Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Blue Eyes: Seto's Story ❯ Day Three: Slut ( Chapter 10 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: kiokukaiba 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 08.14.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.9K | Visits: 387 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 08.14.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.9K | Visits: 387 | Status: Work In Progress
Behind Blue Eyes: Seto’s Story
- - -
Disclaimer: I don’t own Yuugiou. If I did, do you really think seven-year-olds would be allowed to watch it? Especially with the rape scene that will occur on day six. Yes, it will happen. Only people that take the time to read the disclaimer will know this little spoiler. (Woah. That’s what was on the original version. A rape on Day six? Hm. . . yeah, I guess it still applies.)
- - -
I agreed to sleep in Jounouchi’s bed again. Why did I do that? I guess because it reminded me of when Mokuba used to crawl into my bed at night when he was afraid of a storm or a nightmare. I really missed when Mokuba would do that. . . I missed the warm body flush against my own, reassuring me that someone was there, that I wasn’t alone.
For the first time in a long time, my dreams weren’t littered with articles of the past. There was no Gozaburo, no Saki, no Satoshi, no business flunkies. My body wasn’t violated as was usual in my tiresome sleep. Sleep was usually such a chore, and yet that night it was so wonderful and reviving. My dreams were strange, but peaceful. A dream where I stood upon a high cliff overlooking the ocean during sunset. A dream where I flew above the clouds on a fine moonlit night. A dream where I defeated Yami no Yuugi in a duel. . . hey, I really want to win, okay?
. . . A dream about Jounouchi Katsuya.
It was definitely a surprise, and being that it was a dream there wasn’t a whole lot I could do to stop it. So I was destined to sit back and watch, or rather take part in, the scene that unfolded within my own mind. It really wasn’t much. We were back at my mansion. . . or was it my summer home? . . . and on the couch. It was completely dark except for the golden fire that crackled softly in the fireplace. I was on his lap. It was a strange place, to be on some guys lap and him not trying to grope me or tear my clothes off of me.
No, Jou was simply holding me as I rested my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead a couple of times and rubbed small circles on my back as he held me with an arm around my waist. So gentle, so peaceful. . . pure bliss? No, no, no! It was the stupid mutt!
“Damn mutt!” Was what I wanted to scream out and shove him away. . . but my mouth refused to move except to let out a happy sigh, and my body was lifeless against the warmth of the blond’s body.
The dream itself was disturbing at most, but I felt comfortable in knowing that it was just some outlandish nightmare and nothing more. . . the next ‘episode’, however, shook me to the point that I woke up with a start.
I was laying on a bed that wasn’t my own and couldn’t have been Jounouchi’s, judging by its massive size. The sheets were softer than anything I had ever felt, and the air was so warm that I broke out in a sweat. The sweat rolled of my body which, I finally came to notice, was adorned in absolutely nothing. I was completely bare, exposed for all to see. . . no, just the one that loomed above me. The blond smiled a gentle smile. It wasn’t predatory or lusty, just gentle and loving. Loving? No, no, that can’t be right.
He ran one hand up and down my right side while the other hand propped him up as he moved between my legs. I wasn’t bound at all and could have easily knocked him away and made a break for it. . . but again my body was unresponsive, and all I could do was lay back and take whatever came to me. . . what bothered me most was that it felt damn good. I felt nostalgic. Saki. . .
The scene changed within an instant and I found myself face down on the same bed, arms bound high above my head and legs spread apart with my ankles bound tightly to the bedposts. This was too familiar. Jounouchi was gone and in his place hovered Saki, his crazed grin just as menacing as ever. No, this wasn’t the sweet Saki that I wanted to remember! Where was my Saki? The Saki that treated me like Jounouchi was. . . no.
I sat up in the bed, almost positive that I had woken the puppy up, but he was still snoring away in his uninterrupted slumber.
Glancing to my right, I found that it was only 5:30 in the morning. My heart was beating far too fast for me to fall asleep and rest a while longer before his alarm sounded. At least I could get some work done.
I slipped from the mattress without so much as a creak from the springs that I’m almost positive were older than a bed should be. Then again, the entire apartment had an aged air about it. There are a lot of houses like that, I usually associate such things with old clients of mine. When I say old, I mean senior citizens. You know, refrigerators and ovens that look like something you’d see in your grandparents’ house. I don’t really remember mine, but I’ve seen them in movies and such. I think that my grandmother was. . . a very tidy woman. Yeah, perhaps that’s how she was. And my grandfather was. . . no, I really don’t remember either of them. Then again, neither of the two, nor the rest of my so-called ‘family’ for that matter, was worth remembering.
It was too early for breakfast, not that I had much of an appetite right at that moment anyways, and so I sat on the floor beside my bags, pulling my treasured laptop from its case. It had been far too long. It was awkward sitting on the floor. The feeling was so familiar. What was this memory?
“Sit down now! Just sit on the floor until my associates come in. When they arrive, you just sit there and look pretty like a good little boy, and don’t move until they instruct you too! Do you understand that, you little slut?”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes. . . master.”
“Good boy.”
I shivered. That was so long ago? How old was I? No, no use in thinking about stupid things like that. Why was my heart beating so quickly? My eyes darted to the bed, resting on the sleeping form snuggled beneath the sheets. Something inside me wanted to wake him up because I wanted. . . company? What? No, that was just the sleep talking. Yes, I was still half asleep.
I found an outlet with a moment of searching, plugging in my precious machine. The bright light was comforting and brought my hearts pace back to normality.
Email after email, praise after praise, complaint after complaint, request after request. The usual bullshit, most of which went directly into my trash bin. I loved the ‘select all’ feature. Perhaps when Jounouchi had asked if I had a best friend, I should have mentioned it.
I chuckled a little at my own joke but covered my mouth and then checked to make sure I didn’t wake the blond. Wait. . . why in the hell should I give a damn if I wake up that stupid mutt? No, I don’t care at all. I could see his face, once my eyes had readjusted to the dark room. It was so small from where I sat, but so strong. He didn’t seem like such a pathetic punk when he slept. He didn’t have that goofy smile on his face, and his big brown eyes weren’t staring at me like a lonely puppy stared. No, right now his face was very straight and he seemed older.
A chill ran up my spine. I decided that perhaps I should work on my notes for the project until the alarm sounded. . .
