Hidden Lives, Uncovered Truths
By: OtakuJeannie
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Violence, gore, Shonen ai/Yaoi, mentioned Het, AU, Character death
Pairings: Jounouchi/Mai, Seto/Jounouchi
Summery: When Jounouchi's luck hits rock bottom, he accidentally discovers a secret of Seto's. Will his luck change, or will he suffer an even more horrible fate?
Notes: A special thanks to Mom of Fluff and Fluffier for the bunnie and all of her help.
Ryota Kajiki was grateful to be alive as he clung to the wheel of his small boat. There had been a bad storm last night that he'd had the misfortune to get caught in. Fortunately, both he and his vessel survived with only a few scrapes after the experience, but now Ryota needed to find land. He wanted to make sure that his boat had no hidden damage that would make itself known when he was out in the middle of the ocean.
It seemed that luck was still with Ryota as the first golden rays of the sunrise fell across the deck and illuminated land, just a short distance from where he was. With a grateful smile, Ryota set his course towards land when something caught his eye.
In one of the piles of debris that littered the deck, Ryota spied an unusual streak of yellow. Intrigued, Ryota walked over to the pile noticing that the golden streak seemed to be hair. A deep sense of foreboding overcame Ryota as he reached out one trembling hand and picked up the hair.
The hair came up easily at first, but pulled when it ran out of slack, Ryota cringed and was tempted to just let the hair drop but then decided he had to know what was in the pile so that he would know what to do next.
Bracing himself for the worst, Ryota pulled on the hair until he found himself staring into a pair of lifeless violet eyes. Its hair lay tangled around the once pretty face, which had strips of flesh missing revealing parts of the skull beneath. A few drops of congealing blood dripped onto the deck below with an audible plop. Ryouta's mind went bank as panic took over, the head fell from his fingers and fell to the floor with a thud. His screams could be heard for about half a mile away.
Jounouchi fell to his knees and began to dislodge his meager dinner form the night before, felling a little guilty as he did so. Jounouchi had to be revived once before the mortician had uncovered the body and twice after so that he could give them the conformation they needed to officially file his father as dead.
Officer Hiraoka walked off in of in search of some paper towels while Isiki; the mortician went find a janitor. It seemed like an eternity for Jounouchi as he knelt there and vomited until the heaves gave way to sobs. Eibisawa stepped to the side, leaned over and pulled Jounouchi to his feet. Hiraoka handed him a handful of paper towels.
"It was your first time seeing a dead body wasn't it, kid." Hiraoka asked sympathetically.
Jounouchi wanted to reply but couldn't stop crying as he thought of his father laying mangled on a cold slab. "Real bitch that it was your own father." Hiraoka said bitterly guiding him towards a restroom.
Jounouchi leaned on the rim of the sink and pulled the handle for the cold water, cupped his hands, filled them and rinsed the taste of vomit form his mouth. A second handful he drank eagerly, after that was done Jou splashed water on his face and reached for the paper towels to dry his face with. To his surprise, the dispenser was empty.
"Here." Eibisawa said as he pulled a handkerchief from under his uniform jacket and held it out to Jou, who took it gratefully. "I think we should let him get some rest and let him come back to fill out the paperwork later, don't you agree, Hiraoka?" Jounouchi looked up from the sink, silently grateful to Eibisawa.
"Yes, that would be best Eibisawa. Do you remember the address?" Hiraoka replied and Jounouchi followed them back to the waiting squad car.
On the way out, Jounouchi noticed a van pull up. Instead of pulling out the stretcher, the driver got out and pulled open the morgue doors while the passenger opened the back of they pushed in a stretcher with small thick vinyl bag perched on top of it. Jou squeezed his eyes shut and hurried to the car.
Seto sat at his desk, not really reading the large book in his hands. In the back of the room he could hear Anzu and Honda talking while they waited for their friends to arrive. A furtive glance at the clock told Seto that class was due to start in five minutes. Seto looked up at the open doorway, searching for a trace of his desire to appear.
Yugi ran in just before the bell, looking a little confused and out of breath. Seto watched as the teacher walked to the front of the room and began her lecture. Seto put his book down and began pretending to listen and take notes.
