Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seto's Wish Alternate World Conclusion ❯ C23 Virtual World – Aftermath II ( Chapter 23 )

Mokuba A/N: The following was written by Clarity2199.

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C23 Virtual World - Aftermath II

 

Kaiba turned to look at Noah finally, to see he had an exact duplicate of the map in his holographic image, instead of Noah standing there. Noah noticed he finally looked over and quickly added, “I can also use the knowledge I remember about it, when I had it in the virtual reality computers, and edit the image to look more realistic.......see?” Sure enough, the 2-d map of it, grew......coming to life before Kaiba's eyes to make a 3d view of it, as a miniature version of what it might look like. “Personally, I think your food concession should be spread out more. Uh.........well, that's my opinion, anyway.”

 

Kaiba looked over what Noah had created, and approached the holographic display. He crossed his arms, looking it over. Finally after a moment, Kaiba broke the silence, saying, “Show me your idea.”

 

“Wh-what do you mean?” Noah asked. He expected many things out of Kaiba's mouth, most of them involving insults, but that was not among them.

 

“You were able to recreate my Virtual Reality Kaiba Land from the combination of what you remember combined with my maps. Now modify it to show me your opinion on where you think the concession stands should go.” Kaiba said.

 

“Oh. Well.....of course!” Noah said excitedly. In a moment, the map lowered down to a 2d look, was changed around, then came back up into 3d format. “I was thinking you could draw more customers to them, if you focused some near the entrance, as well as some over at the games area, and park over here.”

 

“I already considered that, but it makes it more cluttered and offers less space for other things. If we kept it focused in the center like a food court, it would offer the same amount of walking space from wherever you are, whether you are in the amusement park section or the gaming area. Plus, there are still ice-cream and drink stands in other locations.” Kaiba countered.

 

“Logical.....but Kaiba Land is going to be so big, you shouldn't need that much extra space. And even if the walking has been balanced, it's still going to be a long walk from the outer areas.” Noah said.

 

“All right......then perhaps we can keep it like that, and instead have smaller snack stands in the key regions. Snacks offer the most profit, anyway. Plus, if they're too lazy to walk a couple more feet, they can feel free to chow down on junk food.” Kaiba smirked.

 

Noah laughed at that. But after that, Noah was shocked to find that Kaiba was willing to talk to and even work with some of Noah's ideas. Though Kaiba didn't outwardly say it, Noah could swear that Kaiba seemed to actually value his opinion on the project.

 

Noah didn't remember the last time he felt so needed or important. Anytime he had tried to offer opinions to his own father, his thoughts were pushed aside as insignificant, as if Noah's ideas meant nothing. Noah felt like he had all the knowledge an ideas of the whole world bottled up in him, when he was in the virtual reality system......and none of that mattered to his own father.

 

Of course, it wasn't the same now as it was before. Because Noah had escaped to be in the small jet, most of his knowledge he obtained was also abandoned, like a piece of memory in a computer......he had lost a great deal of that knowledge. But slowly he was gaining it back again, and planned to do whatever he could to use that knowledge to help his new family. And unlike his father, it looked like they were actually willing to listen. He knew that Kaiba still didn't trust him, but was surprised that he actually allowed him to have any input at all. He would make sure that Seto was proud of him and worthy of his new trust, no matter what he had to do to gain it.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Noah had talked and played with Mokuba during the day. Mokuba was so willing to bond to Noah, so happy to have another brother to play with. Unlike Seto, Noah had the time.....and Mokuba would play whatever he could with Noah. Mokuba had set up some board games, like chess and checkers. Mokuba would moved the piece for Noah, that he told Mokuba to move. From there, they moved on to cards. Cards were the first game that would be based on trust. Mokuba would show him the card, not looking at it, himself.....allowing Noah to create a holographic image. He then put it aside, and they played. Noah was passionate about not cheating, one step in proving he could be trusted to both him, Mokuba, and Kaiba. And Mokuba knew he was being honest too, since he wasn't winning that often at it.

 

Finally night time came, and Mokuba headed to his bedroom to sleep. It was the time Noah dreaded the most, because he did not sleep.....and things became lonely and boring for him.

 

But as he checked out the area with the security cameras, he found out that Kaiba was still up......quite amazed at just how long Kaiba would stay up and still get up early in the morning.

