Guardian Angel
I'm purposely being rather mysterious about this story because I don't want to reveal anything about how it goes before it actually happens. I'm sure, however, that it isn't going to be anything anyone will expect. The story itself is half based on a role play I was part of for over a year that finally died early last year. Therefore, it is dedicated to all of the wonderful people in that role play, I'm not going to name them all, but they'll know who they are. So here it is, chapter one, hope you enjoy it.
Chapter One
The tablecloth was as white and immaculate as the suit Seto Kaiba had picked from his closet that afternoon, the glasses sparkled like diamonds and the cutlery had been cleaned and polished five times by his unfortunate kitchen staff before the CEO of Kaibacorp had been happy with them. Each of the tiled floors had been cleaned thoroughly, and so had the deep blue carpet running up the main staircase that dominated the entrance hall of the mansion. Anyone who had seen the interior of the building before this major operation that had taken Seto all the staff he could get his hands on would have thought it was already cleaned to perfection, but today, perfect just wasn't good enough. If the visitor he was expecting today noticed just one thing out of place, then he would never let him live it down, and the brunette did not need to give him any more ammunition.
The smell of cooking reached Seto's nose as he strode across the floor out of the huge dining room and through the door of his office, his newly polished shoes clattering along the ground; the kitchen was only next door. In one slender hand he held a palmtop computer which right now, was displaying a complete list of all preparations needed before Pegasus J. Crawford arrived. Even the name made him shiver, the cartoon obsessed man was the only person who could make the confident and cold CEO nervous. If they weren't in the same kind of business, and if he didn't think there could be advantages to getting along with him on a business level, there would be no way he would ever consider inviting him to his home. Holding a stylus between his thumb and finger, he scribbled a line through several items on his list. Only ten or so more things to go, and then he would be ready, if one could really truly be ready for a visit from someone so unpredictable. The digital clock on the wall above the huge main doors struck five, the sound echoing through the building and reminding Seto that he only had half an hour to go.
What to him was the most important preparation for the evening fell last on his list, he had to scroll past countless trivial things like checking picture frames were clean and that Mokuba looked presentable to get to three words that caused a frown to form on his face, and a look of determination to fall in his deep blue eyes: 'GET NOA OUT.' Noa was somewhat a mystery to the staff of the house and those who were often there, and even to Mokuba, and that was just the way Seto liked it. Usually it would be as simple as locking the door and warning him to keep silent, however, one of Pegasus' requirements was that he had a full tour, and a locked door would cause suspicion he did not really want to have to deal with. Sliding the palmtop into the pocket of his immaculate white trousers, he walked out of his office with his usual sense of purpose, the door slamming behind him and sending a breeze across the hall.
It took him several minutes to reach his destination: through the cupboard under the main staircase, past several doors locked with codes and passwords, until he finally reached a large metal door with a panel on the front reading, 'N.O.A'. Placing dots in the name to make it sound like it was initialing some secret project seemed to have worked well, no one aside from him really knew what was beyond the door. Fingers moved swiftly across a numbered control panel on the wall beside the door, and suddenly, the doors parted, revealing the room ahead. The room inside was painted in pure white, from the floor, the walls, and right up to the ceiling. There were no windows, the only light was from bulbs set right into the ceiling which shone down and reflected off every surface like it was made of glass.
The room looked like some kind of strange laboratory; three computers lined one wall, all aside from one currently showing a screensaver with the word 'Kaibacorp' in dark blue lettering bouncing off the sides. The main feature of the room was a large chair that would look like some kind of torture device to most people. Wires were fed in and out of the arms and through the back, and resting above it was a bowl shaped metal hat, which more wiring was sticking out of. This was Seto's experiment room, and his guinea pig was sitting at the third of the computers, playing with a virtual puppy on the screen and seemingly completely focused on it. The aqua haired boy looked weary, underweight and slightly bruised; it certainly didn't look like he was a willing participant in whatever it was that Seto did to him.
