Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seto's Wish Alternate World Conclusion ❯ C25 Gozaburo and SMK Corp. ( Chapter 25 )

 

C25 Gozaburo and SMK Corp.

 

Kaiba groggily looked around, though it was kind of hard seeing as it was pitch black with only the moonlight shining through. He felt something heavy on his chest as he looked down and sat up straight realizing it was Mokuba! Fear clutched his heart, thinking he was in a reality similar too the last one!

 

Mokuba sat up rubbing his eyes, “What's up, big brother?”

 

It was then to Kaiba's great relief that he saw the boy had pajamas on. He started to hesitantly stroke Mokuba's hair. `Well I guess I'm in a different reality.... I hope.'

 

“What's wrong, Seto?” Mokuba asked, feeling the tension in his brother's features.

 

“Why-why are you in here?” Kaiba asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

 

“Don't you remember? You said that I could. When you came in to check on me, I told you I had a nightmare and asked if I could sleep with you tonight. Please Seto, don't make me go back to my room..... the shadows will get me!” At this point, Mokuba was almost in tears from the nightmare he had earlier. Kaiba pulled him into a hug, without hesitation this time. Whatever horrible residuals Kaiba was feeling from the last dimension, by this time it quickly faded. Mokuba needed him......and that came first.

 

`Am I that horrible to him here, that he thinks I'd just send him back to his room simply because I told him I forgot I agreed?' Then he remembered what else Mokuba had said. `Shadows?' Kaiba questioned as he noticed how terrified Mokuba was from the nightmare he had. It sounded to Kaiba like Mokuba was having another nightmare about the shadow realm, after being trapped in a card. This was no different from how his own Mokuba would react at times.

 

“No, no its okay. I just had a bad dream myself, kiddo.” Kaiba told him rubbing his back. “It's all right if you stay here.”

 

At least the last reality felt like a terrible nightmare to him. He still couldn't quite get that horrible experience out of his mind. Kaiba couldn't imagine why Mokuba would think he'd be so quick to send him back to his room, though. He could only assume it was Mokuba's panic and tiredness that caused him to over-react. But just incase, Kaiba still asked, “Mokuba, why would you think I'd send you back to your room, when I told you I forgot I agreed?”

 

“Well, this happened once before.” Mokuba looked down, saying, “You know I get a lot of nightmares. You said I could stay with you, but then you were worried I'd keep you up, and you had a big meeting to go to. You just didn't want to chance it....”

 

Before Mokuba could question why he was having to explain things to his brother that he should already know, the door opened and much to Kaiba's great horror in walked Gozaburo!

 

“You boy's should be asleep. It's late and you have school tomorrow.”

 

Instinctively, Kaiba released his hold on Mokuba, fearing his actions towards Mokuba would show a sign of weakness in front of his stepfather. Yet, one of his hands moved and automatically grabbed Mokuba's wrist instead, prepared to pull him away if need be, to protect Mokuba from Gozaburo. It appeared he left one nightmare just to end up in yet another nightmare. Was this another reenactment of Death-T, to torment him even more?

 

It was bad enough in that other reality, having to re-live Death-T all over again. The last thing he needed was to deal with Gozaburo a second time around. And if Gozaburo was alive, then he could only assume this was before Kaiba won the game of control over Kaiba Corp. Suddenly, it wasn't so surprising that Kaiba would toss Mokuba away so easily. The only times he allowed Mokuba in his room was behind their stepfather's back, when he felt his brother really needed him. Gozaburo never knew he was letting his brother in to be nice. Kaiba pretended to be mean to him all the time. But Kaiba didn't expect to be in the middle of one of these times. Now he was caught dead to right, which would mean there would be a punishment for his display of weakness towards his brother. Maybe worst.....maybe Mokuba was in danger, now.

 

Immediately, Kaiba began to think of excuses to make up, as to why he was there together with Mokuba.......why he looked like he was comforting his little brother, when he had convinced his stepfather that Mokuba meant nothing to him. `But wait a minute.' Kaiba suddenly thought. He realized something was wrong. Gozaburo didn't glare at Mokuba for being here and his questions towards them somehow seemed........off. Plus....Kaiba didn't reduce in age any, like that other reality. He should be younger....smaller.

