Future Lover

“How is he?” Yami breathed out as he entered his bathroom, seeing Ishizu sitting on the tub sill, and Seto in the tub come into view. He heard Ishizu chanting, and he proceeded to sit on the chair he sat on before without asking another question.

He could see big dark blotches of purple and blue on Seto’s chest and stomach areas, also on his legs.

“The open wounds on his back are closing up and healing but the bruises are something I can’t heal yet, for they are yet to form,” Ishizu answered, putting a few drops of clear liquid from a vial in the water.

“What’s that?”

“It’s some kind of disinfectant the crones gave me to clean the healing wounds on his back,” she said. “It’s something only the crones know how to make. I may be talented when it comes to medicine and healing, Your Majesty, but I am no match for the healers who have lived longer than I,”

Yami kept running his fingers gently through Seto’s hair, admiring his pale face, the tears drying on his face. “Do you think pale skin would look nice on me?” he asked aloud, without even thinking.

A small smile graced Ishizu’s face. “Of course it would, Your Majesty,” So he really does love him that much.

Yami didn’t have the stomach to be able to look at Seto’s back when he was first brought to his room. Now, Seto was lying in a blob of water thickened with spells that helped in healing his back, so that his back wouldn’t touch the solid gold tub. “Am I bad for suspending him?”

“If you think he deserved it, Your Majesty, then you’re not bad,” she said. “You’re just doing what’s right.”

Seto moaned at Yami’s touch, and the king suddenly stood up. “Ishizu!” She placed her hand over Seto’s eyes, putting him back to sleep. Yami sighed a big sigh of relief. “It’s hard keeping someone who doesn’t like sleep sleeping,” he sat back down again.

Ishizu chuckled. “Will you tell your priestess about this man, Your Majesty?”

Yami looked up at her. “Can’t you look into our past? Wait, that didn’t sound right. I mean, his past, or present. Or my future or…what did you ask again?”

Now, Ishizu let out a soft laugh. “You are so adorable, Your Majesty,” she brushed his bangs away from his face. “Alright, if you have difficulty figuring out which time you want me to read, then I will read everything,”

Ishizu closed her eyes, and let the necklace do the work. She looked into Seto’s not so very far past first.

[vision]
“Mokuba, why the hell do you want this party so much?” Seto asked the boy who was planning out the menu. “You don’t even have a reason!” he slumped down on Mokuba’s bed, pulling a pillow close to his chest, watching Mokuba scribble paper on the other side of the four poster bed.

He stopped writing. “I do too have a reason!” Mokuba sat up.

“And what might that be?” Seto had honestly no idea.

Mokuba grinned. “Because you are having a lover soon. That is so a reason to celebrate. For me, of course.”

“You have got to be shitting me!”
[cut vision]

Ishizu chuckled. Yami raised a brow. “What the hell is she seeing?”

[vision]
“Am not pooping you! You don’t know what it’s like having a girlfriend-less or even boyfriend-less big brother, Seto. I’ve seen those girls and guys fall over for you, and die for you and still you don’t notice them. Now that I know you’ve got a little sumthin-sumthin with that hot ass pharaoh, I’m going to PARTEY!” Mokuba lied down on his stomach again. He heard Seto grumble. “You think the guests will like Angus beef? Or Italian Risotto?”

“Just who exactly are you planning to invite?” Seto asked.

“You know, the guys. Yuugi, Jounouchi-”

“For Ra’s sake, Mokuba, you think normal Japanese people eat steak or European food?!”

“So are you saying that I can have this party?”

“Yeah, but don’t expect that I’ll be in it,”
[end vision]

“That scene was very amusing, Your Majesty.”

“What did you see?!”

“His brother is planning a surprise for you,” she said, hoping that what she was about to reveal would make him smile.

“What kind of surprise?” Yami asked, glancing at Seto’s sleeping form.

“A gathering for the celebration of your and his relationship.”

“What?!”

She ignored his last word. “Your Majesty, his brother had mentioned you as a ‘hot ass pharaoh.’ What does that mean?”

Yami blushed a hundred shades of red. “O-oh…I didn’t know he thought of me that way,” he looked down. “Hot ass means I have a really, nice bottom,”

Ishizu now suppressed a really loud laugh. “Oh, Your Majesty! People in his time are such amusing people. Now, let me look into more of what’s in his time,”

[vision]
“You can’t give up Blue Eyes, Kaiba! We still have a lot of duels to-”

He was cut off by Seto who smashed his lips against his, and forcing his tongue inside Yami’s mouth, and pushing him on back to the open books behind him. Seto didn’t kiss him very long, and pulled away in a few moments, breathing hardly, staring at the smaller male under him. “Does that prove…how much…I want you to…get your own body…? And how far…I had gotten…that I’m willing to give up…Blue Eyes for you…?”

Yami cupped Seto’s face, and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “You know, there was always something about you that…makes me…want to…get close to you…” Yami’s forehead met Seto’s.
[end vision]

She squealed like a fangirl. “Sire! How romantic can he get!” she put her hands over her chest.

“Yeah…” he smiled, caressing Seto’s face. “What time are you going to look at now?”

“His past,”

[vision]
Seto didn’t know what book to read. He was in the small library near the orphanage, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to choose that genre to read. He ran to a random section of the library, and a black, hardbound book caught his attention. The title was embossed in silver on the cover. Soviet Short Stories, Edited and Translated by F. D. Reeve. Seto looked at the back of the book. There were several Russian authors’ names. Mikhail Bulgakov, Konstantin Pautovsky, Pantaleimon Romanov, …

“What funny names,” he said, taking it and signing the library card at the librarian’s desk. “Thank you,” he told the middle-aged woman and ran back to the orphanage.

