Noah Kaiba's life was falling apart before his very eyes.
"Brothers. Two of them! Can you believe my father would stoop so low as to adopt siblings for me?" Noah scoffed, all but throwing his music book into the large cabinet next to him. The maids wouldn't mind cleaning up some bits of paper, he knew, and besides, everyone involved in the Kaiba circle had a much bigger issue at hand - his father's ridiculous, irresponsible decision to adopt two orphans from Domino's most run-down orphanage.
"It really seems out of character for him to do such a thing," his friend Reika agreed. She was much more careful with her music, closing the book neatly and placing it into her bag with careful consideration as to where it should go. "I thought the trip to the orphanage was just to pass out the gifts that were collected at last week's gala?"
He nodded. "Yes, it was, so I don't know how some random orphan managed to convince my father that he was worthy of being adopted by a Kaiba. It just doesn't make sense."
Reika frowned a little and placed her hands in her lap. "Well… what are you gonna do? Did your dad say why he chose to adopt them?" She was being careful with her words, he could tell, but he couldn't figure out why she seemed to be so careful when it came to his father - he never was.
"Father says he adopted them because he doesn't think I'm ready to take over KaibaCorp. That I'm lazy. Can you believe that? Apparently the boy our age has a bit of a brain that somehow managed to impress my father," Noah explained with a scowl. "I'm going to destroy him, and show him that he has no right bearing the Kaiba name. That will make father drop him and his sorry brother back off at that orphanage."
Something flashed in Reika's face, but by the time he'd realized it, her face was back to neutral. "I see. Well, perhaps some competition will do you some good. It's not like any of us can keep up with you when it comes to math and science."
"That's not true. You are solidly middle of the road in math and science."
"Yet you're in another city with how many roads ahead of us you are. That's why you've got a private tutor and us in the Young Five are in public school."
Noah rolled his eyes. "And I have told you we can change that for the Young Five! It would be much better having friends in my lessons with me."
"You will have your brother in your lessons with you. You have no need for friendly distractions during them."
Noah didn't notice the flinch Reika gave at his father's voice, nor did he notice the way her spine snapped straight up like a ruler.
His father and his father's right hand, Lector, were standing in the doorway. His father's face was in the typical scowl, but Lector was smiling a little as he looked between the two preteens.
"Miss Muto, it's time to get you home now," Lector said with a tight smile. He held out his hand, like it was of the utmost importance that they leave immediately.
"Yes, and thank you for agreeing to stay a bit later so Noah could practice his concerto," his father added. He still didn't smile.
"It's not a problem, Mr. Kaiba," Reika said, rising to her feet and bowing. "Thank you for allowing me to stay."
Ugh, why did Reika feel like she had to bow to his father? It was just his father! And his father was ruining their fun!
But Reika was putting her bag over her shoulder and following Lector out of the room, leaving Noah alone in the big house with his father and the staff.
"Noah, I certainly hope you don't have an issue with my plan to bring two more Kaibas into our family," his father said with a raised brow. "I thought we spoke about this already."
"You keep ignoring the fact that I don't need a brother, or anyone to compete with when it comes to education! Reika admitted herself that I'm far ahead of the Young Five."
His father scoffed. "The Young Five do not need to have brilliant enough minds to carry on the Kaiba name. They just need to be able to support our work. You on the other hand, do, and I am concerned about you being distracted by those friends of yours. That is why Seto will be here to make sure you stop being so distracted."
Noah glared. "Fine then! I'm going to prove to you that I will be the one that takes over KaibaCorp and that Seto brat will be sent right back to the orphanage where he belongs!"
His father gave him a smirk. "Now that's what I wanted to hear. But you know you need to give him a Kaiba welcome, don't you?"
Noah gave his father a smile. "Naturally, father."
It took a couple of weeks for paperwork to be processed (and for the media to fawn over Gozaburo Kaiba opening his heart to two poor innocent orphans), but eventually, on a terribly rainy day, Seto and Mokuba were marched up the steps, with Noah and the Young Five standing in front of the door waiting for the two to arrive.
"Seto, Mokuba… this is your brother Noah. Seto, Noah will be in lessons with you. I expect you two to work together in order to make yourselves the brilliant minds that KaibaCorp will need when it moves into the future," Gozaburo said.
