As you all probably are aware of by now, this fanfic is counting as a graduation requirement for my high school. As part of the presentation, it's been suggested that I read aloud certain sections of this story so that the evaluators can experience for themselves what I've been doing for the past several months. So, if any of you would mind telling me in a review or PM-ing me what your favorite scenes have been so far, or just a particular combination of words you may have liked, I would greatly appreciate your helping me in this area.

Chapter Seven: The Race

Seto had a flair for flaunting things in people's faces without them knowing it, Mokuba had to admit.

They were in the seventh story boardroom of Kaiba Corp., the one that Noah himself had been using just weeks previous.

Seto and Mokuba were seated side by side at the head of the table, a laptop set up in front of them. Along one side of the table sat Pegasus, lips curling in a smirk, and Bruce Demebek, a dark, broad man who didn't talk much. And, on the other side, sat Gansley, tapping his finger against his lower lip, Nesbitt, nervously tugging at his collar and checking his watch, and Johnson, smiling serenely, if dangerously. All the power players of Seto's takeover were in one room, right under Gozaburo's nose.

If anyone from the company with half a brain were to stick their nose in, all of them would be discovered and turned in, and the whole takeover might crash down around them. But, only Mokuba and Nesbitt seemed to be concerned that that would happen, and Mokuba was the least of the two. And, Mokuba had to admit that it felt good to not be the weakest for once, even if he was still the smallest.

Actually, looking around the room and ignoring himself, Mokuba had to say that, even with Seto only being seventeen, it looked as if the room was filled with fully adult men, here to do some serious business. And, looking up at his brother, Mokuba actually felt kind of proud of how he was able to sit suavely and not be intimidated by the older, more experienced, and, theoretically, more authoritative men around him, waiting for him to make the first move.

"There is really only one reason I called this meeting," Seto suddenly started, catching some of the people present off-guard at his sudden address. "Our operatives in the Big 5 say they have some urgent news that they need to communicate to us. Gentlemen." Seto extended a hand in the three's direction, and Mokuba couldn't help but notice as the tail of a scar peeked out beneath Seto's cuff.

"Yes. Crump has been recruited by Noah," Johnson laid out bluntly, causing both Nesbitt and Gansley to flinch a little. "He's been trying to recruit the rest of us, besides Lector, to Noah's side."

Gansley took over, quick speech giving away his own anxiety, "He doesn't seem to like dealing with the boy on his own and wants the rest of us to come have his back. He constantly badgers us with the fact that their plan is supposedly failsafe."

Johnson took over again, "According to him Noah was somehow able to get his hands on the pass codes to Gozaburo's accounts. We don't know how he got them—"

"Cathleen," Seto said, lips twisting wryly. "He hates her, but is constantly hanging around the old—" Mokuba stomped on Seto's foot beneath the table, stopping him from finishing the sentence, and glaring up at him. Mokuba liked the secretary, if just a little bit. The rest of the meeting members watched with various degrees of fascination as the two shared a look.

"…Anyway," Seto continued, "Cathleen's is one of two computers that can access that sort of information, the other being Gozaburo's. He would have gotten the codes from her, or perhaps just straight from her computer with her having no idea as to what was going on."

"Sneaky little Kaiba," Pegasus clucked, amused.

"Those pass codes change every so many days, so Noah will have had to have been getting into the system with each change." Seto pulled the laptop to him and began logging into the KC network using hi series of backdoors.

For several minutes, Seto just typed, ignoring those around him, watching him in curiosity. The three members of the Big 5 watched with varying degrees of uncertainty, Nesbitt being the only one of them to really understand all that could be done with computers, but him already starting out as the nervous one. Pegasus smiled with a lazy sort of craftiness hidden in the expression. Demebek didn't seem to be looking at anything, but would occasionally nod, as if he understood what Seto was typing. And, Mokuba just watched all of these people doing their various things, as Seto did his thing.

"There," Seto said, finishing whatever he'd been up to. "The new pass code is supposed to be up today. I can't change what it is, but I can change what's displayed on Cathleen's computer. Noah got a late start this morning, so he shouldn't have seen it yet."

