Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu-Yu Hakusho, Hikaru no Go.

Warning: This chapter contains violence and rape themes. If you are not able to stomach either please READ NO FURTHER! As was made clear in the earlier chapters Aoshi has a happy ending so there is no need for you to continue reading.

Cast at Kaiba estate:

Aoshi's friends: Seto's "friends":

Misao Makimachi Mokuba Kaiba

Shuura Kamiya Mai Kujacu

Kaoru Kamiya Jounouchi Katsuya

Kenshin Himura Tomoya Hanasaki

Kurama Himura Hiroto Honda

Sanosuke Sagara Yugi Motou

Hiei Mozuko Anzu Mazaki

Yukina Mozuko Ryu Bakura

Yusuke Urameshi

Kazuma Kuwabara

Keiko Yukimura

Victoria Stillwater

…and special guest stars: The Fab Five! Thom, Kyan, Ted, Jai and of course Carson!


To be the Strongest


Chapter 6: "…forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will as it did Obi-wan's apprentice!" – Master Yoda to Luke (Empire Strikes Back)

"I feel he needs to know…" Aoshi explained convinced somehow that if anything could win Seto's trust in them it would be this: The incident at the abandoned warehouse…

Seto looked from one man to the next wondering what the hell kind of deep dark secret Aoshi was going to tell him. As if to emphasize the importance of this next chapter Aoshi placed his next stone on the board and instantly closed the gap in points between them. Seto's five point lead suddenly went down to two! Seto blinked in surprise he hadn't seen that coming…

"Ok…I'm listening…" Seto replied softly as he leaned forward intrigued. Aoshi nodded solemnly, took a deep breath and continued.


The next few days Aoshi found himself spending most of his time at Misao's house. Her uncle knew to expect him nearly everyday after school and his father didn't bother to ask where he was going. He would simply say: "Call me when you get there!" In fact his father had been acting strange since the opening of the Aoiya. One night after coming back from Misao's house he had invited Aoshi to his home office and showed him an album filled with pictures of his mother that Aoshi had never seen before and willingly answered any question that the pictures brought to mind.

On another night he'd come home to find his father setting up an old fashioned projector. He had sat down to watch himself as a very small baby in his mother's arms while she smiled and sang for him. It was disconcerting to say the least! Father had never spoken of his mother other than to occasionally make reference that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever known. But he soaked up the knowledge and through each revelation he finally saw his mother as the human being she'd once been not the ethereal and mysterious creature that his father's silence had made her out to be.

The week after the Aoiya's opening found Aoshi again spending another Saturday with Misao. They had met the others at the mall and Aoshi had spent most of the time glaring at anyone ogling Misao. She had decided to finally wear the outfit she had mentioned was similar to Shuura's but instead of the spikes she wore the charm bracelet Aoshi gave her at the Game shop and a necklace he gave her at the Aoiya's opening. He found that the total effect was rather distracting!

When they all finally returned to her uncle's house he relaxed. The two of them walked back to the garden and sat at a bench at the far side of the garden then Aoshi decided to tell her about the things his father had been doing lately…

"Aoshi that's wonderful! I'm so glad you two are starting to get along better!" she chirped cheerfully. Aoshi smirked slightly he really was glad that his father was starting to treat him like a son…finally! It felt good!

"So the school year is ending next week! What are your plans for the summer?" Aoshi asked. Misao shrugged…

"I'm probably gonna go visit gramps! What about you?" she asked. It took Aoshi a moment to respond so distracted was he by the way she looked today…

"Nothing… just hang around here I guess. Dad's got some big project and he can't plan anything this summer," Aoshi replied looking rather disappointed. Misao jumped to his rescue then!

"Hey I have an idea! Why don't we all go to Kyoto for the summer? I bet Gramps would love to have us! I can ask the rest of the guys!" she exclaimed happily. He smiled…

"Yeah…I'm sure father won't mind if we hang out this summer in Kyoto," he replied suddenly looking forward to summer vacation.

"And maybe Vicky-sensei will take us to California! She takes me all the time! She has a big private jet!" she explained enthusiastically. Aoshi smiled indeed summer vacation was starting to look appealing!

"Misao have you thought about what you want to do when you get out of high school?" he asked suddenly deciding then that he should tell her what had been bothering him since Tak's death. Misao seemed confused for a moment by the sudden change in subject but quickly recovered and smiled for him again.

"Yep! Sure have! I want to sing! I want to be a famous singer!" she declared confidently. Aoshi smiled and nodded.

