SO2: Hope you enjoy this. If you cried, please mention it in a review. Best to read it while it's raining, but hey, your choice!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yuugiou
Summary: Seto Kaiba was raised on the belief that when it rained, the meant the Angels were crying. Now Seto is trying to save his ludicrous world while finding that sometimes...everything you may learn is all lies. And that the Angels aren't all they appear to be.
Rain:
The rain pattered down longingly, as if searching for something or someone wishing for sun, just to sprinkle down on their hopes.
But a young boy, with sharp, clean cut hair, stood in the rain, staring into the sky, wondering, as from his hair came tears to his cheeks. But he wasn't crying. He stared into the rain, into the clouds that seem to never end.
"Mommy…" the young boy around the age of 4 asked. He was a brilliant child, but held his true talents within his deep cerulean eyes. Eyes that seem to hold its own world in them.
"Yes, Seto?" a brown head mother asked, her own sapphire eyes looking out towards the young boy. When realizing he was in the rain, she stepped off her porch and came from behind the boy, bending down so her face and his were the same, and he placed some of the boy's hair behind his ear as she asked, "what are you doing out in the rain?"
But Seto didn't seem to notice as he continued to stare into the clouds. "Why does it rain?"
The mother seemed a bit surprised by that question, but a sad smile appeared on her face. "Because the Angels are crying…" she said, hugging her child as he sat in her lap.
Seto looked at his mother now, his head making a sudden sharp movement when he did. "Why are they crying?"
"Well…" the mother paused as she gave a reassuring smile once more, even if it was sad. "Because they are sad…"
"But why?" Seto asked. It seemed to pain the child that the Angels could be crying.
"This world…" his mother tried to explain in simple words, but she was too caught up in the moment to care. "This world has become a ludicrous world, and it pains the Angels to see the world they tried to create and protect be so destructive and selfish. It pains them to see everyone corrupting their own society, instead of just being honest and proper. The abuse, the poverty, the children that become our next generation just making this place worse and worse…"
A small tear slid down the mother's face and Seto hugged her tight. And they both sat on the ground, hugging one another, crying into the other's shoulder.
After a few moments, Seto got up, wiping his tears with his arm. "I promise, Mommy," he said firmly. "I will try my hardest to make sure that the Angels never cry again."
And Seto ran inside, helping himself to his crafts to try and devise a naive plan to stop the Angels from their tears.
But the mother remained sitting on the ground. She slowly lifted her head and stared into the Heavens. "Please God…protect him…and try as you might to make sure that the Angels stop crying…"
He ran out of the hospital in a fit of rage. The sun was brightly shining and many people were outside, having picnics and playing on the basketball courts playing numerous games.
Hot dog stands and ice scream stand were scattered across the city of Meguro-ku, a ward in Tokyo.
But he did not pay attention to any of these things. He continued to run, his fists squeezed tight and his eyes shut securely. Tears ran down his face one after another, none ceasing.
He ran into the park, not caring that no one followed him, or no one called his name, Seto. He fell on the ground and began to cry and pound into it, even if he was only five years old.
He stood up quickly and glared into the clear blue sky. "WHY?" he cried. He didn't care if he was the only one in the area at the moment, and he wouldn't have cared even if he weren't.
"WHY DON'T YOU CRY!" he shouted desperately. "WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE! WHY DON'T YOU CRY FOR HER DEATH!" he fell to the ground.
"You are suppose to cry when you are sad," he said towards he sky. "So why aren't you crying! Is her death really that unimportant!" he looked down; tears streaming down his face, his fist clenched in rage.
But then he sank to his knees, and released all his rage into tears of loneliness. He felt lost, insecure, and most important...a fool.
They wouldn't cry for him. They wouldn't cry with him. Were they feigning their happiness? But weren't people suppose to cry when they were sad? Why couldn't Angels do the same?
He sat there for what seemed liked hours, waiting for the Angels to cry. He wouldn't take his eyes off the sky, but the clouds didn't seem to want to move in.
Finally, as a few streetlamps came on, he placed his hands on his face, covering his eyes. A small smile went across his face. "I understand…" he said. "I understand perfectly."
He began to chuckle, tears sliding down his small face once again. "Well…at least…I can try not to make her cry…"
The police signals were growing annoying, but none seemed too bothered by them as they watched the site before them.
The brown-headed boy of nine years held tightly onto the hand of a four year old. The four year old had wild black hair that fell to his shoulder. He had large, sad, gray eyes that held plenty of tears. But he was only crying because he saw other people crying. He didn't know why, but he hated it to see people cry.
As a stretcher carried away a body, the young brown haired boy stared at it. He had been at home, playing with his equations, while reading his younger brother a book.
"Seto…why are they crying?" the younger asked. The older looked at his brother, but didn't know how to explain it to him.
