Yugi: About time…
Ari: Heh, I did take quite a while, didn't I? ^_^ I kinda started writing the other stories, and… *blush* But anyway, here it is. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I'll try to work up to your standards, ne?
Yugi: Yep, and guess what? This is a fluff chappy! Kinda. Not exactly. But kind of.
Ari: Yes… I'm actually surprised it got this long. It has…
Yugi: Can I say it? Can I say it?
Ari: If you say the disclaimer…
Yugi: *sulks* I don't wanna…
Ari: Then get someone to say it.
Yugi: *smirks innocently* Oh Dark Magician! Ari wants you to say the disclaimer!
Ari: O_o I did not. I wanted you to say it.
Dark: -_-; Anyway… Ari doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh. She might, someday, in her dreams, but not right now. And this story contains yaoi between Yami and Yugi, Bakura (Yami Bakura) and Ryou (little Bakura), and Seto (Kaiba) and Jou.
Ari: *giggles* Speaking of dreams, I had a dream that Malik captured my little brother and I had to save him…
Yugi: Anyway! Since I summoned the Dark Magician to say the disclaimer, I get to talk! *grins* This chapter will have a lot of fluff, some funniness, and the Seto/Jou confession! ^_^
Ari: Yep… And in case you don't read my other stories (which is probably most of you), I drew a piccy for Valentine's Day. And I uploaded it. Here. Enjoy! ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter TwoA Break From Our Troubles
"Welcome to our school, guests," a teacher was saying in a boring, monotonous voice. "We hope you will enjoy your stay at our school. In a moment, you will be allowed to go around with your family members. We have many events planned, like various games, shows..."
Yugi covered a yawn and wriggled around, snuggling closer to Yami. Ever since the morning, he was not himself, and nothing can convince him to be even a step away from the dark spirit. He was now sitting on his lap.
The Pharaoh glanced down and smiled sadly at the downcast expression on his light's face. Gently, he reached up a hand to brush the golden bangs from the boy's amethyst eyes. //You've been like this all morning, Aibou. Stop blaming yourself. They would have wanted you to be happy no matter what. By being upset, you are playing right into your enemies' hands.//
/I.../ The boy looked up, eyes filled with tears. /But... I should at least try to avenge them... Yami-Chan, I.../
The Puzzle Spirit longed to kiss the soft lips presented to him, but all he did was brush away the crystalline tears. //Shhh, Aibou. There is nothing that you can do. There isn't even anything that I can do. They have hidden away.//
Eventually, at the end of the teacher's long speech, something of interest caught their attention. "...and last of all, there will be a Duel Monsters tournament. You will duel in pairs. The top three pairs will win an all-expense-paid dinner at the new restaurant." (A/N: *smirks* Gotta have duels in Yu-Gi-Oh, ne? ^_~ Don't worry, I'll make these more interesting. Meaning, I won't be describing these and you skilled duelists can fill it in by yourselves.)
The class was now buzzing with excitement. Of course, looking as how both Yugi Mutou, the King of Games, and Seto Kaiba, the previously predicted World Champion, were in the school, the other students were only wishing for third place.
"I would be honoured if you were to be my partner," Yami murmured. "Aibou, you have never failed me before."
The slightest hint of the boy's bright smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "Yami-Chan, you don't have a deck. When you duel, you still duel as me..."
The Pharaoh winked mysteriously. "I went to Industrial Illusions..." His lips curled in a snarl at the reminder of that company's head. "...And had them duplicate my deck. Ah, well, it's actually almost the same as yours, but..."
"Of course I'll be your partner!" Yugi declared happily, the light back in his eyes. Yami... Yami wanted to work with him... But in his mind, he was wondering, somewhat uneasily, who Jou was going to be partners with.
In the classroom next to theirs, the aforementioned honey-eyed boy was wondering the same thing. Or rather, he was considering an offer. An alarming offer, in fact; one that he had not been expecting.
"Wha?!" Jou was trying not to fall from his tipped-back chair. "Ya want me ta be yer partner?! But ya said dat I can't duel an' everything..."
"You're the best one here!" Kaiba snapped. "I would rather work with Mokuba, but he doesn't have a deck."
"Tell Yug ta be yer partner!" Jou sulked. "He was da winner at da Duelist Kingdom, not me."
