YUGIOH
The Times Between Darkness and Light
Chapter 9.
It wasn't long until lunch hit, and Kaiba told his brother to go without him. Kaiba decided to skip lunch, much to Mokuba's disapproval, and continued to work through it. Mokuba only came back after lunch to offer him a sandwich he got as take-home, so his brother would atleast eat something.
Kaiba looked up and thanked his brother. That's when Mokuba decided to question further. "Seto....I noticed the changed of clothes."
"So....??" Kaiba asked.
"Well, I like it. It looks good on you." Mokuba smiled.
Kaiba offered Mokuba no emotion, yet he did noticed Kaiba's eyes seem to soften just a tad, before he went back to work.
After another moment of silence, Mokuba then asked, "Seto....what's that?"
"What's what?" Kaiba asked.
"You got some kind of....string around your neck." Mokuba said, pointing towards his neck.
Kaiba blinked, forgetting all about it. He then glanced over at Mokuba and for the first time in a long time, he offered Mokuba a very slight smile. Mokuba had to fight to keep from gasping in shock from even the slightest display of emotion Kaiba offered his brother, but he was shocked nonetheless.
Kaiba then said, "See for yourself." And brought his hand up, drawing out the card pendant he had around his neck.
Now Mokuba did gasp, knowing exactly what it was. Mokuba looked like he was about to break into tears at that very moment, as he practically whispered out, "Is that what I think it is?"
Kaiba's eyes now softened, as he said quietly to his brother, "I haven't been able to keep all my promises to you like I would have wanted to, Mokuba....but atleast I kept this one." And with that, he flipped the card open and showed the picture of Mokuba as a little kid.
Mokuba couldn't hold it back any longer. The water works immediately started, as he grabbed his brother in a bear hug, saying, "Thank you, Seto! You're the best big brother any person could ever have!"
Kaiba accepted the hug, but quietly muttered, "That's not true...."
Whether it was meant to be to himself or for Mokuba, either way the kid heard it. Mokuba pulled away and angrily snapped, "Yes it is true!! You promised you're not going to beat yourself up about this!"
Kaiba then reminded Mokuba, "No....I promised I wouldn't punish myself because of it."
"Well, isn't that what you're doing, now??" Mokuba asked, still angry at his brother for acting like that. He wished his brother could forgive himself. 'He' did....Mokuba forgave him practically the second after it happened. So why couldn't Seto?
Kaiba then leaned against his desk....elbows on the table, head in his hand. "Listen....I don't want to talk about it right now. Okay?"
"Okay." Mokuba said, not wanting to get into it with his brother, either. "But....it's really good to see you wearing that again, Seto. Thank you...."
Mokuba wondered if Kaiba wore it for Mokuba or himself. But for now, he didn't want to ask him. Maybe later when things got back to normal again....he could ask him then.
"Sure, kiddo...." Kaiba said, and once again focused on his work.
He continued to work until it was time to go. He then joined Mokuba and got into their limo, heading back to the mansion. It was a quiet trip home, with Mokuba occasionally looking up at his brother, but still saying nothing.
At home, Kaiba went straight to his office and continued to work. When supper time came along, once again he needed his food brought to him, as he worked non-stop. This continued through the night.
By eleven, Mokuba could no longer wait up for his brother, and headed to his room. As he got into his pajamas, he noticed there was a new robe at the foot of his bed, and his red one was gone.
"Huh?" He thought out loud. Nothing else in his room was missing or replaced, so he called the maid and asked. She explained to Mokuba that 'master' Kaiba had replaced not only Mokuba's robe, but Kaiba's entire wardrobe as well, insisting they were all to be burned, even his shoes.
"Okay....you can go." Mokuba said. Only then did Mokuba finally realize what his brother had done. He was trying to physically erase any part of himself that reminded him of Gozaburo Kaiba. Mokuba sighed, realizing even though their stepfather was dead, the man's impact on his brother was going to take a lot longer to erase than Mokuba had hoped.
After Mokuba finally went to bed, Kaiba continued to work and didn't stop and rest until close to 3am. All the while in the darkness of his office while he typed, thoughts of Yugi preaching about the heart of the cards were finally starting to creep out and haunt him. He kept shaking them away and continuing to work, trying desperately to focus only on work. But it had finally become too late even for him, and he desperately needed rest. Plus with his physical weakness from lack of solids, his body was suffering from the strain of pushing himself.
Kaiba finally saved his files, changed into his nightclothes, and collapsed into bed.