Okay. He had a mother, a father, and a little sister. Their names were. . . well shit, I didn’t know any of the names yet! Oh yeah, his sister was at my Battle City tournament. Why was she there anyways? Her name was. . . Suzaku? Sadako? Shizuka? Hm. . . I think it was Suzaku. . . or maybe. . . maybe I’ll just come back to that part.
So his parents divorced when he was a kid, likely due to the fact that his father is a raging alcoholic/gambler. What a guy. So from the looks of things, Katsuya went with his father, and Sadako or whatever went with the mother.
His living situation? Shitty. A run-down apartment that smelled strongly of beer and sluts.
“Do you understand, you little slut?”
The alarm blared, thankfully knocking me out of the trance that had slowly begun to consume me. Katsu- uh, Jounouchi wriggled around a bit rolling to face where I had once lay. I could see now that his eyes were blinking rapidly as they opened. Did he not see me against the far wall?
He sat on the edge of the bed, twisting his feet into the carpet and looking around in a half-asleep manner. His eyes rested on me for a fraction of a second before he leapt back into bed and yanked the covers back over his head with a yelp. I guess I startled him
“Did I scare you?” I asked, trying to hide my amusement.
He poked his head out from under the sheets, “Is that what you were aiming for? If so, you got what you wanted.” The way he was right then was kind of. . . c- c- . . .
“I wasn’t trying to, but it sure as hell was funny. I’m working on my project a bit more, I’ve been kind of slacking on it. I was looking for your notebook to sneak a peek at what you’ve written about me, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I was with you all night and never saw you hide it; you’re sneaky, Jounouchi.” Okay, so I hadn’t really looked much more than a glance around the room. I just wanted to see where he put it, because I truly didn’t see him put it away anywhere. In fact, I don’t even remember him having it with him when we returned last night. . .
He laughed half-heartedly and rubbed at the back of his head and sauntered toward his closet to look for what I could only assume would be a school uniform. The way he was acting wasn’t very reassuring. He couldn’t possibly have left it somewhere. If he did. . .
“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty good at hiding things.”
“Where is it?” I shot a nervous glare at his back, but I was somewhat glad that he couldn’t see it. I’m sure that my worry was quite evident in my eyes, even as dark as the room was.
“I. . . don’t. . . know. . .” I had to strain my ears to hear the words as they descended in volume. No, he couldn’t have possibly said what I thought he just said.
“What did you say?” I rose to my feet, ready to throttle him if he repeated my fear.
“I said I don’t know!” He spun around on his heels and I was quick to move close to him, my face red with rage.
“What the fuck do you mean?!” My heart beat hard against my chest, and I felt certain that it would soon break through and kill me instantly.
“I left it at the fucking karaoke place! We were in such a fucking hurry to leave that I-”
“You can’t be fucking serious!” I gripped the collar of his pajamas, giving him a rough shake, “How could you fucking do this, you fucking son of a fucking bitch!” My life, my whole fucking life (or a large portion of it) was in a book laying on some god-forsaken table in some god-forsaken bar! Who would have picked it up by now? Some lowlife? They would sell it to the press for millions! I would be ruined! They’d know me as ‘Kaiba Seto, the teen whore!’
“Get the fuck off of me!” The blond dog was stronger than I thought. He shoved me, and I stumbled backwards until I finally fell hard on my ass. I was stunned for a second due to the force, but returned to glaring at him the instant that I could. . . from my position on the floor, that is.
“Look,” He bent down to stare into my eyes, “If you want to get it back before someone gets ahold of it, you’re going to have to settle the fuck down and help me.”
I was extremely pissed off, but I knew that what he said was right. Getting angry and fighting wouldn’t solve the problem. I would do anything to get that notebook back. I hesitated a bit before taking the hand that Jounouchi had extended toward me. After helping me to my feet, he still didn’t let go, and so I had to yank it away before the situation became too weird.
“Freak.” Was the first thing that came out of my mouth.
- - -
Jounouchi made breakfast. It was biscuits, bacon, and eggs. I don’t really think that any of it was cooked all the way, but we devoured the things so quickly, that it was really hard to determine the state of completion they were in. We had to get out as early as possibly to make it to that bar and then arrive at school on time. If we didn’t find that notebook, it would be the end of Jounouchi Katsuya. . . and likely the end of me.
Nothing had gone my way ever since Yuugi had torn me down those few years ago. Very few things ever went as planned. This time was no exception. We barely made it into the parking lot before coming to our first obstacle. I froze mid-step at the black jewel that made itself clear in my eyes.
Just across the way, there was a glistening, black, PT Cruiser waiting like a predator for us to emerge. Saki leaned against the car, his hair more luminous than the paint on his vehicle. How could he have known that we would be leaving so early? No, he didn’t know. He was probably waiting for us to head out towards school. I couldn’t allow myself to get distracted. I was going through enough already!
My heart skipped a beat. Did he have Jou’s notebook?
“Saki.” Jounouchi bit the name off like bad food, the bridge of his nose wrinkling as his amber eyes narrowed dangerously. He looked almost intimidating. . . almost.
“I’m glad you remember me.” That voice, it sent shivers running up and down my spine. It took so much not to physically shake.
“Leave us alone, you sick fuck, we have places to be.” Jounouchi could hold his own well. As long as that man’s cool gray gaze kept off of me, I’d be ok. . . and yet, I could feel my heart rate quicken again, and my breaths came in short, pathetic gasps.
“Oh? Where are you going? You both look a bit distressed.” My fear, our eyes locked together and every pint of blood within me ran cold, “Seto-koi, I can make you feel better. I can help you, love.”
Feel better?
“Seto-koi, I can make you feel better. I can help you, love.” He pulled me close to him, my back against his chest as he nuzzled the top of my head. Tilting my own head to the left, he nipped softly at my neck, rubbing circles on my stomach and thighs with his large, curious hands. His warm tongue lapped at my tears, “Please don’t cry. I promise that I’ll protect you from him. Some day, I take you far away from here. . . we can be together, Seto-koi.”
I heard myself whimper, but hoped that Jounouchi didn’t. Saki had always been so good to me. . . so then why?
Jounouchi seemed to become more infuriated, “We’re trying to find something, and we don’t need your help. If you want to help so badly, however, you can do so by leaving and never coming back.”
