Chapter 3-Pits of Hell

6/26/08

Disclaimer: I do not have the desire to own Yu-gi-oh. If I did have a choice of owning an anime, I'd own Death Note. I'd be so freakin' rich that I could pay my servants to have servants. Come on; a girl needs to be practical.

Notes: A shoutout to KasumiCho and loveroffics for your reviews and to those who added me to your favs and alerts. Hope you enjoy this chap! Sorry for not updating, but I've been busy with exams. I still have them, but I wrote this chapter earlier and felt that it was time to post it after a few corrections. I am no longer writing up Seiji's accent. He's been in the country for a while, so naturally he's learned to say his l's. Besides, I think it distracts from what he tries to say. Oh, I said I would give a cookie to whoever guessed what was the similarity between Seto and Seiji in the first chapter. Remember a certain Kaibaland, an amusement park that Seto created? (I wrote it in the first chap...so it's not random.) Well, that's all I'm giving you. I like you guys so much anyway that I'm giving you all free cookies. Imagine whatever flavor you like. R&R

If Seiji…..

"On your mark."

Could be in hell…..

"Get's set."

In that exact moment…

"Ready?"

He would.

"HIKE!"

He would have been anywhere but here. Anywhere.

The football was in his hands. Unsure of what to do, Seiji fumbled with the football in his hand as his father-in-law screamed for him to run. Seiji started to run when….

Slam.

Seiji was roughly pushed to the ground. Feeling utterly disoriented, Seiji scrambled to his feet. He slowly got up, removing grass from his jeans.

The football was out of his hands.

Frustrated in annoyance, Seiji stared as Laura dashed to the end zone that she and her brother had marked in the lush green grass for the backyard. Laura jumped excitedly and threw the ball down as she reached it. Making a huge fuss over her win over Seiji, Laura squealed in excitement. As she gave a high-five to her brother and stuck her tongue out childishly at her annoyed father, she continued to create a ruckus over her win. "In your face, Seiji Nakamura! In your face!"

He rolled his eyes at her childishness. Really, Laura could be obscenely competitive over any game. It was quite unhealthy, actually.

Laura, Seiji, and Seto were visiting her parents' house to celebrate Seiji's job promotion to the wonderful and exciting world of middle management. This had been a source of joy for Laura. For him, however, this one was one small step closer to his dream in building the amusement park that he always wanted. Personally, he would have preferred a quiet dinner of three at a nice restaurant, preferably sushi. However, Laura felt that this was a family occasion, which she unfortunately included his in-laws, and promptly invited her entire immediate family to celebrate with them. Unfortunately for Seiji, they agreed and decided to make it as an "American" experience as possible for his benefit. Therefore, they celebrated with half-burnt corn-on-the-cob, overly barbequed ribs, and, to Seiji's utter dismay, hot dogs. Then, her wonderful brother Brian had suggested a game of touch football, a supposedly milder version of American football. Seiji should have known better. He was playing with the competitive Jones; a simple game of chess was not safe.

If Laura actually listened once in a while. There were plenty of things that Seiji would rather be doing than getting tackled and roughly pushed to ground by his wife in touch football. Especially in front of his in-laws.

Seiji sighed as he headed towards the picnic table where Seto was seated. Noticing that Laura still gloated over her win with her brother Brian, he slouched at the table on the seat near his son. The three-year old brunette patted Seiji's shoulders comfortingly. "It's otay, Daddy. Mommy's weally good."

"That's right, Seto," Laura agreed mockingly as she headed towards the picnic table. "Maybe if Seto plays, he might not have lost 28 to 0." Football is such a pointless sport, thought Seiji in aggravation.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to get pushed on the ground in touch football," Seiji groaned as he rubbed his sore leg.

"Do you hear something?" Laura motioned her hand by her ear dramatically. "Oh, I think it's the voice of a sore loser." His brother-in-law Brian snickered.

"Well," a tall, gray-haired man who looked to be in his early sixties, highly annoyed at his daughter's gloating, stated as joined his daughter and son by the picnic table, "I must say that I have never played a game like that in my life. Don't you play sports at all Seiji?"

