Chapter Fourteen

Radical Inu Star:  As always, nice to hear from a new reviewer!  And this is original?  I'm so happy!  (stops you from killing Yutou just yet...we need him still)

Fiery Charizard:  Okay, either you're overemotional or I'm actually good at this angst thing!  Wai!  I made you cry!  (thinks)  I probably shouldn't be celebrating that, ne?

redrose2310:  (salutes)  Yes ma'am!

repmet:  (patpats)  There there, it's okay...

Smoocher of Evil:  Come on now, I didn't make you wait long!  Glad you're enjoying it!

kuroi-sakurapetals:  Heartwrenching?  Awesome.  And I'm a little shocked that so many people think I'm original!  It rox!

Nikyo:  My evil mind did NOT make them break up.  (holds out a very innocent-looking white bunny)  These did!  Blame the plot bunnies!  Not me!

Arora:  Out of hand?  (tears up)  You no like?  I needed Seto to ditch Jou so I could torture him a little more!  I didn't mean to make you hate me!  (runs off crying)

Calico-Avengi:  (plays with the puddle of fangirl-goo)  Look!  A swan!  I'm glad you liked it, Cali-chan.  And I love you too!

mandapandabug:  You have the most impressive runon sentances of anyone I've ever seen.    I'm glad you liked it, dear!  And no, I don't think "enthrillerating" is a word.  It should be, though.

Felidae:  Ah...it seems a lot of people are rather angry at the cliffie....placating update!  Forgive me!  (bows)

saffron-starlight:  Yes, poor Kaiba for ever falling in my twisted little hands. 

Kumori Sakusha:  Hearbreaking?  Alright!  (cheers)

BobGod:  I consider it an immense compliment when someone who doesn't even like a generalized portrayal of a character (i.e angsty Kaiba) and likes my work anyways.  I put a lot of effor into making it somewhat believeable, and I think you for appreciating that.  Oh, and please don't send angry reviewrs with pointy objects at me! (hides)  They scare me!

CaptainInuyasha777:  Here's the update, don't kill me!

(A/N: Okay, before we start: The beginning of this chapter is mainly from Shizuka's perspective, and therefore Jonouchi is referred to as 'Katsuya,' because that is his first name, after all. I just wanted to avoid confusion )

Itadakimasu: A Japanese blessing said before meals; "Thanks for the food"

Hai: If you've read any fics at all, you probably know what this means. If tis is your first fic, God help you. It means "yes."

Onii-chan: Older brother

Otou-sama: A very, very proper and respectful term for "father." I kinds figured that Gozaborou was one of those "Respect me in my own home" type of people, ne?

"Onii-chan?" Shizuka shifted her shopping bag onto her hip and knocked gently on the apartment door. "Katsuya, I know you're in there. Please let me in." She waited expectantly, and sighed when she received no response, not even in indication that her brother was alive. "You're being difficult, onii-chan." She set her bag down and pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, shaking her bangs out of her eyes. She was grateful that she'd taken the time to listen to Bakura's advice, otherwise she'd be standing out here all night.

"I'm coming in," she announced as the thunk of the final tumbler heralded Shizuka's novice success at lock-picking. She swung the door open, picking up her bag, and stepped inside the darkened hallway. "Nii-chan? Are you home?" She slipped her shoes off and padded down the hallway, turning on the lights as she went.

He was there. Shizuka sighed as she realized he was in the same position he'd been in when she'd left yesterday, curled up on the couch, dressed only in a bathrobe, clutching at the collar buckled around his neck. His even breathing clearly stated that he was sleeping, and Shizuka decided to let him rest while she prepared his food.

It had been two weeks already, two weeks since he'd stumbled off Kaiba's private plane, pale and crying, and his condition hadn't improved any. He hadn't spoken a word beyond "It's over," and he refused to see anyone besides his little sister. Yami and Yuugi had actually spent two days camped outside Jou's apartment, and he refused to let them in. His answering machine was full of worried messages from Yuugi, Ryou, and a few "encouraging" calls from Honda, trying to convince Jou to come with him to pick up chicks.