"Of course Father," both boys said at the same time, and Noah had to resist the urge to glare at his new brother.
His father gave him a look, and Noah let out a small sigh, gesturing to the others behind him. "Seto, this is the Young Five. They are friends of ours, hand picked by our father to help set KaibaCorp up for the future. Each one of them is under the mentorship of one of Father's men. This is Reika, Mei, Sora, Katsuo and Hideo," he explained, watching as each of his friends bowed to his new brothers. Dammit. Nothing was his anymore. It wasn't fair. He didn't do anything to deserve this.
He needed to get rid of these brats immediately.
"Now then children, why don't you go into the study to get to know Seto and Mokuba? I will be in a meeting with The Big Five," Gozaburo said. "Seto, Mokuba, we can give you a tour later."
Noah watched as the Young Five bowed again and resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the group made their way into Noah's study - or rather, the music room, where the grand piano and other various instruments lay before them. The Young Five had been taking music lessons with his father paying for it all. Noah couldn't help but wonder if their quintet would be ruined by Seto being brand new to music or if he could at least have something to himself. He hoped he would, anyway.
"So… why did Gozaburo found the Young Five to begin with?" Seto asked with a frown and a look of distrust sent toward his friends. Noah didn't appreciate it at all.
"KaibaCorp is looking to the future. Gozaburo wants to set Noah up with a group of people he can trust when he takes over the company," Hideo explained. "We were all chosen by the Big Five themselves."
"Each of us has a parent that works there," Reika explained. "My mom is Lector's secretary, Hideo's dad is an accountant under Crump, Sora's dad is an engineer who works with Nezbitt, Johnson is Mei's uncle, and Katsuo's mom works under Gansley."
There was something sharp in Seto's eyes. Noah could see it, and he was ready to watch the look fade from them.
Seto was ambitious, Noah would give him that. Somehow, he was keeping up with Noah's projects, and had submitted five more to their father than Noah had. All of them thankfully, had been rejected as something frivolous (gaming technology, ha! It was ridiculous), but even so, Noah was beginning to sweat.
He had told the Young Five it would only take a couple of months to get rid of Seto and Mokuba, but it had been two years already, and his father didn't show any signs of throwing them out.
The Young FIve seemed to be playing a game as well - they were cozying up to Seto like they thought he would be the one taking over. Noah was trying not to let it bother him though - after all, they were also sticking close to him too, because they'd known him since they had all been babies - they were all the closest of confidants to each other. Of course they would know to use Seto for their own gains.
"What are you doing?"
Ah, and then there was the younger Kaiba. Mokuba. Noah still wasn't quite sure what to make of him - he brought a cheeriness to the house that Noah had never seen before from anyone else. The staff seemed to be charmed by him, always giving him little extra treats that Noah and Seto were both denied. Noah didn't understand why - he was just a silly little boy, not even remotely good enough to carry the Kaiba name. But father still wouldn't listen to him, no matter what Noah said.
"I'm working on a new sketch to show Father. A virtual map of anywhere in the world. He'll be able to use it to see how meetings with other leaders will go and how to find their greatest weaknesses," Noah explained, looking at Mokuba with a smirk. "What are you doing?"
Mokuba held a music book - one of Reika's, he realized - to his chest. "Reika offered to help me with piano, so… Kemo is taking me over to Reika's so she can teach me how to play."
He was so earnestly sweet, almost sickeningly so. It reminded Noah of Reika's cousin, Yugi. He must have reminded Reika of Yugi too, so he wasn't surprised to hear she was doing something nice for him. But that begged the question… "Why are you going to Reika's house instead of Reika coming here? We have the better piano." Reika lived in an apartment, not big enough to hold a piano, but instead an electric keyboard.
Mokuba only shrugged. "I don't know. Goza - Father told Kemo to take me there and not the other way around."
Noah frowned. This wasn't fair, wasn't right. Why would his father be denying him the chance to see a friend?
The Young Five were still around, of course. Father still allowed them to come over when they were done with school, and he and Seto were done with lessons, but it never felt the same. It felt like they were only there to be decorations for father's galas and events, not to be actual friends to him.
He didn't like it, but he didn't know if there was anything he could do to stop it.
