Chapter 02: Reality Sets In

Kaiba had only allowed his eyes to drift over to Yuugi once since homeroom began and even that simple act had him cursing at himself. What was he looking for? To see if he had magically grown several inches, developed red eyes, and got a tan overnight? He snorted to himself at the absurdity of such thoughts. As if such a thing were possible.

"What? You got somethin' to say about it, rich boy?" Jounouchi's voice called out, his fist slamming down on a nearby desk.

Kaiba's fingers tightened briefly on the book he was holding in annoyance before he lowered it to his lap. He turned to face Jounouchi and noted that of course the rest of the group was there, all surrounding Yuugi. Flicking his gaze up to Jounouchi, he spoke in a casual tone, "About what, mutt? You act like I was paying any attention to you or your little group of miscreants." He noticed with amusement that the boy with obnoxious hair was edging his way over to restrain Jounouchi's eventual attempt at a physical attack.

Yuugi's pleading, "Jounouchi-kun," drew Kaiba's eyes in his direction once more, looking for any sign that the smaller boy might have a knowledge of the dream Kaiba had seen. However, all he got was a look that seemed to ask Kaiba to spare Jounouchi.

The silent begging was completely ineffectual, although Kaiba said nothing even as Jounouchi continued getting himself wound up further "What am I supposed to do, Yuugi? Just let it go? He's insulting me as a duelist!"

"As if I would waste my time on such pointless trivialities," Kaiba said dismissively.

"Oh, so you mean to tell me that you wouldn't have said, 'Why bother fighting the mutt when you could duel against me, the almighty, powerful Kaiba Seto-sama?'" Jounouchi accused him.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at his ridiculous little outburst. "Is that what this is about?"

"Yeah, just as I asked Yuugi to duel me, you started laughing to yourself over in your little corner!"

"It could have just been a coincidence, Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi suggested, causing all eyes to once again return to him. "Maybe he read something funny in his book?"

That seemed to take away some of Jounouchi's confidence, as he asked in disbelief, "You're defending him?"

"No, I was just trying…"

"Besides," Jounouchi continued, ignoring Yuugi and returning his attention to Kaiba, "What else am I supposed to think, other than the fact you obviously think you're the only one good enough to duel him!"

Kaiba couldn't help but let out a short laugh. "You said it, mutt, not me. So how about it, Yuugi? It's been awhile since our last encounter, after all."

Yuugi blinked his wide violet eyes rapidly at Kaiba who was watching him intently. "Kaiba-kun, I'm not quite sure…."

Setting his book on his desk, Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair. "Backing down from a challenge, Yuugi?"

"I'm not backing down from a challenge!" he shot back, unconsciously mimicking Kaiba's defensive posture. It made Kaiba idly wonder if that chain hurt his arms when he did that.

"Then?"

"I can't tonight," he finally said, looking away for a moment.

"That's right," Jounouchi exclaimed, pointing his thumb at his chest, "because he's fighting me tonight!"

Yuugi gave his friend an apologetic look as he hesitantly said, "Um…Jounouchi-kun, I can't duel with you either tonight."

"What? Why not?!"

"Because he has a date with me tonight, that's why!" came Anzu's voice, silencing everyone as Yuugi turned a shade of pink.

Just as suddenly, all of them began exclaiming variations of, "What?!"

Kaiba remained silent, although part of him was seething in indignation. He would not be stood up by the likes of her.

"A-Anzu," he stuttered, barely able to look up at the girl, "a-as much as I would like that, I can't tonight."

"Then with another girl?" she asked indignantly. "It better not be Rebecca!"

"No, it's not Rebecca!" he said, and it was clear he was getting frustrated. "I don't have a date with anyone!" Kaiba refused to acknowledge that this fact pleased him.

"You must have to watch your grandpa's shop, right?" Honda interjected.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Jounouchi agreed, and they all began to nod.

Yuugi sighed heavily and wondered where the teacher was; homeroom should have started a few minutes ago, but only students occupied the classroom. "No, I'm not watching the shop. I just can't tonight, okay?"

"Why can't you tell us?" Anzu asked, her voice instantly becoming concerned.

"Quit holding out on us, Yuugi! What's going on?"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes, irritated that he had put up with this mind numbing banter for so long. "Enough," he commanded, once again refocusing the attention to himself. "If not tonight, then when?"

The group began to protest at his brusque manner, but Kaiba ignored them completely. Instead he watched as Yuugi tilted his head as if listening carefully to a voice that Kaiba couldn't hear. While he recognized this as an imitation of the man in his dream, he refused to read anything into it. He would not allow himself to be contaminated by their idiocy and start believing in such ridiculous things like that millennium nonsense.

