OK!!! This chapter 15 is pretty weird, I tried to do a good job with its toughness or something, but I'm not sure if it sounded right…Please let me know, readers! This is really getting towards the end. I have exhausted my creativity TT……what shall I do? But don't worry! This is STILL not the last chapter, I assure you! The reviews were wonderful, people!! Thank you! Response:

Elusia: Glad you like the pairing!!! I like it too, and I am flattered that even though you normally hate this particular one you are enjoying it in this story. Please read this chapter! I want to know what you think of it!

Xaio23: Yes Joey is allergic to cats. Who cares, (besides Joey)? Lol. Oh and I don't think "pityfulness" is a word…..but you could use "pitiful state". Review, please!

EruditeBountyHunter: Thanks for the review! Glad you enjoyed it!!!! That makes me soo happy……thanks!!

kideshcaresh: I tried to make the blindness POV seem real and believable. I did a good job? YAY!! I trust you to judge me because you know from your friend, so please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong or describing anything unclearly! Thanks!

CaptainInuYahsa777: Don't worry about Seto! He'll be fine…I won't let him get his ass kicked by JOEY…(if you haven't noticed, I don't really like Jonouchi….) If you're a Joey fan, forgive me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh….no, but I do own…something…wait, I'll think of it…….OH YEA!! The plot! Hee hee….that's mine! Can't touch this…

Chapter 15: The Mutt's Troubled Secret

Overall, I think Yugi and his friends were glad to see Wheeler, again. It sort of made me wonder if they had been speaking ever since Serenity and I got together. (Did I care, though?…no.) They made a lot of noise when he and Serenity entered the living room.

"Joey! You came!" Yugi jumped up and ran to him like they were goddamn lovers or something. I could picture it perfectly in my mind.

"Glad you decided to join us, Joseph." Valentine's voice, (which she seemed obsessed to make sound sassy), echoed across the room.

"What do you mean Mai? You invited me." Oh, I saw what was going on there. I would have loved to know if Valentine blushed at that.

Serenity came and sat down beside me, once more, as the rest of them greeted Joey in turn. I smelled a cat odor waft up and realized she was holding her cat. I like animals, (hence the whole vegan diet), but as it was, I had never really petted a cat.

"Seto, this is my baby." She took my hand and ran it gently over this small ball of fluff on her lap, which I took to be her cat. It felt nice, and I think it liked me because I felt it's small, padded little paws move onto my lap and sit down decisively.

I smiled, thinking of something. "You have a furry baby," I told Serenity.

Serenity laughed, inevitably reminding the geeks of our presence.

"Hello, Kaiba," Wheeler tried to be nice, for some reason I'm not sure of.

"Wheeler." I nodded my head slightly at no one in front of me. Everyone was dead silent. Even Serenity. Interesting little drama, I thought.

"Ummm….do you guys want to battle it out the gladiator way or the Congressional way?" Mai asked. Was that an attempt at humor? Damn…she really sucked.

"Uh…nah, that's ok, Mai. I really don't want to have to fight at all actually."

"Seriously?" Tèa asked. I was as surprised as she, but I chose not to voice it. Better no one knew.

"Yeah. I can do this the right way for once, I think. If Kaiba's willing to be civil…." What? Like Kaiba's ever uncivil? What DID he take me for?

"Sure. Why not, Wheeler?" I used a hint of arsenic in my voice, just to tell him what I thought of his implication.

"Fine."

……..No one did anything. Actually, that was untrue. Serenity's cat pushed its little head against my chest begging to be petted.

"I have to go to the bathroom!" Mokuba said and ran out of the room.

"…Me too!" Tristan said, following him.

"I'll…go get us more tea…" Tèa left.

"I'll…help…." Mai was gone.

"I'll….go put away the groceries!" Yugi fled the room.

"I have to the shop….." the grandfather in turn went out. I had forgotten about the game shop Yugi's grandfather owned. I wondered why I had missed it walking in. I concluded that Serenity had taken me in by a side door or a back door and I just wasn't aware of the difference. As always with blindness, I was half right, but not completely.

Only the three of us remained.

Suddenly Joey said something surprising. "Kaiba, let's take a ride."

"What?"

"Let's go for a drive. Come on, I got my car, let's go." But….no…it…he…why? "Whaddya think?"

