Angsty piece of work I made with my brother. :D It's posted on adultfanfiction, but it's exactly the same as this one, so don't go looking for a more mature version, okay?

Dragon Pieces

Joey wasn't stupid, despite common belief. He knew that Yugi did not necessarily need Yami to win a duel. He knew that Serenity did not necessarily need him to protect her (not that that was going to stop him). He knew that Téa did not necessarily hold back from hitting her friends (when they deserved it) despite her friendship speeches. He also knew that just because he liked being uke did not necessarily mean that he would get his dream seme.

Because Seto Kaiba was straight, and even if he wasn't, he would never show that he was gay, if only because he didn't need anymore media attention than he already had. Besides, he wasn't even arguing with him anymore. He got no attention from him whatsoever…

So, to distract himself from feeling badly for himself, he sat down in front of Yugi's computer with a pint of Ben and Jerry's Half Baked ice-cream. Yugi, Ryou, and Malik were busy getting ready for their triple date, leaving him more than enough free time to surf the web for about a half an hour, destroy all evidence of eating ice-cream (because the hikaris would worry about him, because they said he only ate that specific type of ice-cream when he was depressed, which was so not true!), and still have enough time to help iron out the last few wrinkles in his friends' plans.

Apparently, Yugi wanted Yami to get along better with Bakura and Marik, Ryou wanted Bakura to learn that he was no longer a thief and to stop trying to kill Yami, and Malik just wanted Marik to get along with everyone, though it appeared that it's hard to get someone whom was once your evil side to play nice. Joey personally thought that bursting into tears would get the three yamis to bow to their whims faster and easier than this whole 'triple date' thing, but did not mention it, because he was (as stated before) not stupid, and he had a strangely acute sense of preservation, unless it came to fighting with Seto.

In an attempt to cheer himself up, he Googled 'challenges ukes face.' The only thing he received for his troubles was something about the United Kingdom, a Speed Racer fan fiction, and something about ukuleles (which he didn't understand, because ukulele was spelt ukulele, not ukelele). He found his attention caught, however, by something titled Uke Survival 101 Challenge, by someone named DuosAngel. There was nothing better to do, so he clicked on it.

Ah, so apparently it was a challenge for fan fiction authors to pick their favorite yaoi pairing and write a fan fiction based on their favorite prompt from the list provided. Well, he wasn't a fan fiction author, but he could at least read the list, right? Maybe get a few laughs, and—

1. Everybody in the entire world has gay inclinations. Have a high school crush on somebody of the same gender? Go ahead, confess! If he doesn't feel the same way about you already, he'll soon be swayed by the depths of your feelings.

Joey let out a squawk and jerked backward, nearly toppling over in his surprise. 'Ack! What the fuck?! That can't be true! Or else—' He stopped his thoughts in confusion. '…But that would explain why all those guys are starin' at Yug', Ryou, and Malik all the time. And why all the yamis immediately (or not so much, in Ryou's case) accepted it.'

He frowned. Well, that helped, but as Seto Kaiba was the exception to everything, he was sure he must be the exception to this too. Feeling just a bit more depressed, he sighed and scrolled onward.

By the time he was finished reading the rest of the list, he found himself terrified of doctors, suspicious of all of his coworkers—especially that guy that always glared at him—and never wanting to be near anyone wearing a uniform again. He was never wearing his uniform for school ever again, either, because he could definitely be trusted! …Unless it was a secret, however; he tended to blurt things out (even if they weren't his to be blurting) when he was nervous.

And he felt himself feeling even more depressed because obviously, Seto Kaiba was the exception to everything that applied to him. He wasn't gay, he didn't get erections just because of aprons, and it was most likely that he wouldn't rape-sex his significant other. …He believed that Seto could always be hard, though, and that he wouldn't give up his position of seme.

However, instead of offering Joey hope that Seto might accept his feelings, like the first prompt said, it just made him feel even lower. Even if Seto was, by chance, gay, he'd find someone on his level. The guy would be suave, smooth, cultured, high-classed. He wouldn't… wouldn't be a clumsy little puppy that stumbled over his words sometimes and was probably part of the lowest class there was. He'd never… never have a chance, and… and Seto would never look his way, unless it was to spit at him, and… and…

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Yugi smiled at the sight of his yami sitting with the other two in the living room stiffly, staring each other down. Malik rolled his eyes and sighed, shaking his head, and began into the room, so Yugi and Ryou began to follow him. "Really, could you three be any more—" The Egyptian cut himself off with a cringe as a loud wail cut through the air.

It took a moment for the fact that it was someone crying to sink into everyone's head, but once it had, all six males began looking around. It wasn't any of them, and no one else was here—

Ryou gasped. "Joey!"

"Ah! He was going to use my computer!" Yugi exclaimed, turning to run up the stairs to his room. As soon as he arrived in his room, he was confused to find his computer on but no Joey. He couldn't have just disappeared, because he wasn't freaking magical, and— Hearing sniffles under the bed, he frowned and knelt down, hesitantly lifting the blankets so he could see underneath them.

