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july 28, 2004
Whew! This whole chapter is a bit intense! I can safely say that, after a pleasant interlude, we're back to good old angst… And at last, the truth comes out.
A question (but more like something to ponder). On the Shonen Jump website, it says that YGO is immensely popular with boys ages 6-17. Yet, most of the YGO fanfic I've read is written by girls. So what's up with that? I used to think that was a mostly-female website, but then I started looking around, and realized that there are more male authors than I thought. So if YGO is so popular with boys, how come all the stories are female-written stories? Is it because the mostly male cast, which is supposed to appeal to boys, appeals more to girls (in a different way)? Is it because all the boys who like YGO don't write fanfic, or are too young? Or am I completely wrong? Are there a whole bunch of male YGO authors that I'm not aware of? This has been puzzling me for some time.
A plastic Kaiba doll to all my fab reviewers! As always, I appreciate your wonderful comments, and I appreciate the time you take to review my story!
Subaru the Jaguar – Gomen, I know how much you love Joey. But with his hard head, he'll bounce right back.
IcyPanther – Joey's fine, don't worry! And yes, angst galore!
Chibi-Kari – Wow, 5 years? I bow to you, oh wise and venerable reviewer!
Sakura – Kaiba's having some problems, it's not his fault entirely. As you will see in chapter 11…
chii-chan
Tinyflyer02
aya2021 – the romance comes in in Part III! So just a few more chappies…
Meii-chan – I think all that Nixon stuff in History influenced me, whether I wanted it to or not. A..A And I do a lot of scene-jumping, so they were only on the island in chapter 08.
Setine
For more fabulous prizes, all you need to do is review! (I can't believe I've resorted to bribery …)
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t u r m o i l
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by sir mocha
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chapter 10: m u r d e r
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Kaiba popped another aspirin to try and control the raging headache he had developed. In the back of his mind, he wondered if staring at a laptop screen in a dark room for many hours was the cause of the pain in his temples.
Stupid Wheeler. If we were out doing something, I wouldn't have developed this headache in the first place. Ever since he had given the Mutt a concussion, Serenity had refused to spend any extraneous time with him. He had even volunteered to pay the hospital bill, but the stupid stubborn Wheelers had refused. He really didn't understand why people so poor were so proud of that fact.
Maybe I should open the blinds, Kaiba thought. Natural light may do me some good. He stood up, stretched, then went to the big office window and threw the drapes open, letting the midday sunlight stream into the room.
He looked outside, and saw Bakura walking up the long driveway. Bakura hadn't been by in a while, not since that day a few weeks ago. It's somewhat unusual, but then again, thought Kaiba, Bakura is a pretty unusual person.
An hour later found Kaiba back at work, typing up a proposal to the Executive Board. He was leaning precariously over, checking one of the charts spread out all over his desk, when a shrill scream pierced the afternoon quiet.
Startled, Kaiba tipped his chair over, and fell to the floor with a comical thud. What the hell was that? he wondered, getting to his feet, and rubbing his bruised arm.
Another loud scream permeated through the stillness, only this one was not simply scared, or startled, but pain-filled.
Kaiba was out the door in a flash, going to try to find the source of the scream. At the bottom of the stairs, leading to the first floor, he, quite literally, ran into someone who was running quickly towards the front door.
Kaiba nearly retched when he saw the person he had run into. Ryou, knocked to the floor from the collision, was coated in blood, the sight of which made Kaiba feel a little ill. And underneath the blood, Kaiba could see that Ryou was even paler than usual, and shaking.
Kaiba pushed himself to his feet, and looked down at Ryou with fear mingled with curiosity. Was Ryou bleeding to death? And if not, then where had the blood come from? Or, more appropriately, whom had the blood come from?
"Kaiba!" yelled Ryou, scrambling to his feet. "Kaiba," he sobbed, "Kaiba, he killed her. He KILLED her!" The young man was hysterical as he clutched at the front of Kaiba's shirt with his blood-drenched hands.
"What?" said Kaiba stupidly, pushing Ryou away. "Who killed? Who was killed?"
"BAKURA!" gasped Ryou. "Bakura killed her!"
"You're talking nonsense," sneered Kaiba. "You're Bakura! Are you saying you killed someone?" He reflexively took a step away from the crazed Ryou.
"HE KILLED HER! HE KILLED GRANDMA!" screamed Ryou, trying to make Kaiba understand the terrible thing Bakura had done. "The robbery at the museum? It was Bakura! I tried to stop him, but I couldn't… She realized that Bakura had stolen those artifacts! And when she realized this, he got mad… so mad… He took control of my body, and then… he killed her so that she wouldn't tell anyone the truth…" He whimpered this as he watched the expression on Kaiba's face grow more and more horrified.
