Just a random story. I'd intended to do a Christmas fic, but I just couldn't get into the holiday spirit enough to pull it off, so I settled for a winter story instead. Anyway, this is an AU story where the Ceremonial Duel ended in a draw and Tami was given his own body. It's my first fic with Kaiba! If you read, let me know what you think-I'm not quite sure I got the character right.

So, yeah... Read and review please!

~Pleurez

Spiked, multi-colored hair peeked out from beneath seemingly countless layers of scarves, ear-muffs, and coats. Yami prowled down the sidewalk, gloved hands shoved into his pocket and his head down, trying to keep his face protected from the snow.

Even beneath his formidable collection of clothing, he shivered. And to make matters worse, the thick blanket of the white abomination covering the ground made walking infinitely more slow and tiring. Under his breath, he cursed every god whose name he could remember.

His mood was far from improved as a sleek, black car slowed to a stop beside him.

"What's the matter? Couldn't bum a ride off one of your moronic friends?" The former spirit would have liked nothing better than to smash his fist into the mouth producing that sneering drawl.

"Fuck. Off." He was too cold and tired to bother with banter, anyway.

A scoff.

"I didn't think pharaohs used that kind of language."

A low growl rumbled in Yami's throat. He continued to trudge down the road, feeling every muscle in his body coil in tension as the car remained right beside him.

"If you h-have a point then h-h-hurry up and make it," he spat, hating the way his voice quivered as his body trembled from the cold.

So. Fucking. Cold. He hated the cold.

The CEO rolled his eyes. "Get in the car."

The former spirit didn't even dignify that with a verbal response. His eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare, but otherwise he just kept walking. The faster he moved, the faster he could get inside… But his muscles ached and his breaths were heavy and labored.

He still wasn't used to having a body of his own. Taking control of Yugi's body for a few hours at a time was nothing compared to the awful drain on his energy that having his own form was turning out to be. He tired easily, finding the limits of his new body were reached far, far more quickly than he was accustomed to.

"If you're really that determined to freeze to death, far be it from me to stop you. But the game shop is still at least a twenty minute walk from here." And that was optimistic—especially for Yami with his short legs.

Yami hesitated. He took a step towards the car, regarding the handle on the door as if it were a venomous snake. He couldn't decide what he hated more—cars or the cold. He was convinced both were punishments conjured by the gods themselves.

"Let's go. I don't have all day."

"Asshole." But despite the angry hiss, he jerked the car door open and slid in.

As much as he hated to admit it, he'd overestimated his stamina. As a matter of fact, Yugi's grandfather had driven to school with the intention of driving them both back to the game shop. Yami had refused so adamantly that he'd almost gotten into a shouting match with Yugi.

He felt a bit guilty for that.

It wasn't his fault. Or anyone else's, for that matter.

But Yami wasn't Yugi. He didn't have the unfailing patience and kindness of the other boy, and he could only keep his temper in check for so long before he snapped. And he was angry, frustrated, and entirely without any semblance of an outlet for his negativity.

Yugi had been positively thrilled to bits when the lack of a victor in their duel ended in Yami being granted a body. His friends had practically exuded joy and enthusiasm.

Telling them how much he hated it would have ruined their happiness. But he hated the limitations of this new form. It infuriated him that he could barely keep up with his friends whenever they went anywhere. He couldn't stand how tired he was. He felt weak all the time.

"So, care to explain why your friends left you to fend for yourself in middle of the storm?"

"I told them to. I thought I'd be able to manage." He wrapped his arms around himself. He'd never admit it, but the warmth of the heated car felt good. But even after the door closed, the car remained still. He looked to Kaiba, wondering what the delay was.

"Seatbelt," the CEO drawled.

"Don't trust yourself not to get us killed?" The defensive retort came forth immediately, almost like a reflex.

Kaiba wasn't one to back down from a challenge. However, in this instance he let the matter drop. Something about the edge in the shorter duelist's voice gave him pause. As he pulled away from the curb, he divided his attention between the road and the man in the passenger's seat.

He'd begun to scratch his left arm. It started off a slow and easy motion, but grew in intensity until Kaiba wondered if the stupid mutt the pharaoh liked so much had given him fleas.

He chewed his lower lip as he stared at the window.

Kaiba could hear his breaths.

But it didn't add up. If Yami was afraid of cars, why had he refused to wear the seatbelt? He hadn't jumped as the moment revved, more had he flinched over a sharp turn…

Despite the storm, Yami rolled down his window.

Kaiba rolled it back up.

Immediately, Yami's hand flew to the button again.

Kaiba retaliated by rolling it up once again and locking it.

"Kaiba." It was incredible how much venom Yami could pack into a single word.

"Tell me. Do your so-called friends know you're claustrophobic?"

Silence.

"Hn. So now the truth comes out. The great pharaoh is nothing more than a hypocrite."

He swore he could see the fury radiating off the smaller man as if it were a physical force. "Relying on others isn't a sign of weakness. That's your usual speech, isn't it?" He smirked wickedly at the explosion when he pulled up to his mansion.

"Explain yourself," he ground out. "Why have you brought me here?"

"Duel me." It wasn't a request.

"If you think for one moment—"

"You have your deck, don't you?"

It was a stupid question. Yami didn't go anywhere without his deck.

Yami didn't argue further. He certainly wasn't going to walk to the game shop from Kaiba's mansion, and he didn't particularly want to stand out in the cold any longer. He crossed the threshold, peeling off layers of wet clothes that had long since stopped warding off the chill.

"You really are an idiot." All the same, Kaiba had the clothes taken to be dried.

The time passed in relative silence as he led the fuming teen to his private duel arena.

Kaiba had never been thrashed so soundly in his life—not even by Yami. The former pharaoh proceeded to pound his rival into the ground without even the slightest thought towards restraint. His strategies lacked their usual finesse. It was just an outpouring of visceral brutality.

But this time, as Ra blasted away the last of Kaiba's life points, a superior smirk crept its way across the other duelist's face. "Better?"

Yami's eyes grew wide. He realized that for the first time in perhaps months, all the tension of repressed bitterness and frustration had left his muscles. He was tired, but it wasn't the usual, all-consuming weariness that had weighed him down of late. He felt… light, as if he'd been relieved of an impossibly heavy load that he hadn't even realized he'd been carrying.

"Why…?" He trailed off, brow furrowing in confusion.

"You're not nearly as good at hiding things as you like to think. If the midget was just a little less honest, he'd have seen it, too."

Yami's eyes narrowed. But, he couldn't find it in him to be angry, even despite Kaiba's rather unflattering description of his other half.

"I should go. Yugi will worry."

"Don't be stupid. Your things won't be dry yet and the weather's only going to get worse." He looked out the window and sure enough the snow had begun to fall harder.

The pharaoh opened his mouth to protest. But, after a moment, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Then what do you propose I do?"

"Call Yugi, Let him know you'll be spending the night here." Looking the former spirit up and down, remarked, "I'll show you to one of the guest rooms. You could use rest."

Desperately fighting the urge to yawn, Yami protested, "Kaiba, please. I am perfectly fi—"

"Shut up." Turning on his heel, Kaiba drawled, "You sound like me. It doesn't suit you."