%"Over here!"

The child looked over to where his friends were gathered and smiled, waving back at them. They all sat upon various limbs of a large tree that they had climbed, waving and motioning for the boy to join them.

"Hey! Why don't you come and join us?" one of the children called.

The boy looked over at his clothing. "But I'll get dirty! I'll get in trouble if that happens!"

"You can always take a bath, and clothes can be cleaned" another child reminded. "Just come on!"

The child hesitated to consider the options and possible consequences. He made his decision with a nod and a smile.

"Okay. I'm coming over!" He called. The other children cheered excitedly as the boy ventured out towards the street, for the tree-and his friends-awaited him there. He stepped onto the asphalt, his eyes looking straight ahead and his heart beating wildly in anticipation of the new adventure that awaited him.

He then glanced over to his left and noticed a vehicle approaching him at an impossible speed—%

Chapter 24: The Inner Child

There were flashes of black; between these flashes was what appeared to be a structure.

He then realized he was regaining consciousness. His eyelids fluttered one more time, allowing more exposure for the midnight blue eyes they previously concealed.

Noa sat up; his head falling forward as he did so. He was greeted by the sight of a deep wound on his abdomen. He raised a puzzled brow.

Why... aren't I dead? Noa thought as he felt for the exit wound on his back. He stabbed me right through here. There's no bleeding. It hurts like hell, but there's no bleeding whatsoever. There should have been bleeding. And the exit wound...where is it?

He looked over and noticed Seto's unconscious form. He frowned as he briefly recalled the golden eyes that lead to his defeat.

What the hell was that anyway? It was as if I was staring into the eyes of a devil.

He shut his eyes.

This doesn't make any sense. He displays a strange side and then strikes me with the intention to kill me. How did this happen to him, and how was I able to suvive this in the first place?

He looked over at his katana, which lay by Seto's side.

It doesn't really matter to me what Seto is, other than dead. He's unconscious...must have conked out after he 'killed' me. Guess I was meant to win this after all.

As he reached for his katana, he could feel the excruciating pain of his wound; his face contorted due to the intensity and his free hand clutched around his abdomen as his right hand shakily gripped the hilt of the sword. He slowly rose to his feet, stumbling and having to lean against a pillar for support in order to remain standing. He grimaced as he slowly approached Seto, his katana dragging behind him as he gradually stepped closer.

"Now I know for a fact that you're a murderer," Noa stated bluntly as he tried to stand straight. "Too bad for you that this place only has one floor." He brought the katana around to the front. "Right, then. Time to die."

He raised the blade, motioning for a stabbing strike aimed at Seto's heart, when he felt a sudden blow strike him on the back of his neck.

"Uh...no. "

Noa's eyes shot wide as he fell over from the blow. As soon as he crashed onto the ground, he made no hesitation to look over his shoulder to identify the voice.

His jaw fell open.

Amelda waved "hello" with his free hand. "Hey. I saw that you had that sharp and pointy sword there and that you wanted to use it to cut up little Seto Kaiba over there, but...I just can't let you do that. You see, Seto still has a purpose to serve. In fact, he has a lot of purpose to serve, and killing him isn't exactly what I want to happen here. So, I've had to neutralize you as a result, since I know talking will be rather futile. "

Noa grimaced. "You bastard...sneaking up like that and waiting until I was vulnerable...you certainly are the definition of a coward."

"Say what?" Amelda blinked. "I just got here. By the way, thanks for broadcasting to me that you're not in the best condition. My task will undoubtedly be a cinch." He smiled.

Noa sneered. "You really think it's going to be that easy?"

Amelda shook his head. "It's going to be stupidly easy. See, I'm going to walk up to Seto, like so..." He put action to his words, slowly stepping over Noa to reach Seto.

Noa tightened his grip on his katana. "You even get any closer, and I'll kill you."

Amelda cocked his head to the side, arching a sarcastic brow. "From there? Sure you are."

Before Noa could make good with his threat, Amelda took the butt of his gun and slammed it onto the back of Noa's head, instantly rendering him unconscious. Amelda whistled as he holstered the gun inside his coat.

