"Download complete." Mrs. Hibiya says with a smile. "He'll wake up now."
I look at Freya's face and try to imagine my brother inside her. "Seto" I whisper. Nothing happens. I shake the Chobit's shoulder. It's surprisingly warm. "Big Brother?" Freya groans and I am reminded of the hospital yet again. Her eyes open sleepily.
"Mokuba" Though the voice is female, I can tell it's my brother inside. He had a way of saying my name that was all his own. I had missed it so much. He tries to sit up but I catch him in mid motion and hug him. He's alive. My brother is alive again. It doesn't matter that I'm hugging a female body or that her breasts are really squishy. It doesn't mater that she's short and blond and not tall and brunette. This is my brother, and we're together again.
"Seto, it's so good to see you again!" I tell him as I break the embrace. I feel like I'm grinning ear to ear. Seto looks around.
"Considering I'm not in a hospital, you must have..." he starts the sentence but trails off. "What's wrong with my voice?" he says touching his throat. His arm knocks against something soft and his eyes widen. I can only imagine what is going through his head at this moment. He slowly looks down and his mouth opens slightly. I can hear him murmur "what the" as he rubs his eyes. I decide to give an explanation.
"Seto, you have to understand." I tell him and his confused eyes lock onto mine. "I couldn't find a body to match your old one. Some models came close but they had no where near enough power to run your program. This is the only persocom out there that has that ability."
I can tell that he's not happy. He narrows his eyes and glares at his hands. "I never wanted this." He says in a low voice.
Now it's my turn to look bemused but I don't get a chance to question my brother further. Mrs. Hibiya interrupts our conversation with some instructions. "Yes, I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do but you must do this outside unless you want your electric bill to go through the roof." Her words grab my brother's attention.
"Of course, persocoms can be solar powered." Seto says and slides off the table. He pauses for a moment noticing he is now only half a foot taller than me. His expression changes. His face remains the same but I can see it in his eyes, embarrassment. He sets up his perfected serious business man face and takes a breath before turning toward Mrs. Hibiya. She seems to know just what my brother is thinking and hands him pants and a T-shirt in Freya's size. It's only now that I realize that the Chobit was wearing nothing but a black and white bathing suit. I mentally slap myself for being so imperceptive.
Seto nods to Hibiya before putting on the clothes over the bathing suit. I didn't really expect him to thank her. He never thanked anyone, not even me, but over the years I have come to recognize the slight changes in his features that reveal his inner gratitude.
"Come back when you are fully charged. I need to do a routine check up on your system, Master Kaiba." Mrs. Hibiya says. I can't help but notice how she used my brother's title. It seems now that the title just needs to be with his name. It wasn't always like that. Actually, when Seto first started out in the business world very few people referred to him with that title. He never outright told people what to call him but he discouraged any other name and usually promoted those who identified him as Master.
I smile at the memory and follow my brother out of the lab and up the stairs. In the entrance hall, I see Matthew Waters and tell him I'm going out for a couple of hours.
"Yes, Mast...er...I mean Mr. Kaiba," he stutters.
Seto and I walk outside into the sunlight. It seems as if my brother knows exactly where he wants to go and we head off down the street. I decide to bring up a subject that had been on my mind since his death.
"I missed you a lot, Seto. When you died I thought that I would never be happy again. You mean so much to me and yet I never told you. I felt like I would have to live with that regret for the rest of my life." I turn to my brother but all I see is Freya staring at her feet. I look away and try to imagine my big brother walking beside me.
"Mokuba" he says and in an instant his picture appears in my mind. "You have done well." His complement comes with neither pride nor happiness in his voice. "I must congratulate you on finding a suitable body for my mind, but..." his words trail off and he stops in the middle of the sidewalk. He looks at me with cold eyes and a blank face that even I can not read. "Mokuba, it was not supposed to be this way. I never wanted this." I recall him saying that earlier but its meaning is still lost to me. I match his stare with a confused gaze.
"You said that before. What do you mean?" I ask and Seto's eyes harden just slightly.
"Its only been a couple years since I died." He says with a hint of disappointment. "There was a reason why I made my mind's program so intricate. A reason why I didn't tell you about it." He leans up against someone's fence and stares at his hands. His tone becomes apologetic, "I didn't tell you before because I knew that you would not mourn for me or have a proper funeral if you thought I wasn't quite gone. I died and everyone needed to accept that, even you." He looks at me with an expression softer than any he had ever given me before. "I left instruction for Yui to tell you after I was buried. She was to keep the information secret and tell you to do the same. I thought that the hope of getting me back would help you through that difficult time."
My brother's words come together with my own experiences. A slightly different picture begins to form. I remember the day Seto's most trusted secretary, Yui Gaara, told me about his program. She said to keep it secret and not get people's hopes up because there was a problem with the files. I didn't care about any problem. Even if there was just a slim chance of getting Seto back, I would take it. The thought of my brother and dreams of his resurrection gave me the will I needed to continue living.
My brother glances down the street and continues walking. "I expected that you would try to run my program but I couldn't let you, so I planned for the file to be too large and elaborate for even the best computers to run. I thought it would be at least five years before the technology became available." He turns the corner and I follow. "I was wrong." He says in a barely audible whisper.
