Mine

Author's Note- I don't own YuGiOh.

I see this story as taking place before series.

However, Seto looks way he did in series, not season 0.

Chapter 1: Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler meet

Its the 1st day of school at Domino High. Seto Kaiba, a freshman, reluctantly enters the school.

He has short brown hair and bright blue being president of Kaiba Corp, and being smart enough to have got his GED, he's required to attend to keep custody of his younger brother. He immediately gets ran into by another student. The other student falls down. Seto looks at the student. He sees a boy with long blonde hair and amber colored eyes.

Seto thinks, 'Hair and eyes remind me of a golden retriever.'

The student, while getting up, says, "Sorry. In a hurry. Name's Joey. What's yours?"

Seto says, "Seto Kaiba. Look where you're going, mutt."

Joey quickly straightens and says, "Hey! I said I was sorry!"

A bell rings. Joey's expression quickly changes from angry to dejected. Seto notices Joey's eye color also seems to change. They went from bright to dull.

Joey says, "Great! I didn't want to be late on my 1st day!"

Seto says, "That was the 5 min. bell, idiot."

Joey says, "Oh. Didn't know there was a warning bell. Thanks. See ya, moneybags!"

Joey runs off to his 1st class.

Seto thinks, 'You can see his emotions on his face. Interesting.'

Seto is used to hiding his emotions and expects others to do the same.

In his 1st class, Joey's glad to see his best friend, Tristan. He sits next to him and they chat until the bell rings.

Seto enters the same classroom. He heads to an open seat in the back. Once he's sat down, he pulls out his laptop and starts working.

The teacher takes roll call. She calls out Seto Kaiba. Seto says Here. Joey is surprised. He didn't see Seto enter the room. He looks for him.

Tristan asks, "Why are you looking around?"

Joey says, "Because I ran into the guy with that name. He was a jerk. I don't want him catching me off guard."

Joey notices Seto in the back. Seto feels eyes on him and looks up from his laptop. He's surprised to see Joey. He knows he hadn't heard the name called. He's sure he would've noticed.

The teacher calls out Joey Wheeler. Joey turns around and says Here.

Seto takes note of the last name.

Seto and Joey quickly discover they have all their classes together.

Joey thinks, 'I have the worst luck.'

Seto decides to work out the odds. After discovering how slim they are, he figures there's a reason. Seto doesn't believe in coincidence. He starts paying attention to Joey.

Mine

Chapt. 2-Seto pays attention to Joey

Seto notices, when Joey is mad, his eyes look brighter, like they have an inner fire.

Seto decides he likes seeing Joey's inner fire. He makes a point of making the blonde mad at least once a week. Seto starts noticing sometimes Joey flinches when he sits down or moves an arm.

Usually, Joey's eyes are dull, until Seto insults him. Then they light up.

One day, Seto notices Joey trying to hide a limp.

Seto asks, "Mutt, did you trip over your own feet?"

Joey says, "None o' ya biz, Kaiba!"

Seto thinks, 'He hasn't called me Kaiba before.'

Seto notices Joey's eyes stayed dull. Seto leaves Joey alone for the rest of the day.

The next day, Seto is in homeroom. The bell has rung, but no sign of Joey. Half an hour later, Joey comes into class. The teacher gives Joey a detention slip. When Joey takes the detention slip, his sleeve rides up, showing a fresh bruise. The teacher doesn't say anything about it. Joey walks to his seat and sits down.

At lunch, Seto is being hovered around by his annoying fan girls. He decides to ask one of them about Joey.

Seto asks, "Why didn't the teacher say anything about Joey's bruise?"

The girl says, "You didn't go to middle school here, so you don't know. When Joey was in middle school, he was in a gang. Former leader's in prison, probably for life. Killed some rich guy's kid. Joey witnessed it and testified. Guy tried to kill Joey to keep him from testifying. About killed Tristan and Yugi, too." She points to Joey's friends, sitting with him. "Everyone was afraid of that guy. He was massive." The girl shudders."Some of his former gang's members sometimes attack him on his way to school. Its a miracle he hasn't missed any days of school or been late so far this year. I don't know why he bothers coming to school. Its a miracle he graduated middle school."

