Alright, I want to finish this story before I start on anything else, so I'm gonna start trying to type this in the middle of the night, after I get off of work.

Ice

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YU-GI-OH!

Chapter Six—A Different Kind of Death

"I swear it's you, I swear its you, that I waited for. And I swear its you, I swear its you, that my heart beats for…and it just Won't Stop…"—"Won't Stop", OneRepublic (song)

She was outside on Mai and Joey's deck, leaning against the wooden rail, just thinking. It was a clear night, but her thoughts were far from clear. The stars shined brilliantly, and the moonlight turned her skin a delicate pale color.

She was emotionless.

Serenity didn't say a word to Tristan after she read the letter; the initial shock of the whole situation was bothering her…and stressing her out. First Kai's sick, then Joey moving out, now her fiancé was leaving…

She could always ask her brother to stay…but Serenity knew in her heart that Joey's been living with her long enough. It was time that he started living with the one he married, as funny as that sounds, not his scared little sister who was once blind.

Besides, it's not like he was an hour away or something like that. It was a ten minute drive from her apartment to their house.

She shivered…her apartment…their house…

Serenity forced her thoughts back on the task at hand. Tristan wasn't going to be gone forever, and if she picked up and painted more often, she could buy a plane ticket and go and see him.

A tear rolled down her cheek when the shock finally drifted away and the realization set in. He was going to go to the states, to a school he'd always wanted to go to. Keeping him here with her…begging him to stay was selfish. He wanted this…and she was going to cry at the plane later when he waved his last wave at her.

She propped her elbows on the rail and covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Something inside her snapped, like a rubber band that had been stretched once too many. Everything suddenly felt different. Unrecognizably different…

Serenity took her hands away from her face, and looked at the golden band on her finger. And her heart welled up with joy.

Of course she would wait. Tristan was worth that.

She glanced at the ring one last time before her eyes slid to her watch.

She immediately ran back inside to the living room, where she had left Tristan.

He was still there, and he stood from the couch when she rushed in.

"I'm sorry!" She said as she grabbed her purse and keys from the table by the couch. "I'm late for my last night class!"

"O-oh, okay." Tristan mumbled, crestfallen that that's all it was.

"I'm sorry, I'll be back later." She said from the door, yanking it open and rushing out before he could say another word.

Tristan hung his head and sat back down on the couch, confused. He hadn't told her about the "let's get married in a week" thing, afraid to after the shock that had shown on her face.

A few minutes later, he heard the crunching of rocks on a different set of tires and at once he knew that Joey and Mai were back.

(VI)

The doctor flinched away from Seto Kaiba's glare as he walked over to explain the test results to him. He had to take a deep breath to make sure his voice would work before speaking.

"Well?" Kaiba growled.

They were in Kaiba's home office, but it didn't look much like an office now. Medical knick-knacks and things of that sort were scattered all over Kaiba's desk, and other machines filled the once-empty spaces, all brought over from the hospital.

The doctor cleared his throat.

"Well, we know that it's not terminal and it can't carry on through any bloodlines…but this interests even me—"

"Are you saying that you don't know what it is?" Kaiba snapped and his chair creaked when he stood.

"Um, well yes and no—"

"Is it curable?"

"That we're not sure of."

Kaiba sighed, and plopped back down on his chair, waving his hand for the doctor to go on.

"Most of it is stress-related…was there something that happened very recently that could've set it off?"

Kaiba bit the inside of his bottom lip. Everything was running smoothly at work, the new visualized dual disks were completed…it was even shipped out this morning, with no hitch, which surprised but pleased Kaiba greatly…

He began to remember back further…when he had the attack for the very first time…

"Excuse me!"

She turned around at the last second to avoid being hit. Her face was emotionless, almost to the point of turning painful. The woman had shoved her out of the way, just to get a good look at him.

The woman gave her not even a backwards glance as she walked straight up to Kaiba.

"Hello," she tried to make her voice sound sultry. "I couldn't help but notice that you were looking at me, and…"

Kaiba didn't hear anymore, he had his eyes fixed on the red-haired wonder that the rude woman had shoved out of the way. Of course he knew exactly who she was. He couldn't help but look. She had changed so much…

Kaiba was brought back to reality by cold water splashing his face.

