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Let it be known that Seto Kaiba can never be billed as an entirely selfish person
Atem had known this for years, ofcourse, but some people were only finding out now that he was hosting a dueling tournament specifically for charity
The tournament is a true battle of the best, with the top sixteen duelists in the world all coming together to support the charity of their choice over a three day weekend in Domino City
The tournament's play would break down in brackets, with four levels of game play
The grand prize would be a billion yen to the charity of the winner's choice, curtosy of Kaiba Corp
However, there were other charitable cash prizes too
Second place winner would take five million for their charity
The two who tied for third each take a million
Anyone who made it to the final eight would get five hundred thousand, and there was a hundred thousand yen "gift" just for signing up
All in all it was a great idea and Atem was thrilled that it was happening, there was just one little problem...
He didn't know what charity to play for
He had only been in the living world again for around six months and his knowledge of such subjects was slim, he wanted to make a good choice though, so, as with all things, he decided to turn to Yugi for help
"What do you think we should do, partner? Play for the same charity so that they get the grand prize, no matter wich of us wins?"
True, Atem was just assuming that one of them would win, but considering that the only people to have ever defeated either of them were eachother, he felt pretty secure in the odds
"No, I think we should definitely play for two different places, double the causes, you know?"
"Excellent idea! Then where will you be playing for?"
Yugi shook his head fondly, sliding his card key into the hotel room door and smirking playfully at his lover
"Sorry Atem, I'm not telling,"
"What..? But... why not?"
"I don't want to influence you, you should make this decision entirely on your own, not having to do with anything I have to say about it,"
"But it will be on my own, I'm just curious," Atem insisted with a pout, staring up at Yugi hopefully
But the King Of Games just shook his head, smiling sweetly at his partner before leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek
"Sorry baby, but I'm keeping this to myself until tommorrow,"
Atem just pouted, his shoulders sagging
Great, now where was he going to get an idea from?
~+~
"Aw, he won't tell ya'?"
"No, and I'm not sure what to do with that, I'm not sure how to choose when there are so many good causes out there..."
"I know what ya' mean, granted, for me it was easy, I'm donatin' to a charity for the blind and vision impaired, 'cause o' Serenity,"
Atem nodded slowly as he stared down at his soda, offering Joey a gentle smile in return
He would have guessed as much
"And it's a noble cause,"
"Eh, I guess so... ya' know, ya' could always ask Kaiba if he knows what Yug's doin', I mean, most people've already turned in the info for what they're competin' for,"
"That's a good idea..." Atem agreed with a small nod
"Yes, I think I'll do that, thank you Joey!"
"No problem, an' do me a favor, wile you're in there, tell 'im that I ain't goin' easy on 'im just 'cause we're datin'!"
Atem smiled peacefully, resisting the urge to chuckle at the request and standing up
"I'll do that Joey, thank you,"
~+~
"Sorry, he's due to turn in his decision in the morning- as are you, by the way- but I don't have it yet,"
Atem sighed loudly, his shoulders sagging in sadness
Damn, he really had been counting on this too...
"Why do you want to know so badly?"
"To... get an idea of what charity I should represent, there are just so many, none I'm familiar with, I feel overwelmed, I hoped that learning of Yugi's choice may help me narrow down the feild for my own decision,"
"That's understandable," Kaiba mused as he stood up from his chair
"I could make up some excuse for needing his decision early and ask him about it for you,"
"Really?" Atem asked with excitement, nearly leaping to his feet, his eyes shimmering hopefully
"Yes! Could you plea- .. wait... what's the catch?"
Because with Seto Kaiba, there was damn near always a catch...
"Pharaoh, you wound me, you really think I would have a catch for you when the subject is one as serious as this?"
Given the smirk on his face and the "I've got you right where I want you" tone in his voice.... yes, yes, Atem would definitely think that
"Yes," Atem replied blandly
"Hm, well then you ought to know what I want from you, if you're so sure,"
"Mother of- .. Kaiba please don't say-"
"Duel me,"
"But we're at a tournament!"
"Don't care- duel me,"
"It's probably going to happen tommorrow anyway!"
"It might not, duel me,"
"We both have boyfreinds!"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"I'm not sure, it just seemed relevant to mention..."
For a moment, there was quiet, like the calm before the storm, a stand off that neither was willing to bre-
"Duel me,"
"Motherfucker...."
~+~
In the end they settled on a simple exchange, Atem would indeed duel him, but only after he produced the information that the pharaoh needed
That was thirty minutes ago
Now Atem was waiting listlessly in Kaiba's private room, waiting on him to return
And the moment the door clicked open-
"Well? Do you know what it is?"
"I do," Kaiba nodded as he stepped back into the room
"And...?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you,"
"What!?"
"Deal's off, Yugi promised me three of your duels in exchange for my silence,"
"WHAT!?"
How could Yugi do something like that!?
"To be fair, his reasoning for hiding it from you is pretty good, I respect it, wich is why I took the deal in the first place,"
Atem supposed that he would have to be hiding it for a good reason if he was willing to trade Atem's time and energy for the sake of keeping the secret, but still!!
