voidtreckerexpress

Entry tags:

wound up

Who: Kaiba and open!
Where: Spa car
When: Imagination 4, very late at night
What: Someone gives into temptation to indulge and has potentially interesting discussions!
Warnings: Implied/possible mention of child abuse, other war/injury discussion possible. Will update if needed.

It's been...a day. Kaiba's spent time this evening working on how to talk to the others. It's clear as a train they need to regroup on a number of topics and make some changes, but how? And does he even want to try to facilitate? Not exactly his strong suit. He can already imagine the headache. He's sketched out a few potential outlines of topics to open the floor on. Maybe the memorial really is the simplest place to start?

But he's putting that out of his mind. After a late night in the standard car hunched over his notebook, he realizes that the train's fallen quiet in the night. Time to head back to bed. He moves through the largely-empty cars, but as the strange new scent of the spa car filters through in the corridor, he hesitates. The quiet is the perfect time, isn't it?

One ruffle through the closet and a quick shower trip later, he returns, carefully folding his legs beneath him as he sinks in. His torso's long enough that he's only covered up to the ribs and the old, angry red marks between his shoulder blades are exposed, but surely it's quiet enough that that's not an issue.

Finally...at last, he hears nothing but the sound of water lapping the edges of the pool. He can finally relax. He closes his eyes, rolling his shoulders back with a soft sigh.

"...hm. Not bad...maybe."

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"Ah?" Hmm. Hmmm. "Ahhh...I'm something of a Doctor- not of the medical sort but rather...hmm."

How does she explain this...without concerning him, it feels like it will concern him.... "In essence, I work with people's 'shadows'- parts of their souls. If something threatens to separate the two, I am one of those called to restore that."

"...mm. You clearly weren't in the family business, if that even exists anymore..."

Kaiba sounds wistful about that. "But the shadow magic still persists. Can you...see that kind of thing through casual interaction?"

Ah.

"................." She blinks. "...oh...you must not have overheard..." Yuume, oddly, blushes with what's undoubtedly ashamed embarrassment. She coughs and looks to the side, muttering something to herself before speaking a bit louder.

"...'Shadows' are rather common in my era, Seto. It's considered an 'age of shadow' in fact, albeit supported with technology. One could even go so far as to say that technology is the reason the age of shadow failed to simply crush society backward a few steps...but the point is, it's not particularly a matter of if I can or can't 'see' anything. I wouldn't say anyone is using 'magic' in the way that they did in older eras according to other shadows of course, but as it stands, mnn... ...well, there is a reason the systems for traditional card games moved to 'Augmented Reality'...solid vision is rather dangerous in exposure to it..."

Kaiba listens quietly. He still doesn't entirely get it...but he nods.

"Must be draining work. At least the train's a break from it?"

"It can be, yes...I'm hopeful of being able to at least transfer those skills though. Not...quite a vacation, but something of a break."

"It...can be a break, surprisingly. The people aren't bad, for the most part," Seto admits, rolling his head to the side to get a deeper stretch. Then the other side. It makes certain things behind his shoulders more visible, but he's fine. Really.

And then he thinks. "...I don't know how much valuable insight there is to be gained, given how many alternate Dominos exist, but can I ask a selfish question?"

"I've noticed that...people here seem to have come together quite impressively, and it's nice to see..."

She's polite. Trying to be, at least. She won't comment on the scars, on how they're absolutely old ones, and-

"...A question? ...I can't guarantee I'll know the answer...but..." She nods.

Seto takes a deep, steadying breath, his head rolling forward. He'd just...have it much easier if he knew exactly where they stood.

"How much were you taught about my life? Specifically...the beginning and the end?"

It's very brief. There seems to be something distant, even sad in her eyes.

She refuses to allow that to colour her words, however. He... ...No one would deserve that, she tells herself.

