Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ From within the Flames ❯ Chills and Questions ( Chapter 4 )

A/N: Hey there! Sorry for the long wait. We're moving so we have to fix up our new house (cries at how big it is) before we can and it needs a LOT of work done on it.

Kathrine: Yeah, so please be patient with us.

JC: Now, we would like to thank everyone for reviewing our little pathetic story here.

Kathrine: This is NOT pathetic! We've got 23 reviews for only 3 CHAPTERS!!! We haven't even gotten to the part where… (JC slaps hand over Kathrine's mouth)

JC: Do you want to spill everything?! (Lets out scream as Kathrine bites her hand. Pulls hand away and holds it to her chest) Jou's not the dog, you are!

Kathrine: And the point would be…?

JC: (Backs up a bit) I think I'll write from here. Oh, and we send a shout out to Jou-pup for giving us the info about the millennium balance… weight… libra-thingy. We are sooo definitely replacing it with the Millennium Earrings right now. See for them to work one each must be worn by two people

who are equal in heart, body, and soul and they are used connect all of the other Items together for a special 'ceremony' that will show up WAY later in the story because power was taken from each other Item to create them. They also bind the two bearers for eternity, life and death.

Kathrine: Just thought we'd give ya a bit to know what's gonna happen later.

JC: Now I'll answer some review, but I probably only answer those who ask questions 'cause I know most of you just skip straight to the fic.

FFNet-

Blu chocobo- Thank you for reviewing! You're the first for CH 3! (Inflating ego)

ArrowSphere- Thank you so much! You're one of the only people who read my other fics besides RW/GW!

Lady Guena- You'll see what happens right now. And yes, Seto's does know something. But I won't tell you how MUCH of that something he knows.

Jadej.j- OH MY GODDESS!!!!!!!!!!! YOU are reading MY fic?!! I bow down to you! What happened to your YGO/Beyblade fic? Is it gonna get finished??? GODS YOU READ OUR FIC!!!! (Jumps around like a sugar-highed child)

Rai-chan- Thank you for the compliments. We love when people do that. (Grins happily)

Jenniyah- Thanks a lot. We hope you like how we put them in here, but that won't come in until ALL the guys have their items.

Joey Lover- I am DYING for someone to tell ME about some Seto/Jou sites! I guess I'll have to do some hunting with my search engine and get back to ya. ^_^

MMOrg-

Dragondreamer Yami dragon - JOU IS MINE!!!! I CAN HURT HIM HOW I WANT!!

JC: Try to calm down. Can't you two share Jou? She can have him half the week and you can have him the other half and then share on Wednesdays.

Kathrine: That might be negotiable… I still need a blonde to harm for the other half of the week…

JC: What do you think we use Seiji from YST for?! I think he's got it worse than Jou!

Kathrine: For now…

Jou-pup - Thanks a bunch. You get a prize! Hope you like the Earring Item.

(Now on to the fic…)

Disclaimer: WE DON"T OWN ANYTHING BUT THE EARRINGS WHICH HAVEN"T EVEN SHOWED UP YET!! Oh and Doc Katsu.

Warnings: Nothing really for this chapter, save language. But Seto does get to show off a bit…

From within the Flames

BY JC and Kathrine

Chapter 4 - Chills and Questions

Oh my Gods…Jounouchi stared with shock quite apparent into ice blue eyes. How can he be a Kaiba? Gozuborou didn't have any children and he looks NOTHING like him! Could he be his nephew? He could feel anger, fear, and apprehension just from the mentioning of his name. Now he had no idea what he was going to do. Did them send him after me this time? What's going on?

Seto was watching the play of emotions on the boy's face. He was deathly pale in the dim light that was in the grove and his eyes were wide in disbelief. " Y-you're a K-Kaiba?" the blonde forced out.

" Of course," he gave him an irritated glare. " Who else could run Kaiba Corp.?"

This only seemed to make the blonde even more unstable and his legs practically collapsed from beneath him. He quickly placed his hands against the tree to hold himself up. To Seto, he looked as if he was drained of all his energy and was barely maintaining his upright position.

" Y-you…no, no…" Jou shook his head, ignoring the dizziness that came when he did so. " Y-you c-can't be the h-head of Kaiba Corp." He slowly used was strength he had left to back away from the brunette.

" And why not?" the other boy was more than just a little offended by that, but was curious due to the fear that was in the mysterious boy's eyes. Why is he so afraid of Kaiba Corp.?

Jou was not about to answer any more of the Kaiba boy's questions. He had to get out of there and fast. THEY could be searching for him right now; the brunette could have very well been sent by Them. He needed to get back to the school so he could rest. He was drained from the forced release of the Flame and knew he didn't have the strength to protect himself if They came after him now.

