Happy St. Patrick's Day! Chaste kisses and playful pinches to all deserving. I'm Irish and wearing green, so you know which to leave for me. :D

So here is a nice, long (for me) chapter. Please savor (assuming you like) as I'm uncertain when the next will come out. It won't be months or anything, but probably a week, anyway.

Anyone who gets impatient can read my one-shot I posted (shameless self-promotion), or pester and nag me. (Might work… eh.)

Happy reading!

Part II: Sex, Lies and…Soccer?

Chapter 10

I don't want to give the impression that our relationship became all about sex. There were other things holding us together, other things we did as a couple. But for a while after that weekend it did push to the front of our priorities. I suppose that is natural in any relationship. And though it was a priority, it was not even a particularly frequent occurrence. Most of the time when we were together, Mokuba was in the room, in the house, or due home soon. We had to maintain the appearance of rivals-turned-friends, and settle for an occasional heated look, furtive grope or stolen kiss whenever Mokuba turned his back or stepped out of the room.

The time that we had truly to ourselves was never long enough to head up to my room. We did not take our clothes off in the rec room. We were easily agree on this, and kept each other on track. So, our activity mostly consisted of making out with an occasional fully clothed orgasm. I realized even more that experience isn't everything. Yugi seemed to have an innate ability to know exactly what to do, and how far he could push me without it becoming… more.

"You amaze me," I told him one Friday evening. "It's almost as if you can read my mind."

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" He turned wide purple eyes to mine. "I can read your mind."

I searched Yugi's face. He stared back, unblinking, his facial muscles still. He looked serious. Could he possibly… did he know I lied to him…? It occurred to me that guilt and fear of detection could make someone believe, however briefly, the ridiculously impossible. I regained my smirk. Yugi's still face finally broke and he laughed, nearly falling off the couch, tumbling, instead, back into my arms.

Later that night we were back in our 'usual' position on the couch, Yugi's head in my lap. Music played softly in the background. We spoke, some, of nothing in particular, but mostly we were just enjoying each other's company. I was tracing my fingers lightly over Yugi's skin. Up and down his arms and around his face and neck. Yugi shivered occasionally at the stimulation. He loved this, and I loved any opportunity to touch him. We had been quiet for several minutes and I was beginning to think that Yugi had dozed off when he spoke.

"Where is Mokuba? Shouldn't soccer practice be over now?"

"The coach is having a dinner at his house to prepare them for their game tomorrow."

Yugi's eyes shot open. "A game! Let's go!"

We discussed whether to bring oranges or not and where to bring Mokuba to eat after. I had stopped petting Yugi and was holding his hand up to my chest when my brother walked into the room. He stopped short upon seeing us. We had not heard the door, so he must have come in the servants' entrance with the driver. I stayed very still, and willed Yugi to do so as well. It seemed very important not to startle my brother until he had processed what he was seeing.

Yugi either did not get my mental message or ignored it. Dropping my hand, he flipped over on his side to face Mokuba. His arm was across my lap, with his head propped in his hand.

"Mokuba," he said brightly, "we were just talking about going to you game tomorrow."

Mokuba blinked, then his face lit up. "You're really coming? Both of you?" He bounded into the room.

Yugi laughed and sat up. "Of course we are. And we have a surprise for you after!"

Mokuba's eyes were shining. "Thanks guys!" He looked from Yugi to me. "Um… coach said we should go to bed early so we're in top shape, so I'm gonna go up now."

I felt a little left behind, but came out of my stupor in time to respond to Mokuba. "Very well. I'll be up to say goodnight in a couple of minutes."

"Okay. Goodnight Yugi! I'll see you tomorrow!"

After my brother went upstairs I looked at Yugi. He smiled and shrugged. "I guess I should go talk to him…" I stated. What would I say?

Yugi leaned in and kissed me. "It will be fine."

Once upstairs I stood a few feet from Mokuba's door, breathing. My little brother was the most important person to me in the world. If my relationship with Yugi were to get in the way of my relationship with Mokuba, I don't know what I would do.

"Seto? You can come in." My brother's voice drifted into the hallway.

I stepped up to the open door. "I was… ahem." I remembered that I do not make excuses. I walked in with my back straight and my head high, but when I reached the bed I sighed and crumpled, sitting at the bed's foot. Mokuba came to stand next to me, and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Big brother, its okay, I… I already knew. I'm happy for you."

"You… knew?"

"Seto, I'm young; I'm not blind or stupid. Or deaf." My eyes widened at that last part, but overall I was relieved. "Now go back to Yugi and let me sleep! I have a game tomorrow."

I gladly obeyed, tucking the covers around him before I left.

Yugi was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. I pulled him into my arms. "It's okay." I held him for a few minutes, giving thanks for not having to choose. "He said he already knew, Yugi. You don't think anyone else does, do you?"

Yugi didn't respond. "Yugi?"

"No one is around us as much as Mokuba, why would anyone else know?" He stated, voice flat.

"That's true." I sighed with relief.

Yugi stepped away from me. "Um, would it be so bad? If others knew?"

Uh oh. "Yugi, I thought we agreed on this? There is no need for anyone to know. It's our business. And, yes, it could be bad. I do run a business you know. There would be consequences."

I knew the hurt expression on Yugi's face before I could see it. He walked over to the couches and started clearing dishes off the coffee table.

"Yugi."

He did not answer, just continued straightening the table. I sat beside him on the couch. His hands stopped their nervous activity but he did not look at me, even as I spoke. "Are there people who you want to tell?" I was aiming at gentle, but it came out somewhat gruff.

