Chapter 38: Let Go of the Old, Embrace the New

I was still in Gifu when Noah called me. He had left the day after the opening, while Mokuba and I had remained. It was pre-dawn when the sound woke Pharaoh and I, and the only light in the room was the glow from the ringing cell phone. Noah's voice was thick as if he'd been crying. "Seto. It's ... Mother..." He gasped. "They found her at the family crypt. She ... she's..."

I knew immediately what he was trying to say. I had a sudden, uncomfortable feeling of dread. It reminded me of the long forgotten day my elementary school headmaster pulled me out of class.

My Aunt was dead.

"Oh my god." I said. She'd only ever had one love and I told her to go be with him. Use any means, I said. She'd never gotten over Noah's father. "Oh my god." I repeated. My cousin began weeping over the phone. "Are you at home?"

"What's wrong?" Pharaoh asked beside me, but I waved him silent for the moment.

"Yes." He managed.

"Stay there. I'm on my way." I started to hang up, but caught myself. "Call me before you do anything, Noah. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Seto." He gasped. "I will." Not that I truly was concerned, but I felt better with his promise.

I hung up, called for my car and then called Mokuba's hotel room as I got out of bed. "It's Oba-sama, brother. I think she's ... I think she's dead."

"What?" I heard over the phone and beside me.

"Noah just called me. He said they found her in the family crypt."

"FUCK!" Mokuba swore, but I could hear tears too. "What happened?"

"I don't know what happened yet." I said for both Mokuba and Pharaoh. "Noah sounded like a wreck. I've already called for a car."

Pharaoh got out of bed. "You go, my love, I'll tell the others." He kissed me softly and slipped on a robe as he left the room.

"She was so happy." Mokuba sniffed and I could hear drawers opening in the background.

I put my phone on speaker and began dressing as well. "She was. I thought she ... brother, I may have done this." I realized my hand was shaking. "Inadvertently. I think I may have told her to ... to..."

"Seto, don't do this! You didn't tell her to kill herself." He sniffed again. "She did, didn't she?"

"I think ... I don't know. Noah didn't say. He didn't actually say she was dead, but I can't imagine anything else that would bring him to tears." Or why else 'they' would find her at the family crypt.

"I gotta use the john, Seto. I'll hurry up and meet you in the lobby. You can't blame yourself, big bro. You aren't responsible for everything, ok?" He hung up.

I am the head of Kaiba – both the family and the Corporation. By definition, I am responsible for everything. I told her to go be with the man she loved. I should have specified 'if he is alive'.

And Noah. If what I saw at the park was correct, if what my cousin had implied for years was true, then I have taken both his mother and his lover. When one loses a parent, one turns to a lover for comfort. And if one loses a lover, one may turn to a parent. Where does one turn when they have lost both?

Noah had no one – no parents, no partners, no siblings, no children. Noah truly was orphaned now, just as Mokuba and I were. We were his only family. Just us.

I used the bathroom and, as I finished dressing, I called Morimoto. "Status."

"Sir. We found Kaiba-san this morning, dead, at the Kaiba family crypt. A single pistol shot to her right temple."

"Suicide?"

"We haven't confirmed that yet, sir, but it's most likely. There is no sign of any struggle, it was her gun and it was found in her hand. The blood spray matches the body position."

"How long?"

"Less than forty-eight hours. Probably around sunrise yesterday." He sighed deeply. "Sir, I had a great deal of respect for Kaiba-san. She –"

"Yes." I stopped him. "Thank you. Mokuba and I are on our way to her house. Transfer me to Kogoro; it's going to be a while before any of us are in the office."

"Yes sir."

He transferred me and I had Kogoro inform the staff and handle the other corporate issues. I wrote a statement for the press while Mokuba and I were in the car.

When we arrived at my cousin's house, Noah was sitting on his mother's bed. He had stopped crying, but still looked shocked. Mokuba and I didn't say anything. The three of us sat together, arms around each other. There was nothing I could think of to make things right.

I sent my Aunt to her grave.

This time Noah, Mokuba and I went together to both the Emperor and the Prime Minister to inform them in the traditional manner that a loyal vassal had died. When we told him, Prince Katsura wept openly upon hearing the news.

This time all the chanting, and the incense, and the ceremony meant something to me. At the funeral, Noah accepted his mother's posthumous Order of the Rising Sun from the Empress herself.

