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Until last month, Seto Kaiba didn't believe in magic.
His was a world of logic, science. There was no room for antics, not when he had business rivals ready at the slightest sign of weakness to sink their claws into his company and take away everything he'd worked so hard for.
Here, these were the problems, real and all too close, that he had had to worry about before.
Before a rare card finally came back on the market and he wanted it badly.
Before he met a fucking Demon Lord who had first sent his soul to Hell - or a version of Hell just for him - and now did nothing but haunt him.
Mokuba had told him that it wasn't persecution, but accidental encounters, as if fate or the universe had decided it would be fun to test Seto's nerves, putting him in the path of someone who just didn't make sense.
All things considered, Yami shouldn't even exist, but there was irrefutable evidence that not even a staunch atheist like Kaiba could deny.
What was worse were the sensations he had been feeling for a month now. A heat that filled his veins, a dissatisfaction that wasn't exclusively due to the desire for revenge, an itch that kept him awake and was driving him crazy.
He didn't know what was happening to him, but he was sure of one thing. It was all Yami's fault.
"Solve it," he growled when she found him outside old Moutou's game shop, oblivious to the little group of idiots who were always with the demon, and to the little human who had solved the puzzle and brought that threat back into the world. Who the hell had given him a fucking demoniac puzzle?
It wasn't the mystery that interested him. He wanted that need, that fire he felt inside, to disappear, and immediately.
"Hello to you too, Kaiba. Today is a beautiful day, isn't it?"
This, if anything, worsened his mood, "Don't be sarcastic with me, demon. You did something to me. Fix it."
"And what would I have done to you, mhm?"
"You..." he glanced nervously at the other boys in the back, and for the first time in his life his throat felt dry, unable to continue speaking. It wasn't embarrassment, but he didn't want strangers minding his business.
Yami fortunately understood, and said to his friend, "Yugi, you go. I'll take care of it."
"But..."
"It's just Kaiba. I'm fine."
The sentence should have offended him mortally, but Seto was intelligent, and he recognized an obvious disadvantage when he saw one. Yami was a demon, he was an ordinary human. For all his acumen, he didn't have the wherewithal to overpower him. For now.
But that was a thought for later. Now he had more pressing matters to attend to.
Yugi seemed to trust the demon, and dragged his friends into the shop, with the blond occasionally shooting him poisonous glances.
Seto did what he had become good at: he ignored him.
As soon as they were alone, and assured that there were no prying ears, he continued, "I can't sleep."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"You have something to do with it. You sent me to Hell..."
"Shadow Realm," the demon corrected. "As much of a bastard as you are, there is a glimmer of something good within you. The Shadow Realm..."
"I don't care about the details," he cut short. "Since I've been back, I feel...different."
"Different how?"
"I feel...there's something wrong with me. I feel like I'm on fire, my veins are throbbing...I don't need to explain it to you, you already know."
"No, Kaiba. I don't know," the other told him, patiently. "There are no side effects from a trip to the Shadow Realm, other than the darkness disappearing. Which in your case, it may have happened to some extent."
"Then you cursed me."
“Why would I do that?”
"Why did you send me to the Shadow Realm?" he asked in turn. "You still want to punish me, demon. Well, you've had your revenge. Fix it."
"I only returned the evil you did," Yami reminded him. "There was no need to curse you. But if you say something is wrong...let me prove something..."
And quite unexpectedly, she grabbed him by the collar, dragged him down, and kissed him. Seto widened his eyes comically, put his hands on his shoulders to try to push him away, but couldn't. There was like electric energy between them, and the need, if only briefly, was appeased.
He felt a feeling of rightness in that kiss, barely a touch of lips, and a part of him wanted more.
He had to fight that desire because it was simply absurd.
The kiss seemed to last an eternity, but it only lasted a few seconds. The first to walk away was Yami, who looked at him as if he was seeing him for the first time.
Seto tried to put distance between them, but the demon had his hands firmly on him.
"You're not cursed," Yami said too cheerfully, snapping him out of it.
At that point Seto got angry, "You kissed me! What the hell were you thinking?"
“I had to check your soul,” was the reply. "It was the best way."
"I don't believe it."
“The other was to stick my hand in your chest and squeeze your heart until you had a heart attack, putting you in a state between life and death where I could see your true essence and then send you back into your body. "
He shuddered, "You're lying."
"If you want, I'll show you."