"…What?!" asked Kaiba, stunned.
Why doesn't he understand? Ryou brandished a bloodstained knife at Kaiba, trying to make him see. "He used this knife!" he sobbed. "He used this knife to slit her throat! He said it would keep her quiet!"
Quick as lightning, Kaiba kicked the bloodied knife out of Ryou's hand. He didn't know what was happening, but he sure as hell wasn't about to let himself get stabbed by this maniac. As added self-defense, he pulled the small handgun from his leg holster, and pointed it at the scared and shaking Ryou, who was holding his broken wrist with a look of pain and helplessness.
"Lead me to her!" ordered Kaiba coldly, audibly clicking the safety catch off.
"…Please don't make me go back there!" begged Ryou, terror evident on his face.
"GO!" yelled Kaiba.
Hesitantly, but persuaded by the presence of Kaiba's gun, Ryou led Kaiba through the halls, to the area behind the kitchen where he and Miro always had their tea. He stopped outside the door, unwilling to venture farther, but a shove from Kaiba sent them both into the room.
When Kaiba saw the mangled body of his housekeeper, the bile rose in his throat, and he heaved up the contents of his stomach, which mingled with the wide pool of blood on the floor. The sigh was enough to make even the hardiest individual sick to his or her stomach.
Kaiba turned to Ryou, hatred in his eyes and a snarl on his lips. "You…you killed her…"
"It WASN'T ME!" screamed Ryou. "I swear! I swear before GOD that it was Bakura! My yami!"
But the proof of Ryou's guilt lay before Kaiba's eyes, and it was proof enough for him. He tackled Ryou to the ground, twisting the smaller man's arm painfully behind him, pinning him on the blood-covered floor. He jerked Ryou's arm back even farther to stop him from struggling, then with a free hand, pulled his cell phone form his coat. He called the police, and told them of the murder, all while Ryou was yelling, "It wasn't me!" over and over again.
Kaiba kept him completely immobilized until he heard the police kicking down the back kitchen door. Then he said to Ryou, "I'll see that you're locked away, never to see daylight again."
Ryou was sobbing agonizingly as the police entered the room and hauled him to his feet. As they pulled him, struggling, out to the car, he yelled, "Grandma!" heartbreakingly. And that was the last thing he said, before he was handcuffed in the back seat of the car.
The crime scene officers entered the room, and questioned Kaiba. He reported, somewhat shakily, that Ryou had murdered Miro. He also mentioned to the police the fact that Ryou had confessed to stealing the museum items. Then he got out as quickly as he could. Another second of being in that evil room, and he would have thrown up again.
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"Kaiba!" A shrill and indignant voice rang out thought Kaiba's cavernous office.
Kaiba looked up from his work to see the Friendship Four, the people he least wanted to see at that particular time. "How did you get in here?!" he snarled.
Yugi stalked up until he was standing right in front of Kaiba's desk. "Unlike you, your secretary has a heart, and realizes when it's important to bend the rules! We need to talk, Kaiba, about—"
Kaiba cut him off. He pressed the intercom button, and said to his secretary, "You're fired. Get out of my building before I call security."
Yugi was momentarily rendered speechless at Kaiba's callous disregard for the poor secretary. Tristan, Tea, and Joey took the opportunity to start in on Kaiba, all yelling at the same time and creating a terrific cacophony of annoying voices.
"Shut up!" yelled Kaiba impatiently, feeling a headache coming on. "And get out of here before I sic security on you, too."
"Kaiba," said Yami, who had taken over Yugi's body. "You will listen to what we have to say, or I will Mind Crush you into the Shadow Realm, as I have done several times before."
Kaiba paled at the memories of the traumatic experiences, and nodded his head, allowing Yami to continue.
Yugi once again took control. "Why did you do it, Kaiba?" he asked quietly.
"Do what?" Kaiba had the threat of the Shadow Realm hanging over him, but that didn't stop him from being rude.
Tristan came over, and slammed something down on Kaiba's desk, sending several papers flying. It was a copy of the Sunday paper, with the headline,
Murder at the Kaiba Mansion! CEO apprehends cold-blooded Killer!
Kaiba sighed, remembering the hoards of reporters that had showed up on his front lawn, tipped off by several idiotic servants. He hadn't wanted any publicity for himself or for Kaiba Corp, because with Kaiba Corp's financial situation, he thought it best to lay low, and avoid the public eye. He had given the reporters a brief and insubstantial statement about the event, in hopes that they would leave him alone after that. When it looked as though they had no intention of leaving, he turned the sprinkler system on full blast, soaking the reporters until they fled, dripping. He laughed softly at this memory.
