Chapter 18 – Part of This Disease
2/5/10
Disclaimer: I won't ever own Yu-gi-oh. Ever. I do own the OCs and aspects of the plot. Honestly, I don't get the point of writing disclaimers on a fanfiction website. It just feels like a waste of writing time.
The female journalist stared at a picture before returning it back into the brown portfolio. She closed her eyes and rubbed her eyelids before speaking. "We've suspected KaibaCorp of illegal activity, but never this. I can't believe they instigated a civil war, so they could make an extra buck." In the photo, a dark-skinned child of eight years lay in between what appeared to be several body parts, bleeding and seriously injured.
Seiji sat quietly, his arms rested on the round table situated in a corner of the establishment. For several nights, that photo haunted him, having the knowledge that he worked for a company that profited from such brutality.
During the phone call, Takahashi's colleague Kaori agreed to meet him at an out-of-the-way tavern about a few miles from Domino City. Seiji had his reservations, staying up till the late hours of night and pondering if it would be better to cancel on this arrangement. It was not as if he hadn't looked into the woman's credibility before he contacted her. Takahashi Isamu trusted this woman, the thirty-two-year-old reminded himself as he paced in his room. More importantly, Seiji trusted his own research.
The appearance of her chosen establishment hardly eased his nerves. It was almost too stereotypically sleazy to be true that Seiji felt tempted to pinch himself when he arrived. The yellowish paint on walls was peeling, and the wooden tables and chair were either rotting or covered with heavy graffiti. The few people at the counter, who appeared at least ten years older than him, huddled on bar stools and seemed miserable.
Kaori, an attractive woman in her early twenties, seemed so out-of-place here, but she didn't seem to notice. She sipped her beer as she read over another document, adjusting the baseball cap that she donned over her loose raven hair.
"KaibaCorp hired a private military corporation for the initial attack, but the soldiers didn't need to do much after they assassinated the parliament member. Conflict has been common between those two tribes for a long time, so it was easy for KaibaCorp to manipulate them. Takahashi never found the name of the mercenaries that they hired, so I did a little research. Everything that you need for your article is there."
Kaori straightened the papers and placed them into the portfolio. She deposited it into an over-sized leather bag.
"Nakamura, it must be hard for you to have seen Takahashi die." Her hands fell on his, resting softly on his. Seiji jerked his hands away, and for a fleeting moment, Kaori appeared a bit hurt.
"I thought Takahashi meant that Gozaburo killed someone when he called him a murderer," Seiji commented, uncomfortable with her gesture. It had been only a couple of days, since he called her.
"He might not have picked up the gun and triggered it, but, in my eyes, Gozaburo's just as responsible. Takahashi wasn't just a colleague—he was my mentor. He deserves justice." Seiji didn't answer. A strong sense of relief filled him, just knowing that someone else shared this burden. "Are you sure that you don't want some sort of compensation?"
"I'm positive." Anything offered would have felt like blood money to Seiji. He just wanted to leave this bar and stop living each day in constant fear.
Seiji grabbed a few bills from his worn down wallet and put down a tip. He pushed his rickety stool and gave a quick wave to Kaori before leaving.
The creaky door swung, and the scorching outdoors brought some semblance of fresh air. The musty smell of dust and alcohol that permeated in the establishment still overpowered his nose. He hoped that it hadn't gotten into his clothes. The last thing he needed were any questions from Seto, who was more observant than the average adult.
Seiji stepped off a curb where he parked his silver Honda Civic. Opening the door with his keys, Seiji sat in the driver's seat and closed the door. After starting the ignition, pulled from the curb and shifted to the empty road.
Beads of sweat formed across his forehead, and Seiji quickly dabbed the sleeve of his shirt against them. With Seto and Mokuba at a neighbor's home and the meeting ended much sooner than he expected, Seiji could pick up ice cream from the grocery store. The three of them could sit down in the kitchen and enjoy the cool dessert, and then, they could go to the park and relax in the shade. Push Mokie on the baby swings. Let Seto hang from the monkey bars.
Those small moments mattered, and he never wanted to miss them. Seiji wondered what his eighteen-year-old self might have thought of his current state: unemployed, a single father, and no closer to his amusement park dream than he had been a year ago. Then again, he was a naive foreigner in America with nothing but hopes for his future.
More sweat dripped on his body, and he quickly fiddled with the knob for the air conditioner so he could cool his face. He sighed as it blew cold air and held tightly to the steering wheel. The streets were relatively empty, aside from a truck that drove on the opposite road.
Glass splintered to a thousand pieces, and his head snapped back. There was so much pain that it didn't occur to him that the truck had swerved into the front of his car. It didn't occur to him that several shards of glass stuck deeply across his face or the screech of the vehicle as it drove way.
