Title: One Notch Higher (continuation of Step By Step)

A/N: I'm back! Anyway, like I said in Step by Step, I decided to cut the story into several books. This is Book 2, and it starts off several years after Step by Step. Don't worry. It didn't skip so much. Just... skimmed over some years, I guess. This chapter's more of laying down the foundation - the premises. Hope nobody minds that. In any case, I would love to hear what you think so don't hesitate to drop a review that I can respond to. Thanks!

Summary: Oh, the pains of growing up...


Book 2

Preparation

5:45 AM

Seto Kaiba blinked once... then twice... thrice. Then, he sighed tiredly. He hasn't slept.

Just in time, the alarm clock rang loudly beside the bed.

The morning air was cold and smelled faintly of breakfast and brewed coffee. It was a distinct smell, the coffee, and Seto recognized it as the one his father had taken a liking to. Seto sat up from bed and yawned, at the same time planing the day ahead. He stood up, then, and picked half-heartedly the clothes he was going ot wear today. He glanced at his reflection. He had grown taller - almost as tall as his father now - and his features were sharper than ever. But the changes, he knew, were far from over. In fact, it had only just begun. The same way high school was also just starting... today.

At the thought, Seto couldn't help but frown.

(As much as Seto was more mature than his peers, he was still a teenager and he still loathed the idea of encountering annoying people again.)

His musings were cut short by a knock on the door, and a voice.

"Seto, dearest, breakfast is ready," his mother called from the other side. She was soft-spoken, and she never lost her temper. It had made her look more endearing, Seto supposed, that not obliging her would appear like the gravest sin. At this point, Seto understood his father's protectiveness of her. He'd do anything just to make sure his mother would remain as at peace.

"I'll be right down," Seto answered.

In five minutes, he was seated in front of his mother, and on the left of his father. They ate in silence. See, that was how things were now. His father drank his coffee without sugar, and his mother sliced her pancakes in smaller, neat pieces. Although his father spent much more time now with them, Seto noticed subtle differences. Like how his father always wanted to know where his mother was and what she was doing. How she was prevented from performing most chores. His father had always been protective of her, Seto knew. But this time, it was different. He remembered walking in on them arguing one day, last summer. His father had held in his hand documents from the hospital, and his mother had looked crestfallen. Neither noticed him on the doorway. Seto slipped away before they noticed, though... but he knew something was up. He didn't know why, but somehow he felt he couldn't expect his mother to live as long as they all want her to.

6:30 AM

For the most part of Seto's lifetime spent in school, he was almost always the first person to arrive. Everyone, however, was early today. It was strange.

Because people tend to herd themselves into various cliques, each group actually crowded hallways, lockers... even the stairs. Girls giggled at boys when they used to scoff and ignore them, and boys utilized such display to feed their egos. The freshmen cowardly entered, eying their surroundings with caution. The seniors, on the other hand, eyed them and the other students with a predator-like gleam in their eyes, grinning as their prey trip on their own feet, and waggled their eyebrows at pretty batchmates. People were idiots in their unmonitored, natural environments.

As a freshman in high school, Seto Kaiba observed that the socio-political arena of high school is different-but very much predictable.

Unlike his poor, forever-psychologically-scarred batchmates, he entered the school with a flair that dismissed the curious and suspicious glances thrown his way. What did he care? When the seniors looked at him, he raised his eyebrows at them. He had no intention to fall victim to their silly attempts at 'sizing up the competition'. The girls stared at him with equal intensity, their curiosity barely masked. On hindsight, he figured he was generating interest that, albeit in principle is flattering, has no use to him. Seto truly did not know which gender was worse. He figured he was making a bold impression, projecting an image that promised unwanted consequences. His chestnut brown hair swept to the sides almost effortlessly, never undermining the ferocity of his step-aside-or-else glare (which he was notorious for in middle school), and his eyes glittered with an iciness that made it impossible for anyone to approach him. Yami would, of course, call this his defense mechanism because psychoanalyzing him has become his best friend's new hobby, but even if it was only a defense mechanism, it obviously works.

Yami caught up to him before noticing their environment, looking thoughtful first before looking amused. The shorter teen snickered. Seto threw him an exasperated look, which only prompted Yami to chuckle even more.

