Title: Sugar and Spice (6/7)

Author: Satanic Mechanic

Rating: PG-13

Pairing(s): Seto/Jou, slight Otogi/Honda

Beta: Jennie

Spoilers: None

Summary: A baking contest turns Domino High into a competitive frenzy.
What effect will this have on everyone's favorite CEO and a certain
underdog in the competition?

Jou awoke, lying half on the floor, half on a black suede couch. He was about to roll over and go back to sleep when he realized that a black suede couch was definitely not something he was used to be waking up on. Or…half-waking up on for that matter.

"Ugh…" Jou groaned out as he took in his surroundings. It looked like Kaiba's place; had he fallen asleep there? He didn't remember doing that. There was a bottle of Nyquil sitting on the coffee table that he had his arm wrapped around. Right, Nyquil makes you sleepy. Evidently, it made you have some pretty screwed -up dreams too, if last night was any indication. Seto Kaiba had been taking over in that department way too much for Jou's liking. But, he merely chalked it up to his having to spend so much time with the billionaire lately.

"Good morning…" Mokuba yawned as he walked into the room, stopping as he noticed the way Jou was sprawled out.

"Hey brat…" Jou stood up and stretched out his cramped muscles, a few bones popping as he did so, and he let out a satisfied sigh. "Where's mister sunshine? I can't imagine that he'd be a morning person…or, an anytime of day person now that I think about it."

"He's in the kitchen, he should be out in a minute. Don't worry, he's usually very docile in the morning," Mokuba replied, taking a seat next to Jou on the couch and pulling out a hair brush he happened to have with him.

"That must be a pain in the ass to keep up with," Jou commented as he watched the boy began to comb out the sleep tousled raven locks.

"Yeah…but I like it," Mokuba said, wincing as the brush got tangled in a knot. "Seto is always telling me to cut it. He doesn't think that it looks professional enough for the Vice President of Kaiba Corp."

"I bet you the chicks dig it though," Jou grinned.

"I have to practically beat them off with a stick," Mokuba giggled.

"Oh really now?" Seto came into the room, dressed casually and holding two steaming mugs. "Do I need to have a talk with you?"

"Aw, not the birds and the bees!" Mokuba buried his face in a nearby couch pillow, obviously embarrassed. Seto smirked slightly and sat down next to the two on the couch.

"Uh…thanks," Jou said when Seto set one of the hot cups of coffee in front of him. "Why didn't you wake me up last night?"

"There really was no point. You would have had to come here this morning to prepare for the competition anyway." Jou nodded and took a few sips of his coffee. Seto had opened up the morning paper and Mokuba had flicked on the TV, watching some early morning cartoons. Jou hated to admit it, but it felt nice, just sitting there in silence with the Kaiba brothers. It was nothing like the morning routine over at his house.

…………

"So what's the game plan here?" Jou asked as they began taking out their stuff. The school gymnasium was being used to house the special event. There were fifty-some booths set up for the competitors, and little cash registers to keep the money.

"We go to the school…and sell our stuff. Try not to get too much in the way."

"That's it? That's all that brilliant business mind of yours can come up with?"

"I can assure you that we'll get enough attention in order to sell out."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I am a household name," Seto stated while Jou rolled his eyes at the typical display of arrogance; but, he had to admit, Kaiba had a point. All the fan girls would be lining up around to block to get a taste of Kaiba's sweet stuff. He cringed inwardly. Yeah, that definitely didn't sound right, and Jou made a mental note to never again refer to anything of Kaiba's as 'sweet stuff'.

"Yeah, but Yugi is going to be there too, and a lot of people know who he is. Does 'World Champion' ring a bell?" Jou grinned at the look on Kaiba's face, one that looked like he had just tasted something highly unpleasant.

"I know that already. I'll think of a way to tackle that hurdle when the time comes."

…………

"Anzu…can I talk to you for a minute?" The girl took some money from a customer and turned to see Jou, noticing the distressed look on his face.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I'd rather talk about this in private." Anzu nodded and allowed herself to be led out to an abandoned hallway. Jou made sure that no one was within hearing distance and bit his lip nervously, turning to look into confused blue eyes.

