Update! sorry it took awhile, I broke up with my boyfriend over the weekend so I wasn't in the mood for writing.

Flame Swordswoman: yay I made you happy!
Clarity: Yes I know it was weird but that was the point. it has a weird symbolic meaning. I also do re-read them but I have an eye disorder so I miss things now and then. I did go back and correct it though. Thanks
Chika of the high Mts: Yes Seto has many issues! And he will be very odd through the story I can garentee that lol

Breaking Point

Seto

"If you would be quiet for a moment I would tell you Jounouchi." He clamped his mouth shut and looked at me with those puppy brown eyes. I've become fond of the looks he gives me. So soft and eager to know something but will flame up without a moments notice. He's changed so much just in this short time he's been here, what has it been? Three weeks I think, it seems much longer. We don't talk much about our pasts anymore. I think that's just become an understanding that it isn't to be talked about unless that person brings it up. I would never admit how much the pup has grown on me and how we are friends but he seems to understand that I'm just not willing to let the rest of the world see the real me. "I don't pay attention in school because I don't feel I need too. When I was younger my step father grinded me to the books and would grill me until I would pass out. It's not that big of a deal but it put me ahead most people."

"If you're ahead of everyone and could have graduated a long time ago why do you stay at school?" he questions while cocking his head to the side. I smile to him dryly, it's the closest thing I come to an actual smile these days. He just looks at me expectant and I reach out to tug softly on his golden locks.

"Is it really that hard to guess pup?" He continued to stare at me with that look then a flush pink ran over his face and I laughed at him, "Jounouchi I'm kidding."

"You're what? You can't say something like that and then say you're kidding! It's not right Kaiba, wait up you have to tell me your real reason! Kaiba!" I hear him yelling at me but I just keep walking and inside I admit I am smiling from ear to ear. I love making him frustrated and its even better that he makes it so easy for me. He has changed back to his old self so fast it is almost mind-boggling but then he was always a happy soul, I wasn't. I have no doubt in my mind he'll be happy, myself on the other hand will probably never be but that's alright I don't need to be. As long as I am better then everyone else I will be remembered, even if no one likes me.

"Jounouchi, I'm going to go to the office after school. Will you be okay walking home or do you want me to set up a ride for you?" I know the fact that I seem to be mothering him bothers him but if his father were to catch sight of him who knows what would happen to the pup.

"Damn it Kaiba I'm not some little kid. I'll be fine walking home on my own without my mom thanks," he bites off at me. I know he is only sounding testy, he doesn't mean to be, like usual I don't let it affect me. He is quiet for a while and I've come to notice that he is quiet more after he snaps at me. "Kaiba remember back in Battle City when I challenged you and you agreed to duel me? Well I was wondering why, I mean you had always made it clear I wasn't worth your time to spit on let alone duel." I stop and look at him.

"What would make you think about that now?" He shrugs and shuffles his feet on the ground. I myself have to think of the answer. Why did I agree? "Well…I guess I wanted to see how far you've come at dueling. You were second in Duelist Kingdom and it couldn't have just been your dumb luck and Yugi's coaching the whole time. I guess I just wanted to see where you measured up." He looked at me in a way I've never seen him look at me before and it was a bit unnerving. "What?"

"Nothing," he replied shaking his head and then ran off ahead of me to school. I don't think I'll ever understand that mutt's mind; it's either too simple or too complex. I rather go with my first thought however, but I have a feeling there is more to his head then anyone knows.

Katsuya

Seto is keeping something from me but I don't know what it is. He wouldn't have cared where my dueling status was, after all he did say at the Battle City finals that I shouldn't be there and tried to get rid of me. There has to be more to it. But then he was always the driving force that got my fire up to try harder. Shizuka was my inspiration but Seto Kaiba brought out my fire mainly because he just got on my nerves. Everyone has always done things for me saying I'd never make it or to be anything and Seto he just drove that home to me. I had to prove him wrong in the end, I think I did but then my father entered the picture, violently.

I sigh to myself as I enter the school and go to my first class. I should probably forget about it but there are things about Kaiba I want to know, I promised I wouldn't push him though. Maybe I should just give it up, he may be kind to me but he still doesn't want friendship or anything else. It's a lost cause of me trying anymore but then Yugi still hasn't even thought of Kaiba being his rival, he's friends with everyone.

"Hey Jou! Over here!" Anzu yells at me from the other end of the classroom. I swear there is no way to confuse her with anyone but her, so loud and perky but with such an attitude. Well maybe not attitude more of spunk. Mai was the attitude but it wasn't a bad one, man I miss her.

