"Kaiba, help me!" Breaking every restriction the afterlife has on him, Atem drops into the living world mid-crisis: he's about to be forced into marriage, and there's exactly one man he trusts to get him out of it.
Seto calls it absurd. Seto also, somehow, ends up crashing the ceremony, marrying him for form's sake, and discovering — around the same time Atem does — that neither of them was faking it.
This is a translation of an original work on Pixiv.
Original Title: 駆け込み婚
Original Author: 葉人(@Hathor_yuki)
Personal site: https://prideshipping.sakura.ne.jp
01 This Is Not a Temple of Last Resort
"Kaiba, help me!"
Breaking a considerable number of the afterlife's restrictions, Atem descended into the living world.
"......Huh? What?"
Yugi felt a distinct weight settle at his neck. After that came the sensation of his consciousness being drawn aside, and now, for some reason, he was running.
"Aibou! Where is Kaiba?!"
Whaaa— the other me?!
It's been so long. How have you been. But why so suddenly. Why here.
Before Yugi could get out a single one of the things he'd stored up or any of his questions, Atem was already frantically searching for someone.
The man he was looking for was, in all likelihood, more famous and more conspicuous than anyone else alive. If he were anywhere nearby he could be found at once — but he had a habit of vanishing without warning. To the afterlife.
And the reason he went to the afterlife was Atem. So long as Atem was here, he had to be somewhere in this world.
Kaiba-kun is...... on Earth, I think......
"Where on Earth?!"
The pressure Atem was applying was entirely sincere.
But asked where, Seto was a man who circled the globe. There was no pinning down his current location.
That...... I don't know.
"Then the Kaiba mansion, or Kaiba Corporation! If I can at least reach Mokuba—"
"But I got called in over that game thing the other day and got chewed out, so it's kind of awkward—"
"If you get chewed out I'll handle it! Regardless, if I don't find that man something terrible is going to happen!"
Joey and Tristan spotted Yugi running. But something about his air was different, and they hesitated for a moment.
"Hey, Yug— ...Yugi?"
"Joey! Tristan!"
"What's the rush?"
"Where...... is Kaiba-kun...... I wonder?"
Atem had come to the living world incognito, as such things went. He was therefore attempting to imitate his partner, Yugi, and the wrongness of it was leaking out everywhere.
There was no chance of such an act working on his old friends. He was made in seconds.
"You...... you're Atem?! Yugi's got his contact info, right, just call him—"
"Of course, there was that method!"
He pulled the device from his pocket and searched the contacts. Found it.
Wait, hang on, you can't just call him out of nowhere, he—
Yugi tried to stop him, but Atem placed the call regardless. There was no time to be listening to people.
It connected on the third ring. Atem's luck ran on the good side.
"What do you want. Mokuba handles you. If it's about the resubmission deadline, I'm not extending it."
"No, I don't think that's what this is about! Kaiba...... -kun, would you...... hear me out, maybe?"
He tried the camouflage again, and again the wrongness leaked out everywhere.
And Seto met with both Atem and Yugi at irregular intervals. There was no possibility of it not being obvious. Again, he was made in seconds.
"You...... Atem."
The president's office, Kaiba Corporation.
"Kaiba, help me!"
Having burst in, Atem's very first words were a request for help, with no greeting at all.
What on earth was this about, Yugi wondered.
Joey and Tristan, who had followed along, watched with tension on their faces.
But there was no warmth in Seto's manner. Far from listening, he didn't even stop working.
It was a coldness that made it hard to believe he had gone to the afterlife again and again to see this man.
"This is not a sanctuary."
But Atem could not afford to fold here.
"There's an incident in the afterlife, and you're the only one who can help me."
"Help? In that world you're supposed to be king. Surely you can do as you please."
In the afterlife, Atem is king and a living god. The law of that world had fled its own domain and was now asking Seto Kaiba for help. It was a bizarre situation.
"This time my own power isn't enough. Lend me your strength."
"Not my concern."
Yugi had heard from Mokuba that Seto went to the afterlife with considerable frequency in order to see Atem.
And yet this was how Seto behaved. His voice wouldn't carry and his form wouldn't be visible, but he called out anyway: Please, hear him out.
Joey couldn't help throwing a rope either.
"Would it kill you to at least listen?"
"Then you listen."
If you could come to the living world, why didn't you come from the start.
Seto was holding back the urge to shout that at him.
The speed of his typing rose above its usual rate.
"Atem, what the hell's going on?"
"I'm sorry, Joey. Kaiba is the only one who can help me."
Being sincerely apologized to did its own kind of damage.
"Kaiba, that's your cue, apparently."
"Just hear the request. That much."
"......And the request?"
There was no help for it, so he asked that much, flatly. He didn't even look up. His eyes were cold.
But at last it was a situation in which he would be heard. And Atem, on the great crisis he had carried all this way, made the mistake of seeking sympathy.
"Something terrible has happened. At this rate...... I am going to be forced into a marriage!"
Marriage. At the word, the friends gathered around — Yugi, Joey, Tristan — all went round-eyed.
