Disclaimer: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and references belong to their respective owners. The song Don't Turn Around belongs to Ace of Base and the company that recorded it and was used in this story with the best of intentions. Story elements © Hideki LaShae. No money was gained in the writing of this story.

Don't Turn Around

By

Hideki LaShae

"Hey, Kaiba!" exclaims Jou walking up to me and sitting down in the seat next to me.

"Hello, pup," I say ignoring him as I type on my laptop.

"So… how's work?" asks Jou holding an apple slice out towards me.

"The usual… my employees are incompetent and I have to do everything," I say taking the fruit and sticking it in my mouth.

Jou digs a sandwich out of his paper lunch bag and tears it in half. He holds out one half to me. "Here… you should eat something to build up your strength. You'll need it when you go to the office to fire some of those incompetents!"

"With your stamina and metabolism, I'd say you need it more than I do," I say.

"I brought plenty of food, don't worry about that!" Jou looks at me with his famous puppy-dog pout, and his brown eyes burn into me.

I take the half sandwich and start to eat it. "It's good, pup."

"You're welcome!" exclaims Jou with a wide grin, "I'm going to be a great chef someday, Kaiba, and then I'm going to force feed you all the time!"

"How do you plan to do all that?" I ask. I save my work and close my laptop to finish the sandwich without getting breadcrumbs anywhere.

Jou's eyes meet mine. "I'm going to culinary school after commencement."

I raise an eyebrow. "Well, you are serious about this, aren't you? What kind of chef do you want to be?"

"Gourmet actually."

"I think you can do it," I say. I stick the last bite of the sandwich into my mouth and turn my eyes from Jou's beaming face.

"Are you going on to college, Kaiba?"

"Yes. I want a business degree. I know it all anyway, so I intend to take independent classes. I should be done my four-year education in one. Two if Mokuba decides he won't let me work past dinner," I say opening my laptop again to continue working, "How long have you wanted to be a gourmet chef?"

Jou blushes. "Awhile now…"

I simply nod, and Jou goes silent as he eats his lunch.

"Well… I'm going to catch up with the guys. Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Jou stands up and stretches.

"Get lost, pup. Can't you see I'm busy?"

Jou turns and walks away from me.

And if you gotta go darling
Maybe it's better that way…

I don't watch Jou as he walks away. It's too tempting. I know I would find myself staring if I looked for even a moment. His slim hips, firm ass, and muscled back would be far too beautiful of a sight to tear my eyes away from, but I can't let anyone catch me staring at him like a lovesick puppy. Sometimes though, I don't know why I even care about what people would think if they saw me staring at him like I would eat him alive.

I don't know what happened to cause this different relationship between Jou and I, but around the start of this year… our final year of high school… we became something more. I wouldn't call us friends, and we certainly aren't lovers… not for lack of interest on my part. However we used to be enemies. We used to be rivals, although I never saw him as a threat. Now we are just something more. We are still rivals and we still fight just as heatedly as we always have, but now when we're done, we can talk to each other civilly, like friends would. I don't know what we are. Neither does Jou apparently. It was his idea to call us more. He decided that since we were more than before, but not exactly anything we had known of before that there was only one thing we could be and that was more. I happen to agree.

---

"Jounouchi Katsuya…"

I watch as Jou walks up to the podium to take his diploma. He smiles happily, but I can see that there are tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Kaiba Seto…"

I walk up to the podium and take my degree, but that doesn't matter to me. My attention is still focused on him. The smile on his face says he couldn't be happier. He looks so proud of himself that he even managed to graduate, partly in thanks to me, but he doesn't need to know that. He seems to be so happy, but his eyes say he isn't. I see only sadness in his eyes. I move back to my seat beside him, and I whisper quietly, "What's wrong, pup?"

"Nothing's wrong; why do you think that?" whispers Jou.

"You're about to cry," I whisper in response.

"I'm sad. This is the end of our high school career. We'll all be moving on and we may never see each other again. Life as we know it is over," whispers Jou.

"We'll all see each other again, Jou. I know we will," I whisper. I feel Jou's hand tap against my thigh. I ignore the tingling pleasure the feeling caused as I slide my hand down at his silent request and twine my fingers with his own. This is the most physical contact that we've ever had, and it only causes me to want more. There's that word again. More.

"Thank you," whispers Jou squeezing my hand.

I smile slightly at Jou.

Jou bites his lower lip and glances sideways at me. "Yugi is hosting a graduation party tonight. I'd like it if you came."

"When?"

"Eight o'clock. We were planning it to go on all night," whispers Jou blushing, "We're all bringing sleeping bags, but you don't have to stay that long if you don't want to."

"Maybe I want to."

"I have something to ask you then too," whispers Jou turning his attention back to the speaker standing at the podium. He doesn't release my hand and eventually his fingers start to stroke it slightly.

I hope he doesn't notice the blush that his actions cause to rise to my face.

---

Mokuba tears through my closet pulling articles of my clothing from it and flinging them to the floor over his shoulder.

I cross my arms over my chest and glare at the back of his head. "I hope you realize that I will be making you clean up this mess, Mokuba!"

Mokuba giggles childishly. "But that will be tomorrow! Seeing the look on everyone's faces when they see your new look tonight will make all the cleaning tomorrow worth it!"

"And who invited you to this party?" I ask, "I'm not taking you with me!"

"Yugi invited me! Nearly a month ago! And if you won't take me, I'll just call Honda so he can give me a lift on his motorcycle!" exclaims Mokuba pulling out a pair of pants that I don't even remember buying and turning towards me with a smirk. He tosses the pants to me. "Try them on to see how they fit!"

"And if I don't want to wear this?" I ask raising an eyebrow at the black leather.

"You'll wear it if I say you'll wear it or I'll delete all the files from your hard drive, and don't you think I can't do it!" exclaims Mokuba turning back into my closet.

I turn my back to Mokuba and hesitate for a moment before pulling my pants off. I pull the leather on and my breath hitches as I fasten them about my hips. Okay, I didn't buy these, not only would I never buy something without a proper waist, but these pants are two sizes too small!

"Big brother! You aren't supposed to wear your boxers beneath them!" exclaims Mokuba giggling, "Now, fix it!"

"And just what exactly am I supposed to wear under this?" I cast a glare over my shoulder to see Mokuba blushing bright red.

"Seto… those pants are leather. You don't wear anything beneath them!" exclaims Mokuba hiding his face behind a bundle of crimson cloth.

"Oh, no way!" I yell.

"Fine! I'll delete your hard drive and get rid of all those nice pictures you have of Jou in compromising positions!" exclaims Mokuba.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I storm into the bathroom to avoid showing my blushing face to my younger brother, "And stay away from my computer!"

"You know what pictures I'm talking about! You had set up a camera in Jou's bedroom when he spent the night here after helping me with my home economics project! You wanted to see him naked, but he didn't undress in front of your camera!" exclaims Mokuba through the bathroom door, "But you got some nice pictures of him sprawled on his bed in his underwear."

I take the time to wash my blush away with ice-cold water, and I remove the pants only to put them back on without my navy blue boxers beneath them. I throw the door open. "I hope you're happy, Mokuba! I feel naked in this!"

"But you look…" Mokuba's cheeks tinge pink and he turns away quickly. "Jou will like it."

"Jou wouldn't care! He's probably bringing his girlfriend to the party to he can hang on her chest the entire night!" I scowl at the thought of Jou touching any naked form besides my own.

"Here, Seto. I thought this shirt would go with those pants the best."

I notice the conniving grin on his face, and I realize how this outfit came to be in my closet. He bought it and hid it inside my closet. He was probably hoping for a situation just like this to force me into it, and the reason the clothing is too small is because he wanted it to be tight enough to show off every part of me that makes my fan girls swoon. If there's a single one of them at Yugi's party, I'm grabbing Jou and leaving immediately!

"Well, put it on!" exclaims Mokuba, "I want to see it!"

I'm gonna be strong
I'm gonna do fine…

I sigh as I pull my shirt off. I take the article of clothing from Mokuba and notice his still pink cheeks. I pull the crimson muscle shirt down over my chest and notice that it doesn't even touch my waist. I slump my shoulders. Damn you, Mokuba. "I still feel naked."

Mokuba's eyes widen as he looks at me.

"So… how long have you known that you're gay, Mokie," I say. I use his old nickname on purpose so that he might fall back into that old comfort.

"Is it that obvious?"

"You're checking out your own brother, not to mention the fact that you bought this outfit for me," I say.

"I'm not checking you out! I just know how to appreciate some things!" Mokuba turns. "I'm going to go change into my outfit now. Then I'll grab our sleeping bags and meet you at the limo!"

"I'm glad to know that you aren't lusting after me, but I'd better not catch you with any pictures of me shirtless," I say.

"Don't worry… I'll leave the peeping to you when it comes to Jou!" exclaims Mokuba, "You might want to prime yourself up a bit! Jou would appreciate it. He might be attracted to both sexes, but he does like you."

"I only wish he did," I whisper as Mokuba heads out of my room. I head into the bathroom and look at my reflection in the mirror. I look good, but I don't think it's good enough. I open a drawer and pull out a small box about the size of a deck of cards. I open it and withdraw a single item. I remove the tiny sapphire stud from my right ear and put the fang earring on. I pull a matching necklace from the box and tie it around my throat with the hemp cord.

I head back out to my bedroom and unlock the lower drawer of my desk. I pull a box from within and open it slowly. I push aside a few pictures of Jou that were taken anonymously, and I blush when my hand comes in contact with one of my more stimulating sexual aids. I pull out a long chain and close the box quickly. I put it back into the drawer and lock it. I wind the chain loosely through the belt loops on the leather pants I wear. Then I pull on my boots and fasten the ends of the chain to the outside of each boot. It's a style I picked up in a more outrageous club when I was on a business trip to America, and since Mokuba wants me to surprise Jou and all his friends, I might as well do it right.

I leave my room and head down to the limo to meet Mokuba. I'm surprised to see Mokuba already there helping the limo driver put our sleeping bags and overnight bags into the trunk. How did he grab my overnight bag without me seeing him? Oh, well. I guess now I have no choice but to spend the night at Yugi's place, preferably right beside Jou. Yes. That would be heavenly.

Mokuba smiles at me. "You look great, Seto! Jou will love it!"

"Why do you keep mentioning him?" I ask, "Jou has a girlfriend, and he doesn't care about me. Why would he care about how I'm dressed?"

"Well, for starters," says Mokuba climbing into the limo with me right behind, "He broke up with Mai. I think it was mutual. They make much better friends than boyfriend and girlfriend."

"And?"

"And he cares," says Mokuba simply.

"He cares about everyone. That's nothing new."

"No… I mean. He cares. He really cares about you," says Mokuba.

I narrow my eyes at Mokuba.

Mokuba's wide puppy eyes stare back at me. "This could be the real deal for him, and you if you're willing to give him the chance. You know, Jou talks to me. I know things about him that would make your head spin."

I yawn in disinterest.

Mokuba smirks.

The limo pulls up outside of the Kame Game Shop, and Mokuba scrambles out as fast as he can. He runs around back and rings the doorbell.

I climb from the limo and take the bags from the trunk while the driver grabs the sleeping bags and walks around back with me. I arrive just in time to see Yugi swing the door open, panting slightly.

"Mokuba! Kaiba! I'm glad you could make it! Come on in!" exclaims Yugi, "Have you eaten? We were just getting ready to order pizza!"

"Can we order a veggie pizza for Seto?" asks Mokuba.

"Of course!" Yugi smiles. "I didn't realize you were a vegetarian, Kaiba."

"I'm not. I just don't like pizza all that much," I say, "There's something about the amount of grease the meat causes that usually turns me off."

"Well… that sounds familiar! Jou usually orders plain cheese or the vegetarian special," says Yugi taking the sleeping bags from the driver and leading us in. He stops to drop the sleeping bags into a pile in the shop's back room. He looks back at us nervously. "You haven't seen Jou, have you?"

