Only In My Dreams

The Truth with a Side Order of Salad

Katsuya broke away from the kiss with his eyelids fluttering. He looked at the person who was the recipient of that kiss. Seto looked flushed too. He smiled. “It seems that you like my kisses, my lovely Dragon.”

Seto returned the smile with a small one of his own. “Well, you make them irresistible. I am addicted to them.”

“Hmm, then allow me to do something that will be even more irresistible.” The amber-eyed teen winked at him and kissed the dragon’s chin, moving his way down the column of olive skin. Seto growled his pleasure. Nobody could stoke his fire like his puppy. While concentrating on the gratification he was receiving from his beloved, in the back of his mind, the blue-eyed teen realized that his t-shirt was being taken off. His Puppy was good at multitasking.

There came a point where the connection with the mouths was broken, but only to remove the t-shirt Seto wore. It was forgotten as soon as the blond teen threw it.

Katsuya pushed Seto gently to the ground. It was almost surreal, to have this beauty, to whom control was necessary, under him relinquishing that very control. He kissed the Dragon’s chest, stopping to suck on a hardened bud while beginning a ministration on the other. Seto cried in ecstasy. Ever since that day, he had always wanted this and now, he was on the receiving end of this pleasure.

Katsuya switched his attention to the other nipple as his Dragon writhed in pleasurable agony. He was so hard, but his Puppy did nothing to relieve his ache, only made it more pronounced.

The blond teen’s hand finally made their way to the CEO’s jeans and slid them off. Springing to life was Seto’s manhood. If Katsuya paid close attention, he could see it pulsating with blood as it hardened itself even more. He grinned.

“Please” the blue-eyed teen moaned. Although there was some relief when the jeans were removed, he still ached. Out of clouded sapphire, he saw his Puppy hovering over his erection. In one swift motion, all of Seto’s length was surrounded in warm, wet heat. Seto moaned out loud, uncharacteristic for the quiet teen.

In a rhythmic fashion, the blond continued pleasuring his lover. It was only a matter of time until Seto gave Katsuya what he wanted. And, oh boy, did he ever. In waves of warm cream, did Seto manifest his passion for the blond. He moaned aloud as he was drained of his seed by his lover. When, at last, he was done, Jounouchi pulled Kaiba for a kiss, making sure to spread the brunet’s passion along his tongue.

Seto, when it came to Katsuya, always needed to do one better, as the blond was kissing him, was unbuttoning his Puppy’s jeans. Sliding them down his ivory legs, the Dragon’s target was identified. With a wicked smirk, he pinned Katsuya to the floor and attacked his arousal.

Hot and moist was the center of his world. He growled low as the brunet took him in his mouth. It was amazing. Why was it that he had any reservations, he thought as his lover continued to blow his mind, among other things, away. But he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach and that took precedence over anything. He couldn’t, nor wanted to, hold on any longer. So he came, long and hard.

Seto cleaned up his lover’s essence and kiss the Puppy, sliding his tongue into the shorter man. The two continued to kiss each other.

Kaiba woke up as his mental clock told him that it was 5:00. He looked at his sheets. It was wet and sticky. At once, the blue-eyed CEO knew the reason. Kaiba frowned at the mess. He had come to terms with his growing affection for a certain blond. It wasn’t fair, he thought to himself. Why did it have to be Jounouchi? They shared nothing in common. Yet, it seems that his heart, never mind his hormones, wanted the amber-eyed teen. Why him of all people?

Since mentally assessing things was not going get anything done, Kaiba got up. He blushed faintly as he disposed of the soiled sheets in a nearby fireplace. The last thing that he wanted was someone scrounging around his garbage and finding out that the big, bad CEO was having wet dreams. Oh, the field day the tabloids would have.

After taking a shower, getting dressed and making himself some coffee, Kaiba prepared himself to get some work in before classes began.

Uncharacteristically, Mokuba can into the kitchenette and made a bowl of muslin, a whimsical smile on his face. Seto looked at him with detachment. Never on schooldays would he be up. Maybe, he snorted mentally, this ‘girlfriend’ would be good for him, at least he gets up without be forced awake.

