Seto dreamed again that night, but, thankfully it wasn't a nightmare, although he'd half expected to relive his time with Gozaburo. It had been more violent and painful than anything he'd experienced previously, which made it hard to get out of his mind. His dream was the same as the one he'd had when he first received the Millennium Rod and passed out. Warm arms wrapped around him in a comforting darkness, and he struggled against the stranger just as he had last time.

Hush, my child. Let me heal you.

"I'm not your child," he protested, although his words sounded more sleepy than sour.

You are more precious to me than if you were my child.

"Why?" Seto asked, confused, finally relaxing against the arms that were too strong for him to resist. "Who are you?"

You will know soon enough, my son.

"I'm not your son." He meant to snap at the disembodied, paternal voice, but he just sounded like a drowzy, moody child. He tried to force his eyes open, but the warm energy flowing through him from those strong arms was acting like a sedative, gently forcing him into a state of total relaxation whether he wanted it or not.

Close enough, little one. Close enough.

When Seto opened his eyes the next morning, he felt oddly comfortable. His mattress wasn't this nice. He opened his eyes, and jerked awake immediately. It was too bright in here. He was late. He needed to get to school. He tried to sit up, but let out a groan of pain and sank back onto the bed, burying his face in the pillow as he braced himself to try again.

"Good morning, my pharaoh."

The voice startled Seto, and he forced himself up despite the pain to see who had spoken. There sat Marik, cross-legged on the floor just inside the doorway.

"How long have you been watching me sleep?" he asked, feeling like his privacy had been violated.

"Less than an hour," Marik answered after a moment's thought. He was still adjusting to the modern measure of time.

"Where's Mokuba?" he asked suddenly, becoming aware of his little brother's absence.

"School," the Egyptian answered, watching Seto carefully with those unnerving lavender eyes of his. Seto let out a sigh of relief and sat up slowly, testing the state of his body after last night's abuse. He ached all over, but he could still move, and he didn't feel like any of the wounds had reopened, which was another good sign.

"Why did you call me pharaoh?" he asked, unable to deny his suspicious nature as he questioned the stranger. Marik grinned, looking pleased with himself.

"You don't ask why you understood an ancient language?" he returned cheekily, making Seto freeze in the process of stretching his arms. He realized now that, yes, while he'd clearly understood Marik's words as if they were spoken in his native tongue, the language itself wasn't anything he'd ever heard before. Marik smiled with a look of satisfaction. He stood and slipped out of the room, and Seto relaxed a little. He couldn't focus when those unnerving eyes were watching him so carefully.

"Knock knock," Mrs. Bakura said softly as she rapped on the door with her knuckles, opening it slightly as she pushed the door open a bit. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better. Thank you for letting me stay the night," he said politely. His expression of gratitude sounded inadequate even to his own ears, but he didn't know how to phrase it any better.

"Well, I wasn't about to let you go home in the state you were in," she said gently, her eyes filled with sadness and pity. Seto had grown to resent all pity; pity was something you expressed in response to someone who was weak. He wasn't weak, and he didn't want to be seen as weak. "I called a friend of mine, a pediatrician. He said he could see you today."

Seto stiffened and looked away. He'd forgotten that he'd promised to see a doctor today. She entered the room slowly and sat next to him on the bed, careful not to make any sudden movements. His behavior last night reminded her of the behavior exhibited by the rare abuse cases that turned up at the children's hospital where she worked. She didn't want to startle him.

"We want to help you, Seto. We're doing this for your own good." She couldn't help but look at him and consider what she'd do if he were her own son. She had a nurturing soul by nature, hence her chosen profession, and it pained her to see others suffer.

"I know," he answered quietly, looking down at his hands. She was feeling far too maternal not to run a hand through his shaggy brown hair and comment, "I think it's time for you to get a haircut." She brought his head close and kissed the top of his head before she released him and stood to leave. "I put your clothes from last night in the wash, I hope you don't mind. I brought something for you to wear in the meantime."—she gestured to a pile of folded clothes on the nightstand—"Once you're done getting cleaned up, you can come out to the kitchen and I'll have breakfast ready for you."