After the cremation, Noah and I again were the last ones in the family crypt. 'Red-eyed daughter of the Dragon' read the kaimyo. The monks had moved it to fall between 'Blue-eyed daughter' and 'Black-eyed son'.

"You blame yourself, don't you?" Noah asked after we'd stood there in silence for too long.

"I told her to go be with the man she loved." I admitted. "I should have realized that was impossible."

"You set her free." He sighed. "I spent so much time desperately holding her that I didn't realize how truly unhappy she was. You did for her what I could never do." He touched her kanji – the red paint representing the living had been scraped away hastily. "Thank you." He began weeping again.

I almost asked him if they were lovers. Then I decided that some things are better left alone. If he needed to tell me, he would, and if I ever needed confirmation, I could ask him then. I put my hand on his shoulder and we stood there. He was now the oldest living Kaiba. At nineteen.

Eventually he pulled himself together and we went to my Aunt's attorney for the reading of her will. There were a dozen or so people there. She left the bulk of her estate – an unexpectedly sizable estate – to Noah and considerable sums to Mokuba and me. But she also had friends and charities to which she left gifts. Among them was one million yen to the orphanage where Gozaburo found us. I could not stop my tears when I heard the attorney read that. Did I ever truly appreciate this woman? I would never know.

It was hard to return to business as usual.

Only days after my Aunt's cremation, I went to California with Mokuba. We found a house near the campus and moved in my brother and a small staff. Ishtaaru and I went with Mokuba to the Dean of Admissions. We explained my brother's unique circumstances and registered him officially as Morio Abdulatem, with myself and Ishtaaru listed as his legal guardians. Then, we signed various forms granting my brother access, rights and privileges that no fourteen-year-old boy should have.

His grades, however, I had addressed to me. "You are here to study." I reminded him when he complained. "If your GPA slips below a 3.0, you will be back in Japan so fast, your head will spin."

"Yes, Nii-sama." He huffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not a kid. I know why I'm here."

The Dean went with us to speak to an admissions councilor and registered him for the appropriate classes. I made sure that the councilor was aware of my brother's age and unsupervised status.

When we finished there, we went to the campus security office and spent several hours getting his weapons permits and extra security measures confirmed. We arranged to have a detail from KaibaSecurity working with the campus police under the agreement that they would respond to any call for assistance when they were on campus, not just situations involving Mokuba.

"Ok, we should get someone from KaibaSecurity to sign this," the police administrator said when we finished the contract. "Or are you authorized to do that, Mr. Kaiba?"

I smiled slightly. "I am, but as the CEO of KaibaSecurity is holding the pen, I see no reason for me to sign."

He looked at us, brow knitting. "How in the hell... ?"

"You still have the website open. Look at the staff link." He clicked the tab then stared at his computer screen.

"How do you like that?" He said as he read. Mokuba signed the contract and then called the local KS office to arrange the staff.

It took three days to settle everything, get his books and supplies, and make sure that the house was running acceptably. Then Ishtaaru pulled me aside.

"Kaiba-sama, forgive me for saying it, but you should go now."

"Excuse me?"

"You should leave. He needs to start making his own decisions." She paused. "And you have to learn to let him go. He can't be a child forever."

"He's hardly a child now." I said out of habit. Still, I knew she was right. I was beginning to make up reasons to stay longer. I felt a knot in my chest as I took a deep breath. "While I'm here, this would be a good time to check on KL2. It will be opening in another month or so."

"I think that would be a very good use of your time."

I swallowed hard. "I'll leave the things I brought with me. Have my suit cleaned and then find some space for me in the guest room closet."

"Of course, Kaiba-sama."

"Thank you, Ishtaaru." I found Mokuba and told him I was leaving.

"Already? But you've only been here a couple days!"

"And I have a park opening in a month. There is quite a lot left to do and not much time in which to do it."

"And you have to do it all." He frowned. "Yes, Nii-sama."

"I sincerely doubt you need me to show you around campus and choose your friends."

"No, I just ... never mind. Do you have to go now?"

"I can be in Arizona this afternoon and at the park first thing in the morning."

"Yeah, sure." He muttered. "See ya." He turned back to his computer screen and slumped down in his chair.

He can't be a child forever, but he was a child now whether he wanted to be or not. Kawai said that I was raised without love and I was determined that my brother's childhood would be different.

"I suppose I could leave tomorrow." I offered. "Isn't there some kind of pizza restaurant on campus?"

