Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Kaiba Brothers ❯ Kaiba Corp. ( Chapter 7 )

//Calm down.\\ Noa said for the second time since they'd gotten in the car. The office was only about ten minutes away from the mansion, and they were barely halfway there.

Seto shivered. /Can't.\

//Why not? No one'll see me. Not even the driver saw me.\\ Noa pointed out. Seto had had to reopen the door to let Noa in while the driver went over to his door and got in.

/I should have listened to you. I should have canceled...\ Seto's voice was tight in Noa's mind.

Noa bit back a pointed 'I told you so' and just rolled his eyes. //You're hopeless, Seto-chan.\\ Noa complained.

Suddenly, Seto hugged Noa tightly, burying his face in Noa's chest. The ghost was slightly surprised. He knew Seto could hear him in their minds, but he hadn't been so sure about Seto's abiltiy to see him. It was a spooky thought, knowing that Seto could see him, no matter what he did to close the boy off. He'd tried every trick and defense he'd ever learned, yet Seto could still see him. He was even more surprised when he felt the sobs rack through Seto's body. Noa grabbed Seto in a tight hug, not knowing what else to do. He felt across their link and was surprised to find chaos. This was not the Seto he'd always known, and it was scaring him.

//Seto-chan, please, you have to compose yourself.\\ Noa begged. If anyone at Kaiba Corp. knew that Seto had had a meltdown in the car on the way there, they'd laugh and disrespect Seto for as long as they worked for them. Since Seto hated disrespect, all those people would lose their jobs in a heartbeat and Seto would gain a jailhouse full of enemies, many fairly powerful in the city.

Seto pulled away and grabbed a tissue from a box in front of them and used it to wipe his nose and eyes. Getting his coat's sleeve wet would cause suspition, and Seto wasn't quite sure he could handle that right then. This was so unlike him, just wanting to cry, but Noa's words earlier, although forgiven, had hit deep and opened some painful memories for careful scrutiny by the gods, not to mention his own mind. From past experiance, Seto knew he would take a vacation from work for a few days and just stay home in his room, crying.

He'd done this before, and he absolutely hated it. It put him in the worst possible mood when he wasn't going through memories, and when he was reliving his past he could do little more than cry. Not even Mokuba could help Seto with his past, mostly because Seto could never burden his littler brother with some of the things he'd gone through. Mokuba didn't know a lot of the most gruesome parts of the time they spent with Gozaburo. Seto couldn't bring himself to tell his brother how Gozaburo had raped him when he'd learned of the love between Seto and his best friend. Mokuba only knew about the sex between Seto and Gozaburo that was based on love, not on pain.

Noa watched emotions flutter across Seto's face. He was able to catch some of the thoughts going through Seto's head and quickly learned that he was going through another meltdown and was likely to break into tears at any moment. Noa racked his brain for anything that could bring Seto out of this. His eyes fell on the golden scarab Seto had started wear as of late. //Seto-chan, where'd you get your scarab?\\ He asked softly, mentally pushing his words to the huddling Seto in his mind.

The memories seemed to move back as Seto refocused on Noa. He touched the scarab around his neck. /Ototo-chan gave it to me yesterday, while we were in the park. He found it, said it was a gift for me.\ Seto smiled at the memory. /He was trying to suck up to me, don't you know.\ He smiled at Noa, still fingering the pendant.

Noa nodded and leaned closer, to inspect the little piece of carved gold. It was done to the most beautiful detail, and it had some Egyptian writings carved into it. Noa figured he could probably ask Yami what they meant, if Seto would trust the pharaoh. Noa frowned suddenly as he got a strange tingling in his fingers, where he was holding the scarab. He drew away and looked at his fingers. That couldn't be right, he was a ghost. He didn't feel those sorts of things...

/Noa, what's wrong?\ Seto asked, looking at the ghost with silent concern in his sapphire eyes.

Noa smiled. //Nothing at all. I'm just wondering if you'll let Yami look at that later.\\

/Why?\ Seto asked cautiously. He still wasn't too sure about trusting the pharaoh, although Yuugi was a different matter. Yuugi looked and acted like he'd never hurt a fly, and probably wouldn't if he could help it. Once Seto had learned how to tell the difference between yami and hikari, he'd learned to like Yuugi, and even see him as an extention of his family. He'd never told Yuugi, Yami, or Mokuba that, but he had a feeling that Noa, at least, knew.