"No," he snapped, because if there was anyone who would do exactly what he said just to make a point, it was the demon in front of him. Even if he was lying.
"You don't seem to mind. Besides, red suits you."
He stopped himself from stuttering, and asked, "What the hell is happening to me?"
"Well, congratulations. You're awakening."
"What?"
"Kaiba, there's no way to tell you this without traumatizing you...you're a demon."
"I am not a demon," he growled. "I was born to human parents, unlike you."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I am! I have a brother and..."
"What were your biological parents' names?"
The question surprised him. He stared at him blankly. Yami continued, "It's not that hard. What were their names?"
He was right. It was a very simple question. So why couldn't he answer?
He tried to strain his mind, but it was no use. He couldn't remember his parents' names. What was worse, he didn't even remember their faces.
Out of shock, he took a few steps back, while Yami continued to hold him.
The other almost looked sorry for him, "You don't remember, do you? It's probably because you became human after Mokuba's parents died. You took on a human identity, a human body, and to not attract attention , you sealed your memories along with your powers."
"It's not possible. You sent me...to the fucking Shadow Realm. How would that be possible if I'm a demon?"
"Who said demons don't have souls?"
"Because it's in the definition itself! Demons are...damn it...you don't have a soul!"
"This is what Catholics believe," Yami said. "We demons have a soul, just like all living creatures. We veer more towards darkness, we have problems with morality, but we too can choose between good and evil. The same as gods and angels."
He didn't have time to ascertain that gods existed too, not when his entire fucking existence was falling apart. "It can't be. It can't…why on earth would I become a human child for heaven's sake? Why not be an adult or…"
"I told you. You have to stay hidden from some people."
"By whom?"
"From the same ones I fought before sealing me in the puzzle," he said, his tone grave.
Finally, he pulled away from Seto, and internally the human (because that's what he was, dammit), regretted the loss of warmth.
He was looking at him as if she were seeing him for the first time, with a recognition that made the heat rise in his veins and throughout his body.
"I know you don't believe me. But do some research. If you find out I'm right, this is my number. Text me, and I'll come to you...there are things we need to do."
Before Seto could ask him what the hell he was talking about, Yami walked back into the store, leaving him standing there like an idiot.
He should have chased him. He should have forced him to talk. But the more pressing question was another.
He had to go to the orphanage.
"Mokuba...what would you do if I wasn't really your brother?"
The boy looked at him as if he had gone crazy. And deep down Seto felt like nothing made sense anymore. He had gone to the orphanage, looking for documents of his arrival with Mokuba.
Nothing. There were signs of his brother's arrival, but nothing was said about a second child.
He then went to the registry office, looking for traces of his birth. Nothing. Luckily, there was evidence of his brother's perfectly normal birth (human, at least he was human), and the names of his parents.
There was nothing about Seto.
Seto was a logical person, and he knew well what all those clues led to. He wasn't human, and he had entered Mokuba's life like a cuckoo, a parasite in a life that wasn't his.
“Big brother, why do you ask?”
"Just...answer, please."
Mokuba understood the gravity of the situation. Seto almost never said please. Gozaburo had made him hate that word.
The twelve-year-old didn't hesitate to reply, "What difference would it make?"
"What?"
"You always cared for me. You let yourself be tortured for me. You killed a man because he wanted to use me. I don't know you, but all of this makes you my brother, by blood or not."
In a way, this made him feel relieved. Nothing changed, not really. He was still Mokuba's older brother, and if he told him what he found out, it wouldn't change anything, not really.
"Actually, everything has already changed. You have to know... you have to call him..."
As much as he hated his traitorous mind's suggestion, Seto recognized that it was true. He had to talk to Yami. He stood up from the table, and Mokuba asked him, "Big brother, why did you ask me that?"
"I'll tell you later. Now I have something important to do."
"But..."
"It's okay" he reassured him. "I have to call someone."
"Who?"
"Someone who owes me answers."
He left the dining room, before Mokuba asked more questions he wasn't ready to answer yet. He needed to have some answers first.
“You called me.”
A statement, rather than a question. Seto managed to suppress a gasp at the sudden appearance of the Demon Lord in his office.
Why couldn't he do things normally? But again, if he had come as a normal person, there would have been too many questions from the staff and Mokuba, and he wanted to avoid that.
“You were right,” he said, barely concealing his displeasure at having to admit it. “I did some research. I don't exist until a month before my adoption by Gozabouro Kaiba.
