Shadow Rising

Cats: *Sitting in front of a box fan, trying to keep cool.*

Trouble: So, remind me again why we got this apartment.

Hime: It was either that or the Lady would have had to drop out of college before she’d even been there a month.

Demi: *Nodding.* And apartments are a little scarce by October.

Other two: *Give him surprised looks.*

Trouble: Well, I hope she finds a new one, or those damned idiots come fix the screens soon, so the windows can be opened without pigeons and other miscellaneous creatures flying in.

Other two: *Nod in agreement.*

******

Ryou was the first.

It was surprising, really, considering how close an eye Bakura usually kept on him. But the teen disappeared anyway, on a Tuesday afternoon walking home from school. And it hadn’t been an hour later that the Thief had shown up at the game shop to see if his hikari was there. But no one had seen him since school had ended, and Bakura couldn’t sense him through the mindlink.

They searched until dark, looking in all the places they had used to hang out, and wherever else anyone could think of to look for him, but Ryou was nowhere to be found. Bakura was beside himself with worry, a sight that had Yugi’s eyes even wider-seeming than usual. Even the ring wouldn’t, or couldn’t, give up it’s owner’s whereabouts. Finally, they were forced to give up, or at least most of them. The hikari had school the next day, after all. Bakura, though, continued roaming well into the early morning, calling Ryou’s name.

******

Two days later, Malik disappeared.

It took longer this time for them to notice. Malik could take care of himself and he had a fondness for randomly taking off on his bike without telling anyone, so it was hours before Marik thought to wonder where his hikari had disappeared to.

But Malik carried a cell phone, so he had merely phoned the number. When no one had answered, though, he had become worried. Thoughts of things that could happen to an adventurous teen out on a motorbike plagued him as he hurried to the game shop. And the search was resumed, everyone ignoring Yami’s comments about how certain people were certainly quick enough to remember that he was Pharaoh and come running to him for help when they were in trouble.

Even Kaiba was convinced to help in the search, the CEO sending out his guards to comb the town. But still the elusive kidnapper remained just that, the only thing that the searched found being the Egyptian’s bike, parked neatly in front of a convenience store on the other side of town. Nothing about it showed that he had even been taken by force. It was as if he had been there one moment and gone the next.

******

Unsurprisingly, Yami and Set got quite protective of their respective hikari. Sagira could care less, or said she did, but Honda and Jounouchi happily took on the task of guarding Anzu. She didn’t mind terribly, and Yugi was used to having the Pharaoh tracking his every move, usually because the spirit still preferred spending his time merged with his hikari, but Kaiba found it quite irritating right from the start.

“I am quite able to take care of myself.” He growled, ignoring the Priest’s disapproving stare. “Besides, it would like quite odd if I suddenly had a twin tagging around after me at work.”

“You’re adopted. Tell them I’m your long lost brother or something.” Kaiba’s eye twitched. That would be just wrong, especially considering what the Egyptian liked to do when they were alone. Not that Kaiba could say he disliked it, most of the time. Well, once Set managed to get him past the nervousness that still came with anything of a sexual nature.

The CEO just stormed out of the room, his briefcase in hand, mind firmly made up. He was not going to give in to the Priest. Not this time. Every other thing he might have lost on so far, but this time…

******

Kaiba was looking thoroughly pissed off as he stalked through the halls of the KaibaCorp, an amused spirit following behind him. Well, at least the bastard was staying in his spirit form, for now, and not taking to his real body.

:Really, Little Dragon. Such language.:

:I can call you names in another language, if you like. English, maybe? Or French. Enculé. My Cantonese is a little rusty, but I could try…: No, he was definitely not in a good mood.

:Enough, Seto. Don’t make me put you back in bed with another migraine.: It was far from being his favourite threat, but it did seem to work, at least, even if it did leave Kaiba silent and furious for at least three or four hours afterwards. Not that that was all that much different from the way he normally acted, though.