Shizuka wondered what part of "gay" Honda was having trouble grasping.

The messages were less frequent now, the visits fewer, and Katsuya didn't seem to have noticed. He sat in the dark all day, staring at nothing, occasionally watching TV with the sound turned off. It was all Shizuka could do to make him eat enough to keep him out of the hospital, and it was only by the grace of God that her father had been released today. Apparently the chemotherapy had worked better than anticipated, and Shizuka was grateful. She didn't know if she could handle more than one invalid at a time.

"Onii-chan." She shook his shoulder gently, setting the bowl of miso soup down on the end table. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked up at her. "Hey," she said, giving him an encouraging smile. "How are you doing today?" She helped him sit up and placed the soup in his hands. He shrugged, staring at the wisps of steam curling out of the bowl. "Eat," she told him after a few minutes. "I have good news."

He obeyed mechanically, taking a small sip and looking up at her expectantly. "Dad was released today." He paused, waiting for her to continue and Shizuka, glad to see her brother interested in something, was only too happy to comply. "The doctors said the cancer's in remission. I know they didn't expect the chemo to work this well, but they said he'll be fine."

Katsuya dropped his eyes back to his soup and took another sip. Shizuka huffed in irritation. She'd just told him that his father wasn't going to die, didn't that warrant some sort of happiness? A smile, or a nod, anything! "Don't you care? You know, there are other people with problems besides you. I'm tired of playing mother for you! Seto dumped you, get over it!" She turned on her heel and stalked back into the kitchen.

The nerve! She'd been coming here every day, fixing meals for him and talking to him, just so he didn't have to be alone, and he couldn't even dignify her with a response. She had a life of her own, and she couldn't spend so much time taking care of her brother. It would be one thing if he was sick, but he was just being stubborn! Well, it was enough. He could rot here for all she cared, she was—

Arms wrapped around her from behind and a head rested on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," Katsuya whispered in a voice husky from crying. "I didn' mean to be such a pain in the ass. I'm glad that Dad's okay."

Oh, he'd done it again. He could do everything in his power to wind her up, piss her off, and then he'd just say something so sweet that her heart melted and she forgave him. "It's okay," she said, patting her brother's hand. "I didn't mean that. I was just frustrated with you."

"I know." He released her and she turned around, wincing when she saw how wretched he looked under the harsh kitchen lights. For all the sleep he'd gotten, he shouldn't have such dark circles under his eyes but there they were, making him look like one of the living dead.

"You should get yourself cleaned up, and then we'll talk. Okay?" She patted his shoulder.

He gave her a sad smile and shuffled towards the bathroom. Shizuka listened until she could hear the sound of running water before she resumed her cooking. "Oh, Katsuya," she sighed. He had such a bad habit of getting attatched to people that would hurt him.

She couldn't precisely say that she'd seen this coming. She was too blinded by sisterly affection to fully admit that Katsuya was making a mistake by getting involved with the coldhearted CEO. She'd encouraged him, and maybe that was a mistake, but it was the first time he'd stayed with anyone for more than a month. He didn't precisely have a good track record with dating, and she'd just been so happy that he'd finally found someone that she'd ignored her better judgment.

It had been refreshing to see him with Kaiba. Katsuya seemed to love touching him, nothing inappropriate, just leaning his head on Kaiba's shoulder, or discreetly holding his hand when he thought no one else was looking. He was so shy, it was adorable. Shizuka had never seen Jonouchi so content with anyone, and maybe that was why she hadn't spoken up, voiced her objections to their relationship.

It wasn't that she didn't like Kaiba. She thought he was, under the cold, cruel demeanour, a good person, someone who cared deeply for his little brother, the only family he had left. And on rare occasions he could do something decent, even if he was bitter and sarcastic most of the time. It was obvious, at least to Shizuka, that Kaiba liked her brother, judging from the way Kaiba's eyes would soften when he gazed at Katsuya, the way he smiled around Katsuya...

But Kaiba wasn't normal, Kaiba wasn't safe. He could be kind, but how could she trust her brother's fragile heart with someone who couldn't even take care of himself?

She couldn't. Maybe Katsuya was better off without him.

