Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Blue Eyes: Seto's Story ❯ Day Seven: Mokuba ( Chapter 26 )

Behind Blue Eyes: Seto's Story

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After a million years of waiting, the new chapter is here! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm writing this for the hell of it. I wish I could make money off of this, I really do. But alas, I do not and I never will. Yugioh isn't mine to have or profit from. What a pity.

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Recap:

I ran a hand over my face and stood away from the sink. I needed to calm down. Yelling and screaming wasn't going to change anything, and if Mokuba heard me, I'd be in an even deeper hole than I already am. I stared at the mess on the floor, “Listen, Katsuya. Please don't tell Mokuba, okay?” I dared to lock eyes with him, hoping that perhaps my request would have more of an effect that way.

“Don't tell me what?”

I leaned to look around the blond as he spun on his heels to face the doorway. I knew very well who that voice belonged to.

Mokuba.

- - -

“What have I told you about coming in without knocking?” I glanced to the supplies that I had slung to the floor. What excuse could I make? Easy. I could tell Mokuba that Jou pissed me off, that is, if Mokuba even asked. I had to remain calm no matter what; Getting angry only made me look suspicious.

“The door was open.”

The door was open? Sure the bathroom door had been left open, but I'm pretty sure that I closed the bedroom door. “Even my bedroom door?” I questioned. Either some nosey employee opened it or Mokuba opened it himself.

“I don't like it when you hide things from me, Seto!” Ah, so he had opened it himself.

I didn't need to look at him to know that he had a pitiful expression on his face. “I'm not hiding anything from you.” I lied, just like always.

“You're lying! Is it really so bad that you can't even tell me, your only family?”

There was a waver in his voice that caused a pain to run through my chest. “It's not like that at all.” Mokuba didn't know those kinds of things. Mokuba only needed to be happy and carefree, just as he had always been.

“Then what is it like, Seto?” He grabbed my left arm, trying desperately to make eye contact with me, but I wouldn't allow it. The last thing I needed was for him to make that pitiful expression and my collected demeanor would crumble.

I glanced at my own reflection in the mirror instead, only Mokuba's black hair visible from this angle. I felt like an asshole. “It's not like that.” I couldn't tell Mokuba no matter how much he wanted to know, not matter how much he begged and pleaded and got upset with me.

“You're not answering me!” He gave my arm a strong tug, but he was still weaker than he realized.

“Maybe when you're older.” Another lie. I had no intention of ever telling him what really went on between Saki and I or between me and anyone else from the past. I seemed to use the `maybe later' lie a lot. People were forgetful and I used that to my advantage.

Mokuba let out a growl as he slung my arm back down toward the countertop, “Seto, I'm thirteen already and I know a lot more than you think I know!”

I looked down at him. Knows more than I think he knows? Mokuba could be tricky, sometimes. He often says things with double meanings to see if you give him any clues. He could very well mean that he knows a lot of general things because he is 13 now, but he could also mean that he knows certain details about the past that I'm not aware he knows about. I couldn't panic too much on the outside, lest he discover that I'm definitely hiding something worth panicking about. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Mokuba's eyes went downcast before they met with mine again, “It means that you can tell me anything; that's what family's for.”

What family . . . is for . . . “Mokuba-”

“Seto? Can we go talk in my room?” His eyes flickered toward a certain blond who had been keeping quiet this whole time. I had actually forgotten about him.

“Mokuba, that's rude.” I didn't want to talk to Mokuba alone, at least not right now. Something was off about the way Mokuba was acting. He had asked me about the events of the past before, but usually I would just make up a very simple lie and he would accept it without further questioning. What makes this time so different?

“It's okay,” Jou spoke up for the first time since Mokuba appeared, “I'll just go see if I can find the kitchen or something.”

My heart's paced quickened. There was no way in hell I was about to let him leave me in this situation. It was his fault after all, right? “No.” I grabbed his arm, eyes still focused on my awkward younger brother, “Mokuba, I will speak with you later.”

“But Seto-”

“But nothing. Don't you have friends coming over shortly?” Maybe I really was more of a parent to him than an older brother. The comparison used to annoy me, but truthfully I can see where people get the idea.

Mokuba narrowed his eyes at me, which he had started to do more often as of late, “Fine, but before you go to sleep tonight, you have to tell me everything!” With that, he finally left.