Tears filled his eyes as he thought of the one thing he'd never have. A future.
...
Holding a brown portfolio with one hand, Kaori strutted into a well-furnished office. Grinning, she leaned towards a fruitwood executive desk and dropped the item onto it. She seated herself on an opposite chair as the man gave her scornful look.
The suited man carefully flipped through the pages, scrutinizing for any false leads. He gave her annoyed look as the journalist leaned against the chair's back.
"Everything's there. I'll be collecting my cash soon."
The man ignored the journalist as he closed the portfolio. He grabbed the receiver of the phone and dialed on the touchpad. "Everything's been taken care of." He hung up after a few moments, picked up a briefcase by his desk, and handed it to her. "The cash is here along with evidence for your next story. In here, there are documents of illegal corporate activity by Sustantivo Inc."
She flipped open a silver briefcase, full of money and official looking papers, and picked them up. After browsing through the documents, the journalist smiled. "Hmm...Are you using me to take down the competition? How sneaky of you, Isono." She closed the briefcase.
Roland said nothing, only pressing his hands against his forehead.
She leaned toward the desk and picked up a pen before saying anything. "You know, I'd almost think that you felt sorry about killing this Nakamura fellow."
"He was a good man."
"So was Takahashi. That didn't stop you from hiring a gunman."
Roland said nothing as confusion entered his eyes.
"It looks like they've upgraded your office. Nice place. You're getting a bigger salary too."
Roland's face looked pained. "Don't—"
"You worked so hard to get where you are. When I called you and informed you his name, you could have easily stopped everything." She leaned closer towards him. "You know what would happen if that story was exposed. KaibaCorp's image would be devastated, and that would completely hurt the Japanese economy. We're already facing a recession. Let's also not forget that your position in all of this. In the big picture, people like Seiji Nakamura don't matter."
Closing his eyes, Roland pinched the bridge of his nose. Guilt overwhelmed him, but he was too deeply entrenched in the scandal to remain unscathed. Eventually, the authorities would arrest him. During those deals Roland had been the messenger. He opened his eyes and asked the journalist to leave. Seiji Nakamura would have to be the sacrifice. He was just one man among billions, someone who would be forgotten.
To Atem's Sister Atea, I loved your review. You can send Brian to the Shadow Realm. He deserves it. As for Alister, he's got nothing to do with the Crawanda. Crawanda is an imaginary country inspired by Rwanda (see lack of originality) in Africa that had an actual genocide. I made up a lot of the events to suit the story. Hiroko's dislike of Americans isn't as that uncommon, sadly. There's a common misconception that Americans are ignorant, lazy, and a bit of a bully. I know this because people have been surprised that I don't act like a "usual American," whatever that means. As for Seiji, he doesn't anything wrong with him physically, at least in Chapter 17. Seiji's just emotionally distressed and having a hard time putting up the façade that he put for his children.
To A person who loves your story, I'm glad I can make your day better and hope you enjoy my double update. Bad days suck. It would be awesome if Foreigner was animated because I could use the extra cash. Alas, not mine.
To evil sasuke girl, I'm glad you enjoyed Seto/Mokuba interaction. They are adorable, and hope you enjoy this chap as well.
To MythCreatorWriter, you don't need to worry about cursing because I don't censor. It'd be hypocritical of me to do so, when Jun and the other characters using bad language in the story. I only dislike spam because that's just rude. I'm glad that the story made sense after all of this time. That was one of my worries because I draw a lot of little details from many parts of the story. Thanks for pointing out that part with Isono, I'll fix it when I can. Duke must have been an adorable, egotistical child. He must have been getting attention, just like when he was an adult. And I'm guessing you already read what happened to Seiji. I'm hoping everything makes sense.
To Ash Kaiba, Thank you for the compliments. I'm extremely glad you enjoyed this story and the V8 joke. I was much too tempted to let that one go. Enjoy the rest of Foreigner.
To Shroud Ishtar, I'm so glad you like this story. I haven't seen many Kaiba childhood stories, particularly about the parents, so that's why I wrote it. It makes me happy that you like that Seto was developed; I was worried that people would think that be impatient with the beginning chapters.
To Zoelle, well, Seiji did try to take down KaibaCorp. I wish I didn't need to kill him, but there'd be no story if I didn't.
To Noc and NC, cameos are fun to write because I do believe that people are connected in the most random, unexpected way. While I have lost a lot of interest in fanfiction, I still have interest in your story because your characters seem realistic, and it has a good plot. As for Jun, I'm glad you like her. She's one of those ambiguous characters that the readers can decide on. Personally, I loved writing her.
To The Duelist's Heiress, I'm really glad that you like it so far. I saw your review right before I watched Lost, so that made me extra happy.
To Meconopsis, thank you for your compliments. Enjoy your other chapter as well.