Seto had never been one to be weak at the sight of blood. In fact, he'd even say he was quite used to it considering he saw quite a lot of it in his twenty-four years of life. However, the sight before him caused his stomach to lurch.
A familiar blonde was lying in the hospital bed before him; to say he looked terrible would be the understatement of the century. The "comatose in the ICU" look never was a good one. His left arm was in a cast, and Seto was sure he could see another one on his ankle hidden under the blankets. Dark bruises wrapped around his throat and peeked out from under his hospital gown. Though, the CEO wasn't sure if he was happier seeing them or not. He could still see some dried blood clumping together the blonde's hair, but his face seemed mostly cleaned of it.
To the right of the bed sat Shizuka, holding her head in her hands. Her shoulders shook with soft, almost silent sobs for her brother. Seto could see small spots of blood on her jacket and pants, presumably from Jou. She hadn't noticed his presence yet, softly praying through her gasping breaths for the older sibling.
For a moment, Seto allowed himself to just watch the scene before him; debating silently if there was any opportunity to appropriately announce his entrance. He'd never been great with dealing with the younger girl, even when she was spending almost every day at the mansion. She always seemed to be intimidated by him and the brunette was never able to effectively communicate anything with her. She'd always take everything so personally.
"She's just a kid, Seto. She's just going through an emotional phase is all."
He snorted at the memory, making Shizuka let out a small yelp and jump up in her seat. Her head whipped around wildly for a second, fear seemingly taking control of her for a moment. "Shizuka," Seto nodded his head in greeting at her once her eyes landed on him. He felt awkward even giving her that.
The girl seemed confused for a moment, blinking a couple times before realizing who was standing before her. "S-Se-," She shook her head as she shot to her feet, "Kaiba! I-I didn't think you'd come so late!" She bowed in greeting, refusing to meet his piercing gaze. "I called cause I didn't know what else to do and I didn't realize it was so la- "She blurted out.
He held up his hand to stop her rambling and she seemed to take the hint. She stood straight but kept her eyes down cast, making Seto resist the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "What happened, Shizuka." He ignored the flinch he received in response. It was quite obviously not a question but a demand. As much as Seto didn't like the sound of a sobbing child, he didn't have the time or patience for questions.
"I-I…" Her voice cracked and tears threatened to spill over. Seto felt impatience rise in his chest as she took a couple deep breaths to recompose herself. "I-I got home late cause I was working on a project on campus-" Was she already in university? Was she really the same age as Mokuba? "-I got up to the apartment door. I-it was broken open…I got inside and the living room was destroyed. I-I got to the kitchen and…" She fell back into her seat, a sob ripping from her throat, "There was so much blood…I-I couldn't…. He was lying in the hallway." She slapped a hand over her mouth as though to stop the cries from escaping.
"Stop." The girl seemed to jump again at the anger laced in the command. Seto wasn't sure if the sound of her sobbing or lack of explanation was irritating him more. "I presume you know nothing other than what you saw when you arrived home?" She shook her head and looked at her brother. "I see…..And you called me why?"
Shizuka's head snapped to look at Seto, confusion swimming through her eyes. Seto could see something else bubbling under the surface, but the expression looked so foreign on her he couldn't place it. Wait…Is she angry? "You…." Her face hardened, reminding the CEO of Jou during past arguments. "You really don't know why?" She asked, meeting his gaze for the first time since he arrived.
"The mutt and I have long since stopped associating with one another, Shizuka." He crossed his arms and saw some of her sudden bravery wave slightly. "I believe it's been three years since I saw either of you." Three years already? It'd honestly felt longer.
"I wonder whose fault that is." She mumbled.
She really is her brother's sister, Seto mused. She'd grown quite a bit in those three years. She almost looked like an adult; if it weren't for her doe eyes, he could almost be fooled. "I suppose he's looking for monetary gain from this?" He waved a hand at the blonde, though he didn't look at him. "Wouldn't be surprisingly really."
"That's not why!" She yelled, shooting back to her feet. "I thought- He – You-Argh!" She stomped her foot, making Seto raise a brow at her. The girl ran a hand through her hair, trying to collect herself once again. "I don't get how you can be so….so you." She finally offered pathetically before falling back into her seat, seemingly exhausted. Her shoulders slumped forward, all the energy suddenly drained from her body. "It doesn't really matter why I called,"
"Yo-"
"Kaiba, my brother is sitting in front of me in a hospital bed." She cut him off, "I don't really want to hear any more lectures. If you really can't figure it out, I guess I shouldn't have called you to begin with."