“Mokie, what are you doing up?” Seto asked. “Well, I… was…” the grey-eyed teen blushed profusely and he laughed nervously. “Well, ha ha ha ha!” He started babbling.

“Well, spit it out.” His older brother urged him. How was Mokuba going to tell his brother that he had an erotic dream and was unable to go back to sleep for fear of ruining another good pairs of sheets. “I couldn’t go back to sleep after that weird dream.” The ebony-haired bishounen hoped that it would be enough for his onii-sama and, to his surprise, it was.

Seto, looking at his otouto-kun’s face, knew that he did something that he was embarrassed about and didn’t want to continue. He must have had a nocturnal emission. He snorted quietly.

“Listen,” the blue-eyed teen told his brother. “I’m going to work for an hour. Can I trust you to get to school on your own?”

“Psssh” was the dismissive reply. “Of course I can.”

Seto ruffled his brother’s hair and walked out of the mansion, then taking on the persona of Kaiba. His face was stonewalled and his eyes emotionless. He got into his car and drove off.

Inside KaibaCorp, his personal assistant, Sakura Nicola, greeted him. “Well, well, Seto-kun, having insomnia?” She quipped. “Get to work, Sakura.” He gritted through his teeth.

She reeled back dramatically. “What’s with the pissy attitude? If I remember my psychology classes, you are suffering from sexual deprivation.”

Kaiba looked at her wide-eyed. How the hell was she able to hit the nail on the head? “Wow, I was just joking. You really need to get laid.” Her demeanor became serious. “There’s something on your mind, isn’t there?” The long-haired woman placed a comforting hand on the CEO’s shoulder. “Would you like to talk about it?”

What did Kaiba have to lose? She wouldn’t let any words of this conversation leave this room. She was professional in that respect.

“If you tell anyone of this conversation, I will personally erase you.” Kaiba warned in a low voice.

“I will never betray your confidence, Kaiba Seto-kun.” Nicola told her boss.

“I had a disturbing dream concerning a kid in my class. It was supposing that I could have a serious relationship with this kid.”

Nicola would have said something funny to this but it wasn’t the time or the place. “By serious, you mean a sexual or a deeper relationship?” Seto nodded his head. “And you are confused because you don’t think that you like this person in that way?”

“No, I know I must have some feelings for this person. I’ve been having repeated dreams and this person was in all of them.”

“Let me ask you a question. Why are you ashamed to say that it is Katsuya you have some sort of affection for?” Seto’s eyes widened. “How the hell did you know that his name was Katsuya? Have you been spying on me?”

“Yesterday, you moaned his name in pleasure while you were sleeping. Plus in the shower, it sounded as if you were masturbating, trying to get yourself off quickly.”

“Was it that loud?” Seto was embarrassed that his personal secretary heard him getting himself off. But one look in her eyes told him that she caught him in a verbal trap. “You didn’t know that, did you?”

She smiled and nodded. “Unless you are intently trying to listen to that sound, then you would be able to hear it. So, in answer to your question, yeah, I didn’t know that.”

Seto scoffed. He finally was against that logic. Sakura Nicola was a master of verbal traps. She could trap people in their own words, making them recant what they had said. “No wonder I hired you.” He sighed softly. In some matters, Nicola was his confidante and this was one of those matters.

”I guess I have some sort of affection for him. But this is a person that I made sure that hated me. That is why it’s difficult for me to accept the person that I teased. Perhaps this is a bit of irony.”

”I think so too. This is what I would do. Stop teasing him and start building a bridge of friendship towards him. Maybe an apology would be in order also.” She paused for a smirk. “But knowing you, you won’t do anything like that.”

Kaiba, not wanting to think of the blond anymore, grabbed some random papers and cleared his throat. “We need to get some work done before I have to go to school.”

Sakura Nicola shrugged her shoulders. Whether Kaiba followed her advice or not was really none of her business. But for his sake, she hoped he did.

