Title: Whenever, Wherever

Series: Part II of Endless Loop.

Summary: After the Battle City tournament draws to a close, Kaiba and Yami have to deal with the repercussions of the newfound knowledge of their ancient Egyptian lives. Will they ever come to terms with it and move on or will it be too late?

Pairings: Kaiba x Yami, Priest Seto x Pharaoh Atem

Rating: Rated M for heated encounters. There will be graphic lemons in Part I and Part III, but I will always post a warning at the beginning to let you know when and to what extent they will be present.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! does not and never has belonged to me.

A/N: This part starts after episode Kaiba's departure to America from Alcatraz in episode 143. Please note that for this story, I followed the manga cannon and ignored the Noa arc that only happened in the anime. Also, this chapter contains 30 percent lemon content, so if you do not like that, then skip over the italic section when you see it. Otherwise, enjoy.

Part I: Forgetting to Remember

Kaiba Seto was beyond exhausted and yet he could not sleep. It was frustrating, but not nearly as much as everything else that had happened to him that day. His mind didn't even know where to begin trying to make sense of it all, but Kaiba still did his best to deal with everything.

Rolling onto his back to stare up at the ceiling, Kaiba was glad that he had decided against trying to fly the Blue Eyes White Dragon all the way to America. He was far too tired to properly concentrate and after hearing the bad weather reports, Kaiba had briefly returned to Domino for his private jet after his flashy departure from Alcatraz Island. As much as he enjoyed his Blue Eyes jet, it just couldn't compare to the comfortable amenities his private plane had, not to mention the fueling was a little more practical as well.

The other benefit was that it allowed him to be alone, because Kaiba was not in the mood to be around anyone else right now. There were many advantages to having separate rooms, and although his younger brother was the most important thing to Kaiba, sometimes he just wanted to seal himself away from the world and all of the shit that went with it. Thus he had been somewhat grateful when Mokuba had announced he wanted to go to sleep and Kaiba had taken the opportunity to enjoy the luxury of his king sized bed.

He had hoped that his body would be so tired that sleep would easily overtake him, but it was not meant to be. Kaiba had too much on his mind and now that he was finally surrounded by silence for the first time, there was nothing else to distract him from thinking about everything that had happened.

Then again, it wasn't so much what had happened as much as it was the person it involved: Yuugi. Although that wasn't quite right, was it? It was really the mou hitori no Yuugi, ridiculous as the notion was to Kaiba. The events of that morning on the Battle Ship's roof deck and the person he had lost to on Alcatraz, there was no way that had been weak little Mutou Yuugi. The mou hitori no Yuugi was the only other possibility, but Kaiba didn't like admitting to it. Then again, at least multiple personality disorders were recognized by medical science; it made more sense than some bullshit excuse of a pharaoh trapped inside of a necklace for three thousand years.

Hadn't he heard the Yuugi-tachi refer to him as Yami before? It was a fitting name, but Kaiba still hated admitting to the former pharaoh's existence. Doing so meant acknowledging his own connection with the ancient priest and that made Kaiba more than just a little uncomfortable. It was hard enough suppressing the vivid images that he was now stuck with as a result of that morning's hallucination and it didn't help that every time he closed his eyes, he caught of glimpse of one of the various memories the priest had passed on to him.

It for that reason that Kaiba hadn't gone to sleep when he returned to his room after leaving the top deck; he just couldn't handle the visions of intimacy. Instead he had thrown himself into modifying his deck to perfection during those early daylight hours. Losing had not been an option and yet that had been the outcome. Was this going to be more of the same? Not if I have anything to do with it, Kaiba resolved, steeling himself against the inevitable.

The loss had been upsetting, but not as much as everything else surrounding it. His anger had gotten the best of him and he had lashed out because of it, but Yami's only response had been resigned look of sadness that had pissed Kaiba off even more. Having to stand so close to Yami without being able to touch him had been disturbingly difficult because of the memories lingering just under the surface and the pesky feelings that had made themselves known when Jounouchi's importance had been reiterated were more than a little irritating. The priest's emotions had temporarily swayed his own and the intensity of his rage had been startling; he had always loathed the mutt, but his hatred had been slightly different in that one moment and had almost been borderline jealousy. But what was there to be jealous of from the likes of such a third rate duelist? He was jealous of no one—especially not someone as worthless as Jounouchi.

Kaiba had also felt indignant about being on the receiving end of a friendship speech from Yami. Something deep inside that sounded suspiciously like the priest whispered that it wasn't friendship that he wanted from the former pharaoh, but Kaiba didn't pay it any attention. Kaiba Seto had no use for such trivial emotions, after all.

