This should be the last one. I am fearing that this might be a bit rushed, but I don't think it is. Review please!

Seto was walking on his way out of the school building, having changed his shoes from his shoe locker. He knew he had to be at work very soon, being that the days he worked, he had to arrive right after school, no stops along the way. Of course, being that Seto was in charge of Kaiba Corp, he could arrive slightly late, but arriving on time would be the only way to make sure the company was running smoothly and his employees weren't slacking off. Even Mokuba couldn't pull this off alone, especially with the Big Five thinking they ruled the roost.

"So, you're going to hand me the answers to my assignment papers, right?" Tristan asked in a threatening voice to Yugi, being that he was often harassed by Tristan. Joey harassed Yugi sometimes too, but usually, it was more playful.

"Y-Yes Tristan," Yugi agreed meekly.

"You're so pathetic," Seto snorted, passing by.

"Were you talking to me!?" Tristan asked threateningly.

"No, I was talking to the wall."

"I don't know why Joey likes you, you're such a jerk!"

Seto laughed mockingly, so loud the whole school could hear it. He turned, saying, "look who's talking, Mr. You're-Going-to-Hand-me-the-Answers-to-my-Assignment-Papers! Say what you want about how much of a jerk I am, I don't make weaklings do my dirty laundry, unless I pay them." He looked at Yugi. "And Yugi, don't think you're getting off the deep end here. You're just as pathetic to let this loser treat you like his personal slave. Unless he's paying you to do his homework, he can do his own dang homework and work his way to the top like everyone else! You don't act this way, when you're playing Chess against me, why should you spoil this one?"

"Hey, what we're doing is non of your business!" Tristan shouted.

"Stop! No more fighting!" Yugi cried out fearfully. He looked at Seto. "And it's fine. I don't-"

"I know you don't mind, it's not about that. It's a sense of pride, which neither of you have. Being nice and being weak are two different things and what you're being is weak and pathetic. I don't call someone my rival, if he's showing himself to be weak and pathetic. That's why I never challenge Tristan to a match," Seto said, walking down the hall.

Tristan glared, grinning his teeth as Yugi looked down at the ground. He sighed, then dug in his book bag to get out a folder with some pieces of paper. He handed it to Tristan, who looked at Yugi with his glare still visible.

"Here. I-I changed my mind. I don't want to do your homework, Tristan. I was just afraid I'd be rude, if I said 'no.' Besides, I'd be cheating for you, if I did it, and I don't like cheating. I'm sorry," Yugi said, then ran off as fast as he could.


Meanwhile, Seto entered inside the limo to head off to work at Kaiba Corp. For the most part, he was working on his plans for Kaiba Land and some ideas for new games to distribute. He also worked on delivering packages of games to different local game stores, including answering phone calls from them. This took hours throughout the entire day before Seto could finally have a lunch break.

Seto's and Mokuba's lunch breaks were at different times, being that someone had to take over in the other's place. The lunch break also lasted an hour, meaning that Seto could leave the building during his break and come back to work again. Usually, he did this, since he hated being inside one place for hours. It was bad enough Seto had to face that when he lived with Gozoburro. Since he was in charge of the entire company, he felt he could leave the building, if he wanted to, on his break.

Seto walked down the sidewalk to a nearby Yoshinoya and ordered a Yaki Udon Bowl – Chicken and a Dr. Pepper. Seto usually came here to eat during his break often, since it had the best food, was quiet, and was closer to Kaiba Corp. than most of the popular restaurants. This was the only place he knew where he could just order his food, eat quickly and go back to his job. In fact, he'd mostly return back to work earlier than his break, considering he always ate close by.

When Seto was done, he threw his trash away, still drinking the last bit of his Dr. Pepper before watching Joey come into the restaurant, knowing that this is where Seto had his lunch break. Joey walked to Seto, who was still drinking his soda through the straw.

"We need to talk," Joey stated. Seto threw his drink away.

"I have to be back at Kaiba Corp. in 45 minutes," Seto said, then the two walked outside down the sidewalk to a small alley, where they could talk in private. Seto leaned against the brick wall and listened.

"I want to know what happened between you and Tristan after school. He seemed kinda pissed when we talked," Joey said.