"Thank you, ma'am," he said, almost softening at her maternal affection. He took her advice and took a quick shower, dressing in the borrowed clothes afterward. Judging by the style and size, they were borrowed from her husband, not her son, which made sense given that Seto was a good five inches taller than Ryou and his limbs were proportionally longer.

He enjoyed breakfast, offering to do the dishes afterward saying it was "the least he could do." He washed them, dried them, put them away, all because he was putting off the doctor's visit for as long as possible. Eventually, though, the time came for him to give in and go with her to the doctor, leaving Marik behind to puzzle over a set of books that were helping him learn to read Japanese.

That morning, Ryou took Mokuba and Amane to school feeling apprehensive. The events of last night were still eating away at the back of his mind, making it difficult for him to focus on classes.

By lunch time, his friends had grown to be quite worried about Seto's absence.

"He hasn't missed a day of school for as long as I can remember," Yugi said worriedly as they ate. They'd met in a classroom out of habit, perhaps subconsciously hoping that Seto would just show up.

"Hey, Ryou, do you know what's wrong with him?" Joey asked. "I mean, you look after his brother, right? So you would know."

"Uh, yeah, he's… sick," Ryou answered evasively.

"With what?" Anzu asked.

"I'm not sure, but when he showed up last night to pick up Mokuba, he looked pretty bad off."

"How bad?" Yugi asked.

"Uh, pretty bad," Ryou answered, wondering how much he ought to say when he didn't even know the full story. "He kind of… collapsed on the front step."

"Oh no!"

"Ouch."

"My parents didn't think it was a good idea to send him home like that, so he stayed at our house last night."

"I guess it's a good thing he didn't come to school, then, if it's that bad."

"Hey, I know what we should do! We should all go over and visit him after school to cheer him up! If that's alright with you, of course," Yugi said, deferring to Ryou.

"Of course it is. I'm sure he'd appreciate the company." Ryou wasn't sure, but he knew that having friends around would at least cheer Seto up and remind him that he didn't have to keep his troubles to himself.

"Cool! I can drive us over after school, I just have to pick up Serenity first."

"And Mokuba and Amane," Ryou added.

"Will you have enough room for all of us in your car?" Anzu asked as she counted up the number of people who'd have to fit into Joey's sports car in order for this to work out logistically.

"Of course! No problem," he answered, brushing off their concerns with a wave of his hand. "I've fit more people than that in my car before." Anzu and Yugi exchanged a glance, silently agreeing that they didn't want to hear the context of that event.

"How is he?" Mrs. Bakura asked as Dr. Nakamura left Seto alone in the examination room. His expression wasn't very reassuring. He summoned her with a gesture of his hand, and the two of them strolled down the hall together. "Did you get him to tell you what happened?"

"No need, the markers on his body were enough for me to figure it out." He glanced around, as if wary of who might overhear them. Or maybe he was just uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. "Are you familiar with the euphemism, 'the oldest profession?'" he asked in a low voice.

"Yes—Oh god no, you can't—" She glanced back in the direction of the room where Seto waited. "You don't mean to tell me—?"

"Unfortunately, yes, all the physiological and behavioral signs are there. It's the only thing that makes sense. Either that, or he's the most stubborn and shy domestic abuse victim I've ever seen." Miya winced at that. "I'm sorry, but it's true. It's too bad; he seems like a good kid."

"He is," she replied quietly. "So, what specifically caused his injuries?"

"They looked like whip-marks, but they were made by a whip like nothing I've ever seen. It must have had pieces of barbed wire embedded in the length." She winced again. "And the older wounds showed clear, long-term abuse. I would say he's been doing this for several months, give or take a month or two. It's also worth mentioning that he's slightly underweight." She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried not to think what he endured most nights.

"How can we help him?"

