Here's the second one. Now, before you start nagging on me about some of this stuff, you will notice many culture different aspects of Japan. It's shown majorly here like how the students only have one classroom, everyone eats lunch at the said "classroom," using yen instead of dollars, using city blocks instead of street names, etc. So yeah, this is going to feel alot like Japan. Review please!

Seto Inoue was now Seto Kaiba. It had been eight years, since he had been adopted by Gozoburro Kaiba. Many things had happened, since that day that changed Seto physically and emotionally. He now owned a multimillion dollar company now called Kaiba Corp, fulfilling his dream to distribute games all around the world to children young and old. He was also in the works of building a theme park in Domino City called Kaiba Land where children young and old could go and play. Orphan children would be given a free discount.

Seto undressed from his PJ's, thinking about the dreams that would soon be fulfilled, then seeing the deep scars below his neck where Gozoburro had pressed a tight string against his neck to make him sit up and study. The string rubbed against his skin so much that it ripped Seto's skin open and bled. He slightly touched the scars with the tips of his fingers and those painful memories returned, hearing the shouts from Gozoburro, feeling the spit land on his face that matched perfectly with the ear-numbing voice that made him tremble. The monster that once called Seto a worthless orphan.

It didn't matter anymore. Gozoburro was gone and Seto had to remind himself that. The madman committed suicide after Seto took over Kaiba Corp. to save himself and his brother from being left on the streets. Now, they lived a better life, a life free from suffering and hard-aches. They were going to start a new life from homeschooling to a regular public school. They can finally make some friends and forget what happened with Gozoburro only a year and a half ago before going through major therapy.

Seto placed on his Domino High School uniform, which consisted of blue pants, a white buttoned up shirt and a buttoned jacket. He made sure anything that needed to be done at Kaiba Corp. was handled, while he was in school. Even though Seto ran a huge company and had the education he needed to do so, including his little brother, he still wanted to be free and walk among his peers. He no longer wanted him and his brother to be trapped in the cage of their mansion and company. It was time to start a new life.

The Kaiba brothers ate breakfast together quietly, having eaten together this quiet since the death of Gozoburro. Seto looked over at his little brother, who was eating, eyes glaring.

"Did you take your medicine?" Seto asked.

"Of course I did, Seto," Mokuba replied matter-of-factly.

"Just checking," Seto replied, eating a bit of rice. Him and his brother were diagnosed with PTSD after the death of Gozoburro. They had to take their medication to keep their stress level to a minimum, especially since they ran a huge company.

The brothers rode the limo to their schools. Mokuba was the first to be dropped off, then Seto. He listened to some music on the radio, drinking coffee on the way to his school. He checked over in his mind what he brought with him to school: his bookbag, school supplies, pens, pencils, paper and text books. That was pretty much everything he needed for school. The limo would pick him up at the precise time school was over, no more no less.

The limo stopped at the school, which was Domino High. The limo driver exited from the car and opened the door for Seto. He did notice many people staring over at him, not that he could blame them; this was the first time any student has seen someone come out of a car when being dropped to school, let alone a limo. Students talked among themselves. This was expected.

Seto walked to change into his school shoes, then headed for his classroom. He sat at his assigned seat, getting out his paper to take whatever notes needed to be taken. He just needed to focus on his studies, this time without someone yelling in front of his face to pay attention and not laze around. That was a relief!

The teacher came to the classroom all dressed up with makeup, a simple dress, and high heels. She announced, "good morning, students! I am your teacher Miss Chono and I will be teaching you this year!" Seto looked up at his new teacher. He could almost smile at how much makeup this teacher put on herself that would make Gwen Stefani proud. "Before I start explaining the rules, I will be taking role call! Ryan Garnafi..."

"Here!"

"Jane Mitzumi!"

"Here!"