Katsuya got up at seven. Disturbed again with his dream and the mess that he made in his sheets, the blond disposed of the sheets in the laundry basket. “Why Kaiba?” he mused. He would have no problem with being a homosexual if it wasn’t Kaiba his dreams was insinuating that he be with. But, since it was Kaiba, he would fight it. Besides, he would prove to his damn subconscious that he was not lusting after Kaiba. Tonight, he was going on a date with Mai.

He put on a cheery smile and got dressed. He prepared himself for the day. The amber-eyed teen went to get his sister up when he realized that she was moaning in her sleep. He furrowed his brow. What could she be thinking of?

Mokuba! That was the whisper that dropped from her lips. That was strange, he thought.

Touch me! Now that was strange. It was almost as if she was having erotic dreams about Mokuba. But she only knew him today.

I love you, Mokuba! Katsuya blanched. She was dreaming of Mokuba in an erotic manner. He couldn’t take it. It wasn’t that Mokuba was a bad kid. If he was honest, he liked the kid like he was his brother. However, he was too close to Kaiba Seto. And the ways that his dreams were heading, it would be better that he just avoid this Pandora’s Box. But, he would not deny his sister.

Katsuya knocked on his sister’s door. The lump that was his sister moved around in the sheets. “Yeah, onii-chan?” a sleepy response came through the door. “It’s seven! Class is in an hour.” The sound of rapid moving could be heard. After a few minutes, the strawberry-hair lass came out with a towel around her body. She hurried into the shower.

Katsuya made himself some cereal and ate. Shizuka came a few minutes later. She made herself some toast. “Not hungry, imoto-chan?”

“Not really!” Buttering her toast, she prepared for her day. Katsuya was in a difficult bind. He wanted to know what did she think about Mokuba, but he didn’t want to pry. Logic was never his strong suit, not like ….

He stopped himself from having those thoughts. “Hey, Shi-chan,” he began. “Why did you bring Mokuba to the party?” At that, she blushed and Katsuya caught it. “What’s with the face? Why are you blushing?”

Shizuka was in a bind. She didn’t want to lie to her brother However, she did feel that it wasn’t her brother’s business to know. She waged a mental war in her head to see the pros and cons of telling her brother. In the end, the pros won. She took a calming breath. “Mokuba is my boyfriend now, onii-chan.”

To say that Jounouchi Katsuya was surprised when learning that his sister, Kawai Shizuka was involved with Kaiba Mokuba, the brother of Kaiba Seto, the one that haunted his dreams, or nightmares if you will, would be the understatement of the year. (A/N And if you were wondering how long that sentence was going to last, there you go.)

Well, the comment that he made about treasuring the time with his sister until she dated was ironic right about now. He didn’t know that it was going to be so short. But, she was a grown woman. If she felt that this was the right decision to make, he would let her. Although he would not tell her about his relationship with the elder Kaiba, or the lack thereof; that wasn’t important.

“I’m happy for you!” he finally told her. She wrapped her arms around her brother in a loving manner.

As so, she told him of what happened to make her fall in love with Mokuba. He fell out of it. That is the way that he felt the entire day. He spaced out, well, more than usual. His friends were stumped as to why. He was a mere shell of himself, still trying to comprehend letting go of his baby sister, much to the consternation of all of his teachers. Waving their hands over the blond did not bring out of his trance. The only thing that had any effect on him was the class bell. He headed for lunch.

Jou’s mind was doing overtime trying to sort out the feelings that were bombarding him when who should cross his path than Kaiba Seto. He also was conflicted with the feelings that entered his heart. Jounouchi Katsuya raced in his mind more often than it did before and that was a bit unnerving for him. Never having romantic feelings for anyone before, the blue-eyed teen did not know what to do in a situation like this. Neither of them was paying attention to the external, focusing more on the internal. And so, as you can guess, they collided with each other.

Jou fell on his back and Kaiba his ass. Jou swore loudly as his body ache where he hurt. Kaiba, in comparison, glared immensely at the person that dared to make him fall, which happened to be his love interest.

