Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Blue Eyes ❯ Day Seven: Don't Tell ( Chapter 25 )

Behind Blue Eyes
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Disclaimer: I do not make money from this even though I’ve spent years on it. Doesn’t that suck? And I still don’t own Yuugiou.
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Recap:
“No, it’s my fault. I’ve never really explained anything to you so you didn’t know. I’ll fill you in during our time at my place, okay?”

It was true that I really didn’t know much about the circumstances surrounding his actions. I couldn’t help but feel excited that he was going to open up more about his past. It was like I was finally getting to read a new chapter of my favorite story.

- - -

We were lucky that it was already growing dark outside when we began our transition. Seto made a couple of phone calls and before I knew it there were several men wearing suits and shades in my apartment. They covered the mattress in what looked like a really big, black trash bag and hauled it away. The same was done with the sheets and pillows.

A few men loaded the items into a box truck that was parked outside while the others inspected the room for anything else that could possibly lead them back to Seto.

I saw one man examining something on the floor and so I stepped over to him to see for myself. At first I didn’t recognize the little pieces of paper that lay before him, but then it hit me. “Oh, I tore up a photo yesterday.”

“A photo?” Seto questioned, his interest raised a little.

“Yeah. . .” It had been a photo that Saki took of him and Seto together, apparently either before, during, or after Saki had raped him the first time, but I couldn’t tell Seto that in front of all of these people . . .

“What was in the photo?” Seto asked, tilting his head just enough for me to notice.

I bit my lip and glanced from the men and then to him as if to tell him that it was a personal thing that couldn’t be said in front of them.

“They know more than I’d like them to.” Seto informed me, glaring at one man that dared to falter in his work, “Anything that you can say to me, you can say while they’re here. They’re all sworn to secrecy. They know better than to blab anything.” It was both amusing and eerie when they all suddenly began to work faster.

“Saki had tied it to the key to those handcuffs. It was a photo that he had taken of the two of you the first time that he . . .”

“I see.” Seto’s eyes trailed down to the torn bits. “It needs to be destroyed then.”

The servant obediently scooped up the pieces and dumped them into another black bag.

“Master Kaiba,” One man stood, “Are you and Saki speaking again?”

“I believe that you have a job to do.” Seto folded his arms, his eyes dangerous.

“But master Kaiba, you and Saki were-”

“Mention that name again and I swear I’ll have you killed.” All of the men faltered yet again in their work as they turned nervous expressions to their leader. “That goes for all of you. Am I understood?” His words were coated with a thick layer of ice that chilled even me. His expression softened abruptly, “Work diligently until the end. Don’t I deserve that kind of favor?”

“Y-yes sir, master Kaiba!” They chanted in unison, smiles now plastered on their faces. Were those smiles real, or . . .

As we made our way to the limousine (more servants came inside to get our things), there were men bringing in a new mattress and whatnot to replace what my dad had lost. He certainly had an efficient team working for him. Actually, it was almost frightening how efficient they were. Hopefully he won’t snap and decide that he wants me dead.

The doors to the limo were opened for us and we sat down beside each other. It looked as though one of his men was about to say something to me, but Seto held up a hand to silence him. It was then that reality slapped me in the face.

Seto lived in a completely different world from me. He could have absolutely anything he wanted. Everything he had was far beyond my means. Had he been uncomfortable this whole week? It must have been strange with no servants around . . . which reminded me, “Hey Seto?”

Seto pushed a button on the door and a screen went up between us and the driver.

“Yes?”

“Why do all of your servants call you master Kaiba rather than mister Kaiba?”

“Old habit, I guess.” He occupied himself with looking out the window, “My father made them call him that.”

“You keep calling Gozaburo your father.”

“Another old habit, I guess. I called him ‘father’ when other people were around.”

“And when other people weren’t around?”

“He made me call him master, too.”

“You had to call him master Kaiba? That’s a bit-”

“No.” He turned dark eyes back to me, his head following the motion, “Just ‘master’.”

“Oh.” I fidgeted in my seat. For some reason he felt really distant from me at that time, like he did back before this project began. “So um . . . will Mokuba be there with us all week?” Yeah, that’s it; change the subject to something not so tense.

His eyes went wide, “Oh shit. I forgot about him.” He ran a hand over his face, “He’s going to become a nuisance.”

“But you love that little nuisance.” I reminded him, grinning like an idiot.

