I mean, come on. Y'all knew this was coming.

Or maybe you didn't. Point is, yeah, I was always gonna lean this way for an antagonist.

Thanks, Duel Monsters anime.

You gave me a perfect villain.

.

Isono Tsukuda and Fuguta Hattori were two of the Kaibas' newest hires, and they knew they had to distinguish themselves if they wanted to remain; the mystery of Noa's accident was Isono's first big break, and he was resolute in his dedication to it. He would see it done, no matter what it cost him. It was a known quantity for any contractor in Domino City that working for the Kaiba Corporation was one of the best jobs anyone could land, and there were plenty of rumors circulating around . . . certain circles that plenty of men had killed for that opportunity.

Isono wasn't one of them, and neither was Fuguta.

But they both knew multiple people who would.

Meeting with Gozaburo and Amaya at the same time was . . . a difficult prospect.

But Isono knew he had to clinch this.

He stepped into Kaiba Manor's ground floor drawing room, carrying a thick folder under one arm, like a man headed for the gallows. Whether Isono was the executioner or the convict, he had no idea. All the same, he clicked his heels together and bowed deeply at the waist.

"Master Kaiba," he said. "Mistress Kaiba."

"Good morning, Tsukuda," said Amaya, with a welcoming wave. "Please. Sit down."

Gozaburo said nothing; he sat near his wife, hands clasped in his lap, and brooded.

Isono did as directed; he set his folder onto the table sitting between them. "I must apologize," he said, "for the delay in getting this information to you. The simple truth of the matter is this: whomever has it in for you is very dedicated to covering their tracks."

"Whomever," Gozaburo repeated. "Raj wasn't working alone, then. You've confirmed this."

He was in deep," Isono said. "Saddled with the kind of debts that can kill a man, sir. Maintaining his lifestyle and keeping himself a step ahead of the people he owed . . . will have taken a benefactor with deep pockets. I think the move on your son was that benefactor calling in to collect."

"What makes you say this?" Gozaburo leaned forward, looking interested now.

Isono reached out, stripped his folder of the thick rubber bands holding it shut, and opened it. He sifted through papers until he found what he was looking for. He tapped it with a finger. "Look here," he said. "His bank statements, for the week leading up to Master Noa's accident."

Gozaburo looked over the information presented; his brow furrowed. He scowled. "Deep pockets, indeed," he muttered.

"There's rumblings that Ishmael Faraji faked his death to avoid paying up," Isono said.

Gozaburo grunted. "Absolutely baseless," he said. "The man is dead." He looked up at his newest employee; something in his gaze told Isono that this wasn't a guess, and Isono didn't have to ask any follow-up questions. "All that remains of that man are memories. Precious few, I don't doubt."

"Only two of his children showed up at his funeral," Isono said. "The youngest two, specifically."

"So," Amaya said, "dearest, your guess was correct. Someone was pulling strings to influence Ishmael. The question remains: who?" She looked at Isono. "Who could have that kind of capital? More to the point, who would have that capital while remaining completely invisible?"

"That is the question," Isono said, nodding, "but the wrinkle is this: they aren't invisible. Not completely." He sifted through more and more papers until he found something else. "Here it is." He tapped with his finger again. "Fuguta was able to track down the account funding Faraji's exploits."

Gozaburo's scowl deepened. "Paradius," he said, lip curling, like he found the word itself distasteful.

"Who the hell is Paradius?" Amaya wondered.

"Whatever, or whomever, it is," Isono said softly, "it's everywhere."

.

A majority of the space in Kaiba Manor's library was dedicated to almanacs, reference volumes, legal theory, and a small fortune's worth of rare editions that Amaya kept mostly as a contingency plan; if, for whatever reason, the family was in need of fast funds, selling any one of these books would suffice. All the same, there was a full wall dedicated to the sorts of books that appealed to children; specifically, Noa. The young Kaiba's personal collection was mostly science fiction magazines, rare comic books, and figurines.

"I'm sure we can renovate around here," Noa said, when he finally got around to showing his trove to his new brother, "and you'll have your own section." He smiled, tapping his cane on the floor just because he liked the sound of it; he did this often. "What do you read?"

"Whatever I can find," Seto admitted. "The orphanage only ever had things they could get secondhand. From the public library, or thrift stores, or donations. The most use I ever got out of their stuff was some picture books that I used when I was teaching Mokie his numbers."

"What about . . . before?" Noa asked, gingerly, unsure how Seto might take the question.

Seto shrugged. "Mama liked books about mythology. When I was little, I would always ask her to tell me stories about dragons. Whatever she could find."

"Dragons," Noa repeated. He nodded to himself. "That makes sense. Dragons are fierce. Free. Proud."

Rich, Seto thought, but he didn't say it out loud. "I guess I've never really thought about what books I'd get if I could just . . . get them."

Noa grinned. "Hahaue says reading is a fundamental requirement for life. I'm pretty sure she would get you anything you could think of. You know what we should do? We should go to Liam's."

"Liam's?" Seto looked clueless.

"Liam's Lost Library," Noa said. "It's a used bookstore Hahaue likes to visit. I bet she'd love to head down there again. We should go with her next time. You can look around at all the different options, pick up some stuff, find out what you like."

Seto started to ask what sorts of chores he would have to do in order to earn that kind of trip, but he realized that Noa would probably do that thing he did whenever Seto said anything that he found foreign: stare at him the same way a curious puppy stared at an answering machine when it heard its human's voice coming out of it.

As if reading his mind, Noa said: "I know what you're thinking. You don't have to earn books. That's not how Hahaue does things. Learning is an investment. She isn't going to make you pay for your own education."

"Comic books are educational?" Seto asked, suspiciously, looking at the majority of Noa's collection.

"You'd be surprised," Noa said. "Anyway, just watch. I'll talk to Hahaue when she gets home today. As soon as I mention the idea, her eyes will light up and she'll start planning a day trip." He grinned, showing his teeth. "She might even let you see her private collection."

"Does . . . I mean, does everyone have their own books?" Seto wondered.

Noa nodded. "Chichiue keeps most of his stuff in his study, so a lot of what you'll find in here is Hahaue's. She's . . . a bit of a collector."

"Has she read all these?"

"Most of them twice," Noa said.

"What . . . what sorts of books does the president of a corporation read?"

Noa mulled this over. "Chichiue has a bunch of stuffy old philosophy texts. I'm not sure if he actually likes to read them or if he just likes having them. Sometimes I'll see him standing in front of his bookshelf with one of those cigars he likes, smoking and looking all broody."

Seto smiled.