Unfortunately for Kaiba, his convictions couldn't compete with reality. He had started their duel feeling cockier than normal in an attempt to prove his idiotic incarnation wrong, but that had only taken him so far. Kaiba had gotten caught up in the thrill and excitement of facing off against Yami and it had been hard to ignore the echo of the former priest's taunts. Why did nothing else make him feel as alive as dueling Yami? Kaiba didn't have an answer to that question and it troubled him.

Everything had been going as planned until the moment Obelisk and Osiris had fought against each other and destroyed themselves. He had once again been subjected to a hallucination that was almost more disturbing than the one he had shared with Yami earlier that morning, but for an entirely different reason. It had obviously taken place at an earlier date, but that wasn't what had bothered him.

The pharaoh had mentioned something about Seto being controlled by the King of Darkness and Kaiba was inclined to agree based on the annoying ability that had carried over that had allowed him to sense the priest's emotional state. Even though Seto had appeared to be calm and completely in control, Kaiba had known otherwise. There had been an overwhelming sense of rage and impotency at himself at allowing himself to be controlled by another, as well as a conflicted sense of shame. Seto had been ashamed of his own weakness and the fact that he was secretly enjoying the experience of fighting against the pharaoh; it meant that he was considered worthy enough to be dealt with directly. Still, the thought of hurting his pharaoh had distressed him and pained him more than anything else.

Kaiba wondered if it was the same for Yami—did he feel the pharaoh's emotions as easily? What would the pharaoh have felt as he stared at his lover, preparing to fight to the death for the throne? Would he have felt disappointment or despair?

Something still didn't add up about the incident, though. The priest had exceptional abilities when it came to mind control and he would rather have died than hurt his pharaoh, so how had the scene come to pass? What had caused Seto to fall victim?

Kaiba was suddenly struck by the thought that perhaps it was because of that decisive battle that Yami was sealed in the Millennium Puzzle and Seto had become the new ruler of Egypt. For some reason Kaiba found it hard to breath at the thought and he struggled to regain control. It had nothing to do with him, right? Then why did it hurt to even consider that harm had come to Yami in the past at the hands of the priest? For some reason, Kaiba was suddenly reminded of Seto asking him, "And why do you protect him?"

The question still plagued Kaiba and he still wasn't any closer to an answer. Wasn't that what he had tried to do for Yami before his battle with Marik? He had known that Yami didn't have a chance against Marik without the help of the Devil's Sanctuary card and Kaiba had only lent it on a whim. Would he have done that if he hadn't seen the irritating visions?

Kaiba had wanted Yami to reject it and suspect him of sabotage like the rest of the Yuugi-tachi had, but that hadn't happened. "I trust you, Kaiba," was all Yami had said as he added the card to his deck without a single question about it. Why had that single statement affected Kaiba so deeply? He hadn't originally intended to help Yami in any way, but he hadn't been able to stop himself from interfering.

Nothing was making sense anymore and Kaiba had the nagging doubt that part of the reason he had agreed to go to America was because it got him away from Yami. As if the distance would make a difference, he thought to himself with a sneer. Kaiba couldn't afford to have his mind clouded by such nonsense; it was bad enough that he was experiencing any emotions at all, let alone that kind. His every thought had been filled with Yami and that was unacceptable. So why had it hurt so much to walk away from Yami without saying a word? Although the thought made the sadistic part of him wonder if Yami had been affected by his departure.

Those types of thoughts were getting him nowhere, though. The only benefit was that it distracted him from all of the intimate things the bastard priest had forced on him. Kaiba had never considered anybody in that way before and he was struggling to keep it that way. It made him incredibly uncomfortable to think of another in a sexual manner, let alone add himself into a fantasy as an active participant. That was not to say that his body was unfamiliar with hormonal reactions, but it had always been disregarded as a nuisance. On the rare occasional that his body reacted to something, it was almost always a dream that he didn't remember in the morning and that suited him just fine. He already had enough reasons to hate sleeping and he didn't need one more. Kaiba wouldn't allow himself to consider the fact that those types of dreams might be related to the dead priest's memories; his mind just couldn't handle it.

He was already having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that Seto's presiding emotion was love and not lust, that the priest's devotion had little do with the pharaoh's position. Had he himself ever felt anything so completely, so deeply? Even the range of Kaiba's anger and hatred couldn't compare to Seto's, which was surprising. He hadn't thought it possible to feel anything that intensely and yet he had experienced such things through the overly emotional priest.