"Not since commencement, why?" I ask.

"He was supposed to be here two hours ago," says Yugi, "I've been trying to call him, but there's no answer."

"Do you think he's in trouble?" asks Mokuba with fearful eyes.

At that second the doorbell rings.

Yugi steps back to the door and opens it.

I catch the sight of the disheveled blond hair the second before Yugi throws his arms around Jou's neck.

"Jou! I thought something had happened to you! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Yug'! It's just a little black eye. I'll survive! Sorry I'm late, but I got mugged on the way here!" says Jou carrying Yugi in and swinging the door closed.

"What happened to your sleeping bag? And your clothes?" asks Yugi.

"I said I got mugged. It was a homeless guy who wanted the sleeping bag," says Jou as Yugi unwinds his arms from around the blond puppy's neck.

"Don't worry, Jou. We'll think of something!" Yugi winks at Jou who blushes slightly. "Come on! The party's upstairs!"

I drop the bags with the sleeping bags, and we all head upstairs to the living room where everyone else waits for us.

Honda and Otogi argue in the corner, standing very close to each other, rather like lovers would. Ryou and Anzu sit on the couch in an intimate conversation, whispering into each other's ear. Shizuka sits on the floor twirling a tassel around her finger.

Mai leans against the wall until she sees Jou. Her eyes widen at the sight of the black eye. "Jou! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine!" exclaims Jou moving over to hug Mai quickly. He kisses her on the cheek. "How are you doing, Mai?"

"Good. I've got a new boyfriend. He's nothing like you!" exclaims Mai.

"Sounds like the one!" exclaims Jou chuckling.

"As long as it's not you and Mai's happy," says Shizuka, "you don't care if he's the one or not."

"Well, if you're going to be that way, you'd better give me back my tassel," says Jou sitting down on the floor beside Shizuka, "I'm glad you came, sis." He looks at me and smiles. He blushes when he notices my clothing, but he doesn't say anything.

"Are you going clubbing tonight, Kaiba?" snickers Otogi.

"Go screw yourself." Did that actually just come out of my mouth?

"Kaiba! Watch your language! There are children present!" exclaims Anzu.

"Hold your tongue," says Jou getting up and moving to my side quickly, "or I'll have to do it for you!"

"I'd like to see you try," I snap.

Jou blushes even more. "Suit yourself!"

I hear a few giggles around me as Jou grabs my neck and pulls me into a kiss. I shove him away quickly. I clench my fists, and my shoulders shake. "NEVER! Never without my permission!"

"I'm sorry, Kaiba," says Jou hanging his head.

I don't want to be mad at him. I really don't, but he went and kissed me in front of everyone! My very first kiss, and I had an audience. I could have died right then and there from embarrassment. It was a nice kiss though, for the second that I was privileged to it. I shove past Jou and sit down in a chair with my arms crossed over my chest defensively. "Forget it, mutt!"

Jou winces at the use of the word 'mutt'. He knows how mad I am now. I haven't called him a mutt since we became more; ever since then it has been 'pup'. He moves over and sits down on the floor beside my chair. He leans against my leg. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Um… I'm going to order the pizza now!" exclaims Yugi quickly, "Shizuka, what kind do you like?"

"Uh… pizza's pizza. Anything's fine with me," says Shizuka eyeing me cautiously.

"Okay, great!" Yugi heads to the phone and dials a number.

Mokuba sits down beside Shizuka and whispers into her ear.

"Big brother?" asks Shizuka.

"Yes?" replies Jou lazily, not giving her his full attention as he looks at me with his golden-brown eyes.

"Will you make us some of your hot chocolate?" Shizuka breaks out her own puppy-dog eyes. She looks just as cute as Jou when she does that. She learned it from him, that much is obvious.

"Everyone want some?" asks Jou.

"Absolutely!" exclaims Mokuba.

Jou stands up with a sigh. "I swear, if you're just trying to get rid of me…"

"We wouldn't do that, big brother," says Shizuka, "You know I love your hot chocolate!"

Jou shakes his head as he walks into the kitchen.

"Uh… maybe someone should go in there with him so he doesn't burn the place down," says Honda.

"Fine," I say standing up, "He's my dog after all." I head into the kitchen and close the door behind me. I see Jou digging in the cabinets for some cocoa and a few other ingredients. "I had been saving that kiss, mutt! I wanted it to be special, and you just stole that from me!"

Jou spins around and looks at me in shock. "Kaiba? Was that your first kiss?"

"What did you think I was just rattling on about?" I hiss heading straight for him.

In an instant, Jou is upon me with his arms wrapped so tight around me that I can hardly breathe. "I'm so sorry, Kaiba. I'm so sorry… I didn't know you were saving that kiss. If I had, I never would have… I'm sorry."

I slowly wrap my arms around Jou.

"I've been a bad puppy," whispers Jou into my ear; his warm breath sends tingles down my spine. "You should punish me."

"How should I punish you?" I whisper.

"Any way you want," whispers Jou.

I slap Jou's butt harshly. "Next time I'll take a rolled up newspaper to your bare butt."

Jou's eyes widen drastically, probably from the slap to his butt, but quite possibly it's the mention of his bare butt that's making him blush. "I'm sorry… Please forgive me."

I sigh and gently rub the cheek I'd just slapped. "I suppose I have to forgive you; if I don't you'll just use your puppy-dog eyes on me to make me cave. Did Mokuba teach you that trick?"

Jou shakes his head quickly and turns even deeper red. He pushes away from me and returns to making the hot chocolate. He gets out some milk and pours some into a saucepan with some water.

I won't miss your arms around me
Holding me tight…

I lean against the counter and watch Jou working. I see him adding the spices, but it doesn't make any sense as to why he would be doing so. "What are you adding to that hot chocolate?"

"That's my secret!" exclaims Jou taking a second to wink at me over his shoulder, "This recipe has become my trademark. Everyone who likes hot chocolate loves it the second they get their first taste, and half the people who don't like hot chocolate feel the same. It's very popular with everyone who's tried it."

"Where'd you learn to make it?" I ask.

"My kitchen about two years ago," says Jou, "I was experimenting one time with some ingredients because I didn't know what they were or what they did. I stumbled across this excellent spice combination that just screamed 'add me to chocolate', so I did add it to hot chocolate and it came out perfect!" He stirs the hot chocolate while adding some more cocoa into the pot.

"You… created… your own hot chocolate recipe?" My eyes widen in shock.

Jou chuckles. "Don't sound so shocked! Come have a taste!"

I slowly move up beside Jou and watch as he lifts the spoon with some of the rich brown liquid on it.

Jou holds the spoon in front of his own face and blows softly on it to cool the liquid enough for me to drink. He turns the spoon towards me. "Go on. It won't kill you."

I slowly lean forward and sip the hot chocolate from the spoon. "Mmm…"

Jou continues to stir the hot chocolate and smiles to himself.

"Very nice," I say.

"Thank you," says Jou blushing, "That means a lot to me coming from you."

"Really? Why?"

"You don't give out compliments easily."

"So true."

Yugi steps into the kitchen and blushes when he sees Jou and I standing so close together in front of the stove. "Is the hot chocolate almost done, Jou? The pizza just arrived."

"All that's left are the finishing touches," says Jou shooting a smile towards Yugi, "We'll be in the living room in just a few."

Yugi ducks back out of the kitchen.

"Can you grab down some cups, Kaiba? They are in the cupboard above the sink," says Jou turning off the stove and removing the pot while continuing to stir.

I walk over to the cupboard and start pulling down cups. Let's see… Otogi, Jou, Mai, Mokuba, Ryou, Shizuka, Anzu, Honda, Yugi, and myself. I need ten cups. I pull down all the cups. "Jou, there are only eight cups, and we need ten."

"Oh… that's not something we normally have to worry about," says Jou blushing as he walks over to me and starts to pour up some of the hot chocolate. "Shizuka and you are normally not here, and when Shizu is here, Mokie usually isn't."

"Mokie?" My eye twitches.

"Oh, sorry. I know you don't like anyone calling him that," says Jou finishing with the eight cups. He sets the pan back on the stove and starts searching Yugi's cabinet for more cups. He cheers when he finds some Styrofoam cups and sets two on the counter. He fills them with steaming brown liquid. He puts the pot back on the stove and grabs some chilled whipped cream from the refrigerator. He puts a spoonful of cream into each cup and sprinkles some spice on top. He takes a brief moment to put everything away and grab a large serving platter to put all the cups on for the trip into the living room.

I grab the two Styrofoam cups, which won't fit on the platter, and I follow Jou out into the living room where everyone is sitting impatiently staring at the various pizza boxes.

"Le chocolat des dieux," says Jou smiling happily, "Bon appetit!"

"Thank you, Jou," says Shizuka grabbing the first cup from him. She smiles at her big brother and takes a sip with a pleased moan.

Everyone murmurs their thanks to Jou as they take their cup from him.

Yugi starts to pass out the pizza boxes after taking his own cup, making sure that everyone gets their favorite pizza. He had decided to go all out for this party and so he had bought more than enough pizza to satisfy them all. "Jou, Kaiba. Here's the vegetarian deluxe!"

Jou sets the platter down on the coffee table and grabs the pizza. "Thanks, Yugi! You're the best!"

Yugi giggles.

Jou looks at me with a smile. "So, I guess it's just the two of us with this pizza… where should we sit?"

I place the two cups on the coffee table and I sit down along with Jou on the floor beside it.

Jou opens the pizza box on his lap and lifts a piece of pizza. He holds it out towards my mouth, but when I try to reach for it, he pulls it away.

I lower my hand to the box, but he slaps it away.

Jou offers me the pizza again.

I lean closer to Jou so that our shoulders touch and I take a bite from the slice in his hand.

Jou blushes and takes a bite from the same piece of pizza.

No one looks at us as Jou feeds us both pizza. I think they had a talk about us while we were in the kitchen together. I feel like I'm on a date with Jou. Am I? Is that why Jou asked me to come here tonight? Was he asking me on a date? I lift my Styrofoam cup and take a drink of the hot chocolate, closing my eyes as I savor the taste.

We all watch a movie while we eat the pizza in silence. At least having the movie, we don't have to talk to each other. It's some school movie, American made. I think they said the name of it was 'To Sir With Love' or maybe they said it was the sequel. I don't remember, but what I catch of it is fairly interesting. I'm mostly focused on Jou and the way his fingertips tend to brush against my lips as he feeds me.

Jou grabs my chin and holds me still as he leans closer to me. He licks the side of my lips to get something off them before he backs away blushing intensely.

I feel my own blush rising on my cheeks. I stare into Jou's eyes.

Jou holds up a piece of pizza to my lips, but I shake my head.

"I've had enough, pup. You finish it," I whisper.

Jou lowers his eyes and takes a bite of the pizza. He whispers to me after swallowing, "How much did you actually have?"

"A lot more than I normally would. I only eat three slices usually," I whisper back. I drain the last of my hot chocolate from my cup, "This was delicious, pup."

Jou smiles as he continues to eat.

"Okay," says Yugi as the movie ends, "Who's up for a game?"

"Which one?" asks Anzu.

"How about Truth or Dare?" asks Mokuba excitedly.

"Um… any objections?" asks Yugi glancing at me.

No one says anything.

"Okay," says Yugi turning off the TV and the DVD player, "Who wants to go first?"

"I will!" exclaims Mokuba.

I glare at Mokuba so he won't ask me a question.

"Mai, truth or dare?" asks Mokuba.

"Hmm… truth," says Mai relaxing in her chair.

"Okay," says Mokuba slyly, "When was your first kiss and with who?"

"I was fourteen," says Mai, "and he was my best friend's brother, five years older." She looks around for her own victim. "Ryou?"

"Truth," says Ryou rapidly.

"Same question," says Mai smiling at the white haired boy.

Ryou takes a deep breath. "It was last year. A boy in my English class kissed me. I haven't seen him since."

