#kaiba you will never get followers this way

[skeletonwithakeyboard]

Ok so as y'all know, I've been rewatching yugioh and kaiba is..... Stranger then I remembered

What's with the dog thing?? Also for as much as he says he doesn't like Joey he goes out of this way to interact with him like everytime Joey says to dual him and kaiba just?? Agrees?? Every single time? And kaiba being willing to be in Joey's general presence to? That time when Joey followed him and kaiba just let it happen?? Also answering his call? like bro? And if the dog thing just stayed as "you dog" "you mutt" I would let it go, but THEN kaiba makes innuendos like "you look good on your hands and knees" "ill have to teach you how to behave like the dog you are" "quiver at my feet like the dog you are"

BRO STOP!! YOUR SCARING THE HOES!

Tbh if I was Joey I avoid kaiba like the plague, I would NEVER wanna be alone with him, also has no one pulled kaiba aside and was like ".... Dude I think you have some misplaced emotions towards Joey... Maybe just talk to him? Ask him to hang out? Ya bringing weird vibes"

Also despite kaiba being like this Joey still tries to be nice???? I would call him every name I could think of, even make some up but Joey???? "Im worried about kaiba" (is was in the sub when they were in that castle) "you like dual monsters? We should play together sometimes!" "We gotta find kaiba before the island explodes" bro I would tell the pilot to hit the gas without a second thought.

Joey tries to fix kaiba so many times he could get a engineering degree if he wanted, Joey's doing the labour of a 10 men construction crew. OG "If he just let me in" girlie

[multifandoms27-blog]

Hello!! Can I just say I love your blog and your writing sooo much. If you still write for Yugioh, can I please request relationship headcanons for Yami/ Atem if you have the time? He was my childhood crush (even still to this day tbh). Thanks! Have a nice day <3

Absofruitly anon! He was one of my childhood crushes too lol

Content: Yami Yugi/Atem x gn!Reader

Warnings: None

Notes: I went with modern Atem this time around. If you want ancient Egyptian Atem, lemme know!

• ───────────────── •

Atem is kinda shy when you both first start dating

Cut the man some slack, he hasn't dated in about 3,000-5,000 years (depending on the dub or sub)

He doesn't particularly like PDA, and doesn't see a need to announce your relationship to his friends. He thinks they should "just know."

Obviously they don't, so Tea still hits on him and you get angry about it. Atem never notices when Tea hits on him and only knows about it when you point it out

He's quick to tell his friends about your relationship then. Joey teasingly asks him to prove it, and he wastes no time kissing you on the lips despite not liking PDA

It takes him a couple months to start getting comfortable with the relationship, and slowly gets more comfortable with PDA

He'll only go so far as hand holding and putting his arm around you, but it is progress

Behind closed doors though, I'd like to think he's a little clingy. If you need to go in another room for something he won't follow, he'll just wait for you. But he'll always want to cuddle or be touching you in some way

He prefers kisses on the cheek instead of the lips

He'd take you on such cute dates. He'd get the ideas either from Yugi, Bakura or social media (Joey and Tristian aren't exactly cute, and he wouldn't ask Tea about this)

He'd take you on picnic dates, take you to local events, he'll win you prizes at Kaiba Corp and go on any rides you want to go on and end the day with a kiss on the ferris wheel.

When you cuddle, he likes being the big spoon. He'll rub your back, scratch your back, whatever you want

He loves watching Tik Tok or Instagram reels or Youtube with you on your phone while you spoon. He'll periodically give you cheek kisses

I feel like Atem would be the first one to say "I love you" and he says it after every goodbye, every goodnight, every good morning, and every hello

If you two are away from each other, he always starts the conversation with a "how are you? how was your day?" text

His first priority is you. He loves you and he wants to make sure you're okay

He's also pretty chill with anything. If you're sick and look terrible, he's still going to want to be intimate. When you ask why, he'll kiss your cheek and give you a poetic sentence about loving you at your worst. Makes you tear up

Atem is also really good at listening to you and comforting you when something is wrong. He wishes he could duel all your problems away :(

• ───────────────── •

Here is my Masterlist in case you want to request, or look for more of your favorite character!

[chaoscheebs]

I'm still thinking about this post by milleniumlesbian about the many ways Seto reads heavily as autistic and the tags by oliversbones after I commented in the tags that Seto is absolutely against the idea of getting diagnosed with autism re: ableism and the mental health crisis in Japan, so I don't want leave the idea in the tags.

Seto Kaiba 100% is aware he is a textbook case for autism but never has and likely never will get a formal diagnosis for the following reasons:

Before his mom passed, Seto was still a little kid and maybe his parents hadn't quite picked up on it as something he may have needed help with.

After mom passed, his dad was a single parent with two kids, including a literal baby (i.e. Mokuba) and this Was Not A Priority.

After dad passed too, ahahahaha the shitty greedy relatives paying attention or the orphanage having the resources to do jack shit ahahahahahaha

Post-orphanage, do you really think Gozaburo "Yeah Putting A Kid On A Collar And A Leash And Threatening Him With A Fucking Riding Crop Will Lead To Making A Good And Stable Heir" Kaiba noticed or gave one singular shit?

As noted in the first paragraph: ahahahaha ableism ahahahaha mental health crisis in Japan, which then leads into...

DEBILITATING FEAR IT WOULD LEAD TO MOKUBA BEING TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM BECAUSE OF PERCEIVED INABILITY TO CARE FOR MOKUBA

Also it giving people one more reason to try to wrest KaibaCorp from him (but really it's like 99% Mokuba he's worried about let's be real).

Tl;dr he is absolutely not formally diagnosed and I'm now picturing Kaiba googling coping skills in the middle of the night and slowly getting angrier and angrier that all the sites for tips are all mommy blogger "how to deal with your autistic child" things.

[nenya85]

Ficlet: Relative Losses

I wrote a ficlet a while back about the Kaiba brothers and the relatives who'd abandoned them in the orphanage and realized I’d never posted it here.

Relative Losses

Kaiba’s end of the conversation was brief.  Just a couple of grunts, a sharp, “Are you sure?”, followed by another grunt and a click as he hung up the phone.  Mokuba didn’t bother to look up until his older brother pushed himself away from his desk and strode to the office window.

“Is something wrong?”  Mokuba asked.

It was a question that rarely got an answer.  

Mokuba tried again.  “Is there a problem at Kaiba Corporation?” 

“No,” Kaiba answered without turning around.  He drew in a breath and abandoned his post at the window to pace back and forth, until he finally came to a halt in front of Mokuba.

“Do you remember our former aunt and uncle?” he asked abruptly.

“Not really.  Why?” Mokuba asked. 

“They’re dead.  They were in the Japan Airlines flight that crashed into the Tsushima Strait after takeoff.”

“What?  How did you find out?” Mokuba asked.

“They wrote me once after Gozaburo died and they realized we were billionaires.”  There was no mistaking the bitterness in Kaiba’s voice.

“They did what?”  Mokuba yelled.

Kaiba shrugged.  “I ignored it, of course.  But I had a security team keep tabs on them in case they caused trouble.  The team just notified me and confirmed their deaths.  The names will be released officially later today.”  He paused.  “Our adoption records are sealed and I changed or deleted any personal data I could get to, but it’s possible that a reporter will dig out the connection and call.”  Kaiba paused again.  “I thought you should know, just in case.”