" I gotta get outta here," he mumbled to himself and turned to leave. He didn't care that he was running from the scene of a murder. The guy wasn't the first person he'd killed and he knew it probably wouldn't be the last. Seto gave another glance at the charred corpse and just shrugged it off. The man was probably a waste of life anyway and he'd been taught that such people needed to be gotten rid of. Death was just apart of life for the weak, no matter how it came about, and the strong had to keep their minds on what was more important.

The blonde boy was about to run away and he wasn't going to let him. He closed the difference between them and grabbed the Pyro's wrist in a tight grip. But just as he grabbed he was assaulted with a sensation of warmth that ran from his arm and into his body. It was such a contrast to the familiar coldness that was eternally present within his bones and skin. He entire body was encompassed in the warmth and was instantly addicted to it.

Jou was feeling almost exactly the opposite. His body was being pulled into a dreadful chill. It was as if the fire that had lived in him since he was born was being frozen in a layer of ice. He felt himself growing tired, his body shutting down from the cold. He remembered this sense of fatigue and numbness. It was the same as with the man that had raised him. But he was cold because…

His eyes grew heavy and his limbs even more so than before. The last thing he saw before he passed out was the two ice blue eyes staring at him intently just as he whispered, " Gozuborou…"

Seto watched as the blonde's eyes widened before the lids lowered a little and then fluttered closed. The boy's body went limp just as he whispered a name that the brunette had tried to forget, tried to push into the background of his mind. How does he know HIM? he wondered as he caught the blonde's body before it fell to the ground. He stared at the blonde's weary features and couldn't help but feel something familiar. It was something laying beneath the ice in his mind that just wouldn't come to the surface.

But he still didn't tell me who he was, he thought. I want answers and he's going to give them. Looking around he realized that they needed to leave the park or else it would seem too suspicious about them being near a burned corpse. Well, Mokuba has always said that I should learn to be kinder to people and he would never forgive me if I just left him here like this. Picking the blonde up into his arms, he headed back towards his laptop and briefcase that held his cell-phone. It was time for him to go home.

*****

A young girl jumped up in bed with wide eyes and a gasp escaping her lips. She wrapped her hands around herself and couldn't help but shiver. She felt soo cold. The warmth that she'd always felt before was gone. What's happening to me? she wondered. She couldn't remember a time that she hadn't felt warm and safe. The Warmth had been the final gift given to her by the one person that cared for her most. He'd given it to her so she'd always feel safe.

Onii-san…her eyes widened. Something's happened to Onii-san! Immediately, she turned over and pressed the button on a black box-like machine that was on the night table repeatedly. In less than a minute something rushed into her room. It was a tall slender-looking young woman with long flowing blonde hair that was pulled up into an untidy ponytail and wearing a nightgown. It was obvious she'd just been awakened from her sleep.

" Serenity what's wrong?" she asked in a worried tone. " Why were you pressing the calling button I gave you like that?"

" Something's happened to my brother!" the brunette girl cried out as she climbed out of the bed. " I know something's happened to him!"

" Calm down kid," the old woman told her as she took her hand and patted it affectionately. " Everything is fine, I bet nothing has happened at all."

" B-but I feel so cold inside," the girl protested. " I know it's because something has happened to my brother. I have to make sure he's okay, Mai!"

" You know you can't do that," she stated. " You're surgery's tomorrow and you need to get some sleep. Just calm down and go back to sleep. I'll have Mom make some calls in the morning, okay?"

" All right," the girl seemed a little more relaxed with the blonde's reassuring words. " But this has happened before, remember? I don't like feeling so cold."

Mai gave the girl a short hug and pushed her back towards her bed. " You go to sleep and I better get out of here so that the doctor's don't find out that I was in here," she told her. " I'll take care of everything." The girl nodded at her and she could see that there were traces of tears in her eyes. She was really shaken up by whatever she felt. Mai knew that the girl was special and had gifts, but also had to have weekly treatments that had led up to her eye surgery. She only hoped it would all work to keep her sight.

She watched as she laid back down and then smiled at her before leaving the room. The doctor's didn't want her to have visitors the night before her operation. They said that it might cause her to be too afraid to go through with it. Mai knew that there was something else to it. I just hope that we can actually get in contact with her brother this time so that she won't worry so much.

This wasn't the first time the young girl that her mother had taken into foster care had asked about her older brother. Every time they tried to find something out for her the foster care board told her that he had been adopted because their parent's had died, but they couldn't tell her by who because it was against the law. Mai's mother had immediately requested to be able to adopt Serenity and was given permission, though the government still paid all of her medical bills.

