Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Blue Eyes: Seto's Story ❯ Day Eight: Trust You, Trust Me ( Chapter 28 )

Behind Blue Eyes: Seto's Story

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Disclaimer: The story is mine. The characters are not mine.

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Recap:

I felt myself fall backwards, only to be caught by Saki himself.

Could I not escape him? Katsuya . . . Katsuya . . . he'll hurt Katsuya, he'll kill Katsuya, unless . . .

. . . unless Saki dies first.

- - -

I could hear voices echoing all around me, but I couldn't make out a word. My entire body felt loose, like I couldn't move a limb even if I were to try. The only thing I could make out was the pressure of strong arms against me, holding me . . . holding me?

Trapping me.

“-Kaiba!”

Kaiba? I blinked my eyes and my vision was suddenly clear. A spunky blond was calling out to me. “Some dickhead is touching you! You gonna let him do that?”

Some . . . ah! We're in public! There's a crowd! They're all watching! He can't do anything, nothing at all. I'm untouchable!

I stood, pulling away from arms that didn't exactly fight my movements to escape. I joined up with Jou and faced Saki. How did he know we were going to be at this specific place? Did he know the date and time as well? Where on Earth could he have received information like that?

“Who is that?” Yuugi questioned from behind as we were joined by Katsuya's entourage of friends.

“He's a stalker of mine.” I answered quickly before Katsuya could say something stupid, “He's been trying to abduct me for quite a few days now.” That's believable enough. Young, rich, CEO being chased by some psychotic admirer? Sounds like a tabloid.

Saki, on the other hand, raised a brow at my answer, “Oh come on now gorgeous, I'm not a stalker at all;” I tensed up. “I'm your number one fan!” He threw me a wink and I probably would have shot him a glare if I wasn't so relieved.

So he was going to play along? Why? He could have easily told everyone the truth, and yet . . .

“Is there a problem over here?” Ms. Asuka arrived on the scene. Katsuya seemed pretty happy to see her, but knowing Saki . . .

“Well hello, beautiful.”

. . . that easily-flattered woman doesn't stand a chance.

“Who are you?” She fought against her bright pink cheeks, trying to sound all authoritative. She's a teacher, for fucks sake.

“Don't worry yourself over useless information like that, miss. We're playing nice, so there's no need to get involved.” He winked and smiled, sending a chill down my spine. Saki's smile . . .

“I love it when you smile, Saki.”

“Oh? Can you believe I've never had braces?” A wink and a chuckle as the two of us sat on his sofa together.

“That's not what I meant! You have . . . a really kind smile. When I see you smile, I can't help but want to smile too. I can't smile, but I really want to.”

Stupid.

“This person has been following me around and it's getting on my last nerve. Jounouchi and I will be leaving immediately.” Yeah, that's it, just run. Run away with your tail between your fucking legs, Seto. That will fix everything. I couldn't even look at him. I couldn't look at that black hair I used to adore, or those eyes that shined so perfectly. I couldn't look at the smile that was kind or the hands that felt the best against my skin . . .

I can't even think about it.

“Asuka.” I faced the older woman, her name apparently bringing her out of her little fantasy world.

“Seto, I told you to call me Ms. Asu-”

“Asuka.” I glared this time, hoping she'd take the hint. “Have Katsuya and I been here long enough?”

“I- Well- uh- yes.” She looked defeated.

That's all that I needed to hear. “Come on Jou, we're leaving now.” I started toward the poolhouse to change, but upon looking over my shoulder I realized that the blond wasn't following. He seemed caught in an eyelock with that devil. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen such a strong look of hatred in Jou's eyes, even back when he and I were always at each others' throats. “Jounouchi!” I called loudly this time, effectively knocking him out of his thoughts, “Come on, we're leaving. Ms. Asuka said that we've been here long enough to receive full credit.” I turned to leave once I was sure he would follow.

On my way over to change I pulled out my cell phone to call my driver.

“Master Kaiba?”

“Come get us.” I ordered while pulling on the outfit that I had worn in.

“Yes sir. It won't be long; I'm in the area now.”

In the area? “What are you doing in the area?” Was he the one that told Saki where we were? If that was the case, then I would-

“I just dropped master Mokuba off at a playmates house.”

I almost snorted at the word `playmate', but managed to refrain from it. “That's fine. We'll be out shortly. Don't keep me waiting.” I hung up; it wasn't necessary to say goodbyes or anything . . . I guess it would be nicer, though.

So Mokuba was safe. This means that Mokuba and my driver both have an alibi . . . so then how the hell did Saki figure out where Katsuya and I had gone? If he had been in the house, Mokuba definitely would have called me. The driver said that he had just dropped Mokuba off, so they would have likely been at home if Saki had been by the house.

I stepped out of the changing room, wanting to pull my own hair out. Katsuya was just now walking in, looking rather . . . confused? He had probably stayed behind because his friends were questioning him or something. If I could remember, I'd ask him about it later, but I doubt that he would have said anything to fuck things up . . . well, he very well could have said something that would fuck things up, but probably nothing that I couldn't fix with a few finely-crafted lies. There I go, thinking about lying again.

