Chapter Eight

Seto lifted the book again and turned the page to read another of Priest Seth's entries. He hated to admit it, but he was becoming intrigued on what would happen next. It was odd that when he read about the Pharaoh and the Priest he imagined Yami and himself and somehow it didn't bother him.

We buried the Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen and days later had a wonderful feast for our new Pharaoh. I noticed that before the feast was even over that he had left and no one knew where he had gone to. Mahad and I went on a search for him knowing that he had gone to his chambers.

As we entered we found him standing on the balcony looking up at the moonlit night. It was a beautiful night with not a cloud in the sky. As we entered Mahad placed a hand on my shoulder and told me that he would be with the other priest's if I should need him. I gave him a nod as I walked toward my Pharaoh.

He knew it was me before I even said a word to him. "Seth, I knew you would come looking for me. I am sorry, but I did not feel much like celebrating. I just buried my father and I know it is normal to have a coronation feast, but I could not take any more of it."

"It is understandable my Pharaoh, but you should have at least told someone where you were going." I said as I walked up behind him.

"I knew you would find me." The Pharaoh turned around and gave me his warm smile.

I knew that smile was only reserved for me and no one else. It made me feel special, but I also wondered if he was harboring the same feeling toward me that I had for him.

I was broke out of my thoughts when he stood on his toes and reached up to remove my headdress. "You do not have to be so formal in front of me Seth."

I watched as he walked over and sat it on his table. He removed his deep plum colored cape and draped it over the chair, turned and looked at me as he removed his crown as well. "So from now on when you come to my chambers treat me as someone other than the Pharaoh."

I looked at him with wide eyes. "Pharaoh, I beg your pardon, but how else would I treat you?"

I watched as he walked over to me and, placed his hands on either side of my face and slowly drew my face to his. He looked me straight in the eyes and leaned in and placed his lips to mine. I was shocked to say the least. Here was the Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt a living God kissing me.

How I longed to feel his lips on mine, but yet what I did next was not something I ever wanted to do to him. I placed my hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him away from me. I looked into sad and confused crimson eyes, but also saw another emotion, hurt. I had hurt my Pharaoh and that was something I vowed never to do.

I turned and walked toward the table grabbing my headdress, placing it back a top my head. "I am sorry. I am your Priest and you are my Pharaoh, we can not do this it goes against everything that we have learned."

I could feel his eyes burning into my back as I walked out of the room and closed his chamber doors. I made my way down the hall and did something I have never done before. I leaned against the wall and cried. I cried not only for hurting him, but for myself. Why did I have to be so stubborn?

He offered to give his heart to me and I turned him away. As I leaned against the wall I heard a loud cry and a crash and I knew that I was not the only one hurting, but my Pharaoh was as well and there was no one to blame but myself.

"Seth you are an idiot." Seto slammed the book shut and looked out at the sky that was darkening more due to the time of night it was getting.

He stood and walked out of the study and into the kitchen to get a much needed drink. He was angry at Seth and didn't know why. Could it be because he had turned down someone that truly did care for him? He opened his liquor cabinet and pulled out a fifth of scotch and a glass. He placed three cubes of ice in the glass and poured it half full of the warm liquid.

He took a long sip and leaned against the counter. He wondered when Mokuba was getting home since he knew that the movie was probably almost over by now. He walked into the living room and sat down and turned on the television to see what the news had to say. He turned it to an all news network and sat sipping his drink and reading the headlines that played across the bottom of the screen.

He was almost done with his scotch and was about to go back for more when the call button buzzed. He sighed; he knew Mokuba or the guards would never forget the pass code to get in. He walked to the door and placed his hand on the talk button. "What?"

"S…Seto, its Yami….c..can I…come in."

Seto's eyes went wide and without giving him an answer opened the gates. Why in the hell would Yami be out in this weather. He heard a soft knock at the door and slowly opened it. His eyes went even wider at what he saw.

