Memories of Egypt

Title: Memories of Egypt – 4/8

Author: Telpei

Pairing(s): Seto/Jou, mentions of Priest Seto/Atemu

Beta: Jennie B.

Spoilers: Mentions of plot details from the series, up to the Doom arc.

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from the Yu-Gi-Oh characters or episode details used in this story.

Summary: Seto has always been bothered by the idea of his Ancient Egyptian past, but what would life be like without it?

OoooooooO

Chapter 4

OoooooooO

The next morning, Seto was nearly late for class. All through the night, he had tossed and turned in his sleep. He had been plagued by dreams of an innocent Mokuba turning away from him and becoming lost in the distance, and then he would see the angular features of a former Pharaoh staring back at him with a forlorn expression. The injustice of it all was crippling to Seto, who had realized then that he had never really wanted his wish to come true in the first place. There was no doubt in his mind that although Mokuba’s childhood in the previous reality had been filled with dangers, those circumstances had helped shape his giving, loving personality - and had also forged the bond with his older brother. In this life, Seto felt trapped. All that he had accomplished was gone; his company was failing and he was losing Mokuba.

To make things worse, he had awoken to find that his brother was still locked behind his bedroom door. Seto had knocked and yelled, but to no avail. So, instead, the brunet had confiscated his brother’s wallet from the knapsack that had been thrown across the room in anger the previous night. Since the boy was suspended anyway, Seto had figured that Mokuba couldn’t do much harm without any money.

The young CEO had struggled to stay focused throughout his morning classes, and he had been more than ready for a break by the time lunch hour had rolled around. After the bell had rung, he stopped at his locker to drop off his books and collect his lunch. His eyes caught sight of the small cardboard box resting beside his history text, and the brunet sighed. He had packaged it himself, despite knowing the risk it entailed. Hoping that all of his bad luck had been used up the night before, Seto decided to take a chance. He picked up the box and headed towards the cafeteria, intent on finding Yugi in the mass of students.

It wasn’t hard to spot the unique tri-coloured hair from within the sea of teenagers, but then again, Yugi usually ate his lunch alone in the same corner anyway. Ignoring all the stares he was getting from the rest of the student body, Seto squared his shoulders and strode across the room to take a seat across from the smaller teen.

Yugi looked up, surprise and apprehension reflected in his violet eyes. “K-Kaiba-san?” he asked, his voice soft, but shocked. “Why are you...?”

“Hello, Yugi,” Seto replied, setting both his lunch box and the small cardboard box down on the table in front of him. He ignored the latter for the moment and focused on his lunch instead, fishing out a rice ball and a juice box. “How are you doing?” he asked casually, as if his presence at this table was completely normal.

“I...I’m fine, thank you,” Yugi replied after a moment’s hesitation, dropping his eyes back to his own lunch instead of staring at the brunet. Seto could tell that the boy was uncomfortable; his nervousness was ridiculously obvious in his body posture and his constantly shifting eyes.

Seto ate in silence for a few moments, picking at his onigiri and wondering what the hell he had been thinking when he’d decided to approach the smaller teen. There was no turning back now, but when Seto opened his mouth to speak once more, Yugi, surprisingly, beat him to the punch.

“Kaiba-san,” the boy murmured, refusing to meet the brunet’s blue eyes. “I don’t mean to be rude...but why are you sitting with me? No one... no one has ever...”

“It’s strictly business,” Seto replied, cutting Yugi off before the boy could start wallowing in self pity. “I understand you and your grandfather run a small game shop that is quite popular in Domino.”

“Well, yes,” Yugi confirmed, looking slightly crestfallen that Kaiba’s reasons for joining him during lunch were so shallow. “But, I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”

“Kaiba Corp. is working on a new project,” Seto explained with a shrug of one shoulder. “I would like to have your grandfather’s cooperation with some promotional ideas we’re hoping to release into the market. Will he be at the shop this afternoon? I would like to drop by to speak with him.”

Yugi nodded slowly, his eyes belying his apprehension and distrust. “Yes, I suppose he will be there,” he said hesitantly, staring down at his small lunch. Seto thought that the boy might continue speaking, but he didn’t want to give Yugi a chance to bring up his corporation’s latest failures.

“Here,” he said, opening the small box at his side and feeling his heart twist painfully in his chest as he was met with the glowering visage of the Dark Magician. He shuffled through the cards that had been hidden behind the packaging and passed most of them to Yugi. “I think you should have these.”

Purple eyes grew large with surprise as he accepted the cards, and Seto thought he saw a spark of hope ignite in their sad depths. “What? Why?” the diminutive teen questioned, looking completely stunned.

