The last full chapter of the fanfic, it's really long, but so are all normal good-byes….I'm so sad……sorry it had to end so soon!!!! Reviewers:
Elusia: Lol….yaoi fangirl, just like so many….Glad you enjoyed the ending and, well, (if you couldn't tell by the chapter title), here are the Stage Awards! Sorry if this seems a little redundant at this point, but thanks for you review and have fun reviewing these last two updates!
Kideshcaresh: It seems the good things have to end sometime…..so sad. I did well with the description of Kaiba's blindness? YAY!!! Thanks, and please review!
Xaio23: I tried to make that part seem real, I hope it was not in vain, and according to you it was not, thanks! Lol, just like Stephanie's shirt…I really like that shirt, you know. REVIEW!!!
Setosbluedragon: You liked that, huh? YAY!!! Everyone's saying it was so real…so Seto….lol, I love saying that. Thanks for reviewing.
SetalinaMuro: Well, too much of a good thing, eh? Yeah, I didn't really get what they were laughing at, either. I asked Serenity and she didn't know either. So don't feel bad. I liked the description at the end of the chapter as well. It was supposed to seem real and I guess it did according to my reviewers. Cool! Sequels….hmm, I have to think about it. No doubt I will notify you if I do write one, but for now just review these two chapters, please. Thanks!
CaptainInuYasha777: Ahh!! Help! runs away Ok! OK! Here an update! Sorry it had to end, but, trust me, you'll like the ending—I promise!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh….yeah, you know. I've said it about, hmm, sixteen times already.
Chapter 17: The Stage Awards
The letter was on my desk the following morning.
It had been a tough morning, to say the least, with Serenity scrambling to get to school on time without a limo/bus service. In the end, she had to walk, which made me feel bad, even though she said she was perfectly fine with it,
I had not worked on any Kaiba Corp. business since Lock's death, (which was not at all long ago), and I was somewhat embarrassed by this. People had grown used to seeing me out of the office. I hated that. I mean, walking into your own company should be a relatively simple, painless thing to do. Not the case this time.
"Oh, Mr. Kaiba! I was not aware that you were going to be back at Kaiba Corp. so soon! How are you doing?"
"Oh, Mr. Kaiba! You're back! Listen, I have some bad news regarding some of our business with Industrial Illusions…"
"Wow, didn't expect to see you here so soon, Mr. Kaiba. I am personally of the opinion that people need at least three weeks time to—…" "I really don't care what your opinion is, Ms. Hirotito. Get back to work!"
So, the day began with Serenity's poor feet having to walk miles to school, (so it seemed to me), and my biting coworkers' heads off. Never a good recipe, (even though the latter happened quite often).
You'd think that nothing good could come out of a day like that. But not Seto Kaiba's day, oh no. This was the day I received my invitation to the "54th Annual Stage Awards for the Friendless". Of course Mokuba and I had added on that part at the end because we hated going. They were this big waste of time, especially for me. But sure enough, the letter was on my desk as soon as I stepped into my office that morning.
Ever since I had been blinded, I kept my desk relatively clean. Spotless, in fact, of anything other than the day's important notices, (to be read to me by an employee), and my faithful, sacred laptop. So, it came as a surprise when I set down my cane against the side of the desk, sat in my step-father's old chair, and ran my hand over the surface of the desk, searching for my blessed computer, and found a letter on top of the laptop.
I almost knew what it was before I called in my useless—I shouldn't say useless, she helped me find Lock's dead body that day, but for any other purpose she really had no use—secretary Lola and asked, briskly because of the day's events, "Did you drop this letter here before I came in?"
Shakily, she walked, (staccato heels making noisy, tapping sounds that bounced of all the walls in the hallway, annoyingly), into my office and, (even more shakily), she answered, "Umm….not today, Mr. Kaiba. I put it there yesterday."
"That would be before I came in, wouldn't it?"
"Oh…well, I suppose it would…." Maybe useless is a good word…
"Fine," I still needed her to do something. "Read it aloud for me, please."
