Me; I'm back! Enjoy sixth chapter!
~~~
Rivalry of the Heart
~~~
Chapter Six
~~~
A month. A month had passed since Katsuya had disappeared, and still no trace. Seto was beginning to wonder if the blonde was still alive. No, he couldn't think like that. He had to believe Katsuya was still hanging on.
He sat, his hands folded, his elbows rested on his knees and his lips pursed, as he looked up at the picture that hung above the bed he'd shared with the blonde.
Who would have such a grudge against Katsuya to take him, without any way to reply? No ransom or anything? Did someone hate his beloved puppy that much?
Seto couldn't even think of it. Katsuya was a loving person. Who would be so hateful toward him?
"Seto?" Mokuba had poked his head through the door, "Yosashi is here."
Seto nodded and stood, going down the stairs, after his brother.
He spotted Yosashi.
Yosashi was a middle-aged man, with brown hair that was graying on the sides. He had hard green eyes, and a standoffish attitude, which went well with his well worked-out body. He was Seto's Private Investigator.
"Kaiba-san, good to see you," The man said, to pleasantly for Seto's taste at the moment. The brunette merely nodded, "Anything?"
"Actually, yes," Yosashi said, "I asked around a bit, and some of the convenient store owners told me a blonde man in sunglasses and a bandana has been coming into their store for a while. They didn't give me a name but they say that they're good friends with him. Seems he went into their store to buy some lube, but they told me that they know full well he has no girl or boyfriend to use it on. He also bought some foods that they were told by him that he didn't like or was allergic too. Also, I got some good close up shots of him."
He showed Seto the photos.
"I was hidden a trash can that he happened to throw away a wrapper in and I got this shot, too," He showed him a close up picture of the man's vest, which was stained with cum and blood.
Seto's brow furrowed, "I know him...but from where..."
Mokuba peeked over his brother's arm at the pictures, "That's Bandit Keith!"
"Of course..." Seto murmured, softly, "Keith hates Katsuya because of what he did to him during Duelist Kingdom. Humiliating him worse, because Katsuya was so much lower on the dueling scale than Pegasus, who'd beaten Keith, previously. It makes perfect sense..."
"Yosashi, next time you see him, follow him. But be discrete. And as soon as you find a location, any location, where he might be taking refuge, let me know," Seto said. His hope was back. His pup may still be alive.
~~~
Keith bit into a Twinkie, "Well, well, mutt, you're bein' searched for."
He threw a tabloid down in front of Katsuya who was chained to a chair across the table from Keith. Katsuya's eyes were devoid of emotion, after a month of being Keith's personal sex-toy. He glanced, nonchalantly, down at the tabloid in front of him.
Seto's face was plastered on the front, and it read, 'KAIBA SEARCHES FOR BLONDE BOYFRIEND,' and Katsuya's picture was at the bottom.
Katsuya's eyes suddenly lit up. He knew Seto didn't want to tell the press about them, but he had just so they could help find him. Seto really did love him, to risk his reputation just to save him. His eyes filled with tears.
Keith paused from his junk-food scarfing, and scowled, "Like he's ever gonna find ya, you mangy dog. He'll search for a few more months, and when 'e can't find ya 'cause your in _America_ with me, he'll give up and move on."
"That's not true!"
SMACK
"What have I told you about arguing?"
Katsuya cowered, "I'm sorry."
"Better be...come on!" He unchained him, and dragged him into the bedroom, slamming the door.
~~~
Two days passed since that time, and Keith was out at one of the convenient stores around his 'hideout.' Yosashi spotted him, from behind and newspaper and began to follow him.
He followed him back to an old warehouse behind Domino City Museum. As he peaked through the windows, he saw the blonde, being smacked around by Keith. He knew his employer would want to know about this.
He ran off.
~~~
Yuugi was biting his fingernails, with Yami, Ryou and Bakura, in the Kaiba mansion, when Yosashi stepped through the door, out of breath.
Seto, who was pacing, stopped, "Well?"
"The old radiator warehouse behind Domino Museum...that's where he's being held. And he's not in good shape either, I saw the Keith guy smacking him around pretty bad."