"Oh, and I bet that dark spirit of yours is the reason we haven't seen him since," says Honda, "That other you is kind of freaky."

"And protective," says Ryou looking suddenly dangerous, "Honda, truth or dare?"

"I'm not chicken like some people here," says Honda. "Dare me!"

"I dare you to jump off the roof," says Ryou.

Honda's eyes widen.

"Rule time! No dares can cause harm to the recipient or anyone else!" exclaims Anzu quickly, "And everyone has to have one turn before anyone can have their second."

Ryou huffs for a few moments before suddenly shaking his head as if coming out of a daze. "I dare you to… act like a monkey for the rest of the game!"

"Aw man!" exclaims Honda.

"Well," says Ryou smiling.

"Ooo… ooo… ooo," says Honda flushing red as he moves around everyone acting like a monkey. He stops to search Jou's hair for fleas.

"Dammit, Honda! Get off!" exclaims Jou.

"Shizuka, truth or dare," says Honda sitting down again.

Shizuka bites her lower lip. "Truth, I guess."

"Who in this room would be your first choice for a date?" asks Honda.

"And for a second, I thought this question might actually be hard," says Shizuka with a sigh of relief, "Out of everyone in this room, my first choice for a date would be Ryou because he's sweet and caring, but that would never happen since he happens to be…"

"Shh…" hisses Ryou.

Shizuka blushes. "Sorry, Ryou."

"It's okay," says Ryou, "I just haven't told them yet."

"Oh, hey, Yugi. Truth or dare?" asks Shizuka.

"Dare," says Yugi.

"I dare you to ask… her out," finishes Shizuka slowly.

Yugi blushes. He nods. "Um… Anzu, would you go out with me?"

"Huh?" asks Anzu blinking in confusion.

Yugi sighs happily over having finished the dare. His gaze lands on Jou, which seems to worry the blond beside me to no end. "Jou? Truth or dare?"

"I don't trust you like this, Yugi. Give me a dare," says Jou.

Yugi smirks. "I dare you to kiss Kaiba, a proper kiss."

Jou's face turns crimson to match my shirt. He looks at me. "Is that okay? I could switch to truth if it would make you uncomfortable."

"And have you refuse a challenge because of me?" I ask with a smirk, "I would never think of it."

Jou moves to kneel in front of me, and he takes a deep breath.

My heart pounds in my chest as Jou moves closer to me on his hands and knees. I'm sure he's giving the people on the other side of the room a very good look at his ass. If he wasn't coming in to kiss me, I'd be jealous of them.

"Keep your eyes open for me," whispers Jou before pressing his lips against mine.

I fight the urge to close my eyes as Jou slowly kisses my closed lips.

Jou parts his lips slightly and licks at mine to get me to open my mouth, which I do slowly.

I stare into Jou's eyes as we kiss, and when Jou finally closes his eyes, I allow mine to slide shut. I fight his tongue that still moves about in my mouth.

I wish I could scream out loud
That I love you

I've never felt anything like this before. Now if only I could get Jou's body closer to my own. Just as I'm thinking of ways to get Jou closer without making myself look wanton, the pup pulls away slowly, and for a brief moment we stare at each other, faces inches apart with mouths open.

Jou blushes and scoots away from me to sit down beside me once more, but he doesn't meet my eyes. "Anzu, truth or dare?"

"With dares like that, I'll stick with truth," says Anzu heatedly.

"Would you go out with Yugi?" asks Jou.

Anzu blushes slightly. "I… I… I like Yugi very much. I suppose I would if he was serious."

Yugi blushes.

"Kaiba, truth or dare," says Anzu quickly.

"Truth."

"How much money do you actually have?" asks Anzu.

"I have ten million in actual dollars, but if you're talking my net worth, fifty million," I say simply, "most of which is in stocks, bonds, and real estate."

"Fifty million?" asks Ryou in shock. "Wow!"

"Otogi?" I ask.

"Dare," says Otogi with a smirk.

"I dare you to tell us all what you really want with Shizuka," I say with a snarl.

Jou gives me a grateful look. That's a question he desperately wants to know the answer to, but he can't ask it, not even in this game of truth and tell, kiss and dare.

Otogi sighs. "I'm sorry, Shizuka, but the truth is I don't want anything with you. I'm so interested in you because I just don't want Honda to have you."

"Huh?" asks Honda still acting like a monkey.

Otogi grabs Honda's shirt and pulls the spiky haired brunet to him to kiss him roughly on the lips.

Honda shoves Otogi away. "How dare you!"

Otogi hangs his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Honda."

Honda moves over to sit beside Mokuba.

"Okay, Mokuba, truth or dare?" asks Otogi.

"Truth," says Mokuba.

"Okay… first kiss."

Mokuba blushes and mumbles.

"What was that, hon?" asks Mai.

"I haven't been kissed," says Mokuba.

"Nothing to be ashamed of," says Shizuka, "I haven't either." She blushes slightly.

Mokuba smirks just like I do on occasion. "Shizuka?"

"Truth," says Shizuka.

"Would you let me kiss you?" asks Mokuba.

Shizuka's blush darkens. "Yes."

Mokuba quickly pulls Shizuka into a short, sweet kiss that leaves them both ruby red.

"Jou," says Shizuka, "and you'd better choose truth or I'll give you a dare so embarrassing you'll never walk the same again!"

Jou gulps and whimpers. "Truth."

"What are your plans now that you've graduated high school?" asks Shizuka.

"I'm going to culinary school," says Jou. He hesitates before adding, "In Tokyo."

"What?" the cries of disbelief ring in my ears.

"I've got a scholarship to go to school in Tokyo," says Jou slowly, "I leave in three weeks. I've already made the arrangements with a restaurant here in town, and they've been kind enough to allow me to hold my internship there during summer term. I won't be able to return over winter holiday. I was trying to figure out the best way to tell you." He shoots a glare at his sister. "And I don't think this was it. Matriculation is in four weeks, but I have to go early to get situated into my rented room, and report in to my job there."

"You're leaving?" asks Yugi as tears threaten his eyes.

I know how Yugi feels. I was aware of the culinary school, but I thought it was a school here in Domino, not Tokyo. My heart hurts.

Jou takes a deep breath. "Kaiba?"

I raise an eyebrow.

"Truth or dare?" asks Jou. He looks at me hopefully.

I think he wants me to choose truth. How could I refuse him? "Truth."

"What is your…" Jou looks away from me. "Sexual preference?"

"Men," I say, "only men." Dammit. And I just had the perfect thing to say. 'You, Jou. Only you.' Dammit! Brain work faster next time!

Mai giggles. "Figures! The cute ones are always gay!"

"Mai, truth or dare?" I snap.

"Truth!"

"When did you lose your virginity?" I ask.

"When I was fourteen, to my best friend's brother… He assaulted me," says Mai, "and before you even think of it, don't you dare feel sorry for me! I'm completely over what that bastard did to me! It doesn't bother me anymore!" She looks around at everyone. "Oh, Anzu. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," says Anzu.

"I dare you to give a lap dance to Otogi," says Mai.

Anzu blushes. "Uh… can I backtrack to truth?"

"Okay, fine," says Mai, "Name your most secret sexual desire."

"Oh that's simple," says Anzu with a perverted smirk, "Exotic dance."

"Oh, we should have known that one!" exclaims Otogi laughing.

"Mokuba, truth or dare?" asks Anzu smiling.

"Truth!"

"What is your darkest secret?"

"I killed our step-father," says Mokuba slowly, "I pushed him out the window."

"That's not true!" I exclaim, gathering everyone's attention to me, "You were too young to remember, Mokuba. You didn't kill him, he was already dead."

"He was? But he was breathing, and talking!" exclaims Mokuba.

"There was no way you would have been able to shove him out that window if I hadn't first gotten to him. He was so severely drugged at the time of the incident that he couldn't even walk on his own," I say, "If you hadn't pushed him, he would have died of overdose. He had a drug problem for a few years, but he paid the cops not to interfere. When he died, the police accepted the coroner's examination that he was so high he leapt out the window on his own."

Jou reaches out a hand and grabs my own.

"Okay, subject change," says Mokuba, "Honda, truth or dare?"

"Truth," says Honda before making several monkey sounds.

"Do you love Shizuka?" asks Mokuba sadly.

"I don't know. I think so," says Honda. He looks at Shizuka and smiles uncertainly. "Um… Yugi. Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Yugi smiles.

"Okay… let's see you with your hair down!" exclaims Honda.

"Okay, but can I postpone that until the game's over? It takes a while to get it down!" Yugi blushes.

"Okay, fine. But you got to do it!" exclaims Honda.

Yugi nods. "Oh, Otogi," he chirps happily, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," says Otogi.

"Okay… I dare you to show us your newest tattoo," says Yugi.

Otogi pales. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I'm very serious," says Yugi smirking, "Come on, Otogi. It's just a pair of dice!"

"What tattoo?" asks Jou.

"Are you chicken, Otogi?" asks Yugi.

"I don't even know how you know about this tattoo!" exclaims Otogi standing up. He unbuttons his jeans and turns his back to us to push them down enough for us all to see a tattoo of a pair of red-fuzzy dice firmly on his right butt cheek.

Jou blushes and buries his face in my shoulder.

"Put it away, pervert!" I exclaim quickly. I wrap my arms around Jou and hold him to me as I hide my eyes in his golden-blond hair.

Otogi pulls his pants back on and sits down after zipping them again. "Okay, Ryou, you're next!"

"Truth," says Ryou.

"What are your true feelings for the dark spirit living within you?" asks Otogi.

"I… I'm in love with him," says Ryou, "I'm gay, you see, and he's the reason I know that."

"You're gay?" asks Honda, "Is everyone here gay?"

"I'm not!" exclaims Mai.

"Or me!" exclaims Anzu.

"And I'm bi!" exclaims my puppy sticking his nose in the ear.

"Jou? Truth? Dare?" asks Ryou quickly to change the subject before Honda gets upset.

"Give me a dare, Ryou! Do your worst!" exclaims Jou.

"Act like a dog!"

"Dammit!"

"Well?" asks Ryou.

Jou gets up on his hands and knees and circles himself as if chasing his tail, barking quietly. He falls over on my lap and looks up at me. He paws at me and whimpers until I reach my hand up to rub his stomach. "Shizu… truth or dare?"

Shizuka looks at Jou for a moment as if trying to decide which one he wants her to choose. "Truth?"

"How do you know so much about all of us? I understand you knowing all about me, but how did you know about Ryou being gay?" asks Jou.

"I have my ways!" exclaims Shizuka, "I listen! I observe. I infer. You guys really do let a lot slip with your actions and words."

"Oh, we're transparent!" exclaims Jou squirming beneath my hand when I stop stroking him.

Shizuka blushes. "You said it. Not me! Like you, for example, big brother… If you really were the puppy that Kaiba keeps calling you, right now your tail would be wagging faster than light."

Jou blushes. "Whatever…"

Shizuka giggles. "Mai, truth or dare?"

"I'm not happy with the way these dares are going, so I'll take truth," says Mai.

"How intimate did you get with my brother?" asks Shizuka.

Jou's eyes widen and he bolts up out of my lap. "You wouldn't!"

"We weren't overly intimate," says Mai, "We never actually had sex, because he's not the legal age to consent yet. But we came close to not caring a few times."

"Ugh!" Jou turns crimson and buries his face into my shirt.

Honda snickers lightly. "Oh, yeah, Jou's a real stud!"

"Fuck off, Honda! It's not my fault that I've been saving my virginity for real, pure, true love!" exclaims Jou clinging to me tighter.

"Honda, truth or dare?" asks Mai.

"Truth," says Honda.

"How many times have you had sex and with whom?" says Mai crossing her arms over her chest and casting an angry glare at Honda.

"None," says Honda blushing and looking away. "Yugi?"

"Hmmm… dare," says Yugi.

"Kiss Anzu," says Honda.

