Kaiba finally reaches the afterlife.
Atem expects their rivalry to continue exactly where it left off. Instead, Kaiba fires a blank shot as revenge for being left behind, calmly declares that he crossed the boundary between life and death just to see him, and then returns again... and again... and again.
Each visit grows less like a duel and more like an overwhelming assault of unwavering affection. Trapped in the afterlife with nowhere to run, Atem gradually discovers that Kaiba's greatest weapon was never Blue-Eyes White Dragon—it was relentless, impossible-to-escape love.
This is a translation of an original work on Pixiv.
Original Title: 冥界御三度参り
Original Author: 葉人(@Hathor₋yuki)
Personal site: https://prideshipping.sakura.ne.jp
Atem's rival had finally found his way even to the Underworld.
Soon, the days of exhilarating battles would begin again. The thought alone was enough to lift Atem's spirits — but his rival's opening move was something he had not anticipated.
Bang. Crack.
Something passed just beside his ear, and a sharp sound erupted behind him.
A gunshot.
"What happened to the endless road of battle that stretches before us?"
No one in the Underworld could have understood what had just occurred.
Neither could Atem — not until he saw the gun in Seto's hand.
A man who had just fired a weapon should, by all rights, be screaming in fury. And yet his voice, his expression — both were perfectly calm. Everything except the weapon in his hand.
"W-well… there were… circumstances. Timing… and you were in America, so…"
Guilt tangled Atem's tongue as he stumbled over his answer.
The barrel leveled directly at him.
The king's life was being threatened, and not a soul in the Underworld noticed. Several had already wandered off to find the source of the noise.
Seto's finger settled on the trigger.
"Wait — calm down! I'm already dead!"
Atem scrambled to his feet.
Click.
His spine went cold — but there was no impact.
A smile curved at the corner of Seto's mouth.
"Heh. Blanks."
"...Ha... haha... right."
The tension drained out of Atem all at once, and he stood there, too drained even to sit back down.
That shot — it was Seto's idea of a greeting between rivals. A bit of payback. Atem decided to accept that, let out a slow breath, and dismissed the others.
"Kaiba. I'm glad you came. But put that away — otherwise I can't tell what you're here for."
"I followed you. This world or the next — I will always follow you."
Seto said it plainly.
The words came like a song, like wind passing through open air — unhurried and soft.
The gentleness of it caught Atem off guard, and for a moment he simply listened.
His reply came a beat too late.
"...Oh. ...Right."
After that, they dueled a few rounds, talked about the living world, talked about the Underworld.
Seto's manner was so peaceful it was hard to believe he had arrived guns blazing.
"I want to hear your voice like this. Every day."
"...Hm? What do you mean?"
"It's simply the truth. I missed you."
Peaceful hardly seemed like the right word anymore.
"...I missed you too, but…"
That much was true. But something about the direction felt entirely different.
"Just being in the same space as you makes me feel whole. As though I exist in order to breathe for you."
"...What?"
Calm, yes — but something was clearly off. The direction was definitely wrong.
Who are you. Another impostor?
The suspicion crossed his mind, but no one who could reach this place existed except Seto. This was, without question, Atem's rival — Kaiba Seto himself.
"You… you never used to say things like that."
"That look of defiance suits you. Show me more of it."
"Wh—..."
This was the Underworld.
Atem was a guest here — a king who did not belong. And Seto, who surely did not regard him as a king at all, was not someone he could hand off to anyone else.
Atem had nowhere to retreat.
He had no choice but to hold his ground somehow.
His mind was full of confusion and something close to dread.
Why is he doing this. Is this more payback?
But Seto only smiled and stepped closer. Atem stepped back instinctively. Seto closed the distance again, smile unchanged.
"You cannot run."
He understood the situation perfectly, it seemed.
"I'm not — I'm not running."
The truth was that he couldn't run even if he wanted to.
There was genuinely nowhere to go. No allies here. Dueling, games, every strategy from the living world — all useless.
"This world or the next. I will follow you."
"...Yeah."
"Good. I'll come again, Atem."
Good. When had anyone last treated him like that? Certainly not the man standing in front of him.
Atem's expression stiffened as he answered.
"Oh… right, you're coming back?"
He didn't not want Seto to come. The duels had been fun.
