"I don't know."

It was a first never in my life had I ever faced such confusion before. Usually, things of this sort, things that required intelligence harboured no problem for me, yet, for once in my life I found that I was stumped. How was this? I had always been able to out do Zigfried. He had never been a problem for me, yet when it came to this, the circuitry of his flawed holographic prototype was so messy, so chaotic that I didn't have a clue as to how to begin in fixing it. For once in his life, Von Schroeder had me stumped.

He'd stare at me, utterly disappointed in the news I had just given him.

"What do you mean you 'don't know'?"

It was well known, even by him that I knew better than he did when it came to these things, that I was far more experienced, and knowledgable when I came to wiring and really anything electronics based.

How had he fucked up this badly?

"I mean I don't know, and you're going to need to trash it."

Horror would wash over his face. It was clear that he had worked at this for quite some time, yet there was nothing I could do. This was so horribly flawed that there wasn't a possible way of fixing it. He'd need to scrap it and restart.

"You can't. . . I can't! Herr Kaiba, I've spent too much time on this. . !"

I'd only offer a shake of my head in response. It was a lost cause, he must have known that before he called me here, I was just one last desperate attempt to try and get this horrible design to work. Zigfried knew it wouldn't work before he called me here. He must have known.

Yet it seemed that he didn't. Tears would stream down his cheeks. He was crying. I didn't know what to do, what help to offer him. He shook with his sobs. He was so upset for this garbage that never had any hope to begin with.

I would stand by awkwardly, watching as he cried. Yet soon enough the atmosphere would shift. He'd look up at me through those teary eyes. Sniffling, trying to keep from looking a fool in front of me.

He wouldn't succeed.

As he failed, he'd throw his arms around me. He needed comfort. I would stand stiffly, unable to comprehend why he felt as though this was an appropriate action. Yet I also couldn't stomach to throw him off of myself. He was so vulnerable, I wasn't about to toss him to the side and make him feel even worse.

I'd find myself offering whatever comfort I could to him. I would wrap my arms around him, run my hands over his back. I hadn't a clue what he was feeling, or even what he was thinking, yet I knew that he must have been calming down, as he wasn't shaking near as much as he had been to begin with.

His breath was evening out, he was slowly returning to his normal self.

This I was thankful for. I couldn't hold onto him forever, that much would have been irrational.

He'd pull back, he'd rest his hands on either of my arms, which by this point rested at my sides. A bitter smile would cross his face.

"Thank you, Herr Kaiba."

It was clear that he had needed some comfort. Why such a simple thing had gotten him so upset, I wasn't aware. I didn't know the effort that he had put into this, I wasn't aware how hard he had worked, or how badly he had wished to impress me, and I would most likely never know this.

I'd nod in response.

"Don't mention it."

I would never like to speak of this again, I didn't enjoy the fact that he could use this moment against me. Even though he had been the one to cry, I had shown him a softer side to myself. He could use that against me.

"I won't."

That was all I needed to hear from him. Neither of us would speak of this again, that was a fair deal. Neither of us would be humiliated by the other. That was fine by me.

"I'll see you around."

He seemed to be at a loss, as though he didn't want me to go.

"Goodbye, Herr Kaiba."

Eventually his words would come, and I'd take that as my prompt to leave. I had no intentions of sticking around, not long enough to allow this moment to grow awkward.

I'd see him again soon enough, under much less strenuous circumstances.