“Hn.” Kaiba answered, then muttered something under his breath in a language Set didn’t understand. Perhaps that Cantonese. Well, whatever it was, he was pretty sure it wasn’t complimentary.

******

It was hours later that the CEO left the building, tilting his head curiously as he studied the parking lot, empty save for his limo, Isono standing beside it. Set was… well, he didn’t know where the spirit was, nor did he care, really. The Egyptian had taken to his body, and, as Kaiba had expected, there were questions. He had left the Priest explaining to a bunch of secretaries about how he had supposedly been sent to a different orphanage than Kaiba and Mokuba, and that was why he was only appearing now. Well, it was his stupidity that had gotten him into the mess. He could call a cab or something to take him home.

“Home, Isono. And find someone to make up false papers for that idiot of a spirit. Someone’s going to ask soon enough, I’m sure.” Maybe someday, when he was in a nice mood, he might consider making up papers for the other yami, as well. Maybe.

******

“Set phoned. He didn’t sound pleased.” Mokuba said when Kaiba stepped into the living room, where the younger brother was playing a new video game that KaibaCorp had been developing.

“Too bad for him.” He answered, watching the screen. It was nice to at least have the illusion of being alone, once again. Set was so far away that he could barely feel him when he concentrated, which was something he wasn’t intending on doing any time soon.

“I told him to just get the secretary to call him a cab.” Kaiba nodded absently, frowning as the game glitched slightly. He would have to see that that was fixed. It was handy having a younger brother around to beta all the games that KaibaCorp put out.

Kaiba watched for a moment longer, heading up to his room then to continue working on the new game he was developing. One that was actually based on some of the adventures, if one wished to call them that, that the Yugi-tachi had dragged him into. With, of course, his own spin on things.

It was only a little while later when he heard the door bang downstairs, and a worried looking Noah suddenly appeared on his computer screen. Kaiba’s eye twitched irritably. Unlike his younger brother, he had never forgiven the green-haired boy for his little stunt.

“What do you want?”

“Your double’s back. And he doesn’t look terribly pleased.”

“Really.” Kaiba answered coolly. “I hadn’t noticed.” Of course he had noticed the Priest’s arrival. He had sensed the fury coming through the spirit long before he had gotten to the mansion’s gates. It had actually been enough to mess up his thoughts, so that he had been spending more time just staring at the screen than actual programming.

Noah shrugged and disappeared somewhere. Kaiba had given up trying to lock the brat out of the system. He seemed able to work around the strongest firewalls and blocks he put up. Fortunately, he didn’t seem inclined to do any damage, so he supposed it wasn’t too bad…

“Ahh!” Kaiba cried out suddenly, as his head erupted in pain. He should have known something like this was coming. The throbbing inside his skull built, until he was sure he was going to pass out from the pain. And then it spread downward, until his whole body seemed like it was on fire. He crumpled, tumbling out of the chair and curling up in a ball on the floor, gasping at the feeling. Vaguely, he could see the Priest standing over him, sense the Spirit’s still furious mind, but both were veiled by the pain.

:You have tried my patience for the last time, my hikari.: The possessiveness in the tone made Seto shiver even more, the mindvoice sounding as loud as thunder within his mind.

“S-s-stop.” Kaiba managed to get out, but Set seemingly took no notice of the plea, merely moving to sit down in the recently vacated chair, watching him impassively.

:I am going to set down some rules, my Little Dragon, and you had better abide by them. First, I will know where you are at all times, on the off-chance that you somehow learn how to block me out, unlikely as that seems. Second, you will not leave this house, or any other place we happen to be, without me. Third, you will address me properly, by my name, my title, or as ‘yami’. None of your little insults. Is that understood.:

Kaiba gave the slightest of nods, all he could manage, and the pain was suddenly gone, leaving the CEO still curled on the floor, tear tracks staining his face. Kaiba relaxed only slightly, still shivering from the memory, then tensed up again as Set moved to kneel beside him, reaching to pet him soothingly.

