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The grand reopening of Kame Games was around the corner and the buzz of excitement in the city was palpable. It had been closed for four months while the expansion was done but now it was finished and the public was chomping at the bit.
Well, more or less finished. The construction was done but the interior was a disaster. There was so much space now, more than Yugi had anticipated, and the new displays and stock he’d ordered in, things he thought he’d be having to squeeze in, filled barely half the space. It was his own fault, really, when he and Ryuga had been discussing the new dimensions, the contractor asked Yugi if he understood how much space he was asking for. At the time, Yugi thought he meant that it was too little. Now he realized that he’d severely underestimated.
That was when Atem had a brilliant idea: to put a mural on the entire wall with the display cases. The painting would distract from the fact that the walls and shelves were partially empty. This would give Yugi a buffer of time to decide what he wanted to put along all his new wall space. The subject of the painting was hotly debated until Rebecca returned home with photographs from her latest dig and Atem became inspired. He arrived at Kame Games the next day with sketches of a hieroglyphic wall that told Yugi’s story. The idea had touched him so much that Atem started work on it right away.
Painting wasn’t a talent he’d hidden, per say, just one he didn’t have a lot of time for. It also wasn’t some great burning passion, just something he was good at that he enjoyed from time to time. This was one of those times. It was nice to slip his earbuds in and zone out with his music while he painted. Seto had popped his head in a couple of times to see the progress, comment on what he believed were factual inaccuracies in the story, and to correct Atem’s grammar. That got him ejected from the shop with a studded boot in his rear.
It was nearing the end of one day when Yugi got a phone call. Atem was about halfway done with the mural, covered head to toe in paint, and his earbuds had long since died. So really, he couldn’t help but listen into the entire conversation.
“Hi, Kaiba,” Yugi greeted, pressing his cellphone to his ears. “What’s up? . . . Huh? Oh yeah, hold on a second, I just put a bunch out.” Yugi walked over to the boxes of booster packs and started rattling off the sets he carried. That caught Atem’s attention and he set down his brush to focus more intently. He watched Yugi pull out two sealed boxes and set them next to the register. Then he pulled out a pad and pencil. “I can pull something together. How do you want it to play? . . . Uh-hu, you know I think there’s a structure deck that runs something similar–Oh, of course.” He scribbled a bunch of things down and chuckled. “No, no, I was just surprised you knew about it since you’ve been out of the game so long. I– I know you own a gaming company, Kaiba, that doesn’t mean you’re up on the current meta.” Yugi flinched and pulled the phone from his ear and Atem could hear Kaiba’s voice barking into the phone, though he couldn’t understand what he was saying. “Yeah. Yeah, Kaiba I got it. Give me an hour to get the deck together. What color sleeves? . . . Got it. See you in an hour.” Yugi hung up and sighed heavily as he scribbled ‘purple sleeves’ on the note pad. When he looked up, Atem was right there staring at him and poor Yugi jumped right out of his skin. “Jesus Christ! Give a man a heart attack, why don’t you?! I’m going to make you wear a bell so you can’t sneak up on me!”
“Make it pretty, I’ll wear just about anything,” Atem chuckled, winking at his partner. “What did Seto want?”
“He wants a deck built and packaged up all nice,” Yugi said, looking down at his notes. “I think it’s a gift. Want to help me build it? We’re going to start with the Order of the Spellcasters structure deck and work from there. Oh and grab a pack of purple sleeves for me, too. I’m going to go into the back and see if I can find a nice tin.”
Biting his lip, Atem did as he was asked and grabbed the structure deck and the box of sleeves from the shelves. He couldn’t think of anyone that Kaiba would gift a custom deck to.
“Should I open this?” Atem called into the back as he approached the counter.
“Yeah! And sort the cards so we can take a good look at it,” Yugi replied, a disembodied voice only.
Sighing, Atem opened the box and started sorting. Surely Kaiba knew Atem would be there that day; he wouldn’t dare get a gift for someone he didn’t want his husband to know about. Atem had to shake those thoughts from his head. No, Kaiba wasn’t cheating on him, wouldn’t cheat on him. He knew that. Of course he did.
