Thank you all for coming back to my story! I couldn't believe how many reviews I actually got…wow, thanks you guys. Luckily this update is coming to you all much sooner than the last one, (all I have to thank is summer vacation). I'm starting to get anxious about finishing this one so I can move on to other things—like I said, almost one full year I've been working on this story. Which isn't to say that I won't be sad when this is over—I will be. Only one more chapter after this one and that's it! What can I do but weep?

For now, it's the climax, baby!

Warning: I submit to you this warning that there are many graphic scenes and adult situations in this chapter especially (same as always). Mentions of rape, child abuse, strong language, and similar themes. Those of you uncomfortable with it, I offer my salute as you make your departure.

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO.

Chapter Eleven: Escape

"Konbanwa, Kaiba-san. How are you this evening?"

The butler was old, but not decrepit. I was actually surprised that a man with forty or forty-five years left on him would resign to such a dead-ridden job.

My voice came out firm and unyielding. "I'm fine, thanks. Where are the others?" I had been met by this man as soon I walked into the immediate receptacle hallway in the front of the house. I had never seen him before; Toshokama probably hid his personal servants from midnight guests such as me. Then why the candidness tonight?

My receiver nodded his slightly graying head and gestured behind him, deeper into the mansion. "Right this way, Kaiba-san."

We walked along the hallway until we came to a flight of stairs. There I was told, following alongside the ascending butler, that the party was being held in one of the ballrooms on the fifth floor. The man said that he would be delighted to show me exactly where it was.

"But we must hurry. They have been expecting you for quite some time."

Was I late? Impossible. My flight had been right on time. Nevertheless, I checked my watch. 11:57 pm. The evening was to begin at midnight. When had they gotten here?

Choosing to ignore the slight implication, I followed behind the butler and stayed apathetic of my surroundings. Yes, that was a splendid portrait of Toshokama hanging on the wall directly above my head. Yes, there was another one. Oh, and yes, there was a brilliant portrait of Toshokama's relatives…amazing how they all looked the same. Same eyes, same expression. Like the hatred glowing behind those eyeballs was a hereditary sickness instead of an acquired characteristic.

We walked along the corridor through many twists and turns. Like any other mansion, Toshokama's had a maze-like quality to it that would have confused most newcomers. I was determined not to be daunted. Silently, I began memorizing every step of the way. I was not going to be here long and there most likely would not be anyone left to help me out of this mansion once I was ready to leave. For this, I was on my own.

The monotonous path continued until we reached a door on the far end of the hallway. Actually, it was a set of two doors made of dark, carved wood with immaculately clean golden knobs. They looked heavy as though it might take three or four men to open just one of them, (let alone two).

"Here we are, Kaiba-san." Of course. Proceeding to open the door, the butler added one more command (a little nonchalant for the severity of the statement) that lessened my like of him, "Now, you should be on your best behavior in there. These gentlemen could tear you apart."

I stared at him coldly. Judging by the way his body unconsciously stiffened after this look, I can assume that it was enough of a reprimand. Frozen blood. I'd like to see him attempt to get that heart moving again.

I wondered, (keeping all my questions internal), was he told to say this? Or was this an example of his sick initiative? What exactly did he mean by that, anyway?

Amazingly, the sixty-year-old man was able to open both doors completely, revealing the night's destination. It might be easy to imagine mounting suspense as the door opened wider with each passing second, but that really was not the case. The inside of the doorway looked exactly like every other business party I had attended in my short life. The room looked like an elaborate dining hall; there were about six tables sheathed in white satin tablecloths, with a porcelain vase of roses on five of them. Each of the five tables had different color roses, (white, red, pink, yellow, and blue), in the vase. The single table without a floral decoration only seated one chair and was located in the far corner of the room. I could only imagine who was supposed to sit there.

The rest of the room looked quite standard. The ceiling was located high above my head in a gothic style. The walls were colored in an aged type of white that looked fresh; I could still smell the distant chemicals of new paint above the nauseating smell of too much food. Red carpeting stretched out on the middle of the floor while the rest sported hard mahogany wood tiling littered with rose petals of the five decorative colors on the dining tables. Three long, skinny, rectangular tables draped in red satin contained large, self-serve piles of dinner items from around the world. I assumed that because some of the guests had been invited from different countries there needed to be a smattering of food selections, not just the traditional Japanese. Immediately I identified Italian, French, Chinese, and Russian dishes. The others I could not recognize.

