yip it's an update. Again time gap but not as big. I have my reasons for the time gap, maybe you'll figure it out maybe you won't :P

mandapandabug: aww I missed your reviews XD I never said how long...I dunno you make it up XD
xSwtLilAngel666x: well I know who to blame if I do reported now XD and yay Jess you're reading it :D
Growing Pain: I know isn't Seto a pain in the ass? never does what you want him too :p But the time that they have been away will be said in this chapter.
medoriko: maybe, maybe not. I haven't decided lol
clarity: like I saidabove I have my reasons for it and no it has nothing to do with a romantic quality.

The ramifications explanation
Seto

"On time to the second as usual Kaiba," her calm and level voice greets me. I've grown more accustomed to hearing her since we've joined company forces. I only see her once a year but we are in contact by phone a lot.

"And you're here early as usual Isis," I say blandly. I take a seat at the table. "Should we get started?" She is studying me and is making no motion to get started. "What?" I ask sharply.

"Kaiba are you feeling alright? It seems that every time I see you, you look a little more run down than you did before." I can tell she is genially concerned but I only grunt. "I will not discuss business with you until you look like you aren't going to pass out, so you might as well tell me." I glare at her but she doesn't falter. I sigh.

"You're too nosey for your own good Isis. I just haven't been sleeping well so I've been working more." She frowns and I already know what she is going to ask, "Don't bother. No I'm not sleeping, I'm lucky if I get 5 hours a week and of course Mokuba doesn't like it."

"Kaiba why don't you let me run Kaiba Corp. for a while? Take a vacation, some where you won't be able to work." She is beginning to sound like a mother and it's pissing me off.

"Isis I've had a mother I don't need you to be mine. I don't have time or the desire to have a vacation. All I have is my work and I am not going to give that up." I suddenly realize I have said too much because now she is going to pick it apart.

"Seto Kaiba I think its time you got married." I blink.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She laughs.

"Calm down. I simply mean that I think it's time you found yourself someone to relieve some of your stress. That can help you remember how to enjoy life."

"That's none of your business Isis," I snap. "Besides there is no one that I am around who isn't a workaholic." She tilts her head and leans forward resting her chin on her hand.

"Well what about someone from your past? An old flame perhaps?" I groan.

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?"

"Come now Kaiba there must be someone you can picture yourself being with." My temper is starting to rise and my constant headache is throbbing now.

"No, there is no one and there will never be anyone. Just drop it." I snap.

"Kaiba," her voice is soft and kind. "I'm not threatening you. But the only time you were at least a little happy was before Mokuba left for collage. It just shows that you are happier when there is someone in your life for you to be around," she pulls back in her seat. "There must have been at least one person in the past. The one that got away." My mind flutters to thoughts of a brown-eyed pup but I dismiss any possibilities as quickly as my mind went to him. "There was someone. Who is he?"

"It doesn't matter who he is, he's gone," I say sullenly. "Wait, what made you say he? I've never given indication of my sexual preference." She smiles coyly.

"You didn't have to. I've seen you watching the men around us when we would meet. I had thought it strange you didn't look at men or women that way when I first met you. But after awhile of our meetings I realized that who you are now and who you were then are totally different people. You may be a workaholic and you were then but the difference is now you aren't as serious as you once were. Something must have happened to you to make you softer. I am correct aren't I?" I only nod. "I just took note that you were looking at men not women. It's not that hard to see."

"You're deductive skills are why I wanted you to join with me but now I am feeling I should regret it," I answer uncomfortably.

"Kaiba, you should try and contact Jounouchi." I snap my head up to stare at her shocked. I try to compose myself but it's already too late.

"Why would I want to contact that idiot?" I state as calmly as I cannot looking at her.

"It's just a thought," she answers. I look back at her and she is rising from her chair. "I have another meeting now, I'll contact you later." She smiles and I watch her walk away. I only stay seated for a few moments before I stand and leave as well. What a complete waste of time.

Outside it's raining and people are running around from one overhanging roof to another. I could call my limo but I don't have anywhere else to be for the rest of the day. I walk along the street letting the rain fall upon my head while others run by me. Soon the buildings fade and trees take their place. I walk along the stone gravel path through the flora and I look up at the crying sky.

I had thought Isis wouldn't be a thorn in my side if I were to join up with her but obviously that didn't work. I think what bothers me most is she is right. I know the last time I still felt somewhat whole was when Mokuba was still home. Then the last time I had felt whole was when Jounouchi was with me. It never really dawned on me until I lost him. I know what I was doing to him was wrong but I was already in too far to turn back. When I had started I never once thought that I would end up in love, it's just a shame I realized it too late.