//There is some Egyptian writing on the back. The only people I know of who could read it are Malik, Isis, Bakura, and Yami. Malik and Isis are back in Egypt, and I know you'd never let Bakura near you without about twenty bodyguards holding him down. Therefore, Yami is the only Egyptian left.\\ Noa explained.

/Humph.\ Seto rolled his eyes.

The car slowed, then came to a halt. The driver got out and came to open Seto's door. Seto took extra time getting out, so as to give Noa the time he would need to get out ahead of him. When both were out, Seto thanked the driver, his mood lifted some from the discussion with Noa, and told the man not to wait for him, since he would be a while, although the man should be ready to move whenever Seto called. The man just said he'd stay in the parking lot and drive back to the entrance when Seto called him. Seto nodded and walked inside.

"Kaiba-san!" A young woman squealed.

/Here we go, again...\ Seto complained to Noa who laughed loudly as the young woman threw her arms around the annoyed CEO. "Look, Yugha, I really don't have time for this." He warned.

The young woman, Yugha, walked around to meet Seto's eyes. She had soft green eyes and long blonde hair that she kept in a braid down her back. The moment she'd seen Seto, when he father had first started working in Seto's office, she'd fallen head-over-heels for him. "You never have time for me!" She whined.

Seto narrowed his eyes. He was not in the mood for this right now. "What if-" He started out, his voice sharp.

"Kaiba-sama!" Sekio hurried up. "I'm glad you're here." He looked at Yugha sternly. "Leave Kaiba-sama alone. He has work to do, and it has nothing to do with you."

Yugha turned on her heels and stormed away, angry and embarrassed. Seto let out a deep sigh. "Arigatou." He mumbled. "I really hate her sometimes." He looked at Sekio seriously. "What do you need of me?"

Sekio's face broke into a smile. "I'd like to have a chat, just the two of us. Nothing serious. I'll have the guard call when the president from GOUTI arrives."

Seto looked at Noa. /I think this has to do with you.\ He told the ghost.

//Might as well. I want to talk to him, anyway.\\ Noa replied.

Seto nodded. He knew how much this would mean to Noa, even without seeing the excitement in his face. "Agreed." Sekio bowed slightly and led Seto to his office. Seto sat on the couch Sekio had, but the place was crowded, and he had a little bit of difficulty clearing away a spot.

Sekio blushed slightly and hurried to help his boss. Seto looked like he'd had a rough morning, even before Sekio had come to the mansion. "I am sorry, about disturbing you earlier." He said softly once Seto had been seated and Sekio had cleared a place on his desk to sit himself.

Seto shrugged, then nodded at an empty space in the room. Sekio glanced over and gasped as Noa appeared, almost falling off his desk in his surprise. Noa grimaced. "I'm gonna have to find a better way of doing that. Randomly appearing is not my idea of a good time."

Seto smiled softly. "I think it's fun to watch the way people react." He looked at Sekio. "Noa's dead, yes. He's a ghost who can, somehow, become solid to our eyes. Appearantly, he's not the only one, but they are rare. He keeps an eye on things. I only learned he existed yesterday."

Sekio seemed to have calmed. He caught a bond between the two boys that was more than love or brotherhood. It was something more, but he couldn't quite place it. He looked back at Noa. "Well, Kaiba-kun, I'd like to say that you have grown, but I don't think that would be the proper way to start a conversation."

Noa's eyes brightened considerably. "I told you, call me Noa." He complained. Seto grinned while Sekio chuckled. "And although I haven't grown in size, I have grown in knowledge." He said after Sekio had stopped laughing.

"That's something, I guess." Sekio nodded. "You are a protector for Kaiba-sama and Mokuba-kun then?"

"Heh..." Noa scratched the back of his head as Seto gave him amused expression. "Not really. I just help out when I can." He shrugged, then turned to Seto. "And why must you make everyone call you Kaiba-sama? It's so...dry..." He complained.

Seto sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's policy, Noa. Gozaburo started it, and I had little choice but to continue it."

"It doesn't take that much to get rid of policy." Noa pointed out and walked over to Seto. Seto sighed and moved his hands from his lap. Noa sat down and leaned back against Seto's chest. "Anyway, I don't see why you'd want to be called the same thing as otosan was always called."

"Shut up." Seto growled.

Noa looked at him, then sighed. "Gomen." He mumbled. Seto hugged him slightly, burying his head in Noa's hair.

