I do not own any shares of the anime Yu-Gi-Oh and am just a poor high school student with no money whatsoever.


What happens when fate throws you into a world of confusion, regret, and bitterness? If you had one more night, one more chance, will you take it or do you leave it? That's a question Seto needs to ask himself and that's exactly what he does. S/J


One Last Chance

Unanswered Questions Collide

Started February 28, 2006

End February 28, 2006


Leaving something familiar and safe behind was part of life; eventually everyone had to begin a new journey elsewhere on their own, whether it was in their safety of their house or in a new continent. For people like Katsuya Jounouchi, leaving a place they've known their whole life to start a new one elsewhere was just what they needed to do all along. For others like Seto Kaiba, their life was already settled and decided years ago; there was no escape—they had already chosen their destinations to live and discover their where they're fate led to.

A letter. That was all Seto had to remind himself that what happened five years ago wasn't a dream. It was creased, worn out, and wrinkled beyond imagination, but it was enough. It was several years old and some of the words had smeared, but it didn't matter. It was Seto's prized possession. The letter was the only souvenir he had to remember his high school years and a certain brown eyed person.

Seto still hadn't changed much since high school graduation. His work still kept him busy and Mokuba wasn't there to keep him company as much anymore. He was more independent than before and still did not associate with anyone. Five years had passed but he did not show any signs of aging. At age twenty three, he still had his boyish (yet mature) looks that still attracted the eyes of fans and some celebrities.

Once in awhile, when Seto was feeling low, he would take the letter out and read it, feeling a new feeling of hope blossom within him. Occasionally, he would roam the streets of Domino City wondering if that was the day he was scheduled to meet Katsuya. He would return to the site of the park, the secluded area near his house, the school, anywhere he could think of. So far he had no results and had not come close to seeing Katsuya again. He thought about quitting, but then realized that if anything, it was this hope that kept him going to the next day. And, deep down, Seto knew that Katsuya probably moved onto somebody new and forgot all about him. It was a scary revelation, one that he hoped wasn't true, but despite it, he still tried. He still tried to keep an eye out for Katsuya, hoping that fate did plan for them to meet once more.

He saw Yugi once, several months after Katsuya had left. Yugi was kind enough to talk to Seto and give him Katsuya's address and phone number. Since then, he had written letters, postcards, and little notes he wanted to send to the blonde.

But he never sent them out. Whenever he reached the mailbox, he never had the courage to drop the letters end and normally put them away. He was scared, cowardly, afraid. He had his number programmed into his cell phone but never once called.

That afternoon, Seto was checking his pile of mail to search for a very important document his secretary had brought in. As he looked through it, he noticed an envelope addressed to him. In the corner, it had the insignia of his high school. He stared at the envelope for a moment, practically burning holes through the paper.

It's probably another letter asking for more money, he thought to himself bitterly. Having the letter in his hand reminded him of Katsuya and that started to make him feel angry, isolated, and dejected. Without even opening it and without even considering whether or not he should read it, he took the letter and dumped it in the trash can along with all the other junk mail he received.

The letter lay in the trash can buried amongst all the other papers, still sealed and taped tightly shut. But he didn't care. Instead, he reached in his drawer and took out another piece of paper that he kept for so long. He stared at it for the longest period of time and without hesitation, he crumpled the paper in a ball and threw that away as well.

It doesn't matter anymore. It's been five years since I last saw him. It's been too long. He was right. If we were meant to be together, we should be by now. It's obvious that I spent too much of my time on thinking and wishing to be with him. There's no point.

With a newfound feeling of determination, he rushed to continue working on the newest gaming product produced just recently. He had to focus on the future and not wallow in the past. The phone worked both ways; if Katsuya wanted, he could have called him. Maybe he could have if he cared.

"Stop fooling yourself," Seto heard himself say. "It's time you faced the facts and moved on. Five years is too long. Let it go."

Yet, even as he said that, he couldn't help but remember that night, that beautiful, dark night, he and Katsuya had shared.


For the longest time, the trash can remained full of papers and trash and one very important letter. After a week had passed, Seto called for his janitorial staff to come in, commanding them to take the trash away while accusing them of doing a bad job. At the threat of losing their jobs, the staff started to come in the office more often to empty the trash.

Another week passed by and it was now the first week of June. Seto felt a migraine coming on and excused himself from work, taking the afternoon off. He decided to go to the only place he felt peaceful and drove to the park.

The park was empty, just the way he liked it. As he started to walk around the trees, he saw another person further ahead of him, doing the exact same thing. From far away, he couldn't tell if it was male or female but as he crept closer, he felt his heart stop. The person was a male. The male had the messiest blonde hair besides...