Johnson nodded and straightened his glasses. "That problem is taken care of, but Crump, rather obviously, isn't the most subtle of people. If the schedule is hurried up, we're worried that Mr. Kaiba will discover our plan."

"I'm concerned about that, too," Seto said. "That's why—"

"Pardon the interruption, good sirs," Pegasus barged into the conversation, having become suddenly suspicious to the real motivations behind this meeting, "but if this is another attempt to wring more funding out of Demebek and I to buy stocks, I don't see why you bothered to bring us all together today. We can't afford to furnish you with any more than we've already given, even if the amount is so small at this point thanks to your daddy's gift." Pegasus directed the tail of the statement at Seto. Demebek had nodded along as Pegasus had spoken.

Seto lips twitched slightly. "You've made yours and Demebek's positions clear, Pegasus. But, thanks to my little brother, we no longer have any need to gain financial support."

"Really? So, the itsiest bitsiest Kaiba came through? How cute," Pegasus declared, sarcasm twinkling in his one visible, sienna-colored eye, causing shudders to go through Mokuba when the eye was turned on him.

"So, what do we do for now?" Nesbitt asked, his fraying nerves showing through the trembling in his voice.

"We move the plan forward," Seto answered quickly, seeming to have already prepared his response. "Forget about stealth; it's not needed anymore. We buy up the remaining stocks we need immediately, before anyone can realize what we're doing and put a stop to it."

"And, what about Noah?" Johnson queried, seeming to be the only one of the present Big 5 not concerned or guilty about what was soon to go down. "We have no idea how far along he is, and if he has Crump on his side, the accounts must be involved somehow."

"Leave Noah to me," Seto answered, entering something into the laptop. "I can easily figure out what he's up to, and I'll direct you all on how to react after I do. Understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba," the room answered, even Mokuba and Pegasus.

Mr. Kaiba… Seto thought, a slight smile gracing his lips. If that doesn't say everything right there.


It was late afternoon when Noah was finally able to slink behind Cathleen's desk to access her computer. He didn't know where she'd gone or how long she'd be, but he'd become so adept at finding the pass codes and sending them to Crump that he didn't need more than a few minutes.

As usual, Noah thought. He quickly opened up the untraceable email account he'd made expressly for this purpose, and copied and pasted the newest code into the message, and sent it to the equally untraceable account he'd made for Crump.

Noah felt himself actually smiling as he pulled off and cleaned his gold-framed glasses. For once in the longest time, things were going right in his life. Soon he'd have Kaiba Corporation under his control, his father would see that he was the better son, and Seto and Mokuba would finally be sent away.

Putting the glasses back on, he felt his lips spread even tighter across his face and a laugh burbled up from inside him.

It was all going so right. Noah kept laughing as he sent the chair spinning. So right.

The chair began to wobble, and Noah threw out his hands to catch his balance. One of his hands skittered across the keyboard of Cathleen's computer, and something came up, a file with no name on it.

Feeling giddily curious, Noah thought, Why the hell not, and decided to access the file.

A list of names appeared:

M. Pegasus.

Pegasus? What is that crackpot doing in a Kaiba Corp. file? I thought he made games, Pegasus scoffed.

B. Demebek.

Demebek? Only Lector deals with Demebek, and his files aren't on the general system.

Johnson, Gansley, Nesbitt…

What the…? Members of the Big 5?

M. Kaiba.

S. Kaiba.

Looking over the list again, Noah saw that beside each name was a percentage; ten percent, six percent, seven percent, seven percent, seven percent, two percent, five percent.

Five percent. Gozaburo gave each of us five percent of the company from his own holdings…

Oh, God.

Noah instantly called up the stock portfolio for Kaiba Corporation.

Oh, God.

The stocks were… disappearing. Someone was snatching them up right in front of Noah's nose. And, Seto only needed six more percent of the company…

Noah sprang from Cathleen's chair and hurried to his office. Things felt like they were breaking all around him, shattering and crumbling all before they'd even been fully formed.