 

“Okay, Dad.” Mokuba said, as Kaiba looked at him.....not believing what he had just heard, as if Mokuba had just grown a second head.

 

`DAD??' Kaiba thought, horrified at the very word that spilled from Mokuba's mouth, as if his little brother had just spit on their real parent's grave. Besides, Gozaburo never accepted any other name from either of them, unless it was father or sir. `What kind of twisted reality is this??' he wondered, as his grip on Mokuba's wrist tightened even more so, than it already was.

 

“Seto just had a bad dream......that's all.” Mokuba explained to Gozaburo, as he glanced down at his brother's hand that was by now tightly gripping his wrist, like his life depended on it. Kaiba's face was pale and never took his eyes off of their stepfather. `That must have been some bad dream he had.' Mokuba thought. Though the grip was uncomfortable, Mokuba didn't resist, feeling perhaps his brother needed this closeness right now, and didn't want to upset him further.

 

“Well, you boy's should try to get some rest. You still have that big investors meeting after school at SMK tomorrow, Seto. So, you need all the rest you can get. You don't need Mokuba keeping you up all night, once again.” With that, he shut the door.

 

“SMK?” Kaiba questioned blankly, still unable to fathom what he had just witnessed. Only now after Gozaburo was safely out of the room, did he fully realize that it couldn't be like his past. Mokuba was the same age as `his' Mokuba, which meant that in this timeline Gozaburo was still alive in the future. Never before had Kaiba seen a single caring feature from his stepfather's eyes before. It was so alien to see it, like it wasn't even him. It in fact frightened Kaiba even more than seeing his stepfather as the psychopathic lunatic he normally knew him to be.

 

Mokuba tiredly looked up and noticed the strange look on his brother's face. “Seto, are you feeling okay?”

 

“I'm fine.” Kaiba said curtly, not wanting to upset his brother any.

 

“Are you sure?” Mokuba asked. “It's just.....you're acting strange. It's almost like.....you're not yourself.” Mokuba added, tiredly.

 

Kaiba closed his eyes irritably from Mokuba's predictable conversation. After all, the only obvious answer would be for him to once again explain to someone why he was acting out of the ordinary, which would again involve telling someone he was not from this world. `Not again......I can't do this! I am so sick and tired of having to explain myself.'

 

But Kaiba then realized that Mokuba was so tired, that perhaps he'd fall asleep before Kaiba would have to......or at least that's what he hoped. But as that thought hit his mind, it reminded him of his own weariness. All this traveling around had exhausted him and the emotional turmoil he went through from experiencing this other Gozaburo had taken the last remaining energy he had in him. Finally, realizing he had been gripping his brother's wrist, he quickly loosened it up and kissed his forehead. Kaiba then laid down next to him, realizing even with Gozaburo living here.....this one for some reason did not threaten or punish him for his show of affection. So, he wrapped his arms around Mokuba once again and muttered, “Don't worry, Mokuba....we'll discuss it in the morning.”

 

“Whatever you say, big brother.” Mokuba mumbled, quickly falling asleep

 

Kaiba glanced over at his brother, as he began to fade. `I knew he'd fall asleep.' He smiled and fell asleep, himself.

 

The next day, Kaiba got up at his early time and woke his brother up for school. After much thought, he decided he had to see what this reality was like. He simply couldn't fathom a `nice' Gozaburo, and had to see it for himself. What possible changes could have occurred to make Gozaburo so different in this world? He was also curious what an SMK was......

 

They sat down to what had to be the strangest breakfast Kaiba had ever witnessed. Gozaburo actually seemed to pretend to be some kind of `caring' father, which tempted Kaiba to almost laugh in his face, from what he took as the most disgustingly fakest act he had ever seen his stepfather perform. And yet, he noticed that Gozaburo took Kaiba's hostility towards him as normal. Obviously, the Kaiba of this time must not have hidden his contempt for him, either. Yet, it was so different from their normal `family dinners'.

