Author Notes: Let me ask a question: Normally, Joey would be addressing Seto by his last name, given the relationship they have as enemies, so should I bother with giving Seto and Mokuba a last name, or should I just leave it vague? Which would you prefer, or do you not care? Post your answer in a review, and enjoy the chapter!

Text in bold denotes quotes from/allusions to the musical Hamilton.

By the time they got home, Seto was still fairly wet from the driving rain, but he was appreciably less soaked than he would have been without the umbrella. It was late enough that their father was still out, but also late enough that Seto put Mokuba to bed as soon as they got home. Then he sat down at the kitchen table to do his calculus homework after swallowing three acetaminophen pills. There were at least two times that he almost fell asleep at the table, but he jerked himself awake and forced himself to complete the assignment. It was well after one in the morning when he did and could finally put his school things away for the night.

As he changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants to sleep in, he hissed at the sting of rough cotton rubbing against the fresh welts on his back. Mr. Kaiba was the only one of his customers to be so… extreme in his preferences; unfortunately, he'd been the one requesting a whore of Seto's coloring, so it was impossible for Seto to be free of him. He flopped onto the mattress on the floor next to his bed.

Mokuba had been sleeping with Seto in his room for years, not out of necessity, but because he was too scared to sleep alone. However, they were both growing to be too big for Seto's twin bed, so last week Seto had finally gotten around to dragging the mattress from Mokuba's bed into his own room and setting it up on the floor for himself. Mokuba had protested to having his older brother on the floor, but Seto had insisted that his limbs were too long for him to feel comfortable in the bed anyways. He shivered a little as he pulled the blankets over himself, the rain pounding against the window more gently now. He closed his eyes and was asleep within seconds. He was tired enough that it took no effort for him to sleep.

The next morning, Seto woke up at 5:30 sharp, not because of an alarm, but because of the internal clock he'd drilled to perfection with the use of sheer willpower. He'd only gotten four hours of sleep, but that was normal for him. He groaned in pain as he sat up, reaching for the medicine bottle under his mattress and dry swallowing three more pills before he stood and showered.

He went about his routine of getting ready for the day as he called to mind everything he had to do: his English paper was due today, so he'd have to stop by the school library before class to print it out; he had a test in economics, but he knew he would ace that easily; he had five clients scheduled for tonight, so he'd let Ryou know that he'd pick up Mokuba a little later than usual tonight. Nothing out of the ordinary in any other classes, and all of the homework due today was completed. He woke up Mokuba and made sure his brother was getting ready for school before he went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Breakfast was the biggest meal of the day for Seto. He was usually too busy at lunch to eat more than a protein bar, and his dinner was whatever he could grab for himself while he was walking en route to the next client. Even so, he always made sure that Mokuba had enough money to buy a decent lunch at the cafeteria, and on weekdays he ate dinner with the Bakuras, which meant that he was eating well enough that Seto didn't have to worry about his health. Seto was plating scrambled eggs and toast for the two of them when Mokuba entered the kitchen, still yawning a bit.

"You missed a spot," Seto said with a faint smile as he smoothed down a rebellious lock of his little brother's hair. Mokuba just grinned and gave his brother a hug before accepting the plate of food. They sat across each other at the small table as they ate breakfast.

"Don't we usually leave for school later than this?"

"Yes, but I need to get to school a little bit earlier today, so we need to leave earlier."

"How was work last night?" Mokuba, like everybody else, believed that Seto worked as a bartender at a seedy joint downtown called "The Underground." That was actually the last job Seto'd had, but he'd been fired for getting into a fistfight with one of the customers. Granted, the man had been drunk, but he'd also been making physical advances on one of the female customers who'd asked him several times to stop, and that was something Seto just wouldn't stand for.

"It was alright, busier than last night, but tonight will be even busier, like always. I should be picking you up around eleven, but they might need me to stay later. If they do, I'll let you Ryou know."

"If you're going to be back so late, then could I just sleep over?" Mokuba asked slyly. Seto frowned a little. Parents tended to get squeamish about boy-girl sleepovers, even if they were just little kids and there was an older teen to keep an eye on them.

"Mokuba, I've already told you why that's not allowed," he said sternly, much to his brother's disappointment. "How is Amane doing?" Mokuba perked up immediately, and Seto was smiling again. Both older brothers had their suspicions about the their younger siblings having feelings for each other, though neither would broach the subject directly. Valentine's Day was next week, however, and Seto was just waiting for Mokuba to ask for money to buy chocolates for her.

"She's doing well. Her dad sent her and Ryou another package from Egypt yesterday."

"What was in it?"

"Some pieces of painted pottery from the dig site, a little glass cat for Amane, and a bottle of paint for Ryou. Apparently it's made with the same kinds of pigments they used in Ancient Egypt, except the paint itself isn't nearly that old." Mokuba chattered on a bit about how he thought it was so cool that Mr. Bakura was an archaeologist who dug up old stuff in Egypt. Seto himself had yet to meet Ryou's father, though he'd met his mother a few times before. "I wonder if he's ever found dinosaur bones in Egypt."

