Hey all! sorry about the delay in publishing this next chapter- what with Christmas, and end of year work, I have been flat out! I hope you all had a lovely Xmas Day!

As always, thank you all for your comments and private messages. I am happy to say that in this chapter you may begin to see the start of things to come, the formation of the true story line. I do appreciate you all sticking with me through this terribly slow introduction to the Puppyshipping theme, but I cannot stand incomplete stories or not enough background context!

I will be plugging away and hope to publish another chapter very soon- I am looking forward to the upcoming chapters! I am fascinated by the Yami/Yugi relationships, as well as Yami Bakura, so I may feature them more heavily too. Or, I may start up a different story- Puzzleshipping perhaps. Let me know if you'd be interested in reading another story of mine! :)

Anyway, enjoy, as always I welcome suggestions or requests!

And, of course, "I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!".


Joey rolled out his bed with a groan. His alarm sounded jarringly on his bedside table and he fumbled about for a few seconds before finally hitting the right button to end the hellish sound. As he sat in the dimly lit cabin rubbing his sleep-puffed face, the previous day's activities came flooding back to him, along with the associated aches and pains. Every inch of his body ached and Joey dreaded seeing what his face looked like in the mirror; it was bound to be a mass of purple bruising. His eye was still very puffy but luckily it had not closed up entirely. Squinting about the darkened room, Joey noticed that Kaiba's bed was perfectly and neatly made, showing no sign at all that somebody had ever slept there. Kaiba had obviously gotten up long before Joey and already left for breakfast. Cursing at self-important CEOs and their penchant for rising early, Joey scrambled out of bed and raced into the bathroom to shower. There was no way he was going to be running late and get in trouble again!

"Mr. Wheeler, you are very nearly late," Mr. Morris said disapprovingly as Joey attempted to sneakily join the rock climbing group, a slice of toast between his teeth. There had been no sign of Kaiba at breakfast, however luckily for Joey, Ms. Hennessy had also been absent and so Joey had enjoyed a few peaceful minutes on his own before realising that the first activity was about to start. Grabbing the closest food item, Joey had raced out of the dining hall and headed for the indoor recreation centre.

"Sorry Mr. Morris." Joey muttered, trying not to chew too obviously on his cold toast.

"No harm done- please join your partner on wall 4; we are about to begin. You missed the demonstration but I'm sure Mr. Kaiba can fill you in." Mr. Morris turned away and began to help a pretty girl tighten her straps, which Joey felt was slightly unnecessary.

Joey shuffled over to where Kaiba was waiting, looking oddly comical with his harness and straps wrapped around his designer clothing. "Heya, Moneybags," Joey called out around his mouthful of toast. Kaiba favoured him a small grimace of distaste, somehow managing to remain dignified whilst wearing the ridiculous climbing helmet. Joey noticed a few extra bruises had sprouted up on Kaiba's face and arms overnight as well.

"I see the mutt finally rolled out of bed. I'm surprised you didn't wake yourself up with all that snoring". Kaiba smirked at his own joke a little as Joey bridled.

"I do not snore!" Joey cried.

"No, you're right. Of course you don't snore." Kaiba replied, eyes sparkling maliciously. "Obviously somebody crept into our room last night and started up a chainsaw in the same corner of the room as your bed. I'm surprised you didn't notice." Joey blinked for a few minutes and then opened his mouth to reply furiously. At that moment the teacher blew his whistle and all along the line, students began climbing and calling out to each other, their voices echoing throughout the room. Joey looked to Kaiba, unsure of what to do. Kaiba rolled his eyes and began to talk Joey through how to belay for him. He was a surprisingly succinct teacher and a few minutes later, Joey was looking on as the CEO scaled the rock wall with apparent ease. Joey rolled his eyes at Kaiba's back, thinking to himself; of course he has to be good at this as well. Is there anything this guy can't do?

Despite losing some time showing Joey how to work the ropes, Kaiba made rapid gains on his teammates and was the first to reach the top. Despite himself, Joey cheered; after all, Kaiba's success reflected well on him as well. As Kaiba began the descent, Joey looked around a bit at the other teams. Some students were really struggling and others had refused point-blank to make the climb; Joey noticed the girl who had appeared seasick the previous day was sitting by her wall looking wretched while her aggravated partner waited for another couple to finish so that he could have a turn. Joey shook his head a bit, wondering why anybody would pay so much to go on a cruise only to turn down all the activities on offer; he planned to make the absolute most of his vacation, Kaiba permitting.