He was walking pretty close to the edge of the road, and that was his fault, but the woman was drenched too, and she looked angry.

"How dare that guy!" She screeched, and then turned back to him. "Aren't you going to do anything?" The words "sue him" were all over her face.

He had to drag his eyes away from Serenity, and his eyes turned cold. "No," he said to the woman. "And you best get out of my sight, before I sue you of pushing down that poor woman there."

The woman turned and finally took a glance of Serenity.

"You like that? Yuck, I thought the great Seto Kaiba had a better taste in women."

"Anything's better than you." He retorted, agitated.

The woman "humpt" at him and walked away without anything else to say, Kaiba was glad for the piece and quiet. And he went over to see Serenity.

Serenity turned and looked at him before he had reached her. His eyes hard.

"That woman won't bother you again." Then he left.

Serenity stared after him, confusion and shock written all over her face.

Kaiba glanced at her one last time before turning completely around and returning to his work place.

"No, it couldn't be because of her…" Kaiba mumbled, and many other things had gone wrong that day. He had to talk to Joey Wheeler for reasons he couldn't recall now…the new dual disks were going all wrong…he had fired three people…Mokuba had decided to stay out all night with friends and never called, which worried him…all the numbers on his documents were wrong…

"What was that?" The doctor asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, nothing…" He waved his hand again. "Could this be because of a person?"

"Mostly no, but there have been some special cases…"

"Like?"

"Emotional distraction is what triggers it off. Sudden mood swings are the key. If you're stressed, and you suddenly feel something that has nothing to do with the stress, it only adds to the stress."

"So what if the emotional distraction is solved?" 'What if I could get over Serenity and not think about her anymore?' is what he really wanted to ask.

"Then the problem with the coughing up blood would be solved. So it's curable in a since. You can either get away from the person completely, or solve the problem with the person."

That seemed simple enough.

"But if you continue to place yourself in this situation, you'll eventually loose enough blood to be hospitalized, and the thing is, you never know when you've lost too much body, unless by the occasional dizzy spells."

"So you're saying," Kaiba placed his hands together on his desk, "that if I continue this way, I'll eventually cough myself to death?"

The doctor nodded a yes.

What a completely stupid way to die.

But it was a way to die.

Great! Kaiba thought, dismissing the doctor, who began to gather his things. Of all the things…it's a woman that's killing me…

Well, something like this couldn't be solved if she was going to get married to Tristan, so he only had the other option…

Which would only tear him apart.

He heard the door close and looked around; he must've been sitting there a good 30 minutes for the doctor to gather his things and leave. His office was spotless again, like the doctor had never made a visit. He continued his thoughts…

He could barely go one day without seeing her smiling face, how could he go the rest of his life?

Oh yes, he had realized a long time ago that he had fallen in love with her…years ago…why he didn't act on it sooner, he didn't know, but it was worth seeing her happy…he just wanted her to be happy, even if it was with another man…

"Kai?"

He head snapped up, and there was his smiling girl…

…almost in tears.

(VI)

Serenity quickly tore out of the driveway before Tristan could follow her. She didn't want to confront him yet…just not yet…

She checked the clock on the dash.

"Crap!" She was later than she thought and she pushed the gas petal a little harder.

Going to night class was something she really didn't want to do right now, she had taken her exam early and didn't really care if she passed, a few more months and she would be graduated.

She thought about the pain in her stomach last night and the coughing…maybe she should go and check to see if Kai was okay. Wouldn't hurt, plus, it's been awhile since they've hung out.

Serenity was at his mansion before she knew it, and she punched in the pass code to the gates. They opened obediently and she drove in slowly, getting closer and closer to tears.

She had to talk to Kai. He was the only one that could calm her completely, without a brotherly-feel to it like Tristan or Joey gave. She swore sometimes she thought she was going to marry her brother…

The doorbell rang out when she pushed it, and she was hoping that the man himself would answer…but she couldn't remember the last time he answered his own door…

"Yes?" A voice brought her back and she was face to face with the cook.

"Hey, I hope Kaiba's not working late, is he?" She tried to make her voice light.