"Oh, sure, sir!" She came and read,
"From the Elite Desk of the
Committee of Appreciation
Formally addressed to a Mr. Seto Kaiba,
Presenting the 54th Annual Stage Awards. As we are sure you have heard the time has come to ring-up the curtain on our notorious Stage and bring out the Awards.
The purpose of these awards is simple: We have selected well known, remarkable people such as yourself and offer them awards based on their achievements of the past year. There is competition; our judges and the public vote on who they believe deserves the award the most. So it is partially a public event. The list of awards you are nominated for will be given along with further details upon your compliance to this letter and your arrival.
The event will take place on Friday, the 29th of January at 9:00 in the evening. You are strongly recommended to come.
The Stage Awards hold significant meaning in respect to the lives of its participants, nominees, and, of course, the winners. It is meant not only as an afterthought of past actions, but as recognition for the past and encouragement for the future.
Ceremonies will begin promptly at 9:00. It is suggested that you come early. Do not be late or you will miss your award. Donations are accepted and greatly appreciated.
With Our Most Sincere Respect and Admiration,
Jonathan J. Wassermaning (President of the Committee of Appreciation)
Stacy Jackawicz (Vice President)
And
Pegasus J. Crawford (our Sponsor)
That is the end, sir." (A/N: I didn't really keep up with the date of events in this story because I did not think it would be a problem, but when I came up with the Stage Awards I realized it was. No, I had nothing in here about how Seto spent his holidays or the weather or anything seasonal. So if you wanted that, my apologies. It was too late to go back and rewrite the whole thing. Oh, and any similarities to names at the end is purely coincidental.)
"Thank you, Lola. You may go." She really had gotten good at reading to me; she knew to read every line, no matter how insignificant, even who had printed the paper, and she read in a monotone without giving any opinion whatsoever about the content of the letter. I could not ask any more of her, she was trained well.
Just as I heard her heels clink out of my office, she asked, "Will you go, Mr. Kaiba?"
"You are dismissed, Lola. Thank you." This was a polite way of saying, "I don't know yet, go the hell away and take your questions with you."
Let me give you some background about the horrid Stage Awards. They are held for a few reasons, none of which are ever mentioned in their letters, (even though everyone knows what they are), and their true meaning is to get some publicity going for a while. People decided one day to make money off of celebrities by giving out awards at the beginning of a new year. So began the Committee of Appreciation and the Stage Awards. I really don't know what they're appreciating, but it has something to do with me, so I give them a donation when they invite me to these things.
What the letter said about how the winners are decided was true. Judges from the Committee and the public vote on the different nominees, (always and only celebrities with an income greater than two million dollars per year), for each award. It is taken relatively seriously by voters, there is an online poll for them to vote at and they watch the show when it is broadcasted on television eagerly waiting to see if the person they voted for will win. It's a sort of well known thing. In fact, few don't know about the production, (Serenity included, ironically). After all, it has all the sappy ingredients for success: celebrities, awards, public participation in the voting, celebrity hosts, and a national broadcasting range.
But to me, the Stage Awards are one of the seven hells. Each time I am invited I find myself having a horrible time and Mokuba always ends up asleep by the time the last award, (the best award entitled "Greatest Achievement"), is given out. The first time I was invited to them, (the year Kaiba Corp. had become a multi-billion dollar company, coincidentally), I was actually flattered about going. I thought it was this whole thing that had importance or something. I won a few awards, but nothing to get excited about. Mostly, I was just a nominee.
Not that I minded this. After all, Pegasus, as its sponsor, was probably the only reason why I was invited in the first place—he always said he liked all the promise I showed. In fact, because Yugi devastated Pegasus the year before and he would not be taking any part in it at all, I had expected to be left out of the 54th celebration. No such luck.
Besides, the awards given out are embarrassing, sappy and perhaps the worst part of the whole night. They have such things as, "Most Popular Person", "Sexiest Person" (embarrassingly enough I was actually nominated for this award once or twice…never to have won, fortunately), "Person Who Made the Most Movies", "Person Who Made the Most Money" (yes, this is an actual award and this has been the one of the few awards I have ever won), and, as I said before, "Greatest Achievement". Really nothing important, at most a shame to its name, not betterment.
