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

Behind Blue Eyes

- - -

Ah yes, another chapter. Someone said that they sensed a climax in this chapter because that person showed up at the end of the last chapter. I wonder . . .

Just a quick note that I hope you all read. I just found a manga that I really like and the anime comes out in April! It's called Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru (Betrayal Knows My Name). Why am I telling you this? Because the character Luka (known initially as Zess) looks kind of like Saki (he has black hair and silver eyes)! Isn't that crazy?! You should all look him up!

Enjoy the chapter!

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

- - -

Recap:

“Don't worry, I caught him.” A smile came to the stranger's face as he looked up from staring down at Seto, his grey eyes laughing, “Don't worry, Ka-tsu-ya.”

No. Fucking. Way.

- - -

Okay, so Saki was here. Right in front of me. Holding onto Seto. No big deal. No problem.

What the fuck was he doing here?!

Everyone was gathering around, staring. Think, Jou, think! What kind of thing would Seto say in this sort of situation? Yeah right, like I could think of the same tactic as a teen genius! I had to say something to save the image that Seto had created for himself, as much as I hated it . . . ooh, I know!

“Hey Kaiba!” I made sure to use his last name, “Some dickhead is touching you! You gonna let him do that?”

It worked. As though by magic, Seto's eyes came back into focus, an angry and determined look on his face. He stood up and yanked himself away with his own strength. As he joined me, we faced Saki together and I wondered if he was just as confused as I was right now.

Saki. I wanted to wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze until that stupid smirk fell off his face and all of the life drained from his body.

“Who is that?” Yuugi's voice came from behind me as he and the rest of my friends joined Seto and I. Everyone else became silent spectators.

Oh man. I definitely couldn't tell them the truth, especially in front of so many people. Could I say it was an old friend of Seto? No, that wouldn't explain the way we reacted. Maybe if I hadn't called him a dickhead . . .

“He's a stalker of mine.” Damn, Seto was always so cool and collected at times like this. “He's been trying to abduct me for quite a few days now.” Though he wasn't telling the truth, he wasn't exactly lying either.

Saki raised one brown and then lowered it, “Oh come on now gorgeous, I'm not a stalker at all; I'm your number one fan!” He winked.

The hell? I thought for sure that he was going to tell everyone who he really was to Seto. Was he seriously going to play along with Seto's story? He was up to something . . . why else would he do such a thing?

“Is there a problem over here?” Ms. Asuka arrived on the scene. Would she be able to drive Saki away, or-

“Well hello, beautiful.”

Oh for fucks sake! Was this how good-looking guys were able to get away with anything? Not that Saki is good-looking. He's not good-looking at all. I mean, sure he has shiny black hair and piercing silver eyes. No, they're grey. They're definitely dull, boring, grey eyes that lack any sort of brilliance whatsoever.

Okay, so the guy is good-looking . . . so what? He's still a fucked-up piece of shit, and that crushes any sort of physical beauty he has.

“Who are you?” Though Ms. Asuka tried to sound tough, her blush gave away her true situation.

“Don't worry yourself over useless information like that, miss. We're playing nice, so there's no need to get involved.” He gave her a wink and a smile. Had Seto learned that trick from Saki?

“This person has been following me around and it's getting on my last nerve. Jounouchi and I will be leaving immediately.” Seto was a lot stronger than he had been giving himself credit for recently. To be able to maintain his composure in this kind of situation . . . he really was remarkable. Though his voice didn't so-much as quiver, he kept his eyes averted from that bastard . . .

. . . but I locked eyes with him. His irises actually appeared more silver in the sunlight, giving them a less threatening appearance than they had before. I wasn't fooled. This was the person, no, the monster that hurt Seto. This was the waste of life that had turned Seto into the shaking, frightened, bloody victim that I had seen only days ago. I could never forgive him, not in a million years!

I could feel my hatred boiling up inside me. Voices all faded into distant murmurs and the surrounding environment blurred. I wanted, with every fiber of my being, to kill him. I've said that about people in the past, but never before had I truly meant it. This wasn't just me getting pissed off and blowing off steam. I actually wanted to watch his eyes roll back in his head as he lay dead in his own pool of tainted blood.