"No, no he's here." The cook grinned. Serenity smiled back, remembering when she would make late night visits. More than others, Kaiba would still be at the office and he would seat her in the kitchen while cleaning up to talk to her.

He opened the door wider, beckoning her in. "You know the way to his office, unless you've forgotten."

Serenity laughed, "It hasn't been that long, and I think I remember."

"Alright." He gave her one last smile before returning to the kitchen.

Serenity sighed and made her way up the stairs to each floor. Stopping in front of two French doors at the end of the hallway on the fifth floor…if she hadn't have been here millions of times before she probably would've gotten lost. This house was a maze!

The tears were welling up now and she tried to hold them back, but the tears were slowing winning.

Serenity pushed the doors open, not bothering to knock, as had been their custom for the past six years.

"Kai?" She asked softly.

She saw his head snap up and he took her in. His eyes were red, and for the first time in her life, he looked frazzled and frail, like something horrible had just happened.

Serenity bit her lip, "Maybe this isn't the best time…" She trailed off.

"No, no." Kaiba forced a smile. "It's fine. What do you need?"

"I just need…to talk to someone other than Tristan or Joey…"

"Oh," Kaiba removed himself from his chair and walked over to the couch by the wall and motioned with his hand for her to sit down with him.

She complied, happy that he wasn't too stressed out.

"What is it?" He asked again, seeing the tears finally slipping from her eyes. He reached up and brushed them away from her cheek.

But as soon as his fingers made contact with her skin, a shock went through him, and her too from the way she jerked away from him and looked at him through wide eyes.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Must've been electricity."

But they both knew that it was something more.

Serenity shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I have to tell you something about Tristan."

"Oh?"

"He's leaving, going to the states, he got accepted into the college he wanted to go to…"

"Well that's great, isn't it?" Kaiba whispered.

"Yeah…" She turned to face him. "I really want him to stay…am I being selfish?"

Kaiba smiled for real this time. "Well, of course—"

She play punched him in the arm.

"—but it's natural for you to want the one you love to stay with you." Kind of like how I don't want to stay away from you…he added in his head.

She lifted her eyebrows, "when did you become all sensitive?"

He shrugged his shoulders, being honest, "Since I met you I guess."

Her mouth opened a bit.

He couldn't breathe…her lips, just so close…but yet, so far away…and belonging to another man.

She fidgeted, but didn't move away. Kaiba parted his lips slightly, coming even closer to her face…

"K-Kai?"

"Hmm?" He could feel her breath now.

She was going to protest, say that this wasn't right. But this felt so much more sentimental, than when Tristan leaned in to kiss her…

His lips were touching hers now, and her breathing hitched.

The kiss was slow and nervous, but he placed his hand on the back of her hand, drawing her even closer.

Serenity definitely wasn't planned for her reaction.

A soft 'plunk' was heard by neither of them when her hands immediately came up and twisted into his hair, kissing him back fiercely. Her mouth molded in different ways than before, with Tristan. Kaiba kissed her back just as fierce, slowly laying her down on the couch.

Nothing had happened between her and Tristan like this…not so much—passion!

Something broke inside her, and new waves of feelings began to course through her, not new feelings, just unexplored feelings…

She tried to stifle a moan as he raised her shirt a small amount, just to brush his fingertips across her stomach. The heat from his fingertips sent a fire coursing through her, a very desirable fire…

"Seto…" She sighed his name, his true name.

But that brought him back to reality.

He broke the kiss abruptly, and moved off of her and away from the couch. His eyes hard and cold.

Serenity opened her eyes to see him facing away from her; she could tell his arms were crossed.

"I think you should go." His voice sound harsh, nothing like anything before.

She was even worse off than when she even came. Serenity was so confused. What was wrong with her? Did she do something wrong?

"What—" She started to ask.

"Just go."

She bit her lip to keep from crying, grabbed her keys from off the floor and practically ran from the room in tears. She didn't stop until she made it to Joey's truck. She slipped inside and threw herself on the steering wheel, completely distraught.

"What have I done?" She whispered.

(VI)

Things are starting to heat up now! Keep watch, I'm getting back into this…

Ice