I couldn't help but heave a sigh, “I swear, he is getting to be more of a pain in the ass every day.” I guess now I understand why people always talk about how awful their teenagers are. Was I like that when I was his age? No, I wasn't allowed to be that way. I was obedient . . . for the most part.

“Do you still intend to lie to him?”

“Jounouchi, please don't involve yourself in my family affairs.” I was catching hell from the both of them. Why can't people mind their own business? Sure, he's supposed to write about my life, but that doesn't mean that he can interfere with it. If I don't want my brother to know about the horrible things that happened, then that is my decision.

“Oh, right. It's not like you got involved with my family affairs when we were at my place. You even went so far as to lie to my father about what really happened.”

“I saved your ass!” What the hell did he expect me to do, let him get his ass kicked by his own father?!

“You saved your own ass!”

“Have you already forgotten who held the gun to his head so that he would stop hurting you? Have you forgotten who cleaned up all of that blood?”

“That blood wouldn't have even been there if you hadn't come to my apartment in the first place!”

I took a step back, chest heaving and I thought my heart might stop. The blood wouldn't have been there if I hadn't been there. It was my fault. It was the truth, wasn't it? If I hadn't been . . . taken advantage of . . . that blood wouldn't have been in there.

“Well excuse me for getting attacked.” I tried to sound tough, but I could feel tears stinging at the backs of my eyes. I knew better than to cry. I made the mistake of showing him my weak side way too many times already. I couldn't cry in front of him, not in front of anyone.

“Seto,” He looked flustered. Did he feel guilty? “I didn't mean it like-”

“Attacked?!”

The two of us rushed out of the bathroom only to discover none other than Mokuba with his back flush against the wall.

“Mokuba!” Forget being pissed off at Jounouchi for a second! I swear, Mokuba was getting more and more nosey every day! “Why aren't you with your friends?”

Mokuba leaned away from the wall, an obvious smirk on his lips, “They decided not to come after all.”

“All of them?” I knew it! He never had any coming over in the first place! Little shit.

“Yes.”

I closed my eyes, heaving a sigh to bury my anger. How many times have he and I been through this? He always tries to lie to me and he ought to know that I always catch him. “There weren't any friends coming to begin with, were there?”

His eyes went to the floor, a sure sign of guilt, “No.”

Ah, so he wasn't going to try to fight this time. “Why did you lie to me?” He was lying more and more lately, and about the most ridiculous things, too.

“Why do you always lie to me?”

This was definitely `gang up on Seto' day. I turned my back towards the two males staring at me, “I think I'm going to take a long, hot bath. Why don't the two of you go find something to do?” I went inside the bathroom, slamming the door shut before either of them could utter a word.

I heard myself let out an obnoxious sigh of relief as I rubbed at my face with both hands. What the hell? It has been one bad event after another ever since this stupid project began on Saturday. I knew from day one that nothing good could come from something so intrusive. Live together for two weeks and write about the other's life? Sounds like whoever made up this assignment was just nosey and bored.

I need a shower. Or a bath. Something.

I turned on the water to let it run until it was warm and filled the tub. I, meanwhile, stripped down. I hated taking my clothes off, as weird as that may be. I remember having to take them off with whistling spectators. Teenage boys aren't strippers; they're teenage boys!

I punched the counter and then bit my lips, worried that either Mokuba or Jounouchi might have heard. Jounouchi? Why do I keep doing that? It's Katsuya now, right? He called me Seto, so I should call him Katsuya. It would certainly take some getting used to.

I avoided looking in the mirror as I grabbed a washcloth and hopped into my steaming bath. It felt absolutely fantastic. The warmth of the water soothed all of the places in which I ached . . . which was basically everywhere at the moment. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the tile. And yet even in such a relaxing state, I couldn't help but think about what I would tell Mokuba. I kept telling myself that I should just lie to him. That would be the best for Mokuba, wouldn't it? But . . . I was doubting myself, doubting my decision. It's not like I've ever made a bad choice before (right?). Who could I possibly ask for advice?

“I just can't take it anymore!” I buried my face into his shirt, knowing he wouldn't be mad if I got it wet with my tears.

“Seto, there are very few things worth dying for in this world.” His smile was brighter than the brightest star, “You have to continue living so that someday you can get justice for the way you've been treated.” His silver eyes stared down at me with absolute concern . . .

. . . or did they? Saki . . . what happened? What went wrong? I had always gone to him for advice. He's the one that stopped me from making stupid choices so many times. I wonder if I would even be alive today if it weren't for his intervention. Now, though, who could I trust to guide me?

