Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seto's Wish Alternate World Conclusion ❯ C9 Seto and Kaiba ( Chapter 9 )

C9 Seto and Kaiba

 

Mokuba came back downstairs in record time, wearing instead one of his brother's sweaters.

 

“I - I guess I never thought of looking into Mokie's past.” Seto said.

 

Kaiba inwardly flinched, hearing Mokuba's old nickname. The name only reminded him of his past.....things he tried very hard not to think of.

 

“Well, maybe it's not too late!” Mokuba said, joining the conversation. “Maybe you can still help him.”

 

“Mokuba.....what in the world are you wearing?” Kaiba suddenly asked, noticing the obvious over-sized sweater he had on.

 

“.......a sweater.”

 

“I meant put on one of `your' sweaters!” he snapped.

 

“But.......” Mokuba muttered, giving him his patented cry-eyes and lower lip wiggle, looking like he was about to cry. “.....I.....” he hiccuped. “....I missed you......”

 

Great. Mokuba was once again on the verge of tears. And as if Kaiba didn't feel like dirt enough from that, Seto was giving him a, `how dare you do this to your sick brother' look. He was sure that his brother could turn the waters works on and off at the drop of a hat, but it didn't make him feel any less guilty.

 

Kaiba gave another sigh, which was becoming a habit this night, and muttered, “I'm sorry, kiddo. Look.....I'm just in a real lousy mood, tonight. Come here.”

 

Mokuba walked back over to him, dragging his feet......as Kaiba got down on one knee, so they were at eye level. At this level, he could see the tears in Mokuba's eyes, which hurt him even more knowing he was the cause of it. He wiped away the tears and gently kissed his forehead. “I didn't mean to yell at you. Here...” Kaiba said, adjusting the sweater on him, to make sure it was on right. “There......that's better now, isn't it?”

 

“Thanks, Seto.....you're the greatest!” Mokuba sniffed, and hugged him tight.....Kaiba still felt like crap for upsetting his brother, especially when he's sick.

 

Seto just watched the whole scene, totally confused. Was this the same person that just a moment ago was that cruel terrible person that acted just like Noah? It's like the guy just did a total 180, and was nice, now. In fact, this version of Kaiba reminded him more of......himself.

 

As if that wasn't confusing enough, the same teary-eyed kid now had a mischievous grin on his face as he hugged his brother, and winked at Seto....letting him on to the harmless ruse.

 

Now totally speechless, Seto just helplessly watched as Kaiba picked up his little brother, and led him to the couch, sitting him gently down on it. And amazingly enough, Mokuba was back to sniffing and looking sad, even a tear escaping his eye as he rubbed it away with the sleeve of his brother's sweater.

 

“Feel better now?” Kaiba asked.

 

“Uh-huh.....” Mokuba sniffed.

 

Kaiba reached for the tissue, just in time to catch Tipper running through the room. Didn't he tell Mokuba to lock that thing up? `God, I hate that cat.' he thought. But keeping focused on his brother, he ignored it for now. Kaiba handed him the tissue and smiled at him, saying, “You're too sensitive when your sick.” causing Mokuba to smile back, as he wiped his nose.

 

When Seto first saw Kaiba, he thought he was anti-Christ. But, who was the one manipulating who, here? He couldn't believe Mokuba was acting so innocent, and yet......

 

Kaiba turned to Aiko, who calmly watched, and asked, “So, when did Mokuba last have his medicine?”

 

“Not too long ago, actually. He was hungry though, and I was making him up some soup. He should eat to keep his strength up, after all. It should be done by now.....let me go get it.” Aiko replied, then turned and walked towards the kitchen.

 

Soup. Yeah, right......that was another fib that Mokuba told on everyone, which he also admitted to Seto.

 

“Thanks, Seto.....but I hope I can eat it, I'm still not feeling too well. Can you sit with me?” Mokuba pleaded. “Pleeeaaase?”

 

“Sure.” Kaiba said, taking a seat.....which Mokuba crawled right on top of, playing the `I'm such a sick patient'.

 

Seto couldn't believe it. This was another version of his innocent Mokie? But he was constantly manipulating his brother. The whole `I'm so sick' thing was probably just an act for Mokuba to get what he wanted, again. Then again.....all he seemed to want was affection from his brother. So, was that so bad?