Seto sighed quietly to where no one could hear him. This roll call was going to take a while, from how he saw it. He decided to glance inside his textbook, while names were being called. It was his Science book, filled with different picture examples and paragraphs explaining the Scientific Method and how it works. Of course, this was inside the earlier chapters of his Science text, which were usually reviews of what the students should already know. Even this textbook didn't give him anything interesting.

"Joey Wheeler!"

"Here!"

Seto's head bolt straight up, hearing that name. He looked over at the blond-haired teenage in the third seat of the second row. After mentioning his name, Joey seemed to going back to talking with another teenage boy with grown hair that seemed to be pointing up like he was wearing hairgel. Memories came flooding back into Seto's mind of the boy he met at the orphanage, who was once considered his best and only friend he ever played with. Seto bit the bottom of his lip, trying to stare at his Science textbook again, but could not leave his eyes off of the teenage boy with the blond scruffy hair and bright blue eyes.

From what Seto could see, Joey was mostly minding his own business, not really paying attention to what was going on around him. He was talking to the brown-haired guy Tristan Taylor, who seemed to be Joey's new friend. The two were carrying on, chuckling as well. Seto couldn't help, but smile, but tried not focusing on Joey. While they did meet those years ago, it wasn't like it mattered now. It was so long ago that Seto doubted Joey remembered.

"Seto Kaiba!"

"Here!" Seto responded loud and clear. His eyes instantly darted back to Joey's direction. They instantly had eye contact, not even making a blink.

Joey's facial expression was very blank, full of awe. The two teenage boys drew the connection, staring with blank expressions for a long period of time. Seto didn't know if he or Joey would make the first move. Did Joey remember him? Seto kept wondering this in his head.

Seto finally smiled and slightly waved his hand. Joey seem to smile in return before returning back to talking with Tristan. Seto couldn't help, but form a smile of his own. He was able to easily pay attention to his lessons again, taking notes and studying on his work. He supposed it was great that Joey did remember him from back at the orphanage.

After several subjects, lunch came and Seto got himself something to eat, then sat at his desk. It was just some rice, sardines, a half an orange and milk. This wasn't as good as the food at home, but was good enough for him to eat at school. Afterall, it was only right to eat what was brought to him. That was something that never left Seto, even after the torture he faced from Gozoburro. Seto found it funny how much Gozoburro had taken from him, since leaving the orphanage.

Seto noticed someone sitting across from him, knowing it was Joey. It had to be.

"Seto, I can't believe it's you!" Joey grinned with excitement. "Wow, how long has it been?"

"Eight years," Seto replied plainly.

"Wow," Joey responded, eating a bite of rice. "Time flies, huh?"

"Yeah," Seto replied. He drank some milk, trying to think of what to say. For some reason, he felt as if he completely forgot something important, though didn't know what it was. "I'm sorry I couldn't see you once a year, like I originally planned."

"No worries, bro. I understand," Joey replied, biting the corner of his bottom lip. "Anyways, I... how things been going for ya, so far?"

"It's fine, I suppose," Seto shrugged, taking a bit of rice from his chop sticks. "Mokuba and I decided to go to public school and restart things after gaining control of Kaiba Corp."

"Wait, you're in control of Kaiba Corp. now?" Joey asked in such shock. "Wow! That's great! Congrats! Though, I didn't expect you to gain control of the company this early, no offense."

"Non taken. I studied really hard to win my successes," Seto smirked braggingly.

"So, what's happened with Gozoburro?"

Seto's expression changed to a more gritty one, which made Joey raise two eyebrows. Seto whispered, "he committed suicide."

Joey's expression turned blank, his mouth gaped into a perfect circle. It took about five seconds for Joey to start moving a muscle or change his expression from what it previously was and say, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. He doesn't exactly have a recognition to be a father figure, so to speak," Seto said in an almost dark tone. Joey's expression turned dark for a second before looking at Seto with such pity.

"I know how you feel, bro."

"Don't pity me. I'm pulling my own weight just fine."

"Hey, you Joey's old buddy?" Tristan asked, pulling up a chair to sit by Joey.

