Chapter One

Yami Atemu was going to be the death of him.

Tucking his clipboard under his arm, Yugi picked up speed. He gritted his teeth as he checked his watch. Ten minutes till show. He rounded the corner of the utility corridor and gave a passing wave to one of his team, Mana, a dark haired girl who was hiding a smile behind her hand as he passed. He hurried to a jog, building speed as he reached the staging rooms, coming to a stop in front of one of the doors.

He straightened his headset, taking a breath before knocking, waiting for the muffled reply before letting himself in.

"Atemu-san," Yugi greeted. He gave a quick bow. "I need to get you to the arena floor."

The duelist champion was seated in one of the armchairs arranged in the corner of the room, his long legs sprawled out in front of him with the easy confidence of the title he held – King of Games. Yami smiled at him, the flash of white teeth startling against the tan of his skin. The room was the largest of the staging rooms, a nod to the celebrity status of its occupant, with slick cherry wood floors and planters of bamboo jutting towards the ceiling.

"Hello, Yugi," Yami said.

"Mana told me that you're refusing to go out on the floor," Yugi said. "Is there a problem?"

"I wanted to speak with you beforehand," Yami said. He was wearing all black, drawing out the ridges of gold in the tri-colored spikes of his hair.

Yugi grimaced. "I need you to be ready to duel in," he checked his watch, "seven minutes. How can we make that happen?"

Yami's smile widened.

Yugi resisted the urge to throw his clipboard at his head. He was a patient person, really he was, but ever since he'd met him, Yami's life mission seemed to be finding new ways to push his buttons.

"Atemu-san – "

"Call me, Yami."

"I feel that given our professional relationship," Yugi said, swallowing his frustration, "addressing you by your surname is more appropriate. We've discussed this - more than once."

Yami's smile remained.

Yugi continued, "I do, however, feel that said professional relationship does allow me, in my capacity as tournament organizer, to ask you to please follow me to the arena floor."

Yami watched him. "Talking to you is more interesting."

Letting out a breath, Yugi stared up at the ceiling, hoping that by some luck it would collapse on top of him and put him out of his misery. "Atemu-san," he said, "please, just come with me so we can get your duel started. It's being televised – live. You can't just decide not to do it at the last minute!"

"I want to get to know you better," Yami said, "outside of work."

In his ear, Yugi's headpiece crackled with the voice of one of his team. "Three minutes to show."

Yugi stared at the duelist champion in front of him, initiating a staring contest that reminded Yugi of the old cowboy movies that his grandfather had once been fascinated by. He half expected tumbleweed to blow between the two of them, distant salon doors swinging as the townspeople took cover from the hellfire to come.

He so did not have time for this. Yugi glanced at his watch, grinding his teeth again. Yami had sprung his trap and it was either call his bluff or fold. The older boy's face was set in the same poker face that he often wore in his duels; he wasn't getting him to move until he got what he wanted.

"You'll go to your duel if I hang out with you?" Yugi said.

Yami nodded.

"Okay - fine," Yugi conceded. He hurried the older boy out of his chair, urging him to the door. Yami took a few slow steps and, Yugi glared at him, incredulous. "You're moving slow on purpose!"

Yami shrugged, a smirk pulling on his lips.

They reached the arena floor in the nick of time. Yugi took the mic from one of his team, wiring Yami for sound, his fingers trembling as he situated the ear piece around the shell of the older boy's ear. Yami's gaze burned through him. The rumble of the crowd was building. Show time.

"Okay," Yugi said, double checking the mic. "You're good to go. You'll be live as soon as you're out." He led Yami to the curtain that hid the arena from view. The announcer was welcoming everyone to the next duel. "Best of luck, Atemu-san."

"Yami," the older boy corrected.

Yugi shook his head, listening for the announcement of Yami's competitor. Less than ten seconds. There was a scattering of cheers and clapping and then, Yami's name was called. A roar of applause echoed in the arena and, Yugi urged Yami forward.

The duelist champion didn't move. "Call me Yami," he said, his voice muted in the commotion coming from beyond the curtain.

Yugi was sure that he'd ground his teeth down to dust in the past ten minutes. "Best of luck, Yami."

Yami smiled at him, striding through the curtain and leaving Yugi shaking his head.

Yugi flopped into a chair in the screen room.

A row of monitors stretched in front of him, showing the duel at various angles and the two announcers sitting in their booth. He rubbed his eyes, listening to the chatter in his ear piece as his team discussed a bar crawl after the tournament concluded on Sunday. Two days to go, Yugi reminded himself. He turned down the volume on his headset, watching the screens.

The duel had just started, and Yami was all business as he laid down a monster card, a hologram of the Dark Magician appearing on the playing field. Yugi sighed, confirming all the camera shots were steady and focused before slumping back and spinning a turn in his chair.

He didn't understand where Yami's desire to drive him crazy was coming from. They'd met a month ago at a tournament in Kyoto. Yugi had just started working for Industrial Illusions as an event producer, assisting the now trillion yen company organize the numerous gaming tournaments that they hosted in Japan and internationally.

