Finally. This. Day. Is. Over. (We're talking about Monday here.) (wail) Where oh where did the weekend go?! (sigh) Bloody French test... it was the horror. The horror, I tell you. Posting this should hopefully not only be a reward for you readers, but for me as well - somehow, doing that just makes me feel better ;)

(tears streaming down face) My God, the feedback I receive is just so incredible... so motivating, so praising...! I never would have thought to get feedback like that for this. I really hope I can keep it up! :) And now that I know that I'll drop out of college (and go to work in a library instead, don't worry, I know what I'm doing), I will give this story an even higher priority! (pauses) Although... even now, I'm spending half the lessons scribbling on scrap paper, gathering ideas and writing more. XD

I admit that this chapter really is pretty darn long, but the alternative I had in mind would have only made the previous chapter a whole lot longer, so I did it like this...

/(...)/ - thoughts of a hikari

\(...)\ - thoughts of a yami

Around eleven, the three Kaiba brothers decided to go see what the others were up to and headed to the beach as well. Mokuba and Noa didn't hesitate for a single moment to go straight for the ocean, where most of the others were enjoying themselves in the waves. Seto watched Bakura resurface, looking as if he were miming to be Jaws or some other predatory marine creature. Katsuya happened to be the closest to him then, so the blond was dragged under.

"Watch your step…" Seto muttered, then turned back to those who hadn't joined in the wet fun.

Yami and Yugi had pushed their chairs together as close as possible, and they both lay on their backs, holding hands and letting the sun shine on them. For some reason, Seto found that they looked almost funny with big, dark sunglasses… They could be dozing, or perhaps their eyes were open, it was impossible to tell. Deciding that he could take the time to find out, Seto walked over to them and positioned himself in a way that he could be sure to get Yami's attention.

The Pharaoh frowned when a shadow was cast on his face. Irritably lowering his sunglasses a bit, he glared at Seto.

"Kaiba, you're in the way of my sunlight."

"Oh, so you own the sunlight now?"

"You know what I mean. Please move."

"And what if I don't want to? You'd have to give me something in return…"

'Mustn't do Mind Crush, mustn't do Mind Crush…!' Yami told himself repeatedly.

/Yami, stay calm!/ Yugi's voice sounded out in his mind.

\Aibou, he's really starting to go too far…\

/But you've been expecting this; you said you'd undergo some mental preparation before we left. And I don't think Jou would be very happy if you'd do Mind Crush on Kaiba./

\Next time, I'll think up a meditation phrase…\

"Kaiba, I hardly think I need to give you something so you'll get out of my way."

"Nothing's for free in this world anymore."

"I know what you're after."

"Then just say yes so we can get it over with!" Seto urged him, leaning forward until Yami found that the almost maniacal glint of determination he saw in the blue eyes was way too close for comfort.

"May I remind you that I was the first to place demands concerning the conditions under which I would agree to duel you?" he asked.

The brunet stood straight again in a flash and snorted. "There's no way in hell I'm dancing ballet for anybody, Yami!"

"Can you dance ballet, Kaiba?" Yugi asked. It was impossible to tell whether that was really an innocent question or if it was just a disguise to hide that he already knew the answer. Whatever the case, the question caught Seto slightly off-guard.

"What the…?! I mean… oh… Geez, how am I supposed to know?!" He was close to spluttering, and the two look-alikes were royally amused; they wished they could capture this moment with a camcorder.

"Maybe you have hobbies nobody knows of. Maybe it's a dark secret of yours – a skeleton in your closet, if you prefer that expression," Yami laughed.

"I think you and the midget had sunstroke," Seto grumbled.

\Aibou, look, he's… pouting, almost?!\

/Oh my God, you're right! Oh Yami, why did you forget the camera in the room…?!/

\Slap me, I know it was a stupid thing to do!\

And so Seto watched in utter confusion as Yugi proceeded to give Yami a –…playful slap in the face. This only made the dark one laugh again, and he replied by starting to practically kiss the living daylights out of Yugi.

"Sunstroke indeed…" the CEO muttered and slowly inched away as if he were retreating from a rabid animal. He turned to Ryou, who was reading a book and also wearing sunglasses. The way things looked, the Briton was his last hope of being around a rational being at this point in time.

"What happened to you? You look as if you had gotten wet not too long ago…"

"Courtesy of Mokuba and Noa. I've decided to keep at least two meters of safety distance between me and them when they're in the pool," Seto answered as he sat down on the chair where he discovered that Katsuya had deposited his shirt and sunglasses.

"Um, Kaiba? Could you put on some sunglasses? I'm about to crack up because you look so funny when you squint…" Ryou giggled.

'Easy now, Seto… you're just among a bunch of weirdos…' Nevertheless, he didn't want to be laughed at, so he grabbed Katsuya's sunglasses and put them on.

"Ah, that's better. So, what do you want to talk about?" Ryou inquired, laying down his book.

"I don't know. Say something intelligent," Seto suggested.