But now the girl seemed very worried about her older brother that she never ceased to talk about. She'd only been five when they'd taken her in and yet she seemed to have a very good memory about her brother. She would tell them anything she could about him and yet didn't speak about if she remembered whom they lived with before she'd come to them. That had always confused both Mai and her mother. I do hope we can find something to keep her from worrying, the blonde prayed. I also hope that she isn't right and he is being hurt. Serenity seems to be so driven on finding him and becoming a family with him again.

She walked down the hall and saw the black-haired boy sitting down in a chair in the waiting room. " What was wrong with her?" he asked instantly, his blue/violet eyes filled with concern.

" She just had a nightmare, Mokuba," Mai assured him. " I guess she's getting pre-surgery jitters." The boy nodded and sat back in his chair. She couldn't deny that he was utterly adorably with his long, untamed black hair and the air or maturity he had with him for a mere boy of thirteen. He reminded her of his brother because of that.

" Hey, don't you think you should call your brother?" she asked him. " He'll think I'm not taking good care of you or something. He does anyway."

" Nah," he gave a weary shake of his head. " He thinks I was just coming over for a sleepover. I didn't tell him that Serenity was having an operation."

" Ya know he hates ya lying to him," Mai warned.

" He doesn't like hospitals, he wouldn't have let me be here for her," he explained. " Plus, I know he hates this place especially. Guess it cause 'you know who' used to sponsor most of the work done here."

" Well, how 'bout we go get something to snack on?" the blonde suggested. " It's gonna be a long night."

" Fine," Mokuba nodded and followed after her as she went towards the hospital cafeteria.

*****

His felt the Flame strengthening within himself and unconsciousness was waning. He was fighting to wake up, to find out what had happened. He hated that he'd fallen out right when he was in enemy territory with no way to defend himself or anything. Gods, how could have just passed out like that when he had just come face to face with the Kaiba who had inherited his former caretaker's life's work? Oh yeah, the cold...

He gave a low groan and turned so that he was lying on his side and was vaguely aware of the feel of satin against his skin that was beyond his sluggish senses. But why would he feel satin? Where was he? Certainly not in the park only a few feet away from a charbroiled former human being. He forced his eyes to open, feeling their heavy lids flutter heavily before finally welcoming in the light of dimmed overhead bulb. He squinted his eyes for a moment before opening them completely and taking in his surroundings. What he saw confused and shocked his at the same time.

He was in a room, a nicely furnished room at that. He was lying in a nicely-crafted, dark oak queen-size bed with red and black sheets and large posts that looked as if they should be on an over-sized canopy bed. His vision blurred for a moment and he could tell he was in great need of a recharging. He didn't feel a fire in the room and the next best thing, a person, probably wasn't nearby either.

That is, unless that psycho Kaiba is somewhere close by, he thought. This is probably his house. That's when he thought of something that he didn't want to think of as a possibility. What if I'm here cause he called Them? Gods, they could be on their way here to get me right now! He had to get up, he told himself. He had to find his way out of wherever he was and hide. THEY wouldn't take too long to show up to retrieve him and he didn't know for how long he'd been unconscious.

He looked around the room and saw an empty fireplace with a thin television screen above it, two empty chairs, a desk, a wardrobe, a dresser, a table, and the single window in the room was covered with thick black curtains that refused to allow any light to shine through. He couldn't even tell if it was still night or if he had slept through until the morning. His movements were drained and sluggish, his entire body wanting to fall back onto the soft mattress of the bed instead of dragging itself across the floor, as he slid from beneath the sheets and stood.

He felt himself tip over and immediately grabbed onto the nearest bedpost. He held onto it until the dizziness went away and once again tried to move towards the window. He was grateful for whoever was watching that the table was in the distance between the bed his destination. He moved only a few feet before feeling queasy and reaching out to place his hand on the cheery oak of the table. What's with this guy and oak? He wondered. It reminded him so much of someone else that he had known. Yeah, HE loved oak, too, he thought sourly.

When he realized he was at the opposite end of the fairly large table, he gathered what strength he had and forced himself to let it go and continue on by himself. All this work just to get to a window, he snickered ironically. Before I ran I never would have dealt with energy drain like this. I had the right type of energy all the time rather than using people most the time instead of fire. Their energy is from sugars that drain to quickly.