"…Hell no."

"Why?"

"Yeah, Seto, why?"

Serenity! She was agreeing to this? I asked, "Serenity, does he have a permit?" Which was my way of asking, "Do you think this is safe, alright, and would you prefer it?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it." Her way of saying, "Yes, now go." (We had gotten used to speaking in code with each other and used it whenever we could.)

Ok, if she wanted me to go, I would. For her. But only for her, not for Wheeler.

"Fine, Wheeler. I concede. But not because you asked me, but because you have a permit." Meaning, "I will for you, Serenity."

Wheeler must have been so confused…I relish the thought.

It was cold outside. The watery smell of early evening drifted through Domino in a decisive sort of way.

Serenity, Wheeler, and I were standing at the side of Wheeler's car, unsure of what to do next, how to begin.

"Well….I'll see you guys later, ok? Joey, don't speed…..obey stop signs and street lights….be careful at intersections, remember you don't ALWAYS have the right of way….do you have a full tank of gas?"

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Wheeler, when did you start driving?" I asked, trying to abate my sudden doubt of his ability.

"Around the time when I was nine or ten." WHAT??

"And has your driving…dare I say, ability?....improved since then?"

"Yes, it has, Seto. Don't worry. You'll be fine."

I wanted to retort this comment. I felt like I was being placed in the hands of a mad man. But the fact was I did not have CHOICE in the matter. Serenity had decided that I was to go with her brother and try to work some things out. If I contradicted her, I would have nothing. So I was forced to go and put my life on the line, (for the second time in a car, unfortunately).

Wheeler opened the car door on the driver's side and Serenity helped me in the passenger's side. "See you later, Seto. It's alright, trust me." I did trust her……but not on this as much as usual.

"Ready, Kaiba?" Wheeler and I were sitting next to each other in his car. I was uncomfortably aware of the small space we were trapped in—or I was trapped in, he was there voluntarily.

Suddenly, and rather stupidly, I realized that this was the first time I had been in a car since the accident that blinded me. I was, well, shocked. I had to get out of there!

"Wheeler…." I began, as he started the engine with an agonized roar. It was too late.

"Yeah?"

He wouldn't understand. But I told him anyway. "This is new for me. I haven't been in a car since my accident."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Well….you can say that I have rather...lost my taste for cars since then."

"I can see that."

He pulled away from the curb and I felt his foot step on the pedal as we sped up. He was probably only doing about 40…but it felt more like 90, to me. I thought I lost my balance in the car seat and I was pushed forward—an uncomfortable reminder of that day.

I closed my eyes to regain myself. But I saw something—actually saw something. It was a gray day—rain pouring heavily, I was in my limo working on my laptop, seeing with eyes so taken for granted, so perfect, it was like a dream or an undeserved wish. Then the screech….the metallic screech of metal on metal….the loss of power as everything shorted-out, my eyes, my laptop, my life.

I would have screamed from the sudden remembrance of this repressed past event, (I had never thought of this particular incident since then, and never had I remembered—in color—so vividly), but Wheeler was there. So I sighed, a heavy, deep, cleansing sigh that washed away all bad thoughts temporarily. I was aware of a small sickness worming its way inside me. Car-sickness.

"You ok?" Wheeler's annoying, heavily over-done voice startled me.

"Perfectly fine."

"You sure?"

"Wheeler, save your kindness."

"Ok…." He was silent, finally, but not for long. "Kaiba, why do you always gotta be like that?"

"Excuse me? Like what?"

"Like a jackass. Too stone-cold and hard-assed to listen to anybody but yourself. Even when you're being offered help. You'd ram yourself in the ground, dead and bleeding before you'd accept anyone's advice, wouldn't you?"

Yes, I actually would. Really, the mutt had hit it head on. I nodded discreetly and said nothing. I rocked back and forth with the car feeling more and more nauseous as it moved and stopped periodically at red lights and stop signs.

Right when I really thought I was going to be sick, Wheeler started up again with, "You know…its ok to talk about feelings once in a while. Sometimes it ain't good to be a stone-cold bastard."

Yeah, maybe in your life, Wheeler.

"I don't think so," I said.

"Why not?"

"Because I have found it infinitely better to be the hard-assed jack-off in more situations than one. Much more than one."