 

Kaiba remembers their meal times well. Normally, it consisted in a lot of mind games, screaming, fighting, occasionally trying to kill each other. Most of the time it resulted in Kaiba being dragged out by the guards and beaten until he was unconscious. This world consisted of Gozaburo spreading out the newspaper and reading it.....pretty much ignoring them all. Occasionally, he would ask Kaiba something about business. When Kaiba gave him a snide remark, the conversation surprisingly ended. But his stepfather letting him win a conversation? Somehow, it didn't seem as fun.

 

Kaiba quickly shook the thoughts of the old game from his head, and focused on breakfast.

 

Finally, he was out of the house and heading towards school, looking forward to a little bit of normalcy. After the limo dropped Mokuba off, it headed for Domino High for Kaiba to be let off. The driver opened the door and let Kaiba out as he normally did, then Kaiba walked towards the front doors. But, as he reached the open doorway, he stopped.

 

For some reason, the teenage girls outside the school were gossiping as usual. But just like the first reality, they weren't trying to mob and attack him. It concerned him, since it reminded Kaiba of the other reality when he was attacked by Joey, and hoped that wasn't the same reason here. Kaiba glanced towards them, keeping his face a mask.

 

At first they didn't notice. But when they did, they didn't start screaming in hysterics, either. Instead, they started whispering and giggling even more than they had been, stealing sly glances at him every so often. Quickly turning away and pretending to act natural, he entered the school away from the strange-acting schoolgirls. He got to the classroom and spotted Yugi and his little group talking, and sighed in relief when he made it to his seat without them noticing him. He was beginning to worry when they did notice him and smiled, but they didn't get the chance to say anything as the teacher walked in.

 

After class was over, Joey walked over to him. “Hey, Seto.....if you don't have much business work to do today, maybe you can sit with us.”

 

He still didn't approve of others calling him by his first name, but by this time he was so tense from everything he had gone through, that Kaiba didn't bother to yell at him. He was still uncertain about what Joey was expecting from him....but continued to remain calm, never showing any outward sign of stress or concern.

 

“We'll see, Mutt.” Kaiba originally decided to give his normal hostile retort, but Joey's actions led him to believe it was a common invite. And Kaiba was curious to see how they expected him to be in this world. He certainly wouldn't find out by avoiding them.

 

“Great. See ya then.”

 

`At least the mutt seemed to be behaving', Kaiba thought, relieved that Joey didn't flirt or make a pass at him. But that didn't exactly explain why the girls outside didn't attack him, either.

 

The rest of the day went the same. The others would give a casual hello, but nothing more and there were still no explanations as to why no one in the school got tried to make a pass at him. At lunch, he didn't see the others, so he sat down at a table to eat. A few minutes later, they showed up and all joined him. His first instinct was to get up and leave. But he reminded himself that he wouldn't find out anything by avoiding them.

 

So, Kaiba remained seated, but was pleased to find the time was relatively uneventful. At the most, they had cornered him with questions about the SMK, which he simply answered much like he would for Kaiba Corp......meaning any updates he presently couldn't discuss.

 

And much to Kaiba's great relief, he had gone through all of school to realize there were no romantic involvement's with anyone from Yugi's little group. But before he could leave the school, Yugi came up to him.....cornering him before he left his last class.

 

“Hey, Seto. Do you want to come over, after you've picked up Mokuba from school?”

 

“I have a meeting at SMK.” Kaiba explained, keeping as short and to the point as possible. After all, the less he had to deal with the `friendship group' the better.

 

“Oh. So, do you want us to pick up Mokuba for you?”

 

`He makes it sound like it's something he would normally do. As much as I hate being nice, I'll play along for now.'

 

Kaiba gave an immediate glare, as if even asking such a question was a crime in itself. But he quickly began to think that perhaps this was a normal thing for Yugi to do, so Kaiba chose not to tear him a new asshole and at least attempt to be civil. “I'm taking him with me.” Kaiba replied evenly at him, stifling his attitude for what he thought was a ridiculous question. After all, Kaiba normally saved the pleasure of getting Mokuba only for himself.

 

But Mokuba was needed for more than just company this day. Kaiba also needed Mokuba there in order to explain to him details on this SMK. This way, he could use Mokuba to inform him the aspects of this meeting he was to go to. If Kaiba really wanted to, he could simply use the device and go....saving himself from any possible embarrassment. But, as tempted as he was to do so, he was simply too curious to leave just yet, and had to know more about it.

