So it continues...

This is the next fic in my series, coming after It's Never That Easy. Also, Orion is the prequel that you should read at some point (it's my favorite fic I've written).

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

The first two and a half chapters are what is left, after editing, of the five chapters I originally had from years ago. I've taken the rest of it down so I can check it to make sure it matches up, and hopefully catch any terrible typos while I'm at it. So I'll hopefully be posting it regularly and in chunks. I'm not sure if I'll do the same thing to Until He Had It All yet. Maybe, as I do like to have them extra edited and it gives me more time with the last one (which I really want to get ready for posting every day!). I also love rewriting my stories until I'm thoroughly satisfied with them... (so if you're a returner, look for the changes!) Anyway, enjoy and review as you read. If you tell me the kinds of parts you like more of then I can include more of that as I write. And now, for an altered intro:

A fair girl sat on a white couch, her body turned sideways, shoulder resting against the back of her seat. One foot rested on the couch, the other draped to the floor, and her mind was, as usual, occupied with a book.

It was nice in the summer with no school to take up half the day. Now it was about to come to an end, with her senior year of high school about to start in a couple of weeks. Her bedtime would become later and her alarm set for the early morning.

Jemmea looked up from her book, a little tired from the long stretch of reading. She secured a ribbon as a bookmark and closed the text. Looking to her feet, she rubbed them together, tickling the bottoms and awakening the nerves. She looked contently around again at the room.

The loft was beautiful. Open, so different from the little apartment. It was farther away from people, high up from the street. She could hardly hear sirens and the other sounds of the city, if at all. None of the windows making up the walls of her common space opened, keeping the hot August air out.

Unlike Seto, Jem liked being in the city and up in the sky. Anyone who got close to the window could look down the street and would be able to see the Kaiba Corp. building in the distance.

A formally dressed man hurried through the room, his arms loaded with groceries. "Daydreaming, Jemmie?"

"Good afternoon, Avery," the girl greeted. At this, her phone rang. Jem answered it without looking, seeing as only four people ever called her.

"Yes?" she offered, pausing to see which voice would respond. She smiled when it was him. He was a treat, and not exhausting at all.

"A meeting was canceled and I'll be at home for the rest of the day. Come over now," he instructed blatantly.

"I will be there momentarily," she replied, and that was it. The matter was resolved with a click.

Jem let her hand fall and called over her shoulder, "Avery, my bag, if you will." She then rose and went to her shoes, Avery greeting her, bag in hand.

"Will Mr. Kaiba see you now?" he asked as she stuffed her bag with handpicked items. She only glanced up at him once the items fell, knowing he was teasing her. "Will you be home for dinner?"

She shrugged as she swung the bag over her shoulder. "I don't know what he'll want."

"You are always so quick to do what he asks," Avery commented.

Jem just glanced up at him in her shuffle, then turned to leave without indulging him.

When she opened the door, Avery called out to her, "Jemmie-"

"Hm?" she responded serenely. Her feet paused in their strut as she place a hand on the door frame to glance back at him.

"I think it's nice that you have someone you are so eager to see, and trust the way you do," he replied, watching his dear girl for a reaction.

Jem looked at him a moment, then dropped her eyes to the floor, thinking. She turned away in this same manner, in the clouds and on her way.

Relieved of his servants, Jem walked through his halls until she found the familiar dark wooden door. She took the knob delicately in her hand, trying to be as peaceful as possible, knowing he must be working.

There he was, typing away. He sat in front of huge windows that made up one of the walls. The rest were lined with bookshelves. In the middle of the room, there were some black leather chairs, a couch, and a plasma screen TV was mounted on the wall. But Jem's attention was fixed on the boy whose brown hair fell in his intense blue eyes, focused on the computer screen.

She stood there for a moment, watching him. He did not acknowledge her in any way. She silently closed the door behind her and slowly approached him, giving her attention to the rows of books as she waited. He continued in his rhythmic typing, and without skipping a beat, snapped his computer lid shut and set it aside. Her head snapped with it, and she saw him leaning back, finding the corner of his chair. He looked at her as he reclined, and she swiftly approached him, taking her cue. She only slowed when she turned the corner of his desk, his eyes on her. She knew he would direct her as he wanted, and indeed he did. Seto reached out, placing a hand on her waist. She went with it as he guided her directly into his lap. From there, he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, inhaling to take the one breath that refreshed him.

That's how it was now. When Seto wanted her in his lap, he put her in his lap. If he wanted a kiss, he'd take it. If he wanted her overnight, he'd tell her when to meet him. Jem allowed this as she also enjoyed his company. She still wasn't used to it, but he was the first person to touch her tenderly, the first to admire small things about her. And he was safe.

Jem leaned down to set her bag on the floor and he wrapped his arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall. She came back up to rest against his chest, feeling the material of his clothes on all the places her sun-dress didn't cover. It was still a hot August day, even if Seto ignored that.

She turned her head, giving him a moment, but her curiosity had the better of her. "Do you have your schedule?" she asked quietly, as though she was gently awakening him.

"Hm?" he asked, not fully pulled away.

She leaned down again to extract the paper from her bag. The blonde clutched it between her hands as she again sat upright, ready.

With her lean his grasp had loosened, and he now looked at her, processing what she had said.

"My school schedule?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, lowering her eyebrows as she internally scolded herself for not thinking to differentiate. Of course he had more important schedules to keep. Jem felt him pull a hand away, seeing him raise it to rest his chin on in her peripheral. She then looked to him, only to see his cold eyes on her.

"I forgot," he remarked. She tilted her head, confused. "You're little." He saw her lower her eyebrows, confused and thinking hard. Kaiba didn't let her fret over this for long, however, and returned his hand to wander over her again. "I graduated valedictorian while you were away."

Seto watched her, as he loved to do, as she put it together. She looked back at the paper between her hands, her shoulders falling as she realized what this meant. She felt defenseless.

Kaiba reached out, catching her long blonde strands over her shoulder and exposing her troubled face. "Mokuba will be in the same building as you this year," he offered, watching his hand and admiring the silky texture.

"Will he be anywhere near me?" she asked, looking at him and ignoring his hand.

"It's highly unlikely," he replied indifferently.

Jem looked back down at the paper and huffed, but then bent down again to stow the paper, seeing no point in dwelling on it.

When she sat back up, she turned to him, giving him the attention she knew he so desired. "So what now then? The usual for you?" she inquired.

"I'm designing a tournament," he proclaimed proudly. "One to lead Yugi to his demise."

She watched his rather evil grin form as he continued to toy with her hair, rejoicing in the reels he fostered in his head.

Hers was far less pleasant. Yugi… She envisioned him and his friends painfully. The ones that talked to her. She unintentionally moaned despairingly.

"What is it?" Seto asked as she turned toward him for comfort, closing her eyes and taking hold of his jacket.

"Have the tournament early and destroy him. Make it so humiliating that he and all his friends never want to return to school again," she implored painfully.

This amused Kaiba and he smiled again, almost laughing at her delightful request. "Only because you asked me to," he mocked. Seto took one of her wrists in his grip, prying it from his jacket to bring to his lips. He did so enjoy her.

Kaiba lowered her hand to his chest, leaving her to her thoughts as his raced. He let her fall deeper into his chest, tucked away, then reached around her, and resumed working.

Next Chapter: Dreams and Nightmares

I turned my attention to putting my book away, expecting him to disappear on his own. It did happen, but not before I he whispered one last thing in my ear…