A tear rolls down my face mixing with the rain. If only I had known the last seven years of my life would have been so different. It was all so-I slam into something and hit the ground. I look up and see I knocked some guy down.

"Sorry, it was completely my fault," I say and stand. "I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alright?" I offer my hand to him and his head slowly turns upward to face me. A flash of brown through golden hair; he stares at me and I stare back. "My god…" I whisper. He stands without taking my hand and clears his throat.

"Well you are the last person I thought I'd bump into here." He looks just as he did at eighteen only more matured. "Are you just going to stare at me after seven years or are you planning on saying something sometime today?" He talks to me with such bitterness. I study him and he looks to have been living a better life than I; a wedding band glimmers on his left hand.

What could I possibly say? I've thought it over millions of times in the past but now what can I say? "There is nothing I can say to you to justify the past Jounouchi." My voice is shaking and I feel like I could collapse but I'd be happy to die right now because I saw him once again. "But if I've never said anything true before know that the greatest truth I have now is that I am sorry for what I did to you." He frowns at me.

"I'm not interested in sad tales Kaiba. That chapter of my life has ended." I swallow painfully. I'm feeling light headed not in the good way either. I need to sit down.

"Jounouchi…no book is finished without resolution for each chapter…" I squint to try and see clearer but I can't; I fall to my knees. I sense an energy of alarm from Jou but I can't see clear enough to make out his face.

"Kaiba? Are you okay? I didn't think I ran into you that hard." I can feel him place my arm over his shoulder bracing me to help me to my feet.

"I'm alright. Don't worry about me." I say weakly.

"Oh yeah you're alright, after all, you can't stand right now and I know you can't see me either." He helps me to a spot to sit and he hands me a water bottle. For a moment I wonder where he got it but dismiss the thought and tilt my head back and drink the whole thing. After a few minutes I start to balance out again. I look around, he brought me to a gazebo well protected enough that there is no water on the seats.

"Thank you," I say ashamed. I make a wonderful impression, pale, tired, almost gauntly thin.
"You've really let yourself slide into shit Kaiba." He hasn't lost his cocky attitude. I look at him and smile.

"It's hard to keep yourself up with no sleep you know?" I hand him the empty bottle back. "It's good to see that you're doing well though." I nod toward the ring on his finger.

"Oh, right." He falters and fidgets with the ring. "I've been meaning to take it off but with the heat here lately my hands have been too swollen to remove it without pain." He slips the ring off, "I guess I could pawn it or something."

"Were they a woman or a man?" I ask trying to sound mildly interested. He's silent at first like he is debating if he should tell me.

"Female, we're not together anymore," he replies without offering any more information. He looks me in the eye, "What are you doing here Kaiba?"

"Business," I answer tonelessly. I watch him as he bristles slightly at my words. "With Isis. She's running half of the Company so I don't have to be everywhere at once," I add. This seemed to make him relax a little.

"I never would have thought you'd let and outsider run your company. Mokuba didn't want to or something?" I shake my head.

"I wasn't pleased with the idea of having outside help but Mokuba wanted to go to collage so he went instead of taking his roll in the Company. I still don't know if he will ever take it so I had to do something, considering, I don't know how long I'll be around."

"If you took better care of yourself moneybags you would probably live longer." He pauses for a while not saying anything but it's obvious he has more to say, "What happened to you? You're not like I remember."

"No," I snort. "I'm not anything like I was when you left me. As for taking care of myself better there is no reason to. I have no opponents I've crushed competition. Mokuba has his own life, I now understand that I will always be second best to Yugi, and I have no family or loved ones. What reason would I possibly take of myself for? I've succeeded and beaten everything except for one failure I will never try to do again. Life is old news perhaps death will be interesting." I smile at him, "You though, are just the same as I remember you…it brings me back, you were the only person who could ever make me laugh in a good nature." He smirks at me.

"We had fun together for a time. But Kaiba I'm not the same person I was either. Hell if I were I would have beaten the snot out of you the moment I realized it was you who ran into me. I like to think I've changed for the better but you, you're just worn down and frankly this persona you've taken on is unsettling." I laugh at his stern face.

"Well you haven't lost your mouth. I don't see how I am should affect you Jounouchi. You walked out of my life seven years ago." I feel his fist hit my arm.

"Idiot! Just because I left it doesn't mean that I completely forgot about you or stopped caring." I just look at him. I know he cared for me and still does. I know because I feel the same but after all this time does it really matter?

"I never heard from you so I figured you had forgotten me or at least wanted to." I can see his face starting to turn red with frustration.

"How was I supposed to contact you when you broke my heart Kaiba?" he yells at me. "It's not like you tried hard to find me. You're such a selfish self-absorbed bastard! The world doesn't revolve around you. I can't believe you still don't get that! It's why I left you!" I just stare at him; that is the only reason why he left me? His face changes from anger to horror, "You didn't even know that did you?"