Standing around in this lavishly garnished hall were men, scattered in various groups throughout the entire room. All of them were wearing black suits—except Toshokama. I acknowledged his burgundy velour smoking jacket with sudden nausea. Why would he dress himself properly? It was his house after all. Still, the self-assuredness sickened me. Never mind that that was the same jacket he wore occasionally on his nights with me…

Something struck me as not quite right when I laid eyes on Toshokama. The sight of him made me realize something. Why was this so intricately planned and precisely carried out? Admittedly, when I had thought of a party for sex, I had thought of a small, dark room where men wore nothing and just fulfilled their desires until they were bored or could not fulfill themselves anymore. This was not what I pictured.

Although, unfortunately, I did not have much more time to think about it because as soon as the door stood open all the way, every single eye in the room turned directly onto me. Bodies that were turned the opposite direction or half turned, adjusted themselves to stare.

"Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corporations," the butler announced in crisp English to the crowd in a regal tone.

I caught a few smirks, even a few wide-eyed and astonished looks, but not a single person welcomed me. Not that I expected it.

Knowing my next move by heart, I compelled myself to saunter into the room, making sure every single eye stayed glued right where they were supposed to. Alright. So this was not what I had expected when I first concocted my plan. But this was not a setback. I could work this room. I had for all my adolescent life. That was the easy part.

The voice in my head snorted. Easy? Then why are you chewing on your heart?

Unfortunately true. My heart had risen into the back of my mouth. I felt my neck throb with each beat, my chest suddenly very cold with the absence of its prominent organ. With an excess of required force, I stuffed the muscle down my esophagus, back where it belonged. Stay there, I commanded it.

Loudly, for the room by that point was completely silent except for the reverberating sound of my shoes walking rhythmically across the floor, the butler closed the doors. A resounding bang, I was cut off from the rest of the outside world, left to fight in the realm of these men. Yet, I was not afraid. My body had finished with that. The best part about being at the bottom of everything is that you have nothing to lose.

"Seto!" Toshokama made his way from a section of Korean-looking men towards me, clapping his hands once in glee. His piggy eyes were alight with excitement and feeling—he really had gone all out with this. Facing me, he said in a mock-host tone, "Excellent to see you. We were beginning to worry whether or not you would arrive at all." Those English words, coupled with the entire set up of this place made me realize how seriously all of them took this.

Perfect.

Running a hand through my hair slowly, I closed my eyes and told them, switching to English in my mind, "Of course I came. Why would I miss this?" I let my hair fall naturally back into place, leaving it exactly where it fell in a position I knew to be attractive.

"That's what we were wondering, Seto." Adding a smirk to his lips and mischief to darken his eyes, Toshokama continued, "Welcome to our celebration. We are here to be entertained." Then he shifted his expression to that of demand. I had a feeling more words of instruction were going to be given. Already?

That was a bit much, I felt. He was going a little too far with it. How very like Toshokama. (It disgusted me how well I was getting to know him. Even if it was useful, it was still disgusting.) "Well that seems reasonable enough," I told them.

Flourishing a shift in my body, I made eye contact with every single person in the room. There were maybe about twenty men, all dressed in similar outfits with similarly serious expressions on their faces. I was right about the nationalities—I even recognized some of the faces specifically as men I had researched in the past few days. I had already fixed a passive, apathetic look in my eyes as soon as I walked into the room, something all of them would probably find irresistible to their perverted psyches. Upon eye contact, I caught at least a blink from each grown man. One of them was Jonouchi Yoshiho, the man who called me looking for sex when this first began. He looked away the second I spotted him.

What was this feeling I detected floating through the air? Inexperience? Anxiousness? Could this possibly be their first time doing something like this? Perhaps not all of them. But most of them looked like newcomers.

Good.

Without making a sound, I began to unbutton my suit jacket. Before entering the mansion, I had buttoned the first few buttons at the bottom to make it look more formal. Now I removed those and slowly, making sure that every single eye that had been so fixated on me previously was now watching still transfixed, began to remove the jacket. I had already made my way to the seat at the rose-less, lone-chair table, so I gracefully folded the jacket and set it aside on the back of the chair. The impermanent sounds of wrinkling cloth were the only audible noises in the entire room.

Then I unbuttoned the cuffs on my sleeves, letting a few flashes of bare flesh meet their gazes. Predictably, one of the newest looking men let out an uncomfortable cough, which he tried to disguise as a clearing of his throat. I tried to mask my amusement. Would this be easier than I thought?

