A/N- Hey, lookie everyone! I'm not dead! Yeah... I actually managed to finish this one. Go me! I actually was debating on continuing this or not. But the song was so purdy that I decided to finish it. And because Otogi's just TOO cute to not have his own story. Can we say 'Obsession'?   ^.~ It's another songfic, this time to 'Acoustic #3' by The Goo Goo Dolls. Go and download it. You'll love it.

Lyrics are like this ~these~

Memories and/or thoughts are in italics without the ~ around them.

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or the song Acoustic #3. Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to rich people in Japan and Acoustic #3 belongs to the Goo Goo Dolls. *Blinks* Wowsies... Darkside actually did a serious disclaimer? Never happened before... But now it's not so serious. Meh...

Acoustic #3

Darkside Omega

He looked out over the town, watching, waiting. For what, he didn't know. As he continued observing the citizens of Domino, something tickled at the back of his mind.

Oh, no... not again!

Emerald eyes widened as he desperately tried to shove the memory back down where it came from. But like it is impossible to stop a tide from coming in, the unwanted memory crashed high up and over him like a wave, threatening to engulf him.

Physically, his eyes clouded over slightly, and his body remained still. Inside his mind, however, things were vastly different...

"Mother! Stop him! Please help me, mother!"

A young boy with fear-filled brilliant green eyes watched helplessly as his father advanced slowly upon him, drunken rage apparent as he brandished curled fists.

From the corner, the boy's mother watched, equally helpless, as the beating began, as it did every night, knowing it was far from over...

~They painted up your secrets

With the lies they told to you

And the least they ever gave you

Was the most you ever knew~

An intense whirl of light and color greeted his senses as the memory ended and vanished back into the shadows from whence it came. His breath came in short quick gasps while he tried to regain his bearings.

Nearly at the point of hyperventilating out of fear, he attempted to calm himself. To reassure himself that his father was a thing of the past. Eventually his respiration rate returned to somewhat normal and once again, emerald eyes scanned the city.

~And I wonder where these dreams go

When the world gets in your way

What's the point in all this screaming

No one's listening anyway~

They caught on the sign of the only other game store in town. The Turtle Game Shop. That was where Yugi and his grandfather lived. He envied Yugi. He really did. The kid was truly a good duelist, a good friend. He may have been small, but he was strong and his heart was in the right place. And he had a normal life. Yugi could help him... if only he knew...

But he didn't.

No, Yugi was in a blissful state of obliviousness. And he wouldn't tell him. He wouldn't spoil it for him. If that was how he wanted to go on living his life, then that was his choice. After all, there was really no reason to disrupt someone else's life, just for the sake of his sanity. The madness from his past wouldn't be enough to kill him...

He hoped.

~Your voice is small and fading

As you hide in here alone

And your mother loves your father

Because she's got nowhere to go~

There were lots of people that could help him. He was a popular person, that he knew. But none of the girls who fawned over him or the guys who envied him really understood. They never saw the real him.

No on ever bothered to take a closer look, to peel away the layers and crack his shell. All the world saw was his cocky, arrogant façade he showed to the people. Nobody cared enough to try and understand. But, lonely as he was, maybe it was better that way...

Yes, it was better to leave the innocent as they were. There was no need to have more people distressing like he was. In fact, there was probably only one person in all of Domino who would possibly know what his life was like.

And his name was Seto Kaiba.

Between them both, there was a strange likeness. They were both high ranking business men, yet they were still teenagers, going to school. Both had abusive fathers. But there was one more thing that bound them together.

They were jaded.

~And she wonders where these dreams go

Cause the world got in her way

What's the point in ever trying

Nothing's changing anyway~

He gasped as he felt the cold, clammy hands of another memory grip the surface of his mind. Try as he might to fight it off, it deemed itself stronger than he, and momentarily took him over.

The boy anxiously watched his mother for what her next actions might be. But all she did was hand him a key. The key to the front door. Emerald eyes widened in sudden realization.

It was freedom.

She nodded at him, then whispered her final instructions in his ear. "Take it and escape, child. You were not meant to live this kind of life."

"But... what about you, mother?" His lower lip trembled slightly, emerald eyes filling. "What will happen to you?"

"My future is not important now." She shook her head slightly. "Go. Leave now before your father wakes up."

The child stood, weighing his options quickly. "Where will I go?"

"It matters not. Anywhere is better than here. Change your name as well. Become someone new, with a new life. But promise me one thing. Promise me you will overcome your past."

"I promise."

And then he was free.

The real world rushed back at him forcefully. Not as bad as last time. How long he could keep people from noticing his slavery to memories, he didn't know. He thought hard. What was his freedom, really? Did it just mean that someone else was imprisoned in his place? Or was he really free?

But then again, his 'freedom' wasn't really freedom. Even though he was no longer restricted to the confines of his room or house, and the nightly beatings had stopped, he was still a prisoner.

Life held him captive in its everlasting ephemeral cage of everyday torment. That's all his freedom was, really. Just a perpetual existence saturated by loneliness and misunderstanding. Was it still worth living? Maybe...

~They press their lips against you

And you love the lies they say

And I tried so hard to reach you

But you're falling anyway~

But even if he didn't want himself to live, someone else did. His mother. To end the torment would be both relief and a disrespect. And a broken promise.

It all came down to this. To sacrifice his honor in living for his mother or his anguish filled life for true freedom. It was simple, really. He picked his honor. The old saying "Death before dishonor" would stick true after all.

He would have given up, had he been someone else. Been Otogi. But he wasn't. Not anymore. He was someone new now. He was Duke Devlin. And he would go on living, if only for his mother's sake. And he didn't break his promises.

He was much like a knight of the ages past, the ladies of the courts all contending for his affections. Much like now really. But their supposed devotion was nothing to him. They knew nothing of his life. They didn't understand. He could talk till he was blue in the face, and they would not comprehend. Instead, they would pity him. And he didn't want their pity.

Their devotion was all a lie. Lies, all of it. They were everywhere, impossible to escape from. Everyone lies, even the most pious and sincere people. Life was just one big lie he had decided to keep on living. Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter, since nobody listens...

~And you know I see right through you

When the world gets in your way

What's the point in all the screaming

You're not listening anyway~

~Owari~

A/N- Done! And this time I MEAN it when I say this one-shot is finished. Not like my poor Miracle, which is now going to have THREE parts. *Sobs* I've killed it... Well, technically, it's bigger, but...yeah... I confuse myself. And it's late. I need to go to bed so I can be all happy and perky *Shudder* and non-angstified *Gasp!* when I go to school tomorrow morning. But xxneoangel012xx doesn't have to go to school. She's got, like, two feet of snow. That's not fair. I want snow too! All it ever does is rain here. And Darkside becomes a soggy little Chylde when she walks home after school. She needs an umbrella. And she's talking in third person about herself again. And rambling. So she's going to end this now. Oh, and you should review. Like, now. At the little bluish box thingie on the lower left. See it? Press it. I'd be eternally grateful, but only for this lifetime. Yeah...