Leon's name in the original Japanese was "Leonhart von Schroider." I think I'll just keep calling him Leon.

I'm aware that this update is a million years late; I'm working on a novel and am literally barely clinging to reality here.

Warnings for fluff, Duel Monsters, OC villains, past life BS, hunter Society BS.

I've been settling scores

I've been fighting so long

But I've lost your war

And our kingdom is gone...

I'll run to you.

-Pentatonix

"...Uh. I'm going to go ahead and ask what the hell is going on in here."

Seto Kaiba looked up, lifting his eyebrows. "Hey, Zero, morning. Hold this for me." He promptly deposited an immense stack of manilla folders into the hunter's arms before taking another look around the room, running a hand through his hair. "Where are we?"

"I still think one of us needs to restructure," Yugi said from the living room floor, rubbing at his eyes and squinting at the cardlist in his lap. "I can't do all the trap-breaking on my own, you know. You've got to change your deck."

"Screw that, you change yours. I've been working on getting the balance perfect for four years—"

"And you think I haven't?!"

"Atem did all the work for you!"

"Not all of it!"

Zero chose that moment to zone out of the conversation, taking in the living room with something between shock and abject disbelief. Yugi and Seto were treating this tournament like they were going to war, and their revamped workspace reflected their gung-ho attitude. They'd printed off huge posters with full displays of each of their decks, written up analyses on other confirmed contenders, brought in several official rulebooks and banned card lists, and were currently in the process of attempting to map out a strategy on the huge whiteboard they'd mounted on the wall.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Mokuba queried from the doorway, sticking his head in and smirking up at Zero. "In its own way."

"We are not among normal people here," Zero said, shaking his head.

"Eh, you get used to it."

"I'll take your word for it… when does this thing start?"

"Opening ceremonies are tomorrow. Apparently there's some big shindig that all the competitors are supposed to attend."

"Here in town?"

"Yeah. Domino is really the heart of all this, you know. Where the king rests his crown," the youth sniggered, jerking a thumb toward Yugi, who was too busy debating deck balance to pay him any heed. "Think you're game to work security detail?"

"Sure...is that really necessary, though?"

"Probably not." Mokuba shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "But you never know, the game attracts some weird characters. It wouldn't be the first time we've had a complete nutjob show up to—you guys know that's the wrong edition of the rules, right?"

"What?" Seto snapped, leaning over the couch and snatching up the rulebook Mokuba had indicated and thumbing through it. "Shit. Yugi!"

"What? What?! Do you know how many of those I have lying around? The rules haven't changed in the last year."

"This is from Duelist Kingdom!"

"...Oh. Damn."

"I'm sure we've got one upstairs, please don't make this into a huge thing," Mokuba said quickly, derailing Seto's inevitable explosion and tossing Zero a grin before heading out the door, chuckling to himself.

"We're not prepared for this," Seto grumbled, dropping his weight onto the couch and pushing his hand through his hair, scowling when his stubborn fringe fell immediately back into his eyes. "I didn't think it was possible to get rusty at Duel Monsters, of all things."

"We're not rusty, we're just out of practice," Yugi said, still thumbing through the list of restricted cards.

"That's the same thing!"

"So I'm only asking because I'm ignorant," Zero began hesitantly, stepping around the couch and sitting beside Seto, "but what's so important about winning? What are the stakes?"

"It's not about winning, it's about grinding that smug idiot's face into a pile of shit," Seto replied flatly, sitting on the floor again and uncapping a whiteboard marker. "Fine, say one of us has to change our deck. Who has to take what out?"

"By smug idiot, I'm assuming you mean that Jirou guy?"

"Of course I mean that Jirou guy. He's a moron who doesn't know what he's dealing with. Where did Mokuba go?"

"To get the right rulebook."

"Oh. Right."

"Any news on who his sponsor is?" Yugi asked, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"No. Even Pegasus wouldn't tell me."

"You asked Pegasus?"

"Of course I did! I wanted to know what the hell he was doing making a card modeled after Kisara, of all people!" Seto retorted hotly, striking a card from his list with a little more aggression than was necessary. "How does he even know what she looks like? And he didn't have to give her no attack and no defense, all she has is her effect, like summoning the dragon is all there is to her—damn it! Damn that campy mother— change the subject, Yugi!"

