(NOTE: The capitalized 'N' in some Japanese words [as used in this story is a pronunciation tool, symbolizing a harsh pronunciation and is a separate syllable [ex. ho-N-da, ko-N-ni-chi-wa, ko-N-ba-N-wa, ga-N-bat-te, sa-N which never appears at the beginning of a word. A vowel with a line above it [ex. /, ¦/§, â/ã, ﾐ/', Æ/Ç means that the sound is long and is a separate syllable on it's own – the number of syllables caused by the length of a vowel can change the entire meaning of the word. 'A' is pronounced 'ah' [ex. father, 'I' is pronounced 'ee' [ex. he, 'U' is pronounced 'oo' [ex. cool, 'E' is pronounced 'eh' [ex. bet, 'O' is pronounced 'oh' [ex. bore. A double-consonant in a word signifies a pause in pronunciation [ex. ba-t-to, po-p-pu, ki-t-te pronounced like the pause in 'uh-oh' in English [ex. pronounced like 'bat-to', 'pop-pu,' 'kit-te'. The English 'l' is replaced by 'r' [ex. blues/Bruce burãsu, the 'th' sound is replaced with 's' or 'z' [ex. third sdo, that zatto, 'v' is replaced with 'b' [ex. violin baioriN, 'f' is pronounced like 'wh' in 'what' or 'which.')
ch.1: Beginnings
3rd person
'Beginnings...'
Kaiba massaged his temples, sighing. Beginnings were always the hardest part; if a game didn't have a believable beginning, no matter the events which occurred after it, the rest of the story would be worthless. That was what he was trying to do now: create a beginning for a new game Kaiba Corp. was coming out with. It was especially important that this game do well, seeing as how Kaiba Corp. had only ever focused on technology to enhance games before. The chestnut-haired, sapphire-eyed CEO concentrated on the blank screen of his laptop which should have been clicking away as the plot of the game emerged on the document. But Seto couldn't think of a blasted beginning, and it was making him irritable.
Into the hostile environment of his brother's study stalked Mokuba, the raven-haired younger brother of the man who sat before him. He padded softly on the plush crimson carpet, making sure not to make any sound. The younger Kaiba had always been impressed with this room, and allowed himself to admire it's handsome oaken bookshelf (filled with thick and magnificent books, though Mokuba always expected to see them gone and replaced with technology when he ventured in here; all of them were old, valuable, and much-read by Kaiba), desk (which his brother sat at), and canopy bed with golden fringes and red silk sheets (for when Kaiba worked late and did not want to return to his room). Steel-grey eyes slid over his brother, who looked more than a little worse for wear. His fingers were buried and clenched in his hair, as though he was ready to tear it out from the roots if startled, and his face was hunched towards the screen as though he was hypnotized by it. 'The stress must be getting to him,' Mokuba decided, 'but how hard can it be to write a story?' He knew he really should leave Seto alone, for the sake of his safety, but this was too important. This thick, creamy envelope threatened to destroy the balance of life as he knew it. "Ani?"
Kaiba whipped around, ready to lash out as whatever servant had dared intrude upon him, but stopped when he discovered that the cause of his disturbance was his ototo. "What is it, Mokuba?" he snarled, half at annoyance that he had been interrupted and half from pain because he had, in fact, been clenching his hair so hard that he had ripped some out.
Mokuba held the envelope and it's contents out for his brother. "Th-this came in the mail...ani, it can't be right, can it? What does it mean?"
Kaiba frowned – his brother rarely addressed him in Japanese, preferring to use his first name. He only did so when something greatly troubled him. "Mi-masho..." he muttered, reaching for the envelope. Whatever it was, it looked legal, and extremely formal. His quick, dexterous fingers slid under the already-open flap and pulled out more creamy, off-white paper with the thick consistency of parchment. He opened the letter, intrigued and slightly alarmed – what had been done to cause a legal letter to be sent to him? And what did it contain that disturbed his ototo so much?"
His eyes quickly skimmed the letter, ignoring all the formalities and skipping right into the details. As he read, his eyes widened and a scowl crossed his features. "You've got to be shitting me..."
Mokuba shook his head. "Wakari-maseN..how could this happen, ani?"
Kaiba did like his brother and shook his head. "Our relatives were not dead when they dumped us at the orphanage, Mokuba." he explained, trying to wrap his own head around the fact. "This was always possible, if wildly improbable..."
"But why, ani? Why us?"
