Okay, this started as two chapters, but I bowed to the demands of reviewers, and combined them. 6 pages! Enjoy the long-er chapter!

Not sure when chapter 8 will be up… thanks for your patience!

.-

.-

Part 2: Sex, Lies and…Soccer?

Chapter 7

At school the next day Yugi and his friends were hanging out on the steps as usual. As I approached I heard the annoying voice of Joey Wheeler. "Why dinja call me afta the game, Yug? I wanted ta go ova some of the plays. And I wanted ta hear what it was like watchin' it in a personal theater like Kaiba must 'av."

"Sorry Joey," Yugi answered, "I guess I was tired."

"Tired? Too tired ta phone yer best friend!"

I walked up to the group. "Good morning, Yugi."

"Good morning, Kaiba!"

I raised a brow; why not? "It's Seto," I corrected him.

I looked around at the rest of the group considering if I should greet them. They stared at me, mouths gaping. Definitely too far below me to greet. I looked back at Yugi, his face radiant. I resisted the urge to pull him to his feet and kiss him soundly. "See you in class," I said instead.

Two classes later, I headed to Life Skills, and Yugi joined me in the hallway. "Where's your entourage?"

"Already in class. I…just wanted to walk with you."

I nodded, winning me another amazing smile. "I'm…looking forward to tomorrow night," I awkwardly offered in return. We walked into the classroom just as the bell rang. Michelle entered just behind us. I was alarmed for a moment; had she heard us talking? She did not even seem to notice us as separate from the throng of other students milling about the room. I dismissed my paranoia, focusing on the more alarming issue at hand. There were no desks in the room. Students were beginning to form the circle, sitting on… the floor. I wanted to run, and probably would have left, if a small hand had not surreptitiously snuck into mine, squeezed, and withdrew. I looked at Yugi, and he held my eyes as he slowly sank down where he stood. I found myself also crouching, following his lead.

"I'm sure you have all noticed that the room looks a little different. We are going to need the space today, but I'll get to why in a moment. We are coming to the end of our ethics in relationships unit, and will begin workplace ethics next week. I want to commend all of you on your maturity in the discussions this week, especially yesterday. When I submitted my lesson plan there was doubt about whether high school students could have a frank discussion of the different aspects of sexual activity, especially in a co-ed environment. As a reminder, I do expect a journal entry on your 'intimacy mission statement:' how far you want to go, how fast, when and with whom. You can fold the page if you don't want me to read it. And last but not least, thank you to those who shared yesterday, and to everyone for respecting them." Her eyes twinkled in Yugi's direction.

I couldn't believe it; the most useful class of the year is the one I missed! I could have saved the trouble of an awkward conversation if I knew what Yugi had shared yesterday. I groaned inwardly, imagining what Michelle would say to my line of thinking.

"Okay, for today and tomorrow, we are going to take a break from our discussions and do some self-care. I have a guest who is going to teach us some Yoga. Most of what we will do today will be individual, but you will need a partner for some, so let's get that out of the way."

Tea was sitting by Ryou, and they partnered up. Wheeler and Tristan were on the other side of the room, and yelled to Yugi. "Hey Yug, lets see if we can all three be paired up." I swallowed a jab; it was too easy, anyway. Yugi opened his mouth, looking at me. Michelle came over, cutting off whatever he would have said.

"Seto, it is important that the meditation is not interrupted, so if you will need to leave early for a meeting, it would be better if you left now."

She was offering me a perfect excuse to get out of this: participating in this foolishness at all, and hearing Yugi's choice for a partner. I looked at Yugi, and knew he chose me. Sigh, foolishness it is. "I can stay for the whole class," I informed Michelle, never taking my eyes off Yugi.

"Yug!" Wheeler was still waiting.

"Hmm? Oh, you and Tristan can be partners, I have one."

The next day I left work early, this time arriving home just after Mokuba. I hadn't known how to say that Yugi was coming over for the second night in one week, when we had never hung out before. Mokuba really liked Yugi, so I thought I might sell it as a surprise for him. Getting home early meant I had nothing to do while waiting. Mokuba worked on his homework, but I had finished mine. My journal entry for Michelle had been particularly easy. I had written "However far, however soon Yugi will let me," then folded the page. Not wanting to disturb Mokuba, I took a walk outside until 5:30 and daydreamed about meditation. We had learned holding positions, and how with our breath and our mantras we could overcome fatigue, and by locking eyes with our partners, we could give and get strength from them. I still would say it was mumbo-jumbo if asked, but the experience, with Yugi, was great.