“There now. Relax.” Set sighed softly. Perhaps he had been a little harsh, but he had become so worried when the boy disappeared. If something were to happen to Seto... And, truthfully, he was not used to being so openly defied. Or defied at all, really. Back in Egypt, no one had dared to. And those that had were sorely punished.

Kaiba didn’t fight as he was gathered into the Priest’s arms and held tight, though he wanted to break free, to run and hide from him.

Hide? Since when did he hide from anyone? Since when did he fear anyone? But he did, didn’t he? He feared what he couldn’t control, and, as Set had pointed out before, tried to hide that fear behind anger and hate. But everything could be controlled, couldn’t it? Everything had a weakness. It was merely a matter of finding it out. But how could you control a three thousand-year-old spirit who’s only weakness was, seemingly, yourself. Kaiba wasn’t suicidal; he wasn’t going to test that theory any time soon. Sure, he had done it, once, but that had been only because he had, at the time, had no other choice. And he had known Yugi wouldn’t let that attack go, even if he hadn’t known about Yami at the time. Yami… he shivered slightly. Yami would have done it, he was sure. He wondered if he still would, now.

“He might. No one knows what goes on in the Pharaoh’s head but him. And, perhaps, to some extent, his hikari. But it’s not wise to play such dangerous games with him. He never loses, you know. Even when it seems like he’s losing, it’s merely a matter of time until he turns things around.”

“He lost once.” Kaiba murmured, remembering when he had found out about the battle with Dartz. Set merely chuckled.

“Once. In twenty, twenty-one years? If you don’t count the time spent locked in the puzzle. But, he won that game as well, didn’t he, by just getting free…” Kaiba just sighed, shifting slightly, actually cuddling a bit closer, though he wouldn’t have admitted it, not even to himself. When they were like this, just sitting quietly together, or lying in bed, the spirit spooning him, holding him close, it was… well, soothing, really. Like he could actually relax; stop worrying about who was going to try to attack him next, or what to work on next to stay on the leading edge of the industry.

But such thoughts were dangerous, he remembered, trying to pull away. It made one complacent, soft. And soft people weren’t meant to be running multi-million dollar companies.

“Hush, Little Dragon.” Set murmured, smiling softly. “You’re tired, aren’t you? It’s been a long day; you should go lie down and rest.” He had, of course, been listening in on his hikari’s thoughts. It was hard not to, really, unless he blocked the mindlink himself.

Kaiba made a slight protest, but the pain of his ‘punishment’ was, at the moment, too fresh in his mind for him to fight back much, and he was tired, so he allowed the other to help him up and over to the bed.

The Priest lied down beside him, hugging him close as he usually did, and Kaiba closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax again in the tight grip and falling quickly asleep.

******

Hmm... It could just be me, but I seem to be focusing on those two a lot recently… *Shrugs.* I can’t help it. They’re so much fun. Anyways, I have to thank Ayachan for that, because it was her idea about Kaiba leaving Set at school that gave me this idea. Not something he’ll do again anytime soon, I think.

Kaiba: *Muttering something in some other language, looking around to make sure Set wasn’t around.*

Yeah. ^^;;

Randomreviewer: Aw, how sweet. So, anyways, now you’ve seen. Nui is kidnapping the hikari, both to get at the millennium items and to use them as potential hostages, and, maybe, if he’s lucky, catch himself the last thing he needs as well, though he hasn’t had much luck so far.
And I’ve never been much fond of the lovey-dovey type of relationships, except, occasionally for Yami/Yugi. They get old fast in a story, in my opinion, but that’s just me.
As for other stories, well… I can’t think of any of the top of my head, though I’m sure there’s tons of good ones. I’ve actually always been more of a Kaiba/Jou fan myself, odd as that may seem when you look at what I’ve been writing. But good luck on finding some.

ASOTA: Good. That was the response I was going for. I kind of figured it was something along those lines.
Yeah, they are treated badly. Of course, the yami, with the possible exception of Bakura and Marik at some points in time, do have the best of intentions. They just over-mother them a bit. Or a lot…