But Seto did not react. The comprehension was there; the empathy declined to engage.
"And so?"
"You can do something about it. Help me. Kaiba, with you I can resist it. I need your strength!"
For that one moment alone, Seto's eyebrow moved slightly.
Was he trying to say that relying on him was a matter of course?
But this was Seto, who declined cooperation, unity, and friendship alike. He would not be taken in so easily.
"......Same as ever, Atem."
Contrary to the words, a strange disturbance was spreading through Seto's chest.
It wasn't that he liked the man. But he didn't hold him in contempt either. Only — turn him loose, and Atem would certainly be swallowed by something.
Seto threw his gaze out the window.
"Whether I help is mine to decide. Your circumstances are no concern of mine."
Atem fell silent and clenched his fist.
But in that silence, he did not miss the faint light of intervention flickering behind Seto's coldness.
They had not accumulated all those encounters for nothing. They had only ever collided in full sincerity and full honesty.
Somehow getting Seto onto his side and securing his help — that was Atem's first objective.
And once it was clear that clearing that objective was not impossible, all that remained was to exhaust every means, whether by force or by trickery.
"In any case, will you come to the afterlife, just once?"
Seto narrowed his eyes and, propping an elbow on the desk, asked back in a low voice.
"And do what, once I'm there?"
Atem steadied his breathing and threw the whole of his feeling at Seto.
"Enter into marriage with me!"
At those words, the air in the room stopped for an instant.
There was nothing romantic about it whatsoever, but it was, abruptly, a public proposal from Atem.
Seto frowned for a moment and stared at him.
"......What did you say?"
The friends' eyes went white and black.
Yugi was too astonished to produce words.
Joey opened his mouth without meaning to.
"......M— marry Kaiba?!"
The plastic bottle in Tristan's hand rolled away.
"......You're kidding, Atem......"
Seto sank deep into his chair, kept his hands working, and spared Atem a single glance.
"......Absurd."
The cold voice dropped into the room. Seto pulled up a report and began reading.
"It is not absurd. This is a grave matter."
Atem pressed on.
"It's the law of the afterlife. At this rate my freedom will be taken from me!"
Seto laughed through his nose.
"Not my concern. Whatever becomes of you has no effect on me at all."
The request from Atem was marriage to Seto.
Yugi, Joey, Tristan — not even they could say hear him out after that.
Atem's face twisted at Seto's flat tone, but he went on in a desperate voice. There was no hesitation in him.
"Enter into marriage with me. You are a man of the living world; the restrictions of the afterlife don't bind you. Form alone will do, it will affect nothing. So please!"
An instant of silence.
The next moment, Seto's laughter rang out.
"There are limits to how ridiculous a thing can be."
Atem's face stiffened.
"I'm not saying it as a joke. I'm serious. I won't ask you to be my bride — come to me as my consort."
Seto lifted his eyes from the report and leveled a sharp look at him.
"To me it's a joke. Whoever you enter into marriage with — that is what has no effect on me."
"Kaiba!"
Atem stepped forward and put a hand on Seto's desk.
"You're the only one I can ask! You're the only one who can protect me!"
At that voice, Seto's hands finally stopped.
You are not a man who gets protected. That, too, he held back from shouting. Both Seto and Atem had by now acquired some skill at avoiding collisions born of differing values.
An infuriating disturbance spread deep in his chest. Why does he call on me as though it were obvious. Why does he believe I'll lend him my strength.
Seto glared at Atem for a while, then spat out:
"You really are a troublesome man."
Seto let out a long breath.
"Enter into marriage with you? Don't make me laugh. I have no intention of playing along with that farce."
Atem's eyes wavered.
"Kaiba......!"
"How many times must I say it. Your marriage is a game of house that has no effect on me whatsoever. Stop stealing my time."
The words were cold as ice.
Atem bit his lip and his fists trembled. But he was used to Seto's pressure. He was not pushed back; he leaned in further.
"Even so...... you are the only one I can ask!"
"......Is that all. Get out."
Seto threw Atem and his friends out of the office.
As though completely ignoring the desperation in Atem's voice.
And yet.
Looking out over the night city, Seto clicked his tongue, unable to suppress his irritation.
"Absurd......"
In his head he repeated, over and over, that it was unrelated.
But deep in his ears, that voice had burned itself in and would not leave.
Help me.
You're the only one I can ask.
Several days after sending Atem back to the afterlife.
Seto stood alone, looking down over the city. And then, with the faintest smile, he murmured:
"Marriage. I see......"
After that, one call. He summoned Yugi.
02 Anyone Who Objects — Try Stopping Me
The palace of the afterlife was wrapped in the clamor of festival.
Atem, made to wear heavy ceremonial robes, was being led toward the throne room.
In his eyes, resignation and resistance coexisted.
"......Kaiba."
The voice calling that name was drowned out and reached no one.
The high priest had begun the declaration — and in that moment,
there was a great sound behind them.
"Stop."
A low, sharp voice rang out across the hall.
Wind swept in as though the gates of the afterlife themselves had been blown apart, and a tall man appeared, coat flaring.
Atem turned, and his eyes went wide.
