Chapter 19: Awakening

Even though everything seemed to be normal, Kaiba still found himself ill at ease as he sat in homeroom waiting for class to start. The room was filled with the sound of voices relating things that had happened over the weekend to friends and everything gave the appearance of being the typical start to a Monday. He wasn't sure why he felt so suspicious, but he thought it might have something to do with one seat in particular being conspicuously empty and he forced himself to focus on the book in his hands instead of wondering where Yuugi was. It wasn't like he cared where the kid was, but that didn't stop his eyes from glancing up from his book every time the classroom door opened. The arrival of Yuugi did little to relieve his concern and he scowled at himself for being so ridiculous.

"Yo, Yuugi! Why are you late?" Jounouchi called out as the short duelist entered the classroom with a yawn, two more students filing in behind him.

"I had a few things that I needed to take care of this morning," he explained as he made his way over to his desk, dropping his bag on top of it.

Looking over at his friend with concern, Jounouchi questioned, "Is everything okay? You look kind of tired," as the group began to form around him.

Taking his seat, Yuugi tried to reassure his friends, "Yeah, everything's fine. I just didn't sleep well last night, that's all."

"Yami keep you up last night or something?" Jounouchi asked with a laugh. The comment had Kaiba narrowing his eyes at the book he was attempting to read and he tried to ignore the group, but his book wasn't nearly engrossing enough to make that possible.

"No, I accidentally woke him up, though. He's surprisingly cranky about stuff like that," Yuugi said with a laugh of his own, the others joining in as well. Kaiba found no humor in it, nor did he feel relieved at having an answer about what had caused Yami to disappear last night.

"He must have been having a good dream," Jounouchi joked before glaring in Kaiba's direction and snidely adding, "although it's amazing that he didn't have a nightmare after what happened yesterday." Kaiba's grip on his book tightened involuntarily, but he gave no other indication that he had been paying attention to their conversation.

Yuugi's response was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, but instead of the room quieting down like normal, everyone suddenly started whispering excitedly, causing Kaiba to look up and see what had caused the commotion. It took a surprising about of willpower for him not to start swearing loudly when he saw Yami standing in uniform at the front of the classroom with the female substitute teacher from last week. He was aware of the teacher trying to gain control of the class, but Kaiba continued staring angrily at Yami who was trying to stifle a yawn.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" the teacher prompted him once everyone had quieted down somewhat.

"Sure. My name's Yami and I'm Yuugi's cousin. I'll be staying here for two weeks as a cultural exchange student from Egypt," he explained causing all of the girls to start giggling excitedly and making Kaiba's irritation intensify for some reason unknown to him.

"I'm sure that everyone will help make your stay here enjoyable!" the teacher said brightly. She was about to tell him to take one of the free seats in the back row, but when she saw the way that Kaiba was glaring at him hatefully, she became hesitant to send Yami back there; she didn't want his first day to start off with such a horrible experience. Realizing that Bakura had yet to show up, she told Yami, "Uhm, why don't you go ahead and take the free seat in the fourth row?"

Nodding, Yami began casually walking down the aisle, smirking at Kaiba before sitting down without a word. Kaiba tried to quell his rage by reminding himself that Yami had said the duration of his stay at school would only be for two weeks, but it was of little use. As the teacher began calling attendance, things started to quiet down finally as the students responded to their names, but it didn't stop them all from glancing back at Yami occasionally.

Just as she was finishing, the door opened with a loud noise and Bakura came strolling in with a wicked grin that earned him a disapproving look from the teacher. She didn't have the chance to say anything before the look of amusement disappeared from his face and was quickly replaced with one of vile contempt when he saw who was sitting at his desk. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, completely disregarding the teacher who was reprimanding him for his vulgar language. Stalking over to confront Yami, Bakura threw his bag on top of the desk and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared hatefully at the other. "What the fuck are you doing here, Pharaoh?"

"I would think it's quite obvious, Bakura," Yami said calmly, oblivious to the whispers around them.

"You're in my seat, asshole."

"Am I?"

"Move," Bakura demanded.

