Seto held a bouquet of roses in his sweaty palms as he paced back and fourth. He bit his lip anxiously, almost to the point where he could feel the oozing liquid dripping down his pale chin and onto the wooden floor. He didn't bother to clean up the small, visible pool of blood—his thoughts were too occupied. It wasn't necessarily the end of the world, but the risks of that seemed too high for the brunet. The fuchsia haired male seemed to have been going rogue, something that Seto would have to prevent in order to keep his own safety.

He set the bouquet of roses down onto the coffee table, the plastic wrap around it crinkling and the black bow almost becoming undone. He didn't know how to "apologize," he never did do such thing to anyone. After all, he was a Prince, he could technically do whatever he pleases without being exiled for the task. The brunet groaned in frustration, sitting down on the leather sofa and counting the seconds that would pass by.

"Seto, are you alright?" A voice asked, tapping on my shoulder. I quickly snapped out of my thoughts, wincing a bit.

I stiffened, but managed to keep a calm-looking composure. "Yes. I am alright." I replied monotonously while turning around. I was faced with one of my older acquaintances, Kyle Komics.

"Look, you're nervous right? Just don't think about it, I mean, although it's your first time, you'll do fine. You're perfect. Your brother would say the same thing. Besides, what's the worse that can happen?" Kyle managed to smile, patting my back harshly. "I'm coming with you as your protector, after all."

I winced at the thought of my older brother, but brushed off the thought. "Alright. Thank you, Komics."

Kyle's smiled widened as he threw out a small laugh. "Just call me Kyle."

Seto covered his eyes, trying his best not to drown in his own sorrows.

"Alright Seto, how would you greet yourself to other people?"

"It would go like this: 'Greetings—'"

"You sound like a robot."

"Aren't robotics perfect machinery?"

"That's besides the point. You're too perfect, and that's bad. Instead of 'greetings,' just say 'hello.'"

"Alright, fine. 'Hello. My name is Seto Kaji. It is a pleasure to be acquaintances with you.'"

"Good. Try to sound formal but not too formal. Now onto the next thing."

"We've been at this for the past hour, can we just take a break?"

"No. You'll need to fit in. Alright, so now posture."

"Posture? My posture is already perfect!"

"Well I don't want it to be perfect. You look as straight as a pencil! Try slouching a bit."

"Slouching? That will ruin my posture!"

"Hence the point."

"Do you know how many hours I wasted as a child holding dozens of books on top of my head!"

"Just do it."

He took a deep breath in, quickly grabbing the nearest item, which was a vase, and throwing it across the room. The green vase shattered into pieces and was left on the floor. It was fragile, broken; Seto didn't bother to pick up the pieces. He felt the tears escaping through his chocolate brown eyes, his heart ached too much.

Stupid emotion.

Kyle widened his eyes, kicking Brice in the leg, causing him to move to the side. The fuchsia haired male quickly ran to me, sitting me down while making his hands glow bright pink. Lifting up my shirt to reveal multiple new and old bruises, along with bleeding scars and a burnt piece of skin to match, he quickly began to heal me. I rested my head onto Kyle's chest, still crying and dripping blood, "t-thank you—"

"I've never seen you cry before," Kyle murmured. "Was it your Father that made you remember—"

"Don't remind me," I sighed, voice cracking as he frowned.

The taunting memory elapsed. Seto felt his heart beginning to shatter ever so loosely. The pain was worse than a punch, or rather a kick to the stomach. The tears that had formed began to stream down his face, almost as if a waterfall or a stream. He grabbed a nearby pillow and hugged it, his black nails digging deep into the pillow and into the fluff.

"So, Seto." Kyle asked, facing towards me. "You know...today's your sixteenth birthday, what do you wish for?"

"Do we honestly have to do this stupid process every year?" I groaned, crossing my arms as I sat down on the hillside. Kyle held a cupcake in his hand; chocolate. He passed it to me, a small purple candle that lit and waiting to be blown out. I shifted my eyes, scrunching up my nose.

"What do you wish for?" Kyle questioned.

"I wish for the world to end." I solemnly replied, blowing out the candle. Kyle frowned, but managed to crack a smile.

"If the world would end, I would spend it with you." Kyle ruffled my hair, I groaned once more as I shifted away from him. My black fringe covered my purple glowing eyes as I replied, voice quiet and grim.

"Why—Why do you care about me so much?" I asked, confused.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kyle replied, shifting back towards me and throwing his arm around my shoulder. I couldn't help but relax and rest my head on his shoulder.

"Father was not like this to me. He forgot." I sighed, shifting my eyes that were glossy. I didn't dare to make eye contact with him.

"We're friends—best friends. That's what we do for each other." Kyle smiled, ruffling my hair once more. "I care about you, Seto, I hope you realize that. If you don't, well, I'll still always be here for you, even until my last breath. You're like a younger brother to me."