"How'd you sleep, Kiryuu-kun?" Yugi asked brightly, turning his attention to the bemused hunter and letting Kaiba fume to himself.

"Uh, fine. And you can call me Zero." He let himself fall sideways on the couch, watching Seto work with a half-smile. "How long have you known this ray of sunshine over here?"

"Shut the hell up."

"We were in the same class our first year of high school," Yugi said, grinning when Seto shot him a dark look. "What? Is the fact that you went to school on the down-low now?"

"No, it's not. Don't be a smartass. Do you have to use Magical Hats?"

"It's kind of a thing."

"What about Scapegoat? No one uses Scapegoat."

"Except for me."

"Damn it."

Yugi sighed loudly, rolling his eyes and getting to his feet. "I'm going to run into town and get breakfast. Do you want anything?"

"We're out of coffee. Roland can give you a ride."

"Coffee and Roland. Got it. See you in a bit."

"Make it quick."

"Yes, sir," Yugi laughed, mock-saluting, and headed out the door.

"So what crawled up your ass and died?" Zero queried as soon as the departing footsteps had faded. "You're really on the warpath."

"I already told you," the young CEO said. "It's important, so stop pestering me."

"I get that Jiren—"

"Jirou."

"Whatever—is a douche. I saw his little stunt during the finals." Zero slid onto the floor, reaching out to his lover and tugging on his sleeve. "What I don't get is why you're so wound up about it. Normally a dick like that wouldn't even register on your radar."

"You don't know anything about my radar, or about me," Kaiba shot at him, jerking his arm away. "Don't think that our adventure in the car gives you the right to act like my shrink."

"What, I sucked you off and now you think I want inside your head? Fuck you. I'm only asking because I like you, and because you like me, too. You can keep acting like a prick or you can tell me what it is that's got you so upset," Zero retorted flatly, unphased. He'd gotten more than enough practice at dealing with bitchy mood swings from Kaname. Compared to a pureblood vampire with skeletons worth thousands of years of lonely isolation in his closet, a pissy CEO was cake.

Even if said CEO was looking at him like he'd like nothing more than to rip out his throat. Zero held his ground, glaring right back, and after a few tense moments Seto let out a breath, slipping his hand back into his hair.

"Sorry. Fuck. I'm sorry, Zero. I'm just tired of seeing her die. That's all. I keep dreaming about her dying, and then there's the recall, and then I'm dreaming again, and I just…"

"Okay," Zero broke in, taking Seto's wrist and pulling his hand out of his hair, using the leverage to tug the CEO close. He didn't kiss him, not yet, preferring to let Seto come to him. "It's about Kisara. I get it. Just tell me that from the get-go next time."

"I feel like you're training me," Seto grumbled, dropping his head against Zero's shoulder and closing his eyes.

"Yeah, I kind of am. I did the same thing with Kaname, don't worry."

"Don't you get tired of it? Being attracted to difficult people."

"I'm not a walk in the park, either. I know that."

"Hell no. You're a damn vampire."

"Only literally. You're an emotional vampire. That's about a thousand times worse."

"Shut up." And then Seto kissed him, deep and slow, pulling them both to the ground and letting Zero stretch out on top of him, pin him. The hunter relished the opportunity, winding his fingers into Seto's hair and pulling his head back so he could angle the kiss deeper, want pooling in his core. He wanted this man, wanted his blood and body and heart, wanted to dull the sharp pains from the past—a past that wasn't even his—and consume his future.

Zero bit him, sank his fangs into the side of his neck and drank deeply, closed his eyes and let the memories rush in. He saw her, saw her long white hair and bright blue eyes, saw her wide smile. He felt, too—that was always the worst part. He felt her slender body alongside his, and the softness of her mouth, and the gentleness in her touch when she held his face between her hands, smiling tenderly down at him.

"Kisara...love…" He pushed his hair back off her brow, leant in to kiss her, pulling her close against him, admiring the contrast of her bare skin against his. She was laughing, trailing her fingertips across the line of his jaw, squirming when his mouth found the base of her throat.

"Don't—Seth—that tickles!"

"It's not supposed to tickle. It's supposed to be sensual and irresistible." He ran his lips up the side of her neck, nipping at her gently. Her hands wound into his hair, tugging at him, pulling him in for another kiss, and he could spend forever there, with her mouth and body and heart and soul all laid open for him to plunder, claim.

I love...loved her…

"...Seto?"