Seto shrugged again, finishing off the last of his lunch before speaking to explain himself. “You look like you could use a... friend,” he finally admitted. “If you have a deck, then maybe we can play sometime. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he continued as he ignored Yugi’s stunned expression and got to his feet – only to come face to face with Jounouchi as he turned to leave the table.

“Aren’t you a little too old to be playing some kiddy game?” the blond demanded accusingly, snatching the remaining cards from Seto’s hands and shuffling through them. The brunet tensed, watching the other male’s expression carefully. He was vaguely aware of Yugi, who was busy packing up his knapsack in order to depart from the scene as quickly as possible.

It hadn’t taken much effort on Seto's part to find either Yugi’s or Jounouchi’s signature cards in the boxes of unsold stock that were stored in KC-owned warehouses at the South end of Domino. In this reality, Seto had bought all copyright licenses from Industrial Illusions when Duel Monsters had been brand new on the market, and Kaiba Corp. had taken full responsibility for promoting and selling all merchandise related to the game.

In hindsight, Seto realized that taking on all aspects of the game had been a major mistake. Instead of focusing on designing the technology – Kaiba Corp’s specialty – he had been forced to organize more tournaments, design new cards, and split his resources among the other facets that went with owning the copyrights.

Furthermore, since Pegasus had never encountered the Millennium Eye, his passion for painting and Duel Monsters had died with the passing of his wife. Seto had had little choice but to take it upon himself to keep the game alive. While his company had held out for a certain amount of time, the brunet knew that it was now time for a change. Hopefully, his new idea would bring his company back to a competitive level.

However, the brunet turned those thoughts aside for the moment and focused once more on Jounouchi. The blond was staring down at the cards in his hands, his expression growing more enraged by the second.

“What the hell kind of sick joke is this, Kaiba?” Jounouchi demanded, turning a dark glare on the brunet. “Are you some kind of stalker or something? I used to own all these cards!”

“Oh?” Seto asked, raising an eyebrow. “So you used to play? I thought it was a child’s game, Jounouchi,” he commented, throwing Jou’s previous statement right back in his face.

The blond bristled instantly, his entire posture going rigid and anger flashing in his cold, amber eyes. Lifting the cards up, he grasped them with both hands and, without further ceremony, ripped them all clean in half. He let the destroyed pieces flutter to the ground and took a threatening step closer to the brunet. “I don’t like your attitude, Kaiba,” he growled. “I think it’s time you realized you’re not the only one in this town with power.”

Ice blue eyes widened in surprise as Jounouchi casually shifted his jacket to the side and revealed the cold glint of hard metal. “Are you insane?” he hissed, taking a step back from the armed blond. “What the hell are you thinking? You’ll be arrested, for Christ’s sake!”

“Not likely,” the slightly shorter male replied with a firm smirk. “You see, Kaiba, even the police have a price, and the people I work for have the power to back me up. You, on the other hand...Your power is fading fast, Kaiba, so you’d better learn to watch your step.”

The brunet remained silent as he watched Jounouchi turn and saunter away. He didn’t like giving the blond the last word, but he wasn’t about to provoke a man carrying a gun. After all, his life wouldn't be the only one in danger since there was likely more than one bullet in the weapon. Sighing, he bent down to pick up the scraps of cards Jounouchi had left behind, and his lips curled up in a smirk as he took a quick inventory.

Many memories were triggered for Seto as he looked down at the destroyed monsters, amidst them several of Jou’s chance cards, including Time Wizard, and those damned Dice cards that Jounouchi loved so much. Baby Dragon and the Flame Swordsman were both ruined, torn clean in half with the rest of the cards by the blond’s cruel fingers. However, there was one card that was missing. Seto didn’t know when Jou had separated the Red Eyes from the rest of the cards, but the dragon definitely hadn’t been ripped to shreds.

With this small, but significant, observation, Seto felt as though a little bit of hope had been rekindled in his damaged heart. Perhaps, if he tried a little harder, he would be able to get through to Jounouchi. Throughout their interaction today, the brunet had become well acquainted with the icy expression in the blond’s golden eyes that had felt so unfamiliar to him. While it was foreign as far as Jounouchi was concerned, before his wish, Seto had known that expression well, and he did recognize it. In fact, it was almost like looking into a mirror. Seto understood well the hardships and pain that came with the cruel and coldhearted persona that Jou was trying to maintain. Perhaps if he was able to figure out the motivations behind Jounouchi’s angry behaviour and the subsequent need to keep himself armed, then hopefully he would be able to confront the blond and find some other answers, as well.