"Just wanted to make myself more comfortable," I explained. Toshokama had not uttered a sound throughout my performance. When I glanced in his direction, I noticed that he had changed his expression again. This time, he looked the least bit suspicious. Perhaps just confused. He definitely had not expected me to willingly participate in this gathering, had he?

I leaned back and rested the heels of my hands on the table behind me. With the same indifference plastered on my face, I began to add slight smugness into the look as Toshokama approached me hurriedly. I had no reason to be nervous, even though the feeling of his body leaning over mine as he whispered in Japanese: "Enjoy it while you can, Seto-chan" made me feel like vomiting until my organs were irreparably burned from unbridled acid reflux.

He has nothing, Seto. He is nothing. You hold the upper hand, don't you? Hai, of course.

Catching the bile in my throat and swallowing it in one movement, I straightened myself up a bit. Unconsciously, Toshokama moved farther back. Without saying a word, my only response to his attempted intimidation tactics was a nod. I did not really have another answer to that. His words sounded so full of contempt and strength, yet in my heart they felt so empty. Emptiness was not intimidating.

Fury shone brightly in the man's eyes. His round little eyes were bulging with hatred and animosity. I was not acting the way he had anticipated. I was not being the squeamish little mouse I usually was when I accompanied him on those horrible, traumatic nights only a few weeks ago. Interestingly enough, it was at that particular moment when his hatred burned the brightest that I finally noticed how short he actually was. I stood at least half a body taller than he did; looking him in the eye, my chin was almost touching my chest. Why had I never noticed this startling feature before?

He had always been sitting behind a desk or lying on top of me. I never saw him standing in clear light. Now his body looked amusingly dwarfed against my own and I wondered if he noticed my clear advantage over him. At the same time, I felt angry and disappointed that I had let such a small, (literally and figuratively), man take such complete advantage of me.

Just as the miniature sized gentleman in front of me cracked open his jaw to give me a piece of his enmity, a Chinese man that I did not know approached us and said something in his own language, which I knew to mean, "We are waiting," or something similar to that.

In a flash, Toshokama's entire demeanor changed once again. Now he was back to his original host-self, mock-jovial and eager to start the "celebrations" with the rest of his group.

"Shiu, shiu!" ("yes, yes" in Chinese) He turned his back to me and addressed the crowd. "Of course. There's no need to keep all of you waiting. Please, take some more food." To me, "Seto, won't you have something to eat?"

"No, thank you, I am fine." The thought of food sent the same bile rushing to my throat intrusively. No matter how impolite and uncouth it may have been, they were not getting food into me on this night. Besides, the entire proposition of food confused me. Why prolong the supposed festivities? Did any of them really need to eat? (Judging by the numerous thick waistlines, my immediate answer was no. Although some of them, especially one elderly Indian man, were thin enough.)

My confusion was soon put to rest. Not a minute after I declined the meal, a man from Germany, Victor Nichfreiz, whose name and profile I already knew stepped away from the congregated group of impatient gentlemen and said in German, "Herr Toshokama, we have waited long enough. Some of us have other engagements to attend." ("Herr" means "Mr." in German) I raised an eyebrow at his suggestion. Why would they schedule something for this night? Was this really such a fleeting incidence that they could spend a few hours here and move on to some other meeting? A ripple of uncertainty brightened and then disappeared somewhere inside of me. These men were dangerous. "This begins now."

"Impatient, I see," Toshokama commented in Nichfreiz's tongue. Turning his head in all directions, Toshokama searched the expressions of everyone else in the room. It appeared they all agreed with Victor.

"Alright, then. Let's begin!" He went back to English, as that appeared to be the common ground everyone understood.

Judging by the ceremonial tone in his voice, I half-accepted fireworks to explode in the distance with lights shining down upon all of us as children laughed and lovers clapped. The more sensible side of me was not surprised, however, when the only thing that met Toshokama's majestic declaration was silence.

On velvet slipper feet, our host scurried to the door I through which I had entered. A long, red rope hung from the side of it. With required force, Toshokama tugged on the rope and a distant bell rang from somewhere outside the room. "I just need to call in the butler again." Some feet shifted and a few people glance at their watches, but the evening's guide did not look nervous or even agitated. He looked perfectly self-satisfied, much like his usual self, as we stood around waiting.

I took these unoccupied minutes to elaborate my plan. I turned towards my jacket tossed carelessly yet carefully on the chair's back and dug into its front pocket. My hand brushed a cold piece of white paper as if touching a bolt of lightening. Electricity ran through me. This paper knew the truth…it was one of the many.