 

As Kaiba continued to type on his computer, the voice of Noah finally rang out, asking, “Seto......how do you do it?”

 

“Do what?” Kaiba asked.

 

“How do you get such a small amount of sleep, and not let it bother you any? You're just as much a human as everyone else......so why do you sleep so much less than them?” Noah asked.

 

Kaiba hesitated now, and asked, “Don't you know? Didn't your `father' put you through the same `special' training to be in charge of Kaiba Corp, before the accident? Oh, that's right.....what am I thinking? He spoiled you rotten. You didn't have to lift a finger in your life, pampered by all his peon servants.”

 

“Wh-what are you saying? I mean.....I know that my father never treated you as his own, and used you as he used me. But you two still got just as much out of his wealth as I did, before the accident. You have no right to complain!” Noah snapped, though not meaning to. He still felt the pain of them having everything that was meant for him.....he couldn't help it. No matter how old he really was, he was still just a child that never had a chance to grow.

 

Kaiba offered a small chuckle at Noah's retort, saying, “So.....still jealous, huh? You really don't know.....do you? You know, I've been curious about that.” Kaiba turned to face Noah's holographic display now, saying, “There were many hard times between me and my brother at that mansion. What you picked out to use against me in your Virtual World was minor in comparison. I had always wondered why you chose that one particular event to throw in my face. But you really don't know any of it, do you? Where did you get your information, Noah? How did you find out everything you did about us?”

 

Noah answered, “The orphanage was easy. Since I had so much time in the virtual world with father, he told me everything that happened....as well as the chess game. As for the time at the mansion....except for the pieces father told me, the rest I had to obtain, myself. Much like your own system, I was also able to see into the real world, from the cameras in the mansion, while I was hooked up. But unlike yourself, I wasn't given permission to do so.....I was afraid to use the cameras. If my father found out, he might be afraid I had obtained too much power over the security system, and reduce the size of my world. But once a week, they did a system's dump on the computer at the mansion......and I took the liberty to tap into the cameras then, when I didn't leave a trace in the computer.”

 

“I see. So once a week, you had two hours to spy on us.” Kaiba said, coldly.

 

Noah looked down, saying, “I had hoped my father was around at that time to get a chance to see him, but his schedule always had him out on meetings. You two were the only other people I found worth watching. Normally I saw you two together enjoying yourselves, or Mokuba was playing while you were working in your room, getting all the best tutors that were meant to be for me.”

 

“Believe me kid, you didn't want the tutors I had.” Kaiba muttered, turning away.

 

“Why not?” Noah asked. Then returning to the subject, he said, “The point was, I saw what you had. It was everything that I had and lost. So, what if I'm jealous......I can't help that. Even if you didn't have anything from my father, you still have more than I have......you have a body, and a life. I.....I have nothing.”

 

“I'm trying to give you more, if you stop whining about it.” Kaiba snapped. “And don't even think to blame us for what you're lacking in. Seeing that your options were living this life, or being dead.....you should be happy you for what you got. And you're changing the subject. We're not talking about your jealousy over not having a body, we're talking about your jealousy over not having control of Kaiba Corp.”

 

“I......I'm sorry.” Noah said. He turned away, adding, “But I don't understand. You tell me whatever the problem I'm having, I shouldn't complain about it. Yet, how can I help not to complain about it, when all you can do is complain about everything you had, that I didn't? How can you sit there and tell me I'm lucky for not having what you had.......you had everything!”

 

“You're wrong, Noah!” Kaiba snapped, turning back to look at the holographic projection. “I did not get the same treatment as you did. Oh, I did in some cases.......your sick and twisted father decided to turn me into the image of you, by dressing me up as you and having my hair dyed your color, which I've sure you've seen. That was about the extent of what I got that belonged to you. Everything else went down hill from there. I learned not to get any sleep, because many times I learned that letting myself sleep might mean my end. He had tutors teach me the hard way about everything.......any time I made a mistake, he made sure I paid the price for it. And I let him.......I let him do it all, in order to protect Mokuba. Yes, we were quite close during those times that Gozaburo left on his meetings. It was the few times we got to spend with each other together. Any other time we were locked away from each other. The only way I found to stop the madness and save Mokuba from this hell, we had now been forced to call home, was to beat your father at his own game. Did Gozaburo tell you the story on how and why I took over his business? And I'm not talking about that crap story that one of the Big 5 decided to mention.”

