The youth carefully unfolded the photo, it was crinkled, and had a coffee mark on the lower left corner. It was a nice photo, he rarely got Seto to smile, but for that moment the brunette was grudging smiling, bordering on his usual smirk. Violet eyes softened a little, Seto's arm was casually draped around his waist, but he remembered feeling safe that day, because Seto was there. He had felt warm, despite the lower than average late fall temperatures and the gusty wind.
"I hate you so damn much..." He muttered, leaning against the cool stone. It was solid, and told him things he didn't want to know, just like Seto's eyes. He was always afraid to look in Seto's eyes, because everything was there; the brunette might've hid his facial expressions, but his eyes were open for the public.
"I hate you..."

!

"It's yours," Cool blue eyes looked down at the offending object, tight lips pulled into a practiced sneer. Malik peered up at Seto Kaiba, searching for some sign of weakness in the brunette. Mou hitori no Yuugi had said that Kaiba loved power, but there was a sort of disgust written across the CEO's face as he studied the Sennen Rod.
"I don't want it," For a man who was said to love power, Seto detested the Sennen Rod. Malik had thought it was because the CEO didn't know how it worked, and was infuriated with it. But closer inspection on the angular face showed stress and the inability to handle yet another impossible task. Impossible tasks stacked up by his mind.
"It's yours," Malik repeated, holding it out a bit more. The Sennen Rod had been his for a while, but ever since Seto's duel with Isis it had changed, and whispers echoed in his mind. Whispers that all pointed at Seto.

"You never wanted that damn thing..." He muttered, shutting his eyes to keep the tears from coming. They burned instead, reminding him that he was weak enough to cry. He thought that Seto would laugh at him, or worse, Seto would've left him for being so weak. If the brunette could see the parallel lines that ran down his wrists, he would catch hell from him. A devil with blue eyes.
"Why can't you just..." He dragged his fingers across the stone, rubbing the skin raw, "Why couldn't you just admit it?"

!

"Why're you here?" Seto was very direct, having scared people off with a mere look before. But to scare off Malik Ishtal, ex-leader of the Ghouls it would take much more than a grouchy attitude. The blond sauntered forward, unaware of the sway of his hips as he did so and paused before the CEO's desk. Seto looked up, fingers still typing on the keyboard.
"To see you," Malik found himself saying the truth instead of all the other irrelevant things he could have said. He also noticed the Sennen Rod sitting on the desk, Seto was using it as a paperweight. The absolute absurdity and practicality of the High Priest using the Sennen Rod as a paperweight made him smile.
"Why aren't you with Yuugi and his little gang?" Seto looked back to the computer, finding that his anger strategy wasn't working, so he went with ignoring. Malik placed both of his hands on the wood, bracelets and other bangles clinking.
"Because I...wanted to talk,"
"About?" For a minute there was only the sound of keys clicking as Seto typed. After a full sixty seconds the brunette stopped typing, and picked up the Sennen Rod, "If you're here, you might as well take it back." It was held out to Malik.
"It's not mine anymore,"
"I don't want it,"
"It's power," As soon as Malik said that he regretted it. A shadow passed across Seto's eyes, pain, and the inability to forget.
"I don't love power as much as you think,"

"You never did love it, did you?" Malik asked, "You hated it, but it was all you had." The blond sighed, looking up at the sky. It was sunny, like the Heavens didn't care about his sadness, about his pain. He decided he hated them too, he hated everything. Once you're empty, its easier to hate than to love.

!

I love power.
Seto came to hate Malik. He also came to love him. He loved the secretive smiles the Egyptian could give him, and the kind words. Seto loved how Malik could always cheer him, eventually, even better than Mokuba could. And Mokuba liked Malik, he said that the other was 'like another big brother.' Seto hated Malik because he could tell that the other was hurting all the time, and sometimes see the other side... sometimes Seto saw the hurt.
"I love the power you so readily through away...Seto..." Seto hated this side of Malik. The one that wasn't satisified with chaste kisses and soft words. The Malik was loved darkness.
"I don't. Go away," He tried to banish the demon, but found himself powerless to the violet eyes. Malik had violet eyes... and so did Hate. Seto called it 'Hate' because that's what it was. If you let hate live in your heart long enough it became sickly sweet, sadistic and drawling, an anger turned into obsession and pure darkness.
"There's darkness in your heart. oresama wa yami ga daisuki da,"
"I..." Hate grabbed his tongue, eyes half shut.
"Let me take you over..."