Jounouchi hadn't come to school today, which was odd. Seto guessed that Jou had taken Mai's rejection badly. He felt a brief surge of guilt, but as he remembered his meeting with Mai last night he knew that he'd spared Jounouchi a lot of heartbreak.
It was nearly ten o'clock at night when Seto perched himself on a bolder and watched Mai Kujaku climb out of her car. In the moonlight Seto could see that Mai was dressed in something that didn't make her look like a hooker. She wore an emerald colored tank top with a matching fluttering skirt that fell to jut below her knees and a caramel-colored cashmere sweater. Mai's long wavy hair had been pulled up into a bun while she had exchanged her usual long lace-up boots for a pair of tan leather sandals. Seto looked down at the oversized navy blue towel he had wrapped around his hips and almost felt a little underdressed for his little meeting.
They were at a beachside resort some fifteen miles north of Domino City, though due to the steep mountains and cliffs took over an hour and a half to drive there. The resort was currently vacant due to a fire that had happened in March before the resort's annual opening. The only people there had been a caretaker and three security guards. No one had been hurt but the building had suffered major damage and was scheduled to be demolished in a matter of weeks.
Seto continued to watch as Mai finished her bottle and threw it onto the sand and wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"I never figured you for a lush." Seto remarked from behind the blonde woman, causing her to jump in surprise. Mai turned around and narrowed her eyes.
It was obvious to Seto that Mai had been crying recently and was still on the verge of more tears. After running Kaiba Corp. for so long, Seto had refined the art of reading body language accurately and right now it seemed all Mai wanted to do was go home and cry.
"Not like it's any of your business but I am not." Mai shot back angrily. "Besides, isn't it a little late to be going swimming or are you going for a moon tan?" Mai quipped cattily and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You right, it is none of my business. After all, there is no reason for me to have anything to do with the likes of you." Seto countered crossing his own arms and looking down his nose at Mai. Seto had put a lot of effort in luring her out here for this little meeting and decided to have a little fun before the hunger took over.
"What do you mean by that?" Mai asked uncrossing her arms, planning one balled hand on her hip and leaning forward. Seto almost laughed as her new position gave him full view of her cleavage.
"Your dueling skills are no challenge for my own. As for you other 'talents'," Seto replied with a pointed glance. "They hold no interest for me." Mai frowned at Seto's words but said nothing.
"There is only one thing that could make me waste my time talking about with you." Seto continued as he watched Mai try and control her temper.
"And what would that be?" Mai asked with an angry huff. "On second thought, I don't want to know." She added before flipping her hair and turning away.
"Jounouchi, the reason I had you meet me here Ms Kujaku." Seto murmured just loud enough for Mai to hear. Mai turned around in surprise, obviously not expecting him to be her blackmailer. "You shouldn't have tried to steal him form me." Seto continued accusingly.
For a second, Mai looked at Seto as if he had turned bright orange and grown an extra head. Seto grinned and laughed mockingly at her as he slid off of his rock.
"What does he have to do with anything? You and Jounouchi hate each other. Or is that it? You can't stand to see him happy with me while you can't even get a date with out paying for her first." Mai spat out angrily and tired to cross her arms until Seto grabbed her upper arm and dug his nails into her flesh. Mai cried out in agony and tried to twist away.
"You know nothing woman, but I will agree with you on one point. I don't have any claim to Jounouchi, yet. But that is going to change now that you are out of the picture." Seto said, watching the blood well up on Mai's arm and feeling the hunger grow within him. Mai screamed and tried to twist out of Seto's grasp but he was too strong for her. "But that does not excuse your actions concerning him."
"Let me go." Mai called out in desperation as she pounded her fist into Seto's shoulder. The brunette sneered and dug his fingernails tighter into Mai's arm. Mai groaned in pain, tears welling in her eyes. "I-I don't know what you are talking about." Mai pleaded while still trying to pull away.
"I am talking about your cute little plan to sleep around while keeping, as you so lovingly put it, 'my dumb little lovesick puppy on a short leash?' I belive you said." Seto hissed angrily while dragging Mai towards the ocean.
"You've been spying on me haven't you?" Mai accused before kicking Seto hard enough to make him loose his grip. She turned around and began running to her car as fast as she could manage.
Unfortunately for Mai, she didn't see the hole in the sand and went tumbling onto the sand below, twisting her ankle in the process. Seto walked up to where Mai lay on the ground and set his foot between her shoulder blades. She tried in vain to reach him with her hands before he ground his foot into her back, crushing her into the sand.