 

“What are you looking at?”

 

Seto quickly picked his jaw up off the floor, once he realized he was standing there gawking at the both of them. And all the kindness and softness Kaiba had been showing Mokuba was instantly gone in Kaiba, once again glaring holes into Seto.

 

.......and Seto just didn't get it. He did believe that he was beginning to understand Mokuba. After all, maybe someone as cold as Kaiba needed some manipulating, to get him to open up. But being that Kaiba was supposed to be him, he couldn't understand him at all. Did he have a split-personality? How could he be so cold and cruel one moment, then so warm and kind the next??

 

So, Seto walked over and sat down on the other end of the couch. Kaiba didn't even like Seto in the same room with him.....he `definitely' didn't like him on the same couch.

 

But even worst, still......Seto then turned to Kaiba and decided to make probably the stupidest comments he'd come up with, so far. “I just don't get you. I mean......what's with you? One minute, your nice......then you're a total jerk. You got problems!”

 

“Yes, I do.” Kaiba admitted, throwing Seto off-guard.

 

“Huh?” Seto asked.

 

Kaiba then smirked, saying, “And hopefully with Aiko's help, you'll be gone soon enough.” basically accusing Seto of being the problem.

 

Seto scowled at that.....what a jerk. `This person is not me!' He didn't like this Kaiba person, even if he was being nice to Mokuba. Maybe it was time he tried to find out why he acted the way he did. “Aiko told me you were abused as a kid......what happened? Is that the reason you act so weird?”

 

Mokuba froze and looked at Seto....terrified over what he just said, giving him that `are you crazy?' look of panic.

 

Kaiba gave Seto a death-glare for daring to comment on his past, and was also thinking how he was going to give Aiko a very harsh and painful death for daring to talk about him. But then, he noticed something......Seto wasn't cringing away from his glare this time, or at least was trying not to. Kaiba instantly calmed, as he thought for a moment that perhaps he actually saw for the first time a spark of himself within Seto. `Is this a challenge?' Kaiba wondered with interest.

 

The glare instantly faded, replaced by a total mask that was void of emotion. The only place any hint of emotion resided was in his eyes, which showed a glint of intrigue. “So.....Aiko's been talking about me, has she? Well, I'm afraid you're mistaken.”

 

Kaiba looked away, as if he was bored of the subject. “Instead of trying to look into my history, you should first look into the history of the person spreading the gossip. Aiko seems to live in a dream world of her own. She believes she was alive for 5000 years, and thinks I'm a reincarnation of some priest she served, while being a slave in ancient Egypt. Basically......the woman's somewhat obsessed over me, to the point of being delusionary. It's the reason I can so easily call her for baby-sitting service at a moment's notice.”

 

Mokuba was doing all in his power to keep from laughing out loud at his brother's award-winning job of side-stepping the issue, and it worked like a charm. After that story, Seto's head was spinning from everything Kaiba just told him. “Uh.....Uh.....wait. So what she said.....”

 

“Aiko is simply trying to make-up some ridiculous sob stories, to fulfill some demented fantasy she thought up about me. Anything she says is highly exaggerated. If I were you, I wouldn't take her information too seriously.” Kaiba calmly said.

 

Seto blinked. “Uh.....oh.” So, then.....Kaiba was basically a cold-hearted bastard, for no other reason except maybe......money and power did this to him.

 

While Mokuba was still trying to control his laugher, Kaiba was thinking what little challenge Seto offered for wits. As for Seto, he was even more confused than ever. During this time, Aiko calmly came back in and placed a tray of soup down for Mokuba.

 

Once again, focusing only on his brother.....Kaiba smiled at him. “Sit up, Mokuba. It's time to eat.”

 

Kaiba then moved Mokuba off his lap so he could eat his soup.

 

“Kaiba, did you want some food, as well?” Aiko asked.

 

“No.”

 

She then turned back to Seto, asking, “Are you sure you don't want......is something wrong?”

 

“Uh.....uh......” He looked back over at Kaiba, who gave him an almost evil smirk, then turned back towards Aiko, wondering if maybe Kaiba was lying. “Say, are you from.....Egypt?”

