Just a short little agnsty piece. It does contain some tough material and language, hence the rating. Please read and review! Hope you guys like it!

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, and I really don't think I ever will...sadly.

It was storming the day he fell in love.

This may not be so strange to most people. The human race is anything but monogamous, many young people going through lovers like paper napkins: you unfold them, use them to the best of their abilities, and discard them when they can no longer be of service. In a perfect world, everyone would eventually find that one that never tore apart or soaked through, and they would live happily ever after, cleaning up messes wherever they went.

Before this day, Seto Kaiba would have laughed at that. To think that one person could stay with him (a bastard on his good days) was an absurd idea. Which was why he had known deep in his heart, this atrocity of a relationship was doomed to fail.

He sat in his home office now, staring out the large window. There was something soothing about the rain tonight, the torrent of emotion and self-loathing coursed through him like the rivers on the pane of glass. He had known when this started he would fuck it up somehow...it had just been a matter of when. He sighed and poured himself another glass of brandy, trying to remember exactly how many glasses he'd had that night already.

The color of the liquid reminded him of Katsuya.

Before he could dwell on it too much, he tossed the alcohol to the back of his throat, emptying the glass in one go. The warmth travelled down his throat, settling in his stomach. He glanced at the clock. 2 a.m., Katsuya would be asleep by now. Seto sat down at his desk, staring at the dark mahogany as he recalled the events that led to this point:

"Wha-? What's this Seto?"

He smiled at the expression on Katsuya's face. He had known the blond would be surprised. But Seto saw the happy glint in the brown eyes, that same look he'd had when they'd gone on their first date.

Stirring the sauce idly, he said nonchalantly, "I'm making you dinner, Jou. What does it look like?"

Jou shook himself out of his stupor and came to stand by the stove, taking in the scene before him.

There were four or five cook books adoring the counter. A cutting board with the remnants of several tomatoes and garlic littered across it. Seto stood there, wooden spoon to his lips as he tasted the red sauce, his eyes on Jou the whole time. There was a large pot of noodles, along with the sauce pan on the stove, and the entire room smelled like garlic.

Jou had to tread carefully. This had to be the first step of Seto's inevitable insanity. Jou had hoped he'd have a few more years before the CEO worked himself to Crazy-ville, so he hadn't quite planned all this out.

"Um.." he began, "Where's Mokuba?" Jou didn't hear the tell-tale signs of the younger Kaiba in the living room, and that had him worried. If Seto had gone off his rocker suddenly, Mokuba might not have had time to get out.

"Mokuba's at a friend's for the night," Seto said, still watching Jou. "What's wrong, I thought you liked spaghetti?" Blue eyes finally broke away and flicked to the nearest cook book. "Does it smell bad? I followed the instructions exactly..."

For some reason, it had taken Jou till this time to notice what his lover was wearing. Unless it was a rare "fun day" (an attempt of Mokuba's to get the CEO away from work, usually guilt was implemented) Jou rarely ever saw Seto in anything other than a suit or nothing at all. But tonight, Seto had defiantly dressed down. He wearing dark jeans, loose on his thin hips, and a dark blue t-shirt. He had a black jacket on, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows to allow him to work. His hair was tousled, and his face was damp with the steam from the food.

He looked good.

Seto stared at his lover. Very rarely did Katsuya just stand quietly. Usually it was when Seto had done something wrong. Sighing, he set the spoon down and made his way over to Katsuya, "You said you wanted us to act more like a regular couple. This was my attempt at granting your wish. Apparently I fucked it up, didn't I?"

Katsuya seemed to visibly relax, his shoulders slumping, and that twinkle coming back full force.

"Oh, thank God...I thought you'd finally gone crazy!"

Seto smiled, and went back to stirring as Katsuya began getting plates and silverware ready. He chuckled to himself, he hadn't thought of how he must've looked to the blond. Then, what Katsuya had said really hit him.

"Jou," he questioned, eyes narrowing, "what do you mean 'finally'?"

The dinner had been a nice relief for both of them. Seto had to admit, it was comforting acting like a normal couple for once, instead of being at each other's throats all the time. They were now lounging in the living room, Jou with a beer and Seto a glass of wine, watching some made for TV movie. Seto had his arm draped around Jou, who in turn was busying himself with Seto's hand, massaging the fingers and palm. Seto hadn't been paying much attention to him, he was concentrating on Jou's body pressed against his own. However, when Jou's hand reached to pull his jacket sleeve up, he pulled back slightly.

Jou stiffened immediatly, his hands freezing. Slowly, he turned to look Seto in the eye.

"Seto..." he began, the tone pleading.

"Let's go to the bedroom, shall we?" Seto drawled, proud that he'd kept his voice from shaking. He untangled himself from his lover, and stood up, stretching. He grabbed Jou's hand, and attempted to pull him up from the couch.

"Seto, I've already seen the bandage. I thought you stopped..." Jou's voice was a knife in his belly, the sadness in it almost undoing him.

"I burned myself, bonkotsu. It's nothing, I'm just not all that good with the ways of the kitchen yet," he tried, his voice wavering a bit. He didn't want to deal with this, not now, not ever. Jou tightened his grip on his hand, and quicker than Seto though the blond could move, he shoved the sleeve up, revealing a large gauze pad, neatly held in place by medical tape. Seto sighed, moved to sit beside Jou as the blond grabbed one piece of tape and yanked it off. Seto didn't even flinch as Jou repeated the same to all the tape, finally pulling off the now red-tinged gauze.

The cut was deep, deeper than he'd ever gone before. It had reopened, the blood oozing out slowly.

"Shit, Seto..." Jou muttered, his voice cracking. "Why...I thought I helped you through this. I thought you made progress. When did this happen?"

He didn't reply, just stared down at the cut, bright red against porcelain. He really needed to get more sun, he looked like a ghost. Jou was still talking, his words running together. Without speaking, Seto yanked his arm from Jou, hissing slightly as the cut burned. He grabbed the gauze, and held attempted to stop the cut from dripping on Jou or the expensive plush carpet. He strode to the stairs in the hall, vaguely hearing Jou call his name as he made his way to his study, blood dripping behind him.

"Jou..." he murmured, his heart aching.

"You can never fix me..."

He had let Katsuya down.

After all the late nights, long talks, angry outbursts, and tears (all Katsuya's, never his) he had failed one of the most important people in his life. He knew it wouldn't have worked out, but he'd hoped he could have been granted a few more years.

Hell, he'd give up his company for just one more day with Katsuya.

Seto rose from his chair and made his way to the window again. He wondered if Katsuya was in their bed, or if he'd left for Yugi's or Honda's. Seto wouldn't blame him. The blond had spent the better part of their relationship pulling the CEO out of self dug holes of depression, spouting from years of Gozaburo's "affection."

All of that hard work was put to waste, just because Seto wasn't strong enough to hold back the pain.

He barely heard the door open. He didn't turn, knowing it was Katsuya. No one else was in the mansion. He said nothing as the blond padded over to him. As he stared out the window, a particularly bright flash of lightning illuminated the dark room. He felt Katsuya's slender arms wrap around his waist from behind, felt his cheek resting between his shoulder blades. Seto let his hands intertwine with his lover's, and after several minutes, Katsuya finally spoke.

"You were never broken..."

~Owari~