Deeply Flawed
Author: Dimitri Aidan
Rating: PG13
Series: Comes before Milk and White Chocolate, but takes a very different tone.
Pairings: One-sided Seto/Jou and Honda/Otogi. (You know, like the last part…)
Summery: Seto never thought to pay any mind to Otogi, the outcast of the Yugi-tachi, the third wheel. But, in the comfortable haze of liquor, he finds they're very much the same.
Notes: Apparently Otogi has changed his name at some point in the past. Don't ask me what was going on when I wrote this, all I can say is that there were cookies&cream ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream consumed and I was a little on edge… certain people just should consume large quantities of sweets, IE: Me.
Warnings: Fluffy Friendshippy stuff mixed with creepy stuff, ala mentions of drug abuse and death. More Scary!Mokuba, Vulnerable!Seto, and Scarred!Otogi.
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Otogi
You Can't Seem to get Away, Break
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Otogi had a hangover. A bad one. The kind that had you retching up things you'd eaten days ago, the kind that reached into the very bowels of your being and twisted until you were pretty sure you'd rather be dead. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton; his mouth tasted like something had crawled inside, died, and then been left to rot for half a year.
And that was being nice.
He leaned his forehead against the cool porcelain and let out a pitiful groan.
"This is why I don't drink." An all too cheerful and smug voice chirped. He lifted his head and turned to see Mokuba Kaiba grinning broadly from his bed. The teen was dressed in jeans, a red t-shirt, and a shit-eating grin.
"Why're you in my apartment?"
"Actually this is my house. And I wanted to talk to you."
Otogi pushed himself up and, after washing out his mouth in the sink, stumbled over to the teen. He all but fell onto his bed then motioned for Mokuba to talk, though his head wanted to scream in protest. He did notice now that he wasn't scrambling for the bathroom that this wasn't his room. His place was in shades of blue and cream; this was all green and black. He liked it though.
"I did some research on you. I normally leave that sort of thing to Seto but I had some free time last night and I like to know whom my brother is getting involved with. Seto couldn't get past a little before we met you, but I'm better at computer hacking than most people."
That worried Otogi some. He pushed himself up and arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"I know your mother was Takishi Amy, a well known model in France, and your father was her manager, Takishi Omi." Otogi's stomach did a flip-flop and he was pretty sure that if he had anything else to throw up it'd be on the floor by now. "Your mother died when you were fifteen, of-"
"Acute heart failure, while I was in rehab. Gained too much weight all at once and her heart just stopped. I know this already." He'd lived it after all. He didn't need anyone retelling the secrets of his past.
"You were in rehab? Really? You know they usually keep those records confidential and off of your standard medical record. Nice to know though. What for?"
Otogi repressed a noise of annoyance. "Look, kid-"
"Mokuba." He corrected lightly.
"Whatever. What do you want?"
Blue eyes went wide with innocence Otogi found he couldn't put much stalk in. "What do you mean, what do I want?"
"I mean what do I have to give you to make sure you never tell any of this to anyone?"
"What makes you think I'd tell?" He pouted. "I thought we were friends Ryuuji-san."
He frowned warily, not at all sure what to think of this. First Mokuba admits to digging up things he'd spent a lot of money to get buried and now he was saying he didn't want anything. No one went through all of that trouble and then didn't want anything in return. It didn't make sense.
"Actually-" Ah, finally the catch. "It wouldn't kill you to gain some weight. You're a stick."
He blinked. Twice. Before saying dully: "What?"
"Well you asked." Mokuba shrugged. "Not everything is a plot you know. You're as bad as my brother."
"Which he now knows first hand." He fell back onto the bed and pulled a pillow onto his head. "I can't believe I said all of that stuff."
"I'm sure he's just as mortified. He doesn't really admit to liking Katsuya when he's sober."
"Who would?" He chuckled bitterly. Then sighed. But who was he to judge, really? He'd pretty much broke into tears while talking about the fact that he could never have who he wanted. And ugh, really, Honda of all people. He cursed these terrible teenage hormones.
"Like Honda's any better. Still, I am not threatening you, honest. Simply setting a few things straight. You can't tell anyone about Seto's crush, what he said about our adoptive father, or anything else he may have said while drunk off of his ass."
"Does your brother let you say ass?"
"You can't tell him I said that either."
