By ElveNDestiNy, written July 26, 2005
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: Sorry for the three-month wait, everyone. It took one special reviewer to remind me to 'revive' this story again, and I'm so glad you did. All of your reviews have been so encouraging, especially since this is obviously not a 'mainstream' kind of story. Thank you!
Oh yeah, I don't know if I ever mentioned it before now, but Amelda and Miruko's last name will be McAlister because that is a legitimate Scottish name (and the Alister part, well, duh). According to some, they are supposed to be from there. Of course, this is never clarified, even though Raphael had France and Varon had Australia, probably because Amelda's the one with the war in his country.
- o - o - o - o -
"When will Miruko be released?" he had demanded, practically all the time. Today was no reprieve, of course. Kaiba was frustrated enough to entertain brief thoughts of taping Amelda's mouth shut with masking tape. It didn't help that there was a convenient role of tape placed within arm's reach from his current position. For a moment, it was incredibly tempting, until Kaiba squashed the thought by reminding himself that it was most definitely beneath him to do something like that.
They were both in the heart of the Kaiba mansion. More specifically, Kaiba was in his office sitting in front of an array of ultra-flat LCD computer screens and typing rapidly, trying his very best to ignore the irate redhead hovering over his shoulder.
Even the fact that Amelda was in his domain was unusual. In fact, it had taken several hours of arguing with Raphael, whom Kaiba had begun to refer to as 'the blond bodyguard who worked out way too often for his own good' in the privacy of his own mind. Of course, even after he had worn Raphael down with awe-inspiring descriptions of KaibaCorp's vast resources and the Kaiba mansion's comforts, there was Varon. Varon, who had been so adamant that Amelda should recuperate in the former Doom members' own home rather than in Kaiba's that he had seized Amelda's wrist. Whereupon Kaiba had naturally took hold of the other wrist, and only Raphael's intervention had prevented what would have been a very interesting game of tug-of-war.
He was still humiliated over that little loss of control. But hey, he'd won, and that was what counted. Although if he had known that Amelda would be practically breathing down his neck as he contacted the chief of the social services, Kaiba might have decided that he really, truly, didn't want to win. Suffice to say that the last two months had been…interesting. And if Kaiba found that he had abnormal blood pressure patterns, he knew exactly where to place the blame: right on Mokuba and Amelda.
Succinctly put, they were amazing partners in crime. Of course, it made perfect sense that he should sacrifice his sanity for their amusement. To them, anyway, he thought glumly. The arrival of Amelda seemed to have caused Mokuba to revert back to age, say, five, if one was being kind. Except grown-up Mokuba had things—such as a driver's license and a car—that younger Mokuba hadn't, so of course it made everything a hundred times worse. If he thought about it too much, he might even say that he could see Varon's influence rubbing off on his brother. Horrific.
"When, Kaiba!" It sounded perilously close to a whine.
His fingers flew over the black keyboard for another few moments before a notice popped up on the central computer screen, and Kaiba sat back in satisfaction. He could finally answer that annoying question and shut Amelda up.
"Any time today," he said casually, as if he'd known that information all along. He smirked at the priceless expression on Amelda's face, before the voice of prudence chose to make itself present in his head, sadly enough. "Just because we get to keep him during the trial doesn't guarantee that you'll get custody of him, Amelda," he warned. "But since Miruko's turning 18 pretty soon anyway, even if we do, well, lose,"—the thought crossed his mind that that word should really be banned from the Kaiba lexicon—"it'll only be a temporary thing."
Amelda gave him a suspiciously mocking glance that had him grinding his teeth in irritation. He was actually trying to help him, after all. It wasn't like he was suggesting that it was possible that he could lose. There was that word again. He couldn't think of anything else he hated quite that much, with the exception of a particular idiotic blonde mutt and his equally idiotic friends.
Amelda smiled. For one moment, Kaiba was aghast at the thought that Amelda was laughing at him—how dare he, Kaiba had practically saved him!—and then when cool rationality took precedence in the hierarchy of his mind again, he realized that he had never seen that particular expression on Amelda's face before. Not that it was strange, considering that Kaiba himself never did something as lowly as smiling. Unless it was a smirk, of course, which happened to be one of his favorite expressions, when he decided to show any.
"Well, I don't suppose you have some spare time today for picking up that wayward brother of yours?"
