*******Chapter Six********

(I don't own Yu-gi-oh)

When the tardy bell rang, Seto noticed that a certain seat in the front row was empty. Remembering the other day, he waited, but by the end of the hour, it was evident that Yami was absent. He was mildly disappointed (not that he wanted to admit it); it was Friday, and he had been almost... looking forward to seeing the strange boy before the weekend. As much as he tried to deny it, both to himself and Mokuba, he kind of did like Yami. Just a stupid crush, he argued. We don't even talk, and he hates me, so it doesn't matter if I think I like him. Either way, he still looked forward to seeing him at school. By the end of the day, though, his luck took a turn for the better.

"So we're going to be doing group projects on any of the topics listed on this sheet," the chemistry teacher announced towards the end of class. "You will be working in groups of two or three. Not one, not four. Okay? I'll let you choose your groups while I pass these out." As he passed the papers to the class, everyone began talking at once. Seto sat there contemplating his good luck. He knew that if Yami had been there, he would have probably straight-up refused to work with him, although he wasn't sure who he would agree to work with. He didn't seem to be too fond of anyone.

"Hey, um, do you wanna work with us?" An annoyingly high-pitched voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see that the voice belonged to a blonde girl, clad head-to-toe in Hollister. Standing beside her was an almost identical brunette girl, both of which were leaning over his desk showing a bit too much cleavage for Seto's comfort.

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry. I already have a partner." They had taken him by surprise. "Thank you anyway, though." They didn't seem like the type of people he would get along with, but he didn't want to be rude. They looked extremely confused.

"Who are you working with?" The brunette asked, her voice even more nasally than that of her friend.

"Yami," He answered, watching carefully for their reactions. He hadn't really talked to anyone in the last week, and he hadn't had much of a chance to learn anything about the boy.

"Oh... are you sure you really want to work with him?" The blonde asked, her expression turning sour. "Especially like if you're working alone?" Seto raised his eyebrow.

"Why would you think that?" The two girls exchanged looks.

"Oh, so you don't know yet?" The brunette gave him a sympathetic look. "He's such a homo... he probably just wants to get in your pants. He might try to like, rape you or something. He's really perverted." Seto fought to keep his anger under control, but lost miserably.

"What, so every gay guy just want's to fuck every guy in sight? Is that how you think it is? Who decides what is okay and what is not? Why is heterosexuality okay, but homosexuality is considered something disgusting? Why do people act like gay people don't have the right to be happy? Why is that?" He realized by the stares that he was receiving from a good portion of the class that he had raised his voice. He turned his back to the two girls who had approached and were now gazing at him, open-mouthed, and strode to the front of the class.

"Yes, Seto?" the teacher looked up from his desk.

"Mr. Maio, Yami and I will be working together," Seto told him determinedly. A small smile spread across the man's face.

"Alright, Mr. Kaiba. I appreciate you standing up for him like that... thank you." He made a note that the two of them would be working together. Seto couldn't help thinking that he liked the way his name looked written next to Yami's before he chastised himself. NO! This is not the time to get all sappy. This is strictly for school work... he knew that it was hopeless to try to convince himself.

On his way to the parking lot, his heart leapt when he saw a head sporting familiar, crazy spiky hair. Wait, that couldn't be right... this kid must be Yami's brother. He was almost a whole head shorter than Yami, and his eyes were violet instead of crimson. His skin was lighter, and his face was rounder, more childlike and innocent-looking than Yami's.

"Hey!" he called out before he could stop himself. The boy looked surprised. "Hey, um, are you Yami's brother?" He asked him, sounding stupid, but the boy nodded. "Oh, well, I was wondering if you had his number, because I'm supposed to do a project with him, but he isn't here today, so I wanted to call him and let him know about it..." He was rambling and he knew it, but the kid's face broke into a smile.

"Yeah, you can have his number. I'm Yugi. Who are you? I don't know you. Are you new? There's a new kid in my grade, too. Are you two related?" Woah, too many questions.

"I'm Seto Kaiba, and my younger brother Mokuba is a freshman. Yes, we're new here." Yugi rattled off a phone number, and Seto quickly typed it into his phone. "Um, is your brother sick or something?" The smile fell from Yugi's face, replaced by a darker expression. Although he tried to hide it, Seto's eyes caught the change of demeanor.

"Yeah, he just... didn't feel good today. He should get better by Monday, though. Thanks for asking. Well, I'd better go. I have to catch the bus." As he turned, Seto caught his shoulder.