Mokuba stared at his brother.  Kaiba had never forgiven their aunt and uncle for abandoning them.  But Mokuba didn’t remember them and it’s hard to hate an abstraction.  It was equally impossible for Mokuba to mourn one or to feel anything but a blank emptiness where he knew that some elusive, unknown emotion should be.

But before Mokuba could sort through his thoughts and pick out a response, Kaiba pivoted, returned to the window and resumed his contemplation of the view outside.  Mokuba wondered what he was seeing.

“I thought you should know.”  There was a clue in his brother’s words.  Mokuba was sure of it.  He discounted the nonsense about reporters that his brother had tossed off with trademark glibness.  There was no way anyone was ever digging up anything that Seto Kaiba had decided he wanted to keep hidden.  But maybe the truth was simpler, as plain and easy to understand as his last sentence.

Mokuba joined his brother at the window.  “How are you?” Mokuba asked hesitantly.

“Fine.”  

It was the expected answer.  It might or might not have been true.  Either way it meant that the conversation – or his brother’s part in it at any rate – was over.

Kaiba rested his hand briefly on his brother’s shoulder.  He was glad of Mokuba’s presence and even more grateful for his silence.  He’d devoted years to forgetting only to find that there were some things that even death couldn’t erase.  His aunt and uncle had been his first hatred.  He’d buried their shared family name defiantly, glad to leave it behind and forget it forever, even though it had once been his parents’ name as well.  

He’d resented them every time he’d lain awake in his orphanage bed, plotting how to free himself and Mokuba.  He’d blamed them in those first months with Gozaburo for every sleepless night, for every impossible assignment.  Now all he could think was that he was seventeen.  Even if his aunt and uncle had kept them, the result would have been the same.  He and Mokuba would have ended up in an orphanage.  It didn’t lessen his anger – an anger that suddenly had no prey – but for the first time he realized just how accurate he’d been when he’d seen their abandonment as a chance at escape.

And if they’d been the first ones to treat him like a stray dog from the gutter, they’d also, inadvertently, been the ones to push him into proving he was so much more.  Kaiba stood with Mokuba at his side and gazed upon his city.  Somewhere in the distance, 70 stories down and miles away, his aunt and uncle’s now empty house lay, too small and insignificant to be seen. 

[gx-gameon]

Part 5 of Yugi raising Jaden

Start - previous - next

Mokuba had been kind enough to send them a car to come and pick them up. The drive was far shorter than the walk would have been. The three sat in relative silence on the way over. All thinking about what was to come once they reach Kaiba Corp.

The building was impressive. Jaden had never seen a building that tall and now he, Yugi, and Joey were going to head inside. But only he and Joey were going to leave.

Jaden didn’t want to admit the anxiety he was feeling. He’d already been abandoned by one set of parents. He knew Yugi wasn’t leaving forever. He had promised, even giving Jaden one of his cards so that Jaden knew he was coming back. But that didn’t mean Jaden wanted him to go in the first place.

When they arrived at the building Joey hopped out of the car with ease. Yugi moved to follow him, planning to help Jaden out once he was outside the car, when a little hand stopped him. He turned to see Jaden who now had a death grip on his shirt.

“Hey bud.” Yugi kept his voice soft. “Want me to pick you up?” Jaden gave a stiff nod, but it was all the confirmation that Yugi needed. He leaned forward and scooped up the little boy, carefully shuffling them both out of the car.

He could hear the driver radioing to Mokuba that they had arrived. He couldn’t hear Mokuba’s reply but the driver told them to head inside and that the younger Mr. Kaiba would meet them soon.

Yugi lead the way inside. Jaden was clinging to him, his little arms and legs wrapped tightly around Yugi’s neck and waist. His face buried into the crook of Yugi’s neck. And Yugi wished he didn’t have to leave him. His boy was scared. Jaden wouldn’t admit it but Yugi could tell he was scaring his son. But Kaiba needs to return, Mokuba needed his big brother, and Yugi needed answers about Jaden’s past. There was no way he couldn’t go. But the fear his little one was experiencing made him wish there was another way.

“Yugi you’re here! Are you ready to- oh.” Mokuba came running towards them. His excitement to get his brother back clear in his voice, but he cut himself off when he got a good look at them. At Jaden clinging to Yugi like a koala.

“Hey Mokuba. I’d like you to meet Jaden.” Yugi greeted their younger friend before turning his attention to the little boy in his arms. “Jaden,” he gently coaxed the boy to raise his head. “This is my friend Mokuba Kaiba.”

Jaden turned his attention to the 12 year old standing in front of them. Mokuba looked at the kid with a bit of awe. It was weird to see Yugi as a father. Not a bad thing, but Mokuba had lost his parent when he was so young, and Gozaburo was anything but fatherly. So Mokuba didn’t have any real ruler to measure fatherhood by. He was practically raised by Seto. But watching as Yugi gently introduced his son to him. As he coaxed him out of hiding and got the boy to smile and laugh, every movement was gentle and kind, as Yugi always was. It made him have a weird feeling in his stomach.

“Uh It’s nice to meet you.” Mokuba remembered his manners just in time to greet the now waving little boy. “Yugi are you ready to go?” He wanted to get this conversation back on track.

“I am. Jaden is going to stay with Joey.” Yugi explained nodding his head towards Joey who shot Mokuba a little two finger salute.

“Hey Mokuba.” He greeted casually.

“Hey Joey.” Mokuba returned the greeting but his eyes quickly tracked back to the little boy in Yugi’s arms. He had to be about the same age Mokuba was when he was adopted by Gozaburo. Mokuba couldn’t imagine going through that without Seto. But seeing how Jaden clung to Yugi the same way Mokuba used to cling to Seto, before Gozaburo worked his teachings into Seto’s heart, it made him realize something.

Yugi was Jaden’s Seto, Jaden’s protector. Mokuba was 12 years old and he still hated when Seto left him for to long a time period, one of the many reasons he was so desperate to bring Seto home, be he knows he was even worse when he was younger. Now he’s the one asking Jaden’s protector to abandon him. How was that fair? But no one else could go after Seto. There had to be something he could do to make this easier on the kid.

“They can stay here.” Mokuba practically shouted at them, taking Yugi and Joey back. Mokuba quickly realized what he had done and tried to regain control of himself. “Like we talked about earlier Jaden and Joey can stay here with me. That way they can get updates on your progress.” This way Jaden could know his protector was safe, and that he was coming home.

Yugi seemed to understand what Mokuba was offering. Mokuba wouldn’t put it past Yugi to know exactly why he was offering it to, he was just that good at reading people. Especially the Kaiba brothers. Yugi’s face softened. “That would be great Mokuba.” He replied before pivoting to Joey, “if it’s alright with you.”

“You kidding. We get to keep an eye on you and live off of rich-boy dime? Sign me up.” Joey was always great at keeping the mood light. While he would never pass up the opportunity to mess with Kaiba, he knew having a tab on Yugi would greatly decrease his own anxiety about the whole thing. And he was sure that it would help Jaden to.

“Then it’s settled. You to can stay with me until Yugi gets back. Now let’s head up.” Mokuba lead them to the elevator that took them to the top floor of the building, that is where the base of Kaiba’s devise lay.

The whole way up his eyes kept traveling to Yugi and Jaden. Yugi was quietly talking to the boy. Telling him stories about his other trips to Kaiba Corp, or just reassuring him that all would be well. And suddenly that funny feeling was back in Mokuba’s stomach.