Seto advanced at his leisure and planted himself before the throne.
He swept the priest and the assembled guests with cold eyes and declared:
"Call off this wedding. I do not permit it."
A stir spread through the hall.
It was an outrage that broke the law of the afterlife. Everyone froze.
Seto paid those stares no mind at all and seized Atem's wrist.
"You may enter into marriage with no one without my permission. I have decided this."
"Wha—! Kaiba, you—!"
Atem let slip a voice trembling with astonishment and relief.
Seto did not so much as look back, glaring at the crowd with sharp eyes.
"I'm taking him. If you have complaints, try stopping me."
Spitting it out like a threat, he lifted Atem up and carried him off, tearing through the darkness of the afterlife.
For those left behind, only a silence like the aftermath of a storm remained.
Passing through the rift in the afterlife, they came down in the quiet night streets of the living world.
The instant they cleared the rift, Atem's form had returned to his partner's. To remain in the living world, a vessel is required.
Seto let go of Atem's hand and turned his back.
"Hmph. The trouble you put a man to. This is what you wanted, is it not. Exactly as you wished."
Atem, whose heart had still not stopped pounding, steadied his breathing and looked at that back.
"......Why did you come to help me?"
Seto answered coldly, without turning around.
"Your freedom would be taken? I simply won't allow something to be flaunted in front of me without my say."
"Without your say......?"
Atem blinked.
"For that alone, you'd go so far as to break the law of the afterlife?"
"Laws are no concern of mine."
He said only that, with a snort, and started walking.
Atem hurried after that back.
"Weren't you supposed to have cast me off?"
At the question, Seto stopped.
Coat stirring in the night wind, he spat out lowly:
"......I cast you off. But you are troublesome. My only worthy rival — I cannot let that be taken from me."
Atem lost his words.
Cannot let it be taken.
That much meaning weighed, right now, more than anything.
"......Kaiba."
The voice that called him unconsciously was different from the desperation of moments ago — somehow softer.
Seto did not turn around.
But Atem understood.
That Seto, behind the coldness, had moved for his sake.
Atem steadied his breath a little and quietly looked up at Seto's back.
"Kaiba...... you saved me. Truly. You have my thanks."
There was a heat in that voice beyond mere gratitude.
Seto frowned and answered with his back still turned.
"I did not act for your sake."
Atem came around in front of him and looked at him.
"But I was saved because you came. Only you could have saved me."
Seto kept his cold face and looked away.
"......Then be grateful on your own time."
Atem smiled a little.
"Gratitude isn't enough. I......"
Deep in his chest, something hot spread out like a wave.
He swallowed the words. Feeling something burning take root deep in his chest, and still unable to give it a name.
"......But eventually I have to return to the afterlife."
In that instant, Seto's shoulders trembled faintly. He was not aware of it. But at the possibility of Atem going far away, his chest stirred.
Atem caught that slight disturbance and quietly continued. Toward the second objective to be cleared.
"Even if I do go back — don't abandon me."
Seto slowly brought their eyes level.
No words came. Only, deep in his chest, something spread that logic could not account for.
The night streets. On the road to the Kame Game Shop.
Atem's chest was a mixture of hope and unease.
What was certain, though, was that the situation — that man is the only one who can save me — was ceasing to be a matter of logic and becoming a matter of truth.
Back at the company, standing at the hushed window, Seto turned things over.
"Absurd."
He murmured it low, and clenched his fist.
By rights there had been no need to get involved.
The laws of the afterlife were no concern of Seto's.
Whatever became of Atem should have had nothing to do with his own domain.
And despite that—
You're the only one I can ask.
You're the only one who can protect me.
Don't abandon me.
That desperate voice kept echoing deep in his ears and would not leave.
His irritation mounted.
Why had he acted.
Why had he gone so far as to do such a thing.
His face reflected in the window was harsher than he'd expected.
"......Was some occult power used on me?"
He spat it out, but the disturbance in his chest did not subside.
Atem's eyes.
At that moment, they had certainly been looking at him.
Not clinging, not despairing, only looking straight ahead.
The instant he recalled that gaze, Seto unconsciously caught his breath.
"......Absurd."
He repeated the same word again.
But there was no longer any coldness in the voice, and the expression reflected in the window wore a thin smile.
03 To Secure Your Freedom. That's All.
Before the dimly lit palace of the afterlife.
Led by Seto, Atem had just returned to the afterlife.
He had fled once, but he had not escaped completely. The date of the ceremony was almost upon them.
In the oppressive air, Atem drew a deep breath. Holding down the pounding in his chest, he fixed his eyes on Seto.
"Kaiba."
He called in a small voice.
Seto stood silent with his arms folded as always. His eyes were cold, unwavering, with no trace of tension.
"You made me bring you this far. And you had your fill of free time in the living world. Surely you're prepared by now?"
At Seto's question, Atem nodded quietly, as though resigned.
"I have to come back here. And this marriage is necessary."
At those whispered words, Seto frowned.
"......What are you trying to say?"
Atem took a step forward.
"It is a necessary marriage, but I want to avoid it absolutely. And I cannot escape it. So......"