“Jounouchi!” One clear voice penetrated my thoughts, my bloodlust subsiding for the time being. Seto. “Come on, we're leaving. Ms. Asuka said that we've been here long enough to receive full credit.” He pulled out his cell phone and headed toward the poolhouse to change his clothes. I began to follow, but stopped when someone got close to me.

“Read this later.” Saki held a small folded-up piece of paper between his middle and index finger. He spoke in a low voice and it annoyed me how much taller he was. I'm only 18 . . . I'll still grow . . . right?

Part of me wanted to tell him to go to hell or to go fuck himself, but at the same time another part of me was curious as to the contents of that note.

I glanced toward the poolhouse to see that Seto was nowhere in sight. Holding my hand out palm-up, (I didn't want to take a chance on touching his filthy hands) I let him drop the note to me. I felt like a child trying to sneak cookies without being caught by daddy.

The bastard then strolled out the way he had come in. What the hell? Was this the reason why he was here to begin with? If that's the case, how did he know we were here? Did he just drive around town looking for us? What if he had been back to the mansion again and had tortured Mokuba until he said something?

No, no, this isn't some angsty novel . . . this is real life and I was definitely getting ahead of myself and freaking out. Still . . . there's no way it could have been a coincidence.

I should tear the note into little pieces . . . but I know I won't. Instead, I jammed it into my pocket and went to where I knew Seto would be waiting.

- - -

The ride on the way home was quiet, that is, until my stomach growled loud enough to frighten children and small animals . . . and make Seto jump an inch or two off of his seat, knocking him out of his apparently-deep thoughts.

“Are you hungry?” Seto smiled at me, laughter evident in his eyes. I was relieved.

“Yeah. Aren't you?” We hadn't eaten since breakfast, after all.

“I suppose so. Where would you like to eat?”

I opened my mouth to answer.

“And not a fast food place.”

My mouth snapped closed. I was able to hold a straight face for a few seconds before erupting into laughter at the annoyed look on Seto's face. He was just so damn cute!

“I don't see what's so funny.”

“That's because you can't see the look on your face.” I grinned at him, reaching with both arms to playfully pinch his cheeks.

His blue eyes went wide at the strange contact, one hand instantly reaching up to slap mine away. I thought that he was actually bothered by it, but then I saw the blush burn onto his cheeks.

“What on Earth are you trying to do?” He faced forward again, eyes still wide and cheeks adorned in pink.

“Trying to pinch your cute little cheeks.”

“Cute?” He still refused to look at me, but more of his face was darkening. He was getting so flustered!

“Yeah. Your other cheeks are cute too.” I winked as he suddenly faced me, brows arched so high that they couldn't be seen beneath his brown bangs.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat and the two of us fell silent. Oh. Seto hadn't put the screen up between us and the driver.

There was a moment of silence where the driver would glance from our reflections in the rear-view mirror, then to the road, and then back to us. Oh man! He'd heard us? What did that mean for Seto? Would the driver blab to everyone? Was he another one of Seto's employees that knew a lot? Was he loyal enough?

I eyed Seto's face, looking for any hint of a reaction. His eyes were widened only slightly, his lips pursed and the blush still quite evident on his face.

“If you tell anyone about what you just heard . . .”

“If you hurt my brother in any way at all . . .”

Was it characteristic of the Kaiba's to have to think about their threats? No, if I remember correctly, Seto had a quick tongue and easily spouted off threats to his enemies. Perhaps they only stopped mid-sentence when they knew the other person would never actually do anything, or when they only wanted to sound tough. Mokuba knew that I would never hurt his brother, right? After everything we had been through over the past several years, I figured Mokuba and I were more like friends rather than enemies.

“What did I hear?” The driver questioned, a smile appearing on the reflection of his face as his eyes remained on the road. “I heard nothing, Master Kaiba.”

“Hmph.” Seto crossed his legs, pushing the button to raise the screen between us and the driver.

So the driver knew better after all. It seemed they were all very loyal to Seto. Seto told me back at my apartment that they had been employed under Kaiba Gozaburo before they became his. Did that mean that all of them knew what happened between him and Saki? Then again, maybe he simply told everyone that they got in a fight, just like he had originally told Mokuba. Ah, but they knew what they were cleaning up after at my apartment right? So confusing!