"Why should I?" Yami asked and Kaiba tried to stop the memory of the similar conversation he had with Yami in bed the other night from replaying in his mind.

Raising his voice, Bakura exclaimed, "Because I fucking said so!"

"And since when I have taken orders from the likes of you?" Yami questioned with a short laugh.

"Bastard!"

From the front, the teacher called out, "Bakura-san, that's enough!" but she was once again ignored as he continued staring down at Yami.

Pointing in Kaiba's direction, Bakura mockingly suggested, "Why don't you go sit next to your priest?"

"Don't you mean on him?" Jounouchi muttered and Kaiba had never felt like beating the shit out of him as much as he did at that very moment. As tempting as the thought was, he didn't dare take his eyes off of the unpredictable spirit of the Millennium Ring; he didn't know what he was expecting to happen, but he had a bad feeling about it all the same.

Bakura glanced over at Jounouchi and then back down at Yami with a grin that managed to be both triumphant and lewd at the same time. "Ohhh? That sure didn't take you long, did it?"

Yami abandoned his nonchalant attitude and turned serious as he glared up at the white haired youth that was taunting him. "Bakura, I'm warning you—"

"Then again, after three thou—"

Cutting the other off before he could continue any further, Yami exclaimed, "Bakura!"

"Still trying to protect him, eh?" Bakura asked cynically with a snort. "Or are you just trying to make up for what happened before?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but—"

Everyone gasped in surprise as Bakura grabbed a fistful of Yami's uniform and physically hauled him to his feet, holding him mere inches from his face. "And that seriously pisses me off! So why don't I help you remember?" Bakura asked, his voice lowering in pitch as he grinned maniacally.

Jounouchi couldn't watch his friend being treated that way anymore and he jumped up to go defend him, but he was held back by Yuugi, who tried to explain, "Don't! He's about to use Dar—"

Kaiba hadn't intended to get involved, but he had become increasingly angered by the exchange, particularly when the priest bullshit started. More than anything else, he was surprise by the intensity of his own desire to break the two of them apart once Bakura grabbed Yami. If he hadn't seen Yami's eyes widen and Bakura raising his right hand toward the other's face, Kaiba probably wouldn't have interfered, but at that sight he was stirred into action. Before he even realized what he was doing, Kaiba was over there in an instant, standing behind Bakura and catching his hand in a crushing grip. Tightening his hold on Bakura when he tried to pull away, Kaiba commanded, "Let him go."

Hissing in pain, Bakura still managed to sarcastically quip, "So you're still his lapdog even after all of this time?"

Acting purely out of anger at such a comment, Kaiba twisted Bakura's arm harshly and caused enough pain to force him to release Yami. Speaking lowly in Bakura's ear to avoid being heard by anyone else, Kaiba warned him, "Unlike him, you still need this body, so don't try my patience, bastard."

All of the previous noise had been reduced to a stunned silence as everyone stared in rapt attention at the three people who had completely disrupted class. The teacher was torn between the desire to get someone to handle the situation and the fear of what would happen if anyone else got involved. Bakura's laughing shattered the silence as he sneered, "Do you really think that sort of threat will work on me?"

Moving Bakura's arm in a way that produced a loud popping noise that had most of the class gasping as Bakura swore, Kaiba growled, "I will not hesitate to use the full extent of my—"

"Still relying on your position to get things done, priest?" Bakura taunted as he whipped around in an attempt to strike out at Kaiba.

Anticipating it and dodging easily, Kaiba released the hand he had been holding in favor of Bakura's neck. He squeezed hard enough that Bakura was forced to use his hands to try and pry himself free, but Kaiba merely continued to stare at him with a vicious gaze. "Are you that eager to die?" he asked in a venomous tone of voice as he tightened his grip, causing Bakura to start gasping in order to breathe.

Trying to kick at Kaiba had little effect so Bakura concentrated on trying to injure Kaiba's hand or wrist, but nothing seemed to be working except his words. Gathering his magic despite the fact that he was struggling to maintain consciousness, Bakura's laugh came out choked as he managed to reply, "Are you?"

