Wow, I finally finished this chapter… I've had the first third done for nearly a month now, and I got an urge today to write. I want to say hooray, it's finally finished, but it's so sad! I can't believe this story is over already… and this was a story I started because of my frustration over a guy I have a crush on… I'm still not over it, ha ha. I'm happy, though. Thank you to everyone who's been reading, I love your reviews, every single one.

Unfortunately, I have heard rumors that ff. net is deleting accounts for people responding to reviews in their chapters; I emailed them about it, but they have not written back yet… so, just in case… thank you to ChaosMagicianGirl, SukiLovesAnime, Skitty2004, panmotto, kristen, SladesDaughter, Soon-to-be-Yami's girl, AmnarJoey, KaiKaiCutie, SirisAnkh, FalsE FortunE, Aibyoka, Cobra Strife, rabidmutantkitty, Ragingfire11, xXAquiliusDraconisXx, Akiko Saulii, xXxkIkOkEnxXx, Aoi Dragon, Yu-Gi-Ohfangirl13, PrussianBlueCross, blackrose113, Soleil-Princess90, Gondorian Princess, theeternitycode, Silver Fantasy, Rakuen no Tobira, and ssp.

And thank you to everyone who reviewed in the past; I hope this last chapter is enjoyable. See you next time! --Edie

Chapter 14

Click.

I jumped as a sharp slap into reality hit me. I suddenly realized what was about to happen, where Seto's hands were, how tingly and eager I felt just having him over me—

"Hey!"

Seto stopped and slowly made eye contact with me. "What."

"Er—" Mm, great unplanned plan. "We shouldn't do this; I don't want to."

He smiled, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "You're funny…" Nearly kissing me again, he spoke with his lips barely apart from mine. "Too inexperienced to know… I can read you like a book. You want this, Kumiko…" His hand came down my side and I took in a whole lot more air than I needed; my chin tilted up so that our lips touched, and his tongue wound its way in.

I writhed and pushed my hands against his chest; I could feel my lust rising like I had never felt before, and it was scaring me. I didn't want to find out what would happen once I let it get the best of me. He pressed his body in closer, pinning my hands in between us, one of his hands closing around the back of my neck and bringing me up to him. I balled my hands into fists and used what little strength I could muster to resist further—

"There's no turning back now," he said darkly, and I found my hands up by my head.

"Seto—stop it! You're a pervert! Get off!" The energy I could feel from him was making me cringe.

What he was about to respond next, I didn't hear, due to the thunderous footsteps that sounded up the stairs at that very moment. No sooner had both our heads turned towards my door, then through it burst—

Well, I couldn't see at all; I didn't have my glasses. But the voice that emerged was one I recognized. "Hey—" he panted. "You—what—"

"…K-Katsuya-kun?"

I vaguely saw his darkened form straighten up. Even though he was panting, he sure as hell found enough breath to shout, "Get off her, you asshole!"

"What do you think you're doing here?" Seto demanded quietly, sitting up on me and letting my hands go.

"I could ask the same to you! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Seto laughed. "My my, you're a bright one."

"O-ok, I know what you're doing—for the love, get off of her already!"

"Tch. Fine." To our surprise, Seto merely got up and stood beside the bed, folding his arms. "You've become more and more annoying to me, both of you. This is more trouble than it's worth."

"It isn't worth a damn! What the hell do you think you're doing here, huh?" Katsuya had taken a step forward, pointing angrily at me, keeping his eyes fixed on Seto.

He chuckled softly to himself, barely whispering. "I'm having fun, my dear Katsuya. Surely you could have seen how easy it'd have been for anyone?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Seto looked at his nails. "Come on. She's obviously never had anyone interested in her—I mean, look at her. She's got a cute little petite frame and all, but that's all she has going for her. Any girl like that is desperate for attention, desperate for anything that might hint that she's attractive. And she had quite the crush on me, didn't you hear? How much easier could it have gotten?"

With each word that slipped heedlessly out of his mouth, I could feel a piece of me breaking inside, all that time… everything… it wasn't real?

"Why would you do that?" Katsuya growled. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"I'm finally leaving school next week… I finally was able to get my inventions noticed by gaming businesses, and they want me working for them. All of them. What's a little bit of fun before I go, right?" He snickered one last time, giving me a sideways glance. "I hope you enjoyed yourself, Ikari-chan. Next time you see me, I'll be on television." As he left, he shoved past Katsuya without looking back. Neither of us spoke until we heard him unlock the front door and go out.

It was only then that I looked up at Katsuya—well, the blob that was Katsuya, anyway. I twisted my hands in my lap as the silence dragged itself out, uncomfortably, slowly. I cleared my throat finally.

"…um…" I murmured out.

