I always have the most fun when I'm working on a character who must exist in canon, by virtue of necessity, but who doesn't actually have a defined character. It's my favorite playground, my favored canvass, however you'd like to say it.

I think Noa's mother is one of my favorites.


.


"What about your mother?" Ryo asked suddenly. "You've told me about her. You've mentioned, you know, how she taught you and what she was like as your mother. But . . . did she have any hobbies? What kind of life, do you think, might she have had if she hadn't gotten wrapped up in your father?"

Noa frowned. "Hmmm." He rubbed his chin. "You know, I'm not entirely sure, but I think it would have had to do with animals." Ryo looked surprised. "Horses in particular. Hahaue loved animals, but she had a special love for horses. She taught me to ride when I was little. She even got me into racing." Noa gestured randomly. "I mean, I never got very far into that part. There's only so much you can teach a nine-year-old about horse racing. And then . . . well." Noa grimaced. "You know. The accident. Kind of interrupted everything."

Ryo looked sadly down at his hands, held in his lap. "Right," he said. "Of course."

"Hahaue had a whole separate property," Noa went on, more brightly, "a few acres, built from the ground up, where she cared for her horses. I can't remember how many she had anymore. I used to know. She wasn't there all the time, of course. She was often busy, thanks to Chichiue. But she kept her own staff, separate from Kaiba-Corp or the house, to take care of the animals when she couldn't be there." Noa shrugged. "I think Hahaue was one of those people who preferred the company of animals to the company of other people."

"I think," Ryo said, "I can relate to that."

"Yeah," said Noa. "Me too."

Ryo looked surprised again. "Truly?" he asked. "I would have thought you'd love being around people, given how long you spent by yourself. It must have been lonely. You're always so . . . bright at parties and things. Any kind of public event. Always on the move, talking to guests, telling stories, making people laugh."

"I wouldn't be a Kaiba if I didn't know how to put on a show," Noa said. "I'll let you in on a secret, Ryo: those events are more exhausting than anything else I've ever done in my life. Even Chichiue's education plans, the ones he forced on my tutors, never drained me as much as those parties."

"Huh." Ryo smiled a little coyly. "I guess we have more in common, socially, than I gave you credit for. I was so sure we were an opposites-attract sort of situation."

Noa laughed. "In any case. I don't think Hahaue meant for me to pick up her preferences, necessarily, but I could always tell. She was always in a much better mood, it was night and day, whenever she came home from visiting her sanctuary. She always seemed more comfortable in denim and heavy boots than anything Chichiue bought for her. I think the woman covered in dust and grass was my mother, and the woman in black silks who wore jewelry and turned her hair into a sculpture was Chichiue's wife."

"I think I understand." Ryo nodded. "I imagine that was part of how she was able to keep things going for so long. She had to compartmentalize, and to save her true self for the places and times that it meant the most. I think it's important that she would save her comfortable self, who I would assume to be her true self, for you. The masks and armor were for your father."

Noa thought about this, something sparked in his eyes, and he smiled.

"You know? I think you must be right."