“You're just ashamed.”

Katsuya . . .

“You're just too embarrassed and ashamed about what happened to tell the person that cares the most about you. You aren't thinking of Mokuba's feelings at all!”

When it comes to subjects like grammar and mathematics, Katsuya was towards the bottom of the list. With other people, however, Katsuya just seems to understand everyone. It's as though he has an instruction manual in his head that tells him exactly how to get along with every type of person. Even when he hates someone in the beginning, he befriends them in the end! It just doesn't seem possible! His advice wasn't anything like Saki's. Saki always sounded kind while Katsuya sounds harsh. Is this what they call `tough love'?

. . . but isn't someone like that exactly what I need? I have the `booksmarts', so to speak, while Katsuya has the `peoplesmarts'. We fit together like a puzzle!

Ahh! Not like that though! Well, I mean, we could, but . . . what the hell am I thinking?!

I shook my head, sloshing the water around as my body shook slightly along with it. Perhaps the warmth of the water was getting to me, though it wasn't as hot as I'd like for it to be. I'd have to use the hottub for that. I wonder if Jounou- er, Katsuya has ever been in a hottub before. Maybe someday during his stay I would ask him to join me in it. Would that be awkward? Ugh, I'm terrible with people! The only people skills I have mastered are the skill of being an asshole and the skill of seduction. I think both are self-explanatory.

I made quick work of washing my body and hair. I had started to scrub furiously at the arms that I had only recently bandaged (after removing the fresh bandages of course), but that only made them worse. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I always made things worse. It's not like it would just disappear because I scrubbed at it for eternity. It had to heal and until it healed, it would be ugly. Maybe it would be permanently ugly . . . not that these scars would be distinguishable from those that were already there.

I got out, towel-drying my skin and then wrapping said towel around my waist. Once again, I wrapped my wrists. The cuts weren't as deep as I had initially thought, so the healing process shouldn't take too terribly long.

I reached to my left to pick up the outfit I was going to wear . . . only to discover that in my hurry to get away from Katsuya and Mokuba, I hadn't actually brought any in with me. “Ugh, getting reckless.” I informed only myself. It was true, though. Ever since I'd been hanging around Katsuya, I had begun to get more and more careless. Forgetting to lock doors, forgetting clothes to change into . . . what would I do next? At least this time my actions wouldn't be harmful to me. That is, unless I walked out of the bathroom in a towel only to find a certain blond waiting for me.

Would that be harmful? No, I guess not. Katsuya didn't seem to be making awkward advances any more. What was up with that, anyways? I never imagined Katsuya as an aggressive pervert at all, so why had he acted that way? Maybe I really pissed him off that much before this project. I suppose that everyone has at least a hint of evil within them.

I leaned against the door, listening for voices out in my bedroom, but there were none. So the two of them had actually left the room just like I asked? Or maybe they knew that I was out of my bath and were waiting quietly until I came out . . . or maybe I was just being paranoid.

“Why do you always lie to me?”

Damn.

I emerged from the bathroom, wearing only my towel, to find that the room truly was empty. I started to go towards my closet to get something to wear, but I saw that my door was still standing slightly open. What's more is that I could hear the voices of Jou and Mokuba coming from the hallway. I crept closer, trying not to make the floor creak under my weight, and hid behind the door, listening.

“You'll just have to cross your fingers and hope that Seto tells you what you want to know. Either way, Seto will always do what he thinks is best for you. He loves you more than anything and anyone else, Mokuba.”

So Mokuba was trying to get information out of Katsuya again? Was this going to be a problem the entire week?

“Oh man, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you-”

“No. You aren't the one that makes me cry; my brother is.”

What? I make him cry? Why? What the hell did I do? I peeked around the door to see that Mokuba was nowhere in sight. Katsuya was alone now, pulling at his hair and shaking his head. I wanted to ask what Mokuba was talking about, but then again . . . I didn't want Katsuya to find out that I had been eavesdropping on part of their conversation.

“What's the matter with you?”

Upon hearing my voice, he turned around. I kept all but my head hidden behind the door.

“Damn, that was fast.” He walked closer.

I guess he had no intention of mentioning Mokuba, “That's because I'm still wearing only a towel.”

His eyes widened as he picked up his pace. I glared at him and he stopped within a mere foot of the door, laughing like he always did, “I'm just kidding. Put some damn clothes on and let me in.”