 

Aiko looked over at Kaiba, who glared back at her in defiance.....daring her to say something. After all, she's the one that started gossiping about him. Payback's a bitch.

 

“Well, since you're not even from this world, I suppose it wont hurt anything.” Aiko said, giving Kaiba one last glare. “Yes. I was a djinn that was trapped in a magical box for the last 5000 years.”

 

`Holy crap, he's right!' Seto thought. `Maybe she `is' delusional. But, wait.....wasn't Yami also trapped in a puzzle for 5000 years? So, it can't be that crazy, if one of my closest friends is having the same problem. I wonder if they know each other?' That's when it dawned on him. Kaiba must have used this woman's past to avoid the whole question. He glared at Kaiba, and realized that Kaiba technically had achieved exactly what he wanted. The original subject of the matter had all ready passed.

 

Aiko left afterwards, leaving the three of them alone, once again. Mokuba quietly ate what he could, then curled up close to his brother, now beginning to look tired.

 

And Seto decided this would be the best moment to try again in an attempt to learn more about them. “So....do you guys fight a lot? I mean.....you know, me and my sister have fights once in awhile.”

 

Kaiba ignored him, as he gently stroked strands of his brother's hair.....pretending Seto didn't exist. But the question caught Mokuba's attention. “You have a sister?”

 

Seto smiled. “I keep forgetting you wouldn't know. Yeah, her name's Angie.”

 

“Angie? You mean, like the new girl who hangs out with Yugi's group?” Mokuba asked, immediately looking back up at his brother, just in-time to catch the wide-eyed look on Kaiba's face.

 

It didn't take much for Mokuba to put two and two together.....he was smarter than most people gave him credit for. Aiko's mentioning that his brother ended up in an alternate universe.....Seto's universe. Seto has a sister, and Mokuba's brother had been strangely nice to this new girl, Angie....even going as far as hiring her as a live-in baby-sitter. And with his brother quickly avoiding eye-contact with Mokuba, he knew he was right. Kaiba's time in Seto's world must have gotten him to see her as a sister, too. And Mokuba smirked, knowingly. `....busted!'

 

Seto missed the entire 2 second exchange of facial expressions between the two Kaiba brothers, simply answering, “Well.....yeah. But, I guess in this world.....she doesn't know me like a sister.”

 

“Well, who knows? Maybe in this world, eventually she will.” Mokuba said, still giving that annoying, `I know what's going on.' smirk towards his brother.

 

“Is there a point to any of your stupid questions?” Kaiba suddenly asked, desperately trying to avoid looking at Mokuba, at the moment. `He just `had' to bring up his sister....didn't he?'

 

“Yeah, well I was just wondering.......” Seto was saying, but stopped, noticing the way Kaiba was stroking Mokuba's hair. “Say, do you normally do that?”

 

“Do what?” Kaiba asked.

 

“What you're doing with his hair......” Seto pointed out.

 

Kaiba finally looked back over at Mokuba, to see what he meant. After all......he didn't even consciously realize he was doing anything. It was just natural. He then shook his head, muttering, “Nevermind. Obviously, there is no logic to your stupidity.”

 

“What??” Seto asked, wondering what the problem was, now. “I was just asking. I mean.....I do that, too. With the `other' Mokuba.” He then looked over at Mokuba, and added, “I mean......`my' Mokuba.”

 

Mokuba smiled at that.

 

“I don't care `what' your weird habits are!” Kaiba exclaimed. “I don't want to know anything about you. I want you out of my house, and out of my life!”

 

“He's not that bad.” Mokuba muttered. “Does he have to go so soon?”

 

Kaiba looked back down at his brother, in surprise. Where did that come from?

 

Seto stood, snapping, “Well, I don't really care much about you, either. I'm just trying to figure out how someone like me could end up as big a jerk as you!”

 

He gently slid Mokuba off him, and stood to face Seto down. “Me?? You should take my life as a compliment. Once again, you seem to be so good at trying to judge `my' life, before first looking at your own faults. You're a loser with no life, no aspirations, no self-motivation, and.....and look at you! You dress like you just came out of someone else's dumpster!”