“Yeah, I do.” He smiled faintly, but it looked almost like a sad smile.

Silence again. Why was it suddenly so awkward between us? It seemed to turn out this way every time some new information surfaced about one of us. I guess that we were both still a little uncomfortable sharing such things.

“Hey Seto?” I started again, feeling like a child that wouldn’t stop questioning a parent. Seto would probably have my head for that kind of comparison.

“Yeah?” He didn’t really sound bothered. He looked absolutely gorgeous in the dim lighting of what remained of the sunset with his silky brown bangs hanging in his eyes as he held his head up with the hand he had propped against the window. Shimmering sapphires peered out from beneath the beautiful mess . . . beautiful mess? What else could that describe?

“How much does Mokuba know about all of this?”

“Probably more than I think he does. Mokuba is a snoop. He likes to put his nose where it doesn’t belong. I haven’t openly told him anything at all, but that doesn’t mean he’s clueless.” He heaved a sigh, “Either way, please don’t even bring the subject up with him. If he tries to start something, shrug it off and ignore him.”

“He’s thirteen now, right?” He seemed like such a kid when my friends and I first met him on Pegasus’ Island during the Duelist Kingdom tournament. At that time, Mokuba had been kidnapped as bait to lure Seto to the Island. Come to think of it, Mokuba got kidnapped an awful lot . . .

“Yeah . . .” His eyes fluttered closed, his lips curved upward. “He grew up so fast . . .”

“You sound like a proud parent.” I smiled gently back in hopes of further encouraging his pride.

“I kind of am, I guess. Even though we were adopted, Mokuba and I still relied heavily on each other.” His eyes darkened as he frowned, “But now that Mokuba is older-”

“He still depends on his big brother for support and he always will.” It seemed that Seto really wanted someone to need him. “And now,” I added, though I don’t know if it was necessary or not, “I’m gonna be depending on you too! Ya got that?” I pointed a finger at him and winked, flashing my usual goofy grin.

“Heh, is that so? Typical dog.”

- - -

My head snapped up when someone shoved me.

“Hey!” I yelled at the offender, before realizing it was Seto.

The sun had finally fallen beyond the horizon and the stars dotted the sky perfectly. I could barely make out Seto’s face in the dark car.

“Come on,” He pulled on my shirt, “Are you going to come in or would you prefer to sleep outside?”

I hopped out of the car and followed him up the stairs to the front doors to his mansion. Though I had been here before, I was still in awe at the size of the place. It was simply amazing that I was really going to be living here for an entire week.

The doors swung open before the servant’s hand even reached the handle, surprising us all.

“Seto!” Called a voice I knew quite well, as a black blur whizzed out of the house and towards the elder Kaiba.

Seto took a few steps backwards as his beloved younger brother practically threw himself into the thin teen. “Well hello to you too, Mokuba.” With the light coming from the doorway, I could see the happy smile playing on Seto’s lips. Mokuba certainly had a special place in his heart. To be honest, I almost felt a little jealous.

“Seto. . .” Mokuba eyed his brother strangely as we finally went inside. “What are you wearing?”

The brunet froze in place and shot me a look, “It’s nothing.”

“Ohhhh?” Mokuba questioned, smirking as he glanced from his brother and then to me. “It sure doesn’t look like ‘nothing’.” He chuckled.

Oh yeah, he was wearing some of my clothes. Okay Jou, Seto has saved your ass a million times, it’s time to return the favor! “Ya see, Mokuba. Seto decided that it would be funny to let me try coffee! I took a sip, but it was really hot and it startled me, so I accidentally spilled a bunch on Seto’s last pair of clothes that he had brought! I let him borrow one of my outfits to wear home.” Yeah! I’m a klutz, so that’s totally believable! Even though, Seto looked far from thrilled. . .

“Hmm. . .” Mokuba studied us while rubbing his chin, “Sure, that sounds likely enough.”

I inwardly heaved a sigh of relief.

“But!” Mokuba began again, “Since when did you call him by his first name?” He was grinning now. Damn brat.

“Since. . .” What could I possibly say to that? The last Mokuba knew, Seto was still calling me a stupid mutt and I was still calling him a rich snob. I was never any good at thinking on my feet.

“Since I told him that he could.” Seto intervened, saving my ass like usual. “Since when did you become such a nosey little boy?” He put a hand on top of Mokuba’s head, ruffling the messy black hair. The Kaiba brother’s didn’t look a whole lot alike.