Yugi pulls Anzu close to him and gives her a swift kiss on the lips. Then he blushes and releases her.

"You really were serious, weren't you?" whispers Anzu, "About wanting to go out with me?"

Yugi nods.

"Friday at seven," whispers Anzu.

"Kaiba? Truth or dare?" asks Yugi smiling happily.

"Dare," I say simply.

"I dare you to share your sleeping bag with Jou tonight," says Yugi smiling.

I turn to look at Jou, and just like he did regarding the kiss, I ask him, "Is that okay with you? I won't agree to it if it would make you feel uncomfortable."

"And have you turn down a challenge because of me?" replies Jou, "I couldn't have that on my conscience!"

"Fine, we accept your dare," I say.

"Is anyone else getting tired of this game?" asks Mokuba yawning.

"Maybe just a little," says Mai, "Should we move on to another game?"

"I'd rather just go to sleep," says Ryou yawning.

I look at my watch. It's only eleven. If I was at home, I'd still be working for another two hours, but I'm not at home, and I have to sleep in the same bag as Jou. What an interesting night this has turned out to be.

"You still have your dare to complete, Yugi," says Otogi.

"Right. I'll go wash my hair, and you guys can watch a movie until I get back," says Yugi standing. He puts a movie in for us to watch before heading to the bathroom.

We all watch a movie while waiting for our host to return.

Jou cuddles close to me and he yawns. He whispers, "Why aren't you tired like the rest of us?"

"I run a company. I'm used to staying up a lot later than the rest of you," I whisper in return. "I don't get into bed until one or two usually."

"And what time do you get up?" whispers Jou.

"Five… that's when I head into the gym to work out. We have a nice home gym set up," I whisper, "I spend about an hour there every morning before completing a bit of work and heading to school."

"I would die of exhaustion if I did that," whispers Jou resting his head on my chest.

The movie is almost over when Yugi steps back into the room with his hair dripping water down past his shoulders. He smiles at everyone. "So… how's the movie?"

"Oh, wow!" exclaims Mokuba staring at Yugi, "Now you're really short!"

Yugi blushes. "Why do you think I keep it up?"

Everyone laughs. We finish watching the movie before we start to lay out the sleeping bags on the floor.

"Remember, Kaiba. You and Jou have to sleep together!" exclaims Yugi after bringing in a bundle of pillows for everyone. He tosses one to Jou.

"I remember," I say.

Jou blushes.

"We should probably use the bathroom in pairs," says Yugi, "So we can all get to bed."

Mokuba passes my overnight bag to me. "Maybe Seto and Jou should go first so we can all make sure they climb into bed together!"

"Good idea," says Yugi.

Jou reluctantly leads me into the bathroom. He fidgets slightly as he pulls his shirt off.

That's when I remember what I'm wearing beneath my attire… absolutely nothing! I blush and open my bag, digging for something, anything to get me out of leather and still decent. I pull out a pair of pajamas in deep blue silk.

"Um… Kaiba?" whispers Jou quietly.

"Yes?" I reply slowly before pulling my shirt off.

"You… uh… you wouldn't have anything in there I could wear to bed, do you?" whispers Jou.

"What's wrong with wearing your boxers to bed?" I ask in a quiet voice.

Jou's face turns burgundy. "I ripped my last clean pair earlier today. I'm not wearing any."

I blush and separate my pajamas to toss the shirt to Jou. "Put that on."

"Thank you," whispers Jou. He pulls the shirt on and starts buttoning it up. He smiles when he notices that it goes down to the middle of his thighs.

I dig in my bag looking for the pair of boxers I know are always within the bag, but I don't see them. I growl as I realize Mokuba must have pulled them out just to prevent me from being completely comfortable. I lower my pants and kick them off. I feel a pair of eyes watching me, but I don't turn to look at their owner. I grab the pajama pants and pull them on quickly.

Don't turn around…

I secure the pajama pants on and look over at Jou to see that he's removed his pants to stand there in just the shirt I gave him.

"I feel like a girl," whispers Jou.

I smirk. "A girl?"

"Yes, a naked girl," whispers Jou.

"That is not a night gown, Jou. It's just a long shirt. Be thankful it's so big on you or the others might see your assets," I whisper.

Jou nods and gathers up his clothing. "Are you ready?"

I gather my own clothes and lead Jou out of the bathroom. We return to the living room and drop our clothing in a secure place where we'll be able to find it in the morning, and I let Jou climb into the sleeping bag first while I glare at everyone else so they don't watch him trying to get a peek at his bare skin. That is a privilege solely for me. I lie down beside Jou and pull myself as close to him as I can. I jerk when I hear the zipper on our bag moving.

"We don't want you kicking Jou out of bed in the middle of the night," whispers Mokuba with a smirk that would normally make me proud if it wasn't being directed at me.

I wrap my arms tightly around Jou and hold him close as Mokuba finishes zipping us into the now too tight sleeping bag.

Jou slides his arms around me and holds me tightly. He yawns. "Goodnight guys."

"Good night," says Yugi.

Jou closes his eyes and snuggles into me.

"Good night, pup," I whisper.

"I'm… a puppy," mumbles Jou.

I smile and close my eyes to fall asleep with Jou in my arms.

---

The feeling of soft butterfly kisses on my chest and collarbone stir me to consciousness, and my eyes blink open hesitantly. I look down to see Jou with his eyes closed, placing the kisses anywhere he can reach without moving too much. I look around to see everyone else still sleeping soundly. Then I turn my gaze back to Jou and whisper, "Puppy?"

Jou blinks and looks up at me. His cheeks flush. "Morning."

"I suppose it is. What are you doing awake?" I whisper.

"I…" Jou's cheeks turn even redder than before.

I raise an eyebrow.

Jou moves to kiss me and rubs up against my leg.

I gasp when I realize why Jou's being so forward. The hard erection pushes against me, and I hold Jou tighter in my arms. I pull out of the kiss. "Are you horny, pup? Did you have an erotic dream?"

"Yep." Jou nods. His hands run down my sides and brush against my waist.

"Go ahead," I whisper quietly. I slip my hands to Jou's legs and slide them up beneath the fabric of the shirt to rest on Jou's firm butt cheeks.

Jou pushes my pajama pants down my legs to my knees. His hands slide back up to touch me and make me just as hard as him as he whispers directly into my ear, "Have I ever told you how absolutely beautiful you are?"

"No one has ever told me that."

"You are beautiful. You are perfect," whispers Jou.

I slide Jou's nightshirt up so that his bare erection slides against my equally unclothed hip when he moves. I kiss Jou again. "You're an angel, aren't you, pup?"

"Not an angel…"

"Be quiet, Jou, or you'll wake the others," I hiss.

Jou nods and positions himself so he lies directly on top of me with our hard erections pressed against the other's heated flesh. He starts to grind against me.

My grip on the firm ass allows me to help guide Jou as well as squeeze the firm globes within my reach. I practically moan, but my own words to Jou prevent me from expressing my enjoyment verbally. I instead attach my mouth to the thin neck just within my reach and begin to nip and suck.

"This is better than my dream," whispers Jou grinding harder against me. One of his hands reaches to the side of my face and tilts my chin up. He looks into my eyes for just a moment before kissing me firmly.

The rush of pleasure blinds me for a moment, but I return to my senses to find Jou snuggling happily into my chest once more. "Better?"

"Much better. Thank you," whispers Jou, "Why did you agree to that?"

"I needed to get off…"

"Oh." Jou buries his face in my neck.

"Besides… you're beautiful," I whisper, "Now… does this make us more than more?"

"Not if you don't want it to," whispers Jou pulling my pants back into position. He pulls the shirt back down to cover himself. He lies back down with his arms wrapped tightly around me.

"We'll discuss it another time, pup. Right now, I'm tired, and I'm sure you are as well," I whisper, "Besides… right now, I don't know what I want."

"I understand." Jou snuggles into me and closes his eyes. He yawns.

I listen to the sounds of Jou's breathing even out as he falls asleep. I close my eyes and join him in sleep.

---

"Don't they look so cute together?" asks Ryou.

I open my eyes to see Ryou standing over Jou and me with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Come on, Jou, wakey, wakey!"

Jou groans. "No wakey… Sleepy time…"

I squeeze Jou tighter.

Jou blinks and looks at me lazily. He yawns. "But I don't want to get up…"

"Don't you want to eat?" I ask smirking at him.

"No… not right now," says Jou snuggling up to my chest, "I'm comfortable here."

I see Yugi smirking at us with that all-knowing look in his eyes, and I'm tempted to dump Jou on the floor so I can wipe that smirk off his lips.

Jou's lips brush against my collarbone in an unmistakable kiss.

"All right, Jou… just a little while longer though," I say.

"Thank you," whispers Jou nuzzling my neck with his nose. He rests his head there, breathing in the faded scent of my cologne and tickling my neck each time he exhales.

All around us, everyone gets their sleeping bags rolled up and takes turns in the bathroom to get dressed.

"All right, Jou! You have to get up now! You promised to cook us breakfast!" exclaims Yugi as he comes out of the bathroom.

Jou yawns and kisses my neck.

"Here, let me help you," says Mokuba moving to undo the zipper.

Jou climbs out of the sleeping bag and heads into the bathroom with the clothes he wore the day before.

I slowly climb from bed, thankful that Jou's shirt captured most of the proof of our actions last night. I roll up my sleeping bag and toss it into the corner of the room with everyone else's.

Jou walks out of the bathroom, dripping water from his golden hair and looking rather rumpled in his day-old clothing.

I take my overnight bag and head into the bathroom to change and collect the pajama shirt Jou left within. It doesn't take me long to change into the tight denim jeans and even tighter t-shirt, and I realize that Mokuba must have bought this for me as well and removed my normal clothes from my bag at the same time that he removed my boxers. I'm just glad he didn't remove my pajamas or else I would have had to kill him last night. I step out of the bathroom after brushing my hair and pushing the clothing into the bag. I toss my bag aimlessly onto the sleeping bag pile.

Jou comes back in from the kitchen wearing a frilly pink apron. "Okay, guys, omelets are coming up!"

We all head into the kitchen.

My eyes widen when I notice four pans on the stove cooking away.

Jou slides omelets from three of the pans and quickly pours more eggs into them before taking a second to cut the omelets into strips and separating them onto six plates. He takes some fried potatoes from the fourth pan to put on each of the plates. Just then the timer beeps, and he places an oven mitt on before pulling a pan containing freshly broiled cheese bread from the oven. He slides a slice of bread onto each of the plates and puts them on the table.

"Oh, it looks delicious, big brother!" exclaims Shizuka grabbing two plates. She passes one to Mokuba.

Mokuba grabs two forks and passes one to Shizuka with a smile.

Yugi moves to get some orange juice for everyone while Otogi, Mai, Anzu, and Ryou take plates and head into the living room with Mokuba and Shizuka.

"How can you keep track of so many items cooking at once, pup?" I ask as Jou lifts two pans at once and flips them to send the eggs flying into the air like pancakes only for them to land with the mostly uncooked side down.

Jou blushes while flipping the last pan of eggs. "I'm used to it. It's not that difficult."

"You're just saying that, Jou," says Yugi pulling out the right number of glasses and pouring up the juice. "It's only easy for you because you're making the same thing in each of those pans!"

"Hey! I've made an entire four course meal at one time, with each different thing cooking at once," says Jou sounding offended, "but I'll admit that isn't something I'll be looking forward to ever doing again!" He glances at me with a quick smile before turning back to the eggs to add the cheese and some diced meats. "But I could be convinced by the right person."

I blush slightly. I don't really know why, but something in that small smile and those heartfelt words makes my heart pound.

Yugi hums to himself as he places the juice on a tray and heads into the living room to entertain his guests.

"So why are you making three more omelets when they are only four of us who aren't eating yet?" asks Honda, "You only gave the others half an omelet each, so you should only be making two more. What's the deal, Jou? Are you really that hungry that we need all that extra food?"