Seto thinks, 'If it's his former gang, why aren't there bruises on his face? Why aren't there scrapes on his knuckles?'

Seto notices Joey doesn't bring or buy a lunch. Seto goes to the counter, buys a lunch, and puts it in front of Joey.

Seto says, "Mutt, I heard your stomach growling 2 tables away."

Joey says, "Thanks, Kaiba!" with a big grin.

Seto is surprised. He expected an insult, not a thank you. He watches Joey very quickly eat the food, like he's afraid it will get taken away, if he doesn't eat quickly. Seto has experienced that.

A couple weeks later, they have a 3 day weekend. Come Tuesday, no sign of Joey. Wednesday, the same. Seto becomes worried. Thursday, Joey finally shows up to homeroom. He gets there on time, although he's obviously limping.

Seto wonders, 'Puppy, how bad are you hurt this time?'

After homeroom, Seto catches Joey at his locker.

Seto says, "Mutt."

Before he can continue, Joey says, "Not today, Kaiba."

Seto says, "Wheeler, I was going to suggest you go to the nurse's office. Get an ice pack to help your limp."

Joey says, "Thanks, Kaiba."

Seto notices Joey's eyes stayed dull. Seto doesn't insult Joey for the rest of Thursday or Friday. He does buy him lunch. He can tell Joey's smiles are fake, although Joey's friends don't notice.

Monday, Joey is on time to homeroom and no longer limping. Also, the real smiles are back. So Seto starts bantering with him again.

Mine

Chapt. 3-Rescue

Although Japan isn't a Christian country, schools still take a 2 week winter break that coincides with America's Christmas and the New Year. Most people in Japan celebrate Christmas as a gift giving holiday, rather than a religious holiday.

Seto is one of the few people not looking forward to the 2 week break. Christmas is the busiest time of year for Kaiba Corp. They sell more Duel Monsters at that time than any other time. Then there's most of the staff requesting the holidays off. While they are closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, they still need staff for most of those 2 weeks to handle sales, manufacturing, and distribution. They're always short staffed during those 2 weeks. Seto only gets to spend Christmas Day and New Year's Day with Mokuba and is usually too tired to be much fun.

The day before Winter Break begins, Joey says, "Have a good break, Kaiba. Make sure you eat and sleep. Don't work yourself to death."

Seto says, "Thanks, Wheeler." Seto takes Joey's advice. He sets alarms to make sure he eats. He has Mokuba call him and tell him to come home when its after midnight so he goes home and sleeps. He and Mokuba enjoy Christmas Day more than they have since the year their parents died. Seto tells Mokuba about Joey.

Mokuba says, "Seto, it sounds like this Joey is a good influence on you. Maybe the 2 of you could be friends."

On the other side of town...

Joey's Christmas isn't going as well as Seto's. No tree, no presents, electricity got shut off, so no heat, lucky to have a roof over his head and a toilet that flushed. Some days, he thinks going back to living on the streets would be better. Then he didn't get bruises from his dad he had to lie about. Because its Christmas, his dad has the day off from work, so more time to get drunk. Joey tries to spend as much time outside the apartment as possible, but because its Christmas, everywhere is closed and his friends are having their own celebrations with their families. He wishes he could go see his sister for Christmas, but doesn't have the money for a bus ticket to Tokyo. Even if he did have the money for bus fare one way, he'd end up trapped in Tokyo and having to spend the nights sleeping on the streets. His mom wouldn't let him stay with them. All his mom's money goes to his sister's hospital bills. They have a 1 bedroom house where his mom sleeps on the couch. At least, Joey's and his dad's apartment has 2 bedrooms, although, really, his room is a closet without a door. His dad broke the door in a drunk rage a year ago. Joey's glad he's not what his dad broke. Now he uses his dresser to block the room from his dad when he's drunk. Thankfully, the apartment came furnished, meaning the previous tenants left their furniture behind. The beds were the blow up kind, though. Joey found a mattress someone was throwing out that he sleeps on.

