Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

Chapter 9

Atemu awoke with a groan the next morning. He immediately took note of the fact that his brother was not in bed, though that wasn't too much of a surprise since Yami usually woke up first...then again that might have something to do with the fact that Atemu stayed up later than him on a regular basis.

He glanced around the room and was mildly surprised to see Yami sitting on his own bed, with his back leaning against the wall, all of his attention focused entirely on his sketch book and whatever project he was working on that morning.

"Morning Yami." Atemu said with a yawn.

Yami glanced up from his sketch pad for a second and said, "You slept later than usual, what time did you fall asleep last night?"

Atemu shrugged, "Don't know, midnight? Maybe one?" Atemu said.

Yami shook his head before he returned his attention back to his sketch, "Since it was a Friday night I won't scold you for it, just please try not to pull that on a school night." Yami said.

Atemu slowly climbed out of bed before he walked over and sat down beside his brother, taking a brief glance at what Yami was drawing, before he asked, "What are you working on?"

"Stuff for the school dance. I wanted to get some possible designs for how the decorations could be done drawn out so you can give them to Anzu on Monday." Yami replied.

Atemu rolled his eyes and muttered, "I still don't see why you are so insistent on helping them. Not like we'll have anything to do with the finished product so why bother contributing."

Yami sighed, "Because Atemu, this is something we are working on as a class and like it or not you and I are a part of that class so we're going to contribute, even if it's only this." Yami said.

Atemu chose not to respond to that and instead just sat back while he watched Yami draw.

However, that peaceful atmosphere was disrupted by a knock on the door.

"What is it?" Atemu replied.

"Atemu, you and Yami need to come downstairs. There is someone here who wishes to talk to the both of you." Aknamkanon replied.

"What do they want?" Atemu asked.

"Its your social worker here to check up on you two." Aknamkanon replied.

Atemu groaned, not that bitch again. "Alright, Yami and I will be out in a minute, we've just got to get dressed first." Atemu said.

"Alright." Aknamkanon said before the two were able to hear him walk away.

Yami set aside his sketch book before he got up and started getting dressed, Atemu doing the same, though both boys were intentionally taking their time because they wanted to delay seeing Vivian Wong as long as they could.

Atemu smirked when he remembered the look on her face when he'd hit her when he and Yami were 8. She had come to the orphanage to inquire about the reason they'd ran away from, 'a perfectly good family'. Atemu clenched his fists when he remembered what she'd said to Yami that had gotten her a black eye.

Flashback

Vivian glanced over at the 8 year old Yami who was clinging tightly onto Atemu and couldn't help but notice the teeth marks on the boy's arms.

"I know you're dumb Yami, but I honestly didn't think you were dumb enough to try and eat yourself on top of trying to become a mime." Vivian said.

Yami's eyes began to tear up. Atemu was on his feet in a second and the next thing Vivian knew the eight year old had struck her.

"You little brat." She hissed, holding her eye.

Atemu had glared at her before he moved back and wrapped his arms around his crying brother, "You deserved that for making Yami cry." Atemu said.

End Flashback

Vivian was a bitch, plain and simple and she always had been to them. Atemu and Yami could never for the life of them figure out why she disliked them so much.

Yami rested his hand on his brother's shoulder, drawing him from this thoughts on 'the devils mistress' as he often liked to call her. "Come on Até, you know how angry Ms. Wong gets if we keep her waiting." Yami said.

Atemu rolled his eyes and muttered, "I honestly could care less if the damn bitch is mad or not."

Yami sighed and said, "I know you don't like her Até, but you need to be nicer to her. Remember she could decide to try and split us up, or have us taken away from Mr. and Mrs. Sennen if we make her too mad, so please please PLEASE Atemu for once in your life be polite." Yami finished with a pleading tone.

Atemu nodded, "Alright Yami, I'll try. But if she starts insulting you again she'll get what she deserves ." Atemu said.

Yami smiled and squeezed his brother's hand before they headed out the door.

The two walked down the stairs and into the sitting room before freezing. The person sitting there talking politely with the Sennen's was not Vivian Wong, but someone else entirely.

Aknamkanon was the first to notice the boys and he smiled kindly at them before saying, "Atemu, Yami please...join us." He held out his hand towards the couch which was empty for them.

Atemu and Yami made their way over to the couch before they slowly took their seats. Yami sat down as close to Atemu as he could without sitting on him, though Atemu really didn't mind. He too felt that they needed to be cautious about this new person.

Atemu glared when he realized that the three adults in the room were starring at him and his brother. He absolutely hated it when people starred at them. "What the fuck are you starring at?" He hissed.

Aknamkanon and Amara glanced at each other before they rose to their feet and walked out of the room, "We'll leave you three to talk." Amara said as they were leaving.

Once they were gone the blond turned and smiled kindly at the boys and said, "My name is Mai Valentine and I am your new social worker."

Atemu glared at her for a moment before he said, "Well, lets get this over with."

Mai smiled at him for a second before saying, "You must be Atemu, and that would make the shy one cuddled up against you your brother Yami."