- - -

I couldn't help but worry on the way home. Even as I stared out the window, everything just blurred as I focused solely on the issue at hand. How did he know? What did he want? Why did he play along with my lie? Was he just playing with me?

A loud growling noise caused me to jump a little . . . and then I realized it had come from Katsuya's bottomless pit.

“Are you hungry?” I teased, knowing full-well that he was.

“Yeah. Aren't you?”

Hungry? Breakfast had been several hours ago. Even so, I don't really feel like eating . . . “I suppose so.” I lied in an attempt to make him feel at ease since he looked so out of sorts, “Where would you like to eat?” Oh, perhaps I should narrow that down a bit for my own sake. “And not a fast food place.” I added just as he opened his mouth to make a suggestion.

His mouth instantly snapped shut. Honestly? He really can't pick anything other than some greasy, slimy, fly-infested, sorry excuse for a restaurant?

He started laughing, probably because he knew how much it annoyed me.

“I don't see what's so funny.” I informed him.

“That's because you can't see the look on your face.” He grinned, reaching both hands toward my face without warning.

I slapped them away the moment they made contact. What was he planning? I mean, sure, no one could see through the tinted windows, but it just felt so weird for him to do something so embarrassing in my car! “What on Earth are you trying to do?” I faced forward, trying to pretend that I couldn't see the puzzled look on his face . . . and pretending that I couldn't feel my pulse speeding up.

“Trying to pinch your cute little cheeks.”

A lump formed in my throat and my face felt hot, “Cute?” What the hell? Cute? Of all of the words to describe me, I don't believe that cute is one of them.

“Yeah. Your other cheeks are cute too.”

I turned to him purely out of reaction, only to catch a wink that he threw my way. I can only imagine the look on my face. He was just trying to get me riled up! I'll make him pay . . .

There was suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat and it wasn't Katsuya or I.

Ah, I hadn't put the screen up in the limousine. I continued to stare at Katsuya, since I couldn't look over at my driver like he was doing. Okay, so he had probably heard everything the dumb blond just said. No big deal . . . he wouldn't say anything. I'll make sure he doesn't say anything.

“If you tell anyone about what you just heard . . .” I looked up at his reflection in the rear view mirror.

“What did I hear? I heard nothing Master Kaiba.” He lied, smiling as he watched the road.

“Hmph.” I crossed my legs, pressing the button to raise the screen between us and the driver. He knew better than to tell anyone what he had heard. They all knew better.

I turned my attention back to Katsuya with the full intention of yelling at him for being such a damn pervert, but he was busy trying to pull out his own blond locks. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked, giving him the same look as I did earlier.

He looked like a deer caught in headlights for a moment before apparently realizing what I was talking about, “Ahaha, just thinking . . . Oh, which reminds me! Seto, what do you think about that person appearing there?”

That person . . . Saki. So Katsuya was also curious about him showing up. “There's no way that was a coincidence. He couldn't have possibly known that we would be there. Someone had to have told him . . . but who? I was thinking it was Mokuba, but when I called my driver to come pick us up, he informed me that he had just dropped Mokuba off at a friend's house. The only way Mokuba would have told Saki was if Saki had kidnapped him and was threatening him.” Hm . . . I think I need to beef up security for the time being. Knowing that bastard, he wouldn't think twice about using my brother to get to me.

“Even in those circumstances,” He began, “I don't think Mokuba would tell where you were.”

“You don't think?” Even if Saki threatened his life? Surely anyone in that sort of situation would speak up.

“No way; Mokuba adores you.”

I couldn't help but smile when thinking about Mokuba. Even when everyone else in the world hated me; he didn't. “Perhaps he does . . .” Ah, but that's not currently the real subject at hand. “but about that person; I'm assuming that you only asked me about it because you had an opinion of your own.” I eyed him, maybe hoping that I could read his mind or something. Was Katsuya thinking the same thing as me? He had lingered outside for a while when I had gone to change my clothes . . . had something happened that he wasn't telling me about?

I couldn't help but noticed that he looked a little fidgety, “Well, my thoughts are the same as yours.” Of course they are. “It was such a random location and it's not a place that either of us would ordinarily be.” Very true. “I don't really know anything about him or about what kind of resources he would have, so I couldn't really make any assumptions about how he found out, so I asked what you thought.”

“That's true . . .” His resources . . . what if he had some people spying on us?! I would definitely have to contact a few people once we got back home. Home? My house, not Katsuya's. Not yet, at least.

This time my stomach got our attention and then I remembered we were having a conversation about food not too long ago. “Ah, so about lunch . . .” I reminded the blond, who couldn't have possibly forgotten about food, could he?

His eyes lit up and I thought for sure he was going to suggest some greasy spoon, “Have you ever had pizza?” He asked with ridiculous enthusiasm.

I shot him a glare, “Do you know very many people that haven't?” Even though Gozaburo never let me have it, once he was gone it was practically all Mokuba wanted to eat. I think I've had enough pizza to last me a lifetime . . . come to think of it, didn't we eat some at Katsuya's apartment?

