Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series

Parallel

Chapter 036

Originally Written: Friday, April 15, 2022 1207AM to 1253AM

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A/N: I debated on adding this here too, but the potential trigger warning continues, I think.

It took Seto an hour before he looked at the letter that had fallen next to the door. His drink had soaked into it by now. It took another half hour before he walked over to it, ten minutes to pick it up instead of staring at it, and five to calm down enough to properly dry it. He focused, hovering a hand over the letter. The liquid came out of it, shaped into a small bubble. He walked over to his sink, and dropped it in. The bubble popped and the liquid swirled down the drain.

Noah was the one who came to the orphanage. Gozaburo was just expensive eye-candy for the media. Noah wanted a brother, and he threw a fit until he got what he wanted. This was the next best option, because Gozaburo hadn't wanted to remarry after Noah's mother died. All his focus went into building the military based Kaiba Corporation. Noah's mother was a weapons nut and gore fanatic for all the fancy dresses and makeup and glam she showered the public with. A perfect match for Gozaburo.

Noah wasn't like that. He wanted a brother, he wanted a friend. He picked Seto, who firmly let him know he and Mokuba were a packaged deal. Noah shrugged, claimed that his father had enough money to house every child in the orphanage a few times over, and gave said father the puppy dog treatment until he gave in.

Noah cleaned up Seto's wounds after Gozaburo and the advisors beat and abused him, overreaching with their teaching methods by leaps and bounds. He would always start with 'Geeze. You look a mess. Try not to anger them anymore, okay?'

They'd sit on Seto's bed, and talk for hours. Seto wasn't allowed to see Mokuba, but Noah was. Noah would sit and tell him what he and Mokuba did that day. He shielded Mokuba when Seto couldn't. And he shielded Seto too. He would take off the shock collar Gozaburo would make Seto wear, and return it in the morning, so Gozaburo wouldn't know anything was wrong. When Gozaburo asked why the positioning on the collar changed, Noah always had a story ready. 'It gets in the way of my punishment.' 'He's not a very good dog isn't he? Don't worry, I put him to rights.' Usually there were so many wounds on Seto, no one could tell if Noah had added any. It didn't matter.

What did was that behind closed doors Noah never put his hands on him. Not even when Amane showed up and started putting nonsense in his brain. Slowly Seto learned. He became obedient. Became the dog Gozaburo wanted him to be. Punishment came less often, like a reward.

Noah gave him another reward. Noah gave him fairytale books. Thick tomes full of all sorts of fantastical stories birthed from cultures all over the globe. East to west. North to south. Past, present and future. He even went so far as to help him build and paint bookcases to hold his growing collection. A collection he kept dear to himself and Mokie, and separate from the Kaiba Corporation inheritance. Noah convinced Gozaburo to let him keep the books. Gozaburo had no need for such books, and made Seto pay and earn every book out of his pocket. It was the best gift either of them had given him.

Noah was the first to see him grab a book off the shelf he couldn't reach without touching it. Noah watched it float towards him, and didn't say that he was standing in the doorway until it was far too late for Seto to come up with a lie. Noah could have turned him into a test subject. So could have Roland, and Fuguta, and the others when they saw. But they didn't. Under Noah's guidance, they all pressed a finger to their lips like it was one big special secret within the Kaiba Mansion.

Those who got to know Seto would ask. He had so so much evidence. He had slowly taken power and money out from under Gozaburo's hands and feet. He used that money for books, and invested the rest. Put just enough back into Kaiba Corporation to keep Gozaburo off his and Mokuba's backs. Just like Gozaburo and his teachers taught him. He could put the man away in prison for the rest of his life, and then pay off the security guards in the prison to kill him. If that failed, he had his magic. Even shoving him out a window would be easy. Fully taking the company from him would be a piece of cake. He was smarter than Noah, just like Noah wanted.

Yet he couldn't. He begged for those who asked to not do anything either. Noah didn't ruin his life. Gozaburo did. So how could he ruin Noah's life in such a way? 'My father is a bit much, isn't he? I hope…Give him a chance. He's just…sad.' As Noah would say.

And now he was here, staring at Noah's last words to him.

Seto shook out the letter. The soda had smudged a bit of Noah's fancy script, but it wasn't illegible. He walked over to the table, and sat down.

Seto…

I'm a terrible brother and son, aren't I? Just the worst. What have I done? Why didn't I see how horrible she is? Father's gone now, Seto. I don't know what she did, but he's gone… She's possessed by a demon or something. I don't know. She killed him. I know she did. Over a game. Over a fucking game! Amane killed my father over a fucking game! My father is gone now.

I think I'm next Seto. Don't come looking for me. Please stay away from her. Take Mokie and run far away. Don't come back here. Don't come back even when you're certain that she can't take anything else from you.

What have I done? I am so sorry. So sorry.

Splotches of smudged ink muddled portions of many words. The paper was crinkled in a way that Seto knew he didn't do. He wondered how many tears Noah shed, and how many times he crinkled the paper up and smoothed it out again as he wrote.

I love you both, Seto and Mokuba. Please stay safe.'

Would taking Gozaburo out of the picture have saved Noah? Or would such an event have turned him into Gozaburo 2.0? Seto didn't know. He never would. He didn't need to now. He left his glasses sitting on the letter on the table. He walked to his private bathroom, and looked in the mirror. He stood there and stared at his blurry reflection. He stared at the odd mix of power and coward he had become until Fuguta came in and dragged him to bed.