"Honestly, why aren't you the least disturbed by all this?" Seto gestured with a flick of his hand. Yami paused, appearing to be thinking about it, before shrugging carelessly and smiling amiably at a girl who called his name. The girl-Seto rolled his eyes- blushed and hid her face behind her notebook. Seto commented, "This is ridiculous."

Yami nodded sagely... but grinned anyway. (At the back of Seto's mind, he had the impression that his best friend was merely humouring his antics today. But never mind that.)

Unlike the other freshmen, he and Yami have been spared by puberty's embarrassing effects. In spite of the growth spurt, Seto knew he looked lithe but not lanky. His voice had fallen one note deeper, making a good, wholesome baritone that lacked the occassional, characteristic-among-boys squeak. Seto figured it made him a foreboding presence, one he intended to capitalize on this school year. Yami, on the other hand, drastically lost the baby fat, making his face look more angular- sharper-looking. Mature. It emphasized, even, Yami's cat-like eyes. He had grown an inch or two, not to the extent that Seto did, but there were other changes as well. The color of Yami's eyes, for example, was the fiercest red, Seto found, and his hair had grown longer and wilder. Suffice to say, even with the height difference, Yami was equally capable of making bold statements on his own.

All in all, the beginnings of puberty have been good to the both of them. From the attention they've been garnering just from the moment they walked in, apparently they weren't the only ones who appreciated it. Oh boy. Seto sighed. What a pain high school was!

"We should be grateful nobody's tried to shove us to the lockers yet," Yami said, gesturing to the bespectacled boy who hit the lockers just a few steps ahead of them. The older students laughed and walked away, leaving the boy on the floor, gathering his stuff. Yami turned to Seto, looking serious for a millisecond. "It could've been worse."

Seto glared at the retreating backs of the students, weighing the thought.

"They can try," he hissed. It wasn't as if they wouldn't be able to do anything anyway. They had bullies expelled from school once. Seto bet he could do it again.

"Bakura would have pulled down the fire alarm there if he were here," Yami remarked, expertly diverting the issue. Seto let him before conceding that yes, that was exactly what Bakura was wont to do. Unfortunately, Bakura was spending a year in London with his biological mother. Part of a court arrangement, or something.(His parents, Seto learned from Yami, split several years ago, and the white-haired boy now lived with his dad and his stepmother, whom he hated.) Ever since Bakura left, however, things have calmed down to an extent. It was a relief.

In times like this though, Seto had to admit he missed the chaos the boy never failed to exact. But wait a minute.

"Of course if Bakura were here, we'd get in trouble just by association," Seto remarked sourly. At the memory of ill-fated pranks and detentions, Yami laughed and Seto scowled.

"Cheer up, Seto! It's high school. It's a new year for us. Let's just make it fun for ourselves," Yami cajoled as they stepped into Homeroom and taking the last two seats at the back. Like old times; just Yami and him. Naturally, Yami's idea of fun involved competing for higher scores and better academic performances. It had delighted their teachers, of course, but Seto didn't care about that. Seto smirked at the challenge. Even if Yami won last year by a meager point, it didn't mean he was going to pull off the same achievement this year, Seto vowed.

"To the victor goes the spoils?" Seto asked, planning a hike up the mountain on Christmas break and making Yami do everything he ordered, when he wins this time. Yami cocked an eyebrow, as if saying, 'Do you even have to ask?'

"Shake on it!" Seto said, offering a hand which Yami promptly grabbed and shook.

"Good luck, Seto."

"You, too. You're going to need it, after all," Seto teased.

They laughed, the excitement a good way to start the year.

When the bell rang and everybody went to their seats, Seto's gaze lingered a while on his best friend, feeling contemplative for the briefest moment, before looking away.

-o-o-o-o-o-

11:55 AM

Waiting for the bell to ring was like waiting for the rain to come on a summer day. It was dragging. But it wasn't futile if you have the patience for it. Yami Mutou looked around, and thought most of the class was either trying so hard to not fall asleep, or was staring at the clock and waiting for it to strike twelve. It was so typical of students. Yami smiled in spite of that. His eyes landed on his best friend, who now entertained himself by reading a book. It was the book that they had bought last week, the one they saw was up for sale in a nearby book store. Yami didn't know why Seto hasn't finished it yet. He should have been done with it by now, considering how fast a reader he was. Yami looked away and looked outside the windows instead, drumming his fingers.