The silence that fell between the two was heavy and awkward. Her tears were almost all dry and she just looked tired as she held her head in her hands and rested her arms on her knees. Seto wondered exactly what happened during the three years to cause her to grow such a spine; it was almost like he was seeing a completely new person. However, her words caused a strange feeling to blossom in his chest, something he hadn't felt in a long time. "Shizuka-" His words were cut short as his phone rang, making her glare at him. "One moment," He mumbled as he fished his phone out of his pocket and stepped out of the room.
Shizuka sighed as the door clicked shut behind Seto. She ran a nervous hand through her hair and leaned back into the chair, "What did you ever see in him, big brother?" She whispered as she stared at him. Tears started to burn her eyes as she observed his battered face.
"No, no, no, no." She mumbled and shook her head. "No more crying, Jou doesn't want you to cry." She lightly smacked her cheeks a couple times and took several deep breathes to calm herself. Shizuka pulled out her phone, seeing Yugi had replied to her email.
Headed back on first free flight. Atem and I will probably be a day or two. We'll call the others, keep us updated please. Be safe. -Yugi
She sighed and slipped her phone back into her purse. Honestly, she shouldn't be surprised it'd take so long for them to get back to Japan. Yugi and Atem had been hosting a huge dueling event in America, Honda and Anzu had gone to New York for their own work; Jou had been the only one to stay in Japan. Something about dueling had lost its thrill for him and he'd wanted to try and support Shizuka as she went through university. She knew he'd stayed for other reasons, but she appreciated his intentions.
"Oh Jou…" She whispered and softly grabbed his hand. "What happened..?"
"Again, I want to apologize for this, Mr. Kaiba." Shizuka was snapped back to reality as the door opened and Seto stepped in, the doctor close behind. "Had we realized that Mr. Katsuya was a friend of yours, we would've placed him in a private room right away."
"Acquaintance." Seto corrected, "I don't particularly care for apologizes, I just want the issue corrected as quickly as possible."
"Ah, that may be a bit tricky with his injuries." The doctor examined the papers she'd brought in and read off everything, "One broken rib, luckily the rest were just bruised," She mused, flipping through the paperwork, "There was some minor internal bleeding from the ribs, but we've fixed that right up. His ankle was just sprained; his wrist however," She shook her head, "Completely shattered. It'll be a while before he can do anything with it. Other than that," She hummed slightly, "Just a dislocated shoulder, which we popped back into place, but it'll be very sore for a while, and a concussion."
Seto and Shizuka were both shocked into silence, seemingly unseen by the doctor. Shizuka's eyes looked over to the CEO and she'd never seen him that pale. However, any emotions he felt were trained quickly and his jaw was tight as he took a deep breath. Hearing the injuries made Shizuka's stomach flop and dizzy. "Are you alright, dear?" The doctor asked, looking at her with concern.
"How is he recovering?" Seto asked.
"Quite well considering he's quite stable despite the beating he took." She replied, adjusting her glasses, "If he continues like he has this evening, he should wake up soon. Maybe even later tonight if we're lucky. For now, I'm going to inform the nurses to transport him to a private room and alert the authorities of what's happened."
"The authorities?" The CEO snapped.
"Mr. Kaiba, I realize that you may not understand this, but when people are viciously attacked for seemingly no reason, the police will have to be involved. Now if you'll excuse me." She walked past him, but not before giving Shizuka a small smile.
After the door clicked shut, Shizuka asked, "Private room?"
Seto didn't bother looking up from his phone as he replied, "You'd do well to not make assumptions about other's relationships." She opened her mouth to reply but he cut her off, "Mokuba is on his way, he'll probably have a thousand questions, so be prepared for that."
"And you'll be doing what exactly?"
"I'll be in touch, make sure to contact me when the police arrive." Before the young woman could reply, he strode out the door.
So, it's been a couple years since I've written anything fanfic related, and I wanted to get back into the game!
I used to be a really active member on an older account, but decided it was time to start a new! So please welcome me with open arms! This story idea specifically has been something I've been juggling in my head for a couple weeks now and decided, eh fuck it, lets post. This is the prologue obviously, so I hope it at least caught someone's attention! And thanks for reading all the way down here if it did!