TnS: I'm back!! About time, right?

Seto: No.

TnS: ::sticks tongue out:: Just do the disclaimer

Seto: -_-' Tenshi no Seto doesn't own Yu-gi-oh or any of it's affiliated people, places, or things.

TnS: ^_^ Thanx!! On to the fic. Oh, and PS, thanx so much to Demon Darkness and Kaori for the thoughts on Seto's item, and as always, Kudos to all you who reviewed!

{blah} - Jou to Kasiya

~blah~ - Kasiya to Jou

****blah**** - Dream

'blah' - Seth to Seto

^blah^ - Seto to Seth

//

"Watch where you're going, stupid mutt. Don't you know about the leash law?" Growling, something inside of Jou snapped, and immediately, his amber eyes grayed to silver, and he growled audibly as he stood, looking up at the CEO with a glare that could melt an ice cube. Kaiba had gone one step too far this time………

//

Dropping his book bag on the ground, Jou's hair hid the glow of his eyes as he looked at the ground, and a deep, baritone-pitched growl was ripped from the lower than his throat; it came from the tips of his toes, angry and menacing. Balling up a fist tight enough to draw blood, what happened next was like a dream to Jou. It was like he was just watching it happen; that he really had no control over his own body.

Lunging at the brunette CEO, a flash of silver engulfed the bleeding red fist that connected forcefully to Kaiba's face. A sharp crack fell on deaf ears as he picked up the ice-eyed boy, (though he wondered how, because Seto was both taller and weighed more than Jou himself), and slammed him against the brick wall of the school building. Glaring up at the CEO, something made him stop. A look in the brunette's eyes; they were darker than they usually were. More, cerulean than ice. At this, Jou felt his eyebrows go up, and some kind of warmth flowed up the arm that held Kaiba to the wall, giving him feeling in the limb, and spreading to the rest of his body. Blinking, Jou immediately released Kaiba, letting him stand on his own two feet, and backed away.

{What the hell?!}

But he received no answer from Kasiya, who seemed to have vanished for the moment. Looking up at Kaiba, he saw that indeed, the CEO's gaze was back to it's cold, icy self. Shuddering, the blonde wrapped his arms around himself, turned tail, (A/N: Seto: That's right puppy, run from your master… TnS: -_-'), and ran away from that questioning, calculating, intense blue look…

What happened? Kasiya? Where are you man? Jou thought as his pace quickened; he wanted to get home, and so, had sped up. He received no reply from the spirit however, no matter how many times he inquired as to where Kasiya was. Making it home, he suddenly found himself exhausted, and so, after locking his door with all four padlocks, (he had added another one after last week's incident with his dad), he collapsed on his bed, not bothering to remove his shoes or get in between the blanket and the mattress……

****

Dark. It was very dark. Nothing could be seen.

Sweet. A sweet smell. A strangely familiar sweet smell. [1]

Tears. Salty tears. Slipping down sunk-kissed flesh, tracing trembling lips.

Sadness. A heavy, staggering sadness, pitted against a vulnerable heart.

Sobbing. The only sound was that of a child's heartbroken cries.

These were the things Jou's senses first picked up. Blinking, he tried to turn his head from side to side and look around, but something wouldn't let him. He couldn't control his body. Then, his head turned down to look at his lap; he was sitting on his knees. There was a person laying there. Dark brown hair, gently tanned skin that was soft as lotus blossoms, small build. Then, he heard his own voice crack as it said,

"M-mama? W-wake up. Please M-mama." Shaking her slightly, he felt something warm and wet coat his fingers. It was kind of sticky, and when the hand was brought to his face, he saw that it was red. Blood, the blonde thought; she's dead.

"Mama!" he heard his young voice scream. His voice was higher pitched, as it had been in his childhood. Then, a sharp cuff met his head, and his small body flew across the room, head slamming into the wall. A whimper emerged from his throat as a deep, slightly slurred voice said,

"Shut the fuck up, you brat. Bitch had it coming to her." the tears continued to flow down his cheeks, but his sobs were muffled by a hand that he brought to his mouth.

