Since I like Seto Kaiba so much, I decided to write a fanfic centered around him. Why? Because he's awesome, of course! AU, with an attempt to keep in character despite radically different character dynamics...Hope you enjoy! This is my first fanfiction, so be nice :) Please R&R!
I woke up to my alarm clock beeping in an unusually high-pitched wail, echoing inside of my head. Damn that Mokuba, I thought, he must have changed the alarm setting again. I frowned and reached blindly for the annoying machine and missed. My irritation mounting, I grabbed the cord and pulled out the plug. That's better, I thought, starting to settle into my covers once more. My peace was short-lived, however. What seemed like seconds later, my little brother Mokuba burst into my bedroom.
"Onii-chan! It's time to get up!" he called out cheerfully.
"Go away. I didn't sleep much last night," I mumbled, placing a pillow over my head to shield my eyes from the bright sunlight streaming into the room. I heard my brother chuckle then proceed to open the shades even further. I groaned as more bright light hit my eyelids.
"Onii-chan! If you don't wake up soon, I'll tickle your ear!" he announced in a singsong voice.
"Ah! All right!" I growled, protecting my ears and sitting upright. I glared at the sunlight and at my bedroom—which was in the disheveled state I had left it last night—and turned to face Mokuba.
"We're gonna be late if you don't get up soon," he said with his usual loopy smile. I felt the irritation inside of me lessen as I watched that smile, but I made sure not to smile in return.
"Well, I'm up now. Can you get some coffee? I've got a major migraine already," I asked, rubbing my temples.
"Sure thing!" Mokuba replied, bouncing away. I allowed myself a small smile as I watched him go.
Why is he so happy in the mornings? I thought groggily, and dragged myself out of bed. As usual, I had been up late last night, making overseas investment deals. It was the only way I could keep going to school and bring in an income enough to support Mokuba and myself. Not that I thought school was a worthwhile use of my time, but Mokuba had insisted that I continue to go.
"You'll be able to make some friends and have fun!" he had said, back when I was deciding what to do following our stepfather's death. I remember having internally snorted at his optimism. After my childhood had been spent under strict, rigorous and at times humiliating study—training to become the next Kaiba Corporation CEO—the concept of fun, and especially friendship, was foreign to me. And I preferred it that way.
"Onii-chan! We've only got five minutes before we have to go!" Mokuba called out from the kitchen. I gulped down my coffee, feeling the caffeine hit my system.
"I'm ready," I called out, opening the door into the fresh spring morning. Mokuba rushed out the door beside me, breathing in the morning air. I ruffled his hair—much to his annoyance—and proceeded ahead.
"I'm not waiting for you," I declared, waiting for his usual whine.
"Onii-chan!" Mokuba whined, running to catch up with me. At first glance, no one would believe that we were actually related. I was tall, with ice-blue eyes and light brown hair. My brother, who was only four years younger than me, was only half my height and had shoulder length night-black hair and darker azure eyes. I had even read through nonsense tabloids that many believed I only pretended Mokuba was my blood brother, when in fact; he was just another kid that I had become attached to at the orphanage, where Mokuba and I had spent the early part of our life.
Whenever I read or heard rumors like these, I was amused by the journalist's ignorance. The thought of me 'becoming attached' to someone, to go to the lengths that I did for Mokuba, if they weren't truly related to me was ridiculous.
We arrived at my brother's junior high school in good time. I watched him leave my side with apprehension. Ever since we had been adopted into the Kaiba family, we had been targeted—both by our stepfather's enemies and by our stepfather—in efforts to either take us out in the former or to 'make us stronger' in the latter case. My stepfather, Gozaburo Kaiba, had without a doubt made me strong, honing my intelligence for the use of business and manipulation in efforts to make me the next heir of Kaiba Corporation.
With his death, I broke all ties with the Kaiba family. It was my way of removing Mokuba from harm's way, and from the suffocating life we had led for those past five years. I could have easily led Kaiba Corporation, but at the cost of my brother's safety. It was not a risk I was willing to take. My business ventures now were small, anonymous—and brought in only enough money for us to make out a humble living. It was enough.
