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

*************Chapter 10 *************

Seto noticed that Yami seemed preoccupied as they sat in his room. Almost a week had passed since they first kissed, and they had been getting to know each other better. He knew Yami's favorite color (purple), favorite animal (fox), favorite food (pasta), and favorite season (fall). He knew that he loved animals, and had a pet rat named Viktor (he hadn't met Viktor yet, but it was just a matter of time). He knew that he didn't like crowds or public speaking, and that he had lots of anxiety problems. He was able to figure out when something was bothering him, as well.

"What's up, Yami?" He asked kindly, stroking his hand. Yami shifted uncomfortably.

"Nothing really..." Seto gave him a skeptical look, and Yami sighed. "Ok... um... oh, this is embarrassing... I just- well..." He stopped mid-sentence, catching Seto off-guard in a shy kiss. He immediately broke away, his hands covering his reddening face.

"Um..." Seto couldn't form a coherent sentence, and he knew that his cheeks were flushed. "Was that what was bothering you?" He managed. Yami nodded, looking ashamed. Seto paused for a moment, but then gathered Yami into his arms. Yami tensed for a moment before relaxing into the hug. He mumbled something unintelligible. "What was that?"

"Do... do you really like me?" He asked in a small voice.

"Yami, we've been over this. Of course I like you, moron." Yami didn't look convinced.

"Why?" Seto wasn't expecting to be asked why he liked him...

"Um... because you're nice, and you're a good person, and... I don't know, I just like everything about you... except for the fact that you won't believe that I like you," he teased, earning a weak smile. "And you're cute..." he added as an afterthought.

"But... doesn't it bother you? That I have all this emotional baggage? I mean... I don't know. I worry that... you'll get sick of me..." Seto hugged him more tightly.

"No. That will not happen, okay?"

"But I kind of feel like I'm holding you back... if I weren't so fucked up, you could have a normal relationship with someone..." Seto shook his head.

"Yami, that makes no sense. If you're implying that you're causing me inconvenience because you don't want to have sex, that's ridiculous. It doesn't matter, okay? I don't want to do anything that you're not comfortable with..." Yami buried his face in Seto's sleeve.

"But it's still my fault!"

"Yami, it is not your fault. Hell, we've only been together for a week. Even if you were okay with it, we shouldn't be having sex after only a week." Yami looked mildly more cheerful.

"Then... you like me even if... yeah..." It took a moment for the meaning to sink in.

"What are you even saying?!" He couldn't help raising his voice. "You think that I'd be with you just for that!?!" Yami shifted uncomfortably.

"It... it's happened before, okay? I just don't want that to happen again."

"What?!" he wanted to hurt whoever had done this to Yami, " Yami, who-"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay? I was just letting you know..." he trailed off, his voice becoming almost a whisper.

When Yami arrived at his first hour class, he was shocked at the large basket of flowers adorning his desk. He was a bit late, so everyone was staring as he took his seat, awestruck that he had gotten flowers, and he heard a few whispers. Placing the flowers on the floor next to him, he stared straight forward, fighting the urge to turn around and glare the amused blue eyes he could feel watching him. After class at his locker, he groaned in frustration. The basket was too big to fit in his locker... which meant that he would have to carry it with him all day. Great. Damn you, Seto. Truthfully, though, he loved it. Although no one knew who they were from, everyone knew that someone cared about him.

Unfortunately, a basket of flowers also attracts less-than-desirable attention as well...

"Hey, douchebag!" Yami stiffened, knowing the insult was aimed at him. "Whatcha got there, loser?" Shit. It was that fat blond guy, the one who had been picking on Mokuba that first day. "You got flowers? Aww, are they from your mommy? Haha! 'Couse, with a faggot like you, they'd be from your dad, huh?" Yami could feel his heart pounding furiously as he struggled to ignore the fat one and his group of followers as they laughed at him.

"Actually," a familiar voice said, "They're from me." Yami felt strong arms encircle him, and he gasped in surprise as a soft kiss was planted on the top of his head. The group had stopped laughing, and the blond one was looking at Yami and Seto with a mixture of awe and revulsion.

"That's sick, man. That just ain't right... Come on, guys. Let's get the fuck away from these faggots..." The other boys hurried after him, fleeing as if gay were contagious. Yami spun to face the other boy.

"Seto, what are you doing?" He asked, worry evident on his delicate countenance.