When I asked very specific questions to the orphanage staff, they were confused and couldn't tell me more than I already knew: Mokuba arrived with his older brother. It was as if they had been conditioned to repeat the same story over and over again."
“The best spells are like that,” Yami said, walking over to his desk. He felt goosebumps on his skin as he saw him approaching, and he didn't know if it was fear or something else.
He decided it was neither, but just the tension of discovering a truth about himself.
“They shouldn't have too much information, otherwise it will be easier to undo them.”
“It's stupid. All it takes is someone asking the right questions, and the supposed spell would be broken."
“But who would go and ask those questions?” he asked him provocatively, sitting on the desk gracefully, as if he belonged there.
“I did them. It cannot be ruled out that someone else could do it.”
"Why? Your history is well known, and you don't let your past be a brake on your ambitions. Anyone who wants to hurt you will have to dig into your current life, not your past.”
He hated how reasonable it seemed. He replied, “Someone might use my…Mokuba's parents against me. If they were criminals..."
“But they weren't, were they? You chose an irreproachable couple, who best suited your purposes. Hiding you in plain sight was a stroke of genius, Seth..."
The name sent shocks down his spine, and he instinctively backed away from the demon. His heart was pounding, and there it was, the emotion, vibrating in his chest like a barely touched violin string.
“Too soon, hm?” Yami said absentmindedly, watching his reaction. “I thought I could try, considering your trip to the Shadow Realm triggered an awakening. “
“Is this my real name? Seth?”
“Yes, it is.”
“How do you know?”
A smile with a hint of malice appeared on the demon's face, “I can say that I am very familiar with you, Kaiba. We've known each other for centuries, you and I."
“And despite this knowledge, you did not recognize me.”
“It's not my fault that you look different than I'm used to. Although…” he leaned forward, to be a few centimeters from her face. Seto felt his face heat up at the closeness. “Your eyes reveal who you are. I should have paid more attention the first time. My bad.”
“Would anything have changed?”
“Oh, I would have found a more…pleasant way to punish you.”
The sentence made him feel shaken, a mixture of confused feelings fighting within him. He hated feeling like this. And he hated that he started shaking for no real reason.
“You said I chose to become human to escape. Why?"
“Because you're important…” he didn't continue the sentence, something pending between them, but the hesitation was short-lived. “You are important, Seto. I defeated my enemies and sealed the Millennium Items with their souls inside. Unfortunately, they have followers willing to bring them back, and you are the only other person who knows where they are hiding.”
“Rather than become human, I could have killed them,” Seto said, very prosaically. “What kind of demon was I? A weak one?”
“No, not at all. You were a skilled user of black magic, second only to my Black Magician.”
“Then…why did I choose this?” he asked, pointing to himself.
He didn't regret anything he had done, because it was necessary. However, it was beyond him why a supposedly powerful demon would rather become a weak sack of human flesh and be trampled on again and again, rather than adopt the most logical and quickest solution.
Yami's smile this time was sad, "You will tell me this when your awakening is complete, Kaiba."
The prospect of suddenly waking up with incredible powers wasn't exciting, nor was having memories that weren't his own messing with his head.
“Isn't there a way to…prevent it? To stop everything?”
He didn't want to sound pathetic when he said it, but he was tired, he wanted to stop feeling things, to stop feeling like he was burning from the inside out.
“No, Kaiba. I am sorry. Once the awakening process has begun, it cannot be stopped.”
He clenched his fists, “So I have to stay like this…feel like something inside me is broken…until the trial is over?”
“There would be a way to feel better.”
“And what would that be?”
“How did you feel after I kissed you?”
Now his face might have rivaled that of a supernova in warmth. “None of your business!”
“Actually, it is. How did you feel?”
Reluctantly, he admitted, “Better. Did you do any spells?"
"No. I fulfilled your wish."
“You what…”
He was interrupted by the second kiss the Demon Lord stole from him in a few hours. The demon had leaned forward, capturing her lips in a kiss that had nothing innocent about it this time.
The shock immobilized him, but then instinct prevailed, and he reciprocated, their tongues fighting for dominance, with Seto ultimately the loser.
When the fog left his mind, he pushed the demon away, his lips hurting, his heart pounding but the feeling that yes, this was right, this was how things were supposed to be done.
The lights were flickering, and the Demon Lord looked far too pleased with himself.
“This is a good sign. Your powers are returning.”