"Well, the first thing you can do is get him out of it, but that's usually the hardest part. What do you know about his family?"

"His mother is deceased, his father is an unemployed alcoholic, and he has a little brother that means the world to him."

"Then it's entirely possible that he simply ran out of options. The economy's not what it used to be, after all. Getting hired is harder. And with himself and a little brother to take care of, he would do anything he could to provide. It's as simple as that. I've seen it before a few times at the charity clinic. I don't usually see those kids get a chance to get out, but you can give him that chance." Dr. Nakamura turned to face Miya at that moment. "What he needs more than anything else is time. Time to let his body heal, time to feel like a normal teenager again. He's strong. He can move past this and still make something of his life, but he needs to get out of this… profession as soon as possible. Turning back to his injuries, the attack last night was a deviation from prior events. He sustained injuries unlike anything he'd previously received, which suggests that something changed."

"Something changed? Like what?"

"You'd have to ask him yourself," the doctor answered. "I'm no psychologist, but I would say that he probably won't want to talk about any of it for quite a while. Are you sure those injuries happened yesterday evening?"

"Quite certain, they were fresh when he got to our house last night. Why do you ask?"

"The degree to which they've healed is impressive considering they occurred less than twelve hours ago, that's all. It could just be that his body has adapted to heal faster as it's become accustomed to constant abuse. It's not very scientific, but I wouldn't be surprised. Stranger things have happened."

When Mrs. Bakura went in to talk to Seto he wouldn't look at her. She sat next to him as she had that morning and gently put an arm around his shoulder. They sat in silence for a couple minutes, neither knowing what to say.

"Joey's the the only other person who knows," he said at last. "I trust you and your husband to keep this to yourselves."

"We should tell the authorities—"

"No," he interrupted, which was out of character for him. "They threatened to hurt Mokuba if I didn't cooperate, and if they found out that I talked to the police…" He trailed off, and Miya suddenly understood why he'd continued doing this for so long.

"I won't tell anybody but my husband," she promised. "And I'll reiterate to him your request for discretion. He could probably get you some kind of internship at the university where he's working on his doctoral thesis. What are you good at?"

"Computers," he answered automatically, and she smiled.

"Good, then you can help those archaeologists with data entry and cataloging. It's not surprising that they tend to be bad with technology when they spend so much time playing with old rocks."

Seto actually managed to smile at that joke.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried as he ran forward and tackled his brother. "You're okay!" His brother let out a grunt as Mokuba landed on his back, his arms latching around Seto's neck as he embraced his brother warmly. "When Ryou said that you were sick, I was worried about you."

"Don't worry about me, kiddo. How was school?" He reached a hand up to ruffle his brother's hair without looking up from what he was doing.

"It was good. What are you doing?"

"I'm teaching Marik how to play chess," Seto answered, moving his bishop across the board as Marik frowned and stared at it. "Bishop to C4."

"Hey Seto!" Joey's enthusiastic voice barely penetrated Seto's focus on the game.

"We were worried about you when you didn't show up at school," Yugi said, coming up to the couch to sit beside Seto with Anzu following like a puppy.

"I'm fine, I was just low on sleep."

"I thought you were sick?" Anzu asked, a little suspicious.

"Exhaustion sickness," Seto lied easily, wincing inwardly. When had lying become so easy for him? The response seemed to satisfy Anzu, though.

"Can I get anybody something to drink?" Ryou offered, stepping into the kitchen as he kept an eye on their younger siblings. Serenity seemed to be getting along well enough with Amane, even though she didn't know sign language.

"Water's good, thanks," Yugi answered, and the others nodded in agreement. Seto suppressed a groan of pain as Mokuba shifted on his back.

"Knight to H6," Marik said hesitantly as he moved the piece, then sat back, staring at the board with a furrowed brow.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met before," Anzu said, stepping up to Marik and introducing herself. "My name is Anzu, this is Yugi, the impulsive knucklehead hanging on the back of the couch is Joey, and that's his little sister Serenity." Marik blinked up at her, smiling amiably but looking vaguely confused.

