Someone said something in a review last chapter that really interested me! They called you my yami, Kisa!

Kisa: (grins and jabs thumb in my direction) You just made her day, Eponine243.

Me: I have a yami, I'm like Yugi! XD! Spleee!

Kisa: …

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.

Joey could smell the fresh cotton sheets underneath him; how fresh they were. He stretched out as far as he possibly could, enjoying the feeling of sheet no matter how far he did. If he had been home, he would have fallen out of bed and he'd have to smell the carpet that smelled like soda and B.O. Not to mention the smell of cigarettes from the floor below.

Someone must have opened the blinds while he was still sleeping because he could feel the morning sunlight warming his face and turning the vision behind his eyelids red. He opened them just a bit, only to be blinded by said light. He groaned a bit and reached behind him, grabbing one of the soft downy pillows and burying his head underneath it.

Being spring, the mornings were still chilly, so he yanked the blankets till they touched underneath his chin, completely encasing him in a warm, soft cocoon. Now surrounded by the sweet smell of the sheets and their warmth, as well as the welcomed darkness, Joey was beginning to let his mind wander back into slumber. Then there was a sound of a door creaking open and shut.

The blond boy tensed for a split second, then forced himself to relax, to which his mind happily obliged.

'Probably Marie, coming to grab laundry or sometin,' he mumbled mentally, pressing his face further into the soft mattress. Sleepy, so sleepy…

He could hear the sound of muffled chuckling, but he couldn't find the energy to care, so long as the owner of the laughter didn't try and drag him out of bed.

"Time for school, Mutt."

School, there was a word he hadn't thought about for a while. He didn't like having to, honestly. He made sure the owner of the voice knew this.

"Mnerrrgg…" he groaned out, turning on his side away from the voice and wiggling his cocoon away from it so he was resting on the slightly cooler side of the bed, where his body's warmth had neglected the night before.

There was another chuckle, and then the bed shifted a bit, and the weight on the mattress deepened as someone other than Joey climbed into it. Again, Joey dismissed it, so long as they didn't bother him and let him sleep.

It's a terrible thing, to go from warm, relaxed, and sleepy to jumping out of your own skin. Joey discovered this for himself, when he was startled out of his subconscious when a long arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him into something hard and smooth.

His eyes snapped open. His limbs flailed of their own accord, but, unfortunately, this did little to nothing, because his limbs were still wrapped in his 'cocoon.'

"W-what the hell?" Joey screamed, kicking his legs the little distance the sheets would allow and swinging his balled fists in a panic, until someone patiently caught them.

"Good morning to you too." The voice was deep, and slightly raspy. It probably belonged to someone who did not usually spare words unless they were insults or orders.

Joey knew that voice, and his efforts to break free of the hands redoubled. Finally, he was able to sit up, so he at least had more leverage and could turn to look at his attacker.

There was Kaiba, smirking at him like he knew exactly what would happen and already dressed in his school uniform. He was leaning back on his hands, propping himself so he could observe the blond comfortably.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Joey's voice cracked in his panic, and Kaiba's smirk increased, "I told you last night, stay the hell outta my room or I'll beat the living crap outta ya!"

Kaiba folded his arms conceitedly, "Ah, so the puppy likes it rough?"

Joey could feel the warmth rise into his face and he snarled at his 'captor.'

"Shut up ya damn prick, that's not what I meant and ya know it!"

Kaiba didn't bother answering, merely reached forward and pulled Joey back into his arms before the younger had the chance to flee. Joey squawked in protest and struggled against his grip, but Kaiba had no trouble whatsoever pulling him in so he was resting his back against the brunet's chest.

"What's wrong with the master wanting to say good morning to his puppy?" he whispered into Joey's ear, blowing in it sensually. Joey squeaked in alarm, the blood rushing further into his face and his hands hopelessly trying to dislodge Kaiba's arms from around him.

Kaiba only hugged him tighter, thoroughly enjoying himself, "You're lucky I'm an early riser, or else we'd both be late to school. Breakfast will be on the go, so you'll need to hurry up and get dressed."

Joey gave up trying to bite his way out of the CEO's vice grip, as his arms were too far down to reach, "Fine, let me go and get out so I can!"

Kaiba touched his lips to the upper ridge of Joey's ear, so when he made a thoughtful noise in his throat, it made the vibrations tingle pleasantly on the sensitive cartilage. Joey fidgeted, finding the strength to break out of Kaiba's grasp slowly ebbing away. His ears had always been one of the most sensitive parts of his body, but only Serenity knew that. He tried to shove the older boy's head away, or at least move his own, but he found out, unfortunately, that at this angle he could not effectively do so with his arms. And when he moved, Kaiba would simply blow air on his neck so that his head would snap up again to shield it.