Joey had curled up in the corner furthest away from the door and was currently giving him the most heart-broken stare he had ever seen. He assumed it had something to do with Seto again, because Joey had been crying over him a lot lately (not that he'd ever admit to seeing him cry, since the blond went to great lengths to make sure he wouldn't see). He looked up again as he heard a disgruntled squeak.

"Half of this stuff isn't even true!" Malik exclaimed, arms waving in a way that would have been comical if their best friend weren't crying. "'It is impossible to switch it up—' My ass!"

Ryou frowned. "Yes, but the 'apron' part? That one's true. …And the rape-sex part."

"Not everything can be fixed with sex!" the Egyptian roared, and it was apparent to the other two that perhaps Marik had tried doing it a few times too often for their friend's liking. "Unless you're a freaking magical ass fucker and—"

"Malik, we know," Yugi sighed, standing, as he walked over to look at the screen that had made his friend cry. "…This part about no matter how many times or how exhausted the uke is…"

"We know," the other two sighed, just before their other halves—finally making their way up the stairs after shoving, pushing, jumping, and hitting each other—fell into the room.

Yugi frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess we can just schedule our date for another time. …You have to admit, our plan's going to need a lot more work."

"Yeah…" Ryou crossed his arms and looked down at his feet. "Until then, one of us should coax Joey out from under the bed."

Malik rolled his eyes and, seeing the empty carton of Half Baked on the desk next to the computer mouse, turned to leave. "I'll go get some more ice-cream."

"Aibou? What's going on?" Yami asked, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. He shot the others a glare before turning his gaze back to his hikari inquisitively. "Is there something wrong?"

Yugi smiled apologetically. "Joey's going to spend the night tonight, okay? He's having a really rough da—Marik, what are you doing?"

"I am printing this list," the psychopath replied, and with a few short clicks, had the list printed out. Turning, he pointed to the door. "Come, Bakura! We shall have vengeance!"

"For what?" Bakura asked, still slightly confused (Yami had elbowed him in the skull pretty hard on their way up), but followed him nonetheless.

Ryou looked up at Yami pleadingly. "Yami, would you—"

"I'll make sure they don't do anything illegal," he sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he trudged behind them.

The albino smiled gratefully. "Thank you!" He turned to Yugi, looked over at the bed (from which the sniffles were still heard), then looked back at his friend. "So. How are we going to coerce him out?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto didn't know what he should be more concerned about; the fact that he had two psychotic yamis in his office or that the one sane yami hadn't stopped them. Deciding he didn't even want to know, he sighed and stood, shooting them all a glare. "I don't know what you want, but get the hell out. I'm busy." He choked back a squeak as Malik suddenly took a step forward, swinging his arm up, so he was pointing directly into his face. "Fuck!"

"You sir, have caused us enough grief!" the Egyptian roared.

"…I don't follow you," the brunet replied, taking a small step back so his eyes were no longer in danger of being poked out (because he wouldn't put it past him).

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Well, it's like this. Even though we're our hikaris' boyfriends, they still care more about the stupid mutt's immediate feelings than they do ours, and he starts blubbering at the most inconvenient times. Like now, for example. We had a date with our hikaris and they decided to blow us off in favor of dragging the mutt out from under the bed and stuffing him with ice-cream."

"And I like the mutt!" Marik added, glaring at the CEO. "He hasn't told our hikaris about what we've been skulking around and doing!"

"…In Joey's defense, I don't think he really understands what we're doing," Yami stated dryly, but only received a punch in the arm for his trouble. "Ow!"

"He's oblivious, you moron, not fucking blind!" Bakura exclaimed, glaring at him.

Seto watched as the two former spirits prepared for a fight, then sighed. "That's… great. Now leave."

Marik turned his attention back on him and took a step forward, once again shoving his finger in the brunet's face. "He wouldn't be crying if it weren't for you!"

"Me!? What did I do?! I've been keeping away from him, haven't insulted him lately, didn't piss him off! What did I do?!" the teen exclaimed angrily.

The blond slapped the paper in his hand down on the desk and pointed to it, placing his other hand on his hip (much to the brunet's relief). "He read this and burst into tears because he's so fucking in love with you! I don't know why, but he is! And—Ow!" He winced and rubbed his jaw where he'd been punched, glaring at the CEO. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Don't toy with me, psycho!" Seto snarled, and the three former spirits noticed that the lights in the room flickered for a moment, meaning that what Marik had said had affected him in a way much deeper than they'd have ever expected; his fury, pain, and suffering had momentarily opened the channel to his former life's shadow magic. "Joey does not love me, and he never will! Nobody can! I've done too much—caused people so much pain—I'm a horrible human being and an abomination to humanity! I lie, and I take advantage of people, and I can't tell you the difference between a gift and charity, because I've never had either! I'm a monster and no one will ever love me!"

The three spirits watched as the brunet then sank into his chair and buried his face in his hands, letting out a sigh to try and release some of his anger. Yami took a few steps forward until he was in front of the desk and, using a soft, soothing voice, asked, "What about Mokuba? He loves you."