Amelda smirked as he walked back towards Seto. "I told him it would be stupidly easy, didn't I?" He knelt down to inspect the unconscious youth. "As for you, you have some pretty nasty-looking injuries; your back and your shoulder most noticeably. Unfortunately, I don't have enough materials to fix this at the moment, but I can bandage them up, and when we get back to your place I can properly treat your injuries. The nutty things is, if you knew that I did this you'd likely put my head through a wall."

Vast.

That was the first word that came to Seto's mind when he gazed around at his strange new surroundings the instant he came to. There was a grassy field that appeared to reach for miles and miles; there was a string of trees in the distance and Mount Fuji overlooked the surroundings. The sky was clear and the most intense shade of blue Seto has ever seen. He blinked as he looked up at the tree that he was resting against, and saw what appeared to be a building at the bottom of a grassy hill. He narrowed his eyes; that building was the orphanage.

"The orphanage was closer to Kyoto; Fuji wasn't anywhere in sight of that," Seto muttered as he shook his head.

[Hey; you made this place, so it's your fault.]

Seto removed his hand from his face. "What? Who said that?"

[You did.]

"No I didn't."

[But it was you. Which is me.]

Seto raised a perplexed brow as a small figure peered from the other side of the tree. The boy had large azure eyes that shone with his youthful vigor, short yet slightly mussed sienna hair, and slightly pale skin. He wore a long sleeved yellow button-up shirt with a cobalt vest over it, and a pair of dark umber shorts.

"Hn. You're just a memory," Seto dismissed as he looked away.

[I'm much more important than that,] the boy replied, though his lips made no movement.

"So who are you then, if you're not a memory that should have stayed in the backburner?" Seto demanded, making no effort to hide his annoyance.

The youth smiled; his large blue eyes sparkling. [I told you; I'm you. I'm your inner child!]

Seto groaned as he rolled his eyes. "Talk about things being taken too literally."

[Something happened to you, so now you're here.]

"Something happened?" Seto shut his eyes. [That's right. I was fighting Noa, and I was badly hurt in the process. Obviously, I'm not dead if I still have a consciousness.]

[Yes-and you're lucky. He's really become a threat to you-both physically and mentally,] the Inner Child "replied".

"Mentally? How so?" Seto demanded, disregarding the fact that his Inner Child was able to read his thoughts.

[It happened again,] the Inner Child stated bluntly as he began to peel an orange.

"'It'? What is 'it'?"

[You mean you don't remember what just happened nearly an hour ago?]

"All I remember was that I was fighting with Noa...he had me cornered, I took his sword..." Seto stopped.

[You took his sword...]

Seto sighed calmly. "I took his sword, and...and...I took it, and..." He blinked rapidly. "Oh no..."

[As I warned you, it was going to happen again.]

"That's impossible," Seto denied. "There was no way that could have happened again. I've been better able to control myself since that incident occurred."

[It's not a matter of control...]

"I don't understand," Seto trailed.

[Neither do I.]

Seto lowered his head. "I killed him."

[Why did this have to happen again?]

Seto stared at his hands. "I didn't know then; I don't know now," he whispered.

[Could it happen again?]

Seto looked up. "It could. Depends, I suppose."

[On what?]

Seto smiled; there was a hint of madness behind it. "On the off-chance that Noa actually survived my attack."

Jounouchi leaned against the railing of the balcony, a cigarette dangling between his rather shaky fingertips. His amber eyes stared straight ahead at the approaching storm clouds off in the distance.

He pulled the cigarette up to his lips.

blood began to spray forth like a gruesome shower from his throat

Jounouchi smacked his forehead. I gotta stop thinkin' so much about that, at least until Seto gets back so I can try an' talk to 'im about it. Shit, maybe I shouldn't bring it up so soon...especially if he doesn't even understand it. But I wanna help him. I just don't know how. Fuck; I hate it. He's been gone fer about a day now...I've sat here, waitin' on 'im, and nothin's happened.

He heard a door slam, and glanced at his digital wristwatch, smiling rather sheepishly. He snuffed his cigarette out on the railing and jogged out of the guest room and down the stairs to greet Mokuba.

