WARNING: This chapter is a little more intense with the violence than previous ones, mostly because this has the first full scene with the loathsome Gozaburo Kaiba. I hate him. -_- You have been warned!


The next morning, Seto found that he was able to recall that missing chunk of memory: he'd gone to KaibaCorp and faced Noah in chess, trouncing him soundly and taking the Blue-Eyes as his own. Seto reached for his coat, which he'd been too tired to put anywhere but on the floor last night, and pulled the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card out of the inner pocket. He could hardly believe it. It brought a full, warm smile to his face like nothing else had in a long time.

At school on Monday, his friends were eager to hear if he'd won his chess match; honestly, Seto hadn't expected them to remember. He'd just assumed they would have forgotten something so trivial. He told them that yes, he had won, and even showed them the set-up of the checkmate, to which his friends had responded with such praise as, "We always knew you would win," and, "Nobody's better than you at chess." Again, Seto didn't know how to respond to such praise.

Rather than tell them outright what he'd won, he'd told them that it was a Duel Monsters card, and that the only way they would see it would be if it came up in his deck during a duel. He'd alternated between dueling Yugi and Joey and Ryou at lunch and after school each day that week, and the Blue-Eyes card had yet to come up. Of course, it didn't help that Seto usually beat Joey fairly quickly, and that every time he dueled Yugi, they ran out of time and couldn't complete the duel.

Ryou was possibly the most difficult Seto faced, actually. His Destiny Board strategy was deadly, and Seto wasn't always able to pull himself out of it each time Ryou employed it. For the first time that he could think of, he almost felt normal. He wasn't fully normal, of course, because he was still dragging himself to school a half hour before classes so that he could work on coding his computer program at the school library, since he lacked a computer of his own. But this was the closest he'd ever gotten to being consistently happy for more than a day at a time, and he didn't want to waste a single moment of it.

Of course, things didn't truly change for him. There still remained the fact that he now realized he was identical to Gozaburo's son, which made the fact that Gozaburo had requested someone that looked so specifically like him so incredibly disturbing. He wasn't going to cater to that sadist anymore, he decided. He was done. It was high time that he stood up for himself.


"You disgust me," Seto said as he entered Gozaburo's office that Thursday night.

"What did you just say to me?" Gozaburo turned on him, looking dangerous and violent. Then again, he always looked that way in Seto's eyes.

"You're a pervert. I know you're the one who requested somebody with my coloring, but I didn't realize before that I looked exactly like your son!" Seto couldn't stand this anymore. No amount of money could justify the amount of abuse he suffered at this monster's hands.

"You will get on your hands and knees like the dog you are this very moment, or so help me, I'll beat you within an inch of your life." Gozaburo's voice was cold and cruel, and the fact that he spoke in a low whisper rather than a loud shout sent a chill down Seto's spine. Even so, he stood his ground.

"I'm not doing this anymore." He uncrossed his arms as he turned to walk away, only to have the door be dead-bolted on him as he reached it. He turned around to glare at Gozaburo, who smugly held the fancy remote control for the myriad of features in his office that responded to it.

"I have a bone to pick with you, Mutt," Gozaburo growled. "You've turned my own son against me. Did you really think you could get away with that?"

"What are you talking about?" Seto was genuinely perplexed, now. What could he possibly be referring to.

"Ever since you beat him in that chess match, he's changed." Gozaburo walked across the room to his liquor cabinet and opened it, then opened the hidden compartment that held the things he used in his sessions with Seto—mostly various forms of torture. "He's already started accumulating shares of KaibaCorp stock. He's trying to challenge me, trying to take my company from me." He turned around with something in his hands that Seto had never seen before: it was a whip, but not like any other Gozaburo had previously used. "What did you say to him to make him turn against me?"

"I didn't say anything to him about you," Seto answered honestly, slipping off his coat, not because he intended to submit, but because he planned on fighting back and didn't want to be inhibited by it. "If you can't raise your own son properly, that's not my fault." It was a dumb move on his part to goad the man who looked just about ready to whip him into next week, but Seto figured that Gozaburo was so far gone at this point it didn't even matter. The older stepped forward a few paces, but Seto remained where he was.

"You'll regret those words!" The KaibaCorp president held the long whip by its handle, lifting it and striking at Seto with a rapid motion, but Seto caught the length of the whip in his hand. Something sharp was digging into his palm, making his hand bleed, but he didn't let go.

"It's over, Gozaburo. I'm leaving and I'm not coming back."

Gozaburo started to laugh at Seto's words, sounding genuinely crazy.

"You have a little brother, don't you?" He said, shocking Seto out of his own anger and making his eyes grow wide.

"How did you…?"

"It doesn't matter how I know," Gozaburo said dismissively. "What matters is that I'm able and willing to kidnap him and turn him into a servant in my household if I so choose—or if you don't cooperate." He grinned in a way that made Seto feel sick, the fire of rebellion dying quickly in the teen's heart. He should have known better than to think that he could rid himself of this demon so easily.

"You wouldn't—" he protested weakly, unable to comprehend the depravity of this man's mind.