It wasn’t until Jaden laughed at something that Yugi said, the two smiling softly at each other that Mokuba put together what he was feeling. He was jealous. Yugi had only had Jaden for a short time but he was already taking to the role of his father. He was kind and reassuring. Just in the short time that Mokuba had known about Jaden he could tell that Yugi already put the boy ahead of everything, as his only hesitation in chasing after Seto had been his concern for Jaden.

It made Mokuba wonder what it would have been like to grow up with such a comforting presence. He wondered how his life would have been different. How Seto would have been different, if they had ended up with a man like Yugi rather than a man like Gozaburo. Would Seto smile more? Would he still call him Moky? Mokuba loved his brother, and knew he worked hard for them to have the lives they did, but sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if they had stayed at that orphanage. And now watching Yugi and Jaden, he can’t help but wonder about what would have happened if someone like Yugi adopted them.

“You okay Mokuba?” Yugi asked drawing Mokuba back to the present. He looked up to see all three boys staring at him with varying degrees of worry.

“Yah, why?” Mokuba tried to shake it off. He was fine after all.

“Um, cause we’re at the top dude.” Joey said pointing to the open elevator doors. Mokuba’s cheeks burned. Oh he had really zoned out there huh.

“Mokuba it’s okay if you’re worried about Kaiba. We understand.” Yugi tried to reassure him, but Mokuba shook it off.

“There’s nothing to worry about.” That’s a lie. Why would he have dragged Yugi into this if he wasn’t worried, but Mokuba had been more concerned with covering up why he had zoned out. Now that the words have left his mouth though he realized how dumb they sounded and-

“You’re right.” Jaden spoke with confidence. “Yugi’s going to bring Mr. Kaiba back so there’s nothing to worry about, because Yugi always comes back to me.”

And Mokuba remembers having that level of confidence in Seto. He had that confidence in Seto when he left, but it’s been a month now… no Jaden was right. They were coming back. Yugi would bring Seto back. Because Yugi always comes back for Jaden and Seto always comes back for Mokuba.

“You’re right Jaden. Yugi will bring Seto back no problem.” Mokuba agreed. Yugi had never let Mokuba down. He wouldn’t start now, not with his own son’s faith in the line.

Mokuba turned and lead them towards the machine that would take Yugi to another dimension, to the afterlife.

Yugi was starting to get nervous. Having Jaden and Mokuba’s unwavering faith was nice. He just hoped he could live up to it.

Mokuba walked over to a machine on the side of the room and picked up a bracelet like thing. “Here Yugi hold out your wrist.” He called as he walked back over to them. Yugi balanced Jaden on his hip and held out his dominant hand (the one his duel disk wasn’t strapped to). Mokuba clasped the devise around his wrist and the thing lit up with a soft purple glow. “This will keep track of your vitals while you’re in the other dimension.” Mokuba explained.

Yugi nodded along understand the importance of such a device. He then watched as Mokuba made his way to the center of the room. A pod like devices sat in the center, it had a triangular shape with the point coming to the front and widening as it went back. The top had a dome like structure and he could see a chair inside of the contraption. Mokuba clicked a button and the machine opened up, the top separating from the bottom in front and raising up like a clam shell would.

“This is the how you’ll get to the other dimension. Once you’re inside we’ll start the sequence to send you after Seto.” Mokuba explained.

“So I guess this is it then?” Joey said as he walked over to Yugi and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Be careful out there.”

Yugi smiled brightly back at his friend. “When am I not?”

Joey chuckled. “I mean it Yug. I won’t be there to watch your back.” He paused then making sure he had his friend’s attention. “Just come back safe, and bring rich boy with you.” he tired to make it light with a joke at the end but his worry was bleeding through.

Yugi smiled warmly at his friend. “I’ll come back. Nothings going to stop me.” He then turned his attention to the little boy in his arms. He could see tears welling up in Jaden’s eyes but the boy wasn’t letting them fall yet. “Hey” he called to bring the boys attention to him. “I’m coming back. This isn’t ‘goodbye,’ it’s ‘I’ll see you soon.’ I promise.”

Jaden gave a shaky nod and a weak smile. “Okay.”

Yugi reach his free hand up and tangled it into Jaden’s hair, bring the little one’s forehead close and pressing a kiss to it. “I love you, Jaden. I’ll be back soon.”

Jaden wrapped his arms tightly around Yugi’s neck giving him one final hug. “I love you to.”

Joey moved to stand next to Yugi. With a little prompting Yugi got Jaden to release his grip and move over to Joey’s open arms. Joey propped Jaden on to his hip and shot a big smile at the boy and then at Yugi.

“You’ve got this Yug! We’ll be here waiting when you come back.” Joey cheered as he did a fist pump with his free hand. Then he turned his attention to Jaden, “right littlest buddy?” He said it with a confident smile and a warm tone encouraging Jaden.

The little boy followed his lead sending a big smile Yugi’s way and a little cheer. “Yep! Yugi always comes back.”

Yugi smiled back and moved to take his seat in the devise.

“Alright, we need to get to the control room.” Mokuba called leading Joey and Jaden away. Leaving Yugi alone for a moment while they got everything into position. His hand found its way to his deck, his fingers dancing over the lid as he sent a silent plea for strength and protection to his cards. He could feel their spirits rising to meet him, offering comfort and support. He could do this. He’d get there, find Kaiba, and come home.

“Yugi can you hear me?” He heard Mokuba call over the loud speakers. He looked up and he could see a glass panel on one of the walls that lead to the control room. He could see Mokuba standing next to the glass with Joey and Jaden next to him. Joey was pointing down at the pod and talking to Jaden, before he and the boy both waved to Yugi.

He smiled up at them and waved back. “I can hear you Mokuba.”

“Good. The pod is going to launch you up into the other dimension. Once you’re there a dimensional clone of the pod will stay where you landed. You need to find Seto and his pod. Once you do, get him into his pod and hit the return button, it’s the green one on the right.” Yugi looked over and saw a bright green button on the right of his pod. Thankfully it was the only green button there. “Once Seto is back you can head back to your pod. Just be carful if the pod gets destroyed I don’t have another way to bring you back.”

Yugi could hear the sound of a raised voice but couldn’t hear what they were saying. Looking up though he could see Joey looking at Mokuba and talking very animatedly, so he guessed that Joey was making his displeasure at that news known. “I understand.” He called to get them back on track. “Any time limit I need to worry about?”

“Nope. Just get home soon.” Mokuba responded over the noise on the other line.

“Got it. Well I’m off then. See you guys soon.” Yugi put as much confidence into his voice as he could, wanting to calm both Joey and Jaden’s nerves.

The pod lid closed down around him. He could hear the count down and then suddenly he was thrusted upwards. The glass lid of the pod allowed him to see what looked like space rushing by him at an incredible speed. The force knocking him back into his chair and he had to appreciate Kaiba’s decision to have the chair in a laid back position or else this pressure would be unbearable.

Then just as quickly as it started it ended. The scene in front of his pod was that of a beautiful blue sky. He opened up the pod and looked around and was hit with some serious déjà vu as the desert sand and scenery reminded him of the memory world. He could see a city and palace not far from him and had a feeling deep in his chest, one he almost forgot how it felt, that Atem was there.

He was going to see Atem again.

[wisyhana]

These are some pages that I made as fanart for a fanfic i Really Love. It's something rare that I look back and actually kinda liking the result- 😂 I've been trying to improve my panels flow(?)/pacing And the Lettering- adding words in comics is pretty hard 🥺 if you had some insights, pls let me know ❤ or just give me what you think... Thank you so much!!

