Disclaimer: (Clearing throat) A-hem! This is an important announcement from the author of this story. Although she finds the writing imaginative, the characters ever the more fascinating, and the show highly addictive, she, unfortunately, does NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh. She does, however, own the 'original' characters in this drama and its rather convoluted plot. Thanks for 'listening' and have a good day. That is all.

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Chapter Thirteen "'A' is for 'Apple', 'B' is for 'Betrayal'…"

After making it about three-quarters of the way to the Kaiba Estate, the effects of the previous evening's 'entertainment' and the additional stress he was forcing onto his already severely abused body began to overwhelm Jounouchi's initial rush of Adrenalin and he slowed down to a 'fast', and painful, limp – as the old saying went, "the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak" – even with mindful determination, his body could only take so much before it broke down completely. That was something that he couldn't let happen; at least not now. Too much was at stake.

He had been fifteen minutes into his 'run' and just at the outskirts of downtown Domino when it had occurred to him that going through the middle of town probably wasn't the brightest idea – the last thing that he needed was to be spotted by one of the Yuugi-tachi as they were coming out of 'Burger World', or one of their other favorite haunts, the 'Big Web' arcade – so, he had begun to bob-and-weave through the back alleys that he remembered from his old 'gang' days, trying as much as possible to keep off the main thoroughfare and out of sight. The trip would take longer, but he figured that being a little extra cautious was well worth it, if it increased his chances of success.

Now, the blond was wondering if, perhaps, he shouldn't have taken the easier route. He was exhausted, his body ached terribly and his feet burned; all he really wanted to do was to lie down and sleep for the next 20 or 30,000 years and forget his miserable life and the seemingly inescapable and mind-boggling mess that he found himself in.

That's what he wanted to do. He also wanted a father who loved him, a 'happy' home and a unbroken family – wanting was just another word for wishing, and in his experience wishes hardly ever came true. No matter how hard you prayed, how hard you worked, or how good you were, they remained unattainable – like a mirage in the desert. Beautiful to look at, but when you tried to grasp them, they became like tiny grains of sand sifting through your fingers. As unstoppable as the hands of time, and with as much substance as a wisp of smoke, they always seemed to disappear, fading into nothingness with the faintest whisper of the wind.

No. What he wanted to do and what he needed to do were two completely separate things. Shaking his head to try and clear his pain-fogged mind, Jou forced himself to focus on that – he would rest afterward. Rest…and grieve for yet another wish that had become nonexistent, vanishing silently into the darkness.

Clenching his teeth, the weary teen pushed himself onward, totally unaware of the hungry set of eyes that followed his every move with hawk-like precision, and not knowing that each step that he took was bringing him closer and closer to a perilous trap that his gentle heart and trusting mind could never have conceived of.

Watanabe's eyes trailed the struggling boy as he limped along, finding it easier to 'shadow' his movements now that he had ditched the car. The youth had surprised him earlier when he had left the main street and ducked into an alleyway – at first, he was sure that he had been spotted, but then had realized that the blond wasn't trying to evade him at all, but someone else entirely. It brought a cruel smile to his face at how clueless the boy actually was. Hirotaka had been right – he was a 'borderline idiot' who, with all his 'good intentions', was almost guaranteeing their success.

And now that he was sure of the faltering teen's destination, he felt his pulse quicken with excitement – the way the pieces were falling neatly into place as if guided by 'unseen' hands came very close to making him want to chuckle out loud.

Twenty minutes later, from across the street, 'Bolts' watched from his hiding place behind a massive Cherry tree as Jounouchi half-walked, half-felt his way along the impressive stone wall that surrounded the teen billionaire's sizable estate, continuing his grueling journey to the front gates at a mind-numbing pace, his strength nearly spent and on the verge of total collapse. The dark-haired man frowned with concern, as he wondered to himself if the boy's father had taken a bit too much pleasure in 'punishing' his son the night before – after all, their entire scheme hinged on the blond being able to draw the younger Kaiba out of the mansion and getting him to open the gates, but if the boy never made it there, then all of their careful planning would have been for nothing.

