Bakura picked up his school bag and opened his apartment door, turning off the lights before exiting into the hallway. He paused as he locked the door, seeing a familiar figure heading towards him. "Honda-kun...?"

"Ohayou!" the taller boy called jauntily. "I'm going to walk you to school."

Bakura blinked at him a moment before giving a smile. "Honda-kun, your house is in the opposite direction from here, you didn't have to come all this way...."

Honda shrugged, seeming embarrassed to have been caught. "Yeah, well... if anyone tries anything I'd better be around."

Bakura gave a small laugh. "Mou, Honda-kun! You don't have to be my bodyguard," he protested with a smile.

"I'm not! I just don't want you to get hurt."

Bakura looked up at the taller boy, eyes warm. "Arigatou..." he said softly.

Honda laughed self consciously, rubbing the back of his head, then threw an arm around Bakura's shoulders companionably and began walking towards the school.
"Honda-kun?" Bakura's voice called softly as Honda felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Honda gave a start. "Who? What?" He looked around. "When did class get out?"

"Only a short while ago," Bakura assured. "Are you feeling okay? I didn't think the lecture was that boring," he smiled.

Honda yawned. "Just got up early."

"So you could walk me to school? Honda-kun..." Bakura reproached lightly.

"Better than worrying about you," Honda replied with a tired smile. "I mean, without your dad around, who'd know if you were just absent or were hurt?"

Bakura smiled softly, eyes warm.

"So where are we off to this afternoon?"

A few hours later the pair was in Bakura's living room, working on the homework assignment. "Mou, Honda-kun! How much of the class did you sleep though?" Bakura shook his head slightly. "Here, you doing that wrong, it's like this...." He bent over and began correcting the taller boy's answers.

Honda rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know. Just couldn't keep my eyes open this afternoon...,"

"How early did you get up?" Bakura asked, concerned.

The taller boy thought a moment. "Five, I think. I didn't pay too much attention."

"That early?! Why?"

Honda shrugged. "Had to get up and shower and eat and stuff before I came over this way."

"You shouldn't take such poor care of yourself just so you can walk me to school..." Bakura said, still looking concerned.

"I'm not taking bad care of myself, Bakura. I just have to get to bed earlier."

The pale haired boy looked at Honda a moment, then gave a small smile. "Just don't fall asleep in class again. Jounouchi-kun wanted pour a bucked of water over your head to see if your hair would flatten."

Honda ran a protective hand through his hair.

Bakura smiled at the gesture. "Would it?" he asked innocently.

Honda glared lightly at him. "Don't go trying it," he warned.

Bakura laughed slightly. "I wouldn't!" he assured. "I was just wondering." He looked at the protruding spike of hair. "Can I touch it?"

Honda thought a moment, then nodded.

Almost hesitantly, Bakura reached out. His eyes widened as he touched the clump of hair. "It's soft!" he exclaimed, surprised as he gently ran his fingers through the brown strands.

"What did you expect?" Honda asked.

Bakura gave an embarrassed smile. "I always thought you gelled it," he confessed. "It stays like that naturally?"

Honda shrugged. "That's just the way it is."

"Like Yuugi-kun's hair?" Bakura smiled.

Honda shrugged. "What about yours," he said. "That natural?"

Bakura nodded. "You should see it in the morning," he smiled. "It takes me five minutes just to get it this flat."

Honda ran his hands through it. "It's very fine. I can understand how you have such a problem with it."

Bakura smiled at the taller boy, eyes warm. After a moment he looked embarrassed again. "We should work on the homework," he said, shifting so he could reach Honda's paper with more ease. "I'll show you what we did when you were napping."

When they were done, Honda stretched, yawning again. "Thanks for the help, Bakura, but I think another nap is in order." He lay down again, resting his head against Bakura's back.

The pale haired boy's eyes went wide. "Honda-kun!" he exclaimed, face slightly red.

Honda opened one eye. "What?"

Bakura gave a small sigh. "Here..." He rolled out from under the other boy and offered him a hand up. "If you want to nap, you can use my bed."

"No, the couch is fine. Your bed is your bed...."

"As long as you're not using me as a pillow," Bakura smiled.

Honda chuckled tiredly and flopped on the couch.
Honda yawned widely, waking up after his nap. "What time is it?"

"After nine," Bakura said, looking up from his book. "Did you rest well?"