"I told him exactly how it was. Him and Yugi were being pathetic and needed some sense hammered into their skulls."

"You didn't have to call him a loser!"

"You mean because he was making Yugi do his homework? So sorry for talking down on your friend for bullying someone weaker than him. Last I checked, that was a good thing I was doing."

"Oh right, like you've never been a complete jerk once in your life!"

"I don't make other people do my dirty laundry and I don't bully those less fortunate or weaker. You and your friend, on the other hand, seem to find enjoyment out of it and to this day and I still don't understand it."

"I don't pick on the weak! How dare you!"

"Uh-huh. Okay true, you don't go as far as your friend did, but you do have a thing for taking things from the kind of people that sit in a dark corner and want to be left alone. If not the weak, you'd pick a fight or take revenge on those that do harm to you. Maybe not physically, but words and punches look the same to me, only words can cut too."

"And you've never bullied anyone in your life?"

"What have I done that was considered bullying?"

"Well, calling Tristan and I pathetic losers for losing to you in a stupid game can be considered that!"

"Last I checked, gamers do that in order to stir up the other players to try their very best! You also never said it hurt your feelings, so sorry for hurting your feelings! You could've told me, if you didn't like it!"

"Shouldn't it be obvious that insulting other people is considered hurtful!?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious that insults can be considered nonhurtful, if you're just teasing or playing?"

"Ugh! I hate it when you're like this! All I'm asking is for you to stop being a freakin' jerk to my friends and you just respond by saying why it serves you justice!"

"Just like you did with that kid at the orphanage when you pushed him off the swing and into the mud!?"

"That was eight YEARS ago! You know I'm not like that anymore!"

"No, you're worse, because instead of bullying other people that have hurt you, you're bullying those that don't deserve it! If not growing worse, you haven't changed that part of you, Wheeler!"

"You're right. I haven't changed, you have! You used to be nice and playful and now you're an egotistical scumbag, who thinks only what you want!"

"Oh really!?"

"Yes, you only consider playing with those you want to play with, go to places you want to go to, and, if it doesn't fit your convenience, you just find any freakin' way to avoid it! Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you made your face bigger on National News just because it suits your sweet self! If that doesn't cut it, you also never kept to your promise you made to me about getting me out of my mud hole place I'm having to live in with my dad to pay off his stupid debts, among other things!"

"And you never tried keeping yours either, right?" Seto smirked as Joey's lips made a firm line. "Try all you want to defend your case, but it comes down to you trying to beat me up just to get that mess of a friend to leave you alone, so the rest of your day can be sunshine and roses. I've done terrible things in my life, but I try to make myself a better person. I own a company, I study, I pay the bills, I take care of Mokuba, I put a dang roof over our heads. You haven't done a single thing to try to improve yourself, except talk about how miserable you are and how pathetic your father is. Funny, people like that usually turn into their father. At least, if I turn into Gozoburro, I'd still be able to provide for myself and my family, while you stay in that mud hole of a life of not trying to gain anything to improve your life, considering your poor grades, and punching your problems on other people weaker than you."

"I'M NOTHING LIKE MY FATHER!"

"You're right," Seto said, narrowing his eyebrows. "He has the excuse of alcohol addition and depression. What excuse do you have?"

Things began turning around in five seconds. In the first second, Joey threw his fist right at the corner of Seto's jaw, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. In the second second, Joey froze in shock, staring at his fist. In the third second, Joey stared at Seto, who got up, wiping some blood from his mouth. In the fourth second, Seto gave Joey a look he never saw in him in his life. It was the same look he remembered seeing in his mother, when his dad threw his beer bottle and shouted at her to "GET OUT!" In the fifth second, Joey turned and ran out of the alley as fast as he could, regretting everything that happened only those five seconds ago and not knowing any way he could say he never meant any of it.

If only he could take everything back.

The punch wasn't too bad and the bleeding was only minimum. Seto was used to getting hurt like this, but it was never from Joey. He knew it was his fault. If he hadn't stirred Joey up, he wouldn't have been so pissed off that he punched Seto the way he did. Though, it wasn't like Joey didn't deserve it! He had that slander coming to him.