"Something like that. We met at the orphanage," Seto replied plainly.

"My name's Tristan Taylor. Nice to meet you."

"Whatever."

"Don't worry about it," Joey assured Tristan. He could already see that Seto had been hurt from living with Gozoburro. Of all people, Joey knew what it was like to live with a terrible father and have to bare his burdens.

"I suppose I should ask how Serenity is doing," Seto said.

"She's at the hospital," Joey replied as Seto expression froze for a second.

"Sorry to hear that."

"The doctors say Serenity might be able to see clearly, if they perform surgery on her eyes, but the cost is high as it gets. If Mom and I don't find some sort of way to get some money by next year, they say she'll be permanently blind."

"I think you mentioned something like that back at the orphanage."

"Yeah... it's gotten worse since."

"Very sorry... Mokuba liked her alot."

"Yeah..." Joey responded, showing a soft smile. He looked up at Seto. "Say, since we're seeing each other again, how about we go to the arcade sometime? What do you say?"

Seto thought on it for a while, then showed a smile. He replied, "sure. Why not?"

"Sweet! It's good to see you back, Seto. I really missed ya," Joey said as Seto snorted and the two chuckled.

"Though, I do have to work many of the days, so I won't always get to hang out twenty-four-seven. I will only get an hour to hang out before I have to get going."

"No pressure! You are running a major corporation. I'm not gonna blow a gasket, if you have to ditch me."

"Good," Seto replied.

"Cool!" Tristan replied.

After school, Tristan was able to talk to Joey, the two walking on their way to their bicycles. There was a bicycle parking lot outside of the school where all the students parked their bikes or motorcycles. It was almost like how the parking lot in America and Europe had car parking spaces. The only differences was that this one was of bikes, being that Japan hardly had anyone use cars, being that the gas prices were expensive.

"Seto seems okay, though doesn't seem to have alot in him and is kinda rude," Tristan said.

"I think he's been through alot from Gozoburro. Seto wasn't like this when I met him," Joey stated, kneeling down to unlock his bike. "I should've stopped him."

"From what?"

"Challenging Gozoburro to that stupid Chess match... see, Seto was adopted by Gozoburro through a Chess match. Seto had big dreams to own a gaming company, building theme parks and stuff."

"Wow. That's a huge dream from someone living in an Orphanage most or all of his life."

"Yeah... anyways, he won the Chess match and Gozoburro had to adopt him, according to the bet. He signed the adoption papers and I saw Seto and Mokuba get into that car... that was the last I saw him," Joey explained. He had finished unlocking his bike and was now on it, clutching onto the handles. "That jerk did something to him! He made Seto into a hallow shell. He was always happy and snarky and now..."

"I hope you're not thinking it's your fault, because it wasn't. Afterall, you didn't get Gozoburro to sign the adoption papers."

"I guess, but if Seto hadn't challenged him, he would still be the happy and snarky kid I'd know today," Joey said, sighing. "Perhaps we shouldn't have..."

"What?"

"N-Nothing Tristan. Anyways, we did say we'd meet Seto at the arcade. We don't wanna be late, right?" Joey asked with his smirk as Tristan showed one of his own.

"Yeah."

Tristan and Joey peddled their bikes on their way to the arcade at the corner of Block 26. Seto had obviously made it first before the two other boys. He supposed spending time with them would be fine and it would give him the chance to find some games challenging enough for him to take on. He had plenty of money, so he could play a few games, maybe win some prizes. In fact, that's what Seto did, when Tristan and Joey made it to the arcade.

The three played a car racing game with Seto easily gaining first place in every race. While Gozoburro made Seto study nonstop, that didn't stop him from finding ways of playing games. Afterall, he lived in luxury. Gozoburro would often buy all sorts of games for Seto and Mokuba to get them to stop crying and whining. Because of this, games were their obsession to the point of OCD, though it was never treated. Games were the only thing that kept the Kaiba brothers happy during their living with Gozoburro.

