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In mid-August, summer was still in full swing. The heatwave still persisted, proving to the residents of Domino City that the days of sweltering heat, cloudless blue skies, long walks in shady parks, and lazy afternoons on the beach were far from over. Summer break in schools was still ongoing for two more weeks, so wherever one went in the city, they would inevitably run into students; while the luckier part of the working class was now enjoying their turn of one or two weeks of vacation.
For CEOs, however, there was no such thing as summer breaks. Especially not for those who, in addition to running a world-leading tech company, had also taken on the conflict of a parallel world, where dragons were preparing to kill dragons in an impending war. And he, Seto Kaiba, had formed an alliance with the white dragons—those beautiful, majestic creatures—to lead them to victory as one of their riders in the coming battles against the red dragons.
The particular specimen he had chosen as his mount (or, more accurately, the one who had chosen him), this stubborn and dangerous shapeshifting beast who, for over two months now, had nestled herself not only into his house but, as Seto was slowly forced to admit, into his heart as well.
“Seto!” purred a melodic, medium-pitched voice from behind him. Two ice-cold hands reached over the backrest of the couch to wrap around his neck, just tight enough to let him breathe. Seto nearly dropped the laptop resting on his knees.
Though he had long since grown accustomed to the fact that the dragon girl’s touch was unusually cool even in her human form, the pleasant shiver that shot down his spine every single time was something he could never quite get used to.
“I don’t know what you want, Nyra, but I already told you I’m busy tonight,” he said, gently but firmly prying away the fingers that had been fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
“Why?” the dragon pouted, reluctantly letting go of his neck before settling down beside him on the couch.
On his other side, Mokuba hung upside down, his feet propped up against the backrest, mashing his controller, his face gradually reddening from the blood rushing to his head. Seto decided to give his little brother another full minute before turning him back into a normal sitting position.
“Because, thanks to your little war, I’m nearly a week behind on reviewing the reports. How am I supposed to attend meetings when I don't even know what statistics my executives are trying to dazzle me with?"
“I thought mortals valued Friday nights,” Nyra retorted sulkily.
“I love Friday nights!” Mokuba chimed in, but all he earned for drawing attention to himself was Seto giving a subtle tug to his leg, without even looking. The movement tipped him sideways, and his in-game character paid the price, missing the platform mid-jump and plunging into the abyss. “Hey! I was almost at the next checkpoint!”
“Believe me, Nyra," Seto began, ignoring his brother’s complaint, “I’d value Friday nights too. And I will, once I no longer have to spend every spare minute in the simulation room practicing flight and close combat. Then I’ll have my fun.”
“Oh, sure. You, having fun… But hey, I wouldn’t mind going home this weekend either,” Nyra shrugged before leaning against the backrest, stretching with a long, lazy motion. Seto couldn’t help glancing sideways to catch her oddly elegant movement, before drawing a deep breath and forcing his attention back to the documents open on his laptop.
“We agreed to go over every other weekend, so forget it for this one. I’ll change the schedule only when the White Council finally allows me to make KaibaCorp satellites, Solid Vision, or at the very least, a stable internet connection available across the realms.”
Nyra, who had at least gotten to the point in the past two months where she understood what Seto was talking about, first blinked in confusion, then burst out laughing, to which Mokuba soon joined. The older Kaiba felt a vein in his temple start to throb.
“What’s so funny?” he growled.
“Just that you’re hopeless,” Nyra snorted with all the wisdom of an ancient dragon.
“Me? Hopeless?” Seto was about to fire back a cutting remark, but his brother piled on.
“She’s right, Nii-sama! Summer’s almost over, and we’ve barely done anything together! We hardly ever leave the house.”
“And where exactly do you want to go at nine in the evening, Mokuba? Already told you, night clubs aren’t for you yet…”
“No, not tonight! I mean tomorrow.”
Seto raised an eyebrow, looking from his brother to Nyra, who had leaned closer meanwhile. The matching, mischievous gleam of their eyes promised nothing good.
“Yes, even I say the weather’s nice, and you know how much I hate the heat!” Nyra added enthusiastically, her long, wavy hair brushing against Seto’s arm.
“That’s right! Come on, Nii-sama, let’s enjoy the rest of the summer while we can!”
Partly to avoid Nyra’s unsettling closeness—since she clearly wasn’t planning to leave his personal space—and partly to get both of them into his field of vision, the CEO leaned back against the couch and sighed heavily, bracing himself for the worst.
“Fine, let’s hear it. Where do you want to go tomorrow?”
Mokuba and Nyra exchanged a glance, then exclaimed in unison:
“To the beach!”