But... if Joey had that coming to him... Seto began wondering why he felt like curling up in a dark corner and crying every last tear from his eyes. There was so much going on and he didn't want to let it out. He didn't have time for it! He had to be at work in 30 minutes!

Seto sat in the dark alley him and Joey had their fight at before returning to work. He did clean himself up from the blood and was able to buy some foundation to cover up the bruise. He walked back to his office, returning back to work as Mokuba looked over at his direction from his own desk.

"Hey Seto, is something bothering you? You came a bit later than usual," Mokuba asked.

"I'm fine. A few things got in the way. You should be getting back to work," Seto replied coldly.

"Yes Seto."

Mokuba knew his brother had been hurt by the look in his eyes. Seto had been hurt plenty of times by Gozoburro, but it seemed as though the wound was cut seriously deep. Mokuba feared to question Seto some more, but he couldn't help worrying. Maybe it was better to just not say anything and maybe talk to Seto when they returned home.

Mokuba tried finding different ways of talking to his brother and finding out what was bothering him, but couldn't figure out what to say. Seto seemed quiet and cold throughout the whole day. Even during his worst days, Seto never acted quiet and cold. Mokuba knew he had to say something.

"S-Seto, I-" Mokuba began before Hobson arrived.

"I'm... sorry to bother you both, but... there's someone, who wants to see you," Hobson said.

"Who?" Seto asked.

"He says 'a friend who's really sorry' as he puts it. He seems a bit-"

"I know who he is, let him through," Seto said, getting up from the table. Mokuba got up until. "Mokuba, you stay put until I get back." Mokuba slowly sat back down, staring worriedly at his brother, who walked out the door.

Seto walked outside, then down the steps as he watched his gates open to let Joey though, who was walking his bicycle through the driveway, which circled around a huge fountain at the end. Seto wore a purple decorative trench coat over a green shirt and black jeans. Joey parked his bike along the driveway, then walked up to Seto, who waited at the bottom of the steps.

Seto and Joey exchanged glances, both could see hurt in the other's eyes, especially Joey's, considering his eyes were red. Joey took a huge bow, his hands on his thighs.

"I'm so sorry, Seto!" Joey cried out, then stood straight up. "You're right, Tristan and I are jerks alot of the times and I shouldn't have said any of those things or threw that punch! I'm just sick of you and Tristan always badgering on each other and not giving each other a chance. It doesn't make what I did right, but... I don't know... I- please accept my apology!"

"I do," Seto replied, sighing. "And I'm sorry too." He made a huge bow too. "I shouldn't have pushed you over the edge."

"But you were right... I do pick on the weak and I am turning into my father! You're a jerk, but you've also been hurt! It's as you stated, at least you're trying to make something out of yourself. I'm just picking up where my father left off, without the alcohol addiction."

"Being hurt doesn't give us a free pass, Joey," Seto said quietly, his voice growing softer. "There are mistakes we do, because we're human, but we can better ourselves with what we do and how we act. I haven't been a good example to you. I promised one of my teachers I would be a good example to you and I broke it... I'm sorry for that too."

"Seto..."

"There's something I want to show you," Seto said, inviting Joey into his mansion. Joey followed him to the living room where he opened his laptop and connected the internet wire to the connector. He double clicked on Internet Explorer, then the screen popped up, including a little mini screen in front of it, which showed Seto's username and a blank password. Seto typed his password, then clicked Dial before it disappeared and another mini screen replaced it, showing a computer on one end and the globe on the other, a line connecting them, with the bottom showed a loading bar. A green light was moving from one end of the bar to the other as the computer made a connection noise to indicate that the computer was connecting to the internet.

"Don't you wish you could just instantly go on the internet without hearing that annoying thing?" Joey smirked.

"I think they're in the process of making it happen."

"Really? That'll be nice! When will that be?"

"I think a few years from now around 2000 sometime. It's 1997, so I would say that'd be three years from now," Seto said, then the mini screen disappeared and his internet browser popped up, shouting "YOU'VE GOT MAIL!"

"So, what is it you wanted to show me, money bags?"

