Alright, so this is the edited version. Sorry about the mistakes, but thanks for pointing them out. :)

(I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh)

*************Chapter 4 ************* (edited)

After Yami denied playing much of a part in helping Mokuba, Seto found himself staring after him as he stalked off to his car, where what looked like a smaller version of him was waiting to be let in.

"Hey, Seto. Let's go home, okay?" Mokuba's voice shook him from his stupor, but he couldn't help but sneak one last glance toward Yami.

"Yeah... Okay. Go ahead and get in the car," He told Mokuba absently. He stopped suddenly. "What?!" he demanded, not at all liking the sly grin on his brother's face.

"Oh, nothing. Just ignore me," Mokuba replied, still grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"No, seriously! What the hell does that look mean?"

"You like Yami!" Mokuba squealed, scrambling to get in the car as quickly as possible. Seto felt his cheeks burn as he searched for a retort.

"No, I-I've only talked to him like, one time! He doesn't even like me! Just shut up, okay? Okay?" He stuttered. Mokuba shrugged innocently.

"Ooookaaay... whatever you say." Seto was fuming. Since he had never brought home a girlfriend, his parents and Mokuba had made the assumption that he must be gay (even though he had never brought home a boyfriend either), and never passed up a chance to tease him about it. They relentlessly harassed him, digging for a confession, either one way or the other. This pissed Seto off to no end. Like this shit wasn't hard enough to figure out already, without the added pressure from them... He didn't know what he was. He never had really liked any of the girls he had known, although he found some of them physically attractive, but he knew that he was at least a little attracted to guys as well. He had never had any experience dating, though, so he was still unsure about his feelings.

"Seriously, though. What really happened?" He asked after a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Heh heh heh... I knew it!" Mokuba shouted triumphantly.

"No! I just want to know what the hell happened!"

"Whatever. There were these guys who were pushing me around, and Yami helped me. He was really nice, even though he was a little scary." Seto frowned. It seemed odd that Yami would go out of his way to help Mokuba, whom he didn't even know, when he made such little effort to stand up for himself when the other students harassed him.

"So are you going to tell him?" Mokuba asked. Seto sent him a scathing look that silenced the boy for the rest of the way home.

That night, Seto tried his best to concentrate on homework, but found that his thoughts kept straying to Yami, and others' treatment of him. In the bigger city schools where Seto had previously attended school, there was not as much open homophobia, but here, it was to be expected. Domino was a stereotypical small town. There was a trailer park across from the elementary school, and a cow farm across from the high school. On warmer days when the wind blew the wrong way, the smell was almost unbearable. The town its self was surrounded by acres and acres of fields yielding mostly corn and soybeans, and there was a large fruit farm down the street from the school. Most of the people in the vicinity were rather conservative in their religious beliefs, so Seto could see how homosexuality would be strongly frowned upon. Why do I even care? He wondered. Yami really is not my problem... he shook his head to clear his thoughts. Chemistry. That's what he was focused on. Chemistry- not some random guy he had met twice.

Although Seto arrived to class early the next day, Yami was nowhere to be seen until he stumbled into the classroom, panting and out of breath, more than five minutes after the bell had rung. His face was flushed, his clothing ruffled, and his hair stuck out at impossible angles.

"Sorry," he muttered to the teacher who barely acknowledged his presence with a slight nod of her head. Once again, Seto could tell that Yami was very pointedly not looking at him. As Yami sat down at his desk, the other students in the class did nothing to hide their snickers and whispered insults of him, and Seto heard the words "faggot" and "queer" at least four or five times. He wondered if Yami was actually gay, or if the words were meant purely as insults. In the conservative population of Domino, If Yami were indeed gay, that could explain why he seemed like such an outcast.

When the bell rang that signaled the end of class, Seto realized that he had taken only a few sentences of notes, rather than the very copious notes that he usually took. Ok, Seto. Concentrate on school first, then people, he chided himself silently. As Yami scrambled to gather his belongings and bounded out of the room, Seto couldn't help but notice a bruise that was definitely new from yesterday. He frowned. He remembered that when Mokuba had explained the day's events, Yami had been punched first in the mouth and then in the eye. Not once did he mention that Yami had been struck on his cheek, almost to his hair line. He resolved to ask Yami about it in chem, but he could pretty much predict Yami's reactions.

He had overslept. Great. His dad was still home, bellowing up the stairs.

"Get out of bed, you lazy fuck! What do you think you're doing, still sleeping?" Yami cursed under his breath, frantically trying to gather his wits and belongings.

"I-I'm coming, dad! I'll be right down!" Of course, it was just his luck that his mother had already left, so Yami was on his own dealing with the blob of a man downstairs. Hopefully, Yugi had already caught the bus. As he bounded down the stairs and sprinted out of the house to his car, he saw his father in the kitchen, clutching a cup of coffee and a bottle of aspirin. His eyes were bloodshot and sported dark circles beneath them. Yami couldn't help smiling a bit at his appearance. He deserved every hangover he got.

He dreaded walking in to the classroom, but he didn't really have a choice. The last thing he wanted to do was fail a required class and have to retake it. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. He mumbled a quick apology for disrupting class and took his seat quickly, completely ignoring those around him and their insults.

Seto took his normal seat in chemistry. He tried to pay attention (really!) but the lesson was torture; he had to force himself to not look at the back of Yami's head the whole time. Finally, the last bell of the day rang, and before the other boy could disappear into the crowded hallways, Seto called out to him.

"Hey, Yami!" Yami turned to face him, looking slightly irked.

"What do you want, Seto?"

"Um, well, what happened to your face? Are you ok?" Seto smacked himself mentally. He sounded like a complete moron, and judging by the expression on Yami's face, he agreed.

"Nothing happened. Okay?" He turned to walk away without another word, leaving Seto staring dumbly after him.

What the fuck was with this guy? What did he want, and why would he notice or care? Yami couldn't figure out what Seto might want with him. Because he had to want something, you know. They always wanted something, no matter how nice they seemed at first. After all, why would someone like Seto Kaiba want anything to do with someone like Yami?

A/N: Hi. This chapter is a little bit shorter, but it was the only way it would work to break it up. the next one will be a lot longer, and also much much more eventful. Thank you all for the reviews, and I'm glad that people seem to like it. I'm getting the hang of this, I think. ^_^

So I'll update pretty soon; the next chapter is almost all the way typed. don't forget to review, and thank you for reading!!!

Thank you for pointing out major errors in plot or details or whatever. I didn't notice them when I was proofreading, probably because I know where the story is going.

I apologize for the errors, and I appreciate your support. :)

~alex~