Wheeeee! Orange-Lemons is back in town!! it's good to be back! I is very sorry it took so long, i really is!! But we just moved inter-state... and I had a very bad case of "first chapter syndrome", but with any luck, my beta and writing support group have cured me...

Also, me has another story for you to go and read! It's not in my usual happy, jokey, fluffy style... although, sometimes i spot horrible, horrible similarities between the two... they will be completely different! honest! but, anyway, it's there. --plug, plug-- NOW, onto the sequel...

THE BOLD AND THE RESTLESS

Asuka gawa
Kawa yodo sarazu
Tatsu kiri no
Omoi sugi beki
Koi ni aranaku ni

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh!, its characters and other funky stuff aren't mine. Poor me.

Chapter 1: Harder to Breathe

A heavy base throbbed from the rear speakers of a sleek, black, convertible Lamborghini. The driver, a youth of 19, searched the dashboard for a lighter, as he waited for the lights to change. He sheltered the flame from the chilled night air, pulling a drag from the cigarette between his lips.

The engine purred, the car gliding forward at it's green cue. Wind whipped through long, raven hair and caught at the smoke in the driver's mouth. It dropped, followed by a whispered curse, the youth searching for his lost tobacco. The needle creeped faster around the speedometre.

A sharp, loud honk alerted the driver to an oncoming truck. Red lights flared in violet eyes.

"Fuck." Unable to stop, he sped up, swerving violently. But the truck caught the rear of the sports car, sending it into a spin. The driver fought with the wheel for control of the vehicle as it careered off the road. He finally gave up in despair, the black metal crumpling against the traffic light post.

Screams, sirens and horns deafened him, intense pain shooting up his body. People were gathered around him, strangers begging hysterically for him to stay awake. His head span, his eyesight foggy. He couldn't feel his legs, he couldn't feel anything. He pulled in a few painful breaths, and slowly lost all conscious thought.

"The cars a write-off, smashed to a bloody pulp." It had been a very, very expensive car. Very sexy, too. Not that Kaiba gave a shit about the car.

The doctor pushed the double doors open, showing the CEO into Domino Private Hospital. "He's lost a lot of blood, and his legs we're badly crushed on impact. He has also retained severe head injuries. We're hopeful he will regain consciousness within 24 hours, but it is doubtful he will ever walk again. There is also a possibility of brain damage to the right side of his brain..."

Kaiba stared down at the pale face of his little brother, stomach churning. There were tubes and wires attached to his head, chest and wrists, and machines were blinking and beeping beside him.

"He'd been drinking, so it would seem..."

Mokuba still lived at home, but had been spending more and more nights out. Kaiba worried like crazy about him, though he had vowed he would not come between him and a real life. Just because Seto had given up altogether, didn't mean Mokuba had to, right?

Kaiba was starting to feel he had been very, very wrong.

It wasn't fair! Mokuba was his world, and he still had so much to live for. He shouldn't be lying in a hospital bed, depending on machines to breathe for him! Kaiba clenched his fists. It shouldn't be Mokuba lying there. It should be him.

Kaiba stayed in the hospital until four in the morning, when he was shooed off by a well-meaning nurse. Mokuba's condition was no worse. But it was no better, either. Seto could not bear it. He couldn't stand by and watch his little brother, white as a ghost and lifeless. The doctores were more and more concerned that there would be some kind of permanent brain damage, when he woke up.

If he woke up.

Seto's stomach lurched again, threatening to bring up what little food he'd been able to force down his dry throat. How could he have let this happen to the only thing he lived for? He dialled the hospital again.

"Domino Private Hospital, how may I help you?"

"Has there been any change?"

"Pardon? Who is this? That wouldn't be Mr Kaiba, would it?"

"How is Mokuba?"

The receptionist sighed a long-suffering sigh. "He's still comatose. We will notify you as soon as there has been any change. You can stop calling us now."

Seto slammed the phone down. "Fuck!"

The elder Kaiba paced his lounge room. Eight days! Eight days, and Mokuba was still out for the count. Every minute, he prayed for and dreaded the harsh ringing of the telephone. He just needed to know! For better, or for... well...

When the phone did at last ring, it took a minute for Seto to realise it wasn't just his imagination. He ran to the phone, dropped it, and picked it up again.

"Is there any news?"

"Mr Kaiba... I..." Seto's heart stopped. No. No. It was all he could think, over and over. No.

"Is he... is he...?"

"I'm sorry. There was nothing we could do."

No. Kaiba didn't believe it. Mokuba couldn't be... No. No, no, no, no, no. The phone slipped from his trembling hands. No, no... He sank to his knees, unable to support himself. His brother... his world... no... he wasn't gone...

His whole body shook violently, hot bile rising in his throat. His already tender soul shattered - what else was there? An empty life alone, with his machines? He couldn't handle it anymore. He didn't want to be alone. He didn't want to live, without a purpose, without something to live for...

He climbed the stairs, a dull ringing in his ears. Reaching the third floor, he stood on the balcony, eyes upon the heavens. Was Mokuba up there? Was he watching? Seto wiped his watering eyes. Why?

Those beautiful, clear blue eyes fell from the skies, dropping to stare at the ground three stories below. He had nothing else to live for. Why should he go on?

He gingerely stepped up onto the railing, balancing perfectly. Well?

He took a deep breath, one he recognised as his last...

9600 kilometres away, in a cheap motel room in Cairo, a slim, young man with tri-coloured hair bolted up in bed. "Seto..."

Okies! That'll do for now! The new ff.net formatting is really screwy! wah!! but don't forget to drop a review on your way through!!