Past lights-out, Yugi slips into Kaiba's room with one request: a duel, and a wish granted to the winner.
Before Yugi can even reveal what he wants, Kaiba has already figured it out—and answers with something Yugi never expected.
This is a translation of an original work on Pixiv.
Original Title: ジャストキル
Original Author: 葉人(@Hathor₋yuki)
Personal site: https://prideshipping.sakura.ne.jp
They say a soul weighs twenty-one grams.
But for a soul like me, that fact was heavier than I ever imagined.
Lights-out had long since passed, and my partner was already asleep.
I slipped out of my own room and made my way to his.
Kaiba Corporation was about the only place I had any real connection to, and the only one that seemed to have the technology to grant this wish.
I knocked, and a reply came back in English from inside. The only word I caught sounded like "Isono"—maybe he thought I was Mr. Isono.
"Kaiba. It's me. Yugi Muto."
I called out, and after a short pause, the door opened.
A black shirt, slacks. His hair was still damp—must have just gotten out of the bath.
The line of his throat, usually hidden, looked strangely alluring.
"Yugi, lights-out has already passed. Go back to your room."
He said that, but the light in his room was still on.
"You're still awake, aren't you."
"Work."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. A conference call in twenty minutes."
"At this hour?"
"I'm not free during the day, and right now, it's daytime over there."
Over there. Ah, that explained the English.
"Now you know. Go back to your room."
"Wait. Duel me."
"We're set to duel tomorrow, aren't we?"
He gave me a dubious look.
Well, fair enough. I intended to duel him tomorrow too.
"Now. If I win, I want you to grant a request."
I met his eyes as I said it. He blinked twice, then stared back, steady.
Calm, unwavering, and yet carrying some unfathomable light, like he was studying me.
That gaze—I'm not entirely comfortable with it.
Then, quietly, he let something slip.
"…And will your wish be granted, if you win?"
"No. It'll just get me to the starting line, finally. Right now, I'm nothing but a soul."
He said nothing for a while, watching me, seeming to weigh something in his mind, before letting out a small, resigned sigh.
"Come in. I'll hear you out."
He let me in, and I sat down on the sofa.
The room smelled faintly of shampoo, or maybe body soap. He really had just come from the bath.
"What's the request. What do you want."
"I can't tell you that yet."
Fighting for something he didn't even know—and no guarantee the wish would come true even if he won.
"You think you can beat me."
"I hadn't thought about what happens if I lose."
"Hmph. Still the type to get under someone's skin."
A faint smile crossed his face, but his gaze never left mine.
I couldn't move carelessly.
"It's just my nature. But I—"
Behind him, a monitor switched on by itself.
He frowned for a moment, but his sharp eyes stayed fixed on me.
"…One condition. Adjust your deck."
He picked up his own deck and pulled out several cards, laying them on the table.
Obelisk. Three copies of Blue-Eyes.
"I'm pulling these."
His aces. He was pulling his aces.
I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
"Kaiba, are you planning to lose?"
"Impossible. You pull the gods, and the Magicians."
Fate, destiny, all that baggage—unnecessary. That's what it felt like he was telling me.
"Understood."
Then he said something to the monitor behind him, a word or two (I couldn't follow the English), and turned back to face me.
"Come back in an hour. No need for a Duel Disk. You'd best spend the time preparing yourself for losing."
"I'll brace myself for being worked to the bone by the CEO."
"Preparing yourself… is it."
He murmured that and stood, taking something off his desk.
"Fine. This is the key to this room. Come in once the time's up."
"Right. In an hour."
I reached for the card key he held out.
"This is a master key. Be careful whose room you walk into."
"You're handing me something this important…"
I pulled my hand back reflexively.
"If you're truly coming, it doesn't matter. If there's any chance you won't, don't take it."
His gaze felt like a test, and I flinched for a moment.
But there was no chance I wouldn't come. I reached out again and took the key.
Even if I won, it was just the starting line.
The wish might not come true.
And still, I couldn't help but struggle for it—that was why I'd come here in the first place.
An hour later, I visited his room again and sat in the same spot as before.
He was there, across the table.