"Yami, I'm sorry, and I should have asked you sooner, but I don't think that we should be afraid to be ourselves around other people. They're not going to be happy about it, but that's too fucking bad for them. I hate seeing the way people degrade you as if you're some sort of inanimate object." Yami was speechless, so Seto took advantage of his silence and kissed him lightly. Neither of them had noticed the dead silence that had fallen around them in the hallway. "You don't deserve to be treated like shit for something that you have no control over; you're still human, and you still deserve the respect and kindness of others." Seto said this for Yami's benefit, but also for the benefit of anyone withing earshot. If people had treated Yami badly, he wanted them to know that he wouldn't stand for it. "Come on, let's go to class." Yami nodded, still at a loss for words, and contentedly clung to Seto's hand as the taller boy led him through the halls.

Yami couldn't sit still. Although it bothered him, a small part of him couldn't care less about all the strange looks he received throughout the day. He was taken aback by the number of gazes that held no enmity towards him, but were merely curious. Maybe not everyone hated him as much as he thought they did... His teachers, also, noticed both his upbeat demeanor as well as the flowers, sending him reassuring looks and nods. The teachers in the school were never a problem; Yami was a good student who studied hard and almost always got his work in on time. For the most part, they loved him. Never in my life, he thought, as he sat through an endless hour of math, have I ever been this excited to go to chemistry... The second the bell rang, he was out of his seat and out the door. Although he didn't want to appear too eager, he found it hard to hide the smile that kept creeping onto his face.

Upon rushing in the door, he found Seto waiting for him, having moved his stool to sit at Yami's normally empty table.

"Well, hello, sunshine," Seto greeted him playfully. Yami could feel himself blushing, but he didn't care.

"Hi," he said breathlessly. He knew he sounded stupid, but it was the best he could do. "Seto... thank you." Seto raised an eyebrow.

"What, for the flowers? It's the least I could do..." Yami shrugged.

"Well, yeah, for the flowers, but... for not being... embarrassed to be with me..." Seto laughed loudly, and for a few horrible seconds, Yami feared that he had been wrong...

"Yami, that's ridiculous! Of course I'm not embarrassed. Why would I be? There's nothing embarrassing about having the smartest, cutest, most awesome boyfriend in the world, is there?" God, Yami's face hurt... he'd never smiled this much in his life. Actually, before he had met Seto... the last time he laughed, truly and sincerely, had been when his rat Viktor had stolen his sock and refused to give it back, running around dragging it with him. Before that, he couldn't even remember when he had been happy...

"Wow... what's wrong with them?" Yami whispered to Seto, referring to two girls who sat in the middle of the room. They had never liked Yami, but now they were glaring with renewed fervor. If looks could kill, he thought (fortunately for him, they could not).

"Oh, uh, yeah... they kind of wanted to work with me on the project, but... I told them I was working with you. I don't think they felt too kindly towards that, nor did they appreciate me calling them out on their total stupidity... I don't think they like the fact that we're fucking adorable together." Seto sounded rather pleased with himself, but Yami was concerned.

"Seto, you shouldn't have done that... I'm really sorry."

"Good god, Yami! Now what are you apologizing for?"

"Well... people won't like you if you stand up for me... it's my fault that you haven't made any other friends..." Seto shook his head, reaching for Yami's hand when he heard the desperate note in his voice.

"No, Yami. If they're going to be such close-minded bigots, then I don't want them as my friends anyway. So if anything, it's your fault that I'm not surrounded by assholes. I don't know about you, but to me, that doesn't seem like a bad thing." Yami felt that he was just trying to make him feel better, but nodded anyway.

"Whatever. Just try not to make enemies because of me..."

Seto rolled his eyes. Although generally endearing, Yami's blatant selflessness was infuriating at times. He was so concerned that Seto would be held back or miss out on things because of him, when in reality, Seto just wanted to be able to be with Yami. So what if half the class hated him? Yami didn't hate him; that was all that mattered. So what if everyone thought he was "a queer?" He was in a happier relationship than they were, and if there was anything wrong with that, he couldn't find it. So what if Yami was the least popular guy in the school? That just meant that Seto could have Yami all to himself. Any way he looked at the circumstances, they worked out in his favor. He was with the boy who he liked (loved? Maybe...) and they were happy with each other. That was enough.

A/N: Hey, everyone. Hope you like it so far... I had to throw the rat business in there, because I have two rats, and I love them dearly. I just found a lump on Fannie, though... I hope it isn't cancer... :( His name is viktor because of this video. I love this video... .com/watch?v=pR7NDjC8DfY

So yeah. you should totally review, because it brings me great joy. thanks!

~alex~