 

“Oh. So, it must be one of those executive meetings or something, then....right?”

 

“Something like that.” Kaiba said.

 

As the limo went to Mokuba's school and waited for him, Kaiba did a little research on his own into SMK on his laptop. It was something he wanted to do earlier at school, but was too busy worrying about Yugi's group to actually do anything.

 

From what he could tell, it appeared Kaiba Corp was still up and running as a Weapons Factory, and SMK appeared to be a Gaming Corporation, like Kaiba Corp was in his reality. It looked like Gozaburo allowed him the freedom to choose what he wanted to do, instead of the torture he had to go through in his world. But Kaiba still couldn't figure out at the time what SMK stood for. Before Kaiba had the time to access anything further, Mokuba showed up.

 

Mokuba seemed no different from his own brother, all bright and shining and talking a mile, a minute about what happened at school that day. “So, how was your day at school?” Mokuba asked.

 

Kaiba smiled “It was all right.”

 

“And how was Yugi and the others?” Mokuba asked

 

Refusing to act any different from how he normally felt, Kaiba coldly answered, “Who cares?”

 

Mokuba glared at his brother, asking, “Were you at least nice to them?”

 

Kaiba continued to glare, now crossing his arms in defiance. At first Mokuba wasn't sure his brother would even answer, but finally he asked, “Define nice.”

 

That was enough to give Mokuba his answer, and he immediately whined, “Seto, you promised you be friendlier to Yugi and the others. They're our friends, but you still treat them like the enemy at times.”

 

`Well at least we're not the best of friends in this world.' Kaiba mused.

 

“Seto…”

 

“Fine. Then I'll try to do better in the future. Satisfied?”

 

“You'd better.....I don't want you to lose the first people who seem to really want to be friends with us.”

 

“Don't fool yourself, Mokuba. I don't care how friendly they seem to be....everyone wants something from you.”

 

Mokuba just sighed. Kaiba inwardly grinned, pleased to see that he must outwardly behave the same towards Yugi's group in this world, as well. Kaiba then took a deep breath and began to explain to Mokuba `once again' who he was and what his mission was.

 

“Really?” Mokuba questioned.

 

“Yes, I'm only here for a short time, then I've got to go.”

 

“Wow! Sounds like it'd be cool to travel like that.”

 

“Well......it has its downfalls. Believe me, it's not as fun as it sounds. So tell me, how is it that Gozaburo is permitting me a company of my own?”

 

“He doesn't allow it in your world?”, Mokuba asked.

 

Kaiba shook his head, while urging for Mokuba to explain.

 

“Well, he doesn't like it after, in his words `all the time he spent training you,' you decided you wanted no part of a weapons company. Then last year when he told you he wanted to make you vice president of Kaiba Corp, you turned him down saying you wanted to make your own company that would be a gaming company. He wasn't happy with you, and tried to have me talk you into it. But when he did, I told him I agreed with you. So he helped you start up SMK Corp.”

 

“As if I'd ever need help from `him'.” Kaiba hissed in scorn, only causing Mokuba to roll his eyes, expectedly. “So, what do the initials stand for?” Kaiba asked.

 

“Well you said you didn't want the KC label on there because you didn't want to be associated with Kaiba Corp. But since Dad - I mean Gozaburo owns 35%, you own 30% and you gave me 5%....that left the other 30% for investors. So, it was decided to name it SMK, for Seto Mokuba Kaiba. You know, maybe we should tell Dad about you're situation, and he can take over the meeting of the investors.”

 

“Stop calling him Dad!” Kaiba finally snapped, unable to deal with hearing such distasteful words coming out of Mokuba's mouth. “He is our stepfather, `not' our father. That monster doesn't deserve to be called father, by any meaning of the word!”

 

Mokuba looked like he was about to argue with his brother, but decided it wasn't worth it and simply dropped his head, saying, “Yes, Seto.....I'm sorry.”

