This is for one of my friends. I wrote this to perhaps understand a bit more about her and her asexuality. Remember, not all asexuals are aromantic.

Note: It may seem that there is a distinct lack of backstory, but that will come in later chapters. Those experiences are not mine to tell; Yugi and Seto will tell them better than I ever could.

Yugi Mutou took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. He was standing in front of his new school building, and it was much larger and more intimidating than he first thought. The beginning of his Junior year already seemed like it would be hell; he had no friends in Domino City, and had been a target of bullies in his old school because of his petite body and passive nature. Deciding he couldn't escape it by staying outside all day, he adjusted his bag on his shoulder and headed up the stone steps of the main entrance, somewhere in the back of his mind knowing that this school had a lot to offer him.

He walked the loud halls with his head down, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, lest he have an altercation. If he got to homeroom and found a seat before the first bell rang, maybe he wouldn't have to introduce himself to the class, and he might even leave the school building unscathed in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, he ran into someone due to his lack of attention. He would have fallen backward if it weren't for the cool, gentle hands on his shoulders.

He looked up, his nervous violet eyes meeting steely blue. The eyes searched his for a few seconds before hardening further. "Watch it," the tall brunette he had collided with muttered, releasing him and brushing quickly past him in the opposite direction.

"Sorry," he whispered a few seconds late. Great, he was probably already making enemies. The first bell rang, giving students another five minutes to get to their homeroom before they would be late. Yugi frowned; so much for his plan. The other students were probably already in class.

Sure enough, as soon as he walked into room 3-A, the teacher beamed at him and waved him toward the front. He nodded, resigned, and waited quietly while the late bell rang. "Class, we have a new student! Please give a warm welcome to Mutou Yugi-kun."

There was a wolf-whistle from somewhere in the middle of the desks, and numerous snickers followed. Yugi flushed a light pink, bowing his head slightly in respect, before he hurried to the back for a seat. He was slightly surprised to see the brunette he had run into; for a reason he couldn't identify, he sat next to the teen. "I'm sorry for running into you...?"

Icy blue eyes flickered over to him. "Kaiba Seto," he replied curtly.

Yugi blinked a few times, anxious now. "I'm sorry, Kaiba-kun."

The ice seemed to melt a bit before Seto turned back to the front of the class. "I heard you the first time, Mutou-kun." A small smile spread across Yugi's lips as he mimicked Seto's action. Perhaps not an enemy, but a friend?

His first day in Domino High School was uneventful. There was the usual load of first day sheets for parents to sign (or, in Yugi's case, his grandfather) and a few rules read over, and then the class was left to it's own devices until the final bell. The class split into three distinct groups: very pretty girls and handsome boys, a group of friends playing some sort of board game, and four or five uninviting-looking guys. That left Seto and Yugi, sitting next to each other in complete silence.

Yugi glanced over at his new acquaintance. "So, have you been going here long?" he asked uneasily, folding his hands in his lap.

Seto didn't answer for a few moments, seemingly lost in his thoughts, but then, without regarding Yugi, he replied: "I started my freshman year here, if that's what you were asking."

A truly happy smile lit Yugi's face. "I'm sure someone like you has a lot of friends, right?"

That seemed to have hit a sore spot from the way the brunette's shoulders tensed, but he answered nevertheless. "I don't make friends," he murmured almost inaudibly.

The smaller teen's expression fell and he looked away, brushing a stray lock of hair away from his eyes, to rest his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands. "I see. I'm sorry for prying."

Seto turned toward him, the hint of a smirk gracing his pale pink lips. "Why do you constantly apologize to me? I didn't say I was upset."

"Yes, but you seemed... Well, you don't want to talk, right?"

"I never said that, Mutou-kun." Yugi chanced a look and almost sighed in relief.

"I'm sor-"

"Hey, new kid!" A shout interrupted his apology and he looked up. There was a blonde waving at him, trying to get his attention, from the group of teens playing games. "Leave that asshole and play a few things with us!"

Yugi frowned at the blatant insult. "Kaiba-kun-"

Seto's smirk was still in place, but his eyes were filled with half-hidden desolation. "Go talk to them, Mutou-kun. Make some real friends." Without waiting for Yugi to answer, he pulled a book out of his schoolbag and opened it to a dog-eared page. The star-haired boy paused for a few beats, unsure of what to do, until he heard, "New kid!" again. He stood up, glancing at Seto one last lingering time before heading over to the group of other students.

The walk back from school wasn't nearly as lonely as the walk there. He found out that Anzu, Jounoichi, Honda, and Ryou, his four new friends, lived on the same route back home as he did. After a few cheerful goodbyes, Ryou and Anzu went one direction, Honda went another, and Jou and Yugi continued down the street.

Yugi cleared his throat, glancing up at the honey-eyed blonde. "Er, Jou?" he began hesitantly.

"What's up, Yug'?" the teen replied, more easygoing than anyone Yugi had ever met. Nothing really bothered him, from what Yugi saw.

"Why did you call Kaiba-kun an asshole? He seemed very nice to me."

Jou made a face. "He's rich and arrogant, and he's a huge prude."

Yugi silently disagreed; Seto didn't seem anything like that when he'd talked to him; the brunette was rather kind to him... but, "Why do you think he's a prude?"

Jou paused for a beat, then said, quite confidently, "He gets all uppity when we talk about sex, and how he needs to get a girlfriend and get laid. He says he's 'asexual' or whatever, but that's a load of bull. He just can't get anyone to sleep with him."

Violet eyes clouded with sadness. So Seto was a victim of bullying too? ... If in a more subtle way. It only made Yugi that much more determined to befriend him, regardless of what the others thought. "So I take it you're not a virgin?" he asked bluntly, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"Nope!" the blonde said with a wide grin. "Why, are you?"

Yugi was instantly defensive. "So what if I am?" he said skeptically.

Jou's self-assured grin only grew. "I'll set you up with someone hot, Yug', don't worry about it."

The shorter Junior sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long year...

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