Now the question was, (as Lola said), if I was going to go to this bothersome thing on the 29th, two weeks from tomorrow. I was blind now and well, simply not up to it. How would I accept the award? Someone would have to lead me to the stage, not even my cane could help me…unless I went to the coliseum where the Awards were to be held before the actual night with Serenity or Mokuba and I would memorize the way or something…but that was IF I was to go to these things.
I decided to ask Mokuba, (even though I knew he would want very much for me to go), and then Serenity. If she was still up to talking by the time she got home.
Mokuba was always hanging around Kaiba Corp. He never really did anything; he just kind of walked around and talked to me when I wasn't busy. (Despite my private resolution to become more disciplined with him, I just could not make him go to school. Even now when I was immune to his puppy-dog eyes, which were at one time undeniable, he begged so hard I had to let him stay home. He was making me so soft and it really had to stop.) So he was the first one I consulted with on the topic.
"Hiya, Seto! What's up? How's the day back?" He had casually strolled into my office suddenly and I was vigorously working on my laptop. It took me all of three minutes to notice him standing there, but we were both used to this.
"I'm actually not having a day from hell today," I told him after the three minutes were up.I turned my attention back to my laptop, forgetting for a moment about my invitation.
Luckily, Mokuba saw the letter on my desk. It was probably in a white envelope, very noticeable. "Hey, Seto, where'd you get this letter from?" Now I remembered the whole thing perfectly. I heard him pick it off my desk and open it. "Oh, the Stage Awards, again! I had forgotten about them with everything that happened last year."
"Oh, yes, that. Should I go?"
"Yeah! Of course you should go! Why wouldn't you?" He was talking very loudly, excitedly; childishly wound-up over something was stupid as this. And he just didn't understand.
"Well….this year has turned out to be different from the rest, Mokuba." I hoped he knew what I meant.
"I know. But still, something like that doesn't really matter with something like the Stage Awards, you know?" He leaned on my desk for a little while, talking about nothing, and then he went away. I tried to figure out what he meant. I guessed it was something like, "Don't worry about it."
And yet it was something to worry about.
Serenity was in a fine mood when she came home later that day. (By home, of course, I mean she went directly to Kaiba Corp. instead of my actual home. Kaiba Corp. is normally referred to as our "first home". The mansion is our "second home". Always.) In fact, as soon as she arrived in my office she laid her backpack down on the sofa in front of my desk and ran over to me and gave me a kiss on the check.
"Well, hi!" She said, perkily, after the kiss.
"Hi…." I said, exasperated.
"How was your day?"
"Fine…..damn, this is perfect….I can't stand it." It was like something out of a goddamn 70s show, almost. (I guess there really aren't any blind guys in perfect 70s shows….)
She laughed. "Yeah…sorry." She sat down on the couch and I heard her unzip the backpack's zipper and pull something out of it. It sounded like a book.
"I bought you something on the way home from school today." She walked back over to me. I turned my full attention away from the computer on my desk and swung my chair over to her. My useless eyes moved dispiritedly with me.
Serenity grasped my hand, lightly, lovingly from where it lay across the keyboard, (I had memorized the positions of each key), and put it on a hard, square object. Feeling around on it I discovered something was written on the cover in embossed lettering, but I could not tell by feel what it said.
"What does it say?" I asked her.
"It says 'How to Read Braille'. The translation in Braille is on the bottom." She moved my hand to the bottom and I felt the bumps on the bottom that meant nothing to me. This was one of Lock's wishes. In his Last Will he had said, "Learn Braille, Seto Kaiba." But I hadn't thought to do so this soon….
"Thanks, but I don't have time for this, Serenity."
"Of course you do. I can help!" She was very cheerful, ironically different from this morning. She really wanted this.
"Serenity…." I really didn't want this.
"Yes?"
"…………..Ok. I'll try it."
"WOOHOOO!!" She jumped up—literally—and gave me another kiss, (a bigger one and this time on the lips). "Thanks for indulging me, Seto."
"Sure." Braille. The thought of it was so….final. But, then again, not in a bad way. I'd try it, for Serenity's sake and my own.
I still had my question. "Serenity, have you ever heard of the Stage Awards?"
"Nope."
"Really?"