"That son of a bitch," was his reply.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't even care that it was Katsuya that was in the room with me. I was just… in shock. I was crying before I could stop myself. I sobbed; I wasn't necessarily sad, but I never knew I could feel so angry at myself before.

"H-hey, it's ok Kumi-chan," he said rather awkwardly.

"Y-you're not Sh-Shinobu, don't call me that," I said harshly.

"Sooo-rry," he snapped back. "I'm not the one who attacked you, remember?"

"I know you're not, but that doesn't mean that you can just act all high and mighty!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want to be raped by that freak?"

"Shut up!" I yelled, covering my ears and curling up. More tears fell and my chest heaved as I felt my inner self laughing at me.

"I didn't mean that… there was no way you could have stopped him, Kumi-chan… I just—" He took in a deep breath. "As soon as I heard your voice on the phone I—"

"I called Shinobu's phone," I muttered.

"He was asleep… he came over to my house and drifted off after talking about you for an hour or so. He was really concerned about you…"

"Well… thanks for… coming and…" I forced out, trying to control myself a little bit. "I just…I can't believe I was so stupid, thinking someone was actually interested in me… that Seto was interested in me—"

"You weren't stupid; he's like a fox!" He said rather loudly. "It's not your fault that you got hurt; it's his for being such a bastard."

"But no guy's ever been interested in me before—" I wiped my eyes.

"You don't know that," he said, a bit defensively.

I was focused on myself, and totally missed it. "And to think that a really good-looking, smart guy would actually like me…" I laughed darkly. "What an idiot…"

"For the love—you should be smart enough to not let creeps like that get to you! He doesn't know what he just threw away. You're really nice, polite when you actually talk, and—and—" I heard him shift his weight. "…and you're …"

… flattery from Katsuya? "Um…"

"You don't have to say anything," he said quickly. He sounded really strange to me; almost like he did back when we were kids… hesitant, awkward… I leaned over to feel around on the ground beside my bed.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I dropped my glasses… can you see them anywhere?"

In about a second he had pressed them into my hand, and I put them on. He had on a white t-shirt and blue jeans, both of which fitted him really well… he really grew into a nice frame… he wasn't looking at me, though.

"Katsuya-kun?" I prodded after a few moments. "What's wrong?" He was…blushing? Why?

He cleared his throat and kept his eyes fixed on the wall beside him. "…um… your…" His hand kinda tugged at the front of his shirt.

"What?"

His eyes darted to me for a split second, then back again with a great intake of breath. "Your slip," he rushed out, still pulling on the cloth of his shirt.

I paused, confused, before remembering what a slip was, and that I was wearing one. I looked down and realized that one of the straps was hanging off my shoulder. I gasped and grabbed the covers from the end of the bed. "I—I'm sorry," I blubbered, feeling my face turn red.

"I should have said something earlier," he stuttered, looking a little bit at me now out of the corner of his eye. "I—not that I was looking, I just noticed it now—b-but, it wasn't unpleasant or—" He put a hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry."

Silence settled again and I could feel my heart racing. It wasn't because I was embarrassed, though… I was just about to try and say something, when he starting talking again.

"Kumi-chan, I…" He ran a hand through his hair, swallowing hard. "I don't know if you know already—well, I don't know how you would, but—I, uh… I've… I've really liked you since… well, since we met…"

I almost laughed, but my sheer intrigue kept it inside. "But, you—"

"I know, I didn't act like it at all, but, I… I really didn't like how we met at all, and the fact that it screwed up any friendly stuff that might have happened, I mean, you told on me, and I got in major trouble; I really didn't want to like you, but I didn't know what to do. I—I guess I picked on you because—well, because you would avoid me otherwise and I'd at least…" He shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets and looking at me fully. "…you'd at least pay attention to me then…"

I bit my lip, looking at the ground. I wasn't sure if he was playing some sort of weird trick on me or not… either way, the look he was giving me really made my heart jump. He laughed softly.

"And then… to end up at the same school as you, and become friends with your best friend… it was surreal… I was just so happy to see you again… you became so… well, beautiful…"

I suddenly became aware of how my hair was all over my face. I started trying to brush it out of the way. "I'm not… at least not now…" I said, still blushing and avoiding his eyes.

I stopped fidgeting when he knelt down in front of me, feeling around in his pocket. I lifted my eyes to him, and saw the hairtie he had kept in his hand. He genlty brought my hair back, pulling it through and back into a ponytail. He cupped my face when he was done, looking deep into my eyes with his.

"You always are."

"…Jonouchi-kun…"

He smiled softly. "I thought I'd never hear you call me that…" He leaned forward slowly, hesitating an inch away from me. Without even thinking, I brought my arms around him and kissed him. He straightened up and an arm slipped behind me, bringing me close to him—I could feel his heart pounding right against mine as everything else in the world melted away. As more tears began to slip down my face, I knew.

Everything would be all right.