"They don't like it when people die…" Seto tried to explain. "They want people to stay in this ludicrous world." he seemed to be glaring at the people.
A police officer appeared before them. "Seto and Mokuba, right? You're the sons of-"
"Yes." Seto said, glaring at the police officer. No tears were inside his eyes, and he seemed tense only because he was about to be interrogated.
The police officer seemed to want to smack the boy, but didn't solely because he tried to "understand" the boy's situation. "On this day, at 5 pm, your father became deceased when his car was t-boned. Do you understand?"
Mokuba looked at his older brother. Seto nodded to the officer.
"Now, because you have no other 'reliable' relatives, you're going to be placed in an orphanage."
"I understand." Seto said, gripping Mokuba's hand. Mokuba swallowed the lump in his throat when the police officer shook his head sadly. "Son…" he said, speaking to Seto. "Can I ask you something? …Because it doesn't look like you fully understand the situation…"
Seto shook his head. "I understand everything perfectly, sir." he said, gazing into the officer's eyes...into the officer's soul. "My father was in a fatal car accident and death was the result."
The officer seemed stunned at the way Seto was able to take this news, and the way he could react to it with so much maturity.
"Then…why aren't you crying?" the officer asked. It could be called a rude question, but Seto took it for curiosity.
"Because…" Seto looked into the sky that became dark with many stars and a new moon. "I can't cry because the Angels aren't crying."
"The Angels?" the officer asked, clearly surprised and confused.
"My father is in a better place. They don't cry because they are happy for this. He is able to join my mother and they can now both watch over us." Seto explained. Mokuba looked at his brother, his eyes filled with wonder.
"This world is in order…" Seto said, ending the conversation.
"Brother, what's wrong?" a nine year old Mokuba asked. He watched the rain outside patter against the sidewalks that circled their mansion.
Seto sniffed his tears. "Gozaburo…Gozaburo Kaiba…he…"
The fourteen-year-old let the tears come down his cheeks. He was able to remember every single moment.
"Gozaburo, the papers are done." Seto Kaiba said, placing them on Gozaburo's desk.
"Good. Good." Gozaburo said, reaching over to them. "Except…you forgot the Article on Nanomachines," he said, reaching for that exact article and ripping it up. "And…" he reached for the next papers. "The essay on conservation of mass isn't completed!" he tore through many more.
Then he reached into his desk's draw and pulled out a whip. No security cameras were placed in that room, so Gozaburo was free to do as he pleased.
Seto was enraged. All that hard work...wasted! And now he was once again to be the abused toy, beaten almost to mutilation on the chests and legs...places where no one looks.
He was sick of it. All of it had been for Mokuba. But this was too much!
Gozaburo flicked his wrist and the whip landed across Seto's stomach, causing it to welt.
Seto waited for Gozaburo to do the next whipping, and when he did, he outstretched his hand, and felt a stinging pain.
"You idiot!" Gozaburo shouted. "People will see that!" he screamed. "That little brother of yours is next, Seto!"
And in his own rage, Gozaburo lashed out the whip and Seto was hit on his same hand, almost the same spot, but this time Seto was able to catch the whip as well.
He pulled it away from Gozaburo. With a sickening smile on his face, Seto held the whip in his own hands. He was so caught up in his thoughts of how to gnarl Gozaburo; he barely began to notice the rain that began to fall.
He whipped out at the older man again and again, causing him to back him up into the window that looked over the other 40 floors of the company building.
The rain began to beat down hard as Gozaburo tripped, and Seto swung his whip once more, hitting Gozaburo right on the face before Gozaburo fell through the window, shattering the protective glass.
And that was when Seto noticed the rain. He stood there, shocked, and he slowly began to inch foreword. With every step, the whip loosened and finally it fell. As if that was a cue, Seto ran towards the shattered window and peered out of it. The rain hit his head hard, and Seto turned his neck and let himself look up.
Suddenly, tears came down Seto's face, unsuspectingly at first, until he choked on a sob. He coughed violently as he staggered back into the room, and then nearly collapsed on the floor before he gasped for breath.
"Mommy…oh…mommy…I'm so sorry…!" he said, clenching his hands into the soft carpet.
"Help…help me…help me mommy. Don't let the Angles cry for my mistake! I didn't mean for this world to turn into a ludicrous place!" he sobbed.
It took a few more minutes before Seto was able to put on a barely containable mask to lead himself downstairs and out of the building. But once he was on his bike, with his helmet securely fastened to his head, he continue to cry, asking the Angels and his mother questions of great sorrow regarding the rain.
And it was finally when he got home.
"I did a terrible thing…" Seto just repeated. He began to sob once again. It amazed Mokuba to se his brother, his strong and brave hero, crying pitifully.