“What the hell are you doing?” Seto eyed me, one brow significantly higher than the other.

Ah. Apparently during my irritating and confusing thoughts I had actually started pulling at my hair and shaking my head. Is it even possible to do that subconsciously? Well, I guess it has to be, seeing as I just did it.

“Ahaha, just thinking . . .” We stared at each other, “Oh, which reminds me! Seto, what do you think about that personappearing there?”

He closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them, facing the seat across from us, “There's no way that was a coincidence.” So he was thinking the same thing. “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.” His eyes narrowed.

“Even in those circumstances, I don't think Mokuba would tell where you were.” Mokuba wouldn't put Seto in harm's way like that, not intentionally.

“You don't think?”

“No way; Mokuba adores you.”

There was a flash of a smile, “Perhaps he does . . . but about that person; I'm assuming that you only asked me about it because you had an opinion of your own.” He eyed me.

Damn, he's good. “Well, my thoughts are the same as yours. It was such a random location and it's not a place that either of us would ordinarily be. 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.” It was true, I didn't know much about Saki at all. I'd actually like to know more about him so that I knew what we were up against and so I knew maybe what might upset Seto or set him off, since he was refusing his medication now. What was up with that, anyways? Wouldn't common sense tell him to take it? Wasn't he supposed to be a genius?

“That's true . . .” His stomach decided to let out a low gurgle this time, “Ah, so about lunch . . .”

An idea dawned on me. “Have you ever had pizza?”

He shot me a glare, “Do you know very many people that haven't?”

“Well I don't know how you rich boys eat.” I shrugged, sticking my tongue out at him when he rolled his eyes.

“Of course I've had pizza before . . . Mokuba loves that stuff. I'm assuming that's what you're wanting?”

I grinned, nodding stupidly. Didn't we have pizza the first day at my place too? But this was take-out, so it would be different. Ah, yes . . . chilling in a giant mansion behind a huge gate and munching on some tasty delivered-to-the-house pizza. What if we topped it all off by eating it out by the private pool? I could get used to that! Oh, but it's only for a week, right? No. Seto had asked me to live with him, didn't he?

“Do your thoughts run wild a lot?”

“Me?” I pointed at myself and he gave me a look. Oh, duh, of course it was me. “I guess I think a lot.”

“That sounds like a lie, coming from you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're a funny one.” Did I really go off into space like that all the time? I guess it was pretty noticeable if he called me out on it like that. “Don't you ever get lost in your thoughts?”

He laughed slightly, “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.”

He had a point; Seto didn't need to worry about things like college and his future because he already had Kaiba Corporation and probably an enormous inheritance from the previous head-of-house, Gozaburo. “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?” He looked thoughtful for a moment and then his eyes lit up. “Oh, um . . . no, I was actually . . . I was drawing . . .” The last word was said so quietly that it actually took me a second before I figured out what he had said. Was he embarrassed about it or something? A lot of people doodle when they're bored!

“You act like it's weird or something!” I laughed, giving him a light slap on the shoulder, “So what were ya drawing?”

“Where are we eating, Jou?” He was facing forward.

Changing the subject? “Come on! Tell me what you were drawing!”

“Hungry, hungry . . .” He clutched his stomach and closed his eyes.

“Oh fine, but you'll have to tell me eventually!” I huffed and folded my arms. Out of the corner of my eye I watched a small smirk form on his lips before it quickly faded away.

- - -

In the end, Seto decided that he wasn't really in the mood for pizza, and neither of us could decide on a particular restaurant to go to, so Seto just called home and had the cooks make preparations for a steak lunch. I was practically shaking with excitement over the thought of a big, juicy steak in front of me, while Seto looked indifferent about it. Man, it must be nice to be rich. I can't even begin to imagine a life in which money wasn't an issue. Almost everything in my life had to be planned around what it would cost to do what I wanted to do.

Just as Seto's driver had told him over the phone, Mokuba was away at a friend's house, which meant that it was just Seto and I . . . and all of his servants, I guess.

“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.”