“Well I don't know how you rich boys eat.” He shrugged and stuck out his tongue when I proceeded to roll my eyes at him.

“Of course I've had pizza before . . . Mokuba loves that stuff.” He really is a typical teenage boy. “I'm assuming that's what you're wanting?”

He grinned and nodded before his gaze turned into more of a blank stare. His grin started to get more and more creepy and I even looked out the window beside me to see if perhaps he was grinning at something . . . but nothing was out of the ordinary. Was he daydreaming again?

“Do your thoughts run wild a lot?”

His eyes blinked suddenly, “Me?” He asked, pointing to himself.

. . . Seriously?

“I guess I think a lot.” He admitted.

“That sounds like a lie, coming from you.” Actually, even though Katsuya always seemed like a total airhead, he really thought some things over. I guess that he was the type that only put a lot of effort into things that interested him. Like learning the rules to the Duel Monsters card game . . . because we all know that those are needlessly complicated . . . and they always seem to be coming out with more rules . . .

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're a funny one. Don't you ever get lost in your thoughts?”

I let out a slight laugh, “All the time. You don't actually think I'm listening during those boring lectures at school, do you? Honestly, all of that information is useless to me.” I'm already the CEO of an international corporation; my future isn't riding on school. Besides . . . I've already been taught everything that I'm supposed to be learning in these classes. That's probably one of the few things that I'm thankful for from Gozaburo's shitty `parenting'.

“Nice . . . but I've seen you writing things during lectures, so you are obviously listening enough to take notes, right? I saw you writing something during class the other day.”

“Writing something?” Other than the notes that he and I were writing back and forth, I can't remember the last time I . . . oh, but I was drawing a picture a few days ago. I never did finish it. “Oh, um . . . no, I was actually . . .” do I dare tell him? “I was drawing . . .” It felt ridiculously to say that I was drawing something.

“You act like it's weird or something!” He laughed on me, slapping me lightly on the shoulder, “So what were ya drawing?”

I wasn't going to tell him it was something as girly as trees and lakes! “Where are we eating, Jou.” I refused to face him, hoping he'd take the hint.

“Come on!” Hint not taken, “Tell me what you were drawing!” Again, he was reminding me of Mokuba . . . is it creepy that I'm comparing a guy that I'm in love with to my little brother?

“Hungry, hungry . . .” I clutched at my stomach and closed my eyes.

“Oh fine, but you'll have to tell me eventually!” He huffed and folded his arms.

I couldn't help but smirk for a second. Like hell I'd have to tell him. He would just forget . . . kind of like he forgot about seeing a picture of me when I was younger. I'm sure there are other things he's forgotten about but . . . heh, well, I've forgotten about them too.

- - -

In the end, I decided that I wasn't really in the mood for pizza and neither of us could really pick a restaurant that we mutually wanted to go to, so I just called home and asked the cooks to make a nice steak lunch. Normally when I have steak, I have it for dinner, but Katsuya seemed excited all the same.

When we arrived Mokuba was nowhere to be found, just as my driver had told me. Knowing him, though, it wouldn't be long before he snuck in the door and tried to eavesdrop on us.

“It will be a little while before the meal is ready, so do whatever you want until then. I'll be in my office doing some work if you need me.” I probably had about half a million emails waiting for me in my inbox and who knows what so-called dilemma my employees had run into by now. I wasn't in the office like I always was and I had kind of put my career on the back-burner . . . not that my presence was a constant necessity. I'm a human, not an office fixture.

“Okay . . .” Katsuya looked uneasy as he gazed around the entrance hall in which we were currently standing, “do you have a map I can use or something?”

“A map?” Where was he going that he needed a map?

“Of your house.”

I smiled and shook my head. Katsuya said such stupid, cute things. Cute? No, no, no. “You really are an idiot. It's the second door on the right down this hallway.” I pointed in the direction of one of my offices. If I told him that I had more than one, he'd probably just get more confused, “If you wander around and get lost, just yell; I'll find you.” I poked him on the tip of his nose and went down the hall.

When I went in my office the blinds on the outside wall were already opened to let the afternoon sun in. The natural light was nice at this time of day. I guess I'm at work too often to really notice it, let alone appreciate it. I mean sure, the light comes in those giant windows where I work but I'm always so focused on my job that I don't really pay much attention to the outside.

I should take off work more often. I think I will.

I flipped open the laptop that was sitting on my desk (told you I had spares) and powered it on. As I waited for it to boot up and then connected to my work server, my mind couldn't help but wander.

Why hadn't Katsuya come in yet?

I turned around in my chair several times, only to find that I was still alone in the room. I guess that if I turned around and he was suddenly there, I'd be startled and then pissed off, but still . . . it was weird being alone. Weird? Being alone? I just thought that?

Yeah, it was weird.

I'd been around Katsuya so much for the past week that being alone and not knowing where he was made me feel . . . sad I guess. I think that's how I feel right now, but I'm not quite sure.

I spent a while just clicking through emails, only replying to those that I felt were of relative importance. Didn't any of them feel stupid asking a teenager for help? Obviously I was far more intelligent . . . but then again, they'd probably be more intelligent if they had gone through the training that I'd experienced.