The blue-eyed CEO was in quite a predicament. On one hand, he wanted to patch bridges so that his suit for the blond would be appreciated. On the other hand, Kaiba was trying to keep the persona that he created as a cold and calculated bastard. A mental war was waged in his fast-paced mind. Kaiba’s reason warred with his heart and hormones. Unfortunately for his reason, a two-on-one fight is never fair. So there was a truce. He would help his love interest up, but Kaiba would not acknowledge it as a kind deed. The elder would just say that this act would mean nothing.

He got up rather gracefully and held out a slim hand to Jounouchi. The amber-eyed man was dumbstruck. Since when was Kaiba kind enough to lend out a helping hand. Kaiba glared at him. “Damn make inu, are you going to get up or not?” He sneered. Hopefully that would be convincing to the blond.

Unfortunately for him, it had the opposite effect. “Why the hell do you care whether or not I get up.” The blond shouted at him, lifting himself from the ground and dusting himself off. He looked into his sapphire eyes. “I don’t get it. Why do you have to be such a jerk?”

Jounouchi’s eyes began to water so, in order that he not show weakness in front of his enemy, he did an about face. His walk was more rigid than normal as he removed himself from the CEO’s presence.

Kaiba was at a loss for the first time by the amber-eyed man. This wasn’t the reaction that he was expecting from him. Perhaps that was the wrong approach to take with him. Either way, his day was ruined. Kaiba’s cell phone rang, discontinuing any more dwelling on the subject. He flipped it and answered very curtly. “What?” he seethed.

The person on the other line was stunned for a minute. “Kaiba-sama,” a feminine voice answered him. “There is something you need to see. Please come to the office now.” The line disconnected.

Kaiba collected himself before dialing another number. He put the phone to his ear and cleared his voice. “Listen, be at my school in five minutes or you’re fired.” With a scowl on his face, the young CEO closed his phone and waited outside of the school building.

Yuugi, still on cloud nine with his confirmed date tonight, walked around the school with a smile on his face. As he was turning a corner, he saw his best friend on a chair sitting outside of the cafeteria. Tears were coming from his eyes. It hurt his heart to see his friend suffer so much. Not only that, but guilt was also something that he was feeling because he was so caught up in his own happiness that he neglected all others. Laying a friendly hand on Jou’s shoulder, he caught the teen’s attention.

“What’s wrong, Jou?” he asked, concern completely surrounding his whole persona. Jou looked at his best friend. “It’s nothing you need to concern yourself about.” To prove this, he tried to smile his tears away. Unfortunately, he was an open book to his friends. “Jou, this isn’t Duel Monsters. You don’t have to bluff.” Yuugi added a joke so that there would be less tension between the two.

The blond sighed. “Today, I learned that Shizuka-chan has a boyfriend. Maybe I feel so jealous. All of my friends have some sort of love interest. Perhaps I wonder why someone would want me.” Yuugi’s eyes widened as he was told this. “I mean, what do I have to offer someone? Perhaps, love isn’t for someone like me.”

With that, he pushed away from Yuugi’s eyes for, to him, they felt condemning. He left a stunned Yuugi in his wake and headed towards the roof.

Yuugi stood there for the longest time. He didn’t know Anzu was behind him. “What happened, Yuugi?” she asked, noticing her boyfriend’s rigid stance.

“I feel like a horrible friend.” His voice came out thick, as if he was about to cry. Anzu, noting the tone that he used, figured that he was blaming himself for something. So she hugged him from behind. Yuugi sank into the warmth that the other provided, his tears subsiding for the moment. He told her of what had transpired just a minute ago. Anzu listened quietly and caressed his cheek in a friendly manner. “I don’t think that we can help him at this point.” She told him. Yuugi turned around so quickly and looked at her so fiercely that she was a bit afraid of what his next action could be. “How could you say something like that?” he bit out.

