Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Irksome Nature ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of its characters, blah, blah, blah. No profit is made and yadda, yadda, yadda. Same as previous.

Author's Notes: Thank you, Blue September. I'm glad this story has made such an impression on you and I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I hope to try and keep things from being too cliché or overused so thanks a bunches for telling me I succeeded. This chapter was particularly fun to write, though I'm still paranoid about it diverging from the original style I had simply because I know my mood often changes the way I write. Also to note, I couldn't get rid of the image of chibi Seth and chibi Atem meeting so I decided to chuck it in here and add another layer of their past onto this fic. Another fun bit to write, and hopefully to read. I assumed that because Kaiba was a precocious child, Seth would be too. However, precocious doesn't equal an adult so hopefully it's clear that despite Seth's intelligence, a child he is still.

I don't know how long it will take to do the next chapter, Phoenixfire17 (I'm hoping for monthly updates) but it probably won't hold since I'm going to be rather busy after semester break finishes. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

And as usual, thanks muchly to Moerae who beta-ed and gave me some nifty ideas in the process. Lots of peaches and ramen heading your way.

Chapter 3

I yawned lightly, one hand covering my mouth while the other dismissively pushed away the papyrus I was writing on. It was only early noon, with the sun beating down hard onto the sandy grounds, but I still didn't want to leave my room yet. At least, not until I taught myself all the symbols and scripts of the Egyptian language. Just because I was young didn't mean I was ignorant, and the one thing I hated more than adults acting as if I couldn't understand a word they said was them telling me I was cute. Stupid people. I supposed they could be forgiven for their total ignorance in this. They were just common people playing priests, while I was going to be an actual priest. One who protected the Pharaoh, Horus on earth, nonetheless. It was a great honour, a great prestige, and I wasn't going to be a failure.

With that in mind, and quiet determination in my heart, I reached for the pile of scrolls near me. They were the only ones I haven't opened so far and I guess I was a little pleased at the fact that it was less than half of what I brought in secretly. I laughed slightly now. No doubt Akmet was going to go crazy when he discovered the missing scrolls from his library, but it couldn't be helped.

I blinked and turned around in mid thought. What was that, that distracting and loud sound? It held a wailing, crying quality that made my ears hurt and my head ache, and it was bringing a halt to my peace and quiet. I scowled and stood up from my bed, feet landing onto the marble floor with a soft thud. Whoever was making that horrible noise was going to face my wrath, I thought, marching in small strides towards the source.

As I reached closer and closer to a room not far from mine, the noise grew in volume and I had to grit my teeth to withstand the annoying pitch. They were really going to pay.

I stormed in, arms crossed and an expression darker than Anubis' on my face, ready to unleash my wrath.

Only to encounter...nothing. Except, it wasn't possible. Simply impossible, because the stupid noise was still in full force. I squinted, eyes trained to every corner of the large chamber. It was pretty impressive, if I was one to be impressed, and held two beds along side each other. Paused, I retrained my eyes onto the smaller bed and finally noticed something I had missed before. The sheets strewn over top weren't as empty as I had first thought, and I could see tiny, small movements here and there.

Stepping closer with a puzzled frown, I wondered warily what it was. Some pained animal? A hidden enemy? I brightened at the thought. This was the perfect opportunity for me to show my prowess as a warrior. Even though my training haven't exactly started years ago, I was still quite good at it. Hand to hand combat, chariot racing and even riding a horse! These skills I picked up quite easily and was something I looked forward to using.

I smiled gleefully and quickly walked towards the wriggling, noise-making form. It hadn't stopped its racket at all so it was logical to assume it was an enemy veiling its deadly weapons, waiting for the Pharaoh to arrive before making a move. I nodded to myself. This was the Pharaoh's chamber after all, and for such a thing to get through the guards surrounding the palace, it must be dangerous. And I was very pleased by the fact.

Quickly, I reached and pulled the white linen sheet away, my body automatically moulding itself in the fighting stance I was taught. The sheet fluttered onto the floor innocently, splashing quietly while I stood still, eyes widening in disbelief at the sight before me. Not an enemy assassin then, I thought with no small tinge of disappointment. Instead, what was huddled under that linen was none other than a baby. The Pharaoh's son, I amended when I saw the symbols sewn along the seams of his wrap and the spiky multi-coloured tufts of hair that only he would have.

Damn Pharaoh baby. Why couldn't he be an assassin?

I scowled at the child who had now stopped crying and relaxed my body; arms crossed over my chest in what I deemed an intimidating move. He, Atem, I remembered, stilled and stared back at me with luminous and curious ruby-like eyes while his mouth opened in wet wonder.

Did all babies drool? I thought with distaste. Even worse was the idea that I might have done the same a couple of years ago.