Ryou thought for a moment, then said: "Did you know that according to the theory of virtual water, it takes 140 liters of water until you get one cup of coffee?"

Apparently, Yami and Yugi had been listening too, for they exclaimed in unison: "No way!"

"Where did you learn that?" Seto asked.

"I heard it in the BBC news recently. That's food for thought, isn't it?" (1)

For a moment, nobody said anything, but their thoughts all wandered along similar lines: namely, that being the coffee-junkie that he was, Seto was using mind-boggling amounts of that "virtual water", according to that information…

"So… are you going to cut down on your coffee consumption?" Yugi wondered casually.

"Hell no!" Seto protested, "I need it!"

"And you've never suffered from an overdose of caffeine before?" Ryou marveled, more or less knowing in which dimensions Seto's coffee-consumption ranged.

"No."

"Maybe that's because you have coffee running through your veins instead of blood," Yami joked.

"Make a cut and go see, why don't you?" Seto retorted sarcastically.

"Back to what you said, Ryou… 140 liters?! I can imagine that that might raise a problem when water will become a very valuable resource in the future," Yugi remarked.

"Indeed. Kaiba, assuming that we would still be alive when it comes down to that, you will have no other choice but to reduce your daily dose of coffee. Maybe it couldn't even be called a daily dose anymore," Ryou said thoughtfully.

They didn't need to see his eyes to know that this piece of information horrified Seto. "In that case, I hope I'll be dead before that happens."

"Don't be silly; you could always switch to fruit juice, for example."

"Boring!" Seto said loudly. No, coffee had become a far too important part of his life for him to forfeit it.

"You must have a very narrow range of things that are really important to you if you're not willing to make that simple switch," Yami commented.

Seto thought about it. Maybe so, but what did he care? As long as he had what he held dear to him… Mokuba, Noa, his work, coffee, Katsuya, sex… Yes, those were the things that made his day and he hoped he would never have to give up. Before he could get lost in fantasies again, he returned to the present, where Ryou stretched out on his chair and sighed contently:

"Ah, this is the life! I definitely was in need of some relaxation! School is so stressing at the moment…"

"Not only that, though; if I'm not deceived, you also have a job and need to run the household and look out for the thief," Yami frowned.

Ryou waved his hand. "I've got it under control."

"But for how much longer? I mean, I don't wanna be all too pessimistic or something, but with all you have to do… I'm worried that you might get burnout. I read that it's happening more frequently these days," Yugi piped up.

"I'm fine, Yugi, thank you."

It was meant to sound reassuring, but all three of them knew that Ryou could do well with someone keeping an eye on him, just to be sure. Seto only knew about this because Katsuya had sometimes remarked that Ryou was awfully sleepy and could barely drag himself from class to class, not to mention to school in the first place. It was true that Ryou always had enough money to pay the rent for the apartment he shared with Bakura, although it was painfully obvious to both him and the gang that not everything came from his salary. Bakura claimed that he "did his share too", but naturally, one had to be skeptic about what he would consider "work".

"Are you sure, Ryou?"

Seto's question was rather surprising for them; they did know that the brunet had "warmed up" somewhat thanks to Katsuya and their relationship, yet he certainly wasn't known to ask such questions of concern.

Ryou didn't make any movement at all for a short moment, then he answered in his usual mild voice: "Sure, Kaiba. I would say so if I wasn't." He wasn't so sure if the others would believe him, but right now, he just didn't want to get into a talk about that particular subject. Instead, he gestured to the skies: "Say, do you guys see any forms in those clouds?"

His message got across, and the others looked up at the sky too. There were few clouds, but at least there were some at all.

"I'm not sure about these… but I once saw someone on horseback," Yugi suggested.

"What? How do you see that? I've never seen anything in a cloud," Seto replied and added with a shrug: "They're just a bunch of suspended water and ice particles." (2)

Yami gave him the alien stare, and Yugi and Ryou's sunglasses slid down their noses. The Pharaoh was the first to find his speech again: "For Ra's sake, Kaiba, there's a little thing called imagination that can be used for more than just sexual fantasies! I mean, I saw a dragon with an angel on its back once!"

"Was it a Blue Eyes?" Seto asked hopefully.

'Figures,' Yami thought. "No, it was not a Blue Eyes…" Personally, he thought that it had vaguely resembled the dragon from "Dragonball".

"Let's teach Kaiba how to cloud-gaze!" Ryou suggested brightly.

"Yeah, let's!" Yugi agreed, "Look at that one over there, Kaiba! What does it look most like?"

"…Nothing I know…"

"Are you sure? And what about that one?"

"Aibou, there's a big one on the horizon…"

"Perfect!"

"I once saw a herd of horses in one of those big ones!" Ryou chirped.

'Horses?! Dragons?! Angels?! Where?' Seto wondered, staring hard at the clouds. He had a feeling that by the time Katsuya would get back, he would have gained a new experience that he wouldn't have guessed to ever have in the first place…

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Man, I love the ocean! It sure is different from swimming in the pool!" Katsuya said happily as they started to head back to the deckchairs.