Hi! Thank you for waiting this long hahaha

First of all I love your Yugi, is so freaking adorable, big fan over here aaaaaa.

And okay we're gonna talk about comics. Oh boy. It's not a topic I dont like talking but it's something I get way too.... intense, even if I feel I don't have much to defend with. Anyway I'll try to not be so detailed and serious about it so I can bring a decent commentary!

Disclaimer that I have a lot of issues with the use of thought bubbles, but that's a me thing. Myself I try to avoid them so I can focus on a "show more, talk less" type of flow. So if I start talking about them it's because of that, not that you'r doing a bad thing or anything.

I like how you use the panels, by themselves and ignoring the dialogues, they work perfectly fine! I think my thing with the pacing is that I'd draw a 3-4 pages comics instead of 2 for this scene alone. It's a pain I know, but I think for this type of scenario adding a little more of time could help to appreciate some details, like Kaiba being notoriously angry, the moment he touches Yugi's forehead, etc. But this is also a very personal opinion because I'm a sucker for very sloooow interactions, so all this I'm saying is for the sake of a slower pacing. Sadly you gotta draw more or write less if you want to get that effect, also you can get in a situation where things end up vague and ugh, what a pain hjdfhjhds.

I have a serious problem with dialogue bubbles, I never know where to put them Dx. I always feel they're on the way or that they hinder the reading or that they look straight up ugly hahahaha. I think you use a good space for them! they're not in the way of the faces or important scenes, but I can see you needed to add arrows for the conversation to work. In my opinion the dialogue works perfectly without the arrows. We all know there are two people talking so having only the faces on the bubbles was enough to understand who was talking and what order follow.

Now, if you want to work on bubbles without using the faces to show who's talking and don't lose the order in the way, I could recommend something like this:

Sorry if it looks way too clumsy! But a thing we artist have to deal is how the order of the bubbles affects on the flow of the dialogue. Specially when we don't have a specific way to show how the person talks (for example japaneses have many ways to show character's expression so it's easier for them to identify it.) So we need to focus on the flow.

A wonderful person who talks TONS of this matter is the motherfucker Scott McCoud!

This is just an example of how dialogues can contribute to the time and spaces and how the order affects the reading. This is not the exact example for what I mean but Scott is a badass of the comic and the complexity of it.

Understanding Comics The invisible Art is a masterpiece, I blame him for making me doubt is I'm doing a good job or not.

Okay before I go way too into this, one last thing and this is personal opinion. I love white background but you gotta be very careful to not make it look like lazyness. You don't need to draw a full background but maybe adding some shading can help to make the illusion of space rather than having a blank space. Of course this is just my opinion.

Anyway, I really like how you work! my huge recommendation would be to simply take your time on it, I feel it shows a bit of impatience or nerviousness, but that's just my idea. So far you're going a good way on creating comics and I'd love to see more of them :3

Hope this helped you in some way! And as always don't forget to have fun drawing your beautiful bois!

this is me everytime I draw comic and find a inconsistency.

[saiikavon]

(I’ve been volunteering at a cat shelter so my brain is full of cats. Also for some reason I really like it when Kaiba is a cat, so what better way to shake off the rust from a couple of weeks of no writing? Here we go.)

Seto does not usually take this route on his walks. Strays tended to congregate more freely in alleyways where trash got overlooked. Animal control was less stringent than in nicer neighborhoods, which was a plus, but the same could not always be said for the residents in the area. Old Tanaka on his porch was more likely to throw heavy objects than Miriko-San in her cute penthouse.

But, well, Seto has little choice today. His usual route had garnered some...inconvenient attention, and he'd been forced to take a detour. As it had been said, animal control could be a bit of a nuisance in a nice neighborhood, and Seto is not keen on ending up in the pound for the evening.

Skipping his walk isn't an option, either. Spending a minimum six hours a week in animal form was necessary to keep a shifter's body healthy, a fact which Seto had drilled into Mokuba's head many a time before. Seto refuses to be called a hypocrite over a minor upset in routine.

Still, this area is...unpleasant. He has to resist the urge to shake his paws on every step, disgusted by the grimy trash stains splattered over the asphalt. He wrinkles his nose as he passes an apartment undeniably belonging to a smoker, and tries not to pay attention to the filth lining the bottom of the brick walls. Surely, he'll be taking a long, hot shower once he gets home.

And then, the worst arrives, making kissy noises like an imbecile, holding fingers with their split, dirty nails out, presumably for Seto to sniff.

Of all the neighborhoods to wind up in...

"Come here, pretty boy," Jounouchi croons, making more of those embarrassing noises, even as Seto sits in place with ears pinned back in obvious displeasure. "C'mon, kitty, it's okay. You lost, precious? You hungry?"

Seto flicks his tail. As if he needs any more reasons to want nothing to do with the idiot.

He contemplates turning away, forcing this foolish deadbeat to either continue embarrassing himself until Seto turned a corner or to leave himself, but something makes him pause. There is an earnestness in Jounouchi's eyes, a determined compassion in his gestures that he supposes may be considered benefits. Assets. There's no telling whether Seto will be forced to reroute again; why shouldn't he have someone looking out for a lonely stray in this backwards neighborhood?

Convenience, he tells himself. That's all. That's the only reason he steps cautiously forward, offering Jounouchi's dirty fingers a cautious sniff.

The idiot actually beams at the small gesture, and rubs in between Seto's ears, earning him a swipe and a hiss.

Don't touch me until you've washed your hands, you dirty mutt!

Jounouchi doesn't seem put off by the near-scratch, however; he only chuckles and leans back on his heels, still grinning. "You look like you're a long way from home. Never seen a stray around here with a coat as nice as yours. You get lost, pretty boy? Or someone dump you?"

He frowns at that. Seto's heart twinges for the concern, despite himself.

"Hey, either way, I bet you're hungry. Hope you're not too fancy for some canned convenience store tuna."

It certainly isn't Seto's favorite. But again, the earnestness gets to him, somehow. He offers little more than a slight chirp, tail flicking.

He watches as Jounouchi stands, smiling once more. "Wait here. I'll go grab you some."

Seto scoffs to himself as Jounouchi begins to turn toward the nearest building, aiming to go inside. He stands and stretches instead of waiting, following at the deadbeat's heels up the concrete steps. There is absolutely no chance he's spending a second longer out on this filthy street if he doesn't have to.

"Oh, you wanna come in?" Jounouchi's grin widens, eyes practically glittering. Ridiculous. "Well, okay, then. Sorry in advance about the mess. I haven't gotten to the laundry yet today."

There's a surprise. Seto decides not to comment with any noises on that, instead carries on following Jounouchi into his warmer, marginally cleaner apartment.

He'll have to leave eventually, but Jounouchi is, surprisingly, not so bad...perhaps, if the pattern holds, Seto might consider changing his route permanently.

So long as Jounouchi never finds out it’s him.

[theminecraftbee]

In hindsight, a lot of Seto's behavior will make a lot more sense to Mokuba when viewed through the lens of "he is a time traveler who is in love with an ancient pharaoh who will show up, but hasn't yet". Mokuba doesn't have that context in the beginning, though, and it takes him a bit to figure it out.

