Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.
Feeling Kind Of Seasick
Something strange happened last month. One of the guys at school actually spoke to me. Not at me. Not about me. To me.
Valon Turner. He's not from here, which is why he probably wasn't intimidated by my dad's name or my reputation. An American. He's a little taller than me with wild brown hair and eyes and is a year ahead of me in school.
He keeps talking to me like we're friends. His Japanese is horrible, so I told him to just speak to me in English.
The other students keep giving us odd looks, probably because of the English and because I never speak to any of them. They never have anything worthwhile to say anyway, always groveling for my attention like dogs. What do they expect from me? I'm not Gozaboro Kaiba. I can't give their parents jobs.
"You're always a million miles away, Seto," Valon interjects into my distracted thoughts.
"Kaiba," I correct him. "It's not polite to use someone's first name in Japanese culture."
"Not even your friends?"
"Yes, but only if you're really good friends."
"Aren't we really good friends?"
"No. We've only known each other a month."
"Well, it seems to me that since I'm your only friend, wouldn't that make us really good friends?"
"What makes you think you're my only friend, Valon?"
"C'mon man! Don't try an' snow me. I've been paying attention. Other than the teachers, everyone sucks up to you like you're some high muckity-muck. Are you an ambassador's kid or somethin'?"
"Worse, I'm Gozaboro Kaiba's kid."
"The weapons mogul?"
"The same."
"Damn, Kaiba! No wonder everybody's afraid of you. Your old man could drop a bomb on 'em or somethin'!" he snickers.
"It's not funny!" I yell, angrier than I mean to be. But no one's ever said it out loud before. I know that everyone fears me. That's why I've never had any friends until now.
I narrow my eyes at Valon. Maybe I still don't.
"What do you want, Valon?" I snap.
"Huh?"
"Don't act like you don't know what I mean! Why are you really following me around? What do you expect of me? What do you think I can do for you? Huh? What?"
I've grabbed his shoulders and shoved him into a locker before I think.
"Shit, Seto! What the hell is your problem?" He yells. I let him go and turn away, sickened by the Gozaboro slipping out of me.
"Don't ever speak to me again, Valon," I snarl, walking away.
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I knew I couldn't trust that bastard.
Barely two months after I got back home, dad was wailing into me in the living room and mom stepped in to help. I guess she thought since he hadn't hit her in almost two years, she'd been granted immunity. And I thought, foolishly, that he'd keep his part of the bargain. Both our hopes flew out the window when first the back of his hand connected with her face and then his fist connected with her stomach.
"Don't you ever come between me and my prey again, you worthless whore!" he screams. I jump on his back, desperate to distract him from hitting her again, especially in the stomach.
Mom had told me last night. She was pregnant. A boy. I have to protect him. Whatever I need to do, I'll save Mokuba. That's what she's naming him, Mokuba Kaiba. I'll do whatever I can to be the best big brother ever. It's that thought that runs through my head as Gozoboro's pummeling finally knocks me unconscious.
This time I'm in the hospital for a month. Dad tells the doctors I was beat up by some thugs in the park on the way home from a late night with friends. He even files a police report, complete with imaginary items and cash, which were to have been stolen from me.
Mom visits me several times a week, telling me how Mokuba is doing and that my father still has no idea about him and hasn't hit her once since that night. I urge her to run away. She has family in Hokkaido. She could go for a visit and have Mokuba there.
"He'd be safe with them, mom," I plead.
"I know, Seto."
"You'd be safe there, too."
She scoffs. "As if your father would ever let me go."
"He doesn't own you, mom. Me maybe, but not you. You can run. You can get away."
"I'm his wife, Seto," she replies, as if that explains everything.
"So divorce him," I state evenly.
She laughs.
"One does not 'divorce' Gozoboro Kaiba, Seto."
"And why not?"
"He's much too powerful to allow me to simply walk away. It would hurt his image. That's why I don't want him to know about Mokuba, because he'd just become another 'jewel in his crown'. Your father rarely gets near enough to see that I've gained weight, so if I can keep Mokuba to myself for just another month I'll go to Hokkaido, as you suggest."
Valon comes by twice before he gets to actually visit me. The first time I cussed at him and told him to get out. The second, my mom is there and I couldn't let her see that ugly side of me. She sees enough of it from my father.
"So, Valon," she begins to my 'friend', "how long have you and Seto been friends?"
"About a month, ma'am," he replies in flawless Japanese. At first I'm suspicious until the conversation goes further. He must have practiced that one phrase over and over to impress my mom. Too bad he didn't practice more.
"I-I'm sorry," he bows eventually. "My Japanese isn't very good and Kaiba and I usually speak in English, so I don't get a lot of practice."
"It's all right," mom replies in perfect English, much better than mine or dad's. "We can use English if you want."
"T-thank you," he stutters in English.
"Mom went to college at Stanford," I explain to his shocked face.
"Oh! Okay. I got it."
"Valon, I'm very impressed that you're visiting Seto in the hospital after knowing him such a short time."
"Well, we kind of have a lot in common. Neither of us really make friends well 'cause we're both smarter than most of the students and half of the teachers," he laughs.
He and my mom talk for another 15 or 20 minutes before she leaves with a kiss to my forehead.
"You're mom's really great, Kaiba."
"Seto," I correct him. He looks at me oddly and I turn away to the window.
"It is quite impressive that you're visiting me, Valon," I confess.
I see his smile out of the corner of my eye. He comes by almost every day after that, usually with my lessons to help me catch up. He even comes to help my mom take me home when I'm finally discharged.
From that point on, Valon and I actually plan activities together. It's the first time I can remember doing something other than going to school and coming home. I welcome the change. Mom seems to be happy about it too and has even met us for lunch a couple of times.
At some point, I almost forget how brutal my father is and about being his personal punching bag, but he reminds me one Tuesday night. I'm sore at school the next day, but I cover it well since I've been doing it for more than half my life.
But in all that time, I never had a friend, especially not some boisterous American who frequently throws his arm around my shoulder in greeting.
"Hey, Seto," he calls as I leave my History class. As usual, he throws that arm across my shoulders. I drop from the pain of his contact. Gozaboro's activity last night consisted of a lit cigar on my back and shoulders until I begged him to stop.
Valon panics at my sudden collapse, pulling me into the bathroom and sitting me down in one of the stalls until I can calm my breathing and stifle the tears threatening to burn my cheeks.
"Seto, man, what's wrong? Do you want me to get the nurse? Or call your mom?"
"No!" I force. "I'll be fine. Just…just don't touch my shoulders for a few days, okay?"
"What happened to your shoulders, Seto," he asks quietly after a few minutes.
"I-I just fell," I lie readily.
"Fell?"
"Yeah. Fell. I'll be fine."
"So, where did you fall?"
"In the bathroom."
"You sure it wasn't into your dad's fist."
I look up and glare at him.
"Just drop it, Valon."
"You don't have to take that shit, man."
"I do. Just leave it alone."
"You can leave, Seto."
"This isn't America, Valon. I can't get away from Gozaboro Kaiba. I'll be his son forever."
"But, Seto…"
"Just drop it, Valon!" I yell.
"Fine, but know that if you ever need me, you have my number."
"Sure. Whatever." I stand up, having composed myself, pick up my books and head to my next class.