Chapter 3
" If you want to," Seto explained, " You can try out the ice cream store. There's one right across the street. You never tasted ice cream, right?"
Bruce shook his head. He never tasted it.
" Geez, ever since I died I have a lot of time." Seto looked at his programmer. " You can go down to
the lobby to wait for me. I'll be there in a minute. I just need to clear up some stuff, then I have a
two hour break-ah, then I have to pick up Mokuba because I promised to. Can't forget that. A visit
to Pegasus on Duelist Kingdom-is he sulking over there? And perhaps that will take some time.
How long? Maybe an hour. Just to get him to agree. The sun should set by then. I can't wake Yugi.
So I guess the whole deal with Yami will have to wait till tomorrow."
Bruce blinked. " Alright, so I'll go downstairs."
" Right. And use the stairs. No one likes ghosts, apparently. I only saved myself by not telling
anyone."
" Nani? I have to go by the stairs?" Bruce groaned. " Those things were a pain! I rejoiced at not
having to use them anymore!"
" Un, well, you can always use the elevator. Pretty modern invention, compared to how long you've
been dead." Seto answered. " If there's a problem with the circuit just float back up here. I should
get the thing moving without much trouble or suspicion."
" Alright," Bruce walked out the door. He turned around.
" Sure I can't just sink down?"
" Absolutely."
" Darn." Bruce laughed, then the man turned back and left, heading for the elevator. A few minutes
later he returned.
" How do you work the thing?" He asked.
" Oh," Seto blinked. " Gomen. I took for granted that everyone could use it. You press the down
button, since you're going down. You wait for the door to open. Inside there are several buttons, and
you press the one that says M for Main floor. The elevator will sink. Make sure to go along with it
and not float through. The elevator will stop, and make sure you don't sink further. The door will
open. You step out. Simple enough?"
" Sounds complicated."
" You'll understand." Seto turned back to the computer. Bruce shrugged and went out.
" Nice taste." Bruce observed. Seto laughed. " I told you you would like it. "
" Awfully sweet though."
" I know." Seto frowned. " It's true. They put too much sugar. They put too much sugar in
everything. That goes for salt and oil as well."
" But I like it. Might want to suggest it to the others."
" If they could make it!" Seto laughed. " You might want to add the cake, the cookies, the chocolate
chips, perhaps the syrup and the whipped cream as well."
" I might just do that." Bruce smiled. Then he became serious. " Are you sure about this?"
" About what?" Seto asked.
" You know what I mean!" Bruce swallowed. " This whole taking Mokuba thing. I mean, normally
a ghost would prefer to be alive again, not dead! The whole point of keeping you here was to give
you a choice. You deserved one, after all. You were so successful when you were alive. Now you're
just going to throw it all away?"
Seto hesitated. " I guess I never really cared about how it was." He answered. " I did it all for
Mokuba."
" That's the problem with you, little one." Bruce leaned back. " You did everything for Mokuba.
You need to do something for yourself. Be a little more selfish."
" How odd." Seto grinned. " People think I'm selfish enough."
" For the sake of your brother, I'd agree." Bruce answered. " But for yourself? That's why I want
you to think about this. Do you really want to leave this place?"
" Bruce." Seto began. " That's the one selfish wish I asked for. To get out of this whole poor
excuse of a world. I want to be free. A wild bird will die in a cage."
" And you feel caged."
" Hai."
Bruce hesitated. " If you're sure about it, Seto. People are going to miss you."
" Perhaps." Seto answered. " But you want me to be selfish. I'm tired of thinking what others may
say."
" I thought you never really did."
" I do. I don't want them to think I'm nice."
" Right. Now you're not nice. You're leaving the only friends you'll ever have in real life. They never
even got to know you."
" And they never will." Seto answered.
Bruce looked at Seto and smiled. " You're a smart child. The world will lose something precious."
" Precious is as precious does." Seto answered. " I leave this world for the next."
" So Crawford's coming to Domino." Bruce asked. " Want to spook him? It's one thing the
children love to do."
" I have things to take care of."
" Oh, right."