"…that's you."

"Yes."

"But sometimes…"

"Stop talking."

"WHY?? Just tell me why!"

"Because…" The blood in my veins ran in a sickly, acid, freezing temperature as my stomach lurched and I felt the vomit rise in the back of my throat. "Because I'm going to throw-up…"

"Dude! This is MY car!"

I coughed and swallowed hard, controlling the urge to vomit and forcing it down. It passed, but I had had enough car ride.

"Let's stop this joy-ride. Immediately."

"You ok?"

"No."

"Uh…ok…Let me pull over."

I waited until he did. Where were we? Where had Wheeler driven to?

He pulled over and clicked the engine into silence. I hit my hand against the door and searched desperately for the handle to open it. Once found, I pushed it as hard as I could and fled from the car—cane firmly in hand and spread out in front of me for safety. I stood and held my stomach pathetically hoping that the feeling would abate and let me be in peace. No such luck.

I wondered if the sickness had come from the car alone—the newness of its movement—or from the memory. I don't know why I thought of this possibility, suddenly, but I had to consider it.

Wheeler left his car and stepped out next to me. "Fine, now?"

"In a minute," I told him quietly, almost inaudibly. I waited and then, "Where are we, Wheeler?"

"Somewhere."

"You don't know…."

"To be honest…I missed the turn I was supposed to take as soon as you told me you were going to throw up."

"Seriously?" I stood up straight.

"Yeah."

That made me feel better. Oh so much better, I can tell you. "Shit. Double shit. Goddamn your pitiful driving skills, Wheeler!"

"Hey, you're the one who said you were going to throw up!"

"And indeed I was."

"Yeah, well, it distracted me!"

"Alright, ok, let's just find out where we are."

"Fine."

Of course I knew that we could always go back and ride the car again over where we just were, (if Wheeler could orientate himself enough to drive back to the game shop without getting us lost again), but that also meant going back in the dreadful car. Not just yet.

"Wheeler, what do our surroundings look like?"

"Hmm….let's see….umm…there's a building, well a couple of buildings, actually…a tree—hey a tree, you never find those in Domino, this is special, Kaiba!"

I stopped him and his nonsense. "I meant anything specific. Street signs, names of restaurants, the like."

"Oh…well, there're no signs…but there's this, like, big, brick house…run down, you know…in between two other buildings, and it has a billboard on the front that reads, 'Zigfreed's Pizza Place'….and…oh my God…"

"What?"

"Kaiba….I know where we are!"

Relief over me. "Good." I sighed slightly, removing the bad breath.

"No, no no no, not good. Not good at all! Must leave!" He scrambled back to the car. "Come on, Kaiba?"

What was going on? Was this place like taboo or something?

"Let's go!" I stood up straight but it was already too late.

Suddenly, a thick, ragged, undesirably loud voice belted out, "HEY WHEELER! What are YOU doing here??"

"Shit!" Joey whispered under his breath.

"Who is that?" I asked, not really wanting to know, but feeling it was necessary.

"Gang leader…I used to be part of a gang. I was kicked out of it, though, when I did something disrespectful to the leader. I'm not supposed to be here…." What??? Wheeler, (scrawny little Joseph Wheeler, whom I had beaten into the ground more than once), was once involved in a gang? No…

I remembered the day Serenity and I first fell in love. Wheeler had threatened to beat me up and actually tried to. He was sloppy, but effective—he knew where to hit. Now I knew where he had learned.

So, great, Wheeler was an exiled gang member and he took a wrong turn straight into their turf. Hmm…ironic….but I felt the tension rise up in stomach—though it was far from nervousness, alright?

"What are YOU doing here??" the husky-sounding leader, (who did not sound like he had an IQ above 25 or 30), repeated.

"Nothin'." Wheeler sounded nervous.

"Just passing through?" The leader was not alone—(it sounded like he was with 8 or 10 other people, though it was difficult to tell because he was talking so loudly he nearly drowned out all other noises surrounding him. I had to go by feeling alone, which was not a very reliable source). Not good.

"Yeah…something like that. I was just leaving…"

When he was right in front of us he stopped walking, (the rest of the others following suit just after him), and said, "Gee, that's funny, because I thought we told you never to show your sorry ass around here. Ever again."