Seto was in the office, talking on the landline that they'd each been provided with while twirling a cell phone that Noah had never seen in his free hand. The bottom drawer, the one Noah had never been able to get into while Seto was away, was wide open, as if it had never been shut.

Noah took a deep, shaking breath, refusing to allow Seto to see how shaken and disturbed he was.

How am I supposed to act cool when he's right there? He's going to take everything from me, and he can act as if everything was normal, but I know I can't. I can't— the voice in Noah's mind continued yammering, but he was able to somewhat calmly make his way over to his desk, only a palsy-like tremor and overly wide eyes giving away his distress.

Seto pretended not to notice him as the teal-haired boy walked over, stumbling once, to sit opposite him. He just continued mildly talking to the men on the other end of the line, making sure not to use Demebek's or Pegasus's name as they spoke to him over speakerphone. He'd already contacted the Big 3, as Mokuba had christened them after the meeting that morning, giving them the final details as to how the plan was to proceed.

Noah took another moment to breathe and try to get that insecure voice in his head to shut up before looking around his desk for… something. Why had he even come in here?

Oh, it was for…

Noah's eyes began darting all over his desk, noticing that something was off. His files were straightened. He'd brought them in with him this morning from home and had just tossed them onto his desktop, letting papers slid out of them, thinking he would organize them later.

Now, they were in a neat pile, all their innards fit tightly back inside their correct folder, and Noah hadn't been the one to do it.

Noah slowly raised his eyes and met Seto's eyes looking back at him. They were silent, Seto ignoring the voices coming through the receiver still held to his ear.

"Y—" Noah choked out. Seto didn't respond. They just stared.

This isn't just about my going through his things, Seto thought. He felt his lips tighten as he realized, he knows.

It was only fitting, Seto reluctantly supposed, that Noah would learn of Seto's scheming as Seto learned of the details of Noah's plan.

So, the two sat across from each other, each realizing the extent to which the other knew.

For several eternity-long moments, nothing happened…

Then, startling Seto, Noah pushed himself away from his desk and ran out of the room.

Seto felt his lips part in surprise at the drastic exit, but it didn't take long for him to become aware of the yelling in his ear.

"Kaiba-boy, if you don't answer this minute—!" Pegasus was ranting.

"I'm here," Seto interjected, clearing his throat. "Noah came in—"

"Oh, that would explain it," Pegasus said, overwhelmingly understanding. "Speaking of Noah, what do we do?"

"Exactly as before, only faster," Seto answered, looking down at the pseudo-cell phone in his hand.

"You've already told us to act immediately," Demebek put in, his bear-like voice even gruffer than usual. Sometimes Seto was surprised that this man was into technology rather than hunting and camping, or something of the like. "How do you expect us to go any faster?"

"Noah may have stumbled onto our plan somehow," Seto confessed. That look in his eyes…

"Did you slip up, Kaiba-boy?" Pegasus asked mockingly.

"I don't know, but we can be sure he's not waiting around to make wisecracks. We need to move everything up even more now."

The urgency was beginning to dawn in all their minds. If Noah was able to get the stocks first…

"We'll contact those other three," Demebek volunteered, taking control of the situation. "You need to do whatever you can to stall Noah and Crump. We'll contact you—"

"Contact Mokuba. Noah might do something stupid like going to Pops, and then I'll be under watch. No one's going to suspect Mokuba."

"That little Kaiba keeps on proving his usefulness, doesn't he?" Pegasus mused. "By the way, Kaiba-boy, are you really sure that you're going to be okay betraying your "Pops"?"

"…Yes, I'm sure." Seto hung up the phone and turned to his computer.


"Crump! How close are we?" Noah almost shouted, rounding the corner into the doorway of Crump's office, located on the thirteenth floor, the accounting floor.

"Noah, uh, sir! Well, there have been some setbacks…" Crump mumbled into his moustache, shrinking into his seat.

"What sort of setbacks?" Noah quickly asked, wild, wide eyes scaring Crump.

