Chapter 9 - Two Sides

"Here is the folder you wanted, Mr. Kaiba," the secretary stated as she placed the folder on Seto's desk. "Is there anything else you require?" A tall, skinny girl with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and black glasses, she was currently wearing a black t-shirt, white skirt, and black high heels. Seto had to give her credit for two things; she did her work, and she actually wore things he considered clothing. Most women were too busy showing off their bodies to do their work, but this woman actually deserved her job.

"I need a coffee, and then you can get started on those files. I want them organized by the end of the week."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." She bowed slightly before leaving his office, and Seto smirked before returning to his work. They were installing a new program into the duel disk system, and he wanted it up and running by the end of the month. Ever since the end of the many tournaments held in Domino, Seto had merely allowed players to keep their duel disk systems. New programs would be added over time, and users would have to pay for this updates. This new installment uploaded a new deck of cards as well as fixed a few minor bugs that most people didn't even recognize, and he wanted it to be out ASAP.

Abraxas's sudden laughter caught Seto slightly off guard, and he growled before asking, "What do you want now?"

"I just find it amusing," the demon answered. He was sprawled out on the couch, smirking over at Seto. "You sold your afterlife away for that boy, and now the only thing you can think about is running this company. You really didn't have to sell something so valuable away if you weren't going to put it to good use, you know?"

Seto looked up from the computer and glared at the demon. It had been a week since Mokuba's recovery, and he had since been let out of the hospital. Life was returning to normal for the Kaiba brothers. "He's at school right now," Seto replied, looking back at the computer. "And besides, he's going to a friend's house after school, so I won't see him until later tonight. Besides, visiting him in the hospital so often has put me behind in work, and even though I'm not unhappy about that decision, I need to catch up. I've never taken so many days off, and it's hard keeping up as it is."

"What are you doing right now?" the demon asked, standing up and walking over toward Seto. Standing behind Seto's chair, he leaned forward until his face was next to Seto's. Seto read confusion all over the demon's face and chuckled as he continued to type. "What the hell is this?"

"Programs for the new duel disk system?"

"Vtud? And might I ask what that is?"

"About a year ago, I held a tournament here in Domino City using duel disk systems, which were basically portable Duel Monster games. I'm uploading a new program to them, and I want it done by the end of this month. Since I visited Mokuba so often, I need to get back to work on them and start fixing them up."

"You lost me, I'll admit, but whatever. Looks rather confusing. How did you learn to do all this? Practice?"

"Mostly just repetition." The double doors into his room opened up, and Seto saw the secretary walk in and place a cup of coffee on the edge of his desk.

"Anything else before I work on those files, Mr. Kaiba?"

"No thanks." She nodded her head and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Seto sipped the coffee and placed it near the keyboard when the demon picked the cup and stared at the drink.

"Mind if I try it?" he asked. Seto shrugged and watched the demon try the coffee, a look of disgust crossing his face before he slowly placed it back down on the table. "I'll let you humans drink that shit," he commented before returning to the couch. Seto chuckled and took another sip before saving his work. He hated when his work shut down on him, and one time the power went out, and he lost all of his files. Working on a huge project at the time, Seto learned the hard way to save every so often. Going to continue typing, he heard the phone ring and growled before picking it up. "Kaiba."

"Hello," a meek voice said. Seto almost didn't recognize it at first, and his eyes went wide for a split second before returning to their usual coldness.

"Gardner? What do you want now?"

"I just wanted to thank you for letting me see your brother," she said. She sounded dead tired over the phone. "I know you usually don't let people see him, even when he's healthy, so I wanted to thank you for giving me the chance to see him."

Seto smirked. "Don't take it too personally. This doesn't make us friends in any way, shape, or form. Just remember that."

"I know. I just felt that I should thank you all the same. Have a good day." And with that, the line went dead. Looking at the phone in shock, Seto slowly put it back down and returned to his work.

"Who was that?" Abraxas asked, looking up in curiosity.

"The girl from the hospital. The one visiting Mokuba."

The demon put his finger on his chin as if pondering for a second before facing Seto and asking, "May I ask a question?"

"Never stopped you before."

"Why are you an asshole to everyone except that kid?" The demon's bluntness took Seto off guard once more, and Seto immediately stopped typing and looked up at the demon. "I mean, you seem to hate everyone on this planet. Like that girl. You don't seem to enjoy her company whatsoever, and I've seen you at your school talking to absolutely no one. Do you hate everyone but the boy, like in general? Or do you hate him as well and just pretend not to hate him? Or do you–"

"Would you shut the fuck up?" Seto asked, anger seething out of his voice and startling the demon. "How dare you say that?! I love Mokuba, and that's why I went to these ends in order to make sure that he is still alive today! You don't know anything about me, and I intend to keep it that way. I'm not entertaining you with my life history for the rest of eternity, got it? I love Mokuba. I would never pretend to love anybody, and that includes him."

An awkward silence hung in the air for what seemed like an hour before the demon sighed and mumbled an apology. "But...why do you hate others?"

"I just...get tired of people." The demon merely shrugged his shoulders before closing his eyes and resting back into the couch. Seto shook his head, wondering how much of his history he would be able to truly keep from this demon.


Vtud? - What?