"This..." Seto said, typing a few things on his laptop, then instantly went to a bank site, after about a minute or so. He clicked his username and password to his bank, then pressed Enter.

"Why are you showing me your bank account?" Joey asked in boredom.

"After I took over Kaiba Corp, I created a new account," Seto explained as the screen appeared, showing over 200,000 yen. "This should be enough to cover for Serenity's surgery." Joey's mouth gaped, staring at Seto in utter shock. "I'm not perfect, but I try to keep my promises the best I can."

"Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I wanted to make sure it was the perfect amount to cover any sort of cost and I had just made it to the perfect amount yesterday. It was supposed to be a surprise."

Joey could not find any words for what he just saw and witnessed. His legs began turning to jello and felt even more guilty about the way he treated Seto at the alley. He turned the internet off, then placed a hand on Joey's shoulder, his eyes softening up again.

"I've missed you so much when we parted. Having you around means... alot. I like having someone with me to keep me stable and... secure. I've been alone, since I was adopted by Gozoburro. Seeing you again means more to me than my own job or every yen I have in my bank. You're my family... you've always been my family, since the day we met," Seto said quietly, his hand slowly slipping from Joey's shoulder and feeling heavy on the inside.

"I've missed you too, bro. Seto... I like you alot. You're my best friend and my companion. No matter how much of a jerk you are, you're the only one I can talk to that listens to me and never judges what I do!"

"You never judge me either, and maybe that's because you know what I was like before Gozoburro."

"I suppose if I had not known what kind of person you were back at the orphanage, I'd probably be like Tristan, but I'm glad I've met you. You're a good person. I might need to pull teeth a bit to find it, but it's there and I can see it clearly."

"I'm glad I met you too. You're a big time underdog, but you've surpassed your own limitations so many times. I admire your will to never give up the fight and eventually learn your own strengths and using your weaknesses as them. There's always more to you than meets the eye and I really like you for that!"

"You think you would've known that, if we had not met at the orphanage?"

"Probably not. In fact, we'd probably be enemies."

Seto and Joey laughed together as Seto scratched the corner of his eye, saying, "I must've caught onion in my eye or something."

"Right, because it just happens to be in the living room!" Joey teased Seto, who shot him a glare. "Hey, I'm not gonna judge you." He walked up to Seto, then took a hold of his hand. "We're friends, remember?"

Seto sniffed before a single tear rolled down his left eye, his and Joey's fingers lacing together. Seto quickly wiped the tear with the hand, Joey had a hold of, before quickly walking to the dinning room and saying, "that was just weird!"

Joey chuckled, rolling his eyes, as he followed Seto to the kitchen to join with him and Mokuba for supper.

Seto did keep his promise to Joey to pay for Serenity's eye surgery, including helping him pay for an apartment to live in. Joey decided to study hard in school to work on keeping his end of the promise he made with Seto eight years ago. While they were silly little promises, they meant more to Joey than anything else. He was willing to keep that promise no matter what it took and Seto felt no different with every promise he made.

Promises don't break or mend friendships. Though, they can hurt or bring happiness. One should never make foolish promises. One should not break a promise either, unless it means breaking the law. Promises are meant to be used carefully like a fragile antique and never overused or mishandled. If a promise is used to boost one's ego or other selfish means, then that promise should probably never be made.

Let your yes's be yes and no's be no. Make a promise on special times.

A/N: And that's the end of the story folks! For the most part, I wanted this story to focus on the idea of how much weight a promise can have. While the middle of the story never really focuses on the idea of promises, the consequences Seto and Joey do face because of a foolish promise Seto made does bring its point across of the downsides of making a foolish promise. As I stated, I'm surprised that there's not an adult show that mentions this topic, because how many adults today make foolish promises that end up bringing up negative consequences? In fact, most of us have a problem with keeping promises and it's probably, because many of us make foolish promises. Kid shows have different lessons on this subject like "don't break a promise," "be careful what you promise," etc. I say "don't misuse a promise you make." Nobody's perfect, so I'd say it's wise to just stick to yes or no answers and save promises for a rainy day. Now, is that to say that you're never going to break a promise once in your life? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA no. Yeah, the "don't make promises you can't keep" can shoot itself, because anything can happen.