No answer was needed, of course.
- o - o - o - o -
Oh yes, it definitely got worse when Miruko joined them. When the third miniature explosion could be heard even in his sound-proofed office, Kaiba was about to go rushing out to find what the trio were up to. Then he wondered whether it would seem cowardly if he happened to stay in his office and found himself some fascinating paperwork, rather than go investigate.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately, for his pride—Mokuba burst into the room, stopping right outside of the doorway. "Seto!"
Kaiba simply stared. He was vaguely aware that he must have a ridiculous expression on his face, but…what on earth had happened to Mokuba? He looked like he was covered in greenish goo, and to prove that it was real, a huge chunk of the slime detached itself from his hair and dropped onto the floor.
"You have to help me! We were testing the simulators—I told you about the project I was working on in my spare time, didn't I?—so Miruko agreed to duel, but then it was totally unfair because Amelda was helping him."
An almost dizzying sense of relief washed over him when his mind sorted out the jumble and Kaiba realized what Mokuba was talking about. His brother had been developing some technology recently with the goal of simulating duel attacks as realistically as possible, without use of holograms, and without causing actual physical injuries. Apparently he'd come up with slime.
Kaiba frowned. Slime was not glamorous, slime was disgusting, and slime was so not marketable. Then again, envisioning other people covered in it—say, a certain pharaoh, or even better, the mutt—might be particularly satisfying. On further thought, Mokuba's idea definitely had possibilities.
"Set-o!"
"—What?" He suddenly had a vision of himself and Mokuba five years into the future, and at the scene hadn't changed a single bit.
"Come on! You aren't going to let the Kaiba honor be impugned, will you?" When he didn't reply, the younger Kaiba simply latched onto him and dragged him to wherever it was he wanted to go. "It'll be fun," Mokuba assured him.
Highly unlikely, Kaiba couldn't help but think as they progressed to the main dueling center. It was a mess, but Amelda and Miruko were waiting for them, neither having suffered the effects of the goop on Mokuba. The first incongruous thought that flashed across Kaiba's mind was that Amelda needed some serious wardrobe help. First of all, the trench coat was a fashion statement that belonged solely to Kaiba, period. It was practically a registered trademark. Second of all, indignant claims to the trench coat industry set aside, Amelda's penchant for tank tops about three sizes too small for him was simply very, very unfortunate.
"Come to join your brother in defeat, Kaiba?" Amelda rested gloved hands on his hips, and Kaiba debated whether those articles of clothing should be added to the ever-increasing list of "things in Amelda's closet that should really be burned." Over the last few months, he'd almost gotten used to the three former DOOM members' choice of apparel, which was a scary thought in of itself.
"Hey, at least this time it'll be fair!" Mokuba shot back. "Two against two, ready?"
Kaiba frowned. "Hey, wait, Mokuba. I didn't agree to anything."
"You aren't going to betray me, are you, Seto?" Mokuba demanded with wide eyes. "We're in this together! Let's show them who's really better." It should've been silly, and yet it was as surprisingly effective as always.
With a sigh, Kaiba pulled out his deck from the pocket of his trench coat, but he was almost anticipating a good duel. Of course no one could never come close to his level except for an irritating, tri-color-haired, vertically challenged Yugi. It'd been a while since the last mildly interesting duel he'd had, and Amelda had certainly proved to be a high caliber duelist, from the clashes they'd had in the past. Come to think of it, this was the perfect opportunity to prove that that one incident of a draw was a fluke, just sheer luck, in fact.
Kaiba smiled, remembered himself, and changed it to a smirk. Either way, he was feeling damn good about this. "Since we so clearly have the advantage, and you guys are technically our guests, I guess you have the honor of the first move, Amelda."
The irritation that flashed like lightning through grey eyes at his words was immensely satisfying to see. Kaiba handed his deck to Mokuba, and Amelda gave his over to Miruko. Finally looking up, Kaiba saw that Amelda's smirk practically matched his, and it was on. It was so on.
He tilted his head slightly in mocking acknowledgement, while Mokuba and Miruko shuffled each other's decks along with those of the respective brothers.
Four voices rang out in a sharp burst of sound. "Duel!"