"I see. Your circumstances — handle them yourself."
Seto cut him off without hearing him out.
But Atem came a step closer and laid a hand gently on Seto's arm.
He took one deep breath, and then, with resolve, told him:
"Kaiba, enter into marriage with me!"
"......I wondered what you'd say, and it's that again."
There was no hesitation in Atem's eyes.
"The only one who can protect my freedom is you — someone who exists in the living world and belongs to no part of the afterlife. So exchange a promise of marriage with me."
Silence enveloped them.
Even the air of the afterlife was still, as though frozen.
Seto remained composed, and yet he felt a disturbance deep in his chest.
Logic could not refute it. Atem was serious, and was pressing him without a single trace of hesitation.
"Still not giving up? You intend to bind me with your world's arbitrary laws?"
Seto turned his face slightly away.
Atem did not lower his eyes; he looked at him straight on.
"It isn't arbitrary. You were the one who took me out of here, and the two of us are standing here now."
The taking-out had happened because Atem had asked for help.
But the strength and desperation of that will sank slowly into the chest of a man who was supposed to be cold-blooded.
In the silence, Seto let out a small breath.
However much logic refuted it, he felt himself unable, deep down, to refuse Atem.
He made a hard face, let out a great sigh, and then extended his hand slightly.
"......For the securing of your freedom. That is all."
"That is......"
"You'd do well to execute it before I change my mind."
"Thank you, Kaiba."
Atem smiled faintly.
He kept the joy from opening all the way, but whispered while feeling his chest grow certainly hot. Inside, there was no longer any reserve or hesitation left.
But the light in Atem's eyes when he was certain of victory — that Seto had seen any number of times. He did not miss it. Too hasty, he thought, and sighed.
Atem took the hand Seto had extended.
They gripped each other's hands, and engraved on their hearts the resolve they had exchanged without words.
The air of the afterlife remained as heavy as ever, but in that moment alone the distance between the two had certainly closed.
After leaving the temple, they stood in a hall wrapped in the dark of night.
Atem felt a certain heat deep in his chest and quietly closed his hand.
There was no more hesitation in him.
His feelings had become something certain, no longer a matter of logic.
"Kaiba."
At that voice, Seto turned his gaze slightly toward him.
"......What."
Seto was, even so, still composed, showing nothing on the surface. Atem stepped slowly closer.
"That we were able to make this promise tonight...... I'm truly glad of it."
Inside his chest, the words spilled out naturally.
Seto gave a slight shrug and looked away.
"Absurd. If that's how you feel, be glad on your own time."
But contrary to the coldness of the words, the warmth of that hand still lingered in his heart.
Atem held back a smile and tilted his face slightly. Toward the third objective to be cleared.
"Kaiba...... I know. You simply haven't realized it yet."
Seto frowned for a moment.
"......What are you talking about."
But deep in his eyes there was a shadow — the awareness of something that struck at his own chest against his will.
Atem smiled gently.
"It's all right. Because I know."
At those words, Seto let the tension out of his shoulders slightly.
He understood what Atem was trying to say, but all he had was the awareness of having been dragged into it.
And yet, deep in his chest, that night's events — the fact that he had been left with no choice but to act — were certainly taking on heat.
The night wind blew through, and the distance between the two stayed close.
Though the words were few, in their hearts a certain feeling was quietly stirring.
04 What This Contract Means
The palace was filled with a weighty air and solemn ornament.
In the throne room, the high-ranking figures of the afterlife waited in ranks.
Atem drew a deep breath and advanced, holding down the feeling burning hot in his chest.
"Kaiba, we've finally made it this far."
Atem sent a glance toward Seto for a moment.
"......So we have."
Seto was expressionless, surveying the throne room with cold eyes.
The priest began the rite.
"Ye who exchange the promise of marriage, let your vow be given here."
Without hesitation, Atem took Seto's hand.
"I exchange the vow of marriage with this man!"
The voice was strong, without a tremor.
Seto frowned and answered without words.
Deep in his chest, a disturbance spread that logic could not account for.
But a promise is kept.
"Very well. I make the promise."
The voice was cold, yet the hand gripped Atem's firmly.
The priest advanced the rite, and the proof of the two men's contract was inscribed.
"......With this, the contract of marriage is established."
Atem let a faint smile show.
In his eyes were joy and relief, and a resolve that would never fade.
Seto had not yet realized it.
But deep in his chest, Atem's straight-thrown feeling and the sensation of that hand had been carved deep.
"......Absurd."
He muttered it as though spitting it out, but his heart was shaken.
The rite ended.
But from this moment on, they were entering a battle to confirm one another's hearts.
The doors closed quietly, leaving a space with only the newlyweds in it.
The marriage had been made. Atem let out a deep breath and was finally able to let the tension out of his shoulders.
"So it's...... safely over."
There was relief and tension mixed in that voice; it was almost a sigh.
Seto sat beside Atem in silence.
Between the rite and the banquet, the hours held had been long. They had, at last, actually married.
He glanced at Atem — drinking, pleasantly tipsy, looking thoroughly in good spirits — and looked away.
