Paternity

Chapter 1: Duty

"Seto, you're coming home now."

"Mokuba, just let me finish looking over these re-"

"No! C'mon big bro. You can do it tomorrow. Today is your eighteenth birthday."

"Mokuba, it's just like any other day."

Mokuba frowned. He decided to blackmail his brother. "No, it's not. It's the day I get you to come home at a reasonable hour, and spend quality time with you, my big brother."

Seto Kaiba sighed. Every birthday, it was the same ding-dong - and Mokuba always succeeded. The kid really know how to send him packing on a guilt trip. He should just give in now. Regardless of what he wanted for his birthday (like finishing reviewing employee appraisals), Mokuba's wishes always won out today. Mokuba always tried to ensure that Seto was at least making more of an effort to do regular activities for a teenager. At least he wasn't being forced to have a big, swanky party.

"Okay, fine." He smiled.

Mokuba grinned as he hauled his now adult brother out of the leather seat and out of the Kaiba Corp. building. Time to go home and relax. Seto always took on more than he needed to, and this was one of the few ways that Mokuba could ensure he was taking a well-deserved break.

Mokuba had blown Seto's socks off by surprising Seto with a dinner that he himself had made. Seto was proud - okay, the steak was a little pinker than he liked, and the noodles were on the hard side of al dente, but it was a thoughtful gesture that no doubt required a lot of time and effort. Seto was pleasantly surprised again when Mokuba offered to play Duel Monsters and chess with him. Seto made a mental note to challenge Mokuba more often - his brother had shown some promise of strategic thinking.

Mokuba tiredly got ready for bed after having watched 'I, Robot' with his brother. Nothing like eating cake while watching dangerous driving, murderous robots and explosions to end a Kaiba birthday. He was quite happy with getting his older brother out of the office a lot earlier than usual.

As Mokuba settled for sleep, Seto made his way to his small home office. Tiredly, he switched on his computer with the intention of checking stocks before bed. However, a large white cardboard box at the side of his desk drew his attention instead.

Seto picked up the box and placed it upon the desk. He pulled off the white envelope that had been taped to the cover of the box. His eyes widened as he skimmed through the contents.

Dear Seto Kaiba,

I am writing to inform you that this box contains the belongings of your biological parents, Taku and Haruhi Seguchi.

The box has been in the safe-keeping of our firm, Nakano & Shindou, since the unfortunate passing of your parents, eight years ago. Now that you've become a legal adult, we can fulfil our legal duties by handing over the box to you.

We are sorry for not informing you sooner of the existence of the box, but this was a time clause in your parents' will that you not find out about it until your eighteenth birthday.

If you have any further enquiries, please feel free to phone our offices from 9 am to 5 pm weekdays, or email us at nakanoshindou(at)

Yours sincerely,

Nakano Akira.

This was unexpected. It was a strangely comforting birthday present. Seto blinked to erase the stinging of his eyes. There was no way he was going to let the waterworks start spurting. He placed the letter beside the box and lifted off the lid.

The inside the box was lined thinly with white tissue paper. There was a deep A5-sized box that looked like it was made of beech. Underneath it were two high school diplomas and his father's university diploma for economic science. There were two glass bottles - one was his mother's perfume bottle, half used, and his father's special cologne that was almost empty. Seto sniffed the bottles. Everything around him suddenly blanked out as he was taken back to his fifth birthday… To the happier times of his childhood.

Seto swallowed the every-growing lump in his throat, but it would not budge. The centre of his chest was aching, and no amount of oxygen seemed to ease the pain that was building up.

Seto steadied himself before opening the beech wood box. Inside, a silver coloured locket lay upon a bed of letters. Seto picked up the locket, noting the bronze flecks that shone through and the green-coloured glass that lay in the centre of the oval locket. Almost tentatively, he opened the locket - it was a little difficult at first, but he finally slid a fingernail between the grooves and opened it.

He inhaled sharply. On one side of the locket was a picture of his parents. His father's blue eyes were focused on his mother's warm brown eyes, as if no one else in the world mattered. On the other side was a picture of Seto as a baby.