I was bright from the beginning, at least that's what my teachers had always told me. They said I was the best student they'd ever had. My parents always said so, too.

My parents . . .

“Tch, stupid.” I blurted out to no one by myself.

Alone.

I pushed against the desk, effectively sliding the chair and myself away from it. I shut the laptop and poked my head out into the hallway. Katsuya wasn't standing just outside and he wasn't anywhere to be seen in the hallway. As I made my way to the lobby, he wasn't there either.

“Maybe I should get him an ankle bracelet with a GPS in it so I can track him.” Knowing that mutt he was probably snooping around my house and getting in to who-knows-what.

“Katsuya?” I called out, hearing it echo a bit before I went down the hallway opposite of my office. If the house help heard me, they were probably surprised. I wasn't the type to go around the house yelling for people. Then again, there wasn't anyone to call for aside for Mokuba. I always used the intercom system with . . . oh yeah! I could just use the intercom system with Katsuya! Buuuuuut, knowing him, he'd have no idea what it was and then would run away rather than respond . . . if he would even be able to figure out how to work the damn thing.

I heard a noise come from the end of the hallway, but couldn't quite decide what it sounded like. It didn't quite sound like something fell or got knocked over, but it wasn't just the house creaking.

“Katsuya?” I called again as I neared the end. At the end of the hallways is my personal library. It takes up nearly that entire end of the house, since it's three stories high. I believe the floor above the library is a gathering room. Needless to say, I don't use most of my own house.

(A/N: After finding screencaps of Kaiba Mansion, I realize that my depiction of the entryway is a bit off, sorry! It does look like it is three stories tall, though, so I'm going to go with that . . . I mean, it's not like my story is really canon anyways, right?)

There was no response from the library, even though I was pretty sure that I called his name loud enough that he'd be able to hear. Perhaps he was so busy perusing my belongings that he was oblivious to my calling. Though, we he really be checking out a library? Of all places, this was really the last place I expected to find him. Unless . . . what if it's not Katsuya? My hand froze on the door handles.

There was the sound of books falling, followed by the same odd noise that I heard earlier. Almost like gears or something. What the hell?

I yanked open the door, holding my breath unintentionally . . . until I saw bright blond hair across the room.

I approached him as he stared at the shelf of fallen books, “What are you doing?” I tried my best to sound amused at his predicament, when in reality I was suspicious. What was that weird noise?

“I, uh . . . I was looking for a book to read and accidentally tripped over my own feet and knocked a bunch of books off the shelf!” He rubbed at the back of his head as he laughed, just as he always did. Perhaps that's what he did when he was telling a lie? No, maybe just when he was nervous . . . but why would he be nervous this time?

“If I actually believed you, I'd be an idiot.” His face changed from laughing to panicked in an instant. “There's no way that you would be looking for something to read.” I forced a chuckled, trying to lighten the mood as I picked a few books off of the floor and placed them back on the shelf. I really ought to make him clean them up, but perhaps if I helped, I'd find some clues as to what he was really doing in here.

As I was placing the books back on the shelf, I noticed that only one book had remained perfectly upright: “The Crystal Cave.” To be honest, even though I told people that I had read every book I owned, I really didn't. Honestly, I may be intelligent but that doesn't mean I love ever single novel in existence; far from it, actually! “Heh, this one didn't even fall over.” I reached for the book out of curiosity, only to have my hand slapped away.

“Don't worry! I'll clean this up!” Jou had jumped from his place on the floor, but hadn't yet made any movements to clean up his mess. He definitely looked flustered, “What made you decide to come looking for me anyways?”

He didn't want me to come looking for him? Had I come in at a bad time? Why was I so damn suspicious of Katsuya? This is Jounouchi Katsuya we're talking about! Even so, that noise . . . “Well . . .” I rubbed at my abused hand, “I guess I decided to look for you because I had assumed that you would eventually join me in my office, but you never did.”

“Uh, I thought you wanted me to leave you alone.”

“Well, I mean . . . Mokuba isn't here, so I just figured that . . .” Was I being awkward? Without Mokuba here, Katsuya and I could hang out and talk without worrying about him spying or butting in. Shouldn't we take advantage of time like that.

He looked surprised for some reason, “Were you wanting to do something?” His face inched closer.

Do something? . . . OH.

“Nothing like that!” I informed him, much to his obvious disappointment, “I just figured since it was finally quiet around here and there was no one to be nosey . . . we could just talk, you know?”

“Not really.”

“Pervert.”

“Only for you.”

“Liar.”

“Not anymore.”

“Not anymore?” What the hell did he mean by that? He wasn't a liar anymore?

“I used to check girls out all the time. I would think `oh, she's sexy' or `damn, look at those tits!' but now . . . I don't know. When we were at the pool today, I didn't even think about checking out the girls in their bikinis or anything. I hadn't thought about it while we were there, but now that you called me a pervert, it finally occurred to me. I finally found someone way more fun to look at!” He grinned, his hand landing on my shoulders.

Oh, so he meant that he was no longer a pervert for anyone other than me . . . “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I folded my arms and shook my head. Honestly, I think he is well-intentioned, but some of the things he says just sound really creepy.