"SHUT UP!!" yelled the voice, as footsteps thundered towards the prone boy. Eyes turning in the direction it came from, there was barely enough time to see a head of blonde hair as he was picked up, and a sharp pain was issued in his head as the world went dark……

Laying on the floor, playing a game of some kind; all of a sudden, he was picked up and thrown across the room without any notice. Slamming into the wall, he saw stars as he fell onto the straw mattress that now made up his bed. Then, a voice slurred,

"Hold still you little slut." Blinking up at bleached blonde hair and leering green eyes that were slightly dilated, Jou heard his young voice say,

"D-daddy?" He received a slap for that, and he could smell the foul stench of alcohol on the breath that answered,

"Shut up and hold still dammit, or I swear to Ra you won't wake up in the morning." Fear paralyzed him as he was devised of his clothes, and again cuffed upside the head as he whimpered; he didn't like this. And then, pain. Searing, jabbing, white-hot, sharp PAIN, that had never before been surpassed. A scream was wrenched from a vulnerable, naïve, yet no longer innocent young boy…

****

Jou's head snapped up, scream ripping his throat raw as he was thrown violently from the nightmare. Looking around, panting, he could see nothing in the darkness that surrounded him, but he could control his limbs, so he knew that he wasn't dreaming this time. Looking around, his breath caught in his throat as his eyes were caught by the glowing red numbers of the clock. 6:07. It was dark as always, but that wasn't what gave him the feeling in his stomach that he was being dropped down an elevator shaft on an out of control car. Dad's home, was the only thought that flitted through his head as he heard footsteps staggering up the stairs. Oh shit; he's awake, Jou thought, panicking as he dove out of bed, looking around frantically. His only escape was the window; it was a two story drop, but hey, it was guaranteed that the elder Jounouchi was intoxicated, and when Jounouchi Sr. was drunk, everyone stayed out of his way; especially Katsuyaa.

Opening the window and carefully avoiding the shattered glass that he had never removed from the frame, he got it up just as someone started to slam themselves against the door. Hopping up on the sill, he started to climb out as the door to his room was flung from his hinges, and Jounouchi senior stepped through the door. Preparing to jump, he was crouched, and just as he began to spring, his legs were grabbed, and he was yanked back into his room partway, causing his head to hit the side of the house. Tasting blood and seeing stars, he looked back, and aimed a kick, letting it loose and knocking his father back, making him let go. But, he only let go after he twisted Katsuyaa's ankle in the oddest direction, making the blonde's vision double as a crack was heard piercing the quiet night air. Shaking his head and willing the blackness away from his vision, he launched himself out of his window without a second thought, hearing his father start swearing at him as he stood back up and hung out the window.

Tears stung Jou's eyes as he stood and stumbled away, having to put weight on his screaming ankle. He couldn't stay there; his father would come down, and then, he didn't know what would happen……

- Seto's POV - around an hour earlier… -

'The mutt's got a yami. It's the only explanation.'

^Yeah, but where'd it come from? And why the hell now?^

'No idea. Why don't you return his book bag to him, corner him, and make him tell you?'

^Good idea, but I'm not so sure that he will, even if you control his yami. What did you do to him anyway?^

'Simply…Subdued him, is all. He won't really be able to control the puppy for a while'

Seto nodded at this and picked up the book bag that he had grabbed after the shock the pup's display of power wore off. Looking through it proved to be pointless, because there was nothing but a textbook, two folders, and a half used spiral. Looking again though proved to be a bit more rewarding, because inside was a small, almost undetectable pocket which held a small id card with the information:

Name: Katsuyaa Jounouchi

Address: 453 Jigoku Ave [2]

Phone: None

Which was all Seto needed to find the pup's house. It was now around 5:30, and so, he decided because he for some unfathomable reason had no work, (A/N: TnS: ::holds up a bunch of paper work and lights it with a match:: No work for Seto. ^_^), he got in his favorite car, the icy blue Mercedes Benz, and went to return the bag to the pup…