"Hey, did you want me to give you a ride? You could meet Mokuba, if you want. He hasn't made any friends, yet, and he's kind of shy around new people... only if you want to, though," he added, noticing the hesitant look on the boy's face. He wasn't sure why he was grasping so much, but he didn't want to pass up this opportunity to make any connections to Yami. So maybe he was a little bit obsessive, but hey. It could be worse, right?

"Um... I don't think that would really be a problem... I'll just call and let him know that I won't be home right away." Seto breathed a sigh of relief as the smaller boy turned to place the call. He hadn't meant to sound like such a creeper... He wasn't used to actually dealing with people on an emotional level before. Up until now, he had tried to keep his relations with others more basic and businesslike. It made things far less complicated.

"Seto!" His brother's excited voice reached his ears. He felt sort of bad for the kid; he hadn't been lying when he told Yugi that he hadn't made friends. He was really outgoing around people once he had met them or when he was around other people he already knew, but he was deathly shy when he was around only strangers.

"Hey, Mokuba! Have you met Yugi? He's Yami's little brother," He introduced Yugi as he snapped his cell phone shut. "Yugi, this is my brother Mokuba." The two boys shook hands, a little tentatively, but each smiled warmly at the other.

The entire way home, the two chatted in the back seat about popular card games and videogames. Yugi told Mokuba that he was in the school's game club, and invited him to the next meeting, to which Mokuba readily agreed. Seto smiled. He had the feeling that the two would soon be good friends.

When Yami got the call from Yugi, he tried to sound as cheerful as possible., telling him that he was feeling better (although unless feeling better entailed cutting yourself and hating yourself more and more, that was a complete lie). He wanted his brother to have fun, but at the same time, he ached for the company. Yugi's presence was soothing, and made him feel safer. Pathetic, he chided himself. I'm a sorry excuse for an older brother. I'm supposed to be comforting him, not the other way around. As much as it didn't make sense, Yami couldn't help but blame himself for everything that had gone wrong in his family. He knew that he had been a mistake; he was the reason his parents got married in the first place, as his mother had gotten pregnant while the two of them were dating. Because of this, both his mother and father acted resentful towards his presence, and had made no efforts to conceal the fact that he had not been wanted.

"Hey, you lazy piece of shit!" He flinched violently as his father's voice assaulted him. "Hey! I'm gonna go out tonight! You better not get any faggy ideas while I'm gone! Keep your little faggot friends away from here!" His dad sounded to be in a good mood... as long as he stayed away from Yami, life was good.

"Okay, dad," he called, hoping the man would just hurry up and leave already. "Um, have fun..." He tried being nice once in a while, and sometimes, it payed off. Not always, but sometimes. He was met with a few moments of silence.

"Hey, kid, you know that I love you." Shit, no, not this. Just shut up. This was the worst. His father's kindness hurt far far worse than anything else. His voice broke as he tried to answer.

"I-I love you too, dad." That was the worst part: he really did still love his dad, regardless of all the horrible shit he put him through. He couldn't help it. He hated the man with every fiber of his being, but he still retained that small, powerful spark of love for the sick bastard.

That was how it had been in the beginning, too. His dad had been an okay dad when he was younger. His parents had still at least liked each other, and he would take Yami with him fishing or hiking, or whatever he was doing at the time, like a normal father and son. Then, as his parents had begun fighting more and more and after Yugi had been born, each parent seemed to take out their anger on the one who couldn't fight back. Mainly, his mother's abuse consisted of harsh words and cruel statements, but his father continued getting more and more physically abusive as the years progressed. The first time his father had... touched him (he couldn't bear to even think the word "rape") was when Yami was ten years old. The man had been drinking that night as usual, but his mother had taken Yugi somewhere, leaving her elder son and husband alone in the house. As usual, it began with a hit here, a slap there, but as Yami cried, his father got angrier and angrier, and things escalated. Afterwards, as Yami shivered, clutching himself and sobbing, his father had cried and apologized, telling Yami how much he loved him and how sorry he was. To this day, after these... "episodes," his father would end up telling him that he loved him. Yami was powerless to this form of torture. He felt dirty; his father was right; he was a slut. After all, he shouldn't still love the man, not after all he had put him through. The only explanation was that Yami must subconsciously like it, like his dad said, and he hated himself for this. Yes, he was a slut, and he deserved all of his punishment. Yes, he was a whore, and he deserved every beating and all of the pain he received. Yes, he was sick and disgusting, and he didn't deserve to be happy.

A/N: aww poor Yami... :(

um... thanks for reviewing, I'm working on getting things moving faster than they are right now.

~alex~