Leaving? I heard myself whimper again. Everyone. . . always left.
“Looking for something, eh?” His eyes kept mine in captivation, “What if I told you that I had the item you were looking for?” He stepped away from the car, reminding me just how tall he really was, “Come here, Seto, and I’ll give you what you’re searching for.”
The notebook, he had it! My life, my whole life. If that thing got out, I’d be absolutely ruined! Everything that I worked so hard to achieve would be gone! All of the hell and pain that I had gone through would be for nothing! Anything. . . anything to get that information back.
I stepped forward, but the blond clutched my left wrist with great strength.
“It’s a trick Seto! He doesn’t know what we’re after!” As I glanced back at him, I could see a strange smirk on his face, “If he had what we wanted, then he would be able to tell us what exactly it is!”
I stepped back, that same wretched noise escaping my lips once again. This time I was sure that Jou heard me.
I watched as Saki slung open the door to his car, sliding in and slamming it shut, obviously pissed off. Before he sped away, however, he leaned out his window. His expression was gentle, his eyes appearing more silver than gray, and a soft smile gracing his features. “I love you, Seto, and I will never stop loving you.” I inhaled sharply until I could breathe in no more, and it held there, unable to escape. That voice rang into my ears, through my head, down my back, and into my arms, where the deep tenor left a tingling sensation in my fingers and toes.
I exhaled when he was out of sight.
“It’s alright, Seto, he’s gone.” I didn’t like the way he said that. Jounouchi sounded almost like. . . he was my protector or something. . . I didn’t need a fucking protector! But. . . it was nice to know that someone cared, I guess. I’m getting soft in my young age.
“N-no shit, Katsuya.” I didn’t bother to hide the shaking in my voice; I knew that Jounouchi wouldn’t poke fun at me for it. Did I just call him Katsuya? I glanced at my watch, searching for a change in subject, “It’s already 7:30. We need to be at school before 8:30. We need to get going.” I could hear the monotonous tone of my voice, but didn’t care to animate it. My history was at stake, and it took everything within my power to keep calm. . . on the outside, at least.
“You’re right. I hope it’s open at this hour.” Jounouchi quickly got quiet. I suppose that neither of us had really factored in the matter that the building might not open until later, with it being a bar and all. We hauled ass down the route that we had taken the day before.
- - -
We arrived to a terrible sign; the streets, which were usually lively with people, were completely deserted, and there didn’t seem to be the slightest bit of movement anywhere in sight. Then came the worst sign of all: the hours listed on the karaoke bar that read ten in the morning until midnight. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I could feel the vibration in my own body as I shook with anger, trying not to express out loud the words I was screaming in my head. Must stay calm.
Jounouchi seemed to sink a bit, until he perked up again suddenly. There was a noise inside the locked building. Through the glass doors, we could see a man who, we assumed, worked at the place. We obviously weren’t an easy spectacle to miss, and caught his eye. He didn’t hesitate a moment to unlock the doors and let us in.
“I’m sorry, gentlemen, but we don’t open until ten. It’s only 7:45.” It was an older man, possibly in his late forties. His forehead was stuck in a permanent wrinkle, while his mouth seemed to be frozen in a smile. Old men like that creeped me out. They reminded me of. . . that’s really not important. The notebook was the only matter at hand.
“What are you doing here so early, then?” I folded my arms and glared down at the creepy old man. The elderly were so easy to intimidate.
“Well, young man, I happen to be the owner of this facility. Now I must ask; what brings the two of you here so early in the morning, and on a school day at that? Surely you aren’t above high school or college age.”
I opened my mouth, ready to shoot a counter-comment, but the damned mutt was quick to intervene.
“We’re here because last night we accidentally left something behind. You see, there was a slight incident in which we had to leave in a rush, and in our hurry we left something behind by mistake.”
“You’re talking weird.” I mumbled, probably not loud enough to hear. He was talking strange though. His mannerisms. . . maybe that was his ‘this is official shit’ language.
“Well, young man, chances are the item that you lost is no longer here. It was either picked up by someone else or thrown away by a janitor.”
Before I had the chance to make an outburst, the puppy made one for me, “It was a notebook and it had a shit-load of really personal information in it for a school project! We absolutely must get it back!”
“Oh! So you must be the boys that caused quite a bit of commotion last night!”
As if my instinct, my eyes darted to the floor, then the ceiling, and the walls were suddenly very interesting as well. All of those people had seen that, and already news of it was getting around. Did I feel sweat forming on my forehead?
The old man held the door open and stood aside, “I believe that I was notified of you leaving something behind. Let’s see if we can locate it.” As we passed by him, I could see his pitiful smile out of the corner of my eye. Pity. If there was one thing I hated more than anything else, it was fucking pity.
The owner led us to one of the backrooms, the break room maybe? There were a few tables as well as soda machines. With the flip of a switch, the room was illuminated and the object of our search lay innocently on the tabletop in the farthest corner.
Now, I was going to be a cool and collected and casually stroll over and take the notebook into my possession, you know, since it’s my personal information and all. But no. Jounouchi had to be a complete dumbass, as usual.
“You do have it!” He yelled, lunging for the notebook as if his life depended on it instead of mine. He snatched the little spiral bound book from the cheap table and rushed back to my side, slightly out of breath from this little event. He was weird, and yet. . . it was kind of. . . haha, nah.
“Well,” The owner began, smiling suspiciously, “I guess we still had it after all.” Jounouchi attempted to leave, but I grabbed him by the shoulder. Something wasn’t quite right.
“Wait,” I urged, “Make sure it’s the right notebook.” I kept a stern watch on that all-too-friendly probably-a-freaky-pedophile man while Jounouchi flipped through the pages.
“Yeah, this is definitely mine.”
I couldn’t resist the chance to look at the pages, only to find that it was impossible to read it at a glance, “True; only you could write so terribly.” I smiled a tiny bit, and I wondered if he noticed.
“Oh come on!” He locked his right arm under my own with his notebook tucked tightly under his left arm, and proceeded to drag me along the way we had come in, “My handwriting doesn’t suck that much!” I felt a strange heat in my cheeks. Was it because he had hooked arms with me? That was just dumb! Such a stupid, childish thing!