"He's my brother. He's obligated to love me."

Marik frowned; he'd felt his hikari's pain when Malik thought that he'd alienated his brother and sister, so he had a good idea of how the man in front of him felt now. "That's not true."

Seto spread his fingers apart a little to glare at them. "I don't know how he can even respect me anymore, after the things I said to him. I don't deserve his love or affection. I deserve my head on a pike. I was cruel and I can't believe I said those things to my baby brother."

"What things?" Bakura frowned. He didn't have any siblings, but he knew that the man in front of him would do anything for that kid, including cheating and risking his own life to get his brother back from some psychopathic freak. So he must have said something truly terrible to beat himself up like this.

"He challenged Yugi to a game of Capsule Monsters and lost, and had to play a penalty game." The brunet's eyes disappeared from view as he closed his fingers again. "He did it for my approval. I told him that in the world of games, there's no room for brotherly affection, and if he didn't learn that, he'd be nothing but a loser."

"…Dude, you played a game of Duel Monsters and risked your soul to try to get him back. Does that mean you're a loser?" Marik asked, frowning in confusion, before wincing as Yami elbowed him in the side. "Ow! Why do you guys keep hitting me?! It freaking hurts, you know!"

Yami scowled at him. "You should think before you open your big fat mouth!" Turning back to the teen in front of him, he sighed, letting his face relax into a concerned expression. "Kaiba, I made you play a penalty game, too. You put your heart back together, so it wasn't so twisted and dark. Mokuba knows that, and he still loves you." He paused, then shrugged helplessly. "And you kind of proved yourself a hypocrite with the Duelist Kingdom thing, too."

"Get the fuck out!" Seto exclaimed as he stood up, uncovering his face and glaring at them with so much anger and hatred that even Marik (one who tended to gamble with his life a lot) took a step back. "Get the fuck out and never come near me again!"

"…But…"

"OUT!"

Fortunately, the three former spirits did not have to be told more than twice. They scurried to get out of the room as fast as possible, none of them willing to anger him further and risk getting his untrained shadow magic released on them. Because, as they'd proved time and time again, they weren't stupid; they just really, really liked to risk a lot when they risked anything at all.

Seto waited until he could no longer hear their pounding feet, then sank back into his chair and sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He had to admit, when he'd heard that Joey was crying, he'd been concerned; however, when they'd said it was because he was in love with him, he knew they were lying. No one could love him. He was too… The only word he could think of to describe himself at that moment was evil. He knew he wasn't evil, but he'd go with it until he could look up another word that he decided suited him better. That was why he had a thesaurus, after all.

Seeing the paper that Marik had slapped down still on his desk, he grabbed it and began reading. "…Half of these things aren't even true." He raised an eyebrow as he reached near the bottom. "'The cure to everything is rape sex?' …I doubt that would cure a rape."

What had made his puppy cry? Was it that he didn't have someone, and his friends did? Was it because he was lonely? He hadn't fought with him lately, because the things coming out of his mouth had been becoming more bitter and hateful with each passing day that he had to stew over his feelings—that would surely never be returned—for the blond. He knew he hurt Joey, made him feel badly, made him cry as soon as he thought he was far enough away to not hear, but he needed to be near him.

That had all come to a very abrupt and painful end when he'd said something so horrible that the blond couldn't wait for him to leave, and had burst into tears right in front of him. He had decided, the moment that he'd seen the tears fill his puppy's golden brown eyes, that he would never speak to him again, to save him from the pain, even if it meant drowning in the darkness and cold he felt when he was alone.

But perhaps… he should check on his puppy. He didn't adapt to change well, after all. And he wouldn't say anything horrible to him; he'd keep his words in check this time. He'd merely start a small argument and leave once he'd been assured of his puppy's wellness.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey groaned and placed a hand over his stomach as he walked into school the next day. "Ice-cream hangover!"

"What did you expect? You had seven pints," Malik answered, only to receive a glare in return.

"All of which ya forced on me! Crazy Egyptian."

Ryou smiled. "It's nice to see you feeling better, Joey."

The blond gave all three of his friends (each smiling oh-so-innocently at him, the little brats) a disbelieving look. "I feel like crap!"

"…Yeah, but at least you feel better than you did last night, right?"

"Mmm… Asdfghjkl." He sat down at his seat and let his head fall onto the desk with a thunk.

Malik blinked before gasping incredulously. "He actually made the noise that people instant message with online when they have nothing to say! Did you guys hear that?!"

"I didn't even know people could do that!" Ryou exclaimed.

Joey shot them all a glare. "I will kill you all."

"…You know, that kind of hurts," Yugi sighed, placing a hand over his heart.

The blond opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by a girl running in and frantically looking around before her eyes landed on his friends. "Yugi! Ryou! Malik! Your boyfriends got into another fight and the teachers can't break them up!"

"Aw, crap!" Malik got to his feet, scowling. "You'd think they could be civil for five minutes!"

"Oh please, Malik."

"Well they're completely incorrigible!"

"…Yeah."