"The only nuisance is that you get sand and seaweed in some really nasty places, if you know what I mean," Bakura muttered, plucking at his swimming trunks.

"TMI! TMI!" the others started to chant.

Bakura just grinned and stuck up his nose, and as they went to take a shower, they noticed that those who had stayed behind were deeply engaged in a discussion, scraps of which they heard after having finished with the showers.

"…no need for that, because then you know everything anyway." (Ryou)

"But if I already know everything, what's the point in having the ability to focus on someone long enough to know their thoughts?" (Seto)

"Why would you want to know everything at all? A little mystery is nice to think about, it's good for your imagination…" (Yugi)

"You obtained a new form of that, didn't you, Kaiba?" (Yami)

"What're you talking about?" Marik asked when they were all together again.

"This and that… we started with coffee, then went on to clouds and now we're at the subject of the afterlife," Ryou answered.

"Some golden thread that is…" Malik remarked with a headshake.

"Well, well, look who has made himself comfortable in my place," Katsuya laughed and blocked the sunlight like Seto had done to Yami before.

"I figured that the puppy might want to see his master when he gets back," Seto purred, lowering the sunglasses a bit and driving Katsuya half-wild in the fraction of a second with that pointed look in his blue eyes. Before he could get a reply, he took hold of the other's face and pulled him close for a passionate kiss. The blond moaned into the kiss and grasped Seto's shirt as he let himself come to rest on the CEO's upper body.

"Whoa, Blondie, I think you're gonna need to hit the showers again, but cold this time!" Bakura whistled as he sat down next to Ryou, who gave the Sennen Ring back to him.

"And remember, we wanted to go have lunch now," Mai reminded him.

Seto drew back just a bit and breathed: "Puppy, you're not hungry, are you?"

Katsuya blushed a bit and smiled. "Sorry, Seto, but I am. I'm starving, in fact…"

"That's not fair… not when I want you so much…"

"Hmm… how about if we just grab a quick bite to eat, okay? It doesn't have to be much for a change, but I need something –"

"Deal," Seto agreed instantly.

"Careful, Jou, or your husband might think you love food more than him," Anzu teased.

"Ha! I could say the same thing about him and coffee!"

"The beginning of your golden thread…" Noa grinned.

By the time they had reached the dining place once more, they had exchanged their own individual experiences with cloud-gazing, and as long as Seto and Katsuya were around, a plan was made for the afternoon.

"We met some other guests on the beach; they said that at low tide, one can walk on the reefs and see fish and other sea creatures," Anzu explained.

"No sharks, though," Bakura and Marik said disappointedly, repeating what Anzu had told them after they had voiced their hopes on what they might see. The others sweatdropped.

"Are you coming too?" Mokuba asked.

"Possibly… it depends on when you plan to go." Beneath the table, Seto was lightly and teasingly running his fingers over Katsuya's thigh, taking care not to let the still damp trunks get in his way of skin contact – this was partially the reason why the other was eating even less than he had planned to.

"I suppose most of us will want to make a quick detour to their rooms – I want to get my camera, for instance – and then we'll meet at the deckchairs in fifteen minutes or so and go."

"We'll see," the elder told him and stood up. "Come now, puppy."

"Grab a few buns so I can have something later on, okay?" Katsuya hurriedly whispered to Noa before he was unceremoniously dragged away by Seto.

"Ooh, they're bringing it on!" Bakura and Marik snickered, waggling their eyebrows suggestively.

"Here we go again," Mokuba sighed, figuring that he could soon claim that "we'll see" was his brother's catch phrase. When Noa suddenly took off his shirt, he stared. "What are you doing?"

"Jou said he would want some buns later on, but there's a sign that says 'Don't take food to your room', so I need to smuggle them out somehow."

Mokuba remembered Seto's comment about how their brother might become a criminal and hoped that the fact that said brother was (almost) stealing wouldn't be the beginning of a criminal career that might eventually lead straight to juvenile hall…

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Since they figured that there would be more than enough time to drive each other wild (and because Anzu's elaboration of the afternoon's plan had sounded quite appealing to one of them in particular), Seto and Katsuya headed for the arranged meeting point soon after having had it away. To not only their surprise, they weren't even the last ones to show up.

"Damn, how fast are you guys?!" Malik asked, surprised.

"Indeed, that must have been rather quick," Yami agreed.

"But some of us had dessert, so we ate longer than we usually would," Yugi argued.

"Still…"

"It's solely a question of plans and technique," Seto interrupted, "End of subject."

"Hope it was good, at least," Marik muttered. He caught Katsuya's eye, and the blond mouthed:

"You bet."

"Anzu and Mai should be here soon…" Mokuba remarked, reconsidering the time.

"We have other problems right now," Noa reminded him, and Seto and Katsuya saw what he meant by that:

Bakura appeared to be boiling or bristling with something that looked like anger plus the deep-running desire for vengeance. He kept balling his hands to fists, then relaxing them again. He looked at least twice as insane as usual. Ryou was keeping a watchful eye on him.