I love her.

The CEO started, bewildered, the scene of which he'd been an intimate part dissolving in a blink, the heat of the desert evaporating. Zero stared up at him, one hand gripping the back of his neck with a touch that was somewhere between tender and anxious. At some point they'd flipped over, but Seto couldn't remember any of it. Still struggling to anchor himself to the present, Seto backed away from the younger man, wincing and pressing a hand to the side of his neck.

"I'm sorry," Zero said softly, sitting up and reaching for the man he'd fallen for, cautiously touching his neck. "I went for it too hard. Hey. Where are you?"

"...Here," Seto said at length. He knew it took too long to answer. "I-—ow—I'm going to go cover this before Yugi gets back."

"You want help?"

"No. No, just—stay here. I need a minute."

Zero nodded, mute, sitting back and letting Seto slip away from him, watching his retreating back. He heard the distinct rustling of a cigarette being pulled free of its comrades, the anxious clicking of a lighter before the door opened and closed. The hunter blew out a long, slow breath, resting against the couch and wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve. He wasn't sure where he and Seto Kaiba were trying to get to, but they sure weren't getting there fast.

"Got it," Mokuba chirped, skipping into the room and stopping short. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Yugi went for coffee and your brother went for a smoke," Zero said, tilting his head back and shrugging.

Mokuba huffed, climbing over the back of the couch and dropping his butt into his favorite cushion, propping his feet on Zero's shoulder—albeit briefly, as the hunter pushed him off at once. "Suits me, I guess. How's stuff going between you two?"

"I really don't feel like he'd want me telling you about our relationship, kid."

"Oh, so there is a relationship."

"...Not per se."

"One of those, huh?" Mokuba hummed to himself, smiling as he looked around at the notes and lists his brother and Yugi had left strung up on the walls and strewn all over the floor. "He and Jou never did make it to official status. But my bro's changed since then. Jou's great, but I think you're better for Seto, you know?"

Zero lifted his eyebrows. "That's pretty high praise, coming from you. I kind of expected to get attacked by your big brother complex."

"No promises." Mokuba glanced down at the hunter, considering his next words. "Seto told me that you had a brother, too. That he died?"

"Yeah. He was my twin."

The teenager shifted in his seat, crossing his legs. "How'd you...I mean...how did you survive, man?"

This again. It alarmed Zero how easy it was getting to talk about his past. "I was taken in by a guy named Cross and his daughter. They didn't really give me the option of giving up, you know? They acted like they needed me, and...I don't know. It wasn't enough, not really, but it was something." The hunter looked up at the teenager, offering him a weary smile. "I haven't come to terms with losing Ichiru. You can't lose a brother and expect to be okay. But he'd kick my ass if I spent too much time moping around, so I just kept getting up in the morning. And I got by."

Mokuba stared at him for a moment, brows drawn together, before releasing a long, slow sigh. "Zero. Do me a favor, will you?"

"Yeah, kid. Sure I will."

"Don't let anything happen to Seto, okay?"

Zero frowned, sitting up a little straighter. "Well, yeah, but...that's an odd request. What're you worried about?"

"Nothing in particular. It's just…" Mokuba shook his head, tightening his jaw. "Would you believe me if I told you that bad shit happens when my brother plays this game? It's like a curse. And now there's this Jirou guy... Seto doesn't think twice about taking stupid risks to keep me safe, so I need you to keep an eye on him, alright?"

"Mokuba," Zero said gently, getting to his knees and grasping the boy's shoulders, "we'll be alright. Weirdoes playing card games are pretty much a vacation for me. Don't sweat a thing."

"Okay." Mokuba smiled, reassured. "But you promise, right?"

"Swear it."

In what must have been a freakish twist of fate, Zero had scarcely finished speaking than the hair on the back of his neck stood up, and his head snapped to the left, eyes narrowing as he scanned the window.

"Get down," he said, before Mokuba could ask what had caught his attention. "Don't say anything. Someone's outside."

"In broad daylight? Zero—"

"Shh."

"My brother's out—"

Zero clapped a hand over the teenager's mouth, glaring him into reluctant silence before pulling the Bloody Rose from the waistband of his sweatpants (never could be too careful, and he was glad for it now) and approaching the window stealthily. He crept up beneath the sill, shot a look at Mokuba that effectively said Don't move, and reached up to quietly undo the latch. Holding his breath, he pulled back the hammer, counted to three silently, and leapt up to his feet, throwing an elbow against the window. It flew open, banging against the outside wall. Zero trained the Rose directly downward, finger on the trigger-

"Mein Gott in Himmel! Don't shoot!"