- - -
Upon realizing that it was about eight o’clock, it was power-walking all the way to campus. We got there just as the sprint bell rang, though we were out of breath and probably looked like imbeciles.
“Yeah! Right on time! We kick so much ass!” The moron began to do a sort of march up to the double doors of our school, when I realized one very important detail and stopped him, once again, with my hand. “What now, Seto?” He raised his eyebrows at me.
I did my very best not to laugh. I curled my lips into more positions than I had thought possible, but it came to no avail. Was my frustration so extreme that I was finally going insane?
“Well,” I snickered. Talking made it harder not to laugh, “I don’t know about you,” Another bit of laughter escaped me, “But I need my schoolbooks in order to get through my classes.” That was the end of it. Hilarity took over and I bent over, bracing myself by resting my hands on my knees, and proceeded to chuckle in stifled fits.
“Well, Mr. Kaiba, what do you propose we do?” I couldn’t answer him. I could barely even breathe at that moment. “What the fuck is so funny?”
I could feel my amusement building. “Well, we got ready early, got harassed by that jackass, took off like bats out of hell to a fucking karaoke bar, managed to get in there more than two hours early, got the notebook, hauled ass to school, only to realize that we have to go back and get our books!” Again, laughter consumed me, this time to the point that tears began to form at the corners of my eyes.
“So, Seto, you’re saying we have to go all the way back to my apartment for our books?” I nodded and sighed, wiping at my eyes and letting loose one last laugh before turning back around to start our journey home. . . er, to Katsuya’s home. Er, I mean, Jounouchi. What the fuck?
The walk back was boring as shit. I resorted to rambling on about Kaiba Corporation and a few of my recent ideas and projects that would likely be released in the near future. I had begun to sweat from the constant movement, and the fact that I couldn’t see Jounouchi was beginning to bother me. I had this strange feeling that he was eyeing me. . . you know what I mean? That feeling a person gets when someone is closely watching them. . . that’s the feeling that I had.
Then again, I had been feeling that way a lot lately. Jounouchi had been saying perverted things, sometimes even doing perverted thing. . . he would steal glances at me and would compliment me in ways a guy would compliment the girl he was courting. Was it possible that Jounouchi. . . had a crush on me?
“Jounouchi?” No reply came. “Are you listening?” I let my anger come through my voice.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“No.”
“Stupid mutt.”
“Sorry.”
“What are you daydreaming about?”
“You.” He flinched when the word left his mouth, but said nothing to withdraw it. So it was true. I felt the urge to cry, but I wouldn’t allow it. Not here, not now.
I stopped walking. I had to put an end to this. “Jounouchi, go out with Anzu.”
“What?”
“Go out with Anzu, or Mai, or. . . a girl. . . or a boy. . .”
“What the hell are you trying to say?” He now stood within inches of me, but I could see that he was nervous. . . I wondered if he knew that I was nervous as well.
“Go out with anyone. . . but don’t even bother going after me.” I tried to glare, but it was hard to do something that I didn’t want to do, “Only a fool goes for a slut.” It seemed that both of us were saying things we didn’t mean to say today. But I was. . . just a slut.
“What? What do you mean by that?” His blond hair blew across his face as a gentle breeze wandered by. We were in a park that was basically empty. . . for that, I was thankful. I allowed for my glare to fade away; it didn’t belong on my face to begin with.
“Only a fool goes for a slut.” It deserved repetition. I couldn’t take back something that I had already let slip out. This was for his own good. No, for the good of both of us. He and I weren’t meant to be, and that was that.
“You aren’t a slut!” With wild speed, he slapped me hard across my cheek, causing my head to turn to the side from the forced of the blow. My right hand instantly came up to nurse it.
“Why did you-”
“DON’T YOU EVER SAY THAT ABOUT YOURSELF!” My eyes went wide. His voice was loud and booming, the words ringing through my body far more than Saki’s words had rang earlier that day. Jounouchi’s voice, at that moment, was louder than anything else. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED IN YOUR PAST, BUT NO MATTER WHAT, YOU AREN’T A FUCKING SLUT, AND I WON’T LET YOU FUCKING TALK ABOUT YOURSELF LIKE THAT!”
I couldn’t help but take a step back from him, my eyes refusing to blink or close. What would I say? What could I say? I was only good at. . . only good at one thing.
I scowled at him, “That’s right! You don’t know anything! I was a fucking slut! I let my own step fathers’ business associates f. . . f. . .” I fell to my knees. I wasn’t strong enough for this. All of the training I had gone through to hide my emotions. . . was all of that pain and time wasted?
Jounouchi grabbed me by the arms, looking me directly in the eyes, “No! You aren’t a slut! You never will be! It isn’t your fault that you’re thin, and hot, and sexy, and gorgeous! It isn’t your fault that you have the most beautiful eyes on the face of the planet, or that you’re absolutely adorable when you laugh! It isn’t your fault that you’re pretty when you cry!” He went silent, and all I could do was tilt my head down to let my bangs hide my treacherous eyes, which allowed tears to cascade down my cheeks.
Beautiful, adorable, pretty. . . all of those words to describe someone like me? Someone like me. . . those words. I liked those words.
The rest of the way was silent, as well as the entire trip back to school. I didn’t once look at him, even after my tears had long since dried up. I had too much on my mind right now to face him.
- - -
Our principal quickly allowed us into our class upon our arrival. It was still first block: Ms. Asuka’s class. It amazed me that were managed to only be fifteen minutes late. The only thing we missed was going over homework, which was never something that I deemed important.
“I’m glad to see that the two of you could make it! I hope that you have been getting along well during your first weekend together! Take your seats and get out your homework so that I can check you off for completion.”
I let my eyes wander around the room, but found that they kept finding their way back to a particular blond, and so I decide it would be best to just keep them glued to the front of the room. Even so, my mind still wandered to him. The most beautiful eyes. . . that’s what he had said about me. He thought my eyes were beautiful? Again they wandered to him, only to come in contact with shimmering chocolate eyes. I quickly shuffled with some papers on my desk, trying to look occupied.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him. . .
- - -
Important: For best results, read “Behind Blue Eyes” alongside this story so that you can see how they are similar and how they are very different. I wouldn’t have written this story if there wasn’t a significant reason for it. Whenever I release a new chapter of this story, it would be in your best interest to either read the new chapter and then the original, or read the original and then the new chapter. You don’t have to, but it is highly recommended.