"First," Kaiba said finally, nibbling on Joey's earlobe despite the blond's protests, "I have something to give you, pup."

Joey wasn't given the opportunity to ask what it was, because Kaiba began a full out attack on his ears. While one arm kept the blond's body firmly in place, the other reached up to fondle Joey's other ear, scratching behind it and tracing the shell forward and back again.

"Ngh!" Joey gave a startled noise of embarrassment when he felt something warm and wet gently glide around the shell of the opposite ear, which Kaiba's mouth still occupied. The constant blowing and nibbling was clouding the blond's mind, his vision going blurry. He felt the heat creep up into his face, He didn't want it to, but if felt really, really good. His head fell back to rest on Kaiba's shoulder,

"G-get…off…" he managed to utter weakly only to hear Kaiba chuckle again. He briefly registered that the other arm had unwound itself from his waist, but he couldn't find the strength to move away. Kaiba had taken to latching onto his earlobe and sucking on it gently.

He didn't even notice the fingers fiddling with something near his neck, until it was around him and it gave a gentle click. It was rough, like burlap, and there was something cold and mettle jingling on the front of it. Kaiba immediately stopped his torture of the blond's ears, and stood, examining his handy work as the euphoria he caused lifted off of the puppy.

"The fuck?" Joey muttered, still a bit dazed as he touched the metal thing. It was oval in shape, and he could feel the rough ridges of something engraved there, but could not read it from this angle.

Kaiba grinned sadistically; it was a perfect fit. Joey seemed to realize it at the same time he did.

"Get this damn thing off of me Kaiba!" Joey immediately screamed, jumping forward and seizing the rich boy by the shirt, glaring hatefully at him.

Around Joey's neck was a small, brown collar, a gold dog tag hanging off of it reading:

"Joey Wheeler. Property of Seto Kaiba."

It wasn't very subtle, but then again, when was Kaiba known for being subtle?

Kaiba shrugged, still with that smug grin on his face, "I'm afraid not, Wheeler. If I did, who would know who your master is? If I lost you, I might just lose track of you."

Joey had taken to tugging at the collar, clawing at it, and growling in a rather canine like way, "Fuck you! I ain't' going to school with this thing on me! Yugi and the others might see it!"

Kaiba smirked darkly,

"Precisely."

Joey looked like he wanted to continue to yell at him, but Kaiba merely looked at his watch.

"We've got ten minutes until the limo leaves."

Joey shouted obscenities at him, and only continued to do so once he had shoved him through the door of his room, slamming it shut, only to open again ten seconds later, with the blond fully dressed. When he said fully dressed, he meant FULLY dressed.

Instead of letting his jacket hang open lazily (but in a way that was clearly Joey) the whole uniform was buttoned all the way to the top, like it was supposed to be. Effectively hiding the collar from sight.

"I'll deal with it later, believe me," the blond hissed as he shoved past the satisfied brunet.

Following the stomping younger boy down the stairs, Kaiba smirked.

This was going to be fun. Just wait until Joey discovered all the little perks Kaiba had added to the collar Marie had given to him. With some slight alterations, he had made the small piece of fabric into something much more.

Once they dropped off Mokuba at his school, Joey tried to get the driver to let him off a block before, so no one would see him riding to school with Kaiba. Kaiba however, soundly declined his request and Joey was left to stare nervously out the window, where his friends were waiting for him along with Kaiba's usual crowd of fan girls waiting to see their prince. Some prince he was!

Yugi's head cocked to the side in confusion, when Joey climbed out of the limo, only increasing his pace when Kaiba discreetly pinched his butt. He scrambled away to the shelter of his friends, while Kaiba seemed to glide out of his car. His posture was perfect, his head held high and focused. His usually cold expression returned to its normal scowl as he stepped into the normal thrall of fan girls.

"Get away from me," he had no trouble commanding, shoving his way out of the giggling mass.

Joey, who was currently ducking behind a bush equal to the height of Yugi, sighed in relief. It looked like Kaiba was at least going to treat him like he normally did at school. He didn't think he could handle it if he started touching him in front of his friends. Not only would Yugi and Tea be thoroughly confused, but Tristan would assure him under no uncertain terms that he had some 'splainin to do.

"What was that all about Joey?" Yugi asked, his big purple eyes widening at the sight of the blond's now fading black eye, "What happened to you? Did Kaiba beat you up?"

Joey scratched behind his head nervously, climbing out of the bush, "Nah, the bastard wouldn't know what hit him if he tried. I just fell down the stairs at my place, no big deal."