The hunter blinked, taking in the intruders for all of two seconds before backing away from the window.

"Mokuba, your girlfriend's outside—with some German?"

"So, uh, you've already sort of met, but—Zero, this is Leon von Schroeder."

"I'm extremely curious about why you're hiring trigger-happy albinos now, Mokuba," Leon grumbled, sitting as far away from Zero as he could physically get while still being in the same room.

"He's just Seto's new squeeze," Rebecca almost drawled, stirring her tea and shooting Zero a grin. "He's not that bad."

"He pulled a gun on me!"

"He does that to everyone."

"No I don't," Zero said, wincing when Leon gave him an affronted look. "Sorry, kid. I was a little on edge."

"So if you were a lot on edge, I'd be dead right now?"

"Not exactly…"

"Leon's my buddy, Zero, so be good, kay?" Mokuba quipped, putting an arm around the other teen's shoulders and flashing the hunter a wide grin. "Oh, shit—hey, Seto."

"Hey—hey." Seto stopped in the doorway, eyes narrowing. "What the hell is Leon doing in the living room?"

"Er, next time I'll let him in through the kitchen?"

"Don't be an idiot. What are you doing here, Leon?"

"Dueling, just like everyone else," the teen responded, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm Mokuba's partner in the upcoming tournament."

Mokuba flinched, clapping a hand over his friend's mouth. "Yeah, see, I hadn't actually gotten around to—"

"Mokuba's what?!"

"—telling him yet." Mokuba sighed, pushing a hand through his hair in so perfect an imitation of his brother that Zero was actually a little taken aback. "Yeah, I thought I'd play this time. I also knew that it might get you motivated to participate, too. Yugi beat me to the punch, though." He slid his hands into his pockets, smiling cautiously up at his older brother. "It's cool, right?"

"What? No. I mean, yeah. It's—whatever." Seto scratched the back of his head—the role reversal was going to give Zero whiplash—and shrugged. "You could have told me earlier, that's all. Do you even have a deck? What about a Duel Disk?"

"Duh, Seto, to both of the above."

"Guess you're all set then." Seto froze, turning a horrified look on Leon. "Your brother isn't playing, is he?"

"No," Leon said, laughing. "He's busy. He wanted to, though, until I told him you weren't joining in. Guess I was wrong there, huh? I gotta say, I didn't believe Mokuba when he told me you were pairing up with Yugi."

"Yeah, well," Seto said, struggling to find the right words. "I suppose I didn't believe it either. Hey, Rebecca— good game last week. Sorry you got used for that asshole's grandstanding."

"I'm over it," she said flippantly, waving a hand. "I'm sure you and Yugi will wipe the floor with the jerk—if I don't take out the little punk first, that is."

"You're in it, too?" Zero said, amazed. "Shit, does anyone in this town not play this game?"

"You," Seto snickered, earning himself a punch in the shoulder as he sat down on the couch. "Who are you teaming with?"

Rebecca beamed. "My grandpa!"

"You didn't tell me that!" Mokuba whined, leaning back against her legs and tilting his head up to look at her, pouting. "That's so cool. I wonder if Yugi'll wanna team with his grandpa instead."

"Nope," Leon interjected, shaking his head. "He wrote me an email with all the teams he knew about. His grandfather and Jou are playing together."

"Really?!"

Seto groaned, rubbing his forehead. "This is going to be such a fiasco…aren't those idiots Haga and Ryuzaki playing too?"

"Yep!"

"Wonderful…"

Zero sat back on the couch, watching the group banter with a growing sense of contentment. He could get used to this. It was too easy to forget about everything here, to lose himself in a world that wasn't his, a world that wasn't haunted by demons. Not his demons, anyway.

"I'm saying it's an issue of transparency," Leon said, shaking his head. "You can't make it to national status that fast, I don't care how good you are. Yugi's good, and it took him years."

Mokuba shrugged. "It took him a year and a half. Maybe this Jirou guy is another prodigy."

"Sure, maybe, but that's an awful lot of prodigies for one game, that's all I'm saying."

"What's it matter? Japan was due for some new faces anyway. I'm more interested in who his partner's gonna be. Someone good, right?"

