There she was again.

He felt his eyes move to her again, as it usually happened whenever he caught any sight of her, when they finally found her it was only her back that was visible to him, even though he couldn't hear a thing from this distance except the whines of the Obelisk students sprawled on the floor he could tell she was gloating at them for her victory, she was waving a card in front of them as if it was a trophy while they just looked dumbfounded.

If only he could see her face.

Yuri tried to think what was the best way to slow down his pace without being too obvious about it, but it was useless, the corner of the hallway was right in front of him and he's wouldn't be able to pretend anymore.

He felt the frown on his face settle as usual.

Right behind him he heard some hurried steps along with some whispers and then he saw them: the guys who got to duel her and dared to look so pitiful while losing to her... his hands itched at the thought, and now here they were hurrying past him trying to pretend they didn't see him or knew who he was.

Come think of it, they were walking a little too fast.

"Halt!" He waited to see their stumbling and the shiver running down their bodies.

"Y-yes sir?" The one who looked like the older one said. Yuri let a wide smile set as he activated his duel disk.

"Running in the hallways is forbidden"

ᴥ

It was already night when her guards finally managed to get her back into her tower.

Today wasn't so bad, she managed to stay outside and do some dueling for almost 3 hours, it was practically a new record for her and one day when she got enough practice at avoiding all the security and was able to map better the Academy, then she would make a run for the exit.

Even as she thought about all this, she knew she was ripping another pillow in half, the feathers flying around the room, the way they all were getting stuck on her hair only pissed her out more.

Serena should know better, it always got like this, all because it was next to the sea, how she hated the humid breezy air and the salty smell that it brought, she hated the swallows doings nests outside her window.

She hated this room, she hated it.

The bed creaked under her weight while she punched it with all her might, the mattress muffling her yelling.

She stopped at the sound of a whistle.

"What a spectacle." The voice said right on time, every third day after curfew; and Serena lifted her eyes to find him perched on her window. "Don't let me interrupt you."

"I'm not in the mood for you." Serena said lifting herself from the bed, her back out to him, only his shadow was visible on the wall, she watched it shift and lay against one of the walls.

"Are you ever?" Serena knew he wasn't really expecting an answer.

"Is anyone ever?" It was a low blow, she knew that and her fingers drummed on her side when his shadow shifted again.

Would he stay? Would he leave? Serena told herself that her fidgeting was out of some still bottled anger and nothing else.

"Now, what have I done to deserve the jab?" Serena sighed and willed her smile into a thin line before finally turning to see him.

So much purple, that was the first thing she remembered thinking about him, made to stand out against the muted colors in the place, even against the endless sea of red, yellow and blue of rest of the students. The professor's colors, Serena sometimes wondered, and often pictured, if he would grant her with a purple outfit when he finally acknowledged her worth.

At the same time that she was looking at him, she felt his eyes doing the same to her; it was only fair she supposed, except that unlike her, he always seemed to focus on everything but her clothes, which she rationalized it was because there was nothing noteworthy about it, made to be lost in a crowd.

She walked to him until they were only two or three steps in between them, he never motioned to come closer.

That would be breaking the rules.

"You're getting careless," She choose to ignore his previous question, noticing instead how his eyes at certain angles, glinted in the dark. "Today, in the gardens."

"Oh, you saw me?" He said so with a chuckle, and right on cue Serena felt her annoyance rise in response, she got closer, her knees brushing against his clothes, this was his cue for him step into the room.

But he didn't, instead he was making a great job at looking laidback.

"Someone will notice, he will notice." She said with insistence and at that he frowned.

"Aren't you a little paranoid? I was just walking by." How obvious it was the freedom he was allowed even inside these walls.

Serena knew better though, she had thought herself paranoid once too, it had been easy to trust seemingly well-intended employees, only to find her stash of money under her mattress gone and a new lock on her door.

"And then you dueled those guys, right after I already wiped them clean of their best cards." His frown deepened and she heard the click of his tongue.