It wasn't exactly like I could just instantly get dressed without keeping him from entering, so I just let him in and went to my closet. Katsuya wouldn't do anything, right? No, of course he wouldn't.

“What were you and Mokuba talking about?” I asked while rummaging through my clothes looking for something to wear until it was time for bed.

“Your back . . .”

At first I thought that he meant they were talking about my back, but then I realized that I was currently shirtless . . . so he was actually just gawking at those hideous scars. “It's ugly, isn't it?” Just say yes, you know you want to. They are hideous, but permanent. There was nothing that I could do to erase those marks. There are a lot of things that I cannot seem to erase.

Without much in the way of warning I was turned around and pulled against his chest. I quickly reached down with one hand to hold my towel up. How awkward would that be? Naked and pressed against another man's body . . . oh man, don't think about it, Seto, don't think about it. I wouldn't know what it was like to enjoy a situation like that.

“Why did you stay here? Wasn't there something you could have done to escape? Someone you could have sent for help?”

“Satoshi! Satoshi! I'm sorry!”

Someone that could have helped me? “Why?” Why did I stay here? Which answer should I give him? I could always tell him the truth and say that there was no way out, but . . . “Because . . . because I wanted Mokuba to live a happy and luxurious life. That's why.” Not a total lie, but certainly not the truth.

“I think that maybe Mokuba would have been happier if you had done what was best for the both of you and not just him.”

“It was the best for both of us. I became the CEO of a multi-billion dollar international corporation. What could possibly be wrong with that?” I leaned back from the blond, trying to appear as if everything had turned out perfectly. It was the same argument that I would chant to myself when I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. Mokuba was happy and I would someday be the head of the company. I repeated that to myself every morning.

Jou only stared back. Did he not buy my excuse?

“I'm exhausted, but I guess that we should probably eat something for dinner, right? The cooks should still be here. Is there anything in particular that you want?” I gave him the kindest smile that I could muster at the moment, pulling away from his arms which had fallen loose around me.

“What?” So he was daydreaming again. “Oh, uh . . . anything is fine. I'll have whatever you have.”

- - -

It was actually a little strange having dinner at the dinner table with other people. I usually got home from work too late to eat with Mokuba, so I often sat alone . . . if I had dinner at all. Sometimes I got home so late that the cooks had long gone home for the night. Dinner with someone else . . . I used to have dinner with Mokuba all the time. He and I had been so close; what happened?

Katsuya was the first to finish his plate, which wasn't surprising considering how he practically shoveled everything into that giant mouth of his. I finished second and Mokuba didn't look like he was going to eat everything he had been given.

That's my cue to conjure up a story, right? A story about what happened to my arms.

“You're just too embarrassed and ashamed about what happened to tell the person that cares the most about you. You aren't thinking of Mokuba's feelings at all!”

No, I'm not thinking of his feelings. You're right, Katsuya. I think that I'm going to be a selfish bastard and lie to him as I had originally planned. It sounded like a good idea to tell him the truth, but . . . in the end, I can't bring myself to tell Mokuba something that I can't even bear to think about.

“Mokuba, shall we go up to your room now and have that talk that we discussed earlier?”

Mokuba was playing with the last bit of food on his plate, “Will you tell me what really happened?”

“What are you talking about?” I glanced at Katsuya for only a second before locking eyes with my brother again. I couldn't let on that I had heard Mokuba trying to get answers out of him.

Mokuba sighed loudly, shoving his plate away and getting out of his seat, “Just forget it, Seto. When you're ready to tell the truth, let me know. To be honest, I tried to bribe Jou into telling me what happened.”

Yeah, I overheard the conversation . . . wait, bribe? “Bribe him with what?”

“Uh,” Mokuba's eyes darted to the floor, but were quick to return to me, “With some secret thing. Anyways, he wouldn't tell me. He said that you trusted him a lot and he wasn't going to risk that trust. He made a good point though; if you wanted me to know the truth, you would have told me. Even if I beg and plead and cry for you to tell me, you would probably only tell me a lie.” He smiled a half-sad smile and it felt like a knife was being shoved into my chest, “But that's okay, big brother. You do what you think is the best for me, right? Well, it would be best for me if you would do what is best for you. Okay?” He kissed me on the forehead and graced me with a smile before disappearing from the room.

Don't I do what is best for Mokuba? Hasn't that been my goal all along? Mokuba is the only family that I have left now, and yet I've told him less his entire life than I have told Katsuya over the past week. But Mokuba is only 13! That isn't old enough for him to . . . no, it is old enough, isn't it? I'm being overprotective . . . maybe.

