Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Kaiba Brothers ❯ Questions ( Chapter 3 )

Seto groaned when the light from the window seeped into the room, and his eyes. He turned over and pulled the covers over his head, an attempt to get back to sleep. The scarab dug into his chest and he shifted. ~Damned thing... Should have taken it off last night...~ Seto thought to himself darkly.

The phone rang loudly next to Seto. The CEO growled and sat up to grab the phone. "Who is it?" He asked harshly.

"Well, good morning to you, too." Yami commented lightly.

Seto ground his teeth together. The last thing he needed was to talk to the Game King when he'd just woken up. "What do you want, Yami?" He asked, his voice only slightly softer.

"That's better. I wanted to know if our duel was still on for today." Yami replied.

Seto let out a groan. ~That's right! That duel we had scheduled!!~ He smackedhimself lightly. "When was it again?" He asked calmly.

Yami rolled his eyes on his end of the line. "Half-an-hour ago. What did you do, sleep in?"

"Actually, yes." Seto forced himself out of bed. "I'll be there in half-an-hour."

"Uhm, wish I could, but, Yuugi-chan and I had something planed..." Yami sighed. "Do you want us to come over there later?"

"Seto!" Noa walked in. "Oh, good, you're finally awake!" He smiled, then noticed the phone. "Who're you talking to?" He walked closer.

"Noa, go away!" Seto hissed, keeping the phone out of Noa's reach by turning his back to the ghost. "Look, Yami, maybe today isn't the best day. I kinda have a cousin visiting and..."

"Seto's talking to Yami!" Noa called out. "Lemme talk to him! I never get to talk to any of your friends!" Noa made another grab for the phone.

"Noa!" Seto thundered. "Out!!" He glared at the ghost.

"Make me." Noa said with a grin.

"We'll discuss a time later, Yami. I have a problem here right now." Seto said smoothly, then hung up. "I was having an important discussion with the Game King, Noa." He hissed.

Noa shrugged. "Anyway, your breakfast is ready. Moku-kun sent me up for you." He poked Seto's bare chest. "And you might want to get dressed." Then he hurried from the room, laughing.

Seto let out a growl. "That ghost'll be the death of me..." He grumbled, grabbing a change of clothes and walking into the bathroom.

~~^**^~~

Seto walked into the kitchen in a pair of blue jeans and a soft blue shirt. He stopped short when he saw Yami, Yuugi, and Mokuba sitting around the table, eating. Noa was nowhere in sight. Seto pursed his lips at the two intruders. "Why are you two here?" He grumbled, walking over to the stove to collect his breakfast.

"Yuugi-chan wanted to meet your cousin." Yami said with a shrug.

Seto sighed. "Where is Noa, anyway?" He grumbled, looking around again.

//They can't see me anyway...\\ Noa's voice was hollow in Seto's head. The ghost was crying.

/Noa? What's wrong? Where are you?\ Seto asked, sitting down. He didn't question the ghost's ability to speak through his mind. He was too worried about his new friend to care.

Noa appeared on the table. Mokuba coughed and choked on his food slightly. Seto pursed his lips. Yami and Yuugi looked confused. //They can't see me, Seto!\\ Noa cried, waving a hand in front of Yami's face.

"Well, maybe you can try what you did with ototo-chan yesterday." Seto pointed out, lifting some eggs to his mouth.

//I can't! I tried! Moku-chan can see me now, but he can't hear me!!\\ Noa had tears running down his face.

Seto rolled his eyes. "So? Try again." He pursed his lips and sat back. The scarab around his neck slipped free from his shirt.

"What the?!" Yami stood quickly. Yuugi's eyes widened, terrified.

Seto grinned at their reactions as Noa hopped off the table and came to stand behind Seto. "I guess they see you now, neh, Noa?" Seto chuckled.

"I don't know what you think it so funny about all this." Noa grumbled. "You're alive."

Seto rolled his eyes. "So I am." He looked at Yami and Yuugi. "This is Noa, my so-called cousin. He's a ghost, has been for years." He shrugged. "Noa, you know who Yami and Yuugi are."

"Yes..." Noa watched the two boys carefully, then looked at Mokuba. "Moku-kun, can you hear me now?" He asked the boy.

Mokuba nodded. "Yup! I couldn't before, but I can now!"

"So, you're a ghost?" Yuugi asked softly, walking closer.

Noa watched Yuugi cautiously. "Yes..."

/Relax. Yuugi won't hurt you, Noa.\ Seto chuckled.

Noa turned to glare at Seto. "How would you know?" He asked darkly.

Seto rose an eyebrow at the ghost. "I'm a genius, Noa. You said it yourself."

"I was being sarcastic." Noa rolled his eyes.

Yuugi's hand landed on Noa's shoulder softly. Noa startled and spun around, dislodging the small boy's hand in the process. Yuugi's eyes were wide. "You're solid..." He whispered, amazed.

"Yeah, well, it's part of my abilities. Not all ghosts can be solid, or be sensed by those of you who are still living." Noa grumbled.

"I'm not living." Yami pointed out. "At least, not in the sense you mean, yet I couldn't even sense your presence. Only Kaiba and Moku-kun could."

Seto went back to his eggs. "So? Noa's family. That's all there is to this."

"I disagree, High Priest." Yami's voice was as steady as the gaze he leveled on the brunette.

Seto let out an exasperated sound and looked up to glare at the former pharaoh. "I'm trying to eat, Pharaoh! Can't we discuss this later?"

Noa got an evil glint in his eyes. "Aw... Is poor wittle Seto-tenshi mad?" He asked in a childish tone.

