Bakura snuggled closely against Honda as they sat on the couch, only half watching the B movie that was on the TV, enjoying the feel of Honda's arm around him, fingers lazily tracing patters on his shirt.

Honda hugged Bakura close, liking the feel of the weight against his heart. He twined his fingers with Bakura's, leaning against the other boy.

"Ne, Honda-kun..." Bakura said softly, looking up slightly at the taller boy. "You won't tell anyone, right?"

"Huh?"

"About us, I mean..."

"Why shouldn't I?"

Bakura looked vaguely uncomfortable. "I know it's silly, but.... I've never really had close friends before and I don't want anything to change...."

Giving him another squeeze, Honda nodded. "All right. It'll be our secret."

"Arigatou," Bakura smiled, releived.

Honda stroked Bakura's face with a smile, then hugged him. "I like doing that," he commented.

"Which is good, as I like it when you do," Bakura replied with a smile.

"And as I've now lost all track of what's going on on the TV, let's kiss," Honda concluded, suiting actions to words.

Bakura melted happily into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Honda to hold them closer.

Honda fell back slightly, Bakura landing on top of him as he ended up stretched out on the couch. Breaking the kiss, he smiled up at Bakura. "Well, this is an interesting position, isn't it?" he asked with a smile.

Bakura gave a small laugh. "Un," he agreed, tracing the line of the taller boy's jaw.

"So what shall we do about it?" Honda wondered aloud.

The pale haired boy blushed slightly, smiling. "What did you want to do?"

Honda appeared to give the question serious thought. "Well, we could start like this," he said, giving Bakura a slow kiss, "And see where we go from there."

Bakura gave a soft blissful sigh. "So many places that could lead," he murmured with a smile.

"Where do you want it to lead?" Honda asked, stroking Bakura's back.

"I don't know," Bakura admitted, relaxing further. "I just like it when you touch me..."

Honda took Bakura's face in his hands and kissed him again. "Well, that's good, as I like touching you," he teased lightly.

"I've noticed," Bakura replied before kissing Honda back, idly tracing lines over the taller boy's shirt.

Honda smiled and returned the touching. After a moment he pulled away a bit with a frown.

Bakura blinked. "Honda-kun...?" he asked, voice slightly worried.

"You wear too many clothes," Honda decided, pulling off the sweater Bakura had on over his shirt. "There. I can touch you much easier now." He demonstrated, tracing lines down Bakura's sides.

The boy's eyes fluttered closed and he gave a slow exhale as he melted against Honda's chest.

Honda chuckled lightly. "See?"

"I'm not going to change how I dress, Honda-kun," the pale haired boy smiled.

"You mean I'll have to undress you any time I want to touch you?" Honda thought a moment. "That has possibilities," he concluded with a smile.

Bakura laughed lightly, snuggling closer again. "I wouldn't mind..."

"Then you'll have to be sure to tell me how much I can take off," Honda responded, stroking Bakura's back again.

The boy sighed softly, eyes closing again. "I'll stop you if you go too far," he murmured.

"I know you will," Honda replied, kissing him again.
"Aa!" Bakura exclaimed, stopping as the pair passed a pet store. The pale haired boy walked to the window and smiled at the pen of kittens sleeping in a pile on display.

Honda paused and looked at the window. "You like cats, Bakura?"

"Un!" the boy nodded, watching the smallest of the kittens yawn cutely with a wistful smile. "I used to take care of the neighbors cat last place we lived."

"Why don't you get one?"

"The place we're at now doesn't allow pets, and I wouldn't have anyone to take care of it while I was away with Father on a dig," Bakura near sighed.

"That's a shame," Honda said. "Let's go inside and pet them."

Bakura's face lit up. "Un!" he nodded, heading inside.

"What kind of cat is your favorite?" Honda asked, mind turning over plots as they lavished attention on the kittens.

Bakura near giggled as one of the kittens pawed at his shirt. "Black ones. People sometimes believe they bring bad luck, but I've always been fond of them," he smiled.

"Black cats, eh?" Honda said with a laugh. "You'd make a striking contrast that way: pale you, dark cat."

The pale haired boy gave a small laugh. "Mou, Honda-kun!"

"And if you got one like this it could hide in your hair," Honda continued, placing a tabby on the other boy's head. It mewed plaintively and gripped Bakura's head with tiny claws.

Bakura gave a small exclamation. "Honda-kuuun!" he protested with a laugh, careful trying to disentangle the kitten from his hair with little success.

Honda laughed, watching for a moment before coming to Bakura's rescue and carefully removing the kitten.

Bakura tried to smooth the rumpled hair back into place, smiling reproachingly at his friend. Taking the kitten away from Honda he gently soothed it and removed the few strands of hair still caught in it's paws.

It mewed again, nuzzling his fingers.

The boy smiled gently at it. "Gomen ne," he said softly, eyes sad as he petted it. "If I could take you home, I would."

Honda smiled, resting a hand on Bakura's shoulder gently while plots continued to blossom in his head.

Bakura sighed deeply, getting to his feet. "Shall we go...?" He asked, smile not reaching his eyes.

Honda hugged him. "Yeah, let's go."
"Bakura!" Honda called, grabbing the boy's hand and dragging him off in the other direction.

The boy looked slightly started, but followed.

Honda brought him home, calling out to his mother that he was home and then brought Bakura to his room. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands," he said.

With a look of utter befuddlement, Bakura did so.

Something small and warm and soft was placed in his hands.

He opened his eyes and gave a large smile, seeing the grey kitten that was nuzzling his thumb. "Aaa!" he exclaimed, voice elated. He shifted to be holding the kitten better and lifted it closer to his face, almost glowing.