Seto scoffed at that. "I doubt the Egyptians were taking the time to mummify dinosaurs. If the Egyptians ever did run into dinosaurs, I think the dinosaurs would've won that fight, leaving no Egyptians behind to bury them."

After walking Mokuba to Domino Middle School, then walking himself to Domino High School, Seto had enough time to spend twenty minutes on one of the library computers working on his own secret project: computer coding for a virtual reality program. When it was finished, it would be the thing to pull Seto and Mokuba out of the current existence they scraped together out of spare change and secondhand clothes. It would free Seto from his father and from the pimp and from Gozaburo Kaiba and everybody else who looked down on him. It would launch Seto's career in the field of computer technology. It would move them to a better part of town where they could feel safe for the first time in their life. He'd been working on it for years, but it was far from done. Five minutes before the start of homeroom, he ejected his USB (containing all of his work on the program) from the library's computer and stuffed the printed essay into his backpack, then made his way to his classroom.

He was almost there and the halls were almost empty when he came across an altercation that required his intervention: Joey Wheeler, easily one of his least favorite people in the world, was taunting Yugi Moto, apparently holding something of his in one hand and holding it out of his classmate's reach. Granted, that wasn't very hard to do, given Yugi's small stature, but it was still cruel. Yugi was frantic in his efforts, reaching and pleading for it, but all to no avail. Joey seemed to be enjoying Yugi's distress, and that made Seto's blood boil. He'd managed to stay out of any serious fights since his "career change," afraid that his true state would be betrayed in the aftermath, especially if someone saw fit to try and take him to the school nurse afterward, but he couldn't allow this.

"How many times do I need to tell you to pick on someone your own size, Wheeler?" He glared at the blond as he approached, who turned and grinned smugly.

"You don't need to do anything, you know," Joey pointed out, as if he enjoyed mocking Seto's noble nature. "You could just walk away for once."

"Not a chance," Seto growled as he dropped his backpack by the lockers lining the hallway. "It'll only take a moment to teach you a lesson." Yugi had started backing away from the bully; now that Seto was here, he knew that things were going to get violent, and he'd rather be out of the way than risk being collateral damage. He cringed against the wall, glancing at his watch as he noticed with a sense of panic that there was less than a minute until class started. Joey pocketed his loot before lunging at Seto. They grappled briefly, Seto using Joey's momentum against him to knock him to the floor only to have Joey hook his arm around Seto and bring him down as well. As Seto's back slammed into the floor, a sound of pain tore from his throat, unbidden. For a brief moment, pain resonated through every inch of his being, and he couldn't breathe. The air had been knocked out of him as he fell, eyes closed as he braced himself for impact. Joey stood and laughed, making Seto open his eyes to glare at him as he forced himself off of the floor. His adversary stood over him, victorious (for once), and gloating.

"Looks like I'm not the one getting my ass kicked today," Wheeler taunted, and as Seto tried to stand, he bent over and reached out with the intent of grabbing Seto by the hair and shoving him back to the floor, but something about his gesture had made Seto flinch. Seto had flinched. Joey shoved him down by the shoulder, then walked away, leaving his defeated foe to pick himself up off the floor. Joey slipped into his classroom with less than thirty seconds to spare.

Yugi rushed forward, reaching out to help Seto stand, but the taller teen brushed his hand away, perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary.

"One of these days, Yugi, you'll realize that pacifism isn't practical," Seto said bitterly, picking up his backpack as he started walking somewhat stiffly towards his own classroom just down the hall. "You could win your own fights if you just tried."

Yugi wanted to call after him, but they were out of time. He ducked into class just as the teacher was about to close the door, face red with shame as he despaired over losing what had been stolen from him. At the back of the room, Joey leaned back in his seat with his hands linked behind his head. He barely paid any attention to class, as usual, but today there was something bothering him. Seto shouldn't have been in so much pain when he went down with Joey. They'd both hit the floor with more or less the same amount of force, and Joey hadn't been in pain like that. The only explanation he could concoct was that Seto was already hurt. And then that flinch…

He had never, since the day he met the cocky brunette, seen him flinch. Not in gym class when the harsh coach yelled in his face, not when faced with bullies stronger and more brutal than Joey, and especially not when he was facing off Joey himself. At least, not until now. Joey didn't know what it meant, but he didn't like it. And he didn't like that it bothered him, but he knew that he was the only one who'd seen it, so if there was anybody to worry about him, it was Joey. Yugi hadn't seen the flinch; he'd been too busy checking his watch as he fretted about getting to class on time. Joey chewed on those thoughts for the rest of the day, wondering if for once, he ought to do something to help that smartypants that so loved to defy him.

LadyKaiba27: There'll be more uke!Seto coming up in the next chapter or two. ;)

Mara-kun: I've only read one that does that, and it was well-done, though it's still unfinished. I can send you a link if you like! Just PM me and I'll send it to you.

BreakfastForLife: Thank you! I find it equally funky, but I still love it.

TheReaperGrimm: I will be continuing no matter what. :)

liron-aria: I know, right? But don't worry, our poor baby will rise up, DESPITE the circumstances! (Cue "My Shot" from Hamilton)