When the doorbell rang I asked Mokuba to get it. He came back into the rec room dragging Yugi by the arm. "Yugi's come to hang out with us!" After a dinner conversation dominated by my little brother, I gave Mokuba the choice of playing a game or watching a movie. He chose a movie, an age-appropriate, feature length anime. Luckily it was engaging, and I had not seen it; it kept my attention so I wasn't just wishing to be alone with Yugi. We had returned to the same places in which we sat two nights ago, Mokuba and Yugi on one couch, me alone on the other. The movie ended fifteen minutes before Mokuba's bedtime, and I mentally prepared for him to beg to stay up even later, especially since it was Friday night. I was caught off guard when he got up and said he was going to bed. He said goodnight to Yugi, and I walked up with him. "Are you feeling okay Mokuba?" I asked once he was in bed.

"Yes, why?"

"You are in bed early."

"Only a few minutes. Besides, I wanted to give you guys some time alone."

"What!" I came close to shouting; instead it came out low, and harsh.

Mokuba ignored my tone, as he usually does. "Well, you don't usually tag along when I hang out with my friends. I know Yugi didn't come over to see me. I'm just glad you let me hang out at all."

"Mokuba… I love you."

"I know Big Brother. Good night."

I walked very slowly down the stairs. Now that I was going to be alone with Yugi, I was nervous. I wanted to grab him and kiss him, but I could not quite see myself walking over to his couch and doing that. I worried that maybe he regretted the other night. That was absurd; he would not be here if he did. I worried that I was only cut out for one-night stands. Maybe I wouldn't still want this today. That was ridiculous also; every cell in my body wanted it. But what about my head? Could it take intimacy with anyone other than my brother? What if I ran, and hurt Yugi? I shook my doubts away. But I still didn't know how I would walk over to the couch where he was sitting.

I needn't have worried. Yugi wasn't on that couch. He was sprawled on my couch. With a look, and the crook of a finger he beckoned to me. I walked over, picked him up and half-turned, sitting with Yugi in my lap. He had put his arms around my neck when I picked him up. As we sat he used them to draw me down into a kiss. Yugi had removed his jacket and wore a sleeveless black tee-shirt. I held Yugi's back with my right arm, but my left hand was free and I caressed Yugi's right arm, starting at his wrist and one of his ever present leather wristlets, and slowly moving up, forearm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder. His skin was very warm, his muscles taut and hard. I ran my hand over the front of his shirt, down his chest and stomach, to his hip, and back up. When I reached his wrist again, I pulled out of our kiss and put my lips to his wrist and began slowly kissing up the inside of his lower arm. I watched his face. He leaned back against my right arm, his eyes closed and his lips parted. As I neared the inside of his elbow, he gasped.

I had been trying to keep myself…calm up until then. But that one gasp broke the dam and blood rushed like floodwater to my groin. As the space on my lap grew tighter, Yugi opened his eyes and looked at me. I could not read his expression; his eyes changed, wide and violet one moment, narrow and almost red the next. He seemed to be waiting for me. I still held Yugi's waist. Shifting both of us slightly, I sat Yugi next to me, back to the arm of the couch, with his legs bent over my lap. I kept my arms around him and wondered what to do next. I should probably whisper sweet nothings or some such nonsense that they show in movies. As much as I liked Yugi, I would gag on a sweet nothing. And what I really wanted was to rip his clothes off and… Yugi saved me the need to come up with anything. He leaned against me, head on my shoulder, and sighed. I wasn't sure what the sigh meant, but I shook off the temptation to obsess over it and asked, "Are you okay?"

He nodded into my shoulder. "You know, I've known you for awhile, and I always believed you were more than the front you put out to the world, I'm just so glad that I'm right."

"How do you know you're right?"

"Because twice now, you've stopped, knowing that it is important to me."