He ignored the pointed look Tristan was giving him. True, none of his friends knew where he lived, nor would they ever, but Tristan was the only one who knew what his father was like. Due to circumstances beyond the blond's control, his spiky haired friend had found out, and he forced the truth out of him.

The good thing about Tristan was that unlike Yugi or Tea, he wouldn't force Joey to get help or move, he let him deal with it because that was the way Joey preferred things. He did however offer him refuge at his house every now and again, as well as give him a worried look whenever he showed up to school with fresh bandages on him and what not.

Joey thought ruefully that he might not hate Kaiba so much if he could be a little like Tristan, passive and easily distracted with another boy… speaking of which.

Duke sauntered up from behind, slinging an arm over his boyfriend's shoulder, "So what's this I hear about Kaiba giving you a ride in his limo?"

Joey gulped nervously, and looked around him for inspiration, "Er…"

"I don't see why it's important how or why it happened," Tea offered, thoughtfully, "The fact that it happened is a good enough. Maybe Kaiba is human after all. Right Yugi?"

Yugi looked up at her, the adoration in his purple eyes not missed by anyone except for him and the subject of his affection.

"Yeah," he nodded cheerfully, "Kaiba probably just gave Joey a ride because they were both running late.

Ever the optimistic pair, both continued to chatter on about the past while Tristan and Duke gave the blond a skeptical look. Before they could comment further though, the bell rung, and they all had to sprint so as not to be late for class.

"See ya later, Joey!" Duke called, slapping him on the shoulder. Both boys were surprised when a painful jolt shot through the contact, and Duke hastily withdrew his hand.

"Whoa," he mumbled while Joey shook his head in surprise, "Talk about static…"

And so on the day went, each time Joey walked in the halls, and bumped into another person, a small shock would flit into his system, and it was really starting to tick him off. No human could possibly attract this much static.

It was when lunch rolled around, and Tristan had grabbed him playfully in a headlock, that one huge shock coursed through them both, causing them both to yelp and jump away from each other in pain.

"What the hell?" Tristan said, giving a bewildered look towards his friend.

Joey ruffled his hair in frustration, "I don't know, man! Something ain't kosher here!"

His friends stared after him worriedly when he grabbed his backpack and tossed it over his shoulder.

"I'm goin to da john quick, don't wait up for me, see ya in class!"

Tearing through the halls, which were thankfully empty at this point, he swung himself into the bathroom, checking briefly if it was empty, then shut himself quickly into a stall.

Ripping open his jacket and gasping a breath of relief (it was so damn hot dressing like this!) he reached up to feel the collar. Aha!

The fabric was slightly warm, like the hood of a car would be after the engine had been running for a while. This was the source of all the shocks before. Kaiba had done something with it to mess with him. So now he couldn't touch anyone without it sending a little electric stream through him.

"That's it!" he hollered, clawing blindly behind him for the clasp, but finding to his dismay that there was no clasp, just a little key hole. Three guesses as to who had the key.

Joey groaned and let his head fall heavily into the stall door, causing a dull 'thud' to reverberate through the room. The collar was made of burlap, it would be easy enough to cut. But he didn't have a pocket knife (being school) and to use school scissors meant exposing the collar to his peers. He shuddered, no way in hell was that gonna happen.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets moodily, wracking his brain for an idea when his fingers brushed something metallic and pointy in his pocket, it jangled slightly at the movement.

His eyes snapped open, an idea!

He pulled out his spare house key, which had somehow survived the washing machine at Kaiba's and remained faithfully in his pocket. This would do fine.

He used the key's teeth to roughly cut through the collar, slowly working through as it continued to fray. He grinned with satisfaction when he was able to snap the mechanical part of it in half, thus ending the electric shocks for good, and continue to cut himself free.

When it finally drooped away from his neck, he gave a triumphant "Ha!" and unceremoniously dropped it in the toilet, snickering when the mechanics buzzed and flickered as they were drowned.

"Take that, Kaiba," he muttered, strolling out of the bathroom with his jacket open, feeling incredibly pleased with himself. It was about time he won a round against the prick anyway.

Apparently the brunet did not like losing. His cold blue eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw the blond enter the room, his jacket wide open and very much without his trusty collar.

Joey took his normal seat next to Yugi, ignoring the daggers Kaiba was staring through him. He did however give a brief flick of his middle finger in his direction. Kaiba gritted his teeth. Oh yes, his puppy was going to PAY for that one.

The teacher walked in a moment later, a portly man whose hairline was receding with age.