"No….Wait….yeah, once." She had gone to sit down again after placing the book on my spotless desk. I didn't want it there, but said nothing, not wishing to get off track.
"When?"
"I saw a commercial for it while I was watching T.V. one day."
"Right, do you know what they are?" I shut my laptop. The days work would have to wait for Serenity.
"No….sorry."
"That's fine." I explained to her just as I did before to you. "And I was just invited to them today."
"Wow Seto! You should go! It sounds very important, no matter what you say." She asked for the invitation and I gave it to her. Her reading was silent; I heard only the crinkling of the paper as she held it. "Even better! They sound really into you going, too!"
"Serenity, they have to sound like that. Otherwise no one would go."
"Yeah, so it works as planned!" She giggled that infectious giggle. I smirked and then reminded myself forcefully that I had to be serious about this, it was serious business.
"Serenity, I don't want to go." Why lie to her?
"Why?" she asked, her giggle gone, replaced by hurt and deep shock.
"Because I'm blind and I hate these things."
"Blind…hate…..oh I see. You're scared." WHAT???!!
"I am not scared!" I stopped staring in front of me and turned my head to look at her voice. She had struck a chord.
"Are, too! You don't want to be made fun of so you're not going to go! It's just like you and school! You stopped going because you didn't want to have to try to overcome the fear. Fine, Seto. I won't stop you."
She was…..right. I had quit going to school ever since I was blinded. I told myself I didn't care enough to go, that's all it was. But I was scared. To death. Of what? I don't know…not the ridiculing or the mocking. I think it was the shame of going somewhere with a disability.
"You're right. Serenity, you're right."
"I am?" She was surprised by my agreement. Never was I this agreeable.
"Yes. I'll go to these Stage Awards. But you're definitely coming." As much as I didn't want to, I had to go. To overcome the fear.
"YAY!! Thanks, Seto." And, partially for Serenity.
"Lola!" I called into the hallway.
"Y-yes, Mr. Kaiba?" Her heels clinked over to the doorway.
"Call back the Committee of Appreciation. Confirm my arrival at their ceremony."
"Please….." Serenity added in a tone that reprimanded me and compensated Lola. Whatever.
"Alright, sir and Ms. Wheeler!" She clinked away and I heard her on the phone not too long after.
"I guess Mokuba's coming, too," Serenity said, turning to me.
"Absolutely."
She sighed and sat down on the couch. The springs of the furniture moaned under her soft body. "Well, I'll have to pick out outfits for the both of you, then."
"Outfits?" I asked. It wasn't really that kind of party…was it? I had never celebrated it in such a way.
"Yep. Don't worry; I know to get black for you, Seto. But what about Mokuba? I don't know…." She went on sort of talking to herself about what she would do. I smiled and opened up my laptop to get back to work. The Stage Awards….again. But this time it would be an adventure.
Serenity had no trouble at all finding the outfits she wanted for us and herself. On the night of the Awards, she told us both what we were going to put on.
The time was 6:30 pm on January the 29th. The three of us were at our second home, the mansion, and were getting ready. We had to be the first ones there; I had to memorize the placement of everything before we were seated. I needed plenty of time to do this.
"Let's go, guys!" Mokuba was running around the house in his usual manner of frightening excitement. "We don't want to be late!"
"If we leave now it will be physically impossible for us to be late," I reminded him. I was sitting on a couch in one of the living rooms holding my thick, wooden cane in both hands and listening to Mokuba run in circles around me. We were waiting for Serenity to come down.
"I'm ready!" a distant cry from upstairs announced. Heavy footsteps on the ceiling, then the stairs, and Serenity was down to meet us.
"Wow…" Mokuba said. "You look nice Serenity!"
"Thanks," she replied, her voice modest. My heart ached sharply for a moment with the want to see her. But I pushed this away promptly. I had learned how to deal with such emotions.
Serenity's heels announced their way over to me and she put her small hands on my shoulders. "Let's go," she whispered in my ear.
"Sure," I said, standing up and kissing her hands.
"Come on, guys! Let's go!" Mokuba was already half-way out the house.
"Coming!" Serenity called to him. Then to me she said, "Boy, he's excited, isn't he?"
