Stinging Beauty

I found the pic! For all ‘Dragon’s lair’ members, go to the photos, then look for ‘Makiko’s treasures’, it’s there under the name ‘ayasang’-can anyone say hot stuff? All the others? Well, sorry, guess you have to wait until H&H is back online…- -°

Oh, btw, ‘ means printed matter-enjoy!

Ja ne!^^

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34. Perfect closure

It was the perfect pillow:

Hard, yet surprisingly smooth and soft in all the right places, emitting warmth without being suffocating, it provided comfort and support.

With a contented sigh, Seto hugged the pillow tighter.

A soft chuckle drew his attention.

“If I told anybody that Kaiba Seto loves to cuddle, they wouldn’t believe me” grinned Jou, one arm loosely around his koi.

Frowning, the brunet replied:

”If you tell anybody, Kaiba Seto loves to cuddle, I will kill you. ”

“Iie, not really, you love me too much for that” smirked the blond.

Seto huffed resignatedly.

“True, true. Still, I could maim you. ” Jou’s laughter died down.

“That’s not funny. ”

The CEO shrugged.

“Of course not, but consider the possibilities: you would be forced to remain in bed, all ready and set for me to play with as I wish, when I get home. ”

He could feel the temperature in the room dropping a good forty degrees, when Jou stated:

“As I said, that’s not even remotely funny. ”

Blinking, the CEO rose his head from where it rested on the blond’s chest and gazed into his lover’s honeyed eyes.

Hurt and betrayal and old, unresolved anger mirrored in those amber orbs.

“Do you know, how many times my father beat me up so bad, I was forced to do exactly that? When I was younger, I sometimes spent half my schooldays inside the house, crawling from my bed to the bathroom and back again, because my legs wouldn’t carry me. Trying to stop the blood from dripping on the floor, because that only would earn me yet another round of beating…”

Jou’s eyes were set on something far away, tears brimming the brown orbs.

Pulling the blond closer, Seto caressed this one’s cheek, kissed temple and forehead, nuzzled the neck and patted the golden tresses, before he rasped:

“I…I am sorry. Gomen nasai gozaimasu, koibito, for being so..inconside-“

“No,” Jou shook his head, trying to remove the cobwebs from his mind, “don’t be, you didn’t do anything wrong, I mean, how should you have known? Besides, it doesn’t matter, he can’t hurt me anymore. ”

A soft smile brightened his features.

“They can’t hurt us anymore, ever again. ”

Closing his eyes, Jou reveled in the feel of Seto’s tender fingers gliding through his blond mop, then yawned:

“On a different note; I decided to get a haircut. ”

Something in the back of his head told him that this constant jaw-dropping wasn’t healthy, but Seto couldn’t care less.

Instead, he drew a deep breath and shrieked:

“Nani?”

Puzzled, Jou faced his lover.

“Kamigata. You now, something different, a little shorter be-“

“Don’t you dare!” roared the CEO, causing the blond to flinch and yelp.

“Jounouchi Katsuya, if you ever even consider cutting your hair, I will not let you seme for as long as you live!”

Jou sweat dropped.

“Great, I’m dating a hair-fetishist” he mumbled under his breath. Seto only glared.

“Don’t be stupid, Jou. Do you have any idea how many people envy you for your hair? It’s soft and silky and healthy and glowing and..perfectly you. ”

The blond gawked at the CEO, who in return was lost marveling at Jou’s wild mane.

Finally, Jou shrugged and agreed.

“Fine. If it means that much to you, I’ll grow it out. I can still pull it into a pony, if need be. ”

A fierce, dirty grin settled on his face.

“Now, about me being seme…”

Flipping his koi over, the blond taught Seto how to properly fuck somebody unconscious.

Whooping, Jou glanced at the board displaying the exam results for the first semester.

He was among the best five of his grade, and the three best freshmen received a stipendium.

It was not that he was broke, but the money from his house supported both his old flat over in Domino City(he occasionally rented it out to roygakusei) and his student dorm.

And even though he was legal now and received a better wage, his part-time job over at the bank didn’t pay out that much, just enough for books, food and the occasional visiting Seto and clubbing.

So, it was back to studies.

The letter, or rather letters, arrived three days later.

Jou quirked a brow at Honda’s near-indecipherable writing; either he had been in a haste or terribly upset, although Jou couldn’t think of a reason, his best friend would get into a frenzy-

‘-decided to tell you, that Shizuka and I are dating for something over a month now. I know, you told me you wouldn’t mind if I went out with your sister, but I felt like betraying you-‘

“Betrayal being the key word! Honto de! You are so dead, hentai! If I get my hands on you, there won’t be anything left to bury, you two-timing, back-stabbing bastard!” exploded Jou, as he crumpled the letter into a tiny ball and tossed it into a corner. Still fuming, he ripped open the one of his sister, quickly scanning it.

‘-been very nice and kind to me. We went out while autumn holidays, he helped me with my homework-’ “I can just imagine what kind of homework that was!” snarled Jou, ‘-he showed me around Tokyo and we had even been to Yokohama.’

The elder brother went into taifu# mode, almost tearing down his dorm.

‘I am still astonished, how someone so fierce and brave as Hiroto can be so shy and timid at the same time-he has not even tried to kiss me once! It’s almost as if were frightened, or something. Funny, ne?’

“No, it’s not, it’s-wait-he didn’t even try to...?”

Jou read the last sentence again and again, then he fell to his knees and bawled:

“Oh my most trusted friend, faithful Honda, forgive your tomodachi+ for deeming you capable of such a deprived crime!”

He quickly went in search of the brunet’s inscription and, upon finding it, tried to smoothen out the wrinkled paper.

Then his eye fell on the third letter.

It was from the principal’s office, and Jou’s mouth turned dry.

Gingerly breaking the seal, the blond tried to fight the bad feeling settling in his stomach, as he pulled out the single, folded sheet and opened it.

“Dear Jounouchi-san,” he read aloud,

“-consideration of your remarkable efforts, blahblahblahblah, the comitee, yadda yadda yadda, disagreements..(?)fellow students, and agreed on giving you one year of free schoolarship, yes! Shouri°! I got it, I can’t believe it, I got it! Woohoo!!!”

Many a student that night cursed the celebrating Jounouchi Katsuya six times to hell and back…

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I admit, for the letter scene I stole a lot from the Ranma ½ manga -Akane’s temper tantrums, Tendo-san’s oni-head and Ranma’s bawling eyes, as well as Ryoga’s ‘gloria’ expression(I don’t know, how else to describe it, it’s when Akane says something nice to him, and there are angels and flowery stuff surrounding the scene-you get the picture..)

* Jap: exchange student

# Jap: hurricane

+ Jap: friend(duh! You’re supposed to be an otaku!)

° Jap: victory(another possibility would have been seikou: success)