"O-kay… what's up with Bakura?"

"Remember the kid on the plane, the one who pulled his hair?" Mokuba asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, apparently he's staying at this hotel too."

Katsuya whistled, and Seto quipped: "Well, they do say it's a small world…"

"Maybe so, but Bakura's wrath is very fresh – we found this out just three or four minutes ago when the kid went past us."

"The pool… it's perfect… No, maybe I could drop a coconut from a palm tree right on that runt's head… or Marik could brain-wash a monkey or something to do my bidding…" Bakura was mumbling.

"Bakura, he's just a kid. And I hate to put it so bluntly, but you sort of deserved it. After all, you lied to him," Ryou tried to reason with him.

"That little fucker grinned at me as if he thought he's better than me! Don't deny it, Hikari: you saw it too!" Bakura snarled.

"Honestly!" the Briton scolded, displeased by that very crude name Bakura had called the boy. Admittedly; he couldn't deny that the kid had definitely remembered the albino upon walking by a few minutes ago, but he didn't think that it qualified as a reason to use the word "fucker".

"Ryou, give me the Ring, by Ra!"

"No," Ryou disagreed, pointedly holding the Ring away, "I will not let you send that child to the Shadow Realm or do something equally horrible. Get over it, Bakura."

The reply to this was a tirade of words the others didn't understand (except Marik and Malik, who gave each other a look that strongly suggested that whatever was being said wasn't something nice) – presumably Egyptian. When the tomb robber's voice subsided to a sullen mutter and he stared at the grass as if it were the target of his wrath, Noa tapped Marik on the shoulder.

"What did he say? You understood, right?"

"Yeah, I did, but I don't think the Priest would be very happy if I'd translate," Malik's yami answered while stealing a glance at Seto, who sure enough had a warning look on his face since he thought it was bad enough that Mokuba had said something like "Ra dammit".

"Oh, but maybe one of the things that wasn't quite that nasty!" Noa insisted hopefully.

"I don't know what your standards of 'nasty' are, but all of that probably exceeded your bro's." Though he added in a whisper: "Maybe later, when he's… shall we say, occupied with something else…"

"Bad influence, bad influence…" Seto barely moved his lips as he said this, keeping a watchful eye on his two brothers.

"Seto, relax. He's our friend!" Katsuya quietly scolded.

"And a member of the Psycho Duo."

"I hate to put it like this, but you just won't be able to watch them forever…"

Seto didn't reply, but his frown spoke for itself.

"What is this? Two grumpy faces, and the first day isn't anywhere near over yet? My, my…" a female voice suddenly remarked, signaling Anzu's arrival.

"One more comment like that and you're dead, Mazaki!" Bakura growled.

"You're taking this too far!" Malik reprimanded him, "She didn't do anything bad to you!"

"Not here; but on the plane, she did…"

"Is he always this resentful?" Mai wondered, raising an eyebrow at the thief.

"Have men disappointed you?" Ryou asked instead. The blonde woman pursed her lips and raised her other eyebrow as well. Her question definitely was answered now.

Following Anzu's lead, they sauntered down to the beach. She pointed to what appeared to be a rocky stretch within the water, a stretch that hadn't been visible earlier that day.

"Cheer up, my friend; let's go find something weird!" Marik said brightly, clapping Bakura on the shoulder.

"I could definitely do with that right now," the other muttered.

"Maybe it would even be… dangerous, and/or pointy… something like that!" Marik continued.

Now Bakura's eyes lit up noticeably. "I like the sound of that!"

"C'mon!"

They quickened their pace, eagerly discussing what they hoped to find (aside from the sharks which they knew wouldn't be there). The others took it a bit easier as they roamed in this quite different environment: straight ahead and behind them, the beach with its almost white, soft sand reached for as far as they could see. Where the waves now softly washed upon the shore, the darker sand was practically littered with shells in places. Every now and then, holes could be spotted in the sand; they indicated that crabs had dug themselves in there. Where the water was shallow, dark patches of seaweed could clearly be seen floating on the surface, though one couldn't tell what might be hidden in the sand beneath it. And although the sun was still shining brightly, the cool wind prevented oneself from feeling all too hot. Sometimes, when it blew a bit stronger, people would stretch out their arms to enjoy it even more, making no secret of their pleasure.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Seto asked when they reached the spot where they would be able to cross onto the reef. He raised his eyebrow in skepticism when he saw exactly how far away from the shore they would go with water all around them.

"Sure I'm sure," Anzu told him encouragingly, "We've got almost two hours until it'll be high tide – I made an extra detour to find out about that. It's more than enough time."

"Hopefully so; I haven't exactly planned to get dashed against a bunch of rocks anytime soon," the CEO muttered as he followed Katsuya, whose eagerness had taken over everything else.

"You're kinda paranoid!" Mai laughed.

"I'm being careful; paranoid is something else."

"Whatever you say…"

The exploration of the reef was a quite adventurous experience. All around, there were what looked like puddles in the rocky ground, and those contained exactly what the other guests had mentioned: different plants, fish, crustaceans and various other forms of marine life. Mokuba had brought along his camera to capture one or another finding on film.

