Chapter 2
Dear Mom,
Happy Birthday! I know you'll love the present I got for you. Mokuba also has a great one. I won't give you the flowers this time because they're too pretty. I want them to decorate your grave. Give my love to Dad.
Love,
Your son,
Seto
Seto was especially cranky that week. He usually was cranky, without a doubt, but that week
was complete hell for all the workers in that building. His patience with flaws was especially thin,
and although he never fired anyone that week, everyone lived with that fear.
It was a wonder that Kaiba still had workers, but he paid them well, since he could afford it. And most of them needed the job as well as the honor. Kaiba's name was known throughout the world, and to work for him brought the workers respect as well, not just because of the money, but because of their ability to deal with his temper.
Seto and Mokuba did not speak to each other that entire week, although it was Seto that was doing most of the ignoring. The younger boy was especially terrified, because though Seto had been angry at Mokuba before, he had never thus treated Mokuba so. Usually Seto would give Mokuba a long lecture when he got late after school or got in trouble with other kids. This silent treatment frightened the boy to the point that Mokuba was sure Seto would never speak to him ever again.
/ Alright, so we go in and try to talk to Kaiba for Mokuba. It's that simple, alright? Nothing more,
nothing less. And I promise that I won't get hurt./
// Are you sure this is a good idea? It's not like Kaiba to hurt people physically, but this case is
different. This time we're interrupting some personal sacred ritual.//
/ Hey, it's Mokuba who invited me./
Ding Dong.
Mokuba answered the door. Yugi smiled.
" Hey, told you I would come over."
Mokuba let him in. " Ni-sama's upstairs."
" Writing?"
" Iie, working."
" Alright."
" He usually doesn't like people interrupting him while he's working, but he rarely stops, so go right
ahead. And I'm apologizing beforehand if he insults or does anything rude."
" No need." Yugi smiled. He followed Mokuba up the stairs.
Seto turned at the sound of a knock.
" Kaiba?"
Seto froze. Yugi? But Yugi was already inside. Seto's eyes narrowed into a glare.
" How did you get in here?" He demanded.
" Mokuba invited me over."
" Ugh." Seto groaned, truly exasperated. " Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it."
" Look, he's afraid you'll never talk to him again. He's scared. Your silent treatment is scaring him.
Come on! You two have been through so much, are you really going to let that one night come
between you two?"
" Yugi, this is none of your business."
" Well it's become my business, because Mokuba is afraid to face you and he desperately wants to
talk to you."
" And this makes it your business how?"
" Mokuba is my friend."
" Friend does not make family." Seto said sternly. Yugi blinked at the statement. " And this is a
family matter."
There was a long silence.
" Look, I'll walk you out. And from now on we'll pretend that you never saw that night." Seto grabbed Yugi's arm with a painful grip and dragged him down the stairs, Yugi too surprised to protest. Seto opened the front door, ignoring Mokuba who was watching from behind a wall.
" And you know," He told Yugi before he closed the door, " I'm not angry at Mokuba for what he did. You'll never understand, Yugi Motou."
Dear Mom, Dad,
Now that I think of it, I shouldn't blame Mokuba for spying on me. After all, if Mokuba were to go out at night without telling me, I would follow along to make sure he's safe too. I guess I'm hurt because he trusted Yugi-tachi so much. Somehow I get the feeling that they're taking him away from me. If I had friends too, maybe I wouldn't feel his loss as much, but Mokuba's the only friend I have, you know? And to find him going with Yugi and his friends instead of spending time with me...
Yeah, I know. I should get a dog.
But you know, dogs just can't do what humans do. I'm reminded of that book Frankenstein, and I feel like that daemon. Shunned by everyone. I'm afraid of being alone, Mom, Dad. You always told me that no matter what happens, you two will be my best friends, but you are gone. I can't find you. And I kept pretending that Mokuba loved me best, that Mokuba will always be there for me to hug and kiss and protect and make sure he's alright, and he'll always be alive in my arms, or cheering for me in the background, but after that night-that night something clicked in my mind. Mokuba will not always be there to cheer me on. I'm losing it. I'm losing my touch. Someday I might find that when I'm dueling Yugi Mokuba would be cheering him on. Someday he'll look at me writing letters to you and say, " Ni-sama, you're really weird in the head." He won't understand how lonely I feel when he isn't there.