Kaiba snorted. "Would Yugi work with me when Yami is there? You've seen the way they look at each other, even if they didn't notice it yet." Like the way I looked at you... Will you ever notice? Everyone else did!
"Yea, yea, I'll work wi' ya," Jou muttered. "Anything fer a free meal... An' I'm already living wi' ya, why not duel too?"
Sitting a few seats away, the silver-haired Tomb Robber listened with interest. So, the Pharaoh and his hikari were taken. Of course, that was to be expected. And now, he found out that the rich and famous CEO was in love with the "puppy". Count them out too. He sighed irritatedly. The rest of the school could not win a duel with a 10000 Life Points head start if their lives depended on it. So, the only one left that could at least somewhat duel would be...
"Ryou, be my partner for this thing."
The white-haired boy was no less surprised than his golden-haired friend. In fact, if anything, he was more so. He looked as if he could not have been more shocked than if his yami had announced that he was a 3-headed fire-breathing dragon in his past life, not a Tomb Robber. Actually, Ryou amended, that's believable. This isn't. He was almost thinking of checking Bakura's temperature to make sure he did not catch a fever the night before.
"Da** it, Ryou!" the afore-mentioned Ring Spirit growled. "Quit thinking, and answer me!"
Ryou snapped out of his trance-like state. "S-sure, Bakura. But why?"
"Isn't it obvious?!" Bakura sighed in exasperation as he realized that it was, in fact, not obvious to anyone but him. "No one else here can duel except Yugi, Yami, Jou, Kaiba, and you. I want the prize!"
The boy blinked. "You want dinner at the restaurant?"
Oh. So that's what the prize is. I wasn't listening. Bakura shook out his wild mane of white hair. "I want to win, not the prize. I want to beat the pathetic humans."
"But a second ago, you said you wanted the prize," Ryou pointed out.
Did I? Oh. "Well, the prize is proof of winning. And dinner can't be that bad, even if you have to be there too."
Ryou's face fell instantly at the last part of the sentence. So, Bakura only regarded him as a tool to get what he wanted. He knew this from the beginning, but it was almost forgotten recently. Now, the reminder seemed to strike his heart like a dagger.
The Tomb Robber felt a strange desire to comfort his hikari as he watched the boy sit through the rest of class in silence. Frowning, he turned away, squishing down that wish. Was that the right thing to do? He did not know. But there they sat, until the bell rang.
Jou stood up, stretching his arms. Seto caught himself staring at the tantalizing slivers of flesh that he could see, and quickly coughed to mask that mistake.
"Yer coming' wit me?!" Jou demanded as Seto started following him. The rich CEO merely nodded.
Grumbling loudly, though secretly pleased, the golden-haired boy made his way out of the class and towards Yugi's locker with the sapphire-eyed teen in tow.
Violet eyes looked up and blinked in surprise. "Jou-kun, why is Kaiba-san following you?"
The questioned youth growled at his tag-along, while everyone else tried their hardest not to laugh, not only at Jou's embarrassment but also at Yugi's innocence.
The honey-eyed boy flushed a deep red and glared at Seto. "Go take Mokuba somewhere else! I dun haf ta stay wi' you jus 'cause I'm livin' wit ya!"
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he realized what he said. The resto f them stared in stunned silence.
"Good job, Puppy," Seto murmured sarcastically. Then, he cleared his throat and regarded Yugi and friends coolly. "Apparently, the Chihuahua doesn't like his doghouse, so he's staying with me until we can figure out why. Right now, he's a good little babysitter for Mokuba, although I still don't get what my brother sees in this Pup."
"I'm not a puppy!" Jou declared angrily.
"Why didn't you just come to my house?" Yugi asked, cocking his head. "We always have room for you."
The boy shook his golden head. "Yug, ya know da reason I left. Yami would kill me if I let 'im get to ya. If yer Yami's not there an' he hurts ya... I'd never forgive myself either. Yer da best, Yug, but yer too innocent. I dun want 'im ta..." Jou decided not to elaborate. "Anyway, Kaiba can protect 'imself, an' his mansion's almost impossible ta break inta."
As the other people were busy, Anzu slowly sidled up to Yami, (A/N: Blech!) fluttering her eyelashes. (A/N: Icky icky!)