"Anyway, I'll see you later, Noah," Mokuba said with a wave and a beaming smile before he skipped away in the direction of Seto's bedroom, probably to give him the same information about going to Reika's.
Noah turned back to his desk, his frown deepening. Father had been treating him like a workhorse lately - and despite trying to be indifferent, he knew he was treating Seto the same way. It seemed even though Noah was obviously pulling ahead of Seto and showing him that he was truly supposed to be the heir of KaibaCorp - as was his birthright. He didn't understand why he had to continue to go through this stupid song and dance that Father was making them do.
Really, it only seemed more cruel to Seto and Mokuba at this point than it was to Noah. Two years of thinking they were safe and home? They'd be back at the orphanage soon enough. Possibly.
Hopefully.
He just had to figure out a way to prove why his father should never have adopted those two in the first place.
"Seto, Noah, your tutors tell me you've tied scores on your exams. That is excellent news, especially for the company's future," their father said one night at dinner. "I am very proud of both of you."
Noah frowned and poked at his steak with his fork. That was not what he wanted to hear, and he suddenly wasn't hungry.
"Thank you, Father," Seto replied. "It is good to see that KaibaCorp will be in good hands in the future."
"Yes, my hands, Seto. You ought to know that by now," Noah said with a scowl.
Seto usually had a witty remark or some sort of comeback whenever they had an interaction, but this time, he said nothing and merely took another bite of steak, not meeting Noah's gaze.
Their father on the other hand shot Noah a look that had him sinking back in his chair.
"Noah, I would rather see KaibaCorp be run by both of you. You are both important, critically so, to the company, and you will both guide it to the future."
A look across the table at Seto told him Seto was also aware that only one of them would be able to run the company when their father would be unable to do so. It was a look on Seto's face that he had been trying desperately to erase. But the cold, calculating looks just kept coming, no matter what Noah - or even their father - seemed to do. What was it about Seto Kaiba that just kept going?
He would have to figure this out, and fast, before he was left in the dust.
"Isn't it obvious, Noah?" Reika questioned with a raised brow, a few days later when he'd brought up the issue to her on a video call. "He doesn't want to be sent back to the orphanage. Who can blame him? He and Mokuba were dumped at the worst one in the city! Of course Seto wants to make sure he impresses your father. He has a brother to protect and came from nothing, but you were born with the silver spoon in your mouth. You didn't have to worry about your dad throwing you out on the streets."
"But my father said - "
"You know how your family works. Your father wouldn't throw you out on the street. He would find another place for you." There was something unspoken in her words, but Noah couldn't figure it out.
"Why are you so nice to him?" he asked instead.
She stared at him like he'd grown another head. "Because he deserves kindness, and we have things in common? What, do you expect me to be rude to him just because you see him as a rival?"
"Because you were my friend first!"
Reika blinked slowly at him and shook her head. "That's not how friendship works. Not how it's supposed to work, anyway. I'm friends with Seto because we both like Duel Monsters and he's kind to me. And Mokuba is such a sweetheart."
"So you're friends with them because of what they can bring you?"
She put her head in her hand. "What? No! Have you ever tried to get to know them, like for real? Or have you just been viewing them as some sort of temporary obstacle that will go away when you reach some mystical goal in your own head?"
"They are temporary."
"Two years is temporary? It'll be three soon, Noah. Face it. Your dad has no intention of sending them back. Think of what'd it do to his reputation." Again, Reika's face was holding something back that Noah couldn't guess at. But she stood up and grabbed the jacket that had been hanging on the wall behind her. "Anyway, I've gotta get going. It's my dad's birthday and we're going to dinner."
Noah frowned. "Already? But you just got on the phone!"
His father cleared his throat from the doorway, causing Noah to jump and Reika to disconnect the call in an instant. "And you have work to do, Noah. I told you I wanted your new design in by tomorrow. Is yours ready?"
"Of course it's ready, father. It's going to be way better than Seto's could ever hope to be!"
His father had the uncanny ability to interrupt his time with his friends at the worst possible moment. Noah was really growing tired of it. Tired of his father trying to tell him what to do and how to act - he was fourteen now. He was way old enough to be able to decide for himself when he needed to end time with his friends, and he was also tired of the way his friends seemed to bend to his father's every whim - that was supposed to be reserved for the ants Gozaburo Kaiba was stepping on, not for the people that were going to be leading KaibaCorp into the future.
