The next day, after dropping Mokuba off at Ryou's house, Seto was back at KaibaCorp, working with his new partner. He brought back the Duel Disk prototypes, which his new partner didn't seem to approve of. He suggested there were too many ways for them to go wrong and that they needed to shrink the technology further. As an engineer, that was his job, though. He started drawing up new plans while Seto tackled a debugging assignment he'd been given in his absence. They wanted him to correct the errors in a code written by another employee. He wasn't told what it was for or what it was supposed to do, which was normal at KaibaCorp because information was highly compartmentalized, just given the code's file location and a document listing all known errors.
On one monitor, he worked on the code, frowning at it as he tried to decipher its purpose and function. On his other monitor was a live stream from the Domino News Network. He liked knowing what was going on in his city and in the world, and after asking his partner if he wanted to listen to and receiving an affirmative answer, he let the volume come through the computer's speakers.
He was in the middle of rewriting nearly an entirely line of code when he heard his colleague ask him to turn the volume up.
"...has passed away. The creator of Duel Monsters was founding in his swimming pool with a blood alcohol level of point one eight," the newscaster said in calm, rapid speech, as they were trained to do. "Police have not yet released a statement concerning the cause of death, but they do suspect foul play. Noah Kaiba, the CEO and president of KaibaCorp, now owns Industrial Illusions, a company he was already in business with. Mr. Pegasus had no family, and has left the majority of his money to be divided among various charitable organizations. In other news, the city council will be voting on a bill tomorrow that, if passed, will institute a new..."
Seto sat for a few moments as he processed the information. Pegasus was dead. He had no grief for the man, but it still concerned him that he'd been murdered. If he'd died of natural causes, like drowning because he was drunk, they would have just come out and said so. And if Pegasus was dead, then where was the Millennium Eye? Would it be buried with him? Would the medical examiner that conducted the autopsy remove it? Would it find it's way into a police evidence locker and just stay there?
I suspect that the Millennium Eye has changed hands, Seth murmured in the back of Seto's mind as the brunette returned his attention to his work.
What makes you so sure?
The Millennium Items tend to find their way into the hands of people who were either destined to have them or who seek to use their power for vile purposes.
Should we be worried?
Let me do the worrying, son, and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
"I can't wait until Dad comes home," Ryou said with a sigh as he and Marik got into bed late Friday night. "I hope he stops traveling after this trip. I don't like it when he's away for so long."
"I really like your dad," Marik said as he got under the sheets on his side of the bed. "I hope he stays home too." He gathered up his fair hair into a loose low clump at the back of his head and began wrapping a hair elastic around it as Ryou got up to close the door. He returned and flicked off the nightstand lamp.
"The places he goes to are dangerous," Ryou continued softly, settling in bed beside Marik. They were both laying down now and facing each other. "And I'm glad that he was able to save you and your family, but I think the time for those travels is over."
"Hmm." Marik's hand found its way to Ryou's cheek, and the Brit gave a small, contented sigh. They both snuggled nearer to the other, and their faces moved slowly, carefully closer in the darkness. When they first tried to kiss, their lips missed, and Marik laughed softly at the mishap. He stopped laughing, though, when fingers seized his hair at the roots and yanked him down into a kiss rougher than Ryou was capable of. A tight knot of fear formed in the pit of Marik's stomach.
Not again...
Marik was breathless when his partner pulled away and hissed, "You'll cooperate if you know what's good for you."
Of course it was the Spirit of the Millennium Ring, and of course Marik complied with his request for another blowjob, even though the spirit pulled Marik's hair so hard that his scalp ached by the time he was done. Marik knew that the spirit was perfectly willing to make Ryou miserable using subtle, vile tactics that Marik was incapable of fighting no matter what he said or did. He was inside Ryou's mind and had every opportunity to torture his innocent, sensitive soul, but Marik wanted him to remain innocent and happy. He truly believed that ignorance was the price of bliss, at least in this case.
The spirit wasn't content with just a blowjob this time, however. He was painfully hard and close when he yanked Marik off of him by the hair. Maybe it was because the Egyptian showed him such kindness, because he stroked Bakura's thighs and hummed in his throat when he sucked him off and held him close when they'd fallen asleep last time. Whatever the reason, Bakura felt an irrepressible urge to make Marik scream with pain.
"Face-down, now," Bakura ordered harshly, his breathing heavy. Marik understood, and he crawled up the bed so that he was beside Bakura and laying on his stomach. He was already starting to push down his boxers when Bakura grabbed his waistband and yanked them down all the way to his ankles. He situated himself between the boy's legs, palming his cheeks and pulling them apart so he could see his target. Then he made the mistake of looking up at Marik, who was watching him as he looked over his shoulder with those wide lavender eyes so similar to the ones he'd had in a past life. Marik looked at him with pity as if he were anything less than a monster. Marik looked at him as if…
As if he were human.
