They finished their tea in relative silence, and before they went back inside, Seto thanked Ryou, for the tea and the story. Ryou's parents were home by that point; Mrs. Bakura had gone to the grocery store earlier and was just finishing putting away the groceries with the help of her husband and Mokuba. She did have work tonight, unlike last night, so she left soon, after talking with Kenji about what she'd learned that day at the doctor's office.

"Oh, hun, why can't we adopt them? We could give them a good home," she sighed wistfully, putting her arms around her husband's neck as she lay her head on his shoulder for a few moments. He chuckled warmly and embraced her, kissing her forehead.

"You do realize that you say that about every stray dog and alley cat you see, right?" he teased.

"But this time I really mean it. They need help. They need parents, family, stability. Seto needs time to heal and sleep and realize that life doesn't have to feel like a constant cycle of torture and degradation. Oh, bother." She was starting to tear up just thinking about what his life must be like. Kenji handed her his handkerchief and hugged her reassuringly.

"We'll make things better for them, dear," he promised as she dabbed at her eyes. Then he added gently, "There's no need to cry."

"I know, I know," she muttered, pulling herself together and giving him an apologetic smile. "I just cry too easily." He kissed her in answer to that, reminding her that he loved her deep empathy as much as he loved any other part of her.

After Mrs. Bakura had left for work, saying goodbye to the children on her way out the door, Seto was pulled aside by Ryou's father for a private conversation. Ryou turned on the evening news once he'd coaxed the younger children into doing their homework, working on his own reading for literature class while paying cursory attention to current events as told by the newscasters. Marik, on the other hand, was riveted to the television, fascinated and repulsed by the stories he heard.

Meanwhile, Seto's conversation with Mr. Bakura was as uncomfortable as it was beneficial. Mr. Bakura offered to let Mokuba stay with his family for as long as he needed in order to get his life together, but Seto had turned him down flat. He wouldn't let himself be separated from his brother, not even temporarily.

"I'll figure it out," Seto assured. "I'll figure it out within the week. I'll find a way."

"Promise me that if you do get into more trouble, you won't hesitate to come to me for help?" Seto hesitated before answering.

"I won't hesitate if I need your help, sir," Seto answered evasively. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not drag your family into danger if I can help it. I do have one friend who knows what's going on, and I may go to him for help instead, depending on the circumstances."

"Will you at least tell me if you've bitten off more than you can chew?"

"Yes, sir, I will."

"And will you tell me once you have disentangled yourself from your current situation?"

"Right away, sir."

"Good, because my wife was right that we do have an opening for an intern to aid in digitizing our research findings and organizing the information, and we can't start you working until your hours are a little more free."

"Thank you, sir." Seto was overwhelmed with a wave of gratitude. This was the most that anybody had ever done for him. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around the reason for why he would help him, aside from charitable impulse. He'd never seen such a thing so strong in someone, save Joey.

Joey. He'd be able to tell him that it was coming to an end. The blond bully-turned-friend would be relieved. He'd always been uncomfortable with Seto's profession and the physical pain it caused him. Seto had always been too stubborn to let Joey do anything to help him, and Joey had been too tentative to push him any further about it.

When they finally re-emerged, Seto was racking his brain as he tried to think of a way for him to possibly get the pimp off his back without angering him and making him go after Mokuba. The TV caught his eye, though, and the news story playing at the moment made him break into a laugh unlike anything else Mokuba or Ryou had ever heard from him. In truth, neither of them had ever heard much laughter from Seto, so to see him laughing hard at nothing in particular was disturbing. Seto was still laughing as he went into the guest room to gather their things together. The other residents of the room looked confused, but were too perplexed to have an answer as to what had caused such a reaction. Meanwhile, the newscaster continued with her story.

"The former corporation president leaves behind a grieving widow and two children. In light of his father's untimely death, Noah Kaiba has inherited his father's shares of the company and ascended the role of president and CEO of the Kaiba Corporation…"

"You shouldn't find joy in a man's death," Seth said as he appeared in spirit-form in the guest room.

"I'm not going to apologize for being happy that he's dead," Seto said as he got his things together, answering out loud because he didn't stop to think that he might be overheard.

"You sound insane when you laugh like that," Seth pointed out as he crossed his arms. "It draws attention to yourself, and you know that's the last thing you want."

"Fine, I'll stop laughing, but I'm still happy he's dead, because now that he's dead, they no longer need me, specifically, for their nasty little business. I actually have a shot at getting out without putting Mokuba in danger. I don't think you understand what that means to me."