But somehow, outside of that, he was being thrown entirely off balance.
"You're here. There's no reason not to."
Payback, Atem could have accepted. But what Seto had shown him — an encompassing warmth with no name, impossible to dismiss — left him with nothing to do but be shaken by it.
The Second Visit
Seto appeared again in the pale light.
That inexplicable warmth. Those words, too calm to be called merely calm. They were the reason Atem hadn't been sleeping well lately.
"You came back, Kaiba."
Seto moved with quiet purpose, but each word landed with precision, striking somewhere deep in Atem.
"Why the surprise? You're here. Of course I came."
The same quality as before — like a song, like wind through open air.
Maybe that voice was the reason.
Atem's pulse quickened. The urge to retreat tangled with something else: the unsettling comfort of that sound.
"That's… I'm here because I belong to the Underworld, it can't be helped, but… that's not the point…"
What is wrong with you.
Atem tilted his head slightly.
"You blush every time you see me. Charming."
Atem turned his face away and answered with an edge of resistance.
"I'm not — I'm not blushing. Nothing of the sort…"
He opened his mouth to continue, but Seto's gaze stopped him cold.
Seto smiled gently and drew something from his pocket — a device that looked like the communication terminals Atem had seen in the living world.
"Atem. Take it."
"...What is this?"
"A terminal. For contact between this world and the next. Let me hear your voice. Every day."
"Why would I do that."
"Is that defiance for my benefit?"
How did you get there.
Atem had nothing to say to that.
But this time Seto stood a little closer than before, still smiling.
Atem's heart lurched. Heat rose to his face.
"Th-that's not — of course it isn't."
Absolutely not. Atem was certain he had responded normally.
Seto reached out, lightly, and touched Atem's cheek. Atem flinched.
"Charming isn't enough. I want to know you — deeply."
Those blue eyes looked straight through him, and something dark spread quietly at the edges of the room, like a shadow stretching across the floor.
"Wait — what are you—"
What happened while we were apart.
American influence? No — impossible. The sheer force of will it took to break into the Underworld proved he wasn't the kind of man to be shaped by anything outside himself.
Which meant this was genuine. And Atem had no answer for it.
While Atem stood speechless, Seto's smile didn't waver.
"Don't worry. I intended to match your pace — but it seems I've slipped into my own."
Atem tried to push back, but the words wouldn't come.
Nothing was connecting. Nothing fit together.
In the living world it had at least made sense. Different values, yes — but both of them had come to each other with fight, and that much had aligned.
Now he was faced with something else entirely. Something calm and unreadable that he had no idea how to meet.
"That's not the —"
"You'd rather I follow your pace? Then don't worry. Just leave it to me."
This thing isn't calm. It's sweet.
Atem realized it only now.
But realizing it didn't help. He was caught between the sweetness and something darker underneath, and the only thing the realization had done was make it impossible to pretend he could escape.
Seto continued without pause.
"I have no intention of taking your time. I only want the time beside you."
Atem opened his mouth to resist — and Seto's words, heavy and sweet, closed it for him.
"...Oh. Fine. I won't — refuse that."
Won't refuse was not quite right. The truth was he couldn't.
There was nowhere to run, after all.
The fact of it — that he couldn't escape — seeped into him slowly, like warmth through cold stone.
"I see. I want to feel your breath close beside me. Always."
Seto moved in.
"...What?"
"I want you. Let me hold you. Now."
That I will refuse.
But before Atem could say so, Seto pulled him in.
"Wait — what do you think you're—"
He resisted in words and in body, but Seto countered everything without effort.
"You still don't understand? Then I'll say it as many times as it takes. I love you."
"—"
Something crawled up Atem's spine.
Seto considered his own words for a moment, as though dissatisfied with them.
"'I love you' — even that feels too light for you…"
In the living world, a little distance would have been enough to slip away.
Not here. Here there was only Seto and himself. No escape.
"Let — let go of me… Kaiba…"
He shifted, trying to free himself from Seto's arms — but Seto only tightened his hold.
"Don't move. Don't look away. Look at me."
"I — yeah…"
If I look away, I lose. The thought settled in, and Atem looked up.
Seto smiled, satisfied.
No words came.
"As long as these hands exist, I will not hesitate to touch you."