I'm afraid he'll laugh at me. That one day he'll realize I'm not as invincible as he thought I was and then turn away from me like all those business associates. When you're strong they always flatter you and praise you, but when you fall, they all take their chance to step on your shoulders, bringing you down.
Do you think Mokuba would do that to me? He's family, after all, but...
I'm going insane. I don't think I can support myself or Mokuba anymore. This entire week had been a disaster. I don't know if I can even run my business anymore. I feel so insecure. Every minute, I'm afraid that one of those older adults would turn on me. That their ridiculous stuttering would become sneers, and their submission will become rebellion.
Mom, Dad, I need you. I'm so scared.
Seto read his letter over again. Sighing, he signed his name at the bottom, then slid it into the
envelope. He considered taking the bowl again, then decided not to. Taking his keys, he left the
mansion.
The next morning Seto woke Mokuba up.
" Come on kiddo, or you'll be late!"
" Ungh?" Mokuba sleepily blinked. " But today's a Saturday."
" I know. That's why you have to get up. You don't want to miss it."
" Miss what?" Mokuba blinked. He's talking to me?
" Hurry up! Get dressed!" Seto closed the door behind him. Mokuba stared after him.
" Wow! I didn't know there was a concert today! What are they playing?" Mokuba asked.
Seto paused as he handed the man his tickets. " Liang Zhu." He answered.
" The Butterfly Lovers?" Mokuba cried. " Oh I love that concerto!"
" I know you do." Seto smiled as they walked up the stairs to find their seats.
" Ni-sama, can you tell me the story of the Butterfly Lovers again?" Mokuba asked.
Seto paused.
" They say that there is a grave in a garden, with two butterflies always sticking together and always hovering over it. The Chinese explain that the two were lovers. In the time of feudal China, when marriage was made by matchmakers and family and not by love, there was once a girl named Zhu Yingtai. She was a beautiful girl and an intelligent one too. When she was still a child she dressed herself as a boy to go to school, because that time girls can only receive education at home, and to receive the education of a boy, she must disguise herself as a boy. So she went to school, and there she met a boy named Liang Shanbuo.
" The two were close friends, as close as they can possibly be, and often Liang would joke and say, ' If only you were a woman, then I would marry you!' And Zhu would answer, ' If only you were a woman, then I would marry you!' For the two loved each other like brothers and longed to live together. But Liang settled that the other was indeed male and thus they cannot live together, even though they longed to. One day, at the end of the year, when Zhu was coming of age, she told Liang to come to her home at the end of the school year to see a sister. Liang agreed, and Zhu hurried home, expecting to surprise Liang. But instead, she got a surprise herself. Her father wanted her to marry another man, a wealthy man, and the match was already made. She was heartbroken, begging her father to change his mind but to no avail. Still, she dressed as herself and waited for Liang to come. Liang came, expecting to see the sister of his best friend, but lo and behold! There she was, his best friend Zhu, a beautiful girl! He was overjoyed, until Zhu tearfully told him that she was already betrothed to another, and that they cannot be together for she will have to stay with her betrothed to serve him. His hopes crushed, Liang was shocked and deeply pained, so pained that blood flowed from his mouth. Zhu was terrified, and told him to go home and rest himself, and that they would figure this out. Liang went home, but he fell so sick from despair that finally he died."
Mokuba leaned against his brother's shoulder as his brother spoke, his voice comforting the younger boy.