“Okay . . . do you have a map I can use or something?”

“A map?”

“Of your house.” Really, it was huge!

He smiled and shook his head, “You really are an idiot. It's the second door on the right down this hallway.” He pointed in the direction of his office. “If you wander around and get lost, just yell; I'll find you.” He poked the tip of my nose with his index finger and went on his way.

Yeah, just yell in this giant mansion. I think he wants me to make a fool of myself. “Do whatever I want, huh?” I asked of no one in particular. I was standing all alone in the lobby of a mansion. Does that sound like the beginning of a survival horror video game, or is it just my imagination?

“Gozaburo lived here. He had many guests over . . . not all of them left the way that they came in.”

 

 

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

 

A shiver ran up my spine. Now I was just creeping myself out. Seto said it himself that he had never seen ghosts or heard weird noises or anything in this house and he had lived here for a long time. I guess that large, old buildings just give off that `haunted' aura.

 

“You tell me everything that happened . . . and I'll show you a super-secret room that Seto doesn't even know I'm aware of. In fact, I wonder if Seto himself even knows about it.”

 

Even if it isn't haunted, there is still the possibility that Mokuba wasn't lying about that secret room.

 

“Did I forget to mention that this secret room had a lot of photo albums in it containing things that Seto would never ever want anyone to see?”

 

Actually, Mokuba was most likely making it up in order to get information out of me. Mokuba isn't as good of a liar as Seto, and that's probably for the best.

I began my trek in the direction opposite of where Seto was. The hallway wasn't actually as long and intimidating as I originally thought. I peeked in a couple of the rooms on my way down. There were a couple of rooms that looked like studies and one room had a billiard table. Another room, which was at the front of the house, looked like it was just a room to relax in with a daybed by the window. The way the sunlight lit up each room was nice and bright, a stark contrast to the dim hallway that I had to walk down. I was just thankful for the sconce lighting on the walls that illuminated the hallway. There's no way in hell I'd walk down here in the dark!

I finally reached the end and came face-to-face with a set of double doors. I opened the door with a lack of excitement, figuring it was just an even bigger study or other random room like that. For some reason, there weren't any windows here. I reached my arm inside and felt along the wall until my hand hit a switch and lit up the room. I was shocked to see that it was actually a big-ass library.

I sometimes wonder if he is reading the same book over and over again, or if he has his own private library somewhere in his ridiculously large house. . .probably the latter. (Chapter one, paragraph four!)

Ah, so I was right!

I wandered inside, in total awe at the amount of books that rose from floor to ceiling. He had one of those cool ladder things on wheels that was used to get the books from the higher shelves. There was even a spiral staircase that went up to another level. Did he really need so many books? There were even a couple of couches and tables on this floor, as if so many people came here. Perhaps it was used more often before Seto took over.

I walked the perimeter of the massive room, eventually running my hand along the books as I went. It was actually kind of fascinating to look over my shoulder and watch all of the particles of dust that my fingers kicked up. Didn't Seto say that he had read all of these? No way! He probably only read the ones that interested him.

I continued on like this for probably a few minutes, just taking in the scenery. It was dead silent, aside from the sound of my fingertips against the binding of the old books, but it didn't feel eerie at all. Libraries always gave me a sense of comfort, as much as I hate reading.

As I went around the room, my fingers came across a book that stuck out a little further than the others. What's more is that it felt somehow different, almost like it was made out of a more durable material. I halted in my steps to investigate. The book was dark blue in color and looked slightly faded. The writing on the side was in gold lettering and read “Hamlet”. We had read the play in class, but the one in here was probably much older. I grabbed the top corner of the book with full intention of pulling it out to take a look at it . . . but when I pulled it . . .

There was the slightest sound of creaking from behind the bookcase and for a second I thought that it was about to come crashing down on top of me . . . that is, until the section of bookcase that I was stopped at suddenly began to disappear into the floor.

So wait, let me get this straight. Hidden in this giant library in this huge mansion is a fake book that acts as a switch to some kind of secret passageway?

When the section had completely gone down into the floor, a dark passageway with no light whatsoever was revealed to me. The walls and floor were all made of a stone of some kind.