"Jou, look, there's a starfish!" Ryou exclaimed, pointing.

"Ah, that's a pretty one!" Katsuya replied, observing the creature's red patterns on its grey body as it let the ends of its arms drift along with the water's movement, "Suppose I could fish it out for a better look?"

"No, let it be. Would you like it if someone would suddenly pick you up, tearing you away from your habitat?"

The blond considered this for a moment, then answered: "If they'd put me back, I wouldn't mind so much."

"I daresay that the starfish would beg to differ," Ryou commented and stood up again.

"If only we could speak starfish-ish or whatever it's called so we could ask it…"

"Great, I'm married to someone who wants to talk to fish, of all creatures," Seto sighed as he picked his way, not making one step too quickly.

"Hey, I bet they'd have some interesting things to say!" Katsuya protested, overtaking the brunet in two or three steps because he paid far less attention to where he was setting foot, "Maybe they make jokes about fishermen or something! Ah, speaking of jokes," (Seto groaned – jokes weren't necessarily things that meant an awful lot to him) "picture this: two fish are at the surface and talking. Suddenly, it starts to rain. Then one fish says to the other: 'Oh my God, let's dive under, otherwise we'll get wet!'"

Yugi and Yami were right behind them, and the former started giggling madly while Yami leaned against his lighter half for support as he laughed out loud. Anzu and Mai were cracking up as well. Katsuya grinned goofily, and Seto simply watched them with wide eyes.

"C'mon, Kaiba, even you had to find that funny!" Yami gasped.

"Unless your logic reasoning got in the way again," Katsuya added.

"…Would you be mad if you were right?" Seto asked nonchalantly.

He got an honest smile plus a headshake for that comment. "Nah. Who doesn't like being right? And it's not as if I seriously thought that you'd laugh."

Seto shrugged. "Also, it's not as if you don't have enough humor for the both of us."

While Katsuya made the victory sign, the others brought their laughter to an end, then they continued the expedition.

"Nii-sama! Nii-sama! I've got something for you!" Mokuba cried as he ran to his brother, both his hands clasped over something.

"It's not something gross, though, is it?"

The teen looked appalled. "When did I ever give something gross to you?"

The blue-eyed billionaire narrowed his eyes as if that said everything already – and to those who knew the story, it did.

(flashback)

On a sunny summer day, Seto was sitting on the couch and reading a thriller. For a change, he wasn't thinking about business or dueling in any way and was solely interested in reading about the murder of the century while Katsuya was getting him a glass of orange juice.

Just then, Mokuba came rushing into the living room, sounding like a herd of elephants. He was closely followed by Noa, who was clutching a camera and thoroughly enjoying his first summer in the real world.

"Nii-sama, I've got a surprise for you!"

Despite some slight irritation over being distracted from his enthralling lecture – oh, the suspense was killing him! – Seto lowered the book and looked at his brother, whose eyes were practically shining with excitement.

"What, Mokie?"

"It's a surprise! Close your eyes and hold out your hands!"

Seto shook his head a bit; although his sibling was really a teenager now, he still had those distinctively childish moments… In complete trust, he closed his eyes and held out his hands.

Mokuba nodded excitedly at Noa, who held up the camera and was ready for the moment to press the shutter release button. It was just then that Katsuya re-entered the room with a glass full of juice in one hand.

"What's going on?" he asked, wondering why on earth Seto was holding out his hands like a blind man begging for money.

"Nii-sama is getting a surprise! Watch!" Mokuba said, "Alright, here goes…" He placed the object he had been concealing all this time on the elder's palms and bounced back a step.

Seto flinched at the weird feeling of the unknown thing in his hands, and his blue eyes flew open to observe his surprise. To his horror, he was looking at a (for his taste) way too big toad, complete with the warty skin and everything. When the human established eye contact with it, the amphibian puffed out its throat and croaked loudly, as if demanding to be put back down on the ground this instant.

Just before that noise was made, Noa felt how Mokuba elbowed him urgently, and the teal-haired Kaiba brother pressed the shutter release button. There was no flash of light, but he didn't give it much thought, for the sight that met their eyes was far too distracting: Seto yelled bloody murder and disgustedly flung away the toad. While doing so, he also scrambled backwards to put additional distance between him and the "surprise" – and the press would have had an ultimate field day if they had been present too, for that was the moment when Seto managed to topple over the back of the couch, landing on the floor rear-end-first with a thud and a curse.

Screams of laughter filled the room. Katsuya doubled over and spilled the juice all over his feet, though this made him laugh even harder. Mokuba was flat on his back, clutching his sides, and Noa barely managed to stay halfway upright.

"That was not funny!" Seto shouted as he got back to his feet again. A crimson hue adorned his cheeks, and his eyes were blazing. "Where is that thing?!"

The innocent toad croaked yet again and hurriedly hopped off to where it smelled fresh air.