"Look who's home," Jounouchi welcomed, gesturing with a two-fingered salute.

Mokuba glanced at Jounouchi as he removed his sneakers. "Has he...?"

Jounouchi shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo. He hasn't come back here, and I haven't heard back from my friend, either."

Mokuba sighed. "So, nothing's changed."

Jounouchi shut his eyes. "I hate it as much as ya do, believe me. If he left a note, or somethin'...it'd be easier, ya know?"

Mokuba nodded.

Jounouchi's features softened significantly. "Hey..." He bent down on one knee, resting a hand on the youth's shoulder and looking him right in his cinnamon eyes. "Yer brother's gonna be all right. Either we'll find 'im, or he'll come back."

Mokuba looked into Jounouchi's eyes. "Do you know what's even going on with him?"

Jounouchi heaved a sigh as he looked away for a moment. "All I know is that Seto's been under some stress lately. Really, I don't know much else, but I think maybe he just needed some time to himself."

"That's the problem," Mokuba spat as he batted Jounouchi's hand away and turned towards the den. "He's always insisting that he needs to be alone. It pisses me off."

Jounouchi rose to his feet. "Aw come on, kiddo..."

"Sometimes I wish we could have had a normal life like everyone else. Maybe then I'd have a normal brother, too." Mokuba shut the door behind him.

Jounouchi scratched the back of his head as he slowly strolled towards the stairs.

'Normal', he says...he'd be surprised as to how many people actually long for somethin' like that. Then again, these days, broken homes are normal. Damn; who even knows what the right meanin' of 'normal' is anymore anyway?

He stepped inside the guest bedroom, instantly snatching up his package of Red Apple brand cigarettes.

Man; Mokuba...if ya knew what happened that made Seto such a loner, ya'd understand...

I didn't want Mokuba knowing what had happened that day. I have to get out. I hate that I have to do this, but I've already endangered him once before, and what had happened confirms everything. I don't even have a complete understanding as to what I am anymore. I think it will be for the best, especially since he avoids me anyway. I'm going now, and I won't look back—

There was a sudden clattering sound, derailing Jounouchi's current train of thought.

Jounouchi lowered his lighter as he looked around to pinpoint the source of the noise.

There was another clatter.

Jounouchi whirled his body around so as he could see where exactly the noise originated from—the bathroom. He slowly approached the source, taking caution with his steps and silently hoping that the wooden floor wouldn't make any noises under the pressure.

He slowly curled his hand around the doorknob, and slowly turned it in a clockwise motion. He then threw the door open, the first thing greeting him being the barrel of a handgun.

"Oh fuck--!" Jounouchi exclaimed as he spun away from the doorway.

"Psst!"

Jounouchi slowly peeked into the bathroom, his guard lowering the instant he recognized the intruder as Amelda.

Amelda sighed, smiling modestly as he holstered his firearm.

Jounouchi sneered as he gave Amelda the finger. "Kaiba?"

Amelda nodded, and gestured towards the aforementioned Seto's room by cocking his head towards the secret door to the bedroom.

Jounouchi stepped inside; instantly his eyes widened as his jaw fell open.

"Holy shit!" Jounouchi exclaimed as he laid eyes on Seto's unconscious and injured form. The brunet lay on his bed, his torso, hand, and leg wrapped up in white bandages; bruises marred certain portions of his body. His eyes were shut in a peaceful slumber.

"Shh! Idiot! You want Mokuba to find this out and maybe I should translate in order for you to understand what I'm saying, because you don't speak English ," Amelda mused as he grabbed his laptop.

Jounouchi leaned forward as Amelda's fingers furiously typed across the keyboard, hitting the "Enter" key to activate its translation feature.

Shh! Idiot! Mokuba might hear us if we're being too loud.

Jounouchi casually, albeit slowly, typed his reply.

Uh, dude...I know what "idiot" is in English.

Amelda appeared comically surprised as he stared at the reply for a few moments before typing one of his own:

I thought you didn't know any.