But deep in his chest, something was quietly stirring.
Atem took Seto's hand.
"Kaiba...... thank you."
At the sweetness in that voice, Seto lost his words for a moment.
"......Absurd. I'm going home."
He said it as though spitting it out, but made no move to go, and that hand was faintly gripping Atem's back more firmly.
Deep in his heart, a sensation spread that logic could not account for. I cannot leave this man alone.
It was not yet words, but deep in his chest the bud of awareness was swelling.
Atem let a smile show and leaned against his shoulder.
"There's nothing left to worry about now. Because you're here."
At a line that was unmistakably drunk, Seto let out a small breath.
Since the day Atem came running to him, his reason had been trying to deny it, but his heart had been responding.
More than words, the warmth of a held hand, the way he breathed, the faint meeting of eyes — these were what confirmed the heart.
Atem's relief and dependence shook Seto's heart.
Abruptly, he realized it.
"......Awareness...... I see, so this is it. Understood."
A small remark to himself. And Seto, too, had been acknowledging it since some point.
While thinking it absurd — and yet, certainly, his heart was moving.
A faint heat filled the space.
Without words, they each sensed that a certain bond had been tied deep in their hearts.
That Seto had acknowledged his own heart and fixed his resolve.
Beside him, Atem wore a smile of relief, still holding down the pounding in his chest.
"From here on, for a long life together — I'm counting on you."
At those words, Seto looked at Atem in silence.
But those eyes glinted sharply.
Not cold-blooded in the least; the light of a strong will carrying heat.
And then he let a smile show, as though amused.
"How much of the situation...... do you actually grasp. I understand most of it, myself."
A low voice, sounding amused and yet certain of something. Atem's body stopped for a moment.
"The situation...... you mean, you and I entering into marriage......?"
Without hesitation Seto caught the hand that had been holding his and drew Atem's hand toward him.
"That is not it."
"Then...... I'm the one who...... you...... in that way. And you're...... probably...... also...... in that way......"
"Correct. And you — that was your aim from the beginning."
At those words, Atem's drunkenness cleared and his eyes went wide before he could stop them.
The aim, and the third objective, was Seto's heart.
The truth being that in the same moment he obtained it, he had exposed himself.
He had thought he was clearing the game neatly, and at the very last he felt his position reversed.
"I did wonder why you were so desperate......"
"There was nothing else for it. You were the only one I could rely on......"
"Forcing your way in as though this were a sanctuary, securing a marriage, taking a suggestive attitude...... was it?"
Seto tipped up the corner of his mouth slightly, laughing with his shoulders.
All of it had been seen through.
"But it's true that I had to enter into a marriage, you know."
Atem decided to brazen it out.
"You simply made use of it. If that was the case you should have said so from the start. Troublesome man."
"And if I had, would you have answered?"
"How should I know."
"What kind of answer is that. But you're...... in that way now too...... so it's fine, isn't it."
Seto peered intently into Atem's face, a smile at his lips.
"Ho. Then I won't hold back either."
"......What?"
The instant Atem tilted his head, Seto told him lowly:
"It seems you still don't grasp the situation."
"What is that supposed to......"
"I may stop caring how it looks and go all out. Is that right?"
For an instant, his heart leapt.
"Wh— what are you......"
Atem faltered and backed away from Seto, who was closing the distance.
"You are prepared, I take it?"
Seto's voice was sharp and yet coiled around him sweetly.
The moment those eyes pinned him, Atem caught his breath. There is nowhere to run — he understood it by instinct.
From the moment Seto said I won't hold back, the air changed.
Seto was, fundamentally, a man who controlled everything. His emotions, his words, the distance. Having taken that off, the Seto in front of him was terribly quiet and yet frighteningly hot.
It wasn't that he'd tried to run.
He had only tried to move back a little, and was stopped by a look alone.
The blue eyes that were supposed to be cold as ice now held heat like lava.
Had even everything up to now, in fact, been a preliminary skirmish? Since when.
He had sensed the movement of Seto's feelings. He'd meant to, at least — but faced with the sudden force of the emotion thrown at him and the drive behind it, Atem could not hide his agitation.
"P— prepared......"
His voice shook.
Seto put a hand at Atem's waist and drew him in bodily.
"......You needn't make that face. There is nowhere any reason for you to be afraid."
The voice was low.
Something in the way it resonated deep in his ears made his heart respond.
I cannot resist this — it did not take him long to understand that.
Seto disturbed nothing.
He only came closer, spun his words, and took away the gaps in his breathing.
Without even being touched, Atem's body took on heat.
That domination was not violence; it was conquest by understanding.
"The conclusion inside you was fixed from the start, as your aim."
When he was told that, Atem was robbed of every thought.
He could not deny it. His lips would not move.
If anything, just slightly, his heart was relieved. Being seen through was not frightening. Rather, it was comfortable.
"You proposed it and I decided it. I do not permit you to leave me."
Possessiveness and passion mixed in that voice, dominating Atem with overwhelming force.
Atem could only flush and look away.
But Seto would not permit it. He held him in his gaze and tangled their eyes together.