"I understand, Seto, trust me, I do. I hate that man as much as you do, that's why I—" The former pharaoh suddenly fell silent, making Seto look up at him.

"That's why you what? What did you do?" Seto was starting to get suspicious.

"I may have… punished him after what he did to you last night," Seth admitted.

"You… what? How did you…? No, you didn't—" Seto was shocked as he stammered aloud his thought process. "You took control of me just like the Evil Spirit controlled Ryou!"

"Please lower your voice, Seto," Seth cautioned, approaching his hikari with a look of concern. "They already think you've lost it, after a laugh like that. If they hear you arguing with yourself, they won't have any choice but to come in and ask you what's wrong, and I know that's the last thing you want."

"You took control of me without my—How do I not have any memories of this?" Seto was outraged, but he managed to keep his voice low as Seth requested.

"Granted, you were hardly conscious at the time, and that would have eventually led to further injury if I hadn't done something. I was looking out for your well being, Seto." Seth was desperate to make Seto believe him. The more Seto fought him, the more he tried to push Seth out of his mind and his life, the harder this would be on both of them and the longer it would be before they could work cooperatively. Until they managed to work together, it left them vulnerable to an attack by the Spirit of the Ring or any other vile, magical entity.

"By possessing me? And just what do you mean when you say that you 'punished' him?"

"I may have done something to his mind that served him the justice he would otherwise never receive. It's rather complicated, I doubt you wish to hear the details of it at the moment."

"You possessed me before I even knew you were there?!"

"Please, keep your voice down," Seth insisted, the two of them standing nearly toe to toe now. "Seto, you wouldn't have made it very far on your own. Gozaburo had lost his mind before I did anything to him; for all we know, you might not have made it out of there alive if I hadn't stepped in."

There was a moment of silence between them in which they stared each other down, both to stubborn to step away at first. Finally, Seto stepped back, letting his shoulders relax.

"I only did what I had to do to get you to a safe place: I walked as far as this house then gave you control again. That's why you didn't remember getting here last night." Seth spoke more calmly now, resting his ghostly hands on Seto's shoulders as he smiled down at him. Seto may be six foot two, but he was still only sixteen, while Seth was fully grown, and as such was taller. "I only act to protect you, Seto. I know that you have no trust in kindness or charity, but consider this: I need you alive for me to exist in this world. You trust in the power of self-interest, I know. So remember that it's in my interest for you to be healthy and safe. That is why you can trust me to be looking out for your best interest."

He leaned in and kissed Seto's forehead, and Seto would have flinched away from the touch if only he could have felt it.

"Was that the only time you took control of me?"

Seth sighed and released him. "No, it wasn't, but please, Seto," he rushed to speak as Seto started to bristle. "Trust me when I say it was only to protect you."

"When was it?" Seto demanded, crossing his arms.

"Your chess game with Noah," he admitted. "There is a true evil in his heart that you must be wary of. I could tell that things wouldn't have ended well if I'd let you do it alone, so I played a Shadow Game of chess with him and taught him a lesson."

"Did you 'punish' him too?"

"No, I did not. His loss at chess was a lesson in and of itself."

"And what I do remember of the game?"

"Every move on the chess board that you remember is accurate. I planted those while you slept so that you didn't worry about the memory gap."

"Will you show me what really happened now?"

"I don't think you're ready yet. I'm afraid you'd be disturbed by it."

"I'm not a child, and I've seen a fair amount of hellish things, so I doubt what I'm going to see will disturb me."

"The whole thing disturbed Noah enough that he accused me of cheating, even with no evidence to support the claim."

"That was him being a sore loser," Seto said dismissively. "What really happened?"

Seth sighed in defeat and closed his eyes, the images flooding Seto's mind and making him reel. He sat down on the bed, hard, and Seth sighed.

"I told you it was disturbing."

"Who are those people and why do they all look like me?"

"I did tell you that you were my reincarnation, didn't I? You're not the first reincarnation of me, and in another universe, your life is far different from this one. And to add to that, I'm the reincarnation on somebody else." Seto's expression was stunned and perplexed, and he clearly wasn't comprehending what was happening. "I was right, you're not ready for this. I'll explain it to you another time when you're more stable."

Seto was still stunned as he ran through the flood of memories from the Shadow Game. One in particular stood out to him. "Seto... Kaiba? In what universe would I want to be a Kaiba?"

"In the universe where it's the only way for you and Mokuba to stay together and still escape the system."

They went home that night, Seto insisting that he didn't want to overstay his welcome. He made dinner for Mokuba, and they enjoyed a nice, quiet night at home together. The next day, he gathered together the assignments he'd missed on Friday and set about making them up. That night, he planned on bringing his current arrangement to an end once and for all.