“Hey, Seto, do you wanna play ball?” one of the girls together with two boys asked him as he entered the gates.

“No, thank you,” he said politely, getting out of their way.

“You’re such bore, Seto!”

“What do you get from reading those lame books!” some of the boys yelled as he headed for the door.

Seto grumbled. “So what if I don’t like to play? It’s not like I can get anything by playing ball. It’s not like I can learn anything.” He said particularly at nobody, headed for his and Mokuba’s room upstairs. He took off his jacket and his scarf, and put it back in the closet. He sat down on his bed, found a comfy spot, and started reading the book. He didn’t bother reading the foreword, nor the introduction, and proceeded to the first story.

Grackles

It was just growing light behind the Yegorlyk River as Yasha Konnik drove up to the cottage…

And then he felt silent steps entering the room. He had forgotten to close the door. “Who are you?” he asked the boy.
[end vision]

Ishizu looked like she was having an asthma attack. “Your Majesty!”

“Ishizu! Are you ok? What happened?! What did you see?!”

“You…” her breathing was becoming even. “I saw you…in his past…”

“In his past?” Yami repeated, confused. “How can I be in his past-”

“I don’t know…” she cut him off. “You don’t remember?”

Yami shook his head. “No,” he answered. “I’m sorry,”

Then it hit her. “So that was where you went…” she had remembered what had happened nine years ago in their time.

“What? Where I went? Where did I go?” Yami asked, looking up at her.

“Your father and grandfather had arranged a duel for practice in the great hall when you were young,” she explained. “And you were watching. They didn’t know what you were there, watching as they threw spells at each other. There Mahaado was there when it happened. The two of them cast spells which went all wrong and hit you,”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seto opened his eyes, trying to focus his vision to clear it. He let out a moan as a wave of pain surged through his trunk. “Aahh..”

“Seto!”

He saw Yami’s figure over him. “H-hey…” he managed to say as his vision cleared, seeing Yami’s relieved face. “Aren’t you even going to kiss me?”

Yami’s hands were about to touch Seto’s face, but he couldn’t let himself touch him. “Oh, I want to…so much…” he said, trying to keep back the tears of joy, joy because Seto had finally woken up. “But you’re face…it’s covered in bruises, I don’t want to hurt you-”

Seto grabbed Yami’s neck with his bandaged hand, smashing his lips with his. He pulled away quickly. “Holy shit that really hurt!”

He gave Seto a teary laugh. “I told you. Does anything hurt? Maybe I know a spell that can heal it,”

Seto took a not so very deep breath. “It stings when I breathe,” he winced as he exhaled, “I think it has something to do with my ribs. Is my chest bandaged?”

“Your chest is, but not the lower part, your stomach,”

“Is there a spell for bruises?” Seto asked

“I’m afraid not. They can only heal what is already there, like the wounds on your back. They can’t heal anything that is just forming, like your bruises.”

“Well that certainly is good fucking news.” Seto rolled his eyes, and winced again. “Ra, I never knew breathing could hurt. Which reminds me, why doesn’t my back hurt? I thought they hit me with a whip?”

“They’ve healed. Ishizu used a strong spell on you,” Yami answered, taking the goblet of water on the table by the bed, and letting him drink.

Seto took a few gulps, his thirst quenched. “I can’t wait to go back to 2009. Of course, I want to know if you’ll be coming with me,”

“I haven’t thought of anything yet,” Yami admitted. “I don’t want to cry anymore,” still tears ran down his face, “but I’m so sorry, it’s just that I don’t know how this will work,”

“I still have Blue Eyes, you know,” said Seto, making Yami look at him.

“For the last time, Seto! I’m not going to let you give them up!” he almost yelled. “I won’t take it! No matter what happens! Besides, if I won’t be able to come back with you, you’ll be Duel King again, like before! Don’t you want that?” Yami gently put his hand on Seto’s cheek.

“Of course I don’t!” Seto answered. “You think I wanted to become Duel King again because of all the tournaments I hosted? No!” he started to explain. “I spent all that money to get to you…so that you’d be impressed that I was capable of all those things. I don’t think I was able to see your reaction to KaibaLand in America,”

Yami gave a teary chuckle. “I was in awe, Seto. Really, I was. And the hotel, it was magnificent,”

“Thank you. I had to hire the best to make that a five star hotel,” he tried to sit up, and Yami assisted him by piling up the pillows behind his back. “So this is your room,” he said, looking around. “Damn. I should draw this when we get back home,”

“Hey Seto,”

“Yeah?”

Yami didn’t know why he called Seto’s attention. “Nothing,” he said, getting into the bed and sat beside Seto, careful not to touch any bruises.

A few moments of silence later, he could hear people running down the hall, and someone busted his door open. “Your Majesty!” it was Mahaado. “Bakura has an army, and is now attempting to summon the Dark Lord!”

“What?!” Yami got out of bed. “You stay here!” he told Seto. “Get fire and air together on side, and earth and water on another! Mahaado, you are coming with me. We’re using Black Magic with the priests,” he turned to Seto. “I love you,” he kissed him, and left with Mahaado. (1)

“NO! Seto! Get back inside!” Yami yelled, seeing Seto having a hard time running to him. “It’s not safe!”

“Your name!” Seto bellowed, Yami’s eyes widened. “I can tell you now!”

“You will not!” Zorc roared and was about to make Seto fly back to the walls of the palace, but just had enough strength to keep him from doing it.

As he ran to Seto, he saw four dots in the sky. “Yuugi…” he whispered, and prevented Seto from hitting the floor.

“Atemu.” Zorc roared once again as he heard Seto speak. “Your name, is Atemu.”