No, the context Mokuba starts with is this:

On an early morning, Kaiba Seto pushes Kaiba Gozaburo out the window to his untimely demise, in a move that was richly deserved but Mokuba never really saw Seto as doing, before hiring a random fellow high schooler as his secretary. Things only spiral from there, really.

hello, my followers who are exclusively here for a completely different fandom! have you ever gone “say, I wonder what happens if second writes something that IS NOT their usual? such as, say, yugioh?”

anyway here is 11.5k words of time travel kaiba brothers, a thing that should surprise no one as the thing I latched onto. enjoy!

[alectoperdita]

Hey Alecto, I was wondering if you had any fic recs for me! I saw some puppyshipping art before where Seto was an emotional wreck/breaking down and it has me in a chokehold. Do you know any good fics that have something like this? 👀👀

Hi, sorry this took a bit! I had to scour my memory and AO3 bookmarks and tags for a while. But I've returned with a handful of fic recs that fit your request here! These are all puppyshipping fics since that is 99% of what I read, hahah.

(And I'm guessing the fanart you saw was @ladydraculena's recent art. Either way, y'all should check it out because it's gorgeous!)

So here is a list of fics featuring Seto breaking down in tears as an, at least somewhat, significant part of the plot. Mind the warnings on some of these.

---

Love Dares Greatly by Lafeae [Rated T, post-canon]

A hit and run leaves Jounouchi comatose, with the fear that he may not regain consciousness. Kaiba, at the same time, is in the middle of developing a new game device that allows for interfacing between players when they are asleep. The suggestion is made that he could use it to pull Jounouchi out. But for two years, Kaiba has managed to keep everyone from saying a word to him about Jounouchi Katsuya. Two years since he has argued with Mokuba, forbidding even his little brother the utterance of the name in his presence. Two years since he has moved on from a messy and public break-up. Will this new circumstance pull them back together?

I cannot recommend this enough. I cannot recommend any of @lafeae's fics enough! This one is epic-length, 100k+ words, so the breakdown moments are sprinkled throughout the fic, but believe me, it's worth every moment of your time.

---

Preferable Reality by Lafeae and MistressArafax [Rated T, post-canon, *major character death* and suicidal ideation]

Life is fragile. Delicate. The daily routine can change in an instant, shaking the foundations of the world, leaving those left behind fragmented and broken. When tragedy strikes, how can Kaiba cope? How can he move on? How can he possibly mend his shattered reality?

A somewhat ensemble fic, but Kaiba's grief over Joey's death is a major part of the narrative.

---

Their Hearts Were Soldiers Who Never Found Their Way Home by Five_seas [Rated M, post-canon, *character death but it's not Kaiba or Jounouchi*]

Defying death shouldn't be easier than living as your true self. And yet, somehow, it is.

Kaiba grieves the sudden death of an old friend, and Jounouchi is there at the right place and time to help him through it.

---

Limits Approaching by BDEblueyeswhitedragon (BDEblueyes) [Rated T, post-canon]

It took years to get them together. Only months to break them apart. Can one night solve all their problems?

Kaiba and Jounouchi's marriage is going through a rough patch. Just as Jounouchi has finally gathered the courage to propose divorce, he sees something that might change his mind.

---

Roses & Starlight by BDEblueyeswhitedragon (BDEblueyes) [Rated T, post-canon]

It's Mokuba and Shizuka's wedding reception. Kaiba needs a moment to himself. Jou follows.

Short and sweet. Kaiba breaks down a little after Mokuba and Shizuka's wedding.

---

This list is by no means complete. If anyone knows of any other fics that fit this criteria, please send them to the OP!

[thewittyphantom]

Next came the very unlikely team of Scud and Joey, followed by the slightly more likely team of Mokuba and Sera, and the returning team of Kaiba and Yugi to close it.

Joey: Jeez...Why do I gotta team up with dis guy!? Scud: I never wanted to team with you either, Joey! I wanted to team with a champ! Joey: Any champ who'd join with you would be a chump! Scud: You've got some nerve talking to me like that! Joey: And you're getting on my last nerve! Just stay outta my way! (they lose) Scud: I knew you were trash, Joey! Joey: You're one ta talk! You stunk more than a skunk! Scud: Instead of fighting with words, we can settle this in a Duel. Joey: I was hopin' you'd say day! Let's Duel, Scud! Scud: I said we could settle this in a Duel - not that I'd actually Duel. I'm outta here! Joey: Hey! Get back here!

Mokuba: You're Aigami's sister, right? Sera: Mokuba...You know who I am? Mokuba: Of course. KaibaCorp has eyes all over the world. But how about we forget your magical mumbo jumbo for today and just Duel for fun? Sera: ...Very well. I will work with you - just this one time. Mokuba: You know...Anyone tell you that you seem mature for your age? Sera: I'm sure no one has ever said that about you. (they lose) Mokuba: Even though we lost, I could tell you're an expert with these cards. Sera: Thank you. Though what you call cards, we call magical talismans. Mokuba: Magical talismans? No wonder I think you're all weird. Anyway, unless you're off to another dimension or something, we should play again sometime. Sera: ...Okay. Mokuba: See ya! ...Oh, by the way! I like your other avatar better! Sera: .........

Aigami: Oooh...I believe that you and I are on the same wavelength. If you feel like I do, you must realize that this awful world needs to change. We are the Plana. The ones who will remake this world into an era of peace. Allow me to let you in on a secret. My real name is Diva. If you so desire, join us in our quest to create a utopia.

[rosalind-hawkins]

Mastershipping Musings ft. Pegasus

Pegasus is obviously a point of contention between Duke and Kaiba.

Pegasus and Kaiba still have to be business partners after Duelist Kingdom in anime canon, and that's the primary canon I follow because I'm still working on the manga. (side-note: Pegasus probably makes Kaiba pay through the nose for BEWD royalty rights, don't ya think?) Anytime they encounter each other, in business meetings and gaming conventions and tournaments, they have to play (mostly) polite in front of the cameras, but Kaiba can't stand him. That said, he's built his entire company based on Duel Monsters, so he has no choice but to put up with him. I imagine that Kaiba keeps Mokuba away from Pegasus as much as possible, to the point of making sure they're never ever in the same room together and trying to just never mention Pegasus to Mokuba if he can help it. Mokuba doesn't act outwardly traumatized after DK, but he's not taking any risks and not putting his brother in harm's way. Pegasus is a dangerous man, and Kaiba learned that lesson the hard way.

{Long post, rest under cut}

Duke idolized Pegasus as an artist and creator, and was basically the sole inspiration for Dungeon Dice Monsters. Once he finds out about what Pegasus did to the Kaibros in Duelist Kingdom, he's going to feel so conflicted. I think the internet's been around for long enough that we've all had a creator that we liked get outed for something awful they've done (I feel like it's happened a lot) and then we have that uncomfortable feeling afterwards of "but their art/content is so good" "but I shouldn't support them" "but you can separate the art from the artist" "but not when consuming the art is giving them money." Duke is gonna have a whole crisis about it when he finds out. When.

I don't think Kaiba feels a need to explain to Duke what Pegasus did, as he really doesn't come up too often as a topic of conversation between them, but also because he doesn't want to deal with the memory of it.