Bakura pressed up close and used one hand to grab Marik by the hair yet again and shove his face into the pillow before momentarily sucking on his thumb and shoving it in hard enough to make Marik whine. Bakura stretched him with his thumb for only a few seconds, just long enough to create an opening. Then he grabbed Marik by the shoulders and shoved inside him. Marik was screaming into the pillow as Bakura ruthlessly worked his hips against his rear. It didn't take long for him to cum, much to Marik's relief, and when Bakura pulled out, he turned his back on his victim, wrapping the sheets over himself as he lay on his side at the edge of the bed, sinking into sleep mere moments later.
Ryou woke up the next morning in a particularly good mood, entirely blind to last night's incident.
When Mrs. Bakura passed the laundry room later that morning and saw Marik loading their bedsheets into the washing machine, she commented on how helpful he was, and Marik smiled.
On Saturday, Seto was still contemplating Joey's offer with no firm answer clear in his mind. That day, he received a bill in the mail from the hospital. He opened the envelope and looked at the amount, and his jaw dropped open. He sat down hard on the couch, letting out a sigh as it sank in.
He owed the hospital almost twenty-five hundred dollars.
"Is something wrong, Seto?" Mokuba asked, looking up from where he was sorting his Duel Monsters cards on the floor.
"No, nothing's wrong," Seto answered quickly. He didn't want Mokuba worrying about money, and worked hard to keep it out of his mind. Mokuba wasn't stupid, though. He was aware of many things, but for Seto's sake, he chose not to comment on them.
"Okay." Mokuba went back to his cards, puzzling over the different monsters, spells, and traps, trying to see how he could make them all work together.
Seto stood again and went into their bedroom with the bill in hand. He called the hospital and spoke to a couple of people as they worked on connecting him to right person.
He took a deep breath and said, "I was in the ER a few days ago for a head injury. I got stitches and an MRI. I got the bill in the mail just now. And, while I'm very grateful for your services..." He faltered, then swallowed down his anxiety. It couldn't hurt to try, right? "I'm sorry, but I just don't have the money to pay you. I can show you my pay stubs and receipts if you need proof. I just... I don't have the money. Is there any way you can reduce the cost?" He held his breath as he waited for an answer.
"If that's the case, sir, we can waive your fee," came the answer through the phone, and Seto was struck with shock a second time.
"You can?"
"Yes, if you can complete a form for us and submit it to our office, we can process your information and have the bill dismissed. We can fax it, mail it, or email it, whichever is most convenient for you."
"Email would work best," Seto answered. After an exchange of information, he hung up with a strong sense of relief. He hadn't expected that. Yet again, the world surprised him with a generous display of charity that he never would have expected.
Saturday evening at Ryou's house, everyone was there. Anzu was making the popcorn, claiming that Joey would be sure to burn it; Amane and Mokuba were dueling on the floor while Serenity watched, trying to learn how the game was played; Yugi, Joey, Marik, and Duke were in the kitchen talking with Anzu; Ryou was surrendering his battle with the VCR and passing it off to Seto with the hope that he'd be able to set it up for them. Joey had brought multiple Chuck Norris movies, in both DVD and VHS format, because he couldn't decide which one was the best.
"Did you hear about what happened to Pegasus?"
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it."
"Do the police know what happened yet?"
"Their official statement is that he was murdered, but they don't have any viable suspects, which is strange."
"Yeah, I mean, he lives on a private island. You would think that the pool of people who could plausibly be suspects would be fairly limited."
"I still wish that we understood why he did what he did," Yugi said with a sigh, looking troubled. "It doesn't make much sense."
"He was after the Millennium Items, Yugi," Seto interjected as he reached behind the TV to unplug the AV jacks for the DVD player. He hadn't been participating in the conversation, but he'd been paying attention. "And stealing souls made him stronger. He was after power, nothing more."
The answer didn't seem to satisfy Yugi, but the conversation shifted away from Pegasus, so they let the matter drop.
"Thanks for the help," Ryou said quietly, brushing away a few wisps of hair that had fallen down over his eyes. He was kneeling on the floor beside Seto, prepared to help in any way he needed to, even though he wasn't nearly as adept with technology or electronics as Seto was. "Today's been kind of a crazy day."
Seto glanced up at his friend for a moment as he found the AV input with his fingers as he tried to plug them in correctly without being able to see them.
"I thought you seemed stressed. Wanna talk about it?" His query was calm and curious, and Ryou looked almost relieved that he'd asked.