"What are you getting at?" Atemu asked.

Mai just chuckled, "You're names. If I'm going to be your social worker it would look really bad if I didn't even know my charges' names." Mai said.

Atemu rolled his eyes before he mumbled, "Aren't there just pictures with names on the bottom of us in your stupid file? Why bother asking or making it look like you even care to get to know us."

Mai's smile slid from her face and she sighed, "I guess I was right in my assumption that Vivian was a bitch."

Atemu's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he smirked, "Well it seems this time Yami and I got someone intelligent."

Mai smiled again before she said, "Well, I'd certainly like to think so. Now, first let me ask you a very important question: Are you and Yami being treated well here?"

Atemu nodded, "Yes, the Sennen's are great. They are by far the best family to take us in." Atemu said.

Mai nodded before saying, "I had a feeling you'd say that seeing as how you hadn't runaway. From looking over your file, though Vivian failed to note this, I would guess that you ran away when the foster family wasn't taking care of you like they should be. Would that be accurate?"

Atemu scowled before he said, "Me and Yami ran away from the first three because they were bad but don't assume that just because we didn't run away from the last one that they were anything more than scum that even the devil wouldn't want to be associated with."

Mai sighed, "Would you be willing to tell me about that? Clearly, no matter what Vivian and some other idiots decided to say, something happened." Mai said.

Atemu continued to scowl at her before another person cleared their throat. Both Atemu and Mai looked up to see Kaiba standing just outside the sitting room.

Yami looked up as well and his eyes widened before he adverted his gaze, a blush dusting his cheeks. Atemu looked between the three before he said, "Yami, why don't you go upstairs and talk with Seto while I talk with Mai down here. I know you don't like talking about this stuff, that it upsets you."

Yami nodded before he slowly got to his feet and walked up to Seto and smiled at him before he exited the room with Seto following him.

Mai watched the two leave and said, "Not that its any of my business but what was that about?"

"My brother doesn't like talking about that bastard and I really don't want him having another flashback or more nightmares. He has a hard enough time dealing with it as it is. I'm not going to make it worse for him." Atemu said.

Mai nodded, she had studied trauma victims while she was in college and she knew, theoretically at least, what the children experienced as an after effect.

Atemu took a deep breath before he asked, "What exactly do you need to know?"

"Well, I need to know what had happened to your brother." Mai said, "Even Vivian, who wrote your story off as a lie, knew that SOMETHING had happened."

Atemu nodded, "True, but she hated Yami and me. Always had though I don't know why. There was a time where Yami and I thought she gave us to evil familes as punishment because she just didn't like us." Atemu said.

Mai's eyes softened a bit while she mentally cursed Vivian, "I know it might have seemed like that but that wasn't what happened."

Atemu nodded again, "I know that, but that didn't mean that when Yami and I were younger we thought that. Anyway, you wanted to know what happened to us, right?" Atemu asked. I won't give her detailed information, just the basics. She can do whatever she wants with that information.

Mai pulled out a notebook and opened it to a blank page and she also grabbed a pen, she looked up at Atemu and said, "I need to take notes so that the correct information gets placed in yours and Yami's files. Anyway, begin when you're ready."

Atemu nodded and said, "Our first foster family took Yami and I in when we had barely been in the system. They locked us up in the basement and gave us water but no food. Yami got so hungry that he ended up trying to eat the skin on his arms. I know I ate a cockroach I'd managed to kill. However, even at age 8 I knew that if we didn't get out of there we'd end up dead so I broke a window and Yami and I escaped."

Atemu paused for a moment before continuing, "The second family actually wasn't bad at all. However, they had too many kids they had to look after. Yami and I could have died when they left us out in the open water because they had thought all the kids were in the boat after they'd taken us all out for a snorkeling trip. When they had been alerted that we'd run away they were surprised to hear that because they hadn't even noticed we were missing, and that call had come three days after we'd been gone." Atemu said.

Atemu paused again and said, "The third family actually only caused me trouble, not Yami fortunately enough." He paused briefly and smiled, like he was looking back on a fond memory. Mai was a bit confused by this but she knew not to press him. Atemu soon shook his head as though to drive the memory from his mind before continuing, "That time it wasn't me playing the hero, it was Yami. Our foster family had an older boy that was actually their real son. Ushio Tesuo absolutely hated me. And he had ever since I told him to leave Yami alone that first day we'd moved in. So, he had decided to make my life a living hell. His parents had went away on a business trip leaving Yami and I alone with Ushio. They had hardly left before Ushio decided that I was going to 'pay for mouthing off to him'. Mind you, I was only 11 then, and Ushio was a 17 year old brute. I stood no chance. He grabbed me by my hair and dragged me into the room that Yami and I shared. He tossed me onto the bed and pulled off his belt which he used to secure me to the bed so I couldn't move. He unbuttoned the shirt I had been wearing leaving my torso exposed before he went and grabbed a knife and began to crave random designs into my skin. Laughing while I screamed for him to stop. He stopped when Yami smashed a vase over his head, knocking him out. Yami then undid the belt and we left."