"Because," Kaiba said firmly, locking his brother's eyes with his own, "we are apparently the only ones left." He sighed, slumping in his chair. "Go on, Mokuba...go to bed. It's late."
"But ani"
"I said go, Mokuba." The younger Kaiba bowed his head, defeated, and trudged out of the room, leaving Seto to pour over the notice once more. All thoughts of the plot for his game were wiped out of his head; this information was too stunning for him to think of anything else.
According to this, his and Mokuba's father – their biological father, not that bastard Gozaburo – had not been an only child, as Kaiba had always believed. He'd had a sister, one which Kaiba never remembered meeting; but apparently, she was on bad terms with the rest of the family, seeing as she had lived on the island of Kyushu, further south than Domino's location on the main island of Honshu, in a small city just outside of Kitakyãshã called Kenoshu. After their father's death, this supposed aunt had little to do with the family. It was plausible, Kaiba decided; only just so, but plausible. Mokuba had been far too young to remember much of anything when their father died, and Kaiba had paid little attention to the members of his extended family. These records implied that this woman, Cairina, had taken a husband in Kenoshu, a foreign businessman named Artemis, and they had conceived a child – a child who was technically his and Mokuba's cousin, though the connection was distant. He doubted this child had grown up ever knowing that she had relatives in Japan beyond her mother.
They had not been a wealthy family, as Artemis grew fond of sake soon after their marriage, and proceeded to drink himself and Cairina into massive debt. He'd also abused Cairina alarmingly often, beating her mercilessly as well as forcing her into sexual actions with him. Kenoshu was an ultraconservative Christian city (which was unusual in Japan, but not entirely unheard of), and had refused to break the marriage upon Cairina's numerous requests. When she became pregnant, he had left her, considering any woman who allowed herself to get pregnant when her husband forcibly had sex with her worthless. She had died giving birth to the child, whom Artemis refused to take and stranded on the streets in the city's worst district. Though she had been taken in by a woman who looked after many left fated to die on the streets and received a surprisingly good education, she had still legally been under Artemis' care, until he had, as of two weeks before the date on the letter, driven his car off the edge of the pier while drunk and drowned.
Kaiba glanced at his calender – the notice had taken another two weeks to reach him, apparently the only surviving blood relative of this girl, besides Mokuba. By this reasoning, this girl – who was already seventeen and probably perfectly capable of looking after herself – had been placed in his custody. 'Kuso...' he swore in his head. 'Kuso, kuso, kuso...what the hell am I going to do with a seventeen year-old street rat?!' He glanced again at the paper; it stated that she was already on her way to Domino, on board a passenger ship which had left port three days ago because this was the beginning of summer – in other words, tourist season – and a plane ticket had been unable to be procured. She was expected in Domino on the 18th of June – the day after tomorrow, Kaiba realized as he looked at his calender again. 'So much for giving me – or her – any say in the matter.' he grumbled in his head, scanning the notice for this girl's name, as Cairina had lived just long enough to bestow that upon her daughter. 'Her last name should have been changed to Kaiba, now that I'm her legal guardian,' he realized as he searched. When he found it, he became intrigued – not only were her first and middle names given (he had been correct in his assumption that her last name had been changed to his), but also a common nickname among her peers. "...Krystal Reiko Kaiba, also known simply as 'Kazeryuu' to those who knew only her face..." Kaiba couldn't help but give a small snort; it seemed fitting that this girl be known as 'The Wind Dragon,' considering his affinity with the Blue Eyes, who's white color almost implied that they were not mere holograms, nor even as real as flesh and blood, but creations of the wind itself in all it's elemental power.
He wondered if she were any good at Duel Monsters. Probably not, considering her upbringing had most likely held little time for gaming. He was still sorely vexed that he was being forced to take in someone whom he would, under any other circumstances, consider far beneath even the mutt Jonouchi's station, however, and crushed the paper mercilessly in his hands as he cursed. 'Damn everything to hell.'
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Ani: plain form of 'big brother', used when talking to or about one's own sibling – as opposed to the formal 'on§-saN', used to talk about someone else's big brother
Ototo: plain form of 'little brother', used when talking to or about one's own sibling – as opposed to the formal 'otÇto-saN', used to talk about someone else's little brother
Mi-masho: Let's see it
Wakari-maseN: I don't understand
Kuso: from what I can tell, it's just a general, all-purpose curse word, but it's generally taken to mean 'shit' from what I've seen