"So... Yami," she purred. "Do you have a partner for the dueling tournament this afternoon? I could name a few..."
"Yes," the Puzzle Spirit answered curtly. "I'm Yugi's partner." I always have been, I always will be.
"Oh..." Anzu was taken aback for a second, but only for a second. She flipped her hair, giving Yami what she thought was a seductive glance. "Why don't you be my partner instead? I'm much better than Yugi. I mean, didn't you see me at Duelist Kingdom? I beat Mai, and I didn't even need to use Yugi's special cards."
Yami rolled his eyes. Did this girl actually believe that?! Mai had merely allowed her to win, because the starchips were for Yugi anyway. Can a little encouragement really make someone so conceited?
The amethyst-eyed subject of discussion turned back as Anzu stared up at Yami. He wondered if Yami liked her... He bit his lips, feeling a twinge of jealousy. But who was he jealous of? Was he jealous of Yami, because he held Yugi's girlfriend's -- and all other girls' -- attention? Somehow, he did not think so.
"Hey, Yugi!" Anzu called cheerfully. "Yugi, tell Yami how good I am at dueling."
"Um, er, yeah," Yugi complied. Anzu? Good at dueling? "She's... um, very good. She almost beat Honda once." Of course, that's only almost, and not counting the hundreds of times he beat her...
Yami raised an eyebrow. //She appears to think she's better than you, Aibou. She's trying to convince me to...// Yami made his mind-voice high in a parody of Anzu's. //"Ditch that little Yugi and duel with me. I'm sure we'll win first prize." Aibou, I find your girlfriend amusing.// Girlfriend... Why won't you like ME instead?
/With you, anyone would win first prize,/ Yugi responded, trying to appear light and happy. /After all, you're the ancient King of Games./ Was... was Yami leaving him?
The spirit immediately caught his hikari's sadness. //What's wrong, Aibou? And don't tell me "nothing".//
/Are you going to be her partner?/ the question burst from Yugi's mind. He held back a sniffle.
//Why would you think that?!// Yami asked in shock. //You're my Aibou, my partner! I would never leave you, Ko-- er, Aibou. My little angel...//
Yugi giggled. /Yami-Chan, what did you almost say, hmm? "Ko" what?/
The Pharaoh turned as red, if not more so, than Jou had been a few minutes ago. //Me? I said nothing. Nope, nope, nothing at all.// Oh, I am sooooooooo in trouble... I almost called him "Koi"! (A/N: Koi=Love)
Standing off to the side, Ryou stared at them wistfully. When he was upset, Bakura never made him laugh. If he said something that embarrassed his yami, he would receive a slap, not a blush. Yami and Yugi... Seto and Jou... What happened between them was so clear to the white-haired hikari, even if they did not notice. Would they understand his desire? Would they understand the pain of unrequited, impossible love? He wanted to talk to someone, but how could anyone else know what it was like to love someone who viewed you only as a convenient host, someone who would leave you broken and shattered as soon as his mission was completed?
"Ne, Ryou-Chan, what's wrong?"
Warm chocolate-brown eyes stared down at concerned amethysts, and the boy realized that his brows had furrowed in a frown. Everything! he wanted to say. Everything's wrong! But he did not want to worry the innocent, child-like Yugi.
"Oh, don't worry, Yugi. I'm fine. But watch your Millennium Puzzle. Bakura seems to want to get another try at it. That was the reason he came today." Catching Bakura's glare, Ryou knew that his yami heard. He was going to be in a world of pain once they get home... And the Tomb Robber would be much less than pleased when he learns that the Santa suit was supposed to be delivered that evening, and that they party -- and their school's Christmas dance on the same day -- was in less than a week.
The boy almost immediately stiffened and clutched his Puzzle possessively, backing away from the white-haired spirit. Yami... He would not lose Yami, no matter what. He would make sure of that.
//Don't worry, Aibou,// Yami comforted in his mind. //I won't let him take the Puzzle. I will always be with you.//
Yugi looked up, smiling brightly. "Great! Now, let's go get some lunch before the tournament starts! We wouldn't want to duel on empty stomachs, would we?"