"Oh yes I would, and I'm not in a very good mood right now, which means that it wouldn't take very much at all for me to lose my temper and send one of my men to go out and fetch him for me. So you might want to start obeying me. Let go." Seto let go, several heavy droplets of blood falling to the floor. "Now strip, or you'll never see your little brother again."

Seto didn't have any choice but to obey, and Seth groaned inwardly. He'd been proud of Seto for standing up to this horrible man, convinced that he would rescue himself from the worst part of his "profession." He hadn't counted on Gozaburo going to such extremes. He also hadn't realized that their Shadow Game had affected the Kaiba heir to such a degree. He truly felt guilty that Seto was going to suffer on his account. He would step in if he could, but once again, Seto had put the Millennium Rod aside with his coat and he simply stood too far away for Seth to exert much influence over him.

He was too far to exert much influence, true, but there were still times when the teen was close enough that Seth could steal some of his pain and ease his suffering. Seth may not have been with Seto for very long, but even he could see that this was an unusually brutal session for the two of them. This wasn't just sex, it was rape. This wasn't just a kink, this was torture. Seth found himself revolted and angered to the point where he could hardly stand to wait for the moment that he was able to do something about this.

His heart wrenched with pity as Seto lay on the floor, an awful bloody mess. He couldn't move; all Seto wanted to do was fall sleep so that he could wake up from this nightmare.

"Get out, you dog," Gozaburo grumbled as he gave the teen one last kick. Tonight, he didn't offer any payment. "I expect to see you here tomorrow night at the same time so that I can finish punishing you." With that, he turned away and started to light himself a cigar. This wouldn't be the first time that he needed to clean bloodstains off the floor of his office, so he had no concerns about how he was going to remove the mess.

Seto let out a low groan as he made an attempt to move, weakly reaching for his clothes with one trembling arm. The process of dressing was slow, and his dark clothes were quickly absorbing the blood from his skin. As he moved closer to his coat, Seth stole more and more of his pain and bore the burden of it himself. As he did so, Seto was able to move with less pain. As his fingers wrapped around the scepter, Seth rushed into him, putting Seto's soul in a peaceful state of sleep to free him from this nightmare while Seth took care of things.

Seth seized Seto's coat in his left hand and stood, facing Gozaburo with an almost murderous look in his eyes. He aimed the Millennium Rod at Mr. Kaiba, who had just then turned around to make sure that Seto was really on his way out.

"Mind crush!" he shouted.

Gozaburo screamed in agony as the demons in his heart that had stripped him of his humanity proceeded to torture his own mind with the same pain he'd inflicted upon Seto, making him feel wounds his body lacked. He fell to his knees, hands clutching his head as his cigar fell from his fingers to the floor. Seth went to his desk, pocketed the envelope of cash that he should have given to Seto, turned around, and left without looking back. He rarely used the Mind Crush, wary of reaching a point where he could use it without hesitation or remorse. Gozaburo Kaiba, however, was truly a monster that needed to suffer for his crimes. He needed to be stopped.

Seth stumbled to the elevator and pushed the correct button, only knowing how to operate it because he'd seen Seto do so before. He needed to get to Ryou's house. Ryou was Seto's friend, and his father had begun to try and intervene in Seto's life. Seth knew that Mr. Bakura's intentions were good and his heart pure. He trusted him, even if Seto didn't trust him yet. He exited the office building and stepped out into the rain, still clutching the coat at his side. Seto loved that coat, as silly as it sounded, and Seth wasn't willing to let it be tainted with bloodstains. He limped the long journey to the Bakura home, knowing that Seto needed medical attention immediately and that he wouldn't be able to get there on his own. He made it all the way to the front steps and knocked on the front door. He gave Seto his body back just as Ryou opened the door. The teen let out a cry of surprise as he rushed forward to catch Seto as he fainted.

"Dad!" he called, unsure of what to do or what was going on. He'd seen blood on Seto's face before the taller teen tipped forward. Was he hurt? He must be. He'd get sick if he stayed in those soaked clothes. His father was at his side in a matter of seconds, and Ryou was grateful that Mokuba had fallen asleep on the couch again. He wouldn't have wanted the child to see his brother like this.

"Go get your mother, Ryou," he ordered as he took Seto into his own arms. "Tell her it's an emergency." His son nodded and dashed off to do as he was told. Bakura lifted Seto carefully, closing the front door once he had the brunette inside. They had one guest bedroom, on the ground floor, and Bakura chose to carry him to the adjacent bathroom. There was no way that he would let the poor boy go home in a state like this, especially when his home wasn't even a place that he felt safe. Once he'd gently laid Seto on the floor, he took the coat from his still-clenched hand and hung it over the shower curtain rod. That done, he noticed that the Millennium Rod was on his person as well. He removed it carefully and set it on the bathroom sink, then set about unbuttoning Seto's shirt. He'd just finished doing so when his wife entered bearing a first aid kit. He could see Ryou and Marik behind her, looking worried and tired.