"Don't look at me like that! I can sound intelligent! I read books too!"

Joey smiled a little as he listened to the sounds of his friends' voices fading, but frowned when he felt a presence beside him and slowly turned his head and looked up. "…Kaiba."

"So, puppy's all alone." Seto glanced around expectantly. "Where are your annoying little friends?"

"Breakin' up the fight their boyfriends got inta." He couldn't help a smile as the brunet scowled, appearing just as annoyed as his friends had. "What, ya think they're 'incorrigible' too?"

"Well, yes, but you'd think they could be civil for the two minute walk it takes from their lockers to the classroom."

He couldn't help it; Seto had sounded so much like Malik—someone he had absolutely nothing in common with—that it was just comical. He began to laugh, loudly, with his head thrown back and his eyes shut tightly. Of course, because his eyes were closed, he missed the confusion and hurt warring in the other teen's blue eyes before they iced over again.

Seto opened his mouth with every intent of giving him a sharp retort, but seeing tears forming in the corners of the blond's eyes, he felt another sharp stab of pain, causing him to shut his mouth with a click. He knew, in the back of his mind, that these were tears of mirth, and were nothing bad. All his mind equated, however, was that he'd hurt his puppy again, and he didn't want that. Hadn't wanted that. He'd failed again, and he'd hurt his puppy, and so he absolutely deserved having his soul ripped to shreds by his own beloved dragons.

Joey looked up as the brunet suddenly turned and swept away, walking much like he figured a wounded dragon might; elegant and dignified, though obviously trying to escape something it didn't want to face. He wondered what it was that had offended his dragon. He was sure he had all of the pieces to the puzzle that was Seto, but he couldn't even begin to figure out which pieces belonged together.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Son of a bitch!"

A doubtlessly expensive vase met a painful end when it collided with the wall.

Seto let out another roar and grabbed the monitor of his computer, ripping the cables away from it, before he turned and threw it angrily. The plastic cracked apart as it hit the ground, and the glass shattered seconds later. When that didn't satisfy his anger, he grabbed the modem and threw it as well. Dozens of innocent inanimate objects met their unfair ends as they became the victims of the brunet's fury, crushed and shattered and broken.

Letting out a frustrated sob, he sank to his knees and covered his face. "Oh, God! I just can't do anything right by my puppy!"

He had no idea what to do to make it up to his puppy. Joey would never see him as anything other than a monster, just like everyone else. All he wanted was for someone to love him and care for him, but he knew the gods would never be so kind as to let that happen, especially with the one person he wanted most. No, he'd have to watch his love fall for someone that wasn't him and be happy with someone else.

But what had he done to deserve the blond anyway?

Alcohol was his only friend right now. Mokuba was always out with friends, trying to make up for the time he'd lost at the hands of their step-father, then at the hands of his own brother. He couldn't talk to any of the servants, because he knew they could be bought, and he didn't want any of his secrets leaked to the press; people thought he was crazy enough without it being confirmed, anyway.

Walking over to his closet, Seto reached into one of the drawers inside and pulled out a bottle of shochu. It would take him a while to get drunk—he had an amazingly high alcohol tolerance, after all, and the shochu he bought was only twenty-five percent proof. He kicked a piece of his modem out of the way as he walked back to his desk, then sat down and pulled a glass out of one of the drawers.

It had been a while since he'd gone on a binge like this. Actually, the last time he'd been on such a binge was when he'd last made his puppy cry. Well, he deserved it again. He deserved waking up and being in pain, with a throbbing headache and his stomach churning like he had drunk acid instead of shochu. He knew that the pain he made himself feel with his hangovers was just a fraction of the pain his puppy felt when he made him cry.

Perhaps, this time, he'd even manage to forget that he'd ruined his own chances, lost his love, and had condemned himself to this lonely, miserable life.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Thanks for coming, Joey. This really means a lot to me. I've gotten a little nervous around Seto, lately, so I really appreciate you offering to talk to him for me," Mokuba stated, smiling.

The blond waved it away casually. "It's nothin', Mokuba, really."

The younger boy shrugged and came to a stop in front of his brother's door. He knocked shortly. "Seto! Joey's here, and he wants to talk to you!" When he got no answer, he frowned a little, then looked up at Joey and shrugged again. "He always says if he doesn't answer, that means come in, because if he was busy, he'd snarl. I guess you can just go on in."

Joey hesitated before nodding and taking a step into the brunet's bed room. He gasped softly as he saw the mess—things broken and destroyed, pillows ripped open and feathers strewn about—then immediately flinched back, the familiar smell of alcohol making him want to gag. He felt his blood run cold as he saw the brunet asleep in his chair, one arm hanging off the chair and his hand curled loosely around the neck of a bottle.

"…Kaiba…?" When the brunet didn't stir, he went over to him and gently slid the bottle out of his grip. He frowned in concern as he saw the amount of fluid missing from the bottle, then sighed and sat it on the desk. "I gotta say, Kaiba, that ya certainly know how to binge." He reached out and pulled the brunet into his arms, letting out a soft grunt. "Ooh! You're heavy!" He glanced at the bed—it was a complete mess.