"Baseball is more popular in Japan. But I've never been good." Seiji was exceedingly irritated by this condescending jab. He knew his athletic ability was nothing short of horrendous, but did they really have to emphasize the obvious? Hopefully, Seto would gain his mother's athletic ability but would not inherit her excessive competitiveness. That would be a nightmare-in-waiting.

"So you were just a complete geek in high school, huh?" This time, his brother-in-law decided to join on this delightful conversation. Seiji silently declared war on the muscular meathead of a brunette wordlessly as he poured himself a soda. The Jones vs. Seiji Nakamura. Seto was his only ally.

"Aw, lay off him. We are here to celebrate his promotion after all." A gray-haired woman in her sixties entered with a thin smile; wrinkles surrounded her full lips as she held onto a chocolate-frosted cake. "Seiji, let's cut the cake. It's devil's food cake." Seiji grimaced momentarily. He hated chocolate. Didn't Laura remember that?

"Cake! Cake! I want a flowa! I want a flowa!" Seto rocked his body excitedly.

"Hey, brat. Shut up for a bit." Brian put a finger by his mouth to signal silence. "If you're good, then they'll give you leftovers."

Seto crossed his small arms in annoyance. "Daddy say I no listen to dog." Seiji choked on his cup of soda; there was a possibility that Pepsi might have been in his nose.

"Anyway," Laura quickly interrupted, "Brian, Mom tells me that you're thinking about starting technical school training in automotive training. That's great. When do you start?"

"Two weeks." He glared at Seto and received a tongue stuck out from him as a response. "Don't you teach that kid manners?"

"You're his uncle. And Laura's older brother. Can't even get respect from a three-year-old?" The elderly man shook his head in contempt as Brian scowled. "Pathetic. If only you did something with your life. Instead of mooching off your parents"

"Dad. This is not the time." She motioned pointedly to Seto. "Plus, we're here for a happy occasion. Right?" Laura looked at her father and brother in that sweet puppy-eyes look that few people could resist. They didn't stand a chance, as Seiji knew and had experienced too well.

"Well, congratulations, Seiji. At least you've made something of yourself." Her father sarcastically smiled. Seiji could not have been more uncomfortable at this compliment. He knew better than to get involved in his father-in-law's and brother-in-law's constant bickering. Reason number two for why he wanted sushi. His in-laws detested the idea of raw fish.

"Now, let's sing! Happy promotion to you! Happy promotion to you! Happy promotion, dear Sei-ji! Happy promotion-and-more-money-at-the-bank-for-Seto-and-me to you!" His in-laws clapped at the end of Laura's song.

His mother-in-law cut pieces of cake and placed them on plastic plates. Everyone grabbed a plate. Seated next to his father, Seto insisted on grabbing the piece with the big blue flower, despite the fact that the piece was too big for him to eat. His fork dug into the blue frosting and put it in his mouth. After he finished eating the frosting, he placed the cake in front of Seiji.

"You shouldn't have taken such a big piece if you didn't want it."

"Yeah. Do you know how many kids are starving in Ethiopia?" Laura hit her elder brother's head at his jibe. Scowling at his pain, Brian rubbed his head softly. "Can't you take a joke?"

"Then, have the maturity to not fight with someone who's three." She continued to eat from her slice.

"Seriously, you two. Let's talk of more important things." Placing the lid on the cake, Mrs. Jones seated herself to the right to Seto. "Now, Laura, tell me you're planning to move from that dingy old apartment of yours. You have more money now."

"First of all, Mom, the neighborhood is not as bad as you're making it out to be. Second of all, these things take time. We're planning to move eventually, but we don't want to rush into anything." Laura dug into her cake with her fork distractedly.

Turning towards Seiji, Mrs. Jones studied him for a moment. "Seiji, tell me that you're planning to move out of that horrible place. I mean, it's a two-bedroom apartment, for God's sake. And the neighborhood's not getting better."

"It's as Laura said, Elizabeth," Seiji answered. He didn't look at her as he answered. The truth was that he was looking into a bigger house, but he really didn't want to involve the Jones in this. Both Laura and Seiji agreed that the last thing that they needed was her parents to control their decision.