"What're you thinkin' about?" Katsuya had ambled back into the kitchen, wrapped in a mercifully clean bathrobe and toweling his blond hair dry. He was still wearing his collar, Shizuka noted, not missing the affectionate way he rubbed it clean with the damp corner of his bathtowel.

"I'm just worried about you, onii-chan," Shizuka replied as she spooned rice into a bowl. He helped her carry the plates to the table and they sat down to eat, both briefly muttering "Itadakimasu" before continuing their conversation. "Do you think you're going to be okay?"

Katsuya slumped in his chair, poking his fish desolately with his chopsticks. "I know you think I'm just mopin' around, but..." his voice broke and he had to look away so that Shizuka couldn't see the tears pricking at his eyes. "I really liked him. A lot. It jus' hurts that he'd do that t' me, you know?"

"I don't." Shizuka took a bite of rice. "You never told me what happened."

"He kicked me out. No explanation, nothin'. He jus' told me he didn' care about me and sent me home."

"That doesn't sound right."

"You're tellin' me."

"No, I mean that doesn't sound like Kaiba. He did like you, I'm sure of it. Mokuba used to tell me so all the time."

"All the time?"

"Seto's had a crush on you since high school," Shizuka said. "You know how bad he is at expressing himself. Did something happen?"

"Yeah, but...I dunno if I should tell you..."

Shizuka arched en eyebrow at him. "Nii-chan, I'm eighteen. You're not going to shock me, don't worry."

"We...we had...eh..." Katsuya blushed crimson and suddenly became extremely interested in his sushi. "This is very good."

"Thank you. Now please continue."

"We did...things," Jou finished lamely.

"Things."

"Things that are...um..."

Shizuka knew what he was trying to say, but it was so much fun to watch her brother get so flustered. "Things that are..."

"We had sex!" Jou burst out, blushing harder than before.

Shizuka repressed a smile and calmly ate her fish. "Okay," she agreed. "What about it?"

"Seto was raped when he was little. He spent two years as his father's whore, an'...well, that kinda messed him up, y'know?"

Shizuka gasped in sympathy, dropping her chopsticks. "My God," she said. "That's awful!" Kaiba, abused? Molested? No wonder he was such a jerk. It was a wonder that he wasn't a psychotic maniac, having to deal with that. "Is he okay now?"

"Well...he was, but the guy that raped him showed up at that dinner party you made me go to, an' he was scared to death. Then he suggested we go to New York, 'cause his shrink told him he needed a vacation, an' Yutou—that's the guy that raped him—followed us or something, and he kidnapped me, an'—"

"What?" Shizuka said. "He...he didn't..."

"No, Seto showed up before he could do anything t' me." Shizuka sighed in relief—Seto had saved her brother? "I thought everything was okay, but then we went back to the hotel and he packed up my stuff and kicked me out."

"That's terrible."

oooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo

"Mmm..." Seto stirred, stretching, reveling in the feel of warm arms wrapped around his waist. He snuggled into the bare chest pressed to his back. "Good morning, puppy." He smiled when his bedmate leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good morning to you, too, but I'm not your puppy."

Seto's eyes snapped open and he tore himself out of Yutou's embrace, wincing at the pain that shot up his lower back. "Augh! You!"

"You're not very articulate in the morning, are you?" Yutou ruffled his chestnut hair and Seto shrunk away.

"Don't touch me," Seto hissed, clutching the covers around his naked body. God, how could he have mistaken Yutou for his puppy? His puppy was so much sweeter, so much more gentle, so—

No, thinking about Jou hurt too much...he was with Yutou now, and Jou was safe. That was all that mattered.

"Little late now, sorry. Come on, you were being so affectionate when you thought I was the mutt."

Seto ignored him and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Fair enough. I'll join you."

"Alone, if that's okay." It was an odd agreement they'd reached. In bed, Yutou was the master, but outside of it Seto was free to have as much attitude as he wanted. After all, Seto had come to him willingly, and deserved some sort of reward, didn't he?

Seto suspected that Yutou just wanted to break him all over again.