One day, when KaibaCorp was his, Noah would make sure he had all the time in the world for what he wanted to do, not just for work.
It was a cold, rainy, autumn day in Domino, and Noah poked his tongue out as he settled on another sketch for his father. A new type of scope lens for guns, one that would - if things went right - be able to tell a person who they were looking at if their backs were turned or if they were wearing something on their head. No longer would people have to worry about friendly fire or hitting the wrong target. It would be brilliant, and stupidly cheap for KaibaCorp to manufacture. Father would be deliriously proud of him, he knew. Saving money and providing an excellent service for what KaibaCorp was founded for? Surely that would prove once and for all he was the true heir and Seto and Mokuba would finally be sent away…
Even if Reika's words kept echoing in his head over how bad it would make father look. There was nothing that should keep those two around.
"Master Noah, your father wishes to speak with you and Master Seto," Ichika, his father's assistant said after knocking on his office door. Well, it wasn't his office, not yet, just an empty meeting room Noah had taken to using as his own office when he and Seto spent the full day at KaibaCorp, which was more frequently since they were close to completing their studies, while the members of the Young Five were still two years away from being able to complete their schooling.
Noah nodded and rose to his feet, following Ichika to Seto's work room, then to Father's favorite executive office. They were seated at the end of a long table, with one covered cart on each side of them.
"Seto, I am giving you one last test before you finish your studies," Father began with malice in his eyes, yet a smile on his face. "I am giving you two percent of KaibaCorp shares. If you can earn one-hundred times this amount by next year, you will be the one to take over KaibaCorp."
"What?! But Father, what about me?!" Noah shouted.
"Noah, as I have warned you multiple times in the past, you are easily distracted or sometimes blinded by your own emotions. I bet you don't even know what day it is today."
"It's October twenty-fifth!"
His father's eyes slid over to Seto. "Seto?"
"October twenty-fifth," Seto parroted, and for a brief, shining moment, Noah felt smug. "My sixteenth birthday."
Oh.
He had noticed that Seto would get celebratory dinners once in a while, but Noah had not noticed once in the past four years, that most of those had been on the same day. And now, because of this, because of Seto, he was losing everything that should rightfully be his.
"I warned you, Noah. This is the consequence I warned you about when I was planning to adopt Seto and Mokuba," Father said with a shake of his head. To outsiders, it might have been a sympathetic motion, but Noah knew better. He knew his father didn't actually care. His father had been using him for designs and plans for his tools of war - he had never actually intended for Noah to take the reins. It had all been Seto, and only Seto. "However… if Seto should fail in his test, I will then give it to you, to see if you are capable of doing it. But as it stands… Seto gets the first attempt."
White hot fury burned inside him. Seto ruined everything. Noah would be the only one being tested if his father hadn't had the stupid idea to adopt him. This was all Seto's fault. But Noah couldn't say as much right now while he was still in the room with his father. When he and his brother were alone though. Then… then that life-stealer would pay.
Noah turned and walked out of the meeting room, trying to keep his head high and retain the last of his shredded dignity. Calmly, he made his way back to his work room, threw his half-finished idea in the trash (Father didn't deserve such a great scope anyway), and called for a car to take him back to Kaiba Manor.
Fine. If he wasn't going to take control of KaibaCorp, he was going to find a way to build his own company from scratch and then buy Seto out of KaibaCorp. It would be a game of chess between the two brothers.
"Noah."
It was late when he heard Seto at his bedroom door, having been startled out of his - apparent - sleep at his desk. The bedside clock said one-thirty - long after Father went to bed on weekdays. So what could Father's golden goose possibly want?
Noah pulled himself to the door, pulling it open with an exhausted, furious frown. "What's wrong, Seto? Do you actually need help getting the money? Or have you come to hand over KaibaCorp to its rightful heir?"
"Wrong on both counts as always, Noah," Seto replied, rolling his eyes as he stepped into Noah's room without asking if he could, making Noah bristle with anger again. "I came because of this."