Jounouchi shrugged his shoulders. He leaned over, and slowly typed up his answer.

I just know the insults and swears .

Amelda shot a glare at Jounouchi as his fingers moved around the keys on the keyboard; the dirty blond smiled sheepishly.

Seto's doing rather badly. He's been wounded on his right shoulder, his hands are cut up, there's a stab wound on his leg, and his back is cut, though it's nothing too serious. He's got a fever, which is what I'm really worried about. The good news is, I managed to find some medication that will keep his temperature stabilized. For now, all we can really do is wait for him to wake up. I was in the bathroom just now because I was looking for some painkillers.

Jounouchi shot a glare at Amelda, his fingers again slowly tapping onto the keys to form a response.

I'm glad ya found him, and that he's alive. What did you find when you got there?

Amelda's expression appeared surprisingly stern as he typed his reply.

I saw Noa there, ready to finish Seto off. Seto was unconscious, and Noa appeared as though he were injured. I managed to get Seto out of there, obviously, but I only knocked Noa out as I didn't have much time—I fear of what he may do when he regains consciousness.

Jounouchi cracked his knuckles.

Amelda smirked. For now, let me worry about Seto. Mokuba is still indoors, right? Keep him company, lest he suspect that something's wrong, and he comes up here.

Jounouchi frowned as he exhaled an exasperated sigh and leaned over to tap on the keyboard one last time.

I have no problem with watchin' the kid. I'll sneak up here a little later to check on him.

Amelda gestured by holding up his right thumb as Jounouchi waved, paused to take one more look at Seto, and closed the door behind him. Amelda exhaled deeply as he rose from his chair and locked the door. He then turned around as sat down in the chair to continue with his own research, pausing momentarily to gaze over at Seto.

It's like he's not in any discomfort at all.

He then turned around and instantly he froze; there was another person sitting upon the windowsill.

Amelda's eyes bulged with surprise. "Noa?!"

Jounouchi slowly opened the door of the den just enough for him to peek inside to see what Mokuba was doing. He found that the youth was still inside since his little outburst. He was currently immersed in a videogame.

He gently opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hey...Mokuba?"

Mokuba tapped a button, and glanced over at Jounouchi. "Oh; hey. Wanna watch me play?"

Jounouchi smiled warmly. At least he's not so upset anymore. "Sure thing, kiddo. What're ya playin'?"

"Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes," Mokuba answered as Jounouchi slumped onto the couch.

"Oh yeah?" Jounouchi replied. "Is it any good?"

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah; I don't like that they changed the music, though. If Seto were here, you should ask him to play—he's amazing at this game. You know, Solid Snake kinda reminds me of Seto. Don't ask me why, but they're kinda alike in some ways, I guess."

"Well, seein' as how I'm not so familiar, maybe ya could explain it to ol' Katsuya."

"Okay...well, Solid Snake is always serious about his work—ya know, tryin' to do it in the best way possible, and he's often alone, too. I dunno, I guess that's kinda it and maybe they're not good reasons, but Snake reminds me of Seto sometimes."

Jounouchi whistled. "I'll take yer word for it."

"You should see one of the bad guys. His name's Liquid Snake and he's...oh...it's a spoiler."

"So? I probably will leave the game playin' to the Kaiba pros," Jounouchi shrugged with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, okay. Well, anyway, Liquid Snake is supposedly Solid Snake's brother, but he's really a clone or something. He looks a lot like him in some aspects too, but acts differently and stuff."

Jounouchi blinked. Huh...kinda like Seto and Noa possibly be a clone? Naw; that stuff's fer stupid comic book plots.

Mokuba glanced over at Jounouchi. "You're worried about me, aren't you?"

Jounouchi nodded. "Of course I am, kiddo. I mean, I understand what yer goin' through. It sucks bein' separated from a brother, or a sister."

Mokuba looked up at Jounouchi. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Jounouchi sighed wistfully as he reached into his back pocket, revealing a leather wallet. "As a matter o' fact, I do. Her name's Shizuka."

Amelda instantly reached for his holstered Desert Eagle handgun. "What are you doing here?"