"Queen to F3," Seto said, moving the piece as he started to smile to himself.

"My name is Marik," he answered, holding out a hand to shake Anzu's offered one. "You must forgive me, I am still learning the language." He turned his attention back to the chess game so that he didn't keep Seto waiting. "Pawn to C5."

"Where are you from?" Yugi asked curiously, at which point Marik turned his head and noticed the Millennium Puzzle for the first time. Ryou hadn't mentioned it before.

"Queen to F7. Checkmate." Seto moved his piece and held out a hand to Marik. "Good game for your first try." Marik shook Seto's hand, looking confused.

"How did you…?" Joey didn't understand how Seto could win a game so quickly.

"It's called the four-move mate. It's pretty easy to use against mediocre or beginner players, because they don't know any better." Joey let out a low whistle, impressed.

"That's pretty harsh," he said.

"I am from Egypt."

"Not really," Seto said casually in response to Joey as he reset the board, Mokuba finally releasing him and sliding off his back. Mokuba wasn't much entertained by chess, so he went to join the other kids his age, much to Seto's relief. He loved his brother, of course, but it hurt to have Mokuba hanging on him like that. "There are ways to reach a checkmate in just two moves."

"Egypt? Wow! How come you're in Japan, then?"

"Joey!" Anzu glared at the blond for his tactless question as Ryou came back to the living area with the water glasses. "You can't just ask somebody why they're here!" She and Joey started to bicker about polite social conventions, then Marik turned to Yugi and said something in old Egyptian.

"I beg your pardon?" the diminutive teenager replied, looking confused. He didn't understand the ancient language, unlike Ryou and Seto, who'd inherited their knowledge of it from the spirits in their Millennium Items.

"Your pendant." He pointed at it. "The Millennium Puzzle, yes?"

"Yes, it is. How did you know that?" Yugi answered, his hand going to his Puzzle instinctively. Marik's face took on a thoughtful expression, as if he were struggling to put the words together to express himself.

"It's complicated," Ryou answered on his behalf. Marik glanced at him gratefully and nodded. "Hey, now that we're all here, I can show you my diorama!"

"Diorama?" Joey repeated, looking confused.

"Yeah, for the Monster World game. You know it, Yugi." Ryo turned to his friend at that moment, who nodded in confirmation. "I've finished making my own custom game-board for it, and since we're all here, we should play it! It's something we can all do together." The general consensus was an affirmation, but Mokuba spoke up then.

"Seto has to work soon, don't you Big Brother?" Normally, Mokuba would be right, but Seto knew that wouldn't ever be happening again, not like it had been. He looked over his shoulder at the raven-haired child and smiled softly.

"Not today, kiddo. I'm all yours today." Mokuba beamed upon hearing those words, and left his friends for a moment to give his brother a brief hug.

"You kids be good while we're downstairs," Ryou said as he signed to his sister, who nodded in acknowledgment. Ryou led them down to the basement, which contained the extensive game-room he and his father had put together whenever Mr. Bakura wasn't away on business.

"What kind of game is Monster World?" Anzu asked curiously.

"It's a role-playing game."

Author Notes: Maybe I've been listening to too much "Hamilton" lately, because I quoted it again in this chapter. :P I think I might make a little game of this, seeing how many "Hamilton" songs I can seamlessly quote/reference in the story. Whoever catches all the references will get the glorious reward of Internet brownies!

The chess game this time is legit. There are actually several ways to reach checkmate in just a few moves if your opponent is unwary enough. ;)

And why does Seto always sound like a Carolina homeboy when talking to Ryou's parents? I don't even know! XD Great, now I'm picturing Seto Kaiba as a cowboy… Somebody PLEASE make fan-art of that!

What was your favorite moment in this chapter? Do you think you caught all the various references and quotes I made this time around? Please review, because more reviews = more chapters!