Seto growled, "I'll kill him."
"I wouldn't, Kaiba-san, you don't wanna face a federal offence. Let the police handle it," Yosashi said.
"The police won't do a damn thing! They'll find Keith, interrogate him, and when he denies everything, they'll let him go! No! I'm taking this into my own Ra be damned hands!" Seto growled.
Mokuba touched his arm, "I think Yosashi-kun is right, nii-san."
Seto clenched his fists, 'til his knuckles were white. Then he unclenched them and sighed, defeated, "All right."
Yosashi made a few calls, talking for about an hour and a half before he hung up and nodded to the brunette.
~~~
Next Day
~~~
Officers Mikoshi Muko and Rutisho Rukoshin sat in their squad car, outside the old warehouse, eating a doughnut and drinking coffee. They really weren't paying much attention to the warehouse, and did not notice the older blonde man walk out, spot them, and jet back in.
He cursed, "Dammit, Kaiba sent the cops..."
Katsuya looked up from his spot on the floor, where his hands were chained to a wall in front of him. His eyes were black, his hair crusted with blood, his clothes crusted with blood and cum. Blood trickled down from his nose and mouth, and he could barely move. But he gave off a small smile. Seto was looking for him.
CRACK!
A swift kick to his arm, and he knew it was broken. He cried out as he heard, and felt the cracking of it. He wanted to cry but the tearstains on his face were proof that there were no tears left.
Keith unchained the blonde, and hid him in a cellar deep below the warehouse, then heard knocking. He closed it up, and put a box over it, from what was left of the old radiator stock in the warehouse.
He walked over to the door, and opened it, putting on a fake smile, "Oh...may I help you gentlemen?"
"Yeah, what's a fine guy like you doing in a place like this? Doesn't exactly seem like the Susie Homemaker type place ta live, does it?" Asked Rukoshin
"Are you accusing me of fowl play, gentlemen?! I'm appalled!" Keith said, sounding very convincing.
Down in the cellar, Katsuya was crying, but only dry sobs racked his beaten, weak body. And they hurt like hell.
Back upstairs, Keith invited the men inside.
"You're free to look around, I've just set up a measly shelter here."
The officers did, but, being bored, and 'on a schedule'(yeah doughnuts shop schedule), they gave the place the all clear, and left.
Keith smirked, "Bakas."
And he slammed the door closed.
~~~
Yosashi answered, as his phone rang. He began to speak to Muko who was on the other end.
"Yeah...uh huh...really? Strange. But I saw hi—Oh....nothing at all? Yes...yes I understand. Thank you, gentlemen...mm-hmm...goodbye."
Yosashi sighed, "You were right, Kaiba-san, it's best if you do this yourself...but I swear to you, if you kill him, I will personally arrest, and prosecute you myself."
Seto smirked, "No...you wouldn't. Because you'd kill for you're wife, and I know you would."
Yosashi sighed, and nodded. The seventeen-year-old was too smart for his own good.
~~~
Seto glared up at the building where his pup was being kept. He closed his eyes, then opened them again, "Ready?"
Yami and Bakura, who'd offered (*snicker* How man people are smart enough to finger out that Yuugi and Ryou forced them to do it?!) to help, were with him. They nodded.
Seto nodded back, and the three ran toward the building.
~~~
Keith munched away on a Twinkie. Katsuya had been down in the cellar for three days, without food or water. In fact, Keith hadn't fed him at all since the blonde had been with him. It was a surprise he was still alive.
Keith smirked, "It's my persuasion skills that keep him alive."
Keith laughed coldly.
BANG BANG BANG!
Keith looked at the door, "What the..."
BOOM. The door flew off its hinges, and a very pissed, very glowing Bakura stood in the doorway.
Seto rolled his eyes, "Very discrete, Bakura."
Keith gritted his teeth, "You! Get out!"
"Not until you hand give me my boyfriend back," Seto growled.
Keith smirked, "You mean your little lost dog!"