 

“What are you saying.....that is was a lie? Are you still going to deny that you treated Mokuba that way, and that you were the one that leaked that information to father?” Noah asked.

 

“That was told from the opinion of an outsider, who had no idea what the game was really about. Those were the thoughts of an ex-employee looking for revenge. That game was more than just a power struggle. Yes, the winner would take claim of Kaiba Corp. But the loser was also to forfeit his life. That was the penalty game....and I won. It's true I deceived Mokuba, but I did it to protect him. You have no idea how many times Mokuba's life was threatened, how many times I had to prove to your father that I didn't care about him....in order to keep him safe and not get punished the way I did.” Kaiba turned away, muttering quietly. “I suppose after awhile, I might have gotten used to treating him that way. But sometimes it had to be done for his own good. I never did it on purpose to hurt him.”

 

“No.....it can't be true.” Noah said. “Father's not like that. He would never really hurt anyone. And if this game was supposed to be about death, he probably only meant that since he was going to originally transfer me into your mind. He never intended to lose.”

 

There was another pause of silence, since Kaiba didn't bother to respond to him. After another moment, Noah spoke again, asking, “So.....what did you do to father, after you won the company. He never told me. Are you the one that sent him to the hospital, to never wake up?”

 

“No.” Kaiba answered. “He did that on his own. When he failed the game, your father decided to teach me one final lesson....that failure equals death. So, he opened the window at the highest floor of Kaiba Corp, and jumped out. I never forgot the lesson.”

 

“F-father.....he jumped?” Noah asked.

 

Kaiba turned away, saying, “Maybe you've been told enough. You should go.”

 

“Wait!” Noah said, remembering something else. “Earlier before that challenge, you mentioned during your studies that if you made a mistake, you paid the price for it....a price you didn't want Mokuba to get. What did they do?”

 

“I don't want to talk about it.” Kaiba said coldly.

 

“Please?” Noah asked. When he was returned with silence, Noah sighed. “You told me it will take a long time before you ever trust me. But trust also works both ways. If you keep things from me, then how will I ever learn to trust you?”

 

Kaiba glared into Noah's holographic form for a long moment, considering what Noah said. If it wasn't that Mokuba wanted this, if it wasn't that he agreed to do this, if it wasn't that he wanted Noah to trust them to ensure there would be no problems after he took the final step to plug him in......he would have never even considered the idea of giving Noah what he wanted. But after those three considerations, he decided perhaps it would be best to allow Noah to know exactly what his father was truly capable of.

 

“All right.” Kaiba said as he stood and took a few steps to approach the pod. Kaiba then began to undo his tie and button down his shirt.

 

Noah's eyes widened, unsure exactly why Kaiba seemed to be taking off his clothes. “W-what are you doing?” he nervously asked.

 

“I'm not much of a talker when it comes to personal matters. And from I've been told, a picture's better than a thousand words. This is something I never even shown Mokuba. So I'd appreciate it if you don't tell him. Maybe this will even make a nice test for you.....to see how well you can keep a family secret.” Kaiba smirked, as he removed his suit coat and was about to remove his shirt.

 

“Did you say family?” Noah said, almost ecstatically. Then the shirt came off, and he allowed Noah to see the scars that remained underneath.

 

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Noah's eyes widened in shock and horror. “No.......my father would never do something like that to anyone! He.....he's not like that!”

 

“Your father may have never been able to bring himself to do this to his own son. But I wasn't his son. I was the new heir to Kaiba Corp, that he wanted to ensure didn't become lazy and spoiled. This was his lesson of ensuring that.” he answered Noah.

 

Kaiba then turned away, slipping the shirt back on. “The worst was actually the sleep deprivation he gave me. My work was timed, and if I couldn't succeed quick enough.....I wasn't allowed to sleep. I suppose that's why sleep doesn't mean that much to me, now. These scratches are nothing compared to that.”