"You should go back to your room, we both need our rest before tommorrow,"
Atem sighed miserably and stood up, shoulders sagged and nose wrinkled
Looks like he was in this on his own
"By the way Kaiba, where are you donating to?" he asked curiously
"Local orphanages,"
Oh.. that... made sense
"That's ... a lovely cause, best of luck tommorrow, oh! And Joey said to tell you that just because you two are dating it doesn't mean he'll be taking it easy on you," he smirked
Given Kaiba's laugh at that comment, Atem presumed that he wasn't really worried
~+~
"Hey hun, you look awfully down for the night before a tournament, something bothering you?"
Atem glanced up from where he was currently "relaxing" (IE: trying his best to come up with a decision before it killed him) in the hotel pool, giving Mai a polite smile as she approached
"A bit.... I've yet to decide on what charity I'm going to support tommorrow, everytime I start thinking of something I- ... I don't know, I feel like it's the wrong choice,"
"Sounds like you're over-thinking it," Mai noted as she slid into the pool herself
"Perhaps,"
"Have you talked to Yugi about it? Or Joey? Goddess knows he doesn't over-think anything,"
Atem chuckled, shaking his head and letting himself rest his arms over the edge of the pool, treading water aimlessly as he spun the ideas around in his mind again and again...
"Joey tried to help but couldn't, and Yugi isn't telling me what he's going to support, at first he said that it was to make sure I came to a decision by myself but... now I wonder if that's all there is to it,"
Something Kaiba said made him question that
"Hm, that's too bad,"
"It is ... may I ask where you're choosing to donate to?" he asked curiously
"Sure, I'm choosing a women's education thing, providing scholarships and grants to girls for pretty much anything they choose, girls need to have the choice to do whatever they want with their lives and this place helps make that happen,"
"Wow, that sounds really great..."
This was exactly the problem with choosing a charity
Everything sounded like a good option and he didn't know how he was going to choose
"What are you guys up to?"
Jerking his head up, Atem turned his attention to someone new, smiling politely as Marik started making his way to the pool
"We're just talking about what charities we're choosing, Atem is struggling with ideas," Mai noted as she swam over to position herself right next to the pharaoh, leaning on the pool's ledge just as he was
"Oh? That sucks, I'm not sure that it helps any but I'm donating to a child wellfare charity, helping kids escape abuse and stuff like that,"
"Ah.. that one is good too..." Atem mumbled quietly
So many options, yet he felt sadly sure that no matter what he chose, it wouldn't be the right one...
"You'll figure it out," Mai encouraged, reaching out to give the pharaoh's shoulder a supportive squeeze
"You really think so?"
"Sure, maybe talk to Yugi again, see if you can find a way to get that info out of him,"
"Yes.... yes you're right," he nodded, lifting himself out of the pool easily
"Thank you Mai, and you too Marik,"
He couldn't flat out ask Yugi... but maybe there was something else he could do to get the information he wanted instead...
~+~
"You want to duel me for my charity choice?"
"Yes, if I win, you must tell me what it is,"
Yugi looked incredibly amused by that, but nodded anyway, settling down at the little card table in their hotel room and grabbing his deck from where he had been sorting it, shuffling the cards together with ease
"Ok Atem, you're on, but what do I get if I win?"
Oh... Atem hadn't thought of that....
That was a good question...
"Um... well... what do you want?"
Yugi thought about that for quite a long moment
He considered and considered....
Before finally a small, gentle smirk crossed his face and he finished shuffling his cards
"I can't tell you yet, I'll surprise you with it tommorrow, do we have a deal?"
Well... that was a little bit unnerving, but there would never come a day when Atem didn't trust Yugi with every last ounce of his soul, so he nodded amicably and kept the smiles going
"You're on, partner,"
Four hours later.....
Atem wimpered quietly as he fell over onto the cushion on the floor next to him
Defeated
Utterly, defeated
"I'm sorry Mou Hitori, but there's always next time," Yugi promised comfortingly, crawling around the other side of the table so that he could lean down and give Atem a placating kiss on the head
Yes, he was being honest, there was always next time
But next time wouldn't give Atem what he so desperately needed!
"It's getting late sweetheart, we really should get to bed," Yugi noted softly
Atem only nodded, forcing himself to his feet and smiling sincerely at Yugi now
"Yes you're right, my beloved, but before that, I'm going to take a small walk, ok? I really need to clear my head,"
Yugi nodded, hugging his boyfreind breifly in goodbye
"You should wear a jacket, it may be summer but it's still night, there's probably a breeze,"
Atem nodded, thanking his boyfreind for the consideration and grabbing a light wind-breaker from the duffle bag they had brought with them before heading out
That little freindly competition had done nothing to aid him in his quest for ideas and he felt like absolute and utter garbage because of it
What was he going to do?