"Well, to him it's a big thing," I said.
"It should be to you, too."
"I suppose." We shared a kiss then. Not an incredibly long one, but enough to put me in a good mood for the rest of the hour.
"GUYS!!!" Mokuba called out again.
We pulled away from each other's lips. "Alright!" Hands clasped together we walked to the door and met him.
"Sheesh, what took you so long?" He wouldn't understand, so Serenity and I just shared a secretive smile.
We would go by way of limo. There was no chance the three of us would walk the twenty miles, (it would take us about a half hour to get there by car), and a limo was provided by the Committee, anyway. Cars didn't really scare me anymore after the ordeal Wheeler and I went through, so this didn't bother me. The limo-driver had been told to come early, (of course everyone running the show had been notified of my wish to memorize the area before opening time), and was waiting for us outside.
In the limo, Mokuba told us again how excited he was.
"We know, we know, Mokuba. You don't have to tell us anymore." Serenity giggled.
"Yup…Seto, what are you nominated for, again?"
"I don't know," I answered. "I told Lola not to tell me."
"What?!" He was exasperated. "Why?"
"I don't care."
"Fine, then it will be a surprise." Serenity knew how to make better of a situation. Mokuba was satisfied with this.
"Okay…but you should know, this way it won't be too much of a surprise." The rest of the way Mokuba and Serenity played word games and I contemplated Kaiba Corp.'s stocks.
Arrival was quiet. The reporters had only started to come because it was so early, 7:00. Sure, we had to take pictures for a few newspapers and such, but it was not the usual chaos of, "Mr. Kaiba! Look here!" "Mr. Kaiba, this way!" "Mr. Kaiba, how's your company doing?" "Mr. Kaiba, what are you nominated for tonight?" "You brought your brother, Mr. Kaiba? How cute! This way!"
Inside, we were greeted by Mr. Wassermaning himself. "Hello, Mr. Kaiba, Master Mokuba, and…..umm….Mr. Kaiba's girlfriend!" Serenity giggled softly.
"Jonathan, how are you?" I asked.
"Good, good, can't complain. Glad you decided to come!" He shook my hand vigorously with both of his. "It'll be a good night, I think."
"I'm really excited about tonight, Mr. Wassermaning!" Mokuba told him.
"Ah! The kid's got the right idea!" He laughed heartily. You would expect the President of a Committee called the "Committee of Appreciation" to be appreciative and overenthusiastic. Jonathan Wassermaning was no disappointment. "Now, is there anything you need me to do to help, Mr. Kaiba?"
"No, that's fine. Just show us to our seats, please."
"Can do! Three seats reserved for a Mr. Seto Kaiba and his family….you will be sitting next to a man by the name of Yugi Motou and his friends, alright?"
I had forgotten that Yugi probably would be invited to come because of his recent fame last year regarding his rise to World Champion. Although I found it ironic that he would be sitting next to us. Very ironic.
Of course Mokuba and Serenity were ecstatic. "Cool! Yugi'll be sitting next to us! How many people did he bring?"
"Umm…" Jonathan began. "Four. Three of his friends and his grandfather."
"Hey, I wonder if he brought Joey," Serenity said, wanting to see her brother. "That would be funny."
"I bet he did." And he did.
After Jonathan had lead us to the sort of auditorium where the awards would be given out and our seats, he said, "Alright, well, I'll leave you three to do whatever it is you do. We'll just be setting up a little bit more so don't mind us."
"Thank you, Mr. Wassermaning."
"My pleasure! Have a nice night!" He left us.
"Wow, the place is so empty, Seto!" Mokuba informed me, sitting down in the plushy seats that were designated to us. He didn't have to tell me. I could hear our voices echo around the open space with only the sound of preparations coming from the stage. In my mind, I pictured the place. It looked like a school auditorium, only about five times bigger. The stage was black and large with reddish-brown velour curtains hanging mysteriously above it, ready to be pulled back and reveal the show. The seats were dark red to match the curtains, overly stuffed and plushy. They were comfortable to sit in, but the space was crowded with all the other people. That was one thing I was not looking forward to. The crowds. The lack of space. Not fun for a blind man, not fun at all.