Suddenly Kaiba's feet hit the ground, dragging Joey's attention back to his partner. He was surprised to find that the brunette was breathing a bit harder, a grin on his usually deadpan face. Obviously he enjoyed the physical exertion. He even managed to look at Joey with something other than derision, which had to be a first.

Now it was Joey's turn to climb. Strangely, looking up at the tall smooth wall with its tiny handholds and holes, he felt slightly dizzy. He didn't have a huge love of heights and the idea of being held up by a flimsy rope by his nemesis was enough to make Joey's palms begin to sweat. Conscious of Kaiba's eyes on him however, Joey clamoured into the harness and fastened the buckles with slightly trembling hands. He noticed that the scent of Kaiba's cologne lingered on the harness. Taking several deep breaths, Joey bolstered his confidence and began to slowly, painstakingly climb. As he reached for the next handhold, Joey heard Mr. Morris call out, "Ok class! All the team's partners have now switched places! Kaiba and Wheeler are in the lead but Ray and Thompson aren't far behind them! Who will win?" The shouts and cheers began to pick up in volume as the climbers rose to the challenge and began to scale their walls with determination. Joey picked up the pace and his unease began to fade as he focused his attention on reaching the top first, although he was not a confident climber like Kaiba was. From the corner of his eye Joey could see the team next to him were drawing even, despite his best efforts. His heart sank and his pace began to slow.

Suddenly a voice rose above the din from below him. "Go Wheeler! You can beat these losers!" Joey glanced down at Kaiba in disbelief. Was the arrogant CEO actually cheering for him? He spotted the tall brunette amongst the gathered students, and his ears weren't deceiving him; Kaiba was calling up to Joey with a determined expression, clearly caught up in the excitement of the moment. Of course, Joey knew firsthand how competitive Kaiba was about games and so he wasn't surprised that the brunette wanted to win; what did surprise Joey was that Kaiba was lending his moral support to him!

The cheering, odd as it was to Joey, bolstered him and he began to gain ground and overtake the other teams again. Slapping the top rock with a crow of delight, Joey nimbly began scarpering back down the wall, barely paying attention to his foot holds in the excitement of winning. Several times he almost slipped, which would have caused him to fall off and be caught by the support rope, and likely be eliminated from the impromptu competition; but luckily, he avoided all disaster, and minutes later, his feet slapped the solid floor. By now several other students had wandered over to watch from other activity stations and the atmosphere was genuinely excited. As soon as Joey's feet hit the ground, students massed toward him, cheering and thumping him on the back. Joey dimly noticed that the runner-up team were still halfway down their wall- obviously the competition brought out his best rock climbing skills! Joey grinned and allowed himself to be showered with compliments and hugs. Caught up in the tangle of limbs and cheering, it was several seconds before Joey realised that Kaiba had one arm around his shoulders and was jostling him with excitement- he even ruffled Joey's hair with glee. Joey gawped at the brunette, unsure of how to react to this friendly gesture, when just the day before he was being punched by the same person! As he stared at the teen, his heart thumping painfully from the shock, Kaiba seemed to feel his gaze and looked down at him. As Kaiba's arm was around Joey's shoulder, the two boys were quite close together, and so Joey could read Kaiba's expression quite easily. In it, Joey saw Kaiba's excitement fade as he realised the reason for Joey's scrutiny, and he studiously removed his arm from Joey's shoulder, allowing his face to melt back into impassiveness as he did so.

However, Joey noticed a faint twinkle still existed in the other boy's eyes as Kaiba said with a humorous sneer, "Well, I guess you are good for something, Wheeler." Joey rolled his eyes in response, understanding that Kaiba was joking around in his own way.

"Well done boys, well done!" Mr. Morris called out over the din, clapping his hands to get the students' attention. "Now then teams, let's get strapped in again and we'll attempt the more difficult walls! Let's make it fun, shall we? The team who wins the most races today doesn't have to help put all the equipment away after the activity!" Joey glanced back at Kaiba, who gave him a faint nod. The game was on.