Katsuya. Seto felt his heart stop beating and held his breath. Was that him? Was that really him? Could it be that after all those years of wishing for him to come back that he was finally home?

Seto's face started to exhibit a blissful expression and just as he was about to shout his name, the blonde started to run ahead towards the main street, running away from Seto. Seto jogged after him, wishing he had worn better shoes. "Katsuya!"

The figure never stopped and soon, he disappeared from sight. Seto stopped running as soon as he reached the end of the sidewalk, feeling a new lump of disappointment in his stomach.

It wasn't him. I thought it was, but it wasn't. It really wasn't. Seto's eyes dropped and Seto held onto a light post nearby to stop himself from collapsing. It's okay. You're imaging things. If it was him, he would have turned around.

His blue eyes started to blur and Seto couldn't see anything. It wasn't until he blinked did he realize that a tear had fallen. He did not realize he was crying. He couldn't believe he was.

Fate's playing with me. He wiped his eyes quickly, embarrassed to know that he had shed a tear over something as simple as this.

With a discouraged sigh, he started to walk back to his office. And just like every morning, every afternoon, and every night, he walked alone, silently and sullenly. wondering and regretting.


"Thank you and have a good day."

Seto gave the redhead a glare before taking his Starbucks coffee from her. It was a rainy evening and normally, Seto wouldn't walk this late, but after his reckless and stupid afternoon, the rain fit him perfectly. He couldn't resist the chance to walk underneath the rain, listening to it hit the pavement, and feeling the cold breeze brush against his cheek.

Shielded by walking underneath his umbrella, he sipped his coffee, not really tasting it at all. He thought it would warm him up, making him feel better about his hallucination, but it didn't. He slightly shivered, readjusting his jacket sleeve.

I should have never gotten out of bed this morning. If I had known this would happen, I would have never done it that's for sure.

The raindrops started to fall more urgently and somehow, Seto managed to ignore it, enjoying the sound of the fall and the thunder. He saw the lightning streak across the sky, but that didn't matter either.

He started to walk faster, wanting to brood by himself in the safety of his room. He walked so quickly that he didn't even notice that he had passed by a blonde female dressed in a purple tank top and very tight jeans. He walked so quickly that he almost didn't hear her say in a somewhat obnoxious tone, "Seto Kaiba? That is you!"

Seto turned in surprise and came face to face with the one and only Mai Kujaku. His expression on his face remained neutral and his lips curved into an unfriendly smile that was his trademark. "The one and only."

If Mai was offended, she didn't show. She looked at her wrist that was holding up her candy cane umbrella and raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow. "Don't you have someplace you should be? You're going to be late if you don't get there. They're going to lock the doors soon."

"Lock the doors? What are you talking about?" he asked harshly. "Where I go is none of your business I believe."

Mai's eyes flickered in disbelief at Seto's tone. "Sheesh, sorry," she said in a "don't-give-me-your-attitude" voice. "Someone's touchy. I just assumed you were going to go to your high school reunion that's all. I mean, it is tonight."

Suddenly, the words had an impact on Seto and the meaning finally seeped in. "High school reunion? What are you talking about? There's a reunion tonight? How come I wasn't notified!"

Mai shrugged. "Beats me. They sent out a notice two weeks ago about the reunion being today, blah blah blah. All that fun stuff. Guess you didn't get it; must have been lost in the mail or something."

The memory of Seto holding the envelope addressed from the high school flashed through his mind and a feeling of dread washed over him. It was the notice. It was inviting me to go.

"Anyway," Mai continued, not noticing that Seto wasn't talking, "Jou was so excited that he flew all the way back just to see his friends. He missed them a lot and so he called me and told me he was coming. So I decided, what the heck, and came along for the ride. Anyways, he should be there by now and if not—"

"WAIT! Katsuya is here? He's here tonight? At the reunion?"

"Well, yeah. And hey, where are you going? You shouldn't run in this weather... you might trip and fall!"

I can't think about that now, Seto thought as he rushed in the direction of the school. I have to go. I have to get there. I can't miss my chance again.


Seto had called his driver to pick him up, but looking at the clock, he realized that there was no way the driver would be able to make it. He gave up waiting and started to run—or rather walk because of the rain—as quickly as possible. At one point, he left his umbrella and coffee behind and just depended on his hood to keep him from the rain.

It didn't work out so well.

By the time he got there, he was all soaked and wet, panting. He had ran thirty minutes straight and again, in those really bad and expensive shoes of his that weren't made to run. Now, his feet hurt, but that didn't matter.

"Seto Kaiba," he told the lady sitting behind the desk. "I was a member of the graduating class five years ago."

