Chapter 2

A/N: This chapter is currently non-beta-d, since I got my wires crossed and forgot that my beta may well be asleep by now. Stupid time zones. So, this is the non-beta-d version, I'll put the finished one up during the week sometime. Bai!

000ooo000ooo000

One must have a chaos inside oneself to give birth to a dancing star. – Thus Spoke Zarathustra; Friedrich Nietzche.

Note: Kaiba is actually reading this book during the Japanese version of the first episode (2nd Series).

000ooo000ooo000

Jounouchi Katsuya liked his job. He really did.

Sure, it was hard work and the last week or so had been like working in a furnace, but the pay was excellent and he had found some good friends in the other guys, even if he did feel left out sometimes when they all went for drinks after their shifts. Yamada-san and Aoki-san especially; they had warmed to Jou almost immediately and sort of adopted him, helping him out during his first few weeks on the job and so on. The two older guys (though really, Jou knew they weren't that old- both were in their late twenties) had become his first friends after high school, and through them he had become, if not friends then at least friendly with most of the crew. They were good guys and both of them could relate to some of Jou's life experiences even more than his old friends could, with the possible exception of Honda.

On top of hanging out with the guys, Jou actually found himself enjoying the work he was doing. Every once in a while, after he finished his shift, he would pause outside the build site and just look at the structure that was slowly growing toward the sky. There was something about it that filled him with satisfaction, knowing that he was helping to make something that tangible and real. All that pointless crap in high school about solving equations just to come up with zero... None of that could hold a candle to this.

So yeah, Jou loved his job. Which was why he was disgusted with himself on Saturday.

Nervous excitement had been building in his stomach since the previous night, insinuating itself in an almost-tangible form in dreams that were washed down the drain in the morning alongside the sweat and the oily stain on the shower wall.

Jounouchi Katsuya did not believe in cold showers.

He was sure that he hadn't actually gotten to sleep until much, much too late, and he was paying for it in the morning. It had taken him three cups of coffee and a Red Bull to even feel human, and then, even with all of that, he couldn't keep his mind on the job. He was glad that most of Saturday's shift was usually spent finishing up the loose ends in the previous week's work, and didn't involve much thinking.

Jou checked his watch (for about the eight-millionth time that day) as he finished packing away the welding set. 1:37pm. Something in Jou's chest leaped. The welding had taken him the better part of an hour, and even he wasn't distracted enough to keep checking the time while handling tools that shoot flames capable of melting steel.

This is bad. Jou sighed, giving himself a mental smack. He was acting like... like Anzu for heaven's sake! Pining and blushing and practically giggling and if there was a more ironic place for that sort of behavior than eight stories above the ground straddling a steel girder, Jou couldn't think of it. But he really couldn't help it. It was Kaiba, damnit, and there had always been something about Kaiba that had gotten under his skin and wouldn't let him be. Especially now, with the brunet getting under his skin in a whole new way that maybe wasn't so new, really, but was certainly a lot easier to ignore back in high school when he had Honda around to remind him of how much he hated Kaiba and when Kaiba himself had acted like a complete dick.

Now... Honda wasn't there to be the angel on his shoulder and Kaiba was acting like a semi-normal human being and Jou was terrified that he was being as obvious about this as Anzu had always been with her crush on Yami (and maybe Yugi as well, and hadn't that been a messed up little love triangle? Jou's eyes rolled reflexively).

The sun beat down on the steel structure, heating it as efficiently as if it had been stuck in a blacksmith's forge. Jou could feel the heat radiating, burning him even through the thick denim of his work jeans. He was sweating heavily, and he stripped off the long-sleeved shirt he had needed to wear while working with the welder. It was the sort of heat that lobotomized the brain and boiled the blood at the same time -- a possibly lethal combination in Jou's case. He took a deep breath and focused on getting his head straight before he met with the Kaibas. He didn't think he could bear it if he messed this opportunity up because a little heat and excitement had gone to his head.

1:52. Jou grabbed the welding kit and his sweat-soaked shirt and began his descent from the naked girders to the ground below.

000ooo000ooo000

By the time the afternoon rolled around, Seto was growing desperate for anything that would hold his attention.

No, that wasn't right.

He was desperate for something other than the inane thoughts running through his head that would hold his attention. He cursed himself for getting so much done the previous day. He knew it was simply in his nature and that he would probably do the same thing if he had to do it over again, but he could still complain about it. Not out loud, of course. To himself. Yes.