In his hand, Noah saw the crumpled up scope design he'd left behind at KaibaCorp. "What are you doing with that? Going to pass it off as yours to stay in Father's good graces?" Maybe in the future he'd be able to sue Seto for stealing his design, once he started his own company.
"Would you stop it? This has nothing to do with Father. And besides… I don't think you care as much about father as all that bravado says you do," Seto said, smirking in the dim light. "We can help each other, Noah."
"The only way you can help me is by getting out of my life."
Seto raised a brow. "You don't want to bring KaibaCorp into the future? Because this scope design is on a higher level than anything I'd seen from Gozaburo. You could use it for so many other things other than war. Medical technology, games…"
"Games? You really are the worst pick for KaibaCorp aren't you? DIdn't father destroy that silly, immature part of you? We do not deal with games - that's what Industrial Illusions is for," Noah scoffed, snatching the paper back from Seto. "I would never let my tech be used for something like that."
"But using it to kill people is okay?" Seto replied. "And besides, I am not the only one in this family who likes Duel Monsters. If I remember correctly, you are the one who intercepted the hollowed out book of cards Mokuba was going to give to me, not Hobson or Gozaburo. Believe me, I would have known if Gozaburo knew about that."
Noah lurched back, clenching his fists (and the design). It was true - one night he'd seen Mokuba giving Hobson a book, and had offered to deliver it in Hobson's steed - but instead he'd seen brand new, unopened pack of Duel Monsters cards hidden inside instead - a new pack, likely just set on the shelf, if not set aside for them since Mokuba had been at Reika's apartment that day and Reika's family had access to all sorts of games. She likely would have given such a pack to Mokuba - she had such a soft heart like that. Noah had once thought it too soft, but if she was now working with Seto instead of for Gozaburo… maybe there was a method to what Noah had once perceived as madness.
Seto smirked again, and Noah knew he'd been caught. "I thought as much. I know you eavesdrop whenever the Young Five mentions the game. You like to pretend you don't, but I've seen you. You know that KaibaCorp can become the leaders in gaming technology, but Gozaburo will stand in our way."
Noah hated this. Hated that Seto was right - because he was, Noah saw the writing on the wall when it came to the world. The world was so sick and tired of war, and KaibaCorp would suffer if something wasn't done about it. Noah also knew there wasn't a chance in hell their father would ever listen to such concerns - not from Seto, from Noah, or from anyone on the Big Five or any other shareholders. Father accused Noah of being distracted by friends, or Seto by Duel Monsters, but Father was distracted by war, and how much money that could be made by it.
Father didn't seem to notice that the profits weren't going down because of shareholders knowing what the people wanted, but instead he blamed workers, he blamed the leaders of the "weaker" departments.
Suddenly, the odd looks and words he'd get by some members of the Young Five were beginning to make sense. They had seen the writing on the wall for a long time - there was no wool over their eyes.
It made sense there wasn't - even though they were part of Father's inner circle, they didn't leave and breathe KaibaCorp every day. They went to school, they had other friends outside Noah and Seto. They had… lives. Noah had wanted something like that. He'd wanted a chance to do something outside KaibaCorp… and if he worked with Seto, maybe he could.
But he needed something from him first.
"If I agree to work with you, what will you do to help me, Seto?"
"You'll be my right hand. There are people who still don't know me, don't trust me, so I'll need help in gaining that trust… providing you think they're worthy of keeping around. You will also be the lead designer for KaibaCorp's gaming technology. That scope is very good. Imagine it being used for a game instead of to kill people."
KaibaCorp creating tools for war, that Noah had personally designed himself, had always been something Noah had known about, but until recently, had tried to pretend he didn't have a hand in, or at the very least, what happened once he passed the designs off to his father was not his fault. As he'd gotten older though, and fully come to understand what it meant to be part of KaibaCorp, it had gotten harder and harder to ignore, especially once the shareholders felt like it was time to start talking about his father in front of Noah under the guise of wanting to speak about the future.
Noah had never told his father what people really thought of him.
The scope being used for a game… "Like a VR game. It could be worn on the wrist like a watch."
"Exactly," Seto agreed, and Noah met his gaze with a confused one of his own. "See what happens when you and I are able to work together, instead of against each other?"
"We'll be unstoppable, of course. We are Kaibas, after all."
