Title: Sugar and Spice (7/7)
Author: Satanic Mechanic
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Seto/Jou, slight Otogi/Honda
Beta: Jennie
Spoilers: None
Summary:
A baking contest turns Domino High into a competitive frenzy.
What
effect will this have on everyone's favorite CEO and a
certain
underdog in the competition?
First a few reviewer responses…
Mandapandabug: Yeah, you figured out the whole…Mokuba…Yugi thing. I can't say much else or It will spoil it for everyone…which I probably just did anyway…not that important though.
Icy Flame: glomps back Thanks for the very nice and lengthy review. Those are always satisfying.
King Mana: Thanks, I wanted to make sure I did something no one else has done. Even if it is ridiculous, lol. That's half the fun.
La Folle: Hopefully I can update Black Ink soon…I'm so lazy…ugh. Thanks for showing me some love!
Goomba5: Why yes, I do suck balls. And your mom liked it too. By the way…you should have the randomly crapping in your pants thing checked out, you know, get some medication. That can't be a good sign.
A/N: Wow, lotsa people reviewed the last chapter. Thanks guys. Just so you know, the reasons why updates were so quick was because I finished this fic back in the beginning of December. Otherwise…updates would not be as quick. Believe me, lol. Oh yeah, I might…possibly do a epilogue to this one day…only because I'm not sure If I'm satisfied with the ending. Okay, that's all, enjoy the finale!
The group felt a bit disappointed at the results of the competition, but life went on. It was Christmas Eve after all, and there was plenty to be grateful for. Like the fact that they were all still alive and kicking; and considering all the crazy shit they had been through over the past years, that was really saying something. Jou had been a bit surprised when he saw an invitation waiting for him when he got home from school; an invitation to a party at the Kaiba Estate. He had called Yugi, and they had agreed that they should go since it was a rare opportunity, even if they both were a bit nervous for their own reasons; Jou because he was going to have to face the object of his affections, whom he had kissed earlier that day, and Yugi because…well, that was still a bit of a mystery.
"Hey guys! I'm so glad you could make it!" Mokuba said as he pulled open the large doors, struggling just a bit and beaming up at the teenagers gathered in front of him. He was glad to see that two of them were Jou and Yugi, and Anzu, Honda, Otogi, and Bakura made up the rest.
"Uh yeah…what's with the get up?" Jou tried not to laugh as he took in the green and purple atrocity the boy had on. It resembled something an elf might wear, complete with pointy-toed boots with jingle bells attached to them. Mokuba groaned and crossed his arms, looking like he had been seriously hoping no one would notice or say anything about his current state of dress.
"It's Seto. The only way he would agree to let me have this party was if I wore this," Mokuba scowled, and for the first time that he could remember, Jou saw a brief resemblance between the two brothers.
"Eh, it's not so bad, Mokuba. You look really cute." Jou stressed out the last word with a well-placed pinch to the cheek, causing they boy to whine and throw his hands up defensively.
"Jou! Don't be so embarrassing!. Come inside before you guys get sick," Mokuba said as he stepped aside to give them room. "Hey Yugi." The boy winked a second later, and Yugi flushed slightly.
"Uh…hi."
The room was sparsely decorated with some lights and garland. There was a table set up with a bunch of snacks, and in the corner there was a stereo playing some typical Christmas tunes. Other than that, it didn't really look much like a party. The group hesitantly scattered into the room, making small talk while they poked at some chips and the like. Anzu saw Honda standing by himself near the fireplace, and decided it was her perfect chance to strike. She had already made out with Jou the other day and figured that she might as well try and shoot for the whole collection. Taking out her stash of mistletoe, she made her way over to the unsuspecting prey.
"Hey there, Honda."
"Man, this is going to be a fast moving evening." Honda rolled his eyes and Anzu smiled.
"Yeah…we should start our own party." The girl grinned and held up the sprig of mistletoe, watching the way the boy flushed slightly.
"Um…Anzu, maybe we shouldn't…" Honda panicked as the girl leaned in, feeling relieved a second later as she pulled away with a hiss.
"…Otogi? You want to let go of my hair?" Anzu demanded as she turned her head slightly to see Otogi standing behind her, a fist wound tightly in her hair, and it didn't feel too nice.
"Do you want to let go of my man?" Honda flushed and Anzu gasped. Was every freaking man she knew gay?!
"Let go of my hair first…"
"No."
"Otogi! Don't be a bitch!"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me!" Anzu whirled around and shoved the boy away, and Otogi had no qualms about fighting back. Much hair pulling ensued while Honda and Jou tried to break them apart. Once Otogi had managed to get out of the choke-hold he was currently in, he grabbed the sprig of mistletoe and tackled Honda to the ground.
"Now you are mine!" he growled out in a possessive manner and Anzu's anger was replaced with pure shock as she watched Otogi effectively violate her friend…not that her friend seemed to be complaining or anything. She shrugged her shoulders and picked up the now-forgotten clump of mistletoe, pulling something out of her secret stash and heading towards her new target.