He blamed the weather. Heat did things to a person's brain, made them think and say and do things that they otherwise would never do. That had to be the explanation for what Seto was going through. There were studies -- scientific ones, even. He was sure there were. Somewhere. It was all the heat's fault.

The effects of Seto's cold shower that morning had lasted approximately three hours. It was enough time to get dressed for work, drop Mokuba off at school, and deal with the half-dozen minor problems that someone had labeled 'crises' in his absence (the most 'critical' of which involved the improper stocking of the vending machine in the third floor lounge). Once those tasks were taken care of, the rest of the shortest workday of the week loomed before him, stretching to infinity before screeching to an abrupt halt at 2pm (beyond which he didn't care to think about).

This whole situation with Jounouchi was... unsettling. On the one hand, part of Seto was nearly jumping up and down with joy (in a very subdued and non-childish way, of course). On the other hand, a small but loud part of him was screaming, 'What the f are you thinking? This is the make inu! The loudmouthed idiot! Did we not have a discussion about this before?'

And in fact, Seto had discussed this with himself before. It had taken approximately two seconds, the time he had first met Jounouchi Katsuya. His first reaction had been a sense impression more than it had been a thought -- the boy was disarmingly cute. His second reaction had been far more visceral and deep; it welled up from the part of Seto that allowed him to face down businessmen three times his age and show no fear, that allowed him to survive as long as he had under the thumb of Kaiba Gozaburo, that allowed him to be harsh and unyielding without losing what was left of his soul:

NO.

And that had been it. Seto had been unwilling to argue with that voice, because to chip away at that defense from the inside was unthinkable. It was bad enough that he had been under attack from outside forces -- he wasn't about to start attacking the only support he had.

But that was then. Sometime in between then and now, Seto realized, that defense had become less important -- which was a good thing, because with the combined forces of Mokuba and Yugi stripping away big chunks of the wall for the last several years, it probably wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. He was slowly coming to the conclusion that perhaps he didn't really need it anymore. Oh, certainly it couldn't be discarded -- businessmen had come to expect the icy, reserved CEO of Kaiba Corp when they came to meetings and it was easy enough to oblige them. It was in the company's best interests, too, and Seto cared quite deeply about his company. He would keep some sections of the wall, but others... the piece that had declared with such finality, "no"... That piece was keeping eerily silent -- leaving the situation open for debate -- and Seto was very, very confused indeed.

And on top of all the other issues -- the professed hatred, the differing worldviews and ideals, polar opposite personalities -- there was still one big issue that Seto knew needed to confront:

The hair and eyes and skin and sweat that had plagued his thoughts all day belonged to one Jounouchi Katsuya -- who was very much male.

Gay.

The word seemed to stare Seto in the face, in boldface with little flashing lights around it, just in case he managed to miss its presence. Gay. Homosexual, to be precise about it. Homo. Fag. Queer. Other, more insulting names that Seto didn't think he could stomach applying to himself. He fought to keep his gag reflex under control.

It wasn't as though he was homophobic. He was sure he wasn't. Seto himself had insisted that Kaiba Corp provide full partner benefits to same-sex couples -- including health coverage, family and medical leave... It was still touted as one of the best corporate benefit packages in the country (something that was pointed out quite often by Seto's highly paid and highly successful public relations department). But it was one thing to allow Aoyama-san from marketing to take a week off when his partner had surgery, and quite another for Seto to imagine himself ever doing the same.

Seto didn't know what to do with the colliding forces inside him. The thought of doing... things... with another male seemed odd to him, but not particularly off-putting. Especially when he added those visions of honey-eyes and golden skin to the mixture. Seto squirmed in his chair and let out a little noise (which was definitely nothing like a whimper), glad the door to his office was firmly shut and that he had very thick, very opaque walls.

Okay, that answered at least one question, but Seto still didn't know what to make of himself. To be honest, he would have to admit that he had never thought of any girls in any sort of sexual way. But to be completely honest, he had never particularly thought of anyone in any sexual way, so that didn't help him at all. It had simply been unimportant to him before; what was important was holding on to his company and keeping Mokuba safe and in his care. Things like hormones would just have to wait patiently in line.

It seemed that they were suddenly sick of waiting patiently.

Seto could deal with all of this. He knew he could. Just not in the scant few hours he had left before he and Mokuba met up with Jounouchi again. Jounouchi... Therein lay another problem.