"…Okay. I'll take ya to a guest bedroom then." He hoped the room next door was a guest room. He could only carry the CEO so far.

Luckily, it seemed that the bedrooms were all in the same general area of the mansion, and this one seemed just as comfortable as the master bedroom. Or, well, as comfortable as the master bedroom before it was ripped apart. Joey laid the brunet out on the bed and sighed, then sat down at the foot of the bed. After a few moments, he pulled the brunet's shoes off and then gently began massaging his feet.

He was surprised when Seto laughed a little at first and tried to jerk his feet away. So the cold, cruel Ice Prince was ticklish. The blond smiled slightly and continued rubbing his feet, pleased to see a soft side to this hard man. He gasped softly as the brunet suddenly opened his eyes and quickly pulled his hands away.

Seto frowned at him and blinked blearily. "…Why'd you stop?"

"Uh…?" The blond tilted his head in confusion. "…Ya want me touchin' ya? Me? The mutt?"

"…That's right." The CEO looked away from him sadly. "You wouldn't want to touch me. How could you ever want to?"

As Joey blinked at him, confused, the brunet turned onto his side and pushed himself up into a sitting position. It appeared that the other man didn't know who the hell he was talking to. Taking his courage in both hands, he took a deep breath, then asked, "Seto, why'd ya drink so much? Why was your room trashed?"

Seto lifted his hand from his face to peer at him tiredly. "Why do I always get drunk, puppy? I get to see you!"

"Hah…?" The blond was at a loss.

The CEO smiled sadly. "I mean, I know you'll never be as good as my real puppy. You're just a hallucination. But… I get to see you and not worry about making you sad." His already pathetic expression fell. "…Like I do with my real puppy."

'Oh. He thinks I'm a hallucination.' Joey frowned. 'But why? He gets drunk often, just ta see a hallucination of me?'

"…You've got nothing to say about what I did today?" the brunet asked softly, frowning.

"What'd ya do?" the younger teen asked in confusion. Really, Seto was just out to confuse him today.

The brunet sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. "Even my hallucination is clueless. I made you cry again, puppy!"

Joey tilted his head, frowning. Seto hadn't made him cry today. Sure, he'd made him cry other days, but not today. "What're ya talkin' about, Seto?"

"I made you cry—I said something today that you thought was funny and I didn't understand why so I said some really mean things and then you started crying!" the CEO exclaimed angrily, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"But… Ya didn't make me cry today," the blond stated softly. "…Ya didn't say anything mean, either. Ya just turned and walked away."

Seto frowned and tilted his head. "Really? …Maybe I just thought I did. Either way, I saw tears, knew I was the source, and left again." He crossed his arms and sighed. "I promised myself I'd never make you cry again after the last time I spoke to you; you'd cried and looked so heartbroken, I figured that if I just stayed away from you, you wouldn't cry anymore."

"But…" The younger boy sighed, brows furrowing together in frustration.

"You know, the yamis told me something last night. Said I'd made you cry again. I didn't get it. I hadn't talked to you in weeks. They said you'd read something that had made you cry because you were in love with me." The brunet snorted bitterly. "Hear that? They said you love me. What a laugh!"

If it had been any other situation, Joey might have been hurt. However, he could see that the statement had caused him pain, and slowly the pieces of his dragon's puzzle were falling into place. He was sure he just needed to ask a few more questions to complete it. "…Why is that funny, Seto?"

"Because you can't possibly love me," the brunet replied, scowling. "What reason have I given you to love me? What have I done to deserve you? What have I done to deserve anyone loving me?"

The younger boy tilted his head. "But Seto, you're a wonderful person. I'm sure you're just—"

"What part of 'I'm a monster' don't you understand?!" Seto shouted in frustration, making the blond flinch back with the force of his voice. He sighed and covered his face. "And now I've upset you again. Even if you did love me, why would you want to be tied to me? I'd be nothing but cruel to you. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Joey reached out to place his hand on the brunet's shoulder. "Seto…"

"Don't touch me!" the older teen snapped, flinching away from him. "Don't… don't touch me."

"Why not?" the blond asked softly, pulling his hand back so he could relax. "Seto?"

The brunet sighed sadly and looked down at his feet, playing with the cuff of his sleeve in a way that could only be described as nervous. "…You're so bright and clean. Why would you want to dirty yourself with me?"

"Oh, Seto, that's not true," the younger teen soothed, reaching out to touch him again.

Seto stood before he could touch him and turned to face him, giving him one of his iciest glares. "Don't touch me, damn it!"

Joey winced backward and bit his bottom lip, bringing both of his hands up to his chest. "…Okay…" He hesitated before looking up at him again. "Seto… Why? I wanna touch ya. Why won't ya let me-?"

"Because a horrible man already touched me and I don't want you to get his dirt and my darkness all over you!" the brunet roared angrily. "Just don't touch me!" Seto let out a squawk as the blond suddenly launched himself at him and stumbled backward. Of course, because his mind was still slow, he fell onto his back in confusion with a trembling puppy strewn across him. …His hallucinations had never attacked him before… "…Ow."

