Chapter Five

Serenity waved goodbye and then left the house. Now that she knew her brother was fine, all her fears were set aside and she was going to visit their parents in the city. Her and her boyfriend, Tristan, were going and he was just going so no other guys tried to hit on her. Sometimes, he was more possessive than Seto.

Speaking of which, Seto had locked the front door and was now sitting extremely close to Joey on the couch. Something seemed different to Joey. Seto seemed a bit different.

"Hey Joey... I've been wondering about that ring lately. Did I give it to you?" Seto asked.

'Oh. He must just be jealous because he probably thinks Yami gave it to me.' Joey smiled and shook his head.

"I've been telling people you did but I actually just found it while I was walking a few days ago," Joey explained.

"Oh." Despite his run of the mill answer, Seto was smiling, probably relieved it wasn't from another guy. However, something was still bugging Joey. Seto was up to something.

Seto turned to Joey, cupped his cheek, and kissed him. Joey eagerly kissed him back but soon, Seto was taking full control of a deep and passionate kiss like Joey had never experience before. Joey fell back on the couch and opened his eyes to find Seto straddling him and looking right into his eyes. Seto's long fingers were easily, gracefully undoing Joey's green jacket buttons.

Soon, Joey's jacket was no longer on Joey and Seto slipped his fingers up Joey's shirt. Seto kissed Joey some more, even nipping at his neck. Joey let out a deep moan and bathed in the heated situation he never experienced with Kaiba before.

'Never with Kaiba.' his mind repeated. Joey opened his eyes, suddenly not enjoying this as much as he should.

'This isn't Kaiba. It isn't Kaiba. It isn't...'

"It isn't right." Joey mumbled. Seto stopped what he was doing, pulling his lips away from Joey's neck.

"What now?" he asked in true concern. Had he done something wrong? Joey was frowning.

"It isn't right. I can't do this." Joey sat up and Seto defaulted into his own sitting position.

"What's wrong, Joey?" Seto asked. Did Joey really not want to be intimate with him anymore?

"I'm sorry, Kaiba. This is all my fault," Joey shook his head and then hid it in his hands.

"There you go calling me by my last name again." Seto couldn't continue his comment any longer because Joey shook his head violently.

"God, why did you have to be so nice," Joey mumbled. "Kaiba, this isn't the real you." He looked at Kaiba with all seriousness on his face.

"What do you mean? I don't understand," Kaiba was almost afraid to speak. Joey was actually scaring him.

"About a week ago... I found this ring while I was in the woods. I'd gone there because I was angry at you. See... You had skipped out on our dinner plans. You planned one every month and then you either canceled or you skipped out." It hurt to tell this to such a perfect Kaiba.

"I-," Kaiba tried.

"I know this sounds like crazy jibberish to you but if you'll just humor me for a minute. Okay... So, as you know... Our anniversary is coming up soon. Next Friday, actually. I... went to your office at Kaiba Corp and wrote it on your calendar in big letters. 'Anniversary' I said. 'Dinner at my place.' I was sure this was a way to get you to finally spend some time with me..."

Seto seemed a little lost and Joey sighed.

"See, originally, you were the C.E.O. of Kaiba Corp. It became the greatest company in the world under your command and you had the whole world at your fingertips. I got angry a lot because your company was so much more important to you than I was. But I was just some punk you'd met because his best friend happened to be your rival," Joey groaned and ran his hands threw his hair several times.

"Anyway, you wouldn't listen to me about the dinner plans. You told me we had to talk. I could already tell something was wrong by the way you were talking. You said... well you said a lot of things that hurt me even though they weren't mean. In the end, you made it clear that you were breaking up with me.

"Anyway, you know me. I couldn't take that answer and I tried to smack some sense into you... but you're a lot stronger than me and you fought me off. You made it clear that... That you didn't love me anymore and it hurt. The last thing I said to you was that I wished Kaiba Corp had died with your father... and that you had something other than a black heart. Now I wish I hadn't," Joey finished.

Seto wrapped his arms around Joey and he rejected the contact at first. Soon, though, Joey relaxed a little. He was crying silent tears and it was obvious.