- o - o - o - o -
Two hours, a dozen monsters, and a Rain of Mercy later, Kaiba had experienced Mokuba's disgusting slime but was also intensely happy. Miruko had just made the fatal mistake, and in approximately three turns would lose all his life points, meaning that the Kaiba brothers would emerge from this as definite champions. It was petty to think of gloating rights, but Kaiba could just taste sweet revenge on his tongue when he thought about how annoying Amelda had been during all the last two months. Now he would have superb ammunition with which to needle the redhead back.
Kaiba couldn't help but smile a little smugly at Amelda, who clearly knew that he was in the loser's position. He glanced over to Mokuba on the right corner of the duel area and tilted his hand slightly so Mokuba could see the top card. It was the third Blue Eyes White Dragon, and there were already two on the field. In one turn, Kaiba would be able to summon it to the field, and Amelda's protective Swords of Revealing Light would vanish…leaving Miruko's dragon monster completely vulnerable to attack.
Happily occupied by such thoughts like the question of how much slime an attack by Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon would produce, and how Amelda would look in it, Kaiba almost didn't notice Mokuba's head turn side to side in a small negative shake. He just barely prevented himself from gaping like an idiot at his younger brother.
Instead, he gave Mokuba another pointed look and took the BEWD card in his hand, flipped it over, and held it straight out, wondering if maybe Mokuba had suddenly developed vision problems. Or was he that bad at arithmetic? No way, Mokuba had proven to be just as intelligent as himself, and since he happened to be a genius…
This is the third BEWD! What could possibly be wrong? We're going to win! Kaiba felt like shouting when Mokuba shook his head again in the negative.
Then all of a sudden it hit him, and only years and years of practice let him keep a relatively unreadable expression. Mokuba wanted them to…lose to Amelda and Miruko? No way! That was insane! Mokuba was insane. He had an insane little kid for a brother. Yes, that must be it. Lose. Him, Kaiba, former world champion, CEO, saver-of-the-McAlister brothers' asses? Lose. LOSE!
How could Mokuba want to let Amelda and Miruko win? Worst yet, his brother had a glint in his eyes that told him that Mokuba was going to be obstinate about this, and when Mokuba made up his mind, the world usually rearranged itself around him, not rearranged him. That unwritten law even applied to Seto Kaiba, who ironically expected the same thing for himself.
"Your turn, Kaiba. Did you fall asleep or something?" Miruko demanded after a rather long pause as Kaiba waged war internally against phantom Mokuba rummaging and rearranging his mind.
"We're waiting, you know," Amelda's voice finally penetrated his skull and Kaiba looked up with some resignation. When it came to Mokuba, he reflected glumly, he was almost always the loser.
"I play, uh…" Well, technically the idea was, of course, that he let Amelda and Miruko win, meaning that he could've taken control of the duel at any point. He could've won easily, but he was gracious enough not to humiliate Amelda, right?
Aware that the McAlister brothers were giving him some suspicious looks and that Mokuba was staring very hard at him right now, Kaiba finally forced his hand to take out his Dark Assailant. "I play Dark Assailant, attack mode." It had a paltry 2000 attack points. Compared to the Blue Eyes White Dragon that his hand was just itching to play…
But no, he had to make this somewhat convincing, because Amelda was certainly smart enough to figure out when his opponent had suddenly stopped playing to win. Out of the corner of his eye, Seto saw Mokuba give him a smile, and underneath his breath he grumbled at manipulative younger brothers.
It turned out that Amelda didn't need much encouragement. The duel was finished six turns later, with Mokuba reaching zero life points first. Kaiba raised a suspicious eyebrow to that, especially given that Mokuba seemed to have a better hand than he was playing. He couldn't possibly have three Kuribohs in his deck. Even Yugi was ridiculous enough only to have one. What really got Kaiba angry, however, was the pure fact that at the defeat, Miruko's dragon monster spewed forth a torrent of grayish slime, about as appealing as being covered in slugs.
Point one, Kaiba thought tiredly. If your brother suggests anything to do with slime, refuse. Do not be tempted by visions of your enemies covered in slime. He repressed a sigh at that. Point two, if younger brother decides to drag you into a duel and then somehow convince you to purposefully lose, remember to clobber said brother.
Life all seemed about ten times better, however, when he trudged down from the platform and towards Mokuba, practically leaving a slime trail—that trench coat was going to need to be burned—and happened to see Miruko exchange a rough embrace with Amelda. No more tears, no more regrets, just a tough, durable sort of love. They'd both changed, both lost a great deal, but somehow had never lost what was essential.