"I bet you'll be great!" he affirmed. She smiled and blushed at his compliment but the smile soon faded. She frowned… the more-serious-than-usual expression on his face confusing her…

"What about you Aoshi? Have you thought about what you want to do?" she asked remembering that Aoshi only had one more year before he went to college and he obviously had something on his mind that he wanted to share.

"Yes…I want to avenge Tak's death! They're still out there! Hurting people! I want to stop them! I don't know how…" he stopped he looked confused and angry. Misao took his hand twining her fingers with his gently seeking to comfort him in some small way…

"You know when father was arrested he was almost released within a few months. Something about faulty evidence making the case against him invalid or something like that! Vicky-sensei introduced Gramps to someone then that I'll never forget!" she began. Aoshi looked horrified. The thought that Misao's father could be out there causing harm and still being a threat to Misao's safety was too scary! He gripped her hand a little tighter and she smiled up at him.

"Her name is Reiko Ichiro. She's a district attorney! I remember she brought me into the courtroom and I watched. I couldn't understand everything that was going on but father's defense was trying to make it look like an accident and setting Lord Hannya up as the bad guy…"

"THAT is the biggest load of…" Aoshi sputtered indignantly. He had learned through Misao that it was his father who saved Misao the day she nearly died at the hands of her father with one punch Hannya Shinomori had knocked the man out cold. Aoshi had felt a deep swell of pride and gratitude towards his old man when he learned of that.

"Wait! Let me finish!" she cut him off "they tried to set Lord Hannya up as the bad guy but every time they did she used her brains to knock down all their bad excuses and weak allegations! Father is serving a maximum sentence because of her sharp mind!" she explained proudly.

"Vicky-sensei called her a crusader for justice! A court room super hero! She said that a person has to be really, really smart and study really hard in order to be like her! I think perhaps you could be one too because you're really smart…" she suggested shyly. Aoshi blinked in surprise! That was a route that hadn't even occurred to him.

In retrospect he realized that no matter how many times bad guys were caught if the law wasn't applied properly they would go free. As had been the case with the suspects they'd caught in connection with Tak's death. He looked down at his feet and lost himself in the possibility. Yes, he knew he could do that! And again she had managed to make his tomorrow look a little brighter!

His head turned suddenly then to look at her and thank her but all thoughts suddenly disappeared from his mind. He hadn't realized that she had moved in closer to him. Her intention had been to give him a chaste little kiss in the cheek but because his head turned so suddenly the kiss landed on his lips instead. The kiss ended far too soon for Aoshi's hormone addled brain to process completely. His heart hammered in his chest…

"Thank you…" he whispered the last command his brain had given before it shut down. Misao blushed and tried to say something but nothing was coming out. Aoshi for his part was just as lost and did the only thing he could think of… he kissed her again! Both suddenly lost in this new found closeness they didn't notice the adults watching from a window inside the house. Victoria picked up the phone…

"Hannya…You'll never guess what happened today…" she began cheerfully as she gave Hannya the play by play of his son's first kiss…

It was dark by the time Aoshi, Sano and Kenshin finally left the Makimachi residence and walked towards Kenshin's place (conveniently located near the Makimachi Residence!) for their sleepover. Sano rolled his eyes in annoyance. Both of his friends had their heads totally in the clouds! Aoshi couldn't stop smiling and Kenshin kept giggling every now and then. They had all talked about summer vacation and everyone was up for going to Kyoto! Sano was particularly looking forward to going to California for three weeks with Vick-sensei but he wasn't too crazy about getting into an airplane.

"I for one can't wait to see the beaches or rather the girls on the beaches!" Sano commented trying to snap his friends out of it. Of course that had the opposite effect. They both froze and turned bright red as an image of the girls in bikinis materialized in their minds.

"Arrrgh! Will you guys snap out of it!" he yelled at them annoyed "you would think you've never been kissed before!" he teased.

"I have but I don't think my mother or my cousin Tomoe count!" Kenshin laughed "and I don't think Little Miss Anzu or your mother count either Sano!" he added jokingly and the two boys laughed.

"Well I haven't…" Aoshi said softly and seriously. The reminder that Aoshi had no mother and had spent much of his early childhood in various boarding schools abroad sobered them instantly. No one really ever had been that close to him before…

"So…I guess your looking forward to the beach too huh?" Sano teased hoping to lighten his friend's mood again. Aoshi blushed deeply again as an image of Misao in a bikini crept its way into his brain again.

