HowtoLaughOutLoud

Chapter One: Bliss

Everything about you is how I wanna be
Your freedom comes naturally
Everything about you resonates happiness
Now I won't settle for less

-

The doorbell echoed throughout the entire mansion, another quickly following the first. Kaiba, who was in his office working, glanced at the time on the computer screen before furrowing his eyebrows together in thought. It was too late for reporters (not to mention he set a restriction order around his house a couple months back), and the gate guard would have used the intercom if he saw someone that didn't look familiar. So, who would be out this hour of the night? Kaiba's immediate thoughts said it might be business associate; there had been some arguing in the meeting today, but they had settled things, and going behind the board's back and going to the president secretly was against the code. They knew what would happen if they broke violations, so Kaiba ruled out that idea.

The doorbell rang again, four times now. Kaiba stood from his chair and went to the window, pulling back the curtain, but it didn't do any good; it was too dark out to see clearly who it was on the porch. They were swaying a bit, hunched over, and appeared to be having troubling standing.

"Seto?" A tired croak came from the door, and Kaiba whipped his head around to his little brother. He was dressed in his overly large night shirt, a bear in one arm while his other fist rubbed at his eyes. "There's someone at the door..." Kaiba gave a small smile of reassurance at Mokuba. Kaiba found it cute (as much as Kaiba could feel 'cute'), albeit odd, how Mokuba's attitude could change from tricky, manipulative vice president of Kaiba Corporation to innocent little kid with a stuffed animal at the end of the day.

"Yes. I know," Kaiba said softly, and moved from the window, guiding Mokuba by the shoulder back to the direction of his room, "I was just about to go on down. Head off to bed, it's late."

"'Night, big...brother..." Mokuba yawned and shuffled on down hall.

Kaiba watched him close the door before walking quick, long strides down the stairs. This had better be good reason to be coming this late at night and wake his little brother, Kaiba thought irritated, fixing his cuff before opening the door to tell off the person on the other side. Right when the door was opened a crack, it flew open with weight of the person that had apparently been leaning against it. Kaiba, surprised by the suddenness, stepped back quickly and hardly registered the fact that it was Jounouchi Katsuya lying on his floor, unconscious and bruised. His usually smiling, carefree expression that Kaiba envied most was wiped clean in exchange of pain and fear.

He wasn't even sure that it was Jounouchi since he's never even seen him in such a state, but it was and that's what scared Kaiba the most: Jounouchi's face had cuts and bruises on it and dry tear streaks through a thin layer of dirt. His lips were swollen and bloody, and his left eye reminded Kaiba of a panda. His hair was dirty, not the usual gold thread it looked as before, and stuck out in odd places. It took Kaiba a moment to realize that he wasn't wearing a shirt and his bare back in full view to the brunette boy; scars were visible even in the bad lighting, some like Xs, then others like burn scars.

Then the broken body on the floor began to move, turning his head up a little towards him, opening his good eye if only a little, squinting at his face to make it out in the dark. Or perhaps he was fighting against the blurriness. The amber eye shone through the darkness of the room, staring right in Kaiba's own blue eyes, but the fire of determination Kaiba secretly loved to see was gone and left behind something empty. The busted lips parted and he took in a rattling breath.

"I-I'm..." His sentence wasn't even complete before his voice faded, and his eye closed again.

For the first time in years, Kaiba Seto stuttered.

"M-mutt?"

-

Everything about you pains my envying
Your soul can't hate anything
Everything about you is so easy to love
They're watching you from above