"Oh Yugi…" The boy looked up to see Anzu holding some mistletoe above her head, a set of pink fuzzy handcuffs dangling from the other hand and a mischievous grin on her face.
"Yugi? This isn't a duel!" Yami gasped as the boy forced them to switch places quickly. He looked up to see Anzu advancing on him. Why did this scenario feel so familiar?
After the brief mayhem, Otogi and Anzu agreed to a truce and headed to the bathroom to fix themselves up, nothing of much interest had happened at the Kaiba Estate Christmas Eve party. Except for when Otogi managed to spike the punch bowl with some alcohol he had snuck in, but shhh…no one is supposed to know about that.
"So where's the Grinch himself?" Jou finally asked Mokuba, who was passing out a bunch of little Christmas gifts, trying desperately to be a good host.
"Upstairs." Mokuba sighed, "I'm lucky he didn't try and flee the country already."
"I'll go and talk to him," Jou promised, noticing how Mokuba seemed relieved.
………
"Kaiba, would you please stop being an antisocial bastard and come downstairs?" Jou asked politely, carrying into the bedroom with him two glasses of bright red fruit punch, one for himself and one for his former partner. Seto didn't complain about the intrusion, but he didn't look up to regard the blonde with much interest either.
"Why would I want to celebrate another failure?" Seto scowled down at the cup of punch in his hand.
"Because it's Christmas Eve!" Jou sighed. "Besides, we're not failures. I talked to the principal, and he said we came in third place," Jou stated proudly before adding, "Due to my brilliant kissing booth idea, no doubt." Seto snorted.
"It's not first place."
"So what? It's not last place, either. Third place is perfectly respectable."
"Says you."
"Let's not forget who came in third place in Battle City."
"I really don't need the one who came in fourth lecturing me on that, thank you," Seto countered, just barely smirking, or was that a smile? It was too hard for Jou to tell.
"Well…whatever," Jou finished lamely, walking slowly over to where Seto was sitting on his bed. He just stood there for a few moments, having a staring contest, before he sat down next to he brunette. "So…" Jou began awkwardly, suddenly feeling very out of place on the perfectly made bed, in the middle of the spotless master bedroom.
"So?"
"I'm surprised." Seto seemed a bit taken aback by the soft-spoken comment. The blonde elaborated, "I mean, you haven't blamed me yet for losing. I thought that'd be the first thing you did."
"I see." Seto stalled, taking a sip of punch, noticing a bite of something else mixed in with the fruit juice. He decided not to worry about it for the time being. "You did well, Jounouchi, I can't push something on you that's not your fault."
"I do think that my kissing booth idea was a good one," Jou boasted, content with the fact that Seto had actually just complimented him. Maybe it really was the season of miracles.
"Yes…even if it was a bit awkward for me." Seto shook his head, swirling around the champagne glass in his hand before taking a long sip.
"We make a pretty good team," Jou grinned, enjoying the way Seto's face looked without the trademark scowl; it was handsome, even. He suddenly found himself feeling very jealous. It didn't seem fair that someone could be that rich, that brilliant, and that sexy to top it all off. Still, he contented himself with the fact that those deep blue eyes were fixed intently on him at the moment.
"Here, take this," Seto said as he bent down slightly, pulling a red box topped with a large gold bow out from under his bed.
"What?" Jou stuttered for a moment, his voice mimicking his heart as he read the tag on the gift: To Jou, From Seto. He knew that that sounded like a pretty stupid reaction for him to have, but he was new to this. He was sure that many other stupid actions would cross his path in the near future.
"It's a Christmas present…in case you couldn't figure that out," Seto said, echoing the words that Jou had teased him with the other day. He watched as the blonde rolled his eyes and then shook his head, sending blonde bangs falling in he face. He really did love watching those reactions. Jou accepted the gift and gingerly untied the gold ribbon, tearing off the glittery red paper. What the hell could Seto Kaiba have gotten him? Maybe it was some fancy new tech gadget, or some Duel Monsters stuff? If it was anything dog related he was going to punch him right there.
"What the…" Jou trailed off he pulled out what appeared to be an article of clothing. Unfolding the item, it all became clear, and he couldn't help but smile slightly. "An apron?"
"That pink one was ridiculous," Seto stated simply, watching as Jou slipped the thing on, looking down at the big red letters that read: 'Kiss the Cook'.
"Thanks. Although…I think that line is a bit corny." Jou always thought that the best gifts were ones that meant something; like an inside joke between the giver and the receiver, or maybe just something of sentimental value. It just made it seem more personal. It made him happy to see that Seto had gotten it so right so soon.
"Well…I think it's good advice," Seto drawled out, leaning in closer to the blonde, who was currently frozen to the spot.
He had given him a gift; that had to mean the brunette liked him, right? Now, did that mean he was going to kiss him? Or was he just going to pick a piece of lint out of his hair? Jou didn't have time to finish processing his flustered thought patterns before Seto closed in. Jou gasped as his mouth was effectively dominated, his brain not even registering the fact that he was being pushed down until he felt his back hit the mattress. He struggled not the spill the glass of punch that he still had in his hand before he felt Seto take it from him, throwing it over his shoulder. It shattered on the ground a few moments later.