" When would he arrive?" Seto asked.
" Around the time you should pick Mokuba up." Bruce looked at the clock. " Which is now."
" Hai." Seto agreed. " I'll be back soon."
" See you later." Bruce nodded. Seto disappeared.
The talk with Bruce did set me thinking. Do I really want to leave Yugi? Jou? Yami and Ryou,
Honda, Anzu, Malik, Shadi.
The truth is, I never belonged with them. I never belonged anywhere. For most people, that's a bad thing. They want to belong somewhere. But I never really thought much of it. I am original. There is no one like me. People respect me because I'm different. But as a result no one trusted me and I could not trust anyone either. How can I, when no one understands me? So is it a wonder that I am leaving now?
I hold no ill against the others. They are normal children. Normal people. And the sad thing is, they try to understand me. They don't know that people like me are hard to understand. I'm not like others. My childhood was not like others. When your parents die, your instincts kick in. Your instinct to survive. And when those instincts kick in, you become independent, gradually, so that while others were still running to their mothers, or crying over a scraped knee, I was already pondering on whether or not I'll have enough money to last the month. Saving it. Buying necessary things. Trying to do well in school so I would be the best. Because when you're nothing, with no family and no friends, anything else won't do.
" Pegasus."
Pegasus turned around. At first he didn't respond. Seto noticed that Pegasus looked old. He did not have many wrinkles, but the light in his eyes had dimmed. He was pale and thin, a symbol of a hopeless man. He did not seem afraid of Seto. Instead he seemed resigned, resigned to whatever punishment Seto might bring him.
" A word with you?" Seto asked, after a short moment.
Pegasus nodded in his tired way. He looked around, and waved off his men. Seto chose a quiet corner of the room of the hotel.
" I take it you never did find a way."
" What way?"
" Your wife, genius." Seto looked around to make sure no one's listening. " Well, consider yourself
a lucky man. I'm offering you something for free."
" You never offer things for free." Pegasus answered flatly.
" Really? Perhaps I never before." Seto answered. " But when you're in my situation, things change.
A lot."
" What's so special about your situation?"
" Well, if you know what Yami Yugi is, you'll know what I am."
Pegasus pondered for a moment. His expression didn't change but he paled. " You're dead, then."
" I know. Isn't that great? I'm here because I had things to take care of."
" Such as?"
" Well, giving my deck to Jounouchi, which I did already. Investing money for Yugi Motou, whose
grandfather is going to die soon. Settling matters with his Yami, and trying to take Mokuba with
me."
" With you."
" Hai."
" So you're going to kill him."
" In a sense."
" What has this got to do with me?"
" Good. I don't need to explain much, then." Seto swallowed. " Mokuba isn't supposed to die. He's
supposed to be a doctor like I had planned for myself to become, before our parents died. Mokuba
didn't want me to leave him. I can't stay here as a ghost forever. So he wants to come with me. I'm
fine with that. Death is beautiful, actually. But he needs someone to replace him. And guess who I
chose?"
Pegasus blinked. " C-Cecilia," He stuttered.
" Exactly. But I need your help, as well as your approval." Seto answered. " I'm sure you wouldn't
be too unwilling to do either."
Pegasus paused. " So this does serve you as well."
" If it doesn't serve me, I wouldn't have thought of it." Seto answered. " But what I meant by free is,
it doesn't really cost you anything. Unless you consider helping me get your wife back payment."
Pegasus hesitated for a long while, studying Seto.
" Just in case you're wondering," Seto muttered, " Someone who's dead, ( like me) would have no
reason to get any ' gifts' from the living. You don't need to wonder whether I'm tricking you or not.
A ghost doesn't need to do that."
" How do I know you're a ghost?" Pegasus asked.
Seto laughed. He reached out his hand and touched Pegasus's cheek. The man jerked back and his face paled again, whiter this time.
" Hai, it hurts me as well. You probably gave me second-degree burning." Seto looked at his hand. " Call me anytime. Just call to the air, whenever you made your decision. Just make sure you make it before three weeks are over."