"I was going to let you continue with your delusion, play around with Jounouchi until the day I decided to claim him as my own." Seto told Mai as he watched the woman squirm beneath his feet. "But then you had to go and hurt him like that."
"Well you won." Mai replied bitterly. "I dumped him, just like you wanted. Now let me go." Seto chuckled and pressed against her back harder, causing Mai to groan in pain
"Why" Seto demanded as he dropped down on his knees. Mai whimpered in fear and pain.
"I wasn't going to go to jail just because the law still sees Jou as a kid." Mai admitted sadly. Seto scowled and grabbed the bun on the back of Mai's head and pulled sharply on it. All the fun had gone out of this meeting and now he simply longed to get it over with.
"And you don't?" Seto asked harshly, pulling on her hair. Mai cried out and once more tired to wiggle free of Seto's grasp.
"A little," Mai admitted, with a shame-filled sob. Seto responded by pulling even harder causing Mai to shriek in pain and start crying.
"Hn, Figures." Seto uttered irritably as he looked down at the sobbing Mai. He let go of her hair and grabbed her shoulders. "For once in your life, you can actually be useful." Seto sneered as he picked Mai up and headed towards the ocean.
"Where are you taking me?" Mai shouted as Seto continued to drag her along the beach. Mai tried kicked and flailed her arms around wildly earning her a drop onto the sand and a kick in the side.
Seto could feel the hunger was getting stronger, but he would take care of that soon enough. He picked up Mai who was screaming in pain and slung her over his shoulder.
"Please, let me go." Mai cried out pitifly as the waves around Seto's waist and splashed against her face. Seto snorted and dropped her into the water. "I'll go anything you want, name it. Just please don't kill me."
"I have no pity for you, your life ended the moment you decided to harm what was mine," Seto replied coldly while Mai struggled to keep her head above the rising tide. Seto smiled coldly, sat down beside Mai and willed the change to occour. "And among my kind, that is one of the most unforgivable sins you can commit."
In the blink of an eye, Seto's skin became bone white with delicate lines of blue marbling though it. Long spines surrounded by thin membrains made of skin sprouted from his arms while his fingers grew long and spindly as webs of translucent skin formed between them. His legs fused into a long and curvy tail and his eyes became a deep pool of dark blue.
Mai's eyes widened to the point they had trouble saying in their sockets. She simply sat there unable to move or speak, as Seto reached forward with his webbed hands and pulled up her chin to expose her neck.
Seto bit into Mai's neck and ended her life before she had a chance to scream. Her hot blood spurted over Seto and into the water but he didn't notice that. The hunger had taken over and he went through the motions of satisfying it.
Seto stopped his reminiscing to pull out a folded note card and twirl it in his hands idly. In it was one of the last traces of Mai Kujaku, a trophy of sorts for himself. When they did find the head, and Seto had made sure that it would turn up, he would cut out the article and put into the scrapbook with his other special kills.
"Hey Kaiba, is that a love letter or something?" Honda hissed from his seat two desks from Seto. Seto turned his head and gave him a brief glare before putting the card back in its hiding place in his notebook.
"Is your own love life so pathetically barren that you have to delve into mine?" Seto hissed back while putting away his books for lunch. Honda sputters angrily for a few moments before taking off to meet his friends.
"No, I'm sorry Jounouchi I don't have any openings for you right now." Mark Bruin heard Hajime Tanaka say irritably as he sat at his desk reviewing the employee files.
As president of The Quality Staffing Company, he was responsible for ensuring that his client's needs were met. Last night, Seto Kaiba had once again ordered a disposable worker to be sent to his house. Bruin knew that whomever he sent would never be heard from again and had no qualms doing so.
Gozaburo Kaiba had set Bruin up in this legitimate business ten years ago as a reward for doing so much of the then-CEO's dirty work. This company, in fact was intended to be little more than a front for Kaiba to hide his murderous habit. Bruin however, had surprised his old employer by turning the agency into a moderate success.
"Look, Tanaka-san I need another job. With my old man gone, I don't know how I'm going to pay the rent." Bruin heard Jounouchi plead and decided to dig up his file.