“Seto?” A woman's voice came from the intercom over by the door. It sounded like the head of housekeeping, Miyu.

I could have sworn that Jou went cross-eyed for a second, “What the hell?” He started looking all around the room for the voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Yeah, good thing I hadn't used the intercom system to contact him earlier.

I went to the machine by the door, “Yes?”

“Lunch is prepared and waiting for you and your guest in the dining hall.” She sure sounded happy today. It was probably because we actually had a guest staying at the house that was over the age of 13. Mokuba's friends tended to be obnoxious and rowdy. Miyu always pestered me to make friends and have them over. I was unbearably tempted to bring home a bunch of hookers just to piss her off ,but I never did it.

“Thank you.” I smiled at the dingy blond behind me, “Hurry up with those books so that we can go eat, mutt.”

“Uh, right!” He hastily picked up the last books and shoved them onto the shelf. They sure didn't seem of any importance and he hadn't panicked when I picked up the first few books, so why did he slap my hand? “Who was that woman?” He asked, joining me in the doorway.

Was he jealous or something? He looked bothered, “The head of housekeeping, Asato Miyu.” We turned out the lights and shut the doors behind us. He didn't seem too satisfied with my answer, so I added “She's worked at this house for more than a decade now.” Get it, Jou? She's an older lady. She isn't a threat. Maybe Jou didn't see it that way at all, but . . . I guess it's kind of nice to imagine that maybe he's worried.

“So she worked for Gozaburo before she worked for you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why does she call you Seto rather than `Master Kaiba' like everyone else? You said that they also worked for Gozaburo.”

So maybe it bothered him when people called me by my first name? No, no, Seto, don't get so full of yourself. Katsuya is a very curious person. “Miyu has always been . . . kind of a mother figure, as annoying as she can be.”

“Did she know about what went on in this house?”

Oh, so he was leading up to something like that. “Yeah, but it's not like she could do anything about it. She'd be risking her own life and the life of her family.” I shouldn't have added that last bit. I felt like I was opening a can of worms.

“Risking her life?” He stopped walking, but I continued on, not really interested in continuing that conversation.

“Perhaps we'll discuss it at a later time. Aren't you hungry?” I thought he really loved food.

He followed after me toward the dining room and I thought that he had given up for the time being, but I was mistaken. “Hey Seto . . . did someone try to help you in the past? Did someone get hurt or killed while trying to help you?”

I couldn't help but react a little. How could he have inferred so much from so little information? Maybe it was just a good guess; Katsuya seemed to have a bit of luck every now and then.

“You can't stay here if they're doing those things to you, Seto!”

I quickly regained my composure. I didn't want to have this fucking conversation right now! Why did he insist on pestering me about something that I was obviously against discussing?

“After we eat, do you want to go out and sit in the hot tub for a little while since Mokuba isn't here to bother us?” I lowered my voice, a hint of suggestion in my voice even though it meant nothing. This method always seemed to do the trick.

“Sure!” He agreed, taking the bait easily, “While we're out there, you can answer my questions.” What the fuck?

He ran up to walk beside me, grinning like a bratty child. I stopped walking.

“Listen, I know that I might have told you that I would tell you everything once we got here, but let me be honest with you now; I was hoping you would just forget it. There are some secrets that I just want to let die. Don't I have that right? Can't I just let the past be the past?” I left for the dining hall once more.

I'd been asking myself those same questions for the past few years. Can't the past just die? But as long as I have those flashbacks, the past will melt with the present and the mental scars will never fade. Even with medication to lessen them, the pill bottles are a constant, depressing reminder of what I have become. The person I am now is nothing but a bunch of mental and physical scars that have accumulated over the years and completely suffocated who I once was.

I couldn't hear his footsteps again until we both entered the dining hall together and sat down to eat. Maybe I finally got my point through his thick skull.

“I couldn't forget something so interesting!” Are you fucking kidding me? “Since you were so honest with me just now, I guess that I should be honest with you. I want to know everything there is to know about you. I don't want to know because I want to write a good paper or have an awesome project; I want to know because I'm unbearably curious! You're a much more interesting person that I ever thought you were, and now you've got me wondering!” He stuffed his face with a fork full of meat.

I, on the other hand, folded my napkin and placed it in my lap before eating like a human. I tried to remain cool and collected; no sense in blowing up at him. “Whatever the reason may be, it doesn't mean that I'm required to tell you.”

“Maybe not.” He still had a mouth full of food. “But wouldn't you feel better knowing dat you had someone to share your shecretsh wif?” Ugh, I could see the chewed-up steak!

“Don't talk with food in your mouth.” I pointed at him with my fork, glaring, “Besides, Mokuba seems to know just about all of them; he told me about it last night.” I cut off a piece of steak, biting it off my fork without looking like a barbarian. Perhaps I could teach Katsuya by example.

“So he can know, but I can't?”

“He's my brother.” Katsuya and I have only been relatively close for a week! A week and thirteen years are significantly different.

“True. I can't compete with someone like that.”