You have got to be shitting me. So Mokuba was telling the truth? This was getting a bit ridiculous. Besides, wasn't this room on an outside wall? Shouldn't the passageway be visible from the outside or have a window in it or something?

“In fact, I wonder if Seto himself even knows about it.”

A room that Seto may not even be aware of? My heart's pulse quickened.

“Gozaburo lived here. He had many guests over . . . not all of them left the way that they came in.”

What if . . . there were a bunch of decomposed corpses down there?! No, no, no, settle down, Jou. Even if there (probably) wasn't anything to be afraid of, I wasn't about to go down into the dark abyss without some source of light. The problem is . . . how do I get the bookshelves to come back?! Was there another bookswitch that I could use? Was there a switch on the wall inside the passageway?

I reached my hand inside and felt along the walls, but to no avail. There had to be some way of bringing it back up.

“Katsuya?” I heard Seto call from somewhere down the hallway.

Shit, shit, shit! What if he really didn't know about this place? What if it really did have something inside that Seto would never want me to find out about? He'd kill me for sure! I frantically began pulling on all of the books, hoping to any deity that might exist that one of them would be the switch to sealing the wall. In my hurry I tripped over the small lip where the shelving had gone down into the floor and fell, pulling several of the books right along with me.

There was another sound of gears or something creaking as the shelving rose back up from the floor and back into place under the shelving that began at the second floor of the library (how in the hell was that other shelving being held up?). I looked at the shelf that I had knocked the other books from and noticed that one book had not fallen over. The title read “The Crystal Cave”.

“What are you doing?” Seto came over to me, an amused look in his eyes.

“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!” I rubbed at the back of my head, laughing.

“If I actually believed you, I'd be an idiot.”

Oh shit. Had he seen the shelving go back up? Had he heard me open the door?

“There's no way that you would be looking for something to read.” He chuckled, picking up a couple of the books and placing them back on the shelf. His eyes went to “The Crystal Cave”, which was the only book in that section of the shelf that hadn't fallen over or fallen off. He arched a brow, “Heh, this one didn't even fall over.” He reached for it and I panicked.

I slapped his hand away, “Don't worry! I'll clean this up!” I had jumped up from my place on the floor and he looked a bit surprised by my actions. I needed to distract him, “What made you decide to come looking for me, anyways?”

“Well . . .” Seto rubbed at the hand that I had slapped and made me feel a little guilty, “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.”

He wanted me to be in there with him? And here I was, getting into something weird just because I thought he wanted to be left alone! Dammit! “Uh, I thought you wanted me to leave you alone.”

“Well, I mean . . . Mokuba isn't here, so I just figured that . . .”

Woah! What was he getting at? “Were you wanting to do something?” I inched closer to him until he started blushing.

“Nothing like that! 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.” I admitted, a little disappointed.

“Pervert.”

“Only for you.”

“Liar.”

“Not anymore.”

“Not 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!” I grinned, placing my hands on his shoulders.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” He folded his arms, shaking his head at me.

“Seto?”

A woman's voice came from some unknown location. I started looking all around, but saw no one. “What the hell?” Who was it and why was she calling Seto by his first name?

Seto went over to the wall by the door. Ah, so there was an intercom system. As old as this house is, it sure has some nifty upgrades. “Yes?”

“Lunch is prepared and waiting for you and your guest in the dining hall.” She sounded really happy . . . was that his cook or something?

“Thank you.” Seto smiled at me over his shoulder. “Hurry up with those books so that we can go eat, mutt.”

“Uh, right!” I picked up the remaining books, shoving them onto the shelf. “Who was that woman?” I joined him in the doorway.

“The head of housekeeping, Asato Miyu.” We left the room together and he turned out the light and shut the doors behind us. “She's worked at this house for more than a decade now.”

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

“Yeah.”

So she was here before Seto and Mokuba ever came to live here. Did she know about what went on with Seto? Did she know the horrible things that Kaiba Gozaburo did? “Why does she call you Seto rather than `Master Kaiba' like everyone else? You said that they also worked for Gozaburo.”

“Miyu has always been . . . kind of a mother figure, as annoying as she can be.”

So she was an older woman? “Did she know about what went on in this house?”