"So you think it's funny?" yelled Tristan, jerking the CEO out of his reverie. Of all of Ryou's friends, it had been he who had taken it the hardest. "You sent Bakura to jail even though you knew he was telling the truth! He won't survive jail! The other inmates will kill him! That is, if he isn't put in solitary confinement!" Tristan's voice broke, and he had to turn away.
"You were in Battle City, as we were!" exclaimed Joey angrily. "You saw Bakura's dark side, as did we! And even you have to realize that Bakura doesn't have it in him to murder someone!"
"Be that as it may, I would not allow a knife-wielding, blood-soaked maniac to wander away from a murder he had just committed in my house! The last thing I want is for people to think I perpetrated the crime!"
"So that's it?" said Tea, tears of anger welling up in her eyes. "You made them arrest Bakura so you could save yourself? You'd rather lock up an innocent person than put a chip in your icy reputation? Some things are more important than self-preservation, Kaiba!"
"I never said he was innocent!" exclaimed Kaiba. "I think Bakura has another side to him that you all refuse to acknowledge. And I'm not talking about 'Egyptian Spirits' or any of that nonsense! I'm not so sure how mentally stable he is, and I believe that he is fully capable of having some sort of split personality disorder. If he needs a psychiatrist, Kaiba Corp has a highly qualified medical staff. Though I'm not so sure Bakura could afford them. The best of the best don't come cheaply."
The four stared at the CEO with deep disgust. Yugi spoke up. "Kaiba, you're going to learn compassion for others, I know it. But I don't think it's going to be pleasant, because you seem so unwilling. The less empathetic you are, the harder it's going to be for you when you fall into misfortune, as Bakura has. Except when you fall, there's going to be no one to pick you back up, because unlike Bakura, you don't want friends, Kaiba, and I don't think they want you either." Then the four of them left Kaiba with some heavy thinking to do.
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"Any calls?" asked Kaiba upon reentering his office after lunch, a few days after the incident with Yugi and his friends.
"None, sir," replied the new secretary.
"Why the hell not? Well, are there any daycare services with openings?"
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Kaiba." She sounded apprehensive, probably from hearing how Kaiba had so abruptly dismissed the last secretary.
Kaiba sighed. "Well, here's Rei. I just fed her, and she needs to be burped. By you. Now."
The secretary looked down at her $200 suit, and wrinkled her nose in distaste as she took Rei from Kaiba.
Kaiba stalked away, put in a bad humor by his lack of success so far. Kaiba had not had a close, personal connection with Miro. TO be sure, he considered her pleasant, and she often had interesting things to say, and he was less than happy at her passing. But more vitally, she was the head housekeeper at the Mansion, and the only one of the hired help that didn't curse Kaiba behind his back (unaware, of course, of the hidden microphones).
She was also the one who cared for Rei when Kaiba was at work, which meant that a majority of his time with Rei had been, in fact, Miro time. This had irritated Kaiba, who had wished to spend more time with his adorable daughter. With the death of Miro, Kaiba suddenly found that he had too much of Rei, and not enough time to care for her adequately. He had taken to giving her to his new secretary while he was working. But the secretary, a 19-year-old college dropout with (conspicuously fake) platinum blonde hair, long red fingernails, and too much makeup, was ill-suited for taking care of a baby, and Kaiba wondered, sometimes, if Rei was entirely safe with the ditzy young woman.
I must make the qualifications for my personal secretary much, much higher, so I can weed out beings like her. Either that, or I must create an employee daycare service, which will be forced to take Rei. He snorted at the though of providing helpful services to his ungrateful employees.
Kaiba had a good idea of why no one would accept the nanny job, or why all the daycares were always completely full (though the idea of leaving Rei in one of those unqualified, public places scared Kaiba a great deal). In hindsight, he probably should have been a little nicer to all his employees. He was pretty sure that all the prospective candidates were scared of him, and no amount of money would persuade them to crawl willingly into the dragon's den.
Kaiba stared broodingly at the phone, willing it to ring. At this point, he would accept anyone's offer, because he was that desperate. He had already tried asking Serenity, but she informed him (rather coolly) that she was much too busy. And Kaiba believed it; he knew of how hard she worked at school, and the long hours she spent at her job.
In resignation, Kaiba returned to his work, typing away at his computer and checking graphs, charts, and reports.
At around 7 o'clock, the secretary intercommed Kaiba. "Mr. Kaiba? It's time to go home…except you have a call on line three, ok? I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Kaiba…"
"Whatever," said Kaiba, stretching out of his hunched over position. He picked up the phone, and said, "Kaiba here."
