Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Relief ❯ 3/? ( Chapter 3 )

Title: Relief 3/?

Author: Emerald Star (FF.net handle)/ Yami no Kaiba (MM.org handle)

Series: Yugioh

Rating: Pg-13

Pairing: ???/Seto + possibly more

Disclaimer: If I could own one thing from the whole series, I'd own Seto. Unfortunately, unless the creator of Yugioh was willing to sell me Seto Kaiba's character ownership for two bucks, I'd never get him. I do, however, believe I own what my twisted mind puts him through. I think.

Summary: Kicked out of his own body, Seto Kaiba has to deal with the largest betrayal of his fragile heart. Will anyone offer the poor brunette a reason to live? An alternate ending to the Noa Arc.

Warning: Spoiler / yaoi / psychological torture / introspection / angst (it's Seto for crying out loud, when is there not angst?!)

ES: u.u I have very little idea how the Noa Arc, or for that matter the Battle City and Battle City Finals End. I only have broad concepts from surfing the net. So please don't take anything I say about that as concrete truth.

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Yugi groaned lightly as he came to, wincing slightly as he tried to move stiff limbs. Sitting up, one hand raised towards his throbbing head as he glanced around at his location.

He was sitting on a bed that was part of a row, with another on the opposite side of a main aisle. Stirring on the beds around him were his friends, Jounouchi to his right and Anzu to his left. Shizuka was on the other side of her brother leaving Otougi and Tristan in the beds across from the brother and sister respectively. Kaiba was across from Yugi with Mokuba by his side. Neither of the last two made any signs of movement, though the rest did.

"What the- We're back in reality, right?" Came the slightly sleep muffled question from Jounouchi.

"Hai, it appears that way, Jounouchi-kun," replied Yugi.

Shizuka looked around, confused. "But I thought we were still dueling one of those Big 5 people..."

Yugi's boyish face turned down in a frown. /Yami, can you tell me what's going on? I thought we had to defeat all of the Big 5 first.../

//...I thought that was also the only way.// Yami didn't like this. Something about the whole situation was off, but he couldn't put his finger on just what. A sinking feeling was starting in the pit of his stomach.

Mokuba stirred a little, then sat up, rubbing one eye sleepily while yawning. "Onii-sama?" He asked, glancing around.

No response came from the still prone figure of the CEO.

That sinking feeling in Yami's stomach had just taken a plunge. //Aibou, can I take over?//

/What? Ok, but why, Yami?/

//Kaiba is taking too long to get back. I don't want you in harms way if he's not the one that wakes up.// Yami replied to Yugi even as they switched places.

/You don't think.../

Yami didn't reply as he hoped off his bed, crossing the aisle neatly to stand over Kaiba's form. Looking at it closely, he couldn't see anything off except for the lack of Kaiba's usual facial expression of superiority. It looked only as if the young teen was sleeping peacefully.

"Yami, what's wrong?" Honda called out, being the first one to notice the change in his friend.

"It's Kaiba. He's not awake yet."

"Onii-sama," Mokuba said in worry, sliding off the side of his bed to stand next to his brothers. Still the brunette didn't respond.

As the other's gathered around the bed, Jounouchi, never having been one to sympathize with Kaiba, decided to try and wake the boy up. Grabbing the CEO none to gently by the shoulders, he started shaking him roughly awake. "Get your ass up, you lazy rich snob!"

"Onii-san, stop that! You'll only give him whiplash," Shizuka cried, grabbing hold of her brother's arm and trying to stop him.

But what really startled the blonde to release his hold was the sudden strong hands around his wrists, squeezing tightly. "Let go of me, mutt." Jounouchi jumped back as Kaiba released his wrists, and rubbed at the already bruising flesh, giving the CEO a nervous look.

Kaiba's cold blue eyes opened, and he took in the view around him till a mass of black hair jumped on him and glomped him hard. "Onii-sama!!"

Startled, Kaiba's arms instantly came up to wrap around the figure of his happy little hyperactive brother. "Stop that, Mokuba-kun. I'm fine, really."

"I knew you'd come to save me, Onii-sama!" A smug smirk skittered across Kaiba's features, a triumphant gleam sparkling in his eyes. [Indeed he tried to, little one. But he was no match for me. Now I own everything he holds dear, right in the palm of my hands, and he's dead,] Noa thought to himself, laughing mentally at Seto's misfortune.

Yami stared at Kaiba, annoyed that the sense of something being off was still present. "Kaiba."

Noa's eyes shifted to Yami's. "What do you want, Yami?

"The game wasn't over. How come we're back here?"

Noa just tilted his head and gave Yami a look as if to say `you idiot', "As in a puppet show, there are two ways for the show to end. The show ends at its natural conclusion or the puppet master dies. Since Noa was the creator of the virtual simulation, when a person defeated him in a duel the game would end. When I split off from your group to find Mokuba, I met Noa and challenged him. Obviously, I won."

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Noa closed the door behind him, locking the door and finally letting his emotions loose. A wicked, sinister grin crossed the stolen face of the body he had appropriated and he let out a string of suppressed mirthful chuckles.

The cover was perfect. With Mokuba's memories of Noa and Seto's confrontation erased, no one suspected that it was really Noa in the orphan boy's body. It was truly amusing, actually. All these people, who claimed to be close to the brunette couldn't even recognize the subtle personality shift.

"Seto, Seto, Seto," Noa let out laughing, shaking his head. "If it weren't for the fact I killed you already, I would find a way to keep you around to torture you some more with this amusing little drama! Not even your little brother can tell that it's not you this time!" Noa's loud outright laughter at this thought was muffled over by the sound of the air ships engines warming off to take the air ship to Alcatraz for the Finals.

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ES: Well, I'm gonna run with this story well it writes itself for as long as possible. It's really not surprising I'm updating it so fast, what with three different people I've been in pretty close contact with lately have been pushing me to do it. ^^ Also, thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter!! Could you all please review again? I know this chapter didn't really have as much dramatic flair to it as the other two, but it needed to be here for plot development.