The Pharaoh smiled at his hikari's cheerfulness. "Hai, lunch sounds good. What does your school serve? Is it anywhere near as god as what I can cook?"
Yugi giggled. Everyone – Yami included – knows that the Puzzle Spirit could not cook. "Of course it's not, Yami-Chan. You're the best in everything!" Of course, "everything" excludes cooking…
"Alright, then why don't we just eat the lunch I made?" Yami asked winking. "Since you like my cooking so much…"
Yugi nearly choked on the vanilla coke he was sipping. (A/N: Heehee, Sage-Chan's niller coke!) Yami made lunch?! He wondered what horrible experiment Yami made this time. Last time, it was spinach and green pepper covered in who-knows-what salad dressing. (A/N: *shrugs* It might taste good for all I know. I never tried. It just sounded horrible, mostly because I hate green pepper.) Of course, being the kind little hikari he was, he ate every single bite that the spirit set on his plate – and somehow managed to keep it all down. Quite a feat, really, since Yami had tasted one bite and decided that as a Sennen Spirit, he did not really need food.
Instead of the nervously anticipating expression that Yugi had been expecting, Yami burst out laughing. "Oh, you should have seen your face, Aibou. You looked like if I had just declared that Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon is attacking us and you have to fight it bare-handed. Or actually, you looked like if you preferred that."
The amethyst-eyed boy smiled sheepishly. "Was my expression really that obvious? I'm sorry, Yami-Chan… But really, I'll eat whatever you make. Ummm… What did you make?"
"Nothing." The spirit hugged his secret love comfortingly. "I'm not going to torture you, Aibou. I know you would finish it all just because I made it. You're that kind of a wonderful friend. I only wanted to see your reaction."
/Whew!/ Yugi declared teasingly. /It might have poisoned me this time. What do you put in that stuff?/
//Aibou!// Yami glared in mock hurt. //It took me very long to make. It's actually a cake. Chocolate and strawberries and peaches and lemons, all covered in…// Yami smirked evilly, letting little Yugi drool over the sugar and fruits. //All covered in eggplants and pickles!// (A/N: Who knows, it might taste good. ^_~)
"WHAT?!" Yugi yelped, and earned a few suspicious glares from other students.
"I was just joking," Yami laughed. "Even I know better than to put those stuff on cake." Mmmmmmmm… The best taste to put into a cake would be yours, Aibou. Sweeter than honey, smoother than cream…
The boy stared up at the spirit, as if making sure he was telling the truth. "Alright, then, let's get hamburgers and fries. And some more drinks. Maybe iced tea this time…"
As the young King of Games declined his yami's food, his best friend was, in fact, trying to get food.
"Aw, Kaiba, lemme have some!" Jou pleaded, eyeing the slice of cheesecake hungrily. "Just a li'l piece?"
The CEO blinked. "Quit begging, Puppy. It's not going to work." Just to be cruel – and to see more of that cute, dog-like expression on his "puppy's" face – Seto cut a big piece of the cake, waved it at Jou casually, and placed it into this mouth, moaning loudly.
Jou shivered at the sound. For a second, he was considering what he could do to earn such a reaction from Kaiba, but as soon as he realized what he was doing, he stopped immediately, though not without a blush. To cover that, he growled angrily. "C'mon, Kaiba, ya got so much money. Lemme have some cake!"
The brown-haired teen was glad that Jou did not comment. What was he thinking, making that sound?! He sighed in exasperation. "I gave you money for lunch already, Pup! And you finished it too. However, some of us don't eat like dogs. If you ate your cake slowly, you would still have some left."
Jou sulked. "Lemme have some more cake, Moneybags!" He was almost hoping that Kaiba would taunt him again. He wanted to hear that interesting sound again.
Seto smirked, cutting another piece of the cheesecake and lifting it to his lips. His mouth opened, and in went the cake, but no sound came out. Jou's face fell in disappointment.
"Big Brother!" Mokuba asked, stuffing the last of his lunch into his mouth and jumping up. "Big Brother, can I have the rest of your cake? You don't look like if you want it. Please?" He smiled slyly.
"Of course," Seto answered. "You can have anything you want."
I wanta have anything I want, Jou thought miserably. And I want you, Kaiba. However, right now, his main interest was the cheesecake, which passed out of Seto's hands to the much more generous Mokuba.