"Ready, Seto?" Serenity asked me, about to start memorizing the walkways
"Ready."
"Ok, good. Stay here Mokuba we'll be back, ok?"
"Ok! I can't wait, Seto!"
"Yes, I know."
So we began. From my seats to the stage twenty-one steps were needed. No one would be in the aisles, and I had my cane anyway, so I didn't need to worry about that. From the stage to the stairs leading onto the stage seven steps were needed. There were five stair-steps. From the top-stair to the podium were ten steps. From the podium to the stairs on the opposite side were twelve steps. Five stairs down. From the bottom stair to my row was the decided twenty-one steps. I would have to sit in the nearest empty seat from there, which was fine because Wassermaning had told us that it would only be Yugi's family and mine sharing the row, no one else. So there would be room enough for me. Serenity also told me that she would move down to sit next to me, which I appreciated.
After finding the correct number of steps involved, we went through the whole thing five, six more times. Then Serenity and I moved back to our seats. Waiting was now the only option. Well, waiting and listening to the excited chatter of Mokuba and Serenity.
People began arriving at around 8:00. I didn't know some of the people who walked in and moved around to get their seats, but I could create my own pictures of them in my mind. They smelled of heaven—expensive perfume, cologne, whole-body makeovers for this one night. Their clothes were rustling and bustling in a fancy way, it sounded like the rubbing together of silk and the flop of feathers as they walked proudly down to their seats. The bubble and babble of their voices went up and down in excited, chatty tones. Sometimes I could hear what they were saying, (things like, "I hope I win!" or "Wow, what a fabulous idea!" or "This will be quick."), sometimes I couldn't. It was thrilling to get a fantastical picture of what people looked like. I wished I could talk to them and then compare what I thought to what the actual was. But none would talk to me.
That was the odd thing. Many of the people pretended that I did not exist. Some people who I had made dome sort of business deal with at one time went up to me and said things like, "Kaiba! Good to see, er, yeah, you!" They reminded me so much of my coworkers when I first returned to Kaiba Corp. just after the accident. They did nothing to abate my discomfort.
But there was Yugi, (and of course his friends). As odd as it is to say, I didn't get that sense of hate and annoyance when I heard the heavy Brooklyn accent yell from the auditorium entrance, "Serenity!"
She giggled and stood up, "Joey!" they ran over here. I smiled and heard the events happen accordingly.
"Hey guys!" Mokuba said.
"Hi! Who knew we would be seated exactly next to each other, eh?" Yugi was happy to see us. "Hi, Kaiba, how's it going?"
I responded, "Fine, Yugi. Yourself?"
"Great!"
"How are you going to let an old man stand in the aisle for this long?" Yugi's grandfather asked, facetiously.
"Go ahead, Mr. Motou. I'll go in last!"
"You're a good boy, Tristan." They moved across us and sat in the five seats next to us, (I was on the end so it would be easier to get up and down).
Conversation was bubbly, they were all excited. I had to indulge them, though. After all, Mokuba and I were the only ones who had done this before. The rest of them had a new experience to go through that night.
The last guest arrived at about 8:30, I suspect. It began at exactly 9:03.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" a voice on a loudspeaker announced.
"Seto, the lights went down," Serenity would be the whispering narrator of the events of the night.
"The Committee of Appreciation is happy that you have decided to come to this night's events." I guess they were appreciative. "We are sure that you will have a wonderful evening. And now, without further ado, THE STAGE AWARDS!!!" Music began playing loudly, (my ears did hurt by now), I didn't know the song, but it had a lot of drums and flutes playing.
"The curtain's lifted…and there are people in costumes dancing!" Music continued playing. "It's very pretty, Seto!" I nodded.
After some time, the music died down and Serenity told me the dancers moved off the stage. The loudspeaker said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jonathan Wassermaning!" The audience clapped.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Jonathan's hearty voice boomed with the power of a microphone behind it. "We are all glad that you have arrived safely and happily. There's not much I can say about this night except…." He went on to describe the events. "Thank you, enjoy!" was the last thing he said before people clapped again and he went off the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Duke Devlin! Announcer of the 'Most Popular Person' Award!" I didn't know him, but for some reason Serenity and the others clapped very loudly and cheered when he stepped onstage.