The blond growled and began beating on his chest angrily, tears spilling over his eyelids as he showed him just how upset he was with his thoughts. "You jerk, you jerk, you jerk! Ya think you're the only one who's had people touch ya when ya didn't wanna be touched?! Ya think you're the only one that's been taken advantage of?! Well let me tell ya, jerk-! Ya weren't held down and raped by members of your own gang! Ya weren't forced ta suck their dicks! They were s'posed ta be my buddies—someone ta watch my back—and they hurt me!" He sobbed and hid his face in the brunet's chest. "That's why I cry so much! I know you'll never want me 'cause I'm not a virgin! I'm used! I'm trash!"

Seto caught the blond's wrists and growled, sitting up swiftly. "Puppy—"

Mistaking his growl as anger toward him, Joey began to struggle away. "See! See?! I'm trash—ya don't want me—"

"Puppy, no, that's not—" the brunet began, but the smaller boy threw his head back and began to wail.

"Ya don't want me, Seto! Ya don't!"

"Stop putting words in my mouth, mutt!" he snarled, glaring at him, before the blond finally got a hand free and smacked him across his face. As he sat, stunned, Joey took his chance to escape, dashing out of the room.

Seto got to his feet and stumbled to the door. He looked down the hallway just in time to see the blond's hair whip around the corner in a flash.

He'd done it again. He'd upset his puppy again. He'd made him cry, made him sob desperately in pain. His puppy was in agony and he was the sole cause. This only proved that he was a horrible human being and he never deserved to be loved by anyone.

He was going to need more shochu.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"He made you cry again?" Bakura growled, and his grip on the knife he was holding was tightened suspiciously. "Can't we just kill him and be done with it?"

Joey ignored him and continued sobbing into his best friend's shoulder. "He thinks he's a monster and that he's dirty and dark-! He doesn't think he deserves anyone lovin' him-! He's been broken so badly, Yug'!"

"And he was drunk?" the smaller boy asked softly.

"He gets drunk just so he can see a hallucination of me! He says he doesn't wanna be with me 'cause he'd be nothin' but cruel ta me-!" The blond sat back and sniffed, rubbing at his eyes. "I tried ta tell him he was wrong, but he wouldn't let me! He said he didn't want me ta get any of his dirt or darkness on me 'cause I'm so bright and clean-!"

Malik glanced at the phone as it rang when he came in, then sighed. "Ryou, could you answer that? I think it's going to keep ringing until someone picks up. But!" He lifted the plastic bag in his hand triumphantly. "I have brought the Half Baked! Joey, get ready to have ice-cream shoved down your throat!" Seeing the pitiful expression on the other blond's face, he scowled and shook a finger at him. "Don't gimme that look! It'll make you feel better!"

Ryou frowned as the phone continued ringing, then sighed; Malik must be right, because the caller wasn't giving up. Picking up the phone, he greeted, "Turtle Game Shop, Ryou speaking. How may I help you?"

"Ryou, this is Mokuba. I… I need someone to come down to the hospital. I don't want to be alone."

The albino's eyes widened. "Why are you at the hospital? Are you alright? Where's your brother?"

"Well, you see… that's the thing. Seto was out driving and got into a car crash. I'm waiting to see if he's gonna be okay, but… I don't want to wait alone. Can someone come wait with me please?"

"Kaiba got in a car crash?!" Ryou yelped, catching everyone's attention. "How did he— He's one of the best drivers we know!"

"Seto got into a car crash?" Joey asked softly, stunned. "But… He was drunk. He shouldn't 've been drivin'."

Yugi sighed and stood up. "Tell Mokuba we're on our way to the hospital right now."

"Ah—Okay. Mokuba, we're on our way right now. Just hold tight, okay?"

There was a sniffle on the other end of the line before the younger boy answered with a tearful, "Okay. Bye."

Malik sighed and grabbed the bag of ice-cream. "We're going to need this."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"I don't understand. Why would he do this?" Joey whispered, pressing his hand against the window looking into the room the brunet was staying in. He had a few machines attached to him, each giving off steady, reassuring beeps, but he was sad that Seto had to have them.

Mokuba sniffed and rubbed his nose. "I don't know. He just said he had to go out to get some shochu and went to the garage. I know that sometimes he likes to have it, to relax, so I didn't think anything of it. I didn't know he'd already had some before he left."

The blond paled slightly. Had Seto felt the need to drink after he'd run away? Had he driven him into leaving for more shochu, trying to drown out the pain of seeing his puppy so heartbroken and agonized? Was he the reason that Seto was lying in that bed, broken and in pain?

He jumped as two of the machines began beeping rapidly, then reached down to cling to Mokuba as a bunch of doctors rushed into the brunet's room. Oh, God, Seto was dying and it was all his fault!

Mokuba whimpered and hid his face in the blond's side. "He's dying, he's gonna die, I'm gonna be sent to a foster home…!"