"Hey guys what's up?"

"We just wanted to remark how great you look and how happy you seem. For a while you had us really worried but now everything seems like before. Whatever happened to turn things around for you we're happy for you," Yugi says in his pep talk, sincere, kind voice. He is my best bud and I wouldn't trade him for the world. But is what they are saying really true? Am I as happy as I was before? Has living with Kaiba and Mokuba really changed me that much? I mean I haven't had thoughts of wanting to throw myself off the bridge anymore and with my dad out of the picture my life is pretty damn near perfect. Maybe I could call Mai, and just maybe, maybe she'd take this idiot back…

I must say today was pretty great. I was able to just be with my pals and not have to worry. Plus I think I might look Mai up. Who knows maybe I'll go over to Yugi's again! My life is really turning around. Or…maybe it's going to hell.

Across the street in clothing that clearly hasn't been washed is on a somewhat overweight man. I can feel the chills running down my spine and the fear I know all too well. I'm paralyzed just watching him walking, I want to run away but I just can't move.

"Eh? Hey you boy what you are you looking…Well, well Jounouchi Katsuya you finally show your face to your dear old dad again! You have no idea what trouble you've caused. When I get you home boy you are going to pay for everything you've done and you're going to tell your dear daddy, who has been worried sick about his only son, where you've been." I can't do anything but tremble; he has me all over again. I'm sweating bullets and I'm on the edge of tears but my throat is so dry. I feel like I'm going to throw up but it just turns and knots in my stomach. He is advancing on me. "What boy, cat got your tongue? Maybe I should release that for you."

"No…d-dad…" I choke out. I'm surprised I was able to say anything but I seem to have made him angrier by speaking. He reaches out and grabs my arm. I can still feel the calluses that are all over them rough, dry, dirty, and hurtful. It seems that my arm is already bruising beneath his hand. He is coming closer to me with his fists raised. It hits solidly just below and to the side of my eye and I hit the ground. I look up at him grinning above me and he slams his foot down on my chest. I just squeeze my eyes tightly closed to stop me from crying. I can hear my father getting lower and he is touching my hips. Where is help when you really need it? I open my eyes and I can see the Kaiba Corp. building. What would Kaiba think of me not even fighting? Why aren't I fighting him? I've come so far I can't lose it now, not now! I take my chance by slamming a clenched fist square in his face. The 'man' falls back and to the side amazed that I hit him. I jump to my feet and try to run but he grabs me. We struggle for a while before I manage to break free and run.

I don't stop running until I reach home, once there I run straight to my room and access the damage to my body. It's not actually that bad considering what I could have, a few bruises and a future black eye but other wise I'm fine psychically. Emotionally however, I don't know, I guess for some reason I thought when I left him to be here I'd never see him again or something. It just shows that all good things end and leave you battered. I'm just lucky that I was able to be semi happy while I could.

"Jou? Are you in there? I saw you fly by me on the way inside the house. I'm just wondering if something is wrong." I hadn't heard the knocking at my door that is even if Mokuba had knocked. I really don't have the time of day for him right now. I don't want to see anyone; I just want to be alone.

"No, go away. I'm fine, just go do homework or something." I know I sound meaner then I mean to be but I just want to be left alone. I can hear him sigh behind the door and mummer something I can't hear. After a few minutes I guess that he has left. I just sit here staring at the mirror across from me. I don't really know what is going on, I just feel anger and something else I can't quite describe. I seem to be getting lost in my own eyes and hating them the more I stare.

I get up and throw the mirror to the floor and it shatters. I rip the paintings off the wall throwing them every which way. I'm knocking the dressers over and throwing plants against the wall. I even flip my mattress off the frame and onto the floor. I don't know how long I have carry on doing this but it must be quite awhile before I finally sit in the corner, where my mattress had landed. I am just curling into myself not knowing what to do. I want someone to save me but there is no one here, like always.

Seto

"Um Seto I think there is something wrong with Katsuya," my little brother says over the phone. I can feel part of my body go cold, could the pup be hurt? I don't bother to ask.

"I'll be there in a minute Mokuba just go do your homework." I hang up the phone and on my way out I shout to my idiot secretary that I'm gone for the night and I am not to be bothered. Nothing is going fast enough, damn these morons. Can't they tell I am in a hurry? "Driver!" I bark, "I don't care what you have to do it but if you don't speed up you're going to be out of a job!"

