Big thanks to Setoglomper for reviewing each chapter so far :)

Chapter Five

Damn! Seto struck angrily at the keyboard as he had been so close to gaining access to the duel's images only for the camera to cut out the moment it displayed the two duellists facing off against each other. He suspected that the problem had something to do with his stepfather disabling the cameras from airing the remaining duels, though Yugi and the others might have tried to convince him that it had something to do with that stupid pyramid that his rival always wore.

Not being one for quitting, Seto attempted to try again for the umpteenth time only for the keyboard to disappear from beneath his fingertips. The screen and chair he was sitting on also vanished causing him to drop to the floor, and the circuitry board surroundings were replaced with a child's bedroom layout. Angrily, he turned to face Noah ready to demand an explanation as to what was going on only to find that the boy was still sleeping peacefully.

The sound of a violin being played diverted Seto's attention and he saw a much younger version of Noah playing the musical instrument. Great. Seto thought sarcastically to himself as he realised that it was his stepbrother's sleeping mind causing a memory to be displayed before him. He had two options; either wake the boy who clearly needed to rest or sit it out until the dream finished. It would be unfair to wake his stepbrother since he had been the one who had told Noah it was okay to rest in the first place, so Seto decided that he would just wait a while longer for the dream to end. Besides it wasn't like he had been getting anywhere with watching the remainder of his tournament which he already knew his own disastrous outcome.

Seto stood towards the back of the room as he watched and listened to Noah play the violin as the young boy's fingers gracefully danced along the instrument's neck, the bow moving back and forth, sometimes with quite forceful strokes. He recognised the piece of music as Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, which Seto knew to be one of the most difficult works to play and yet here was his stepbrother performing it flawlessly. How old must Noah have been? Seven, eight perhaps? There was a sigh of relief as Seto was thankful that Gozaburo had never pushed him into playing any kind of harmonious instrument as there wasn't a musical bone in his body to be able to help him reach the unreasonably high expectations that his stepfather had.

"I did it!" Noah yelled excitedly as the piece came to an end and he startled a cat which had been curled up at the bottom of the boy's bed. "Just wait till mother hears, she'll be so pleased." A smiled crossed the young boy's face as he reached out and stroked the cat who purred from his touch.

That would explain it. Seto thought to himself as now he knew that Noah had been playing to please the mother not the father, which was probably why Gozaburo hadn't forced him down that road. What had happened to the old man's wife anyway?

The smile faded from Noah's face as shouting could now be heard from elsewhere in the mansion. "They're arguing again Tiggs." The boy spoke to the cat who just stared back at him. His big blue eyes began to water and Noah quickly wiped the tears away with his sleeve before he raised his violin back under his chin. "One more time?"

"Meow?"

A sad smile flickered on the young boy's face as he started to play the concerto from the beginning to drown out the angry yelling of his parents. Again Seto watched and listened to Noah play the stringed instrument which he found soothing as it made him aware of just how tired he himself had become over the days since his tournament had began.

Just as Noah was coming to the end of the second part of the concerto the door to his room opened and in entered Gozaburo. A huge smile appeared on the young boy's face as he greeted his father. "Father, I did it. I managed to play Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto all the way through with no breaks or mis……." He trailed off as the violin was suddenly ripped from his hands by the old man, and the smile vanished from his face.

"When will you both learn that you're wasting your time with music?" The violin's neck was easily snapped by Gozaburo's hands before he broke the upper and lower bouts apart by smashing them across his raised knee. "The sooner you learn that, the better."

"But I like playing the violin." Noah argued weakly and started to cry which caused his father to strike him hard. The cat hissed as it rose up on its feet and stood with all of the hair raised on its body and tail.

Out of the corner of his eye Seto saw the sleeping Noah fidget and whimper from the blow that the younger version had received from Gozaburo who was now yelling. "Stop that pathetic crying, you useless boy!"

There was another strike given by the stepfather along with more whimpering from the sleeping boy as the memory began to fade and a new scene slowly appeared around Seto. This time he was outside in the garden of the mansion when the young Noah ran passed him.

"Tiggs! Where are you, Tiggs?!" The boy searched every place he could think of as he looked for the cat.

Seto didn't have to move from where he stood as the dream pulled him through the scene as the younger Noah approached round to the front of the house. There in the driveway a car was parked, in front of it stood opposite each other was Gozaburo and his wife and around them several of Gozaburo's lackeys.

"Mother?!" Noah shouted out as he saw her approach the car ready to enter and stopped as she heard her son's voice and saw him race up to her. "Where are you going?"

The woman, whose face was badly beaten and tear stained, broke down into more floods of tears as she pulled the young boy close to her and hugged him tightly.

"She was just leaving." Gozaburo stated coldly as he glared at his wife who looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Weren't you, honey?" he sneered.

"Please." The woman begged as she stared into the cold emotionless eyes of her husband and abuser. "I won't ask you for anything else; just let me have my baby."

Seto followed the eye-line of the terrified wife as she glanced from Gozaburo's hateful face to the lackey that stood half hidden behind the old man, who moved his jacket slightly to reveal a gun held in the holster around his waist. You evil bastard. His mind sneered about his stepfather.

"Don't cry mother." Noah struggled to speak as he realised that his parents were finally separating from each other. "I can still come and visit you."

The mother slowly eased her son out from their embrace and shook her head as she fought to keep herself from crying more tears. "Goodbye, my little star." She whispered and failed to keep control of her emotions as she got up and entered the car before the several men hired by her husband did the same.

Sadness glistened in the young Noah's eyes as he watched the car, with his mother, driven off leaving him behind, alone with his father. The heartache was felt and Seto knew that his stepbrother was fighting within himself to keep those feelings hidden from the cold man standing behind him. To show anymore weakness would have entitled the boy to another beating like the one from the previous scene. Seto glanced across to the sleeping Noah and saw several tears creep slowly down the boy's cheek as a result from the painful memory which he had just witnessed.