 

A small laugh then escaped Kaiba's lips that were directed at himself, as he muttered, “But they are probably the reason I always wear long sleeves. Don't get me wrong.....it's not shame that brings me to keep it hidden. These markings to me symbolize badges to my personal victories, after I defeated your father. But the last thing I needed was anyone looking down at me, like I was some sort of victim.....especially Mokuba.”

 

“W-was it my father that did this.....or someone that worked for him?” Noah asked, afraid of knowing.

 

“It depends on the mark.” Kaiba answered. “Some he ordered my tutor to do if I made a mistake. Some were from my fighting instructor to ensure I learned never to show mercy. Then others were from your father, to make sure I understood who was supposedly in charge over me. It was the third lesson that I had the most trouble learning.”

 

“Seto, I - I'm.....”

 

“You're what?” Kaiba snapped. “You're sorry? Do you think I showed this to you for pity? Now, you know why no one else knows about this.”

 

Kaiba then moved back to his desk and had a seat, ready to continue his typing. “I have work to do. Go amuse yourself somewhere else for awhile.”

 

“Yes, Seto.” Noah said, dropping his head down.

 

And Noah had plenty to do for the rest of that night. For hours, he mentally beat himself up from guilt over the fact that his father caused such pain to those that had accepted him as a brother. Guilt wracked Noah's mind to think all this time he had felt mostly jealousy towards them. He even hurt them and tried to separate them in order to get what they had and he didn't. It never occurred to him how bad they had it.

 

“Why, father?? Why did you do this?? Why didn't you tell me the truth!!” Noah cried into his system, feeling surges of energy from his conflicting emotions causing the system to near overload. But at the moment, he didn't care. He felt his father had put him in shame by abusing those that were willing to do so much for him. `I don't deserve this. I should have died with my father......it would be the just punishment I deserved for what he had done to them! It's no wonder Seto hates me so much! I'm so sorry, Seto!!'

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

It was morning, and Kaiba got up early. The first thing he noticed was one of the holographic pods were flickering strangely. “What in the....??”

 

He immediately went to the mainframe that held Noah, and noticed the system seemed to have overloaded last night. For the next hour, he fixed the system up and powered it back on.

 

Noah appeared, asking in a panic, “Wha--....what happened?”

 

“That's what I'd like to know. From what I can tell, you seemed to have gone through a power surge. Do you have any idea what could have caused this?” Kaiba asked.

 

“I.....” Noah began to stutter, trying to figure it out. Then everything came back to him at once, and he quickly realized. He lowered his head, saying, “I'm sorry, Seto. It's my fault. I didn't mean it. It wont happen again.”

 

“I want to know what happened.” Kaiba demanded.

 

Noah couldn't tell him. Just trying to say `I'm sorry' seemed to upset Kaiba last night. No, Kaiba didn't want to hear that.....he more than explained he didn't want to be pitied. The least he could do was respect Kaiba's wishes.

 

So, with a nervous laugh, he muttered, “I guess I just got bored last night, and started playing with one too many things on the system. I'll make sure not to do it again.”

 

“Bored?” Kaiba asked. He never thought about it before, but it would make sense. With everyone asleep, Noah wouldn't have anything to do. “Hmmm......I'll see if what I can do about that.”

 

“What do you mean?” Noah said.

 

Kaiba gave a smirk, saying, “I should have realized.....you sleep even less than I do. I think I could come up with something to help you with that problem.”

 

“Really??” Noah asked. But why would Kaiba do that for him? `Seto hates me.....so why should he care?'

 

After that day, Kaiba used any of his extra time at night to give Noah a number of challenging computer game systems to go through. The games were simply there if Noah couldn't find anything else to do. But that wasn't all Kaiba gave for Noah. He decided to use Noah as a night time worker for Kaiba Corp. Many projects and ideas that Kaiba never had the time to complete, he decided to load into Noah's system. Perhaps Noah could come up with something on these projects that he never thought of. On top of that, he began to download paperwork into Noah's system that would make Kaiba's job a lot easier if they were done for him by the next morning.

 

Not only was Noah absolutely ecstatic about these new files loaded to him, this allowed Kaiba to gain more time to get the system done....in order to further Noah's freedom. And during the day, Kaiba began to allow Noah to assist him more and more with the projects involving Kaiba Land.