Jounouchi was straight.

He had to be. Seto could see no other way about it. He had been drooling over that girl... Kujaku something. Gay men, as far as Seto understood, did not spend their time drooling over busty blonde women. Drooling over blond men, on the other hand...

Seto groaned as he found himself once again back at the source of the problem. He flushed, realizing that he was already half-hard even before his brain began its next assault on itself, making the situation even worse.

With a surreptitious glance toward the door (securely locked), Seto gave in. Both belt and zipper were rapidly dealt with and Seto shivered slightly as the chilled air hit sensitive skin only to be quickly replaced with a warm palm and delicious friction; when Seto closed his eyes it wasn't his hand, it was his hand and he could imagine the slight calluses and the lightly bronzed skin and then he was simply too far gone to imagine anything at all.

It took a moment for his vision to clear, but when it did he looked down in horrified fascination. Bronzed skin and honey-eyes and Katsuya -- the name practically sang in his head -- and gayfaghomoqueer and the milky, sticky fluid drying on his hand...

Kaiba Seto grabbed wildly for the trash can beside his desk and promptly threw up.

000ooo000ooo000

It was lucky for Jou that Mokuba had been the one to insist upon having their little outing, or Seto probably would not have shown up. By the time Mokuba had barged into his office to drag him off to the cafe, he was sorely tempted to hide under his desk and not come out for several weeks (at least).

For a moment, he considered telling Mokuba that their plans would have to be cancelled, but the boy looked so happy that Seto couldn't bring himself to do it. With only barely disguised trepidation, he followed Mokuba out of the building and onto the sun-soaked street outside. Never before had the two block walk seemed so much like a death march...

Thankfully (for Seto -- Mokuba had sighed in disappointment), Jou hadn't arrived yet, so the brothers seated themselves at the same table Seto had been using before. Jounouchi's waiter friend had them settled with two giant lemonades (and a sinfully large chocolate chip cookie for Mokuba) in a scant moment; then the waiting began.

The summer air was a welcome subduing force for Seto, who was beginning to be worried about the intensity of the strange feelings that had invaded his mind. The heat, which seemed to be making even Mokuba wilt slightly, pressed in on him from all sides -- was it possible that this was all that was keeping him from exploding? It seemed so, right then. He could feel the pressure building inside him, and he hoped he could keep it contained long enough to get through this day and take it home to deal with properly. What, exactly, constituted "properly" was something he would worry about later. Until then, he would curse the heat and thank the heat and try not to imagine other things involving heat.

Something is wrong with me. Seto swallowed a noise, somewhere between a moan of pain and a groan of frustration. It wouldn't do to let Mokuba see how chaotic his inner thoughts were at the moment. Someone, he was determined, would have fun today.

000ooo000ooo000

Mokuba was not a fool.

He knew he could be a little naive at times, but that didn't mean he didn't know how messed-up his brother felt. It had been obvious enough from the vomit (which he had pointedly ignored) in Seto's wastebasket. Seto never threw up, even when he was sick. This was serious, and Seto was trying to run away from it. Mokuba could tell. He was Seto's brother. It was his job to know things like that.

But Mokuba wasn't really worried.

He had seen that there was something underlying the animosity between his brother and Jounouchi. Even if no-one else had noticed, that was okay. No-one knew Seto like Mokuba did, not even Seto himself. He was much too busy knowing everything else that he never got a chance to really know himself. That was left up to Mokuba, and Mokuba knew a lot.

He had seen just how much Seto needed Jou around. The blond kept him grounded, kept him from going insane when his work threatened to overwhelm him and he was surrounded only by obsequious lackeys, nosy reporters and opponents plotting his downfall. Seto needed someone to keep him from becoming totally inhuman. Someone who was willing to mock him to his face, call him "rich boy" and "moneybags", throw a punch and maybe accept one in return. Someone, in short, exactly like Jounouchi.

Mokuba saw it, that something, every time Seto griped and grumbled about the blond. Mokuba saw the jealousy in Seto's (stoic to anyone else) features when Jou was laughing and having fun Yugi and the others. Mokuba saw the something in Jou's looks, too. The way he would look at Seto when he was sure Seto wasn't looking. The flustered look he got sometimes when Seto would talk to him without being entirely insulting. The way he had looked at Seto the night before. The way Seto had looked back.

Seto needed. Seto wanted. Seto just didn't seem to understand that he could have.

