Born of Shadows

Okay, so I got one person to give it a shot, now let's see how she did. Actually, I think she deserves at least three cookies and a special brownie for being the only one brave enough to even try. YeaH!!!

Master


The next few weeks were great. Though he was concerned over the irregularity regarding Monkey, Master managed to bring them back every four to five days, always at night.
Master had learned from experimentation, that though no time was lost to him in the real world, if he spent too much time in the shadow house, he would embark from it tired and hungry. It seemed that though he was never hungry in his shadow house, if he was there too long it was hard on his actual body. So he kept his visits to under a day. Usually only around seven hours. And he waited for several days between.
He had tried concentrating on food from his shadows but they were insubstantial, and once he left his hunger returned. Substance of shadows would remain in shadow. It reminded him of a book he had once read. He had tried stuffing himself and then entering but this caused a new problem. When he returned he would find he had to rush to the bathroom to avoid an accident.
Sleeping in the shadow world was effective, and when he slept for a while it rejuvenated him for his return, but every time he slept his pets would leave and he would have to reconstruct them. It was frustrating. He was trapped in his real world for the time, and could only escape for short periods of time.
The best method to date was - to wake a couple of hours early, spend his time in shadow, then when he returned he only needed a small nap and he was fine for the start of his real day. Breakfast was always the meal he most enjoyed and this was a great way to make the most of it.
After a few weeks, he was reminded of his concern regarding Monkey. The idea of that belly ring would not leave him be, for though it was quite an interesting addition, he had not chosen it as part of the costume. If this was to happen again, it could be worse. And why had the shadows chosen to add that particular article. He was irritated by the idea's insistence in his mind, and even went to Yami about it. Though he remained vague about the actual problem. He wasn't sure how the pharaoh would feel about him creating shadows of his friends for his own personal enjoyment.
Yami had assured him that all the furnishing he conjured up to fill his shadow house would be exactly to his specification, and could it be possible that the problem he was having had something to do with a memory that was deep seated in him. Perhaps he had subconsciously added whatever it was. That was the only way his constructs would differ from what he wanted. It was a reasonable explanation, but he still couldn't let it go.
Another explanation came to him, and in order to confirm it, he would have to come up with a plan. It would require the aid of an unlikely source. Since graduation from high school, personalities had mellowed and the rest of the group had come to an understanding that allowed for mutual association. It would all work out, he had only to convince one person.


Honda was seated on a large blow up floaty watching Jou and Kaiba stand off to the side of the long patio. He was tapping his fingers impatiently on the thing, and glaring against the sun. Jou was oblivious to the teens gaze and Kaiba was ignoring him on purpose. Yugi and Yami were competing on who could hold their breath under water the longest. Honda was sure that one of them would end up drowning from the competitive drive to win. And he had told them that.
Ryou and Malik were diving from the high board to show off for their other halfs, who were seated on the pools edge, with their feet dangling in the water. Mai was sunbathing on one of the lounges. Mokuba was inside the house right now, and he wasn't sure where Shizuka was.
What was the deal with Jou? Here he was at the Kaiba mansion right beside the greatest swimming pool ever built and he was standing there in his swim trunks and an oversized t-shirt. Honda was a patient man, but he had been waiting for most of an hour to catch a glimpse of the blond without his shirt. It made perfect sense to him that this was only fair. His mind ran over the last five or six years and he could never remember a time when Jou was shirtless.
And then there was Kaiba. Why throw a pool party if you are going to stand around in dress pants and a suit shirt.
He had been as patient as he could be. He was becoming truly annoyed.
Hell, Anzu was wearing a prudish one-piece and he had seen more of her chest and stomach than either of the two men's. And that was disturbing for other reasons.
He was just about to swim over and splash them both real good when he heard Malik yell from the top of the diving board.
"Look, here comes Otogi. And he brought snacks!"
The group hoarded over to the new arrival, and the bags full of treats he had thought to bring to the party. Honda sighed. Now there was no chance that Jou would strip down and dive in. He was sure to fill up on food, and then it would be at least another half hour before anyone went in the water. He paddled across the pool in a dejected way.
Otogi managed to get his bags to the largest of Kaiba's picnic tables without loosing them or having them rip from the abuse of several hands grabbing selected items out of them. He laughed at the way Ryou and Malik fought over the only bag of BBQ chips he had purchased as he crossed his arms to grab the hem of his shirt. He was still laughing as he pulled it over his head, messing up his hair in the process and pulling his red headband off with it. As he leaned over to pick of the errant elastic band, he kicked off his sandals and stepped away from the table. He had just managed to rearrange his coiffeur when Anzu shrieked from her place on one of the picnic chairs, where she had dropped when she had gotten a hold of the honey pretzels he knew she loved.
"Oh my god! Ryuuji, when did you get that?" and as the entire group turned to see what she was talking about she continued in the same shocked and appalled voice. "Only you would get your navel pierced so you could wear a pair of dice."(1)
Honda's eyes shot to the other's stomach as the rest of the group reacted in their own ways.
Yugi and Yami just stared, as Mai winked seductively and Bakura guffawed. Malik, Marik and Ryou just whispered together for a few minutes and Kaiba smirked. Jou looked ill.
Otogi rolled his eyes and tossed his shirt onto a nearby lounge before running across the patio and diving into the water. He came up just short of the floaty and Honda looked at him in surprise. Kaiba had returned to his conversation with the blond and the rest went back to their business. It became more silent than Honda remembered as most were either eating or sunning or swimming, and the words of the CEO traveled the distance to the two in the pool.
"What's wrong Mutt, not hungry for a change?" and when the blond responded, only two would realize the significance of his words.
"One of these days even you are going to realize that I am not the dog, Kaiba. And you are not The Master."(2)
Brown eyes made contact with green ones as the brunet and the black haired man had a mutual realization. (3)