"I'm sorry."

!

Malik leaned against Seto, the lake was beautiful, fall leaves fell into the deep blue water and made it look speckled. Seto had one arm around him, the misty smile on his lips.
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," Seto cut off the rest of the apology, "I we apologized for every wrong, it would be a waste of time." The brunette looked down at him, and smiled a bit wider. click Both looked over in surprise as a camera went off.
"Ii shashin desu yo!" Mokuba cheered, "Can we hurry? I want the green boat!" And the boy ran off to pull it into the water.
"I suppose we should hurry, before he drowns himself, hm?" Malik asked, moving towards the water's edge.
"Aa, but Mokuba can swim," Seto countered, and leaned down to catch the other in a small kiss.
"Aishiteru."
"Ore mo,"

"Here, I wanted you to have this..." Malik carefully placed the photo on the ground and put a suitable rock over it to keep it from blowing away. It seemed so long ago that he had visited the graveyard with Seto and the brunette had shown him where his parents were buried, both sets. What had been most admirable was how he spoke about it, how he had held Malik close and made the blond promise not to die before him. The violet eyed one had kept that promise.
"It's kind of unfair for you to make me promise and then go and die on me," He muttered, hands jammed into his pockets. It was cold out, and he hunched his shoulders, "I'd stay longer, but I'm freezing." The wind picked up, the photo almost blew away, and he could feel Seto laughing at him. He smiled down at the tombstone.
"Aa, for you I'll stay a little longer,"

!

"Okaa-san, otou-san, this is Malik," Seto carefully introduced Malik to the side by side headstones. Both had the same year on them and the brunette fondly brushed the snow off of both.
"It's an honor to meet you," Malik bowed, feeling a bit silly, but the soft smile on Seto's face was worth it.
"I just wanted you to meet them, and..." It was another ridiculous moment, that something on Seto Kaiba could pull off and look suave. The brunette went down on one knee and held out a small box, "Promise to be mine..forever?" There was such aniexty in the blue eyes Malik had to laugh. They had been living together for years now, and he had almost feared never getting this 'proposal'.
"Forever,"

Malik never took the ring off his finger, even ten years later it sat on the same place on the same finger. Seto was the only one who was allowed to take it off that finger, he mused. Seto was the only one. It was silver with a dragon on it, typical Seto, but in the inside it had the heiroglyph for love as well as some tiny heiratic.
"Even if I am hurt, this love transcends all pain," He read out loud, having memorized it from the first day he saw it, "A little cheesy for you..."
"Onii-chan..." Mokuba walked up, bowing to the tombstone, "Nii-sama. Onii-chan, it's time to go," Mokuba had grown into a fine young man, and Kaiba Corporation fit him like a glove. The boy, Malik would always think of him as a boy, was getting married soon, to a nice girl. Malik thought that Seto would've liked her.
"Aa. Sayonara, Seto, I'll bring pictures of Mokuba's wedding next time I come,"

!

"Promise me you'll outlive me," Seto said softly, as if he knew something.
"I promise,"
"Promise me you'll stay with Mokuba,"
"...why the melancholy dialogue?"
"Promise me," There was a desperation that Seto rarely let show, so Malik did.

Isis' last vision. I'm sorry.

Seto always apologized when it was his fault, but this time... this time he was apologizing for no need. Malik knew something was wrong, the brunette smiled weakly.
"She told me, years ago..."
"Why? Why didn't you do something about it?" Tears flowed freely.
"Nakanaide...don't cry...it doesn't suit you. We all make choices, sometimes they are more painful than we want them to be. But in the end... in the end everything works out."

"Everything works out... huh?" Malik smiled up at the sun, it seemed to fit the mood perfectly, besides, Seto always like sunny days better than cloudy ones, "You better stick to that. Aishiteru...zutto."

"Aishiteru, Malik,"