" Zhu's betrothed lived some distance away, and one the day of their wedding, Zhu was to be carried away from her father's home to her husband's. She prepared herself by dressing in a gown of white, the Chinese color of mourning, and slipping a red gown on, a Chinese color of joy and marriage. Thus the wedding was held with great splendor, and then she was carried away on a red car with her husband following her, to his own home. On the way they passed a sandy desert where Liang was buried. Upon reaching there, a huge sandstorm began, so terrible that people lost their way and were separated. Her husband called out for her, but Zhu stepped from her car and slipped off her red gown, and there she was, clad in a white gown of mourning. She walked up to the grave of her true beloved, and the grave split in front of her. Then Zhu hopped in, and the grave closed over her. The sandstorm died down, but Zhu Yingtai was not to be found. Years later, the desert became a garden, and the grave grew vines and flowers, and upon those vines and flowers, two caterpillars emerged, which became two coccoons, and then two beautiful butterflies. And these butterflies always hovered around the grave, always together, and people say that these two butterflies were Liang Shanbuo and Zhu Yingtai."
The other people sitting next to the Kaiba brothers were also listening to the story, deeply moved, but they didn't have time to comment because the lights had dimmed down, and the orchestra had stopped tuning. The concert had begun.
The violinist was especially good that day, perhaps because Seto told the story before she
came onstage. The tune was very sweet. The technique was nearly perfect. Seto and Mokuba had
gone home feeling content and happy at the first concerto, but really annoyed at the Mendelssohn,
which sounded rather Baroque after the sweetness of the other concerto.
Mokuba was the happiest of all. He felt that he got his ni-sama back, and that was really all he cared about. But after a while Seto fell into a period of gloom, as if the concert had reminded him of something in his past that he missed dearly but would never be blessed with a chance to experience again.
The next week was strange for the workers at Kaiba Corps.
Usually, the term " Good Week" means that " the boss is not in this week", " the boss is sick", " the boss is gone on a business trip", or a sarcastic or perhaps hopeful remark, " the boss is dead".
However, all workers can agree that this particular week had been a good week, and the strange part was, Seto was in every single day.
The intelligent and perhaps compassionate workers grew slightly worried, because it was not like Seto to be quiet most of the day.
The first day of that week Seto merely nodded at the guard as he entered the building, and went straight up to his office without remarking at anyone, even though the janitor had spilled watter all over the floor in front of him.
When one of the workers handed Seto a folder of documents at his office, Seto merely took it and read through it. He made several corrections, then handed them back to her without another word. The worker was extremely astonished at the lack of reaction from her boss, but Seto merely ignored her.
The stocks had been lifting steadily throughout the entire week at a rather fast rate, but Seto made no comment. He seemed almost depressed.
And the other officials were really unhappy about it.
" So how was the concert?" Yugi asked.
" Really great. Ni-sama looked really happy." Mokuba nodded. " But these days he's depressed for
some reason."
" Really?" Anzu blinked. " What could be wrong?"
" He misses his parents." Yugi answered.
Dear Mom, Dad,
Last week I took Mokuba to Yoko Wakabayashi's concert. She was playing the Butterfly Lovers concerto and the Mendelssohn Concerto, Op. 64. She's really good, she might become the next Siqing Lu or something. Mokuba asked me to tell him the story of Liang Shanbuo and Zhu Yingtai.
Remember how you use to tell me that story, Mom? I always loved that story. I wonder, why aren't there any butterflies around your graves? Maybe because all those people keep the flowers away. The butterflies would surely die if they're as devoted as Liang and Zhu.
The next week went fairly uneventfully, save for Kaiba's strange behavior. Some people
began to worry.
Yugi and the others seem nice. I took your advice to try to at least be polite to them, like I
expected you to. I figured that they know what I'm doing anyway, so why bother being rude? For
all I know, one wrong remark, and the whole world will know that Seto Kaiba writes letters weekly
to his dead parents. Though these days I'm writing daily, but that's to make up for all the weeks I
didn't write.
Gradually, people got use to it, and Seto remained the way he was. The stocks continued to
grow, so his business was doing fine. No one noticed the gaunt look or the tired glazed eyes. No
one noticed that he barely spoke anymore, except his brother.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm getting sick. So far people haven't noticed, except Mokuba, but that's fine. If people knew the stocks will probably drop. I won't be able to write for a long while, because I'm getting myself to the doctor. Take care, and Happy Birthday Daddy, just in case I won't be able to say it in time...