Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.
See the People Standing There
"I'm not Yugi," that loser states calmly, like I wouldn't recognize him if I saw him. If not the hair then those eyes give him away every time.
I step around my desk and glower at Mokuba.
"I can't believe you brought him here, Mokuba," I grumble.
Turning swiftly to grab Yugi and throw him out, my eyes lock with intense crimson.
Yami.
Swallowing a gasp, I take in his appearance.
He's taller, up to my shoulder at least. His usually light bronze skin has darkened to a warm mocha. With his multi-colored hair and crimson eyes, the effect is striking. Against my will, my eyes travel downward, drinking in the sight of his familiar black leather jacket and pants and his ribbed, cream-colored turtleneck. I easily find myself staring.
"Yami…" I manage after a few moments, my throat suddenly dry.
"It's good to see you too, Kaiba," he replies with a warm smile.
That snaps me out of whatever trance had captured me.
"Good to see me, huh," I sneer. "I'll just bet you are. What, were you hoping I'd turn into some wet mess upon seeing you? Please. As if you or any of your loser friends mean anything to me. As if you ever did! Now, get the hell out of my office!"
"It is good to see you, Kaiba," he continues, tempting fate.
"Out!" I bellow.
"Nii-sama!"
Oh, so he's in on this too.
"You too, Mokuba. Go home. And you're grounded!"
I turn to go back to my desk, having ended this encounter, when Yami grabs my arm.
"Kaiba, wait. Don't take this out on Mokuba. He didn't come home because I made him stay. He was really sleepy and I worried that he'd crash."
"Thank you for your concern," I growl, "But Mokuba can handle his punishments just fine. Now let go before I make you regret ever touching me."
I glare at him again.
"And get out."
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For a moment, I thought things might improve once he realized who I was. After all, we were really good friends once. I hoped we could be again. Right. Springing eternal and all that.
It surprised me a bit when he began staring at me, though I know I look quite different from the last time he saw me. Still, it felt odd to have his eyes on me like that. I wonder what he was thinking.
Speaking of looking a lot different, though he's basically the same physically, I almost didn't recognize him. His spirit has changed. It's beaten, downtrodden and sad. His clear blue eyes are clouded with fatigue and stress; haunted. That arrogant gait shrunk to a salary man's shudder. Even his hair has lost its ever-present gleam. He looks much older than his actual 22 years. What happened to the Seto Kaiba I knew? Frowning, I turn to leave.
Pausing at his office door, I call out over my shoulder, "Why didn't you answer my letters, Kaiba?"
Since I knew I'd probably never see him again after this, I just had to find out.
"What letters," he grumbles.
"I sent you hand written letters for years right here to your office, but you never answered them."
Shocked silence. Then…
"You're lying. I've never seen any letters from you. And even if you did send them, I gave my secretary explicit instructions to shred anything from Yugi and his cohorts."
I'm really sick of that word.
"Cohorts, Kaiba?" I turn, facing him again. "You make it sound like we committed a crime."
"Didn't you?" he hisses. "Isn't that what a traitor is, a criminal?"
I don't respond. I can't really. Because he's right, we did betray him. We all betrayed his trust. He thought we accepted him as he was, but we proved that he wasn't 'good enough' for us by turning our backs. The others turned their backs for good. And though I'd only meant my slight to last a short time, I followed them that day. Of course Kaiba took it as confirmation that I agreed with them. And then the obvious shun with the graduation/engagement party. What else could he think?
"I tried to call you the next morning," I confess, "but you'd blocked me. I couldn't reach you by e-mail, you wouldn't let me in the house, you even had me thrown out when I tried to come here! I couldn't even reach you on Live Journal! I thought if I wrote to you, you'd read my apology and ---"
"Shut up!" he cuts in. "Just shut the hell up, Yami! And get out of my office!" he yells.
"Kaiba…"
"No!" He exclaims, slamming his fist into his desk, "I said GET OUT!"
Stealing a glance at Mokuba, I can tell this entire scene has really shaken him. Unwilling to cause him any further emotional trauma, I decide to withdraw. Pursing my lips, I turn to go.
"Good-bye, Kaiba. I'm sorry," I respond quietly, stepping out the door.
I'm waiting for the elevator when I feel Mokuba beside me.
"I'll take you back to Jou's, Yami."
"You don't have to. I'm sure Kaiba doesn't want you to. I don't want to cause any more problems for you Mokuba."
"Whatever. He's just too stubborn to realize how much he needs you."
The elevator arrives and he steps in.
"Coming?" he calls.
I follow hesitantly.
The ride back to Jou's is very somber.
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"Damn him," Kaiba curses under his breath after Yami and Mokuba have left. Whether he means Yami, Mokuba or both in that curse, he isn't sure. Retreating to the plush couch in the corner after pouring himself something strong, he tries to calm down from the days' already exhausting events.