"We saw on the news this morning that political riots broke out in Egypt last night," Ryou confessed. "It's not just riots, though, it's an all-out revolt. There's no way in and out of the country, and even some of the journalists who were there covering the events have gone missing."
"What about your dad?"
"He was supposed to come home this week." Ryou started twisting a strand of hair around his finger. "We haven't heard from him in a couple days, though, and he usually calls my mum every day when he's away. Even if he only has a few minutes to talk, he always calls so that we know he's okay."
"How did she take the news?"
"She cried." Ryou rested his forehead against the outer edge of the dark wood entertainment center. "We all did, really." Ryou's eyes had watered, but since his mother had been weeping and his sister had been sobbing and Marik had been fighting his own tears, Ryou had forced himself not to cry. Someone needed to stay strong, and since his father was gone, that made him the man of the house. "Marik's brother and sister were supposed to come to Japan with my dad, so he was upset too."
"Your dad's a smart guy. I'm sure he'll be fine." Seto didn't sound especially compassionate as he experimentally turned on the VCR. A disgruntled electric whine sounded from the TV and he immediately turned it off, reaching behind the TV once more to adjust the jacks. He must have swapped the audio and video.
"Even so... things are getting really violent over there. Marik and I have been watching the news all day, hoping to hear that it was over." His voice was getting quieter, sadder. "It's still going, though. I think Mum's still watching the news upstairs right now."
"I thought she worked night shifts?"
"She usually does, but she decided to stay home tonight. She got someone to cover for her."
"Is she okay?"
"I don't know." Ryou looked up at Seto then as the brunette turned the VCR back on to see if it was working now. "I don't think any of us will be okay unless he calls." Ryou was aware of the real possibility that some violent fate may befall his father in the politically-turbulent desert country.
"Until he calls, you mean." Seto's correction was gentle, and it took Ryou a moment to realize that he was trying to encourage him: "unless" implied that he might not call because he died while "until" implied that it would happen sooner or later. "I'm sure your dad will call to say that he's okay as soon as he's able to do so."
"I hope you're right."
Seto turned on the TV, and a pair of DNN reporters appeared on screen to announce new footage being released of the conflict in Egypt. The images were disturbingly violent, and Seto could understand Ryou's concerns. He quickly changed the mode on the TV so that a blue screen replaced the evening news. As Ryou stood and moved away to ask Joey which movie they were watching, Seto felt Seth's incorporeal presence at his side, staring at the blue screen with an expression of utter shock. He looked like he was Seto's age, now. He still had many years of memories to reinforce.
"We fought for peace," the ancient spirit murmured softly. "We gave everything we had so that Egypt could have peace. Was it really all for naught?"
To see his homeland so torn with war and distress awoke something in Seth that he hadn't felt before, at least not in relation to his decisions as priest and pharaoh: doubt. Had their actions been futile? Had the selfless sacrifice of his companions, of Kisara, truly accomplished nothing? The very idea of it broke his heart.
Seto didn't know what to say to him. Instead they exchanged a sober look, then Seth turned his gaze back to the screen.
"I'm sure Ryou's father and Marik's siblings are safe," he said, looking only somewhat confident. He knew that at least one of them would find her way to Domino, so he assumed that the other two would be with her when she did. Since Seto was safe and he wasn't presently needed, he retreated back to the dank depths of his soul-room. He had work to do.
The instant that Seth shimmered out of sight, Joey took his place beside Seto on the floor in front of the TV.
"How have you been?" the blond asked quietly as he pulled the VHS tape from its faded card-stock sheath.
"Fine. No concussion, thankfully." Seto's answer was so quiet it was almost inaudible. He couldn't let anyone else know that he'd been to the hospital, because if they knew that he'd gone to the hospital, they would want to know why he'd gone to the hospital and how he'd gotten hurt, which was impossible to do plausibly without telling the truth.
"Have you thought about my offer?" Joey slipped the VHS into the VCR's gaping mouth.
"Yes, but I need more time to think."
"How much longer are you going to think about it?"
"As long as I need to."
Author Notes: And that's the last chapter of Season One! I thought there was going to be another chapter, but I guess not. Don't be sad, though, because the story is far from being over! "The Room Where It Happens" is the prequel, now posted, and the continuation of the story, including Seasons 2 and 3, can be found in the sequel "Rise Up." The final third of this series will (eventually) be posted in a story titled "Royalty Reborn" which will contain Seasons 4 and 5.
Here's the link to the prequel: /s/12203438/1/The-Room-Where-It-Happens
Here's the link to the sequel: /s/12203422/1/Rise-Up