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that he is going through something internal and most likely wants to be left alone.” The spiky-haired teen calmed down substantially as she told him this. “But, if you like, we can call Jou’s social worker and tell him of what we know. Perhaps he will know what to do.”

Yuugi realized that Anzu was right. Jounouchi was going through some pain that was caused indirectly by the two of them. He leaned forward and planted a kiss on the dancer’s cheek lightly. “I’m sorry that I exploded. I’ll go and call him.”

With that, he leaves his love. She smiles at his retreating form. No wonder she fell in love with him. Besides being cute, he was also caring and empathetic.

Mokuba and Shizuka sat at the lunch table together. Now that their feelings had been declared to one another, they didn’t have to hide their thoughts. “I actually hid from you the first time that I met you.” Mokuba tells his love. “I was so nervous. You made me feel things that I had never felt before. I couldn’t understand it at first. I come in contact with many girls and none of them made me feel that way. It was then that I fell hard for you.” He puts a hesitant hand along her shoulder, effectively hugging her.

Shizuka knew how much that move cost him, so she smiled to tell him without words that the gesture was welcomed. “Well, I saw the first day that I came back to Domino, a cute kid that made me actually enjoy coming to school. I saw him blushing whenever I looked at him and he made me feel things that I never felt. It was so strong. When I saw you sad, I just wanted to kiss you and make you feel better. But I didn’t know how you would feel. And now, I don’t have to hide.”

They stayed like that for a while, eating their lunch in a comfortable silence.

Kaiba made his way to his company. There were reporters outside of the building. Whenever there were reporters, it meant that something big was about to happen and these vultures would come, circling the corpse to rip apart shreds of facts to concoct more lies. When the limo was making a complete stop, the vultures attacked, slamming his window and asking questions.

“Is it true that….” These were the sorts of questions that they asked. “No comment!” He told them all.

Entering KaibaCorp, his personal assistant looked at him in a no playing around way, holding a clipboard in her hands. “What is it, Sakura-san?” he asked her as they entered the elevator.

“Well, the biggest toy company, Excalibur, and the one of the biggest electronic technologies companies, HBC, are merging. If they are allowed to do this and succeed, then KaibaCorp will fall behind in the race to create gaming technology. But that’s not the reason I called you over today.”

Kaiba looked at her in his business only attitude. “Some of the shareholders from HBC feel that this is too hasty of a move and are appalled that they are merging with a longtime rival. So two of the most powerful shareholders would like to meet with you tonight and discuss plans for a takeover and a secret bid. With enough money, we can buy out HBC before Excalibur merges with them, allowing us to control the cards when they call the meeting in a week’s time.”

Kaiba mused over the facts in his head. It is logically a good idea, but people are very fickle. This could be a trap so that he would lose money on the shareholders, thereby funding their Research and Development Department. The elevator came to the top floor where his secretary, dressed in scantily revealing clothes that would never pass for business wear, greeted him. “Kaiba-sama, you have three messages from reporters…”

“You’re fired.” The blue-eyed CEO calmly tells her. She had no time to cover up the shock. “This is a place of business, not a whorehouse. Please remove your things from your desk and leave before I have Security escort you out.” He made his way towards his office. Sakura Nicola looked at the fired secretary and stuck her tongue at her before entering her boss’s office and shutting the door.

Kaiba, after taking his seat and turning on his desktop, looked at his personal assistant. “Sakura-san, set up the meeting with the two shareholders at the Golden Palace and make two separate reservations.”

“May I ask what the second reservation is for?” she asked.

“Mokuba and his date are going to that restaurant. I want the table to be close that I can see him but enough to give him personal space.” Kaiba, although afraid that his brother was growing up, wanted Mokuba to be happy. If dating this girl will make him happy, then dammit, let him be happy. It seemed like yesterday that the kid thought that girls had cooties.

“I am surprised that you would even allow him to date.” She snorted. “If anything, I thought that you would make him a spinster like you.” She laughed quietly.

Kaiba glared at the woman but otherwise said nothing. “What do we know of the two shareholders that we are meeting?” Kaiba asked to get back on track.