In short, Yami was bored.

However, when the bell did ring, the silent almost-lifeless class suddenly hummed with activity. As expected, Seto got irritated by the noise but even Seto sat straighter and started to pack like everyone else. Yami grinned and was about to coax his friend into a conversation when the teacher started giving last minute announcements, including one:

"Mr. Kaiba, would you kindly stay behind for a minute, please?"

Instinctively, Seto glanced at him. He usually does. It's become a habit, Yami noticed. Sometimes, it was to ask for something. Other times, it was to seek reassurance. Most of the time, it was a mixture of both. Yami knew what the glance meant, and he nodded. Seto got the message and smiled thankfully, but he was the hardheaded person Yami knew, so he still didn't want to stay behind. The teacher, however, was nice. She was new, and they both knew that. She probably just wanted to ask about Seto's grades. Yami gestured at their teacher.

"Come on," Yami said.

His best friend deftly shook his head. Obviously Seto didn't want to follow. Yami knew that when Seto already had plans, he wasn't going to allow even a teacher to mess it up. Yami sighed.

"Be nice," Yami whispered. From the stubborn frown on Seto's face, Yami was so close to believing that the teacher's request would be rejected. But Seto sighed and nodded eventually, acquiescing to her. Yami smiled and stood up. It was lunchtime.

"I'll be outside," he promised.

"I don't understand why I have to be called out like this," Seto protested. "If this is one of those silly compliments again-"

"She's new. She probably just wants to get to know her prospective top student better," Yami teased.

"Why aren't you here with me, then?" Seto asked.

Yami thought it was wiser to grin the question away. He patted Seto's shoulder before grabbing both of their bags and heading out.

The thing about school was, it didn't work the way Seto thought it would. Even if there were two star pupils, only one would receive the attention. There have always been favorites, and Yami didn't think their old school was any different. People also don't get blank slates when they transfer from one level of education to another. Yami knew their teachers in middle school spoke proudly of his best friend, despite Seto's rude behaviour toward them most of the time. And he knew that their teachers often spoke with their future teachers. He was willing to bet that their teachers now were on a look-out for Seto.

Yami sat on the floor and grabbed a book to read. He was already on the second chapter when three girls unwittingly stopped nearby, engaged in a conversation of their own. Yami truthfully didn't mean to eavesdrop, especially since the girls failed to notice someone could actually hear them. But they were talking about a certain freshman - the one whose description fit Seto really well. Yami couldn't help but listen.

"What a waste of looks, though. Lou said he was a menace in his old school," said the one with the auburn hair. Her friend, the one with the dyed hair, shook her head in fervent denial.

"That can't be! He's so good!"

"How do you know? You haven't even met him yet," the third member of the group, a girl with jet black hair, quipped. The devil's advocate, his mind supplied him. "Besides, if he's good and he treats people so poorly, then he's just a jerk."

"He isn't!"

"I heard the guys talking about him earlier. They said he had some boys in his class expelled just because he didn't like them," the devil's advocate conspiratorily whispered.

Yami rolled his eyes and put his book aside. Pushing their bags nearest the wall, he started walking toward them. The longer these girls gossiped, with the wrong details, the more defamation Seto would be subject to. Truthfully, Seto could be rude. He snapped at people, especially when they were annoying him, but he wasn't 'menacing'. And he would never abuse his power that way. More than that, he knew for a fact that his best friend meant well. In his usual Seto Kaiba-ish sort of way. The thing is, people respond to Seto in a dichomotized manner. They loved that he was talented. But they hated him anyway for being so distant. Perhaps it didn't help that Seto wasn't bothered enough to actually care - then again, this was Seto, who usually felt he wasn't subject to anyone's opinions except to people who mattered. Unfortunately, those who mattered were quite few.

Being closed off, and refusing to correct the speculations, led to situations like this. Sometimes Yami grew tired of it, even though he knew why Seto was doing this.

However, right before he could break off their silly conversation, he heard a yelp coming from behind and saw a student trip over his bag. She had the same hair color as Seto's, Yami noticed, and she was also apparently not looking at where she was going. Yami heard the books she was carrying fall on the floor, and he ran towards her, catching her before she followed suit.