"A promise of marriage will not be settled with words alone. Tonight I'll make you understand what this contract means."
At those words whispered in a low voice, Atem felt agitation and anticipation and an irresistible heat all at once.
His heart beat like a hammered bell, and deep in his chest went hot.
The feelings he was supposed to have already recognized were shaken loose all at once by Seto's momentum, and he was on the verge of losing his reason.
"Th— that is...... surely not tonight...... I've been drinking......"
Atem was supposed to have been the one who noticed his heart first, but he could no longer resist in words or in action.
With Seto's switch now flipped, before that overwhelming drive there was nothing to do but be completely swept away.
The coldness of the stone pressed against his back drove Atem further into a corner.
"K— Kaiba, wait, I'm drunk......"
"Wait, you say?"
Seto cut him off in a sharp voice.
"The moment you pressed me to enter into marriage, you had no line of retreat."
Atem's throat made a small sound.
Even trying to look away, he was caught in Seto's blue eyes.
"I only...... asked for help......"
"You asked for more than help. You obtained everything."
Having that recollection, Atem could say nothing.
Even trying to turn his whole face aside, Seto lifted Atem's chin and would not let that face escape.
Not blocking the way out, but as though taking away the very option of running.
There was no retreat. His breath caught.
"It was you who wanted me as your consort. Now I'll make it real."
"Wha—"
Atem's cheeks took on heat. His heart beat hard enough to break through.
Seto's voice was low, and told him quietly:
"Power, position, future — I go after all of it in earnest. Placing you at my side is no exception."
Atem lost his words.
He had asked for help, pressed for marriage, obtained a heart — and before he knew it, he was in a position where he could only accept Seto's pronouncement.
He opened trembling lips to argue back, but Seto closed the distance further. That face came before his own, and he was held straight in his gaze.
"I won't hear excuses or objections. What you sought in earnest was me. Then I will answer in earnest."
At that overwhelming heat and certainty, Atem's chest felt burned through.
The ritual flames wavered, and shadows lengthened, layering on the wall.
Atem was still in the middle of his agitation.
"W— wait...... I didn't mean in earnest like......"
Seto listened past that objection coolly and reached out an arm.
"Atem. You think I didn't mean it that way will settle anything now?"
A voice in which the pressure of being made to understand and the sweetness of being courted coexisted.
The way out was blocked. His heart beat fast, his breathing went shallow.
Even so, when Seto's fingers touched his cheek, an irresistible sense of safety spread through his chest.
"You asked for help. You asked for me. ......You're going to learn the weight of that until you're sick of it."
"—!"
The words were severe, and yet the hand that touched him was astonishingly careful.
From cheek to ear, from ear to the line of his throat. Stroking as though handling something breakable.
"Kaiba...... you really......"
"I'm only answering your earnestness in earnest."
At the face Seto made as he said it, smiling, Atem shut his mouth.
Fear and sweetness tightened his chest at once.
"Atem."
The voice that called him rang as though cutting through even the darkness of the afterlife.
"You are mine now."
There was no longer any means of resistance.
But Atem had realized something. Entrusting himself to this man was far sweeter than resisting.
At a distance where breath touched, Atem finally lowered his eyelids.
Softness against his lips.
The flames wavered, and the two shadows overlapped and became one.
The night in the king's chamber was quiet and dense enough to forget the cold outside.
Seto's voice sounded close beside him.
"You're ready?"
What was going to be done to him, he had come to understand perfectly well.
But it was unknown territory, and there was fear at the sense of losing something. His reason, his pride, or perhaps the very outline of himself.
"......Kaiba."
When he called the name, Seto's fingers lifted his chin, and Atem reflexively closed his eyes.
When their lips met, in that instant his entire field of vision turned to light.
Tongues tangled, and his body sank.
Not by gravity, but as though dragged down by the existence that was Seto.
He was falling, and there was no fear in it. If anything, it was the sensation of having finally arrived.
He had run, he had dodged, and even so, beside Seto was the only place he could conceive of.
Their lips parted, and he drew breath.
Seto's body heat was dissolved into that air.
"......Do as you like now."
His own voice, saying it, sounded somewhere far away.
Seto's smile answered it.
"Ah. As I like...... yes."
The instant Atem received that gaze, he forgot to breathe.
This was not the usual Seto.
Not smiling calmly, not keeping distance by reason, only looking straight at him, giving him nowhere to escape.
His heart sounded. Deep in his chest, something quietly burst.
"......Don't look at me with those eyes."
He couldn't stop his words from trembling.
"And who was it that said do as you like."
Seto's fingertips traced his cheek. There was almost no force in it at all, and yet that alone raised gooseflesh down his spine.
The lid he had kept pressed down over his feelings was being lifted off with the greatest ease.
Whether resisting was the more frightening or yielding was, he no longer knew. Even so, he could no longer recall a reason to resist.
"......I, um...... I don't...... know how......"
At that small whispered voice, Seto let a faint smile show.
Atem's voice shook. Relief and anticipation, and even a little fear, were mixed into it.
Seto answered that voice and reached out. He drew Atem's body in and held him firmly.