Kaiba found it exhausting and he wanted to forget about it, but that was proving impossible. Why did he have to remember things that had nothing to do with him? Why was he missing things that he had never had? Kaiba had never felt the touch of another, so why was he craving it? Why did he feel an ache, an insatiable need for a comfort he had never known? Kaiba Seto needed no one and yet he couldn't stop himself from wanting something he could never have, could never allow himself to have.

Worse yet was the fact that it wasn't so much that pharaoh that had captured his attention, so much as it was Yami. Through the visions he had been cursed with, Kaiba had noticed a few distinct differences between Yami and the pharaoh; he didn't even want to think about the fact that it meant there were three distinct personality involved. He was thoroughly disgusted with himself for even think about his rival in such a way and it didn't matter it if was for comparative purposes or not.

The problem was that for a few brief moments, Kaiba had felt the warmth of another while their bodies pressed against each other's in the grey dawn. Even now, Kaiba could remember and feel the way that Yami relaxed against him and the momentary peace it had brought him. He had felt the way Yami's body reacted to being in such close proximity to Kaiba's and it was mildly reassuring that he wasn't the only one being affected by it all.

At least he still had control of his willpower. It would have been so easy to give in to his momentary madness and act out on such unseemly desires, but he had resisted. No matter how much he reprimanded himself for being weak enough to fall pretty to such base feelings, it still didn't change anything.

No, it didn't change the fact that Kaiba had been tempted to take advantage of his position when he felt Yami shiver in reaction to his sigh. The slightest tilt of his head could have allowed Kaiba's lips to press against Yami's sensitive neck in a sinfully pleasurable way. He would have been encouraged to boldness by Yami's reaction, by the way his breath caught and how he would press his body closer to Kaiba's. Granted more access, Kaiba would have slowly kissed and licked his way up Yami's neck, relishing every gasp and noise his ministrations elicited.

Once he reached Yami's ear, he would languidly lick the curve of it before nipping and sucking on the earlobe. It would cause Yami to cry out Kaiba's name and he would reward him for not saying the one he shared with that bastard priest. He would slip one of his hands under Yami's shirt to trail along that warm skin, smirking at the way his rival would start to squirm. Kaiba would take his time with demolishing Yami's composure and he wouldn't allow himself to show his surprise when his rival turned to face him.

Kaiba's mind would be too busy assessing his success rate based on the lustful gaze in Yami's eyes to reject the heated advance and aggressive kiss. He would fight against his own rising desire in order to dominate completely and Kaiba would force Yami onto his back against the cold metal deck. It would cause Yami to arch closer to Kaiba in order to seek out his warmth and their bodies would react to the contact.

It wouldn't take long for Kaiba to become impatient for more and he would waste no time in reaching down to start undoing the button of Yami's pants in order to—

Kaiba's eyes flew open and he started cursing himself when he realized that his thoughts had started to mutate into a fantasy. He was harder than he could ever remember being and Kaiba was beyond mortified by his body's traitorous reaction. He was breathing heavily and he could feel the heat on his cheeks as the images started to fade away, replaced by the harsh reality.

"What the fuck was that?" Kaiba angrily demanded out loud to no one in particular. He sunk lower into the comfort of his bed and tried to will himself into a flaccid state, but that didn't seem to be happening any time soon. Kaiba refused to touch himself to relieve the pressure, so he suffered through it as punishment for allowing his thoughts to get that far out of control.

It never should have happened and yet he couldn't ignore the fact that he was almost painfully aroused. "Shit," he muttered as he rolled over and shifted awkwardly to try and get comfortable. He couldn't even blame the priest's memories entirely because he had pictured himself actively doing such embarrassing things to Yami. Kaiba had wanted to make Yami lose control, to completely dominate his desires, whereas the priest was more concerned about satisfying his pharaoh's desires. It accidentally triggered one of the priest's memories and Kaiba was powerless to stop it.

Even though the sun was approaching its zenith, no light reached the inner sanctuary of the sacred temple. A few flickering candles were the only thing allowing Seto the pleasure of seeing his pharaoh's bare skin and he could already feel the anticipation building within him.

Yami smiled at him in a knowing manner as he beckoned to Seto with an outstretched hand, "Come, my priest."

Kneeling before Yami and taking the small hand into his own, he reverently kissed it as he looked up into his pharaoh's crimson eyes with adoration. "And what would the pharaoh have his priest do?"

"What you do best," Yami replied with a perverse smirk that excited Seto even more. "Worship me."

"You and you alone," Seto whispered before capturing Yami's lips in a passionate kiss.

Shifting closer to the edge of the temple's throne, Yami murmured, "Oh? But as a priest you worship many deities."