The kitten looked up at him and gave a small mew, leaning over to lick his nose.

Bakura gave a small laugh. "So cute!" he smiled happily. "I didn't know you had a cat, Honda-kun!"

"We don't, but one of the neighbor's cats had kittens a few weeks ago and I asked if I could have one for you. There were no black ones, so I figured that grey was close enough. I know your apartment doesn't allow pets," he hastened to add, "but mom said we could keep her here."

Bakura looked at the boy, eyes wide. "Honda-kun...." he said, voice almost awed. "Honto...?"

Honda nodded with a smile. "She's yours."

Bakura's face lit up. "Ariagtou, Honda-kun!" he smiled. "Does she have a name?" he asked, petting the kitten gently.

"Not yet," Honda said, smiling at the purring kitten. "That's your job."

"Hmm...." Bakura pondered a moment, watching the kitten paw at his shirt. "Bastet," he decided with a smile.

"Interesting name," Honda said.

"It's an Egyptian goddess who took the form of a cat," Bakura informed, trying to discourage the kitten from playing with his hair.

Honda laughed, causing the kitten to spin in surprise. "Trust you to name a kitten after an Egyptian god."

"Would you rather I named her 'Tama?'" the pale haired boy countered with a smile.

"No, I think she's fine as she is." Honda patted the kitten. "Even if it's a big name to live up to. Lemme show you how to feed her."
Bakura nearly jumped as the door to Honda's room opened and moved away from Honda as his mother stuck her head in the room.

"Your father and I are going out tonight, so you're on your own for dinner. No wild parties unless you clean up after yourself, got it?" the woman said in an offhand manner.

"Got it, mom. Don't worry. No dogs," Honda answered.

"Good."

The door closed and Bakura gave a relieved sigh, moving closer again. "Dogs...?" he asked curiously.

"Long story," Honda said with a laugh. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"If you don't mind."

Honda laughed again. "Well, I don't remember it too well, being I was only six at the time. Mom and dad went out and left me home with my brother. He was...." The boy paused, calculating. "Fifteen or sixteen then and well into his rebellious stage. So mom and dad get home to find me locked in my room and my brother naked in the basement with two girls, three guys, and a dog. Most of the rest of them weren't completely naked, either, but there had obviously already been some interesting behavior going on. They threw out the others, yelled at my brother, and then tried to forget that it happened. Which meant, of course, that my brother barked periodically for the next three weeks."

Bakura stared, hand over his mouth to cover his laughter. "My...." he commented, eyes sparkling.

"And that," Honda concluded, touching Bakura's cheek gently, "Is why my parents will never have a problem with you."

The boy blinked, then gave a small smile. "Better then a dog, hm?"

"Much," Honda confirmed.

Bakura gave a smile. "So, what shall we do with your parents out of the house?" he asked suggestively, running a finger down Honda's chest.

Honda smiled, leaning back a bit. "Maybe I'll just sit here and let you play a bit."

"You'd better not just sit there," the pale haired boy smiled, tracing the buttons on Honda's shirt. "It won't be much fun if I'm doing all the work."

"But I want to see what you'll do," Honda said with a smile. "I already know what ~I~ would do."

"As long as you promise to play back when you've seen," Bakura smiled as he slowly began to undo the buttons.

"If you insist," Honda said, watching Bakura.

With a delicate slowness, the smaller boy continued unbuttoning Honda's shirt, lightly pushing it open so it slipped off the taller boy's shoulders. Giving a soft sigh, Bakura gently traced his fingers over the lines of Honda's chest, smiling fondly.

Honda sighed, eyes fluttering at the touch. "That's a good start," he said.

Bakura's smile grew as his fingers slid down Honda's sides, the backs of his nails tracing near invisible trails as they went.

Honda shivered. "Very good..."

Leaning over slightly, the boy placed delicate kisses along Honda's collar bone as his fingers continued tracing lines, searching for spots that would get the taller boy to react.

After a moment Honda stiffened, breath coming quickly. A soft moan escaped his lips.

Bakura smiled mischievously and pulled away.

"Why are you stopping now?" Honda asked a trifle breathlessly.

"You promised you'd play back," Bakura answered, looking innocent.

Honda looked at the other boy a moment, then pounced on him, pinning him down and nuzzling against his chest.

Bakura gave a small exclamation, then sighed happily, eyes closing.

"You were waiting for that," Honda said with a laugh. He opened Bakura's shirt and nuzzled against the skin unhindered. "You have a very nice chest. I don't know why you insist on wearing two or three layers of clothes over it."

Bakura ran his fingers though Honda's hair and down his neck, lips parted slightly in enjoyment. "I'd be very cold if I went around topless..." he murmured.

"But you'd look so good that way," Honda said, nuzzling a bit lower. He paused, pulling back a bit, then traced the circular scars. "Bakura.... What are these?"

The boy looked to the side. "It's nothing..." he said softly.

"It can't be nothing, Bakura. You have scars. Puncture scars. What happened to you?"

Bakura pulled away slightly, curling on his slide and pulling his shirt to cover his chest again, eyes troubled.

"Bakura...." Honda said softly, stroking his hair. "What happened? You can tell me."

The boy was quiet a moment longer. "The ring...." he said softly. "When... When I first transferred here... after I met Yuugi-kun, it---" He put a hand over the scars, eyes closing in emotional pain.

Honda's expression grew pained. He pulled Bakura close, tracing the marks gently as he curled protectively around the smaller boy. "I'll protect you from everything," he promised.

The boy melted into Honda's arms. "Arigatou..." he said softly, eyes still sad. 'Even if you can't protect me from this...' he thought as he tried to lose himself in the feel of the taller boy. 'You help me forget...'