“Compete?” The last thing I wanted was for Katsuya and Mokuba to be in some sort of weird competition against each other. I certainly didn't want to end up caught in the middle of it.

“For your trust.”

“It's not that I don't trust you, I would just rather not talk about some things.”

He just kept shoveling food into that giant mouth of his.

“Jounouchi, why don't you tell me about the time that your parents split up and your mother took your sister away from you?” That was pretty much the only thing I really knew about that really upset him. I suppose it was mean to suddenly ask about it, but he needed to know how I felt about him asking similar things of me.

“Why would you want to know about something like that?” He was taken aback.

“I'm just curious, I guess. I don't know much about you, so I figured I would ask about it.” I took another bite, watching his reaction. If he couldn't fulfill this simple request, why would he expect me to answer his questions?

“Well, I'm sure you've already figured out that my dad is a complete loser.” So he was going to tell me after all. “I think that before Shizuka and I were born, he was a better person. My mother wouldn't have married him otherwise. Anyways, he became an alcoholic and he cheated on my mother several times. I don't remember it too well because I was very young, but I know that my mother forgave him the first couple of times, letting him use his drinking habits as an excuse.” I watched him fidget under my gaze, tapping his fork against his plate. Still, he kept his eyes relatively locked with mine. “I guess that my mother finally had enough and decided to split up with him. She took Shizuka with her, but . . .”

“But what?” He was finally getting to the part that actually bothered him.

“I never really figured out why she didn't take me.” He looked away. Bingo.

“You know where she is now, right? Haven't you ever asked her?” I put down my silverware, more interested in this conversation than I was in my lunch.

“I guess that I never really had the courage to ask.”

Courage? Katsuya was a very confrontational person. “That could be it,” I lied, “but maybe the real reason you haven't asked is because you're afraid of the answer you might get.” The latter was far more likely.

His eyes grew wide as he just stared down at his plate. Had he really never thought of it like that before? If it bothers him so much, he should just confront his mother about it . . .

I let out a sigh, “Someone did try to help me when Gozaburo was still alive.” If he was willing to pour his heart out like that, I owed him one, right?

Katsuya looked up at me, his interest clearly captured, “Who was it?”

“Most of Gozaburo's business partners were older men with children much older than myself. Needless to say, I didn't have many friends.” Mokuba was my only friend. “There was one man, though, who wasn't quite as old as the others. His name was Mitsugawa Yuki, sound familiar?”

“Mitsugawa . . . ah, Mistugawa Corporation? Don't they make electronics?” Ah, so he did know a few big-name corporations.

“Right. Mitsugawa Corporation helped make a lot of the technology that went into our combat vehicles. Yuki had a son that was my exact age and the two of us quickly became friends. His son . . .” The only person besides Saki that knew who I had once been . . . “His son was named Mitsugawa Satoshi.”

“Satoshi . . .” Jou looked a little surprised, but why? Had I talked about Satoshi much before? Though with all of the episodes I've been having lately, it wouldn't be too shocking if I had accidentally called out his name once or twice.

“It wasn't long until Satoshi was able to get me to tell him everything that was going on in my life. He had seen the scars and bruises on my arms and legs. I told him not to tell another soul, but he insisted that he couldn't consider himself a good friend unless he tried to help me.”

“That's what friends do, Seto! Friends help each other!”

“Satoshi convinced his father to contact the police about my situation. To make a long story short, Gozaburo threatened to have someone kill Mokuba if I didn't lie to the police and tell them that there was nothing going on. Gozaburo used his money and status to keep the investigation from going any further and to keep the media quiet. When I was lying to the police, Satoshi was there with them, and I could see the horror and disappointment on his face as I spoke.”

“Abused? My father has never laid a hand on me!”

He stood far behind them, watching. I thought that . . . that he might cry right there. My friend . . . my best friend . . .

“Friends help each other!”

“I felt horrible, but what was I supposed to do? What could I have possibly done?” A choice between Mokuba or Satoshi? The answer is obvious!

“But . . . that's not where the story ends, is it?”

He wanted more than that? Oh, of course he did. He wanted to know why no one ever helped. Okay, fine. I'll tell him the whole story . . . maybe . . . maybe talking about it would do some good . . .

“Gozaburo wasn't about to let Mitsugawa Satoshi and Mitsugawa Yuki get away with what they had done. Not only did he punish me for telling Satoshi everything,” I still remember the crack of the whip against my back, “but he wanted the two of them out of the picture . . . permanently.”

“So he had them killed?”

Oh if only it was that simple. “On that island where we had part of my Battle City tournament, there used to be a bunch of Kaiba Corporation facilities. One of those buildings was normally used for testing prototype weapons and machinery. What public didn't know is that he often used it for murder. Gozaburo had some of his men bring Yuki and Satoshi to that facility. I watched as Yuki was gunned down right in front of my best friend.”

I had to cover my face, I felt the tears starting to sting at the backs of my eyes. I've done enough fucking crying! This is ridiculous! I've seen this memory a thousand times in my head! Why does it still hurt?

“Father! Father! Wake up, father! Wake up! Don't die! Please don't die!”