Everything was obvious now. I needed to prolong this façade as long as I possibly could before revealing my true intentions. They needed to be subdued into thinking that they had control before I ripped their confidence and sanity out from under them like ripping such a thick blanket of security out from under a sleeping baby. How hard could it be?

The door creaked upon slowly to expose another, different butler from the one I had met earlier. This one was even younger, maybe in his thirties, and wore a black bowtie on his white ruffled shirt. The look on his face was astonishingly superior, as if he looked down on us for what we were doing in here but still found I amusing. I knew this look very well. Something about that expression made me angry. Or maybe jealous. How I would love to be able to disregard something like this as inferior. Promising myself that I soon could was the only thing that kept my temper momentarily cool.

In the butler's hands was something that looked silky and transparent. When Toshokama's fat hands took the item, it unraveled and fell down to the floor in all its glory. I saw that it was a type of silk, billowing robe meant for a woman. It was made of a foggy, shimmering material that left nothing to the imagination and sparkled in the proper light.

Watashi no kami…I thought. They honestly expected me to—

"Seto. This is for you. Consider it a gift from your sponsor." His face looked satisfied and mischievous at the same time. "Or sponsors, as it really is, I suppose. We all like this garment, you see. But we would like it much better if you put it on wearing nothing else, don't you think gentlemen?" A few smirks, a few nods in response.

I swallowed the indignity of the request and asked them, "So this is my task?" I made myself sound bored and unaffected. Like this was my usual, daily obligation. "Wear this…thing? Is that all you're asking of me?"

"Well…let's just say that the assignment is not yet complete, Seto." I caught a few amused coughs from the rest of the crowd.

Enough of this.

I had had enough already. I will admit that, for a moment, my mind pondered the possibility of appearing virtually naked in front of them all in order to truly disguise the plan, but I just could not even fathom that. No. I refused. And this time I meant it. This was not like my previous refusals with Toshokama. This was a genuine refusal.

Vigor flowing through my veins at the thought of true rejection, I walked casually, exaggeratedly towards my previous owner. He smiled and looked me up and down as I took the robe from him. When he spotted the red tie, a spark of recognition blew up in his eyes. For a moment, a split second, I could have sworn he looked almost…afraid. Gozaburo's memory was a strong one. The single advantage of having been associated with that monster is that no one ever forgot his deeds. Never.

"Kaiba Gozaburo's infamous necktie…" The words poured out of his mouth in dreamy Japanese. "Interesting that you should decide to wear that garment out of all the possible choices, Seto. Does wearing it make you feel as strong as he was, then? Is that what you hope to achieve by showing up wearing such an ugly, sinful thing?"

I looked him straight in the eyes as he stared harshly but distantly into my own. "The tie is sinful, is it? That must be a word you are very accustomed to. Do you even have a true grasp of its meaning?"

He looked suspicious again. "What are you hinting at?"

Without answering him, (he would learn soon enough), I moved back towards the middle of the room and addressed the rest of them in English. If they did not speak Japanese that last exchange of words was meaningless to them. Some of them must have recognized Gozaburo's name, though. I wondered about its affect.

"Is there a separate room for me change into this…lovely thing?" I held it up with one hand as I spoke, physically hurting from calling the thing "lovely".

"Unfortunately, no, Kaiba." Some of the others were getting up and speaking now. The one that just spoke was a man named Yokomasu that I knew from some other business deals. He always looked pissed off at my success and gleeful at my occasional failures. Quick to point out a typo in the memo, even quicker to point out a potential flaw in my design, he had always hated me. This must have been so pleasing to him, partaking in my ultimate humiliation. How disgusting.

"This is the only room of the house you will be visiting tonight," another man with a Russian accent said. I vaguely recalled his picture from my research, but the name eluded me.

Already they had all assembled near the front of the room in one massive group. Every face bore the same arrogant expression that I had seen for the majority of the night. Finally, they believed they were in control. This was the perfect time for a revelation.

In the middle of the room, there were dining tables and chairs blocking me from their full view. Certainly that was not allowed. So, Toshokama instructed the ill-tempered butler, who had not yet left the room, to move everything aside for us. I stood and waited, keeping a watchful gaze on all of them as they hungrily locked their eyes on me. The sound of wooden legs scraping against the floor grated against my ears, but I fought the urge to wince. Never show the smallest implication of weakness. Not when you're this close.

Eventually, the butler moved every single table across to both sides of the room, clearing the pathway from me to them. He had also dragged the chair with my jacket right next to me. I supposed I was to use this for something later—or maybe now.