“Well, …” she trailed off. “Hey, are you saying that I am going with you?” she asked. Kaiba looked at the woman as if she should already know the answer.

“Well, you are my personal assistant as well as my vice-president so I guess that means YES, you are going.” There was irritation in his voice and Nicola, being bright and since she had worked with him for so long, picked up on this.

“It sounds that you were rejected by your love, Seto-kun.” To this comment, Kaiba stood at his full height, making the woman shuddered involuntarily. “I’m sorry. That was out of line.”

Kaiba sighed. Never one asking for help, he took a seat. “What would you do in my situation?” he asked her valued opinion.

She looked at him with a face of extreme empathy. “I wish I could tell you, but Seto-kun, love isn’t something that you can analyze. Love is something you feel. Love means wanting something so bad that you would give up most anything for that person. Love means wishing that person happiness, even if it doesn’t include you. Love means being everything for that person and having the person do the same. To tell you what love is or to tell you what you should do in this position is impossible. That is something you must figure out for yourself.” She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You’re a bright boy. You’ll figure something out.”

With that, the two of them went back to work.

Jounouchi was staying at the sky as he laid on the roof. The one door that allowed access to this place opened and a man with silver braids walked towards him. “Are you feeling alright?” his social worker asked him.

Jou stood up and grinned at him. “Of course I am, Bri-kun.” He told him.

Brittinia looked at him as if he already knew. “You’re lying.” He told his child softly. “Your face is an open book to me, Katsuya-kun.”

Katsuya scoffed and put back on his sad face. “Are you going to tell me what is wrong, Katsuya-kun?”

The blond looked at his social worker. “How would you feel when the most important person to you left you for another?” he asked mysteriously.

“What do you mean?”

“I found out that Shizuka is dating Mokuba. On one hand, I am happy that she found someone to love her, but on the other hand, I feel as if a certain part of my heart was taken away from me.” He stood up to face the man that he called friend. “Do I make sense?”

“Katsuya-kun, you need to understand,” the silver-haired man walked over to Katsuya and placed a friendly arm around his shoulder. “When it comes to siblings, you have to learn that one day, they will find someone that will make them happy. Don’t think of it as losing them, but gaining a new sibling.”

Katsuya thought about this for a while. It did make sense. If someone had to date his sister, he rather it be one of his friends than a total stranger. “Yeah” he said, cheering up substantially. “That makes perfect sense. Thank you, Bri-kun.”

With that, Katsuya went downstairs to his classroom, leaving a smiling social worker behind.

As he entered his class and sat down at his desk, his friends swarmed him. “Are you feeling alright?” Honda asked.

It was then that Kaiba, back from dealing with his impromptu meeting came into the class. “Are you kidding, Honda?” the blond told him in a loud voice. “I just remembered that I had a date with the one and only Kujaku Mai tonight.”

Kaiba caught the words and was shocked, although his facial expressions showed nothing. Dammit! I knew he was straight. Love means wishing that person happiness if it doesn’t include you. Bah! The CEO’s mind continued to rant as he overheard his love interest’s bragging.

Finally, school was over. Kaiba looked for his little brother and saw him holding hands with a girl. She looked very familiar but she must not be important for him to remember her. He walked over to his brother with an air of importance. Shizuka must have felt this for she bowed her head low. Mokuba looked at the visage of his older brother. “Onii-sama, what is it?” he asked.

“I have to go to the office to plan a dinner meeting.” He told him, not bothering to look at the girl that stole him away from her. “Your reservation is at 7:00 at the Golden Palace under the name Kaiba Mokuba.”

Mokuba nodded his head and made a hand motion to Shizuka. “This is my girlfriend, Kawai Shizuka.” She bowed slightly and said a quiet hello. Kaiba gruffly returned the greeting. “Oh, just so you know, Shizuka’s brother is Jounouchi.”

At that, Kaiba’s eyes steeled. What force was working against him that made everything point to the blond? He nodded politely at the girl for the sake of his brother and left.

