"Since your grades and attendance are still solid, I'm surprised that you missed this assignment, Alexis." Miss Fontaine said to Alexis. They were having a one-on-one student-teacher conference in Miss Fontaine's office at the Obelisk girls' dorm.

The yearly project. How could I have let it go this long? Alexis thought to herself miserably.

During each school year, Duel Academy assigned a special assignment with a different theme related to dueling for the students to work on. It was always a big hands-on project that required tasks that could be anything from making up customized theme decks to researching real duelists. Alexis didn't mind the actual work itself and had even found it enjoyable last year. The main problem for her was that students were required to find and work with a partner from their own dorm. Alexis didn't have an issue working with the other girls, and most of them would have been thrilled at a chance to work with the Queen of Obelisk Blue herself. But between everything going on this year so far with the Society of Light, the Slifer dorm problem, and her relationship (even if she couldn't really call it that) with Aster, Alexis had sort of forgotten about the assignment. Would she be able to find a partner on such short notice? And with over half of the girls' dorm under the Society of Light's control, how could she even work with them to begin with?

"I didn't forget, exactly. I've just had…a lot going on." Alexis said lamely.

"I can understand that. But the fact is that everyone else here has already found partners. And the odd numbers have already made their groups of three. Even if you were to join a pair right now, they have already covered too much for you to catch up with and start contributing properly. I'm really sorry, Alexis, but it looks like you will have to do the alternate assignment now if you want any credit for this." Miss Fontaine said somewhat sympathetically.

Alexis' heart sank. Students who missed the deadline on the project for whatever reason were given the chance to do an alternate assignment (usually a paper or test of some sort), but the grade they would receive for it was significantly lower. In the long run, this would not hurt a student too much as long as their overall grades on everything else were still good. But for Alexis, this was a blow that she did not want to take. She was trying to maintain a high grade point average so that her resume would be the best that it could be if she wanted to pursue a teaching career at a dueling school or even enter the Pro Leagues.

"Please Miss Fontaine, I need this! I know that I let this slip, but I can still make up for it if you give me the chance! Is there no other way!?" Alexis begged.

Miss Fontaine paused for a few minutes. She appeared to be thinking hard about a way to solve Alexis' dilemma.

"Well… There might be one way. But it wouldn't be completely up to me." Miss Fontaine said somewhat hesitantly.

"I don't care! Just please tell me what it is!" Alexis said desperately.

"Normally, you are required to work with someone from your own dorm, so this would be bending the rules a bit. But since the student in question is still an Obelisk, I think we can make an exception for you." Miss Fontaine said.

Despite her determination to see this through, Alexis couldn't help feeling a bit wary. If it was someone from the Obelisk boys' dorm, there was probably about a 99%-maybe even 100%-chance that she would get stuck with some weirdo who would drool over her. Jaden and the others were all in Slifer and Ra, and she knew that her brother had already found a partner. Even worse, the Obelisk Blue boys' dorm was also more or less filled with Society of Light members.

"That is good enough for me. So, who is this student?" Alexis asked carefully. For one horrifying moment, she was afraid that it might be Sartorius, although how he had even been allowed to enroll as a student with his age, Alexis had no idea.

"As I'm sure you're aware of, Aster Phoenix is registered as a student here at Duel Academy. However, because of his schedule, he's been given permission to substitute the alternate assignment for this one at full credit, so I don't know if he would be inclined to make more work for himself by doing this instead. Not to mention that you would both be getting a bit of a late start at this point. But I think that it is still worth a try to at least ask him if you really are serious about this. I don't know how well you might know him, but from what I understand, he is on friendly terms with Jaden Yuki, so maybe that would help your case. Either way, I'm afraid that is the best that I can offer you, Alexis. It's your choice." Miss Fontaine explained.

Why does it always come back to Aster!? Alexis thought to herself with trepidation. The irony of this was that one of the reasons for her falling behind on this assignment also happened to be her only solution to solve the problem.

"Well…I suppose it's better than missing out on the assignment altogether. I'll try asking him." Alexis said reluctantly.

"I'm glad to hear that, Alexis. I know that it can be hard to go out of your comfort zone and try interacting with someone you aren't familiar with. But I know that you're a good student and very adaptable to new situations, so I'm sure that you can make this work and finish on time if Aster agrees to this. So, try your best, alright?" Miss Fontaine said encouragingly.

"Thanks, Miss Fontaine. I will!" Alexis said with a smile that she hoped looked convincing. Clearly, the teacher had no idea just how familiar she and Aster really were with each other, and that was the real problem with this situation.