It was some time later that the two boys made their way to the dining hall. Naturally, with Kaiba as a teammate, the two had beaten the competition with ease, and as a result they were allowed to head to lunch early while their classmates stayed behind to tidy up. Joey's sore muscles had eased somewhat with the morning of physical activity to warm him up, and he strolled casually with his shirt sleeves rolled up and his top few buttons undone. Barely noticing, Joey began to whistle a little tune as he walked along, hands in pockets. Kaiba walked beside him, but far enough away that one would be forgiven for thinking the two weren't strictly travelling together. The sun was shining and a brisk breeze ruffled Joey's hair. It was perfect weather and for the first time since being stuck with Kaiba as a roommate, Joey felt himself fully relax and begin to feel content. The two pushed open the dining hall doors to find it largely empty of other students; clearly they had finished up the rock climbing activity earlier than the other group activities. The two boys made their way with unspoken consent to the same dining table they had sat at the night before. As Kaiba wandered over to the bain-marie to collect some food, Joey tucked his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair, surveying the rest of the food hall. He had just closed his eyes to rest for a moment when the clatter of a plate being placed on the table jolted him out of his almost-nap.

"What is that tune?" Joey looked up to see Kaiba taking a seat beside him. The brunette wasn't looking at Joey but obviously the question was aimed at him, being the only other at the table.

"What tune?" Joey replied, confused.

"That tune you were humming just now. It is the same tune that you were whistling earlier, on deck." Kaiba busied himself with buttering a piece of bread, still avoiding eye contact, as though he were embarrassed for asking about something as silly as Joey's whistling. Joey idly noticed that Kaiba didn't cut his bread up to eat but instead tore chunks from it with his long fingers before buttering each ragged piece. Joey ate his bread the same way but for some reason it struck him as funny that Kaiba ate in such a non-fancy manner. Then he turned his attention to the CEO's question.

"Er, I dunno really, it's just a song. I useta sing it for Serenity when we were kids. Sometimes she'd wake up in the night bawlin', and my song was the only thing that'd put her back to sleep." Joey scratched the back of his head with faint embarrassment. "To be honest, I didn't even realise I was hummin' it. Sometimes it just happens". Kaiba met his eyes, nodded once, then turned back to his bread-destroying in a suddenly moody silence. Joey cast about for something to say to break the sudden silence, with no luck. He had just opened his mouth to say something, anything, when another voice called out across the hall.

"Joey! Kaiba! Hey!" It was Tea, walking closely behind Yami. Joey noticed that Tea included Kaiba in her greeting and had obviously decided, like Yugi long before her, that Kaiba was worthy of the title 'friend'. Yami gave a small wave but remained mostly deadpan.

"Heya Tea!" Joey replied, relieved that the building tension had been broken. Plus it felt like forever since he'd seen a friendly face! "And Yami. You guys done for the afternoon as well?" the duo nodded as they took their seats opposite Joey and Kaiba. Joey noticed a steady stream of other students was now entering the dining hall.

"Yes," Yami replied. "We had a team building session. We had to do trust falls and build arm bridges, and such." He turned to Joey and quirked an eyebrow with humour. "Tea greatly enjoyed the afternoon". Tea nodded eagerly, and without prompt began chattering away about the various trust exercises and pair activities they had spent the day doing. Yami rolled his eyes at Joey, but the gesture was non-spiteful; the entire group knew how much Tea loved developing friendships and trust with others. Joey grinned at the other boy and let Tea's excited talk wash over him; only the occasional nod or comment of "oh really?" was required to keep up the flow of conversation. Yami smoothly got up from his seat after a glance at Tea and wandered over to the bain-marie to look over the food on offer. Tea's eyes followed him the whole way, hungrily. Realising that he had not yet eaten, Joey leapt to his feet with a grumble of the stomach and followed Yami.

Lining up behind Yami with his plate, Joey leaned forward and spoke softly to the shorter boy. "So how's it all going? You know- with Tea?" Yami looked around at Joey, startled, and in a most un-pharaoh way blurted out, "how do you know about that? What has been said to you?"

Joey raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Calm down, Yam', nobody said nuthin'. It's just kinda obvious, ok?" Yami's eyebrows drew together ominously and he stared seriously at Joey.

"What exactly is so obvious?"

"Well, the way she stares at you, for starters. Can't keep her eyes off ya! But I noticed you looking back at her the other day so I thought that, ya know, maybe you were startin' to feel the same way?" Joey flushed a little, starting to regret starting the conversation. Yami was staring stonily at the food on offer, mechanically scooping up whatever was in front of him.