"Jou…are you okay? Did Kaiba do something to you?" You could say that, Jou grimaced. It was Kaiba that was making him have all these confusing, new feeling and desires after all. He might have been able to come to terms with being gay, or to at least face the fact that he had some soul searching to do. But, the fact that it had to be Kaiba, of all people, that was forcing him to confront these issues, was something that didn't sit to well with him.

"It's…I didn't know who else to tell. You have to promise not to laugh; you have to listen to me." Tea nodded her head, realizing that this was serious.

"I…I think I might be gay," Jou said, seeing Anzu blink in surprise.

"Where did this come from?"

"Well…I've been hanging out with Kaiba a lot and-,"

"You're attracted to Kaiba!?" Jou lunged forward and covered the girl's mouth.

"Do you mind, Anzu? I don't think they heard you in Alaska!" Jou growled and pulled his hand away from her mouth, only to see it hanging open in shock.

"Wow…just, wow."

"Yeah, I know. But I was thinking maybe I was just confused…"

"Well…are you attracted to any girls?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?" Anzu put her hands on her hips. She really wanted to help, but how could she help someone who was almost completely clueless? "Look, I have an idea. You obviously need to experiment a bit."

"Well, I figured that, but I can't just walk up to some guy and say 'Hey, can I mess around with you? I need to figure out if I'm gay or not'."

"Jou, I think you should start with girls first. To see if there is any attraction there."

"What girls could I ask? I mean Mai moved away to…Anzu why are you grinning at me like that? You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right?"

"I just want to help!"

"That would be weird though! Like kissing my sister or something!"

"For experimental sake, it'll be a good step for you," Anzu reasoned, and Jou looked like he was considering the option.

"I…guess your right."

"Of course I'm right. Now come here. Good, now put your arm around my waist and…" Anzu began instructing and Jou followed her orders awkwardly. "Right , now…Jounouchi, that's my breast." Jou flushed and removed his hand, re-locating it to a shoulder quickly.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to."

"Let's stick to first base for now, okay?" Anzu teased.

"It's not my fault they're in the way!" Anzu tired not to laugh at the strange look on the blonde's face as she leaned in.

"You ready?"

"I guess." Jou leaned forward to meet a pair of soft lips that tasted faintly like cherry lip balm. He tried desperately to block out the fact that this was one of his best friends he was kissing. Maybe trying to imagine this was someone else would help. Jou let his eyes drift shut and let his mind wander. There was that girl from the coffee shop with soft hazel eyes that always smiled at him, that super model chick with the huge boobs he had seen on a billboard yesterday, and of course the blonde bombshell that he had met in Duelist Kingdom. All of them would have been fine, but the only person he could picture, the only face that made his heart race, belonged to that of Seto Kaiba.

"Stop…" Jou pushed his friend away to catch his breath, trying desperately to erase the fantasy of strong arms wrapped around him, soft brown hair brushing against his neck and a sensually deep voice whispering heated words so close to his ear.

"Jou? Anzu?" The two jumped and turned to look down at Yugi, who was standing a few yards away, looking like he was about to faint.

"Yugi! Listen, it's not what you think-," Anzu tried but the boy ran into a near-by boy's bathroom before she could finish. Jou sighed and turned to his experiment partner.

"I'll go talk to him."

"Ok…Wait."

"Huh?"

"Did you feel anything?"

"No," Jou sighed in a defeated manner. "No offense or anything. I mean, I'm sure every other guy in the school thinks your hot."

"I'm sorry Jou…maybe it doesn't mean anything though. Maybe I'm just not your type?" Jou smiled, knowing that Anzu was just trying to make him feel better, but he knew the truth. Anzu wasn't his type; she didn't have a penis.

…………

"Yugi listen…Yugi?" Jou walked into the bathroom to find it seemingly empty, but he checked the stalls to make sure. Either Yugi had developed some inhuman agility, enough to jump out of the window at the top of the wall, or the Puzzle had some strange teleporting ability he never knew about. That would be pretty cool…the teleporting thing… Jou shook his head as he realized he was letting his mind wander off topic. He stopped in the middle of the room, picking up on a faint whimpering sound coming from the corner. "Yugi?" He found the boy hunched over behind a garbage can, effectively hiding his small frame.

"Jou! How could you!?"

"I'm sorry Yugi…I never knew that you felt anything for her…"

"I don't! She's practically stalking me!" Yugi wiped the tears out of his eyes to glare up at his friend.

"What? Why are you upset then?"