I look at Freya's face and try to imagine my brother inside her. "Seto" I whisper. Nothing happens. I shake the Chobit's shoulder. It's surprisingly warm. "Big Brother?" Freya groans and I am reminded of the hospital yet again. Her eyes open sleepily.
"Mokuba" Though the voice is female, I can tell it's my brother inside. He had a way of saying my name that was all his own. I had missed it so much. He tries to sit up but I catch him in mid motion and hug him. He's alive. My brother is alive again. It doesn't matter that I'm hugging a female body or that her breasts are really squishy. It doesn't mater that she's short and blond and not tall and brunette. This is my brother, and we're together again.
"Seto, it's so good to see you again!" I tell him as I break the embrace. I feel like I'm grinning ear to ear. Seto looks around.
"Considering I'm not in a hospital, you must have..." he starts the sentence but trails off. "What's wrong with my voice?" he says touching his throat. His arm knocks against something soft and his eyes widen. I can only imagine what is going through his head at this moment. He slowly looks down and his mouth opens slightly. I can hear him murmur "what the" as he rubs his eyes. I decide to give an explanation.
"Seto, you have to understand." I tell him and his confused eyes lock onto mine. "I couldn't find a body to match your old one. Some models came close but they had no where near enough power to run your program. This is the only persocom out there that has that ability."
I can tell that he's not happy. He narrows his eyes and glares at his hands. "I never wanted this." He says in a low voice.
Now it's my turn to look bemused but I don't get a chance to question my brother further. Mrs. Hibiya interrupts our conversation with some instructions. "Yes, I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do but you must do this outside unless you want your electric bill to go through the roof." Her words grab my brother's attention.
"Of course, persocoms can be solar powered." Seto says and slides off the table. He pauses for a moment noticing he is now only half a foot taller than me. His expression changes. His face remains the same but I can see it in his eyes, embarrassment. He sets up his perfected serious business man face and takes a breath before turning toward Mrs. Hibiya. She seems to know just what my brother is thinking and hands him pants and a T-shirt in Freya's size. It's only now that I realize that the Chobit was wearing nothing but a black and white bathing suit. I mentally slap myself for being so imperceptive.
Seto nods to Hibiya before putting on the clothes over the bathing suit. I didn't really expect him to thank her. He never thanked anyone, not even me, but over the years I have come to recognize the slight changes in his features that reveal his inner gratitude.
"Come back when you are fully charged. I need to do a routine check up on your system, Master Kaiba." Mrs. Hibiya says. I can't help but notice how she used my brother's title. It seems now that the title just needs to be with his name. It wasn't always like that. Actually, when Seto first started out in the business world very few people referred to him with that title. He never outright told people what to call him but he discouraged any other name and usually promoted those who identified him as Master.
I smile at the memory and follow my brother out of the lab and up the stairs. In the entrance hall, I see Matthew Waters and tell him I'm going out for a couple of hours.
"Yes, Mast...er...I mean Mr. Kaiba," he stutters.
Seto and I walk outside into the sunlight. It seems as if my brother knows exactly where he wants to go and we head off down the street. I decide to bring up a subject that had been on my mind since his death.
"I missed you a lot, Seto. When you died I thought that I would never be happy again. You mean so much to me and yet I never told you. I felt like I would have to live with that regret for the rest of my life." I turn to my brother but all I see is Freya staring at her feet. I look away and try to imagine my big brother walking beside me.
"Mokuba" he says and in an instant his picture appears in my mind. "You have done well." His complement comes with neither pride nor happiness in his voice. "I must congratulate you on finding a suitable body for my mind, but..." his words trail off and he stops in the middle of the sidewalk. He looks at me with cold eyes and a blank face that even I can not read. "Mokuba, it was not supposed to be this way. I never wanted this." I recall him saying that earlier but its meaning is still lost to me. I match his stare with a confused gaze.
"You said that before. What do you mean?" I ask and Seto's eyes harden just slightly.
"Its only been a couple years since I died." He says with a hint of disappointment. "There was a reason why I made my mind's program so intricate. A reason why I didn't tell you about it." He leans up against someone's fence and stares at his hands. His tone becomes apologetic, "I didn't tell you before because I knew that you would not mourn for me or have a proper funeral if you thought I wasn't quite gone. I died and everyone needed to accept that, even you." He looks at me with an expression softer than any he had ever given me before. "I left instruction for Yui to tell you after I was buried. She was to keep the information secret and tell you to do the same. I thought that the hope of getting me back would help you through that difficult time."
My brother's words come together with my own experiences. A slightly different picture begins to form. I remember the day Seto's most trusted secretary, Yui Gaara, told me about his program. She said to keep it secret and not get people's hopes up because there was a problem with the files. I didn't care about any problem. Even if there was just a slim chance of getting Seto back, I would take it. The thought of my brother and dreams of his resurrection gave me the will I needed to continue living.
My brother glances down the street and continues walking. "I expected that you would try to run my program but I couldn't let you, so I planned for the file to be too large and elaborate for even the best computers to run. I thought it would be at least five years before the technology became available." He turns the corner and I follow. "I was wrong." He says in a barely audible whisper.