The idea was absolutely preposterous.
~*~
Exactly an hour later, Kaiba walked through the door of the game shop. Yugi was just finishing tying a big purple bow around the gold toned tin when they spotted him.
“All ready!” Yugi smiled, but it faltered when he saw how upset Kaiba was. “Kaiba? What’s wrong?”
Kaiba didn’t answer him. Instead he walked up to his husband and took both his hands in his own. “Can you be done for the day? There’s something important I want to show you.”
“Yes, of course,” Atem answered instantly, unable to keep the fear from creeping into his voice. “Seto, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“It’s nothing bad,” Kaiba assured him, but the weary sigh he let out told a different story. He let go of Atem’s hands to fish his wallet from his pocket, pulling out a few bills and setting them on the counter. “That’s more than enough, right?”
“Yeeaahhh,” Yugi said wearily as he put the tin and the two booster boxes in a bag. “Good luck, I guess?”
Kaiba just nodded and swept out of the shop, obviously assuming Atem was going to follow. Atem looked nervously at Yugi, who gave him a nervous thumbs up.
“All Joey and Tristen need is half an excuse and they’ll beat him up for you,” Yugi offered with what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
“If there’s anything left of him when I’m done,” Atem grumbled. He’d been rejected by Kaiba once already and he folded like a cheap napkin. If it happened again, he wasn’t going down without a fight.
~*~
At least Kaiba had the foresight to bring Atem a change of clothes. They drove for a bit in silence while Atem pulled off his paint smeared sweats and wrestled himself into acid washed jeans and a black long sleeved t-shirt. It was a rather demure ensemble for how he normally dressed, but he also noticed Kaiba was dressed in a blue turtleneck and slacks. The whole thing was weird and Atem couldn’t take it anymore.
“Where are we going?” Atem bit out as he stuffed his dirty clothes into the bag Kaiba had brought him.
“The orphanage Mokuba and I were raised in,” Kaiba answered simply. Atem’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “I got a phone call from Mrs Myazaki, she runs the place, asking me to come down. There’s. . . One of the kids got rejected from another foster home and it hit her pretty hard so we’re going to cheer her up.”
“I. . . didn’t know you were still involved in that place,” Atem muttered, looking down at his hands in shame. How could he have thought that his husband was cheating on him? He’d never make that mistake again.
“Of course I am. They took care of me and my brother and I have the means to help them, so I do,” Kaiba said casually, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I visit when I can and bring games for the kids. A few of them want to be pro duelists one day and they love drafting. Mimi is five and she’s a prodigy. She might even give you a run for your money one day. Lee wants to be a doctor one day and devours every book about anatomy he can get his hands on. And Ami? She’s an artist. She had a command of color and composition that could put a Renaissance artist to shame and she’s 10! Oh and Jou–”
Atem listened enraptured as Kaiba expounded excitedly about the children and their talents and dreams. It seemed he knew each child in that orphanage personally and it warmed Atem’s heart. The way he was talking, Atem couldn’t help but think that Kaiba would make an excellent father one day.
~*~
It was the excited cries of children that greeted them as they got out of the car at the orphanage. The facility was beautiful and well maintained and the children looked happy. Happier, even, as they all swarmed Kaiba the second he closed the door. The genuine smile on his face as he knelt down to greet the children made Atem melt. He was excellent with them and they all obviously loved him. An older woman came outside as well with a warm smile as she watched.
“Seeettoooo!” The cry of one little girl in particular caught Kaiba’s attention. She didn’t have to push through the crowd, they made a path for her and she ran to Kaiba, throwing her arms around his neck and immediately started crying. Kaiba held her tightly, petting her dark hair to calm her. “I thought I’d never get to see you again! Those meany foster people said you’d forget all about me!”
“I could never,” Kaiba breathed, standing up with the girl in her arms. She clung to him, still crying into his shoulder, and he gave Atem a small, sad smile. This little girl obviously meant a lot to him. He sucked in a steadying breath and turned his attention back to the other children. “What do you say we all go inside? I brought–”
“Who is that ?!” one of the little boys demanded, pointing right at Atem.
