When Noa Met Seto
By Alecto Perdita
Rating: PG
Based on the flavors provided by the 52 flavours community on LiveJournal
Posted: September 5, 2008
Email: alecto . perdita (at) gmail . com
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi, and is being used in this fanfiction for fan purposes only. All situations, opinions and characters not belonging to Kazuki Takahashi are the intellectual property of Alecto Perdita.
- Folie à deux -
48.
You have set me among those who are defeated.
I know it is not for me to win, nor to leave the game
Noa stepped out of the car and gave the driver a curt farewell. As he looked up the long driveway, he saw another car- his father's car- approaching. Kaiba Gozaburo had been absent from the office all day, in order to make an appearance at some philanthropic event or another.
The car slowed to a stop and he walked over to the passenger's seat where his father usually emerged from. To his surprise, it was not his Tou-san that stepped out, but a young boy. He was probably about ten-years-old or so.
It was the boy's appearance that shocked him the most. His chestnut brown hair was neatly combed, reaching the nape of his neck. He had the bluest eyes Noa had ever seen. When the young boy looked up at him, it was like the truth of the universe had been laid bare before him. It was as if Noa's world had tunnel-visioned to focus on this boy and this boy alone.
The boy looked exactly like him.
A sound of awe caused his world to widen once more. There was another boy, even younger than the first, peering out from behind the brown-haired boy.
"Noa."
His world snapped back with startling clarity. His father was addressing him, and his father demanded absolute attention when he addressed anyone.
"Good afternoon, Tou-san." Noa replied automatically.
The man brushed off the greeting. "Good, you're here. I can get this out of the way all at once. Seto, this is your new older brother, Noa. Noa, from today on, they are Kaiba Seto and Kaiba Mokuba, your brothers."
Noa had become accustomed to having slight auditory and/or visual hallucinations since his childhood accident, but never anything as ludicrous as this. "Excuse me?" He asked, feeling dumbstruck.
"I don't like repeating myself. You should know better than that." His father glared at him, huffing out his chest to make himself look bigger.
The young brown-haired boy, Seto, stepped forward and offered Noa a hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Noa-san."
He couldn't do anything, but take the boy's hand. "Of course, Seto-kun."
"Nice to meet you, Noa-nii-san!"
"That's enough," Gozaburo said. "The staff will get you two settled inside."
The two boys recognized the hint to leave. They were followed into the house by the chauffer carrying just one large suitcase. The boys didn't own very much if that was the case.
"Why?" Noa asked.
His father stared at him with a disdainful expression. "You know why."
Oh, Noa did know. He knew he was damaged. He knew he wasn't producing enough output. He knew he wasn't showing enough initiative in the company. He knew he hadn't been able to best the many challenges his father set for him. He knew his father was expecting far more from him, Kaiba Noa…
"But he's a child!"
"A child that challenged me to a game of chess and won; a child who saw an opportunity and took it with ruthless efficacy," Gozaburo corrected him and gazed straight into Noa's eyes. "And you're not going to lose to a child, are you, my son?"
No way in hell was Noa going to let that happen.