“I’m not a little boy!” Mokuba grabbed Seto’s arm and pulled the hand away from his head. I caught the slight frown that Seto’s lips made. “What happened?” Mokuba questioned suddenly, the pitch of his voice dropping a bit. He quickly grabbed for both of Seto’s hands, inspecting the bandages on his wrists.

“Ah, it’s nothing to worry about.” Seto lied, his expression neutral. How could he look and sound so calm in a situation like this? I was practically shitting myself!

“That’s a load of crap, Seto, and you know it!” Mokuba was looking pretty peeved.

“I promise that I’ll explain it to you later, okay?”

Mokuba released his older brothers’ hands, looking a bit skeptical, “You better.”

Mokuba turned to go back inside and Seto and I followed. We made it far enough in to close the door (and lock it) behind us before Mokuba quickly spun on his heels. “You thought I had forgotten, didn’t you?!” He smirked, pointing an accusing finger at Seto, who looked confused. “I want to know why you two are so close all of the sudden!”

“Why are you so curious about my love life?” Seto’s hand instantly flew up to his mouth, but it was too late.

Mokuba’s eyes went wide, rivaling the size of Yuugi’s, “Love life?” This time he eyed both of us slowly.

Seto still had his right hand over his mouth, the left hand in a clenched fist at his side. He was probably holding his breath, just like me. Time seemed to stop as the two of us just waited to see his reaction. . . which was far different from what we expected.

“Hahahaha!” Mokuba bent over with laughter, clutching at his stomach and pretending to wipe away a tear, “Yeah right! You two are hilarious!” He stood up straight again and ran to Seto, pulling Seto’s hand from his own mouth as he just stood there in shock, “Ya know, you almost had me fooled! You and Jounouchi? Pfeh! Not in a million years! Hahaha!” He elbowed me playfully.

I forced out the best fake laugh I could muster, “Aww man! I thought for sure that we got ya!” I snapped my fingers, “Darn. We’ll get you next time, though.”

“And here I thought that I was a brilliant actor.” Seto ran a hand through his hair, heaving a sigh that wasn’t quite audible.

“You guys are nuts!” Mokuba shook his head, “Anyways, I’ve got a couple friends coming over here in a little while, so I’m gonna go have the cooks make some snacks! See ya!” With a hyper wave, he darted off.

Seto and I stood there for a moment, trying to figure out just what exactly happened. “So uh. . .” I began, not exactly sure what I wanted to say.

“That worked out nicely.” Seto finished for me, a puzzled look glazing over his face. “Mokuba’s usually a lot better at reading me. I mean, I don’t really joke like that with him, at least not about a fake homosexual romance.” He scrunch up his mouth a bit, “You know, it sounds a lot worse when I word it like that.

“A lot worse? As in, it’s bad as it is?” I stuck out my bottom lip.

“Well, some people view it that way. It’s just you and I. . . we’re so. . .”

“Different.” It was easier to say it myself than to hear him say it. Yeah, we were different for sure. He lives in a massive mansion, with a large amount of land surrounding it. He has his very own international, mutli-billion dollar corporation, his own custom-made jet, his own theme park for fucks sake. He also was able to shut down an entire city just to hold a tournament! Everyone that was anyone knows the name Kaiba Seto.

And then there’s me. I live in some tiny, piece-of-shit apartment complex with an alcoholic womanizer for a father, if he can even be called that. I perform poorly at school and the only real talent I have is street fighting. The only people that know my name are the people I go to school with, and even then not everyone knows me. I’m just some street punk with nothing going for him.

“Actually,” Seto brought me back from my thoughts, “I think I’ve told you before that we’re both very similar.” His eyes met mine and he smiled gently, “You denied it before, but I’ve discovered the truth; both of us hide our true selves because we’re ashamed.”

Ashamed . . . was I ashamed of myself? “I think I remember that conversation.” We had the conversation about it earlier this week, but somehow it felt like years since we had talked about it. “I wear the mask of a funny guy and you wear the mask of an asshole.”

“Actually, I really am an asshole.”

I shoved him and the two of us laughed together for a few moments. I could have sworn that I saw someone peeking around a wall from the corner of my eye, but when I looked, no one was there.

“What is it?” Seto questioned, looking in the same direction as me.

“I thought I saw someone.”

“Oh . . . it was probably just a maid or cook or something. They’re nosey.” Though he was passing it off as something normal, his brows were scrunched as though he was confused about it as well.