"Thank you, Komics." I whispered.

"Call me Kyle." The other replied, his smile growing.

He took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself. Wiping the tears away, he stared at the bouquet that was still sitting on the coffee table. It was a waste of currency since the brunet didn't have the confidence to stride up to the fuchsia haired male and "apologize." How would Kyle even react to that? The thought of him not accepting the apology made the brunet quiver in fear. Emotions were weird; they got in the way of many decisions he would make.

"Crying won't fix anything." Sub strolled into the living room and towards the brunet. He lifted up his chin and wiped away his tears, patting him on the head while signing.

"It's just peachy—it hurts me too much." Seto murmured, his eyes shifting towards the ground again. His lip was still bleeding and his eyes were tainted with the light color of purple. The memory from the day before kept on biting him as if it was a loose dog.

"You are nothing, and you always will be! You are a disgrace!" I had blurted out. I covered my mouth in realization, my heart pounding out of my chest in a fierce manner. Kyle's crystal blue eyes widened in shock, but then went soft as he scrunched up his nose.

"I'm glad you're telling the truth, Prince." Kyle's voice was laced with venom as he glared. He pushed me away and disappeared into the crowd, leaving me wide eyed, frowning, and on the verge of tears. I clenched my fist. The pink slip began to get crushed in my hand. The emotions were overwhelming, almost like a tidal wave. I decided to go back to the group and not speak another word.

'Maybe he was nothing in the end.' I thought to myself.

Prince.

The word and the responsibility was engraved into his mind. It was all confusing, why was he feeling this now? He never had felt any recollection when snapping at a simple pleasant, why did it matter so much to him. Why did he matter so much to him? He was nothing but a peasant—a protector. He gritted his teeth.

But then, he heard a knock at his door. The two exchanged glances, Sub went to go hide in Seto's room under the bed, but then teleported onto the roof and had casted a spell to make him invisible. Seto went to go answer the door, his hopes high that it was Kyle. Opening it, he was faced with the blond in all his glory, holding a bouquet of roses. Seto snapped his fingers behind his back, making the roses on the table teleport to wherever Sub was. The Sorcerer in green squeaked in surprise and nearly fell off the roof.

"Hey Seto I—" Brice began, but quickly widened his eyes, "why are you crying? What's wrong?"

Seto blinked, sniffling as he wiped his bloodshot eyes with his oversized purple pajama sleeve, "N-Nothing is wrong."

Brice softened his gaze towards the brunet, quickly hugging him. Seto widened his eyes, his heart pounding out of his chest. He quickly hugged him back, quietly sobbing into his chest while Brice rested his chin on the brunet's hair. He smelled like coconut and vanilla, it was pleasant.

"Why do I always see you crying? It makes me feel bad." Brice murmured, stroking the brunet's hair.

"I-I'm sorry it's just—" Seto began, but widened his eyes.

"Let's talk, you can tell me anything." Brice smiled, quickly picking up Seto bridal style and strolling towards his living room. He set the bouquet of roses down on the coffee table, then sat down on the couch. He placed Seto next to him carefully. Seto sighed, leaning his head on Brice's shoulder.

Why did he feel so comfortable with Brice?

Hell, why did he apologize, quite frankly for the first time, when there wasn't anything to apologize for?

"I originally came here to give you that bouquet of roses because I went to Golden City again and I saw a flower shop and it reminded me of you. People followed me of course; because when a Prince buys flowers people make assumptions that I'm courting someone but not really its just for a f-friend." Brice ranted, barely managing to spit out the word 'friend.' He shook his head, "All things about me aside, what happened?"

"I g-got into an argument with K-Kyle." Seto stuttered, beginning to cry again. "It was my f-fault, but I don't k-know how to a-apologize to him—"

"What did you argue about?" Brice questioned.

"H-He was mad that I was hanging o-out with you and Sub more than h-him. He asked me if he was w-worth something to m-me and I—" Seto took a breath in, "I said h-he wasn't worth a-anything in a fit of r-rage. He pushed m-me and l-left."

Brice softened his gaze once more, bringing Seto into a hug. Seto sighed, calming down a bit more as he listened to Brice's heartbeat and slow breathing. The blond murmured once more, "You shouldn't be the one apologizing, he started it and you both are brothers after all, it's just a new surrounding that makes it different. You skipped lunch yesterday because of it right? You can sit with me from now on, I'll treat you better than he could. I'll make sure no one hurts you."

Seto hugged Brice back, a small smile forming on his face, "T-Thank you, Brice."

"It's no problem, you deserve the best, Seto." Brice replied, stroking the brunet's hair.

Seto couldn't help but continue to smile, but thoughts still remained in his mind, 'Why do I feel something towards him, and why does he care about me so much? I just met him a week ago, but there was something always different about him. It's nice that there's someone there for me, though. Brice is different from other Hybrids, he's amazingly sweet, nice, caring—I love that about him.'