“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.”

“Risking her life?” I stopped walking, but Seto continued on ahead of me.

“Perhaps we'll discuss it at a later time. Aren't you hungry?” He didn't even bother to look back.

I followed him. So is that why no one found out about what was going on behind closed doors? Because all of the house servants were afraid to say anything? If she told, she'd be risking her own life and the life of her family . . . how did Seto know? Had someone tried to save him before?

“Hey Seto . . . did someone try to help you in the past? Did someone get hurt or killed while trying to help you?” I know that he said to leave it alone for now, but the question was going to eat at me until I asked.

He faltered in his steps a bit, but regained composure, “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?” His pitch of voice went low, his tone a little suggestive. Dammit, he was trying to distract me and it was working!

Oh, but I wasn't going to let him get me off topic this time! “Sure! While we're out there, you can answer my questions.” I ran up to walk beside him, grinning from ear to ear. He, on the other hand, didn't look so happy about it. He 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?” He went off again, and this time I hesitated to follow.

Just let the past be the past? I guess that normally that kind of thing wouldn't be a problem, but . . . when the past keeps haunting you, like it seems to be for him, then the past isn't just the past, it is also affecting the present. He needed to talk about the past in order to . . .

No, the truth is . . . I'm selfish. I want him to talk about it because I want to know. Perhaps talking about it would do him some good, but that's not the real reason I keep pestering him about it. I want to know; what's so bad about that?

I caught up with him just as we entered the dining hall. The delicious smell of our meal almost got me sidetracked as we took the same seats as this morning, “I couldn't forget something so interesting! 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 than I ever thought you were, and now you've got me wondering!” I sliced off a piece of steak and practically had an orgasm when I shoved it in my mouth . . . yeah, it's that good.

Seto took his time folding his cloth napkin just right and placing it in his lap before picking up a knife and fork. “Whatever the reason may be, it doesn't mean that I'm required to tell you.”

“Maybe not.” I had a mouth full of food, “But wouldn't you feel better knowing dat you had shomeone to share your shecretsh wif?”

“Don't talk with food in your mouth.” He pointed his fork at me, glaring. “Besides, Mokuba seems to know just about all of them; he told me about it last night.” He cut off a piece of meat, popping it ever-so-daintily into his mouth.

So Mokuba spilled? “So he can know, but I can't?”

“He's my brother.”

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

“Compete?”

“For your trust.” I continued eating, refusing to look at him.

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

Rather than throwing a response at him, I just kept shoveling food into my mouth.

“Jounouchi, why don't you tell me about the time that your parents split up and your mother took your sister away from you?”

"Shizuka!" The wheels began to turn, the screeching of rubber against asphalt ringing in my ears and the distasteful smell lingering in my nostrils. "Wait! Don't leave me!"

What the hell? What was with that random question? “Why would you want to know about something like that?”

“I'm just curious, I guess. I don't know much about you, so I figured I would ask about it.” I watched him put another bite in his mouth, his blue eyes watching me. Wait! I get it now! He's trying to find a topic that I don't want to discuss just so that he can keep his own secrets! I'll show him!

“Well, I'm sure you've already figured out that my dad is a complete loser. 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 was tapping my fork against my plate, trying my best to maintain contact with those precious blues. I wasn't going to back down like he kept doing, “I guess that my mother finally had enough and decided to split up with him. She took Shizuka with her, but . . .”

“But what?”

“I never really figured out why she didn't take me.” That was it, I couldn't look at him anymore. The part that bothered me the most wasn't really the separation of my parents or the fact that Shizuka was taken away from me . . . but what bothered me the most was that mom didn't take me too. Why was I left behind with that sorry excuse for a father?

“You know where she is now, right? Haven't you ever asked her?” I heard the sound of him placing his silverware down on his plate.

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

“That could be it, but maybe the real reason you haven't asked is because you're afraid of the answer you might get.”

Afraid of . . . the answer? Yeah, maybe that's the real reason I never asked. I always wondered if she hated me and that was why she left me behind. I always thought that maybe she loved Shizuka and not me.

Seto sighed, “Someone did try to help me when Gozaburo was still alive.”