The boy said his piece and a person I did not know won the award. The rest of the night passed in considerable boredom for me. Clap, stop clapping, clap, stop. I amused myself with an imaginary duel against Lock, like the ones we used to play verbally with each other before he taught me how to duel again.
Yugi won the "Most Recent Celebrity" Award along with the "Most Tenacity Shown in a Gaming Competition" Award, (all you had to do was win one tournament or something, but Yugi deserved a little more than this because he won two).
The first award I won was "Person Who Made the Most Money". I got out of my seat, tapped my way awkwardly along the aisles walking the twenty-one steps to the stage, (uncomfortably aware of the eyes on me and whispers passing as I moved and the unnatural lack of clapping), the seven steps to the stairs, the five steps up, the ten steps to the podium, shook a few hands, received my trophy, deposited the words, "Thank you," audibly and quickly into the microphone, then made my way back to the seats.
Sitting down in a new chair, (this one on the opposite side of the row), Wheeler said to me, "Nice speech, Kaiba! It broke my heart!"
"Yeah!" Serenity slapped me lightly on the arm and shoulder. "You were supposed to have prepared a long sermon about the goodness of the award and everything!"
"What was I going to say, honestly? I love to make money and thank the people who noticed it. Good night." It was so unfair that she was making me do this.
"Oh, Seto." She sighed and shifted to face the stage again.
For a long time neither Yugi or I won anything. There were some intermissions in which the commercial break was on the air and people danced some more to keep us entertained. I thought the night would never end.
Finally, at about 11:00, the last award was to be given out. "Greatest Achievement". I was happy, the night was almost over. I thought of what I would do when I got home, (more accurately, what I would do to Serenity, which would involve closed doors, no Mokuba, and a king-sized bed). All the previous announcers, including Jonathan Wassermaning, came out to give the award.
Jonathan said, "Well, the night is winding down—…" "It's almost over, Jon," the Duke Devlin boy reminded him, people laughed.
"Yes, it is…I'm actually surprised at how well it all went, almost without a hitch if that's ok for me to say, and I enjoyed the fantastic turn-out you all have displayed tonight. Thank you." He began clapping and a general applause started up.
"Now, 'Greatest Achievement' is a serious honor, perhaps the highest of the whole night. Its winner should feel not only gracious at receiving it, but proud to have done such a beneficial thing during the past year. The nominees for this award, you know who you are, that do not win should feel happy to even be nominated for such an honorable thing" He thought the award was the greatest thing since sliced bread, alright? "and its winner should know that they are someone who has done a truly, truly remarkable thing."
As stupid as it is to say, this got me thinking suddenly.
I thought, for a moment, that Lock should be the winner. He had done a truly remarkable thing when he taught me how to live again. Not only for just teaching me did he deserve it, though, but he had also attempted—out of his own free will—to do so. No one had ever done something like that for me. Besides, of course, Serenity. She liked me out of her own will and given me the best thing in the world, something better than sight: Love. She should be the winner. And Mokuba, he was the one who had believed in me the whole time, told me there was nothing I couldn't do. He trusted me to remain myself after I was blinded and gave me the strength at times in which to do so. Why not Mokuba?
But these were my private thoughts, and besides, they were not celebrities. It was nice to think, however.
"Now I have the envelope, here," Jonathan said. "Let me read it…ah yes, the winner, by a unanimous vote from the online-polls and the judges, is…………
Seto Kaiba
People clapped and Serenity cried out.
Seto Kaiba
Was that me? "Seto, it's you! Go!" Serenity prodded me. I stood up, overcome and confused. I had been nominated for that? I didn't know! But then I wouldn't…
Shakily I tapped my way down to stage, expecting at any time the real winner to go over to me and say, "Excuse me, young man, what are you doing?" but no such winner appeared. I counted the steps in my head: One…two…three…four…five… People were clapping now, their whispers had died and they were just applauding madly, happily.
Distantly, I heard Jonathan announce, tearfully, "As you know, Mr. Seto Kaiba was blinded in early November of last year. But he's here tonight, strong and successful as ever!"