He threw the tabloid at Seto, "No fucking way in hell, rich boy. The mutt's my toy, and I ain't givin' 'im back 'til 'e learns to respect people who are better then him."
"Well, then he shouldn't be respecting you, should he?" Yami said, stepping into the fierce conversation.
Keith lunged at Yami, but the puzzle restrained him. Yami looked fiercely at him, "Do not take me for just a normal mortal. You can not win against me."
"Or me," Bakura said, and stood next to Yami. Keith lunged toward both of them, and was thrown back.
"Now tell us where Jou is," Bakura was shuffling his cards, "Or my man- eater bug will very much like to meet you..."
Keith's eye twitched, "In the cellar, under the box in the back..."
Yami glanced at Seto, "Go get him. We'll keep an eye on tough guy here."
Seto nodded, and ran over to the box. He pushed it away and opened the cellar door. When he got inside, his heart lurched. The young boy he was looking at couldn't possibly be his puppy.
The boy he saw was skin and bones, pasty skin, and dull eyes. The boy he saw was bruised, scraped, and beaten severely. The boy he saw had not eaten in weeks, or been out in the sunlight. The boy he saw could not be his Katsuya.
But he knew it was. He knew the blood encrusted blonde hair belonged to him. And the dull, lifeless brown eyes were his.
He stepped toward him slowly. Katsuya didn't even seem to know he was there.
He pulled the boy into his arms, and that's when the blonde finally noticed him. The blonde smiled, and for a second, the sparkle in his eyes was back.
"Seto...y-you came..." And then consciousness flooded out of him.
Seto squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the blonde close to him, "What has he done to you..."
Seto brought him up to the surface, and Yami and Bakura stopped, looking at them. Yami's mouth fell agape, and Bakura's eyes went wide.
Then Yami turned to Keith, ready to react, "What did you do to him?!"
As he got ready to launch himself at the older blonde man, Seto's voice rang out, "STOP!"
"Let the cops deal with him. Yosashi doesn't want him hurt. He wants him interrogated. He wants him charged. If he has to die, let it be humanely, through lethal injection. Not by your hands, Yami," Seto's voice was soft, but stern. But it was mixed with worry. Worry for his boyfriend who was obviously dying.
Seto carried the blonde out, and home.
~~~
The blonde lay, naked, in the bed he shared with the brunette. And it's not what you think. Seto had cleaned him up, and just thought it would be easier to keep him nude. Of course, he knew even if he fumbled with the boy to get some pajamas on him, he wouldn't wake. He was unconscious and getting worse. His arm was broken, and Seto knew there had to be internal injury. Doctors and nurses were coming soon. He'd called the hospital and told them to send over their finest. He wasn't going to lose Katsuya. He wasn't going to lose the only person he'd ever loved as more than a friend or brother.
Seto heard Yuugi call up the stairs that the medical van had arrived, and then yelled back to show them the way.
The doctors shuffled into the room, and huddled around the blonde, who still lay, motionless.
Seto watched as the doctors analyzed his lover, and jotted things down on their little notepads. Equipment was brought up the stairs, and hooked up to the blonde to x-ray him, and test his lungs and heart. The head doctor, after 2 hours of straightforward analysis turned to Seto. He pushed his horn-rimmed glasses up his nose.
"Kaiba-san...Jounouchi-san has internal bleeding, some brain hemorrhage. He's also very mal-nourished. It's touch and go at this point, but for the time being, the boy is in a coma. We're not sure if he'll pull out of it or not, but it would be best if we took him back to the hospital, where we might be able to fix some of these things, like his arm, and the bleeding in his stomach."
Seto looked over at the blonde. A coma? His head began to ache. This couldn't be happening...
He watched as the doctor's left, closing the door. Then he did something that he, Seto Kaiba, would never ever do. He collapsed on the floor...
...and cried.
~~~
As aforementioned, Katsuya was moved to a hospital room, but Seto never left his side. He talked to him everyday, pressing his lips against his neck and whispering 'I love you' or just telling him how the day had gone, how Shizuka was, and so on.
The doctor said it was good to talk to him, but Seto knew the blonde could not hear him.