Honda sat up abruptly. "That's late! I should get home."

"I don't know if that would be a good idea, Honda-kun. It's been storming the past half hour."

"Storming? How bad?"

"We lost power briefly and the news said there were a few trees down because of the wind."

"Damn! Lemme call my parents and tell them I'm staying at a friend's, ok?"

Bakura nodded, smiling as he put his book down. "The phone's over here," he said, walking into the hallway.

"Thanks, Bakura. You're a pal." Honda gave him a squeeze on the way past, then picked up the phone and dialled. A brief conversation later he was off again. "Now what?" he asked with a smile.

"I got dinner ready while you were asleep, so if you're hungry...?"

"Hell yeah! I'm a growing boy, you know."

Bakura laughed. "I hope I made enough then," he smiled.
"Ne, Honda-kun, did you want to change out of your uniform?" Bakura asked as he cleaned up. "My dad left a few of his warmer shirts, you could wear one of those instead."

"Eh?" Honda looked down. "I guess I did mess up my uniform, didn't I?" he commented. "I'd be honored."

Bakura gave a smile.

A short while later he emerged, a white button down shirt in his hands. "Here you are," he smiled. "It might be a bit loose, but it should fit."

Shedding his uniform jacket and top, Honda pulled the shirt on and buttoned it most of the way up. "A bit loose," he agreed, smoothing it down a bit. "But it works."

Bakura's face was red and he was looking down at his hands.

"Something wrong?"

"I-- I just thought you were going to change in the other room," the pale haired boy explained, looking utterly embarrassed.

Honda blinked a few times, then smacked his head. "I didn't realize you were that modest. Sorry, Bakura."

"It's all right," Bakura smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, what did you want to do now, Honda-kun?"

The boy shrugged. "Game of some kind?"

Bakura's face brightened.
"Bakura, if you let me win how will I know if I'm getting any better?" Honda asked, crossing his arms.

Bakura gave a small laugh. "How do you know I let you win?" he smiled, cleaning up the board. "You've just gotten better."

"I was watching you play." Honda poked him in the forehead. "You broadcast everything you're thinking while you play this and you deliberately let me win."

Bakura gave a small embarrassed smile. "Gomen... I just didn't want you to get discourage because I kept beating you," he explained.

"If I was in the habit of not playing things 'cause I was bad at them I wouldn't play pool."

Bakura blinked. "But you're wonderful at pool!" he protested.

"Now."

Bakura gave a small nod of comprehension. "Gomen ne," he apologized again.

"Don't worry about it," Honda said, waving it off. "Just don't hold back again, 'k?"

"Un!" Bakura smiled. "Just don't hold it against me when I win."

"We'll see," Honda said with a laugh. "I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Sou?" Bakura's voice was almost teasing. "Shall we play another round then?"

"Yosha!"

The game was a very short one.

"Are you still sure you don't want me to hold back?" Bakura asked with a smile as he cleared the board again.

Honda laughed. "Never!" he proclaimed.

Bakura's smile grew, looking softer as he looked at his friend.

"So let's try this again," Honda said enthusiastically.
"You're getting better!" Bakura smiled happily as he cleared the board again five games later.

"And we've only play for what...?" He looked at his watch. "Way too long,. It's midnight."

Bakura gave a small exclamation. "Eeee? Sou naa!" He began putting the game away. "I hadn't realized..."

Honda peeked out of a window. "If this keeps up we won't have school tomorrow, so we're ok."

"It's that bad out?" Bakura asked, getting to his feet to put the game away. He leaned over Honda's shoulder to peer out as well. "We'll have to listen to the radio tomorrow."

Honda nodded agreement. "But for now, take me to your couch."

"You don't have to sleep on the couch, there's the bed in my father's room," Bakura pointed out. "If you don't mind sleeping in a room full of boxes, that is."

"I think I'll stick with the couch...." Honda said after a moment. "Sleeping in the room of someone who's not there is just too weird for me."

Bakura nodded. "I'll get some blankets then."

A short while later he was smoothing the blankets over the couch. "Hopefully that won't be too uncomfortable," he smiled.

"I've slept on worse," Honda reassured with a smile.

Bakura smiled again. "Anything else you need?"

Honda shook his head. "Night, Bakura. Sweet dreams."

The pale haired boy smiled again. "Same to you, Honda-kun." He looked at his friend a long moment more before exiting to his room and gently closing the door.