I s s u e s   von Sean
           (YGO - ISSUES - Daddy never loved you/me. (Noah, Seto.))
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                            Kapitel 3: Boys At War
                            ----------------------


“Mr. Kaiba, sir, you have a visitor.”
Seto looked up from a stack of documents, quarterly reports, with a frown. “I
don't believe I have any appointments this afternoon.”, he replied, voice
indicating his displeasure at the disturbence.
His secretary fidgeted with the clip board in her hands. “No, sir, but it
seems rather urgent, and...”
“Isn't it always urgent?”, he slipped off his reading glasses, “Who is it,
then?”
The woman didn't get a chance to answer. The door behind her was pushed open
forcefully and a young man clad in a dark blue suit nothing short of stormed
into his office. Seto had a moment to think that turquoise was a decidedly odd
color of hair to have, when the stranger adressed his secretary, “That will be
all, thank you.”
Seto had risen in his chair, anger paired with disbelief on his face. Who did he
think he was? “I'm sure wherever you are from, etiquettes are vastly
different, but this side of the equator people make appointments before they
barge into a CEO's office.”, he snarled.
The green haired young man didn't seem disturbed by Seto's words. “Ah, and of
course you know all about bad manners, don't you, Seto? Let me prove you wrong
by setting a good example, as big brothers should, and introduce me.”, he made
a short pause for dramatic purposes before finishing, “My name is Noah
Kaiba.”

The secretary had been sent away; apparently Seto felt a need for privacy. Just
as well. Noah enjoyed watching him think through all the ways that he could be
lying, waiting for him to draw his conclusions.
“I'm sure you can prove your claim.”, he stated finally, the deep frown
never leaving his face.
Noah shrugged and smiled confidently. “Of course.”, he answered and pulled
an envelope out of the inner pocket of his jacket, presenting it to Seto who
immediately proceeded to check its contents.
His identification, history of his accident and coma, as well as his doctor's
final assassment of his regained health. Yes, Seto could look them through all
he wanted, but Noah was the real thing, more so than Seto himself.
“What do you want?”, the brunette finally spat out.
Noah allowed himself a chuckle. “Oh, Seto, dear, you need to ask? I want my
company back, of course!”
That seemed to shake Seto to his core, but only for a moment. Then he laughed, a
cold and calculated laugh. “Your company, is it? I recreated it, I built it,
every part of it bears my signature.”, he had leaned a bit towards Noah when
he had spoken, but now he drew himself up to his full height and Noah noted with
a sting that he was a bit taller than himself. “And I don't recall giving you
permission to use my first name.”
Now that was precious. “Well, how else would I adress you?”, he asked with a
raised eye brow.
“I do prefer my business partners – and right now you hardly even rank that
– to call me by my last name.”
Noah smiled politely, but even Seto would have been able to see through it.
“I'll have to correct you, Seto, that is my last name you're talking
about.”, he said quietly, but not without heat.
“I have earned the name, just like I have earned this company. It is mine in
every sense of the word.”, and Seto believed that, Noah could tell, but had
his voice not wavered ever so slightly just now? Maybe, if he kept pushing, just
a bit more...
“Silly me”, he went on, “I though that being the founder and former CEO's
only son made me his heir, the way I inherited his name when I was born. But I
do understand, Seto, really I do. One has to give poor little orphans a chance
to work for themselves, to earn a place in the world, bribe and trick themselves
into a well-situated home with a good name to boot.”, he managed to look down
on Seto despite the fact that he was technically smaller. “Everyone gets what
they deserve, isn't that right, Seto?”
Seto's eyes narrowed dangerously. “You have five seconds to remove yourself
from my office, before I call security.”, he pressed out the words like
poison, but Noah was unimpressed.
“Whatever you say, little brother.”, he grinned broadly and skipped out of
the room, letting the heavy door fall close behind him.
No security turned up. This round went entirely in his favor, he decided.
And now to see how his other new sibling had turned out.

