Chapter 1: Tainted Rebirth

Noa began to feel that despite being revived he was still nothing compared to Seto. He tried so hard to at least surpass him at something, but failed every time. He was extremely jealous, which did nothing but fuel his hatred. Seto had everything Noa wanted and could never get. He cursed at himself and fell to his knees.

"Why am I such a failure?" He questioned as tears fell from his cerulean eyes.

"Compared to Seto, I'm nothing"

Noa heard footsteps approaching his room and jumped up from the floor. He dried his tears and sat on the bed. Thoughts of self-hatred and anger flooded his mind and there was nothing he could do to stop them; he didn't want to. There was a soft knock on the door, but Noa stayed motionless, still ashamed of himself.

"Noa?" Mokuba called from outside the door, "Do you wanna play with me and Seto?
Noa growled and mumbled under his breath, then responded, "Well, I'm kinda busy, Mokie, maybe later, okay?"

The very mentioning of Seto's name enraged him as he clenched his fist and a low growl escaped from his throat.
But the thought that upset him the most was that he was beginning to act more and more like Seto. He couldn't stand that his older step-brother was living the birthright that was originally meant to belong to him, Noa Kaiba.

Seto smiled as he sat on the downstairs couch typing on his laptop, while watching Mokuba play DDR. He loved seeing Mokuba in a good mood and threatened anyone who would even consider making him feel any different. Noa could hear all of the amusement from the confines of his room. It made him sick. Although he was grateful to Seto for helping him return to the real world, he still hated him. He felt different towards Mokuba though; he loved playing games and running around in the huge backyard with him, laughing and rolling in the emerald grass.

The Kaiba Mansion was a beautiful place to have the pleasure of living, but it was a grim reminder of what was stolen from him. Noa cried out in anger and began punching and kicking the wall. Both Seto and Mokuba looked up the staircase in utter confusion.

"He's up to his old tricks again…" Seto thought to himself as he sighed.

"Why the hell am I such a fucking failure?!"

"I live in the shadows of that bastard!"

"Why the hell did you choose him, father? Noa said frantically as he threw his chair the room.

Mokuba looked at Seto sadly and walked toward the steps.

"Leave him alone, Mokuba." Seto said in a commanding voice, "Let him cool off."

"I refuse to let you win, Seto!" Noa yelled as he slammed his fist into the bedroom mirror.

The sound of shattering glass was followed by a long silence. Noa fell to his knees among the shards of crystalline, his hand covered in crimson blood, which was now trickling onto his white shorts. He clutched his hand and walked to the bathroom to clean the bloodied wounds. All was still quiet and even Seto became slightly concerned.

"Noa, what the hell is going on up there?" He thought to himself as he glanced up the stairs again. Seto almost felt bad for the fourteen year old boy, but acted very cautiously around him because he knew Noa wasn't particularly fond of him. Mokuba couldn't stand the anticipation. He wanted to go see Noa, but knew Seto was against the idea.

"Seto…" Mokuba asked softly, "Do you think he's okay?"

The brunette looked into his brother's eyes and sighed.

"I wish I knew…"

Noa winced as he rinsed his hand and pulled the pieces of glass from his flesh. He glared at the green haired boy that glared right back at him from inside mirror, despising everything about him. Noa had recently fallen into the habit of self-mutilation, but hid it extremely well.

The overwhelming feeling of never being able to compete with Seto drove him insane. He blamed himself for his weakness and inability to be superior to Seto Kaiba. Noa cursed himself constantly and was always depressed.

Noa dried his wounded hand with the light blue towel hanging on the towel bar, tossed it on the side of the bathtub, and wrapped his hand in a white bandage. He felt a bit more relaxed, but still angry. Walking out of the bathroom, he stopped and tears fell from his eyes once again.

"Why is it that I have to suffer the way I do…?" He asked between sobs, "I try so hard…to prove that I'm worth something, but I guess I'm just not worth anything."

He hated to cry because once the tears began to flow, he couldn't stop them. Noa wiped his eyes and softly sighed. No matter how much he tried to ignore the rushing thoughts and emotions; he had no control over them. He felt insignificant…useless. Noa walked over to his bed and began to sob uncontrollably into his pillow.

Downstairs, Mokuba sighed as he sat next to Seto on the couch. He was worried about Noa. He hated seeing him suffer in this way, especially because he had no idea why he was so upset. There was no audible sound coming from Noa's room, which made Mokuba anxious to go see him. Seto looked over at his raven-haired brother and smiled softly.

"It seems as though he has calmed down. You can go see him if you want…but still, be careful, Mokuba." Seto stated in a somewhat nervous tone.

He knew Noa was extremely intelligent and capable of anything, but for Mokuba's sake, he was willing to give Noa the benefit of the doubt. Mokuba walked up the carpeted stairs to his green-haired step-brother's room. Just as he was about to knock, he stopped. Noa's muffled cries could be heard from outside the locked bedroom door. Mokuba gently knocked on the door.

"Noa? Are you okay?"

Noa sat up in the bed, freshly-fallen tears still covering his face. He didn't want Mokuba to see him in such a vulnerable state, so he tried to cover it up.

"I'm just fine, Mokie." Noa said, lying through his teeth.

"Onii-san, can I come in?"

To be continued…