Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, not in way, shape, form or fashion.

A/U setting - this means some things are different, very different. There is a ton of angst happening, violence, death. WARNING: It isn't a happy story by any stretch of the imagination. This first chapter is very depressing, so don't read any further if you want a happy ending - you won't find one.

"Let the Games Begin" is a background story for "New Games". You get to see how Seto and Yami first met each other, and that bargain he talks about from time to time, just for all the wonderful Yami/Seto fans. uke-Seto, the best kind

Rated R for violence - off screen, but there and mentioned in detail. You also get some extra-LEMONY-fresh action in Chapter 2.

3/16/02 – This is a repost – I had written this in first person and then changed it to 3rd – YUCK, I hated it, so I've reworked it back into 1st person and added a second chapter. I don't know if I'll get anymore up for this part of Seto and Yami's relationship, it just depends what happens while working on "New Games" I will keep this story on a lighter side, aside from Chapter 1.

Enjoy,

~Kay

Let the Games Begin

Chapter 1: Set the Scene

by Kyrenea

The fall season had turned lifeless. The wind hadn't dared stir that day. Nor did the birds sing. They silently watched from the barren trees as a fallen leader was placed in the ground.

Tears weren't shed.

I'd learned the faults of tears, and remembered the lesson for letting them fall.

Non could claim they'd loved him.

Non except the wife and young son he'd left to carry the burden of his commands. And at that, the love proclaimed was more from self-honor and respect than the depths of our hearts.

He'd seen to that.

"They'll pay," I whispered. "I'll find who did this and make them pay."

I was not violent by nature. Ideas had been given thought, but action had never been taken. Carefully construed plans always faded into distant memories as if part of a dream. My life had been simple, not a worry except the constant reminder that one-day he'd die and leave the reigns of Kaiba Foundation at my feet.

But the time had come too soon.

My life had yet to be lived.

My dreams had yet to be realized.

I was still a shadow. A puppet looking for a way to stand on my own.

Then Death presented itself on the family's doorstep and cut the strings.

True, Gozaburo Kaiba hadn't been a model citizen, but still he had been my father. A protector and guardian to the great Kaiba family. The fact that he carried the stench of blood was of no concern. He was a hero to those that followed him, idolized him.

To others he'd been the embodiment of pure evil. The cause of unrest and a champion of discontent.

Enemies of the Kaiba Foundation laid in weight around every corner. Waiting to take down the Kaiba Foundation from the lowest rungs of the ladder.

My life wasn't my own.

Had never been my own.

I was always searching for an escape from the conspirators and the bodyguards.

At home, life was no safer.

Father and Mokuba fought a verbal war with an unyielding passion. When the dust settled, I was left taking the lashes of punishment Father wouldn't dare deal his oldest son. Punishment that was kept between us and the doctors.

Father thought to use me against Mokuba, but I didn't dangle completely from his fingers. While he'd written the play, someone else acted out the parts. My part was that of a tool. A weapon. A means to control my older brother.

Always the puppet.

Always in the shadows.

Always watching and learning.

That night had been no different; the night Death first visited the manor.

"It's treason," Mokuba had shouted.

"Salvation from our enemies."

"Enemies? How are they our enemies? They have no way to protect themselves."

"This family will not stand by and watch unpure blood taint our future."

"This isn't a family."

A shattering crash sounded from the office as I descended the stairs, hugging the wall and hiding in the shadows. At the foot of the grand staircase, I slipped around the banister to hide amongst the potted greenery. I'd found it was easier to stomach the lashes when the root of Father's anger was etched in my memory.

"Get OUT!" Another crash and Mokuba stormed from the office, slamming the door behind him. The walls rattled with the force, echoing the grumbling and cursing of Father inside the office.

"Protect yourself, Seto." Mokuba stopped at the base of the stairs, regret tinged with fear shinning in the depths of his eyes as he turned to look my direction. "Protect yourself, little brother, for I can't do it any longer."

"Brother?"

Mokuba turned and walked toward the foyer, never looking back as he opened the door and left it gaping behind him.

"Brooo-therrrr," I ran for the doorway, grabbing at Mokuba's arm. "He didn't mean it, Mokuba. He didn't mean it."

"I can't stay, Seto."

I clutched at his arm, pulling him back toward the house with little success. He motioned for his guards and they hauled me off my feet, holding my struggling body as Mokuba climbed into his air car.

"Don't leave, Mokuba. Don't leave." I kicked at the guard holding me, digging my nails into his wrists.

The air car rose and headed toward the gates. Father's guards came storming from the house, rushing forward with drawn weapons.

"Sorry, kid." Mokuba's guards left me on the ground and made their escape. I ran after the cars, stumbling in the yard and falling in a heap. I cried for the first time in my young life. At fourteen I should have been a man, ready to conquer the world, but I cried as Mokuba left home, taking with him the only affection I'd ever been shown.

He never returned. I never saw or heard news from my brother again.

Friends brought word of Mokuba joining CORE. Father swore at the breakfast table, the one place in the home manners were expected to be observed without fail. He left without excusing himself, calling for his personal guard. No man of his blood would be allowed to betray the family.

Seven months after leaving home, Mokuba returned, but not to the loving arms of the family that had raised him.

His body was placed in an unmarked grave by the grounds keeper. His name never spoken or death acknowledged. The family didn't mourn. In their eyes, Gozaburo Kaiba had only one son.

Seto Kaiba.

I had been left to bear the weight of my father's life. The weight of a family steaped in military and political actions. A family that left blood in its wake.

An omen of what was to come, had anyone bothered to see the signs.

A year passed, and Death came knocking again.

No sign of a struggle was found during the investigation.

Father had let them in and locked his study from the inside.

The killer left his body slumped across the desk, blood spilling over the sides to pool on the carpet.

A single stab through the heart from behind.

CORE execution style.

I had watched the red liquid run across the desk's smooth surface. Watched as crimson stained the carpets and burned the path of my life into the fabric of time.

I hadn't cried.

I wouldn't cry.

The guards shoved me out the door as my mother was ushered from the room in a fit of sobs and shrieks.

As Gozaburo's heir, I stood with mother as they placed him in the family crypt. Placed him beside the family's other fallen leaders.

"They'll all pay." I hissed, pulling my mother's shaking form to my side. "If it kills me, I'll see revenge."

The blood was still drying on the carpet as I stepped through the CORE gates. Both sons had followed the path forbidden by their father. Willingly, we gave ourselves over to the organization breaking away the supports of Kaiba Foundation.

Mokuba had fled the tyranny of Gozaburo Kaiba.

I sought vengeance.

Vengeance for the lives of a brother and father.

One assassin had come from those halls. Perhaps both would be there, hiding, secure in the illusion of safety.

I stepped through the gates, never realizing Death had his eye on my every move.