He shrugged. "It'll probably be loud and crowded. You'll hate it."

I laughed. "I'm sure. But it would be irresponsible of me not to investigate the place personally."

He looked at me over his shoulder. "There's supposed to be an arcade just off campus too."

"Then I should probably take some time to see that and the places you'll be spending your time when you're ignoring your studies."

He smiled a bit bashfully. "I'll keep my grades up."

I nodded. "In the classes you care about. I have no doubt that you will completely ignore classes that do not hold your interest." I paused to smile. "That is what I did," I couldn't help admitting.

I spent another day in California, mostly doing nothing productive and going to places that Mokuba would undoubtedly be spending massive amounts of his free time.

Then, I went to Arizona. After the completion of KL1, we knew many of the issues to look out for, but as with any massive undertaking, new issues always arise. We had to delay the official opening by a week, but I allowed the scheduled orphan day to proceed as planned. Many of the facilities attending would not be able to reschedule a later visit and the idea of disappointing the children actually pained me.

The official opening was a financial success and a personal blow as it reminded me forcibly of my Aunt. Pharaoh had arranged his schedule and spent most of his time at my side, which brought me more joy than I anticipated. Noah, however, could not attend and Mokuba and I saw little of each other. Anzu, Ryou, Honda, Yugi and Mai had all attended, but I hadn't seen much of them either. On the third day, I decided that particular dog would no longer hunt.

I called Ryou at 6:45 in the morning. "Clear everyone's schedule including yours. I'll need Honda and Otogi as well, so if they have anything, cancel it. I will see everyone at the Red Dragon for breakfast at 8:30." I hung up with a slight smile. I sent Pharaoh to help Ryou – promising he's understand my plan at breakfast.

When I arrived, I came dressed to make a point. I made a quick trip to the local 'big box' store and bought the loudest Bermuda shorts I could find. I topped it with a striped, sleeveless shirt that deliberately clashed with the shorts. I added a pair of lime green crocs and a very dark pair of sunglasses so that I didn't risk seeing myself in the absurd outfit.

As soon as I walked into the room, Honda and Anzu nearly went into convulsions laughing. The rest of the table stared as I ordered breakfast.

Finally, Mai's patience gave out. "Ok, is anyone gonna let the rest of us in on the joke?"

Anzu recovered somewhat. "I'm sorry; I forgot that you all didn't know him then." She cleared her throat and tried to be very formal. "I regret that Kaiba-sama is on vacation today. Please allow me to introduce his replacement, Tak."

"As in 'tacky'?" Ryou asked, as Pharaoh chuckled, "I think you look divine."

"As in I plan to enjoy my day off completely."

"You look ridiculous." Mokuba laughed.

"Good." I smiled. "After breakfast, I plan to ride everything in the park. Twice."

"I'm in!" Honda and Mokuba said at the same time.

"I'm in so long as I don't have to wear that." Ryou chuckled.

We laughed our way through breakfast and then my 'employees' exchanged their suits and KaibaLogo clothes for garments not quite as casual as mine. Then we acted like tourists and managed to have a great deal of fun. I had forgotten how much fun it was to live like 'Tak' – no responsibilities, no limitations, just friends.

It was just after lunch when Mokuba's phone rang with the theme song from 'Taiyo Ni Hoero'. We all paused as my brother swore vehemently.

"Oh my fucking Christ! You are kidding me!" I asked what was wrong, but he merely shook his head as he answered the call. "What the fuck now?" He listened for a few minutes, eyeing me and frowning. "Yeah. Yeah. Shit! When?" He looked at his watch. We're in Ari-fucking-zona, dude. I can be in LA in like an hour." He listened again. "So who's in Miami? Shit! God damn it! No, no, I'm just pissed at the timing – I never get to see Seto anymore. Ok. You take Miami; I don't trust Malik as far as I can throw him one-handed. I'll get to New York as fast as I can. The FBI guys in San Francisco aren't completely stupid. Send them down to LA." He hung up and looked at me mournfully.

"I think this is the first time your duties have ended our time together rather than mine." I said. "I can hardly hold it against you."

"Yeah, I guess." He sighed deeply. "This is a really big deal. We're doing a worldwide bust on those gun runners."

"And it sounds like you're short-handed." I didn't want to intrude on Mokuba's area of control, but the truth was I more than a little envious that he'd worked so closely with the investigation. "If I can be of assistance, I seem to have a free afternoon."