Noa smirked. "Isn't it obvious? I've come for him." He pointed at Seto.

"So; you faked vulnerability just to tail me, is that it?" Amelda assumed.

"No; I really was weakened...damn Seto actually managed to land a few blows. I simply came here because I knew that was where he would be."

Amelda shook his head; a smarmy grin on his face. "Regardless, you're not getting anywhere near him." He cocked the firearm, aiming it in front of Noa.

"You completely misunderstand. I'm not even carrying any weapons," Noa noted as he raised his arms and rotated once to prove to Amelda that he spoke the truth.

Amelda kept the gun aimed for Noa's chest. "That may be, but from my understanding you don't need a weapon to kill."

Noa raised a brow. "Really? Am I that deadly? I'm quite flattered, really...but I'm serious when I say that I have no intention of killing the boy. Yet. I actually have found a use for him."

"So? What would that be? A human training dummy?"

"Data," Noa replied bluntly.

Amelda narrowed his eyes as he raised a brow. "I don't get it."

"Seto is a genius when it comes to hacking computers. Although father had both Seto and myself learn this skill—and I hate that I have to admit this—Seto far outshines me. You see, what you don't know is that during our battle, Seto managed to mortally wound me by stabbing me through my abdomen here. I thought for sure that I was dead as a result.

"However, I managed to regain consciousness—I could still feel the pain from my wound, but it wasn't as severe as it was when it was initially inflicted. After I woke up again from when you knocked me out, I looked down and noticed that the injury was reduced to a mere cut—a non-threatening, just-stick-a-bandage-on-it-and-it'll-be-okay cut."

Amelda knitted his brows together. "Is that so? I know you mentioned something about being weakened, but an injury like that not only would have killed you, but there would be bloodstains on your clothing to prove it."

"That's the part that really confuses the hell out of me," Noa spat. "Especially when I looked down at it on my way here and saw that it had disappeared like nothing happened. Something is clearly amiss, and the only way I'm going to find out is if Seto comes with me." He rapidly approached the unconscious Seto, but Amelda quickly stood between the two, his gun still raised.

"So, explain to me that useful part again."

"Ah? Oh; right. I never managed to get around to that, what with my bad habit of digressing...you see, Seto's hacking talents will come to great use, because only he can access the information that I seek. I have neither the technological power nor know-how enough to find these answers."

Amelda narrowed his eyes. "And just where do you plan on starting your investigation?"

"To the one person who may have a clue to all of this: my father."

"Uh; I hate to break it to you, but he's dead," Amelda yawned.

"I know that, smart-ass—after all, it Seto had killed him. What I mean is that I plan to investigate his records." Noa once again tried to approach Seto.

"Nuh-uh," Amelda warned as he pressed the nozzle of the handgun to Noa's chest. "How about you let me worry about the investigating, hrm? You can just get the hell out, or else I'll put a lead fragment into your chest—and I know you can't walk away from that one."

Noa smirked at Amelda's remark. Suddenly, he grasped the red-head foreigner's wrist, forcing him to aim the gun away from his chest.

"I think I'm done trying to be nice, since it's getting me absolutely nowhere," Noa decided as Amelda stared at his own arm, his expression twisting from the pain as Noa increased the pressure on his grip.

"We can't fight here!" Amelda quickly exclaimed. "Mokuba..."

"He's here?" Noa smiled. "Then perhaps I have some incentive to all this."

Amelda grimaced as Noa continued to strengthen his grip. At the rate he's going, he's going to break my arm!

Immediately Amelda recalled the appropriate maneuver that would get him out of the hold. He jerked his knee up as high and quickly as he possibly could, successfully slamming it onto the bottom of Noa's chin and forcing the aggressor to release his grip on Amelda.

"Like I said; we can't fight here. But I swear to God if you go near that child, I will do whatever it takes to keep you from getting near him." Amelda fixed his gun on Noa once again.

Noa growled as he wiped the blood away from his lips. "Ironic statement coming from the person that kidnapped him and almost accidentally killed him."

"Tch! You're the religious nut, right? This would be filed under 'atonement', correct?" Amelda smiled deviously.