The frightening part was that he had truly believed it was a dream. It was fun, and he kept returning, and he had never had dreams like that before. But he would never have guessed that it could have been an actual event. It wasn't that he felt betrayed. After all he had gone along with everything that had happened. He was a willing pet in the dream. So, he couldn't complain. And as he and Otogi compared notes in the kitchen of Kaiba's house, they decided that the other probably believed it wasn't real either. Now, what to do about it?
They decided to meet for dinner later and talk some more. They couldn't hide in here all day, when they had only come in to get more ice for the drinks. So, they returned and pretended nothing had happened.
That night they met at the local McDonald's and, over fries and shakes, talked about the whole experience.
Otogi told him that it was the difference that kept him interested. And he was surprised that his insecurities about having made Jou wear that ridiculous costume years ago had been perceived by the other.
Honda explained that he had been surprised by the whole thing, but was slowly becoming addicted to the experience. He had never thought much about it, but after the first few visits, realized that he had been a closet gay the whole time and had even fooled himself until this. Now it was his only outlet and he was loath to give it up.
Otogi understood, and asked Honda if it bothered him that the Dice-master was involved.
Honda thought about it and decided that it was one of the better parts of it. He found himself blushing at the thought. Both agreed that the worst part was that the experience was incomplete. And both expressed an interest in knowing why the 'Master' never seemed to be undressed or gained actual release from the 'play'. They began to speculate on Jou's actual agenda and came up short. There was no reason they could see that he would collect them for his amusement and not get off in the course.
They spent some time thinking up ways to find out and ended up sleeping together at Otogi's. It was an interesting new development and both agreed it would probably be repeated.


One of the reason's that Jou and Kaiba got along so well now, was that Jou had learned not to rise to the CEO's baits any more. He had been practicing a lot lately, especially when he needed to arrange this whole pool party thing in the first place. So it didn't strike him as odd that his comment after Kaiba had tried to insult him had been witnessed and understood by the two young men in the pool. He had been carefully watching both and though he knew they were acting oddly, he chalked it up to getting too much sun. He sat there in the lounger he had commandeered for himself, watching the group have a great time at the millionaire's home, and finished another cold drink. Honda said something about going for some ice and Otogi rushed to aid him, and Jou narrowed his eyes at the way the two gave him a suspicious look before heading for the kitchen entrance at the back of the house.
What was it they were up to? And what could it possibly have to do with him?
Here he was feeling some relief that his guess had been correct. Shadows had simply drawn from reality and given his Monkey the ornamentation the original Otogi had gotten so recently. It made sense and settled his thoughts. Now, he could relax and spend more time on the problem of staying longer in his shadow world. He had spoken to Yami once more and the ancient spirit had told him that there was something in the future that could affect him, and he should perfect his house soon. He was happy with it the way it was, so didn't feel a need to do more, but this problem had been bothering him. He wanted to stay there as long as possible and extend his time till he felt he was visiting reality and lived in the shadows.
If only he could.

(1) Monkey. Yes.
(2) Now we know who is.
(3) But he isn't the dog either, just the puppy.


A very long A/N:
Yeah for the correct answers, and now on with the development of the story. I hope you liked this game part, cause it was kinda hard to bring it all through. There is more, but they will be much easier to figure out.
For those who don't like this sort of thing, be forewarned:
ThisisanotheroneofthoseannoyingSeto/JouMpregfics!
That's what the doctor ordered. Sorry. It isn't the same old stuff though, so if you don't hate them, how about staying tuned in to see what develops.
I don't normally write Mpreg, and those of you who have read my work know this. I am well aware of the differences in Male anatomy and can only do a real kinda thing, like my Weiss Kreuz fic. That is not an Mpreg, and anyone who is keeping up knows it.
But this was what the challenge called for: Seto/Jou or Jou/Seto, Mpreg, with a twist and a kink(s). And a little Honda/Otogi action on the side. YY/Y, B/R, M/M, and guess what? Thanks to a recent chapter in my Fruits Basket Epic, a little touch of Yuri. Okay, so stay with us and hang on, this is gonna be some ride!!