Author: Kleptomaniac Can Opener
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Seto x Jounouchi
Disclaimer: Any and all things related to Yugi-Oh do not belong to me. However, everything else that has nothing to do with the original series does belong to me.
Summary: The last thing they expected to find at the beach was a naked body.
----
Why does he look human?
Shouldn't someone who doesn't even blink after killing like that NOT LOOK HUMAN!
I don't doubt things would have gotten REAL ugly if he hadn't done what he did. But that was the first time I'd seen anybody die in real life, and it wasn't exactly the prettiest sight in the world.
I'm unsure how or what I should be feeling about this whole messed up situation.
"How come you look, well... human?" They're the first words I've managed to say since we left the scene of the crime to hide at the cave. The air between us just felt too thick to break sooner. Hell, it still feels too thick.
"A transformation charm." His voice is cold, deep, and makes me shiver in that tingly way, though you'll never get me to admit it.
"But why?"
"I'm looking for someone." Blue eyes look across the ocean, his gaze distant.
Damn, the sun's rising and I still have a billion and one questions. "Look, Eros, I mean Kaiba... it's late, er, early... Whatever. We need some sleep and I gotta get back before my folks wake up." I feel my cheeks burn when he stares at me. Why does he make me feel naked when he does that? "So yeah, night!" I scramble to my feet and book it out of there.
Shizuka almost pounces me when I tiptoe into our bedroom. "Did you find him? Is everything okay?"
"Yes and I guess."
"What do you mean 'you guess'? What happened?"
I'm about to answer when my jaw cracks with a huge yawn. "I'll tell you later, sis. Get back to sleep."
"Aww, okay."
I smile as she cuddles under her blankets, pouting. I couldn't have asked for a cuter sibling. I think only my buddy Yugi could be cuter, and he's older than me.
I wonder how everyone back home is doing? I bet their summers aren't nearly this insane.
A few hours later Shizuka drags me out of the cabin with her. Mom's an early riser and she's not even awake yet!
"Start talking, Katsuya! What did you mean last night?"
"You'll see when we get there."
We find him washing off in the ocean. I guess that's okay since he's a Siren.
"Eros!"
Kaiba turns those intense eyes to her. "Shizuka."
"Oh my god! You're talking! Is your memory back?"
"It is."
I try not to watch as streamlets of water slide down his back. I swallow. "Why couldn't you talk anyway? I mean even amnesiacs can talk."
"I had to learn the language first. With how much you babbled on it was simple."
I scowl. "Well sorry for trying to help you out!"
"I never said I was ungrateful."
I...can say nothing to that. "Um, you're welcome."
Our eyes bulge as he climbs out of the water. Somehow, knowing he's fully aware now and doesn't care that he's naked makes it embarrassing to look. Shizuka twists around to face the opposite direction. She's blushing so much even her ears are red.
"Geez, Kaiba! Put some clothes on!" I yell, trying to banish my own blush.
"She did not seem to mind before."
"She was too busy worrying about your health to care about your bare ass! Now put those pants on! She's underage!"
Kaiba grabs the jeans he's been wearing and slips into them, first one leg then the other like a little kid. "What do you mean by underage?"
"She's not old enough to see things like that!"
"Nudeness is a perfectly natural state of being."
"As interesting as your conversation is, are you decent yet?"
"Yeah, he's decent, sis. You can turn back around." I look back to Kaiba. Damn he looks good with his arms crossed like that. "So, Aquaman, I think we deserve an explanation."
Kaiba tilts his head to the side. "What is Aquaman?"
Right. Should have known that would be lost on him. "Let's just go back to the cave and talk. Oh yeah, Shizuka this is Kaiba."
"That's such an interesting name! What kanji is used?"
"Kanji?"
I groan at Kaiba's non-answer. He could at least have checked up on some culture before coming to the surface. Hell, why do I even believe he's a Siren? He could be anything for I know, like a science experiment and he's on the run from the government. Or what if he's a Sea Witch like in 'The Little Mermaid'?
Screwiest summer ever. No one's going to believe my back-to-school report.
- - -
Trying to get information out of Kaiba is harder than pulling out your back teeth with dental floss. Speaking of teeth, if I grind mine much more I'm not going to have any left! Maybe I'll switch to ripping out my hair to keep things even. Maybe I'll just rip Kaiba a new one for being an asshole. I like that idea much better.
"You needn't become involved."
"Newsflash, Kaiba, we're already involved!" I say as I cross my arms over my chest and give him a glare for good measure. "Who do you think's been takin' care of you since you washed up here all clueless?"
"Katsuya! Be nicer!"
I shrink a bit at Shizuka's reprimand. "Look, all I'm saying is that we deserve to know what's going on."
Kaiba stares at me long and hard. I just know my face is red like a bad sunburn, but I won't back down from a staring contest! My breath catches. I swear I can see the ocean waves in his eyes...