- - -
Disclaimer: I don’t own Yuugiou. If I did, do you really think seven-year-olds would be allowed to watch it? Especially with the rape scene that will occur on day six. Yes, it will happen. Only people that take the time to read the disclaimer will know this little spoiler. (Woah. That’s what was on the original version. A rape on Day six? Hm. . . yeah, I guess it still applies.)
- - -
I agreed to sleep in Jounouchi’s bed again. Why did I do that? I guess because it reminded me of when Mokuba used to crawl into my bed at night when he was afraid of a storm or a nightmare. I really missed when Mokuba would do that. . . I missed the warm body flush against my own, reassuring me that someone was there, that I wasn’t alone.
For the first time in a long time, my dreams weren’t littered with articles of the past. There was no Gozaburo, no Saki, no Satoshi, no business flunkies. My body wasn’t violated as was usual in my tiresome sleep. Sleep was usually such a chore, and yet that night it was so wonderful and reviving. My dreams were strange, but peaceful. A dream where I stood upon a high cliff overlooking the ocean during sunset. A dream where I flew above the clouds on a fine moonlit night. A dream where I defeated Yami no Yuugi in a duel. . . hey, I really want to win, okay?
. . . A dream about Jounouchi Katsuya.
It was definitely a surprise, and being that it was a dream there wasn’t a whole lot I could do to stop it. So I was destined to sit back and watch, or rather take part in, the scene that unfolded within my own mind. It really wasn’t much. We were back at my mansion. . . or was it my summer home? . . . and on the couch. It was completely dark except for the golden fire that crackled softly in the fireplace. I was on his lap. It was a strange place, to be on some guys lap and him not trying to grope me or tear my clothes off of me.
No, Jou was simply holding me as I rested my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead a couple of times and rubbed small circles on my back as he held me with an arm around my waist. So gentle, so peaceful. . . pure bliss? No, no, no! It was the stupid mutt!
“Damn mutt!” Was what I wanted to scream out and shove him away. . . but my mouth refused to move except to let out a happy sigh, and my body was lifeless against the warmth of the blond’s body.
The dream itself was disturbing at most, but I felt comfortable in knowing that it was just some outlandish nightmare and nothing more. . . the next ‘episode’, however, shook me to the point that I woke up with a start.
I was laying on a bed that wasn’t my own and couldn’t have been Jounouchi’s, judging by its massive size. The sheets were softer than anything I had ever felt, and the air was so warm that I broke out in a sweat. The sweat rolled of my body which, I finally came to notice, was adorned in absolutely nothing. I was completely bare, exposed for all to see. . . no, just the one that loomed above me. The blond smiled a gentle smile. It wasn’t predatory or lusty, just gentle and loving. Loving? No, no, that can’t be right.
He ran one hand up and down my right side while the other hand propped him up as he moved between my legs. I wasn’t bound at all and could have easily knocked him away and made a break for it. . . but again my body was unresponsive, and all I could do was lay back and take whatever came to me. . . what bothered me most was that it felt damn good. I felt nostalgic. Saki. . .
The scene changed within an instant and I found myself face down on the same bed, arms bound high above my head and legs spread apart with my ankles bound tightly to the bedposts. This was too familiar. Jounouchi was gone and in his place hovered Saki, his crazed grin just as menacing as ever. No, this wasn’t the sweet Saki that I wanted to remember! Where was my Saki? The Saki that treated me like Jounouchi was. . . no.
I sat up in the bed, almost positive that I had woken the puppy up, but he was still snoring away in his uninterrupted slumber.
Glancing to my right, I found that it was only 5:30 in the morning. My heart was beating far too fast for me to fall asleep and rest a while longer before his alarm sounded. At least I could get some work done.
I slipped from the mattress without so much as a creak from the springs that I’m almost positive were older than a bed should be. Then again, the entire apartment had an aged air about it. There are a lot of houses like that, I usually associate such things with old clients of mine. When I say old, I mean senior citizens. You know, refrigerators and ovens that look like something you’d see in your grandparents’ house. I don’t really remember mine, but I’ve seen them in movies and such. I think that my grandmother was. . . a very tidy woman. Yeah, perhaps that’s how she was. And my grandfather was. . . no, I really don’t remember either of them. Then again, neither of the two, nor the rest of my so-called ‘family’ for that matter, was worth remembering.
It was too early for breakfast, not that I had much of an appetite right at that moment anyways, and so I sat on the floor beside my bags, pulling my treasured laptop from its case. It had been far too long. It was awkward sitting on the floor. The feeling was so familiar. What was this memory?
“Sit down now! Just sit on the floor until my associates come in. When they arrive, you just sit there and look pretty like a good little boy, and don’t move until they instruct you too! Do you understand that, you little slut?”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes. . . master.”
“Good boy.”
I shivered. That was so long ago? How old was I? No, no use in thinking about stupid things like that. Why was my heart beating so quickly? My eyes darted to the bed, resting on the sleeping form snuggled beneath the sheets. Something inside me wanted to wake him up because I wanted. . . company? What? No, that was just the sleep talking. Yes, I was still half asleep.
I found an outlet with a moment of searching, plugging in my precious machine. The bright light was comforting and brought my hearts pace back to normality.
Email after email, praise after praise, complaint after complaint, request after request. The usual bullshit, most of which went directly into my trash bin. I loved the ‘select all’ feature. Perhaps when Jounouchi had asked if I had a best friend, I should have mentioned it.
I chuckled a little at my own joke but covered my mouth and then checked to make sure I didn’t wake the blond. Wait. . . why in the hell should I give a damn if I wake up that stupid mutt? No, I don’t care at all. I could see his face, once my eyes had readjusted to the dark room. It was so small from where I sat, but so strong. He didn’t seem like such a pathetic punk when he slept. He didn’t have that goofy smile on his face, and his big brown eyes weren’t staring at me like a lonely puppy stared. No, right now his face was very straight and he seemed older.
A chill ran up my spine. I decided that perhaps I should work on my notes for the project until the alarm sounded. . .