In the silence of the Underworld, Seto's voice alone filled the space — sweet and heavy.
What had begun as something gentle had become something else. Not fear. The threshold of dependence.
The Third Visit
Atem stood quietly, as he always did.
Somewhere beneath the surface, he was aware of a small part of himself wondering — will someone come today. But he kept his expression still.
Seto's arrivals were always quiet. But the air carried more heat than last time.
The moment his figure came into view, Atem's body went rigid for just an instant.
"Atem. I came to see you."
A low, unhurried voice. When it reached him, something small stirred in his chest.
Those blue eyes were sharp and clear, and just beneath the usual composure, a hint of a smile surfaced and disappeared.
"You again…"
His voice came out lighter than the words intended. Atem pretended not to notice.
He had meant to sound indifferent, but the quickening of his heart was harder to hide.
Seto stepped closer and spoke low and soft — like wind through open air, and yet entirely certain.
"There is no future you could imagine that does not have me in it."
And at the same moment, he pulled Atem into his arms.
"Every time I hold you, I feel as though I've found somewhere to come home to."
Last time had taught him that resistance was useless.
Atem let the arms stay.
"I… is that so…"
"It is a good place. Though you have nowhere to hide."
The voice was sweet, but something dark drifted quietly behind it.
"I — I'm not hiding."
Atem worked hard to keep the small tremor out of his voice.
It didn't matter. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run.
Seto held his gaze on Atem and didn't let go.
"I love you. There is only you."
And then, without warning, a direct hit.
Atem hadn't steeled himself for those words yet today.
I love you — he blinked, once, twice.
His mind went blank.
Nothing came out.
"You are lovely. When you're quiet like this, you move me more than usual."
Atem gave a small shake of his head.
"Stop… don't say things like that."
Seto had a sweet that Atem had no sweet to meet.
But Seto didn't stop.
"You matter to me. You are something apart, to me. In all the world, there is only you."
A triple burst.
High-damage words, aimed directly at the core of Atem.
"Wh — what are you…"
He tried to push back, but his voice cracked.
The assault didn't let up, and his thoughts couldn't keep pace.
Seto leaned in and pressed his lips softly to Atem's hair.
Atem went rigid. He breathed in — and stopped.
"You don't need to put on strength. Your weakness is something I love too. I'll make a place where you can breathe."
Sweet temptation. A dark presence pressing in, making full use of the fact that there was nowhere to run.
That Atem couldn't breathe was entirely Seto's doing — though neither of them noticed.
Seto closed the distance further and looked into Atem's eyes.
"Listen to me, Atem. In all the world, you are the only one I want."
At those words, at that gaze, Atem felt the last wall inside him begin to give.
Seto's tone was calm, but the force behind the words was overwhelming.
Atem tilted his head back — but he was still inside those arms. There was no escape.
Heat bloomed deep in his chest. His heart felt ready to split open.
He wanted to fight back. He couldn't find his voice.
Seto eliminated the last of the distance between them, held Atem with one arm, and extended his other hand.
"You can't refuse, can you? I am… simply happy, just to touch you like this."
Still Seto didn't stop. He rested his hand lightly on Atem's shoulder and murmured:
"No — don't answer. I already know. You cannot hide from me. That too, is something I find lovely."
Atem raised both hands and covered his burning face.
"What do you think you know… just… stop…"
Atem finally managed to speak, but even that came out weak.
Seto tightened his hold.
"Stop? Why would I? I want to pour everything I have into loving you."
Heat in his chest. His breathing, when it returned, came fast. The will to resist drained away, little by little.
Atem swallowed hard, and at last let out a small, trembling breath — something close to surrender.
"…F-fine… enough…"
His voice shook. His face burned. What remained of his defiance was form without substance.
"Loving you is as natural to me as breathing. I have no intention of stopping."
Seto's assault did not relent.
No help was coming. And Atem couldn't hold on any longer.
He shut his eyes and drew in a long breath.
"…All right! All right, enough — just stop. Don't say another word. Not one more."
Seto smiled, satisfied, and gathered Atem back into both arms.
In that moment, something sweet trembled through the air of the Underworld, and Atem's heart was taken completely.
Trapped in the Underworld with nowhere to go, Atem couldn't move.
