A sight he had never seen before
Disclaimer: Since I have no idea where else to upload this (no AO3, other fanfic account is on a German server) I decided to upload my YGOxFree! one shot fanfiction here on tumblr. I hope you enjoy it.
If you are not the reading type but rather like to listen to a good story, just take a look at the best Yu-Gi-Oh! podcast in the world pod of greed (@podofgreed). I wrote this fic for their episode 169 and they gave the characters so much live... I'm still getting goosebumps!
A sight he had never seen before
He didn’t know where he was or how he got here. His eyes scanned his surroundings: It was some kind of abandoned building. The only source of light was the safety lighting that cast shadows from old lockers here and there. A gym? But there was also a subtle scent of chlorine in the air. A pool?
Either way, standing around here any longer wouldn’t answer his questions or bring him anywhere. He had better things to do - like running a company.
Walking down one of the dim corridors, he suddenly heard strangely familiar voices. Around the next corner his foreboding was proven right.
“Look what we’ve got here: The dweeb patrol”, he stated in his usual insulting tone, not showing how lost he had been until now.
The response to his greetings was likewise sincere: “Kaiba?! What the hell are you doing here?!”
That was the question he had asked himself a few times in the last minutes, but he wasn’t keen to discuss his memory loss with Yugi, especially when Wheeler and Taylor were also around, starring at him in disbelief.
Seto decided not to dwell on this topic and change to what he was good at: Challenging Yugi and making fun of his friends:
“Are you still hanging around with this third rate swimmers, Yugi? I thought you would be clever enough to see that they are only holding you back.”
Wait… Did he say “swimmers”?! This term didn’t feel right, but he didn’t know what else he should have said.
He would have to think about this later, because the boy with the spiky hair in front of him seemed to grow a few inches and said: “Kaiba, they are my friends. They give me strength.”
“Then you certainly don’t mind showing me this strength in a race.”
Without waiting for a reply Seto walked past the three other boys and followed the chemical scent.
Yugi, Joey and Tristan did so too until they reached the swimming pool. The smallest one immediately stripped of the jacket and shirt of his school uniform and unbuttoned his trousers. Beneath them was a black and purple jammer with a golden upside-down pyramid on his left hip.
“Ey, Yug’! I don’t think this is a good idea…”
“Better stop thinking, Wheeler, it doesn’t suit you”, was Seto’s harsh reply. As he said this, he had also begun to get rid of his clothes. His coat and turtleneck were already on the floor and to his positive surprise he also had a long legged swimskin beneath his pants, but his was silver with stripes of white and blue.
Yugi and Kaiba flashed a glance at each other and began jogging towards the pool. They reached the starting blocks simultaneously and got into position, ready to jump in anytime. The only thing that stopped them, was the light of Tristan’s torch in the pool and Joeys hysterical scream: “There is no water in the pool!”
After this sudden end to their not even started race Seto decided to get dressed again and leave the three dorks behind.
The next days were kind of blurry: He wasn’t in Domino anymore but apparently a student at an all-boys boarding school focused on sports. Mokuba was at a different school, however he had heard about the quasi-race at the abandoned pool and wrote to tell him that Yugi and his friends founded a swimming club to swim a relay at the next tournament. Seto was no team player, but if he wanted to race Yugi again joining the schools swim club was the only option.
His captain was something between bossy and giddy, but he let Seto join and show what he could do in the water. During the next training sessions, he improved, especially in his two main disciplines: Freestyle – Yugis main style – and butterfly – the most difficult discipline.
On tournament day Seto was sure he would be in the relay team of his school. He was the fastest in both styles, so why would his captain decide otherwise?
“Because you are not compatible with my team”, was the answer, that shook Seto to the core. He didn’t train that hard to stand on the sideline while some incompetent idiots lost to Yugi and his friends!
As he just wanted to leave the tournament site, he ran into a well-known boy who looked devastated.
“Seto! I’m glad you are here! Bakura is sick so Yugi, Joey and Tristan can’t swim the relay. They trained so hard for this day…”
Without hesitating Seto turned around and headed back to the pool. He knew how to solve this problem.
10 minutes later the relay race was on. Tristan’s backstroke was mediocre but good enough to keep the pace of the other competitors. Though Joeys breaststroke looked ridiculous to Seto, he was stunned how fast it was. The changeover between him and the blonde was smooth.
Seto dove into the water and spread his arms like a dragon, to push himself forward. He was able to gain some space between him and the other swimmers. When he hit the wall beneath the starting block he immediately looked up and could see his archrival flying above him, before also diving into the pool. He never felt that strange feeling in his heart before, that got even stronger when the relay was over and his teammates ran towards him smiling and yelling: “We won! Thank you Kaiba!”
The group hugging was uncomfortable at first, but Seto decided to close his eyes and let the warm feeling of friendship settle for a moment…
When he opened his eyes, it was dim again. He lifted up his head and looked around himself. He was at his desk, in his office. Mokuba was asleep on one of the sofas in a corner of the room. Some strange anime ending with a camel and a guy in the desert played on the TV in front of his little brother.
Slowly he remembered. Mokuba binge-watched this show for the last hours, while he was working. Both Kaibas must have fallen asleep in the meantime…
Seto got up, took his coat off and placed it over the sleeping Mokuba.
“No more animes before bed time for you, Moki. You will get nightmares from it.”
