Shadow Justice

24: Temper and the Triad of the Balance

The first thing he did when he got back to his hotel room was go  straight to the bedroom and place his now silenced phone on the bedside  table. He plugged it into the charger to be sure it would be fully  charged the next morning then began digging through his bags for the  items he needed. He still thought all the preparations were a bit much,  but he would be the first to admit they helped him concentrate and set  up the atmosphere. But he had to be quick if he wanted to catch Shaadi  during one of his rest stops. He felt more than saw Fuguta and Roland  follow his movements with their eyes.

"Hey Kaiba, what's the big rush?" the puppy called from the bedroom door in Japanese.

"Yugi," Kaiba snapped, "put a muzzle on that dog of yours before I put it to sleep."

"Why you!"

Ignoring  the empty threats, Kaiba snatched up the last piece he would need to  set up the ceremony. "I'll be unreachable for the next hour or so, then  I'm going to bed. But first thing's first."

Without preamble,  Kaiba stalked up to the Pharaoh, grabbed his collar and slammed him  against the wall by the window in the suite. "What by Ra's holy fire  were you thinking leaving me there like that, you sorry excuse for a  Pharaoh?" he hissed.

"Kaiba stop!" Yugi cried, grabbing his  Regent's arm in an attempt to free his other half. Roland caught the  short King just as Fuguta reached for Jounouchi when he moved to help  the King. Both Lights stopped when Kaiba glared at them viciously.

"Back  off unless you want to join him," Kaiba snapped. "This is between me  and Yami. Now your royal eminence," he turned back to the stunned  Pharaoh furiously, "would you mind telling me what possessed you to  leave me behind in the shape I was in, in a delicate situation like that  while I was still too sensitive to attempt Shadow Traveling?"

Crimson  eyes burned hotly but Yami did not move to resist Kaiba other than  clutch his Regent's hands to prevent them from choking him. "Yugi was  under attack."

"You and I both know he would have been fine. Mahaad and the lapdog wouldn't have let anything happen to him."

"Hey!"

"Gravity Bind!"  the Regent commanded in hieratic.  He resisted the urge to smirk when  he heard the twin yelps from both Jounouchi and Yugi as both were thrown  to the floor and held there. Neither of them would get in his way. He  ignored the startled stares of his bodyguards burning holes in his back.

"Leave them out of it Seth," Yami commanded, voice hard and even despite his growing fury.

"I  have," Kaiba said, eyes narrowing to slits. "Now answer my question.  Why did you leave me there like that when you knew I was in no shape to  take care of anything efficiently? You do not do that to your  allies, Yami. Never! Do you realize I very nearly dropped everyone into a  wall? A Ra-begotten wall! Imagine what would have happened if I hadn't  set up a fail-safe in my spells. You would not have a Regent. Think  before you act. Or at the very least give me some warning before you go  gallivanting off like some love-sick-."

"Nii-sama!"

Kaiba  froze mid-rant, tired and furious and shaking. He had to physically  force himself to release his grip on the Pharaoh's throat and step back.  For a moment there, he had ceased to be Kaiba Seto alone and merged  with the soul of his previous incarnation, Seth. He took a deep breath  and aimed one last glare at his Pharaoh before walking to his room.  He  waited for Mokuba and his bodyguards to follow before closing the door  behind them with a finality he hoped would ring heavily in Yami's ears.

For  his part, Yami was staring after Kaiba with large, horrified eyes. He  had not realized how unstable his Regent was becoming. True, he had not  thought things through entirely before he acted, but it was Yugi. It was  flaw that was incurable so long as he and Yugi remained separate  entities with one soul. Yugi would always be Yami's number one priority,  no exceptions.