Shuddering lightly, I decided to leave. It had been a waste of my time in coming here for a crying baby and I didn't want to waste anymore. I had turned to walk away when suddenly, that loud wailing started up again. I halted my steps, wincing slightly at the echoing effects of the chamber and then turned back to Atem with an annoyed glare.

"Hey. Stop making that noise," I said angrily.

Atem just kept on crying and for a moment, I panicked. It wasn't a deep panic because I never panicked, but that damn baby wouldn't stop his racket. I stomped closer to him and scowled down at the screwed up little face that was turning into a flushed pink. He still hadn't stopped.

Without thinking much of it, I reached and poked at Atem's side. "Stop that. I'm getting a headache."

Surprisingly, Atem stopped his loud noises and made newer ones. I stared down in confusion as he gurgled happily. What happened? I poked him again because he was irritating me with his nonsensical baby ways and because he was kind of soft. Soft bodied, soft skinned and he suddenly seemed a lot more vulnerable to me. Who would protect him? I wondered absent mindedly and then the idea that Iwould pushed itself to the fore.

Atem giggled this time in childish delight and I became more fascinated than angry. Confused as well because he had been driving me crazy one moment and then...he wasn't. I poked at him a third time, and as expected, more giggles bubbled forth. The small hands reaching for me made me blink in puzzlement, but I didn't mind.

I watched curiously as Atem reacted happily to every single one of my pokes, and if my hand had rubbed his side gently more often than not and my mouth crinkled upwards every time he made his giggling noises...well, it wasn't really my fault.

Damn Pharaoh baby.

Sooner than I thought, Atem yawned tiredly in mid giggle, and large eyes drooped slightly in exhaustion. I gave a soft snort and started to move away, only to realize that tight fists had clutched themselves around me and a curling body was prepared to use me as a sleeping toy. I scowled but let myself fall by Atem's side, glad that at least the bed wasn't so small that I couldn't stretch myself out.

I turned towards the sleepy, podgy face and my scowl slipped. Atem sleepily gurgled and murmured, "'eth," before snuggling his whole face onto my chest.

"It's Seth, stupid baby," I chided, but made sure to say it quietly in case he woke up wailing again. Yawning, I sighed in resignation and closed my own eyes. A full afternoon and what had I done with it? Spent it with Atem, of course.

Damn Pharaoh baby, I thought, already travelling in dreams.

-=-=-=-=-

Damn...baby?

I woke in gradual but comforting stages, body protesting like it always did at the end of its brief period of rest. However, my mind was less than serene due to some puzzling thought trails, but that too faded away as I became more alert and aware of my surroundings. I wasn't unhappy. What ever I was dreaming about had me confused and more than a little apprehensive because I was Seto Kaiba, cold and ruthless corporate tyrant. Not Seto Kaiba, warm and fuzzy teddy bear. And where did the fuzzy teddy bear come from?

This was when I decided I didn't really want to know, and started to head off for a shower. A nice, hot, mind-numbing shower that would have come close to being orgasmic if my cuts haven't come to the fore and stung when I applied soap. One more reason to take down Hirato, I scowled blackly. Ruining someone's morning shower was just rude.

I finished after thirty minutes of bliss, wrapped myself in my black bathrobe and walked back to my room. The digital clock sitting on the edge of my desk blinked baffling numbers and for a second, I stood still in surprised shock.

1:35PM?!

But...impossible. How could I have slept for so long? And why didn't Mokuba wake me? It was a school day, and I needed to be at school. My mind just couldn't wrap around the fact that not only was it 1:35PM, but that I. Was. Not. At. School. This just didn't happen.

"Good morning, Kaiba."

I whirled around, and met with an amused Yami who was standing in the doorway of my room with a breakfast tray that only Mokuba ever used. And since I was less than at my best, instead of a scowl and glare, I gave him a baffled look.

"Oh, I see you're confused." He smiled soothingly, "Mokuba's just gone to school -- now don't give me that look, Kaiba, I tried to get him to stay but he wouldn't listen, and yes, I see you can relate. He also told me to look after you, so please be reasonable."

"Don't try and reason with me," I snapped back. "You just look demented with that smile on your face."

His said demented smile grew strained and annoyed. "Now, Kaiba. I'm just trying to help out, which somehow included taking your breakfast -- lunch -- whatever -- to you. Let's just try and get along, ok? Because if I was nice enough to give you food, the least you can do is behave while we're in this situation. We really don't want Mokuba to come back to his precious brother lying bruised on the floor now do we?" His tone chirped yes, yes, yes! and I narrowed my eyes.

"We'll just have to see who's going to end up on the floor now." My body tensed and I was ready to strangle the irritating-ghost-that wouldn't-go-away -- and what did I really expect anyway since the damn spirit was living with me -- when the phone rang, its shrill surprising me and most definitely shocking Yami. He looked on curiously as I took the cordless and pressed 'Talk', all the while glaring angrily at him. It was a very impressive feat, I was sure.