Xxx

Alexis mentally sighed to herself as she idly tossed her PDA back and forth between her hands. It had been over an hour since her meeting with Miss Fontaine and she was now sitting by herself in the school library, still contemplating over the turn of events. Aster would be willing to help her, of that, Alexis was sure of. But the question was whether he would expect something in return from her.

It had been about two weeks since Alexis had visited Sartorius' shop with Aster. True to his word, Aster hadn't tried to push Alexis any further or initiate anymore physical contact with her since their kiss that day. They still saw each other every day, but aside from a few hints and subtle flirtation on Aster's part, their relationship was completely platonic. However, with getting to know Aster even better, Alexis also found her attraction to him growing even stronger. As much as she had tried to deny it to herself at first, Alexis knew that she liked Aster. A lot. The problem was how to go about telling him this. She was too nervous to bring it up herself, but Alexis decided that if Aster presented another opportunity for a conversation to go in that direction, she could at least tell him that she would not be averse to at least seeing how a few dates would go between them.

That wasn't the only problem Alexis had, though. Now that she had admitted her own feelings to herself, the other part of her attraction to Aster was making its presence known much more frequently now. Alexis found herself reminiscing about their night at the lighthouse a lot now, especially since their last kiss. She had started having very vivid dreams (while asleep and daydreaming) about them having more of the same passionate sexual encounters. Her longing for Aster was becoming so strong that she had resorted more than once to pleasuring herself between the sheets of her bed at night (usually after another dream of him), moaning his name softly while she tried in vain to satisfy her growing desire for him. Alexis felt embarrassed and ashamed of herself for it, but she knew that she couldn't deny the truth either. Ever since that night at the lighthouse, a fire had been lit. A fire that burned from deep within her loins and spread out onto every inch of her body while only continuing to grow hotter and hotter with each passing day. And only Aster could extinguish that fire for her.

The truth of the matter was that Alexis was afraid that if Aster agreed to helping her with the school project, he might only want to work somewhere in private with her, like his yacht. No matter how much she wanted him, Alexis wanted to do the right thing and have a proper relationship with Aster before they moved on to anything more intimate than dating. But if she was alone with him in a place where they were free to do whatever they wanted away from anyone else's eyes, Alexis was afraid that she would not be able to resist the temptation to go further with Aster if he made any more advances on her. Already, trying to keep her lust in check was a maddening effort when she knew all too well that Aster would be ready and willing to help her solve her problem whenever she wished. Just the very thought of knowing that she could get what she wanted right now if she simply went over to Aster's place was already too tempting. Alexis knew that Aster would not refuse her if she asked for it.

I need to stop this. Even if we have to work somewhere in private, that doesn't mean that anything else has to happen there! It's not like I don't have a choice! Alexis scolded herself. Without giving it another thought, she dialed Aster's number on her PDA.

Xxx

Aster paced restlessly inside his yacht as he tried to calm his frustration. It had been almost two weeks since he had agreed to Alexis' request that he did not do anything to pressure her into starting a relationship with him. They were friends again and still spending a lot of their free time together. But aside from that, absolutely nothing else was happening. Aster was trying to respect Alexis' wishes and wait until she was ready for a real relationship with him. But at this point, he didn't see how that would ever happen unless he took the initiative here. It didn't matter how many not-so-subtle hints he made about his feelings or how much light flirtation in the form of teasing and compliments that he sent her way. Alexis could probably go on hiding behind her ridiculous little charade of "just friends" forever if he didn't make the first move here. And the longer he went on without saying anything, the more he gave someone else a chance at winning Alexis' affections. Who was to say that Alexis wouldn't say yes to someone else if she was given the chance? Aster didn't want to wait around while another guy who had half the mind to approach Alexis in a normal way without going all dorky fanboy on her managed to win her over, or if Jaden managed to hit puberty and finally noticed that there was one very attractive girl spending time with him. He decided that he had to be direct and at least try telling Alexis how he really felt about her and to express his interest in them starting to date. He had given her enough time already and it was time for him to make a move. After all, what did he have to lose when they hadn't started anything to begin with?