This gets a little bit into something that's fun for me: the different histories that Duke and Ryou have with Kaiba. Ryou experienced Duelist Kingdom (complete with the Kaiba bros getting their souls stolen by Pegasus) and Duke knows nothing about that. There's no reason for anybody in the friend group to tell Duke about what Pegasus did to Kaiba, or that Pegasus even had a Millennium Item (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that never even comes up around Duke in season four). Ryou has no reason to talk to him about Pegasus because Ryou never thinks about Pegasus. Just forgets about the dude most of the time. And it also slips his mind that Duke doesn't know about that.

On the flip side, Ryou knows nothing about the Noah Kaiba virtual world adventure (I imagine Duke calls it the Battle City Bonus Round) because he was in the Shadow Realm, so he doesn't know about the KaibaCorp missiles that still exist btw (that's something important from that arc that I think it's easy to forget about, but yeah, Kaiba still owns all the weapons that KC had when he took over) and he didn't meet Noah or Gozaburo or find out how screwed up the Kaiba family is from that. He gets told or finds out later that Seto and Mokuba are adopted, but that's about it.

It's also entirely possible that at some point these three—Pegasus, Duke, and Kaiba—will sit down to a business meeting together because of the deals between their three companies. Just imagine Duke going into this meeting with no idea of the personal history between Pegasus and the Kaibas, all he knows is the professional stuff between their companies, and he assumes that they're on friendly terms with each other. Boy oh boy, is he in for a surprise (yes, this is a scene that I have planned for Power of Three). Duke goes in clueless with his boyfriend and the artist he adores, and then they're both going for the jugular, and he's just in shock. One of the few things that can leave Duke truly speechless, but he's got words for Kaiba after the meeting, you can count on that!

Power of Three snippet/preview below, because this scene won't be getting published for a looooong time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You were so much cuter when we first met," Pegasus sighed. "Fifteen and full of hope, and so terribly naïve."

"You've always been an opportunist,” Kaiba scoffed. “I wasn't nearly as naïve as you thought I was."

"You were naïve enough, dear boy. After all, you trusted me."

"At least you admit that you're untrustworthy."

Pegasus smiled.

Again, Duke was at a loss.

"Have you seen the pictures of when we first met?" Pegasus asked Duke, his smile smooth and charming. "He was downright adorable."

The way he stressed that last word made Seto's skin crawl.

"I'm not sure that's relevant to the topic of royalties," was Duke's tactful response. Seto had told him to keep the conversation on-topic; he’d thought Seto meant for him not to get distracted, not to keep the other two on track.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm not the one luring children to my private island in international waters,” Kaiba sneered, and Duke couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him look so angry.

"Children are delightful, and they have such vivid imaginations." Pegasus laughed, his relaxed posture a sharp contrast to Kaiba's tension. "I can only imagine what Mokuba invented about his visit with me that makes you so resentful."

"You call that a visit?"

"Of course it was a visit. He even had his own little room." Pegasus's single brown eye twinkled. "And so did you, for that matter."

Kaiba stood sharply, glaring down at Pegasus, who simply leaned back in his chair and met his gaze. Duke held his breath, too confused to know what to say at this point. The silence stretched out, the clock on the wall audibly ticking down every second that passed.

"You're a damn lucky man that I can't cut ties with you," Seto finally said, releasing the fists that had been clenched at his sides.

"I'm a damn clever man for making things that way."

The air felt heavy in Duke's lungs and on his shoulders as he looked between the man he loved and the man he idolized.

"As long as you're damned, I'm content." Kaiba carefully sat back down.

"You're never content, but that's alright. I like you that way." Pegasus leaned forward again. "Back to the contracts?"

"Yes."

[bibookdemon]

''

"Purples and blues, here, have another bruise!" A common rhyme Kaiba had heard every day in the orphanage, quickly followed by a swift fist to the face. He knew he was different. He was smart, and ambitious, and a heck of a lot better than any of the others here. That's why they targeted him. That, and his skinny build. His metabolism was too fast to let him put on any weight, especially at the young age he was.

But whatever. He could deal with it. At the end of the day, everyone was brought in for a warm, homemade meal - something he knew was a privilege in this cruel world of orphans - and a bed with never too many and never too few blankets. There was also his little brother, who got along well with the younger children. Kaiba was so proud of that tiny floof of hair. He was going to make many friends in life. He would be kind. He would be good. He would find a family soon. The only reason he hadn't was because of his annoying insistence that Kaiba stay with him. It was endearing but...Mokuba needed a place where he could get proper love. Not the love of an older brother who probably wouldn't even be able to protect him if he tried.

The Next Day

The sun was bright, birds were chirping, and everyone was going on a field trip. Well, a hike. Walk? Whatever they might consider it to be, the children were being guided on a mysterious journey - the orphanage owners' words, not his - through the surrounding forest. Kaiba couldn't say he was excited, but Moki was, and that was enough for him to gather a small smile and some sort of shred of interest.

"You ready big brother?" Moki called him over, bouncing excitedly from foot to foot. "I hope we find unicorns!"

Kaiba chuckled. "I hope so too, Moki." He ruffled the floofy hair - soft and adorable as always.

"Oh! They're going! Come on, come on!" Despite the fact that the group was moving slowly, his little brother still tugged insistently until they were well in the middle of the group. Sudden gazes landed on his shoulders, so Kaiba ushered his brother onward toward the front. No need for him to become clued in to the hatred of the others. "I'll get some dragon scales just for you!"

"Ok, you do that." He grinned, but it dropped as soon as Moki was out of eyesight. The adults were all up the front, leading, so he was stuck with no potential protection. Not that he wanted it anyway. He would never let it be said that Seto Kaiba was a snitch.

"Well, lookie here." One of the largest kids bumped his shoulder roughly. "If it isn't sir royal buttface himself. Have anything new to tell me about the world? Have you discovered that dragons exist yet?" He burst out laughing.

"Yes, in fact." Kaiba's voice was enough to stop that ridiculous noise, leaving the boy with a stupid look on his face. "I've discovered that your breath smells like something a dragon would puke up after seeing your face."

"What did you just say to me?" He stepped in front of Kaiba, stopping him. A few of his cronies crowded in a circle around the two of them, snickering.

"You heard me, pukeface."

"You little...!" His words were accentuated with a punch, then another, and another. Soon, Kaiba was cowering on the ground, a pathetic dog humiliated by a master without love or mercy. "Hah, loser. I bet you die out here like that, huh?" They all laughed once again, then started sprinting to catch up with the group.

For a long while, Kaiba laid there, silent and panting. He probably had a broken rib at best, multiple broken ribs and a concussion at worst. The way his head spun when he opened his eyes led him to believe the latter. Then, suddenly, a soothing touch.

"Are you ok?" Kaiba whipped his head around - a painful choice - to see warm brown eyes and freckled cheeks staring at him in concern. A young boy, about his age. And...a gap where his two front teeth should've been. "Hey. Can you please answer? Father wants me back before the sun falls, and it's already starting to set."

"Yes." He closed his eyes. "I'm fine." The words made pain reverberate through his body.

"No, you're not. I can tell a lie when I hear one. Alright, up you go." And then he was hoisted up into chunky arms, his gangly limbs splayed in awkward ways.

"Hey! Put me down!" He was furious, but also...was this boy kinda cute? No, no. It was the concussion. Right? The concussion? But he looked like...an angel.

"No can do. You're coming with me."

Many Years Later

"And dat, kids, is how I met ya father!" Jou grinned and patted Kaiba's back roughly, causing the man to choke on his food.

"Can you not tell this story while we're eating?" He grumbled. It was the millionth recount, the least Jou could do was tell it to the kids for a bedtime story. It wasn't even a great story! Well...it was practically a fairy tale. So he supposed it was.