"Sorry," the girl mumbled. She was blushing out of embarrassment. She was lucky nobody else was lurking to laugh at her. Yami immediately placed a distance between them and smiling comfortingly. He guessed it wasn't every day that the girl, whoever she was, tripped over bags. "I didn't see the bag."

"It's alright," Yami replied. The girl looked up and Yami saw how her bangs framed her face. She had pale blue eyes that reminded Yami of his best friend. He bended down and started picking up her books and watched as she did the same. Now, the thing was, Yami wasn't naive. He knew the cliche in this kind of scenario - in the movies, one of them would accidentally touch the other and they'd realize they're soul mates or something. Truthfully, he did not know if he wanted it to happen (for the sake of curiosity; of testing if it did happen in real life), or not.

"Yami, what are you doing?"

Yami grinned as he immediately turned around. Seto was staring at him in confusion. The conversation was apparently over. He collected the books and stood up, aware that the girl did the same.

"Helping people. You ought to try that sometime," he teased, laughing when Seto scowled. When Seto's eyes fell on the girl who was standing behind Yami, however, he realized that he forgot his manners. "Oh, sorry. This is..."

Yami turned to the girl and realized he never bothered to ask her name. Luckily, the girl picked up on it and extended a hand to Seto.

"Mazaki Anzu."

Seto stared at her suspiciously at first then glanced at Yami. Yami knew that stare. It was the usual I-don't-trust-you stare that Seto threw at people. Frankly, Yami thought it was amusing. But Seto eventually shook the extended hand anyway.

"Kaiba Seto," his blue-eyed brunet of a best friend answered back. "Sorry, but we have to be going. Right, Yami?"

Seto faced the opposite direction and started walking. Yami turned to Anzu and smiled.

"Sorry with the bag incident. It was nice meeting you, Anzu. See you around!"

As he and Seto walked towards the bleachers, he uttered teasingly:

"Seto, you're such a jerk sometimes."

Seto met his eyes and raised his eyebrow arrogantly.

"And you only found out about this now?"

Yami threw his head back and laughed. This was a good way to start the school year, he thought at the back of his head.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

5:49 PM

"I never got to ask. Why did the teacher want to talk to you?"

Seto looked up from the book he was reading and shrugged.

"She wanted me to audition for some music group in school. I declined, but she told me to think about it. Auditions are year-round anyway," he answered. They were in Yami's room this time. Over the years, they've made a habit of spending the night in each other's house. Their parents never really questioned it, and nobody seemed to mind. Yami was typing something on the desktop computer, and Seto was yet again reading his book. It's what he normally did when he stayed over. Yami stopped at his response, though, and swung the chair around.

"You declined? Seto, that could help you hone your talent more!"

"Yeah, but I don't want to. I'm fine with the way things are," Seto replied. "Besides, I'm good enough and I manage well on my own. So why do I need the extra 'honing'?"

Yami shook his head.

"You could become a better pianist, though."

"Probably. But I have other things to do."

"Such as?"

Seto paused. Yami raised an eyebrow. He scowled.

"You don't have to keep sacrificing these opportunities just so I won't be left alone, you know," Yami said. There was a minor disadvantage, Seto thought, when your best friend knows almost everything about you. Seto stubbornly shook his head.

"I'm not doing this just for you," he replied. Because he wasn't. He simply didn't want to audition.

Yami sighed and conceded defeat for today.

"What are you doing anyway?"

"Bakura's online," Yami answered.

"You still talk to him?" Seto frowned. It's been a while since the albino was brought up in a conversation. Or, for this matter, been a part of their lives. And Seto had to admit. Even if he no longer thought of Bakura as a competitor for the role of Yami's best friend - he realized that was a silly notion, see - it didn't necessarily mean he stopped thinking that the boy was a nuisance. One he tolerated from time to time, but a nuisance still, he meant.

"When I catch him online. He says hi."

Seto struggled with the idea of rolling his eyes, but decided against it. Yami still treated the albino as a friend, after all. And he knew, at least, that although he thought differently of Bakura, he also had to respect Yami's decision.

"Hello," he dispassionately said.

Yami laughed at the tone of his voice, before facing the computer. Seto grabbed his book and decided to resume reading. They would be okay once Yami and Bakura's conversation ended anyway.

TBC