Chapter 19, Piece 5 * * * * * * * *

Despite his late night, Seto was awake at 6 the next morning. All that was visible beside him was a blanket and a mop of golden blond hair.

It was a sight he thought he could enjoy seeing each morning.

Seto lay there, enjoying the peace and early morning birds and trying to ignore the voice telling him that if he was awake, then he should be up, being productive.

He lasted twenty minutes before restlessness forced him up. The inn had a shared facility, which he used, remembering for some reason the orphanage and the facilities he had to use - and occasionally clean - there. "What a long, strange trip it's been," he thought.

It was early, and to all appearances no one else was awake. The room he and Jou were assigned had a traditional deck. Seto stepped outside and did his morning tai chi forms. He had practiced tai chi for as long as he could remember. It was one of only a handful of pre-adoption habits of which Gozabura approved. The art helped order the mind and body, so before he faced the world, before he even dressed himself, Seto faced the 96-forms of the Wu Tao variant.

Nude.

Jou woke to the firm footfalls and the sunlit silhouette of someone working out.

'Gotta be Kaiba,' he chuckled to himself. As traditional as the rising sun and twice as predictable.

Jou sat up, yawned, scratched and tried to be quiet as he slipped down the hall to relieve himself.

As he returned to the room, he glanced through the partly open deck door and saw Kaiba.

Tall. Graceful. Completely, totally, butt naked.

Jou's throat went dry as he watched muscular arms lock in position, shapely thighs flex and hold, sculpted abs twist to reveal either a taut chest or a beautiful back.

Jou stood riveted until he realized that Kaiba was in the closing position. Then, rather abruptly, Jou became aware of the steel rod straining his shorts. He slipped out of the room again - before Kaiba turned and saw him watching - to relieve a different need. Twice.

Kaiba was dressed and on his laptop by the time Jou returned.

"No, I can't," Kaiba hissed. "I am on an off-site assignment for school!" It took Jou a second to see the bluetooth tucked behind his ear. "Why are we even discussing this?"

Jou grabbed his clothes and dressed. It was way too early to be up and awake, but if Kaiba was gonna be working, Jou figured it was a good time to snag an early breakfast. Before Honda woke up and cleaned the place out.

Before he left the room he heard Kaiba sigh. "Yes, I suppose that does place me in the right location at the right time. Fine. When do they open?" He looked at his watch. "Can someone be there in an hour? No, I can't. You did hear me when I said this trip is related to my education? Tell them I will be there at 8:30am sharp. If the door is not open, I am leaving at 8:35. I have to go. I am with a classmate."

Kaiba clicked a button and removed the bluetooth.

"Man, sounds like your day's off to a rough start," Jou said, trying to offer some sympathy. It had never occurred to him that maybe the times Kaiba hadn't participated in things was because of calls like that.

Kaiba straightened his shoulders and erased the frustrated expression on his face. "Nothing I can't handle. A large client of mine has had a catastrophic system failure. User error, not a software problem. I happen to be both the software designer for their system - and physically the closest certified KaibaCorp tech."

"So that makes you 'It', eh?"

"It?"

Jou gave him an odd look. "You know, like when you play tag? 'You're it!'"

"Ah." Kaiba nodded. "Yes, Mokuba used to play that game with the other children."

"You never played?"

"Too old." Kaiba shook his head. "I was usually assigned to watch them as they played, so I am familiar with the game."

For a moment, Jou was speechless. What kind of kid doesn't get to play tag?

If Kaiba noticed his shock, he didn't respond. Instead, the executive stood. "I'd better have some breakfast before I head to the aquarium."

"That's your client? We were planning on hitting that today."

Kaiba frown as he closed his computer. "Of course," he commented under his breath. "No pressure." Aloud he said, "the system in question is an interactive hologram near the shark tanks. I anticipate having repairs completed by the time they open at 9."

"And get your day back." Jou had an impulse and went with it. "Hey, we might actually be there by 9, 9:30. Why don't you come hang with us?"

Hang? With Jou and his friends. They always talk about acceptance and understanding but Kaiba found that they never understood him enough to accept him into their little group.

"Yeah, right. Sorry I asked. Skip it, I -"

"No, wait!" He'd taken too long and almost let an opportunity slip past him. "I cannot guarantee that I'll be able to reload their data in a timely manner. I wouldn't want to commit and then interfere with your plans."

Jou grinned widely. "Plans? Us? Dude, our only plan is going to the place. We pretty much play everything by ear." It was still a brush off, but it was probably the nicest brush off Kaiba had ever done. "Tell you what, we'll swing by the sharks first. You wanna join us, join. Otherwise, we'll move on."

Maybe he'd be able to cull Jou from the herd at that point. "Yes. I believe that would suit. I'd better get moving, if I'm going to arrive on time."

Since he didn't need to leave the room, Jou lay back down.

Kaiba. Naked. Wow.

That sight was going to be fuel for his right hand for years.

It was odd that Kaiba was being nice. Maybe they'd finally gotten through to him. Maybe he finally realized that he did need friends. Even a dragon needs more than gold coins and a virgin sacrifice. Stranger things had happened. If Yami hadn't proven that old adage, nothing would.

Seto arrived at the Aquarium a minute early and was greeted by a tediously thankful curator. Water had shorted out a power cable. An intern had been told to reboot the hologram, but had inadvertently selected reformat instead.

"Yes, yes. I understand completely." Kaiba smiled graciously. "I can simply download the software from the Kaiba server. It shouldn't take too long."

"Download it? Oh, you brought a disk?"

"No, but surely you have wi-fi."

"Yes, but when you installed it, you said it would be more secure if this machine were not on the network. So it isn't."

"I can use the machine's internal modem to -"

"But we took it out."

"What?"

"We needed a modem for another machine, and since this one doesn't need access, we took it out."

"I see." He swallowed his response behind another professional smile. "Then I shall just have to find another solution. You may go back to your duties; I'll come to your office when this is complete."