"That's fine." Yutou lay back on the pillows, studying Seto through hooded eyes. "Hurry back, love." He watched, unabashed, as Seto crossed the room, admiring the way the beginnings of sunlight gleamed off his smooth, slender body.

Seto grumbled at the order and glanced around, wondering what Yutou had done with his pants. "Where are my clothes?"

"I like you better without them." Translation: they were hidden and Seto was going to have to walk around naked until he found them. Seto grimaced; that meant Yutou jumping him every time he leaned over. "Unless you could suggest an exchange...?"

Sex for clothes, there was something so wrong about that. "Hell no," Seto snapped, slamming the bathroom door, cursing Yutou for removing the lock.

Once he was alone he turned the hot water on and curled up on the floor of the shower as the water scalded him. It didn't hurt, not much did anymore. He was becoming numb to pain, numb to everything. His ass wasn't even that sore anymore. He was regressing back to they way he'd been as a kid; Yutou just had that effect on him.

He didn't know why he clung so desperately to Jou's memory. Maybe because it was the one thing that hurt every time he thought about it, and it was reassuring to know that he was still alive enough to feel.

And there he went, thinking about his puppy again, thinking about golden hair and laughing amber eyes and a gleaming white smile...and that toned, lithe body, the horrid accent, the cute little blush...Seto wasn't sure where the hot water stopped and his tears began.

Of course, thinking about Jou did...other things to him too. It was always Jou's face he imagined when Yutou fucked him, because he couldn't force himself to respond to the elder man's advances. Jou had been the only one who'd had any sort of effect on him at all, the only one who'd been able to even make him blush, let alone want him so badly that he ached with the mere memory. Seto used to pride himself on his well-controlled hormones, on being a virtual fortress when it came to sex, but now he realized how abnormal it was for him to not be aroused by anyone but Jou, because despite all his faults, Yutou was hot. Hot and sadistic and evil, but hot nonetheless.

Yes, he definitely needed to stop this. He was uncomfortably warm, and not just from the boiling water. He clutched his knees tighter, trying to will away the memory of Jou inside him, gasping and murmuring how good he was as Seto writhed and begged to be taken harder, faster—

Seto reached for the cold tap.

"Let me help you with that." Seto jumped, head snapping around to face a very smug, very naked Yutou leaning against the shower wall.

"N-no, it's not that, it's just—"Seto stammered, embarrassed that he'd been caught like this in the shower. He wasn't a horny teenager, dammit, he should be better than this!

"Isn't it? I think it is." Yutou grabbed him by his hair, jerking him to his feet. "Thinking about that mutt of yours again?"

"No!"

"Don't lie to me." Yutou slapped him and Seto bit his lip stubbornly. "I said, let me help you."

"But I don't want—"

"I don't care what you want. By the time I'm done with you, you will want me." Seto gave a pitiful sob as Yutou slid inside him, no warning, no preparation, nothing.

"Please, no, I just...ahhn!"

Bathrooms echoed nicely, Yutou decided.

ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo

Jou blinked down at a blushing Yuugi, trying desperately to comprehend what he was suggesting. "Ano...but I thought you were with Yami...?"

"I am, I am!" Yuugi said hurriedly, glad that the store was crowded and noisy. He didn't really need any of his customers overhearing this conversation. "I talked to Yami and he agreed. You know, just until you find someone else." Yuugi shrugged. "He thinks you're cute."

Jou shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I dunno, Yuug. You know I love you, man, but this is...a bit much."

Yuugi flushed and looked away. "I'm sorry. I just thought...I mean, I know I'm not that good-looking, but Yami—"

"No, no, that wasn' what I meant! Hell, Yuug, you're adorable, and Yami's about as sexy as they come, but..." Jou trailed off listlessly. "You're jus'...not Seto."

"Oh," Yuugi said sagely, nodding. He understood. "You love him, don't you?"

Jou flinched.

"I'm sorry, Jou, I didn't realize. Forgive me for suggesting that we could replace him." Yuugi bowed in apology and Jou gave a hoarse laugh.