"Or someone mediocre, riding his coattails. It's his sponsor, yeah? Throw a lot of money at someone good enough, and you get to climb the ladder with them."

All three teenagers looked at Seto, who was busy on his phone. He glanced up at their silence and arched his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Can we get an expert opinion here?"

Those eyebrows quirked impossibly higher. "He's going to lose anyway, so who cares who he is?"

Mokuba heaved a sigh. "Typical."

"You're actually not worried?" Zero pressed. "You were pretty amped up when you saw him on TV."

"I'm pissed. Not worried." Seto shrugged one shoulder. "I'm aware you haven't seen me play, and that you wouldn't know good play from bad if it bit you in the ass, so you'll just have to believe me when I say that I'm not worried about some third-rate upstart, no matter who's backing him."

"Hey," Yugi said, reentering with an armload of styrofoam containers, passing Seto what appeared to be a triple espresso, "save some of that trash talk for the field, sport."

"It's not trash talk if I have the skills to back it up, and if you ever call me 'sport' again I will actually kill you."

"You mean figuratively."

"I mean lit—"

"Why is Leon here?"

"He's playing," Mokuba said brightly. "It's not too late, Zero. Someone in this city must still need a partner."

"Uh, I think I'm going to sit this one out. Thanks, though."

"He's good at security detail, Mokuba, don't distract him from his calling," Seto said, and snickered when Zero punched him in the arm. "He lives to hold up walls and wear dark sunglasses—ow, son of a bitch…"

"Stop trying to bruise my ego."

"Stop trying to break my arm."

"So you two are dating, right?" Rebecca piped up, looking from one young man to the next with intense scrutiny.

"No," Zero said hotly, his ears burning.

"Yes," Mokuba muttered out of the corner of his mouth, and swore when his older brother delivered an expert kick to his shin, flopping sideways onto the floor and grasping his leg. "I mean, no."

Rebecca wrinkled her nose. "What utter bullshit." So saying, she flipped her fringe out of her eyes and opened up a rulebook.

Zero wasn't sure what would constitute the opening ceremonies for a Duel Monsters tournament, but this wasn't it.

He prowled along the circumference of the city's largest park, the Bloody Rose secure in its holster beneath his coat. He didn't know why he still carried it; habit, perhaps, or for the sake of the weird sense of security that it gave him. So far he didn't have any reason to suspect that the evening would go south. Most of the attendees were foreign, and chatter was limited; no one seemed up to navigating the language barrier. Teams mostly clustered together by nationality, speaking amongst themselves and eyeing off the competition.

Zero still didn't get it—he was pretty sure no freaking chess tournament would carry this much tension in the air—but it was still a hell of a lot better than hunting, and he refrained from complaining. If nothing else, the next few weeks would be entertaining.

The hunter heaved a sigh, scratching at the collar of his suit and scanning the premises again, more out of boredom than anything else. Lights were strung up between the trees, waiters dipped in and out of the crowd carrying wine and hor d'ouerves, and Zero enjoyed just being bored.

"You have your gun?"

Zero's mouth twitched upward into a smile. "Yeah."

"Good. Kill me." Seto dropped his weight against the nearest tree, sighing and raking his hands through his hair. "This is such a joke."

"What's the point, again?"

"Formality. Precedent. Grandstanding. Take your pick."

"I guess—goddamn, Kaiba, smoking kills."

Seto exhaled at him. "Shut up, but first remind me again why I agreed to do this."

"This guy Jirou is—and I'm quoting, here—a piece of shit?" Zero shifted his weight, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "And I suspect that this is kind of a nice distraction from the recall."

Seto took a deep drag off his cigarette and crossed his ankles. "I think dueling is going to make it worse."

"Then why do it?"

"Because he challenged me. And because I don't know what else to do."

Zero glanced back at him. Even the smoke seemed forlorn. "Hey."

"What?"

"When Kaname got bored at soirees—which was always—we used to sneak into the bathrooms and fool around."

"You will please note that there are no bathrooms, this is not a soiree, and I'm not Kaname."

"Real cute, smartass, but I was propositioning you and you know it. If you'd rather stay here and consort with the lowly masses—"

Seto smirked at him. "Later."

"That a promise?"

"More of a threat."

"What, going to jump me when I least expect it?"

"I might. I've told you that black suits you, haven't I?"