"Yes, but as a man, you are the only one," Seto told him before slowly working his way down Yami's torso with teasing flicks of the tongue.

As Yami started to give in to the pleasure completely, he murmured, "This has to be my favorite ceremony…"

Seto took a moment to pause while he looked into his pharaoh's scarlet eyes, amused by the statement. "So long as no other is allowed to perform it," Seto warned, earning him a laugh that he enjoyed immensely.

"My body may belong to this nation and my spirit to the gods, but my heart and soul belong only to you, Seto," Yami promised as he caressed the priest's cheek. "Throughout all of the ages and time, I will always be yours to love. To this I swear to you and you alone, Seto. There never has and never will be another."

The priest was nearly overcome by the love he felt at the very moment and he leaned into the gentle touch. "For all of eternity, you will be the only one I will love and be loved by," Seto replied, sealing their oath with a passionate kiss that left them both breathless and wanting.

"Come," Yami said as he gracefully rose from the throne to make his way over to the altar. "We have only just gotten started."

Allowing himself to be led, Seto tried to steady his breathing. They had celebrated and honored Ra in the same manner the previous year and it was still a fond memory that never failed to make his cock stir to life. Even though he normally hated hearing the name of another on Yami's lips—regardless of their divine status—on this singular occasion, Seto didn't object. If raising their voices in pleasure to call out to the god who had brought them together was required, it would be worth it to continue basking in Ra's blessing.

"Then for my beloved pharaoh's pleasure and to our honored and generous god, Ra," Seto said before taking Yami's member into his mouth in a smooth and practiced motion.

Instantly surrounded by the wet heat, Yami cried out wordlessly as he rested against the altar. His fingers easily entangled in Seto's hair as he braced himself and the sound of their panting and quiet noises of enjoyment filled the small sanctuary.

There was something intensely gratifying to the ego about hearing Egypt's most powerful ruler gasping his praises of Seto's abilities to a god. It didn't take long for Yami to reach his peak and his shout of ecstasy echoed loudly off of the walls. Seto gladly accepted his pharaoh's seed and drank it down without complaint.

Yami's knees had started to go weak and Seto helped lay him down on the altar with a knowing smirk. "Did that please my pharaoh and our god?"

"Yes," Yami moaned in a hoarse voice, his body arching off of the cold stone to draw closer to Seto's heat. "But what would please us more—"

Seto didn't need to be told and he had wasted no time in coating his fingers with some nearby sacred oil. He had slipped two in at once, interrupting Yami's sentence quite effectively to ask, "Is this what my pharaoh wants?"

"I want all of you," Yami gasped as his body shuddered in response to Seto's actions. "I need all of you, Seto."

"Then that is what you shall have," Seto told him with a playful smirk as he removed his fingers in order to slam his cock deep inside of Yami.

They both called out to Ra in their pleasure and Seto allowed Yami's body time to adjust to the intrusion. It was only when he felt Yami's legs wrap around him and the tentative shifting of the pharaoh's hips that Seto allowed himself to move.

It didn't take long for them to hit a rhythm that soon had them worked up to a sweat as the day wore on outside of the temple. Neither paid it any mind as they concentrated on the feelings between them and Seto knew they wouldn't last long under such an unrelenting pace given how receptive Yami was to the shared pleasure. When Seto felt Yami's muscles starting to tighten around his member, he began stroking Yami's in rhythm to their pace to try and maximize the sensation for his pharaoh.

Yami was so close and he wrapped his arms around Kaiba's neck tightly as he moaned his appreciation to his priest and his god. He tried to hold out as long as he could and he demanded, "Say my name, Seto," after the priest referred to him by his title again.

"I cannot," Seto refused, knowing that it was not his right to say such a sacred name—the name bestowed to him by god himself upon his ascension to the royal title.

"All is forgiven here," Yami reassured him, "so please, say my name!"

When he reached his orgasm, Seto dared to call out the true name of his most beloved—

Kaiba felt as if he had been physically hit when he was jarred out of the intense memory and he almost cried out at the loss. His breathing had become labored and he swore in disgust when he realized that he had started stroking his own cock at some point. He was so close to release, but he wouldn't allow himself to do anything else; he had done enough as it was.

The sudden onset of the memory didn't disturb him so much as what it contained. He had been suffused with a warmth that was both painful and wonderful in different ways and he refused to believe that he was bound to Yami in any way because of a promise two lovesick idiots had made over three thousand years ago.

"It didn't happen!" Kaiba protested vehemently, as if he could speak it out of existence with those words alone.