"Dangit!" Tristan responded, losing for the 14th time in a row. Seto instantly got up from the seat, sighing.

"This is boring. I'm going to find something else to play," Seto decided.

"What do you want to play?" Joey asked.

"Something that's challenging."

"We could try over there," Joey said, pointing to a game with four stations to control the player with a wide screen in front, which showed four different screens with a samuri in armor and weapons. "It's usually a challenge depending on who the player you're fighting against is."

"Are there any good players?" Seto asked.

"Usually, there are. Tristan and I have played it before and it's alot of fun. We're... pretty good. Never made the top ranks before, but... yeah."

Seto placed a few coins in the slot, then gave the game Joey suggested a try. Him and Tristan played too, who were better at this game than the racing game. The fourth player, who played against them, was a Domino High student name Yugi Moto, who usually played a few games by himself like Pop-up Pirates and stuff. He was surprisingly more challenging for Seto than anyone else.

The game ended in a draw, being that the game had a time limit. Seto felt frustrated, looking directly at Yugi, who gave him a smile. Seto decided to calm himself down. After all, he was looking for a challenge and he got what he wanted. Seto had to laugh at himself quietly, before stepping off the platform to give the other players a turn.

"That was sure heating up," Joey smirked as Seto gave out a smirk.

"That was a good game!" Yugi said, showing a smile. "I think I saw you at school. What's your name?"

"Seto Kaiba. Guess you don't have a good attention span," Seto smirked as Yugi rubbed the back of his neck, looking so bashful.

"By the way, why are you still wearing your school uniform? You think school is still going on?" Joey mocked as Yugi slightly blushed, shrugging. He was the only person wearing a school uniform, being that Joey, Tristan and Seto were wearing their casual clothes. Joey had a his Soccer jacket over a white shirt and jeans, Tristan had a tan jacket over a green shirt and jeans, and Seto had a black long-sleeve shirt and khaki pants.

"You know, you guys are such jerks! Yugi looks great just the way he is!" Tea, who was often seen with Yugi, defended with glaring eyes.

"He's the one making fun of your boyfriend. Though, he does stick up like a sore thumb, so please excuse Joey for trying to help him know how to look normal, not that it's any of my business what the heck he wears," Seto said, pointing his thumb at Joey.

"Excuse me!"

"You're excused, just don't do it again," Seto smirked as Tea's face turned hot red.

"Please no fighting," Yugi begged as Tea took a deep breath.

"Hm... I notice you bring games to school everyday. If you're as good with them as you're good with Samurai Fighter, I might play one of those after school or during lunch."

"Really?"

"I haven't found a real challenge in a long time, so yes."

Yugi smiled, then replied, "thank you!" before leaving. Tea followed him.

"That was pretty slick; what you did with Tea," Joey smirked, laughing. "I could never get that woman to shut up."

"Pff whatever. I've met more annoying women at work. They're just pests you need to flick off the window to get them to shut up," Seto spouted out.

The trio stayed and played at the arcade for a while before Seto made the top charts of every game he played and instantly grew bored. Tristan and Joey did leave for a while to get some soda, giving them time alone to talk.

"Joey, I know Seto is your old buddy and I respect that, but... no offense, he's really selfish and rude and has been acting like this, since we first got here," Tristan stated.

"I know Tristan, but you gotta consider that we were worse than that at one point. Heck, we joined a gang that sold drugs and ran an Underground Casino," Joey stated.

"I suppose, but we've always respected each other, including our friends. Seto has as much respect to us as a step parent toward his step kids."

"I don't think it's his fault, Tristan. He wasn't always like this. I think Gozoburro did something to Seto to make him act this way. He probably doesn't know what he's doing is wrong."

"Joey, he called you worthless only five minutes ago, because you lost to a game of Pac-Man."

"I know that Tristan and I called him out on it! Tristan, I'm not going to just leave him, just because he got carried away. I seriously believe he was raised to think acting like this is normal. I'm sure he'll eventually start being nicer in time."