It was a crude method, but he was done fucking around, so Kaiba pulled back his left fist to punch Bakura, only to be stopped by Yami's hand gently wrapping around his own. "It's enough," Yami said softly, looking up at Kaiba with an expression that he didn't know how to interpret. Despite himself, Kaiba found himself releasing Bakura who collapsed on the floor as he coughed violently, his powers dissipating completely. Giving him a final look of disgust before returning his gaze to Yami, Kaiba was aware of the almost caressing way Yami released his fist, but he could only continue to look at the tumultuous crimson gaze that was causing something to stir inside of him.

Without saying anything further, Yami followed Kaiba and sat at the empty desk next to his, leaving Bakura still taking heaving breaths on the floor as the teacher looked frantically back and forth between him and the one who had reduced him to such a state. She thought that it was commendable that Kaiba had prevented Bakura from harming Yami, but given the fact that Bakura was left in a far worse condition made her hesitant to say anything. The look in Kaiba's eyes frightened her almost more than his actions and she was unsure of what to do next since getting the class to focus after such a display would be impossible. "Uhm, let's use the remaining time for self study," she finally suggested. She waited for the students to start pulling their books out before going over to Bakura and asking him, "Are you okay?"

"What the fuck do you think?" he spat as he got to his feet, ignoring her look of concern. Instead, he turned to face Kaiba once more as he swore, "I won't forget this humiliation so easily, priest!"

"Hn," was the only response Kaiba bothered to give as he watched Bakura grab his bag and brush past the teacher in order to storm out of the room. Almost everyone jumped when he slammed the door behind him and the teacher sighed wearily as she made her way over to Yami and Kaiba.

"Yami-san, I'm so sorry about—" she began to apologize, but Yami interrupted her gently.

"It's okay," he started, earning him a noise of disbelief from Kaiba, "we have known each other for a long time so this sort of thing…it's not anything new. Although I never thought that he would do anything in the classroom."

She looked puzzled, but instead of pursing it further, she turned her attention to Kaiba and asked, "Do you need to go to the nurse's office?"

"Why would I need to go there?" he asked incredulously with a raised eyebrow.

"Your hand is bleeding," she told him, causing him to look down at the small scratches that had been caused during the altercation.

"That fucking bastard," he muttered, annoyed by the marks despite the fact that they would be most likely be gone by the next day.

Hesitating before continuing, she gathered the courage to say, "I'd like to thank you for stepping in and helping Yami-san out, but your method was…"

"My method was what?" he asked harshly when she trailed off into silence at the look he was giving her.

Choosing her words carefully, she finally said, "In the future, try to use a little more caution, okay?"

He said nothing in response, giving only a curt nod as an indication that he acknowledged her words. Smiling kindly at him, she quickly made her way to the front of the class, trying not to breathe a sigh of relief. It was only once she was seated at her own desk and looking at the pair from a distance that she suddenly realized how strange it was that the person who had been looking so hatefully at Yami was the only one who had come to his defense. Instead of pursuing the thought further, she took out some papers to grade, deciding that it would be the best use of her time.

With the teacher gone and everyone looking like they were working, Kaiba allowed himself to meet Yami's gaze once more, but he still found it to be just as indiscernible as earlier. He was confused further when Yami stood once again, gesturing for him to do the same. Although he was inclined to protest, Kaiba figured he had made enough of a scene for one day so he complied silently, walking behind Yami as they made their way to the front of the classroom. Yami started to ask, "Sensei, may we—"

"It's fine," she consented with a nod of permission, watching as they left the room.

Once the door was shut, the students finally verbalized their opinions on what had just happened in an explosion of sound, but Kaiba could care less at the moment. "Where are we going?"

Having passed a bathroom earlier on his way to class, Yami headed toward it, ignoring Kaiba's question for the moment. Opening the door and doing a quick visual scan to make sure that they were the only two present, the instant Kaiba entered behind him, Yami slammed him against the nearest wall and began kissing him fiercely. Completely caught off guard, Kaiba's instinct won out over any initial protest as he responded to the insistent flicks of Yami's tongue, pulling him closer as he engaged in the passionate aggressiveness. It was only after they parted for breath that Kaiba's mind kicked back into gear and he roughly pushed Yami away from him as he demanded, "Yami, what the hell are you doing?"