Finally Yuugi straightened and said, "Friday, anytime after school is fine."

Kaiba smiled in satisfaction, made even sweeter by Jounouchi's explosion of disbelief. "What?! What about our duel, Yuugi?"

"Uhm…later, Jounouchi-kun."

"Later today, you mean, right?"

"Not today, just…later."

"I will send a car to escort you to Kaiba Land," he said with a nod, ending his participation in the conversation.

"You think that we're just gonna let you kidnap him?"

Nothing else needed to be said; he'd let the handlers muzzle the mutt. Instead, he allowed himself to bask in a rare moment of pleasure. Friday would be most enjoyable, indeed. All the more so since he now had all week to alter his deck in an attempt to achieve a level of undefeatable perfection that would undoubtedly win.

Any further interruptions were halted by the appearance of the homeroom teacher, who was looking quite harassed. "Everyone in their seats!" he called out, eyeing everyone in the room. "What is it, Mazaki-san?"

"We don't know where Bakura-kun is," she informed the teacher, although Kaiba couldn't imagine why she felt the need to bother.

The door to the classroom slid open and Bakura made his entrance, a devious grin on his face. "Oh, he knew right where I was, Anzu, I'm sure of that," his voice making allusions that were strengthened by a perverse laugh, causing the teacher's face to turn an interesting shade of red.

Clearing his voice, the teacher tried once more to get control of his class, with an authoritative, "Settle down! Let's take roll and then everyone can leave for their next class."

"Eager for an empty room?" Bakura taunted, leaning back in his chair with a smirk, the classroom breaking out into poorly covered snickering.

"Bakura-san! That's enough out of you. Keep it up and you'll get a detention, understand?" It was meant to be a threat, but the lingering blush on the young teacher's face ruined the effect.

"I bet you'd like that, sensei."

"Bakura-san, I'm warning you…."

With a dismissive wave of his hand and a, "Yes, yes," Bakura quieted down finally and order was restored somewhat to the classroom.

Upon dismissal, the teacher immediately bolted out of the classroom, causing Ryou to sound dismayed as he asked with a heavy sigh, "He's done something again, hasn't he?"

Anzu patted his arm with a sympathetic, "Oh, Ryou-kun," and a knowing look. "It's a shame that your yami isn't more like Yuugi's."

Kaiba's eyes went wide at the mention of the word, 'yami,' and Yuugi used in conjunction with each other. No, he refused to believe in such an absurd idea! Was it any wonder he had a dream about such a ridiculous thing? It's amazing it hadn't happened sooner, given that most of his classes were spent in the presence of at least one or more of their group, leaving him unable to escape from their silly notions when he was within school grounds. There was his cause and effect right there, he concluded.

"And why would we want that?" Bakura asked, causing Anzu to gasp and quickly back away as he chuckled, his voice now deep and dangerous. "One of that blasted pharaoh is enough, I think. Now, if you'll excuse me…" he started to say, but he never got the chance to finish his sentence; instead he was groaning as he held his head in his hand, the other reaching out for balance on a desk. Once again, the voice changed, this time it was softer, more apologetic, and lacking the maniacal laughter that had just been present. "I hate it when he does that. I'm sorry Anzu-san, he didn't hurt you, did he?"

Resisting the urge to slam his briefcase shut, Kaiba let it close normally instead, deciding to get out of the room before he was witness to anything else. He had dealt with enough stupidity today and his day was barely getting started. The only thing he needed to think about was his duel on Friday when he would defeat Yuugi, once and for all.

A/N: Sorry that it's a little bit shorter this time, but I had my reasons for that (and it wasn't just Harry Potter, I swear!). I originally was going to have Kaiba spend a little more time thinking about the dream, but given his character, I don't believe he would intentionally dwell on something as unsubstantial as a dream that had only occurred once. He does, however, have a bit of a one-track mind when it comes to Yuugi (as Yami), as is evident in his obsessing constantly throughout Battle City and beyond, so I don't think he would completely disregard it, either.

At this point he has no reason to believe that is anything other than a dream, so once he considers the matter resolved, why else would he focus on anything other than his upcoming duel? Of course, it could be argued that he wants to duel Yuugi to face off against Yami, but he's too stubborn to admit it…we all know the truth, though. Heh.

I really appreciated the reviews and alert watches, by the way! I'm glad that it seems like people are enjoying this story so far! So thank you to all of you wonderful people! And, as always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to review and I'll get back to you!

NEXT CHAPTER: A Rematch

A longer chapter filled with all sorts of teasing and testing! Kaiba and Yami meet up once again and things become more heated as they play a game of a different kind. Who will give into desire first and who will come out on top?

I'm hoping to get it out sometime this week, so please be sure to keep an eye out for it!