, his only emotion was frustration at being unable to do what he wanted, to the point he actually sighed of relief when Mokuba released him from that hell filled with daily exams and checks.

And now, almost a full year after his return, his sleek black car was parked near the sidewalk in front of the Kame Game Shop. He was quiet, staring at the house above the shop, not really knowing what to do.
From what he knew, Yugi had started working for a small videogame company not long before, shortly after Atem's second disappearance, and his knowledge told him he was going to be back home in less than a hour.
Enough time to start the engine, turn the car around and head back to the mansion without him knowing Seto had been by his house.
Chickening out was definitely tempting, but he couldn't convince himself to do it. he already had his hand on the key and the other on the steering wheel, but there was no way he wanted to move his fingers.
Atem's words resounded in his brain as they did for days, weeks, months. "Duel with Yugi", he said, in a soft and gentle tone Seto had never heard coming from the Pharaoh, and he refused to put aside that memory.

Of course, Atem's kiss still inflamed his soul, still confused him with feelings that had never touched him in twenty years of life, but... Seto was sure he hadn't look only for Atem, during his interdimensional journey.
Unconsciously, he'd hoped to find other answers, to questions he didn't know he was asking himself. When he received confirmation from Atem, even if indirectly, everything came into place.
His obsession with Yugi, to the point of being unhealthy, his accommodation to his every request (the last one being his right to Duel against Diva), his desire to help him... his selfless sacrifice to save him from thee power of the Cube.
Not to mention when he accepted to help the Pharaoh free him from the Orichalcos, or when he recognized him as King of Games without batting an eye. The way he always hurried at his side when he called for help, the tingling heat he felt when Yugi risked it all to save him and Mokuba from Noah.

Back in his teen years, the mere thought would have seemed impossible.
He, the CEO and president of KaibaCorp, a world champion of Duel Monsters, the man who had dethroned Gozaburo Kaiba and changed the world... in love?
If someone had had the nerve of telling him such a thing, Seto would have lost his mind laughing.
Now, sitting in the front seat of an anonymous car and twisting his hands in nervousness, all those beliefs were shattering one after the other.

He'd never been to Yugi's house before. Sire, he visited the store, the first time to get his hands on the Blue-Eyes White Dragon belonging to Yugi's grandfather, but never entered the house itself. He had no idea how Yugi lived, whether he had used the money from his victories or preferred to set them aside for something more important.
To be honest, Seto didn't even know Yugi that much.
It was the Pharaoh he knew best, the one he'd most interacted with, since Yugi was never there if danger was behind the corner. Atem always shoved him into his – what was it called? – Soul Room in an attempt to protect or help him.
With a sigh, Seto leaned back against the car seat and watched the road, waiting. The darkened windows allowed him to look without being seen, but as soon as a roary motorcycle approached the Game Shop he couldn't prevent himself from tensing up.