They never has a chance to put a picture of Mokuba and I together instead of this one.

He sat down slowly into the chair and forced his hands to not tremble. He pulled out the letters - they were in two sets. The thickest bundle had a thick blue ribbon holding them together.

Seto spent a long time pouring over his parents' love letters. His heart ached at the tender expressions expressed to one another - it was like a snapshot of his true parents' relationship and of their lives.

Angry words were also expressed, but subsequent letters were full of apologies. Except for the second last letter. Noting the name at the bottom, Seto saw that it was his mother addressing his father. He read through the letter that was composed of angry words and thick, sketchy letters.

'…lying bastard…'

'…lucky if you ever meet your son…'

'How could you betray me?'

Seto dropped the letter. He inhaled. He exhaled. He noted the date and made a quick calculation - it was written when his mother had been seven months pregnant with him.

Seto grimaced slightly as he retied the bundle of letters. He turned his attention to the second set - it was one long letter, tied with a white ribbon.

A sense of ill foreboding came upon him as he scanned for who was addressing whom. Some lady called Rikako was addressing his father. His eyes narrowed as he read, and the more he read, the stronger the sick feeling in his stomach grew.

The Rikako woman spoke of her love for his father… it disturbed Seto, and was altering his perception of his father already. One line stood out in particular, that caused his stomach to churn violently.

'I know that it was only one night for us… but I need to know if you want to be involved. I love you. I tried calling to explain our problem but…'

Seto's stomach twisted. It seemed that his father, whom he held on a pedestal with his mother, had cheated on her when she was pregnant.

The two words "our problem" glared at him from the page. What problem? Had his father impregnated another woman? Had someone discovered their affair? Was she in need of financial assistance?

Feeling uneasy, Seto tidied his parents' belongings back into the box and hid the box in his locked filing cabinet. Seto couldn't risk Mokuba finding the box before he himself had decided how to handle the information.

With his image of his biological father crushed, Seto steamed angrily to himself. I need to investigate… I want answers. I need to know if I have a step-sibling… and if I need to protect Mokuba from the bastard offspring.

Unsurprisingly, he had a tough time getting to sleep.

Happy birthday he thought bitterly.

Not knowing what had happened eighteen years ago put Seto Kaiba into a foul mood. Speculation was plaguing his mind and eating at the ideal image of his father that he had. However, he chose to hide it in front of Mokuba, not wanting Mokuba to misinterpret his mood as having hated the previous night. He would just have to wait until he got into the car.

In his car, Seto sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. How many other students got up early on a Sunday morning to supervise marketing and product development? he thought crankily to himself.

He turned his thoughts to the 'betrayal' of his mother - it was still plaguing him. Ever the strategist, he began formulating investigation methods that wouldn't about suspicion or attract the media - there was not point in attracting gold-diggers claiming to be a half-sibling. Seto also did not want the media dragging up the past… people would use any personal information against you in this business., especially as his face was so well associated with his company - any bad press for him was bad for the company.

As the car approached his office building, he sighed once more, unknowingly attracting a look of disbelief and shock from his driver. The driver had never heard his boss sigh so much before - it was a too-blatant expression of emotions for the Seto Kaiba.

On the pavement, his irritation only increased upon running into someone. He heard a feminine grunt, and he growled to himself. Another damned fan-girl.

"Sorry!"

Kaiba looked down. There was no surprise showing on his face when he recognised Téa. Typical that it would have to be a member of the 'Happy-Clappy Squad' that would run into him on a Sunday morning. He gritted his teeth and muttered an "excuse me" before continuing on to his office. Téa stared after him strangely before shrugging her shoulders and continuing down the street. She was mildly puzzled as to why he didn't insult her for running into him. Kind of sad that he's working so early on a Sunday. Does he ever take a break?

Téa walked purposely into a convenience store and bought a bunch of cheap, bright yellow flowers. As she has suspected, cutting through the business section was the fastest way to do this - the faster she did this, the sooner it would be over. Like pulling off a band aid she reasoned.

