Greetings all, as today is Jounouchi Katsuya's birthday, I thought I'd write him a oneshot fic to commemorate the day. Heh, my friends and I actually celebrated his birthday... I made cakes and everything... call me sad...

It has also been snowing in England, so I thought I'd include that in this fic as well.

I hope you like it.

Dagora.

ps. I don't own anything. I wish I did, but I unfortunately don't.

25th January

"Come on, Seto, it hardly ever snows here!"

Kaiba Seto glowered at the positively glowing blond, spinning round and round in the huge gardens of Kaiba Mansion, kicking up snow as he turned. The weather had been growing increasingly colder and bleaker over the last few days, until finally the night before, pure white snowflakes had fallen from the iron sky, transforming the town of Domino into a winter wonderland by dawn.

Jounouchi Katsuya was absolutely beside himself with childish glee, a beautiful grin dominating his face, his eyes shining with happiness as he gazed up to the sky. One of Kaiba's trench coats was slung round his shoulders, the buttons hurriedly done up lopsidedly, and a navy blue scarf wrapped carelessly round his neck, so that one side of the woollen material was a lot longer than the other. His gloves were too big for his slender fingers, making him slightly clumsy with his hands, but he didn't care: he was happy. Beyond happy.

Last year, he'd never have dreamed that life could be so blissful. He loved snow. He'd hardly seen it before, but he adored it. He couldn't believe his luck when the heavens opened and showered down the white flakes on his birthday of all days. To top it all, Kaiba Seto, his lover and boyfriend of six months, was standing there, only the length of one of the enormous gardens smaller lawns away. True, he was glaring daggers, but Jou knew that it was just his way, and that he wasn't really the anti-social bastard he was made out to be... occasionally. Okay, he was... but Jounouchi liked his brooding nature: he needed him. They needed each other.

"Seto," Katsuya laughed, beaming at the other. "Aren't you going to come and play in the snow?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, staring incredulously at Jounouchi.

"Are you serious?" He hissed archly, folding his arms across his thin torso. "I'd much rather stick my tongue in the hard-drive of my computer."

Jou's smile slipped slightly, but hitched back up in a second. Laughing in delight, he knelt to scoop up an armful of snow, throwing it up into the air and watching it cascade around him, settling on his borrowed coat and soft hair, making him gasp in joy, not caring that the knees of his jeans had just soaked through. Face still radiating his immense exuberance, Jou bounded over to Kaiba, throwing his arms around the brunet's neck.

"It'll be a birthday present to me." He kissed Kaiba's mouth lightly, nuzzling his nose with his own. "It'll make me even happier knowing you're having fun."

"I've already got you a present!" Kaiba growled, but didn't make any effort to shrug Jou's arms off him. "More than one, in fact. If I remember correctly, I got you seven."

"Please." Jounouchi pouted, blinking beguilingly at Seto. His pleading was answered only with a stony frown. "Please Seto." He cajoled again, resting his forehead again the conjunction of Seto's neck and shoulder. He heard Kaiba sigh, feeling his arms encircle him in a protective embrace.

"You go have fun, puppy." Seto whispered in his ear in a moment of tenderness. "I'll be right here."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Planting one last kiss on Seto's lips, Jounouchi slipped out of his arms, jogging back into the middle of the stretch of pure white snow, leaving a trail of footprints. He threw himself instantly to the ground, lying down and moving his arms and legs repeatedly, making a snow-angel. Sighing contentedly, he closed his eyes, ignoring the cold powder surrounding his body, before bursting them open again, sitting up abruptly, panic snatching at his heart for a moment before he saw that Kaiba Seto was still standing there, still watching him, still glaring, but in a way slightly less unapproachable than before. Jounouchi's heart swelled: he hadn't walked off. He hadn't just left him all alone, as Jou feared he would if just for a second.

Katsuya could have sworn for a moment there, just a fleeting instant, that Kaiba had returned his smile.

Leaping to his feet again, Jounouchi gathered another handful of snow, moulding it into a spherical shape between his two hands. With a mischievous glint in his mocha eyes, he sauntered closer to Kaiba, grinning so widely that it made his mouth and face ache.

Seto eyed him warily, placing his hands on his hips to deter Jounouchi from doing what he knew he was planning to do.

"Don't you dare." He warned dangerously, his voice low and deadly serious.

Jou grinned even more, raising the snowball above his head.

"No--!" Jounouchi released the snowball, and it collided with Kaiba Seto's coat, white on white. He laughed with pleasure, his entire visage lit up.

From Seto, there was only silence.

Silence.

And then the explosion.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" He roared, furiously brushing off the snow splattered on his trench coat. Jou froze, his expression instantly falling. "I told you not to throw the fucking thing, and you still did! Why must you be so... so immature!?"

With a disgusted cry, Kaiba wheeled round, his white coat flaring out, and stalked off towards the house, muttering angrily about mutts and stupidity. His mood rocketing towards rock bottom, Jounouchi fell to his knees, gazing sorrowfully after his lover. He shivered, finally feeling the cold that nipped and clawed at him.

"Seto..." He whispered into the bitter winter wind, biting his lower lip. "Seto, you promised."

Kaiba couldn't have possibly heard his boyfriend's quiet lamentations, and so didn't even look back. Instead he stormed through the back door of the mansion, fists clenched.

Tears turning to ice on his cheeks, Jounouchi traced three words in the snow in front of him. This had been the best day of his life, and he'd screwed it up. He had to apologise to Seto, make everything back to how it was mere moments before: he knew exactly how he could do that. But still, sadness gnawed away at his soul as the snow chilled his knees.

Hauling himself up, he walked in the same direction that Kaiba had gone, intent on following him, to make it up to him, to beg his forgiveness if he had to.

Behind him, he'd left a perfectly innocent message to himself in the snow:

Happy Birthday Katsuya.