Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Childlike Beneath ❯ One-Shot

Childlike Beneath

A PWP by KK =^.^=

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"Moshi-moshi?" Yami asked. He hated answering the phone, but he was the only one home to do it.

"Yami?" Seto's voice, surprised, floated through the line.

Yami blinked, surprised. Why would Kaiba Seto be calling the Gameshop? "Uh, yeah... What do you want, Seto?" Yami replied, his game voice giving away none of his own hidden shock.

"Oh, uh... Nothing, I guess... Just, uh, calling..." Seto mumbled.

Yami narrowed his eyes. "Seto, you ass, what's bugging you?" He asked, sensing the other's nervousness. Something had to be up.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Seto said quickly. Too quickly.

"Bullshit. Not only were you stuttering, but you haven't commented on my calling you an ass yet." Yami rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Don't call me an ass. Oops, look at the time! Gotta go!" Seto hung up, his voice having had an almost scared undertone to it.

Yami groaned as he hung up. "That bastard is so fucking confusing...." He walked over to the door and, grabbing a coat against the cool autumn air, walked out of the shop, locking the door behind him. "Someone should check up on him..." The ex-Pharaoh decided, walking down the street, towards the Kaiba mansion.

~~*~~

"Baka!" Seto shouted at himself after hanging up. His voice bounced back at him from the empty mansion. "You were as see-through as glass!!" He turned around and rammed his head into the doorframe behind him a few times. To him, it felt good.

He stopped the self-inflicted pain when the first line of red made it's track down his cheek, and he had one hell of a headache. "Great, just great..." He grumbled, walking towards the bathroom to fix himself up. It was no wonder the servants were afraid of him. He enjoyed inflicting pain on himself too often. He figured they were probably tired of cleaning up the blood in his room. There were reasons Mokuba wasn't allowed in there...

He swallowed a couple pills for his headache, then cleaned out the newest wound. He found the triple antibiotic cream after a couple seconds and used it on his forehead to keep it from getting infected. He put a bandage over it, then wandered downstairs to the kitchen, stomach growling.

As he sorted through the near-empty refrigerator, Seto ran a hand through his hair. He groaned when some of the matted mess pulled out, drying blood holding it together. "Now I need another fucking shower. Perfect." He complained, pulling out a new container of chocolate ice cream and then searching for a spoon. He opened the ice cream, left the lid on the counter, then wandered out to the living room. There, he plopped down on the couch and turned on the television.

"News, news, weather, soap, news, weather, soap..." Seto mumbled for about a minute. "Ooh! Cartoons!" He said, suddenly happy. Then Funny Bunny came one.

"Hello, boys and girls! Let's all do the Funny Bunny dance!!" Funny Bunny laughed.

Seto almost screamed. It was just like the nightmare in Pegasus' castle, but animated. He changed the channel. Dubbed Care Bears. Okay. He could deal with this. "As long as it's not Funny Bunny..." He mumbled, leaning back against the pillows and allowing himself to doze.

~~*~~

"Ding, dong!" The mansion door bell went off.

"Yah!" Seto started, accidently knocking the melting ice cream container all over his shirt and pants front. "Kami damnit all!!!" He swore, standing sharply. His knee hit the coffee table with a resounding crack and he fell back against the couch pillows, hugging his knee and gasping from the pain.

"Ding, dong!" The door bell called again.

Seto groaned and, with an effort, got off the couch. He hobbled into the entrance and opened the door. "Oh, great..." He groaned, seeing Yami.

Yami blinked a couple of times, taking in the sight of his rival. "What happened?"

"You woke me up, you bastard." Seto complained, ignoring the others question to some extent.

"That doesn't explain the mess of your clothing, your limp, nor your forehead." Yami pointed out patiently.

"Fuck off." Seto growled darkly.

"No, thanks." Yami walked past Seto into the house. "Mind if I come in. Thanks."

Seto glared at the other's back as the shorter duelist surveyed the mansion. "Get out." He growled.