For some reason, once every false pretense had been destroyed, the room seemed a lot bigger. Emptier. More ominous. Such vacant space would be enough to intimidate someone else, (not me).

"That will be all, Toru," our host instructed with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Leave us." Shaking his head, the butler walked defiantly out of the room. Now he knew for certain what was supposed to happen. Briefly I wondered if he would alert anyone else about it, but then I realized that it did not matter. This would all be over soon.

Again the focus turned to me. Toshokama shrugged his shoulders obnoxiously. "Now, Seto. We're waiting." Agreements sprang up from all around him. A few shifts of the limbs, all of them too eager to see me undress.

Too eager? Well, I could use that against them.

Facing them with an impassive expression and half-lidded cerulean eyes, I brought my hands slowly to my neck, loosening the "infamous" tie. Toshokama seemed to visibly relax as I threw the offensive thing down on the chair with slight emotion. Had it bothered him that much? I could not help but smirk at that. Continuing, my hands unbuttoned the first few buttons of my shirt then stopped.

An aura of excitement filled the room. The looks on their faces were mixed. Some looked restless and bothered, some looked amused and ready to taunt me, some looked nervous and uneasy at the act, but mostly, they all looked prepared.

Gomen nasai. Allow me to shatter that preparedness.

Ruining the intoxicating aura, I loudly interrupted my movements by digging into the front pocket of my jacket.

"Before I continue with this, there is something I would like to bring up."

Grunts of frustration were audible and Toshokama stepped forward. "Seto. You do not get to bring up something interesting to you in any way, shape—.."

"You see, gentlemen," I continued without acknowledging him. "I recently discovered something interesting about most, if not all, of you regarding my company." Unfolding the piece of paper, I brandished it contents with an embellished presentation. "On this paper, you will see some statistics. I trust that you all know how to read them. If you read these statistics in comparison to each other, you will find something very interesting indeed."

Toshokama rushed towards me and reached out to grab the paper out of my hands. I held it back out of his reach. "Look, but don't touch," I instructed.

He looked. Slowly, a furious but confused look came over his face. "What is this, Kaiba?" (the first name had been dropped) "I don't see anything on this paper that shows anything unusual. What are you—.."

I raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "You don't? Really? Well, I'd have to advise you to look again."

Again, he thrust his face right up against the page. "Nani wa? All that's on here is a chart showing the intervals of your company's failure. I've seen and heard enough of this to know—.."

"And above that? What does that remind you of, Toshokama?" My expression dared him to say what it really was.

He stared at it. "Well, I don't see how that proves anything—.."

"What does it show, Toshokama?"

"Mr. Toshokama," began an American man in the crowd. "What is the meaning of this intrusion?"

The miniature Japanese host turned toward them. "I—.."

"What does the paper say? Keep focus." I was not letting him get away from this.

Sighing, he looked me in the face and said, "Well, it shows a chart of the success of my company. I can understand why you would be jealous of someone else's success, considering the facts listed on this paper besides mine, however I don't—.."

"Ah, correct." I moved away from him and went closer to the crowd, showing them all the paper. They looked at me with hateful, angry eyes.

"Now, if you look closely at it," my tone had changed to that of an orator, shouting my facts into their clueless faces. "You'll see that for each interval my company, name of Kaiba Corporations, decreases in stock value and overall wroth, our humble host's company, name of Toshokama Industries, increases in stock value and overall worth by a similar interval." I let that sink in; staring at them all as dawning began to overcome them.

My head whipped back to Toshokama. He was fidgeting and trying to get a word in, judging by his open-mouthed expression. "Excuse me; did I say 'similar'? I'm sorry; I meant 'exactly the same'."

"That proves nothing. Many companies decrease in value while others succeed. You are grasping at straws if you think that I have created some of your misfortune in some way—.."

I fixed a bewildered expression on my face. "Strange, I don't believe I suggested that you created some of my misfortune, Toshokama. But now that you mention it…that is an interesting idea…"

With this little push, Toshokama exploded. He began shouting and waving his arms. The color in his face matched that of his bustling smoking jacket. "How dare you imply such a thing? I'm the one that's trying to help your company by giving you all this money! I've done noth—…"

"What money, Toshokama? $86,000? Is that a lot to you? Judging by the success of your company—success that may not be legal—it shouldn't be. Besides, all the money that you've given me has somehow found a way to disappear within these last few months. How is that logical, may I ask?"

He took a few steps toward me in inflection. "Just because you invested in a child's game that has begun to lose popularity does not make me a thief, Kaiba-san!"