"He'll be just fine," Yami cut in. "Kaiba doesn't like to lose. He's not going to lose this fight now."

"Yeah, well, if he doesn't live, I'll kill 'im!" Malik exclaimed, making a fist angrily, before blinking in confusion. He couldn't believe he'd actually said something so… stupid. "…If he doesn't live, I'll kill him."

"Perhaps you should stick to being the ice-cream gofer," Yugi sighed, patting him on the shoulder.

"I can't believe you guys are jokin' around while Kaiba's beepin' like Jerry Springer on the family channel!" Joey exclaimed, glaring at his friends.

There was silence for a few minutes before Bakura answered, "Mutt, as much as we like your analogy, I gotta say that we'd usually say that to you. You're the one that's usually trying to make everyone all… hopeful and crap."

"Well maybe I'm a little too scared ta be all hopeful and crap!" he snarled, glaring at him, before they were all forced to look back into Seto's room. Really, it was hard to ignore the cursing.

"What the fuck are you doing to me?! What the hell-! Get the fuck away from me! GET AWAY! What the hell is that?! Why are you going for my IV?! I'LL HAVE YOUR FUCKING DOCTOR'S LICENSE!"

"…It's nice to see he's back to his normal self," Marik stated, crossing his arms.

Apparently, the doctors at least agreed that he was back to normal. They gave up and went to go find Seto's personal doctor. Seto shook a fist after them as they retreated. "That's what I thought! You better run!"

Mokuba sighed in relief and escaped Joey's hug, rushing into his brother's room. "Seto, calm down! You're going to aggravate the hospital staff!"

"I don't even know why the hell I'm in here! I don't hurt anywhere, I don't—"

"Dude, they've got you medicated. Didn't you realize that you don't yell and curse on a regular basis and suddenly you're swearing like a drunken sailor?"

"Well, now that we know Kaiba's gonna be okay, let's go," Joey chirped, turning to leave, only to be faced with three very annoyed looking yamis. "…Um… What's wrong…?"

Bakura snarled and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, dragging him over to the brunet's door. "I'll DIE before I let you just walk away like you didn't care! I CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH!" he roared, before he literally threw the blond into Seto's room and slammed the door shut.

Joey let out an 'eep' before he hit the ground, then groaned loudly. "Ah, man, that hurt!"

Seto glared at him. "Mutt? What the hell do you want?"

"…Um… Well…" The blond stood and began fidgeting with his fingers, unable to look him in the eyes. "I guess…"

"MOKUBA!" Marik slammed the door open and crooked a finger, motioning him to come outside. "COME!"

The younger boy looked torn, glancing between his brother and his friend. "…But…"

"It's for their own good!" Yugi exclaimed, poking his head into the room.

"Whose good?! Where are you going?! Mokuba, don't leave me in here with this damn mutt!" He frowned as his brother left the room, then scowled. "You better bring me Twix then, you little traitor!"

Joey frowned, then looked up at him sadly. "…Why're ya nicer to a hallucination than ya are ta me?"

Seto looked up at him sharply. "What?"

"I said… Why am I so different, Kaiba?" His eyes darkened with pain. "…Why can't ya be nice ta me? Why can't ya treat me… like ya treat your hallucination?"

The brunet watched him intently, eyes narrowed in suspicion. After a few minutes, he shifted his weight and patted a spot on the bed. "Come sit."

The younger boy hesitated. "…You're not gonna smack me in the head, are ya?"

"Puppy, come," he ordered sharply, and the blond felt compelled to sit before the CEO got out of bed, walked over to him, and bodily heaved him back onto it.

Joey sat and looked down at his lap, blushing a little as the brunet's gaze bore into him. "…Ya gonna answer my question?"

"I'm considering it," Seto answered honestly, then reached up to brush the hair out of his chocolate-colored eyes. "You came to see me? Or… were you just here for Mokuba…?"

The blond shrugged slightly. "A little bit of both. …Kaiba, why did ya do it?" His brows furrowed together and he looked up to finally meet the older boy's eyes. "Why did ya get behind the wheel when ya knew ya were drunk?"

The CEO jerked his hand back as if he'd been scalded and looked away just as quickly. "…You should know that. You were there."

"Because ya hurt me? Because ya thought my pain was your fault?" he asked softly, tilting his head. "Kaiba… if I thought it'd help ya, I'd never show my pain. But we both know that would never work, 'cause then you'd wonder when ya actually did hurt me and when ya only thought ya did. You'd get paranoid. So ya just gotta learn from your mistakes."

"…Why are you so adamant about having me?" Seto asked softly, frowning. "You must know that a relationship with me will have you crying more often than not."

Joey scowled at him. "Only if ya make it that way, ya jerk! If ya treat me the way ya wanna treat me—"

"I doubt you want me to treat you like some sort of delicate flower." The brunet raised an eyebrow. "Because honestly, that's what I want to do. I want to keep you, take care of you, pamper you. I don't want to share you with everyone." The younger boy tilted his head thoughtfully. The CEO frowned in confusion. "Are you really entertaining that thought? You're thinking about accepting the relationship as I'd like it?"