~~~
Honda flicked Otogi's earring, softly, as the whole group sat in Kame Game Shop one day.
Otogi's arm was around the shark-headed brunette, and he noticed that he hadn't been the same without his partner in crime. In fact, none one them had been since Katsuya had been announced comatose.
Seto walked through the door, his coat soaked from the rain that pounded outside.
The whole group looked up, in expectation, but Seto shook his head. It seemed Katsuya would never come to. Seto slipped off his coat, and hung it over a chair, sitting, and joining the mopey expressions that were evident around the room.
Suddenly, Yuugi broke into tears and Yami had to shuffle him upstairs. Things like that had been happening a lot lately. Moping, sudden outbreaks that ranged from anger to crying, to total and complete breakdowns. Nothing was right anymore.
Shizuka was rarely seen, and Mokuba missed her, but he knew it was hard for her to even be close to her brother's friends with her brother so 'out of touch' at the moment.
It had been a month since Katsuya _had_ been announced comatose, and suddenly, the group realized, he may never come out of it.
"He's gone, forever," Honda burst, not able to hold it in, "We just have to except tha--!"
"SHUT UP!" Seto shouted, "You don't know anything! And I don't exactly see you there everyday, trying to _help_ him recover! So shut the hell up about things you don't fucking understand!"
Honda burst into tears, as well, and Otogi glared at Seto. But Seto paid no attention, because what Honda had said, could very possibly have been true.
~~~
Seto went back to the next day, but Katsuya was still lying there, motionless. His arm had been slung up and the internal bleeding had been fixed in surgery, but Katsuya still hadn't awoken.
Seto was slowly starting to give up hope. He took his koi's good hand, "I love you with everything I am, Katsuya...I believe, someday, you'll wake up...and we'll be able to live together again...totally and completely undisturbed...forever."
The brunette looked up as Shizuka stepped through the door, a bouquet of camellias in her hand.
"Shizuka, you came. Katsuya would have been happy," He eyed the flowers.
Shizuka set them down on the bedside table, "Camellias. They're his favorite."
She looked at her older brother, who looked so helpless, lying there. So unprotected. She sat on the opposite side of the bed, as Seto.
"He looks so...unguarded...so small..." Shizuka sniffled, "I wish I could help him..."
"We all do," Seto murmured, squeezing the hand that still rested in his.
Shizuka looked up at the brunette, tears streaming her porcelain features, "I'm s-sorry I haven't b-been around more. It j-just hurts so m-much..."
Seto stood, and went over to her side, hugging her. Shizuka was as much Seto's family as Katsuya or Mokuba. And he didn't like seeing his family hurting.
"Shh, calm down...I know Katsuya will wake up, someday..." Seto murmured, "And everything will be normal again."
Shizuka broke down completely, sobbing. Seto pressed her against him, softly, a stray tear finding it's way down his cheek. It had been hard this past month, but Seto couldn't give up on Katsuya so easily. And neither should Honda or Shizuka.
~~~
Shizuka was invited to eat dinner with Seto and Mokuba that night, but they all ate quietly, not finding anything cheerful enough to talk about. Cheer was not something that evident in the Kaiba Mansion with the loudmouth pup around. Seto only wished he would return soon, to consciousness, and his master's arms, where he belonged.
~~~
The nursed, who treated Katsuya, noticed movement, a stirring from the blonde's bed, and a solitary groan. She noticed the boy's eyes opening, and her own eyes, widened.
She ran to the telephone at the front desk and dialed Seto's home number.
~~~
Seto groaned, as he awoke from his restless sleep. Who would be calling at this Ra awful hour?
He answered the phone.
"Moshi moshi..." He said, groggily.
The nurse on the other end, sounded frantic.
"Kaiba-san, it's about Jounouchi-san...!"
~~~~~
Me: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!! I am eeeeviiiilllll
Seto: yeah...you are.
Jou: No kidding...I DUN WANNA BE A COMATO...COMATI...COMA...
Seto: Comatose, koi -.-
Jou: Yeah, what he said!
Me: *snicker* Oh well, REVIEW PLEASE!
