Rock Bottom: Season Zero

Progress

"I've got a job interning for the archaeological department at the university," Seto said to Joey as he slid into the seat next to him second period.

"Wow, really?" His response was enthusiastic, but the look they exchanged was full of meaning. Joey may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he wasn't as nearly as stupid as some people thought him to be. He knew what this meant: Seto was somehow free of it all. He'd finally wormed his way out. "That's great, but I thought you were into computers?"

"I am. I'll be digitizing their findings and entering their artifacts catalog into online databases for other archaeologists to access."

"That's good news. Congrats." Joey smiled at him, genuinely pleased with the good news. The secret he carried weighed much lighter on his heart now. Before, he'd felt incredibly guilty for not doing or saying anything that could save Seto from the pain he endured. Now that he was out, it was just an uncomfortable, albeit illegal, pasts that he would, for a little while, struggle to put fully behind him before the memories finally started to fade.

Class started then, but that was alright by Joey. He was afraid that Ryou, seated behind Seto, had caught onto the meaning in their words and glances, and he didn't trust himself to answer any direct questions.

~~~~~~~~~~

In their duel at lunch that day, Seto finally drew the Blue-Eyes to his hand, and he was just about to summon it when they were interrupted by the school-bell.

In truth, he didn't mind Yugi not knowing about his Blue-Eyes. It hindered his ability to predict Seto's strategy, which worked to the intelligent brunette's advantage. They may be friends, but that didn't mean that he would share all of his strategies with him.

Or with his grandfather, no matter how much of a Duel Monsters master he was. Some days he had the time to visit the Kame Game Shop with Yugi and Joey after school. Joey was frequenting the game shop more and more often these days, partly because Yugi's grandfather was helping Joey train to be a better duelist and partly because he felt more welcome there than he did at home. Sure, he still dropped his little sister off at home after school, but after that, he went straight to the game shop.

"Sometimes I think you care what happens to me more than my parents do," Joey admitted as he moped at the check-out counter of store while Grandpa Moto was getting his own dueling deck from the back.

"Come on, Joey, that can't be true," Yugi insisted, hugging his friend from the side. "I'm sure your parents care about you, they just have their own way of showing it."

Joey smiled sadly as he returned the hug.

"I doubt it, but thanks for tryin' to cheer me up, pal," he said.

"Don't be so sure about that," Solomon said with an understanding smile as he re-emerged. "Parents have their own way of things. Sometimes stress and work get in the way and cloud their thinking, and they don't realize that they haven't said the things they feel in too long."

Seto watched the exchange in silence since he didn't have anything to add to the conversation. He knew what it was like to have parents who didn't care, so he believed it was possible that Joey's parents didn't care about him. He also didn't know Joey's parents, so he didn't dare make a claim as to whether or not they cared about him.

He thought that Anzu was getting jealous of how much time Yugi spent with Joey. Seto was no expert in romance—far from it—but he was smart enough to know when a woman's designs on a man were frustrated. It was amusing to Seto more than anything else, and it was especially amusing to see how oblivious Yugi was to Anzu's intentions. He didn't doubt that Anzu was a genuine friend to Yugi, but he also didn't doubt that she wanted more than friendship with him.