"Frank, tell them already. They're so many black people in that neighborhood. It's not that we're being racist or anything, but still..." Elizabeth Jones glanced at her husband for support.

"Your mother has a point, Laura," Mr. Jones stated. "You guys are young and naïve. You know nothing about this world. And Seiji." Mr. Jones gave him a poignant look. "You're an immigrant and new to this country. They'll try to dupe you. You have no idea how they'll try to screw you over. You might be a smart guy in books and stuff, but you have to do what's best for Seto. He's an American, after all."

Seiji almost had no words for this condescending conversation. His first desire was to grab Seto and leave. However, this would probably lead to other issues that he would have to deal with and would also be a bad example for Seto. Therefore, he responded as any family-loving Japanese man would. "I also want what's best for Seto. In Japan we take care of family too."

...

"Listen once in awhile. I told you that I would rather go to a restaurant. But you had to invite your family and look what it has given us." Seiji remarked as the car turned around a road towards their neighborhood. Glancing at the rearview mirror, he noted that Seto was soundly asleep on his car seat.

"What's wrong with wanting to celebrate with family? They're happy for us."

Seiji hissed, "Do you not see how they treat me? Every time I go there, they criticize everything I do. There's never one time, even when I get a promotion, is anything right for them."

"Dad respects you. Brian, well, he's Brian. You know him better than that. He's got a good heart." Seiji snorted at this. Ever since his first meeting where he nearly hit him, Seiji never had any fondness for Brian. The only reason why he dealt with him was Laura.

Seiji parked his car. As he adjusted his seat, he noticed Seto lying down peacefully in his car seat. Laura scooped Seto from his car seat, while Seiji quickly locked the car.

"Is he still sleeping?" Seiji curtly asked.

"Yes. He had a good time after all."

"You can't expect me to have had a good time after that experience."

"I admit that Mom and Dad can be invasive and controlling at times, but they are trying to help." Seto stirred slightly for a moment, only to return to his sleeping position.

"Sure," Seiji whispered gruffly as he opened the door to their apartment complex. "By completely embarrassing me."

"I'm sorry that they care. But I can't change what they do." Seiji and Laura walked up a pair of stairs. Seto did not stir this time. Evidently, he had used the every last bit of his energy by chasing his grandfather at the barbeque.

Stopping by his apartment door, Seiji roughly perused through his keys. "If this is their love, I'd hate to see them as my enemies. Especially that good-for-nothing brother of—"

"They're better than your parents," Laura snapped as she held Seto tighter.

Looking up from his keys, Seiji's eyes filled with anger. "If Seto wasn't here this second…"

"You'd do what?" Laura defiantly stared at him. Her azure eyes did not have its usual warmth; they were icy blue in anger, heeding of danger.

"I don't want to talk to you right now." Seiji returned to door. "We'll discuss this after Seto goes to—"

Seiji stared for a moment at the sight before him. For a few moments, all logical and rational thoughts escaped him. His mind could not process anything. He could not move for a few seconds until some semi-intelligent thinking came to him. "Laura, take Seto and go to the car."

"What the hell? Why are you—"

"GO TO THE CAR NOW! HURRY!" He threw the car key at Laura as she gasped at the view. Catching the keys she hurried down the stairs with Seto held in her arms.

Seiji stared at his apartment. In front of him stood what remained of their home. The apartment was an utter mess. Strewn papers scattered the place, cluttering the floor. Seto's toys joined the papers as broken semblances of themselves. Their old leather sofa was stained with mustard yellow paint. Splinters of glass fell on their floor by their television set, which looked as if had been thrown on the floor.

Yet it was none of these details that shocked him.

On one of the walls, in mustard yellow, it was painted in capital letters, 'GO HOME DIRTY JAP!' At that precise moment, the phone began to ring. As if his mind could not control his body, he went to reach the ringing phone. He picked it up. When he heard a response, his eyes widened.

Laura totally cheated in touch football. The whole point of the game is to TOUCH the player, not slam them. If you guys don't know what American football is, all you need to know that it's a game that require A LOT of strength and speed, which Seiji sadly lacks.