"Well, someone else has been buying up Kaiba Corp. stock—"

"I know that!" Noah shrieked, making Crump flinch and begin fiddling with his cufflinks. "And, I know who's buying them. Why aren't we buying them up faster? We have the funds!"

"W-we d-did, sir, but I've recently been locked out of the Gozaburo's accounts," Crump sputtered out.

"…What?"

"Th-the last pass code you sent me was wrong; they blocked me from accessing your father's shares…"

The pass codes were wrong?

Then, they knew about that part of the scheme too. They knew everything, from Cathleen's computer to Crump's involvement in the accounts.

"Maybe, sir, we could try again—"

"No. They know I've been using the secretary's computer—"

"Then, you could sneak into your father's—"

"No, you idiot!" Before Noah knew it, his hand was flying and slapping across Crump's fat face, leaving a bright red imprint and creating a sharp cracking sound. The surprised member of the Big 5 actually fell down from the blow, crashing into his desk as he went down.

Lector was in there with Gozaburo, and they'd be there for the rest of the day, installing some sort of upgrade to Gozaburo's computer. There was no way to get that access code. Here was nothing he could do… nothing.

Noah had to go. He had to go right now.

He left Crump to roll around behind the desk, running through the halls of the thirteenth floor. He needed to hide, he needed to get away. He barged into the men's room, praying that no one was in there with him.

He locked the door behind him and, on impulse, turned off all the lights. Noah took a few unsteady steps into the blackness before falling to his hands and knees on the darkened floor. Tearing off his glasses, he threw them across the room.

His hard breathing from the running turned into vicious pants.

Oh, my god. What am I going to do?

Noah let out a wail as his head sank down to the floor.

He'd worked so hard to make Kaiba Corp. his. He'd worked so hard to make his father proud.

And, Seto was stealing it all away, right in front of his nose!

That orphan bastard!

Noah let out another howl. But, he couldn't think anymore, he could barely feel the cold tile against his forehead and palms.

It was all gone

"It's not gone. It's just inaccessible."

Noah snapped up so fast he ended up falling over in the opposite direction, falling on his ass.

"Who's there?" he called out.

A laugh came out of nowhere.

"Just think, Noah. It's inaccessible, but not gone. And, anything that's inaccessible can become accessible. It's just waiting to."

"But… but, how?" Who was this person, feeding me the way out?

"Only you have something Seto doesn't have," the voice continued.

"Seto has everything!" Noah screamed. Wheeling around, he scrambled to the light switch, and flicked it on. Turning back around, Noah saw… no one. Nothing. He was alone.

But, suddenly Noah saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and he spun, swinging his fist as he went. It crashed into the closest mirror, cracking it, causing the shards to dig into and between his knuckles. It was just his own reflection that he'd seen.

Pulling his hand back, splinters of mirror came with it, sticking out, and blood began streaming down and over his now ruined hand. Now not only his legs would be scarred, but his hand too. All that blood…

"Yes. All that blood. Do you see, now?" the voice asked, sounding nowhere but in Noah's own head.

Blood. Noah's blood. Noah's blood was Gozaburo's blood.

"You're still his son," the voice whispered. "You're still entitled to what this blood ties you to."

Entitlement.

Gozaburo's will.

"Seto hasn't been put into it yet," Noah murmured.

"No, he hasn't," the voice agreed. "If Gozaburo dies, you get everything that was once inaccessible."

Noah gasped. Of course.

A giggle suddenly burst out of Noah, and it continued, turning into a raging, all-out laugh. Of course.

When Noah gained a semblance of control of himself, he examined his reflection…

His pupils looked to be shaking madly within the iris.

Madly. The word made Noah want to giggle again. But, he had to retain control… for now.

He retrieved his glasses before he left the bathroom. The frame had become bent, and when he put them on, they listed off to one side, and a thin hairline crack ran through the left lens.

He got looks as he left the thirteenth and walked through the hallways, back to the top floor, most of them focused on his skewed glasses, some on his paper towel-covered hand. Noah ignored them all.

