Sevenfold

Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh.
Date: August 7, 2006
Warning: This piece is rated 'T'.

Red:Pride

A sharp sort of yelp caught his ear.

"Did you hear that?" he asked his companions. "I thought I... Well I'm sure that I just heard something."

The man beside him grinned. "You're being paranoid, Kaiba! Loosen up a little."

"Yeah," the other man agreed, "it's not like there's anything you can do about it. Just forget it and have a good time!"

They were walking back from a bar near KaibaCorp. The propositions had been accepted, and with just two signatures Seto would have successfully pulled off one of the greatest business dealings of the decade. The two Americans had been drawn to the prestige of his company and all his accomplishments– at such a young age, too. Early in the year their company had requested a meeting and graciously he had accepted. They both spoke passable Japanese, but his English was much better. Gozaburo's doing, he knew– but for once he was, ironically, thankful that he had been pushed to learn it.

He may not have been enjoying their company– they were both drunk off their asses at any rate– but he needed them to keep their opinion of him high. And if that meant going to seedy bars or night clubs and ogling scantily-clad women, then he was willing to put down any personal distaste for such activities and pretend like he was having a good time.

He had just managed to forget the first sound when he heard another one. He stopped dead as he saw a young women running out of a nearby alley. Three laughing men were following her.

"Oh God," he said, making out the girl's torn clothes and the fearful tone of her gait. "Excuse me," he said to the others, "but..." He trailed off as he noticed their inattention, both laughing at a joke one of them had told. The girl obviously needed help but he didn't want to have to be the one to offer it.

He saw the woman stumble and fall, then crawl as quickly as she could over to the nearest building. The three men chasing her had almost reached her. It was dark, and not the best neighborhood, so Seto could only imagine what their intentions were.

"Oh shit!" one of his companions said. "I think I stepped in something!" He lifted up his shoe to examine it.

The woman's pursuers had heard him. They turned and saw the three businessmen approaching. Not wanting to risk a confrontation, or the chance of the police, they quickly bolted away. Seto was about to go check on the girl when one of the inebriated men grabbed his sleeve.

"Where you going?" he asked. "I thought we had to... to sign those contracts at your office."

"Yes, you damn well do have to, but I–"

"Just calm down," the other man said with a smile. "What's the trouble?"

Seto growled to himself, about to point out the distressed women shaking against the next building.

But one of them noticed her first.

"Look at that! Poor bitch looks like she got beat up pretty bad."

The other man laughed. "Probably deserved it, too. You can't trust a woman– whores the lot of them." He sighed. "My wife just filed for divorce, you know. Got it in her head that I didn't love her anymore! Like I married for more than her money, anyway. God. Accused me of cheating on her, too!"

"You mean you weren't?"

"Well... yeah, but that's really not the point now, is it? She never caught me. And it's not like she's getting any younger, either."

Fed up, Seto barked out a clipped, "Could you just shut up?"

They both stopped and looked at him. "What's your problem, Kaiba? Are we going to KaibaCorp to seal the deal or aren't we?"

"Yes, of course we are, but I–"

It was then that he noticed just who the young woman was.

"Oh no," he said quietly. "Oh no."

It was Mazaki Anzu– and she looked bad.

"Oh, you looking at her?" one of the men asked. "Just ignore it; don't try and be some hero. She can care of herself. And if she can't, she deserves to get hurt, I say. It's a cut-throat world out there, and you've got to look out for number one. That's right, huh?"

"Sure as hell is," the other man said with a grin. "All you've got is yourself."

Seto felt blinded by their idiocy. What would it hurt to help her clean herself off and get her home? They were nearly to her, and Seto wanted to persuade them to at least let him check on her. Mokuba would throw a fit if he found out that his big brother had left Anzu to the mercy of the night.

Seto could tell she was crying, her sobs soft but still audible, and he swore he saw the tell-tale red of blood. Yes, he was sure of it. Those men had hurt her badly– it looked as though she had a cut on her shoulder, her blouse stained with sticky blood.

"I'm sorry, but I think that we should at least–"

"At least what?" one of businessmen asked coldly. "Forget about her, or we're forgetting about you. Got it?"

Seto bit back an expletive. He cursed them both to hell and back for being too stupid to remain sober. Surely that was why they were being so callous. He looked over to Anzu, who hadn't yet noticed she wasn't alone. He wanted to help her.

But he had worked so hard to get where he was, and he couldn't afford to have them withdraw that late in the proceedings. His company was all he had– he was fiercely proud of the empire he had built, and there was no way he would mess that up.

So, with his conscience screaming at him and his heart feeling like lead, he let the two men lead him away. They passed her, but he was too ashamed to even look at her. Her shirt was torn, her knees were scratched up, and her left arm was bloody.

Seto squeezed shut his eyes.

The other two just laughed.

Author's Ramble: This wasn't very happy, was it? I hope you liked it anyway. Both the "pride" element and the "red" element were small, but they were fairly important to the fic. Bad Seto! I feel so mean making him do that to Anzu. Hmm... I've noticed that most pieces tend to be more Seto-centric. No one minds, right? For some reason he seems to be easier to write. Heh. Red:Avarice is next, then Red:Lust and then we'll be to orange! Avarice is gonna be short and Lust is gonna be... Well, let's just say that it's a lemon already and I'm only half done. It's gotta be WAY toned down before I post it. (And the red in that one, surprisingly enough, turns out to be a strawberry. What is it with that fruit?) Thanks for reading. R&R!