With that, before Pegasus's astonished eyes, the teenager disappeared into thin air.
" Funny. I thought he would have jumped at the chance to get his wife back, considering that's all
he's been trying to do these past few years." Seto said thoughtfully.
" Considering he once kidnapped your brother and put him in a card, tricked you into dueling him
and beating you like an amateur, then putting you in a card, while at the same time trying to take
over your company. Right. He'll have absolutely no suspicions." Bruce looked at him oddly.
" One would think normal people wouldn't be wasting their brains taking over other people's
companies but instead making their own."
" Pegasus isn't normal, and he was trying to get his wife back."
" True. He did start his own company too. Well, not really his own, anyway, but he revived it."
" Seto." Bruce laughed. " Poor Seto! You've been lonely too long."
" I had Mokuba." Seto stuffed the rest of the banana into his mouth. " Although I must admit,
having no friends did blow up my confidence in my personality. So I just erased it."
" Glad to see you got it back when you died." Bruce eyed him. " By the way. What are you going
to do about the body?"
" What body?"
" Your body."
" Dunno. Someone bury it for me?"
" You should get Pegasus."
" Iie! Pegasus with his wife? No way!"
" Then who? Yugi?"
" Maybe Bakura."
" You're nuts."
Seto smiled, then turned around.
" By the way, your father's coming tomorrow." Bruce answered.
" Nani?"
" You know. It's not your blood father."
" You mean Gozaburo?"
" Hai."
" Iie Iie Iie! You can't-"
" Relax Seto." Bruce chuckled. " It's going to be alright. I promise."
" You got yourself a nice place." Gozaburo looked around. " I'm glad to see you living in such
luxury."
" It's not really luxury." I answered. " I didn't really have much time to enjoy it. Mokuba does
though."
Gozaburo nodded. " You've done well." He answered.
I did not reply.
" You were unhappy."
" Perhaps."
" Lonely?"
" A little." I admitted.
" My fault, I guess."
" Not really."
Gozaburo laughed. " You're just trying to make me feel better."
" Not really."
" Why are you so tense?" He asked.
" Well," I answered slowly, " I wasn't sure if you were pleased with all of this or not."
" I really don't care how you lived your life." Gozaburo answered, almost sadly. " As long as you
were happy, living would have been worth it. I didn't really expect you to be so willing to leave
everything you had."
I was silent for a while. " You're not mad?" I asked timidly.
Gozaburo looked at me with surprise. " Mad? Me? An old spirit?" He laughed, a little sad at my
question. " Why would I be mad at you? I'm only disappointed." My heart sank at those words. "
I'm disappointed that you died so early. So young, so intelligent. You could have really made a
difference. Sure, you've already made a difference, but maybe you'll revolutionize the world, a
child of your brains. We already had the Industrial Revolution. What about a Solar one, I
wondered? But you died. Those bastards crucified you. Perhaps after you come back to us I'll go
personally and crucify them." He smiled and took my hand. " Seto, before I leave, I want you to
know something."
" Hai?" I asked timidly.
" I'm proud of you." He answered. " I always was. Even after I went mad, I was still proud of you.
It will always be that way."
I smiled at him. He smiled back, a hearty smile that had attracted me to him the first time we met. Then my father turned around and walked the other way. He was leaving. He never planned to stay long.
" Otou-san!" I called. I suddenly remembered how we parted and wondered if he forgave me for that.
Gozaburo stopped and turned around.
" The window," I began softly. " Are you-"
" What window?" He asked. But he was smiling, his eyes warm and gentle. I smiled back. He did
forgive me then. Gozaburo winked at me.
" See you on the other side, son."
Son! He called me his son! My heart rose in my chest. Gozaburo disappeared, but I felt his presence all around me.
" Tell me again why isn't Yugi coming to Kaiba's with us?" Anzu asked.
" He has work to do at his grandfather's shop." Yami answered. " Why are you so anxious to see
him?"
" Because I want to ask him something." Jou answered.
" And you couldn't do it over the phone because..." Honda began.
" Listen guys, I don't need you all pestering me about this. If you don't want to come then don't."
