KatrinaKaiba: Thanks for the review! I do try my best to keep that creep in character. I hope you weren't faithfully waiting for too long! Sorry about that! Enjoy the chapter.
Lace Kyoko: I wasn't so sure about ending it with darkness, but I'm glad you liked it! I actually laughed at some of your comments where you kept thinking I was going to have Gozaburo rape him; that was somewhat hilarious. But no, don't worry. There shall be no rape scenes. Just lots of child abuse and violence. Hahaha, thanks for the review!
SereneShadows: No prob! Writing back to my wonderful reviewers is what I do best! Everyone seems to love how I portrayed Gozaburo… it makes me feel all special inside:3 Like I'm really doing some good with this story! Awesome. I'm glad I can inspire equally awesome writing powers! Thanks for the review!
MythCreatorWriter: Thanks! I'm really happy with where all this is going too. Although I'm not so happy with this chapter. But we'll see. I don't know, I figure we all win some and lose some, ney? And I do have to say, there might be some side effects of depression as we go further along in the story, not going to lie! Hahaha, but anyhow, thanks again for your review!
Journey maker: Hey! It's you! Haven't heard from you in a bit, good to see you're following up on another one of my epic tales! Thanks for the reviews!
WhiteAsukalover: True that, my friend. Gozaburo is truly a spawn of the devil, if I do say so myself. Thanks for the review!
AmePiper: Gosh, so many reviewers, so little time! Dude, Mokuba is ALWAYS likeable, what are you talking about? He's like the most likeable thing since Babe! Hahaha, I made a funny right there. I tried making this chapter more centered around Seto's POV, but I don't know how well it turned out. I'm not very confident about this chapter, but I hope to hear some good feedback from you. You usually know if I'm doing well or not:] Yeah, the plate thing was from my younger years, so you would have to excuse that. Although it just goes to show what a mental mess I was back then, am I right? Hahahaha. Well, anyhow, I better hit the road. But hey, I SUPER loved your review and I want to hear all that you have to say about this chapter! Make me feel warm and fuzzy inside!(or tell me how I fail, whichever you'd like to go with)
Rena Redhead: I'm sure you're seething with hatred right now on account of me updating… AGAIN. I can't help it. It's what I do. It's the only thing I DREAM about during the day. In fact, sometimes it's the only thing that gets me through the day. Like today in math, all I could think about was how much I wanted to finish the next chapter of Consequences(which I did, but I'm holding back on updating, lol) But yeah. My favorite scene was definitely the one with Gozaburo and Mokuba, I liked it a lot. Thank you random inspirations with great ideas, they serve my stories well! I really don't feel swell about this chapter, but maybe you can find some cleverness in it like you always do and make me feel better about it. Will you? Will you please? It would mean the WORLD to me. Hahahaha, thanks again for the review! Enjoy the chapter!
Three
His eyes were drooping, but his attention remained strong. Class had been going one for about two hours now, and was expected to go on for another two hours more. After all, Seto's teacher, Mr. Horigato, would only be in the country for a day or so before leaving once again. All of Seto's teachers had been hand selected from all over the world in order to try and give Seto the most fulfilling and the most well rounded of an education. Seto didn't mind so much, but the odd work hours were a bit hard on his body to handle and he couldn't say he wasn't happy when it was finally over with.
"…And that concludes class for today," Mr. Horigato stated. Seto gave a quiet sigh of relief. "Make sure to do all your practice work sheets and review your lessons before Friday when I am expected to see you again." Seto merely nodded as he continued to gather his papers. Mr. Horigato already had his brief case in hand and was heading towards the door when another figure entered the room.
"Oh, pardon me, Sir, didn't see you there," Mr. Horigato said, before gracefully passing the man.
"No problem, see you on Friday." Mr. Horigato nodded and left the room. The man turned his attention back to the main reason he had entered the room in the first place; Seto. The boy still had his back turned to the man as he was finishing up gathering all his papers and work books from the previous lesson. "How was it?" The man asked, plain and simple. Seto stopped shuffling his papers around.
"Nothing I can't handle," Seto said confidently. Gozaburo grinned and walked over to the boy.
"You're sure of that?" Gozaburo asked, eyeing the boy. Seto didn't hesitate with his answer.
"I'm positive of that."
"Good." Seto zipped up his back pack and swung it over his shoulder. His eyes avoided any direction in or near Gozaburo's pathway. He didn't want his step father to see how tired he was and he most certainly didn't want him to get the idea that he couldn't deal with the long lessons or the odd hours that they occurred in. "Hobson is waiting outside. He'll take you to your room."