Mokuba ran to his brother and hugged his legs, since that was all he could reach. Seto leaned down and hugged Mokuba tightly. "The Angels…the Angels, Mokuba. I made them cry…"
"Seto…" Mokuba whispered into his brother. He, too, began to cry. "It couldn't have been you. You've been doing a lot to make them not cry. It's worked a lot of times, and it hasn't been your fault when they cried all those other times. It isn't your fault now!"
"This time…I'm positive…it's my fault…"
Mokuba couldn't respond to his brother anymore. He was crying into his shoulder and Seto cried into his.
'I broke my promise…' Seto thought. 'What have I done…?'
He awoke with a frown on his face. And when he raised his head from his work desk, he realized that a peace of paper was stuck to his head.
"You promised!" the note said. Seto sighed at the note, glancing at all the work that remained at his desk.
"I know…Mokuba…" he mumbled to himself. "Things have been getting pretty hectic, lately, though."
But since Mokuba was nowhere to be found in the office, Seto climbed out of his char and looked at the clock, which read a quarter till seven in the morning.
"I got three hours." he said, giving a smirk. That was the most amount of sleep he caught in a month or two.
He was quite happy about that. Then he could be awake more for school and wouldn't be interrogated by the Yuugi-tachi.
He raised his arms up, pleased by that thought, and stretched himself. Many cracks were heard around his body, and he arched his back, hearing a popping sound.
He smirked contently and went inside his bathroom, quickly taking his shower before putting on his school uniform. He exited his bathroom and grabbed his suitcase. It was obviously a good morning for Seto, because for once he was in a good mood. He didn't care about the bags under his eyes, or the fact that his head was always giving him migraines, which he learned to get along with.
He went downstairs, ready to start his day.
"Mokuba…?" he asked, looking around the room. The breakfast table was cleared; a bowl of cereal that was 3/4ths of the way eaten with a spoon still in it lie on the counter by the sink.
"Mokuba?" Seto asked once more, a bit curious of where the boy could have gone.
Finally he looked at his table and realized that a note had been placed there.
"Niisama, because you woke up late, I left for school early. Tensei is with me in case of an emergency, so please don't worry."
Seto sighed when he reread the note. Tensei, a trusted employee of KaibaCorp who worked as a Bodyguard for the family, was with Mokuba, at least. He wouldn't have to worry as much, but Seto constantly worried for his brother.
Which is why for the past six weeks, Seto Kaiba had been in and out of school, dropping in for homework and classroom assignments to do, and then on his way to KaibaCorp where he tried to make his latest development get approved and on the market. But he had to fix a lot of things that his employees seemed to know nothing about. They were the only to play a few games of solitaire on their computers or party poker that they secretly downloaded and placed into a folder so no one would really know. They were too stupid to know that Seto had all the computers rigged to his main computer, AI, or love, as Mokuba called it, which noted all the slackers so they wouldn't get their full pay.
But with all these things, Seto didn't have time for family meals or family gatherings. At first, Mokuba would watch the plasma screen television in Seto's office, but that began to become a bore when he realized that Seto wouldn't watch it with him. So he gradually, day by day, began to leave the office earlier and earlier, until he just stayed home or went to his friend's house. Or to Yuugi's house, where he had been for the last few days.
With a slump of his shoulders, Seto began to walk outside. He felt no need to take his limo. He felt like walking. He wanted to clear his head.
He reached the school, Domino High, with fifteen minutes to spare. He decided against going to all his teachers since he was expecting to stay the full day. He reached his desk and placed down his stuff.
"Kaiba-kun!" a happy-go-lucky voice exclaimed. "Kaiba-kun, over here!"
Seto turned his head with annoyance. He fists clenched a bit, but the sight that greeted him made him sigh. Yuugi Motou, and his tachi, were running up to him in an attempt to lighten his worries.
If only they knew they were the core.
Seto stopped what he was doing, which was getting his book out, knowing he wouldn't be able to get away, as Yuugi stopped in front of him. "Are you going to stay today, Kaiba-kun?" he asked, giving off that look of hope in his eyes.
"Yes." Seto said, relaxing his tense shoulders. He tried to look like his cold and mean self, but even though he got 3 hours of sleep, he was still tired.
"Well, I hope that we can each lunch together today. Or maybe have a duel, just for fun?" Yuugi asked, placing his hands on his backpack straps. He looked hopeful.
Seto shook his head. "Really, now, Yuugi, dueling without anything to gain is tedious. You should know that by now." he replied. Before Yuugi could say more, Seto was pulling out his book and opened it to the page he had last left off on. He stared into the book as if he was placing all his concentration on it, and only glanced at Yuugi when the younger boy gave a sigh and walked away.