"Quiet down, now," he said, tapping his desk with a ruler so everyone directed their attention to him, "Before I start class today, I should let you know that due to the steady decrease in quiz scores, I'll be assigning each of you a different seat."

There was a groan of protest and the old man smirked. Hey, he had to go through it as a kid, so now it was their turn. One of the few perks of being a teacher.

Yugi ended up way across to the other side of the room, his back to Joey, who had been moved all the way to the back, to the desk next to the one that was tucked in the corner. Well at least it was near a window…

His mouth collapsed open when he heard the teacher call out Kaiba's name, as well as assign him the seat right next to his.

"No!" Joey jumped out of his seat, hitting his knees on the desk painfully but too panicked to notice, "Teach, I can't sit next to him!"

The old man spared him a glance, before turning to the board once again to write out that day's formula.

"Mr. Kaiba is one of the brightest students in this class, I'm sure you'll be able to pick something up while you're sitting together."

Joey opened his mouth to protest further, but the teacher glared at him.

"That's my final decision, Mr. Wheeler."

Joey hung his head, and sat heavily back in his seat when he heard Kaiba approaching. He pointedly avoided his gaze. Dammit dammit DAMMIT!

Kaiba moved behind Joey to get to his seat, brushing his ear in passing so it wasn't noticeable to anyone but the blond himself.

Joey jumped and glared at Kaiba, rubbing his ear apprehensively. Kaiba let his lip twitch upwards in amusement, before he sat in his seat, opening his notebook but having no intention of taking notes. He had mastered these types of problems before this teacher even heard of them. Time to have some fun, and get some questions answered.

"Where's your collar, Mutt?" Kaiba murmured. Thankfully, they were far enough back and over so no one but Joey could hear Kaiba. Everyone else was too busy getting used to their new seating partners anyway.

"I ain't no mutt, bastard, that's exactly the point," Joey hissed back, and Kaiba chuckled.

"You may deny it as much as you want, I daresay I find it entertaining, not to mention adorable."

Joey gave him a withering look.

"But you will always be a dog to me, Wheeler." Kaiba's hand had found a new resting place on the blond's thigh, "My incredibly naïve and feisty puppy."

Joey's eyes bugged out when he felt Kaiba's touch. Oh god, he couldn't be doing this, not here.

"Don't touch me!" he hissed again, grabbing Kaiba's hand and throwing it off. He jumped again when Kaiba merely started to trail a finger up and down his upper leg, making the younger boy squirm and fidget in his seat, "Quit it!"

Thank god, thanks to their placement, no one could see what Kaiba's hands were currently doing. Joey's incessant wriggling as well as the glares he was throwing the other boy's way, however, caught the teacher's eye on numerous occasions.

"Something wrong, Mr. Wheeler?" he asked, and the class turned to stare at him curiously.

Joey gulped nervously, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks but unable to move away while Kaiba's hand continued to wander around his left side. Alternating between poking his side to squeezing his ass or rubbing his thigh.

"I, er, have to use the bathroom. Bad!" He added more urgently when Kaiba's hand daringly inched closer and closer up his inner thigh.

The teacher sighed exasperatedly, "You should have gone before class began."

Joey stifled a squeak when Kaiba's hand scratched a finger at the blond's lower hip, where the leg met the joint, too close; he had to get out of here NOW!

"I didn't have to go then!" he shouted, making the other students snicker. Yugi raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

The teacher sighed again, before whipping out a pass, "Fine, but be q-"

Joey was at his side in seconds, and Kaiba let his arm drop back to his side with a smirk. No one looked his way to see if it was his doing, making the blond retreat from class faster than normal. No one suspected a thing.

Kaiba opened his laptop, as he was allowed to do in classes should he feel it necessary, and pulled up a small window. A blinking red light stayed stationary in one of the school lavatories.

Peculiar, most peculiar. The chip he had planted in the collar should be tracking his puppy's movements, and there was no way the blond could have made it to that particular bathroom, no matter what superhuman speeds he seemed to have.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes; he would have to investigate further.

/

Joey gasped for breath when he finally allowed himself to skid to a halt, nearly crashing into the Kaiba's gigantic refrigerator. He had run full force all the way from school, refusing to take the car with Kaiba again. He had never gone back to that class, once he had left. He just hid inside of the bathroom, trying to will away the redness in his face. He refused to believe that he was actually getting turned on by his worst enemy.

After catching his breath, the young duelist shrugged off his jacket and reached into the freezer, grabbing a carton of whatever he could get his hands on. Thank goodness Mokuba lived here too; a kid meant a healthy supply of ice cream.

He let his back slide down the fridge and he sat cross legged after retrieving a spoon and began digging into the cold treat. He felt he deserved it after all he had endured today. And he was about to get much more.

