Epilogue
" I don't want to take that cough medicine!" Seto wailed. " It tastes bitter and chemical-ish and
yucky!"
" Come on, you're eighteen years old going on nineteen and you're still whining about cough
medicine? Be a big boy!" Noa slapped at Seto's arm. " Besides, you forced me to take my cough
medicine last time, so it's only fair that you take yours."
" Do I have to take the western medicine and the oriental medicine?"
" Hai."
" Whyyyy?" Seto wailed.
Mokuba snorted with amusement.
" Don't touch that cup Mokuba." Seto changed from a whining child to a grown up adult. " I just drank from that. Do you want to catch the flu too?"
The fifteen year old teenager withdrew from the cup and grabbed another one.
" See? Mokuba's a good boy. Unlike you."
" You weren't an angel either." Seto sniffed.
" Your Blue Eyes are done for!" Yami chuckled. " Ra, Seto, did the flu fog up your brain?"
" Not funny." Seto shook his head. " Not funny Pharaoh."
" So it did. Well, I'll excuse you for the poor game this time."
" A two hour game? You call a two hour game a poor game? Are you mad? You know, normally,
poor games last fifteen minutes at most."
" You mean the duel with Jou."
" Hai."
" Hey!" Jou cried from the other side of the room. " It was a good game! I was unlucky!"
" You drew the Red Eyes Black Dragon and you call yourself unlucky?" Seto cried, incredulous.
" Well...fine, you were more lucky than I was."
" You lose repeatedly to me. There wasn't a single game that you won." Seto pointed out.
" Really?" Noa blinked.
Jou blushed.
" Oh, look." Honda pointed at the newspaper. " They let Pegasus out."
" Don't talk about Pegasus." Seto muttered. I didn't mean to land Pegasus in jail...
" He was only in jail for three years! For kidnapping a kid? That's just wrong!" Jou cried.
" He should be there for at least five years." Anzu blinked. " but I really don't know about jail time."
" I don't want to know." Seto shrugged. " I'm surprised they didn't arrest me."
" Because of that Gozaburo incident?" Noa rolled his eyes. " It was an accident."
" Still, I lied. Achoo!"
" Hey!" Yami gathered up his cards in a hurry. " Don't give my Dark Magician the flu!"
" How come it never stopped raining?" Seto looked out the window from his bed. " The forecast
said that it'll stop raining by three in the afternoon and now it's already eight."
" Don't know." Noa shrugged. " How's the eyes?"
" Good." Seto answered. " Thanks to that machine I could toss away the glasses and not be afraid
to use the laptop."
" I can't believe you're still monitering stocks while having the flu."
" Hey, that's the use of laptops." Seto answered.
" Tadaima!" Mokuba shouted from downstairs.
" Oh, finally. About time he got home from the arcade. I swear Yugi-tachi has a bad influence on
him." Seto muttered.
" Bad influence? Your brother got into the best high school in Japan! Bad influence my eye." Noa
snorted. " I guess intelligence runs in the Yagami family."
" You're talking. I would think the Kaibas would be full of people like Einstein."
" Einstein? What? I don't want to be like Einstein! For one thing, he's bald, he acts like an idiot
when he's a child, and third, He's BALD!"
" Baldness also runs in the family. Do you know that?" Seto laughed. " You're losing your hair. I
found something green in my soup yesterday, and you were the one cooking it. Chock full of green
colored indigestable protein."
" Shut up." Noa blushed. " If you weren't sick I would put you in a headlock."
" On bed?" Seto blinked. " Noa, you're as crazy as your otou-san."
" I'm not. I didn't try to get Gozaburo back with the VSDLE."
" That's because you don't know how to make the VSDLE."
" Be quiet!"
Seto laughed.
Mokuba came up the stairs.
" God, you're soaked!" Seto sat up. " If you caught the flu, I'm going to kill you."
" I'm going to take a warm shower." Mokuba laughed. " See you later."
" You heard me young man!" Seto warned, while Noa laughed. " Next time when you're caught in
the rain you race straight home. It's raining for an hour already!"
" Well," Noa began after they heard the shower being turned on. " Let's focus on you now.
Wouldn't want my foster brother's birthday to be full of sneezes and headaches, would you?"
" I don't want to take that drat medicine!"
" What a beautiful day!" Seto exclaimed. " It's one of the best birthday days yet. The air actually
smells nice."
" Don't comtemplate on the weather." Noa said hurriedly. " Go to work."
" Nani? Just after I recovered from the flu? That's real nice of you!"
"Just go. I have things to do." Noa answered before leaving."
" Huh?" Seto stared off after him. The guard hid a chuckle.
" What I would give for a can of soda." Yugi sat down on the couch. " I have a keen appetite for
soda."
" After all the soda you drank in college?" Yami blinked. " God, I thought Tokyo University was a
good university."
" It's just a name, Yami." Yugi answered. " I'm glad Seto's birthday's not a school day."
" Hai. But we'll have to go back to college soon."
" After Seto's party."
" Party at a restaurant? Wouldn't he like to have it at home?"