There standing in front of him was a very distraught looking Yami. His hair was now straight lying on his shoulders instead of sticking up in every direction and there was not a dry stitch of clothes on him. Seto stood staring at him and saw that he looked to be in pain, and noticed what looked like a bruise on his left cheek. He gasped as he noticed blood on his lips and watched in horror as the crimson liquid dripped from his chin onto the blue shirt he was wearing.

Yami stepped forward and placed his hands on Seto's chest, smearing blood on the white dress shirt beneath them. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He closed his eyes and fell forward; Seto hastily grabbed him under the arms and felt the lithe body go limp. He looked down at the man in his arms and wondered what the hell was going on. One thing he knew for certain. Someone had hurt his Yami.

He looked up with wide sapphire eyes realizing that he had just called Yami his. He shook his head and knew for a fact that the ancient book was getting to him. He picked Yami up bridal style looking at the ethereal face against his chest and saw that his eyes were still closed, his mouth was partially open and the blood mixed with rain water was dripping on to his already stained shirt. He shook his head as he turned and headed up the stairs toward his room.

He walked into the room and laid Yami down on his bed and stood staring down at the beautiful form below him. He didn't see any open wounds on Yami, except the cut on his lip. He sat down on the edge of the bed, took the smaller hands in his and saw that there were rug burns and blood on his fingers and palms. Gently he sat Yami up and removed the soaking wet shirt and noticed scratches on his sides and back. They clearly looked like someone had dug their fingernails in as far as they could. He also noticed the bruises and scratches on the thin wrists. He was so angry that he threw the shirt across the room. He was going to kill the person who did this! Yami didn't deserve this!

He was going to inspect further, but heard the door downstairs slam and Mokuba yell. "SETO I'M HOME!"

He laid Yami back down, stood up and covered him with the azure and silver quilt at the end of the bed to keep him warm. He decided to leave him alone for a while to rest; he would come back and check on him in half an hour. He quietly closed the door behind him and paused wondering if he should call a doctor. He decided against it for now to see how Yami was once he had woken up. Besides he knew how to treat some wounds due to what he had went through as a kid. He cringed at the thought as he stood outside the door.

He shrugged it off not wanting the memories to come back and walked downstairs. He walked toward the kitchen and saw his brother rummaging around in the cupboards looking for something to snack on. Seto smiled as he watched Mokuba.

"Didn't get enough junk food at the movie theater?" Seto smirked with his arms crossed over his chest.

Mokuba turned around with wide grey eyes. "You have got to stop sneaking up on me like that!"

Seto smirked as he walked toward his brother. "So how were school and the movie?"

"School was boring as always and the movie was alright. Not as good as I had hoped it would be." Mokuba turned around and continued to look through the cupboards for something to eat that didn't involve cooking it.

Seto sat down at the table and let out a long sigh as he sat back in the chair. Mokuba turned around when he found what he was looking for, a box of chocolate chip cookies. He gasped and the cookies he was holding dropped to the floor.

"Oh my god Seto, what happened?" Mokuba asked panicked as he took a seat beside his brother pointing at his chest.

Seto followed Mokuba's finger and looked down. He was so worried about Yami that he forgot to change his blood stained shirt. He looked back up toward his brother. "Yami came to the door and he looked…well he didn't look too good and all of a sudden he passed out into my arms. The blood came from his face and hands as I carried him up to my bedroom."

"Is he alright?" Mokuba asked in a shaking voice.

Seto bowed his head and closed his eyes. "I don't know. I was just going to let him rest."

Mokuba had his hands to his mouth as he looked at his brother. "Do you think he did something to himself?"

Seto shook his head. "No, I don't. What ever happened to him was somebody else's doing."

Mokuba looked at his brother not knowing what to say. He sat in silence and watched as Seto finally regained his composure and lifted his head. He looked into sapphire eyes and could see an emotion he had never saw from his brother, except when it came to him. He saw concern and wondered if Yami had worked his way into Seto's heart.