I looked up at him, but he was no longer staring at me. So I was right? I had almost forgotten about my question completely! I guess Seto felt indebted to me after I kind of poured my heart out. “Who was it?” I asked, trying to coax more out of him, though I don't think he intended to just leave it at that.

“Most of Gozaburo's business partners were older men with children much older than myself. Needless to say, I didn't have many friends. 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?” Even so, I could have sworn that the owner had a different name than Yuki . . .

“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 . . .” Seto looked suddenly depressed, “His son, was named Mitsugawa Satoshi.”

I thought my heart would burst out of my chest. Satoshi! That name! It's the same name that he kept calling out during his episodes! He even once claimed that I looked like Satoshi, though I think he was drunk when he did it . . . “Satoshi . . .”

“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.” Seto pursed his lips, “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.” He closed his eyes, “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. I felt horrible, but what was I supposed to do? What could I have possibly done?”

I had the sudden urge to hug him, to kiss him, to do anything . . . but I resisted. “But . . . that's not where the story ends, is it?”

“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.”

"Satoshi! I'm so sorry! So, so sorry! I didn't want this! This was the only way! I had to! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

So that time when he was apologizing, was it because he had lied to the police?

“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, but he wanted the two of them out of the picture . . .” His eyes grew dark, “Permanently.”

“So he had them killed?” I almost felt cold-hearted for asking. I mean, one of those people happened to be his only real friend.

“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 the 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.”

That would explain why the current Mitsugawa Corporation owner wasn't named Yuki.

He covered his face with his hand for a moment, and I allowed him to compose himself. “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. 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.” A pitiful smile crossed his lips, and it gave me chills, “Of course I would save Mokuba. I remember trying to aim at his head while those men held him on either side. My hands were shaking along with the rest of my body while I shook with sobs that sounded so pathetic.”

Tears actually did start to roll down his cheeks as he revealed his tale to me. I actually . . . kind of regret asking about it. I rubbed his back gently as he continued.

“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 wonder if Mokuba knew what had happened. He never mentioned it last night, so I wonder if he ever found out . . .”

“I'm sorry, Seto.” So that time when he said he had killed too many people . . . he had said `people' because not only had he killed Gozaburo, but he had also killed his best friend. Had he killed others as well? And when he was apologizing to Satoshi, it wasn't because he had lied, but . . . because he had killed him? “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.” He wiped at his eyes. “Well, have I satisfied your curiosity for now?”

“For now, yes.” I leaned over, using my hand to tilt his head as I planted a kiss on his lips. How long has it been since I last kissed him? It felt like an eternity. I was more than happy when he didn't fight it. When we parted, I gave him the tightest hug I could manage.

“You know,” Seto started again, a light blush on his cheeks, “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.”

“So . . . the reason you let me kiss you is because I look like Satoshi?” I was half-joking, but a part of me wondered if that was really the case.

“Nope. It's because I'm a freak that likes to be intimate with dogs, remember?” He winked, picking up his fork and resuming his meal. “Eat up before it gets cold, mutt.”

“The dog jokes again?” I fake-whined.

“Did they ever stop?”

“Heh, I guess not.”

A woman came into the room wearing a long apron, “I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Kaiba,” She must be a newer employee, since she didn't use `Master', “But when I picked up your guest's swimsuit, this paper fell out of the pocket.” She held her palm out to me to reveal a folded piece of paper.

My eyes were probably covering my entire face.

“What is that?” Seto asked, eyes narrowing as he glanced from the paper and then to me.

I snatched it out of 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.” He reached for my hand but I quickly got up from my chair and moved away.

“Seto, I'm sure it's nothing!”

“You're sure it's nothing? You don't even know what it is?” He was up from his seat now, and the woman there with us was beginning to look flustered. “Aren't you the one that always preaches about not keeping secrets?!”

“Fine!” I grabbed his hand, shoving the note into it and then shoving his own hand against his 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?” Seto looked surprised but then turned to the woman that had brought the note, “Get out.” He gave her a glare that spooked even me, but the glare faded once she had disappeared. “Saki gave this to you?” He stared at the offending paper, “You didn't bother to just destroy it?”