"You two can go to bed. We'll take care of things here," he assured. Ryou nodded and led Marik back upstairs, but he was unable to hide how upset he was. He came to a stop in the hallway, and Marik stayed with him. Ryou's eyes watered as a wave of sorrow swept over him, Marik stepping closer to wrap his arms around Ryou to comfort him. The two of them had gotten quite close in the short time that they'd spent together, and add to that the fact that Marik was still unacquainted with most social norms, and Ryou found himself in possession of the perfect best friend. Ryou loved hugs, and Marik was generous with affectionate physical contact like nobody else Ryou knew.

"Why didn't he tell me that he was in trouble?" Ryou whispered as he hugged Marik tightly, resting his chin on Marik's shoulder as he tried not to cry. "He knows that he can trust me." Ever since the Spirit of the Millennium Ring had established itself as a permanent presence in Ryou's mind, he'd discovered that he could not only understand Marik's hieratic Egyptian, but he could speak it as well. This made communication between them much easier, so Ryou was speaking in hieratic Egyptian now.

"Some secrets are too terrible to say out loud," Marik sighed, rubbing Ryou's back comfortingly. He knew from experience that when somebody hurt you repeatedly, it made you feel ashamed and bitter, and the last thing you wanted to do was talk about it.

"I just wish I could do something to help," Ryou murmured, blinking away the tears he'd almost shed. He was finally starting to calm down, and Marik released him gently,holding both of his hands in his own for a moment.

"There may be something that I can do. Go, sleep, and I'll join you soon." He gave Ryou's hands a squeeze before they parted. Marik had begun to join Ryou in bed at night; the poor "yadonushi" was terrified that the Spirit might possess him in the middle of the night and do something terrible, and if Marik was there, not only did he feel calmer and safer, but there had been an instance when Marik's knowledge of the Millennium Items and the ancient scriptures had allowed him to stop the Evil Spirit from sneaking out through the window to do gods only knew what.


"How did this happen?" Mrs. Bakura gasped as she examined Seto's back, horrified.

"I don't know, Miya, he won't tell me." Bakura sighed as he held Seto propped against his own shoulder and his wife began to clean the terrible wounds that covered his young body. "They weren't like this at all last week."

"Kenji, we need to get him to talk. There's no way I'm letting him out of this house if there's even the slightest possibility of this happening to him again." Miya spoke with the fierce protectiveness of a mother, even though Seto wasn't her own child. He didn't have a mother of his own to look out for him anymore, so it couldn't possibly do him any harm for her to step in as a surrogate, if only for a brief time.

"Well, I doubt he's going to say much of anything tonight," Kenji Bakura responded, glancing at the brunette's face. "Wait, I think he might be waking up. Seto, can you hear me?"

Seto's bright blue eyes blinked open slowly. "Where am I?"

"You're at Ryou's house," he answered quietly.

"How did I get here?" He seemed even more disoriented than Kenji had anticipated.

"You walked here, but you passed out when Ryou opened the door."

"Who's touching me?" he asked, suddenly aware of the fact that he was being touched by more than one person. He instantly tensed, looking like he would try to free himself and scramble away from the touch if only he was physically capable of doing so.

"Don't worry, it's only my wife. She's a trained nurse, she's just taking care of your wounds. Nobody here is going to hurt you." He spoke calmly and slowly, hoping that Seto would just relax, but he remained tense and nervous.

"I don't like people touching me," he muttered under his breath, closing his eyes again as he allowed Mr. Bakura to support his weight. He may be tense, but he was also tired, and his body was even more inclined to sleep now that it was injured and needed to heal. The process of tending to his injuries was slow, especially because he stubbornly refused to allow them to remove anything more than his shirt, even though it was obvious that he had more injuries that needed tending. Neither of them tried to push him on that; however, Miya had gotten Seto to promise that he'd let her take him to a doctor tomorrow so that he could be properly taken care of.

"You're going to stay for the night. There's no point in sending you home when you're already here. I'll bring Mokuba in here to join you, since the bed's more than big enough for the two of you. Meanwhile, Kenji, can you get him some clothes to sleep in?"

Mr. Bakura, who'd been packing up the first-aid kit, nodded and left, bumping into Marik as he left the bedroom.

"How long have you been waiting out here?" he asked in surprise, but the Egyptian didn't seem flustered at all.

"I can help," he said in Arabic.

"Sleep is the best thing for Seto now," Mr. Bakura said gently, not knowing what Marik was trying to offer, but knowing that it was too late at night for any of them to still be awake.

"He has the Millennium Rod with him, yes?" Marik asked, ignoring the archaeologist's words.

"Yes, he does."

"Put it close by him when he sleeps. He will heal faster," Marik insisted, looking so convicted of the truth of his own words that Kenji believed him.

When Seto was finally asleep in their guest room, Mokuba curled up against him, the Millennium Rod was on the nightstand, by his head. Seth felt rather satisfied with how things had gone once he'd gotten Seto to the Bakura household. Finally, Seto was getting some proper help and some proper sleep.


Author Notes: Angstshipping (Ryou x Marik) may prove to be unavoidably inevitable in this story; I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep it platonic. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! What was your favorite moment? Did something surprise you? What do you think will happen next?! Please review, because more reviews = more chapters! Btw, my chapters seem to be getting longer… Does anybody know what's up with that? ;P