Chapter Three
Authoress: Keishi
BIG FAT WARNING:
Contains m/m relationships
ONLY read if you are of age and open-minded!!!
Disclaimer
"I, um," Katsuya trailed off, shaking his head. A moment passed, before, "Where am I?"
"My house," came a voice from the corner of the room. Jou swung his gaze and met narrow crystal blue eyes.
"Our house," Mokuba corrected, a small hurt tone entering his voice.
Kaiba nodded. "Our house," he agreed, getting up from the rocking chair he had taken up fort in during the several hours Jou slept.
Memory flooded Jounouchi's mind, and he reflexively looked down to his side, where most of the pain had been earlier. His upper torso was swathed in stark white bandages, holding his ribcage tightly in place.
"You have a couple broken ribs, and several bruises," said the elder Kaiba, answering his unspoken question. "We thought one of your lungs might have been punctured, but you seem to be doing fine. Also, you have sustained some sort of burn around your neck. What is that from?" As Seto asked the question, Katsuya brought his hand up to his throat. It was coated in some type of sticky salve, but he could feel the roughness there, and realized that it hurt to swallow.
Jou looked down, fingers fiddling with some loose thread in the blanket that covered him, nails picking out the weakest strands and wrenching them violently from the bedspread. A hand covered his, stilling it; Jou looked back up into concerned eyes.
"Please Katsuya, tell us what happened." Seto's words came out soft; a request, not a demand.
A smart reply already worked out in his head, Jou floundered when he heard the CEO call him by his given name. He shrunk down, burrowing further into the available covers. Mokuba shifted to give him more room; the blond smiled at him gratefully. A thought entered his head as he looked back down at his body. "Where are my clothes?"
Seto just folded his arms across his chest, an impatient look crossing his face. "What happened to you, Jounouchi?" he questioned again, this time a bit harsher.
"Give me my clothes," Jou demanded.
"Not until you tell us how you sustained all these injuries; and don't try to say you ran into a wall or other such bullshit," he added, shutting Jounouchi up. "You're pretty dumb sometimes, but even you aren't _that_ stupid. Someone did this to you, and I won't let you leave until I find out who."
"What, are you gonna keep me here against my will? That's illegal, ya know!" Jou exclaimed, hands convulsing around fistfuls of bedspread. "What do you care anyway? It's none of your damn business!"
"It became my business the moment you collapsed at my front gate. Now spill it," Seto ordered vehemently.
Jounouchi clenched his teeth together, jaw smarting with the effort, glaring at his white knuckles. "My dad did this," he said without ceremony. "My dad did this to me." He looked up at Kaiba, daring him to even try and ridicule, his voice empty, masking the emotions coursing through his burning veins.
Seto blinked back his surprise; Mokuba gasped. Jou turned his head to the younger Kaiba; he had forgotten he was even there during the young millionaire's heated interrogation. Seto followed Jounouchi's gaze and looked at his younger sibling for a brief moment, considering. "Mokuba, I think it best if left you left the room for a while," he all but ordered, shaking his head at the raven-haired boy's protests.
"Alright," Mokuba drawled, sounding ever like the reluctant child. The preteen slid off the large bed slowly, but before he left it completely, he leaned over to Jounouchi. "Don't worry," the youth said mock-conspiratorially, "you're safe now. Seto and I will take care of you."
Jou smiled at the boy's innocent, yet wise, words. 'Yes, I am safe, for now,' he thought as he watched Mokuba leave the room, 'but for how long?'
His gaze shifted when he felt a new weight at the end of the bed. Seto had settled in the corner, back against one of the posters, knee drawn up to him in a completely un-Kaiba-like pose. He said nothing, just pierced the blond boy with one searching gaze. Jou sighed.
"I guess you want to know what happened exactly," he made it a statement. "Well, I... I mean... my father..." Jou trailed off, at a loss for words. Just when Seto was about to demand explanation yet again, Katsuya continued. "He, my dad, was in a rage about-- something. I had just woken up when he attacked. I tried to deflect his blows, but I couldn't fight back; I mean, it's my _dad_, ya know?" Actually Seto didn't know, but he let Jounouchi continue uninterrupted. "At first, it wasn't so bad, I mean, my dad's not the strongest guy in the world. Then, the hits came harder, along with a couple really well-placed kicks, and I tried to leave. He wouldn't let me. He--" Jou bit hard on his bottom lip, swearing silently that if he cried in front of Seto Kaiba, he'd kill himself then and there. "I grabbed the phone, to call someone, Yugi, Honda, anyone. I don't really know what I was doing, I didn't even think to call the police, because, I didn't want to get my dad in trouble or anything, ya know?
"Anyway," Jou said, his voice becoming detached and emotionless, "he snatched the phone from my fingers and proceeded to wrap the cord around my neck. My own father tried to choke me," he finished, sounding much like he had just described a boring research paper instead of something very horrific and intimate.
Kaiba couldn't help but looked shocked and disgusted. "How did you get away?"
Jou shook his head, his eyes wide and seeing things that weren't in the room. "I don't remember," he said truthfully. "All I remember is running-- running from him, running away, fighting, struggling, then cold. I remember being face-down in the snow and not knowing how I got there. Then I began walking, not anywhere really, just getting away. I had this feeling that if I stayed in one place, I'd never survive. That somehow _he'd_ find me. So I walked, because I couldn't run. And then you," Katsuya raised his eyes up to Kaiba's, focusing on the blue-eyed boy once again, a slightly awed tone entering his voice. "You. I said I hated you."
Seto snorted before he could stop himself. "Yes, you did," he softened his words at Jou's pained expression.
"I don't mean that. I... thanks," Jounouchi said lamely, looking away from Seto's gaze, cheeks aflame with embarrassment.
Seto just nodded, then looked behind him, pointing. "There's a bathroom through that door over there, in case you want to clean up a bit. You're probably hungry, so I'll send someone up with a tray. Think you'll be okay for a while?"
Jounouchi nodded, a lump burning his throat, keeping him from saying anything else. He watched Seto silently as the brown-haired boy closed the door behind him, leaving the blond alone with his hurt, confused thoughts.
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