"Thanking you," he said in a manner that Kaiba found highly seductive as Yami closed the distance between them to initiate another kiss.

Pulling back, Kaiba started to say, "Don't get the wrong idea," but he was interrupted by Yami once again and was finding it harder to want to try and stop the enthusiastic attempts at silencing him. "I was just pissed off that—" When Yami started to undo Kaiba's belt, it was enough to make him grab Yami's hands to prevent things from progressing any further. "Stop."

"Why?" Yami demanded as he pressed himself closer against Kaiba, looking up at him with lust filled eyes that were arguing with his common sense.

"You can't just do that sort of thing here," he started to explain as he redid his belt, freeing himself from his place against the wall in the process. Figuring he may as well wash the blood off of his hands while he was there, he made his way over to the sink, laughing at Yami's scowl of displeasure. Rolling up his sleeve, he turned on the water and watched as the small traces of blood quickly disappeared down the drain. Shutting off the faucet when he was done, he dried off his hands, not the least bit surprised to find Yami standing close to his side once again.

Taking Kaiba's hand into his own, Yami examined the faint scratches with a frown before asking, "Why not?"

Just as Kaiba was about to reply, the door opened and a student entered, causing him to answer, "That's why," as he took his hand back and walked toward the exit. Yami followed without a word as they walked back to the classroom, the noisy conversations all coming to an instant halt when the door was opened and they reentered. Paying no attention to it, Kaiba walked to the back of the room and sat down, somewhat surprised when Yami took the seat next to him despite the fact that Bakura was no longer present. He was aware of Jounouchi glaring at him, but he ignored it and picked up his book instead, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Yami seemed to be speaking with Yuugi through their connection.

When the bell rang to dismiss class, instead of everyone rushing out of the room like normal, they all seemed to be lingering in the hopes of talking to Yami. Kaiba had no such desire so he quickly packed up to leave, hearing Jounouchi calling out his name angrily. Instead of answering, Kaiba walked out of the room without a second thought, having no desire to engage in any more stupidity than he had already. It was why it came as such a surprise when he felt someone grabbing his arm in an attempt to try and spin him around to face them. Still riled up from the previous encounter, Kaiba had the person on the floor before he even knew their identity, although he wasn't surprised to see who had followed him. "What the fuck do you want?"

Jumping to his feet angrily, Jounouchi tried to ignore the pain in his arm as he complained, "Fucking listen when someone tries to talk to you!"

"Try having something worth listening to and I'll reconsider it," Kaiba said sarcastically, not pleased at being delayed as the halls began to fill with students.

"Why did you attack Bakura?" Jounouchi asked bluntly, forgoing the normal insults in favor of an answer.

"What difference does it make to you?"

Clenching his hands into fists in an attempt to calm himself, Jounouchi replied, "Because Yami's my friend, damn it!"

"I fail to see how that makes any of this your business, mutt."

"And I fail to see how Yami is any business of yours!" Jounouchi shot back, raising his voice out of frustration. He had been surprised to see Kaiba come to Yami's defense, but something about the whole incident didn't sit well with him. It just didn't make any sense to him why Kaiba reacted the way he did and that bothered Jounouchi.

Taking a step closer to Jounouchi, Kaiba drew himself to his full height as he stared down menacingly at the other. "What I do is of no concern to you," Kaiba told him before his tone became threatening, "and if you dare say anything again like you did in the classroom, you'll end up in a worse condition than Bakura. Understood?"

Refusing to be intimidated, Jounouchi stood his ground and retorted, "What? Am I supposed to be scared or somethin'?"

"If you're not, then you're even dumber than I thought," Kaiba said with a malicious laugh before turning around and continuing to his next class, ignoring Jounouchi as he continued to shout.

A/N: An early update? Shock! XD

This chapter actually became over 10,000 words long, so I decided to split it again since the halves occur on the same day at different times. It also allows me to put it up before I leave for my trip, so consider this my appreciation for your continued support! Of course, since most people are expecting it later, they probably won't see it until later, but….