"It's stupid," he said, shaking his head. "It's not like Seto was my first or anythin', and he's prob'ly the most fucked-up person I eva dated, but...I dunno." He scrubbed at his eyes roughly, although he knew there wouldn't be any tears. He didn't cry in public, he saved that for the privacy of his own home. He wouldn't give Seto the satisfaction of reducing him to a sniveling teenage girl. "I jus' don' undastand what I did wrong. I mean, he forgave me for...for..."

Yuugi patted his shoulder sympathetically. "You deserve better, Jou."

"I don' want better. I want Seto."

And that, Yuugi thought, studying his friend's pain-worn face, said it all.

ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo

"Otogi! What are you doing?"

Otogi whirled around, trying his best to look innocent while holding the shattered remains of a very old (and thus very expensive) vase. "Me? Oh, nothing. Just admiring your taste in artwork." He dumped the shards of ceramic onto what had previously been the vase's display stand. "Never really did understand that modern stuff. So messy."

Mokuba groaned; for someone so graceful, Otogi tended to attract disaster. He gravitated towards everything expensive and fragile, handling them with about as much finesse as the proverbial bull in the china shop. "...and I wondered about your all-plastic décor."

Otogi grinned cheekily at his lover. "I'm sure you can afford to lose a vase or two."

Mokuba had to smile. It was impossible to stay angry with Otogi. "Just keep away from anything else you could possibly break."

Otogi glanced around with some discomfort, noting the priceless sculptures that seemed to be in danger of engulfing the room. "Should we go to my place, then?" Mokuba laughed.

"Doesn't matter to me, a bed's a bed."

"Ooh," Otogi purred, slipping an arm around Mokuba's slim waist and nibbling on his ear. Mokuba gave an appreciative moan. "Is that what my little kitten's in the mood for?"

Precisely what his kitten was in the mood for, however, Otogi never got to find out. He could have hazarded a guess, but what happened next drove all thought of sex from the raven-haired dice master's mind, and it had been suggested that nothing short of nuclear Armageddon was capable of that.

The door opened.

Not a momentous thing, usually, although it was so very symbolic. A passage from one place to another, a sign of trust when opened, a barrier when closed. However, with approximately five hundred doors in the Kaiba Manor, one wouldn't think that so much attention would be paid to something so seemingly trivial.

In this case, it wasn't a matter of the door itself, but rather a matter of the person (in this case, people) doing the opening.

"Mokuba-kun! Long time no see!"

Otogi felt Mokuba stiffen in his grasp. "Yutou!"

Otogi blinked. Yutou? The name sounded familiar...where had he heard it before?

"You've done it before? With who?" Malik realized that his turn was over, but curiosity had the better of him.

"Kamimura Yutou. He was one of my stepfather's business partners. He was twenty-six, I was fourteen." Kaiba's voice was flat, harsh, and his eyes glinted fiercely.

"He didn't—"Yuugi broke off.

"No. He seduced me, not raped me."

"Same thing in my book," Honda said. "You were just a kid."

Ah, yes. That was where.

Otogi was taking the arrival of a psychotic rapist quite well, considerably better than his lover, who was clutching his arm so tightly that Otogi was sure there would be holes in the fabric when he let go. "Nii-chan, why's he here?"

Seto looked like shit, Otogi noted. He appeared to have lost even more weight, no necessarily a good thing since the CEO had been too skinny to begin with. The dark circles under his eyes were either a result of stress or lack of sleep, and Otogi was willing to bet that both factors had contributed heavily. His hair was a mess, and that somehow scared Otogi more than the pallor of the brunette's skin and the way he cold hardly stand without leaning on Yutou for support, because in all the years he'd known (and harassed) Seto, he'd never seen his hair out of place. It was Seto's one little vanity, always had been.

"Yutou's going to be staying a while," Seto said in a dead, emotionless voice, looking like he was about to collapse from fatigue.

"Where's Jou?"

Seto cringed at the mention of the blonde's name and Yutou pulled him close, as if shielding him from Mokuba's harmful questions. "It's a painful thing for him to talk about, Mokuba-kun. It turns out that the little puppy isn't as loyal as we all thought."