*

Looking back, skipping school probably wasn't the most mature way to live out
his anger. But ditching his escort had been entirely too easy to not tempt him,
and now here he was. It was futile, at best. Even without his school uniform one
couldn't mistake him for anything but a student. What got him into clubs wasn't
his fake ID, but cash, simple as that.
Not really paying attention to where he was going, he kicked a pebble in front
of him, and almost squeaked in surprise when it was kicked right back at him.
Only then did he look up, and for a split second his mind tricked him into
thinking it was Seto standing in front of him.
But the young man might have had a similar hair style, but it was all greenish
blue, and his suit was darker than what Seto liked to wear, and he seemed
broader around the shoulders, too.
And he smiled. Yep, definitely not Seto. Wishful thinking on his part.
“You must be Mokuba. I am so happy to finally meet you.”
Mokuba narrowed his eyes in what he hoped was a good imitation of his brother.
“And who are you?”, he asked with suspicion. He had learned long ago not to
trust strangers, especially friendly ones.
“How rude of me!”, the young man frowned at his own behavior, “I can't
seem to get used to the fact that everyone forgot about me.”, he smiled
ruefully. “I am Noah.”
Mokuba raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to mean anything to me? 'Cause in
that case you're in for a big disappointment.”
A sad look crossed the other's face for a moment before he caught himself. “I
see.”, he said with a sigh. “So he never told you about me.”, he shook his
head. “I'm so sorry, Mokuba. I'm Noah Kaiba.”
Mokuba's eyes went wide as his head raced to catch up with this new development.
“Kaiba... you're his son?”
Noah nodded.
“But why... you never, I mean, all those years...!”, he stuttered and
finally caught himself because Seto hated it when he did that. “Where the hell
have you been?”
Noah's shoulders sank and he seemed smaller than he really was. “There was an
accident...”, it seemed he wanted to say more, but his legs gave out right
under him and Mokuba only just managed to catch and steady him. “I'm sorry.
I'm afraid I'm not quite back to full strength yet.”, he explained with a weak
voice, leaning heavily against Mokuba.
“Are you alright?”, he asked, less careful now since Noah was obviously not
any kind of threat.
“Yes. Yes, quite. I have a car nearby with... with a wheelchair.”, he
gestured down the street where Mokuba saw a black Lexus looking very out of
place in this neighborhood.
He helped Noah get there and a driver jumped out and produced a convertible
wheelchair from the trunk. Noah sank into it as soon as it was set up. He looked
uncomfortable in it and Mokuba figured that he'd hate being tied to it, too.

They walked together, with Mokuba pushing the wheelchair in front of him and
Noah telling him about his accident, how he fell into a coma and only woke up
from it about a year ago. He explained how hard he worked to get his body to
function again and how the news of his father's death devastated him.
“I always thought I would inherit his company one day. It's all I ever wanted
to do. Now I don't know.”, he looked back over his shoulder, “I met Seto
today, and he all but threw me out.”, he said with a weird sad smile.
“His work means a lot to him. But he's not really mean, he just... he's not
very good with people.”
“That's what he has you for though, right?”, Noah asked and Mokuba couldn't
help but smile.
“Yeah, I guess.”