"I won't." An amused grin. "You didn't have to blackmail me to get me to keep my mouth shut. Last night's pretty much a blur anyway, except for that lovely ramble about puppies and wanting to keep me. Which really seems much stranger in the light of day."
A wry grin. "Yeah. Your bad childhood must have been endearing to him. Drunken bonding I suppose."
"How sweet." It came out more sarcastic than he'd meant it to. Maybe because last night, under the haze of alcohol, he'd felt oddly…close to Kaiba. Like he wasn't just the 'third wheel' or the 'pity friend' and now that the sun was shining (and hurting his eyes he might add) he knew it was stupid. The only person who could be close to the likes of Kaiba was Mokuba.
So it was back to hanging out with the Yugi-tachi as the guy on the outskirts who couldn't really relate because he'd shown up in the middle of the proverbial play, as it were. And he hadn't even shown up as a friend, but rather as someone trying to humiliate them.
"Hey," Mokuba's eyes narrowed and Otogi knew he'd crossed the line and, for reasons he couldn't really explain he was afraid. Sure, Mokuba was all of thirteen and just barely came to his shoulders, but something in those dark blue eyes made it very plain that as much as Seto threatened to make people vanish for annoying him, Mokuba'd be the one to actually do it. "My brother doesn't exactly accept people lightly you know. He's had it rough."
"I got that impression. Happy well-adjusted people usually tell me it's time to slow down by the third glass, not mock me for being two glasses behind." Otogi rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I haven't exactly had a picture perfect life either kid."
Still didn't. Probably never would. Nightmares kept him awake at night, dreams of his mother haunted him, the itch to use again followed him, and his father's voice echoed in his brain all of the time, like a gory scene in a movie forever stuck on loop. Not to mention the fact he lusted after someone he clearly couldn't have.
Even if Honda hadn't hated him for what he'd done to Katsuya (and he most certainly did hate him) he was about as straight as they could possibly come. Damn his luck.
"Just because he was wasted doesn't mean he didn't mean it."
"Mean what?" There was that sarcasm again. Any minute now Mokuba was going to call some big beefy security guard to shoot him and then bury him in that hedge maze out back. Yet he couldn't shut up. "That he wants to keep me?"
"In theory." A light rasp that was very much not Mokuba. He peeked up form the confines of his pillow. Kaiba was leaning against the doorframe, looking as cool as usual. Well fuck him. How dare he get drunk off his ass and not look any the worse for wear. Kaiba held up a small white bottle. "Aspirin."
"Christ, yes." He sat up again and ignored the way the world tilted. Kaiba tossed them then walked over to the desk in the corner. He pulled out the chair and sat down, watching as Otogi dry swallowed the chalky tasting pills.
Once he was done he sighed and ran a hand through his hair which, he noted with a grimace, was going to be a bitch to comb out. "How can you not be sick?"
"Water before bed." Mokuba said, looking at his nails almost anxiously. "Helps purify the system. That and a strong cup of coffee."
"I'll have to remember that."
Mokuba smiled brightly and Otogi just glared at him. Brat. "What was I saying?"
"I think you were about to not threaten me again."
"You realize he was threatening you right?"
"I was not."
"Was too."
"Not."
"Too."
"Not."
Otogi kind of felt like he was intruding on a family moment, though the sight of the great and cold Seto Kaiba engaged in a childish battle with his brother was too good to pass us. Funny how he wouldn't have expected Kaiba to engage in such a thing, even though he knew the other teen was a great deal warmer to his brother than the rest of the world.
You learned something new everyday. That was the thrill of living, as his mother had often said. Then again she was dead now.
"Yes you are. You're always threatening people on my behalf." Seto looked tired for a moment, eyes low and voice gravelly. Otogi could feel the serious shift in the air.
Mokuba frowned. "Someone has to look out for you."
Seto snorted. "You'd almost think you were the older brother."
"I blame your stunted emotional growth." Came the matter-of-fact reply. Seto looked scandalized for a moment then shook his head as if saying it wasn't worth arguing about. "You know I'm right. Someone has to protect you when you're too busy doing everything but. It's really simple."
Kaiba just grunted in reply. Mokuba scowled then, with a dismissive air, turned back to Otogi.
"You want breakfast? I make chocolate chip pancakes worth dying for." And he cooked too. Otogi wondered if there was anything beyond Mokuba's abilities.
"Sure."
The teen smiled and then bounced off of his bed. With one last glance at his brother he walked out of the room, pulling the door shut after him.
