Chapter One
The Family Name"The family name is ," said the brown haired youth. He cracked his knuckles together, but his expression remained unchanged. Calm, set, cool. "The first name is Torao. His wife's name is Tamako. Before she was married, Tamako's family name was Ueda. They have two boys, I believe, one ten and one fifteen."
Matsumura Huyu scrawled the names on his yellow pad of paper. There was a massive hole punched into the window, Matsumura couldn't help but notice. A thin sheet of plastic covered it, and it rustled and flapped anytime a strong gust of wind whipped through.
"Ueda," Matsumura muttered. "Any relation to Ueda Industries."
The boy smiled in a steely way. His eyes were an intense blue.
" is president."
"I see. And what kind of information are you looking for exactly?" asked Matsumura, looking up from his notes.
"Something that will ruin his company. I've asked my lawyers to look through Ueda Industries financial records. The records are flawless. So I want you to look through his personal life and find for me something devastating about him."
"Forgive me, but how will that help ruin his company?"
"Whether I ruin his company or ruin him doesn't much matter. The end result is the same."
Matsumura nodded. His client sat up perfectly straight in his black leather chair at the head of the long table. Though young, this boy bore no trace of childishness in his manner. He kept his hands folded and wore an expression of absolute assurance.
There was a slight breeze coming from the broken window. Matsumura, flipped the page of his notebook.
"That's the family, then?"
"Yes."
"Good. I will get back to you within a week."
As Matsumura packed his notepad into his old leather suitcase, a young boy, about ten or so, with long black hair came running in.
"Niisama—"
"What have a told you about coming in here, Mokuba?" replied his brother coldly.
"I—but I—"
"Well..."
The raven head drooped. "Not to come in this room, because it's dangerous, since the window broke."
"Right. Besides which, I'm in an important meeting."
"I know, but... but Niisama, I found the adoption papers."
Blue eyes glinted. "Where?"
"In a safe behind the portrait."
The brown-haired youth coolly turned back to Matsumura. "Business has been concluded. I'll be expecting your report."
With a bow, Matsumura left the room. He left the door open, then paused to listen as he walked down the hall.
"Put it with his other stuff," said the older boy. "Go home and have the butler prepare a bon fire in our yard. When I come home, we'll burn it all together."
Matsumura walked to a nearby coffee shop. He ordered tea, poured in cream, and stirred the milky liquid round and round with a spoon. Opening his old brown bag, he lifted out an old copy of The Domino Daily, a pair of scissors, and a new, yellow file folder.
Matsumura cleaned his glasses. He clipped a newspaper article.
"Ueda Industries Stock Soars Six Years Running"
The article told of the double-digit growth of the small, but rapidly growing company, which had succeeded in becoming the second largest in the city. Under it, in the slightly smudged black and white of newsprint, was a picture of Torao.
He was a slick-haired businessman, just entering his forties: a tall man, nearly six feet; handsome, with a winning smile.
Matsumura took out a black marker and wrote Torao on the file folder. He put the article inside.
Then he lifted out a second file folder and wrote, in deep black ink, Kaiba.
Carefully, with all the precision of a man studied in his profession, he clipped the main article from the newspaper. "Prominent Businessman Commits Suicide," the headlines screamed.
With a pad of post-it strips in hand, Matsumura scanned through it.
"Kaiba Corporation—Domino City was shocked when business owner, Kaiba Gozaburo, CEO of Kaiba Corporation, committed suicide by jumping through the window of his company headquarters and plummeting twenty stories to his death. The trigger for this sudden death leap was apparently caused by stockowners of Kaiba Corporation insisting that he step down in favor of his son—"
Matsumura paused. He scribbled on the post it note the word "Adopted" and stuck it right before the word "son."
"—Kaiba Seto, 16. Called a genius by his peers and teachers, young Kaiba already has a strong talent for both business and invention. About the death of his father, Kaiba Seto has responded, 'His suicide came as quite a shock, but he will, of course, be missed—' "
Matsumura wrote "lie" and stuck it right after "missed."
" '—The funeral will be held within the next two days.'
"The contributions of Kaiba Gozaburo to the City of Domino are enormous. The Corporation he began contributed to the economic growth and employment of Domino, but in his private life he was also a great philanthropist, giving large sums to Domino Orphanage, and also a great gamer, holding the chess championship ten years running. Kaiba Seto, himself an expert gamesman, has promised that the charitable donations will not cease. He has hinted that Kaiba Corporation will be moving in a new direction, one which honors the spirit of gaming that both he and his father holds dear.
"In other news, there is some controversy as to the fate of Kaiba Seto and his younger brother—"
Matsumura wrote "Mokuba" and smoothed it onto the article.
"—both of whom are under the legal adult age and are now made orphans with the tragic death of their father."