He gripped the drapes and could tell they were made from some thick, almost leather-like material. Gods, what is with all the similarities? He frowned. He might as well be living in Gozuborou's house! He moved the drape, tugging on it roughly and was assaulted by the brightness of the morning sun in the sky. He put up his hands instantly to protect his eyes and growled in frustration.

Okay…so clearly I've been out all night, he thought and then whispered, " So how the hell am I going to get out of here?" That's when the clapping began.

He spun on his heels, his entire body forgetting its fatigue to remain alert and ready for anything. What caught his eyes was that the sounds were coming from the corner of the room farthest away from him. He stared into the still shadowed area and watched as the same figure from the night before. Oh shit, it's him…that Seto Kaiba…But why couldn't I tell he was here?

" I see that you actually have the strength to get out of bed," he mocked with a stone cold expression, not even a smirk on his lips. " From the way you passed out last night, I thought you were one of those weak people who can't even tie their own shoes because that was purely pathetic."

" What are you callin' pathetic?!" Jou growled. " You're the one that grabbed me! ya the one that couldn' mind ya own business! Now where the hell are we?!"

" Well, you seemed as if you knew so much about the Kaiba's seeing as you said I couldn't possibly be the head of the Corporation so I decided to bring you to my home," the brunette seemed so nonchalant. " And besides, I wanted to know how you knew Gozuborou?"

" What's to ya how I knew him?!" Jounouchi was becoming very defensive. He didn't trust this boy as much as he trusted the dead man himself, so why should he answer any of his questions?

" He was my father, so I believe I have a right to know," the other stated coldly.

The blonde felt his heart stop for a few seconds before it began to beat again, this time at much faster rate. B-but Gozuborou didn't have any kids, he thought. H-he c-couldn't be his son. Gods, please let this just be a bad nightmare that I can wake up from.

" Is something wrong with you?" Seto demanded, not understanding the other boy's paleness. How does he know HIM? Is he another one from the EP?

" N-no," Jou stated, trying to regain his composure.

" Then why are you shaking like a frightened dog?" Seto asked. And strangely enough, to the brunette the boy did seem like some kind of puppy. The way his eyes were that deep yet light honey-colored brown, the way his hair was shaggy and in his face, some trailing down past his neck, and how he continued to try and ignore his own fear when it was obvious that something had him terrified.

Jou started at the word 'dog'. Gods, why can't people stop calling me that?! They always called me that… Then he set his face in a snarl and glared at the other teen. " You want so many answers from me, then why don't you answer some questions yourself?" he questioned. " I'm not talking until you do."

" Twenty questions is it?" the brunette stared at him impassively. " Depends on how good your answers are."

" Screw that!" the blonde shook his head. " I'm not telling you anything until you tell me how you're Gozuborou's kid! I know for a fact he never even got married! Unless you're some type of illegitimate brat I don't see how you're his!" He saw the punch coming, but was too tired and too conditioned for punishment to even think of blocking. He was knocked back into the wall with a loud thud and slowly shook of the effects. He looked up and could see a cold fire burning in ice blue eyes.

" Never call me anything like that again," Seto warned and then smirked when the blonde did and said nothing in return. " You're a mongrel just like I thought, all bark and no bite."

" Shut the hell up!" Jou shouted back at him. " Call me that one more time and I'll burn your ass! After last night, you know I can!"

This only caused the other to begin to chuckle and Jou could tell he wasn't buying his bluff. " You can't even stand straight," Seto pointed out. " You have no energy left to do anything and are practically at my mercy."

" Lie hell I am!" Jou forced himself to stand again, he wasn't going to let this rich ass baka show him up. He knew he had energy left in him somewhere…if he could tap into it.

" Keep trying to get up puppy and maybe you won't be able to anymore," Seto mocked him.

" What the hell do you want from me?!" This guy was really asking for it! How dare he kidnap him and them make fun of him by calling him a dog of all things that he could think of to insult him with.

" I already told you," the brunette frowned. " I guess your memory span is that of a dog's as well. You are to give me the answers that I want."

" I am not to give you anything!"

" Are you so sure about that?" Seto raised one eyebrow in question. " I think that I can be very 'persuasive' when I have to be and I know that I can find something to convince you." Jou's eyes widened at the implications of the other boy's words. He had no idea what the other was going to do and that scared him more than he would even admit to himself. Why couldn't he let him go?

He took a step back and couldn't help but feel cold for some reason. He looked around and took in a deep breath, coughing at the strangely chilly air. Breathing out he noticed that he was beginning to be able to see his breath in front of his face. He brought his hands up to his arms and began to rub them to bring the warmth back, but he was too drained to keep his body temperature up.

" Feeling a little cold?" the brunette asked him with a smirk on his lips.

