1990
Seto was having a bad day.
His father had died two years ago and he and his little brother Mokuba were put in the care of some relatives, but they stole his inheritance and today the siblings were left in an orphanage.
Mokuba didn't stop crying since they were told that they were being put for adoption.
"Mokuba, don't cry! One day, I'll give us a good life! But until then, you need to stop crying! You can't show weakness!" Seto hugged his little brother, the only remaining family that he had.
"I-I'll try, Seto-Nii!" Seto smiled, his brother was only 5 but he was so strong and smart already.
The other kids were nice, they bonded over their shared pain of being orphans. Seto taught chess to them and his brother, they weren't as skilled as Seto but they had fun playing between them or with Mokuba.
Seto proved to be a genius as soon as he got into school, he rarely got less than 100 in tests, and when he did it was usually a teacher that didn't like the boy's aloof attitude. The orphanage staff were always happy with Seto's intellectual prowess, but he did feel a little insulted when they made him help the others with school. Seto hated teaching people who weren't as smart as him, his only exception was his younger brother.
Mokuba was also a genius in the making, the 5 year old was being taught very advanced things by his brother, he could barely go to the bathroom alone but already knew how to calculate cube roots.
It was a better place than Seto thought it would be, but still way worse than he would like.
The brothers liked playing in the sandpit, they had fun building many places that they would like to visit. Today, they were building the theme park of their dreams.
"Seto-Nii, I wanna go to a real park!" Mokuba looked at the sand with a frown.
"Mokuba, one day I'll build a real theme park! No, I'll build a lot of theme parks all over the world! Parks everyone will want to visit, parks where all orphans can go for free!" Seto smiled at his little brother, "One day, Mokuba. Just wait for it!" He thought with conviction.
1991
The duo got used to the orphanage during their first year, they realized that it was a better place than with their relatives. They lacked any type of luxury, but had food, a roof over their heads and people who actually took care of them, but Seto was not satisfied, Seto wanted more, Seto wanted better.
A certain day, a little after the siblings completed 1 year in the orphanage, they got the news that a billionaire named Gozaburo Kaiba, president of the military arms manufactory 'KaibaCorp' and world chess champion would be visiting the orphanage for a publicity stunt in one week. Seto saw the opportunity and studied all of Gozaburo tactics and methods, when the man arrived, the orphan would be better than him in his own game.
Kaiba arrived on Seto's birthday, the boy already knew what would be his present.
"Kaiba-San, I challenge you to a game of chess! If I win, you will adopt my brother and I!" Seto said with determination.
Gozaburo laughed, "And why should I?"
"Well, the media would love to know that you got scared of a kid's challenge." Seto smirked.
Gozaburo laughed harder, "Fine!"
Kaiba was a great chess player, definitely worthy of his champion title, but Seto knew every single one of his moves, he knew every single one of his tactics, he was already prepared for every single one of his strategies.
After a long match, Seto won.
Gozaburo reluctantly adopted the siblings.
1992
Seto Kaiba hated his new father with all his being.
Every single day since his adoption was hell. When he was adopted, Gozaburo told him explicitly that he was a Kaiba now, and as his heir, he would be perfect in every area.
Economics, social studies, foreign languages, history, management, strategy…
Kaiba wasn't raising a son, he was raising the perfect businessman.
One day, Seto was lying in his bed, enjoying his 20 minutes interval between lessons, when Mokuba entered his room.
"Seto-Nii, do you have a minute?" The soon-to-be 7 year old asked from the door.
"For you? Always," Seto sat on the bed, tired but trying to smile for his brother, "Need something?"
"It's just that…since we were adopted, you never have time to play with me. You're studying the whole day and when you're free I'm already sleeping. The kids from my class were playing a new game called Duel Monsters, it was fun so I bought some booster packs and the rulebook for you! You always liked games with strategy so maybe you'll like this too?" The younger kid approached his brother, offering a thin paperback book and some packs with a beautiful white dragon as the illustration.
"Thank you, Mokuba. I'll read the rules later but do you want to open the packs with me?" The kid nodded enthusiastically.
The siblings opened the packs together while Mokuba explained which cards were good and which were bad, it wasn't needed as Seto was already creating strategies from reading the cards but he was not going to ruin the moment.
After they finished opening the packs, Seto frowned, "Mokuba, what is the card drawn in the pack?"
"That's the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! It's an extremely rare card, they said that there are less than 10 copies in the world!"
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon…" Seto didn't know why, but he felt a connection to this monster. His moment of peace ended with the alarm in his wristwatch, he had 3 minutos to get back to his lessons, "I have to go now, clean this up for me, okay?" Mokuba nodded and started cleaning.
As Seto walked to the library, he couldn't stop thinking about that beautiful dragon, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon…One day, I'll have you."
After dinner, Seto was finally released from his tutors. He took a long and relaxing bath, and when he returned to his room, there was a small piece of paper on his desk.
"I thought I asked Mokuba to clean the room for me…" Seto looked at the paper and smiled warmly.
