Since these prompts were for Miraculous Ladybug, I'm assuming that this was meant to be an au where Adrian was the one who had the crush. But this is Yu-gi-oh, where there was no obvious "crushing" done by either of these guys. So, I'm gonna go with the urban dictionary definition of a reverse crush: "when you find out that someone has a crush on you, and this knowledge leads you to liking them."
The realization hits Yugi sideways.
The cup he's holding almost slips from his grasp when his hand goes limp. The only thing keeping his grip strong enough is the knowledge that Kaiba's carpet costs more than he makes in a month. His eyes go comically wide and he looks between his two friends sitting across from him.
"No way."
Joey blinks and takes a long, slow sip of his water. Seto sits beside him, not acknowledging Yugi's crisis as he continues glaring at his phone. Well, it is his house that Yugi's having a crisis in. Joey supposes that he isn't obligated to pretend to care.
"No. No way." He shakes his head.
Joey hums as he swallows. "What's up?" He asks. It's more of a courtesy than anything. There's not much emotion in his voice other than a brief note of annoyance, but can he really be blamed?
"Yami's in love with me."
Now, Yugi is one of Joey's best friends. He loves Yugi- like the brother he never had. They've been to Hell and back together in their near decade of friendship. They would do anything for each other and he knows in his heart Yugi feels the same. He loves Yugi, but by God it's moments like these where he wants to smack him upside the head and maybe toss him to next weak. His obliviousness was amusing the first month or so, but after two whole damn years, it began to get old.
"Yami's in love with me," Yugi repeats, as if they hadn't heard him.
"Uh, yeah?"
Yugi sputters and turns a bright shade of red. "You knew?"
"You didn't?"
"No!"
"Dude, he's been in love with you for like, three years now." Joey raises an eyebrow. Yami was a good guy. They had met in university five years ago and he couldn't picture anyone better that Yugi could be with. Two halves of a whole, those two. And Yami wasn't exactly subtle about how he felt. "What made you realize this just now?"
The man across from him shakes his head. "I just- the other day he gave me a kiss on the cheek and- in the moment I didn't think anything of it. He's always been affectionate, you know?"
"Only to you." Joey snorts.
"-And I was thinking about everything else he's done like the flowers he bought me last month and those Valentine's gifts he got me last year and it just clicked and oh my God he's in love with me, isn't he?"
Joey opens his mouth to respond when Seto's phone rings. Joey doesn't pout- he doesn't, no matter what his friends will have you believe. But he does give a disappointed frown when Seto raises the phone to his ear. His schedule was cleared for the day and he wasn't supposed to be answering to any business calls. It was hard enough getting the man free for lunch every week, and he had told Joey that they would have the whole day together. The company better be going bankrupt or so help me-
"What?" Seto snaps.
"Hello to you too."
Yugi, having calmed down his blush after the past few minutes, turned beet red at Yami's unmistakable voice. Speak of the devil.
"So I was thinking of asking Yugi out on a date next week-"
"I really don't care."
"-and I was thinking of scheduling it for the weekend. Would you mind giving him some time off? And before you say no, I'll remind you that you still owe me for helping you score a table for your anniversary with Joey."
Seto watches Yugi have a silent breakdown as he says his next words. "Finally going for the direct approach?"
"Honestly, I'm a bit at my limit. He held my hand when we were taking a walk the other day and then he said he was glad we were close enough friends to feel comfortable with each other like that." Joey gives Yugi a pointed look at that, which Yugi at least has the decency to look embarrassed by.
"And what makes you think he's not just pretending to be ignorant to spare your feelings?" Seto, ever the downer, asks. But Yami laughs.
"Because I know him. He doesn't just go along with these types of things because he's afraid of hurting someone's feelings." His voice goes fond. "I love him but he can be so dense."
"Believe me, I know." Joey snickers and sees how much pleasure Seto takes at Yugi's sound of indignation. "Are you sure he'll say yes?" Yami goes silent for a moment before answering.
"I really hope so. But I guess I'll find out tomorrow."
Seto hums. He's staring straight at Yugi the way he normally does when they're competing. Like he's trying to figure him out. "Fine."
Yugi is sitting on the couch, cup now firmly grasped in both hands, looking a bit lost. Like he doesn't know what to do with himself. Joey finally takes a little pity on him. He leaves Seto and his cousin to say their goodbyes and sits next to his friend.
"You alright bud?"
"He's really...three years..?"
"Yup." He pats Yugi's back. "You said you only see him as a friend though."
Yugi turns away. "I... Of course I do! I mean- he's nice and all, and I love talking to him, and he has the best laugh when we talk about how horrible I am in the kitchen. And he has a really intense look in his eyes when he talks about the games he's working on, which is always nice to see after I've had a rough day at work. And he has his stupid method of folding laundry! Honestly, who still folds their socks anymore? But I guess he's-" Yugi slows down curls a bit more in on himself. "Y'know. Attractive. And I guess that's why I don't mind how physically affectionate he is. He's just- he's my best friend and I can't imagine not being with him- oh."
Joey leans back and crosses his arms. Fucking finally. "Oh?"
"I...I might be a bit in love with him too, huh?"
He throws his hands up in exasperation "Jesus Christ Yug' I thought I was gonna have to spell it out for you."
Yugi shoots him a dirty look and sighs. He stares into his drink like it holds all the answers in the universe. "So what do I do now?"
"You say yes to the date when he asks you tomorrow," Seto says coldly. He ignores Joey's 'Duh'. "Then my debt can be repaid."
"Date? Date!" Yugi says in a daze. "Yeah, I can- I can do a date."
"Wonderful. I'm in tears at how heartwarming this was." Seto stands and begins to gather their plates. "Now please go home and take your tooth rotting fluff with you so we can enjoy my day off. Joey kicks him from under the table. "Also, you have next weekend off." He grins. Self-satisfied prick, Joey thinks, and loves him all the more.
I remember how much fun it is to write fics lol. Anyway I hope you guys are good. And Happy New Year! Here's a treat :)) This was literally sitting in my drafts for over a year so I just thought "fuck it" and just typed until it looked good. I don't know when the next update will be but let's hope it doesn't take another year, haha. Thanks for reading!