We arrive a few minutes later and I jump out of the limo without saying a word. Mokuba is waiting in the living room and I don't even have to ask where Katsuya is, he simply tells me without looking up and I head to his room. I knock lightly on the door and speak softly, "Jounouchi are you in there?" No reply comes so I open the door and my mouth drops to the floor. He has totally destroyed the room and I feel anger rise inside of me that is begging to be let out. I am going to kill that damn mutt for all the damage he has caused!

"Go away…" I hear in a whisper that is barely audible. I doubt I was even intended to hear it but I did and that's when I noticed him hunched over in the corner with his knees pulled into his chest. I walk over to him, picking my way among the broken objects and kneel down before him.

"Jounouchi what the hell is wrong with you? Get up and stop sniveling on the ground like a beaten dog." He says nothing and it probably wasn't the best way to break the silence either but I've never been good with people. I try another approach, "Jou-Katsuya what is wrong with you?" At his first name he looked up at me with tear brimmed eyes, I soften. I go to my knees and wipe one of his tears away with my thumb. "Katsuya what happened to make you like this?" He just continues to stare as if I were but a ghost and would vanish at any moment. "Katsuya I can't help you if you don't tell me what is wrong. I promised I would help you, now let me."

"Help Me…" he murmured into his knees and then without any warning he launched himself at me. I'm stunned and my eyes go wide. He wraps his arms around my waist and buries his face into my chest. I can feel him shaking in my arms, and his tears soaking into my shirt. I hold him close to me and set my chin upon his golden locks. We must have stayed like that for an hour or so, him crying and muttering things I couldn't understand. I simply holding him and occasionally cooing to him and saying it is all right. This is so strange to me, being kind and gentle like this. I haven't even done this sort of thing with Mokuba in a long, long time. The closeness feels good and warming, something I didn't think I needed. So many things I hide and some I guess even from myself. This pup hides things too but are they the same things?

I nuzzle my face into the gold locks that smell slightly of ginger and stare at the wall across from me. The pup is scared, my pup is scared and hurting and I wasn't there to protect him. Whoever or whatever hurt him is going to pay for crossing me. "Katsuya, what happened?" I whisper to him as gently as I can manage without giving off a hint of my anger I feel boiling within me. I can hear him sniffling and then without warning he jolts out of my arms. There is a light pink hue over his face and he looks ashamed. "Jounouchi?"

"Go away I'm fine just forget this," he says in an icy tone that sounds a lot like me. I study him, I know he is lying but why would he lie?

"Bull shit," I snap and he looks at me. "I'm not a fool Jounouchi, do not play me for one. Tell me who the hell caused you to destroy my room and cry like a little baby." He says nothing to my words and I wonder why he hasn't retaliated yet, this isn't like him. This beaten dog act of his doesn't suit him, he isn't the type to roll over and play dead. There is only one person I know of that can make him behave that way. "What did he do to you? Did he touch you?" I pause waiting for answer, "Damn it Jounouchi! Answer me!" his eyes shift and he speaks very quietly.

"I was afraid of him, all over again. Nothing has changed. As long as I am his son no matter what I do I'm just his slut!" he chokes on the last and he began to cry again. I just keep looking at him and he meets my eyes; so much pain, so much fear I see behind his and I can feel it all through my body. "I'm worthless Seto, you've been right all along. I am nothing but a dog and a half rate duelist. You were right all along…I just didn't want to accept it. I finally understand why you hated me so much, why you hate me so much…" Hate him? I don't hate him, I never hated him; this is my fault just as much as that old man's. I have to set things right. He has saved Mokuba's life before and he has always helped out even when I was a total bastard to him. I will fix this.

"Jounouchi I don't hate you, I've never hated YOU. It was myself that I hated, never you. I wasn't right Jounouchi; those things were never the truth. Have never been and have never will be what I thought of you." I sigh to myself and I can't really look at him right now. I have to force myself, I can't bail out. I'm no quitter and I'm not going to quit now. His soft eyes are staring at me, completely unreadable and he drops his head. I reach to the pup and run my thumb over the tear streaks on his face. From there the rest just seems so natural, he leans into my chest and I take him back into my arms. I can feel him playing with the buttons on my shirt and I know he is itching to ask me. "Katsuya-" I start to say but he cuts me off.

"Can I stay with you tonight? I need to…to not be alone," he says in a soft whimper.

"Come on let's get out of this room." I stand and he fallows me out. I shut the door behind me with one glance back into the room.