It was a drawing of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the size of a Duel Monsters card.
Seto carefully put the handmade card inside the desk drawer.
1993
After insisting enough, Seto convinced his father to let him participate in regional Duel Monsters Tournaments, and after winning every single one, Gozaburo allowed him to participate in the National Championship.
Having the Kaiba heir being a champion in a game was good for publicity, Gozaburo himself was the world chess champion after all.
Seto won all his matches and got to the finals where he was going to face a boy his age named Yugi Muto.
"My name is Yugi Muto, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kaiba-kun!" The boy smiled friendly.
"Equally." Seto smiled politely, trying to ignore the nausea that the name 'Kaiba' caused him.
They played rock-paper-scissors and Seto won, he chose to go first.
TURN 1
Yugi:4000 / Seto:4000
Seto looked at his hand. He started with Saggi The Dark Clown, Dark Energy, Negate Attack, Hitotsu-Me Giant and Ryu-Kishin.
"I'll start by setting one card in my back row, then I will summon Ryu-Kishin and equip him with Dark Energy!"
Ryu-Kishin: LVL 3/Dark/Fiend/1000 ATK/500 DEF → 1300 ATK/800 DEF
"I end my turn." Seto smiled, that was a solid start.
TURN 2
4000/4000
"I draw!" Yugi drew his card, "I'll summon the Silver Fang and equip him with Beast Claws!"
Silver Fang: LVL 3/Earth/Beast/1200 ATK/800 DEF → 1500 ATK/ 1100 DEF
"I attack your Ryu-Kishin!"
Seto Life Points: 4000 → 3800
Seto sent his Ryu-Kishin to the Graveyard, he was going to hold his Negate Attack until Yugi summoned his strongest ended his turn.
TURN 3
4000/3800
Seto drew La Jiin, one of his strongest monsters, "I'll summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp in attack mode!"
La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp: LVL 4/Dark/Fiend/1800 ATK/1000 DEF
"I attack your Silver Fang!"
Yugi: 4000 → 3700
"I end my turn." Now Seto had a powerful monster and a battle protection.
TURN 4
3700/3800
Yugi drew his card, "I'll set a card in defense and end my turn."
TURN 5
3700/3800
Seto laughed, he drew Battle Ox, another of his strongest monsters, "I'll summon Battle Ox!"
Battle Ox: LVL 4/Earth/Beast-Warrior/1700 ATK/1000 DEF
"I attack your defense monster with my La Jinn!" Yugi smirked and flipped his monster, revealing the Giant Soldier of Stone.
Giant Warrior of Stone: LVL 3/Earth/Rock/1300 ATK/ 2000 DEF
Seto: 3800 → 3600
"I pass!" Seto frowned, was this boy only going to play defensively?
TURN 6
3700/3600
"I draw! I'll set a card in my back row and pass."
TURN 7
3700/3600
"I draw!" Seto drew the Mystic Horseman, good! Now he only needed one card, "I pass."
TURN 8
3700/3600
Yugi drew his card, "I'll set a monster in defense position and pass."
Seto frowned, this was getting ridiculous!
TURN 9
3700/3600
"I draw," Seto drew Pot of Greed, "I'll start by activating Pot of Greed and drawing 2 cards," Seto drew Polymerization and Stop Defense, "You played well, Muto, but victory is mine! I'll activate Polymerization, fusing the Battle Ox in my field with the Mystic Horseman in my hand to Special Summon the Rabid Horseman!"
Rabid Horseman: LVL 6/Earth/Beast-Warrior/Fusion/2000 ATK/1700 DEF
"Now, I'll activate my spell card 'Stop Defense', changing your Soldier of Stone to attack position!" Yugi changed his monster position, "I attack your Soldier of Stone with my Horseman!"
"I activate my trap card, Mirror Force! Destroying all your monsters in attack position!"
Seto clenched his teeth and sent his monsters to the Graveyard, this was only a minor detour, "I end my turn."
TURN 10
3700/3600
Yugi drew, "I'll summon the Blackland Fire Dragon in attack mode!"
Blackland Fire Dragon: LVL 4/Dark/Dragon/1500 ATK/800 DEF
"I'll change the Giant Soldier of Stone to Defense mode and attack you directly with my Dragon!"
"I activate my trap card Negate Attack! Negating the attack and ending your battle phase!"
"I end my turn."
TURN 11
3700/3600
"I draw!" Seto drew the Judge Man, the strongest card he had, "I'll summon the Judge Man in attack mode!"
Judge Man: LVL 6/Earth/Warrior/2200 ATK/1500 DEF
"I attack your dragon!"
Yugi:3700 → 3000
"I end my turn!"
TURN 12
3000/3600
"I draw!" Yugi frowned at his new card, "and end my turn."
TURN 13
3000/3600
Seto drew his card, it was the Monster Reborn, "I'll activate my Monster Reborn to special summon my Rabid Horseman in attack mode!" Yugi's eyes widened, "I attack your Soldier of Stone with my Judge Man!" Yugi sent his card to the graveyard, "Now, I attack your set monster with my Horseman!" It was a Griffore, "I end my turn." Seto smirked, he was finally winning.