Shizuka looked at her boyfriend strangely. “What was that about?” she asked. “Well, your brother and mine aren’t on particularly good terms.” He left it at that and it was satisfactory for her as she walked home with the ebony-haired bishounen escorting her.

It was 6 o’clock in a familiar posh apartment. Shizuka had already left for her date with Mokuba. Jounouchi, no longer plagued by sadness, prepared for his date with the Amazon. He always had a thing for her. She had noticeably changed from a stuck-up, look out for number one pretty girl into a caring individual. And he liked that. Now, all he needed was to prove that he liked her more than the dream Kaiba.

He resolved into not taking a nap as it would most likely make him dream about Kaiba. He did not need that. Putting on a blue-leather jacket over a brown shirt and denim jeans, he gave himself a once-over in the mirror. He looked good. Deciding against a comb because his locks would stubbornly not stay in any place but messy, he left his hair like it would normally.

He looked in his wallet. There was 10,000 yen in it. Not that the messenger job was paying much, most of his money came from the stipend that the Ministry of Social Services paid him. This was enough to take Mai to the swankiest restaurant in Domino, the Golden Palace.

The blond looked at the microwave clock. It read 6:30. Taking his keys, his motorcycle helmet and a spare, Jounouchi left his apartment.

Kaiba and Sakura made it to the Golden Palace at exactly 6:50. The CEO wore a dressier version of his customary trench coat, blue as if it were a suit, under a button down blue shirt and white dress pants. Sakura was wearing a purple strapless dress. At a close glance, the two of them might have looked like they were dating. However, the colors and the outfits were chosen very carefully by a Public Relations worker. Kaiba’s outfit was meant to say that he meant business while Sakura’s said that we welcome you.

The two sat in a booth at the far west of the restaurant, waiting for the shareholders to come, which they did at promptly 7 o’clock.

The more influential shareholder was a woman with salt-and-pepper hair and a blue blouse with matching slacks. The other shareholder was a balding man with a dirty brown three piece suit.

The woman spoke first. “So you decided to take us on our offer. You give us 100 million yen to divide between the shareholders and we will give you majority control in HBC.”

As Kaiba and the woman talked shop, Sakura noticed from her peripheral vision that a familiar head of ebony hair came in, escorting a lovely girl. She had strawberry colored hair and an aura of kindness and innocence. Mokuba, in her opinion, chose well. She discreetly alerted her boss of the arrival of the two.

Mokuba was feeling a little nervous since the start of his date. This being his first one, he watched his actions and made sure that he made the right one. He was unsure of his clothes choice, a denim vest over a red turtleneck and white slacks. His breathing was erratic and uneven. Shizuka, on the other hand, was in awe at the place. There were chandeliers on the ceiling and air of adultness here. She had on a simple pink blouse with a matching skirt.

They sat down at a table on the far east of the room. Shizuka looked at her boyfriend and noticed his erratic breathing. She grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. “You look nice tonight and don’t worry,” She smiled lightly. “I like you even though you look like you got dressed in the dark.” Her smile broadened as he chuckled a bit. “Be proud that you can pull off the colorblind look off.”

That was the tension breaker for Mokuba. He smiled. “Thank you, Shizuka. I like your dress.” The waiter came and the two placed their orders.

At 7:30, Jounouchi and Kujaku Mai entered the Golden Palace. Mai was wearing an orange spaghetti strap shirt and denim jeans. The two were escorted to a table at the far south of the restaurant.

As Kaiba’s table, they were on their appetizers when Kaiba noticed blond hair. As he focused on the owner of that hair, it turned out to be none other than Jounouchi Katsuya. Of all of the coincidences that has happened in his life, this has to take the cake. Not only was his brother out on his date here, his love interest was here also.

Sakura noticed that her boss’s attention was slightly diverted. She followed from were his eyes were staring to a cute blond boy with a very beautiful woman. From their conversations, the personal assistant assumed that the boy was that Katsuya fellow. She snorted lightly at the irony of the situation before turning her attention to the business dinner.