"It was all a dream, Joey. Remember? There's no way you could wish Kaiba Corp dead. It already was," Seto reassured him.

"No... It's the ring. Or, that's what Yugi said." Joey slipped the ring off his finger, dried his tears, and handed it to Seto. "Here... You only get one wish, so make it good."

Joey stood up and walked toward the door. He paused after he heard the click of it unlocking. He looked back at Seto, who seemed more like a lost puppy than a C.E.O.

"I'm sorry, Seto. And... no matter how many wishes run through your head.. There's only one you really need to make to make all the other ones come true. I've gotta go. I'll see you later."

And with that, Joey was gone and out the door. Seto was left on the couch with a tiny silver ring and a green school jacket.

– – –

"So you told him everything?" Yami asked, leaning in the doorway. Joey nodded and Yugi was patting his shoulder, unsure of what to do.

"You can spend the night over here if you want," he offered with all the kindness in the world.

"Thanks, Yug." Joey smiled a little. "Thanks a lot."

"Hey, don't be so down. That's what friends are for, right?" Yugi asked with a large smile.

"Heh. Now you sound like Tea." Joey smiled at the thought.

"Are you sure Kaiba will make the right wish?" Yami asked, slightly concerned.

"This world or not, Kaiba's smart. He'll consider everything I said and all the wishes he could make. I can almost guarantee he'll make everything normal again. Kaiba Corp should be back by this time tomorrow." Joey sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"You understand that in our normal world...," Yami started but Joey held his hand up to stop him.

"I know. I'm giving up a fake Kaiba for no Kaiba but... I think I can handle it. I think no Kaiba is better than a miserable one, anyway." Joey laid back on Yugi's bed.

"Very wise." Yami smiled and sat beside Yugi. He wrapped an arm around him and Yugi leaned on him. Joey looked up at them from his position and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, are you two -... never mind. Ignore me," he spoke with that same lazy, carefree, accented voice he always used to use. It brought a sense of relief to the other two and they all fell into a comfortable silence until they heard grandpa calling them for lunch.

– – –

Seto Kaiba found himself standing on the plot of land where Kaiba Corp could be standing at that very moment if Joey's story were true. But it couldn't possibly be true. Right?

Seto looked around the lot with a heavy frown. He walked around it and stopping where the C.E.O. office would be, several stories up. Right here. He could almost picture Joey in the office, writing on the calendar. He just couldn't imagine himself, saying all though horrible things to him. He couldn't even imagine what he'd be wearing.

Suddenly, Seto tripped over something, dropping the ring into the dirt. He grumbled and looked back to glare at whatever had caused him to fall. He lifted it out of the dirt and found a calendar. His eyes widened. This calendar was marked for this year and, sure enough, over next Friday was the word 'Anniversary!!' in bold black marker.

This couldn't just be a coincidence, no matter how much Seto wanted it to be. He ran his hand over the familiar handwriting of the one and only Joey Wheeler. Shaking his head, he set the calendar down and pulled his jacket closer around him. It wasn't actually his jacket at all. This was Joey's, the one he'd left behind.

Seto turned back around and found the ring within the dirt. As he held it, he could read the inscription on the ring and he knelt in the dirt like he were about to pray.

'No matter how many wishes run through your head.. There's only one you really need to make to make all the other ones come true.'

'I wish Mokuba hadn't been taken from me. I wish I could pay to keep him. I wish Joey was happy. I wish I could make him happy. I wish... I wish...'

"I wish...-"

– – –

Yami lifted his head. Yugi was leaning into his arms as they sat against the wall. Joey was up and busying himself with cooking dinner for the whole family. Yami looked out the window with a serious face and hoping with all the world. Why? Because someone was making a wish.

'I hope you picked wisely, Seto Kaiba.'

Onee-chan 1: Well.. only one more chapter. this was one of my shorter stories. Sorry if it ends too quickly, i'm trying to make it just as good as my others but i'm not sure how that went. anyway, enjoy the next chp when i post it. -smiles-