“Oh!” Kaiba turned to his husband as if he’d completely forgotten he was there. He probably had, being so distracted with the kids. “Kids, this is my husband, Atem.”
“He’s pretty,” the little girl in Kaiba’s arms said softly, making Atem blush.
“I thought only women could have husbands!” another little boy shouted indignantly.
Kaiba chuckled a little, not quite sure how to answer when the old woman stepped in. “Men can have husbands too, Lee. Anyone can marry anyone so long as you’re in love.”
“I don’t have to have a wife?!” Lee shouted happily, grabbing the hand of another little boy. “Good! Girls are gross! Come on, Jou, let’s go be husbands together! No girls allowed!!”
“Yeah, no girls allowed!” Jou teased, sticking his tongue out as he and Lee ran back inside hand in hand.
The older woman chuckled, shaking her head with a smile at the little boy’s antics. “Come on, everyone,” she purred, starting to herd the children inside. “Let’s get inside, I need to talk to Seto in private.”
It took a minute to get all the kids inside, but once they did Kaiba handed them the booster boxes and they all ran off with cheers of pure joy. The little girl in his arms didn’t seem to want to let go, even as Kaiba set her back on the ground inside the building.
“Come on, Mimi, I need to talk to Mrs Myazaki,” Kaiba chuckled, trying to pull out of her iron grip. Everything about him was gentle when dealing with these kids.
“I wanna go with you,” Mimi cried, holding onto him tighter.
“I’ll tell you what. I have a gift for you that I was going to give you later, but I’ll give it to you now if you let me go talk to Mrs Myazaki, okay?” Kaiba reasoned, giving Mimi a soft smile as she pulled away. “Deal?”
“Deal!” she cried happily, jumping away from him as fast as she could. Then she was making grabby hands at him, her bright blue eyes sparkling. “Gift please!”
“Thank you for using manners,” Kaiba chuckled, taking the tin from Atem and handing it to her. “Here you go.”
Mimi’s eyes widened to saucers as she took the tin in her little hands like she was being handed gold. She eagerly pulled the ribbon off, letting it hang around her neck as she pulled off the top of the tin. “WHOA!” She set the tin on the ground to look at the cards, flipping through them with glee. Then her eyes landed on the purple tokens that also sat inside the tin and she grinned. “You even gave me tokens for the Citadel! Just you watch, I’m going to mop the floor with the other kids! They don’t stand a chance!”
“It isn’t all about winning, Mimi,” Atem said softly, kneeling down to her level so he could place a hand on her head. “The game is about having fun and trusting in the Heart of the Cards.”
Mimi nodded happily, turning to Kaiba and said with a superior smile, “Okay. I approve of him!”
“I’m so glad!” Kaiba laughed, a real, genuine laugh. “Now go have fun. We’ll rejoin you as soon as we’re done.”
Mimi grinned, gathering her gift and running off to join the other kids. The three adults made their way quickly to Mrs Myazaki’s office before they could be stopped by any more kids. Once inside, she closed the door and sunk into her desk chair, tired. Atem took a moment to look at all the pictures on the wall, not even sure if he should be part of the conversation.
“Poor Mimi,” Mrs Myazaki sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “That’s the fourth foster home she’s been rejected from this year. I’m worried about the effect this is having on her.”
“Me too.” Kaiba mimicked the sigh and sat in one of the plush seats across from her. “What’s going on? Why do they keep sending her back?”
“I don’t know,” Mrs Myazaki answered, clearly frustrated. “They won’t say! Just that she’s not a good fit and they can’t keep her! I’m at my wits end, Seto. And she comes back in tears every single time. She was inconsolable this time, that’s why I called.”
“You do seem to have a connection with her,” Atem quipped from his spot in the corner.