 

Kaiba was barely keeping himself in control at the moment, still thinking about how Mokuba said he wasted Gozaburo's `training'. `What kind of training did you subject me to in this world, old man?' he thought. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it wasn't nearly as harsh. Just the thought that Gozaburo bended and giving-in to allowing him a company of his own sounded so unlike the mad man he knew.

 

But the thought that he didn't rid Gozaburo off the face of the planet, along with the weapons industry that was still alive, unnerved him. Just the idea that in this timeline he didn't stop him and the blood that stained his hands even more because of it....it tempted Kaiba to take over this world right now, create another Death-T and this time stick his stepfather into it, in order to show him the meaning of gaming in its extreme!

 

For Mokuba's sake, Kaiba forced himself out of his present thinking in order to answer Mokuba's comment, saying, “Anyway, that wont be necessary. I can handle it.”

 

“But, Seto…”

 

“There is no way I am going to allow that lunatic to come `near' my corporation! I don't need his pathetic help to run my own business. Our lives are tainted enough having to even live with someone who bombs and kills people for a living. He is not stepping foot into my company, if I have anything to say about it. He doesn't need to know anything about this, anyway. I have more than enough experience with running of business of my own. I'm sure there can't be anything more pressing than what I deal with on an everyday basis.”

 

Mokuba blinked, “But, you said Dad.......I mean Gozaburo, didn't let you run a company of your own.”

 

At that comment, a strangely dark grin appeared on Kaiba's face that even Mokuba didn't recognize seeing on his brother's face before. Kaiba coldly answered, “You're right. Instead.......I took his.”

 

“Really?” Mokuba blinked, shocked from his brother's response. How was it possible??

 

“As you said.....I wanted a gaming corporation, so I got myself a gaming corporation.” Kaiba sneered, barely able to stifle the mad laughter tempted to come out at that moment. After all......he didn't want to scare his brother, even if it wasn't `his' Mokuba.

 

Mokuba was strangely quiet from Kaiba's comment. Mokuba thought it was cool that he managed to turn Kaiba Corp into a gaming company. But to have somehow wrestled it from their stepfather? And if that was the case, then what happened to Gozaburo in his world? Mokuba had a feeling he didn't want to know the answer to either of those questions, especially after the strange coldness that came over his brother when it changed to this particular subject.

 

Since Mokuba became strangely quiet afterwards, Kaiba decided now was a good time for a subject change. “I was curious about something. I noticed the girls at the high school seemed to act a bit......strange around me. Do you know anything about this?”

 

“Well, that's probably because of Miranda.” Mokuba replied.

 

“Who's Miranda?”

 

“She's Pegasus' niece, and dad thought it'd be good if you two started going out. You didn't like it but you two seem to hit it off. I know dad, uh.....step dad's hoping you two will eventually get married…”

 

“Married?”

 

Mokuba giggled, “Yeah, but I don't think that's going to happen. I mean you two always seem to have a nice time together. But most of the time, you insist on my coming along so you don't have to be alone with her. She feels the same way, cause a time or two when I've been at a friend's house; you said she insisted I come along. You always tell me that whenever the two of you are forced to go alone, you always end up arguing. You also said that she's only good for keeping the girls at your school at bay. But lately even though dad and Pegasus are basically planning the wedding, the two of you have no intentions of going through with it. In fact, she met a guy at the collage she goes to, and she really likes him. But his father owns a funeral home.”

 

“You seem to know a lot about her.”

 

“I told you, you guys insist I come along and she likes to talk! Recently, her boyfriend is all she talks about, but her uncle doesn't approve of him. He'd rather merge SMK Corp with Industrial Illusions. Pegasus has been her guardian since her parents died in a boating accident a couple of years ago. Since then, she's been living mostly in a boarding school.”

 

“I still don't understand what could have cause Gozaburo to be nice! What's different about this reality that caused the change?”

 

“Nice? I don't understand, Seto. Is he really mean in your world?” Mokuba asked.

 

Kaiba glared down at his brother, weighing his options. He didn't want to frighten Mokuba on the way Gozaburo could really be, when he wanted to. Even when he had to endure everything from his stepfather, he did his best to keep those things from his brother so Mokuba wouldn't know about it. But still deep down, he had a feeling his brother knew anyway. After a long pause, Kaiba finally answered simply, “I suppose. Let's just say he's not the same that he is in this world.”

