I'm taking a short mini-break from my first Jou/Kaiba fic to write this sudden burst of inspiration. Actually this could be considered my first one since the sun, the moon, and the pretty little stars is really a multi-coupled fic but in this one I just want to focus on these two. This fic will probably be a short one because I don't know when I'm going to get a chance to get back to it given how busy I am.

Prologue: Welcome to Hell

Within one minute, Seto Kaiba's life changed forever. Just one minute. Just a few moments in time had a ripple effect. And it's all over a single man named Katsuya Jounouchi.

The last day of school at Domino High was like any other day. The school had become vacant and noise had left the halls. Graduation was over yet Kaiba was still there, out of a nagging curiosity. Someone had left a note for him and Kaiba had been wondering why he had been called to an empty classroom after everyone had left. He was surprised to find Jounouchi standing there with his eyes squeezed shut.

"You look like you're wishing awfully hard, don't hurt yourself mutt."

Jounouchi's ears perked and opened his eyes slowly. When he saw Kaiba standing there he became strangely happy. "Yo Kaiba!" Jounouchi said cheerfully with a wave.

Kaiba's eye flinched watching his insult fly right over Jounouchi's head. The guy was tanned having just come back from winning nationals at Koshien a week earlier. Something about him seemed brighter than usual. They hadn't spoken since before he left where Kaiba had challenged him to prove he wasn't a loser dog. Katsuya Jounouchi had just graduated as the best batter in the country. "Cocky are we, because you won your little baseball game?"

Jounouchi eyed narrowed. "And who was it that said I couldn't win again?"

"So you proved me wrong. Would like a standing ovation?"

Jounouchi's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected Kaiba to admit defeat so easily. "You saw, didn't you?"

"I caught it on TV, channel 4 was it?"

"Liar. I saw you in the stands."

Kaiba looked away slightly embarrassed to have been caught in a lie. What a pointlessly great eyesight Jounouchi had to be able to find him in a stadium full of thousands of people. "I just happened to have nothing to do that day."

Jounouchi smiled stupidly to himself. "I never thought you would actually come. We were 3 runs down with bases loaded and two outs. I was crumbling under the pressure until I looked up and saw you there. All I did was aim the bat for your head and it connected." Jounouchi laughed out loud.

Kaiba shrugged. "If that's the case your aim is terrible." Jounouchi stopped laughing when he noticed Kaiba walk up right up to him. He looked at his face and could see Kaiba's curt smile. "I guess I can't call you a loser dog anymore…"

Kaiba had let his guard down. After all, they had graduated and it was the last day they would ever seen each other. He just didn't know how to say goodbye. He raised a hand and patted Jounouchi's soft blond hair. "Congratulations… that last home run was really something else." The sound of the ball hitting the bat still rang in his ears. Kaiba didn't know that something other than duel monsters could excite him so much.

Jounouchi was stunned. A warm hand had touched his head, igniting something within him. He couldn't find his voice until he noticed Kaiba was leaving. "Wait…" Jounouchi instinctually grabbed Kaiba's sleeve stopping him in his tracks. "There's something… I promised myself I would tell you if we won…that's why I called you here."

Kaiba looked back at him with a bored look on his face. Was he going to rub his face in it? Don't tell me he was looking for an apology for all the years he had belittled him. But strangely those notions were dispelled when he saw Jounouchi look away with a faint blush on his face.

"I… you've always managed to get under my skin. With the way you are I was convinced I would hate you forever but…"

Kaiba could feel his own face growing hot. What was he trying to say?

"But I… f-for a long time I just… ARGH! The words won't come out the right way!"

Kaiba raised a brow. He opened his mouth with the intention of offering some witty snarky reply but his eyes widened when he was prevented from doing so. There was suddenly an external force pushing against his lips. He was being kissed. The kiss was soft at first and then it naturally deepened. When Kaiba finally got his bearings his pushed Jounouchi away and stumbled backward. "W-what are you doing?"

"I love you." He blurted out without thinking.

"You love who?" Kaiba was incredulous. He wasn't sure he heard right.

"Why make me say it again?!" Jounouchi sighed. "You're an egotistical tyrant who pisses me off in every single conversation we've ever had. Even I… even I have thought 'why do I have to be in love with a bastard like this?'"

"Oi, what kind of quasi-confession is that?!" Typical that Jounouchi couldn't even do that right.

"Are you saying you wanted me to confess to you?!"

He got Kaiba with that one. "But why…? How?"