To make matters even more difficult, Aster was finding it more and more frustrating to calm his physical desires these days. It had been two weeks since he had had sex with Alexis during that fateful night at the lighthouse and he was feeling the need bad. Aster found himself continually fantasizing about Alexis in that way and it only made him hunger even more for her. He hated how he had joined the lowly ranks of almost every boy in Duel Academy who was also most likely jerking off to her like he was now. He knew that it didn't have to be like this for him when it came to sex. He was Aster Phoenix and he could basically have any girl he wanted, maybe even just by simply asking them. But he didn't want any girl, he wanted Alexis. She was the only one that Aster had ever had feelings for that went beyond plain lust. He wanted to make her his again. To have her writhing and moaning underneath him, calling out his name in pure ecstasy while he thrust into her over and over again. Giving them both the ultimate pleasure that they yearned for. Even if Alexis was too embarrassed to admit it, Aster knew that she had enjoyed that night just as much as he had and would enjoy it again if she just gave herself the chance to. But only if he got the ball rolling here and made it clear that he was ready for something more between them.

Just as he was about to go to work with relieving himself from his ever-growing lust, Aster heard his PDA ring. Knowing that the one person he had registered on it was also the only one he would want to talk to right now, Aster quickly grabbed his device and answered it.

"Hey, it's me. I hope I didn't get you at a bad time, Aster. Were you busy?" Alexis greeted Aster from the screen.

"Not at all." Aster lied, too mortified to tell her just what exactly he had been about to get busy with.

"Good. I called you because I sort of need your help with something, but it's a long story, so I was wondering if you could meet me at the library soon?" Alexis asked.

"Asking for my help, huh? Wow, this must be serious! Must not be a problem for those with average abilities." Aster joked.

Alexis rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Rein that ego in. It's nothing that special. Will you be there or not?" She asked.

Aster couldn't help smiling. Alexis was just too adorable for her own good whenever he teased her like this. "Give me about an hour and I'll be there." He promised.

"Thanks, I'll see you soon!" Alexis said with her beautiful smile before giving a wave goodbye as she ended the call.

Aster sighed to himself wearily. That stunning view that Alexis had provided of herself had only made him feel worse. Knowing that there was going to be no quick fix to his problem this time, he headed to the bathroom for a shower.

Xxx

"-about everything, I guess. What do you think?" Alexis said carefully after she had finished explaining everything about the school project and asking for Aster's assistance.

"Hmm… I don't know. I'm quite busy as it is right now with everything going on and my weekend matches still going on. And this isn't what I would consider as a more ideal way of spending time with you." Aster said evasively, trying to tease Alexis by getting her hopes low.

"I know. I just don't want to pass up this chance…" Alexis said sadly.

"You won't have to. Because luckily, I happen to like you. So, I don't mind helping you out with this Alexis." Aster said, offering his most charming smile.

"You'll help!? Thank you so much, Aster! I promise that it won't be bad! I'll try to get us finished as fast as I can." Alexis said excitedly. She felt like she could have hugged him.

"No need for that. It's better if we're willing to take our time here. I don't mind. It's not like these Duel Academy assignments are ever any kind of challenge, anyway." Aster reassured Alexis.

"So, do you think we can get started tomorrow?" Alexis asked.

"Sure. I won't be doing anything else, so just come over anytime you want after school." Aster offered.

"You mean…at your place?" Alexis asked cautiously, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt.

"Why not? I got everything I need for this there." Aster said.

"Oh. Well… Are you sure that you don't want to just come here instead? I don't want to impose on you." Alexis said awkwardly, unable to give a better excuse.

"You really think the library is always this empty? Trust me, it isn't. Same with everywhere else here. I don't want any fans bothering us all the time. And working outside isn't going to be comfortable with how long we'll end up working. This will be easier. I could even make coffee for you if you get tired. Come on, please? I hardly ever have guests…" Aster said, even sounding a little sad with his last sentence.

As much as her brain was screaming at her that this was a bad idea, Alexis couldn't bring herself to say no. Aster was already going out of his way to make the time to help her with this. Shouldn't she at least compromise with him? Plus, she couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him after his last words. Aster lived all alone, and with not even being able to see Sartorius and Sarina now, it had to be a little lonely for him nowadays. Maybe it would be alright…

"I suppose you're right. I'll be there a little after class." Alexis relented.

Aster brightened. "Great! So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, partner." He said with a smile as he held his hand out for Alexis to shake.

"That's right! And we're going to give this our best!" Alexis said determinedly as she shook Aster's hand.

Aster simply smiled and nodded. He figured that once they finished some work tomorrow, it would be the perfect opportunity to bring up his question to Alexis after he explained his feelings to her. And who knows? If it went well, maybe he could even set the mood for something else if he played his cards right…

AN: I think you all know what needs to happen next.