And it's up! Sorry for the delay but I got swamped with work and illness and bleh. May be a while til next update as QCS is coming up x_X [big big big test].

DISCLAIMER: Still don't own it, DAMMIT.

Hope you like ~

Late that night, Seto heard Raven quietly motor into the garage and quickly made his way to the kitchen. The others were already there. She walked into the kitchen silently.

'Food,' Raven said. It wasn't an offer, nor a request for gratitude; her voice was flat. She dropped two plastic bags on the table. 'Pizza. Soft drink. Eat.'

And before anyone could speak, she had left the room.

'Go to hell,' Yugi muttered under his breath.

'Do you think she wants any?' Mai asked.

'If she wanted some, she should've got it before giving it to us,' Joey said. 'She had her chance. If she starves, so much the better.'

Mai looked a little uncertain, but shrugged and started eating.

'I don't believe you freaks,' Seto said. 'She got herself chained up, beaten up, broke her arm to save the mutt and Mai, and you're all treating her like she's shit.'

'She is,' Tea said. She put a protective hand on Yugi's shoulder. 'You have no idea how much she hurt Yugi with her actions.'

'You think I wasn't hurt?'

'It's your fault she had to do this in the first place!'

Seto blinked. 'What did you say, Wheeler?'

'I said it's your fault she had to pretend to be someone else in the first place. If she hadn't been going to the docks to meet you—'

'What?' Yugi asked.

'I saw him flinch when she mentioned dates,' Joey said. 'That's why she was at the docks, wasn't it, Kaiba? You asked her there.'

'Yeah. So?' He grabbed two pieces of cheese pizza.

'So it's your fault she got caught.'

'Don't blame Kaiba, hon,' Mai said. 'They would have caught up with her eventually.'

'And at least I'm not ungrateful for her help.'

'Who says we want or need her help?' Yugi folded his arms defiantly. 'I don't.'

Sighing, he pushed his chair back and stood up. 'Look, Moto, here's the facts. She knows a lot about these freaks and she has the skills to take them down. Her Sword gives her the equivalent of thirteen souls. If we lose a duel, she'll be able to bring us back. She's strong enough to protect us from anything that comes our way. Yeah, she's a bitch. Yeah, she's a liar. And yeah, she's your twin sister gone horribly wrong. But we need her.' He turned, pizza and plate in hand, and began walking out of the kitchen. 'So I suggest you get used to having her around.'

He made his way back to Raven's bedroom, entering without bothering to knock.

'What do you want?' She was sitting cross-legged on the mattress, faced towards her window. Her back was turned to him.

'I brought food.'

She didn't thank him or ask him why. 'That wasn't what I asked.'

'Fine. Are you hungry?'

'No.'

'Too bad. You need to eat.'

'Fuck you.' Her voice sounded oddly calm.

'Let me rephrase that. You're eating whether you like it or not.'

'Let me rephrase. Fuck you.'

Angry, he grabbed her shoulder. 'Look, bitch I—I…' He cleared his throat. 'Jesus.'

'You telling me you've never seen blood before?'

Her duel disk sat by her feet—the first time he'd ever seen her without it, he realised, she'd even worn it while she was sleeping—and in her right hand she held a small knife. From elbow to wrist her left arm was covered in dark scars. Two freshly bleeding cuts lay two inches down from her wrist, across her thin arms.

He grabbed her arm, anger doubled. 'What the fuck is this?'

'What's it look like, Kaiba?'

'Oh, shut your sarcasm! Why the hell are you doing this?'

'I would have thought that was fairly obvious,' she snarled, pulling her arm away. Casually she made another incision. 'It makes me feel better.'

'Stop it. Now.'

She smirked a little. 'Make me.' A fourth cut joined the last three.

As she put the knife to her skin for the fifth cut, he grabbed the knife in one hand and her arm in the other. 'Stop it.'

'Why should I?' Easily, she sliced another two cuts into her flesh and he cursed, remembering her strength.

'Because it's hurting you.'

'That—' a fresh patch of blood began to form— 'Is the whole point.'

'It's hurting me, too.'

Two drops, spilling over, hit the floor. 'Why would I care if you were hurt?'

'You missed me.'

The knife paused, hovering just above the skin. 'That was then.' Slice. 'This is now. Besides… it's not as if it's any skin off your nose, Kaiba.'