His dad throws an empty beer bottle at him. He dodges. The bottle hits the wall and shatters. Some of the glass embeds in his arm. Another empty beer bottle hits the floor. This time, some glass embeds in his leg. The third sends glass shards into his hair. Blood starts running down his face. He heads for the door. His dad trips him, then stomps on his back, knocking the air out of him. He rolls over and gets a kick to the chest, again knocking the air out of him. He grabs his dad's leg and stops a second kick. The grab throws his dad off balance. He falls on the floor. That gives Joey the opportunity to get out the door. Until his dad goes back to work tomorrow, the streets are safer than his apartment.

He doesn't know how Kaiba Corp. doesn't notice his dad coming into work hung over all the time. Then again, his dad doesn't have to interact with other employees much. He stocks the trucks that deliver the Duel Monsters merchandise. 1 stocker per truck. He could probably do the job drunk and no one would notice.

He makes it to Yugi's. He knows how to pick a lock. He picks the lock on the Game Shop's door, goes inside, and goes back to the stock room. He lays on the floor and passes out.

When Yugi finds him the next day, Yugi screams, thinking he's dead. Yugi's scream wakes Joey up.

Joey says, "Yug', I'm fine. It looks worse than it is. Just let me use your shower and you'll see."

Solomon asks, "Joey, how did you get in here?"

Joey says, "Sorry, Gramps, I picked the lock. You need a security system."

Yugi says, "You could've knocked on the house's door."

Joey says, "I didn't want to interrupt your guys' celebration."

Solomon asks, "Who did this to you?"

Joey says, "Just some random guys."

Solomon asks, "Then why'd you come here instead of going home?"

Joey says, "Gramps, all of my dad's paycheck goes to rent and the water bill." He thinks, 'and beer'. "He doesn't have any left for the electric bill. So its freezing. I came here because its warmer."

Solomon says, "Next time, knock on the house's door. We don't care if you interrupt us."

Joey says, "Thanks, Gramps." Joey follows Yugi upstairs. He waits for Yugi to leave the bathroom before removing his clothes. He sees the large, new bruise on his chest. He bets there's a matching one on his back. He's still having trouble breathing. At least, the glass shards weren't that big, and didn't embed too deep. Otherwise, he'd be bleeding worse. He takes a shower and lets the water wash away the glass shards.

After the shower, he's forced to put back on what he was wearing because Yugi and his grandpa wouldn't have clothes that fit him. He helps Yugi and his grandpa in the Game Shop for a few hours, which Solomon gives him a hot meal to thank him, because he refuses money. Then he reluctantly heads home. Yugi offers for him to share his room, but his bed is too small for both of them and Joey would rather sleep on a mattress than a bare floor. Had to do that too many times when in the gang.

The rest of winter break, he helps Yugi and his grandpa in the game shop and manages to avoid any more beatings from his dad. He watches the fireworks on New Year's Eve with Yugi and his grandpa, spends the night on the couch, then heads home. As soon as he enters the apartment, a beer bottle is thrown at his head. He doesn't move fast enough. It hits his forehead. Thankfully, it didn't shatter on impact, but he knows he's going to have a bruise from it. The impact makes him dizzy, giving his dad a chance to knock him down. Once he's down, his dad stomps on his knee, making it harder for him to run away this time. Then his dad kicks him in the stomach. Lastly, his dad stomps on his hand. Joey uses the hand stomp to grab his dad's leg and again make him fall to the floor. He limps out of the apartment, but, this time, collapses before he makes it to Yugi's. Somebody notices his unconscious body and calls an ambulance. When he wakes up the next day, he realizes he is in a hospital. He thinks, 'Another bill I can't pay'.

Seto's New Year's Day...

After watching the fireworks with Mokuba last night, Seto is sleeping when his phone rings. It wakes him up. He answers, "What's so important on my day off?"

Roland says, "Sir, you wished to be notified if a Mr. Joey Wheeler was admitted to the hospital?"

Seto thinks, 'It was only a matter of time.'

Seto asks, "Which hospital is he in?"

Roland says, "Domino Hospital."

Seto says, "Have him transferred to Kaiba Medical Center immediately. Put a guard on his room."

Roland says, "Yes, sir."

Seto gets up and gets dressed. Less than an hour later, his driver drops him off at Kaiba Medical Center.

