Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Dragoness ❯ Monster ( Chapter 14 )

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

Twelve months, he thought, drumming his fingers on the cold, wet marble of the fountain side. Anything could have happened in twelve months.

He drilled the keyboards with precision; his fingers long callused with this task. “Hospitals in London” is the best place to begin, I suppose. He was greeted with an impossibly long list of names of clinics in London and the surrounding countryside.

Too broad. It would take me years to search all these places. He searched his memory banks for a clue; some single, solitary comment about where she had been or what she had done. Something hit him: the band on the floor of her bedroom- it had an address on it.

He left the garden and ran inside, leaving his laptop on the fountain side in his haste. It was there, on the floor, that Kaiba gathered the clue he needed.

Lambeth Palace Rd
London, SE1 7EH, United Kingdom

Committing the location to memory, he returned to the garden with new hope. Narrowing his search considerably, he got this result:

St. Thomas's Hospital
020 7188 7188

Lambeth Palace Rd

London, SE1 7EH, United Kingdom

Excellent. He reached for his cell phone to dial the number, and paused.English. Damn it. I can barely speak it, and I have no doubt she came there as an “American citizen.” In order to post as her husband…I'm going to need a bigger computer.

Years before, Kaiba Corp had been a military weapons manufacturer, and had logically kept a database of national languages in order to communicate with other nations should the need arise. It was one of the few parts of the database that Kaiba hadn't designed himself; therefore, he didn't trust it. But what choice did he have.

.:Welcome, Seto Kaiba.:.

“Enter language program,” instructed Kaiba.

:Entering. How can I help you: asked the high female voice of the robot. At one time she had been highly developed; Pegasus's viruses had put an end to her life. Kaiba Corp Database Version 2.0 was cruder than 1.0.

“Translate text in verbal communication.”

.:Language:.

“American English,” he decided, knowing that the British accent on the system was terrible at best, a grainy sounding tincture.

.:Tone:. she asked, an new feature developed by the new Kikas International materials that Kaiba Corp had been vamped up on.

“Chicago, Illinois.” I should sound just like shedoes to the receptionist.

.:Would you like me to connect you now:.

“020 7188 7188,” instructed Kaiba. There was the sound of a dial tone, and then an unfamiliar voice answered the phone.

“Saint Thomas Hospital. How may I connect you?”

After a bit of hesitation, he replied “Maternity Ward.” He froze, hoping that the jargon that the computer was spitting onto the phone line was English.

The woman seemed satisfied. “One moment please.”

He waited with baited breath. What if she was telling the truth? He dismissed the thought.

“Hello, Dr. Evens speaking.”

“Dr. Evens, I'm looking for a former patient of your hospital. The woman was American… her son died a few days ago.”

“I'm sorry sir, that information is classified on hospital policy. Who did you say that you were?”

Kaiba glanced at the ID band. “Uh, Hanorou. Ray Hanorou,” he lied.

The woman looked something up on her computer. “Oh, Mr. Hanorou, you're all together different. The father has the right to know any details that I have.”

Kaiba lost his nerve. Barely able to speak, he whispered out his instructions into the microphone on his headset. “Good. Will you please, uh, forward those details to me? I'm on business in Japan, but you could email them to me.”

“Your address?” He gave it to her. The clicking of keys could be heard over the speakers. “There. All done. And may I say, sir, that the whole hospital feels its sympathy for your loss.”

The phone line went dead. Kaiba stared at the blank monitor, stunned.

Impossible. It's got to be some clever hoax…he thought as he double clicked on the attachment of the blank email. Suddenly the screen was filled with an alphabet he couldn't understand. Damn, foiled by Englishagain.

“Translate. British English to Japanese.”

.:Translating… completed. Display:.

“Yes.” The translated text filled up a large window on the enormous screen. No going back, he reminded himself.

Name: Kowegi Hanorou

Mother: Lillian Hanorou

Date of Birth: August 13, 2010

Blood Type: AB-

Age at Death: Three months

Date of Death: October 19, 2010

Cause of Death: Brain hemorrhage/ hemophilia.

Kaiba had read enough. This can't be right. Some kind of mistake, a computer error or something. She doctored it. Or something like that.

There was one more thing attached to the file. He opened it- there was a .JPG file attached. It was the same one that she had been holding…

FLASHBACK

“The facts, Mokuba! Science is all about the facts! All you have to do is know them, and they apply to everything. Take the KC375L. Pure applied physics. Or take the-”

“But it's boring, Seto,” whined the eleven year old. Seventeen year old Kaiba looked perturbed. “The KC575L is notboring.”

“No, niisama, physics.”

Kaiba grunted, “Physics isn't boring either.”

“You used to think so. Or don't you remember?”

He froze, considering a time when he would have gave anything just to be gree to play and relax- Gozaburo's extreme form of homework had assured that.

“Fine,” he relented, and the younger Kaiba leapt from his studies.

END FLASHBACK

Perhaps I'm overanalyzing the facts. Or this whole situation. A kid is a kid- and just because she had it doesn't make it mine. Yeah, that must be it, he soothed himself.

“Hello?” called a timid voice in the vast expanse of the dark underground computer room. “Kaiba, are you in here?”

Her. “Yeah, you need something?” Stupid bitch.

“I just… wanted to see if you were okay.”

“I'm fine. In fact, I'm better than fine,” he leered sarcastically, stumbling towards her in the dark like a drunk man. Oh, it was just so easy.

To place his strong hands around her neck.

And listen to her squeak in surprise.

And gasp for that final breath.

And hang off the ground, like his fingers were a noose.

And his tall, thin legs were the gallows.

And it was done faster than he could have imagined.

And she dropped like a rag doll, her face contorted blue and ugly.

Just like his was, when he saw the monster in the truth.

And he felt some peace.