“Is that a bad thing?” If a maid or someone heard that entire conversation, that might be bad, right? I mean, we were speaking pretty openly right in the oversized foyer of his home.

“Nah. They know better than to gossip about me.” He winked at me and started up the stairs. Much like before, I trailed right behind him.

“You’re creepy when you say things like that.”

“So I’m creepy and my house reminds you of the hotel from The Shining. Anything else?” He teased, turning his head to stick his tongue out at me over his shoulder.

“No master.” I said as a joke, but then remembered our conversation during the ride over here.

“You keep calling Gozaburo your father.”

“Another old habit, I guess. I called him ‘father’ when other people were around.”

“And when other people weren’t around?”

“He made me call him master, too.”

“You had to call him master Kaiba? That’s a bit-”

“No. Just ‘master’.”

Much to my relief, however, Seto just laughed a little, “Good dog.”

He led me to a door that was a little ways down from what I remembered to be his bedroom. “This is going to be your room for the week.” He opened the door to . . . a guest room, I suppose, and flipped a light switch to illuminate it.

Oh yeah. With Mokuba here, there’s no way that we could share a room, let alone share a bed. That would make it really obvious. The thought of having to stay in a separate room really put a damper on my mood.

I forced a smile as I watched a couple of guys haul my bags inside for me and place them on the floor by the doorway. “Sure looks roomy.”

It really did look nice. There was what looked like a queen-size bed in one corner of the room with like a million pillows on it like you see in magazine pictures. There was a chest of drawers against a different wall and a matching desk not too far from that. The set was finished off by the matching nightstand to the right of the bed and a gigantic area rug to hide that fact that the room was a little too big for the amount of furniture in it.

A few other men headed for Seto’s bedroom, his belongings in tow.

“Hold on a minute,” Seto followed after them, “One of those is laundry.”

I was left by myself to go inside my own room as Seto settled things with them. It felt really lonely. I mean it was really nice, really it was, but . . . it felt really cold and distant from me. I had a sense that I didn’t belong in a place like this.

“You’re staying in here?” A familiar voice came from behind me. I turned around to see Mokuba entering and closing the door. A click told me he had locked it. “You know, Jou, my brother never was very good at keeping secrets from me. Not then and not now.” He smiled, but it was a sad smile that just didn’t suit Mokuba.

Not then? How much did Mokuba really know? “What are you talking about?” I feigned ignorance, but the stare I was getting from those intense violets was actually making me feel a little uneasy.

“Oh please, Jou.” Mokuba sat on the bed, “I know that something is going on between you and my brother.”

“You’ve got it all wrong! We’re just-”
“Jou.”

My mouth snapped shut as Mokuba shot me his own version of the signature Kaiba glare. The younger Kaiba didn’t seem so young anymore.

“Look . . . it doesn’t bother me that the two of you could be dating, but . . . I swear, if you hurt my brother in any way at all . . .”

Silence fell between us as I waited for a possible threat.

“I swear . . .” He started again, and again his voice trailed off into nothingness. “Let me put it this way; I may be young, but I am still a Kaiba, and if any harm should come to my brother because of you, I will take you out.”

Was he serious? I stood within a couple feet of him and just stared, waiting for a sudden smile or burst of laughter.

But there was nothing.

“How did my brother hurt his arms?” His purple eyes narrowed further, his gaze digging into me.

What could I say to him? I know that Seto wouldn’t want me to tell him what really happened. Even though he didn’t seem like it right now, Mokuba was only 13 years old. I’m not going to explain rape to a kid, especially when the victim is his precious older brother.

“What are you doing, Katsuya?” Seto’s voice came through the door, followed by two knocks. “Are you in there?”

“Nothing, Seto!” Mokuba chimed.

“Mokuba?!” Seto sounded a bit surprised, “What are you two doing in there?”

The black-haired brother opened the door, slipping past Seto quickly and darting down the hallway.

Seto looked to me for an explanation.

“Well, I came in here and was having a look around when Mokuba came in and locked the door.” Should I really tell him the whole truth? That may have been a side of Mokuba that Seto didn’t know about. In Seto’s eyes, Mokuba was probably an innocent, untainted child.

Seto eyed me, one eyebrow slowly rising a little higher than the other. “And?”

“Aaaaaand . . . I dunno.” I fidgeted under his gaze as it was clear that my answer wasn’t going to be good enough for him. “He was just worried about you.”