OoO

After school that day, Seto made his way to the small game shop that was owned by the Mutou family. He had high hopes for this excursion, since he felt like he had gotten through Yugi’s depressed mood with the offering of friendship. He parked alongside the curb and exited his car, standing on the sidewalk and taking a few moments to compose himself. The afternoon had gone by quickly enough, despite Seto’s lack of sleep, but Jounouchi’s threatening presence had been bothersome. The blond had kept his eyes on the CEO for the duration of the school day, causing the brunet to remain alert, tense, and generally uncomfortable. This had no doubt been Jounouchi’s goal, and Seto had to admit that the blond’s menacing actions were more than a little concerning.

As the young businessman entered the game shop, causing the little bells above the door to jingle merrily, he forced himself to mask his exhaustion in order to appear more confident and trustworthy in the face of Yugi’s grandfather.

The elderly man was sitting behind the counter, his gray hair was styled in the same fashion as his grandson’s, and his stature was about the same. His eyes, however, were a slightly different shade of violet and, although they lacked the sad, empty quality of Yugi’s expression, they narrowed in distaste as the brunet approached. “Kaiba-san,” he greeted, getting to his feet and offering a nod of his head. “Yugi mentioned that you might drop by. What can I do for you?”

Seto nodded back in greeting and offered a short bow. “Good day, Mutou-san,” he said cordially, slowly straightening and maintaining eye contact with the shorter man. “I would like to discuss the possibility of promoting a new product here in your store. Kaiba Corp. is designing a new prototype that you may find interesting, and I’m sure many customers will be inclined to visit your store to test the new device before it is released in other stores.”

“Hm,” Sugoroku replied thoughtfully, scratching his chin and beginning to shake his head. “No, Kaiba-san, I really don’t think we’ll be able to accept your offer. Your products in the past have not had the greatest success, so I don’t see why this will be any different.”

Seto frowned, his brow tightening with the action. He hadn’t expected to be rejected by Yugi’s grandfather so soon. “Surely you will give it a chance,” Seto proposed. “The prototype would be delivered by Kaiba Corp. and kept here at no cost to you.”

“Ah, but I would pay the price of putting my family in harm's way,” the elder Mutou cut in, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head. “Perhaps you should tread more carefully around those associated with Hirutani.”

The CEO’s frown deepened, and Seto found he was genuinely confused. Why did that name sound so familiar? The brunet wracked his memory of this alternate reality, and he found it came to mind without too much prodding. Hirutani was the name of a man who worked at the head of the dangerous Rintama gang. Seto was able to recall that Gozaburo had had some affiliation with the gang, but once he had taken over, the adopted Kaiba had severed those ties. However, Seto couldn’t recall any recent encounters with the gang, so what was this senile old man referring to? He cocked an eyebrow in frustration, mimicking the elder man’s stance by crossing his own arms. “I really don’t know what you’re referring to,” he stated, frowning at Yugi’s grandfather. “Kaiba Corp hasn’t had any dealings with those people in years.”

“That’s not quite true, Kaiba-san, since you angered one of the gang members just today,” Sugoroku replied. He reached into a drawer behind the counter, pulling out a small deck of cards and sliding them across the counter towards the brunet. “Yugi asked me if I would give these to you. He said to pass on the message that he doesn’t want to be friends with anyone on Jounouchi’s bad side.”

Seto snapped his mouth shut and narrowed his eyes. Although he wasn’t happy to hear the news, it certainly explained a lot. He slowly reached out and took the offered cards, shuffling through them before sliding them carefully into his pocket. “Fine,” he growled, stepping back from the counter. “I guess I’ll look for somewhere else to promote my new merchandise. Thank you for your time, Mutou-san,” he bit out, ending the meeting as gracefully as he could in this situation.

Yugi’s grandfather didn’t speak again, so Seto turned away from his hateful gaze and strode out of the building. This was just another setback in his already complicated life, but Seto wasn’t to be deterred. He got back in his car and started up the engine, intent on heading in to the office. He wasn’t about to give up on the little game shop, or Yugi, just yet. With a few more hours of work, the prototype would be complete and ready for another round of testing. Once it was finished, Seto would return, and when the old man saw just what he was missing, perhaps he would change his mind.

Dealing with Jounouchi, however, had just evolved into an even more delicate situation. Not only was the blond now armed, but he hadn’t been lying about having contacts with power. Seto would have to tread carefully if he intended to keep himself, Mokuba, and his company safe from harm.

Ooo TBC ooO