Okay. He had a mother, a father, and a little sister. Their names were. . . well shit, I didn’t know any of the names yet! Oh yeah, his sister was at my Battle City tournament. Why was she there anyways? Her name was. . . Suzaku? Sadako? Shizuka? Hm. . . I think it was Suzaku. . . or maybe. . . maybe I’ll just come back to that part.
So his parents divorced when he was a kid, likely due to the fact that his father is a raging alcoholic/gambler. What a guy. So from the looks of things, Katsuya went with his father, and Sadako or whatever went with the mother.
His living situation? Shitty. A run-down apartment that smelled strongly of beer and sluts.
“Do you understand, you little slut?”
The alarm blared, thankfully knocking me out of the trance that had slowly begun to consume me. Katsu- uh, Jounouchi wriggled around a bit rolling to face where I had once lay. I could see now that his eyes were blinking rapidly as they opened. Did he not see me against the far wall?
He sat on the edge of the bed, twisting his feet into the carpet and looking around in a half-asleep manner. His eyes rested on me for a fraction of a second before he leapt back into bed and yanked the covers back over his head with a yelp. I guess I startled him
“Did I scare you?” I asked, trying to hide my amusement.
He poked his head out from under the sheets, “Is that what you were aiming for? If so, you got what you wanted.” The way he was right then was kind of. . . c- c- . . .
“I wasn’t trying to, but it sure as hell was funny. I’m working on my project a bit more, I’ve been kind of slacking on it. I was looking for your notebook to sneak a peek at what you’ve written about me, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I was with you all night and never saw you hide it; you’re sneaky, Jounouchi.” Okay, so I hadn’t really looked much more than a glance around the room. I just wanted to see where he put it, because I truly didn’t see him put it away anywhere. In fact, I don’t even remember him having it with him when we returned last night. . .
He laughed half-heartedly and rubbed at the back of his head and sauntered toward his closet to look for what I could only assume would be a school uniform. The way he was acting wasn’t very reassuring. He couldn’t possibly have left it somewhere. If he did. . .
“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty good at hiding things.”
“Where is it?” I shot a nervous glare at his back, but I was somewhat glad that he couldn’t see it. I’m sure that my worry was quite evident in my eyes, even as dark as the room was.
“I. . . don’t. . . know. . .” I had to strain my ears to hear the words as they descended in volume. No, he couldn’t have possibly said what I thought he just said.
“What did you say?” I rose to my feet, ready to throttle him if he repeated my fear.
“I said I don’t know!” He spun around on his heels and I was quick to move close to him, my face red with rage.
“What the fuck do you mean?!” My heart beat hard against my chest, and I felt certain that it would soon break through and kill me instantly.
“I left it at the fucking karaoke place! We were in such a fucking hurry to leave that I-”
“You can’t be fucking serious!” I gripped the collar of his pajamas, giving him a rough shake, “How could you fucking do this, you fucking son of a fucking bitch!” My life, my whole fucking life (or a large portion of it) was in a book laying on some god-forsaken table in some god-forsaken bar! Who would have picked it up by now? Some lowlife? They would sell it to the press for millions! I would be ruined! They’d know me as ‘Kaiba Seto, the teen whore!’
“Get the fuck off of me!” The blond dog was stronger than I thought. He shoved me, and I stumbled backwards until I finally fell hard on my ass. I was stunned for a second due to the force, but returned to glaring at him the instant that I could. . . from my position on the floor, that is.
“Look,” He bent down to stare into my eyes, “If you want to get it back before someone gets ahold of it, you’re going to have to settle the fuck down and help me.”
I was extremely pissed off, but I knew that what he said was right. Getting angry and fighting wouldn’t solve the problem. I would do anything to get that notebook back. I hesitated a bit before taking the hand that Jounouchi had extended toward me. After helping me to my feet, he still didn’t let go, and so I had to yank it away before the situation became too weird.
“Freak.” Was the first thing that came out of my mouth.
- - -
Jounouchi made breakfast. It was biscuits, bacon, and eggs. I don’t really think that any of it was cooked all the way, but we devoured the things so quickly, that it was really hard to determine the state of completion they were in. We had to get out as early as possibly to make it to that bar and then arrive at school on time. If we didn’t find that notebook, it would be the end of Jounouchi Katsuya. . . and likely the end of me.
Nothing had gone my way ever since Yuugi had torn me down those few years ago. Very few things ever went as planned. This time was no exception. We barely made it into the parking lot before coming to our first obstacle. I froze mid-step at the black jewel that made itself clear in my eyes.
Just across the way, there was a glistening, black, PT Cruiser waiting like a predator for us to emerge. Saki leaned against the car, his hair more luminous than the paint on his vehicle. How could he have known that we would be leaving so early? No, he didn’t know. He was probably waiting for us to head out towards school. I couldn’t allow myself to get distracted. I was going through enough already!
My heart skipped a beat. Did he have Jou’s notebook?
“Saki.” Jounouchi bit the name off like bad food, the bridge of his nose wrinkling as his amber eyes narrowed dangerously. He looked almost intimidating. . . almost.
“I’m glad you remember me.” That voice, it sent shivers running up and down my spine. It took so much not to physically shake.
“Leave us alone, you sick fuck, we have places to be.” Jounouchi could hold his own well. As long as that man’s cool gray gaze kept off of me, I’d be ok. . . and yet, I could feel my heart rate quicken again, and my breaths came in short, pathetic gasps.
“Oh? Where are you going? You both look a bit distressed.” My fear, our eyes locked together and every pint of blood within me ran cold, “Seto-koi, I can make you feel better. I can help you, love.”
Feel better?
“Seto-koi, I can make you feel better. I can help you, love.” He pulled me close to him, my back against his chest as he nuzzled the top of my head. Tilting my own head to the left, he nipped softly at my neck, rubbing circles on my stomach and thighs with his large, curious hands. His warm tongue lapped at my tears, “Please don’t cry. I promise that I’ll protect you from him. Some day, I take you far away from here. . . we can be together, Seto-koi.”
I heard myself whimper, but hoped that Jounouchi didn’t. Saki had always been so good to me. . . so then why?
Jounouchi seemed to become more infuriated, “We’re trying to find something, and we don’t need your help. If you want to help so badly, however, you can do so by leaving and never coming back.”
Leaving? I heard myself whimper again. Everyone. . . always left.