Gozaburo looked up as someone entered his office, his assistant Lector continuing to make the upgrades to his boss's computer.

"Noah, why do you disturb me?" Gozaburo barked, an unfounded dark mood coming upon him. "And, what in God's name happened to your glasses?"

Noah turned his back to his father, still standing in the open door. With his face turned away, Noah spoke with a calm, measured voice.

"Father, can we… talk?"


Back at the house, Seto was indulging himself in what he would never admit to being a nervous habit. He was flicking through his Duel Monsters cards, the ones he had left from when he was a child.

In just a few hours, Seto's plan would be complete, and then he and Mokuba would be the majority shareholders of Kaiba Corporation. The manufacturing of weapons would stop immediately once that happened, and a new era would begin for the company, one that didn't involve the destruction of lives, but rather the bettering of them through enjoyable pastimes. Soon, Mokuba would be getting the phone call that everything was over and done with.

But, Seto still felt uneasy about something. Had he left some option open for Noah to use? For him to be able to take Kaiba Corp. for his in the end?

No. Every feasible, legal option was blocked. And, if Noah tried something illegal, or more illegal than he'd already done, Seto would be the first to call him on it and turn him in.

Seto smirked to himself. They had to face it: Noah and he had never really bonded as brothers, or as anything, really. Even considering the other as being something respectable as a rival didn't settle well with their definitions of each other.

Noah was a spoiled, snarky, whiny weakling, and Seto was an intrusive, arrogant, daddy-stealing orphan.

Seto would probably have to do something about that once he was the CEO of Kaiba Corp. The Kaiba Estate was attached to the Corporation, so once he had his stocks, he would own the house. But, he was considering allowing Gozaburo and Noah to continue living there, while, once Seto was eighteen, he and Mokuba would move out. It wasn't as if the place was full of fond memories, and Seto, though he might enjoy it for a time, didn't care for the label of being a sore winner that he would incur immediately upon throwing the two out.

Anyway, Pops hasn't been that bad… to me.

Mokuba he still just ignored, and Noah… well Seto hated Noah, so it didn't really matter how Gozaburo treated the brat. But, between Gozaburo and Seto there had been a sort of respect reached in the past several years that had at least kept them from ripping into each other like Seto and Noah did on occasion.

Seto sighed. Pops probably would either be proud of him for his cunning scheme, or hate his guts for using the gift of his own personal stock to take him down. Either way, Seto had to do this.

Sorry, Pops.

Seto slammed his cards down and left his room. The ill-at-ease sensation was still with him, and it didn't seem as if it was going to be leaving him soon.

He decided to walk it off, waking deep into the house until he reached the windows showing off the empty inner courtyard. Seto had never been in the courtyard itself, even after the dogs had been taken away. He found himself rubbing his scarred shoulder unconsciously. He was more unnerved than he'd thought.

I wished they'd just call already.

Because, that had to be the cause of his fidgeting uneasiness. Once Kaiba Corp. was secured in his hands, he'd be calm again.

Acting on a whim, Seto decided to enter the courtyard. He hurried down one of the staircases into the foyer, then, turned around immediately to duck under the overhanging balcony to the glass doors of the courtyard. The unused door handle took some shimmying to get it to open, almost causing Seto to believe the area had been locked off, but the catch finally released with a snick, popping open.

It was fully night now, and the moon was just becoming visible in the courtyard. There were no windows on the lower level around the space besides the doors, and the windows on the second level only glowed with light; one couldn't see what was actually in the lighted rooms and hallways.

It was like a prison yard. No wonder Fu Xi and Nu Wa were so savage.

Seto shivered, still massaging his shoulder.

"Are you alright, sir?" a voice asked behind him, causing Seto to turn around. Anna stood in the entryway to the courtyard.

He took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm fine. Anna, have you seen Noah?" Seto asked the first servant he had ever met within the Kaiba household.

"No, Master Seto. He didn't come home with you?" Anna questioned, brow furrowing.