He'd lied to Mokuba. He didn't stay up half the night he stayed up all night. Worried. Pacing. Chain-smoking. Drinking. But he couldn't tell Mokuba that. His Nii-sama is too strong to succumb to such things over something so minor. He'd just stayed out with friends. It wasn't as if he wasn't ever coming back. At least not yet.
When he arrived at work, he was already exhausted and hung-over. Even after three cups of strong, black coffee he still wasn't up to par when he had to meet with those idiots for two hours.
And then to see Yami…
Gods, how he missed him. It was all he could do not to crush him in his arms right then. But, how could he? Yami had betrayed him. Thinking about it honestly, those other fools were merely tolerated, so when they walked away, it wasn't a great loss. But Yami…
Yami was the only true friend he'd ever had. To be dismissed by him…
So, of course he blocked his phones and refused access to his home and office. Yami made it perfectly clear what he felt when he walked away with the others.
'I meant nothing to him,' he frowns, remembering the painful stab of Yami's rejection.
'And now he shows up like nothing's wrong, fostering some kind of misplaced loyalty in Mokuba, lying about letters that never existed and trying to make me believe he actually cares,' he fumes.
"Shit!" he exclaims, shattering the now empty glass against the wall.
"Mr. Kaiba? Are you alright?" his secretary calls from the open doorway.
So consumed by his emotions, he'd actually forgotten that he's still at work.
"I'm fine, Minako. It's just a broken glass," he mumbles.
"Yes, sir." She doesn't leave the doorway.
"What is it, Minako," he sighs deeply, looking over at her.
"Umm. Well, Mr. Kaiba…I…umm…"
Sliding a hand down his face, he heads for his desk.
"Just spit it out, Minako," he exhales, exasperated. Though highly qualified, and an exceptionally competent secretary, she could be unbearably timid.
"It's about the letters…"
"What letters, Minako?" Gods, why does he put up with this? Oh, right, exceptionally competent.
"The letters from Mr. Mutou, sir."
'What!'
"What are you talking about, Minako?" he glares at her.
He watches as she hesitantly reaches down and pulls a medium-sized box into the doorway.
No. It can't be. Did he really…?
"What's that," he frowns.
"M-Mr. Mutou's letters, sir. I know you said to throw out anything from them, but I just…it didn't seem right. S-so I kept them. And when he showed up today…," she trails off.
Staring at the box, he finds himself at a loss. Minako starts speaking again, not looking at him.
"Umm, I arranged them chronologically, Mr. Kaiba." He can tell she's terrified that he's going to fire her for disobeying orders. "Each year is bundled separately."
She stands there, twitching nervously.
'I guess I should put her out of her misery,' he muses.
"That will be all, Minako," he states evenly. "You can go home now."
"But, sir, it's only 3:15."
"I know. Just go home. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Y-you're not firing me," she questions incredulously.
He looks up at her, steely-eyed gaze in place.
"Only if you don't leave now. And make sure to lock the elevator on your way out. I don't want to be disturbed!"
"Y-yes, sir," she stutters, almost tripping over the box in her haste to get away.
Leaning back in his chair, he returns his gaze to the box.
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Minako Tanaka held no illusions about working for Seto Kaiba. Though brilliant beyond words and an eloquent speaker, he could be a tyrannical boss. Her four-and-a-half-year tenure as his secretary had many speculating that she must share his bed to have lasted so long. Before her, the longest any secretary had lasted was nine months!
She inherited the box from the prior secretary, Aoi Suzuki, a nice elderly woman who retired and moved in with her grandchildren on Hokkaido.
"Now, take care of these letters," Miss Aoi had instructed, "and make sure to add any new ones as they come in."
"Shouldn't these go to Mr. Kaiba since they're all addressed to him," Minako had asked.
"No. He's asked that anything from his old high school friends be thrown away."
"Then why..?"
"Because someday he'll need them," Miss Aoi had concluded.
Minako didn't understand at first, but as the letters kept coming, she realized what Miss Aoi meant; someday, Mr. Kaiba would need those letters to help him remember good times. So, she kept adding to the box until the letters stopped coming last summer.
She didn't know when she should give them to Mr. Kaiba as he didn't seem open to anything non-business related except his little brother; at least not until today. When the crimson-eyed man stepped out of the elevator with Mokuba, she couldn't help but stare. She knew he was the man from the letters. One of the envelopes had torn at some point and a picture had fallen out. She remembers thinking that his hair looked just like that famous duelist from a while back and that he had the oddest eyes.
After Mr. Kaiba's argument with the man, Minako figured it was time to give him the box. Just in case, she'd started backing up her personal files and cleaning out her desk. She was in the middle of forwarding important e-mails to her home address when she heard the crash against the wall. Mr. Kaiba had broken another glass after downing whatever alcohol was in it. Not that this happened very often, but she'd heard it enough to know the sound.
She knew the time had come.
The fact that he didn't fire her on the spot proved, with certainty, that she'd done the right thing all these years.
"Thank you, Miss Aoi," she whispers as she steps into the elevator.