Yami shrugged him off and headed upstairs. "Nice place. Mind if I look around? Thanks." He said, almost as if he were having a conversation with himself.

Seto suddenly remembered the bloodied carpet and doorframe. "No! Wait, Yami!!" He cried, limping after the Game King after slamming the door.

"Seto, what's going on here?" Yami asked, turning to look at the other as Seto got within a few feet of him and the bloodied doorway. His voice, although compassionate, had an edge to it.

"Nothing." Seto mumbled, turning away. "Fucking sonovabitch...." He grumbled to his soiled shirt. "If you'll excuse me a second..." He said to Yami once again, walking into his own bedroom and slamming his door shut behind him. He rested against it with a sigh.

Yami, still in the hallway, sighed at Seto's door. "Seto, talk to me, please." He asked softly, the edge gone from his voice.

Seto, in his room, swallowed hard. The need to talk to someone was burning inside him. He fought the urge for so long. I should tell Yami... He thought to himself. But another part of him beat him back. And let him use that against you later?! Never!! Seto slid down the door, head bowed.

Yami found himself shocked to hear soft sobs from within the closed room. He'd never know the CEO to cry. Never. "Seto..." He whispered, hand on the door.

Seto crawled over to his bed after turning the doorknob some, allowing Yami to enter. He curled up on his bed in a ball, ashamed of himself for letting his rival see him like this, yet, at the same time, glad Yami was there. Weakling! His mind shouted. Seto didn't care.

Yami stepped in and gaped at the red and brown stains he could spot all over the place. The he glanced at Seto, curled up on the bed, hugging his sides and crying softly. Yami walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Seto, what is this? What's wrong?" He whispered, understanding, but not wanting to.

"I can't stop..." Seto mumbled.

"Stop what?" Yami frowned down at the other, crimson eyes worried.

"Hurting myself..."

"But, I don't understand why..."

"A psychiatrist I had once told me it was because it comforted me, the pain..." Seto glanced up at Yami, eyes dry.

Yami sighed. "Why would the pain comfort you?"

"Because I grew up with it. It was familiar to me..." Seto shrugged. "That's what the psychiatrist told me, at least..."

"Familiar... Seto, what aren't you telling me?" Yami asked, feeling that something was missing from this equation.

"My adopted father had this idea in his head that the perfect president was one who could feel no pain and have no weaknesses, for all his weaknesses were taken away, and he was already immune to all the pain life could ever offer." Seto mumbled softly.

Yami gaped at the realization. "Ra... Seto, your adopted father beat you, didn't he?!" All the cruel words, all the coldness... It was all just a mask, to cover up a child who had never really grown up, never really known love or caring. "Where are your real parents?"

"Dead." Was the bland reply.

"Seto...." Yami whispered, his eyes holding compassion for his rival.

Seto got the sudden urge to really freak Yami out. "Oh, he didn't just beat me..." He snickered, the sound of a madman. "He fucked me too. Good and hard." His laughter suddenly turned to tearful sobs. "And I hated him so much!" He looked down at his hands. "But I loved him too... It was so confusing..."

Yami, eyes filled with unshed tears for this lost child, moved over and hugged Seto quietly, as he tended to do for Yuugi. "Hush now... Hush...." He mumbled softly.

~And, slowly, the weeping child fell into a deep sleep, his dreams filled with love for the first time in too long.~

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~~A/N: *falls over sideways*

Seto: What the hell?!?

KK: No sleep.... *glances at clock* Late night.....

Pugio: Porn withdrawl.

KK: Hush!!

Pugio: *snickers* It's true!

KK: *rolls eyes* Pain in the ass... *turns to readers* Okay, please review. Totally random, sorry... Not up to my usual standards... *shrugs* Whatever....

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DISCLAIMER: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! *sobs* All I have is a screwed up boombox and my poor little laptop that won't read some of my floppies!! *sniffles*

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~Ja!

KK =^.^=