"I'm thinkin' that maybe I'd like havin' ya keep me, take care of me, and pamper me. This keepin' me to yourself thing, though, that ain't gonna work. My friends are important to me. So… maybe if ya treat me like a…" The blond's face twisted into a grimace. "…A puppy."

Seto couldn't help it; he began to laugh at the look of distaste on the blond's face, soothing some of the sting out of having had to say it. "Fine. I'll share my puppy. But you're my puppy."

"Right." The blond smiled weakly. "And… you'll work on not hurtin' my feelin's."

"Puppy, if I ever hurt your feelings—" he began, reaching out to cup the younger boy's face. "—Please, please punch me in the face. Or burst into tears. Either way, I'll know I've done wrong by you. You just have to show me. I'll learn."

Joey managed to make his smile a little stronger as he placed his hands over the brunet's. "Okay. I'll remember that. But ya can't call me mutt anymore. It's gotta be 'puppy' or 'Joey.'"

"Puppy or Joey. I can do that." The older boy leaned forward slightly, then stopped. After a few more seconds, he softly asked, "…May I kiss you, Joey?"

The blond decided that his name had never sounded better from anyone else's mouth as he gave a small nod. "Yes."

He almost regretted it seconds later, as the brunet mashed their lips together and—when he gasped in surprise—delved his tongue into his mouth. But only almost. Seto made the kiss much too interesting for him to regret it, as he explored his mouth. He moaned weakly and closed his eyes, digging his fingers into the pajamas the brunet was wearing. His moan became a loud groan as the older teen curled his arms around his waist, then slid one hand down to give his butt a squeeze.

And then the door slammed against the wall as it burst open, making Joey squeak and scramble away. "Okay Kaiba I'll see ya tomorrow!" And he was out the door like a blond whirlwind.

Seto blinked at his empty arms for a few seconds, then turned a glare on his little brother, who was smiling at him smugly. "…You brat."

"Hey, if I hadn't interrupted, you guys would have had sex right here!" Mokuba exclaimed in his defense, walking up to him. "I brought your Twix bars."

The brunet snatched them out of his hand and continued to glare at him. "Maybe that was my plan!"

"Okay, you and Joey don't know each other well enough, number one, and number two, Joey wants his first time to be special." Both of them seemed to know that when he said 'first time,' he meant the first time with someone he cared about. "You know, satin sheets, candles, rose petals, the whole thing."

"Hmm." The CEO chewed on his Twix bar thoughtfully. "When does this medication wear off and when do I get out?"

"The answer to both questions is when your doctor says so," the younger Kaiba answered, causing his brother to groan like a child and slump into his sheets—he may have even pouted a little.

It was obvious that Seto Kaiba was not the ideal patient.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"So you and Kaiba are an item now, right? Riiiight?" Marik asked, elbowing the blond in the side. "Huh, huh?"

"You… could say that," Joey answered, blushing and fidgeting a little. "I mean, he didn't say we weren't. I'm just glad I could finally figure him out."

All three yamis let out frustrated groans and sank to the ground. Malik began handing each of them the half-melted Half-Baked ice-cream he had held onto the whole time. "Here, eat this. It'll make you feel better."

"…Malik, this is half-melted," Yami stated, having yanked off the lid and spilling some of the milky liquid into his lap.

"Then you can drink it instead of using a spoon!" he snapped, scowling.

"So, Joey, how good of a kisser is he?" Yugi asked, grabbing the blond's hand and leading him away.

Ryou hopped to catch up to them. "Yes! Was that kiss actually as good as it looked?"

"Dude! Don't answer yet! I wanna hear!" Malik exclaimed, dropping the rest of the ice-cream in his yami's lap and running after them.

"…And again, we are abandoned," Yami sighed, then frowned. "Are you actually drinking that?"

Bakura raised an eyebrow at him and wiped away his ice-cream mustache. "What? It's like a milkshake if you stir it a little."

"Agh-! Brain freeze!" Marik exclaimed, grabbing his head and bending over. "The pain!"

"Gentlemen, would you mind moving out of the middle of the hallway?" a passing nurse asked politely, ushering them toward the wall.

"I… would just like to point out that there is something even I can't win," Yami stated, using his finger to stir the ice-cream.

The other two former spirits looked up at him in surprise. "Hmm?"

The Pharaoh sighed and looked up at them. "I cannot win the attention of my aibou as long as Joey is there to distract him."

"Hey, look at the bright side!" Marik exclaimed cheerfully. "At least he hasn't told our hikaris that we're planning how we're going to propose to them!"

"…Yeah, I guess."

After a few minutes of pondering and eating/drinking the ice-cream, Bakura threw his head back and cackled. The other two waited patiently for him to explain. The former thief simmered down into chuckles. "Kaiba will now share our pain!"

At this, he began to cackle again, and the other two joined him.

Until Seto heard them, somehow managed to fight his brother off to get out of bed, then made it out of the room to beat them with his IV stand. Apparently, his medicine not only made him a lot more open, but it made him a lot more irritable.