“He was screaming and calling out for his father while my adoptive father's men held him by his arms. I wanted to die right there. Gozaburo said that Satoshi would be killed by me and he handed me a gun with which to do it.” The cold metal against my hands and large, tear-filled brown eyes staring at me, pleading with me. “I couldn't do something like that! I couldn't kill my best friend! But Gozaburo was ready for my defiance . . . he gave me two choices: either I kill Satoshi, or he would train Mokuba in my place.” Mokuba's sweet and innocent smile, I gave everything for the sake of that smile, “Of course I would save Mokuba. I remember trying to aim at his head while those men held him on either side.” If I shot his head, perhaps he would die instantly and without so much pain. “My hands were shaking along with the rest of my body while I shook with sobs that sounded so pathetic.”

Just like right now. I felt the warm liquid begin to run down my face and only then did I realize I had let the tears escape. A kind hand began to rub gently on my back . . . lovingly, even. I found myself unable to stop my own story.

“He couldn't believe that I was really going to shoot him. He asked me `What happened to the Seto who laughed and smiled and had so many friends? What happened to Yagami Seto?' I couldn't bear to hear his voice, couldn't bear to hear the pleading tone, couldn't bear . . . to hear my old name. I shot him and he collapsed to the floor, his own blood pooling around him as his eyes continued to stare upward at the ceiling . . . that night, Mokuba tried to comfort me. I just couldn't stop crying over what I had done, and I wondered if Mokuba figured out what happened . . . but he didn't really know until I told him last night . . .”

“I'm sorry, Seto. You shouldn't blame yourself, though. That piece of shit forced you to do it.”

“Regardless of the situation, I was the one that pulled the trigger. Maybe if I had just quickly turned and killed Gozaburo instead . . .”

“Then his men would have shot you.”

That's true.” I wiped at my eyes, feeling pathetic. “Well, have I satisfied your curiosity for now?” Maybe he felt guilty enough that he would lay off on the questions, at least for a while.

“For now, yes.” He leaned over and tilted my head towards his with just one hand, kissing me for the first time in a while . . .

. . . and it felt nice. When we parted, he hugged me tightly, his gold-colored hair brushing against my cheek . . . which reminded me of something.

“You know, Satoshi had golden blond hair and chocolate brown eyes, just like you. To be honest, that's part of the reason why you annoyed me so much when we first began speaking. It was like fate was trying to torture me.” But in the end . . . maybe it was fates way of letting me try again.

“So . . . the reason you let me kiss you is because I look like Satoshi?”

“Nope.” I don't think I ever would have kissed Satoshi; we were just friends. “It's because I'm a freak that likes to be intimate with dogs, remember?” I winked, picking up my fork to finish my food, “Eat up before it gets cold, mutt.”

“The dog jokes again?”

“Did they ever stop?”

“Heh, I guess not.”

One of my housekeepers came into the room, “I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Kaiba, but when I picked up your guest's swimsuit, this paper fell out of the pocket.” She held her palm out to Katsuya to reveal a folded piece of paper.

A folded piece of paper in his swimsuit? We had changed at the poolhouse and when we got home my driver took them to housekeeping to be cleaned. So then where on Earth had that come from?

“What is that?”

He snatched it quickly from the woman's hand, “It's just something I had in there from my house.”

“Bullshit. You got in the pool and that paper clearly never got wet.” I reached for his hand to take it from him, but he jumped up from his chair and moved away from me.

“Seto, I'm sure it's nothing!”

“You're sure it's nothing? You don't even know what it is?” I was up from my own seat now. What kind of idiot has something and they don't even know what it is? It was completely suspicious! “Aren't you the one that always preaches about not keeping secrets?!”

“Fine!” He grabbed one of my hands, shoving the note into it and then shoving my hand roughly against my chest, “Read it your fucking self! Saki pulled me aside and gave it to me when you had gone off to the poolhouse earlier! I never read it because I had forgotten about it!”

“Saki?” Was he a fucking dumbass?! I turned to the housekeeper. The last thing I needed was for this to be the topic of the gossiping women in the house, “Get out.” I shot her a glare that I normally reserve for those that ought to just die, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She disappeared in a flash. “Saki gave this to you? You didn't bother to just destroy it?” I inspected the paper, almost expected some kind of tracking device to be attached or something.

“I was tempted, believe me . . . but I wanted to know what it said . . .”

I unfolded it only to find a few small lines of text. “Tomorrow. Kitamori Corporation. 10:00 AM.” I read out loud. I stared into those curious brown eyes, “Sounds like he's wanting you to go there at that time.” As if Katsuya would be that fucking stupid.

“He wants to meet me? I wonder what he has to say . . .”

“Are you kidding me!” I grabbed him by the shirt, shaking him, “Curiosity is one thing, but don't be an idiot! He wants to kill you!” Okay, okay, so he might not want to kill him, but there is definitely that possibility! I have to expect the worst!

“Why would he want to kill me?”

“Because-” Well, obviously there wouldn't be any monetary gain from it, nor would he benefit from it in his career . . . and obviously he wouldn't win me over by killing Jou . . . “Well there isn't any logical reason, of course, but he hates you because you're with me. He's crazy . . .”