He was lying, Otogi thought, watching the desperation on Kaiba's face as Yutou smoothly relayed the story of how he'd caught Jou in bed with another man, an American he scarcely knew, how Jou had offered sex in exchange for Yutou's silence, and how Yutou had told Seto, of course.

Mokuba didn't buy it either, but he wisely bit his tongue while Yutou helped Seto limp up the stairs to his bedroom.

"You know that's bullshit," Otogi commented once he was gone.

"I know."

"And you know that somewhere Jounouchi's probably crying and attempting to kill himself, right?"

"I know."

"...wanna go make him feel better?"

Mokuba swatted his lover with a disapproving glare. "Keep your pants on, you horny bastard. We've got more important things to think of than your raging hormones."

"I'll make a deal," Otogi suggested, straight-faced. "We take care of my hormones right here and now, and then we go save the day." When Mokuba's grey eyes narrowed, Otogi recognized the warning signs and hastily backed off. "Okay, okay, but Yutou's gonna pay for messing up our playtime."

Mokuba snorted. "Fair enough." He grabbed Otogi by the arm and followed his older brother up the stairs. "We're going to find out what's going on first."

"Ooh, a game," Otogi said in a disgustingly cheerful voice, clapping his hands together sarcastically. "I love games!"

"Look, Yutou, I'm tired. Not now." Mokuba touched a finger to Otogi's lips, silently warning him to be quiet as they padded softly down the hallway, pausing just outside Seto's partially-open door.

"I didn't give you a choice, little dragon." Mokuba tensed and Otogi lay a worried hand on his lover's shoulder.

"That's what Otousama used to call Seto. Seto always hated it," Mokuba whispered.

"I'm not your dragon, and I'm not in the mood right now! I feel like shit, I'm sure I look even worse, and I want to sleep, dammit!" Pounding footsteps; Seto was walking across the room. "Didn't you hear me? Get the hell out of my—"

A sharp slap echoed in the bedroom and Otogi winced in sympathy as Seto cried out. "Listen to me, whore, when I say I want you, I get you. I can't believe after everything we've been through that I have to teach you the rules all over again. This is absolutely absurd."

"You'll forgive me," Seto snapped. "My other personality seems to have conveniently deleted most of your damn rules. Discuss it with him; it's not my fault."

Mokuba's brow wrinkled. Other personality? What was Seto talking about? And what about these rules? Seto barely knew Yutou, he'd only met him that one time...when he raped him...

"Everything's your fault, little dragon." A rustle of cloth and Seto whimpered; Yutou was obviously hurting him, whatever he was doing. Otogi peered into the room carefully, focusing one large emerald eye on the two inhabitants of the room. Yutou had a hold of Seto's hair and he was jerking the younger man's head back, the expression on his face a evil smile Bakura and Marik would have been proud of, had it not been directed towards one of their friends. "Everything."

"It's not," Seto hissed. "I haven't done anything, I've let you do what you wanted with me, can't I take a night off?"

"Have you been good enough to warrant a reward?"

"You and your reward system. I'm not a dog, that's not going to work. Now get the hell off of me and let me sleep."

"How dare you, you arrogant little shit! You're nothing. You never were." Yutou jerked Seto close and the brunette unconsciously flinched away. "You're useless. Broken. A whore. My whore," he purred with some sort of satisfaction. Otogi waited eagerly for Kaiba to haul off and slug him, but Seto merely whimpered and shrunk away.

Why was he acting like this? This wasn't the ruthless Kaiba he knew, it wasn't right. He shouldn't be whimpering and scared just because some asshole told him he was worthless...

...unless that's what he already thought. It would explain a lot, Otogi mused. Kaiba didn't seem to like himself a whole lot, and having Yutou hammering it home probably hurt worse than Otogi could imagine.

"Even that little puppy of yours, he left you too, didn't he?"

"Shut up," Kaiba whispered brokenly. "Don't bring him into this."

"It was a noble thing you did, Kaiba."

"I said, shut up."

"But honestly, you can't tell me it didn't sting having him walk away from you."