"...You were hailed as a very important man in my family, I can say that much. Personally, I wouldn't know much about your childhood- anything I've known has been achievements, and perhaps a small bit about the very end, from great-grandfather's words. Rather, 'great-great-great'...it's a mouthful after all," she chuckles quietly, glancing to the side.

Regardless. "...Was there something specific you were wondering about, Seto?"

Then she doesn't know where the scars came from. Seto notes that, briefly considers what that means...and then latches on to the end. Mokuba.

Regret. Abandonment.

"...how old was I when I died? Or left?"

Ah....

Yuume stares for a moment- and ultimately her voice is distant, and saddened all at once. The words will hurt. She knows they'll hurt but...

"...What I am telling you... ...I am telling you, because if I lie, you will know. ...You're an intelligent person- vastly intelligent, more than any I've known at your age. ...I won't disrespect that," she says quietly, closing her eyes.

But ultimately...

"...We don't know, which of the two it was. If it was the latter, it wasn't willingly. If it was the former, the question of how remains in question. ...Mokuba was one of many to enter what we refer to as a 'Time Lock'- when a shadow is stolen from them, or killed, they become trapped in a timeless coma. He isn't the only one from your time to have had this occur- but he was one of the latest of them, having already grown, married, and had a child of his own."

The implication perhaps stands that Seto did not do so himself- perhaps he can find comfort in that, perhaps not. Regardless- "...At the time, people did not know how to wake them from this state. As it stands, the first official success was not until a number of years after you vanished, and after Mokuba re-awoke."

He can, perhaps, connect the dots.

That timing...it must have been at least a few years later. Perhaps he still had a little time to be the brother he should've been from the start. But Seto clenches his fists, nails digging into his palms...and the only reason they don't gain enough traction to bleed is that they're underwater. His mouth presses into a thin line, his shoulders tense, and it's taking everything he has to maintain even a thin shroud of composure.

"Damnit. Of course I would. But...how was he?"

He deserved better.

".....Seto." Her voice is firm.

"What I am saying is that you were undoubtedly why he was allowed to wake at all. The first successful awakening of someone within timelock was not long before I was born. You would have been dead yourself before there could be a chance to rouse him. Whatever happened- whatever you did, allowed him to wake before he lost everyone he had known entirely."

Seto is adrift in the guilt that's been building for months, his gaze distant...but she manages to reel him back in a little. It still hurts, he's still digging his fingers into his chest, but.

He nods, shaky as it is.

"Sorry, I..."

He should. Probably explain himself.

"He means everything to me, and after everything I've gone through here...I've realized I've done a terrible job of showing it. I gave everything I had financially, but it's the other side of the equation I was awful at. I'm still working on that, and...thanks."

Yuume doesn't speak for a moment, staring to him- or even through him, for a few long seconds.

"...When I was born, you were the first man I was compared to," she finally says quietly. "By an old, old man who had nothing but kindness to speak of. I can think of nothing else for someone to compare a newborn to, on the basis of. You may think only finance was what you gave...but whatever impression you left on my great-grandfather, it was far more meaningful than that," Yuume finishes, leaning back against the tub wall with a sigh.

"...That much...I can at least be sure of."

"Mokie..."

Seto's voice is full of strained emotion. Pain, longing...but fondness is the strongest of all. He relaxes a little, but there's still something.

Compared. His adoptive father's awful plan flashes through his mind. Mokuba would never do such a thing, but there were things he didn't know...awful actors with the same ideas could infiltrate the company without him around to stop it.

"What it took to become me...isn't something I'd wish on anyone," he admits softly. "The weight of expectations can too easily become a weapon."

What an odd thing to say- but then, perhaps not, given those scars.

She nods. "...If it means anything, I doubt he would have thought if that way. The 'you' that most see, compared to someone like great-grandfather... ...I can't imagine he saw you as anything but wonderful. More than likely what he meant to convey was that I would hopefully be as good at heart. ...I can't say whether or not I would measure up in his eyes, truthfully."

"It's definitely very possible. You've been good to us, I've seen you with the others," is what he can say for now, with the smallest hint of a smile.