Atemu scowled and said, "However, all three of those pale in comparison to what the last bastard did to my brother."

Mai looked at him for a second but like before she knew better than to prod.

Atemu took a deep breath and said, "We lived with the Kesir's for a month and until that last day I honestly thought everything had been fine. However, when I walked into the bathroom, where my brother was supposed to be taking a shower, and saw our foster father on top of him...RAPING him, while Yami was crying, pleading with him to stop. And him saying that he would kill me if Yami didn't shut up and take it like the worthless whore that he is. I snapped. I attacked the bastard and ended up putting him into the hospital. Yami later told me that bastard had done that to him every morning when he went in for a shower since the first morning we had spent there."

Mai froze when she heard Atemu's final piece of his story, she was in shock. She could not believe that Vivian and those working with her had overlooked so much, let so much slide when it came to these boys.

Atemu, who had noticed the look of shock on her face, snapped her out of it by asking, "Is there anything else you need from me Ms. Valentine? Because if not I'd like to get back to spending the day with my brother...and apparently a friend of ours who came by."

Mai smiled at him and said, "Well, there is one more thing." She reached down into her purse and pulled out a copy of her business card, which she handed to Atemu, "I want you to have this so you can call me and tell me is something else happens. You can call me anytime day or night. It's high time someone started seeing to it you were taken care of."

Atemu nodded and took the card before he slipped it into his pocket. He then got up and headed upstairs.

-With Seto and Yami while Atemu was downstairs talking to Mai-

Yami walked upstairs and back into his and Atemu's room. Seto followed him into the room and Yami, without turning to look at him, said, "You can close the door if you'd like."

Seto did and after he had closed the door he sat down on one of the beds, Yami sitting down on the one opposite him. Seto sighed before he said, "Yami, I'd like to apologize for yesterady."

Yami frowned slightly before saying, "Why would you apologize about something like that? You didn't do anything wrong. If anyone should be apologizing it should be me."

Seto looked up at Yami for a few seconds in shock before he asked, "Why would you need to apologize?"

Yami blushed before he mumbled, "I kept kissing you when you didn't want to."

Seto sighed before he got up and walked over to the other bed before sitting down beside Yami. "You know, if I really didn't want you to kiss me I could have easily pushed you away Yami." Seto reasoned.

Yami shook his head, before adding, "That's not the point Seto. The point is that I ruined our friendship yesterday."

Seto gaped at Yami before he placed both hands on Yami's shoulders and rotated Yami so they were now facing one another, "You didn't ruin our friendship Yami. I had thought I'd made you uncomfortable and that you wouldn't want anything to do with me after that." Seto said.

Yami sighed before he reached up and cupped the side of Seto's face and said, "Seto, you were just trying to help me. I would never be angry at you for that."

Seto smiled at Yami, bringing one hand up to rest it on the hand Yami had on his face. Yami blushed at the action and Seto chuckled before he said, "You look absolutely adorable when you blush."

Yami's blush darkened while he mumbled, "Seto, don't tease me."

Seto chuckled again while he brought his other hand up and traced Yami's cheek with his finger. "You know Yami, there is one mystery that I still haven't solved about you." Seto said after a few seconds of lightly stroking Yami's cheek.

"And what's that?" Yami asked, genuinely curious.

"How is it that an angel fallen from heaven into the depths of hell can still have the heart of an angel after all he's been through?" Seto asked.

"I'm no angel Seto. I'm just me." Yami said.

"That's exactly my point Yami. You are probably the most amazing person I've ever met, and the most amazing thing is that you've stayed that way no matter what horrors have befallen you. You're a lot stronger than me or your brother are." Seto said.

Yami shook his head, "No, I'm not." Yami replied.

Seto removed Yami's hand from his face and brought it to his lips where he lightly placed a kiss on top of Yami's knuckles and said, "There are many different kinds of stregnth Yami. Don't think for one second just because you don't get into fights and act tough that makes you weak."

Yami blushed and tugged his hand out of Seto's grasp. "Why did you do that?" He asked.

Seto sighed before he mumbled, "Because I like you."

This time it wasn't only Yami who was blushing. They were both quiet for a few minutes before Yami mumbled, "No, you don't Seto."

"I don't what?" Seto asked.

"You don't like me." Yami replied, "I mean why would someone like you, who could have anyone in the world be remotely interested in me?"

Seto gaped at Yami for a few seconds, he just couldn't believe that Yami honestly didn't see what Seto could see clear as day.

"I mean, I'm tainted..."Yami began to say only to trail off when Seto leaned forward and pressed his lips lightly to Yami's silencing him with a kiss.

For a moment Yami was frozen in shock. Seto was kissing him again, only this time it wasn't because he was trying to snap him out of a flashback. Once Yami had gotten over the shock he hestiantly began to kiss Seto back, much to Seto's delight.

However, the moment was shattered by an angry shout of, "SETO KAIBA WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BROHTER?"

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review.