32 minutes later found Seto across town in what one could call the 'Inner Ghetto', or otherwise known as 'the bad part of town'. Well, he certainly is from the wrong side of the tracks, Seto thought as he found Jigoku Ave and started driving down the street, looking for 453. 401……423…… 437……449……There it is, Seto thought as he located the pup's house. The most run-down one on the block, which was saying a lot, it looked as if it were completely uninhabitable. Peeling green pain covered pure wood, no trace of siding, and the trim held faint remnants of once being some kind of ivory white color, windows broken and boarded or covered with masking/electrical tape to stay shut, and a door hanging slightly off of it's hinges. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was 6:07, and he was just going to park, when he heard a blood-curdling scream rip through the night, and the voice that gave it was recognized as the one he was looking for. Katsuyaa, was the thought that filtered through his mind. His first thought was to go in and see what was going on, but the priest persuaded him that that was too brash, and he should wait to see if anything else happened. And, not half a minute later, he saw a head of blonde hair poke out of a window on the left side of the house. A bit more of the blonde was shown as he crouched to jump, but just as he went to fly, something dragged him back, making him hit his head on the sill.

Then, a split second later, something fell out onto the ground and didn't move for a second. Watching intently, the blonde stood and staggered away from the house after a second of gathering his bearings and being screamed at by a thoroughly intoxicated man, seemingly keeping his weight off of his right foot for some reason. Putting his car in park, Seto exited it, and leaned back on it, watching the blonde come closer to where he stood……

Back to Jou's POV, present time…

Blinking through the haze that my screaming ankle had me through, I was sure that I was hallucinating; what was Kaiba doing standing in front of my house!? It's too late to turn around and walk away; he's already seen me. This is bad; right now, I can't argue with him. I probably can't even form a sentence that makes any remote sort of sense. Gritting my teeth to stop myself from yelling as I opened my mouth, I decided that I'd probably have to be the one to start this inevitable conversation.

"What're you doing here Kaiba?" came my voice, which was half wince half extremely pitiful growl. He continued to look at me calmly, not affording me an answer, which really was starting to get to me. Damn it all, the stoic bastard! I don't have time for this.

Turning, I began to walk down the street; I'd have to camp out in an alleyway again. Just hope that Jason and his stupid freekin' gang don't show up, or I'm not gonna be able to walk for a week again…

"What's wrong with your foot pup?" came a voice. Snapping around, I would have found my suspicions to be correct and that it was Kaiba who had spoken, if the sudden movement hadn't jarred my right ankle, which is the one that I instinctively stepped on to turn. Choking on a sob, a half yell leaked out of my mouth as the ground came up to give me a kiss, and I screwed my eyes shut as I waited for an unpleasant impact with the cement sidewalk. Then, I stopped falling, hitting something not hard and cold, but something soft and warm. Blinking through the tears that stung my eyes from the pain of my foot, I looked up and saw the just about blank chips of ice that made up Seto Kaiba's eyes. Almost blank because I saw only one emotion there; just a faint, almost undetectable look of concern. Standing slowly from his slightly crouched state and taking me with him, the weight added to my ankle caused the world to spin, and I had to either close my eyes or puke, not that I had anything in my stomach to dispel anyway. Eyes closing, I heard him say,

"You ok pup?" I half nodded, liking the warmth that he was supplying, and I leaned closer to him, momentarily forgetting that he was my worst enemy; I hadn't been warm in a long time. I felt, rather than heard, his chest rise and fall in an inaudible sigh, though I'm not sure if it was in relief or annoyance, and he said,

"Come on." With that, I was turned to walk in the general direction of what I could guess was the road. Whimpering as he tried to coax me to take a step, I expected for him to pull away or reprimand me for being weak, but I was extremely surprised when I felt my feet leave the ground, and my eyes snapped open as I was set inside the plush interior of a Mercedes Benz……

TnS: There's your chapter!!

Seto: -_-' I was… nice … to the puppy. What the hell?

TnS: You're gonna be a lot more than nice to him later in the fic… hopefully… ::wink wink::

Seto: I don't think I like that look. What do you mean?

TnS: ::whispers::

Seto: ::eyes bug out:: ::nose tinges pink::

TnS: ^_^ R'n'R plz!!

Footnotes:

1 - if you've ever smelled a room with lots of blood in it, it's very very syrupy sweet smelling, though I can't remember why…and no, I don't know this from experience, 'cause I've never killed anyone… ::wink wink:: ::nudge nudge::

2 - Jigoku is 'Hell' in Japanese ^_^, but this isn't his real street… IDK what that is…