"Out! Get out or I'll help you along!" the CEO bellowed, reaching for his book and looking as if he was seriously about to swat the creature and boot it right outside in the process. It was making quick progress on its own, however.

Katsuya somehow managed to get a grip well enough to notice that Seto's rage which had been born out of embarrassment might lead to a (perhaps unintentional?) threat to the toad's very life, so he set the now empty glass down and miraculously got to their croaking friend before the brunet did and snatched it up. But he almost dropped it because he got into another laughing fit when Seto exclaimed:

"Yuck; don't touch it, Katsuya! That's gross!"

Hearing that last word from Seto of all people made Mokuba abandon his plan to get up at least on all fours again, and Noa dropped to his knees, wheezing with laughter as once more, Seto demanded to dispose of the amphibian.

Amidst laughter, Katsuya practically staggered to the door that led to the garden and carefully put the toad down in the grass, where it began the journey back to the pond where it lived.

Seeing that the house was toad-free again (hopefully), Seto focused on catching his breath, yet when he turned to his brothers, he looked like a bull facing two matadors in an arena – laughing matadors, in this case. And minus the red cloth, but armed with a camera instead.

"Did you… did you capture that?" Mokuba gasped. His sides hurt as if he had been stabbed with a knife, but in his opinion, it was worth it.

"I-I think so…" Noa replied.

"What d'you mean, you think so…?!"

"Mokuba. Explain yourself."

The raven-haired teen looked up from where he was lying on the floor to see Seto looming over him with such a meaningful glance that he doubted he would get out of this unscathed.

"It's… it's summertime, Nii-sama. I thought you might want to know what's living in our backyard; and besides, frogs and toads are our friends." (3)

"…If I should ever find that I need a heart attack for whatever crazy reason, I know who to call…"

Mokuba grinned with relief, sensing that his brother had gotten over the worst shock. The shame was another issue, though:

"Um, Mokie? I think I made a movie instead of a photo," Noa suddenly said after having inspected the camera in the meantime.

Seto's pink cheeks turned red again, and he tried to make a grab for the camera.

"Jou, catch!" Noa reacted instantly and tossed the device to Katsuya, who had just gotten to his feet again.

"This is not over yet!" Without even pausing, Seto rounded on the blond, who whooped and ran out into the garden, where he soon looked as if he were playing an odd game of basketball with his lover. Mokuba and Noa watched this amusedly for a while before offering to take the camera back. Katsuya handed it over by means of a well-aimed throw, but a moment later, he found himself lying spread-eagled in the lawn with Seto on top of him.

"Um, in case you haven't noticed, I don't have the camera anymore…" he panted, feeling how the taller boy's breaths tickled his skin.

"I know, puppy. Let's just say that my interests shifted rather suddenly," Seto replied with that sly smirk he usually got in such situations, "You'll have to pay me to get off."

"In dollars or in yen?" Katsuya teased.

"Neither," Seto whispered before claiming the other's lips in a demanding, passion-laced kiss. Apparently, he had all too willingly chosen to forget that the same young man had actually been holding a "gross" toad not so long ago.

Mokuba looked at Noa. "Let's go save this film on hard disk."

"And give it insurmountable password protection," the other boy agreed.

Grinning, they went back into the house to do just that while leaving Katsuya at the "mercy" of Seto's sudden surge of desire…

(end flashback)

"This is interesting – something grossed Kaiba out? Like what?" Yami asked gleefully, bearing a rather startling resemblance to Bakura just then.

"Not. A. Word," Seto warned his brothers and Katsuya, who were clearly still basking in that particular memory which was indeed stored on a computer's hard drive back at home so they could watch it over and over again…

The raven-haired one of the three suppressed a snicker, then held out his hands. "Trust me, Seto. Just close your eyes and stop being such a worrywart!" Needless to say, he was the only one – and truly the only one – who was allowed to use expressions like that when referring to his brother.

With an irritated sigh, Seto closed his eyes, placed one hand on his hip and held out the other demandingly. "I swear, Mokuba, if you're tricking me…!"

"I'm not! Sheesh…" He carefully put whatever he had been holding onto Seto's palm, but before revealing it, he nodded to Noa, who readied the camera. "Alright, Nii-sama, now you can look!" And he took a step back.

At first, Seto opened one eye just a bit; then the other opened as well, and he blinked. Sitting on his palm was a small sea urchin. Its little body was very dark, and its spines were almost lilac with pinkish tips. They weren't all too sharp, so it was painless to hold it.

"Oh, isn't that just kawaii?!" Mai squealed, "It's probably just a baby!"

"And even if it isn't, who cares?" Anzu agreed, looking equally delighted.

"See, Nii-sama? I told you I wasn't lying!" Mokuba grinned.

"We're your friends – more than that, in fact!" Noa added brightly before taking a picture (not a movie this time).

"It'll take more than this to stop making me become skeptic when you tell me that you've 'got something for me'," Seto retorted.

"Maybe, but what do you usually say in such situations? Oh yes: it's a start," Mokuba said importantly, raising a finger.