Katsuya

My eyes flutter open and I see the dark blue walls of Seto's room. Then I remember what happened yesterday, he had been there for me. In all the times I had been alone he was there for me and not because he had to but because he wanted to be with me. I shift to my side and look up at him with his head cranked in an odd position that looks extremely uncomfortable. I roll back onto my back next to him and rest my head in my hands. Seto is an odd guy, he always tried to make it seem he wanted nothing to do with my friends and I but he always seemed to be around us and not only that but he never objected when others referred to us as his friends. The guy is a major jackass but he has a soft side…last night was proof of that.

"You're fired…" I hear Seto mumble and I look at him with a smile. Even in his sleep he is controlling, but I suppose where you can't get perfection in life you have to find else where like in dreams. Although that makes no sense when it comes to my weirder dreams of monkeys and pudding.

I scratch my head and sit up to examine the room. It's dark and very gloomy, kind of how I pictured mine if I had money. A hardwood floor and I'm guessing it to be mahogany. Above the bed is a huge picture of a blue eyes white dragon but it isn't one of the better paintings I've seen. It makes me wonder why Kaiba has a slightly imperfect dragon in his room; one would think he'd want the best here. I feel a tug at my arm; I bounce around fast and fall off the bed.

"Ouch! Kaiba what's the big idea with scaring the crap out of me?" I snap but he doesn't answer. He just stares at the Dragon on his wall. I climb back to my feet and sit back on the bed. "Kaiba, you going to answer me?"

"I chose that picture because like me it isn't at full power and isn't at it's perfection. It will become perfection when I do," he says flatly and then looks at me. I have to wonder why he is so obsessed with being perfect and having ultimate power. It's all he ever talks about, all he has ever talked about since the first day I met him. He was pretty crazy then, with that green hair and contacts that hid his blue eyes; he looked as phony as I have been to my friends. I can't help but smirk about that. His bright green hair it wasn't just green but neon green. "Is there something funny mutt?" he asks with a tinge of irritation on his voice. I start to speak then stop and ask a different question from the green hair.

"Kaiba, why are you so obsessed with power and being perfect? What's wrong with being normal?" He grimaces and then lies back on his bed with his arms under his head looking up at the ceiling. Seto remains so quiet I wonder if he has decided to ignore my question all together.

"…I suppose that would be my step father's fault Jounouchi. He was big into power and drove me all night and day. Then when I started to fall asleep he would take my toys and cut weekends off. I was already cutting my emotions off after my parents, so it was easy for him to shape me. I became exactly what he wanted but in the end I came out on top." Seto's face was so still as he spoke and tight lipped, it made me feel as if I was prying again and he would soon turn and beat the crap out of me. "I suppose you're wondering about my parents. You might have asked Mokuba but he doesn't know the truth, he thinks they died in a car accident but I lied to him." I stay silent; slightly afraid if I talk he'll stop. "What really happened was mom died giving birth to Mokuba. Dad remarried and Mokuba came to think that was mom but it wasn't. Then dad left us home alone. Social services came and brought us to the orphanage. He left because he wanted to travel the world with his new wife. I was going on eleven years old." I can't believe what he is telling me, it's so horrible to have your own father just leave you…

"So you felt like no one wanted you and then you were treated like crap. No wonder you've been such an ass." He snorts at my last comment but doesn't look at me. "Kaiba, how long did you know about what was happening to me before now?" I ask quietly while I tug at the thick blanket. I hear Seto make a 'hmm' noise but nothing else. After a few moments he turns to his side and looks me right in the eyes.

"Did he touch you Jou?" he asks in a dry voice that seems to waver slightly. I don't know what to answer him, I don't know if me means yesterday or if he means all the other times. Yesterday he didn't really touch me, not like he use to but he might as well had with how much I crumbled. I frown, I fell to pieces in an instant and the old man knew it. I want revenge so bad but he is my father and in some twisted way I love him.

"No Kaiba, he didn't touch me in the way you mean," I finally answered Seto. I told him the truth he hadn't touched me sexually other then my hips, he had violently though. "Kaiba, I don't get it. Why is it that I want to kill him and have him be gone for my life forever but yet I can't and don't want it to happen to him because he is my father? Even after all he has done to me I still love him as my father, it's like I'm asking to be hurt. You must think I'm a fool. I think I'm a fool," I finish sullenly. His eyes don't waver, nor does he say anything. I sit there feeling awkward and thinking I shouldn't have said anything at all when he abruptly gets up and starts to leave the room. I just stare after him.

