AN: This is the final chapter! This is the end!

Chapter 15: Starting Over

"Hello?" Mokuba asked cautiously, as he answered the door. His adopted parents were still at work and with his older brother as he was, Mokuba was practically alone. Looking up at the face of his visitor, Mokuba relaxed immediately. "Oh, hey Ryou."

"Hey, Mokuba." Ryou smiled. "Is your brother here?"

"Uh…......" Mokuba frowned, thinking over his answer carefully. "Sort of."

"Huh?"

"I mean, physically he's sitting in his room, but mentally? He's gone."

"Oh. So he's in his room then? May I speak with him?"

"Sure but good luck getting him to respond to you though. He's been on autopilot for almost three weeks. All he does is go to school and listen to music. He barely eats or showers! In fact I can't remember the last time he slept and I share a room with him."

"Oh. I see." Ryou frowned as he followed Mokuba to Seto and Mokuba's room.

"Seto? Ryou's here." Mokuba called as he knocked on the door. No answer. Pushing the door open, Ryou stepped past Mokuba and closed the door in the little boy's face. Turning around, Ryou sighed as he looked at Seto, who was sitting by the window, looking down at the street.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the club?" Seto asked without moving his forehead from it's resting place against the glass.

"Shouldn't you? It is Friday evening after all."

"Is it? I'd lost track of what day it was."

"So I see. Anyway, I came to see you because I haven't seen you in the club for about a month now. Everyone wants to know where you are."

"I'll bet." Seto snorted, as if to say he highly doubted Ryou's words.

"Why haven't you been around?"

"No reason. Just felt like being by myself."

"Seto, has anyone ever told you, you suck at lying?"

"It's not a lie!" Seto growled. "It's just not…......"

"The whole truth? Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Do you mind if I guess?"

"No one's stopping you, though I doubt you would understand."

"Then let me guess. Hum, are you worried about school?" Ryou guess, watching Seto's back closely. No reaction.

"College?" Still nothing.

"Mokuba?" Nothing again.

"Tea?" Seto's back stiffened slightly. 'Bingo.' Ryou laughed to himself.

"Did she break up with you?" Nothing, but Seto's back didn't relax.

"Ah, I see. She found out."

"Yes." Seto whispered, as if his mind was deep in his memories. "It was horrible. One second I was Ryu and then she looked at me…...... and the lights came on."

"You knew she would find out one day." Ryou shrugged, as he flopped down on Seto's bed and rested his back against the wall.

"I know. I even planned to tell her myself. But I kept wanting just another day."

"So your days ran out." Ryou smiled faintly. "No big deal."

"No big deal?" Seto ragged, finally turning around to face Ryou. "No big deal?"

"Yes. No big deal. You will find another girl." Ryou laughed, before closing his eyes. "You've never had a problem with that."

"I don't want another girl. I want Tea. Don't you understand? I'm sick and tired of people liking me for my money or my name. And then I finally found someone who liked me for who I was and not who my parents are or how much money I've got. But I…......" Seto trailed off with a frown.

"You lost her." Ryou finished. "So apologize."

"Didn't you hear? I lost her! No more 'getting her back'. No more chances! I screwed up, I know that, but now it's too late to do anything." Seto cringed at the harsh reality of his own words. Letting out a sigh, Seto turned back to the window, sat down on the sill and looked down at the street again. "Why do you think I avoid her at school? Why do you think I had my seat changed in AP history? I don't want to leave myself open anymore. She hates me, but there's no reason to give her an free opportunity to laugh at me or hurt me as I've hurt her."

"So you will not even try to save this? Even though you need her?" Ryou asked in surprise, his eyes opening. Nodding slowly, Seto showed that he had given up.

Sitting up sharply, Ryou grabbed the first thing he could grab and chucked it at Seto's head. Hitting Seto in the middle of his back, the pillow fell to the floor and Seto turned to look at his 'attacker', a mixture of shock and surprise showing in his eyes.