TURN 14
3000/3600
"I draw! I'll set a monster in defense and end my turn!"
TURN 15
3000/3600
Seto drew his card, it was the Wicked Worm Beast, not very useful. "I'll attack your set monster with my Judge Man!" Yugi sent his monster to the graveyard, it was the Beaver Warrior, "Now, I'll attack you directly with my Horseman!"
"I'll activate the Kuriboh from my hand! By sending him from my hand to the graveyard during your attack, I take no damage!"
"I know what a damn Kuriboh does! I end my turn!"
TURN 16
3000/3600
Yugi drew his card and smiled. "You played well, Kaiba-kun!" Seto flinched with the name, "But I summon the Summoned Skull in attack mode!"
Summoned Skull: LVL 6/Dark/Fiend/2500 ATK/1200 DEF
"H-How did you get this? It's one of the strongest cards in the game!"
"I attack your Horseman with my Summoned Skull!"
Seto: 3600 → 3100
"I end my turn!"
TURN 17
3000/3100
"I draw!" Another low attack useless monster! "I'll change my Judge Man to defense mode, set a monster in defense and end my turn!" "Hitotsu-me Giant, it's your time to shine!"
TURN 16
3000/3100
Yugi drew his card, "I'll use Raigeki to destroy all your monsters! Now, I'll summon the Celtic Guardian in attack mode!"
Celtic Guardian: LVL 4/Earth/Warrior/1400 ATK/1200 DEF
"I attack you directly with my Celtic Guardian!
Seto:3100 → 1700
"And again with my Summoned Skull!"
Seto:1700 → 0
Seto lost.
Seto lost.
"I-I lost…"
"You played well, Kaiba-kun! It was a very fun duel!" His opponent smiled friendly.
It pissed him off.
Seto went back home without even staying for the second place medal, he LOST!
Gozaburo was going to be furious.
"I let you play your children's card game, and you thank me by being humiliated by a nobody!" Gozaburo screamed.
"I'm sorry, father. Muto's deck was the perfect counter to mine."
"I don't give a shit about your cards! What does matter is that failure is not tolerated in this house!" Gozaburo pulled a riding crop.
Seto hated losing.
Seto finished putting the last band-aid on his face.
He would try harder in his studies, try harder in his duels, try harder to become the perfect businessman, and when he did, Kaiba would pay.
"Seto-Nii…Are you okay?" Mokuba entered the room, worried about his brother's wounds.
"No, Mokuba, I'm not!" Seto lashed out at his brother, scaring the kid, "Sorry, I'm just frustrated. I lost the tournament today."
"But…Winning isn't the most important thing, right? Did you have fun?" The younger boy smiled brightly. Seto got furious.
"No, Mokuba! Winning is the most important thing! Having fun with losing just means that you don't care about what you do! It means that you're satisfied with imperfection! Why would I duel just to lose? Losers don't even deserve to live!"
"I…I see…" His brother frowned, "If Seto-Nii is saying it, it must be true!"
That day, something broke inside Seto, and he took his brother with him.
1996
On Seto's 15th birthday, he put his plan into action. He got every single piece of blackmail possible and studied management extensively, he would prove to the board of directors of KaibaCorp that he was a better leader than Gozaburo, and if that didn't work, his brand new contact with the Yakuza would put them in their place. After 1 long year, Seto got the backing of the directors.
"You're fired, father." Seto grinned sadistically with his brother and the shareholders behind him.
Gozaburo stared at the teenager in shock, and then started laughing, "Good! You learned well, my son! Now, behold my final lesson! Learn what a loser deserves!"
Gozaburo jumped out of the window.
"Did you learn it, Mokuba? Losing means dying!" Seto got up and left.
Seto expected anything from Gozaburo, but he never thought that the man would kill himself in front of him. Regardless of the outcome, he did it, Gozaburo Kaiba lost and now he is dead.
The following weeks were pure chaos, transferring Gozaburo's stocks to him and having to explain to the public why the new CEO of KaibaCorp was a teenager.
When the bureaucracy was done, Seto changed the corporation's direction. Under his rule, KaibaCorp wouldn't be a weapon manufacture anymore, it would be a gaming and technology company.
Not a company to wage war, but a company to entertain.
The board of directors was against it, but with enough blackmail and threats, Seto managed to buy their shares, becoming the sole owner of KaibaCorp. Now, Seto only had two things left to do: Get the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and crush Yugi Muto. Seto was waiting for his rematch since he lost, but the boy disappeared shortly after their duel. The young champion simply stopped attending tournaments, Seto won all the championships since then, but he never felt like a true winner, he never faced the best again.
Unknown to him, Mokuba hoped that with Gozaburo gone, Seto would go back to being the kind and caring brother that he once knew. The teenager was growing colder and more sadistic every day since he lost to Yugi Muto. Somedays, Mokuba was too scared to even talk with his brother.
Mokuba missed the Seto who smiled and played chess with him.