“Looking for something, eh?” His eyes kept mine in captivation, “What if I told you that I had the item you were looking for?” He stepped away from the car, reminding me just how tall he really was, “Come here, Seto, and I’ll give you what you’re searching for.”
The notebook, he had it! My life, my whole life. If that thing got out, I’d be absolutely ruined! Everything that I worked so hard to achieve would be gone! All of the hell and pain that I had gone through would be for nothing! Anything. . . anything to get that information back.
I stepped forward, but the blond clutched my left wrist with great strength.
“It’s a trick Seto! He doesn’t know what we’re after!” As I glanced back at him, I could see a strange smirk on his face, “If he had what we wanted, then he would be able to tell us what exactly it is!”
I stepped back, that same wretched noise escaping my lips once again. This time I was sure that Jou heard me.
I watched as Saki slung open the door to his car, sliding in and slamming it shut, obviously pissed off. Before he sped away, however, he leaned out his window. His expression was gentle, his eyes appearing more silver than gray, and a soft smile gracing his features. “I love you, Seto, and I will never stop loving you.” I inhaled sharply until I could breathe in no more, and it held there, unable to escape. That voice rang into my ears, through my head, down my back, and into my arms, where the deep tenor left a tingling sensation in my fingers and toes.
I exhaled when he was out of sight.
“It’s alright, Seto, he’s gone.” I didn’t like the way he said that. Jounouchi sounded almost like. . . he was my protector or something. . . I didn’t need a fucking protector! But. . . it was nice to know that someone cared, I guess. I’m getting soft in my young age.
“N-no shit, Katsuya.” I didn’t bother to hide the shaking in my voice; I knew that Jounouchi wouldn’t poke fun at me for it. Did I just call him Katsuya? I glanced at my watch, searching for a change in subject, “It’s already 7:30. We need to be at school before 8:30. We need to get going.” I could hear the monotonous tone of my voice, but didn’t care to animate it. My history was at stake, and it took everything within my power to keep calm. . . on the outside, at least.
“You’re right. I hope it’s open at this hour.” Jounouchi quickly got quiet. I suppose that neither of us had really factored in the matter that the building might not open until later, with it being a bar and all. We hauled ass down the route that we had taken the day before.
- - -
We arrived to a terrible sign; the streets, which were usually lively with people, were completely deserted, and there didn’t seem to be the slightest bit of movement anywhere in sight. Then came the worst sign of all: the hours listed on the karaoke bar that read ten in the morning until midnight. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I could feel the vibration in my own body as I shook with anger, trying not to express out loud the words I was screaming in my head. Must stay calm.
Jounouchi seemed to sink a bit, until he perked up again suddenly. There was a noise inside the locked building. Through the glass doors, we could see a man who, we assumed, worked at the place. We obviously weren’t an easy spectacle to miss, and caught his eye. He didn’t hesitate a moment to unlock the doors and let us in.
“I’m sorry, gentlemen, but we don’t open until ten. It’s only 7:45.” It was an older man, possibly in his late forties. His forehead was stuck in a permanent wrinkle, while his mouth seemed to be frozen in a smile. Old men like that creeped me out. They reminded me of. . . that’s really not important. The notebook was the only matter at hand.
“What are you doing here so early, then?” I folded my arms and glared down at the creepy old man. The elderly were so easy to intimidate.
“Well, young man, I happen to be the owner of this facility. Now I must ask; what brings the two of you here so early in the morning, and on a school day at that? Surely you aren’t above high school or college age.”
I opened my mouth, ready to shoot a counter-comment, but the damned mutt was quick to intervene.
“We’re here because last night we accidentally left something behind. You see, there was a slight incident in which we had to leave in a rush, and in our hurry we left something behind by mistake.”
“You’re talking weird.” I mumbled, probably not loud enough to hear. He was talking strange though. His mannerisms. . . maybe that was his ‘this is official shit’ language.
“Well, young man, chances are the item that you lost is no longer here. It was either picked up by someone else or thrown away by a janitor.”
Before I had the chance to make an outburst, the puppy made one for me, “It was a notebook and it had a shit-load of really personal information in it for a school project! We absolutely must get it back!”
“Oh! So you must be the boys that caused quite a bit of commotion last night!”
As if my instinct, my eyes darted to the floor, then the ceiling, and the walls were suddenly very interesting as well. All of those people had seen that, and already news of it was getting around. Did I feel sweat forming on my forehead?
The old man held the door open and stood aside, “I believe that I was notified of you leaving something behind. Let’s see if we can locate it.” As we passed by him, I could see his pitiful smile out of the corner of my eye. Pity. If there was one thing I hated more than anything else, it was fucking pity.
The owner led us to one of the backrooms, the break room maybe? There were a few tables as well as soda machines. With the flip of a switch, the room was illuminated and the object of our search lay innocently on the tabletop in the farthest corner.
Now, I was going to be a cool and collected and casually stroll over and take the notebook into my possession, you know, since it’s my personal information and all. But no. Jounouchi had to be a complete dumbass, as usual.
“You do have it!” He yelled, lunging for the notebook as if his life depended on it instead of mine. He snatched the little spiral bound book from the cheap table and rushed back to my side, slightly out of breath from this little event. He was weird, and yet. . . it was kind of. . . haha, nah.
“Well,” The owner began, smiling suspiciously, “I guess we still had it after all.” Jounouchi attempted to leave, but I grabbed him by the shoulder. Something wasn’t quite right.
“Wait,” I urged, “Make sure it’s the right notebook.” I kept a stern watch on that all-too-friendly probably-a-freaky-pedophile man while Jounouchi flipped through the pages.
“Yeah, this is definitely mine.”
I couldn’t resist the chance to look at the pages, only to find that it was impossible to read it at a glance, “True; only you could write so terribly.” I smiled a tiny bit, and I wondered if he noticed.
“Oh come on!” He locked his right arm under my own with his notebook tucked tightly under his left arm, and proceeded to drag me along the way we had come in, “My handwriting doesn’t suck that much!” I felt a strange heat in my cheeks. Was it because he had hooked arms with me? That was just dumb! Such a stupid, childish thing!
- - -
Upon realizing that it was about eight o’clock, it was power-walking all the way to campus. We got there just as the sprint bell rang, though we were out of breath and probably looked like imbeciles.