~~O~~
The KaibaCorp private jet arrived in the early afternoon at an island lying slightly east of Okinawa, owned by the Kaiba brothers. Years ago, back when their adoptive father still controlled the company, this island—like so many others—served as an important military base and technology station.
When Seto took over, he leveled nearly all such places to the ground. This one, however, he spared, and at Mokuba’s urging, built a private resort on it where they could retreat from the world whenever they felt like it. In truth, though, over the past four years, it only happened twice.
As soon as they landed and left the small runway, Seto’s lungs immediately filled with air far more humid and salty than what he was used to in Domino City, while the blazing sun warmed his face. Mokuba, however, didn’t give his senses the chance to slowly adjust to vacation mode—in the next moment, he grabbed his brother’s arm and dragged him toward the beach.
Once they were settled under a huge parasol, Seto—now wearing knee-length, white swim trunks with the KaibaCorp logo and a half-buttoned white shirt—was already reaching for the bag to take out his laptop, deciding that he’d had enough of the “summer mood” and it was time to get back to work. Nyra, however, who had changed into a pale blue bikini in the meantime, immediately snapped at him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“What does it look like?” Seto grumbled without even looking up from his inbox he had just opened. “I kept my promise and left the house. But I never said I wouldn't work while sitting on the beach. So, if you'll excuse me…”
Meanwhile, Mokuba had half-heartedly applied sunscreen to his shoulders and face, and now stood by his sun lounger, ready to dash into the waves at any moment.
“But Nii-sama!” he protested. “Why did you even bring your laptop? We agreed this weekend we would be relaxing…”
“Tell me instead, why did we even bring them ?” Seto cut him off, jerking his head towards Yugi Mutou and his crew, who were unpacking just a few meters away.
The spiky-haired duelist was accompanied by no fewer than four friends. Much to Seto’s delight, Jounouchi was among them; along with the ever-annoying Anzu; the useless guy, Bakura; and Marik, who had apparently decided not to bask on the golden dragons’ sand dunes but instead to tag along with the group, making little effort to hide his intent to spend some quality time with his white haired boyfriend.
“Because the more the merrier,” Mokuba shrugged.
“That’s right! You didn’t think you could leave us outta the fun, did you, Kaiba?” Jounouchi yelled over, who seemed to have no trouble with his hearing, at least.
Meanwhile, Anzu adjusted her pink one-piece swimsuit and pulled Yugi down onto a sun lounger by the wrist so she could thoroughly apply sunscreen to his back. The boy tensed from head to toe, enduring her moderately forceful touch, while Seto found himself wondering if he looked the same whenever Nyra touched him like that. He quickly decided that the very thought of comparing them was ridiculous.
No. He was not that pathetic when it came to the opposite sex. He couldn't even afford to show weakness around them, considering that, after a well-aimed toss from Anzu, the sunscreen bottle flew in a perfect arc, hitting the Amateur square in the head; while the other female present… Well, in her true form, was his fifteen-meter tall dragon.
Taking a deep breath, Seto leaned back and tried to shut out the chaos of the gang now chasing and splashing each other in the shallow water, to which Bakura and Marik joined as well. He barely managed to open the latest R&D report when two pale hands snatched the laptop from his grasp, their owner already backing away towards the water.
“Nyra, what the hell?!” Seto barked, rising from the lounger, his feet sinking into the hot sand. “Give that back. Now.”
The dragon only shook her head slyly, and from the corner of his eye, Seto saw Mokuba grinning like the traitor he was.
“You can have it, my dear rider,” Nyra said with a wink, “after you’ve had a swim with me.”
“You can’t even swim,” Seto pointed out, stepping closer.
“Then your laptop will keep me afloat,” she countered, retreating further.
“I doubt that. You’ll both sink, and I’ll be stuck looking for a new laptop and a new dragon.”
“What a shame that would be,” Nyra shook her head, now ankle-deep in the water.
Seto stared her down for a long, unblinking moment—even as Marik, dashing between him and Mokuba, nearly collided with him. He clenched his fist briefly, then, with a sharp exhale, swiftly unbuttoned and removed his shirt, tossing it carelessly onto the lounger.
At first, Nyra watched him approach with a satisfied smile, while Seto was already savoring the delicious anticipation of his revenge. Her eyes soon widened in shock as her rider caught up to her, placed one hand on her shoulder, the other on her waist, and pulled her close. Feeling the coolness of her skin electrified Seto, but instead of letting himself relish the sensation, he gave her a delicate kiss on the lips, right then and there, in front of everyone.
He heard Jounouchi whistle, Bakura and Marik hoot, Anzu and Yugi clap. He didn’t care.
Taking advantage of Nyra’s complete distraction by the tender gesture, her breath hitching as she kissed him back, Seto deftly retrieved the laptop from her grasp.