A ten minute walk south of the business section led her to a graveyard. Téa hesitated at the gate, before plunging in determinedly. She marched up to a little gray headstone and flung the flowers on the grave.

A little wave a guilt forced Téa to kneel down, and to arrange the flowers more attractively.

"Sorry mom."

Téa stood in silence before the grave, not really wanting to express her thoughts aloud. It was almost a year and a half ago that the cold body of her mother had been dropped in the hole and covered with dirt.

After five minutes, Téa stiffly turned and walked towards the exit, at a more sedate pace than when she has arrived in. She felt like a weight had been taken off her shoulders - she wasn't ignoring her filial duty. She did visit the grave and made sure that it was okay, like any good daughter should. She wouldn't have to worry about visiting for another few months, and better still, she wouldn't feel guilty about it.

Her thoughts flew back to her mother, no matter how much she wished to stay away from the topic. It had been two years since her mother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It has been two years since she had begun treating her mother kindly again. It had been two years since her mother had completely given up the weekend binge-drinking. It was to no avail though. The cancer had already progressed too quickly and it had taken her mother soon after.

In the last five months of her mother's life, Téa had tried to be kinder to her mother. From the beginning of puberty, she had resented her mother for not unveiling the identity of Téa's father, for getting locked every weekend and for not supporting her dream to dance.

But the last five months they spent together… Téa gave her mother the expression of love that she so desired from her daughter. She hid her resentment. When she got annoyed or frustrated, Téa would go outside for a walk or a dance. If she was around her mother when she wasn't feeling well, she gritted her teeth, and forced an angelic smile. It was only after her mother was truly dead and buried that she ceased to hide her resentment.

Bzzz-bzzz-bzzz.

Téa rummaged for her vibrating mobile phone in her pocket. Finding the chunky white cuboid, she yanked it out, pressing the green button to answer. "Hello?"

"Hey Téa - it's your auntie Chihiro here."

Téa repressed a sigh. "Hey auntie! What's up?" she cheerfully replied.

"Well, I'd just called over to your apartment to check on you, but you weren't there…" Chihiro's cheerful warm voice trailed off.

"Yeah. Um… I was visiting the grave," Téa replied awkwardly. There was a slight pause at this statement, as Chihiro absorbed what Téa has just said.

"Oh. Well… I'm glad." Chihiro replied calmly. "Honey, y'know, I'd really like you to reconsider living with me and your uncle Ashitaka-"

"Auntie, don't worry. I'm fine. I like where I live. It's close to school, work and my friends," Téa replied. Her patience was already beginning to wear thin.

As if sensing this, Chihiro continued. "Well, if you're sure. Just know that we're always ready to welcome you if you ever change your mind.'

"Thanks," Téa replied softly. Her aunt really could be the most considerate person at times. "I've got to go now auntie."

"Okay honey. See you soon."

"See you!"

After checking with marketing and product developments, Seto was surprised to find that he had some free time. Looks like the staff have finally found their brains.

He pondered for a moment about his problem of investigating. All he wanted to know was whether or not he had a step-sibling that he should be wary of. All he had was a first name. No surname, age or location. That was a very wide search perimeter. Nonetheless, Seto decided to take the first step of the investigation there and then.

Seto Kaiba hacked into the governments census database. He typed in Rikako for a first name, and narrowed the location to the county - thus he could include Domino city and all the surrounding towns.

He growled to himself, as well of over a hundred name popped up. He typed in a request to narrow the list further by eliminating those who never had children. Only fifty names remained now. He smirked happily to himself.

Seto Kaiba then removed those who didn't have children prior to his own date of birth - the list narrowed drastically to seven. He may have missed out on some of the possible suspects - what if his father has a lovechild before he was born, or the child was aborted? - but he decided to start with these seven Rikako women.

This will be my first multi-chaptered fic here. For some reason, I'm not too happy with this - the writing style seems a bit stilted, and it doesn't seem to draw the reader in. What can I do to fix this? Please feel free to give constructive criticism, and to point out spelling and grammer mistakes - thanks!