Sekio frowned, but the look Noa gave said to just let this slide. Sekio nodded. When Noa was little, he used to cry whenever Gozaburo kicked out of his office. Only once did Gozaburo physically kick Noa out, and Sekio had confronted him about it after his young charge had come to him, sobbing. Sekio saw Seto in a position not unlike Noa's. The young CEO had a lot of pressure on him everyday, and he didn't have any real friends, except for Mokuba and the Game King and his friends. Sometimes, Sekio wondered if Seto actually liked the Game King's presence, but never asked. With Noa around, Sekio hoped that Seto could just calm down a little bit.

Sekio remembered what had happened one time when Seto took a vacation and an important something came for him. Sekio was voted to go and deliver the thing. Mokuba had answered the door and didn't even smile. When Sekio asked what was wrong, Mokuba just sighed and shook his head. He thanked Sekio for the thing, then went back inside. Sekio, knowing where Seto slept, walked over to see if he could see the CEO from the ground. He'd seen a pale-faced Seto on his bed, his eyes hollow and tear tracks on his face. He looked like he was having a nightmare, even though he was awake. Sekio had left with a heavy heart.

Now, Sekio walked over to the couch and sat next to Seto. The boy didn't even look up. Noa watched Sekio carefully, making sure he didn't make a wrong move. When Seto was like this, his mood could swing from perfectly calm to pissed beyond all reasoning within a second. Sekio placed a careful hand on Seto's back. Seto stiffened, but didn't looked up. Sekio sighed. "Seto-san, what is it?" He asked softly, using the name Seto had been called when Gozaburo was still alive.

Seto finally let his sobs go and forgot about hiding them anymore. Noa was shocked as Seto's body was racked with the intensity of the sobs. "Seto-chan..." He whispered, turning so he could see Seto's face.

Sekio bit back a cry. Seto's eyes, bright and smiling only moments before, were hollow and sunk into his face. His skin had visibly paled and his lips were tight. He looked like he'd seen a ghost, and Sekio didn't mean Noa. "Seto-san, what is it?" Sekio whispered.

Noa closed his eyes and reached out through their link. He found Seto in the center of a memory, and he pulled back immediatly, his eyes wide. He didn't want to relive that for anything. He knew he had to find a way to snap Seto out of it before he did something drastic. "Seto..." His voice cracked from his own fear. He cleared his throat. "Seto, I need you to listen to my voice." He whispered, watching Seto's eyes for any sign of recognition. "Seto, please, you have to snap out of that!" He suddenly cried in a quiet voice.

Sekio hated seeing Noa like this. Somehow, Noa could tell what Seto was thinking about, and it obviously terrified him. "Noa, what is it?" Sekio asked softly while he rubbed Seto's back.

Noa shook his head. "If I told you he'd yell. Let's just say he's remembering some very unpleasant memories." Sekio nodded, understanding. Seto was a secretive person, everyone knew that. The fact that Noa knew some of these memories was no surprise, but letting them out could turn out to be a dreadful experiance for any involved.

Sekio drew Seto into a loose hug. Although he'd never had any children himself, he'd always taken care of Noa, and he'd have taken care of Seto if the boy had needed it when he first came to Kaiba Corp. Instead, Seto had stayed by Gozaburo, unless the man had him run an errand, or there were guests in the building. Sekio smiled slightly as he remembered how Seto had always found way to get out of going to meetings with other companies, yet could tell Gozaburo everything that had happened in the meeting as soon as the meeting ended. Gozaburo had tested him a few times on that. Seto was a bright boy, and he knew ways to get his information without being there.

Sekio glanced up as his phone rang. He pulled away and went to answer it, slightly surprised when he heard the sobs quiet some. He glanced back and smiled as he saw Noa gently speaking to Seto in a calming tone. "What do you need?" He asked the phone, his voice light.

"The GOUTI president has arrived. He requests to speak with Kaiba-sama immediatly." The guard on the other end said.

Sekio placed a finger on the mute button and looked at the two Kaiba's on his couch. "The president from GOUTI is here. He asks to speak with Seto-san."

"No." Noa's voice was chilled. He looked at Seto suddenly. "Absolutely not! You're in no condition to be running around talking to people!" Seto mumbled something under his breath. Noa groaned. "Fine." He looked back at Sekio. "Tissues would be wonderful." He grumbled.

Sekio grinned and tossed him a box, then went back to the phone, removing his finger from the mute button. "We'll be down shortly."

"He requests now. He says it can be over the phone." The guard sounded nervous.

Sekio turned back to Seto and Noa, finger once again over the mute button. "Seto-san?" Seto looked up at him. He looked a little better, but Noa was right, he wouldn't pass the inspection of the rest of his company like this. "The president would like to speak over the phone."