"Kaiba."

Turning away to have my conversation in peace, or more to point, to listen to one of my investigators update on the Hirato situation without being distracted by infuriating violet eyes, I somehow managed to curb my rising anger. It deflated as my disappointment inflated. None of the investigators had found any leads, any sign of illegal activities within BetaCorp. It couldn't kill Hirato to have some kind of corrupt dealing could it? Tax fraud, maybe? I could live with tax fraud and BetaCorp going bankrupt because of it. I wasn't too picky sometimes if it meant getting the whole situation over and done with. Unfortunately Hirato wasn't let in on the game plan.

"Kaiba?" Yami asked questioningly.

It showed how absorbed I was that I haven't even noticed shutting off the phone and clutching it tightly in my left hand. I haven't even noticed Yami, who was standing to the side gazing at me in part concern and part curiosity.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I answered. "You can go now."

He frowned at me, but the concern was already dissipating. "I'm not some servant you can dismiss, Kaiba --"

"No, you're not," I cut him off, in no mood to listen to the Pharaoh rant for the hundredth or was it thousandth? time. "I need to get dressed."

"Well." He trailed off dubiously, leaving the tray of food on what little space he could find on my large desk before finally managing to say, "We're not done yet."

His last sentence dripped with determination and steel, a Pharaoh's commanding voice through and through, and even I felt the smallest compulsion to follow his orders, to heed his words. But I fought that unwise urge like I had fought in the past and it didn't disappoint. If there was one thing I trusted about myself, it was the strength and power of my will to do what needed to be done.

"Later," I dismissed as I turned away, ignoring him as I have been wont to do but never quite succeeding like I wished.

-=-=-=-=-

I dressed myself as slowly as I possibly could. I nibbled on the toast and eggs, hoping that those minute sized bites could drag time by its horns. Unfortunately, even as I wasted more than an hour, it wasn't enough for Mokuba and Yugi to come bustling in, all chatter and loudness, and most definitely interrupting our 'conversation'. It wasn't that I was afraid of Yami -- as if -- but Yami had somehow always managed to extract certain classified information I never would in billion years revealed. It was irritating as hell and dangerous too. Weaknesses upon weaknesses could be held within the palm of Yami's ghostly hand, and I would be at his mercy. Not something anyone, let alone but especially me, would look forward to.

By the time I left my room, clothed and as prepared for the confrontation ahead as I ever could be, Yami had already settled himself in the living room, munching on some cookies and watching the flat screen TV with wide eyes. I stopped and stared at him, wondering whether he had already assimilated into this technology driven world when I noticed the programme that was currently enthralling him.

"I'm sorry...so sorry...but, I couldn't help it. He seduced me! And he looked exactly like you!"

Dramatic sobbing commenced and I turned back to stare at a sheepish Yami who had just realized I was there.

"Uh, I only know how to turn it on." He shrugged. "And this was sort of there."

"You watch soap operas," I stated, disbelief obvious.

"I guess," he said uncertainly, shrugging again and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Soap. Operas."

He was starting to look annoyed now. "So what? Like I said, it was there, so it means you watch it too."

I just shook my head and gracefully moved to sit on the leather couch. Picking up the remote from under the glass coffee table, I proceeded to click to another channel. One, hopefully, with no sobbing or evil twins in sight.

I raised an eyebrow, and Yami responded with a quiet, "Oh," when he saw the stock market.

"I still didn't know how to work your TV."

"Sure."

"No, it's the truth. Yugi just did -- things -- and told me to watch," Yami said defensively.

I didn't respond, but my mouth did turn upwards. Whether it was a smirk or something even rarer, a grin, I wasn't certain. Yami obviously was.

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Then I don't suppose the great Seto Kaiba could teach the technologically helpless like me how to be technologically sound like you?" His tone held a slight mocking quality to it, and I found myself tensing up.

Glancing sideways at him, I asked, "Is that a challenge? Because you sound like you're challenging me."

"And what if I am?" he smirked back.

I narrowed my eyes, observing as I did so that I've been doing it a lot lately. I could probably blame it on Yami as well. Give me enough time and I could probably blame every single thing on Yami; with logical reasons pertaining as to why every grievance against me was the cause and effect of a certain three thousand year old spirit too.

-=-=-=-=-

My teeth ached from all the clenching I had been doing, and most likely needed dental treatment while my hands struggled not to wound themselves in a vice-like grip around the neck of a very irritating, and slow-learner of a Pharaoh. For someone who called himself the 'King of Games', I sneered, he certainly wasn't very bright in other areas. I ignored the little voice inside me that was trying to be fair and insert in the fact of Yami's age and originally not so advanced culture. Certainly three thousand years of progress was a lot to take in, and I wouldn't blame anybody for being trapped in a Puzzle for that amount of time. But this? This was a bloody phone.