"Hey! I'm still growing!" exclaims Jou snapping at his friend, "I get an entire omelet to myself!" He flips the tops of the omelets over to seal them closed. "Then you and Yugi split an omelet, Seto gets half of the third, and there's a little left over in case anyone else is still hungry. I'd rather not come back in here to cook if I don't have to!"

"Whatever, Jou!" exclaims Honda turning and heading to the living room door. "You are such a woman!"

Jou's shoulders slump.

"Ignore him," I say quickly. "He's just jealous because he's stupider than you are, and he couldn't do half of what you do in the kitchen. It's actually a very useful skill. Cooking, that is. I rather wish that I could do it."

"You can cook," says Jou.

"No… I burn water," I say.

Jou chuckles. "How do you burn water?"

"It's a unique talent."

Jou turns the burners off and slides the omelets onto his platter. He cuts them up and slides them onto three plates, putting a complete omelet on one plate, having two plates with equal amounts of egg, and having the fourth plate containing just the half omelet. He passes me one of the two plates with three quarters of an omelet after he slides some potatoes and a slice of bread onto it. "You felt a bit thin…"

"So do you," I whisper running my hand up his ribcage.

"That's why I get a whole omelet," says Jou smiling as he puts potatoes and bread on the rest of the plates, "and Yugi is still growing… or at least we all hope so. So I feed him a little more than the others. Will you help me carry these into the living room?"

"Only if you ask nicely," I say.

Jou kisses my lips quickly. "Please?"

I smile and blush. "Of course."

Jou passes me his plate and places two forks on them. He puts forks on the other two plates before lifting them and carrying them into the living room. "Here Yugi, Honda! Breakfast is served!"

I follow just a step behind Jou.

Yugi takes the plate from Jou with a quiet, "thank you."

Honda takes the plate from Jou and starts to eat as if he was starving to death.

Jou sits down shaking his head, and I pass him his plate before sitting down myself, right beside him on the floor.

I take a bite of the omelet, and my eyes slide shut as I savor the taste. "Very nice, pup," I murmur quietly, "Very delicious."

Jou blushes as he eats his own omelet.

After breakfast, we all watch another movie, but I don't pay much attention to it since Jou lays his head on my lap and dozes peacefully while I pet his hair.

"Kaiba," whispers Jou.

"What is it, pup?" I whisper.

"Come into the kitchen with me," whispers Jou sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He stands up.

I climb to my feet and walk into the kitchen with Jou. "What is it?"

Jou blushes slightly and shifts from foot to foot nervously.

"Is this about the question you wanted to ask me?"

Jou nods. "I've been accepted to the best culinary school in Tokyo, but I have to know… Is there any reason you can think of why I shouldn't go?"

I look at Jou and see such hope as I've never seen before in his eyes. What do I tell him? No. I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here with me, and not just here in Domino, but actually with me… in my house and in my bed. But it's your dream to be a gourmet chef, Jou, and I can't ask you to give that up for me and my selfish desires. "There's no reason I can give you why you shouldn't go to Tokyo, Jou."

Jou takes a deep, shaky breath. "Will you come to see me off at the airport? I want all my friends there with me before I get on the plane."

"If you want me to be there, I will be," I say feeling an unwanted pressure behind my eyes.

"I want all my friends there, and that includes you," says Jou turning around. He takes a deep breath and starts to walk away from me.

Don't turn around
'Cause you're gonna see my heart breaking
Don't turn around
I don't want you seeing me cry…

I wipe my eyes to prevent the tears I feel forming from falling. I walk out into the living room. "Mokuba, I'm leaving!"

"What? But I don't want to go!" exclaims Mokuba.

"I said I was leaving," I say looking into Mokuba's smoky eyes, "You can stay until noon, but no later. I have work to complete at Kaiba Corp and I will be there most of the day."

Mokuba's eyes narrow and he looks at Jou who sits on the floor with his arms around his legs. "Okay, big brother."

I grab my overnight bag and the two sleeping bags we brought, and I head downstairs while dialing the limo on my cell phone, which I pull from my bag. I can't stand to be in that room with Jou any longer. I fear if I do, I might tell him not to go.

---

I walk into the airport with Mokuba at my side and a carefully wrapped present hidden away in the pocket of my black trench coat.

"I'm going to miss Jou," says Mokuba sniffling.

"I know, Mokuba," I say.

Mokuba grabs my hand. "Are you going to miss him?"

More than he knows. "I'm losing my sparring partner. I'll just have to find another. He can be replaced." No he can't!

"Liar," whispers Mokuba.

"You won't mention anything to Jou," I whisper vehemently, "He can't stay because of me. He has to go to Tokyo so he can learn and fulfill his dream. I can't ask him to stay no matter how much I want him to."

Mokuba sniffles. "I don't understand."

"You don't have to," I whisper guiding Mokuba over to Jou's friends.

Yugi sobs into Jou's chest. "Don't go, Jou! There are culinary schools here in Domino! You don't have to go to Tokyo!"

"Yugi," says Jou rubbing his best friend's back, "The school in Tokyo is the best in all Japan…"

"He'll get over your leaving, pup," I say taking Yugi by the shoulders and pulling him away from my possession.

Jou looks at me sadly, but he smiles at me anyway.

Yugi turns and wraps his arms around my waist to continue crying into me.

"We're all going to miss you, Jou," says Anzu hugging Jou quickly.

"We got you a present, so that you don't forget us," says Mai holding out a wrapped gift.

"You didn't have to, guys," says Jou sitting down with the gift in his hands.

"Just open it!" exclaims Otogi.

Jou pulls the paper off and looks at the decorative silver frame containing a picture of their entire group, including me and Mokuba and the Ishtar family. He wipes a tear from his eyes and chokes back his words. "Thank you, guys! This will look great in my apartment."

Everyone hugs Jou, and Mokuba bursts into tears.

Ryou pulls Mokuba and Yugi away from me, before he also starts to cry and cling to them both.

"I have something for you as well, pup," I say pulling the present from my pocket and holding it towards him.

"You…" Jou looks at me confused. He smiles at me as he opens the present and pulls a cell phone out of the thin box. "A phone?"

"So that you can talk to us whenever you get lonely," I say, "Everyone's numbers have already been programmed in."

Jou throws his arms around my neck and kisses my cheek. "Thank you, Kaiba! Thank you!"

I wrap my arms around Jou's waist and squeeze him tightly. I don't want you to go, Jou. I don't want you to go.

Jou pulls back away from me and wipes the tears from his cheeks. He takes a deep breath. "I guess I'd better go. My flight starts boarding in about a half an hour, and I got to get through security!"

"I'm going to miss you, Jou!" exclaims Shizuka hugging him tightly.

"I'll come back as soon as I can, sis! I swear!" exclaims Jou. He tucks the phone and the picture frame into his carry-on bag. He lifts the bag to his shoulder and looks at all of us. "Thanks for coming, guys…"

"We wouldn't miss this," says Honda, "It might be our last chance to see you."

Jou's eyes rest on me. He looks like he's begging, pleading with me to say something to stop him from going.

I wish I could scream out loud
That I love you
I wish I could say to you
Don't go…

"Jou," I whisper as the blond haired boy turns and walks away towards the first security checkpoint. I watch him closely; part of me hopes he'll stop and turn around so I can at least see his face one last time, but another part of me knows that if he turns to look at me, not only will we all see the tears rolling from his eyes, but I won't let him go.

As he walks away
He feels the pain growing strong
People in your life
They don't know what's going on
Too proud to turn around
He's gone…

Jou stops and puts his bag on the conveyor belt to go through the x-ray machine. He doesn't turn to look at us, but he hesitates before putting his bag down.

My heart wrenches as I open my mouth to scream for Jou to stop, but no sounds come out. If I had only told him that I love him, he would have chose not to go, but that's not what I want. I want him to live his dream.

Just walk away
It's tearing me apart that you're leaving
I'm letting you go
But I won't let you go!

Jou walks through the metal detector and picks his bag up before hurrying off further into the terminal.

"Come on, Mokuba! We're leaving!" I exclaim turning abruptly.

Mokuba looks at my back. He wipes his tears. "Don't you even care?"

I clench my eyes shut. "I'm leaving, Mokuba!"

"Seto!"

I start walking quickly, but my fast walks turns into a run before I even realize what I was doing. I don't hear anything except my heart. It's breaking. I run out to the limo and jump into the back, startling my limo driver who had been standing there waiting to open the door for me if I hadn't been moving so fast. "Home!" I croak before grabbing the door and slamming it shut.

The driver climbs into the front seat and quietly asks me, "Are we waiting for Mokuba?"

"He's getting a ride home with friends," I snap, "Now take me home!"

The driver nods and doesn't say another word as he obeys.

I fall to lie on the seat and cover my head with my arms. Then I let all my feelings out, and the water runs crystal clear from my eyes. The ice that I was once well known for melts in a second because of one honey-eyed puppy dog. I don't even notice when the limo stops and my driver pulls me out before lifting me into his arms. Somewhere deep inside of me, I'm sure that I'm grateful for having a strong, loyal driver who's been with me for what seems like forever and would never judge me just because I happened to burst into tears. All I would really have to do is explain that the love of my life is on a plane to Tokyo, and he would understand. If anyone would, Eie would understand. Part of me is grateful for him, but right now, I don't even notice him as he carries me into the mansion and up to my bedroom.

Eie lays me on my bed and brushes my hair from my face before leaving without uttering a single word.

I don't move. I just lie there crying for hours. The phone rings, but I ignore it. I finally wipe away my tears and sit up. Too weak to cry anymore and too sullen to get any work done, I turn on the TV. My eyes widen immediately, and I jump to my feet.

AirJapan flight 192 from Domino City to Tokyo crashed just hours ago, says the reporter for the special news broadcast, As of yet, no survivors have been found.

My scream echoes throughout the mansion. "JOU!"

Eie bursts through my bedroom door, obviously having been standing out there for some time. "Sir?"

"He's dead! I never told him, and now he's dead!" I clench my eyes shut.

"He can't be! We just saw him three hours ago!" exclaims Eie, "Who are we talking about?"

"Jou! I love him, but I let him go! He wanted to go to Tokyo! His plane just crashed!" In an instant, I feel arms around me and a warm chest pressing up against my face. It never ceases to amaze me how tall he is.

"What are you going to do?"

I push Eie away slowly and wipe my eyes. "What he would least expect. We're going to Kaiba Corp."

"You're going to work?" asks Eie with wide eyes.

I shake my head.

"Then what?"

"I have other plans."

"Okay… are you going to let me in on it?" asks Eie as he supports me on the way down to the limo.

"I was thinking of a memorial service… for everyone who died in that plane," I say, "He would appreciate the humane gesture."

"If you're sure, sir."

"I am," I say as I slide into the back of the limo. I don't notice when the door closes or when the limo starts to move. My mind races back to the moments I've spent with my puppy. I remember every fight, every put-down and dehumanizing comment. Then I remember the time we became more.

FLASHBACK

"Bow down to your master, mutt," I snap.

"Shut up, Kaiba. I'm not in the mood to fight with you today," whispers Jou rubbing his temples.

"Headache?"

"Migraine. I get them occasionally," whispers Jou.

I lower my voice a notch. "Have you taken anything to ease the pain?"

Jou shakes his head slightly and wobbles on his feet for the effort.

I grab Jou's arms and help him steady himself.

"I don't have anything with me. It's all at home," whispers Jou.

"Would you like me to drive you home?" I whisper.

Jou blinks at me in confusion. "Who are you, and why do you look like Seto Kaiba?"

I smile. "Let me take you home. You're no fun to be around when you're sick, and I want my puppy to be healthy so I can play fight with him."

"Thank you," whispers Jou leaning against me.

END FLASHBACK

Then my mind comes back to more recent events.

FLASHBACK

Yugi smirks. "I dare you to kiss Kaiba, a proper kiss."

