Only A Brother

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or the characters in it.

Seto felt his eyes get watery as he typed on his laptop. He thought it was just because he had been looking at the screen too long.

Rubbing his eyes, he backed the chair away from his desk to take a small break. The liquid came out in tears. Seto wiped them away, but it made no difference. More tears took their place.

Seto opened a drawer in his desk to look for a pack of tissues. He found a small pack and opened it. Usually they were only used after a rare sneeze. Seto sniffed at the thought of needing some for an emotional moment. He imagined the surprise and disgrace if one of his employees walked in on him.

Pressing the thin paper over his lids, he let the liquid at the openings soak up. Seto opened his eyes and wiped his damp cheeks. He turned back to his laptop and threw the tissue in the wastebasket by his desk. As he focused on the screen again, Seto started typing. Then his vision blurred again.

Sighing in slight frustration, Seto grabbed another tissue with one hand and shut the laptop with the other. He again attempted to dry his eyes.

Tears gradually began to flow endlessly. As Seto wiped one eye, they flowed freely from the other. He wiped his cheek, completely wetting the tissue. The tears continued to flow.

"What is wrong with me!" Seto grunted in disbelief as he furiously swiped at both eyes. It didn't matter though; his eyes wouldn't stop running. It was as if every single tear that he had ever refused to shed was now spilling over, and Seto couldn't do anything to stop them.

"Seto?" a voice called from the door to Seto's office. It opened and Mokuba appeared as Seto quickly stood and turned around to face the window before he could see his face. Mokuba walked over and dropped a disk on his desk.

"I finished the testing on the software," Mokuba told his brother.

"Good," Seto said as he wiped his face yet again. Mokuba turned to go, but looked back and stared at Seto facing the window hiding his face.

"Bro…you all right?" Mokuba asked, sensing something was bothering his brother.

"I'm fine," Seto replied shortly. Mokuba, unconvinced, walked over to Seto and put a hand on his arm. Seto's face was red, puffy, and wet, and he held a package of tissues. Mokuba had never seen him like that before.

"What's wrong?" Mokuba asked, hoping he wouldn't aggravate Seto by asking.

"It's nothing," Seto snapped. "Just something in my eye." He turned away again and attempted to dry his face for what seemed the thousandth time.

Mokuba stared at Seto's solitary figure. Mokuba's instinct was to disbelieve him, but he could very well be telling the truth, and he wasn't showing any signs of extreme distress or emotion…not that Seto ever did.

Seto walked over and angrily threw the plastic packaging in the wastebasket, along with the crumpled wet paper balls. His face was still wet. Seto wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before two more small rivers streamed down his face.

"Must be a pretty big speck to use up a whole pack," Mokuba commented.

Seto grunted and walked out of his office.

"Where are you going?" Mokuba asked, hurrying to catch up.

"Just the restroom," Seto answered gruffly, turning his face from his secretary so she wouldn't notice it.

Mokuba followed him into the men's room and watched Seto grab some paper towels. Seto ran the faucet and rubbed some water onto his face then tried to dry his face with one of the paper towels. Mokuba got some toilet paper from one of the stalls and held it out for Seto.

"Here, this is softer," he told him.

Mokuba expected his brother to either ignore or snatch it, but Seto hesitated. He briefly stared at his reflection as the tears rolled down his cheeks then calmly took the toilet paper from Mokuba. Seto pressed it under his eyes and just stood there blinking as the tears were soaked up. Seeing Seto in such a state worried Mokuba slightly.

"You sure you're okay?" Mokuba asked.

"It's nothing, Mokuba," Seto insisted.

Mokuba continued to stare at Seto. The Kaiba brothers were silent for a little while.

Seto finally sighed. He leaned forward and examined his eyes, ignoring the tears that leaked from them.

"Is it out yet?" Mokuba asked casually. Seto didn't answer right away.

"There's nothing even in them," he said finally. "I don't know what's wrong. They don't hurt, they just water." Mokuba looked on, appreciating that Seto was finally talking to him like they were on equal levels.

Seto straightened and for the millionth time tried to dry his eyes. He brushed his fingertips against his closed lids with his fingers and walked out of the restroom with his head lowered to hide his face. Mokuba quickly grabbed more paper from the roll in the stall and followed Seto back to his office.

After he sat down in his chair Seto leaned his elbows on his desk and held his fingers on his eyelids. Mokuba came around his desk and stood next to him for a moment. Seto made no acknowledgment to Mokuba, but it made him secretly happy that his little brother was next to him.

"Here Seto, let me," Mokuba suggested.

"Mokuba," Seto began to protest as he sat up. He had tried to stop the tears numerous times, so what could anyone else do about it?

His little brother moved forward and put a hand to his face. Mokuba put his thumb under Seto's left eye and gently brushed away the stream flowing from it. He moved to the other eye and wiped there, then dried Seto's cheeks. He stared into Seto's deep blue eyes, watching.

Seto blinked and looked at Mokuba, waiting for his eyes to water again. They never did.

Mokuba tossed the toilet paper in the wastebasket.

"Guess that's it. See ya later, Seto."

Seto watched Mokuba walk to the door, but then Mokuba hesitated and turned around. He walked back to Seto and leaned over the armrest of the chair, giving his big brother a gentle hug. Seto warmly received the gesture and hugged back.

"Love you, Seto," Mokuba said softly.

Seto closed his eyes and replied by pressing his hand on Mokuba's back more tightly, pulling him closer. He didn't say anything in answer, but Mokuba understood.