"I didn't like how they looked at me." This time he did turned at her his boots stepping too harshly on the tiles as he got up to glare at her, his fist balled at his side. She didn't back away not even from the glare he was throwing at her.

"Yuri…" She let his name hang on the air for a little longer, noticing the breath intake. "…are you jealous?"

If there was any moment in which Serena was sure that if it wasn't by the clear rules they were both subjected too, that he would grab her, maybe yell in her face and try to force a duel out of her, she could see it in the way his eyes narrowed, his teeth were gritting and visible through his sneering lips and his fingers were probably digging into his palm.

Serena was not scared of it, if anything it was an almost fascinating show to watch his temper unfold from the devil-may-care attitude he had most of the time, it was something she allowed herself to be proud off.

It was shame really, that these moments were she could get under his skin where so far in between.

Even so, she lifted her hand and it was like casting a spell, he was eyeing her carefully, wondering what her next move would be, she purposefully hovered her hand above his arm, his shoulder and then his cheek.

Before going higher and with the utmost precision to not touch him, Serena removed a stray feather from his hair. She tried and failed to contain her smile at the visible shiver that went through his body the whole time, his chest heaving and his eyes following her every movement.

She knew he would give in the moment his nose flared and he sucked on his breath.

"Yes." He said, his eyes closed. "I was; I was jealous."

Serena rewarded his honesty by pressing her forehead to his and saw how his shoulders visibly slouched and his deep breath intake, she finally stared deep into his eyes… she had to remember herself that there was a reason she didn't do it often.

His eyes were like a void that could swallow her whole.

"Will you stop stalling now?" He asked, she could only have imagined how much he itched to lean into her to hold her.

But he was not allowed to.

Her mouth found his before the thought was fully formulated.

ᴥ

They had met when Serena had made a run to escape disguised as one of the Obelisk Force, when she encountered him, she had no idea who he was and according to him he knew she was not one of the normal students precisely because she wasn't scared when she saw him.

It had been followed by the actual Obelisk Force taking her forcefully to her tower and with the Professor congratulating Yuri for a well done job, his pleasant smile was nothing like his usual predatory one.

She remembers yelling a string of names and curses at him.

At first it had only been him entering her window, talking about nonsense, complaining about dumb things, and Serena did her best to ignore him until he got bored and left.

Until he started to tell her about the outside world, she made so many questions that she already forgotten about what exactly they were about, what she remembered clearly was how annoyed he pretended to be, but always yielded when she called him by his name.

Not every question was out of curiosity, part of her had hoped he knew how to get into mainland; he didn't, in fact, like her he wasn't allowed to leave the island nor does he remember a life before being in the Academy.

Then one night when he was about to leave, she grabbed his hand as reflex, Serena would never forget the look on his eyes when he realized it, as if the entire world had been frozen around him.

'I can't leave this tower.'

'No place is off limits for me… but I can't lay a finger on you'

'Touch is not forbidden for me'

He disentangled her hand from his and left without a word after such declaration, he looked almost...scared? She was not sure and thought she would not see him again.

But it had not even been a week when he was back again.

She had spent a good chunk of nights examining his hands, despite his numerous duels they were not calloused or even dirty, ever; he claimed that he had to follow a strict hygiene regime because some places he was deployed to had 'unsanitary conditions'.

Serena remembers one night in which he had none too subtly complained about the cold and without letting go of his hand she pulled him into her room; he seemed at loss of words when she did so.

His hair is pretty.

There's not much of reference Serena has about this, nor has she ever cared about appearance before, but she remembers thinking that on more than one occasion, she remembers wondering if it was as soft as it looked and she remembers grabbing a loose strand of hair on his nape.

She still laughs at the little jump Yuri gave when it happened, the tiny yelp he kept denying he made, and from then on to save him from his obvious embarrassment she always asks before if she can touch him.

His hands, his hair, his face, even his arms, his chest and shoulders through his clothes there's something both refreshing and calming about being touchy feely with someone, he never complains nor does she know if he even likes it or it's just fine playing along.

He won't ever break the rules.