"That's another interesting point, you see. Oddly enough, while my company fails and loses worth at an alarming, unnatural rate, the popularity and success of Duel Monsters has actually increased since the beginning of my downfall." I flipped the paper over to show another, final chart showing the popularity if the game. They looked with astonished eyed.

"Honest stores selling Duel Monsters merchandise have been robbed because of the game's huge success. Tell me seriously: Can any of you walk down the street without seeing at least twenty children carrying a Duel Disk or a Duel Monsters deck?" I truly owed that bit of information to Yugi's grandfather. The robbery in his store had made me realize that something was amiss. Why would people steal, and kill for, something that had no value?

They were stunned into silence. Not a single one of them had anything to say.

"Well?" I asked.

Nothing. Open-mouthed gapes.

"As long as you're all open to suggestions, let me go back to something you said earlier, Toshokama. I believe you said that many companies succeed while others fail. How right you are in that assumption." Moving back towards my table where the briefcase I had carried in lay, I grabbed it by the handle and threw it loudly onto my lone chair in the spotlight. Flipping open the locks, I yanked the top open and displayed mountainous piles of records and research papers.

"This is not the first time someone has accused you of stealing from another's company, is it, Toshokama?" Now his eyes widened. What was that look? Fear? Oh yes. Very much so.

"Matsui Hiroto. Sound familiar? He sued you sixteen years ago for stock market fraud. You stole his money. Curiously, the case dropped only four days after it was brought to the attention of the public. No reason for this has ever been discovered. Utsushi Kimishima. He claimed ten years ago that half of his company's value had been depleted overnight. Yours doubled only two days later. Again, all charges dropped within a week inexplicably." Each name drew out a different reaction from his stunned, beat red face. First he had tried to get a word in. Now he was trying to act calm. Both attempts failed miserably.

"Yumamoto Tsukiko. She claimed that her company had been robbed of its overall value seven years ago at around the same time your own company had just begun to fully prosper. The connection was never fully established, but many say that she believe you were the culprit for the rest of her miserable life. She died in 2001 alone, dirt poor, and in a mental hospital. Has the guilt from that event ever truly been erased?"

He stared at me with eyes bigger than sauce plates. "There were never any proven cases—.."

"No, you're right, Toshokama. There never were any proven cases. But somehow all the implied cases began and ended the same way. Kiromi Hiei accused you and turned up dead in a river five months later. Sagi Rumiko claimed you ruined her and went missing in the same week. Ushimoto Haromi, Taira Otsuba, Tatsumi Ryu, Maniwa Yumei…"

"Enough!" Toshokama interrupted me. "That's enough, Kaiba."

"Oh, but I'm far from finished." Digging deeper into my briefcase, I pulled out more papers. "The rest of you have hands stained with secret crimes, as well."

I stalked towards a Russian man and spoke in his language. "Kiev Mozziera. Spent seven years in prison for corporate fraud. You stole over $3 million dollars from international share holders." He gave me a dark look before grabbing his coat and literally walking out of the room. No one could stop him.

I had already moved on to the next person. An Austrian to whom I spoke English. "Petyer VanAbel. Accused and convicted of numerous corporate crimes, including the destruction of other companies to bar competition. No time spent in jail." After one second I added, "Yet." He could not walk out of the room fast enough.

Now on to the American man. "James Whitestone. Years ago your company was once failing miserably. Then, in one month, you had pulled out a huge success with no explanation. You tried to mask your theft and it worked. You've never been convicted or accused of anything. Until now, that is."

Mr. Whitestone turned wildly to the host. "You tricked me, Toshokama! I was promised something very different than what has occurred here tonight! This isn't the end of this!" He backed out of the room yelling insults and pledges as he went.

And so on and so forth it went until I had laid blame on almost every single man in the room, except for a few who walked out immediately when they saw I my plan. Threats and accusations were thrown about the room. Toshokama had been damned to hell and promised never to be robbed of comfort and relaxation for the rest of his life. The man himself seemed to be having a heart attack by the time everyone except the two of us had left.

Needless to say, my plan had worked brilliantly. While it was true that there was no real way to bring to justice the rest of those intelligent enough to leave, I had scared them more than adequately. Even if their crimes remained in the dark for the rest of their lives, at least they would know someone did not believe their bullshit. A few black-marked e-mails with masked threats and anonymous return addresses and maybe they would think twice before committing another crime. It was enough for me.