He needn't have worried. It seemed as if 'luck' was, again, on their side. That and the teen's strong will, or perhaps, sheer stubbornness, brought him to the graceful, black wrought-iron gates of the Kaiba Estate a few minutes later, and to the older man's immense surprise, the CEO's little brother was but twenty feet inside the twin gates, sitting on the deceptively pristine asphalt driveway, trying his best to free the leg of his jeans that was caught in the chain of the sleek, black ten-speed bike that his 'Oniisama' had purchased for him three weeks before, after stating with an air of finality, that the youngest Kaiba needed more exercise and fresh air and less time in front of the television playing video games.

Nothing the raven-haired boy could say had been able to change his brother's mind, which in the end, had turned out to be a good thing – the workaholic brunet had actually taken the day off to give his only sibling a 'refresher course' in the rules-of-the-road and bike safety – they had spent the day together, and had even had a picnic lunch at their favorite spot underneath the Cherry trees on the estate grounds, afterward lazily lounging on the blanket that they had brought, watching the clouds drift by in the warmth of the afternoon sun. All in all, it had been a glorious day, and one that the young boy would not soon forget.

However, at the moment, the 'mop-haired' preteen was anything but pleased with his brother's 'gift', as it tried to devour his very expensive, and most favorite, pair of denims. 'Bolts' watched with cool amusement as a few seconds later the boy, with a mighty tug and the almost painful sound of ripping cloth, regained his freedom, tumbling backwards into the mulch-covered flowerbed that lined the drive. He couldn't help the smirk that twisted his lips as he saw the boy shoot back up almost immediately with a howl of despair and a sneeze, his smirk growing wider as the youth proceeded to kick at the bike with a now half-bare leg, the scowl of disgust on his face quickly erasing any doubt whatsoever as to whom he was related to.

It was at this instant that the blond caught the younger boy's attention. Grabbing onto the gates for support as he used his last shred of willpower to keep his trembling and badly overexerted body standing, Jou blinked furiously, just barely able to make out through his bleary vision the look of absolute shock and horror that flew across the other boy's face, his already wide gray eyes widening even further as his startled brain registered what his eyes were seeing. Then, before the honey-eyed teen had the chance to take a breath and give a word of warning, he saw the younger boy scramble to the side, disappearing for a split-second behind the wall, his reemergence coinciding with the sudden movement of the imposing gates as they began to slowly open with a creak and a heavy groan.

With almost a look of rapture on his face, Watanabe watched their progress as if it were the opening of the 'Gates of Heaven', and then, his eyes narrowing, he made his move while both boys were distracted and the street was bare of any possible witnesses.

Retrieving the switchblade that he had hidden in his jacket, he crossed the street with the speed and grace of a prowling leopard, appearing behind the blond-haired youth as if out of thin air, and before either could react, managed to roughly pull the badly-dazed teen, along with himself, into the now vulnerable enclosure, eliciting an instant cry of pain from the amber-eyed boy and one of surprise and stark terror from the other.

Drawing the razor-sharp blade against his defenseless captive's throat, and pinning the sibling of his most-hated enemy with eyes that were strangely filled with fire and as cold as ice at the same time, Watanabe gave his instructions in a voice whose underlying tone promised the gravest consequences for any hesitation or disobedience. "Be quiet and close the gates – and don't try anything foolish or you friend here will pay the price – understand?"

Blinking back tears, the smaller of the two boys nodded and did as ordered, quickly returning to stand in his original spot, his anxious, fear-filled eyes coming to rest on the taller youth's pain-twisted face in dismay. He could tell that Jounouchi was in no shape to fight back – even if the man who held him had not been armed with a weapon, he doubted that his friend had any strength left for anything more than keeping himself upright and breathing. The youngest Kaiba felt the tears he had been holding back threatening to spill, his bottom lip beginning to quiver dangerously as the realization struck of just how much trouble both he and the older boy were really in – Jou couldn't do anything, he didn't know what to do, and the only thought that seemed to be ringing clearly in his panic-stricken mind was actually more of a half-wish and half-prayer – he was terrified, he wanted his big brother, and he wanted him NOW.