“I suggest you put on some sunscreen yourself, my dragon,” he murmured in her ear, “or you’ll be the first one roasted in the sun.”
As he stepped back, he noted with deep satisfaction that it wasn’t the sun that had turned her cheeks that vivid shade of red.
After that, knowing that he could no longer focus on work, he left the water only long enough to secure his laptop. When he returned, he squeezed Nyra’s hand and, yielding to his little brother's urging, threw himself into the waves.
Perhaps this lazy afternoon wouldn’t be so terrible after all.
~~O~~
Not long after sunset, the group gathered around the beach bonfire. The afternoon and early evening had passed in the blink of an eye, something Yugi attributed to the fact that time always seemed to fly in good company. He had swum, laughed, walked, and played ball so much that by now he had no strength left in him. Deciding to chill for the rest of the evening, he settled down by the fire, which had been set up a good twenty meters from the beach.
There was, of course, a luxury holiday home on the island, with enough rooms for all eight of them to sleep comfortably, but except for Kaiba, everyone agreed it would be far more atmospheric to camp on the seaside. For a brief moment, Yugi had worried that they wouldn’t be able to convince his old rival, that he might withdraw on his own to the house despite Mokuba and Nyra’s intention to stay, but in the end, that did not happen.
After dinner, Bakura and Marik set out for a long walk along the moonlit shore—and Yugi had to admit, it was breathtakingly beautiful. He would have loved to take a similar stroll with Anzu, but he didn’t dare to ask. Not that he feared rejection—he had long known that the girl wasn’t indifferent about him either—but rather that they would have nothing to talk about, and the situation would be rather awkward than romantic.
By the time he had gathered enough courage to ask, Anzu had already announced that she was going to take a shower to wash off the salt water. After that, they spent some time together with the others, before the brunette girl retreated to her small tent. Jounouchi soon followed her example, when he finally succumbed to the food coma and disappeared into the tent the boys were using.
That left only four of them by the fire: Nyra, Mokuba, Kaiba, and Yugi himself. But before long, the younger Kaiba declared he felt like playing on his Nintendo, so he slipped into the ultramodern luxury tent he shared with his brother and Nyra. The dragoness, too, didn’t stay much longer either: after picking the starfish and small shells collected by the boys out of her hair, she called it a night as well. Yugi couldn’t help but notice how, despite Kaiba’s neutral expression, his eyes followed every movement of hers until she finally vanished into the tent. Only then did he turn his attention back to the bonfire, when he and Yugi were left alone at last.
“Thank you for bringing us all here, Kaiba-kun. It was very kind of you,” he broke the silence that had fallen upon the shore. Kaiba glanced at him, his blue eyes reflecting the orange-red glow of the flames, but his expression remained stoic.
“Thank Mokuba and Nyra,” he finally replied, leaning back in his camping chair. “They were the ones who insisted on taking this little trip. I would’ve been perfectly content spending the whole weekend in my office.”
“Come on, you need a little break too sometimes!” Yugi sent him a gentle smile. He noted to himself that no matter what kind of parallel-world conflict his rival was dragged into, he was still the same workaholic, who could be lured away from his desk only by the promise of an adrenaline-fueled duel.
For a moment, Yugi was tempted to suggest another match (the current score stood at 2-2), but then, guided by a sudden impulse, he chose to take a different path instead.
“Can I ask you something, Kaiba-kun?”
“If you must,” Kaiba sighed with resignation.
For a few long seconds, broken only by the soft rhythm of the waves, Yugi let his eyes wander over the sky dotted with millions of stars.
“You know, there's something that's been bugging me for a while. For the past two years actually. I heard things… especially in the months following the Aigami-incident.”
For the briefest moment Kaiba seemed to tense, but it easily could have been only Yugi’s imagination.
“What are you talking about, Yugi?” he growled ominously.
Unfazed, the spiky-haired boy dragged his chair closer until his knee nearly brushed against the brunet’s leg.
“Tell me, Kaiba-kun… Is it true that you used Aigami-kun’s Quantum Cube? Did you really cross into the Afterlife? Did you really meet Him?”
Kaiba’s gaze shifted to the flames, as though he saw something in them that no one else could. So long did he remain silent that Yugi began to think he wouldn’t get an answer at all. But then Kaiba gave the slightest of nods, and Yugi’s heart started to pound.
So he did it? He really did it? He saw Atem? What was he like? What was the Afterlife like?
He had so many questions, but he knew that Kaiba wouldn't go into long stories, no matter how much he begged. For a fleeting moment, he regretted ignoring Jounouchi’s idea to get the CEO tipsy on Tequila Sunrise, but it was far too late for that now.
“So… did you duel him?” Yugi finally asked, voicing probably the most natural question he could manage to come up with.