~~~
Rivalry of the Heart
~~~
Chapter Six
~~~
A month. A month had passed since Katsuya had disappeared, and still no trace. Seto was beginning to wonder if the blonde was still alive. No, he couldn't think like that. He had to believe Katsuya was still hanging on.
He sat, his hands folded, his elbows rested on his knees and his lips pursed, as he looked up at the picture that hung above the bed he'd shared with the blonde.
Who would have such a grudge against Katsuya to take him, without any way to reply? No ransom or anything? Did someone hate his beloved puppy that much?
Seto couldn't even think of it. Katsuya was a loving person. Who would be so hateful toward him?
"Seto?" Mokuba had poked his head through the door, "Yosashi is here."
Seto nodded and stood, going down the stairs, after his brother.
He spotted Yosashi.
Yosashi was a middle-aged man, with brown hair that was graying on the sides. He had hard green eyes, and a standoffish attitude, which went well with his well worked-out body. He was Seto's Private Investigator.
"Kaiba-san, good to see you," The man said, to pleasantly for Seto's taste at the moment. The brunette merely nodded, "Anything?"
"Actually, yes," Yosashi said, "I asked around a bit, and some of the convenient store owners told me a blonde man in sunglasses and a bandana has been coming into their store for a while. They didn't give me a name but they say that they're good friends with him. Seems he went into their store to buy some lube, but they told me that they know full well he has no girl or boyfriend to use it on. He also bought some foods that they were told by him that he didn't like or was allergic too. Also, I got some good close up shots of him."
He showed Seto the photos.
"I was hidden a trash can that he happened to throw away a wrapper in and I got this shot, too," He showed him a close up picture of the man's vest, which was stained with cum and blood.
Seto's brow furrowed, "I know him...but from where..."
Mokuba peeked over his brother's arm at the pictures, "That's Bandit Keith!"
"Of course..." Seto murmured, softly, "Keith hates Katsuya because of what he did to him during Duelist Kingdom. Humiliating him worse, because Katsuya was so much lower on the dueling scale than Pegasus, who'd beaten Keith, previously. It makes perfect sense..."
"Yosashi, next time you see him, follow him. But be discrete. And as soon as you find a location, any location, where he might be taking refuge, let me know," Seto said. His hope was back. His pup may still be alive.
~~~
Keith bit into a Twinkie, "Well, well, mutt, you're bein' searched for."
He threw a tabloid down in front of Katsuya who was chained to a chair across the table from Keith. Katsuya's eyes were devoid of emotion, after a month of being Keith's personal sex-toy. He glanced, nonchalantly, down at the tabloid in front of him.
Seto's face was plastered on the front, and it read, 'KAIBA SEARCHES FOR BLONDE BOYFRIEND,' and Katsuya's picture was at the bottom.
Katsuya's eyes suddenly lit up. He knew Seto didn't want to tell the press about them, but he had just so they could help find him. Seto really did love him, to risk his reputation just to save him. His eyes filled with tears.
Keith paused from his junk-food scarfing, and scowled, "Like he's ever gonna find ya, you mangy dog. He'll search for a few more months, and when 'e can't find ya 'cause your in _America_ with me, he'll give up and move on."
"That's not true!"
SMACK
"What have I told you about arguing?"
Katsuya cowered, "I'm sorry."
"Better be...come on!" He unchained him, and dragged him into the bedroom, slamming the door.
~~~
Two days passed since that time, and Keith was out at one of the convenient stores around his 'hideout.' Yosashi spotted him, from behind and newspaper and began to follow him.
He followed him back to an old warehouse behind Domino City Museum. As he peaked through the windows, he saw the blonde, being smacked around by Keith. He knew his employer would want to know about this.
He ran off.
~~~
Yuugi was biting his fingernails, with Yami, Ryou and Bakura, in the Kaiba mansion, when Yosashi stepped through the door, out of breath.
Seto, who was pacing, stopped, "Well?"
"The old radiator warehouse behind Domino Museum...that's where he's being held. And he's not in good shape either, I saw the Keith guy smacking him around pretty bad."