"My brother Mokuba was kidnapped."
I snap out of it. "Huh? Your brother?"
He nods. "By a sorcerer. The others have already given up searching for him, but I WILL find my brother."
"You're shittin' us," I can't help but say. It's an automatic response.
"I do not know what this shittin' is, but I do not jest."
"So it's not enough there are you Siren guys, but sorcerers too?"
Whoa, if looks could kill.
"Is there anything we can do to help?"
Blue eyes finally turn from me to look at my sister. "How can you help? You're only human."
"And you're a fish outta water," I snap.
Kaiba's lips curl in a snarl. "You insolent cur! I'll have your tongue for that!"
I growl and prepare to bite that elitist head of his off. "What are you? Royalty? Get your head outta yer ass!"
"Boys!" Shizuka steps between us. "Stop acting like children, we're all adult enough to talk civilly."
We both back down. It irks me how quickly he's able to compose himself, when not thirty seconds ago we were about to come to blows. I don't usually get into fights that fast. Why is it he gets under my skin so easily?
"Kaiba," sis continues, "you need us BECAUSE we're human. How do you plan to find your brother in our world without knowing the culture? I mean, do you have money? And what about clothes and food? Were you planning to just walk this entire place? We can help you with all of that."
"You are proposing to be my servants?"
"Oh, hell NO..." I grind out. "We're your friends, you nutcase! We'll help you as your FRIENDS!"
"Friends?"
My hearts skips. His expression is...so open and surprised right now, like a child who never had anyone remember his birthday before. Has he never had any friends? Do Sirens not make them or something?
"That's right," speaks up Shizuka. "We're your friends, and friends help each other. We'll help you find your brother."
"I...thank you. I will allow you to assist me."
"Now that that's settled, we've just gotta figure out how to make this work," I point out. "As long as you don't mind wearing my things, you've got clothes, and between me and sis here, we have a good bit of money. We just need to figure out how I can get away from our parents without them panicking."
"Wait, what do you mean just you, Katsuya? I'm coming too!"
"What? No way, sis! You'll get hurt!"
"You'll get completely lost without me! And you can't manage money to save your life!"
"I can too manage money! You're staying here and that's final!"
"It is NOT final, Katsuya! You are not leaving me behind! He's my friend too and you need me to play guide and mediator!"
I'm really starting to have trouble arguing with her. "All right, fine! But the moment you're hurt you're on a train back here!" I feel my eye twitch when she gives me a smug smirk that looks out of place on her sweet face. Oh, if only our parents knew. "Now, do you have any ideas for getting away from our folks?"
"We'll just tell them we're joining some sort of summer camp program from town."
For such a good girl, Shizuka can really come up with lies on the spot. "Works for me, sis. You just sit tight here, Kaiba. We'll get everything set up for our journey."
With Shizuka in the driver's seat, the folks buy the camping story (even the bit about it being totally free and having some kind of Jump Start program that she made up on the spot) hook, line, and sinker. God knows they would never have believed a word if it had come out of my mouth, even if it had been the truth. Not after how my junior high years were.
Seriously, she could tell them that there are going to be elephants jumping over fences and that the Emperor was going to supervise the event himself, and they would believe her.
Me? I could show them a sign-up sheet with the Emperor's seal of approval as proof and they would still doubt me.
We grab three of the hiking packs we brought in case we wanted to explore the woods, and stuff them with the necessities, including some food. We're out of the house in a little more than two hours. Not bad if I do say so myself.
No Kaiba at the cave makes Katsuya an unhappy boy. "He better not have left without us!"
"He probably just went to the seaside, big brother. Come on."
We power walk it to the usual part of the coast Kaiba hangs out at. Power walking isn't as easy to do when you're carrying stuff, I've noticed, especially if you're carrying for two. He better not be expecting me to carry his junk the whole time, ignore the fact that it's my stuff. He's still borrowing it.
Finally! I can see the ocean!
...Why does he insist on surprising me like this?
I mean first I find him being manhandled by the local gang, now he's being attacked by a giant squid.
WHY is there a giant squid! There's something fundamentally wrong about being attacked by a squid, giant or otherwise, on LAND!
We must be insane for letting ourselves get involved with this!
"Stay outta the way, sis!" I chuck the hiking bags to the side somewhere and grab a long piece of driftwood. It's not very strong but maybe I can poke its eye out with it.
I don't know if I can even do that, though. Squid-face has crazy long reach, and every time Kaiba does his little 'Song of Death' the sound waves/vibrations/whatever-the-hell-they-are, bounce off some sort of barrier that blinks in-and-out of existence.
Hell. Nothing ventured, nothing earned!
"Kaiba! Duck!"
----
To see what happens next, go to my livejournal Utensil Drawer. The link can be found on my author page. Everything is catagorized under memories.