"No, we are already taking enough risk with your current job as it is. I do not have any positions for you." Tanaka replied irritably and began stalking down the hallway and Bruin heard someone follow him, possibly Jounouchi.
Bruin opened Jounouchi's file and read it quickly. Katsuya Jounouchi, age seventeen, had been working with them for seven months with a decent work record. He lived with a father whose disability wasn't enough to support both their living expenses and his alcohol and gambling habits.
If Jounouchi had lost his father, would it be easy to convince the police that the boy had gone to a big costal city, far away from Domino, to look for work to sustain his independence?
Bruin smiled as he pressed the button to the intercom, thankful that he'd found his sacrifice so easily. "Jounouchi Katsuya, please report to my office. Again, Jounouchi Katsuya please report to Bruin's office immediately.
"Um, Kaiba-kun." Yugi asked standing nervously before Seto's desk and fiddling with his puzzle. "You haven't seen Jounouchi-kun around have you?"
"No, have you tried the pound? That's where they keep stray dogs," Seto answered mockingly. Yugi frowned and turned to go talk with his friends on the way back to class.
Seto watched Yugi's group with irritation. He just knew that they would interfere in his attempts to claim Jounouchi for himself. Before Seto could think about the matter any further though, his cell phone rang. A look at the screen told Seto that the call was from Bruin.
"You found someone?" Seto asked even though he knew that Bruin would not be calling unless he had found his newest victim.
"Yes a nice young man just out of high school, no smoking, no drugs, a perfect specimen." Bruin said in a slightly cheerful voice before he started to cough again.
"Fine, send him over tomorrow afternoon and I'll take care of the rest." Seto answered and then hung up. Once he got home, Seto would tell Mokuba that everything was set for his next feeding.
Jounouchi threw the last bag of cans and bottles into the dumpster. It had taken him five trips to get all the trash out of the apartment, mainly due to the fact that all he had to work with were those small bags you get while shopping. Jounouchi had been trying to keep himself busy all day, knowing that he would start crying again if he didn't. Every time Jounouchi paused for a moment, the image of his father lying on the cold, metal slab entered his mind and he felt faint again.
Jounouchi had to be strong because there was no other alternative. With his father dead, the meager disability that was used to pay the rent and utilities was gone and what little he earned delivering papers and chopping up fish in the back of midrange restaurants was not going to make ends meet. Fortunately Bruin, the head of the agency that Jou had been doing odd jobs for, had given him a job in town. So for now, Jounouchi had to stay in town even though that meant the possibility of his friends finding out just how bad things had gotten for him.
Jounouchi was about to flop down onto the sofa when he noticed something out of place. There on the coffee table, lay a note reminding him to go and fill out the paperwork with the police. Jounouchi frowned at the piece of paper. He really didn't want to do that right now as it would mean having to once again deal with his father's death but he might as well go now, as tomorrow would be the last day Jounouchi could spend at school with his friends.
Bruin had told Jounouchi that the job required him to start no later than four o'clock tomorrow evening, so he would have to leave early if he didn't get the papers filed tonight.
With a weary groan, Jounouchi rose from the sofa and headed out to the police station.
"I'll go in first." Honda said as he led Yugi and Bakura to Jounouchi's apartment. They were all worried about their friend's absence from school today. Anzu had been so worried that she offered to call in and come with them, until Yugi convinced her to go to work so that she wouldn't be in any danger if something bad happened. The last time Jounouchi missed school, it was because he'd been blackmailed into rejoining his old gang and the aftermath had been less than pleasant.
Cautiously, Honda knocked on the door of Jounouchi's apartment and received no answer. He looked back at Yugi and Bakura who nodded and Honda knocked again. Like last time there was no answer.
"Maybe we should go in and see if we can find anything." Bakura suggested after Honda turned to face them.
"I don't know his dad has a bit of a temper." Yugi said nervously. He remembered what it had been like the last time they had visited Jounouchi's apartment. Honda had barely managed to duck the beer bottle the elder Jounouchi had thrown at his head as the man yelled at his son.
"What do you want to do then?" Bakura asked as he headed towards the door. "Standing out here isn't doing us any good." Bakura pushed Honda aside and turned the knob. Both Yugi and Honda watched the door with anticipation as it slid open.
"Oh my god," Honda trailed off as he looked around the empty apartment. Yugi just stood there and gaped.