Seto growled, "I'll kill him."
"I wouldn't, Kaiba-san, you don't wanna face a federal offence. Let the police handle it," Yosashi said.
"The police won't do a damn thing! They'll find Keith, interrogate him, and when he denies everything, they'll let him go! No! I'm taking this into my own Ra be damned hands!" Seto growled.
Mokuba touched his arm, "I think Yosashi-kun is right, nii-san."
Seto clenched his fists, 'til his knuckles were white. Then he unclenched them and sighed, defeated, "All right."
Yosashi made a few calls, talking for about an hour and a half before he hung up and nodded to the brunette.
~~~
Next Day
~~~
Officers Mikoshi Muko and Rutisho Rukoshin sat in their squad car, outside the old warehouse, eating a doughnut and drinking coffee. They really weren't paying much attention to the warehouse, and did not notice the older blonde man walk out, spot them, and jet back in.
He cursed, "Dammit, Kaiba sent the cops..."
Katsuya looked up from his spot on the floor, where his hands were chained to a wall in front of him. His eyes were black, his hair crusted with blood, his clothes crusted with blood and cum. Blood trickled down from his nose and mouth, and he could barely move. But he gave off a small smile. Seto was looking for him.
CRACK!
A swift kick to his arm, and he knew it was broken. He cried out as he heard, and felt the cracking of it. He wanted to cry but the tearstains on his face were proof that there were no tears left.
Keith unchained the blonde, and hid him in a cellar deep below the warehouse, then heard knocking. He closed it up, and put a box over it, from what was left of the old radiator stock in the warehouse.
He walked over to the door, and opened it, putting on a fake smile, "Oh...may I help you gentlemen?"
"Yeah, what's a fine guy like you doing in a place like this? Doesn't exactly seem like the Susie Homemaker type place ta live, does it?" Asked Rukoshin
"Are you accusing me of fowl play, gentlemen?! I'm appalled!" Keith said, sounding very convincing.
Down in the cellar, Katsuya was crying, but only dry sobs racked his beaten, weak body. And they hurt like hell.
Back upstairs, Keith invited the men inside.
"You're free to look around, I've just set up a measly shelter here."
The officers did, but, being bored, and 'on a schedule'(yeah doughnuts shop schedule), they gave the place the all clear, and left.
Keith smirked, "Bakas."
And he slammed the door closed.
~~~
Yosashi answered, as his phone rang. He began to speak to Muko who was on the other end.
"Yeah...uh huh...really? Strange. But I saw hi—Oh....nothing at all? Yes...yes I understand. Thank you, gentlemen...mm-hmm...goodbye."
Yosashi sighed, "You were right, Kaiba-san, it's best if you do this yourself...but I swear to you, if you kill him, I will personally arrest, and prosecute you myself."
Seto smirked, "No...you wouldn't. Because you'd kill for you're wife, and I know you would."
Yosashi sighed, and nodded. The seventeen-year-old was too smart for his own good.
~~~
Seto glared up at the building where his pup was being kept. He closed his eyes, then opened them again, "Ready?"
Yami and Bakura, who'd offered (*snicker* How man people are smart enough to finger out that Yuugi and Ryou forced them to do it?!) to help, were with him. They nodded.
Seto nodded back, and the three ran toward the building.
~~~
Keith munched away on a Twinkie. Katsuya had been down in the cellar for three days, without food or water. In fact, Keith hadn't fed him at all since the blonde had been with him. It was a surprise he was still alive.
Keith smirked, "It's my persuasion skills that keep him alive."
Keith laughed coldly.
BANG BANG BANG!
Keith looked at the door, "What the..."
BOOM. The door flew off its hinges, and a very pissed, very glowing Bakura stood in the doorway.
Seto rolled his eyes, "Very discrete, Bakura."
Keith gritted his teeth, "You! Get out!"
"Not until you hand give me my boyfriend back," Seto growled.
Keith smirked, "You mean your little lost dog!"
He threw the tabloid at Seto, "No fucking way in hell, rich boy. The mutt's my toy, and I ain't givin' 'im back 'til 'e learns to respect people who are better then him."
