The weekend passed pleasantly and uneventfully, only to be followed by a stressful, irritating Monday.

"Why are people so stupid?" Seto asked himself more and more throughout the day. By the time he finally let himself go home, he felt like the day couldn't get any worse. But then it did.

The moment he saw Mokuba, he knew something was wrong. He was avoiding his older brother, hiding his face behind his hair.

"Mokuba, come over here," he said sternly, putting down his briefcase as he knelt down to his brother's level. Mokuba sighed and came over to his brother, pushing his hair aside. He knew from experience that it was no good trying to hide anything from his brother, especially once he suspected that something was wrong.

"You got into another fight?" Seto sounded both frustrated and disappointed.

"I didn't start it this time!" Mokuba defended.

"So you were fighting back?" he clarified.

"Yes, and I would've won, too, if it had been a fair fight!"

"What made it unfair?"

Mokuba snorted disdainfully, an echo of his brother.

"Three on one is hardly fair."

Seto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as his headache got worse.

"Was it the same thugs as last time?" he asked tiredly. Mokuba crossed his arms stubbornly.

"I'm not telling you, because the last thing I need is for you to show up at school and embarrass me again."

Seto winced. He couldn't help that he was protective of Mokuba, that he hated the idea of him getting picked on. Was it really so bad for him to do something about it?

"Come on, let's get some ice on that," Seto said as he stood, putting one hand on Mokuba's shoulder as he started to escort him away, only to be interrupted.

"Seto! Mokuba! It's been so long!" Those voices. He knew those voices. He hated those voices. He turned around to see a man and a woman walking towards them, escorted by a butler. Seto scooped Mokuba up into his arms as he turned around to face them.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, severely pissed and not trying to hide it.

"Well, we wanted to come and find you, see how you turned out. We felt so terrible after we had to give you up to the orphanage, and—What happened to Mokuba? How'd he get a black eye?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Seto interrupted savagely, a fire in his eyes.

"What? No, of cour—"

"Then you think I don't remember what you did?"

"I have no idea what you—"

"Get out!" he shouted. "Get out and don't you dare come back!" The butler escorted the couple away as Seto carried Mokuba briskly down the hallway towards the kitchen.

"Seto, who were those people?" Mokuba asked tentatively, his arms wrapped tightly around his brother's neck.

"It doesn't matter. We don't have to worry about them anymore." He kissed Mokuba's forehead before setting him down and sending him off to finish his homework while he got him an ice pack.


Joey watched the strange couple leave in a huff, muttering to each other inaudibly from where he was clipping the hedge bushes. He was suspicious, but he didn't have a guess as to who they were or what they were doing at the Kaiba mansion.

When he stopped working for the day, he went to Seto's office, but didn't find him, so he went to Seto's room and found him in a state of agitation as he removed his tie and his wallet.

"How was your day, dear?" Joey asked sweetly as he came over to hug Seto—who was still in his business suit while Joey was in his sweaty work clothes.

"A pain," Seto sighed, hugging Joey in return and resting his chin on the blond's shoulder. "I hate Mondays."

"That's not new."

"People are idiots."

"Well, everybody's stupid compared to you," Joey quipped back, giving Seto's cheek a kiss, making the CEO chuckle.

"Thanks." Seto released Joey and kissed his forehead before going into his closet to put his tie away.

"Who were those people that came by an hour ago?" Joey asked curiously, eliciting a groan from Seto.

"I don't want to talk about it," he answered too quickly, sounding irked.

"If they upset you, then I think you should talk about it."

"What makes you think they upset me?"

"Well, they left looking all miffed and annoyed, so I'm guessing you displeased them, which mostly happens when other people displease you."

Seto stepped out of the closet and leaned against the doorframe.

"They were my aunt and uncle," he answered, looking annoyed himself. "We stayed with them for two years after our father died. They used up our inheritance then dumped us at the orphanage."

"Ouch." Joey stepped up to Seto and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Is that even legal?"

"I wouldn't think so, but it never occurred to me to find out," Seto answered, nuzzling his head against Joey's as his partner undressed him.

"What did they want?"

"Doesn't matter. I sent them away, and they won't be coming back."

"Was that wise?" Joey asked, pulling Seto's shirt out of his waistband and pushing the shirt off of the brunette's broad shoulders so that it fell to the floor and landed in a crumpled pile of cotton. He kissed Seto's neck and nipped at the skin as he pushed Seto's back against the wall.

"They mistreated us; you can't blame me for not wanting to see them again," Seto rasped, his heart racing in anticipation. "It's a little early in the evening for this, isn't it?"

"You're stressed. You need it."

That was the last thing they said before Seto picked up Joey and carried him to the bed to continue this more comfortably.


After dinner, Joey continued to try and help Seto relax. A back massage was perfectly fitting, in Joey's opinion, and since Joey was one of the few people Seto would let see his back, and the only one he let touch him, there was nobody better to administer it. Joey was surprisingly good at giving massages, despite his lack of formal training.

"What did you mean when you said that they mistreated you?" Joey dared to ask in the relative silence of the room. Seto didn't speak for a few minutes as he gathered his thoughts and his memories.

"I was fairly young then, and I don't have a lot of memories from that period of my life. I tried to forget it as best I could, and I guess it must have worked, because I have very few memories of when we were living with them. I remember some of the things they did to Mokuba, but nothing of what they did to me." He spoke in a low voice and sounded somewhat detached. It was his way of dealing with his past.

"What did they do?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"I don't want to talk about it." Seto sounded a little choked up, and Joey leaned down to kiss the spot behind his ear.

"That's okay, you don't have to," he murmured. "You don't have to talk about it ever again." Joey was more than willing to let the subject drop; it was reminders like this that tended to cause a relapse, after all. He'd have to keep a close eye on him for the next few days, at least.

"I'd rather talk about something else," Seto mumbled, and Joey smirked.

"We could just not talk at all," he purred back as he shifted his weight off of Seto and rolled the brunette over on the bed, positioning himself between Seto's legs. "I hope you won't mind my taking control this time, since I let you have your way before dinner."

Seto just grunted as he pulled Joey's mouth down to meet his own and wrapped his legs around Joey's waist. They were already naked—that had been Joey's idea—and the door was locked. All they needed was the lube.


Author Notes: What do you think of this sequel so far? Enjoying it? The real crisis begins in the next chapter, these first two chapters were just legwork. Please review, because more reviews = more chapters! Besides that, I love to hear from my readers. 3