Seto held out his hand, and Noah shook it. As much as he'd loathed him for the past four years, he was right. It was time for KaibaCorp to move into the future… and Noah wasn't sure his father was the right person for the job.
"I should head to bed," Seto said, making his way to the door.
"I heard something rather interesting the other day," Noah said, clasping his hands behind his back and making Seto halt in his tracks. "Just some food for thought, Seto. Father has been undermining the Big Five's power, or so they've been complaining in their meetings with the Young group. If you would like to do something about father imminently, they might be a good place to start."
Seto raised a brow and looked over at him, a sly smile on his face. "Perhaps they would."
"You know, especially since Lector is babysitting you through your test."
"Hmph, yes, that's true."
And then Seto was gone.
Waiting for the plan to come to fruition was agonizing. Now that his mask was shattered, it was hard having to pretend to be Father's little puppet, when in reality he was just waiting for father to be ousted, and the future of KaibaCorp to begin. Though he didn't fully trust Seto, not as much as he knew Seto much wish he did, he had heard whispers for a while, and those whispers had begun to turn to screams.
People were not happy with Gozaburo Kaiba, and wanted him gone. It had been a hollow thing to rectify in his head, but with the way sales were going and the angry looks their father often got from others, he knew that a change in CEO was for the best. Even if he felt hollow at that CEO not being him, and him instead having to work under a usurper. But there was time, in the future, for Noah to show what he was made of, to take KaibaCorp back not for his father, but for himself.
Finally, on another cold, rainy autumn day, Noah was called into Father's favorite meeting room, and asked to take a seat next to him. Behind them stood five men - ones Noah recognized as those Father had been grooming to take over lofty positions in the company. Seto was sitting with Mokuba on the other side, the Big Five fanned out behind them.
"Noah, my son. I have discovered something truly terrible. Seto has gone behind my back and flipped the Big Five against me. He has gained forty-nine percent of KaibaCorp's stocks," his father said, looking at Noah with malice in his eyes. "But thankfully, I know you have shares of KaibaCorp as well. Shares that have been your birthright."
Oh, now he was concerned about Noah's birthright? Noah would have laughed if he wasn't supposed to be playing the part of the doting, worried son.
"That's terrible, Father, and you're right. That two percent would tip the scales toward you," Noah said, looking at his father with wide eyes.
"Yes, and once I take the company back, I will put you in charge of research and development so you can get some experience under your belt for when you take control of the company after I am gone."
Noah's lips twitched a little in amusement. "I see. I warned you this would happen, Father." He paused and rose to his feet. "It's just too bad you didn't listen to me sooner."
"Noah, I trust you now."
"You're too late, father," Noah said with a shake of his head, and made his way to Seto and the Big Five. "I'm giving my shares to Seto."
"What?!"
"I warned you about him, Father. But then the other day when you gave that challenge to Seto and not me, the fog lifted. It's you who is terrible for KaibaCorp. Not him."
"How dare you, ungrateful brat?! I gave you everything you could ever want in your life. After your mother died - "
"You told me never to mention Mother! Every time I tried, you told me to forget about it and look toward the future!" Noah countered, fury he never thought he would have ever felt about his father rising through his body like bile. He missed his mother so much, and the thought of having to forget about her just for Gozaburo's own peace of mind enraged him. "You've lost, Father. And Seto and I will be bringing this company into the future!"
His father's eyes suddenly went from a furious storm to an eerie calm, and Noah instantly felt a sense of dreams and foreboding. Gozaburo never looked anywhere near calm, no matter how hard he'd tried.
Gozaburo rose to his feet and collapsed his hands behind his back. "So you've won, eh Seto? You think you've got a checkmate, do you?" he questioned with a wide smirk. "What was it I've told you, in our lessons, Seto? To lose is to die."
Noah's stomach bottomed out. "Father - DON'T!"
But it was too late. Gozaburo shoved himself through the glass and into a freefall before any of the other adults in the room could stop him.
Noah looked over at Seto, who just gave him an ice cold look in return. Mokuba, thankfully, had been pulled into Lector's tall frame, and Lector was opening the door and ushering him out in an instant as Crump shouted for emergency services to be called. Noah knew, though, there was no point in calling for an ambulance.
Gozaburo Kaiba was dead, and a new era of KaibaCorp had begun.