Seto stood suddenly and glared at the ghost. "Noa, you have until the count of ten to get out of my sight." He warned. Noa stuck out his tounge. "That's it! Ten!" Seto chased Noa from the room.

Yami chuckled as he watched the two leave, the two others in the kitchen laughing hopelessly. Yami looked at Mokuba. "Which part of that didn't he like?" He asked the boy.

Mokuba's eyes shimmered with something akin to pain before he looked down at his hands and shook his head. Yuugi frowned and walked over to the black-haired child. "Moku-kun, what is it?" He asked softly.

Seto walked back into the kitchen, an annoyed look on his face. "He got away..." He grumbled.

Mokuba stood quickly and rammed into Seto, clinging to his older brother tightly. Seto looked at the other two questioningly. Yuugi shook his head and Yami shrugged. "He wouldn't say." Yuugi mumbled.

Seto pulled away to kneel before his brother, his face softening at the tears he saw streaming down Mokuba's face. "What is it, ototo-chan?" He asked, his voice amazingly soft, compared to his usual self. Mokuba just flung himself into his brother's chest, clinging tightly.

//I think it has something to do with otosan...\\ Noa mumbled through the connection he and Seto now shared.

"Oh, Kami..." Seto hugged Mokuba tightly. "It's okay, Mokuba-chan. He's dead. He can't hurt us. It's okay." He whispered softly, forgetting their audience.

"Who?" Yami squatted down in front of Seto. "Who's dead, Kaiba?" His voice was dark, angry, even. He'd never seen Mokuba like this, and even Seto seemed affected by this mystery person.

Seto picked up Mokuba and walked over to his chair, sitting with his brother in his lap. "I thought you and Yuugi-kun had some place to go." Seto pointed out, his voice hollow.

"Kaiba..." Yami's voice had a warning tone to it.

"My father." Noa stood in the kitchen doorway, his head bowed. "Kaiba Gozaburo, Seto and Moku-kun's adopted father. He died a couple of years ago when he, ah, slipped, and fell through a window in the fifth story, I think it was." He looked at Seto to clearify his information.

"It was the sixth floor, actually." Seto met Yami's piercing gaze. "And he didn't slip, I pushed him, in case anyone cared."

"Why?" Yami's voice was soft, yet hard. He knew Seto was cold-hearted, but he didn't think the teen would be cold-hearted enough to push his adopted father from a sixth story window. At least, not without a good reason.

Seto's eyes were cold. "I have work to do." He hissed. "And that is none of your concern, Pharaoh."

"I just made it my concern, High Priest." Yami returned, his voice final.

"You have no control over my life." Seto's eyes flashed. He was determined to keep his reasonings to himself.

Yami sighed, giving in, and looked back at his hikari. "Come on, Yuugi-chan. Let's go." Yuugi nodded and led the way from the kitchen. Yami paused one last tiem and looked back at Seto. "I'll be back later, Kaiba." With that, he left the three brothers, two living and one not, in silence, except for the occasional sob from Mokuba.

Once Seto had regained his bearings, he went back to comforting his brother. He mumbled comforting nonsense, knowing that it would take more years still before Mokuba got over what Gozaburo had done to him. Just the thought of the man made Seto clench his fists. There were times he wondered why he'd ever said he'd forgiven Gozaburo the day the man died.

Noa came over to sit on the table. "You know, when otosan died, I spoke before he left this Earth." He mumbled.

The two in the chair looked up at him. "What did he say, Noa-san?" Mokuba asked softly.

"He asked me to protect you two. Said he didn't want you guys to be hurt again." Noa shook his head. "I failed miserably when it came to Pegasus."

"There was nothing anyone could have done against that lunatic, Noa." Seto pointed out dryly. "Even Yami had one hell of a time with him. Those Sennen Items are a force to reckon with, even if it's just one at a time."

Noa sighed. "I didn't even try!" He complained bitterly. "I just stood there and watched events pass me over, as if I were an insect while a tiger was hunting for his meal."

"Insects can do a hell of a lot of damage." Mokuba pointed out. "And you can protect us now, no problem. We know you're here, now." He smiled.

Noa shrugged. "Yeah... You're probably right..."

Mokuba hopped out of Seto's arms, once again cheerful. "I'll be in the game room!" He told the other two before running from the room happily.

Seto sighed. "What am I gonna do about Yami?" He grumbled.

"Tell him the truth." Noa shrugged.

"Are you kidding?! Tell that asshole about my past?!" Seto asked incrediously.

Noa rolled his eyes and got off the table. "The problem with you, Seto, is that you bottle everything up. If you could just learn to let down your defenses and tell a few people what happened..."

"Shut up." Seto's voice was empty as he stood, his half empty plate on the table forgotten. "Breaking down into tears everytime something happens that reminds me of him is not the way your father brought me up. I can't go against those teaching now." He left the room swiftly, heading back to his room.

Noa pursed his lips as he watched the other go. "Then I'll tell Yami what happened. Now that I know I can help, I intend to." He hurried out of the house and after the two sides of the Sennen Puzzle.

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~~A/N: Okay, I lied... Seto's Pain ran into a slight roadblock for a little bit, but it's back on track. I'll finish it before long, that I promise! Hold one with me here, ppls!! Working n two fics that are so alike is difficult as hell!!

DISCLAIMER: Nope. Don't own Yu-Gi-Ou! So sorry... I want me to too...

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Ja!

Katmon =^.^={AKA Okusama KK}

R+R PPLS!!!!!