“Why the hell did you do it this time?” he growled, trying to ignore the urge to want more, remembering that this was the same man who had taken him on a deadly journey to the Shadow Realm.
Too bad his body didn't get the memo.
“I gave you what you wanted,” he replied without batting an eyelid. “You feel better, don't you?”
“Why would I want you?!”
“Are you sure you want the answer?”
No, he didn't want to know. But at the same time, he felt it was necessary, to complete a (bad comparison) fundamental puzzle.
“Tell me.”
“It will be difficult to accept…but there was a bond between us. A deep bound.”
A few moments passed in which Seto had to digest the sentence. When he did, several glass objects exploded, earning only a snort from Yami, “Yeah, I figured this would be your reaction. You're not ready yet."
“You mean we were…”
“Lovers? Mhm…something more.”
"What does it mean?"
“Didn't you figure it out yourself?”
He blurted out, “No, and I hate people using riddles. Speak clearly, demon.”
“You know, you shouldn't use that as an insult, considering you are one too. Some would think you have some sort of self-loathing.”
He bit her lip instinctively, not wanting to give him an answer.
However, the demon heard the unspoken, somehow, “Oh, Kaiba. I didn't think..."
“I don't want your pity!”
“I didn't expect it…"
“Don't be ridiculous, I have no self-loathing. Now go away and I swear that if you try to kiss me again I will..."
“What, you want more? In fact, sex could make you feel much better, and speed up your awakening. Not to mention that it would relax you a lot and..."
The desk was thrown across the room with Yami on it, without Seto having touched it.
He was shocked by the speed with which his so-called powers were manifesting, but at the same time he was satisfied that he had driven that damned demon away from him.
His proximity was dangerous for Seto.
“I won't be your sex toy or your replacement for Seth,” he spat, full of hatred. “I will find a way to block the awakening, and I won't need you."
The Demon Lord simply raised his hands in a sign of peace, “I told you, there is no way to prevent the full awakening. You're already on the right track."
“You say that. I don't exclude that you are lying to me."
“Too bad I'm the only one you can ask, isn't it?”
He wouldn't give it up. "Then all I need to do is summon a demon"
“Not the best decision, Kaiba. You hid among humans for a reason. You would put a sign on your head to be found.”
He pursed his lips, knowing the demon was right, but refusing to admit it.
“I'll find a way,” he replied piqued, unwilling to give up. Not to him, not ever.
Yami just shrugged, “Do as you wish. If you get in trouble, you'll know where to find me.”
“I can take care of myself, dammit…”
There was no one to curse. The demon was gone, leaving him alone in a room that looked like a tornado had passed through.
Seto ran a hand over his face, his lips still tasting like the demon, and the desperate, conflicted desire to lick them to taste him again.
“Where have you been?” Yugi asked once Yami returned to their room.
“I was with Kaiba.”
“Does this have anything to do with what happened this morning?” the teenager asked, always too perceptive.
“Let's say yes,” he replied. “He too is a demon, albeit an unawakened one.”
“Kaiba is a demon? That's…well, it actually explains a lot,” Yugi said, reacting with much more grace than you'd expect to find out that someone you know is a demon. “And how did you find out?”
“I kissed him to see his soul.”
He saw the other blushing to the tips of his hair, and he thought it was better not to say that he had been about to offer him sex, to satisfy not so much Kaiba's repressed desire, but his own, for having found the man who he loved, and who apparently had chosen to exile himself among humans so as not to let the Millennium Items be found.
Seth had always been an intense bastard, and it had followed him right to the end.
Yami knew all this, but he also knew that Kaiba wouldn't react well to that revelation, not when he was living in total denial.
The right time will come. For now, he will have to be patient. Years of imprisonment had taught him that virtue.
“I guess there was no other way…”
“Actually yes, but I preferred that.”
“What? Why?”
Because he had to be sure. Because ever since he had met Kaiba, he had felt like he knew him. Because those eyes were unmistakable, and there had been attraction, attraction that he hadn't wanted because demons fell in love once, and it was forever, and thinking of being able to replace Seth with a random human was unbearable.
Apparently, no matter the container, the souls always recognized each other.
Seth was in the human world, he was awakening. What did it matter to a little lie of omission to allow the trial to complete?
“I wanted to do it.
Yugi sighed,”Careful, Yami. Men like Kaiba bring trouble.”
The concern of his little brother by chose was touching. Too bad that between the two, the real danger wasn't Kaiba. It was him.