Jounouchi, clueless to the fact that his sister, her date, and his worst enemy, were at the same restaurant as he was. Rather he allowed himself to be immersed in small talk with Mai. As she was talking about the stuff that had happened to her, the blond seemed to get a bit bored with her. It seemed as if he was slipping away from reality. That’s because you are deluding yourself.

Unnoticeably, Jounouchi flinched. It seemed as if his subconscious decided to talk to him after a long period of silence. “And how am I deluding myself?” he asked himself. Oh, you like Mai but only as a friend. It is Kaiba that you want as something more than a friend. “No, you’re wrong!” he shouted mentally. Ok, but as you end the dinner, kiss her and then tell me that I’m wrong. “Fine, I will.” He told himself, if a bit childishly.

Kaiba’s dinner meeting ended with the parties agreeing with getting a quarter of the agreed amount of money now and the rest of the payment when the takeover was complete. The two shareholders left his presence.

Sakura looked at him. “Well, that meeting exceeded my expectations. I was surprised that you argued them down to that low of an amount.” But Kaiba’s attentions were elsewhere. It seems as if the blond was done with his meal. He glared at the woman that Jounouchi chose over him. Not that he presented himself as a viable option to the blond, but since glaring at him would not make him feel as good, his terrifying gaze fell on a oblivious Amazon. A hand waved in front of his face, interrupting him from glaring that woman into a pile of goo.

“You know, she isn’t going to drop dead from you glaring at her.” She looked at him and his forehead had crease marks in them. He was pissed.

Oblivious to the constant attention that they were receiving, Jounouchi looked over his dinner companion. Sure she was beautiful, but she did not provoke the same reaction as the dream Kaiba did. It couldn’t be right. So, to prove to his damn subconscious that he was, in fact, straight, he leaned across the table. Mai saw this and allowed him to make his move. Their lips met but, oddly enough, there was no spark. The amber-eyed teen pulled back.

”Thank you for the dinner, Jou.” She said quickly. “But I think that it would be better that we remain friends.” She smiled at him and he smiled back. Not a powerful one, mind you, the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I think so too, Mai.”

With that, the two left the restaurant keeping a comfortable distance between them, still oblivious to the looks that a very pissed off CEO was sending them.

The blue-eyed teen, although he couldn’t hear the words that passed between HIS Puppy and the woman that decided to come between them, he could see that kiss. “He kissed her. He kissed her.” Kaiba repeatedly said in his head. At his side, Sakura looked at him with the utmost sympathy. She kept her mouth shut until he rose from his seat. “I think it’s time to go.” The long-haired woman nodded and allowed Kaiba to pick up the tab.

At the door, Sakura got into her car and waved to Kaiba. “If it’s any consolation, I still think that you have a shot. They were not close after the kiss. It was as if they were keeping their distance.” She got in and drove off. Kaiba did the same.

When he made it back to his mansion, he just headed to his room. What if Sakura was right? He thought. But then, that kiss would have to mean nothing. Deciding that he was emotionally tired, he fell asleep, once again, oblivious to the ethereal blue wisps above his head.

Jounouchi went back to his apartment. He ran quickly to his room and shut the door. Leaning against it, he slid down till he was sitting on the floor. Instead of crying or feeling sad, he laughed. It was more than a light chuckle but less than rip-roaring laughter. There was sarcasm and irony in his laugh. “So, even my subconscious is smarter than me. How ironic.” He snorted. “But now, what do I do about it?”

He got undressed and fell asleep on his bed, never seeing the ethereal blue wisps above his head.

Author’s Note: I am so sorry that this is late. I haven’t heard from my beta in a long time, which delayed the writing of this fic. Plus, my computer was on the fritz and the internet wasn’t working. Another thing that happened was that I had too many ideas for this chapter, some felt out of character for this fic. It is difficult to write a Seto romance fic because the idea itself is OOC. So it is more of an internal thinking chapter instead of a talking one. I am happy but not satisfied with how it came out. But tell me what you think of this. And don’t worry, the next chapter won’t take as long.