The day was almost over. Just lunch and two more classes, and he was free. Usually he would go outside the school an sit under the cherry blossom trees, since it was March, and eat his lunch silently, gazing out at the small lake that was on the other side of the school's wall. The wall had been torn down, but because the trees were on the side of the school and didn't show into the city, the school's staff didn't really know about it. But today he was forced to eat his lunch inside the classroom. His black bentoo box was filled with the basic rice, and some tamagoyaki, and then steamed carrots and sausage cut into cute little octopusses and apples cut into rabbits.
Seto had prepared that meal for himself the night before, when he took a break for work after Mokuba was asleep on his office's couch, and a similiar one for his younger brother. He took out his hashi and began to eat silently, watching as all the other students chatted away.
"Haruka-sensei!" a student called. "Why do we have to stay inside?"
The sensei smiled kindly and pointed to the windows. It was very foggy outside. "Because it's going to rain soon, and we don't want wet children at this school."
Seto's eyes widened, and he stood abruptly. No one paid much heed, though, because they were too busy speaking with their friends, something they wouldn't be able to do for the rest of the school day. But Seto was noticed by the two people who cared for him enough, even if one didn't show it.
The brown-haired teen strode didn't even put away his bentoo box before he quickly strolled out of the classroom, trying to not put so much attention on his unusual behaivor. Seto was usually suave, stood tall, but now, not even with the help of fatigue, Seto was in a panic.
Everyone heard the door slide open as Seto exited the room. All eyes cast upon the slammed door and Haruka-sensei looked shocked.
"It best of been some emergency..." she growled under her breath.
Yuugi looked at Jounouchi with a troubled face. "What could have happened for him to do that?" he asked his blonde friend.
"Who cares?" Jounouchi replied. His physical self gave no care for the other teen, but Yuugi knew that Jounouchi cared for Seto. Why else would they argue all the time?
"I'm going to go find out. I've got a bad feeling." Yuugi rose from his desk and went straight to the sensei. Jounouchi had to actually rush to keep up with Yuugi. The small teen bowed to his superior and then left the classroom, Jounouchi lagging behind.
They had no idea where Seto could have gone, but Yuugi was overly worried. "He never does this." Yuugi whispered. He was looking depressed. "And where could he have gone. This place is so huge..."
Jounouchi hated to see Yuugi sad. He thought for a moment, when it hit him. "Let's go to the roof! If he left the building, we can find him there!"
"Yeah!" Yuugi said. He didn't even wait for his helpful friend before he ran towards the roof.
After going on two flight of stairs, the two finally reached the roof's door. Jounouchi peered out the small window and his looked shocked.
'Kaiba-kun...what are you doing...?' he asked himself as he peered through.
There he was.
Seto Kaiba.
Staring straight into the heavens.
His eyes wide open.
His clothing soggy and wet.
Tears, hidden by the rain and from Jounouchi and Yuugi, strolling down his face.
"Kaiba-kun!" Yuugi shouted when Jounouchi finally opened the door. He was about to run to his friend, but this scene...this melancholy scene stopped him. What was wrong with Seto?
Seto didn't give any attention to the two others. He continued to stare in the sky. His eyes were curious, and tears strolled down his cheeks, hidden by the rain.
"Kaiba-kun...yo, man, you alright?" Jounouchi asked, gently shutting the roof's door behind him. He too was frozen in place.
By now, all three teens were drenched.
Seto lowered his head, a bit ashamed, and also a bit hopeless.
"They're crying...they're crying, Yuugi."
"What? Who's crying?" Yuugi asked. Now he was definitely worried for his friend.
"The Angels, Yuugi!" Seto nearly screamed, as if he couldn't believe Yuugi didn't know. Or as if Yuugi knew and was playing games with him. But when his voice went into a whisper. "The Angels, the Angels..." he trailed off.
Jounouchi knew something was wrong. Seto was acting like a nutcase!
"Why would they be crying?" Jounouchi asked with sarcasm, crossing his arms.
But Seto stared into the sky, his tears becoming visible. He closed his eyes a bit, and shook his head slowly. "They're crying...for this ludicrous world...They're crying...because this world is out of balance. They're crying...because of something I can't control...and they won't stop...until..."
"Until what, Kaiba-kun!" Yuugi wanted Seto to stop this acting. He was getting scared. He wanted the rain to stop just to get his friend to be normal again.
Seto gave a ghost of a smile. An empty ghost of a smile. His eyes opened just a bit, and his tears were stopping.
"Until I put this world in order."
SO2: There we go! First chapter of Rain! Hope it wasn't too bad. I got this idea when the storms were in California. I was at school and it was raining a lot, and then I put my head up and smiled at the rain, keeping my eyes opened. Then I remember about Angels, and the Heavens, and I thought of this.
Something I found online which may make you happier:
If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is: God is crying. And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is: Probably because of something you did.