I'd removed the cards he'd named, adjusting my deck as instructed.
On the other side of the table, he pulled out an official playmat with practiced hands and spread it open.
His lowered eyes, his fingertips—beautiful. He was simply well-made, this one.
With those hands, the field was set with a smooth, precise elegance.
"Let's begin. I'll take the first move."
His opening declaration was calm, remarkably so.
Nothing like when he'd dueled Ishizu.
Once the duel started, that same quiet, refined air never wavered.
Right, his title was "the Prince of Cards," wasn't it—fitting, exactly as advertised.
No shouting, no raised voice—the game simply proceeded, plain and even.
I'd never experienced a duel this quiet before.
Almost no sound. No taunts, no provocations.
Just the sound of cards being touched, the declarations—nothing more. Even his voice stayed at the bare minimum, and the game went on in near silence.
It threw off my rhythm.
The way his eyes moved as he checked his cards, the fingers that handled them. Movements gentler than usual, a tone softer than usual.
I couldn't tell who I was even facing.
Are you really Seto Kaiba?
It genuinely threw me off.
But then again, this had been strange from the very start.
Decks stripped of our aces—that applied to both of us equally.
Swallowed up by the strange atmosphere, I lost by a narrow margin.
"What were you thinking. Your mind wasn't in it. You never intended to win, did you?"
"I intended to win."
No guarantee I'd get anything even if I did win—that thought had surfaced and vanished in my head, more than once, it was true.
Just as he said, that was probably the reason I'd lost.
But I had intended to win. Otherwise I couldn't even reach the starting line.
"I have one request. In exchange, tell me your wish."
I'd wondered what he might demand—so this was it. It seemed he had no intention of demanding anything at all.
I almost wished he'd demanded something instead.
"Heh. There was something I wanted."
"What did you want."
"For that, I needed—"
Out of habit I reached for the Puzzle, but there was nothing there to touch. I'd left it in my room.
Because this wasn't something I could let my partner hear.
"For that, I needed a body."
"And with a body, what did you want."
"That, I can't say."
"Is it something your current body can't achieve?"
"I'm nothing but a soul right now. That's why it's impossible."
He said nothing, considering something for a moment, then silently began straightening his cards.
His lightly lowered eyes were beautiful, as ever—I couldn't look away.
Once the cards were in order, he glanced at me.
Then he crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and fell silent. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
After a while, he finally opened his eyes.
Then let out a long breath.
"…I believe I understand it all. Yugi. Sit here."
He gestured to the space beside him.
Beside him. My heart lurched.
"That's—"
"I won't press further."
He looked at me, steady, unwavering. That gaze stole my freedom to move.
"Kaiba, you—"
Caught off guard, I held my breath and stared back.
It seemed that was hint enough for him to reach the answer. He really is sharp.
But that was practically handing it to him.
Those sharp, blue eyes bore straight into me.
The space beside him on the sofa was empty.
I knew this was wrong. But I couldn't resist the pull any longer.
I didn't understand why I was burning like this, why I couldn't hold it back.
The moment our eyes met, something welled up from deep in my chest.
"Come here, Yugi."
Unsteady, I stood and sat beside him as told. I'd never been this close to him before.
Long fingers touched my cheek.
He gazed into my eyes in silence for a while, then drew me into a loose embrace.
"…Do you despise me?"
"I don't care about the primary personality's business."
"I'm not capable of that."
"Then how far will you let me touch you. I can't hold something intangible, a soul."
"That's—"
"Where."
He pushed me down onto the sofa. My view flipped, the ceiling filling my sight, but it was quickly replaced by nothing but him.
No escape.
A temptation I couldn't resist. How cruel.
"Your lips? Or all of you?"
"Don't make me choose something so brutal."
If I could, I wanted to answer all of me.
Truthfully, even my lips weren't something I should allow.
"Answer."
Under that gaze, what slipped from my mouth was my own true wish.
"…Lips."
He caught my chin, his face lowering toward mine.
Our eyes stayed open. Both of us, eyes open, as his lips brushed mine, gently.
It smelled faintly of toothpaste.
This was what I'd wanted, all along.
When our lips parted, a little sense returned to me.