"Then, no I did not. I never attributed it to why you left though." I say looking down. How can I feel anything other then ashamed as I recall the way I used him. "You deserved better."

"Why'd ya do it Kaiba? Why'd you let me love you, make me think you loved me and then betray me?" I can't stop the tear that builds up into my eyes, threatening to spill over.

"It's complicated Jounouchi…I never, well I didn't want to hurt you then. I mean in the beginning there was no plan but I needed something to validate my actions…but things changed and I was too far in to back out by then." Jou only shook his head, stood and started to walk away. I got to my feet as quickly as I could and went after him doing my best to not let the wet earth squish over my shoes. "But what about you Jounouchi? After all this time why do you care what my reasoning was? Is it just that you hate me that much?" He didn't respond and kept walking. I wasn't sure if I should stop walking or not so I continued to fallow him until we reached pavement of the city.

"I could never hate you. I tried to but I couldn't," Jou finally answers. He turns to me, "Even after everything you done I still can't hate you." I feel as if there is more that is to be said after that but he changes the way the topic was going. "It's good that I got to see you one last time," he says solemnly. My eyes widen some and I reach for his arm as he starts to turn and walk away.

"Wait, what does that mean? Now that I've found you I don't want you to walk away until you understand why." He turns slowly with hard brown eyes of swirling emotion and shakes his head. "What? Do you really think I felt nothing? Let me explain what I know now that I didn't then." He removes my hand from his arm and looks at me with something that looks like pity.

"Kaiba, it's too late. It's just too late." Once again he turns away from me and starts to walk away. I watch his back and I am dimly aware of the sound of an alarm go off. Once again he is walking away from me but this time instead of leaving a truth with me he left a lie.

Jou looks to the other side of the street and my gaze fallows his. A man carrying a bag runs across the street toward Jou. I see Jou tense and get ready to attack, the man and he clash. The man never lets go of the bag and I finally realize the alarm was a burglar alarm. A flap of the man's coat flies up and I see a glint of metal. Before I know it I'm running towards Katsuya and the man.

"I'll fix you, you dirty bastard!" I hear the man bellow. I watch as he pushes Jou away and reaches into his pocket. I'm nearly there as the man takes aim. I jump and throw my brief case at the man, he fires and the ring of the gun echoes through my ears. We all hit the ground, one dazed and one bleeding. I clutch my shoulder and grimace.

"Katsuya, are you alright?" I ask. He looks up dazed and confused looking. I watch as his face changes from dumbfounded to concerned. He glances at the man on the ground; I guess my brief must have made contact with his head. In the distance not too far off I can hear sirens coming; I know Jou can too.

"Yeah I'm fine," he answers and just now seems to realize that I'm clutching my shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asks me alarmed. I chuckle dryly.

"It didn't hit what's left of my heart so yeah I guess I'm fine." I take my now red hand off my shoulder and try to move it. I can feel pain but it's not in the joint. "It missed the shoulder joint." He smacks the back of my head. "What the hell did you do that for?" I snap irritably.

"I don't need you to protect me! And you're an idiot! What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?" he shouts at me angrily. I prop myself up against a street sign and reapply presser to my wound. I can see the police cars coming into sight and stop in front of the store.

"I can not stop wanting to protect you than I can live without breathing. If I were to let you die, the added guilt would kill me as well. I figure just me is better than both of us." Jou sits back and a cop comes over to help me up.

"We'll need a statement from both of you. Go over there with the other policemen he says to Jou." He begins to lead me away to an ambulance.

"Kaiba!" We stop and I half turn, Katsuya throws a key chain at me and I catch it. "Good luck." Inside the ambulance I look at the key chain, the Red Eyes Black Dragon. I smile until we go over a bump and I drop it. I pick it up quickly and see the head has fallen over backwards. Inside there is a paper of some sort. I turn the dragon upside down to make it fall out. I unroll it and staring back at me are three faces one of them being my own.

Katsuya

I sit beside his bed as he sleeps solidly. The doctor said I shouldn't be surprised if he sleeps for a few days from him being so depleted. It's already been two days and I'm starting to become impatient waiting for him. I still can hardly believe that day even happened and the worry that consumed my thoughts as I watched them load him in the ambulance. When I had given him the key chain it was only something I did to let him know that I wasn't ready to let things between us leave off there. I've noticed that ever since I got here he has had the Red Eyes in is hand all two days. I tried to take it out but he wouldn't let go.