"Ah, Seto, my boy! It must be quite late over there! I thought I had missed you."
"I work hard at my job, Harrison."
"Doubtless. But apparently, you just don't work hard enough."
"…What shit are you talking now, Harrison?"
"Well, Seto, I head a very interesting story this afternoon from several of your ex-employees. Apparently they said that Kaiba Corp is having some financial problems? Is this true, Seto?'
"I'm warning you now, Harrison! You better not say anything to anyone about this! You do, and…and…" But Kaiba could not think of anything he could use to threaten the cunning businessman.
"Oh now, that wouldn't be very nice of me, would it? In fact, that would be quite mean. But I'm a nice man, so I'm going to do you a favor."
"What could you possibly do for me?" sneered Kaiba. "I thought N-Tech has 'severed its ties' with Kaiba Corp."
"Well, I feel bad for you, so I'm going to make you an offer I can't refuse. I'm willing to pay you one hundred million dollars for Kaiba Corp."
"Hah. Is that your idea of a joke? Kaiba Corp is a multi-billion dollar company! And it's my company! And anyway, I wouldn't sell it to you of all people. I wouldn't trust you with the company I've toiled over for 10 years, the company that I've perfected. I won't stand by and let you ruin it! Do you know how much I've personally sacrificed?"
"Like your brother?" Harrison asked slyly.
This barb felt like a physical blow to Kaiba. "How DARE you bring up my brother! My brother's death was a tragic crime perpetrated by a sick criminal! And that criminal got what he deserved: a bullet in his brain."
"But how do you know that the shooter acted alone? How do you know that he wasn't hired by someone else?"
Kaiba was white with anger, and the hand that held the phone shook with barely-contained rage. In a deadly calm tone, he said, "Cut the crap, Harrison. You know something about Mokuba's death! TELL ME!"
"Seto, Seto, Seto," tsked Harrison condescendingly. "Don't you realize? Your brother's death was an unfortunate accident. It was you who was the target. I would know; I gave the assassin explicit instructions to make sure you were dead, and out of my way."
A piercing silence followed those words, as Kaiba tried to keep from going absolutely crazy. This monster, this inhuman, unfeeling, SOULLESS monster had taken from Kaiba his most treasured possession. In his desire to get ahead in the game, he was willing to MURDER the only person who meant anything to Kaiba.
It's your fault, you know. That voice, that terrible voice that plagued Kaiba's thoughts, had returned after all this time. Harrison intended for you to be the target. And because you escaped death, your brother was taken from you in your stead. It's your company, it's your enemy, and it's YOUR fault!
Maybe, thought Kaiba, but what's done is done, and there's no use in crying over spilled milk. There's nothing that I can do to change what happened, but I will make sure Harrison gets what he deserves!
"Harrison, when I'm through with you, you're going to wish that you were the one who had died," said Kaiba with psychotic calm. "They may have a messed up legal system in your country when it comes to patents, but I know that the courts will put a murderer where he should be: strapped into an electric chair with 10 million volts of electricity coursing through his body, in so much fucking pain that he begs to die quickly."
"Seto, my son, you're so naive!" Harrison chuckled. "Do you think I would be telling you all this if there was a chance of any negative repercussions for me? Preposterous! And it's very surprising, the number of criminals that manage to evade the criminal justice system. And whether you call me a criminal, or simply a shrewd businessman, I can tell you that I won't be going to jail just yet."
"I have enough evidence to have you punished cruelly and unusually! I digitally record every conversation I have, and store the files away for later use. What do you mean, you won't be going to jail?! You just confessed your crimes, and I'll be damned if I let you get away with it!" Kaiba said this with pride, and arrogance, certain that he had beat Harrison at his own sick and twisted game.
"Well, Seto, do as you wish," said Harrison in mock-submission. "But you know, it would be a shame if I accidentally let it slip to your stock holders that a hundred million dollars has gone missing from your company. They might all get nervous and sell their shares, and then you would be in trouble, wouldn't you?" He said this so patronizingly, it pushed Kaiba over the edge. And he lost his temper.
"IT'D BE FUCKING WORTH IT TO SEE YOU FRIED!!!"
Despite being the brunt of Kaiba's anger and malice, Harrison remarkably managed to retain his composure. "Aha, but would they believe you? You, the CEO of a company that has been misleading its stock holders for the past 10 years? It would be youwho was sent to jail, for embezzlement and fraud, your untarnished name blackened forever!"
"Well, if I go down, then I'll be seeing you in HELL!" With that, Kaiba slammed the phone down with alarming force. He was trapped, and there was nothing he could do about it.
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