" But then Noa has to cook. And you know how his hair is."
" Oh."
Suddenly, there was a jingling. The door opened.
" Ohayo!" Sugoruku called.
"Hey Gramps." Jou smirked. " Where's Yug?"
" Do you have soda? We ran out of soda." Yugi answered.
" Save that for Seto's party." Honda answered.
" But I'm thirsty!"
" Then drink water. Soda has too much sugar anyway."
" Hmph." Yugi sat back on the couch.
" Here are the files you requested." The forty-nine year old secretary smiled at the young CEO. " You seem to be in a good mood today."
Seto paused, looking over the files. " Well, it's hard to be unhappy on a day like this."
The secretary left his desk after agreeing. Despite Seto's softer manner, most employees are still afraid to slack off on their work, because on that Seto was not gentle. Still, Seto made it clear that as long as the officials do their job, he'll be in a good mood. He controlled the officials. The officials controlled the rest. And he made sure the officials made sure everyone's working seriously. The lower workers he didn't push very much and therefore was rather kind to them.
" Mrs. Tak?" He called.
" Hm?"
" Can you take these to Mr. Tokushi, I think he's over at the other side of the building...room 407."
" Sure." The secretary walked back and took the files. Seto sighed and blinked.
Do I need glasses again?
He shrugged. He could always use the machine again, but reading with glasses wasn't much. He searched for the unused pair of glasses and put them on.
" Bad, this design isn't going to work." Seto shook his head.
" Mr. Kaiba?"
" Hm?" Seto looked up, lowering his glasses so he could see the man over them. " What is it?"
" There's a delivery from England for you." The man said uncomfortably.
" England?" Seto frowned. " Let me see that." He took the box over. There was a note attached.
Seto read the note briefly.
" Oh! It's Mr. Richards. How thoughtful." Seto smiled tenderly. " You can go now." He said to the man.
Inside was a crystal dragon, blue as Seto's eyes. Seto smiled so that he didn't know if he could ever stop smiling after that and fought the urge to giggle in delight. He wrapped it carefully up again and placed it in the box.
" Mr. Kaiba?"
Seto looked up again. This time it was the secretary, and she was smiling. " Mr. Yoshihara wants
you to come downstairs to the second floor in half an hour."
" Oh?" Seto blinked. " Alright. Tell him I'll be there."
The secretary bowed and left.
Seto stepped out of the elevator and stopped in surprise.
There was a loud cheer, and Seto's face broke into a grin.
" Happy Birthday Mr. Kaiba!" Mr. Yoshihara stepped forward to welcome him. Seto looked
around.
" How come I never knew of this?" He laughed. " You totally transformed the place!"
" Well, we took care not to disturb you." Said another official, and suddenly everything was noisy
and merry. Seto shook his head and could only laugh, he was so shocked. This never happened
before!
" A toast!" Called Mr. Yoshihara, as everyone lifted their glasses, some sitting at the available chairs,
some standing carrying their plates. All lifted their glasses as Yoshihara went on.
" A toast to Kaiba Corps' success all these years, to another year of health for our young friend, to
another year of life and new beginnings, and to wealth, friendship, love, and family!"
" Alright!" People cried, as they lifted their glasses higher and drank. " We'll toast to that!"
Seto touched glasses with his fellow officials and drank. It seemed a huge weight has been lifted, as if indeed, it was a time for new beginnings.
" You, are coming with us." Noa and Mokuba laughed as they dragged Seto out of the mansion.
" Hey! I just got home!"
" Like we care!" Noa laughed as he pushed Seto to the passenger seat. " I'm driving."
" Why are you always the one that drives?"
" Because I'm several months older than you."
" No fair!"
" Hey, at least you drive sometimes." Mokuba said from the back seat. " I can't drive at all."
Seto laughed. " We're going to the restaurant?" He suddenly blinked, and was glad that the other birthday party was during lunchtime.
" Come on, Seto." Noa dragged Seto out, and Mokuba ran ahead to open the door. " Don't tell me you can't move from that other party anymore!" He then proceeded to pull Seto towards the private rooms where the others were waiting.
" Alright, alright, I'm coming," Seto chuckled. Then he gaped. " Yami! Yugi! Jou! Shizuka! You're
all here!"
" Happy Birthday Seto!" Everyone laughed. Noa pushed the birthday boy down to a seat and sat
down next to him. The waiters served various foods and everyone was laughing.
" A toast!" Noa laughed, lifting a glass of soda, as everyone else lifted theirs. " To another year of success and health! To nineteen years of hellery and adventure, laughter and tears, success and defeat, and all that other nonsense that made Seto Seto. To the last year of being officially a child, in which I will ensure that I would tease my brother at every turn," There was laughter, " To brothers and sisters, family and friends, to love and wholeness, to understanding, to happiness and joy, support and encouragement, and finally, to more gifts without strings attached!"
" Alright!" The college students and high school students cried, and there was a clinking of glass. Seto looked at Mokuba and Noa and the three brothers touched glasses.