"I can tell it whenever I want!" He ruffled Kaiba's hair, looking back to their children. Two of them, two beautiful children they'd had together. A boy and a girl. Jou's crazy hair and freckles, Kaiba's gangly limbs and sharp nose. Adorable.

"Then I suppose you won't mind me telling them the story of how you confessed?"

Jou's face went pale. "Dat's embarrassin'! They don't wanna hear dat!"

"We do, we do!" Little Annabelle giggled and looked to Kaiba expectantly.

"Well, your father was still very young, and very daft..."

[desultory-novice]

As fun as The Angst(tm) is, I really hope the Dead People Gang aren't just, like. Trapped in Turbohell Kirbohell forever. For some reason, my thoughts instantly went to Void Termina - Since Void Termina is implied to be reincarnated as a good guy after their defeat as Void, I thought it would be interesting if they got a glimpse of everyone hanging out in the afterlife between the "blowing up" part and coming back as not-as-evil. Plus, now I've got a really funny mental image of that coming up in casual conversation Kirby/Meta/Dedede/some other protagonist and Kirby finding out and deciding "sounds like more potential friends! time to go to hell" to try and (somehow) save them

My own brain was putting a Charlie & the Chocolate Factory style spin on it. They CAN all come back, just...

Sectonia: ...once the Dream Stalk goes to seed

Max: ...once his brain is finished defragging (...or see Seto Kaiba in the manga version of Yugioh)

Magolor: ...when someone succeeds in breaking the crown

Marx: ..."User 'Marx' can rejoin the game in 87,600 hours"

Links to the rest of the mini-series:

Part 1″A Beautiful Sunset” Part 2 “The Sun Never Sets” Part 3 “Screams of Joy”  Part 4 “Visitors” Part 5 “A Perfect Circle”

Relevant: “Conditional” [You Are Here]

--

That said, your bit at the end about "Let's go to hell and rescue everyone!" is partially why I followed this story to its current, silly (?) conclusion! I know it's sounded / looked / been depressing, especially for poor, poor, poor Magolor, but I meant what I said in the tags about drawing this helping me get over some of my own True Arena-induced trauma......

(continued below)

<PS: To the Anon who asked about the Void beach pic? Your answer is here too! Sorry to make you go through all this to find it!!>

...Ahem!

I -liked- the idea of Mags and Marx having come back from their Soul experiences and have used it as fuel, but it honestly bugged me that they seemed to survive when Sectonia and Marx were still MiA...from the same thing? (I get that Max's brain is DELETED but what about his body? I always imagined that even though Star Dream blew up, the "pilot's seat" so to speak was preserved. But...

Basically, even if I could come up with reasons why the other two "didn't" survive, I could never come up with a reason why Magolor and Marx DID outside of "popular characters." ...Not to be too hypocritical, as I'm a dedicated fan of said "popular characters")

But there being a version of Magolor Soul who doesn't "get better" weirdly makes me feel quite a bit better about the other Soul victims. Because... maybe we could be building up to something with them? Maybe there IS a chance for them to come back now, or be saved, like you said. If they're all kinda in the same way...??

(Heck, I probably would have added Galacta as a visitor to the superhell-theme park if I had ANY experience with drawing them.)

Speaking of "the same way" the reason I'd always assumed Marx followed the pre-remake Mago path because they were both in Star Allies, but if there's a version of Magolor who isn't saved, I've started to think that True Arena Marx Soul (:cough: the only form of Marx Soul :cough:) wasn't saved either. Which is both very sad but also, gives me the same sense of hope/unity as the above!

I had a legit "...aww, darn...!" moment last night as I was finishing this up when I realized Fecty's soul was safely under Efly's care and they wouldn't be able to join the theme park enjoyers... Of course, the very idea of an Attraction to delight and amaze would probably trigger Fecty's trauma, putting them in a worse state than Magolor.

Void's also not available to go to the park, sadly.

Speaking of...!

Here you go, anon!

[shachou]

@universestreasures asked: Someone new had been seen in his designated department as of late, someone he didn't expect to see. It was not a new trainee Isono have to go through the process of training, but rather one of the most important people to the company itself: its heir, Kaiba Seto. The young boy had apparently been working in the company itself for quite some time now, no doubt to gain experience. Though he never came here until recently, his head down, seemingly working on a secret project that he had been working on for hours on end intensely.

Curious about the boy's work, and wanting to see if there was anything he could do to aid him in his project's development, he walks over to the young teenager, standing to the side of the workdesk to avoid getting in the way of his hands as they work. "Seto-sama? Pardon me for the intrusion. I merely wanted to ask if there was anything you needed assistance with regarding your personal project. I or any of the other staff will gladly assist you with any should you ask for it."

(From KC's Resident Goat, Isono)

For some years now, his access to most forms of self-determination had not only been limited, but completely taken away from him; buried underneath textbooks and higher education curricula. The shift in this torturous routine, although still ruthless considering who oversaw it from the comfort of his iron throne, was a welcome one. Kaiba Corporation's resources were ideal to make his project a reality, an unprecedented invention he had begun to blueprint in his mind since his first introduction to engineering.

The interruption was not welcomed, as proved by the abrupt pause that was immediately followed by a sharp side glance.

❛  Isono, is it not ? ❜ Prior to his arrival, he had acquainted himself with the names, faces and positions of everyone in this particular department. Rather than a gesture of consideration, his intention had been to learn, beforehand, who exactly would serve as his adoptive father's eyes and ears this time. After all, he wasn't so gullible as to assume he would be left unmonitored. ❛  You could at least pretend that you have not been given instructions by my father to keep me closely supervised. ❜

[kisaraslover]

Do Mokuba and Kisara have any activities that they like to do together? Is Kisara more of a gal pal to him, or more like a big sister?

hello! so sorry for the late reply, if its any consolation i opened it on my phone and hallucinated my response multiple times before going "ill reply on my laptop later"

to me its definitely a case of "you cant just slap on Traditional Family Dynamic on all platonic relationships" Kisara the woman isnt motherly or nurturing, i know most people want her a "big sister" figure to Mokuba but her themes are social outcast, benevolent yet lonely, angry yet merciful, self sacrificing but hard to connect, shunned and worshipped woman of unknown origin. shes pretty much a wet pathetic meow meow on the surface. that much is impossible to miss so no matter how or when they meet Mokuba would be the one looking out for her. in the soft ways a young boy who grew up too fast tries to care for someone older than him.

think about it. shes scaredgirl core even when all the logical signs in her speech and her actions point to her being calm, coldblooded, levelheaded person, her body language is caving into herself, turtlenecking, backing out until she hits a wall, her self preservation hard to miss. Mokuba would immediately take notice of it (he used to too. though now its Fake It Till You Make with the kaiba bros) and regardless of how calm she might seem i can see him very subtly caring for her in small ways. he'll be more animated and loud if shes embarrassed, he'll step in front of her in a crowd so she can follow, in all joke fights or general seto bitching, him and kisara are a unified front. tho their win rate against him is crazy high theyre never NEVER above dramatically hugging each other, sinking to their knees, begging this tyrant to stop abusing his two very soft and kind family members (guilt tripping older siblings on how they used to treat you is always morally correct. im the older sibling its fair ok)

from there its easy to see him turning to loving her really deeply. while her connection to seto is significant and mokuba is happy for it, kisara herself is a fun, strange little lady, always down for his shenanigans, easily excitable about trying new things. mokuba, as the self proclaimed jack of all trades kaiba brother needs to try out many hobbies, learn about all subjects on earth, taste all arts he can and kisara is a wonderful partner. shes down to earth and humble in a way that puts things into perspective (she has that effect on both kaiba brothers lol. world wont end if you lose this game. there there) and mokuba would enjoy the chilled out nature of her because the kaibas are EXTREME.

