Word Count: ~450
Notes: I KNOW. TOTALLY OOC BECAUSE WHEN THE HELL DO THEY EVER GO TO SCHOOL AND ACTUALLY HAVE LESSONS? HAHA. I'm just messing with the characters. OTL sorry. Also, a friend helped translate this fic.
xxx
It had been years since Seto Kaiba last smiled. At a young age, he had forced himself to stop displaying such careless ribbons of emotion on his face and wiped away any trace of kindness from his features. If he did smile, it was a feigned, cruel, and devastating portrait, one that often time fooled the receiver, and one that many a time reminded Seto of his cold, vacant, and hardened heart.
Nothing had been able bring back his real smile. For years, Seto lived in a world void of warmth and care. It was no wonder, then, that when he met Yuugi, his carefully constructed walls shattered like bits of mirror fragments splaying across a floor.
Fragile. His wall had been too fragile. Yuugi shook his core. His foundation. His very soul. Shook it with nothing more than a sweet, innocent smile. That smile bothered him. Made him uneasy. Boiled his blood.
Even after Seto stole Yuugi's grandfather's card, Yuugi would still greet him in the school hallways. In class, Yuugi would smile and chime a cheery, sweet "good morning." And sometimes, when the two found each other after school, Yuugi would smile that stupid, idiotic,-perfect-smile of his and happily tell him to have a nice afternoon.
Oh, how the boy riled Seto! First, his grandfather refuses to sell him the Blue Eyes. Then, he had the audacity to challenge him-him! Seto Kaiba!-to a duel. And now, he casually flashes smiles at him as if they were friends.
Seto scoffed, eyes wandering down Yuugi's face to those rosy lips of his. Yuugi's attention was focused on the teacher, though his gaze was distant and lost. Seto could tell the boy was daydreaming and thought his stare would go unnoticed, but fate was always cruel.
Yuugi's eyelids fell shut, and when they next opened, Seto's gaze met Yuugi's. The boy's violet eyes seemed to glimmer at Seto, silently asking him why he was staring. But the slight confusion was gone a second later, and a smile replaced Yuugi's bored frown. It was the same smile he always flashed at Seto-big and open and welcoming-and Seto absolutely hated it.
Another scoff. Seto ripped away his gaze and pinned his eyes on the teacher. He didn't have to look at Yuugi to know the boy was still staring at him, directing that ridiculously obnoxious-absolutely beautiful-smile at him.
What he didn't know was that it would be Yuugi who would eventually help return Seto's smile and that it would be Seto's own smile that would, years later, save Yuugi from the loneliness that threatened to steal his innocent smile into the afterlife.