Title: Even Stars can explode
Author: Kohako_Shadow
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s)/characters: pre-slash Seto/Joey
Warnings: this hasn't been spell-checked.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or make any profit of it.
Summary: The Past and Present collide

"I will find you, no matter what. I promise you, my love!"

He watched tear-filled behind the barrier as his lover faded away from him; leaving him behind in darkness. The place around him was dark and he gasped at the cold feeling traveling over his body. He shivered and wrapped his hands around himself. His body jerked; startled suddenly as a body appeared in front of him. He gasped. It was the Golden Ankh bearer.

The beautiful dark face smiled sadly at him.

"The time has not come for you to leave the mortal shackles of the Earth. Do not fear for what will come to pass, let it flow around you and cradle you warmly and remember that all things have a purpose. You're destiny still must be revealed. I wish you a safe journey Katsuya Jou." And suddenly the world around him faded from his sight. He didn't feel anything as the ground reached out to meet him.

Jou gasped wildly awake. 'What a freaky dream! Man I knew eating that two weeks old pizza was gonna be mine downfall.' He laughed bitterly to himself at his thoughts. 'As if Seto could love me back.'

"It was just a stupid dream!" Yet his heart ached at the desolation in Seto Kaiba's face after he disappeared from his sight.

He stared unseeingly ahead of him, shivering slightly in remembrance. His mind was jumbled together and thoughts flitted from one form into another. His eyes ached and his temples throbbed. A headache was already coming up. He pounded his pillow and glance at his bedside clock. It was two hours before the beginning of school. "Just great!" he grumbled and burrowed back inside his covers, desperately trying to get back to sleep.

The day did not begin kindly for Jou. Not only was he being bombarded with highly impossible dreams of Seto and him. It hurt him deeply to find out that the love he experienced was nothing more than a figment of his own imagination. Seto Kaiba hated his guts as much as he thought Jou hated him.

'If only I could make him realize it is just a front.'

He sighed and trudged on to his next class. A hard push at his back brought him back to the present and made him crash into the lockers. "What the Hell! Can't you look where you're going! You fucking asshole!" He angrily shouted at his attacker. His face drained of color, leaving behind a sickly color. 'Oh, God!' Please, why did it have to be him?'

A sneer met his eyes and he swiftly transferred them to the floor. A warm feeling spread over his cheeks. Of all the days to bump into someone, it had to be Kin Makoto. The guy was a transfer student from Kyoto and from the moment that he laid eyes on Jou, made it his personal goal of making Jou's life a living hell. Then he was manhandling him and the next second he would start pawing at Jou and making his heartfelt love notions.

The blonde's eyes filled with pain as a vice-like grip grabbed his wrist tightly. "I don't like the tone you're using around me, Pup! You should try to learn to be more obedient." An angry flush rose to his cheeks and he opened his mouth to vehemently disagree with Makoto when a sharp voice made him speechless.

"I don't think I gave you any permission to call him Pup! Nor to touch him in any way!" Arctic cold eyes fixed upon both Jou and Makoto and both men shivered at the coldness in the young CEO's eyes. Although it was both for different reasons. Makoto could not believe his damn luck. Everyone knew about the volatile chemistry between the blond and the rich young man. 'Aw shit!' rang through his head.

Meanwhile Jou shivered at the look in Kaiba's eyes. His breath grew labored and his body was tense. He wanted nothing more than to be away from the big goon holding him against him. His heart soared at seeing his love return from America. He was saddened at the beginning of the year when reporters all around Japan notified the rest of the population that the young business man would be conducting business abroad. All the way to America. He was gone for more than six months and Jou was upset that he never had the chance to tell Kaiba how he felt about him. It was unfair to him and for days his nights were filled with nightmares of seeing Seto in the arms of some bimbo or another. Or worse being kidnapped or threathened in any way. He grew up in America, knew the dangers despite knowing that Kaiba could handle himself.

The hallway grew quiet at Kaiba's demand and everyone was holding their breath at what the brown-haired man would do. Everyone knew that Katsuya was off limits for anyone but Seto Kaiba. The student body thought their fights amusing and stress relieving, but at the same time dangerous. Only a fool would tally with Seto Kaiba and his obsessive fixiation with the blonde. Secretly they were glad that he was back. It was high time that this jerk learned some respect around here. Jou was not the only one being 'propositioned', but he was the most harassed one out of due to his friends. Some speculated that this had to do with his relationship to Mouto Yughi and Seto Kaiba, not to mention Marik Ishtar and Duke Devlin.

They waited with bated breath as the clock ticked on. A blood vessel was starting to show on Kaiba's forehead and before anyone could react, he had the dark-haired man arm ripped away from Jou. "I see that you are not only dumb, but also hard of hearing." A twist and Makoto's arm was trapped painfully behind his back. An insult fell from his lips and Kaiba took exception to that. Whirling him back to face him the brown-haired man punched the obnoxious guy in the face before bringing his knee up to the already bruised face. The sound of cartilage being broken made everyone present wince. They watched gleefully as the guy dropped none to gentle to the ground; he remained there with no one further noticing him. Why continue watching him, while the drama show was still unfolding.

Seto watched the confusion swirling in his love's expressive eyes. He shrugged while watching the blonds face heating up, "Guess he reacts badly to stars." A smirk greeted Jou's befuddled face. "But why?" he whispered softly, his voice eerily echoing in the deafening silence of the hallway. "I couldn't just let my Puppy get beaten up by some lowlife, could I?" A hand reached out to softly stroke Jou's cheek.

Jou's breath caught at the emotion in those cold calculated eyes. A shy feeling rose inside of him and he looked away. A deep chuckle greeted his ears before he felt a warm face nuzzle the side of his face. He shook himself out of his stupor and watched as the auburn-haired male walk away toward the next class. "What just happened?" No one answered him, too confused with the cold man's action.

This wasn't what anyone had expected to happen.

To be continued