He heard a door slam towards the front of the house, along with steady determined footsteps. Unwilling to run away but not wanting to be found, Joey tried to make himself as small as possible against the fridge, the cold spoon hanging from his mouth and clutching the carton to him.

The kitchen door slammed open, and the inevitable occurred. Kaiba's normally ice cold eyes smoldered before him in anger. The brunet marched into the room, his eyes demanding continuous contact with Joeys' honey brown ones. Without a word, he tossed something small and wet onto the counter so it skidded into Joeys' view.

It was whatever remained of the collar.

Joey gulped, letting the spoon drop from his mouth and into the carton. Uh-oh.

"Well, well, Wheeler." Kaiba's voice was quiet, but dangerous, "Look what I found."

The young blond's eyes darted between the defeated looking piece of burlap and Kaiba. He felt his stomach turn unpleasantly when he saw the anger burning in Kaiba's eyes. Oh, he was in so much trouble.

Joey, despite this realization, felt his lips twitch into an uneasy grin, and he leaped to his feet, dropping the carton as he went. The spoon fell with a noisy clatter.

Kaiba however was too quick for him, and, before Joey could make his escape out of the kitchen, he had tackled him to the ground.

"Get offa me!" Joey shouted, writhing in an attempt to dislodge the brunet, who was making himself comfortable on the boy's hips. He hadn't planned on this happening; he just figured Kaiba would beat him up or something.

Kaiba ignored him, still incredibly angry that the collar he had worked hard to make was now ruined. He would no longer be able to keep other people from touching his puppy if he wasn't there. It had taken a while to figure out the frequencies so that they would shock anyone who wasn't himself, leaving when he touched Joey out of the equation.

He had big plans for that collar and the younger boy, but now everything had, quite literally, gone down the toilet.

In his thoughts, Joey had taken an instinctive swing at his face, which Kaiba dodged smoothly, but narrowly. He growled and without another word grabbed both of the boy's wrists and pinned them on either side of him.

Joey glared up at him and had opted to kick his legs helplessly. "Was the matta Kaiba?" he snapped, his snarky grin widening, "Can't stand it when someone fights back?"

It was Kaiba's turn to smirk, and Joey faltered nervously. He felt his head smack against the tile floor in his attempt to back up, and then Kaiba lowered his head dangerously close.

"On the contrary, pup," he purred, making the heat rise in Joey's face against his wishes, "I find it quite refreshing. You know how much I like a challenge."

Joey snarled and looked away in a huff, "So ya get turned on when I insult ya? You sick bastard."

Kaiba chuckled sadistically, "Funny you should say that, Wheeler." He lowered himself even further, so that his nose just barely brushed Joey's. Joey made a nervous sound in his throat. "Because I feel that due to your behavior, you should receive some form of… punishment" He whispered the last word.

Joey didn't like the predatory gleam that had overtaken Kaiba's eyes. He thought briefly this must be what ice cream feels like when he's staring down at it, spoon ready to plunge into him.

Oh god, bad wording, BAD WORDING!

Kaiba blinked when Joey started tossing his head side to side frantically, like he was trying to fling off an irksome fly. He was biting his lip embarrassedly, and Kaiba couldn't help but watch as they changed from a pale pink to red due to the pressure. They looked so... delicious.

It was hard to believe that Kaiba hadn't claimed those lips when the pup had always been right under his nose. He knew in any relationship, the first kiss was one of the most important. But it was hard enough to get Joey to sit still for an embrace, let alone so Kaiba could kiss him.

But here he was, underneath him, cheeks flushed and so wonderfully trapped in his grasp. He could show Joey just how good kisses could be, when one knew what they were doing.

Joey squeaked when Kaiba's breathe puffed against his lips so close. His heart started beating hard enough to jump right out of his ribcage, and he thrashed in panic.

"Kaiba don't you d-"

"Big brother!"

A child's cry made both boys freeze, and the pounding of feet made both of them look towards the kitchen door. For a third time that day, the door was slammed alarmingly against the wall. Poor door.

Mokuba skidded into the room, looking excited,

"The new capsule monster's game is out, can we go….get…" He trailed off, staring down at his brother's current position on top of his friend.

"Uh…"

Kisa: Hmm, well there's a mood killer for ya.

Me: And look, I actually wrote something other than fluff!

Kisa: (sighs) you're getting there.

Joey: Where's my damn ice cream?

Kaiba: (smirks while holding carton) you can have it back if you let me feed it to you…

Lil1diva: I like that plan!

Joey: I don't!

Me: Well, read and review please!