"Say, Mokuba?" Jou asked "innocently". "How would you like ta share dat cake with yer best friend Jou?"
The black-haired boy thought for a second. "Jou? As in, Katsuya Jonouchi? Hmmmm… Should I, or should I not?"
The golden head bobbed up and down eagerly, and Seto found himself admiring the way the sun glinted off of it.
"I choose…" Mokuba purposely paused, grinning evilly. "No!" The rest of the cake disappeared seconds later.
Jou hung his head and pretended to sob in despair. "I guess I'll hafta ste – borrow – Yug's cake. Unless Yami made it…"
"Borrow?" Seto sneered. "Beg, you mean. Be even more of a mutt than you already are."
The boy sighed, for once subdued. Honey eyes filled with tears, but Jou would not let them fall. Can't he see dat I love him? Jou asked, though he expected no answer. Can't he see how much dis is hurting me? Dat's it, I'm not staying wit him fer anotha night. I'd ratha go home and get beaten den be here. I hate 'im, I…
"Would everyone who would like to participate in the duel tournament come to room 301 with your partners to register? I repeat, anyone who is planning to be in the tournament should go to room 301 with your partner now!"
Jou was almost considering backing out of Seto's offer, but it was too late. The CEO was already walking towards the doors of the cafeteria, hauling Jou by the back of his shirt as his little brother proceeded to finish what's left of his lunch.
There, at the registration room, was a long line. Jou spotted his best friend come out with Yami, both grinning happily. They passed Jou and Seto with a wave. The honey-eyed boy sighed, bored, and studied the long, white hair of the two people in front of him.
Wait a sec, I recognize dat hair! I know dem! It's Ryou an' his yami. Dere 'ere too?
"Hey Ryou!" Jou greeted. "Yous are gonna be in dis tournament-thing too?"
The snowy-haired boy turned and waved cheerfully, though Jou thought his smile was a bit forced. "Yep. My yami and I are going to enter as a team. Maybe we'll even face you."
Kaiba nodded curtly. "My Blue-Eyes White Dragons would be glad to make your acquaintance."
Soon – or at least eventually – they came to the registration desk. A teacher sat there, looking rather miffed now, a looooooooong list of names before you. Her pen was poised over the next empty spot.
"Name?"
"Bakura, Ryou." (A/N: Last name first…)
"Bakura."
The teacher blinked. "Bakura what?"
The Sennen Spirit frowned. "Bakura. As in, my name is Bakura."
The teacher sighed. "Is that your given name or surname?"
"Uh… Given name?" The spirit was at a loss. He only had one name, and it was not his own.
"Alright, then what's your surname?"
Bakura was, for once, panicking. //Ryou, what the he** is a surname?!//
The hikari replied patiently. /It's the part of your name that's the same as your parents'. You know, how my surname is Bakura, Yugi's is Mutou, Seto's and Mokuba's is Kaiba./
//Ah.// The Ring Spirit tried to think of a plausible surname. "Um… Tomb Robber."
"Tombrobber?" the teacher blinked again, but shrugged. "If you say so. Next!"
Jou and Seto stepped up to the desk.
"Name?"
"Jonouchi, Katsuya." (A/N: Jou's first name's Katsuya, I think. Hey, how come they call Jou, Honda, Bakura (Ryou), and Kaiba by last names; and Yugi, Mokuba, Mai, Shizuka (Serenity), and Anzu by first names?)
The teacher wrote it down. "And you? Don't tell me you're another of those bizarre-named people." She shook her head. "First, there was Yugi Mutou and his look-alike, who insisted on the name 'Yami Pharaoh'. Now, Tomb Robber?"
"Kaiba, Seto."
The voice pierced through the teacher's daze and she looked up. "Oh! Mr. Kaiba! I'm very sorry."
"Just write the da** thing down."
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."
Seto sighed and rolled his eyes. He hated being famous sometimes.
The many duels took place all across the school, until only a few were left. Unsurprisingly, (A/N: Please say that you're not surprised…) Yugi and Yami, Ryou and Bakura, and Jou and Seto were amongst those still competing. Now, the latter two mentioned faced each other.