Mokuba was a brat sometimes (hell, he'd even admit it himself, on occasion), but even he knew that the best way to handle this was not to place copies of "Chicken Soup for the Lover's Soul" and "The Joy of Gay Sex" under Seto's pillow and hope for the best. His brother was far too confused for that to work, and while the joke would be amusing for a little while, Mokuba really did want what was best for him (even though he hated having to be the adult).

The first step was to keep Seto from running; at least long enough to let him realize how much he really didn't want to run. And then... then perhaps he could leave the books and do some running of his own.

000ooo000ooo000

Jou arrived at a run, panting and sort of dripping and shiny, with pieces of his hair plastered to his face and neck. He was utterly unkempt and probably smelled awful, and the part of Seto that had scruples about that sort of thing was screaming in protest. Unfortunately, the whole effect was ruined by the joyful grin that appeared on the youth's face when he spotted them. Seto's inner voice cursed.

It cursed even louder when Jou finally reached them and Seto realized that, A) the dripping and shiny was water, not sweat, and B) Jou did smell, but not of something foul. Rather, he smelled like flame and metal (Seto couldn't help but wonder if Jou's attraction to his job didn't come from the same place in his soul as his attraction to his Red-Eyes).

Shit.

He wondered how much force it would take to knock himself out by slamming his head on the table. Or perhaps the wall would be more efficient...

"Sorry. I'm. late!" Jou panted, sagging down into the last empty chair at the table.

"That's okay!" Mokuba replied happily. "You're not really late anyway. It's only like, ten after or something, right Seto?" Mokuba had abandoned his watch that day in favor of a matched set of Blue-Eyes White Dragon wristbands that Seto had given him for his birthday, so he stretched his neck at a rather uncomfortable angle to peer at Seto's.

"Right." Seto murmured, seeming distracted. Jou tried to follow his line of sight (which was not on either him or Mokuba), but all he could figure out was that Seto was staring at the brick wall of the cafe with great intensity. He wondered what was so interesting about it, but then, who knew what Kaiba Seto found interesting that might completely miss his attention?

Jou caught himself feeling stupid and abruptly stopped himself. After high school, he had determined that he wouldn't allow himself to think that way anymore, and so far he had done a good job of it. There was just something about being around Kaiba, though, that made him so aware of how inferior he was and, strangely, made him want to prove that he wasn't. He would have just tossed it under the umbrella of "the crush", but it came from a different place inside him, and he didn't quite know what to do about it yet. He hoped that if he spent more time in the other teen's company, such feelings would fade. And if that didn't work, he would just deal with it. The 'just deal with it' method had worked for Jou so far, and he wasn't about to give up on something so tried-and-true.

"So," Jou started once he had his breath back, "What are we doing today, anyway?"

Originally, the question had been aimed at the elder Kaiba, but Seto still seemed inordinately interested in the wall so Mokuba wound up fielding it.

"We're going to the movies!" His whole face lit up brightly at this pronouncement. "There's a double feature at the theater downtown every Saturday!" His face fell, just a little. "We haven't been to it in a long time, though. 'Nii-san's been really busy with work and stuff."

That was enough to draw Seto's attention away from the bricks. Elegant fingers mussed Mokuba's hair lightly.

"I'm sorry." He said, looking genuinely apologetic. It was weird, and Jou wondered why such a thing didn't seem to fit Kaiba very well. But then, that would be just like Kaiba -- the only person in the world who really couldn't apologize well. Jou's lips curled up at the corners, just a little, at the appropriateness.

"It's okay!" Mokuba was reassuring his brother. "I know it's really important and the company needs you." He was old enough to understand and be pragmatic about things like that, after all. The success of Kaiba Corp was more important than the double feature matinee. It didn't make him happy about it, but he understood, and he wasn't going to add to the pressure on Seto any more than he had to.

"When's it start?" Jou had stolen Kaiba's lemonade, but Kaiba hadn't seemed to notice yet.

"Two-thirty." Seto responded automatically, the number only one of dozens (perhaps hundreds, he had never bothered to count) that he knew by heart -- bank accounts, production costs, balance sheet equations, birthdays, the Saturday matinee. The list was long and diverse.

"We should get going! We won't get seats if we get there too late!" Mokuba drained the last of his drink with a loud slurp and jumped up from his chair. He stopped abruptly. "That is okay with you, Jou, isn't it? Going to the movies?" He looked so worried, Jou was almost tempted to laugh.