Jounouchi sighed heavily, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know how to explain it. I tried so hard… I tried so hard not to like you. I even dated a few girls thinking I could forget about you. I even succeeded in fooling myself into believing that I didn't care. But it all came back to you, it always comes back to you. It couldn't be anyone else other than you… Even after that I tried to keep these feelings to myself. I knew telling them to you wouldn't make you happy, who wants to hear such a thing from a guy anyway? But in the end I…"

Kaiba was in the stands watching him. He met his gaze only once before raising his bat for the last time. 'It would be nice… if these feelings could reach him someday…' was the only thought that crossed his mind before closing his swinging as hard as he could.

"I've figured you out. You're so cold and harsh… like you have to attack anyone who gets close to you. As if you don't need anyone else in this world, as if even without them you can still survive. But isn't that… isn't that just too lonely?"

Kaiba turned his back to him, he didn't like being analyzed. "Careful. Don't presume to understand everything about me."

"If it were me, I'd never let you be lonely." Jounouchi looked down. "Am I no good? Even as a champion, am I really not good enough to be the person by your side?" He could hear Kaiba's footsteps getting further and further away from him. "If that's what it is, then I'll just have to become a man worthy of you! I'll just have to make you fall in love with me too! I'll just keep pursuing you until–"

Click. Jounouchi looked up after hearing the door lock to Kaiba was staring back at him with those cerulean blue eyes. He could never tell what he was thinking. "Until you're mine…"

"Is that so?" The initial shock had worn off. Kaiba was sure he was thinking clearly so why hadn't he left like he had wanted to? He should reject this entire situation, reject someone trying to get close to him, being adored by this idiot wasn't supposed to make him feel like this. It was perplexing, troubling and yet for some reason he had become happy about it. "I'll just have to hold you to those words, won't I?"

Jounouchi felt a hand on his cheek. It was surprisingly warm. "I'll have to take this chance now then. Before you annoy me with your stubbornness."

"You're not… mad?" Jounouchi was sure the notion that Jounouchi liked him would make the CEO violently ill. But on the contrary the CEO laughed at the sentiment, pulling the blond closer to him.

"I don't know what you mean. Did you tell me all that to make me angry?" Kaiba asked. Kaiba didn't have to think very long about it at all. To him, for the last three years Jounouchi had been an immovable structure. Always butting into his life and pushing him out of his comfort zone. They'd fight, argue, bicker like children and then repeat the same routine the next time around but at the end of each day what Kaiba always remembered was Jounouchi's infectious smile and the overwhelming sense that he was being cared about, more than anyone had ever bothered to before. And smile would always cause Kaiba to smile. "I'm just doing what you asked me to do. If you became a champion just to tell me this then I should give you a proper response, shouldn't I?" But it wasn't until that very moment that he realized just how happy Jounouchi's feelings for him had made him. It wasn't until that very moment that he realized just how much he didn't want to lose Jounouchi.

The raging ocean that was Kaiba's eyes washed over him. That look held so many different things, yet none of the things he thought he'd see. There was no anger, there was no disgust, and most of all there was not a trace of ridicule. Instead in their place Jounouchi could see arrogance, amusement, immeasurable power and yet indescribable gentility. Kaiba always stirred him up deeply, making him angry to no end yet leaving him unable to forget him, leaving him wishing for more. Jounouchi was somewhat mystified as he couldn't understand what Kaiba was doing until the man's lips were over his. Jounouchi blinked as the boy gained entry into his mouth and deepened the kiss. Kaiba's kiss was so tender and succulent Jounouchi could hardly believe it was the same guy he always fought with as he felt his breath being stolen away. His hands gripped Kaiba's jacket as his tongue collided with Kaiba's once and then again. It was this feeling… this feeling was what he had fallen in love with. The feeling that he was with someone who could take make his heart tremble like this.

And then the two lost all control. They began kissing each other as if it were the last time they were ever going to do so. They were deep furious kisses, filled with the zeal of wonder and anticipation. Kaiba was backed up against the wall and could feel Jounouchi's lips travel to his neck as his hands made their way up Kaiba's back, removing Kaiba's jacket in the process. Kaiba winced momentarily feeling Jounouchi's teeth graze his neck roughly. He suppressed a laugh at the thought that Jounouchi really couldn't get away from his dog-like tendencies. He was definitely going to have to mention it later but for right now the action get him incredibly aroused.

Jounouchi could feel his shirt go over his head. They resumed kissing, more intense than the last time. And then he felt Kaiba tugging at his pants and soon after that he was stark naked with his fingers working on getting Kaiba the same way. After succeeding, he felt himself being carried to the teacher's desk knocking down most items from the almost bare table.

Jounouchi broke the kiss suddenly, trying to catch his breath. His small nose fell onto Kaiba's lips and then he felt the doubt set in. This all felt too good to be true. Jounouchi almost felt like he shouldn't be allowed to have this. "Are you… sure? Are you sure you want to do this?"