Oh, what was going on? Was this a joke? Five steps up, one…two…three…four…five. From the stairs to the podium: One…two…three…
I was clapped on the back and praised for my achievement with gallant hand shakes and some, "Good job, Mr. Kaiba!" and "Congratulations!" and there was even one, "You deserved this, Kaiba!" from the Devlin boy.
Jonathan shook my hand even more vigorously than when I had arrived and handed me my trophy. I was offered the microphone, but wasn't sure I had anything to say. I surprised myself.
"Wow, thank you," I began, my voice echoing around the auditorium. "I wasn't really expecting this, tank you for voting for me, umm…" What was I going to say? I was so used to mocking this celebration, I had never taken it seriously, but now that I was shocked at receiving the night's highest honor, what could I say?
"I didn't really have a speech prepared for this, I really didn't anticipate this…umm, I guess I just want to thank everyone who helped me get this far." My thoughts of earlier came back to me. I rubbed my face, embarrassed, and began.
"First, I have to thank my little brother, Mokuba for his undying support in everything I did. He gave me trust and acceptance whenever it was needed, and even when it wasn't. He was the first one to actually…accept me.
"Second, I want to thank my lover, Serenity, for showing me…how to love and how to be…a human being. She is…and always will be…a wonderful person. She should be accepting this award tonight, not me.
"I also want to thank a few friends of mine, Yugi Motou and Joey Wheeler, for teaching me a valuable lesson: You're never alone, even when all the lights go out, and you should never get in a car with someone who looses his way." I laughed briefly and the audience chuckled, confusedly. But Wheeler knew.
"But, I guess, most importantly, I have to dedicate this award to a person who deserves to be here on this stage with me, but cannot. A man named Lock, you wouldn't know him. He was my teacher, but he was also my best friend. I know that I would be little if he had not given up his time to teach me. Thank you, Lock." Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, I wanted to get off that stage. I had embarrassed myself, and needed to leave right away. "Thank you all, good-bye." The audience clapped loudly and I heard a sound amidst all the noise.
"They're giving you a standing ovation, Mr. Kaiba," Jonathan told me.
Proud and surprised further, I smiled and left the stage. On my way back to my seat, I felt their eyes on me and heard a few whistles and cheers from the crowd.
As soon as I sat, Serenity leaned toward me and gave me a huge kiss. I felt her tears when she pressed her cheek against mine. "I love you," she told me in my ear.
"Same," I said.
"Seto!" Mokuba cried. "You're…you're welcome! I love you, too!"
"Thanks, Mokuba." I had wanted them to know how special they were to me, apparently they got the message. I asked, then, jokingly, "Did you cry this time, Wheeler?"
"He did," Serenity said.
"I did not!" Wheeler protested, but his voice was tearful.
"Thank you, Kaiba," Yugi told me. There was a hint of snuffling in his voice.
"Sure."
"Our night has ended, ladies and gentlemen!" Jonathan told everyone. "Have a safe trip home and thank you for coming! We all appreciate it!" The last part was a joke.
Everyone stood up again and clapped loudly. The night was over, and I had stolen the show without even knowing it. Or meaning it.
That night, in bed with Serenity, (after my plans had been carried out), I was at peace with the night. The embarrassment had worn off, and I had received pride that people, not only the judges of the Committee, but the "public", thought that I deserved such an award.
"Seto," Serenity said. "I'm very proud of you."
I kissed her as response.
We fell asleep, then, in each others' arms.
That night I had one more dream. There was darkness and my step-father called out to me, "Get over here, Seto!"
"I'm coming!" I searched for him. His voice, so loud, was an easy guide. Following it I soon reached him. "You wanted me?"
Gozaburo had turned in Lock. "Yes. You have learned what I wanted you to, Seto. Good work, I'm proud of you."
"Thank you, Lock."
"Good-bye, now." He left. My dream ended and I slept on. But I had no more dreams.
The next morning I would have calls and requests to go on talk shows and explain my acceptance speech. It would be what some call, "healthy publicity". Some of the people listening would know what blindness was, truly, after that, like you do now, after listening to my story.
But at the time I knew none of this. There was only peaceful sleep.