"Well, then he shouldn't be respecting you, should he?" Yami said, stepping into the fierce conversation.
Keith lunged at Yami, but the puzzle restrained him. Yami looked fiercely at him, "Do not take me for just a normal mortal. You can not win against me."
"Or me," Bakura said, and stood next to Yami. Keith lunged toward both of them, and was thrown back.
"Now tell us where Jou is," Bakura was shuffling his cards, "Or my man- eater bug will very much like to meet you..."
Keith's eye twitched, "In the cellar, under the box in the back..."
Yami glanced at Seto, "Go get him. We'll keep an eye on tough guy here."
Seto nodded, and ran over to the box. He pushed it away and opened the cellar door. When he got inside, his heart lurched. The young boy he was looking at couldn't possibly be his puppy.
The boy he saw was skin and bones, pasty skin, and dull eyes. The boy he saw was bruised, scraped, and beaten severely. The boy he saw had not eaten in weeks, or been out in the sunlight. The boy he saw could not be his Katsuya.
But he knew it was. He knew the blood encrusted blonde hair belonged to him. And the dull, lifeless brown eyes were his.
He stepped toward him slowly. Katsuya didn't even seem to know he was there.
He pulled the boy into his arms, and that's when the blonde finally noticed him. The blonde smiled, and for a second, the sparkle in his eyes was back.
"Seto...y-you came..." And then consciousness flooded out of him.
Seto squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the blonde close to him, "What has he done to you..."
Seto brought him up to the surface, and Yami and Bakura stopped, looking at them. Yami's mouth fell agape, and Bakura's eyes went wide.
Then Yami turned to Keith, ready to react, "What did you do to him?!"
As he got ready to launch himself at the older blonde man, Seto's voice rang out, "STOP!"
"Let the cops deal with him. Yosashi doesn't want him hurt. He wants him interrogated. He wants him charged. If he has to die, let it be humanely, through lethal injection. Not by your hands, Yami," Seto's voice was soft, but stern. But it was mixed with worry. Worry for his boyfriend who was obviously dying.
Seto carried the blonde out, and home.
~~~
The blonde lay, naked, in the bed he shared with the brunette. And it's not what you think. Seto had cleaned him up, and just thought it would be easier to keep him nude. Of course, he knew even if he fumbled with the boy to get some pajamas on him, he wouldn't wake. He was unconscious and getting worse. His arm was broken, and Seto knew there had to be internal injury. Doctors and nurses were coming soon. He'd called the hospital and told them to send over their finest. He wasn't going to lose Katsuya. He wasn't going to lose the only person he'd ever loved as more than a friend or brother.
Seto heard Yuugi call up the stairs that the medical van had arrived, and then yelled back to show them the way.
The doctors shuffled into the room, and huddled around the blonde, who still lay, motionless.
Seto watched as the doctors analyzed his lover, and jotted things down on their little notepads. Equipment was brought up the stairs, and hooked up to the blonde to x-ray him, and test his lungs and heart. The head doctor, after 2 hours of straightforward analysis turned to Seto. He pushed his horn-rimmed glasses up his nose.
"Kaiba-san...Jounouchi-san has internal bleeding, some brain hemorrhage. He's also very mal-nourished. It's touch and go at this point, but for the time being, the boy is in a coma. We're not sure if he'll pull out of it or not, but it would be best if we took him back to the hospital, where we might be able to fix some of these things, like his arm, and the bleeding in his stomach."
Seto looked over at the blonde. A coma? His head began to ache. This couldn't be happening...
He watched as the doctor's left, closing the door. Then he did something that he, Seto Kaiba, would never ever do. He collapsed on the floor...
...and cried.
~~~
As aforementioned, Katsuya was moved to a hospital room, but Seto never left his side. He talked to him everyday, pressing his lips against his neck and whispering 'I love you' or just telling him how the day had gone, how Shizuka was, and so on.
The doctor said it was good to talk to him, but Seto knew the blonde could not hear him.
