Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, it would have more hints of shonen-ai in it…

Random talk: I hope there are still readers out there… There's something I keep failing to tell you guys. I typed these chapters up ahead of time. If I typed them up as I post, it would take months until you guys get the next chapter! Also, almost all of this chapter is flashbacks.

Note: Italicize sections mean flashback story mode.

Chapter 5

Secret Past

"Now, where to start…" Ichigo said to herself. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Katsu-kun didn't tell you anything about growing up…"

"No," Honda said.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Yuugi suggested.

"That's a good idea," Ichigo said. "Is that fine with you, Katsu-kun?"

"I'm not the one who would be embarrassed," Jonouchi said. "With all the stories you have, Obaa-san, Kaiba would be the one embarrassed!"

"The stories are that bad?" Honda asked.

"Depends on the story… There are a few that he would kill anyone who found out…"

"And those stories you would hate me for telling as well!" Ichigo said, laughing.

"Oh… Yeah… I would, wouldn't I…? Just start the stories, Obaa-san!"

"Okay, okay… Let me start before they became friends…"

"Hey! Bookworm!" a boy yelled to another boy who was reading a book. "I know you heard me!"

"I have a name," the boy reading said not looking up. "It's Ryujima Seto…"

"Do you think I care? We need an extra player to play soccer. You're the only one left for us to choose."

"Who says I want to play?"

"You don't have a choice! I need another player, and you're it!" The boy snatched the book from little Seto and flipped through it. "Where's the pictures?"

"Give that back, Tomi! It doesn't have picture!" Seto yelled as he tried to get his book back.

"What kind of book doesn't have pictures?" Tomi asked, laughing as he kept the book from the young brunette. They kept this up for a few minutes until Tomi ripped the book.

"Tomi! How could you?" Seto asked as he looked in horror at his book. "I got that for my birthday…"

"Oh well… Come on! I still need that extra player."

"I remember that," Jonouchi said. "No one wanted to mess with Tomi because he would find a way to torment us later. Tomi always loved to pick on Kaiba because he was smarter than almost everyone there… I mean, Kaiba was only four and already reading books without pictures."

"What were you doing at the time?" Honda asked his friend.

"Waiting for Tomi to come back… I was also on his team… He forced all the other kids to play whatever he wanted to play."

"Why did he want Kaiba-kun to play?" Yuugi asked.

"Yeah… One person on the other team could have sat out…" Honda added.

"I'm guessing Seto-chan stopped playing soccer," Ichigo said sadly. "He was the best player in this neighborhood when he still lived here…"

"Yeah… There was an uneven number of players all the time," Jonouchi said. "Tomi always chose second because he would always get Kaiba…"

"Wow," Honda said. "Remind me next time we play soccer at school to some how get Kaiba on my team!"

"But Kaiba-kun doesn't even go to PE…"

"Why don't I tell you how Katsu-kun and Seto-chan actually became friends?"

"Good idea, Obaa-san."

"Hey, Ryujima! What's wrong?" A young Jonouchi asked. He stared at Seto waiting for a reply. Young Seto was sitting in front of his house with his head hanging down.

"Nothing," Seto said so softly that Jonouchi almost didn't hear it.

"Well, come on! Tomi wants to play soccer again. You know what that means…"

"I don't feel like playing… Tell Tomi I'm sick…"

"Are you sure you don't want to play? I mean, Tomi is a jerk… But it's fun to play with you. Please?"

"I said I don't feel like playing!" Seto yelled at Jonouchi. The brunette lifted his head to glare at the blond. Jonouchi just stared at Seto, seeing something he never saw the other done before.

"Why are you crying?" Jonouchi asked, watching the tears go down the young brunette's face.

"It's none of your business!"

"Look, I don't like to see people cry… Just tell me what's wrong…"

"Fine! You want to know? Okaa-san just died an hour after she gave birth to my brother today! She was going to take me to the park and see the fireworks… But now she won't even see the bamboo forest! This is the worst Tanabata ever!" (1)

"Wow… You have a baby brother! That's great!"

"Don't you get it? Okaa-san's dead!"

"I heard you the first time. I know that's bad, but I'm sure your okaa-san would want you to be happy. I mean, having a sibling is one of the greatest thing you can have!"

"Why do you even care?"

"Because we're friends!" Jonouchi gave Seto a friendly smile.

"Really?" Seto asked hopefully. Jonouchi just nodded. Just this simple action made Seto smile.

"Who knew a tug like Jonouchi could make friends with a future CEO, ice king?" Honda joked.