I considered his answer. Certainly most people would not believe me to have any restraint when it came to getting what I wanted, even if it meant hurting others. I realized that there was something sweet I could say, but it wasn't nothing. "You know, it is because of you that I am who I am. You have helped me grow, ever since our first duel."

Yugi blushed slightly, but nodded. "Yes, the Pharaoh's mind crush."

I inwardly grimaced. I wasn't ready for that talk. "No. I mean that you challenge me. I have never met anyone as good as me at anything. You forced me to expand my thinking."

"'As good as?' Don't you mean 'better than?'"

I knew he was teasing but it still raised my hackles. Yugi ducked his head. "Sorry."

I looked away, considering an earlier part of the conversation. "So, Yugi, what if I hadn't stopped?" I pulled him a little closer, teasing him back in my own way.

"I don't know, I not entirely sure I would have stopped you."

I raised an eyebrow. Yugi cocked his head to the side and continued.

"It's just that…you and I, we're always in control. And I just wanted to let go of that, to trust you completely. It felt…amazing…to just give up control to someone else, if only for a few minutes. And if you hadn't stopped, well, it would have been a lesson learned the hard way." Yugi smirked, a reddish tint in his eyes. "…but probably pretty fun." The red in his eyes was joined by a flush on his cheeks at this admission. "Besides," he continued despite the blush, "we don't have to worry about what would have happened, do we?"

I licked my lips; this was my opening. "No worries, no…but when you say 'fun,' could you, um, expand a little on that?"

Yugi managed a darker shade of red, his eyes opening wide, their color a rare, clear violet. "There is a big part of me…" I widened my eyes and looked down at Yugi's crotch. He lifted my chin with a finger, smirking. "Not that part, or not only that part…that still wants to rip both our clothes off and …well, I'm not sure, exactly, what would come next…"

I couldn't resist, "I'm pretty sure that it would be you, Yugi."

Yugi couldn't turn any darker red, but he stopped breathing for a moment, his mouth hanging open. Torture is fun. Yugi inhaled and smiled weakly. "Heh, heh."

"And the rest of you?" I prompted, refocusing us. "What does it want?"

Yugi shrugged a little. "Same thing as before, I guess: wait for love, and commitment."

I considered this. Yugi's little speech in class was the deal closer for me wanting to be with him. It was so opposite of the empty encounters I had been having. But this didn't feel empty and I didn't feel any real need to wait. "Hey, I missed the rest of the discussion the other day. Did you happen to say where your line was? Or did they just talk about heterosexual relationships?"

"Actually, Michelle pointed out that there is nothing that gay couples do that het couples can't do. So we talked about it in a general sense."

"And your input?"

Yugi's mouth twisted, sort of a half smile, half grimace. "I didn't have any. I actually realized that I know almost nothing about sex." Yugi pushed up off my lap and walked a few steps from the couch, his back to me. He looked to his right, the odd quirk I had noticed before. After a moment, he nodded, and continued. "I've thought about it since though. I…um…there are some things I am not ready for, but otherwise…I thought we could just…take it slow…" Yugi turned and looked at me, his face a question mark.

I stood and walked to him and put my arms around him once more. "Okay. You set the pace, and I'll try to keep up with you."

Review responses:

Streea – lol, I beam like that often when reading fanfics! In case you had any doubt, the merging of the chapters was for you! Hope you enjoyed, can't make any future promises!

Yana5 – thanks for the encouragement!

Dimitri! – looks like you got your vacation after all - frozen! Frozen! Wonder if it was the SJ lemon… hope not, twas well written. I'm arranging my weekend to have time to read your updates. - Thanks for the continued praise and support! I hope you like how Kaiba handled the 'morning after.'

Aku – thanks for R&R! And the cookies! I was confused by your question, had to go back and look, and OH, forgot about that. Don't worry, just my randomness, I'd like to think of myself as a historian rather than a fiction writer. Honestly, the story had taken many turns that I swear I did not think of myself. Some people call it muses, I see an existing story that I am just discovering. Good luck discovering Melt Into Me, can't wait to read more.

Thanks again, all!

I noticed some people have put me on their email alerts! Yay! Feel free to leave me a little note with your thoughts!