"I've seen Bakura duel before," Jou warned his partner. "He likes ta play dem effect monsters like da Man-Eater Bug, and he likes ta play dat card, whatchamacallit – Change of Heart. Dose can kill yer Blue-eyes White Dragons easy."
Seto nodded. "Don't worry about me, Pup. I did not become a master by falling to simple child's tricks. In any case, that's why we're working in a team. He will focus on my Dragons, and you can attack when he doesn't realize."
Jou was stunned. Kaiba was going to use his Blue-Eyes White Dragons as a feint?! "A-alright…"
"Quit staring, Pup!" Seto hissed. "I will do whatever it takes to win, even sacrificing Blue-Eyes."
So the duel commenced, with Ryou and Bakura putting down effect monsters, Seto playing the strongest cards his powerful deck has to offer, and Jou giving everything his uncanny luck has. After a long and arduous time, a winner was decided. (A/N: My "duel writing" sucks…)
"The winning team is… Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jonouchi!"
So, for the second time in a tournament, Jou was forced to duel against his best friend, though the stakes were nowhere near as high this time. (A/N: The first time is referring to Duelist Kingdom in the show.) As Jou and Yugi faced other with a friendly handshake, Yami and Seto were sending glares so sharp that they could have killed.
As was expected, however, the faithful Dark Magician came through once again for the Pharaoh and his beloved little hikari, and they were pronounced the champions. Few had thought otherwise. After all, Yugi was the winner of Duelist Kingdom.
The amethyst-eyed boy jumped up excitedly and hugged his dark half. "Yami-Chan, we won! Now we can go eat dinner together! And at a big, fancy restaurant too."
The Pharaoh smiled and stroked Yugi's hair. "Yes, Aibou, we can go eat at a fancy restaurant." Together… How I long to be together with you. How I long to touch you as I once did, to kiss you lips!
"And now, we have concluded our tournament!" the principal announced, and his voice was carried to the different classrooms via the PA system, though rather needlessly, as almost everyone had been eager to see the outcome of the duel between Yugi and Kaiba. The gymnasium where they dueled roared with applause. "the winners of this tournament are Yugi Mutou and Yami Pharaoh! Second place goes to Katsuya Jonouchi and Seto Kaiba! And third place is taken by Ryou Bakura and Bakura Tombrobber!" (A/N: Eh-heh, horrible last names, ne?) He took out three envelopes. "Would the top three teams come up and claim their prizes?"
Grinning from ear to ear, the happy Yugi dragged his yami onto the state, followed by an expressionless Seto and Jou, who tried hard not to look at each other. A second later, the doors burst open to reveal Bakura, grinning ferally and tugging on Ryou so hard it seemed like the younger boy was flying. They bowed and received their prizes, some more graciously than others.
However, as they stepped down from the mini-stage, someone – most likely Ryou – tripped, and they all fell in a tangled heap. His protectiveness as a yami kicking in, Bakura instinctively pulled Ryou on top of him and landed on his back on… something. That "something" turned out to be Seto, his legs straddling Jou's hips, their chests touching and his face, especially the lips, extremely close to that of the golden-haired boy due to Bakura's and Ryou's weight on his back. Most graceful and reacting the quickest – he wasn't King of Games for nothing! – Yami held Yugi's body tightly against his own and rolled away from the mess. Once out of danger's way, he laid down and placed his hikari on top of him so that the boy's head was resting on his chest. All this, of course, took place in the span of a few insignificant seconds. Half a moment later, they all started to move.
"Get offa me, Moneybags!"
"Shut up, Puppy, I can't move!"
"B-bakura? Th-thanks…"
"Whatever, weakling."
In the confusion, Yami and Yugi got up and calmly walked away. As they left, they saw a blur of what they assumed was Mokuba tackle his older brother, causing the clump of people to crash down once again. The little boy's voice floated above the noise. "Eeee, Big Brother, you and Jou look so cute toget—mrph!"
Eventually, everyone calmed down enough to reveal what was going on. Bakura looked the same as always, though he seemed almost to hover protectively around Ryou, as if daring anyone to even touch his hikari. Ryou's hair was messy, looking almost like Bakura's, the ends sticking up all over. Jou was bright red, trying to smooth out his ruffled clothes and refusing to look at Seto. Seto, too, was blushing, one hand grabbing the back of a struggling Mokuba's shirt-collar, and the other hand covering his mouth tightly. Yugi and Yami, of course, were nowhere to be seen.