He felt like such an idiot, going into the tournament tommorrow without a single idea in mind
He was just gonig to have to settle with choosing the first thing he thought of, there was no time left to do anything else
It seemed like a pretty terrible way to go about making this decision, but he didn't know what else to do
He really should have thought about it weeks ago when he was first told about the tournament, but he had just sort of assumed that he would ask Yugi for advice and go from there
He would have to learn in the future not to make that kind of mistake...
Rubbing his eyes tiredly, the bitter realization that he was going to get even less sleep than he was before now due to this walk was also dawning on him
He wondered if it was too late to postpone the entire event...
Probably
"Mew~"
The distinctive sound of a kitten calling out to him immediately pulled Atem out of his thoughts, beaming like a ray of sunlight as he stared down at the adorable little cat that had come his way
"Well hello there, who are you?" he cooed sweetly, bending down to gently pick up the little cat, who purred the moment Atem had her in his arms
"Aren't you adorable?" he added, scratching gently behind the kitten's ears and chuckling lowly as he held onto the sweet little creature
"Where's your family? Do you belong to someone?"
Upon peering around the corner, Atem found rather sadly that there was no one there
There was, however, an over-turned trash can.... and upon really snuggling the little kitten, Atem drew the conclusion that she seemed to be lighter weight than what was probably healthy...
"Are you alone?" he asked quietly, his voice sad and heavy
He felt like his heart might break just from acknowledging that...
There was nothing that made him hurt more than seeing an animal- especially cats and dogs, who had been sacred to his people so long ago- in danger or alone
Perhaps he could convince Yugi to let them keep her in their hotel room for a couple of days and then take her home but... that wouldn't help the other lost and lonely animals out there, and he wished that he could somehow...
It was in that moment that it all hit him like a ton of bricks falling on top of him
A grin spread over his face, excitement lighting up his features as he stared down at the little black cat in his arms
"Little one, you have just assisted me in making a very important decision,"
~+~
Atem felt far brighter and more energetic when he woke the next day than he thought he would
Yugi had had no problem keeping the kitten, though he warned that they should tell Kaiba just in case the hotel took issue with it, as Kaiba would make sure that no one disturbed their little furry freind during the tournament- no matter how much she may meow
Between that and having made his decision about the charity he was going to support, Atem felt incredible
"You seem happy, Other Me," Yugi noted with a playfull grin, glancing at Atem's sure and easy expression as the two of them took their places on stage in the back of the dueling arena, barely listening to Kaiba as he began announcing the rules and the way the tournament would work
"I am, I've made the decision I needed to make last night and I feel confident in it,"
"That's good, I'm happy to hear it," Yugi promised sincerely, intertwining his fingers with Atem's and giving his hand a small, gentle squeeze
Atem stared down at his partner lovingly, his expression warm as he gave him a soft peck on the cheek- just because he could
This caused Yugi to giggle, and he seemed like he was going to return the favor- atleast, until Kaiba started introducing the participants that is
"Behind me you'll see our participants from today, going from left to right, we welcome Mai Valentine, who will be playing for the Women's Education League, Mako Tsunami, who will be playing for the Clean Ocean Society, Atem Mutou, who will be playing for the Furry Freinds Foundation, Yugi Mutou, who will be playing for Same Sex; Same Rights-"
Oh! Atem remembered hearing about that once...
Blinking, he turned to Yugi with a bit of confusion on his face
"An LGBTQ+ charity? Forgive me for asking but .. why were you keeping that secret? Kaiba said it had to do with more than just wanting me to make my own decisions..."
"It does," Yugi promised quietly
"Atem, I want to marry you someday,-"
"And I you,"
They had already had this conversation a couple of times in the last few months, why was Yugi reiterating it?
"Yes... but .. right now, in order to do that, we'll have to marry in another country, wich is fine! I look forward to deciding on the best place to vow my love to you for eternity but... but I want to be married here too, I want to get married in my home country, I want to be recognized as married, I want to have children with you without having to move.... I want to have all of that with you Atem and I want you to know how serious I am about it,"
"So... this is something of a declaration?" he asked with a small smile
"It's exactly a declaration, I want to marry you Atem, here, even if we have to wait twenty or thirty or ... eighty years to see that happen, I want you to promise me that we'll do that, even if by then we've been living somewhere else for decades, even if we're old and grey and have already renewed our vows seven times, I told you last night I would tell you what my prize would be today? I want that for my prize, your promise that no matter what... someday, we'll get married here,"
Atem smiled warmly, unable to stop himself from leaning in and giving Yugi a slow, warm kiss, his hand cupping his partner's face, stroking his thumb sweetly over his cheek
"You have my word, partner, we will marry any time, every time, whenever and however and wherever you wish, always, so long as I have you, I could want for nothing more,"
The sound of a voice clearing into a microphone caught their attention, both looking up and blushing at Kaiba's unamused face
"If you two are finished?"
"We're finished," Atem promised, clearing his throat and squeezing Yugi's hand
"Good, then without further ado, we'll draw the lotteries for the first match of the day, and let the games begin!"
Atem wanted to win- ofcourse he did, he always would
But he had to admit, if he happened to lose to Yugi again... well....
The cause would be worth it