“I think he has something that he wants to tell me.”

Something that he wants to tell Katsuya? What could possibly have given him an idea like that? Was he hiding something else from me? “You're not going.” I released his collar, folding my arms before I was tempted to really beat the shit out of him.

“I'll go if I want to.”

“You're not going. If I have to chloroform you and lock you in a room, I will.”

A frightened look came across his face, “What?”

“You're not going.” Perhaps I should keep my methods to myself.

“I think you're overreacting.”

“And I think you're an idiot!” Actually, I know he's an idiot this time! “I'm worried, okay? I know Saki a little bit better than you do.”

“Obviously you didn't at one point in time.”

I could feel my pulse quicken with anger, but did my best to hide it. Katsuya had a habit of speaking before thinking, “Either way, he's shown his true colors. If he kills you, it's likely that he'll find a way to cover it up. Don't think so highly of the justice system.” I was sixteen years old when I single-handedly covered up the murder of Kaiba Gozaburo, one of the most powerful men in the city, and make it look like suicide. It wouldn't take much for Saki to cover up the murder of a commoner.

“Does he have something to do with this `Kitamori Corporation' mentioned in the note?”

Had I not told him about that before? “He's the only son of the owner. His father is the chairman and CEO of Kitamori Corporation. Saki is Kitamori Saki. I used to love that name. I remember how excited I was when I first realized that we shared the same initials, K.S. Kitamori Saki, Kaiba Seto.” A small laugh escaped me, “Isn't that childish?”

“K.S. x K.S.?” I examined the sterling silver bracelet he gave me for my fifteenth birthday.

“Our initials. Don't you like it?” His silver eyes became like crescent moons as he smiled kindly.

“You were in love . . . I hope I don't ever break your heart like he did.”

“If you don't want to break my heart, then tear up that note and forget about it.”

“But what if he hunts me down and kills me for not coming to meet him?”

“What have I walked in on? Who is killing whom?”

Mokuba was home!

“Mokuba, Saki appeared at the pool today.” Mokuba would definitely take my side!

“What?!” He took a step back, eyes wide.

“Apparently he gave Jou this note.” I passed it to Mokuba, who studied it for a moment.

“Alright, Jou!” What? “Bring a few guns and some ammo and turn that asshole into swiss cheese!” Mokuba gave Jou a grin and a thumbs up, winking. Wait a minute, who said he could cuss? And why the hell was he siding with Katsuya?!

“Mokuba!”

“Not the reaction you were expecting?” Katsuya was clearly pleased with how things turned out, “Mokuba, your brother is worried that if I go meet Saki, he'll try to kill me.”

“Oh, he might.” Mokuba looked thoughtful.

“I'm going no matter what.” Katsuya remained stubborn even though he had just lost his advantage, “I don't think I'll be killing him, but I guess I can't rule it out.”

“Katsuya!” Talking about killing Saki? There's no way he should kill anyone! But . . . if it meant saving his own life, then . . .

“I want to face him, Seto. If not for you, then for myself. I have to face him, I absolutely have to. It's like people always say . . . I'm stubborn and I'm stupid. It's your own fault for liking a stupid guy, Mr. Teen Genius.” He smiled.

Was there nothing I could say to change his mind? Stubborn and stupid . . . he had that right. “You really are an idiot.” I shook my head and accompanied it with a defeated sigh. Should I really let him just run into the hornet's nest like that? If something happened, I'd never be able to forgive myself.

“If not for you, then for myself.”

Why was it so important to him? “Fine.”

“Woohoo!” He jumped into the air.

“You can go and meet Saki, but you must bring something with you for self defense.” I went to the fake plant in the corner, grabbing it and pulling it from the pot with ease, `soil' and all. I retrieved the small, loaded handgun from within.

“Do you have those things hidden all over the house?” He eyed the gun suspiciously.

“Basically.” I glanced down at Mokuba, who also had his eyes on the weapon, “Don't get any ideas.” I passed the gun to Katsuya, who hesitantly accepted it. “Don't shoot him unless it is self defense. You'll be on his turf, so I won't be able to save your ass.” That isn't to say that I won't have a few of my own men follow him. “Also . . . if you do shoot him, make it worthwhile . . .”

I could hear my own heart beating hard against my chest.

“. . . and shoot to kill.”

- - -

Crazy! Alright ladies (and gents?)! I have finally caught this story up with the other one! Thank you for reading and thank you for your patience! Expect a new chapter before the end of June for sure! I'm strangely in a writing mood . . . please send love with your reviews and maybe a few posts on my forum . . please?

Important Notes:

It seems that this website no longer allows for authors to use dashes to separate scenes and it seems that the dashes were removed in all of my previous chapters, so unless I download each chapter (I had most of them on my old computer before it crashed) and then read through, find the scene switches, and then edit them and put the separator bars in, they will be confusing for new readers. Sorry!

Also, Some of the dialogue in this chapter has been changed from the original due to a continuity error that I accidentally created when I wrote the night scene between Seto and Mokuba. Cookies to whoever noticed the difference!