One day she manages to steal something that looked like books from the female seniors when she took it to her room, she remembers being puzzled over the colorful paper, glossy at the touch and the useless images and words inside it, she couldn't even understand half of the what was printed in it.

Until she turned the page and saw a bunch of photographs of couples, sitting together, walking, laughing, dancing…

The last page had them joining their lips together, she remembers the gag feeling she got at the thought of touching someone else's mouth with hers.

The line below the page only read: 'The Perfect Kiss'

That night, Yuri came to her and before he could say anything else she asked if she could touch his lips, he gave her a wide-eyed look but still nodded, when her fingers brushed against them and confirmed they weren't wet or sticky like she feared she surged forward.

Yuri broke the rule of 'no touching' that night.

To shove her away, looking at her as If she had grown a second head and ask what in the world had gotten into her.

She didn't answer because she was trying to think why her lips tingled.

ᴥ

It tingles, not just her lips, all of her tingles.

Every time her breath mingles with his she can't help but search for more contact, is not just pressing against each other, it's the sliding both soft like a feather and then harsh enough to feel her lips flush, his nose and hair brushing on her cheeks.

They're both short of breath and have to stop now but even as they separate they remain close.

Serena had not noticed her hand gripping his nape and the other entwined with his.

Instead she drank into his half-lidded eyes, dazed and dark; his lips parted the slightest bit and a reddish undertone that spread out to his nose and cheek, for a while it seemed he had yet to register they were not kissing anymore.

Her fingers found their way to her mouth again, the tingling made her heart beat faster, her body warmer and she even felt slower in both mind and body after each one.

Rather than annoying it only made her want to repeat it all over.

When he finally seemed to recover his bearings Serena couldn't help notice his hand not letting go of hers, his eyes fixed on her lips.

Her stomach got little flip-flops at the sight of the tip of his tongue.

"You're getting better." She said prying her eyes from him, he expected him to answer with some cutting comment or remark, but there was nothing but him staring at her with intent. "Still, not perfect though." She added, his hand still didn't loosen his hold.

"I've heard it's better if you use your tongue." He said, his smile turning an insufferable smirk again.

"…What?" Serena could swear her mind froze on spot.

"Or if you're not into that, at least with open mouth." He said, seeming delighted at her cluelessness, then he just shrugged, "Probably better like this, I don't know If I could keep myself from touching you if-"

She had to cut him off before he finished.

"I'm scared to ask how you know that." She said, trying to figure out how kissing with open mouth would even work, did people not get grossed out at that?

'Are you grossed out?' She asked herself, finding that all things considering she didn't really care that much.

"We're not the only ones sneaking for stolen kisses in the middle of the night." Yuri answered followed by a chuckle.

"They're not stolen, we both agreed to this." Serena was puzzled by the very concept of 'stealing' a kiss and he only laughed a little more at her expense.

But then again thinking about it… she practically stole Yuri's first kiss.

"Yes, we did, I could only think of that the entire day," He said in a whisper.

"Still not an excuse for carelessness." She shot back, she would make sure they wouldn't get caught, the Professor and the Academy already deprived her of too many things, she would not add this to the list.

"Give me a break, I can't talk to you or see you on the majority of mornings, this is the only thing I have." Yuri sounded strange saying the last thing, as if he was somewhere far away on his mind, but it was gone in a second…

Did he also thought of moments when he wasn't bound by strict rules?

"I broke the rules today." Serena said attempting to sound absent-minded.

"I'm aware."

"Maybe just for tonight, you can break the rules too." She said taking his hand and guiding It to her cheek, she leaned in into his palm.

He looked shocked and she could feel his hands tremble as if he feared something terrible would happen any moment now, but when the seconds ticked away she felt his thumb stroking.

"…I'll be glad."

So, you can blame Tima for this idea, initially the idea was little more... naughty :P
We had this hc in which we both agreed that Yuri is totally the guy people think he's rough and dom in the bedroom but he would actually rather let himself be coddled and loved *hint* and then we come up with ideas about how they could have both sneaked around in Academia without actually breaking the rules :P

Obviously this is the T-rated version of it, maybe not even that lol.