“Worried?” He looked a bit shocked, his eyes leaving me to glance off to the side as if to think about what Mokuba could possibly be worried about.

“Your arms.” I informed him, hoping he’d not ask for more details. I had no intention of telling Seto about Mokuba’s little threat. I wouldn’t purposely hurt Seto, so Mokuba’s threat was meaningless.

“I told him that I’d explain to him what happened.” He shook his head and sighed.

“Oh yeah, and our act earlier didn’t fool him at all. He knows there’s something going on between us.” I mentally crossed my fingers, hoping that perhaps now I could stay in his room instead of all alone in a guest room.

“Really?” Seto didn’t seem fazed. “Hm.” He glanced down the hall and then pursed his lips. “Alright then. Get your things and come down to my room.”

“Yes!” I grabbed my shit and bolted passed a wide-eyed hottie and ran down the hall to his room.

The lights were on and his servants had already left, so I just tossed my things in the corner and leapt onto the bed, burying my face in one of the pillows . . . which sadly didn’t smell like Seto. Of course, there were like 20 pillows on the bed, so the odds of me finding the one he actually slept on were pretty low.

“Um . . . creepy?”

I rolled over to find him standing a few feet away, his expression priceless. “Haha, sorry. Your bed just looks so soft and comfy. I get to sleep in here with you, right?”

Seto blushed and quickly turn his head in an attempt to hide it, “Um, yeah.” He eyed my belongings carelessly tossed aside, “You can hang your things in the closet, you know.”

“Are you okay?” I sat up in the bed, serious now. Something didn’t seem right with him. He looked really uneasy for some reason. What could possibly be wrong? Was it me sniffing his pillows that creeped him how so badly? Had one of those bastards done that in the past? “Was it because I sniffed your pillow?”

He laughed a little and shook his head, “No, not that at all. That was weird, but it didn’t really bother me.”

“Okay, but you didn’t answer my first question; are you okay?”

“Of course I am.”

“That means no.”

“How does that mean know? I just said I’m okay.”

“No, you said ‘of course I’m okay’, which everyone knows means no.”

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. “I’m just thinking about something, that’s all.” He rubbed at the back of his head before going toward two French doors on one wall of his room. Upon him opening them, I could see it was his closet. Surprisingly enough, there wasn’t a whole lot in it. I always thought that wealthy business people had a wide array of suits and whatnot for the various meetings and whatnot that they had to go to.

“It’s kind of empty for such a big closet.” I went inside with him, amazed at how big it really was. I’d never had a walk-in closet before, so I thought it was really cool.

“So there’s plenty of room for your stuff, right?” He still didn’t bother to even look at me, but rather inspected a few of the clothing items on the hangers.

“I’ve only got a few things with me, so it’s not really necessary to hang them up.” I laughed a little, flashing him a smile. Still, he didn’t look at me. “Seto, what is it that you’re thinking about?”

He moved his lips from side to side, his right hand rubbing at the back of his neck before dropping back down, “I was thinking that . . . I was thinking that there was enough room for your entire wardrobe in here.”

My entire wardrobe? “Uh, well yeah, that’s probably true . . . but I don’t have my entire wardrobe with me.” I eyed him suspiciously. He was getting weird again.

“I was thinking that all of your belongings would fit in my room, too. I mean, you wouldn’t need to bring your furniture or anything . . .”

Wait a minute . . . “Are you asking me to move in with you? Like, permanently?” Before he answered, I could hear a noise coming from the direction of his bedroom door and I quickly turned my head toward it.

“What?” He asked, looking in the same direction.

“I thought I heard something.”

He chuckled, his beautiful smile making a brilliant appearance, “Did you hear a ghost?” He taunted, smirking at me with laughter still in his eyes.

“Oh shut up.” I shoved him playfully. I knew his house isn’t haunted . . .

“The men that I will call had to deal with my father’s work. I don’t know how many people he murdered, and I don’t want to know.”

. . . is it?

“What’s the matter?” He brought his face close to my own, “Are you scared?”

“No!” I spat, scrunching up my face and folding my arms. “I know it’s not haunted, so quit it.”

“How can you say that?” He backed away, “Gozaburo lived here. He had many guests over. Many, many, many guests . . .” His gaze went blank for a moment before he seemed to snap back, “And in all honesty, not all of them left the way that they came in.”

I laughed, “You mean they left out a different door. That’s what you were going to say, right? You’re cunning, but I’m catching on.”