“Of course, he’s the one that brought her here from the firehouse,” Mrs Myazaki smiled. When Atem cocked his head in confusion, she explained, “The local firehouse has a baby box for people to safely drop off an unwanted baby. Better than leaving it on the street. Seto is one of the volunteers and Mimi was the first child he brought here. You were at the firehouse when she was dropped off, right?” Kaiba nodded fondly and she smiled. “She was barely a few days old. Oh, honey, you should have seen this man fretting over a little baby. It melted this old lady’s heart, I’ll tell you. He came over every single day to see how she was doing until I finally told him he didn’t have to keep taking time out of his very busy schedule and that we were perfectly equipped to care for a newborn.”
“Forgive me for caring,” Kaiba grumbled sarcastically.
“It was sweet,” Mrs Myazaki chuckled. “He’s brought a couple more in the last few years, but he and Mimi really do have a bond.”
That was when Atem got an idea. A potentially frightening idea, but one that filled him with happiness all the same. He stepped up next to Kaiba and took one of his hands. Kaiba looked a thim quizzically, already not liking where this was going.
“Seto, my love,” Atem started, watching his eyes closely for the slightest hint of fear or backpedaling. “I know we never discussed it, and this is sudden, and you can say no if you want. But. . . What do you think about adopting Mimi?” There was no fear or backpedaling that Atem could see, so he continued a bit more confidently. “After all, you obviously care for her and it’s not like we wouldn’t be able to provide for her.”
“That’s. . . Not a terrible idea,” Kaiba replied, nervously chewing on his bottom lip. “I don’t know how to be a father. I didn’t exactly have the best example. . .”
“I don’t know how either. We can figure it out together,” Atem chuckled, giving him a reassuring smile. “If you’re not ready for it, you can say no.”
Kaiba sat back, steepling his fingers together as he thought about it. It wasn’t a bad idea and the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He’d thought about adopting before, knew it was something he wanted to do eventually and give a couple kids the same chance he’d gotten. The problem was he’d been so frightened of becoming like Gozaburo that he’d kept putting it off. But maybe with Atem to keep him centered, he’d be okay. His husband certainly wouldn’t allow him to go off the rails like his adopted father.
“Mrs Myazaki,” Kaiba finally said after a long minute. “Would you be able to get adoption paperwork started for Mimi?”
Mrs Myazaki beamed, a bright smile on her face as she dug through her desk for the right folder. “Absolutely.”
~*~
They realized rather quickly that there were going to be a few snags in the adoption process. Kaiba and Atem’s age was a factor, along with the fact they’d been married barely a year. There were works arounds, Mrs Myazaki assured them, and Kaiba was already planning a few well placed donations to smooth things over. For now, though, Mrs Myazaki readied a second set of foster paperwork so they could take Mimi home immediately and not worry about the red tape just yet.
When they went back to the common area, most of the children were absorbed in their draft. It was amusing to see so many little faces scrutinizing cards like they were pros. The children not involved in the draft were playing other games or reading. Mimi was sitting nearby the draft table, pouring over her new deck. She was already grouping cards into strategies, shuffling them around as some new idea hit her, frustratingly putting them back in their original formations when she became unhappy. Both men noticed she had taken the ribbon from the tin and tied it in a bow around her ponytail. So engrossed in her work, she didn’t notice Kaiba sitting across from her until he started speaking.
“Mimi,” he said softly, making her jump when she heard him. “Mimi, I–”
“Thank you so much for the cards!” she interrupted with a bright smile. “This is such a cool deck! And look! Do you like my new bow?”
“It’s very pretty,” Kaiba chuckled. “Mimi, listen, I have an important question to ask you. How would you feel about coming to live with me and Atem? Permanently?”
It took Mimi a second to realize what she was being asked. But when she did, she jumped on the table and threw herself at Kaiba once again, hugging him as tightly as her little body could. “YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes! I’d love for you to be my daddy!”
Well if that didn’t just turn Kaiba into a mushy little puddle. He hugged her back just as tightly, knowing already that this little girl had him wrapped around her finger. He’d have to be very careful or he was going to spoil her rotten. A glance at Atem, who was smiling so brightly, told him that maybe it would be okay to spoil her.