………
"Um…did you hear that? It sounded like glass breaking."
"And it sounded like it was coming from brother's room, too…" Mokuba sighed. "I hope they haven't killed each other yet," he said before getting up to investigate, Yugi following closely behind in case he was in need of backup. "Seto? Is everything okay in there?" Mokuba called at his bedroom door, receiving no answer. "Hello?"
"That can't be a good sign," Yugi stated as Mokuba shrugged and opened the door, not quite prepared for what he saw a second later. Jou was currently perched in Seto's lap, pulling off the brunette's shirt and running his hands over as much bare flesh as he could, his mouth latched onto the taller one's neck. Seto had his hands on the blonde's hips and was clinging to him tightly, thrusting up slightly against the hot body on top of him. "Well…I'm glad no one is hurt."
"Mokuba?" Seto moaned as Jou found a sensitive spot behind his ear, only to snap out of his lust induced stupor a moment later. "Mokuba?!" Jou yelped slightly as he was shoved out of the warm lap he had just become so acquainted with.
"What the…oh…hi, Yugi." Jou blushed slightly to which his friend waved and give him a slightly lecherous smirk. Seto, in the meantime, had managed to halfway button up his shirt and got up to grab his little brother's shoulder.
"Are you okay? You shouldn't have had to see that. Do I have to call that therapist again?" Seto fussed over the boy, smoothing down his hair and checking his forehead for any signs of change of temperature. The last thing he wanted to do was screw up the boy's head even more than the last two kidnappings did.
"Look, I'm not scarred for life or anything. Actually…I'm really, really happy! This is exactly what I wanted to happen!"
"Yeah! This is great!" Yugi smiled, blushing slightly when Mokuba winked at him.
"Yeah, I mean, it was just dumb luck that you two were paired up together for that contest. The rest I had to set up myself. That image of Jou took a long time to alter, too…I'm sure glad it paid off!" Mokuba beamed while Seto paused for a second to take in this new, surprising information.
It all made sense now…that picture of Jou that was so flawlessly done, it could only be the work of a Kaiba. And, he was guessing that the chocolate flavored lube that Jou had received had come from Mokuba too…although he didn't really want to think about how the boy had managed to get his hands on that.
"I see," Seto smiled and released his hold on the boy, standing up.
"Yeah! It's my Christmas present to both of you!" Mokuba beamed and Seto crossed his arms.
"Really? Can I exchange it for store credit?"
"Hey!" Jou shouted indignantly from his current position on the tousled bed sheets.
………
"Look who we got to come downstairs!" Mokuba called to the other members of the party as he made his way down the stairs, Yugi, Jou, and Seto following him.
"If it isn't the priest!" Bakura slung and arm around the taller one's neck, grinning at him with sharp, pointy teeth. "Did you have fun up there?"
"Get off me," Seto glared daggers at him and tried to shrug the demented spirit off, but Bakura was not deterred.
"Hmm…is that a hickey?" Bakura questioned running his hands over the bright red, raw spot on the man's neck, grinning when he heard the sharp intake of breath. "Good job, Hoover." Bakura nudged Jou in the ribs before walking off and laughing quietly at his own joke.
"Well…um, look, it's almost midnight!" Jou exclaimed as he noticed all eyes were on him and his recent make out partner. "We should open up presents."
"Okay, that's a good idea!" Anzu agreed. Everyone had already agreed in advance to exchange gifts at the party, and now was as good a time as any. Mokuba hurriedly huddled under the tree and began unwrapping a few of his many presents, mostly from Seto, while Yugi joined him. Anzu was the first one in the group to finish passing out all her gifts.
"Anzu, you shouldn't have," Jou said as she handed him a package, opening it up to reveal what was inside. "Ah…tube socks. Thanks."
"Oh, Seto! Open up mine next!" Otogi grinned wickedly and Seto eyed the package he had been handed warily.
"Is it safe for little children to see?" Seto questioned, taking a glance over at Mokuba.
"I'm not a little kid!" Mokuba protested, but quickly shut up as he discovered another one of the CDs he had wanted.
"Would you stop and just open it? I promise, it doesn't vibrate or anything."
"I appreciate that." Seto shook his head an opened up the large box, pulling out a large, fluffy article of clothing.
"Is that what I think it is?" Jou groaned as he realized what Seto had pulled out of the box, the source of much humiliation and annoyance in Jou's life.
"A dog suit," Seto stated plainly, unable to hide the underlying amusement in his voice. Jou was about to say something smart when Seto turned a searing blue gaze on him, effectively shutting him up. Yeah, he supposed this might work out. Even if it didn't last that long, he was sure he could look forward to some really heated sex in the near future. He'd have to try and remember where he hid that lube.
"Well, I figured you probably need it more than I do now," Otogi winked, only to dodge a punch a second later from Jou.