He gave me a look, “No, Jou. That’s absolutely not what I was going to say.”

“I don’t know how many people he murdered . . .”

My eyes must have gotten pretty big, because Seto started to smile again.

“But really, I’ve never seen or heard ghosts, so there probably aren’t any.” He shrugged, rummaging through his clothes for a moment before pulling out what looked like pajamas. I’m going to go in the bathroom and change clothes and change these bandages. I’ll be out in a bit, okay?”

I pouted, “Awww, okay.”

He blushed before disappearing into the unnecessarily-huge bathroom, but he left the door open. I could hear him fumbling with something, so I invited myself inside.

The medicine cabinet sat wide open as Seto worked to change his own bandages. I winced at the sight of his wounds once he revealed them. Yami no Yuugi had cleaned them pretty well, but the skin had some bad lacerations that were hard to look at and it was clear that they had still been bleeding even after the bandages were put on.

“Do you need any help?” I moved closer, my eyes glued to his wrists.

“No, I’m pretty good at this. I used to have to do it all the time.”

“From when Gozaburo hurt you?”

“No.” He left it at that, offering no additional explanation. Even so, I had a hunch that he was probably used to changing his own bandages from when he hurt himself.

“What are you going to tell Mokuba?” I looked at his face in the mirror and he did the same to me.

“I’ll tell him that I did it.”

“What? Why?” Why would he lie to his only family?

“Oh, come on. I couldn’t possibly tell him what really happened.” He glared down at his wrists, grabbing a roll of bandaging and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

“Won’t that burn?” I couldn’t possibly imagine putting peroxide on cuts like that. That shit hurts on tiny cuts.

“I guess.” He pulled out a bag of cotton balls as well, using them to apply the peroxide without so much as even flinching.

Ah, I had let him get me off track! “Mokuba knows a lot more than you are willing to realize, Seto. I think he’d feel better knowing that you didn’t hurt yourself.”

“I’m not telling him.” He didn’t bother to look up from his work.

“Then I’ll tell him for you.” I turned to leave, but was seized by the arm before being slung to the floor.

“Do it and I swear I will make you regret the day you met me.” His eyes looked violent and his whole body was shaking with his obvious anger.

“Seto?” I never saw that kind of reaction coming. I figured maybe he would get flustered, but never did I think that he’d act violently. It wasn’t like the Seto that I knew . . . well, it was more like the Seto I knew before our project began. His mood swings were unordinary and off the charts.

“When it comes to Mokuba, no one else is more important. I will decide what he is told. Don’t fuck with Mokuba.”

If Mokuba was that important, then why would he lie to him? Why would he make Mokuba worry about him even more? I mean, Mokuba would still worry if he knew that Saki was hurting his brother, but Saki wasn’t always around. If Mokuba thought Seto was hurting himself, then it would be a constant worry. There had to be a different reason that Seto wouldn’t tell the truth . . . and I bet it had nothing to do with corrupting Mokuba.

“You’re just ashamed.” I voiced my accusation from my new seat on the floor as I sat up from my ungraceful fall.

“What?”

“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!”

I waited for some kind of back-lash. A slap across the face, perhaps a string of insults . . . but instead I got the all-too-common silence.

He stood still, aside from the heaving of his chest as he panted from his exertion earlier, and stared me dead in the eyes. Even so, I don’t think he was really looking at me.

“Maybe so.” He finally admitted, leaning over the sink with his hand on the counter to hold himself up as he glared at nothing in particular. “Maybe so.” He said again, “But wouldn’t you also be ashamed? I could never tell Mokuba something like that.” I stood up beside him, watching his reflection in the mirror as his eyes slowly drifted to the bandages and medical tape on the counter beside him.

With one swift swing of his right arm, he sent them flying against the wall behind us, his glare deepening. “I could never!” He repeated, but not really to me.

“Seto . . .” I was going to put my hands on his shoulders to comfort him, but something in my gut told me that it probably wasn’t such a good idea right now.

He ran a hand over his face and stood away from the sink, his hands falling to rest on his hips and his eyes inspecting the mess he made, “Listen, Katsuya. Please don’t tell Mokuba, okay?” Our eyes met and this time it felt as though he were looking right through me, like his words were echoing through my head just because he had such an intense gaze.

“Don’t tell me what?”

I jumped a little, spinning on my heels as Seto leaned to look around me.

Mokuba.

- - -