"You seriously think you can change him?"

"No... but he's still my friend, Tristan. You don't have to like him, but I'm not leaving him."

"Okay man, I'm not saying you should. I'm just saying how it is."

Joey sighed, drinking his cola. Seto did often play a few games against Yugi, being that he was a true gamer. Joey did play against Seto a few times, being that he enjoyed playing games. They played Blackjack and Checkers a few times.

"Hit!" Joey said, drawing a card and seeing it was a Queen of Hearts.

"Bust," Seto smirked.

"Dang it! I knew I should've chosen stand!"

"Up for another round of losing?"

"Okay, time to get out your books and put your lunch in the trash!" Miss Chono announced.

"Maybe later," Joey replied, returning to his signed seat.

Seto usually worked, so the times to hang out with Joey would be on random days. Sometimes it would be at the arcade; which Seto would instantly get bored after a while, a movie, or anyplace where they could walk or ride their bikes. Their tastes had not changed very much, but usually would glance over the personalities and characteristics of each other, which were very different from the last they've seen each other. Often, during their talks, Tristan would not be around, since he often avoided being around Seto, due to his attitude.

"This is ridiculous. My father decided to go gamble our money again," Joey complained.

"Have you tried making your own bank account to hide the money?" Seto asked.

"That's the problem. I do try that, but then the bills start coming in and I have to pay for it or neither of us will have a roof over our heads! Things have been getting worse, since the stupid divorce," Joey said, kicking the grass.

"You need to get out of that place or kick your old man out."

"I can't kick my own dad out of the house. He's my dad after all. Besides that, compared to Gozoburro, if Dad is out of the house, he wouldn't last a day out. Nobody ever thinks right when they're drunk."

"I suppose our lives are different," Seto said, him and Joey.

"Eh, I think we're a bit more similar. We became friends for a reason," Joey said, smiling at the cloudy sky above, opposite of the sun. He turned to Seto. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen you smile like you used to back at the orphanage. You used to do it often."

"Really?" Seto asked, a smile forming upon his lips.

"Like that! I haven't seen you do that in a while."

"You're so incredibly pathetic... I think I might compliment you for it."

"Really?" Joey smirked.

"Yeah... you seem content with what imperfection you have."

"Not always, but I make do with what I've got."

Seto couldn't help, but chuckle. He hadn't felt happy in a long time, to feel comfort from having Joey by his side. He had felt lost and alone for too long with Gozoburro and only had Mokuba to keep whatever sanity he had left. Seto had forgotten how much he wanted to see Joey again those many years ago. It felt shorter than eight or seven years. If Seto was not Japanese, he would be crying at this moment.

"Something wrong, bro?" Joey asked.

"I'm fine. I know it's been five days, but I'm happy to be with you again," Seto admitted quietly.

"Same here. It's good to see you back," Joey replied, then noticed Seto's blank look. Seto stopped, then leaned against a pole

"I-I need... to rest."

"You feel like some tea? There's a tea shop over here," Joey asked, pointing to a Tea Cafe.

"Yes..." Seto replied as him and Joey entered inside the Tea Cafe and ordered some tea. While it was on its way of being made. Joey looked up, seeing Seto showing overwhelming emotions behind those blue eyes.

"Have you made any friends, since the orphanage? Anyone in those rich private school places?"

"Mokuba and I have been home schooled, so..."

"You serious?" Joey asked in almost a whisper as Seto leaning his head on his two hands, his two fingers rubbing against his temples.

"I have a Kocha with whole cream!" The employee at the other end of the counter called.

"It's for us!" Joey responded, getting Seto's tea, since Seto had already paid for it. He took it with both hands and began drinking several gulps of it to swallow down the huge lump in his throat before taking a deep breath.

"I'll be fine. I just have a migraine."

"Don't worry about it," Joey responded with a small smile as Seto gave one in return.