Seto Kaiba snarled in disgust. It was his sixth try and he still couldn't come up with anything even close to a halfway decent result – the program on his desktop personal computer, as he had feared, just wasn't advanced enough to cleanup much of the photograph's distortion – why he kept trying made no logical sense, and yet, he found himself unwilling, if not unable, to stop.

He had scanned and downloaded the photograph earlier - waiting for the repairs to the other system to be completed and not being able to do anything 'constructive' was grating on his nerves – now, he sat with the original in front of him, a deep frown on his face as his cool blue eyes darted back and forth between it and its computerized 'twin', the black-and-white figure's identity, except for the fact of it being male, still as indistinguishable as before. However, there were things that could be easily recognized in the photograph, such as a mailbox, a fire hydrant and a street lamp – not because their images were any clearer, but because of the familiar shape of the objects that one saw countless times a day on almost every street corner – being able to see minute 'details' really wasn't necessary for the brain to decipher what the items were; it did so automatically, with no difficulty at all, and without a second thought. But there was something else about the photo that pulled at him – something that bothered him about the picture's out-of-focus and grainy image…

Allowing his gaze to drift to the 'figure' itself, Kaiba's frown deepened even further as he analyzed it for what already seemed like the millionth time that morning, the stress and strain on his overworked eyes causing his vision to blur a bit as it came to rest on the right forearm of the man who was the photograph's main subject.

And that's when the realization hit him like a sudden slap in the face, that what looked to the naked eye like nothing more than a fuzzy 'smudge', and what the detective had said was probably an imperfection in the film, could actually be something else. It wasn't logical, and it made no sense, but somehow he knew that he was right, and he knew that he had seen that unusual shape somewhere before; the question was WHERE?

Closing his eyes in concentration, the teen CEO was rewarded a couple of minutes later as a vague memory forced itself to the surface from deep within his detail-driven and highly-compartmentalized brain – a memory that caused those same eyes to snap open with a look of horrified disbelief as a spiral of fear curled itself around his suddenly rapidly beating heart, then worked its way down to settle like a lead weight in the pit of his stomach. NO…it wasn't possible…

Learning forward, his strong hands shaking slightly, the brunet reached for his computer keyboard, his long, slender fingers dancing across its surface at a frantic pace as he searched for the confirmation to his worst nightmare, freezing as the damnable image almost immediately popped up to fill the screen, making him feel as if the gods were, for their own perverse delight, mocking both him and his stupidity. Why he had ever believed that he was finally rid of those snakes-in-the-grass was beyond him – it seemed that they were destined to be a curse that he would be forced to continue to carry forever on his heavily-burdened shoulders, along with all the other 'garbage' that his adoptive father had left behind.

The undeniable truth stared back at him, this time with crystal clarity, and in color. It was copy of the company 'newsletter' from a little over a year before. The photograph that took up nearly half the first page had been taken when the 'Big Five' were still in power, during a 'after-hours' party at the main headquarters that was being held in celebration of Kaiba Corporation's opening of its first branch office in Pakistan. All the employees who had worked on the project had been invited – there had been plenty of food, dancing and drinking, so by the time the picture was taken, most of the male employees had removed their jackets and ties, and some had even rolled up the sleeves of their dress shirts, as the room full of people, the alcohol and the merriment had combined together to make them a bit too warm for the occasion.

The picture itself showed the employees gathered around a delicately decorated cake, with the two project leaders, one male and one female, each holding a knife in opposite hands and grinning broadly, poised and ready to 'slice and serve' the artistic creation to their fellow 'revelers'.

And there on the male's right arm, was what the youngest chairman in Kaiba Corporation history had been looking for – and hoping desperately not to find…

He was right. It was a TATTOO.