Jou turned his eyes back to stare at him. " What are you trying to do to the room?" he demanded to know.

" I'm not trying to do anything," Seto replied. The blonde noticed that he didn't seem effected at all by the sudden temperature drop in the room. His breath was even showing in the air like his was. He knew that something was definitely not right with the seemingly psychotic boy who had taken him captive. What the hell is wrong with him?!

" Stop it!" Jou shouted, his body becoming more chilled by the second. Looking around, he noticed that the furniture in the room was becoming covered in a light layer of what appeared to be a clear shiny substance. He stared at the drapes next to him and reached a cold hand to touch them. To his complete shock the drapes felt completely ice cold and as hard a rock. He tapped it and was startled by the one drape cracking, a piece of it then falling to the floor and shattering.

" I'm amazed you haven't frozen to death yet," Seto stared at him curiously. " Could it be that the fire you used to kill that man last also keeps you stable in cold temperatures?"

" N-none of y-your business," Jou's teeth began to chatter. He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to keep the warmth he had. The lack of energy was causing what little bit of warmth had been sustaining him to decrease rapidly. He knew that if he didn't do something then he would be a Jounouchi ice cone in less then ten minutes. He has to be part of the Project of else he wouldn't be able to do this, let alone survive in it. Then he made a desperate decision. I'm gonna have to tell him something or else I'm done for.

" F-fin-ne," he gave in. " I-I'll t-tell. J-just t-turn b-back o-on the h-heat o-or s-s-something."

" Good boy," Seto was pleased by his submission and let his power recede. He felt the cold return to his body, no longer being released freely into the room they were in. Jou rubbed his arms faster, the paleness that his skin had turned slowly changing back to its naturally lightly tanned tone. Seto could feel the same sense of déjà vu at the way the boy was holding himself. It seemed soo familiar and yet he didn't know why.

" W-why do you want to know, besides how I know Gozuborou?" the blonde was wary of how he phrased his words because he didn't want to give the arrogant jerk another opening to insult him. He was going to snap if he heard anything else referring to 'dogs'.

" That's a very good place to begin," Seto replied. Walking around to the desk and then sat down in the black leather chair behind it. " How do you know my 'dearly departed father'?" Jou wasn't too oblivious as to not notice the hidden deprecation and malice when mentioning Gozuborou.

" Well…" he knew he couldn't tell him the truth. How could he explain that the man had adopted him and his sister, only to train him like a soldier and the get rid of his sister when he was becoming a bother to him. It didn't seem like the brunette liked the man anymore than he did, but he wasn't sure. This 'Seto' was hard to read and he didn't have the gifts his sister had. Then he decided that the best lie was one with truth in it for they were easier to cover up.

" I met him when I was in an orphanage after my parents died in a car crash," he stated. " He was looking for a kid or two to adopt and he checked out me and my sister. He didn't want us, but his 'friend' took us in instead. I saw him a lot 'cause my adopted dad worked for him before he died." Well, that was as close to the truth as he was getting and Doctor Katsuya had been the real 'father figure' in his life anyway.

" Who was your father?" Seto questioned. " If he still works there then I might have met him before. But I don't think I've never seen you before."

" Well…he's dead," Jou told him.

" Really?" Seto's eyes perked at this tidbit of information.

" Yeah, he died of a heart attack," Jou went on. " It was like something just came and ripped his soul from his body." Or more like a golden something belonging to a certain silver-haired psycho…

" Who was he?" the brunette repeated.

" Tero Katsuya," the blonde replied.

" Nani?" Seto stared at him. " That fossil was too old to even adopt kids. No wonder he died."

" Shut up!" Jou snarled at him. " He was the best man I've ever known! Don't you dare to insult him while I'm around! Now I want some answers! I told you what you wanted and I want to know some things too!"

Seto just stared at him with the same apathetic expression, but in his mind the wheels were turning with great interest. What is it with this boy that he just demands things from ME like that? I've never met anyone like him. Strange that we would meet and be apart of the same 'great plan' that those six on the board planned so long ago. Maybe I'll keep him around for a while.

A/N: Gods, how was that? It wasn't too bad.

JC: Now this is for all of those people who thought we were gonna just oust Mokuba! (Blows raspberries at everyone) I love him way too much and it makes for a great twist.

Kathrine: Okay now just review and we'll reply to the first five. Oh and Jou-pup, we forgot to mention what ya got for the info. You give us a name of a person and we give it to an OC in the fic and you can even design the person if ya want.

JC: See, help get reward. Help-reward. We like that system. ^_^

Kathrine: Bye!