"This is still wrong. All of this."
The man before me spoke at close range.
His voice, as always, at the bare minimum—almost like he was talking to himself.
"I—during that hour, I prepared myself for the possibility of losing, and reached a conclusion."
"A conclusion?"
"I considered the possibility that, if you truly came, your demand might be me myself."
Why.
Why did he know.
The hint, the answer—those were supposed to come after the duel.
And yet, precisely because of that, this felt too cruel.
"You're a cruel man…"
"How is this cruel."
I'd wanted this for so long.
Now I had it.
But without any real feeling behind it, it hurt more than I could bear.
Our lips met again. Slightly longer this time.
"Why did you figure it out."
That this was my wish.
When I asked, he drew back slightly—though still close enough that our breath touched—and I saw something cold and detached surface in his eyes.
His gaze drifted, as if looking at something far away.
"Why, is it. Better not to ask that."
"No. Tell me."
His brow furrowed, just for a moment.
"…I'll be fair about it. If you want to know, I'll show my hand—though there's no benefit to you in hearing it."
"Your hand?"
I'd kept everything hidden. Until just now, when he'd reached the answer on his own.
"Tell me. How did you know."
The reason was delivered slowly, in a voice devoid of warmth, without a trace of inflection.
"…Fine. …I've seen eyes like yours more times than I can count."
My breath caught for a moment, my heart lurching.
"My… eyes?"
His gaze, which had drifted away, returned. Its warmth was back to normal.
"Yes. The light in your eyes, the frequency and intensity of your blinking, the way your gaze meets mine… There's more than just the eyes. Do you still want to hear it?"
"…I don't want to hear it."
"That's why I told you not to ask."
Ah, I see.
So he'd known from the very start. Long before I ever came to his room.
What a cruel man. And yet, even so, I couldn't bring myself to leave this place.
"You knew, and yet you—why."
"I wanted to crush you like this."
His tone was gentle. It didn't match his words at all.
For someone claiming to crush me, the firepower of his deck had been dialed down, the duel far too quiet.
Even now, the way his hands enveloped me was far too soft.
Even the kiss he'd given me had only touched me gently.
"I wanted you to wish, to have it granted, and then to despair. And then, to me—"
He spoke something so cruel, in such a gentle voice.
Something in my chest ached, as if pierced.
"Despair—yes, I did. Just as you intended, Kaiba."
"Were you even listening. I can't hold something as intangible as a soul."
"If you meant to make me give up, there were other ways to go about it. You're—cruel. Is this how you always are?"
Had he done this before, to all those countless gazes he'd seen?
My emotions surged, and I found myself glaring at him, as I always did.
I already knew well enough that a man like him wouldn't so much as flinch at this.
He was one of the rare few I didn't have to hold back with. As an enemy, only Marik got that from me. If not an enemy—then only him.
"That sort of thing, I've thrown away long ago."
"If only I could do the same, then this despair wouldn't…"
If he'd known, he should have sent me back to my room and left it at that.
Planting both joy and pain in me at once, like this—it was too much.
And yet the warmth right there, the scent—I couldn't bear to part from it, couldn't even consider running.
No matter how cruel I thought this was, I couldn't pull myself away.
"Then let me have all of you."
Still saying such cruel things.
"Stop. I can't allow that. Not any more than this…"
His lips met mine again. His tongue pressed in. Kissed deeply, and yet—why was it still so gentle?
If I bit through this tongue, would he belong to me forever?
But it was far too sweetly, softly claimed, and it drained away any will to bite down.
After a thorough taste, he kissed the corner of my mouth and pulled back.
"You never listen to what people say."
"That's you, not me. Just—stop already."
The cruel man kissed me again and again.
It hurt enough that I could have cried, if asked to.
"I won't stop. You're the one who allowed me your lips."
Outside was dark, and at some point the room had gone dark too—if only hearts were connected here, how much easier this would be.
Saying cruel, cruel, and yet unable to escape, unable to do anything but be kissed.
If the despair was the same either way, I found myself thinking it would almost be better to have my whole body toyed with instead.
Because that way, at least, I could have his body.