Yugi had actually been looking forward to meeting the King of Games. All of his staff had told him what a good-mannered, down-to-earth gentleman Yami was, and Yugi had been expecting such when he'd introduced himself to the duelist champion to escort him to his first duel of the Kyoto competition a month ago. Instead, Yami had refused to leave his room, grilling him on who he was and where he'd come from.

It had taken him ten minutes to get Yami to his duel, and he'd practically had to shove him into the arena. Luckily, the tournament hadn't been televised being as the duelist champion was more than five minutes late. The next day, Yami had summoned him to his room and, Yugi had sprinted to get there, only to hear Yami's request for a bottle of water. A day later, the older boy had asked that he personally deliver a cup of tea before the competition finals, drawing him away from his preparations to play servant to the King of Games.

Yugi just didn't get it. Everyone kept telling him what a great person Yami was, but in all of Yugi's encounters with him, the King of Games seemed nothing but an arrogant, pompous diva.

"Mutou-sama!" Mana buzzed in his ear.

Yugi turned the volume back up on his headset. "What's up?" He glanced up, doing a double take as he found Yami's podium empty on the screens. "Shit!" Yugi said, the expletive escaping him as he shot up from his chair. "Where is Yami Atemu?"

"He won, sir!" Mana said. "Three turns - that has to be some kind of record!"

Yugi slammed into the hallway. "He had twenty minutes to fill!" he said. "He can't just walk off the floor after a few minutes of play!"

"What should I - ?"

"Move Ryuzaki-san and Haga-san up," Yugi said, moving down the hall. "Tell them it's an emergency and, we apologize for the inconvenience."

"On it!" Mana said. "I already have them moving to curtain."

"Thank you, Mana," Yugi said, letting out a breath. "Where is Atemu-san now?"

Static crackled over the mic. "I would guess his room."

Yugi pounded down the stairs before striding down the hall to Yami's room. He didn't bother to knock. "Atemu-san!" he said, closing the door harder than he'd meant. It slammed shut behind him.

Yami looked up from his phone, already sprawled back in his chair.

"You can't just – " Yugi said, frustration robbing the words from his head. "You can't just do that!"

"I thought the objective of a duel was to win," Yami said.

"Not in three moves!" Yugi said, exasperated. "Do you want me to get fired? Is that the point of all this?"

"On the contrary," Yami said, "such a defeat will only bring further press to your event. All press is good press, is it not?"

Yugi had never actually wanted to strangle someone before. Now, he was considering it.

"So, what am I supposed to do with the fifteen minutes of dead air you left me with?" Yugi said.

Yami shrugged, pocketing his phone. "You're intelligent," he said. "I'm positive you have a backup plan for such contingencies."

Yugi fisted his clipboard in his hands.

"Haga-san and Ryuzaki-san are on," Mana said in his ear. "I told them to go ahead and smack talk as much as they want. That should kill an extra hour or so." She laughed, cutting out.

"When are you free to spend time with me?" Yami said.

"I am not going out with you."

Yami frowned. "We made a deal."

Yugi sputtered. "The deal was for you to go duel!"

"I have fulfilled this portion of our agreement."

"Three turns is not a duel!"

The duelist champion titled his head to the side. "In terms of our professional relationship, retracting your word once given would reflect poorly on Industrial Illusions."

"Are you blackmailing me?" Yugi said, incredulous. He rubbed his hand down his face, sinking down in the chair across from Yami. He looked up, studying the duelist champion. "Why are you set on this? You don't even like me!"

"On the contrary," Yami said, "I enjoy your presence."

"Then why are you making so much trouble for me?" Yugi said. "When I met you a month ago, I practically had to drag you to the stage floor every day and now all of this!"

"I enjoy seeing you flustered," Yami said.

Yugi weighed the clipboard in his hand. One throw was worth his job. It really was.

"I have observed your manner with others," Yami continued. "You are polite – agreeable – however, I prefer you when you forget your social graces." Yami unfolded from his chair. He crossed the distance between them, putting his hands on the arm rests on either side of Yugi, caging him.

Yugi leaned back, a flush crawling up the back of his neck. "What are you doing?"

"Gauging your reaction," Yami said.

"To what?"

"Our proximity."

Yugi was frozen in place. The way that Yami was staring at him was unsettling, rousing a flutter in his stomach that he hadn't felt for some time. "Well – stop it."

"Will you accept the terms of our deal?" Yami said.

The intensity of Yami's gaze was making stringing words together much more difficult. "I'm seeing someone," Yugi forced out.

Yami narrowed his eyes. "A boyfriend?"

"Well – no," Yugi said. "But, it's getting serious."

"You will meet me for drinks this evening then."

"And then our deal will be finished?" Yugi said. "And you'll stop making so much trouble for me?"

"If that is what you wish."

"Mutou-sama!" Mana said, interrupting them through Yugi's earpiece. "Haga-san is getting a little bit, um, liberal with his use of, uh, expletives. Should I say something to him…or…?"

"I'm coming to stage floor now," Yugi said.

Yami didn't move.

"I have to go," Yugi said.

Yami stared at him for a moment longer. "I will see you later tonight."

The older boy stepped away, and Yugi hurried out of the room, his mind churning to figure out how he was going to make it through the next two days of the competition.