And Kaiba discovered that sometimes losing was worth it.
- o - o - o - o -
The courtroom was silent except for the distinctively accented voice of the judge, who at least sounded kind. Kaiba had checked out his statistics, however, and he knew that the judge generally awarded thirty percent of his legal guardianship cases to the family. The other seventy percent usually went to the government-run stations in the form of orphanages, temporary families, and so on. Granted, most of the cases involved children far from their majority, usually with the median age of perhaps six or seven, but even so…
Miruko, standing between himself and Amelda, almost fidgeted and caught himself. Dressed up in a suit and pale from nerves, he looked far younger than his nearly seventeen years of age. All the bravado that Kaiba had seen from their first few meetings had simply disappeared. He didn't look anything like a possible gangster now, or that he would even know how to hold a gun. Appearances were deceptive, but they usually did not alter Kaiba's attitude towards people that much.
Kaiba wasn't sure if this new youthfulness would help or hurt their case. After all, if he was older the judge might simply decide to award legal guardianship to the government, since he would soon reach his majority anyway. However, if he was younger, the judge might decide that it wasn't in Miruko's best interest to have Amelda take care of him, so to speak.
"Amelda," Miruko said softly but clearly. He glanced at Kaiba and back to his own brother rather pleadingly. Amelda took the hint and leaned down to hear Miruko divulge whatever was troubling him.
"Amelda, I'll run away again before going back to an orphanage. I really will." Despite the attempt at privacy, Kaiba heard everything. For some reason, it tore at his heart in a way that few other things did. Maybe it was because he had been in the same situation before, and he knew what it was like.
"Don't be silly, Miruko," Amelda said sharply, but the tension in him belied his harsh words. He was just as worried as Miruko, if not more. "We can trust Kaiba."
That last part was said in a louder voice and Kaiba was thankful that Amelda had been considerate enough to include him in the conversation properly. The statement itself made him feel worse, though. He trusted himself, for one thing, and he trusted the power of his empire in the gaming and technological worlds. But all that was useless now, and everything lay in the hands of the judge. They could only hope that he would do the right thing.
"I'm sorry I threw it away," Miruko said suddenly as they were waiting to be called. Amelda shifted restlessly besides him, looking confused at the non sequitur. Kaiba had insisted on something a little more formal than the tank top—and had conveniently removed the object from any possible place where it might serve as an enticement for wearing.
Frankly, Amelda didn't understand how people could possibly spend so much money on a suit when other clothes worked perfectly fine. He wisely decided not to voice this out loud, since Kaiba could have given him a three hour-long lecture about why appearances were everything in business, law, and so many other professions.
"Threw what away?"
"Oh…I meant Ziggurat. I didn't know you kept it for so long, or that you remembered me."
Amelda shook his head. "It's all right, Miruko. I kept it in memory of you, but now that you're here, what use is a plastic toy figurine? It was a part of our past but maybe now we'll have a chance to start a new future. Look at Kaiba and Mokuba. The important thing is that we're together again."
"All right."
Scant moments later, Miruko stiffened as his name was called, and then he was escorted away to his seat. He gave them a small smile that went unnoticed by the judge.
The social worker hovered around them like an annoying bee, and Kaiba, temper already short, wished that she could disappear. It would be a gross injustice if Amelda and Miruko were separated, but he'd learned that life was significantly more unfair than fair a long time ago.
But what would the judge's decision change, anyway? They had all they needed. Even if they were separated, Kaiba didn't think that would change much. Of course, his panel of three lawyers might find this to be a drastic stop to their career goals, but it was the unseen that was important. The legal aspects perhaps were symbolic, but they were ultimately useless. You could be a guardian to the body, but not to the heart, and those more essential ties were invisible.
Watching Miruko and Amelda, Kaiba knew they'd never be separated in spirit.
- o - o - o - o -
Notes: Well, this didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but I think it's decent for now. There are probably a dozen typos and borderline OOC-ness, so I'll edit it more later. Your suggestions would definitely be helpful. That said, please review!
Thanks – ElveNDestiNy
F.I. - "This isn't a tale of heroes. It's about fate bringing two lives together in unlikely ways so that they run parallel. And in this interlude of intertwined fates, lasting however brief or long, both lives are changed forever."