"A few times now. I'm starting to think you're all talk."

That smirk hardened. "You're—" Seto's gaze settled somewhere over Zero's left shoulder, and he froze, his cigarette halfway to his mouth. His expression changed instantaneously, his smile falling away, and Zero could have sworn—sworn—he saw the briefest look of horror before the man's eyes turned deadly and cold.

"Hey—"

"Give me your gun."

"What?"

"I said give me your gun." Seto looked at him, cool and composed, but a shiver crawled down Zero's spine. "Now."

"The Bloody Rose isn't—"

Seto pushed off the tree, ground his cigarette under his heel, and reached around Zero's back, pulling his gun—his standard security pistol—from his waistband and tucking it beneath his coat before sidestepping the startled hunter and walking away with wide strides. Bewildered, Zero followed him, trying to edge in front of him, but Kaiba slid around him, undeterred.

"What the hell are you—hey—give me back the—"

"Hey." Seto came to a halt by a table laden with refreshments. "Hey!"

A man turned, and Zero recognized him—Jirou, grandstanding douchebag from the television. He looked smaller in person. The man's eyes blinked once, twice, very rapidly, and a sick sort of smile spread across his features.

"Well, if it isn't—"

"Shut up," Kaiba growled around gritted teeth, and Jirou fell silent. "You. Turn around."

It was only then that Zero took notice of the man at Jirou's side. He turned, a plate of food in one hand. He was older, easily in his sixties or seventies, long white hair tied off at the nape of his neck, wrinkled chin covered by a neatly trimmed beard. His suit was white as well, neatly pressed, and he wore an eyepatch over his left eye, beneath gold-rimmed glasses.

Kaiba's arm jerked toward his coat, and Zero seized hold of his wrist, pinning his arm to his side.

"You have to calm the fuck down. Now."

"Let go."

Zero glanced around; several people had looked their way when Seto raised his voice, and were watching the possible altercation with some interest.

"He's just some old guy—"

"Ah. Seto Kaiba, I presume." The old man set down his plate and stepped forward, extending a hand. "My name is—"

"I know who you are," Kaiba snapped. His arm pulled against Zero's restraining grasp. "You and I are going to talk. Privately."

"Of course. Jirou, if you'll wait here."

Seto jerked himself free of Zero and headed for the edge of the park; the old man followed amicably, offering Zero a reassuring sort of smile. Grinding his teeth, the hunter followed. Hell if anyone was getting shot on his watch.

They stopped behind a stand of trees—out of sight of the party—and Seto abruptly turned on his heel, flipping off the pistol's safety and leveling it at the old man's head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zero demanded, hurriedly placing himself in front of the man.

"Get out of the way, Zero."

"No—"

"Get the fuck out of the way!"

Zero sucked in a breath, taken aback. He hadn't seen Seto—Kaiba—like this before. He was somewhere beyond anger, beyond rage. There was something in his eyes, and Zero didn't consider himself an expert on emotion, but he knew hate. He'd seen it enough staring at his own reflection in the mirror.

"You may step aside, young man," the old guy said mildly. "He's not going to shoot me."

"The hell I'm not," Seto snarled. "Move, Zero!"

"Put down the gun first. You can't shoot up some old—"

"You don't know who he is!"

"And you do?!"

"I'm Anthony Chamberlain," the old man spoke up, placing a hand on Zero's shoulder. "But I think Seto only sees Lord Aknadin, so you'll want to move."

Zero's stomach dropped. He swallowed, looked over his shoulder at those pleasantly smiling features. "You're—you're the one who—"

"Killed her. Yes, that was me. A very long time ago. Step aside, young man. This has nothing to do with you."

At a loss, Zero willed his feet to remain planted, albeit barely. Chamberlain. Chamberlain, where had he…? "You're like—them. A reincarnation, or—you've got this recall thing too."

Chamberlain offered Zero a smile—pitying, not warm—and looked at Seto. "I assume you have questions."

Seto sucked in an audible breath. "You're Jirou's sponsor."

"Yes."

"You told him to pull that stunt in his match against Rebecca Hawkins."

"Yes."

"You told Pegasus about—about her."

The old man nodded. "Yes."

Seto racked the pistol and aimed. "Zero. Move."

"You can't shoot up some old guy in a park, dammit! You want to get yourself arrested?!"

"I don't care, now get out of my way!"