" Hey hey hey, we're all in this together." Honda protested. " If you wanna meet that jerk, go ahead,
we're coming with you. After all, I'll have a few words with him myself."
" Don't do anything rash." Jou answered. He rang the doorbell.
They were greeted with a surprise.
" Vat are you doing here?" Seto scolded in a bad interpretation of a German accent in English instead of Japanese. " Vat are you all doing here on my property? Get out! Get out! The Kaiba Mancion is haunted! Do you vant to be haunted by the ghosts of Gozaburo Kaiba? No? Den get out!"
All this was done with the queerest smile on the CEO's face. Behind him, Mokuba was laughing.
" Uh, okay, two questions?" Jou began. " Why are you speaking English when you know Japanese,
and also, what's with the accent?"
" Vat accent?" Seto blinked. " You making fun uv me because uv my accent? You rascal! But as I
said, dis house is haunted. If you vant to go have dinner somevere, go somevere else!"
" Uh, I need to have a word with you...Seto." Jou looked confused.
" Fine fine. If you vant to be haunted by ghosts, fine with me." Seto moved aside. The group went
in, completely puzzled.
Mokuba rushed out and greeted them.
" Hey! What are you here for? Do you need something?" Mokuba asked.
" Iie, they don't need anything." Seto switched abruptly to Japanese. " Except when I'm leaving and
where the body is."
" You never told me where it is." Mokuba pouted.
" Where what is?" Yami stared at Seto.
" Kaiba?"
Seto blinked. " Oh! It's Yami! I'm dead if I'm not already." He muttered. " To think, even as a ghost
I can't tell the difference at first glance. I'm such a moron."
" You-wait, how did this happen?" Yami cried.
" How?" Seto laughed, and he jumped off the ground and floated playfully near the ceiling, his
arms outstretched. " What do you think, Pharaoh? Do you think I commited suicide? Maybe." He
got into a sitting position in the air, holding his chin as if he were thinking. " Maybe I got into a car
accident. Maybe I fell down the stairs and broke my neck. There are many possibilities." He floated
upside down in front of Yami, in the playful mood of his again. " Can you take a guess? Pharaoh?
You were always good at games!" Seto laughed and sat on a chair appropriately this time.
" What are you playing at, Kaiba?" Yami gritted his teeth.
" Oh." Kaiba grew solemn. " Hostility at someone who's just dead. That's nice. But then again, I'm
better off then you are. You have the right to be jealous. Still, you didn't get crucified."
Yami blinked. " Nani?" He paled.
" Yeah, it's painful business." Seto nodded his head, as if he were a professor. " Truly painful
business. The hammering of the nails takes up about thirty minutes. Then they pull up the cross,
which takes two hours because it keeps on falling back down again. Then there's this making
bloody intricate designs over your body-that takes up another three hours. The pulling you off
while the nails are still on-that's the reason I died."
" Spare us the details!" Jou snapped. " Just tell me when you're going."
" In three weeks." Seto answered. " By the way, I have to find someone to bury that body of mine.
Right now it's resting somewhere not clear in my head. No wonder! My brain! It's not in my head!"
Seto laughed. " Good to know I'm still intelligent without a true brain."
" Seto." Yami began.
" Ah well, I might as well tell you. Three weeks from now, next Saturday at sundown. The portal's
in the park by the cliff." Seto answered. " Now go! I told you the Kaiba Mansion is haunted! Vat
are you doing here? Get out! Get out! Git out!"
He shooed everyone out of the living room but blocked Yami's way.
" Three weeks from today on Friday, six p.m., Sugoruku will die." He whispered. " I have prepared something for Yugi though. Take good care of him." With that, he pushed the spirit outside and locked the door shut.
Yami stared at the closed door. Then he looked at his friends.
" So Kaiba's dead then." Anzu whispered. " That's why he gave you his deck."
" He's leaving." Jou answered.
So is Ji-chan. Yami thought. But he didn't know whether he was more sorrowful about that or because simply that Seto was dead and will leave, never to be seen again.