"Seto-chan was a very sweet kid," Ichigo said. "And so was Moku-chan. They even help train Kasutera along with Katsu-kun and Shizu-chan. Who knew humans can hear dog whistles…" (2)

"Really… I remember that day…" Jonouchi said. "Mokuba was around three…"

"Kasutera won't come here, Obaa-san!" a little Mokuba complained.

"Why don't you try this," Ichigo said, handing Mokuba a little, red whistle. "It's a whistle that only dogs can hear. It might get Kasutera's attention…"

"Alright!" Mokuba yelled. He blew really hard into the whistle, but he couldn't hear anything. Kasutera, on the other hand, heard the whistle, and barked at Mokuba.

"Hey, Mokuba," Seto said. "Why did you just blow that whistle?"

"Yeah… It's really annoying." Jonouchi said. Seto nodded in agreement

"You two heard that?" Ichigo asked. Both boys nodded.

"Are you guys dogs?" Mokuba asked.

"What are you talking about?" Jonouchi asked.

"That was a dog whistle," Ichigo stated.

"Dog whistle?" both boys yelled simultaneously.

"It took about a month to convince Mokuba that we weren't dogs," Jonouchi said while laughing.

"So why does Kaiba call you a dog if both of you hear the whistle?" Honda asked through his laughter.

"Hey, that is a good question," Jonouchi said. "I mean, I have every right to call him by some kind of dog name as well!"

"That's because you didn't even remember Seto-chan," Ichigo said. "Besides, you know he never likes to give everything away all at once. He always wanted to make it a game out of whatever you wanted to know. Maybe it was part of his new game."

"Wait, Kaiba-kun made everything a game?" Yuugi asked.

"Oh, yes. Seto-chan loved to play games as much as he loved reading and soccer. He would make some kind of guessing game with really hard clues… Rarely did anyone figure it out."

"Now that you mention it, some parts of that virtual game were familiar," Jonouchi said. (3) "Shizuka always did make Mokuba play the role of the princess when we played pretend."

"I always found that strange…" Ichigo added. "But it was so cute that you and Seto-chan ended up being the knights in shining armor while Shizuka would be the beast that kidnapped the princess."

"Shizuka played the monster?" Honda said in surprise.

"It was a phase she went through at one point…" Jonouchi replied. "Wait, what was the name Mokuba always used when he had to play the Princess?"

"Oh, it's been so long," Ichigo sighed. "I know it started with an A…"

"By chance was it Adina?" Yuugi asked.

"I believe so. Of course, it's been years since I've had to watch over all four of them…"

"Hey, it was Adina!" Jonouchi yelled. "He really was playing one of his guessing games… Who would have guessed?"

"It's getting late," Ichigo said. "Katsu-kun, why don't you and your two friends go and get Seto-chan so he can eat something with his medicine. I don't know if he has a different prescription now, but better safe than sorry."

"Medicine?" Yuugi asked. "Like for his migraine?"

"Migraine? Seems like poor Seto-chan gets everything. No, it's worst than a migraine."

"How bad are we talking?" Honda asked curiously.

"Let me explain," Ichigo said. "Seto-chan and Moku-chan's mother didn't die just because of giving birth to Moku-chan. She had a very weak body, getting sick all the time. There was a chance she would have died giving birth to Seto-chan, but she luckily survived. Unfortunately, Seto-chan has that same condition. I guess that's why he always tried to be as independent as he could. You see, he'll eventually have to become dependent on someone."

TBC

(1) Tanabata – This definition is from Wikipedia:

Tanabata is a Japanese star festival, derived from Obon traditions and the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi. The festival is usually held on July 7, and celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year. This special day is the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar.

(2) …humans hearing dog whistles – dog whistles are on a frequency that is too high for normal human hearing. But there are some humans that can hear it as well. Hurray for Physics!

(3) virtual game – referring to that RPG game with the virtual pods. I'm going off the stupid American version and saying Kaiba design the game and not the Big 5.

Next time: More on the mysterious past of the Kaiba brothers as their first day of searching comes to a close. How will Yuugi and friends react to all this new information about the ice king?

Random talk: Wow… That was the longest chapter I've ever typed up… (About five pages…) Some parts I need to point out. Yes, I had to have both Kaiba and Jonouchi hear dog whistles. After I found out in my Physics class that there are humans that can hear them, I needed to put that it. Is there anyone else loving Ichigo besides me? She really is that old lady that all the kids call grandma… Last thing, don't kill me for this chapter! I'm just typing what my demented mind is coming up with!

Please review because they actully encurage me to continue this story. They prove that people are actully reading this story. So, do as I say and not what I do! See you next chapter!

Rubi-chan