“Yeah! Right on time! We kick so much ass!” The moron began to do a sort of march up to the double doors of our school, when I realized one very important detail and stopped him, once again, with my hand. “What now, Seto?” He raised his eyebrows at me.
I did my very best not to laugh. I curled my lips into more positions than I had thought possible, but it came to no avail. Was my frustration so extreme that I was finally going insane?
“Well,” I snickered. Talking made it harder not to laugh, “I don’t know about you,” Another bit of laughter escaped me, “But I need my schoolbooks in order to get through my classes.” That was the end of it. Hilarity took over and I bent over, bracing myself by resting my hands on my knees, and proceeded to chuckle in stifled fits.
“Well, Mr. Kaiba, what do you propose we do?” I couldn’t answer him. I could barely even breathe at that moment. “What the fuck is so funny?”
I could feel my amusement building. “Well, we got ready early, got harassed by that jackass, took off like bats out of hell to a fucking karaoke bar, managed to get in there more than two hours early, got the notebook, hauled ass to school, only to realize that we have to go back and get our books!” Again, laughter consumed me, this time to the point that tears began to form at the corners of my eyes.
“So, Seto, you’re saying we have to go all the way back to my apartment for our books?” I nodded and sighed, wiping at my eyes and letting loose one last laugh before turning back around to start our journey home. . . er, to Katsuya’s home. Er, I mean, Jounouchi. What the fuck?
The walk back was boring as shit. I resorted to rambling on about Kaiba Corporation and a few of my recent ideas and projects that would likely be released in the near future. I had begun to sweat from the constant movement, and the fact that I couldn’t see Jounouchi was beginning to bother me. I had this strange feeling that he was eyeing me. . . you know what I mean? That feeling a person gets when someone is closely watching them. . . that’s the feeling that I had.
Then again, I had been feeling that way a lot lately. Jounouchi had been saying perverted things, sometimes even doing perverted thing. . . he would steal glances at me and would compliment me in ways a guy would compliment the girl he was courting. Was it possible that Jounouchi. . . had a crush on me?
“Jounouchi?” No reply came. “Are you listening?” I let my anger come through my voice.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“No.”
“Stupid mutt.”
“Sorry.”
“What are you daydreaming about?”
“You.” He flinched when the word left his mouth, but said nothing to withdraw it. So it was true. I felt the urge to cry, but I wouldn’t allow it. Not here, not now.
I stopped walking. I had to put an end to this. “Jounouchi, go out with Anzu.”
“What?”
“Go out with Anzu, or Mai, or. . . a girl. . . or a boy. . .”
“What the hell are you trying to say?” He now stood within inches of me, but I could see that he was nervous. . . I wondered if he knew that I was nervous as well.
“Go out with anyone. . . but don’t even bother going after me.” I tried to glare, but it was hard to do something that I didn’t want to do, “Only a fool goes for a slut.” It seemed that both of us were saying things we didn’t mean to say today. But I was. . . just a slut.
“What? What do you mean by that?” His blond hair blew across his face as a gentle breeze wandered by. We were in a park that was basically empty. . . for that, I was thankful. I allowed for my glare to fade away; it didn’t belong on my face to begin with.
“Only a fool goes for a slut.” It deserved repetition. I couldn’t take back something that I had already let slip out. This was for his own good. No, for the good of both of us. He and I weren’t meant to be, and that was that.
“You aren’t a slut!” With wild speed, he slapped me hard across my cheek, causing my head to turn to the side from the forced of the blow. My right hand instantly came up to nurse it.
“Why did you-”
“DON’T YOU EVER SAY THAT ABOUT YOURSELF!” My eyes went wide. His voice was loud and booming, the words ringing through my body far more than Saki’s words had rang earlier that day. Jounouchi’s voice, at that moment, was louder than anything else. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED IN YOUR PAST, BUT NO MATTER WHAT, YOU AREN’T A FUCKING SLUT, AND I WON’T LET YOU FUCKING TALK ABOUT YOURSELF LIKE THAT!”
I couldn’t help but take a step back from him, my eyes refusing to blink or close. What would I say? What could I say? I was only good at. . . only good at one thing.
I scowled at him, “That’s right! You don’t know anything! I was a fucking slut! I let my own step fathers’ business associates f. . . f. . .” I fell to my knees. I wasn’t strong enough for this. All of the training I had gone through to hide my emotions. . . was all of that pain and time wasted?
Jounouchi grabbed me by the arms, looking me directly in the eyes, “No! You aren’t a slut! You never will be! It isn’t your fault that you’re thin, and hot, and sexy, and gorgeous! It isn’t your fault that you have the most beautiful eyes on the face of the planet, or that you’re absolutely adorable when you laugh! It isn’t your fault that you’re pretty when you cry!” He went silent, and all I could do was tilt my head down to let my bangs hide my treacherous eyes, which allowed tears to cascade down my cheeks.
Beautiful, adorable, pretty. . . all of those words to describe someone like me? Someone like me. . . those words. I liked those words.
The rest of the way was silent, as well as the entire trip back to school. I didn’t once look at him, even after my tears had long since dried up. I had too much on my mind right now to face him.
- - -
Our principal quickly allowed us into our class upon our arrival. It was still first block: Ms. Asuka’s class. It amazed me that were managed to only be fifteen minutes late. The only thing we missed was going over homework, which was never something that I deemed important.
“I’m glad to see that the two of you could make it! I hope that you have been getting along well during your first weekend together! Take your seats and get out your homework so that I can check you off for completion.”
I let my eyes wander around the room, but found that they kept finding their way back to a particular blond, and so I decide it would be best to just keep them glued to the front of the room. Even so, my mind still wandered to him. The most beautiful eyes. . . that’s what he had said about me. He thought my eyes were beautiful? Again they wandered to him, only to come in contact with shimmering chocolate eyes. I quickly shuffled with some papers on my desk, trying to look occupied.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him. . .
- - -
Important: For best results, read “Behind Blue Eyes” alongside this story so that you can see how they are similar and how they are very different. I wouldn’t have written this story if there wasn’t a significant reason for it. Whenever I release a new chapter of this story, it would be in your best interest to either read the new chapter and then the original, or read the original and then the new chapter. You don’t have to, but it is highly recommended.