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

Seto unfolded it and held it up to read, a funny look on his face. “Tomorrow. Kitamori Corporation. 10:00 AM.” His eyes came up to meet my own. “Sounds like he's wanting you to go there at that time.”

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

“Are you kidding me!” He grabbed me by my shirt, giving me one hard shake, “Curiosity is one thing, but don't be an idiot! He wants to kill you!”

“Why would he want to kill me?”

“Because-” He abruptly went silent, eyes digging holes into my chest when he averted his eyes from mine. “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.” I don't know why I thought this, but something in my gut told me that he had something to tell me, that he wasn't going to kill me if I met up with him tomorrow. After all, the way he acted at the pool today didn't seem like the actions of a psychopath. I know that he did something awful to Seto . . . twice . . . but even so, I just felt like he wouldn't try to kill me, at least not yet.

“You're not going.” He finally let go of me, folding his arms and glaring.

“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.”

“What?”

“You're not going.”

Chloroform? Lock me up? What the hell? “I think you're overreacting.”

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

“Obviously you didn't at one point in time.” Oops. Me and my big mouth.

“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.”

That's right; Gozaburo had gotten away with several murders, according to Seto. Seto had also gotten away with it. It seems like corporate leaders have a way of getting around things. “Does he have something to do with this `Kitamori Corporation' mentioned in the note?”

“He's the only son of the owner. His father is the chairman and CEO of Kitamori Corporation. Saki is Kitamori Saki.” His eyes narrowed further, “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.” He laughed a little, “Isn't that childish?”

“You were in love . . .” It was depressing to think about. Seto had been very much in love with this Kitamori Saki, only to have his heart completely crushed. “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?” A familiar black-haired kid came to stand beside us. “Who is killing whom?” Man, this kid has some really annoying timing.

“Mokuba, Saki appeared at the pool today.” Seto informed him, much to my surprise.

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

“Apparently he gave Jou this note.” The elder brother passed the paper to the younger brother, who studied it for a moment.

“Alright, Jou! Bring a few guns and some ammo and turn that asshole into swiss cheese!” Mokuba gave me a thumbs up and winked, a wide grin stretching across his face.

“Mokuba!”

“Not the reaction you were expecting?” I asked, amused at Seto's reaction. I guess that he was hoping Mokuba would try to convince me not to go. “Mokuba, your brother is worried that if I go to meet Saki, he'll try to kill me.”

“Oh, he might.” Mokuba looked thoughtful for a moment.

Well that certainly burst my bubble. I thought I had the advantage for a second! “I'm going no matter what. I don't think I'll be killing him, but I guess I can't rule it out.”

“Katsuya!” Seto scolded, shaking with anger.

“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.” I smiled at Seto, who looked completely dejected.

“You really are an idiot.” Seto shook his head, sighing heavily. There was a moment in which no one spoke, and then “Fine.”

“Woohoo!” I jumped into the air.

“You can go and meet Saki, but you must bring something with you for self defense.” He walked over to a potted plant in the corner of the room and then proceeded the pull up the entire plant and potting soil just by tugging on the plant itself. So it was fake. He reached his other hand inside of the pot and retrieved . . .

Yup, another gun.

“Do you have those things hidden all over the house?” I eyed the weapon in question.

“Basically.” He glanced down at Mokuba, “Don't get any ideas.” He handed the gun to me and I felt nervous just accepting 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. Also . . . if you do shoot him, make it worthwhile . . .”

He flashed an eerie smile.

“. . . and shoot to kill.”

- - -

Aaaaaaand that's chapter 28! Dayum! That took a twist that I didn't expect at all! Sorry for some of the giant dialogues and the emergence of unnecessary subplots! I hope I made things more clear rather than more confusing! I started to feel like I was rambling! The last half of the story was all written in one sitting, so I hope the flow is okay! Please don't forget to leave some lovely reviews to fuel me up for the next chapter! Next up: BBESS!

Also, I have a question. Would you all like it if I did parenthetical citations for the quotes that I use? I used it for one of my quotes (the one about the library) but I really only did that because I was amused that I was quoting the very beginning of chapter one. Do you all want me to do that from now on or would that ruin the flow? It's whatever you all want!