Chapter Seven: Rivals Equal Lovers

The following morning, Seto and Joey woke up only to realize that they were both sprawled out next to one another on the couch. They looked to each other and heaved a long and tired sigh; moving seemed impossible but it was also inevitable. The brunette pushed himself up into a sitting position as the blonde copied his very actions. Remaining in their new, not quite so comfortable position for what seemed like minutes beyond belief, Mokuba skipped happily into the room, a wide grin plastering his features; Yugi trailed behind him looking as though he had not slept in a week.

"Hey Mokuba, hey Yugi," Joey greeted, turning around to face the two males behind him.

"Hi! What's up?" the raven-haired child exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Mokuba…"

"Yes? What is it Seto?" Mokuba asked, still sounding more chipper than usual.

"Were you into the chocolate, or any sugar-related product for that matter?" Seto questioned his younger sibling sternly as he turned around and made sure to maintain eye contact at all times. This would prevent Mokuba from lying straight to his elder brother's face.

"Not that I'm aware of," Mokuba replied, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. Seto merely raised an eyebrow in question.

"It's true," Yugi piped up as Seto sent a seemingly harmless glare his way. "He just woke up like this…" It was then that it became apparent that Seto desperately wanted to hit his head on something hard. He despised every morning that his brother woke up a sugar-high; it caused nothing but trouble. If you think that Mokuba is a handful when he's not so hyper, energetic and constantly bouncing off the walls, try dealing with him on mornings such as this one. Let me tell you, it's not fun at all. I feel for Seto, I really and truly do.

"Seto?"

The brunette quickly shook his head. "Never mind. There's really nothing to do in this case except to let nature takes its course." Everyone sighed heavily in unison, hoping that this was one of those rare moments when the great Seto Kaiba was wrong. Unfortunately, when it came to Mokuba's hyperactivity, Seto was never wrong.

"I guess you're right," Yugi complied and then decided to change the subject. "So, what do you guys feel like doing today?"

Joey leaned back, sinking even further into the many cushions on the couch. "Nothing…" came his tired reply. He knew that they shouldn't have stayed out as late as they did but they had lost track of the time, what with all the fun they were having…at least, they were having fun until the encounter with his friends. However, that was in the past and what the couple was really concerned about was their future, which they hoped would be shared with each other…

"You don't feel like doing anything?" Yugi inquired quizzically.

"With me being so tired right now, I don't think so," the blonde repeated, trying not to let sleep get the best of him. His eyelids were threatening to close but he managed to keep them open simply by force.

"Okay, well whenever you're ready and feeling up to doing something, let me know." Yugi flashed a bright smile in the blonde's direction.

"Don't worry Yug, I will," was the New Yorker's reply. (I love his accent!) With that said and done, both Yugi and Mokuba headed back upstairs to the young child's room. On the other hand, Seto and Joey decided to make up for lost time and catch up on their beauty sleep.

"I guess you had the same idea, huh?" Joey asked his lover, staring into his deep, yet tiresome cerulean blue orbs.

"I guess so." Seto grinned and stretched out on the sofa, motioning for Joey to do the same. The blonde did just that, not hesitating in the slightest bit and curled up into the brunette's cozy embrace. They snuggled lovingly for what seemed like an hour before they eventually passed out, drifting slowly into dreamland…

Meanwhile in Mokuba's room…

"You can't beat me Yugi! I'm the best at this game!"

"I can try!"

"Trying is not good enough! You have to actually beat me!"

"Hey, I beat you once when we were playing downstairs!" It was true; Yugi had practically creamed Mokuba at Phantasy Star once and only once…then his winning streak was cut short when the raven-haired child beat him three times in a row.

"That was once!" Mokuba argued back. "I can beat anyone, anywhere, anytime!"

"Can you beat Joey?" Yugi raised an eyebrow as he spoke, knowing full well that Mokuba would be clueless as to how to respond to his question.

"I've never played this game with Joey!" he responded almost a little too quickly.

Yugi smirked triumphantly. "Then I guess you can't necessarily beat anyone, now can you?"

Mokuba was speechless for Ra only knows how many minutes before he finally managed to speak. "Well, the next time I see him, I'm challenging him to a game!" he declared victoriously, even though he had not won anything as of yet.

The spiky-haired teen rolled his eyes as a sarcastic gesture. "Okay, but let me warn you now, Joey is a pro at video games and there has been nobody that can defeat him thus far. Do you really think that you can beat someone like him?"

"Maybe…"

"Well then, like you said before, the next time that you see him you can challenge him to a game and we'll see who wins."

"You're on!" Mokuba exclaimed rather loudly. Yugi simply shrugged his shoulders and grinned. Soon enough, however, they were back to playing their game, Mokuba winning of course. I can't wait until the day when he and Joey both play Phantasy Star. Who will win? The war is difficult, but in the end only one person can claim victory over the other…

Downstairs, Joey and Seto were still huddled together on the couch, looking as though they were never going to move from their current position. This was one of those times that you wished you had a camera…

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening and closing was heard, yet the couple was not aroused from their slumber.

"Hey, I'm back!" a voice, apparently female called from the front hall. It was Brianna who had just arrived back from her date with Gabriel. The two teens have been going steady for two months and their relationship seemed to showing no signs of strain. That was definitely a good thing in Brianna's eyes; she loved Gabriel with her whole heart and never wanted to leave his side. However, even though she still hadn't figured out whether it was just infatuation or if it was actually love that drew them together, one thing was for sure: they most definitely looked like the perfect couple.

"Hello?" she repeated, hoping to receive an answer in return. When no reply came, she decided to head into the living room. Upon her entrance into the room, she wasn't too shocked to see the sight before her.