 

Even though Kaiba never outwardly said it, Noah had believed that maybe deep-down Kaiba had finally begun to trust him and accept him as a member of their family. And the day Kaiba officially connected Noah into the main computer, was the day Noah counted that as more than proof of his belief. Kaiba was not one after all to actually speak of his affections towards anyone.

 

It was far from the perfect family. But for Noah, this was better than any family he's ever really had. Even if he couldn't touch anything. All Noah ever really craved for was attention from other real live people. And for once, he was getting that.

 

(End Flashback)

 

“So ever since then, slowly but surely Seto's been giving Noah more and more access a little at a time.” Mokuba explained.

 

Of course, the details of what VWKaiba told Noah that day wasn't actually told to Kaiba. But after Mokuba mentioned that VWKaiba talked to Noah about his childhood, which caused a sudden pale look on Noah's face, Kaiba had a good indication of what was said that night.

 

Noah added, enthusiastically, “I do my best to help him and Mokuba out whenever I can. I know Seto still doesn't trust me. But I think over time that will change.”

 

“Don't bet on it. I don't care how much you supposedly changed, Noah. You will never get total trust out of me. I don't have to be from this universe to know that...” Kaiba sneered coldly at Noah, as he responded.

 

“I'd expect nothing less from you, Seto.” Noah said sadly. “You trust no one that much.”

 

Kaiba glared at Noah, then turned away from him, saying, “You're wrong, Noah. I guess it shows just how little you know about me.”

 

“Really? And who could that be? I didn't even think you trust yourself that much...” Noah said, giving his own smirk.

 

“Yeah, big brother...who? Tell us!” Mokuba said.

 

Kaiba turned, looking down at Mokuba, surprised. `Didn't he know?'

 

Kaiba eyes suddenly softened, as he squatted down on his knees to reach Mokuba's level and smiled, “You, of course. Who else would I be talking about?” It made Kaiba inwardly concerned about his own brother, though. Could his Mokuba not know, as well? It's true he didn't always spend that much time with him, but Mokuba had to know how he felt. He made sure to quickly make a mental promise to himself to take Mokuba out somewhere very special when he got back, to make up for all the work he'd been doing, lately

 

“Really?” Mokuba asked, his eyes shinning!

 

Kaiba ruffled his hair, saying, “Do you really need to ask that?” Mokuba just giggled from the hair ruffling and finally gave him a hug, so happy to hear Seto say that, even if it wasn't officially `his' Seto...and in front of Noah, no less.

 

“Didn't you say you had a mission to complete?” Noah asked bitterly, suddenly wanting rid of this Seto Kaiba. At least their Seto he'd been able to wear down enough, that he no longer showed the hate he once had for him. And watching him and Mokuba together like that, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous from it.

 

“Oh, can't you stay a little longer, Seto? I want to hear more about the other realities you've been to!”

 

“I'd love to, kiddo. But as much as I hate to admit it…Noah's right. You are in danger in this other world, and I need to get there and help you.” Kaiba replied.

 

Mokuba was a little sad to know he was leaving, but said, “It's okay, big brother….I understand. I hope you find the world you're looking for very soon!”

 

Kaiba smiled down at Mokuba, thinking, `Finally, after all the universes I've been to so far....I find one version of Mokuba that seems to be just like my own brother. If it hadn't been for Noah, I'd almost think I ended up back in my own reality...'

 

“I hope so, too. I wish I could stay and tell you more, but I must be going.” Kaiba said kissing the little boys head. Kaiba then glared dangerously at Noah, saying, “You hurt him, Noah.....and I'll find my way back here and personally unplug you!”

 

Noah smirked. “Of course, I'd expect nothing less of you, Seto. Believe me, I love Mokuba and would never hurt him. I promise you I will protect him as best as I can.”

 

“Good. I'll hold you to your word. Good-bye, Mokuba.”

 

“Bye. Hope you find what you're looking for. Good luck!”

 

The only part Kaiba didn't fully understand was the part about them being trapped in a virtual world. Mokuba explained it as if Kaiba would know what he was talking about. But he didn't question it, either. Instead, he decided he'd make another note to keep a careful eye on Mokuba and watch out for Noah, when he started his Battle City Tournament.

 

Kaiba then opened the box, and hoped Mokuba was right about finding the correct reality soon.