~~~
Honda flicked Otogi's earring, softly, as the whole group sat in Kame Game Shop one day.
Otogi's arm was around the shark-headed brunette, and he noticed that he hadn't been the same without his partner in crime. In fact, none one them had been since Katsuya had been announced comatose.
Seto walked through the door, his coat soaked from the rain that pounded outside.
The whole group looked up, in expectation, but Seto shook his head. It seemed Katsuya would never come to. Seto slipped off his coat, and hung it over a chair, sitting, and joining the mopey expressions that were evident around the room.
Suddenly, Yuugi broke into tears and Yami had to shuffle him upstairs. Things like that had been happening a lot lately. Moping, sudden outbreaks that ranged from anger to crying, to total and complete breakdowns. Nothing was right anymore.
Shizuka was rarely seen, and Mokuba missed her, but he knew it was hard for her to even be close to her brother's friends with her brother so 'out of touch' at the moment.
It had been a month since Katsuya _had_ been announced comatose, and suddenly, the group realized, he may never come out of it.
"He's gone, forever," Honda burst, not able to hold it in, "We just have to except tha--!"
"SHUT UP!" Seto shouted, "You don't know anything! And I don't exactly see you there everyday, trying to _help_ him recover! So shut the hell up about things you don't fucking understand!"
Honda burst into tears, as well, and Otogi glared at Seto. But Seto paid no attention, because what Honda had said, could very possibly have been true.
~~~
Seto went back to the next day, but Katsuya was still lying there, motionless. His arm had been slung up and the internal bleeding had been fixed in surgery, but Katsuya still hadn't awoken.
Seto was slowly starting to give up hope. He took his koi's good hand, "I love you with everything I am, Katsuya...I believe, someday, you'll wake up...and we'll be able to live together again...totally and completely undisturbed...forever."
The brunette looked up as Shizuka stepped through the door, a bouquet of camellias in her hand.
"Shizuka, you came. Katsuya would have been happy," He eyed the flowers.
Shizuka set them down on the bedside table, "Camellias. They're his favorite."
She looked at her older brother, who looked so helpless, lying there. So unprotected. She sat on the opposite side of the bed, as Seto.
"He looks so...unguarded...so small..." Shizuka sniffled, "I wish I could help him..."
"We all do," Seto murmured, squeezing the hand that still rested in his.
Shizuka looked up at the brunette, tears streaming her porcelain features, "I'm s-sorry I haven't b-been around more. It j-just hurts so m-much..."
Seto stood, and went over to her side, hugging her. Shizuka was as much Seto's family as Katsuya or Mokuba. And he didn't like seeing his family hurting.
"Shh, calm down...I know Katsuya will wake up, someday..." Seto murmured, "And everything will be normal again."
Shizuka broke down completely, sobbing. Seto pressed her against him, softly, a stray tear finding it's way down his cheek. It had been hard this past month, but Seto couldn't give up on Katsuya so easily. And neither should Honda or Shizuka.
~~~
Shizuka was invited to eat dinner with Seto and Mokuba that night, but they all ate quietly, not finding anything cheerful enough to talk about. Cheer was not something that evident in the Kaiba Mansion with the loudmouth pup around. Seto only wished he would return soon, to consciousness, and his master's arms, where he belonged.
~~~
The nursed, who treated Katsuya, noticed movement, a stirring from the blonde's bed, and a solitary groan. She noticed the boy's eyes opening, and her own eyes, widened.
She ran to the telephone at the front desk and dialed Seto's home number.
~~~
Seto groaned, as he awoke from his restless sleep. Who would be calling at this Ra awful hour?
He answered the phone.
"Moshi moshi..." He said, groggily.
The nurse on the other end, sounded frantic.
"Kaiba-san, it's about Jounouchi-san...!"
~~~~~
Me: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!! I am eeeeviiiilllll
Seto: yeah...you are.
Jou: No kidding...I DUN WANNA BE A COMATO...COMATI...COMA...
Seto: Comatose, koi -.-
Jou: Yeah, what he said!
Me: *snicker* Oh well, REVIEW PLEASE!