"And here I was, thinking that I had varied speech…"

Katsuya gladly took the little urchin that was offered to him like an exquisite dish presented by a waiter, and Mai and Anzu moved over to huddle around the blond's hand, totally engrossed with the sea creature.

"Ow! Ow! Haha, this is great!"

"Ouch! I dare you to pick it up!"

The Kaiba brothers turned around to see Bakura and Marik kneeling and reaching into a puddle. Malik was peering interestedly over his yami's shoulder while Ryou was occupied otherwise, casually strolling around and apparently entirely content with exploring this little world on his own – and in this case, that was probably the best for both him and Bakura.

"Hey Noa! C'mon over here and check this out!" Marik called.

"On my way!"

"Oh no…" Seto remarked as his brother ran off, "This cannot be good…"

"You're prejudiced!" Mokuba laughed.

"And you're impartial."

"Do you really want to argue about that again?" his sibling asked challengingly as he pretended to amble over to the "Psycho Duo" without even noticing it.

"Not necessarily. Last time that happened, a laptop met a most horrid death," Seto mused, automatically following the younger one.

"And your poor face ached from laughing so much," Mokuba grinned.

"Indeed…" The brunet traced his jawbone as he remembered that incident, which was yet another addition to their collection of "Kaiba brother quarrels"; most of those ended in a tickling fight or something else that really couldn't be associated with an argument.

"How about this one? A real beauty, it is!" Bakura spoke and held out his hands to Noa.

By now, the other two were close enough that they fully switched their attention to the situation: perched on Bakura's palms was a sea urchin, but it was much different from the one Seto had been holding a few minutes ago: it was entirely black, and its spines were not only a lot longer than the other one's, but also very pointy. They appeared to be lightly digging themselves into the thief's hands, and if one looked closely enough, it even was evident that the spines were moving towards where they were having contact with another body (at least, as far as they could). Bakura looked overjoyed, as did the two Ishtars too.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Mokuba exclaimed as Noa hesitated briefly whether or not he should accept that "gift".

"Of course it does; that's what gives you the thrill!" the albino explained.

"Pain for pleasure!" Marik beamed.

'Freaks!' Seto's mind screamed, and externally, he scowled.

"…Alright, I'll take it – but only if you give it very carefully to me. Don't drop it on my palms or anything," Noa complied, cupping his hands to prepare for the urchin.

"Okay…" Bakura sounded like a salesman whose customer had just made a bad decision. "But you're the one who will miss that delightful, prickling feeling when those lovely spines softly penetrate your skin…" He gazed almost fondly at the creature in his hands as he slowly passed it to the teal-haired Kaiba brother.

"I can't believe you're doing this, Noa," Seto remarked dryly, resisting the urge to snort at Bakura's pain eulogy.

"Hey, where in Japan would I be able to have a similar experience? And it's not as if it will bite me, so…" Noa's voice trailed off, and then he sucked in his breath when the black ball of spines came to rest in his hands. Fascinated, he watched as the spines swayed in the breeze; those in the lower regions tried to join their lowest comrades in "exploring" the new surface they were on.

"Well?" Mokuba asked, bending down until his face was at the same level as his brother's, "How is it?"

"It's neat, Mokie! Don't you want to hold it as well?"

"I dunno… how about if I take a picture of you first?"

"Good idea!"

The black-haired teen removed the camera from its position around Noa's neck before prompting him: "Say cheese!"

"Cheese!"

Click.

"That has got to be the dumbest thing you can say when you get your picture taken! Why the hell do you say cheese? Is that some special custom of mortals?" Bakura asked.

"It's because it makes you smile or at least display your teeth when you say the 'e'. Of course, your picture can't serve as proof for that –" Seto began.

"Look who's talking!" the two ex-spirits cut him off with identical crazy grins.

"It seems to me like you've hit the jackpot, tomb robber," Yami said as he suddenly appeared at Seto's side, as usual accompanied by Yugi.

"Big time, Pharaoh. Imagine what marvelous ammunition these babies would make," Bakura snickered, plunging his hand into the water and half-stifling a cackle when spines pierced him anew.

"Only you could come up with a concept like that."

"Thank you," Ryou's yami replied, once again feeling complimented by what might have been an insult to others, "So, fancy a game of catch?"

"You're crazy if you think I do," Yami said quickly as he watched another sea urchin leave its watery home, its spines digging deeper into Bakura's hands as he had a tighter grip on it. Especially at the fingertips, a few drops of blood oozed out.

"What are you afraid of? That we'd throw it right into your eye?" Marik chimed in. He too looked like a pitcher who was about to throw a ball that would be illegal in any ball game. Malik put a hand on the other Egyptian's shoulder, watching the scene apprehensively yet not giving the impression that he would interfere if the worst were to come; after all, he was the "wild card" among the three hikaris.

"Noa, Mokuba…" Seto began.

Knowing that tone of voice without needing any further prompts, the two teens retreated after Noa carefully put the urchin he was still holding back into the water (and admiring the little dents in his palms as he followed Mokuba).