"None of this is fucking happening," he whispered, desperately trying to ignore the way his body ached for someone who technically didn't exist. No, Kaiba Seto would not allow himself to be reduced to such a pathetic state.

But is it really so pathetic? a part of him wondered. There was some weird power trip in knowing that he had been good enough to dominate the ruler of Egypt and to leave him begging for more. Knowing that one of the most commanding people in the entire ancient world had been writhing under him at his mercy was—

That wasn't me! Kaiba mentally yelled in a futile attempt to try and drown out the obnoxious part of his mind that was conspiring against him with his body. Kaiba had no use for a dead pharaoh and that should have been the end of it.

Except it wasn't, was it? Random images of Yami kept appearing and generally making things worse. I don't want either of them, Kaiba told himself sternly, willing himself to believe it. Unfortunately for Kaiba, his hormones were inclined to disagree and his cock was defiantly remaining rigid because of his stray thoughts where Yami replaced the pharaoh.

"That's it," he growled, getting out of bed and determined to do something about his irritating problem. He quickly went into his personal bathroom and wasted no time in getting into the shower.

Turning on the faucet and setting it to the coldest temperature possible, he cried out as he was doused by the freezing water. The echo off of the walls instantly made him remember what he had heard in the memory and he cursed loudly as he clenched his hands into tight fists and slammed one of them against the tiles in the hopes that the pain would knock some sense into him. He had to get control; this was unacceptable and could not be allowed to continue.

Closing his eyes as he banged his head to rest against the tile wall, Kaiba accidentally wondered what name the priest had been about to moan. What difference did it make? And why did it make Kaiba remember Yami asking him what his real name was? It's not like he cared, after all.

Gritting his teeth as he continued to stand in the freezing cold spray of water, Kaiba tried to blank his mind of everything. He would force all of those useless thoughts behind his strong mental walls and never again would he have to deal with the embarrassment such things caused him. Kaiba would force himself to forget everything and if it took going to America to succeed, he would stay there as long as it took to rid himself of such ridiculous notions. It wasn't running away if it had a purpose and setting up a World Kaiba Land would keep him plenty busy. He would throw himself whole heatedly into the new project and by the time he returned to Japan, Yami and all of the past life bullshit would have been forgotten and everything would be as it once was.

But if that were really true, then why did the thought hurt so much? Why did it hurt at all?

A/N: Poor, poor Kaiba. XD And the pharaoh totally topped from the bottom in that flashback, heh. I just like the idea of the pharaoh being a distinctively different person from Yami because the course of their lives really had taken two separate directions, which would alter their behaviors a bit.

Although I swear, this is turning into a test of how many of my personal pet theories on the series can I cram into one story…And so we're off on the story I never meant to write! But once the idea came to me, I just couldn't stop, so here it is. Hopefully the more pensive nature of this story will go over well. Such contrasting versions of Kaiba, ne?

Now, I do feel that I must ask for some input, so if you would kindly drop your opinion in your review, I'd be deeply appreciative. As the story currently stands before being completely edited, it's roughly about 25,000 words long, which is a bit long for four chapters. The problem is that the third chapter is almost 9,500 words of that and it is possible to divide it into two separate chapters (7,500 and 2,000 words respectively, although I don't suppose that's much of a difference).

My question is would it be better to read it as the really long chapter or would it be easier to manage as a five part story? If it makes it any easier, the split is divided between the incident and the reactions to it. My original plan was for it to perfectly match up in the four part format for the Endless Loop theme, but the problem is if—and that's a pretty big if at this point—I go through with the third part of the series, it will definitely be more than four chapters long, which screws my original idea anyway. So since this is about you readers, let me know what you would prefer and I'll go with the majority?

Part II: Not Now

With Kaiba gone, Yami finally gets the chance to reflect on everything, but all is not as it seems. Not anymore, not ever again.

It also takes place after the same episode and will be referencing lots of events throughout the series—everything from the earliest Punishment Games, Death-T, Duelist Kingdom, and beyond—but it should be explained well enough for those of you who aren't familiar with the earliest volumes of the manga. Oh, earlier psychotic Yami. He gets so little love; the insanity that America ignored for the most part. XD

So please look forward to it, although I know it's a lot heavier than Another Lesson. For those keeping track of both stories, the second chapter to Another Lesson goes up in a few more days on Sunday, May 25th, and part two of Whenever goes up Wednesday, May 28th.

All of your reviews have been wonderful so far and I always look forward to hearing your thoughts and insights! Please feel free to add your opinion about whether or not to separate the third chapter for ease of reading when you leave your comments.