"Don't." Ishizu appeared from nowhere, in that way only she could, like a phantom, and placed a hand on Seto's wrist. Her face, her voice, were soft and sad. "Seto. Don't."

"Get off—let go of me, Isis!"

"I'm not Isis," she said quietly, and inched her hand upward, toward the gun. "You're not Seth, and that's not Aknadin. Seeing him triggered you. You're not where you think you are." She placed a hand on the gun's cool surface. "Look. This isn't a knife. This is an artifact of the modern world, and if you pull that trigger, Seto, there's no going back."

Seto's arm stayed up, but he wavered. "He killed her."

"Aknadin killed her. A very long time ago. That man is just a shadow, a ghost. He can't hurt you. All he can do is turn you against yourself." Ishizu tightened her hand around his. "Put it down, Seto. Please."

A moment of silence ticked by—Zero held his breath—and then Kaiba lowered the gun, flicking the safety before letting it drop to the ground. Zero bolted forward and grabbed it, tucking it into his coat, but Seto was no longer paying it—nor him—any attention. His gaze remained locked on the smiling old man.

"It's a far cry from your kingdom, isn't it? From our homeland." Chamberlain tucked his hands into his pockets. His expression was gentle, loving even. "This Japan. It doesn't satisfy me. Never has." His smile widened. "You've grown, boy. You're looking more like him now than ever."

Seto's eyes narrowed. "Like who?"

"Well, like Takahiro, of course."

Kaiba's hand twitched, reaching for a gun that was no longer there. Ishizu grabbed his wrist and squeezed. "How do you know Taka?"

Chamberlain blinked, and then laughed, a deep, happy belly laugh. "How do I know him? I'm his father, of course."

Zero sucked in a breath—he'd just placed the old man's name. Chamberlain—an old line, almost as old as his own. "You're a hunter."

"I was. A long time ago." Chamberlain canted his head to the side, frowning at Seto. "Don't tell me Takahiro never told you where you come from? No, I suppose he wouldn't, would he—he left the Society when you squirted you into that bitch's belly."

Seto started forward, and Zero threw both arms around his waist, holding him back. "Get off," the young man snarled, his teeth bared. "Get off, he's talking about my mom!"

"I know—stop it, alright, he's baiting you—"

"My mistake, I suppose, for leaving the boy here in Japan," Chamberlain said, and sighed. "The Society is different in England. Deserters wouldn't have been tolerated. If he'd shown any talent whatsoever when he was young, perhaps things would be different, but… well. In any case. You must be Kiryuu," he added, looking at Zero appraisingly. "Fine hunters, your parents. It's a noble thing, to die in the line of duty. You must be proud."

"Fuck off," Zero shot at him, panting from the effort of holding Seto back.

"The Society's not happy that you've been allowed to live, Kiryuu. Not happy at all. I hate to do it to a member of such a distinguished family, but I've been told to eradicate you. And I will, just as soon as I've awakened my grandsons as proper hunters."

Zero ground his teeth, digging his heels in when Seto pulled harder. Just when life had started to seem simple again… "There's nothing there to awaken. He hasn't got the blood. "

"Seto? No, he hasn't. Taka did a marvelous job of suppressing it—and it doesn't help that there's a human mother. If there's blood in this one, it runs thin. But then there's this matter of the spirit that resided inside the Millennium Rod—of Aknadin's son. Seth. It's his blood I'm interested in."

"Zero." Ishizu leaned in close, her voice a low, tense murmur. "This man is dangerous. We need to leave. Now."

"I won't be keeping you much longer," Chamberlain said, waving a hand. "No need to conspire amongst yourselves. I only wanted to introduce myself, meet Takahiro's boys. My son and I never got on well, and after he deserted the Society, I never heard from him again. I do wish I could make amends, but—it is what it is." He smiled and tucked his hands into his pockets. "I'll bid you all adieu—and Seto, do complete your recall. I think you'll be interested to see how the story ends."

And the old man turned on his heel and sauntered away. Zero released Seto, scrambling backward when the young CEO took a swing at him.

"You asshole! What the hell is your problem?!"

"My problem is that I wasn't about to let you murder someone!" Zero snarled, barely refraining from reaching for the Bloody Rose.

"God dammit!" Seto dropped onto his ass, dragging his hands through his hair and bracing his elbows on his knees. "Fuck. Now what?!"