Yami's crimson eyes opened as he tried to focus them in the dark room. He moved his head to the side and looked for anything familiar, but found nothing. Panic ran through his body and he abruptly sat up, but only screamed out in pain and fell back on the bed. He closed his eyes as the images of Malik raping him ran through his mind. He staggered out of bed and placed a hand to his mouth and slowly made his way toward the bathroom that was in the unfamiliar room. He fell to his knees and began to empty his stomach contents that only consisted of acid since he had not eaten anything.

Once he had stopped dry heaving he leaned up against the bathtub and let his head fall back as the thoughts of Malik kept replaying in his mind. His head seemed to be spinning and he thought he heard the bedroom door open and curled up out of reflex.

Seto looked at the bed and saw that Yami was no longer lying in it and walked to the bathroom, flipped on the light and saw Yami lying in a fetal position on the floor. He looked at the toilet and saw nothing but blood in the bowl and gasped as he rushed to Yami's side.

"Yami, are you alright?" Seto whispered as he sank to both knees and placed a gentle hand on the thin, shaking shoulders.

"Seto?" Yami whispered as he slowly sat up, turned around and placed his arms around the others neck.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" Seto whispered shocked that Yami was clinging to him.

"I…I…tried…" Yami couldn't finish as he let out a choked sob.

Seto's eyes went wide as he looked down at Yami who had just buried his head in his chest. "Tell me who did this to you?"

"I…I can't." Yami sobbed still not removing his head from Seto's chest.

"Damn it Yami, yes you can now tell me who did this to you?" Seto said a little harsher than intended.

Yami looked up at Seto with tears in his crimson eyes. "I can't he said…he said he would do the same to….to Yugi if I told."

Seto looked at Yami and sighed. "I can protect both Yugi and you. Please believe me when I say I want to help you, but you have to tell me what happened and who this person is."

Yami looked away from Seto as the tears ran down his face. "When I was studying in Egypt…I met someone who…. I thought at the time was….was one of my friends. One night we went out and he made a pass at me."

Seto looked at Yami waiting for him to finish what he was saying when he heard a sob and the lithe body began to shake violently. He placed his arms around Yami and sat down placing his legs on either side of the smaller teen.

"I turned him down and left, but he followed me to where I was staying. It wasn't a very nice place, but it was all I could afford since grandpa was paying for it." Yami stopped and closed his eyes afraid to tell Seto anymore.

Seto continued to hold Yami not wanting to let him go. "Yami, you can tell me what happened. I won't think any less of you no matter what you say."

Yami took in a deep breath as he continued. "He busted through the door so angry shouting that I couldn't turn him down. I would be lucky to have someone like him. The next thing I knew I was shoved…..down on my….my bed and…and he…raped me." Yami whispered as he started to feel the whole nauseous feeling coming back.

Seto's eyes went wider as he placed his chin on top of Yami's still damp hair. How could someone do such a thing to him? No one ever deserved something so horrible to happen to them and he knew better than any one.

"That is why I came here tonight. He…he's here in Domino and he came…to the game shop and…and…." Yami turned quickly leaning over Seto's legs to reach the toilet and puked up more blood.

Seto knew what had happened even though Yami never voiced it. He placed his hand on the shaking teens back, careful of the irritated scratches and looked at him with his own watery eyes. He knew what Yami was going through and decided to throw all pride out the window.

"Yami, I know what you are going through." Seto whispered.

Yami wiped his mouth with his hand and turned to look at Seto with narrowed, angry eyes. "Tell me, how you could possibly know? How do you know what it's like to be so violated you can't stand to look at yourself! Do you feel that you would rather die than wake up every morning living with the scars that will never go away?"

Seto looked deeply into crimson eyes to show that he was telling the truth. "A man named Gozaburo Kaiba adopted both Mokuba and me after I beat him at a game of chess. It was the biggest mistake of my life, but it was something I knew I had to do at the time for Mokuba."