"Your little brother is scary."
"Mm. He's a mean little kid." Seto leaned back in his chair. "The cute and innocent exterior fools most people but a true Kaiba lurks in there somewhere."
"I bet he has dead bodies buried in the backyard."
"The bodies of my enemies I'm sure." His lips quirked into the half-smirk Otogi had witnessed a few times the night before. "So you have nothing to worry about."
"Good to know." A pause and then, even though he really should have been keeping his mouth shut: "He's right you know."
"He's always right. But I'll indulge you anyway."
"About protecting you. You've got a fairy tale thing going on. You're locked high in your tower, away from the world, wondering why you can't get to the ball. He's kind of the…fairy godmother, with the coach and the dress, ready to connect you the rest of the world if you ask."
"And then I can be an outcast amongst the Friendship Groupies like you." Thick and brutal sarcasm. Clearly Kaiba was better at it than he was, because his words actually stung. "Joy and rapture. My greatest dream fulfilled."
"Ouch." He rubbed at his arm.
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" He dropped his hand away from his arm though, knowing what Kaiba meant. It was a nervous thing, compulsively rubbing at his arm.
Kaiba's eyebrow quirked then he looked at some point over Otogi's shoulder. "I shouldn't have said that. If Yugi's little gang is-"
"I hate them." Otogi blurted then coughed in embarrassment at the little outburst. "Well. I don't hate them. But I'm not…one of them. Which is weird, if Marik and Malik can find a place I think maybe I should…fit in better. At least I've never tried to kill anyone, you know?" Kaiba nodded and Otogi really believed he understood. "But I can't be comfortable with them. They're just so…"
"Naïve. Give them someone trying to take over the world trying to use monsters and they're in their element, try to give them things the rest of the world deals with and they're total innocents."
"Exactly." Otogi nodded then reached up to try and massage some of the tension from his temples. "I wouldn't hang around at all except…I owe Yugi. After he, you know, forgave me and everything. I have to at least try, I guess."
"Bullshit." Kaiba snorted darkly. "You stay around to be close to Honda."
Otogi cringed slightly. "Ah. Remember that do you?"
Kaiba put a hand to his head and winced before nodding. "Dimly. We should not do that again. I'm going to have a headache for hours."
Otogi grunted then, giving up on the headache, slumped over. "Can I go back to sleep now?"
Kaiba made a noise that sounded like a yes before sliding out of the chair and shuffling out of the room. Otogi thought, as he closed his eyes against the steady pounding in his skull, that it was almost a shame he couldn't tell anyone he'd seen the great Seto Kaiba drunk and then suffering a hangover induced headache.
It seemed like such a waste.
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I have…not a clue where that came from. I'm almost positive it made no sense and had no point. Not that the last part did either…
Ayako: Aww…thanks.
Yukiko: It wasn't supposed to be sad, exactly, just a little bitter. It's all in the past and they're mildly well adjusted but…well, it's there.
Arie: I was going for at least mild realism, which was hard because I myself don't drink. I was high once but that's a while different story.
Maggie: Ahh…no where. This is a strange 'three' shot story that comes before my other story. Nothing will be achieved or concluded.
NJ: Yeah, Mokie is 13 and he does act a lot older than his age but consider the history behind him. A normal childhood he has not had. Plus looking after his 'emotionally stunted' big brother.
Cherre: Pretty much like everything I write, ne?
crsq: I'm glad everyone things Drunk!Seto was in character. I was worried, but it seems to have worked out very well. I wouldn't call it another chapter exactly, chapters always imply resolution to me, but…another part I guess.
Mechante: Nah, I was just in the mood to write something a little less fluffy. I imagine you got Mokuba's opinion of the whole affair rather well, because that's what I was going for. He's frustrated and annoyed but what else can you do? And Mokuba's omniscience is a highly debated topic… And no, I don't drink so I was just winging it. Seems to have gone rather well though… Hey, you know fluff is highly overrated. Besides, did you see all the angst potential MaWC has, between Honda's parents and Jou's mom? I've just chosen not to acknowledge it yet.
Killian: Seto's a weird drunk. Like I said, halfway through I was convinced he had multiple personalities… And Otogi was whiney, but cute nonetheless.
Fantabulous: I did understand the sentence and I know what you mean. I have a friend who does that, says stuff then looks confused and asks if anyone else heard her say that or if it was just in her head. She's a bit weird though…
