Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Path to Insanity ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

It was a sunshiny day as the little boy awoke from his huge bed, laughing as the bright sun fell on his hands and decided it was time to go out and play. Running out into the hallways with just a nightshirt on, he didn't even notice as the servants looked at him until his nanny caught him and put him on her shoulders.

"Let's get you in some clothes master Noa," she said as he pulled on her hair with light tugs.

Giggling, Noa lifted up his arms as the nanny pulled off the nightshirt and put on a yellow, collared shirt with shorts on him.

"Such a sweet child you are Noa. I'm sure your father will be happy to see you," the nanny said.

"Daddy? I see Daddy today?" the child asked her.

"Of course hunny, but first, you have to eat," she clucked at him as his tummy rumbled.

"Tummy? I see Daddy today. I eat then see daddy," Noa said happily, bounding down the halls at light speed.

"Such a sweet child. I hope nothing bad ever happens to change that," she said and pulled the clothes off the ground.

Smiling brightly at the cook, Noa got some chocolate chip pancakes with a cup of milk and began eating it with the politeness of a king. None of the other servants ate with him, so Noa was alone, but he never noticed. Even if he did, his daddy would always say he was never alone, not as long as he was around. And today he was going to see his daddy! It would be a different day than yesterday.

Finishing his meal, Noa left after giving his plate to the servant, and went up to the waiting room. The waiting room was made so that customers could be seated until Gosaburo was done with whatever he was doing. Sitting down in a kiddy chair, Noa sang to the empty room, "I get to see my daddy! I get to see my daddy!"

In fact, he waited such a long time that his childish mind fell asleep. Opening the door, the secretary saw the child sleeping, and put a soft hand on his cheek. "Wake up kiddo."

"Hmm, Sece?" he asked her.

"Your father is working really hard today. It seems that something went wrong with the prototype of his satellite. Sorry," she said.

"It's okay. Work important. Me not important to daddy. I understand," the child said, holding back tears.

"I'm sure he'd love to see you off for your first day of school if he was not so busy," she reasoned.

Shaking his head, Noa walked away, holding back the sobs. He was going to be strong on his first day of school! He would make his father proud!

Climbing into the limo, his eyes took one last glance at his house before he was taken away to the school. All the other children stared at him as he climbed out, and his ears heard the words of scorn from the older children.

"Look at him, he thinks he's so great. Coming to school in a limo, what does he think he is, a god," one of them spat out.

"He's just Gosaburo's little bitch. Don't worry about him," said the other, and they went inside the school.

Still smiling, because Noa did not understand what those words meant, he followed them to the kindergarten side of the school.

A mass of blond hit him as he walked inside the door, and Noa fell down on his bottom.

"Hi! Gotta go meet Honda. See you later," he said and around in a circle around him before a brunette grabbed the blond's shoulder and sighed.

"I'm right here Jonouchi," he said to the blond.

Staring at him, the blond smiled and hugged him. "Honda! Do you want to play?"

The brunette shook his head, wondering what he would do with his friend, before smiling, "Let's play cops and robbers."

Noa couldn't help but notice how all the others ignored him. Going off to a corner, Noa began coloring on a piece of paper. At home, he never had any leisure time. His father made sure Noa was always studying, so the atmosphere was quite relaxing. That didn't mean Noa was relaxed, in fact, he was tense, knowing that one of the children could easily decide to talk to him, or the teacher could walk in.

Teachers were horrible, they always hurt him when he made a mistake, so Noa made sure to never make the same mistake twice. Even if he wanted to, his father would find out, and seeing disappointment in his eyes would kill the child. Drawing his face, Noa felt slightly sick as he noticed that the face was twisted in pain, an almost animalistic rage was on the face, and he destroyed it. He wasn't bad, only ignorant. Life wouldn't allow him to be ignorant much longer.

Following a strict course, the teacher kept Noa far away from the other children, yelling at him if he dared attempt to talk to them. It was upsetting to him the fact the teacher kept sending notes home with him declaring he was bad, and needed discipline.

"It's not my fault the other children act like barbarians," Noa growled under his breath as the teacher sent him into the corner again. He was learning, growing. Now he knew what cruelty was, and adults were not to be trusted. The only one he could trust was his father and himself, and his father was never there.

Still, he kept giving little glances at the blond named Jonouchi. How he wanted to be his friend! Every attempt to talk to him was foiled though, either by the teacher or Honda. Gritting his teeth, Noa made a face but kept his calm.

"Don't let them see you fall down. You must be strong and hide your pain. They feed off it, and your emotions," his father told him one day when he had come crying home.

He was only six, and he knew the lessons many adults were just learning. The barrier around his heart grew with everyday, until he learned that school was just hell, like coming home was. Now that he was going to school, his tutors grew harsher on him, meting out punishments that would have made a slave in Egypt flinch.

Icy eyes watched as his father made deals and partnerships with people before destroying their business and their lives, and Noa began to fell a sick pleasure as children from school began crying when they came to color. Of course, this had the sad disadvantage that the children his father had destroyed began hating him, making school even more of his private hell that he couldn't escape from.

Then summer break came.