Reading the caption underneath the photo, he felt his stomach lurch as his eyes ran over the letters that together formed a name – a name that he knew. The man had been the last employee fired after the 'Big Five' fiasco and the investigation that followed. While it was true that, as the 'survivor' of the failed company takeover he had sought out those employees that were related to the board members, contrary to what many believed, that in-and-of itself was not a sufficient reason for dismissal. All of those fired had been guilty of something in addition – ranging from knowing of illegal activities and not reporting them, all the way up to selling confidential company information for personal profit – this man had been no exception. In truth, he and a few others had gotten off rather lightly – the evidence that they had found of their 'indiscretions' had not been solid enough to push for criminal charges. The best he had been able to do as CEO, to keep anyone else from finding themselves a victim of the underhanded tactics that seemed to be a trait of the board members 'tainted bloodline' and gnarled 'family trees', was to put a warning out to the business community through 'private' channels, that no matter how brilliant, hiring them was a dangerous gamble, that in the end, was bound to cost more than they were worth. The business community at large had apparently agreed – not one was hired, and since the information had been spread by word-of-mouth, its 'source' was untraceable, although he was sure that the smarter ones amongst the 'ex-employees' would have no trouble figuring out what had happened.

Staring at the picture imprisoned on the computer screen, the blue-eyed brunet felt his blood run cold as his mind began to fit the disjointed pieces of the 'puzzle' together, ticking them off one-by-one, in a macabre count-down to what, he was sure, could only be a disastrous conclusion.

The man in the photo was related to a member of the 'Big Five'.

Kaiba had fired him, and by doing so, effectively ruined his career.

He knew Jounouchi's father.

Jounouchi knew Kaiba.

AND…

The teen's cerulean eyes widened, his face draining of all color as the last piece fell into place with all the subtlety of the slamming of an iron door in the center of the deepest, dankest dungeon imaginable.

Jounouchi also knew MOKUBA…

瀬戸城が好き

Arata Yoshida watched the security monitor that was linked to 'camera one' with a troubled heart, his soft brown eyes clearly showing his deep torment and the indescribable guilt weighing on his shoulders at what he was about to do – not like he could do anything to stop it. The thirty-two year-old brushed his brown hair back with a trembling hand and a remorseful sigh. He had worked for Kaiba Corporation for ten years – three of them here at the mansion as one of the guards in charge of security for the main house and the surrounding grounds. And, unlike many of his 'cohorts', he did not dislike the new, teenaged CEO of the company. In truth, he thought that he was an amazing individual; and his raven-haired sibling reminded him of his own little brother in a wide variety of ways – both beliefs only served to make the situation in which he found himself all the more painful.

He had known for a long time that he had a problem – he was a 'compulsive' gambler, and he had the debt to prove it – but he was also trying to deal with it. He had gone for help, joined a support group, and changed his 'lifestyle'. He was doing well and had begun to actually believe that there was hope – until 'they' had approached him, demanding payment-in-full – or else. Threats to himself, he could deal with. But then, they had threatened his little brother…

They were cold, calculating and ruthlessly efficient. They had left him no way out. It came down to Kaiba's brother…or his own.

"May God forgive me…" he whispered as, with a shaking hand, he reached out and hit the 'eject' button on the VCR that recorded from 'camera one', removing the tape that held the evidence of the events of a few minutes before; and then, as his pained dark eyes moved back to the monitor, and he saw the three figures start down the long asphalt drive towards the main house, he began to turn off each of the other five recorders in sequence, turning them back on as soon as the tiny group moved out of the corresponding camera's range. Only a minute or so would be missing from each tape, except for the first one, which would 'conveniently' disappear, just as he would. That was the price he would be forced to pay for being a 'flawed' human being – for giving in to his weakness – and one he was willing to pay to protect someone that meant more to him than his own life.

If he was lucky, God might forgive him one day - and if he lived long enough, maybe, just maybe, he would even be able to forgive himself. But he was absolutely certain of one thing - even though he knew that Seto Kaiba would NEVER forgive him, he was sure that he would understand his reason for doing what he had.

The knowledge didn't do anything to ease his soul.

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Chapter Thirteen has been completed! Boy, this one was a 'bear' to write! Both my car and myself have been 'under the weather', and with work, too…this one was a bit 'delayed'. My apologies!

Anyway, until next time, thanks for reading! Ja Ne!