"You get some rest," he says stopping with his back to me. "If you need anything just ask a maid or something. I have something to do and I should be back later, but whatever you do, do not leave this house under any circumstance." Seto then continues walking and leaves me in the dark sitting on his bed feeling very exposed.

Seto

I rather not leave the pup now but that man has to pay for what he has done. No one touches my puppy or beats him to what he had become. I never believed anyone would break him, if anyone I always thought it would be me not his father. It is no matter now however, the man has sealed his fate and that is where I intend to put it, he can join my stepfather in hell.

I go outside to my Jaguar and jump in to speed off to that dumpy little neighbor hood that I had walked through not all that long ago. As the other neighborhoods and houses pass by they are nothing more then a blur, I think of one thing, one person. Jounouchi Katsuya was the last person on earth that I thought I would help, but I feel so possessive of him, I always have. I've pretended not to care, pretended I was never grateful but that isn't how it ever was. Upon fooling him I fooled myself. So many things changed within an instant for me and were never the same again. Now, slowly since I've known that mutt I've started changing all over again. I just wish I knew if it was because I saw me in him or if it was something else. Either way I know I want to do this, have wanted to.

I pull up outside of the broken down graying house; using the word house very loosely however, and step out of my car. I don't bother to knock as I shove the door that is hanging off its hinges out of the way and I pick my way around the broken 'things' that cover the floor. The whole house smells of beer, smoke, and even urine. I wrinkle my nose in disgust. How anyone could live this way puts me beside myself and to think that my pup was in this dump. With each step I take a pray that I don't pick up any of this smell on my shoes; they are expensive and I don't feel like buying myself new ones.

I come to a broken down couch with a fat man is lying on it, most likely Katsuya's father. It disgusts me to look at him. I pass by him and head to the only door that seems to be right on the hinges. I try to use the doorknob but it's locked tight. I stand back and look at the door trying to think like the pup. I shift my weight on the floor and I hear a creak. Not an old floor creak but a creak that only sounds when the ground below it is hollow. Crouching down I pop the panel up to see a key on the dirt below on a Kaiba Corp. key chain. I take the key and slide it in the lock to have the door swing open. I walk in and lock the door behind me.

The room is quite normal. They walls are intact and there is glass in the one window. A messy bed, clothes thrown here and there, and some socks hanging from the ceiling. I notice a small refrigerator that is used for a lamp table and many locks on the inside of the door. Everything in the room seems to be battery operated since I can't see any cords or sockets. The floors are carpeted with a fluffy soft moss green, which is very unlike the mud brown flooring in the rest of the house.

I rummage through Katsuya's belongings, looking for anything that is of value and can't be replaced. I can't find much though, a few duel monster cards, some dog tags, and photographs. I take them and put them in my inner pocket of my trench coat. I take a final glance around the room and my eyes come to rest upon a candle and some matches. I pick the matches up and head back to where the old man was laying on the couch. I stand over him and I can see bloodstains on the floor and other items around the room. I wrinkle my nose in disgust for the millionth time and debate whether or not to just hit the dirty fool.

"You ain't the boy. Who the hell are ya?" the man says to me in a thick, hoarse voice. He has Katsuya's hair color, or it had been the same once a long time ago but now it has no luster. I have no attachment to this man and yet I hate him with a furry. "Wait, I know who ya are. You're Kaiba Seto, what the hell is a snobby boy doin' my house?" He reeks of beer and vomit but I don't make any change in my face other then making a sneer.

"I am the last person you'll ever see alive old fool."

"What you talking bout?" he asks me with an unsure voice. He has no idea what I am thinking.

"I am here to punish you for your crimes against Jounouchi Katsuya. May the fires of hell burn your flesh forever," I say with malice lacing every bit of my voice. I laugh manically at his puzzled face.

"How you know the boy?" he asks to my back as I walk away from him. I step out the door and prop it just so it can't be pushed open from inside. I go to the window and take out the matches I picked up. I light one and stare at the flame dance then throw it in the window. I light a few more and toss them in as well and I stand there for a moment to watch them catch on the spilled liquor and start to grow into bigger flames.

As I walk back to my car and I can hear a rustling in the house and several yelps. I climb in calmly and take one last look at the shed that is now beginning to be completely engulfed in flames. A light smile crosses my face and I start my car. I drive away leaving the screams of the dirty fool behind forever and hopefully behind Katsuya.

Oh my I killed him! what will Katsuya do! stay tuned! lol