After the doctor left, his gaze fell upon his mate. A faint smile spread across his face, he held his hands once again. His lover's past words echoed in his mind; it was more of a favor he asked of Seto. 

"Please take care of my younger brother. He is naive and stubborn but if it's you, I know he will listen." 

Even at his worst, he cared about Kyoko and Seto had no problem, since for him the little mischievous guy was like his own family too.

"Our innocent younger brother has grown up, when will you wake up to see it?" He mumbled as he held his hands even tighter. 

"Wake up soon. And tell me I raised Kyoko well. You will be even shocked to know how meek he acts around his mate. He can be cunning sometimes." Seto chuckled. There were so many things he wanted to say, a lot of words left that he had left unsaid. 

The door creaked open again revealing a pair of boys, one with a goofy smile on his face. Realizing how Kyoko had his hands hidden at his back, he knew something was up. He sighed.

"What are you upto again?" 

Kyoko looked baffled and a bit offended at his choice of words, and rolled his eyes. "Close your eyes." He exclaimed. 

Without bothering to ask why, the latter followed his instructions. "Surprise!" He was startled and flinched back a bit, reacting to Kyoko's sudden high pitched announcement. 

He opened his eyes, Kyoko was holding a big white cake in his hands and was displaying a wide cheeky grin. To say Seto was confused would be an understatement, he didn't know what the boy was so excited about. 

"We succeeded!" Kyoko exclaimed, practically jumping up and down. 

"We certainly did darling." Arnold followed him up with his statement. 

"Ugh, can you guys stop flirting at every chance you get? What's the cake for? What's the occasion?" 

"You don't remember? Really?" 

Seto gave it some thought, it's not Ame's birthday, nor Kyoko's or his? Tilting his head to the side, he asked Kyoko about it. 

"It's Arnold's birthday?" It came out more like an question.

Both Arnold and Kyoko looked at each other in unison. Kyoko shook his head in disappointment.

"Wow! Really man? Today is yours and Ames' anniversary. The day we met and on the same date Ame proposed to you to be his pair!" 

Then it all came down to him, he had a lot on his plate but still, it was their anniversary: How could I forget? He gave Hirito an apologetic look. A tear made its way down from his eyes to the cheeks. 
He wiped it down.

It has been 16 years.