"They look so cute," she uttered quietly under her breath. Seeing as how she didn't want to disturb the two teens, she grabbed a blanket off of the back of the couch and lightly covered them up before taking her leave into the kitchen. As she made it into the doorway, she turned to look at the couple once more. It was almost like she couldn't take her eyes off of them. They truly are made for each other… she thought mentally as she continued on her journey into the kitchen.

An hour or so later, it was almost lunchtime and the couple had still not yet awoke from their deep sleep. Brianna walked into the silent room after she had finished preparing a hardy, nutritious meal for everyone and sighed.

Are they going to sleep all day? She pondered to herself, playing with that question over and over again in her mind. The answer was inevitable, yet most certainly could be changed. She smirked slyly before making her way over towards the sofa where the couple currently lay. She carefully and quietly leaned over the back of the piece of furniture and began poking both teens incessantly. When the couple had shot up into a sitting position, they looked around to see just who had interrupted their perfect moment. They scowled in annoyance when they realized that it was Brianna who was standing overtop of them, smirking victoriously.

"Why did ya wake us up?" Joey demanded while rubbing the sleep from his half-lidded eyes; his arm felt unnaturally tender due to Brianna's constant gesture.

"Lunch is ready. I made it myself so you better come and eat," she replied, continuing to flash her bright smile that could lighten up even the gloomiest of days.

Seto sighed in discontent, knowing that his whole day had now been officially ruined. He was looking forward to spending the whole day with his lover, just simply cuddled up next to one another and enjoying each other's company. This did not sound like the Seto Kaiba we all know and love (depending on who you are) but, as mentioned before, his relationship with the blonde had changed him for the better.

"What's wrong Seto?" Brianna inquired, looking quizzical.

The brunette hesitated for a moment before replying; he did not want to say anything that could possibly backfire on him in the future. "It's nothing, let's just go eat," came his final reply as he got up off of the couch and headed into the kitchen, leaving Brianna and Joey alone with their thoughts about Seto's sudden behavior.

"What do you think has got into him?" Brianna wondered aloud, hoping to receive a helpful answer in return.

"I don't know but I think it's best to just let him be for awhile. He could definitely use some time to reflect on everything that has happened thus far," Joey stated matter-of-factly. Brianna merely sighed and nodded her head, wishing that there was something she could do to help her friend.

"So there's nothing that we can do to help?" she asked, voicing her thoughts aloud.

"The way I see it, there's nothing that can be done…right now anyway…" As the blonde's words began to trail off into the distance, Brianna motioned for him to get into the kitchen; after all, she didn't want all the food she had prepared to go to waste. Joey did as he was told; if there was one thing that he knew about girls, it was that you never argue with them because you'll never win…

Once everyone was settled in their rightful spots at the table, Brianna brought out her delicious, gourmet lunch. Mokuba and Yugi had come downstairs to join them since they made it quite clear that they were getting rather hungry. The entire meal consisted of many scrumptious appetizers, entrees and desserts. There was a large platter of fruit with a serving of what looked like whipped cream in the center for dipping, plenty of vegetables with herb and spice dip and different types of gourmet cheese. For the main course, there were many different kinds of sandwiches to choose from and homemade beef stew. For dessert, which of course was Joey's favourite part of the meal, there was cherry cheesecake and ice cream. With everything that was laid before the four teens, being Seto, Mokuba, Yugi and Joey, it looked as though they were at a buffet restaurant.

"Wow Brianna, this looks great!" Joey exclaimed, grabbing a handful of fruit and scooping up a wad of the whipped cream dip. "I don't think I've ever seen so much food in my life!" It didn't take long for the blonde to dig in, whereas Mokuba, Yugi and Seto took their time eating all that they had put on their plates.

Brianna looked slightly embarrassed as she turned a pale shade of pink. "Thank you Joey, I'm glad that you like my cooking." She then turned to the two Kaiba brothers and the infamous King of Games, ready to pose a simple question. "What do you guys think?"

"I think it's great! You're an awesome cook, Brianna!" Mokuba exclaimed, reaching over the table to grab another half of a sandwich; Yugi merely nodded his head in agreement.

"It's good," was Seto's simple response as he continued to pick at his fruit.

"That's all you have to say Seto? It's more than good! It's great!"

Joey turned his head to that of the younger sibling. "Mokuba, by any chance did you happen to watch the Frosted Flakes commercial today?" At that very moment, everyone let a small giggle escape from their mouths…everyone that is, except Seto Kaiba.

"Nope, but it does get on Seto's nerves when I imitate Tony the Tiger!"

"Don't remind me…" Seto murmured, rubbing his temples with the tips of his fingers.

"Aww...you know you like it Seto!"

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Mokuba, if you repeat that one more time, you're not going to be playing video games for a week." The raven-haired child then took that as his clue to be quiet and finish eating his lunch.

Approximately a half an hour later, when everyone had finished his or her meal, they all gathered in the living room to watch Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. Seto had just recently burned it on DVD so this was the first time that any of them had actually sat down to watch it. Brianna, Mokuba and Yugi sat on one end of the couch while Joey and Seto sat on the other end together, both curled up into each other's warm and loving embrace. The three teens sighed happily and knew that the sight before them was definitely one of the rare Kodak moments for Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler.

Who knew that rivals could make the best lovers?

Mysterious Mistress Kura: -bows in apology- I'm dreadfully sorry for leaving you all hanging here but I just figured that this would make an excellent opening for the next chapter. I'm also sorry that I took so long to post this but school has been cramping my style. I have a test coming up in the next couple of days so I'll be stuck studying for that. But don't worry because on the weekend I'll be free to update! So until then, please review! Ja ne!