When Seto went to meet the pimp for purpose of handing over his payout, he took the Millennium Rod with him instead of the money and left Mokuba locked in his room for safety. This ended here. When Seto called on it, Seth channeled the Shadow Magic so that it didn't kill the vile man, only punished him. Seto walked away unharmed and without giving up a good chunk of his hard-earned cash. He had no qualms or regrets about what he'd done, and Seth found himself saddened by the whole thing.

"Seto, you need to stop laughing when you exact vengeance from your enemies. It's disturbing," Seth scolded as Seto strolled out of the alleyway where he'd left the pimp and his goons in mental agony, his coat billowing out behind him dramatically.

"I'm not going to apologize for what I did," Seto said darkly, not even bothering to look at the spirit beside him, who sighed in response.

"I wouldn't expect you to, but please don't make a habit of this. I don't want to have to argue with you about the use of magic."

"I would only do this to people who absolutely deserve it, like Gozaburo and them"—he jerked his head in the direction of the alleyway they'd left behind—"and now that they're all taken care of, I can't think of anybody else in my life who's like that. I don't foresee needing to do anything like that again in the immediate future."

Seth figured it was the best he could hope to get at the moment. "From now on, just leave the mind crushing to me, okay?"

"Fair enough, since you know all about the shadow magic and I know next to nothing about it. I just wanted to deal with him personally."

The ancient pharaoh fell silent then, the conversation at an end. Seto continued walking home, enjoying the silence. He wasn't prepared for what he saw when he got home, however.

"Where did he go off to this time?" his father was demanding of Mokuba, who looked terrified of their drunk father as he yelled at him. Seto sprang into action immediately, and at first Seth was afraid that he might use the Millennium Rod and attempt to use Shadow Magic, but that was the last thing on Seto's mind. He grabbed his father and pulled him away from the child, pushing him against the wall and keeping him pinned there as the drunk struggled against him. He glanced down the hall at the door to his own room, and saw that the lock must have been broken.

"Mokuba, go to your room and lock the door. I'll come get you." It was all he had to say for Mokuba to scamper off to his room and close the door firmly, locking it, much to Seto's satisfaction. "What have I told you?" he snarled, still pinning his father to the wall. His father laughed, clearly high, and Seto slammed him against the wall again. "What. Have. I. Told. You."

"Not to touch him," his father finally answered, his eyes glazed and his pupils widely dilated.

"Exactly. If you ever lay another finger on him or talk to him like that again, I swear I'll—" His father's laughter interrupted him, only making him more furious.

"You'll what?"

"I'll put my money in a bank where you can't snatch it to pay for your drugs and booze."

"You wouldn't do that. You don't trust anybody, let alone a bank."

"Maybe I'm changing." Seto released his father, who stumbled away, leaving out the front door as he mumbled to himself something incomprehensible. Seto sighed and knocked on Mokuba's door. "Mokuba, it's safe to come out now."

Mokuba came out of the room and threw himself at his brother, Seto crouching down to hug him tightly.

"I don't want you going away anymore," he said, sounding distressed and on the verge of tears.

"I won't go away anymore, Mokuba," he murmured as he picked up his little brother and stood, holding him tightly in his arms. "Things are going to get a lot better from now on."

"You're not going to be hurt, anymore?" Damn. He'd thought that he'd been able to hide all that from Mokuba. "I saw your painkillers under the mattress," he explained quietly, wrapping his arms more securely around his brother's neck.

"No, Mokuba, I'm not going to get hurt anymore. You won't have to stay at Ryou's so late, we'll both get more sleep. Things are going to get better."

"Do you promise?"

Seto kissed Mokuba's cheek.

"Yes, I promise."

Author Notes: Finally, freedom! *insert Braveheart gif* My baby's free at last, oh happy day! :'3 I've been wanting to do this since Chapter 1, to be honest. He's free, but he's becoming more like the Seto Kaiba we know and love.

Remember that moment in Season Three when there's a picture of young Seto strolling down the street with money in the air, and he's wearing a long coat for the first time? Yeah, there's a moment like that in this chapter meant to mark a similar turning point in his life.

And, as usual, anybody who can get the "Hamilton" reference in this chapter receives Internet brownies!

So, did you like it? Did you not like it? Tell me why in a review, because more reviews = more chapters! Or you can guess which Yu-Gi-Oh villain will be appearing next! I just might write a one-shot for anybody who can guess correctly~! ;D