"Whatever…" he grumbled unable to hide a tiny smirk. Sano and Kenshin laughed. Summer looked like it was going to be a happy event despite the tragic start to the year. They continued walking down the street chatting amicably and making plans for their summer of fun and teenage romance…

A white van turned sharply around the corner then and seemed to be coming in their direction. The boys looked up at the screeching of the tires but since it didn't look familiar they ignored it. Suddenly the van screeched to a halt next to them and all three exchanged wary glances and backed away from it slowly. A pretty girl in a Domino High school uniform jumped out of the back of the van. She looked too old to be in high school and the skirt's hem was WAY above regulation.

"Hey boys! Wanna come to a party?" she invited sweetly as two more girls jumped out. Those others were wearing tight leather miniskirts, long black platform boots and mesh shirts with little black strips strategically placed to hide their nipples. Their hair had wild colors all over it and they had piercing all over their faces which were layered with extremely garish makeup. All three boys frowned…

"Just came from one so thanks but no thanks," Sano replied gruffly and the boys backed away some more. They smiled sweetly again and the boys exchanged a suspicious glance. They did not like the look of those three. They wanted to get as far away as possible as quickly as they could but at the same time didn't want to turn their backs on them.

"Oh but we insist!" the first girl said sweetly. Before any of the boys could react dart guns appeared in their hands that they pulled from behind them. They fired with quick precision and the three boys crumpled to the ground as the sedative took effect almost instantly. Three more women jumped out of the van to help put the unconscious boys in it and they raced away from the scene…

Shuura, Hiei and Kurama had long since arrived at the Himura household. Unable to stand all the lovi-dovi-ness going on they'd decided to hit the road early. Sano had stayed behind because he was happily stuffing his face with all the goodies at the Makimachi house as he chatted away with Vicky-sensei about surfing in California. They sat on the lawn outside now waiting for the other three to arrive.

The boys were having a sleepover at the Himura's and the girls were having one at the Makimachi's. Shuura had declined both but decided to hang out with Hiei and Kurama until Kenshin and the others arrived thinking she would go home after hanging out with the boys for a while. She felt more comfortable with them. Kurama's uncle Hiko was at the house visiting and had offered to drive her home so she could stay longer and wouldn't have to walk in the dark.

A white van suddenly appeared racing down the street. It came to a screeching halt in front of the three kids and the one driving the van poked her head out the window. Shuura got up and boldly stepped forward motioning for Kurama and Hiei to stay back. Shuura knew these girls! They were part of a nasty gang called: The Radioactive Butterfly. They had tried on numerous occasions to recruit her but Shuura had been forceful and to the point with her refusal. She had in fact rescued with Tak and Kiki's help a few months back her friend Anko. Anko was still in rehab and Shuura visited her with Kiki often. She was doing well.

"What do you want?" Shuura replied making a point to crack her knuckles loudly letting them know she was not gonna take any crap from them. Hiei and Kurama took up defensive positions on either side of Shuura. The girl on the driver's side laughed and tossed a piece of paper at her.

"If you want them back you'll follow the instructions and don't call the police," she said and laughed as she peeled away. Shuura stared in shock as they peeled away. Kurama ran inside to call his uncle and his mother and with shaking hands Shuura's reached for the paper. She opened and tears slid down her face as she read it.

"Shuura! What is it!" Hiei shook her alarmed. Shuura never cried…

"It's a ransom note…" she said in a shaky voice "they have Kenshin, Sano and Aoshi! They're going to kill them…" Hiei's eyes went wide. Hiko came running out then with his cell phone on his ear. He had dialed Sano's father a detective at Domino precinct. Shuura handed him the note…

"Oh god…call Shinomori…" he said as he read the contents of the note to Mazaki. He instructed his sister in law to call all the other parents and make sure all the other kids in their group of friends were safe and accounted for then instructed Shuura to get inside and stay with Kurama and Hiei. Kazuma and Yusuke were approaching the Himura house then and hurried towards it as they saw all the commotion on the lawn.

"I know this gang! I know someone who can help us!" Shuura tried but nobody was listening. Kurama came running out of the house then saying he'd called the Makimachi house but the boys had left a while ago. They heard the peeling of tires again but as everyone turned they realized it was just Vicky-sensei's red jeep screeching down the road. She haphazardly parked in front of the house and jumped out demanding to know what happened. Hiko just handed her the note. The woman paled…

"Vicky-sensei! I know someone who can help!" Shuura pleaded. Victoria turned to her then…

"Tell me!" she ordered. Shuura immediately told her about Anko and Victoria took the girl's arm and guided her towards the jeep ignoring Hiko's protests. Kurama and Hiei invited themselves along. Yusuke and Kazuma arrived then and crowded into Victoria's jeep; wanting to know what was going on. Shuura explained Yusuke cracked his knuckles and so did Kazuma ready to fight to get their friends back…

"You can't take these kids with you! You're being reckless!" Hiko scolded but backed off at the scary look on Victoria's face.