"I could...tell you the story, if you want. So you know where he's coming from."

"The story..?" ...She pauses, and slowly shakes her head. "...I won't push for that kind of thing. I'm fine trusting his judgement, neh? I can say the same to you after all- you have a good heart as well."

Seto smiles a little, touching the place on his chest where the locket usually hangs.

"That was the work of the people on board...I've been forced to adapt heavily since arriving here, to being part of society. But I can show you something you probably haven't seen."

He jumps out of the water, hastily wraps the towel back around his shorts, and scrambles over to his pile of clothes. Inside, he grabs the familiar object, cracks it open...and shows her his most precious picture.

(There's also a picture of himself and Yugi Mutou dressed in rather silly neon onesies right next to it, apparently taken in the gym car, but that's not important right now.)

"Family is important to me...and that includes you now. So if there's anything I can do to help you on missions, call me."

"Oh?" Yuume crosses her arms loosely and simply sits back in wait- waiting until Seto returns, opening the locket.

"....That locket style..." She recognizes it. "...Great-grandfather has... ....ah..." ...So then, that's him. "...even though he looks so different, I can still tell it's him... ...I've never seen a photo of him so small," she says quietly, smiling.

And...evidently there's a trend in the family to get crushes on Mutous, but she won't draw attention to that. Instead...

...Well instead she gives a snorted laugh. "Hah -! I genuinely hope I don't need to do so but...I'll keep that in mind, yes. I'd rather not inconvenience anyone after all..."

"You look just like him...I should've realized right away." Seto smiles awkwardly when he remembers the other picture in there, and he takes it back with a little cough. The other picture...all those years later, Mokuba would hold on to the last trace of him. It makes Seto's eyes sting, and he blinks forcefully to deal with that.

"His held a picture of me around age seven...they were taken back at the orphanage. We're adopted, our adoptive father had it coming to him, so I seized his company and transformed it into Kaiba Corporation the gaming giant. That's the short version."

That smoothly...smoothed over, he nods to her. "But it's not an inconvenience to keep the group alive. I'm best suited for technical issues, but I'll do what I can."

Edited 2020-11-17 05:23 (UTC)

"...'had it com-' ...Ah." She doesn't dig any farther into things on that. Vaguely put as it was, the vagueness in itself speaks volumes after all. Instead she therefore works to carry the topic away.

"...My cousin...well. My second cousin rather," she chuckles, "Is the current CEO. ...You could say he brought matters 'back' to games, though I don't know that I would quite classify it as that. More accurately... ...he would be the reason why society didn't collapse when the age of shadows began. Before that...the enforced distance from being able to work with solid vision brought the company into dimensional travel for a time. Arguably, that's still KaibaCorp's specialty actually. They're the reason for the subway...ah."

Yuume blinks. "Actually...you might be interested to hear this Seto, but when I first watched the train's departure through the void, I had thought of the subway. It's fundamentally quite different, but visually..."

That subject does in fact interest him. Kaiba carefully climbs back into the water, shivering pleasantly as he adjusts to the heat once more. It's still nice.

"...An interdimensional subway. I've done some work on the subject, but with that much time passing, it would've exceeded my initial plans."

He closes his eyes. "Did you ride it? What kinds of worlds did people travel to?"

"I ride it quite regularly, actually, for my commute... ...it's interesting, but it was pure chance that the company took that path. The world at one point broke into four separated dimensions- when they became aware of the other, a war broke out... ...it just so happened that around the point that shadows began rising, and the war had ended, that they realized the technology once used to try and reach the dead could be perhaps repurposed to encourage that peace further..."

Well, isn't that just something then?

"...But in terms of other worlds...the realm of shadows- the 'duel monsters realm', you might call it, sits between the four. I've certainly seen that one as well."

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blue_ice - 2020-11-23 11:37 (UTC) - Expand

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shadowslipping - 2020-11-24 13:16 (UTC) - Expand

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