Feeling decidedly frazzled, the top competitors in this tournament left hurriedly to get some rest.
(A/N: Now, we go to poor Jou, who's fortunate – or unfortunate – enough to be in a warm place. ^_~)
That evening, a tired-looking Jou sat in front of a warm fireplace, head resting on the armrests of the large chair in which he sat. The light of the fire flickered over his face, creating a beautiful orange glow. Surprisingly, he was thinking. And not just about anyone. He was thinking about Seto Kaiba, in whose home he still stayed.
"Penny for your thoughts, Pup," a soft voice murmured behind him.
Inside, Jou jumped about ten feet into the air, but physically, he did not move. Only one person called him "Pup", and he would not let him see how startled he was.
The golden-haired boy turned and glared. "Whad'ya want, Kaiba?!"
You, Seto thought with a smirk. That beautiful body of yours, perhaps?
"Wha'arya smirking at? Hey, talk, da**it!"
"Temper, temper," Seto tsked. "Remember whose house this is. I can kick you out at any time."
"Then do so!" Jou growled. "You insisted dat I come her. I wanna leave anyway. In fact, I'm gonna go right now." He took a few steps. "Hey, get outta my way, Kaiba!"
Seto hesitated, trying to think of a way to keep the honey-eyed boy in. That problem was solved for him as the lights suddenly went out. In the light of the dying fire, he saw what almost resembled fear on his Puppy's face. Jou made a dash for the door, as the fire flickered and died, plunging them into darkness. He clawed at the door, trying to find the security pad necessary for opening it, and let out a whimper.
"Emergency lights!" Seto called out clearly to the voice recognition system. "Computer, turn on emergency lights in the den! I repeat, turn on emergency lights!"
"System malfunctioning," came the mechanical voice. "Begin shutdown for reparations. All electrical appliances will be off. Please do not try to enter or exit a room. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
"Inconvenience? We?" Seto swore. "This is my own mansion! What the he**!"
In a moment, both occupants of the room realized something. It was getting very, very cold.
"An', an' I can't even get out," Jou stuttered, shivering. "It's c-cold!"
"I know it's cold!" Seto snapped. "What do you want me to do about it? Would it help if I warmed you?!"
Not a bad idea, he thought. After all, I wouldn't want my gorgeous little puppy to get cold again. With this thought in mind, he walked over to where he thought Jou's voice was and put his arms around the object that he thought was the boy. Judging correctly, he was rewarded by a gasp and a warm body.
"Wha…" Jou muttered uncertainly. "Seto, whadarya doing?! Why are you…"
"I'm keeping you warm, Pup," Seto murmured into his ear. The warmth, closeness, and darkness was too much for him, and he leaned down, tracing the shell of that ear with his lips. "I'm keeping both of us warm."
"K-kaiba?" Jou was startled. "You're a guy! I'm a guy! We shouldn't, we…" His protests had no real will behind them, and he found his body molding into the taller boy's. Jou moaned at the contact.
Without realizing it, they came to the couch at one side of the room, and Seto pushed Jou onto it, kissing his neck almost roughly and straddling his hips, his breath coming out in labored gasps.
Jou moaned as he felt something hard dig into his stomach, and he thrust his hips up, wanting something, anything, to stop the pressure building in his tight pants. Now that his eyes have adjusted to the dark, he could see Seto's glimmering blue eyes, deeper than the ocean and the sky, sparkling more than sapphires. "S-seto…"
"What is it, Pup?" Now, the voice was husky, the tone affectionate. "Do you want to say something?"
"Love you!" Jou declared, quite suddenly, his arms tightening around the other boy's waist. "Seto, Seto!"
"I love you too," the rich CEO murmured breathlessly, leaning down for a kiss.
As his lips touched Jou's, the smaller boy pressed against him, kissing him violently. Seto teased him, running his tongue lightly over his lips. As Jou's mouth opened, Seto flicked his tongue inside, tasting, caressing. His hands set out to quickly remove the boy's shirt.
"Jou, may I?"
Honey eyes started at sapphire, and the golden head nodded in trust. "Please…"