Seto stood, hugging Noa against his chest, and walked over. He took the phone easily and sat on the desk, where Sekio had cleared a spot. "Put him on." He ordered in a chilly voice.

"Hai." The guard said something to somene.

"Kaiba-sama?" A calm voice came from the other end.

"That's me." Seto's voice still held an air of superiority to it. Noa could have smacked him, but he didn't want to ruin this.

"I'm afraid I cannot attend this meeting today. Something has come up. Would you prefer I have one of my assistants take my place, or can we set up a new date?" He asked.

Seto let out a sigh of relief. "Let us set it up for a new date. I'd much rather meet you face to face than going through a third person." He said, his voice only slightly softer.

"Thank you very much, sir. I feel much the same way. Shall I call you later to set something up?" The man had dropped some of his unease at speaking with the cold-hearted CEO. Appearantly, Kaiba Seto wasn't as cold and cruel as others had told him.

"That will be fine. I'm planning on taking a vacation for about two weeks, starting tomorrow, so, if you could call me after, I'd be very much abliged." Seto replied, feeling even better. It must have sounded in his voice.

"Of course. Until then?" The man sounded happier himself. This was, obviously, something that meant a lot to him.

"Hai." They hung up together. Seto glanced up at Sekio. "I think I'm going to take a vacation and go home now." He grumbled, standing. He looked normal again, but Sekio wasn't quite sure how close he was to another breakdown.

"Seto-san, would you like me to take you home?" Sekio asked softly.

Noa nodded quickly. "I'd like that." He commented.

Seto sighed, not even wanting to try fighting this time. "Alright. I need to go upstairs and tell my secretary what's going on, though."

"We'll come with you!" Noa offered, hugging Seto slightly.

Seto sighed and walked to the door, Sekio following. "Shouldn't you put Noa down?" Sekio asked softly.

Seto got a protective look on his face and shook his head before walking from the room. Noa looked relieved and Sekio bit back a laugh. The group hurried to the elevator and went up a couple more floors to Seto's office, then got out. His secretary, a pretty young woman with black and and eyes, looked up. "Kaiba-sama..." She started.

"Kaiba-san!" Yugha stood suddenly and hurried to come over. The only thing that stopped her from hugging him was Noa. She made a face at the boy. "Who is that?" She asked darkly.

Seto held Noa closer and gave Yugha a dark look. "Family. Move." Yugha moved, steaming visibly. Seto walked over to his secretary. "I'm taking a vacation." He informed her.

The woman got out her small pocket calender and opened it to the month they were in, smiling. "Stress again, Kaiba-sama?" She asked lightly. She liked Seto, despite his mood swings. She worried about him sometimes. He hadn't taken a vacation in a while, and it looked like it was starting to take it's toll.

Seto grimaced. "Hai." He pointed to the next day on the calender. "I want two weeks. Can I do that?"

The woman turned and brought up something on her computer screen. "You have two months saved up." She nodded.

"Good. Two weeks, starting tomorrow." Seto told her.

She turned to put something in the computer. "And you're taking the rest of today off?" She inquired, typing.

"Yup!" Noa said happily.

The woman looked up and smiled at the boy. "Konnichi wa. What's your name?" She asked. She had two little boys of her own and had brought them to the office a few times. She liked it when Mokuba visited, since the boy was the age of her eldest and would play with him every once in a while.

"This is Noa, my cousin. His parents were killed a couple days ago, so he's moving in with me." Seto said softly.

"I see." She nodded. "That would make sense." She blooped Noa on the nose and he giggled. Then she turned back to her typing with a smile.

"Kaiba-san!" Yugha cried out, running over to his side. "You can't leave! I'll be all alone!" She complained.

Noa hopped out of Seto's arms and got between Seto and Yugha, his eyes ice cold. "Leave Seto-chan alone. He doesn't like you and I don't like you. If you're looking so hard for a boyfriend, you're better off going elsewhere." He hissed.

Yugha's eyes were wide in shock. The secretary was watching Noa with surprise. Sekio was watching Noa with an amused expression. Seto pursed his lips. "Noa, that was rude." He said, but he wasn't angry. He was actually kind of proud of the little ghost.

"You said it's company policy that everyone has to call you Kaiba-sama. I was just trying to fix that." Noa said innocently.

Seto couldn't help it, he laughed. Noa grinned as the secretary and Sekio chuckled. Yugha narrowed her eyes at Noa. "You little asshole." She hissed.

Seto's eyes immediatly narrowed and his laughter died. "Yugha, get out of my building." He ordered sharply."