"You're… serious, aren't you."
His voice still shook. Seto smiled and gently took Atem's hand, and kissed it.
"Are you uncertain? Then call my name. That alone will be enough for me to save you."
Words whispered close to his ear — heavy and sweet — and Atem's heart gave way beneath them.
His defiance was fading, one piece at a time. The walls were already gone.
His eyes grew bright.
"Kaiba… I… I've been…"
The words caught.
Atem's gaze drifted.
"…I've been thinking about you. This whole time."
Seto's smile deepened.
"You don't need words. It reaches me. You are here, in my arms."
"No, I want to — properly… I mean…"
Seto's eyes looked straight through him.
Atem received that gaze, and finally opened his mouth.
"I… I've been thinking about you too… I think I… have feelings for you."
"You finally said it. I love you, Atem. If you want to lean on me, I will come as many times as it takes. And if you say you won't — I'll come to make you."
In the light, Atem buried his face against Seto's chest, and surrendered completely.
In a space that belonged only to the two of them, something sweet, something heavy, and yet something unmistakably real passed between them.
Seto smiled and drew Atem close. A gentle kiss fell. And the silence of the Underworld filled with something sweet.
Visits Become Routine
On the days Seto came to the Underworld, the wind seemed to go still.
As though the world itself had held its breath to receive him.
Atem was in his study, sorting through documents.
Firm footsteps approached from somewhere in the distance. There was no need to wonder who.
"…You came again."
Before Atem could speak, Seto exhaled quietly behind him.
"'Again,' you say. Harsh. It feels like the first time, every time."
"How many times do you think I've heard that."
"Then accept it as habit."
Atem smiled faintly, and Seto didn't miss it.
A silence in which their gazes seemed to meet through his back.
"The Underworld is quiet today."
"It's that kind of place. Not like the living world, full of noise."
"But as long as you're here, it's loud enough for me."
Seto's voice was the same as always — like a song, like wind through open air — and yet it carried warmth.
Atem closed the document in his hands and finally turned around.
Seto looked exactly as he always did. White coat, no wasted movement.
Only his eyes were softer than before. By far.
"What did you come here for?"
"Isn't it obvious. To see you."
"…That's all?"
"Do you need more reason than that?"
The words touched something in his chest. Atem lowered his eyes slightly.
In the living world, he had never been looked at this way. They had faced each other, fought, collided — nothing more.
Now he was simply being watched. No force behind it, no demand. Only the quiet certainty of you exist.
"Kaiba… why did you suddenly become like this?"
A question he had been carrying for a while, finally spoken aloud.
But Seto's answer didn't quite fit the shape of the question.
"Are you anxious? When you feel that way, give your worries to me. One at a time."
That familiar sweetness began to drift into the air.
"Wait, that's not what I — in the living world you weren't like this."
Atem rushed to bring the conversation back, and Seto's expression shifted into something that said: is that all you were wondering about.
"There is only you and me here. I can love you without holding anything back. Seen that way, the Underworld isn't such a bad place."
In other words: Atem still had nowhere to run.
But he had long since made his peace with that.
Seto watched him, smiling — calm, and unmistakably content.
"Kaiba."
"What."
"When you smile, I feel like the Underworld gets a little brighter."
"That's because it's reflected in your eyes."
Seto took one step closer.
Before Atem could measure the distance, fingers touched his cheek.
They were cooler than usual. The warmth of the living world, dissolving into the air of the Underworld.
"When you touch me like this, it feels like a dream."
"If it feels like a dream, then don't wake up."
Seto's voice was low and deep — speaking of dreams, yet entirely grounded in something real.
Atem laughed softly.
"A man from the living world says that. You, of all people."
"The living world, the Underworld — none of that matters. Dream or not, wherever you are is my reality."
The moment those words reached him, something stirred quietly at the center of his chest.
Not something that could be called sweet, or kind. Something beyond those words.
Simply the clear understanding: I am loved.
Atem gently took Seto's hand.
"…Can I stay in this dream a little longer?"
Seto smiled.
"You need no permission. If that is what you want, the dream itself will hold you."
Words that carried a love almost frightening in its weight.
The wind of the Underworld wrapped around them both.
The boundary between the living world and the Underworld dissolved, and all that remained was a world of just the two of them.