Jou's face turns crimson to match my shirt. He looks at me. "Is that okay? I could switch to truth if it would make you uncomfortable."

"And have you refuse a challenge because of me?" I ask with a smirk, "I would never think of it."

Jou moves to kneel in front of me, and he takes a deep breath.

My heart pounds in my chest as Jou moves closer to me on his hands and knees. I'm sure he's giving the people on the other side of the room a very good look at his ass. If he wasn't coming in to kiss me, I'd be jealous of them.

"Keep your eyes open for me," whispers Jou before pressing his lips against mine.

I fight the urge to close my eyes as Jou slowly kisses my closed lips.

Jou parts his lips slightly and licks at mine to get me to open my mouth, which I do slowly.

I stare into Jou's eyes as we kiss, and when Jou finally closes his eyes, I allow mine to slide shut. I fight his tongue that still moves about in my mouth. I've never felt anything like this before. Now if only I could get Jou's body closer to my own. Just as I'm thinking of ways to get Jou closer without making myself look wanton, the pup pulls away slowly, and for a brief moment we stare at each other, faces inches apart with mouths open.

Jou blushes and scoots away from me to sit down beside me once more.

END FLASHBACK

I close my eyes and my hand slides to my groin as I remember a more intimate encounter, one I wish could have been longer and sweeter… and involving a little more lubricant in special places on my puppy.

FLASHBACK

The feeling of soft butterfly kisses on my chest and collarbone stir me to consciousness, and my eyes blink open hesitantly. I look down to see Jou with his eyes closed, placing the kisses anywhere he can reach without moving too much. I look around to see everyone else still sleeping soundly. Then I turn my gaze back to Jou and whisper, "Puppy?"

Jou blinks and looks up at me. His cheeks flush. "Morning."

"I suppose it is. What are you doing awake?" I whisper.

"I…" Jou's cheeks turn even redder than before.

I raise an eyebrow.

Jou moves to kiss me and rubs up against my leg.

I gasp when I realize why Jou's being so forward. The hard erection pushes against me, and I hold Jou tighter in my arms. I pull out of the kiss. "Are you horny, pup? Did you have an erotic dream?"

"Yep." Jou nods. His hands run down my sides and brush against my waist.

"Go ahead," I whisper quietly. I slip my hands to Jou's legs and slide them up beneath the fabric of the shirt to rest on Jou's firm butt cheeks.

Jou pushes my pajama pants down my legs to my knees. His hands slide back up to touch me and make me just as hard as him as he whispers directly into my ear, "Have I ever told you how absolutely beautiful you are?"

"No one has ever told me that."

"You are beautiful. You are perfect," whispers Jou.

I slide Jou's nightshirt up so that his bare erection slides against my equally unclothed hip when he moves. I kiss Jou again. "You're an angel, aren't you, pup?"

"Not an angel…"

"Be quiet, Jou, or you'll wake the others," I hiss.

Jou nods and positions himself so he lies directly on top of me with our hard erections pressed against the other's heated flesh. He starts to grind against me.

My grip on the firm ass allows me to help guide Jou as well as squeeze the firm globes within my reach. I practically moan, but my own words to Jou prevent me from expressing my enjoyment verbally. I instead attach my mouth to the thin neck just within my reach and begin to nip and suck.

"This is better than my dream," whispers Jou grinding harder against me. One of his hands reaches to the side of my face and tilts my chin up. He looks into my eyes for just a moment before kissing me firmly.

The rush of pleasure blinds me for a moment, but I return to my senses to find Jou snuggling happily into my chest once more. "Better?"

"Much better. Thank you," whispers Jou.

END FLASHBACK

My limo pulls up outside of my large office building, and I climb out. I stare up at the building, never before realizing how lonely it looks. I walk inside and right up to the receptionist.

The red head looks stunned, but she smiles at me politely. The nameplate on the counter reads Yoko. "Yes, sir?"

"Have you heard about AirJapan?" I ask slowly.

Yoko's smile fades away quickly, and she turns her eyes from me. She opens her mouth, but she closes it again quickly. She takes a deep breath and tries again. "I have been informed, sir."

"I will be holding a weeklong memorial, here," I say noticing the tears in her eyes, "I need you to contact the media. The list of numbers should be in the drawer."

"Yes, sir…" Yoko's voice cracks.

"You knew someone on that plane."

"My brother…"

"Take the rest of the day off and week. Full pay," I say, "After you contact the media."

"Thank you, sir," says Yoko opening the drawer to get the contact numbers, "And what will you have me tell them?"

"Have them come down for a press conference in an hour," I say.

Yoko nods.

I start to walk away.

"Who did you know on that plane?" asks Yoko, and I freeze.

"The person I love," I say quietly.

"I'm sorry, sir," says Yoko as I head to the elevator to go to my office.

I enter the elevator and head up to the top floor. I walk out and approach my executive assistant. I'm sure I surprise him when I sit down on the plush sofa across from his desk instead of entering my office.

"Mr. Kaiba, sir?"

"Monkey?"

"Monty, sir…"

"Morty… inform all employees that there will be no business conducted here this following week. We will instead be hosting a memorial," I say.

"A memorial?" asks Monty.

"Yes, Moray," I say, "For AirJapan 192."

"It's Monty, sir, and I will inform the employees. What will we be doing during this time?" asks Monty.

I lean back and sigh. "I don't know."

"We could have some of the departments at the memorial, to talk to the families and friends of the people who were on the flight," says Monty.

"Fine, whatever." I push myself off the couch. "I have a press conference. You take care of it, Monty."

"Yes, sir!"

I head back to the elevator. Why did I come all the way up here? I could have told him all that over the phone! I head into my conference room to find myself suddenly in the lights of video cameras. I walk to the podium. I take a deep breath and start on my impromptu speech. "In light of the recent crash of AirJapan flight 192, I have decided to hold a special week-long memorial here at Kaiba Corp for all the people who went down with the plane. Counselors will be here to comfort the friends and family. Everyone in the community is welcome to attend, but I do highly encourage everyone who had family to come by to remember and mourn."

"Mr. Kaiba? Why have you decided to do this now?" asks a reporter when I pause for breath, "Other planes have gone down before. What makes this plane special?"

"This morning, I was forced to watch the most important person in my life get on a plane headed for Tokyo only to find out later that the very same plane crashed," I say.

"Mokuba was on that plane?" asks the reporter in shock.

"Not Mokuba," I say sadly, "It was another. I loved one of the passengers very much, and not in the same way that I love Mokuba. I'm doing this for him. I'm sorry, but I won't be answering any more questions." I turn and head from the room. I don't know where to go from here, so I head into the bathroom and lock myself in a stall. I sit down and hide my face in my hands. I miss you, puppy.

The door opens, and a pair of feet enter. "You can come out of there, Seto. I know you're in there."

I unlock the door and let it swing open. "What are you doing here, Mokuba?"

Mokuba walks into the stall and closes the door. "That was a very nice thing you did, Seto."

I nod. "I know. Jou would like it."

Mokuba smiles. "So… what now?"

"How would you like to run Kaiba Corp while I go slowly insane?"

"I wouldn't like that, and Jou would be absolutely livid!" exclaims Mokuba, "You can't do that!"

I nod. "I know. I wouldn't do that to you anyway."

"Come on. We should go over to Yugi's. Everyone's gathered there. I just came back to get you," says Mokuba.

"I can't go. I can't face them," I say quietly, "I'm going to my office… to sleep. You go to Yugi's. Spend the night if they don't mind."

"Are you okay, Seto?" asks Mokuba.

"I didn't tell him how much I love him. I wanted to, but I didn't," I say standing up. I push past Mokuba and head out of the bathroom. I hurry into the elevator right before the doors close, and I head up to my office. I completely ignore the other people in the elevator. I head into my office after telling Morty or Marty or Monterrey, "Nothing comes in."

"Yes, sir!"

I lock the door and pull off my trench coat. I fall onto the couch and pull the dark material over myself. I start to cry again, not over the temporary loss that I had known about earlier, but the permanent loss I feel now. I'll never get the chance to tell him that I love him. I should have told him! I should have asked him to stay! Then he'd be with me! He'd be lying in my bed right now, bitching me out for wanting to work!

The tears fall down my cheeks even as I fall asleep.

I'm gonna be strong
I'm gonna do fine
Don't worry about this heart of mine…

I wake up to the sound of my stomach growling. I climb from my couch and pull my trench coat on. I head downstairs and find the memorial service in full swing in my largest conference hall. I grab some food from the table along one wall and head out to my limo while eating it.

"Are you all right, sir?" asks Eie as I climb in the back.

"No, and I'm afraid I won't be for a very long time," I say, "Take me home, Eie. Take me home."

"Yes, sir," says Eie taking his seat and driving the limo away from my office building.

I watch the scenery going by, and I don't even realize that we pass the Kame Game Shop, but the young blond haired man coming out of it strikes me as familiar. I don't look at him twice though since he couldn't possibly be my puppy. My puppy is beautiful. My puppy is special. My puppy… was. I turn my eyes to the interior of the limo, and I look at the blank TV screen.

I will survive
I'll make it through
I'll even learn to live without you…

The limo stops outside the front door of my mansion, and I climb out. I shake Eie off when he comes to help me, and I head up to my room telling everyone that I wish to be left alone. I strip off the majority of my clothing and climb into bed in just my boxer shorts. I pull the blankets around me, and I close my eyes. I will everything away, and sleep finds me.

---

"Hey, Kaiba, wake up," whispers a familiar voice in my ear.

I don't open my eyes. I don't want to open them just to see that I'm still alone in my room.

"Hey, Kaiba… come on, wake up. I want you to see me," whispers the voice. He sounds like Jou, but he can't be Jou. Jou was on the plane when it went down.

I open my eyes slowly and blink when I see the blond hair falling in my eyes.

"Wake up. I want to talk to you." The hair moves away.

I turn my head to look at the person responsible for waking me. There, sitting on the edge of my bed and leaning over me is the last thing I ever expected to see again. "Jou?"

"Yes, Kaiba." Jou wears white dress pants in a style I'm quite certain I would never see him wearing in real life. But the white t-shirt he wears looks oddly familiar.

I remember now. Mokuba gave him that t-shirt, but Jou never wore it. Oh, I get it. This is a dream. That explains why Jou is sparkling so much. "Are you really…?"

"Listen, Kaiba. We don't have much time, and I for one would like to make the most of it," says Jou.

I sit up and look into Jou's eyes. The sensual brown looks even more beautiful this close up. "Am I dreaming?"

"If you are then I hope this dream never ends," says Jou.

I reach out and touch Jou's cheek. He feels solid enough. He can't be a ghost.

Jou closes his eyes and leans into my touch. He smiles.

"Are you an angel?" I ask.

"Not an angel," whispers Jou.

If I'm not dreaming, and he's not a ghost… then he must be an angel. Maybe angels aren't permitted to tell people what they are. "Whatever you say, pup."

Jou opens his eyes and looks at me mischievously. "Anything I say? Really?"

I nod.

"So if I told you to undress me?"

"Are you telling me to?"

Jou shakes his head. "Not yet."

I wrap my arms around Jou's waist and pull him close to me. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you, pup, but I couldn't."

"What is it, Kaiba?" whispers Jou into my ear. His breath tickles my flesh.

I pull away enough to look into those beautiful honey eyes. "Pup, I… I… I've fallen… in love with you, Katsuya Jounouchi."

Jou's eyes widen, but he starts to smile. "You love me?"

"I love you."

Jou grins happily and plants a kiss directly on my lips. "I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you! That's why I came back! I had to tell you that I love you!"

"I'm glad I got to see you again. Even if our time together is so short," I say, "When do you have to leave?"

"I don't know," says Jou. He looks at me in the same manner that a curious puppy would. "Kaiba?"

"Yeah, pup?"

"If you love me… why didn't you ask me to stay?"

"It was your dream to be a gourmet chef. If the situation were reversed and I had to go to America for a few years to make Kaiba Corp and Kaiba Land the best place for children, would you have asked me to stay?" I reply.