"Wh-what?!" Yugha gave him a surprised look.

"I said, get out of my building." Seto's eyes were hard as he picked Noa back up.

"I'm telling my father!" Yugha said sharply.

"So?" Seto gave her an annoyed look. "What is going to do? He needs this job."

Yugha gave and exasperated cry and fled down the hall to her father's office. "Papa!!" She cried on her way.

Noa hugged Seto tightly. "Let's go home." He mumbled.

Seto smiled softly and looked back at his secretary. "Call my driver and tell him I don't need a ride home after all and that he has the day off." He told her, then motioned to Sekio and they walked onto the elevator.

As they reached the main floor, they found themselves in a loud crowd. "What the hell?" Seto pursed his lips and gave a sharp whistle. The room filled with silence as his people recognized his call for silence. Noa rubbed his ear with an annoyed expression. Seto hugged him lightly, then started through the crowd. People moved out of his way until he was in the center. A man and a young woman stood there. The woman had pale skin and wore only rags. The man was in a business suit. "What's going on here?" Seto asked calmly.

"Who are you?" The woman asked angrily.

"Kaiba Seto." Seto replied calmly.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You bastard! Why are you trying to take my father's company away from him? Have you no heart?!" She cried.

The man grabbed her as she tried rushing Seto. "Asli, yameru!" He called.

Seto rose an eyebrow at the two as Noa cluched him tightly. "I'm afraid you'll have to expand on that, my dear. Who's company am I taking away?"

"My papa's! GOUTI!" She sobbed.

"Kaiba-sama, I apologize for my daughter..." The man mumbled.

Seto shook his head at the man. "Asli, is it?" She looked up. "I'm not taking GOUTI from anyone, I'm only setting it up so I can co-own it. That is, if your father goes bankrupt or dies without anyone to take over, GOUTI won't be lost." Seto explained.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Asli!" Her father cried, annoyed.

Seto met the man's eyes. "I take it that this is the reason you canceled?" He asked.

"Hai." The man hung his head, ashamed. "I am terribly sorry, Kaiba -sama. I didn't mean for this to disturb you..."

Seto rolled his eyes. "It didn't. I was just leaving anyway." He looked at the woman seriously. "Before you throw a fit like this again, I'd suggest you get your facts straight. Also, don't ever let me catch you in my building again in the trash you're wearing now."

"This is all I have." Asli replied coldly.

Seto put something in her hand. It was a wad of bills and she gaped at it, surprised. "Then go out and buy something." He told her before moving past her and to the doors. Sekio hurried after him.

"Kaiba-sama!" The president called. Seto turned around. "Arigatou." He whispered.

Seto nodded and turned on his heels to go. Noa buried his face in Seto chest. //That was nice of you.\\ Noa commented as Seto followed Sekio.

/I just don't like trash in my building.\ Seto replied tightly.

//That was nice of you.\\ Noa said again, smiling slightly. He looked up at Seto and kissed his cheek. //Knew you could be nice when you wanted to be.\\

Sekio chuckled, seeing the kiss and the blush that spread over Seto's features. Sekio opened the front passenger side door. "I assume you can both sit up here together?" He asked.

"Yup!" Noa smiled as Seto got in with him. "I don't even need a seatbelt!"

"To be on the safe side, can you disappear?" Seto asked softly as Sekio closed the door and walked around to the others side.

//Okay.\\ Noa disappear to everyone but Seto.

"Where's Noa?" Sekio asked, getting in.

"Right here." Seto hugged the ghost gently. "I asked him to fade out, to lessen the chances of us getting pulled over for breaking laws."

Sekio smiled. "Good idea." He started the car and glanced over slightly. "You can still see him?" He asked.

Seto nodded. "Don't know why that is so, only that it is."

"I see..." Sekio looked back the road and the rest of the ride was in silence.

-

~~A/N: Have we figured out the pairings yet? Any of them? Maybe? So far, I've got two pairings that I've kinda introduced. Think you can guess who they are? Tell me in a review!! ^_~

-

I wanna thank MORE ppls!! Here we go!

To sweetdeath; Glad you like my site so much! Could you sign the guestbook? It'll make me feel like a little queen!! (or something...)

To Yami no Kaiba; Glad I made you happy! Hope you like this chappie too!! Also, WHEN ARE YOU GONNA FINISH THAT FICCY?!?! Teaser indeed... -_-*

-

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

-

Ja!

Katmon =^.^={AKA Okusama KK}

R+R PPLS!!!!!