Fingertips stroked behind his ear. That alone made his breathing waver.
He could feel heat rising to the surface of his skin.
"No trouble. Feel it. Whose you are."
A voice low, cold in its way and yet carrying heat, sounded in Atem's ear. Heat welled up deep in Atem's chest.
"I'm...... yours......"
Their lips touched. Their breath tangled, and body and heart alike were drawn toward Seto.
Seto did not hesitate. He enveloped Atem completely, taking command of heart and body both.
A hand caught at the ceremonial robes. Layer upon layer of them, and Seto let them fall one at a time, carefully.
"That's right. My spouse."
Spouse. With that one word, Atem's thoughts dissolved further.
There was nothing left on him now. Atem gave in to that declarative voice and at last entrusted his body.
"......I...... can't leave you now, can I......"
Hearing that voice, Seto showed a faint smile.
"I have no intention of letting go. The restrictions of the afterlife, the time of the living world — none of it matters."
Seto removed his own garments, one at a time.
When their bare skin touched directly, Atem nodded slightly and closed his eyes as though relieved.
The unease deep in his chest dissolved as well, wrapped in Seto's strength.
The time of the afterlife does not stop, and the connection to the living world continues.
But in confirming each other's existence, he felt that any restriction could be overcome.
Seto’s fingertips slid from Atem’s shoulders down his back, tracing the curve of his body.
The instant their breaths mingled, a shiver ran through him.
Those hands knew exactly where to touch — finding every sensitive spot on Atem’s body as if they had memorized it.
“…Nngh…”
Atem arched, and an arm slipped behind his floating back, pulling him up into an embrace.
Lips trailed across his skin, leaving red marks with every kiss.The tip of Seto’s tongue traced from his neck to his collarbone and down to his chest.
When it took the small peak into his mouth, sucking and gently biting, Atem let out a soft cry.
Even the breath of Seto’s faint laughter burned across his entire body.All the while, Seto’s hand moved past his solar plexus and stomach to envelop the part of him that had already begun to react.
“Ah—wait… nngh, mm…”
Atem’s hips bucked at the teasing touch.
“…You want me to wait?”
“Aah… no… that’s…”
Flushed cheeks, lowered brows, and tearful, upturned eyes — filled with confusion and expectation.
Seto only smiled at that expression before pulling his hand away.
Atem’s eyes wavered with longing.“This is oil… scented, it seems."
Seto dipped his fingers into the vial with a knowing look. In the moonlight, his wet fingertips glistened.
The fingers passed before Atem’s eyes, moved past his lower abdomen, and touched the tight entrance.
Atem’s heartbeat spiked; his eyes widened.
“Wait… stop…”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
The words were spoken as the finger slid inside.
“Ah— that’s not… you’re too used to—”
Seto blinked twice at Atem’s words.
“…Ah. So that’s what you meant…”
He narrowed his eyes slightly and exhaled.Though Seto’s voice remained calm, the fingers moving inside Atem did not stop.He added more oil from time to time, sliding them in and out repeatedly, stretching the entrance open.
Only Atem’s sweet, breathy moans and the wet sounds of the oil echoed in the space.
When a third finger was swallowed behind him, Atem’s body trembled.
The fingers stroked his inner walls, pressed deep, and opened him wider.
“Kai… ba… ah, aah…”
“What is it?”
“…You really… nn… who the hell taught you…?”
Atem looked up at Seto with a troubled, aching expression.
Anxiety and jealousy. What would happen if this continued. Seto read all of it precisely.
He gave a small laugh and pressed his lips to the corner of Atem's eye.
"I simply did my research beforehand."
The voice was neither teasing nor deflecting — it sounded like words chosen specifically to cut through Atem's fear.
Atem felt genuine relief, from the bottom of his heart. His expression still looked close to tears, but it shifted into something sweet, full of trust.
Seto laid Atem down gently and covered him.
The moment the tip touched him, Atem’s chest tightened with tension and anticipation.
Keeping their eyes locked, Seto entered him.
“Nngh… aah…!”
As the rhythm began, Atem furrowed his brows and trembled, but he never fully closed his eyes.The hot breaths brushing against each other.
The modest moans that spilled out with every thrust.
The expression of endurance.
Everything was unbearably erotic, and Seto found himself swallowing hard.
When he leaned in so close their cheeks touched, Atem wrapped his arms around Seto’s neck.
“Atem…”
The whisper against his ear sent something slow and deep spreading from the back of his mind.
Atem felt as though his consciousness was floating in pure pleasure.Thrust after thrust, he could think of nothing but the man before him.
“Ah, aah… nngh… mmn…!”
He forgot to hold back his voice.
Shame vanished. The more he accepted Seto, the bolder he became.The moment Seto was certain he occupied every corner of Atem’s vision and thoughts, a smile touched his lips. He drove his hips harder.
“Yah— nngh… nn…!”
Distance had closed completely; breathing, heartbeat, warmth overlapped. Though the words were few, heart and body were certainly bound together.
Answering Atem's request, Seto protected that existence with all his strength and showed his love.