Yami looked at Seto with questioning eyes wondering where this conversation was going.

"When I didn't do well in my studies or made a mistake, my step father would abuse me. At first it just started with me not being aloud to eat dinner or locking me in a closet, but soon escalated to severe beatings and then from that…he…my own step father raped me." Seto bowed his head unable to look into sympathetic crimson eyes.

"Oh Ra Seto I am so sorry." Yami whispered not moving from his spot in between Seto's legs.

"He never touched Mokuba though, that I would never allow. Anytime Mokuba messed up or did anything wrong Gozaburo would take it out on me by any means possible." Seto clenched his fists, anger starting to radiate in his sapphire orbs.

"He raped me at least two or three times a week for years until one day I got sick of it and pushed him out of a window at the very top of Kaiba Corp. Everyone knew that the stocks at the time were plummeting and thought it was suicide, but I knew differently. Not even Mokuba knows the crime I committed." Seto looked up and into crimson eyes that now had more tears in them.

"I am so sorry, I never knew." Yami said as he bowed his head.

Seto shrugged as he pulled Yami closer. "No one knows what went on. Now the only other person to know other than myself is you."

Yami looked up into sapphire eyes and saw that he was truly concerned for him. He wondered when Seto's attitude changed for him, but wasn't arguing. Then all of a sudden terror hit deep in his heart and he looked at Seto and grabbed his shoulders.

"We have to get to the game shop! I'm afraid that he may still be around and he might do something to Yugi anyway! " Yami yelled as he started to stand up.

"Let me tend to the wounds that asshole left on you, or take you to the hospital. What if you have internal damage?" Seto rambled as he stood and helped Yami to his feet.

"I will be fine. I have never been to a hospital after the attacks." Yami said as he started to walk out of the bathroom.

"Yami, how many times has this bastard raped you?" Seto asked.

Yami sighed as he stopped not daring to look at Seto instead chose to look out the window. "I…I really don't remember, but it happened almost every week for a year."

Seto looked at Yami and his mouth fell open. "What and you never once reported it?"

Yami shook his head and Seto knew he should have taken his own advice with his step father, but was too embarrassed to tell anyone, even the local authorities.

Yami looked down and for the first time since he woke up noticed that his shirt was off. He looked at Seto. "Where is my shirt?"

"Um…" Seto blushed and looked around the bedroom until he spotted the sky blue shirt lying on the floor.

He went to pick it up and found it was still damp and cold, so he tossed it in the laundry basket. He walked over to his closet opened the door and took out a black long-sleeved shirt for Yami and a black dress shirt for him. He went back toward Yami and held it out. "Here, your shirt is still wet. It will be a little big, but it's better than nothing."

"Thank you." Yami blushed as he put on the black shirt. And true to Seto's word it was big. He rolled up the sleeves that hung well past his hands and tucked the rest into his leather pants.

After he composed himself he walked out the door and down the steps with Seto right behind him buttoning up his own clean shirt. They found Mokuba sitting on the couch, looking at both of them. "How are you feeling Yami?"

Yami gave a small forced smile and looked at the younger Kaiba. "I am feeling better."

Seto just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest looking at Yami with a look of disbelief in his eyes. He knew he wasn't going to tell Mokuba, but how could he lie and sound so convincing.

"I am really sorry to have bothered you both, but I must be getting home to Yugi." Yami said as he walked to the door.

"Wait! Let me give you a ride. The weather is horrible and it is a long walk." Seto said as he grabbed his trench coat and keys.

"Thank you." Yami whispered a real smile gracing his lips.

Seto placed his arm around Yami's shoulder to keep him warm and led him out of the mansion toward the black Mercedes. Mokuba followed them to the door smiling at how the two acted towards each other.

"Yami, I hope you can make Seto be the way he was before we were adopted. If anyone can break the ice around his heart it will be you." Mokuba whispered as he closed the door once he saw Seto and Yami drive off.

Tbc...