I lean over resting my head on my hand. Why has he come back into my life now after so long? I was partly happy to see him but so much resentment came with that too. I look over at his sleeping face with his hair loosely dangling over his closed eyes. The dark circles are gone and his face has more color, he looks more as I remember him... He is so infuriating! All I've tried to do is forget him and to dislike him but I can't. Now I'm here sitting watching him sleep and all those feelings I've suppressed for years are pushing their way back up top. I know I still have feelings for him or at least still am attached in some way to him. He says he can explain what he did but will it make any difference and how do I know it's all not just a ploy? Seto has always been a master manipulator.

"I must have died." I look over and my eyes are met with bright blue ones.

"Why do you say that?"

"You're here holding my hand. The only place you've done that since you left was in my head so unless I've taken a trip back in time I must be dead." I half smile and he removes his hand and uses it to take the key chain out of his other one. "I believe this belongs to you." He hands the dragon back to me.

"Be honest with me Seto no-" I notice he is looking at me wistfully, "What?"

"It's nothing. It's just been a long time since you've called me Seto. I had a flash back I guess you could say."

"Seto seriously, I've been thinking and I've decided to let you tell me your reasons but you have to answer my question first." He stares at me, waiting. "Why did-" He cuts me off by raising his hand.

"My explanation will cover all of your questions. I am positive of that." I stare at him expectant. "Right now? I just woke up and if you don't mind I'd at least like to sit up." I can't help but smile to myself. I then stand help him sit up right.

"In the beginning," he starts in a composed form. His face is stern and very serious. "I was obsessed with you, it was simple as that. I hated you and wanted you at the same time because you reminded me of myself. I saw a chance to try and banish what was breaking you, although my reasons were more personal than that. I wanted to do it because I guess I thought if I broke you out I could completely break my step father, and my real father away from me. Instead it did nothing but drive you away from me. I didn't realize it. I couldn't have, I was still too wrapped up in my own head but after that first time you pulled away I realized that you weren't the same as me. We had some similarities but you could never be like me. I had time to think with you gone and for the first time in my life I felt panicked for someone that wasn't my blood."

I never realized that he had been obsessed with me. I had always thought Seto was just being a jerk. It makes more sense now, why he would yell at me to stop being weak, the torment, he did it to be because that is how he treated himself. There was no difference between him and I in his mind.

"The only thing I knew was I had to get you back, not just because I needed to fix what I had messed up. I wasn't able to admit to myself just what it was that I was feeling that made me want to do this for you, or even wanting you around," he snorts and his eyes seal over. I remember that look, it's the one he held most of the time before I moved in with him. Looking at his eyes when they are like this is the same as looking at deep water or sheet of ice.

"You couldn't because feelings make you weak," I state knowingly. How could I not? After living with him for such a long time it wasn't hard to pick up his reasons for the distance he put between himself and others.

"I needed to justify myself. A reason that I could use, something to fool myself with as to why I wanted you, needed you." He looks at me almost longingly, "And I did need you. I remember telling myself it was you that needed me but it wasn't that way at all." I'm not entirely sure if the man I am looking at is really Seto or not. To hear that he needed me and wanted me isn't something I would have ever heard from him in the past - at least not in the manner he is telling me now.

"I wouldn't say that it was completely one sided. The need and want that is," I say softly. With the way that Seto is talking it's making me think really think for the first time in awhile. I had needed Kaiba just as much as he did me. He was in a sense my knight in shining armor. He took me away from my nightmare, although he wasn't your average knight I trusted him and I needed him to be there to know I was safe, and he would protect me.

"But," he smirks, "You were man enough to admit it. I wasn't." I want to say something but nothing is coming to my mind. "Not to say that I didn't know what I was feeling. I would have had to been awfully thickheaded to not notice how your uncoordinated movement, messy hair, puppy eyes, outspoken opinions, and flaming temper became endearing to me. The very things that use to annoy me about you became something much closer to me." I smile inwardly. I want to believe him I really do.

"Seto-" I start but I stop due to the door flying open. Both Seto and I stare at the doorway where a nurse vaults in.

"You're awake!" her voice makes me wince. She pops her head outside the door and yells to a doctor. She comes back into the room fully and directs her attention to me. "What are you doing here? It's way past visiting hours! Get out! Scoot!" before I know what is happening she yanks me out of my seat and out the door. I turn my head just in time to see Seto sitting up in his bed looking more than slightly confused.

Walking down the halls to leave the hospital, with that crazy nurse at my heels I put my hands in my pockets. Seto wasn't able to finish what he wanted to say, but it's given me some things to think about. For instance, why exactly is it that I have not been able to move on from him?

Do we understand why there was a time gap? yes, no? If not it's alright there will be time next chapter.

Okay so the breif thing was kinda dorky but I kept picturing what Seto would do if it was the english anime it came to be a card or his brief and a card won't knock someone out so the breif case won.

but yes do R&R or...I'll have Seto murderize you!