Seto asks what room Joey is in. He also asks to talk to Joey's doctor. The receptionist tells him the room no. and pages the doctor to the room. Seto waits outside Joey's room. He tells the guard he is not to let Joey leave the room. When the doctor arrives, Seto asks the extent of his injuries.

Dr. Holmes says, "He is unconscious, most likely, due to a concussion. There is old bruising on his chest and back, new bruising on his stomach, and forehead, a sprained knee, and damage to his right hand."

Seto asks, "How old is the bruising on his chest and back?"

Dr. Holmes says, "I'd guess about a week. His ribs were bruised, so the bruising will affect his breathing for a couple more weeks."

Seto thinks, 'Hurt on Christmas day and New Year's day. No scrapes on his knuckles, he didn't fight back. I need to find out who's been hurting him. No one hurts what's mine.'

Seto says, "I'm going home. Notify me when he wakes up."

The next day...

Seto's phone rings at lunch. Roland says, "Sir, he's awake."

Seto says, "I will be right there."

Seto thinks, 'My puppy's awake. When did I start considering him mine?' Seto thinks back. 'The first time he smiled and said thank you. First genuine smile and thank you I've received from anyone, besides Mokuba.'

When Seto arrives, he finds his guard stopping Joey from leaving.

Joey says, "I got no money or insurance, so I can't stay in the hospital."

Seto says, "Wheeler, you're at Kaiba Medical Center. Its a non-profit hospital that takes care of those without money or insurance, mostly children."

Joey says, "Thanks, Kaiba."

Seto asks, "Mutt, who hurt you?"

Joey says, "Just some random guys."

Seto yells, "Joey, don't lie to me!"

He sees fear for a second, before Joey hides it.

Joey says, "None o' ya biz, Kaiba. Shouldn't you be in class?"

Seto says, "Its lunch time. You can't leave until you can walk out without limping. I will bring you your homework."

Only 2 days later, Joey walks out. Seto ordered his guard to let him leave, but to track him.

His guard follows Joey to the Game Shop. Joey helps Yugi out for a couple hours. Then his guard follows Joey to his apartment. He notices, the closer Joey gets to the building, the more his shoulders hunch, like he's expecting a blow. When Joey enters his apartment, there's no one else there. He's relieved. He starts cleaning. When he's too exhausted to continue, he goes to bed.

2 a.m., a drunk man with a case of beer bottles unlocks the door and enters the apartment. It remains quiet for half an hour. Then screams, glass breaking, and cries. The guard calls Seto and gives him the address. The guard easily breaks the flimsy lock. He knocks the man out who's hurting Joey, then picks Joey up, bridal style, carries him out, and waits for Roland and Seto to arrive. Joey fights the guard but is no match for him.

A normal black car arrives a few minutes later. The guard forces Joey in, then gets in.

Joey asks, "Seto? Why are you kidnapping me?"

Seto says, "I'm not letting you get hurt again. Next time, he might kill you."

Joey says, "What're ya talking about? Its never more than some bruising."

Seto asks, "What about your hand? And your ribs? And your head?"

Joey says, "I've survived years o' this. I just have to make it t' 18 and I'll be free. I don't want to go into foster care. Some of the kids in the gang had run from foster houses. They were as bad or worse than my house."

Seto says, "You could come live with me and my younger brother, Mokuba. The mansion has plenty of bedrooms."

Joey asks, "How old is your younger brother?"

Seto says, "10."

Joey asks, "Wouldn't ya get in trouble?"

Seto says, "If anyone asks, you're an employee who lives with me. You're old enough to work with the school's permission. That I can easily obtain."

Joey asks, "What would my job be?"

Seto says, "Your choice, guard, babysitter, housekeeper, game tester."

Joey says, "I could look after your little brother while you're at work, but he'd prob'ly get pissed if ya called me his babysitter."

Seto says, "You are probably right."

Joey moves in with Seto and Mokuba, but keeps it a secret. He no longer has to worry about being hungry, cold, sleeping on the floor, or getting beer bottles tossed at him. Then Yugi solves the Millennium Puzzle and weird things start happening to him and the others.

THE END