Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Hope ❯ Just Maybe ( Chapter 1 )

Hello all!!! Welcome to the second chapter of `Hope'. I want to thank everyone who reviewed, it's u you guys that keep me writing ^_^. So yeah….. Ummm warnings: Seto is a little OOC, sometimes more than others. Sry about that. Oh and I don't own any of the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh, they belong to Kazuki Takahashi. Now on with the chapter!!!!

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Jou awoke to a dark room that he didn't recognize. It was cold and hard and his body still ached for the beating he had received.

"Where am I?" he mumbled and tried to stand up. However, something prevented him from doing so. "What the hell?!" Jou's hand went to his neck where he felt the resistance and felt a collar there. Trying to catch his breath after it being suddenly cut off by the collar, he felt around in the darkness to find what was holding him down. Attached to his collar was leash that was tied to a pipe in what he now recognized as his garage. "What the heck is this?"

"Don't you like it? Mutt? It is fitting isn't it? A mutt tied up the way it should be." Jou's father hissed. `How did he know?' Jou thought to himself. After all, only Kaiba called him that so how did his father find out about it. Seeing the look of utter shock and confusion on his son's face, his "father" decided to elaborate.

"I saw you on your way home the other day. You were with those pathetic friends of yours when Seto Kaiba himself walks up and starts to tease you." Jou's father had quite the evil smirk on his face now and he gave his son a quick kick to the stomach. "You never told me you went to the same school as a millionaire. But anyway, I was amused so I decided to listen in. That's when I heard him call you a mutt and that was all that you would ever be. He is right you know, you will never be anything better than a worthless mutt that serves me! AND IF SETO KAIBA TELLS YOU TO DO SOMETHING, DO IT! We want someone as powerful as him on our side………understand?!"

"Yes sir." Katsuya muttered. "Good, now you will stay here till Monday. Hopefully by then, this all will have really sunken in. Night mutt." Jou heard his father slam the door as he left. `This is going to be the weekend from Hell' he thought and then blacked out again.

He was right, the weekend was indeed a horrible one. Katsuya didn't get anything but old bones and the occasional bowl of water for two days. By the time Monday rolled along, Jou hadn't touched his homework nor had he showered. And to say the least, he smelled really, really bad. On top of that his stomach was grumbling so loud from the lack of food that you would really think that there was a dog in his garage.

Katsuya's father came down to the garage at about 5:30 in the morning, having just gotten home form a night of alcohol and women, and woke Jou up with a swift kick to the stomach.

"Get up mutt!! I don't pay money for you to lie around all day!" he yelled drunkenly.

"Yes, I'm going." Jou slowly rose to his feet and walked out of the house and to the park were he was supposed to meet his friends in about two hours. He lied down on a park bench and got some much needed shut eye until little Yugi's voice broke through his peaceful darkness.

"Ano……….Jou-kun? Is there something wrong? You get into a fight or something?" Yugi questioned as he shook Katsuya awake, a look of concern on his face.

"Yeah man", Honda added, " you look like shit."

"Gee, thanks Honda." Jou replied sarcastically. "It's nothing really. I just tripped over some stuff in the hallway and took a tumble down the stairs….hehe" Katsuya hoped that his fib fooled his friends. He didn't want to lie to them, but he also didn't want to burden them with his problems. They might tell his to report his fathere and that was one thing he couldn't do. His father was the only thing that was keeping him out of a foster home. He had asked is mom if he could move in with her……and she told him `no'. She told her own son no. So if his father would go, so would he.

Yugi and Honda just looked at their friend. They had been suspecting that something had been going on between Katsuya and his father, but they hadn't said anything. If Jou wanted them to know, he would tell them…….or so they thought.

"Man, you are such a clutz." Honda said to break the silence.

"I'm surprised that it took you that along to figure that out. Your as dense as the mutt." Katsuya winced as he heard the nickname that used to be reserved just for his crush, but was now also used me his `father'. "What's the matter mutt? No smart come back?" Seto smirked.

Jou felt the tears come to his eyes. It stung even more to be called that now. He whipped around to face Seto, unshed tears glistened in his honey eyes. "Don't. Call. Me. That." He then turned and walked away leaving a slightly surprised Seto Kaiba behind.

"I was expecting him to be mad but, that was just……"

"Odd?" Yugi finished for the young CEO.

Kaiba nodded, "Is there something wrong?" he asked to no one in particular. Yugi shifted his weight from foot to foot, thinking of what to say. Maybe he should tell Kaiba about what he thought was happening to Jou. It was obvious that Jou was being beaten and his father was known to be an alcoholic. It wasn't hard to put the two together; Jou had an abusive father. Seto had been in an orphanage when he was younger, maybe he could help Jou with his problem. It was a longshot but you never know until you try.

"Hey Honda, you go on ahead and try to calm Jou-kun down. I'll catch up with you later." Yugi said. He was looking back and forth between Kaiba and Honda.

"Ok Yugi, see ya." Honda replied, getting what Yugi wanted to do and ran off.

"Is there something you want to tell me Yugi?" Seto questioned.

"Well, yes, there is. It's about Jou." Yugi stopped there. He still wasn't completely sure if he should tell Kaiba.

"Yugi? What about Jounouchi?" The look in Seto's eyes was full of worry all of a sudden. Maybe Kaiba really was concerned for Jou…..just maybe. That's when Yugi made up his mind. Jou might not want any help, but he sure did need it.

"…..he's abused, isn't he?" Seto calmly stated. Yugi looked up in surprise, Kaiba had beaten him to it.

"Yea."

"I thought so. He has all the mannerisms of someone who is." Seto had an angered look on his face as he thought about it. "Has he told anyone?"

"No," Yugi sighed " It was just something we've been assuming. But he's been getting worse, and I think that it's time we did something." Yugi's little speech had inspired himself and a fire burned in his purple eyes. Seto looked down at him, he had to admire the little one's courage. But he would get hurt if he tried to do something on his own and he would just get in Seto's way.

"Yugi, I'll handle it. I can get more done that you can."

"You…..you want to help? I thought that you hated him?" Yugi stated, surprised.

Seto just continued to look sternly down at him. He couldn't let anyone know why he cared. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he knew. "Just let me handle it, ok?"

"Fine. I sure hope that you can help him." Yugi started to walk to school and left Kaiba behind.

Seto stood there for a while, trying to form a reason for why he had just decided to take on helping the mutt single handedly. Pictures of the pup flashed before his eyes and a small smile found it's way to his lips.

"Well, I guess I really do care about him…..more than I ever thought I could."

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There, second chapter done! Sorry it took so long. C&C welcome and thanks for reading this chapter.

~firekitsune~