 

“Just because I can't afford to dress in some hundred dollar suit, it does not make me some kind of freak!” Seto snapped.

 

`Hundred dollar??' Mokuba thought. `Keep going.....'

 

“Moron.....it's not the price, it's the style. You look ridiculous in what you're wearing.” Kaiba spat. “You'd be an embarrassment in Yugi's group....and that's low. The least you could do is try and have more self-respect in yourself. And don't forget.....I was in your world, and I wouldn't allow myself to be seen dead in the crap you wear. It doesn't take much money to find clothes without so many holes in it that they're falling off of you. I'm surprised your weren't laughed out of school....”

 

“Well, maybe I just don't like dressing up!” Seto snapped back at him, getting on the defensive, and forgetting what the main topic was about. While, Kaiba placed yet another mental check mark in his mind.....he won another round.

 

“You two might want to keep it down.....you're going to wake Mokuba.” Aiko said, coming back into the room to see if Mokuba had finished with his soup so she could take the tray back to the kitchen.

 

Kaiba immediately turned, not expecting to hear that. Sure enough, it looked like Mokuba had drifted and finally started to fall asleep on the couch.

 

“Sorry.” Seto muttered, not expecting him to be sleeping, either.

 

Kaiba turned to Aiko, quietly asking her, “So, do you have any suggestions on how to get rid of him? I'm getting really sick of seeing him being here.”

 

“Well, there might be a way.....but it could be dangerous.”

 

“Dangerous?” Seto asked.

 

“Scared?” Kaiba taunted.

 

“Of course not!” Seto said.

 

Kaiba turned back to Aiko, asking, “So, what's this way of yours?”

 

“For some reason, even with him here, I can't seem to open a portal......at least, not to his world.” Aiko answered.

 

She then approached Seto, and showed him a golden box with a rainbow colored jewel on it. “My suggestion is you take this box, and try to get there through traveling. It will probably take more than one try to get there. And if you want or need it to, it can become as small as your hand and fit it into your pocket.....then back to normal size when you need it again. This cube here on top has a blue colored star to represent this world. There are many other shapes and colors. The problem is finding the right pattern on it to get you where you want to go. Each color and shape represents a different world.”

 

Seto shrugged. “So, what's so hard about that?”

 

Aiko shook her head, and answered, “Its dangerous, because you never know who or what you'll run into in these worlds.”

 

“There's an added problem.” Kaiba warned.

 

“And what would that be?” Aiko asked.

 

“More than likely a lot of these worlds will deal with me and Kaiba Corp. He would never be able to handle it.”

 

Seto also feared if he ended up in a world where another Noah might find and torture him. He shook those thoughts away quick. “That wouldn't be so tough.” Seto insisted. “I'd just be there long enough to make sure if it's my world or not and just pop back out. Piece of cake.”

 

“No, it's not.” Kaiba insisted. “Especially if there are enough similarities that it would take time to know for sure if it's your world or not. And knowing you, you'll end up losing the thing or getting it conned away from you, because you're too clumsy and stupid to handle it.”

 

“No, I'm not!” Seto snapped.

 

“You couldn't even handle Noah in your world, and ended up constantly being shot down like the loser you are. And he's the least of your problems! Have you ever had to deal with Gozaburo before....ever?” Kaiba asked.

 

“Uh......no.” Seto said. Honestly, he never seen the guy, just heard of him. And from what he heard about the man, he'd never want to.

 

“So, you end up in a world facing him.” Kaiba stated, crossing his arms. “Then after he beats you to death, we'll all know how well you can handle things.” Kaiba added, sarcastically.

 

“I thought you said you were never abused!” Seto snapped.

 

“I wasn't.” Kaiba retorted calmly. “We played a few games......I won.”

 

“Kaiba.” Aiko said, trying to wedge herself into the conversation. “Why don't I just grant him your memories. Then he'd know what to do.”

 

Kaiba pointed at Seto, stating, “There is no way this sorry attempt to be me could handle my memories. If you did that, he'd be a vegetable in minutes. And even if he managed to survive the experience.....it would only confuse him more.”

 

“Why wouldn't it work? If they're your memories, they should be easy enough to make them `my' memories.” Seto said.

