Author Notes: All dialogue in italics is taken straight from the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh Season 3 Episode 13 [(c) Kazuki Takahashi]. Enjoy!
"Yes, he and I have a history as well," Noah said in his obnoxious voice as he draped one arm across the back of the couch.
"It's Noah and Kaiba!" Tea exclaimed as she and Yugi entered the room. "But what's going on?" Yugi didn't attempt to answer, simply rushed over to his rival and handed him the photograph he and Tea had found.
"Does this mean anything to you Kaiba?" he asked.
Upon examining the image, Kaiba scoffed, "Huh, it's a trick. This is a picture of my step-father."
"Your step-dad? With Noah?" Yugi had known that Kaiba was adopted; he'd learned as much in Duelist Kingdom. He hadn't known that he resented his step-dad so much.
"Pay attention to the show, Seto!" Noah snapped, interrupting their exchange. "I think it will clear things up for you." Yugi, Tea, and Seto turned their attention to the scene unfolding before them. They watched Gozaburo tell Noah that Seto and Mokuba were his latest "acquisitions," that Seto was extremely intelligent, that he was there to challenge Noah to improve.
"After all, if I'm going to hand KaibaCorp over to YOU someday, Noah, you'll have to prove to me that you have the intellect it takes to run a company of this magnitude."
"Alright, you won't be disappointed Father," Noah responded smugly. Tea gasped in shock and Yugi's eyes widened.
"What did he say?" Seto demanded, unable to believe his ears.
"That's his dad!" Yugi answered as he came to stand next to Kaiba.
"Not quite what you were expecting, is it Seto? You and I being step-brothers. But it's all true. I am Gozaburo's one true son, and I was always supposed to inherit his empire. You were nothing more than another one of my father's servants, brought in to motivate me. That's the only reason my father let riffraff like YOU into his house: to train me! And that's the story of how an orphan with no class became the CEO of KaibaCorp."
As Noah spoke, the office they were in faded away, and Seto recognized the room that had been used for his lessons. A stone settled into the pit of his stomach as he realized what Noah was doing now. A new scene was unfolding before them, and it was the last thing Seto Kaiba wished to see.
Tea gasped again as she recognized the child wearing a dog collar as Seto, wincing in sympathy as an angered Gozaburo lifted the child by the front of his shirt, yelling cruel words before throwing him to the floor and giving him a hard kick. Tea quickly covered her face with her hands, unable to watch, but sick as he felt, Yugi found himself incapable of looking away. The child huddled into a ball on the floor, crying out in pain as he was beaten, was the same proud man he'd fallen in love with, the same proud man who went to the furthest extremes to demonstrate his total, absolute superiority and skill. As Gozaburo's image yelled disparaging, degrading things at the child, Yugi finally understood why Seto was always trying to prove himself the best: he needed to prove to himself and the world that Gozaburo had been wrong. Eventually, Mr. Kaiba exited the room, leaving the ten-year-old Seto a shivering, weeping mess on the floor.
Yugi looked up at Seto's face to see that the CEO stood as rigidly as stone, his face impassive, but his jaw clenched. His eyes glaring at everything in front of him, but unfocused. A muscle twitched in his cheek as he watched the memories he'd worked so hard to forget. Yugi glanced around, wanting to ask Noah what the point was the point of showing them all this, but Noah was nowhere in sight.
"Seto? Are you alright?" he asked in a whisper. Seto didn't answer him, didn't even seem to hear him. He tentatively slipped his hand into Seto's, loosening the tight fist that was clenched at his side so that their fingers could interlock. Seto started and glanced down at Yugi, his face still tense, but his eyes no longer empty. They were filled with pain, and Yugi knew in that moment that what Noah had shown them had actually happened. He wished that he could say something to make this better, but he didn't know what could possibly make a situation like this less traumatic for Kaiba.
"Is it over?" Tea asked, sounding distressed. Seto and Yugi quickly let go of each other, embarrassed. Seto crossed his arms, his mouth drawn in a hard line as he stared ahead of him once more.
"Yeah, it's over," Yugi answered sadly, still looking up at Seto.
"Kaiba, did that actually happen?" Tea asked in disbelief as she uncovered her eyes.
"That's none of your business," he growled.
"Does Mokuba know?" Yugi asked out of the blue. Seto, who was currently laying on his back across the couch with his head in Yugi's lap, opened his eyes.
"Know what?" he asked, confused. They'd escaped the virtual world and had almost reached their destination, so the two were stealing some time to be alone together.
"That Gozaburo hurt you," the champion answered softly, trying to be sensitive about the subject.
"Hell no," Seto snapped, frowning. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Have you ever talked to anyone about it?" Yugi ran his fingers through Seto's dark hair, savoring its silky texture.
"No," he muttered, closing his eyes for a few moments. He was clearly uncomfortable with the topic and Yugi was starting to feel guilty for bringing it up.
"If you ever do want to talk about it, I'm always here for you," Yugi murmured, leaning down to kiss Seto's forehead. His lover wound his fingers into Yugi's hair and shifted his head so that their lips met in an oddly angled kiss.
"Thank you," Seto murmured against Yugi's lips, his voice pained. He hated admitting that he had been weak and in pain, that he had been unable to defend himself.
"Anytime, Seto. Anytime."