“. . . it would be best for me if you would do what is best for you.”

What is best . . . for me. No, that's not the message he was trying to send to me. Mokuba was trying to tell me that he cares about me and how I feel, and yet . . . and yet I continue to be selfish and ignore his feelings all the time. I love Mokuba with all of my heart, but he sure knows how to make me feel like a total asshole.

“We should . . . go to bed now. I'm really tired, Katsuya.”

- - -

By the time I had gotten ready for bed and walked out of the bathroom, Katsuya had already made himself comfortable in my bed. I hadn't shared that bed with anyone since I shared it with Mokuba shortly after Gozaburo died. Mokuba had been worried about what was going to happen to us, so he would spend his nights with me. Mokuba used to feel so safe with me . . .

I climbed into bed next to him (the creepy grin on his face was enough to make me a little nervous) and switched off the lamp beside my bed, flooding the room with darkness.

“Seto?” Ugh, can't he ask questions in the morning? “When do you take your medicine?”

My medicine? Did he know that I wasn't taking it? I could just tell him that I've been taking it in the bathroom after I brush my teeth. It's not like he would know any better.

“Why do you always lie to me?”

How long was that going to keep haunting me?

“I haven't been taking it.”

“What?”

“I haven't been tak-”

“I heard you;” Oh. “I just want to know why on earth you aren't taking it! Isn't it supposed to keep you from having those episodes?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why aren't you taking it?”

“I don't know.” Maybe because I'd rather have all of my emotions and thoughts intact for a change. I'm so sick of having my life controlled by something as stupid as little pills!

“That's not really the kind of answer I'm looking for, Seto.”

What the hell did he expect me to say? Did he expect some sort of philosophical answer? Any normal person would take them to stop those `episodes', yes, but I'm not exactly normal. Maybe I'm fucking crazy; did he ever think of that possibility? I mean, how many people would push their adoptive father out of a top-floor window? How many people would kill their best friend? Me, me, only me! Only someone that was crazy.

Oh, but I wasn't about to say something like that to him. “Katsuya, please go to sleep.” I snuggled close, my hands on his chest. If he really loves me, he won't be able to say no to such a request.

He wrapped his arms around me and I could almost hear the pace of my heart quicken, “Fine. You win this time, but I'm not gonna let this go. You got that?”

I smiled against him as I laughed a little, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go to sleep, mutt.” He's going to let it go. I'll make him forget.

- - -

It wasn't long before I could hear the light, even breathing that signaled he had finally fallen asleep. I, on the other hand, was plagued with nagging thoughts.

Mokuba . . . could I ever really tell him the truth? Something like that is difficult to talk about with other people, especially with someone his age. Mokuba wasn't an adult and I did my best to keep him from seeing things that might upset him. I didn't want him to lose that innocence that I love so much. Mokuba is my little brother, the only real family that I have left. He was the one person that always had faith in me and tried to tell everyone else that I wasn't such a horrible person.

And yet he's the one that I lie to the most.

I sat up quickly when I heard the floorboards creak under some unknown weight. The creaking sound was constant, but slow, as if someone was walking. My heart began to race.

What if someone had broken in? Or worse, what if Saki had broken in? What if he had come to hurt Mokuba? What if he had come to hurt Jou? What if . . . he was back for more? I laid back down and snuggled even closer to Jou, feeling like a child with my eyes clenched tightly shut. This wasn't like me, but . . . what really is like me?

“Seto?”

All of my muscles relaxed at once and I opened my eyes just a little, “Mokuba . . .” I whispered, so as not to wake the blond beside me.

“Who else would it be?” I could vaguely see him right beside the bed now with what little moonlight was filtering in through the blinds.

“You should be in bed.”

“We need to talk, Seto. I just can't stand it anymore.”

I thought that he wasn't going to be so persistent anymore. I sat up slowly on the edge of the bed, shoving the covers aside, “What is it that you want to talk about.” Mokuba leaned to glance at Jou. “Don't worry, he's asleep; it's just you and I, Mokuba.”

“It's always been just the two of us, hasn't it?” He smiled a bit and I couldn't help but return the kind gesture.

“Yeah.”

“I'm going to be really honest with you, Seto, and I hope that you'll be the same way with me.” He sighed deeply, his eyes no longer in contact with my own in the darkness of the room. I patted the mattress to my left and he quickly, but carefully, sat down beside me, “I . . . think I know a bit of what went on when Gozaburo was alive.”