'Only off your arm,' he murmured, eyes locked on the blood beginning to pool on the floor. It was wrong, so very wrong, but it was entrancing him. Every drop seemed to fall in slow motion, sending ripples across the growing puddle. Each new slice made him feel sick to the stomach but he couldn't stop watching; he couldn't have made her stop not matter how hard he tried.

'Exactly.'

Slowly, he sat down beside her. 'Is this why you always wear your disk?'

'Yeah.' Her voice was soft now, slower. How much blood had she lost?

'You should stop now. You'll end up killing yourself.'

'That wouldn't be so bad.'

Firmly, he put his hand over hers. 'Enough. Stop.'

'I need to cut, Seto,' she said. 'I need to.'

'Then cut me.'

Had he really just said that?

She paused. 'I can't. That's not right. I want to hurt myself, not you.'

'Then stop.' He rolled up his sleeve, careful not to lose her eye contact. 'If you can't stop, if you need to cut, then use my arm. But don't look at it. Look at me.'

Her eyes began to lilt down, and he put his free hand under her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. 'Look at me while you cut, or don't cut at all.'

As he felt the first scrape of metal on skin, she whispered, 'It's still cutting, Seto, whether it's your hand or mine that does it.'

He hadn't cut himself, not for years—not since Gozaburo had gone, in fact. After that he'd had no reason to. Yet he could never remove the scars. 'I had reason to.'

The metal stopped before it made a real cut. 'What were your reasons?'

'My stepfather.'

'Gozaburo? What'd he do that was so bad?'

'Much the same as Jonno and Chaz did to you,' Seto said quietly. 'Just less humiliating and more painful.'

Her hand snaked around his and squeezed tightly. The metal moved away; she was slumping onto his chest. Quickly he picked her up and carried her to the bathroom.

'Don't bother,' she murmured sleepily. 'It'll probably be better this way for everyone.'

He began to wash the blood from her arm. 'It won't be. Things get better.'

'Not this time…' Tears began to snake from her eyes. 'Valon's a traitorous prick. You lot all know who I am. My brother isn't my brother anymore. I'm not who I was anymore.'

'We need you.' He quickly searched through the bathroom cupboard for a first-aid kit. Whiskey, pills, more pills, absinthe… eventually, behind a half-empty bottle of rum, he found a rudimentary medical kit.

She gave a short, barking laugh. 'No you don't. You got enough duellists to take them on. What the fuck could you need me for?'

He pressed gently against the cuts until the flow of blood was reduced to a trickle before removing antiseptic cream and a bandage from the kit. Raven didn't flinch as the cream was spread over her arm; was her pain tolerance increased too?

'Driving. Planning. Your brilliant personality.'

He was surprised when she actually laughed. 'Your horrible sense of humour…'

The bandage was a snug fit around her arm. He tied it off in a double-knot before carrying her back to her bed and laying her down.

For a while she raved and ranted about everything from the centre to her life before Raven was born. All Seto did was sit by her, occasionally stroking her hair, and daydreaming of how life would have been had she not been found.

Eventually she stopped talking. He looked down, worried, but it was needless; she's only sleeping. She looked almost innocent in her sleep. The teardrop tattoos made it look like she was crying. He wiped away the real ones before tucking her in, leaving a glass of water by her pillow.

Briefly he considered staying with her for a while. No. The others would get suspicious, and besides, he had work to do. So he contented himself with slipping her razors into his pocket and planting a soft kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.

She's not Ravana. You know that, the voice in his head said. Enough of this babysitting nonsense. Ravana died a long, long time ago. Forget Raven.

Forget everything.

He looked down at his arm. A shallow scratch had partially scabbed over; he pulled down his sleeve and closed his eyes. Forgive me.

*

When Raven awoke later that night, she found a glass of water by her pillow and her three razors, along with a note.

Don't do this again. I won't be there to catch you when you fall anymore. ~ Kaiba

She closed her eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat. The feeling of hollowness inside her tripled; she opened her mouth to call for Valon before remembering he wasn't there.

She was alone again.

Her pillow was cold when she lay her head back down, but she didn't care. You're on your own again. Nothing you haven't done before. Guard the idiots, defeat Dartz, ride off into the sunset on your own… it's what you wanted, right?

Right?

Right?

RnR, people. Til the next chapter ~