As Toshokama grasped desperately at his chest trying to control his breathing and holding onto a table for support, I calmly shut my briefcase and began to re-dress myself. I took my time making sure each button was fixed properly and that my stepfather's tie had no wrinkles in it. As a matter of fact, I undid and then redid the tie three times to make sure it was absolutely perfect. The sound of Toshokama weaving and coughing in the background was overtly satisfying.

I finished only when my jacket was again fitted on me in the same way it was when I walked in. Then I made my way deliberately slowly over to Toshokama and helped him into a chair. (No, as heartless as I was, I could not just leave him there.)

"You should watch your weight," I advised him in our familial Japanese. "It's really not healthy to get so heavy."

Apparently, he was not having a heart attack. Just chest pain. Lucky for him. It seemed he began to calm down. I stood by him, leaning on the table and waiting.

His eyes rolled up to look at me. "And you should…eat more…it's not…healthy…either."

I huffed. "I did eat. Before I met you."

That got us off the subject. "Cut a…deal… … …Kaiba. What do…you…want… …from me?"

I had been dying to hear those words all night. "What I want is to see your ass in jail, Toshokama. You know I have the proof. Corporate theft, soliciting prostitution, spousal abuse, child abuse…"

"How did…you know…that…I have a child?" he asked incredulously.

"I met her once." No reason to hide it. He could not do anything about it.

Toshokama paused for a moment to fully catch his breath. When he did, he was almost back to normal. "You know that I'll never be put in jail. I have too many friends, too many loyalties, to be duped into something as silly as this. You think…" he wheezed for a moment. I waited. "…you think that I never planned for something like this? Oh, I did. I expected this from you, Kaiba. Your reputation precedes you! I'll never…ever…ever go to jail."

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Everything that had succeeded for him in the past would again succeed for him now. He had too many friends. Too many bribes and a man's sins could be washed away. I had learned that throughout my life dealing with people like him.

I nodded to him. "Fine. This stays between us. But I want reparations. Never forget that I can damage your reputation with all the blackmail I've stored up these past few months. And those men tonight…well, they can damn near destroy your company and your life, Toshokama." His wheezing became more erratic. He knew I was right. "Unless, of course, someone were to send them an e-mail saying that the entire night had been orchestrated by someone else…in which case you would be left alone, left to live your life of greed and devastation…" I would never let him off the hook that easily, but it was part of my leverage for the evening.

Toshokama looked at me suspiciously. I think some of him realized that I would never do that, but he knew I had power over him. Oh, the things I could do with what I had on him. I had my own attack dogs, as well, that could literally rip him apart if I gave even the slightest of nods. We both knew that. Besides, Toshokama was in no condition to call the shots. I was. That knowledge was mutual, too.

Toshokama closed his eyes and surrendered. "You've got your influence, Kaiba; I am not a fool. Now tell me what you require from me."

I was all too quick to respond. My eyes were harsh, unyielding matching my tone. "Everything, down to the last cent, that you stole from me. I don't care where or how you get it, but give me back what is rightfully mine. Oh, and that includes all the money you promised me from our nights together and, of course, the gross sum you promised me for tonight."

A sallow chuckle dripped out of his mouth. "You drive a hard bargain. But I'll take it."

"Did it sound like I was finished?" Not even close.

He closed his eyes again. "Go on."

"Your family: Keiko, Miyuki and any other children you may have. Give them to me."

At this, he downright laughed. "I only have one daughter and my wife is dead. What would you—.."

Shock rippled through me. "Dead? Who killed her?" I knew for a fact that she was murdered. I did not even need to ask how she had died.

Toshokama smirked. "Not I, Kaiba-san." I did not trust him. But why would he lie? Indecision crawled through me.

Whatever. It doesn't matter. Damn that omnipotent voice. Right again. Although it was a shame that the woman had died before her time, there was nothing I could do to bring her back. Miyuki's life was still at stake.

"Can I ask, Kaiba-san," the man continued, getting comfortable in his chair. "What do you want with one beaten and broken girl who is too stupid to recognize what gets her success in life?" I had no idea what he meant by that last reference, but I did not care. My only concern was Miyuki.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, you sick bastard. But I understand if you want to keep what little family you have left. Of course I also understand that Victor Nichfreiz has ties to the German mafia, people that don't take all that kindly to being tricked into blackmail when they were promised fun sex…"

"Alright, fine, take the girl!" With the same dismissive wave he had shown to his butler, Toshokama surrendered his daughter to me. "You'll find her in her room downstairs next to the living room with gold carpet and the tiger statue. I don't even really want her. She's worthless, but you'll soon find that out for yourself."

"We'll see."

"Hai. Anything else?" I knew that he was praying I was finished. For the most part I was. But there was one more thing I needed to clear up.