Kaiba was the first to catch his breath as he let out a sigh. "Well, that's a hell of a thing to ask when we've already gotten this far." Kaiba noted, mildly amazed. They were in a high school classroom naked before it occurred to this canine for brains to ask something so obvious and unnecessary.

"I just…" Jounouchi caressed the boy's face before looking down. "I just don't want this to become something you'll regret. You don't know how you'll feel tomorrow."

Kaiba kissed Jounouchi's forehead holding his lips there for a few moments before removing them. The action caused the blond to look up at him. "I thought I told you not to presume you know everything about me. You force your way into my life and pester me for three years never tiring of doing the unexpected, even now. It's true, I never thought I'd hear those words from you but… it's not like I don't feel anything for you at all." Kaiba admitted. "The time for regretting this sort of thing has long passed."

Once the words registered with Jounouchi, he couldn't help but become unreasonably pleased. After all, it was probably the closest thing he would ever hear to Kaiba confessing his feelings and it was extraordinary how ridiculously emotional it made him.

Kaiba reached for the bottle of hand lotion on the teacher's desk as they resumed their lustful skinship. In that empty classroom, of that vacant building, amidst the glowing orange hue of the setting sun the two chased the pleasure of their writhing bodies many times, until they thought would die from it.

It was now two years later and Kaiba was sitting in his office at Kaiba Corp just reminiscing… caught in a loop of memories he couldn't get out of.

Jounouchi let out an unrestrained laugh much to Kaiba's annoyance. "Serves you right, moneybags!"

Wild lust...

His smile was like the sun, illuminating all the shadows living in his heart.

Hot kisses...

The Kaiba manor became filled with his light.

Sweaty passion...

"Fuck you!" Jounouchi was furious throwing books at him in the study, a symptom of their argument going too far.

Heat like fire...

So simple a person, wanting to kill him one minute to wreaking mischief the next. Jounouchi always manage to make himself the center of his attention.

Were all pinned down between the sheets...

With Jounouchi, sometimes angry make up sex was the best sex.

Their love was a stormy sea...

The blond-haired man snuggled right into his chest as they drifted to sleep.

A raging hurricane in choppy waters...

"You know Kaiba," Jounouchi whispered to him when he thought the CEO was asleep. "I will always protect you… because I absolutely don't ever want to pain to come to you. Sometimes I don't even know why and yet I know exactly… why I love you like crazy."

...and yet still, a sea of fascination.

'Ah... I see now. I was born to have this person... I was born to love this person...' was Kaiba's last thought before his contented slumber.

Those days were neither beautiful nor ugly, they were simply special. To Kaiba they were so dear, so dear that Kaiba's eyes threatened to water. There was no way to describe the way the memories of those days sustained him.

"There's so much blood… how do I stop it?!" Kaiba screamed.

"I'm sorry…" Jounouchi coughed up blood before smiling weakly. "I had wanted... more time with you…"

"Katsuya… don't do this to me…" Kaiba said with his voice breaking. "Open your eyes…"

"Breaking news: Katsuya Jounouchi, world renowned baseball player has died at the age of 20, victim of the most senseless of tragedies. He was so young…"

I never told him how much I…

In a fit of rage, Kaiba suddenly ran a hand through his desk knocking everything to the floor with a loud crash before slamming his fists against the wood in utter frustration. For the first time in two years he was starting to do the one thing he told himself he would never do. He was starting to regret. If he knew that losing Jounouchi would hurt this much, he never would've started with him. If he knew that going on without him would this unbearable, he would've never held Jounouchi in his arms that day. With each passing moment, Kaiba was realizing more and more that the world and everything in it, without Jounouchi it was all meaningless. The world with Jounouchi was an absolute absurdity. The world without Jounouchi was…

The light shined through his office window depicted such a beautiful day but that only made Kaiba angrier. He became infuriated with the sunshine. How can the world be so bright, when you're no longer in it? How can the Earth keep turning like nothing ever happened? How can the seasons keep changing? Seasons without you… how can they keep coming? I took you for granted. Without ever telling you a thing, I just assumed that you and I were forever. I didn't know it before but I know it now… that the world without you… is hell.

The world without Katsuya Jounouchi was Seto Kaiba's never-ending hell.

8 pages: So I get the criticism that Kaiba's a little bit nicer than he's supposed to be but I didn't really want to ruin their sexual connection with his assholeness. Let's just assume that they got through the weeds of his mean personality in order to get to this point. Super short, I know. I know you guys aren't used to me writing this little but I wrote this out of sudden burst of inspiration. And I think I'm going to keep this one PG. I think there's enough mature content in my other story, not all stories need to be lemons. I'm going to see how far I can take this without really getting into the nitty gritty of the actual sexual acts. I have no idea when I'm going to be able to get back to it, especially since I'm so invested in my other story but I will one of these days. Please give me the motivation not to drop this. Read and Review!