Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Dragoness ❯ Interpretation ( Chapter 12 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Damn that woman. I'm not playing `Cat and Mouse' with her any longer. If she wants to see me, she'll have to come home.

And she didn't come back. It was if “Lilly Kikas” had fallen back into obscurity. Not that Kaiba cared- that much- for he had “her” company well squared away in his assets. But unfortunately, public image seemed to matter in Japan. There were inquiries… as there would be any time a president of a major corporation in the United States fell off the map. He did his best to appear as the benevolent humanitarian, despite what ever he really was…

Domino General Children's Hospital, Domino, Japan

Kaiba wrinkled his nose in disgust. Children were nuisances, little aggravations scampering around under foot. I wonder how the mutt does it- he already has two children at age twenty! Not that that is a surprise… but I was amused to see that Mai Valentine would be the stupid bitch that would squeeze out his mutty bastard children. He was taking a tour of the cancer wing at Children's

Little bald freaks, he grumbled, smiling genteelly at one with a particularly large bald head.

How long had it been since had had stopped loving the sight of little boys playing with plastic trucks? Not long at all, but it seemed longer.

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FLASHBACK

“What do you mean you're leaving!” Kaiba bellowed at his younger brother, who had just turned thirteen.

“Come on Seto, be reasonable,” protested the younger Kaiba with that cool look of arrogance that Kaiba always wore pasted to his face. It was like looking in a mirror- Mokuba had lost that innocence that he was known for- in just a year's time.

“I am being reasonable,” he growled, squaring his nineteen year old shoulders to face the younger's defiant ones. “You're simply too young to go traveling around the world by yourself. What about Kaiba Corp? How are you going to learn to be a senior partner someday if you never spend any time there?”

“I've spent over half my life watching you run this company. What if I don't want to run it someday!” he screamed in his brother's face.

Kaiba's face went very white, and there was an angry silence. Finally, he shrugged. “I'll find another heir. Go then, Mokuba, but don't come back and expect a place in this household.”

Mokuba was still just a kid, only 13. His eyes filled with tears and he stormed out of Kaiba's office.

END FLASHBACK

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Although he had spoken to his little brother on the videophone a few times after that day, the silence was always hostile, and few words were exchanged. Mokuba was just sixteen when a mysterious stranger shot him…

Kaiba nodded to the gracious gentleman who accepted the check with two hands. Anxious, are we? he thought with a sinister grin. Then he turned to the cameras, smiled, and presented a much larger fake check to the Hospital. There, done my good deed for the day. PR and all that shit.

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It was easy, for Kaiba, to remember that last time he saw Mokuba. No feelings of I should have been easier on him or I should have at least said “goodbye” to him or anything like that.

I was in the right that night! What hell of a kind of brother would I be if I let a thirteen year old boy romp around the world by himself? he thought irritably.

BING went the elevator doors as Kaiba stepped into his office. The pink haired Serenity beamed at her boss, as per quota. “Good afternoon, Mr. Kaiba.”

“Is it?”

Ignoring his jibe, Miss Wheeler continued, “You have a letter, sir. I placed it on your desk.”

“From whom?”

“No return address. And the main frame couldn't track the barcode to anything more specific than London, England, same as the post mark.”

“Alright.”

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Kaiba opened the white envelope.

Seto Kaiba,

Please meet me at Sir Appleday's manor, in the outskirts of London. I have some important information about the disappearance of your wife. Enclosed is the address of the grounds.

Sincerely,

Aliex Craven

I wonder who this Mr. Craven is…he thought, typing the name into the database. No connection to Kaiba Corp, eh? Let's widen the search. He tried again. Nothing. Then Aliex may be a member of the underground. That wouldbe the sort of people Kikas would associate with. Let's see what he has to offer…

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London, England

It was raining in London, as could be expected. He had been there four times in his life, and every time it rained. Aliex Craven was not a tall man, but he appeared taller through a set of tall black boots that were his constant companions.

A long black trench coat went down to his knees, and he wore khaki pants, an American brand. His hair was styled into a long, thin black ponytail. And on his neck was a small tattoo; two symbols in a language he did not understand. “Well then, Seto Kaiba,” he mused in a light British accent, “When will you arrive?”

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Kaiba was hopelessly lost in the moor. He had never been in such a foggy, dismal place. “Watch your step!” warned a voice in the fog, as an arm reached out to grab his.

“You speak Japanese?” asked Kaiba, this being his first reaction after he brushed off his navy blue trench coat. The accent was strange- he hadn't heard Japanese spoke like that since high school- from Ryou Bakura. He must be a native of Great Britain.

“I'm a lover of languages. English, French, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, et cetera, et cetera.”

“Everyone needs a hobby,” commented Kaiba dryly.

“And yours is- or was- Duel Monsters, correct?” asked Aliex, stepping out of the fog and revealing himself.

“Is,” said Kaiba uncomfortably. This guy knows way more about me than I know about him…

“Ah, yes. I was once an avid collector of those cards. If you could call it… collecting. But I'm sure that I was never as good at the game as you are, Mr. Kaiba.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere with everyone except me, Mr. Craven.”

“Ah, so you have comprehended who I am?”

“Vaguely.” His tone was sarcastic and demeaning, but inside he was still a tad uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the spooky environment.

“You have word on Lillian?”

“More than mere words, Mr. Kaiba. I've spoken to her directly.”

Kaiba's cold blue eyes narrowed. “So tell me, what has my darling wife been up to?”

Aliex's tone was dead serious. “She's on the brink of disaster.”