In the preview for last time, I mentioned Jounouchi having a need for therapy – this encounter was not that reason. It appears in the later half, but this allows a small preview of Jounouchi's mindset that will be a factor later. Poor bastard, haha. He's bright enough to figure out that there's something weird going on, but he's not equipped to figure out just what that something could be.

This is essentially Yami's compromise with Yuugi about school. Back in the second part of chapter eight (FF's chapter nine), Yami mentioned that Yuugi really wanted him to go to school, but Yami was less than thrilled about the possibility. I could see him acquiescing and agreeing to go for two weeks because it was so important to his aibou; Yuugi could maintain the hope that Yami would find it so enjoyable that he would possibly decide to "transfer" there permanently.

As for Kaiba, I just want to go, "Psst, that feeling? It's called 'jealousy,' Kaiba," but we all know that he would refuse to admit it. Would Kaiba actually be familiar with the jealous emotion? I honestly don't think that he would recognize it for what it is. He's got a ton of money, a successful company, and a brother that supports him; anything that he would potentially want, he would get through whatever means. In my view, jealousy is ultimately a desire for possession of tangible or intangible things—whether it is an actual item, a lifestyle, a person, etc. I don't think he would be jealous of a close knit family type, mostly because he would have no respect for the structure because he's a product of it falling apart; he has Mokuba, and they aren't exactly surrounded by anyone who would cause him to go, "That must be nice," you know? Same goes for relationships—it's such a foreign concept and unnecessary in his world that I can't picture him longing for that, if only for the fear of it being taken away. At least until Yami. XD

So when a bunch of girls start fawning over Yami, I could see him being pissed off without really understanding why (which plays into the next chapter, eheeee); he wouldn't be concerned with Yami turning his attention toward those types, but he still wouldn't like it. I don't think that he considers Yami an actual possession, but there definitely is an element of, "That's mine," in his attitude. Thus, when harm potentially could come, he'd intervene; I think old Kaiba would have done the same for a different reason. Kaiba's come to Yami's aid a couple of times, but it was always a sort of, "I'm repaying it for when you saved me/Mokuba," type thing, but some of you might disagree on the latter point. Besides, I'm a fan of ninja!Kaiba, so it was bound to show up at some point, haha.

Yami's reaction afterwards would be based off of a few things: a) having an idea about why Kaiba defended him, b) lacking a point of reference on behavior in school. :laughs: I don't think that he'd be able to articulate it either, but I just enjoyed having Yami trying to get Kaiba to stop trying to downplay the reason why he went after Bakura. Oh, as for the throat thing it's not some strange thing of mine. Kaiba basically has a couple of attack methods in the series: Bulletproof Briefcase of Doom and grabbing people by the throat (he actually does it to Yuugi when he is told he can't fight Yami in the end, which makes the fangirl in me squee quite loudly, ha). And seeing that he couldn't exactly get Bakura's head in his briefcase or hit him with it, the throat would be the next best thing; cutting off airflow would be a sufficient enough method.

I know quite a few of you were looking forward to Bakura's return, so hopefully you enjoyed it and weren't too disappointed by him getting publicly pwned. XD I do enjoy his special brand of insanity, though. I'm operating on the belief that he remembers quite a bit of what happened in the past (courtesy of certain dialogues in the ancient Egypt arc), so I could see him using that as leverage against Yami.

Thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews! I really do enjoy reading them because they make me quite happy, so thank you again.

NEXT CHAPTER: Progressive Interruptions

Asking softly so as not to be heard, Yami wanted to know, "What exactly are you doing?"

"Making sure he never interrupts us again," Kaiba murmured as he continued…

Evil! Ohohoho….Anyway, I've got a long ass bus ride for the trip so I'm hoping to get some writing done during that time. If I make positive progress, the next chapter will go up on this Sunday or Monday, meaning two updates back to back essentially. However, I'm probably being overambitious again, so it might be next weekend instead. But given how fun the next chapter is going to be, I'm eager to post it for your viewing pleasure. XD

So please check back and as always, I love listening to your thoughts!