"Pegasus is visiting this evening and I expect you out of this house in approximately twenty minutes. I don't care where you go or what you do but I expect you back later tonight. As you know, I have a tracking device fitted on you so don't even think about running away, or trying to see Mokuba," Seto ordered the green haired boy; no small talk, he was right to the point, he had no desire to talk to his 'brother' any more than was completely necessary, and he knew that no matter how much Noa seemed to be trying to ignore him, he knew he was there.
"Do you think I'm stupid?" was Noa's only response in a dry tone, his blue eyes narrowed in annoyance as he tapped away on his keyboard, punishing the small innocent brown muzzled puppy on the screen continuously by slapping it's head lightly, as if he were taking his annoyance with Seto out on the poor creature. It wasn't often the boy was allowed to leave this prison of his, and he was grateful for the chance, even though he knew it certainly wasn't down to any form of kindness on his big brother's behalf. He had plans, and none of them involved running away or going to see his brother, no matter how appealing both of those things were.
"Yes, I do." Seto knew that Noa had been considered hugely intelligent by his father, but that didn't mean he couldn't think he was stupid. He was sure many intelligent people had little common sense. Not that he thought he was particularly intelligent either. Not as intelligent as him, at least. "I trust you know what will happen if you disobey me." The only response he got from his younger brother was a nod. He hated to be virtually ignored, but he didn't have the time to let it bother him. Turning on his heel, he stalked back towards the door, tapping on a few keys on the control panel on the inside of the door, allowing the other to leave when he was ready. "The door will lock again at exactly six o clock, and will not open again until eleven. I'm sure you know what that means," was his final comment as he stepped through the doors, waiting until the door slid closed behind him and then pulling out his palmtop again and crossing those three words out. With that, not wanting to waste any more time, he headed off towards Mokuba's room, to assist him in getting ready for the evening.
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Sometimes, Noa thought that the puppy inside of the screen he was sitting in front of was a lot like him; just as it was trapped and unable to get away from the confines of the four sides of the screen, the green haired boy was trapped within these four walls. Every day he would punish the puppy, slapping it, making it go without food, ignoring it for hours on end just to watch it getting more and more desperate, and then just punishing it some more. There was a major difference between them though, and it was something he couldn't quite get out of his head. If he turned the computer off, the puppy stopped suffering, he just disappeared, and if he never turned that computer back on again then the creature would be free and never have to suffer again.
Leaving the puppy sitting in one corner of the screen patiently waiting for attention, Noa spun round on his chair, and then stood up and stretched his arms above his head a moment before tapping a few keys on his keyboard. "Cold, breezy, light showers. Wonderful," he muttered a little, having brought up a page that told him what the weather was like currently. Being in a room with no windows, it was difficult to know what was going on outside. Going on that news, he wandered over to the closet in the room, and pulled out a pair of white pants, a sweater the same colour as his hair, and then a thick winter coat that was slightly too big for him. By the time he was dressed and ready to go, he looked like he was going out into a blizzard.
He stretched his arms out to loosen himself up a little inside the huge coat, and ran his fingers through his hair to neaten it up a little, even though he knew it would be blown around by the breeze as soon as he got outside. Looking at his computer, the puppy stared innocently back out of the screen at him, its tail still wagging happily despite the fact it had clearly been abandoned again by its owner. Noa sighed, and gave the animal a weak lopsided smile, before walking over to it to pay the attention it was waiting for. A tap on his keyboard, and a hand appeared on the screen, stroking the animal's head and its back, and then another produced a bowl of the finest dog food the program had to offer. The boy watched as the happiness meter in the corner of the screen rose and rose, until it was one long green bar, and then stopped, and slid his hand over the switch on the computer. "You're free now," he told the dog, watching it for a second or two longer, before the screen went completely blank.
Neatly pushing his chair underneath the desk, he glanced around the horrible white room, a satisfied smile appearing on his face, although it was still weak, as if he wasn't entirely convinced by what he was planning on doing. "I know you're recording this, Seto," he spoke out loud as he headed towards the door. "Thank you for giving me this chance. I'd say you'll regret it, but you never regret anything, do you?" By the time the brunette listened, he would be long gone, and he knew it. Without any regrets himself, he pushed the button that opened the door to his prison, and stepped out through them confidently. As he did, the clock struck six. There was no going back now.