My breath was already ragged, my lips numb, my body wouldn't obey me, even my thoughts were being stolen from me.
"Cruel."
"Still saying that?"
"You're the one making me say it."
Given what I wanted, only to find despair inside it.
"I've given up. Please, just let this go."
"Giving up. That's a foolish act."
"I'm already—long since driven to despair."
"You're the one who came here."
"That's right, and I'm already… I can't take any more of this…"
Overkill.
I'd already crossed that line, a long time ago.
"Enough. Listen to me."
His hand slipped beneath the hem of my clothes, touching bare skin.
"That's—"
Wrong, and yet I wanted to be touched, couldn't push his hand away.
Knowing that, and touching me anyway—this man was truly cruel.
Through my trousers, his hand came to rest against where I'd begun to harden.
Any further, and there'd be no going back. That, at least, snapped me back to reality.
"Wait! Stop!"
"…So you've finally changed color. Ready to listen now?"
He studied me, expressionless, close.
"Don't—don't make me hear any more of this."
From those well-formed lips came nothing but despair. I didn't want to hear it anymore.
And yet his voice was so pleasant that I couldn't even bring myself to cover my ears.
"Yugi, jumping to conclusions on your own is a bad habit of yours. Correct it."
"You said you'd make me despair."
"I did. I tried to make you despair. And then, to me—there's no way something like that could happen, is there? Listen to the end, for once."
None of it was landing.
"None of it's—"
"Three points. I understood your wish, and I accepted the duel knowing it. But I can't hold something intangible, a soul. So I tried to make you give up by driving you to despair—but I couldn't do it. That's what I said."
"I did despair, though."
"Even after all that, you still don't understand?"
He sighed.
His gaze, which had been fixed on me the whole time, wandered off for a moment as if irritated, then came back.
"You. Are you bad at psychological warfare?"
"…No, I'm actually good at it."
"Then read the other person's feelings. Mine."
"Your feelings…"
Now that he said it, I realized I hadn't considered that at all.
I'd only thought of him as cruel. Never once asked myself why.
Cruel, and yet I'd still wanted him, wanted to make him mine.
"I tried to make you mine. That's all it ever was."
"And what did I do."
"Something cruel…"
"You reach conclusions like that because you refuse to listen. What I did was answer you."
A light kiss.
"Isn't that right?"
"…Yes. You answered me."
He'd known everything, all along, and accepted the duel anyway.
Even after winning, once he drew out my wish, he'd traced it back to what lay beneath it—and answered the true desire hidden inside.
"That's the answer I arrived at."
That couldn't be.
That was practically—
My heart lurched again, my breath catching.
"Kaiba… that's, that's practically a confession."
"I told you. During that hour, I steeled myself and reached a conclusion."
Resolve. A conclusion.
His eyes carried a will, unwavering and firm.
Not my own guesswork—this man's words were the truth.
He hadn't done a single cruel thing to me. Not one.
The haze before my eyes seemed to clear.
Deep in my chest, defeat and relief tangled together.
"Then…"
"I told you. Giving up is a foolish act."
"I…"
"Say what you want."
What I want.
Ah, whatever happens now, happens. This man would answer me.
"I want to love you, and be loved by you. That's why I need a body."
"So you've finally said it. …Fine. I'll make one. Creating a person—it'll take some time, but it can be done."
"Kaiba."
"Heh… It's forbidden territory, ethically speaking. But the old facilities are still around. It's possible to handle this quietly."
He wore an unmistakably wicked grin.
Wanting to be loved—I should have just said that from the start.
Asking for a favor had been such a roundabout way to go about it.
Somewhere along the way, simply reaching the starting line had become the whole point.
"But I haven't won."
"My one request was—tell me your wish, in exchange. That was the conclusion I reached."
The conclusion. And its content was—
"My wish."
To love, and be loved.
Something known from the very start, something impossible to achieve alone.
A wish that could only exist between the two of us, facing each other.
"That's when I'll let you have all of me."
He whispered it against my ear, and as his body began to pull away, I chased after it and held on tight.
An arm wrapped around my back, a hand came to rest at my waist.
The body I clung to was warm, and still carried the scent of body soap.