"Of course it's okay, kiddo." Jou paused, thinking deeply. "Wait..."

Mokuba looked almost crushed.

"What?" He asked sadly, obviously expecting the worst, and Seto wondered if he would be forced to kick Jou's ass for this because no one made Mokuba look like that. No one.

"You're not dragging me to The Sparkle Rangers Movie, are you?" Jou gave Mokuba a glare of deep suspicion, but he couldn't keep himself from grinning and entirely ruining the effect.

"Jou!" Mokuba cried, shoving the older boy as hard as he could. Jou toppled off his chair, landing in a laughing sprawl on the pavement beneath. "I hate you!" the younger Kaiba pouted, sticking his tongue out at Jou, who returned the gesture.

Seto couldn't keep from smiling (he was glad he didn't have to beat the crap out of the blond), and he wondered idly why all the strangeness he had been feeling all day seemed so much less strange when Jou was actually there, horsing around with Mokuba and generally belonging with them. Somehow, maybe, it would all turn out fine. And he wouldn't even have to knock himself out.

The wall was spared.

000ooo000ooo000

The theater was packed, just as Mokuba had predicted. Whether it was because the event itself was just that popular or because the theater had a very efficient air conditioning system, Jou couldn't tell. Either way, there were very few seats available and for a moment it looked like they wouldn't find three together. Luckily, Mokuba was quite good at that sort of thing and managed to find a few empty seats in the back corner of the room. He quickly claimed the inside-most seat, as it was (marginally) closer to the center of the theater, leaving the two end seats for his brother and Jou (which might also have had something to do with Mokuba's seat selection). They had arrived just barely in time for the beginning of the first movie -- an older Kurosawa film -- so there was no real time to debate who got which seat. Seto wound up sitting in the middle, with Jou on the end.

Jou actually hadn't seen the movie before, despite its "classic" status, and was quickly engrossed. Mokuba was in a similar state, but he tended to get like that with samurai movies, Seto had found. Woe betide the one who interrupted the younger Kaiba if "The Seven Samurai" was on TV, even if that one was his older brother.

Seto, who had already seen this particular film several times, was using the time to continue thinking through the feelings that were coursing through him, most of which were still unfamiliar. At least he didn't feel like throwing up again. Still, the whole thing bore careful consideration, more than most problems of its sort. It wasn't as though he was some normal person who could dabble around until they figured their sexuality out the normal way (Seto had never, ever wanted to be normal, but right then it was becoming more and more appealing). Instead, he was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation. His personal life, if anything of interest happened in it, was fair game for every tabloid in the country. He simply could not afford to be wrong about something as monumental as whether he liked women... or men.

And there was the rub: he didn't like women, but he didn't like men either. He liked, as far as he could tell, man. Specifically, the one sitting in the poorly upholstered theater seat next to him, wrapped up in the problems of the characters on the screen and (apparently) unconcerned by any problems of his own. Seto was mildly jealous.

000ooo000ooo000

The first movie ended with Mokuba and Jou smiling for the victorious main character and Seto no closer to answers than he had been at the beginning.

"We need popcorn!" Mokuba declared, looking up at Seto expectantly. He turned over the money without complaint. Normally, they would have had popcorn for the first movie as well, but they had arrived too late to wait in line and still find seats. Mokuba disappeared quickly, jumping over the back of the seat before Seto could tell him not to.

"That was really good!" Jou enthused, looking at Seto for his opinion. He nodded.

"Kurosawa films usually are." He deadpanned, but the corner of his mouth twitched upward.

"I never really watched too many movies." Jou seemed to be just thinking aloud, but Seto paid attention anyway. You never knew. "Because, you know, it gets expensive, once you start buying snacks and drinks and everything. Plus most of it wasn't really that interesting. I mean, most of it's just a bunch of guys beating each other up. If I wanted to see that, I coulda just gone to the park after midnight, you know?" He laughed a little, but it was sort of strained, and Seto could tell that he really didn't think it was funny at all.

"Movies should be entertaining." He said quietly, pausing as Jou looked at him intently. "Their purpose is to take us away from the bad things in our own lives for a while and show us other people who overcome their difficulties. Why do you think there's always a happy ending? The filmmakers are trying to restore our hope that we can have happy endings, too."

"Wow." Jou was staring at him with glowing admiration. "That was really deep, Kaiba."