"Baka." Ryou snarled. "Baka. Baka. BAKA! You're being so stupid I want to throw up! Here you are, yearning away for her, but doing nothing because you are a coward! You're just an irrational coward, Seto Kaiba! But do you want to know something? She comes to the club at the regular time every week, no matter what! And she doesn't dance with anyone but if you ask to dance with you, she tells you she's waiting for someone. Go ahead. Figure it out, Seto. Be the bloody genius everyone says you are! Who is she waiting for?"

Clenching his fists at his sides, Ryou stalked out of the apartment, leaving Seto behind to brood over his cross words. After a second of staring at the bed, Seto slid off the windowsill and onto the floor.

"She's waiting for me?" He whispered.

"Seto?" Mokuba asked, sticking his head in the room. "Is everything all right?"

Looking up at his brother, Seto blinked, trying to understand what had just happened.

"I'm not really sure, Mokuba." Seto whispered. "I'm just not sure."

The two brothers looked at each other in silence, before Seto patted the floor next to him and motioned for Mokuba to join him. Sitting down, Mokuba looked up at his older brother and waited.

"Mokuba…...... what do you think I should do?"

"Is this about Miss Gardner, your kanojo?"

"Yes." Seto nodded, not bothering to correct Mokuba for his assumption or language choice.

"I like her. She's very nice and kind."

"So? It could be an act."

"Must girls drop the act around me. Miss Gardner was even more polite around me."

"So, what should I do?"

"Apologize." Mokuba shrugged. "Is a life of pain and wishing worth a bit of pride and dignity now?"

Seto looked down at his little brother for a minute, before nodding.

"When did you get so smart?" Seto laughed, giving his brother a one armed hug.

"Since I had to start thinking for both of us."

"Have I been that stupid so long?"

"Most of the year."

"I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you." Seto vowed, before jumping to his feet and hurrying to the door and grabbing his trench coat from a peg by the door. Mokuba listened for a second, and let out a sigh as the front door clicked shut. Suddenly, it banged open and Mokuba jerked in surprise as Seto stuck his head back in the room. "I promise you, Mokuba."

Looking over at his brother, Mokuba's face broke into a grin and he nodded.

"I'll hold you to that." Mokuba laughed and Seto smiled back before hurrying out of the apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where is he?" Tea asked herself, before dropping her head onto the bar. "It's been a whole month…...... and he still hasn't talked to me or even looked at me. Does he hate me?!"

"Will you relax?" Valentine asked, before tossing Tea a Pepsi. "If he hates you he's a certified jerk—since it is all his fault—and therefore, not worth your time."

"If you say so. I'm going to go in our corner."

"Fine." Valentine nodded. She watched her friend walk over to the corner and let out a groan. A month—an entire month!—of watching her friend kill herself over a self-centered jerk was killing Valentine.

'That's it, no more. If he isn't here by tomorrow I'm going to hunt him down and find him. And there shall be blood!' Valentine decided as Seto ran through the entrance. He ran over to the bar and opened his mouth to speak, but Valentine was too quick.

"She's in your corner." Valentine said, jerking her head in the direction Tea had gone. Quickly nodding his thanks, Seto hurried after Tea. Softly walking up behind Tea, Seto took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. Leaning closer, he placed his chin on her shoulder and nudged her ear with his nose.

"You must be new here." Seto whispered. Turning around, Tea's shocked expression was replaced by a large smile…...... and Seto discovered he liked making Tea smile.

Kanojo- Girlfriend (AN: see 'Chapter 11: Two Different Worlds' for original usage and Mokuba's reasoning)

Baka! - Fool!

AN: The title is by John Lennon.

AN2: Love it? Hate it? Send out the angry, pitchfork waving, French mob out to burn it? Throw the computer out the window and commit myself to the penitentiary cause this story should be illegal? Review and tell me what you think (or thought). If you hate it let me know and tell me why! (I'll try and fix it! I promise!) If you like it, tell me and I'll pursue my idea for a sequel. R/R! Thanks!