"He...he didn't walk away," Seto intoned, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"He ran, didn't he? Figures; after all, you put him through hell just for screwing you. I don't know what you were so upset about, I'd think you'd be used to it by now. After all, half of Kaiba Corp has walked over your

body, little dragon."

"I'm not...I didn't..." Seto slumped miserably in Yutou's grip. "I don't want to talk about him."

"Yutou, that's enough!" Before Otogi could stop him, Mokuba was storming into Seto's room, bristling like an angry cat, gray eyes narrowed in surprising ferocity. "Let my brother go!"

"I think that's for him to decide, don't you?" He took Seto's chin in his hand, giving the Mokuba a smug, Cheshire-cat grin. "What do you want, Seto-kun?"

"He obviously hates you," Mokuba snapped. "Not surprising after what you did to him, you bastard."

"What I did? Honestly, Mokuba, sex is a two-way street, as I'm sure you well know." He cast a disapproving glance at Mokuba's low-slung leather pants and tight black shirt. Otogi was suddenly glad that he'd chosen rather conservative clothes today. "I can't believe you let him out of the house like that, Seto."

"Onii-chan, what's going on? This isn't like you, tell me what—"

"Get out."

Mokuba paused, startled. "What?"

"Get out of my room."

"But...nii-sama, I was only trying to help..." Otogi's brow wrinkled; even after the piercings and the tattoos, Mokuba was still Mokuba, and it was times like this when that became obvious. He was still the same little kid that loved his older brother more than anything, and Otogi felt very much like a pedophile. How much younger than him was Mokuba? Five years? He was the same age as Seto.

"I don't need your help." Seto stared stubbornly at his own feet, not trusting himself to meet Mokuba's gaze. "I can make decisions on my own, I don't need your help."

"But you hate him!"

"If I hated him would I have brought him home? Get used to it, Mokuba. Yutou's staying, and you're keeping the hell out of my way." He couldn't look at his brother, just like he couldn't look at Jonouchi. If this kept up he'd be walking around with his head down, too fucking terrified to even meet anyone's eyes. It was pathetic and it was weak, and he couldn't help it. He didn't want Mokuba hurt, and he was sure Yutou had noticed how Mokuba had...matured.

"That's just great, nii-sama. You chose him over Jonouchi?" Mokuba's voice was bitter, his hands clenched at his sides. "You threw away someone that could love you, even with all your problems for him. For someone who fucked you so hard when you were a kid that you couldn't walk for a week. Great choice, nii-sama. Jou deserves better than the way you treated him, and you know it! Do you want everyone to hate you as much as you hate yourself? If that's it, I'd say you're succeeding pretty damn well."

"I don't care about Jonouchi. I never did." Saying it didn't hurt quite so much anymore. He was so numb, so dead, what did it matter? This was what he was made for, this was what he did best. A toy, just something to be used. No emotional attachment to worry about, nothing. "He was just a way to pass the time."

"Sure, nii-sama. That's why you're still wearing the bracelet he gave you for Christmas, hmm?"

Seto instinctively clasped his hand over the silver dragon-bracelet, and although Mokuba had turned away, Otogi didn't miss the pure horror that flashed across Seto's face. Yutou gave him a pointed look, and Otogi was fairly certain that the bracelet would be magically disappearing soon. "Come on, Otogi. We're leaving.

"H-hai." Otogi really didn't want to be here, he had no business in the middle of family problems. None at all.

"Mokuba."

Mokuba stopped, threw his brother a glare over his shoulder. "What?" he spat, sounding very much like a Kaiba.

"Do you hate me?" Seto was staring at the ground again, hand clutching desperately at his bracelet. His voice was hushed, more so that Otogi had ever heard from him. What had happened to the sarcastic, arrogant bastard Otogi was used to? He wasn't at all sure if he liked this 'new' Seto.

"I'm pretty close, Seto."

And the one person in the world that loved him walked out, slammed the door on him and left him alone with his nightmare.

Cold arms snaked around him, hot breath washed over the shell of his ear and Seto couldn't repress a shudder. "Now," Yutou whispered huskily. "Let's do something about that ugly bracelet, shall we?"

Seto didn't bother fighting.