"Oh, there's not much left, Toshokama. Except one promise."

"A promise?" He chuckled again. "What do I have to promise you?"

"Actually, I'm going to promise you something, Toshokama." And at this, I kneeled down so our eyes were level and fixed my face with as much cold as I could possibly muster.

"If you ever, ever, try a stunt like you pulled with me on anyone—and I mean anyone—again, I will know. Believe me, I will find you. And when I do, I will kill you like the dog you are. Understood?"

Toshokama broke the stare to glance sideways for a moment. "So I assume that means you'll be keeping tabs on my company, then?"

"You bet your ass."

He nodded. "Is that all?"

"For now. But if I think of something—if I ever need something from you—I know that I can count on you to be there for me, is that correct?"

"Why, of course." A genial expression entered his fat face. "What are old friends for?"

"Good." I stood up without another word and grabbed my briefcase.

The sound of his voice drew me back. "So I guess this is good-bye, then, Kaiba?"

I turned around. "What else did you have in mind?"

He gestured with his head to the robe lying on the floor where I had thrown it. "Would you?" he asked in a perverted voice.

"Sayonara, Toshokama." No words for a reply to that. I turned and walked out of the room.

The cackling sound of his demented laughter followed me down the stairs and for many years after that.

Like Toshokama had promised, Miyuki was in her bare but immaculately clean bedroom next to the room where we had first met. She was half sleeping and half battling with a gruesome nightmare. Her unintelligible whimpers and the sight of her black hair whipping around her face caught my attention and my old feelings for her.

When I touched her small, thin shoulder, she immediately jumped awake and scrambled away from me on the bed. I held up my hands in surrender.

Her gray eyes shone in the darkness (I had not bothered to turn on the light and disturb her more). After a few minutes of heavy breathing, she faced me again and moved closer. Recognition and amazement burst their way through every feature of her body.

"Seto…" she said in a small voice. The word I was so used to hearing sounded strange on her tiny lips. The way she said it made it sound like as soon as my name was released into the air it would fall to the ground, shattering, and then I would be gone.

I nodded, letting her know that I was still there. "I came back."

She realized this. A small flicker of happiness made its way through her face.

I smiled back at her. "I'm here to take you away from him." Placing my hand in front of me, palm facing upwards and ready for her to take, I said, "Please. Come with me."

It took about two minutes for her to actually place her hand into mine completely, but I waited patiently. When she finally did, I knew she felt nervous. Her face looked up at my unsurely. The look I sent back was wordless, but told her at the same time: Don't worry. It will be alright. I will not fail you again.

I lifted her up and carried her out of the house, out to her freedom. She started squealing and struggling when we reached the door. Consoling her with a welcome pat on the back, I said, "It's alright. You're with me. I'll keep you safe."

After that she relaxed a little bit, but continued to cry softly until we reached the airport.

"Two tickets to Domino, please."

"Right away sir." That caffeine-ridden smile. This time, I smiled back.

On the plane. I made sure that Miyuki was safely buckled in and looked well enough to travel before I started drifting into my own thoughts. The girl held tightly onto my hand and I never let go. She fell asleep quickly enough, anyway.

As soon as the plane took off, I started laughing. Really laughing. Not uncontrollably like I did when I thought my life was out of my control, but a type of smooth, relaxed laughter that signified my freedom.

I was free. Finally.

Free.

Free…I was free.

Cackling away, I tried to gather my thoughts as to what I wanted next. It was so simple.

"Kastuya," I whispered to the window, gazing out at the quickly disappearing land in the direction I thought was America. "I'm ready now."

A/N: Ok. It's done. I've finally finished! YES! What did you guys think of it? Most of you figured out what Toshokama had been doing the entire time. I think it was a little obvious…? But that's ok. I didn't mean for it to be too much of a surprise. What I really want commentary about is what you thought of Seto's handling of the situation? Hated it? Liked it? Loved it? I don't know. That's what I really thought the true Seto Kaiba would do if he had that situation presented to him, but take into account the fact that he has changed a little bit from his experiences.

About the names, I made all of them. Any similarities to actual people are not intended. (sorry if you thought they were a little weird, eheh) Oh, and I don't know if I spelled the Chinese words correctly…I just know how to say it and that's what it kind of sounds like. Don't hate me if I did it incorrectly.

Alright! There's just the epilogue chapter after this and then the story is finished! (weeps) I know I didn't respond to my last reviews, but I will. Give it time, lol. You know I love to hear from you guys!