"Kaiba! Kaiba!" a girl's voice called to me. I cringed internally—both at the sound of the name I could not yet get rid of and the feminine voice who uttered it—and continued towards the Domino High School gate. As she continued to call out that hateful name, I suppressed the urge to knock her senseless and passed the girl without a word.
"Aw, so cold as usual! A good morning would be enough, you know," she complained, walking in front of me. Try as I might to maintain a calm mien, I definitely felt my face twitch in irritation.
"Let him be, Kisara. He never has a good morning," a voice called out from behind me. Great…just what I need this morning, more headaches, I thought wryly, turning away from the girl's face—which had been dangerously close to my own—to face the long, silver-haired boy walking towards me.
"I'm not going to give up!" the girl named Kisara cried out and ran off to rejoin her girl friends. The silver-haired boy smirked at me, while simultaneously giving a flirtatious wink towards Kisara and her friends. Their collective swoon was immediately audible. I rolled his eyes.
"Come on, give the girls some love, hm? You know that you and I are considered the most eligible guys in this school," he commented, slinging an arm around me. I froze at the sudden intimacy.
"Still as stiff as ever, eh, Kaiba-boy?" the boy said, laughing.
"Don't you have someone else to bother, Pegasus?" I retorted, removing the boy's arm from around my shoulders.
"Ah, you are too much fun as usual. Well, see you in class," he replied.
I sighed. I watched as the only heir of Industrial Illusions—a rival company of Kaiba Corporations—walked away nonchalantly. I felt my eyes narrow. I never knew what was going through Maximillion Pegasus's head, and it set me on edge. Despite having cut all ties with Gozaburo and his company, I had no choice but to keep the last name Kaiba—at least until I turned eighteen, when I could legally change it. The name alone was enough to draw Pegasus's attention towards me.
I frowned. And the girl—Kisara, was it?—I had no idea what to think of her, either. Annoying, perhaps. Intrusive? No...she was cheerful like Mokuba, but…I sighed. No, I decided finally, she was nothing like Mokuba at all.
I entered into the classroom as usual, and immediately sat down, opened up my laptop to check the current Japan stock values.
"Always business-minded, as expected," Pegasus said, leaning over my shoulder. I gritted my teeth and simply shifted my screen to my class notes, ignoring the silver-haired flirt. Thankfully, I was spared from any further annoyances. The homeroom teacher—a blonde-haired airhead—walked in with her usual aura that sent half of the morons in this classroom drooling.
"Listen up, everyone! We have a new transfer student from the US. Even though he's lived abroad all these years, I'm happy to inform you that his Japanese is as good as any of yours! I'd like you all to welcome Yami Muto," she announced.
Rolling my eyes at the gasp of sudden interest uttered by the idiots in the room, I went back to checking the stock values. I had no interest in this new student here—no doubt he would be on the same level as the rest of the morons here—meaning he was not worth any of my time.
"Doubt you've seen anyone like that," Pegasus whispered from behind me. Giving into a momentary curiosity, I looked up from my laptop. The transfer student was a short, wimpy-looking boy with bizarre spiky purple and black hair and bleached yellow bangs. Nice fashion statement, I thought sarcastically, running my eyes over his black buckled collar and studded wristbands.
What caught my interest the most was the golden, upside down pyramid hanging from his neck by a thin, brown thread. In the center of the Egyptain-looking accessory was a single eye. Though I knew I had never seen anything like it before, something about it triggered a sense of déjà vu. I shook the thought away.
I was about to look back down to my laptop when I felt his eyes on me. They were a bright violet and expressionless—mirroring what my own eyes had looked like while living under Gozaburo's control.
But as soon as I leveled my gaze at him, he looked away, making me believe that I had only imagined him looking at me. He proceeded to smile and simply said, "My name is Muto, Yami. Nice to meet you all."
There was something about him that caused me to tense immediately. Clearly, he knows me. Not a surprise, especially if he is from the US. Most of Kaiba Corporation's international partnerships—and rivals—were from the US. I can't let my guard down around him. I felt Pegasus's eyes following the quick, silent exchange and cursed my luck. That stupid flirt might actually prove to be a real threat if he teams up with this Muto…
Well, there's chapter one. I've decided to keep the chapters short and sweet for now, which will hopefully allow me to update more often :)