Seto said nothing, even though he was confused as to why he would need a guide to his own room. Although Seto did suppose it had only been a couple hours since he had moved in, there could've been a possibility he might've forgotten. But something told Seto that wasn't exactly the case.
As Gozaburo had said, Hobson had been waiting outside the doorway and directed Seto to follow him. Seto speechlessly complied and followed the hunched over little man down the long hallways of the Kaiba Mansion. Seto looked up and along the walls. There were no paintings, no pictures, nothing on the walls except the pain. It gave the house an even more hallow and empty feeling to it.
"When is my next lesson?" Seto asked, looking up at Hobson.
"I am not aware of that information as of yet. For now, you can just rest." Resting sounded like a good idea after four hours of so much work. Seto wasn't even sure how a ten year old was supposed to even be able to retain that much information in such a long and dreadful period of time. But Seto wouldn't complain or make it even appear that it were true. Seto became more alert when he heard another presence in the hallway.
Seto stopped and looked down a hallway that was perpendicular to the one they had been walking down. Seto could've sworn he could see someone walking down the hallway, but there was barely any lighting to see who it was. Seto squinted his eyes a bit and walked a little closer to find that it was Mokuba, sleep walking.
"Mokuba?" Seto asked, walking towards his younger brother that was slowly walking down the hallway towards him, his hand leaning against the edge of the hallway for support.
"Seto, come here this instant. You are to return to your room at this hour, come along," Hobson beckoned, but to no prevail. In most cases, Seto would've listened to him. But after all that learning and all that intense math study from just a few minutes before, it had almost made him forget about his brother. Not to mention how cute the boy could be and how he reminded Seto of his mission; the reason they had come here in the first place.
Seto held out his arms to the still asleep Mokuba and wrapped them around him. Mokuba remained asleep, but also let the strength in his legs give out which allowed him to fully fall into his brother's arms. A small smile appeared on Seto's face as he looked down at his sleeping brother, whom Seto was sure was still unaware of his own location or what he was even doing at the time.
"Seto, I highly recommend that you follow me. I've called someone to come and take your brother back to his room already, now let's go." Seto turned back towards Hobson.
"But Hobson, can't we just take him back to his room? I'd just like to be sure he makes it back into bed," Seto looked down, "It's just a little habit of mine I like to keep occasionally." Hobson didn't look like he cared or was even concerned with this fact.
"I'm sorry Seto, but Master Kaiba has requested that you be in your room at this hour, and I don't have the power to change his orders." Two goons appeared in the hallway when Seto turned his head back towards his brother. They were standing upright, and looked identical to one another.
"We'll take the kid from here," One of them said robotically. They both inched forward at the same time with their arms drawn out towards Mokuba's small frame. Seto had the powerful urge to retaliate, to pull back, or maybe even start sprinting down the perpendicular hallway and make a run for it. But Seto also knew it would do him no good in the long run, so he would have to overcome his powerful urge and give in.
"Yes sir," Seto said in defeat, holding out his brother to one of the goons. Mokuba was taken from his arms and into the arms of one of Gozaburo's followers. They said nothing more and started walking away into the darkness. Seto was left alone again with his thoughts and feelings… as well as Hobson.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's go to your room," Seto said nothing and followed him. Seto stared at the ground for the rest of the walk to his room. His mind was frazzled and his heart a bit swollen from what had happened. Seto didn't like the idea of defeat, and he didn't like putting his brother in the arms of another man. Not after what his father had done.
When Mokuba had been born five years ago, Seto's father had taken the small boy into his arms. A person, a woman, had already died in that same room. And what was his father left with to replace the love of his life? This; the son his very soul mate had given birth to and died for. The moment the boy was in his arms, he had detached himself completely from being the boy's father figure. He had revoked all responsibility from himself, leaving the job to anyone who was willing to take it.
Seto was the one who would ultimately take that job of fathering that child. In some ways, it was the very reason he was even living in the Kaiba household, walking back from one of the most rigorous schooling sessions he had ever experienced in his life. Mokuba was the reason he was willing to risk everything.
And as Seto lay in bed after preparing himself for sleep, that was all he could really think about. His brother… he would do anything for his younger brother, even if it meant going through all of this. Seto rolled onto his side. The bed beneath him was cold and unknown. The room was pitch black, not a light to be seen anywhere. Seto sat up and reached for the window up above him and beside his bed. He pulled up the shades, hoping that the moon's light would comfort him.
But the clouds prevented from anything like that. There were no stars in the sky either. Seto had never felt so alone. When he went back to lay down in his bed, he pondered whether or not it was true that Mokuba was still in the same house with him. The mansion was so big, empty enough to make him feel like he was living on another planet. But alas… the thought of Mokuba; and just thinking of his name even in the wake of complete darkness… it was comforting to him. Seto would stay up many hours into the night, with sweet and loving thoughts of his brother until sleep had finally taken him.