 

“Because memories and knowledge are two different things.” Kaiba answered. “It's one thing to know something, another to actually `do' it.”

 

Aiko sighed. “I'm afraid he's right, Seto. I could grant them, but as he said.....that still wouldn't help you in many situations.”

 

“So then, what do you suggest?” Seto asked.

 

“Why not try to teach him, Kaiba? Try to help him learn what he needs to know......to be able to handle these other realities.”

 

At this point, Kaiba began to laugh a very cold and almost cackling laugh. “Teach `him'? Are you insane?? You think that I'm suppose to teach this worthless excuse of a human existence how to handle the danger of someone such as Gozaburo, and gain the genius level that I have to handle operating a multi-billion dollar corporation? Sure...maybe I'll just lock him into a room, with an abusive sadomasochistic teacher for the next 7 years. I'm sure he'll be ready by then.”

 

“I `am' a genius!” Seto protested, ignoring the other comments and assuming it was probably just sick humor on Kaiba's part...never even thinking that he might actually be talking about his own past. Yes, it was mentioned that Kaiba had an abusive past.....but no way would it be `that' bad. The guy was just lying or exaggerating again.

 

Aiko just stared at Kaiba, realizing the harsh truth to his words.....and said nothing.

 

“Are you, now?” Kaiba asked. “So......you think you'd be able to handle all these other words, as well as Noah himself from your world, such as I did?”

 

“What?” Seto said, suddenly in a panic. “You're kidding, right? I mean.....you didn't actually take Noah on in my world, did you?”

 

“Is that a problem?” Kaiba asked.

 

“Of course that's a problem! Noah's insane!! He could kill you, and hurt all your.....my friends!” Seto exclaimed. “Why would you do a crazy thing like that??”

 

“Why do you think?” Kaiba snapped. “To do what your incompetent self couldn't do....free Mokuba! After all, somebody had to do it, and you never would.”

 

“You… freed… Mokie?” Seto asked.

 

Kaiba gave a cocky smirk, knowing this was only proving his superiority over him even more. “Yes, as a matter of fact I did. It wasn't too difficult to show Noah for the weakling he really is. Though I have to admit....he wasn't bad. But, still not good enough to defeat me. And as expected, he tried to weasel out of the deal to give Mokuba to me. Of course.....I predicted that, too.”

 

“I can't believe it. You….wait, what happened after you defeated him?”

 

“We took Mokuba and his belongings from his old home and back to your place, of course.” Kaiba answered.

 

“No......”

 

“What's the problem?” Kaiba asked.

 

“Seto, is something wrong?” Aiko asked.

 

Seto began to pace back and forth, deep in thought.

 

Kaiba not having the patience to watch this, directed his attention to Mokuba. He grabbed a pillow off the couch and gently laid Mokuba's head on it, to make sure he was comfortable. Then after hearing a slight whimper from him, Kaiba grabbed his dragon nearby, and put it in Mokuba's arms. Mokuba immediately latched on to it and Kaiba's coat that was around him, snuggling up with both. Kaiba gave up and surrendered his coat to him, as well.

 

Kaiba then watched him for a moment, before remembering the idiot version of him was still pacing in the room. So he finally shook his thoughts from Mokuba, and approached Seto.

 

To stop him from pacing, he grabbed Seto by his collars, and snapped irritably, “What is the problem? I freed Mokuba from Noah's grasp. That `is' what you wanted, wasn't it? At least, that's what I've been told.”

 

“Of course it is! The problem is, without someone there to help......Noah's bound to come back to get Mokuba again.”

 

Kaiba stared at Seto for a moment, then let him go. He had a point. When Kaiba left, he had assumed Seto would immediately re-appear and take his place to take care of Mokuba. But he never went back. `Shit.' he thought.

 

Kaiba crossed his arms, saying, “So, then.....what are your plans, hero? I assume you plan on going back to take care of the problem, correct? Then, what are you going to do.....cry to the police? Noah owns them. Maybe you plan on whining to your pathetic friends, and have the entire lot of you get beat-down!”

 

“Kaiba......at least consider training him and helping him to learn what he needs to, to survive this.” Aiko begged.