"They're safest with me! Tell Shinomori to send guards to the Makimachi house to protect the girls!" she ordered seriously "Just in case!". The girls were having their sleepover there and she was not willing to take chances. Her jeep peeled away into the night racing to find the boys…

The three boys awoke some time later to muffled unintelligible music. They looked around and they were in room with no windows lit only by a small white light bulb hanging from the ceiling that wasn't strong enough to illuminate the entire room. Aoshi was second to recover Sano was already awake and alert. He noticed that Kenshin seemed to have suffered an injury on his head. There was a little stream of blood going down the side of his face and he looked dizzy and nauseous. He tried to move but realized his hands were tied tightly behind him and his legs were bound securely.

"Sano, Kenshin are you guys ok?" he asked twisting to pull himself up into a sitting position. There was an odd burning sensation in his stomach that was spreading slowly through his body making him feel feverish. Sano nodded.

"Yeah, but Kenshin's not looking so good," he replied.

"I'm ok…that I am…" Kenshin countered but his voice slurred and his eyes rolled back into his head for a moment. His brave attempt did not fool friends. His eyes closed and he was unconscious again.

"We have to get out of here," Aoshi declared trying to maneuver himself towards Sano but just as Sano was about to reply the door opened and one of their kidnappers walked. They realized instantly that it was the same girl who had spoken to them first on the street. She walked a bit unsteadily towards them.

"Hello boys…" she slurred drunkenly. Aoshi noticed then that two more had come in with him but they were hidden in the shadow and he couldn't see their faces. She went straight for Aoshi and stood over him. She turned to the girls at the door.

"Is this the one?" she said in reply the two girls giggled. Aoshi winced he hated gigglers! She put one leg on either side of him and crouched down in front of him. She reached out her hand to fondle him and Aoshi just reacted! His knees shot up to throw her off. She cried out in pain and anger as she slammed sideways onto the hard concrete floor.

"Don't touch me!" Aoshi hissed furiously. She got back up quickly and this time she put a bent leg across his knees and pushed all her weight on it to keep him from moving. He winced in pain but made a valiant effort not to cry out. Sano screamed at her to back off but she ignored him. Aoshi glared at her defiantly. She raked her nails painfully across his chest ripping his shirt and drawing thin red bloodlines across it. He gritted his teeth against the pain and continued his defiant glaring unwilling to give them the satisfaction of seeing him suffer.

"I gave you a big dose! What's the matter with you! Don't you like girls!" she shrieked annoyed then kicked him hard in the ribs and he felt it break. She walked away for a moment discussing the amount of the drug he'd been given with the other two. Apparently during the ride over they had injected him with some male enhancement drug and it explained why he was feeling oddly feverish and restless. He knew that no amount of drugs would make him want to be touched by any of those women!

"Yeah he does!" said one of the shadowed girls "he likes that little one with the big mouth! The little bratty, spoiled princess from the Aoiya!" she spat out angrily.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about her! You have no right to even speak of her! You're just jealous because she's stronger, smarter and prettier than you'll ever be!" he retorted full of pride and defiance angry that they should have the temerity to talk about his Misao that way! Sano called out some of his own insults! Again the first girl responded by racking her nails across his chest creating crisscrossing red marks on it. He bit his lip to keep from crying out.

She kicked him hard in the ribs again then dragged him away from the wall to the center of the room. There were two thick metal loops bolted to floor. Aoshi fought against them as the three struggled to push him down onto the floor. The pain was making him dizzy and as they called for reinforcements Aoshi's struggling was finally defeated. He slammed back onto the floor and they quickly took some rope tied his hands to the loops and he pulled desperately against them. With a vicious tug she undid his pants.

"Don't touch me!" Aoshi screamed but the woman just laughed.

"Aw…how cute! You were saving yourself for your little princess!" she mocked "well too bad!" she laughed and that laughter would haunt Aoshi for years to come…


Seto's hand shook as it froze above the board. Gozaburo's abusive tutelage had been something that he thought no one could possibly understand. He was of the firm belief that not one person on earth could truly understand what it was like to be in Seto's shoes. Never in his wildest imaginings had he ever realized that he and Aoshi could be so alike in so many ways. He had just thought Aoshi to be a ruthless bastard on a quest for power. He had completely misunderstood.