"Or maybe your thinking is just very shallow, puppy." Seto teased gently, a smile playing briefly across his lips as he fought down a blush.

"Hey!" Jou mock-pouted, crossing his arms across his chest and settling back in his seat with an exaggerated huff of annoyance.

"I got it!" Mokuba hopped the seat again and plopped a large bucket of salted, buttered popcorn down in Seto's lap. "You have to hold it, 'cause you're in the middle." He declared matter-of-factly as the house lights dimmed to signal the start of the second half of the double-feature.

000ooo000ooo000

The second movie had managed to hold even Seto's attention -- it may have been American (Seto wasn't fond of American films, mostly because they attempted to compensate for lack of plot by adding random explosions), but the concept of people stuck inside a computer program was one that hit close to home. The three were quiet as the lights went up, even as the crowd around them began talking excitedly about the amazing special effects. Finally, Mokuba saved them yet again.

"Dinner?" He asked, swiping the last few kernels of popcorn out of the bucket and downing them quickly.

"How is it possible that you eat more than me but you're still that short?" Jou questioned back, earning him a glare from Mokuba (who was growing increasingly sensitive about his height as he got older).

"We can get dinner, yes." Seto cut the two of them off before they could start a childish and (probably) loud argument in a crowded theater. Exactly the sort of publicity Kaiba Corp needed, really. "Will you be joining us?"

Jou blinked, then glanced down at his slightly scorched work jeans and worn shirt. Then he turned his attention to Kaiba's near-pristine white button-down and tan slacks.

"Er..."

"You're fine." Seto cut him off before he could even begin. "We're only going to Burger World."

And Jou was so shocked that there was nothing he could do but agree.

000ooo000ooo000

The Kaibas eat at Burger World.

The thought was still being processed, even as Jou chewed on his burger. He would never have expected Kaiba to do something so... mundane. Hell, he ate at Burger World, and Jou figured that alone would have put it on Kaiba's list of places to buy and demolish. Apparently not. Apparently, Burger World was on Kaiba's nice list -- at least on Saturdays, after the matinee.

"I love this place!" Mokuba smiled happily as he bit into his own grease-on-a-bun.

That explained a lot.

Jou really wished he had a camera, just because no one would ever believe this in a million years. He was at Burger World with the Kaibas. Many strange (okay, really strange) things had happened in Jou's life over the previous few years, but he hadn't really ever been shocked by them like this. His best friend shared a body (though only sometimes, nowadays) with an Egyptian Pharaoh, but here he was, bowled over by Kaiba's eating habits.

Of course, Kaiba's eating habits were weird enough on their own. Jou found himself watching in rapt fascination as Kaiba sliced his burger into pieces and started eating it with a knife and fork. It took him a moment to notice when Kaiba stopped eating and looked back at him intently.

"What, if I may ask, is so interesting about my food?" Seto arched an eyebrow. Jou hated it when he did that, really he did.

"Why d'you eat it that way?" He found himself blurting out, before realizing that it was probably really, really rude to ask like that. Oh, well. No going back now.

Seto sighed. "It's unseemly to eat a meal with your hands." He shot a glance at Mokuba, who just shrugged and took a big bite out of his burger.

"But you ate popcorn." Jou sounded confused.

"Popcorn is meant to be eaten by hand." Seto returned, taking another forkful of meat, bun and various toppings.

"So are burgers!" Jou insisted, picking his own up as if it proved his point.

"So you say. I prefer to eat like a civilized human being." He took a sip of his cola and went back to slicing the burger into nicely sized chunks.

"The gods of Burger World will strike you down." Jou warned with his best Yami-voice.

"Perhaps." Seto smirked and quite purposefully popped another forkful into his mouth.

Mokuba grinned into his shake.

000ooo000ooo000

"So... I guess I'll see you around?" Jou asked, nervous but doing his best to cover it up.

Seto nodded. "I suppose so. It's not as if my whereabouts are unknown, Jounouchi-kun."

Jou fought down the grin that was threatening, instead tilting his head slightly, silently asking if what he had heard meant what he thought it meant. Seto inclined his head in return, and Jou let the grin out.

"Okay! I'll see you, then!" He waved at Mokuba as Seto climbed back into the car and watched until the taillights disappeared around the corner.

Jounouchi Katsuya really loved his life.

000ooo000ooo000

tbc...

A Note: I probably won't update this rapidly in the future. I want this to be good, and good takes time. But please stick with me! #bows#