Noa finally displayed his sadistic smile. "That would be true, though you have a very long way to go before you can even begin to redeem yourself."

"Hey—I know what I've done, but remember—what some may consider 'evil' may be considered to be 'right' by others. Don't think you're the only one with a little faith under his belt." Amelda reached into his tank top and pulled out a small golden crucifix that was in the center of a chain.

"So you think flashing that symbol means that you're still a good man? Don't give me that load of bull." Noa drawled.

"Well; haven't you killed as well?"

Noa crossed his arms across his chest. "Of course. But these were targets that were corrupt and harmful towards the good of others."

Amelda raised a brow. "'Targets'? So, you were an assassin?"

Noa sneered. "I was a justifier."

"Oh; so it's okay so long as it's not referred to by the 'a word'. Tell me, whom did you serve? Or are you one of those fanatics that ignorantly claim that it is their God's will that they murder, rather than take responsibility for their own actions so you can sleep at night?"

Noa heaved an exasperated breath. "If you must know, it was my own father that gave me these assignments."

Amelda blinked. "Your father? Gozaburo Kaiba? Oh yes; the 'father' of Seto and Mokuba. Hrm...you really did what he told you to do, didn't you?"

"Of course. He was an excellent father; I regard him with the utmost respect." Noa narrowed his eyes. "There's something else. You're not as clueless as you let on earlier. What is it that you know?"

"Ah; just another of my little secrets," Amelda taunted as he holstered his gun. "Despite your undying love for your father, you contradict yourself by wanting to find his records—where's the trust, hrm?"

"You will watch what you say when you speak of my father," Noa warned. "Tell me what you know!"

"Shh, indoor voices, Noa...I'll tell you, but only under one condition," Amelda rasped.

"If that condition is for me to leave without Seto, you can just forget about it," Noa warned. "I don't do easy games."

Amelda shook his head. "No, no. All you have to do is take my gun from me. You do that, and I'll tell you what I know. And believe me, it's not as easy as it sounds."

AUTHOR'S COMMENTS

Hey y'all! I decided to take a week off from updating CONTRAST: BLUE as I felt I needed a break—I was a tad burnt out, plus I had a birthday (it was August 20, for those not in the know), and I had a hard time writing this chapter to boot. But I'm back and writing. thumbs up

This episode focuses on several things. First off, Noa is indeed alive—he didn't die after all in the end of Episode 23. However, with this revelation, he is now seeking to investigate why he survived, and the only person that could possibly know is the one person he's try to kill, Seto Kaiba. Seto, in the meanwhile, is in his subconscious, meeting face-to-face with that voice that he's heard in his head—his Inner Child. What could the Inner Child's purpose be? And Seto believes he has killed before—could he do so again?

Meanwhile, Seto's irresponsible actions have Mokuba rather miffed at his elder brother, while Jounouchi plays damage control. However, he may be doing more than keeping an eye on Mokuba if Noa makes it past Amelda. Could his knowledge of Seto's dark secret, the "Nightmare" possibly solve this conflict, or create a new one? Only time will tell here.

REFERENCES

Seto's Inner Child: For those familiar with the manga, you may recall at the very end of DEATH-T and Duelist Kingdom of a child version of Seto with his soul puzzle. With Death-T (vol. 5), the child is shown putting the pieces back together, and in Duelist Kingdom(vol. 15), we see him leading Seto out of Pegasus' prison and helps him reunite with Mokuba, and we then see him with the completed puzzle before disappearing. I have decided to make him Seto's Inner Child; he's the voice that you heard in Seto's head in past chapters.

Metal Gear Solid: I was bound to throw in references to this game eventually—I originally wanted to do so when Noa first introduced himself to Seto, with the famouse quote "I'm you! I'm your shadow!" MGS is the property of Konami.

Jounouchi's line "Naw; that [clone] stuff's fer stupid comic book plots." is a reference to the infamous Spider-Man Clone Saga that occurred in the comics, in which it was revealed that Peter Parker was really just a clone of Ben Reilly, who was the one true Spider-Man. Spider-Man is the property of Marvel Comics.