Disclaimer: Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-gi-oh.
Passing the Torch
Up in his office on the top floor of the KaibaCorp building, overlooking the busy Domino City commercial district, Seto Kaiba was working on the report for a new Duel Disk update. It provided holograms for the new booster packs Industrial Illusions was releasing in a few weeks. Seeing as there was a close deadline, he was approving all the work that had been done and dispersing what was left to the people he trusted to complete it.
Seto sighed as he skimmed the report. There was far more work left than there should have been. I² had taken its good old time getting all the required information to him and now his company was the one suffering for it. I² expected that update when their new booster launched, and while he didn't like doing things on other's terms, he had agreed to those conditions.
Naturally, he had the abilities and manpower to complete such a task. He'd just need to spend a few more long nights than he'd like, not that working late was new to him.
He stared at the sleek laptop before him, elbow resting on his thin, black desk as he propped his head up with the back of his hand. He'd have to break down all the work into smaller bits and distribute it to more people. But first, he needed to make a list.
Knock. Knock.
Seto let out a quiet growl, perturbed at the interruption.
"Come in," he called curtly, ready to cause an uproar if it wasn't important.
And it wasn't, though he couldn't really complain seeing as he had asked this person to stop by. Of course, that had been yesterday, but this man had always been a bit contrary.
"Hey, Kaiba-kun!" the other greeted.
He grunted in acknowledgement, getting right back to his report. His employee was used to him working while they talked, so there was no comment on it. Instead, there was just a long pause while the visitor waited for Seto to mention why he had been called here.
While the data chip has been updated, the individual holograms need to be tested for bugs and clear visuals.
"The Duel Disk update's prototype will be running in the testing lab at two. I want you to run the test," he muttered, still a bit miffed at being interrupted.
"Of course," the other responded cheerfully, not the least bit bothered by Seto's tone.
There was another pause while the he waited to hear if that was all Seto had to say.
There will need to be press releases on the update to Duel Magazine and a KaibaCorp logo added to the I² booster commercials.
"He did it," Seto mentioned casually, not bothering to look up or explain himself.
"He beat the Shadow Riders?" came the easy response. No confusion on what he was talking about. No asking for details. They were too close for that, too like minded.
Obviously, his employee had been curious about the situation as he had been.
"Yes." The update will need to be patched in order to work with older models of the Duel Disk. While I'm not above forcing people to buy new, the PR will be better if we make them backwards compatible. It won't cost that much more to add it.
He heard a chuckled. "Just like you knew he would."
Kaiba let out a grunt. "Of course he won. My students are the best duelists in the world."
There was a laugh to that. "Of course they are. You screened them yourself."
Seto didn't even bother acknowledging that.
We'll have to run network tests to make sure it can handle the volume we'll receive at launch. Many people will be downloading the patch.
"So do you think they'll be okay?" the man murmured, interrupting Seto's thoughts. "More threats will undoubtedly come. They always do."
Kaiba mentally rolled his eyes. There he was going on about destiny again.
"They'll handle what comes to them. We did."
"Yes," the other agreed. "We did."
There was a long stretch there where only the sound of his typing kept it from being completely silent.
Then, "Do you ever miss it?"
Seto finally looked up and gave the King of Games a cold look.
"Miss being bombarded by mystical nonsense? Please."
That earned him another laugh and a small smile.
"Yeah, me neither."
Seto pulled an envelope out of his top desk drawer.
"If you're going to be here, make yourself useful," he grumbled, handing it to the smaller ex-duelist.
"Yes, sir," Yuugi teased, taking the envelope and with a nod, leaving for his own office.
After the door clicked behind him, Seto found himself pulling open another drawer, this one with a lock on it. There was some dust from lack of use, but buried beneath some important papers, was his deck box. He popped it open and drew the first card.
His fingers stroked the picture of a light blue dragon, kept in pristine condition. After a few quiet moments of nostalgia, he shook his head with a chuckled and placed it back on top. He returned the box to the drawer and locked it back up.
"No," he muttered quietly to himself, " I don't miss it at all."
Omake Theater:
Yuugi was lounging on the black leather couch in Kaiba's office, reading over a report on the basic workings of the newest gaming software Kaiba wanted him to try out.
"So what's up with that Crowler guy?" he asked lazily, his eyes growing bleary from skimming over the technical mumbo-jumbo.
"Someone screwed up," Kaiba came back, not even bothering to sound annoyed at the notion. That happened a lot at that school. Kaiba should really keep a better watch on what happened there. Sheppard seemed to have a bizarre way of handling things.
Yuugi propped himself up on his elbow and turned his head to look at his old rival. His expression was half-surprised, half-incredulous. "And you haven't fired him yet?"
Kaiba met his eyes and smirked. "I like watching him fail."
This is basically how I see their future. After all the hostility and fire in Battle City, Kaiba decides to focus more on making his life meaningful and less on being on top of everyone. Yuugi, after sending Atem off to the afterlife, focuses more on finding his place in the world. It's made very clear in GX that the two of them are retired and letting the next generation deal with all the threats. So what do they do in retirement? Work together to create and test fun games and a better Duel Monsters experience.
And gossip about the new duelists and teachers, of course.