The lady checked her papers and glanced briefly at his attire, obviously disgusted at his choice of clothing and how damp he was. "I'm sorry sir," she said in a polite tone. "You did not reserve your place here. I'm afraid I can't let you inside."

"What?" Seto bellowed, loud enough to get the police officer guarding the doors to focus on him. "I'm a freaking graduate of this school! I have every right to be in there!"

An arm grabbed Seto's shoulder and spun him around. The police officer leered at him. "I don't care if you're the Queen of England. Rules are rules. Now, I suggest you better leave before I make you leave. Understood?"

Feeling helpless and livid, Seto left the building and walked into the open rain again. He felt the water fall upon his face again but didn't care. He stood there and leaned against the brick wall, wishing that there was some sort of shade. It didn't matter how long he had to wait. He was going to wait for Katsuya to come out.

He waited there, attracting many strange looks from the inside. He didn't care. If they wouldn't allow him inside, he'll just wait outside. He would wait for eternity if he had to.

He felt cold and numb, but didn't care. He had to do this. This was his one chance to right his wrongs and correct what he did wrong that night so many years ago and to say all the things he should have. He had to prove to Katsuya that he was sorry for not being there on time and being so stubborn. It was time to put that all aside and to try. Even if Katsuya had moved on, he still had to try. That way, he could sleep at night knowing he tried. That way, he could have some resolution and closure. That's all he needed.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment and began to shudder because of the cold. He sneezed a few times and wrapped himself tighter with his jacket. That didn't help. He shouldn't have abandoned his umbrella.

"Kaiba? Why aren't you inside?"

Seto opened his eyes and saw Yugi staring at him, shading him from the rain. Yugi's purple eyes were widened with concern. "You're all wet and cold. And... you don't look so good. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Where's Katsuya? Is he inside yet? Is he coming?" Seto questioned, wiping the water from his forehead. "I need to talk to him. Do you know where he is?"

Yugi bit his lip and shook his head. "He's not going to be here. He said he didn't feel like going to the reunion and said he's going to hang out by himself for awhile."

Seto's heart sank. "Where? I need to talk to him. Yugi, please." His voice reached a new level of urgency and his blue eyes pleaded Yugi. "Please."

Yugi sighed. "I don't know. Why don't you wait tomorrow? I'll call you and we can set up something before he leaves..."

"No," Seto interrupted. "Tonight. Do you have any idea? Any idea whatsoever?"

"He said something about a park or something, but I'm not sure—" Yugi's voice broke off as Seto walked off and started to jog away. "Kaiba! Wait! Take my umbrella. You'll catch a cold."

Seto grabbed it from him. "Thank you." Without another word, Seto turned and broke into another run.


By the time Seto arrived at his destination, the rain had stopped and he had no more use for an umbrella. He knew exactly where he was and had no problem getting here. This place held the memory of where he and Katsuya shared their special moment on his last night here. Since then, Seto memorized the route to get there and somehow, he knew that's where Katsuya was exactly.

He walked further and didn't see anybody around. Feeling desperate, Seto shouted, "Katsuya! I know you're here! If you can hear me, please come out! I need to talk to you! You don't know how—" His voice cracked and Seto felt his eyes blur once more. He ignored it and continued to yell. "Katsuya, if you are here, come out now or I'll take it as a sign that this is how it's meant to be. You got that, Katsuya Jounouchi? Do you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you."

Seto spun around and dropped his umbrella. Standing in front of him was Katsuya Jounouchi dressed in the exact outfit the person he saw earlier had on. His face broke out into a smile and he met Katsuya halfway. He threw his arms around the blonde, not caring about how wet he was or the fact that he was getting Katsuya wet. All that matter was that he had Katsuya in his arms.

"I missed you," he whispered in Katsuya's ear. "I'm sorry. So sorry for—for everything. I didn't mean it. And I know that you probably have someone else right now, but I just want to let you know that... that I..."

Katsuya pulled away and placed a finger on Seto's lips and shushed him. "Sh..." he said softly. "You'll get even sicker than you are now. Don't talk."

"But I need to tell you that I—"

Without being able to complete his sentence, Katsuya covered Seto's lips with his own, kissing him softly and gently, pulling him closer. Without saying a word, Seto responded eagerly, making sure that this was a moment he would make last.

When they pulled away, Katsuya looked him deeply and said simply:

"I love you too."

And that was the most important words Seto Kaiba had ever heard.


-OWARI-

Hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I did. I loved how this story turned out! Very unrealistic (obviously), very corny, and very romantic in my opinion! Ahh... if only this happened in real life...

What do you guys think? Sorry for the wait, but I hope I made this worthwhile. Review and tell me, I'd appreciate it!

-lilrubydevil-