“You think I went there for a picnic? Of course we dueled.”
Yugi leaned in so close that, despite the darkness, he could see every subtle flicker of expression on Kaiba’s sharp features. He had no idea where he found the courage to hit such an intimate tone with the notoriously aloof Kaiba. Perhaps it was the tropical island and the fact that they had spent the weekend together, far from Domino. Or simply the certain kind of intimacy only a bonfire could create. Either way, he took it as a good sign that Kaiba didn’t pull away.
“And… did you defeat him, Kaiba-kun?”
His rival turned his head away and smiled with his eyes closed. When he opened them again, only then did he reply.
“What do you think?”
Yugi wasn't sure what he was hoping for when he asked the question, but the answer still brought a genuine smile to his face.
“But let me guess: the moment you knew you had succeeded, that the victory was yours… You no longer wanted to defeat him. Am I right, Kaiba-kun?”
Kaiba turned toward him so suddenly that Yugi involuntarily pulled back.
“How could you possibly—”
“—know? Because I felt the exact same way. Back then, in that very moment. I spent years trying to step out of his shadow, and when I finally succeeded, I no longer wanted to surpass him. I think that was where his true strength lay.”
His rival opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, they heard footsteps approaching from the campsite. Both boys turned their heads to see Nyra emerging from the shadows, barefoot on the sandy-grassy ground, wearing a simple white dress that was possibly her nightgown.
“Aren't you coming to bed, Seto?” she murmured drowsily. Yugi couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
“I’ll stay a little longer,” Kaiba said, leaning back again. Somehow he seemed relieved by the dragon girl’s presence.
“Then I will too,” Nyra announced, then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she walked closer to the boys and, without a word, curled up in Kaiba's lap like a cat, leaning her head against his shoulder. What startled Yugi wasn’t that Nyra so casually entered his rival’s private space, but that Kaiba allowed it, he even put an arm carefully around her waist to cradle her even closer.
Not that he didn’t know about the nature of their relationship—in fact, he was the one encouraging Nyra not to give up on her feelings for him, even after the painful realization of their different lifespans. Still, seeing this side of Seto Kaiba hit differently.
A long silence fell upon them once again, while Yugi studied the couple in the light of the bonfire. He wasn't bothered by Nyra's presence, as he considered her a close friend, but the surprising intimacy of the moment left him somewhat uneasy. He wished he could also act so naturally around Anzu, but he just couldn’t. Especially since he knew that she would soon be flying back to New York to continue her dance studies, leaving him behind for months again.
Suddenly, a bitter lump formed in his throat as he realized how petty his longing really was. After all, Kaiba and his dragon were preparing for war. There may not be an ocean between them, but there is something else, something much deeper, something that could cause both of them much more pain, both literally and figuratively. That explained why Kaiba could show affection so easily now: because he knew he might not have much time left for that.
“So, um…” Yugi cleared his throat. Two pairs of blue eyes fixed on him—one reflected slight boredom, the other curious and heavy with sleep. “How are the war preparations going? What’s the situation over there?”
Kaiba shrugged, prompting Nyra to nuzzle her face into his neck.
“Not much has changed. Dragons are slow to act. I’ve already suggested we strike first, before the red dragons can deploy their secret weapon, but the Elders won’t listen. They don’t want us to shed the first blood. Otherwise, everyone’s on alert. Sentries are lined up all over the Southern Borderlands, and Jorax pays us a visit every few days with the news, if there’s any.”
Yugi listened intently, then nodded. The more they spoke of it, the more real the threat became, and the harder it was for him to suppress the fear tightening his chest.
He may have already fought his own battles, but Kaiba clearly hadn’t. And he didn't want to see Nyra suffer either. Yet he was powerless to intervene, all he could do was support them as a friend—even Kaiba, whether he liked it or not.
“Say, Kaiba-kun… Aren’t you afraid?”
A derisive snort was his reply.
“Please, Yugi. Even if I were, what could I do about it? I knew what I was getting into, and there’s no turning back now. And once I enter the game, I’ll win. No matter what it takes.”
At his words, Nyra pressed herself even closer against him, and Kaiba stroked her arm with a subtle, barely noticeable movement. Maybe Kaiba wasn’t afraid—or at least he didn't show it—but his dragon clearly was, Yugi realized.
“I know you'll win, Kaiba-kun. I believe in you... in all of you. Besides, you made me a promise.”
“What promise?”
“That once the war is over, we’ll work on the Spherium Project together. And when it’s done, you’ll face me again!”
Kaiba’s expression remained unreadable for a long moment, then a sincere smile settled on his face. The kind Yugi had only rarely seen from him.
“And I’ll keep my word. I’ll return, Yugi. If only to show you, I can beat you even at your own game!”