"Bakura, Marik, if you do that, I swear I'll perform Mind Crush on you!" Yami growled as he inched over until he was standing protectively in front of Yugi, who was looking very worried.

"Yami…"

"Don't worry, aibou."

It was hard to tell what would have happened if Ryou hadn't stepped in just then:

"Bakura! What are you doing with that sea urchin?!"

"Planning to throw it at the Pharaoh," Bakura answered with as much innocence as he could muster.

"That not nice at all, to put it mildly!"

"I'm not a nice guy!"

"That's still no excuse to throw a sea urchin at somebody! Please, put it down before you'll hurt it – I see that it's already too late for you…"

"But I –"

A cry of pain interrupted Bakura's response, and they all looked to see what the cause was.

"Mai!"

"Oh God, are you alright?!"

Mai had bent over after recoiling from one of the little ponds. She was clutching her right hand, and Katsuya and Anzu were gathered around her. Wondering what had happened, Noa and Mokuba hastily hurried over, closely followed by the others (except Bakura and Marik, who had to put their "newfound ammunition" back where it belonged).

"What's going on?" Mokuba asked worriedly, coming to a stop next to Katsuya.

"She tried to fish Mr. Spike out of the water, and it must have stung her," the blond answered, trying to pry Mai's other hand away.

Noa peered into the water and remarked: "Wow, that's a beautiful one!"

"I know!" Mai said in a clenched voice and breathed in audibly, "That's why I wanted to get a better look at it!"

"So it's a bit of pain – what else did you think you'd get when you pick one of those up?" Marik asked, frankly surprised that she had even attempted to handle those creatures like he and Bakura did so voluntarily.

"Wait a moment… this is weird! Look, your fingers are blue and green!" Anzu exclaimed in dismay after managing to inspect her girlfriend's right hand more intently.

Bakura and Marik looked their own hands over – but they were merely bloody in some places and certainly not bluish-green.

"D'you wanna go back to the hotel, Mai?" Katsuya asked concernedly.

"You think I should?"

"…Yeah."

"O-Okay, I'll go back…"

"I'm coming with you," Anzu volunteered and put an arm around the other woman. She reminded the others about the time, then they walked off.

"Let's finish what she started!" Bakura suggested.

"Kura, no! Didn't you see her fingers?! You can't seriously want yours to look like that too, even if you really don't mind pain so much!" Ryou protested.

"Don't wet yourself, Hikari… I'll use my shirt, if that will make you feel better," the ex-spirit drawled, and when Ryou nodded nervously, he removed said shirt and paused for a moment before almost purring: "Ah, this feels great…!"

"Yeah, yeah, we can see that you're sexy; now get on with it!" Marik snickered, elbowing his friend.

"If it weren't such a girly thing to do, I'd admire my nails right now…"

Ryou slapped a hand against his forehead while Malik burst out laughing, eliciting a few chuckles from some of the others too. Grinning smugly, Bakura proceeded to fish the apparently dangerous sea urchin out of the water.

"This calls for a close-up!" Mokuba marveled and took a good picture of that fascinating specimen: its spines were dark brown with a tinge of red, as was its body too, except that it had a star-like pattern on it that seemed to glow in a gaudy red. Along the edges of that pattern were little blue spots, just like the eyes on a scallop.

"Maybe it's one of those 'beautiful but poisonous' beings," Noa said thoughtfully.

"Poisonous?!" Katsuya repeated in dismay.

"That would explain why her fingers turned green-blue unlike Bakura and Marik's… I didn't mean to worry you, Jou."

The other muttered something nobody understood, and Seto lightly patted him on the shoulder in silent reassurance.

Deciding that the urchin had dealt with them long enough and vice versa, Ryou asked Bakura to leave it in peace, and after the echinoderm was back in its familiar surroundings, they ambled around on the reef for almost an hour, finding more sea urchins and some small tropical fish here and there. Yugi even found a whitish crab, which made him happy as a king (and providing another photo op for Mokuba).

It was sheer coincidence that Ryou had only just started to act fidgety and wonder about the time when Anzu called out to them from the beach:

"Hey guys! They're having tea and cake now!"

"Tea?!" Ryou exclaimed enthusiastically, visibly brightening.

"Cake!" almost all the others whooped, and Anzu could practically picture the infamous cloud of dust behind them as she watched them flock towards her like a bunch of Road Runners…

(1) Um... Let's just say that Ryou can watch TV via the internet... and it really is food for thought, don't you agree?

(2) I simply couldn't resist... as I wrote that part, I remembered that quote from Calvin and Hobbes (the next sentence is: Everyone hates a literalist.), and somehow I just thought that it would suit Seto well for that moment... so please don't sue me!

(3) They are! After all, they eat those nasty mosquitoes and pesky flies...

Whew, you made it through the chapter! I'm aiming for the next one to be shorter (6,000 - 6,500 words or so), just so you won't be wondering whether I forgot half of it. Even so, I think they're long enough ;)

Well, hope you liked it, and see you with the next chapter!