Only seeking each other, entrusting themselves to each other, the intensifying hours continued deep into the night.
The promise of marriage became not a mere formality but a strong contract binding heart and body.
Seto held Atem enclosed and whispered quietly.
"As you wished. I'll protect you. I won't hand you to anyone."
At those words Atem smiled, feeling warmth deep in his chest. This man would be at his side from now on, always.
The cold air of the afterlife, the clamor of the living world — neither reached them.
Only the time belonging to the two of them, and a love that would go on forever, certainly flowed there.
Pale light came in through the window, illuminating the quiet room.
Atem opened his eyes slightly.
At the end of his gaze was the figure of Seto, looking down at him.
"......You're awake."
A low voice.
Fragmentary memories of the previous night came back to Atem; he flushed and looked away.
He was aware that being drunk did not mean he failed to remember all of it.
"You...... in earnest, that's what it......"
"Did you grasp the situation?"
Seto lifted the corner of his mouth ironically.
"......Yes. I learned it until I was sick of it."
Atem said it with a wry smile, and found his eyes drawn to Seto in spite of himself.
He couldn't help being aware that heat still lingered in body and heart alike.
Seto was silent for a while, then suddenly returned to a serious face.
"I won't make you regret it."
"As if I would."
Atem answered instantly. At that absence of hesitation, Seto smiled with satisfaction.
"I see."
Seto slowly settled on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through Atem's hair.
"Then be prepared from here on as well. Whatever the afterlife says, however the living world stands. You are my spouse."
Relief and heat spread through Atem's chest.
He understood anew that this was a road he had chosen and sought himself.
"......Kaiba."
At that small voice calling him, Seto turned a calm gaze on him.
"From now on...... don't abandon me."
At those words Seto narrowed his eyes for just a moment and smiled with the corner of his lips.
"Rest easy. You have no escape route left as it is."
In the quiet morning of the afterlife, the air born between the two carried a sweet, heavy afterglow.
05 None of My Concern
Visit. Seto
When Seto appeared in the palace of the afterlife, the handmaids and high-ranking figures bowed their heads all at once.
"His Majesty's Consort, be welcome."
Seto frowned and clicked his tongue.
"You...... this is not what I agreed to. I am merely the counterpart in a marriage of form."
But Atem smiled brightly and said, holding his hand:
"That's true, but...... well, the people around us call you that on their own. Heh. Kaiba, it suits you."
Seto spat out a small remark.
"Not my concern."
But what he was thinking about, inside his head, was the pounding in his chest when Atem smiled at him.
Being treated as His Majesty's Consort was somewhat troublesome, but if it meant more reasons to come to the afterlife...... no, he didn't want to admit it. Those thoughts held each other in balance.
The high-ranking figures around them bowed crisply, and Seto, arms still folded, stood beside Atem for lack of any alternative.
"Then use that title with somewhat more care."
Atem held his hand and laughed softly.
"But you look pleased, don't you?"
Seto made a sour face, looked up at the air with his eyes alone, and made a show of sighing.
"......Absurd."
He dissolved the same words into the air for who knew what number of times, but there was a wry smile mixed into them.
"That's all you ever say."
Deep in his chest, he was still firmly caught by Atem.
Visit. Atem
Atem sat at the window, looking out at the garden, quietly steadying his breath.
"......Not here yet."
There was no trace of his former impatience in that murmur; something calm and expectant was mixed into it instead.
After the marriage, every time Seto appeared, Atem's heart leapt slightly.
The sound of the door rang out.
"Kaiba."
He turned, and there stood Seto with his usual cool eyes.
"Couldn't wait? We made a promise, did we not. I have no intention of letting you go."
There was the usual pressure in the composed voice, but in the gaze turned on Atem, gentleness and possessiveness were mixed.
Atem flushed slightly and smiled.
"......I was waiting."
At that one line alone, Seto stepped over, took his hand, and drew Atem close.
"For that, you're wearing a remarkably settled face."
Atem gripped his hand back and leaned his shoulder against him, a little spoiled.
"Because I know you'll come. That's why I can wait without worrying."
Seto laughed a little and stroked his back.
"......I see. Well. That face isn't bad either."
At the warmth of those fingertips, Atem naturally brought his face closer and quietly let himself be indulged.
The air of the afterlife was supposed to be unchanged, and yet between the two of them a warm and dense span of time was flowing.
The time of waiting, the moment of arrival — both were entirely different from before.
Atem was filled with the joy of feeling Seto's presence against his skin and entrusting his heart.
And Seto's heart, too, was shaken by the joy of protecting Atem and keeping him at his side.
The everyday had changed.
What had not changed was the wish to seek each other, and the certain bond tied by the marriage.
Outcome. Yugi
Yugi thought he had the right to ask.
He had lent his body the day Atem got cold feet about the wedding and came running.
He had lent it again the night Kaiba crashed the ceremony and carried off the bride, or the groom, or whichever it was.
But he gave it up. Getting scolded by Kaiba, he found them. A kiss mark on his own throat. And on his own hand, a ring.
It was a gold ring, giving off a light that felt like something remembered.