The sleep would only last a short period of time, because at the crack of dawn, he was awakened by none other than Hobson.
"Master Kaiba, good morning," The little toad-like man said after flicking on the light switch. Seto immediately flinched and buried himself within the bundle of blankets that lay on top of him. He grunted with discomfort and remained hidden from the light. Hobson walked over to the boy's bed side and shook him lightly. "You must be quick with waking up my young master; your lesson will begin soon." Seto flipped down the blankets.
"Lesson?" Seto retreated under the blankets once again for a moment after discovering how bright the light was, but then re-emerges and covered his eyes. He looked over at the clock by his bed. It read 5 a.m. Seto's eyes widened. "Why in the world do I have a lesson at five in the morning?" Seto asked.
"Your physics teacher from Russia has already arrived by plane. Now I suggest you get ready or Master Kaiba will be quite furious." Hobson left the room after that and closed the door behind him. Seto sighed and let his head hang for a moment, feeling so absolutely exhausted. He had stayed up way too late last night. Doing what? Seto couldn't even remember what had kept him awake, he was so tired.
Seto took the longest time putting on his clothes. It seemed like all the things that would seem so easy and natural were ten times harder with the loss of sleep. Seto could barely stand on one foot while putting on his pants. Seto ruffled his hair a bit after putting on his clothes, treading over to the bathroom. He turned on the water and splashed his face a bunch of times. The water was cold, but his face was still asleep.
Seto popped his head out of the bathroom and looked around. No sign of Hobson. Seto gave a tired smile of relief. He was happy Hobson wasn't following him right now. Seto knew he was supposed to report to the dining room right away for breakfast, but Seto couldn't help the need to get outside. The cool breeze would probably be enough to wake Seto from his sleepiness. A whip of fresh air in the morning was all he needed most days.
Seto snuck down stairs in the quietest of ways. With every step he took down the stairway, his eyes would dart from side to side. It appeared as though no one was around, and no one could hear him. Of course, Seto wouldn't have expected them to. After all, it was five in the morning.
Seto's pace down the steps quickened with every passing minute, until he had finally made it to the end. With careful movement, he made it down the hallway, along the wall, and over to the front door. Seto stared at the large door. He had never quite noticed how big it was in comparison to him. No matter, Seto would reach out for the door to try and open it…
"NOT so fast," Just as Seto's hand had touched the door knob; he had felt a jolting pain from his back. His body was thrust forward because of it and slammed into the wooden door in front of him. He was pinned there for a moment or so before the jabbing pain was removed and he was forced to turn around. Seto looked up to see Gozaburo, glaring down at him.
"Father, I-" A large slap went across Seto's face. Seto felt his body freeze up, like it had been paralyzed with the jaw breaking blow to his chin. Seto hadn't expected such a strong blow from a man his age. Gozaburo was definitely stronger than he appeared.
"You were told to report to the dining room when you were done getting dressed. What were you trying to do? Run away?" Seto began shaking his head.
"No… no, of course not! I was just-"
"Do you know what would happen if you were to run away?" Seto opened his mouth to speak, only to greet another pound to his face. "Do you?" Seto tried to back away from the man, one hand on his cheek. His body was beginning to quiver uncontrollably in fear. This man was crazy… Gozaburo Kaiba was a mad man!
Seto spotted Gozaburo's hand shot out once more towards him, and this time he flinched in preparation for another attack. Instead, the hand went towards his shirt, grabbing something around his neck. Seto's body was lifted a little ways off the ground as Gozaburo held him up by the collar.
"Now you listen to me, Kid. You'll do as I say, or so help me… You won't be the only one getting a pounding." Seto knew who Gozaburo was referring to, and he stopped resisting immediately. Seto let his head hang in defeat.
"Yes sir. Whatever you say." Gozaburo grinned and placed the boy back down onto his feet.
"Good." Seto kept his eyes focused on the ground. He didn't want to look up directly into Gozaburo's face. There was something different about this man. Something that frightened Seto more than he had thought he would be frightened. It had become clear that Gozaburo would do anything to keep order and discipline within his house. And Seto was beginning to understand that if he didn't comply with Gozaburo's liking, someone was going to have to take the beating for it.
In a situation like this, pain was inevitable.
A/N: Hey guys! Long time, no update, right? Sorry about that! But before I go into any useless details, I do want to say I'm sorry this chapter was a bit fail in some cases. I assure you, though, that the next few chapters will be much better and much more thought provoking! It'll be grand, I'm sure! Well, anyhow, you've all been very great supporters and I know this story will turn out fantastically! Thanks so much for reading!