 

“Oh......” Mokuba said, worried about how bad his stepfather was. But from the way his brother was acting, Mokuba knew he wouldn't add to his explanation. Thinking about any time that Gozaburo had become mean at all, Mokuba suddenly looked back up and replied, “Well, he sometimes gets majorly depressed and mean, around Noah's birthday.”

 

Kaiba's eyes widened at Mokuba mentioning Noah. True, Kaiba had mentioned having to stop Noah during his explanation to Mokuba on what his mission was. But he didn't think Mokuba would actually know who Noah was in this world. Kaiba immediately asked, “You mean Noah's alive???”

 

“What are you talking about, Seto? Of course Noah's alive. From what I learned just a few months before, we were adopted Gozaburo and his wife divorced, and she took off to America with Noah.”

 

“Hmph. Perhaps in my reality, Noah's death had been what took Gozaburo's sanity over the edge. And in this world, since Noah never died........he remained sane. That could have been it.” Kaiba said, trying to understand the mind of mad man he once called his stepfather.

 

`Hmph, and he had the nerve to accuse me of being weak for caring about Mokuba.' Kaiba thought, even more pissed off over Gozaburo's hypocrisy then he was at the abuse he endured. `Who's the weak one now, stepfather?' Kaiba was at least happy to see even if Gozaburo was sane in his timeline; he probably would have hated Gozaburo no matter what. Kaiba wasn't sure he could handle it if he found that he actually learned to `care' for the man.....that would have been too much to take. As it was, Kaiba was still struggling with the idea that Mokuba seemed to so openly accept the monster as his own father.

 

As they were talking, it didn't take long before they arrived at SMK. Kaiba was determined to not only get these investors to back him but get Gozaburo out of his company once and for all! In fact, if Kaiba had enough time in this world, he'd be 1/2 tempted to throw this Gozaburo out of the top story window of Kaiba Corp, himself.

 

Despite Mokuba's protest, Kaiba walked boldly into the meeting, taking charge like it was Kaiba Corp back in his world. Before the meeting and the day were through, Kaiba got his wish. Well....that is, he was able to not only get those investors to back him, but was able to get a few more investors and take out Gozaburo's portion. Even though he'd probably be unable to send his stepfather 10' under, he'd at least get rid of his stench from SMK.

 

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

 

After the meeting, Gozaburo had approached Kaiba about what happened at the meeting.

 

“Well, Seto.....I have to admit, I'm impressed. I didn't think you had it in you.” Gozaburo said.

 

Kaiba just glared at him and left for his office. “Mokuba, come with me.”

 

Mokuba didn't argue, and willingly followed. Once inside Kaiba's office, Mokuba bounded in cheering, “That was so cool, big brother!”

 

Kaiba ruffled Mokuba's hair, trying to stay affectionate, despite the cold chill going through him from having to see his stepfather alive and near either of them. “I refuse to be under that man's thumb, or anyone's for that matter. From now on, SMK will be under `our' rule only.”

 

“So, how long are you staying in this world, Seto?”

 

“I'd love to stay longer, but I really need to get going.” Kaiba was actually hesitant to say that to Mokuba. He didn't trust Gozaburo, despite his pretense of being `nice'. As long as Gozaburo was alive, Kaiba saw him as a threat to his brother. But then he was at least at ease enough to know that the Kaiba of this world didn't trust him, either......and felt he would help keep Mokuba safe.

 

Who knows, maybe in time Gozaburo may still end up flying from that 50-story window, after all. Time would only tell. And though it might take longer for such a possibility to happen here, perhaps this world would allow Kaiba to keep enough of his soul so that Mokuba was not the one to pay in the end.

 

“Oh. I wish you could stay. I'd love for you to tell me about some of the realities you've been to.”

 

The comment from Mokuba caused Kaiba to involuntarily shudder at the thought of those other realities he had been at. Not wanting to sound suspicious, Kaiba forced himself to not sound over anxious, as he said calmly, “Sorry, kiddo.....but I have to go.”

 

He quickly activated the box, disappearing into a new reality, before Mokuba could try and question him more.