"Its not like I want to tell the media!" he started. "Or tell anyone right away. But at some point I want to be able to stop lying to my friends. To my grandpa." Yugi looked up at me. "And I want to share how happy I am with you."

I took Yugi's hand. "Let's see how things go with Mokuba and I'll think about the rest, okay?"

He smiled thinly. "Okay."

I helped him pick up the dishes and bring them to the kitchen, glad to have the discussion over with for now.

Once in the kitchen, Yugi turned at the sink. My mind had moved on; seeing him at the sink always reminded me of our first kiss(es). Yugi was looking pensively up at me, as though weighing a thought before speaking it. His seriousness distracted my own lustful thoughts. I stood up straighter and lifted a brow in question.

"I was wondering…" He started. "I decided to do my term project for history on Egypt. I've already done so much research, it makes sense. There are some reference books at the city library…" Yugi bit his lip, he looked worried.

Was he embarrassed to ask for a ride? "Did you want to go to the city this weekend? We could all go, if you want."

Yugi shook his head, his blond bangs brushing his cheeks. "No, I… I was thinking it might take me a couple of days to go through the books, and take notes …"

I cut him off, "We could get a hotel room! What a great idea. I'm sure I could arrange something for Mokuba. You could spend the days in the library, but the night…" I smirked and reached for Yugi. He stepped back, evading my touch.

"Uh, no… never mind. The library has a service where they can send you copies of some of the pages. That will be good enough. I don't want you to spend money on a hotel."

I looked at him, mystified. "It's up to you, Yugi. You know money's not an issue. A night at a hotel's not going to break the bank. Hell, I used to keep an apartment in the city. That was much more expensive than one night in a hotel. If I still had it, you'd be welcome to use it to do your research, with or without my help, at nightIf you decide you want the hotel, the offer still stands, and you could go by yourself, if you don't want me distracting you."

Yugi's face went through a range of expressions, most of which I could not name. I took a stab at relieved, and …wounded? I did not have time to puzzle over this, though, as he dismissed the conversation with a smile and a wave of his hand.

"Thanks, Seto. I'll let you know. Now, let's not talk about school work when we have a perfectly good sink to defile." He had mounted the stool and pulled me to him, and all thoughts of the library, hotel, and Yugi's strange expressions left me as my lower brain took control.

We went to Mokuba's soccer game the next morning, and every Saturday for the next few weeks. Each week we did something fun after the game. We went to a restaurant with an arcade one week, apple picking another. Yugi and Mokuba came up with most of the ideas, and I pretended to go along for their sakes, but I secretly looked forward to our outings. I had never done any of those things, and I loved experiencing them with my two favorite people. I put in suggestions of my own: sea kayaking, and horseback riding. Mokuba particularly loved the horses, and I considered having a stable put in for him.

In between Saturdays Yugi continued to come over a couple of times a week. We played board games and card games or watched an occasional movie or TV show with Mokuba in the early evenings. Yugi now sat next to me, as we no longer needed to hide our relationship from my brother. Mokuba, more often than not, was glued to Yugi's other side. I thought with amusement, more than a few times, that my brother had good taste. I was unable to name the emotion I felt the night Mokuba asked Yugi to come upstairs to tuck him in with me. It wasn't entirely good, but it wasn't all bad either. I made a decision to approve of their growing closeness. I trusted them both, and Mokuba certainly deserved more love than just that which came from my crippled heart.

During our 'alone time' in the evenings, Yugi and I continued some kissing and petting, but our 'honeymoon' period was drawing to a close, and we were both more aware of sound carrying upstairs. We found ourselves talking more. We talked about everything: current events, ancient history, our dreams and plans for the future. Yugi told me about growing up with his Grandpa, and about his parents. I even shared some about my past, both before and after I became a Kaiba. I realized that Yugi knew things about me that not even my brother knew. Things I had never even trusted to a journal.

The most surprising sharing, however, came from the 'Pharaoh.' Yugi rarely spoke of him, and, it seemed, even more rarely used his 'presence.' In those quiet evenings, though, that began to shift. The deep voice and exotic eyes of Yugi's other personality did not utter challenges or threats, or speeches of destiny and doom. He spoke, quietly, of his own forgotten past. He had learned what he could through research, and shared what he knew about the time period in which he was supposed to have been Pharaoh. He had yet to regain any of his own memories of the time. My cold, logical mind noted the lack of memories and the fact that Yugi was using the Egypt research for his term project and used these facts to reinforce my disbelief. At the same time, I took an odd pride in Yugi. If he was going to be crazy, at least he was ambitious. He chose a powerful, magical king as his alter ego. My crazy boyfriend is better than yours, I thought dryly.

Yet, as I spent more time around that commanding presence, so competitive, so controlling, so much… like me, my traitorous mind began to wonder what harm there would be in believing. Would my world really end? Wasn't that just a little melodramatic? But the doubts stayed at the edges; I did not give into them. Yet.

The day that I did believe was the worst day of my life.

A/N -

Next up, Part III: Believe

Review responses:

Yana5 – Thanks! Getting a little angst-y, but hopefully still cute.

Dimitri – Here's more. You ask, I give. Especially since you said "please."

Evil? Moi? Heh, heh. Found me out, didja? So, will those wheels turn out anything post-able? Not that you don't have plenty of fics currently spinning in your brain…

Streea – Hope you are feeling better! Here's another 'long' one, as a get well soon. I sheepishly admit I do not have a messenger, and look upon certain technologies with fear and distrust… but I do have email, and would love to hear from you! Ah, Duo-fan, cool.