"No. I guess not."

"I couldn't ask you to give up your dream for me. I didn't want you to go, but I didn't want you to stay just because I wanted you to. And I did. I do. I don't want you to ever leave me." I kiss Jou's forehead.

"I wanted you to give me a reason to stay. If you had said you wanted me to, I would have. If you had said you loved me, I would have stayed," says Jou.

"And that's why I couldn't ask you," I whisper, "To stay or to go had to be your decision alone and couldn't be based on my desires for you. You had the opportunity to go to the best school, and I had no right to take that from you."

Jou nuzzles my cheek. "Undress me."

"What?" I whisper.

"Anything I say, huh? Well I say, undress me," whispers Jou.

"If I do that, I'm probably going to make love to you," I whisper.

"That's okay with me," whispers Jou blushing slightly.

My hands move to Jou's waist quickly, and I slide his t-shirt up and over his head.

Jou throws the shirt to the floor after dislodging it from his arms.

I slide my hands down Jou's bare chest and pinch his nipples. I move down to open the button on his pants and slide the zipper down before pushing them down his hips and to the floor.

Jou steps out of his pants to stand completely nude in front of me. He blushes. "Undress yourself."

I stand up and push my boxer shorts to the floor.

Jou licks his lips and pushes me down onto the bed.

"Now what?"

Jou crawls into bed beside me and lies so that he presses against me. "So… who takes who?"

"Only in your dreams would you ever take me," I whisper rolling on top of Jou and kissing his lips.

Jou spreads his legs wide open and looks into my eyes. He smiles.

I smile at Jou and brush his hair away from his eyes.

"Take me."

My heart starts pounding from the trusting statement, and I kiss Jou with all the passion I possess. "Yes, angel."

"I'm not an angel," whispers Jou.

I reach into the drawer of my nightstand and rifle through the contents. I pull out a bottle. "Do you want me to use protection?"

"No… I'm clean. Never been with anyone before," whispers Jou, "I want to feel you inside me. Just you and nothing else."

"Relax for me, angel." I close the drawer and open the bottle to pour some gel onto my fingers. I move my hand down to caress his bottom.

"Not an angel," mumbles Jou as I press one finger into his opening. He relaxes for my probing fingers.

My other hand moves to stroke him into the perfect hardness while I slowly explore his tight channel, and I add an additional two fingers.

"Oh, please…"

My cock twitches expectantly.

"I'm ready…"

I pull both my hands away from Jou's body, and I pour some of the lubricant onto my hand to apply to my erection.

Jou watches me with hungry eyes. His legs spread just a little bit wider.

I take a deep breath as I lift his hips and slowly press into him.

Jou closes his eyes tightly as I push my penis into his anus.

I stop and caress Jou's face until he opens his eyes to look at me. I watch Jou throw his head back and thrust his hips into mine. I slide out and thrust back in sharply.

Jou gasps, and his arms shoot up to grab the headboard, which he clings to as I repeat the process to earn another gasp.

"Does it hurt?"

Jou shifts his hips. "No."

I slow my pace down as I pull out and thrust back in.

Jou pants and looks at me.

I shift my own body as I pull out again. I slide back in.

"Yes!" exclaims Jou, "There!"

I start a slow rhythm of thrusts that make Jou cry out and grasp at me instead of the headboard. I speed up just a little, watching Jou for any sign of pain. One of my hands guides his hips in counterthrusts to my own while my other hand pumps Jou's erection.

Jou kisses me passionately before crying out, "Faster!"

I follow Jou's commands when he cries for me to move "Harder" or "Faster" only for him to order me to do something else. I shoot my seed into his hot body and squeeze his member harder as his own release explodes out onto my stomach. I slide out of him and collapse onto the bed beside him. "That was good."

"Mmm-hmm," mumbles Jou snuggling up to me.

I wrap my arms around Jou and hold him tightly. I kiss his forehead. "When will you have to go?"

If you wanna leave
I won't beg you to say…

"Don't know. Sleep, Kaiba."

I bury my face in Jou's hair and close my eyes. "My angel."

"I'm a puppy," whispers Jou as he falls asleep.

"My puppy," I whisper kissing Jou's hair. My last thought before I fall into the world of sleep is that angels probably don't let anyone see them in the daylight.

---

I wake up in bed alone. I almost think that last night was a dream until I realize that I'm naked, the pillow beside me has been slept on, and there's semen on my stomach that I'm sure isn't my own. I roll onto my back and sigh, but somehow I knew that Jou wouldn't be here when I woke. That's when I'm reminded of why I'm awake at this hour of the morning.

Ring. Ring.

I reach over to my nightstand and grab my cell phone. I look at the number of the caller and my eyes widen. Someone is using Jou's phone to call me!

Ring. Ring.

I push the button and hold the phone to my ear. "Kaiba."

"I'm lonely." Hearing Jou on the other end of the line is the last thing I expected to hear.

"Who are you and how did you get this phone?" I ask sitting up abruptly.

Jou laughs. "My name is Jounouchi Katsuya, and this phone was given to me by you, Kaiba Seto, yesterday when I was about to get on the plane to Tokyo."

"How can you call me?" I ask, "You… you died yesterday."

"No… actually I didn't, Kaiba. I walked away from you. I was just about to go through the second security checkpoint when I realized that I couldn't do it. I couldn't just walk away from you. You mean too much to me. I came back out to tell you that I love you, but the others told me that you ran out like a bat out of hell. I didn't go back through the security checkpoints to get onto the plane. I couldn't leave like that. I had to tell you before I could go to Tokyo. I was hoping that if you felt the same you would either ask me to stay and I'd go to culinary school here or you would offer to come with me to Tokyo."

"You mean… you're still alive?" I'm surprised by the amount of shock in my voice.

"I'm alive, Kaiba. I'm in your personal bathroom as we speak."

"You didn't leave?"

"I didn't leave."

"I love you, pup." Tears start to roll down my face. "Promise me you won't leave me again."

"I promise. I won't leave you again. I'll switch and go to culinary school here in Domino," says Jou, "I love you, Kaiba. I want to stay with you for… well, ever if it would please you. That's part of the reason I want to be a gourmet chef. That if you ever wanted a fancy dinner at your mansion, then your loving companion could cook for you and impress your guests. I wanted to impress you with my cooking skills and make you proud of me."

"I am proud of you, pup. I've been proud of you for a long time."

"Now I'm lonely," says Jou, "Come join me in the shower."

I sigh. "Oh, fine! If I have to!"

Jou's laughter erupts from the bathroom as he opens the door and stares at me. "Get in here, now!"

I hang up my cell phone as he does the same. I put it back on the nightstand and get up. I look at him nervously as I approach. "Last night… I thought you were an angel that came to give me some comfort for your loss."

Jou pulls me to him and kisses my lips quickly. "But I'm here, Kaiba. I'm not an angel. I'm a puppy, not an angel."

"Yes. You are my puppy," I say clinging to him.

Jou pulls me into the bathroom and he starts the water heating so we can take a shower together.

I pull Jou back into my arms and start to cry. "I thought I had lost you!"

Don't turn around
'Cause you're gonna see my heart breaking
Don't turn around
I don't want you seeing me cry…

Jou kisses my tears away. He pulls me into the spray from the shower and presses me against the wall as he proceeds to kiss me senseless.

---

Jou dries his hair and flings the towel at me. "So… about what you said last night."

"Exactly which thing that I said last night?"

"Only in my dreams would I ever take you." Jou glares at me.

"I said that when I thought you were dead and I was looking at a spirit," I say pulling Jou's mostly dry body up against my damp one. I kiss him full on the mouth, and he doesn't resist me. "But a living pup would be able to take me whenever he wanted."

Just walk out the door
See if I care
Go on and go, but…

Jou pulls out of my arms and walks into the bedroom, shaking his bare ass sensually.

I follow Jou into the bedroom expecting to see him pulling his clothes on to leave, but instead I see him crawl onto my bed with the bottle of lubricant in his hands. "Pup?"

"You're not in bed yet, Kaiba. How am I supposed to have my way with you if you won't even get into bed with me?" asks Jou looking over at me.

"So you're not mad about what I said?" I ask walking to the bed.

"I'll be mad about what you said last night if you didn't mean what you said just now," says Jou, "Now get your ass on the bed so I can fuck you!"

I climb into bed with Jou and lie down on my back in the center. "You sure are bossy, pup. I love you, Jou."

"I know, moneybags."

"Is this going to hurt?" I ask as I spread my legs for Jou.

"Not enough for you to want it to stop," whispers Jou with a smirk as he pours some of the gel onto his hand. His right hand moves down to tease and lubricate my opening while his left hand starts to fondle my balls.

I moan quietly when the first finger enters my passageway.

"Tell me if it's too much too fast," whispers Jou directly into my ear.

I look at Jou with lust in my gaze. "I need more of your touch."

Jou kisses me into silence and slides a second finger into my opening. He continues caressing my balls and squeezes them lightly.

I arch into Jou's touch and moan into our kiss. I try to contain the sounds of pleasure caused by Jou's actions as his fingers scissor in me and stretch me more to accept his length. I move to kiss Jou's neck at the same time he adds a third finger and brush them against my prostate. In my pleasured haze, I nip his neck roughly and break the skin with my teeth.

"Ouch!" exclaims Jou pulling away from me and removing his hand from my passage.

I pant as I look at Jou. I see the blood falling from his bite mark. "Jou! I'm sorry!"

Jou glares at me. "You bit me!"

I grab Jou and pull him onto my chest. I lick his neck in a comforting gesture and to clear away the blood. "I'm… I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

"Well… if that's the way you want to play it," says Jou grabbing the bottle and pouring more gel on his hand, "That's all the preparation you get!" He rubs the gel onto his erection before rubbing some onto my own. He tosses the bottle away and grabs my hips.

I lift my hips and Jou forces his erection deep inside me. I gasp and clench my eyes shut.

Jou clings to me tightly, but he doesn't move.

After a moment, I open my eyes and look at Jou. I notice him watching me intently, looking for the signs of the pain I know I must have shown just moments before. "Take me, pup."

Jou slides out and eases back in. His eyes never leave mine.

I move my hands to touch my lover. My lover? Those two words sound like heaven to me. I caress his chest with one hand while my other entangles in his blond hair. I feel Jou's intentionally slow thrusts, and they make me burn with desire for my lover. Hearing them in my mind makes me feel wonderful, and I can't help but wonder if they will sound as wonderful and feel as good to Jou when spoken aloud. "My lover…"

"I know." Jou kisses me deeply, sliding his tongue into my mouth to explore it to his heart's content. "I'm yours. Just as long as you will be mine. My lover…"

"Always!" I gasp as Jou starts to thrust faster.

Jou strokes my need with renewed vigor as he finds my prostrate and I scream his name in pleasure. He chuckles as his thrusts come harder. "Scream for me… your puppy… your master! Scream for me. Let me know how much you want me, how much you need me, how much you enjoy me!"

"I love you, Jou! I want you! Need you! Oh, fuck me, Jou! Fuck me… just like this!" I wrap my arms around his back as we thrust together, our skin slapping against each others in a beautiful harmony of pleasure as my voice gets louder to vocalize my ecstasy filled moans.

Jou lifts my legs up onto his shoulders and thrusts into me forcefully.

I scream, "JOU!"

With a few final thrusts of Jou's penis within me and the corresponding pumps of my own erection, we both erupt with our respective discharges, both of us blinded by pleasure. My legs slide down from Jou's shoulders and grip him tightly at the waist for a moment before falling to the bed beneath us.

"Kaiba!" shouts Jou collapsing onto my chest with his waning erection still buried deep within me. "Mine!"

"That's right, Jou," I whisper clutching him to my chest, "I am yours."

Jou buries his face in my neck and mumbles embarrassedly, "Now we need another shower."

"Would you like to sleep some more first?" I whisper into Jou's ear.

