"How did you know about my past jobs?" Seto asked before he hissed again at the burning sensation of the wet washcloth touching his fresh wounds once more. He'd only let the archaeologist see his back; he was still hiding the bruises for as long as he could. He could only traverse the road to recovery one step at a time.
"I have a friend in law enforcement who owed me a favor; I asked him to look into your employment records for me." He continued to clean the raw stripes on Seto's back, wincing himself whenever Seto vocalized his pain. "You need to stop pulling away, or I'll never finish this."
Seto grit his teeth and did his best to merely bear the pain in silence while Ryou's father focused on tending to his injuries. Of course, the silence was too good to last long.
"Who did this to you?"
Seto remained silent at first. "If I'm not ready to answer a question yet, then I don't have to," he said quietly. He couldn't be rushed through this. He still wasn't sure if he shouldn't already be regretting his decision to trust him.
"Fair enough." He thought for several moments, trying to choose a question that would be easier for him to answer. "Why, then?"
"For his own pleasure," Seto muttered.
"His?"
Silence.
"How long has this been going on?" It was all too obvious that this wasn't the first time he'd been lashed. The fresh wounds couldn't hide the older wounds and scars.
"It started not long after I lost my last job." It was easier to say when they started than it was to say how long he'd been thrashed on a weekly basis. Not that thrashing was the only thing happening on a weekly basis, or even a daily basis.
"How often does it occur?"
Seto choked on the words for a moment. "Every Thursday."
"Does that mean that I can expect to see you back here next Thursday?"
"Well, I'll be here to pick up Mokuba, so yes." Almost a sarcastic answer, but it was his best defense.
"Do you see an end to this anytime soon?"
"No," he admitted with a sigh.
"Why do you let it happen?"
"You assume that I have a choice."
It wasn't quite an answer, but he figured it was the best he would get from him today.
"Is your father violent?"
"Only when he's drunk."
"How often is he drunk?"
"Too often."
"Has he ever caused you or your brother physical harm?"
"I've always protected Mokuba."
"And has he ever hurt you?"
Silence.
"When did he become alcoholic?"
"A few years after Mom died. He was still working, then, still trying to keep it together."
"How long after he became alcoholic did he become violent?"
"Not very long."
"Did he ever hit you when you were a child?"
"I couldn't let him hurt Mokuba."
What kind of an answer was that? Possibly the most evasive one he'd given so far.
YOU ARE READING
Rock Bottom: Season Zero
FanfictionYGO AU: What if Seto and Mokuba were never orphaned? What if Joey's parents never got divorced? What if Noah Kaiba was never hit by a car? What if Ryou's mother and sister had never died? What if Marik had never killed his father? What if the Millen...