anyway so the boyish ways he carefully regards her go both ways, she would be very attached him (dragon!) but she'd not care for the ages at all. she'd be like "OMG MY BEST FRIEND MOKUBAAA!!!" in her mind whenever she spots him. if all goes well and she is given a happy ending, she only enjoys companionship later in life. i like to imagine her having meaningful and rich relationships with different types of people as an adult but it WOULD be missing something important. monkeying around. silliness. and the eternal youth swagTM of mokuba kaiba would be her precious childhood silliness she missed out on. she would get to experimentally Commit To The Bit. her smart humor and his sharp wit, when they get together, leaving behind only the dumbest bits... their chemistry.

best trios are ones where all the members feel like the thirdwheel and knowing how seto-kisara and seto-mokuba are its only fair kisara-mokuba is LINKED for life.

[gx-gameon]

Part 4 of Yugi raising Jaden

Start - previous - next

Joey and Yugi walk over to Yugi’s room, Jaden was still in Yugi’s arms as he balance the boy on his hip. They made their way over to Yugi’s desk where his cards rested, spreading the cards over the desk they started debating which cards to take with him.

Gandora was an obvious choice. He was Yugi’s ace monster and had always gotten him out of rough situations.

The Dark Magician and the Dark Magician Girl were a harder choice. They were Atem’s cards. They were Atem’s friend’s spirits living on as duel monsters. Yugi had spent a long time wondering if he should still use these cards, but they reminded him so much of Atem and he knew his friend would never be mad about him using them as long as he respected his cards and their spirits. But would it be right for Yugi to bring them with him to the afterlife? An afterlife where the human souls of these monster spirits resided.

Ultimately he decided to bring them. Maybe they could lead him to where Atem and Kaiba were. The faster he found Kaiba the faster he could return to this dimension. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Atem. In fact if this had been offered to him three months ago he probably would have jumped at the chance to see his other half again without disturbing his rest. Now however, he had Jaden to worry about. He didn’t want to leave the boy for to long and make him worry.

Speaking of his boy, there was something he had to do before he left.

“Well I think that just about does it. My deck is all set.” Yugi stated as he started to put the cards away. A harder task since he was doing it one handed as Jaden was still sitting on his hip. He didn’t mind, he didn’t want to let go of his son anymore than the boy seemed to want to let go of him.

Joey reached over and started to help Yugi put the cards away. “Hold on Yug, what about the Silent Magician?” Joey hadn’t seen his friend make a deck without the Silent Magician since his duel with Thief King Bakura in the memory world. It was one of Yugi’s ace monsters. It was the monster he beat Atem with. Yugi never dueled without it now.

Yugi gently took the card from Joey. “I didn’t forget about her. She has a special job.” He then stepped away from the desk and bent down to the ground, gently coaxing Jaden to let go. Once the little boy was on his feet Yugi kneeled down in front of him.

“This card is very special to me Jaden. She’s seen me through a lot of hard times, and she’s always kept me safe.” He kept eye contact with the four year old to make sure he was following along and processing everything. He then held the card out to Jaden. “Now I want you to keep a hold of her while I’m gone.”

“But you need her to keep you safe.” Jaden started to argue, but Yugi placed his hand on his shoulder to steady the boy.

“I’ll be just fine. I want her to stay with you so I know you’re safe. So that a part of me will be protecting you while I’m gone.” Yugi explained gently, as he kept the card held out between them. “Take her.”

Jaden reached out a shaky hand and reverently grasped the card. Looking at the art work in awe. Silent Magician Level 8 was a beautiful card. A strong one to with 3500 attack points.

“Now she’s not your’s, this is a loan until I’m back and can protect you myself.” Yugi clarifies to him as he gains the little one’s attention once again. “After all I have to come back for one of my favorite cards.”

There it was, the two reasons Yugi had given that card to Jaden. First because he knew that spirit would protect Jaden with its life. Yugi’s whole deck adored that boy, but the cards closest to Yugi’s soul, Gandora, Silent Magician, and Silent Swordsman, were as protective and devoted to Jaden as Yugi himself was. Between Joey and Silent Magician no spirit or duelist would get close to Jaden. Plus it was a physical reminder to Jaden that he was coming back. He’d return from this adventure.

Jaden held the card close. He had a look of deep thought on his face before nodding to himself. “I won’t let anything happen to it.”

Yugi smiled at his kid reaching up to ruffle his hair. “I know you won’t buddy.” He then stood up and turned to Joey, holding out his hand for his deck box. “Well, we best get going. You guys want to come see me off?”

But unbeknownst to Yugi, Jaden had been thinking long and hard about what Yugi had just given him. “Wait!” The little boy cried out.

Yugi and Joey quickly turned to face the little boy but he was already running out of the room. The two teens shared a quick look wondering what had gotten into the young boy, when he came running back in, his own deck box in his hands.

He was quickly flipping through the cards. When he found the one he wanted, he let out an excited little gasp, before running up to Yugi. Once again Yugi kneeled down to be at eye level with his son. Jaden beamed at him as he thrusted his chosen card towards Yugi.

“Here. Since I’m keeping one of your cards here, you should take one of mine with you. That way my cards can protect you to.” Yugi look at his son in awe. How could anyone ever fear this sweet boy. How could they ever abandon someone with so much love in their heart.

He then looked down at the card handed to him, taking it with the same amount of reverence that Jaden took his Silent Magician. In his hand was Elemental Hero Clayman.

“I know he’s not the strongest, but his defense is really high!” Jaden cheered. Part of him wished he had a stronger monster to give, but a larger part of him trusted Clayman. He knew the card wouldn’t let him down. That it would keep his d- that it would keep Yugi safe. “I want to defend you the same way you protect me.”

Yugi pulled the sweet boy into a tight embrace. Placing a soft kiss on the side of his head. “Thank you Jaden. I’ll keep it with me the whole time. And I promise I’ll bring it back to you.” His sweet boy. His little hero.

“I know you will. You always come back to me.” Okay Yugi needed to leave before his son said something else that made him want to never let the boy go.

Yugi held Jaden tightly for a second longer before gently pulling back. “Alright it’s time to go.” He quickly scooped the boy up and stood back up making Jaden squeal at the sudden change of height. With his son giggling in his arms he turned his attention to Joey.

Joey, who was quickly whipping tears from his eyes. Yugi wouldn’t tease him about them. After all he’d have to admit to his own if he did so.

“Ready to go?” He asked his best friend.

“Yah, just got something in my eye.” Joey responded as he finished whipping his eyes. He then turned his attention to the father son duo in front of him. “Ready to save Kaiba’s keister?” He cheered with all the bravo he normally had. Yugi smiled and nodded. “Alright! Jaden you ready for an awesome time with Uncle Joey?”

Jaden still had a soft bit of worry in his eyes but it was quickly replaced by enthusiasm as he cheered along with Joey.

Yugi chuckled over the two. Turning towards the door he lead the way down stairs and the three set out on their way to Kaiba Corp.