Dez101: Here you go. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Dez101 owns nothing despite the plans of takeover in the works
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Last Time
Kaiba walked up the steps of the Higurashi shrine at a sedate pace. Once at the top, he briefly looked around before knocking on the door of the main house. The door was opened by a short woman resembling Kagome.
"Ah, Seto. You're early. How are you dear?"
Seto let his mask drop to grace the woman with a smile normally reserved for his siblings.
"I'm fine, mother. May I come in?"
Now
Kaiba sat silently drinking a cup of tea with Higurashi matriarch. The woman who helped raise Mokuba and keep him out of the foster care system. He remembered her husband quite clearly. Toshiro Higurashi had been their social worker when his birth parents had died. But he was more than that. He treated them like they were than just a case or paycheck or a bother. He treated them as his own. He could still distinctly remember Mr. Higurashi bringing Kagome with him to visit and play with the two reclusive boys at the orphanage.
Flashback
"Mr. Higurashi!"
The tall male braced himself for impact as a small child with long, bushy raven hair barreled into his legs. Large brown eyes looked up at him with undiluted joy as he hugged the man's legs tighter. Kindness that only a parent can show a child shined in the man's icy blue eyes.
"How are you doing today, Mokuba ?" , the man asked, gently patting the boy's unruly locks.
" I'm fine. Did you bring Gome-chan again?"
The social worker let out a light hearted chuckle. Of course. His little girl had made fast friends with Mokuba and Seto.
" I believe she went to look for your brother out back."
The words hadn't even finished his lips when the boy took off in search of his brother and friend.
He paid no mind to the simpletons running around the fenced off play area behind the orphanage as he read his book. They meant nothing to him, no more than a bother to him. And they were of no longer of any threat to Mokuba. His brother was his only friend he had and nee-
Thump…
Correction. His brother and the ever clumsy Kagome Higurashi. As he laid sprawled out on his back, looked carefully and the girl now sitting up on his stomach. Large blue eyes framed by long lashes were slightly pinched in pain as the girl rubbed her sore forehead through the blue tinted black bangs she'd inherited from her father. He cleared his throat, startling the girl before a huge grin broke out on her face.
"HiSeto-kun!Howareyoudoing?Whyareyououtherebyyourself?Wh-"
Seto calmly slapped a hand on her mouth before she could continue her babbling. Ice and sapphire watched each other as Kagome started to relax and Seto idly wondered why she was there.
"Kagome, would you get off of me now? And why are you here? You usually visit on Fridays. Today's Tuesday.
The girl ignored his request and beamed at the downed boy brightly. A faint, very faint, blush arose on Seto's cheeks at this.
"Cause papa said you're getting adopted! That means you can leave the orphanage and have a home and visit us wh-"
"Me and Mokuba are getting adopted?"
"Yeah! By some guy named Gozu-something Kaiba!"
Two Years later
A fourteen year old Seto Kaiba held on tightly to the now twelve year old Kagome as she broke down, tears streaming down her face as she watched a casket be lowered into the ground. His eyes burned as tears threatened to spill but didn't fall. He would remain. He held an umbrella over the both of them as heavy downpour further added to the sadness. Seto watched with a heavy heart as Kagome's mother walked around the open grave towards her child to comfort her, catching the woman off guard when he lifted an arm towards her. Her face finally cracked from its calm mask of mourning before she accepted the silent invitation and started sobbing along with her daughter. Mokuba and Souta both clung to each other under an umbrella held up by a younger Romario.
No one saw the accident but the police had ruled out a homicide, stating that the car crash was due to the break lines snapping when the slippery roads caused the car to lose its grip when coming down the steep hill. An unfortunate accident.
Seto inwardly scoffed. The accident happened last week just before his takeover of Kaiba Corp when Gozaburo was starting to get desperate. The death threw him for a loop and he'd almost lost focus. But now the man was dead and he now owned the company. Seto paid for all the costs of the funeral and visited Kagome's family during their time of grief. He felt it to. The closest person he had to a real father gone.
Seto's eyes locked on the tombstone as the first shovel of dirt hit the coffin, the two Higurashi females tightening the embrace at the soft thump.
Here lies a great father, friend, husband, son and brother in arms.
While his life may have been cut short, his soul will live on forever more.
Toshiro Kagame Higurashi
19XX - 2XXX
End of flashback.
Up to this day, Seto was positive that the crash was no accident. But enough of the past.
"How's Kagome doing? She hasn't called home in a while and I worry about her."
Mitoka Higurashi asked her "son". After Kagome suddenly flew out of the well one day and couldn't go back through, she'd descended into a deep depression. The girl would sit at her window, clutching her deck and a ring tightly to her chest while staring blankly at the well house. And no matter how much she pried and pleaded with her, Mitoka couldn't get her little bird to leave the cage she'd made for herself. So she called Seto to take her from the shrine, the well house and Tokyo all together. Away from the painful memories. Kagome was only 16 going on 17 in a few weeks when Seto took her to Domino city and had her living with him and Mokuba. That was three months ago and summer vacation was underway. Yesterday was the first she'd seen her baby girl on the tv, lively and happy but she could still see that same haunted look in Kagome's eyes.
" She's doing better, mother. I-"
Seto stopped to answer his com.
"Yes._You did?_ Alright, I'm on my way."
Seto turned back to Ms. Higurashi to tell her he had to depart when she gave him a warm hug. He'd stiffened at first at the in expected contact but quickly relaxed into the embrace.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing happens to her."
Mitoka looked up into Seto's eyes with a knowing look.
" Of course you will. You love her too much not too."
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DeZ: Ah. A little insight into that relationship. But more to come. ( lifts umbrella. ) Let the tomatoes fly.