Hiei had left partway through the account. He – like all Aoshi's closest friends who went out searching with Victoria that night – had been frustrated by the fact that they had arrived too late to save Aoshi and Kenshin from being raped by various members of the Radioactive Butterflies which consisted of not only women but several cross-dressing men as well and had been led by an ex-member of the Jolly Devils gang by the name of Senkaku. Kenshin was unconscious through most of it and Sano was spared temporarily for some sadistic reason but he was beaten and gagged then forced to watch.

"How do you live with that?" Seto began placing his stone haphazardly on the board. Aoshi reached over the table and removed the stone Seto had placed throwing it back into Seto's bowl. He blinked and stared at Aoshi in confusion.

"I know you can do better than that," Aoshi stated simply giving the boy a deeply serious look. Seto took another look at the board closed his eyes and tried to steady his hands before taking another stone.

"As for how…well for a long time I didn't live. I merely existed. I was a born a demon that night forsaking all my humanity for the strength needed to reap vengeance," he explained calmly. Seto nodded. It was exactly the way he felt. He felt numb unable to get beyond the shadow of those dark days under Gozaburo's rule. He had forsaken his own humanity for the power to destroy Gozaburo and take his prized possessions from him. Yugi's arrival and the friendship Seto was reluctant to admit they had; had thrown everything into confusion for him.

"Is being a demon what makes you strong?" Seto asked but somehow he didn't think the answer would be yes. He placed another stone on the board but this time the move was more at the level he had been playing until now.

"No, far from it in fact but I'll get to that soon enough," he replied. Hiei came back then with Kurama in tow. Kurama stopped next to Aoshi and patted him on the shoulder then wordlessly went to sit next to Hiei. He smiled at Seto. Seto was not surprised to feel the aura of power radiating from the man. No doubt he'd received similar training from that same mysteriously elusive teacher.

However something had changed. It was no longer a soft subtle pulse but a powerful energy field that seemed to join all of them. They drew strength from Aoshi and Aoshi drew strength from them. Yugi and the cheerleader often spoke of something like it but in them it had seemed like nothing but rhetorical nonsense not the very real field emanating from Aoshi and his friends that was making his millennium senses go wild!

"How's the game going?" Kurama asked noticing Seto gazing intently at them from the corner of his eye.

"I think my game has improved," Aoshi stated calmly "though not enough I think…"

"If you lose Sensei will never let you hear the end of it!" Kurama teased and took Hiei's hand in his again.

"I think I will have to resign my self to that fate," he replied as he made his move.

"I think she might go easy on him! We may have found her a staff weapons student!" Hiei interjected looking at Seto. Kurama's eyes lit up and he smiled.

"Provided that Seto will accept her challenge," Aoshi added giving Seto a calculating stare. Seto looked down at the board his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Oh she'll be all kinds of excited about that!" Kurama exclaimed cheerfully smiling at Seto. "Make no mistake Seto… Sensei's a hard task master but if you have faith in her teachings you'll never lose!" he added seriously.

"I understand…" Seto nodded and turned pensive for a moment. On the one hand he wanted the power these men seemed to share but on the other hand he always believed that he could rely on no one but himself for victory. To put such a faith on someone else went against all that he had believed thus far. His defeat at Yugi's hand had put that belief to the test and his faith had failed him more than once. So his desire for power eventually won out the argument.

"She is a psycho but one that will stand by you and have faith in you no matter what!" Hiei added proudly. That clinched it for Seto. That pride and strength that glowed in their eyes was something Seto desired too. If this teacher of theirs could show him well then he was willing to do whatever it took.

"By the way where's Misao?" Kurama asked turning to Aoshi.

"She was with Mokuba but I'm not sure where they went," Aoshi replied looking at Seto for the answer.

"I think they went to my office…we can take a break and go check on them?" Seto answered. Aoshi nodded and got up. They excused themselves from Hiei and Kurama for a moment and went in search of Misao and Mokuba. Seto explained that most likely Mokuba had gone to his office to get Seto's duel disk and show her his dragon cards in their full holographic form.

"Dragons…I like dragons but I prefer large cats like panthers and tigers," Aoshi commented blandly Seto laughed.

"I guess we're not completely alike!" he remarked amused. They heard Mokuba and Misao's laughter and entered the office.

"See! What did I tell you! He has the most heroic sense of timing!" Misao told Mokuba as she laughed merrily. Both looked up to smile at the approaching broody boys. He was amazed but not for the first time how her smile was enough to banish the darkest shadows of his past…