*

The next time Seto meets Noah is in one of the offices used for negotiations.
It's one of the places he usually feels confident in because it's where he wins.
It is here that he puts the heads of other companies in their place, bombarding
them with facts and figures and sheer power.
Today however is different.
Noah enlisted a capable lawyer who found every possible loop hole to get his
client into the company. Seto's company. He would not take it lying down.
He had got to hand it to the guy: he was clever. He knew exactly how to stage
his entry and which department bosses to get on his side to make things as easy
for him as possible. The wheelchair was an act as well and Seto saw right
through it, even if nobody else did.
As soon as the door has closed behind them and their lawyers had settled on both
sides of the table Noah stood up, pretending that his legs were still weak and
that he had to work so very hard to leave it for even a moment. The effect was
good. Seto recognized it as the trick it was, the tool of a weakling. He had
always favored the direct approach himself.
“Are you quite done?”
Noah blinked with fake ignorance. “Whatever do you mean, Seto?”
Seto opened his white suit jacket and sits down at the table, sliding a folder
with various documents over to Noah. “I have checked and double-checked your
claims and they all come to nothing. This is not the company your father would
have left you.”, he pretended he didn't hesitate for the fraction of a second
over the word father, but he did and from the looks of it, Noah noticed it,
too.
The odd-haired man flipped through the folder, not even pretending to read. “I
noticed.”, he replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “The world's
most advanced firm in weapons technology, and you turned it into a gaming
company.”, there was open disgust in his voice, unsuccessfully concealed by
his otherwise polite demeanor.
Seto actually relaxes a bit at those words. “Yes, I did. And I have to correct
you, as a weapons developer Kaiba Corp was barely above average. Right now
however it is one of the biggest Names in gaming worldwide.”, he claimed, and
the figures backed him up. It was all true and he was immensely proud of it.
To his great annoyance though Noah didn't seem fazed by his argument at all.
“Be that as it may, Seto, you couldn't have done so without the funds that
came out of the original Kaiba Corp's assets. Without my father's company you'd
be nothing but an orphan with a chess board.”, he smiled that condescending
smile of his that Seto knew he'd grow to hate all too quickly given the chance.
“It doesn't matter either way, because I still hold stock in Kaiba Corp, more
than enough to get me on the board of directors.”
That gained Seto's full attention. “What?”, he snarled, casting a dark
glance at his lawyer who was now fretting with his paperwork, trying to find out
how that piece of information could have escaped his notice.
Noah looked entirely too pleased with himself. Seto made it his new goal in life
to never give Noah a reason to look like that.
“My father was a very ressourceful man.”, Noah began to explain and handed a
file over to Seto. “You may want to check your facts in light of this new
information.”
Seto snatched the folder from his hand and handed it over to his lawyer. His
eyes narrowed, but they never left Noah. He had learned a long time ago to never
turn his back on his enemy, and Noah rated that description without dispute.

In the end Seto found that there really was no getting rid of Noah. He owned a
substantial part of the company and was backed by all of the most notoriously
annoying department heads he ever had the misfortune to employ.
He returned home late that night and left early, leaving only a quick note for
Mokuba. Now was not the time to be domestic.
Seto entered his office only to encounter the unpleasant surprise of one Noah
Kaiba sitting in his very own chair. His posture stiffened for a moment, mind
numb with the memory of the last time someone else but him occupied that
position.
“You have exactly ten seconds to explain your presence in my office.”, he
spat, dropping his bag by the door.
Noah leaned forward, settling his chin on his hands. “Is that any way to greet
your sibling, Seto?”, he chided with a playful tone to his voice. 
Seto felt sick to his stomach. “Nine.”
“Tsk.”, the sweet smile fell away from Noah's face in the blink of an eye.
“You really have abominable manners.”
The pose, the words, everything about him screamed at Seto about the man Noah
would have been heir to and Seto knew this fight would be an uphill battle. But
he was past all that, he had left it all behind him. He was a grown man and he
would not be bullied and intimidated by anyone.
“Out.”, he forced the word out between his teeth, “Do remember that you
might have tricked your way into this company, but I am still its CEO and I have
no plans to resign.”, he had reached the table by now, looking down at Noah
with a cold glare that had made grown men all but wet themselves. He told
himself that it was this that made Noah rise from his seat.
But Noah didn't leave but kept standing right in Seto's personal space. He could
not know how much Seto hated it when people did that and he stood his ground
stubbornly.
“Oh, Seto...”, his face was so close now that he could feel his breath on
his cheek. “You've been such a bad boy. Father would never have it. He'd see
you properly punished...”
Seto choked on his next words, although he didn't even know what he would have
said. He was frozen, staring straight ahead over Noah's shoulder. His mind was
blank, as if his brain had crashed and needed to reboot before it could react.
He swallowed and twitched visibly when Noah's hand came up to his throat.
“Ah. You do know that much at least, don't you?”, his hand tightened a bit,
but stopped just short of choking him. “And don't you want to be a good boy
for daddy...?”
The world came back all of a sudden and Seto took a sudden deep breath and a
quick step back, the need for distance imperative. His heart was beating a mile
an hour and his throat felt impossibly dry.
“Your father was a cruel man and no-one shed a single tear when he died.”,
he growled, noting with pleasure that the words did not miss their mark. Noah
was angry and Seto did so love revenge.
Noah walked past him towards the door, but turned around one last time. “The
same is true for you.”, he said, not waiting for an answer before he left. He
wouldn't have gotten one either way.

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