"No… Has Pops arrived, yet?" The uncomfortable feeling in Seto's stomach was getting worse the longer the two Kaibas besides himself and Mokuba were absent.

"No, Mr. Kaiba hasn't come home either. Is something the matter?"

"I hope not…"

Somewhere back in the Westward Wing of the house, a phone rang.


Looping a video feed hadn't been had for Noah, not in the least. He'd used Seto's backdoor into the system to do it, making it seem as if there was nothing on the roof, just as there hadn't been only a few minutes ago.

"Is there a reason you picked the roof, boy?" Gozaburo asked sarcastically, as if he'd expected Noah to choose somewhere unfit for them to chat.

"I just wanted the privacy is all," Noah responded quietly.

"Puh, privacy," Gozaburo scoffed. "I doubt that whatever you have to say warrants this degree of secrecy, Noah." He walked over to the edge of the building and peered over the rim, Noah following closely behind.

"Father," Noah began, causing Gozaburo to turn and look at him. "You always tell me no when I ask you for this, but you have to say yes this time. You have to."

Gozaburo's eyes and nostrils both flared as he lifted his nose into the air. "I don't have to do anything, Noah. So, either ask it and be prepared for me to say 'no,' or get out of my way so that I can go home."

Noah winced, but didn't back down. "Please, send the orphans away. Send them back."

"Are you an idiot, Noah!" Gozaburo roared, not believing his ears.

He made to storm past his son back into the building, but Noah got in his way, blocking him, causing him to take a step back, nearer the edge.

"What is the matter with you, boy?" Gozaburo demanded to know, outraged. "Seto's staying, and—"

"Seto's about to rip the company right out from under you, Father. He's doing it right now! As we speak, Father!"

That gave Gozaburo a moment's pause, and Noah thought he actually had a chance. "Father, if you give the rest of your personal shares of the company to me, I can get the company before he does. We can make it our company."

Gozaburo's wretchedly yellow eyes shifted down to look at his son. "…Why would I do that?"

"'W-why?' To keep Seto from getting Kaiba Corp—!"

"Seto isn't getting Kaiba Corp. Seto is earning Kaiba Corp. He is working for it, bit by bit. You'd be the one who'd be getting it if I were to just hand over my stock to you."

"But, he's using Demebek, he's using members of the Big 5—"

"Then, good for him!" Gozaburo triumphed.

"I… I've been doing the same thing, Father—"

"Then, you must be failing. Why else would you be here and Seto not? Christ, Noah—"

"Do you love me, Father?" Noah finally was able to spit out the question that had been gnawing at him since Seto and Mokuba had first stepped out of the car five years ago. Did his father love him… or not?

"…That's a ridiculous question, Noah," Gozaburo finally replied, seeming flustered. For the first time in Noah's life, Gozaburo was the first one to look away.

Noah began to breathe, shuddering, the ugly thing that had risen within him in the bathroom taking over again.

"…If you don't love me, do you love Seto?" Noah spat, his eyes wide, pupils dilated.

"That… is none of your business, Noah." Gozaburo tried to move around Noah again, but was stopped by his son's hand on his chest.

"My father doesn't love me, but he loves an orphan. A filthy, disgusting orphan." Noah wasn't talking to Gozaburo anymore. Noah wasn't here anymore.

"Noah…?" Gozaburo questioned, feeling nervous for once in the face of Noah, or whatever this person… thing was.

Noah's hand fisted into the cloth of Gozaburo's suit. "How can he not love me? After I've done everything he's asked?"

"Now, Noah. Calm down," Gozaburo tried to sooth, flashbacks as to what life with Noah's mother had been like. "Noah—"

"Why can't you love me?" Noah slapped his second hand onto Gozaburo's chest… and pushed.

Pushed Gozaburo, his father, over the edge of the building.

Thank you for reading!

There's only one chapter left, a final wrap-up to the story, and it should be posted really soon. I hope to see you there for the final conclusion of The Kaiba Heir, and please let me know of any parts that you feel should be read aloud at my presentation. Thanks again!