"You shouldn't be with her! You have to be with Seto!"

"What?!" Jou shouted, becoming increasingly confused by his friend's behavior.

"It's just…I promised someone that I would help get you two together, and I don't want to let them down. Plus, I want to see you happy, too."

"You think that would make me happy? Yugi…the guy can't stand me!"

"Seto can't stand most of the human population," Yugi stated, and Jou really couldn't argue with him on that point. What was he getting at though? "You are different, though. If there's anyone persistent enough to break through that wall, you are." Jou appreciated the fact that Yugi had so much faith in him, but who the hell would want to set up their best friend with their greatest rival?

"Look, I have to go; Kaiba's probably wondering where the hell I am."

"I'm sure he is."

………

"Kaiba, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I know but-,"

"Not now; we're not selling as well as I thought we would."

"Listen this is really important." Jou stressed his point by grabbing on to the collar of Seto's shirt, pulling slightly. "Please…I have to talk to you privately." Seto narrowed eyes at the strange desperation in the blonde's voice.

"Jounouchi-,"

"Excuse me, could I have this one?" Seto was interrupted, but was still happy for the sale.

"Have a good holiday." Jou watched as Seto politely handed the customer a bundle of cookies. He let his hand slip slowly from the collar, and threw his arm around the taller boy's neck. He had to know now, or he was going to go out of his mind.

"Jounouchi?" Seto jumped slightly as he felt an arm snake around his waist. He looked down into soft brown eyes that were clouded over with confusion and an underlying hint of lust. "What are you-," He didn't get to finish his sentence before he was yanked down slightly, meeting a pair of lips on the way, causing him to lose all ability to think.

"You really should have let me talk to you in private…" Jou gasped out as he pulled away. He had needed to stop then, or he was afraid he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from ravishing the billionaire for much longer. On top of a pile of baked goods in the school gymnasium was not exactly how he pictured his first time.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Seto growled, turning his head to see many shocked on-lookers.

"Did you see that? Jounouchi Katsuya kissing Kaiba Seto?"

"That's fucked up man."

"I thought it was kinda hot."

"Maybe they have decided not to be at one another's throats anymore…or wait…maybe they want to be at each other's throats…heh."

"It's a Christmas miracle!"

"Um…" Jou fumbled with the collar of his shirt nervously, wanting to crawl into a hole and die somewhere as he saw the disgusted look Seto was giving him. "I'm sorry."

"Do you realize what you've done? The press is going to be all over me!" Seto yanked Jou close by the collar, hissing out the words in a dark whisper.

"Well…um…" Jou cleared his throat and turned to their gathered audience. "Yeah, I was just demonstrating our special feature for today! We're…opening a kissing both!"

"Excuse me?" Seto raised his eyebrow but the crowd seemed to be interested, if the rising mumble of whispers were any indication.

"Yeah!" Jou shouted happily, taking his new idea and rolling with it. "Buy anything from our stand and get a kiss from Seto Kaiba himself!" Seto looked a bit shocked but he didn't complain when the line grew to twice its size.

………

The baking contest that had taken Domino High by storm was reaching its closing. The booths had closed down and each team was asked to hand in their till to be counted. Whichever one had raised the most money would win. Jou was currently sitting nervously in one of the bleachers. Seto had long since retreated to the bathroom to wash his mouth out, saying something about how he felt 'so violated'.

"Hey man, good luck." Jou turned around to see his friend Honda taking a seat next to him.

"Yeah, you too," Honda grunted and shook his head.

"Thanks but it's not needed now. We got disqualified. Otogi insisted on baking anatomically correct ginger bread men."

"Attention! Attention everyone!" The school principal went to the podium, leaning a bit too close to the microphone and causing it to screech loudly. "Sorry. Well, the results of the competition are now in!" The room quieted down significantly, the attention of every person in the room focused on the pudgy middle-aged man. "First off, I'd like to say that everyone here is a winner today," Blah blah blah…Jou groaned, get to the winners! "We've managed to raise close to 300,000 yen to be donated to the children's hospital!" There was a brief round of applause. "Now, the group that raised the most amount of money is…" The man looked down on an index card; Jou could practically hear the drum roll in his head. "Matt Ikari, and Shinji Hiko! Congratulations!"

"Aw yeah!" Jou stared and then sat back down. "Wait…who the fuck are they?!"