Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.
Humming Harder
I go to see mom near the end of summer vacation.
She's much happier now, though her short-term memory is still pretty bad, it's much better than it was before. Valon came with me. Actually, he drove the rental car since he has a license. Mom is happy to see us. Valon somehow convinces uncle Harry and aunt Rei to give us some time alone together. He really has become a great friend.
I have no illusions that the only reason I'm allowed in their house is because she'd begged to see me.
We spend half the afternoon just talking to each other. She wants me to tell her about life with my father, but I won't burden her with such things. When Valon joins us because my aunt and uncle are nervous about leaving us alone, she tries to pry the information out of him, but he's loyal to me and keeps my secrets. After a tense dinner, we go back to the hotel. We'll fly back to Domino tomorrow.
"Why do they hate you so much?" he asks after we've showered for bed.
"They blame me."
"Why?"
"Because I want them to."
"That's crazy. Why would you want that? Don't you want to keep ties to the part of your family that isn't psychotic?"
"Would you rather I tell them that my father killed his own child because he thought it was mine?"
"What!"
I hadn't meant to say that. I wanted to keep that secret forever. But talking to Valon always ends with me revealing something deeply hidden.
"You're not serious, Seto. He couldn't have thought that."
I turn to him angrily.
"Why do you always ask that, Valon," I hiss. "Why do you always ask if I'm serious? Have I given you any reason to believe that anything I've told you is a fabrication or a joke? Do you think I'm making this shit up!"
"Hey, Seto, calm down! I'm not your enemy, dude! It's just all so hard to digest, that's all."
I jump from my bed.
"So you do think I'm a liar!" I scream, now fully enraged.
"Seto, wait a minute. That's not…"
But I am my father's son. As such, my rage is overpowering. I've launched myself at him in the blink of an eye. The fight is brief.
Valon mops the floor with me.
I find myself coming out of my rage face down on the carpet, one arm twisted behind me and his knee in my back. As my breathing evens out, he loosens his grip.
"Are you okay now," he inquires seriously.
"No. I'll never be 'okay', Valon."
"I mean are you gonna try an' kill me again?"
"Not at this moment."
"That's good enough."
He stands and helps me up. I turn away, climbing into my bed with my back to him. I've never attacked him before. We've argued, verbally sparred, but I've never actually gotten angry like that.
"I can help you. Seto," he pipes up.
"What do you mean," I mumble.
"I can help you defend yourself against him. Maybe if you could fight back, you wouldn't be so angry all the time."
I roll over to face him.
"I'm not angry all the time."
"You are. You're just so used to dealing with it, you can't see it, but it's obvious to everyone else."
"Is that what uncle Harry told you?"
"That's part of what I told uncle Harry to get them to leave you alone with your mom for a while."
"That I was a ticking time bomb? They thought that was a good thing?"
"I told them that if they denied you time with the only person who mattered in your life, it could send you even further over the edge than you already were."
"So now they're afraid of me too."
"They were terrified. Now, they're just worried."
"You told them, didn't you? About Gozaboro?"
"I told them that your father is a brutal bastard and you did all you could to protect your mom and that you stay now only to be sure she gets financial support from him."
"I didn't want them to know that, Valon. If I have to sacrifice my body to keep her safe, that's my duty because I couldn't protect her and Mokuba. It's not their business."
"Hello? Earth to Seto? They're your family!"
"They're mom's family. I belong to Gozaboro. Body and soul. I made my pact with that devil and I intend to honor it."
"I don't understand you, Kaiba!"
"I'm done with this conversation, Valon," I conclude as I roll away again.
I hear him sigh in exasperation behind me.
"Fine, Seto. We won't talk about family anymore. What about self-defense?"
"What about it?"
"I'm a second degree in Akido and Tae Kwon Do. And I know a lot of basic self-defense techniques from my dad and his buddies. I'm sure I could show you a few things."
It's then that I realize he never talks about his own family. In fact, I've never even been to his house, though he's been to mine a few times. I roll back over to face him.
"Your dad must be very important to you," I venture.
He hangs his head sadly.
"He was. He died two years ago, right before I got here to Japan."
He doesn't say how and I don't ask.
"You never mention him. Why?"
He sighs deeply.
"I guess I didn't want to think about it. And my mom needed my support once they shipped her here. She works for the State Department and is stationed in Tokyo for a while."
"Tokyo? Then why are you here?"
"She didn't want me to fall in with the wrong crowd. I'd hooked up with a few thugs in Tokyo and she got worried. So she set me up here with a host family. They're really nice people. The Taylors."
Taylors. Oh shit.
"Tristan's parents?"
"Yeah," he replies sheepishly. "That's kinda why I've never asked you by my place."
"No. That would probably be a bad idea. He had to have his jaw wired shut for a while after I broke it."
"Why'd you do that anyway? Was he talkin' smack or somethin'?"
"What?"
"Picking at you. Teasing you."
"No, nothing like that. I was just…angry. And he became my target. Seto to my Gozaboro."
"I'm telling you that if you fight back sometimes, you won't have rages like that. Or at least not as many."
"I don't have many now. Other than today, that was the last one."
"Seto, trust me in this. I'm your senpai. I know what I'm talking about."
I laugh at him.
"Whatever, gaijin."
He laughs and we go to bed.
The next week, I find myself following him to his dojo and meeting his master. After talking with me for a while, he suggests I learn the Bo. Valon and I begin training on it together with his master on Mondays and Wednesdays after school starts. Thursdays and Saturdays, Valon teaches me basic self defense and a little Akido in one of the spare dojo classrooms. I practice all of them in the shelter of my room as often as I can.
Amazingly, Gozaboro has seen fit to leave me alone for nearly two months. I think it's because he has a new mistress. Well, I guess it would be his girlfriend since he divorced mom. Not that the reprieve does anything for me. I still don't sleep on Tuesdays as he'd gone back to that being his favorite night to hurt me since before what happened with mom and Mokuba.
As October begins, I know he'll come to me soon as it's been three months and I'm sure his rage has hit overload by now. I don't have to wait long. That second Monday, I'm on my way out of my room to go to school, when his fist slams into my chest. After stumbling back a few feet, I adopt a fighting stance and wait for him. His lip curls at my silent challenge.
He still eventually beats me down, but not without receiving some bruises and a busted lip of his own. As I lay on my bed in my torn and bloody uniform panting from exertion and trying to ignore the pain in my head from where his open palm slammed into the side of my face, I silently thank Valon for making me learn self-defense. He was right, fighting back felt great! I'm almost as tall as Gozaboro now, so maybe one day I'll be able to beat him. I wrap the hope I thought had died around that wish as I pass out.