"Did your stupid mind forget about that?" Another member from behind the leader said this. He had a low, gravelly voice.

"No…I just…"

"Just what?" The leader spoke again.

"Lost my way…"

They laughed. "Yeah…right…sure believe that…"

"Hey, who's your friend?" Another member, (different from the other two), asked. Finally, some attention. Damn I was bored.

"Oh, he's—.." Wheeler started not to finish.

"Wait, I know you. You're that rich boy Seto Kaiba! Don't you own a company or something? What's a guy like you doing in a place like this with a dummy like Wheeler?"

"Just leave him alone, man." Why was Wheeler protecting me? I was not afraid of these jag-offs.

"What, can't Rich Boy talk on his own?" Yet another gang member asked. They began moving closer to us. This was getting tiresome.

I heard a noise and Wheeler saying, "Hey, get off o' me!"

"Can't talk, Richie Rich?" Apparently they had chosen to hold down Wheeler and go after me, steal my money or something, and leave. The leader was after me, so I figure that I was about right. I still said nothing.

"What's with the cane?" He asked, grabbing it. I held on tight and ripped it out of his hands with some force. Some brief sounds of acknowledgement at this could be heard.

"Piss off, guys! We ain't hurting you!" Wheeler was shouting things like this the whole time.

The gang ignored him, though, and one of them said, "Hey, I remember hearing something about Kaiba-boy in the news. He's like blind or something!" Blind or something? Why did he put the "or something" after "Blind"…you either were or were not….no "or something"…ok, they were not intelligent.

And they were beginning to try my patience.

"Oh, really? Well, that makes it make easier!" He chuckled.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud in his face at this.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY, MONEY BAGS??" He shouted in my face. His breath smelled like a foul mixture of malt liquor and cigar smoke.

I did not answer. Why should I waste my breath on lesser beings?

"You know," another gang member said, moving still closer. I was aware of a pair of hands gripping my shoulders. They touched me. Such a mistake, so stupid. "This is a nice trench, Kaiba-boy." He flicked its collar for no reason. "I think I want it."

"That's too bad…" I said, speaking for the first time. "I don't think it will go with your skirt."

Some of the gang members laughed at this and howled sounds that relished in the witty insult. "He played you, man—…"

"SHUT UP IDIOTS!" He pushed one of the guys and they stopped laughing.

"You're pretty pushy for a blind man, Kaiba."

"You're pretty manly for a girl." More suppressed laughter.

"Pretty funny, Kaiba boy…" His voice was an angry whisper. "Pretty fucking funny!"

He swung at me. But he was too sloppy, much like Wheeler was, only worse because I'm pretty sure he was drunk.

I dodged him easily. I think they were all a little surprised at this, for he did not retaliate immediately afterward.

Though I did not give them time to, really.

I concentrated on my hearing and felt out their positions, one by one. I swung my cane up and hit each and every one of them with it—hard, bone-crushingly hard.

Of course the guy with his hands on my shoulders dropped them and I was free. But a couple of them managed to get up and come at me again. I moved back and then turned with my cane at my side, knocking them down again with the wooden club. It was strong enough to break whatever bones they had left.

No one got up after that. But there was still the guy holding down Wheeler to consider. I heard his shocked gasping as I walked toward him and my friend. I coked my head to one side, as if to ask the boy, "Do you really want to do this?"

Sure enough he ran away screaming, (literally).

I turned my head in the general direction I believed Wheeler to be in. "Damn…" he said. "I'm not gonna mess with you."

"Do you think you could turn us around and get us out of this hellhole?"

"I think I could work something like that out…but just tell me one thing. Where the hell did you learn how to do that blind?"

I smirked and wiped the blood off my cane with the side of my trench coat. "Wheeler just get in the damn car. I'll tell you on the way back."

I more than willingly moved to get into the car. But Wheeler said, "Wait, I'll help you, Kaiba."

He did. "Thank you," I said, sitting back in the car, relaxed by the relief of sitting down but uncomfortable by Wheeler's help.

Then I thought. We could help each other out, I guess. I had beaten the big-bad gang from which Wheeler had been excommunicated. He felt like he needed to reciprocate, I suppose.

I was fine with that.

Maybe, Serenity had been right. Driving with a maniac could have its positive outcomes.