"Now nothing," Ishizu said, kneeling and placing a trembling hand on his shoulder. "Now we get Yugi and we go home. We discuss how to handle this."

"This is unbelievable." Zero began to pace, rubbing his tattoo. "Your dad was a hunter? Your dad was—" He froze—Taka. The deserter. "Your dad was Taka Azuma?"

"Yes," Seto said, his voice muffled by his palms; he'd dumped his face into his hands.

"He's famous. I mean—infamous, I guess, no one just walks out on the Society. He was—he and my parents were friends. I heard about him all the time, I—I have pictures…"

"Look. Zero? I don't care. Okay? I do not give a single fuck about who my dad was or wasn't." Seto shook Ishizu's hand off, getting to his feet. "I'm going home."

"What about—"

"I don't care. I'm leaving. Mokuba and I are leaving." He shook his head, dragging a hand through his hair. "Fuck this. I've had enough."

"Seto." Ishizu stepped forward, hesitant. "Seto, you—you have to finish your recall."

"No! Alright? No! I'm done, I didn't want any of this to begin with, if you and Yugi had just left me alone—"

"We couldn't. You know that."

"You could have. You could have and you didn't. From now on, sort out your own goddamn problems. I'm done." Kaiba pulled his tie loose, grinding his teeth, and shot a look at Zero. "Are you coming?"

"Uh—"

"Are you coming or aren't you, Kiryuu?"

Zero blew out a breath and gave Ishizu an apologetic nod. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming."

It was an uneasy ride home. Mokuba sat in the back, huffy and irritated at being carted off so early into the evening, while Zero stared glumly out the passenger's side window. He was getting used to Seto's driving; he only felt the need to scream and/or vomit twice. Or maybe he had too much on his mind to be distracted by his sense of self-preservation.

Chamberlain. He didn't know much about the English Society. The purebloods had largely settled in Japan, but they had left a whole mess of Fallen in Europe in their wake. So Chamberlain had—what, come to Japan? Just lending help, or had there been another purpose? And he'd gotten a woman pregnant, left her to raise Taka Azuma, and at some point that man had grown close to Aidan Kiryuu, and to Kyrie…

And had a few kids of his own. Zero glanced sideways at Seto. He hadn't known hunter blood could be suppressed. Diluted, certainly. But Azuma was known for being resourceful, for dipping into the arcane arts that most hunters tried to avoid, brands of magic that had been sealed away when the hunter line first arose. Zero supposed he wasn't surprised that the deserter had found a way.

Hadn't he met Taka once? When he was little. Just the once, when his parents realized that the younger Kiryuu twin would never hunt, when they began to fear for his life. Taka had shown up in the middle of the night, stayed until the sun broke the horizon, then left again. Zero remembered little of that one visit. He'd been a kid, after all.

"Hey." A prod against his shoulder. "We're back."

Zero stirred and opened his eyes, unsticking his cheek from the window with a grimace. Mokuba disappeared into the house ahead of them, closing the door so hard it rattled a little. The hunter rubbed his eyes and looked over at his companion. Seto sat still and silent, eyes focused on some point just over the steering wheel.

"Thank you for stopping me."

"What?"

"From shooting him."

"Oh." Zero shifted in his seat, shrugging. "No problem. I don't blame you for wanting to."

"You recognized him?"

"He's a hunter. I've never met him before, but I know of pretty much everyone who was in the field."

"He said he was sent to eradicate you."

Zero winced. "Most of the Society wants me gone. They're not ecstatic about a hunter becoming a vampire—even less so now that I've jumped ship, I bet."

"Is Chamberlain going to tell anyone where you are?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. He seems pretty focused on you, for the time being."

A pause—and then a hand landed on Zero's head, patting his hair, before Seto pushed open his door and got out of the car, lighting a cigarette. Zero hurried out after him, catching his arm, pulling him around. He tugged the cigarette out of his hand and yanked him down, kissed him like he was trying to steal his breath. Seto allowed it—or forgave it. Maybe both.

"I won't let him," Zero mumbled, dropping the cigarette and stomping it underfoot before running both hands through that dark hair, so like—and unlike—Kaname's. "I won't let him hurt you. I'm done losing people."

"...Yeah." Hands cupped his face, forced his chin upward. "Yeah. Me too."

But when Zero bit him that night, for the first time, he, too, watched Kisara die.