"Is this bad?" Yugi asked Honda with some trepidation. Honda nodded numbly in response.
"I don't see what's wrong here." Bakura said as he walked into the apartment and looked around. True, the place did need some new paint and the furniture looked about ready to fall apart but Bakura didn't see what was so horrible about it.
"It's…clean." Yugi said as he looked around the living room.
"That's just it, this place is clean! Really, really clean." Honda began as he ran into the kitchen.
"Is this not normal?" Bakura asked Yugi who shook his head.
"I didn't get to see much of it the last time I was here, but it was a mess." Yugi said as they walked through the tidy kitchen and into a hallway that lead to three doors. "What do you think is wrong Honda? Did Jounouchi's mom come to visit or something?"
"I doubt it. From what he told me about his mom, she wouldn't go through the bother of visiting him. No, I think something bad happened. Sometimes when he gets upset Jounouchi cleans the house, especially if he has to stay close to home for some reason." Honda explained as he opened the middle door and looked inside. After a minute, Honda closed the door and opened the last door.
Seto walked out of his car to see his head butler hurry down the stairs and rush to his side.
"Young master Mokuba is in his room. He was picked up from school around lunch time today complaining of sickness." The older man announced and Seto nodded curtly.
"I will go and see him then. See that this is taken to my study so that I can work on a project when I am finished." Seto commanded as he handed his butler his trademark metal suitcase to his butler and climbed up the stairs.
Mokuba was sitting on the windowsill looking out at the pool when Seto entered his room.
"The coach pulled a surprise endurance run on us today in gym and I overdid it." Seto looked down and saw that Mokuba's hand was longer and more spindly than normal. "I barely managed to keep in this form until the car could pick me up. I hate it up here." Mokuba spat out angrily while spreading out his arms and waiving them about.
"Mokuba, you can't keep doing this." Seto replied sternly. "We cannot afford to be found out. Do not push your limits next time." At his words Mokuba hung his head and began to sniffle. Seto felt a pang of guilt as he watched Mokuba, knowing that the stress of living between worlds was wearing on his little brother.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much Seto could do, he had a mission here among the humans and couldn't leave now if he wanted to. Maybe in a few years Seto could leave but then he probably would wind up marring Kisara, not something he was looking forward to.
"It's alright Mokuba, I will call you in sick tomorrow. I've already arranged your next feeing which should arrive at four o'clock." Seto said to calm his brother down a bit.
"Really, 'Niisama?" Mokuba asked while looking up into Seto's face. Seto scoped Mokuba into his arms and carried him out into the hall.
"Yes, everything is taken care of." Seto answered while he walked down the steps and towards the pool in the backyard of the Kaiba estate.
To the untrained eye the pool looked like any other pool but it wasn't. The scent of seawater was the first thing anyone noticed out of the ordinary about it. In reality, the pool was a sanctuary for Seto and Mokuba when they wanted to be their true selves for a while. Gozaburo had built the pool originally to be a cage for Seto when he first arrived at the house. But after the older man died, Seto was able to make some changes to the pool, turning it from a holding pen into a sanctuary as well as a secret gateway into the ocean. The deep end had a holographic disguise for the slide away floor, which in turn lead to a very comfortable living area below and a series of locks that allowed Seto and Mokuba access to the sea without leaving them vulnerable to attack.
Mokuba wiggled out of Seto's arms and walked the last fifty feet to the pool by himself. He then stripped off his clothes and jumped into the pool.
"Are you going to join me 'Niisama?" Mokuba asked as he looked at his brother pleadingly.
"Alright but only for a little while." Seto answered with a small smile. He then stripped off his own clothes and joined Mokuba in the pool. It was nice to be able to just be himself even if it was only for a few minutes. In a way, Seto was a little sad that tomorrow things would have to return to normal once Mokuba finished eating his victim.
Part of Seto wished that Mokuba could have stayed in their homeland, and not have had to have his innocence tainted while another part of him was thankful that Mokuba hadn't left him and remained with him. Not only did Mokuba keep him company, but he also made sure that Seto never forgot his reason for staying in the land of the humans.
/After tomorrow, I will have a little more time to find a way to make things better for us both. / Seto thought as he began to chase Mokuba around the pool, leaving all other thoughts out of his mind.
TBC
