Rock Bottom: Season Zero

Destiny

It was only Wednesday night, so Seto let Ryou talk him into stepping inside for just a few moments before he took Mokuba home. Besides, Ryou said that their new guest, and Mr. Bakura, wanted to meet him.

"Seto, this is Marik Ishtar." Ryou then turned to Marik and introduced Seto, then did so again in Arabic. Ryou's father said that doing so helped Marik catch on faster. The two teens stared at each other apprehensively, cerulean eyes meeting lavender in silence for a few moments. Then a look of recognition came over the Egyptian teen's face, and he held out his hand to Seto, who took it carefully and shook it. The handshake was firm and brief, and Seto found it to be an indication of the kind of person he respected.

"It is good to meet you," Marik said in heavily accented Japanese, his words carefully articulated.

"Nice to meet you as well," Seto responded, although he had a funny feeling about the immigrant. Seto wasn't used to trusting intuitions that didn't make any logical sense, but he also didn't tend to have intuitions that were wrong either. As such, he was on his edge as he released Marik's hand. Marik turned to Ryou and said something in Arabic, then turned and went upstairs.

"He said that he has something for you," Ryou said, looking confused. "I can't imagine what it could be, though."

"Get your things together, Mokuba, we'll be leaving in a minute," Seto said, turning to his brother who was sitting on the couch with Amane. Mokuba reluctantly got up and started putting his school books in his backpack, Amane watching him with adoring green eyes.

"Amane," Ryou called as he started to sign to his deaf sister, whose attention was caught as soon as he signed her name. "Mokuba has to leave now, so say goodbye." He spoke as he signed, which was something his whole family did to help her learn to read lips. She'd watched Ryou sign to her, then pouted and began to sign back.

"What's she saying?" Seto asked.

"She's asking if I have to go," Mokuba said, looking cheeky, and Seto rolled his eyes, even as he felt proud of how his brother was catching onto sign language so well.

"How on earth do you two not get sick of each other?" Seto rm around his brother as he sat up to adjust his position so that it didn't cause him so much pain.

"Sorry, sorry," Mokuba apologized regretfully, climbing off of his brother to simply stand beside the couch, reaching for his brother's hand and holding it tightly as he sought reassurance in his brother's presence.

"Good to see you awake." Seto didn't recognize the voice, so he stood up quickly, turning around even as he felt a wave of light-headedness. Mokuba clung to his brother's hand still, feeling how tense he was with apprehension. Ryou and an older man that he could only guess to be Mr. Bakura were sharing tea as they sat at the counter. Ryou looked relieved to see Seto on his feet again, but Mr. Bakura looked worried.

"You probably shouldn't stand up so quickly. It's okay to take things easy, you know," he said as he stood. Seto, of course, didn't listen. Looking wary, Seto took a step forward, only to lose his balance as his knees buckled beneath him.

"Seto!" the younger child cried as he caught his brother and pushed him back onto the couch, looking worried.

"Is he always this stubborn?" Mr. Bakura asked somewhere above Seto's head.

"Pretty much," Ryou answered from the counter, sounding amused.

Seto looked up, blinking to clear his vision as Mr. Bakura's face came into view. Mr. Bakura moved out from behind the couch and sat beside the brunette.

"It's good to finally meet you, Seto." Mr. Bakura held out his hand and Seto shook it, regarding Ryou's father with hesitance and respect.

"And you as well, sir," Seto responded. "What happened?" Mr. Bakura hesitated, then let out a long breath.