"Press. Five." I gritted out, one hand clutching my temple in pained frustration as I watched the train wreck of a Pharaoh hesitantly aimed his fore finger at the desired button. The wrong button.

"Five." My head throbbed in misery. How long had I spent like this? Hours? Days? This was hell.

He pushed one.

The bastard.

Before I knew it, I had my hands clamped around his neck in a strangle hold. He looked at me in surprise and then my hands, and consequently my off balanced body, suddenly went through his. I dropped onto the floor but managed to tuck my body in a roll and thus keep myself from even more scrapes and bruises. Glaring at the now solid form of Yami -- damn his ghostly tricks -- I stood back up with dignity.

"Do you always try to kill everyone?" he had the nerve to ask.

I gave him a look and he nodded logically to himself. "Ah...yes. You do tend to do that a lot."

"That's what they deserve if they become annoying." I glowered pointedly at him, only to have him glare back defensively at me.

"Hey! Those numbers are confusing. How can you tell which one is which? We certainly had a better system when I was alive."

"Yeah right," I muttered. But already I was losing some of my anger because for a genius, I hadn't exactly lived up to my name -- in only this aspect, of course. I haven't thought about the differing numeric system Yami must have used and the Arabic system we have now. No wonder Yami was confused.

"I think you should learn our numbering system first," I said quickly, staring at my rich burgundy walls intently.

"That's a good idea." Slow but an acceptance of my peace offering nonetheless.

I gave him a nod and turned to face him finally as the awkwardness of the situation progressed. Even though I was getting used to some of our rarer moments of peace, it was still difficult for me to accept it. Not only was spending time in relatively low animosity with Yami foreign, but spending time, liking it and all the while being aggressive competitors with him made it more than alien. I felt like I was somehow abducted and forced into a surreal reality where everything was turned upside down with a malicious cherry dropped on top and a crackling evil laugh to garnish it off.

And to finish off my day, the splattering of tiny feet followed by the loud thud of a closed door stomped its way into the entrance of the living room and stood still there. Wide familiar eyes stared in surprise, narrowed into an even more familiar expression of calculation, and then turned into happy glee.

I stared in abject horror. "Mokuba..."

"No, big brother. Stay there! I'll just be, uh, going, uh, to, um...my room. Yeah! My room. 'Cause, you know, you guys, um, need to be...alone. Yeah! Some 'alone time'." He grinned, quotation marks etching themselves obviously even though his hands never moved.

"Mokuba --" I tried to explain again, to stop this ceaseless idea before it began to grow and weed itself around Mokuba's match-making mind.

"No need to explain, big brother," he nodded with a thousand watts of enthusiasm. "I know everything. And I'll just go now. To, uh, my room." With that, he whirled around and away, the splattering of tiny feet fading away as he exited.

With a resigned sigh, I made a note to myself to have a brother to brother talk with Mokuba. It was probably going to be difficult, but so was living with Mokuba's suggestive winks and nudges and his brilliantly 'romantic' ideas of proper dating. I shuddered at the image of candlelight and roses with me and Yami sitting close to each other, cuddling and whispering sugary sweet nothings while Mokuba played the violin. Then, somehow or another I would ask Yami for a dance and we would end up doing the tango, eyes staring passionately at each other while a rose would mysteriously appear between my lips.

I shuddered again.

Too gruesome. Much too gruesome and no doubt we would end up fighting over the wine anyway.

I shook my head, trying to shake away all the nightmarish images at the same time and prepared to leave. Yami was already forgotten and I really, really needed to do some more research.

"Kaiba, what just happened?" Unfortunately Yami wasn't content to be forgotten.

"You don't want to know," I muttered back. "Better if you didn't."

He eyed me with some confusion and wariness but I didn't want to answer any questions now. Especially not when they were about Mokuba, my little brother who had somehow decided that everyone should be paired up and me, who couldn't -- haven't -- quite managed to stop him yet.

Taking a couple of steps away, subject at hand dismissed, I hadn't expected Yami to continue his line of thinking aloud. Or should I say, the more sarcastic edge of that line of thinking.

"You know, plenty of people can leave a room without being so dramatic and saying cryptic remarks." He sounded put out and near enough to pouting that my hackles didn't rise up to defensively insult back. Sort of. I ignored him to the best of my ability anyway.

"Yeah. Good for them. Now practice using the phone," I told him from over my shoulder.

"Oh shut up," he said testily and I felt a small smidgeon of amusement. It looked like the 'King of Games' wasn't as cool as he made out to be, I mused smugly as the distance between us grew.

"Damn numbers," floated from somewhere behind me, a mutter not meant to be heard by listening ears, and I laughed softly, perhaps less snidely than I would have thought and expected.