"There is nothing to say about that, Joey, as there is nothing there. I do not have feelings for Tea. Looking at somebody does not necessarily mean you have romantic intention. Look at Kaiba; he is staring at you right now, but we can all say with certainty that it is not because he is in love with you, now is he?" Joey jumped with surprise, as Yami had not glanced back at the dining table once and yet somehow thought Kaiba was watching them? Joey glanced over his shoulder and immediately met Kaiba's eyes. The brunette was as deadpan as ever, however Joey somehow knew that he had been watching for some time, and clearly was uncomfortable sitting alone at a table with the chattering Tea. Joey wondered if Kaiba was sending out a silent plea to be rescued from the situation.

Joey turned back to Yami and shook his head. "Sorry Yami, I didn't meant to upset you. I was just wondering. I'll keep my big mouth shut, ok?" Yami gave a small nod and smiled faintly at Joey before turning back and moving toward the table. Joey gave a silent curse and piled his plate up with food before following. He had forgotten how touchy Yugi's Dark Other could be! And he was not entirely convinced that Yami had been telling the truth; even now his eyes were locked onto Tea's, until she was the first to turn away, flushing slightly. Yami frowned slightly and took his seat, moodily poking at his food. Joey ate heartily for something to do but the silence that had descended on the table was an obvious sign that Tea had either run out of things to talk about, or was otherwise distracted.

Finally Joey could take the silence no longer. "So what's the plan for this afternoon, guys? You got another activity to do or what? I don't even know what we have up next." Yami and Tea shook their heads, and Kaiba shifted in his seat a little as Joey looked at him questioningly. "We all have Free Time this afternoon," Yami explained. "I believe Yugi wanted to meet by the swimming pool. Do you want to join us?" Tea nodded excitedly and Joey gave a grin. He loved Free Time, and he loved to swim!

"Count me in!" Joey cried. Next to him however, Kaiba was shaking his head.

"Sorry Mutt, but I need to work this afternoon. I have a conference call". He gave a faint grimace but whether that was at the idea of a conference call or having to speak out loud, Joey wasn't sure.

"So? Go take your call then." Joey said irritably. "I still plan on goin' swimming! I wasn't talking to you anyway." He turned to Yami and continued, "I'll just go put my trunks on, meet you in ten minutes?" as Yami began to nod in agreement, Kaiba interrupted hotly. "The way I understand it, we are not permitted to participate in any activities without each other. As I have a prior arrangement, you will have to stay in the room with me. Trust me, it's not ideal for me either". Joey blinked at the CEO a few times before cursing out loud. Kaiba was right, damn it. Staring at the disappointed Tea and Yami, Joey said sourly, "Sorry guys, looks like I'll haveta take a raincheck. Next time, huh?" The duo nodded with sympathy as Joey got to his feet, leaving food uneaten on his plate- a rarity for the blonde. Turning away without a word, Joey made briskly for the door, a silent Kaiba trailing in his wake.

An hour or two had passed and Joey was almost demented with boredom. Kaiba had been typing away rapidly on his computer the entire time, pausing only to dial in to his teleconference for half an hour. He had made Joey sit out in the balcony while he did so. Joey was now back inside, and although Kaiba had allowed him to turn on the television to watch some cartoons, it had to be turned down so low that he could barely make out what the characters were saying. He had just closed his eyes with a mind to taking a short nap when Kaiba's voice startled him in the relative quiet of the room.

"I am sorry you had to sit in here and miss meeting your friends." The statement was said matter-of-factly, with little emphasis, but Joey knew that it was sincere, somehow. "I know that this trip has not been pleasant for you so far. Trust me, it's been no walk in the park for me also; but I know that friendship and socialising means so much more for you than it does for me." Joey sat unblinking at Kaiba's back, until the brunette twisted in his seat to take him in. To Kaiba, Joey looked rather miserable. Bruised and dishevelled, he really was like a kicked puppy, sitting on his unkempt bed with staring at him all wide-eyed. Kaiba's mouth twisted in a grim smile and he decided to take some pity on the teen.

"Come on," Kaiba said, nodding in the direction of Joey's Duel Monsters deck on his bedside table, "I can take a break for a while, if it means I get to whip you like the mutt you are again." Joey scowled at the dog reference before letting a sly gleam enter his eye.

"Oh Kaiba, you're gonna regret that. Game On!"