I could feel my eyes widen and a lump get caught in my throat. No, no, there's no way that he could have really known what was going on. He was so young and I was so careful . . .

“He . . . let people use you, right?”

“U-use me?”

His violet eyes looked eerie in the moonlight as he looked back up at me, “Sexually.”

I couldn't look at him anymore, not with him talking like that, “That's not it at all.”

“I could hear it sometimes. I didn't really understand it back then, but I knew that those sounds weren't good. I'll never forget those sounds and how sad you were. Once I got older, I kind of just put the pieces together and figured it out. You have marks on your back, marks on your wrists . . . some of the scars on your wrists aren't very thin, meaning that they were created by something other than a blade. Maybe . . . metal cuffs?”

“Mokuba-”

“I'm right, aren't I?” He placed one hand on my leg as he tried to lean enough to look at my face, but I only tilted my head away. “Seto, what's the real reason that you suddenly hated Saki? He did something, right? And those new wounds on your arms . . . what happened, Seto? What happened, big brother?”

“Saki . . . he turned out to be just like the others. Just the other day, he came into my life again and . . . he did it again when I was alone. He waited until he knew that Jou wasn't in the apartment with me.”

“Like the others? Did it again? You mean-”

“Don't say it.” I could feel tears stinging at the backs of my eyes. No way, I couldn't cry in front of Mokuba! How pathetic and weak would that be? That would be too much burden to put on Mokuba. “I've been such a wreck lately. Mokuba, maybe you already knew this, but . . . I've been taking all kinds of medications for years, trying to maintain some form of normality. Without those pills, I'm an absolute mess and . . . I haven't been taking them for the past few days. For some reason I thought that I could get on with my life just fine without them. They make me feel like a complete zombie, and I just . . .” There was a warm sensation on both of my cheeks, and that's when I realized that I had actually started crying. Even so, it was like an enormous weight was lifted off of me, as cliché as that is.

“Seto . . .” Thin arms wrapped themselves around my torso and pulled me slightly downward into the tightest, warmest hug I'd ever experienced. “You're the strongest person I know, Seto. If you want to live without having to rely on medicine, I know that you can. Jou and I will be your medicine. All you have to do is rely on us.” He buried his face into the curve of my neck and I could feel the wetness of his own tears. Suddenly I wasn't so embarrassed for crying.

He slowly released me, but leaned against my side, “Seto, from now on please answer my questions. I know that I'm only thirteen, but I'd like to think that I'm a little more mature than most kids my age.”

“I'll try . . .”

“There is one more thing that I want to ask . . .” He almost sounded uneasy.

“Yeah?”

“What really happened to Satoshi?”

Tell the truth, don't lie . . . don't lie . . . “I killed him.”

“What?” Mokuba leaned away, “But there must have been some reason, right?”

“Yeah. I killed him because-” Because I didn't want Gozaburo to hurt you, Mokuba. But I couldn't say that to him. He would feel like it was his fault, “Because Gozaburo was a manipulative piece of shit.”

“I'm sure that Satoshi doesn't blame you, Seto.”

An ocean of blood and in the middle was Satoshi, those wide, lifeless eyes staring up at me, accusing me for his untimely death . . .

“As long as you don't blame me, I don't really care.” I wiped at my eyes and yawned.

“Can I sleep in your room tonight?” He grinned.

“Sleep in here?” Was he serious?

“Yeah! Just like old times!” He was whispering still, but his whispering was growing in volume.

“But Katsuya is . . .”

“Oh I'm sure he won't mind!” Mokuba slipped in between Katsuya and I, pulling the sheets up to his chin, “Please?”

“Do I really have a choice?” I laughed a little, sliding under the covers beside him.

“No, not really.”

Mokuba snuggled up against my side, just like he used to, and fell asleep still attached to me, just like he used to. I was so happy that I could've started crying again . . . but all of this damn crying is starting to give me a headache!

“Jou and I will be your medicine. All you have to do is rely on us.”

Katsuya and Mokuba are my medicine . . . that sounds so poetic, but . . .

. . . I think I like it.

- - -

Woohoo! Sorry that I took so long! School is still destroying my life. I hope you like the cute, yet short, Seto and Mokuba scene at the end! That scene isn't in the original, so all of those people that only read BBE are gonna miss out!

Please leave me some love in your emails/reviews/message board posts! I could sure use it . . .