Updated: 2/23/07 Chapter alternately titled: "Let's Give 'Em Something to Be Shocked About!"

Yume Genjitsu

R

Joey

"Uh, I'll be right back!" Mokuba disappeared so suddenly, Joey almost wondered if he hadn't just imagined that the hyper-active kid had been there. But with Mokuba's disappearance came the just-as-sudden appearance of Seto Kaiba, and Joey almost wanted a hole to open up randomly in the earth and swallow him up. Anything would be better at that moment than being in the same room as the object of his affections –alone. What if he let something slip?

Joey tried his best to pretend he didn't notice the other, instead looking at the room around him, which he had become distracted from when he was helping Mokuba feed the mass amount of animals.

Cages, as he had called them before, was exactly what they weren't. It was more like a bunch of enclosed mini habitats. Animals ranging from the normal house cat or dog to the extravagant cheetah he could just see out of the corner of his eye played, ate, and slept in them contentedly. Too think, all of the animals here were named after dual monsters.

"Hey, Wheeler," came the cold voice of one cobalt-eyed CEO. I mean, who else could it be? Joey had practically given him the cold-shoulder as soon as he walked in. "I think you owe me an explanation."

'Oh Ra, no.' Joey thought, going into deer-in-headlights mode –in which he froze and stared straight ahead, back to Seto, mind racing at the words that came at him like a truck on the freeway.

"Ah, what are you talking' about?" Joey spun around, forcing a grin that felt too big and too fake. Why was it that all his lies and facades seemed to want to shrivel around Seto? Love or not, he should still be able to lie like a pro!

"Don't give me that, mutt." growled Seto, glaring at him. Joey noticed absently that he had gotten his trench coat back. Or found another one and burned the one he had let the blonde borrow. Wow, that was a depressing thought. His smile kinda dimmed at the thought and Seto's words.

"Where did you get those cuts and bruises?" The older teen moved closer, backing him into a corner no one seemed to notice before between a ferret's and a mongoose's habitat; conveniently blocking all exits Joey might have been considering. "And don't say you got into a fight." A hand grabbed the front of Joey's shirt, pulling him closer. Joey was torn between euphoric glory at being this close to him and pure terror at the look in Seto's eyes –'Oh shit, I'm gonna get murdered by the guy I secretly love! Life sucks so much.'

"Uh, well, see, I really did get into a fight. Kinda…" He trailed off, unsure of what he wanted to say. Could he tell him the truth? Maybe if he just reiterated his half-truth from before, but with a few more believable details, that would work. Because he really didn't want to tell Seto that he couldn't stick up for himself against his own father. Imagining how the brunet would look at him after that –with disgust for being that weak instead of annoyance for being a nuisance- was the deciding factor.

Yeah, okay. "You know that I don't fight anymore since I became friends with Yugi, right?" At the nod he received, he continued. "Well, before I met Yugi, I used to have a lot of enemies; rival gangs and what-not. Of course, I met Yugi, and at first we didn't pull it off so well, but when we did become friends and I gave up fighting and bein' in a gang, my former gang members saw that as a bit of a weakness. As if I was wussin' out on them. …Know what I mean?"

A tiny smirk had made its way onto Seto's face, and he nodded again. Joey also nodded, knowing that the older teen probably did. Only the difference was that Seto knew what it was like in the business world, not on the streets. "They've been after me for a while for it. Them and a few other gangs, but mostly just them."

"But all of those marks can't be just from them." Seto muttered softly, eyes focused on the general area of Joey's chest. Joey found himself blushing at the way Seto was looking at him: as if he might be concerned for his well-being. …Or maybe he was hungry, and Joey's shirt had manifested itself into a burger in Seto's eyes. Wishful thinking on my part, Joey was sure. Not the burger part, though.

"You'd be surprised." Joey said in answer. "A gang can do a lot more than what they've done to me so far. A lot worse, as well." Shuddering at the thought, he backed into the wall and slid down it into a cross-legged sitting position.

"Like…?" Seto prodded, now towering over the younger boy.

Joey looked at him as if he had grown a few extra heads, and one of them was breathing fire. …On second thought, considering his best friend had a thousand year old spirit pharaoh living in a puzzle around his neck, and they were frequently dragged off on random Save-the-World Campaigns, if Seto really did sprout a few extra fire-breathing heads, it probably wouldn't surprise him that much.

…But in this case, the look did it's job.

"Do you really have to ask?" Joey returned, raising a disbelieving eyebrow. Seto seemed to consider this for all of a millisecond.

"Rape?" Seto asked with widening eyes filled with alarm. Joey nodded. Seto sighed, sitting down in front of Joey, also cross-legged. "They wouldn't really do that, would they?"

"You've obviously never been around many gangs in your lifetime." Joey sighed, drooping a bit and managing to look every bit the puppy Seto called him. "If I couldn't defend myself, then yeah, it would probably happen. Oh, sure, maybe one of my old gang wouldn't do it –but they have connections they're not afraid to use."

Silence reigned for a while after that. Well, as silent as one can have when one is in a room full of animals ranging from the norm to the exotic. And some of which had natural predator/prey relationships with other animals.

Seto

"How could they possibly want to do something like that?"

"Plenty of reasons. Some of 'em are stupid reasons, though. Most of the time, it's as punishment, or revenge." Joey replied listlessly, still staring at the ground.

To him, the whole thing seemed so wrong. Why anyone would want to do that to Joey bothered the hell out of him. Joey was just too nice. And too cute.

Self control attempted to desert him as he, for the umpteenth time, felt the need to bash his own head in. He's not cute, he's a mutt! Ah, but the look Joey was giving the ground was so unhappy, like a kicked puppy. Looking at Joey's expression, he felt he should do something, or help him, but he didn't know how.

No, wait… Seto, unseen by Joey, grinned. He didn't normally do this, as he was supposed to be a cold-hearted bastard, and if anyone saw it (Take his fanclub for instance), they might just keel over in shock. Inside his mind, he was dancing a jig, and couldn't resist the thought that followed. Oh, hells yeah. Mokuba always said it when he got a good idea.

&-&Even in this pain of mine&-&

A/N: You guys must be having aneurysms of surprise (Just like Seto's fanclub would if he cracked a smile). I know, it's a fucking miracle! An update. From me. On a story I can guarantee half of you don't remember reading! But this week, I got really encouraging reviews, so I wrote this chapter. And just today, I got inspiration in the weirdest way. I was with my JROTC company as they played Ultimate Frisbee, staring at the sky and pondering Yu-Gi-Oh, when it hit me. The greatest idea of how to finish this story. I felt as if the Frisbee had taken a dive at my head. In fact, it did, but that's not where the inspiration came from.

So, I solemnly swear upon my deck that I will finish this story before my birthday (5/4)!