"Don't you have to go to work?"

"I thought we could spend the day together."

Jou looks at me astonished. "You're going to take off work for me?"

"For my lover… for you, Jou, absolutely!"

"Then let's sleep for awhile. We didn't get much last night," whispers Jou kissing me.

"Jou, love, you do realize that you're still inside me, don't you?"

"Fortifying my claim on you," says Jou.

But I won't let you go…

Jou snuggles into my chest, and we relax into each other's embrace as we fall asleep.

---

Jou drags me into BurgerWorld, and I look around grumpily. "Come on, Kaiba. You said you'd take me anywhere I wanted to go!"

"I was hoping for something a little less toxic."

Jou laughs and drags me over to a corner booth that's already filled with occupants. "Hey, scoot over Honda!"

Honda grumbles as he slides over on the seat.

I look around at the people at the table while I stand beside Jou.

Mokuba and Shizuka sit beside each other with their backs to the window, and both of them bear similar happy expressions. Beside them, Yugi and Anzu sit together holding hands. Otogi sits in the very middle of the booth's curved seat twisting his straw's packaging around his finger. Mai sits in between Ryou and Honda.

"After you, Kaiba," says Jou.

"You're just trying to trap me in so I can't leave," I say as I slide into the seat beside Honda.

"Aw! You know me so well!" exclaims Jou sitting beside me. He winces slightly.

"Are you okay, Jou?" asks Yugi quickly.

Jou blushes. "I'm fine."

"So… why did you call us all here, Jou?" asks Mokuba changing the subject quickly to which I grant him a small smile.

"Oh, yeah! My announcement!" exclaims Jou smiling, "I've actually decided not to go to Tokyo! I called around this morning, and I was able to transfer into a local culinary school. I'm staying!"

I wince as a round of cheers surrounds me.

A waitress comes up. "Hi, there! Can I take your order?"

"Cheeseburger, a basket of cheese fries, and a chocolate milk shake!" exclaims Mokuba quickly. He turns to Shizuka with a smile. "We can share the fries."

Shizuka blushes. "I'll have the grilled chicken sandwich and a strawberry milk shake!"

"I'll have the Swiss burger, tater tots, and a cream soda." Yugi smiles at the waitress.

"Plain hamburger, side salad with vinegar dressing, and ice tea," says Anzu.

Otogi looks at the waitress and flashes her a brilliant smile. "Hi, Mina! Can I get my usual?"

"Bacon cheeseburger with chili cheese fries and root beer?" replies the waitress, "Sure thing, cutie!"

"I'll have a large grilled chicken salad with ranch dressing and a diet cola," says Mai winking at the waitress.

The waitress blushes as she writes down the order.

"I'll have a cheeseburger, chips, and cola, please," says Ryou shyly.

"Double cheeseburger, Swiss burger, basket of chili fries, side of tater tots, cola, and an ice cream sundae for dessert!" exclaims Honda.

The waitress looks at me.

"No…"

"I'll order for the both of us!" exclaims Jou quickly, and I raise an eyebrow as I look at him.

"Jou, I…"

"No, it's no problem!" interrupts Jou again. He smiles at the waitress. "Two double bacon cheeseburgers, two plain hamburgers, grilled chicken sandwich, basket of fries, chili and cheese on the side, side of o-rings, basket of tater tots, side salad, chocolate milk shake, two colas, and do you like coffee?"

I notice Jou turn to look at me happily at his last remark. "Yes, I do like…"

"Great! And one coffee as well!" exclaims Jou turning back to the waitress, "And we'll think about dessert while we eat!"

"Okay! And will this be on separate tickets or all together?" asks the waitress.

"All together," I say, "It's my treat today."

Jou turns to me with a look that would be very suiting if he had hearts in his eyes. He smiles at me happily.

"You don't have to do that, Kaiba," says Yugi as the waitress heads off to give out order to the cook, "We have money, and we can pay for ourselves."

"With the way Jou eats? I'd be surprised if he ever has money," I say.

"Hey!" exclaims Jou turning bright red.

"Discussion closed," I say simply.

"Fine! But you are eating everything I give you!" snaps Jou crossing his arms over his chest.

My eyes widen. "What? You ordered half the restaurant!"

"Well, you don't have to eat it all, but you have to at least try everything that I give you!" exclaims Jou, "And if you like something, then you can eat as much of that as you want! But you have to try everything! I can eat whatever you don't finish!"

"Oh, so that's why you didn't order dessert yet," says Mai chuckling, "You're planning on stealing half of Kaiba's food too!"

Jou blushes rather cutely.

Mokuba and Shizuka giggle childishly.

The group of friends talks animatedly for a while as we wait for the food to be brought. I try to listen, but my mind often fades away into thoughts of Jou.

After about fifteen minutes, the food arrives, being brought to us on a large silver cart with several layers.

"Cheeseburger, a basket of cheese fries, chocolate milk shake! Grilled chicken sandwich, strawberry milk shake!" says the waitress placing the order in front of Mokuba and Shizuka. She starts to give Anzu and Yugi their meals. "Swiss burger, tater tots, cream soda. Plain hamburger, side salad with vinegar dressing, ice tea."

"Thank you!" exclaims Yugi.

"Bacon cheeseburger, chili cheese fries, root beer." The waitress winks at Otogi as she sets his order down. She gives Mai her own food and blushes. "Grilled chicken salad with ranch dressing, diet cola."

"Thanks a bunch, Mina!" exclaims Otogi.

"Cheeseburger, chips, cola," says the waitress starting to put food in front of Ryou and Honda in turn, "Double cheeseburger, Swiss burger, basket of chili fries, side of tater tots, cola. Your ice cream sundae will be brought out when you're closer to being done eating!"

I look at the large amount of food that the waitress starts to place in front of Jou and myself, and I swear that I turn green at the thought of eating any of it.

"Two double bacon cheeseburgers, two plain hamburgers, grilled chicken sandwich, basket of fries, chili and cheese on the side, side of onion rings, basket of tater tots, side salad, chocolate milk shake, two colas, coffee!" The waitress smiles at Jou and passes him a piece of paper under the table. "Enjoy, everyone!"

I glare at the paper in Jou's hand as the waitress walks away.

Jou opens the paper and looks at it in disbelief. "She gave me her phone number."

"What?" asks Otogi blinking at Jou, "Why would she give it to you and not me?"

"Maybe she knows you're gay," suggests Honda sourly.

I look over to the counter and notice our waitress watching our table. I glare at her for a moment before grabbing the collar of Jou's shirt and pulling him to me for a passionate kiss. I don't hear everyone around us gasp at my display of affection, or more appropriately, my show of possession. I pull out of the kiss and glare at the waitress again. "Mine!"

The waitress runs into the bathroom.

"And what was that about?" asks Anzu slowly.

"I will not allow anyone to touch what is mine," I say.

"Well… that's not exactly the way I was thinking about telling the guys," says Jou looking at the table in front of us with a bright red blush on his cheeks, "but I guess it works." He organizes the food in the little plastic baskets and pushes one basket in front of me.

I look to see one double bacon cheeseburger, a plain hamburger, the grilled chicken sandwich, one onion ring, a few fries, and a couple of tater tots in it. I see Jou push the side salad in its private basket in front of me. He also gives me a glass of cola and the cup of coffee.

Jou takes both of the straws given to us and puts them into the chocolate milk shake with a pink tinge on his cheeks.

I take a deep breath and lift the onion ring from my basket. "Are you sure I have to eat this?"

Jou chuckles. "If you don't…"

I stick the onion ring into my mouth and start to chew it up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jou smile. Well, if it makes him happy, I'll eat as much of this grease as I can.

Everyone starts to eat.

I eat my tater tots, and when I eat the fries, I dip one into the cheese and another into the chili before putting them in my mouth. I drink my cola first as I eat half of each of the sandwiches. I notice that Jou hasn't touched the chocolate shake, and I realize why he put both straws into it. He wants to share it with me, both of us drinking from it at the same time like in those cheesy fifties movies. Well, who am I to disappoint my lover? I grab the shake and pull it towards Jou and myself so it rests almost on the edge of the table. I lean forward and take a straw into my mouth, making sure that the other rests on the side of the glass close to Jou, and I look at him waiting.

Jou reaches a hand out to touch my knee beneath the table and leans forward to capture the other straw in his mouth, and we both start to drink the sweet chocolate.

"Oh, isn't that just precious!" exclaims Mai giggling girlishly.

Everyone around us 'ohs' and 'aws' at our public display.

Jou's eyes sparkle with happiness.

We pull away from the glass almost at the same time, and Jou moves the glass back onto the table for later, getting it away from the edge so accidents don't happen.

I steal a few more fries and eat them with the chili and cheese before pushing my basket of half-sandwiches towards Jou. I grab the salad and eat all of that while Jou finishes his own sandwiches.

"Are you sure you're finished with these sandwiches?" asks Jou.

"Yes," I say, "I'll just have a few more of these… um… whatevers." I grab a few more onion rings and some of the tater tots to eat. "That will be enough for me. Go ahead and eat them if you're hungry."

Jou continues to eat the sandwiches while I eat the potatoes and onion rings and drink my coffee as well as my cola.

Once Jou and I are done with our food, we pull the chocolate shake back over to us and drink it together while we hold hands under the table. We both ignore the cooing of Jou's friends at how cute we look together and about how it's 'bloody well time those two started going' as Ryou said it.

Jou blushes as I push the empty glass away from us.

I pull Jou into a kiss that lasts long enough for a waitress, a different one from the slime who had been hitting on my pup, to come up and give Honda his ice cream and ask the rest of us if we wanted dessert.

"No thanks, I have my dessert right here," says Jou capturing my lips and sliding his body as close to mine as he can get.

I wrap my arms around Jou and hold him tightly.

"Well… if that is all for you, I'll just leave your bill here, and you can pay when you're ready," says the waitress cheerily.

I pull out of the kiss just enough to whisper, "Wallet. Back pocket."

Jou's hands slide down to my butt, and he pulls my wallet from my pocket. He pulls it up and passes it to me as we kiss.

I don't pay attention as I slide a card from my wallet and hold it out towards the waitress. I pull away from Jou's mouth and look at her for just a moment as she takes the credit card from me. "Twenty percent tip for yourself."

The waitress blinks at me in shock. "For me?"

I smirk. "Of course, you. You're not the one hitting on my lover."

Jou nuzzles my neck and starts to kiss it.

The waitress looks at Jou. "He is very attractive. You are quite lucky."

"I know."

The waitress takes my credit card away while Jou kisses my neck and tries to mark me in a manner similar to what I did to him with the exception being that he refuses to use his teeth.

"I'm ready to go home, Kaiba," whines Jou immediately after I sign the credit slip.

I tuck my credit card away. "Let's go then, pup," I say, "We can visit with your friends another day… since you've decided to stay here."

Jou stands and pulls me to my feet.

"Mokuba?" I ask.

"I'll walk Shizuka home and be back later," says Mokuba smiling at me.

I nod and head out with Jou.

"Can I move into the mansion with you and Mokuba?" asks Jou as we walk outside towards the limo parked at the end of the lot.

"Of course you can," I say, "Is that what you want?"

Jou nods. "Yeah… I don't want to live with my Dad anymore. He doesn't appreciate my choice of companions. He wanted me out completely anyway since I've graduated."

We climb into the limo and I give the order to take us home.

"Mom agreed to let me store some of my stuff at her place while I was in Tokyo, but everything else I own is packed up in the luggage that… that is actually gone because it had gotten on the plane." Jou sighs. "So much for my wardrobe! At least I wasn't there when it… you know. I was lucky."

"You're always lucky. That's your best attribute," I say, "I'll buy you new clothes. And anything else you need. You'll be staying in my room of course, but you can also have a guest room to rearrange to your liking, in case something happens and you need a place to retire to so that you can be alone. I love you, Jou."

And if you ever think about me
Just know that I'll be alright…

The End.